Today’s News 30th April 2022

• China And Russia's "Space War": Where Is The US?
  China And Russia’s “Space War”: Where Is The US?

  Authored by Judith Bergman via The Gatestone Institute,

  • “Evidence of both nations’ intent to undercut the United States and allied leadership in the space domain can be seen in the growth of combined in-orbit assets of China and Russia, which grew approximately 70% in just two years.” — Kevin Ryder, senior analyst at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) for space and counterspace, Air Force Magazine April 12, 2022.

  • Space has already become the scene of an ongoing “shadow war” in which China and Russia conduct attacks against U.S. satellites with lasers, radiofrequency jammers, and cyber-attacks every day, according to General David Thompson, the U.S. Space Force’s first vice chief of space operations.

  • “The threats are really growing and expanding every single day…. We’re really at a point now where there’s a whole host of ways that our space systems can be threatened…. Hostile action toward our space-based assets is not a question of ‘if,’ but instead, ‘when.'” — General David Thompson, Washington Post, November 30, 2021.

  • “Fifteen years after China’s ASAT strike, we still lack the ability to defeat an attack on our space systems or launch an offensive strike if circumstances warrant.” — US Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton (Ret.), former commander of U.S. Strategic Command and Air Force Space Command, The Hill, April 12, 2022.

  • “The PLA [People’s Liberation Army] will continue to integrate space services… to erode the U.S. military’s information advantage.” — Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, February 2022.

  • “If deterrence were to fail, we would face an adversary that has integrated space into all aspects of their military operations…. Space provides the foundation of everything we do as a joint force, from delivering humanitarian assistance to combat on the ground, in the air, and at sea…. We cannot afford to lose space; without it we will fail.” — General John W. Raymond, U.S. Chief of Space Operations, Space Force News, April 5, 2022.

  Space has already become the scene of an ongoing “shadow war” in which China and Russia conduct attacks against U.S. satellites with lasers, radiofrequency jammers, and cyber-attacks every day, according to General David Thompson, the U.S. Space Force’s first vice chief of space operations.

  

  Pictured: A Long March 3B rocket, carrying the Beidou-3GEO3 satellite, lifts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China’s Sichuan province on June 23, 2020. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)

  Space-based threats from China and Russia have grown exponentially in recent years, according to a new report on the issue by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), published April 12.

  “Evidence of both nations’ intent to undercut the United States and allied leadership in the space domain can be seen in the growth of combined in-orbit assets of China and Russia, which grew approximately 70% in just two years,” noted Kevin Ryder, DIA senior analyst for space and counterspace.

  “This recent and continuing expansion follows a more than 200% increase between 2015 and 2018.”

  “Space is a warfighting domain now,” said Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall in April.

  “China’s long-standing and extensive modernization program is the greatest challenge… Although China is the Department’s pacing challenge, we also regard Russia as an acute threat.”

  Space has already become the scene of an ongoing “shadow war” in which China and Russia conduct attacks against U.S. satellites with lasers, radio frequency jammers, and cyber-attacks every day, according to General David Thompson, the U.S. Space Force’s first vice chief of space operations. The attacks are “reversible” for now, which means that the damage to the attacked satellites is not permanent, but they amply demonstrate the intentions and abilities of the two main competitors of the United States in space.

  “The threats are really growing and expanding every single day. And it’s really an evolution of activity that’s been happening for a long time,” Thompson said in November 2021. “We’re really at a point now where there’s a whole host of ways that our space systems can be threatened.”

  China leads by far over Russia. “The Chinese are actually well ahead [of Russia],” according to Thompson. “They’re fielding operational systems at an incredible rate.” Some of those systems are ground-based, such as anti-satellite missiles (ASAT) and lasers intended to blind, damage, or destroy satellites. Others are space-based, such as orbiting “killer” satellites programmed to attack other satellites at a certain point in time, whether with blinding lasers, robotic arms or other means meant to destroy or incapacitate. According to the Pentagon’s 2021 report to Congress on China’s military capabilities:

  “The PLA continues to acquire and develop a range of counterspace capabilities and related technologies, including kinetic-kill missiles, ground-based lasers, and orbiting space robots, as well as expanding space surveillance capabilities, which can monitor objects in space within their field of view and enable counterspace actions.”

  In January 2007, China tested its first successful ASAT, destroying one of its own inactive weather satellites and creating one of the world’s largest space debris incidents. According to the Pentagon’s 2021 report:

  “The PRC has an operational ground-based Anti-Satellite (ASAT) missile intended to target low-Earth orbit satellites, and China probably intends to pursue additional ASAT weapons capable of destroying satellites up to geosynchronous Earth orbit”.

  Russia tested another ASAT in November 2021, during which it successfully destroyed one of its inactive Soviet-era satellites, creating 1,500 pieces of debris in what General Thompson has called an “incredibly dangerous and irresponsible act.” The ASAT was part of Russia’s mobile missile defense complex known as Nudol, which, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency’s new report, is “capable of destroying ballistic missiles and low-orbiting satellites.” Russia is reportedly also developing an air-launched ASAT weapon that could be launched from aircraft, such as the Russian MiG-31, to target spacecraft in low earth orbit.

  What is concerning is that the US appears to be at a grave disadvantage countering such attacks. “Fifteen years after China’s ASAT strike, we still lack the ability to defeat an attack on our space systems or launch an offensive strike if circumstances warrant,” Retired US Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, former commander of U.S. Strategic Command and Air Force Space Command, noted.

  “Hostile action toward our space-based assets is not a question of ‘if,’ but instead, ‘when.’ Attacks are regularly occurring at lower thresholds. Our adversaries fully understand the U.S. military’s reliance upon these systems and will seek to compromise or destroy them to gain a decisive advantage in any terrestrial conflict… The goal is to develop resilient, defendable capabilities that can withstand an attack, while also developing offensive options that will deter strikes against our systems in orbit.”

  While China has made it a goal to become the world’s leading space power by 2045, China could overtake the United States by the end of the decade, according to General Thompson — especially because China is putting up satellites at twice the rate of the United States.

  “We are still the best in the world, clearly in terms of capability. They’re catching up quickly… We should be concerned by the end of this decade if we don’t adapt.”

  In addition, China’s space station, Tinangong, is expected to become fully operational between 2022 and 2024. Three Chinese astronauts, one of them a former fighter pilot and another a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) pilot, just landed back in China after spending six months in space working on the space station. China plans to continue conducting explorations on the moon, including establishing a robotic research station, and in March 2021 signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia on a joint lunar research station.

  The latest threat assessment report of the US intelligence community, published in February, also makes it clear that while both Russia and China “increasingly see space as a warfighting domain”, the greater threat comes from China. According to the report:

  “The PLA will continue to integrate space services—such as satellite reconnaissance and positioning, navigation, and timing—and satellite communications into its weapons and command-and-control systems to erode the U.S. military’s information advantage.

  “Counterspace operations will be integral to potential military campaigns by the PLA, and China has counterspace-weapons capabilities intended to target U.S. and allied satellites. The PLA is fielding new destructive and nondestructive ground- and space-based antisatellite (ASAT) weapons.”

  In a recent speech, U.S. Chief of Space Operations General John W. Raymond described just how crucial space is to warfare and why it is paramount that the United States remain the preeminent space power:

  “If deterrence were to fail, we would face an adversary that has integrated space into all aspects of their military operations. They use space to detect, track, and target our forces with long-range precision weapons. Space provides the foundation of everything we do as a joint force, from delivering humanitarian assistance to combat on the ground, in the air, and at sea. Our joint operational plans assume assured access to space. … We cannot afford to lose space; without it we will fail.”

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 23:40

• How Far Are We From Phasing Out Coal?
  How Far Are We From Phasing Out Coal?

  At the COP26 conference last year, 40 nations agreed to phase coal out of their energy mixes.

  However, as Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti details below, despite this, in 2021, coal-fired electricity generation reached all-time highs globally, showing that eliminating coal from the energy mix will not be a simple task.

  This infographic shows the aggressive phase-out of coal power that would be required in order to reach net zero goals by 2050, based on an analysis by Ember that uses data provided by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

  

  Low-Cost Comes at a High Environmental Cost

  Coal-powered electricity generation rose by 9.0% in 2021 to 10,042 Terawatt-hours (TWh), marking the biggest percentage rise since 1985.

  The main reason is cost. Coal is the world’s most affordable energy fuel. Unfortunately, low-cost energy comes at a high cost for the environment, with coal being the largest source of energy-related CO2 emissions.

  China has the highest coal consumption, making up 54% of the world’s coal electricity generation. The country’s consumption jumped 12% between 2010 and 2020, despite coal making up a lower percentage of the country’s energy mix in relative terms.

  

  Together, China and India account for 66% of global coal consumption and emit about 35% of the world’s greenhouse gasses (GHG). If you add the United States to the mix, this goes up to 72% of coal consumption and 49% of GHGs.

  How Urgent is to Phase Out Coal?

  According to the United Nations, emissions from current and planned fossil energy infrastructure are already more than twice the amount that would push the planet over 1.5°C of global heating, a level that scientists say could bring more intense heat, fire, storms, flooding, and drought than the present 1.2°C.

  Apart from being the largest source of CO2 emissions, coal combustion is also a major threat to public health because of the fine particulate matter released into the air.

  As just one example of this impact, a recent study from Harvard University estimates air pollution from fossil fuel combustion is responsible for 1 in 5 deaths globally.

