May 31

Today’s News 31st May 2022

  • Mainstream Media Praises Ukraine's Azov Battalion For Dropping Nazi Patches From Uniform
    Mainstream Media Praises Ukraine’s Azov Battalion For Dropping Nazi Patches From Uniform

    Amid their looming defeat in the Donbas, which even The New York Times and Washington Post have belatedly and reluctantly begun to acknowledge of late, the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion is still struggling to make over its image, given the Western mainstream had long ago admitted them as a significant “neo-Nazi threat” – as one BBC documentary bluntly described years ago. But since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, the public has been steadily told that Azov is merely “far right” or simply “nationalist” in their ideology. Or even better, the group just has far-right “roots” with images often “misunderstood” and shared “out of context”…

    “Many soldiers who surrendered at a steel complex in Mariupol belong to the Azov battalion, a group with far-right roots,” The New York Times wrote two weeks ago following the large-scale Ukrainian surrender at Azovstal steelworks plant in Mariupol. In the same article we are told this is merely a false “portrayal” the that Kremlin propagandists have presented. And now in new reporting on Monday, the UK Times assures its readers that “Azov Battalion drops neo-Nazi symbol exploited by Russian propagandists” in its headline. Below is the Times working overtime trying to run damage control…

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    From the opening lines we are informed it’s really all just “Russian propaganda” and exploitation: “The Azov Battalion has removed a neo-Nazi symbol from its insignia that has helped perpetuate Russian propaganda about Ukraine being in the grip of far-right nationalism.” 

    Ah yes… when these fighters proudly display Nazi symbols, the real problem is Russian officials and media pointing it out: all very inconvenient of course.

    But supporters can now Rejoice…as the group is busy fixing the issue of all its pesky pro-Hitler (literally) emblems and symbolism which has made their enlightened Liberal Western backers squirm just a bit:

    “At the unveiling of a new special forces unit in Kharkiv, patches handed to soldiers did not feature the wolfsangel, a medieval German symbol that was adopted by the Nazis and which has been used by the battalion since 2014,” the Times writes further.

    “Instead, they featured a golden trident,” or the entirely tame and much more common symbol use by Ukrainian national forces broadly. 

    But the question has to be asked: what of those myriad of symbols that can’t be so easily whitewashed? (yes, pun intended). What about all those tattoos?

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    Below are a few samples of what Azov militants tend to look like sans uniforms and patches…

    Many of the problematic patches which are apparently increasingly being taken off official uniform emblems (as the Times now assures) are still inked on skin, thus a bit harder to readily make disappear for the photo ops…

    …in some instances the problematic insignia even shows up as items like eyepatches of all things:

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    One of the few countries to keep giving mainstream press coverage to Azov’s clear neo-Nazi identity and ideology remains Israel.

    For example Haaretz previously published the below photo, while featuring an array of Azov’s unmistakably Nazi symbols, including those of the Waffen-SS:

    Below, journalist and Russia-Ukraine war observer Michael Tracey has a few questions for the mainstream media…

    * * * 

    There are currently mountains of evidence, much of which was contemporaneously gathered over the course of the ongoing war, that Azov “defenders” at the very least physically adorn themselves with unabashed Nazi symbols. 

    Out of context?

    Examples of such symbols that have been recently observed on their uniforms include the Wolfsangel, the Black Sun, and even a crest of a division of the SS — the paramilitary organization of the actual, historical Nazis. You know, the ones commanded by Hitler who exterminated lots of Jews.

    If a bunch of Trump supporters were running around with these symbols stitched onto their clothing, do you suppose the US media would be extra charitable in deciphering whether they really subscribed to Nazism?

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    At this very moment, you can log onto the ADL website and see the Wolfsangel, Black Sun, and other Azov-brandished iconography on the organization’s official list of “hate symbols” actively being “appropriated by Nazis.”

    This is the same ADL which evidently sees no need to make even a cursory statement about the pro-Azov rallies breaking out in the streets of the US. “Don’t think we have any comment here. Thanks for reaching out,” Todd Gitnick, the ADL’s Communications Director, told me when I asked if they had any thoughts on the “Azov!” chanters in NYC.

    Meanwhile, only a few short years ago…

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    Read the rest of Tracey’s commentary at Substack.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/31/2022 – 02:45

  • World Economic Forum Pushes Facial Recognition Technology
    World Economic Forum Pushes Facial Recognition Technology

    Authored by John Mac Ghlionn via The Epoch Times,

    The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, has just ended. The theme of the five-day event, “Working Together, Restoring Trust,” was both vague and troubling, in equal measures.

    Remember, this is the WEF we are discussing here, an international organization actively pushing “The Great Reset.” The theme could just as easily have read “Suffering Together, Restoring Compliance.”

    Among the many issues discussed, members focused on the spread of misinformation and disinformation. How, they asked, can the proliferation of harmful content be combatted? It’s easy, they answered, how about introducing digital IDs?

    The WEF recently rolled out the Global Coalition for Digital Safety, an initiative designed to “accelerate public-private cooperation to tackle harmful content online.” In an effort to remedy the scourge of malicious material, the WEF has brought together a “diverse group of leaders who are well placed to exchange best practices for new online safety regulation and help millions of connected citizens improve digital media literacy.”

    These “diverse leaders” include head honchos at the likes of Google, Microsoft, Interpol, and a number of government ministers. Another coalition member is Yoti, a company that strives to make the internet a safer place. How so? Through the use of digital IDs.

    The dangers posed by digital IDs cannot be emphasized enough. As the researcher Brett Solomon—a man “who has tracked the advantages and perils of technology for human rights” for well over a decade—previously noted, the mass rollout of digital IDs “poses one of the gravest risks to human rights of any technology that we have encountered.”

    As we rush “headlong into a future where new technologies will converge to make this risk much more severe,” we must prepare ourselves for the dawn of “near-perfect facial recognition technology and other identifiers, from the human gait to breath to iris,” according to Solomon.

    German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (L) addresses the assembly next to Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on May 26, 2022. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

    According to the tech researcher, biometric databases of the not-too-distant future will be centralized in nature. Opaque in the extreme, our data will be harvested by the people in the highest positions imaginable—you know, the kind of people who travel to Davos for polite debates.

    Moreover, added Solomon, throw geolocation of identifiers into the mix, and you have a recipe for absolute chaos. Such identifiers track you—more specifically, the digital you—in real time. You can run all you want, but you cannot hide.

    The Panopticon Gets a Digital Upgrade

    Canada, a country with close ties to the WEF, is actively considering the use of digital IDs. According to the Canada Gazette, the country’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has spoken with airlines about introducing “digital identity documents” and “biometric travel documents.”

    Catherine Luelo, Canada’s chief information officer, has also spoken about the need for digital identity. Luelo is currently spearheading Canada’s digital innovation strategy, which seeks to introduce digital IDs across the entire public sector.

    Canada’s plan is part of a broader plan, one that was initiated by the World Economic Forum. In a white paper released last year, authors at the WEF discussed the many ways in which digital ID programs will become an integral part of the financial services industry.

    Resistance is futile. Digital IDs may soon be the norm. In the United States, as analysts at Reclaim the Net recently reported, the U.S. Postal Service is pushing for the introduction of digital IDs. The USPS wants to “have a more prominent role in biometric data collection and digital ID services.”

    More worryingly, the USPS has already partnered with the General Services Administration (GSA) and the FBI, two prominent “biometric data collection pilots.”

    The bad news doesn’t end there. As I have discussed elsewhere, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) also wants your face.

    A facial recognition program is demonstrated during a biometrics conference in London, in this file photo. (Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

    Digital IDs Are Not Compatible With Democracy

    Freedom House, an international group that was established to promote the idea of democracy, recently warned that when it comes to respecting democratic norms, like the right to privacy, the United States is going backward.

