Jul 25

Today’s News 25th July 2021

  • America Is Only One Step Away From A South African-Style Social Implosion
    America Is Only One Step Away From A South African-Style Social Implosion

    Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

    On the global news front I have been watching one event with special attention, mainly because it seems like almost no one else is – I am speaking of course about the social and economic collapse in South Africa that has been escalating over the past couple weeks. What is strange to me is that certain parallels between South Africa and the US are being summarily ignored.

    Basically, the South African situation is a more exaggerated version of what is happening in America, and we need to consider if it is merely a preview of future events as the extra financial protections in the US begin to fall away.

    Cultural Marxism And Social Unrest (The Reparations Con)

    South Africa’s government under the ANC (African National Congress) was already going full communist in 2018-2019 before the covid pandemic. Under proposed amendments to the constitution, they demanded that “reparations” be taken from white farmers in the form of land grabs, which would then be redistributed to black citizens.

    This is the classic critical race theory argument – That because colonialism once existed, all beneficiaries and their supposed descendants owe dues to the descendants of indigenous people who lost their lands. The problem is, only the descendants of WHITE colonists are required to pay dues.

    This is exactly the same path that socialists/Marxists in the Democratic Party are pursuing in the US, with some states and cities demanding reparations for blacks be written into law because of slavery nearly 200 years ago. The reparations movement is tiny, but like all other social justice initiatives it is gaining power because politicians and corporations are supporting it artificially. Why? That’s easy: It’s all about divide and conquer.

    I think my take on it is simplified, but I feel this needs to be said because CRT and social justice lunatics tend to over-complicate issues in order to distract from certain fundamental realities. Black and brown people invaded each other’s lands and enslaved their neighbors for thousands of years before white people ever showed up on the scene. White people were made slaved within certain civilizations for many centuries as well, and yes, it was just as bad for them as it was for black slaves in America. Slavery and colonialism has NEVER been relegated to only one race or ethnicity. This is historic fact.

    But, that’s all forgotten in the bizarre justifications of critical race theorists. Why are white people the only people that are supposed to pay reparations when the whole world has been killing each other for land and resources since the beginning of recorded history?

    Frankly, if your ancestors lost a bunch of land centuries ago to colonists, then perhaps they should have fought harder for it. You don’t get to suddenly wave your hand and magically claim it back centuries later by default through government enforced eminent domain just because your ancestors sucked at self defense. Go back in time and tell your great-great-great-grandparents to “Get Good.”

    Of course, today’s communists don’t really fight for anything, at least not directly. I might respect them a little if they did. Rather, they loudly whine that they are “victims” even though they are not, and then demand they be given free stuff for life even though they never earned it. And, since free stuff has to be taken from somewhere, the people that have things are attacked through color of law even when they did nothing wrong and earned every cent they own.

    Communists steal from others through government proxy and by claiming victim group status. They work hand-in-hand with the very politicians and corporate oligarchs they say they despise. The governments and corporations do it because they can use the Marxist mob as a social weapon to strike fear in their ideological adversaries (conservatives), and the SJWs do it because they can feed on the scraps from the big boy’s table and use government to forcefully redistribute wealth into their own pockets. It’s kind of a win-win, at least for a while. Eventually the low level commies get nailed to a wall or sent to a gulag when they are no longer useful, but that’s a tale for another time…

    As international outrage developed over the proposed land confiscation mandates and accusations of reverse racism started to spread, the ANC dialed back their rhetoric and adjusted legislation to confiscate land that was “abandoned, unused or posed safety risks”. Let’s set aside the fact that these requirements are arbitrary and could still be abused by the government to take away land from white owners; for now we just need to acknowledge that racial tensions were high in a country which has been working hard to deal with its recent segregationist history. The social justice communists made things much worse, not better, as is always the case.

    As we saw last summer with the $1 Billion in damages caused by the “mostly peaceful” BLM riots, racial conflict is an effective weapon for the elites to create chaos. After all, BLM received most of its initial funding through the Ford Foundation and George Soros’ Open Society Foundation. They are a fabricated movement built around false critical race theory claims, but they are enough of a movement to enact violence on a nationwide scale.

    Covid Lockdowns And Vaccine Totalitarianism

    The South African government’s response to covid is brutal and ongoing. The lockdowns are some of the most strict in the world with curfews, zero gatherings indoors or outdoors, alcohol bans and restrictions on travel through certain areas. A large majority of the population has been blocked from participation in the normal economy. The public has been awaiting economic relief for over a year, but the hype and fear mongering around the “Delta variant” has dashed all hope. Lockdowns returned in full force in June.

    There is NO EVIDENCE that the Delta Variant is as deadly or more deadly than the original iteration of covid, and covid’s overall IFR (Infection Fatality Rate) is a paltry 0.26% according to the CDC and other independent studies. Meaning, draconian lockdowns are still being implemented over a virus that 99.74% of people will easily survive.

    Riots in Johannesburg and elsewhere erupted, with over 200 dead and billions in property damage and theft. In this case, it is hard to outright condemn the looting because the government continues to block citizens from earning a living in the name of stopping covid.

    This is on top of South Africa’s already high poverty level and the fact that, unlike the US with its world reserve currency, South Africa does not have the same ability to print stimulus checks from thin air to placate the masses and hide the damage.

    Not surprisingly the ANC refuses to acknowledge that the primary cause of the riots has been their own lockdown policies. Instead, they have blamed the the crisis on the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma for contempt of court charges as the trigger. This may have added gasoline to the fire, but it was not the cause. When the government is actively sabotaging the ability of millions of people to work and feed their families the only other option left for most is theft, or revolution.

    Supply chains in the country have been completely disrupted and the only retail outlets with stock are those protected by the military or those protected by business owners armed with guns and baseball bats. Only 6% of the population is allowed to own firearms under South Africa’s gun control bureaucracy and red tape. The government has a near monopoly on force and it is unlikely that the mobs will change much in terms of policy, but they do make life hell for the rest of the population.

    The civil unrest in this region is, in my opinion, a preview of what is to come in the US and other western nations. We have already seen riots in France, Italy and other parts of the western world over legislation that would make the experimental mRNA vaccines mandatory through vaccine passports. I would point out that the liberty media has warned OVER AND OVER that governments would try to enforce vaccine passports and make vaccines mandatory. We were called “conspiracy theorists” for this; now we are proven right once again.

    Covid laws will lead to unrest in the US, just as they have led to unrest in South Africa. The Biden Administration continues to push for total vaccination of Americans despite all science running contrary to his initiatives and claims. As I outlined in my article ‘Biden’s Vaccine Strike Force Plan Stinks Of Desperation’, the facts on covid do not support vaccine mandates or passports, and this is why around half the US population continues to defy the restrictions and refuses to take the jab. The only reason why medical tyranny has been beaten back in the US is because around 50% of US households are armed. We are not yet South Africa because of our gun rights, so be thankful for the millions of gun owners out there creating a deterrent to tyranny.

    The goals of the establishment will remain, however. They are going to continue to ignore the fact that Covid’s death rate is a mere 0.26% of those with confirmed infections. They are going to continue to ignore the fact that natural immunity is a part of herd immunity. They are going to continue to ignore the fact that covid infections and deaths dropped off a cliff in January of 2021 well before the vaccines were rolled out in the US. And, they are going to continue to ignore the fact that the experimental mRNA vaccines have no long term testing to prove they are safe for humans.

