Jul 29

Today’s News 29th July 2023

  • Escobar: The Russia-Global South Connection – Africa As Strategic Partner
    Escobar: The Russia-Global South Connection – Africa As Strategic Partner

    Authored by Pepe Escobar,

    The second Russia-Africa summit, this week in St. Petersburg, should be seen as a milestone in terms of Global South integration and the concerted drive by the Global Majority towards a more equal and fair multipolar order.

    The summit welcomes no less than 49 African delegations. President Putin previously announced that a comprehensive declaration and a Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan all the way to 2026 will be adopted.

    Madaraka Nyerere, the son of Tanzania’s legendary anti-colonial activist and first President, Julius Nyerere, set the context, telling RT that the only “realistic” way for Africa to develop is to unite and stop being an agent for foreign exploitative powers.

    And the path towards cooperation goes through BRICS – starting with the crucial upcoming summit in South Africa, and the incorporation of more African nations into BRICS+.

    Nyerere’s father was a very important force behind the Organization of African Unity, which later became the African Union.

    South Africa’s Julius Malema succinctly expanded the geoeconomic concept of a united Africa: “They [neocolonial powers] thrive on the division of the African continent. Can you imagine the minerals of the DRC combined with the minerals of South Africa, and with a new currency based on the minerals? What can we do to the dollar? If we become a United States of Africa, with our minerals alone, we can defeat the dollar.”

    No humanitarian nature, no deal

    The Russian-African Conference of the Valdai Club functioned like a sort of final expert watch synchronization in the run-up to St. Petersburg. The first session was particularly relevant.

    That came after the publication of a comprehensive analysis by President Putin of Russia-Africa relations, with a special emphasis on the recently collapsed grain deal involving the UN, Turkey, Russia and Ukraine.

    Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of the Russian Federation Council, has stressed how “Ukraine, Washington and NATO were interested in the grain corridor for sabotage”.

    In his Op-Ed, Putin explained how, “for almost a year, a total of 32.8 million tons of cargo were exported from Ukraine under the ‘deal’, of which more than 70% went to high-and above-middle-income countries, including the European Union, while countries such as Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia, as well as Yemen and Afghanistan accounted for less than 3% of the total volume – less than one million tons.”

    So that was one of the key reasons for Russia to leave the grain deal. Moscow published a list of requirements which would need to be fulfilled for Russia to reinstate it.

    Among them: a real, practical end to sanctions on Russian grain and fertilizers shipped to world markets; no more obstacles for banks and financial institutions; no more restrictions on charter of ships and insurance – that means clean logistics for all food supplies; restoration of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline.

    And a particularly crucial item: the restoration of “the original humanitarian nature of the grain deal.”

    There’s no way the collective West subjected to the Straussian neocon psychos who control US foreign policy will fulfill all or even some of these conditions.

    So Russia, by itself, will offer grain and fertilizers free of charge for the poorest nations and contracts for grain supply at normal commercial terms for the others. Supply is guaranteed: Moscow had the biggest grain harvest ever during this season.

    This is all about solidarity. At the Valdai session, a key discussion was around the importance of solidarity in the struggle against neo-colonialism and for global equality and justice.

    Oleg Ozerov, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, and Head of the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, stressed how European “former” partners persist on the one-way track of shifting blame to Russia as Africa is “acquiring agency” and “denying neo-colonialism.”

    Ozerov mentioned how “France-Afrique is collapsing – and Russia is not behind it. Russia is ensuring that Africa acts as one of the powers of the multipolar world”, as “a member of the G20 and present in the UN Security Council.” Moreover, Moscow is interested to expand Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) free trade deals towards Africa.

    Welcome to Global South “multi-vector” cooperation

    This all spells out a common theme in the Russia-Africa summit: “multi-vector cooperation”. The South African perspective, especially in the light of the raging controversy over Putin’s non-physical presence in the BRICS summit, is that “Africans are not taking sides. They want peace.”

    What matters is what Africa brings to BRICS: “Markets, and a young, educated population.”

    On the Russian bridge to Africa, what is needed, for instance, is “railways along coastlines”: connectivity, which can be developed with Russian assistance, much as China has been investing widely across Africa under BRI projects. Russia, after all, “trained many professionals across Africa.”

    There’s a wide consensus, to be reflected in the summit, that Africa is becoming an economic growth pole in the Global South – and African experts know it. State institutions are becoming more stable. The abysmal crisis in Russia-Western relations ended up boosting interest in Africa. No wonder that’s now a national priority for Russia.

    So what can Russia offer? Essentially an investment portfolio, and crucially the idea of sovereignty – without requesting anything in return.

    Mali is a fascinating case. It goes back to investments by the USSR training the workforce; at least 10,000 Malians, who were offered first-class education, including 80% of their professors.

    That intersects with the terrorism threat of the Salafi-jihadi variety, “encouraged” by the usual suspects even before 9/11. Mali holds at least 350,000 refugees, all of them unemployed. France’s “initiatives” have been deemed “totally inefficient”.

    Mali needs “broader measures” – including the launch of a new trading system. Russia after all taught how to set up infrastructure to create new jobs; time to fully profit from the knowledge of those trained in the USSR. Moreover, in 2023 over 100 students from Mali are coming to Russia on state-sponsored scholarships.

    As Russia makes inroads in French-speaking Africa, former “partners”, predictably, demonize Mali’s cooperation with Russia. With no avail. Mali has just dropped French as its official language (that has been the case since 1960).

    Under the new constitution, passed overwhelmingly with 96.9% in a June 15 referendum, French will be only a working language, while 13 national languages will also receive official language status.

    Essentially, this is about sovereignty. Coupled with the fact that the West, as recognized from Mali to Ethiopia – the only African nation never colonized by Europeans – is losing moral authority across Africa at astonishing speed.

    Multitudes in Africa now understand that Russia actively encourages freedom from neocolonialism. When it comes to geopolitical capital, Moscow now seems to enjoy all it takes to build a fruitful, Global Majority-centered strategic partnership.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 23:30

  • Forget California. Texas Is "King Of Clean Energy"
    Forget California. Texas Is “King Of Clean Energy”

    California likes to pretend it leads the nation in decarbonizing its power grid but has been out ‘greened’ by an unlikely state: Texas. 

    Texas is the reddest state in the country (for now). It leads California and all other states in terms of total electricity generation from renewable sources. 

    The latest U.S. Energy Information Administration data shows Texas versus California’s power generation mix. And the clear winner in decarbonizing the grid so far is… 

    Since 2018, Texas has surpassed California and the national average in integrating renewable energy sources like solar and wind, thus becoming a frontrunner in the efforts to decarbonize the grid. This contradicts the popular narrative that California, with its progressive leadership, is the champion in this field.

    Bloomberg explained why Texas is now the “king of clean energy”: 

    In Texas, solar permitting is uncomplicated. Connecting projects to the electric grid is straightforward. Then there’s cheap labor, homegrown energy expertise, plenty of sunshine and an anything-goes ethos. “There’s no ‘Mother, may I?’ here,” says Doug Lewin, who worked in the Texas Legislature on energy policy and now advises power companies. “In Texas, it’s just easier to get things done.”

    Texas’ leadership in adding renewables to its power generation mix is at odds with its status as the top-producing state of crude oil, natural gas, refined products, and petrochemicals. 

    But in terms of decarbonizing power grids, Texas trumps virtue signaling California. After all, America’s largest EV carmaker, Tesla, is now based in Austin, Texas. 

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 23:00

  • Biden's DOJ Illegally Bribing States To Pass Gun Confiscation Laws: Lawmakers
    Biden’s DOJ Illegally Bribing States To Pass Gun Confiscation Laws: Lawmakers

    Submitted by Gun Owners of America,

    Last summer, weak Republicans teamed up with Anti-Gun Democrats to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.  

    Part of that law included funding for ‘red flag laws’ nationwide. The reason for this is that the Anti-Gun lobby knows that a national red flag law is totally unconstitutional and would immediately be struck down by federal courts. So instead, they chose to bribe states with federal funds into passing their own ‘red flag’ laws at the state level, where challenges to the laws could get stuck in court proceedings for years to come.  