    The country’s “democratic institutions have suffered erosion, as reflected in partisan pressure on the electoral process, bias and dysfunction in the criminal justice system, harmful policies on immigration and asylum seekers, and growing disparities in wealth, economic opportunity, and political influence,” Freedom House argued.

    Yes, but what about digital surveillance? What about the government’s desire (and the organizations closely affiliated with the government) to spy on the American people? What about the push to mine people for data and use the information gathered to manipulate and control?

    For those who doubt that the United States is backsliding, please note that Argentina and Mongolia now rank higher on the democracy ladder, according to a Freedom House 2021 report. Who is to blame for the regression? The very people elected to keep citizens safe, I contend.

    The United States is fast becoming a first-world country with third-world protections for its people. No one should be happy about this. Well, almost no one, except, perhaps, the elites in Davos.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/31/2022 – 02:00

  • China Expanding New Space Station To Rival ISS
    China Expanding New Space Station To Rival ISS

    China’s Tiangong Space Station is operational and is poised to rival the International Space Station (ISS) and comes at a time when the ISS is locked in a fierce political battle between Russia and the US due to the Ukraine war. 

    Bloomberg reports that spacecraft Shenzhou-14, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, was moved to a launchpad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Sunday. The Shenzhou-14 crewed spacecraft will ferry three astronauts to Tiangong in early June for a six-month mission. 

    China will have a busy year expanding the Tiangong. A total of six space flights will be carried out this year. In May, a cargo spacecraft delivered supplies to the station. Next will be the Shenzhou-14 human-crewed spacecraft. Then the launch of the Wentian lab module in June. The launch of the Tianhe core module in July and another lab module in October. Another three astronauts aboard the Shenzhou-15 human-crewed spacecraft will be taken up later this year to stay in orbit for six months. 

    Last week, China released a never-before-seen image of Tiangong, orbiting above the Earth at 250 miles. 

    Under President Xi Jinping, China has ambitious expansion plans for the Tiangong. In April, Beijing invited international and commercial partners to the new station as Russia quits the ISS.

    The uncertainty gripping the ISS due to Washington’s sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine has pushed Russia and China closer. 

    Before the Ukraine conflict, Russian space agency Roscosmos signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s National Space Administration, agreeing to work together on an international lunar research station.

    The race for space dominance appears to be morphing into a multi-polar playing field—the US and European allies against Russia and China. 

    With ISS retiring by 2030, China’s Tiangong will be the only space station operational unless the US has a replacement. The US has enjoyed complete space dominance for decades, though the gap appears to be closing. 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/30/2022 – 23:15

  • Iranian Military Base Attacked With Drones 'Launched From Inside Iran'
    Iranian Military Base Attacked With Drones ‘Launched From Inside Iran’

    Authored by Will Porter via The Libertarian Institute,

    An apparent drone attack targeting Iran’s Parchin military complex earlier this week was launched from within the country, The New York Times reported, suggesting the deadly incident followed a “pattern” of previous strikes carried out by Israeli operatives.

    Blasts erupted at a research unit at the sensitive military site last Wednesday, killing a young engineer and injuring one other person, according to the Times, which cited three Iranians and one US official familiar with the incident. The sources said the attack involved multiple quadcopter suicide drones, but did not specify their make.

     Iran’s Parchin military complex, file image

    While Iranian officials initially said the explosions were the result of an “industrial accident,” the government later suggested the site was attacked, also identifying the slain engineer as Ehsan Ghadbeigi, who it deemed a “martyr.”

    Given the short range of quadcopter drones and Parchin’s significant distance from Iran’s borders, Iranian sources told the Times that the assault must have been launched from within the country, not far from the complex.

    No actor has claimed responsibility for the blasts, and Tehran has yet to publicly cast blame, though the Times noted that “the attack fit a pattern of past Israeli strikes,” including an assault in February in which six quadcopter drones detonated near a factory in the city of Kermanshah.

    Weeks later, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) retaliated with a missile salvo into Iraqi Kurdistan, claiming to target a site used by Israeli intelligence agents planning attacks on Iran.

    The strikes on Parchin came just days after an IRGC officer was assassinated by gunmen in the Iranian capital. According to the Times, Israeli officials told US counterparts they were behind the killing, but Tel Aviv did not publicly confirm involvement, in line with its typical policy. 

    Example of quadcopter suicide drones used in the Mideast region, via YouTube/Middle East Eye

    In addition to the drone bombings and other assassinations targeting Iranian scientists in the past, a string of mysterious explosions have also rocked Iranian nuclear infrastructure in recent years, such as one high-profile incident in April 2021 at the Natanz site, a major uranium enrichment facility.

    Israel has been a top suspect in each case given its history of operations inside Iran, and Tehran has explicitly blamed the country for a number of the incidents.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/30/2022 – 22:40

  • Concern About Civil Rights Wanes In The US
    Concern About Civil Rights Wanes In The US

    After concern about civil rights peaked in the United States in early 2021, Statista’s Katharina Buchholz reports that the share of respondents identifying it as an important issue for the country quickly dropped again – back to 2019 levels as of Q4 2021 and Q1 2022. This is according to the Statista Global Consumer Survey.

    Infographic: Concern About Civil Rights Wanes in the U.S. | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    Throughout 2020, civil rights took center stage in U.S. political discourse after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in May triggered mass protests and a politicized re-awakening on racial injustice in the country.

    The second anniversary of George Floyd’s death was last week, May 25, 2022.

    As of Q2 2021, 32 percent of respondents still named civil rights as an important issue for the United States. Higher ranked issues at that time were the economic situation, unemployment, health and social security (at 43-45 percent as the Delta variant intensified concern about Covid-19 once more) as well as inflation (35 percent) and crime (33 percent).

    By Q1 of 2022, concern about civil rights was additionally overtaken by concern about climate and the environment as well as concern about education, immigration, poverty and housing, delegating its importance back to an also-ran.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/30/2022 – 22:05

  • In Memoriam 2022
    In Memoriam 2022

    Authored by Robert Gore via Straight Line Logic blog,

    “You don’t fight for your country, you fight for your government.”

    The Golden Pinnacle, by Robert Gore

    On Memorial Day, America remembers and honors those who died while serving in the military. It is altogether fitting and proper to ask: for what did they die? Do the rationales offered by the military and government officials who decide when and how the US will go to war, and embraced by the public, particularly those who lose loved ones, stand up to scrutiny and analysis? Some will recoil, claiming it inappropriate on a day devoted to honoring the dead.

    However, it is because war is a matter of life and death, for members of the military and inevitably civilians, that its putative justifications be subject to the strictest tests of truth and the most probing of analyses.

    Millions have marched off to war believing they were defending the US, which implies the US was under attack. Yet, setting aside for a moment Pearl Harbor and 9/11, US territory hasn’t been invaded by a foreign power since the Mexican-American War (arguably—Mexico claimed the territory it “invaded” was part of Mexico), or, if the Confederacy is considered a foreign power, the Civil War. That war ended a century-and-a-half ago, yet every US military involvement since has been justified as a defense of the US. That has gradually attenuated, in a little noted slide, to a defense of US “interests,” which is something far different.

    Only one of those involvements could, arguably, have been said to have forestalled not an invasion, but a possible threat of invasion: World War II. Watching newsreel graphics of Germany’s drives across Europe, Northern Africa, and the USSR, and Japan’s across Asia and the Pacific, it was perhaps understandable that Americans believed the Axis powers would eventually come for them, especially after Pearl Harbor. However, that was a one-off attack by the Japanese to disable the US’s Pacific Fleet. To launch an invasion of the US, Japan, a smaller, less populated nation whose economy depended on imports of vital raw materials, including oil, would have had to cross the Pacific and fight the US, and undoubtedly Canada, on their home territories. The Pearl Harbor attack, provoking America’s entry into the war, proved a strategic blunder for the Japanese. An invasion would have been ludicrous. Similarly, Germany, up to its eyeballs in a two-front war, couldn’t conquer Russian winters or Great Britain across the English Channel. How was it supposed to either cross the Atlantic, or the USSR and hostile guerrillas, then the Pacific, and attack the US? That, too, would have been ludicrous.