    The science is unimportant to them. Covid is only a tool for gaining control. They do not care about public safety in the slightest.

    Economic Decline And The Dark Cloud Of Inflation

    There are some differences between the US and South Africa in terms of motivations and economy, but the gap is not as wide and some might think. The US is exhibiting similar signs of decline in terms of poverty, small business closures and inflation.

    South Africa’s unemployment rate and poverty rate appears much higher, but the US has the ability to hide real poverty through temporary stimulus measures, welfare programs and eviction moratoriums. When the covid checks run out and evictions return, we are going to see a massive spike in poverty levels in the US once again. Furthermore, core price inflation has hit 30 year highs due to trillions in money printing and dollar devaluation, along with struggling supply chains. For now, increased demand created by covid checks is giving the illusion that the economy is in recovery, but just as home sales are now plunging after a short term spike, so too will demand in most sectors of the economy.

    This does not mean that prices will fall with demand, however. For example, lumber prices are in decline as demand lessens, but after rising by 300% in some areas they have a long way to go and will probably never go back to their pre-pandemic levels. We are now seeing the same dynamic happening in housing sales vs. house prices. When demand is falling but price inflation continues to rise or remains high, this is a sign of a stagflationary crisis. And if this is the case, then the US economy will falter dramatically in the coming months, leading to poverty levels similar to South Africa. Money printing is a temporary fix that leads to longer term disasters.

    It is also only a matter of time before a covid variant (like the Delta variant) is used as an excuse to bring back lockdowns across the country. And make no mistake, they will attempt harsher and harsher mandates similar to those in South Africa in order to intimidate people into submitting to the jab and the passports. At this stage, the US government will have not only mass riots on their hands, but also an armed rebellion. Undoubtedly, supply chains will crash if they have not already been disrupted by lockdowns or a related financial crisis.

    The question at that point will be this: Who will rebuild? If it’s the elites and the covid cult, then freedom will disappear forever. If it’s liberty minded people, then there might be a chance to bring our civilization back from the brink. Everything depends on who is left standing after the chaos subsides.

    South Africa is a warning to Americans: Do not get too comfortable. Do not get complacent. Be ready for the next shoe to drop. Prepare accordingly, and understand that a fight is coming.

    The establishment will place its bets that the unrest and economic disaster will create manufactured consent. They believe that the public will be sufficiently desperate and will beg for totalitarianism as a solution. Do not find yourself among the desperate, and if you can, organize your community to weather the storm.

    Finally, always remember who the people are that caused this mess in the first place. Rioters and looters are going to be a problem, but they are not the true enemy. The people behind the curtain need to be dealt with if we are ever going to find peace again.

    *  *  *

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    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 23:30

  • Visualizing Asia's Slide Into A Dangerous New Ballistic Missile Race
    Visualizing Asia’s Slide Into A Dangerous New Ballistic Missile Race

    The last couple years of military build-up and standoff between China and the United States in the South China Sea has resulted in fears of a new dangerous arms race, as smaller nations in the region rapidly bolster their defenses in order to avoid being “caught in the middle” which would result in having to be overly dependent on one side of the tensions. 

    A new Reuters report chronicling the growth in regional missile stockpiles says China is “mass producing its DF-26, a multipurpose weapon with a range of up to 4,000 kilometres, while the United States is developing new weapons aimed at countering Beijing in the Pacific.” 

    This has resulted in other countries once on the sidelines now “buying or developing their own new missiles, driven by security concerns over China and a desire to reduce their reliance on the United States” – the report underscores. 

    “Before the decade is out, Asia will be bristling with conventional missiles that fly farther and faster, hit harder, and are more sophisticated than ever before – a stark and dangerous change from recent years, analysts, diplomats, and military officials say,” the report adds.

    The below map and infograph from Reuters visualizes the emerging ‘Asia-Pacific missile race’…


    From the report, here’s a list of who has the growing arsenals and their reach in the region…

    • US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) plans to deploy its new long-range weapons in “highly survivable, precision-strike networks along the First Island Chain,” which includes Japan, Taiwan, and other Pacific islands ringing the east coasts of China and Russia.
    • Japan, home to more than 54,000 U.S. troops, could host some of the new missile batteries on its Okinawan islands, but the United States would probably have to withdraw other forces… Japan has spent millions on long range air-launched weapons, and is developing a new version of a truck-mounted anti-ship missile, the Type 12, with an expected range of 1,000 kilometres.
    • Australia recently announced it would spend $100 billion over 20 years developing advanced missiles.
    • South Korea fields the most robust domestic ballistic missile program, which got a boost from a recent agreement with Washington to drop bilateral limits on its capabilities. Its Hyunmoo-4  has an 800-kilometre range, giving it a reach well inside China.
    • North Korea recently tested what appeared to be an improved version of its proven KN-23 missile with a 2.5-ton warhead that analysts say is aimed at besting the 2-ton warhead on the Hyunmoo-4.
    • Taiwan has not publicly announced a ballistic missile programme, but in December the U.S. State Department approved its request to buy dozens of American short-range ballistic missiles. Officials say Taipei is mass producing weapons and developing cruise missiles such as the Yun Feng, which could strike as far as Beijing.

    David Santoro, president of the Pacific Forum, was cited in the report as forecasting that “missile proliferation will fuel suspicions, trigger arms races, increase tensions, and ultimately cause crises and even wars.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 23:00

  • JFK – Accept Our Diverse World As It Is
    JFK – Accept Our Diverse World As It Is

    Authored by Pat Buchanan,

    Seven months after the Cuban missile crisis, President John F. Kennedy, at American University, laid out his view on how the East-West struggle should be conducted to avoid a catastrophic war that could destroy us both.

    Kennedy’s message to Moscow and his fellow Americans:

    “If (the United States and the Soviet Union) cannot end now our differences, at least we can make the world safe for diversity.”

    As George Beebe writes in his essay, “It’s a Big World: The Importance of Diversity in American Foreign Policy,” in the July National Interest, Kennedy later elaborated:

    “We must recognize that we cannot remake the world simply by our own command. … Every nation has its own traditions, its own values, its own aspirations. … We cannot remake them in our own image.”

    To Kennedy, a student of history, acceptance of the reality of a world of diverse political systems, many of them unfree, was a precondition of peace on earth and avoidance of a new world war.

    Kennedy was asking us to recognize that the world consists not only of democrats but also of autocrats, dictatorships, military regimes, monarchs and politburos, and the goal of U.S. foreign policy was not to convert them into political replicas of the USA.

    Kennedy was willing to put our political model on offer to the world, but not to impose it on anyone: “We are unwilling to impose our system on any unwilling people — but we are willing and able to engage in peaceful competition with any people on earth.”

    The higher goal: “Preserving and protecting a world of diversity in which no one power or no one combination of powers can threaten the security of the United States.”

    For JFK, national interests transcended democratist ideology.

    He knew that throughout our history, we Americans had partnered with dictators, monarchs and autocrats when our interests required it.

    The 1778 alliance we forged with the French King Louis XVI was indispensable to the victory at Yorktown that ensured our independence.

    Woodrow Wilson took us into World War I as an “associate power” of four great empires — the British, French, Russian and Japanese.

    In World War II, we allied with Stalin’s Russia against Hitler’s Reich.

