- The Media And Ukraine War Coverage: Where Truth Takes A Holiday
The Media And Ukraine War Coverage: Where Truth Takes A Holiday
Authored by Connor O’Keefe via The Mises Institute,
As Ukrainian forces continue their much-hyped counteroffensive to take back contested territories in the country’s eastern and southern regions, we’re faced with conflicting coverage of the campaign.
Many reports say Ukraine’s forces are struggling to break through the minefields fortifying Russia’s lines. And many admit that even the sudden and dramatic Wagner Group mutiny did not appear to hand Ukraine much of an advantage on the front.
Days ago, in a move that looks like damage control, Ukraine’s defense secretary even announced that Kyiv would no longer measure success in recaptured territory but would instead just aim to destroy as much Russian military infrastructure as possible.
Still, according to some Western journalists, this is all part of Ukraine’s plan.
They’re just testing Russian resistance to find weak spots so they can better allocate resources during the next phase of the counteroffensive. And that’s when the big gains will take place. Maybe that’s true, but still, other coverage about Ukraine’s losses would have you think the counteroffensive has been a horrific disaster.
Much like the wider war, how you see this counteroffensive playing out depends almost entirely on where you get your news. That is not an accident. As citizens of the wealthiest country whose government controls the most military hardware in the world, it’s important to remember that all coverage of this war ought to be viewed with some baseline degree of skepticism. This is because numerous parties—in both governments and the media outlets themselves—are working hard to bend the American public’s perception of the war to their benefit.
That is, of course, nothing new. In 1941—the last time a European war threatened to go global—the British sent an intelligence officer named William Stephenson to the United States and tasked him with running an information operation to turn American public opinion away from noninterventionism.
The main approach Stephenson’s stories team used was secretly planting carefully crafted—and sometimes outright fake—stories in the biggest American newspapers and magazines. These stories were specifically designed to portray British forces as having more than enough courage to take on the Germans but lacking sufficient resources, regardless of how accurate that depiction was at any given time.
It was a specific tone that the United Kingdom’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) believed had the best chance of convincing the American public to support joining the fight. Since then, every group that the American political establishment wants to support militarily gets presented to the American people in a similar fashion—from the Mujahideen to the Syrian Kurds to the current Ukrainian regime.
Though we may not know about the prevalence of covert information operations for some time, a pair of stories published last month offer a window into some more overt efforts to shape our perception of the war in Ukraine. First, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, a Ukraine correspondent for the New York Times, wrote a viral story detailing how Ukrainian press officers and some Western journalists have tried to downplay, justify, or cover up the use of Nazi symbols by Ukrainian soldiers.
One specific passage tells of Western photojournalists asking their subjects to remove patches with Nazi emblems before taking photos. By doing so, these journalists crossed the line from documenting their subjects to staging them.
On the same day, former New York Times media columnist Ben Smith published an article reporting that many Western journalists have grown frustrated with how the Ukrainian government uses access and accreditation to shape war coverage. For example, the Ukrainian military threatened to revoke a photojournalist’s credentials after he took pictures of conscripted soldiers in a trench without the presence or permission of a military press officer.
In another example, an NBC News crew traveled to Crimea to interview residents about the war. After reporting that most people they talked to preferred that Crimea belonged to Russia, the Ukrainian government revoked NBC’s credentials and confined their in-country crew to a hotel.
Smith even brings up Thomas Gibbons-Neff from above, who had his access and credentials revoked after reporting on Ukraine’s use of banned cluster munitions. There’s no question that, at least to some extent, the continual threat of a loss of access affects everyone reporting over there in an official capacity.
This is not a new or unusual technique. The US government used similar tactics to help shape the narrative of its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Most professional journalists struggle endlessly to find sources. So, by granting extensive access that can always be revoked, governments can run an effective carrot-and-stick ploy to control media coverage.
Our views of war are warped by design. Sure, the Russian regime is mounting a similar effort to control how the Russian people view the war, but it would be absurd to say that the Kremlin holds an influence over the American public that’s even comparable to the US or Ukrainian governments.
Despite what the media, the government, or your middle school civics teacher wants you to think, you don’t need to frantically keep up with the hourly developments in Eastern Europe to be a good citizen. But if you choose to follow this war, understand which parties have a hand in delivering whatever information you’re consuming because not everyone is trying to tell you the truth.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/20/2023 – 02:00 - Journalists Attacking The Film ‘Sound Of Freedom’ Should Have Their Hard Drives Investigated
Journalists Attacking The Film ‘Sound Of Freedom’ Should Have Their Hard Drives Investigated
Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us
I recently went to see the movie Sound Of Freedom with the expectation of a moderate level of political commentary or religious pontificating, given the rabid and widespread attacks on the film by the leftist media. All I knew going in was that the indie production was about child trafficking and that the mainstream media HATES IT. After the film was over, my first thought was that it was an excellent story about a very dark and difficult issue. My second thought was – “What the hell was all the fuss about? There’s not a single political moment in the entire movie!”
The media war on the low budget flick is so bizarre given this fact that I am immediately suspicious of their intentions. Not one political message, not one momentary critique of the political left, not one moment where MAGA or Trump or “Q-Anon” is mentioned, not one “conspiracy theory.” So why all the hate?
Before reading this review any further I highly recommend you check out some of the hatchet job articles published about Sound Of Freedom to get a sense of what I’m talking about – examples are here, here, here and here.
The first thing you’ll probably notice is that the majority of these vitriolic diatribes use the exact same talking points – They suggest that The Sound Of Freedom is based in conspiracy theory, far-right extremism and that it is funded by a subversive network of “Q-Anon adjacent” conservatives. Some journalists have even attacked the veracity of the film’s true story – the career of DHS agent Tim Ballard, who operated covertly to take down child sex traffickers in Central America.
The Guardian asserts:
“Caviezel stars as special agent Tim Ballard, a Homeland Security Investigations operative who really did work for the state busting up child-trafficking rings for more a decade. (Or so he claims – the DHS can neither confirm nor deny the real Ballard’s employment history.) Even if he did not literally have the face of Christ, Ballard would still exude an angelic aura as he gently hoists dirty-faced moppets out of peril with the gravely uttered catchphrase: “God’s children are not for sale.”
Rolling Stone fumes:
“Ballard, Caviezel, and others of their ilk had primed the public to accept Sound of Freedom as a documentary rather than delusion by fomenting moral panic for years over this grossly exaggerated “epidemic” of child sex-trafficking, much of it funneling people into conspiracist rabbit holes and QAnon communities. In short, I was at the movies with people who were there to see their worst fears confirmed.”
Perhaps Rolling Stone has never heard of Epstein’s Island? Why are they pretending like this global criminal enterprise is not a thing?
These reviews are dripping with venom, though a simple investigation into Tim Ballard reveals endless evidence that he did in fact quit his job at DHS to operate in Central America to stop child trafficking rings. And the sting that is the core of the film on an island Ballard set up as a trap to capture an entire network of pedophiles as well as save 120 kids? Yeah, that was real, too.
In fact, there’s a documentary about Tim Ballard’s successful sting called ‘Triple Take’ and the Sound Of Freedom movie includes real life arrest footage from that event. There is no question that almost every detail in Sound Of Freedom is real. Any media outlet that says otherwise is lying, and the fact that they are attempting to sow seeds of doubt about the legitimacy of Tim Ballard based on politics is villainous.
One interesting part of the the film that is NOT accurate was the depiction of a Latin billionaire funding Tim Ballard’s efforts. In reality, Ballard says that it was primarily conservative host Glenn Beck that raised money for his operations that led to the rescue of hundreds of children. Why Glenn Beck was not mentioned in the final cut of the film is hard to say, but Ballard’s connection to Beck might partly explain the media’s fury over the movie. How DARE these conservative men save children from sex slavery, right? It makes conservatives look like (GASP!) good guys.
