Apr 24

Today’s News 24th April 2024

  • "Let's Debunk The Myth That Mass-Migration Brings An Economic Benefit", Says Former UK Immigration Minister
    “Let’s Debunk The Myth That Mass-Migration Brings An Economic Benefit”, Says Former UK Immigration Minister

    Authored by Thomas Brooke via ReMix News,

    The notion that mass immigration brings a net economic benefit to a developed nation is a myth that needs to be debunked, a former U.K. government minister who resigned over the spiraling numbers arriving in Britain has claimed.

    In an interview with the Conservative Home website, Robert Jenrick, the Conservative MP who stepped down from his role as immigration minister in the Home Office last year, called the government’s post-Brexit immigration policy a “complete disaster” and a “betrayal to voters” who for decades have elected parties promising to cut the number of new arrivals into Britain.

    “The numbers are just so large that it has a proportionally much greater impact on everyone’s lives. This cuts to the housing crisis, why we have such low productivity, and why we have concerns about community cohesion and integration,” he told the site.

    Net migration is at record levels in Britain since the U.K. left the European Union, peaking in the year to December 2022 at 745,000. It subsequently fell to 672,000 in the year to June 2023, but after leaving the European Union Single Market, this is a paradox that Jenrick finds difficult to accept.

    “For years, politicians made promises to cut legal migration they knew they couldn’t keep because ultimately the UK was beholden to the EU’s freedom of movement.

    “The great reform was the Conservative Party delivering Brexit, which finally took back control of the levers of migration. But the decisions made in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote were a betrayal to voters — they created a system that was even more liberal than the one before by lowering the salary threshold, creating a graduate route and an unregulated social care visa,” he said.

    “Frankly, these decisions were two fingers up to the public, and in public policy terms they’ve been a complete disaster.”

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made “stopping the boats” a key pledge throughout his tenure in Downing Street — a nod to the illegal immigration crisis on England’s southern shores as thousands of undocumented migrants are transported across the English Channel from mainland Europe where they claim asylum and use human rights laws to avoid deportation.

    However, despite attempts to combat this issue through the flagship Rwanda policy — a plan to deport migrants to the African nation for offshore processing — Jenrick believes that this is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to tackling immigration.

    “To me, legal migration has always been the more important issue,” he explained.

    “I’m 42, and for my entire adult life, if not longer, political parties of all persuasions have stood at elections saying they’re going to bring down the level of legal migration.

    “All alighted on this challenge, said they were going to take action, and all ultimately failed.”

    The Conservative MP challenged the view that mass immigration has a net economic benefit on a developed country like Britain, highlighting that just 15 percent of non-EU migrants who came to the country last year arrived with work visas.

    “So, the overwhelming majority of people were students, dependants, or were those coming as refugees.”

    The figure is actually slightly higher than 15 percent. In the year to June 2023, 968,000 non-EU migrants arrived in Britain, of which just 169,000 were the main applicants on a work visa, amounting to 17.5 percent.

    “One can make arguments for and against each of those categories, but they’re not people who are demonstrably making an economic contribution to this country.”

    He warned the economic model that Britain has adopted when it comes to immigration isn’t working.

    “If importing hundreds of thousands of foreign workers to the UK was a route to prosperity, the U.K. would be one of the richest countries in the world,” he said, adding that Britain has been in a recession in terms of GDP per capita for almost the last two years.

    “I care about the prosperity of our own citizens, not the overall size of the economy.”

    The former immigration minister accused businesses in Britain of becoming “hooked on the drug of imported foreign labor” and said the government had done too little to “boost training for young people in our country” to take on jobs in key sectors like construction.

    He urged the government to adopt a “highly selective” immigration policy that enables it to choose the types of people that will make an economic contribution to Britain, noting that there is no longer the bogeyman of the European Union to fall back on as a reason why immigration figures should remain as high as they are now.

    “What we need is radically reduced, highly-selective, high-skilled, and high-productivity migration,” Jenrick added, suggesting that an annual cap could “serve as a democratic lock” on Britain’s immigration policy and ensure that promises to the electorate to bring down the numbers are met.

    Several studies support Jenrick’s observation that mass immigration is an economic drag on developed nations.

    In November 2021, a Danish Ministry of Finance report revealed that the net cost of immigration from non-Western countries, after tax contributions had been deducted, amounted to €4.2 billion in 2018.

    Similarly, a study from the University of Amsterdam published in December last year revealed the net cost to the Dutch public sector for decades of mass immigration between 1995 and 2019 was €400 billion, averaging €17 billion a year.

    The research categorized the types of migrants arriving in the Netherlands during that time by nationality, revealing that those arriving from other EU and European countries had a net positive contribution to the Dutch economy, while those coming from countries such as Turkey and Morocco had cost the Dutch taxpayer the most with a net negative contribution of €200,000 and €260,000, respectively.

    Read more here…

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 04/24/2024 – 02:00

  • A $250 Million War Game And Its Shocking Outcome
    A $250 Million War Game And Its Shocking Outcome

    Authored by Nick Giambruno via InternationalMan.com,

    At a cost of $250 million, Millennium Challenge 2002 was the largest and most expensive war game in Pentagon history.

    With over 13,500 participants, the US government took over two years to design it.

    The exercise pitted Iran against the US military. Washington intended to show how the US military could defeat Iran with ease.

    Paul Van Riper, a three-star general and 41-year veteran of the Marine Corps, led Iranian forces in the war game. His mission was to take on the full force of the US military, led by an aircraft carrier battle group and a large amphibious landing force in the Persian Gulf.

    The results shocked everyone…

    Van Riper waited for the US Navy to pass through the shallow and narrow Strait of Hormuz, which made them sitting ducks for Iran’s unconventional and asymmetric warfare techniques.

    The idea is to level the playing field against a superior enemy with swarms of explosive-laden suicide speedboats, low-flying planes carrying anti-ship missiles, naval mines, and land-based anti-ship ballistic missiles, among other low-cost but highly effective measures.

    In minutes, Van Riper emerged victorious over his superior opponent and sank all 19 ships. Had it been real life, 20,000 US sailors and marines would have died.

    Millennium Challenge 2002 was a complete disaster for the Pentagon, which had spent a quarter of a billion dollars to set up the extensive war game. It produced the exact opposite outcome they wanted.

    So what did the Pentagon do with these humbling results?

    Like a child playing a video game, they hit the reset button. They then rigged and scripted the game so that the US was guaranteed to win.

    After realizing the integrity of the war game had been compromised, a disgusted Van Riper walked out mid-game. He then said:

    “Nothing was learned from this. And a culture not willing to think hard and test itself does not augur well for the future.”

    The main lesson of Millennium Challenge 2002 is that aircraft carriers—the biggest and most expensive ships ever built—wouldn’t last a single day in combat against even a regional power like Iran. Russia and China would have an even easier time dispatching them. They are overpriced toys.

    That means the US has wasted untold trillions on military hardware that could prove to be worthless in a serious conflict.

    Nonetheless, the US government still parades aircraft carriers around the world from time to time to try to intimidate its enemies.

    However, it’s a flawed strategy prone to catastrophic results if someone calls their bluff.

    While Millennium Challenge 2002 occurred more than 20 years ago, it is of paramount importance today.

    Iran has substantially improved its asymmetric and unconventional warfare capabilities. It’s doubtful the US military would fare much better today than 20 years ago.

    In short, war with Iran today could be even more disastrous than the Millennium Challenge 2002 simulation.

    Unfortunately, war with Iran is an increasingly probable outcome as tensions in the Middle East are at their highest point in generations and are trending higher.

    Previously, I lived in Beirut, Lebanon, for several years while working for an investment bank. The experience was effectively an advanced training course in Middle East geopolitics. Today, it helps me see the big picture in the region… and unfortunately, it isn’t pretty.

    I think the next big war in the Middle East is coming soon and could be the biggest one ever. It will focus on Iran.

    The market doesn’t appreciate how close we are to a big war and the implications of it.

    But this distortion in the market is a blessing. It’s handing us a golden opportunity.

    First and foremost, I think there’s a huge opportunity to profit in the oil market right now.

    I’m certainly not cheering for war. I despise war, which is the health of the State.

    Regardless, a big war is highly likely, with significant investment implications that would be foolish to ignore.

    In short, we are only one escalation away from potentially the biggest oil shock in history as the Middle East is on the verge of the largest regional war in generations.

    Fortunately, it doesn’t have to blindside you, your family, or your portfolio.

    Quite the contrary.

