Today’s News 19th December 2023

• Why The Pentagon Is A Multi-Trillion Dollar Fraud
  Why The Pentagon Is A Multi-Trillion Dollar Fraud

  Authored by Scott Ritter,

  The US Department of Defense has failed its sixth annual audit in a row, but taxpayer money will keep going down that drain..

  

  Recently, the Pentagon admitted it couldn’t account for trillions of dollars of US taxpayer money, having failed a massive yearly audit for the sixth year running.

  The process consisted of the 29 sub-audits of the DoD’s various services, and only seven passed this year – no improvement over the last. These audits only began taking place in 2017, meaning that the Pentagon has never successfully passed one.

  This year’s failure made some headlines, was commented upon briefly by the mainstream media, and then just as quickly forgotten by an American society accustomed to pouring money down the black hole of defense spending.

  The defense budget of the United States is grotesquely large, its $877 billion dwarfing the $849 billion spent by the next ten nations with the largest defense expenditures. And yet, the Pentagon cannot fully account for the $3.8 trillion in assets and $4 trillion in liabilities it has accrued at US taxpayer expense, ostensibly in defense of the United States and its allies. As the Biden administration seeks $886 billion for next year’s defense budget (and Congress seems prepared to add an additional $80 billion to that amount), the apparent indifference of the American collective – government, media, and public – to how nearly $1 trillion in taxpayer dollars will be spent speaks volumes about the overall bankrupt nature of the American establishment. 

  Audits, however, are an accountant’s trick, a series of numbers on a ledger which, for the average person, do not equate to reality. Americans have grown accustomed to seeing big numbers when it comes to defense spending, and as a result, we likewise expect big things from our military. But the fact is, the US defense establishment increasingly physically resembles the numbers on the ledgers the accountants have been trying to balance – it just doesn’t add up.

  Despite spending some $2.3 trillion on a two-decade military misadventure in Afghanistan, the American people witnessed the ignominious retreat from that nation live on TV in August 2021. Likewise, a $758 billion investment in the 2003 invasion and subsequent decade-long occupation of Iraq went south when the US was compelled to withdraw in 2011– only to return in 2014 for another decade of chasing down ISIS, itself a manifestation of the failures of the original Iraqi venture. Overall, the US has spent more than $1.8 trillion on its 20-year nightmare in Iraq and Syria. 

  These numbers are mind-numbingly large – so large that they become meaningless to the average person. The US defense enterprise is so massive that it is literally a mission impossible to speak of balancing the books. The American people might be willing to shrug off an accounting error or two. But the defense budget equates to American military power and the perceptions of national worth that translate into notions of American exceptionalism.

  The fact of the matter is that our cavalier approach to defense spending has resulted in fraud of a massive scale. The American people were sold a bill of goods – a military capable of projecting power world-wide to sustain the so-called “rules based international order” upon which the notion of American exceptionalism has been premised. As it turns out, the US military is as hollow as the numbers on the Pentagon ledgers. The American people have bought an apparatus that is incapable of fighting and winning a major war against any of the potential opponents arrayed against it. We failed to defeat Al Qaeda, ISIS, and the Taliban. And we are not able to defeat either China or Russia, let alone regional powers like North Korea and Iran. And yet we will simply continue to invest, in seemingly unquestioning fashion, into this enterprise, expecting somehow that a system that cannot pass an audit will somehow magically produce a different result despite the fact that we, the American people, are doing nothing to demand such a result.

  In short, the defense budget is the equivalent of “pay-to-play,” in which the American people pay the US government to produce the results necessary to sustain their overinflated sense of self-worth.

  We Americans have become so accustomed to being the biggest, baddest bully in the global arena that we assume that simply by pouring money into a system that had produced the desired results for more than seventy years that we could keep the good times rolling.

  But when you allocate money to a system that has been allowed to become conditioned to operate without accountability, don’t be surprised when the shiny mansion on the hill you thought you were buying turns out to be little more than a house of cards.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 23:40

• Applesauce Pouches May Have Been Intentionally Contaminated With Lead: FDA
  Applesauce Pouches May Have Been Intentionally Contaminated With Lead: FDA

  Authored by Lorenz Duchamps via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  U.S. health officials are investigating whether three brands of recalled cinnamon apple puree and applesauce that left dozens of American children sickened may have been intentionally contaminated with lead.

  

  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first reported adverse events in children as young as 1 year old in October. The agency has since launched an inspection at a plant in Ecuador that produced the cinnamon-flavored applesauce products.

  Jim Jones, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for Human Foods, told Politico in an interview published on Dec. 14 that although the investigation is still ongoing, investigators believe the adulteration may have been “an intentional act.”

  “We’re still in the midst of our investigation. But so far all of the signals we’re getting lead to an intentional act on the part of someone in the supply chain and we’re trying to sort of figure that out,” Mr. Jones said.

  “My instinct is they didn’t think this product was going to end up in a country with a robust regulatory process,” he added. “They thought it was going to end up in places that did not have the ability to detect something like this.”

  The affected products were marketed to parents and children under the brands WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree and Schnucks- and Weis-branded cinnamon applesauce pouches. They were sold nationwide by grocery chains such as Dollar Tree, as well as online retailers such as Amazon.

  In its latest update on the lead poisoning outbreak, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it has identified a total of 125 cases from 22 states across the nation.

  Of those cases, 46 are confirmed, 68 are probable cases, and 11 are suspected, according to the CDC. So far, all of the children are aged 6 or younger.

  ‘Economically Motivated Adulteration’

  Meanwhile, the FDA said health officials are looking into several theories as to why or by whom the lead was added to the applesauce pouches, pointing out that the agency currently believes the adulteration was “economically motivated.”

  “The FDA can confirm that one of the theories the agency is exploring is the potential that the cinnamon contamination occurred as a possible result of economically motivated adulteration,” an FDA spokesperson told Consumer Reports, stressing additional investigation is needed before the agency reaches any conclusions.

  According to the FDA, economically motivated adulteration refers to someone intentionally leaving out, taking out, or substituting an ingredient to make the product appear better or of greater value.

  Asked why U.S. food safety laws wouldn’t have prevented the tainted products from entering the country, Mr. Jones said intentional adulteration is “always going to be tricky to absolutely stop.”

  “We have limited authority over foreign ingredient suppliers that do not directly ship product to the U.S. because their food undergoes further manufacturing/processing prior to export,” the FDA spokesperson told Politico, which first reported the story.

  More Details

  According to the CDC, there is “no safe blood lead level” for young children. The agency said it uses a marker of 3.5 micrograms per deciliter to identify children with elevated blood lead levels—higher than most American children aged between 1 and 5 years.

  In a report released on Nov. 13, the CDC said an investigation found 22 children who had consumed the lead-contaminated applesauce pouches had blood lead levels as high as 29 micrograms per deciliter, far above the CDC’s marker of 3.5 micrograms per deciliter.

  

  Three recalled applesauce products—WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches, Schnucks-brand cinnamon-flavored applesauce pouches and variety pack, and Weis-brand cinnamon applesauce pouches. (FDA via AP)

  The children experienced signs and symptoms including headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, change in activity level, and anemia, according to the CDC.

  Lead is toxic to humans, and exposure at any age or health status can lead to serious symptoms. In adults, high blood lead levels can increase their risk for high blood pressure, other cardiovascular effects, kidney problems, adverse reproductive outcomes, and gout.

  Although most children with lead exposure have no obvious immediate symptoms, parents and caretakers should consult a health care professional if they suspect a child may have been exposed to lead, according to the FDA.

  Short-term exposure to lead could result in headaches, abdominal pain/colic, vomiting, and anemia, while longer-term exposure could result in irritability, lethargy, fatigue, muscle aches or muscle prickling/burning, constipation, difficulty concentrating/muscular weakness, tremor, and weight loss.

  According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, heavy metals like lead can get into food products from the soil, air, water, or industrial processes.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 23:00

• 3-Way Gone Wrong? Florida GOP Suspends Chairman Over Rape Allegations By Woman Shared With Wife
  3-Way Gone Wrong? Florida GOP Suspends Chairman Over Rape Allegations By Woman Shared With Wife

  The Florida Republican Party has suspended its chairman, Christian Ziegler, after a a woman who was in a sexual relationship with Ziegler and his wife, Bridget, accused him of raping her after a planned 3-way sexual encounter went off the rails.

  

  The Sarasota Police Department is investigating an incident reported on Oct. 4 by the accuser, who says Christian Ziegler showed up for an agreed-upon 3-way with his wife, Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler. Police say that Bridget Ziegler was unable to make it, however Christian Ziegler arrived anyway and assaulted her.

