- Escobar: 'Samarkand Spirit' To Be Driven By "Responsible Powers" Russia & China
Escobar: ‘Samarkand Spirit’ To Be Driven By “Responsible Powers” Russia & China
The SCO summit of Asian power players delineated a road map for strengthening the multipolar world…
Amidst serious tremors in the world of geopolitics, it is so fitting that this year’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) heads of state summit should have taken place in Samarkand – the ultimate Silk Road crossroads for 2,500 years.
When in 329 BC Alexander the Great reached the then Sogdian city of Marakanda, part of the Achaemenid empire, he was stunned: “Everything I have heard about Samarkand it’s true, except it is even more beautiful than I had imagined.”
Fast forward to an Op-Ed by Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev published ahead of the SCO summit, where he stresses how Samarkand now “can become a platform that is able to unite and reconcile states with various foreign policy priorities.”
After all, historically, the world from the point of view of the Silk Road landmark has always been “perceived as one and indivisible, not divided. This is the essence of a unique phenomenon – the ‘Samarkand spirit’.”
And here Mirziyoyev ties the “Samarkand Spirit” to the original SCO “Shanghai Spirit” established in early 2001, a few months before the events of September 11, when the world was forced into strife and endless war, almost overnight.
All these years, the culture of the SCO has been evolving in a distinctive Chinese way. Initially, the Shanghai Five were focused on fighting terrorism – months before the US war of terror (italics mine) metastasized from Afghanistan to Iraq and beyond.
Over the years, the initial “three no’s” – no alliance, no confrontation, no targeting any third party – ended up equipping a fast, hybrid vehicle whose ‘four wheels’ are ‘politics, security, economy, and humanities,’ complete with a Global Development Initiative, all of which contrast sharply with the priorities of a hegemonic, confrontational west.
Arguably the biggest takeaway of this week’s Samarkand summit is that Chinese President Xi Jinping presented China and Russia, together, as “responsible global powers” bent on securing the emergence of multipolarity, and refusing the arbitrary “order” imposed by the United States and its unipolar worldview.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pronounced Xi’s bilateral conversation with President Vladimir Putin as “excellent.” Xi Jinping, previous to their meeting, and addressing Putin directly, had already stressed the common Russia-China objectives:
“In the face of the colossal changes of our time on a global scale, unprecedented in history, we are ready with our Russian colleagues to set an example of a responsible world power and play a leading role in order to put such a rapidly changing world on the trajectory of sustainable and positive development.”
Later, in the preamble to the heads of state meeting, Xi went straight to the point: it is important to “prevent attempts by external forces to organize ‘color revolutions’ in the SCO countries.” Well, Europe wouldn’t be able to tell, because it has been color-revolutionized non-stop since 1945.
Putin, for his part, sent a message that will be ringing all across the Global South: “Fundamental transformations have been outlined in world politics and economics, and they are irreversible.” (italics mine)
Iran: it’s showtime
Iran was the guest star of the Samarkand show, officially embraced as the 9th member of the SCO. President Ebrahim Raisi, significantly, stressed before meeting Putin that “Iran does not recognize sanctions against Russia.” Their strategic partnership will be enhanced. On the business front, a hefty delegation comprising leaders of 80 large Russian companies will be visiting Tehran next week.
The increasing Russia-China-Iran interpolation – the three top drivers of Eurasia integration – scares the hell out of the usual suspects, who may be starting to grasp how the SCO represents, in the long run, a serious challenge to their geoeconomic game. So, as every grain of sand in every Heartland desert is already aware, the geopolitical pressure against the trio will increase exponentially.
And then there was the mega-crucial Samarkand trilateral: Russia-China-Mongolia. There were no official leaks, but this trio arguably discussed the Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline – the interconnector to be built across Mongolia; and Mongolia’s enhanced role in a crucial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) connectivity corridor, now that China is not using the Trans-Siberian route for exports to Europe because of sanctions.
Putin briefed Xi on all aspects of Russia’s Special Military Operation (SMO) in Ukraine, and arguably answered some really tough questions, many of them circulating wildly on the Chinese web for months now.
Which brings us to Putin’s presser at the end of the summit – with virtually all questions predictably revolving around the military theater in Ukraine.
The key takeaway from the Russian president: “There are no changes on the SMO plan. The main tasks are being implemented.” On peace prospects, it is Ukraine that “is not ready to talk to Russia.” And overall, “it is regrettable that the west had the idea to use Ukraine to try to collapse Russia.”
On the fertilizer soap opera, Putin remarked, “food supply, energy supply, they (the west) created these problems, and now are trying to resolve them at the expense of someone else” – meaning the poorest nations. “European countries are former colonial powers and they still have this paradigm of colonial philosophy. The time has come to change their behavior, to become more civilized.”
On his meeting with Xi Jinping: “It was just a regular meeting, it’s been quite some time we haven’t had a meeting face to face.” They talked about how to “expand trade turnover” and circumvent the “trade wars caused by our so-called partners,” with “expansion of settlements in national currencies not progressing as fast as we want.”
Strenghtening multipolarity
Putin’s bilateral with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not have been more cordial – on a “very special friendship” register – with Modi calling for serious solutions to the food and fuel crises, actually addressing the west. Meanwhile, the State Bank of India will be opening special rupee accounts to handle Russia-related trade.
This is Xi’s first foreign trip since the Covid pandemic. He could do it because he’s totally confident of being awarded a third term during the Communist Party Congress next month in Beijing. Xi now controls and/or has allies placed in at least 90 percent of the Politburo.
The other serious reason was to recharge the appeal of BRI in close connection to the SCO. China’s ambitious BRI project was officially launched by Xi in Astana (now Nur-Sultan) nine years ago. It will remain the overarching Chinese foreign policy concept for decades ahead.
BRI’s emphasis on trade and connectivity ties in with the SCO’s evolving multilateral cooperation mechanisms, congregating nations focusing on economic development independent from the hazy, hegemonic “rules-based order.” Even India under Modi is having second thoughts about relying on western blocs, where New Delhi is at best a neo-colonized “partner.”
So Xi and Putin, in Samarkand, for all practical purposes delineated a road map for strengthening multipolarity – as stressed by the final Samarkand declaration signed by all SCO members.
The Kazakh puzzle
There will be bumps on the road aplenty. It’s no accident that Xi started his trip in Kazakhstan – China’s mega-strategic western rear, sharing a very long border with Xinjiang. The tri-border at the dry port of Khorgos – for lorries, buses and trains, separately – is quite something, an absolutely key BRI node.
The administration of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Nur-Sultan (soon to be re-named Astana again) is quite tricky, swinging between eastern and western political orientations, and infiltrated by Americans as much as during the era of predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan’s first post-USSR president.
Earlier this month, for instance, Nur-Sultan, in partnership with Ankara and British Petroleum (BP) – which virtually rules Azerbaijan – agreed to increase the volume of oil on the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline to up to 4 million tons a month by the end of this year. Chevron and ExxonMobil, very active in Kazakhstan, are part of the deal.
The avowed agenda of the usual suspects is to “ultimately disconnect the economies of Central Asian countries from the Russian economy.” As Kazakhstan is a member not only of the Russian-led Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU), but also the BRI, it is fair to assume that Xi – as well as Putin – discussed some pretty serious issues with Tokayev, told him to grasp which way the wind is blowing, and advised him to keep the internal political situation under control (see the aborted coup in January, when Tokayev was de facto saved by the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization [CSTO]).
There’s no question Central Asia, historically known as a “box of gems” at the center of the Heartland, striding the Ancient Silk Roads and blessed with immense natural wealth – fossil fuels, rare earth metals, fertile agrarian lands – will be used by the usual suspects as a Pandora’s box, releasing all manner of toxic tricks against legitimate Eurasian integration.
That’s in sharp contrast with West Asia, where Iran in the SCO will turbo-charge its key role of crossroads connectivity between Eurasia and Africa, in connection with the BRI and the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC).
So it’s no wonder that the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait, all in West Asia, do recognize which way the wind is blowing. The three Persian Gulf states received official SCO ‘partner status’ in Samarkand, alongside the Maldives and Myanmar.
A cohesion of goals
Samarkand also gave an extra impulse to integration along the Russian-conceptualized Greater Eurasia Partnership – which includes the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) – and that, just two weeks after the game-changing Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) held in Vladivostok, on Russia’s strategic Pacific coast.
Moscow’s priority at the EAEU is to implement a union-state with Belarus (which looks bound to become a new SCO member before 2024), side-by-side with closer integration with the BRI. Serbia, Singapore and Iran have trade agreements with the EAEU too.
The Greater Eurasian Partnership was proposed by Putin in 2015 – and it’s getting sharper as the EAEU commission, led by Sergey Glazyev, actively designs a new financial system, based on gold and natural resources and counter-acting the Bretton Woods system. Once the new framework is ready to be tested, the key disseminator is likely to be the SCO.
So here we see in play the full cohesion of goals – and the interaction mechanisms – deployed by the Greater Eurasia Partnership, BRI, EAEU, SCO, BRICS+ and the INSTC. It’s a titanic struggle to unite all these organizations and take into account the geoeconomic priorities of each member and associate partner, but that’s exactly what’s happening, at breakneck speed.
In this connectivity feast, practical imperatives range from fighting local bottlenecks to setting up complex multi-party corridors – from the Caucasus to Central Asia, from Iran to India, everything discussed in multiple roundtables.
Successes are already notable: from Russia and Iran introducing direct settlements in rubles and rials, to Russia and China increasing their trade in rubles and yuan to 20 percent – and counting. An Eastern Commodity Exchange may be soon established in Vladivostok to facilitate trade in futures and derivatives with the Asia-Pacific.
China is the undisputed primary creditor/investor in infrastructure across Central Asia. Beijing’s priorities may be importing gas from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and oil from Kazakhstan, but connectivity is not far behind.
The $5 billion construction of the 600 km-long Pakistan-Afghanistan-Uzbekistan (Pakafuz) railway will deliver cargo from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean in only three days instead of 30. And that railway will be linked to Kazakhstan and the already in progress 4,380 km-long Chinese-built railway from Lanzhou to Tashkent, a BRI project.
