Today’s News 26th September 2021

• The Problem Is Not Just Xi Jinping; It Is Communism
  The Problem Is Not Just Xi Jinping; It Is Communism

  Authored by David Flint, op-ed via The Epoch Times,

  To communists and their ilk, the truth is whatever line the party is now promulgating – that is, until it is superseded by a new line.

  

  This is the theme of George Orwell’s great novel, 1984. The protagonist, Winston Smith, works at the Ministry of Truth, constantly amending historical records to be consistent with whatever is the current party line. In particular, those liquidated are made non-persons, just as though they never existed.

  The truth has been packaged precisely this way in Communist China continuously and consistently since 1949, just as it was from the birth to the collapse of the USSR. Accordingly, when Joseph Stalin’s secret police chief, Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria, was executed by his successors, subscribers to the Great Soviet Encyclopaedia would receive instructions to replace pages eulogising Beria with additional material on the Behring Sea. Beria was made a non-person.

  But the fact is that the enemy of each and every communist regime is truth itself, as are the other values and principles of civilised society, especially the proposition at the very core of the Declaration of Independence. This is not just American. According to Winston Churchill, following the Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights, the Declaration is the third great title deed on which the liberties of the English-speaking people, the core of the West, are founded.

  

  “Declaration of Independence,” 1819, by John Trumbull. (Public domain)

  It states the fundamental principle that man is endowed by his Creator with certain unalienable rights, a principle which is inconsistent with communism, whoever is the paramount ruler.

  The latter is important. What we may call the “Communist China Lobby”—a powerful pressure group in the United States and many democratic nations—pretends Chinese leader Xi Jinping to be the sole source of present troubles with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

  Not so, the source of this evil is communism. Just as an egregious illustration, the wicked multi-billion-dollar trade in the organs of healthy people dates from well before Xi’s rise.

  The fact is that communism is and has always been alien to civilisation. We cannot rely on communist regimes to behave appropriately or honourably. We can place no trust in their word, even in the most elementary matters.

  Take, for example, the statistics on COVID-19 for which the CCP is responsible.

  We are told the deaths from the virus in Australia, a country of 26 million, will soon exceed those from Communist China, a country with a population of over 1.4 billion.

  Clearly, no wise person would ever take either their statistics, or their word, seriously, a counsel which curiously does not seem to apply whenever the subject is the reduction of CO2 emissions.

  Equally, any wise person must expect a hostile reaction when they demand a truth that will expose a matter that could embarrass the communists, as occurred when Australia dared to propose an international investigation into the origins of the pandemic.

  Australia’s only mistake was to allow an investigation to be led by the World Health Organisation, an organisation under the heavy influence of the CCP.

  

  A sign of the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, on April 24, 2020. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

  Australia should have proposed to the former U.S. administration to establish an ad hoc international tribunal to investigate its origins, assess liability and, if appropriate, damages.

  Were damages awarded and not paid, legislation could authorise their recoupment from assets in Australia under the ultimate control of the guilty state—the Port of Darwin comes to mind.

  As Australia came under increasing and unlawful economic punishment from Beijing in response to its calls for an investigation, there is little more the CCP could do if we were to seize such assets to satisfy a lawful international judgement. At least a range of premium and strategic assets could be recovered.

  The point is that not only can we not rely on the information or the truth from this regime, but it also controls a territory where there is no rule of law, no human rights, and no protection of workers’ rights.

  This did not come with Xi; it has prevailed since 1949.

  With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of European communist dictatorships, the CCP’s abiding object has been to avoid a similar fate.

  Then-paramount leader Deng Xiaoping drew on former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin’s New Economic Policy (NEP) which had saved the Soviet Union from early collapse in 1922. He followed Lenin and moved the CCP towards a “socialist market economy” under “communism with Chinese characteristics.”

  Lenin never intended the NEP to be permanent. Words attributed to him illustrate the communist’s real intentions: “The capitalists will sell us the rope with which to hang them.” Which they did, with Stalin reversing direction, socialising the economy, forcing collectivisation on the class enemy, including being forced to farm Kulaks, and brutally using famine to destroy them.

  Deng Xiaoping had more to offer the West than Lenin. It was something that dazzled Western elites, a market with a fifth of the world’s population.

  

  Containers are seen at the Yangshan Deep-Water Port in Shanghai, China, on Oct. 19, 2020. (Aly Song/Reuters)

  Bill Clinton gambled on welcoming the People’s Republic of China into the World Trade Organisation in 2000. Instead, he allowed access without the most elementary safeguard to ensure they could not do what communists do: ignore the rules, steal, or forcibly extract something far greater—than even the US$85 billion of modern weaponry recently gifted to the Taliban—America’s vast portfolio of intellectual property.

  From Europe to Australia, Western leaders and big businesses have blindly followed suit.

  As a result, these elites saved a tyrannical regime from the fate Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher delivered to the Soviet Union.

  They betrayed American, Australian, and Western workers by closing and transferring their industries to China.

  They betrayed Chinese workers by indecently profiting from the suppression of their fundamental rights.

  Yet, these same elites were too often taken for a ride by the communists who cheated them at every turn and allowed their nations to become dependent on the CCP.

  Only under the former U.S. administration was this trend briefly reversed.

  Now, from America to Europe and Australia, that same Communist China Lobby, who want Western industry back in China, are trying desperately to restore this dependency. They have a uniform justification for this. The problem, they say, is temporary. The problem will pass when paramount leader Xi passes.

  But that is not so.

  The problem is not whoever is the paramount leader. The problem is, as it has always been, that evil “plague bacillus,” which is communism.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 09/26/2021 – 00:00

• The Best Selling Vehicles In America, By State
  The Best Selling Vehicles In America, By State

  From Ford trucks in the Midwest to Toyotas on the coasts, the best selling vehicles in America reveal a lot about the country.

  Compared to other countries with fewer highways or narrower roads, the U.S. is very much a truck-friendly country. Across the U.S., the most sold vehicle in 2019 was the Ford F-Series of trucks, primarily the F-150.

  As the home of the world’s pioneer automotive manufacturers, including Ford and GM, consumers primarily purchase local brands. But, as Visual Capitalist’s Omri Wallach notes, that hasn’t stopped Toyota, the largest foreign manufacturer in the world, from also gaining a foothold.

  This graphic uses 2020 sales data from automotive information resource Edmunds.com, breaking down the best selling vehicles in each state through new vehicle retail registration.

  

  What Are the Best Selling Vehicles in Each State?

  Despite a slowdown in vehicle sales due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a global chip shortage, Americans still bought plenty of trucks last year.

  In fact, 48 out of the 50 states had a truck or SUV as the top selling vehicle in 2020—and most states actually had trucks taking all of the top three spots. The only two with a car topping the leaderboard were California and Florida.

  

  The Ford F-Series was the clear leader in sales, primarily in the Midwest. With a top-selling spot in 60% of U.S. states, the F-Series was the best selling vehicle in America.

  Combined with the Chevrolet Silverado and Ram 1500-3500 series, the big three American truck brands accounted for 73% of the top three selling vehicles across all American states and territories.

  Japanese Automakers in the Mix

  Though American manufacturers had the best selling cars in most states, they had some overseas competition.

  Japanese manufacturers Toyota and Honda had the top-selling vehicle in 11 states (and D.C.). They primarily captured car sales along the coastlines, including in California, Florida, New York and Washington, some of the most populated states in the country.

  

  Despite many cars being available for sale in the U.S., only seven manufacturers made the top-selling vehicles list in 2020.

  • Ford

  • Ram

  • Chevrolet

  • Toyota

  • Honda

  • Subaru

  • Jeep

  With the full effects of the COVID-19 pandemic yet to be reflected in the sales, and electric vehicle manufacturers like Tesla on the rise, how will the best selling vehicles in America evolve?

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/25/2021 – 23:30

• The Importance Of Dune, Part 1: The Sleeper Has Awakened
  The Importance Of Dune, Part 1: The Sleeper Has Awakened

  Authored by Tom Luongo via Gold, Goats, ‘n Guns blog,

  Last year I wrote two editorials for the Newsletter in sympathy with Denis Villeneuve’s film, Dune, originally suppose to come out last December. This one was published in the September 2020 issue when the election was the dominant issue of the day. The movie is now out but won’t come to the U.S. next month and I think it appropriate to publish it now with everything happening in the world today. It’s been edited slightly to bring it up to date.

  

  There are few things I’m more looking forward to than the first of two films by Denis Villeneuve bringing to life Frank Herbert’s classic science-fiction novel Dune.  And it isn’t just because I’m a big fan of the book, which is an intricately-plotted treatise on religion, gender, power and politics, but because its ideas are perfected suited for this period of history.

