Today’s News 5th April 2023

• The Countries Bailed Out By China
  The Countries Bailed Out By China

  A new report published by the AidData research lab at Virginia’s College of William & Mary sheds some light on the usually nontransparent practice of Chinese bilateral emergency loans. 

  As Statista’s Katharina Buchholz reports, the researchers that also hail from the World Bank, Harvard University and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy identified 22 countries that were bailed out by Chinese loans when they ran into liquidity problems between 2000 and 2021.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  Countries that utilized these loans in an especially high number of years, i.e. rolled over their loans into subsequent years include Pakistan, Mongolia, Argentina and Sri Lanka.

  The latter country tapped China’s central bank for the first time in 2021 before defaulting on its debt anyways in 2022. Argentina and Mongolia were also identified by the report as countries that have been in dire financial distress since the early 2010s and were using China as a lender of last resort despite the country’s loan terms being less favorable than lower-interest bailouts offered by the IMF or the U.S. Fed. The list of Chinese bailouts also includes countries experiencing major inflation events, like aforementioned Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt.

  The report finds that repeated rollovers of the Chinese loans provided by central bank liquidity swaps place them in a dubious gray area that set them apart from similar lending practices, for example liquidity swaps by the U.S. Fed. These are also often used in crises situations but must be paid back within 12 months or declared as actual debt. The Fed loans are most often used by developed nations, while developing and middle-income countries – many of them also having accumulated regular debt to China – have been increasingly turning to the Asian superpower for emergency aid. These countries have therefore been able to hold on to swap lines for expended periods of time without having to declare more external debt, but at a higher cost and at a loss of transparency in international debt.

  Bailout amounts provided by China remained quite low in the 2000s and early 2010s, before shooting up from 2015 onwards, climbing to a total of $100 billion for the two decades. The two most common ways in which these loans work is through a liquidity swap with the Chinese Central Bank – where most of the outstanding balances of around $40 billion were located as of 2021 – or through credit lines from Chinese state-owned banks. Three countries, Venezuela, South Sudan and Ecuador, received prepayments on goods they were to deliver to China.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 04/05/2023 – 02:45

• France To Disperse Migrants From Paris To Countryside Ahead Of Rugby World Cup & Olympics
  France To Disperse Migrants From Paris To Countryside Ahead Of Rugby World Cup & Olympics

  Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

  The French government will offer the incentive of permanent accommodation in rural communities for those who enroll in the scheme, as the French capital seeks to improve its image ahead of hosting the two global sporting events…

  

  The French government plans to relocate migrants currently living on the streets of Paris to temporary accommodation in the countryside in an attempt to improve the city’s image ahead of hosting the Rugby World Cup later this year and the 2024 Summer Olympics.

  In a circular distributed among government officials and seen by French newspaper Le Monde, migrants will be encouraged to head to rural provinces with a guarantee of accommodation and greater access to social services.

  According to the circular, the Ministry of the Interior expects the first places for the scheme to be available later this month, with 500 places eventually being opened across 10 regions.

  Parisian authorities have failed to provide sufficient accommodation for the increasing number of new arrivals. Asylum seekers and migrants have, for several years now, survived in the capital in undignified conditions, often found pitching tents outside the city hall or using parking lots and metro stations as semi-permanent homes.

  Emergency accommodation is saturated across the Paris region, and the local government is reluctant to open up the city’s hotels to house homeless migrants, as they prefer to keep these free ahead of hosting both the Rugby World Cup in September this year and the 2024 Summer Olympics next July.

  The leaked circular states that those who voluntarily enroll in the scheme will be offered accommodation in rural communities, including those who are in an irregular situation.

  Those who are specifically subject to an obligation to leave French territory, known as an OQTF, will even have their cases re-examined, with the circular stating that “an updated examination of each situation is necessary” to assert whether new elements, such as human rights to a private and family life, can be used to justify the right of residence.

  “Many situations are very poorly known, and some people probably already meet the conditions for obtaining a residence permit,” it states.

  The government is hoping that the incentive of potential future residence rights will attract those currently living on Parisian streets to relocate and help the French government present its capital in a better light as the world watches on.

  “We want the temporary accommodations to allow the entire procedure to be organized,” stated Sylvain Mathieu, the Interministerial Delegation for Accommodation and Access to Housing (DIHAL), which is piloting the project in collaboration with the French Interior Ministry.

  “In particular, we are asking the prefectures that host these shelters to provide premises reserved for the evaluation of administrative situations by government services, while respecting the confidentiality of exchanges,” added Eric Jalon, the director general for foreign nationals in France.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 04/05/2023 – 02:00

• The Mad Emperor Of Ice Cream
  The Mad Emperor Of Ice Cream

  Authored by Seth Barron via AmericanMind.org,

  In America’s grim funhouse reality, the confusion is the message…

  

  Our national clown show grows more and more ridiculous, while at the same time not being at all amusing. I guess that’s what they always say about clowns—they are much more frightening than funny. 

  I think of clowns, and the way they invariably cause at least some children to cry, whenever I see pictures of Drag Story Hours. It’s always the same thing—a few heavily made-up drag queens posing as grotesque caricatures of women, looking basically like a gay misogynist’s nightmare fantasy of a devouring, castrating bitch-mother; some librarians or other regime functionaries silently taking attendance; a bunch of downmarket loser parents trying desperately to opt out of their loathed cishet whiteness and score some cool points which they hope to roll over into the coming social credit system; and, finally and most importantly, a handful of children looking confused and bewildered. 

  What’s the point of this ritual, other than to own the cons? As an exercise in carnivalesque revelry it falls miserably flat. It’s just forced fun. There is no connection between drag and literacy. The primary argument I’ve heard is that it teaches tolerance—but for what and for whom? Drag is not an identity; it’s a job or a hobby. Drag has been used in university seminars as a metaphor for the performativity of gender, but that’s a little recondite for the 5-year-olds in the average Drag Story Hour. Nobody, not even the most pronoun-forward among us, calls drag a gender. 

  Divine, the muse of John Waters, was called the “drag queen of the century” by People Magazine in 1988, on the occasion of the untimely death of Harris Glenn Milstead, “her” portrayer. John Waters famously remarked of his favorite collaborator, “I’ve always said that Divine never wanted to pass as a woman. Divine was not one bit transgender. He wanted to pass as Godzilla.” If drag is anything it’s a lesson in terror, not tolerance.

  But if Drag Story Hour is such a great tool to win hearts and minds to the cause of gender diversity, how come they restrict it to little kids? They ought to bring Drag Story Hour into prisons, homeless shelters, and migrant settlement centers. The sort of kids whose parents drag them to Drag Story Hour are probably getting their fill of tolerance lessons and story time—why not save this precious resource for the underserved communities that need it? 

  It’s been pointed out repeatedly that drag shows are basically a parody of burlesque and stripping, or maybe an homage. So why not bring in real strippers to read to the children? Real women with real breasts discreetly ornamented by tinsel pasties, wearing thongs demurely covering their real pudenda could certainly read stories aloud, to demonstrate tolerance for this other kind of gender performance artist. Or how about iron workers?  

  But we all know why it’s drag queens and why it’s children. It’s not so much that the regime is trying to groom children to become catamites; what they are after is the look of bewilderment on the kids’ faces. They want to scramble the inner compass and inculcate disorientation. The confusion is the message. 

  

  Speaking of confusion, America’s Clown Executive demonstrated a new level of zaniness when he spoke the other day—a few minutes after reports of the massacre at the Christian school in Nashville—to a businesswomen’s group.

  “My name is Joe Biden,” he said to laughter. “I’m Dr. Jill Biden’s husband.”