  Bridget told police that she and her husband had been involved with the woman sexually, but only once in the past year. Bridget was the lone vote on the Sarasota County School Board against a resolution asking her to resign from her post on the board – which she has refused to do. She also serves on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ tourism board that oversees the district containing Walt Disney World.

  Christian Ziegler has denied the rape allegation, and says that the encounter with the woman was consensual.

  In response, the Florida Republican Party stripped him of his authority and all but $1 of his $120,000 salary until it can remove him.

  “These are serious issues,” said Jack Brill, GOP chair of Sarasota County, where Ziegler lives, the Orlando Sentinel reports. “[This] is uncharted territory for the great majority of everybody.”

  The unanimous decision by the party’s executive board to censure Ziegler took place at the Rosen Centre, the same Orlando hotel where he was elected chair just 10 months before.

  The man Ziegler had defeated for the job, Evan Power, called Sunday’s special meeting in his role as vice chair and will take over almost all of Ziegler’s powers alongside treasurer Mike Moberley.

  Power said he expects the full committee to officially remove Ziegler at a meeting in Tallahassee on Jan. 8. -Orlando Sentinel

  “Today, we took an appropriate action to bring accountability to one of our members,” Power said, following the meeting. “It was a hard moment for many of us. …  But the charges against him are serious in nature. And we cannot move forward as an organization without a new leader.”

  According to state Rep. Michelle Salzman (R-Pensacola), the situation is “very frustrating,” adding “[Ziegler] needs to resign. It was unanimous, every single motion today was unanimously [approved]. And he’s still there.”

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 22:40

• Truth Is The Biggest Threat To Democracy In DC
  Truth Is The Biggest Threat To Democracy In DC

  Authored by James Bovard via The Mises Institute,

  Early this year, Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guard member, was arrested and charged with transmission of national defense information and other charges.

  Teixeira allegedly leaked classified documents on the Ukraine war and other foreign policy issues to a Discord gaming group. The document propagated from there and appeared in many news articles in the following months.

  The Post article sympathetically portrays the struggles of U.S. government officials fighting to suppress the unapproved eruption of hard facts. In a passage sue to boost sales of Kleenex inside the Beltway, the Post quotes a U.S. government official who was permitted to remain anonymous: “We were blindsided and furious,” 

  The Post, which partnered with PBS for a television program on the Discord leaks, noted that the “top secret… leaks predicted Ukraine’s failure to make substantial gains in its counteroffensive — a multibillion-dollar effort that cost tens of thousands of Ukrainian and Russian lives. The bleak forecast provided a sharp contrast to Washington’s optimistic messaging on the war, and it hurt Ukraine’s relationship with its chief backer, the U.S. government.” The “bleak forecast” was vastly more accurate than anything emitted by the Biden White House. A senior defense official (anonymous, of course) told the Post that the Pentagon raced to determine “what information may have been compromised.”

  But the real challenge was determining which official lies had been debunked.

  

  The Post bewailed how the leaks discomfited the Ukrainian government.

  The Post noted that the “the leaks included never-before-released casualty estimates for Ukrainian forces, weaknesses in Ukraine’s ability to service damaged armored vehicles and the country’s shrinking supply of air defense munitions, which left population centers vulnerable to Russian cruise missile strikes and drones. Other documents warned that Ukraine was struggling to sustain troops, artillery and equipment, which probably would result in only “modest territorial gains” that fall “well short” of Kyiv’s goals.”

  But the only reason that the “leaks” caused an international uproar is because U.S. government officials and their foreign partners had been brazenly lying about Ukrainian successes and prospects for victory.

  Folks who read foreign news sources or independent American outlets or websites (such as Mises.org) were far more likely to recognize that the war would have no happy ending for either Ukraine or Russia.

  The Post omitted mentioning the role of federal censorship in deluding Americans about the Ukraine war. In July 2023, the House Judiciary Committee revealed that the FBI routinely colluded with Ukraine’s spy agency which sought help to suppress social media accounts that criticized the Ukraine government or “inaccurately reflects events in Ukraine” (including accurate battlefield reports of Ukrainian military defeats). The House report revealed that the FBI “routinely relayed these lists [of accounts] to the relevant social media platforms” and sought their suppression. The House report noted that “authentic accounts of Americans, including a verified U.S. State Department account and those belonging to American journalists, were ensnared in the censorship effort and flagged for social media companies to take down.” The CIA also pressured Twitter, calling for the suppression of “long lists of newspapers, tweets or YouTube videos guilty of ‘anti-Ukraine narratives,” journalist Matt Taibbi reported.

  Washington Post readers are the cream of the intellectual crop, at least according to Washington Post readers. So how did Post devotees respond to the indignation about the leaker?

  The article generated almost 600 comments. Among the most liked was an outburst from “ArtPope”:” Don’t understand why this article was written other than to support the pro-Putin, anti-Ukrainian position of the white nationalist evangelical fascist RepubliQans.” “Thinking4″ replied: They have profound ignorance of democracy and that their very words and actions undermine the standing of the US in the world.” (Thinking4 was probably not an English major.)

  None of the most liked comments showed any outrage about Team Biden’s perennial lies on Ukraine. Instead, raw hatred was popular: “Find these traitors. Put their butts in jail. 10 years minimum. No deals.” “Make it 30,” came a quick reply, and another person piled on: “In solitary.” Said another: “Throughout history, the traditional punishment for treason is hanging. I’m ok with that.” “Mario TRUTH” joined the lynch mob: “What Teixeira did was nothing short of America WORST traitor it has ever seen. He not only aided in murdering 1000’s of innocent people, he intruded in Ukrainian leaders planning of a counteroffensive that would have saved many of the 1000’s Teixeira killed.”

  So, U.S. government officials are entitled to blindfold and deceive the American people to avoid “intruding” on foreign leaders planning a military attack? This theory of democracy gets curiouser and curiouser.

  The Post noted that the Discord leaks “depicted Zelensky in a new light, revealing his apparent interest in occupying Russian border villages and obtaining long-range missiles to hit targets deep inside Russian territory — an assertion that Ukrainians deny and would have deeply angered Washington.” So, America’s favored foreign leader was conniving to pull the United States into World War Three? Maybe Biden should have asked if Americans supported such recklessness? No, he was president, so he was entitled to delude Americans and pretend to rule the world.

  Perhaps the greatest intellectual calisthenics in the long article was the paragraph that exonerated all Biden administration falsehoods on Ukraine. The Post offered a finger-wagging explanation: “Rather than exposing willful deceit by a U.S. government eager to bury bad news, the Discord leaks revealed a sharp divide between the U.S. intelligence analysts who authored the documents and many senior officials at the White House, Pentagon and State Department who were overly sanguine about Ukraine’s prospects for success.”

  Do the Post reporters and editors have no shame? They were not smart (or honest) enough to hark back to one of the clearest lessons from the Pentagon Papers, leaked in 1971. As philosopher Hannah Arendt noted, during the Vietnam War, “the policy of lying was hardly ever aimed at the enemy but chiefly if not exclusively destined for domestic consumption, for propaganda at home and especially for the purpose of deceiving Congress.” CIA analysts did excellent work in the early period of the Vietnam conflict. But “in the contest between public statements, always over-optimistic, and the truthful reports of the intelligence community, persistently bleak and ominous, the public statements were likely to win simply because they were public,” Arendt commented. The Post rationalized the bias of Team Biden: “U.S. officials viewed the airing of pessimistic battle outcomes as detrimental to their endeavor to raise support for the war effort, both in Congress and internationally.” Truth-telling never competed with cheerleading for more bombs and missiles.

  Biden, his appointees, and plenty of former military officials on the gravy train have made endless brazenly false statements about the Ukraine war. The result is that the Ukrainian government is on the verge of conscripting Ukrainian grandfathers to send on daily suicidal Pickett’s Charges so that Ukrainian politicians can keep pocketing billions of dollars in handouts from the U.S. government. Ukraine prohibited any males between the age of 18 to 60 from leaving the country – as if the government had a preemptive right to send them to their death. Ukraine is closing its western border to “military age males” the same way that East Germany closed its border to West Europe decades ago.

  But it remains a “no cost” war inside the Washington Beltway, where Ukrainian flags quickly replaced BLM banners after the start of the war. Nothing has changed for the policy class in the last 60 years. Arendt castigated the lavishly-paid intellectual cheerleaders for the Vietnam War who ignored “the untold misery that their ‘solutions,’ pacification and relocation programs, defoliation, napalm, and anti-personnel bullets, held in store.” In the subsequent decades, intellectuals became more affluent but not more trustworthy.