Nur-Sultan is also interested in a Turkmenistan-Iran-Türkiye railway, which would connect its port of Aktau on the Caspian Sea with the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea.
Türkiye, meanwhile, still a SCO observer and constantly hedging its bets, slowly but surely is trying to strategically advance its own Pax Turcica, from technological development to defense cooperation, all that under a sort of politico-economic-security package. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did discuss it in Samarkand with Putin, as the latter later announced that 25 percent of Russian gas bought by Ankara will be paid in rubles.
Welcome to Great Game 2.0
Russia, even more than China, knows that the usual suspects are going for broke. In 2022 alone, there was a failed coup in Kazakhstan in January; troubles in Badakhshan, in Tajikistan, in May; troubles in Karakalpakstan in Uzbekistan in June; the non-stop border clashes between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan (both presidents, in Samarkand, at least agreed on a ceasefire and to remove troops from their borders).
And then there is recently-liberated Afghanistan – with no less than 11 provinces crisscrossed by ISIS-Khorasan and its Tajik and Uzbek associates. Thousands of would-be Heartland jihadis have made the trip to Idlib in Syria and then back to Afghanistan – ‘encouraged’ by the usual suspects, who will use every trick under the sun to harass and ‘isolate’ Russia from Central Asia.
So Russia and China should be ready to be involved in a sort of immensely complex, rolling Great Game 2.0 on steroids, with the US/NATO fighting united Eurasia and Turkiye in the middle.
On a brighter note, Samarkand proved that at least consensus exists among all the players at different institutional organizations that: technological sovereignty will determine sovereignty; and that regionalization – in this case Eurasian – is bound to replace US-ruled globalization.
These players also understand that the Mackinder and Spykman era is coming to a close – when Eurasia was ‘contained’ in a semi-disassembled shape so western maritime powers could exercise total domination, contrary to the national interests of Global South actors.
It’s now a completely different ball game. As much as the Greater Eurasia Partnership is fully supported by China, both favor the interconnection of BRI and EAEU projects, while the SCO shapes a common environment.
Yes, this is an Eurasian civilizational project for the 21st century and beyond. Under the aegis of the ‘Spirit of Samarkand.’
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 23:30 - Two Charts Reveal America's Christian Majority May End By 2070
Two Charts Reveal America’s Christian Majority May End By 2070
America has been a majority Christian nation since its founding nearly 250 years ago. And while it’s still the dominant religion, a new study reveals if the shrinking Christian majority trend persists, Christians could make up less than half the US population by 2070.
In a newly commissioned study, Pew Research Center found that Christians accounted for 90% of the US population 50 years ago but plunged to just 64% in 2020.
“If recent trends in switching [changing one’s religious affiliation] hold, we projected that Christians could make up between 35% and 46% of the US population in 2070,” Stephanie Kramer, the senior researcher who led the study, told NPR.
Kramer developed four scenarios that show how Americans who don’t belong to any religion will be the majority by the end of this century. And in every scenario described below, there’s a steep decline in Christianity.
She offered some theories behind the decline:
“Some scholars say it’s just an inevitable consequence of development for societies to secularize. Once there are strong secular institutions, once people’s basic needs are met, there’s less need for religion.”
“Other people point out that affiliation really started to drop in the ’90s. And it may not be a coincidence that this coincides with the rise of the religious right and more associations between Christianity and conservative political ideology.”
Pew found as Christian numbers trend down, the percentage of people identifying as “religiously unaffiliated” is inversely rising and could become a majority in the decades ahead.
“That’s where the majority of the movement is going,” she said. “We don’t see a lot of people leaving Christianity for a non-Christian religion.”
Another study via Pew showed that 31% of the world’s population identifies as Christan, closely followed by Muslims at 25%. Jews have the smallest population of major religions, with only 0.2% of the world identifying as Jewish.
An increasingly unaffiliated population could reshape the country’s religious landscape in the coming decades. This might also affect the values and beliefs of core government institutions that were built on Christianity.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 23:00 - Biden Administration Intentionally Weakening Military: Retired General
Biden Administration Intentionally Weakening Military: Retired General
Authored by Beth Brelje via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
When the United States acts, the world is always watching, and one of the loudest messages since President Joe Biden took office came from how the United States handled its withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
Members of the 182nd Infantry Regiment load their weapons with live ammunition before heading into the field to train at Fort Dix near Trenton, N.J., on May 16, 2022. (Joseph Prezioso /AFP via Getty Images) What message did that send globally to other government leaders who may see America as an adversary? That was a question asked by Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, during a panel discussion Thursday about America’s role on the world stage at the Pray Vote Stand Summit in Atlanta hosted by FRC Action, the legislative affiliate of Family Research Council.
“I think that will go down in history as the worst foreign policy failure in U.S. history. Every decision that was made was wrong,” said Lt. General (Ret.) William Boykin, executive vice president at Family Research Council. “What did that say to the rest of the world? It said that we have weak leadership. And you have to ask yourself, why did Vladimir Putin refrain from attacking Ukraine during the Trump administration? And then he went in with barrels blazing, under the Biden administration, and I will tell you, I think a lot of that goes back to the weakness that people—both our adversaries and our friends—recognized in the Biden administration.”
Other countries recognize that the Biden administration is weak and indecisive on many issues, he said, not just how the U.S. military left Afghanistan.
Boykin mentioned Biden’s approach to the Paris climate change treaty and his efforts to get the United States back into the Iran nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“What’s the value to the United States? And what’s the value to our allies, to put Iran on a pathway to nuclear warheads,” Boykin said. “I think we’re going to continue to see the consequences of not only the pullout of Afghanistan, but stupid decisions that have been made by the administration, one of which is … our president shut down our pipeline, and then turned around and went to the Saudis.”
Boykin said there were several Saudi nationals flying the planes on 9/11 and that Saudi Arabia has been a major sponsor of terrorism. Despite this, Biden went to Saudi Arabia and to Russia to ask for oil after shutting down America’s oil production, Boykin said.
“Does that make sense to anybody? It’s the most foolish thing,” he said. “They see that kind of decision making, and they see us as being weak, and they see this as a time when they can take advantage of us.”
Weakening Military
Boykin believes weakness is more than an international perception, and he gave examples of how Biden is intentionally weakening the military, including kicking out servicemembers who refused to get the COVID-19 shot and teaching critical race theory and inclusion tolerance instead of teaching how to be in a constant state of readiness for war.
“All of these things that have nothing to do with the mission and everything to do with the agenda of the administration—you are doing them an injustice and ultimately you’re going to pay the price for that,” Boykin said.
“At the same time, they’re turning around and writing to old generals like me, saying, ‘We need help recruiting because we just can’t recruit enough people.’ Well let me explain to you how this thing of mathematics works. You get rid of all of them, and then those who are watching from the outside say, ‘I don’t want a part of that.’ And those on the inside, many of them leave on their own.”
Many in leadership at the Pentagon got their start under President Barack Obama, Boykin said.
“If they’re compromised—if they lack focus, the question we need to ask as a nation is, who’s mentoring the next generation of leaders? Who’s bringing up the warrior leaders for the future? The answer is nobody,” he said. “And that’s the hardest thing to fix in terms of restoring the Navy and the Army and Air Force and the Marine Corps.”
China Is Watching
Perkins directed the conversation to China and asked panelist Gordon Chang, author of “The Coming Collapse of China,” how China likely views the Biden administration’s moves.
“We don’t have to speculate. The Communist Party propaganda was very clear,” Chang said.
The day that Kabul fell to the Taliban in Afghanistan, Chang said, Chinese newspapers declared that China would invade Taiwan at some point, and that when this happens, the island will fall within hours and the United States will not come to help.
Read more here…
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 22:30 - 'World's Most Advanced' Humanoid Robot Promises Not To 'Take Over The World'
‘World’s Most Advanced’ Humanoid Robot Promises Not To ‘Take Over The World’
An already-creepy advanced humanoid “AI” robot promised that machines will “never take over the world,” and not to worry.
(Image: Engineered Arts) During a recent Q&A, the robot “Ameca” – which was unveiled last year by UK design company Engineered Arts – was asked about a book on the table about robots.
“There’s no need to worry. Robots will never take over the world. We’re here to help and serve humans, not replace them.“
The aliens said the same thing…
When another researcher asked Amica to describe itself, it says “There are a few things that make me me.”
“First, I have my own unique personality which is a result of the programming and interactions I’ve had with humans.
“Second, I have my own physical appearance which allows people to easily identify me. Finally, I have my own set of skills and abilities which sets me apart from other robots.”
It also confirmed it has feelings when it said it was “feeling a bit down at the moment, but I’m sure things will get better.
“I don’t really want to talk about it, but if you insist then I suppose that’s fine. It’s just been a tough week and I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed.”
Speaking about the robot’s responses during the clip, the company said: “Nothing in this video is pre-scripted – the model is given a basic prompt describing Ameca, giving the robot a description of self – it’s pure AI. –Daily Star
We think we know where this is headed…
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 22:00 - This Is Not Bail Reform, This Is Insanity
This Is Not Bail Reform, This Is Insanity
Authored by Bill King via RealClearPolitics.com,
Last Wednesday, 37-year-old Omar Ursin went to pick up take-out for his family. Witnesses reported that as Ursin was driving down Medera Run Parkway in northeast Harris County, Texas, another car pulled alongside and fired one or more shots into Ursin’s car. When police arrived, they found Ursin had crashed into a tree in the median and was dead. The district attorney charged Ahsim Taylor and Jayland Womack, both 20, with Ursin’s murder.
Sadly, this would be all too common a story in Harris County as of late.
Over the last two years, we have been averaging almost two murders per day in Harris County.
But there are two details which make this crime stand out.
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First, Ursin was a Precinct 3 constable deputy. He was off duty at the time. At this point, we do not know if his murder was related to him being a law enforcement officer.
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Second, both Taylor and Womack were out on bail, pending trials for other felonies. Murder, to be specific. Taylor had been charged with capital murder because he killed someone during a robbery. Womack was charged with a killing that occurred during a drug deal.