  This is his standard “where’s my better half?” joke—totally cornball self-deprecation of the lamest sort, especially coming from someone who appears to run a crime family with all the moral scruples of James “Whitey” Bulger. 

  The President then segued to his favorite topic—ice cream.

  “I like ice cream, chocolate chip. I came down because I heard there was chocolate chip ice cream. By the way, I have a whole refrigerator full upstairs. Think I’m kidding? I’m not.” 

  Biden’s ice cream shtick is also incredibly cornball. Again, maybe this is how the depraved dress up their black souls, by pretending that the whole world is an ice cream social. 

  Even the logic of what he said has no internal consistency. He came down because he heard there was chocolate chip ice cream, but he has a whole refrigerator full upstairs. He must really love ice cream if he is willing to leave behind a fridge full of it in pursuit of more! Is it because he didn’t want to dig into his own stash, as long as the stuff downstairs was free? 

  To me it’s poignant. Joe Biden leaves a dish of ice cream liquifying on the counter, and a freezer door stands open while pints of ice cream melt to “soup,” and he compulsively heads down to where he imagines there is even better ice cream. It’s like something out of Aesop.

  To the addict, one scoop is too many, and a Häagen-Dazs truck is never enough. Well, put a clown in charge and don’t be surprised when the circus never leaves town. Have fun! 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 04/04/2023 – 23:25

• The Rising Prevalence Of Autism
  The Rising Prevalence Of Autism

  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the prevalence of autism among U.S. children has risen significantly in recent years.

  Statista’s Felix Richter reports that while 6.7 in 1,000 children were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in 2000, that number had risen to 27.6 in 1,000 children by 2020. This means that currently 1 in 36 children in the U.S. get diagnosed with ASD, up from 1 in 150 children 20 years ago.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  The reasons for this increase in prevalence are not fully understood and are likely complex.

  Some possible factors that have been proposed include better awareness and screening for autism, changes in diagnostic criteria, and environmental or genetic factors.

  Regardless of the reasons, this rise in the number of children with autism highlights the importance of early identification and intervention to help children with ASD reach their full potential.

  In recent years, major progress has been made in increasing awareness and acceptance of autism.

  Thanks to that progress, many people are now aware that autism spectrum disorders are a very diverse group of conditions, that go far beyond the often-stereotypical depictions of autism in film and television.

  According to the World Health Organization, autism spectrum disorders are “characterized by some degree of difficulty with social interaction and communication. Other characteristics are atypical patterns of activities and behaviours, such as difficulty with transition from one activity to another, a focus on details and unusual reactions to sensations.”

  This year’s World Autism Awareness Day, celebrated on April 2, promoted the transformation away from the narrative of curing or converting autistic people towards a focus on accepting, supporting and including them.

  “Toward a Neuro-Inclusive World for All” is the motto of this year’s observance, organized by the United Nations Department of Global Communications and Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in collaboration with the Institute of Neurodiversity (ION), an organization established and run by neurodivergent people for neurodivergent people and allies.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 04/04/2023 – 23:05

• Saudi Arabia Makes Its Eurasian Shift
  Saudi Arabia Makes Its Eurasian Shift

  Authored by Agha Hussain via The Cradle,

  Saudi Arabia’s recent reconciliations with Iran and Syria under Chinese-Russian guidance is perceived as a step toward reducing Riyadh’s dependence on the US, while also advancing Beijing and Moscow’s political and economic influence in West Asia.

  

  On 6 March, 2023, Iranian and Saudi officials held a meeting in Beijing where they agreed to restore bilateral relations. The agreement was significant not only for the mutual de-escalation of tensions in West Asia, but also for Saudi Arabia’s growing importance in the process of Eurasian integration led by China and Russia.

  By welcoming Chinese mediation, the kingdom has positioned itself as an independent actor capable of opening doors for Beijing and Moscow in a region where they have traditionally been overshadowed by a great power rival, the US. This move boosts Saudi Arabia’s importance in the geopolitical landscape and strengthens its ties with Beijing and Moscow.

  Asserting autonomy from the US

  For much of its history, Saudi Arabia was a staunch ally of the US in the Persian Gulf region. However, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MbS) military quagmire in Yemen – among other things – damaged Washington’s perception of the kingdom as a stable and reliable outpost in the region. The feeling was mutual and forced MbS to seek assistance from other nations to help lower tensions on Saudi frontiers.

  Between 2021 and 2022, Riyadh engaged in several rounds of an Iraq-hosted dialogue with Iran to negotiate assistance from Tehran in preventing its allies in Yemen and Iraq from attacking Saudi territory.

  What is particularly noteworthy to China and Russia is that MbS did not use this diplomacy as a means to restore the US’ traditional centrality in the kingdom’s regional and security policies. Instead, he made a point of cooperation with Beijing and Moscow while simultaneously snubbing Washington.

  For example, in October 2022, Saudi Arabia partnered with OPEC+ partner Russia to cut oil production, breaking commitments made to US President Joe Biden during his July visit to Jeddah. MbS also overshadowed Biden’s trip with a much grander welcome for Chinese President Xi Jinping in December, during which Riyadh also hosted the first China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit to underscore the Saudi view of China as a regional partner rather than just a bilateral one.

  Against this backdrop, the Saudi decision to sign a Chinese-brokered deal with Iran without Washington’s involvement has been interpreted as a “middle-finger to Biden,” in the words of former US State Department analyst Aaron David Miller.

  Similarly, Riyadh’s nascent Russian-brokered detente with Syria, whose Iran and Russia-allied government is still opposed by the US, also illustrates Saudi Arabia’s willingness to move away from its traditional pro-American stance.

  Moving the region eastward

  To China and Russia, these moves by MbS signify more than just diplomatic victories over the US. They represent Saudi Arabia’s support for their efforts to shape the dynamics in the Persian Gulf, where both Eurasian powers have hitherto kept a low profile on account of the decades-long western domination of the region – now on its way out.

  Facilitated by Saudi Arabia, Beijing, and Moscow can engage the Persian Gulf as a bridgehead to expand their influence in the broader West Asian region and thus advance their Eurasian integration designs.

  China, in particular, has taken the lead in this regard with its ambitious, multi-trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The Persian Gulf is already well integrated with the BRI thanks to the burgeoning Chinese-GCC energy trade and China’s growing investments in industrial parks and ports across the GCC. However, the conflicts and disorder across the rest of West Asia have thus far hindered China’s ability to make significant BRI investments in the region.

  As noted in a March 2022 analysis for Inside Arabia, China views the stability of its economic interests in the Persian Gulf as essential to the success of its plans, and sees its Sino-GCC ties as a model for stabilizing the wider West Asia under the BRI. To this end, China has supported GCC-led conflict resolution efforts in Yemen and has also put forward its Five Point Initiative in March 2021, calling for region-wide stabilization efforts and the establishment of an indigenous security architecture.

  In this context, the Iran-Saudi normalization deal is great news for China. It affirms Beijing’s idea that its partnerships in the Persian Gulf can serve as a starting point for stabilization efforts for the whole of West Asia; after all, Tehran and Riyadh’s rivalry played out far more in places like Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Palestine than it did in the Gulf itself.

  The Beijing Agreement was not only a positive development for China’s BRI, but also for the Russian-led International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). Just as Moscow supports the BRI as a means of promoting multipolarity and decreasing US dominance, it has actively worked to advance the INSTC, which connects India by sea to Iran and then to northern Europe via Azerbaijan and Russia.

  With the calming of tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the INSTC stands to benefit from increased economic opportunities. Russia can explore possibilities such as increasing its own trade with the Persian Gulf via Iran through the INSTC and, further, with the rest of West Asia. Thus, the Iran-Saudi detente is good news for Russia’s own connectivity projects and regional integration efforts.