    The 9/11 attack was also a one-off. A majority of the attackers came not from a US enemy but rather a supposed ally, Saudi Arabia. They received funding and other support from people in that country and perhaps its government. A conventional war against a “state sponsor of terrorism” might have required war against Saudi Arabia; it is still not clear how involved its government was. That option was never considered. Rather, the Bush administration performed metaphysical gymnastics and launched the first war in history against a tactic: terrorism. Although the jihadists who perpetrated 9/11 were self-evidently not the vanguard of an invasion, the terrorism they employed was deemed a threat to US interests in the Middle East, and to life and property in the US. However, none of our subsequent involvements in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt, and Yemen have been necessary to maintain US citizens’ freedoms, the nation’s territorial integrity, or its lives and property.

    There are undoubtedly many epitaphs on tombstones in this country to the effect: Here lies the deceased, who died defending America, and not one that reads: Here lies the deceased, who died defending American interests. However, the latter is in most cases more accurate than the former. Who decides the interests for which members of America’s military will die? Those considering entering the military today must look beyond the slogans, contemplate the risks of being killed, wounded, dismembered, paralyzed, or psychologically traumatized, and ask themselves: why and for whom are these risks being borne? You don’t fight for your country, you fight for your government. Is it worth risking one’s life for the US government?

    In 1821, John Quincy Adams said America had not gone “abroad in search of monsters to destroy,” and while we wished those seeking liberty well, theirs was not our fight (see “In Search of Monsters,” SLL, 4/11/15). Since then, America has searched for monsters, found, and in some cases, destroyed them. However, as the poison of power has worked its evil on the minds and souls of those who possess it, the monsters have become more ethereal, apparitions conjured like creatures in the closet by children when they go to bed. The war on terrorism creates more terrorists, the monsters of choice since 9/11. The government still pays occasional lip service to “democratic values” and “civil liberties,” but allies itself with regimes which have no more fealty to those values and liberties than the “tyrants” the government opposes.

    “Defending America” and “Promoting Our Way of Life” have become transparent pretexts for American power and domination unbounded.

    As Adams so presciently warned, the search for monsters has turned the government itself into a monster, the biggest threat to Americans’ “inextinguishable rights of human nature.”

    Those who have fought and died to defend America and its freedoms are noble beyond measure. Those who pay self-serving tribute to their valor, but make war and expend lives as means to corrupt ends are evil beyond redemption. Honor the former; expose and oppose the latter.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/30/2022 – 21:30

  • Back To The Future: DeLorean Unveils All-New Electric Alpha5
    Back To The Future: DeLorean Unveils All-New Electric Alpha5

    The DeLorean DMC-12 became widely popular thanks to the Back To The Future films from the mid/late 1980s. Its most memorable appearance was when the vehicle had to travel 88 miles per hour so the “flux capacitor” could initiate time travel. 

    Four decades since the DMC-12 was first released (1981), DeLorean Motor Company unveiled the DMC Alpha5 on Monday.

    The Alpha5 and DMC-12 have one noticeable feature: the famous massive gullwing doors, though the new vehicle will feature an all-electric powertrain that allows for 0-60 mph in 2.99 seconds or 0-88 mph in 4.35 seconds, much faster than DMC-12’s 0-60 mph in 10.5 seconds. 

    The aerodynamic body of the Alpha5 is a lot cleaner than the boxy body of the DMC-12. Alpha5 has a drag coefficient similar to the Tesla Model 3 and a 300-mile range. 

    The history of John DeLorean, the creator of the DMC-12, was a rather interesting one. In 1982, one year after the DMC-12 was released, the FBI set up a sting where DeLorean agreed to bankroll a fake cocaine smuggling operation in hopes of providing cash flow to his company. DMC went bankrupt shortly after DeLorean was arrested, and the DMC-12 halted production. The car was only made between 1981-1982. Then in 1995, Stephen Wynne bought the rights to the company. 

    According to Joos de Vries, the CEO of Delorean Motor Company: “The Alpha5 is for people that love to drive.” Neilo Harris, VP of branding, added: 

    “We have been given the opportunity to reimagine a brand that has meant to much to so many people from all corners of the globe for four decades. DeLorean has touched so many lives and set the stage for so many memories… We are all now witnessing a new chapter of this amazing story.” 

    Alpha5 will “will premiere at Pebble Beach Concours d ‘Elegance Award ramp on August 18 and the Concept Lawn on August 21,” the company said on its website. 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/30/2022 – 20:55

  • The New York Times' Dramatic Shift On Victory In Ukraine
    The New York Times’ Dramatic Shift On Victory In Ukraine

    Authored by John Walsh via Consortium News,

    On May 11 The New York Times ran an article documenting that all was not going well for the U.S. in Ukraine, and a companion opinion piece hinting that a shift in direction might be in order.

    Then on May 19, the editorial board, the full Magisterium of the Times, moved from hints to a clarion call for a change in direction, declaring that “total victory” over Russia is not possible and that Ukraine will have to negotiate a peace in a way that reflects a “realistic assessment” and the “limits” of U.S. commitment. The Times serves as one the main shapers of public opinion for the elite and so its pronouncements are not to be taken lightly.

    US Limits

    The editorial contains the following key passages:

    “In March, this board argued that the message from the United States and its allies to Ukrainians and Russians alike must be: No matter how long it takes, Ukraine will be free. …”

    “That goal cannot shift, but in the end, it is still not in America’s best interest to plunge into an all-out war with Russia, even if a negotiated peace may require Ukraine to make some hard decisions.” 

    And, to ensure that there is no ambiguity, it went on:

    “A decisive military victory for Ukraine over Russia, in which Ukraine regains all the territory Russia has seized since 2014, is not a realistic goal. …Russia remains too strong…”

    Image: Flickr

    Then, to make certain that President Joe Biden and the Ukrainians understand what they should do, it adds:

    “… Mr. Biden should also make clear to President Volodymyr Zelensky and his people that there is a limit to how far the United States and NATO will go to confront Russia, and limits to the arms, money and political support they can muster. It is imperative that the Ukrainian government’s decisions be based on a realistic assessment of its means and how much more destruction Ukraine can sustain.”

    As Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky read those words, he must surely have begun to sweat.  The voice of his masters was telling him that he and Ukraine will have to make some sacrifices for the U.S. to save face.  As he contemplates his options, his thoughts must surely run back to February 2014, and the U.S.-backed Maidan coup that culminated in the hasty exit of President Viktor Yanukovych from his office, his country and almost from this earth.

    Alexander Mercouris of The Duran explains the shift in Western media reporting:

    Too dangerous

    In the eyes of the Times editorial writers, the war has become a U.S. proxy war against Russia using Ukrainians as cannon fodder – and it is careening out of control:

     “The current moment is a messy one in this conflict, which may explain President Biden and his cabinet’s reluctance to put down clear goal posts.

    “The United States and NATO are already deeply involved, militarily and economically. Unrealistic expectations could draw them ever deeper into a costly, drawn-out war…

    “Recent bellicose statements from Washington — President Biden’s assertion that Mr. Putin ‘cannot remain in power,’ Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s comment that Russia must be ‘weakened’ and the pledge by the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, that the United States would support Ukraine ‘until victory is won’ — may be rousing proclamations of support, but they do not bring negotiations any closer.”

    While the Times dismisses these “rousing proclamations,” it is all too clear that for the neocons in charge of US foreign policy, the goal has always been a proxy war to bring down Russia. This has not become a proxy war; it has always been a proxy war.