    That’s precisely why I just released an urgent new report with all the details, including what you must do to prepare. It’s called The Most Dangerous Economic Crisis in 100 Years… the Top 3 Strategies You Need Right Now. Click here to download the PDF now.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 04/24/2024 – 00:05

  • Senates Passes $95 Billion Aid Bill For Ukraine, Israel And Taiwan, Forces Sale Of TikTok
    Senates Passes $95 Billion Aid Bill For Ukraine, Israel And Taiwan, Forces Sale Of TikTok

    The republicans do what they always do best: fold like cheap lawn chairs.

    Moments ago, in a 79-18 vote, the Democrat-controlled Senate passed a long-delayed $95.3 billion foreign-aid package sending $60.8 billion in ammunition and military equipment to Ukrainian soldiers, as well as billions of soon-to-be-embezzled dollars to the offshore real estate agents of Ukraine’s corrupt oligarchs while also fortifying Israel’s missile defense systems with $26.4 billion, and leaving $8 billion for Taiwan as if that will do anything to stop a Chinese invasion. Oh, and speaking of Chinese invasions, the Senate also just forced the sale of the China-owned TikTok in the U.S.

    There will be, of course, no change to the invasion at the southern US border because here too Republicans keep folding like cheap lawn chairs to the Democrat ploy to flood the US with illegal aliens who will get free shit for life if only they keep voting for the blue team.

    The bill had broad support in the Senate, with backing from almost all Democrats and a majority of Republicans. Several Republicans who had opposed an earlier iteration of the package, which came after a failed push to attach it to a border-policy overhaul, switched their vote to support Tuesday’s bill. The breakdown of the votes is as follows:

    GOP NO VOTES:

    • Barrasso
    • Blackburn
    • Braun
    • Budd
    • Cruz
    • Hagerty
    • Hawley
    • Johnson
    • Lee
    • Lummis
    • Marshall
    • Rubio
    • Scott (FL)
    • Schmitt
    • Vance  

    DEM NO VOTES:

    • Merkley
    • Sanders
    • Welch

    The vote brought to a close months of pointless sound and fury, and endless debate over Ukraine, that allegedly split the Republican Party,  with rank-and-file members openly rebelling against their leaders, who succeeded in outdemocrating the democrats.

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    The theatrical “fight” also called into question both how far the US would go to defend Ukraine, now in the third year of trying to repel Russia’s invasion, as well as America’s leadership role in the world, once the latest rescue funding is exhausted in a few months, which it will be, with the Ukraine having made zero progress in its war with Russia.

    The measure passed the House on Saturday and now goes to President Biden’s desk. Biden, who has been pushing for a big foreign-aid package since the fall, said he would quickly sign the measure into law Wednesday.

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    As broken down below, the measure contains money for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as well as humanitarian aid for Gaza—largely matching an earlier Senate bill—plus additions made by the House, such as sanctions on Russia and Iran and the TikTok provision. Leaders in the GOP-controlled House also changed roughly $9.5 billion in economic aid to Ukraine into forgivable loans rather than grants, to make it more politically palatable to Republicans, as if Ukraine will ever repay anything.

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) credited the White House as well as Republicans who backed Ukraine for advancing the measure, noting that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) put his political future on the line when he moved forward with the package.

    “In a resounding bipartisan vote, the relentless work of six long months has paid off,” Schumer said on the senate floor. In a statement, Biden thanked lawmakers of both parties, saying they answered “history’s call at this critical inflection point” by sending a message to allies and foes about American power.

    And just like that the deeply embedded deep state operative formerly known as the House speaker has become the media’s darling overnight:

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    Of course, while superficially the bill says “aid to Ukraine” where the majority of the money is really going is to the US military industrial complex. As the WSJ reports, the proposal has roughly $60 billion for Ukraine, most of which would flow to the U.S. defense industry for additional weapons such as ammunition and rocket launchers. The new aid comes on top of the more than $100 billion spent on the Defense Industry Kyiv since Russia invaded in February 2022.

    And while most muppets in the House and Senate are clearly in the pocket of the military-industrial complex and the deep state, a few holdouts remains.

    Sen. Eric Schmitt (R., Mo.), who voted against the measure, called the support for Ukraine to defend its borders “an insult to the American people” while the U.S. struggles with an influx of migrants at its own border with Mexico.

    Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) called his opposition to the proposal’s advancement “one of the toughest votes I’ve cast during my years in the Senate,” saying he couldn’t overcome his concern that humanitarian aid would end up in the hands of terrorists, among other worries.

    Others were more “malleable” in their ideological beliefs.

    Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.), who switched from voting against the Senate’s aid package in February to supporting the revised version on Tuesday, said that the politics were complicated.   “Our approach this time was to make sure that the politics are set, meaning that President Trump was on board, it’s something that could be passable, it’s something that could be explained,” he said.

    Sen. James Lankford (R., Okla.), who also switched his vote, said he didn’t want to “punish Israel and Ukraine” over the lack of border provisions. Lankford had led a failed bipartisan effort to find a compromise on immigration, which was shot down by Republicans earlier this year as not tough enough.

    Asked why some Senate Republicans were slow to support aid for Kyiv, 3000-year-old Senate mummy Mitch McConnell cited the “demonization of Ukraine” by conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson. “He had an enormous audience, which convinced a lot of rank and file Republicans that maybe this was a mistake,” McConnell said in a press conference. Carlson declined to comment.

    Mummified Mitch also laid blame on former President Donald Trump, Democrats and the border crisis for the amount of time it took to get most Republican lawmakers to acquiesce in continuing to fund the Ukrainian war effort.

    “I think the former president had sort of mixed views on it,” he said of Trump’s position on Ukraine aid. “We all felt that the border was a complete disaster, myself included,” McConnell continued, noting that the attempt earlier this year to attach border security provisions to Ukraine funding required senators to “deal with Democrats … and then a number of our members thought it wasn’t good enough.”

    “And then our nominee for president didn’t seem to want us to do anything at all,” McConnell said. “That took months to work our way through it.”

    Last but not least, the bill also starts the clock on TikTok’s Chinese-controlled owner ByteDance to find a new owner for the video app in the U.S. within a year, or risk a shutdown. But the matter is expected to be decided by the federal courts which means that it will quietly die on some bench in the corrupt US legal system. A court dispute would likely require judges to weigh the national security objectives of the ban against the First Amendment rights of TikTok and its users.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 04/23/2024 – 23:45

  • Chinese FX Outflows Soar, Priming The Next Bitcoin Surge
    Chinese FX Outflows Soar, Priming The Next Bitcoin Surge

    Last October, when we pointed out that China’s FX outflows had just hit a whopping $75BN – the single biggest monthly outflow since the 2015 currency devaluation – we concluded that the “unfavorable interest rate spread between China and the US will “likely imply persistent depreciation and outflow pressures in coming months”, or in other words, September’s biggest FX outflow in years is just the beginning, and very soon – in addition to geopolitics and central banks – the world will also be freaking out about the capital flight out of China… not to mention where all those billions in Chinese savings are going and which digital currency the Chinese are using to launder said outflows.”

    We wrote that on October 20 when Bitcoin was trading just under $30,000, a level it had been for much of 2023. And, just as we correctly predicted at the time…

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    … following this surge in Chinese FX outflows, bitcoin – traditionally China’s preferred means to circumvent Beijing’s great capital firewall – promptly exploded more than 100% higher in the next 4 months.

    And while conventional wisdom is that this surge in the price of the digital currency was largely due to the January launch of Bitcoin ETFs, what many missed was a Reuters story in January which confirmed our thesis from back in 2015, according to which much more than ETFs, and much more than rapidly shifting sentiment or frankly any day-to-day newsflow, it is China’s massive wall of inert capital that has been the biggest driver of bitcoin moves, and never more so than during periods of FX and capital outflows which usually precede some form of capital controls.

    We bring all this up because six months after our first correct prediction that China’s spike in FX outflows would send bitcoin surging, it’s time to do it again.

    One wouldn’t know if, however, if one merely looked at the official Chinese FX reserve data published by the PBOC, here nothing sticks out. In fact, at $3.246 trillion, reported Chinese reserves are now near the highest level in past four years, and monthly flows are very much stable as shown in the chart below.

    The problem, of course, is that as we have explained previously China’s officially reported reserves are woefully (and perhaps purposefully) inaccurate of the bigger picture.