    The South Korea we saved at a cost of 37,000 dead from 1950 to 1953 was ruled by the autocratic and dictatorial Syngman Rhee.

    The thrust of Beebe’s article is that President Joe Biden, in defining the new post-Cold War era as featuring a new-world ideological struggle, between authoritarian and democracy, is misreading the conflict.

    Said Biden, in his major foreign policy address during the campaign: “The triumph of democracy and liberalism over fascism and autocracy created the free world. But this contest does not just define our past. It will define our future.”

    Biden’s Interim National Strategic Security Guidance fully embraces the same thesis of a new world ideological struggle:

    “Authoritarianism is on the global march. … We must join with likeminded allies and partners to revitalize democracy the world over.”

    Yet, neither of our great adversaries is preaching a global crusade to remake the world in its image.

    Communist China does business with Japanese and American capitalists, with South and North Korea, with Arab monarchs and Israelis, with Europeans and Iranians, Africans, Latin Americans and Central Asians, without attempting to impose its system beyond its borders.

    Consider Russia. President Vladimir Putin, it is said, is an autocrat.

    But Putin’s interest in bringing home ethnic Russian kinfolk left behind when the USSR broke apart is a normal and natural expression of his people’s and his country’s national interest.

    So, too, is Moscow’s effort at re-knitting relations with Ukraine and Belarus, the two nations with whom Russia’s ties are the oldest, closest and deepest, culturally and ethnically.

    What Russia, a Black Sea power since the 18th century, is doing in Yalta and the Donbas is understandable from the standpoint of history, ethnicity and national interests.

    The question is: What are we doing there?

    When did Ukraine, Belarus and Georgia become our concerns?

    Russia’s alarm at having the world’s largest military alliance, NATO, led by its former Cold War adversary, squatting on its front porch from the Arctic Ocean to the Baltic and Black Sea, is as understandable as is Putin’s impulse to push that alliance some distance away.

    That is what any Russian nationalist ruler would do.

    But when did relations between Belarus, Ukraine and Russia become the concern of the USA, 5,000 miles away?

    Is Putin an autocrat? But so what?

    When has Russia not been ruled by an autocrat?

    From Peter the Great to Catherine the Great to Alexander I, Nicholas I, Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II in 1917, Romanov czars ruled Russia. After 1917 came Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev, Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin.

    During his speech at American University, Kennedy mentioned a crucial fact about the long history between Russia and America:

    “Almost unique among the major world powers, we have never been at war with each other.”

    Maintaining that 230-year tradition should be at the apex of our concerns, not how Vladimir Putin rules what is, after all, his country.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 22:30

  • China Unveils World's Fastest Maglev Bullet Train
    China Unveils World’s Fastest Maglev Bullet Train

    China unveiled a travel innovation this week of a maglev bullet train capable of reaching speeds of 600 km/h per hour (373 mph), according to Reuters. 

    The new maglev train rolled off the production line Tuesday in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao. Maglev trains have been used in China for nearly two-decade but only at a limited scale. 

    Over this decade, Beijing has plans to expand maglev track networks across the country. There is only one maglev line in commercial use, connecting Shanghai’s Pudong Airport with the Longyang Road station in the city. The 19-mile route takes just seven and a half minutes, with the train hitting speeds in excess of 430 km/h (267 mph).

    The new superfast train is expected to bridge a gap between airplanes and high-speed rail between major metro areas. 

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

    Reuters notes the new maglev train is the fastest in the world as it’s propelled by electromagnetic forces that levitate it above the track, making no contact between the train car and rail. 

    Future service of the train is expected between Beijing to Shanghai and halve the typical rail travel time from four hours to about 2.5 hours. 

    China’s high-speed maglev train project is all domestic and may one day link up cities along the Belt and Road Initiative.

    Countries like Germany and Japan are considering building or expanding maglev networks, although costs are expensive. Maglev is incompatible with the current track infrastructure, and there could be many challenges to build out new networks in densely populated areas. 

    Meanwhile, in Washington, Democrats have promised high-speed trains and supersonic planes in the latest infrastructure plan though talks with Republicans have stalled.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 22:00

  • It's About Time We Stopped "Trying Communism"
    It’s About Time We Stopped “Trying Communism”

    Authored by Ethan Yang via The American Institute for Economic Research,

    I don’t know how many protests, solidarity movements, refugees, human rights alerts, economic collapses, and purges are going to get this message through everyone’s heads, Communism is a terrible system of governance. In fact, at this point, we should be consistent. Any government that does not guarantee as to the very justification for its existence, individual rights, open markets, and accountable governance, is worth challenging.

    I am of course referring to the ongoing protest in Cuba, to which those on the far left will shamefully attribute to the US embargo on the Communist regime. Others may simply beat around the bush and try to attribute the reasons for the protests to current events. Although all these may contribute to the discontent fueling the Cuban protests, just like every single Communist regime, the ultimate reason why things are going poorly is that the people live under a crushing regime of incompetence and oppression. 

    To make room for a colleague that will inevitably publish on the Cuban protests in more detail, my article will focus not on Cuba but on the general topic of Communism. 

    The Shameful Track Record of Communism

    Real Communism has never been tried before, but it certainly has been attempted in all sorts of flavors and every single one of them sucked. For some reason, their leaders can’t bring themselves to care about the rights of individuals. Perhaps it undermines their overall collectivist views? Perhaps individual dignity would lead down the slippery slope to capitalism? Perhaps individual rights and preferences are a bourgeois construct? That’s certainly what Che Guevara, the leader of Cuba’s Communist revolution, and Fidel Castro, Communist Cuba’s first leader thought. In fact, Human Progress points out, 

    “Both Guevara and Castro considered homosexuality a bourgeois decadence. In an interview in 1965, Castro explained that “A deviation of that nature clashes with the concept we have of what a militant communist should be.”

    Although the American Left somehow rationalizes the deification of men like Che Guevara, they seem to conveniently forget that much like all power-hungry dictators with no regard for human life, he was blatantly a racist, a bigot, and a mass murderer. Human Progress notes,

    “According to Álvaro Vargas Llosa, homosexuals, Jehova’s Witnesses, Afro-Cuban priests, and others who were believed to have committed a crime against revolutionary morals, were forced to work in these camps to correct their “anti-social behavior.” Many of them died; others were tortured or raped.”

    Even today the Cuban government and every single communist country are incredibly repressive. In fact, in reaction to the protests that some may keep telling themselves aren’t against the Communist government, they just shut off the internet. You don’t do that when the people are protesting the actions of a foreign government, such as a US embargo; you do that when the protestors are against the domestic government.

    To briefly highlight some of the many atrocities committed by Communist regimes let’s start with China. It’s been a little bit more than a month since the anniversary of China’s Tiananmen Square Massacre and tens of millions died in Mao’s Great Leap Forward as well as the Cultural Revolution. A failure of Communist economic and political reform respectively. North Korea is such a repressive and poor country, it’s hard to even know where to begin. Furthermore, there are entire books about how life in the Soviet Union sucked.

    In Cambodia (this one is cool because my family fled this genocide so that’s why we all live in America now), under the communist Khmer Rouge, not only did they manage to kill off as much of a quarter of the population, but the mass murder, starvation, and torture got so out of hand, communist Vietnam had to intervene with military force. Vietnam is probably one of the more well-behaved communist nations; however, they still have a repressive one-party state and much like China, their current economic success is directly attributed to market reforms. In other words, becoming less communist and more capitalist.

