Feb 04

Today’s News 4th February 2021

  • World Economic Forum Again Delays Annual Meeting Due To Pandemic Travel Restrictions
    World Economic Forum Again Delays Annual Meeting Due To Pandemic Travel Restrictions

    Fresh off the annual Davos Agenda held in greatly modified form the last week of January (that is… not really at all), which simply involved some world leaders giving speeches virtually, the global pandemic has continued to disrupt plans to hold World Economic Forum meetings in person. 

    The WEF announced Wednesday that it will reschedule the Special Annual Meeting in Singapore originally planned for May. Citing the difficulty of various international travel restrictions and quarantine requirements, the organization announced it will be pushed back to August to allow for more time for necessary arrangements. 

    Singapore, via Bloomberg

    We should note, however, it’s the one meeting in the world in which most participants travel there by private jet anyway, or other transport means typically exclusive to the 1%, not to mention standard travel for heads of state typically precludes having to go through busy hubs and terminals. 

    The originally scheduled May meeting had already been delayed for 12 days in a prior change, but now the Geneva-based WEF has indicated the new dates of Aug. 17-20.

    “Although the World Economic Forum and Government of Singapore remain confident of the measures in place to ensure a safe and effective meeting, and local transmission of COVID-19 in Singapore remains at negligible levels, the change to the meeting’s timing reflects the international challenges in containing the pandemic,” it said in a statement announcing the change.

    The 2021 annual meeting in Singapore will aim to address “challenges in containing the pandemic” and the continuing theme of global economic reset in the wake of global lockdowns and unprecedented hurdles. 

    Recent years saw record upticks in private jets flown to WEF summits…

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    Singapore was initially chosen as it “has a relatively low rate of Covid-19 cases, and has recently started experimenting with modified versions of large-scale conference,” according to prior reporting.

    This also as Switzerland has struggled with a surge of infections in recent months. It’s still expected that Singapore will offer a virtual component alongside in-person meetings in order to further maximize participation. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 02/04/2021 – 01:00

  • Xi, Putin Make The Case For Win-Win, Not Zero-Sum
    Xi, Putin Make The Case For Win-Win, Not Zero-Sum

    Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Asia Times,

    So the Davos Agenda has come and gone.

    That was the virtual Great Reset preview, hosted by Kissinger acolyte cum World Economic Forum (WEF) oracle Herr Klaus Schwab.

     

    Still, corporate/political so-called “leaders” will continue to wax lyrical about the Fourth Industrial Revolution – or its mild spin-offs such as Build Back Better, the favorite slogan of the new White House tenants.

    The WEF co-sponsors – from the UN and the IMF to BlackRock, Blackstone and the Carlyle Group – will continue to expand their synchronicity with Lynn Forester de Rothschild and her corporate-heavy Council for Inclusive Capitalism with the Vatican – pop Pope Francis at the helm.

    And yes, they accept Visa.

    Predictably, the two really crucial events at Davos received minimal or non-existent coverage across the wobbly West: the speeches by President Xi and President Putin.

    We have already highlighted Xi’s essentials. Aside from arguing a powerful case for multilateralism as the only possible road map to deal with global challenges, Xi stressed nothing substantial may be achieved if the inequality gap between North and South is not reduced.

    The best in-depth analysis of Putin’s extraordinary speech , hands down, was provided by Rostislav Ishchenko, whom I had the pleasure to meet in Moscow in 2018.

    Ishchenko stresses how, “in terms of scale and impact on historical processes, this is steeper than the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk combined.” The speech, he adds, was totally unexpected, as much as Putin’s stunning intervention at the Munich Security Conference in 2007, “the crushing defeat” imposed on Georgia in 2008, and the return of Crimea in 2014.

    Ishchenko also reveals something that will never be acknowledged in the West: “80 people from among the most influential on the planet did not laugh in Putin’s face, as it was in 2007 in Munich, and without noise immediately after his open speech signed up for a closed conference with him.”

    Putin’s very important reference to the ominous 1930s – “the inability and unwillingness to find substantive solutions to problems like this in the 20th century led to World War 2 catastrophe” – was juxtaposed with a common sense warning: the necessity of preventing the takeover of global policy by Big Tech , which “are de facto competing with states”.

    Xi and Putin’s speeches were de facto complementary – emphasizing sustainable, win-win economic development for all actors, especially across the Global South, coupled with the necessity of a new socio-political contract in international relations.

    This drive should be based on two pillars: sovereignty – that is, the good old Westphalian model (and not Great Reset, hyper-concentrated, one world “governance”) and sustainable development propelled by techno-scientific progress (and not techno-feudalism).

    So what Putin-Xi proposed, in fact, was a concerted effort to expand the basic foundations of the Russia-China strategic partnership to the whole Global South: the crucial choice ahead is between win-win and the Exceptionalist zero-sum game.

    Regime-change that commie!

    The Xi-Putin road map is already being examined in excruciating detail by Michael Hudson, for instance in this essay based on the first chapter of his upcoming book Cold War 2.0: The Geopolitical Economics of Finance Capitalism vs. Industrial Capitalism. Many of these themes have been elaborated in a recent conversation/interview between Michael and myself.

    The whole Global South is figuring out how the contrast could not be starker between the American model – neoliberalism redux, in the form of turbo-financialization – and East Asia’s productive investment in industrial capitalism.

    Alastair Crooke has outlined the dubious “appeal” of the American model, including “asset markets…severed from any connection to economic returns”; markets that “are not free, but Treasury managed”; and “enterprise capitalism…morphed into monopolistic oligarchism”.

    The glaring counterpoint to Xi-Putin at Davos has been a so-called “strategy paper” released by NATO think tank The Atlantic Council, pompously titled The Longer Telegram, as if this was as relevant as George Kennan’s 1946 Long Telegram that designed the containment of the USSR.

    Well, the least one can say to the anonymous “former senior government official with deep expertise” on China is, “Mr. Anonymous, You’re No George Kennan”. At best, we’re dealing with a sub-Mike Pompeo with a massive hangover.

    Amidst a tsunami of platitudes, we learn that China is a “revisionist power” that “presents a serious problem for the whole of the democratic world”; and that the Chinese leadership better get its act together and operate “within the US-led liberal international order rather than building a rival order”.

    The usual toxic mix of arrogance and condescension totally gives away the game, which boils down to “deterring and preventing China from crossing US red lines”, and applying good, old Kissingerian Divide and Rule between Russia and China.

    Oh, and don’t forget regime change: if the “strategy” works, “Xi will in time be replaced by the more traditional form of Communist Party leadership.”

    If this is what passes for intellectual firepower in Atlanticist circles, Beijing and Moscow don’t even need enemies.

    The Asian center of gravity

    Martin Jacques, now a visiting professor at Tsinghua University and a senior fellow at the China Institute of Fudan University, is one of the very few Westerners who actually has real “expertise” on China.

    He’s now focusing on the main battlefield in the evolving US-China clash: Europe. Jacques notes that, “the trend toward a growing distance between Europe and the US will be slow, tortuous, conflict-riddled, and painful.” We are now “in new territory. American decline means that it has increasingly less to offer Europe.”