    Instead if one uses our preferred gauge of FX flows, one which looks at i) onshore outright spot transactions; ii) freshly entered and canceled forward transactions, and iii) the SAFE dataset on “cross-border RMB flows, we find that China’s net outflows were $39bn in March, up from $11bn in February and the fastest pace of outflows since the September spike in FX outflows which we duly noted half a year ago.

    How did we get this number? The portfolio investment channel showed net outflows in March. The Stock Connect channel showed net outflows of US$8bn vs. US$5bn inflows in February, and inflows to the bond market slowed in March (US$6bn, vs. US$11bn in February)…

    … primarily on record net selling of central government bonds.

    Finally, the current account channel showed also net outflows in March, mainly as services trade related outflows picked up.

    At the time when FX outflows were re-acclererating, the broad USD strengthened further in March, and USD/CNY spot drifted higher, as one would expect when there is capital flight... Oh, and Bitcoin hit a record high above $70K.

    And while Chinese policymakers are still keen on maintaining FX stability – the countercyclical factors in the daily CNY fixing remained deeply negative and front-end CNH liquidity tightened notably in recent weeks – the reality is that with China desperate to boost its exports at a time when its great mercantilist competitor, Japan, has hammered the yen to the lowest level in 3 decades, it is only a matter of time before the currency devaluation advocates win, as they did in 2015. 

    We hope that we don’t have to remind readers that the first big trigger for bitcoin’s unprecedented eruption higher starting in 2015 was – you guessed it – China’s August 2015 FX devaluation.

    So don’t be surprised if in the next 6 months Bitcoin doubles again, and the move has nothing to do with ETF inflows, the halving, or frankly anything else taking place in the US… and instead is entirely driven by China’s massive wall of money which at last check was almost 3x bigger than the US.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 04/23/2024 – 23:25

  • Biden Admin To Pay $139 Million To Victims For FBI Failures In Sex Abuse Investigation
    Biden Admin To Pay $139 Million To Victims For FBI Failures In Sex Abuse Investigation

    By Tom Ozimek of The Epoch Times

    The Biden administration has agreed to pay over $138 million to victims of convicted sex abuser Larry Nassar while acknowledging the FBI’s failures to properly investigate warnings that the sports physician was exploiting his position to molest young girls under the guise of treatment.

    The Department of Justice (DOJ) said in an April 23 statement that it had settled 139 civil claims arising from allegations of sexual abuse committed by Mr. Nassar, who was earlier found guilty of having abused hundreds of victims under the pretext of performing medical treatments.

    The settlements—which total $138.7 million—resolve administrative claims made against the DOJ alleging that the FBI failed to carry out an adequate investigation into Mr. Nassar’s actions.

    Larry Nassar, a former team USA Gymnastics doctor who pleaded guilty in November 2017 to sexual assault charges, stands in court during his sentencing hearing in the Eaton County Court in Charlotte, Michigan, U.S., Feb. 5, 2018. (Rebecca Cook/Reuters)

    A DOJ watchdog found in July 2021 that parts of the FBI’s response to allegations against Mr. Nassar, as well as the agency’s investigation into his actions, were inadequate.

    The “FBI failed to conduct an adequate investigation of Nassar’s conduct,” Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin Mizer said in a statement.

    “For decades, Lawrence Nassar abused his position, betraying the trust of those under his care and medical supervision while skirting accountability,” he continued.

    “These allegations should have been taken seriously from the outset. While these settlements won’t undo the harm Nassar inflicted, our hope is that they will help give the victims of his crimes some of the critical support they need to continue healing,” Mr. Mizer added.

    The $138.7 million will be distributed to the claimants.

    There have been other settlements involving Mr. Nassar, who was the U.S. women’s gymnastics team doctor.

    In total, settlements concerning the convicted sex abuser have totaled nearly $1 billion, including Michigan State University agreeing to pay $500 million to over 300 women and girls whom he assaulted.

    “Institutional Betrayal”

    After allegations of Mr. Nassar’s abuse were first reported to the FBI Indianapolis Field Office by the president of USA Gymnastics in 2015, local field agents failed to respond “with the utmost seriousness and urgency that the allegations deserved and required,” the 2021 report by the DOJ’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) found.

    Further, the report found that two FBI officials lied during their interviews to cover up or minimize their errors. One of the agents also made a false statement to the media in 2017 and 2018 about how his office handled the Nassar case.

    That agent also violated the FBI’s conflict of interest policy by discussing a possible job with the U.S. Olympic Committee while he was involved with the Nassar investigation.

    The watchdog noted the seriousness of the former agents lying during the investigation into their conduct in the years after the events but said there wasn’t enough to bring a federal criminal case.

    The Justice Department has acknowledged that it failed to step in. For more than a year, FBI agents in Indianapolis and Los Angeles had knowledge of allegations against him but apparently took no action, an internal investigation found.

    FBI Director Christopher Wray spoke to survivors of Mr. Nassar’s abuse at a Senate hearing in 2021, expressing contrition for the agency’s failures. The assault survivors include decorated Olympians Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and McKayla Maroney.

    “I’m sorry that so many different people let you down, over and over again,” Mr. Wray said. “And I’m especially sorry that there were people at the FBI who had their own chance to stop this monster back in 2015 and failed.”

    After a search, investigators said in 2016 that they had found images of child sex abuse and followed up with federal charges against Mr. Nassar.

    Continue reading at the Epoch Times

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 04/23/2024 – 23:05

  • "That's Concerning": US Indo-Pacific Commander Warns China Becoming More Aggressive As Economic Recovery "Failing" 
    “That’s Concerning”: US Indo-Pacific Commander Warns China Becoming More Aggressive As Economic Recovery “Failing” 

    One of the biggest questions of our time is whether China and the United States can escape Thucydides’s Trap. It seems that, in the short term, the US will likely avoid direct conflict with China, but in the long term, there will be a slow march toward conflict in the Indo-Pacific region. 

    On Tuesday, Admiral John Aquilino, the head of the US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), told reporters in Tokyo that China has become increasingly aggressive across Asia. 

    “We all need to understand that it’s moving very fast,” Aquilino said, as quoted by Bloomberg. 

    He said, “The buildup of military power despite a bad economy, the increased narrative of all things inside the 10-dash line are Chinese sovereign territory, then the actions that are going toward enforcement.”

    After serving three years as the head of INDOPACOM, Aquilino will step down. He oversees 380,000 soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, guardians, Coast Guardsmen, and Department of Defense civilians. 

    He warned about rising tensions near the Second Thomas Shoal, where the Philippines has held the line since World War II. A recent incident of Chinese vessels using water cannons to block Philippine military vessels has been an ominous sign for some military observers. 

    Aquilino also spoke about China’s economy, indicating the world’s second-largest economy “has drastically been reduced” because of a “real-estate market crash.”

    “You go ask any economist if the Chinese are going to deliver 5.3% growth, and they will tell you, ‘No way,'” Aquilino said.

    Aquilino also called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s regime “disgusting” for spending large sums of money on the military while a food shortage ripples through the country. 

    Aquilino’s comment comes days before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travels to China. He is expected to convey Washington’s “deep concerns” about Beijing’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base.

    “We’re prepared to take steps when we believe necessary against firms that … severely undermine security in both Ukraine and Europe,” Blinken told reporters ahead of Wednesday’s trip. 

    David Asher, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, commented on Aquilino’s remarks by stating:

    “Admiral Aquilino has been a forward-thinking, leaning, and acting US Combatant Commander in the Indo-Pacific. But the facts on the ground and sea have been allowed to strategically favor Communist China which has fortified coral reefs and atolls across the South China Sea and fan its naval forces across the region from the seas surrounding Japan to Taiwan to the Philippines and Vietnam. 

    “China’s relentless expansionism has been largely unopposed. Beijing cannot be allowed to continue its expansionist wave. It’s time for the US, Japan, and Australia to link up and provide active protection to the Philippines and start to begin freedom of navigation missions to Taiwan. Incoming Commander Admiral Sam Paparo will have a lot on his plate.” 

    Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and soaring turmoil in the Middle East, including Israel and Iran, with risks of conflicts flaring up in the Indo-Pacific region, are all confirmations that a multipolar world has emerged. 

    That said, we have noted that defense spending worldwide has surged, pushing the defense industry into a bull market:

    There’s a bull market in global defense stocks. 

    The multipolar world will only bring more chaos and destruction. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 04/23/2024 – 22:45

  • Are The Mass Pro-Palestine Protests On College Campuses Just One Big Virtue Signal?
    Are The Mass Pro-Palestine Protests On College Campuses Just One Big Virtue Signal?