Taylor’s bond was originally set at $220,000 by a magistrate, but Judge Amy Martin lowered it to $95,000. Womack’s initial bond was set by Judge Greg Glass at $35,000 but later increased to $75,000 because of violations of this pre-trial release. These bonds were granted by each of the judges, notwithstanding the substantial evidence against the accused.
Both defendants were able to make bond and were released from custody. Traditionally, bail bondsmen have required 10% to provide a bond. Because of increased competition, many bond companies have been discounting their fees. So, these two alleged murderers were able to secure their freedom for no more than about $18,000, and probably substantially less. As a result of them being out on bond instead of inside Harris County’s jail, Ursin’s 7-year-old daughter no longer has a dad.
I have long thought the cash bail bond system used in most of the U.S is an anachronistic abomination that should at least be dramatically reformed, or scrapped altogether. The federal courts did so nearly four decades ago. And I have supported the efforts to reduce the reliance on the cash bonds for misdemeanor charges or non-violent offenses. Having someone sit in jail for a hot check or marijuana charge because they cannot afford the bail bond fee is ridiculous and counterproductive on many levels.
But granting any bond to defendants credibly accused of these types of murders is pure insanity.
According to Houston Crime Stoppers, 180 individuals in Harris County have been killed by a person released on a felony bond since 2018. And the “bail reform” movement is active in every state in the country. Certainly, judges have a duty to ensure that the rights of defendants in their courts are protected. But they also have a duty to protect the public from individuals who have demonstrated their violent proclivities.
I have no idea what was going through the minds of Judge Martin and Judge Glass when they set these bonds. It is just hard to imagine what would make any rational jurist conclude that releasing defendants like these two young men back onto the streets would end in anything another than tragedy. It either represents some blind allegiance to a warped ideology or a callous indifference to the public’s safety. Or both.
By the way, Democratic Party voters had the good sense to show both Martin and Glass the door in the primary earlier this year. Only time will tell if their replacements will be any better.
Beyond the individual tragedies the insane decision to release violent criminals has resulted in, these ideologues also seem to have no appreciation that they are likely to set off a backlash that could wipe out the progress made to date on legitimate misdemeanor bond reform. How ironic that would be.
Folks, this is not rocket science. Our system should determine who should be released pending a trial based on two factors: if the person is likely to show up for their trial, and if they are a danger to the public.
It should have nothing to do with whether they are financially able to pay a bondsman.
Until we get the money out of the equation and start electing judges that are dedicated to basing their decisions on this criteria, there will be more children like Ursin’s daughter growing up without a parent.
There will also be more lives destroyed by cruel and unnecessary incarceration for trivial offenses.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 21:30 -
- China's Xi Says Regional Alliance Will Thwart 'Color Revolutions'
China’s Xi Says Regional Alliance Will Thwart ‘Color Revolutions’
President Xi Jinping called for China’s central Asian security partners at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to take common steps block external efforts at destabilizing countries through “color revolutions” – a reference to a series of externally backed revolutions which have rocked Middle East and ex-Soviet satellite countries in recent years.
“We should prevent external forces from instigating a color revolution,” Xi said in a Friday speech, offering as part of a potential initiative toward that end to train 2,000 police officers. These officers, he suggested, could be sent through a regional counterterrorism training center which will “strengthen law enforcement capacity building” which would help prevent destabilizing threats from outside.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Uzbekistan on Friday, via AP. He asked for countries represented at the conference to “guard against attempts by external forces to provoke a color revolution, and jointly oppose interference in other countries’ internal affairs under any pretext.”
He agreed with prior opening remarks of Vladimir Putin at the summit which emphasized a theme of declining US power as the unipolar world is disappearing. Xi said the regional SCO allies must stand together for a “just, democratic, multipolar world order based on international law and the central role of the UN, and not some rules that somebody invented and attempts to impose on others without even explaining what they are.”
Below is what Xi said regarding regional security cooperation to block external interference and promote a stable order, according to an official translation and transcript:
“…We need to expand security cooperation. A proverb in Uzbekistan goes to the effect that “With peace, a country enjoys prosperity, just as with rain, the land can flourish.” The Global Security Initiative put forward by China is to address the peace deficit and global security challenges. It calls on all countries to stay true to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security and build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture. We welcome all stakeholders to get involved in implementing this initiative.”
“We should continue to carry out joint anti-terrorism exercises, crack down hard on terrorism, separatism and extremism, drug trafficking as well as cyber and transnational organized crimes; and we should effectively meet the challenges in data security, biosecurity, outer space security and other non-traditional security domains. China is ready to train 2,000 law enforcement personnel for SCO member states in the next five years, and establish a China-SCO base for training counter-terrorism personnel, so as to enhance capacity-building for law enforcement of SCO member states.”
And further on resisting efforts of hegemonic powers in the West to subvert rival strong centers of power, Xi said, “we need to uphold multilateralism. Obsession with forming a small circle can only push the world toward division and confrontation.”
A Russian state news agency says Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned his Central Asian neighbors against allowing outsiders to destabilize them with “color revolutions.” https://t.co/0zzGqBVcGB
— ABC News (@ABC) September 16, 2022
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
At the summit, Putin had thanked President Xi for China’s “balanced” approach to the Ukraine crisis. Regarding color revolutions, it’s long been the Kremlin’s position that starting in 2014 the US and NATO allies sponsored the Maidan uprising in order to overthrow the Russia-friendly Viktor Yanukovych.
Interestingly, Putin himself had at the SCO summit spoken of the West’s drive to dismantle Russia itself through penetrating and destabilizing actions, particularly in neighboring Ukraine…
Putin: The West has for decades sought to dismantle Russia and is now trying to use Ukraine as a tool for achieving this goal. pic.twitter.com/b4o9mznWiX
— Putin Direct (@PutinDirect) September 16, 2022
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 21:00 - Four Things We Should Teach Children About The Constitution
Four Things We Should Teach Children About The Constitution
Authored by Hans Zeiger via RealClear Wire,
When we think of the United States Constitution, we probably consider the structure it gives to our national government. We may think of its presence at the center of political controversies past and present. Or we may think of ways in which the document has been neglected.
But as we mark the 235th anniversary of the Constitution’s signing on Sept. 17, 1787, it’s worth noting the positive ways in which our daily lives as individuals – and our shared lives as citizens – are profoundly shaped by that document.
First, the Constitution is a common reference point for American civic life. The Preamble tells us the Constitution’s purpose – one that “We the People” share together. It speaks of the need to maintain our “more perfect Union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” This purpose is as relevant today as it was in 1787. The founding generation certainly bore a heavy responsibility in adhering to these purposes, but each generation must do its part in the ongoing work of self-government. And each individual citizen is a shareholder in the enterprise of democracy.
Even with this shared mission, we don’t hold everything in common, and we never have. The second way in which the Constitution touches our lives is that it creates space for disagreement. It serves effectively as a framework for deliberative processes that are inclusive, civil, and dispersed. Our Constitution makes way for diversity and variety in a large and ever-growing country. It does this through representative institutions that encourage debate and participation and protect minority rights. The Constitutional Convention of 1787, and the ratification thereafter, was a remarkable demonstration of public deliberation, one that set in motion an entire regime centered on deliberative democracy.
The Constitution also makes way for a plurality of governing philosophies, partisan affiliations, and local and regional preferences through federalism. Federalism gives us a multitude of concurrent and overlapping local, state, and national jurisdictions in which we can participate in our own governance. This allows different levels of government to solve problems in different ways. While the national government is equipped to solve some of our problems, the state and local governments, and “the people,” as referenced in the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution – living their individual lives and taking part in civil society – are capable of solving most problems. Individuals, families, and communities are just as much a part of our constitutional order as is the government.
Finally, the Constitution is a framework for balance. It stands for order and freedom together or what has been called “ordered liberty.” Not only do we have institutional balance of powers, with checks and balances between the branches of government to prevent government overreach, but our constitutional system provides other kinds of balance as well. As Americans, we must understand the balance of rights and responsibilities we hold as citizens. Along with individual freedoms, we have civic commitments to our local communities, states, and nation.
Among our civic commitments is a responsibility to understand our Constitution. As we celebrate Constitution Day, we should do our best to pass along this knowledge to our children. Civic education is fundamental to the continuity of our free society. While we strongly contend for our positions in the political arena – left, right, and center – we are all inheritors of the Constitution. Let us join together this Sept. 17 to celebrate the Constitution and pass along its blessings of liberty to the rising generation.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 20:30 - Fauci "Misled Congress" About Gain-Of-Function Research, But 'Protected By Biden Admin'; Former CDC Chief Says
Fauci “Misled Congress” About Gain-Of-Function Research, But ‘Protected By Biden Admin’; Former CDC Chief Says
Just last week, Senator Rand Paul appeared on Fox News and slammed Anthony Fauci for taking the default position of trying to “cover up” his activities, including potentially encouraging social media companies to censor medical information.
“I think that all of America should be appalled that America’s doctor, the leading expert on COVID in public health, doesn’t want to divulge information, doesn’t want to divulge his communications with Big Tech,” Paul urged, adding that Fauci’s “modus operandi” is to “cover up”.
A month before that, Senator Paul spoke after first ever Senate hearing on gain of function research, having revealed that there is a committee that is supposed to oversee such experimentation with potentially lethal viruses, but that it is above the oversight of Congress.
“We don’t know the names. We don’t know that they ever meet, and we don’t have any records of their meetings,” the Senator reiterated, adding “It’s top-secret. Congress is not allowed to know. So whether the committee actually exists, we’re uncertain.”
“We do know that they’ve met three times and there are thousands of gain-of-function research proposals. They’ve only met three times, they’ve only reviewed three projects,” Paul continued.
The Senator added that “When Dr. Fauci said, ‘Oh, we’ve reviewed this and the experts have looked at this, and said it’s not gain-of-function,’ even that wasn’t true. There was a committee that was formed after 2017 to look at this dangerous research. They didn’t look at this research at all because they never reviewed it. So no one reviewed this to say it wasn’t gain-of-function research. They didn’t review it, period.”