  The Move to Renewables

  Coal-powered electricity generation must fall by 13% every year until 2030 to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goals of keeping global heating to only 1.5 degrees.

  To reach the mark, countries would need to speed up the shift from their current carbon-intensive pathways to renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

  How fast the transition away from coal will be achieved depends on a complicated balance between carbon emissions cuts and maintaining economic growth, the latter of which is still largely dependent on coal power.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 23:20

• New Jan. 6 Bodycam Videos Show DC Police Officer Assaulting Unconscious Protester
  New Jan. 6 Bodycam Videos Show DC Police Officer Assaulting Unconscious Protester

  Authored by Joseph M. Hanneman via The Epoch Times,

  A District of Columbia police officer used a large wooden stick to strike the body and head of protester Rosanne Boyland three times as she lay motionless on the ground on Jan. 6, 2021, according to bodycam footage from several officers obtained by The Epoch Times.

  Use-of-force expert Stanley Kephart, upon reviewing the previously unreleased footage, concluded that the three full-force blows by D.C. police officer Lila Morris constituted a felony assault with intent to cause great bodily harm.

  Kephart called Morris’s use of force “indefensible” and the internal-affairs investigation of Boyland’s death a “clear and convincing coverup.”

  “I think that the first thing that occurred is an assault under the color of authority by Morris,” Kephart told The Epoch Times. “That is a crime, an arrestable offense.”

  Police at the mouth of the Lower West Terrace tunnel at the U.S. Capitol ignored dozens of pleas to help Boyland after she collapsed, the videos show.

  When a lifeless Boyland was pulled inside the building more than 10 minutes later, other police and EMS personnel began 50 minutes of life-saving efforts that ultimately failed.

  An independent forensic pathologist hired by the Boyland family contends that her cause of death wasn’t an overdose of the prescription drug Adderall—as reported by the D.C. medical examiner—but manual asphyxia. Boyland was crushed under a pile of people when police gassed protesters and pushed them out of the tunnel at about 4:20 p.m. on Jan. 6.

  ‘Under the Color of Authority’

  Kephart, a 42-year law enforcement veteran and former director of security for the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, reviewed Boyland’s case at the request of The Epoch Times. He has testified as a witness more than 350 times on topics including excessive force, police discipline, officer safety, and crowd control.

  Kephart concluded that Morris’s use of force was a felonious “assault under the color of authority,” with intent to cause great bodily harm. He said that Morris should be prosecuted in criminal court and fired from the D.C. Metro police force.

  “I believe two things were in operation here. One was anger at this person,” Kephart said, referring to Boyland. “That was overridden by fear. And those two elements were the causal connection between what was done to the person by the officer and the result.”

  

  The force used against Boyland fails a four-part standard set in the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court case Graham v. Connor, Kephart said: whether force was ever needed and appropriate in the situation, the extent of the injury, and “whether the force was applied in a good-faith manner to maintain and restore discipline, or maliciously and sadistically.”

  Police are trained not to strike people in the head with a blunt object. In the West Terrace tunnel, something overcame that training, Kephart said.

  “If you have a trained officer who is angry at what the crowd is doing and the crowd rises up and puts him in a position where he feels his personal safety is compromised, fear begins to take over the anger, and the reflexive response throws the training right out the window,” Kephart said.

  Chief Robert Contee of the Metropolitan Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment. A message left with the department’s public information office wasn’t returned.

  

  One protester who allegedly used the same wooden stick to strike and jab at police in the terrace tunnel was charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon. Jonathan Mellis was charged in a 10-count indictment on March 10, 2021. He pleaded not guilty. Mellis is being held in jail pending trial.

  Police Ignored Pleas for Help

  Police bodycam video shows protesters begging officers to render life-saving aid to Boyland from the moment she collapsed at the mouth of the tunnel. The pleas grew more desperate as it became apparent Boyland was dying. That sparked a violent backlash from rioters, who attacked the police line with fists, flag poles, sticks, and a whisk broom.

  “There’s people under here!” shouted Justin Winchell, Boyland’s friend who accompanied her to Washington that day. “There’s people trapped under here!”

  A protester right at the police line who was bleeding from a baton strike to the head pointed to Boyland and pleaded for help. “Get her up. Get her up! Get her up, please,” the man urged. “Save her life! Save her life, please!”

  One officer used his baton and boots to push five protesters on top of Boyland, bodycam video shows. “Please get her up! She’s gonna die!” Winchell shouted.

  There was the sound of a female coughing as a battle raged above and around Boyland. The coughing stopped at 4:26:04 p.m., according to a timeline developed by The Epoch Times from police bodycam footage. A few seconds later, the large crowd on the terrace began chanting, “I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!”

  “My God! She’s dead! She’s dead! Rose!” Winchell cried at 4:26:52 p.m. “Rosanne! I need somebody! She’s dead! … I need somebody! I need medics!”

  Just shy of 4:28 p.m., protester Luke Coffee of Dallas stepped to the front of the police line, held up his hand, and shouted, “Stop!” He was squirted in the face with pepper spray but maintained his position.

  A rioter threw a large wooden stick at Morris from out in the crowd. At the time, Morris was in the tunnel, crouching behind a protester who had his arms covering his head.

  3 Strikes

  Morris picked up the wooden stick, raised it over her head, and struck Coffee on the right elbow, bodycam video shows. She aimed a second strike at Coffee but missed.

  The video then shows that Morris raised the stick over her head with both hands and unleashed three quick hits to Boyland’s body: one to the ribs and two to the head. The second blow to the head drew a horrified reaction from Winchell.

  The wooden stick flew from Morris’s left hand as she wound up for another strike on Boyland, the videos show. Morris whiffed in her final attempted hit. The stick ricocheted off the tunnel arch and flew over Morris’s head.

  Coffee reached down and picked up an aluminum crutch that had been thrown at police several times during the afternoon. He held the crutch over his head for several seconds, then used it like a plow to push the police line back into the tunnel several feet.

  As Coffee pushed the police line back, bystanders dragged Boyland down several steps and began CPR. Nearly three minutes later, they carried her directly in front of the police line and continued doing CPR. No officers moved to lend assistance.

  At 4:31 p.m., Boyland was dragged by officers to the back of the tunnel and inside the Capitol. In the process, she lost her jeans, backpack, and top, leaving her clothed only in leggings, according to bodycam video.

  

  A SWAT team member in a green tactical uniform began CPR. The D.C. Fire and EMS Department was summoned. Within a few minutes, a team of six to eight first responders was working to resuscitate Boyland. She was hooked to an automated external defibrillator.

  Morris watched the resuscitation efforts. At 4:38 p.m., her bodycam captures a female voice—likely Morris—asking, “Is he dead?”

  Boyland was loaded onto a makeshift gurney and wheeled to the east wing of the Capitol to meet a medical transport unit from D.C. Fire and EMS.

  “When we got into the Capitol, they had her on some sort of dolly or pull cart, and they were pulling her down the hallway towards us,” Capt. Ellen Kurland, an EMS supervisor, said in a Jan. 6 documentary produced by DC Fire and EMS. “We worked her for 30 minutes, and she had been down 20 minutes before we were even able to get to her.”

  Boyland was put on an IV and given epinephrine every four minutes to stimulate her heart. The rescue squad requested approval to depart for The George Washington University Hospital at 5:10 p.m. “Authorization was not granted,” read a summary of records obtained by the Boyland family.

  The records don’t indicate why the ambulance wasn’t allowed to leave the Capitol for a half-hour after requesting approval. A message from The Epoch Times left at the D.C. Metro Fire and EMS Department hasn’t been returned.

  The ambulance finally left the Capitol at 5:40 p.m. for the one-mile trip to the hospital. Due to traffic and road closures, the ambulance didn’t arrive at the emergency room until 6 p.m. Boyland was pronounced dead at 6:09 p.m.

  “We are not 100 percent [certain of] when she actually passed, but agree it was in that time frame [4:21 to 4:26 p.m.] and probably before Lila Morris got hold of that stick,” Bret Boyland, Rosanne’s father, told The Epoch Times. “No matter whether Rosanne was alive or not, we were shocked and appalled at the officer’s attack.”

  ‘Objectively Reasonable’

  Troubled by the contradictions in the Boyland case, Gary McBride of Decatur, Texas, filed an excessive-force complaint against Morris with the Metropolitan Police Department in September 2021.

  “I don’t condone what happened at the Capitol, and I don’t condone the beating of anyone who is defenseless either,” McBride wrote to the D.C. Metro Internal Affairs Bureau on Sept. 14. “It doesn’t matter if you are a protester, preacher, or politician; you should be held accountable for your actions.”

  Two months later, in November 2021, Capt. David K. Augustine wrote to McBride and said, “The use of force within this investigation was determined to be objectively reasonable.”

  Cause of Death Disputed

  The D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner performed an autopsy on Boyland on Jan. 7, 2021. The cause of death was ruled amphetamine intoxication. Boyland’s family questioned that conclusion.

  Boyland had a prescription for Adderall, a medication used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). There was no visual evidence or witness statements to indicate any signs the drug impaired her on Jan. 6.

  

  The Boyland family hired Park Dietz & Associates to review the autopsy findings. The Park Dietz forensic pathologist agreed that the manner of death was an accident but concluded Boyland’s death was caused by manual asphyxia. Boyland was cremated, so a new autopsy was not possible.