    The neocons operate by the Wolfowitz Doctrine, enunciated in 1992, soon after the end of Cold War 1.0, by the necoconservative Paul Wolfowitz, then under secretary of defense:

    “We endeavor to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global power.

    “We must maintain the mechanism for deterring potential competitors from even aspiring to a larger regional or global power.”

    Clearly if Russia is “too strong” to be defeated in Ukraine, it is too strong to be brought down as a superpower.

    Paul Wolfowitz, then deputy secretary of defense, on March 1, 2001. Image: DoD

    What Changed?

    After seven years of slaughter in the Donbas and three months of warfare in southern Ukraine, has the Times editorial board suddenly had a rush of compassion for all the victims of the war and the destruction of Ukraine and changed its opinion?  Given the record of the Times over the decades, it would seem that other factors are at work.

    First of all, Russia has handled the situation unexpectedly well despite dire predictions from the West. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s support exceeds 80 percent.

    Out of 195 nations, 165 —including India and China with 35 percent of the world’s population —have refused to join sanctions against Russia, leaving the U.S., not Russia, relatively isolated in the world. 

    The ruble, which Biden said would be “rubble,” has not only returned to its pre-February levels but is trading recently around a two-year high of about 60 rubles to the dollar compared to 150 in March. 

    Russia is expecting a bumper harvest and the world is eager for its wheat and fertilizer, oil and gas all of which provide substantial revenue. The EU has largely succumbed to Russia’s demand to be paid for gas in rubles.  U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellin is warning the suicidal Europeans that an embargo of Russian oil will further damage the economies of the West.

    Russian forces are making slow but steady progress across southern and eastern Ukraine after winning in Mariupol, the biggest battle of the war so far, and a demoralizing defeat for Ukraine.

    In the U.S., inflation, which was already high before the Ukraine crisis, has been driven even higher and reached over 8 percent with the Federal Reserve now scrambling to control it by raising interest rates.  Partly as a result of this, the stock market has come close to bear territory.  As the war progresses, many have joined Ben Bernanke, former Fed Chair, in predicting a period of high unemployment, high inflation and low growth — the dread stagflation. 

    US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen at World Bank meeting in March. Image: World Bank

    Domestically, there are signs of deterioration in support of the war.  Most strikingly, 57 House Republicans and 11 Senate Republicans voted against the latest package of weaponry to Ukraine, bundled with considerable pork and hidden bonanzas for the war profiteers.  (Strikingly no Democrat, not a single one, not even the most “progressive” voted against pouring fuel on the fire of war raging in Ukraine.  But that is another story.) 

    And while US public opinion remains in favor of U.S. involvement in Ukraine there are signs of slippage.  For example, Pew reports that those feeling the U.S. is not doing enough declined from March to May.  As more stagflation takes hold with gas and food prices growing and voices like those of Tucker Carlson and Rand Paul pointing out the connection between the inflation and the war, discontent is certain to grow.

    Finally, as the war becomes less popular and it takes its toll, an electoral disaster looms ahead in 2022 and 2024 for Biden and the Democratic Party, for which the Times serves as a mouthpiece.

    Note of Panic

    There is a note of panic in this appeal to find a negotiated solution now.  The US and Russia are the world’s major nuclear powers with thousands of nuclear missiles on launch-on-warning, aka hair-trigger alert.  At moments of high tension, the possibilities of accidental nuclear Armageddon are all too real. 

    Biden’s ability to stay in command of events is in question. Many people of his age can handle a situation like this, but many cannot and he seems to be in the latter category.

    The neocons are now in control of the foreign policy of the Biden administration, the Democratic Party and most of the Republican Party. But will the neocons in charge give up and move in a reasonable and peaceful direction as the Times editorial demands? 

    This is a fantasy of the first order.  As other commentators have observed, hawks such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan have no reverse gear; they always double down. They do not serve the interests of humanity nor do they serve the interests of the American people. They are in reality traitors to the US.  They must be exposed, discredited and pushed aside. Our survival depends on it.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/30/2022 – 20:20

  • Elite San Francisco School Sees Record D's And F's After Ditching 'Racist' Merit-Based Admissions
    Elite San Francisco School Sees Record D’s And F’s After Ditching ‘Racist’ Merit-Based Admissions

    A record number of freshman students at San Francisco’s elite Lowell High School earned D and F grades this past fall – the first semester after the school board eliminated merit-based admissions that were deemed “racist” by former SF Board of Education Commissioner, Alison Collins – who was ousted along with two other school board members in a February recall over the admissions debate and other issues – including a series of 2016 tweets by Collins targeting Asian Americans.

    Of the 620 freshman students at Lowell, 24.4% received at least one D or F during the fall semester, which compared with just 7.9% of first-year students in fall 2020 and 7.7% in fall 2019, according to internal SF Unified School District figures obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle. Overall, the number of 9th graders at Lowell with a D or F tripled from 51 in 2020 to 152 in 2021 – bringing the figures closer to those at other high schools in the city.

    Lowell students in grades 10 through 12 – who were admitted under the old merit-based system, saw a “slight” drop in grades over the same time period, while other city high schools did not see similar rises in D’s and F’s. In fact, freshman receiving low grades at other schools declined citywide between fall 2019 and 2021.

    The lower grades, while expected by many, are likely to become part of a fervid debate over Lowell that touches on race, equity and achievement. The grades raise questions about how students — and the school’s teachers and administrators — are adapting to the changes.

    However, it’s unclear exactly how much the change in admissions policy factored into the rise in D’s and F’s among Lowell’s ninth-graders, compared with other possible factors such as the pandemic. –SF Chronicle

    In 2020, Collins notably said merit-based achievement and standardized testing are “racist systems” and the “antithesis of fair” – prompting the school to change their admissions policy to a lottery system similar to all other SF city high schools, vs. test scores and grades.

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    After the school dropped merit-based admissions, Lowell High accepted fewer asian (-4.4%) and white students (-6.5%), and more hispanic (+10%) and black students (+2.9%).

    According to outgoing Lowell High principal Joe Ryan Dominguez, there are “way too many variables that contributed” to the rise.

    “Over a year of distance learning, half of our student body new to in-person instruction at the high school level and absences among students/staff for COVID all explain this dip in performance,” he said – without addressing the fact that students admitted under the merit-based system were doing better than those admitted under the lottery. “It is important not to insinuate a cause on such a sensitive topic at the risk of shaming our students and teachers who have worked very hard in a difficult year.”

    Pressured by the pandemic, the school board approved a fast-tracked switch from merit- to lottery-based admissions at Lowell starting this school year, citing COVID disruptions to the tests and grades that underpin applications to the school. Lowell’s freshman class this year was the most diverse in decades, with more Black and Latino students.

    Both before and since the board’s decision, Lowell’s students, parents, educators and alumni have been locked in a debate over how the school should admit its students in the future.

    Lowell has long been one of the top performing public schools in the country, whose alumni include prominent figures in politics, entertainment, literature and science. It’s viewed as a high-pressure launchpad to elite colleges and has offered more advanced placement courses than other San Francisco high schools. -SF Chronicle

    Those opposed to the new lottery-based system say it disproportionately hurts Asian American students, who were ‘overrepresented’ at Lowell vs. other SFUSD schools, and that it ignores the benefits of a competitive school afforded to high-achievers.

    During a Tuesday school board meeting, departing district Superintendent Vincent Matthews proposed extending the lottery-based admissions system at Lowell through the 2023-2024 school year while the district launches a public process to determine a long-term solution.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/30/2022 – 19:45

  • Kremlin Makes Announcement Amid Rumors On Putin’s Health
    Kremlin Makes Announcement Amid Rumors On Putin’s Health

    Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    A top Kremlin official on Monday disputed reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s health is getting progressively worse amid rumors that he may have cancer.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart at the Kremlin in Moscow on Feb. 22, 2022. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov issued a response to the reports, saying that Putin “makes public appearances on a daily basis.”