    According to the letter penned by Senator Roger Marshall of Kentucky and Representative Alex Mooney from West Virginia, the Biden Department of Justice has weaponized Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to Illegally bribe states into passing red flag laws. 

    In the letter, the lawmakers state that the Justice Department gave Federal funding to States that did not meet the criteria for due process.  

    “The Department of Justice appears to have weaponized the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to illegally fund ineligible red flag laws and bribe pro-gun states into passing gun confiscation laws.”  

    Interestingly, Minnesota passed a red flag law within 100 days of receiving $3.7 Million from this program.  

    These Federal grants were supposed to only be given to states whose ‘red flag’ laws met “due process requirements,” a term specifically set by one of the bill’s Republican authors, Senator John Cornyn of Texas.  

    When Gun Owners of America pointed out that this provision would be abused and ignored by the government, Republicans who supported the legislation accused GOA of lying. 

    But now it seems that states that don’t have red flag laws at all, — such as West Virginia, Alaska, Kansas, and Arkansas – got millions of dollars towards implementing these sorts of laws in their respective states.  

    This letter, — along with Representative Lauren Boebert’s Shall Not Be Infringed Act, which would repeal all the gun control passed by the 117th Congress — are just a few of the battles that GOA is fighting for your 2A rights every day on Capitol Hill. 

    Read the letter here: 

    So, pick up the phone and call your Senators and Representative and demand to know what they’re doing to hold the Biden administration accountable for this misuse of federal funds. 

    *   *   *

    We’ll hold the line for you in Washington. We are No Compromise. Join the Fight Now. 

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 22:30

  • Environmental Protection Vs. Economic Growth
    Environmental Protection Vs. Economic Growth

    The battle in the minds of people in the U.S. between prioritizing the environment (even at the risk of curbing economic growth) or the economy (even if the environment suffers), has been a bit of a rollercoaster over the last few decades.

    As Statista’s Martin Armstrong reports, while Gallup survey data shows that back in the 80’s and 90’s, the environment was the clear winner in this moral dilemma when looked at nationally; things have started to change as the new millennium commenced.

    Infographic: Environmental Protection vs. Economic Growth | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    As Statista’s infographic illustrates, the struggle in the U.S. between the two really came to a head as the effects of the 2008 financial crisis started to bite.

    In March 2009, the economy had shifted to the forefront of most people’s minds, with a majority (51 percent) choosing the economy as a priority, compared to 42 percent favoring the environment.

    Mother Earth did eventually start to gain control over American hearts and minds again between 2015 and 2019, but the Covid-19 pandemic from 2020 onward narrowed the gap between the slight majority thinking conservation is paramount and those who feel that economic development should be given priority over conservation efforts.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 22:00

  • COVID Vaccines Show 24 Times More Adverse Reactions Than Others
    COVID Vaccines Show 24 Times More Adverse Reactions Than Others

    Authored by Jessie Zhang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    An Australian report on adverse reactions to vaccines has revealed that COVID-19 vaccinations had 24 times the rate of adverse reactions in compared to all other vaccines. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)

    The latest report on adverse reactions to vaccines in Western Australia has revealed that COVID-19 vaccinations have 24 times the rate of adverse reactions in the state compared to all other vaccines.

    According to the state’s vaccine safety surveillance report (pdf), COVID-19 vaccines showed that for every 100,000 COVID-19 vaccines administered, 264 adverse events following immunisations (AEFIs) were recorded.

    For all other vaccinations, 11.1 AEFIs were recorded, making the COVID-19 vaccines 23.8 times more likely than non-COVID-19 vaccines to result in adverse events.

    Table showing numbers of vaccines administered and adverse events reported, with rate of adverse events, for non-COVID-19 vaccines and COVID-19 vaccines, 2021. (Image from the Department of Health in Western Australia)

    The rate of adverse events varied among different types of COVID-19 vaccines.

    The Spikevax (Moderna) vaccine recorded 281.4 AEFIs per 100,000 doses, Comirnaty (Pfizer) recorded 244.8, and the Vaxzevria (AstraZeneca) vaccine, which was removed from the vaccine program after reports emerged of blood clotting in younger people, recorded 306.

    Adverse events following vaccination can range from mild, such as a sore arm, to serious conditions, such as anaphylaxis, thrombosis with thrombocytopaenia syndrome (TTS), Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), myocarditis, and pericarditis.

    Collaboration Continues With 3-in-1 Super Jab

    Meanwhile, despite these concerns, the Australian government’s partnership with Moderna to produce vaccines using experimental messenger RNA technology to prepare for the next pandemic means these vaccines are here to stay.

    The company has been forming a trifecta jab to address the main respiratory viruses—influenza, COVID-19, and RSV to maintain its market share amid the falling revenue of vaccine companies as the health crisis subsides.

    Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine sales of US$18.4 billion in 2022 are expected to dive to $5 billion this year.

    Recently, it was granted expedited approval by Australia’s authority for medicines for its mRNA-1345 (RSV vaccine), meaning that the company will be able to launch the vaccines in Australia before any other country in the world.

    Registered nurse Emma Ahearn administers the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to Millie Persic sitting on the lap of mother Maria Persic in Sydney, Australia, on Jan. 11, 2022. (Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

    A spokesperson from Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration told the Epoch Times that Moderna was granted an accelerated approval process on March 30 after satisfying all of the following criteria:

    • the medicine is new
    • the medicine is for the treatment, prevention, or diagnosis of a life-threatening condition
    • no other medicines that are intended to treat, prevent or diagnose the condition are included in the Australian drug register or there is substantial evidence that this medicine provides a significant improvement in efficacy or safety of the treatment, prevention or diagnosis of the condition compared to those goods already included in the register
    • there is substantial evidence that the medicine provides a major therapeutic advance.

    However, phase 3 clinical trials for Moderna’s mRNA version of the seasonal influenza vaccine have been underwhelming, showing a high rate of side effects.

    Although the vaccine generates a strong immune response against the A strains of the flu, its efficacy against B strains is not better than existing approved vaccines.

    Additionally, 70 percent of trial participants who received the shot reported adverse reactions such as headaches, swelling, and fatigue compared to 48 percent for the conventional flu vaccine.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 21:30

  • Ex-Mossad Chief: Netanyahu Government Worse Than Ku Klux Klan
    Ex-Mossad Chief: Netanyahu Government Worse Than Ku Klux Klan

    The former head of Israel’s Mossad says the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is filled with “extreme lunatics” that are “a lot worse” than the Ku Klux Klan.  

    In a Thursday interview, Tamir Pardo, who led the Israeli intelligence agency from 2011 to 2016, said national security minister Itavar Ben Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich represent “horrible racist parties” — respectively, Jewish Power and Religious Zionism — that make the Klan pale in comparison. 

    Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo decried the presence of “horrible racist parties” in Netanyahu’s government (via CTECH)

    However, Pardo said suggestions that Netanyahu is being coerced by extremists amounds to “urban legend,” telling Kan radio, “The leader has lost his mind. Nothing that has happened would have happened if the prime minister didn’t lead this process.”

    Substantiating the comparison, Pardo pointed to Smotrich’s call for the wholesale destruction of an entire Palestinian village. In the wake of the killing of two Israeli brothers, Smotrich liked a tweet in which a West Bank Israeli mayor called for the government to “wipe out the village of Huwara today.” 

    When asked why he “liked” it, Smotrich said, “Because I think the village of Huwara needs to be wiped out. I think the State of Israel should do it,” adding that “God forbid” private Israelis take matters into their own hands. 

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    Previously, Smotrich called for Palestinian mothers to be separated from Jews in the country’s maternity wards, saying, “[My wife] would not want to sleep next to someone who just gave birth to a baby who might want to murder her baby in twenty years,”

    Meanwhile, security minister Ben-Gvir decorated his home with a poster of mass murderer Baruch Goldstein, who in 1994 killed 28 Muslim worshippers and wounded 125 in the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre. 

