- Biden And The Media's 'Anti-Disinformation' Campaign
Biden And The Media’s ‘Anti-Disinformation’ Campaign
Authored by Andrew Lowenthal via The Brownstone Institute,
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
– George Orwell, 1984
For years the media, “fact-checkers,” and “anti-disinformation” initiatives told the public there was nothing wrong with Joe Biden. A few weeks ago, in the space of five minutes, they flipped. Rapid-onset dementia had struck the President and it was time for change.
The people who claim they can sort truth from fiction spent years lying despite the crippling obvious. What is more baffling is why so many people went along with it for so long. Was it fear? Complacency? Cowardice? An incredible level of discipline was enforced – that has thankfully now unraveled.
Rather than debunking “misinformation,” Biden’s protectors often spread it.
In August 2020 the Aspen Institute coordinated a Hunter Biden laptop pre-bunk exercise that sought to suppress a true story to protect Biden’s wayward son and shield the President from major corruption allegations. A swathe of major media and Big Tech participated in that exercise, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Twitter, Facebook, and many more. Claire Wardle, former director of “anti-disinformation” NGO First Draft (now the Information Futures Lab at Brown University) also participated.
In a letter allegedly organised by Anthony Blinken, 51 former intelligence agents claimed the Hunter Biden laptop was a “Russian information operation” and Facebook, Twitter, and others suppressed the story on their platforms. Almost everyone now admits the laptop was real.
Or take Biden’s claim that “You’re not going to get Covid if you have these vaccinations.”
PolitiFact thought that may have been an “exaggeration” but reassured us that cases of the vaccinated getting Covid are “rare.”
The Party told you to reject the evidence not just of your eyes and ears, but your whole body.
However, perhaps the biggest lie was the years-long campaign to “debunk” suggestions that Biden was growing incapable of commanding the highest office in the land. PolitiFact was very diligent in “fact-checking” “cheap fakes” and other stories that alleged Joe Biden was senile, reassuring us that everything was fine.
The term “cheap fake” was coined by Britt Paris and Hunter Biden laptop denialist Joan Donovan. Donavan has long been a darling of the “anti-disinformation” field.
In the words of Aspen Hunter Biden laptop pre-bunker Claire Wardle, the Biden cheap fakes are “the weaponization of context. It’s genuine content, but the context changes via minor edits. Anyone can be vulnerable with the right edit.” In fact, as recently as June 21 Wardle was carrying water for Biden. In a New York Times article that sought to debunk “misleading videos that play into and reinforce voters’ longstanding concerns about his [Biden’s] age and abilities,” Wardle explained that “This isn’t a new narrative, it builds on an existing one, which tends to be much more effective.” Yes, adding more true information to other true information tends to make an argument more convincing.
Or take Rebekah Tromble, Associate Professor of Media and Public Affairs and the director of the Institute for Data, Democracy, and Politics at George Washington University. According to Tromble “Biden became a main target of deceptive edits.” “These clips draw on a common trope about President Biden that’s popular among his detractors: He’s old, bumbling, and senile, meaning he’s incompetent and incapable of doing this job.” His gaffes and inability to speak clearly are unrelated to his cognitive ability, and are instead because “Biden grew up stuttering.”
PolitiFact is a project of the Poynter Institute which coordinates the biggest network of fact-checkers in the world, the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). IFCN is funded largely by Facebook but also by the “Craig Newmark Foundation, the Koch Foundation, the Knight Foundation, the Omidyar Network, the National Endowment for Democracy, Microsoft, and the Washington Post.” This is not a small fringe “fact-checking” outfit; it is one of the leading organizations in the sector.
Perhaps the name makes it clear – it is Politi(cised) Fact-checking.
Newsguard, a “disinformation” ranking service that can punish a news site’s advertising revenue through its rating system, has also been active. Power Line, a conservative online news outlet, alleges they were contacted by Newsguard in 2021 about their claims of Biden’s cognitive decline. In an email, Newsguard asked:
We’ve noticed that the site has repeatedly stated as fact in its article[s] that Joe Biden has dementia, both during the 2020 election cycle and since he became president. Why does the site make this claim without providing credible evidence that he has dementia?
Newsguard’s approach is particularly concerning because of its ability to impact the revenue of media outlets, and due to its strong links to the State Department and intelligence agencies – its board includes former CIA Director Michael Hayden.
If all that fails you can always blame the Russians. EUvsDisinfo, a European Union project to “forecast, address, and respond to the Russian Federation’s ongoing disinformation campaigns” claimed reports of Biden being “senile” are “false” and are part of “pro-Kremlin disinformation.”
Mainstream media have also been a critical part of the lying machine, claiming recent videos that show Biden wandering off at a G7 event were “misinformation” or “cheap fakes” and are part of a concerted effort to “hammer the narrative that Biden is too old to be president.” PolitiFact also “fact-checked” the story with the usual line.
The list could go on and on and on but Matt Orfalea’s amazing “sharp as a tack” compilation puts the nail in the coffin. More “out of context” clips and “cheap fakes” according to the “anti-disinformation” “experts” no doubt.
What is the lesson?
On one hand, censorship and suppression only work for so long. Reality will eventually catch up with you. However, it also tells us that a lot of people can pretend the emperor does have clothes, even when he is stark naked and half the court is screaming and pointing at the top of their lungs – also known as “spreading misinformation.”
It seems there is an endless supply of “fact-checking” and “anti-disinformation” sycophants ready to bow and scrape before the mad king.
Ultimately it tells us just how corrupt the “fact-checking” and “anti-disinformation” industries are. Whilst there are an increasing number of people on the outside speaking up, internally cowardice and the silencing of critics have allowed a prolific level of corruption to grow. This is an across-the-board problem in the liberal and progressive spheres where pious bullies have shut down dialogue. This corruption has led progressives and liberals down a disastrous dead end. Barring a miracle, Trump is coming.
If there is any justice a reckoning is also coming for the “fact-checkers” and “anti-disinformation” “experts.”
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Republished from the author’s Substack
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 23:10 - Does Disney's Dramatic Decline Reflect Growing Public Opposition To Woke Activism?
Does Disney’s Dramatic Decline Reflect Growing Public Opposition To Woke Activism?
The participation of major corporations in the molding of cancel culture should not be overlooked. While many people assumed that companies were “bending the knee” to progressive activists, the opposite was actually true. Woke movements are a minority within western populations and have no boycott power. There’s never been any reason for businesses to be afraid of them.
In fact, without the support of companies like Blackrock, Vanguard, Google, Facebook, Twitter and many others the cancel mob would have little to no power. The situation seems to be changing, or the damage seems to be minimized. One corporate entity reflects this shift more than any other, and that’s Disney.
A lot has happened in the US in the past several years, so much in fact that it might be hard to remember how close the country came to total disaster under the dictates of the progressive hive. The political left had been accumulating social influence with the aid of international corporations, NGOs and government officials since at least 2016. However, after the Biden Administration took office and pandemic hysteria went into full swing, the activists sought to flex their cancel culture muscle in a big way.
The result was a dystopian frenzy in which mass censorship was rampant and speaking out in any way against official narratives might get you booted from social media and even fired from your job. Leftists called it “consequence culture” as a way to justify their behavior, but the consensus was that this was thought-policing on an Orwellian scale. The assumption by leftists being that they are the virtuous arbiters over what words and beliefs should be punished. No one voted for them to do this job.
The smell of blood was in the water and, as with all dystopian societies, certain non-compliant people were made into examples to frighten everyone else.
UFC fighter and actress Gina Carano was one of those people. Carano says she was harassed by Disney management to add “pronouns” to her social media bio to “prove her support for trans lives”. After the actress made an online joke by listing her “pronouns” on Twitter as ‘beeb bop boop’, the company brought pressure to bear in an attempt to force Carano into silence.
Her eventual removal by Disney was heralded by the political left as a great victory and a display of the cancel mob’s power. If they could destroy the career of a Hollywood celebrity then there was a good chance they could destroy the life of almost any average conservative.
Disney then engaged in a slow boil of the theater-going public with DEI propaganda. Many suspected Disney was removing white, straight and male characters from the majority of their productions on purpose. As it turned out, that’s exactly what they were doing.
The pendulum appears to be swinging back on Disney, however. With the help of Elon Musk, Carano has pursued an effective civil suit against the company and a recent court decision blocked attempts by Disney lawyers to have the case dismissed. The lawsuit will be going to trial.
The vast majority of Disney content from films to streaming series have been met with box office failure and audience disinterest. In 2023 alone, Disney had only one film that made a significant profit (Guardians Of The Galaxy) while spending a billion dollars on multiple box office flops (not counting marketing costs). Not one Disney+ series was met with audience acclaim. Streaming subscriber numbers sank.
Disney has consistently used its immense corporate power to legitimize the woke mob. Are they finally getting hit with the karma they deserve?
After Disney publicly declared war on the state of Florida and conservative efforts to stop gender identity indoctrination in public schools, the company was put on notice. They have since been exposed in numerous cases participating in far-left propaganda efforts including implanting LGBT messaging in children’s content.
Disney was also exposed by a VP on hidden camera for DEI practices and race discrimination against white male actors and corporate employees.
Disney’s secret agenda is not so secret anymore. They have been thoroughly defeated by the state of Florida and Ron Desantis in civil court and the company has lost their Reedy Creek autonomy. Disney stock has been hovering near 5-year lows since 2023. Their brand is essentially destroyed and their content is treated by most consumers as radioactive. The sheer size of Disney and their holdings means that they have the capital to survive for years without public support, but the company has already started cutting employees in mass layoffs, including 14% of Pixar in May. Not a good sign.