    “You can see him on TV screens, read, and listen to his speeches. I don’t think that a sane person can suspect any signs of an illness or ailment in this man,” he added. “I’ll leave it on the conscience of those who disseminate such rumors despite daily opportunities for everyone to see how he and others look like.”

    Lavrov, who was speaking to a French TV station, did not address claims that Putin is suffering from an undisclosed form of cancer.

    Christopher Steele, the former UK spy and reputed author of the infamous and discredited “Steele dossier,” told Sky News earlier this month he believes Putin is “seriously ill” and claimed that factored into the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

    Notably, Steele was hired by organizations on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign to conduct opposition research against then-candidate Donald Trump, creating the dossier accusing Trump of having connections to Moscow. Most of the claims within Steele’s notes have been debunked by U.S. intelligence officials, although those allegations ultimately made it to corporate American news outlets such as MSNBC and the New York Times.

    Tanks of pro-Russian troops drive along a street during the Ukraine–Russia conflict in the town of Popasna in the Luhansk Region, Ukraine, on May 26, 2022. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

    A report from an outlet called New Lines Magzine claimed that it received an audio recording from an unnamed Russian oligarch, who alleged Putin is “very ill with blood cancer.”

    And in March, Moscow also denied other rumors—which are largely based on uncorroborated and unnamed sources—about Putin’s health. At the time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian leader said he was in fine condition.

    However, a former KGB official, Boris Karpichkov told The Sun tabloid that he suspects Putin, 69, has several ailments, including Parkinson’s and dementia. Karpichkov provided no evidence to the publication, which, along with the Daily Mail and Mirror, often publishes speculative reports about Putin’s health and family members.

    This month, Jeffrey Edmonds, the former director for Russia on the National Security Council and a former CIA military analyst, told Business Insider that he is “not seeing anything truly credible” in regards to claims about the Russian president’s allegedly poor health.

    Because of Russia’s failure to capture certain parts of Ukraine, Edmonds said that he and other analysts have seen “a definite change” in Putin’s public behavior.

    Putin is “normally the voice of calm in Russia but publicly has become more emotional and angry,” he said, adding that the president is  “not comfortable with something.”

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/30/2022 – 19:10

  • Brent Tops $122 After EU Agrees On "Partial" Ban Of Russian Oil
    Brent Tops $122 After EU Agrees On “Partial” Ban Of Russian Oil

    After days of leaks, late on Sunday Bloomberg confirmed that European Union leaders agreed to pursue a partial ban on Russian oil, setting the stage the way for a sixth package of sanctions to punish Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, for the invasion of Ukraine…

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    … with some member states reportedly already pushing for a seventh EU sanctions package… although considering that Russian oil exports have hit record highs ever since the Ukraine war erupted, one wonders if this round of “sanctions” will be just as worthless as all the previous ones.

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    The sanctions – as previewed last week – would ban the purchase of crude oil and petroleum products from Russia delivered to member states by sea but include a temporary exemption for pipeline crude (at the insistence of Hungary and German), European Council President Charles Michel said late Monday during a summit in Brussels.

    “This immediately covers more than 2/3 of oil imports from Russia, cutting a huge source of financing for its war machine,” Michel said in a tweet. “Maximum pressure on Russia to end the war.”

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    Of course, that’s just propaganda for the idiot masses: as we have shown previously, it is thanks to Europe’s laughable “sanctions”, that Russian oil revenues have soared by 50%, hitting a record high, and sending Russia’s current account to all time highs.

    Officials and diplomats still have to agree on the technical details and the sanctions must be formally adopted by all 27 nations. As we reported previously, Hungary, which will continue to receive Russian oil via pipeline, had been blocking an embargo for the past month as it sought assurances its energy supplies wouldn’t be disrupted.

    Of course, if one actually reads the fine print, the latest round of “sanctions” is even more laughable then the previous ones: the European Commission has proposed to ban crude oil six months from inaction, while refined petroleum products would be halted in eight months, which of course is ridiculous as the Ukraine war will be long over by then. Meanwhile, showing just how turn Europe actually remains, shipments of oil through the giant Druzhba pipeline to central Europe will be spared until a technical solution is found that satisfies the energy needs of Hungary and other landlocked nations.

    Seaborne supplies account for about two-thirds of Russian oil imports, and once in place, the measure would cost Putin up to $10 billion a year in lost export revenue, according to Bloomberg calculations. That’s because the ban would force Russia to sell its crude at a discount to Asia, where it’s already changing hands at about $34 a barrel cheaper than the price of Brent futures. Of course, while Russia will quickly compensate for that discount once the price of spot Brent rises by – say – $10, it will be Europeans who end up with exploding gas bills.

    The latest “sanctions” package also proposes another softball ban on insurance related to shipping oil to third countries… which is also absolutely toothless as it won’t take effect until six months after the adoption of the measures, from the previously proposed three-month transition. That adds to a longer list of concessions since the proposal was originally put forward by the EU’s executive arm in May, all meant to appease German while appearing to act tough on Russia.  

    It gets even funnier: some countries will also have a longer transition for the seaborne oil ban. For Bulgaria, a transition period until June or December 2024 is envisioned, while Croatia could get an exemption for imports of vacuum gas oil, which is used to make products including gasoline and butane.

    The EU’s efforts to limit price spikes and Russia’s ability to divert its oil exports in the event of a European embargo had already been watered down in earlier negotiation rounds after a plan to ban tankers from transporting oil to third countries was abandoned.
    A plan to ban Russians from purchasing real estate in the EU was dropped from the deal, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. Haggling over the terms of the EU’s oil embargo also led other member states to seek exemptions.

    Meanwhile, as Europe’s revels in the laughable pomp of yet another toothless round of sanctions, Russia – the wolrld’s 2nd largest exporter of oil (and perhaps 1st if Saudis are having a bad month), shipped about 720,000 barrels a day of crude to European refineries through its main pipeline to the region last year. That compares with seaborne volumes of 1.57 million barrels a day from its Baltic, Black Sea and Arctic ports.

    According to Bloomberg, some of the other measures in the proposed EU sanctions package include:

    • Cutting three more Russian banks off the SWIFT international payments system, including Russia’s largest lender Sberbank.
    • Banning the ability to provide consulting services to Russian companies and trade in a number of chemicals.
    • Sanctioning Alina Kabaeva, a former Olympic gymnast who is “closely associated” with Putin, according to an EU document; and Patriarch Kirill, who heads the Russian Orthodox Church and has been a vocal supporter of the Russian president and the war in Ukraine. Hungary, however, is opposed to sanctioning Kirill, the people said.
    • Sanctioning dozens of military personnel, including those deemed responsible for reported war crimes in Bucha, as well as companies providing equipment, supplies and services to the Russian armed forces.

    In any case, between Europe’s surprising ability to agree on something, even if it is yet another symbolic and theatrical round of “sanctions”, and China effectively “defeating” covid over the past week…

    … which has resulted in the end of lockdown measures in Shanghai and Beijing, Brent topped $122 and WTI was trading above $117.

    One can only imagine where oil would be trading if Biden hadn’t taken the political decision to drain the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve just so dems had even a glimmer of a chance come November…

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/30/2022 – 18:36

  • Hurricane Agatha, First Of The Season, Takes Aim At Mexico Tourist Beaches
    Hurricane Agatha, First Of The Season, Takes Aim At Mexico Tourist Beaches

    Agatha is the first hurricane of the 2022 season and is spinning towards Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane. Landfall could be as early as Monday afternoon or evening, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. 

    Agatha has sustained maximum winds of 110 mph (1 mph shy of Cat 3) about 65 miles southwest of Puerto Angel as it moved northeast at six mph early Monday. 

    “Life-threatening hurricane-force winds are expected in portions of the hurricane warning area in southern Mexico on Monday,” NHC warned.