    It is simply puzzling that in all these regimes that purport to represent the proletariat, they end up doing more to impoverish and oppress the working class than even the most sadistic capitalist. In hindsight, it really isn’t that difficult of a question. As mentioned before, any government that does not protect individual rights, open markets, and constraints on power is not only a recipe for disaster but a moral tragedy.

    In liberal democracies, like the United States, there is much talk about the consent of the governed to which governments derive their legitimacy. We already have trouble justifying the impositions that we live under as truly consensual. Such a notion cannot even remotely exist in a Communist regime or any authoritarian regime for that matter. 

    There is not a single country that adopted Communism or moved in its direction that was able to provide the standards of living and prosperity found in a free and open society like the United States. In fact, that bar is too high, because not a single one has produced any sort of relative prosperity without some sort of market reform, and not a single one can produce a human rights record that doesn’t make the problems in freer countries look like child’s play.

    The Basics of Governance 

    It has become fashionable for some, like the Chinese Communist Party and all those around the world who share their sentiments, to call for a system of moral relativism when it comes to governments. Respect the rights of governments, not individuals. Such a way of thinking believes that the world must be inclusive of different types of political systems, from the freest to the most oppressive. It eschews any sort of moral foundation when it comes to the rights of individuals or sound economic thinking. It subscribes to the fantasy that different political systems work for different countries.

    This is empirically false, which is why the current rules-based international order holds that human rights and open markets are the universal standards for good state conduct. 

    Take a look at any economic freedom index. There is a powerful correlation between prosperity and free markets. Objective metrics such as infant mortality rates, educational attainment, calorie consumption, life expectancy, and other desirable indicators are all better in richer countries than poorer countries. Basic political science and legal theory tell us that checks and balances are necessary for an accountable government, whether that be preventing the arbitrary use of power or full-on massacres.

    Think about it; qualified immunity, a doctrine granting protections for police in the United States against being sued for infringing on a private citizen’s rights, already causes enough problems here. Imagine if an entire government had such privileges? A restrained and gridlocked government is far preferable to an unrestrained and power-drunk one. 

    Finally, there’s the basic truth that governments cannot run society; they merely exist to facilitate a productive natural order by securing rights and establishing peace. Commerce, invention, culture, and trade arises spontaneously without central dictate. This is why societies in command economies like Maoist China were incredibly bleak and drab. This is also why former Soviet Union president Boris Yeltsin was so amazed and awestruck when he visited a grocery store in the United States. The New Haven Register notes,

    “He told his fellow Russians in his entourage that if their people, who often must wait in line for most goods, saw the conditions of U.S. supermarkets, there would be a revolution.”

    Key Takeaways

    People will always try to find some superficial reason for why a Communist state is failing, whether it’s because of sanctions, resource shortages, inflation, civil unrest, or what have you. These are all fine and good but they ultimately fail to see the elephant in the room. Or in this case, the highly authoritarian, oppressive, and economically incompetent system in place.

    We live in an age where ignorance is a choice when it comes to the superiority of a free and open society. The quicker we stop averting our eyes and look at the facts, the quicker we can move towards a world where every individual, regardless of their geographical and political fortune, can live free and prosper.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 21:30

  • These Are The World's Highest-Paid Athletes
    These Are The World’s Highest-Paid Athletes

    In Giannis Antetokounmpo, newly-crowned NBA champion and finals MVP, another player may have dominated the sporting headlines this week, but Lebron James still made some waves beside the court. For one he’s currently starring in Space Jam 2, stepping into the enormous shoes of Michael Jordan, who appeared in the original Space Jam movie in 1996.

    More importantly though, as Statista’s Felix Richter notes, James made headlines on Thursday for becoming the first active NBA player to become a billionaire, a milestone that Jordan only surpassed after his playing career. According to Sportico, James surpassed $1 billion in career earnings from salaries and endorsement deals, putting him far ahead of Kevin Durant ($580 million) and Steph Curry ($430 million), the other two active players who could eventually join the billionaires club.

    But, according to Forbes, James ‘only’ made a total of $97 million between May 1, 2020 and May 1, 2021, putting him fifth among the highest paid athletes.

    Infographic: The World's Highest-Paid Athletes | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    But, as the chart above shows, Conor McGregor took the money crown last year, taking home a whopping $180 million, mainly thanks to his sale of whiskey brand ‘Proper No. Twelve’, and all that wealth cost him was a broken leg.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 21:00

  • Electrical Engineer Gets Five Years In Prison For Selling Missile Technology To China
    Electrical Engineer Gets Five Years In Prison For Selling Missile Technology To China

    Authored by Isabel Van Brugen via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    An electrical engineer from Los Angeles who plotted to steal missile technology and sell it to a Chinese company has been sentenced to more than five years in prison.

    A U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division, 1st Battallion, 39th Field Artillery Regiment (1-39) Bravo Battery Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) vehicle fires a M28A1 practice rocket during exercises near the Iraqi border in northern Kuwait on Feb. 13, 2003. (Scott Nelson/Getty Images)

    U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt sentenced Yi-Chi Shih, 66, of Hollywood Hills, to 63 months—or more than five years—in prison for his role in the scheme. He was also ordered to pay $362,698 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the judge fined him $300,000.

    Shih was arrested in January 2019 after he was found to have been involved in an illegal scheme to obtain monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) from an unnamed American company and smuggle them to the Chinese company Chengdu GaStone Technology (CGTC), which was placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List in 2014.

    He was convicted on one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Export Administration Regulations.

    Shih was also convicted of four counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information, one count of making false statements to an FBI agent, three counts of subscribing to a false tax return, and four counts of making false statements to the IRS about his foreign assets.

    Court papers state that Shih defrauded a U.S. company that manufactured broadband, high-powered semiconductor chips which have several commercial and military applications.

    The semiconductor chips, also known as MMICs, are used in missiles, missile guidance systems, fighter jets, electronic warfare, electronic warfare countermeasures, and radar applications. Those exported by Shih to China were intended for AVIC 607, a state-owned entity.

    According to court documents, Shih was president of CGTC, which was building an MMIC manufacturing facility in the city. The company was placed on the list “due to its involvement in activities contrary to the national security and foreign policy interest of the United States—specifically, that it had been involved in the illicit procurement of commodities and items for unauthorized military end use in China.”

    The case is just one of many examples of federal prosecutions focused on the theft of U.S. intellectual property for the benefit of China.

    In April, former Coca-Cola employee You Xiaorong was convicted of stealing trade secrets relating to the coating of beverage containers from U.S. companies. You then planned to use the technology to manufacture the coating for the global market.

    In June 2020, Chinese professor Zhang Hao was found guilty of economic espionage and stealing wireless technology from U.S. companies for the benefit of the Chinese regime. The technology in question filters out unwanted signals in wireless devices, such as mobile phones and tablets, and has both consumer and military applications.

    U.S. Senate and House lawmakers in May reintroduced a bill, called the Protecting America from Spies Act, that would deny visas to aliens who have stolen U.S. intellectual property or committed espionage—particularly those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

    “We know that the Chinese Communist Party will spare no effort to steal from, and exploit, American companies and universities,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said in a May 20 statement.