  “Compressional asphyxia refers to a situation in which pressure exerted on the chest or back of an individual impedes normal breathing and often leaves no diagnostic physical findings,” read a summary of the Park Dietz report provided to The Epoch Times by the Boyland family.

  Amphetamine toxicity “was not the proximate cause of Ms. Boyland’s death, although it cannot be ruled in or out as a contributory factor,” the pathologist wrote. “The circumstances surrounding Ms. Boyland’s death are not consistent with a drug overdose as the proximate cause and cannot be ignored.”

  The original autopsy didn’t note any evidence of injury, except for a four-inch bruise on her right forearm. However, bodycam footage of Boyland being dragged from the tunnel entrance at 4:31 p.m. shows what appears to be a wound on her forehead. Another bodycam view seems to show a long red mark starting on the lower section of her left rib cage.

  Winchell told an Atlanta television station in 2021 that Boyland developed a nosebleed after the officer struck her in the face with the walking stick.

  “I want you to hear me: She was already blue, and the Capitol police—I kid you not—had been hitting everyone with batons and stuff, understandably,” Winchell said.

  “But I’m talking, she is laid out, maybe dead at this point, but they hit her at least two times in the body. And then they hit her once in the face, once right here in her nose, and some blood started coming out of her nose.”

  

  According to the autopsy, Boyland suffered left and right anterior rib fractures, but those were likely caused by CPR compressions, the Park Dietz report said. The report noted no evidence that a beating or traumatic injury contributed to her death.

  “This does not mean that she was not beaten by a police officer, only that she was already deceased at that time,” the Boyland family said in a statement.

  The report said it’s unclear what role chemical irritants sprayed by police and protesters might have had on Boyland’s death. Videos show mace dripping off the clothing of protesters near the police line.

  “Please stop pepper spraying,” an unknown man near Boyland pleaded at 4:26 p.m. “Her lungs are full of it.”

  Police used an unknown gas on protesters in the tunnel at 4:20 p.m. According to security video, a loud explosion was heard seconds beforehand, causing many protesters in the tunnel to drop to the ground.

  Chemical agents such as pyrotechnic oleoresin capsicum, delivered via an exploding munition, work primarily on the lungs. Witnesses in the tunnel described feeling like the oxygen was sucked from the air, making it impossible to breathe. The response was panic.

  Kephart said crowd-control munitions were a mistake in such a tight and crowded space.

  “If you’re using gas munitions to cause the air to be saturated with a gas displacing the oxygen, and causes them to panic and pass out, thereby clogging the ability for them to disperse because they’re passed out, you have created and worsened the problem,” Kephart said.

  “This is an absolute symptom of a lack of proper training. This offends common sense.”

  Police can allow fear to overcome their training in high-stress situations, but so can crowds like the one in the West Terrace tunnel.

  “The same thing is true with the crowds: If fear [strikes], they do the wrong thing,” he said. “They either drop-down, or they try to flee. And in attempting to do either of those two options, they worsen the circumstance in crowd compaction.”

  Birthday Filled With Sadness

  April 26 was a sad day at the Georgia home of Bret and Cheryl Boyland. Their late daughter Rosanne would have turned 36. Instead of enjoying a birthday celebration, the Boyland family had to confront the grief that has been ever-present since the night of Jan. 6, 2021.

  Rosanne’s parents struggle with many lingering questions about her death. Among them is the exact time their daughter died. Bret Boyland said that based on the review of Rosanne’s autopsy and other factors, he believes she died between 4:21 p.m. and 4:25 p.m.

  A review of video and audio from police bodycams identified a series of female coughs between 4:25:34 and 4:26:04. Boyland said the coughs were too short for him to tell if they came from his daughter.

  Bodycam and security video of Boyland’s time in the Capitol before being taken to the hospital provided some comfort to her family.

  “We were glad to get details of life-saving efforts after she was dragged into the Capitol,” Bret Boyland said. “She just got that attention too late.”

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 23:00

• Streaming Accounts For Just 30% Of US TV Screen-Time
  Streaming Accounts For Just 30% Of US TV Screen-Time

  When Netflix reported its first-ever subscriber drop in its latest earnings report, the company went into some detail on how it sees its growth prospects in the longer term.

  But, as Statista’s Feliz Richter points out, among other things, the company shared an interesting piece of information with respect to its position in the competitive landscape in the United States: Netflix’s share of total TV viewing in the U.S. has been “steady to up,” the company said quoting Nielsen data, despite the launch of several new streaming services.

  Perhaps more importantly though, streaming as a whole is still at the beginning of the road, despite commanding a fair share of the conversation surrounding TV content, especially among younger audiences.

  According to a monthly Nielsen report called “The Gauge”, streaming accounted for just 30 percent of total TV screen time in March 2022, with linear TV (i.e. cable and broadcast) still dominating video consumption on the big screen.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  While cable is still far ahead of streaming at 37 percent of TV usage, broadcast has actually been overtaken, accounting for just 25 percent of TV consumption.

  Breaking down the streaming total by individual service reveals how much room to grow there still is for Netflix, YouTube and the like.

  At 7 percent of TV screen time, Netflix is the leader of the streaming pack, ahead of YouTube (6 percent) and Hulu (3 percent).

  “Considering that we are less mature in other countries and that this excludes mobile screens (where we believe our share of engagement is even lower), we are confident that we have a long runway for growth,” Netflix wrote in a letter to shareholders last July.

  Looking at the age gap in TV consumption, the future does indeed look bright for streaming services.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 22:40

• These Are The World's Biggest Shipping Hubs
  These Are The World’s Biggest Shipping Hubs

  The volume of goods transported around the globe by container ships has increased continuously in recent years.

  As Statista’s Katharina Buchholz details below, according to data from the Hong Kong Marine Department shows that ports in Asia, especially in China, are increasingly dominating the industry.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  In 2005, there were still two European and one North American port in the ranking of the biggest shipping hubs in the world.

  In 2021, only Rotterdam remained in the top 10 – in the bottom rank.

  

  Asian ports have grown at a fast rate in recent years. In addition to several Chinese ports, Singapore and Busan in South Korea also make the top 10 ranking. In Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand, completely new shipping hubs have emerged.

  In contrast to the production of goods, the increases in port size in Asia are not an indication that the Asian port technology itself in more innovative, faster or more competitive. According to experts, the development of port infrastructure simply reflects the growth in trade flows.

  Maritime shipping suffered setbacks in the coronavirus crisis as supply chains around the globe were disrupted. Shipping volumes initially declined as factories in Asian production hubs closed down, only to be overstretched as restocking needs in receiving countries caused a shipping boom later in the pandemic.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 22:00

• Hundreds Of CDC Employees Still Haven't Received COVID-19 Vaccine
  Hundreds Of CDC Employees Still Haven’t Received COVID-19 Vaccine

  Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Nearly 400 employees at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) haven’t received a COVID-19 vaccine, according to data obtained exclusively by The Epoch Times.

  

  A total of 382 workers at the CDC are unvaccinated, Roger Andoh, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) officer at the agency, told The Epoch Times.

  Another nine employees have just had one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, meaning they also don’t qualify as fully vaccinated per the CDC’s guidelines.

  Collectively, the number is 3.2 percent of the CDC’s workforce.

  Andoh initially pointed to a statement from the government that contained data as of December 2021 and declined to fully answer The Epoch Times’ FOIA request, which asked for more detailed figures that were current as of March 15.

  “Please note that this is the most recent and most complete data available and some data elements that you requested are not available,” Andoh said initially.

  When asked to clarify, another CDC officer repeated Andoh’s statement.

  After The Epoch Times filed an appeal to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the CDC’s parent agency, the office changed its stance without explaining why.

  “After an additional search, we are providing you with the following information,” Andoh said in the new response.

  “The response I got to your appeal from CDC gave me the impression they didn’t mean to withhold any information in the first place,” Jonathan Nelson, a FOIA analyst with HHS, told The Epoch Times in an email. “Based on that, my (personal) belief is that this was just an accidental omission on their part.”

  In addition to revealing that 391 employees weren’t fully vaccinated, the CDC said that 12,399 were fully vaccinated, meaning that they had received two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson jab.

  Additionally, 5,810 employees shared that they had received a booster dose, although the agency stressed that employees don’t have to say whether they’ve had a booster.

  The CDC also disclosed that the agency had granted zero requests for exemption to President Joe Biden’s federal worker vaccine mandate, which is poised to take effect on May 31 after a months-long suspension due to a court ruling.

  The CDC’s media office didn’t reply when asked what would happen to unvaccinated workers who don’t have an exemption, and why no exemptions had been granted.

  The data were current as of April 12.

  Three other health agencies inside HHS that are deeply involved in promoting COVID-19 vaccination and refused to provide data beyond December 2021 still have not provided the figures requested. They are the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the National Institutes of Health.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 21:40

• Inspired By Tyler Durden, "Fight Club Thailand" Has No Rules 
  Inspired By Tyler Durden, “Fight Club Thailand” Has No Rules 

  Most films made over the last two decades have been long forgotten except for the movie “Fight Club.” The constant theme of this movie is the globalist system has transformed men into cowards. Here’s Tyler Durden (one of the movie characters):

  “We’re consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don’t concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy’s name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra.”

  Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) is a fictional character imagined by a depressed white-collar man (Edward Norton) who has insomnia. Durden persuades the narrator (Norton) to punch him to be jolted into the present so he can feel a swell in his masculinity. And so they begin to beat each other, which is the origin of the fight club. 