    Exposing the hypocrisy of the Israeli government, Pardo said that if a different country adopted laws against Jews akin to the anti-Palestinian laws being passed by the Knesset, it would be considered anti-semitic. For example, this week saw the passage of a law empowering about half of Israeli’s small towns to bar Palestinians from moving in. 

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    Pardo has been outspoken against the Netanyahu government’s drive to reform Israel’s judiciary system. Middle East Eye notes that in a speech against that effort, Pardo said that if a law was passed to remove the Supreme Court’s ability to apply a “reasonableness” standard, Israel would “be similar to Iran and Hungary – ostensibly a democracy, in practice a dictatorship.”

    That law was passed Monday, following months of enormous protests across the country. Pardo pins the division on Netanyahu: “A nation has been torn in two and the prime minister does not blink and shows happiness on his face.”  

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 21:05

  • The F-35 Lightning's Vulnerability To Lightning Is Both Ironic And Unforgivable
    The F-35 Lightning’s Vulnerability To Lightning Is Both Ironic And Unforgivable

    Authored by Mike Fredenburg via The Epoch Times,

    That the F-35 Lightning II has been prohibited from flying anywhere near lightning is ironic. That the F-35 has been under development since 1994 and that the Pentagon “doesn’t have a path forward” to fix the F-35 is unforgivable.

    That a plane that’s supposed to be the foundation of American air supremacy has an Achilles heel so easily exploitable is a glaring example of how our military procurement system wastes taxpayer dollars while failing to provide the weapon systems needed to meet our national security needs.

    Yes, the F-35, the aging “wunder plane” that the U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin have been assuring us for decades is just that one fix away from being ready for full-rate production, isn’t allowed to fly within 25 miles of a thunderstorm.

    So far, the indefinite restriction has been publicly announced as applying “only” to the Air Force’s F-35A. But given the F-35 Joint Program Office’s history of hiding and “managing” bad news, it would not be at all surprising to find out that the same restrictions are in place for the Marines’ F-35B and the Navy’s F-35C, but have not yet been made public. That having this unpublicized policy in place could make sense was demonstrated in July 2021 when two F-35Bs flying out of their airbase in Japan were forced to execute emergency landings after they both suffered millions of dollars worth of lightning damage in the same storm.

    This restriction is even more crippling than the F35’s restrictions on supersonic flight, as not being able to fly within 25 miles of potential lightning activity will allow an enemy to use lightning proximity as cover for air, ground, and sea operations knowing that the F-35s will not be flying overwatch or be able to be scrambled to areas where lightning threatens them. That this is the plane that’s slated to be the replacement for F-16s, A-10s, AV-8B Harriers, F/A-18E Hornets, and F/A-18F Super Hornets is a decision that needs to be re-evaluated.

    On the face of it, it seems as if it shouldn’t be that hard to design a plane to do what planes have been doing for many decades. Each year commercial aircraft worldwide are struck tens of thousands of times by lightning. And every commercial plane is struck about once or twice a year on average. As is the case with commercial aircraft, military aircraft, while instructed to avoid thunderstorms if possible, are expected to be able to fly through them as necessary. And they’re expected to be able to take lightning strikes and complete their missions with no problem. For example, a single 1950s-era jet fighter, an F-106B Delta Dart, was struck over 700 times by lightning while flying test flights for NASA and maintained flight worthiness. Of course, that’s an extreme example, but it does demonstrate that lightning strikes need not cripple or destroy a fighter.

    So, why was the most expensive airplane/weapons system development program in the history of the world unable to come up with a plane able to do what pretty much any other plane can do? We don’t really know, because the F-35 Joint Program Office won’t reveal the problem specifics due to “operational security reasons.” But by looking at the F-35’s design history and the basics of lightning protection for aircraft, we can come up with a couple of possibilities.

    Possibility one comes out of the fact that planes with composite skins, such as that of the F-35, rely much more heavily on their on-board inert gas generating system (OBIGGS) to keep their fuel tanks from blowing up than do planes with metal skins.

    The OBIGGS pumps nitrogen into a plane’s fuel tanks as they empty to ensure that the oxygen content in the tanks never reaches a level that will support combustion (about 9 percent). That way, even if lightning does arc through the fuel tanks, the fuel vapor will not have enough oxygen to combust, and the plane doesn’t blow up.

    So, if the F-35 OBIGGS can’t generate enough nitrogen and or evenly distribute that nitrogen through all the F-35 tanks, the F-35 would be vulnerable to a lightning strike. Still, one would think that properly sizing an OBIGGS unit would be a no-brainer for F-35 designers. However, the F-35 isn’t your typical airplane, and since the beginning of its development, it has been dealing with severe weight problems, and in 2004 it went through what many would describe as a draconic weight-cutting exercise.

    Did the F-35 design team, in their eagerness to drop weight, perhaps cut it too close in estimating just how much oxygen the OBIGGS system would have to deal with for a plane with truly massive fuel tanks and a super big fuel fraction? And did they take into account just how much dissolved oxygen would be forced out of the fuel when it heated up as it provided cooling for electronics, avionics, and radar equipment—far more cooling than for which it was initially specificationed? This could be the case, but the other possibility that has yet to be mentioned publicly is even more insidious.

    The other possibility is that the F-35 is so stuffed full of sensitive electronics gear that the foil/mesh embedded in its composite skin isn’t thick enough to effectively conduct lightning strikes around the exterior of the plane. Hence a lightning strike could damage the sensitive electronics housed in the interior.

    This vulnerability may also have stemmed from a design process in which every ounce mattered, and that the weight of metal embedded in the F-35 skin necessary to conduct the lightning ended up being inadequate for the task of protecting more electronics than was ever before crammed into a single-engine fighter, or any fighter for that matter.

    That this could be the issue jibes with the previously cited incident in which F-35Bs damaged by lightning didn’t blow up but did suffer severe enough damage to require landing immediately. Of course, the exact nature of the damage was never revealed, but if it was the electronics that were damaged, that would be very bad news as a fix would almost certainly be prohibitively expensive.

    Either both, or one of the above, or maybe even none of the above, could be why the F-35 has to avoid lightning. As the Pentagon is keeping the specifics secret, we don’t know for sure. Regardless, having our main source of future airpower unable to fly in rough weather is flat-out unacceptable, and unless this critical problem can be remedied, continuing to move forward with the F-35 is actually damaging, not enhancing our national security.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 20:40

  • Kansas Troopers 'Waged War On Motorists' With Bogus Stops, Interrogations: Judge
    Kansas Troopers ‘Waged War On Motorists’ With Bogus Stops, Interrogations: Judge

    “The Kansas Highway Patrol has waged war on motorists — especially out-of-state residents traveling between Colorado and Missouri on federal highway I-70,” a federal judge declared on Friday in a scathing condemnation of tyrannical practices embedded in police training.  

    Among those practices is something cops call the “Kansas Two-Step.” After pulling you over for a traffic violation and dispensing either a warning or a ticket, a cop starts walking away, but then turns back and asks, “Hey, can I ask you something?” 

    What feels like a friendly conversational question is actually intended to trick you. As Reason’s Jacob Sullum explains: 

    “Police are not supposed to continue detaining you after the ostensible purpose of the stop has been accomplished unless they reasonably suspect you are involved in criminal activity.

    The two-step is designed to extend the encounter by making it notionally voluntary, giving the officer a chance to elicit incriminating information, ask for permission to search your car, and/or walk a drug-sniffing dog around the vehicle.”

    Troopers are taught the technique in their training, but US District Judge Kathryn Vratil said, “the theory that a driver who remains on the scene gives knowing and voluntary consent to further questioning is nothing but a convenient fiction.”

    “Troopers occupy a position of power and authority during a traffic stop,” wrote Vratil, an appointee of George H.W. Bush, “and when a trooper quickly re-approaches a driver after a traffic stop and continues to ask questions, the authority that a trooper wields—combined with the fact that most motorists do not know that they are free to leave and KHP troopers deliberately decline to tell them that they are free to leave—communicates a strong message that the driver is not free to leave.”