    “If a Chinese citizen has spied on us before, we should absolutely assume he or she will do so again. This legislation prevents repeat offenders from gaining access to our country,” he said.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 20:30

  • Christmas Tree Farms Scorched In Oregon Amid Record Heat
    Christmas Tree Farms Scorched In Oregon Amid Record Heat

    Oregon’s record-breaking heat waves and raging wildfires are set to dent Christmas tree crop output, resulting in supply constraints that may send prices skyrocketing come December.

    According to Reuters, who spoke with multiple Christmas tree farm operators in Oregon, one of the top Christmas tree producing states, extreme heat and wildfires are impacting crop yields. 

    Jacob Hemphill, the owner of Hemphill Tree Farm in Oregon City, estimates he’s already lost more than $100,000 in trees due to the latest back-to-back heatwaves. At one point, temperatures in the area were triple digits for days. 

    “The second day of the heat, it was 116. I came in the driveway that night and seen the trees were basically cooking. Burnt down to nothing,” Hemphill said.

    He said the losses will impact his farm revenue this year but hopes the 2022 season will improve.

    “I mean, you just kind of got to roll with the punches, and replant next year… and hopefully make up for the loss that we’re gonna have in the future.”

    Reuters spoke to several tree farm operators across the Willamette Valley who said the heat waves have severely damaged their crops. 

    On top of the heat waves, the Bootleg Fire in Southern Oregon, spurred by months of drought, has burned nearly 400,000 acres and is likely to increase in size as no relief is in sight. 

    Oregon is the top-selling state of Christmas trees which are Douglas fir, Noble fir, Grand fir, and Nordmann fir. This could present supply constraints come December. 

    In other words, on the back of already record-high prices, consumers could shell out even more money this year for a Christmas tree if shortages materialize in Oregon. On top of the supply crunch, the cost of everything, from fuel to labor to transportation, has soared and will positively impact prices. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 20:00

  • Protesters Rage Across Europe As Lockdown, Vaccination Mandates Begin
    Protesters Rage Across Europe As Lockdown, Vaccination Mandates Begin

    Update (19115ET): Anti-lockdown protests kicked into high gear around the globe on Saturday, including irate Irish protesters:

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    Bitter Brits:

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    Pissed-off Parisians:

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    And incensed Italians, where the country has restricted public access to restaurants and museums to the unvaccinated.

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    This is what it looked like today in Australia, Milan, London, and France. 

    Protests were worldwide today as many are fed up with elites whittling away their freedoms under the guise of COVID. 

    *  *  *

    Thousands of anti-lockdown demonstrators took to the streets of Sydney and other Australian towns on Saturday to protest new lockdown measures amid a surge of COVID-19 cases in the country.

    Dozens were arrested and charged after crowds broke through barriers and clashed with officers, hurling bottles and anything they could get their hands on. 

    The unmasked protesters marched from Sydney’s Victoria Park to Town Hall. News.com.au estimates 15,000 people took part in the march. Many chanted anti-lockdown slogans and held signs calling for “freedom” and “the truth.”

    Footage on social media shows thousands of demonstrators marching through Sydney’s downtown area. 

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    There was a significant police presence, including mounted police and riot control officers in response to what authorities said was an “unauthorized protest.” 

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    The demonstrators defied restrictions on non-essential travel and mass public gatherings that could be extended through October. 

    The Greater Sydney area has been locked down for a month as infections rise.  

    Protesters were also seen in Melbourne and Adelaide. 

    There’s discontent with Australians being forced into lockdowns again as an outbreak of the delta variant began last month. 

    Protests are not limited to Australia. New COVID rules have been implemented across Europe as Delta infections flare-up, which demonstrators in France and Greece recently took to the streets. The UK has even triggered widespread panic through a new app that notified tens of thousands of people they must quarantine for ten days because of possible exposure. 

    Multiple US cities are now requiring people to wear masks indoors amid surging cases. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 19:14

  • Philadelphia's Murder Rate Highest Among Largest US Cities
    Philadelphia’s Murder Rate Highest Among Largest US Cities

    Last spring, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney announced a series of police reforms within the 6,500-member police department. A year later, his administration has succeeded in implementing several of those changes, while others are a work in progress. But over the last year, did those meaningful police reforms result in better public safety? 

    The answer is no, as Philadelphia was just ranked the highest murder rate per capita among the US’ top largest cities. 

    According to CBS Philly, the number of homicides across the metro stands at 314 on Thursday, up 35% from this time last year. The city has become more dangerous as gun violence is out of control. 

    About a third of the violence happens in just five zip codes in North Philadelphia, Hunting Park, West Philadelphia, Kingsessing, Kensington, and Port Richmond.

    Philadelphia is on pace to have one of its most violent years on record. 

    Meanwhile, there are still cries from liberal lawmakers in the metro area to defund the police towards community efforts to thwart gun violence.

    Kenney has said he doesn’t want to reduce the size of the police force, especially when violent crime is surging. However, he has proposed to keep police funding flat. 

    Overall, Democratic mayors in 20 of the nation’s 25 largest cities slashed police funding as they spent millions of tax dollars on their private security forces. Their progressive policies have primarily backfired as metro areas become more violent.

    Defunding the police is flawed because it takes away from proven community policing. 

    Podcast king Joe Rogan recently warned the progressive campaign to defund police departments could transform parts of the US into a lawless state like Mexico. 

    And judging by the out-of-control homicide wave in Philadelphia, that may already be the case. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 19:00

  • Texas Begins Arresting Illegal Immigrants For Trespassing As Part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Border Security Plan
    Texas Begins Arresting Illegal Immigrants For Trespassing As Part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Border Security Plan

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

    Authorities in Texas have begun arresting illegal immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border on trespassing charges, according to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has blamed the Biden administration for the surge in illegal immigration and has put in motion his own border security plan to crack down on illegal crossings.

    “Texas has begun arresting illegal immigrants who are trespassing in Texas or vandalizing property & fences. They are now being sent to this jail rather than being released like the Biden Admin. has been doing. We are adding more officers, National Guard & jails,” Abbott said in a tweet Thursday.

    File photo showing the Dolph Briscoe Unit correctional facility in Dilley, Texas, on April 6, 2020. (Tom Reel/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

    So far, at least 10 people have been jailed, with more on the way, authorities said Thursday. The detainees are being held at what had been an empty state prison in Dilley, Texas, about 100 miles north of the border city of Laredo, according to Robert Hurst, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The converted facility will be able to hold more than 950 people, he said.

    Val Verde County Attorney David Martinez said that all of those arrested so far have been single adult men. He said he had been advised last week that the number of arrests of illegal immigrants could rise to as many as 100 to 200 per day.

    The arrests put in motion plans that Abbott first announced in June, when he hosted a Border Security Summit in Del Rio, during which he said individuals who enter Texas illegally would be subject to arrest for trespassing.

    “President Biden’s open-border policies have led to a humanitarian crisis at our southern border as record levels of illegal immigrants, drugs, and contraband pour into Texas,” Abbott said in a June 10 statement. “While securing the border is the federal government’s responsibility, Texas will not sit idly by as this crisis grows. The state is working collaboratively with communities impacted by the crisis to arrest and detain individuals coming into Texas illegally.”

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott during a border security summit in Del Rio, Texas, on June 10, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

    During the summit, Abbott said he had directed the Texas Commission on Jail Standards and the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement to work with counties to establish alternative detention facilities to ensure enough jail capacity to house illegal immigrants arrested for trespassing.