  Will the Washington Post ever honestly examine the costs of its own kowtowing to officialdom? The Post could do a great in-depth investigation of why its own editorial page and columnists have made so many false, misleading, or deranged statements on the Ukraine war. But don’t expect hell to freeze over any time soon.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 22:20

• "Worst-Case Scenario" Volcano Erupts In Iceland Near Power Plant
  “Worst-Case Scenario” Volcano Erupts In Iceland Near Power Plant

  A volcano in the southwestern region of Iceland erupted on Monday, sending geysers of hot lava as high as 330 feet. The eruption was located near the Svartsengi geothermal power plant near the town of Grindavík, which was evacuated last month over an increase in seismic activity, the NY Times reports.

  

  “We are looking at a worst-case scenario,” said Icelanding volcanologist, Thorvaldur Thordarson, adding “The eruption appears big, and only about two kilometers from major infrastructure.“

  Over the past two months, thousands of earthquakes have been detected in Iceland, leading to the November evacuations as homes and roads were damaged by the events. The situation deteriorated so rapidly that authorities declared a state of emergency, evacuating Grindavík – home to more than 3,000 people who live near the volcano.

  Recently, the Meteorological office warned of a “significant likelihood of a volcanic eruption in coming days.”

  In just the past two years, there have been three eruptions on the Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland’s most populated corner and home to its capital. When Grindavik was ordered evacuated on Nov. 11, the authorities said in a statement that the country was “highly prepared for such events.” -NYT

  “Iceland has one of the world’s most effective volcanic preparedness measures,” reads the local website.

  Authorities also raised the aviation alert to orange due to dangers posed by the volcano to passing aircraft flying in the North Atlantic in the event ash is spewed in the sky.

  In 2010, Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted after being dormant for nearly two centuries. While nobody died, the impact was significant as the resultant ash cloud grounded much of Europe’s air travel for over a week.

  Iceland has around 400,000 residents and 130 or so volcanoes. In fact, since the 19th century, there hasn’t been a single decade without one erupting. According to the tourist website, eruptions are “entirely random.”

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 22:00

• Smoking Shrinks The Brain, And Quitting Doesn’t Restore Size: Study
  Smoking Shrinks The Brain, And Quitting Doesn’t Restore Size: Study

  Authored by Amie Dahnke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Smoking cigarettes shrinks the size of the brain, and stopping doesn’t reverse the damage, a new study shows. The findings help explain why smokers have a higher risk of developing age-related cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease.

  

  But there is good news: As soon as someone stops smoking, the shrinking stops.

  The study, published in Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, looked at data from 32,094 individuals of European descent who smoked daily. The data came from the UK Biobank, a biomedical database available to the public that contains genetic, health, and behavioral information on approximately 500,000 people.

  The research team from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that total brain volume, including gray and white matter, decreased when a person smoked daily. Gray brain matter decreased more than white brain matter did, according to the analysis. Gray matter houses neural cell bodies, axon terminals, and dendrites; much of it is found in the cerebellum, cerebrum, and brain stem. It is responsible for the central nervous system, which enables a person to control movement, memory, and emotions. White matter is filled with bundles of axons coated with myelin. Its job is to send signals up and down the spinal cord when the brain receives a stimulus.

  The analysis of the UK Biobank data showed that the more a person smoked, the more brain mass they lost. The realization that smoking affects the brain isn’t entirely new information, the research team admitted. “The adverse effect of smoking extends into the brain, and this is shown by the association between smoking and dementia,” they wrote.

  The research team noted that areas like the hippocampal area, which is affected by Alzheimer’s disease, are particularly impacted by daily smoking. “This finding is consistent with smoking, which has been identified as a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, accelerating the development of this illness,” the research team wrote. In fact, the researchers suggested that 14 percent of Alzheimer’s cases across the world could be attributed to smoking.

  Alcohol Also Reduces Brain Volume

  In addition to smoking, the team found that drinking alcohol also has adverse effects on the brain. Like smoking, heavy alcohol use can reduce brain size, specifically subcortical brain volume. The subcortex is involved in overseeing emotions, memory, and hormone production. Subcortical structures also help people maintain their posture, gait, and other movements.

  The risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or dementia occurs even after someone stops smoking or drinking alcohol, researchers noted, because the brain damage is permanent.

  Scientists believe Alzheimer’s disease is caused when proteins build up in and around brain cells, sort of like plaque on teeth. One of these proteins is called amyloid, and another is called tau. Tau tangles can interfere with the way the brain receives signals. Researchers admit they’re uncertain about the mechanisms that kickstart this process but know it can take years. Over time, however, the brain begins to shrink, which can lead to Alzheimer’s.

  The Washington University team noted that some people have a genetic predisposition that leads them to smoke. In other words, part of the population is born with an increased risk of picking up the habit. As such, these people have a higher risk of reduced brain volume and of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

  According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2020, 22.3 percent of the world population used tobacco. Tobacco use kills over 8 million each year, including 1.3 million nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 21:40

• Victor Davis Hanson: We Are Well Beyond Hypocrisy
  Victor Davis Hanson: We Are Well Beyond Hypocrisy

  Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

  The abject narcissism of the insular Left is startling.

  They apparently believe the American public is amnesiac enough to forget what leftists once did, now that they’re doing the utter opposite.

  And they assume we are to discount their hypocrisy and self-absorption simply because they self-identify as erudite and moral and assume their opponents are irredeemable and deplorable.

  

  Impeachment

  The Left is saturating the airwaves with outrage over the current House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry. They allege that formally investigating Joe Biden’s role in the family grifting operation is somehow a poor constitutional precedent, if not out-of-bounds entirely.

  So we hear further arguments that it will be unwise to impeach a first-term president when he loses his House majority, that there is no reason to “waste” congressional time and effort when Biden will be automatically acquitted in the Democratically controlled Senate, and that the impeachment is cynically timed to synchronize with president’s reelection efforts.

  All of these are the precise arguments many of us cited when Donald Trump was impeached in December 2019 (as his reelection campaign began, and immediately after being cleared of the 22-month, $40-million-special-counsel Russian-collusion hoax).

  The Democrats tried to remove an elected president over a phone call without a special counsel’s report. So Trump was impeached only after the 2018 election led to a Democratic House majority, which went from eating up nearly two years of his administration in the Russian-collusion hoax straight into the impeachment farce. There was no concern about the cost to the nation of putting an elected government into a continual state of siege.

  There is one difference, though, between the Trump impeachment and the Biden impeachment inquiry. Donald Trump was impeached because he accurately accused the members of the Ukrainian government of paying Hunter Biden, with his zero fossil fuel expertise, an astronomical sum to serve on the Burisma board—as the costly quid that earned the lucrative quo from his dad Vice President Joe Biden.

  No one now denies that Joe Biden got prosecutor Viktor Shokin fired by threatening to cancel legislatively-approved U.S. aid. Shokin knew about the skullduggery through which the Biden family eventually received $6.5 million from Ukraine—and so Biden ensured his firing, and publicly bragged about it in performance-art fashion.

  In sum, Trump had a perfect right as commander in chief to delay (he did not cancel) aid to Ukraine, to ensure that its government was not still paying off the Bidens for their lobbying efforts on its behalf.

  It is also now clear that Biden serially lied about his ignorance of Hunter’s shake-down operation. In fact, he was, as Devon Archer emphasized, “the brand” central to Hunter’s scheme to coerce money from foreign governments. Joe was proverbially, in Hunter’s words “the man sitting next to me” and thus able to either punish or reward foreign interests, depending on the size of the checks they wrote to his various fronting family members.

  Offspring subpoenas

  The left is now furious that Hunter has been subpoenaed by the House to testify in private about how he earned his multimillion-dollar income, whether he fully paid taxes on it, and to whom he distributed his winnings.

  Hunter has refused to testify. He is now being held in contempt of the U.S. Congress—to the silence of the usually self-righteous former senator Joe “pay your fair share” Biden.

  We hear sanctimonious harangues that Joe is guilty of loving “his only son” Hunter too much, or that it is way out of bounds for a Department of Justice prosecutor to hound Joe Biden by going “after his family,” or that Republican congressional subpoenas and contempt findings should be summarily ignored.

  Ask Peter Navarro or Steve Bannon whether one can simply ignore a House subpoena. Ask Ivanka Trump whether she was, or was not, subpoenaed to appear before the January 6 committee. Ask the Trump sons whether they could breezily say “no” to Letitia James’s subpoenas in her farcical real-estate-valuation suit against Trump.

  Whistleblowers

  Do we remember when, not long ago, whistleblowers were noble?

