Today’s News 24th October 2023

• German Coal Plants May Have To Remain On Standby Longer Than Planned
  German Coal Plants May Have To Remain On Standby Longer Than Planned

  Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

  The German government is considering whether to extend the period in which old coal-fired power plants would be asked to remain on standby for emergency backup beyond the currently planned deadline in the spring of 2024, German business daily Handelsblatt reported this weekend, citing a spokeswoman for the economy ministry.

  

  Without Russian gas, last year’s energy and gas crisis in Germany, and in Europe, has been keeping utilities and governments on edge and ready to have mothballed coal-fired power plants on stand-by in the coldest winter days to ensure the security of electricity supply.

  Earlier this month, Germany’s government said it was bringing back online several coal-fired units for this winter in an attempt to save natural gas and avoid power supply shortfalls.

  Several coal-fired blocks operated by RWE and LEAG at their Niederaußem, Neurath, and Jaenschwalde power plants will be temporarily reactivated until March 2024 as a precautionary measure to safeguard electricity supply in the coming winter, the Economy and Climate Action Ministry said, referring to a government decision to bring the coal-fired units online again.

  Those coal units were already operational during the 2022/2023 winter when Germany was shocked into a severely reduced gas supply with the end of Russian pipeline deliveries. The backup coal capacity was put on stand-by this summer until the government now decided to reactivate them for the coming winter.

  Now the German government is considering extending the stand-by period beyond the spring of 2024 to prevent energy shortages, according to Handelsblatt’s source.

  The government needs to take a decision soon because utilities need to make preparations for potentially running coal-fired plants longer than planned, including preparations in procuring coal and planning for stable energy systems, a spokesperson for Uniper told Handelsblatt.

  As of this month, 11 coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 6.2 gigawatts (GW) have been supplying additional electricity to the German grid.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/24/2023 – 02:00

• Decoding The Taxil Hoax: Part 1
  Decoding The Taxil Hoax: Part 1

  Authored by ‘Mr. E.’ via bombthrower.com (emphasis ours),

  

  In my last article, The World’s Greatest Hoax, I exploded the myth that the Freemasons were at the center of a devil-worshiping conspiracy for world domination. As expected, this left some of the simpler minds out there thinking “If it’s not the Freemasons, he must be saying the whole thing is a lie!”

  Not so, not even close.

  Half the truth is often a great lie. – Benjamin Franklin

  For those unfamiliar with the term ‘limited hangout’ I’ll explain. The best deceptions will always contain elements of the truth, and where these disclosures are bound to stir up public anger, they’re seeded with lies to scapegoat innocent parties. This is what Ben Franklin is talking about in the quote above, and it’s what Malcolm X was talking about in the quote used to kick off my last article.

  Leo Taxil’s Jesuit education is an indication that he knows more than the average person about what is truly going on behind the scenes in the world. This may have served as a model for the hoax he ultimately created. In this report we’re going to explore what he said in detail, and ultimately coax out the identity of the god of the elites, and why they all appear to be engaged in the same depraved rituals.

  Origins of Lucifer

  Taxil’s hoax starts off with Doctor Bataille’s encounter and initiation into the Palladium Rite. He recounts the strange rituals they performed, and one where they summoned Lucifer himself. The fictitious doctor assures the reader this is a real spiritual apparition, that even shook hands with one of the ritual’s attendees, and proceeds with giving us a general physical description:

  

  I then looked at the spirit that appeared. In all the previous evocations, in which I had taken part, when the spirit evoked had wanted to appear, it was always a ghost with more or less vaporous forms, a fluidic being, essentially impalpable. This spirit, on the contrary, was indeed a being like you and me, in flesh and blood, but with a truly radiant body. In the theater, sometimes, a jet of oxyhydric light is accompanied by the main character on stage; nevertheless, the trick is easy to see, since the light, directed from any point on the artist, widens towards him in the form of a barely opened compass; the light falls on man and illuminates him. Far from there, the spirit which had just appeared to us was itself the center of the glow, the luminous focus illuminating the room. There was no doubt; we were indeed in the presence of Lucifer himself.

  When he shows himself, is he always like I saw him?… That, I don’t know… That day, he had the features of a man between thirty-five and thirty-eight years; tall in stature; without beard or mustache; rather lean than fat, but by no means bony; the fine, distinguished physiognomy; I don’t know what melancholy in his eyes; a nervous smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He was naked, with white, slightly pink skin, wonderfully decoupaged, like a statue of Apollo. – Léo Taxil, Le Diable au XIXe Siècle, pp. 16-17

  This sympathy for the Devil, so to speak, carries on throughout the book and is the reason why Taxil refers to this fake group of Masons as “Luciferians.” However, the real Albert Pike, who Taxil portrayed as the ringleader of the bogus group of Masons, has published a great deal of literature under his own name, the most famous being the much-maligned Morals and Dogma.

  

  The subject of Lucifer is raised only FOUR times in this 860 page book. Quite amazing for a supposed Luciferian. Pike is hardly venerating the deity, either. Reproduced here for you are the only four parts, with a little truncation in places to compensate for Pike’s loquaciousness:

  Hypocrisy is the homage that vice and wrong pay to virtue and justice. It is Satan attempting to clothe himself in the angelic vesture of light. It is equally detestable in morals, politics, and religion; in the man and in the nation. To do injustice under the pretence of equity and fairness; to reprove vice in public and commit it in private … and sell one’s vote for place and power, are hypocrisies as common as they are infamous and disgraceful. To steal the livery of the Court of God to serve the Devil withal; to pretend to believe in a God of mercy and a Redeemer of love, and persecute those of a different faith … to inculcate humility, and in pride surpass Lucifer … is indeed to be like unto whited sepulchres, which appear beautiful outward, but are within full of bones of the dead and of all uncleanness. – Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, p. 73.

  

  The true name of Satan, the Kabalists say, is that of Yahveh reversed; for Satan is not a black god, but the negation of God. The Devil is the personification of Atheism or Idolatry. For the Initiates, this is not a Person, but a Force, created for good, but which may serve for evil. It is the instrument of Liberty or Free Will. They represent this Force, which presides over the physical generation, under the mythologic and horned form of the God PAN; thence came the he-goat of the Sabbat, brother of the Ancient Serpent, and the Light-bearer or Phosphor, of which the poets have made the false Lucifer of the legend. – Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, p. 102.

  

  The Apocalypse is, to those who receive the nineteenth Degree, the Apotheosis of that Sublime Faith which aspires to God alone, and despises all the pomps and works of Lucifer. LUCIFER, the Light-bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darkness! Lucifer, the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the Light, and with its splendors intolerable blinds feeble, sensual, or selfish Souls? Doubt it not! for traditions are full of Divine Revelations and Inspirations: and Inspiration is not of one Age nor of one Creed. Plato and Philo, also, were inspired. – Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, p. 321.

  

  It is by His uttered Word that God reveals Himself to us; not alone in the visible and invisible but intellectual creation, but also in our convictions, consciousness, and instincts. Hence it is that certain beliefs are universal. The conviction of all men that God is good led to a belief in a Devil, the fallen Lucifer or Lightbearer, Shaitan the Adversary, Ahriman and Tuphon, as an attempt to explain the existence of Evil, and make it consistent with the Infinite Power, Wisdom, and Benevolence of God. – Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, p. 324.

  It’s obvious that Pike’s (and that of the world at large) conception of Lucifer is heavily influenced by Dante’s Divine Comedy, and Milton’s Paradise Lost. It was in these fictional works that Lucifer was cast as an angel who rebelled against God’s “plan” for humanity, in favor of his own and, after a war, was cast out of heaven along with the rest of his followers.

  The canonical reality is that “Lucifer” appears only once in the KJV Bible, in Isaiah 14:12, and that is the result of King James’ translator working from a copy of the Vulgate. The translator was less than adept at Latin and he had no idea what the word meant, and so left it untranslated. Isaiah was written during the Babylonian captivity and is a litany against the King of Babylon. The word ‘Lucifer’ is used in a list of epithets for the King. Working from the original Hebrew version of Isaiah we see the word is actually correctly rendered in English as “Day Star,” or “Morning Star,” a reference to the planet Venus when it appears just prior to sunrise in the east, of which Pike is clearly aware. This planet, the brightest object in the sky after the Sun and Moon was worshipped as a goddess in Rome, and in Greece she was known as Aphrodite, and Phosphorus.

  

  And so there you have it, Lucifer is Aphrodite. Not a fallen angel who rebelled against God, but the godDESS of lust and sexual pleasure!

  Need more evidence? Venus orbits the sun thirteen times for every eight orbits of the Earth. By following the orbit of Venus from our geocentric perspective, we see that its course through the heavens traces out a pentagram – the symbol ostensibly used to summon!

  Divine Lovers

  It’s no controversy to say that the patriarchal Abrahamic faiths eliminated the entire female aspect of God, and now we can see the original template they worked from. You shouldn’t be surprised at this, because many early Christian apologists outright admit their dogma was borrowed heavily from the earlier pagan mythologies.

  And when we say also that the Word, who is the first-birth of God, was produced without sexual union, and that He, Jesus Christ, our Teacher, was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended into heaven, we propound nothing different from what you believe regarding those whom you esteem sons of Jupiter. – St. Justin Martyr, The First Apology, Chapter 21.

  Let’s now go back to the quotes from the Taxil hoax, because they clearly convey a very different conception of Lucifer than Pike did.

  Therefore, when the autocratic Empire of Russia will become the citadel of papist adonaism, we shall unleash the revolutionary nihilists and atheists, and provoke a formidable social cataclysm, which will demonstrate clearly to the nations, in all its horror, the effect of absolute unbelief, mother of savagery and of the bloodiest disorder. Then everywhere, the citizens, obliged to defend themselves against the mad minority of revolutionaries, will exterminate these destroyers of civilization; and the countless disillusioned adonaites, whose deist soul have up until that time remained without a compass, thirsting for an ideal, but not knowing which God is worthy of tribute, will receive the True Light, by the universal manifestation of the pure Luciferian doctrine, at last made public, an event that will arise from a reactionary movement following the destruction of atheism and adonaism, together at the same time vanquished and exterminated. – Léo Taxil, Le Diable au XIXe Siècle, Vol. II, p. 605.

  

  That which we must say to the world is that we worship a god, but it is the god that one adores without superstition. To you, Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, we say this, that you may repeat it to the brethren of the 32nd, 31st and 30th degrees: The masonic Religion should be, by all of us initiates of the higher degrees, maintained in the Purity of the Luciferian doctrine. If Lucifer were not God, would Adonay and his priests calumniate him? Yes, Lucifer is God, and unfortunately Adonay is also god. For the eternal law is that there is no light without shade, no beauty without ugliness, no white without black, for the absolute can only exist as two gods; darkness being necessary for light to serve as its foil as the pedestal is necessary to the statue, and the brake to the locomotive. Thus, the doctrine of Satanism is a heresy, and the true and pure philosophical religion is the belief in Lucifer, the equal of Adonay; but Lucifer, God of Light and God of Good, is struggling for humanity against Adonay, the God of Darkness and Evil. – A. C. de la Rive, La Femme et l’Enfant Dans la Franc-Maçonnerie Universelle, pp. 588-589.