    The storm’s path is near Puerto Escondido and Puerto Angel in the southern state of Oaxaca, an area known for beaches and resorts. 

    NHC said that Agatha could “bring extremely dangerous coastal flooding from storm surge accompanied by large and destructive waves is expected near and the east of where Agatha makes landfall.” 

    NHC forecasts Agatha to dump 10 to 16 inches of rain on parts of Oaxaca, with some areas of at least 20 inches, which may trigger mudslides and flash floods. 

    Another busy season hurricane season is expected. One of the reasons is due to the ongoing La Niña.

    The official Atlantic hurricane season begins on Wednesday and lasts through Nov. 30, where there’s a strong possibility of an above-normal season. 

    “Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook 2022: 70% likelihood of 14-21 named storms of which 6-10 could become hurricanes, including 3-6 major hurricanes,” tweeted NOAA.

    Meanwhile, there’s a 40% chance of tropical development in the Gulf of Mexico over the next five days. 

    “A large and complex area of low pressure is expected to develop across Central America, the Yucatán Peninsula, and the southwest Gulf of Mexico in a few days, partially related to the remnants of Hurricane Agatha from the eastern Pacific. Some gradual development is possible within this system in the far southwest Gulf of Mexico around midweek or in the northwest Caribbean by the latter part of this week as it drifts eastward or northeastward,” NHC said. 

    Another active hurricane season could prove disastrous for offshore drilling and inland refinery operations along the US Gulf Coast and comes at a time the Biden administration struggles to stomp out high pump prices. It only takes one powerful storm to dent Gulf Coast refining capacity, thus catapulting fuel prices on the East Coast to the moon. So much for the SPR drain… 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/30/2022 – 18:35

  • Elizabeth Warren Desperately Seeks "More" Inflation
    Elizabeth Warren Desperately Seeks “More” Inflation

    Authored by Mike Shedlock via MIshTalk.com,

    To put things politely, Elizabeth Warren is an economic moron…

    Gas Gouging

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    Elizabeth Warren Flashback

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    “On my first day as president, I will sign an executive order that puts a total moratorium on all new fossil fuel leases for drilling offshore and on public lands. And I will ban fracking—everywhere.”

    Thank you Elizabeth Warren for another “Hoot of the Day”.

    She is a multiple time winner.

    More Free Money

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    Warren’s plan to tamp down inflation includes more free money.

    “As a country, we shouldn’t crush people with debt for trying to build a better future. Technical schools, community colleges, and public universities should be tuition-free. And to start righting this wrong, President Biden must #CancelStudentDebt.”

    Why stop there?

    Free Universal Child Care

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    “Let’s take this vision nationwide with my plan for universal child care and pre-k.”

    Yeah, that’ll sure fix inflation.

    To put things politely, Elizabeth Warren is an economic moron.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/30/2022 – 18:00

  • Memorial Day Air Travelers Hit With Heavy Flight Cancellations 
    Memorial Day Air Travelers Hit With Heavy Flight Cancellations 

    Flight disruptions spread across the US on Memorial Day weekend, a turbulent start to the summer travel season two years since the virus pandemic began.  

    On Monday morning, Flight Aware’s plane tracking website reports 272 cancellations within, into, or out of the US. There were 546 cancellations on Sunday, and hundreds more on Saturday and Friday, totaling at least a thousand across the holiday period. 

    One of the most significant headaches over the weekend was when Delta Air Lines canceled more than 250 flights or 9% of its US operations on Saturday.

    In an email statement, Atlanta-based Delta told AP News that Saturday’s cancellations resulted from bad weather and “air traffic control actions.” 

    Angry passengers tweeted their woes from airports. 

    “So our flight from Savannah to Miami has just been canceled out of the blue not other flights available on the day wtf do we do,” one traveler said. 

    “Instead of canceling the flight hours ago, delta had me waiting from 3:50 pm till 12:04 am just to tell me my flight was canceled,” another said. 

    Demand destruction has yet to be reached despite soaring domestic airfare prices, as TSA throughput data at US airports shows air travel is back to pre-COVID levels. 

    According to travel data firm Hopper, this weekend’s average cost for a plane ticket was more than $400 round trip, 24% higher than this time in 2019 and 45% higher than a year ago. 

    Multiple major airlines, such as Delta, JetBlue Airways, and Alaska Airlines, recently announced a reduction of flights this summer due to a pilot shortage. 

    Combine reduced flights and soaring jet fuel costs — on top of increasing flight demand, ticket prices have already catapulted with a record monthly jump in March. And could go higher this summer. 

    Flight cancellations this past holiday weekend may suggest a rocky summer for airline carriers. Unreliable airlines and record-high ticket prices, at what point do travelers give up on flying? 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/30/2022 – 17:25

  • Watch: Rand Paul Rages At "Democrat Plan To Brand Police, Soldiers As White Supremacists And Neo-Nazis"
    Watch: Rand Paul Rages At “Democrat Plan To Brand Police, Soldiers As White Supremacists And Neo-Nazis”

    Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

    In a speech on the Senate floor Friday, Rand Paul blasted efforts by Democrats to paint up all law enforcement officers and those in the military as dangerous radical racists.

    Paul was addressing The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022, blocked by Republicans in the Senate, that demands the FBI and Department of Homeland Security change the way they investigate and monitor domestic terrorism suspects.

    The official summary of the bill notes that an “interagency task force” would be established in order to probe into “white supremacist and neo-Nazi infiltration of the uniformed services and federal law enforcement agencies.”

    “This bill should be called by a more accurate name: the Democrat plan to brand our police and soldiers as white supremacists and neo-Nazis,” Paul proclaimed.

    He continued, “How insulting,” adding “We knew that Democrats despise and want to defund the police, but now, they believe that the police, federal law enforcement, and the U.S. military are full of white supremacists and neo-Nazis?”

    Referring to the now mothballed ‘Disinformation Governance Board’, Paul also noted “Those of us who still care about the Bill of Rights just got done taking down the DHS ‘Ministry of Truth,’ and a day later, Democrats want to create the DHS Thought Police. You couldn’t make it up if you tried. But they don’t stop there.”

    “The bill creates two other Thought Police offices at the Department of Justice and at the FBI, which seems like a self-defeating choice, since elsewhere in the bill, we are told that federal law enforcement is shot through with white supremacists and neo-Nazis,” Paul urged.

    The Senator also noted that “None of the bill makes sense. It doesn’t make sense because it was a bill that was never intended to become law. It’s a dumb, Washington talking points memo masquerading as legislation.”

    “But congressional Democrats have gotten so radical, so extreme, and so out-of-touch with the American people that when they read it, they see something worthwhile,” he added.

    Paul concluded that “This bill will fail today because the Democrats’ message — hate the police, defund the police, slander the military and police as racists and white supremacists — has been roundly rejected by the American people.”

    The bill failed to pass the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster in a 47-47 vote.

    Watch:

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    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/30/2022 – 16:50

  • As US Economic Data Crashes, Biden 'Invites' Powell To Oval Office
    As US Economic Data Crashes, Biden ‘Invites’ Powell To Oval Office

    Shit is not going well for President Biden… and blaming Putin is not working…

    Despite proclamations of the ‘strongest economy ever’ or some such gaslighting, Americans’ cost of living is rapidly outstripping their wage growth as those with assets (stocks and real estate) are facing an annus horibilis, and those without assets are forced to borrow at higher and higher rates of interest to cover day-to-day expenses…

    So it little wonder that President Biden will reportedly hold a rare Oval office meeting on Tuesday with Fed Chair Jerome Powell amid the highest inflation in decades, which has angered Americans and hurt his standing with voters.

    According to a White House statement, the two will discuss the state of the American and global economy. Bloomberg reports that, it’s the first meeting between the two since Biden in November announced his intention to nominate Powell for a second term at the helm of the US central bank, according to a record of the Fed chief’s public schedule which is available through March.