    Submitted by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

    As a general rule, rebels without a cause will eventually latch onto the nearest cause of opportunity.  It really doesn’t matter what it is, for activists with ample time on their hands and plenty of trust fund money these protests fill the void and make them feel like they have meaning.

    Such is the case with the political left and their infatuation with Gaza (or any movement rooted in Islam).  It’s been noted by many commentators that the relationship between Islamic fundamentalists and the far-left is a bizarre one.  After all, almost every element of Sharia Law is completely antithetical to the proclaimed values of progressives including equal rights for women, equal rights for gays and the leftist penchant for atheism.  All of these beliefs might get a person executed in a host of Muslim governed countries, but for some reason the leftist mob wants in on the Islamic bandwagon.  

    Whatever your opinion is on the war or the governments involved it’s clear that it has nothing to do with woke activists in the western world.  The war is simply a vehicle which they hope they can hijack and attach their own agendas to.  Primarily, progressives view Israel as a symbol of western “colonialism” and in their minds anything colonial must be destroyed.  Their concerns for Palestinians are peripheral, if their concerns exist at all.  This is about visibility and a chance to create chaos.

    If you believe in “karma” then you might suggest that the Israelis have been setting themselves up for this reaction for a long time.  Israeli tied propaganda organizations like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) have been fomenting leftist insanity for decades and defending every aspect of the social justice religion.  They helped create a golem that they can’t control and now it’s turning on them.

    Of course, it’s not the Israeli government that’s suffering any real consequences; rather, it’s conservatives abroad as well as Jewish students attending western universities.  After many years of the ADL crying wolf (racism and antisemitism) over secret Nazis that didn’t really exist, now they finally have something legitimate to complain about.

    Woke protesters marched out in tandem within multiple universities across the US in a relatively well coordinated disruption action.  New York University, Columbia, Yale and Berkeley were all involved but much of the media focus was on NYU and Columbia.  Activists linked arms and allegedly blocked Jewish students from entering campus facilities.  The atmosphere has become so volatile that Jewish religious leaders are calling on students to leave such institutions for their own safety.   

    The NYPD has responded with a blitz on the protests.  Encampments have been torn down and mass arrests have ensued.  Police could not immediately share how many people had been arrested or issued with summonses because the situation was ongoing.  Faculty members were among those arrested, an NYPD spokesperson told CNN.  

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    These developments have some interesting implications for the US going forward.  In particular, polls show that Joe Biden is gradually losing favor among young voters because of his continued military and monetary support of Israel.  His most rabid base is turning on him, which means the November election is looking better and better for Donald Trump.  

    That said, there is the continuing problem of fabricated rationales.  Just as the death of George Floyd was shamelessly exploited by the left and Democrats as a radicalization moment, Gaza is also being used erroneously as a foil for increasingly aggressive mobilizations of people that, frankly, just want a reason to burn stuff. It’s likely that as the conflict continues to escalate western countries will see larger and more violent protests in major cities.

    Does anyone in the Middle East care what a bunch of college kids in the US have to say about Gaza?  No, why would they?  Can the US government influence the developing war for the better?  Maybe, but they aren’t going to.  But stopping the war is not necessarily the goal of US based activists.    

    Donald Trump has loudly voiced his own political support for Israel on a number of occasions so a change in White House leadership probably won’t lead to the economic or strategic isolation of Israel.  Unless the war ends soon, which is improbable now that Iran is involved, we may be seeing nationwide protests and riots yet again.  Different excuse, same results. 

    *  *  *

    The views expressed above do not necessarily represent those of ZeroHedge.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 04/23/2024 – 22:25

  • These Are The Worst States To Be A Gun Owner In 2024
    These Are The Worst States To Be A Gun Owner In 2024

    Does your state support your 2nd Amendment rights or make it exceedingly difficult to keep and bear arms?

    Ammo.com has ranked the worst states to be a gun owner below…

    How?

    By analyzing each state’s current laws, upcoming laws, concealed carry guidelines, self-defense statutes, and 2A-centric taxes in order to identify the worst states for gun owners in 2024.

    Report Highlights

    • Hawaii is the #1 worst state for gun owners due to strict purchasing and carry laws, as well as defying the Supreme Court on the individual’s right to carry.

    • California is the #2 worst state for gun owners due to its permit-to-purchase and reciprocity laws.

    • New York, Illinois, and New Jersey take the #3, #4, and #5 spot in our list of worst states for gun ownership due to strict purchasing and carrying requirements.

    • North Carolina, Maine, and Ohio fall into spots #25, #24, and #23 due to new restrictive legislation with some relaxed carry laws.

    • Some states rank lower than others due to excessive infringements, additional taxes, and the current Governor’s 2A statements.

    • State and local laws defining Stand Your Ground vs. Duty to Retreat vary and should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

    Jump to a state: AL | AK | AZ | AR | CA | CO | CT | DE | FL | GA | HI | ID | IL | IN | IA | KS | KY | LA | ME | MD | MA | MI | MN | MS | MO | MT | NE | NV | NH | NJ | NM | NY | NC | ND | OH | OK | OR | PA | RI | SC | SD | TN | TX | UT | VT | VA | WA | WV | WI | WY

    Read the full report on the worst states to be a gun owner in 2024 at Ammo.com.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 04/23/2024 – 22:05

  • Scientific American Claims It Is "Misinformation" That There Are Just Two Sexes
    Scientific American Claims It Is “Misinformation” That There Are Just Two Sexes

    Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

    Scientific American has published a piece claiming that “misinformation,” such as the notion that there are only two sexes, is “being used against transgender people” and in order to target “gender-affirming medical care.”

    The article states that there are three types of “misinformation,” and they are “oversimplifying scientific knowledge, fabricating and misinterpreting research, and promoting false equivalences.”

    The piece asserts that “Many of the arguments against trans rights center on the idea that transness itself is not legitimate – that there are just two sexes, period.”

    There are only two sexes though.

    It then turns to ‘scientist’ Simón(e) Sun, a self described trans(sexual) ándrógýne \ (neuro)biologist, pronouns in bio person and notes “You describe this idea as ‘sex essentialism.’ Can you explain that term, and talk about how it shapes the debate.”

    They/she then states “Essentialism is the idea that you can take any phenomenon that is complex and distill it down to a particular set of traits. In the case of sex essentialism, the idea is that you can sufficiently describe sex by a few particular characteristics. In this debate, it used to be chromosomes, now it’s gametes (egg and sperm cells).”

    Yeah, that is biology 101 and no matter how many times they/she says it’s changed and that anyone who doesn’t agree is a ‘transphobe’, it hasn’t.

    They/she continues, “The target is always moving, because if you want to make something binary, then you need to find the most binary characteristic. Today, sex essentialism boils all of sex down to the gametes that a person produces.”

    Again, biology 101.

    “But biology is just not that simple,” Sun continues, adding “The sex essentialist perspective is completely wrong about the biology of how sex characteristics arise.”

    It is that simple though.

    The piece goes on in this vein, throws in ‘hate’ and ‘prejudice’ and climate change and Donald Trump, all to push the ideological agenda that life-altering drugs and surgeries shouldn’t be challenged.

    All of this comes in the wake of a major long term study in the UK that concluded that treatment gender-confused children have been offered was built entirely on “shaky foundations” and that there is “no good evidence to support the global clinical practice of prescribing hormones to under-18s to pause puberty or transition to the opposite sex.”

    The author of the review, retired consultant paediatrician Dr Cass, formerly the president of the Royal College of Paediatrics, called the evidence for life altering drugs “remarkably weak” and warned that transgender activists are the ones “deliberately spread(ing) misinformation.”

    Since the review was published, Cass has been subject to abuse and cannot use public transport over fears for her safety.

    Meanwhile, trans activist groups continue to push their propaganda on children, encouraging teachers and school officials to keep it hidden from the parents:

    *  *  *

    Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 04/23/2024 – 21:45

  • "Let Me Go Home, Okay?": Mistrial Declared For Arizona Rancher Accused Of Killing Illegal Immigrant On His Property
    “Let Me Go Home, Okay?”: Mistrial Declared For Arizona Rancher Accused Of Killing Illegal Immigrant On His Property

    A mistrial was declared in the case of an Arizona rancher accused of fatally shooting an illegal immigrant on his property near the US-Mexico border, after the jury failed to reach a unanimous decision following two full days of deliberation.

    George Alan Kelly, 75, was charged with second-degree murder in the Jan. 30, 2023 shooting of 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, who was in the United States illegally.