  Here these hucksters are setting up a form of dualism in the form of Lucifer and Adonai, which is indeed one of the names of God according to the Hebrews. Adonai is associated with the Greek god Adonis, and now, suddenly everything fits together.

  Because Adonis and Aphrodite were lovers, not adversaries!

  The worship of Adonis in Greece and Phoenicia includes a great many rituals and themes you may find familiar. The Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible is an authoritative resource on this and the entry for Adonai is quite interesting.

  Whereas Aphrodite self-formed from the castrated genitals of Ouranos, Adonis was born to mortals. He’s the son of Princess Myrrha, who was cursed by Aphrodite with insatiable lust for her own father after her mother bragged that Myrrha’s beauty surpassed that of the goddess. Children being punished for the transgressions of their parents is a common theme in ancient myths and this one carries on that tradition. Myrrha conceals her identity, and she manages to sleep with her father several times without being recognized, becoming pregnant. When the truth of her deeds is discovered, her father exiles her from his kingdom. She eventually is changed into a myrrh tree, but nevertheless gives birth to a child, Adonis.

  This child is taken by Aphrodite to Persephone, who raises him in the underworld. After reaching adulthood, Aphrodite returns to find he has grown into a stunningly handsome man. The two goddesses quarrel over who gets to be with him and a resolution is reached where he will spend one-third of the year each with Persephone and Aphrodite, as their lover. The remaining third was his choice, and he went with Aphrodite.

  Adonis, being beautiful, but ultimately useless as anything other than a boy toy, is mortally injured by a wild boar one day and dies in the arms of Aphrodite. Deemed a paragon of anti-heroic behavior, he represented the opposite of the positive sides of matrimony and manliness. An annual festival was instituted to commemorate his death by cultures throughout the Mediterranean. As recounted by many historians, these festivals usually take place over the course of three days. The first day the death of Adonis is mourned, and on the third day he is resurrected so they can repeat it all again next year.

  Sound familiar?

  

  In the Phoenician city of Byblos this event was celebrated in the temple of Astarte, the Canaanite equivalent of Aphrodite. Adonis also had an equivalent known as Baal-Adon. In Greece the women would celebrate this time in an atmosphere of frolic and licentiousness. They would also conduct orgies in honor of Aphrodite, but this was about as extreme as they got. In Byblos they would engage in sacral prostitution and much, much more.

  As you shall see in the next part, coming next week, the Canaanites and other cultures further east took their worship of the divine lovers to the heights of depravity.

  Subscribe to the Bombthrower mailing list to get these posts as they come out, and follow Mr. E via his Substack and Twitter.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/23/2023 – 23:40

• WW3 Fears Trigger American Panic-Buying Of 5.56 Ammo, Prices Surge 39% In A Week
  WW3 Fears Trigger American Panic-Buying Of 5.56 Ammo, Prices Surge 39% In A Week

  As the Israel-Hamas war sparks fears of WW3, law-abiding Americans are streaming the chaos in Israel and Gaza on their smartphones or smart TVs and have come to one conclusion: It’s time to panic buy ammo (just like during Covid). 

  New data from the ammo tracking website Ammo Prices Now shows 5.56×45mm NATO caliber ammunition listed online by popular brands has surged 39% in the past week, from .36 per round on Oct. 14 to .50 per round on Sunday. 

  

  The price spike is significantly larger than the move in early 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. Also, 223 Remington surged 42% last week. 

  

  Besides the Israel-Hamas war threatening to broaden into a regional conflict, Americans are also watching the Ukraine war and imploding US cities governed by radical progressives who could care less about law and order. All of these developments are stoking yet again another run on ammo.

  

  Remember what Elon Musk said on X last week, “As tragic as the mass shootings are, armed citizens are essential to the defense of democracy.”

  … and don’t forget when shit hits the fan, the government won’t be there to save you. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/23/2023 – 23:20

• Hopkins: Welcome To The War On Horrow (Or Whatever)
  Hopkins: Welcome To The War On Horrow (Or Whatever)

  Authored by CJ Hopkins via The Consent Factory,

  Welcome back to the War on Terror. I hope you had a nice 7-year break.

  

  Yes, that’s right, once again, Democracy is under attack by the Axis of Pure Unadulterated Evil! It’s time to switch off your critical faculties, wrap yourself in the American flag, or the Israeli flag, or the Ukrainian flag, or, better yet, all three flags, and stand with the Forces of Freedom and Goodness as they exercise their God-given right to defend the world from the Children of Darkness, and the Putin-Nazis, and Hate, and Rape, and Baby Murderers, and Baby Rapers, and Baby-Raper sympathizers!

  For those of us who are old enough to remember 9/11 and its aftermath, it’s déjà vu all over again. Except we already had The War on Terror. So, I don’t know what we’re calling it this time. Maybe it’s The War on Horror, or “Horrific Horror,” as President Biden put it.

  Or maybe we should call it The War on Whatever. After all, it’s all the same war.

  No. That isn’t going to sell. No one is going to fight a War on Whatever. We need something utterly meaningless but catchy. Something that will shut people’s minds off and keep them from asking inconvenient questions, like a corporate slogan or thought-terminating cliche.

  Let’s go with The War on Horror. Here’s how The War on Horror began …

  It began on the morning of October 7, when the State of Israel, which was just sitting there, peacefully, in the Middle Eastern territory bestowed on it by God, minding its own business, bothering no one, was unprovokedly attacked by members of Hamas, who, according to the Horrorists, were “exercising their legitimate right to resist occupation” by mass-murdering hundreds of unarmed people at a music event and entire families in their homes. In order to ensure that everyone recognized the legitimacy of their “armed resistance” — or, rather, to guarantee that the Israelis would be forced to massively overreact and that the attack would polarize the global public along the lines Hamas wants people polarized — they went about it with extreme brutality.

  Surprise! It worked! Israel is currently transforming Gaza into a heap of smoldering rubble, bombing commercial and residential areas, hospitals, mosques, churches, schools, shelters, people fleeing the air-raids, killing thousands of Palestinians, wiping out entire Palestinian families (or, as Israel calls them, “human shields”), and otherwise exercising its inalienable “right to defend itself” by sealing off Gaza and systematically liquidating its inhabitants, or, rather, by creating “a new security reality.”

  And the global public could not be more polarized.

  But Hamas can’t take all the credit for that. The most fearsome propaganda machine in the history of fearsome propaganda machines is working overtime, pumping out the message: “You’re either with us or you are with the Horrorists!” “You’re either with us or you are an anti-Semitic, Russia-loving, Baby Raper sympathizer!” And so on. I’m sure you’ve heard the message.

  Meanwhile, actual anti-Semites and “revolutionary” fanatics who are totally OK with mass-murdering people as a “resistance” tactic are doing their best to play along. The Internet is swarming with anti-Semites demonizing the Jews for, well, you name it. Crypto-fascists are coming out of the woodwork. Palestinian activists are lionizing Hamas. And so on. I’m sure you’ve seen the coverage.

  I’m going to forgo my usual practice of including links to some of that coverage, and to the numerous social media posts documenting the criminalization of dissent and expressions of support for the Palestinians since the War on Horror officially began, because, frankly, right now, I don’t believe anything I see or read until I’ve dedicated time to verifying that it is not propaganda designed to reinforce the official narrative, or the unofficial narrative, or some other narrative.

  At the moment, we’re being inundated with narratives, the official narrative, the unofficial narrative, the official unofficial narrative, the alternative official narrative, the alternative unofficial narrative, the bull-goose-loony unofficial narrative, etc., all of which is standard procedure when you are rolling out a War on Horror, or an Apocalyptic Pandemic, or some other major revision to the official master narrative.

  Which brings me to that hospital bombing story. You know the one. Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, which Israel bombed, or didn’t bomb, depending on which narrative you believe, or which narrative you don’t really believe but are nonetheless committed to pretending to believe, because believing the other one would betray your “side.”

  Now, I want to state this very clearly. I do not know who bombed the hospital.

  Yes, of course, I think I know. But I’m here in Berlin. I’m not in Gaza. I’m not in touch with anyone in Gaza. All I have to go on is the word of the IDF, and US Intelligence officials, and statements by the Palestinian authorities, and international media reports, and other stuff anyone can find on the Internet, and … well, you know, common sense.

  Call me a “Horrorist sympathizer” if you need to, but I do not take the word of the IDF and anonymous “Intelligence officials” on faith. I examine their narratives critically. I did that during the War on Terror. I did that during Russiagate. I did it during the Covid pandemic. Critically examining official narratives is part of my job as a political satirist.

  So, let’s take a look at the official narrative of the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital bombing.

  According to the official narrative, the Palestinian Horrorists just can’t catch a break. After decades of attacking Israel with their sissy little Horror rockets that typically only kill a few people at best, now, after they finally come up with a new Super-Horror rocket that will kill hundreds of people, the first time they use it, they shoot it into their own hospital.

  Or — and this is “Official Narrative B” — they shoot their new Super-Duper Horror rocket at Israel, but it disintegrates in mid-air, or is intercepted by the Israeli “Dome” thing, and one fragment of it (i.e., the Super-Horror rocket) lands in the parking lot of the hospital, and it turns out that fragment just happened to be the “Super-Horror” component of the rocket, which simultaneously ignites the topped-up gas tanks of every single car in the parking lot, which generates a massive fireball that blows the people in the parking lot to bits.

  But that’s just the current version of the official narrative, which has evolved over time.

  First, shortly after the explosion, Benjamin Netanyahu’s social media advisor took to X to celebrate the strike, crowing “The Israeli Air Force struck a Hamas terrorist base inside a hospital in Gaza!” This Tweet was quickly deleted, of course, and the IDF officially denied responsibility, blamed the explosion on an Islamic Jihad rocket, and posted CCTV footage confirming their story. Unfortunately for the IDF, the fake footage they posted included a timestamp of 7:59, one hour after the event. So, the IDF deleted that Tweet, revised it, and reposted it without the fake footage. Then other IDF-related entities posted other footage, which was also fake.

  Al Jazeera has documented all that here …

  In this Fact Check, we look at Israel’s changing narrative on the deadly bombing of Gaza’s al-Ahli Arab Hospital. pic.twitter.com/kayAx1zPpW

  — Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 19, 2023

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

  The next morning, footage of the hospital parking lot where the explosion occurred and the hospital building still standing was all the official propagandists needed to put the finishing touches on their official narrative, but, just for good measure, the IDF posted a “surveillance recording of two Hamas terrorists” with funny accents confessing that they had accidentally bombed the hospital. It was kind of like a Cheech and Chong routine. Seriously, they had the audacity to do that.

