Feb 21

Today’s News 21st February 2024

  • The 2030 Agenda: The Totalitarian Trojan Horse
    The 2030 Agenda: The Totalitarian Trojan Horse

    Authored by Daniel Lacalle via The Epoch Times,

    Upon perusing the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals included in the well-known 2030 Agenda, one may conclude that they are all harmless and entirely reasonable goals.

    Who could be opposed to reducing poverty and hunger or advancing infrastructure, innovation, and industry?

    The trick, akin to the tale of the Trojan Horse, is that those goals have been appropriated by the most heinous interventionism, and bureaucrats with a foundation of conceit and stupidity use it to impose governmental control over every aspect of the economy.

    They are attacking farming, agriculture, and nearly any private activity in a Europe that is beginning to resemble a society suffocated by a predatory state and zombies close to the government, à la Chapter 9 from Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged.”

    First, they destroyed the very industry that the 2030 Agenda is purportedly committed to strengthening.

    The most interventionist politicians are really attacking the 2030 Agenda because, despite their pretenses to the contrary, their policies invariably have the opposite effect of what they seem to support.

    The socialists in all parties have taken over the 2030 Agenda, which does not advance industry, growth, equality, or the fight against poverty or hunger.

    This exploitation of the 2030 Agenda’s objectives is exactly like the Trojan Horse that conceals people who will destroy the city beneath the guise of an impressive and lovely gift.

    The number of farms in the European Union has drastically decreased in recent years. According to Eurostat, there were 9.1 million farms in 2020, a projected 37 percent decrease, or roughly 5.3 million fewer than in 2005. This trend has only worsened since 2020.

    According to the European Commission itself, the EU’s agricultural land is predicted to shrink by 1.1 percent between 2015 and 2030, primarily due to the declines of the two main groupings (agricultural land and farming), which are forecast to decline by 4.0 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively. This implies ruining our future and increasing Europe’s dependence and poverty.

    It is not acceptable for the industrial fabric to be destroyed. According to the International Energy Agency, businesses are now paying twice as much for electricity and natural gas as they would in China or the United States due to an energy strategy that is incorrect and enforced by activists who lack industry knowledge. And how is it justified by the bureaucracy?

    “The breakdown analysis reveals that the lower economic growth in the EU in relation to the world had the greatest negative impact on the contribution of its manufacturing sector,” according to a study published by the European Commission.

    It’s not that they are destroying industry, so don’t worry. It is just that the EU is growing far less than before. Fascinating (note the irony). As if the decline in competitiveness isn’t already a contributing factor in stagnation.

    A report from the European Round Table for Industry (Vision Paper 2024–2029) states that the market share of European Union industry in the globe has plummeted from 21 percent in 2001 to a pitiful 14.5 percent. The paper also offers positive remedies. The U.S. proportion, which had a 21 percent share during the same period, decreased less significantly, to 16.5 percent. They reaffirm that “business is the lifeblood of a robust economy.”

    “The EU’s industrial sector contributes 16 percent of its GDP. It creates millions of jobs indirectly and 25 percent of direct employment. It is essential for advancing innovation and enhancing the capabilities of the labor force in addition to creating income and jobs. Its potential to promote growth and prosperity is enormous, given the correct conditions. These factors make it clear that Europe needs to increase its appeal to foreign investors.”

    Furthermore, what has been accomplished? Taxes, restrictions, and bureaucracy are increased, destroying the very thing they claim to safeguard.

    Why do people accept the 17 goals of the 2030 Agenda which are redundant as free-market capitalism would achieve all of them without the need for propaganda? Interventionism has denigrated capitalism and free markets while positioning itself as the answer to the mistakes brought about by extensive intervention. The only ways that any of those goals will actually be met are through increased capitalism and economic freedom. Socialism not only falls short of all these goals, but it also adds a secret number 18: the cancelation and persecution of complainants.

    It is not anti-European to criticize this agenda’s incorrect imposition. It is in favor of Europe.

    Many of us were labeled anti-Europeans years ago for supporting nuclear energy. The EU made agreements recently to create new reactors in large quantities. When we criticized the fiscal plunder and bureaucracy placed on farming, agriculture, and industry years ago, we were labeled anti-Europeans. Many governments are realizing now how grave a mistake they made.

    Similarly, criticizing the digital euro does not mean attacking the euro; rather, it means arguing that it should continue to be a store of value and maintain its purchasing power.

    Being pro-European does not mean accepting every interventionist policy put out by a committee of bureaucrats. We must reject socialism and central planning if we are to protect Europe. Despite decades of financial support, East Germany is still struggling to recover from the devastation caused by central planning.

    Centralized planning does not work.

    It was never successful. However, there are always those who believe that if they put it into practice, it will work because they do not have to pay for the repercussions.

    What is the ruse behind this latest attack on liberty?

    The usual “good intentions” to target and penalize those who produce and create jobs, using goals that appear innocent and that we all defend. Thus, if you disagree, some may claim that you are opposed to ending poverty, hunger, and inequality if you publish a piece like this one or warn against the risks of central planning. Can you spot the ruse? In actuality, it employs the same tactic as Leninism, which is to create an oppressive government while hiding behind a cause that everyone supports.

    The people who have stocked this Trojan Horse with warriors ready to mercilessly slaughter the city’s populace once they are behind the wall are well aware that their scheme will fail so they must enforce objective number 18, which establishes the only connection between reality and the fallacy of central planning. What does objective number 18 mean? Suppression and annihilation of personal autonomy, impoverishment, and elimination of demand. It’s not even a hidden target. This set of self-proclaimed European saviors is aware that imposing a contraction in demand is the only way to make the equation of corporate destruction and declining supply square, rendering us less free and poorer.

    The first thing we should do is give up on socialism and stand up for the promotion of individual freedom if we want to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals without the covert eighteenth of poverty and elimination of individuals’ rights.

    The only way to accomplish the goals that the 2030 Agenda purports to support is to take these policies out of the hands of socialist and extortionate interventionism and give Europe greater economic freedom, more robust businesses, and regulations that are straightforward, predictable, and conducive to investment. There should be less poverty redistributors and more manufacturing, farming, and agriculture.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 23:40

  • Did The India Bubble Just Burst
    Did The India Bubble Just Burst

    In its latest US Equities Weekly Rundown note, Goldman Sachs wrote that In international markets, the desk continues to field demand for India as investors move capital out of China ETFs; the result is that INDA (iShares MSCI India ETF) has seen consistent inflows this past year, while MCHI (iShares MSCI China ETF) redemptions persist.

    And yet, the stellar rally in Indian equities that’s made them an investor favorite has run into headwinds that go beyond elevated valuations, according to Bloomberg market live reporters Abhishek Vishnoi and John Cheng. The commentators note that earnings misses, the attractiveness of rival markets amid expectations of a dovish policy shift by the Federal Reserve and a nascent recovery in Chinese equities “are casting doubts over India extending a rally that saw the nation’s main gauges posting a record eighth-straight year of gains in 2023.”

    Recently, Citigroup and Societe Generale SA have downgraded India, while foreigners have sold a net $3.8 billion of local shares so far this year, the highest in emerging Asia outside of China. Multi-asset investors are favoring rupee bonds over the South Asian nation’s equities, and some even refute Goldman’s observations, saying that the money flows out of China may be slowing as the country steps up its market rescue efforts.

