Today’s News 23rd February 2024

• To Understand The Globalists We Must Understand Their Psychopathic Religion
  To Understand The Globalists We Must Understand Their Psychopathic Religion

  Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

  In the late 1800s and early 1900s the western world experienced a sudden burst of open occultism among the ultra-rich elites. The rise of “Theosophy” was underway, becoming a kind of fashion trend that would ultimately set the stage for what would later be called “new age” spiritualism. The primary driver of the theosophical movement was a small group of obscure academics led in part by a woman named H.P. Blavatsky. The group was obsessed with esoteric belief, Gnosticism and even Satanism.

  

  Blavatsky co-founded the Theosophical Society in New York in 1875, claiming that she had a psychic connection to beings called “the Mahatmas” or “the masters.” These creatures, she asserted, helped her write the foundational books of Theosophy, including ‘The Secret Doctrine.’

  I bring up Theosophy and Blavatsky because the movement she helped launch was primarily an elitist one – The spread of occultism in the early 1900s specifically targeted the upper classes and this resulted in many political leaders and financial leaders being involved in obscure organizations with secretive mandates. Such groups have existed in the past, from the Rosicrucians and Freemasons to the alchemists of the Middle Ages who hid their occult beliefs in coded texts. However, never before had they been so public in their efforts.

  To their credit, the early theosophists were mostly apolitical (at least outwardly) and they argued against political intrusion into people’s lives. I suspect, however, that this was because at the time western governments revolved around Christian and conservative values. As politicians became more separate from Christianity, the theosophist interest in controlling government grew and the movement became increasingly socialist in practice.

  Invariably, these spiritual systems revolved around pagan deities of the past, many Babylonian or Ancient Egyptian in origin. That said, there are also numerous mentions in Theosophy of one figure in particular – Lucifer, also referred to as “the Light Bearer, the angel of light, Prometheus (symbolically), the dragon, the morning star and Satan.” Modern luciferians will consistently deny the the name “Lucifer” has anything to do with the biblical figure of Satan, but this is a lie. Blavatsky herself treats the two figures as synonymous in ‘The Secret Doctrine.’ As she admits in her book:

  “And now it stands proven that Satan, or the Red Fiery Dragon, the ‘Lord of Phosphorus,’ and Lucifer, or ‘Light-Bearer,’ is in us: it is our Mind…”

  Blavatsky, quoting hermetic texts in the Secret Doctrine, also repeats the mantra:

  “It is Satan who is the god of our planet and the only god…”

  Luciferians and occultists will also argue that the Christian Bible only mentions the name “Lucifer” once, and that the two figures are not associated. This is once again a lie by omission. The Bible does in fact mention “light bearer,” the “angel of light” and “the dragon” in reference to Satan on multiple occasions, and all of these names are used by elites to describe the figure they call Lucifer.

  As mentioned in Corinthians 11:14 – “And it is no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light…”

  In other words, when any elitist group mentions terms such as “light bearer” or Lucifer, they are indeed referring to Satan. It’s not just a matter of archetypal discussion, this is in fact a part of their religion. But in our modern times some people might say “who cares?” It’s all mythical hoodoo and fantasy, right?

  I would respond with a question:  Do you think the deeply held religious beliefs of the people with financial and political power matter in how they make decisions?  Wouldn’t their beliefs help explain why they do the things they do?  If you want to know why the globalists are engaged in a very real war on the minds of the masses, you cannot overlook their religious motivations. What seems like fantasy to some is VERY real to the globalists.

  For example, many know that the United Nations building in New York has an occult library.  But few people know that it was built by a group called the Lucifer Publishing Company (later changed to Lucis Trust). Lucis Trust cites the writings of HP Blavatsky constantly as the inspiration for their organization. The UN continues to associate with Lucis Trust to this day. The very heart of globalism revolves around luciferian ideals.

  It doesn’t matter what you or I think about these things. It doesn’t matter if you see such concepts as metaphorical, or symbolic or imaginary. THEY believe, and so we must explore what these beliefs mean.

  Before the 1800s, occultists engaged in luciferianism would have been burned at the stake if discovered. I’m beginning to think that maybe this was the right way to handle such people all along. But to understand why, we have to look at the progression of the religion and why it inevitably leads to moral relativism and social self-destruction.

  For the theosophists, Lucifer/Satan is a kind of heroic figure. When they argue that Lucifer is “not Satan,” what they mean is that their version of Satan is different from the version ascribed by Christianity. In other words, imagine a group of people took a famously malicious figure such as Joseph Stalin and then devised an entirely different history for him in which he is a misunderstood philanthropist instead of a genocidal maniac. That’s essentially what luciferianism is.

  In the Theosophical magazine titled ‘Lucifer’ published in the 1880s, Blavatsky and her group spend multiple pages trying to separate the term Lucifer from the Devil, while also defending the mythology of the devil and painting him as a character slandered by Christian culture.

  In their version of the Genesis story, for example, the serpent was the “good guy” bringing the fruit of knowledge to Adam and Eve. Eve is venerated as a root figure in theosophy and in feminism (a movement the theosophists helped to create), because without Eve the serpent would have never been able to get Adam to consume the fruit.

  The fruit as a representation of gnosis (knowledge) is the key to luciferianism and the globalist cult. As many atheists I’ve encountered in the past have argued, isn’t knowledge a good thing? And if God is punishing humanity for consuming knowledge, does that not make him a villain? This argument ignores the underlying theme – Knowledge by itself is not good or evil, but evil thrives when people start to worship knowledge to the detriment of everything else. The application of knowledge without wisdom and moral discipline is dangerous.

  As Dr. Ian Malcolm brilliantly asserts in the film Jurassic Park:

  “Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

  Luciferians openly admit that the goal of their ideology is to pursue knowledge until human beings become gods. This infatuation with godhood is what leads to great evil; it is a delusion that poisons the mind and encourages morally relative behavior, not to mention a pervasive thirst for power.  Ponder the technological aspect for a moment. Consider the numerous globalist programs to expand artificial intelligence and bring about what they call “transhumanism.” This is a kind of knowledge worship that has terrifying implications for the future.

  The integration of technology into the surveillance state to rule over society is bad enough, but what happens when human beings begin integrating technology into their very biology. Will this eventually erase any semblance of what we call “the soul?” After all, machines do not feel, nor do they self reflect on their actions. What happens when humans distort themselves to become more like machines? Will transhumanism become a movement that suffocates all love and empathy, removing moral compass and turning us into a demonic hive-mind devoid of individual thought?

  Globalists assert that there is no such thing as the soul, no such thing as individual identity and no such thing as moral compass.  Form their perspective there is no danger of adopting technology as a path to godhood because nothing would be lost; and here we see the true nature of luciferianism at work. A perfect representation of this cancer is World Economic Forum spokesperson Yavul Harari – a man who says the quiet part out loud and promotes the darker tenets of luciferianism regularly.

  To grasp what luciferianism is, think of it as the anti-god; a war on nature, or a war on the natural state of humanity disguised as “enlightenment.” This is why globalists try to institute the extreme opposite view of every natural disposition. The notion of human beings as a blank slate that Yuval Harari clings to is one such false narrative. It is a philosophy that has been debunked by endless psychological studies as well as anthropological studies.

  From Carl Jung to Joseph Campbell to Steven Pinker and beyond, all scientific evidence suggests that human beings have inherent psychological qualities and characteristics from birth. Some of these are unique to the person, some are universal archetypes and ideas that the majority of people share (such as conscience and moral compass). If we didn’t have these built-in qualities, humanity would have become extinct thousands of years ago. We still don’t know where exactly they come from, we only know that without them we are no longer human.

  There is, however, a certain percentage of people (1% or less) that actually do not have these inborn character traits. They are generally known as psychopaths and sociopaths, and their behavior is very similar to that of the globalists. I have long held the theory that the globalist cabal is in fact a cult of higher functioning psychopaths.

  Their lack of empathy and conscience, their thirst for godhood and omnipotence, their drive to attain all encompassing surveillance of the population, to know everything about us at all time, to have total control over the environment and society, the narcissistic self image of a supreme ruler who is worshiped by the masses, and the delusion that they will be able to read minds and predict the future. These are psychopathic fantasies, and they are willing to chase these fantasies by any means necessary.

  But even psychopaths sometimes need a fundamentalist framework in order to maintain organization and inspire devotion within a group. It makes perfect sense that they would choose luciferianism as their religion.