But there’s something more going on here than mere envy on the part of leftist journalists. The campaign against the movie is far too coordinated and far too expansive (global). It is as if these people are interconnected and they all agreed together to try to subvert the film, or they were all ORDERED to subvert the film.
This kind of behavior suggests a personal stake in creating conditions for failure; it makes it seem like these journalists want to sabotage the movie because of its premise and message. Why would someone want to sabotage a movie which exposes child trafficking and pedophiles? Could it be that we need to check the hard drives of some of these establishment media writers and producers?
I think it’s important to note that such people have been criminally prosecuted for child sex abuse in the past. For example, long time CNN producer John Griffin was recently arrested and convicted of child rape, using online apps to connect with mothers willing to sell their children to him for thousands of dollars so he could abuse them at his Vermont vacation home.
Last year the FBI raided the home of renowned ABC News producer James Gordon Meek and arrested him on charges of transporting child pornography. Rolling Stone Magazine was later accused of trying to cover up the reason for the arrest with selective editing and omission. Rolling Stone is now one of the main outlets attacking Sound Of Freedom.
Maybe the movie makes these journalists angry because it exposes one of their favorite hobbies?
I’m a long time film buff and I can say with some authority that as a movie, Sound Of Freedom is well made and well executed. The overall acting is effective including Jim Caviezel’s portrayal of Tim Ballard, the child performances are amazing, the editing is excellent and the cinematography is top notch. The film is good all around; it reminds me of one my favorite movies of all time, a criminal procedural directed by Akira Kurosawa called ‘High And Low’ (also known as ‘Heaven And Hell’ in Japan) about police investigating a child kidnapping.
My only complaint is that I felt they should have shown Tim Ballard with his family a little more, so that when he makes the decision to go to Columbia and risk his life, the choice carries more weight. Other than that, Sound Of Freedom is one of the best dramas I have seen in a long time, and at no point did I feel “preached at.” I can’t say the same for most Hollywood films the past several years, which are replete with non-stop leftist propaganda.
The depiction of the process of child trafficking is very uncomfortable, but it’s meant to be. I rarely squirm in my chair with discomfort or get angry at characters on a screen, but every time there was a scene with a pedophile all I could think was “That guy needs to go in a wood chipper.” That’s good film making.
So again, there are few if any valid criticisms to make about the production itself and the story is largely accurate. Why are leftist journalists raging against this movie? I think because it sheds light on the fact that pedophilia is not only about isolated cases of loners stalking school playgrounds, it’s an international industry worth billions upon billions of dollars, and there are very rich and powerful people involved in that industry (including people in mainstream journalism).
They don’t want people to consider the pervasive nature of this criminal underworld. They want people passive and unaware. For some reason, they want people to assume that child slavery is a conspiracy theory.
Another issue to consider is that the political left has been aggressively targeting children with sexualization for the past several years, primarily through the imposition of trans ideology. They are turning the sexualization of minors into an activist movement. Children as young as kindergarten are being indoctrinated with “gender identity” propaganda and HIGHLY pornographic books (with pornographic images) posing as educational LGBT content are being planted in public schools. We all know what the end game of this movement is – The normalization of pedophilia.
Leftists may be consciously or unconsciously hostile to Sound Of Freedom because when they see the organized networks of child groomers on the big screen, they see themselves.
To conclude: Go see this movie. The media attacks are clearly designed to dissuade people from watching it based on political bias. Check it out and you’ll realize quickly that all their claims are false. Furthermore, you’ll start to wonder aloud why they hate the film? The saying “Methinks thou dost protest too much…” comes to mind, as such journalists reveal their propensity for evil.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/19/2023 – 23:55 - DC Awards Convicted Felon With Contract For 'Bogus' EV Tech
DC Awards Convicted Felon With Contract For ‘Bogus’ EV Tech
Self-described inventor (and convicted felon) Lawrence Hardge received a $680,000 contract from the District of Columbia for a small device that he claims increases the range of electric vehicles.
Local media outlet WUSA9 was the first to shine the spotlight on the shady EV deal DC’s Department of Public Works recently made with Hardge to outfit 40 Chevrolet Bolt EVs with the Energy Management Module (EEM) device.
Hardge claims the device can increase any EV battery’s driving range and efficiency by more than 60%. Electrical engineers from the University of Maryland say that’s ‘practically impossible.’
“There’s not technologies that I’m aware of that can really boost that same battery pack to significantly more than 200-mile range,” said Paul Albertus, an associate director of the Maryland Energy Innovation Institute.
Albertus said, “There’s a variety of limitations just from basic chemical theory. There’s only so much energy you can store for the materials that you put into a battery.”
WUSA contacted General Motors, maker of the Bolts, and asked if they knew of the EEM device.
“We have not been involved in this project and are not aware of this specific technology,” General Motors wrote in a statement.
DC awarded Hardge a $680,000 contract for the device that UMD experts say is ‘bogus.’
Hardge was convicted of selling unregistered securities from his home state of Mississippi two decades ago. He served five years in prison and tried to expunge his criminal record in 2021.
According to a Jackson Advocate article in 2022, Hardge claimed that he “had been notified by the University of Michigan, which is located only 35 miles from Hardge Global Manufacturing offices in Farmington Hills, Michigan, that he is being prepped for a possible Nobel Prize nomination by the university.”
“I interviewed with the University of Michigan last year,” he said in the article. “I spent about eight hours with them. They wanted to nominate me for a Nobel Prize. They thought I was the perfect candidate.”
WUSA spoke with a University of Michigan spokesperson who said, “We’ve checked with colleagues who would be most likely to be familiar with Mr. Hardge (Office of Research, College of Engineering, Communications) and no one is familiar with him.”
Depending on how this plays out, this could be a future episode on CNBC’s American Greed.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/19/2023 – 23:35 - Former FBI Special Agent 'Confirmed' Key Parts Of Hunter Biden IRS Whistleblower Testimony: Comer
Former FBI Special Agent ‘Confirmed’ Key Parts Of Hunter Biden IRS Whistleblower Testimony: Comer
Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
A former FBI supervisory special agent has allegedly confirmed key portions of an IRS whistleblower’s testimony that President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, received preferential treatment during an investigation into felony tax crimes, according to the House Oversight Committee.
“Today, a former FBI supervisory special agent assigned to the FBI’s Wilmington office and the Biden criminal investigation confirmed key portions of the IRS whistleblower’s testimony,” committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a July 17 statement.
Hunter Biden arrives for a toast during an official State Dinner in honor of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the White House on June 22, 2023. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images) Mr. Comer did not reveal the identity of the former FBI agent.
He further claimed that the night before the interview of Hunter Biden, “both Secret Service headquarters and the Biden transition team were tipped off about the planned interview.”
“On the day of the Hunter Biden interview, federal agents were told to stand by and could not approach Hunter Biden—they had to wait for his call. As a result of the change in plans, IRS and FBI criminal investigators never got to interview Hunter Biden as part of the investigation,” he continued.
The Epoch Times has contacted the White House for comment.
Mr. Biden’s son has been under federal investigation for alleged tax fraud since 2018. According to prosecutors, he received more than $1.5 million in taxable income in 2017 and more than $1.5 million more in 2018 and was required by law to pay more than $100,000 in income tax for his earnings each of those years but failed to pay the tax.
President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden attend the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, on April 10, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) ‘Obvious Conflicts of Interest’
Mr. Comer’s statement comes after Gary Shapley, an IRS supervisory special agent, earlier this year claimed that the Department of Justice and the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office interfered in the investigation into the younger Mr. Biden in an attempt to delay the probe.
According to Mr. Shapley, the DOJ provided the younger Mr. Biden with preferential treatment, “slow-walked the investigation,” and “did nothing to avoid obvious conflicts of interest in this investigation.”
The former IRS agent additionally told prosecutors that the case into Hunter Biden had been “handled differently than any investigation” he’d ever been part of in his 14 years of service to the IRS and that some aspects of the case appeared to be influenced by politics.