  Intelligence-agency sock puppets immediately inundated the Internet with tweets and posts reinforcing the “misfired rocket” story. Anyone questioning it was shouted down as an “anti-Semitic terrorist-loving idiot.” Papers of record revised their headlines. Biden confirmed that the “other team” did it. The corporate media, assorted Persons of Influence, and even prominent independent media sources like Racket News and Public declared the case closed. After all, the IDF and anonymous US Intelligence officials would never lie to us or attempt to dupe the public with fabricated “evidence,” and anyone who suggests they would is an “anti-Semitic, Horrorist-loving, hate-speech-disseminating disinformationist!”

  Apparently, the UK’s Channel 4 News did not get the memo. Here’s their coverage …

  Who was behind the Gaza hospital blast – a visual investigation. pic.twitter.com/FGQ9kG0Wni

  — Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) October 19, 2023

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

  Neither did the Aaron Maté at The Grayzone …

  No matter what Israeli and anonymous US intelligence officials say, the claim that Israel bombed the al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza has not been debunked at all. https://t.co/pJuz2svAt5

  — Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) October 19, 2023

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

  But, I don’t know … maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the Israeli military, and the Military-Industrial Complex, and the Censorship Industrial Complex, and the US Intelligence community and its cutouts, are telling us the truth this time.

  The usual ghouls manufacturing consent on al-Ahli Hospital bombing to deflect blame from Israel: Bellingcat—funded by Langley cutout @NEDemocracy—cites PAX For Peace, funded by @StateDept; along with Nathan Ruser of @ASPI_org, funded by @DefenceAust @StateDept @LockheedMartin etc pic.twitter.com/G330gYCADx

  — Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) October 20, 2023

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

  Unfortunately, we’ll probably never know, because conducting an independent investigation into the bombing would be “inappropriate” …

  “It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening it wasn’t happening. It didn’t matter. It was of no interest.” – Harold Pinter https://t.co/Timf1Ji464

  — CJ Hopkins (@CJHopkins_Z23) October 21, 2023

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

  Seriously, though, this is only the beginning. The torrent of official and unofficial propaganda, gaslighting, and emotional manipulation is only going to increase over time. Probably the best thing to do at this point is pick a “side” and back it unquestioningly, no matter what it does or says. If you’re a professional person, with a career, and a mortgage, and kids, or aspiring to be such a person, I would recommend going with The Powers That Be. It’s easy to do that. Simply unsubscribe from, and block, and otherwise close your ears and mind to “conspiracy theorists” like me. Stick with those anonymous “Intelligence officials,” the IDF, and the corporate media, and those “fact-checking” entities, and Google, and the rest of the Official Reality Enforcement Apparatus that has been rolled out, globally, during the past three years. You didn’t think they were rolling all that out for kicks, did you? No … of course you didn’t.

  

  In any event, welcome to the War on Horror, or Terror, or Reality, or Whatever!

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/23/2023 – 23:00

• The Uncancellable Billionaire: Musk's SpaceX Signs Deal To Launch EU Satellites
  The Uncancellable Billionaire: Musk’s SpaceX Signs Deal To Launch EU Satellites

  Earlier this year, Elon Musk warned the Biden administration would “weaponize” federal agencies against him for his ‘free speech’ platform X. More recently, Democrats tried to cancel the billionaire after his biographer Walter Isaacson claimed Musk turned off Starlink coverage for Ukraine, which turned out to be false. Then, in recent weeks, the European Union told Musk that X could be at risk of being banned across the continent over claims of ‘disinformation’ amid the Israel-Gaza conflict.

  Despite the frequent efforts by Western political elites to ‘cancel’ the billionaire, their efforts have largely been unsuccessful. Musk is becoming the ‘uncancellable billionaire’ as the latest news from the Wall Street Journal reveals – even though the European Union has a strong distaste for the billionaire – they must now use SpaceX rockets to launch spy satellites into orbit because delays in Europe’s space rocket program and cutting off the use of Russian rockets due to the Ukraine war. 

  SpaceX and the European Space Agency agreed to conduct at least two launches next year, catapulting two Galileo satellites into orbit. The European Commission and EU member states have yet to approve the agreement, but officials told WSJ they anticipate approval by the end of the year. 

  ESA Director of Navigation Javier Benedicto said the agreement calls for the Galileo satellites to be launched on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from the US. A spokesman for the European Commission said it is “taking all necessary steps to ensure that the Galileo constellation continues to provide outstanding services in the coming months and years.”

  WSJ said EU officials have hesitated to use Musk’s rocket company for the Galileo satellites, saying the EU should rely on the US. However, it is tough luck because Europe’s Ariane rocket program has been hit with delays, and there’s no chance the Russians will be launching those satellites. 

  

  If EU officials sign the agreement, this would be the first SpaceX Galileo contract ever and the first time Galileo satellites would be launched outside EU territory in 15 years.  

  The billionaire noted on X in September that SpaceX delivered 80% of all Earth payload mass to orbit so far this year. He said China accounted for the other 10%. He added next year will be 90%, and when Starship becomes operational, that number will rise to >99%. 

  Musk is becoming an uncancellable billionaire. And this is making Democrats and their counterparts in the EU have meltdowns. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/23/2023 – 22:40

• US Still Dominates The World's Largest Stock Exchanges
  US Still Dominates The World’s Largest Stock Exchanges

  Today, there are roughly 80 major stock exchanges worth a combined $110.2 trillion in value.

  The world’s top two exchanges, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq, command 42.4% of global market capitalization.

  Despite the rapid growth of emerging economies, the U.S. continues to lead capital markets by a wide margin—even as countries such as India see considerable growth, surpassing the UK in 2023.

  

  This visualization, via Visual Capitalist’s Dorothy Neufeld and Sabrina Fortin, shows the largest stock exchanges in the world, with data from the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE).

  Top Stock Exchanges, by Market Cap

  Here are the top 25 largest stock markets covering 96.6% of total stock market capitalization:

  Global Rank	Stock Exchange	Country	Market Cap Aug 2023
  1	NYSE	🇺🇸 U.S.	$25.0T
  2	Nasdaq	🇺🇸 U.S.	$21.7T
  3	Euronext	🇳🇱 Netherlands	$7.2T
  4	Shanghai Stock Exchange	🇨🇳 China	$6.7T
  5	Japan Exchange Group	🇯🇵 Japan	$5.9T
  6	Shenzhen Stock Exchange	🇨🇳 China	$4.5T
  7	Hong Kong Exchanges	🇭🇰 Hong Kong	$4.2T
  8	National Stock Exchange of India	🇮🇳 India	$3.5T
  9	LSE Group	🇬🇧 UK	$3.4T
  10	Saudi Exchange	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	$3.1T
  11	TMX Group	🇨🇦 Canada	$2.9T
  12	Deutsche Boerse AG	🇩🇪 Germany	$2.1T
  13	SIX Swiss Exchange	🇨🇭 Switzerland	$2.1T
  14	Nasdaq Nordic and Baltics	🇸🇪 Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland	$2.0T
  15	Korea Exchange	🇰🇷 South Korea	$1.9T
  16	Tehran Stock Exchange	🇮🇷 Iran	$1.7T
  17	ASX Australian Securities Exchange	🇦🇺 Australia	$1.7T
  18	Taiwan Stock Exchange	🇹🇼 Taiwan	$1.6T
  19	Johannesburg Stock Exchange	🇿🇦 South Africa	$1.2T
  20	B3 – Brazil Stock Exchange and OTC Market	🇧🇷 Brazil	$0.9T
  21	Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange	🇦🇪 Abu Dhabi	$0.8T
  22	BME Spanish Exchanges	🇪🇸 Spain	$0.8T
  23	Singapore Exchange	🇸🇬 Singapore	$0.6T
  24	The Stock Exchange of Thailand	🇹🇭 Thailand	$0.6T
  25	Bolsa Mexicana de Valores	🇲🇽 Mexico	$0.5T

  The NYSE ($25.0 trillion) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ($21.7 trillion) are home to many of the world’s most valuable firms, from Apple to Nvidia. Since 2016, the NYSE has grown 35.1% while the Nasdaq has ballooned 189.3% in market cap.

  The vast majority of companies in the S&P 500 Index, often seen as a barometer for U.S. stock market performance, are traded on these exchanges.

  With $7.2 trillion in market cap, Euronext is the world’s third-largest exchange. Since Brexit, the pan-European exchange has attracted more capital and by early 2021, it outranked the London Stock Exchange. Over the last two decades, London’s stock market has fallen from 13% to 4% of the global share.

  Ranking fourth is the Shanghai Stock Exchange, at $6.7 trillion in market cap. Beverage giant Kweichow Moutai, ICBC, and PetroChina are the largest companies traded on the exchange.

  Like China, as India’s economy has continued to expand, so has its primary stock market. As the twelfth-largest globally, it’s worth $3.5 trillion in market cap, growing over 133% in market value since 2016.

  Should You Invest Internationally?

  While U.S. stock markets are unmatched in scale in the global arena, investors may look to diversify exposure across the pond.

  In fact, by 2050, Goldman Sachs projects that emerging markets’ share of global stock market capitalization will surpass America. Given the strong economic growth of emerging markets, investors may find opportunities in broad market indexes that track these countries through investment vehicles like ETFs or mutual funds.

  Yet while international markets may provide opportunities for diversification, they may also present risk given political, regulatory, and economic factors.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/23/2023 – 22:00

• America's Crisis Of Faith: Poll Reveals More Americans Are Rejecting The Constitution And Embracing Violence
  America’s Crisis Of Faith: Poll Reveals More Americans Are Rejecting The Constitution And Embracing Violence

  Authored by Jonathan Turley,

  Below is my column in Fox.com on the poll released last week showing an increasing number of citizens have lost faith in our constitutional system and now view violence as warranted to silence those with opposing views.

  It is a crisis of faith that represents the greatest possible threat to our Republic. The loss of faith and fealty constitutes one of the greatest crises that our nation has faced since its foundation.

  

  Here is the column:

  A recent startling poll shows that a majority of voters not only view the opposing party as a threat to the nation but justifying violence to combat their agenda. The poll captures a crisis of faith that I have been writing about for over a decade as an academic and a commentator. Many now question democracy as a sustainable system of government. It represents the single greatest threat to this nation: a citizenry that has lost faith not just with our system of government but with each other.

  The polls by the University of Virginia Center for Politics shows a nation at war with itself. Fifty-two percent of Biden supporters say Republicans are now a threat to American life while 47 percent of Trump supporters say the same about Democrats.