  Soon after, Norton becomes confident and aggressive and doesn’t miss his possessions. Other men become attracted to Norton’s alpha perception and gather in secret locations to fight each other, seeking to tap their untapped masculine energy that has been depressed by modern society. 

  Two decades later, halfway around the world, young men seeking to reclaim their masculinity are fighting in an underground club in Bangkok, Thailand, according to AFP. 

  

  Inspired by the movie, “Fight Club Thailand” allows shirtless men to brawl against each other in one round increment lasting three minutes per round, where anything goes. 

  “Here, you don’t have to know how to fight. You just need to have heart and that’s it,” club co-founder Chana Worasart told AFP. 

  

  Worasart said he started the club in 2016, inspired mainly by Tyler Durden. 

  “I think the popularity is due to a variety of occupations and fighting styles that are different from the styles in the (professional) ring,” he said.

  The fighters are everyday people from Bangkok and surrounding areas who want to unleash their inner masculinity in a fighting ring surrounded by old rusted shipping containers with a homemade backcloth banner on one that reads in bold white capitalized words: FightClub. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 21:20

• Who Is The Hero? Albright Vs. Assange
  Who Is The Hero? Albright Vs. Assange

  Authored by Lawrence Davidson via Consortium News,

  Our image of a hero has two aspects. The first consists of generic, stereotypical traits: bravery, determination in the face of adversity, achievement against heavy odds — the kind of person who saves the day.

  The second aspect is more culturally specific, describing and contextualizing the circumstances of bravery and determination, and the nature of achievement in terms that are narrowly defined. In other words, cultural descriptions of bravery are most often expressed in terms compatible with the social and political conditions of the hero’s society.

  

  Heroes are ubiquitous. For instance, there are American heroes, Russian heroes, Israeli heroes, Arab heroes, Ukrainian heroes, and so on. Where does good and bad come into it? Well, that too becomes a cultural judgment. Below are two examples of “heroes.” I will leave it to the reader to decide who is good and who is bad.

  Albright —From Outside the Establishment

  Madeleine Albright was the first woman to serve as American secretary of state (1997-2001). She served in this capacity under President Bill Clinton during his second term. As such, she must be seen as a loyal promoter of her president’s foreign policy — a policy she may have helped create — regardless of any moral or ethical considerations. In other words, she is a “company” point person.

  Whether this requires bravery is questionable. As we will see, it will require a persistence toward a single end defined in societal or national terms. This does indicate determination and achievement in the face of an alleged foe.

  When Madeleine Albright died in 2022, the following “achievements” were critically cited in the obituaries written by those outside the establishment and thus critical of Albright:

  1. Russia was “her obsession” and this led to her being the U.S. government’s point person on the expansion of NATO eastward into what had been the Soviet sphere of influence. This was done in violation of guarantees given to Russia in 1989 that NATO would not go further than the border of the newly united Germany — an act that helped prepare the ground for the present war in Ukraine.
  2. In 1997-1998, acting as secretary of state, she threatened Iraq with aerial bombardment if its government did not allow for weapons inspections at designated sites. The Iraqis eventually complied but got bombed anyway.
  3. She also made sure draconian sanctions were applied (including banning many medicines) to Iraq for an extended period of time. The result was the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians, including 500,000 Iraqi children. When asked by the journalist Lesley Stahl on the TV show 60 Minutes whether the draconian sanctions were worth the price of the deaths of approximately a half-million Iraqi children, she replied, “we think this was a very hard choice, but the price—we think the price is worth it.”

  This led one critic of the U.S. government to judge Albright’s career as follows:

  “It is the ultimate moral crime to target for misery, pain and death those least responsible for the offenses of their tyrannical rulers. Yet this is the very policy Madeleine Albright, made “Standard Operating Procedure for US diplomacy.”

  Albright — From Inside the Establishment

  From inside the establishment, that is, from inside the U.S. government and foreign policy establishment as well as an allied media, she was lauded as a dedicated, talented and energetic leader.

  

  One member of the House of Representatives said upon her death,

  “Our nation lost a hero today. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was the face of US foreign policy throughout some of the most difficult times for our nation and the world. … She brought nations together to expand NATO and defend the very pillars of democracy across the world. … She taught us that we can solve some of the world’s most difficult issues by bringing people together and having tough, uncomfortable conversations.”

  According to the eulogistic obituary published by The New York Times, 

  “Her performance as secretary of state won high marks from career diplomats abroad and ordinary Americans at home. Admirers said she had a star quality, radiating practicality, versatility and a refreshingly cosmopolitan flair.”

  What can we conclude from these contrasting views? We quickly come to realize that inside the establishment one rarely, if ever, hears any reference to such things as the human cost of a policy, the end of which is defined in terms of national interest. In the case of Madelene Albright, national interest trumped human interest. Still, she was held a hero nonetheless.

  Assange & Manning 

  Julian Assange is an Australian computer specialist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. It is a website dedicated to providing “primary source materials” to journalists and the public alike.

  WikiLeaks eventually released “thousands of internal or classified documents from an assortment of government and business entities.” The site raised immediate hostility from many governments and corporations, which decried the “lack of ethics” of Assange and his fellows — who were exposing the often unethical, and sometimes murderous, behavior of those now attacking the website.

  Bradley (aka Chelsea) Manning was an Army intelligence specialist assigned to a base near Baghdad during the Iraq War. Manning was suffering from a gender identity crisis. He also had serious second thoughts about the Iraq War.

  Eventually, his growing opposition to the war led him to secretly send Assange “750,000 classified, or unclassified but sensitive, military and diplomatic documents.” Manning was later exposed and arrested, court-martialed and eventually had his sentence commuted by President Barack Obama.

  From Inside the Establishment

  As the writer and therapist Steven Berglas observes,

  “for as long as there have been moral canaries in our societal coal mines they have been denigrated for being as corrupt, or more so, than the miscreants they attack.”

  Assange and Manning face just such charges.

  The complaints were, if you will, weaponized in 2010 after WikiLeaks released “half a million documents” relating to U.S. actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, obtained from the then young, disillusioned Army intelligence analyst Manning. This was followed by another release of about a quarter-million U.S. diplomatic cables, many of which were classified.

  Assange was now deemed “a terrorist” by the government terrorists he had exposed. Subsequently, these actions were deemed “a threat to U.S. national security” by the U.S. government. As a result, Manning was jailed and suffered court-martial while Assange, now living in England, has been fighting extradition to the U.S. for years.

  From inside the establishment both Assange and Manning are criminals. Both exposed secrets of governments and it is an established principle that states cannot run without secrets. This is partially because all states sometimes act in criminal ways. To expose these episodes is deemed more criminal than criminal acts of the states. Why so? Because governments say so and design their laws accordingly.

  This rather arbitrary position taken by governments has been sold to the citizenry as necessary for the security of their state, but as we see, the consequences of WikiLeaks’mass release of classified documents has not been shown to have endangered the nation in any obvious way. Nonetheless, Assange and Manning are deemed criminals for setting a precedent that threatens other potential criminals employed by state and business.

  From Outside the Establishment 

  Outside the establishment the view is 180 degrees in the other direction. Again, to quote Steven Berglas

  “whistleblowers are rare, courageous birds that should be considered national treasures not disgraces.… It is clear that most snitches have more integrity–-and are infinitely more altruistic-than their government or corporate counterparts.”

  For instance, according to journalist Glenn Greenwald, Manning is “a consummate hero, and deserves a medal and our collective gratitude, not decades in prison.” At court-martial, Manning stated that the leaked material to WikiLeaks was intended to…

  “spark a domestic debate of the role of the military and foreign policy in general… and cause society to reevaluate the need and even desire to engage in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations that ignore their effect on people who live in that environment every day.”

  A heroic act, but also perhaps a naive one.

  The Issue of Ethics

  Governmental leaders and their aides often reserve for themselves the right to do illegal things such as

  • using sanctions that undermine opposition governments while ignoring the negative consequences on the wellbeing of civilian populations;
  • aiding and abetting coups that overthrow democratic and undemocratic governments alike, depending on how, in each case, Washington sees their economic and military stance; and
  • carrying out of illegal actions such as assassination, torture, and illegal imprisonment. All of this is immoral and unethical while being deemed necessary within the context of national interest.

  Nonetheless the common citizen, who lives within what we shall call a propaganda bubble spun by his/her own government and its cooperating mainstream media, has a hard time understanding events except in propaganda designed terms.

  Madeleine Albright’s funeral buried her legacy of war-making and extraordinary deceit

  The word “Iraq” was not mentioned once during the 3 hour celebration of the imperial icon, writes @samhusseini https://t.co/liQemhfFbD

  — The Grayzone (@TheGrayzoneNews) April 27, 2022

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  Most will pay no attention at all to the fate of whistleblowers, who speak in opposition to the propaganda, because their actions do not touch their lives, which are locally focused. For the small number who find that there is something not quite right about negative media reports of whistleblower revelation, there is often a sense of helplessness and inertia that causes their momentary uneasiness to go nowhere.

  The unfortunate truth is that this phenomenon of mass indifference to what the government does in the name of national interest and security, backed up by seemingly blind support of the media, has become one of the pillars of societal stability. That does not mean that challenges such as those launched by Assange and Manning are not worth the effort. They might lead to reforms (the Watergate scandal and its consequences comes to mind), but under ordinary circumstances the status quo will carry on.

