Today’s News 21st December 2021

• China's US Enablers
  China’s US Enablers

  Authored by Peter Schweizer via The Gatestone Institute,

  • For Ray Dalio, moral relativism is great for business.

  • Bridgewater’s business is investment funds. Having more of those in China means more money for Bridgewater. It is really that simple. But in China business deals are not done with fellow capitalists who are dedicated to economic liberty and the free flow of capital to its most rational uses.

  • Dalio is willfully ignorant defense of Chinese communism… it is the calculated hypocrisy of the rope-selling capitalist.

  • Major American businesses are more worried about the prospect for growing or even losing their Chinese business revenues than about standing up against tyranny abroad, the silencing of Americans at home, and the outspoken intention of the Chinese Communist Party to supplant the United States — and the freedom that comes with it — as the world’s preeminent nation.

  • Apple also bowed to the Chinese government’s demand to give it full access to the data of its customers in China, even banning apps that would allow ordinary Chinese citizens to bypass their government’s sophisticated surveillance.

  • This is in contrast to Apple’s refusal in 2016 of an FBI request to break into the encryption of its iPhone after a domestic terrorist mass shooting incident in San Bernardino, California. Tim Cook told Apple employees at the time that his refusal was based on civil liberties concerns, which apparently did not stop him from agreeing to the Chinese Communist Party’s demands.

  • “Of course, Apple and Nike publicly claim to decry slave labor. But to be clear, the behavior we are seeing from US corporations is not about a company surviving: It’s about discontent with just hundreds of millions of dollars, desiring instead billions of dollars.” — Jake Tapper, CNN, December 5, 2021.

  

  One of the sadder realities of modern business is seeing how China has managed to co-opt and make hostages of American capitalists dazzled by the riches of the Chinese market. Ray Dalio (pictured) of Bridgewater Associates is just the latest financial titan to play the “Who am I to judge how another country runs itself?” card. (Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch)

  One of the sadder realities of modern business is seeing how China has managed to co-opt and make hostages of American capitalists dazzled by the riches of the Chinese market. Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates is just the latest financial titan to play the “Who am I to judge how another country runs itself?” card.

  For Dalio, moral relativism is great for business.

  Bridgewater’s business is investment funds. Having more of those in China means more money for Bridgewater. It is really that simple. In China, however, business deals are not done with fellow capitalists who are dedicated to economic liberty and the free flow of capital to its most rational uses. They are conducted with western-educated, government-tied, military-tied, intelligence-tied Chinese kingpins and princelings who understand their ultimate loyalty is to the Chinese Communist Party.

  After the Wall Street Journal reported that Dalio had raised $1.25 billion to create Bridgewater’s third investment fund in China, Dalio was asked by a CNBC host the frequently asked questions about doing business in China, given its many human rights abuses. Dalio demurred, claiming “I can’t be an expert in these types of things.” When asked in the same interview about the Chinese regime “disappearing” tennis star Peng Shuai from the public view for a month, Dalio stuttered out the explanation that the Chinese regime is really “like a strict parent.” He even tossed in the moral relativist’s favorite argument:

  “And then I look at the United States and I say, well, what’s going on in the United States and should I not invest in the United States because other things, err, human rights issues or other things?”

  For a man once described by former FBI director James Comey as “one smart bastard,” Dalio’s willfully ignorant defense of Chinese communism looks pathetic. It is actually even worse than that — it is the calculated hypocrisy of the rope-selling capitalist.

  Dalio is actually deeply knowledgeable about how things work in China. He has called Wang Qishan, the second most powerful man in the Chinese Communist Party, a “personal hero.” In his 2017 book, Principles, Dalio confessed, “Every time I speak with Wang, I feel like I get closer to cracking the unifying code that unlocks the laws of the universe.”

  Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan might not have quite Dalio’s level of reverence for someone known throughout China as “Xi’s enforcer,” but Dimon came to understand the importance of the “Who am I to judge?” principle of business etiquette in China. While in Hong Kong recently, Dimon casually joked that “the Communist Party is celebrating its 100th year. So is JPMorgan [referring to the firm’s Chinese business]. And I’ll make a bet we last longer.”

  That will not do. And sure enough, Dimon quickly walked back the comment. “I regret and should not have made that comment. I was trying to emphasize the strength and longevity of our company,” he said. A corporate spokesperson said the bank was committed to China and that Dimon had made clear during the discussion in Boston that “China and its people are very smart and very thoughtful… Dimon acknowledges that he should never speak lightly or disrespectfully about another country or its leadership,” the spokesperson added.

  It is tempting to write off such obviously insincere apologies as simply a necessary part of business etiquette — the flattery necessary to make a buck in a hostile environment. That is what most Americans assume when they read stories about basketball star Lebron James upbraiding another NBA team’s general manager for supporting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. James, who earns millions in licensing fees for jerseys and other items bearing his name and likeness in China, said that Houston Rockets’ GM Daryl Morey was “either misinformed or not really educated on the situation” regarding Chinese repression of dissent in the territory.

  But this masks a darker implication: that major American businesses are more worried about the prospect for growing or even losing their Chinese business revenues than about standing up against tyranny abroad, the silencing of Americans at home, and the outspoken intention of the Chinese Communist Party to supplant the United States — and the freedom that comes with it — as the world’s preeminent nation. There is a dangerous parallel between the thought-policing that has been mainstreamed on American college campuses and the self-censorship of American business.

  Apple’s Tim Cook pioneered the company’s entrance into China as Apple’s operations chief, which helped make Apple the most valuable company in the world. Apple now assembles nearly all of its products and earns a fifth of its revenue in the China region. Apple also bowed to the Chinese government’s demand to give it full access to the data of its customers in China, even banning apps that would allow ordinary Chinese citizens to bypass their government’s sophisticated surveillance. This is in contrast to Apple’s refusal in 2016 of an FBI request to break into the encryption of its iPhone after a domestic terrorist mass shooting incident in San Bernardino, California. Tim Cook told Apple employees at the time that his refusal was based on civil liberties concerns, which apparently did not stop him from agreeing to the Chinese Communist Party’s demands.

  In 2015, President Xi stopped off in Silicon Valley before meeting with President Barack Obama, meeting the heads of Amazon, Airbnb, Facebook, and Microsoft. According to Matt Sheehan’s book, The Transpacific Experiment: How China and California Collaborate and Compete for Our Future, after Xi entered the gathering a thunderstruck Cook asked, “Did you feel the room shake?”

  Viewed simply as the over-enthusiastic gushing of a businessman with dollar-signs for eyes, Cook’s swooning, Dimon’s kowtowing, or Dalio’s feigned ignorance of Chinese repression as “strict parenting” are cringeworthy enough. But with China flexing its muscles on the world stage more every day, one must wonder, is there any line they won’t cross?

  It was all too much for Jake Tapper of CNN, who did not mince words in criticizing them all: “The millionaires and billionaires of Hollywood and the NBA and the IOC and Wall Street are all so eager for Chinese cash, they’re pretending none of this is happening,” he recently said.

  “Of course, Apple and Nike publicly claim to decry slave labor. But to be clear, the behavior we are seeing from US corporations is not about a company surviving: It’s about discontent with just hundreds of millions of dollars, desiring instead billions of dollars.”

  Tapper concluded, “There is no amount of money that can buy enough soap to wash that blood off their hands.”

  *  *  *

  Peter Schweizer, President of the Governmental Accountability Institute, is a Gatestone Institute Distinguished Senior Fellow and author of the best-selling books Profiles in Corruption, Secret Empires and Clinton Cash, among others.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 12/21/2021 – 00:00

• Death Of 26-Year-Old New Zealand Man Linked To Pfizer Vaccine
  Death Of 26-Year-Old New Zealand Man Linked To Pfizer Vaccine

  Just when Pfizer and Moderna were pumping out FUD about the omicron variant alongside obviously optimistic “data” about the efficacy of their vaccines, the word has come out of New Zealand: authorities there have linked the death of a 26-year-old man to the vaccine.

  

  According to Reuters, New Zealand authorities on Monday said they had linked a 26-year-old man’s death to Pfizer’s COVID vaccine after the deceased suffered myocarditis, a rare inflammation of the heart muscle, after taking his first dose. The condition has been notably linked to mRNA vaccines for months now, and this is not the first case of a death being linked to the vaccine in New Zealand (there have been dozens of cases in the US).

  What’s more, this isn’t the first death the media has reported in New Zealand. Per Reuters:

  The death is New Zealand’s second linked to a known but rare side effect from the vaccine after health authorities in August reported a woman had died after taking her doses.

  “With the current available information, the board has considered that the myocarditis was probably due to vaccination in this individual,” a COVID Vaccine Independent Safety Monitoring Board said in a statement.

  Details about the incident were sparse, but Reuters added that the individual – whose name hasn’t been released – died within two weeks of his first dose. He had not sought medical advice or treatment for his symptoms.

  A Pfizer spokesperson told Reuters the company was “aware” of the death in New Zealand, and that it monitored all reports of possible “adverse events.” Still, it continues to believe the risk-benefit profile is positive.

  New Zealand’s vaccine safety board also said another two people, including a 13-year-old, had died with possible myocarditis after taking their vaccinations. More details were needed before linking the child’s death to the vaccine, while the death of a man in his 60s was unlikely related to the vaccine, it said.

  We can’t help but wonder: have there been more deaths like this in the US? We know there have at least been some. And keep in mind, nobody’s paying anything to help the families affected by this.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/20/2021 – 23:40

• Ben Garrison Exposes The Elephant In The Room
  Ben Garrison Exposes The Elephant In The Room

  Authored by Ben Garrison via GrrrGraphics.com,

  IGNORING THE OBVIOUS

  In America we are all entitled to an opinion.