  Among Biden supporters, 41 percent now believe violence is justified “to stop [Republicans] from achieving their goals.” An almost identical percentage, 38 percent, of Trump supporters now embrace violence to stop Democrats.

  Not surprisingly, many of these people have lost faith in democracy. Some 31 percent of Trump supporters believe that the nation should explore alternative forms of government.  Roughly a quarter (24 percent) of Biden supporters also question the viability of democracy.

  Faith is the one thing that no system of government can do without. Without faith in the underlying values of a constitutional system, authority rests on a mix of coercion and capitulation.

  For years, I have written about this growing loss of faith and how it has been fueled by our intellectual and political elites. In the echo chamber of news and social media, citizens constantly hear how the opposing party is composed of “traitors” and how the constitutional system works to protect enemies of the people.

  Viewers now get a steady diet of figures like MSNBC commentator Elie Mystal who called the U.S. Constitution “trash” and argued that we should simply just dump it.

  In a New York Times column, “The Constitution Is Broken and Should Not Be Reclaimed,” law professors Ryan D. Doerfler of Harvard and Samuel Moyn of Yale called for the Constitution to be “radically altered” to “reclaim America from constitutionalism.”

  Georgetown University Law School Professor Rosa Brooks went on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” to lash out at Americans becoming “slaves” to the U.S. Constitution and that the Constitution itself is now the problem for the country.

  They are part of the radical chic that has become the norm in academia — and widely embraced by the media.

  According to these law professors the problem is not just our Constitution, but constitutionalism in general.

  Others have argued that key protections or institutions should just be ignored. In a recent open letter, Harvard law professor Mark Tushnet and San Francisco State University political scientist Aaron Belkin called upon President Joe Biden to defy rulings of the Supreme Court that he considers “mistaken” in the name of “popular constitutionalism.”

  “Popular constitutionalism” appears a form of discretionary or ad hoc compliance with constituitional law. If only “popular” constitutional rules are followed, the Constitution itself becomes a mere pretense for whatever the shifting majority or forming mob demands.

  Politicians have also contributed to this crisis of faith in challenging constitutional values or core institutions. Members like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has questioned the need for a Supreme Court.

  Others like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) have called for the packing of the Supreme Court to simply create an immediate liberal majority.

  Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) thrilled his base by going to the steps of the Supreme Court to declare “I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price! You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”

  It is little surprise that one man showed up at the home of Justice Bret Kavanaugh to kill him for his “awful decisions.”

  Conversely, former President Donald Trump has regularly denounced his political opponents as “traitors” and “enemies of the people.” He recently declared “If you go after me, I’m coming after you!”

  With leaders engaging in such reckless rhetoric, it is hardly surprising that the Constitution itself is now viewed as threat to our nation rather than the very thing that defines us. It is designed to restrain the majority and protect those who are the least popular in our society.

  In the end, a constitution remains a covenant not between citizens and their government but between each other as citizens. It demands a leap of faith; a commitment that despite our differences we will defend the rights of our neighbors.

  If nothing else, the Constitution has one thing to recommend it: we are still here. It is a Constitution that has survived economic and political upheavals. It survived a Civil War in which hundreds of thousands were killed.

  It is not a particularly poetic document. It was written by the ultimate wonk, James Madison. If you want truly inspirational prose, try any of the French constitutions. Of course, they had more practice since they regularly failed. Other countries based their constitutions on aspirational statements of the values that we shared. The Madisonian system spent as much time on what divided us; it not only recognized the danger of factions but created a system to bring such divisions to the surface where they could be addressed.

  The danger of other systems was realized when these divisions were left below the surface where they would fester and explode in the streets of Paris. The American Constitution allowed for a type of controlled implosion toward the center of the system; these factional interests would be expressed and vented in the legislative branch. The Madisonian system does not hide our divisions; it invites their expression.

  The question is whether we have reached a time when the things that divide us will now overcome what unites us. This is not our first age of rage. Indeed, at the start of our Republic, rivaling parties were not just figuratively trying to kill each other; they were actually trying to kill each other through laws like the Alien and Sedition Acts. Thomas Jefferson would refer to the term of his predecessor John Adams as “the reign of the witches.”

  Yet, that history is no guarantee that it can survive our current age of rage. The relentless attacks on the constitution from the political, media, and academic elite has turned many into constitutional atheists.  Yet, the future of our constitutional system may rest with the rising number of constitutional agnostics — those citizens who are simply disconnected or disinterested in the defense of our founding principles.

  Philosopher John Stuart Mill warned in 1867 that all it takes for evil to prevail is for “good men [to] look on and do nothing.”

  We are now in an existential struggle to preserve the values that founded the most successful constitutional system in the history of the world.

  It is our legacy that now can be either boldly defended by a grateful people or lost in the whimper of a disinterested generation.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/23/2023 – 21:40

• "Not Connected To World Events": Alaska Air Pilot Tries To Crash Plane
  “Not Connected To World Events”: Alaska Air Pilot Tries To Crash Plane

  An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot riding in the cockpit of a Horizon Airlines regional jet was charged with 83 counts of attempted murder after he allegedly tried to cut engine power mid-flight on route to San Francisco. 

  The Messenger reports Alaska Airlines pilot Joseph D. Emerson, 44, was riding in the cockpit’s jumpseat of Horizon Air flight 2059 when he “unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt the operation of the engines.” 

  One man is under arrest on state charges, booked by the Port of Portland, after an incident in the air on Horizon Air flight 2059 from Everett, Washington to San Francisco, California. See full #FBIPortland statement below: pic.twitter.com/G8vtST51ZJ

  — FBI Portland (@FBIPortland) October 23, 2023

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

  On Sunday night, the flight from Everett, in suburban Seattle, to San Francisco was diverted to Portland, Oregon, where Emerson was arrested. 

  “The Horizon captain and first officer quickly responded, engine power was not lost and the crew secured the aircraft without incident,” Alaska said

  Information on Alaska Airlines Flight 2059 Operated by Horizon Air https://t.co/af3FCXggJQ

  — Alaska Airlines News (@AlaskaAirNews) October 23, 2023

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

  A streaming audio network of aircraft communications called Live ATC, recorded audio from the pilots talking to air traffic controllers about the incident: 

  “We’ve got the guy that tried to shut the engines down out of the cockpit and he doesn’t sound like he’s causing any issue in the back right now, I think he’s subdued.

  “We want law enforcement as soon as we get on the ground and parked.”

  CNN’s Pete Muntean wrote on X, “The FAA is telling airlines that Sunday’s incident involving an off-duty pilot who attempted to cut the engines of an Alaska Airlines flight is “not connected” to “current world events.”” 

  NEW: The FAA is telling airlines that Sunday’s incident involving an off-duty pilot who attempted to cut the engines of an Alaska Airlines flight is “not connected” to “current world events.”

  Even still, the agency urged airlines and crews to “maintain vigilance.”

  — Pete Muntean (@petemuntean) October 23, 2023

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

  Commercial pilots undergo rigorous medical screening by an Aviation Medical Examiner every six months to several years. 

  Pilots must run through a series of checklists before operating a plane, even a personal checklist called “I’m SAFE,” which covers illness, medication, stress, alcohol, fatigue, and emotion. 

  It’s unclear whether the off-duty Alaska pilot was experiencing a mental breakdown or was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. While the FAA clarified that the incident wasn’t related to current global events, we still ask the question if it was a factor. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/23/2023 – 21:20

• Israel To Consider Civilians 'Terrorist Accomplices' If They Stay In North Gaza
  Israel To Consider Civilians ‘Terrorist Accomplices’ If They Stay In North Gaza

  Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

  The Israeli military has told Palestinian civilians living in north Gaza that if they don’t evacuate to the south, they will be considered “an accomplice in a terrorist organization.”

  The warning was made in threatening leaflets dropped by Israeli drones over the weekend. “Urgent warning, to residents of Gaza. Your presence north of Wadi Gaza puts your life in danger. Whoever chooses not to leave north Gaza to the south of Wadi Gaza might be identified as an accomplice in a terrorist organization,” the leaflets said, according to Reuters.

  

  Israel previously ordered the evacuation of northern Gaza, an area that’s home to 1.1 million people. Since Gaza is under blockade, the only option for Palestinians in the north is to flee to the south, which is also under constant Israeli bombardment.

  Some Gazans have fled to the south, while others have refused to leave their homes or have sought shelter at hospitals, hoping they will not be targeted in the Israeli onslaught, but Israel is ordering hospitals to be evacuated.

  According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, Israel ordered the evacuation of Al-Quds hospital, which is housing more than 400 patients and 12,000 displaced civilians.

  Since Israel has unleashed its bombing campaign on Gaza in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack, at least 4,651 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza [since revised to over 5,000], including 1,756 children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. On the Israeli side, at least 1,405 people have been killed.

  Gazans are also suffering from food and water shortages due to the Israeli siege. A limited number of aid trucks have been allowed to enter Gaza from Egypt, which included medical supplies but no fuel to power hospital generators.

  

  Aid agencies have said the aid that has been let in is just a “drop in the ocean” for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/23/2023 – 21:00

• College Dropouts Hope To Cash In On AI Gold Rush
  College Dropouts Hope To Cash In On AI Gold Rush

  With over 25% of American startup investments in 2023 going to AI companies (per Crunchbase), a whole generation of young entrepreneurs are ditching college to seize opportunities in the booming sector.

  The launch of transformative AI models such as ChatGPT and Bard has ignited a surge in investments and the establishment of new AI-driven companies. The generative AI market alone is estimated to be worth $43 billion for enterprise technology AI in 2023, as reported by PitchBook. This rapid growth has enticed young founders to abandon their college classrooms and embark on entrepreneurial journeys, according to the Wall Street Journal.

  

  Govind Gnanakumar, 19, recently made headlines after he left the Georgia Institute of Technology to devote his full attention to his AI startup, Automorphic. He’s not alone in this endeavor, as a growing number of teenagers and twenty-somethings see the potential of the AI boom and are willing to take a leap of faith. Gnanakumar believes that Y Combinator’s prestigious startup accelerator program offers education and experience equivalent to a traditional degree. At Automorphic, he’s working on AI tools capable of answering intricate questions in specialized fields such as genomics and patent law. Gnanakumar’s motivation is clear: he’d rather be on the side of automation than risk losing his job to it.

  Venture capitalists acknowledge the drive and ambition of these young dropouts, but caution that many of their ventures may fizzle out. Building a successful AI company requires access to vast datasets and expertise in building and training AI models. While some students may experiment and fail, not having mortgages or children to support provides them with the freedom to take these risks.

  “It’s the wonder of youth. You’ve got to love them,” said Jeffrey Sohl, who leads the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire as well as a student angel-investment fund, and who acknowledges that most won’t become household names.