  So, who are the heroes? Is it those who promote state policies which, regardless of their immorality, allegedly sustain state prestige, security and stability? Or is it those who shine a momentary light into dark places and reveal the immorality of state behavior — often at the cost of the destruction of their careers and reputations? You choose.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 21:00

• 71% Of Elementary School Math Textbooks In Florida Contained 'Woke Indoctrination' 
  71% Of Elementary School Math Textbooks In Florida Contained ‘Woke Indoctrination’ 

  The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) rejected dozens of mathematics textbooks for its K-12 curriculum, citing references to Critical Race Theory (CRT) and problematic woke content. 

  FDOE said 41% of submitted textbooks by publishers were “impermissible with either Florida’s new standards or contained prohibited topics.” Some of those topics included controversial CRT, inclusions of Common Core, and Social-Emotional Learning. 

  A shocking 71% of the submitted textbooks contained prohibited topics or unsolicited strategies for grade levels K-5 that didn’t align with FDOE standards. 

  Here’s a breakdown of FDOE’s findings of the 54 of the 132 (41%) reject textbooks. 

  *78 of 132 total submitted textbooks are being included on the state’s adopted list.

  *28 (21 percent) are not included on the adopted list because they incorporate prohibited topics or unsolicited strategies, including CRT.

  *12 (9 percent) are not included on the adopted list because they do not properly align to B.E.S.T. Standards.

  *14 (11 percent) are not included on the adopted list because they do not properly align to B.E.S.T. Standards and incorporate prohibited topics or unsolicited strategies, including CRT.

  *Grades K-5: 71 percent of materials were rejected.

  *Grades 6-8: 20 percent of materials were rejected.

  *Grades 9-12: 35 percent of materials were rejected.

  Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said, “publishers attempted to slap a coat of paint on an old house built on the foundation of Common Core, and indoctrinating concepts like race essentialism, especially, bizarrely, for elementary school students.“

  “I’m grateful that Commissioner Corcoran and his team at the Department have conducted such a thorough vetting of these textbooks to ensure they comply with the law,” DeSantis added.

  Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran said, “Florida has become a national leader in education under the vision and leadership of Governor DeSantis. When it comes to education, other states continue to follow Florida’s lead as we continue to reinforce parents’ rights by focusing on providing their children with a world-class education without the fear of indoctrination or exposure to dangerous and divisive concepts in our classrooms.”

  Here’s one example of a “woke” math problem in one of the textbooks. 

  

  The report should be an eye-opener to parents about the massive indoctrination of the most vulnerable: children. There are ways to avoid toxic CRT that some teachers are already warning it’s “absolutely everywhere.” 

  Through homeschooling, or if parents don’t have the means, at least be open to understanding what is being taught at school. 

  The larger question is, who are these publishers, and why are they trying to indoctrinate kids with radical Left thinking? 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 20:40

• Durham's Treatment Of Clinton Camp Contrasts With Mueller's Treatment Of Trump Camp
  Durham’s Treatment Of Clinton Camp Contrasts With Mueller’s Treatment Of Trump Camp

  Authored by Peter Svab via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The way special counsel John Durham is treating people associated with the 2016 Clinton campaign while investigating them is far cry from how special counsel Robert Mueller treated people associated with the 2016 Trump campaign while investigating them.

  

  After Durham last year indicted lawyer Michael Sussmann for lying to the FBI, court documents revealed that the special counsel had long been in communications with Clinton campaign lawyers, hearing them out on why certain subpoenaed documents were protected by attorney-client privilege and thus shouldn’t be turned over. Durham only recently asked the court to compel production of the documents or at least have the judge review a sample of them before making a final decision.

  “We have tried for some time to understand better the theory of privilege that is being asserted over various documents, and, you know, we have had conversations and have been unable to get comfort as to the grounding and bases of various privilege theories that have been asserted here,” said Durham’s lead prosecutor, Andrew DeFilippis, during a March 31 hearing (pdf).

  Sussmann allegedly lied in September 2016 to then-FBI General Counsel James Baker about his motivation to give him reports and data supposedly showing secret communications between the Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa Bank. The FBI determined no such channel existed.

  Sussmann told Baker in an email that he was going to the meeting not representing any client. However, he billed the time to the presidential campaign of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

  The data and reports were provided to Sussmann by Rodney Joffe, who has run several tech companies. Sussmann, Joffe, and others were part of a “joint venture” to dig up dirt on Trump and help Clinton, Durham said, but stopped short of alleging the venture amounted to a criminal conspiracy.

  Durham’s approach contrasts with the methods used by Mueller, who in 2017-2019 investigated supposed collusion between the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump and Russia to sway the election in his favor. No such collusion was found, though Mueller prosecuted or referred for prosecution multiple Trump associates for unrelated or process crimes.

  In August 2017, a few months after taking over the FBI Russia probe, Mueller had FBI agents raid the home of Paul Manafort, a career political consultant who headed Trump’s campaign for several months before his prior foreign dealings were criticized by media.

  Mueller busted through Manafort’s attorney-client privilege, asserting the crime-fraud exemption, which strips the privilege from communications that a judge agrees pertained to committing or planning a crime. Largely based on secret evidence, D.C. District Judge Beryl Howell agreed with Mueller that Manafort “downplayed” in his lobbying disclosures his company’s prior activities in the United States on behalf of a Ukrainian political party (pdf). The judge thus allowed Mueller to question to some degree Manafort’s previous lawyer.

  In April 2019, on a referral from Mueller, New York prosecutors had the FBI raid the office of Michael Cohen, then-personal lawyer of President Trump. Cohen’s lawyer said at the time that during the raid agents seized privileged communications between Cohen and his clients. In such a case, the government sorts out what is and isn’t privileged on its own, usually assigning a team independent of the case investigators to do the sorting.

  Lawyers for both Manafort and Cohen said the raids were unnecessary because their clients had voluntarily cooperated with law enforcement.

  Trump pardoned Manafort, but not Cohen, who made substantial efforts trying to implicate his former boss in a crime. Cohen recently told The Daily Beast that unless Manhattan prosecutors bring charges against Trump by April 30, he will cease his cooperation.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 20:20

• North Korea Observers Say Kim Readying First Nuclear Test Since 2017
  North Korea Observers Say Kim Readying First Nuclear Test Since 2017

  North Korea is gearing up for its potential first nuclear weapons test since 2017, FT and other news agencies are reporting, which analysts say appears confirmed in a series of new satellite images. 

  “The commercial satellite images were collected this week and analyzed by experts from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington,” according to CSIS experts cited in FT. “They revealed the construction of buildings, movement of lumber and an increase in equipment and supplies immediately outside a new entrance to the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the country’s north-east.”

  

  The report features the findings of CSIS authors who’ve issued the new study on Pyongyang’s weapons testing which says, “Although some sources suggest the seventh nuclear test could occur between May and September of this year, the date of a seventh nuclear test will undoubtedly depend exclusively upon the personal decision of Kim Jong Un.”

  The study further finds that “Current satellite imagery indicates that preparations are well under way and should not be discounted as insignificant activity.”

  Simultaneously, Kim Jong Un has been ratcheting what’s being viewed in the West as his public ‘nuclear readiness’ rhetoric, calling on the nation’s military leaders “bolster up their strength in every way to annihilate the enemy” – according to the latest state media reporting Friday, which commented on a massive military parade in the capital early in the week.

  This despite that Pyongyang has long touted a self-imposed moratorium on tests. At a major display of military hardware Monday, including some of the country’s latest ICBMs on parade, Kim praised the military, describing the “modernity, heroism and radical development of the armed forces of the Republic and their matchless military and technological superiority.”

  North Korea broadcasted images of a vast military parade to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the country’s army, showcasing leader Kim Jong Un’s most powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles. pic.twitter.com/GTev8jqeBH

  — NoComment (@nocomment) April 26, 2022

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  According to the scene reported in state KCNA and summarized by Reuters: 

  Photos released by state media showed Kim perched on a white horse and wearing a white, military-style tunic with gold trim as he reviewed the troops.

  Monday’s parade had featured several of the North’s latest missiles, including its largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the Hwasong-17, and a recently tested hypersonic missile.

  State media further cited Kim as saying these advanced nuclear-capable weapons are for self-defense purposes and ultimately to safeguard the country’s “fundamental interests”.

  #NorthKorea‘s state broadcaster shows images of a vast military parade for the founding anniversary of North Korea’s armed forces#KimJongUn said at the parade the country will rapidly accelerate the development of its nuclear arsenal, state media reported pic.twitter.com/EXU1UBpcQv

  — 🅰🅻🅴🆁🆃 🅲🅷🅰🅽🅽🅴🅻 (@AlertChannel) April 26, 2022

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  This after last month Washington and its regional allies including Japan expressed alarm as North Korea resumed testing its largest ICBMs – also amid long stalled engagement with Washington which hasn’t happened on any substantive level since the Trump administration.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 20:00

• US Hotel Room Rates Hit Record High Prices Despite Occupancy Remaining Below Pre-Pandemic Levels
  US Hotel Room Rates Hit Record High Prices Despite Occupancy Remaining Below Pre-Pandemic Levels

  That pesky “Putin-flation” sure is running rampant. It seems like scorching inflation is still unfolding in nearly every sector, including the price of hotel rooms, according to a new report.

  The national average daily rate for a room in March rose to $146.61, marking its highest level for any month on record, according to a new writeup by BisNow. 

  STR, who provides premium data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights for the global hospitality industry, reported this week that the average daily rate (ADR) rose 10.9% from pre-pandemic figures (March 2022 vs. March 2019). 