    Judge Kathryn Vratil was appointed by George H.W. Bush

    The Kansas Two-Step is just one piece of a policing regime that Vratil rightly found objectionable. In her decision, Vratil also criticized pretextual traffic stops, in which police contrive some reason to pull people over merely on the hope that they’ll discover something they can arrest them for. 

    “As wars go, this one is relatively easy; it’s simple and cheap, and for motorists, it’s not a fair fight,” wrote Vratil. “The war is basically a question of numbers: stop enough cars and you’re bound to discover drugs. And what’s the harm if a few constitutional rights are trampled along the way?” 

    The thicket of traffic and vehicle equipment regulations, including the ability for cops to pull drivers over for actions subjectively deemed “imprudent,” means anyone can be pulled over on a whim. 

    “Even the most cautious driver would find it virtually impossible to drive for even a short distance without violating some traffic law,” writes University of Pittsburgh law professor David Harris, whom Vratil cited in her ruling. “A police officer willing to follow any driver for a few blocks would therefore always have probable cause to make a stop.”

    With supplementary techniques like standing very close to cars or even placing forearms inside, troopers perform the “Kansas Two-Step” in a way that makes reasonable drivers conclude they’re not free to leave, the judge ruled (WDAF-TV)

    Kansas state troopers disproportionately preyed on those with out-of-state license plates. “KHP troopers stopped 70 per cent more out-of-state drivers than would be expected if KHP troopers stopped in-state and out-of state drivers at the same rate…represent[ing] roughly 50,000 traffic stops,” wrote Vratil.

    She found the KHP has been violating tenets set down by the 2016 case of Vasquez v Lewis, which rejected searches based on flimsy pretexts such as “status as a resident of Colorado.” Vratil said troopers applied “an absurd and tenuous combination of factors” to conclude that individuals were suspicious, such as: 

    • Having a car with out-of-state plates
    • “Seeming nervous while interacting with law enforcement”
    • “Having fingerprints on the trunk lid”
    • “Going on a trip with one’s nephew”
    • “Having a bag in the passenger seat”

    Many fruitless vehicle searches were initiated by the use police dogs, whose purported alerts are determined solely by their dog handlers. That’s problematic enough, but even genuine alerts are triggered by mere odors, not drugs per se. That means a dog could very well alert simply because someone who smoked pot — maybe a car mechanic or the previous user of your rental car — touched your door handle.  

    In the coming weeks, Judge Vratil, who was arrested in 2019 on suspicion of driving under the influence, will impose an injunction. Her ruling includes a draft with provisions that would, among many other things, require troopers to:

    • Communicate to drivers when they’ve reached the point where the traffic stop has concluded and they are free to go 
    • Inform drivers of their right to refuse or revoke search consent
    • Obtain supervisory approval before commencing purportedly consensual searches
    • Maintain better traffic-stop documentation and electronic records

    Plaintiffs in the the case, Shaw v Jones, are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union. Yes, on rare occasion, the ACLU — which increasingly throws its principles to the wind to please leftist donors — still manages to occasionally do some good.   

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 20:15

  • Pennsylvania Revives Effort To Impeach 'Soros-DA' Larry Krasner
    Pennsylvania Revives Effort To Impeach ‘Soros-DA’ Larry Krasner

    Authored by Beth Brelje via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    The move to impeach Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is back in action this week, with Pennsylvania state Rep. Craig Williams announcing that the House managers in Krasner’s impeachment trial have filed a 100-page appeal in the state Supreme Court, accusing Mr. Krasner of criminal conduct.

    In November, the state Senate voted to call Mr. Krasner to a trial to answer for seven articles of impeachment against him, which if supported could result in his removal from office.

    Mr. Krasner appealed to the Commonwealth Court asking to have the articles set aside. After many delays, the court decided the articles of impeachment did not constitute misconduct in office.

    “They relied principally on the idea that, in some of these articles, we cited ethics rules rather than criminal statutes, and they did nothing whatsoever to analyze the actual behavior that was alleged,” Mr. Williams, a former federal prosecutor told The Epoch Times in a phone interview. Mr. Williams, a Republican, is chairman of the House impeachment managers.

    “The lower court determined that the articles improperly used the ethics rules as a basis for determining whether DA Krasner’s conduct was unlawful. We have argued that the very same conduct might have just as easily been alleged as crimes. The lower court did no analysis of the unlawful behavior itself,” Mr. Williams said in a statement on the matter.

    Soros-Backed DA

    Mr. Krasner first took office in 2018. His was one of several key district attorney campaigns that was funded in part by billionaire George Soros who supports leftist progressive policies.

    In his office, Mr. Krasner has loosened responses to drug, gun, and prostitution crimes, and under his watch, homicide and other violent crimes have climbed in Philadelphia.

    “Pennsylvania’s official oppression statute makes it a crime for a public official to knowingly and intentionally deprive another’s legal rights. The articles are replete with instances where DA Krasner used his office to do exactly that, be it police officers, family members of murder victims, or other crime victims. In fact, the many alleged instances of DA Krasner and his office lying to the courts constitute overt acts in furtherance of several instances of official oppression—a crime,” Mr. Williams alleges.

    The appeal focuses on the case of Philadelphia Police Officer Robert Pownall, for which courts have reprimanded Mr. Krasner and his office.

    The case stems from a 2017 incident in which Mr. Pownall was involved in the deadly shooting of 32-year-old David Jones, who had been riding a dirt bike after a traffic stop. In 2018, Mr. Krasner charged Mr. Pownall with first-degree murder. In 2022, a Philadelphia judge dismissed all charges against Mr. Pownall.

    “In the case of the Officer Pownall shooting, the district attorney’s office failed to provide the legal instruction for homicide and made an intentional, deliberate choice not to inform the grand jurors about the justification defense available to Officer Pownall, despite being aware of it,” Mr. Williams said.

    “The trial court also found that the district attorney’s office ‘demonstrated a lack of candor to the Court by misstating the law and providing [it] with incorrect case law’ and was ‘disingenuous with the Court when it asserted [for various reasons] that it had good cause to bypass the preliminary hearing,’ resulting in prejudice to Officer Pownall and the violation of his due process rights.

    “In addition, the District Attorney’s Office withheld from Officer Pownall its own expert report concluding that Officer Pownall’s use of deadly force was justified,” Mr. Williams added.

    Mr. Krasner and his office knowingly made false statements to the courts, failed to disclose evidence in court, prejudiced the administration of justice, and neglected to provide legally required notice to victims of crime, Mr. Williams charges. All of these violate the criminal code.

    The Epoch Times reached out to Mr. Krasner’s office for comment but has yet to receive a response. In the past, Mr. Krasner and his supporters in the state House have said that he was voted into office twice, and removing him would disenfranchise voters who want his progressive policies..

    “His response to whether or not he’s allowed to behave in a way that he wants to as the district attorney is that he was elected,” Mr. Williams said of Mr. Kranser’s actions. “I don’t think that’s the standard.

    “The standard is clearly set out in the criminal statutes and in the ethical canons, and those are the standards by which we will hold him. And if he violates them, then we’ll impeach him, try him, and remove him from office, and I’ll leave it to the attorney general to decide whether or not there are other remedies. But there’s no standard that says well, if you were elected, then you can’t be tried or accused.”

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 19:50

  • "If You Need Money You Can Get It" – 'Easy' Market Crushes Fed's Credit-Tightening Efforts
    “If You Need Money You Can Get It” – ‘Easy’ Market Crushes Fed’s Credit-Tightening Efforts

    Fed Chair Powell knows he has a problem… and he all but admitted it this week.

    He told journalists that “if financial conditions get looser we [may] need to do more”, but said he was confident interest rates were affecting economic activity and inflation.

    “What tends to happen is financial conditions get in and out of alignment with what we’re doing [but] ultimately over time we get where we need to go.”

    The problem – of course – is that he is full of gaslighting crap.

    Soaring stock prices and falling bond yields have made it so much easier for US companies to raise funds than would be expected given The Fed’s inflation-fighting efforts so far.

    In fact, as The FT reports, much of the impact of the Fed’s interest rate rises has been neutralised.