  “Not all of them can change the world.“

  Tech giants like Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs, who achieved tremendous success without formal degrees, have reinforced the notion that academic qualifications aren’t the sole path to innovation and entrepreneurship, while the emergence of generative AI tools like ChatGPT has simplified the process of starting AI-based companies. Founders can now use AI to develop algorithms that previously required entire teams of engineers. This newfound accessibility has fueled the ambitions of young entrepreneurs.

  20-year-old Kevin Lu, who left the University of Waterloo in Canada to focus on his company, Sweep AI, sees AI as a force that could replace many traditional jobs, including his own. He believes that embracing AI entrepreneurship is a way to stay ahead of the curve in a world where automation threatens various professions.

  “By the time I graduate, I’m going to be replaced by AI,” he says. “I’d rather be the one replacing people.”

  A recent McKinsey analysis suggests up to 30% of tech workers’ time could be changed by automation in the next decade. Eighty percent of workers are in occupations where at least one task can be performed more quickly by generative AI, according to research from the University of Pennsylvania and OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT. -WSJ

  According to research from the University of Pennsylvania and OpenAI, 80% of workers are in occupations where at least one task can be performed more quickly by generative AI.

  Hype? Vaporware?

  The push into AI has also stoked calls for restraint, as concerns of overzealous branding and the use of ‘all things AI’ as a buzzword may backfire – and has prompted predictions of an impending shakeout in the AI startup space. Institutions have seen a surge in AI-related startup ideas, even when they may not necessarily require AI solutions.

  “Everyone is trying to pass off their company as an AI venture,” said Kartik Hosanagar, faculty co-director of a program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania focused on AI.

  

  Despite these challenges, young entrepreneurs remain undeterred. David Zhi LuoZhang and Jeffrey Pan, both 20, leveraged their machine-learning knowledge from a graduate-level course to create Bronco AI, which assists executives in decision-making using business data. They left their university after securing their first investment and are now actively engaged in their startup.

  “It’s hard to focus on your homework when you’re thinking about how you could run all the factories in America,” said LuoZhang.

  Jay Dang, 21, withdrew from the University of California Berkeley to establish FlowGPT, a generative AI applications company. Dang sees this decision as the best he’s ever made, with FlowGPT now boasting a substantial user base and a valuation of $12 million after raising $2 million, according to the co-founders.

  Dang says he now works 90 hours a week, something he couldn’t do if he also had to deal with exams and classes.

  And then there’s plan B: “You can always go back to college if you fail.”

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/23/2023 – 20:40

• The United States Deficit Road To Ruin
  The United States Deficit Road To Ruin

  Authored by Daniel Lacalle,

  According to the U.S. Treasury, year-end data from September 2023 show that the deficit for the full year 2023 was $1.7 trillion, $320 billion higher than the prior year’s deficit. As a percentage of GDP, the deficit was 6.3%, an increase from 5.4% in FY 2022. This means that the United States will likely post the worst GDP growth excluding debt increases since 1929, or, in other words, that the country is in a recession disguised by bloated deficit spending.

  

  This disastrous result shows that the Keynesian science fiction of the public sector multiplier does not work. The Biden administration increased taxes, but revenues declined. Governmental receipts totaled $4.4 trillion in FY 2023 (16.5 percent of GDP), 9.3% lower than in 2022 and below the budget projections. This decline is mostly due to $456 billion in lower individual income tax receipts and $106 billion in lower deposits of earnings by the Federal Reserve due to higher interest rates, according to the Treasury.

  The mirage of fiscal consolidation through revenue measures has proven to be false yet again. Lower-than-expected tax receipts are another clear indication of a weak economy. We cannot forget that the Biden administration increased taxes, expecting a record revenue figure. The opposite happened.

  You may think that the deficit is a result of rising yields and that the central bank could have monetized the debt, but that would have meant higher inflation and an even worse deficit because the government would have increased expenditures well above the $6.1 trillion as it always does.

  The United States government is unable to spend less than 22.8% of GDP, and no tax revenue measure can eliminate the deficit. Those who think that taxing the rich would eliminate the deficit should ask how the government would collect $1.7 trillion in additional taxes per year and every year, no matter what the growth of the economy is.

  With $33.6 trillion of public debt and the administration’s own estimate of the accumulated deficit for 2023–2022, public debt is going to soar by $14 trillion. No tax measure can eliminate that problem.

  Deficits are always a spending problem. Massively monetizing government spending was the cause of inflation. The excessive money growth created a persistent inflationary problem that continues to this day, even with declining monetary aggregates. This level of inflation remains because the government continues to consume an excessive amount of newly created currency units, and money market fund inflows show that the reduction in base money (M2) may be misleading to predict an abrupt fall in the interannual inflation rate. It is impossible to believe that a massive intervention from the Federal Reserve would have avoided the increase in deficit, but it does not even matter. Even if there had been no rise in the cost of debt, the deficit would have remained above $1.6 trillion. Even if the tax receipts had been in line with the government’s estimate, the annual deficit would have been higher than $1.3 trillion.

  There is simply no excuse. The different arguments for Keynesianism are all debunked.

  • High government spending has not created higher growth or rising real wages.

  • There is no fiscal multiplier.

  • Tax receipts do not rise with tax rate increases.

  • Furthermore, government spending is the only real source of the enormous deficit that is creating both an inflationary problem and a challenge for the U.S. dollar as a world reserve currency.

  Countries like China are selling government bonds at the fastest rate in years; the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield remains well above 4.5% and is likely to rise.

  There is no free government money. You wanted a stimulus check? You have high inflation and negative real wage growth. If the U.S. does not eliminate the deficit, it will put the U.S. dollar at risk.

  It is not true that the deficit means more reserves for the private sector and more dollars for the world. The supply of U.S. dollars for the world should come from productive investment and private sector credit creation, not rising government size. Following the eurozone is a dangerous example and leads to poor growth and higher unemployment.

  High public deficits mean lower growth, lower real wages, and more debt in the future. All of it leads to higher taxes and persistent inflation. There is no such thing as a balanced budget with ever-increasing government size and constant erosion of the private sector via higher taxes.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/23/2023 – 20:20

• Israel A 'Nuclear Wildcard' On 'Dangerous Road To Armageddon': Macgregor
  Israel A ‘Nuclear Wildcard’ On ‘Dangerous Road To Armageddon’: Macgregor

  Tucker Carlson sat down with Col. Douglas Macgregor (ret.), who laid out a disturbing scenario in which the United States could quickly be pulled into a direct conflict with Iran, Russia and China over Israel’s anticipated response to the October 7 Hamas attack.

  

  Carlson starts off highlighting Lindsey Graham, who vowed; “…if Hezbollah, which is a proxy of Iran, launches a massive attack on Israel, I consider that a threat to the… state of Israel, existential in nature. I will introduce a resolution [in] the United States Senate to allow military action by the United States in conjunction with Israel to knock Iran out of the Oil Business…”

  This is truly an occupational disease….US Senator Lindsey Graham: Here is my message: If Hezbollah, the proxy force of Iran, launches a massive attack on Israel, I will consider it an existential threat to the State of Israel. I will introduce a resolution in the United States… pic.twitter.com/FNuAbcNeUZ

  — Peacemaker (@peacemaket71) October 16, 2023

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

  Carlson then asks: “So what would war with Iran mean? Well, it’s hard to know because virtually no one who’s talking about it in public is operating from a deep interest in America’s interest. Is this good for us, or is it not?“

  If, as Sen. Graham suggests, we start bombing critical infrastructure in Iran, Macgregor warns “the destruction would be wholesale” as Iran would target “all the bases we have in Iraq and Syria – with around 1000 Americans – would be targeted… and this time accurately.“

  According to Macgregor, “The chosen destination” if we continue on this path, “is Armageddon,” and the implications (of which nobody seems to be considering) for the United States, Europe, and the Middle East are grave. For example, “just on the economic side, about 20% of the world’s oil passes through the Straits of Hormuz every month – probably 25% of liquefied natural gas, and you’re talking about shutting down 2 to three million barrels a day of oil from Iran. 

  “You know this entire region is involved in the war. This is not an Iranian Monopoly by any stretch of the imagination,” he continued.

  The two also discussed how one of the primary challenges of in contemplating war with Iran is the unpredictable nature of such conflicts. Economic sanctions, which have been the go-to strategy for years, have failed to cripple Iran’s military capabilities. When military force comes into play, a whole new set of unknowns emerges.

  The U.S. military, as it stands, may not be adequately prepared for such a conflict – particularly if the enemy has new weapons systems and capabilities.

  “We’ve had the luxury of sitting around forward operating bases and striking opponents that were armed with AK-47s, and command detonated mines and the occasional mortar or rocket. Very, very low-intensity combat,” he said, referring to the types of engagements the US military has grown accustomed to.

  Nuclear wildcard?

  According to Macgregor, “This is a high-end, conventional war that we’re looking at, with the potential to go nuclear – which, obviously, I don’t think we or the Russians want to happen, but we have the wild-card in Israel. They do have a nuclear capability.”

  “We don’t know what the trip wire is for them to employ such a weapon. At that point of course, all bets are off and I think most of the world would turn against Israel. Right now, they just have to worry about the Muslim world against them,” he continued, explaining that by focusing on Hamas and Hezbollah as immediate threats, the broader implications are obscured. For example, attacking urban environments such as Gaza comes with a high risk of civilian casualties – the consequences of which would catastrophic, both morally and strategically.

  “Hezbollah has a very large operation in Mexico,” says Macgregor. “There are no doubt many, many Hezbollah agents inside the United States. We can only begin to imagine the kind of trouble they could cause.”

  In the midst of all this, the question arises: How will a war with Iran affect American domestic politics? History shows that war is often used to stifle dissent, but in today’s connected world, censorship can only go so far. Public opinion, initially in favor of violence against Hamas, may wane as the conflict escalates and images of destruction flood the media.

  “But what’s most important, I think, for Americans to understand is, if we attack Iran on the basis of Hezbollah’s alleged willingness to attack Israel, if Israel gets into a real shooting war with Hezbollah, they have the largest armed forces in the region.”

  Watch:

  Ep. 33 Looks like we’re actually going to war with Iran. Are we ready for this? pic.twitter.com/Ap09hWnvnj

  — Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) October 23, 2023

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

   

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/23/2023 – 20:00

• John Lott Opines On Supreme Court 'Ghost Gun' Regulation
  John Lott Opines On Supreme Court ‘Ghost Gun’ Regulation

  Authored by John R. Lott Jr. via RealClear Wire,

  On Monday, in a 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court voted without comment to allow the Biden administration’s regulations on “ghost guns” to go into effect. The rules require serial numbers on gun parts.

  

  Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined their three Democrat-appointed colleagues in allowing the Biden administration to enforce these rules while the Biden administration appeals a lower court ruling.