  Bolstering the SCO

  On 29 March, 2023, Saudi Arabia announced its intention to become a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an institution founded by China to foster multilateral security and diplomatic coordination on regional issues in Eurasia.

  The SCO already includes China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, covering China’s immediate Eurasian neighborhood in Central and South Asia as well Russia.

  With the ongoing accession of Iran as a full member of the SCO, Saudi Arabia’s entry as a dialogue partner would bring two of the most important states in terms of conflict resolution in West Asia into the organization’s ranks.

  This is the kind of expansion of the SCO’s membership, scope, and relevance that is sought by China and also Russia. Moscow has long viewed the SCO as an ideal platform to present a unified Sino-Russian front against US interests, with an early example of this being the SCO’s July 2005 Astana Summit declaration demanding the withdrawal of US military presence from Central Asia.

  Thus, an extension of the SCO’s mandate to West Asian issues offers Moscow the opportunity to push for Sino-Russian cooperation against the US in West Asia as well, continuing in the spirit of their Eurasian partnership as enshrined in the SCO.

  Riyadh’s new horizons in Eurasia

  Arguably, Saudi Arabia’s move toward the SCO is highly advantageous to both China and Russia. By proving its utility to the latters’ efforts for a bigger, more interconnected Eurasian community, the kingdom is also well-placed to pursue its own ends in Eurasia that pertain to Saudi national interests.

  For instance, Saudi Arabia can double down on its plans for significant investments in Central Asia, a part of the Eurasian space that Russia closely monitors for any signs of activity by countries it sees as antagonistic to its Eurasian designs.

  The Central Asian republics’ attempts to diversify their economies away from oil and gas present lucrative investment opportunities to Riyadh as it seeks its own diversification beyond energy under the ambit of MbS’ mega-project, Vision 2030.

  Additionally, Saudi Arabia can leverage its elevated reputation with China and Russia to deter potential opposition from competitors to its moves in Eurasia. An example of this is Riyadh’s investments in the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project, a rival to neighboring Iran’s own ambitions to penetrate the large South Asian gas market.

  If Riyadh lacked a Eurasian understanding with Beijing and Moscow, Tehran – considered a vital Eurasian state – would be tempted to raise alarm over its dealings with Ashgabat, which also buys Saudi defense equipment.

  The kingdom’s Eurasian pivot

  The move toward a more diversified foreign policy has been a relatively smooth transition for Saudi Arabia. Despite its major military failure in Yemen and resulting security concerns, the kingdom has been successful in finding new partners.

  By embracing the Eurasian paradigm promoted by China and Russia, Saudi Arabia is able to fill the gaps exposed in its foreign policy after the breakdown of its strategic rapport with Washington in the region.

  This ultimately presents flexibility for the kingdom to pursue its own national interests, while also contributing to the larger goal of a more interconnected Eurasian community.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 04/04/2023 – 22:45

• Google Tests New Airfare Savings Program To Lure Consumers Into Using Mobile Wallet
  Google Tests New Airfare Savings Program To Lure Consumers Into Using Mobile Wallet

  Alphabet Inc.’s Google is testing a new price guarantee program for Google Flights, which will refund your money if the cost of your booked flight drops. 

  “On Google Flights, you can already see whether current prices are low, typical, or high compared to historical averages. Now, we’re going a step further with a new pilot program for price guarantees in the US If you see a flight with the price guarantee badge, it means we’re confident that the price you see today won’t get any lower before takeoff,” according to a Monday blog post. 

  “We’ll monitor the price every day until departure, and if it does go down, we’ll send you back the difference via Google Pay,” the post continued. 

  Currently, Google Flights displays the new price guarantee badge on domestic US flights and some international flights departing from the US. 

  

  During a recent press conference, Jade Kessler, product manager for Google Flights, said the new feature on Google isn’t a travel agency, so customers will have to contact the airline directly to make any changes. 

  The introduction of the cost-saving travel service may be an attempt to lure more users into using Google Pay wallets to usher in a cashless society. 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 04/04/2023 – 22:25

• Fake News Curated By The Deep State: Government Spin-Doctors Control The News Cycle
  Fake News Curated By The Deep State: Government Spin-Doctors Control The News Cycle

  Authored by John & Nisha Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,

  “We Americans are the ultimate innocents. We are forever desperate to believe that this time the government is telling us the truth.”

  – Former New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg

  Let’s talk about fake news stories, shall we?

  There’s the garden variety fake news that is not really “news” so much as it is titillating, tabloid-worthy material peddled by anyone with a Twitter account, a Facebook page and an active imagination.

  These stories run the gamut from the ridiculous and the obviously click-baity to the satirical and politically manipulative.

  Anyone with an ounce of sense and access to the Internet should be able to ferret out the truth and lies in these stories with some basic research.

  That these stories flourish is largely owing to the general gullibility, laziness and media illiteracy of the general public, which through its learned compliance rarely questions, challenges or confronts.

  Then there’s the more devious kind of news stories circulated by one of the biggest propagators of fake news: the U.S. government.

  

  In the midst of the government and corporate media’s carefully curated apoplexy over fake news, you won’t hear much about the government’s own role in producing, planting and peddling propaganda-driven fake news—often with the help of the corporate news media—because that’s not how the game works.

  Why?

  Because the powers-that-be don’t want us skeptical of the government’s message or its corporate accomplices in the mainstream media. They don’t want us to be more discerning when it comes to what information we digest online. They just want us to be leery of independent or alternative news sources while trusting them—and their corporate colleagues—to vet the news for us.

  Indeed, in recent years, Facebook and Google have conveniently appointed themselves the arbiters of truth on the internet in order to screen out what is blatantly false, spam or click-baity.

  Not only does this establish a dangerous precedent for all-out censorship by corporate entities known for colluding with the government but it’s also a slick sleight-of-hand maneuver that diverts attention from what we should really be talking about: the fact that the government has grown dangerously out-of-control, all the while the so-called mainstream news media, which is supposed to act as a bulwark against government propaganda, has instead become the mouthpiece of the world’s largest corporation—the U.S. government.

  As veteran journalist Carl Bernstein, who along with Bob Woodward blew the lid off the Watergate scandal, reported in his expansive 1977 Rolling Stone piece, “The CIA and the Media”:

  “More than 400 American journalists … in the past twenty‑five years have secretly carried out assignments for the Central Intelligence Agency… There was cooperation, accommodation and overlap. Journalists provided a full range of clandestine services… Reporters shared their notebooks with the CIA. Editors shared their staffs. Some of the journalists were Pulitzer Prize winners, distinguished reporters… In many instances, CIA documents show, journalists were engaged to perform tasks for the CIA with the consent of the managements of America’s leading news organizations.”

  Bernstein is referring to Operation Mockingbird, a CIA campaign started in the 1950s to plant intelligence reports among reporters at more than 25 major newspapers and wire agencies, who would then regurgitate them for a public oblivious to the fact that they were being fed government propaganda.

  In some instances, as Bernstein shows, members of the media also served as extensions of the surveillance state, with reporters actually carrying out assignments for the CIA.

  Executives with CBS, the New York Times and Time magazine also worked closely with the CIA to vet the news. Bernstein writes: “Other organizations which cooperated with the CIA include the American Broadcasting Company, the National Broadcasting Company, the Associated Press, United Press International, Reuters, Hearst Newspapers, Scripps‑Howard, Newsweek magazine, the Mutual Broadcasting System, the Miami Herald and the old Saturday Evening Post and New York Herald‑Tribune.”

  In fact, in August 1964, the nation’s leading newspapers—including the Washington Post and New York Times—echoed Lyndon Johnson’s claim that North Vietnam had launched a second round of attacks against American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. No such attacks had taken place, and yet the damage was done. As Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon report for Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, “By reporting official claims as absolute truths, American journalism opened the floodgates for the bloody Vietnam War.”