  Their “do what thou wilt” philosophy of hedonism takes the idea of freedom and removes all responsibility – It is a degenerate view of liberty, rather than a principled view. Freedom, they think, is only for people like them; the people willing to desecrate everything in their path and upend the natural order.

  As psychopaths, they are devoid of natural inborn contents and are more robotic than human. So, it’s no surprise that people like Harai argue there is no soul, no freedom (for you) and that machines are capable of the same creativity as humans. An empty person with no soul or creativity is going to assume that all other people are empty. An immoral person will also be compelled to prove that everyone else is just as immoral as he is. Or, he will be compelled to prove that he is superior to everyone else because he has embraced his immorality.

  Do the elites actually believe in a real “devil” with hooves and horns and a pitchfork? I don’t know. What matters, though, is the philosophical drive of their cultism. Their goal is to convince a majority of the populace that there is no good, and there is no evil. Everything is empty. Everything is relative to the demands of the moment, and the demands of society. Of course, they want to control society, so then everything would really be relative to THEIR demands.

  If you want to see something truly demonic, imagine a world in which all inherent truth is abandoned for the sake of subjective perception. A world that caters to the preferences of psychopaths with no ethical imperative. A world where the ends always justify the means. This is the luciferian way, and the globalist way. And no matter how much they deny it, the reality of their beliefs is visible in the fruits of their labors. Wherever they go, destruction, chaos and death follow.

  *  *  *

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  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 02/22/2024 – 23:40

• Russia Says Navalny Died Of Natural Causes As Western MSM Anoints Widow "Newest Opposition Leader"
  Russia Says Navalny Died Of Natural Causes As Western MSM Anoints Widow “Newest Opposition Leader”

  Russian authorities have said that the opposition activist Aleksei Navalny died of natural causes while in prison in a far northern Arctic penal colony. It comes nearly a full week after Russian prison services announced he died on Feb.16.

  There’s now a public fight over his body, and the question of a funeral service, as his family and legal team have complained they are being denied access to the deceased. Condemnations have come in from various Western countries, and have pointed at the Putin government, ultimately blaming the Kremlin for his death while in custody. This has included US and European officials.

  

  Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, has newly accused Russian officials of seeking to pressure her into accepting a secret burial, presumably to prevent it from becoming a major televised memorial event. 

  “Looking me in the eyes, they say that if I don’t agree to a secret funeral, they will do something with my son’s body,” she said in a video posted to Navalny’s widow’s social media account.

  “According to the law, they should have given me Alexei’s body immediately,” she said. “Instead, they are blackmailing me, and telling me where, when and how Alexei should be buried.” She has reportedly filed a lawsuit for immediate release to her custody of his body.

  Navalny’s legal team has seen a death report saying his death was “natural” – however, few other specifics has been made public.

  Meanwhile, Western press has already hailed that his wife Yulia is carrying on the work of team Navalny and will lead the political “opposition” against Putin. Name recognition inside Russia is a whole different question…

  Yulia Navalnaya once avoided the limelight. Now she’s Russia’s newest opposition leader https://t.co/7DPfaMpb3x

  — The Associated Press (@AP) February 22, 2024

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  The Associated Press and others are declaring her Russia’s “newest opposition leader” – in what appears a kind of Juan Guaidó moment to manufacture ‘mass support’ and ‘popularity’, though Alexei Navalny himself never polled more than two percent among the Russian population.

  Thus all of the below from Associated Press is a bit wishful and overdramatic, to say the least:

  Navalnaya’s new job will be leading the Russian opposition through one of the darkest and most turbulent times in its history.

  The opposition is fractured, and Navalny’s death dealt it a serious blow. The question now is whether Navalnaya can rally her husband’s troops and work with other opposition groups to mount any kind of successful challenge to Putin, who is on a path to serve another six years in the Kremlin after the presidential election in March.

  She’s already addressed the Munich Security Conference, where defense leaders and diplomats were present from around the globe, and is expected to continue to rise in prominence, in the media lens at least. Likely she’ll soon be featured at major events from Paris to London to Washington D.C.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 02/22/2024 – 23:20

• Number Of Chinese Illegally Crossing US-Mexico Border Surges 500 Percent In San Diego Sector
  Number Of Chinese Illegally Crossing US-Mexico Border Surges 500 Percent In San Diego Sector

  Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The number of Chinese nationals entering the United States illegally has surged in recent times, with the latest data from the San Diego sector showing a staggering 500 percent surge so far this year compared to the same period a year ago.

  

  As the nation remains gripped by an illegal immigration crisis of historic proportions, there’s been an exceptionally high increase in the number of Chinese nationals—especially military-aged men—who have unlawfully crossed the U.S.-Mexico border.

  Some border patrol officials and others have warned this poses a national security risk because, among those simply seeking a better life, there may be those with links to the Chinese military.

  Brandon Judd, the head of the Border Patrol union, recently warned about a sharp rise in the number of military-aged Chinese men crossing the southern border illegally, saying that he believes some of them may be spies working on behalf of China’s communist regime to “infiltrate” the United States.

  And now, Jason Owens, the chief of the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP), has revealed that, so far this fiscal year, the San Diego sector has seen over 20,000 apprehensions of Chinese nationals, over five times the number in the comparable period last year.

  “In FY24, San Diego Sector has made +140K apprehensions with +20K of them being from China (a more than 500% increase compared to last FYTD),” Mr. Owens wrote in a post on X.

  

  Some analysts say that deteriorating economic conditions in China, as well as human rights abuses and policies such as strict COVID-19 lockdowns, are likely driving the sharp increase in the number of Chinese nationals entering the United States illegally.

  Interviews with some of the Chinese border crossers indicate much the same thing, with some blaming an increasingly repressive political climate and dour economic prospects.

  However, Mr. Judd and others have suggested that for some—possibly even many—there might be a different motivation.

  “Why are we seeing this influx?” he said during a recent interview on “Just the News, No Noise” TV program.

  “At best, they’re just coming here for a better life or a better job. At worst, they’re coming here to be part of the Chinese government, and that’s what scares me an awful lot,” he said.

  Illegal Immigrants From Adversarial Nations

  In January, Border Patrol agents encountered a record number of illegal immigrants (242,587) compared to any previous January.

  At the same time, the CPB numbers showed an alarming trend in the number of military-aged Chinese nationals making illegal border crossings.

  CBP data shows that Border Patrol agents encountered 5,717 single Chinese adults in January, more than twice the number of any other January on record. In December 2023, that figure rose to a record of 7,581. The total since January 2023 stands at 64,979.

  China is designated a “country of particular concern” by the U.S. State Department, while the FBI says that economic espionage and counterintelligence efforts emanating from China’s communist regime are a “grave threat” to America’s economic security.

  Mr. Judd said in his interview on the “Just the News, No Noise” TV program that the sharp rise in the number of Chinese nationals crossing the border illegally should be looked into by U.S. law enforcement and the intelligence community.

  There are “huge gangs” in the United States linked to Chinese nationals who are involved in drugs, prostitution, and other criminal pursuits, he said.

  “They control everything that’s illegal in certain portions of the country,” Mr. Judd said. “We have to look into that. It’s very important that we understand why we are having so many people from China, especially military-aged men.”

  

  ‘China’s Shock Troops’

  At the beginning of the current fiscal year, Chinese people were the fourth-highest nationality crossing the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama and heading north toward the United States, after Venezuelans, Ecuadorians, and Haitians, according to The Associated Press.

  Gordon Chang, a senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute and author of “The Coming Collapse of China,” wrote in a recent op-ed in The Epoch Times that, of the Chinese migrants making the dangerous trek north from points in Central and South America, “almost all are desperate, seeking a better life for themselves and their children.”

  “Some, however, are coming to commit acts of sabotage,” he argued.

  Mr. Chang explained that many Chinese nationals fly to Ecuador, which allows them to enter visa-free. Then, they travel to the southern edge of the Darién Gap, a 66-mile stretch of jungle that separates Colombia and Panama, typically crossing on foot. Once they get to the north side, they continue their journey to the United States, often by bus, according to the China expert.

  “Some migrants are almost certainly members of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA),” Mr. Chang wrote.

  “These military-linked migrants, despite their affiliations, have been released into America,” he argued, hinting at yet another negative consequence of the Biden administration’s catch-and-release program, under which asylum-seekers are released into U.S. communities to await asylum hearings.