    As an example, let’s jump cut to a distinct feature of the BRI/New Silk Roads and one of its key hubs, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC): the Digital Silk Road .

    In partnership with Huawei, fiber optic cable is being laid out all across Pakistan – as I saw for myself when I traveled the Karakoram Highway, the northern part of CPEC. This fiber optic cable all the way from the Karakoram to Balochistan will link with the Pakistan-East Africa Connecting Europe (PEACE) submarine cable in the Arabian Sea.

    The end result will be high-end connectivity between a host of BRI-participating nations and Europe – as the Mediterranean section is already being laid, running from Egypt to France. Before the end of 2021, the whole 15,000 km-long fiber optic cable will be online.

    This shows that BRI is not as much about building roads, dams and high-speed rail networks but especially the Digital Silk Road, intimately connected with state of the art Chinese cyber-tech.

    It’s no wonder Jacques fully understands how “the gravitational pull of China, and Asia more generally, is drawing Europe eastward. Nothing illustrates this phenomenon better than the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.”

    In ReOrient: Global Economy in the Asian Age, an extraordinary book published way back in 1998, the late, great Andre Gunder Frank exhaustively smashed Eurocentrism, demonstrating how the rise of the West was a mere historical blip, and a consequence of the decline of the East around 1800.

    Now, only two centuries later, the planet’s center of gravity is back in Asia, as it’s been for most of recorded history. The fate of those blind to the evidence and unable to adapt is to telegram themselves to utter irrelevance.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 02/03/2021 – 23:50

  • Surreal Video Shows Myanmar Coup Unfolding 'Live' Behind Oblivious Aerobics Instructor
    Surreal Video Shows Myanmar Coup Unfolding ‘Live’ Behind Oblivious Aerobics Instructor

    In footage that almost has to be seen to be believed, an exercise instructor who regularly leads live-streamed workout routines from public venues inadvertently filmed Monday’s military coup as it was underway behind her. 

    The exercise instructor was in the middle of her workout routine just as literally a few hundred meters behind her military trucks sped to take over the nation’s capitol complex in Naypyitaw. The video has since gone viral. 

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    The woman has since been identified as Khing Hnin Wai, a physical education teacher with the Ministry of Education who initially posted the video on her Facebook page where it went viral.

    In later media interviews she said she had no idea of the historic events then unfolding immediately behind her.

    “Before I heard the news… in the morning, the video I made for the aerobic dance competition has become an unforgettable memory,” she wrote on Facebook.

    In those very moments Myanmar’s military (the United States still calls the country Burma), had seized and sealed off all central government buildings after raiding the homes and making arrests of the national civilian leadership, most notably Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Myanmar’s governing National League for Democracy (NLD) party, as well as President Win Myint and senior party figures.

    The BBC and other outlets have “confirmed the video is real” after some initially questioned its authenticity. 

    The State Department is now warning of the potential for “civil and political unrest in Burma” following the dramatic military takeover of the country after the army called prior November elections “fraudulent”. This as all international travel has been halted, and various communications including internet were cut to the capital. 

    The Biden administration has now formally declared it as a coup d’état, which means Washington is required by law to cut off all foreign assistance to the southeast Asian country. It further announced that targeted action will be taken “against those responsible” for the arrests and continued detention of the elected civilian leadership, likely in the form of sanctions. 

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 02/03/2021 – 23:30

  • The People Vs Navalny: Russia Draws Red Lines To Foreign Meddling In Its Sovereign Affairs
    The People Vs Navalny: Russia Draws Red Lines To Foreign Meddling In Its Sovereign Affairs

    Submitted By SouthFront.org,

    The flag-bearer of Western influence and globalists in Russia, Alexey Navalny, has been sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in prison for grossly disregarding the terms of his suspended sentence.

    The initial sentence was for 3.5 years, but he has already served a part of that term under house arrest. The absurdity of the situation is that his initial sentence was related to corruption – something he allegedly fights against.

    Despite claims by MSM and Western diplomats that Navalny is subject to political persecution, his proven and known ties to Western Intelligence were not part of the case.

    Just recently, on February 1st, videos were released online showing the joyful cooperation between Navalny’s team and foreign intelligence services. To put it plainly – Navalny’s team requested information from British Intelligence. It planned to employ that “dirt” to hinder Russia’s interests, both internal and external. His Anti-Corruption Foundation, furthermore, promised to work against Russian business, and to promote British companies. For that, these would be paid hefty sums when he, ultimately, somehow managed to come to power. To achieve that, Navalny’s people vowed to stage mass protests, spread propaganda and strike behind the scenes deals with the elites. It can’t be corruption, if it’s for a “good cause”, right?

    As further evidence of this foreign support and pressure, at least 20 diplomats from various countries, including the US, made an appearance when Navalny’s case came up in the Moscow Court hoping to pressure the court in his favour thereby meddling in Russian internal affairs. The massive media propaganda campaign was also plain to see.

    For proven in court criminal offenses involving embezzlement of funds on a massive scale, dozens of violations of the terms of his suspended sentence, contempt of court, his active and public work in the interests of foreign states against the Russian nation Navalny faced slightly more than 2.5 years in jail. For any neutral observer, this was an expected outcome and the only concern would be the soft punishment that he received. This can be partly explained by Russia once again showing itself to be a stronghold of tolerance and democracy and also by the fact that the decision of the court is related to the violations of the suspended sentence only and it did not review other ‘achievements’ of the anti-Russian clique operating under the Navalny brand.

    Following the court decision, Western leaders and diplomats further publicly meddled in internal Russian affairs by calling for violence to demand the release of the self-proclaimed anti-corruption activist. This will also likely be used as a pretext for increasing pressure on Russia, including new sanctions. The remaining Western-funded network inside the country already tried to stage violent protests in Moscow and other big cities. Nonetheless, their attempts failed largely due to a low turnout and to the successful actions of the authorities. There are no doubts that foreign efforts in this field will continue as opponents of Russia need violence on the streets and casualties to push forward their destabilization campaign. At the same time, recent events demonstrated that the hardcore pro-Western opposition has close to no real support among the general Russian population. Therefore, help from Western special services will likely focus on creating pinpoint provocations to escalate the violence and to create some sacred sacrifice. If the government acts successfully to contain these provocations and avoid the escalation of violence, anti-Russian forces will likely focus on keeping up the pressure and some level of instability in the larger cities for the next month. A new round of major provocations can be expected in the runup to the Russian general election in September 2021.

    Actions of the global establishment show that hopes for a ‘reconciliation with the West’ demonstrated by the ‘liberal part’ of the Russian elites are largely baseless. Therefore, Russia should be ready for the further confrontation with the so-called ‘Democratic world’, which has for a long time forgotten what the words ‘democracy’ and the ‘rule of law’ really mean.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 02/03/2021 – 23:10

  • A Series Of Fortunate Events For The ECB
    A Series Of Fortunate Events For The ECB

    By Chiara Zangarelli of Nomura

    Over the past two weeks some key euro area economic data releases have printed to the upside, with the surprise indices (such as that computed by Bloomberg) having remained highly elevated. Strong inflation (however temporary that may prove to be, given it is the result of one-off and base effects), for example, and modestly better-than-expected GDP data in the euro area present risks to the consensus view that further monetary policy easing will be needed later this year and may instead lead the ECB down a wait-and-see path in 2021.