  The alleged whistleblower Eric Ciaramella, an Obama holdover who had burrowed inside the Trump administration, had zero firsthand knowledge of the Trump phone call to Ukrainian president Zelensky. Ukrainian expatriate Lt. Col Alexander Vindman was on the call, as a member of the Trump national security team. He broke the law and apparently disclosed the classified call—in outrage that Trump was apparently too hard on his native Ukraine— to Ciaramella, and then hid the latter’s identity. Both met privately with Rep. Adam Schiff (D—CA) to engineer an impeachment writ. 

  This impeachment gambit was well-known to the media and the Democratic House. Both Vindman and Ciaramella were canonized as invaluable tools in wearing down Trump in a way that the failed Mueller prosecution had never done. 

  And whistleblowers now? 

  IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley and 13-year Special IRS Agent Joe Ziegler never violated any statute or disclosed classified information. They did not leak a presidential phone call to a foreign leader.

  Instead, both came forward as whistleblowers to testify before Congress about how the Biden Justice Department deliberately and carefully ensured that the mountain of evidence for the prosecution of Hunter Biden that they had presented had simply been ignored—at least long enough for the statute of limitations to run out on his most egregious crimes.

  When they both made their case that facts proved the Biden family received huge sums for selling access to or action from Joe Biden, they were roundly trashed by Democrats in congress and pilloried as disgruntled politicos by a toady press.

  Dictators

  Never-Trumpers and leftists vie to predict the most nightmarish consequence of a 2024 Trump election win. Supposedly, he will commit every imaginable sin, from ending habeas corpus to jailing his enemies.

  This fearmongering has no basis in fact, especially given that the nation has already experienced a Trump administration for four years. And it saw none of the weaponization of the CIA, FBI, DOJ, and IRS that we have seen under the Biden and earlier Obama administrations. There was no concerted effort to destroy the 2020 Biden campaign in the manner of the 2016 Russian-collusion caper, no FBI suppression of evidence as we saw in the case of the Hunter laptop, no warping of a FISA court, no paying social media corporations FBI money to suppress news unfavorable to Trump. And so on.

  The Burden of Familial Indictments? 

  Suddenly yet another new narrative emerges: Joe Biden is unduly preoccupied, bearing the enormous burden of Hunter’s indictments. Apparently, we have never appreciated the supposedly unnecessary and cruel encumbrance on a president when his son is indicted.

  So, we are told that a son’s legal exposure is an unfair weight on a president.

  Have we again forgotten the subpoenaed Trump children, much less the four weaponized indictments of Trump himself? Does anyone wish to compare the drug-addicted, prostitute-hiring, gun-losing, pornographic-photo-taking, shake-down grifting of Hunter with the conduct of the five Trump children?

  What would Biden think if the next Republican Secretary of State had once tried to ruin him by rounding up “51 intelligence authorities” to blatantly lie that a Trump son’s incriminating laptop was not his own, in order to affect the 2024 election —all in the manner of the Antony Blinken 2020 ruse? Or imagine a future National Security advisor who had once tried, in Jake Sullivan’s 2016 way, to concoct a malicious yarn that Hunter was engineering a computer ping correspondence from Biden headquarters to Moscow. Would those be burdens on Biden? Were they on Trump?

  It may well be unwise to impeach a president in his first term when he loses his House majority. It may certainly set a bad precedent to subpoena the children of presidents. It may be regrettable that whistleblowers are either unduly demonized or sanctified. And it is of course wrong to smear a president as a veritable Hitlerian dictator.

  But the left does not see such absolutes. Instead, once a supposedly morally-superior agenda is enunciated, then any means necessary are justified to obtain it.

  And that alternate reality ensures that impeaching a president, indicting him, subpoenaing his kids, praising or libeling whistleblowers, or smearing a president as a dictator become good or bad things only by determining whether they prove useful to the progressive project.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 21:00

• Over 80,000 Israelis Near Lebanese Border Are Refugees In Their Own Country
  Over 80,000 Israelis Near Lebanese Border Are Refugees In Their Own Country

  Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hangebi has said that Israel may have to go to war against Hezbollah, as he now fears a potential future attack by the Shia paramilitary group backed by Iran that would be worse than Oct. 7. “We can no longer accept (Hezbollah’s elite) Radwan force sitting on the border,” he said recently.

  Commentary on his words in The New Arab concluded, “The Israelis are anticipating within the next six weeks to two months that if the diplomatic track isn’t working, they’re going to have to opt for some kind of military solution.”

  On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant estimated that over 80,000 Israeli citizens are still displaced from their homes, after border regions had to be evacuated en masse as a result of Hezbollah attacks, which have been daily since Oct.7.

  

  The two sides have been engaged in a running tit-for-tat, but which has yet to spiral into full blown war:

  “Over 80,000 citizens have been displaced, living as refugees in their own country… We will bring back the residents of the north to their homes in the border after full security will be restored,” Gallant told a  news briefing.

  The defense chief further said that literally “hundreds” of Hezbollah attacks had been conducted, resulting in five Israeli civilians killed. Likely many more IDF troops have been killed in these cross-border attacks too. Israel has responded by regularly bombing various locations across south Lebanon, sometimes dropping bombs and mortars on residential areas and civilian homes, resulting in Lebanese killed and wounded.

  Israel has also launched attacks on Hezbollah ally Syria, including several attacks and missiles launched on sites in Damascus and in the south in the last 24 hours. Israel frequently attacks Syria from Lebanese airspace, as Lebanon doesn’t have an air force to speak of.

  Hezbollah remains Israel’s most formidable foe, which has resulted in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issuing severe warnings of late. “If Hezbollah decides to open an all-out war, then with its own hands it will turn Beirut and southern Lebanon, which are not far from here, into Gaza and Khan Younis,” he said earlier this month while addressing IDF troops at base near the Lebanese border. 

  For now, it’s unlikely that Hezbollah will withdraw from the border anytime soon, and tens of thousands of Israelis won’t be able to return to their homes, as the following analysis also suggests:

  Joshua Landis, Director of the Centre of Middle East Studies and the Farzaneh Family Center for Iranian and Persian Gulf Studies at the University of Oklahoma, doubts Hezbollah will withdraw from the border.

  The group, and the broader Iran-backed regional ‘Resistance Front’, also dubbed the ‘Axis of Resistance’, against Israel, has been given “new relevance and popularity” due to the Gaza war.

  “With Syria in pieces, Lebanon facing both political and economic crisis, and Hezbollah’s reputation in the Sunni world badly damaged by its engagement on the side of Assad in the Syrian Civil War, the Resistance Front’s reputation was in below zero,” Landis told The New Arab.

  “Now that the Arab world realizes the Palestinian issue is not going away, resistance is again on everyone’s lips,” he said. “Hezbollah will not want to appear cowed by Israel, nor will Iran.”

  Hezbollah published a video of targeting a number of sites belonging to the Israeli army on the Lebanese border. pic.twitter.com/cfDvPDO2mu

  — War Intel (@warintel4u) December 18, 2023

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

  The consensus among regional analysts is that Hezbollah is far superior to Hamas’ capability in terms of numbers of fighters, missiles, and weaponry such as laser-guided anti-tank missiles. An all-out war scenario would be severe, but likely Lebanon would be devastated and come under Israeli bombs. For now it seems, neither side wants this.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 20:40

• Which Cars Depreciate The Fastest?
  Which Cars Depreciate The Fastest?

  It’s a fact of life that vehicles depreciate – some say by almost 50% as soon they’re driven out of the lot. Some depreciate less, but which cars depreciate the fastest?

  In the graphic below, Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu and Pallavi Rao show the top 10 vehicles with the highest depreciation rates over five years, based on data from iSeeCars.

  They analyzed over 1.1 million used cars from model year 2018, sold between November 2022 to October 2023. Models no longer in production as of the 2022 model year were excluded.

  

  Luxury Cars Struggle to Hold Their Value

  At the top of the list, the Maserati Quattroporte loses nearly two-thirds of its value after five years. First introduced in 1963, the car is Maserati’s flagship, and is on its sixth iteration as a four-door luxury sedan, with a high performance Ferrari–made V6 or V8 engine.

  The 2018 version of the car retailed anywhere between $109,000–$140,000, depending on the model.

  Here’s a look at the full list of fastest depreciating cars in the U.S.