  

  In February 2023, the influx of Chinese nationals unlawfully entering the United States began to surge compared to historical averages. By summertime, the monthly figures had doubled compared to previous years.

  For example, in June 2023, there were 4,117 single Chinese adults encountered by Border Patrol agents nationwide, while in June 2022, that figure was 2,324, and in June 2021, it was 1,854.

  It’s estimated that more than 10 million illegal immigrants have crossed the border since President Joe Biden took office.

  Republicans have blamed President Biden’s policies for fueling the border crisis, and the GOP-controlled House recently voted to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas on two counts related to his management of the border.

  GOP lawmakers have called for measures such as ending the Biden administration’s contentious “catch-and-release” policy, expanding expedited removals, renewing border wall construction, and reinstating the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 02/22/2024 – 23:00

• Joe Biden's EV Mandate "Vision" For America Is In Full Collapse
  Joe Biden’s EV Mandate “Vision” For America Is In Full Collapse

  Color us not surprised, but another one of the Biden administration’s “visions” for forcing people to own electric vehicles isn’t working out exactly as planned.

  This time it deals with supply chain logistics, with Bloomberg reporting this week that in the year and a half since passing the Inflation Reduction Act, automakers are finding out the hard way that the rigorous criteria for manufacturing batteries using materials from the United States and its free-trade allies could render them cost-inefficient compared to global competitors.

  Companies like Tesla are instead taking advantage of a temporary shift in the rules to stock up with cheaper batteries from countries like China.

  The Biden administration’s new rules will all but cut out China from the supply chain, however, which will make it tougher to find affordable metal suppliers.

  This, in turn, will threaten President Biden’s goal to boost the domestic electric vehicle market. Bloomberg writes that mining companies and labor unions insist that without curtailing the influx of cheaper, Chinese-subsidized materials, the U.S. can’t develop a competitive EV market.

  Meanwhile, the higher costs are driving automakers away from EVs. And as battery material requirements are set to double by 2027, fulfilling these mandates will be increasingly difficult, putting Biden’s ambitious EV strategy at risk.

  

  The demand side of the equation also looks less than favorable. We wrote just hours ago about how Ford was slashing prices on its Mach E and Lightning 150. Tesla has been slashing prices to stoke demand for nearly a year now. 

  Both Ford and GM have said they’re going to curtail their investment in EVs. General Motors, who posted better than expected earnings earlier this month, said that it plans on changing its product lineup to include more hybrid vehicles, drifting away from pure electric vehicles. 

  CEO Mary Barra said on the earnings call: “Let me be clear, GM remains committed to eliminating tailpipe emissions from our light-duty vehicles by 2035, but, in the interim, deploying plug-in technology in strategic segments will deliver some of the environment or environmental benefits of EVs as the nation continues to build this charging infrastructure.”

  Recall, a report from Consumer Reports last year found that electric vehicles have almost 80% more problems and are “generally less reliable” than conventional internal combustion engine cars. 

  But hey, what good is a “free” market if the government doesn’t have complete and total control of consumer choice, right Joe?

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 02/22/2024 – 22:40

• Congress Must Fight Modern Day Slavery
  Congress Must Fight Modern Day Slavery

  Authored by Callista L. Gingrich via RealClear Wire,

  On February 13, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act with a vote of 414-11. The bipartisan legislation, authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), will reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 – which expired in 2021 – and provide approximately $1 billion in funding over five years for programs that combat the scourge of human trafficking.

  

  Among the measures included in the comprehensive legislation are educational grants to provide situational awareness training and prevention for elementary and secondary students; funding reauthorization for the International Megan’s Law and Angel Watch programs; and authorization for programs that support survivors’ employment, housing, and education.

  Rep. Smith made clear how important this legislation is in the fight against modern-day slavery. “This critical legislation reauthorizes funding for FY2024 through 2028—a total of five years—to continue current year enacted appropriation and authorization levels to enhance programs, strengthen laws, and add accountability in our whole-of-government effort to protect women and children from human trafficking,” he said.

  In recent weeks, Catholic leaders in the United States have voiced their support for the Frederick Douglass Act, in line with Pope Francis’s “call to take action, to mobilize all our resources in combatting trafficking and restoring full dignity to those who have been its victims.”

  Earlier this month, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration endorsed the Frederick Douglass Act and called on Congress “to pass the bill without further delay.”

  As Bishop Mark J. Seitz, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, said, “It is incumbent upon all of us to unite in promoting efforts that prevent the evil of human trafficking. I join our Holy Father in inviting the faithful and all people of good will to uphold and affirm human dignity and grow in solidarity with those who are vulnerable to exploitation and have been impacted by this terrible evil of modern-day slavery.”

  On February 12, days before the bill’s passage in the House, two organizations founded by religious sisters – the Alliance to End Human Trafficking and The National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd – hosted a panel that called on Congress to pass the Frederick Douglass Act.

  The online event, titled “Breaking the Link Between Human Trafficking and Forced Migration: Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act,” highlighted that migrants are often at a high risk of falling victim to human trafficking. As panel moderator Sister Ann Scholz, SSND, Ph.D. said, “Desperate people become vulnerable to human traffickers.”

  Noting that the Frederick Douglass Act would “expand prevention efforts” and deter “forced migration,” Director of Advocacy for the Alliance to End Human Trafficking Marilyn Zigmund Luke said, “This is really a three-pronged approach at getting at not only trafficking within the United States, but really getting at what’s happening within the home countries of people so that they will not migrate.”

  The scourge of human trafficking is a stain on all of humanity. It invades borders, destroys communities, and robs millions of their human dignity. Tragically, the United States is one of the top destinations for human trafficking, and cases have been reported in every U.S. state.

  With the Frederick Douglass Act now moving to the Senate for consideration, every concerned American should encourage their senators to vote in favor of this important legislation to support survivors of human trafficking and eradicate this horrific evil.

  For more commentary from Callista L. Gingrich, visit

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

• "Absolutely Crazy": Vacant LA Office Tower To Be Torn Down For Just 30 New EV Charging Stations
  “Absolutely Crazy”: Vacant LA Office Tower To Be Torn Down For Just 30 New EV Charging Stations

  Kyle Bass, the founder of Dallas-based Hayman Capital Management, explained last year that the office tower segment of the commercial real estate sector is in such dire straights that towers need to be demolished as demand isn’t returning. He also mentioned converting these towers into residential apartments may not be feasible in some cases. 

  “It’s one asset class that just has to get redone, and redone meaning demolished,” Bass told Bloomberg in an interview. 

  In recent months, Vornado Realty Trust’s property near Madison Square Garden halted construction of a planned 61-floor office tower after Hotel Pennsylvania was demolished. The unfolding CRE crash forced Vornado to pause construction, with new plans of “temporarily” converting the property into tennis courts for the US Open. 

  The trend emerging for older towers is a complete tear-down. However, building a new office tower is no longer a viable option, considering the US market has years of elevated supply overhanging the market. 

  Here’s a great visual from a recent Morgan Stanley note showing how the CRE office segment is plagued with supply. 

  

  So, the trend at play is to tear down older towers, but what comes next? 

  Well, X user Triple Net Investor, citing a recent note from real estate firm CoStar, pointed out that a 68,000-square-foot office tower at 8121 Van Nuys Blvd. in Los Angeles is slated for demolition. 

  

  What comes next might be surprising. And it’s not a tower, but actually, the very real possibility of a charging station for electric vehicles. 

  “Add electric vehicle charging to the list of new uses envisioned to replace underused offices across the United States,” CoStar said. 

  This is absolutely crazy…

  An owner of an office building in LA is seeking approval to tear down the building and construct 30 EV charging stations

  I don’t know what’s crazier…this headline or seeing office properties drop 80-90% in just a few years

  The commercial real… pic.twitter.com/kTDv4dCb8h

  — Triple Net Investor (@TripleNetInvest) February 22, 2024

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  Triple Net Investor said, “I don’t know what’s crazier…this headline or seeing office properties drop 80-90% in just a few years.” 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 02/22/2024 – 22:00

• Vivek Ramaswamy Criticizes Koch Network For Funding Haley
  Vivek Ramaswamy Criticizes Koch Network For Funding Haley

  Authored by Nathan Worcester via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Vivek Ramaswamy, now on former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential shortlist, spoke at a factory in Aiken, South Carolina, on Feb. 21 about his support for President Trump and his worries about former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley ahead of the Feb. 24 GOP presidential primary.