  Because this story, unlike a lot of recent blockbuster films, should scare the pants off our political leaders as they will see themselves onscreen in their various guises.  And that fear may be enough to waken the sleeper, in the parlance of the book, the silent majority now staring at a bleak future post COVID-19.

  In the hands of Denis Villeneuve, a film-maker perfectly suited to the material, we could be looking at a movie which becomes a turning point in the culture war.   Villeneuve is one of the few people working today who can marry bold visual storytelling with complex narrative while not browbeating his audience. Watch The Arrival, Sicario or, my favorite, Blade Runner 2049 (see my original thoughts/review here) to get a sense of what we’re in store for. 

  He reminds me of Ridley Scott at his best, which Scott hasn’t been at for decades.

  Dune is the story of a space-faring humanity at a time of crisis whose entire civilization, thanks to previous periods of barbarism, is dependent on a single commodity, the spice.  And spice can only be found on the planet Arrakis, or Dune. 

  The metaphor to oil is obvious since Herbert published the book in 1965.

  Dune is a pastiche of a number of genres, a classic hero’s journey from adolescence to adulthood for its protagonist, Paul Atreides, told in ways both intensely intimate but keenly aware of these events’ historical importance.  It is an intense political drama with six Houses vying for control against a rising religious jihad against their rule.

  Looking over our world as we approach the end of 2020 [sic], Dune is especially relevant because it shows us exactly where we are in the cycle of empires.  It will be hard for people to miss these things when they see the movie.  

  The film will make very clear, if told properly, what happens when the concentration of power in the hands of the few at the expense of the many becomes toxic.  The corruption of the Houses, their plotting and scheming against each other for control of the spice drives all the external action.

  It’s a deep look at a society coming unglued at the seams, where the political structures, in place for centuries, have become sclerotic.   But it is also a linear narrative that if stripped of its excesses tells a streamlined story about the rise of a new world on the ashes of the old one. 

  It’s a story about a desert world which is the source of life itself and whose unforgiving environment forges mere men into forces of nature.

  Because, ultimately, Dune is about the limits of power and how it corrupts everyone.  It reminds all of us that fear is what drives men to make desperate plays to maintain power.  Told mostly through Paul’s eyes as he grows into the man who will lead a revolution, it is the growing unrest of the people which forces the hand of the Emperor to set things in motion and who exists as a vague threat to come in an crush anyone stupid enough to cross him and his near unlimited power.  

  And yet he too, like every other tyrant, falls.

  After years of Dune languishing as a nearly dead property Villeneuve’s film will have to answer the most important question if it wants to succeed, “Why Now?”  It isn’t just because someone in Hollywood had the rights to it.  Those rights were tied up by Herbert’s son who had managed them into near irrelevance.  That’s how the project gets started.   

  They tried to tell this story back in the eighties with David Lynch’s unfortunate film, but it was the wrong time. 

  There was no resonance with current events during the height of the Reagan reboot of America when optimism was rampant and Ridley Scott had failed not two years earlier with Blade Runner, now a classic but hated on release.

  That’s the big fear they should have going into release.  And conquering fear is the key thing Paul must do to survive the task in front of him.  His story should become ours as we enter 2022 and, if that happens, that should scare the would-be tyrants of this world to death.

  *  *  *

  Since this was written a number of things have happened that validate my fears then. It was a call to action for us to begin hardening ourselves against a bleak and terrifying future. It was also a warning for us not to put our faith in the institutions we think protect us from them.

  Back then I was worried about the sequel to the Coronapocalypse, now confirmed for me as the rollout of the vaccines against COVID-9/11, as much as Trump being deposed through obvious and under-handed means. It’s why I was so adamant about the election being the inflection point for the world.

  Everything came down to it. It was a singularity where one world ended and another began. The sleeper awakened that day and those that didn’t see it or refused to see its importance are now complicit in the violence that has come since and is yet to come.

  The collapsing narrative surrounding the COVID-9/11 vaccines, their efficacy and honestly the dangers they represent to those in low-risk cohorts, it makes sense to see the headlines chocked to the gills with announcements of escalating stakes for us, the unwashed, unclean, unvaxxed and ungovernable.

  Biden is threatening dishonorable discharges for U.S. military. From what I’ve heard from military men I’ve talked to, that would be 90% of them.

  New York governor, Kathy Hochul is threatening medical workers with replacement by ‘foreigners’ if they don’t get the jab. It’s like she thinks her job gives her that power?

  In Australia they are now just shooting protestors in public.

  Tomorrow I will publish the companion piece, written after the stolen election. It’s called The Jihad. Tomorrow is the day the results of the election audit in Arizona are released. What happens if it proves fraud and Sen. Mark Kelly is recalled due to a decertified election?

  *  *  *

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  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/25/2021 – 23:00

• "Not Satisfied" – USAF Signals Hypersonic Weapon Program In Limbo
  “Not Satisfied” – USAF Signals Hypersonic Weapon Program In Limbo

  Hypersonic weapon development is among the highest priorities of global superpowers as a great-power competition rages between the US and China. 

  China is rapidly developing hypersonic weapon systems and has fielded some of these superfast weapons to its southeast coast and or militarized islands in the South China Sea – challenging the US’ air dominance in the Indo-Pacific region. 

  

  The problem is that for decades the US has been lightyears ahead of other countries in developing and fielding anti-ship cruise and ballistic missiles but, for some reason, is having difficulty fielding hypersonic weapons. 

  On Monday, at the annual Air Force Association Air, Space & Cyber conference, USAF Secretary Frank Kendall told reporters that he is reassessing the USAF’s hypersonic program, according to Breaking Defense. “I’m not satisfied with the pace,” he said. “We’re making some progress on the technology; I would like to see it be better.”

  Kendall said he is “not satisfied with the degree to which we have figured out what we need for hypersonics — of what type, for what missions.”

  “The target set that we would want to address, and why hypersonics are the most cost-effective weapons for the US, I think it’s still, to me, somewhat of a question mark,” he said. “I haven’t seen all the analysis that’s been done to justify the current program.”

  Gen. Arnold Bunch, the head of Air Force Materiel Command, told reporters on Tuesday that “there are certain aspects, attributes that [have] not performed the way we need to,” while acknowledging the hypersonic program has hit obstacles. 

  “We are going to have to continue to put our focus there, and we will continue to take what are called educated risks as we move forward so that we can get a capability out in the field as quickly as possible,” Bunch said.

  While China and Russia have fielded hypersonic weapons, the US has not and recently experienced a failed air-launch test of a missile that can travel at Mach 5, or about 3,836 mph. 

  In terms of funding, the push for hypersonic weapon development occurred under the Trump administration and has continued under Biden. 

  

  America is trying to reassert its air dominance worldwide, but it’s having trouble developing hypersonic weapons as other superpowers soar ahead. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/25/2021 – 22:30

• Rare Solar Superstorm Could Prompt ‘Internet Apocalypse’ Lasting Several Months: Study
  Rare Solar Superstorm Could Prompt ‘Internet Apocalypse’ Lasting Several Months: Study

  Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The “black swan” event of a solar superstorm directed at earth could prompt an “internet apocalypse” across the entire globe that could last for several months, new research (pdf) has warned.

  University of California Irvine assistant professor Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi presented the new research, titled “Solar Superstorms: Planning for an Internet Apocalypse,” last month during the Association for Computing Machinery’s annual conference for their Special Interest Group on Data Communication (SIGCOMM).

  “One of the greatest dangers facing the internet with the potential for global impact is a powerful solar superstorm,” Jyothi wrote in the new research paper.

  “Although humans are protected from these storms by the earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere, they can cause significant damage to man-made infrastructure. The scientific community is generally aware of this threat with modeling efforts and precautionary measures being taken, particularly in the context of power grids. However, the networking community has largely overlooked this risk during the design of the network topology and geo-distributed systems such as DNS and data centers,” he continued.

  A solar storm, also known as a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), occurs when a large mass of plasma and highly magnetized particles violently eject from the sun. Large CME’s can contain up to a billion tons of matter and can get accelerated to large fractions of the speed of light.

  When the earth is in the direct path of a CME, these magnetized and charged solar particles interact with the earth’s magnetic field, producing geomagnetically induced currents (GIC) that can potentially disrupt communication satellites and long-distance cables that provide the world with the internet.

  According to Jyothi’s research, power grids, oil and gas pipelines, and networking cables are the most vulnerable to the impacts of GIC’s, while submarine cables, which span hundreds or thousands of kilometres, are even more vulnerable than land cables, due to their larger lengths.

  Owing to a lack of real world data on the impacts of GIC’s on these submarine cables, scientists still don’t know how long it would take to repair them if such an event were to occur, and—just like natural disasters such as earthquakes—CME’s are extremely difficult for scientists to predict.

  The research noted that the “distribution of internet infrastructure is skewed when compared to the distribution of internet users,” and high-latitude climates are more at risk if a solar storm were to occur.