  Rank	Model	Average 5-Yr Depreciation	Average Difference from MSRP
  1	Maserati Quattroporte	65%	$90,588
  2	BMW 7 Series	62%	$72,444
  3	Maserati Ghibli	61%	$58,623
  4	BMW 5 Series (Hybrid)	59%	$37,975
  5	Cadillac Escalade ESV	59%	$63,885
  6	BMW X5	58%	$44,828
  7	INFINITI QX80	58%	$47,399
  8	Maserati Levante	58%	$55,858
  9	Jaguar XF	58%	$39,720
  10	Audi A7	57%	$48,917
  11	Audi Q7	57%	$41,731
  12	Cadillac Escalade	57%	$59,093
  13	Audi A6	56%	$38,252
  14	Volvo S90	56%	$35,365
  15	Nissan Armada	56%	$36,875
  16	Mercedes-Benz S-Class	56%	$70,563
  17	Lincoln Navigator L	56%	$57,224
  18	Mercedes-Benz GLS	56%	$54,523
  19	Tesla Model S	56%	$60,145
  20	BMW 5 Series	55%	$39,856
  21	BMW X5	55%	$39,992
  22	Lincoln Navigator	55%	$53,582
  23	BMW X5 M	54%	$66,277
  24	Land Rover Range Rover	54%	$68,874
  25	Cadillac XT5	54%	$31,737
  N/A	Overall	39%	$17,221

  Note: MSRP stands for Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price, the price recommended by a product’s producer to retailers. Furthermore, MSRPs from 2018 were inflation-adjusted to 2023 dollars.

  BMW’s 7-series and 5-series also lose value quickly (nearly 60% of their retail price), ranking second and fourth respectively.

  Another Maserati car, the Ghibli comes in third (-61%), and the Cadillac Escalade ESV (-59%) rounds out the top five fastest depreciating vehicles.

  From a quick glance through the ranks, the cars that depreciate the fastest are luxury vehicles, specifically luxury sedans. These types of cars are often leased, and supply increases dramatically once the lease period expires. Meanwhile, most owners who can afford a luxury car would prefer to buy a new model, while used-car owners would prefer not to pay a high premium on an already outdated model.

  However, there’s another segment of the market that also drops in value quickly—electric vehicles. Analysis found that EVs lose roughly 49% of their value on the resale market, the worst amongst the categories specified.

  Rank	Segment	Average 5-Yr Depreciation (%)
  1	EVs	49%
  2	SUVs	41%
  3	Hybrids	37%
  4	Trucks	35%
  N/A	Overall	39%

  A lack of larger demand appetite, as well as a plethora of government incentives pushing people to buying new electric vehicles could explain their faster than average depreciation rate. Trucks on the other hand are the slowest depreciating segment of all vehicles in the U.S.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 20:20

• The Multifront Attack On Elon Musk
  The Multifront Attack On Elon Musk

  Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Brownstone Institute,

  Elon Musk is the world’s richest man but also the number one target of the world’s richest governments and their associated industrialists. The reason traces entirely to his independence of mind and the actions that follow from that. 

  

  In times of censorship, he bought and now protects a free-speech platform, the only one remaining with any real reach into the public mind. Countless millions of people are deeply grateful, even if the platform is a long way from profitability. 

  Further, he is innovating in a time of stagnation with Tesla, Starlink, and SpaceX. He is outspoken against the many forms of despotism of our time. This is the whole reason he is fending off attacks from every angle. 

  In the latest assault, the European Union’s Digital commissioner Thierry Breton has posted on X (formerly Twitter) that he believes Elon has infringed on the EU’s rules.

  He set out the alleged infringements in a post on the social media platform.

  • Suspected breach of obligations to counter #IllegalContent and #Disinformation 

  • Suspected breach of #Transparency obligations 

  • Suspected #DeceptiveDesign of user interface

  Elon has been very clear that he works to respect the laws of every country, even those with which he strongly disagrees. This pertains to the EU’s aggressive censorship, which was deployed through the Covid era at the expense of scientific freedom and in defense of governments that locked down their citizenry, forced medical treatments on citizens that they did not want or need, and then covered up behind-the-scenes machinations. 

  It’s rich to have Breton go after Elon for a lack of transparency when the whole point of the EU’s regime is to force a lack of transparency. Adding to the irony, Breton knew that Musk would not censor the note on the world’s largest platform for free speech. He is thereby deploying the use of freedom in opposition to its existence. 

  And before we sniff at the censorial Europeans and their intolerance toward free speech, consider that the same thing – or some version of it – is happening to Elon in the US. After March 2020, there was a concerted effort led by deep-state actors to gain full control of social media to squelch any dissent. It affected every platform, including Twitter. Amazon and all app stores even banned Parler because it was becoming too popular. 

  As things died down, Musk bought the Twitter platform and purged 4 out of 5 employees, including the many government agents who had been hired to turn Twitter into a government propaganda machine. Since then he has upheld the First Amendment and innovated a series of tools that allow for internal and crowd-source fact-checking to make his renamed platform the most reliable source of news and opinion in the world. 

  Since he took over, he has faced a barrage of state-generated attacks. 

  The SEC has sued Musk over the purchase of the platform. 

  According to the New York Times, “his takeover has been the subject of several lawsuits and investigations by the federal authorities. The Federal Trade Commission has probed whether X had the resources to protect users’ privacy after he laid off much of its staff and several senior executives responsible for privacy and security resigned. The agency has also sought to depose Mr. Musk. Former Twitter shareholders have also sued Mr. Musk for fraud in a case related to his belated disclosure of his stake in the company.”

  The FTC has demanded internal X documents. 

  Says The Hill: “the FTC has sent more than a dozen letters to Twitter since Musk completed his acquisition in October. It states that the agency has demanded Twitter provide internal communications “relating to Elon Musk” from any Twitter employee, information about the platform’s Twitter Blue verification subscription service and the names of journalists who were granted access to Twitter records.”

  The Biden Department of Justice has sued SpaceX…get this…for not hiring refugees for secret rocket technology.

  CNN says: “The suit claims that ‘from at least September 2018 to May 2022, SpaceX routinely discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them, because of their citizenship status, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA),’ according to an August 24 DOJ news release.”

  The Biden Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission have sued Tesla over improper perks. 

  Forbes says: “The widened investigation comes after federal prosecutors and the SEC began probing a secret Tesla project known as Project 42 that employees described as a glass house for Musk in the Austin, Texas, area near Tesla’s factory, the Journal reported in August.”

  The Biden Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation against Tesla over self-driving cars.

  Reuters reports: “The U.S. Department of Justice launched the previously undisclosed probe last year following more than a dozen crashes, some of them fatal, involving Tesla’s driver assistance system Autopilot, which was activated during the accidents, the people said.” The presumption here is preposterous: that Elon doesn’t care if his product is flawed and doesn’t desire improvement. 

  There is a federal investigation of Neuralink.

  Reuters again: “Elon Musk’s Neuralink, a medical device company, is under federal investigation for potential animal-welfare violations amid internal staff complaints that its animal testing is being rushed, causing needless suffering and deaths, according to documents reviewed by Reuters and sources familiar with the investigation and company operations.”

  Then there is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation over harassment at Tesla.

  The EEOC says: “Since at least 2015 to the present, Black employees at Tesla’s Fremont, California manufacturing facilities have routinely endured racial abuse, pervasive stereotyping, and hostility as well as epithets… Slurs were used casually and openly in high-traffic areas and at worker hubs. Black employees regularly encountered graffiti, including variations of the N-word, swastikas, threats, and nooses, on desks and other equipment, in bathroom stalls, within elevators, and even on new vehicles rolling off the production line.”

  Finally, we have the aggressive advertising boycott on the part of major corporations, including Disney, CNBC, Comcast, Warner Bros, IBM, and the Financial Times, among many others. Musk has refused to be intimidated by these people. He has said that he refuses to be blackmailed by money and instead told the companies to “Go f*** yourself.” Which is rather remarkable and really does speak to a major problem in social media today, which is the extent to which so many platforms are willing to do the bidding of the corporatist system in order to serve the bottom line. 

  That is fully nine direct lines of attack, but probably the company and Elon could list another several dozen such cases like this once you consider all levels of government everywhere Musk’s companies are operating.

  And yes, it all sounds like something straight out of a novel by Ayn Rand. The successful and innovative entrepreneur is attacked on all sides by institutions and people who live off the system rather than innovate around and beyond it. 

  We truly do live in a new age of envy, powered by states and their industrial allies more wedded to their own profitability lines and plans rather than what the people want and what great entrepreneurs can create.

  This is very clearly a crony attack.

  What’s striking is that everyone knows that and yet it is tolerated in any case.

  It’s a great recipe for killing off the wealth-generating machine for a generation or two.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 20:20

• Orange Juice, Cocoa, Coffee Are The Hottest Commodities 
  Orange Juice, Cocoa, Coffee Are The Hottest Commodities 

  Futures for orange juice, cocoa, and coffee have surged well into double-digit territory this year, standing out in contrast to the broader commodity market and the UN’s global food index, which have seen declines over the same period. 

  On November 22, orange juice futures topped more than 100% gains on the year. Supplies are in a severe shortage in Florida as the nation’s top-producing citrus state has been plagued with disease and storms. 