  Democrats have pushed for serial numbers on all parts of guns, saying it’s a way to protect public safety and prevent violent crime. “The public-safety interests in reversing the flow of ghost guns to dangerous and otherwise prohibited persons easily outweighs the minor costs that respondents will incur,” Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote in a court filing.

  “It will help to ensure that law enforcement officers can retrieve the information they need to solve crimes,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland claimed last year. “And it will help reduce the number of untraceable firearms flooding our communities.”

  Biden’s expanded use of serial numbers is aimed at stopping the production of homemade guns, now called “ghost guns” by gun control advocates. Homemade guns have been around since before the United States became a country, and it was never terribly difficult to make a gun with simple machine tools. But now their production has become nearly impossible to regulate. With 3D metal printers, people can now make weapons that are indistinguishable from those purchased in stores.

  But, even if homemade guns had serial numbers, that still wouldn’t help law enforcement solve crimes. TV shows such as “Law & Order” do not reflect reality.

  In theory, if criminals leave registered guns at a crime scene, the serial numbers can be used to trace the weapons back to the perpetrators.

  But, in real life, guns are only left at the scene of a crime when gunmen have been seriously injured or killed. With both the criminal and the weapon present at a scene, police can solve these crimes without registration. In the exceedingly unusual instances where registered guns are left at the scene, they aren’t registered to the person who committed the crime. 

  Police in Hawaii, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New York have had registration systems in place for decades but can’t point to any crimes that this has helped them to solve. Even entire countries such as Canada haven’t had success. 

  New York and Maryland spent tens of millions of dollars compiling a computer database that contained the unique ballistic “fingerprints” of each new gun sold over a 15-year period. Even these states, which strongly favor gun control, eventually abolished their systems because they never solved a single crime.

  Despite Biden’s claims, his new ghost gun regulations are no more useful. Combined with Biden’s zero-tolerance policy for any paperwork mistakes by gun dealers, which has put thousands of licensed dealers out of business, this new rule is quite nefarious. Biden wants to put gun dealers out of business if they make any paperwork mistake, no matter how trivial or inconsequential. With each part of a gun having a different serial number, just transferring a barrel from one gun to another requires redoing all the paperwork on both guns. Biden is adding significant costs to gun dealers and manufacturers and increasing the likelihood of mistakes that would put them out of business.

  There is a possible argument for using serial numbers for tax purposes, to allow for easier proof of whether a gun has been taxed. The 1934 National Firearms Act imposed taxes on certain weapons, such as machine guns. But licensed dealers can still make sure that guns are properly taxed when sold, just as sales taxes are imposed on items at any other store.

  The Supreme Court’s decision on Monday isn’t the final word. But the real question is this: Why do Democrats keep pushing a policy that costs so much and has no crime-reducing benefits? Someday, knowing who owns guns will help them to target their confiscation efforts. Mass registration will set the stage for future gun bans.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/23/2023 – 19:40

• Here's What You Need To Earn To Own A Home In 50 American Cities
  Here’s What You Need To Earn To Own A Home In 50 American Cities

  Once a fundamental part of the American dream, the ability to own a home is drifting farther and farther away for many Americans.

  But, as Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao details below, between skyrocketing prices, stagnating wages, and now rising interest rates, the deck seems to be increasingly stacked against home ownership.

  Using May 2023 data tabulated by Home Sweet Home, we map out the annual salary needed to afford a 30-year mortgage (at 6.37%) to buy a home in America’s 50 most populous metropolitan areas.

  

  The monthly minimum mortgage payment includes taxes and insurance as well, and is capped at roughly one-third of the income. This analysis also assumes that the homeowner will put down a 20% down payment.

  The Least and Most Affordable American Cities to Own a Home

  At the top of the list, and at the very west of the country, San Jose is the least affordable city to own a home for the average American.

  One would have to earn at least $374,000 a year to afford a $1.6 million dollar home in the city.

  To put those numbers into perspective, the median American annual income is $75,000, about one-fifth what’s required to buy a home in San Jose.

  Here’s a look at the annual earnings needed to afford a home in all 50 largest cities in the U.S., ranked from least to most affordable.

  Rank	Metro Area	State	Median Home Price	Annual Salary
  1	San Jose	California	$1,618,400	$373,696
  2	San Francisco	California	$1,192,600	$282,167
  3	San Diego	California	$880,000	$209,110
  4	Los Angeles	California	$746,800	$181,106
  5	Seattle	Washington	$699,300	$170,340
  6	Boston	Massachusetts	$644,400	$165,239
  7	New York City	New York	$577,300	$160,233
  8	Denver	Colorado	$636,100	$150,622
  9	Washington, D.C.	N/A	$557,200	$139,911
  10	Miami	Florida	$560,000	$137,574
  11	Portland	Oregon	$556,800	$136,147
  12	Riverside/San Bernardino	California	$550,000	$133,607
  13	Austin	Texas	$467,900	$128,995
  14	Sacramento	California	$500,000	$125,304
  15	Salt Lake City	Utah	$522,700	$122,717
  16	Providence	Rhode Island	$417,000	$112,281
  17	Orlando	Florida	$419,900	$104,772
  18	Dallas	Texas	$372,400	$103,460
  19	Phoenix	Arizona	$439,700	$103,112
  20	Raleigh	North Carolina	$420,000	$102,572
  21	Las Vegas	Nevada	$431,400	$101,310
  22	Tampa	Florida	$390,000	$97,387
  23	Minneapolis	Michigan	$361,500	$94,466
  24	Hartford	Connecticut	$314,900	$93,861
  25	Charlotte	North Carolina	$387,200	$93,735
  26	Jacksonville	Florida	$370,000	$93,422
  27	Baltimore	Maryland	$357,800	$93,378
  28	Nashville	Tennessee	$385,800	$93,168
  29	Chicago	Illinois	$321,000	$92,868
  30	Houston	Texas	$327,000	$91,826
  31	Milwaukee	Wisconsin	$339,600	$89,752
  32	Atlanta	Georgia	$354,300	$89,198
  33	Richmond	Virginia	$362,300	$88,769
  34	San Antonio	Texas	$320,500	$88,683
  35	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	$315,300	$87,293
  36	Virginia Beach	Virginia	$313,200	$79,336
  37	Kansas City	Missouri	$291,000	$76,147
  38	Columbus	Ohio	$284,700	$76,133
  39	Indianapolis	Indiana	$289,300	$71,409
  40	New Orleans	Louisiana	$265,200	$68,946
  41	Memphis	Tennessee	$268,600	$68,005
  42	Birmingham	Alabama	$276,500	$67,773
  43	Cincinnati	Ohio	$252,200	$66,260
  44	Buffalo	New York	$206,800	$63,386
  45	St Louis	Missouri	$231,100	$63,260
  46	Detroit	Michigan	$227,000	$62,758
  47	Louisville	Kentucky	$246,000	$62,741
  48	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	$227,300	$62,161
  49	Cleveland	Ohio	$191,400	$55,515
  50	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	$175,000	$50,316
  	National		$371,200	$97,204

  Other Californian cities, San Francisco (ranked 2nd), San Diego (3rd), and Los Angeles (4th) all require an annual income of at least $180,000 to attempt home ownership within their metropolitan boundaries.

  Boston (ranked 6th) and New York (ranked 7th) represent unaffordability on the East Coast, both requiring at least $160,000 a year to buy homes there.

  It’s not just the coasts that are expensive however. To buy a home in Denver (ranked 8th) and Salt Lake City (15th) means earning more than $120,000 a year.

  However, cities in the Midwest and South, like Pittsburgh, Detroit, Oklahoma City, and Louisville, are far more affordable, requiring less than $63,000 a year to buy a home.

  Interest Rates Rock Home Ownership Chances

  Aside from the obvious price differences in housing markets, a key factor that has elevated income requirements across the board is the rapid rise in interest rates in the last year. In fact the average 30-year mortgage has pushed past 7%, the highest it’s been since the 2000s.

  This means that while the median price of a house in San Jose has actually come down between 2022 and 2023, the minimum monthly payment has increased from $7,717 to $8,720 this year.

  Country	Assistance (USD)	Top Activity
  🇦🇫 Afghanistan	$1.5 billion	Humanitarian Assistance
  🇪🇹 Ethiopia	$1.4 billion	Emergency Food Assistance
  🇯🇴 Jordan	$1.3 billion	Cash Transfer
  🇾🇪 Yemen	$1.1 billion	Emergency Food Assistance
  🇸🇸 South Sudan	$1.0 billion	Emergency Food Assistance
  🇨🇩 DRC	$891 million	Emergency Food Assistance
  🇸🇾 Syria	$844 million	Humanitarian Assistance
  🇳🇬 Nigeria	$828 million	Global Health Supply Chain
  🇨🇴 Colombia	$761 million	Counter-Narcotics
  🇸🇩 Sudan	$620 million	Emergency Food Assistance

  So to afford a median-priced home in the country, an American needs to earn closer to $100,000 a year, up from $75,500 in 2022. And even then, they would be priced out of owning a home in nearly half of the 50 largest cities in the country.

  As a result Americans may yet further delay home ownership. Renting is now a far more attractive option, thanks to the biggest difference between rent and mortgages in over 50 years.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/23/2023 – 19:20

• Illinois Hands Out $536 Million In Tax Credits For 2,600 Jobs, Beneficiary Is China
  Illinois Hands Out $536 Million In Tax Credits For 2,600 Jobs, Beneficiary Is China

  Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

  Illinois is paying over $206,000 per job for 2,600 jobs. The primary beneficiary is a Chinese company known for stealing technology.

  

  Chinese Companies and Your Tax Dollars

  Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker doles out $536 Million in tax credits and other incentives to lure Gotion, a battery firm that no other states wanted.

  American taxpayers are now funding Chinese manufacturing, and the Illinois governor has waved away all questions about the new Chinese-owned battery company in the state.https://t.co/96dLn4E9eM

  — Wall Street Journal Opinion (@WSJopinion) October 21, 2023

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

  The Wall Street Journal comments on Chinese Companies and Your Tax Dollars

  It isn’t easy luring corporations to Illinois these days, so Gov. J.B. Pritzker celebrated when the state landed a big electric-vehicle battery plant in September. The real winner, however, is Gotion, the Chinese company that is collecting taxpayer financing to subsidize its EV manufacturing.

  Mr. Pritzker boasted that the new $2 billion factory would bring 2,600 green jobs to the Land of Lincoln and represents “the most significant new manufacturing investment in Illinois in decades.” The company’s decision was helped by a $536 million Illinois subsidy package, including $213 million in tax benefits, a 30-year property tax freeze and $125 million from the state-lending program Invest in Illinois.

  In a Sept. 13 letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Reps. Mike Gallagher (R., Wis.) and John Moolenaar (R., Mich.) noted that Gotion “has direct ties to the CCP [Chinese Community Party] and state-owned financial institutions” and has been part of a Chinese program the FBI has flagged for “theft of trade secrets and economic espionage.”