  

  He speculated that Ms. Haley’s donors are “preparing for a No Labels ticket that then takes votes from Donald Trump away in that general election.”

  He went further in a press conference afterwards, criticizing the billionaire Koch family’s libertarian policy advocacy group, Americans for Prosperity (AFP) Action, for backing Ms. Haley and opposing President Trump.

  “I think it’s very disappointing that that network has thrown its support behind a candidate who does not even stand for the principles that they claim to embody,” he told The Epoch Times.

  

  He cited Ms. Haley’s stance on Ukraine funding and her call for an end to anonymous social media accounts as examples of proposals that are inconsistent with those principles.

  President’s Trump’s views, he argued, are “far more aligned with what AFP claims to stand for.”

  He also lauded Chris Maidment, a former AFP staffer who left the network after it threw its weight behind Ms. Haley. Mr. Maidment was fired by AFP for publicly speaking out against its backing for Ms. Haley.

  “Nikki Haley is totally sideways on [AFP]’s foreign policy stance. She’s anti-free speech,” Mr. Maidment wrote on X on Dec. 1, 2023, as part of a thread distancing himself from AFP’s Haley endorsement.

  “I congratulate the guys like Chris Maidment or others who have worked there who have been vocal and brave enough to criticize their own decision, saying it betrayed their own principles. It’ll be people like that that can actually restore that sanity and that sense of purpose,” Mr. Ramaswamy said.

  But he stressed that “people make mistakes.”

  “I invite them to reconsider their decision … And you know what? I’m optimistic that, with some forethought, they actually will,” Mr. Ramaswamy said.

  Mr. Ramaswamy has a libertarian past and some libertarian-inflected stances to this day. He voted for the Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate, Michael Badnarik, in the 2004 presidential election. In 2023, he campaigned at the Porcupine Freedom Festival, an annual gathering for libertarians in the northwoods of New Hampshire.

  

  Americans for Prosperity has been a massive contributor to Republican candidates and conservative and libertarian causes. Open Secrets reports they rank first for outside spending in the 2024 election cycle, contributing more than $51 million to date to a variety of candidates, Ms. Haley among them.

  That includes more than $31 million in favor of Ms. Haley and more than $9 million against President Trump. They have also spent more than $9 million against incumbent President Joe Biden, whose efforts at claiming a second term could benefit if Ms. Haley runs as an independent candidate and divides the conservative- and libertarian-leaning vote.

  In addition to taking money from the Koch network, Ms. Haley has accepted financial support from groups and donors that typically support Democrats and progressive causes, including LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman.

  Many wealthy Republican-aligned donors who previously supported alternatives to President Trump are reconciling themselves to his likely victory in the Republican primary contest. They include Wall Street executive Omeed Malik, a former supporter of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis now donating to and raising money for President Trump, as reported by CNBC.

  Earlier in the afternoon, Ms. Haley spoke at the Palmetto Terrace Municipal Building in North Augusta, about 20 miles away from Mr. Ramaswamy’s Team Trump stop.

  She did not answer a question from The Epoch Times about whether she is contemplating a run with No Labels.

  

  Attendees of the Ramaswamy event at AGY Corp, a fiberglass yarn producer, reacted with a mixture of amusement and indifference to Ms. Haley’s presence not far away.

  Jackie and Gayle Croft both shrugged their shoulders at the news.

  “It’s her choice,” Ms. Croft told The Epoch Times with a laugh.

  “Sometimes, it’s time to just bail out,” Joyce Pennington said of Ms. Haley’s continued participation in the presidential contest.

  Both Crofts nodded their heads at the idea of Mr. Ramaswamy as President Trump’s VP pick.

  “Everything he says is right on,” Mr. Croft said.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 02/22/2024 – 21:40

• Which Country Owns The Most Vehicles Per Capita?
  Which Country Owns The Most Vehicles Per Capita?

  In 2020, there were 289 million vehicles in use in America, or about 18% of the global total.

  With one of the largest car ownership rates worldwide, the number of U.S. cars on the road have more than doubled since the 1960s. But how does ownership compare to other countries, and who is seeing the fastest growth rates amid a rising global middle class?

  This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Dorothy Neufeld, shows vehicles per capita by country, based on data from the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA).

  

  Highest Car Ownership Rates Worldwide

  Below, we rank countries based on the number of registered vehicles in use per 1,000 people, including both passenger cars and commercial vehicles as of 2020:

  Country	Number of Vehicles in Use per 1000 Inhabitants	Average Annual Growth Rate 2015-2020
  🇳🇿 New Zealand	869	3%
  🇺🇸 U.S.	860	2%
  🇵🇱 Poland	761	4%
  🇮🇹 Italy	756	1%
  🇦🇺 Australia	737	2%
  🇨🇦 Canada	707	3%
  🇫🇷 France	704	1%
  🇨🇿 Czechia	658	3%
  🇵🇹 Portugal	640	2%
  🇳🇴 Norway	635	1%
  🇦🇹 Austria	632	2%
  🇬🇧 UK	632	2%
  🇩🇪 Germany	627	2%
  🇪🇸 Spain	627	2%
  🇬🇷 Greece	617	1%
  🇯🇵 Japan	612	0%
  🇨🇭 Switzerland	604	1%
  🇧🇪 Belgium	590	1%
  🇳🇱 Netherlands	588	2%
  🇫🇮 Finland	577	1%
  🇸🇪 Sweden	544	1%
  🇩🇰 Denmark	540	2%
  🇮🇪 Ireland	540	3%
  🇲🇾 Malaysia	535	6%
  🇸🇰 Slovakia	513	3%
  🇱🇾 Libya	490	4%
  🇧🇬 Bulgaria	485	-1%
  🇭🇷 Croatia	474	3%
  🇸🇾 Syria	472	7%
  🇭🇺 Hungary	463	4%
  🇰🇷 South Korea	458	2%
  🇷🇴 Romania	438	7%
  🇮🇱 Israel	404	4%
  🇷🇺 Russia	389	2%
  🇧🇾 Belarus	387	1%
  🇲🇽 Mexico	358	4%
  🇹🇼 Taiwan	344	1%
  🇦🇪 UAE	343	8%
  🇷🇸 Serbia	330	4%
  🇦🇷 Argentina	311	0%
  🇹🇭 Thailand	277	5%
  🇨🇱 Chile	246	1%
  🇰🇿 Kazakhstan	226	-1%
  🇨🇳 China	223	14%
  🇹🇷 Türkiye	220	4%
  🇧🇷 Brazil	214	1%
  🇺🇦 Ukraine	192	-1%
  🇮🇷 Iran	183	2%
  🇿🇦 South Africa	176	1%
  🇪🇨 Ecuador	152	3%
  🇻🇪 Venezuela	149	-1%
  🇩🇿 Algeria	144	3%
  🇲🇦 Morocco	112	4%
  🇨🇴 Colombia	111	1%
  🇮🇶 Iraq	111	4%
  🇵🇪 Peru	88	4%
  🇮🇩 Indonesia	78	5%
  🇪🇬 Egypt	64	4%
  🇳🇬 Nigeria	56	5%
  🇻🇳 Vietnam	50	17%
  🇵🇭 Philippines	38	3%
  🇮🇳 India	33	10%
  🇵🇰 Pakistan	20	7%

  Clinching top spot is New Zealand, a country known for its love of cars.

  With nearly nine cars on the road to every 10 people, this figure is notably high considering that children make up about 20% of the population. The majority of cars are imported second hand from Japan thanks to a wave of deregulation in the 1980s along with the country being a major producer of right-hand drive cars.

  The U.S. falls close behind, with a clear preference for trucks and SUVs. In fact, the Ford F-1 Series has been the best-selling vehicle in America for 42 consecutive years.

  In Europe, Poland has the highest number of vehicles per person, but one of the lowest share of electric vehicles (EVs). While EVs make up nearly 16% of all cars in top-ranking country Norway, they comprise 0.1% in Poland. On average, EVs account for 0.8% of passenger cars in the European Union.

  Driven by an expanding middle class, Vietnam has seen the fastest growth in ownership. Between 2015 and 2020, the motorization rate grew by an astonishing 17% each year. Additionally, China witnessed 14% growth while India’s vehicles per 1,000 people increased 10% annually over the period.