  At the end of November, cocoa futures were up 79% due to El Nino-induced weather disturbances that led to poor harvests in Ivory Coast and Ghana – some of the world’s largest cocoa producers.’

  And in the coffee market, Arabica coffee futures are up 16% on the year due to severe drought conditions in Brazil. Also, supplies are dwindling as ICE-monitored arabica coffee stockpiles dropped to a 24-year low. 

  

  When the three commodities, some popular with breakfast-lovers, are compared with the Bloomberg Commodity Index and UN’s FAO Food Price Index, food inflation appears sticky, and there is nothing central banks can do with their monetary wonds to tame weather. 

  

  This is why elevated and prolonged food inflation is dangerous: Last month, Sara Menker, founder and CEO of Gro Intelligence, told Bloomberg that the current food crisis has already surpassed the one in 2007-08, which ultimately sparked the Arab Spring across the Middle East a few years later.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 20:00

• Media Matters Sues Texas AG in Maryland Over Investigation Of Its Report On Musk's X
  Media Matters Sues Texas AG in Maryland Over Investigation Of Its Report On Musk’s X

  Authored by Melanie Sun via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Media Matters for America is suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in federal court, arguing that reporting by its senior investigative reporter on Elon Musk’s X app is being “chilled” by the AG’s announced investigation.

  

  Media Matters, a progressive watchdog group, filed its lawsuit Tuesday. It had reported last month that, according to its analysis, X was a platform hosting bigots and that it had paid far-right extremists, warning advertisers that their content was running beside pro-Hitler and anti-Semitic content.

  The report was then cited by major companies, like Apple, Disney, Sony, and Fox Sports, who announced they were boycotting the platform from their advertising campaigns. This triggered Mr. Paxton to announce on Nov. 21 an investigation into Media Matters “for potential fraudulent activity” in its report, after X responded to the allegations saying that the progressive group had manufactured its results.

  X has sued Media Matters for defamation over the report in a Texas federal court, citing advertising data showing that report author Eric Hananoki was among only two users to see an Apple ad next to the hateful content, while explaining that content follows the search history of users.

  “Attorney General Paxton was extremely troubled by the allegations that Media Matters, a radical anti-free speech organization, fraudulently manipulated data on X.com (formerly known as Twitter),” the Office of the Attorney General in Texas said in announcing its investigation following X’s comments.

  Meanwhile, the state of Missouri has also launched an investigation.

  Given the publicly reported effort to co-opt corporations into assisting Media Matters in its potentially illegal effort to financially target X based on manufactured and malicious activity, we felt it necessary to directly provide advertisers with notice of our investigation.

  — Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) December 18, 2023

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

  Back to Texas…

  Mr. Paxton argued that his case was to protect the First Amendment rights of Texans. X has come under attack from progressive groups after Mr. Musk’s takeover of Twitter and the release of internal communications that revealed the company censored speech in favor of then-presidential candidate Joe Biden in the run-up to the 2020 election.

  Mr. Paxton’s office explained in its statement that it was pursuing its investigation of Media Matters’s report under the Texas Business Organizations Code and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which allows his office to “vigorously enforce against nonprofits who commit fraudulent acts in or affecting the state of Texas.”

  “We are examining the issue closely to ensure that the public has not been deceived by the schemes of radical left-wing organizations who would like nothing more than to limit freedom by reducing participation in the public square,” Mr. Paxton said of the negative publicity directed at X since Mr. Musk’s takeover and efforts to reform the platform in favor of free speech for all Americans, regardless of political view.

  Founded in 2004, Media Matters calls itself a “progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.”

  Media Matters is asking a judge in a federal court in Maryland to permanently block Mr. Paxton’s investigation, arguing that the AG office’s request to “rifle through their most sensitive journalistic and organizational documents” would be a violation of their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

  Mr. Paxton’s investigation didn’t request Media Matters to stop publishing its findings, although Media Matters said in its court filing, “Draft articles [Mr. Hananoki] intended to publish about violent extremism on X were cut for fear of further retaliation from Paxton.”

  “Hananoki wishes to continue writing and publishing articles about how Musk’s ownership of X has enabled political extremism on the platform but Defendant Paxton’s actions demanding unbounded disclosure of Hananoki’s newsgathering sources and means have chilled his speech,” it claimed.

  Maryland is the home state of Media Matters senior investigative reporter Mr. Hananoki, who authored the report. Media Matters in its filing also argued that Maryland and the District of Columbia, the only regions that the reporter has worked from, have “shield” laws that protect journalists from being compelled to disclose statutorily protected, confidential sources.

  It also alleged that the Texas AG’s efforts were “a baseless and arbitrary government investigation in a state to which they have no relevant connection.”

  Mr. Musk had welcomed Mr. Paxton’s probe, saying on X, “Fraud has both civil & criminal penalties.”

  X is also suing Media Matters for unlawfully interfering in its relationship with advertisers.

  Meanwhile, Missouri AG Andrew Bailey earlier announced his own investigation into Media Matters for “potentially unlawful business practices.”

  Mr. Bailey’s letter accused the progressive organization of doing so “in an attempt to defame the organization and cause advertisers to pull their support from the platform, thus harming free speech.”

  “Radicals are attempting to kill Twitter because they cannot control it, and we are not going to let Missourians get ripped off in the process,” Mr. Bailey said in a release. “I’m fighting to ensure progressive tyrants masquerading as news outlets cannot manipulate the marketplace in order to wipe out free speech.”

  Earlier in the week, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said that he had sent letters to 18 company CEOs about their decision to boycott X while continuing to do business with the China-owned social media platform TikTok.

  “I’m just asking for a little consistency,” he said in a statement reported on by Fox Business. “If these corporations are boycotting X out of concern for their reputation, then I expect them to maintain that standard on all social media platforms.”

  “If these companies are truly interested in safeguarding their brand, they should immediately boycott TikTok, which is controlled by Communist China and overflowing with hateful content.”

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 19:40

• "Reality Is At Fault": Tucker Sits Down With Babylon Bee's Seth Dillon
  “Reality Is At Fault”: Tucker Sits Down With Babylon Bee’s Seth Dillon

  Tucker Carlson sat down recently with Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon – whose unfair ban at the hands of woke Twitter censors resulted in Elon Musk’s purchase of the platform and subsequent release of the Twitter Files – internal communications which revealed that the social media giant was essentially a government sock-puppet that controlled the flow of information.

  

  According to Carlson, Dillon isn’t just a humorist, but as a modern-day prophet based on the sheer number of times that Babylon Bee headlines have come true (we recommend reading the actual articles too – as they’re absolutely hilarious).

  “It turns out and we went through quite a few examples of the Babylon Bee’s parody stories that have come true in dozens, scores, nearly 100 cases,” said Carlson, who asked Dillon: “So when you see the news story that confirms what you thought was a pretty out there joke, what’s your reaction?”

  “I mean, we’re getting accustomed to it at this point,” Dillon replied. “It’s reached a level where it’s almost impossible to tell the difference between what’s reported as facts by the news media and what someone with a dark sense of humor has made up.”

  It’s tough to beat reality

  

  Discussing the challenges of satire, Dillon quipped: “Imagine if your job is to write jokes funnier than what Democrats are doing in real life,” noting the inherent difficulty in satirizing clownworld.”Imagine if your job is to write jokes that are funnier than a Kamala Harris speech. It’s challenging. It’s actually very challenging.“

  Predictive Parody: When Satire Precedes Reality

  The pair then discussed the multitude of instances the Bee’s satirical headlines pre-empted actual news, like the electric car mandates during power shortages, or people collapsing after taking the Covid-19 vaccine which carried the headline, “Experts say they don’t know what thing is causing everyone to suddenly collapse, but it’s definitely not that one thing, or “Government Disinformation Board Determines All Criticism Of Government Disinformation Board To Be Disinformation.”

  “It’s comical…we’re just reporting the news,” Dillon joked, underlining how satire, in its exaggeration, is often right on the mark.

  Speaking of fact checkers, the two discussed the absurdity of the ‘fact checking’ industrial complex – with Dillon expressing both amusement and frustration with fact-checkers who take Babylon Bee’s satire at face value, indicating a broader issue with idiots in the media and their grasp of satire.

  “You know, so you have these things…we’ll publish a joke that’s clearly a satirical joke, but everybody thinks it’s true,” Dillon said, adding “Reality is at fault for that.”

  Of course, let’s not forget that the MSM loves to ‘play dumb’ for their ‘challenged’ audiences.

  Elon Musk’s Rescue of The Babylon Bee

  Dillon recounted Babylon Bee’s suspension from Twitter, and Elon Musk’s role in their reinstatement.

  “Elon Musk is trying to message us, and we can’t get back to him,” Dillon said – referring to the old Twitter, before Musk stepped in to champion free speech on the platform.