    “India is the best longer-term story, but we are taking a bit of profit” due to high valuations, said Sean Taylor, chief investment officer at Matthews Asia. “I will be trimming more of India into Fed cuts on a relative basis because I need to put more capital into places like Korea and Taiwan.”

    Despite the short-term profit-taking, the longer-term outlook for India remains intact thanks to the nation’s fast economic growth, an expanding middle class and rising manufacturing prowess.

    “Even though there’s a valuation concern, India is in a sweet spot,” said Joohee An, chief investment officer at Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. in Hong Kong. “We’re looking at India with a longer-term approach than other emerging markets.”

    Still, a slew of earnings misses in the latest earnings season on top of already stretched valuations, weak consumer demand in some pockets of the $3.4 trillion economy and a still-hawkish central bank have put some investors on the back foot for now.

    Indian stocks remain near their most expensive levels ever against battered Chinese peers, just when Xi Jinping’s administration is unveiling measures to prop up the market and boost confidence. That may prompt some investors to rethink their asset allocations across the region.

    The S&P BSE Sensex Index is valued at 20 times 12-month forward consensus earnings estimates, higher than its 10-year mean and the most expensive in Asia. China’s mainland benchmark CSI 300 Index, which hit a five-year low earlier this month, trades at little over 10 times future earnings.

    “We’ve been underweighting the country because we’re value investors and we struggle in this market,” said Vicki Chi, a Hong Kong-based portfolio manager at Robeco. “We like dirt cheap, but there’s hardly anything in India.”

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 23:20

  • Seattle Activists Declare 'Homosexual Intifada'
    Seattle Activists Declare ‘Homosexual Intifada’

    Authored by Jason Rantz via mynorthwest.com,

    As if “Queers for Palestine” wasn’t enough of a self-parody, keffiyeh-donning gay activists in Seattle have declared a “homosexual intifada.”

    Homosexual intifada posters seen around Seattle. (Photo: Anatolia Ferguson for Jason Rantz Show on KTTH)

    After another pro-Hamas/anti-Israel march and rally that took over city streets that Seattle mayor Bruce Harrell ceded, the extremists plastered their signage around downtown Seattle. That’s when we started seeing a new flyer showing two men with faces covered with keffiyeh while embracing in a kiss. The pink-hued message says “Homo-sexual Intifada” in all caps.

    Seattle’s homosexual intifada flyer is a stark oxymoron as brazen as it is ignorant. It signals LGBT Seattle activists are willing to become more violent in support of a terrorist organization that would order them tossed from the highest rooftop the moment they accuse someone of misgendering them.

    LGBT Seattle activists support violent Hamas with more violence

    Hamas, the governing body in Gaza since 2007, is as welcoming to the LGBT community as it is to Jews. And their track record is hardly rainbow-colored. Under Hamas rule, being openly gay isn’t just a social taboo; it’s a fast track to execution. LGBT people face arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings based purely on sexual orientation. And these views against the LGBT community are not merely those of Hamas.

    The situation is not much different in the Palestinian-controlled West Bank, where there are no LGBT rights. Palestinians in Gaza are as hostile, with, ironically, gay Palestinians fleeing to Israel for refuge. Israel is the only Middle East country with constitutional, employment, and other codified LGBT rights.

    Pro-Hamas activists, in and out of Seattle, routinely and purposefully ignore the fact that Hamas hates the LGBT community. Yet, they continue to stay silent so that they may use all their hot air to attack Jews defending Israel against an existential threat.

    Is the Seattle homosexual intifada trying to send a different message?

    Is it possible the Seattle homosexual intifada flyer is meant to envision a world in which gay Palestinians fight back in Gaza? Are they trolling us with their flyer? Not likely. The pro-Hamas faction of Seattle activists has consistently downplayed or ignored Hamas terrorism against Jews because they believe “resistance is justified when people are occupied.”

    Generally, Hamas’ dangerous hostility to the LGBT community is ignored. But in the rare instances in which it is not, progressive activists use their hatred of Jews to gaslight. Radical Swarthmore professor Sa’ed Atshan dismissed Hamas and Gazan homophobia as if it’s no different than anywhere else. In an interview, Atshan tries to explain why there’s “queer solidarity” with Palestinians without having to mention it’s driven by blatant antisemitism, historical ignorance, or both.

    Atshan noted, “Homophobia is not unique to Palestinian society. It exists in most parts of the world, including in Israeli society, as well as here in the United States.” He even manages to blame Jews for homophobia in Gaza, falsely claiming they participate in a brutal military occupation of Gaza.

    “It’s very dangerous to pathologize Palestinian society as uniquely homophobic or that homophobia is endemic to the society without this broader context, as well as without understanding the ways that life under brutal military occupation exacerbates homophobia within Palestinian society as well. In order for us to deal with questions of how queer people are treated in Palestine, we have to address the broader landscape of the denial of freedom to Palestinians more generally speaking,” he said.

    This is all pretty simple, just not simple enough for Progressive Seattle activists

    Palestinians are not synonymous with Hamas. But only a fool pretends there’s no overlap for a significant portion of the Palestinian people in Gaza. It doesn’t matter, though.

    Read more here…

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 23:00

  • Putin Gifts Kim Jong Un A Luxury Russian Limo 
    Putin Gifts Kim Jong Un A Luxury Russian Limo 

    Russian carmaker Aurus, best known for producing President Vladimir Putin’s new bulletproof limo, delivered a new limousine to the North Korean dictator on behalf of the Russian government. 

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the limousine was delivered to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He said the vehicle was a gift following Putin’s visit last year when Kim took great interest in the limo. 

    Limo

    “When the head of the DPRK [North Korea] was at the Vostochny cosmodrome, he looked at this car, Putin showed it to him personally, and like many people, Kim liked this car,” Peskov said when asked by reporters about the gift, who The Guardian quoted. 

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

    “So this decision was made,” Peskov said, adding, “North Korea is our neighbor, our close neighbor, and we intend, and will continue, to develop our relations with all neighbors, including North Korea.” 

    North Korea’s state-run media outlet KCNA also confirmed the Russian-made limousine arrived in Pyongyang. 

    KCNA quoted Kim’s sister, who said, “courteously conveyed Kim Jong-un’s thanks to Putin to the Russian side, saying that the gift serves as a clear demonstration of the special personal relations between the top leaders.” 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 22:40

  • A Stunning 10 Million Illegals Have Entered The US Under Biden; Tucker Warns They Are "Destroying" The Country
    A Stunning 10 Million Illegals Have Entered The US Under Biden; Tucker Warns They Are “Destroying” The Country

    A record 7.3 million illegal aliens have crossed the southwest border under President Biden’s watch, a number which according to Fox News.is greater than the population of 36 individual states.

    That figure is sourced from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which has already reported 961,537 Southwest land border encounters in the current fiscal year, which runs from October through September, and if the current pace of illegal immigration does not slow down, fiscal year 2024 will break last year’s record of 2,475,669 southwest border encounters — a number that by itself exceeds the population of New Mexico.