Another whistleblower, a criminal investigator with the IRS identified only as Whistleblower X, has made similar claims.
The DOJ has denied any interference in the investigation into Hunter Biden.
Meanwhile, Mr. Biden has denied any wrongdoing on behalf of his family or himself.
Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax in a deal with the U.S. government in June, according to a letter from U.S. Attorney David Weiss to the U.S. court in Delaware.
The agreement to plead guilty meant he avoided prosecution on a separate gun charge. He is set to appear in court on July 26.
According to Mr. Comer, who cited a transcribed interview with the former FBI supervisory special agent, multiple witness interviews were planned for Dec. 8, 2020, and Mr. Shapley and the former FBI agent were assigned to interview the president’s son.
Read more here…
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/19/2023 – 23:15 - Do The Actor And Writer Strikes Actually Help Woke Hollywood Cover Up Its Failures?
Do The Actor And Writer Strikes Actually Help Woke Hollywood Cover Up Its Failures?
Hollywood is in deep trouble, but not for the reasons we are hearing from entertainment journalists.
With WGA and SAG strikes now underway production in Tinsel Town has all but disappeared. Talk among insiders is that the strikes could very well destroy the industry for years to come. But what if this scenario is exactly what flailing media companies needed?
The implosion of the mainstream movie business gestated long before the strikes; it started with the injection of woke politics and propaganda into the western pop culture space. Since 2016 (a year marking the “coming out party” for extreme intersectional feminism, critical race theory and trans ideology in movies) movie ticket sales have plummeted by around 40%.
Box office revenues have collapsed to levels not seen since 2001, and keep in mind that the stats get much worse once they are adjusted for inflation.
Initially, film studios tried to use the covid lockdowns and fear of the virus as the reason for their declining numbers. However, hit films like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Top Gun: Maverick proved that the covid rationale was nonsense. People were more than willing to go to the theaters by the millions, but only for non-woke movies. Nobody cared about covid.
It’s now 2023 and the pandemic excuse is dead. Hollywood is left with no scapegoat to blame their problems on and it’s becoming increasingly apparent that if you “Get Woke” you will in fact “Go Broke.”
Almost every major film production containing far-left propaganda or common woke tropes such as race swapped characters, gender swapped characters, feminism, trans ideology, CRT, climate change cultism, “girl boss” propaganda and deconstructed male heroes is now tanking at the theaters to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in losses per film.
The problem is that production companies continue to double down and refuse to admit the real reason they are collapsing. Disney, for example, is now openly discussing a fire sale on pieces of the company in order to shore up their finances. This is after they fired 7000 employees. Yet, the political nature of their downfall is rarely if ever broached.
This behavior suggests that the woke cult is more important to Hollywood than making a profit or even saving their businesses. The bottom line? Americans and most of the world are tired of far-left concepts being forced into entertainment, but Hollywood would rather go down with the ship than build a life raft by acknowledging that woke is sinking them. It’s truly insane; a perfect expression of mental illness.
And make no mistake, these companies are going down. They might be hoping for a bailout in the future, but it’s not coming. Not in time to save the industry as it exists today. The ESG establishment has far more important things to worry about than keeping companies like Disney afloat.
But, if the goal is to avoid admitting at all costs that woke ideology is a massive failure among the majority of the population, then studios now have an excellent scapegoat in the form of the WGA and SAG strikes. In a year’s time they can claim that it was the strikes that killed the movie business, not political zealotry. And let’s not forget that a large number of writers and actors have been participants in the leftist destruction of media, so they don’t really deserve any sympathy either.
This all rests, of course, on the strikes lasting longer than a couple months. If they don’t, then the Hollywood establishment will be right back where they started. They’ll be force to fire their woke staff and start making good films again, or, they’ll burn as the public dances on the ashes.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/19/2023 – 22:55 - Trump Could Face 'Seditious Conspiracy' Charge In Jan. 6 Probe, Previous Trials Suggest
Trump Could Face ‘Seditious Conspiracy’ Charge In Jan. 6 Probe, Previous Trials Suggest
Authored by Petr Svab via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
With former President Donald Trump saying that he’s been notified that a Washington-based grand jury is investigating him in relation to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol protest and breach, a commentator who’s been closely following Jan. 6-related trials is pointing to seditious conspiracy as a charge Mr. Trump likely will face.
Former U.S. President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks at the Turning Point Action USA conference in West Palm Beach, Fla., on July 15, 2023. (Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images) Mr. Trump said he was informed of being the target late on July 16 through a letter from the office of Jack Smith, a special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Mr. Trump’s involvement in the January 6 incident as well as his retention of documents from his time in the White House.
“This witch hunt is all about election interference and a complete and total political weaponization of law enforcement!” Mr. Trump commented in a July 18 post on Truth Social, his social media platform.
He said he has been given four days to show up before the grand jury; it isn’t clear whether he is being invited to testify voluntarily or subpoenaed.
‘Tactical Move’
Prosecutors should first ask for a voluntary appearance before subpoenaing the target of a criminal investigation, according to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Justice Manual.
Also, lawyers usually discourage their clients from going before a grand jury if they are the target of the investigation—it can be avoided by invoking the right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment, says Marc Ruskin, a former FBI agent and assistant U.S. attorney.
However, that may be Mr. Smith’s goal, according to Mr. Ruskin.
He noted that Mr. Trump is already facing indictments in New York and Florida and pleading the Fifth in Washington gives another talking point to his opponents.
“It could be a tactical and procedural move just to make him look bad,” he said.
“You have Trump, a former president who is running to be president again, pleading the Fifth. I guess from their point of view, it’s going to help make him less attractive as a candidate.”
If the target is not asked to testify, “the prosecutor, in appropriate cases, is encouraged to notify such person a reasonable time before seeking an indictment in order to afford him or her an opportunity to testify before the grand jury,” the manual says.
Mr. Trump indicated he believes charges against himself are imminent, saying that being told to report to the grand jury, “almost always means an Arrest and Indictment.”
Some commentators have long predicted Mr. Trump will face charges in the probe, including Julie Kelly, an independent journalist who had closely followed the trials of Jan. 6 participants.
“I’ve warned of this for over a year. I take no pride in being right,” she commented in a July 18 tweet.
“Only question now is what charges Smith will bring (strong possibility he’ll seek indictment on seditious conspiracy) and who is charged with him. (Any conspiracy charge requires at least one conspirator).”
In April, she highlighted several members of the pro-Trump Proud Boys group who were convicted of seditious conspiracy. Ms. Kelly believes the DOJ approached the Proud Boys trial in a way that seemed to lay the groundwork for bringing the same charge against Mr. Trump.
During the closing arguments, it seemed to her that prosecutors tried to tie Proud Boys to Mr. Trump, particularly regarding a comment by Mr. Trump during a 2020 presidential debate that the Proud Boys should “stand down and stand by.”
She pointed to a comment by one of the prosecutors that “defendants saw themselves as Donald Trump’s army, fighting to keep their preferred leader in power no matter what.”
“Convictions of 4 members of the Proud Boys set the stage for Smith to pursue a seditious conspiracy indictment against Trump because DOJ made the former president an unindicted co-conspirator of sorts during the trial,” Ms. Kelly told The Epoch Times via text.
Read more here…
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/19/2023 – 22:35 - In-N-Out Bans Employee Masking In Five States
In-N-Out Bans Employee Masking In Five States
The In-N-Out burger chain will prohibit employees in five states from wearing masks unless they’ve got a note from their doctor, according to internal company emails leaked to social media, Bloomberg reports.
An In-N-Out Burger restaurant in Alhambra, California.
Photographer: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty ImagesWorkers in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Texas and Utah are advised in the memo of “the importance of customer service and the ability to show our Associates’ smiles and other facial features while considering the health and well-being of all individuals.”