  The First Amendment guarantees our free speech. Unfortunately, many are now censored for having an opinion that does not align with the ‘official’ one pushed by the globalist ‘authorities.’ In particular, any opinion that contradicts the current and ongoing medical tyranny is banned. We at GrrrGraphics recently endured a one-week suspension on Twitter merely because one of our cartoons questioned the abuse of vaccines. It’s my opinion, based on copious evidence, that the so-called vaccines for COVID-19 aren’t working. That said, we at GrrrGraphics are not dispensing medical advice. If you insist on getting jabbed with experimental gene therapy drugs, then that’s your decision.

  Back in February Anthony Fauci pronounced the Covid injections to be “100 percent safe and effective” at preventing death by the Chinese bioweapon he helped fund. This was ridiculous if one considers that it usually takes a new vaccine nearly a decade of trials and testing before given to mass populations. In this case, billions around the world have been subjected to a giant lab experiment.

  By April, Fauci downgraded his glowing scientific analysis and said no vaccine is 100 percent effective. No kidding. Everyone’s body chemistry is different. A one-size fits all inoculation is crazy. Some are allergic, some have already had vaccine damage and can’t take more. Due to the lack of testing, who knows what dangers lie ahead for the vaccinated.

  Then we found out the vaccines did not stop the jabbed from transmitting the virus. Then we found out the vaccinated could still contract COVID-19, but Fauci said if that happened the symptoms would be less severe. Then we started hearing about people who were fully vaccinated yet still died from the virus, and along the way we read many stories of people dying from the vaccinations themselves.

  Fauci has been promoted as the very embodiment of science, but he’s often wrong. He was wrong about the treatment of AIDS sufferers about three decades ago. Many died from him recommending the drug, AZT until it was pulled from the market.  Israel recently awarded Fauci a one million dollar prize for ‘speaking truth to power’ amid the so-called pandemic. That was a howler. Fauci is the sadistic face of power that has corrupted science. Let’s not forget he funded the torture of beagles. A man who is cruel to animals has no problem being cruel to human beings.

  Now we’re seeing increased Covid cases and deaths among the fully vaccinated. The lying corporate media won’t talk about it, but, you can find plenty of evidence presented by real journalists.

  

  We will have continue to hear about one variant after another. Coronavirus tends to mutate. That’s why it’s tough to cure the common cold. I’m sure Fauci and Gates will recommend endless boosters and new vaccines. Gates, Fauci, and Big Pharma, will all continue to rake in even more taxpayer money. More people will die, but that’s the New World Order’s plan. Fear will continue to be fanned because it’s necessary for the globalists’ Great Reset plan. That plan includes far less humans on a planet owned by the oligarchs at the top of the pyramid.

  *  *  *

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  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/20/2021 – 23:20

• COVID Outbreak Hits World's Largest Cruise Ship
  COVID Outbreak Hits World’s Largest Cruise Ship

  For the second time this month, a cruise ship with fully vaccinated adult passengers and crew detected a COVID-19 outbreak. 

  Forty-eight people aboard a Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, tested positive for COVID on Saturday after returning from a week-long cruise. 

  

  “Everyone who tested positive was asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, and we continuously monitored their health,” Royal Caribbean told NBC Miami. “Each person quickly went into quarantine,” the statement said.

  The five positive cases in our group have been sent to the Holiday Inn Miami. 2 already have rooms. @RoyalCaribbean has the rest sitting in a conference center without chairs or water/ food. My partner had to call and make a fuss for them to provide these essentials. pic.twitter.com/8jBqcsAoLN

  — Connor O’Dell (@connorwitha_no) December 18, 2021

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

  Royal Caribbean’s health policy requires all adults to be vaxxed with at least two shots of Pfizer or Moderna or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The outbreak represents 0.78% of the 6,091 passengers and crew who left Miami on Dec. 11 and sailed to Caribbean ports St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Royal Caribbean’s private island, CocoCay. The cruise ship returned to homeport on Dec. 18.  

  Cruise ships have been lauded as one of the safest vacations due to their strict health policies of only allowing vaxxed adults — but as the vaccine efficacy wanes, that appears not to be the case. 

  Earlier this month, Norwegian Breakaway, owned by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd, detected an outbreak of COVID despite a fully vaxxed ship. 

  Cruise Industry News reported the cruise ship industry had tightened its mask measures amid surging virus cases in the US. 

  What’s becoming evident is that efficacy rates for vaccines are dropping. A recent study of the three primary COVID vaccines showed a ‘dramatic‘ drop in efficacy over six months. So as cruise ship operators hit the high seas with only fully vaxxed passengers and crews that have waning defenses against the virus, one would suspect additional outbreaks on ships as new infections surge across the US. 

  So what are cruise ship operators supposed to do now? Only allow people who’ve had three boosters or more on vessels?

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/20/2021 – 23:00

• Hong Kong Voter Turnout Sinks To Record Low In First 'Patriots Only' Election
  Hong Kong Voter Turnout Sinks To Record Low In First ‘Patriots Only’ Election

  In what was the first Hong Kong legislative election since Beijing overhauled the electoral system to allow the vetting and restriction of candidates according to their political views and “patriotism”, turnout hit a record low.

  As CNN reports, it’s also the city’s first Legislative Council election since stringent new electoral reforms were passed in March.

  The changes gave the government greater vetting powers, dramatically lessening the public’s ability to vote directly for candidates, and only allowed government-screened “patriots” – those loyal to Beijing and its ruling Communist Party – to stand.

  Under the previous system, about half of the 70-seat legislature was directly elected by the public, while the other half was chosen by trade and industry bodies that usually favor pro-China candidates.

  

  As Statista’s Martin Armstrong notes, since 1998, the share of eligible voters casting their ballot has been between 44 and 58 percent.

  This time round though, despite government officials urging people to vote as well as providing free public transport, that sunk to just 30 percent.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  This increase in voter apathy has largely been attributed to what Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and US referred to in a post-election joint statement as “grave concern over the erosion of democratic elements” in Hong Kong. China, on the other hand describes the recent changes as a push to ensure stability after a prolonged period of protests which began in 2019.

  Carrie Lam, the city’s leader, thanked voters late Sunday night, saying it was “an important election following the improvements to the electoral system to implement the principle of ‘patriots administering Hong Kong.”

  After the election, won by pro-China candidates, China said in a white paper that Hong Kong was now entering a new stage of “restored order”.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/20/2021 – 22:40

• California Rewards Deadbeats Once Again With $80K Cash Giveaway To Delinquent Homeowners
  California Rewards Deadbeats Once Again With $80K Cash Giveaway To Delinquent Homeowners

  California homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments due to the pandemic, or whatever, are about to receive up to $80,000 per household in the form of a direct payment to mortgage servicers.

  

  The $1 billion program funded by taxpayers – as opposed to making homeowners tap into the massive equity gained in their homes while they weren’t making payments – was approved by the US Department of the Treasury, and will apply to as many as 40,000 struggling homeowners according to a statement from Newsom’s office.

  “We are committed to supporting those hit hardest by the pandemic, and that includes homeowners who have fallen behind on their housing payments,” it reads. “No one should have to live in fear of losing the roof over their head, so we’re stepping up to support struggling homeowners to get them the resources they need to cover past due mortgage payments.”

  Newsom noted that renters and landlords had already received assistance.

  “Now, with our California Mortgage Relief Program, we are extending that relief to homeowners,” he said.

  The funding, which is allocated through the federal American Rescue Plan Act’s Homeowner Assistance Fund, is provided as a one-time grant that qualified homeowners will not be required to repay.

  Californians at or below 100% of their county’s area median income, who own a single-family home, condo or manufactured home, and who faced pandemic-related hardships after Jan. 21, 2020, may be eligible for the program. –Sacramento Bee

  Will those who didn’t over-commit themselves in the first place receive tax credits?

  Once again, moral hazard FTW.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/20/2021 – 22:20

• Tennis Star Peng Shuai Walks Back Sexual Assault Claim In Interview
  Tennis Star Peng Shuai Walks Back Sexual Assault Claim In Interview

  Authored by Nicole Hao via The Epoch Times,

  Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai said on Dec. 19 that she had never accused anyone of sexually assaulting her, and that her post on social media had been misunderstood.

  

  In a six-minute interview with Singapore’s pro-Beijing Chinese-language media Lianhe Zaobao, Peng said she was not under house arrest and her posts were misunderstood.

  On Nov. 2, Peng, 35, posted on Chinese social media Weibo that China’s ex-vice premier, Zhang Gaoli, 75, with the help of his wife, forced her to have sex with him. Peng’s posts were removed from the internet shortly after, before she disappeared from the public eye for nearly three weeks. In her reappearances after that she was accompanied by Chinese officials.

  Peng’s well-being have since become a matter of concern among the global tennis community and rights groups. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) even moved to halt all matches in mainland China and Hong Kong indefinitely on Dec. 1 over concerns for Peng.

  “Sunday’s video looks like an intentionally arranged one,” said U.S.-based China affairs commentator Tang Jingyuan.

  Tang told The Epoch Times on Dec. 19 that while it appears as though the reporter from Lianhe Zaobao stopped Peng and interviewed her on the spot, the questions and Peng’s reactions both seem pre-arranged.

  “Peng didn’t deny the unethical relationships with Zhang, nor explain why she didn’t update her Weibo to clarify the misunderstandings. Even all Peng’s photos and videos that were released in the past month were published by state-run media, rather than herself,” Tang said. “I’m worried about Peng’s freedom.”