  Rachel Levine: The Controversial Man of the Year

  

  The conversation got even more hilarious while discussing “Man of the Year” satire featuring Rachel Levine (after he received USA Today’s  “woman of the year” award) – a joke which led to their Twitter suspension.

  “Yeah. Yeah. Woman of the Year. So that headline itself, I think is comical. It’s funny. It’s it’s it seems like a parody, but it’s not. It’s real,” said Dillon – to which Tucker joked, “Ugliest woman in America…”

  Watch below, and subscribe to the Tucker Carlson Network here:

  Ep. 55 Corporate media is dead, which is why The Babylon Bee is more trusted than CNN. pic.twitter.com/FI9fh0QJhX

  — Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) December 18, 2023

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

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 19:20

• US Nuclear Sub Arrives In South Korea For 3rd Time This Year
  US Nuclear Sub Arrives In South Korea For 3rd Time This Year

  Authored by Kyle Anzalone via The Libertarian Institute,

  An American nuclear submarine arrived in South Korea for the third time this year. Shortly after the warship arrived in South Korea, North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile. 

  On Sunday, Yonhap News reported the Virginia-class submarine USS Missouri arrived at a South Korean port. In July, the Pentagon had an Ohio-class attack submarine – a warship equipped with nuclear weapons – make a port call in South Korea. Last month, a Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine made a stop at the Korean Peninsula.

  

  Shortly before the Missouri arrived in South Korea, the Biden administration issued a statement reaffirming it would use nuclear weapons to defend Seoul. “The US reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to provide extended deterrence to [South Korea], backed by the full range of US capabilities including nuclear,” the White House stated on Saturday. 

  “Any nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies is unacceptable and will result in the end of the Kim regime, and the US side reiterated that any nuclear attack by the DPRK against the ROK will be met with a swift, overwhelming, and decisive response.”

  The deployments have drawn Pyongyang’s sharp criticism. In response to the USS Missouri arriving in South Korea, the Ministry of National Defense of North Korea issued a statement, slamming the US and South Korea as “military gangsters.” 

  “The US and the military gangsters of the Republic of Korea, who have aggravated the situation in the Korean peninsula with their reckless military provocations such as deployment of nuclear strike means and large-scale joint military drills throughout this year, are going to finish the end of the year with a preview of a nuclear war,” it said.

  “Clear is the intention of the US which dispatched the nuclear-powered submarine Missouri to the Korean peninsula as soon as it hatched a dangerous plot for a nuclear war in Washington.”

  North Korea test launches apparent long-range missile designed to carry nuclear warhead, hit U.S. mainland https://t.co/vNO9TNYp4R

  — KCAL News (@kcalnews) December 18, 2023

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

  Pyongyang additionally conducted a ballistic missile test after the Missouri’s arrival. The short-range missile was fired from near Pyongyang and landed in the ocean. 

  Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have skyrocketed since President Biden took office and relaunched provocative military drills and strategic weapons deployments with Seoul. Pyongyang views the myriad US-led military exercises as preparation for a regime change war in North Korea. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 19:00

• Arizona's Democratic Gov. Sends National Guard To Border, Citing Feds' Inaction On Migrant Influx
  Arizona’s Democratic Gov. Sends National Guard To Border, Citing Feds’ Inaction On Migrant Influx

  Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed an executive order on Friday to deploy National Guard members to the southern border with Mexico to tackle border issues, citing the lack of action from the federal government.

  “Yet again, the federal government is refusing to do its job to secure our border and keep our communities safe,” Ms. Hobbs, a Democrat, said in a press release on Dec. 15.

  

  National Guard members will be stationed at multiple locations along the southern border near the Lukeville Port of Entry and the San Miguel crossing. Ms. Hobbs did not specify how many members will be deployed.

  They will assist the Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement agencies in dealing with fentanyl interdiction, analytical support, and human trafficking enforcement efforts at the border.

  “With this Executive Order, I am taking action where the federal government won’t,” the governor stated.

  “But we can’t stand alone, Arizona needs resources and manpower to reopen the Lukeville crossing, manage the flow of migrants, and maintain a secure, orderly, and humane border,” she added.

  Ms. Hobbs said the Biden administration has failed to respond to her request for reimbursement for border security spending.

  “Despite continued requests for assistance, the Biden administration has refused to deliver desperately needed resources to Arizona’s border,” the governor stated.

  U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Dec. 4 closed the Lukeville Point of Entry until further notice to redirect resources to increased illegal smuggling of migrants elsewhere on the border.

  CBP said it was “surging all available resources to expeditiously and safely process migrants.”

  Hobbs Requested Over $512 Million Reimbursement

  Ms. Hobbs sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Dec. 8 urging him to reassign National Guard members to assist in reopening the Lukeville Point of Entry.

  Ms. Hobbs said the federal government’s decision to close the border entry has led to “an unmitigated humanitarian crisis” and “put Arizona’s safety and commerce at risk.”

  In her letter, Ms. Hobbs called on the Biden administration to reassign around 243 National Guard members stationed in the Tucson region to help reopen the Lukeville Port of Entry.

  “Further, to the extent it is necessary, I am requesting that additional National Guard members currently on federal active duty orders be reassigned to Arizona to assist U.S. Customs and Border Protection to reopen the Lukeville Port of Entry,” she stated.

  Ms. Hobbs also requested the Federal government to reimburse the state for over $512 million in costs incurred as a result of “federal border inaction.”

  “Additionally, due to the federal government’s failure to secure our border, the State of Arizona has spent $512,529,333 on border operations including migrant transportation, drug interdiction, and law enforcement,” she said in the letter.

  “I am requesting the federal government reimburse the state for these expenses,” the governor said.

  

  Dozens of illegal aliens await instructions near the Lukeville Port of Entry in Lukeville, Ariz., on Dec. 7, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

  Border security has often been a partisan issue, with Republicans seeking more restrictive and aggressive measures while Democrats have placed more emphasis on the humanitarian needs of impoverished migrants and asylum-seekers coming from around the world.

  President Biden has also felt pressure from some Democrats, including the big city mayors of Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York, who have asked his administration for more funding and action to reduce their immigration burden.

  CBP reported 232,972 migrant encounters for August—up nearly 27 percent from July’s total, including unaccompanied children.

  Approximately 50,000 encounters in August were in the active Tucson sector, which includes most of the 372-mile-long southern Arizona border. The agency conducted 3,212 rescues, bringing the year’s total to 29,365.

  Allan Stein and Reuters contributed to this report.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 18:40

• China's Securities Regulator Warns Companies To Increase Dividends & Buybacks… Or Else
  China’s Securities Regulator Warns Companies To Increase Dividends & Buybacks… Or Else

  Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

  Hoping to boost stock market prices, China mandates more dividends and buybacks…

  

  Increase Dividends or Else

  2/4
  This is the equivalent of having these companies borrow and distribute the proceeds to investors in the form of dividends and buybacks. This might boost stock prices in the short term, but it’s longer-term impact is mixed.

  — Michael Pettis (@michaelxpettis) December 17, 2023

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  Demanding More Debt

  4/4
  It’s important to see the systemic nature of the transfers. An increase in household income will effectively have been funded by an increase in business debt. Whether or not this promotes rebalancing depends on which households benefit and what they do with the higher income.

  — Michael Pettis (@michaelxpettis) December 17, 2023

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  Terrible Policy

  Pettis presents a plus side and a minis side. I see it as a foolish mandate and an act of desperation.

  Unlike Pettis, I fail to see how forcing companies to use their cash, increase leverage, or take on unwarranted debt hoping to fuel a stock market rally can possibly be a good thing.

  If the debt is not serviceable by profits, it will weaken the corporations. How can that rebalance anything?

  Technically Speaking

  Technically speaking the Shanghai Index appears poised for a big move one way or another after a lengthy consolidation. There are several lower highs and higher lows.

  

  Shanghai Composite Index, Bloomberg

  Since the initial move was lower, and triangles are continuation patterns, the expected break is lower, but I don’t know, nor does anyone else.

  I do know bad policy, and the action by Chinese regulators is terribly unsound.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 18:20

• "America's Dictator" Sweeps To 3rd Term As President Of Egypt With Nearly 90% Of Vote
  “America’s Dictator” Sweeps To 3rd Term As President Of Egypt With Nearly 90% Of Vote

  In the Middle East region, Israel has for decades been the biggest recipient of US foreign aid, but less commonly known is that Egypt has long held the number two spot. 

  This ultimately goes back to the Camp David Accords signed in 1978 which led to the formalizing of a permanent state of peace between Egypt and Israel. Since then, the $1.3 billion given to Egypt annually at American taxpayers’ expense largely goes towards maintaining the military and national security bureaucracy. 