The policy, which will go into effect August 14, will apply to all In-N-Out employees in those states, unless their job duties require masks or other protective gear. If they fail to comply, employees could face disciplinary action, up to and including being fired.
As Bloomberg notes, California and Oregon – not on the list, have laws which prevent employers from banning masks.
And of course, pro-maskers, who can’t cite peer-reviewed studies proving their efficacy – are having a conniption.
“Requiring a doctor’s note is also a burden in terms of time and money. Many people don’t have a primary care physician or one who is readily available,” wrote infections disease specialist Dr. Judy Stone in Forbes. “And requiring proof of a disability might be considered a violation of the Americans with Disability Act, depending on how one interprets masking as a request for accommodation.”
Stone also pointed to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — which notes that 6 in 10 adults have a chronic disease, increasing their risk for severe COVID-19.
In-N-Out workers in California and Oregon also have new mask guidelines set to go into effect August 14, according to a separate leaked company memo. But in contrast to the other states, California and Oregon employees will still be able to choose to wear a mask in stores. -Bloomberg
The new masking guidelines are also subject to local health regulations.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/19/2023 – 22:15 - Chris Rufo Exposes The History Of America's Cultural Revolution
Chris Rufo Exposes The History Of America’s Cultural Revolution
Authored by Techno Fog via The Reactionary,
“The ambition of this book is to reveal the inner history of America’s cultural revolution, tracing the arc of its development from its origin point to the present day.”
– Christopher Rufo, America’s Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything.
Christopher Rufo may have been setting out the ambition of his new book, America’s Cultural Revolution, but there is no mistake that this work itself is ambitious, given the scale of material (the cultural revolution and pre-revolutionary ideas, and the creation and progression of that movement, for starters) and the connection from leftist thought leaders of the mid-20th century to the absurdities and very real cultural and political dangers we see today.
But his task is also necessary, as the proper answer to the question of “where we are” – one of disagreement even among conservatives, some of whom deny we are in a revolutionary age – requires an exploration of how we got here and the ideas that led us to this point. The revolutionary lineage from the 1960s (and before) carries on to this day – albeit in an arguably stronger form. What was radical is now the orthodoxy. Those calling for sexual liberation in 1955, for example, would no doubt be shocked – and proud – at the evolution and success of that idea. We add that political liberation and sexual liberation are indeed intertwined, as they both can lead to spiritual bondage.
Rufo, to his credit, achieves that ambitious goal. America’s Cultural Revolution is divided into four parts: Revolution, Race, Education, and Power, with each including a biography of the prophets of the cultural revolution. There is an exacting focus on the prophets’ writings (supported by hundreds of footnotes) concerning “liberation”, political violence, anti-racism, and the destruction of institutions – many of which we see regurgitated, exercised, and acted upon to this day.
Your humble author is especially thankful for Rufo’s deep dive into the history of the revolutionaries, which helps to give a biography of the movement. We often see the ridiculous (the shop teacher with z-cups) and the concerning (statues toppled) and the evil (public school teacher-led gender transitions), but we’re left without an understanding of where all this originated and how it came to be.
The words of the left’s prophets, as Rufo demonstrates, became the blueprint for societal change, for violent upheavals, and leftist control of institutions that will take a revolution to undo. In the first few chapters, for example, he goes into great detail discussing the demands and views of Herbert Marcuse, a German-born philosopher dubbed “the father of the revolution” who argued:
“modern capitalist society had created the perfect means of repression, anesthetizing the working class with material comforts, manufactured desires, and welfare programs, which stabilized the system and allowed for the creation of external scapegoats.”
The solution to this problem was nothing short of unrest and dissolution, through violence if necessary. It would require “the revolt of the affluent white intelligentsia, the radicalization of the black ‘ghetto population,’ the capture of public institutions, and the cultural repression of the opposition.”
Rufo observes that “all of these objectives have been realized to some degree.” It’s hard to disagree with that assessment – especially considering how Rufo dedicates later chapters solidifying that point through discussions of the liberal domination of academia, the use of race as a means to target the American system as a whole, the far left’s long march (which can also be called a historically short march) through the institutions (including universities, local schools, business, and federal bureaucracies), and the increasingly accepted and forceful censorship and repression regimes, both public and private. In doing so, Rufo effectively makes the argument that for even those paying close attention, things might be worse than we thought, that the revolution we face is stronger than reported.
His exposition on the evolution of revolutionary ideas is particularly compelling. By the time Rufo gets to discussing Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the later chapters, we have a better understanding of the originators, history, and vulnerabilities of basic elements to CRT. And Rufo provides necessary context, both in historical criticisms of CRT and his own accurate assessment of the movement:
The elements of critical race theory are, in fact, a near-perfect transposition of race onto the basic structures of Marxist theory. “White supremacy” replaces “capitalism” as the totalizing system. “White and black” replaces “bourgeoisie and proletariat” as the “oppressor and oppressed.” “Abolition” replaces “revolution” as the method of “liberation.” This is not a mere metaphor or post hoc comparison. The critical race theorists appeal directly to Marxist theoreticians and the Marxist-Leninist figures of the black liberation movement.
With this knowledge, Rufo is by all means qualified to discuss where the movement goes from here. He warns:
This movement seeks to establish itself in every layer of the public and private administration, which will be refitted to advance the substitute morality of critical race theory and replace governance by the Constitution with governance by the bureaucracy.
He makes that warning with the understanding of what the movement wants, the answer to which is “found in the original literature of critical race theory”: the abandonment of equal justice under the law, the redistribution of wealth along racial lines, and the prohibition of speech that is considered harmful or hateful. But we think he makes that warning not just based on their words, but because he understands and respects their zealotry, their dedication, their patience, their resentment (another word for hatred), and the lengths they will go to accomplish their desires.
As I read this book, I couldn’t help but ask whether this was always going to be the end result of liberalism or whether this is liberalism hijacked by its more radical elements. That’s not really a focus of the book (there are only so many pages), but it’s worthy to explore whether liberal democracy is authoritarian by its very nature and susceptible or predestined to adopting forms of fundamentalism to achieve its ends. Patrick Deneen’s Why Liberalism Failed and Ryszard Legutko’s The Demon in Democracy are good places to start, if you’re interested in looking into those questions further.
If there is a revolution, then consider this book to be part of the counter-revolution. In conclusion, Rufo concentrates on the response to the revolutionaries and the necessary elements of the opposition: hope, a fight against collectivism and racial reductionism, a fight for natural rights and the Constitution and individual dignity. The counter-revolution he proposes goes much further than vanquishing the far left and retaking the institutions. It requires decentralization, local control, self-governance, a system of government that protects the rights of the individual while scaling back its own authority. It’s not just an improvement. It’s a return.
That seems ambitious in 2023. But so too were the revolutionary ideas of 1968.
Subscribe here to the reactionary.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/19/2023 – 21:55 - Credit Scores Abruptly Plunge As Americans Stop Paying Down Debt; Synchrony Financial Warns
Credit Scores Abruptly Plunge As Americans Stop Paying Down Debt; Synchrony Financial Warns
Over the past few years, tens of millions of consumers witnessed a remarkable increase in their credit scores, primarily due to helicopter money dished out by the federal government, rock-bottom interest rates, and a pause on student-loan payments. However, the party has come to an abrupt end as credit scores plunge.
Bloomberg reports Synchrony Financial is closing inactive accounts and capping card limits for a number of clients as macroeconomic headwinds mount.
“What we are seeing is people who are doing significant score migration — a 680 or a 690 going to a 620,” Synchrony Financial CFO Brian Wenzel said in an interview.
Wenzel said, “Folks who had paid down debt, their scores had gone up, and now they’re reverting back to more normal performance.”
The Stamford, Connecticut-based consumer financial services company hasn’t tightened underwriting standards for new accounts but is beginning to notice consumer stress 16 months into the Federal Reserve’s interest rate tightening cycle.