Is the karmic hammer finally swinging back to hit Disney in the face after nearly a decade of woke bullying? It seems that way. But the bigger question is, does Disney’s decline reflect a larger national move away from the woke mob and cancel culture in general? Are Americans finally fed up with progressive pearl clutching and DEI? This seems to be the case. Disney fueled cancel culture for years only to find themselves canceled in return.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 22:45 - "A Crisis Of Extremes": Behind The Homeless Surge In California's High Desert
“A Crisis Of Extremes”: Behind The Homeless Surge In California’s High Desert
Authored by Beige Luciano-Adams via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
In the scrubby Mojave desert north of Los Angeles, a sprawling encampment of decrepit RVs sits just off a dirt road separating the city of Lancaster from Los Angeles County’s unincorporated expanse.
A homeless man lives in an old RV that sits in the Mojave desert, near Lancaster, Calif., on July 10, 2024. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) In every direction, garbage spreads out like an algae super bloom—beyond that, endless sand and brush, baking in the summer sun.
“Keep your head on a swivel for dogs,” a member of the city’s public safety and emergency response unit tells us. Through the haze, we see two pit bulls and a German Shepherd under a tarp, but they are tethered, too hot to move.
Freddy, a resident, seems only moderately bothered by the 110 degree temperature. “I don’t have a car anymore, so I can’t get my own water,” he says, when asked how he survives out here.
“Someone brings me water every two weeks,” he said, referring to a nonprofit.
Pointing down at his legs, scaly and engorged beneath black shorts, he adds, “And I’m sick, too. They bring me medicine.”
There is no grid here, no power or water. RV residents dump their raw sewage in the desert, either right outside their vehicles, or sometimes with a hose that carries it a little farther out.
Such encampments, which are also a magnet for illegal construction dumping, appear as clusters on satellite maps, dotting the rugged terrain just past the county line. Officials say they stretch out as far as 10 miles into the desert, but most stay closer to town.
Freddy is one of thousands without housing in the northern part of the county, according to data released last month by the Los Angeles Homelessness Services Authority (LAHSA).
On any given night, an estimated 6,672 people are homeless in the Antelope Valley—a 42 percent increase over the year prior. But only 1,057 of the region’s homeless people live in its two main cities, Lancaster and Palmdale, leaving the remaining 5,615 in smaller towns and the region’s rural unincorporated areas.
It’s surprising that so many people could be living in tents, under tarps, inside of old RVs, out in the middle of the high desert with no water or infrastructure.
But those familiar with the situation say the population was already high, and the dramatic jump simply represents a more thorough count this year.
“The count went up this year because the count was done wrong in previous years,” said a city official, who asked not to be identified by name. “This year we utilized a drone, and our teams went out to remote areas and did the count,” he said, estimating the actual increase over last year might be closer to 25 percent.
L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose 5th District includes the Antelope Valley, also suggested the increase may not be as straightforward as it looks.
“The Point In Time Count is not a perfect science and it’s rightfully evolving,” she said in an email to The Epoch Times, expressing uncertainty over whether the number reflects an increase or a better count.
A wind turbine system outside of Palmdale, Calif., on July 10, 2024. Palmdale’s homeless count rose from 177 in 2023 to 537 in 2024. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) “Regardless, we will use those results to draw down more federal and state funding so that we can deliver more local housing and shelter options. The need in the region is real.”
Either way, the uptick is an outlier in 2024, when the county overall and most city homeless populations are either remaining stable or shrinking slightly.
The City of Lancaster’s overall homeless count went down in 2024, to 520 people from 590 the year prior, with fewer unsheltered homeless and more sheltered homeless individuals. Palmdale’s, meanwhile, rose from 177 to 537.
Inquiries to Palmdale city officials, including the mayor and city councilmembers, were not returned.
LAHSA also did not respond to a request for comment on the increase in the homeless population in Antelope Valley.
While many municipalities across the West stopped clearing homeless encampments after a series of Ninth Circuit Court decisions determined anti-camping laws violated the Eighth Amendment, Lancaster bypassed those restrictions with procedural caveats, by offering shelter before moving people.
Since the Supreme Court reversed the lower court rulings earlier this month, officials say, enforcement is easier.
Critics of such enforcement, such as the ACLU, have long argued Lancaster is pushing people who have nowhere to go into dangerous, extreme conditions. But officials say there are beds available, and enforcement is attended by offers of services and shelter.
So why are thousands of people homeless in the desert?
End of the Line
Lancaster Mayor Rex Parris, an outspoken critic of what he says is the county’s neglect of the region, allows there are various factors that might contribute to an increase in homelessness—former inmates at California State Prison, in Lancaster, who end up in the community without services, along with a small percentage of people losing housing or falling on hard times.
Lancaster has always been a far more affordable bedroom community, but median rent is currently $2,595 a month—only about $200 cheaper than Los Angeles, according to real estate website Zillow.
But the main reason, Mr. Parris told The Epoch Times, is L.A.’s systematic tendency—not a conspiracy, exactly, more like a default setting—to send its problems north.
“I think it’s tied to the L.A. area pushing them up here,” he said of the homeless count increase. “They tend to push all of their problems up here, if they can. And now you’ve got the World Cup, and you’ve got the Olympics coming, and they’re in a mad rush to get rid of their homeless, and so they encourage them to come here.”
Mr. Parris says his teams are “constantly interviewing people who were given a ticket and told, “go to Lancaster, we’ll feed and take care of them,” but did not specify by whom.
“It’s at the end of the Metro line, literally. This is not unusual.”
The county’s transit system, plagued by violence in recent months, has its own problems. Used as a de facto shelter by thousands during the day, its buses and trains are emptied for cleaning each night, which some end-of-line cities say has resulted in sharp increases in their transient homeless populations.
Lancaster, 60 miles north of Los Angeles and at the very end of the Metro transit system, is far more remote than other such cities.
(Top) A homeless man walks with his belongings along a street in Santa Ana, Calif., on July 15, 2024. (Bottom) A homeless individual rests by a busy street in Santa Ana, Calif., on July 15, 2024. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Lt. William Kitchin, who oversees the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department’s (LASD) homeless outreach team for the entire county, said he has not personally seen evidence to support the idea that people are being directed to the region, but has observed migration to end-of-line cities.
However they end up there, once in Lancaster, civil rights groups say, authorities have routinely pushed homeless people out into the desert.
In a study based on interviews with 53 unhoused people in and around Lancaster from February 2019 to October 2020, the ACLU claimed the LASD “banished” people to remote county areas, combining the threat of criminal and civil sanctions with “suggestions” to leave town.
Such claims, the lieutenant said, are easily disproved by body cameras that record deputies’ interactions when enforcing local ordinances.
Lt. Kitchin’s team works with LAHSA to resolve encampments of more than five people, and he said such operations are always done with advance notice and offers of services and housing.
“We can’t dictate or tell people where to go. We just say you can’t be here. We prefer you take the services that were provided, so you can go inside and get your life started on the right track, but we can’t force them into it,” he said.
Starting on July 22, his team plans to clear desert encampments in an area north of Lancaster and place an estimated 40 people in hotels as part of the county’s “Pathway Home” program.
“Prior to the pandemic,” the lieutenant said, “what we used to see is that people who were homeless in that area either grew up there or had roots there, parents or family. Now we’re seeing more people from out of state.”
Officials who asked not to be identified by name said they see a constant influx of new faces in Lancaster and the surrounding area. “We know everyone here and everyday we’re seeing new people. It’s not people losing their homes, there’s some of that, but mostly it’s not. They came from somewhere else, they moved here,” one said.
The city’s team has access to five beds for immediate shelter. After two weeks, they move people to Kensington, Lancaster’s sprawling homeless housing campus—so those five beds always stay open for people who might need them, officials said.
Mayor Parris told The Epoch Times that beds remain open at Kensington throughout the year, except when extreme weather drives occupancy up.
Opened in 2019, the campus has 153 interim beds and 150 permanent supportive housing beds, and receives more referrals than it has availability, a representative for A People Concern, the organization that operates the campus, told The Epoch Times in an email.
The representative said they are currently “nearing capacity,” with a “fluctuating occupancy as individuals may choose to transition between programs.”
Michael, a homeless man, passes by an area with tents housing the homeless, near Lancaster, Calif., on July 10, 2024. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Mr. Parris draws a hard line between what he characterizes as a minority of the homeless population in his city, who have fallen on hard times or been pushed out of housing—and an overwhelming majority, who refuse housing and choose the streets and drug abuse as a lifestyle.
“I was a drug addict, and I have been homeless. And I have been in jail,” Mr. Parris, a lawyer, said. “So none of this is foreign to me. You know, I think I probably have a better understanding of it than most. But I know the difference between a looter and someone who needs help—and wants help.”
Read more here…
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 22:20 - Gab Founder Says Trump Shooter Thomas Crooks 'May Have Had Account' – Was Pro-Biden
Gab Founder Says Trump Shooter Thomas Crooks ‘May Have Had Account’ – Was Pro-Biden
Thomas Crooks, the 20-year-old resident of Bethel Park, PA who allegedly tried to assassinate Donald Trump may have had an account on social media alternative website Gab. He apparently used the platform to spread messages in support of President Joe Biden, indicating a progressive political leaning. Gab CEO Andrew Torba says he has received “an emergency disclosure request from a law enforcement agency” pertaining to a specific account linked to Thomas Crooks.
The account @epicmicrowave (which the CEO stressed he has been “unable to confirm” was definitely Crooks’) “posted on the site nine (9) times total,” Torba tweeted just 30 minutes after getting the law enforcement request.
🚨Approximately 30 minutes ago, Gab learned that Thomas Crooks, the deranged Joe Biden supporter who attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump, may have had an account on our platform. We are unable to confirm that the account in question actually belonged to him.
The… pic.twitter.com/BcJrZJ4Yhk
— Andrew Torba (@BasedTorba) July 24, 2024
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Torba noted in the post that:
“We are disclosing this information at significant personal and business risk. If the past is any guide, defying the D.C. consensus by publishing the first definitive evidence that the shooter was a Biden supporter – something Democrats and their media allies have tried to cover up and deny at every turn – has a high probability of resulting in significant political and media backlash.”
“We have saved the account data pending receipt of a search warrant,” he stated.