  Fast forward to the early post-9/11 years when, despite a lack of any credible data supporting the existence of weapons of mass destruction, the mainstream media jumped on the bandwagon to sound the war drums against Iraq. As Los Angeles Times columnist Robin Abcarian put it, “our government … used its immense bully pulpit to steamroll the watchdogs… Many were gulled by access to administration insiders, or susceptible to the drumbeat of the government’s coordinated rhetoric.”

  John Walcott, Washington bureau chief for Knight-Ridder, one of the only news agencies to challenge the government’s rationale for invading Iraq, suggests that the reason for the media’s easy acceptance is that “too many journalists, including some very famous ones, have surrendered their independence in order to become part of the ruling class. Journalism is, as the motto goes, speaking truth to power, not wielding it.”

  If it was happening then, you can bet it’s still happening today, only it’s been reclassified, renamed and hidden behind layers of government secrecy, obfuscation and spin.

  In its article, “How the American government is trying to control what you think,” the Washington Post points out “Government agencies historically have made a habit of crossing the blurry line between informing the public and propagandizing.”

  Thus, whether you’re talking about the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the government’s invasion of Iraq based upon absolute fabrications, the Russo-Ukrainian War, or the government’s ongoing war on terror, privacy and whistleblowers, it’s being driven by propaganda churned out by one corporate machine (the corporate-controlled government) and fed to the American people by way of yet another corporate machine (the corporate-controlled media).

  “For the first time in human history, there is a concerted strategy to manipulate global perception. And the mass media are operating as its compliant assistants, failing both to resist it and to expose it,” writes investigative journalist Nick Davies.

  “The sheer ease with which this machinery has been able to do its work reflects a creeping structural weakness which now afflicts the production of our news.”

  But wait.

  If the mass media—aka the mainstream media or the corporate or establishment media—is merely repeating what is being fed to it, who are the masterminds within the government responsible for this propaganda?

  Davies explains:

  The Pentagon has now designated “information operations” as its fifth “core competency” alongside land, sea, air and special forces. Since October 2006, every brigade, division and corps in the US military has had its own “psyop” element producing output for local media. This military activity is linked to the State Department’s campaign of “public diplomacy” which includes funding radio stations and news websites.

  This use of propaganda disguised as journalism is what journalist John Pilger refers to as “invisible government… the true ruling power of our country.”

  Clearly, we no longer have a Fourth Estate.

  Not when the “news” we receive is routinely manufactured, manipulated and made-to-order by government agents.

  Not when six corporations control 90% of the media in America.

  Not when, as Davies laments, “news organizations which might otherwise have exposed the truth were themselves part of the abuse, and so they kept silent, indulging in a comic parody of misreporting, hiding the emerging scandal from their readers like a Victorian nanny covering the children’s eyes from an accident in the street.”

  And not, as I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, when media outlets have become propagandists for the false reality created by the American government.

  After all, as Glenn Greenwald points out, “The term propaganda rings melodramatic and exaggerated, but a press that—whether from fear, careerism, or conviction—uncritically recites false government claims and reports them as fact, or treats elected officials with a reverence reserved for royalty, cannot be accurately described as engaged in any other function.”

  So where does that leave us?

  What should—or can—we do?

  I’ll close with John Pilger’s words of warning and advice:

  Real information, subversive information, remains the most potent power of all — and I believe that we must not fall into the trap of believing that the media speaks for the public. That wasn’t true in Stalinist Czechoslovakia and it isn’t true of the United States. In all the years I’ve been a journalist, I’ve never known public consciousness to have risen as fast as it’s rising today…yet this growing critical public awareness is all the more remarkable when you consider the sheer scale of indoctrination, the mythology of a superior way of life, and the current manufactured state of fear.

  [The public] need[s] truth, and journalists ought to be agents of truth, not the courtiers of power. I believe a fifth estate is possible, the product of a people’s movement, that monitors, deconstructs, and counters the corporate media. In every university, in every media college, in every news room, teachers of journalism, journalists themselves need to ask themselves about the part they now play in the bloodshed in the name of a bogus objectivity. Such a movement within the media could herald a perestroika of a kind that we have never known. This is all possible. Silences can be broken… In the United States wonderfully free rebellious spirits populate the web… The best reporting … appears on the web … and citizen reporters.

  The challenge for the rest of us is to lift this subjugated knowledge from out of the underground and take it to ordinary people. We need to make haste. Liberal Democracy is moving toward a form of corporate dictatorship.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 04/04/2023 – 22:05

• China Issues Rare Invite For Australia's Prime Minister To Visit Beijing
  China Issues Rare Invite For Australia’s Prime Minister To Visit Beijing

  Coming off last year’s thawing of tensions between Australia and China when their two leaders met at the G20 in Bali, a rare visit by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to Beijing where he’ll again meet with President Xi may soon take place. 

  On Tuesday it was revealed that China issued an invitation “in principle” for Albanese to come on the 50th anniversary of the first trip to China by an Australian prime minister. Gough Whitlam had visited in October and November of 1973.

  

  Previously the South China Morning Post reported that Albanese is “anticipating” a visit, following years of a trade war and ratcheting tensions over closer military cooperation with the United States in the Pacific region. 

  While China has of late expressed its outrage over the controversial ‘AUKUS’ nuclear submarine deal with Washington, both sides have said they remain committed to seeking the betterment of relations. It remains that Beijing has focused most of its vitriol on Washington.

  Bloomberg too is confirming the invitation from China, and also details that:

  • The Trip could take place around September and October
  • Beijing has also sent an invitation to Australian trade minister Don Farrell while an exact date has yet to be confirmed, the Post adds, citing a unidentified person close to the Chinese government

  There is still some level of internal dissent within the Australian government and establishment pundits over the question of antagonizing China too strongly amid increased military-sharing with the US.

  ‘It’s illogical, when China🇨🇳 is our biggest economic partner, why are we going out of our way to antagonise them?’

  -Former senior Australian diplomat Tony Kevin on Australia joining the US in attempts to militarily contain China

  FULL INTERVIEW: https://t.co/QZ3xj5VRbj pic.twitter.com/M2zQ4So8ZO

  — Going Underground (@GUnderground_TV) April 3, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  For example, former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating, who is among the country’s most well-known and influential political thinkers, shocked the establishment last month by coming out with a blistering attack on Australia’s AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine deal with the United States and the United Kingdom. He blasted it as the “worst international decision” by a Labor government since the conscription order of World War I. 

  He said in a mid-March written statement that the deal is fundamentally about “US strategic hegemony in Asia” and that Australia has now unwisely hitched its wagon to Washington. Keating wrote in the rare critique that “China has committed, in the eyes of the United States, the great sin of internationalism. And what is that sin? To develop an economy as big as the United States.”

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 04/04/2023 – 21:45

• ICC's Putin Arrest Warrant Based On State Dept-Funded Report That Debunked Itself
  ICC’s Putin Arrest Warrant Based On State Dept-Funded Report That Debunked Itself

  Via The Grayzone, 

  On March 17, the Prosecutor General of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, introduced an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Llova-Belova. The warrant, which accused Putin and Lolva-Belova of conducting the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children to a “network of camps” across the Russian Federation, inspired a wave of incendiary commentary in the West.

  US Sen. Lindsey Graham, perhaps the most aggressive cheerleader in Congress for war with Russia, proclaimed: “The ICC has an arrest warrant for Putin because he has organized the kidnapping of at least 16,000 Ukrainian children from their families and sent them to Russia. It is exactly what Hitler did in World War II.”

  

  CNN’s Fareed Zakaria echoed Graham, declaring the ICC warrant revealed that Putin “is in fact following parts of Hitler’s playbook.”