    Goldman’s Financial Conditions Index is at its ‘easiest’ since The Fed started on its 50bps rate-hikes in May 2022, and while they have continued to hike rates for the last 9 months, financial conditions have done nothing but ease as traders ‘fight The Fed’.

    Source: Bloomberg

    Remember, looser financial conditions run counter to the Fed’s goal of slowing the economy to bring inflation under control, and make it more likely the Fed will have to keep interest rates higher for longer.

    “The reality is that financial conditions have loosened — we have [effectively] unwound roughly 450 basis points of rate hikes. Financial conditions are enough to take us back to March of last year,” said Sonal Desai, chief investment officer for Franklin Templeton Fixed Income.

    “As the market comes around to the belief that we are not going to have a recession, that implies that demand will remain strong, [and] that implies that we will not have any need to cut interest rates.”

    The looser conditions reflect a view among investors that the Fed has effectively finished raising interest rates since its main focus is bringing down inflation – which has fallen sharply in recent months.

    “I would say that conditions right now are loosening, probably to the chagrin of the Fed,” said Andy Brenner, head of international fixed income at Natalliance Securities.

    “But as long as the Fed gets better inflation numbers, they’re going to care less and less.”

    However, what few seem to believe is that inflation could re-emerge from these ‘easy’ financial conditions.

    Mike Chang, a high-yield portfolio manager at Vanguard, said financial conditions had not loosened across the board.

    “The market is still discriminating between stronger and weaker issuers and many weaker issuers still don’t have access to capital markets.”

    “Higher interest rates generally take time to work [their] way through the economy and through corporate balance sheets”, Chang added.

    “Given how much refinancing activity has occurred over the past several years in the high-yield market, it will take more time for maturities and refinancing to become a larger issue.”

    Finally, markets will closely scrutinize next Monday’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices (SLOOS) – after the last quarterly report by the Fed found that banks expected to tighten lending standards over the rest of 2023 – for signs of worsening credit conditions (or worse still for The Fed, improving conditions).

    The message – be careful what you wish for: the ‘easier’ financial conditions get, the more likely a new bubble emerges, asset prices re-inflate, and The Fed is forced to stay higher-er for longer-er…

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 19:25

  • Exploding E-Bikes: Lithium Battery Fires Spread In New York And California
    Exploding E-Bikes: Lithium Battery Fires Spread In New York And California

    Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Lithium-ion batteries have sparked hundreds of fires across New York and San Francisco this year, injuring dozens and resulting in the death of a few individuals, triggering worries about ongoing public safety.

    In New York, “fires caused by Lithium-ion batteries have grown exponentially every year since 2021,” Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said on Friday during a public safety briefing. “We are now, unfortunately, seeing more and more of these kinds of extremely fast-moving, very powerful fires with some regularity in the city. As of this week, there have been 131 fires, 76 injuries, and 13 deaths caused by these Lithium-ion batteries.”

    This is a significant jump from 2021 when there were 79 injuries and four deaths from such fires. In 2022, there were 142 injuries and six deaths. The 2023 death toll has already exceeded the past two years combined with roughly five months remaining in the year.

    Multiple lithium-ion battery fires have made it to the headlines this year. On Jan. 20, a 63-year-old man was killed and 10 more injured after a fire from a charging e-bike spread through a home in Queens.

    In April, a teenager and a 7-year-old child died in a home, also in Queens, due to a fire that erupted from an e-bike. And on May 7, four people died from a lithium battery fire that blazed through an apartment building in Upper Manhattan.

    Lithium fires are also becoming a problem in San Francisco, California. On Monday, two people had to jump out of an apartment in the Tenderloin neighborhood due to a fire believed to have been triggered by an overheated e-scooter battery—with one of them taken to a hospital suffering from serious injuries.

    In an interview with The New York Times, Capt. Jonathan Baxter, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Fire Department, said that it was the 24th fire in the city this year that was linked to rechargeable batteries.

    Since 2017, San Francisco has seen 202 battery fires which injured eight people and killed one. Of these, 58 fires broke out in 2022, up from just 13 in 2017.

    “We’re not seeing it to that same degree here in San Francisco,” Baxter said while referring to the surging lithium fire incidents in New York. “However, one fire is one too many.”

    Lithium Fires in New York

    Multiple reasons are cited for the surge in lithium fire incidents. Some point to hazardous charging practices like the use of mismatched equipment to charge the devices and overcharging as a problem. Using damaged or refurbished batteries can also pose issues. Others blame a lack of proper safety testing and regulation.

    Though lithium-ion batteries are also used in cellphones and computers, e-mobility devices pose a bigger threat as their lithium batteries tend to be larger and more susceptible to wear and tear.

    Cheap e-bikes became popular in New York during the COVID-19 pandemic when public transit was affected and orders for food deliveries surged. People who buy e-bikes usually charge these vehicles inside apartments, posing a significant risk to the residents.

    The situation has gotten so worse that some landlords in New York have banned e-bikes and other e-mobility devices.

    In a March 20 press release, the City of New York admitted that “fires caused by batteries that power e-micromobility devices are a significant problem in New York City … These fires are particularly severe and difficult to extinguish, spreading quickly and producing noxious fumes.”

    Even as NYC Mayor Eric Adams promotes e-bikes as a “convenient transportation” option for New Yorkers, he admitted that faulty and illegal devices are making their way into homes and streets, triggering fires and “putting lives at risk.”

    Lithium-ion batteries are also used in industrial settings. However, these setups are heavily regulated and subject to professional supervision. This is not the case with smaller lithium batteries used in e-bikes and other devices. Customers tend to usually not have much of an understanding of the fire risks posed by such batteries.

    Dealing With Lithium Battery Fires

    To deal with the problem of lithium battery fires, the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) is recommending that citizens only buy lithium battery devices certified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory like Underwriters Laboratory (UL).

    When using batteries, the manufacturer’s charging and storage instructions must be adhered to. Batteries should be kept away from heat sources and anything flammable, and must be maintained at room temperature, it advises.

    People should avoid using aftermarket or generic batteries. They should desist from overcharging and avoid leaving the batteries charging overnight. When charging, the battery should be away from a person’s bed, pillow, or couch. While charging e-bikes, FDNY advises people to never leave them unattended.

    A bill enacted in March seeks to prohibit the sale, lease, or rental of e-bikes and other such mobility devices as well as their storage batteries in New York which fail to meet certain safety standards. The ban will come into effect in September, making New York the first American city to do so.

    The bill insists that e-mobility devices must be certified by an accredited testing laboratory for compliance with UL standards 2849, 2272, or similar safety standards set by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles in consultation with the fire department.

    “The first violation of this law would be met with a warning, but subsequent violations would carry civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violating device,” states the bill summary.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 19:00

  • Starter Homes Are Becoming Extinct, Making 'The American Dream' Unaffordable
    Starter Homes Are Becoming Extinct, Making ‘The American Dream’ Unaffordable

    Hitting the news wires late this week are headlines about the Biden administration’s plan to tackle the housing affordability crisis that has persisted since the Federal Reserve aggressively raised interest rates in early 2022 to combat the worst inflation storm in a generation. The result of tighter monetary policy has propelled mortgage rates north of 7%, making starter homes for first-time buyers more unaffordable. 

    “Buyers searching for starter homes in today’s market are on a wild goose chase because in many parts of the country, there’s no such thing as a starter home anymore,” Sheharyar Bokhari, Redfin senior economist, told Bloomberg. 

    Bokhari said, “The most affordable homes for sale are no longer affordable to people with lower budgets due to the combination of rising prices and rising rates.”

    The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage was 7.34% on July 27, reaching its highest point since November, according to data published by Bankrate. This means the average priced starter home, around $243,000, has become increasingly unaffordable to many — with that, the American Dream quickly dies. 

    An increase in borrowing costs has led to more than a doubling of the average mortgage payment for a median single-family home over the course of a year, assuming a 30-year fixed mortgage with a 20% down payment.

    Real estate firm Redfin said buyers must earn at least $64,500 to ensure their debt-to-income ratio doesn’t exceed 30% when buying a starter home. 