Comments made by @epicmicrowave defend Biden policies including his Covid lockdown policies and immigration policies, while attacking those critical of illegal immigration.
The poster wrote:
‘Biden executive orders don’t incentivize human trafficking as human traffickers aren’t interested in citizenships, likewise the majority of illegal immigrants are not criminals and in fact some studies (such as the one linked below) show lower rates of crime committed by these individuals.’
In related developments, the FBI did confirm that Crooks had searched for information about both Trump and Biden before the assassination attempt on July 13th. The FBI disclosed that the 20-year-old had looked up dates for Trump’s appearances and the Democratic National Convention (DNC), where Democrats are now expected to nominate Kamala Harris for president.
The FBI noted that Crooks also researched information on the Kennedy Assassination, including “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy.”
It has been nearly two weeks since the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, PA and there is still very little personal information available on Thomas Crooks. The info that has been released is often contradictory. Most suspicious of all is the utter lack of social media and web traffic related data. For a 20-year-old in America, this seems impossible.
Reports of Steam and Instagram accounts in the Crooks’ name have proven to be fake. The Gab announcement, if accurate, would be the first solid indication of a political motive behind the shooting. It may be years before any facts are released by the FBI and other agencies giving the public a better picture of who Thomas Crooks really was.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 21:55 - FBI Director Debunks Biden's Claim That J6 'Gallows' Were Designed To Hang Mike Pence
FBI Director Debunks Biden’s Claim That J6 ‘Gallows’ Were Designed To Hang Mike Pence
Authored by Ken Silva via Headline USA,
President Joe Biden said in a recent speech that the infamous gallows built on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021, were “erected to hang Vice President Mike Pence.”
These men, who built the Capitol Hill gallows on Jan. 6, still haven’t been identified. PHOTO: House Administration’s Subcommittee on Oversight That’s a strong claim coming from the sitting—at least for now—leader of the free world. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., asked FBI Director Chris Wray about Biden’s claim during a Wednesday congressional hearing, and Wray surprisingly debunked the president’s false characterization of the “gallows.”
Biden recently alleged that “gallows” erected on January 6th were intended to assassinate Vice President Mike Pence.
But today the @FBI Director disagreed with that assessment. pic.twitter.com/Yg5w5pKy6g
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) July 25, 2024
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“I’m not aware of any physical gallows … It might have been a replica or symbol,” Wray told Massie.
The congressman agreed: “It looks like a prop. The construction doesn’t look like it would lend itself to hanging somebody. If the president were correct, that would be a very serious allegation.”
Massie asked Wray whether anyone has been arrested or even identified as the builder of the gallows. He also asked whether the gallows builders were FBI informants.
Wray said he had no knowledge of informants being involved, and that he didn’t know whether the gallows-makers have been arrested—but the answer is almost certainly no. As Headline USA reported in February, the FBI still doesn’t know who built the gallows.
“Three years later, the FBI still has no suspects. Additionally, the Select Committee on January 6th seemingly did not review the USCP CCTV footage to identify the culprits behind the gallows, or if they did, they never released information about when the gallows were built and who built them—which can all be seen on CCTV footage from early in the morning on January 6,” Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., stated said in a February press release.
According to Loudermilk, the gallows builders arrived at approximately 6:30 a.m. on January 6, 2021, in a white full-size van parked north of Constitution Avenue. There, three passengers unloaded a large bundle of lumber with wheels.
After unloading, the group walked the bundle across Constitution Avenue and onto the grass at Union Square, according to Loudermilk. They were then joined by two more people arriving by cab at the corner of 1st and C Streets NW, Loudermilk said.
Between 6:30 a.m. and 7:15 a.m., the group constructed the platform and two main pillars of the gallows, only leaving off the crossbeam, he said. During this time, the apparent group leader along with one other person, left the group and walked down 3rd Street, heading north. They returned a few minutes later with coffee, and the entire group left the scene, according to Loudermilk.
“Despite the leader’s distinctive clothing—he was wearing a long trench coat, long white scarf, fedora-type hat, and walking with a cane—he has never been identified publicly,” he said.
“At approximately 1:00 p.m., the group of five returned to the scene and the presumed leader, now wearing a baseball cap, installed the final crossbeam and added the noose made of bright orange rope. Shortly after construction was complete, all five men left the grounds.”
Loudermilk noted that the construction of the gallows violated the Capitol Police Guidelines for Conducting an event on United States Capitol Grounds, which prohibit temporary structures from being built on Capitol grounds. He asked why Capitol Police allowed the gallows to remain intact throughout the morning of Jan. 6.
“It is inconceivable that a gallows could be constructed on U.S. Capitol property and left up all day,” he said.
“These men arrived early in the morning, several hours before the rally even started or anyone had gathered, to construct the gallows platform, yet this structure was allowed to stay intact for all to see. These actions raise more serious and troubling questions. Why didn’t the U.S. Capitol Police take down the gallows once it was seen on Capitol property, and why have the individuals never been identified?”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 21:30 - Trump Tells Netanyahu A 'Third World War' Is Likely If He Loses In November
Trump Tells Netanyahu A ‘Third World War’ Is Likely If He Loses In November
Former President Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Friday, just after the Israeli leader met with President Biden and VP Harris.
Trump claimed in the context of the meeting that a major war in the Middle East – and even possibly a “third world war” – will break out if he doesn’t win the election. He’s long been running as the candidate who will deescalate global hotspots that Washington is too deeply embedded in.
“If we win, it’ll be very simple. It’s all going to work out and very quickly,” Trump told reporters just before the meeting’s start.
“If we don’t, you’re going to end up with major wars in the Middle East and maybe a third world war. You are closer to a third world war right now than at any time since the second world war. You’ve never been so close, because we have incompetent people running our country,” he said.
Likely he had in mind the Russia-Ukraine war, and the Israel-Hamas conflict, given he has made similar comments of these flashpoints in the past. However, he’s never put it so bluntly as to say world war three could result if he loses.
He also reflected on controversy left in the wake of Netanyahu’s meeting with VP Harris. The Israeli leader was reportedly upset with Harris’ post-meeting statement, where she said she would “not be silent” at the mounting civilian Palestinian casualties and suffering.
“Harris’ statement after the meeting was much more critical than what she told Netanyahu in the meeting,” one Israeli official told Axios. According to more, “The Israeli official also said Netanyahu was unhappy with the fact that Harris criticized Israel publicly for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and for killing civilians, especially at the current timing amid the hostage deal negotiations.”
Trump said going into the meeting with Netanyahu that Harris’ remarks on the Gaza war were “disrespectful”. Referencing Harris and the Biden administration, and Democrats broadly, Trump said “They weren’t very nice pertaining to Israel. I actually don’t know how a person who is Jewish could vote for her, but that’s up to them.”
Trump also said something a bit unusual pertaining to Iran and the possibility of a future US war on Tehran…
Uh, what? pic.twitter.com/JIz1HIpnpt
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) July 26, 2024
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He said in social media statement that Iran must be wiped out if it ever carries out an assassination against a future President Trump.
The comment appeared in follow-up to Netanyahu’s fiery Wednesday speech before Congress. The prime minister focused a lot of the talk on Iran, and described that it remains behind “all the terrorism” and “all the killing”. He then asserted that the Islamic Republic “brazenly threatened to assassinate President Trump.”
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 21:05 - The FDA's Disastrous War Against Sleep
The FDA’s Disastrous War Against Sleep
Authored by ‘A Midwestern Doctor’,
Story at-a-glance
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The power of sleep — Proper sleep is essential for our health, and disruptions can lead to severe issues like heart attacks, psychiatric illnesses, car accidents, fatigue, diabetes, cognitive impairment, and dementia
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A widespread epidemic — Poor sleep affects many due to a lack of understanding about its importance and the use of sedative sleeping pills that hinder healthy sleep. For instance, medical training often deprives students of sleep, despite its critical role in learning
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The forgotten miracle drug — In 1964, a remarkably effective sleeping medication hit the market, improving conditions like insomnia and overall health. However, its success threatened other drug markets. By 1990, the FDA and media launched a campaign against it, much like the case with ivermectin, resulting in the drug becoming almost unknown and many sleep disorders remaining untreated
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What you’ll learn — This article delves into the harms of poor sleep, explores common causes, and uncovers effective treatments for sleeping disorders
One of the key themes I’ve tried to illustrate in my writings is that chronic illness has vastly increased over the last 150 years. A major cause of this is the disruption of the natural rhythms essential for our body’s self-regulation and self-repair.
Modern Medicine (Allopathy) often overlooks this concept because it doesn’t recognize the innate health of the body. Allopathic treatments focus on stabilizing or altering the body (e.g., ICU care or surgery) and hoping it heals itself, unlike other medical systems that enhance the body’s natural recovery capacity.
Typically, Allopathy excels with acute conditions, while a health-augmenting approach is better for chronic illnesses, an area where Allopathy often falls short. Here are three reasons why the Allopathic model dominates:
1. Economic incentives — The Allopathic model creates many expensive treatments and diagnostics, making it highly profitable and incentivizing its dominance in the medical market.
2. Cultural psychology — Our culture’s need to control and understand everything leads to methods that dominate nature rather than work harmoniously with it, oppose the philosophy of trusting the body’s natural healing.
3. Research bias — Medical research favors treatments that show immediate, observable changes (like lowering blood pressure) rather than those that promote gradual, long-term recovery, skewing the focus towards pharmaceutical interventions.
The Impact of Natural Rhythms on Health
The health of the body relies heavily on the normal functioning of self-regulating cycles:
• Breathing — Slow, smooth, nasal breathing profoundly impacts health and longevity by regulating many critical physiological functions.
• Sunlight — Regular exposure to sunlight is vital for health, and its absence doubles the risk of mortality and can lead to conditions like depression or cancer.
• Physical activity — Regular exercise is crucial, and a sedentary lifestyle leads to significant health issues. Those who walk daily often experience dramatically improved longevity.
• Mental rest — The mind needs to alternate between rest and activity, but modern life often forces constant thinking and stress.