  

  

  “The U.S. is one of the most vulnerable locations with a high risk of disconnection from Europe during extreme solar events. Intra-continental connections in Europe are at a lower risk due to the presence of a large number of shorter land and submarine cables interconnecting the continent,” the report notes.

  Meanwhile, if a severe solar superstorm were to occur, Singapore would maintain good connectivity to neighboring countries, while cities in China would be more likely to lose connectivity than India because China connects to much longer cables.

  Australia, New Zealand, and other island countries in the region would be at high risk of losing most of their long-distance connections.

  The research warns that a collapse of the internet—even one lasting a few minutes—could cause devastating losses to service providers and damage cyber-physical systems. The economic impact of an internet disruption for a day in the United States is estimated to be over $7 billion.

  While the likelihood of a solar superstorm hitting earth is rare—with astrophysicists noting that the probability of extreme space weather events that directly impact earth occurring are between 1.6 percent to 12 percent per decade—they can still happen.

  In 1921, a solar storm, driven by a series of coronal mass ejections, triggered extensive power outages and caused damage to telephone and telegraph systems associated with railroad systems in New York City and across the state.

  Years later, in 1989, a solar storm bought an electrical power blackout to the entire province of Quebec, Canada.

  “Although we have sentinel spacecraft that can issue early warnings of CMEs providing at least 13 hours of lead time, our defenses against GIC are limited. Hence, we need to prepare the infrastructure for an eventual catastrophe to facilitate efficient disaster management,” Jyothi said.

  The research pointed to “increasing capacity in lower latitudes for improved resiliency during solar storms,” and having “mechanisms for electrically isolating cables connecting to higher latitudes from the rest” at submarine cable landing points to prevent large-scale failures.

  The paper has yet to appear in a peer-reviewed journal.

  Katabella Roberts is a reporter currently based in Turkey. She covers news and business for The Epoch Times, focusing primarily on the United States.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/25/2021 – 22:00

• Iran Demands IAEA Closely Monitor Nuclear Fuel For Australia Submarines In Wake Of AUKUS Deal
  Iran Demands IAEA Closely Monitor Nuclear Fuel For Australia Submarines In Wake Of AUKUS Deal

  Iran is calling out a double standard when it comes to application of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) restrictions and monitoring of countries’ nuclear development and activity, joining China in condemning the US-UK-Australia defense pact recently unveiled.

  Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA said this week amid all the headlines and controversy over the AUKUS deal which will see the US transfer nuclear submarine technology to Australia that the IAEA must have access to all nuclear fuel to be used for Australia’s future submarines when the terms of the AUKUS are put in motion. 

  

  Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, Kazem Gharibabadi told the international body this this must happen in a timely manner, according to Iranian state media.

  “For Australia, reaching safeguards arrangement with the Agency is of essence. The Agency should have access to the HEU [highly-enriched uranium] there at agreed and reasonable time and no excuse is accepted in this regard,” Gharibabadi stated. “The Agency should keep the BoG [Board of Governors] informed on this important [issue] regularly.”

  He reminded the monitoring body that nuclear-powered submarines require fuel to be enriched to above 90% purity, which is far above Iran’s current enrichment of up to 60%, which Gharibabadi claimed is only “for humanitarian and peaceful purposes.”

  The official further slammed the US, UK and Australia for what he called the “vulgar facade of double standard and hypocrisy”. This after Chinese officials have been charging Australia with violating its policy of having a nuclear free zone according to it’s decades ago signing on to the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

  The Iranians are now echoing these charges, saying Washington will transfer the nuclear technology “under the pretext of the fabricated so-called strategic concerns.”

  Tehran has of late been in a war of words with the IAEA over monitoring nuclear sites inside the Islamic Republic. Earlier this month an agreement was belatedly reached to keep cameras on which remotely monitor sensitive sites to ensure Iran doesn’t ramp up uranium enrichment or other activities further.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/25/2021 – 21:30

• Democrats In Congress Try To Abolish Space Force
  Democrats In Congress Try To Abolish Space Force

  Authored by Li Hai via The Epoch Times,

  Some Democrats in Congress are trying to abolish the Space Force at a time when China and Russia have been doubling down on expanding their military capabilities in space.

  

  On Wednesday, Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) introduced a bill named No Militarization of Space Act, trying to abolish the Space Force, a new military service branch created under former President Donald Trump.

  “The long-standing neutrality of space has fostered a competitive, non-militarized age of exploration every nation and generation has valued since the first days of space travel,” Huffman said in a statement.

  “But since its creation under the former Trump administration, the Space Force has threatened longstanding peace and flagrantly wasted billions of taxpayer dollars.”

  The Space Force was established in December 2019 and has been deemed by some to be one of Trump’s signature achievements. But its origin can be traced back to the beginning of the Cold War.

  “Our mission must be to support the American people, not spend billions on the militarization of space,” Huffman added.

  Huffman’s bill was co-sponsored by Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Jesús García (D-Ill.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).

  The bill comes as Congress moves to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, the annual bill that authorizes funding for the military.

  Huffman’s bill is unlikely to succeed because the new military branch was established upon the National Defense Authorization Act (FY 2020), which received bipartisan support at the time. To cancel the Space Force, new legislation would need to be enacted.

  China and Russia have been trying to advance their military capabilities in space for years.

  China’s communist regime “has devoted significant resources to growing all aspects of its space program, from military space applications to civil applications,” reads the Pentagon’s latest annual report to Congress.

  In May, China placed a rover on Mars, becoming the second nation after the United States to do so, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. China has continued to develop its space station and explore the moon.

  According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Secure World Foundation reports, Russia performed multiple anti-satellite weapons tests in 2020. China and India have tested their own military capabilities in orbit in past years, too, Axios reported.

  On Monday at the Air Force Association’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference, U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said that the threats presented by China continue to grow, including those from space.

  On Tuesday, Gen. John “Jay” Raymon, chief of Space Operations, talked about the anti-satellite weapons China and Russia have owned.

  China has deployed satellites with a robotic arm that could be used to “grab” other satellites. Russia has a co-orbital, anti-satellite weapon that “is specifically designed to kill U.S. satellites,” Raymon said during the same conference.

  President Joe Biden hasn’t publicly shared his views on the future of the Space Force. His press secretary Jen Psaki dodged such a question in February, weeks after Biden took office.

  However, she took to Twitter to say that “we look forward to the continuing work of Space Force,” signaling that Biden had no intention to change Space Force’s status at the time.

  “We look forward to the continuing work of Space Force and invite the members of the team to come visit us in the briefing room anytime to share an update on their important work,” Psaki wrote.

  The Epoch Times has contacted the White House and the Space Force for comment.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/25/2021 – 21:00

• Hedge Fund Net Leverage At All Time Highs As No Dips Are Sold
  Hedge Fund Net Leverage At All Time Highs As No Dips Are Sold

  Two weeks ago, JPMorgan’s prime desk wrote about 2 main themes among the hedge fund community: elevated leverage levels and low exposure to cyclicals/value that tend to do better when rates are rising. However, over the past week, both of these things have come into sharper focus as US equities suffered one of their larger pullbacks in a while and rates globally jumped higher towards the end of this week. 

  So what has the largest bank’s prime brokerage desk seen in the past week? 

  According to the latest weekly Positioning Intelligence report published by the bank, at a high level, it seems that HFs are not that concerned about the broader market (nor is anyone else for that matter) with the bank finding that over the past few months, there’s been limited willingness to sell dips.  In line with this, the bank saw neutral flows globally over the past week with small buying on Monday, alongside retail BTFDers, even as professional sentiment tracked by AAII turned the most bearish since last October…

  

  … followed by small selling on Thursday.  But more generally, net flows globally have remained neutral to skewed towards buying in the past 2 weeks with Asia the only region to see some selling.

  Furthermore, as has been the case for much of 2011, net leverage remains near highs with little change in the past few weeks—net at 98th percentile (of all time) across All Strategies. While gross leverage has come down a little to the 76th percentile, that appears to be more derivatives related and there could be an element of Quadruple Witching that might be impacting this as the largest gross leverage reductions were among Multi-Strat funds. According to JPM, one reason why leverage and flows among HFs might be more neutral this month is that performance has held in relatively well MTD: long-short spreads have been improving over the past few months.  Looking at this month, longs are holding up well, while shorts are down in line with the market. This leaves HFs up slightly MTD, according to JPM estimates.

  Back to the topic of leverage, FINRA just came out with its latest statistics on Margin Debt which showed them at a new ATH. Given it is up almost 60% since the start of 2020, it begs the question Bank of America asked one month ago: should we be concerned? Not surprisingly, JPM dismisses this indicator and thinks “this alone is not something that is concerning when one breaks down the changes and behavior to account for how the market has been performing.” Furthermore the JPM prime desk notes that “this appears to be very different from the peaks in 2000 and 2007 when Margin Debt rose about 50% faster than the S&P 500 over a 12-month period.” Instead, to JPM the recent moves seem more reminiscent to what happened in the early 90s.