    “Based upon the jury’s inability to reach a verdict on any count,” said Arizona Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink, adding “This case is in mistrial.“

    According to one of Kelly’s defense attorneys, Kathy Lowthorp, just one juror was voting ‘guilty,’ which is why their legal team pushed for deliberations to continue.

    “There was one hold out for guilt, the rest were not guilty. So seven not guilty, one guilty,” said Lowthorp. “We believe in our gut that there was no way the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt.”

    The Santa Cruz County Attorney’s office can still retry Kelly for any charge, or drop the case. 

    Prosecutors accused Kelly of recklessly firing nine shots from an AK-47 rifle toward a group of men who were trespassing on his cattle ranch after running from Border Patrol agents, roughly 115 yeards away. He was also accused of providing inconsistent statements throughout the investigation – initially failing to tell officials that he had fired his weapon, and then allegedly claiming that the illegal immigrants were part of a group of 10-15 people armed with AR-style rifles – and that he’d heard gunshots.

    Kelly’s attorney said that he had fired “warning shots.”

    “He does not believe that any of his warning shots could have possibly hit the person or caused the death,” she said at the time. “All the shooting that Mr. Kelly did on the date of the incident was in self-defense and justified.

    After Monday’s ruling, Consul General Marcos Moreno Baez of the Mexican consulate in Nogales, Arizona, said he would wait with Cuen-Buitimea’s two adult daughters on Monday evening to meet with prosecutors from Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office to learn about the implications of a mistrial.

    “Mexico will continue to follow the case and continue to accompany the family, which wants justice.” said Moreno. “We hope for a very fair outcome.“

    Kelly’s defense attorney Brenna Larkin did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment after the ruling was issued. Larkin had asked Fink to have jurors keep deliberating another day. –CBS News

    Following the mistrial, Kelly said: “Let me go home, okay? That alright with y’all? It is what it is and it will be what it will be. I will keep fighting forever. I won’t stop.”

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    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 04/23/2024 – 21:30

  • Kim Jong Un Oversees "Nuclear Counterattack" Drill
    Kim Jong Un Oversees “Nuclear Counterattack” Drill

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw salvo launches of the country’s “super-large” multiple rocket launchers in what state media presented as simulation drills of a nuclear counterattack against enemy targets, state media revealed Tuesday.

    The day prior, the South Korean and Japanese militaries reported suspected launches of artillery and ballistic missiles from the north. Pyongyang subsequently confirmed it tested new systems including 600mm multiple rocket launchers, said to be capable of delivering tactical nuclear warheads.

    State media referred to the United States and South Korea, which have been conducting a series of joint military exercises over many months, as “warmongers” while describing the necessity of exercises focused on nuclear counterattack.

    Kim has described that the north’s new rocket launchers are as accurate as a “sniper’s rifle”. Kim observed the exercises from an observation post, a new set of photos released by KCNA shows.

    According to a state media description, as cited in AP:

    It said the rockets flew 352 kilometers (218 miles) before accurately hitting an island target and that the drill verified the reliability of the “system of command, management, control and operation of the whole nuclear force.”

    Part of the drill included a salvo of missiles sent toward “the potential enemy” which included targets on and outlying island with a range of just over 350km.

    US officials have previously indicated the recent spate of more aggressive statements from Kim should be taken seriously.

    “While the officials added that they did not see an imminent risk of a full-scale war on the Korean Peninsula, Mr. Kim could carry out strikes in a way that he thinks would avoid rapid escalation,” a NY Times report issued early this year said.

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    All of this is said to be part of Kim’s new policy of “open hostility” in response to US provocations on the peninsula, including starting last summer the docking of a US nuclear submarine at a South Korean port.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 04/23/2024 – 21:25

  • 'Merit' Makes A Comeback: More Universities Reinstate Testing Requirement For Admissions
    ‘Merit’ Makes A Comeback: More Universities Reinstate Testing Requirement For Admissions

    Authored by Wenyuan Wu via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Harvard, following in the footsteps of its Ivy League peers (Dartmouth and Yale) has reinstated standardized testing in its undergraduate admissions. America’s oldest private university, after popularizing the “holistic admissions” model (originally used in the early 20th century to keep Jews out) and dissing meritocracy, is perhaps taking a long and hard look at the ideological mess the education establishment itself helped create.

    People walk through the gate on Harvard Yard at the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Mass., on June 29, 2023. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

    Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, the war on tests has perpetuated the soft bigotry of low expectations and racialized education at the expense of our global competitiveness. And it filters down to younger kids. Based on ratings by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the U.S. ranked No. 25 on 15-year-old students’ academic performance in math, science, and reading among nearly 80 countries and No. 37 on its average math score in 2018.

    The march back through the institutions has begun, with torchbearers of “progressive” education like Harvard retracting from the equity-obsessed assault on standards. But the overdue redress is not happening quickly enough. As of April 18, 2024, more than 1,900 accredited institutions of higher education in the U.S. are test-optional, while over 80 campuses are test-free.

    Most importantly, the ideological rot and moral bankruptcy at the core of the war on standards remain stubbornly embedded in many of our major institutions and in our contemporary culture. The concept of “merit,” for instance, is thoroughly misconstrued. Some “anti-racism” groups have listed “hard work, objectivity, rational thinking” as signs of “whiteness.” The MIT Press Reader ran an article last year about “The Myth of Meritocracy,” discrediting the thesis that a hard-working, right-living person can become a prosperous self-made man. The Princeton University Press published a Trump-bashing piece shortly before the 2020 election, arguing that “believing in meritocracy makes people more selfish, less self-critical and even more prone to acting in discriminatory ways. Meritocracy is not only wrong; it’s bad.”

    The harsh indictment on merit, a quintessential American spirit and an integral part of our national DNA, is based on faulty conceptualization. To critics of meritocracy, innate ability and personal circumstances are the only components of merit and they are beyond our control. Such an oversimplified conception of merit leaves no room for factors such as hard work, grit, perseverance, personal initiative, and agency.

    Adrian Wooldridge, author of “The Aristocracy of Talent” (2021), offers a synthesis on four tenets of a meritocratic society:

    1. People can get ahead in life on the basis of natural talent.

    2. Meritocracy secures equality of opportunity by providing education for all.

    3. It forbids discrimination on the basis of sex, race, and other irrelevant characteristics.

    4. It awards jobs through open competition, rather than patronage or nepotism.

    Admittedly, merit is not just about standardized test scores for college admissions. But those pursuing technical career paths also need to cultivate their skills and develop some sort of minimum qualifications. Emergency Medical Technicians, general contractors, and food truck operators must obtain state licenses or certifications to carry on their respective lines of work. A society that shuns any measurable standards expected of its contributing members is not one that can maximize the utilization of different talents, potentials, and skill sets.

    Merit is actually a combination of natural talent and effort. While not flawless, it is infinitely better than a return to ancient aristocracies “founded on wealth and birth.” It is also fairer than the fashionable paradigm of equity, which treats Americans as representatives of their identity groups and deprives us of agency. Assuming victimhood and privilege based on color, race and other group labels metabolizes into the prevailing culture of DEI, as if the profound fairness and unfairness of life that everyone must contend with can be simply reduced to cartoonish dichotomies.

    If there is something in life worth fighting for, I believe it must be imbued with a sense of personal agency, with the idea that we are the architects of our own life. The American Dream, a happy consequence of our meritocracy, is the notion that we can get to a place that is not predetermined by our birth or circumstances.

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

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 04/23/2024 – 21:05

  • What The Rising Gold Price Signals (Spoiler Alert: Nothing Good)
    What The Rising Gold Price Signals (Spoiler Alert: Nothing Good)

    Authored by Antonius Aquinas,

    The recent run-up in the gold price has not garnered the attention among the mainstream financial media outlets as it should. 

    Gold has, in part, been overshadowed by the rise in the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. 

    Naturally, the financial press, which is really an arm of the government and its central bank, wants to ignore, as much as possible, references to gold as protection against the continuing increase in the price level which itself has been deliberately understated by monetary officials.  The media and government understand that precious metals are the ultimate security against runaway inflation and economic collapse.

    While the increase in the gold price has reached nominal highs, it and the price of silver have not passed their all-time 1980 highs in real terms. 

    Adjusted for inflation, gold would have to rise to about $3590 an ounce while silver would have to surpass $50 an ounce.

    Both are poised to exceed these watermarks in the not-too-distant future.