    “Our efforts will only be effective if we work together to secure the border, make criminal arrests, protect landowners, rid our communities of dangerous drugs, and provide Texans with the support they need and deserve,” Abbott said at the time.

    “This is an unprecedented crisis, and Texas is responding with the most robust and comprehensive border plan the nation has ever seen.”

    Illegal immigrants arrested by state troopers for trespassing first began showing up at the former prison on Tuesday. Prison officials said in a statement said that preparations for the Dilley facility included temporary air conditioning—which many Texas prisons don’t have in living areas—and training and licensing jailers.

    Abbott has also announced that Texas would continue building former President Donald Trump’s border wall and called on other governors to deploy law enforcement and National Guard members to the southern border.

    “In the Biden Administration’s absence, Texas is stepping up to get the job done by building the border wall,” Abbott said in a June 16 statement. “Through this comprehensive public safety effort, we will secure the border, slow the influx of unlawful immigrants, and restore order in our border communities.”

    Federal immigration officials recently announced that they had apprehended 188,829 people illegally crossing the southwest border in June, up from 180,034 in May. The figure includes more than 15,000 unaccompanied minors, over 55,000 family units, and over 117,000 single adults.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Follow Tom on Twitter: @OZImekTOM

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 18:30

  • San Francisco Rolls Out "Ridiculous" $20,000 Designer-Style Trash Cans 
    San Francisco Rolls Out “Ridiculous” $20,000 Designer-Style Trash Cans 

    What a bunch of rubbish. San Francisco elected officials can barely govern their own city as violent crime, homelessness, a drug epidemic, and trash plague the metro area. With complaints piling up about garbage strung across streets that resemble a third-world country, officials know how to do one thing: spend. They have proposed installing new prototype trash cans that cost a whopping $20,000 each. 

    Local news KRON4 spoke with San Francisco Public Works, Aleric Degrafinried, who defended the cost associated with the prototype trash cans shaped like a fancy salt shaker. 

    City officials agreed Wednesday to build 15 trash can prototypes, five each of three different designs. 

    Supervisor Matt Haney told the San Francisco Chronicle that he was not thrilled when he learned about the “ridiculous” $20,000 trash cans. 

    “Our streets and our sidewalks are a mess and the cans we have out there now are actually part of the problem,” Haney said. “At this point they’ve already come up with designs, we won’t save time now to go backward, but it’s really frustrating that they [Public Works] chose this route.”

    If the new trash cans are successful during pilot runs – the city plans to pick one design that will eventually replace 3,000 existing green trash cans scattered around the metro area. Mass-producing the prototype trash can would be around $2,000 to $3,000. Current costs for a trash can are approximately $1,200. 

    Haney said he held discussions with Public Works officials about reducing costs of the prototype trash can program. He said Public Works could’ve used models from other cities instead of reinventing the wheel. 

    The current trash cans easily overflow, attracting rats and the homeless. The locks are easily broken, and people search for recyclables to turn in for cash. 

    Costing $20,000 a pop, there had to be a little bit of technology in these new prototype cans. The San Francisco Chronicle describes each can is equipped with smart sensors that will notify trash collectors that the can is full to reduce overflow. 

    For the program of 15 trash cans, Public Works is asking the city for between $537,000 from $840,000. 

    And, of course, who would’ve guessed these expensive designer-style trash cans would receive a lot of flak on Twitter. People said the money should be spent elsewhere, such as cracking down on violent crime. 

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    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 18:00

  • Iran Opens Export Terminal To Bypass World's Biggest Oil Chokepoint
    Iran Opens Export Terminal To Bypass World’s Biggest Oil Chokepoint

    Via OilPrice.com,

    Iran says it has opened its first oil export terminal in the Gulf of Oman to allow Tehran to avoid using the strategic Strait of Hormuz shipping route that has long been a focus of regional tensions.

    “Today, the first shipment of 100 tons of oil is loaded outside the Strait of Hormuz,” President Hassan Rohani said in a televised speech on July 22, calling it an “important step for Iran” that will “secure the continuation of our oil exports.”

    The new terminal, located near the port city of Jask, will allow tankers headed into the Arabian Sea and beyond to avoid the Strait of Hormuz at the head of the Persian Gulf, through which one-fifth of world oil output passes.

    Rohani said Iran aimed to export 1 million barrels per day of oil from the facility, which officials said will cost some $2 billion.

    Oil Minister Zanganeh said that “82 percent of this project has been completed and so far more than $1.2 billion has been spent on this.”

    Iran’s main oil export terminal is located at Kharg inside the narrow strait, which is patrolled by warships of its arch-foe, the United States.

    There have been periodic confrontations between Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the U.S. military in the area.

    Iran has often threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz if its crude exports were shut down by U.S. sanctions, which have heavily impacted Iranian energy exports.

    Washington reimposed the sanctions more than three years ago when then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

    Tehran and U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration have been in indirect talks in Vienna since April to try to revive the agreement, under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in return for the lifting of most international sanctions.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 17:30

  • "It Looks Like A Bazaar In Istanbul": Without Police On The Street, Illegal Vendors And Gamblers Are Taking Over The Bronx
    “It Looks Like A Bazaar In Istanbul”: Without Police On The Street, Illegal Vendors And Gamblers Are Taking Over The Bronx

    We’ll ask the same thing we asked days ago when it was reported that a man was shot at point blank range in Brooklyn: has Eric Adams been sworn in yet?

    Because once again the lack of police on the streets is turning into a problem – this time in the Bronx, where illegal street vendors and gamblers “have taken over a commercial strip,” according to the New York Post. The takeover is a result of new city laws that make it impossible for the NYPD to confiscate goods or even demand ID from street vendors. 

    The new law went into effect in May 2021 and moved enforcement away from NYPD and to the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs and Worker Protection. Someone from the agency told the Post the law doesn’t even go into effect until September. 

    Marko Majic, head of business development for City Jeans on East Fordham Road, told the New York Post: “It looks like a bazaar in Istanbul. The only difference is in Istanbul it’s legal and organized and here it is illegal and unorganized.”

    The Post reports there are now 242 sidewalk vendors, more than the 230 storefronts in the same area.

    “They sell water, jewelry, masks, toys, counterfeit goods, anything you can imagine,” said Wilma Alonso, director of the Fordham Road Business Improvement District. She said they even play three card monte and called the situation a “public safety crisis”. 

    On June 5, there was an incident near the area with a vendor which resulted in a second vendor getting shot in the arm by a stray bullet.

    Since January, there have been 311 complaints about illegal vending across the city, up 14% from the same period in 2019. The city appears to be doing very little about it.

    “We were stunned to learn on a day when there were hundreds of unauthorized vendors, only [a few] summonses were issued,” Alonso said.

    “Because of them we almost have no business,” one business owner told the Post. “These vendors, they have nothing to pay and they’re making much more money than us because everything goes to pocket. We have to pay taxes, we have to pay licenses, rent, other fees.”

    Majic added: “Our customers want to come and shop in peace. They don’t want to fight to get in the store because outside someone occupies 50 percent of the space. The only time we had enforcement on Fordham Road was the riots. You can’t even call the police they don’t pick up.”

    “The truth is, the City Council was very short-sighted thinking about the ramifications and the damage they would be doing to the business community,” Alonso concluded.