  

  Peng Shuai of China plays a backhand during her Women’s Singles first round match against Nao Hibino of Japan on day two of the 2020 Australian Open at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 21, 2020. (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

  Peng’s New Video

  On Dec. 19, Peng first spoke on camera about the alleged sexual assault when she attended a cross-country skiing event in Shanghai, China.

  “First, I need to stress one point that is extremely important: I have never said or written that anyone has sexually assaulted me, I have to clearly stress this point,” Peng told Lianhe Zaobao.

  She said what she posted on Weibo was a “private matter,” and “people have many misunderstandings” about her posts. Talking about her life, Peng said she had lived at her home in Beijing the whole time and she had freedom to do her things.

  Peng talked about the email that she sent to WTA chief Steve Simon on Dec. 2. “The Chinese email is written by myself. CGTN (Chinese state-run China Global Television Network) translated it into English and posted it on its twitter.”

  Simon had said at the time that he “had a hard time believing” that Peng had actually written the email or believed what had been attributed to her.

  During the six-minute interview, Peng didn’t mention Zhang’s name, nor explain the misunderstandings.

  

  This combination of file photos shows tennis player Peng Shuai of China (L) during her women’s singles first round match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on Jan. 16, 2017; and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli (R) during a visit to Russia at the Saint Petersburg International Investment Forum in Saint Petersburg on June 18, 2015. (Paul Crock and Alexander Zemlianichenko/AFP via Getty Images)

  On Sunday, Peng watched the skiing together with Chinese sports officials, including former NBA player and current Chairman of Chinese Basketball Association Yao Ming, and vice Chair of Chinese Table Tennis Association Wang Liqin, according to Lianhe Zaobao.

  In the video, Peng wears a red T-shirt, which has the characters for China, and a black down coat that has “China” in English and the Chinese flag.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/20/2021 – 22:00

• As China's Property Sector Continues Disintegrating, Much More Easing Will Be Needed
  As China’s Property Sector Continues Disintegrating, Much More Easing Will Be Needed

  Evergrande’s default may not have been a one-time “Lehman” event, but the painful, creeping consequences of China’s property market getting hit – the single biggest asset class in the world…

  

  … will resonate for years in a slow, painful repricing – absent a major kick from the PBOC – and sure enough, Chinese property stocks tumbled close to a new five-year low – levels last seen in 2014 – after a series of asset sales underscored concern that equity investors will bear the brunt of losses as developers offload projects to repay debt (assuming defaults don’t wipe out the equity tranche completely).

  

  As Bloomberg reports overnight, Shimao Group Holdings agreed to sell stakes in a Hong Kong development at a loss while distressed property giant, Sunac China Holdings, unloaded assets in Shanghai as developers rush to raise cash. China regulators meanwhile signaled they will support “quality” real estate firms looking to buy assets from struggling rivals, according to a report.

  An index of Chinese developers fell for the sixth day in seven, led by Sunac, which posted a record one-day decline of 18%. Trading in Chinese dollar bonds remained light during the seasonal end-of-year lull.

  The plunge in developer shares means the richest bosses behind China’s real estate firms have lost more than $46 billion combined this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan’s wealth alone has plunged by $17.2 billion.

  

  It’s not looking good for a quick and painless rebound in the billionaire’s net worth – here are some of the more notable recent developments, all of which paint a grim picture for China’s developers:

  • Evergrande Declared in Default by S&P for Failed Payments

  Evergrande was labeled a defaulter by S&P Global Ratings, the second credit-risk assessor to do so after Fitch. S&P cut Evergrande to “selective default” Friday over its failure to make coupon payments by the end of a grace period earlier this month, a move that may trigger cross defaults on the developer’s $19.2 billion of dollar debt. S&P also withdrew its ratings on the group at Evergrande’s request.

  Fitch Ratings was the first to declare the property developer in default on Dec. 9. Long considered by many investors as too big to fail, Evergrande has become the largest casualty of President Xi Jinping’s campaign to tame the country’s overindebted conglomerates and overheated property market. Concern has since spread to higher-rated firms like Shimao Group as liquidity stress intensifies.

  • Evergrande Land Seized by Chengdu City on Lack of Development:

  The local government in western China’s Chengdu city took two parcels back without repaying the developers, saying that Evergrande failed to start construction on time, according to Dec. 17 statements from a Chengdu land regulator (one could call this a partial nationalization of the now defaulted developer): one site, sized 83,997 square meters, was sold to a firm fully owned by by Evergrande’s onshore subsidiary Hengda Real Estate in 2010, according to a statement and corporate registry search platform Qichacha. Another site, sized 258,667 square meters, was sold to a developer in 2002 and transferred to another Hengda unit in 2011, according to a separate statement and Qichacha.

  • China Offshore Bond Defaults Hit Record in December

  December is poised to be a record month for Chinese offshore corporate defaults after missed payments by indebted companies including China Evergrande and Kaisa Group Holdings Chinese firms have defaulted on a record $3.8 billion in offshore bonds so far this month, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The previous monthly high was in January when Chinese borrowers failed to repay $2.7 billion of such notes.

  

  • China Regulators Encourage Property Acquisitions

  China is ramping up support of the embattled real estate sector as growing stress in the industry threatens to deepen an economic slowdown (something we first discussed last month in “Beijing Capitulates: Urges Local Govts To Unleash Debt Flood As Cities Begin Backstopping Property Developers”). Authorities are encouraging banks to fund acquisitions of projects of distressed developers and pushing financially healthy property firms to make such purchases, the central bank-backed Financial News reported Monday.

  China is also providing credit support to an economy showing strain from the property slump, with domestic banks on Monday lowering borrowing costs for the first time in 20 months. The move follows action by the People’s Bank of China earlier this month to cut the amount of cash banks must hold in reserve, freeing up 1.2 trillion yuan ($188 billion) of cheap long-term funds for lenders.

  As Bloomberg notes, the support measures come as some developers such as Kaisa and Evergrande struggle to sell assets to raise cash and service mounting debts amid a crackdown on leverage in the industry. Meanwhile, after a relentless deleveraging property developer campaign which started a year ago with the three red lines, regulators have finally eased up on the clampdown in recent weeks, such as by encouraging stronger real estate firms to tap the onshore interbank bond market for financing.

  • Kaisa Appoints Advisers; Shares Resume Trading

  Kaisa has appointed Houlihan Lokey as its financial adviser and Sidley Austin as legal adviser after missing multiple offshore debt payments. The retention of the bankruptcy-focused financial adviser will evaluate Kaisa’s liquidity and explore all feasible solutions, the company said in a stock exchange filing on Monday. Kaisa said it hasn’t received any notice regarding acceleration of repayment by holders, and has been in talks with holder representatives about a comprehensive debt restructuring plan. That said, the hiring of HLHZ is a clear indication that a default is coming; Kaisa shares tumbled.

  • Evergrande Backer’s Privatization Collapses

  Chinese Estates Holdings Ltd. minority shareholders failed to give sufficient support to the company’s proposed privatization, derailing a plan by the long-time ally of Evergrande to delist next month. The stock plunged 30%. Among the 74 stockholders participating, 64 voted no and made up 10.8% of the shares among the investors, according to a stock exchange filing Friday. The Hong Kong real estate firm, owned by the family of billionaire Joseph Lau, announced plans in October to buy out investors at HK$4 a share. The stock last traded at HK$3.78 before being halted Friday afternoon ahead of the results. Chinese Estates requested a trading resumption and said its listing will be maintained.

  • Shimao Sells Stake in Hong Kong Development Z

  Shimao agreed to sell its 22.5% stake in three entities created for the Grand Victoria property development in Hong Kong for HK$2.1 billion ($270 million), according to an exchange filing. The buyers include entities owned by fellow developers SEA Holdings, Wheelock & Co. and Sino Land. Shimao expects to recognize a loss of about HK$770 million from the sale. Separately, Sunac China Holdings Ltd. sold three projects in Shanghai and Hangzhou for 2.68 billion yuan ($420 million), the 21st Century Business Herald reported, citing unidentified people.

  * * *

  Will all these adverse developments in mind, it is not only quite easy to understand why China cut its RRR last week, followed by a 5bps cut to its Libor, the Loan Prime Rate, but as Bloomberg notes, much more easing will be needed to revive China’s market.

  As a reminder, over the weekend Morgan Stanley predicted that China’s credit impulse is due for a sharp rebound as a result of already implemented policy easing.

  

  But the question is whether this isn’t too little too late – as Bloomberg’s Ye Xie puts it, markets have largely shrugged off the first cut in benchmark borrowing costs in 20 months in China. That in part reflects the fact that policy easing so far has been more measured. Even as the policy mix is becoming more market friendly, the bottom line is that the country needs credit growth to pick up more meaningfully. Here are some more observations from Xie:

  • The combination of elevated inflation and renewed growth concerns from the spread of the omicron variant of Covid has complicated the job of policy makers around the world. While the Fed and other major central banks have shifted focus to taming inflation, markets are more nervous about the economic outlook. For instance, the market implied rate for the Fed’s benchmark in 2023 has declined since the FOMC meeting last week to about 1.25%, compared with the median forecast of 1.625% on the dot- plot.
  • In contrast, Beijing, with less inflation pressure, is moving toward policy easing. Chinese banks cut the one-year LPR rate by 5 bps Monday, surprising most economists who had expected them to stay put. But market reactions were largely muted. Ten-year bond yields were little changed, while the CSI 300 declined 1.5%. What gives?
  • For starters, while few economists had predicted the move, investors have been anticipating some policy easing since the central economic working conference earlier this month, when Beijing signaled that propping up the economy has become its top priority. The RRR cut in early December, plus a similar move in July, saved enough costs for banks to pass them on to borrowers. So the LPR cut did not exactly come out of the blue.
  • The lenders held the five-year rate, which is tied to mortgage rates, steady. It signaled that Beijing may not intend to change overall control over the housing market, despite some recent policy fine-tuning. What’s more, the seven-day repo, a measure of interbank liquidity, has been stable. All of this suggests that the PBOC isn’t in a full-blown easing mode, yet.
  • Historically, the stock, bond and currency markets’ performance has been mixed in the month following an LPR cut. As noted by Larry Hu, an economist at Macquarie Securities, cutting the rate is less important in China’s context, “where the monetary policy is more based on quantity than price.” In other words, the supply of money is more important than the price of money.