    Mr. Biden has said he won’t tell the Fed what to do but has broadly supported the Fed’s plans to withdraw stimulus.

    “I believe that inflation is our top economic challenge right now, and I think they do too,” Mr. Biden said on May 10.

    As The Wall Street Journal reports, while presidents and the party in power have often favored lower interest rates to support stronger growth, polls show that inflation is very unpopular, and Democrats are bracing for losses in this fall’s midterm congressional elections. Consumer confidence has slumped amid rising prices of food and gas. Lawmakers in both parties have supported the Fed’s efforts to raise interest rates, with some criticizing the Fed for having waited too long to do so.

    Remember, as the stock market was hitting record highs in Nov 2021, real estate sales were soaring and the economy was being allowed to reopen by the government, President Biden explained why he renominated a Republican appointee (and as Liz Warren said “a dangerous man”) promising that he will “maintain the independence of The Fed.”

    “The Federal Reserve is an independent operation,” he said in April 2021.

    “I want to be real clear that I’m not going to do the kinds of things that have been done in the last administration… telling them what they should and shouldn’t do.”

    However, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth… The last month has seen one of the biggest run of serial macro data disappoint in history, crashing US Macro Surprise Index to its weakest since Sept 2021

    As Global Stagflation accelerates…

    So given Biden’s ‘invitation’ for a chat, we wonder, did the president finally realize that market crashes, free-falling real-estate, and recessions poll worse than hyperinflation…

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    Because it appears whatever he is doing is not working as his approval rating nears record lows once again…

    If Powell now suddenly pivots to more dovish talk, ‘pause in September’, transitory-inflation once again… is there any doubt that the ‘independent’ Fed is just a figment of America’s imagination, like “equal justice for all”?

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/30/2022 – 16:15

  • The Case For A Decentralization Premium
    The Case For A Decentralization Premium

    Authored by Omid Malekan via Medium.com,

    Theodore Roosevelt once observed that nothing in the world is worth doing unless it means effort, difficulty and pain.

    True for building the Panama Canal, and true enough for building a Web3 protocol – but only if it’s actually decentralized.

    Crypto has been in turmoil lately. Here a prominent stablecoin project failing in the span of a few days, in the spectacular fashion that only an algorithmic coin can. There a slew of once high flying coins crashing down, and their owners wondering if they were the punchline of an inside joke between a founder and a VC. Here yet another bridge being exploited. There some other NFT project being rug pulled.

    Most people see these machinations through the lens of price, but price is ephemeral. We’ve seen promising projects decline by 90% before, only to come back stronger. We’ve also seen poseur projects fall by 90%, only to fall another 90% and disappear. Crypto can be thought of as startup equity with the unique twist of having price discovery from the start. Prices fluctuate wildly in the short run because sentiment trumps fundamentals, and many projects don’t have any. But like any other startup, what matters in the long run is whether a project delivers something useful.

    Not in terms of transactions per second, clean user interfaces or efficient governance, that’s what Big Banks and Big Tech are for. Crypto projects should be measured by the unique attributes of decentralization, features like trustlessness, censorship-resistance, transparency and — as a direct result — resilience. Given the many downsides of decentralization, these attributes should be priority one for every project. On a long enough timeline, they will determine price.

    Bitcoin node distribution via https://bitnodes.io/

    Consider the case of Bitcoin. It took a decade to mature and did so gradually. Its network is now decentralized to a fault and may never change, come hell or high energy prices. As frustrating as this obdurateness may be, it makes that network one of the most resilient on earth. That’s why the coin has entered the conversation as a potential reserve currency. The more the rest of the world descends into chaos, the greater the need for an apolitical and algorithmically minted store of value.

    Unlike bank accounts, GoFundMe balances or whatever Roubini is working on, Bitcoin is money that you can take into a foxhole — its low throughput and poor UI be damned.

    Bitcoin will survive this bear market because it is decentralized. For that reason, it should trade at a premium to almost everything else.

    Lune ownership from lunarichlist.com

    Now consider the case of Luna and UST. Other algorithmic stablecoins have failed, but none so spectacularly. What made UST special (and dangerous) was the speed with which it grew, rising tenfold in the span of a year and setting the stage for an Icarian fall. It grew quickly because it was centralized. Both the Terra blockchain and its most popular applications were created by one company. Terraform Labs also controlled half the original token supply and used its financial firepower to fund the ill-fated Anchor yield, not to mention the Bitcoin reserve and Curve takeover.

    Also contributing to the collapse was the cult of personality around Do Kwon. Luna owners were all too eager to defer to a dictator so long as they were making money. But Kwon was nowhere to be found when the project entered a tailspin, contributing to the loss of trust. Those who claim that UST was the victim of an attack — which it probably was — should remember that the entire point of this technology is to achieve resilience in the face of constant attack. Projects that can’t handle attacks shouldn’t exist.

    Terra was not resilient because it took too many shortcuts. Had the team stuck to the original plan of integrating UST into a merchant payment network and focused on organic growth, then its stablecoin may have had a fighting chance. But the founder wanted to be famous and powerful, and the community gave him their support, so things went off the rails. Part of Kwon’s god complex may have stemmed from the fact that his project was very well funded.

    Like other decentralization sellouts, Terra had tens of millions of dollars in the bank, from a successful ICO back in 2019 and additional raises since. That money helped fund ecosystem development, which was good, but it also funded a lot of egos, which was fatal.

    Biggest ICOs of the last boom

    We’ve heard this story before. The short history of crypto is filled with examples of projects that raised a lot of money, sacrificed first principles to steal the limelight, then faltered. The original DAO was hacked. Tezos devolved into a governance crisis almost right away. Block.one thrashed from one pointless endeavor to another, even spending $30m on a domain name. Telegram had to pay civil penalties and give the money back. Basis never launched. Ripple doesn’t do anything, and never has.

    On the other stride of the spectrum is Bitcoin, which never raised a penny, took its time to grow, and is now worth half a trillion dollars. Similarly, Ethereum only ever raised $16m — one tenth of the amount raised recently by Tom Brady’s NFT platform — and almost all of it came from the public. Insiders never controlled more than 15% of the token supply, and being Proof of Work diluted them further. It too has been painfully slow to evolve, but is well positioned to survive a bear market. If the merge succeeds and rollups continue to evolve then it can come out more useful than ever.

    Solana disdain for the public, via Messari.io

    Now consider the case of the latest generation of smart contract platforms like Solana, Avalanche, Polygon, BSC and Fantom. Instead of trying to develop their own communities in an organic fashion, most have focused on siphoning Ethereum’s by adopting the Ethereum Virtual Machine. That strategy makes it easier for users and developers to port over, but also diminishes what made these protocols special in the first place. Being clones, the only way they can distinguish themselves is by increasing capacity via greater centralization. Good for lower transaction fees, bad for why you need a blockchain in the first place.

    To make matters worse, most of these platforms have a great deal of insider ownership, the kind you’d expect from a traditional tech company, not a supposedly community-controlled platform.

    Like Terra, all of these projects have smart founders and capable teams. If they were more patient, then they could have built something worthwhile — both Bitcoin and Ethereum have their flaws. But billions of dollars worth of locked up tokens will soon hit the market, so shortcuts had to be taken. Adding insult to injury is the fact that the companies that manage these blockchains have raised a lot of money themselves. Ava Labs, the team behind Avalanche, has raised $300m at a $5b valuation. That makes the company half as valuable as the blockchain. How decentralized can any protocol be if so much of the value accrues to the founders?

    Avalanche’ primary go-to-market strategy has been to pay users to come over from Ethereum, leading to the risky situation where almost all the tokens on Avalanche are wrapped tokens bridged from elsewhere. Blockchain bridges are honeypots for hackers — as the Solana community learned the hard way. To mitigate such risks, Ava Labs has made its new bridge highly centralized. It has only 4 validators, one of which — surprise, surprise — is Ava Labs itself.