Two years of an inflation storm has sent real wage growth to negative levels, forcing many consumers to drain personal savings and overutilize credit cards to make ends meet. We noted this in “Credit Card Debt Explodes At 2nd Fastest Pace On Record Just As Rates Hit All-Time High” and “Credit Card Debt Keeps Surging Even As Interest Rates Hit Record High.”
Consumers have racked up record amounts of credit card debt while interest rates on these cards have surged to the highest level ever of around 21% on average. Surging debt loads and high rates make paying off outstanding balances even harder for some consumers.
A lower credit score means consumers will have increasing trouble qualifying for new credit lines, thus cutting off their lifelines. Perhaps that’s why we’ve seen a surge in Google searches for “pawn shop near me” as consumers pawn off items for quick loans.
Just wait until student-loan payments restart … this will crush consumers even more as millions must divert even more income into debt servicing payments. Maybe consumers are heading into a period of a balance sheet recession.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/19/2023 – 21:35 - The Collapse Of The "Risk-Free" Delusion: Implications For The $133 Trillion Bond Market
The Collapse Of The “Risk-Free” Delusion: Implications For The $133 Trillion Bond Market
Authored by Nick Giambruno via InternationalMan.com,
Did you know that 2022 was the WORST year for US Treasuries in American history?
The benchmark 10-year Treasury fell nearly 18%, and the 30-year Treasury collapsed over 39%. Many other bonds did even worse.
Even if you go back 250 years, you can’t find a worse year for Treasuries, the foundation of the colossal global bond market.
It should forever end the ridiculous—yet pervasive—delusion that Treasuries are “risk-free.”
Many people and almost every financial institution have long thoughtlessly accepted this trope.
As a result, bonds in general—and Treasuries in particular—became the store-of-value asset of choice and the de facto savings account for savers and investors worldwide.
Today, the global bond market has grown to be worth more than an estimated $133 trillion as the masses parked their savings there because conventional wisdom said it was the “safe” thing to do.
By contrast, all the mined gold in the world is worth about $12.7 trillion, less than 10% of the bond market.
It may be tempting to think the worst is over for bonds—it’s not. As you’ll see, the pain for bondholders is just starting.
Although most don’t realize it yet, bonds will become a graveyard for capital. They will no longer be the “go-to” savings vehicle because they will no longer be a reliable store-of-value asset.
I believe the opposite will be true; bonds will become a guaranteed way to lose value. Investors will flee them in droves.
The implications of that are profound.
If not bonds, where will people, companies, and nation states park their savings?
Much of the value stored in the $133 trillion global bond market will move elsewhere—voluntarily to superior store-of-value assets or involuntarily to bankrupt governments and their cronies as they accelerate the largest wealth transfer in history.
That is the Big Picture reality that most people don’t understand… yet.
Until recently, bonds had been in a bull market that lasted more than 40 years. Therefore, it’s not surprising that complacency is ingrained and widespread.
The Big Picture
In the post-WWII era, Treasuries were a stable foundation for the global bond market as the US dollar reigned supreme as the world’s premier reserve currency.
However, that foundation has rotted. It is on the path to collapse as the petrodollar system falls apart and a multipolar world order emerges.
In short, the supply of Treasuries is increasing at an accelerating rate while there’s a shrinking number of suckers (i.e., buyers).
The inevitable is imminent as the US government can no longer delay or disguise its impending bankruptcy.
The US federal government has the biggest debt in the history of the world. And it’s continuing to grow at a rapid, unstoppable pace.
Today, the US federal debt has gone parabolic and is over $32.5 TRILLION.
To put that in perspective, if you earned $1 a second 24/7/365—about $31 million per year—it would take you over 1,029,860 YEARS to pay off the US federal debt.
And that’s with the unrealistic assumption that it would stop growing.
Observation #1: The US government can’t repay its debt. Default is inevitable.
This isn’t exactly a revelation, but it’s important to remember.
Therefore, the question is not whether the US government will default but how.
When faced with a choice, politicians always choose the most expedient option. In this case, that means issuing more debt rather than making tough budget decisions or explicitly defaulting.
Consider the recent debt ceiling farce, which raised the debt ceiling for the 105th time since 1944 to avoid an explicit default.
Observation #2: It will not be an explicit default.
In reality, there is no meaningful limit on the debt and spending.
Congress is racing towards ever-increasing spending and debt now that they’ve normalized multitrillion-dollar deficits.
Below is a chart of the Congressional Budget Office’s deficit projections for the next decade. These estimates will almost certainly be too rosy, as they often are.
Even by the CBO’s optimistic projections, the US government will have a cumulative deficit of over $20 TRILLION for the next ten years that will have to be financed by issuing more Treasuries.
Observation #3: The debt will continue to grow at an accelerating pace.
Historically, there has been a vast foreign appetite for Treasuries, but not anymore.
In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US government has launched its most aggressive sanctions campaign ever.
As part of this, the US government seized the Russian central bank’s reserves—the nation’s accumulated savings.
It was a stunning illustration of the political risk associated with the US dollar and Treasuries. It showed that the US government could seize another sovereign country’s reserves at the flip of a switch.
In short, the US dollar—and Treasuries—have become weaponized in a way they had not been before.
In addition to being terrible investments, Treasuries are now clearly political tools for Washington to coerce others.
There could even soon be “woke sanctions”…
For example, the US government recently threatened to sanction Uganda over its LGBT policies, which means that countries’ domestic policies may make them targets of US sanctions.
The rising political risk attached to Treasuries has made them even less attractive as a store of value. Many countries are undoubtedly wondering if the US government will seize their savings if they run afoul with Washington in even the most trivial ways.
China is one of the largest holders of US Treasuries, and it indeed took note of what is happening. There’s little doubt that this is the reason China continues to dump Treasuries.
Beijing has sold about 25% of its Treasuries since 2021, an enormous change in such a short period.
Even US allies, like Japan, have cut their Treasury holdings.
There are numerous other examples. The bottom line is that it’s clear the world isn’t hungry for US debt right now, at the moment when supply is exploding higher.
Observation #4: Foreigners are not buying as many Treasuries.
In the bond market, when demand for a bond falls, the interest rate rises to entice buyers and holders.
However, it is worth noting that the amount of federal debt is so extreme that even a return of interest rates to their historical average would mean paying an interest expense that would consume more than half of tax revenues. Interest expense would eclipse Social Security and defense spending and become the largest item in the federal budget.
In short, allowing interest rates to rise high enough to entice natural buyers would bankrupt the US government because of the higher interest costs.
Observation #5: The US government cannot allow interest rates to rise much further.
So, if higher interest rates cannot entice more buyers, who will finance these growing multi-trillion dollar budget deficits?
The only entity capable is the Federal Reserve, which buys Treasuries with dollars it creates out of thin air.
Observation #6: The Federal Reserve is the only significant buyer of Treasuries stepping up, which means currency debasement.
Here’s the bottom line.
The US government can’t pay off its debt.
They won’t explicitly default.
They can’t entice a meaningful amount of new Treasury buyers by allowing interest rates to rise much higher.
Then what can they do?
Financial repression is their only practical option… and it will devastate bondholders.
It could all go down soon… and it won’t be pretty.
It will result in an enormous wealth transfer from savers to the parasitical class—politicians, central bankers, and those connected to them.
Countless millions throughout history were wiped out financially—or worse—during periods of profound change because they failed to see the correct Big Picture and take appropriate action.
Don’t be one of them.
That’s exactly why I just released an urgent new report with all the details, including what you must do to prepare. It’s called, The Most Dangerous Economic Crisis in 100 Years… the Top 3 Strategies You Need Right Now. Click here to download the PDF now.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/19/2023 – 21:15 - 'No Way To Escape Haze': Canadian Wildfire Smoke Pours Into North Florida While African Dust Approaches From South
‘No Way To Escape Haze’: Canadian Wildfire Smoke Pours Into North Florida While African Dust Approaches From South
On Wednesday, smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted down to North Florida, coinciding with Saharan dust approaching South Florida.