In short, many of the natural rhythms our bodies rely upon for self-regulation are heavily disrupted in modern society, which in turn results in a variety of consistent derangements to normal physiology that are now seen throughout the population.
The Importance of Sleep
Throughout my career, I’ve met many integrative practitioners who emphasize normalizing their patient’s sleep as a crucial step in treating chronic illness. Sleep is a foundational process for restoring health, yet patients with chronic illnesses often suffer from disrupted sleep cycles, which can be challenging to correct.
Sleep is a tightly regulated cycle, highly responsive to environmental signals and essential for maintaining other critical body rhythms. During sleep, the body cycles through different phases, each with critical functions: deep NREM sleep heals the brain and drains toxins, while REM sleep consolidates memories and processes emotions. A typical sleep cycle goes as follows:
Note: Since REM sleep predominates later at night, not sleeping long enough disproportionately disrupts REM sleep. NREM sleep is responsible for eliminating unnecessary memories, whereas REM sleep processes the day’s experiences and reinforces them into long-term memory.
Matthew Walker is one of the world’s most vocal sleep researchers. In his book Why We Sleep, he argues that sleep serves several vital functions, including:
Any individual, no matter what age, will exhibit physical ailments, mental health instability, reduced alertness, and impaired memory if their sleep is chronically disrupted.
Even when controlling for factors such as body mass index, gender, race, history of smoking, frequency of exercise, and medications, the lower an older individual’s sleep efficiency score, the higher their mortality risk, the worse their physical health, the more likely they are to suffer from depression, the less energy they report, and the lower their cognitive function, typified by forgetfulness.
The Sleep Crisis
Adequate sleep requires:
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Sufficient time set aside for sleep.
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Ability to fall asleep quickly.
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Cycling through all sleep phases once asleep.
Adults generally need 7 to 9 hours per night, with infants and children needing more. Unfortunately, many people don’t get enough sleep, contributing to widespread health issues.
Key points:
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Gallup poll 57% of Americans want more sleep; only 42% get enough.
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35.5% of American adults sleep less 7 hours per night; 30% have insomnia symptoms.
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13.5% of adults feel tired most days; 10 days of 6-hour deficient sleep is equivalent to 24 hours of being awake (no sleep).
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Sleep Apnea affects 9% to 38% of the population.
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30% to 48% of the elderly have insomnia symptoms, and 12% to 20% have insomnia disorders. Aging reduces sleep efficiency and quality and increases nighttime awakenings.
Sleeping Pills
Despite a $65 billion annual market for sleep aids in the U.S.24 and a $432 billion global “sleep economy” 50 to 70 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders. The pandemic worsened sleep for over half of Americans in 2020, and 76% admitted to buying sleep aids.
The problem lies in the nature of most sleeping pills: they are sedatives, not sleep aids. They sedate the brain, impairing its ability to initiate restorative sleep, leaving users tired and at risk for health issues.
Studies have shown that sleeping pill users are significantly more likely to die early and develop cancer. For example, one study found a twofold increase in mortality for sleeping pill users, with another study reporting a 3.6 to 5.4 times higher death rate for users over 2.5 years, and an increased cancer risk of 7% to 99%.
This in turn, led the authors to conclude that in 2010, prescription sleeping pills “may have been associated with 320,000 to 507,000 excess deaths within the USA alone.”
Most prescription sleeping pills, like Ambien, are “sedative hypnotics” similar to benzodiazepines (e.g., Valium), which are addictive and often used long-term despite being intended for short-term use. Over-the-counter options, like Benadryl or Unisom, are antihistamines that also disrupt the sleep cycle. Alcohol, with a similar mechanism to benzodiazepines, is another addictive sedative that inhibits sleep long after being ingested.
Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate
While most sleeping medications are unsafe and ineffective, one drug, gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), has shown remarkable results. Developed in 1874, GHB was marketed in Europe as an intravenous anesthetic in 1964. Despite its benefits, it wasn’t practical for surgeries but was useful in intensive care due to its unique properties:
Decades of research followed and demonstrated GHB’s extraordinary properties and low toxicity. It metabolizes to succinate and water, has a high LD50, and no deaths have been conclusively attributed to it. GHB is a powerful sleep aid, restoring deep sleep cycles and leaving individuals refreshed — in many cases after just 3 to 4 hours of sleep.
As more scientists (and then members of the public) began exploring the drug, according to Ward Dean MD29 (who provided extensive references to support his claims), through decades of research, they found a variety of benefits from GHB including:
Given these remarkable benefits and the decades of research supporting its use, why has no one ever heard of it?
The Ivermectin of Sleep Medicines
The medical industry often uses public relations to create campaigns that generate profits at the expense of public health.
For instance, dermatologists rebranded themselves as skin cancer fighters, spreading hysteria about skin cancer and sunlight dangers. This transformed dermatology into a lucrative field, despite the essential health benefits of sunlight. Similarly, during COVID-19, the FDA downplayed the benefits of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, creating unwarranted fear and blocking their use.
GHB’s story mirrors this pattern. In the early 1990s, as it gained popularity as a supplement (largely due to bodybuilders recognizing the value of it increasing growth hormone in the body), the FDA and CDC publicized adverse reactions to it, despite no fatalities (e.g., hospital doctors misinterpreted the brief deep sleep it created as a coma requiring intubation).
As recounted by Ward Dean MD, this led to an FDA ban, highly deceptive press releases, and a variety of illegal enforcement actions that were eventually overturned in court.
The FDA then helped create a media hysteria over GHB, fueled by comparisons to Rohypnol (“Roofies”) and made up GHB tragedies, which led to its portrayal as a dangerous date-rape drug. This culminated in a 2000 Federal anti-date rape drug law 2000 that made GHB a Schedule I drug, while simultaneously enshrining a pharmaceutical GHB preparation as a Schedule III drug.
Note: To be a Schedule I drug, the substance cannot have an acceptable medical use, which is hence irreconcilable with the FDA-approved preparation of it being a Schedule III drug.
In reality, GHB was rarely involved in sexual assaults and had a distinct easily detectable taste. Misleading media reports and government actions overshadowed the actual data and research. Most remarkably GHB, Rohypnol (Roofies) avoided similar bans due to effective lobbying by its manufacturer, is still a schedule IV drug in America (where it was never brought to market), and remains legal in many countries. Here, Comedian Jimmy Dore covers the GHB saga in more detail:
The Aftermath
Because of this debacle, it became almost impossible to get GHB, and many leading integrative doctors at the time were disgusted with the FDA as they saw how much GHB benefitted their patients and treated a variety of immensely challenging illnesses.
Patients occasionally ask me for GHB, and I sadly have to explain the criminal penalties associated with Schedule I drugs. Ironically, while GHB was outlawed, the off-patent and easy to manufacture schedule III pharmaceutical preparation of it sodium oxybate38 (Xyrem), remained legal but is prohibitively expensive, costing between $60,000 to $100,000 annually, a figure desperate patients will pay for this live changing medication.
Despite evidence supporting GHB’s efficacy for conditions like alcohol addiction, fibromyalgia, and numerous debilitating sleep disorders,41 efforts to change the FDA’s perception of GHB as merely a date-rape drug have been unsuccessful.
At the same time, underground GHB use has persisted, both recreationally and amongst certain patient groups (e.g., veterans with PTSD) due to its unique effects (e.g., enhanced sensory experiences and sociability alongside its myriad of remarkable therapeutic benefits). Here, Joe Rogan and Jimmy Dore discuss where things currently stand with GHB:
Overall, one of the most extraordinary things about the GHB saga is that its many benefits discovered over the decades of research it received were then subsequently rediscovered by the sleep research community. This again illustrates how often the research we really need (and hence spend billions on each year) already exists but was simply buried due to it being inconvenient for the industry.
More than anything else, I believe the GHB story demonstrates the importance of not being overly biased. For example, while many doctors hold a strong prejudice against any “natural” (e.g., nondrug) therapy, I am the opposite and typically avoid using pharmaceutical drugs because of how frequently I find their harms outweigh their benefits.
Nonetheless, I periodically find extraordinary drugs I take a hard look at and end up using throughout my medical practice. Sadly, as the war against ivermectin showed the world, the primary motivation behind most of medicine is money, and as a result, whenever a highly beneficial drug is discovered that competes with existing drugs, the medical industry moves to bury it, regardless of how much evidence there is in support of it.
Note: The existing research on GHB is discussed in further detail here.
Sleep Hygiene
Let’s now look at other options for improving sleep. One of the most tried and true ones is to change the signals your body receives so it can go to sleep on its own. Here are key approaches:
1. Regulate circadian rhythm — The body’s natural cycle, governed by processes like adenosine buildup and circadian cues, signals when to sleep. Consistency in sleep and waking times is an essential piece of good sleep hygiene. Following environmental cues and natural cycles is ideal but often disrupted by modern lifestyles.
2. Address sleep barriers — Factors like age-related brain damage or fluid obstructions hinder sleep. Remedies such as electrically improving the body’s fluid circulation or reducing EMF exposure can help.
3. Avoid disruptive substances — Caffeine and alcohol, by blocking adenosine receptors or disrupting sleep cycles, impair sleep quality. Their effects linger due to varying metabolic rates, exacerbating sleep issues, especially as metabolism slows with age. One of the most intriguing data points I’ve seen about the effects of caffeine came from this NASA study.
4. Temperature management — Natural temperature drops aid sleep onset, making cooler environments conducive to rest. Techniques like cooling baths or sleeping in cooler rooms promote better sleep quality.
Note: One of the most interesting approaches to overcoming the temperature barrier for sleep was a study that found using a customized suit to externally drop people’s temperature made it much easier for them to sleep (especially in the elderly).
5. Manage light exposure — Blue light from screens disrupts melatonin secretion, crucial for sleep regulation. Using blue light filters, minimizing screen time before bed, and creating darker sleep environments support healthy sleep patterns.