    The total number of southwest land border encounters since Biden assumed office in 2021 is 7,298,486, CBP data shows.

    Source: CBP

    That number is larger than the population of 36 U.S. states including: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

    In fact, the only states that are not in danger of being “replaced” are the blue ones.

    Compared to the largest U.S. states, the 7.3 million number is about 18.7% of California’s population of 39 million, 23.9% of the state of Texas and its 31 million residents, 32.3% of the population of Florida and 37.3% of New York. It’s more than half the size of Pennsylvania, Illinois and Ohio.

    As Fox News graphically describes, were the number of illegal immigrants who entered the United States under President Biden gathered together to found a city, it would be the second-largest city in America after New York.

    Shockingly, that total does not include an estimated additional 1.6 million illegals who entered the US at other locations, nor 1.8 million known “gotaways” who evaded law enforcement, which would make the total bigger than the population of New York.

    Taken together, over 10 million migrants have crossed into the U.S. illegally during the Biden administration, a record Biden’s critics assert could only be achieved by intentionally refusing to enforce the law.

    “This unprecedented surge in illegal immigration isn’t an accident. It is the result of deliberate policy choices by the Biden administration,” said Eric Ruark, Director of Research for Numbers USA, a nonprofit that advocates for immigration restrictions.

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    While some republicans and anti-illegal immigration activists have for blamed Biden for allowing the current overwhelming surge of migrants by reversing former President Donald Trump’s border policies – a fact clearly visible in the chart above when comparing alien entrants under Trump and under Biden, the White House has denied responsibility for the crisis and pointed to external “push” factors like violence and economic instability in South and Central America as the culprit responsible for vast waves of migration to the U.S.

    Meanwhile, the president’s critics say migrants face more of a “pull” factor in the form of job opportunities and government benefits because they know they will not face deportation under Biden’s lenient policies.

    “The administration has refused to enforce existing immigration law and taken every opportunity to aid and abet illegal border crossings — through policies such as catch-and-release, mass parole, and offering temporary work permits to tens of thousands of foreigners who make dubious claims for asylum,” Ruark told Fox News Digital. “In actual effect, the United States government is completing the human smuggling and trafficking process for the Mexican cartels.”

    Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), said migrants have learned in the last three years that they won’t face deportation for entering the country illegally.

    “They have sent the signal that if you come to the U.S. illegally, if you abuse the asylum system, you’ll be released into the country and allowed to remain here, in most cases given work authorization,” Mehlman said. “Even if you neglect to show up for your hearings, the odds of you being removed are negligible. The president claims he doesn’t have the authority to enforce our laws. He absolutely does. He is deliberately not enforcing those laws.”

    There is another reason why the Biden admin has refused to crack down on illegal immigration: as we first revealed, all of the jobs since 2018 have gone to non-native born workers, which primarily means illegal immigrants.

    Since then establishment economists and lunatic idiots such as Paul Krugman and Jerome Powell have claimed that these illegal immigrants are actually beneficial for the economy as they take jobs that Americans are “too lazy” to take and have helped push down wage inflation; meanwhile the CBO has taken this grotesque stupidity one step further, and projected that the surge in illegal immigration will boost the US labor force significantly more than previously forecast…

    … with CBO Director Phill Swagel, going so far as predicting that “as a result of those changes in the labor force, we estimate that from 2023 to 2034, GDP will be greater by about $7 trillion and revenue will be greater by about $1 trillion than they would have been otherwise.”

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    “Got that?”, the Washington Post in-house propaganda appartchik asked rhetorically: Illegal immigration is not only not bad, it’s great for the country, as it enables Americans to remain lazy, it reduces wage inflation and ends up boosting GDP by trillions. In fact, the only thing preventing the US from entering a new golden age of growth is that instead of a mere 10 million illegals, the US should gladly accept 100 million or more, and be thankful to the Biden regime, which alone could come up with this absolutely brilliant theory of common sense, sanity – and of course population – replacement.

    Of course, for a far saner take on what is really going on, listen to the latest Tucker, who in his latest video note says that “mass immigration is completely destroying our country.”

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    Listen to it before Tucker is also taken out by a CIA magic bullet.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 22:20

  • Gamification Of Trading Apps Creates Rise Of Teen Stock Traders
    Gamification Of Trading Apps Creates Rise Of Teen Stock Traders

    Teens are becoming increasingly addicted to the gamification of stock and options trading, allowing them to buy and sell ‘meme’ stocks and trade zero-date options directly from their smartphones through well-known trading apps like Robinhood. 

    A new study from Fidelity Investments, titled “2023 Teens and Money Study,” reveals more than half of the respondents (ages 13 to 17) received a smartphone around the age of 10. By eleven, they spoke with their parents about opening a brokerage or checking account. 

    One thing the post-Covid world has created is younger and younger gamblers. 

    And why is that? Well, one word: gamification of trading apps. 

    During Covid, for example, Robinhood experienced an unprecedented surge of young traders that entered the stock market casino. Thank the government-enforced lockdowns that kept everyone on their couches and the Federal Reserve’s monetary bazooka that led to the greatest stock market bubble ever. 

    Everyone was a genius when stocks only went vertical. Until they don’t…  

    In a separate report, The Wall Street Journal said custodial accounts for teenagers at Schwab reached  200,000 in 2022, an increase from around 120,000 in 2019. This number soared past 300,000 in 2023, partly due to Schwab’s acquisition of TD Ameritrade. 

    Source: WSJ 

    Other brokerage firms such as Vanguard, Fidelity, and E*Trade by Morgan Stanley have also seen a rise in custodial accounts in recent years. 

    To sum up, Western society is turning out even younger degenerate stock traders than ever before through the gamification of stock trading apps on smartphones. 

    Maybe the kids should put down their smartphones and go outside. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 22:00

  • VDH: Delusions, Alternate Realities, & The Biden Consortium
    VDH: Delusions, Alternate Realities, & The Biden Consortium

    Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

    Hunter Biden has a train of a dozen lawyers defending him on felony indictments ranging from several counts of tax fraud to gun violations. From time to time, the contents of his laptop come up, both in these criminal trials and in civil suits. The information on the laptop is, of course, incriminating and useful to various prosecutors and litigants.

    Yet Hunter himself is suing the computer repairman with whom he dropped off his laptop and never retrieved—and never paid—despite signing a waiver relinquishing ownership if and when in default of payment and claim.

    But the weirdest element of the Biden labyrinth of illegality is that both Hunter and his attorneys footnote their writs and statements with the inexplicable notion that the laptop is not necessarily Hunter’s own—but then again, it could be.

    In other words, they are not presenting evidence to show that either the photographs, texts, or emails are concocted, even while they are suing various parties for defamatory dissipation of the sort of true, sort of false contents. Translated: The surreal truth is that Hunter is very mad that what he did illegally in part is evidenced on his own laptop, and he wants that information either suppressed or disowned, but without perjuring himself by stating the material on his laptop is not his own—because of course it is his.

    The same alternate universe surrounds Joe Biden’s cognitive decline. To prove that the Biden administration’s appointed special counsel was unprofessional and in error by referencing proof of Biden’s dementia, Biden gave a sudden and unusual press conference.