    Buyers face a market where active listing for affordable homes across the US is rapidly plunging. Bokhari said new active listings are down 23% year-over-year due to homeowners staying put because many bought in an era of record-low mortgage rates. We pointed that out last week when only 1% of US homes changed hands in 2023, the lowest on record, indicating the market is in ‘complete paralysis.’ 

    Bokhari said the number of affordable homes on the market had been halved in the last decade. 

    The housing affordability crisis has been manifesting for more than a year. Readers have been well-informed about this trend via notes titled First-Time Homebuyers Are Absolutely Screwed Right Now and Housing Affordability Worsens As Homeownership Out Of Reach For Anyone Making Under $100k. 

    That may be why parked mobile home shipments are surging as the American Dream dies. And Home Depot understands this by offering $44,000 tiny homes (land not included). 

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 18:40

  • Biden: Hiding In Plain Sight
    Biden: Hiding In Plain Sight

    Authored by Charles Ortel via American Thinker,

    American voters who struggle to enjoy the benefits of “Bidenomics” understand that Joe Biden and his family likely never earned an honest living while Joe was senator, vice president, or president.

    Now that iconic Democrat Robert Kennedy, Jr. has called for a serious investigation into suspicious wealth accumulation by the Biden family during the President’s long career chiefly as a “public servant,” one might be tempted to get lost in minutiae and go far back over years of evidence to see whether impeachment and conviction are warranted in 2023.

    In truth, there is a simpler approach: focus on the strange and dramatic increase in Joe Biden’s personal fortune from his time as vice president starting early in the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency in late January 2017, using tools hiding in plain sight in the public domain. Begin with the final days of the Obama-Biden administration. We have yet to learn the complete truth concerning what was discussed in the Oval Office when a coterie of top officials including Obama, Biden, and Comey met there on January 5, 2017.

    This was only weeks before Donald Trump and Mike Pence took the reins of the Executive Branch on January 20, 2017. Moreover, Republicans were destined to take control over the House of Representatives and the Senate with a clear majority in the former body, and much slimmer control over the latter. Much might have been lost for key Democrats and their allies in the bureaucracy, had the incoming Trump administration enjoyed free rein to direct investigations into suspicious activities of many in the Obama-Biden administration. During eight long years while “fundamentally transforming America,” Barack Obama and others likely had positioned themselves to garner outsized financial returns in retirement from public service, following the examples set by Bill and Hillary Clinton from 2001 onwards. With so much at risk and with so many domestic and foreign challenges and uncertainties swirling, one wonders exactly why Joe Biden decided to take a brief trip over to Ukraine and to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, returning to Washington, D.C. right before Inauguration Day.

    Without doubt, a raft of paper and electronic records exists somewhere that will eventually shed light upon why Biden needed to spend crucial last-minute time with principals whom some believe have been orchestrating financial payments to the Biden family and their associates using murky means for years. These records, which IRS and FBI investigators surely considered examining at some point since 2017, remain relevant to any fair inquiry into the Biden family for monetizing Joe Biden’s influence over key American policies while he held high elective offices. According to public accounts, Biden and Obama lunched regularly at the White House to compare notes and coordinate making progress implementing key policy initiatives. Perhaps Obama and Biden (who each used alias email accounts while serving in the White House) marveled at the bold ways in which Hillary Clinton and her aides operated while she served as Secretary of State, and as Bill Clinton claimed that he directed affairs of “his” presidential foundation.

    Yet, unlike the Clintons, Biden had little to show financially from his long career in politics when he departed the vice-presidential residence.

    According to detailed information, Joe and Jill Biden declared a total of $4,122,376 in pretax income on their federal tax returns for tax years 2001 through 2016 — this works out to an average of $257,648 annually during the sixteen-year period when he finished his career as senator and, later, became vice president. Leaving aside, for the moment, fair questions concerning how Biden managed to sustain living costs for his large family from his home in Wilmington and also save for retirement, his years with educator Jill Biden do not appear to show proven ability to derive investment income, or garner outsized compensation. Yet, things were to change dramatically and for the better, days following the beginning of the Trump-Pence administration.

    Trump and Pence inherited a stumbling economy after the anemic Obama-Biden recovery and the disastrous final years of the Bush-Cheney administration. According to data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey put out by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the top ten percent of households in America saw their pretax incomes decline 8.3 % from $269,644 (on average) in 2016 to $247,174 (on average) in 2017.

    In stark contrast, Joe and Jill Biden saw their pretax income climb from $338,464 in 2016 to a whopping $9,578,639 in 2017 — an amount that was more than 28 times Biden pretax income for the prior year and more than twice, in just one year, total Biden pretax income for a 16 year period from 2001 through 2016.

    What accounted for this enormous Biden family windfall in a single year, when even the top 10% of American households suffered pronounced declines in their pretax incomes? Initial answers found in Biden tax returns warrant further inquiry, including whether the IRS line agents trying to investigate suspicious Hunter Biden activities were restricted in plowing what appears now to be fertile ground in his father’s joint tax filings for 2017. Buried back on page 23 of a 103-page tax filing for 2017, we learn that two subchapter S corporations, each formed in 2017, somehow managed to send more than $10 million dollars together in their first partial years of operation, to the Bidens.

    The first entity — CelticCapri Corp — generated $9,490,857 for the Bidens in just eleven months of existence during 2017. This total amount is more than $860,000 per month, which represents a heroic if not completely unbelievable result for a start-up. What products or services did CelticCapri provide? Who else was involved operating this business? How were other participants compensated? And, what pre-formation actions were taken before late January 2017, when CelticCapri was formally organized in Delaware? The second entity — Giacoppa Corp — made $557,882 for the Bidens in nine and one-half months, or more than $58,000 per month in a start-up year and the same sorts of questions raised about CelticCapri should be answered about Giacoppa. The American people deserve to understand why the IRS, FBI, and Department of Justice rarely target difficult-to-explain wealth-building by dynastic political families such as the Bidens and Clintons, but mount furious assaults against families like Donald Trump’s which built outsized wealth for decades, well before entering politics. Let truly serious investigations begin.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 18:20

  • 'Heat Islands' Have City-Dwellers Swelter In A Concrete Jungle
    ‘Heat Islands’ Have City-Dwellers Swelter In A Concrete Jungle

    With 130 million Americans under a heat advisory, and tens of millions more on watch for or received a warning of excessive heat by the National Weather Service, one group of people is especially at risk of the negative consequences of very high temperatures: city dwellers.

    As Statista’s Anna Fleck reports, according to a new study by NGO Climate Central, 41 million Americans in 44 major cities – the equivalent of around half of these cities’ populations – habitually see outside temperatures in their Census tracts rise by an average of more than 8° Fahrenheit above those in surrounding areas. This is due to heat intensifying in densely populated and built-up areas that lack vegetation. For 5.7 million Americans in the studied areas, temperatures where they live even exceeded non-city temperatures by more than 10° Fahrenheit on average.

    The city in the study where most people face this problem was New York, with 7.1 million people or 78 percent of inhabitants subject to these so-called heat islands. New York was also the city where the most people have to endure heat islands with average temperature increases of more than 10° F – 3.8 million – or even more than 12° F, which affect 48,000 New Yorkers.

    Infographic: Heat Islands Have City Dwellers Swelter in a Concrete Jungle | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    Cities in the Southern United States known for their concrete jungles also ranked high on the heat island index, for example Houston, Los Angeles and Dallas.

    It was Chicago, however, which subjects more people to intense heat islands where temperatures rise on average more than 10° F above those outside the city.

    With 78 percent of inhabitants in heat islands, New York ranked second behind Detroit (86 percent). New Orleans came fourth at 74 percent of people living in heat islands. Miami had the highest share of people dwelling in extreme heat islands (>12°F above non-city temps): 1.5 percent, the equivalent of 12,700 people.