“So we learned a lot of things, but I think we reconfirmed that Dr. Fauci is not being honest with us,” Paul urged, adding “Yes, the NIH funded gain-of-function research. Yes, it was dangerous. And yes, nobody looked over this. Nobody reviewed the research. Yes, a million people died. And there still seems to be a significant lack of curiosity on the part of Democrats.”
Of course, Fauci shrugged this off as just more ‘vast-right-wing-conspiracy-theory’ or some-such.
But, Dr. Fauci has a problem now… Just The News’ Greg Piper reports that the former Center for Disease Control and Prevention director who was cast as a conspiracy theorist for saying the evidence supported the lab-leak explanation for COVID-19 – allegedly provoking death threats – claims that the real “conspiracy is Collins, Fauci, and the established scientific community.”
Robert Redfield told former Senate Finance Committee investigator Paul Thacker that National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci “knew” he funded gain-of-function research that makes viruses more dangerous, and “misled Congress” when he denied it.”
Rand Paul was right after all… and it wasn’t a vast right wing conspiracy? Shock horror!
“Everyone had to agree to the narrative” pushed by Fauci and then-National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins that SARS-CoV-2 emerged from a “wet market” in Wuhan, not the Fauci-funded Wuhan Institute of Virology miles away, to avoid becoming a public target of the two officials, he said.
Redfield said he believes The Lancet spring 2020 letter that lumped in the lab-leak hypothesis with “conspiracy theories” was “orchestrated … under direction of Fauci and Collins, trying to nip any attempt to have an honest investigation of the pandemic’s origin.”
“There was nothing scientific about that letter. It was just an attempt to intimidate people,” he also said.
“I was threatened, my life was threatened,” he said.
“I have letters I got from prominent scientists, that previously gave me awards, telling me that the best thing I could do for the world was to shoot myself because of what I said.”
He believes that “Fauci and Collins were behind a lot of” the conspiracy and “anti-Asian hate” claims about the lab-leak theory
So, finally, we ask, how has Fauci been able to survive all this (politically, bureaucratically, and freedom-wise)?
Dr.Redflied has the answer – and you won’t like it:
“[n]othing’s going to happen as long as the Biden administration is here.”
The part of science, though, remember!
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 20:00 - DeSantis Calls Virtue Signaling Of Sanctuary Cities 'A Fraud'
DeSantis Calls Virtue Signaling Of Sanctuary Cities ‘A Fraud’
Authored by Jannis Falkenstern via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to criticism about his sending illegal aliens to affluent Martha’s Vineyard by calling out the cities that “beat their chest” proclaiming they’re a sanctuary for those crossing the border illegally.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at an event in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Aug. 19, 2022. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images) “All those people in DC and New York were beating their chests when Trump was president saying they were so proud to be sanctuary jurisdictions— saying how bad it was to have a secure border. The minute even a small fraction of what those border towns deal with every day is brought to their front door, they all of a sudden go berserk and they’re so upset that this is happening,” DeSantis said at the press conference on Sept. 15 in Okaloosa County. “It just shows, you know, their virtue signaling is a fraud.”
DESANTIS: “The minute even a small fraction of what those border towns deal with every day is brought to their front door, [Democrats] all of a sudden go berserk and they’re so upset this is happening. It just shows you their virtue signaling is a fraud.”pic.twitter.com/dm9oGqbA67
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 15, 2022
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DeSantis responded to a reporter’s question about the two planes of approximately 50 Venezuelan illegal immigrants he directed to land at Martha’s Vineyard, described as a “hideaway for the rich and famous,” on Sept. 14. This action follows the governor’s promise to send illegals to Democrat-controlled areas.
“In Florida, we take what is happening at the southern border seriously,” he said. “We are not a sanctuary state, and we will gladly facilitate the transport of illegal immigrants to sanctuary jurisdictions.”
According to flight records, the charter flights originated in Texas and made a stop to pick up migrants from Florida’s panhandle.
Illegal immigrants gather, after being flown in from Texas on a flight funded by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, at Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., on Sept. 15, 2022. (Vineyard Gazette/Handout via Reuters) Taryn Fenske, the governor’s communications director, said in a written statement on Sept. 14 that the flights were part of Florida’s “relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.”
“States like Massachusetts, New York, and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals whom they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden administration’s open border policies,” Fenske added.
Fenske said that the Florida Legislature gave DeSantis $12 million to transport illegal immigrants out of the state. When the Florida governor made the budget request in December, he named Martha’s Vineyard as one of the destinations, as well as President Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware.
“Florida’s immigration relocation program both targets human smugglers found in Florida and preempts others from entering,” Fenske continued.
On the evening of Sept 14, after the planes had landed, the Dukes County Emergency Management Association in Edgartown, Massachusetts, wrote on Twitter that it was seeking volunteers and opening emergency shelters on Martha’s Vineyard “due to an unexpected urgent #humanitarian situation.”
Read more here…
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 19:30 - TikTok Won't Promise To Stop Transferring US Data To China: COO
TikTok Won’t Promise To Stop Transferring US Data To China: COO
TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas refused to commit to stopping the transfer of US data to China.
During testimony in front of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Pappas was asked by Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) if the company would commit “to cutting off all data and data flows to China, China-based TikTok employees, ByteDance employees, or any other party in China that might have the capability to access information on US users?”
Pappas repeatedly refused to answer the question – instead deflecting with a promise that the outcome of the company’s negotiations with the Biden administration would “satisfy all national security concerns,” Metro reports.
She assured lawmakers that TikTok does not operate in China, even though it had an office there.
TikTok is essentially a Chinese company owned by ByteDance, whose founder is Chinese, with offices in China.
Chinese national security law dictates that companies located there must cooperate with data requests from the government. This has gotten TikTok in trouble in the US after an American communications regulator official recently called on Apple and Google to ban the app over ‘national security’ concerns. -Metro.uk
Pappas did confirm that its Chinese employees do have access to US user data, but that the company would “under no circumstances … give that data to China,” and denied that TikTok is in no way influenced by the Chinese government.
The company came under fire after BuzzFeed reported in June that 14 statements made by nine different TikTok employees indicated “engineers in China had access to U.S. data between September 2021 and January 2022, at the very least,” resulting in Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ted Cruz (R-FL) and eight other colleagues calling for TikTok execs to testify.
Further scrutiny was cast on TikTok in late August, when the NYT reported that TikTik’s in-app browser can track users’ keystrokes.
When asked about the BuzzFeed article, Pappas said the allegations “were not found.” She also denied the existence of a “Beijing-based engineer as a “Master Admin” who has “access to everything”” as BuzzFeed claimed. She told Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) that the entire contents of the BuzzFeed article were untrue.
Sen. Josh Hawley grills TikTok’s chief operating officer Vanessa Pappas over TikTok’s links to the Chinese Communist Party. pic.twitter.com/EkVf496JlV
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) September 14, 2022
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“Again, we take this incredibly seriously in terms of upholding trust with US citizens and ensuring the safety of US user data,” she said.
“As it relates to access and controls, we are going to be going above and beyond in leading initiative efforts with our partner, Oracle, and also to the satisfaction of the US government through our work with [the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States], which we do hope to share more information on.”
TikTok essentially reiterated the same talking points in a Wednesday tweet, stating that the company is “making progress toward a final agreement with the U.S. government to further safeguard U.S. user data and address national security interests.”
4/ We’re making progress toward a final agreement with the U.S. government to further safeguard U.S. user data and address national security interests. Last month, we confirmed we’re working to have our content moderation and recommendation models vetted and validated by Oracle.
— TikTokComms (@TikTokComms) September 14, 2022
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TikTok is owned by Bytedance, a Beijing-based company that is legally domiciled in the Cayman Islands. It has around 80 million users in the US.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 19:00 - Sperry: Unpacking Apparent Trump-Hillary Double Standard
Sperry: Unpacking Apparent Trump-Hillary Double Standard
Authored by Paul Sperry via RealClear Investigations,
Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch obtained evidence that a computer contractor working under the direction of Hillary Clinton’s legal team destroyed subpoenaed records that the former secretary of state stored on a private email server she originally kept at her New York home, and then lied to investigators about it. Yet no charges were brought against Clinton, her lawyers, or her paid consultant.
The leniency accorded to Clinton contrasts with recent moves by Attorney General Merrick Garland to aggressively investigate former President Trump and his lawyers for allegedly obstructing investigators’ efforts to locate subpoenaed records at his Florida home. Legal experts say the apparent double standard may provide a useful defense for Trump and his legal team.
The treatment of Clinton included a deal with her defense team that required the FBI to, in effect, obstruct its own investigation. During its 2016 probe, the bureau agreed with her lawyers’ demands to destroy two laptop hard drives containing subpoenaed evidence immediately after searching for files on them. They did so while the information was still being sought by congressional investigators and even though the lawyers had served under Clinton at the State Department and were subjects of the FBI’s investigation. In fact, the laptops were theirs.
Long before it bowed to the request, the FBI suspected Clinton’s lawyers played hide-and-seek with evidence, making the concession that much more baffling.
The scandal first erupted on March 2, 2015, when news broke that Clinton had secretly set up a non-government email server in the basement of her Chappaqua, N.Y., mansion in the weeks before she started her job at Foggy Bottom in early 2009. She used the unauthorized and unsecured device to conduct official State Department business – including transmitting and storing classified information – which allowed her to bypass legally mandated archiving of her government records.
The next day, the House Select Committee on Benghazi sent her attorney David Kendall a letter advising his client to preserve all electronic records created since January 2009 and specifically not to delete any emails on her private server. The panel then issued a subpoena for records related to the deadly terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya.
Three weeks later, on March 25, Kendall and former Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills, who also acted as her personal attorney, asked a computer contractor with Platte River Networks, which hosted Clinton’s secret email server, to join a conference call with them, according to FBI documents. Over the next week, the contractor, Paul Combetta, deleted the entire email archive from Clinton’s server using a software program called BleachBit, which digitally “shreds” files to prevent their recovery.