  The Top EV Markets, by Country

  As EV sales gain momentum, here are the biggest markets worldwide, based on the number of all-EV cars in use as of 2022:

  

  Source: IEA Global EV Outlook 2023

  China is home to over half of the world’s EVs.

  Its foothold on the global EV market can be explained by its close proximity to the raw materials used in EV batteries. In fact, China produces roughly 70% of the world’s rare earth metals and has more battery production capacity than all other countries combined.

  Adding to this, China developed key government policies that specifically tackled operational hurdles, such as battery constraints, leading to innovation in core technologies. In 2023, EVs made up 31% of all car sales in China, boosted by government incentives and strong consumer demand.

  Norway is another leader in the EV market, whose government began introducing EV policies as early as 1990. By 2025, the country aims to phase out internal combustion engine vehicle sales completely. About 80% of all vehicles sales in Norway were EVs in 2022, the highest in the world.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 02/22/2024 – 21:20

• Climate Dieticians Push Americans To Cut Beef For The Sake Of The Planet
  Climate Dieticians Push Americans To Cut Beef For The Sake Of The Planet

  Authored by Eric Worrall via WattsUpWithThat.com,

  “… Replacing beef with a different protein — even for just one meal — can cut the emissions footprint of a person’s diet that day by as much as half. …”

  

  One Simple Change to Reduce Your Climate Impact? Swap Out Beef

  Replacing beef with a different protein — even for just one meal — can cut the emissions footprint of a person’s diet that day by as much as half. 

  By Zahra Hirji
  21 February 2024 at 20:00 GMT+10

  Next time you’re out for lunch, try playing a little game: Without looking it up, can you find the most and least climate-friendly options on the menu?

  Unlike a meal’s price, the greenhouse-gas footprint of food isn’t typically spelled out. But you don’t need to ask a climate scientist to find out either. There’s one simple trick for identifying the highest impact item on almost any menu: If there’s beef, that’s probably it.

  …

  “You don’t have to become a vegan to have a big impact on your carbon footprint,” says Diego Rose, a professor and director of the nutrition program at Tulane University. “You just have to swap out beef.”

  …

  Beef’s footprint is especially outsized. For one, there are roughly 1.5 billion cows on the planet. About 13 million square kilometers (3.2 billion acres) of land is used to raise all that cattle, along with buffalo, and their food — one-quarter of all land used for agriculture, according to a 2017 paper in Global Food Security. Then there’s the methane. Cows and other ruminants have a unique digestive system that allows them to turn grass into fuel, but in the process their special gut bacteria releases methane, a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term.

  …

  “In the US, most of us eat more beef than what’s considered healthy for us,” says Stephanie Roe, a climate and energy lead scientist at the nonprofit World Wildlife Fund. “So that’s low-hanging fruit because then we can improve our health outcomes in addition to environmental ones.”

  …

  Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-02-21/the-diet-shift-that-makes-the-biggest-impact-on-climate-change?embedded-checkout=true

  I have a big problem with the anti-beef push.

  There is a reason cowboys herded cows in the old West, and why the African Maasai and many other peoples still do, and why beef cattle are chosen when other crops would in theory produce a much higher yield per acre.

  Cattle can be raised in harsh regions which are far too unforgiving for other farm produce.

  The suggestion raising beef is taking far more land than other food production, with the implicit suggestion that land dedicated to beef production could be repurposed for other produce, in my opinion verges on a lie by omission. I’m sure some cattle land could be used for other purposes, but a lot of it couldn’t.

  In places where beef production is the only option, abandoning beef would mean abandoning food – dramatically reducing the total food available for people to eat.

  Even in places where other food choices are available, the anti-beef push could impact food supplies. Stopping beef production would not automatically equate to increased production of other food.

  In a world where just under 800 million people go to bed hungry every night, attacking the supply of food in the name of the alleged climate emergency in my opinion should be viewed as a crime against humanity.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 02/22/2024 – 21:00

• Biden Moving To Send Long-Range Ballistic Missiles To Ukraine
  Biden Moving To Send Long-Range Ballistic Missiles To Ukraine

  President Biden has just upped the ante on Ukraine aid while continuing to press House Republicans to approve the gargantuan war spending bill and its $61 billion for Kiev. Even while it’s clear Ukraine forces are being beaten back from the front lines, NBC reports this week that Biden is now closer to approving longer-range missile systems, which are capable of striking deeper into Crimea and Russian territory. 

  “After months of requests from Ukrainian officials, the Biden administration is working toward providing Ukraine with powerful new long-range ballistic missiles, according to two U.S. officials,” the report says.

  

  The advanced weapon system in question here is the long-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) with a range of nearly 200 miles, significantly beyond the HIMARS systems which were already long ago provided. The HIMARS in Ukraine’s possession are commonly estimated to reach 50-60 miles.

  Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba strongly suggested progress was made on the issue during his meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Munich this weekend. “I just came here from a meeting with Secretary Blinken,” Kuleba had said Saturday. “I spent a very good part of the time arguing in favor of ATACMS.”

  A US official told NBC that ATACMS “would allow Ukraine to strike farther inside the Russian-held Crimean Peninsula.”

  That Biden administration officials are openly boasting that this would be a motivating factor in providing the long-range missiles takes the world into highly dangerous territory, and stumbling further toward WW3.

  The thinking still reflects the claim that Russia seeks to expand the war beyond Ukraine and into Europe. Kiev and its closest allies have been advancing this narrative hard of late, especially while trying to get Washington funds unblocked. For example in the wake of the fall of Avdiivka:

  “The era of peace in Europe is over,” Dmytro Kuleba, Ukrainian foreign minister, told those present.

  “And every time Ukrainian soldiers withdraw from a Ukrainian town because of the lack of ammunition, think of it not only in terms of democracy and defending the world-based order, but also in terms of Russian soldiers getting a few kilometers closer to your towns.”

  Of course, the pro-escalation pundits have been out there pushing this narrative hard…

  If Biden is serious about living up to his words, there are 3 steps to take. Send long-range fires like ATACMs and fighter jets to Ukraine now. Seize the billions in Russian assets and get them to Ukraine now. The GOP cannot obstruct these actions, only cowardice can. https://t.co/qkM6NWyba5

  — Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) February 16, 2024

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

  Putin has already long accused the West of supplying the very weapons now more frequently being used to attack inside Russian territory. Missiles, drones, and mortars have been raining down on the Belgorod region for months now, and on oil and industrial facilities. It’s perhaps only a matter of time before a major incident involving direct NATO-Russia hostilities.

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

• FDA Approves 1st T-Cell Therapy For Melanoma
  FDA Approves 1st T-Cell Therapy For Melanoma

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

  Melanoma cancer patients with solid tumors can turn to a new treatment thanks to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of a new class of immunotherapy. The new treatment may offer hope to those facing an otherwise deadly stage of disease.

  

  Amtagvi (lifileucel) is the first tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy to hit the market. The FDA granted accelerated approval to manufacturer Iovance Biotherapeutics on Friday for the drug’s use to treat patients with advanced melanoma that is unable to be removed with surgery, or that has spread to other parts of the body.

  “The approval of AMTAGVI offers hope to those with advanced melanoma who have progressed following initial standard of care therapies, as the current treatment options are not effective for many patients,” said Samantha R. Guild, president of the AIM at Melanoma Foundation, in a press release. “This one-time cell therapy represents a promising innovation for the melanoma community, and we are excited by its potential to transform care for patients who are in dire need of additional therapeutic options.”

  “Unresectable or metastatic melanoma is an aggressive form of cancer that can be fatal,” Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), said in an agency press release. “The approval of Amtagvi represents the culmination of scientific and clinical research efforts leading to a novel T cell immunotherapy for patients with limited treatment options.”

  Amtagvi Utilizes Patient’s T-Cells to Fight Cancer

  Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that starts in the cells that give skin its color, melanocytes. It often begins in the skin that is regularly exposed to sunlight, such as the arms, backs, face, and legs. While the exact causes aren’t clear, most research points to ultraviolet light exposure as a primary factor.

  While it starts with the skin, the cancer can spread to the lymph nodes and other parts of the body. According to the American Cancer Society, about one in 33 white people will develop it, while one in 1,000 black people and one in 200 Hispanic people will.