  So as the world waits to see if the Fed will either taper its taper, or hint at far fewer rates hikes (if any) now that Biden’s BBB plan isn’t coming, and with it $1.75 trillion in fiscal stimulus is gone, China is already stepping on the monetary stimulus engine. It won’t be alone, and we are confident that it is only a matter of time before Powell folds again. As for rampant inflation, it will take just one small change in the definition of CPI – one which is already on its way – to fix all that.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/20/2021 – 21:40

• Tucker Carlson Slams 'Pedo Outbreak' At CNN
  Tucker Carlson Slams ‘Pedo Outbreak’ At CNN

  Fox news host Tucker Carlson on Monday blasted CNN for what he called a “pedo outbreak,” after not one, but two recent busts involving CNN producers who have been accused of child molestation.

  

  “One of them is a man called John Griffin, who was just indicted by a federal grand jury for attempting to “induce minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity,”” Carlson noted.

  “Then just days after that story, Project Veritas exposed another creep at CNN. They published graphic text messages and video of a CNN producer fantasizing about molesting a child.“

  “Project Veritas said the producer also allegedly sought explicit photographs of that child.”

  And the kicker: “As of today there are more accused pedophiles at CNN than Americans who have died of the so-called Omicron variant.“

  Watch:

  There’s a pedo outbreak over at CNN pic.twitter.com/nFLhxKoNTR

  — Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) December 21, 2021

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

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/20/2021 – 21:20

• World's Most Prestigious Medical Journal Roasts Facebook Over "Inaccurate, Incompetent & Irresponsible" Fact Check
  World’s Most Prestigious Medical Journal Roasts Facebook Over “Inaccurate, Incompetent & Irresponsible” Fact Check

  The Machiavellian quote (sic) that “if you’re going to come at the king, you best not miss,” may be about to bite Mark Zuckerberg and his army of fact-checking mercenaries.

  While Zuckerberg may feel omnipotent atop his opaque algo-world but the so-called ‘fact-checkers’ – so expert at shutting down any narrative-conflicting-information (on behalf of, and often at the behest of, the Biden administration) – may have met their match by claiming that one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious medical journals delivered “false information” that “could mislead people.”

  

  As we detailed in early November, The British Medical Journal (BMJ) – a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association – published a whistleblower report calling into question data integrity and regulatory oversight issues surrounding Pfizer’s pivotal phase III Covid-19 vaccine trial.

  Brook Jackson, a now-fired regional director at Ventavia Research Group, revealed to The BMJ that vaccine trials at several sites in Texas last year had major problems – including falsified data, broke fundamental rules, and were ‘slow’ to report adverse reactions.

  When she notified superiors of the issues she found, they fired her.

  A regional director who was employed at the research organisation Ventavia Research Group has told The BMJ that the company falsified data, unblinded patients, employed inadequately trained vaccinators, and was slow to follow up on adverse events reported in Pfizer’s pivotal phase III trial. Staff who conducted quality control checks were overwhelmed by the volume of problems they were finding. After repeatedly notifying Ventavia of these problems, the regional director, Brook Jackson, emailed a complaint to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Ventavia fired her later the same day. Jackson has provided The BMJ with dozens of internal company documents, photos, audio recordings, and emails. -The BMJ

  Very soon after, as the worrisome story went viral, BMJ soon would get a taste of what Facebook, Google, and others are doing to independent media platforms. As TrialSiteNews.com reports, even though BMJ is one of the most prominent medical journals and the information was rigorously peer-reviewed, strange things started occurring.

  For example, readers would try to post some of the information on social media such as Facebook to share with their networks. But “some reported being unable to share it [the information].” Moreover, those individuals that were simply sharing this content, peer-reviewed from The BMJ, were warned by Facebook that, “Independent fact-checkers concluded, “This information could mislead people.”

  

  Moreover, they were told, “Those trying to post the article were informed by Facebook that people who repeatedly share ‘false information’ might have their posts moved lower in Facebook’s News Feed.”

  In addition, some group administrators received notices from Facebook that the information was “partly false.”

  Readers were sent to a “fact check” performed by Lead Stories, a third-party fact-checker.

  And so, as possibly the top experts in the world when it comes to medical research information, BMJ has now been forced to fact-check the ‘fact-checkers’.

  In a no-holds-barred ‘open letter to Mark Zuckerberg’, the editors exposed that ‘fact-check’ as “inaccurate, incompetent, and irresponsible.”

  Having received no response from Facebook or from Lead Stories, after requesting the removal of the “fact checking” label, the BMJ’s editors raise a “wider concern”:

  We are aware that The BMJ is not the only high quality information provider to have been affected by the incompetence of Meta’s fact checking regime…

  Rather than investing a proportion of Meta’s substantial profits to help ensure the accuracy of medical information shared through social media, you have apparently delegated responsibility to people incompetent in carrying out this crucial task.

  Fact checking has been a staple of good journalism for decades.

  What has happened in this instance should be of concern to anyone who values and relies on sources such as The BMJ.

  Additionally, ‘goopthink’ offered more anti-censorship fire and brimstone in an eloquent comment at ycombinator:

  In addition to the points raised by BMJ and in the comments below, there is a limit to what independent fact checking can accomplish.

  For example, are their fact checkers conducting their own scientific experiments validating claims and outcomes of a scientific paper? Are fact checkers reaching out to sources from a news article and verifying quoted information? When “breaking news” or “scoops” are reported presenting totally new information about the world, how can that be verified against other information that – by virtue of something being new – cannot be verified by other preexisting sources?

  If the fact checking process is limited to verification based on other information that is currently available, and if the fact checking process cannot distinguish between factual information and the opinions people hold as a result of that information, the outcome will be an inevitable echo chamber that reinforces currently dominant views or whatever preexisting biases are present.

  …and that is exactly what the establishment wants.

  

  *  *  *

  Full letter from The BMJ below (emphasis ours):

  Open letter from The BMJ to Mark Zuckerberg

  Dear Mark Zuckerberg,

  We are Fiona Godlee and Kamran Abbasi, editors of The BMJ, one of the world’s oldest and most influential general medical journals. We are writing to raise serious concerns about the “fact checking” being undertaken by third party providers on behalf of Facebook/Meta.

  In September, a former employee of Ventavia, a contract research company helping carry out the main Pfizer covid-19 vaccine trial, began providing The BMJ with dozens of internal company documents, photos, audio recordings, and emails. These materials revealed a host of poor clinical trial research practices occurring at Ventavia that could impact data integrity and patient safety. We also discovered that, despite receiving a direct complaint about these problems over a year ago, the FDA did not inspect Ventavia’s trial sites.

  The BMJ commissioned an investigative reporter to write up the story for our journal. The article was published on 2 November, following legal review, external peer review and subject to The BMJ’s usual high level editorial oversight and review.

  But from November 10, readers began reporting a variety of problems when trying to share our article. Some reported being unable to share it. Many others reported having their posts flagged with a warning about “Missing context … Independent fact-checkers say this information could mislead people.” Those trying to post the article were informed by Facebook that people who repeatedly share “false information” might have their posts moved lower in Facebook’s News Feed. Group administrators where the article was shared received messages from Facebook informing them that such posts were “partly false.”

  Readers were directed to a “fact check” performed by a Facebook contractor named Lead Stories.

  We find the “fact check” performed by Lead Stories to be inaccurate, incompetent and irresponsible.

  • It fails to provide any assertions of fact that The BMJ article got wrong

  • It has a nonsensical title: “Fact Check: The British Medical Journal Did NOT Reveal Disqualifying And Ignored Reports Of Flaws In Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Trials”

  • The first paragraph inaccurately labels The BMJ a “news blog”

  • It contains a screenshot of our article with a stamp over it stating “Flaws Reviewed,” despite the Lead Stories article not identifying anything false or untrue in The BMJ article

  • It published the story on its website under a URL that contains the phrase “hoax-alert”

  We have contacted Lead Stories, but they refuse to change anything about their article or actions that have led to Facebook flagging our article.

  We have also contacted Facebook directly, requesting immediate removal of the “fact checking” label and any link to the Lead Stories article, thereby allowing our readers to freely share the article on your platform.

  There is also a wider concern that we wish to raise. We are aware that The BMJ is not the only high quality information provider to have been affected by the incompetence of Meta’s fact checking regime. To give one other example, we would highlight the treatment by Instagram (also owned by Meta) of Cochrane, the international provider of high quality systematic reviews of the medical evidence. Rather than investing a proportion of Meta’s substantial profits to help ensure the accuracy of medical information shared through social media, you have apparently delegated responsibility to people incompetent in carrying out this crucial task. Fact checking has been a staple of good journalism for decades. What has happened in this instance should be of concern to anyone who values and relies on sources such as The BMJ.