  That seems worth examining, but who will do it, if not Mr. Pritzker? The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has said Gotion’s projects don’t fall under its jurisdiction.

  In January 2023, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin turned away a Ford factory that was partnering with Chinese battery maker CATL, on the grounds that the company was a “Trojan horse” for Beijing. It set up in Michigan instead, but on Sept. 25, Ford said it paused the project until it was “confident about our ability to competitively operate the plant.”

  Open for Business

  Mr. Pritzker called Gotion’s arrival “the most recent proof that we are in a new paradigm. Illinois is on the rise, and we’re open for business.”

  Open to leave is more like it. Numerous corporations are voting with their feet due to Illinois’ high-crime and high-tax reality.

  TTX Joins Major Chicago Leaving Chicago

  The Illinois Policy Institute reports TTX Joins Major Chicago Leaving Chicago

  Freight railroad car company TTX is moving its headquarters from Chicago’s West Loop to North Carolina.

  Last year major corporations such as Caterpillar, Citadel, Boeing and Tyson Foods announced relocations out of the Chicago area. Guggenheim Partners more quietly made moves to leave the city and join fellow investment firm Citadel in Miami.

  Hoot of the Day

  Illinois is paying over $206,000 per job created to a company the FBI has flagged for “theft of trade secrets and economic espionage.” And Governor Pritzker is bragging about it.

  It’s “proof of a new paradigm,” said Pritzker. Indeed.

  Chicago’s Problem is Crime, the Mayor’s Solution is City-Run Grocery Stores

  In case you missed it, please see Chicago’s Problem is Crime, the Mayor’s Solution is City-Run Grocery Stores

  If you are a store owner in Chicago suffering huge losses to theft or if you are an individual tired of the crime and piss poor public schools, I have a suggestion: leave.

  But think about where your going. Leaving Chicago isn’t enough. I advise leaving the state.

  Reserve your U-Haul well in advance. Recall that It Takes 3 Weeks to Escape Illinois, at least it did for us because all of the one-way U-Haul rentals were headed out.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/23/2023 – 19:00

• Russia Accuses US Of Stoking "Escalation" By Mideast Force Build-Up As Pentagon Blames Iran
  Russia Accuses US Of Stoking “Escalation” By Mideast Force Build-Up As Pentagon Blames Iran

  Update(1845ET): Russia has weighed in strongly against the additional US warships recently sent by the Pentagon to the Middle East region, saying this heightened US presence only serves as a risk of “escalation” of the conflict in Gaza.

  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday during a meeting Tehran that “the more a state takes this kind of proactive measures, the greater the risk and the danger of an escalation of the conflict”. He called out Washington as “already among the countries intervening the most” since the October 7 Hamas terror attack. 

  The same day, the Pentagon said it believes Iran-backed groups in the region are planning to ramp up attacks on US forces in the region. This came amid continuing sporadic drone and missile strikes against US bases in Syria and Iraq.  According to a fresh CNN report:

  There are “red lights flashing everywhere,” a US official in the region told CNN.

  Officials said that at this point, Iran appears to be encouraging the groups rather than explicitly directing them. One official said Iran is providing guidance to the militia groups that they will not be punished – by not getting resupplied with weaponry, for example – if they continue to attack US or Israeli targets.

  On Monday, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said there is “a very direct connection between these groups” and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and he said the US is “deeply concerned about the potential of any significant escalation of these attacks in the days ahead.”

  Kirby added in his comments, “Iran’s goal is to maintain some plausible deniability here, but we are not going to allow them to do that.”

  Meanwhile, yet more confusing statement and mixed signals from the US Commander-in-Chief at these crucial and dangerous moments…

  🚨JUST IN: BIDEN MIXED MESSAGES ON GAZA CEASEFIRE

  “Is the U.S. supporting the hostages for ceasefire deal?”

  BIDEN: “We should have a ceasefire. Not a ceasefire. We should have those hostages released and then we can talk.” pic.twitter.com/3eqeQyQyPK

  — Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 23, 2023

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

  And there was this strange moment during a press briefing Monday: 

  🚨#BREAKING: President Joe Biden interrupts his speech, saying he needs to head to the situation room, and he states, “I have to go to the situation room. There’s an issue I need to deal with.” pic.twitter.com/YZOR1eSYi8

  — R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) October 23, 2023

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

  China also weighed in Monday, offering that it is willing to “do anything” to restore peace, but emphasized that “prospects are worrying” – according to China’s Middle East special envoy Zhai Jun. 

  Below: Hamas released video of the two elderly women released from captivity today. The Israeli government has confirmed the handover, and they are now undergoing evaluation in a Tel Aviv hospital:

  رفضت المحتجزة أن تترك مجاهدي كتائب القسام وتغادر قبل أن تحييهم. pic.twitter.com/9RF4Rq966c

  — رضوان الأخرس (@rdooan) October 23, 2023

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

  * * *

  Update(0350ET): Hamas has announced the release of two more hostages, bringing the total numbered free since they were kidnapped Oct.7 to four. Al Jazeera is reporting, “The latest release of two Israeli captives from Gaza – both women – follows the release late last week of two US citizens.”

  The newly freed women have been identified as 79-year old Nurit Cooper and 85-year old Yocheved Lifshitz.

  

  Hamas has reportedly demanded fuel in release for more hostages, given electricity has been out across the strip, and fuel is needed to generate power locally. Israel has reportedly countered that all hostages must be freed for deliveries to be allowed into Gaza. This has predictably led to a breakdown in negotiations, which have been mediated by Qatar: 

  * * * 

  Update(1235ET): It has become clear at this point that Israel is stalling its ‘imminent’ ground invasion of Gaza in order to buy more time to negotiate for the release of hostages, now numbered at 222 in Hamas/PIJ captivity. As we detailed below, the White House is putting pressure on Tel Aviv to delay, also no doubt on fears that a full assault will trigger a war with Hezbollah in the north. From there, things could spin out of control, also with Russian, Iranian, and Chinese military assets positioned in the region in addition to an American carrier strike group.

  The New York Times is reporting Monday morning that Hamas could be preparing to release 50 hostages with dual citizenship, amid negotiations mediated by Qatar:

  The U.S. wants more time for hostage negotiations. On Friday, the U.S. secured the release of two American hostages, with Qatar’s help. Israel believes Hamas may release about 50 hostages who are citizens of another country as well as Israel, but a ground invasion could make hostage releases less likely.

  According to more from the NY Times:

  A senior Israeli military official said that based on conversations between the United States and Qatar, Hamas could possibly release about 50 dual nationals separate from any broader deal.

  The repeated delays also reflect a growing tension between Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant, his defense minister, who supports a broad military operation that would also include Hezbollah, the powerful militia in Lebanon.

  Al-Arabiya has separately issued a headline saying that the hostages will be released “within hours”.

  مصادر العربية: أنباء عن تسليم حماس لعدد من الرهائن الأجانب خلال ساعات #العربية_عاجل

  — العربية عاجل (@AlArabiya_Brk) October 23, 2023

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

  If this major hostage release does materialize, it is likely to create conditions that stall an IDF ground invasion further.

  * * *

  The United Nations has revised its grim figure of the rising death toll from Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, saying that it has surpassed 5,000 as of Monday. It stands at 5,087. Separately, over 90 Palestinians have been killed in escalating West Bank violence, which over the weekend included Israel launching a rare airstrike on Jenin. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) are still holding at least 222 Israeli and foreign captives – a number which has again been revised upward.

  European Union foreign ministers are meanwhile gathered in Brussels for an urgent meeting to take up the contentious issue of a ceasefire. UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has been calling on world bodies to back a ceasefire. In response, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said, “Personally, I think that a humanitarian pause is needed in order to allow the humanitarian support to come in and be distributed, seeing that half of the population of Gaza has been moving from their houses.”

  

  Bloomberg is reporting Monday morning that EU leaders are set to endorse a call for a “humanitarian pause”. “The European Council supports the call of UNSG (U.N. Secretary-General Antonio) Guterres for a humanitarian pause in order to allow for safe humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need,” a draft statement of the summit reads.

  But Washington, Israel’s staunchest supporter, is not expected to back a ceasefire – despite reports President Biden has sought for Israel’s military delay the expected imminent ground invasion, in order to buy more time to negotiate the freedom of more hostages.

  Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the Sunday news shows made this clear. Margaret Brennan, the host of CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” asked him, “UNICEF says 1,524 children have been killed in the Gaza Strip during these bombings. Why isn’t the US calling for at least a temporary ceasefire?“

  Blinken then claimed that children dying on either side has hit him “right in the heart” – but he stopped short of directing any criticism at Israel’s indiscriminate and unrelenting bombing campaign. Instead, he defended it:

  “Israel has to do everything it can to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Blinken said in reference to October 7 Hamas cross-border attack. “Freezing things in place where they are now would allow Hamas to remain where it is and to repeat what it’s done some time in the future. No country could accept that.”

  He then cited unverified reports that Hamas has actively blocked Palestinians who are also American citizens from leaving the Gaza Strip. “We’ve had people come to Rafah, the crossing with Egypt. And to date, at least, Hamas has blocked them from leaving, showing once again, its total disregard for civilians of any kind who are — who are stuck in Gaza,” Blinken said. “So really, the ball is in Hamas’ court, in terms of letting people who want to leave, civilians from third countries, including Americans get out of Gaza.”

  There are a reported up to 600 Americans stuck in Gaza, with one Palestinian-American telling NBC that “America’s not helping us, Biden’s not helping us, the embassy is not helping us.”

  🚨 JUST IN: Heavyweight Israeli journalist Edy Cohen posted this video with the following caption:

  “Its name was Gaza
  Next Beirut” pic.twitter.com/wHfJEO14MD

  — Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 23, 2023

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

  The United States is still bolstering its military presence in Middle East waters, readying for any contingency, even as it’s said to be pressing for furthering back-channel negotiations and delaying an all-out Israeli assault: 

  It was becoming increasingly clear Monday that the U.S. wants Israel to not only allow more humanitarian assistance into Gaza, but for the country to let ongoing negotiations over the release of hostages held by Hamas to continue before it launches a ground invasion of the Palestinian territory. Israel said Monday that Hamas was still holding 222 people captive.

  Two sources told CBS News the U.S. has sought to slow Israel’s plans for a ground invasion in order to prioritize the release of hostages and the distribution of aid, a message Washington is said to have been conveying primarily through defense channels.

  The Pentagon is calling its moving two aircraft carrier strike groups into regional waters an act of “deterrence”. 

  Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had announced Saturday, “Following detailed discussions with President Biden on recent escalations by Iran and its proxy forces across the Middle East Region, today I directed a series of additional steps to further strengthen the Department of Defense posture in the region.” He added: “These steps will bolster regional deterrence efforts, increase force protection for U.S. forces in the region, and assist in the defense of Israel.”