  The ICC prosecutor appeared to have based his arrest warrant on research produced by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL). Yale HRL’s work was funded and guided by the State Department’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, an entity the Biden administration established in May 2022 to advance the prosecution of Russian officials.

  During an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Yale HRL’s executive director, Nathaniel Raymond, claimed his report provided proof that “thousands of children are in a hostage situation.” Invoking the Holocaust, Raymond asserted, “We are dealing with the largest network of children camps seen in the 21st century.”

  Yet in an interview with Jeremy Loffredo, the co-author of this report, and in his own paper for Yale HRL, Raymond contradicted many of the bombastic claims he made to the media about child hostages. During a phone conversation with Loffredo, Raymond acknowledged that “a large amount” of the camps his team investigated were “primarily cultural education – like, I would say, teddy bear.”

  Yale HRL’s report similarly acknowledges that most of the camps it profiled provided free recreational programs for disadvantaged youth whose parents sought “to protect their children from ongoing fighting” and “ensure they had nutritious food of the sort unavailable where they live.” Nearly all of the campers returned home in a timely manner after attending with the consent of their parents, according to the paper. The State Department-funded report further concedes that it found “no documentation of child mistreatment.”

  Yale HRL based its research entirely on Maxar satellite data, Telegram postings, and Russian media reports, relying on Google translate to interpret them and at times misrepresented the articles in its citations. The State Department-funded unit conceded that it performed no field research for its paper, stating that it “does not conduct ground-level investigations and therefore did not request access to the camps.”

  Unlike the Yale investigators who inspired the ICC’s arrest warrant, Loffredo gained unfettered access to a Russian government camp in Moscow that houses youth from the war-torn Donbas region. Though it is precisely the kind of center that Yale HRL – and by extension, the ICC – have portrayed as a “re-education camp” for Ukrainian child hostages, he found a hotel full of happy campers receiving free classical music lessons in their native Russian language from first-class instructors – a “teddy bear,” as Raymond called it.

  At The Donbas Express music camp located just outside of Moscow, youth told Loffredo they were grateful to have found refuge from the Ukrainian army’s years-long campaign of shelling and besiegement of their homeland. By fleeing the war in Donbas, these children had escaped a nightmarish military conflict for which Yale HRL and the ICC have demonstrated little to no concern.

  When I, Jeremy Loffredo, visited a youth music camp in Russia in November 2022, I was unaware that the US government would soon exploit altruistic programs such as the one I witnessed to advance political warfare.

  At the time, I was in Moscow on assignment for Rebel News, my former employer, to conduct man-on-the-street interviews with average people around the city.

  After meeting someone whose wife was influential in the Russian music scene, I was invited 45 miles southwest of Moscow to visit the kind of program that was described by State Department-funded researchers as a “re-education camp.” It was there, at a Soviet-era hotel in the town of Pokrovskoye, that I entered one of the so-called facilities now at the center of the ICC’s arrest warrant for Putin.

  By the time of my visit, the Russian government had transformed the hotel into a makeshift sleep-away camp for children native to the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The center I visited, dubbed “The Donbas Express,” was focused on providing classical training to children interested in musical arts. Parents who wished to keep their families protected from the conflict back home had enrolled their children in the program.

  Read the rest of the full report here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 04/04/2023 – 21:25

• Sex Traffickers Using TikTok To Lure Children, Youth Therapist Warns
  Sex Traffickers Using TikTok To Lure Children, Youth Therapist Warns

  Authored by J.M. Phelps via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  TikTok may be providing opportunities for sex traffickers to groom children, a youth therapist has warned.

  

  Dr. Katie Guinn has spent the last 10 years providing in-home family therapy to young people and their families in the Acadiana region of Louisiana. She is the regional director of The Center for Children and Families, a nonprofit organization that provides advocacy, counseling, and other services for families in need.

  The need for mental health services among young people has skyrocketed in the last two years, according to Guinn, who said that she is encountering more and more children who have been victims of sex trafficking. In providing a definition of the term, she said that “sex trafficking involves engaging in sexual activities against the will of a person for an exchange of goods.” The transaction is not always associated with money, but can also include drugs, food, or shelter, for example.

  As a result of the COVID pandemic, Guinn said a relatively new concept has emerged, which she called “cybersex trafficking.” The goal of luring children and adults into sex trafficking remains the same, but in this approach, she said, “everything is virtual.” Websites and a variety of phone apps with messaging capabilities are utilized to communicate with users, who are often minors.

  Victims and participants can upload content, like photographs or videos, and a transaction occurs using cryptocurrency. According to Guinn, “This new realm of sex trafficking is incredibly difficult to track and learn more about because it constantly and instantly evolves.”

  What is known, she said, is that children are particularly vulnerable. “For a child or another victim to be susceptible to sex trafficking,” Guinn said, “there first has to be a vulnerability.” A vulnerability can be defined as “something missing in a child’s life that needs to be filled.” This void or need can come in many forms, she explained. “It can be connection, survival, love, substance abuse, shelter, food, stability, and more.

  “In the last three years,” Guinn said, “the biggest need we have seen in children is connection, [as] kids have been incredibly isolated as a result of the pandemic.” She identified connection as a human need that is as significant for a child as eating or breathing. “People need connection, especially children,” she said.

  Groomed on TikTok

  Social media has become a primary means for people to connect. According to Guinn, however, all avenues of social media can be used for contacting and potentially recruiting victims for sex trafficking, including Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. But TikTok—a hugely popular Chinese-owned app—is the “most aggressive,” she said, explaining that “TikTok’s algorithm is incredibly aggressive and customizable to the user.

  “The app tracks how much time is spent using it, how a user engages with a video, whether it be by sharing it, commenting on it, or liking it, and determines what videos will show up next on the user’s feed,” she explained. “It’s the user’s interaction with the video that determines their customized algorithm.

  “Traffickers will make videos, posts, or different kinds of content which talk about the lifestyle of sex trafficking very openly and blatantly,” Guinn said. “They glamorize it, making it very desirable for a child who is lacking so much. They’ll show such things as women at parties, enjoying drinking, eating, and flaunting expensive gifts, for example. For a kid, this all looks very enticing.”

  Once a child watches a attractive video, she said, “the TikTok algorithm is going to shuffle similar videos to share more of that content to the child user, further glamorizing a very dangerous lifestyle.”

  It’s part of the larger process that “naturally starts to fill a vulnerability,” Guinn said. “A child could become more incentivized to message the person responsible for the video, to make contact with this person in hopes to partake in this lifestyle they observed, and get their needs met.

  “Inadvertently, they could easily become part of the realm of sex trafficking, simply with the intention of getting their needs met, but often times, [they are not] able to find a way out,” she warned.

  “TikTok provides constant exposure to things kids never would have been exposed to, [and] it can reduce sensitivity, normalize behavior, and potentially make a child more susceptible to being approached by traffickers. These traffickers are trained to spot and take advantage of vulnerabilities in children, [and] Tik Tok has made this easier than ever.

  “Grooming can occur for free on TikTok in children,” Guinn said. “There is no doubt that [the video hosting service] can play a harmful role in the potential recruitment and grooming of children for sex trafficking.”

  More Communication Needed

  Guinn admitted that a child’s use of TikTok is incredibly difficult to monitor. “It’s terrifying because it could be grooming children from their phones with no one’s knowledge.”

  While a parent’s gut reaction is to pull everything, she said, removing the app from a device or taking away a child’s phone isn’t a foolproof solution. “Children will find a way to get what they want. Kids are incredibly resourceful and will find a way. Most likely through using a friend’s phone at school.

  “Many times, the most susceptible are victims of sexual abuse, substance abuse, broken homes, or more,” she said. And by taking away a child’s phone, “a parent could create a space that’s not trusting or communicative—which is not helpful when all you want to do is protect your child.