    But almost immediately, he lost his temper. Biden lied numerous times in contradicting the evidence of the special counsel’s report, falsely claiming many files in question were not classified. He lied that the files were securely stored in locked cabinets when they were sloppily strewn around in boxes in a rickety garage. He falsely asserted that he had notified authorities once he discovered that he had classified files in his possession, although he did not do so for roughly another five years—just days before his administration was to appoint Jack Smith to investigate Donald Trump for many of the same alleged crimes that Biden might also have been guilty of. And inter alia, he referenced President Abd el-Fattah el–Sisi of Egypt as the president of Mexico—apparently as part of his public demonstration of his own mental cogency.

    Biden further misled by damning the special counsel for supposedly prompting Biden about the date of the death of his son, the year of which Biden did not recall. But in truth, Biden himself, not Mr. Hur, brought up Beau Biden’s passing voluntarily to Mr. Hur—although again without the ability to cite the year in which he died.

    Furthermore, it is President Joe Biden who serially raises the tragic death of Beau (who died in a Washington, D.C., hospital from a glioblastoma brain tumor), often among grieving gold star families, by falsely stating variations of “We lost Beau in Iraq.”

    Note Biden’s general disconnect: serial lies about special counsel Hur’s report; lies that Trump’s once secure border is somehow responsible for Biden’s by-design open border; lies that Trump caused the Putin invasion of Ukraine on Biden’s watch that never occurred on Trump’s.

    In the last week, Biden’s circle—press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Democratic Congress representatives and senators—have all publicly emphasized not just that Biden is alert but vigorous, hale, and more dynamic than most in his briefing sessions.

    That alternate reality is at odds with 70-80 percent of the American people who variously poll in surveys that their president is not fit to serve and should not run for reelection.

    The more Biden flaks insist the President is dynamic, the more he restricts his schedule to a three-day work week, forgets where he is and what he is to say, and confuses names, dates, and people daily.

    Since January 2021, the southern border has been destroyed. It no longer exists as a protective bulwark of American sovereignty. Some 8 million illegal entrants have made their way into the US—illegally, without audits, criminal background checks, English fluency, or skills to become self-supporting.

    No matter: for the last 1000 days, Americans have watched on their televisions and computer screens thousands swarming the border every day, juxtaposed with assurances from recently impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Kamala Harris, and President Biden that the “border is secure.”

    Now with an election looming, the Bidenites are no longer either indifferent to or preening about their accomplishments of allowing (“surging”) millions illegally into the U.S. but instead scrambling to blame their suddenly declared “secure border” on Donald Trump or Republicans in Congress. Even more bizarrely, they are blaming the Congress for not giving them new laws and more money to resecure a supposedly already declared secure border, even though Donald Trump left office in 2021 with a genuine secure border and without any need for more appropriations or legislation.

    President Biden keeps bragging about Bidenomics and its role in lowering inflation (January 2024: 3.1% rate of per-annum increase) and his massive deficit spending since January 2021 of perhaps $10 trillion dollars in borrowed money that spiked interest rates threefold.

    Yet Biden ignores the fact that since he was elected, the average price of consumer goods has risen 17.2 percent. Even that increase does not represent the reality that most important consumer purchases such as staple foods, appliances, automobiles, rent, mortgages, building supplies, and home purchases have soared about 30-40 percent in the last three and a half years and have neither abated nor been matched by commensurate increases in wages.

    The analogy to Biden’s fallacious argument that inflation is nearly licked might be that of a victim who suffered a near-fatal, unhealed wound and is then supposed to be relieved that subsequent additional wounds were relatively minor – even as he suffers permanent injury from the initial lesion. So the more Biden praises his fiscal policies, the more the public polls reflect the fact that in just three years, accustomed consumer goods are now unaffordable.

    A final example of these strange disconnects is the Biden administration’s courtship of Iran. The more it has lifted sanctions on Iran, begged to restart the Iran deal, restored funding to Iranian surrogates like Hamas, or taken the terrorist Houthis off the terrorist list, the more Iranian satellites have butchered Israelis and attacked 170 American installations. In response, the more the United States offers the boilerplate that, while Iran may have supplied such aggressors, there is no direct evidence of Iranian skullduggery to justify an accounting from Teheran.

    So everyone knows Iran is at the heart of the exploding Middle East, and everybody knows that they are not supposed to say they know, lest it lead to holding Iran accountable.

    What explains all these alternate realities?

    In a word, we are witnessing the meltdown of an entire American presidency. It was born in a 2020 Faustian bargain in which a cognitively challenged, ethically compromised candidate agreed to run by offering a pseudo-moderate veneer in exchange for the support of the far left, which in turn owned his agenda.

    Since then, the Biden apparat has tried to square the circle of packaging and promoting a far-left menu that the American people did not want, delivered to them by someone who, by any fair standard, would not be able to serve as a teacher, Uber driver, or lawyer. The result was the present construct of a supposedly dynamic president promoting a traditional Democratic agenda that has succeeded brilliantly here and abroad.

    And to sustain that myth requires constant deception and falsehood.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 21:40

  • Nevada Residents Shocked To Discover They Voted In Primary
    Nevada Residents Shocked To Discover They Voted In Primary

    ‘Numerous’ Nevada voters were shocked to discover that they voted in the Feb. 6th presidential primary, despite not having done so – the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

    Numerous Nevada voters are seeing irregularities in their voter history, which the secretary of state’s office is investigating. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

    Las Vegas resident and registered Republican Daphne Lee told the outlet that her family checked the secretary of state’s website on Sunday to look up their voter history after hearing about the issue. The site showed that she and her family had voted in the primary despite none of them having done so. She attempted to opt out of future mail-in ballots and was unable to do so – with a message saying she was not currently registered to vote, and that her voting history no longer existed.

    “It’s just so frustrating,” Lee said, adding “This makes everyone uncomfortable.”

    The secretary of state’s office claims that it has identified ‘possible technical issues’ relating to Nevadans’ voting history, and that elections and IT staff immediately began collaborating with county clerks and registrars Monday morning.

    According to the report, the systems used by some counties require additional steps to ensure that voters who did not actually vote, don’t have a voting history, the SoS office said, adding that some of these steps were not taken.

    “Our office has been validating new files from each county and moving them into production as soon as the accuracy of the data is verified.”

    It determined that the problem resulted in some counties not taking the proper steps to upload their voter registration. Every night each county uploads their voter registration to the secretary of state’s database, which executes code to create the statewide voter registration file that Nevadans see when they log into vote.nv.gov, according to the secretary of state’s office. –Las Vegas Review-Journal

    The SoS added that the data should be fixed within 48 hours, and they will produce a comprehensive report to detail what happened.

    “Again, this is an error that relates to the code used for when a voter is sent a mail ballot and does not return it; it has no connection in any way to vote tabulation,” the office said in a statement, adding “The top-down Voter Registration and Election Management System (VREMS) project at the Secretary of State’s office will go live prior to the June 2024 election, and remove the need for these outdated processes.”

    According to Gov. Joe Lombardo (R), the secretary of state’s office is working to resolve the issues.

    In a Monday statement, the Nevada Republican Party said it received reports from numerous registered Republican voters who did not participate in the presidential primary that their mail ballot was received and counted by the state.