    Precious metals will continue to escalate unless the Federal Reserve radically changes its interest rate policy to combat inflation as former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker once did.  Volcker raised interest rates to double-digit levels which caused gold prices to fall.  While Volcker could get away with such actions (because, at the time, the U.S. was still a creditor nation), current Chair Jerome Powell cannot because of the enormity of public and private debt.  Double-digit interest rates would collapse the economy and plunge millions of Americans into bankruptcy.

    The rising price of gold is anticipating some of the promised policy actions of the Fed.  Since the end of last year, the central bank has indicated that it would be cutting interest rates.  In addition, Powell is considering ending the Fed’s “Quantitative Tightening” (QT) program.  Both are highly inflationary. 

    While commentators have focused on gold’s spectacular price rise, there is an underlying issue that is also taking place.  The record setting gold price is signaling that the present fiat monetary order, which is based on the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, is coming to a financially unpleasant end. 

    Ever since 1971, when the Nixon Administration closed the “gold window,” refusing to redeem gold for dollars held by foreign central banks, the world has been on a “dollar standard” where bank reserves are held in Greenbacks. 

    If the Fed continues to print dollars to sustain government spending at this rate, the dollar will continue to lose purchasing power and foreigners will no longer want to hold them.  Foreign central banks will then turn to gold.  In fact, central banks are already increasing their positions in gold which has been a catalyst that has fueled the latest rally.

    Not surprisingly, the Fed has not purchased much gold (or is not admitting publicly that it has) since it would be a bad look for the issuer of the world’s reserve currency to be abandoning its own currency for gold.

    Besides the severe financial implications if the dollar is dethroned, there will be dramatic geopolitical repercussions from the loss of its hegemony.  Just like the British pound was replaced as the dominant world currency after England insanely exhausted itself in fighting WWII and ending its empire, America will face a similar future when the dollar becomes just another money.  Many will see it as a “blessing” if and when the U.S. Empire comes to an end.

    While it would appear logical and morally sound to replace the present crumbling monetary order with one based on gold and silver, a far worse paradigm than even the present one is, no doubt, being planned. 

    The new system will be one of central bank digital currency (CBDC) which would give governments and bankers the power to monitor and control all aspects of economic and social life. 

    Some states have passed legislation to counter CBDC, such as Florida in 2023 under Governor Ron DeSantis who said:

    “The Biden administration’s efforts to inject a Centralized Bank Digital Currency is about surveillance and control.  Today’s announcement will protect Florida consumers and businesses from the reckless adoption of a ‘centralized digital dollar’ which will stifle and promote government-sanctioned surveillance. . . .”

    While the press and policy makers have ignored the surge in precious metal prices, it should be a warning to everyone that difficult economic times are still yet to come with the potential of a new draconian monetary order to be installed on the horizon. 

    Observant individuals should heed gold’s signals and take appropriate measures to safeguard their futures.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 04/23/2024 – 20:25

  • Backstage, Private Dinner At ZeroHedge Crypto Debate With Schiff, Roubini, Scaramucci, & Voorhees
    Backstage, Private Dinner At ZeroHedge Crypto Debate With Schiff, Roubini, Scaramucci, & Voorhees

    On May 3, ZeroHedge is partnering with Crypto Banter to bring together top macroeconomic minds to debate Cryptocurrency: is it the financial engine of the future or a worthless bubble?

    In the anti-crypto corner is the man whose name is synonymous with “gold”, infamous crypto bear Peter Schiff. Alongside Schiff will be “Dr. Doom”: renowned economist Nouriel Roubini.

    Arguing in favor of crypto will be Anthony Scaramucci – infamous wealth manager with over $10 billion in AUM – as well as day-one crypto veteran Erik Voorhees, founder of ShapeShift and torch-bearer for the asset class’ libertarian roots.

    ZeroHedge is making an extremely limited number of spaces available for our readers who would like to meet the participants backstage before the debate, and enjoy dinner afterwards with the team and ZeroHedge staff in Palm Beach, Florida.

    Only five tickets available at $10,000 each (existing pro subs get a discount – email debates@zerohedge.com to redeem).

    Tickets are all-inclusive (business class travel and a luxury hotel stay in Palm Beach are included) and first-come-first-serve, so purchase yours now.

    If you cannot attend in person, be sure to catch the debate on ZeroHedge.com on May 3, 7pm ET.

    Secure your ticket

    *Anthony Scaramucci cannot attend the dinner but will be in-studio for the debate.

    For businesses interested in purchasing all five tickets for a work retreat, contact debates@zerohedge.com to inquire about discount pricing.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 04/23/2024 – 20:15

  • Amash Battling Trump-Endorsed Deep-State Doozie For Michigan Senate Nomination
    Amash Battling Trump-Endorsed Deep-State Doozie For Michigan Senate Nomination

    Former Rep. Justin Amash on Monday announced that his Senate campaign had submitted the requisite signatures to appear on Michigan’s Aug. 6 primary ballot. The GOP field for a shot at a Democrat-vacated seat includes an archetypal Deep Stater in former Rep. Mike Rogers, who chaired the House Intelligence Committee and scored Trump’s endorsement in March despite having repeatedly bashed the former president. 

    In his final House term, Amash left the GOP, first becoming an independent and then a “capital L” Libertarian, giving the party its first-ever member of Congress, and positioning himself for a potential 2020 presidential run as a Libertarian; after forming an exploratory committee, he ultimately opted not to run.  

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    Libertarian Republicans Thomas Massie, Justin Amash and Rand Paul amid an intense 2015 battle against extension of the Patriot Act (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Newscom)

    In rotating back to the Republican Party after leaving it to carry the Libertarian banner, Amash is in some good company: After holding a House seat as a Republican, Ron Paul was the 1988 Libertarian presidential nominee, but returned to the GOP as a congressman and two-time Republican presidential candidate. 

    Of course, for many Republicans, Amash committed a far bigger sin: voting to impeach Donald Trump in 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. In a lengthy tweet thread at the time, Amash said Special Counselor Robert Mueller’s report “identifies multiple examples of conduct satisfying all the elements of obstruction of justice, and undoubtedly any person who is not the president of the United States would be indicted based on such evidence.”

    Last August, however, Amash railed against the federal criminal indictment of Trump for alleged election interference, tweeting:

    “I may not like Trump, but I love our Constitution, so I feel compelled to speak out. The latest indictment, which I encourage everyone to read, attempts to criminalize Trump’s routine misstatements of fact and law in connection with the 2020 election. But this is precisely the sort of wrong that must be addressed politically under our Constitution, not criminally.”

    One of those exasperated observers is Sen. Rand Paul, who lashed out at Trump’s endorsement of “the worst Deep State candidate this cycle”:

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    A choice between Amash and Rogers is a choice between two people who’ve hammered Trump. The Michigan MAGA crowd can pick the one who’s a relentless opponent of mass surveillance, or the one who advocated expanded surveillance power under FISA and trafficked slanderous propaganda against NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

    In a 2014, Rogers smeared Snowden with baseless suggestions that he was aided by the Russians, telling Meet the Press, “Let me just say this. I believe there’s a reason he ended up in the hands, the loving arms, of an FSB agent in Moscow. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.” Of course, the facts were as clear then as they are now: Snowden didn’t flee to Russia — Obama trapped him there.   

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    In a bright spot for Amash, his campaign last week announced that its per-week Q1 receipts since entering the race far outpaced its rivals’. Amash brought in $109,000 per week, compared to $79,000 for Rogers, $18,000 for Meijar and (not a typo) $93 for Pensler. Amash had $740,000 in cash on hand on March 31, compared to $1.4 million for Rogers, who spent nearly $600,000 in the first three months of 2024. 

    For conservatives, Meijar isn’t much of an alternative. Backed by interventionist neocons Sen. Tom Cotton and Rep. Dan Crenshaw, he succeeded Amash in Michigan’s 3rd congressional district, and proceeded to vote for Trump’s second impeachment — for “incitement of insurrection” — and for creating the Jan. 6 inquiry committee. He was primaried out of office after voting with Biden 39% of the time. His record also includes votes for Ukraine aid, and for a gun control package that included funding for “red flag” gun seizures. 

    Born to Palestinian and Syrian Christian parents, Amash was the first Palestinian-American to serve in Congress. In October, the Israeli Defense Forces killed several of his relatives when it bombed Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church in Gaza. In another point of differentiation, we’re guessing Rogers will be keener on shoveling more money to the IDF than Amash. 