    Inflation

    Euro area HICP inflation rose strongly in January, with all of the big four surprising to the upside. The most notable rise came from Germany, where inflation rose to 1.6% y-o-y from -0.7%, but there were significant rises too in France (to 0.8% from zero), Italy (to 0.5% from -0.3%) and Spain (to 0.6% from -0.6%). Overall, euro area inflation in January rose to 0.9% from -0.3%, an upside surprise of 0.3pp, while core inflation rose to 1.4% from 0.2% in the previous month, an upside surprise of 0.5pp.

    The particularly sharp rise in German inflation was due to some policy-specific factors such as the reversal of the VAT cut that had been in place since the middle of last year, and the implementation of the climate package. In addition, it appears that inflation was also boosted by a change in weights within the HICP basket. As required by Eurostat (see here), most statistical institutes in Europe changed their HICP weights in January 2021 in response to changes in consumption patterns linked to the pandemic. As explained by ECB Executive Board member Schnabel in her recent interview with Deutschlandfunk, the significant shift in individual goods’ weights within the basket makes it “very difficult to compare the [inflation] figures over time”.

    Modest effect of the second virus wave on Q4 GDP

    Euro area GDP was also published this week and showed that the second COVID-19 wave had – in Q4 at least – only a modest effect on output, falling by 0.7% vs. Q3. Activity in two of the euro area big four economies surprised consensus on the upside: French GDP fell by only 1.3% q-o-q, which was far less than either consensus or we had been expecting, while in Spain output rose by 0.4% q-o-q rather than the 1.4% fall expected. In Germany and Italy the GDP figures were broadly in line with consensus.

    While it may be tempting to conclude that GDP has not fallen as much as might have been the case, economists’ forecasts published in the middle of 2020 for the major euro area economies were actually fairly accurate (Figure 4). That said, forecasts made in the middle of 2020 did not generally take into consideration the scale of the second wave of the virus – thus in some sense GDP has surprised to the upside at the end of 2020 because output has grown as expected, but with far worse virus conditions than foreseen.

    There may be a number of reasons why this second wave of the virus did not have such a large impact on the economy as might have been expected. First, lockdowns have not been as tight: either restrictions have been less onerous than last spring or they have been in operation for a shorter period of time. Also, this time around firms and households seem to have adapted to the new restrictions better, following their experiences last spring. For any given decline in mobility it seems reasonable to think that economic agents are getting better at adapting to sequential lockdowns. Last but not least, compared with last spring, the manufacturing sector in Europe is now performing far better.

    Monetary policy implications

    The well-above-expectations rise in euro area January inflation and the limited decline in Q4 GDP potentially pose substantial risks to our view that the ECB will further expand its PEPP envelope in H2 2021.

    ECB Executive Board member Schnabel said in an interview published on Sunday (with Deutschlandfunk) that the central bank is “expecting the inflation rate to pick up in the course of this year. We must be careful, however, not to mistake these short-term developments for a sustained increase in inflation. We are faced with very weak demand. And it does not look like this is going to fundamentally change. This is why we continue to be more worried about inflation being too low rather than too high”.

    At the same time, sanctioning further monetary stimulus when inflation is trending higher (in Germany inflation could rise to as much as 3% y-o-y in H2 2021) and output is rebounding (which it should if the virus retreats as we expect) could prove difficult, for the hawks in particular but even among some of the doves on the Governing Council. However much the rise in inflation is seen to be  temporary and related to one-off factors (policy and weight changes), the move higher adds further uncertainty to the inflation outlook. In an environment of rising inflation and increased uncertainty, the possibility of the ECB adopting a ‘wait-and-see’ approach throughout 2021 is very real.

    ECB chief economist Lane, in an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung published on Monday said: “We expect economic growth and inflation in the euro area to return to their pre-pandemic levels before the end of this year. Prior to the pandemic, inflation was hovering around 1 per cent, but with a dynamic where inflation would, over time, rise closer towards 2 per cent, it was not a crisis situation. If economic developments are reasonably stable and moderate, monetary policy should be similarly stable and moderate”.

    While an increase in the PEPP envelope later this year remains our base case for now, further upside surprises in inflation and/or output could raise the risk of the ECB ultimately refraining from adding further stimulus this year – whether that be through additional asset purchases, lower interest rates or adjustments to the central bank’s other non-standard policy measures.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 02/03/2021 – 22:50

  • Longest-Serving Woman In Congress Says She Feels Increasingly Alienated In Democratic Party
    Longest-Serving Woman In Congress Says She Feels Increasingly Alienated In Democratic Party

    Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

    The longest-serving woman in Congress, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), told The Hill in a recent interview that she struggles with a growing sense of alienation within the Democratic party as she fights for the interests of her largely working-class Midwest constituents while the Democrat party is increasingly dominated by representatives from wealthy, often coastal districts.

    “They just can’t understand,” Kaptur told the outlet, referring to the difficulty some of her Democrat colleagues have in relating to the concerns of blue-collar constituents like hers.

    “They can’t understand a family that sticks together because that’s what they have. Their loved ones are what they have, their little town, their home, as humble as it is—that’s what they have,” she added.

    Kaptur told the outlet that she worries that the voices of congressional Democrats who represent wealthy districts are increasingly drowning out those who represent heartland districts.

    “It’s been very hard for regions like mine, which have had great economic attrition, to get fair standing, in my opinion,” Kaptur said, adding that, as a Democrat who represents a working-class district, she feels like a minority within her party.

    In the interview, Kaptur touched on congressional district data, which showed that 19 out 20 of the nation’s wealthiest districts are represented by Democrats.

    “Several of my colleagues who are in the top ranks have said to me, ‘You know, we don’t understand your part of the country.’ And they’re very genuine,” Kaptur said.

    “You can’t understand what you haven’t been a part of.”

    The idea that Democrats are losing touch with their blue-collar roots and are increasingly turning into the party of the elites while Republicans are on track to becoming a multiethnic working-class coalition was an oft-repeated theme in the wake of the 2020 election.

    In his first remarks following the November election, in which the GOP defied expectations and made gains in the House, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the House Minority Leader, declared, “This election cycle has made one thing clear: The Republican Party is now the party of the American worker.”

    The 2020 election results, in general, reinforced the view that the Republican party is poised to become a multiethnic coalition of working-class voters. In the presidential race, for instance, former President Donald Trump won the largest share of non-white voters, a traditionally Democrat demographic, of any Republican since 1960.

    Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) commented on the fact that Trump won Zapata County, in Texas, by a margin of 52–47 percent in 2020, while he lost that same county to Hilary Clinton in 2016 by a margin of 65–32 percent.

    “#Florida & the Rio Grande Valley showed the future of the GOP: A party built on a multi-ethnic multi-racial coalition of working AMERICANS,” Rubio wrote in a tweet.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 02/03/2021 – 22:30

  • Droves Of People Fall For 'Blue Check Homes' Hoax
    Droves Of People Fall For ‘Blue Check Homes’ Hoax

    A San Francisco artist who mocked Twitter ‘blue check’ elitism was forced to put a disclaimer on a satirical website, which encouraged ‘thought leaders, athletes and famous actors’ to apply for a blue “Verified Badge Crest” on the exterior of their homes – letting everyone know how important one is.