    The Nevada Republican Party is in communication with the secretary of state’s office to conduct an investigation into the issues, the Nevada GOP said in the statement. -LVRJ

    “We take these reports very seriously,” said Chairman Michael McDonald, who has previously expressed doubt over the validity of the 2020 election. “The cornerstone of our Republic is the trust and confidence of the American people in the electoral process. Any indication of irregularities must be thoroughly investigated to ensure the integrity of our elections.”

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 21:20

  • Public Schools In Portland Face Civil Rights Complaints Over Diversity Efforts
    Public Schools In Portland Face Civil Rights Complaints Over Diversity Efforts

    Authored by Eric Lundrum via American Greatness,

    On Thursday, Portland Public Schools (PPS) were sued by an education advocacy group over claims that the school district’s push for diversity in disciplinary actions constitutes a violation of civil rights.

    As reported by the Daily Caller, the watchdog group Parents Defending Education (PDE) accuses PPS of violating the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, as well as other civil rights law, with its “Student Support and Discipline” policy. The policy forces teachers and staff members to address “disruptive student behavior” by taking into account the offending student’s identity, including race, gender, and sexual preference, before handing out punishment, if any. In addition, the policy orders the district to assign teachers based on race and gender.

    The policy clearly states that staff members “must take into consideration the impact of issues related to the student’s trauma, race, gender identity/presentation, sexual orientation, disability, social emotional learning, and restorative justice as appropriate for the student.”

    The district is forbidden from transferring a teacher from one school to another if it would ultimately “decrease the building’s percentage of under-represented male or female or transgender/nonbinary/gender non-conforming professional educators to less than thirty percent,” or if it would otherwise “decrease the building’s percentage of minority teachers to less than the student minority percentage in the building or below the percentage of minority professional educators in the District.”

    “Portland Public Schools has enacted several concerning policies that treat students and educators differently based on race and gender identity,” PDE states in its lawsuit.

    “For instance, Portland Public Schools is disciplining some students and not others, solely based on immutable characteristics.”

    In addition to the disciplinary policy, the district also requires all of its schools to hire a “School Climate Team,” which runs “ongoing training in implicit bias, antiracism and culturally responsive practices.”

    PDE’s lawsuit comes in an environment where many legal actions are being taken against school districts across the country in the wake of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, a landmark decision by the Supreme Court last year. In the case, along with the concurrent Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina, the court ruled that the practice of affirmative action – accepting student applications and other hiring decisions based solely on racial identity – was unconstitutional, and ordered it banned at a national level in universities and colleges across the country.

    Although the Supreme Court kept its focus to higher education, many lawsuits and other complaints have cited this decision as a basis for similar actions against lower school districts and other entities which similarly discriminate based on race, gender, and other arbitrary identities.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 21:00

  • China Suspends Quant Fund For Dumping $350 Million Shares In 1 Minute
    China Suspends Quant Fund For Dumping $350 Million Shares In 1 Minute

    To appreciate how “sensitive” Beijing has become to any sharp and/or continued selling of Chinese stocks, now that public sentiment is adversely impacted by China’s relentless rout, look no further than major quant fund Lingjun Investment, which on Tuesday was suspended for three days amid broader regulatory efforts to revive market confidence. The fund’s transgression: it broke rules on orderly trading. Or, stated simply, at a time when it’s no secret that selling of Chinese stocks is frowned upon, Lingjun took it to the next level when the fund dumped a combined 2.57 billion yuan ($357.4 million) in A-shares in a minute between 9:30 a.m. and 9:31 a.m. on Monday, the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses revealed in identical statements on Tuesday, and said they would strengthen monitoring and analysis of quantitative, especially high-frequency trading. Such trading “has obvious advantages over small investors in terms of technology, information and speed” and could at times contribute to market volatility, the exchanges said.

    The orders from Lingjun to dump stocks in early trade on Monday coincided with rapid declines in the benchmark indexes, the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges said, adding they would restrict the hedge fund’s trading until Feb. 22. The implication was clear: anyone who likewise aggressively sells stocks, is next.

    Lingjun is one of China’s biggest quant funds, and according to its website, it manages more than 60 billion yuan (supposedly that include the 2.5 billion the fund just dumped). The fund later apologized for the negative impact in a statement on its website on Wednesday, saying that the firm said it “holds long-term bullish views on Chinese stocks and will stick to long positions,” adding it will review the problems existing in transactions.

    And just like that, selling stocks in China – especially in a brisk manner – is de facto banned.

    Chinese quant funds, which use derivatives and data-driven computer models, have already suffered from a steep market sell-off this year and government curbs on short-selling. China’s blue-chip index dropped to five-year lows early this month but has since staged a powerful rebound as Beijing has vocally sought to prop up Chinese markets.

    “Regulators are sending a clear signal that money should be handed to managers who profit from long-term investment, rather than swift trades,” Yang Tingwu, vice general manager of Tongheng Investment, said. Which means that investors such as RenTec, Citadel and Millennium whose investment horizons are measured in the milliseconds or minutes at best, are no longer welcome to China.

    Ironically, Tingwu said the punishment could accelerate redemptions in quant funds as investors would ask: “Who’s next?” The only problem with redemptions is someone has to sell something, which could be a problem in China these days… so expect a whole lot of gating to take place in the next few weeks.

    A hedge fund manager who declined to be named told Reuters that a three-day trading halt was not a huge problem for Lingjun, but was a further blow to confidence in quant funds as regulatory scrutiny intensifies.

    As regulators seek to revive market confidence, China’s securities watchdog, led by newly installed chairman Wu Qing, held a series of seminars with market participants who proposed tighter scrutiny.

    Chinese quant funds already attracted the attention of regulators last year after criticism, including from smaller investors and long-only funds, of a sector able to profit from share price falls and volatility. The industry has also been blamed for its role in causing the boom-and-bust of Chinese small-caps.

    China’s quant hedge funds totalled 1.26 trillion yuan at the end of 2021, according to the latest official data. The industry has grown rapidly over the last few years, and has attracted foreign players such as Two Sigma and Winton.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 20:51

  • China Markets Eye More Housing Support After LPR Surprise
    China Markets Eye More Housing Support After LPR Surprise

    By George Lei, Bloomberg Markets Live reporter and strategist

    China slashed its five-year loan prime rate, a key reference for mortgages, by an unprecedented 25 basis points to a record-low 3.95% on Tuesday. While the move sends a strong signal from Beijing of aid for the property market, analysts caution that further monetary easing isn’t guaranteed and more support measures are needed for a turnaround in the housing sector.

    Tuesday’s reduction signals Beijing’s continued preference for targeted easing and its desire to shore up the housing, Oxford Economics said in a research report, noting that one-year LPR, which doesn’t have any mortgage implications, is left on hold. The size of the cut reveals “a genuine concern” among policymakers that the “slow-drip of easing” implemented thus far “has had little impact,” Louise Loo, the firm’s lead economist, wrote.

    While none of the 12 analysts polled by Bloomberg foresaw such a big LPR cut, the PBOC won’t necessarily lower other interest-rate benchmarks in a similarly aggressive fashion, according to JPMorgan. Uncertainty around the Fed’s next steps — with some speculation even of a hike — may prompt Beijing to pause further easing until more clarity emerges from Washington, according to Haibin Zhu, JPMorgan’s chief China economist. Any additional easing will also depend on the PBOC’s assessment of the consumer-price outlook, which appears more sanguine than that of markets, the US bank said.