  At a more micro level, cyclicals / value / inflation / travel related stocks have all been doing better recently as COVID are falling once more, some travel restrictions are getting lifted, and rates are rising globally. 

  

  In line with this, JPM continued to see buying of NA Financials, something that has been noted over the past few weeks, but this week JPM saw Banks getting bought (vs. more Insurance and Div. Fins in prior weeks).  COVID recovery stocks have also been bought but there’s room for more to go as positioning and valuations remain low in many cases (especially among the US COVID – Domestic Recovery basket, JPAMCRDB).  EMEA Travel & Leisure stocks saw strong buying in the past week as the US prepares to drop its ban for transatlantic travel, and net positioning is getting a bit elevated vs. history; however, EMEA Airlines still has low positioning.  Finally, not everything cyclical is getting bought—HFs have continued to sell Energy into strength – despite the recent surge in oil and all other commodities – and have also sold Materials. 

  Below we share some more details on each of these core themes

  Main theme #1: Global Flows and Leverage: HFs Don’t Seem Too Concerned

  While markets have been volatile over the past week, due to the myriad concerns, HF flows remained quite calm.  The reason is that hedge funds have been reluctant to sell dips and that appeared to be the case again last Fri/this Mon as global flows were quite neutral.  However, at the same time, HFs are also not chase the rally as the JPM Prime net flows were fairly neutral on Wed and skewed towards selling on Thurs when markets rallied back.

  

  A notable observation is that there appears to be some strategy differences in the past 2 weeks as Equity L/S and Quant funds have been buyers while Multi-Strats have been net sellers across JPM prime.  The selling among Multi-Strats comes as gross and net leverage have started to pull back from peak levels. 

  

  The gross reductions among some Multi-Strat funds have been the main driver of the broader “All Strategies” gross leverage figure lower WoW.  However, net leverage was basically unchanged. Furthermore, it appears derivative positions might be driving some of the changes as notional LMV and SMV increased WoW while delta adjusted LMV and SMV fell.  

  Among Equity L/S funds, who have been moderate net buyers of equities most days MTD, net leverage actually rose slightly WoW and it’s now at the 93rd %-tile since Mar 2017.  

  

  #2:  US Margin Debt: New ATHs at End of Aug…Should We Be Concerned?

  FINRA just released the latest monthly stats on “Margin Debt” which showed a fairly large increase, following a decrease in July.  As Margin Debt is at new All-Time-Highs and is now up almost 60% since the start of 2020, it’s worth asking -as BofA did one month ago –  if this is something we should be concerned about.  

  In order to answer this, we’ve looked at the relationship between Margin Debt and the markets over time, augmenting the data FINRA has on it’s website with NYSE Margin Debt data that goes back to 1959.  What this shows is that while there is a very big increase recently, it is 1) in line with the markets and 2) seems to be following the general pattern of the past 60+ years.  

  

  Similar to discussions of rate-driven VaR shocks, JPM argues that it’s not so much the level of Margin Debt that one should be focused on, but rather the rate of change. On this point, the bank measured the 12M change in Margin Debt and the S&P 500 over the past ~60 years and what this shows is that there is typically a fairly strong correlation over time. In particular, this correlation has been very strong since the GFC, but there were a couple notable divergences in 2000 and 2007 when Margin Debt rose much faster than the market.

  

  In its attempt to mitigate concerns about record margin debt, JPM then notes that increases in Margin Debt (i.e. investors taking on more leverage) that exceed the market returns by a wide margin could indicate greater potential for future stress because it might suggest that investors are adding leverage at market highs, but not actually making much money while doing so. Thus, when markets start to pull back, the recent investments start to lose money more quickly than if they had been added when the markets weren’t at highs.

  Addressing this point, JPM notes that when looking at what’s happened in the past 2 years, we have seen Margin Debt increase faster than the markets on a 12M rolling basis with the difference reaching +28% at its recent high.  However, the recent high in the 12M difference metric was reached in January of this year (perhaps due to the fact that HFs had performed very well in 2020 and had been adding risk throughout 2H20 in particular). Thus, this difference has been falling for much of the past 7 months.  Furthermore, the recent rise follows a period when Margin Debt had generally lagged the market increases; since the start of 2018, margin debt is only up ~40% vs. the S&P up ~70% in price terms.

  

  When it looks back even further, JPM notes that there were periods in the 70s-80s when large increases in Margin debt were followed by market weakness, suggesting this isn’t only a 2000 and 2007 phenomenon (left chart below).  Furthermore, one could reasonably ask why the relatively large increase in the early 90s didn’t result in a market pullback.  While there are likely other contributing factors as well, one thing to note about Margin Debt was that it had gone through a period of relatively slower growth in the late 80s, so the rise in the early 90s was somewhat of a “catch-up” period for it.  Similarly, JPM argues that the rise into Jan of this year could also be considered a bit of a “catch-up” period, which appears to be different from 2000 and 2007 when Margin Debt was reaching new highs, even when measuring it relative to the S&P changes.  

  

  In light of the above it’s hardly a surprise that JPM thinks that while there are many potential reasons one could cite for market caution, “the level and changes in Margin Debt do not appear to be setting us up for extreme market drawdowns like we saw in 2000 and 2007.”

  #3:  Reopening/Recovery Trades Back in Focus?

  With COVID cases appeared to be on the decline globally, and travel restrictions getting lifted in some places, reopening/recovery themes have been more topical as they’ve started to perform better. On the HF side, JPM Prime has seen net buying over the past 2-3 weeks in both the Domestic Recovery basket (JPAMCRDB) and the International Recovery Basket (JPAMCRIB).  Positioning in both groups remains low on a YTD basis and very low on a multi-year basis for the Domestic basket.  In addition, JPM’s U.S. Equity Research Strategist, Dubravko, recently wrote about this in a recent note where he showed that the COVID Recovery – Domestic basket had seen relative valuations fall back to multi-year lows while COVID Beneficiaries were back near highs.

  

  In a similar vein, Travel & Leisure stocks have seen strong performance this week in both N. America and EMEA, along with HF buying as the US said it would remove its ban on EU travel for vaccinated passengers starting in November. The recovery in performance, relative to the market, still has more to go before getting back to  where we were earlier this year. In terms of where the recent buying and outperformance leaves HF positioning, net exposures are nearing average levels among US Travel & Leisure stocks, but are a bit closer to highs in EMEA.

  Where there appears to be more potential upside for positioning in EMEA is among the Airlines stocks where net exposures is still about 1z below average and JPM has yet to see shorts covered in the group, after persistent additions for the past 6 months.

  Among US stocks, the rise in rates was accompanied by further buying of Inflation Winners and Rising Bond Yield Winners. Despite the recent buying, net exposure to the Inflation winners remains quite low with net exposures about 1 std dev below average and for the Rising Bond Yield Winners, the net exposure is still slightly below average.  

  Similarly, a couple weeks ago JPM wrote about how positioning and flows in Value vs. Growth had done a “180” in the past few months as Value had underperformed. Perhaps not surprisingly, US Value seems to be getting a revival recently as the Value factor has been bought in the past 2 weeks. This is coming from both Value Longs getting bought and Value Shorts being sold/shorted.  In line with this, Growth stocks have seen some selling.

  #4:  Performance – HFs Holding Well in Sep

  With a risk-on backdrop of cyclicals outperforming defensives, small caps rallying, and rising rates this week (Rising Bond Yield Winners up +5% WTD), Hedge Funds find themselves in the rare position of outperforming broader equity market indices MTD. And with WSB’s short squeeze hunts fading, shorts are not detracting from performance as they are generally down in-line with the market; whereas, longs have fared better and protected to the downside. 

  Among Global Equity L/S funds, net returns continue to track positively with gains of +60-70bps MTD, outperforming MSCI ACWI (which is down -1.2%). The long-short spread has continued to improve since mid-August, driven more recently by shorts selling off faster in September than the market (down -1.3% on wgtd avg basis) and longs holding up relatively well (only down -15bps MTD).

  

  Non-Equity L/S funds are also up MTD and outperforming global equity indices, up between +30-85bps. In terms of alpha, longs have outperformed shorts throughout most of September (some reversion over the past 2 days).