  Occupancy, however, slid -6.2% to 64%, the release notes, while revenue per available room (RevPAR) was up 4% to $93.82. 

  Of all major U.S. cities, Tampa experienced the highest occupancy level (84.7%) even though it was still down 3.6% from 2019. None of the top 25 markets saw an increase in occupancy over 2019, the firm reported. 

  

  And of course, the steepest decline in occupancy came from none other than San Francisco, which saw a stunning -23.4% dropoff in occupancy from March 2019. 

  In total, U.S. hotels sold 6.6 million in group room nights versus 7.8 million in 2019. Despite the decline in occupancy, “urban hotels increased their average daily room rates 56% month-over-month, while airport locations were up 42%,” the report says. 

  CoStar National Director of Hospitality Jan Freitag commented to BisNow: “Easter and spring break are just the two obvious indicators of continued pricing power for the U.S. hotel industry driven by, as we had said repeatedly before, very healthy leisure demand.”

  “I’m very, very interested in seeing what the summer holds with regards to pricing power,” Freitag concluded.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 19:20

• The Economics Of Kart Racing
  The Economics Of Kart Racing

  By Russell Clark of The Capital Flows and Asset Markets substack

  As mentioned previously, stepping away from managing money has allowed me more time with other parts of my life. But these different areas have also opened my mind to various other ideas, so I would like to share some details. One area that takes up an awful lot of my time is my son’s karting career (Instagram : jarrettclark55 – please follow. It brings him untold joy to have more followers!). There are many, many stories that I could tell you about karting, but I am just going to focus just on the economics, as I think it illustrates many of the potential flaws with many “quality” stocks.

  

  Jarrett is competing in the British Championships Honda Cadet Class this year. Many of the current Formula 1 drivers have competed in British Karting Championships. It is highly competitive, with races held all over the UK. You can see below, the chassis, tyres and engine are all specified.

  

  To try and make karting fair, all of the equipment is regulated. Race tyres have to bought from the organiser on the day and a set costs £150 or so, and chassis can be bought from a number of different providers with a new one costing around £2,500. Engines however are far more variable. If, like me, you knew nothing about karting before starting, you might have googled 160cc 4-stroke engine to get an idea of how much that costs, and then estimated the cost of an engine at around £250 to £400.

  

  However, the reality is that there is a lot of variation in the power of the Honda engines when the leave the factory, some have good “bottom” (i.e. good acceleration) while some have good “top” (i.e. a very fast top speed). What in practice happens, is that engines with a proven history of winning trade a large multiple of their ex-factory price. Think of a number and triple it, and you will be closer. You also need three to four engines – one wet engine, one dry engine, and one practice engine. You may ask if people will really pay that much money for an engine? The way I explain it to people, is imagine the most insane football mum or dad you have ever seen, the one who is shouting non-stop at the ref, and their own kids and is totally emotionally committed to their child making it in football. Now imagine if you came up to them and said, “Hey I have magic football boots which means your child will be competitive with the best kids in the country. Would you like them?”. If you can imagine that conversation, then you can understand why competitive karting engines are so expensive. Almost all karting parents are totally emotionally committed to their child making it, so demand is very strong.

  However, the value of the engines are subject to changes in regulations. A few years ago the British Karting Championship was run under a pooled engine system, which meant every driver had to rent an engine at random on the day of the event. The pooled engines were all adjusted to be roughly the same level, but there will still be some variation. And there is a alternative karting championship which is run under those rules, but the British Karting Championship is the official competition and has the largest participation and gets the best racers. In some European countries in some racing classes, karting regulations are such that the winner of a kart race must sell their engine to anyone that wants it at fixed price. This acts to keep a ceiling on engine prices.

  There are some advantages to not regulating engines. The Honda Cadet is an entry level for karting, so many novice karters begin racing at this level, and by making fast engines expensive allows the older more experienced karters to battle it out far away from the novices. It also acts as a barrier to entry, to reduce competition. Hence like most regulation, it benefits insiders at the detriment to outsiders.

  UK Motorsport are contemplating changes to karting for next year, which has caused us to be underwater on our own engines on a mark to market basis. We may end up being forced sellers at a loss, but having talked to some more experienced people than myself, there is a chance that no changes will occur and the engines will bounce back in value, as this is exactly what happened a few years ago. I was told off one specific engine fell to 80% in value, before fully recovering.

  There are other expenses and considerations, and if there is demand for a post purely on the costs of being a karting parent, I will try and oblige. But the point of this story is to show how regulatory schemes create “undeserved” value. Does this happen in markets? Of course it does. The best possible example of this, are the rating agencies, specifically Moody’s and S&P. I will go into detail of how bad these companies are at their core business, but first of all you should be aware that from a financial perspective, both business are high “quality” and have been 10 baggers since 2010.

  

  However, the reality of their key service, providing ratings for fixed income securities is that they largely produce a pointless and typically bad product. The rating agencies were the root cause of the global financial crisis, by giving investment grade ratings to CDO and other structured finance products, when in fact they were worthless. However, in the move away from investment banks to clearinghouses, the rating of a bond by the rating agencies became even more important to markets, not less important.

  If the subprime was a one off, perhaps this would be excusable, but rating agencies typically downgrade bonds at the worst time, and upgrade too late. A classic example of this was the Eurocrisis. In 2010, the first arrow indicated when Irish bonds were downgraded to junk. The second arrow indicates when the rating agencies upgraded Ireland to investment grade. That the rating agencies follow market action, rather than have any predictive power is well known by market participants. Or to put it another way, the market does a far better job than the rating agencies – but regulators requires bond issuers to have a rating from a rating agency, despite the market doing a far better job of pricing risk.

  The rating agencies have a dream business. Government regulations create forced buyers of a substandard product. I would argue that clearinghouses are in very similar position, doing a substandard job, but with regulations creating forced buyers of their substandard services.

  

  I have used the karting analogy for two reasons.

  • Firstly, I want to make the point that politics, as expressed through regulation is a very powerful force in market. The ability to influence regulation is a very powerful value creator for many businesses, particularly in America. Healthcare, aerospace, utilities, finance and recently semiconductors are all deeply influenced by regulation and politics, and area that I have previously ignored.

  • The second reason is that future posts are going to refer to some investment ideas that I have gleaned from travelling around the country as I help my son with his karting career. I thought if I suddenly start talking about market observation I picked up at a Premier Inn in Sunderland, the most immediate question would be why was there, rather than the merit of an investment idea.

  And my next post will indeed be about an investing observation I made while on a karting trip to Sunderland.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 19:00

• India Is Urging Tesla To Produce Vehicles Locally
  India Is Urging Tesla To Produce Vehicles Locally

  India is urging Tesla to manufacture its vehicles locally. 

  The country said this week that the electric vehicle manufacturer is “welcome in India” and is encouraged to produce vehicles in the country, according to comments made by Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. 

  India has conveyed to Tesla that “manufacture in China and sell in India is not a good proposition,” according to a Bloomberg wrap up of the story this week.

  Gadkari reportedly made the comments at the Raisina Dialogue, “a geopolitical conference organized by the Observer Research Foundation”. He went as far as to say that Elon Musk “will have to manufacture his Tesla cars in India, and not China, if he wants to come and sell the vehicles in the country,” according to The Economic Times. 

  

  He said that Musk would “not get any special treatment when it comes to customs duties”, referring to importing vehicles from China. 

  Gadkari also defended several recent incidents of EVs catching fire in India, stating that the high temperature in battery cells was to blame. Gadkari said that India needs a system for testing battery cells to help avoid such incidents in the future.

  Meanwhile, Tesla finally got its factory in Berlin open earlier this month after years of delays and red tape. 

  Video of Gadkari’s comments can be viewed here on The Economic Times’. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 18:40

• Musk's Mention Highlights Twitter Counsel Baker's Russiagate Past At FBI
  Musk’s Mention Highlights Twitter Counsel Baker’s Russiagate Past At FBI

  Authored by Petr Svab via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Former top FBI attorney James Baker, who now serves as Twitter’s deputy general counsel, has had a spotlight thrown on him after billionaire Elon Musk, who recently negotiated a deal to buy Twitter, responded to comments about Baker’s past actions during the FBI’s Russia investigation in 2016.

  

  On April 26, a day after Musk reportedly reached an agreement with Twitter, filmmaker Mike Cernovich wrote on Twitter that Baker, during his time as FBI general counsel, “personally arranged a meeting” with cybersecurity attorney Michael Sussmann, who was at the time working for the Clinton campaign.

  “In this meeting, Sussmann presented fabricated evidence in the Alfa bank matter,” Cernovich wrote.

  Sussmann was charged last year by special counsel John Durham for lying to Baker during that meeting.

  “Sounds pretty bad,” Musk responded on Twitter to the Cernovich post.

  Sounds pretty bad …

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 27, 2022

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  According to court documents, it was Sussmann who asked for the meeting, which took place in September 2016 at FBI headquarters. The two men knew each other from their time working in the Justice Department criminal division.

  Sussmann emailed Baker that he was going to the meeting not representing any client. But in fact, he billed the time to the presidential campaign of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Durham alleges that this was a material lie, which means that it had a natural tendency or was capable to affect government decisions.

  During their meeting, Sussmann gave Baker data and reports purportedly showing secret communications between The Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa-Bank. The FBI determined that there was no such secret communication. A tech expert firm hired by Alfa-Bank concluded that the data may have been fabricated, although Durham hasn’t made that assertion.