  The White House has Iran in mind, and its proxies Hezbollah and Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen, the latter who days ago tried to fire missiles on Israel, but which were intercepted by a US warship off Yemen’s coast. US THAAD and Patriot missile batteries have been sent to Israel.

  In response to recent escalations by Iran & its proxy forces across the Middle East, SecDef Austin directed the USS Eisenhower, a THAAD BTRY, & additional Patriot BNs to the CENTCOM region to increase force posture, strengthen capabilities & ability to respond to contingencies. https://t.co/5twxq1y5Hq pic.twitter.com/fKjZSrinCi

  — U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) October 22, 2023

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

  “This is not what we want, not what we’re looking for. We don’t want escalation,” Blinken said. “We don’t want to see our forces or our personnel come under fire. But if that happens, we’re ready for it.” And Austin simultaneously affirmed the statements, saying “what we’re seeing is a prospect of a significant escalation of attacks on our troops and our people throughout the region.”

  It’s clear Hezbollah has held off committing itself to a major war with Israel, which could very well happen the moment the IDF mounts a major ground assault into Gaza. Hezbollah’s arsenal, with the help of Iran, is far superior to that of Hamas’, and is said to include tens of thousands of rockets of varying sizes.

  

  There’s still been regular exchange of rocket and mortar fire, with Israeli sources reporting Monday that the Iron Dome intercepted an inbound drone from Lebanon via the sea. It was intercepted over Ein Hamifratz, south of Acre. At this point, several dozens of Israeli towns and communities have been evacuated from near the northern border.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/23/2023 – 18:45

• Trust In Mass Media Craters To Record Low As Americans 'Wake-Up' From Matrix
  Trust In Mass Media Craters To Record Low As Americans ‘Wake-Up’ From Matrix

  Americans’ confidence that mass media – such as newspapers, TV, and radio – will report the news fairly and balanced plummeted to historic lows not seen since 2016, according to the latest annual Gallup survey of trust in US institutions.

  Gallup survey from Sept. 1-23 reveals: 

  • 29% of US adults have “not very much” trust in the media.

  • A record-high 39% of US adults have “none at all” trust in the media.

  • The current 39% with no trust is the highest on record, surpassing the previous by one percentage point. This percentage is 12 points higher than the 2016 reading.

  • In 2016, sharp criticism of the media came from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.

  • The current view of the media is the grimmest in Gallup’s history.

  • In 2016, the most common sentiment among US adults was “not very much” trust at 41%.

  A half-century of Gallup data shows Americans’ trust in the media has rapidly declined. 

  

  There is a massive political gap in the trust of corporate media. About 58% of Democrats trust the media, while only 11% of Republicans feel the same. 

  

  “This low confidence reading for the fourth estate comes at a time when trust in each of the three branches of the federal government is also low,” Gallup pointed out. 

  In June, Gallup survey data for trust in TV news and newspapers also slid to a near-record low, as well as a survey last December that found record-low-tying ratings of the honesty and ethics of journalists. 

  Souring distaste for mass media reflects that Americans are learning their news flow has been manipulated by the censorship-industrial complex, which is run by political and technological elites. 

  The Twitter Files, state attorneys general lawsuits, and investigative reporters have revealed the expanding network of government agencies, academic institutions, and nongovernmental organizations that actively censor citizens for talking about non-approved government narratives, such as Covid, vaccines and Hunter Biden’s business deals. These elites use corporate media to twist the truth and keep the masses locked in the ‘matrix.’

  These Six Companies Control Much of US Media

  

  However, the days of censorship in mass media are limited. The emergence of the parallel economy is fostering new capital that is seeding new media ventures, such as the Tucker Carlson on X. The success already on X has CNN and even Fox News envying Carlon’s views in the hundreds of millions. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/23/2023 – 18:40

• Here's Where The US Government Is Warning Americans Not To Travel
  Here’s Where The US Government Is Warning Americans Not To Travel

  Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  After the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas that has increased tensions across the Middle East, the U.S. State Department has issued a worldwide caution alert for Americans traveling abroad.

  

  The alert was issued because of “increased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations, or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests.” Before that update, the most recent worldwide caution advisory was sent out in 2022 after a U.S. strike killed al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri.

  The State Department issues travel advisory levels for more than 200 countries, with advisories ranging from Level 1 to Level 4. Generally, Level 4 countries have a high risk of unrest, terrorism, or conflict, which means that people likely shouldn’t travel there, whereas Level 1 countries mean that U.S. citizens should exercise normal precautions when traveling.

  Countries With Level 4 Alerts

  At least 21 countries around the world have a Level 4 advisory; they include Haiti, Russia, Ukraine, North Korea, Belarus, Venezuela, Burma (also known as Myanmar), Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, and Israel, among others. A number of African countries also are under the Level 4 advisory.

  The State Department recently issued the Level 4 advisories for Lebanon and Israel’s West Bank and Gaza because of the ongoing conflict with Hamas, a designated terrorist group. It came after Hamas attacked multiple areas in Israel earlier this month, killing hundreds of civilians and leading to an extensive Israeli bombing campaign targeting Gaza, the area that Hamas controls.

  As for Lebanon, there have been reports of fighting and airstrikes around the Israel–Lebanon border area, while the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah—also considered a terrorist organization by the State Department—has issued warnings about the conflict spreading farther.

  

  Warnings have long been issued for citizens traveling to Iran, where U.S. nationals are at risk for “arbitrary arrest and detention.” The United States also has long had Iraq on its Level 4 list, warning that there’s a high risk of kidnapping, terrorism, and armed conflict. Nearby Syria—which recently endured a decade-long civil war—also is under the same warning, with armed conflict, terrorism, kidnapping, civil unrest, and risk of unjust detention being significant, the agency warns.

  Ukraine and Russia, meanwhile, have been embroiled in a conflict for nearly two years. The State Department says that Ukraine is on the Level 4 list because of the Russian invasion, but it added that civil unrest and crime are also factors.

  The advisory for Russia says that harassment of U.S. citizens by Russian officials and arbitrary law enforcement as well as the ongoing war are reasons for the Level 4 alert. A similar advisory was issued for Belarus, a country of about 10 million located next to Ukraine and Russia.

  Western Travel

  In the Western Hemisphere, U.S. officials say that Americans should stay away from Venezuela, a country that has been long mired with crime, kidnappings, civil unrest, and arbitrary detentions by officials loyal to socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro.

  Officials this year, meanwhile, have issued a number of warnings about traveling to Haiti, considered the poorest country in the Americas, because of kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and poor health care infrastructure, while the State Department has ordered the departure of family members of U.S. government workers. It comes as the country has effectively had no government since the assassination of its president in 2021, leading to a spike in criminal gang activity.

  Of note, parts of Mexico are under the Level 4 warning, including Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, and Guerrero states largely because of crime and kidnappings. Meanwhile, many states in northern Mexico are under Level 3, which indicates that Americans should reconsider plans to travel there.

  The State Department notes that Americans shouldn’t travel to North Korea, an isolated communist country that’s still technically at war with the United States. The Level 4 distinction, it says, is because of the “continuing serious risk of arrest and long-term detention of U.S. nationals,” adding that U.S. passports aren’t valid in the country. A U.S. soldier, Travis King, fled across the border to North Korea in July but was returned to the United States in recent days and now faces charges.

  The agency recommends that Americans not travel to Afghanistan because of “armed conflict, civil unrest, crime, terrorism, and kidnapping,” coming more than two years after the Taliban took over the country when the U.S. military pulled out after the decades-long conflict following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul stopped operations in August 2021 as the Taliban took over swaths of the country, leading to a hasty evacuation of U.S. citizens and some Afghan nationals.

  Yemen has long been on the State Department’s Level 4 risk list, in part because of the years-long war as well as food insecurity and the risk of cholera. Terrorism, civil unrest, health risks, land mines, armed conflict, and kidnappings were cited by the State Department in the alert.

  Other countries on the Level 4 list include Somalia, Mali, Libya, the Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Sudan, South Sudan, and Niger.

  The State Department currently lists China as Level 3, stating, “Reconsider travel to Mainland China” because of Chinese Communist Party officials’ “arbitrary enforcement of local laws, including in relation to exit bans, and the risk of wrongful detentions.”

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/23/2023 – 18:20

• Huge San Fran Apartment Building Reportedly Loses 50% Of Value As CRE Market Tanks
  Huge San Fran Apartment Building Reportedly Loses 50% Of Value As CRE Market Tanks

  Soaring interest rates and a slide in bank lending following March’s regional banking meltdown have pressured the commercial real estate sector, especially office towers nationwide. But the stress might be spreading as a new report warns one of San Francisco’s largest apartment buildings has sustained a near 50% collapse in valuation in just five years, with risks of imminent default. 

  Local paper San Francisco Chronicle, citing new data from real estate data firm Trepp, said the 754-unit apartment tower, called “NEMA,” located at 10th and Market Street in the downtown area, was valued at $543.6 million in 2018 but is now worth around $279 million. This means in just five years, the building’s value crashed a whopping 48.6%. 

  #TreppWire Trading Alert: Value of NEMA #SanFrancisco Collateral Slashed🚨

  The 754-unit apartment complex backing the $384 million #CMBS loan was cut to $279 million. In 2018 the value was $543.6 million.

  Learn about #Trepp: https://t.co/hezyw9iFbh https://t.co/FThMuFcQnA pic.twitter.com/66esH0jGiA

  — Trepp (@TreppWire) October 18, 2023

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

  Crescent Heights, the building owner, is at risk of imminent default because its $384 million mortgage exceeds the current $279 million value by $105 million. In August, Trepp said the building owner warned, “The property’s cash flow can no longer cover the monthly debt service.” 

  High interest rates plus sliding property valuations will keep refinancing conditions strained for Crescent Heights. A September inspection report said the building owner would need to make significant investments to maintain “good” conditions in the building. As of 1Q23, NEMA had 92% occupancy. 

  

  San Francisco landlords, especially office tower ones in the downtown area, have been battered by high interest rates, and a crime-ridden metro area imploding under failed progressive policies, such as ‘defund the police,’ which has sparked a tsunami in crime. Businesses and people are moving out of the city to safer areas. 

  In recent quarters, several office towers, malls, and hotels in the downtown area have either defaulted or sold at a massive discount.

  We first told readers in early March during the regional banking fiasco: “CRE Nuke Goes Off With Small Banks Accounting For 70% Of Commercial Real Estate Loans.”

  In recent weeks, Goldman interviewed real estate legend Scott Rechler, Chairman and CEO of RXR Realty, who provided the understanding the CRE crisis is only just beginning. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/23/2023 – 18:00

Digest powered by RSS Digest