6. Behavioral adjustments — Establishing bedrooms as sleep sanctuaries, maintaining consistent sleep-wake schedules, and practicing relaxation techniques before bed enhance sleep quality. Physical activity during the day and avoiding stimulating activities close to bedtime also aid in achieving restful sleep.
Note: Many people find cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to be extremely helpful for insomnia and there is now significant evidence to support it being a first-line therapy.
7. Diet and lifestyle — Maintaining a balanced diet, avoiding late-night eating, and monitoring caffeine intake play roles in promoting restorative sleep. Keeping a sleep journal can help identify triggers contributing to insomnia.
By addressing these facets, we can optimize sleep environments and routines, fostering healthier sleep patterns, without being dependent on the sleeping pill industry, and despite the absence of healthy therapeutic options (GHB) for more serious physiological ailments and sleep dysfunctions.
Conclusion
One of the things I’ve repeatedly heard people say through COVID-19 was “if they did this with ivermectin (or hydroxychloroquine), what else have they done this with?” Here, I provide one such example, and sadly, the GHB story is by no means an isolated example (e.g., others are discussed here).
However, while the GHB story is atrocious, on one level I am grateful for it, as had a safe and effective cure for insomnia existed, we likely would have never been forced to learn what the actual underlying causes of sleep impairment are, and likewise, our society would have never conducted the research which demonstrated just how critically important sleep is.
Sadly, one of the greatest problems in medicine is that it typically takes 17 years for scientific discoveries to change the practice of medicine. In turn, despite the dire need for improved sleep in society, it is unlikely this problem will be addressed by the mainstream for a long time (even in areas like intellectually based professions or education where the cognitive impairment resulting from poor sleep is highly counterproductive to the goals of the institution).
I hope the knowledge provided here has given you an appreciation for the importance of healthy sleep and a few helpful approaches you can incorporate into your life!
Author’s note: This is an abbreviated version of a full-length article that takes a deeper look into the causes and treatments of insomnia. For the entire read with much more specific details and sources, please click here.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 20:40 -
- Former Aide To NY Governor Hochul's House Raided By FBI
Former Aide To NY Governor Hochul’s House Raided By FBI
A home of a former aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was raided by the FBI earlier this week, according to NBC.
The Manhasset house was owned by Linda Sun, who served as the deputy chief of staff to the governor, the report says.
The FBI commented earlier this week stating it had carried out “court-authorized law enforcement activity”, but refusing to provide further details.
NBC reported that per her LinkedIn profile, Sun served as a senior advisor on business development, legislative priorities, and “constituent affair engagement” while deputy chief of staff from 2021-22, overseeing executive operations.
After working for the governor, Sun transitioned to the role of deputy commissioner for strategic business development at the state Department of Labor.
In May 2023, she began working as a campaign manager, creating a budget for advertising.
Earlier this year, the FBI also raided the homes of Winnie Greco, a staffer for New York City Mayor Eric Adams, in the Bronx, according to the Associated Press.
Greco, a former fundraiser and current director of Asian affairs for the mayor, was under investigation following allegations she promised an employee a job in exchange for renovating her kitchen, as reported by The City.
Last year, the FBI also raided the homes of Brianna Suggs, a fundraiser for Adams, and Rana Abbasova from the mayor’s international affairs office, according to the Associated Press.
A spokesperson for Adams stated that the mayor expects ethical behavior from all employees.
Adams’ spokesperson said: “Our administration will always follow the law, and we always expect all our employees to adhere to the strictest ethical guidelines.”
“As we have repeatedly said, we don’t comment on matters that are under review, but will fully cooperate with any review underway.”
What is going on in New York?
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 20:15 - On Kamala's "Inspiring" Backstory & The Big Lie About "Unity"
On Kamala’s “Inspiring” Backstory & The Big Lie About “Unity”
Authored by James Hickman via SchiffSovereign.com,
The year was 1994.
Former NFL superstar OJ Simpson has just fled from police in the infamous low speed chase in his white Ford Bronco. Pulp Fiction was playing in the cinemas.
And 29 year old Kamala Harris began dating one of the most powerful politicians in the State of California— Willie Brown.
Brown had been in politics for decades at that point and has risen to become the Speaker of California State Assembly, then Mayor of San Francisco.
(And despite having spent his entire adult life in politics, Brown somehow managed to amass a collection of $6,000 suits and expensive sports cars.)
Willie Brown was also at 60 years of age back in 1994 (he’s 90 now), three decades older than his girlfriend Kamala.
Obviously she was in it for love. I’m sure that’s the case.
But it just so happened that, barely a few months into their steamy relationship, Speaker Willie Brown appointed Kamala to multiple, senior-level positions in the state, including a seat on the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and the Medical Assistance Commission.
I’m also sure that Brown appointed his girlfriend due entirely to her competence, and absolutely no other reason whatsoever.
These appointments, along with Sugar Daddy’s public support and endorsement, were integral in Harris’s later campaign to become San Francisco District Attorney, then Attorney General of California in 2010.
Willie Brown also endorsed her for Senate when she declared her candidacy in 2016, and was instrumental in securing her top endorsements, including from Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
Again, all of this success was clearly due exclusively to Kamala’s tremendous competence and nothing more.
Now, a lot of people have been remarking lately that Kamala is a DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) hire.
But that’s completely unfair.
Talk about a low blow. I mean, Kamala’s critics have completely missed the point that this woman— who claims to embody female empowerment— got her start by having sex with a powerful California politician 30 years her senior.
So let’s give credit where credit is due: she slept her way to the top well before she became a DEI hire.
In fact it wasn’t until she was picked to be Joe Biden’s running mate that she started benefiting from the DEI obsession.
Curiously, it is now considered racist to even bring this up. CNN has decided that calling Vice President Kamala Harris a “DEI Candidate” is a “pseudonym for the N-word” and “racist dog whistle”.
That’s absurd. Joe Biden’s entire presidency has been about promoting DEI candidates, and he admitted this himself recently when he said:
“To me the values of Diversity, Equality, Inclusion are literally— and that’s not kidding— the core strengths of America. That’s why I’m proud to have the most diverse administration in history that taps into the full talents of our country. It starts at the top with the Vice President.”
Biden also made it perfectly clear in 2020 that he wanted to select a woman of color as his running mate.
So why exactly is it controversial to assert that Kamala was a DEI hire? Is it also controversial that the sky is blue, or that Michael Jordan was an exceptional basketball player?
But these people in charge have a way of acting offended about even the most basic and obvious truths. It’s quite a talent.
Speaking of talent, Kamala has none.
Whenever she opens her mouth, she is as incompressible as Joe Biden yet without the excuse of age and dementia. Like this gem:
“So I think it’s very important… for us, at every moment in time, and certainly this one, to see the moment in time in which we exist and are present, and to be able to contextualize it, to understand where we exist in the history and in the moment as it relates not only to the past, but the future.”
This is also the person that was put in charge of the border security, which has been a total disaster. But in her televised explanation, she justified having not been to the border by saying she hadn’t been to Europe either.
Wow, really racking up those foreign policy credentials!
And on the topic of foreign policy, check out this inspiring quote as Kamala showcased her encyclopedic understanding of European affairs:
“Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine, so, basically, that’s wrong.”
Note that this wasn’t an interview on Nickelodeon or some event with elementary school kids. This was an actual response in a real interview about the war in Ukraine.
One of my favorite Kamala stories, though, is when she visited Puerto Rico earlier this year.
Protesters were in the streets of San Juan, singing in Spanish. Kamala merrily clapped along, until an aide quietly whispered that the song was protesting her visit as a representation of the federal government’s “colonization” of Puerto Rico.
Her track record as a prosecutor is also far from impressive.
As the Attorney General of California, she prosecuted and incarcerated cannabis users. But in 2019, asked if she herself had ever smoked weed, she cackled and said, “I have. And I inhaled.”
In 2014, Kamala’s office argued to keep non-violent inmates (including from minor drug convictions) locked up so that the state would have free prison labor to fight wildfires.
But Kamala would prefer that her Black Lives Matters voters forget about all that.
The Big Lie they are now force-feeding us is that the party of democracy is energized and united around Kamala Harris.
Personally I think they are terrified and desperate. Deep down they know this woman is an incompetent buffoon. And more importantly, they are still incredibly fractured.
Just look what the radical left has been doing this very week.
Their Marxist foot soldiers have been busy burning American flags, defacing public monuments, and hoisting Hamas flags, while chanting “Allahu Akbar!” in the streets. Curiously most of them are white atheist 20-somethings from upper-middle class upbringings.
And some of the Left’s most prominent politicians boycotted a speech given by the Prime Minister of Israel— one of America’s strongest allies during its time of war.
This continues to look like a group that is completely out of touch, but insists that they have everything under control… which is pretty much par for the course given the last few years under Biden.
Having said all that, it would be foolish to think they won’t pull out all the stops— continue to create all the propaganda, tell whatever lie, manufacture whatever hoax, and suppress whatever truth is necessary to win.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 19:50 - 22 Year Old Arrested For Allegedly Stealing Seattle Fire Truck
22 Year Old Arrested For Allegedly Stealing Seattle Fire Truck
A 22-year-old man was arrested this week after allegedly stealing a Seattle Fire Department truck, according to KOMO.
On Wednesday morning, the man rode a scooter to the truck, entered it, activated the lights and sirens, and attempted to drive away around 3:30 a.m. on the 9200 block of Second Avenue Southwest.
The suspect couldn’t deactivate the parking brake and only managed to drive around the corner before exiting the vehicle, the report said.
A witness reported seeing a man on a scooter ride up to a fire engine, get on, and drive away with its lights and sirens on, additional reporting said.
Police then arrived, confirmed with Seattle Fire Department employees that a fire engine had been stolen.
“The firetruck involved was from South Park-based Engine 26, as noted by the SFD incident log,” the West Seattle Blog reported.
The man was arrested and booked into King County Jail for motor vehicle theft. According to police, the truck was returned to the Seattle Fire Department.
Hoodline reported that this incident is the suspect’s ninth arrest in nine months.