    In a Friday tweet that immediately went viral, Danielle Baskin announced the new service – and in a matter of hours, had over 40 million impressions and thousands of retweets and likes, according to SFGate. 

    Upon landing on the homepage for bluecheckhomes.com, visitors are prompted to enter their name and all social media accounts that represent you. Then, after qualifying, applicants need only pay a $3,000 fee to let everyone know how special they are.

    Those who can apply must be “Homeowners who are prominent executives, thought leaders, influencers, authors, and journalists who represent prominent organizations, including companies, brands, non-profit organizations, and media organizations,” along with “Homeowners who are government officials, “Homeowners who are actors with at least 5 production credits on their IMDB profile,” and “Homeowners who own entertainment companies, such as film studios, TV networks, and music entities as well as homeowners with public facing roles associated with their productions.”

    The deadpan satire continues with: ” Homeowners who are athletes or on professional esports leagues, and coaches listed on the official team website or who have 3 or more featured references within the 6 months prior to applying in news outlets such as Kotaku, Polygon, or IGN.”

    Applicants must be willing to provide proof of home ownership.

    Apparently so many people fell for the hoax – and didn’t catch on to the increasingly absurd qualifications – that Baskin had to add a disclaimer to her website.

    “…Baskin, the SF-based artist behind the prank, had no idea the website she crafted to back up the fake service would receive 495 applicants, all hoping for a crest of their own.” -SFGate

    “I will say a percentage of them are not from a real person. People added, like, Kim Kardashian, and that was clearly a joke,” she said, adding “But everyone else thought the website was real. I did what I thought was a mediocre Photoshop job … I thought, ‘This is all very clickbait-y.’ All of the copy, I thought, was so obviously satire.”

    Now, the website reads:

    WTF IS THIS REAL?

    For context, I’m an artist who makes random internet jokes that sometimes pokes fun of “let’s turn this into a service” culture, internet vanity culture, and terrible capitalist ideas. Historically, decorative crests found on Victorian homes were a mark to signal wealth and importance and I thought it would be dumb if that concept also existed today. But if it existed today, would you need to be verified by a third party to signal status? Here’s the origin of the joke.

    Yes, I ALSO THINK THE IDEA OF VERIFIED BLUE HOUSE BADGES IS DUMB. I also love to fabricate funny shitposts on a Friday night, but my medium is writing satirical copy for landing pages and creating product launches. I’m also actually a sculptor and would totally make one for someone (IDK about pricing).

    If I do make one, it’s unlikely anyone walking around outside would react to a blue check mark on someone’s house. They will probably never find it.

    So is this real? It’s somewhere in between real and fake. Anyone can craft something out of plaster. Anyone can apply to be verified. Anyone can make a landing page. Is there an entity involved and is this being rolled out across Bay Area neighborhoods? No.

    If you thought this was a full-fledged service, please investigate the things you read on the internet! And if you’re an artist making jokes on the internet, we should consider adding disclaimers like this, because not everyone understands your commentary and will share your jokes as fact. 😢

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    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 02/03/2021 – 22:10

  • Americans Are Buying Guns At "Blistering Pace", FBI Data Shows
    Americans Are Buying Guns At “Blistering Pace”, FBI Data Shows

    Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

    Newly released background check data from January shows Americans are buying guns at a “blistering pace,” a firearms expert said.

    “That’s undoubtedly connected to President Joe Biden’s plans to attack the firearm industry by undoing and rewriting regulations and executive actions to target the firearm industry,” Mark Olivia, director of public affairs at the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said in a statement.

    Olivia pointed to the Biden administration freezing the publication of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s “Fair Access” banking rule, and promises to try and repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act to tighten restrictions on gun licenses, and to ban AR-15 style rifles.

    The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.

    According to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check (NCIS) data, 4.3 million firearm background checks were initiated in January. That’s the highest number on record, and up over 300,000 in comparison to December 2020. Three of the top 10 highest weeks are now from January 2021.

    The National Shooting Sports Foundation’s adjusted background check figure of 2 million, reached by subtracting out background code permit checks and permit rechecks and checks on active concealed carry permits, was a jump from its adjusted figure of 1.1 million in January 2020.

    “These are jaw-dropping figures to start the New Year. Americans are claiming their Second Amendment rights to provide for their own safety in record numbers,” Olivia said.

    Jurgen Brauer, the chief economist for Small Arms Analytics, said in a statement that the new year “certainly started off with a sales ‘bang’ due to the turmoil surrounding the confirmation and inauguration of Mr. Biden as the new U.S. president.”

    “The 79 percent year-over-year increase, however, was NOT unprecedented—an even higher increase, of just over 100 percent, was experienced in January 2013, the month Mr. Obama’s second presidential term began,” he added.

    Everytown for Gun Safety said the continued increase in background checks highlights the need for Congress and Biden to implement gun restrictions.

    “As the country reels from multiple crises, the gun industry has cashed in with record sales that have made Americans less safe,” Nick Suplina, managing director of law and policy for the group, said in a statement.

    “Without swift changes in policy, our already devastating gun violence epidemic could get even deadlier. The good news, though, is that we finally have leaders in the White House and in both chambers of Congress who recognize that this crisis demands action.”

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 02/03/2021 – 21:50

  • White House Press Secretary Under Fire For Mocking Military's Space Force
    White House Press Secretary Under Fire For Mocking Military’s Space Force

    White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday attempted to walk back comments she made the prior day when asked about the future fate and scope of the Space Force, which Trump had established as the US military’s sixth branch in 2019.

    When the subject was broached for the first time in the briefing room she appeared to laugh and mockingly said, “Wow, Space Force… it’s the plane of today,” which also seemed a failed attempt at a joke. 

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    Psaki added in follow-up that she had no idea who the point of contact for Space Force is, further suggesting that it’s unimportant and perhaps irrelevant to the administration.

    The exchange began with the following:

    “May I finally ask whether the President has made a decision on keeping or keeping the scope of Space Force?” Bloomberg’s Josh Wingrove asked Ms Psaki yesterday.

    “Wow. Space Force, it’s the plane of today,” she responded, referring to when she had been asked a question about the paint job on Air Force One. The implication being that it was a question from left-field and, perhaps, a trivial one.

    Wingrove told her it was an “interesting question”.

    “It is an interesting question,” she said.

    “It is an interesting question. I am happy to check with our Space Force point of contact,” she said when a reporter pressed the question . “I’m not sure who that is. I will find out and see if we have any update on that.”

    Her mocking tone immediately provoked criticism from Republican Congressional circles, which had formally authorized the military branch in December 2019, with a projected size of 16,000 troops and initial annual budget of over $15 billion.

    Republican representative Mike Waltz attacked the dismissal from Psaki as meaning the Biden administration is ready to give China free reign in militarizing space: “China is working overtime to become the dominant force in space,” he tweeted. “We need the professionals… to keep Americans safe.”