    Meanwhile…

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 17:00

  • California Is Experiencing A Crime "Tsunami", DA Says
    California Is Experiencing A Crime “Tsunami”, DA Says

    Authored by Vanessa Serna via The Epoch Times,

    California is experiencing a wave of crime despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s claims of a decrease during the past three decades, officials say.

    “You’ve got violent crime off the charts,” Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert told The Epoch Times.

    “You’ve got this tsunami of things that are happening. Violent crime, illegal guns, [and] rampant theft.”

    On July 21 in Los Angeles, when asked if state policies are making crime worse, Newsom denied the state is seeing a rise in crime.

    “The evidence doesn’t back it up. Last three decades we’ve actually seen a significant decline in crime in the state,” Newsom said.

    According to a Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) released in 2021, four major cities have witnessed an increase in homicide and car thefts. Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, and San Francisco are experiencing such heightened crime despite dropping in violent crime in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began.

    Data provided by PPIC shows that in 2020, Los Angeles reported a 40 percent homicide increase in comparison to 2019; Oakland reported a 36 percent increase. San Francisco and San Diego both witnessed increases from 41 to 48 percent and 50 percent to 55 percent, respectively.

    In January and February 2021, violent crime was 12 percent lower in comparison to the first few months of 2020. PPIC attributed the decrease to fewer robberies and aggravated assaults. Out of the four cities, Oakland was the only one that witnessed an increase in aggravated assaults of about 10 percent.

    “There isn’t a person in the state who believes that crime is on the decline,” Rescue California campaign manager Anne Dunsmore told The Epoch Times.

    “You have people casually walking out of the stores with stolen items. You have a store clerk who was shot and killed by people who are just going into stores and shoplifting. [Newsom] wants to manipulate numbers to make it look like California is roaring back and crime is on the decline.”

    Dunsmore said state policies enforced by Newsom, such as Prop 47, could attribute to heightened crime in the state. Through Prop 47, certain theft and drug possession offenses are marketed as misdemeanors rather than felonies. When passed, previous offenders that were serving sentences for felony offenses became eligible for resentencing.

    Pending bill AB 333 would remove burglary, identity fraud violations, looting, and felony vandalism from gang-related crimes.

    “He’s trying to show that he’s cutting down on prison population and that somehow indicates that crime is on the decline,” Dunsmore said.

    While Newsom said that there are fewer felons, Dunsmore attributed the drop to the state reducing many felonies to misdemeanors.

    As well, between 2021 to 2022, California is to close two state prisons as a part of the governor’s 2020-21 state budget plan to implement reforms and changes that will significantly reduce prison populations.

    In May, efforts to decrease prison populations escalated after the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) announced under Prop 57 that it would increase good conduct credit toward eligible inmates, allowing them to potentially be released early.

    Of those eligible to receive good credits, 63,000 are incarcerated for violent crimes, and 20,000 inmates are sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

    “You let a lot of felons out of prison, they’re on the streets, there’s a reason that crime is on the rise,” Dunsmore said.

    “They’re letting all these people out without any structure in place to monitor them, or even rehabilitate them.

    “For these people [to] sit there and know that their children’s killers could get out, like the guy who killed Michael Lyons” and committed aggravated sexual assault, Dunsmore said. “That guy is a model prisoner; he actually qualifies for early release.”

    In 1996, Robert Boyd Rhoades was charged with first-degree murder in Sutter County after torturing and killing 8-year-old Michael. Rhoades was no stranger to the criminal justice system as he committed multiple crimes prior to 1996.

    Rhoades is set to receive the death penalty, but California’s changing law might say otherwise.

    While some lawmakers are for reducing prison times, others advocate for victims’ rights.

    “Michael’s killer is on death row because he’s a horrific, not just serial killer [but] his history was atrocious,” Schubert said. “Now we have a legislature that even though the jury has recommended a certain sentence wants to pass a bill that he can petition to get out.”

    She continued, “It’s despicable when a cop talks about a crime victim and putting them through the wringer. Time and time again when they’ve been given assurance that this horrific serial rapist-murderer has been sentenced to never get out of prison.”

    Schubert said lenience toward those that have committed horrid offenses is making the state a more dangerous place.

    “You’ve got the Los Angeles DA who’s essentially doing everything you can do to dismantle the justice system,” she said. “You’ve got a legislature who’s consistently voted for bills that weaken accountability. You’ve got ballot initiatives that have misled the public, to the point that we’ve basically decriminalized left.”

    Amid the crime crisis, Schubert and Dunsmore said they are advocating for more structure within the state to enforce and carry out laws.

    “[Newsom] can’t fix a problem if he denies the fact that it’s there, and that’s what he’s doing,” Dunsmore said. “That’s dangerous.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 16:30

  • Colorado Monitoring Literal Plague Activity In At Least 6 Counties After Child Dies
    Colorado Monitoring Literal Plague Activity In At Least 6 Counties After Child Dies

    State health authorities in Colorado are investigating a potential outbreak of the literal plague across a handful of counties, after it’s believed a 10-year old girl died of the rapidly-acting disease. “The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment noted lab-confirmed reports of plague-infected fleas and animals in areas including La Plata County, where the 10-year-old died,” Fox News writes based on local media. 

    It’s the state’s first known death from the plague since 2015, and scientists have now found the plague in tests of mammals and fleas from at least six counties, including La Plata county – which includes the city of Durango, a popular summer tourist destination in southwest Colorado. The counties named include San Miguel, El Paso, La Plata, Boulder, Huerfano and Adams, a Colorado Department of Public Health statement indicated. “Public Health is doing an epidemiological investigation and wants Coloradans to know that while this disease is very rare, it does occur sometimes, and to seek medical care if you have symptoms,” it added.

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    Deputy state epidemiologist and public health veterinarian Jennifer House said in a press release related to the health crisis that “In Colorado, we expect to have fleas test positive for plague during the summer months. Awareness and precautions can help prevent the disease in people,” after a slight historical uptick in cases spanning back over the past half-decade, though most didn’t result in deaths.

    It spreads to humans through bites of infected fleas or through contact with infected animals via the bacteria Yersinia pestis, and causes severe symptoms which have a rapid onset.

    According to the Denver Post: 

    Plague has a high fatality rate if untreated, but antibiotics are effective against it, especially in the early stages. Symptoms include fever, headache, chills and swollen lymph nodes. Less commonly, people can develop pneumonia-like symptoms or go into septic shock, if the bacteria spread to the lungs or through the bloodstream.

    Via The Daily Mail

    The report continued, “Prairie dogs, squirrels, chipmunks and other rodents many carry the fleas and become infected themselves, so everyone should avoid getting close to those animals, the health department said in a news release.”

    The CDC has written that “human plague infections continue to occur in rural areas in the western United States, but significantly more cases occur in parts of Africa and Asia.” Some recent cases have been observed in places like Mongolia. 

    Below are some tips for avoiding the plague from Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE):

    • Avoid fleas. Protect pets with a veterinary approved flea treatment and keep them on a leash and out of wild rodent habitats.
    • Stay out of areas where wild rodents live. If you enter areas inhabited by wild rodents, wear insect repellent and tuck your pant cuffs into your socks to prevent flea bites.
    • Avoid all contact with wild rodents, including squirrels. Do not feed or handle them.
    • Do not touch sick or dead animals.
    • Prevent rodent infestations around your house by clearing plants and materials away from outside walls, reducing access to food items, and setting traps.
    • Consult with a professional pest control company to treat the area around your home for fleas.
    • Contact a veterinarian if your pet becomes ill with a high fever and/or an abscess (i.e. open sore) or swollen lymph nodes. Pets with plague can transmit the illness to humans.
    • Children should be aware of these precautions and know to tell an adult if they have had contact with a wild animal or were bitten by fleas.