    Since early 2022, the PBOC has cut the five-year LPR by 70bps, while average mortgage rates have fallen by 152bp — thanks to bigger reductions early on by local banks. This is almost the same as the total reduction of 153bps in a five-year benchmark rate for all loans in 2008, but the difference is the speed of cuts, according to Pantheon Economics. Back then, mortgage rates dropped over a three-month period from October to December, resulting in a swift boost to market confidence.

    With mortgage rates drifting down over two years, a slow, grinding housing recovery remains the most likely scenario, Pantheon concluded. Moreover, the full effect of the LPR reduction could be limited as local lenders —now facing already thin margins — might choose to pass only a fraction of the latest cuts to potential home-buyers, wrote Ting Lu, Nomura’s chief China economist.

    Beijing, therefore, will have to “do much more” to salvage housing projects and stabilize the market, the Japanese bank said. Moreover, the vast majority of borrowers will only feel the full impact of lower rates in 10 months time, Nomura noted. There are about 38 trillion yuan ($5.28 trillion) outstanding mortgages that reference the five-year LPR and by contract, rates are not going to reset until Jan. 1, 2025.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 20:31

  • Supreme Court Could Set Landmark Precedent In Trump Jan. 6 Case
    Supreme Court Could Set Landmark Precedent In Trump Jan. 6 Case

    Authored by Sam Dorman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    For the second time this year, the Supreme Court could hear oral arguments on a relatively untested area of constitutional law as it relates to former President Donald Trump and set a landmark precedent that could affect the 2024 presidential race.

    (Illustration by The Epoch Times, Getty Images, Shutterstock)

    Chief Justice John Roberts showed interest on Feb. 13 in reviewing former President Donald Trump’s request the prior day to halt a ruling against his presidential immunity claims in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

    Special counsel Jack Smith responded on Feb. 14, telling the court it should deny President Trump’s request.

    Earlier this month, three D.C. Circuit judges rejected President Trump’s claim that the doctrine of presidential immunity shielded him from Mr. Smith’s prosecution related to the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

    Mr. Smith had asked the Supreme Court to fast-track President Trump’s immunity appeal, but in December 2023, it declined, letting the D.C. Circuit tackle the issue first.

    The appeals court set up a tight timeline for President Trump to request the Supreme Court’s review before the district court continued its recently forestalled pre-trial proceedings. Initially scheduled for March 4, that trial is one of many that could interfere with President Trump’s campaign schedule and raise questions about the judiciary’s relationship with American democracy.

    The presidential immunity issue also raises questions about how presidents may contest election results, the threats they could face from future administrations, and whether the Constitution’s separation of powers precludes courts from weighing in on certain presidential actions before Congress.

    As President Trump noted to the Supreme Court, the case presents a novel question that could have enormous consequences for future executives.

    The “claim that presidents have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for their official acts presents a novel, complex, and momentous question that warrants careful consideration on appeal,” President Trump’s Feb. 12 brief to the Supreme Court said.

    The ‘Outer Perimeter’

    Presidential immunity from judicial review has been broadly upheld since Marbury v. Madison in 1803. Although the case established judicial review over executive branch decisions, Chief Justice John Marshall’s majority opinion criticized the idea that courts had jurisdiction over a president’s discretion.

    “The province of the court is, solely, to decide on the rights of individuals, not to inquire how the executive, or executive officers, perform duties in which they have a discretion,” he wrote.

    The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Oct. 23, 1967. (L–R standing) Associate Justices Abe Fortas, Potter Stewart, Byron White, and Thurgood Marshall. (L–R seated) John Marshall Harlan II, Hugo Black, Chief Justice Earl Warren, William O. Douglas, and William J. Brennan Jr. ( -/AFP via Getty Images)

    Presidential immunity’s contours, however, are blurry in part because the Constitution doesn’t explicitly define the doctrine. Instead, a series of court decisions and DOJ opinions have interpreted the Constitution to provide a general outline of how presidents should be shielded from prosecution.

    President Trump’s brief cites two Supreme Court decisions—Mississippi v. Johnson and Nixon v. Fitzgerald—in which the judiciary used suits against former Presidents Andrew Johnson and Richard Nixon to define the limitations of judges in reviewing presidential actions.

    In Mississippi v. Johnson, the court denied Mississippi’s request to prevent President Johnson from enforcing the Reconstruction Acts because, the court said, it had “no jurisdiction of a bill to enjoin the President in the performance of his official duties.”

    The court also distinguished between ministerial duties, or a straightforward adherence to the law, and discretionary duties, which involve the president’s exercising his judgment as to how he should carry out responsibilities assigned by Congress. Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase’s majority opinion quoted Chief Justice Marshall in describing meddling in the executive’s “prerogatives” as “an extravagance, so absurd and excessive.”

    Former Justice Lewis Powell went further in Nixon v. Fitzgerald by ruling that President Nixon had “absolute immunity” from civil liability related to “official acts” within the “outer perimeter” of his authority. How far that “outer perimeter” extends is the subject of debate. In this case, the Court ruled that that authority included dismissing a federal employee—A. Ernest Fitzgerald—who alleged unlawful retaliation for testimony he gave to Congress.

    President Richard Nixon (R) and Vice President Gerald Ford face each other in the Oval Office on the day Nixon resigned on Aug. 9, 1974. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

    That decision left open the question whether a president could face criminal charges, but it distinguished criminal and civil matters.

    The court said: “When judicial action is needed to serve broad public interests—as when the Court acts not in derogation of the separation of powers, but to maintain their proper balance … or to vindicate the public interest in an ongoing criminal prosecution … the exercise of jurisdiction has been held warranted.”

    Even that distinction, however, is under question with President Trump’s response to the 2020 election. The D.C. Circuit ruled in December 2023 that he wasn’t immune from civil lawsuits related to Jan. 6 because he had acted in his capacity as a presidential candidate, not exercising his official duties as president.

    In his criminal case, President Trump maintained that the DOJ was attempting to charge him for actions that fell within his “official” duties and that he therefore should receive immunity. President Trump’s attorney, D. John Sauer, attempted to convince the appellate court in January that the Constitution requires Congress to impeach and try a president for his official acts before he can be charged criminally in a court of law.

    Because the Senate already acquitted President Trump, Mr. Sauer argued, prosecuting him would violate the principle of double jeopardy.

    The appellate judges rejected those arguments and ruled: “For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defenses of any other criminal defendant. But any executive immunity that may have protected him while he served as President no longer protects him against this prosecution.”

    According to the judges, President Trump had misread Marbury v. Madison and the Constitution’s separation of powers. “Properly understood, the separation of powers doctrine may immunize lawful discretionary acts but does not bar the federal criminal prosecution of a former President for every official act,” the court said.

    In legal memos from 1973 and 2000, the Justice Department opposed indicting or criminally prosecuting a sitting president. Former special counsel Robert Mueller, who investigated allegations of Russian collusion by then-candidate Trump’s campaign, cited the 1973 memo as a reason why he couldn’t indict President Trump. Those memos, however, don’t bind the Supreme Court in its determination of whether he can be indicted as a former president.