Mike Boylan of Mike’s Weather Page first pointed this out as “there’s no escape from the haze” for Flordia.
“Crazy weather today, Wednesday… especially for Florida. Canadian wildfire smoke has made it south. And African dust has made it west. Both can be seen on AM satellite here,” Boylan tweeted.
Jim Cantore of The Weather Channel once called Mike’s Weather Page a “one-stop shop” for the latest tropical updates. Data on the site shows the National Hurricane Center predicts a 20% chance of cyclone formation in the next seven days in the Atlantic Basin.
Other tropical activity shows Tropical Storm Don swirling in the Atlantic and expected to remain at tropical-storm strength through the weekend as it approaches the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
In the Central Pacific, Gov. Josh Green declared a state of emergency as Tropical Storm Calvin battered Hawaii’s Big Island.
In the Lower 48, an unrelenting heat dome roasts tens of millions of people from California to Florida.
The good news is that 5,10,30-year average temperatures for the Lower 48 plateau on a seasonal basis. However, forecasts show average temperatures across the US could rise to as high as 85 degrees Fahrenheit by next Friday, with the possibility of cooler temps into early August.
Rather than blaming global warming solely on human activities, like billionaires flying around on private jets and sailing on mega yachts, readers must consider the El Nino weather pattern is a significant contributor to the warm spell gripping the planet.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/19/2023 – 20:55 - The Django Syndrome: What The Latest Racist Attacks On Clarence Thomas Say About Our Rage Politics
The Django Syndrome: What The Latest Racist Attacks On Clarence Thomas Say About Our Rage Politics
In July 1991, Clarence Thomas, a relatively unknown D.C. Circuit judge, was nominated by President George H.W. Bush to replace Thurgood Marshall on the United States Supreme Court.
Thomas soon found out that the only thing more perilous than replacing a historical icon on the Court is replacing a liberal with a conservative.
Thomas would become an icon in his own right for conservatives: an unyielding defender of textualism and conservative jurisprudence. Yet, liberals seem more preoccupied by his race than his rigidity. This week, a leading Democrat, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison unleashed another openly racist attack on Thomas and neither the media nor the political establishment condemned the remarks.
Ellison condemned Thomas as a house slave working for white people, analogizing him to the vile character “Stephen,” played by Samuel L. Jackson in the film “Django Unchained.” (Jackson himself called Thomas “Uncle Clarence” after the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade). Ellison added that, because he disagreed with Thomas’ conservative opinions, the justice is “illegitimate” and “needs to be impeached.”
That is, of course, nonsensical from a constitutional standpoint. However, what was most striking is the response to statements. The racist attack from the top lawyer in the state of Minnesota was not condemned by a single democrat.
Not Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who previously falsely declared that hate speech is not constitutionally protected under the First Amendment and declared himself a champion against bigotry and racist rhetoric.
Not from senior Senator Amy Klubuchar, who has repeatedly denounced racist tropes and rhetoric of Republicans.
Not from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who rightfully condemned the comments of Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville on white nationalism but made no comment on a racist attack of Thomas in the same week.
Not from President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly denounced racial rhetoric and “codes” by Republicans.
Indeed, the day that Ellison’s comments were being aired nationally, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre went to the press room to denounce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at length for his statements suggesting that Covid-19 may have been engineered to spare Jewish and Chinese people. Jean-Pierre declared that “it is important that we essentially speak out” when such racist or anti-Semitic comments are made, but then made no mention of the racist attack on Thomas as nothing more than a house slave.
Thomas knew that being a conservative black jurist would not be easy when he was nominated for the bench. Thomas replaced Robert Bork on the D.C. Circuit. Bork was also savagely attacked when he was nominated for the Court. Indeed, “borked” is now a term of art for destroying nominees in the confirmation process.
Thomas’ confirmation became a battle royale after Anita Hill accused him of of sexual harassment. What followed was famously described by Thomas as “a high tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas.”
The attacks on Thomas would never end. His very presence on the Court seemed to disgust liberals who made continual reference to his race. One Democratic legislator on the Georgia Senate floor called him an “Uncle Tom” who “sold his soul to the slave master.”
The Smithsonian’s African American museum even skipped over Thomas in its selection of great African Americans at its opening despite being the second African-American appointed to the highest court.
(His Senate confirmation-hearing accuser, Anita Hill, did make the cut.)
It was only after a public outcry that the Smithsonian relented to include Thomas.
The media has been unrelenting in its hostile and one-sided coverage of Thomas. While running gushing pieces heralding the backgrounds of liberal justices, there has been a virtual news blackout on Thomas’ amazing life story, one of the truly most inspirational accounts of overcoming every possible obstacle in life.
Thomas was born on the Georgia coast in Pin Point, Georgia and grew up speaking Gullah, the creole dialect. He was raised in a one-room shack with dirt floors, no plumbing, and no Dad. When he was eventually sent to a Catholic school, he had to learn to read and write in English. He overcame segregation and prejudice to eventually go to Holy Cross and then was offered admission to Yale, Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania law schools. He would become the chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1982, a federal appellate judge, and the second African American to join the Court.
Few of these critics could have walked the path of this man from Pin Point to Capitol Hill. He did so by being his own man — relying on his faith and his intellect to face seemingly insurmountable barriers before him.
Some 32 years ago, Thomas objected to the treatment of an “uppity black” jurist who thinks for himself. Others have made the case for him. For years, commentators have singled out Thomas for his race among the conservative majority. Now, in the face of yet another raw and racist attacks, the political and media establishment is again silent.
Ironically, the thing that made Stephen hate Django in the movie was that he would not yield to the demands of the white owners. Django defiantly admitted that he was “that one [black man] in ten thousand.” For the liberal establishment, Thomas was a threat because others might emulate him. That is why other black leaders like Sen. Tim Scott from South Carolina have faced continual racist tropes from the left, including a Maryland Delegate Gabriel Acevero stating that “Tim Scott isn’t naive, he’s cooning” to please white people.
The bitter irony is that Thomas is the antithesis of the Stephen character. He has always refused to yield to the demands of others on how he should think as a jurist due to his race.
The attacks are meant to chill others from even considering conservative or libertarian views. Ellison has long valued intimidation as a political weapon. He previously praised the ultra-violent group Antifa as useful to “strike fear in the heart” of Trump and Republicans.
Of course, Django is all about righteous rage as a license for the most extreme actions.
That is why Ellison may have had the right movie, but the wrong character. Call it the Django syndrome. When you are “one in ten thousand” who refuses to yield, you become not simply an annoyance but an obsession.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/19/2023 – 20:35 - "Like A Bomb Went Off": Pfizer Plant In North Carolina Destroyed By Tornado
“Like A Bomb Went Off”: Pfizer Plant In North Carolina Destroyed By Tornado
Dramatic footage posted on Twitter shows the aftermath of a tornado that ripped through a massive Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in North Carolina on Wednesday, scattering “50,000 pallets of medicine” across the property.
Pfizer told local media outlet ABC 11 that a twister damaged its Rocky Mount manufacturing space that sits on 250 acres in Eastern North Carolina.
“We are assessing the situation to determine the impact on production.
“Our thoughts are with our colleagues, our patients, and the community as we rebuild from this weather incident,” the company said.
According to the company’s website, the Rocky Mount plant is “one of the largest sterile injectable facilities in the world.” Here’s a list of medical devices produced at the plant:
At this facility, a wide range of products are produced, including anesthesia, analgesia, therapeutics, anti-infectives and neuromuscular blockers. These products are available in small volume presentations, such as ampules, vials and syringes, and large volume presentations, such as IV bags and semi-rigid bottles.