  The treatment is suitable for patients who have tried other forms of therapy, such as PD-1 blocking inhibitors or drugs that target the BRAF gene. PD-1 blocking inhibitors use antibodies to target specific proteins in the body to help the immune system fight off cancer cells. Drugs that target the BRAF gene help manage the growth and function of particular cells associated with skin cancer. According to the FDA, these therapies have some success with melanoma patients, but for those whose cancers have progressed, there has been a “high unmet medical need” until the approval of Amtagvi.

  Amtagvi uses a patient’s T-cells, a cancer-fighting immune cell. To create the therapy, a portion of the patient’s cancer tumor is removed during surgery. The T-cells are separated from the tumor and returned to the patient during a single infusion. While other immunotherapies exist, this is the first FDA-approved, tumor-derived T-cell immunotherapy.

  “Melanoma is a life-threatening cancer that can cause devastating impacts to affected individuals, with a significant risk of metastasizing and spreading to other areas in the body,” Dr. Nicole Verdun, director of the Office of Therapeutic Products in CBER, said in the press statement released Friday. “Today’s approval reflects the FDA’s dedication and commitment to the development of innovative, safe and effective treatment options for cancer patients.”

  Amtagvi was approved after a clinical study of 73 patients reviewed its safety and efficacy profile. According to the FDA, among those treated with the new medication, 31.5 percent of participants saw their tumors shrink. The therapy does come with side effects, including prolonged severe low blood count, severe infection, cardiac disorder, and the potential for developing worsened respiratory or kidney function. The therapy comes with a boxed warning about these risks, the FDA noted. Other common reactions included chills, fever, fatigue, fast heart rate, diarrhea, swelling, rash, low blood pressure, hair loss, infection, low oxygen levels, and shortness of breath.

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

• Watch: Putin Co-Pilots Supersonic Nuclear-Capable Bomber
  Watch: Putin Co-Pilots Supersonic Nuclear-Capable Bomber

  Russian President Vladimir Putin just sent the Western military alliance a not-so-subtle message just days after his top national security official Dmitry Medvedev warned that Moscow stands ready to use its entire strategic arsenal on London, Washington, Berlin and Kiev if Russian territory comes under direct attack from NATO.

  On Thursday Putin entered the co-pilot’s seat in a nuclear-capable strategic bomber for a 30 to 40 minute flight, parts of which were filmed and quickly released by Russian state sources. Putin’s brief flight in the upgraded Tu-160M supersonic strategic bomber also comes ahead of next month’s Russian election, though of course we all know pretty much what the outcome will be. Watch below as Putin goes ‘nuclear-capable’…

  The Kremlin has released footage from Vladimir Putin’s flight on a Tu-160M nuclear bomber this afternoon pic.twitter.com/NYGiTFUKtP

  — Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) February 22, 2024

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

  The 71-year old is running as an independent candidate, interestingly enough, and the nuclear bomber ride also seems a signal of his health and capabilities, at a moment President Biden – a full decade older than his Russian counterpart – is facing serious questions over his apparent cognitive decline.

  According to more details of the PR flight via AP: “On Thursday, Putin, clad in a flight suit, boarded the warplane at a snow-covered airfield of an aircraft-making plant in the Volga River city of Kazan that has built the heavy bombers since the Soviet times.”

  

  “The plant has received state orders to produce a modernized version of the Tu-160 bomber that first flew in the 1980s and was code-named Blackjack by NATO.”

  Putin subsequently hailed that the new bomber he rode in was “excellent”.

  More footage:

  The AP report includes this amusing line as well: “As part of the Kremlin efforts to project an image of an action-loving and physically strong leader, Putin also took a co-pilot’s seat in an amphibious plane, flew a paraglider and drove a racing car and heavy trucks.”

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

• Turley: No, The Indictment Of Alexander Smirnov Does Not Exonerate Hunter Biden
  Turley: No, The Indictment Of Alexander Smirnov Does Not Exonerate Hunter Biden

  Authored by Jonathan Turley,

  The Russian comedian Yakov Smirnoff once joked that “in America, you can always find a party. In Soviet Russia, the Party can always find you.”

  

  Alexander Smirnov is no comedian, but he is about to discover the truth of that statement.

  Alexander Smirnov is now a defendant in federal court after being charged by special counsel David Weiss for spreading a false story about Hunter Biden receiving $5 million from Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company.

  The allegation has produced a stampede of Democrats who view his indictment as a much-needed talking point as the House continues to build the case of influence-peddling by the Biden family.

  Some are using the charges to revive a previously debunked story that Hunter Biden’s laptop could be Russian disinformation. But a closer reading of the filing dispels those claims and contradicts a new effort by Hunter Biden to dismiss charges against himself.

  The filing itself is actually an argument to keep Smirnov in federal detention.

  The government points out Smirnov’s admitted contacts with Russian intelligence officials and previously scheduled meetings with such figures to argue he is a flight risk.

  However, there are a couple of aspects to the filing that undermine the claims of a “bombshell” revelation of a Russian disinformation campaign.

  First, these disclosures were not the result of surveillance or interceptions by American intelligence. Smirnov appears to have been cooperating with the United States and told his US “handler” about all of these contacts.

  Second, Smirnov’s contacts were described as “recent” and did not apparently precede 2020. They have nothing to do with the laptop or the evidence of influence-peddling found in emails on that computer. This is solely a claim of a large payment to the Bidens from Burisma.

  Third, the Justice Department states that Smirnov had expressed “bias” against Joe Biden and used “his routine and unextraordinary business contacts with Burisma” to make the bribery allegations.

  So Smirnov operated off a bias against Biden, made an allegation separate from the laptop, and ultimately disclosed his communications to his U.S. handler. He detailed conversations with the “son of a former high-ranking government official” and “someone with ties to a particular Russian intelligence service.” Reports indicate that Smirnov was not only an asset of American intelligence but on the payroll for roughly a decade as a trusted informant.

  That does not mean that the Russians were not eager to spread false claims, though it shows again how low-grade such efforts could be. It does not address hundreds of confirmed emails of Hunter Biden cashing in on an array of foreign contacts.

  Hunter Biden’s legal team is citing the filing in seeking to cast doubt on all of the allegations and even the pending charges: “It now seems clear that the Smirnov allegations infected this case.”

  They insist that the bribe allegation was key to the loss of the plea agreement that they struck with the president’s son. They argued that “having taken Mr. Smirnov’s bait of grand, sensational charges, the Diversion Agreement that had just been entered into and Plea Agreement that was on the verge of being finalized suddenly became inconvenient for the prosecution, and it reversed course and repudiated those Agreements.”

  That is not how it happened.

  Hunter Biden had received a sweetheart deal so rich as to put most defendants into hyperglycemic shock. Hunter would have avoided any jail time and been given sweeping immunity from future charges.

  The reason that the deal fell apart was not any particular allegation of bribes. The alleged bribe was not part of the case. It fell apart because the judge asked a simple question on the meaning of the immunity. The deal immediately imploded as the prosecutor was forced to admit that he had never seen a deal like this for anyone other than Hunter Biden.

  In relation to the influence-peddling investigation, this filing does not change the evidence that the Biden family made millions in shaking down foreign companies and business figures.

  On Wednesday, Capitol Hill will witness something that many thought would never come. The House is calling a Biden to actually answer questions under oath about influence-peddling. James Biden, brother of the president, will testify on his long history of leveraging the name and influence of his brother. That includes $200,000 given to him by a collapsing hospital chain company, Americore.

  Biden reportedly pitched a percentage deal with his brother and immediately turned over the money to Joe Biden to pay off a prior “loan.”

  That was not the creation of a “biased” Russian but the Biden family itself. Smirnov was not at the dinners and meetings where Joe Biden called in to chat. He was not the recipient of messages from Hunter threatening that his father was “sitting next to” him and waiting for transfers of money. He was not the source of gifts and expense accounts to cover Hunter’s lavish lifestyle. .

  Most importantly, Smirnov was not the reason that Hunter was indicted by the same prosecutor, David Weiss, who just indicted him.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 02/22/2024 – 19:40

• "Should Have Never Happened": City Of Pittsburgh Blamed For Catastrophic January 2022 Bridge Collapse
  “Should Have Never Happened”: City Of Pittsburgh Blamed For Catastrophic January 2022 Bridge Collapse

  Today in “your tax dollars at work” news, the city of Pittsburgh is being blamed for the collapse of the city-owned Forbes Avenue bridge, which collapsed on January 28, 2022, resulting in several injuries.