  “Remember, kids are often looking to meet their needs, and TikTok has provided instantaneous access to unhealthy alternatives to fill that vulnerability,” Guinn said. In her opinion, the best armor against such evil is over-communication and increased awareness. Sex trafficking is something that must be discussed despite how uncomfortable it is to do so, she said.

  “Increase communication and spread awareness, not fear,” Guinn said. “Over-communicate with your kids, knowing where they are and what they’re doing, asking who their friends are, and talking about what’s on their phones.

  “I’d rather over-communicate and have a safe, ticked-off teenager than be in the dark,” Guinn said.

  TikTok did not return The Epoch Times’ request for comment. Last month, the app set a one-hour default time limit for users under the age of 18 amid growing concerns about the platform’s effect on children.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 04/04/2023 – 20:45

• Where The Mighty Have Fallen
  Where The Mighty Have Fallen

  When news of Donald Trump’s indictment broke last Thursday, the former president went on social media to vent his anger at the decision.

  “The USA is now a third world nation, a nation in serious decline,” he wrote in all caps, suggesting that the indictment was a politically-motivated “attack” on the country and its “once free and fair elections”.

  While the question of whether or not the charges brought forward against Trump are justified is up for the courts to decide; Statista’s Felix Richter notes that the United States is by no means the first country to prosecute a former president, even if Trump’s indictment is a first in the nation’s long history.

  As Richter shows in the following chart, former leaders from all over the world, including wealthy democracies such as France and South Korea, have been charged or jailed after their time in office.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  According to research conducted by Axios, leaders who left office since 2000 have been jailed or prosecuted in at least 78 countries, the vast majority of these cases being related to corruption and/or illegal campaign financing.

  Investigations into former leaders have been in the news around the world lately.

  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial has fueled some of the outrage over his judicial overhaul plan, while Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva returned to the presidency in January after his corruption conviction was thrown out

  • Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s home was surrounded this month in a botched attempt to arrest him, while former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak remains in jail after a judge this week threw out a challenge to his corruption conviction in the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scheme.

  • Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina’s current vice president and former president, was convicted of fraud but remains in office and out of prison because her position carries immunity and because she’s launched what’s expected to be a lengthy appeal.

  Brazil’s Lula and Italy’s Berlusconi have both managed to prove a trial, or even conviction, was not career-ending.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 04/04/2023 – 20:25

• Trump Says "Never Thought It Could Happen In America" After Historic "Fake Case" Arraignment
  Trump Says “Never Thought It Could Happen In America” After Historic “Fake Case” Arraignment

  (Update 1900ET): Following his Tuesday arraignment in New York in front of a “Trump-hating judge,” former President Donald Trump went hard against his enemies in front of a crowd at Mar-a-Lago.

  “This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 presidential election and it should be dropped immediately,” said Trump. “I never thought anything like this could happen in America.”

  “It’s an insult to our country as the world is already laughing at us”

  Donald Trump LIVE after the indictment charges. pic.twitter.com/FcgtPJAzHi

  — Mythinformed (@MythinformedMKE) April 5, 2023

  “The only crime that I’ve committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it,” said Trump, before going off on Manhattan DA Alan Bragg.

  “The criminal is [Alvin Bragg] … he should be prosecuted, or at a minimum, he should resign,” he continued.

  DONALD TRUMP: “The only crime that I’ve committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it.”

  pic.twitter.com/gAOTgvABuS

  — ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) April 5, 2023

  And in perhaps the best line of the night; “I have a Trump hating judge with a Trump hating wife and family, whose daughter worked for Kamala Harris and now receives money from the Biden/Harris campaign…It’s right out of the old Soviet Union. That’s where we are!“

  TRUMP: “I have a Trump hating judge with a Trump hating wife and family, whose daughter worked for Kamala Harris and now receives money from the Biden/Harris campaign…It’s right out of the old Soviet Union. That’s where we are!” pic.twitter.com/XYF0gxdZyW

  — Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 5, 2023

  Watch Trump’s entire remarks below.

  *  *  *

  (Update 1900ET): As announced earlier on Tuesday, former President Trump is giving a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida following his indictment over hush money allegedly paid to former porn star Stormy Daniels in the runup to the 2016 US election.

  Watch live:

  Take a shot every time he says ‘witch hunt’, and two shots every time he calls the Manhattan DA ‘Fat Alvin.”

  You know you’ve got a bad case when…

  John Bolton on Alvin Bragg’s indictment: “This is even weaker than I feared it would be and I think it’s easily subject to being dismissed or a quick acquittal for Trump.”pic.twitter.com/K8Cbw8d6Ru

  — ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) April 4, 2023

  *  *  *

  (Update 1730ET): Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, according to unsealed court records.

  

  The felony charges were announced by Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan (whose daughter worked on the Biden-Harris campaign) – marking the first former president in US history to be criminally charged.

  “The evidence will show that [Trump] did so to cover up crimes related to the 2016 election,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who refused to cite the “underlying crimes” related to the books and record counts “because the law does not so require.”

  Alvin Bragg, sometimes called “Fat Alvin”, built his case off of copying and pasting the same charge 34 times around “concealing another crime” in order to make it a felony but didn’t include the crime being covered up in the indictment because “the law does not so require” pic.twitter.com/6AOvqRkYv2

  — ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) April 4, 2023

  Trump was arrested at around 1:35 p.m. ET and appeared before Merchan, who barred the media from broadcasting the proceedings. Photographers were allowed to enter the courtroom prior to the proceedings began, before they were told to leave.

  CBS‘s Scott MacFarlane described the courtroom “as stuffy, warm, and feeling like an old middle school, not like ornate federal courtrooms.”

  Trump now heads back to his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, where he’ll hold a press conference. Merchan notably warned Trump not to make social media posts that could foment unrest among his supporters, and also expressed concern that Trump could divulge sensitive information online. Trump’s attorneys, however, told reporters that would not happen.

  The case is scheduled to continue on December 4th.

  Even Mitt Romney thinks this is bullshit.

  

  “I believe President Trump’s character and conduct make him unfit for office. Even so, I believe the New York prosecutor has stretched to reach felony criminal charges in order to fit a political agenda,” said the longtime Trump foe.

  House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) also commented, tweeting: “Alvin Bragg is attempting to interfere in our democratic process by invoking federal law to bring politicized charges against President Trump, admittedly using federal funds, while at the same time arguing that the peoples’ representatives in Congress lack jurisdiction to investigate this farce.“

  Stay tuned for Trump’s presser.

  *  *  *

  Update (1535ET): The Manhattan District Attorney’s office is holding a press conference following the indictment of former President Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records – charges which federal prosecutors declined to pursue.

  Watch:

  During the presser, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg was asked about the underlying crime, which isn’t in the indictment. Bragg responded that several laws are at play, including election law 17-152. As the NYT’s Jonah Bromwich notes, “One of the unusual things about this case is the application of a state election law to a federal election and Trump’s lawyers are sure to seize on that in their challenges to the prosecution.”

  “True and accurate business records are important everywhere,” said Bragg, adding that they are more important in Manhattan, the financial center of the world.

  Of note, the charges against Trump are all class-E felonies, the lowest category of felony offense in New York, which carry a maximum prison sentence of four years. The judge in the case says he will not impose a gag order at this time, but warned Trump not to make social media posts which could ‘foment unrest.’ the Associated Press reports.

  And according to the NY Times, “Under New York law, falsifying business records is generally a misdemeanor. But prosecutors can escalate the charge when they believe a person falsified business records in order to commit another crime or hide the committing of a crime.”

  The next in-person hearing for Trump has been scheduled for December 4th, per CNN.