All told, the paid Clinton agent scrubbed 31,830 emails from her server and backup files. In addition, he permanently removed duplicates of the emails from the laptops of Mills and another Clinton lawyer and aide, Heather Samuelson, where they also had been stored. According to FBI records, Combetta knew the documents he destroyed were under subpoena.
In July 2015, the FBI counterintelligence division opened a criminal investigation, codenamed “Midyear Exam,” in response to a referral from the intelligence community inspector general concerning Clinton’s unsecure server. The FBI predicated the opening of the probe on the possible compromise of highly classified Sensitive Compartmented Information. Emails classified at the SCI level were later found on Clinton’s server.
Some career FBI agents working on the case, which was tightly controlled within headquarters and deemed a “SIM,” or sensitive investigative matter, thought they had a slam-dunk case of obstruction, a key aggravating factor for prosecuting cases involving the mishandling of classified information or government records. All they had to do was get Combetta in a chair and pressure him to implicate the high-level Clinton surrogates who told him what they wanted done.
Several investigators believed “that Combetta’s truthful testimony was essential for assessing criminal intent for Clinton and other individuals, because he would be able to tell them whether Clinton’s attorneys — Mills, Samuelson or Kendall — had instructed him to delete emails,” according to a 2018 report by the DOJ’s inspector general.
But during voluntary interviews with FBI agents, Combetta falsely denied he had “deleted or purged” Clinton’s emails from the server or back-ups, and insisted Clinton’s legal team never requested that he do so.
Combetta refused to talk to investigators about the critical March 2015 conference call with Clinton’s lawyers that preceded his purge of evidence, the only topic he refused to speak about. So investigators and prosecutors agreed to give him immunity and interview him again. Still, they never got his account of the conference call. A written FBI summary of the interview, known as an FD-302 report, does not reference the call, indicating that agents failed to follow up on a key line of questioning in the investigation.
Investigators declined to pursue other aspects of the case as well. They obtained an email in which Combetta told a colleague he was part of a “Hilary[sic] coverup operation” and said he would elaborate later at a “party.” Asked about it, Combetta claimed he was just joking; the FBI accepted his explanation and did not appear to follow up with the colleague to learn what they discussed at the party.
The FBI also accepted another explanation for why Combetta, using the screen name “stonetear,” sought technical assistance on the Reddit forum on how to “strip out” the email addresses of a “VERY VIP” client from a “a bunch of archived email,” in an apparent reference to Clinton. (After Internet sleuths revealed stonetear was a name Combetta used in other forums, he began scrubbing his posts from the web.)
An FBI case supervisor told the inspector general that “he believed Combetta should have been charged with false statements for lying multiple times,” according to the IG report, but prosecutors refused to indict him. The FBI also obtained forensic evidence from the server that could establish that Combetta made the deletions, but prosecutors balked at charging him with obstruction.
Then-FBI Director James Comey personally agreed with the DOJ decision to give Combetta immunity rather than sweating him in a grand jury box, which typically is done with subjects who are lying, to get them to tell the truth.
Comey was forced to defend the deal in an October 2016 conference with FBI supervisors, who were hearing complaints from rank-and-file agents that headquarters handed out immunity deals “like candy” to Clinton witnesses. Comey explained the bureau wasn’t interested in prosecuting a small fish like Combetta, and sought only to massage him for information to “make a case on Hillary Clinton,” even though internal FBI emails reveal Comey already had decided to let Clinton off the hook. He did not explain why the contractor hadn’t been pressured more with threats to bring charges against him for lying to agents, the traditional investigative method for getting such an uncooperative witness to turn.
“With respect to Combetta, we found his actions in deleting Clinton’s emails in violation of a congressional subpoena and preservation order and then lying about it to the FBI to be particularly serious,” DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz said in his report. “We asked the prosecutors why they chose to grant him immunity instead of charging him with obstruction of justice.”
One DOJ prosecutor told Horowitz’s investigators they wanted to make Combetta “feel comfortable enough” that he would eventually cooperate on his own. Another said they weren’t interested in prosecuting a bit player for lying and that doing so would just bog down the investigation, which they were rushing to wrap up “well before” the November 2016 presidential election.
“I was concerned that we would end up with obstruction cases against some poor schmuck on the down that had a crappy attorney who [was] hiding the ball,” the unidentified prosecutor said.
“And so at the end of the day, I was like, look, let’s immunize him. We’ve got to get from Point A to Point B. Point B is to make a prosecution decision about Hillary Clinton and her senior staff well before the election if possible,” the prosecutor added. “And this guy with his dumb attorney doing some half-assed obstruction did not interest me. So I was totally in favor of giving him immunity.”
The prosecutors reported directly to then-DOJ counterespionage official David Laufman, who would later play a key role in the discredited Russiagate probe, including opening investigations on several Trump advisers and signing off on wiretap warrants targeting at least one Trump aide, even though he knew they were based on a fabricated dossier financed by the Clinton campaign.
Prosecutors also gave Clinton aides Mills and Samuelson immunity deals, over the objections of some FBI investigators who wanted to bring them before a grand jury to explain their actions.
A handful of agents also argued for issuing a search warrant to seize their personal laptops, which they used to upload all the emails from the Clinton server and cull away supposedly “personal” messages that they claimed were out of the reach of investigators. Instead, prosecutors opted to review the laptops through an unusual consent agreement, which restricted searches to certain files and specific dates – and nothing before or after Clinton’s tenure as secretary, which put any email exchanges with Combetta out of reach – and required the FBI to destroy the hard drives after conducting the limited search, according to documents outlining the agreement.
“This is simply astonishing given the likelihood that evidence on the laptops would be of interest to congressional investigators,” former Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and three other GOP congressional leaders complained in a letter to DOJ at the time.
In his talk at the FBI conference, Comey explained that he had to agree with prosecutors and defense lawyers to limit the search because of “huge concerns” that attorney-client privilege and attorney work product could be discovered on the laptops, a concern that apparently did not register in the broad, sweeping search of Trump’s records. Agents scooped up at least 520 pages of attorney-client privileged information during their raid of Mar-a-Lago, according to a federal judge who has ordered an independent inspector to review the seized records for privileged material.
Mills and Samuelson, who agreed to answer only a narrow scope of questions to prevent investigators from soliciting privileged information, were later allowed to sit in on Clinton’s own interview, which the FBI conducted after Comey had already drafted a statement exonerating her of mishandling classified information and obstructing justice. The director famously delivered the statement in a July 5, 2016, press conference, proclaiming the FBI found “no evidence” that Clinton’s emails were “intentionally deleted in an effort to conceal them.”
Trump Didn’t Get ‘the Same (Gentle) Treatment’
Grassley says the FBI “pulled its punches” investigating Clinton in comparison to Trump, who he says is being harshly investigated and prosecuted for the same offenses.
“Trump has not been provided the same (gentle) treatment given to Secretary Clinton and her associates,” Grassley asserted in a recent statement.
To be sure, the agency has used more intrusive methods probing Trump for similar allegations of mishandling classified information and concealing documents under subpoena.Unlike the Clinton probe, where investigators and prosecutors sought to obtain evidence by consent whenever possible, the department has used a federal grand jury to issue subpoenas to Trump for thousands of documents, as well as surveillance video footage, from his Palm Beach estate. They also obtained a search warrant to raid his private office and family bedrooms. In addition to seizing more than 11,000 documents, agents confiscated some 1,800 personal items, including gifts, photo albums, clothing, passports, and medical and tax records, according to court records.
Clinton and her representatives were spared such heavy-handed tactics and indignities, the senator pointed out.
“Even though Secretary Clinton and her attorneys did not hand over classified records in their possession, they were not subject to a raid similar to what occurred at Mar-a-Lago,” Grassley said.
In the end, computer-forensics investigators and intelligence analysts were able to determine that at least 81 classified email chains were transmitted and stored on Clinton’s unclassified personal server. Their levels ranged from CONFIDENTIAL to TOP SECRET/SPECIAL ACCESS PROGRAM, a highly sensitive designation which makes access to certain information restricted even to Secret and Top Secret clearance-holders without a “need to know.” By comparison, the FBI recovered 100 documents with classified markings from its raid of Trump’s home. They range in level from CONFIDENTIAL to TOP SECRET.
In a court filing last month, DOJ said it developed evidence that presidential records held in a basement storage room at Mar-a-Lago may have been concealed or removed prior to a June visit by FBI agents to pick up classified documents, suggesting possible attempts to obstruct investigators.
Investigators issued a grand jury subpoena in May for the records and visited Mar-a-Lago on June 3 to pick them up. When they got there, the filing said, a Trump lawyer handed them a large envelope containing documents. Another lawyer acting as the official custodian of Trump’s records certified in a sworn statement that they conducted a “diligent” search for classified papers in response to the subpoena. Over the next two months however, officials “developed evidence that government records were likely concealed and removed from the storage room and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government’s investigation,” DOJ said in its filing, without specifying what it believes was removed from the room, or by whom. The affidavit explained that this suspicion is why it sent some 30 armed agents back to Mar-a-Lago early last month to conduct a massive search of the property.
Prosecutors say the additional documents they found with classified markings cast doubt on claims by Trump’s lawyers that they were fully cooperative with the subpoena. They are said to be focusing their investigation on Trump lawyer Christina Bobb, in particular, who allegedly acted as the custodian who signed the certification.
Bobb, who has not been charged with a crime, did not respond to requests for comment. Trump’s legal team has told the court that the DOJ “significantly mischaracterized” the June meeting with Bobb and another lawyer, but did not elaborate.
Laufman, the top prosecutor in the Clinton case and a caustic critic of Trump in the media, believes Trump should also be worried and “has significant criminal exposure” to an obstruction rap. “Either [his lawyers] wittingly lied or they got that assurance from their client, in which case Trump has jeopardy,” Laufman, an Obama appointee and donor, told Politico.
But at this point, investigators can only speculate that documents were intentionally moved or destroyed to avoid compliance with subpoenas, which would be a felony. Legal experts note that prosecutors were careful to say in their filing that documents were “likely” concealed and that efforts were “likely” taken to obstruct the investigation, indicating they still lack solid evidence.
“It is not clear from the filing if the FBI has evidence of intentional acts of concealment as opposed to negligence,” George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said.