    People experiencing heat are advised to drink plenty of water, stay in an air-conditioned area and not leave children or pets in cars. Kids, older adults as well as people with disabilities and those working outside are especially at risk for heat-related illnesses.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 18:00

  • Senate Backs Measures Tackling China Tech Investments, CCP Farmland Purchases
    Senate Backs Measures Tackling China Tech Investments, CCP Farmland Purchases

    Authored by John Haughey via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks during a press conference in the U.S. Capitol in Washington on July 11, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

    The U.S. Senate on July 25 overwhelmingly adopted two amendments to the proposed defense budget that would require American tech companies to notify the Treasury Department of any dealings with China-based companies and to prevent entities and individuals from four nations, including China, from acquiring agricultural land anywhere in the country.

    The “Protection of Covered Sectors” amendment sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and five bipartisan sponsors was adopted in a 91–6 vote while the agriculture land preemption amendment, filed by Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), also with bipartisan backing, was approved in an 89–8 tally.

    Both measures are among the 872 prospective amendments filed by senators since the proposed $886.3 billion Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), or annual defense budget, advanced in a 24–1 June 23 vote.

    The Democrat-majority Senate began FY24 NDAA floor deliberations on July 18 with at least 90—including 51 submitted by Republicans—amendments set for floor debate.

    House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) (L) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) (R) speak to the press after meeting President Joe Biden and other leaders at the White House in Washington on May 16, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

    No ‘Culture War’ Amendments

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) aims to have the Senate’s NDAA adopted by July 28 before the upper chamber adjourns, as the House did last week, for August recess. Neither chamber convenes again until Sept. 5.

    Mr. Schumer, in remarks before the somewhat languorous votes on July 25, said he and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), among other chamber leaders, are developing “a second round of amendments” for floor discussion in the coming days.

    The GOP-majority House on July 14 approved its preliminary version of the proposed defense budget in a 219–210 near-total partisan vote with an attached raft of “culture war” amendments unlikely to pass muster in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

    Those measures include repealing the Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) abortion travel policy, prohibiting DOD health care programs from providing gender transition procedures, a DOD “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” and a host of other proposed add-ons eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs to the must-pass defense budget that is normally approved in bipartisan accord.

    None of those amendments were likely to pass in the Senate so it is no surprise that the upper chamber’s proposed defense budget does not include the House’s “culture war” add-ons.

    Those differences between the adopted House defense budget and the version the Senate approves will be resolved in closely-tracked (if not watched) backroom conferences between the chambers. The goal is to present one NDAA for final adoption to both chambers ideally before the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.

    None of those House “culture war” components are in the proposed Senate NDAA, nor have any Senate versions of the House amendments thus far made it to the chamber floor.

    Mr. Schumer stressed the need for speed in getting the “must pass” defense budget adopted by the end of the week for conferencing to begin and the final budget to be in place at the start of the fiscal year.

    “We cannot let the perfect be the enemy of good,” he said, praising what has been a smooth process so far that shows “the Senate can work productively on national defense in stark contrast to the race to the bottom we saw in the House.”

    Both preliminary defense spending plans top out at the same $886.3 billion top-line figure submitted by President Joe Biden in March but vary in how that money is spent across the NDAA’s massive appropriations package. It is approximately $28 billion more than the FY23 NDAA.

    Protecting American Tech, Farmland

    In introducing Mr. Cornyn’s proposed amendment, Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) said the measure would establish a requirement that companies notify the Treasury and Commerce departments of intent to “invest in technology sectors in countries of concern.”

    The NDAA reflects “the toughest challenges that face the nation and the technological competition with China is on top of the list. The Chinese communist government doesn’t play by the rules,” Mr. Casey said.

    These “outbound investments” often imperil U.S. strategic interests and essentially amount to “technology transfers” that lead to “under-investment in domestic capabilities,” he said.

    Mr. Casey said in 2020 alone, American companies invested $200 billion in China for research and development into artificial intelligence programs.

    “That’s just in AI,” he said, noting U.S.-based entities invested $2 billion in semi-conductor production and $50 billion in biotech. “We need a targeted response to these threats to our national security.”

    Read more here…

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 17:40

  • Teammates Of Trans Swimmer Lia Thomas Voiced Complaints – University Offered To "Re-Educate" Them
    Teammates Of Trans Swimmer Lia Thomas Voiced Complaints – University Offered To “Re-Educate” Them

    It was perhaps unfair that the teammates of trans swimmer Lia Thomas (originally William Thomas) were accused of being complicit in the destruction of women’s sports because they “refused” to speak out.  Their initial silence in the public eye was treated by some as an endorsement of biological men posing as women participating in women’s sports.  At the time, Lia Thomas was being held up by the corporate media as a hero (or heroine), the very model of the new trans-ification of sports; a rush by trans competitors into the women’s arena soon followed.  

    However, the team members were trying to fight back.  And according to their recent testimony, Lia Thomas was made a priority by the University of Pennsylvania and they were given an ultimatum – Fall into line or risk being ostracized as “bigots.”  Furthermore, the women were told that they would have to share a locker room, changing facilities and bathrooms with the man, regularly forced to undress in front of him and be forced to watch him undress.  When they expressed concerns over this privacy issue, UPenn offered psychological services to “re-educate” Lia’s teammates so that they would feel more comfortable with the changing arrangements.   

    The trans movement has proven time and time again to be a vehicle for censorship and thought control in the name of “protecting the feelings of marginalized people.” In reality, trans activists use a classic Marxist methodology: The exploitation of false victim status as a means to gain power over others.  And while intersectional feminism was the gateway drug to the trans movement we see today, it is now ironically women who face erasure as their entire biological reality is denied.  Hopefully the tide is turning as women speak out against dangers of trans ideology, no longer content to be used by the political left as pawns while their spaces are slowly diminished.  

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 17:20

  • Victor Davis Hanson: The Wild 2024 Race
    Victor Davis Hanson: The Wild 2024 Race

    Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

    Current polls, pundits, and politicos insist that the 2024 race is a sure rematch between former President Donald Trump and incumbent President Joe Biden.

    It may well turn out that way.

    But in past election cycles, summer polls 15 months before the general election usually did not mean much.

    In December 2003, the CBS poll headline blared, “Dean Pulls Away in Dem Race.” Howard Dean would eventually be clobbered by nominee John Kerry.

    In the Gallup Poll of late June 2007, Hillary Clinton still continued to enjoy her wide lead in the Democratic primary over eventual nominee and elected president Barack Obama.

    On the Republican side, Gallup noted of its summer 2007 polls that, “There has been little serious threat to the frontrunner, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani”—who bombed out early in the race.

    About this time in 2015, Jeb Bush was leading Donald Trump in the Republican primary. Or as CNN characterized their summer poll, “He [Bush] holds a significant lead over the second-place candidate Trump.”

    By January 2016, the favorite, can-do Wisconsin governor Scott Walker was leading all candidates by a substantial margin as they headed for the Iowa caucuses.

    There are lots of reasons to believe that 2024 may prove to be the most volatile race in recent memory.

    Not since 1912 – when third-party ex-president Theodore Roosevelt challenged incumbent President William Howard Taft in a three-way race with Woodrow Wilson – have two presidents run against each other.

    Both, remember, lost that year to the far less experienced Wilson.

    Second, Donald Trump is currently the target of at least four state and federal prosecutors.

    Millions of Americans feel that current and likely future indictments are patently political. The Trump prosecutions would never have gone ahead had he not run for the presidency a third time.

    Leftwing strategists believe that these partisan indictments will earn Trump Republican empathy.

    The legal persecutions supposedly will ensure him the nomination, but then intensify during the 2024 general campaign to bleed him out—ensuring a Democratic victory.

    Perhaps.

    But the Left’s weaponization of the legal system is playing with fire.

    They have no real idea whether their hounding will result in an indicted, inert Trump at election time, or fuel more empathy to empower him over his eventual Democratic rival, regardless of his legal status.

    Or will the nonending legal morass eventually wear out Republican primary voters, resulting in their rage at such unfairness helping another Republican candidate?

    Third, despite Democratic denials, there is mounting evidence—from emails, laptop communications, IRS whistleblowers, testimony from Biden family business associates, and likely bank records—that Joe Biden was directly involved in his son’s illegal activities.