  Read the indictment below:

  For reference:

  The relevant New York statutes. pic.twitter.com/0XMNEJmZl9

  — Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) April 4, 2023

  *  *  *

  Update (1445ET): After surrendering himself for arrest at the courthouse in Manhattan around 1:30 p.m. ET, former President Trump sat for his arraignment, where he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records over his alleged role in hush money payments to two women toward the end of his 2016 presidential campaign.

  Former President Donald Trump in court hearing the charges against him. #FPOTUS #Trump pic.twitter.com/A4hhbiPdYJ

  — Edward Lawrence (@EdwardLawrence) April 4, 2023

  Confirmed now that Trump’s felony charges are under the theory that business record fraud was done to coverup campaign finance violation

  Key info media is ignoring: the so-called campaign finance fraud charge is one the feds explicitly declined to prosecute him for

  — Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) April 4, 2023

  The Manhattan DA’s office will hold a press conference after the arraignment.

  Meanwhile…

  So let’s parse this out: She tries to extort Trump for “hush money”. He pays, which is not a crime. She violates the agreement, going public, and he sues. She looses, and has to pay damages.
  But 7 years later, an ambitious and partisan DA, who’s policy is to downgrade felonies…

  — Barry Jacobsen (@Barry4the44th) April 4, 2023

  

  *  *  *

  Update (1346ET): Trump has arrived at the Manhattan courthouse for his arraignment.

  BREAKING: Donald Trump arrives at the courthouse to be arraigned.

  pic.twitter.com/yKay67pEuG

  — ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) April 4, 2023

  *  *  *

  Former President Trump is being arraigned today on a reported 34 felony counts for falsification of business records in connection with a $130,000 payment made to former adult film star Stormy Daniels (real name Stephanie Clifford).

  

  Trump’s arraignment hearing is set to begin at 2:15 p.m. ET. According to Yahoo‘s Michael Isikoff (of Steele Dossier hoax peddling fame), Trump won’t be put in handcuffs, placed in a jail cell, or be subjected to a mugshot, after Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s office consulted with the Secret Service and New York City court officials.

  The stated reason for handcuffing defendants is on the grounds that the suspect might be a flight risk or a threat to the district attorney or court personnel, neither of which were judged to be relevant to the handling of a former president protected at all times by a phalanx of Secret Service agents. -Yahoo

  On Monday afternoon Trump landed at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, after which he spent the night at Trump Tower. His attorneys are expected to immediately file a motion to dismiss. 

  According to Trump attorney Joe Tacopina, rumors that the judge in the case will impose a gag order on Trump are false.

  “Can’t be. Won’t happen. I don’t believe anyone is even looking for that. That would really set ablaze the passions and the tempers that already have been inflamed by this case. People view this as a political persecution,” he said.

  Watch live:

  In response to the rumor, Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH) issued a statement saying that the House Judiciary Committee is “deeply concerned” over what would amount to an “unconstitutional gag order.”

  On Monday Tacopina noted that Trump is dominating polls among GOP primary contenders, and said that Americans are growing “frustrated” with the case against the former president.

  “They are now understanding that the weaponization of the justice system is a real thing. Attempting to gag a United States citizen that is a defendant, not a lawyer, not a litigant but a defendant in the case, especially—that’s a First Amendment violation obviously. It has to be balanced against a right to a fair trial,” he said. “But imagine putting a gag on Donald Trump when he’s the frontrunner for the Republican Party for the presidential office,” Tacopina continued.

  “Imagine during the campaign he’s told, you know, ‘I can’t speak about the case.’ When people ask him questions, he has to just say, ‘sorry, I have a gag order.’ Obviously, that’s not going to happen.”

  For an extremely cogent analysis from Jonathan Turley via his blog, see below (emphasis ours);

  The 2024 presidential campaign technically began months ago with the first announced candidates. Yet April 4 will be “Super Tuesday” for America’s first carceral presidential campaign, with the arrest and arraignment of Donald Trump. With the exception of the socialist (and incarcerated) Eugene Debs in 1920, we have not faced the prospect of a president who could be elected with both a term of office and a term of imprisonment.

  The New York indictment of Trump has been widely criticized as politically motivated and legally flawed. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg boasted during his 2021 campaign about being best suited to go after Trump, and he is making good on his boast with a highly dubious bootstrapped legal theory.

  The New York indictment will face considerable challenges. Those challenges will likely take some time to resolve, and if this case follows the customary schedule of criminal matters, it still may be pending when Americans go to the polls to select the next president in 2024.

  In addition, a Georgia grand jury reportedly has finished its work on other charges against Trump. Weeks ago, Emily Kohrs, the forewoman of that special grand jury, gave a series of bizarre giggling interviews about nailing Trump. It is a mystery, given Kohrs’ apparent confirmation of pending charges, why Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has held back on an indictment.

  Although stronger than the Manhattan case, the Georgia case has its own problems but could make it to trial because those problems are largely fact questions generally left to jurors. But it too would likely be pending by Election Day 2024.

  The most serious threat among the potential cases is being developed by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith. His investigation of Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot is unlikely to result in charges and, if it does, is unlikely to survive challenges on First Amendment grounds. His investigation of the Mar-a-Lago classified-documents controversy presents a far more established — and, frankly, easier — route for prosecution. From its earliest filings, the Justice Department maintained there is evidence of obstruction and false statements — claims that it could use to distinguish any prosecution from the unlawful possession of classified material by President Joe Biden or former Vice President Mike Pence.

  Smith is under a tight schedule if he wants to charge Trump, though. Since the Justice Department (incorrectly in my view) maintains that a sitting president cannot be indicted, Smith would have to charge and, ideally, try Trump before Election Day. Indeed, the Justice Department strives to avoid any major legal steps that might impact voting near to an election — a period that could stretch back to the late summer of 2024.

  What this means is that Trump could face as many as three sets of criminal charges in three different jurisdictions as he campaigns for the presidency. He would likely seek accommodations from courts to delay any trial during the campaign.

  Whether or not Trump can delay a trial, much of 2024 will be focused on carceral rather than political issues. Trump has long claimed that Democrats are weaponizing the criminal justice system against him and other Republicans. Bragg has given him the case positive for proving that allegation, especially since Bragg ran for office on his ability to find a criminal charge against Trump.

  The question is what happens if any of these efforts succeed.

  I previously raised the prospect of an actual indictment in converting the election into a debate for presidential self-pardons. Article II of the Constitution states that a president may “grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.” There is no language specifying who may or may not be the subject of a pardon, and presidents have abused the pardon power to protect political allies and even family members.

  Numerous legal analysts have argued those constitutional provisions “make no sense if the president could pardon himself.” Yet it seems highly doubtful that courts would agree. Despite the massive gravitational pull of Trump on the legal analysis of many pundits, there is nothing in the Constitution to exclude presidents alone from pardon eligibility. The Supreme Court stated in Schick v. Reed that “the pardoning power is an enumerated power of the Constitution and … its limitations, if any, must be found in the Constitution itself.”

  While a newly elected Trump could only pardon himself for the federal crimes, it is the federal case that likely represents the greatest threat to him. Moreover, the two state cases would add to Trump’s narrative of facing ‘political prosecutions’ from a ‘weaponized’ legal system on every level. Trump often campaigns on just such a primal level. He knows that a man chased by a dog can spark public outcry — but a man chased by a pack of dogs can spark public outrage.

  It is not simply the election that could take a carceral turn, however.

  What would happen if Trump were elected but convicted in either state case? Such a trial would likely occur after the election. Even if courts extended a trial until after the 2024 election, it would be difficult to delay it for four years.

  The last time a president faced the threat of a criminal trial was in 1872, when Ulysses S. Grant was arrested for speeding in his horse-drawn carriage in Washington.