  We hope you will act swiftly: specifically to correct the error relating to The BMJ’s article and to review the processes that led to the error; and generally to reconsider your investment in and approach to fact checking overall.

  Best wishes,

  Fiona Godlee, editor in chief

  Kamran Abbasi, incoming editor in chief

  The BMJ

  Competing interests:

  As current and incoming editors in chief, we are responsible for everything The BMJ contains.

  It appears the ‘fact-checkers’ have some facts of their own to check… or otherwise admit they are simply there – as Fauci and Collins collusion was exposed this week – to maintain the propaganda peace for whoever is pulling the strings.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/20/2021 – 21:00

• 1.5 Million Parents Could Drop Out Of Workforce If Biden Stimulus Passes; Analysis
  1.5 Million Parents Could Drop Out Of Workforce If Biden Stimulus Passes; Analysis

  Submitted by Andrew Moran of The Epoch Times,

  As many as 1.5 million working parents could exit the labor market as more U.S. households receive the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) benefit, a new study predicts.  

  

  According to a recent analysis (pdf) from University of Chicago economist Bruce Meyer, approximately 2.6 percent of parents could drop out of the workforce after being given monthly entitlement checks based on family income.  

  Under the American Rescue Plan that was passed in March, lawmakers expanded the CTC from $2,000 to as much as 3,600 per child. Half of the CTC funds were sent to households or deposited into bank accounts in the form of monthly checks from July to December. Parents are not required to work to receive the CTC and its monthly payments.

  Meyer explained that some parents could choose to quit working because of the payments and if they can gather enough money from public assistance and family and friends.  

  “The proposed expansion would get rid of the strong work incentives under the prior CTC; it would essentially eliminate a tax credit that encouraged work and replace it with something that discourages work,” Meyer told CBS MoneyWatch.

  “In the end, those at the bottom may not be better off.”  

  He added that it would be “a good idea” to insert a work requirement. The economist endorsed Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) proposal of requiring an employment prerequisite.  

  

  As part of the previous CTC, beneficiaries needed to work to receive the full credit.  

  Still, Meyer anticipates that the tax credit, even if 1.5 million parents were to quit their jobs, would alleviate child poverty. He projected that child poverty could decline by 22 percent because of the payments.  

  Others dispute his suggestion that more than one million working parents would be submitting their letters of resignation.   

  Researchers at Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy argued in a recent paper (pdf) that the data show that CTC payments have not led to a noticeable impact on payrolls or the labor force participation rate.   

  “Real-world data in the immediate wake of the CTC expansion do not support claims that the elimination of the phase-in portion of the CTC has discouraged work among parents in any meaningful way,” the researchers stated.  

  Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Dec. 17, White House press secretary Jen Psaki stated that President Joe Biden could double the CTC payments in February if the $1.75 trillion social-spending and climate change plan is enacted in January.  

  “If we get it done in January, we’ve talked to Treasury officials and others about doing double payments in February as an option,” she told the press. “The president wants to see this move forward. It’s a priority for him as soon as Congress returns.”  

  While the administration and Democrats want to extend the payments as part of the legislative push, the bill is not guaranteed to pass amid hesitancy from Manchin. In addition, many congressional Democrats have conceded that they do not have a considerable backup plan to maintain the monthly payments prior to their expiration.  

  Ultimately, experts concede that the United States has, for many decades, refrained from offering variations of basic income similar to the CTC payments. Therefore, they aver, there are still many unknowns and uncertainties.  

  Child Care Costs a Financial Burden

  For many parents, it might be economically beneficial to resign from their positions since daycare is costly.

  It is no secret that the cost of child care is expensive. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the price of daycare and pre-school advanced by 2.7 percent year-over-year in November.

  Families nationwide spend an average of $8,355 per child for year-round child care, with some estimates going as high as $16,000.

  “Monthly child-care costs can feel like an extra mortgage payment, especially if you live in an expensive area or have more than one kid,” said Ted Rossman, Bankrate’s senior industry analyst, in a news release.

  Biden’s American Families Plan possesses proposals to diminish child-care prices. For households earning less than 1.5 times their state median income levels, they would not pay for child care. Others earning above that level would pay no more than 7 percent of their income on child care.

  The Latest from The Great Resignation 

  Employers are coming across a myriad of challenges in this economy, and labor has been one of the chief obstacles in this market.  

  According to the BLS, about 4.2 million Americans quit their jobs in October, bringing the total number of people leaving employment to nearly 39 million in the first 10 months of 2021.  

  It is expected that 2021 will set a new record if workers leave their jobs at comparable levels in November and December.  

  The so-called quit rate for public- and private-sector workers is high for many reasons. Many people are quitting because of concerns over contracting the coronavirus, being unable to find or afford care for their children or aging parents, or they have located employment opportunities with better compensation.  

  

  Indeed, the number of job openings in the United States increased to almost 11 million in October, with the figure concentrated in education, hotels, manufacturing, and restaurants.  

  Experts contend that the labor market pendulum has swung in the direction of the workers. As a result, companies have been raising wages, expanding their perks and benefits, and introducing a wide range of bonuses to attract talent.  

  “As companies face labor shortages, employers are making a serious effort to recruit workers by offering signing bonuses, additional benefits, and—most importantly—higher compensation across the income distribution,” Morgan Stanley recently purported in a research note.  

  When businesses cannot find applicants, employers are doing everything they can to retain their current staff members. This, market analysts note, is part of the reason why initial jobless claims have hovered around a five-decade low. Businesses are too frightened to terminate their employees in this environment.

  According to a study from the Conference Board think tank, private firms are allocating 3.9 percent of their payroll budgets to wage hikes in 2022, the biggest increase since 2008.  

  The report noted a unique trend as companies try to limit record turnover rates. Many of the salary hikes will be given to present employees.  

  Meanwhile, the Conference Board survey reported that 39 percent of businesses revealed they are hiking incomes to keep up with surging inflation.  

  “The rapid increase in wages and inflation are forcing businesses to make important decisions regarding their approach to salaries, recruiting, and retention,” said Conference Board chief economist Gad Levanon in the report. “In particular, companies are likely to raise wages aggressively for their current employees or they will risk even lower retention rates. After being a non-issue in wage determination for several decades, sizable cost of living adjustments may be making a comeback.”

  “At the same time, business leaders will have to decide how much they will pass the additional labor costs to consumers through price increases. That decision, relative to competitors’ strategies, could impact companies’ market shares.”

  This development could persist heading into the next calendar year. A recent CareerArc/Harris Poll survey discovered that 23 percent of employed Americans intend to quit their jobs over the next 12 months as a considerable number desire better working conditions and want higher pay. 

  JPMorgan Chase recently warned that this labor shortage could persist for years, citing a diverse array of factors. JPMorgan’s chief global strategist David Kelly alluded to Baby Boomers retiring, falling immigration numbers, and skills mismatch as partially to blame for the lack of workers.

  “All of these forces should gradually resolve the current excess demand for labor,” Kelly stated in a research note. “However, barring a recession, this process could take years.”

  Fed Worried About Wage Threat in 2022

  This month, many experts, from Wall Street analysts to top economic policymakers, have sounded the alarm about one of the biggest threats in the economy next year: A “wages push” by workers in 2022 that could contribute to higher inflationary pressures. While he conceded his concerns over 39-year high inflation, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell explained that ballooning wages are “both larger in [their] effect on inflation and more persistent.”

  He revealed that one of the notable factors determining a rate hike was the Employment Cost Index (ECI) that was published in October. The report discovered that hourly labor costs climbed at a “very high” pace of 5.7 percent over the last three months.

  

  Over the last 12 months, average hourly earnings have climbed by 4.8 percent to $31.03.

  “If you had something where real wages were persistently above productivity growth, that puts upward pressure on firms, and they raise prices,” Powell said. “We don’t see that yet. But with the kind of hot labor market readings—wages we’re seeing, it’s something that we’re watching… You know, usually, in every other expansion, it’s that there aren’t enough jobs and people can’t find jobs,” he added. “What we need is another long expansion, like the ones we have been having over the last 40 years.”

  The head of the U.S. central bank acknowledged that many Americans do not want to return to the workforce because of medical concerns, the paucity of child care, and nobody to look after seniors. “The ratio of job openings, for example, to vacancies is at all-time highs, quits—the wages, all those things are even hotter,” Powell said.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/20/2021 – 20:40

• "They're Totally Confused": Biden's Vaccine Mandate Chaos Leaves Employers With "Whiplash"
  “They’re Totally Confused”: Biden’s Vaccine Mandate Chaos Leaves Employers With “Whiplash”

  The Biden Administration’s attempt to force millions of American workers to either get vaccinated or risk losing their jobs has backfired spectacularly. On Monday, the NYT published what to many probably sounded like scathing criticism coming from the notoriously pro-Dem paper: President Biden’s attempt to use OSHA to try and force some 84MM workers to get vaccinated has left said employers with “whiplash”. “They’re totally confused”, a quote in the headline screamed.

  

  Just a few weeks ago, the Administration was charging ahead, but its momentum has been decidedly crippled, especially now that the “very definition of fully vaccinated” has been thrown into question.

  The marching orders from the Biden administration in November had seemed clear — large employers were to get their workers fully vaccinated by early next year, or make sure the workers were tested weekly. But a little over a month later, the Labor Department’s vaccine rule has been swept into confusion and uncertainty by legal battles, shifting deadlines and rising Covid case counts that throw the very definition of fully vaccinated into question.