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    Psaki attempted damage control in a tweet later Tuesday evening. “We look forward to the continuing work of Space Force and invite the members of the team to come visit us in the briefing room anytime to share an update on their important work,” she said.

    Later Mike Rogers, the top Republican on the House of Representatives’ Armed Services Committee, weighed in, demanding an apology for the “disgraceful” quip:

    “It’s concerning to see the Biden administration’s press secretary blatantly diminish an entire branch of our military as the punchline of a joke, which I’m sure China would find funny,” Mr Rogers said.

    “Jen Psaki needs to immediately apologize to the men and women of the Space Force for this disgraceful comment.”

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    When asked during Wednesday’s briefing whether she was ready to issue an apology, she simply explained, “we invite the members of Space Force here to provide an update to all of you on all of the important work they’re doing, and we certainly look forward to seeing continued updates from their team.”

    “They absolutely have the full support of the Biden administration, and we are not revisiting the decision to establish the Space Force,” while referring to the Congressional mandate.

    And perhaps as expected, there was no apology to follow.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 02/03/2021 – 21:30

  • Defense Secretary Orders 60-Day Stand-Down To Confront Extremism In The Military
    Defense Secretary Orders 60-Day Stand-Down To Confront Extremism In The Military

    Authored by Meghann Myers via MilitaryTimes.com,

    Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has called on the services to conduct a 60-day stand-down on the issue of extremism in the military, prompted by the Jan. 6 attack on the the Capitol and subsequent reports of both active-duty and former service members attending a rally calling to overturn the 2020 election and the riot that ensued.

    Military explosives arranged in the shape of a swastika. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Feb. 3 called for a stand-down to confront extremism in the services. (Screenshot from Twitter account @Jacobite_Edward)

    Austin held a meeting Wednesday of the service secretaries and Joint Chiefs, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters, to ask them about their concerns, and ideas for improving the situation.

    “Even though the numbers might be small, they may not be as small as we would like them to be, or we believe them to be, “Kirby said of the prevalence of troops with extremists views, ties or activities. “And that no matter what it is, it is not an insignificant problem.”

    Guidance is forthcoming on what Austin expects to see after the 60 days.

    “It wasn’t a blithe, “Hey, just go talk to your people,’ ” Kirby said of Austin’s direction to the service secretaries and Joint Chiefs.

    “He was very clear that he wants commands to take the necessary time. And I didn’t hear him be overly proscriptive about that .. to speak with troops about the scope of this problem, and certainly to get a sense from them about what they’re seeing at their level.”

    The Defense Department does not centrally track troops who have been investigated for domestic terrorism or extremist sentiment, and neither do the services, making it difficult to get a read on how prevalent the problem is.

    Kirby told reporters on Jan. 28 that the FBI opened 143 investigations into troops and veterans in 2020, 68 of those for domestic extremism.

    DoD does have a 2012 instruction that prohibits extremist activities, though it doesn’t clearly define extremism itself. Generally, the services handle these investigations at the unit level ― or with the FBI, if it comes to plans for attacks, for instance ― and there is no requirement to report those up to service headquarters.

    Military Times’ own polling has shown that, anecdotally, more than one-third of active-duty troops, and more than half of minority service members, have witnessed signs of white supremacy in their colleagues. Further, survey respondents ranked white nationalism as a bigger national security threat domestic terror groups affiliated with Islam, for instance.

    “The events of Jan. 6 served as a wake-up call for this department,” Kirby said.

    At the same time, reports of current or recently discharged service members espousing support for or participating in violent attacks against government officials have popped with regularity in recent years.

    Kirby said details would follow on the guidance for the stand-down. Common for safety issues ― and more recently, for sexual assault and suicide ― stand-downs are usually implemented to carve out time for further training, discussion or other events where units to focus on the issue at hand.

    A two-month window would allow enough time for units to strategize and schedule how they’ll stand down, rather than declaring a specific day for everyone to do the same work.

    “We owe the force, we owe these leaders some training materials, some deeper, more specific guidance about … what the expectations are for the stand-down, and some thoughts about how feedback can be provided,” Kirby said.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 02/03/2021 – 21:10

  • Global COVID Vaccinations Pass Confirmed Cases As Wealthy Countries Lead The Way
    Global COVID Vaccinations Pass Confirmed Cases As Wealthy Countries Lead The Way

    As EU regulators push back against approving the Russian Gameleya Institute vaccine even after Hungary already kicked the doors open by becoming the first member of the block to approve it last week, Brussels is caught between a rock and a hard place. Even CNBC’s Jim Cramer, a long-time booster for western COVID vaccines, acknowledged during Wednesday morning’s premarket show that western consumers must accept that the Russian jab works.

    Why? Because despite all the propaganda against the Gamaleya Institute, the Russian jab, first developed with the backing of the Russian sovereign wealth fund, has basically been proven effective by the latest report in the deeply respected Lancet, a scientific journal based in the UK that published some of the first international research on COVID-19.

    Now, just days after the number of vaccinated patients in the US surpassed the total number of confirmed COVID cases, Johns Hopkins and other repositories of COVID data have announced that the world has reached a similar record.

    As the following chart shows, the number of patients who have received at least one doses has surpassed total confirmed patients by roughly 500K patients.

    And the trend is likely to continue, even if the AstraZeneca-Oxford jab has been only warily embraced by Western Europe, while the Russian jab has been almost entirely blackballed, since new cases have been falling around the world. Even in India, which – as many might remember was one of the worst hit countries last fall – cases are falling to levels not seen since last fall.

    Hospitalizations have also declined substantially around the world.

    The FT doesn’t shy away from pointing out the fact that the figures are incomplete due to the fragmented nature of COVID case reporting. The true number of infections is likely to be many times higher than the total verified by diagnostic tests, since many are bound to have slipped through the cracks.

    However, on the other hand, the WHO recently admitted that high-cycle PCR tests have produced numerous false positives.

    Michael Head, global health research fellow at Southampton university, said: “The fact that we have so many vaccines is a huge good news story which has been fed to us in bits and pieces. This moment brings it together, showing how fast we have moved and far we have come.”

    In another chart, the FT shows how the rich country/poor country divide that the WHO warned about has most definitely emerged around the world.

    Source: FT

    Given this latest piece of evidence, wouldn’t be surprised to hear or see WHO head Dr. Tedros Adhanom tweeting more warnings, alongside his good buddy, Bill Gates, that the West needs to throw more money at the WHO’s Covax international vaccination program.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 02/03/2021 – 20:50

  • Biden Taking Trump's Path? US Dismisses Iran's Offer To Coordinate Nuclear Deal Return
    Biden Taking Trump’s Path? US Dismisses Iran’s Offer To Coordinate Nuclear Deal Return

    Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

    The US State Department dismissed an idea floated by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who suggested the EU could help coordinate the actions needed to be taken by the US and Iran to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA.

    When asked about Zarif’s offer, State Department spokesman Ned Price said there are “many steps” the US has to take before engaging “directly with Iran” and before the US is willing to “entertain any sort of proposal.”