    Welcome to the world of decentralization theater, the fastest way for insiders to get rich in crypto, at least on the way up. Impatient crypto investors love chasing the next hot thing, and the market tends to reward projects that abandon first principles for short term gain during bull markets. But the fundamentals — or lack thereof — often lead to a reckoning during the bear.

    It’s worth noting that decentralization is no panacea and has many drawbacks. As I argue in my new book, the most likely outcome of the crypto revolution is a hybrid future, one where the core protocols are decentralized but the ramps and interfaces that most users rely on are not. Foundations and corporations will still have important roles to play, and there will be plenty of value creation to go around. But the one thing the market will not tolerate is inauthenticity, particularly at core. The more centralized the blockchain, the less antifragile the community.

    Ironically, the greatest tell of whether a project is actually decentralized is how slowly it evolves. That’s why Bitcoin takes years to execute a trivial BIP and Ethereum has had endless delays in its migration to proof of stake. This indicator also applies to dApps that move slowly due to inefficient governance. All solutions that move fast and break things will eventually be broken by market forces.

    As frustrating as decentralized progress can be, the market should reward the related coins with a premium.

    *  *  *

    I own some Bitcoin and Eth, and this is not investment advice. Crypto winters are not for the faint of heart, and how much any coin is down from it’s all time high is a meaningless number.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/30/2022 – 15:40

  • Dozens Of Border Patrol Agents Uninvited From Biden Event In Uvalde
    Dozens Of Border Patrol Agents Uninvited From Biden Event In Uvalde

    The Biden administration uninvited several Border Patrol agents and other law enforcement officers who responded to last week’s deadly elementary school shooting in Uvalde, TX, from a Sunday afternoon event with the President.

    Despite the event being held in a large open-space facility, Biden officials cited a lack of space as the reason for the retracted invitations, according to Breitbart.

    According to a senior Customs and Border Protection source, the officers received the invitation late last week. Many had accepted and were scheduled to attend the private address from the president. Most are now being informed they are no longer invited.

    The meeting, specifically to address the law enforcement officers who responded to the shooting is part of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden’s visit to Uvalde to address the families of the victims of last week’s school shooting at Robb Elementary.

    According to the former Border Patrol veteran Randy Clark, the location was able to accommodate hundreds of people – however more than 90% of the Border Patrol agents who were invited were subsequently told that time and space are limited and they would be unable to attend.

    Over 80 Border Patrol agents – including several members of the elite BORTAC special response team which was involved in taking down the school shooter, received invitations. Late Saturday evening, the Border Patrol was notified that Biden could only meet with 7 of the more than 80 agents involved in the response.

    In addition to Border Patrol BORTAC tactical unit members who killed the shooter after entering the classroom, others assisted with removing students and teachers from harm’s way. They also provided emergency medical attention to the survivors of the brutal attack. The source says the limitations likely apply to other large law enforcement agencies such as the Texas Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol which participated in the active shooter response as well.

    The source says deciding which officers will be allowed to attend on such short notice will be difficult. -Breitbart

    “These agents are still traumatized by the incident; the venue is large, and they are not going to buy this excuse,” the CBP source told Breitbart Texas, who added that mid-level managers from Border Patrol were tasked with deciding who would attend.

    “It appears now as if this planned meeting was nothing more than a photo opportunity with the law enforcement community,” they added.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/30/2022 – 15:05

  • New IRS Data Reveals Florida Biggest Winner, New York Biggest Loser In Competition For People & Their Wealth
    New IRS Data Reveals Florida Biggest Winner, New York Biggest Loser In Competition For People & Their Wealth

    Authored by Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner via Wirepoints.org,

    Every year, states across the country compete with each other for people and their wealth as millions of Americans move between states. The stakes are large. A growing population for the winners means an increasing tax base, economic growth and investment. For the biggest losers, it means more difficulties in paying down debts, higher taxes and fewer investments for the future.

    The nation’s most-recent winners of migration from other states are Florida and Idaho according to the latest migration data released by the IRS. Florida, the nation’s perennial winner, gained the most people and income overall in 2020, while Idaho gained the most of both on a percentage basis.

    On the other end of the competition are states that have become perennial losers. States like California, New York, Illinois and New Jersey once again experienced some of the nation’s biggest losses of both residents and their money.

    Those findings are based on a Wirepoints’ analysis of the latest 2020 domestic migration data provided by the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS reviews tax returns annually to track when and where people move. It also aggregates the ages, income brackets and adjusted gross incomes of filers.

    Winners and losers

    The Sunshine State attracted over $41.1 billion in Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) from 624,000 new residents (tax filers and their dependents) that moved into Florida in 2020. On the flip side, Florida lost $17.4 billion in AGI from 457,000 people who left. Overall, Florida came out ahead with 167,000 net new people and $23.7 billion in net new taxable income.

    That’s a total gain of about 3.3 percent of the state’s total 2019 AGI ($711 billion).

    Texas was the runner up with a net income gain of $6.3 billion, followed by Arizona with $4.8 billion. North and South Carolina rounded out the top five with net gains of $3.8 billion and $3.6 billion, respectively.

    On the losing side, New York suffered the worst outflow of money of any state in 2020. The Empire State lost a net $19.5 billion in income, or 2.5 percent of its 2019 AGI, while a net of nearly 250,000 residents moved out.

    California was next, losing a net $17.8 billion and 263,000 people. Illinois was third with a net loss of $8.5 billion and 101,000 people. Massachusetts and New Jersey were in 4th and 5th place, with $2.6 and $2.3 billion in income losses, respectively.

    Tables with each state’s ranking in migration gains/losses are provided below.

    The cumulative impact of income losses and gains

    The problem with chronic outflows, like in the case of New York, is that one year’s losses don’t only affect the tax base the year they leave, but they also hurt all subsequent years. The losses pile up on top of each other, year after year. And when a state loses income to other states for 21 straight years, the numbers add up.

    In 2020 alone, New York would have had nearly $123 billion more in AGI to tax had it not been for the state’s string of yearly migration losses. And when the state’s AGI losses are accumulated from 2000 to 2020, it totals $1.0 trillion in cumulative lost income that could have been taxed over the entire period.

    The opposite is true for migration winners like Florida. Gains in people and income pile on top of each other each year, building an ever-growing tax base. In 2020 alone, the state’s tax base was some $197 billion higher due to the 20-year string of positive income gains from net in-migration.

    Even though Florida doesn’t tax incomes, Wirepoints also added up Florida’s cumulative AGI to make an apples-to-apples comparison with New York. When the Sunshine State’s AGI gains are accumulated from 2000 to 2020, it totals $1.6 trillion in income that could have been taxed over the entire period.

    The competition for people matters

    Illinois, one of the nation’s other big losers, shows just how damaging being an “exit” state can be – especially when a state starts to lose its wealthier residents and and they are only partially replaced by people who make less. The Illinoisans who fled in 2020 earned, on average, $30,600 more than the residents Illinois gained from other states. That’s the biggest gap since at least 2000, based on Wirepoints’ analysis of the IRS data.

    Based on a percentage of total income, Illinois ranked 2nd-worst nationally for income losses in 2020. Illinois lost 1.9 percent of its 2019 AGI. New York and Alaska ranked 1st and 3rd, with losses of 2.5 percent and 1.3 percent of their 2019 total incomes, respectively.

    In contrast, Idaho was the nation’s big winner on a percentage basis in 2020, gaining 4.2 percent of its 2019 AGI base. The nation’s top five were rounded out by Wyoming, Montana, Florida and South Carolina.

    *  *  *

    Florida’s gains and Illinois’ losses are a clear reminder that states are constantly competing for people, businesses and a growing tax base.

    The prize for winning is big, but the price for losing may be even bigger.

    Read more from Wirepoints:

    Appendix

     

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/30/2022 – 14:30

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