  An investigation found that the city “did not adequately maintain or repair a bridge and failed to act on inspection reports”, according to a new report from the Associated Press.

  When the bridge collapsed in early 2022, a bus and four cars plunged 100 feet into the Fern Hollow Creek below, the report says. Another vehicle also wound up driving off of the east bridge abutment and landed on its roof, AP reported. 

  Luckily, no one was killed. 

  The National Transportation Safety Board found that “poor inspections and insufficient oversight” were likely the cause of the collapse. NTSB chair Jennifer L. Homendy commented: “The Fern Hollow Bridge collapse should never have happened.”

  She continued, noting significant deterioration in the uncoated weathering steel and noted a persistent lack of response to known damage to the bridge, which had been evident for years. 

  

  The report even says that in certain sections, the steel had decayed so severely that holes were visibly present in the structure.

  NTSB senior structural engineer Dan Walsh added: “The city of Pittsburgh was responsible for inspecting and maintaining the Fern Hollow bridge. Similar maintenance and repair recommendations were made in the inspection reports for more than 15 years leading up to the collapse. But the city failed to act on them, resulting in progressive corrosion to the point of failure.”

  The Pittsburgh Mayor’s office, under Ed Gainey, acknowledges the NTSB’s findings regarding the bridge collapse, highlighting past inspection oversights and announcing the formation of a new Bridge Maintenance Division with a 300% budget increase for upkeep.

  Efforts have been made to address critical issues across city-owned bridges, with significant progress on urgent repairs. The collapse, injuring four people hours before President Biden’s visit for an infrastructure event, has led to multiple lawsuits, including one by bus driver Daryl Luciani, who suffered severe injuries.

  The city has refrained from commenting on ongoing legal matters.

  NTSB investigations attributed the collapse to inadequate maintenance and oversight, including failure to address known drainage issues and structural weaknesses. Despite temporary measures taken in 2009, a permanent solution was never implemented, highlighting systemic failures in the city’s bridge management and inspection processes.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 02/22/2024 – 19:20

• Lower Oil Prices Are Set to Hurt Alberta's Budget
  Lower Oil Prices Are Set to Hurt Alberta’s Budget

  By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

  The Premier of Alberta Danielle Smith has warned that lower oil prices will have an impact on the province’s new budget, forcing some spending cuts.

  

  During a televised address on Wednesday night, Smith said “Lower resource revenues will certainly require us to show more restraint than previously predicted.”

  “We will ensure this is done thoughtfully and with priority given to the programs and services Albertans most rely on such as health, education and social supports,” the Premier added, as cited by the Canadian Press.

  Alberta’s budget is tied to its oil revenues, which are calculated on the basis of the West Texas Intermediate benchmark. Even minor changes in the benchmark’s value can have an impact of hundreds of millions of dollars on the Canadian oil province’s finances.

  Alberta’s FY 2023/24 budget was tied to an average WTI price of $79 per barrel but for much of the year that ends this March, the U.S. benchmark has traded lower than this, meaning the budget calculations of the Alberta government had to be adjusted.

  Recently, oil prices have been on the mend amid continued tensions in the Middle East but there is no guarantee the rally will either strengthen or continue seeing as there are bearish factors at play as well. Chief among these are doubts about the strength of Chinese oil demand.

  Premier Smith has acknowledged that basing the province’s budget on oil revenues is not the wisest option, saying in her speech this week it was time for Alberta to get off the “budget rollercoaster” of oil revenues. She added, however, that the provincial government will not raise taxes to balance the new budget.

  For the next financial year, the Alberta budget stipulates an average WTI price of $76 per barrel on average, declining to $73.50 per barrel in the following fiscal year.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 02/22/2024 – 19:00

• Teamsters Union Makes First Major GOP Donation Since 2004 Following Trump Meeting
  Teamsters Union Makes First Major GOP Donation Since 2004 Following Trump Meeting

  Weeks after a meeting between former President Donald Trump and Teamsters Union leaders, including President Sean O’Brien and Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman, along with the union’s executive board at their Washington, DC headquarters, America’s most powerful labor union has made the first major donation to Republicans in two decades. This move has sparked huge concern that unions are losing faith in President Biden, lauded as the most pro-union president ever. 

  According to Axios, the Teamsters’ political committee donated $45,000, the maximum amount permitted, to the Republican National Committee. This was the first ‘big’ donation the union has made to the RNC since 2004. 

  This comes after Trump attended a meeting with the heads of Teamsters last month. After the meeting, Trump told reporters: “We had a very strong meeting with the Teamsters.” He added there was a very strong possibility that he would get their endorsement. 

  

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

  “Usually, a Republican wouldn’t get that endorsement,” Trump continued, adding he was in a greater position than other Republicans and that the union “never had … a better four years than they had during the Trump administration.”

  Trump: We’re waiting because the Teamsters haven’t endorsed a Republican in many, many years, and they’re having a hard time with this. How do they endorse a man who’s a low iq individual? pic.twitter.com/XaTUvM6RjP

  — Acyn (@Acyn) February 18, 2024

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  Before January, Teamsters in Dec. 2023 donated $135,000 to the Democratic National Committee. The DNC also received $15,000 from the union in March 2023. 

  Teamsters represent about 1.3 million UPS and other transportation workers. Despite many other unions having already endorsed Biden, Teamsters has yet to endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential race. 

  Trump’s and Biden’s campaigns are locked in a fight to win over blue-collar workers in crucial swing states ahead of the November elections. Biden has frequently touted his strong ties with labor unions. However, the president’s failed economic policies, known as ‘Bidenomics,’ have crushed the working class under the weight of inflation. 

  Are blue-collar unionized voters finally waking up to just how much of a disaster Bidenomics has been over Biden’s first term? 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 02/22/2024 – 18:40

• ADNOC CEO: Global Energy Demand Growth Is Unsustainable
  ADNOC CEO: Global Energy Demand Growth Is Unsustainable

  By Alex Kimani of OilPrice.com

  Last month, U.S. oil and gas supermajor Exxon Mobil released its long-term global energy outlook report. Exxon has predicted that global energy demand will reach about 660 quadrillion Btu in 2050, good for a 15% increase from 2021 levels reflecting a growing population and rising prosperity. 

  

  The energy company has projected that renewables and nuclear will record strong growth through 2050, contributing around 70% of incremental energy supplies; natural gas demand will remain robust and reach almost 30% of all demand by 2050, oil demand will peak in the 2030s but only fall slightly over the next two decades while coal demand will continue to decline sharply. Interestingly, the developing world is expected to drive all of the demand growth, with Exxon predicting that non-OECD share of global energy demand will reach around 70% in 2050 while the combined share of energy consumption by the U.S. and Europe will decline from about 30% in 2021 to about 20% in 2050.

  Whereas these appear like healthy trends that might help the world ameliorate its climate crisis, not everybody is that sanguine. Al Jaber, chief executive officer of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and president of last year’s Cop28 summit says that the current trajectory of rapid energy demand growth is unsustainable. 

  “The energy transition will lead to energy turmoil … if we only address the supply side of the energy equation. We must be balanced, we must tackle the demand side … We cannot and should not pursue the energy transition by only looking and working on one side of the equation,” Al-Jaber has told the Guardian. 

  According to Al-Jaber, it is unlikely that global carbon reduction targets can be met unless the world cuts energy demand, adding that many governments are reluctant to look at the complex issues around this area.

  Al-Jaber’s sentiments are shared by the U.S. climate envoy John Kerry, “Saying we will, for the first time in history, transition away from fossil fuel, and adjust in an orderly equitable manner … and in accordance with the science that by 2050 [we will] accomplish net zero, means everybody has to have a plan, and that is not where we are today,” Kerry has said. Kerry has taken a veiled swipe at China and its plan to bring 360 Gigawatts of coal-fired power online, saying, “And if that happens, it will wipe out all of the gains of Europe, the U.S. and other parts of the world.”

  

  Peak Oil Demand

  It’s interesting to note that in this report, Exxon Mobil sees global oil demand peaking in just a decade, though it has predicted that oil will remain the world’s most dominant form of primary energy by 2050. Last year, ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco pushed back on a prediction by Bloomberg that global oil demand will peak in 2027. 