  

  At a regional level, N. America L/S funds are flat to slightly up MTD, up around +0-30bps and are thus outpacing the SPX. The long-short spread has continued to improve steadily since mid-August but slowed yesterday as shorts outperformed. In EMEA, net returns among L/S funds are positive MTD, gaining around +0.5-1.3% and outperforming the headline European index.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/25/2021 – 20:30

• Texas Moves To Divest From Ben & Jerry’s Over Israeli Settlement Ban
  Texas Moves To Divest From Ben & Jerry’s Over Israeli Settlement Ban

  Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

  Texas has added Ben & Jerry’s and its parent company Unilever to a list of companies that are “boycotting Israel” over the ice cream company’s decision to stop selling its product in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

  The firms have 90 days from being notified that they’re on the list to reverse the settlement ban, or Texas will remove about $100 million in pension funds that are invested in Unilever.

  

  While Ben & Jerry’s is accused of boycotting Israel, their policy only applies to illegal settlements in occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the ice cream will still be sold in Israel. But Texas has a broad definition of what it considers to be boycotting the Jewish State.

  Texas law defines boycotting Israel as “refusing to deal with, terminating business activities with, or otherwise taking any action that is intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on or limit commercial relations specifically with Israel or with a person or entity doing business in Israel or in an Israeli-controlled territory.”

  Other states have taken action against Unilver over the settlement ban. Florida and New Jersey have added Unilever to a similar list, and Arizona has already begun to pull millions out of Unilever.

  There are over 30 US states with laws against the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement that calls for international boycotts to put pressure on Israel over its crimes against the Palestinians. The laws prohibit states from doing business with companies and individuals that are determined to be boycotting Israel. Contractors wishing to do business with these states have to sign a pledge not to boycott Israel.

  After Ben & Jerry’s announced its move to stop selling ice cream in the occupied territories in July, Israel launched a “maximum pressure” campaign to influence the US and urged states with anti-BDS laws on the books to take action.

  Disclosure: Antiwar.com has received donations in the past from Ben Cohen, the co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/25/2021 – 20:00

• New York Gov. Hochul Launches Purge Of Cuomo Cronies
  New York Gov. Hochul Launches Purge Of Cuomo Cronies

  Last week, New York’s New Gov. Kathy Hochul threatened to fire all unvaccinated health-care workers and replace them with vaccinated foreign workers (‘we’re in talks with the State Department’, she said, perhaps not realizing how low vaccination rates are outside the US and Europe) as she tries to make her mark on the Empire State.

  While Hochul might have a little trouble ousting 20% of the state’s hospital and nursing-home workers, she’ll probably have a much easier time purging the last Cuomo loyalists still drawing a paycheck in Albany.

  The New York Post reports that Gov. Hochul has officially launched a purge of agency heads and other officials appointed by her disgraced predecessor. At least nine of these ‘Cuomo-crats’ – agency heads and other high-ranking officials – will either be resigning or told that they’ll be out of a job within the next few weeks according to the Post’s sources.

  At the top of the list of potential departures is Michael Hein, the former Ulster County Executive who was tapped by Cuomo in 2019 to oversee the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

  

  At the start of the pandemic, Hein was put in charge of the regional control room for the Hudson Valley. In that role, he monitored key health risks as the state tenatively reopened in the summer of 2020.

  More recently, Hein was supposed to oversee the distribution of $2.6 billion in federal money to at-risk tenants who needed help paying back rent and utilities. He was criticized for failing to hand out the money fast enough.

  Other officials who are about to be handed their walking papers include:

  • Dr. Theodore Kastner, commissioner of the state Office for People With Developmental Disabilities
  • Arlene González-Sánchez, head of the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services
  • Kenneth Theobalds, chair of the New York State Insurance Fund
  • Human Rights Division Commissioner Licha Nyiendo
  • Deputy Secretary for General Government and Technology Molly Reilly
  • Deputy Secretary for Civil Rights and Workforce Debra Alligood White
  • Director of Cannabis Program Norman Birenbaum
  • Deputy Secretary for Public Safety Jeremy Shockett

  But the purge truly began in earnest when Gov. Hochul sacked Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, whose handling of the pandemic in the state has been widely criticized. Zucker has also been accused of helping Cuomo minimize the death toll at nursing homes across the state (Zucker issued the infamous March 2020 order that all nursing homes must accept COVID-positive residents returning from hospitals. Amazing, Zucker also barred nursing homes from testing the returning residents for the virus.

  Per the NYP, Amit Singh Bagga, who has been appointed Hochul’s deputy secretary for intergovernmental affairs, will be charged with supervising the purge.

  Now it’s time for New Yorkers to sit back and watch the heads roll.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/25/2021 – 19:30

• Judge Denies Police Union's Effort To Delay Vaccine Mandate in Massachusetts
  Judge Denies Police Union’s Effort To Delay Vaccine Mandate in Massachusetts

  Authored by Mimi Nguyen Ly via The Epoch Times,

  A Massachusetts judge has denied a bid by the state police union to delay mandatory vaccinations for all state employees.

  

  The State Police Association of Massachusetts, a union representing about 1,800 state police officers, filed a lawsuit (pdf) last week asking the judge to put the mandate on hold to give the union time to “negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment” before a deadline of Oct. 17.

  “The public interest is, unquestionably, best served by stopping the spread of the virus, in order to protect people from becoming ill, ensure adequate supply of medical services, and curtail the emergence of new, deadlier variants of the virus,” Judge Jackie Cowin said in the decision, reported The Associated Press.

  Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, issued an executive order last month that would require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for all executive department employees by Oct. 17.

  “Executive Department employees who are not vaccinated or approved for an exemption as of October 17, 2021 will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination … Management employees not in compliance as of October 17, 2021 will also be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination.” Baker’s office said in a statement.

  His office also stated, “The Administration will continue to work with its union partners regarding this policy, and specific ramifications of non-compliance for staff represented by unions will be discussed well in advance of October 17 with each employee union.”

  The union had asked that troopers who don’t get the vaccine be allowed to wear a mask and undergo weekly COVID-19 testing instead.

  “We are disappointed in the judge’s ruling; however, we respect her decision,” Michael Cherven, the union’s president, said in a statement.

  “It is unfortunate that the Governor and his team have chosen to mandate one of the most stringent vaccine mandates in the country with no reasonable alternatives.”

  “Throughout COVID, we have been on the front lines protecting the citizens of Massachusetts and beyond. Simply put, all we are asking for are the same basic accommodations that countless other departments have provided to their first responders, and to treat a COVID related illness as a line of duty injury.

  “To date, dozens of troopers have already submitted their resignation paperwork, some of whom plan to return to other departments offering reasonable alternatives such as mask wearing and regular testing,” he added.

  “The State Police are already critically short staffed and acknowledged this by the unprecedented moves which took troopers from specialty units that investigate homicides, terrorism, computer crimes, arsons, gangs, narcotics, and human trafficking, and returned them to uniformed patrol.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/25/2021 – 19:00

• "A More Difficult Backdrop Is Emerging": 5 Reasons Why Goldman Is Starting To Turn Bearish
  “A More Difficult Backdrop Is Emerging”: 5 Reasons Why Goldman Is Starting To Turn Bearish

  Last week’s remarkable bounce in stocks from Monday’s lows which, as a reminder, prompted the first outflow from equities in 2021…

  

  … has sparked many questions among Wall Street’s elite where even some of the biggest bulls are puzzled by the market’s violent reversal (which, however, was predicted correctly by flow-tracking quants like Nomura’s Charlie McElligott).

  And it’s not just the market’s relentless ability to internalize any adverse market action and come out on top as a wave of BTFDers rushes in: as Goldman’s strategist Chris Hussey wrote late on Friday, “one thing that is increasingly drawing our attention and was ‘front and center’ this week is how the economy, policy, and earnings growth appear to be rapidly transitioning away from the initial post-pandemic explosion of accommodation and activity and towards a slower pace as the brakes are pressed on a variety of key parts of the growth machine.”

  As Hussey further notes, growth is fine for now and even robust, with Goldman’s economists forecasting over 4.5% GDP growth forecast to extend into 2022, but as he cautions “a developed economy like the US cannot grow at a 9% pace for very long –even as it catches up out of a pandemic.”

  Meanwhile, as he delineates below, a series of pieces may be falling into place to ‘tap the brakes’ on some of the torrid growth we have been seeing since vaccines were distributed earlier this year. Among these Goldman focuses on the impact of fading stimulus, supply chains, the virus, China, and even stock valuations which are “coalescing to create a more difficult backdrop for earnings growth and multiple expansion in the months, or at least years ahead.”

  Here are a few observations on all 5 of these potentially “braking” factors:

  1. Stimulus. The FOMC indicated that tapering ‘may soon be warranted’ at this week’s meeting and on the back of the statement, yields on 10-year Treasuries have risen 15 bp to 1.45% while front-end rates have reset notably higher as shown in the chart below.