    Former President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference held at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Feb. 8, 2024. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

    Potential Supreme Court Rulings

    The Supreme Court generally has an array of options available when it decides cases, making its decision often difficult to predict.

    First, the justices will need to decide whether or not to grant President Trump’s requested stay, which could effectively prevent the district court trial from proceeding.

    In its Feb. 6 decision, the appellate court said it would withhold its mandate for the district court proceedings to continue if President Trump notified the court by Feb. 12 that he filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, which he did.

    Appellants generally can seek en banc review, or a separate hearing with the entire circuit, if they lose their initial appeal. The three appellate judges said President Trump’s request for an en banc hearing wouldn’t delay the district court’s proceedings unless his request was granted by the circuit.

    Read more here…

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 20:20

  • Yemen's Houthis Now Have Drone Submarines, Likely From Iran
    Yemen’s Houthis Now Have Drone Submarines, Likely From Iran

    Yemen’s Iran-linked Houthis have already been deploying both aerial and sea drones (or boat/surface drones) against international vessels and warships in the Red Sea, alongside ballistic missiles. The last several days have seen direct hits on commercial tankers, as we’ve detailed. 

    But there are new reports the Houthis have yet another ‘toy’ in their arsenal, with help from Iran, and it has been used in attacks this past weekend: an unmanned submarine. “The U.S. conducted what it called self-defense strikes on five targets in the Houthi-controlled area of Yemen after the Houthis employed an unmanned submarine for the first time since attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden began, the Pentagon said,” according to ABC, detailing events which happened Sunday.

    Underwater drone, via Iran’s Mehr News Agency

    So far, the US-led coalition has had to defend primarily against surface boat drones, which are easier to spot, but now the Houthis have something harder to detect in their ongoing war on Red Sea shipping in response to Israel’s war in Gaza.

    ABC News national security and defense analyst Mick Mulroy, who formerly worked at the CIA and the Pentagon, has described that the Houthis are escalating their efforts to strike a US warship.

    “The Houthis and the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] are adjusting their strategy, apparently because they haven’t been successful in striking a U.S. naval vessel,” Mulroy said. “If one or more of these weapons get through and kill U.S. sailors, Iran should expect to be held directly responsible.”

    “The Houthis are not likely capable of manufacturing these weapons on their own, so they are probably coming from Iran,” he explained, and went on to describe the Houthi strategy as seeking to “overwhelm the ship’s defenses” in a “swarm attack.”

    Thus it appears the Houthis are now capable of mounting more sophisticated, multi-dimensional attacks by air, water’s surface, and from under the water.

    It was only in December of last year that Iranian state media unveiled the domestic development of the country’s first underwater drone (UUV): 

    The homegrown UUV, also known as an underwater drone that can operate without a human occupant, was unveiled in an exhibition of the Iranian Navy’s achievements on Saturday.

    The underwater vehicle can discover and terminate various underwater mines by carrying a wide range of equipment. The Iranian UUV can go as deep as 200 meters with an endurance of 24 hours.

    Since the Persian Gulf is relatively shallow, it may contain a series of underwater mines laid at depths of 10 to 50 meters, which could cause serious damage to vessels as heavy as 250 tons.

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

    Recent reports from the region say that Iran’s navy has at least one spy ship operating in the Red Sea area. Previously US officials said the spy ship is likely assisting the Houthis with targeting information. 

    If these fresh reports that Tehran is supplying the Houthis with underwater drones are true, there’s a likelihood that the drones could be assisted from Iranian reconnaissance assets in the region.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 20:00

  • Ozempic Users Slash Snack Buying At Supermarkets, Survey Finds
    Ozempic Users Slash Snack Buying At Supermarkets, Survey Finds

    America’s anti-obesity craze, courtesy of GLP-1-based weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, produced by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, continues to create anxiety among the food-industrial complex after a new study cited by Morgan Stanley shows households on the weight-loss drugs are spending less at the supermarket. 

    Market research provider Numerator’s new survey shows households using GLP-1 drugs decreased monthly supermarket spending by 6% to 9% versus non-GLP-1 households. 

    Many GLP-1 households increased purchases of fish, vegetables, and yogurt while sales of snacks, pastries, and ice cream fell. 

    MS noted the Numerator survey from January used data from more than 90,000 households, with 12.3% of households indicating they were on GLP-1 drugs, up from 11.4% in October. 

    The main driver of GLP-1 has been weight-loss treatment, and MS pointed out more and more consumers are paying out of pocket for the drug. 

    Last year, we asked if America’s anti-obesity craze courtesy of GLP-1 drugs would trigger a “food revolution.” And quickly, Wall Street analysts took notice by downgrading some junk food companies, such as Krispy Kreme, citing GLP-1 impacts. 

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

    Last August, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said shoppers who pick up appetite-suppressing medications at in-store pharmacies are spending less money on food:

    “We still expect food, consumables, and health and wellness primarily due to the popularity of some GLP-1 drugs to grow as a percent of total in the back half.” 

    And portion sizes at Thanksgiving 2023 were much smaller for the folks who could cough up $1,000 per month for the weight-loss drugs. 

    In a separate note, Bank of America analyst Geoff Meacham recently said weight loss will trigger a “wardrobe replacement cycle.” 

    Despite the decline in GLP-1 mentions on earnings calls… 

    Wall Street is still piling into Goldman’s GLP-1 Obesity drug basket to capitalize on slimming down Americans while trimming companies with potential downstream risks related to obesity drugs, as indicated by the Goldman Sachs Global HLC GLP Risk index. 

    Make America Skinny (again). 

    Hmm. 

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

    Maybe consumers should ditch vegetable oils.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 19:45

  • Russia Appears To Comply With OPEC+ Production Pledge
    Russia Appears To Comply With OPEC+ Production Pledge

    By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

    Russia appears to have complied in January with its pledge to reduce crude oil exports by 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) this quarter, anonymous sources with knowledge of Russian energy ministry data, which is not public, have told Bloomberg.

    At the latest OPEC+ meeting at the end of November, Russia said it would deepen the export cut to 500,000 bpd in the first quarter of 2024 – with May and June 2023 being the reference export levels for the cut. The cut this quarter will consist of reductions in exports of 300,000 bpd of crude and 200,000 bpd of refined products.  

    In crude exports, Russia is estimated to have exported 4.59 million bpd both via tankers and pipelines last month. The decline from the May-June average, used as a baseline for the export cut, is equal to around 307,000 bpd, according to Bloomberg calculations and conversion of data in tons into barrels. 

    In seaborne crude shipments only, the four-week average of Russian exports was just over 3 million bpd in the four weeks to February 18, perfectly in line with the Russian pledge to reduce exports by 300,000 bpd, according to tanker-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg. 

    However, issues with sales to India as the West is tightening the sanctions enforcement could have dented Russian crude oil shipments more than Moscow originally intended.

    As many as 15 million barrels of Russia’s Sokol grade – initially for deliveries to India – are sitting on idle tankers off South Korea and Malaysia, per ship-tracking data Bloomberg analysts have compiled.