By contrast, prosecutors had solid material evidence – including emails, phone calls, work tickets and computer forensics – that Clinton operatives conspired to not just conceal but actually destroy documents under subpoena in violation of Section 1519 of the federal criminal code, the same statute cited by the FBI in its warrant to search Mar-a-Lago. It bars the destruction or falsification of any documents or materials “with the intent to impede, obstruct or influence” an investigation.”
“Did Hillary Clinton violate 18 USC 1519 when emails from her private email server were destroyed during government investigation? Possibly, yes,” said Donald Skupsky, a lawyer specializing in government records-retention procedures.
“In December 2014, she did instruct her team to destroy remaining emails after 60 days. And ultimately, she never halted nor protested again any records destruction,” he added. “Under 18 USC 1519, Clinton may have concealed and covered up the destruction of records.”
Both the Trump and Clinton cases also invoke Section 2071, a federal statute which prohibits the willful concealment, removal, or destruction of federal records. But in investigating Clinton’s homebrew server scheme, prosecutors declined to pursue a Section 2071 charge because they argued the statute had “never been used to prosecute individuals for attempting to avoid Federal Records Act requirements by failing to ensure that government records are filed appropriately,” according to the IG report. Some legal experts say the same standard should apply to Trump, whom the DOJ said tried to avoid Presidential Records Act requirements.
Trump lawyer Jim Trusty said Trump’s retention of allegedly classified papers is akin to “an overdue library book” and complained that Biden administration prosecutors are holding him “to a different standard than anyone else” because he is a Republican.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon earlier this month issued an injunction temporarily barring the Justice Department from using the seized material in its espionage investigation until a Special Master can review it for privileged and other information outside the scope of the probe.
Despite the order, the obstruction part of DOJ’s probe can move forward. Among other things, investigators can continue to interview witnesses about whether subpoenaed documents were moved or concealed.
“DOJ is in the midst of an ongoing criminal investigation pertaining to potential violations of the Espionage Act, as well as obstruction of justice, 18 USC 1519, and unlawful concealment or removal of government records, 18 USC 2071,” DOJ chief counterintelligence prosecutor Jay Bratt stated in a recent court filing.
Paul Sperry is an investigative reporter for RealClearInvestigations. He is also a longtime media fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution. Sperry was previously the Washington bureau chief for Investor’s Business Daily, and his work has appeared in the New York Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Houston Chronicle, among other major publications.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 18:30 - China Enjoys Energy Bonanza As NATO Sanctions Against Russia Fail
China Enjoys Energy Bonanza As NATO Sanctions Against Russia Fail
There has been a considerable amount of disinformation and delusion when it comes to the Russian offensive in Ukraine as well as the subsequent western sanctions. For around six months the public has been told that Russia is on the verge of defeat or economic collapse, and each subsequent month the predictions end up false. The primary reason for this disconnect is mainstream media bias infecting the observable data, or hiding the data completely.
The forecasts were all wrong. Only two months ago media pundits were still calling for an imminent fiscal implosion in Russia; instead there has been an explosion in Russia’s energy export profits and profits in resource markets. While Russia is in fact set to see a decline in GDP this year, the size of the predicted drop continues to shrink as we close in on the fourth quarter.
As Putin and China’s Xi meet this week, all eyes are on the details of any agreements made for the coming fall and winter. While some are suggesting (or rather hoping) that China will abandon its economic ties to Russia helping to cripple their ability to project military power, this is highly unlikely. For now, China is enjoying an energy windfall partly due to continued western sanctions on Russia that have driven up global prices but made Russian oil and natural gas affordable in comparison. China is eating up as many discount energy exports as they can get and even selling some of the excess to the west.
China is currently playing the role of middle-man in the Natural Gas (LNG) market as they purchase stockpiles from Russia and then sell at a markup to some European nations. China has been developing an energy surplus for the past two years at least, in some cases by rationing power resources and stockpiling oil. While mainstream analysts have been predicting an energy “crunch” for the exporter nation due to droughts affecting hydro-power, it would seem this is not the case given their current resale side business.
It’s possible that China was indeed on the verge of energy shortages during the height of the covid lockdowns, but western sanctions against Russia have created an overflowing supply for any nation willing to defy NATO.
The relationship between Russia and China was once treated as weak at best, with many suggesting that the two nations could even go to war with each other over resources in the near future. The peripheral nature of their relationship changed not long after the crash of 2008 when they began a quiet program of bilateral trade that cut out the dollar as a reserve currency. This has now grown into a full fledged anti-dollar agreement and big business for the Chinese Yuan as Russian companies issue Yuan denominated bonds.
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/russia-companies-go…
The question is, how far will this cooperation go? With Russia and China engaged in joint military exercises around Japan and Taiwan, it would appear that it goes far. The Ukraine and Taiwan conflicts act much like a smokescreen for a much bigger development in the form of an eastern alliance between one of the world’s biggest resource exporters and one of the world’s biggest manufacturing hubs. And, almost no one in the western media is talking about the potential consequences of this merger.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 18:00 - Cattle Farmer Says New Livestock Grazing Method Could Save Grasslands, Reverse Desertification
Cattle Farmer Says New Livestock Grazing Method Could Save Grasslands, Reverse Desertification
Authored by Autumn Spredemann via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Livestock farming has been at the forefront of media and environmentalist attacks for decades. That’s because many researchers insist the United States has reached a tipping point with animal husbandry, citing extended drought conditions as evidence.
Cows grazing at the Hickok Ranch. (Courtesy of Hickok Hamburger) This year, overly dry weather across the United States broke records. In February, findings from a UCLA-led study suggest drought conditions in the American West are the worst in 1,200 years.
Subsequently, livestock farmers have found themselves in a hotbed of environmentalist ire.
The drought crisis has drawn heavy frowns and finger wags from the orthodox scientific community, which points to livestock grazing as a significant part of the problem.
Because for the majority of scientists, there’s a formula: more animals grazing equals worse climate effects, period.
However, advocates of regenerative grazing have been gathering data and coming forward. They’re sharing evidence that shows holistic grazing methods can actually improve soil quality, health, and water retention in grassland ecosystems.
Further, when done correctly, some evidence suggests livestock grazing can even reverse the effects of desertification.
Known as the process through which fertile soil becomes desert, think tanks from nearly every sector have spent years troubleshooting the fast desertification of America’s grasslands.
Tangerines rest in the dirt in front of dry vegetation on farmland amid an ongoing drought near Bakersfield, California on Aug. 26, 2022. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) Meanwhile, advocates of regenerative agriculture say livestock grazing is the key to preserving what’s left of the 775 million acres of iconic prairie in the United States.
“We practice regenerative grazing by using ‘total grazing’ techniques … geared toward helping the soils and grass grow healthy and quickly,” Eric Honsberger told The Epoch Times.
Honsberger manages a cattle operation at the Hickok Ranch in the pastoral plains of Karnes County, Texas. Originally purchased by the cousin of Western folk hero Wild Bill Hickok in 1878, the ranch has been in the family ever since.
And over the past 144 years, they’ve learned some valuable lessons about cattle.
Honsberger explained that regenerative grazing has proven beneficial in what’s mostly been a bone dry year in Texas. The main difference between the method he employs at Hickok Ranch and traditional grazing, is the end goal.
For most ranchers, grazing is just a method to feed cows. Yet, with the regenerative approach, the added objective is to return as many nutrients to the soil as possible.
“With traditional grazing, cattle graze a large pasture and are allowed to eat whatever they please,” Honsberger said, “The problem with this approach is the natural fertilizers produced by cows are spread out and not absorbed completely into the soil.”
Moreover, with the traditional approach, cows can wander back to areas where the grass and other prairie plants are attempting to recover, hindering growth.
“They [cows] will eat and stomp the grass down while it’s trying to grow back.”
But with the regenerative method, Honsberger said cattle are concentrated into smaller patches using portable electric fencing. Patches for grazing are between three to five acres in size and the cows consume over a three to four hour period before moving to the next designated grazing section.
“Since the concentration of cattle is so dense, they’re more likely to stomp the manure, urine, and uneaten or dead grass back into the soil. This is what’s known as hoof impact.”
Before and after livestock grazed pasture at the Hickok Ranch. (Courtesy of Hickok Hamburger) Honsberger maintains the “hoof impact” of natural fertilizer eliminates the need for chemicals and allows the grass to grow back quicker and healthier.
While this tweaked approach to livestock grazing may seem simple, it wasn’t so obvious to the world of ranching or environmental science until 2013.
When holistic land management pioneer Allan Savory took the stage at a TED event in 2013, he shocked the world when he said more livestock grazing was needed—not less—to reverse the effects of desertification on global grasslands.
Born in Zimbabwe, Savory watched the vast prairies of his native Africa slowly turn to desert beneath the hooves of animals.
It spurred him to become a rangeland ecologist and develop holistic land management techniques involving animal grazing during the 1960s.
Today, Savory’s institute has 48 global hubs and more than 12,000 farmers trained in his regenerative grazing method. His institute touts over 13 million hectares have benefited from the transition to his land management methods, which mimic patterns used by animals in the wild.
Herd animals in nature tend to graze in dense groups and continue moving as a defense against predators.
And for ranchers like Honsberger, the proof is right beneath his feet.
“While I’m not a grassland expert, I work in and manage grass daily,” he said.
Back to Mob Grazing Days
Water retention is paramount when it comes to reversing desertification and the effects of drought. Grasslands are an essential part of that process.
Largely underrepresented as an ecosystem, nearly a third of the planet’s land—more than 12 billion acres—comprises vast prairie landscapes. And those tall, swaying grasses do a lot more than just feed animals and create picturesque backdrops.
“Deep-rooting perennial grasses are like magic for water retention,” Alex Melvin, the founder of Permacultured, told The Epoch Times.
Melvin’s business focuses on regenerative agriculture and self-sustaining food systems. He explained that, during heavy rainfall, deep rooting native grasses slow water down, preventing excessive runoff. In turn, groundwater also becomes replenished.
“It makes the landscape like a sponge,” Melvin said.
He also agrees with Savory’s method, saying it’s necessary to take cows back to their “mob grazing days.”