One Pfizer employee told ABC 11 that the twister wreaked havoc on the facility for 60 to 90 seconds. He said the tornado sounded “like a bomb went off.”
Footage of the damaged plant was posted on Twitter.
Pfizer building destroyed by a tornado in North Carolina. 50,000 pallets of medicines destroyed.😳
🔊
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) July 19, 2023
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
There’s no word if products related to sterile injectables will be in short supply.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/19/2023 – 20:15 - Bumps Appear In Surfing's Gender Equality Wave
Bumps Appear In Surfing’s Gender Equality Wave
Authored by Nicole James via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Feminist surfer Lucy Small has just won a battle in her fight for equality. She has announced that the Kirra Longboard Klassic event now added a women’s division with equal prize money after initially erasing the division.
A surfer rides a wave as a super blood moon rises above the horizon at Manly Beach in Sydney, Australia, on May 26, 2021. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images) Ms. Small is continuing to have to battle for equality in surf competitions. The fight to surf is becoming increasingly difficult as seen after the open women’s division was dumped from The Kirra Longboard Klassic starting on July 29 on the Gold Coast.
After being told that the prize pool of $5,500 (US$3,700) could not be split, Ms. Small hijacked the competition by organising for 15 of the 16 spots to be filled by women. She then persuaded the last entry to show solidarity with the girls and give up his spot.
Her efforts were successful in the recreation of the women’s event even though the director of the Kirra Longboard Klassic, Sean McKeown told the ABC, “The girls are not particularly good. There’s only a few of them in Australia that are really good at high performance.”
He went on to say, “I don’t think it’ll be quite as good a spectacle.”
Surf competitions make their money often via the number of people they attract and thus with the heightened hype around this division, the spectacle may be particularly worth watching and thus generate larger crowds than in previous years.
Steve Del Rosso, the sponsor of the open division, gave his opinion on social media about this attention.
“If I thought or knew this was going to happen, I would not of been any part of it, Lucy. It was never in my intention to have anything like this happen. Or to have this reaction as all I was trying to do was honour an old mate,” he said. “I definitely won’t be sponsoring any more events now. As this was the last thing I needed.”
Series of Steps
Ms. Small is no stranger to publicity. After winning the Curly Mal Jam Pro Longboard competition in April 2021, she received $1,500 compared to the male prize of $4,000.
Ms. Small’s victory speech went viral. She said winning was bittersweet because her performance was worth less than half of her male counterpart. She gained a lot of support after this speech with Global Surf Industries to pay the difference in prize money.
Yet the battle had just begun.
Ms. Small submitted a petition to the New South Wales (NSW) parliament calling for gender equality in sports to be enshrined in law as it is in the U.S., who had introduced an “equal pay for equal play” law in 2019. It is now illegal to pay men and women a different amount in Californian athletic events.
The World Surf League also mandated equal prize money in 2020 at top-level competitions.
In Australia, local government motions have now been passed in regards to “equal pay for equal play”, and in Victoria, local councils must show equal access to government funding applications for sporting facilities.
The publicity Ms. Small has created has seen Surfing NSW make it mandatory for affiliated clubs to offer women equal prize money.
The Surfing Australia 2023 rule book also now states, “In surfing competitions where there is prize money allocated, we require equal prize money and investment for both Women and Men’s surfing divisions.”
Although in May this year, the equal pay mandate was broken by the Noosa Malibu Club, with the male open division winner receiving $718 and the women’s open division winner receiving $505. This resulted in Surfing Australia issuing the club with a “first and final warning.”
Ms. Small’s campaigning has been recognised by a nomination at the Australian Surfing Awards.
While not winning this award, Ms. Small has garnered a support base across a number of sports, including surfing’s Mick Fanning and Stephanie Gilmore, Chloe (AFLW), Alicia Eva (AFLW), Kalindi Commerford (Hockey), Matilda McDonell (netball), and Brandon Jack (AFL).
Ms. Small is continuing her campaigning for female surfers and their conditions with her recently made film, Yama.
The documentary offers a view of Ghana’s flourishing surf and skate scene and the conditions under which West African women practice.
Yama dates are coming soon to Australia. For an update visit https://www.yama-film.com/watch
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/19/2023 – 19:55 - US General Mark Milley Claims Ukraine Counter Offensive 'Far From Failure'
US General Mark Milley Claims Ukraine Counter Offensive ‘Far From Failure’
It’s becoming increasingly apparent that Ukraine is nothing more than a sacrificial proxy pawn in a global game of chess, with NATO consistently misrepresenting the ongoing collapse of the Ukrainian military’s defensive posture. The government bombardment of the American public with war propaganda is far more impressive than any bombardment that Ukraine has engaged in the past few weeks.
On Tuesday the Washington Post reported that US officials are piling the pressure on Ukraine to make a breakthrough against Russian forces, following weeks of bleak headlines. At the same time, US General Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the media that the Ukraine counter offensive was ‘far from failure’ but will be ‘long and bloody.’
It is hard to tell if this rhetoric is for the benefit of the American populace or if it is designed to give false optimism to Ukrainians, but the counter-offensive is now officially a month old and NATO backed forces have gained a mere 35 square miles of ground along a massive 930 mile front line. By every measure of military doctrine, this constitutes a scrapped offensive.
Vladimir Putin argued this exact point this week, with Russia looking far less unstable than the western media has been suggesting. Putin also commented on the US shipments of cluster bomb munitions to Ukraine which he says would force Russia to escalate to the use of similar weapons.
To look at the situation in Ukraine from a purely strategic perspective outside of political goggles, there is no longer any momentum for NATO efforts in the region. Any suggestion otherwise is simply disinformation. In the meantime, Russia can continue to hold the ground it has already gained while preparing for further incursion (if that is their intent). The US and European population has shown minimal interest in engaging in a ground war with Russia, which leaves only monetary support and weapons support. Without an influx of new troops, Ukraine will lose.
It may be time for NATO to accept this inevitability and shift to a diplomatic solution. Further escalation only draws the world closer to a catastrophic outcome.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/19/2023 – 19:35 - Taiwan Says It Detected A Record 16 Chinese Warships Around Island
Taiwan Says It Detected A Record 16 Chinese Warships Around Island
Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,
China sent a record number of warships around Taiwan in a single day last week, topping a previous high set when the Chinese military responded to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island in August 2022, The South China Morning Post reported.
The Taiwanese Defense Ministry said that it detected 16 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ships operating around Taiwan on Friday, although it’s not clear how close they came to the island. After Pelosi’s visit, the PLA sent 14 vessels around the island for drills that simulated a blockade.
PLA Navy image In April, when Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with the current House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, China also conducted large-scale exercises around Taiwan and sent 12 PLA warships to the area.
Major Chinese military exercises around Taiwan are typically done in response to actions the US takes with respect to Taiwan, and Washington has continued to boost ties with Taipei despite Beijing’s position.
It’s not clear if there was a single event that sparked the PLA’s decision to send 16 warships around the island.
Global Times, a Chinese state media outlet, mentioned that the PLA warship activity came as the House passed its version of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes provisions to boost military ties with Taiwan, and after NATO issued a communiqué at its summit in Vilnius that took aim at China.
China is war gaming an amphibious assault on Taiwan.
– Ongoing, unannounced major military exercises
– 16 warships encircled Taiwan, a single day record, & 100+ in July
– Northern & Southern Theater forces participate
– 250 sorties with fighter jets & bombersLatest updates 👇 pic.twitter.com/grBHqB5XUI
— Ian Ellis (@ianellisjones) July 16, 2023
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Taiwanese media said the record number of Chinese warships came after a few days of steady PLA activity around Taiwan.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/19/2023 – 19:15 - Wheat Prices Soar As Russia Considers Ships Heading To Ukraine As "Carriers Of Military Cargo"
Wheat Prices Soar As Russia Considers Ships Heading To Ukraine As “Carriers Of Military Cargo”
Wheat futures jumped Wednesday morning after Russia’s defense ministry released a memo on Telegram indicating all vessels sailing to Ukraine ports in the waters of the Black Sea will be “regarded as potential carriers of military cargo” beginning on Thursday.