    Some of the tanker owners have been sanctioned by the U.S. after loading crude for India, while other cargoes are being held up by banks refusing payments due to either the price of oil exceeding the G7 price cap or a lack of clarity who the ultimate owner is, according to Indian officials who spoke to Bloomberg.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 19:40

  • Watch-Dealer In Philly Rebuts 'Russian Oligarch' Label By Fake News Media After Buying Trump Sneakers
    Watch-Dealer In Philly Rebuts ‘Russian Oligarch’ Label By Fake News Media After Buying Trump Sneakers

    Legacy media, resembling a pack of demented wolves, quickly labeled an American immigrant from Ukraine, who had served in the US military, as a ‘Russian oligarch’ following his purchase of $9,000 “Never Surrender” sneakers signed by former President Trump at Philadelphia’s Sneaker Con on Saturday. 

    The Daily Mail falsely accused luxury watch dealer Roman Sharf of being a Trump-supporting “Russian oligarch” after buying the Never Surrender sneakers. 

    On Monday, Sharf went on the offensive against legacy media outlets who falsely called him a Russian oligarch. He said this on X: 

    The headlines say: “Russian Oligarch CEO spends 9000 dollars on a pair of sneakers to support Trump.” 

    Sounds catchy, but I came from Ukraine (back when it was still the Soviet Union) as a refugee with my dad. The man had 4 dollars in his pocket. 

    I busted my ass since I was 13 years old, worked every dirty job you can think of to get to a point where I can splurge on a $9000 pair of collectible sneakers, served in the US Military to shown my honor and gratitude for the opportunity to do so… 

    But I guess that headline would not have gotten clicks by saying “Russian Refugee,” or “Ukrainian Refugee,” or perhaps… just a man. 

    I wasn’t trying to make a political statement by buying the shoes, but still received a ton of messages saying, “You support Trump, therefore you lost a follower and client.” 

    Here, I thought clients bought watches from Luxury Bazaar, due to our 21 years in business and our personalized service. 

    What a confirmation of how divided this country is. 

    With that said—no mean tweet, comment on IG, or newspaper article will stop me from being a patriot of this great country. 

    This is great country that once took in a poor immigrant and gave me the opportunity to be where I am today. The country that stands to give us all a fighting chance. 

    I love this country, and I am proud to be an American. 

    You wanna hate me for wanting this country to be thriving and unified as one—go ahead and judge this sneakerhead for my politics. 

    But just know that no matter what, I do pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 

    Thank you, and God bless America! 

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    This is yet another instance of legacy media spreading Russian misinformation and disinformation. They just can’t help themselves ahead of the presidential election. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 19:20

  • Biden To Okay Year-Round Sales of Higher-Ethanol Gasoline From 2025
    Biden To Okay Year-Round Sales of Higher-Ethanol Gasoline From 2025

    By Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com

    The Biden Administration will soon allow year-round sales of E15, gasoline with higher ethanol content, but only from 2025, to avoid potential regional spikes in gas prices ahead of the presidential election in November, sources with knowledge of the talks have told Reuters.

    The Administration is prepared to approve by the end of March a request from Midwest governors – whose states are some of the battleground states in the presidential election – to allow year-round sales of E15, gasoline with 15% ethanol content.

    Currently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has an effective ban on E15 fuel sales for the summer season because it contributes to smog, but in 2022 the ban was lifted for the summer sales in an emergency waiver to lower prices at the pump.  

    Back in 2022, governors of Midwest states asked the EPA in a letter to issue a regulation applying to all fuel blends containing gasoline sold and supplied in Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The governors urged the EPA to issue a permanent fix and allow the sale of E15 year-round annually.

    E15, or Unleaded 88, is a mix of regular gasoline and 15% ethanol, a plant-based fuel typically made from corn, and is cheaper for consumers, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said at the time.

    Last month, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) and seven additional Midwest renewable fuels groups asked the Biden Administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to finalize the Midwest Governors’ Year-Round E15 fix, which has now been delayed for a year and a half past the legal deadline, with the final rule sitting at the OMB for over a month.

    “Quick adoption of the rule will ensure that motorists do not face fewer options and higher prices at the pump this summer,” said IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw.

    The Biden Administration is inclined to approve the year-round sale of E15, Reuters sources say, but only from 2025 onwards, due to concerns that potential issues in supply logistics this year could raise the risk of regional shortages and higher gas prices just before the November election.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 19:00

  • Cybertruck Engineer Addresses Legacy Media's Claims About "Rusting" 
    Cybertruck Engineer Addresses Legacy Media’s Claims About “Rusting” 

    Lead Cybertruck engineer Wes Morrill addressed the surge in legacy news articles last week that claimed “Cybertrucks Are Rusting.” 

    • Barron’s: “Tesla Cybertrucks Are Rusting” 

    • Wired: “This Is Why Tesla’s Stainless Steel Cybertrucks May Be Rusting” 

    • CBS News: “Tesla Cybertruck owners complain their new vehicles are rusting” 

    “A lot of MSM coverage about rust. None show actual photos, usually a good indicator to question the accuracy. Side by side with a painted vehicle, this is surface contamination,” Morrill wrote on social media platform X. 

    He added: “Tesla SS actually has a PREN value (resistance to pitting corrosion) higher than 316L “marine grade.” 

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

    Legacy corporate media traditionally goes bananas over anything potentially negative for Tesla and or Elon Musk (remember this). 

    According to Bloomberg data, legacy media outlets published over 100 “Cybertruck Rust” articles in just a few short days last week. 

    “The MSM all copy each others articles, it’s not like they all found rust… it’s just a big propaganda machine,” one X user said. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 18:40

  • Goldman Boosts Physical Uranium Trades Amid Soaring Prices
    Goldman Boosts Physical Uranium Trades Amid Soaring Prices

    By Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com

    Goldman Sachs, Macquarie, and some hedge funds have boosted physical trading and options trades in uranium amid soaring prices, as many countries look to increase nuclear power generation to meet their climate goals while reducing the need of fossil fuel imports.   

    Goldman has been increasing trade in physical uranium and has created a derivative of uranium trading by writing options on physical uranium for hedge funds, sources at hedge funds and the trading industry familiar with the deals have told Reuters.

    While investment banking giant Goldman Sachs is mostly doing business with hedge funds and other financial clients, Macquarie has been stepping up trading uranium output from miners, a source who has done business with both banks told Reuters.

    Uranium is in a bull market as many economies look to use more nuclear power generation in a renaissance for the technology after the energy crisis and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

    At the COP28 climate summit at the end of last year, the United States and 21 other countries pledged to triple nuclear energy capacities by 2050, saying incorporating more nuclear power in their energy mix is critical for achieving their net zero goals in the coming decades.   

    “The Declaration recognizes the key role of nuclear energy in achieving global net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and keeping the 1.5-degree Celsius goal within reach,” the U.S. Department of State said.

    As a result of the nuclear energy resurgence, uranium prices spiked early this year to a 16-year high after Kazatomprom—the largest uranium miner in the world—said in January that sulfuric acid shortages and construction delays at newly discovered deposits could lead to the company missing production targets—challenges that could remain into next year. 

    Uranium prices have doubled over the past year to over $100 per pound amid tighter supply, and Western miners seek to boost output.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 02/20/2024 – 18:20

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