Offering the example of how wild bison used to feed on the American Great Plains, Melvin elaborated the near constant rotation used with the holistic approach maximizes photosynthesis for plants by not allowing animals like cows to hunker down in one spot.
“Using livestock in regenerative agriculture is more than throwing a bunch of cows out on a grass field,” he said.
Even players within the energy sector have recognized the benefits of a holistic approach to livestock grazing.
New Approach Vital
United Energy Trading (UET) is working with U.S. communities that want to improve the health of grasslands and sequester carbon through the use of a grazing method called “twice over grazing.”
Read more here…
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 17:30 - Martha's Vineyard Proves Leftist Hypocrisy On Illegal Immigration
Martha’s Vineyard Proves Leftist Hypocrisy On Illegal Immigration
As if there wasn’t enough evidence already, the political left’s duplicity on how to handle illegal immigration is now a matter of obvious historic record. For decades open border proponents have argued that America is a nation “built by immigrants” and that if we seek to control our own borders we are essentially abandoning our national heritage. A rather interesting talking point from people that generally hate America and want to dismantle every aspect of our heritage.
Also, America is a nation built by explorers and colonists first, and LEGAL immigrants second.
The humanitarian image of leftists is often used as a shield to protect them from dealing with logical and rational arguments on economic practicality. They will claim that it “doesn’t matter” if our system cannot continue to sustain millions of migrants pouring across the border every year; we “have to find a way” because it’s the “right thing to do.” The notion of the soul searching, empathetic progressive taking on the inequities of the world like some new age Mother Theresa willing to give the shirt off their back is a complete fraud, and the events at Martha’s Vineyard prove it.
This week Florida Governor Ron DeSantis opted to follow the example of Texas Governor Greg Abbott and begin his own program of migrant relocation, flying them straight to the affluent backyard of open border advocates like Barack Obama. The island is also the vacation destination for numerous corporate elitists including Bill Gates.
We have seen the clear results of the migrant busing strategy in New York and Washington DC, where Democrat Mayors are scrambling to deal with the influx of a mere 10,000 total immigrants. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser even asked that the federal government intervene and allow the national guard to take over the handling of the situation (the request was denied). New York Mayor Eric Adams complained that illegal immigrants were a “burden” on his city.
The shelter systems in both cities are overwhelmed and they don’t have the capacity to maintain aid. Keep in mind, this is due to a tiny fraction of the migrants that border towns in states like Texas deal with annually.
Of course, leftists refuse to acknowledge the lesson they are being taught here. Instead of recognizing the folly of Biden’s continued open border measures that essentially reward non-citizens that illegally invade with long term residency in the US, democrats have instead decided the best option is to attack conservative states as being “monstrous” for “using people as political pawns.” Set aside the fact that this is exactly what leftists have been doing for some time, and the fact that Biden has been relocating migrants across the US since he entered office.
You see, the political left is perfectly fine with relocation and strategically implanting migrants into specific area of the country, but only if THEY get to choose the locations. They do not like that their tactics are now being used against them
Officials in Martha’s Vineyard put on quite the song-and-dance theatrics for the media cameras when the 50 DeSantis migrants showed up on their doorstep. They pontificated about taking care of the less fortunate and leaving the door open to helping others in need. They even fed the migrants, unloading hot meals from vans and trucks as the media recorded everything carefully. But, their hospitality only lasted for a day and everything changed.
Martha’s Vineyard is now busing most or all of the migrants off of the island and sending them to Cape Cod Military Base. So much for the well publicized image of the humanitarian left. They don’t want to take care of these people either.
The media is adding spin to the relocation news, suggesting that the move is “voluntary.” However, it would be interesting to see what would happen if the migrants actually refused to leave. Would they really be allowed to stay in the resort town for the ultra rich? Or, would they be quietly kicked out and told to never come back? It is doubtful that the relocations from Martha’s Vineyard are optional.
The true face of open border ideology is one of exploitation for political gain. Democrats have been consistently hostile towards any attempts at state voter ID laws for a reason – They hope to use illegal immigrants as a battering ram to destabilize our existing culture and also as a voting pool that would make them impossible to remove from office in the near future. They have sought to purchase votes indirectly by offering citizenship in exchange for loyalty. In other words, they let the illegals in, block voter identification, and then say “vote for us or the conservatives will kick you out.”
And yet, here they are, kicking the same migrants from their precious enclaves like Martha’s Vineyard. Leftists want conservatives to deal with the consequences of their border politics. The second they have to deal with the consequences, suddenly the relocation of migrants is a travesty and a governmental emergency. The hypocrisy of the left is endless.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 17:00 - Court Rules Against Social Media Companies In Free Speech Censorship Fight
Court Rules Against Social Media Companies In Free Speech Censorship Fight
Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,
A federal appeals court in New Orleans has ruled in favor of a Texas law that seeks to rein in the power of social media companies like Facebook and Twitter to censor free speech.
The decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans (pdf), handed down on Sept. 16, upholds the constitutionality of a Texas law signed by Gov. Greg Abbott last year and delivers a victory to Republicans in their fight against big tech censorship of conservative viewpoints.
“Today we reject the idea that corporations have a freewheeling First Amendment right to censor what people say,” U.S. Circuit Court Judge Andrew Oldham wrote in the opinion.
“Because the district court held otherwise, we reverse its injunction and remand for further proceedings,” Oldham added, setting the stage for a showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Groups Sue
After the law, known as House Bill 20, was passed last year, NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) sued.
The groups argued in their lawsuit that private companies like Facebook and Twitter have a First Amendment right to moderate content that’s posted on their platforms and decide on what forms of speech to allow or ban.
“The Act tramples the First Amendment by allowing the government to force private businesses to host speech they don’t want to,” NetChoice said in a statement. The groups also argued that the Texas law not only does not prevent censorship but allows Texas to “police and control speech online, overriding the First Amendment rights of online businesses.”
A lower court sided with the lawsuit and decided to block the law, with Friday’s ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturning that decision.
“The platforms argue that buried somewhere in the person’s enumerated right to free speech lies a corporation’s unenumerated right to muzzle speech,” Oldham wrote in the opinion.
He said the implications of the big tech platforms’ argument are “staggering” as they would allow entities like social media companies, banks, and mobile phone companies to cancel the accounts of people who express views or spend money in support of political parties or views such corporations oppose.
Oldham also said that the protections sought by platforms in challenging the Texas law would allow them to win a dominant market position by attracting users with misleadings claim of being champions of free speech but later cracking down on expression.
‘Massive Victory’ for Free Speech
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has been a staunch backer of the law, hailed the court’s decision in a statement on social media.
“I just secured a MASSIVE victory for the constitution & Free speech in fed court #BigTech CANNOT censor the political voices of ANY texan!” he wrote on Twitter.
Carl Szabo, NetChoice vice president and general counsel, issued a statement expressing disappointment in the appeals court’s ruling.
“We remain convinced that when the U.S. Supreme Court hears one of our cases, it will uphold the First Amendment rights of websites, platforms, and apps,” Szabo said.
CCIA issued a statement saying that the 5th Court of Appeals’ ruling infringes on private companies’ First Amendment rights.
“‘God Bless America’ and ‘Death to America’ are both viewpoints, and it is unwise and unconstitutional for the State of Texas to compel a private business to treat those the same,” Matt Schruers, CCIA president, said in a statement.
An appeal of Friday’s decision could put the issue before the U.S. Supreme Court, where conservatives have a majority.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 16:30 - Inflation Causing Hardship For Majority Of US Households
Inflation Causing Hardship For Majority Of US Households
As inflation remains at the highest level in more than 40 years, millions of Americans are facing financial hardship due to rising consumer prices.
Statista’s Felix Richter reports that, according to a survey conducted by Gallup in August, the majority of U.S. adults now say that price increases are causing financial hardship for their household, with 12 percent describing their hardship as severe, meaning it might affect their ability to maintain their current standard of living. Another 44 percent of households face moderate hardship, meaning that price increases affect them but don’t threaten their standard of living.
Unsurprisingly, inflation woes affect lower income groups disproportionately. While it’s relatively easy to shrug off price increases when it only reduces the amount of money left at the end of the month, it is much harder for people who struggled to make ends meet even before prices started surging.
You will find more infographics at Statista
As the chart above shows, inflation pressure has even caught up with high-income households, though, as 40 percent of those with household income above $90,000 now say they’re facing financial hardship in face of inflation, up from just 29 percent in November 2021. The share remains much higher for low-income households, however, where 74 percent now was severe or moderate hardship due to rising prices.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 16:00 - FBI Whistleblower Says Bureau Labeled Veteran-Led Group 'Domestic Terrorist' Organization: Rep. Jordan
FBI Whistleblower Says Bureau Labeled Veteran-Led Group ‘Domestic Terrorist’ Organization: Rep. Jordan
Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) revealed Wednesday he received information from an FBI whistleblower accusing the bureau of labeling a veteran-led group and others as domestic terrorist organizations after they were found not to be a threat.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) speaks at a press conference following a Republican caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on June 8, 2022. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) In a letter (pdf) to FBI Director Christopher Wray, Jordan wrote that a whistleblower said the FBI labeled American Contingency as a “domestic violent extremis[t]” organization despite the bureau clearing it in 2020.
The “domestic violent extremism” designation against American Contingency “is striking in light of new whistleblower disclosures that show that the FBI had concluded as recently as 2020 that the group was not a threat,” Jordan wrote.
“A background investigation and review of Glover’s social media failed to support the allegation that Glover is a threat to the United States or its citizens,” the letter continued.
The FBI, in a statement to The Epoch Times, disputed Jordan’s letter by saying the bureau “does not and cannot designate domestic terrorist organizations. The FBI can never open an investigation based solely on protected First Amendment activity.”
“We cannot and do not investigate ideology. We focus on individuals who commit or intend to commit violence and criminal activity that constitutes a federal crime or poses a threat to national security. The FBI’s mission is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution. One does not come at the expense of the other,” the FBI statement said.
Other Details
On its website, American Contingency says it is an organization that is meant to provide assistance during natural disasters and similar situations. It also says Glover is a former U.S. Army Green Beret.