  

  Bottom line is that it all goes toward securing the regional order on Washington’s terms, with Israel’s security as the number one priority.

  While Washington might talk about “spreading democracy” – any such talk is largely an illusion in Egypt, which has long been known for violently suppressing protests, horrendous political prisons, and torture. People regularly get “disappeared” in Egypt and the US hardly bats an eye.

  US politicians and media pundits like to mock as “banana republics” nations it doesn’t like (or those targeted for regime change: Libya, Syria, Russia, etc.), but the reality is that America long ago purchased its own banana republic in Egypt, and ever since it’s been a Western media game of pretending there’s a true “Egyptian democracy”. 

  Below, are details of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s having just won nearly 90% of the vote, via The Cradle [emphasis ZH]…

  * * *

  Egypt’s election authority announced on Monday that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has secured a third six-year term leading the North African nation.  

  Sisi won another term with 89.6 percent of the vote, the National Elections Authority said. Over 39 million Egyptians voted for the former army chief, who has ruled the nation for over a decade.  

  This will be Sisi’s final term in office as the Egyptian constitution only allows a president to sit for three terms. He was first sworn into office in 2014 after the overthrow of the country’s first popularly elected president, Mohammed Morsi, and was reelected in 2018, both times winning with over 90 percent of the vote.  

  

  Egypt’s election took place as the nation is struggling with a slow-burning economic crisis and keeping a long-standing position as a mediator between Palestine and Israel. 

  Furthermore, the Egyptian economy has worsened to the point where the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said they’re “seriously considering” increasing its loans to Egypt.  

  “The conflict is devastating Gaza’s population and economy and has severe impacts on the West Bank’s economy and is also posing difficulties for neighboring countries Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan through the loss of tourism and higher energy costs,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva had previously said. 

  Egypt’s economic struggles can only potentially worsen amid Yemen’s Ansarallah attacks on the Red Sea, forcing ships to take the long route around Africa instead of the Suez Canal – a significant source of income for Egypt. Cairo has also been dealing with Israel’s plan of displacing Palestinians from Gaza into the Sinai desert, with Sisi threatening Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of rupturing diplomatic ties.  

  Amazing.

  Dictator Sisi wins… election. https://t.co/xN2nog2RpC pic.twitter.com/h38KJtOWvY

  — J.M. Hamilton (@jmhamiltonblog) December 18, 2023

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  Israeli sources told Axios, “The Egyptians expressed anxiety that a crisis on their border with Gaza would result in thousands of Palestinian refugees crossing the border barrier and trying to find shelter in the Sinai.” 

  “Displacing Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Sinai means transferring the conflict and the killings from Gaza to Sinai, where Sinai becomes a base for launching operations against Israel, and in this case, Israel will have the right to defend itself, so it directs its strikes against Egyptian territory,” Sisi previously said. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 18:00

• Not-So-Scary Truth About Climate Change
  Not-So-Scary Truth About Climate Change

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

  United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry says it will take trillions of dollars to “solve” climate change. Then he says, “There is not enough money in any country in the world to actually solve this problem.”

  

  Kerry has little understanding of money or how it’s created. He’s a multimillionaire because he married a rich woman. Now he wants to take more of your money to pretend to affect climate change.

  Bjorn Lomborg points out that there are better things society should spend money on.

  Lomborg acknowledges that a warmer climate brings problems. “As temperatures get higher, sea water, like everything else, expands. So we’re going to maybe see three feet of sea level rise. Then they say, ‘So everybody who lives within three feet of sea level, they’ll have to move!’ Well, no. If you actually look at what people do, they built dikes and so they don’t have to move.”

  People in Holland did that years ago. A third of the Netherlands is below sea level. In some areas, it’s 22 feet below. Yet the country thrives. That’s the way to deal with climate change: adjust to it.

  “Fewer people are going to get flooded every year, despite the fact that you have much higher sea level rise. The total cost for Holland over the last half-century is about $10 billion,” says Lomborg. “Not nothing, but very little for an advanced economy over 50 years.”

  For saying things like that, Lomborg is labeled “the devil.”

  “The problem here is unmitigated scaremongering,” he replies. “A new survey shows that 60 percent of all people in rich countries now believe it’s likely or very likely that unmitigated climate change will lead to the end of mankind. This is what you get when you have constant fearmongering in the media.”

  Some people now say they will not have children because they’re convinced that climate change will destroy the world. Lomborg points out how counterproductive that would be: “We need your kids to make sure the future is better.”

  He acknowledges that climate warming will kill people.

  “As temperatures go up, we’re likely to see more people die from heat. That’s absolutely true. You hear this all the time. But what is underreported is the fact that nine times as many people die from cold. … As temperatures go up, you’re going to see fewer people die from cold. Over the last 20 years, because of temperature rises, we have seen about 116,000 more people die from heat. But 283,000 fewer people die from cold.”

  That’s rarely reported in the news.

  When the media doesn’t fret over deaths from heat, they grab at other possible threats.

  CNN claims, “Climate Change is Fueling Extremism.”

  The BBC says, “A Shifting Climate is Catalysing Infectious Disease.”

  U.S. News and World Report says, “Climate Change will Harm Children’s Mental Health.”

  Lomborg replies, “It’s very, very easy to make this argument that everything is caused by climate change if you don’t have the full picture.”

  He points out that we rarely hear about positive effects of climate change, like global greening.

  “That’s good! We get more green stuff on the planet. My argument is not that climate change is great or overall positive. It’s simply that, just like every other thing, it has pluses and minuses. … Only reporting on the minuses, and only emphasizing worst-case outcomes, is not a good way to inform people.”

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

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 17:40

• Watch: Gaza's Terror Tunnels Big Enough To Drive A Truck Through
  Watch: Gaza’s Terror Tunnels Big Enough To Drive A Truck Through

  Gaza’s ‘terror tunnels’ are in some instances literally big enough to drive a truck through, as several social media clips to emerge over the weekend show.

  Israel’s military has been releasing more information on the tunnels, even recently giving Western reporters a tour of a pacified wing of the tunnel network, to show the world what it’s up against. Currently the IDF is still seeking to flood the tunnels, or at least significant sections of them, by pumping in seawater. 

  

  Reporters with the NY Times have seen some of the tunnels, and write: “The tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip is wide enough for a large car to pass through, reinforced with concrete and fitted with electrical wiring.” 

  “And at least one section of the tunnel — which Israel says is the largest it has discovered in Gaza so far — is within walking distance of an Israeli border crossing.”

  This adds further context to help understand how Hamas terrorists were able to be so successful in rapidly infiltrating Israeli military bases and kibbutz communities during the events of Oct.7.

  Another new to emerge video clip purports to show a senior Hamas commander having a casual drive inside a very wide and tall tunnel.

  The IDF reveals footage obtained from the Gaza Strip showing senior Hamas commander Muhammed Sinwar, the brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, in a car driving through the major tunnel revealed earlier today by the military. pic.twitter.com/PPr0jOSKSp

  — Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 17, 2023

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  Hamas says top engineers have worked on these tunnels, and that they can sustain anticipated Israeli actions such as flooding with seawater from the Mediterranean.

  The IDF’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, was quoted in the NYT as saying, “This tunnel had been built for years.”

  “Millions of dollars have been spent on this tunnel, hundreds of tons of cement, a lot of electricity. Instead of spending all of them — the money, the cement, the electricity — on hospitals, schools, housing and other needs of the Gazans,” he added.

  Israeli officials are being criticized for not detecting a newly uncovered tunnel in Gaza before the October 7 attack by Hamas. pic.twitter.com/GINRsoph60

  — USA TODAY (@USATODAY) December 18, 2023

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  Israel has sought to underscore that Hamas steals and diverts international humanitarian aid for the sake of its tunnels, which serve a military and terroristic purpose.

  This is part of Israel’s PR campaign to explain to the world why it has long limited and restricted aid trucks passing through the Rafah crossing from Egypt.

  The Israel Defense Forces have publicized more footage of the tunnels in the following…

  EXPOSED: The biggest Hamas terrorist tunnel discovered.

  This massive tunnel system branches out and spans well over four kilometers (2.5 miles). Its entrance is located only 400 meters (1,310 feet) from the Erez Crossing—used by Gazans on a daily basis to enter Israel for work… pic.twitter.com/RcjK5LbvGL

  — Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 17, 2023

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  Given not only the immense size of the tunnels, but the fact that the underground network stretches for miles, Israel will have an extremely tough time fully destroying Hamas, which Netanyahu has vowed to do. Israel has said it will not send ground forces into the tunnels, but will disable them by other means.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/18/2023 – 17:20

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