    Price restated the Biden administration’s demand for Iran to return to commitments it agreed to when the JCPOA was negotiated. Iran’s argument against this demand is that since the US violated the deal, it is on Washington to return to compliance.

    Prior anti-US demonstration in Tehran, via Reuters

    Price also stressed the need for the administration to consult with US allies, partners, and Congress on Iran before going forward.

    A US official speaking to Reuters on the condition of anonymity said Price’s comments should not be taken as a “rejection” of Zarif’s proposal. The official said the US has not “begun negotiating with Iran, or with anyone else, because our priority is to consult” with allies and partners.

    The focus on consulting with other countries before even talking to Iran shows the Biden administration is in no hurry to revive the JCPOA and give Iran sanctions relief. Most regional US partners, like Israel and Saudi Arabia, are strongly opposed to the JCPOA.

    European signatories to the deal are also signaling opposition to reviving the JCPOA as it was agreed to in 2015. French President Emmanuel Macron called for new, “strict” nuclear negotiations with Iran that include regional countries like Saudi Arabia, something Iran rejected.

    Zarif offered the idea to coordinate a return to the JCPOA in an interview with CNN on Monday. He also said that the time for a possible return to the deal is “not unlimited,” a sign of Tehran’s frustration with the Biden administration’s failure to act.

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    As per a law passed by Iran’s parliament in the wake of the assassination of Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakrizadeh, if sanctions are not lifted by February 21st, IAEA inspections on Iran’s nuclear program will be slightly restricted.

    “Iran has the strictest IAEA inspection mechanism anywhere in the world,” Zarif said. “We will be limiting that, but there is a very easy way of addressing it, and that is for the United States to come back into compliance before that date.”

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 02/03/2021 – 20:30

  • Hong Kong Cops Threaten To "Kick Door Down" For Anybody Who Dosn't Open For COVID Test
    Hong Kong Cops Threaten To “Kick Door Down” For Anybody Who Dosn’t Open For COVID Test

    Hong Kongers who hadn’t already seen the worst of Beijing’s heavy handed tactics during the 2019 street marches, including the tear gas, the beatings and the mass arrests, are finally about to see what it really means when Beijing says a round of testing is “mandatory.”

    Because in China, if an individual doesn’t comply with an order from the CCP, there are dramatic and severe consequences. And pretty soon, they will say the same about Hong Kong too.

    To wit, Bloomberg reports Hong Kong authorities are threatening to knock down the doors of residents who don’t respond to authorities conducting mandatory-testing blitzes, as the city tries to end a persistent winter wave of coronavirus cases. While photos of the mainland show flashy young people out partying, in Hong Kong, where some freedoms are still in place, life is a bit more grim.

    In a statement, the government in the increasingly authoritarian territory warned it may take legal action including removing individuals or applying to a magistrate for a warrant to break into and forcefully enter a unit,” authorities said in a statement on Tuesday. Hong Kong been attempting to curb a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections with targeted lockdowns that have seen authorities cordon off an area and restrict movement until residents rec

    It is apparently a gravely serious warning: During surprise lockdowns in Four Hong Kong districts Monday evening, roughly 17% of the 680 households that officers visited didn’t answer the door. The government says it found no positive cases after testing almost 1.7K residents.

    Hong Kong authorities have conducted eight operations and tested about 10K people since authorities discovered a group of 14 positive patients.

    Over the last year, the city has endured wave after wave of the virus, with HK’s chief executive Carrie Lam defending the city’s approach, despite a wave of criticism.

    The city’s top advisors on infectious diseases and its leader warned that lockdowns and mandatory testing aren’t the only options on the table.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 02/03/2021 – 20:10

  • '#AlexandriaOcasioSmollett' Trends On Twitter After NY Rep Rejects Claims She Wasn't At Capitol During Riots
    ‘#AlexandriaOcasioSmollett’ Trends On Twitter After NY Rep Rejects Claims She Wasn’t At Capitol During Riots

    UPDATE: Douglass Braff reports that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hit back at claims she lied about her experience during the pro-Trump Capitol riots.

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    “This is the latest manipulative take on the right. They are manipulating the fact that most people don’t know the layout the Capitol complex. We were all on the Capitol complex – the attack wasn’t just on the dome. The bombs Trump supporters planted surrounded our offices too,” she wrote.

    Following reports that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez‘s (D-N.Y.) was not in the U.S. Capitol Building and in her Cannon Office Building office on January 6, the hashtag “AlexandriaOcasioSmollett” has been trending on Twitter, with conservatives referencing disgraced actor Jussie Smollett’s staged hate crime in 2019.

    Here are some popular tweets using the hashtag:

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    *  *  *

    As Douglas Braff detailed earlier, via SaraACarter.com, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) was not in the U.S. Capitol Building when a mob violently stormed it on January 6 but rather in her Cannon Office Building office.

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    The second-term congresswoman has since recanted her experience during the deadly siege, which she has described as “near-death.”

    However, no rioters broke into Cannon, a Wednesday report from the conservative publication RedState claims.

    When running through her experience that day, Ocasio-Cortez said that—out of fear that rioters had entered the building—she hid in her personal room’s bathroom. During a Monday livestream, she claimed that rioters had entered her office, according to Newsweek.

    She revealed on an Instagram Live session that she was a survivor of sexual assault and described the feeling she had while locking herself in the bathroom as similar to the one she felt at the time of the assault.

    She also said that she was hiding behind the door “and then I just start to hear these yells of, ‘Where is she?’”

    The yells, it turns out, came from a Capitol Police officer. He reportedly burst into her office, whose presence, she said, “didn’t feel right” and that he was looking at her “in all of this anger and hostility.” One of her staffers reportedly wondered if he would have to fight the officer.

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    Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), whose office is two doors down from the New York congresswoman’s, on Tuesday played down Ocasio-Cortez’s story, saying that the extremists never reached their hallway.

    Ocasio-Cortez, Mace tweeted, “made clear she didn’t know who was at her door.

    Breathless attempts by media to fan fictitious news flames are dangerous.  My office is 2 doors down. Insurrectionists never stormed our hallway. Egregious doesn’t even begin to cover it.  Is there nothing MSM won’t politicize?”

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    The day after Mace’s tweet, without mentioning Mace, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted:

    “To survivors of any trauma who worry about being believed, or that their situation wasn’t ‘bad’ enough or ‘too’ bad, or fear being branded or deemed ‘manipulative’ for telling the truth: I see you. Community is here for you. You are safe with me, & with all of us. You are loved!”

    When firing back at RedState‘s report in a thread, she said the right “are manipulating the fact that most people don’t know the layout the Capitol complex. We were all on the Capitol complex – the attack wasn’t just on the dome. The bombs Trump supporters planted surrounded our offices too.”

    “People were trying to rush and infiltrate our office buildings – that’s why we had to get evacuated in the first place,” she continued. “The attempts of attackers & publicly available communications show how they tried to gain access and share location info on finding members for physical harm.”

    “It is also very damning and revealing that the GOP is now digging both heels in a discrediting campaign,” the Bronx and Queens congresswoman added. “It’s because they know they are implicated, so they’re pivoting to (again) the classic abuse playbook of “it’s not as bad as they say.” It was that bad. It’s actually worse.”