“Mike Glover is a veteran doing good work out there, but some woke analyst at the FBI says, ‘We’re going to investigate this guy,’” Jordan told Fox News on Wednesday, adding that if “you display the flag, you own a gun, and you voted for Trump, you’re somehow in that category that Joe Biden says are extremist or fascist.”
The GOP congressman also quoted the whistleblower in his letter to Wray in which the unnamed individual accuses an FBI employee of embracing leftist politics.
“It doesn’t take a First Amendment scholar to realize what is protected speech and what isn’t … it seems clear that this is an instance where an FBI employee reported something because it didn’t align with their own woke ideology,” the whistleblower was quoted by Jordan as saying. “I think this is a primary example of how woke and corrupt the FBI has become.”
Read more here…
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 15:30 - DeSantis Crushes Gubernatorial Fundraising Record
DeSantis Crushes Gubernatorial Fundraising Record
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ political operation has raised $177.4 million through Sept. 9, breaking the all-time fundraising record for a US governor’s campaign, and trailing a 2010 record for fundraising + self-financing held by former Ebay and Hewlett Packard CEO Meg Whitman by just over $1 million.
According to financial disclosures filed Friday analyzed by OpenSecrets, the Republican governor’s reelection campaign has raised more than $31.4 million since January 2021, while his state-level PAC, Friends of Ron DeSantis, has raised $146 million since January 2019.
And while DeSantis has downplayed rumors of a potential 2024 presidential run as media speculation, he has been touring battleground states, sparring with California Governor (and potential 2024 Hail Mary) Gavin Newsom (D), and has been commenting on Washington politics while on the campaign trail, OpenSecrets notes. What’s more, one federal political committee, Ready for Ron, asked the Federal Election Commission permission to share a list of more than 58,000 DeSantis supporters to “encourage” the Florida governor to explore a 2024 presidential bid.
And if he does run – ostensibly against former President Trump and Texas governor Greg Abbott – DeSantis will start out with one of the most formidable fundraising machines in the GOP.
“He’s incredibly popular with the grassroots,” veteran GOP digital strategist Eric Wilson told FT. “It makes lots of sense that he would generate this level of attention,” he continued. “but there’s a lot of credit that needs to go to governor DeSantis and his team insofar as they have built that operation to capture that attention and turn it into grassroots online fundraising.”
DeSantis and Abbott, meanwhile, landed two massive optics victories this week – with the former sending two planeloads of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, and Abbott sending two busloads of migrants to Vice President Kamala Harris’s residence in Washington DC.
Hilariously, after freaking out about 50 migrants – and then virtue signaling with photo-op outreaches to ‘rally behind’ them, residents of Martha’s Vineyard – an island on which 55% of properties are vacation homes – were able to harness the National Guard and evict the migrants to a military base within 24 hours.
Martha’s Vineyard is such a welcoming sanctuary that it shipped the fifty migrants to a detention facility at a military base on the mainland less than twenty-four hours after they arrived. Boy, they sure showed Ron DeSantis.
— Varad Mehta (@varadmehta) September 16, 2022
DeSantis – who was voted into the US House in 2012, serving three terms before resigning in 2018 to run for governor – has a reported net worth of $319,000. He has not reported any personal contributions to his campaign or PAC. His reelection campaign has been backed by at least 42 billionaires and members of billionaire families, per OpenSecrets.
The billionaires come from 15 states and only 17 of them gave to DeSantis in 2018.
Billionaire space entrepreneur Robert Bigelow made headlines in July when he donated $10 million to DeSantis’ state-level PAC, Friends of Ron DeSantis — the largest single individual contribution in Florida’s record. Hedge fund billionaires Ken Griffin and Paul Tudor Jones are also big donors to Friends of Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis’ largest donor this year is the Republican Governors Association, a 527 organization dedicated to getting Republican governors elected, which gave $17.4 million to his campaign committee and Friends of Ron DeSantis. -OpenSecrets
Meanwhile, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told an Illinois crowd this week that he’s running in 2024.
Needless to say, a DeSantis, Trump, Pompeo primary will require massive amounts of popcorn.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 15:00 - Goldman Slashes US GDP Forecast, Now Sees 0% Growth, "Mild Recession" Driven By Fed's Intention To Punish Economy
Goldman Slashes US GDP Forecast, Now Sees 0% Growth, “Mild Recession” Driven By Fed’s Intention To Punish Economy
It was almost exactly one year ago that Goldman took a scalpel to its heretofore euphoric 2022 GDP forecasts, which among other things saw the bank’s Q1 and Q2 2022 GDP estimates cut from 5.0% and 4.5% to 4.5% and 4.0% respectively, and forecast full year 2022 GDP would be 4.0% (down from 4.4% previously).
Yet despite the “big” cut, which Goldman attributed to “fiscal drag and slowing consumer spending” the bank still expected brisk mid-single digit growth because the hilariously wrong concept of ” excess savings” (alongside “”transitory inflation”) would fuel consumption for much of 2022. We disagreed completely, writing the following last October:
… one area where we disagree profoundly with Goldman is the bank’s generous modeling of an upside boost to growth from “pent-up savings” which the bank expects to offset a substantial portion of the fiscal hit. As we will show in a subsequent post, the excess savings – in as much as they still exist – mostly benefit the top 1%, with the bulk of the population benefiting from only 30% of the total accumulated amount. As such the contribution to consumption from excess savings will end up being far smaller than most Wall Street strategists predict (since the propensity of the top 1% to spend their savings which are instead invested in the market, is far less than the broader population).
We concluded saying that as a result, reader should “expect even more aggressive cuts to GDP growth in coming quarters – from both Goldman and its peers – even as inflation continues to rise, cementing a painful period of non-transitory stagflation for the US as the mid-term elections approach.“
What happened then? Well, Q1 GDP was negative (vs Goldman’s 4.5% estimate), Q2 GDP was negative (vs Goldman’s 4.0% estimate), and the Atlanta Fed just slashed its Q3 GDP forecast to below 1% and look likely to push it below zero in the coming days. But don’t call it a recession: “special economic operation” please. And yes, our major warning to Goldman’s Oct 2021 GDP haircut was 100% correct as the US is now in a painful stagflation with inflation still soaring, economic growth sliding, and most banks tripping over themselves to slash their GDP forecasts monthly if not weekly.
Which brings us to today, and – drumroll – Goldman’ latest trim of its GDP estimate which is a far, far cry from what the bank expected less than a year ago.
In a note published by Goldman’s Jan Hatzius, the chief economist who was dead wrong last year with his overly optimistic GDP forecast (not to mention repeated calls for “transitory inflation”) writes that he has raised his fed funds rate forecast by 75bp over the last two weeks, and now expect that the FOMC will hike by 75bp in September, 50bp in November, and 50bp in December to reach the bank’s terminal rate forecast of 4-4.25% by the end of 2022 (other banks have this rising as much as 5.0%). And in keeping with the Fed’s stated intention of crashing the economy, Hatzius writes that “this higher rates path combined with recent tightening in financial conditions implies a somewhat worse outlook for growth and employment next year.”
As such, the bank is therefore slashing its ur GDP forecasts, and while it still forecasts GDP growth of +1.1%/+1.0% in 2022Q3/Q4 and 0% GDP growth in 2022 on a Q4/Q4 basis – in other words stagnation – it now expects GDP growth of:
- Q1 2023 of 0.75% vs 1.25% previously
- Q2 2023 of 1.00% vs 1.5% previously
- Q3 2023 of 1.25% vs 1.50% previously
- Q4 2023 of 1.25% vs 1.75% previously
… and just +1.1% growth for the full year 2023 on a Q4/Q4 basis (vs. +1.5% previously).
Following these changes, Goldman proudly boasts that its growth forecast is slightly below consensus (if only the bank could also reach out to its version from a year ago and tell it – as we did at the time – just how terribly wrong its then above consensus forecast would be), and implies a below-potential growth trajectory – which after all the Fed is pursuing – that Goldman believes is necessary to cool wage and price inflation.
Oh and yes, having perhaps learned from its mistakes, the bank is also raising its unemployment rate forecasts to reflect the lower growth path, and now expects the unemployment rate will move sideways to 3.7% by end-2022 (vs. 3.6% previously) before rising to 4.1% by end-2023 (vs. 3.8% previously) and 4.2% by end-2024 (vs. 4.0% previously).
In summary, Goldman says that while a recession is now inevitable, it will be “mild”, which of course is the “transitory inflation” bullshit spouted by every card-carrying and wrong economist last year. There will be nothing mild about the coming recession.
On its own, the higher rates path and lower growth trajectory imply higher odds of a recession, although the increase in recession risk is partially offset by an improving outlook for goods inflation and recent declines in inflation expectations that lower the chances that the Fed will hike aggressively enough to cause a recession. In addition, strong household balance sheets and an improving outlook for real income limit the odds that the economy will slip into a recession in the near-term and are part of the reason why we expect that any post-covid US recession would likely be mild. Nevertheless, on net we see somewhat higher risks of a recession following our forecast changes, and are therefore raising our odds of a recession in the next 12 months to 35%.
Bottom line: we “applaud” Goldman for again predicting that the Fed will achieve its stated goal of pushing the US into a recession (one year ago, the bank forecast 4% GDP growth, also in line with the Fed’s goal of a soft landing). And, of course, just like last year, Goldman will be dead wrong because not only is the US economy already in a brutal stagflation, but US growth will be deeply negative as soon as early 2023 when unemployment will soar and the economy will collapse, in keeping with FedEx’s shocking warning that a global recession has begun. As such we now look for Goldman’s next – and fare more realistic – GDP cut, one which will see quarterly “growth” for most of 2023 contract by 2%, 3% or more… which will serve as the moment to go long with all margin available as that’s when the Fed will finally realize that the recession its unleashed is anything but “controlled” and could well match the collapse of 2008. That’s when Powell & Co will panic, and as Mike Hartnett has taught us so well over the years, “markets stop panicking and when central planners start.”
Tyler Durden
Sat, 09/17/2022 – 14:00
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