  The spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant has seemingly bolstered the government’s argument, at the heart of its legal battle over the rule, that the virus remains a grave threat to workers. But the recent surge in cases has raised the issue of whether the government will take its requirements further — even as the original rule remains contentious — and ask employers to mandate booster shots, too. The country’s testing capacity has also been strained, adding to concerns that companies will be unable to meet the rule’s testing requirements.

  Even the lawyers don’t know what to do.

  “My clients are totally confused as, quite frankly, am I,” Erin McLaughlin, a labor and employment lawyer at Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney, said on Saturday. “My sense is that there are a lot of employers scrambling to try and put their mandate programs in place.”

  With the issue still being viciously contested in the courts, the legal reality of the situation is that the order is still pending, so in effect, the Biden Administration has been stymied.

  With so much likely riding on a decision from the nation’s highest court, how much longer until this becomes another cudgel used by the progressive left to push their court packing agenda, which is not dead, since President Biden and VP Kamala Harris mostly refuse to talk about it publicly.

  No company has been spared the whirlwind of changes in the last week, set off by the spike in Covid cases that have, in some instances, cut into their work forces. Then on Friday, an appeals court lifted the legal block on the vaccine rule, though appeals to the ruling were immediately filed, leaving the rule’s legal status up in the air. On Saturday, hours after the appeals court ruling, the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration urged employers to start working to get in compliance. But OSHA also gave employers some leeway, pushing back full enforcement of the rule until February, recognizing that for all its best intentions the rollout of the rule has been muddled.

  For companies struggling to meet OSHA’s standards because of testing shortages, the Labor Department said Sunday that it would “consider refraining from enforcement” if the employer has shown a good-faith effort to comply.

  The fact that many states have cities (most notably NYC) have rolled out their own rules for enforcement adds another layer of complexity to the whole mess.

  Adding a layer of confusion, many states and cities have created their own vaccine rules — some more stringent than the federal government’s, as in New York City, where an option to test out of vaccine requirements isn’t allowed, while some, like Florida, have sought to undermine OSHA’s rule. There’s also the question of whether companies will eventually be required to mandate boosters, which would require accommodating the six-month delay between the second and third shots.

  And as far as Wall Street is concerned, their current state of vaccine enforcement is “we’re not going to talk about it.”

  JPMorgan Chase, whose decision to require vaccines is complicated by its sprawling retail operations across the United States, declined to comment on how the court’s most recent decision, along with the recent spike in cases, affects any plans to mandate vaccines. But the bank on Friday told its American employees who do not work in bank branches that “each group should assess who needs to come into the office, work priorities and who should revert to working from home on a more regular basis over the next few weeks.”

  At this point, opponents of the rule, which includes the National Retail Federation, a trade group, haven’t changed their positions despite the “rise” of omicron (which, keep in mind, has only been confirmed in a tiny fraction of overall new cases).

  Even the spread of Omicron hasn’t changed the position of some of the vaccine rule’s most ardent opponents. The National Retail Federation, one of the trade groups challenging the administration’s vaccine rule, is among those that have filed a petition with the Supreme Court. The group is in favor of vaccinations but has pushed for companies to get more time to carry out mandates. Still, even as it fights the administration’s rule, the federation is also holding twice weekly calls with members to compare notes on how to carry it out.

  “There’s no question that the increased number of variants like Omicron certainly don’t make it less dangerous,” said Stephanie Martz, the group’s chief administrative officer and general counsel. “The legitimate, remaining question is, is this inherent to the workplace?”

  Then of course there’s the booster question.

  And employers face yet another uncertainty: Should they mandate boosters? And will they be required to?

  When will all of this insanity and confusion end?

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/20/2021 – 20:00

• Why Ted Cruz Wants Bitcoin Miners In The Lone Star State
  Why Ted Cruz Wants Bitcoin Miners In The Lone Star State

  Authored by Felicity Bradstock via OilPrice.com,

  • Crypto-miners are flocking to some of the country’s biggest energy-producing states, but it’s not just the cheap power bringing them there.

  • Miners are looking to gas-flaring as a potential energy source, one that could help curb one of Big Oil’s most controversial practices.

  • Bitcoin miners are also pleading their case to ERCOT, suggesting they could help the electric provider tackle its supply and demand problems by bringing equilibrium to the grid.

  

  Crypto-enthusiasts believe the digital currency could become closely interwoven with the energy industry of the future, improving ageing infrastructure downfalls as well as helping to reduce carbon emissions. So how will the magical virtual money help the fossil fuel and renewables sector in the coming years?

  Texas, the home of many crypto start-ups, is seeing several new companies seek partnerships with Big Oil and state energy actors to integrate their operations into energy strategies for the next decade. The Bitcoin mining community believes that adding another electricity consumer to the already oversaturated system could help, maybe somewhat surprisingly. 

  Right now, the existing grid system – Electric Reliability Council of Texas, aka ERCOT, provides electricity to around 90 percent of the state of Texas. But it is temperamental as it requires a careful equilibrium between supply and demand to function well. It’s for this reason that crypto companies are suggesting that additional buyers in the system, that can take whatever amount of power is delivered to them at any time of day, will help maintain this balance. 

  Bitcoin miners could benefit from greater access to electricity, and the grid would benefit from the almost immediate responsiveness of the user. This is thanks to the ability of bitcoin machinery to turn on in a matter of seconds. Therefore, energy can be taken from and sent back to the grid as needed. 

  Senator Ted Cruz  explained, “If you have a moment where you have a power shortage or a power crisis, whether it’s a freeze or some other natural disaster where power generation capacity goes down, that creates the capacity to instantaneously shift that energy to put it back on the grid.”

  Innovations like these have arisen in response to dramatic failures in ageing U.S. infrastructure. Earlier this year, we saw the Texas electricity grid fail in response to a severe winter storm. At the same time, gas and water supplies were stalled, leading to significant energy shortages and, ultimately, in the loss of several lives. Although President Biden is currently pursuing a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill, this will only fix some of the problems and could take years to carry out. So, alternative solutions from start-ups seem increasingly appealing when looking at the alternative. 

  But this is not the first intervention we have seen from crypto start-ups in the energy sector. Tech companies in Houston, a digital currency hub, are recommending the construction of huge crypto-mines to run on renewable energy. It is estimated that digital currency mining uses around 0.5% of all electricity consumed worldwide or 7 times as much as Google. Therefore, switching away from fossil fuels to renewables would mean a dramatic reduction in the carbon footprint of Bitcoin and other currencies. 

  Tech company, Lancium, announced plans in November to construct Bitcoin mines in Texas, worth $150 million, to run on wind and solar power. As West Texas is part of the country’s ‘wind belt’ and the state has good sun quality on average, it makes it the perfect location for this type of project. In fact, the region is expecting to double its sun and wind energy output within the next five years, encouraging greater interest in tech and energy partnerships. 

  Crypto-energy projects are already up and running in some parts of the country. In Wyoming, for example, the company JAI mines Bitcoin for itself and energy investors who want a piece of the action, running power mining rigs from electricity converted from gas flares. Gas that would typically be released into the atmosphere is, instead, captured and reused. The company, like many others, is now hoping to expand operations to Texas and other states. 

  At present, gas flaring contributes around 1 percent of global carbon emissions. As governments push for net-zero and companies strive to decarbonise their operations, a crypto-energy partnership could be just what the doctor ordered. A by-product of fracked shale, gas is flared because it is seen as unprofitable. But with increasing international pressure for Big Oil to reduce its carbon footprint, digital currency companies quickly came up with a way to reuse this gas to run their mines.  

  As investment figures in digital currencies are climbing, the worldwide electricity use associated with this mining system will continue to rise. Contributing a significant proportion of the world’s energy use, it seems only logical that crypto companies join forces with oil, gas, and renewables firms. 

  Whether running off waste gas and reducing emissions or contributing to the construction of major green energy projects, it seems that the two sectors will continue to cross paths so long as digital currencies maintain their recent appeal. However, the volatility of these types of currencies could deter energy companies from investing until their future becomes more certain.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/20/2021 – 19:40

• Israel Puts US On No-Fly List For 1st Time, Citing Omicron
  Israel Puts US On No-Fly List For 1st Time, Citing Omicron

  On Monday Israeli parliament ministers voted to ban all travel into the United States for its citizens amid the spread of the Omicron variant. It’s expected to take effect Tuesday night, at midnight, and significantly marks the first time ever the US has been placed on Israel’s official no-fly list.

  Additional bans placed on the growing list include Italy, Belgium, Hungary, Morocco, Portugal, Canada, Switzerland, and Turkey. The UAE and South Africa also previously red-listed at the start of this month, along with some Scandinavian countries where the virus is believed spreading.

  At the beginning of the pandemic Tel Aviv had issued a temporary blanket travel ban, which by definition also included the US, but it’s widely believed this was a tactic to avoid angering the Trump administration at the time by singling out the US where Covid-19 had been exploding.

  

  Akin to Australia and some other nations seen as implementing some of the strictest global measures, Israel has opened several state-run quarantine hotels for inbound travelers. They must stay until they show a negative Covid test, after which they are required to continue their quarantine at home for at least seven days.

  A new “coronavirus hotel” is also expected to open at the country’s main Ben Gurion International Airport, according to Times of Israel, taking the total number of such state hotels to five.

  As of this week, Israel now has a total of 10 countries on its “red list” of places to which Israelis are barred from traveling. This also at a time Israeli leaders are pushing to get all children ages 5 and up vaccinated.