  

  Interestingly, stocks also rose on the back of the Fed statement, consolidating the rebound from Monday’s sell-off. And while the Fed has not done anything yet — only suggested it is about to — the wheels do seem to now be in place to wind down the central bank’s latest QE program and to eventually start raising rates — as soon as one year from now. Adding to this point, BofA’s Michael Hartnett notes that global tapering has begun (ECB, BoE, BoC, RBA, Fed) which will see a sharp drop in global central liquidity which was $8.5 trillion in 2020, shrinks to $2.1trillion in 2021, and will be just $0.1 in 2022 (putting this in context, since the COVID outbreak central banks have bought $800MM of assets every hour, a number which shrinks to <$100MM in the second half of 2022).

  

  And at the same time monetary policy appears to be shifting from the gas pedal to the brakes, fiscal policy may be as well. As we noted last week, Goldman’s political economist wrote this week about the growing risks around the next US federal spending program and the debt limit extension in “Collision Course?” and “More Downside Risks from Washington.”

  2. Supply Chains. The inability of companies to source parts, people, and commodities has been a major reason why we have warned about the slowing growth momentum we have observed in recent week. While Goldman is confidence that supply chain constraints are mainly a function of too rapid a recovery in demand, and so see it as a temporary problem, but for homebuilders, automobile manufacturers, and truckers it is all a supply problem today that is putting upward pressure on pricing and potentially downward pressure on margins (although margins have held up quite well so far). Case in point, on August 30 we warned that a slew of profit warnings are coming in the coming weeks, and between FedEx, Nike, PPG, and many others that’s just what has happened.

  If MS and BofA are right on slumping consumer demand and margin contraction we should start seeing Q3 earnings warnings in the next 2 weeks.

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 30, 2021

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  • Looking at the Homebuilders, Goldman highlights how DRI lowered its November quarter guidance due to an inability to get enough materials and labor while fellow builder LEN is also started fewer communities in the current environment.
  • In Autos, the bank writes that September car sales are tracking about 25% below year-ago levels – that’s versus September 2020 and the heart of the pandemic – as dealer inventories are at historically low levels. The good news for car makers: prices are strong — although this may not be so good for inflation and Fed policy (see #1 above).
  • And finally in Transports, FDX missed earnings this week as it is facing a shortage of truckers and shippers .

  3. The virus. In addition to supply chain disruptions, Goldman previously cited the Delta variant as a reason for why they were seeing slower 3Q21 GDP growth when they lowered the bank’s economic forecast back on Sep 6. Fast forward two weeks, and the summer wave of the virus does appear to have peaked…

  

  … even in the US South — as the chart below clearly shows.

  

  Commenting on the chart above, Goldman said that “what we might have learned this summer is that the virus still has the ability to disrupt the pace of growth even among populations with high rates of vaccination. Growth does not appear to have been derailed this summer, but it does appear to be trending slower than most thought it would back on Memorial Day.”

  4. China. We entered this week with a lot being written about how issues surrounding China’s property market are driving a global ‘risk-off’ sentiment shift. And we exit this week with no resolution to China’s property market issues, yet the S&P 500 is UP on the week. But while it turned out that China did not derail the bull market this week, China’s property market is still very big (see “The Housing Market Is Almost Frozen” – An Even Bigger Problem Emerges For China“). And uncertainties persist. Perhaps what we continue to discover is that China is no longer the sustained tailwind to global growth that it was back in the years following the Great Financial Crisis when the country was pushing double digit GDP growth rates (see “China Is Responsible For More Than A Third Of World GDP Growth – This Is A Problem“.)

  

  5. Valuation. According to Goldman’s Hussey, “stock market valuations rarely break under their own weight” and it typically takes some other more fundamental catalyst to cause earnings to decline and investors to pay less for earnings. But as Goldman’s Peter Oppenheimer highlighted in a fresh global strategy note this week, stock market returns are likely to be muted going forward relative to past cycles. Why? We are entering the current cycle with high valuations, ultra-low rates, and corporate margin headwinds from rising wages and regulation and the headwinds from de-globalization. And as the bank’s chart of the week below illustrates, historically forward 10-year returns for equities have trended lower when they have started at our current elevated valuation.

  Goldman’s chart of the week: Valuation is not typically the cause of a bubble bursting and stocks can stay ‘expensive’ for a long time. But over a long time, the returns that you might expect to get from investing in equities tend to be far smaller when you buy stocks at high  aluations than when you buy them when they are ‘cheap’.

  

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/25/2021 – 18:30

• Never Say Neigh: FDA Lists 'Horse Drug' As Approved COVID Treatment
  Never Say Neigh: FDA Lists ‘Horse Drug’ As Approved COVID Treatment

  While the media has spent more than a year ridiculing the widely-prescribed drug Ivermectin to treat Covid-19 – branding it a ‘horse dewormer for idiots,’ they’ve kept oddly silent about another widely prescribed drug that’s also used in horses, which is being pushed by official bodies worldwide to treat the disease.

  

  The NIH, CDC, WHO and FDA have all recommended dexamethasone – a corticosteroid which has shown efficacy in the treatment of severe covid. It’s also a commonly used drug to treat allergies in horses.

  The difference? One can be used to treat billions of mild-moderate cases – or as a prophylactic, while the other has a much more narrow use – those suffering from severe Covid.

  As Twitter user @DoRtChristians notes: “The FDA recently told the public not to take life-saving Ivermectin because “you’re not a horse”“

  

  

  

  

  Yet;

  

  Per Google (via Wedgewood pharmacy): “Dexamethasone commonly is used in horses to treat allergic reactions such as respiratory allergies, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (heaves), hives, itching and inflammatory diseases including arthritis.“

  But, but…

  You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it. https://t.co/TWb75xYEY4

  — U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) August 21, 2021

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  We can only assume that because official bodies are recommending dexamethasone – and because it’s used in severe covid – a much smaller fraction of those looking at ivermectin as a prophylactic and early-stage treatment, the transitive properties of media outrage over people taking a ‘horse medication’ don’t apply.

  Ivermectin

  This widely prescribed anti-parasitic which is also used in horses has shown massive efficacy worldwide in the treatment of mild and moderate cases of Covid-19, plus as a prophylactic. India’s Uttar Pradesh province, with a population of over 200 million, says that widespread early use of Ivermectin ‘helped keep positivity [and] deaths low.’

  

  Separately, there have been several studies funded by the Indian government, primarily conducted through their largest govt. public medical university (AIIMS).

  • Role of ivermectin in the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare workers in India: A matched case-control study (source)

  Conclusion: Two-dose ivermectin prophylaxis at a dose of 300 μg/kg with a gap of 72 hours was associated with a 73% reduction of SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare workers for the following month.

  • Ivermectin as a potential treatment for mild to moderate COVID-19 – A double blind randomized placebo-controlled trial (source)

  Conclusion: There was no difference in the primary outcome i.e. negative RT-PCR status on day 6 of admission with the use of ivermectin. However, a significantly higher proportion of patients were discharged alive from the hospital when they received ivermectin.

  • Clinical Research Report Ivermectin in combination with doxycycline for treating COVID-19 symptoms: a randomized trial (source, double-blind randomized, peer-reviewed)

  Discussion: In the present study, patients with mild or moderate COVID-19 infection treated with ivermectin in combination with doxycycline generally recovered 2 days earlier than those treated with placebo. The proportion of patients responding within 7 days of treatment was significantly higher in the treatment group than in the placebo group. The proportions of patients who remained symptomatic after 12 days of illness and who experienced disease progression were significantly lower in the treatment group than in the placebo group.

  

  Here are more human studies from other countries on the ‘horse dewormer’:

   

  Peru:

  • Sharp Reductions in COVID-19 Case Fatalities and Excess Deaths in Peru in Close Time Conjunction, State-By-State, with Ivermectin Treatments (source, peer-reviewed, University of Toronto, Universidad EAFIT)

  For the 24 states with early IVM treatment (and Lima), excess deaths dropped 59% (25%) at +30 days and 75% (25%) at +45 days after day of peak deaths. Case fatalities likewise dropped sharply in all states but Lima

  Spain:

  • The effect of early treatment with ivermectin on viral load, symptoms and humoral response in patients with non-severe COVID-19: A pilot, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial (source, University of Barcelona, peer-reviewed)

  Findings: Patients in the ivermectin group recovered earlier from hyposmia/anosmia (76 vs 158 patient-days; p < 0.001).

  Bengladesh:

  • A Comparative Study on Ivermectin-Doxycycline and Hydroxychloroquine-Azithromycin Therapy on COVID-19 Patients (source – peer reviewed, though not govt funded)

  Conclusion: According  to  our  study,  the  Ivermectin-Doxycycline combination therapy has better symptomatic relief, shortened recovery duration, fewer adverse effects, and superior patient compliance compared to the Hydroxychloroquine-Azithromycin combination. Based on this  study’s  outcomes,  the  Ivermectin-Doxycycline  combination  is  a  superior  choice  for  treating  patients  with  mild to moderate COVID-19 disease.