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 02/03/2021 – 19:50

  • Parler CEO Fired By 'Rebekah-Mercer-Controlled Board'
    Parler CEO Fired By ‘Rebekah-Mercer-Controlled Board’

    John Matze, CEO of beleaguered Twitter competitor Parler, has been fired by the board of directors amid a highly contentious period for the conservative-friendly platform.

    (Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

    “On January 29, 2021, the Parler board controlled by Rebekah Mercer decided to immediately terminate my position as CEO of Parler. I did not participate in this decision,” wrote Matze in a statement obtained by Fox Business. “I understand that those who now control the company have made some communications to employees and other third parties that have unfortunately created confusion and prompted me to make this public statement.”

    Matze wrote that over the past few months he has been met with “constant resistance” to his original vision for the social media platform following Amazon Web Services’ decision to shut Parler down for failure to moderate “egregious content” related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. –Fox Business

    “Over the past few months, I’ve met constant resistance to my product vision, my strong belief in free speech and my view of how the Parler site should be managed. For example, I advocated for more product stability and what I believe is a more effective approach to content moderation,” Matze’s statement continues.

    “I have worked endless hours and fought constant battles to get the Parler site running but at this point, the future of Parler is no longer in my hands,” he continued. “I want to thank the Parler employees, the people on Parler and Parler supporters for their tireless work and devotion to the company. They are an amazing group of diverse, hardworking and talented individuals and I have the utmost respect for them. Many of them have become my second family.”

    After several Parler users were found to have been participants in the Jan. 6 ‘Capitol riot,’ the company was swept up in a cancel campaign – with Amazon Web Services and several other third-party service providers critical to the service dropped them as a client. Parler subsequently went offline, only to pop back up last week with several posts from Matze – calling for a “respectful conversation to improve our society” and detailing the company’s legal struggles in the wake of the Amazon decision.

    Parler was also dropped from both Google and Apple’s app stores, and has yet to relaunch services.

    According to Fox, Matze says he’ll spend a few weeks off before searching for a new venture.

    “After that, I’ll be looking for new opportunities where my technical acumen, vision and the causes I am passionate about will be required and respected,” he wrote, adding “I want to thank all the people of Parler that supported me and the platform. This has been the true American Dream: an idea from a living room to a company of considerable value. I’m not saying goodbye, just so long for now.”

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 02/03/2021 – 19:30

  • These Are The Words Colleges Don't Want You To Say
    These Are The Words Colleges Don’t Want You To Say

    Authored by Jezzamine Wolk via CampusReform.org,

    Amid a nationwide movement to remove statues, symbols, and words in the name of inclusion, Campus Reform rounded up recent examples of words that have been banned on college campuses.

    1. MSU eliminates the terms ‘foreign’ and ‘alien’

    Michigan State University announced it would no longer use the terms “foreign” and “alien” in order to create a more inclusive environment. In October, Provost Teresa Woodruff addressed the Associated Students of MSU general assembly to announce the new “non-pejorative” language. Woodruff stated that moving forward, international students should be referred to as “non-domestic” or “international” to help “create a culture of not us vs. them, but of each other.”

    2. UPitt scraps “homecoming king” and “homecoming queen” titles

    After the University of Pittsburgh’s Alumni Association called for a policy change to end the use of the terms “king” and “queen,” the university announced in October that it will no longer use the traditional titles. Vice Chancellor for Alumni Relations Nancy Merritt called the terms “antiquated” language. Instead, the school will provide a “Spirt of Pitt” award to homecoming royalty.

    3. UC tells students ‘do not’ say ‘Chinese Virus’ and do not allow others to say it

    In March, the University of California’s Council of Chief Diversity officers released a “guidance document” regarding how to hold a “positive and inclusive” campus climate during the pandemic. The list tells students and faculty to “reject racism, sexism, xenophobia and all hateful or intolerant speech, both in person and online.” It also instructs students to not use terms such as “Chinese Virus” and to not allow the use of these terms by others.

    4. UVA instructor wants to ban the term ‘student-athlete’ 

    An instructor at the University of Virginia called to abolish the phrase “student-athlete,” claiming it has “arguably racial” undertones. In an op-ed, Molly Harry defended calling the term racially charged by saying that “today, the majority of revenue-producing athletes in the sports of football and men’s basketball are Black. They are coached mostly by White men.” She also pointed out that the man who coined the term student-athlete was a White man. 

    5. Vanderbilt lists “sexual reassignment surgery” as an “outdated” term

    In December, Vanderbilt University published a “Gender Affirmation Toolkit” for its employees in an effort to create a safe work environment. The toolkit explains how to properly use terms like “gender identity,” “gender expression,” and “sexual orientation.” It also listed “sexual reassignment surgery” on its list of “outdated” and “demeaning” words.

    6. Leading ‘anti-racist’ prof calls the term ‘legal vote’ ‘racist’

    In November, Boston University’s Director of the Center for Anti-Racist Research Ibram Kendi said the phrase “legal vote” is racist. He said it is “as fictionally fraught and functionally racist as the terms ‘illegal alien’ and ‘race neutral’ and ‘welfare queen’ and ‘handouts’ and ‘super predator’ and ‘crackbaby’ and ‘personal responsibility’ and ‘post racial.”

    “The misinformation of widespread voter fraud—or ‘illegal voting’ —in Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Phoenix where Black and Brown voters predominate is baked into the term ‘legal vote,'” Kendi added. “No matter what GOP propaganda says, there’s nothing wrong with those voters and votes.”

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 02/03/2021 – 19:10

  • McCarthy Stands By 'QAnon-Supporting' Rep. Greene As Democrats Prepare To Strip Committee Assignments
    McCarthy Stands By ‘QAnon-Supporting’ Rep. Greene As Democrats Prepare To Strip Committee Assignments

    House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced in a Wednesday caucus meeting that while he condemns controversial statements espoused by QAnon-supporting Rep. Marjorie Greene (R-GA), he doesn’t believe she should loser her committee assignments. 

    “Past comments from and endorsed by Marjorie Taylor Greene on school shootings, political violence, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories do not represent the values or beliefs of the House Republican Conference,” said McCarthy in a statement following the meeting. “I condemn those comments unequivocally. I condemned them in the past. I continue to condemn them today. This House condemned QAnon last Congress and continues to do so today.”

    McCarthy, who met with Greene on Tuesday, added:

    “I made this clear to Marjorie when we met. I also made clear that as a member of Congress we have a responsibility to hold ourselves to a higher standard than how she presented herself as a private citizen. Her past comments now have much greater meaning. Marjorie recognized this in our conversation. I hold her to her word, as well as her actions going forward.”

    Democrats, meanwhile, are gearing up for a floor vote to strip Greene her of her posts due to her beliefs.

    “I spoke to Leader McCarthy this morning, and it is clear there is no alternative to holding a Floor vote on the resolution to remove Rep. Greene from her committee assignments,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (R-MD), who rejected a deal from McCarthy to remove Greene from the Education and Labor Committee but allow her to remain on the House Budget panel. “The Rules Committee will meet this afternoon, and the House will vote on the resolution tomorrow.”