“In connection with the cessation of the functioning of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the сlosing of the maritime humanitarian corridor, from 00.00 Moscow time on 20 July 2023, all vessels sailing in the waters of the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports will be regarded as potential carriers of military cargo,” the defense ministry said.
The ministry continued:
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Accordingly, the countries of such vessels will be considered to be involved in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the Kiev regime.
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In addition, a number of sea areas in the north-western and south-eastern parts of the international waters of the Black Sea have been declared temporarily dangerous for navigation. Corresponding information warnings on the withdrawal of safety guarantees to mariners have been issued in accordance with the established procedure.
Following the defense ministry’s new warning, coupled with the termination of the Black Sea Grain deal earlier this week, wheat futures in Chicago soared 9% on Wednesday morning in Chicago.
Terminating the grain deal will only bring higher food costs and shortages for countries that import agricultural products from Ukraine.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/19/2023 – 18:55 -
- Shrinkflation: You're Paying More And Getting Less
Shrinkflation: You’re Paying More And Getting Less
Authored by Michael Maharrey via SchiffGold.com,
We are all keenly aware of price inflation. We notice those rising prices every time we go into a store. But the inflation boogeyman is hitting you even harder than you realize.
Not only are you paying more for pretty much everything you buy, you’re getting less.
Literally.
It’s called shrinkflation.
Rising prices don’t just hit consumers. In fact, they impact producers first. As the cost of materials, labor and equipment goes up, companies feel the pinch. Eventually, they pass those costs on to their customers.
But raising prices is bad for business, so sometimes, companies find other ways to cut costs. They shrink packages or simply put less stuff in the same size box. While the price stays the same, you get less product.
Shrinkflation doesn’t show up in the CPI and consumers often don’t even notice, but the effect is the same as rising prices. You ultimately end up with less stuff. It is ninja inflation.
“Downsizing is really a sneaky price increase,” former Massachusetts assistant attorney general Greg Dworsky told NPR during an interview.
“Consumers tend to be price-conscious. But they’re not net-weight conscious. They can tell instantly if they’re used to paying $2.99 for a carton of orange juice and that goes up to $3.19. But if the orange juice container goes from 64 ounces to 59 ounces, they’re probably not going to notice.”
MousePrint.org chronicles shrinkflation. Here are some recent examples.
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Double rolls of Bounty paper towels have shrunk from 98 select-a-size sheets to just 90. Triple rolls were downsized from 147 select-a-size sheets per roll to 135.
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The standard 92-ounce bottle of Gain detergent is now 88 ounces.
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A family-size bags of Double Stuf Oreos now have four fewer cookies in each bag. (Did the family shrink?)
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The 19.4-ounce bottle was downsized to 18 ounces.
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A package of Sara Lee blueberry bagels was reduced from five to four bagels as the package weight dropped by 3.3 ounces.
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Green Giant frozen broccoli and cheese sauce packages were reduced from 10.0 oz. to 8.0 oz. with no change in the advertised number of servings per package.
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Ice cream companies have generally dropped the standard 56-ounce container to 48 ounces.
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A tube of Crest Detoxify toothpaste dropped from 4.1 ounces to 3.7 ounces.
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Kettle potato chips switched from 8.5-oz. bags to 7.5-oz. bags.
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A package of Ortega taco shells dropped from 5.8 ounces to 4.9 ounces.
We also see shrinkflation in services. Remember full-service gas stations? Now, we pump our own gas, bag our own groceries and manage our own investment portfolios.
Misplaced Blame
Consumers often don’t notice shrinkflation, but when they do, they get angry, and they usually direct their anger at the “greedy” corporations who are charging them the same amount of money for less product. But there is another culprit who generally slinks around unnoticed.
The Federal Reserve.
Price inflation is a symptom of monetary inflation. As the central bank creates money out of thin air and injects it into the economy, prices generally rise. Economist Murray Rothbard noted that since governments have deemed “paper tickets” and computer digits money, “then the government, as dominant money-supplier, becomes free to create money costlessly and at will. As a result, this ‘inflation’ of the money supply destroys the value of the dollar or pound, drives up prices, cripples economic calculation, and hobbles and seriously damages the workings of the market economy.”
Companies are merely responding to their own cost problem when they shrink package sizes. If they didn’t, they would have to raise the price. And that would make you mad too!
When it’s all said and done, you end up paying more and getting less.
Ron Paul summed it up this way.
Congress should also restore a sound monetary policy by auditing, then ending, the Fed, as well as by repealing both legal tender laws and capital gains taxes on precious metals and cryptocurrencies. Ending the era of the welfare-warfare state and fiat currency can lead to a transition to a new era of liberty, peace, prosperity — and full bags of Doritos.”
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/19/2023 – 18:35 -
- Scandal-Plagued Stanford President Resigns After Review Finds 'Significant Flaws' In Studies He Ran
Scandal-Plagued Stanford President Resigns After Review Finds ‘Significant Flaws’ In Studies He Ran
The president of Stanford University has resigned after an independent review of his prior research found ‘significant flaws’ in studies he supervised going back decades.
Marc Tessier-Lavigne announced on Wednesday that he would resign as president of Stanford after the review, conducted by an outside panel of scientists, found that an important 2009 Alzheimer’s study contained “multiple problems,” and “fell below customary standards of scientific rigor and process,” but that it did not include falsified data which Tessier-Lavigne then covered up.
The panel concluded that the claims, published in February by The Stanford Daily, the campus newspaper, “appear to be mistaken” and that there was no evidence of falsified data or that Dr. Tessier-Lavigne had otherwise engaged in fraud.
As a result of the review, Dr. Tessier-Lavigne said he would retract a 1999 paper that appeared in the journal Cell and two others that appeared in Science in 2001. Two other papers published in Nature, including the 2009 Alzheimer’s study, would also undergo what was described as comprehensive correction. –NY Times
Following the Stanford Daily’s initial report about manipulated studies last November, the college’s board formed a special committee, led by former federal prosecutor Carol Lam, to review the claims. The committee then engaged former Illinois federal judge Mark Filip, and his law firm, Kirkland & Ellis, to conduct the review.
“I expect there may be ongoing discussion about the report and its conclusions, at least in the near term, which could lead to debate about my ability to lead the university into the new academic year,” said Tessier-Lavigne in a statement describing his reasons for resigning.
The university has named Richard Saller – a professor of European studies, as interim president, effective Sept. 1.
The panel’s report, which is 89-pages long, was based on more than 50 interviews and a review of more than 50,000 documents which concluded that members of Tessier-Lavigne’s labs engaged in inappropriate manipulation of research data or deficient scientific practices which resulted in significant flaws in five papers which listed Tessier-Lavigne as the lead author, the Times reports.
The panel found that in many instances, he took insufficient steps to correct mistakes, including the 2009 Alzheimer’s paper after subsequent studies revealed that its key finding was incorrect.
The accusations had first surfaced years ago on PubPeer, an online crowdsourcing site for publishing and discussing scientific work. But they resurfaced after the student newspaper, The Stanford Daily, published a series of articles questioning the accuracy and honesty of work produced in laboratories overseen by Dr. Tessier-Lavigne.
The newspaper first reported claims last November that images were manipulated in published papers listing Dr. Tessier-Lavigne as either lead author or co-author.
In February, the campus newspaper published an article with more serious claims of fraud involving the 2009 paper that Dr. Tessier-Lavigne published while a senior scientist at Genentech. -NY Times
The panel found that claims by the Stanford Daily that “Genentech had conducted a fraud investigation and made a finding of fraud,” was “mistaken,” and that no such investigation had been conducted.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/19/2023 – 18:15
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