  The data and reports were provided to Sussmann by Rodney Joffe, who has run several tech companies. Sussmann, Joffe, and others were in a “joint venture” to dig up dirt on Trump and help Clinton, Durham said, thus far stopping short of alleging the venture amounted to a criminal conspiracy.

  Baker told congressional investigators in 2018 that it was unusual for him to be personally approached by somebody in order to pass on information to the FBI. He remembered two other instances: one related to the Dennis Montgomery case of alleged illegal government spying on Americans and the other being Mother Jones reporter David Corn, who said he sent Baker a copy of the infamous Steele Dossier in November 2016. Baker said he had long known Corn, and their children used to carpool together (pdf).

  The dossier was prepared by former British spy Christopher Steele, who was, in turn, paid (through intermediaries) to collect dirt on Trump by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

  As it turned out, much of the dossier, including its core claim of Trump–Russia collusion, was fabricated.

  There was nothing inappropriate about Sussmann’s passing on the Alfa-Bank information, Baker said. He said he was generally aware that Sussmann had an association with the DNC.

  The Sussmann trial is scheduled for mid-May. He has pleaded not guilty.

  Durham was tasked, around March or May 2019, with reviewing the 2016–’17 FBI investigation of alleged collusion between candidate and later President Donald Trump and Russia to sway the 2016 election. No such collusion was found.

  Baker told lawmakers that the FBI probe was lawfully predicated. Durham previously contested such a claim.

  In October 2020, then-Attorney General William Barr appointed Durham as special counsel. In February 2021, Durham resigned his position as a federal prosecutor and has continued the investigation in the sole capacity of special counsel.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 18:20

• Heatwave Triggers Indian "Power Crisis" As State Firms Seek Russian Crude To Secure Supplies
  Heatwave Triggers Indian “Power Crisis” As State Firms Seek Russian Crude To Secure Supplies

  India is one of those G-20 members not bowing down to US pressure to halt purchases of Russian energy products. The South Asian country’s power grid is dominated by fossil fuels, particularly coal and crude, and has come under severe stress as one of the worst heatwaves in years causes widespread blackouts. 

  Another devastating heatwave has parched large swathes of India this week (after record heat in March), resulting in power blackouts. In the capital New Delhi, high temperatures hit 104 Fahrenheit and could increase even more through the weekend. 

  

  Fossil fuels power about 75% of India’s power grid, and the rest is renewable energy. Soaring temperatures mean increasing power output as cooling demand rises. The government has forced power cuts for factories in various provinces to mitigate the grid’s collapse. Nearly 42% of the grid comprises the industrial sector, followed by residential at 24% and agriculture at 18%. 

  “In view of the present power crisis, .. it has been decided to impose scheduled cuts,” a state power utility told Reuters. 

  “Power cuts are expected to worsen in the coming days as the heatwaves and a pickup in economic activity are seen increasing electricity demand at the fastest pace in nearly four decades,” Reuters explained. 

  Since most electricity generated in India is from fossil fuels and extreme heat increases power demand. Reuters revealed that Indian refiners are negotiating a six-month oil deal with Russia to import millions of barrels per month. 

  Western sanctions against Russia forced many countries to find alternative sources, but a growing number of G-20 members are becoming defiant and ignoring Washington and continuing to do business with Moscow outside the dollar system.

  Reuters also notes that New Delhi has asked state-run energy companies to evaluate a potential purchase of European oil major BP’s stake in sanctions-hit Russian firm Rosneft. BP exited its stake in Rosneft in late February, taking a massive $25 billion hit. 

  India is securing its future with fossil fuels from sanctioned Russia to ensure its supplies for power generation remain adequate. New Delhi is ignoring Washington’s request to boycott Russia shows the West’s waning control over the rest of the world. Is this the latest example of a bipolar world emerging? 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 18:00

• 'Down Payment On World War III': Peace Activists Blast Biden's Ask For More Ukraine Aid
  ‘Down Payment On World War III’: Peace Activists Blast Biden’s Ask For More Ukraine Aid

  Authored by Brett Wilkins via Common Dreams,

  Peace advocates reacted to Thursday’s request by U.S. President Joe Biden for $33 billion in additional aid to Ukraine by warning against what they called a dangerous escalation and by accusing the administration of misplaced priorities.

  Biden is asking Congress for additional funding for war-ravaged Ukraine, including more than $20 billion in “security and military assistance,” $8.5 billion in economic aid, and $3 billion in “humanitarian assistance.” 

  

  “It’s not cheap. But caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen,” said Biden. “We either back the Ukrainian people as they defend their country, or we stand by as the Russians continue their atrocities and aggression in Ukraine every day.”

  The president’s appeal for additional funds comes on top of the $4.6 billion in security assistance the U.S. has given Ukraine since January 2021, including $3.7 billion since Russian forces invaded the country in February.

  Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the women-led peace group CodePink, called Biden’s request “a down payment on World War III.”

  “Biden’s call for an enormous $33 billion for Ukraine is over half the entire budget for the State Department and USAID,” she tweeted, referring to the United States Agency for International Development. “We need diplomacy, not billions more in weapons!”

  Benjamin also noted that the Biden administration—which refuses to unfreeze Afghanistan’s central bank reserves—”won’t fill the $2 billion shortfall in the urgent U.N. appeal for the desperately poor people of Afghanistan.”

  $33 billion to the Ukraine.

  Ppl can’t put food on the table. Rents gone up. Housing prices have gone up. Raises have almost gone down when accounting for inflation. We’re having supply shortages across the board.

  But we have $33 billion to spend on Ukraine but not US citizens.

  — Joe Biden Hates Black People (@realnikohouse) April 28, 2022

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  Jennifer Briney, host of the Congressional Dish podcast, tweeted: “How can the U.S. possibly maintain the already-pretty-clear-fiction that we aren’t ‘in’ the Ukraine-Russia war if we inject $33 billion into it? How can this not lead to escalation?”

  Ben Freeman, a research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, pointed out that “the $20 billion military assistance package is more than the total defense budgets of all but 13 countries in the world.”

  Others commented on what they implied are the administration’s misplaced priorities amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, worsening economic inequality, and the climate emergency. “Biden’s $33 billion ’emergency’ military aid package for Ukraine is three times the size of the EPA’s entire budget for 2022,” tweeted CounterPunch editor Jeffrey St. Clair, referring to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

  DATA: A cumulative total of U.S. military aid to Ukraine since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion.

  February 25: $350m
  March 12: $550m
  March 16: $1.35b
  April 1: $1.65b
  April 5: $1.75b
  April 13: $2.55b
  April 21: $3.35b
  April 24: $3.67b
  April 28: $14.67b (if approved by Congress)

  — Jack Detsch (@JackDetsch) April 28, 2022

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  Writer and activist Margaret Kimberly bemoaned that “Biden is asking struggling Americans who lost their child tax credit for $33 billion after his Ukraine police blew up in his face.”

  Ben Cohen, co-founder of the ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s, wondered why Biden is “asking for an extra $33 billion to help Ukraine and not an extra $33 billion to replace every single lead pipe in America” when “we have at least 1.2 million children suffering from lead poisoning here and now.”

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 17:40

• Spring Wheat Used In Pizza Crust Nears 14-Year High As Floods Devastate Northern Plains 
  Spring Wheat Used In Pizza Crust Nears 14-Year High As Floods Devastate Northern Plains 

  U.S. spring-wheat futures are nearing the highest level since 2008, as the Northern U.S. Plains are plagued with devastating floods that prevent farmers from planting in the high-producing crop region.

  Blizzards, winter storms, high winds, and extreme flooding battered the Dakotas and stalled plantings in April, raising concerns about shrinking crop yields as prevent plant dates for North Dakota are at the end of May.

  Welcome to North Dakota #flood2022 pic.twitter.com/DYrWqoHa4G

  — AGBULL (@AgBullMedia) April 24, 2022

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  Because of wet conditions, farmers cannot work their fields, which means yields will decrease everyday wheat isn’t planted. 

  “The spring-wheat crop should continue to see planting delays with heavy rains, and cold weather in the forecast,” commodity research firm The Hightower Report said.  

  The most-active spring wheat futures contract increased more than a 1% to $12.02 a bushel, nearing March’s peak and closing in on the highest level since 2008. Prices have more than doubled since the virus pandemic low. $4.90. 

  

  Spring wheat is used in specialty items like rolls, croissants, bagels, and pizza crust. Money managers are holding a record net-long position due to supply fears following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, disrupting global wheat production. 

  Compound the U.S. drought of 2021, the Ukraine crisis, and floods in the Northern U.S. Plains, the world is even more dependent on the Northern hemisphere for major food needs. If the U.S. experiences production woes this crop season, if that’s because of weather-related issues or simply not enough fertilizer, then there’s an increasing risk a global food crisis could become more pronounced by the end of the year or into the next. 

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 17:20

• Hospitals Ignoring Price Transparency Rule Rack Up Billion-Dollar Profit
  Hospitals Ignoring Price Transparency Rule Rack Up Billion-Dollar Profit

  Authored by Adam Andrzejewski via OpenTheBooks substack,

  It’s like playing baseball with one side (patients) wearing blindfolds and the other side (hospitals) running up the score at will.

  Topline

  It was an historic, bipartisan healthcare reform. In 2020, President Donald Trump proposed and the Biden Administration finalized the transparency rule whereby hospitals were forced to open their books and post their prices for healthcare services online and in real time.