  • A five-day course of ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19 may reduce the duration of illness (source, peer-reviewed double blind randomized, though small sample size)

  Discussion: A 5-day course of ivermectin resulted in an earlier clearance of the virus compared to placebo (p = 0.005), thus indicating that early intervention with this agent may limit viral replication within the host. In the 5-day ivermectin group, there was a significant drop in CRP and LDH by day 7, which are indicators of disease severity.

  Meanwhile, There are currently 76 ongoing or completed clinical trials on Ivermectin around the world. Below are the results of 32 which have been completed. One can visit ivermeta.com and dig down on any of these / read the entire study. The site recommends Ivermectin in conjunction with vaccines to confer the best protection against Covid-19, however we’ll leave that to you and your doctor to discuss.

  

  Why does Ivermectin, a ‘horse dewormer’ work? For starters, it’s a protease inhibitor. Interestingly, Pfizer’s 2x/day Covid-19 prophylactic they’re trialing right now is also a protease inhibitor.

  

  Yet doctors who advocate for Ivermectin are ridiculed by the media (more here and here and here).

  The MSM swarmed over ‘horse paste overdoses’  for weeks after a handful cases nationwide (and no deaths) – including an outright lie amplified by Rolling Stone which they were forced to correct after the hospital in question denied the claim.

  Meanwhile, the likes of Maddow, Don Lemon and Chris Hayes jumped right on the propaganda bandwagon – with Maddow promoting the debunked ER story in a tweet she refuses to delete – and Twitter refuses to censor for misinformation.

  Why would any doctor put their career on the line to publicly advocate for ivermectin when this is the result?

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/25/2021 – 18:00

• Female American Soldier Allegedly Assaulted By Afghan Refugees At Fort Bliss Camp
  Female American Soldier Allegedly Assaulted By Afghan Refugees At Fort Bliss Camp

  A group of Afghan evacuees have allegedly assaulted a female American soldier at a refugee camp at New Mexico’s Fort Bliss in what appears to be the first incident of Afghan refugees (most of whom were rescued by American forces during the chaotic final weeks before the Taliban assumed complete control of Kabul) attacking an American soldier on US soil.

  Republicans slammed the Biden Administration over the incident, claiming it represents a failure of the Administration to properly vet the Afghan nationals who were rescued during a mission that cost the lives of 13 Marines.

  

  Speaking to the Hill on Friday, the 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss told the press that a female service member reported being assaulted by “a small group of male evacuees” while at the Doña Ana Complex in New Mexico on Sunday.

  The military said it’s looking into the allegations, and the FBI is also investigating.

  “We take the allegation seriously and appropriately referred the matter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” the statement said.

  “The safety and well-being of our service members, as well as all of those on our installations, is paramount. We immediately provided appropriate care, counseling and support to the service member.”

  A spokesperson for Fort Bliss also said the military is “implementing additional security measures to include increased health and safety patrols, additional lighting, and enforcement of the buddy system at the Dona Ana Complex.”

  “We will cooperate fully with the FBI and will continue to ensure the service member reporting this assault is fully supported,” the statement said.

  Additionally, the FBI has confirmed that its El Paso office is investigating the incident.

  The assault occurred just weeks after the refugee camp was set up to house refugees offered SIVs for their work aiding the NATO combat effort in Afghanistan, which would have likely marked them for death by the Taliban.

  Joe Biden made a decision to shove tens of thousands people on planes to make it look like his botched evacuation was going well. The truth is he had no idea who he brought to the US. That’s why I led a letter today demanding accountability and answers. https://t.co/sTVqysGFla

  — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 24, 2021

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  While the statements issued by the military, FBI and Administration have used mostly sanitized language so far, it should be pretty obvious to all what just happened here. But will federal lawmakers raise a stink about the attack?

  Do not think for 1 second that @SenGillibrand or any other military sexual assault Democrat is going to get up in arms about this. This soldier’s claim will be brushed aside and hidden…https://t.co/tlmlVMib2J

  — Scott “McCarthy was Right about Ds and Liberals” (@ScottC20012) September 25, 2021

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  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/25/2021 – 17:30

• Huawei CFO Gets Hero's Welcome In China While Canadians Land Quietly After Biden Acquiesced To 'Hostage Diplomacy'
  Huawei CFO Gets Hero’s Welcome In China While Canadians Land Quietly After Biden Acquiesced To ‘Hostage Diplomacy’

  China is essentially declaring ‘victory’ after the Biden DOJ struck a deal with Huawei Technologies CFO Meng Wanzhou for a deferred prosecution agreement, allowing her to go free from her Canadian confinement after nearly three years. 

  She was treated to a hero’s welcome in a major homecoming after her Air China plane touched down at Shenzhen’s Bao’an International Airport at about 10 pm local time on Saturday. State media gave the event major coverage and the city was decked out in celebratory banners of “Welcome Home” – and a sizeable crowd of supporters came out to greet her.

  

  A teary-eyed Meng while holding a bouquet roses gave a brief speech wherein she said to the crowd, “I am finally home after over 1,000 days of suffering.” She joyfully added, “Finally I am home”. State media said that about 60 million people watched the live-stream of the event.

  However, while in Vancouver her very loose form of house arrest wherein she was monitored 24/7 but still free to move about, had been dubbed by US media an “opulent detention”… so the reality was a far cry from “1,000 days of suffering.”

  “The motherland will always provide you with the most powerful support,” the airport tower had radioed to her inbound flight just ahead of touchdown. Supporters on the tarmac waived the national flag of China while holding huge banners.

  She must now spend two weeks at a hotel in isolation, based on the country’s strict quarantine requirement for any and all travelers from foreign countries. 

  According to a further description of the festive scene:

  She thanked the support from the Chinese government and people, and said she was touched by President Xi Jinping’s concern for her case. 

  After her speech, Meng sang along as the crowd burst into a patriotic Chinese song called “Ode to the Motherland.”

  But here’s what Bloomberg relates of the other side what’s being dubbed China’s hostage diplomacy concerning the “two Michaels” subsequently released from Chinese detention in tit-for-tat exchange: “In contrast, Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig arrived to a more low-key reception. The pair landed in Calgary before sunrise on Saturday, accompanied by Dominic Barton, Canada’s ambassador to China.”

  Welcome home, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. You’ve shown incredible strength, resilience, and perseverance. Know that Canadians across the country will continue to be here for you, just as they have been. pic.twitter.com/1UoLbBFGNv

  — Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) September 25, 2021

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  “Dressed in blazers and face-masks, they were met by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who hugged the pair on the tarmac,” the report details. “Government officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and the nation’s spy agency, tweeted welcome messages to the pair, who were expected to reunite with the families in private.”

  China’s state media didn’t miss the opportunity to claim a “triumph” for the nation in the face of US and Canada’s conspiring to keep the Huawei executive in a lengthy ‘illegal detention’, which both countries said was for illicit dealings with Iran under US sanctions.

  More than 60 million people watched livestreaming of #Meng Wanzhou’s arrival in Shenzhen. Yes, Chinese people regard Meng regaining freedom as victory of justice and we believe China’s powerful national strength has shaped this result. pic.twitter.com/uPmahPPoRr

  — Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) September 25, 2021

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  People’s Daily for example titled an article hailing her return, “No Force Will Prevent China’s Progress” while claiming the ordeal as a major victory for China’s Communist Party in the face of Western aggression.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/25/2021 – 17:00

• Elon Musk And Girlfriend Grimes Break Up After Three Years
  Elon Musk And Girlfriend Grimes Break Up After Three Years

  Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his girlfriend Grimes have ended their relationship after three years. And we thought this one was going to go the distance…

  The two are reportedly “semi-separated” and “still love each other” while remaining “on great terms”, according to an exclusive from the NY Post.

  Musk confirmed that the two would continue to co-parent their one year old son, X Æ A-Xii Musk.

  Musk told the NY Post: “We are semi-separated but still love each other, see each other frequently and are on great terms.”

  He continued: “It’s mostly that my work at SpaceX and Tesla requires me to be primarily in Texas or traveling overseas and her work is primarily in LA. She’s staying with me now and Baby X is in the adjacent room.”

  

  While things appear to be amicable now, we can’t help but wonder interesting tidbits of information Grimes could spill about Musk if their “friendship” winds up eventually dissolving, too.

  Their son was born in May of 2020 and the couple was last seen in public together at the Met Gala in early September. Grimes walked the red carpet alone at the event, the report said.

  Musk then threw an afterparty at the club Zero Bond that Grimes attended. The two were spotted leaving New York together the next day.

  Musk had attended a party at the same club, the weekend prior, alone. 