Previous arrests led to short stints in custody, except for his most recent one from June 20 to July 1 for two stolen-vehicle cases, with hearings set for early August.
Despite frequent arrests, he has no past felony convictions.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 19:25 - In Defense Of Standardized Testing
In Defense Of Standardized Testing
Authored by John Hilton-O’Brien via The Epoch Times,
There’s been a lot of noise about getting rid of standardized exams. Supposedly, minorities are at a disadvantage with them. Consequently, the argument runs, doing away with standardized exams will allow more minorities to enter into prestigious career paths, enhancing “social justice.”
If you look more closely at the history of standardized exams, however, this isn’t true. Instead, getting rid of standardized exams serves the interests of an elite class—and will permanently lock minorities and entire classes of people out of social advancement.
Standardized tests have already been eliminated in a number of places. Oregon, Wisconsin, and New Hampshire no longer have bar exams. The University of California no longer uses Standardized Admission Tests as part of its entrance requirement, just like SUNY and an association of Ivy League universities. And in Canada, many provinces are decreasing the use of standardized tests.
But here’s the problem. Without the tests, how do we decide who gets admitted to university?
(Unless, as in the movie “Idiocracy,” we get rid of them.)
How do we decide who becomes a lawyer or a doctor?
The most famous example of a standardized exam is the Public Service Commission Test used to vet applications for government civil service. If we do away with those, how do we decide who is qualified to become a public servant?
Civil service examinations have been around for thousands of years. Imperial China used the examinations to allow young men from any social class or background to enter the imperial bureaucracy. Before that, and during dynasties where the exams were not used, entry into the patrician or bureaucratic class had been restricted by birth.
Of course, entry still wasn’t easy. In imperial China, even more than today, you wouldn’t have the resources to study for the difficult standard exams unless you had access to money. Then, as now, money was a good indicator of success.
But the point is that money wasn’t the only indicator. In fact, the imperial system came to run the exams as a double blind, going so far as to have exam responses copied out by another person, to ensure that nobody received favourable grading because a grader recognized their calligraphy.
The China’s worst times are instructive for us, too. When the Mongol Yuan dynasty took over, they did away with the exams. When they returned them, only 25 percent of the exam seats were allotted to the majority Han Chinese ethnicity. How did they decide which Han wrote the exams? Letters of reference, of course, from existing bureaucrats or their Mongol overlords. Without open standardized exams, in other words, advancement was based on who you knew.
That’s becoming true in the West today—complete with attempts at Yuan-style race-based admissions.
As anybody who has ever applied to an elite university knows, reference letters are already important. If you’re entering a profession like medicine or law, a good reference letter can mean the difference between getting that coveted residency and not. Reference letters already reinforce pedigree—what university or prep school you attended. Even admissions specialists who hate reference letters admit they make a difference—and expensive prep schools write much better reference letters.
In the absence of standardized tests and grading, reference letters will become even more important. And how are those rated? By who wrote them. The letter from an elite prep school is noticed as a letter from an elite school, regardless of content, and that tells the admissions expert what she or he needs to know.
Who decides who becomes a lawyer? The partners in the law firms. And how will they choose their candidates? In the absence of a standardized bar exam, admission will depend on who the partners know. The same is true for doctors.
If we wind up doing away with the public service admission tests, worse will follow. Imagine a government whose civil service is hired based on who they know. The West has been here before—but not since the days of the absolute monarchs.
So, who benefits from ending standardized tests? We suspect it is not the students.
There is a sort of feedback loop inside the education industry, when the same people designing the curriculum are the ones testing for it. Internal tests such as “performance-based assessment” check only to see if the students can do what the teacher told them to do. They don’t check to see if it will help the student in the environment that they are going to. In other words, little Suzy may consistently get top marks for her “holistic” language arts classes—but when she graduates, outsiders find that she can’t read or write.
Externally administered standardized tests are the best way to make sure that the education system helps anyone aside from the teachers’ unions.
You know who isn’t interested in dropping standardized test scores? Minorities who aren’t part of the “favoured” few. Part of the reason that elite U.S. universities are dropping standardized exams is that the U.S. Supreme Court told them that they couldn’t have race-based admission courses that left Asian-American students out in the cold. Dropping standardized tests allows universities to engage in discrimination without legal pushback. The racial policies of the Yuan and Qin dynasties live again in the Ivy League.
Today, the abandonment of standardized testing is done specifically to disadvantage poor whites, as well as Asian students. The official reason given is that institutions—which claim to be guided by the highest ideals—can favour African American and Hispanic students in the United States, and (hopefully) First Nations in Canada. In the name of social justice, of course.
But without standardized tests, admission decisions are arbitrary. Tomorrow, African-Americans, Hispanics, and First Nations may find that not all of them are favoured. Instead, favour will go to particular African American families, particular Hispanic families, and particular First Nations families. Skin tone doesn’t tell us the real story here.
The simple truth of North American society is that we are developing a class system. Those trying to get rid of standardized testing tell us outright that their motive is to decide who joins their social class of educated functionaries. They are trying to restrict entry. They are trying to become a self-selecting aristocracy.
The only mechanism that ensures everyone with academic ability can have access to universities, professions, and civil service is standardized exams. We abandon them at our peril.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 19:00 - Manhattan DA Argues Trump Case Not Affected By Supreme Court Immunity Ruling
Manhattan DA Argues Trump Case Not Affected By Supreme Court Immunity Ruling
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has argued in a new court filing that former President Trump’s criminal case and guilty verdict are not affected by the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (L) steps away after speaking to the media after a jury found former President Donald Trump guilty of falsifying business records in New York City on May 30, 2024. (Seth Wenig/AP Photo) “That decision has no bearing on this prosecution and would not support vacatur of the jury’s unanimous verdict (let alone dismissal of the indictment) even if its reasoning did apply here,” reads a July 24 brief from Bragg’s team.
Earlier this month the Supreme Court ruled in a separate case that presidents enjoy absolute immunity for core constitutional conduct, presumptive immunity for official acts, but no immunity for unofficial acts – which Bragg has seized on in his response to a Trump filing asking New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan to toss Trump’s indictment, arguing that communications between Trump and his aides have been used as evidence before the grand jury which indicted Trump and a jury which returned a guilty verdict.
According to Bragg’s team, all of the criminal charges in Trump’s ‘hush money’ case “stem from the defendant’s ‘unofficial acts’ – conduct for which ‘there is no immunity.'”
As the Epoch Times notes further, the affected evidence is only a “sliver” if the “mountains of testimony and documentary proof that the jury considered,” therefore not warranting dismissal.
Timing of Objections
Prosecutors had relied on testimony of White House Communications Director Hope Hicks and Oval Office Director of Operations Madeleine Westerhout to establish that President Trump had signed Trump Organization checks at the White House.
Defense attorneys had raised presidential immunity objections to Ms. Hicks’s testimony, and Justice Merchan had overruled the objections. The defense had also objected during Ms. Westerhout’s testimony, but not specifically citing presidential immunity.
Prosecutors had also shown several social media posts made by President Trump during his time in office, some directly addressing allegations after his former attorney Michael Cohen was charged for financial crimes.
Defense attorneys had objected to the admission of these quotes, but not on the basis of presidential immunity.
Prosecutors argue defendants failed to preserve a record of objections based on immunity for official acts, and this “precludes this Court from considering any claim to vacate his conviction.”
Prior to the trial, attorneys for President Trump did file a presidential immunity motion. Justice Merchan had dismissed the motion, ruling that defense attorneys could make individual objections against the admission of specific evidence during the trial and that he did not believe the motion was filed in good faith. The judge had faulted defendants for not raising presidential immunity earlier, including during an attempt to remove the case to federal court.
Prosecutors now argue that the defense “waived reliance on presidential immunity as a defense” when they tried to remove the case to federal court. They cited a separate, civil case against former President Trump in which a federal judge had ruled that presidential immunity was a waivable defense. However, the U.S. Supreme Court majority opinion held presidential immunity to be necessary to the core principle of separation of powers.
Charges
Former President Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, and prosecutors argued that even excluding the contested evidence, the grand jury evidence establishes these charges.
The 34 records are 11 checks to Mr. Cohen and their corresponding invoices and vouchers, including one repeated record after the initial one was lost. Prosecutors argue that the grand jury record establishes that these are business records, that they contain false entries, that former President Trump caused or made the entries, and that he “acted with intent to defraud.”
“Even excluding all of the evidence defendant belatedly identifies as immune, the grand jury record is easily sufficient to support the indictment,” the brief reads.
Justice Merchan has scheduled former President Trump’s sentencing in the case to Sept. 18. The judge is expected to issue a ruling on the presidential immunity arguments by then.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 18:40 - Lies…
Lies…
Authored by W.J.Astore via BracingViews.com,
They’re Everywhere in America
Soon after Joe Biden took office as president in 2021, I remember hearing that his VP, Kamala Harris, was put in charge of immigration, informally known as the “border czar.” Yesterday, the House passed a resolution condemning Harris for her handling of the border crisis. Yet I’ve also been hearing from Democrats and the media that Harris never was the border czar, even as there’s plenty of video evidence of networks like ABC, CBS, and NBC referring to her using that term.
Denying that Harris was the border czar is a fairly small lie immersed in much larger sea of lies, and of course it’s a bipartisan effort. Donald Trump exaggerates and lies just to stay in shape. Democrats love to attack Trump for lying even as they lie themselves. Truly, it’s hard to run a government and a country when lies confuse every issue.
Another lie being told about Kamala Harris is that her candidacy is the result of democracy in action. She’s the people’s choice! Except almost nobody voted for her as a presidential candidate. She’s been elevated and selected by the DNC and the donor class. She is a packaged product of the so-called elites within the party, the very opposite of a candidate chosen by the people. And yet I’m told this packaged product is going to “save democracy” from Trump, who was actually selected as a candidate in a more democratic process.