  Blatantly, though, hospitals are refusing to comply. As of January 1, 86-percent of hospitals were not complying with the transparency rule according to an investigation by the organization Patient Rights Advocate.

  One year after the rule went into effect, a staggering 857 out of the 1,000 hospitals surveyed refused to open their pricing books or were non-compliant.

  In 2021, three of the largest hospital systems in the country – HCA Healthcare, CommonSpirit Health, and Ascension — made a collective $120 billion. Yet, those systems still weren’t posting their prices online by January 2022.

  Even smaller “non-profit” hospital groups, like, UPMC in Pittsburgh, were non-compliant. However, in 2020, their CEO made $9 million; between 2016 and 2020, he was paid $34.7 million.

  That’s like playing baseball with one side (patients) wearing blindfolds and the other side (hospitals) running up the score at will.

  The Rule

  The federal hospital price transparency rule took effect on January 1, 2021 as a part of the Affordable Care Act. It required hospitals to post all their prices online in a way that’s easily accessible to patients, without barriers like requiring that they submit personal identifying information.

  Hospitals must provide the clear pricing information online “(a)s a comprehensive machine-readable file with all items and services” and “in a display of shoppable services in a consumer-friendly format,” according to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

  Big number

  There are 361 hospitals owned by the three large hospital systems and only two of those hospitals were posting their prices. According to the report:

  • HCA Healthcare had $58.8 billion in revenue (2021) — none of 188 hospitals complied.

  • CommonSpirit Health had $33.3 billion in revenue (2021) – only one of 88 hospitals complied.

  • Ascension had $27.2 billion in revenue (2021) – only one out of 85 hospitals complied.

  CommonSpirit Health and Ascension didn’t respond to requests for comment by our deadline.

  Case study – HCA Healthcare

  An HCA Healthcare spokesperson responded to our comment request and said the hospitals are compliant – but wouldn’t say exactly when they began posting the required information.

  “Over the last year, we have worked diligently and have completed our implementation of these requirements,” the HCA spokesperson said.

  “Our hospital websites have a consumer-friendly Patient Payment Estimator tool that provides relevant information to help patients understand what their out-of-pocket costs may be for hospital care, including those that are uninsured. In addition, we have posted contracted rates with third party payers using one of the machine-readable file formats listed in the regulations to provide the five types of ‘standard charges.’”

  Certainly, it’s a good first step; however, more work needs to be done.

  Our auditors at OpenTheBooks.com reviewed about a dozen of HCA Healthcare hospital’s websites and found information under “patient financial resources” or “patient payment estimator” tabs.

  While HCA hospital websites all have downloadable files of standard charges, they all include disclaimers that the prices can vary in several ways from what is stated.

  The HCA files all also have shorthand or abbreviated descriptions of the services, making it hard to understand some of the services.

  HCA also includes a gross cost and a discounted cost of services but lack the required payer-specific negotiated charges, and de-identified minimum and maximum negotiated charges.

  The hospital websites are also required to have a “display of at least 300 shoppable services.” In the absence of the shoppable services list, hospitals can display an internet-based price estimator tool that patients can access without having to submit personal identifying information.

  The HCA websites have these patient payment estimators, where patients can search for a service. But the customer must add their information — their full name, date of birth and insurance. This appears to violate the rules.

  Case study — UPMC

  Susan Manko, vice president of public relations for UPMC and University of Pittsburgh, told OpenTheBooks that the Patient Rights Advocate report is inaccurate.

  “The PRA website is (and has been for some time now) wrong,” she said.

  “PRA completely missed that the appropriate pricing information has been available to the public on these hospitals’ websites for more than the past year and that these hospitals are compliant with federal regulations regarding pricing transparency.”

  She provided the links for UPMC Shadyside and UPMC Magee-Womens, which indeed have a price estimator tool and a machine-readable file of items and services on the websites.

  Patient Rights Advocate argues that while UPMC’s machine readable file lists prices for services provided by three dozen insurance companies, it lacks specific plans, like HMO and PPO plans, making the list incomplete. The rule clearly requires that “each list of payer-specific negotiated charges must be clearly associated with the name of the third party payer and plan.”

  Big potential penalties

  Price transparency can revolutionize U.S. healthcare by introducing price competition in the industry. Price disclosure also helps to prevent gouging and surprise billing.

  So, on January 1, CMS increased the penalty for hospitals that don’t comply with the transparency rule. The upper bound penalties for the three large healthcare groups with 361 hospitals could collectively exceed $724 million per year.

  Minimum penalties start at $300 per day for smaller hospitals with 30 or fewer beds, and increase to $10 per bed per day for hospitals with more than 30 beds, up to $5,500 per day.

  If hospitals aren’t in compliance for a full year, the minimum penalty is $109,500 per hospital, and the maximum penalty is more than $2 million per hospital.

  Key background

  Patient Rights Advocate reviewed the websites of 1,000 licensed hospitals – out of the 6,000 across America. The group analyzed whether the required pricing information was posted.

  Hospitals are required to display the price of the 300 most common shoppable services, either in a standard charges list or a price estimator tool. But the report criticized the latter, saying “price estimator tools” give non-binding estimates (including price ranges) accompanied by disclaimers.

  That’s far different from actual price disclosure, the report noted.

  The report found most hospitals did not post all payer-specific and plan-specific negotiated rates.

  For instance, there was incomplete or missing data fields, fields with zeros, N/As and asterisks for negotiated rates.

  It also found that hospitals often listed many more “accepted insurance plans” on their websites away from where they listed their standard charges, implying that their standard charges didn’t include all accepted plans.

  Our organization at OpenTheBooks.com was at the forefront of shaping the federal rule, encouraging the public in the fall of 2019, and beginning of 2020 to comment on the health care price transparency proposal put forth by the Trump Administration.

  With that push, about 2,000 comments were sent to Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Biden Administration finalized the rule. A true bipartisan reform that forces transparency from a politically powerful group.

  Noncompliant hospitals—a year later and no fines

  As of March 2022, CMS, which enforces the rule, has issued approximately 345 warning notices to noncompliant hospitals, a spokesperson told OpenTheBooks.com on April 25.

  The agency has also issued 136 corrective action plan requests “to hospitals that previously received warning notices but have not yet corrected deficiencies,” and 145 hospitals “have received case closure notices after having addressed previous citations,” the spokesperson said.

  CMS hasn’t issued any penalties because “each hospital that has come under compliance review has resolved its deficiencies, or is in the process of doing so.”

  OpenTheBooks.com filed a Freedom of Information Act request earlier in April, asking HHS to divulge which hospitals received noncompliance notices and corrective action plans and whether the general public has notified HHS of noncompliant hospitals.

  While HHS has acknowledged the request, it has not yet provided the records.

  But the spokesperson said, “specifics surrounding the compliance and status of hospitals are not publicly available. The Hospital Price Transparency final rule indicates that once CMS issues a civil monetary penalty, CMS will make public the name of the hospital on a CMS website; releasing this information prematurely could identify hospitals that have already taken corrective actions and come into compliance after issuance of a warning letter, given the relationship in timing of our reviews and the hospitals being at various stages addressing compliance requests.”

  Thanks for reading OpenTheBooks! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

  Crucial quote

  Until CMS strongly enforces the rule, there is no reason for the remainder of the hospitals to comply, the Patient Rights Advocate report noted.

  “We are now entering the second year since the hospital price transparency rule became law, and compliance remains at very low levels,” the report stated. “The largest hospital systems are effectively ignoring the law, with no consequences.”

  Critics

  The Wall Street Journal reported in December 2021 that some hospitals have posted pricing data on their websites but they “masked the information from online search results, using special code that blocks pricing data on their websites from the results of search engines,” noting the coding is illegal under new rules that take effect in 2022.

  One hospital system, the North Oaks Health System, based in Hammond, La., posted some data early in 2021 but removed it two weeks later, as none of its competing hospitals had posted their rates.

  “You get nervous about putting those negotiated rates out there,” the system’s chief financial officer, Mark Anderson, told The Journal. “You don’t know who will look at those rates and say, ‘I want to negotiate to the Medicare rates.’ We didn’t want to put ourselves at a competitive, strategic disadvantage.”

  *  *  *

  Additional Reading

  An OpenTheBooks.com June 2019 report “Top 82 U.S. Non-Profit Hospitals: Quantifying Government Payments and Financial Assets” showed that hospitals with non-profit tax status and their CEOs are getting richer while the American people are getting healthcare poorer.

  Our study published at Forbes showing the top 82 non-profit hospitals added billions of dollars to their bottom line, lavishly compensated their CEOs, and spent millions of dollars lobbying government to defend the status quo.

  A $4,000 Covid Test In Oklahoma Resulted In A Debate On Healthcare Prices and Transparency, Forbes, published January 31, 2021.

  New Documentary, InHospitable, Details The Big Profits In “Non-Profit” Healthcare, Forbes, published December 14, 2021.

  Adam Andrzejewski (say: And-g-f-ski) is the CEO/Founder of OpenTheBooks.com. Last year we filed 47,000 FOIA requests and captured $12 trillion in government spending (2021). Work featured at The BBC, Good Morning America; ABC World News Tonight; USA Today; The Wall Street Journal; Forbes; and The New York Times. My presentation to the Hillsdale College National Leadership seminar posted on YouTube has 3.7+ million views. Learn more at OpenTheBooks.com.

  Thanks for reading OpenTheBooks! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 04/29/2022 – 17:00

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