  According to Bloomberg, electric vehicles, ever-improving fuel efficiency and shared mobility will displace a staggering 20 million barrels per day in oil demand by 2040, 10 times what they are currently displacing. Bloomberg claimed that demand for gasoline and diesel for road transport in the U.S. and Europe has already peaked while demand in China is set to peak in the current year. Bloomberg has predicted that oil demand in other major consuming nations like India will go into a tailspin in the 2030s.

  In its report, Exxon has concurred with many of Bloomberg’s points. Exxon has predicted there will be 920 million plug-in hybrids, battery electric, or fuel cell vehicles on the roads in 2050, good for 44% of the global fleet. In the near term, the company sees EV sales growing from 6.4 million in 2021 to 33 million in 2030, good for a healthy compounded annual growth rate of about 20%. 

  Exxon says efficiency gains in developed countries will be more than enough to offset energy demand growth due to population growth. However, unlike Bloomberg, Exxon has predicted that global transportation-related energy demand will grow more than 30% from 2021 to 2050, with oil supplying the lion’s share.

  Speaking at last year’s World Petroleum Congress in Calgary, Exxon CEO Darren Woods said it will be difficult to replace today’s energy system thanks to the wide availability of oil and gas, adding that the energy transition would take time.

  “There seems to be wishful thinking that we’re going to flip a switch from where we’re at today to where it will be tomorrow. No matter where demand gets to, if we don’t maintain some level of investment industry, you end up running short on supply which leads to higher prices.”

  Aramco CEO Amin Nasser noted that previous predictions about peak oil demand have failed to materialize,“This notion is wilting under scrutiny because it is mostly being driven by policies, rather than the proven combination of markets, competitive economics and technology. We need to invest, otherwise in the mid- to long-term we will have another crisis and we will go backward in terms of using more and more coal and other cheap products that are available today,” he said.

  Nasser has predicted that global oil demand will hit 110 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2030, up from 102 million b/d in 2023.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 02/22/2024 – 18:20

• Milei Secures Argentina's First Budget Surplus Since 2012 After Only One Month In Office
  Milei Secures Argentina’s First Budget Surplus Since 2012 After Only One Month In Office

  Not long after socialist activists flooded into Buenos Aires to protest President Javier Milei’s sweeping budget cuts and reforms, it has been announced that Argentina is enjoying its first monthly budget surplus since August 2012.  The budget fix (and $589 million positive balance) took Milei only one month in office to achieve and leaves the political left with some embarrassing questions to answer.

  Milei is considered a “far right” libertarian, but his extensive economic background has so far made him perfectly placed to begin repairs to Argentina’s long suffering fiscal system.

  

  A balanced budget is the first step towards removing the country’s economy from under the thumb of the International Monetary Fund and the organization’s $44 billion loan.  Though Argentina has a long way to go to solvency, the socialist policies of previous administrations only served to trap the population in a prison of persistent debt.  This has led to a series of stagflationary crisis events and a greatly devalued peso.  The economy is currently suffering from a 250% inflation rate. 

  Pro-establishment critics have asserted for months that Milei would “destroy” Argentina’s financial framework, but frankly, that happened long before he entered office.  As we have seen in many western nations the past decade, kicking the can down the road only leads to increasingly more volatile economic consequences.  

  Once a country is addicted to socialist subsidies over the course of decades, convincing the populace that the government handouts they have grown to rely on are a form of bondage becomes very difficult.  Milei’s methodology of tearing off the band aid and setting wholesale fire to socialized programs may be the only way to force the public to stop being dependent.  At the very least, it’s the only solution that hasn’t been tried, which is often a good sign that it will work.  

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 02/22/2024 – 18:00

• Lack Of Credibility Places US Deterrence Under Great Strain
  Lack Of Credibility Places US Deterrence Under Great Strain

  Authored by James E. Fannell and Bradley A. Thayer via American Greatness,

  American national security and the security of many of our allies depend upon the ability of the U.S. to deter aggression. Deterrence depends upon having robust military capabilities. These are the conventional and nuclear might of America’s military. Deterrence is also dependent upon political considerations like America’s credibility and willpower to meet aggression against American soil should deterrence fail or against the territory of our allies with whom the U.S. has an extended deterrent commitment, like Australia, Japan, and our NATO allies. Hence, deterrence is about military capabilities—they must be strong—but also political considerations. The U.S. must be credible and evince the willpower to follow through on the explicit and implicit threats to use military force, including nuclear weapons, to deter formidable conventional and nuclear powers like the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

  

  U.S. presidents should be symbols of strength, stability, and power, speaking firmly and quietly to convey credible threats that will be executed if U.S. enemies aggress, while carrying a big stick, overwhelming U.S. military might. As Air Force General Curtis LeMay said if the Soviet Union aggressed, it would be “a smoking, irradiating ruin at the end of two hours.” This was a credible threat when the U.S. had both the capabilities and demonstrated willpower to accomplish this during the Cold War.

  Viewed through the perspective of international politics, the mental incapacity of President Biden is deeply troubling because it has very clearly weakened U.S. deterrence—just ask the people of Afghanistan, Ukraine, or Israel. The president’s illness projects weakness, not strength, vacillation, not determination, and senescence rather than a crystalline strategic focus. He is not a voice of stability and strength but is an incarnation of confusion and uncertainty, compelling the world to ask who is in charge of the United States.

  In a peaceful world, this would be disheartening to the American people and of considerable concern to allies. In today’s dangerous world with a hyper-aggressive Xi Jinping, this is alarming and must be addressed. It is historically unique; never at a time of such considerable threat, when the U.S. faces a peer enemy, has a president been non compos mentis. President Woodrow Wilson was incapacitated by a stroke in the last year of his presidency, but the U.S. did not face a peer enemy in the immediate aftermath of the Great War. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was gravely ill in his last years but maintained mental coherence. He possessed the strongest military on the planet. With President Biden, the United States is in unchartered and perilous national security waters at a time when a dynamic president is needed to reassure allies and partners, inspire the American people and people of good will around the world, and convey to America’s enemies that grievous harm will come to them if they aggress.

  With the president removed from the public face of American national security, a vice president who is incapable of fulfilling that role, a secretary of state who is feckless, and a secretary of defense who is ill, it falls to senior civilian and military officials, like the Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, to step into that mission. Although some may accomplish this role with aplomb, this is not their principal responsibility, and we should expect their performance to be of uneven quality. In sum, this is not normal. The U.S. has never run this risk during the wars of the twentieth century, but it does today. It is a national security risk and a grave strain on civil-military relations.

  This is why the report from Special Counsel Robert Hur was singularly damaging. Hur identified President Biden as having committed felonies but who could not be prosecuted because of his mental incapacities. This confirms for global audiences—friends and foes alike—that Biden is unable to meet his responsibilities at a time when dynamic leadership is necessary to deter PRC aggression. Of equal concern is the fact that a two-tier system of justice means that the rule of law has ended in America, which had once been known and respected for a justice system that was blind to rank, race, or creed. The implications of this for the U.S. global position are profound. It weakens the ability of the U.S. to explain to global audiences the superiority of the U.S. political system. It also suggests a great change from the position of the U.S. during the Cold War to today. This suggests to allies and enemies alike that the strengths of the U.S. system that defeated the Soviet Union have eroded.

  In a curious and even bizarre coda to a month of worrying incidents, the Chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), warned of a “serious national security threat” and called for information about it to be declassified by the Biden administration. This generated a panic on financial markets and great concern among the American people. The White House at first rejected this and later warmed to an indication that it related to Russian capabilities in space. There were indications that this was hyperbole to pressure the House to pass funding for Ukraine. In truth, this made a senior member of Congress, one of the key “Gang of Eight,” look like he was employing a major and imminent national security threat to manipulate Speaker Johnson and Republican House leadership to address the issue of Ukraine funding. This does not look good to allies and partners around the world. It has eroded confidence in American deterrence. If this were a one-off, this would be bad enough, but within the context of an enfeebled presidency, it may be taken as a sign that U.S. national security leadership is incapable of addressing the contemporary threat environment.

  This lack of seriousness and insouciance regarding the national security of the country cannot continue. It opens a window of opportunity for U.S. enemies. The supreme interest of the United States is to protect U.S. national security—its citizens. That requires leadership. The U.S. does not now possess it—and Beijing is using this reality in their calculations on when to strike at America in the Far East.

  James E. Fanell and Bradley A. Thayer are authors of Embracing Communist China: America’s Greatest Strategic Failure.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 02/22/2024 – 17:40

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