Of course, there are far bigger and more serious lies than whether Harris was the border czar or whether she’s the people’s choice as the savior of democracy. U.S. troops’ deadliest enemies, I’d argue, are most often the lies told by the U.S. government, abetted and amplified by senior officers in the military. Think here of Iraq and Afghanistan, or go back further to Vietnam.
Daniel Ellsberg, truth-teller about the Vietnam War and so many other things
Knowing (or sensing/feeling) you killed for lies, or knowing your friends died for lies, is surely a contributing cause to a rash of suicides in the U.S. military today. The sacrifices and horrors of war may be eased by a “just” war, like World War II, but they are aggravated by unjust wars. And they are further aggravated when you try to get help through the VA only to be turned away or stonewalled.
All this is prologue to a note I received from a regular reader of Bracing Views about lies in America. I’ve decided to retain the profanity because it’s more than appropriate:
I don’t know about you, but I find it quite amazing that, despite decades of bold-faced lying about US wars, all of it proven and even reported in the NYT and other mainstream media, the narrative of the each subsequent war is always accepted as true, until it too is exposed as being nothing but lies.
Let’s look at the recent record:
1) Vietnam–exposed as nothing but lies by the Pentagon Papers.
2) Iraq–exposed as lies when the infamous WMD were never found and there was nothing found to back up the claim of links to Al Qaeda.
3) Afghanistan–exposed as pure fiction as revealed by the Washington Post “Afghanistan Papers” which said that “senior U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign, making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable.”
Add to the above list the fact that the Mueller report investigating the Russiagate hoax came up with nothing, ZERO.
Currently, there are a couple of new false narratives duly reported by the mainstream media and, for the most part, swallowed by most people. First is the false narrative about the US war in Ukraine, that NATO expansion has nothing to do with it but rather was caused by naked Russian aggression and Putin’s plans to re-create the Soviet Union and take over the rest of Eastern Europe. Second, the false narrative that Israel is just defending itself against Palestinian terrorism rather than committing grotesque war crimes, completely ignoring the fact that the Israelis have been keeping the Palestinians under illegal occupation for over 50 years, since June 1967.
Lie after lie after lie after lie. And yet none of it matters. It is all sent down the memory hole as if it never happened. And then it is on to the next war, when the official narrative spewed out by the DC blob will once again be swallowed hook, line and sinker. It appears to be never ending. No matter how much lying is exposed, it simply does not matter.
I think it is pretty fucking amazing. What will it take to get people to come out of their coma and realize what the fuck is going on?
And keep in mind…..it has nothing to do with party affiliation. The lying is endemic, it’s in the DNA of the National Security State. Presidents come and go, but the lying for war-making never stops. And no one is ever held accountable either.
It’s pretty fucking impressive, when you think about it.
Keep this is in mind……one would think that, after this abhorrent track record, the appropriate response would be to assume that the narrative justifying the new war of the moment was not true and nothing but more of the same lying. But that NEVER happens. NEVER.
How is that possible? Is it just a serious form of denial? Is it due to mental illness? Is it just some perverted form of patriotism? In what other realm is it possible to lie non-stop and never be held accountable? Even worse, to continue to have credibility despite a track record of pathological lying?
A friend of mine pointed out that, in the old USSR, people knew that the official news on their TV every night was nothing but lies.
So, this begs the question: Which system is more pernicious and has more effectively brainwashed its people? The one where people are controlled but they are aware that they are being fed nothing but lies, or the one that is constantly lied to but the people still believe they are being told the truth?
To those keen insights, I made this reply:
Our [American] system of lying is better! We have state/corporate media too, it’s just more subtle and advertised as “free.” We have our own “Pravda” except it rarely tells the truth, unless that “truth” is in the interests of the powerful.
To which our BV keen reader replied:
Exactly. But to suggest that we have our own version of “Pravda,” only worse because it has the cover of supposedly being “free,” is tantamount to treason, you realize.
This is the reason why Julian Assange/Wikileaks was such a threat…for actually challenging the right of the National Security State to lie non-stop about its war making and never be exposed for its lying or held accountable.
Of course, that is exactly why Assange was locked away in prison for so long and tortured, not because he was spreading lies but because he was revealing truths.
And we can’t have that in America!
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 18:20 - Arizona State Senator Claims "Political Persecution" After Ticketed Doing 71 MPH In A 35 MPH Zone
Arizona State Senator Claims “Political Persecution” After Ticketed Doing 71 MPH In A 35 MPH Zone
After being caught driving 71 in a 35 mph zone, Arizona State Senator Justine Wadsack is claiming she is the victim of “political persecution”.
As a result, she’s refusing the sign the citation, according to reports from Jalopnik, citing the Tucson Sentinel.
According to the report, in Arizona, driving 20 mph or more over the speed limit is a Class 3 misdemeanor. The penalties include up to 30 days in jail, up to a year of probation, a $500 fine, and three points on your license.
And in further proof our politicians get too much leeway, the incident occurred in March, but Wadsack wasn’t ticketed due to her legislative immunity. Legislators can be charged after the session ends, which this year was on June 15.
At that point, when the Tucson PD tried to have her sign the citation, and officer said she “immediately became defensive and argued that she was in fact not speeding.”
The officer continued: “I explained that there was probable cause to issue her a citation for criminal speeding and that she could present her arguments to the judge; however, she refused to meet to sign the citation and said she would not accept it.”
She was “also was upset that she was being cited several months after the fact and I explained that was due to the legislative session was ongoing at the time of the traffic stop (thus legislative immunity to be issued a ticket on March 15) however it did not prevent her from receiving a ticket once the legislative session adjourned.”
Then, she demanded
to speak with the managerwith the chief of police and claimed “political persecution”.City attorney Mike Rankin commented: “Citing someone – Ms. Wadsack or anyone else – for putting other people in danger by driving at speeds more than 20 miles per hour above the posted speed limit within city limits is not ‘persecution.’ It is prosecution.”
When asked why she was driving more than twice the speed limit, Wadsack claimed she was rushing home because her 2015 Tesla Model S had a low battery.
This excuse is illogical, as electric vehicles are less efficient at high speeds. Even if she had a more plausible reason, like needing a restroom, she was still caught driving 36 mph over the limit. This behavior is reckless and dangerous, the report said, especially near the University of Arizona, where pedestrians are common.
Additionally, Wadsack’s claimed residence raises questions. She and her husband own a home outside the district she represents. She listed an apartment in the district when running for office but now allegedly lives in a different apartment.
When stopped, she was about 10 blocks from her house, 17 miles from one apartment, and 19 miles from the other.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 18:00 - US Maternal Mortality Rates Remain the Highest Among High-Income Countries: Research
US Maternal Mortality Rates Remain the Highest Among High-Income Countries: Research
Authored by George Citroner via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
The United States continues to lead developed nations in maternal deaths, with some experts calling the recent rise unprecedented despite spending trillions on health care.
Mental health issues, racial disparities, and a shortage of specialized care providers all contribute to this “crisis,” according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund, an independent research foundation that focuses on health care issues.
(Sopotnicki/Shutterstock) A Shortage of Health Care Professionals
The recent analysis showed that the United States had a maternal mortality rate of 22 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2022, significantly higher than other high-income countries—often more than doubling or even tripling their figures, according to the report. Half of the countries in the analysis reported fewer than five maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
The increase is “stunning and unprecedented,” Dr. James Thorp, an obstetrician-gynecologist at the Sisters of St. Mary’s Health System in Saint Louis, Missouri, told The Epoch Times, referring to an increase in maternal deaths over the past few years. “And it really went … kind of unrecognized, kind of just slipped under the door, so to speak,” he noted.
Maternal mortality is defined as the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of pregnancy’s end from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management, excluding accidental or incidental causes. About 75 percent of maternal deaths worldwide are caused by severe bleeding, infections, high blood pressure during pregnancy, complications from delivery, and unsafe abortion, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
In the United States, most maternal deaths occur during the postpartum period—especially the late postpartum period between 43 and 365 days after birth, as per the Commonwealth Fund’s research. This is a critical time when women face increased risks of severe bleeding, high blood pressure, and infection.
The analysis highlights a shortage of maternal care providers in the United States, with just 16 midwives and obstetricians per 1,000 live births. Comprehensive postpartum support, including home visits from midwives and nurses, is vital to address maternal and mental health concerns and assess social health drivers, the authors wrote.
The findings support those of a 2020 study published in The Lancet Global Health, which suggested that integrating midwives into health care delivery could provide 80 percent of essential maternal care, potentially reducing maternal deaths by 22 percent, neonatal deaths by almost 23 percent, and stillbirths by 14 percent.
Many Factors Contribute to the Increase
Several complex factors contribute to the high maternal mortality rates in the United States. These include an aging demographic, the ongoing obesity epidemic, and associated health problems.
Research shows that more people are having children later in life or are becoming pregnant with chronic conditions such as obesity or cardiovascular disease. These factors increase the risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth.
The rising rate of cesarean sections may also play a role, as this procedure has been linked to increased mortality risks for both the mother (from blood clots or complications of anesthesia) and the child.
A report by the U.S. Centers for Control and Prevention (CDC), published in September 2022, found that mental health conditions were the most common underlying cause of pregnancy-related deaths where a cause was identified. These conditions, including death by suicide and overdose or poisoning linked to substance use disorders, contributed to 23 percent of fatalities, surpassing infection (9 percent), hemorrhage (14 percent), and cardiac conditions (13 percent).
There is also a disparity in health care outcomes relative to spending, according to Dr. Thorp.
The United States has higher maternal death rates than India despite spending far more on health care. While the United States spends about $14,000 per person annually, India spends only $21 per person. Yet India, with four times the U.S. population, has “a better grade than we do,” Dr. Thorp said.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 17:40 - 51 Days Later, Two Boeing Starliner Astronauts Still Stranded On International Space Station
51 Days Later, Two Boeing Starliner Astronauts Still Stranded On International Space Station
There is still no return date for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who remain stranded on the International Space Station due to thruster failures and a helium leak in their Boeing Starliner spacecraft, according to Space.com.