    Yet daily new details elicit only incoherent fury from Biden—especially since he clearly has serially lied that he had no knowledge of his son Hunter’s business misadventures.

    Fourth, not since Woodrow Wilson’s incapacity rendered him bedridden and all but incommunicado for the last 17 months of his presidency, has a president appeared so enfeebled.

    The 80-year-old Biden has fallen repeatedly. He often slurs his words to the point of inaudibility.

    His halting gait radiates frailty.

    Often aides must remind Biden where he is.

    Biden appears frustrated and angry at his increasing cognitive decline—forgetting the names of foreign leaders and close associates.

    To be blunt, Joe Biden is one more serious fall from physical incapacity—and a Vice President Kamala Harris stewardship of his presidency.

    Increasing leftwing leaks and rumors spread alarm about Biden’s legal problems. Liberal writers chart his mental confusion. Progressive columnists decry his treatment of his illegitimate granddaughter.

    Apparently Democratic insiders hope Biden does not run for reelection—but by all accounts must finish his term to prevent a Kamala Harris presidency in either 2023-4 or thereafter.

    So, the leaks of Biden’s impropriety and incapacity are aimed at ensuring Biden does not run in 2024.

    Yet they apparently must not prove actionable enough to abort his current presidency.

    Fifth, the first Republican primary debate is still almost a month away. And debates often have proven the graveyard of sure-thing front-runners.

    Donald Trump has understandably indicated it would be foolish to debate while enjoying a sizable lead in the polls.

    Nevertheless, it is hard to imagine that Trump, a proven and skilled debater, would pass up the stage of a multi-million-person televised audience only to be ritually trashed in absentia on it.

    It is even more difficult to envision a frail Joe Biden holding his own against either Democratic rivals or a Republican contender in the general election.

    Add it all up, and the presidential race is unpredictable with an array of known “unknowns.”

    The only certain fact is that anyone who currently declares the outcomes of the primary races or general election a foregone conclusion is utterly delusional.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 17:00

  • NatGas, Coal, Nuclear Power Save Largest US Grid As Emergency Alert Declared For Second Day
    NatGas, Coal, Nuclear Power Save Largest US Grid As Emergency Alert Declared For Second Day

     Update (1653ET):

    PJM Interconnection is being saved by natural gas, coal, and nuclear power generation as temperatures surpass 100 degrees Fahrenheit across the Mid-Alantic. 

    Power prices surge in some parts of the PJM as customers crank up their air conditioners. 

    PJM’s load forecast is currently around 144,363 megawatts as of 0419 ET. 

    Some say the world is “boiling,” … others might say it’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere. 

    Where is the power generation from renewable sources? It appears that fossil fuels and nuclear power generation are doing the heavy lifting to ensure the grid doesn’t collapse. 

     

    *    *    * 

    Update (Friday):

    PJM Interconnection LLC declared another Energy Emergency Alert Level 1 through Friday. Excessive heat advisories and warnings cover much of PJM’s grid across 13 states, from Illinois to New Jersey, with over 65 million customers. 

    Here’s a map of the PJM grid: 

    The latest National Weather Service data shows that advisories and warnings for heat plague most of PJM’s grid. 

    “PJM has issued these alerts to help prepare generators for the onset of intense heat,” the grid operator said. 

    This is the second day the largest US grid operator declared a level one emergency. On Thursday, PJM’s preliminary peak load was around 148,000 megawatts and is forecasted to peak at around 155,000 megawatts later on Friday.

    PJM expects hot weather to persist through Saturday. Bloomberg data shows average temperatures across the Lower 48 are expected to peak on Saturday and possibly revert to 5-10-30-year averages. Also, notice how the yearly temperature averages have plateaued for the Northern Hemisphere summer. 

    “A Hot Weather Alert helps to prepare transmission and generation personnel and facilities for extreme heat and/or humidity that may cause capacity problems on the grid. Temperatures are expected to be near or above 90 degrees in these regions, which drives up the demand for electricity,” the grid operator said. 

    How did PJM become so unreliable all of a sudden? Well, PJM published a study earlier this year that showed the alarming trend of state and federal decarbonization policies across the grid that “present increasing reliability risks during the transition, due to a potential timing mismatch between resource retirements, load growth and the pace of new generation entry.”

    So before corporate media blames ‘climate change’ for power grid woes, remember decarbonization policies have sparked these instabilities. 

     

    *    *    * 

    A heat wave continues to blast the Midwest, Northeast, and South through the end of the work week, forcing the largest US grid operator to declare a level one emergency for Thursday as tens of millions of people crank up air conditioners to escape scorching temperatures as summer in the Northern Hemisphere peaks. 

    On Wednesday evening, PJM Interconnection LLC declared an Energy Emergency Alert Level 1 in 13 states that stretch from Illinois to New Jersey with over 65 million customers. PJM is concerned about maintaining adequate power reserves on Thursday as power demand is set to soar because of air conditioners. It expects demand to reach 153,286 megawatts as of 1700 ET and has about 186,000 megawatts of generating capacity. 

    The power mix of the grid shows natural gas, coal, and nuclear are doing most of the heavy lifting of 0600 ET. Power prices across the grid appear normal.  

    The surge in above-average temperatures for the Lower 48 is expected to peak on Friday and return to normal levels for this time of the year. According to Bloomberg data, 5-10-30-year average temperatures show the Northern Hemisphere summer has peaked. 

    Before corporate media blames “human-induced climate change” on power grid woes, we must note PJM’s reliability has worsened because of federal and state decarbonization policies. 

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 16:53

  • CRE Troubles: US Office Space Set To Contract For First Time
    CRE Troubles: US Office Space Set To Contract For First Time

    The US has nearly 1 billion square feet of empty office space, according to commercial real estate services company JLL. Things could worsen in the CRE market (mainly office) in the coming quarters due to the Federal Reserve’s 16 months of aggressive interest rate hikes. This will continue to pressure property owners who have built their real estate empires on a mountain of debt, potentially triggering a wave of delinquencies and defaults due to high borrowing costs. All this is happening when the office sector is already struggling with reduced demand due to the proliferation of remote work, as well as some companies fleeing progressive metro areas because of soaring violent crime. 

    The latest sign the office sector has not hit bottom and values unlikely to return to pre-pandemic peaks this decade is the total amount of US office space is set to decline for the first time in history, according to Bloomberg, citing new data from JLL. 

    A lack of new construction and a plethora of aging office space being repurposed or destroyed will lower the amount of office space, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. Less than 5 million square feet (465,000 square meters) of new offices broke ground in the US so far this year, while 14.7 million square feet has been removed, often to be converted into buildings for other uses.

    That would mark the first net decline in data going back to 2000, JLL reported, adding that it’s most likely the first ever. –Bloomberg

    This means demolitions and conversions of these worthless assets are underway to correct the supply imbalance. 

    Things are so bad in New York City that 26 Empire State Buildings could fit all the empty office space in the metro area, according to the chair of Harvard Economics Department, Edward Glaeser and MIT’s Carlo Ratti.

    Parts of San Francisco have been transformed into a ghost town as office vacancy rates soar.

    Many downtown districts across major cities in the US are effectively ghost towns as office vacancy rates soar. This has rippled across local communities, forcing retail shops to close because of declining foot traffic. 

    In Baltimore City’s Inner Harbor district, things are so bad that office towers are being dumped at massive losses or reassessed at half the values. 

    We first pointed out the CRE dominos would begin to fall just days after the regional bank failures in March. We wrote in a note titled “Nowhere To Hide In CMBS”: CRE Nuke Goes Off With Small Banks Accounting For 70% Of Commercial Real Estate Loans. 

    Across the nation, underperforming CRE office towers and buildings will be sold or reassessed at massive discounts. Many will be demolished, and some will be converted, as the ‘Great CRE Office Reset’ is underway. 

    Let’s remember there’s a multi-trillion-dollar CRE debt maturity wall over the next five years, according to Morgan Stanley.  

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 07/28/2023 – 16:40

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