    Broadly in the United States what was a hoped-for ‘post-pandemic’ return to normal has seen a recent spate of headlines over everything from dangerous coronavirus variants, to vaccinated people becoming infected with COVID-19, to more recently a rare Monkeypox infection and potential outbreak in the US, to now concerns over the plague. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 16:00

  • Progressive Democrats Blast 'Reckless' Biden Plan To Allow Evictions To Resume
    Progressive Democrats Blast ‘Reckless’ Biden Plan To Allow Evictions To Resume

    Authored by Julia Conley via CommonDreams.org, 

    Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was among several critics on Friday who warned that the Biden administration’s plan to allow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s eviction moratorium to expire on July 31 would have devastating consequences for millions of renters as well as threatening public health as Covid-19 cases surge.

    President Joe Biden extended the moratorium by one month in June but has shown no signs that he plans to do the same this month. 

    Prior protest at Brooklyn Housing court, Getty Images

    According to US Treasury Department data, dozens of jurisdictions across the country have yet to start distributing assistance funds for renters that were appropriated in March as part of the American Rescue Plan Act.

    “It is reckless not to extend the deadline when rental assistance funds have not gone out fast enough to protect people,” said Ocasio-Cortez on Friday. “Eviction filings have already spiked in anticipation of the deadline being lifted.”

    According to analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released this week, 11.4 million renters—or one in seven—are behind on rent payments. Advocates say about six million are at risk of promptly losing their homes if the eviction moratorium is not extended at the end of July.

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    According to Paul Williams, a fellow at the Jain Family Institute, about 80% of those six million people “live in counties with rapid, Delta variant-driven [Covid-1] case growth.”

    Though the Biden administration has not signaled that it plans to extend aid for renters, the White House on Friday announced it will allow homeowners with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-backed mortgages to delay their payments until September, a measure that will help 1.8 million people in forebearance. 

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    Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, called on Biden to provide more assistance to renters as well.

    “The CDC eviction moratorium is a necessary public health measure to lessen spread of [and] deaths from Covid-19,” Yentel said. “The need clearly remains as Delta surges.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 15:30

  • Tropical Storm Barrels Towards Japan as Olympics Begin
    Tropical Storm Barrels Towards Japan as Olympics Begin

    The long-awaited Tokyo Olympics is underway this weekend, and in addition to facing COVID challenges, a weather disturbance may disrupt the Games next week. 

    Tropical Storm Nepartak developed in the Philippine Sea and is barrelling towards mainland Japan by Tuesday, with Tokyo in the forecast cone. 

    Japan Meteorological Agency said Nepartak could bring “hazardous phenomena such as heavy rain, strong winds, and high waves.” Winds speeds could reach over 50 mph on Monday, with potential landfall Tuesday north of Tokyo. 

    At the moment, there’s no indication Nepartak will strengthen into a typhoon, but that can’t be ruled out. 

    Jim Rouiller, a lead meteorologist with the Energy Weather Group, told Bloomberg that a tropical storm is coming “right toward Tokyo,” and this isn’t what they need during the Games. 

    Some games slated for early next week have been brought forward to Sunday due to deteriorating weather forecasts early next week. 

    Outdoor water sports, such as surfing, rowing, and sailing, could be the most at risk next week. Indoor games could be impacted as well if the intensity of the storm increases over the weekend. 

    Takaya Masa, the spokesperson of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, said weather forecasts are closely being monitored. 

    “Unlike an earthquake, we’re able to predict the path of a typhoon so we can make plans, and indeed when it comes to rowing, as a preventative measure, we have decided to change the schedule for the event,” Masa said. “Changing the schedule is not a rare event, and we understand the burden it’ll have on athletes.”

    Tokyo is already grappling with the more contagious Delta variant. This prompted the government to declare a state of emergency in the capital earlier this month.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 15:00

  • US Won't Investigate Governors Who Ordered Nursing Homes To Accept COVID-Positive Residents
    US Won’t Investigate Governors Who Ordered Nursing Homes To Accept COVID-Positive Residents

    Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

    The U.S. Department of Justice has opted against investigating any of the Democrat governors who last year ordered nursing homes to accept residents who tested positive for COVID-19 against the recommendations of health groups.

    Federal officials reviewed information they received from New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New Jersey last year regarding the orders.

    Based on the review, they’re not opening Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) investigations in the first three states, Joe Gaeta, deputy assistant attorney general, told Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) in a letter on Friday.

    The act enables the attorney general to launch a case in court against a state or local government, or its employees or agents, when officials suspect or find that people in institutions owned or run by such a government have had their rights denied.

    The Department of Justice opened a CRIPA probe into conditions at two nursing facilities operated by the state of New Jersey in October 2020, but has given no indication that it is probing New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.

    Scalise, the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, reacted strongly to the refusal to investigate Murphy or governors of the other states, all Democrats.

    “It is outrageous that the Department of Justice refuses to investigate the deadly ‘must admit’ orders issued by governors in New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan that resulted in the deaths of thousands of senior citizens. Where is the justice for nursing home victims and their grieving families?” he said in a statement.

    “These deadly orders contradicted the CDC’s guidance, and needlessly endangered the most vulnerable among us to the deadly COVID-19 virus,” he added, referring to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    The CDC issued guidance in March 2020, before the orders were released, saying COVID-positive patients could be released from healthcare facilities to long-term care facilities but if that happened, the facilities should be equipped with “adequate personal protective equipment supplies and an ability to adhere to infection prevention and control recommendations for the care of COVID-19 patients.”

    “Preferably, the patient would be placed at a facility that has already cared for COVID-19 cases, in a specific unit designated to care for COVID-19 residents,” the guidance stated.

    A patient is loaded into the back of an ambulance by emergency medical workers outside Cobble Hill Health Center in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on April 17, 2020. (John Minchillo/AP Photo)

    The orders in question were imposed by Cuomo and the others early in the COVID-19 pandemic. They informed nursing home operators that they could not turn away residents solely on the basis of a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19.

    Health groups like The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine warned against the orders, stating in a resolution in March 2020 that “admitting patients with suspected or documented COVID-19 infection represents a clear and present danger to all of the residents of a nursing home.”

    Large percentages of deaths pinned to COVID-19 in the four states took place among nursing homes.

    In Pennsylvania, 9,556 deaths have been among long-term care facility residents, according to state data. That’s approximately 34 percent of the state’s death toll.

    Governors have insisted the orders did not lead to more COVID-19 deaths among nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, which house groups that are most vulnerable to COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, even as nursing home deaths were up by 32 percent last year.

    Cuomo, for instance, trumpeted a state report that claimed staff members and visitors were to blame for bringing the virus into nursing homes, though the report was quickly questioned by some.

    The offices of Cuomo and Wolf did not respond to requests for comment. Spokespersons for Murphy declined to comment. Whitmer’s office confirmed the receipt of a letter from the DOJ informing her that the state would not be investigated.

    Nursing home deaths were up by 32 percent last year

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 07/24/2021 – 14:30

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