  Grimes recently prattled on about her child with Musk to Vogue: “I think having a baby was a big kind of like rebirth for me, like artistically. Like, it just like, I don’t know.”

  We don’t know, either, Grimes. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/25/2021 – 16:30

• Just How Many Containers Of Cargo Are Stuck Off California's Coast?
  Just How Many Containers Of Cargo Are Stuck Off California’s Coast?

  By Greg Miller of American Shipper,

  With around 70 container ships loaded with cargo now waiting at anchor or drifting off the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, how deep of a hole are the terminals actually in? To answer that question, American Shipper analyzed data from the Marine Exchange of Southern California on exactly which ships are out there and how much cargo they can carry.

  

  While the numbers fluctuate from day to day, there were 70 container ships in the queue on Monday with total capacity of 432,909 twenty-foot equivalent units. To put the enormity of that number in perspective, that’s more than the inbound container volume the Port of Long Beach handled in the entire month of August. It’s roughly what Charleston handles inbound in four months and what Savannah handles in two.

  The combined import throughput of both Los Angeles and Long Beach in August was 893,118 TEUs. Assuming ships waiting offshore are effectively full and capacity is a good proxy for volume, and that terminals are able to process vessels at the same pace they did in August, the anchorages and drift areas could only be completely cleared if no ships arrived for 14 days straight days.

  Not only would that never happen, but there is no letup in arrivals in sight. Vessel-positioning data from MarineTraffic confirms that a steady stream of container ships remains en route across the Pacific, destined for Los Angeles.

  

  How long ships wait for berths

  The Port of Los Angeles publishes the average waiting period for a ship to reach one of its berths. On Tuesday, that number rose to an all-time high of nine days (calculated on a 30-day rolling average basis).

  To gauge how much capacity has been stuck waiting for how long, American Shipper looked at aggregate TEUs by arrival date.

  Thirty-six ships with a total capacity of 230,803 TEUs arrived in port waters in the seven days through Monday. That’s 54% of the total TEU capacity waiting offshore. Another 27 ships with total capacity of 176,892 TEUs arrived between one and two weeks prior to Monday, representing a further 42%. The remaining few ships arrived in late August and early September.

  

  Arriving ships have gotten smaller

  A significant change over the course of this year’s congestion crisis is that the average capacity of ships calling in Los Angeles/Long Beach has decreased, meaning that terminals handle more ships to move the same throughput.

  In the current peak season, new trans-Pacific services have been introduced that use smaller vessels, pulling the average size down. The primary reason: Virtually no larger container ships have been available for sale or lease in recent months; operators are adding capacity via smaller ships by necessity, even if it means chartering them for short periods at astronomical day rates.

  During the congestion peak reached earlier this year, on Feb. 1, there were 40 container ships at anchor in San Pedro Bay, which at the time seemed enormous but now seems middling. The total cargo capacity of anchored ships then was 322,721 TEUs. Of ships at anchor on Feb. 1, 15 were 10,000 TEUs or larger, or 38% of the vessel count. The average capacity in the Feb. 1 queue was 8,068 TEUs.

  Several larger container ships have suffered waits of beyond one week. The 13,092-TEU Maersk Elba arrived Sept. 7; the 11,142-TEU MSC Avni on Sept. 9; the 11,356-TEU CMA CGM Callisto on Sept. 11; the 10,055-TEU Hyundai Neptune and 14,036-TEU MSC Livorno on Sept. 12; and the 14,026-TEU ONE Blue Jay on Sept. 13.

  In contrast, as of Monday, there were 17 ships larger than 10,000 TEUs at anchor or drifting, representing only 24% of the total ship count. The average capacity of all ships in the queue was down to 6,184 TEUs — 24% below the average ship size on Feb. 1.

  The change in ship size helps put the growth of the offshore queue in context. The news headlines focus on the total number of ships waiting for berths, which has risen from 40 in February to around 70 currently, an increase of 75%. Yet the aggregate capacity of ships in the offshore “parking lot” — a proxy for delayed cargo — has only risen by 34% over the same timeframe, because of the declining size of ships in the queue.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/25/2021 – 16:00

• Taliban Hangs 4 Bodies In Public Square – Says Will Resume "Cutting Off Of Hands"
  Taliban Hangs 4 Bodies In Public Square – Says Will Resume “Cutting Off Of Hands”

  The Associated Press reports on Saturday that the Taliban has begun hanging dead bodies of executed criminals from the main square in Herat city in western Afghanistan, as a gruesome message to the public in order to deter crime and ensure conformity to Islam. 

  The AP report cited eyewitnesses, including “Wazir Ahmad Seddiqi, who runs a pharmacy on the side of the square” who told the agency that “that four bodies were brought to the main square and three bodies were moved to other parts of the city for public display.”

  

  The Taliban claims that the four were killed by police after a kidnapping incident was thwarted. A Taliban police statement said “the four were killed in crossfire” with security forces and a father and son were able to be rescued.

  This comes a day after the Taliban confirmed its religious enforcers of public conformity to strict sharia law would once again be enacting corporal punishment akin to the pre-2001 days, including mutilation such as cutting off of hands for certain offenses. A Taliban spokesman and overseer of sharia laws in Afghanistan after the August US pullout, Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, explained in the following: 

  “Cutting off of hands is very necessary for security,” he said, saying it had a deterrent effect. He said the Cabinet was studying whether to do punishments in public and will “develop a policy.”

  In recent days in Kabul, Taliban fighters have revived a punishment they commonly used in the past — public shaming of men accused of small-time theft.

  On at least two occasions in the last week, Kabul men have been packed into the back of a pickup truck, their hands tied, and were paraded around to humiliate them.

  Turabi further defended the notorious soccer stadiums of death which shocked the globe during the prior Taliban rule over two decades ago. At that time the public would be invited to watch convicts having limbs hacked off, as well as people being shot at point-blank range.

  US denounces Taliban plans to resume executions: Actions “would constitute clear gross abuses of human rights” https://t.co/3PqPcf1ShE pic.twitter.com/rnSQDDvMNJ

  — The Hill (@thehill) September 24, 2021

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  “Everyone criticized us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments,” the Taliban official told AP further. “No one will tell us what our laws should be. We will follow Islam and we will make our laws on the Quran.”

  In the wake of the recent Taliban reconquest of the country, some Western officials including in the Biden administration suggested the hardline Islamist group had “moderated” – however this premature assessment is looking like mere wishful thinking.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/25/2021 – 15:30

• "Pure Evil!" , "War Criminal!": Crowd Heckles Hillary During Installation As Chancellor Of Irish University
  “Pure Evil!” , “War Criminal!”: Crowd Heckles Hillary During Installation As Chancellor Of Irish University

  Hillary Clinton has finally been inaugurated… as the first female chancellor of Queen’s University in Belfast, Ireland – but not before she was loudly heckled on the way to her coronation.

  

  As Clinton entered the university, protesters could be heard shouting: “pure evil!:” and “war criminal!” amongst other things, including:

  “You’re not welcome in Belfast! Go away, you war criminal scumbag!”

  “How many kids have you killed today?”

  “imperialist scum”

  “Yankee”

  Irishman screaming “pure evil” at Hillary today in Belfast pic.twitter.com/JhoeF3Ld0J

  — Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) September 25, 2021

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  Protester shouts and calls Hillary Clinton a war criminal as she enters Queens University in Belfast: pic.twitter.com/GFQZuJ6h8k

  — Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 24, 2021

  Here’s the full video posted by Lasair Dhearg, as left-wing socialist republican group.

  As the Western Journal notes:

  One man who addressed a crowd on the video shared online accused Clinton of being responsible for “over 400 drone strikes across multiple nations which overwhelmingly killed civilians and even children.”

  The man also blasted Clinton for labeling black men “superpredators when she helped lobby for the 1994 [U.S. crime bill].”

  Appointed in 2020, Clinton spoke at the event for around 15 minutes, during which she suggested that the people of Northern Ireland “work together to resolve their differences over Brexit and dealing with the legacy of past violence.”

  Clinton, as it stands, voted in favor of the war in Iraq – and as US Secretary of State was instrumental in the Obama administration’s decision to bomb Libya, “leaving Libya a failed state and a terrorist haven,” according to the New York Times (h/t Daily Caller).  Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, meanwhile, promised in 2010 that he’d stop illegal African migration into Europe for a tidy sum of US$6.3 billion per year. Two months later, he was dead.

  When US-backed Salafi-jihadist fascists murdered Libya’s leader Qadhafi, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gleefully replied, not at all like a sociopath: “We came, we saw, he died!”

  Those NATO-sponsored extremist “rebels” then ethnically cleansed and enslaved Black Libyans pic.twitter.com/Jqh0qFglfn

  — Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) March 19, 2021

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  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 09/25/2021 – 15:15

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