  I’m dead that Trump thinks Netanyahu was loyal to him personally instead of just whoever happened to become President.

  “Trump blasts Netanyahu for disloyalty: “F**k him”” https://t.co/suMON7H7Ic

  — Hamza (@hamzadawud) December 11, 2021

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

  Interestingly, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett admitted on Monday that despite the country being among the world’s foremost “ultra-vaxxed” populations, most people are eventually going to get Covid: 

  Prime Minister Naftali Bennett hinted Monday at future health restrictions and said that while most people may eventually contract COVID-19, being vaccinated would keep their illness from “being a big deal.”

  At a meeting with education officials about vaccinating children, Bennett said Israel would race to make sure every eligible kid was immunized in the next two weeks, as Israel girds for what is expected to be a major wave of new cases fueled by the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

  “This is a wave that we cannot stop, but we can delay and slow and diminish its strength,” Bennet added in his remarks.

  His comment on hoping the illness would for most people not be a “big deal” is interesting, given we’re clearly far past this point in terms of extreme curbs on individual freedoms and rights in the country, which was among the first to implement a “green pass” – or what’s essentially a vaccine passport required to enter restaurants, bars, and all public venues. We would assume most people have experienced this as the far greater “big deal”.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/20/2021 – 19:20

• Here Is The "Fallback Plan" Manchin Would Support… And Why Goldman Thinks It Wouldn't Move The Needle
  Here Is The “Fallback Plan” Manchin Would Support… And Why Goldman Thinks It Wouldn’t Move The Needle

  The Washington Post reports that the most powerful man in Washignton – Senator Manchin – who singlehandedly destroyed Biden’s Build Back Better plan that passed in the House, presented a proposal to President Biden several days ago, before the negotiations fell apart, that totaled $1.8 trillion and consisted of universal pre-kindergarten, $500-600bn in climate-related subsidies, and expansion of ACA health insurance subsidies.

  As Goldman’s Alec Phillips writes, the report seems credible in light of CBO estimates that the cost of those policies would total around $1.7 trillion assuming that they all last for the full 10 years covered by the estimate.

  What is notable about Sen. Manchin’s reported proposal is that it does not include an extension of the expanded child tax credit (CTC). This is not surprising, since Sen. Manchin has criticized the full refundability of the expanded CTC enacted earlier this year.

  Nevertheless, it highlights the obstacles to enacting an extension of the CTC – republicans seem unlikely to support extending the CTC in its current fully-refundable form, leaving a reconciliation bill as the only vehicle to extend the current  version. However, Phillips writes that Manchin seems unlikely to support that. This might still leave the door open to a modified CTC – for example, keeping the higher dollar amounts ($3000/$3600 per child) but eliminating full refundability–but this would still cost well over $1 trillion, which would force congressional Democrats to choose between dropping child care/pre-k or climate provisions from the bill (assuming that the top line remains $1.75 trillion).  

  Instead, if the White House were to accept Manchin’s proposal, the top-line figure of $1.8 trillion might look similar to the House-passed BBB but the effect in FY2022 would be much smaller. Specifically, the House bill would have increased spending (including tax credits) by roughly $200bn (0.9% of GDP) in FY2022, with the child tax credit extension accounting for the majority of this. By contrast, a package consisting of the House’s provisions on child care, pre-k, ACA subsidies and green energy would total around $30bn in FY2022 (0.1% of GDP).

  So while a fallback proposal can’t be ruled out, even if it were to pass next year it might not have much of an effect on the fiscal impulse to growth if it omits an extension of the child tax credit.

  

  Meanwhile, according to Politico, the two Joes – Manchin and Biden – spoke Sunday night after the blowup in negotiations around the president’s domestic agenda. According to the report, the conversation ended with a sense that negotiations would, in fact, resume around the Build Back Better Act in some form in the new year. The tone of conversation was cordial and it was agreed that they would speak again on legislative priorities.

   

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/20/2021 – 19:00

• Pentagon Cracks Down On 'Extremism' Within US Military
  Pentagon Cracks Down On ‘Extremism’ Within US Military

  It wasn’t enough to feminize the US military (China and Russia send their regards, we’re sure).

  According to the Associated Press, the Pentagon is now warning that ‘extremism’ within the ranks is increasing – requiring ‘detailed new rules’ that prohibit service members from engaging in certain activities.

  

  The announcement comes after senior defense officials tell AP that fewer than 100 military members are known to have been involved in ‘substantiated’ instances of extremist activity over the past year, but the number may grow – particularly among veterans.

  In short: the Pentagon is clamping down over a potential threat.

  The policy doesn’t necessarily change what is prohibited – but is “more of an effort to make sure troops are clear on what they can and can’t do,” particularly on social media.

  The new policy lays out in detail the banned activities, which range from advocating terrorism or supporting the overthrow of the government to fundraising or rallying on behalf of an extremist group or “liking” or reposting extremist views on social media. The rules also specify that commanders must determine two things in order for someone to be held accountable: that the action was an extremist activity, as defined in the rules, and that the service member “actively participated” in that prohibited activity. -AP

  Previous policies banned extremist activities but didn’t go into such great detail, and also did not specify the two step process to determine someone accountable. -AP

  The changes come after a focus group concluded that service members wanted better definitions of what was not allowed. That said, the new rules don’t provide a list of allegedly extremist organizations – and instead leave it up to commanders to determine if a subordinate is actively conducting extremist activities based on the definitions. The new rules lay out six broad groups of ‘extremist activities,’ as well as 14 definitions that would constitute active participation.

  The rules, said the officials, focus on behavior not ideology. So service members have whatever political, religious or other beliefs that they want, but their actions and behavior are governed.

  In addition to the new rules, the Pentagon is expanding its screening for recruits to include a deeper look at potential extremist activities. Some activities may not totally prevent someone from joining the military, but require a closer look at the applicant. -AP

  In a Monday message, Defense Secretary Lloyd “Raytheon” Austin said that the department believes that just a few service members are extremists, but that “even the actions of a few can have an outsized impact on unit cohesion, morale and readiness – and the physical harm some of these activities can engender can undermine the safety of our people.”

  And of course, there’s a national security threat which goes hand in hand with extremist views, according to the report.

   

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/20/2021 – 18:40

• Fauci's War on Science: The Smoking Gun
  Fauci’s War on Science: The Smoking Gun

  Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Brownstone Institute,

  Those weeks following the release of the Great Barrington Declaration did feel odd…

  

  On the good side, medical doctors, scientists, public health workers, and citizens all over the world were thrilled that three top scholars in fields of public health and epidemiology had spoken out against lockdowns and for a reasoned approach to Covid. They eagerly signed the document. 

  Yes, there were some attempts to sabotage it too, with fake names and so on, which should have been a clue about what was coming. The fakes were deleted in days and new methods of confirming signatures were deployed. 

  The document, on the one hand, said nothing controversial. The right way to deal with this pandemic, it said, was to focus on those who could face severe outcomes from disease – a very plain point and nothing new. There was nothing to be gained by locking down the whole of society because of a pathogen with such a huge differential in its demographic impact. 

  The virus would have to become endemic in any case (including the realization of “herd immunity,” which is not a “strategy” but a descriptive term widely accepted in epidemiology) and certainly would not be stopped by destroying peoples’ lives and liberties. 

  The hope of the Declaration was simply that journalists would pay attention to a different point of view and a debate would begin on the unprecedented experiment in lockdowns. Perhaps science could prevail, even in this climate. 

  On the bad side, and at the very same time, following the release, the attacks began pouring in, and they were brutal, structured to destroy. The three main signers – Sunetra Gupta (Oxford), Martin Kulldorff (Harvard), and Jay Bhattacharya (Stanford) – made the statement as a matter of principle. It was also born of frustration with the prevailing narrative. 

  Mostly this declaration was intended as an educational effort. But the authors were being called vicious names and treated like heretics that should be burned. There certainly was no civil debate; quite the contrary. 

  It was all quite shocking given that the Declaration was a statement concerning what almost everyone in these professional circles believed earlier in the year. They were merely stating the consensus based on science and experience. Nothing more. Even on March 2, 2020, 850 scientists signed a letter to the White House warning against lockdowns, closures, and travel restrictions. It was sponsored by Yale University. Today it reads nearly like a first draft of the Great Barrington Declaration. Indeed on that same day, Fauci wrote to a Washington Post reporter: “The epidemic will gradually decline and stop on its own without a vaccine.”

  But following the March 13-16, 2020 lockdowns, the orthodoxy had evidently changed. And suddenly. The signers of the GBD had declined to change with it. Thus did they endure astonishingly brutal smears. What felt odd at the time was the sheer intensity of the attacks, as well as their dogmatism and ferocity. These attacks also had a strong political flavor that had little regard for science. 

  Already by the summer, it was very clear that the lockdowns had not achieved what they were supposed to achieve. Two weeks had stretched into many months, and the data on cases and deaths were uncorrelated with the “mitigation measures” that had been imposed on the country and the world. Meanwhile, millions had missed cancer screenings, schools and churches had been shut, public health was in a state of crisis, and small businesses and communities were fighting to stay alive. 

  It was obvious on October 4, 2020, when the Declaration was released, that it was a correct statement and that the lockdowns had failed by every measure. Following Trump’s fatal March 2020 decision to acquiesce to Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, the president had pushed for reopening the country and treating this pathogen as a disease with normal medical methods. He was not making much headway, however. The handful of people around Trump who had been responsible for pushing them were digging in, prepared to wage a full war on dissent. 