On Thursday, NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich told reporters, “We don’t have a major announcement today relative to a return date,” adding, “We’re making great progress, but we’re just not quite ready to do that.”
Stich said mission managers have yet to formulate a return date for Starliner. However, he emphasized that the ultimate goal is to bring Wilmore and Williams back to Earth on the spacecraft.
A test-fire of Starliner’s 28-thruster reaction control system will be conducted on Saturday or Sunday. The results could determine how the space agency and Boeing should move forward and if the spacecraft is deemed usable or unusable for the return mission.
“We’re going to fire all those thrusters to a number of pulses, just to make sure before we undock, that whole system performs the way we expected and the way it did last time we checked it.”
“We’ll also get a chance to look at the helium system. It’s been six weeks since we last checked that helium system; that was on June 15. So we’ll pressurize manifold by manifold, and then hot-fire the thrusters, and then we’ll get a chance to look at the helium leak rates and verify that the system is stable,” Stich told reporters.
Fifty-one days ago, on June 5, Starliner’s inaugural crewed flight blasted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The low Earth orbit mission was scheduled for only a week. NASA has rated Starliner for 90 days in space.
Starliner is one of two private spacecraft that ferry astronauts from Earth to the ISS, along with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. Boeing has lagged behind Crew Dragon and Cargo Dragon for years. Starliner has faced years of challenges.
It’s day 51 of what was originally planned as Starliner’s 8-day mission. NASA engineers are addressing over 30 issues related to thrusters and helium leaks, with return date to be announced next week. The crew is safe as there are various options for their return. 🧯🧯🧯 pic.twitter.com/oA8a84HzMI
— Berry Straw (@ddnnddc) July 25, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Stich admitted that one of the rescue plans under review would be using SpaceX’s Dragon capsule to return the astronauts to Earth.
Imagine that headline: ‘Elon Musk’s SpaceX Rescues Boeing Astronauts From ISS’…
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 17:20 - Rate Of Shoplifting Spikes Across US
Rate Of Shoplifting Spikes Across US
Authored by Eric Lundrum via American Greatness,
The rate of shoplifting saw a noticeable increase in the first half of 2024, even as the rates of other crimes fell to levels not seen since before the pandemic.
According to the Daily Caller, a study by the Council of Criminal Justice (CCJ) determined that shoplifting rose by 24% in 23 different cities across the country, compared to the first half of 2023. That rate is also about 10% higher than the first half of 2019.
Meanwhile, the rates of homicide and robbery fell to lower than the levels seen in 2019.
“Shoplifting is a theft by someone other than an employee of the victim of an item displayed for sale,” the study clarifies.
“After a notable decline in the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic … shoplifting dropped 15% from 2019 to 2020 and declined another 10% in 2021,” the report reads.
“Shoplifting increased 12% across the sample cities from 2022 to 2023, but by the end of 2023, the shoplifting rate was 10% lower than in 2019.”
Several of the most prominent cities to see shoplifting increases include Boston, which saw its 11.9% rate of shoplifting in May of 2020 surge to 42.4% in June of 2024, and Chicago, which previously had a rate of 14.8% in May of 2020 but skyrocketed to 41.4% in June of 2024.
Meanwhile, the first half of 2024 saw approximately 2% fewer homicides and 15% fewer robberies than the first half of 2019.
“The average homicide rate for the entire sample was 2% lower in the first half of 2024 than in the same period in 2019,” the study notes.
“The overall decline was driven by large drops in cities with traditionally high homicide rates, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and St. Louis. Two-thirds of the sample cities (19 out of 29) actually had homicide rates that were higher in the first half of 2024 than in 2019.”
The spike in crime in the United States, particularly shoplifting, began in 2020 amidst the nationwide COVID lockdowns and simultaneous race riots that destroyed hundreds of businesses, caused billions in damage, and killed over two dozen civilians.
Looting was a frequent occurrence in cities struck by racial violence, which was overwhelmingly carried out by black nationalist groups like Black Lives Matter and the far-left anarcho-communist terrorist organization Antifa. Subsequent progressive efforts to curb the power of the police, including several cities outright defunding their police departments, led to the sustained and even increased rates of shoplifting and other crimes.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 17:00 - WTF Is Going On With The Fed's Reporting Of US Bank Deposits
WTF Is Going On With The Fed’s Reporting Of US Bank Deposits
The last two weeks have seen US bank total deposits rise by $33BN (on a seasonally-adjusted basis)…
Source: Bloomberg
But.. on a non-seasonally-adjusted basis, total US bank deposits have fallen $40BN…
Source: Bloomberg
Which makes us ask again – what exactly is a ‘seasonally-adjusted bank deposit’?
But we will move on from that farce.
Excluding foreign deposits, the picture gets even more malarkey-ful – a $9BN unadjusted deposit outflow is magically morphed into a $27BN inflow by The Fed’s fuckery.
The unadjusted outflow was all from large banks while the adjusted deposits showed strong inflows into both large and small banks (+$19BN and +$8BN respectively).
Source: Bloomberg
That’s $31BN of (unadjusted) deposit outflows magically morphed into $62BN of deposit inflows in the last two weeks…
Doe it even matter anymore?
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 16:43 - Saving Our Democracy…
Saving Our Democracy…
Authored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,
“Being insane is the new normal.”
– Aimee Terese on “X”
However it happened this week, “Joe Biden” passed the blowtorch to a new generation and got himself gone from the political battlefield. Delegates to the coming Democratic National Convention (August 19) were duly notified of the selected replacement, Veep Kamala Harris, and ordered to line up behind her.
Not a peep of disagreement was heard among them. Amazing that no one had a different idea. Thus, is democracy saved.
The curious details around this event remain shrouded in mystery.
Reporters for The New York Times and the WashPo could not be bothered to inquire, and their readers are not inclined to ask how all this came to be. It just is. In a culture with no sense of consequence, things just happen or un-happen. It is your duty to recognize that the wind now blows from another direction and bend with it.
One thing was obvious: the long-running prank of pretending that President “Joe Biden” is sound-of-mind fell apart after his mortifying appearance on the debate stage June 27th. Apparently, every last captain and foot-soldier in the Democratic Party ranks was taken completely by surprise to see their champion flicker out in real time, like a forty-watt bulb that has done years of duty on the front porch and suddenly leaves you in the dark. Three weeks followed with “Joe Biden” boldly campaigning as if nothing had happened. (Perhaps his mind did not register that things had changed.)
And then there was the weird tweet on “X” Sunday afternoon when the whole country was outside waterskiing, grilling weiners, carjacking, and yelling at ballparks, and the deed was done. Someone, possibly even “Joe Biden” himself, wrote a letter pasted into the tweet that declared he was bowing out of the race. The White House staff didn’t even know until it was up-and-posted. Rumor had it that Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama read the riot act to “JB”, who was refusing to follow the script. There were plenty of carrots-and-sticks to finally lever his obdurate ass into motion: not least must have involved any pending legal outcome of the family’s influence-peddling operations, whispers of new whistleblower accusations about offshore bank accounts, perhaps with sweeteners in the deal as to how much schwag the clan could still hold onto in the end.
Then, the valedictory speech on Wednesday, sort of a proof-of-life exhibition, to verify that Sunday’s janky tweet to the nation was for real. You heard a Homeric recitation of “JB’s” signal achievements in office, every one of them demonstrably false. He did not keep our country out of war, or grow the economy, or keep inflation down, or beat Big Pharma, or build anything, or defend personal freedoms, or “make it clear there is no place, no place in America for political violence or any violence ever.” (In fact, the very next day, Thursday, pro-Hamas mobs attacked US Park police and vandalized federal property at Washington’s Union Station, and on Friday all charges were dropped against them — while scores of J6 Capitol trespassers rotted for years in the DC jail.)
What “Joe Biden” actually accomplished in office was the near-total wrecking of the USA. He torpedoed the authority and legitimacy of just about every federal agency, turned the Department of Justice into a Gestapo, seeded the federal court benches with Woke lunatics, allowed an invasion of perhaps 20-million border-jumpers (including many thousands of professional terrorists), coerced injections of an ineffective and injurious vaccine into millions of citizens afraid of losing their livelihoods, promoted gross medical experiments on sexually troubled children, invited drag queens and mentally-ill degenerates to cavort in the White House, spent borrowed money at a rate that propelled the national debt past the event horizon into a black hole, made the seeking of incompetence the number one priority of the Pentagon, provoked a war in Ukraine that now teeters on the hazard of a nuclear exchange, and allowed the CIA to complete its takeover of the US government. “Joe Biden” will go down in history as the worst of all 46 US presidents.
And, of course, in the rush of cascading events the past several weeks came the attempted assassination of the Democratic Party’s nemesis, Mr. Trump, an operation festooned with loose threads, suspicious agency failures, and intimations of Deep State blob engineering. You’ll have to stand by on any of that resolving soon. But many Democrats expressed disappointment that Mr. Trump was not killed, since that would be saving our democracy.
Also not quite resolved is the case of who the Democratic Party truly intends to run for president this year as the days dwindle down to Nov. 5. The current delirium over Kamala Harris is like a relief rally in the financial markets when a crisis has been averted — or, at least, stalled. You have reason to doubt that the Democratic Party’s leadership crisis has actually been averted. Despite sedulous efforts to wipe her record, too many Americans know Kamala Harris as a hee-hawing ninny with a predilection for hapless Marxist fantasies. I’m not persuaded that she is at all comfortable in her sudden role as the party’s avatar. She is rumored to hit the bottle in moments of stress.
The Party of Chaos will supposedly run a “virtual roll call” of delegates August 1st in order to meet the requirements to get on the ballot in several states. But then comes the actual convention with live bodies in murmuration on the floor of the arena, and in the back rooms and hallways, and there are more than three weeks between now and then for Kamala Harris to remind the world what a cackling lightweight she is. A lot can happen between now and then.
* * *
Support his blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page or Substack
Tyler Durden
Fri, 07/26/2024 – 16:20
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