    Democrats were perhaps emboldened to take action against Greene after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell threw her under the bus, saying in a statement that: “Loony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country.”

    McCarthy also annoucned that he supports keeping Rep. Liz Cheney in her leadership role – risking alienation from both establishment anti-Greene Republicans and MAGA anti-Cheney Republicans.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 02/03/2021 – 18:50

  • Men Now Want Access To Uterine Transplants
    Men Now Want Access To Uterine Transplants

    Authored by Jennifer Lahl. op-ed via The Epoch Times,

    It isn’t good enough that men want to compete in woman’s sports and invade women’s spaces, rendering sex-based protections null and void. Now, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has published the findings from the largest study on its kind, “Perceptions and Motivations for Uterus Transplant in Transgender Women.”

    This study looked at reproductive aspirations of transgender women (biological males). Surveying 182 transgender women, researchers found that more than 90 percent believed that a uterine transplant might “improve quality of life in transgender women, alleviate dysphoric symptoms, and enhance feelings of femininity.”

    I find it no coincidence that this study was released on Jan. 20, 2021 – the same day President Joe Biden took the oath of office and signed his executive order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation.

    This study concluded that transwomen (biological males) have the “desire to have physiologic experiences unique to cisgender women, such as menstruation and gestation, as well as potentially having a physiologically functioning transplanted vagina.”

    Also, the authors found that transgender women “may expect the ability to menstruate to enhance satisfaction with their desired gender and uterus transplant and anticipate improvements in perceptions of their femininity.” Those surveyed also cited that potentially having a functional vagina transplanted might also enhance sexual function and quality of life.

    Oh boy! When good common sense and human biology 101 are thrown out of the window of reason, we are left with gibberish and nonsense. Here, in a prestigious medical journal, the authors use phrases such as “categorized as female at birth,” which in scientific terms, means when a baby is born and has XX chromosomes, she is a little girl baby. She isn’t categorized as female; she IS female. In the same way, when a baby is born with XY, he isn’t categorized as male, he IS male.

    First, a word or two about uterine transplants. They are, for the most part, still in the experimental stage. To date, there have only been about 70 uterine transplants around the world and most of these have come from living donors. A living donor might be a woman who has completed her family and doesn’t want to have any more children, so she offers to donate her uterus. The first baby born from a uterine transplant was born two months premature in Sweden.

    Current practice is to remove the uterine transplant once the woman has had the children she wants, so that she doesn’t have to stay on anti-rejection medications for the rest of her life. Also, the data isn’t in yet on the effects to the babies born from a transplanted uterus, mainly because we don’t have a large enough sample of these children. Babies are exposed to anti-rejection medications for the duration of their time in utero and are always delivered by c-section, which undoubtedly confers additional risks to mother and baby.

    Of course, in this study, the transgender women reported that “the potential benefits of uterus transplant outweigh the significant risks with which it is associated and may improve quality of life, happiness, and dysphoric symptoms, while enhancing feelings of femininity.”

    There was much hay to be made when Tampax tweeted “People who bleed” and “Fact: Not all women have periods” and then doubled down with “Also, a fact: Not all people with periods are women. Let’s celebrate the diversity of all people who bleed!”

    Women immediately pushed back hard on social media calling out Tampax for such scientific ignorance shouting, “Women Bleed.”

    It isn’t people.

    It isn’t people categorized a particular way.

    It is women.

    Women give birth.

    And women shouldn’t have to compete with men in order to make them feel better and more like women. That’s not our job.

    *  *  *

    Jennifer Lahl is the founder and president of the Center for Bioethics and Culture and producer of the documentary films, “Eggsploitation,” “Anonymous Father’s Day,” “Breeders: A Subclass of Women?” and “Maggie’s Story,” and “#BigFertility,” which was an official selection in the Silicon Valley International Film Festival. She is back behind the camera, producing a film on the ethics of allowing children to medically and surgically transition.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 02/03/2021 – 18:30

  • Reddit's Silver Raid Sparked Highly Unusual Backwardation
    Reddit’s Silver Raid Sparked Highly Unusual Backwardation

    Surveying the wreckage of WallStreetBets raid on the silver markets – which thankfully for many on both sides of the trade – never got as out of hand as the heavily-shorted stock malarkey, offers a few insights into just what happened below the surface as silver prices round-tripped up and down by around 12% from Friday’s close.

    Source: Bloomberg

    So what happened?

    Flows

    The initial Reddit post gave instructions to focus on purchases in the iShares Silver Trust ETF.

    SocGen’s Commodities Research Group note monitored the inflow into this targeted ETF and other major silver ETFs and funds, and found counterintuitively that both saw outflows on 28 January, the first day of the rally.

    Over the following two days, 29 January and 1 February, historically high inflows into the iShares ETFs were met by similarly sized outflows from other silver ETFs and funds.

    As investors who followed Reddit’s blueprint continued to stockpile ETF shares, other investors sold and probably took profits, with silver having already rallied almost 48% in 2020.

    Price

    On the price action side of things, the iShares Silver Trust is physically backed and does not directly impact the silver future market.

    However, during the three-day rally, the aggregated open interest on all silver future contracts (regardless of maturity) jumped by 16,979 contracts, the fifth-largest three-day increase since 2010. Most of the open interest increase was built on 28 January – the 9,480 contract increase represents the second-largest daily increase since 2010.

    As shown in the figure below, such changes in open interest are rare.

    Given that silver ETFs saw outflows on 28 January and the spot price jumped 4.89%, this first leg of the rally seems, in fact, to have been driven by future contracts rather than ETFs.

    As SocGen notes, gold and silver tend to never experience backwardation (spot price higher than long-dated forward prices). Such backwardation appears when a commodity market is tight on the short term due to low inventories and/or low current supply. As a result, large commodity consumers have an incentive to pay a premium to secure short-term deliveries, known as convenience yield.

    In the chart below, we define the front end of the silver forward curve as being ‘in backwardation’ if the 4-month time-spread is positive.

    As discussed above, this is very rare and has happened on only 18 days since 2000 and only twice has the time-spread exceeded $0.02/oz.

    This makes 1 February’s $0.057/oz time spread an outlier and the second-steepest backwardation observed on the front-end of the silver forward curve since 2000.

    This exceptional situation may have happened as Swiss coins sellers were reportedly overwhelmed by online purchases of silver coins.

    To meet their delivery,they paid a premium to secure quick access to rebuild their silver inventories.

    Since then, the market has normalised and as of 2 February close, the silver 4-month time-spread was back in negative territory.

    SocGen concludes with some calming tones, noting that gold and silver have huge above-the-ground stocks in the form of bars, coins, jewellery or silverware. These large inventories are often used as store of value and exposed to opportunistic sales when the price rises. This means, in SocGen’s words, that a shortage of precious metals is very unlikely as supply can instantly flow in if prices move high enough to incentivise precious metals sales.

    However, while SocGen does a great job explaining the mechanics of what happened, back in the real world of supply and demand, US Mint prices for silver coins remain at an extreme premium to paper prices…

    As it admits, albeit subtly, that it’s unable to meet demand.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 02/03/2021 – 18:10

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