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    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 04/23/2024 – 20:05

  • Wave Goodbye To Another Set Of Freedoms With The New Digital ID
    Wave Goodbye To Another Set Of Freedoms With The New Digital ID

    Authored by Graham Young via The Epoch Times,

    “Papers please” used to be the ostinato of totalitarian systems, at least in the movies.

    With the passing of the government’s Digital ID bills, Australians will have to become used to the digital equivalent – so what does that say about present-day Australia?

    A few things have surprised me over the last few years, not the least the way the famous Aussie spirit of insubordination has been subsumed into a goody-two-shoes compliance with whatever capricious orders the authorities made.

    I can’t imagine our forebears accepting lockdowns and forced vaccinations, and I certainly couldn’t see them accepting an identity card linking not just government accounts but private sector ones as well.

    While the first proposition is an assertion based on a gut feeling, the second is very much based on fact.

    Remember the Australia Card?

    In 1984, the Hawke Labor government introduced the Australia Card, and for the next three years, the government and opposition parties tussled over it to the extent that it triggered a double-dissolution election in 1987.

    Objections didn’t just come from the federal Opposition either.

    Queensland Labor Senator George Georges resigned from the governing party in 1986 over the issue, and in the lower house, Labor backbencher Lewis Kent said:

    “Nothing can be more un-Australian than the need to provide one’s identity on the call of an official, be it a policeman or a bureaucrat. It would be more appropriate for the proposed card to be called a Hitlercard or Stalin-card.”

    As a result, while the government won the 1987 election, and had the numbers to push the card through, instead, it withdrew the card when a technicality was found that could have affected its operation. One senses this was a relief.

    Individual Freedom Chipped Away, One Law at a Time

    Yet, apart from a few senators this time there has been little outcry in response to the Albanese government’s Digital ID, although the Liberal-National Opposition did vote against it.

    A form of this ID was recommended by the Murray Inquiry into the Financial System in 2014, but the committee was careful to avoid recommending a full-blown government-issued identity card because of the Australia Card debacle.

    The then-Liberal-National government acted on these recommendations, but its version of the bill was to facilitate private organisations to issue their own digital identity cards, rather than the government.

    Why has the government now decided to make the card a government-issued one, when the recommendation and the draft legislation was for a competitive system?

    At one level one might say it is symptomatic of this Labor government that it wants to control everything and is suspicious of both private enterprise and competition.

    At another level, it has been gnawing away at the independence of the citizenry, particularly the independence of thought, so maybe there is a long-term agenda of control here.

    Two pieces of draft legislation, and one draft regulation, exemplify this tendency—the proposed draft Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2023, the Online Safety (Relevant Electronic Services—Class 1A and Class 1B Material) Industry Standard 2024, as well as the Religious Discrimination Bill.

    The combination of these is to restrict what citizens can say, teach, and whom they associate with, depending on what is approved by the government, or worse, regulators.

    Recent Tragedies Reveal How Eager Authorities Are to ‘Protect’ Us

    Almost as though to prove the dangers of these proposed laws, the Commonwealth “censor” eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant just days ago ordered Meta and X to remove videos showing footage from the stabbing incidents at Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre, and the Christ the Good Shepherd church at Wakely.

    I’ve seen this footage, as have many other Australians, and suffice it to say, were I the eSafety commissioner, they would still be up.

    When it comes to horror, the footage I have seen from Gaza and Ukraine, and reproduced in the pages and on the websites of the major news sites, is more horrific than any of this footage.

    And where is the justification for censoring the information that individuals can now access for themselves?

    For a moment there, we all became citizen journalists, able to view events and make our own decisions, and now the government is trying to take our accreditation away from us.

    Indeed, some of these clips are uplifting as they show acts of heroism as men throw themselves between attackers and victims, or tend to the wounded.

    Ms. Grant only has powers over commercial entities, so I can still, for the moment, show the videos on my blog.

    But should we all have a unique identifier, known to the government and cross-referenced to every other activity that we are involved in, who knows what petty bureaucrat will hold my free will in their hands? And what else might the government interfere with?

    Voluntary? Not Really

    In Canada, a country that shares our democratic norms, we saw the Trudeau government bar protestors, and any supporters who donated money to their cause, from using their bank accounts.

    Imagine what an interlinking record could allow them to have done.

    Is it too far-fetched to think that could happen in Australia?

    The government says these concerns are absurd.

    The digital ID card is “voluntary” and will only link records to the person, not link them together, and records will be encrypted. It also claims that it will protect against cyber-attacks.

    The voluntary aspect is laughable.

    You may be able to access your Centrelink welfare benefits without it, but you will need to physically go down to the Centrelink office, even if you live in Oodnadatta—a remote outback town in South Australia—and if the office is in Perth, Western Australia.

    And if you are a company director, you will need one, full-stop, because of the now-mandatory “director IDs” introduced by the Morrison government in 2021.

    If “voluntary” doesn’t mean voluntary for all people and all activities, then it doesn’t mean voluntary at all.

    Believe It or Not, the Slippery Slope Is Real

    So why are we acquiescing to this scheme?

    Perhaps it is because we’ve become too compliant—that the irreverent generation were the original immigrants and their sons and daughters, and now we are onto third, fourth, fifth generations and more, the spirit of adventure that brought people here has dissipated.

    Or maybe it’s the case that the frog has been swimming in digital waters that have gradually risen in temperature.

    First, we allowed social media companies to monetise us in return for the free use of their platforms, and then we allowed them to cross-reference our online activities to create profiles to then be used for other unrelated sites.

    And how is that working out? They abuse their power.

    We know that, come election time, they will be putting their thumbs on our scales and showing us material that they deem suitable, rather than allowing us to make our own decisions.

    We also know that they work hand-in-glove with unscrupulous administrations to sell us lies like “safe and effective” and to suppress embarrassing facts, such as the high probability that viruses escape from laboratories more regularly than from pangolins in a market (particularly when the market didn’t have any pangolins for sale).

    I don’t believe that governments are any more trustworthy than social media, especially if they are staffed with Bruce Lehrmanns and Brittany Higgins’s.

    Democracy is meant to be government by the people, for the people. And Google’s motto was “Don’t be evil.”

    But one seems to be converging on government by anyone but the people, and the other seems to have dropped the motto, maybe ashamed of their hypocrisy.

    Either way, human institutions seem inexorably to head towards dissolution, so the less they know about you and can link together, the better.

    So I’ll probably pass on my Digital ID.

    Whoops, I’m a company director. Looks like they are closing in on me already.

    Looks like I’ve already learned the true, government-approved, meaning of “voluntary.”

    *  *  *

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

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 04/23/2024 – 19:45

  • Next Ukraine Package 'Larger Than Normal' As Biden Tells Zelensky Aid Coming "Quickly"
    Next Ukraine Package ‘Larger Than Normal’ As Biden Tells Zelensky Aid Coming “Quickly”

    US officials have been quoted in Politico as saying the Biden White House is preparing a “larger than normal” weapons package for Ukraine to be sent quickly once Biden signs the bill into law authorizing $61 billion in spending, following the historic weekend House vote, which was far and away the biggest hurdle.

    The officials described the new “significantly larger” tranche as including Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Humvees, M113 armored personnel carriers, and missiles – which will be ready to roll out the door. Also expected included in the package will be older Humvees and M113 armored personnel carriers. Two admin officials have told Reuters that the first single new package is expected to be valued at $1 billion.

    ATACMS missile, via US Army

    The White House said in a readout of Biden’s Monday call with Zelensky wherein the latter thanked the US for the new assistance: “President Biden shared that his administration will quickly provide significant new security assistance packages to meet Ukraine’s urgent battlefield and air defense needs as soon as the Senate passes the national security supplemental and he signs it into law.”

    Interestingly (and alarmingly, given the cross-border escalation with Russia soon to follow), Zelensky touted that the new bill also included provisions for Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) with a range of about 190 miles. “In the agreement on ATACMS for Ukraine, all the details are in place,” Zelensky said. “Thank you, Mr. President, thank you Congress, thank you America.”

    The $61 billion marked for Ukraine, among a broader final package totaling $95 billion (the rest for Israel and Taiwan), is now set for a vote in the Senate on Tuesday. “The task before us is urgent. It is once again the Senate’s turn to make history,” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell stated while previewing the vote.

    Biden told Zelensky that he could expect the military assistance to arrive “quickly” – at a moment Ukrainian cities and especially energy and communications infrastructure are getting pounded. One question that remains is how much of the $61 billion is going straight to major US defense contractors, as they work speedily to prepare more military hardware to be shipped out the door.