  What historian Phil Magness has discovered, with newly unearthed emails, comes not as a shock to any of us but it is satisfying to see the confirmation of what we suspected. It seemed at the time that the effort to attack and destroy both the GBD and its authors was coordinated from the top. Here at last is the proof that our intuition was not crazy. 

  The author of the initial email is Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health. The recipients were Anthony Fauci and H. Clifford Lane, NIAID Deputy Director for Clinical Research and Special Projects.The email calls for a “published take down” of the GBD that is both “quick and devastating.”

  

  That evening, Fauci wrote back, not with a reference to any scientific papers supporting lockdowns and so on but with a piece from the gadget publication called Wired, which said the GBD is wrong because “quite literally arguing with the past” because the lockdowns are no longer being used. Collins responded: “excellent.”

  

  The next day, Fauci struck again with an article from the pro-lockdown leftist newspaper The Nation. It’s a demoralizing reference simply because the public was led to believe that between his endless TV interviews, Fauci was scouring “the science” to find out more about SARS-CoV-2, not googling and landing on highly politicized and ideological webzines. What we find in these emails are highly political people who are obsessed not with science but with messaging and popular influences on the public mind.

  

  Days later, Collins himself gave quotes to the Washington Post that ridiculed the position that society should reopen. He was clearly attacking Trump and the White House generally. Fauci said not to worry about it because they were too busy with other things, e.g. the election. 

  

  Over the following weeks, many new pieces appeared in the popular press. These gentlemen eagerly shared them. 

  What do we learn from these emails?

  The attacks on tens of thousands of medical professionals and scientists were indeed encouraged from the top. The basis for the attacks were not scientific articles. They were heavily political popular pieces. This adds serious weight to the impression we all had at the time, which was that this was not really about science but about something far more insidious. 

  You can discover more about this in Scott Atlas’s book on the topic. These new emails confirm his account. It was an outright war on top scientists, people whose views on matters of public health were not different from the professional consensus only earlier in the year. For that matter, Anthony Fauci himself warned against lockdowns in January and February, favoring instead normal methods of mitigation. 

  My own estimate is that the convinced advocates of lockdowns when they took place were probably fewer than 50 in the US. How and why they managed to grab hold of the reins of power will be investigated by historians for many decades. The incredibly positive response to the Great Barrington Declaration, which has garnered 900,000 signatures in the meantime, demonstrates that there was and is still life remaining in traditional public health measures deployed throughout the 20th century and still respect for human dignity and science remaining among medical professionals and the general public. 

  Please remember that Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins are not just two scientists among hundreds of thousands. As the NIH site says, it “invests about $41.7 billion annually in medical research for the American people.” With that kind of spending power, you can wield a great deal of influence, even to the point of crushing dissent, however rooted in serious science the target might be. It might be enough power and influence to achieve the seemingly impossible, such as conducting a despotic experiment without precedent, under the cover of virus control, in overturning law, tradition, rights, and liberties hard won from hundreds of years of human experience. 

  This war on dissent against lockdowns is not only a scandal of our times. The lockdowns and now the mandates have fundamentally transformed society and its relationship to government, technology, media, and much more. The emergency continues. Protests have arisen the world over but they are hardly even covered by the media. We seem ever more to be on the precipice of total disaster, one that will be difficult to reverse. It is urgent that we know who did this, as well as how and why, and take steps to stop it before more damage is done and then becomes permanent. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/20/2021 – 18:20

• The Real Brandon Speaks: "People Have A Right To Frustration & Anger"
  The Real Brandon Speaks: “People Have A Right To Frustration & Anger”

  The professional race car driver at the center of the viral, highly censored anti-Biden ‘Let’s Go Brandon‘ meme has finally opened up about his thoughts on the hilarious headline grabbing saga in a just published op-ed in Newsweek.

  To review, NASCAR driver Brandon Brown – a self identified Republican voter – clinched his first Xfinity Series race at Talladega in October, and during his live interview with NBC Sports reporter Kelli Stavast, loud “F**k Joe Biden” chants could be clearly heard from the packed stadium in the background. That’s when Stavast took it upon herself to censor the moment in real time, absurdly claiming before her national TV audience that they were really saying “Let’s go, Brandon”. 

  

  And the rest is history, with entire stadiums of fans at sports games now regularly in unison shouting Let’s go Brandon… Republican political rallies erupting in the same, and rap videos topping the charts on iTunes, and with literally hundreds of viral TikTok videos taking up the #LetsGoBrandonChallenge.

  Of course, the more that official platforms tried to censor it as “dangerous” and “hate speech” – the more it took off, resulting in Brandon Brown being put in the NASCAR and media spotlight. And now during the holidays, one can even buy “Let’s Go Brandon” t-shirts, Christmas ornaments, stickers, and other merchandise to express how they feel about Biden. People have been fired from their jobs, or put under investigation, such as an airline pilot who dare to utter the phrase over the intercom during a flight.

  “All the advice I got from those around my racing career was to stay quiet after that now-famous interview. No one knew how my sponsors would react and, in my world, there is no car to drive without the sponsors,” Brandon describes in the Newsweek op-ed.

  He introduced the piece with, “My name is Brandon. Brandon Brown, to be specific. Yes, that Brandon”…

  I am Brandon, the NASCAR driver and unlikely meme. A 28-year-old who now finds himself in the middle of the American political conversation. As a pro driver, I never expected to be in the passenger seat of my own viral moment.

  …Since that race, my name has been chanted in literally hundreds of stadiums across the country, spanning nearly every conceivable sport (and then some). I’ve heard my name chanted in bars, at events, in the course of everyday life and even in the chambers of Congress.

  He further describes that he’s turned down countless requests for press interviews precisely become he was deeply fearful of being canceled by NASCAR and his own sponsors. As he says, without sponsors – it becomes impossible to drive professionally 

  “So, I kept quiet. I turned down more press requests than I imagined someone could ever get—especially someone just starting his NASCAR career. I was afraid of being canceled by my sponsors, or by the media, for being caught up in something that has little to do with me,” he writes.

  He then explains why he’s now speaking, ending his silence… he understands that this has become a rallying cry for millions of Americans suffering and struggling under government elites who “only make it worse”…

  I understand that millions of people are struggling right now and are frustrated. Struggling to get by and struggling to build a solid life for themselves and their families, and wondering why their government only seems to make it worse. People have a right to frustration—even anger.

  Far from denying the central importance of the “Let’s go Brandon” moment, the professional driver now appears to be publicly embracing it with the op-ed, saying he’s “no longer going to be silent” about the situation…

  I have no interest in leading some political fight. I race cars. I am not going to endorse anyone, and I am certainly not going to tell anyone how to vote.

  But I’m also no longer going to be silent about the situation I find myself in, and why millions of Americans are chanting my name. I hear them, even if Washington does not.

  And yet even with him explaining his perspective in his own words, some corners of mainstream media are already trying to spin it, with for example The Hill ignoring his words in context, instead emphasizing in their misleading headline that the Driver of ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ fame has ‘zero desire to be involved in politics’

  But in his own words spelled out with crystal clarity in the article he emphasizes that as he races, he’ll at the same time no longer hesitate to loudly speak up about issues he’s passionate about, also pledging, “To my fans, to NASCAR fans and to everyone who has chanted my name: I dedicate myself this upcoming season to compete hard on the racetrack and to spotlight issues that are important to me and to millions of Americans across the country.”

  Brown signs off the op-ed with… “Let’s Go America.”

  * * *

  And now to revisit the famous post-race interview that started it all…

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/20/2021 – 18:00

• Court Fight Over Dead People On Voter Lists Heats Up In Michigan
  Court Fight Over Dead People On Voter Lists Heats Up In Michigan

  Authored by Steven Kovac via The Epoch Times,

  How many dead people should remain on Michigan voter rolls? The answer may be determined by a federal judge…

  

  The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) on Nov. 3 sued Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, for allegedly failing to remove from the state’s voter rolls the names of 26,000 registered voters who have either died or moved away.

  According to PILF President J. Christian Adams, the failure to remove the names “creates an opportunity for fraud.”

  The lawsuit also alleges that 334 people registered to vote after they died, with 15 of those registrations occurring in 2020.

  Benson’s office said they do not comment on pending litigation.

  However, Tracy Wimmer, a spokesperson for Benson, told Fox News, “Michigan maintains its voter registration list in accordance with all state and federal laws.”

  “As we’ve seen throughout the past year, meritless lawsuits serve as press releases for those seeking to further election misinformation and undermine American democracy,” Wimmer said.

  The office of the Michigan Attorney General filed a response to PILF’s complaint and a motion to dismiss the case on December 13, 2021.

  In the reply, Benson denies any failures to perform list maintenance activities required by federal law.

  Her lawyers point out that the National Voting Rights Act (NVRA) requires only that a state conduct a general program and make a reasonable effort to remove the names of ineligible voters from the official voter registration list by notice of death, change of residence, or the voter’s request.

  “The NVRA does not require a state enact an exhaustive program to remove every voter who becomes ineligible,” wrote Benson’s counsel.

  The complaint alleges, that “when more than 25,000 deceased registrants are identified on the qualified voter list and not removed for an extended period of years, the list maintenance program is not only unreasonable, it is failing.

  “The NVRA does not simply require a percentage or portion of dead registrants to be removed, it requires a program that actually detects dead registrants and removes them.”

  Among other requests, PILF is asking the court to require Benson to remove the names of deceased voters from the rolls and to order her to allow inspection of records pertaining to the implementation of programs and activities used in cleaning up the voter list.

  Adams said the numbers speak for themselves and is confident the suit will survive the motion to dismiss.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/20/2021 – 17:40

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