    Meanwhile, the southern port city of Odesa was pummeled overnight, and there are reports of Russian drones having been fired on the capital of Kiev as well:

    At least nine people have been injured after an overnight Russian air strike on the city of Odesa, Ukrainian officials said. “As a result of Russian terror, residential buildings were damaged, and there was a fire,” Ukraine’s state emergency services said on Telegram.

    The day prior, stunning video emerged from Kharkiv showing a large TV tower being taken out during a Russian attack…

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    AFP reported that an “AFP journalist in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, saw the red-and-white spire of the 240-meter structure toppled after local officials reported a barrage by Russian forces.”

    The New York Times has recently observed that “War in eastern Ukraine has killed tens of thousands of people, reduced cities to ruins and displaced millions of people. It has also all but destroyed the factories and plants that were for years an important driver of Ukraine’s economy.”

    As for what’s expected to be rushed US aid the moment Biden signs the new package into law, there are reports saying the staging has already taken place in central and eastern Europe…

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    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 04/23/2024 – 19:25

  • Cannabis Use Greatest Among Lower-Income And Less Educated
    Cannabis Use Greatest Among Lower-Income And Less Educated

    By Dan Witters of Gallup

    Nine percent of U.S. adults report that they use cannabis regularly, defined as at least 10 days of consumption per month.

    Regular usage differs by education and income, with the highest rates seen among those with a high school education or less (13%) and those living in households earning less than $24,000 per year (16%). These consumption levels are about three times the rates found among those with postgraduate work or degrees (5%) and those living in households earning $180,000 or more annually (5%).

    This analysis is part of the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index. The results are based on a web survey of 6,386 U.S. adults, conducted Nov. 30-Dec. 8, 2023, as part of the Gallup Panel, a probability-based, non-opt-in panel encompassing all 50 states and the District of Columbia. To measure cannabis use, Gallup asked: “Keeping in mind that this is confidential, how many days in the last month have you used cannabis products (such as smoking marijuana, vaping liquid THC, or consuming baked goods or gummies) to alter your mood and help you relax?”

    About one in five adults (19%) report using cannabis products at least once in the prior month, including 23% of those with a high school degree or less and 28% of those in households earning under $24,000 per year.

    Regular Cannabis Use Diminishes With Age, Slightly Higher Among Men

    In addition to education and income, other factors are associated with greater use of cannabis. Adults younger than 50, for example, are twice as likely as those aged 65 and older to be regular cannabis users (12% vs. 6%, respectively). Men (11%) are marginally more likely than women (8%) to be regular consumers, while little difference is found among White, Black and Hispanic adults.

    Cannabis Use Highest in East North Central and New England Areas

    Reports of regular cannabis use vary across the U.S. Census divisions. The highest rates of use (11%) are found in the Middle Atlantic (New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey) and East North Central divisions (Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio). The lowest usage rates (7%) are reported in the East South Central (Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama) and the West North Central (North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri) divisions. These differences are statistically meaningful.

    These results generally align with political identity, with residents of politically red states having somewhat lower regular usage rates than politically blue states. While regular use is reported by 10% of Democrats and independents, it drops to 6% among Republicans.

    When sorted into states that have legalized marijuana versus those that have kept it illegal, however, little differences in usage exist:

    • In states that have legalized marijuana: average of 2.9 days of cannabis consumption per month per person, with 9.7% regular users
    • In states that have not legalized marijuana: average of 2.5 days of cannabis consumption per month per person, with 8.6% regular users

    Implications

    In the U.S., cannabis is fully legal in 18 states and legal for medicinal purposes in 12 states. Another eight states have decriminalized marijuana, while it is fully illegal in 12 others. Legalization for recreational use was passed initially by voters in Colorado and Washington in 2012, with the commercial sale of marijuana to the general public available in both states in 2014. Nationally, 70% of adults now favor the legalization of marijuana for recreational use, an all-time high across over 50 years of measurement and up from 25% as recently as 1995. The narrow gap in cannabis consumption among residents of states where it remains illegal compared with those in states where it is legal suggests that its criminalization does little to curtail its use among American adults.

    Dovetailing with broadening legalization, the percentage of U.S. adults who report that they smoke marijuana has more than doubled in the past decade, climbing from 7% in 2013 to 17% in 2023. During that same period, the percentage reporting that they have tried it at least once has climbed from 38% to 50%. (It is worth noting that respondents may have also become more comfortable admitting to its use as its legality has widened.)

    How users consume cannabis has also evolved in recent years. For example, CDC BRFSS data show that among those who had consumed cannabis by any means in the prior 30 days, the proportion who primarily chose vaping to do so increased from 9.9% to 14.9% between 2017 and 2019 alone — and has likely increased since that time, particularly among young adults.

    Marijuana use can be addictive, with one study1 estimating that about three in 10 users form marijuana use disorder and a different study2 estimating that about 10% of cannabis users will become addicted. The use of marijuana during adolescence or young adulthood can affect how the brain builds connections for functions like attention and memory. Its use has also been linked to depression, anxiety and suicide. That cannabis use skews toward younger, less educated and lower-income individuals is consistent with previously existing research across an array of different substances and supports the need for early detection and intervention for at-risk individuals.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 04/23/2024 – 19:05

  • Hezbollah Launches Deepest Attack Into Israel Since War's Start, On Passover
    Hezbollah Launches Deepest Attack Into Israel Since War’s Start, On Passover

    Hezbollah on Tuesday conducted its deepest strikes into Israeli territory since the start of the war, launching drones at Israeli military bases on the outskirts of the Israeli city of Acre.

    Israel’s military said none of its facilities were hit, and videos circulating online appear to show Israeli anti-air systems intercepting at least one drone which was flying low over the Mediterranean, just off the coast where Acre is located.

    The IDF subsequently confirmed it intercepted two “areal targets” off Israel’s northern coast. Thus far in the conflict, Hezbollah’s daily rocket and drone attacks have tended to stay within within a few kilometers inside Israel. 

    However, Tuesday’s attack seems to be sending a message that escalation could be imminent: 

    A security source told Arab News that the attack was “a sensitive targeting.” The area struck is more than 15 km from the border with Lebanon.

    “This targeting took place in broad daylight while the Israelis were celebrating the Jewish Passover,” the source said.

    Hezbollah said it launched the drones “in response to Israeli aggression against the Lebanese town of Aadloun and the assassination of a (Hezbollah) cadre there.”

    While the IDF denied that there were any direct hits on military bases, Lebanese source Al-Mayadeen reported that the headquarters of the army’s Golani Brigade was struck with drones.

    The below video shows an IDF intercept of a Hezbollah drone…

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    This was based on a Hezbollah statement claiming that the air attack “targeted the headquarters of the Golani Brigade and the headquarters of Egoz Unit 621 in the Sharaga barracks, north of the occupied city of Akka (Acre), and the drones hit their targets accurately.”

    Last week a major war between Iran and Israel was narrowly avoided after each side launched ‘limited’ strikes against the other. But tensions remain high and it could be that Iran’s proxies, such as Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis, could be set to escalate, especially as the IDF has Rafah set in its sites.

    Interestingly, a fresh report in The New York Times says that Israeli leaders had actually planned a much bigger attack on Iran, but ditched the larger strike option at the last minute due to White House diplomatic intervention:

    Israel reportedly abandoned plans for a much more extensive counterstrike on the Islamic Republic after concerted diplomatic pressure from the United States and other foreign allies and because the brunt of an Iranian assault on Israel soil had been thwarted, according to three senior Israeli officials:

    Israeli leaders originally discussed bombarding several military targets across Iran last week, including near Tehran, the Iranian capital, in retaliation for the Iranian strike on April 13, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive discussions.

    Such a broad and damaging attack would have been far harder for Iran to overlook, increasing the chances of a forceful Iranian counterattack that could have brought the Middle East to the brink of a major regional conflict.

    In the end — after President Biden, along with the British and German foreign ministers, urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prevent a wider war — Israel opted for a more limited strike on Friday that avoided significant damage, diminishing the likelihood of an escalation, at least for now.

    Another angle showing a drone intercepted near Acre:

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    According to a note via Rabobank, Mohamed El-Erian underlines a markets/NatSec disconnect over Mid-East events. Markets say “de-escalation”, because the oil price has gone down. National security figures worry; and those saying recent attacks were telegraphed might note reports of White House panic when Iran launched missiles, and Israel planning a larger military strike at first. We have calm now, but neither side will pass on the opportunity to weaken the other; the enmity is not over.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 04/23/2024 – 18:45

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