  I have long maintained that a sitting president can be indicted and tried. Almost 25 years ago, I wrote an academic work, “‘From Pillar to Post’: The Prosecution of Sitting Presidents,” that challenged immunity theories protecting presidents. I do not believe the indictment of a president or former president is a national tragedy. To the contrary, it is the ultimate affirmation that no one is above the law.

  However, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t get weird if Trump loses in court but wins in the election.

  If Trump were convicted in a state proceeding, it would not bar him from running — or serving — as president. A state judge could grant probation or an alternative sentence to avoid imprisonment. Moreover, appeals on the issue of incarceration could take years to address a state order conflicting with the performance of a federal function. Once that time was exhausted, a court could order any incarceration to be delayed until after the end of the presidential term, since Trump could not be elected a third time.

  We may have to face one of these scenarios. The question is whether voters may not only accept this prospect but some might even invite it. Regardless of how it works out, this election is about to take a carceral turn.

  Elections often raise the politics of crime — but in this election, it may be hard to separate the politics from the crime.

  Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at The George Washington University. Follow him on Twitter @JonathanTurley.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 04/04/2023 – 20:20

• Another $2.6 Billion In Defense Aid To Ukraine
  Another $2.6 Billion In Defense Aid To Ukraine

  The Biden administration announced the next tranche of aid military aid for Ukraine on Tuesday, this time totaling $2.6 billion.

  An official White House press release stipulated that $2 billion of this would be for various types of munitions, radar and weapons to defend the country in the future, and just ahead of an expected spring offensive against Russian forces. 

  

  According to a statement by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, this will include “U.S.-provided HIMARS, air defense interceptors, and artillery rounds that Ukraine is using to defend itself.”

  For the sake of speed of getting these weapons and ammo to the warzone, the US said it will pull from existent military stockpiles.

  “In addition, we are announcing a significant package of air defense capabilities, as well as artillery and tank ammunition, mortar systems, rockets, and anti-armor systems using $2.1 billion in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) funds,” the statement said.

  “The Presidential Drawdown is the thirty-fifth such drawdown of equipment from DoD inventories for Ukraine that the Biden Administration has authorized since August 2021.”

  The announcement comes just on the heels of Russia’s Wager Group claiming victory over Bakhmut’s city center, raising the Russian flag over utterly demolished central administrative buildings.

  This drone footage shows a Russian flag at the remains of Bakhmut’s city hall building, as the Wagner Group claims to have ‘legally taken’ the bombarded city.

  Live updates: https://t.co/DHkh8H1DdD pic.twitter.com/csx4PlEPIs

  — Sky News (@SkyNews) April 3, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  Below is the full list of what this latest defense package includes, according to the US Dept. of Defense:

  The capabilities in this package include:

  • Additional munitions for Patriot air defense systems;
  • Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
  • 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds;
  • 120mm mortar rounds;
  • 120mm and 105mm tank ammunition; 
  • 25mm ammunition;
  • Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles;
  • Approximately 400 grenade launchers and 200,000 rounds of ammunition;
  • 11 tactical vehicles to recover equipment;
  • 61 heavy fuel tankers;
  • 10 trucks and 10 trailers to transport heavy equipment;
  • Testing and diagnostic equipment to support vehicle maintenance and repair;
  • Spare parts and other field equipment.

  Under USAI, the DoD will provide Ukraine with:

  • Additional munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS);
  • Nine counter-Unmanned Aerial System 30mm gun trucks;
  • 10 mobile c-UAS laser-guided rocket systems;
  • Three air surveillance radars;
  • 30mm and 23mm anti-aircraft ammunition;
  • 130mm and 122mm artillery rounds;
  • 122mm GRAD rockets;
  • Rocket launchers and ammunition;
  • 120mm and 81mm mortar systems;
  • 120mm, 81mm, and 60mm mortar rounds;
  • 120mm tank ammunition;
  • Javelin anti-armor systems;
  • Anti-armor rockets;
  • Precision aerial munitions;
  • Approximately 3,600 small arms and more than 23,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition;
  • Seven tactical vehicles to recover equipment;
  • Eight heavy fuel tankers and 105 fuel trailers;
  • Armored bridging systems;
  • Four logistics support vehicles;
  • Trucks and ten trailers to transport heavy equipment;
  • Secure communications equipment;
  • SATCOM terminals and services;
  • Funding for training, maintenance, and sustainment.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 04/04/2023 – 19:45

• Dem Reps Who Egged On Rioters At Tennessee Capitol Are Stripped Of Committee Assignments; Face Expulsion
  Dem Reps Who Egged On Rioters At Tennessee Capitol Are Stripped Of Committee Assignments; Face Expulsion

  Authored by Debra Heine via AmGreatness.com,

  The three Democrat representatives who encouraged student rioters at the Tennessee State Capitol last week have reportedly been stripped of their committee assignments and are facing a vote Thursday on articles of expulsion.

  Three Democratic representatives face expulsion from the House after their involvement in last week’s gun control rallies at the Tennessee State Capitol. https://t.co/8vnWj5RZwp

  — Gene Bryant (@GeneBryant2) April 3, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  Tennessee State Troopers were forced to intervene as a pro-gun control mob stormed the state capitol during a session of the legislature on March 30.

  State Reps. Justin Jones, Justin Pierson, and Gloria Johnson all reportedly joined the rioters in the well of the chamber, where they shouted slogans through a shared bullhorn.

  🚨 BREAKING: Leftists storm the Tennessee Capitol demanding more gun control measures.

  h/t: @TheTNHoller pic.twitter.com/d2K0Kb5t1c

  — MRCTV (@mrctv) March 30, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  We took to the House floor demanding justice to end the support of the NRA, end the support of gun violence, & end support of these guns. The @TNGOP continue to support gun violence to the detriment of children, parents, & families. We must never quit! @brotherjones_ @VoteGloriaJ pic.twitter.com/RH75ZeoC1S

  — Justin J. Pearson (@Justinjpearson) March 30, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  Rep. Pearson denied that their antics on the House floor was radical, calling it as “good trouble” to “save kids’ lives.”

  WATCH: “What we did was not radical — INACTION IS RADICAL.” @brotherjones_ & @VoteGloriaJ say they took over the well with @Justinjpearson to call for action on guns because it was time for “good trouble” with thousands outside demanding action on guns to save kids’ lives. pic.twitter.com/HPYo6MBsqc

  — The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) March 30, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  All three reportedly received a letter Monday from Tammy Letzler,  the chief clerk in the Tennessee House, informing them that they have been kicked off their committees.

  “Dear Representative Johnson: You have been removed from the House standing committees and subcommittees and any committees on which you serve as designee. Please let me know if you have any questions,” the letter to Rep. Johnson read.

  Rep. @VoteGloriaJ has been kicked off of all committees for speaking up in the well — as has @brotherjones_

  They are currently sitting in Gov ops anyway pic.twitter.com/yfxIwe3bq1

  — The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) April 3, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  In addition, House Republicans will vote Thursday on House Resolution 64 to expel the three Democrats. Rep. Johnson posted a screenshot of the first page of the articles of expulsion on Twitter.

  Expulsion resolutions filed pic.twitter.com/ZMLOlzG18Q

  — Rep. Gloria Johnson (@VoteGloriaJ) April 3, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  The resolution, filed by Republican Reps. Bud Hulsey, Gino Bulso, and Andrew Farmer, declares that the three participated in “disorderly behavior” and “did knowingly and intentionally bring disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives,” the Associated Press reported.

  Pearson and Jones are both freshman lawmakers. Johnson has served in the House since 2019. All three have been highly critical of the Republican supermajority. Jones was temporarily banned from the Tennessee Capitol in 2019 after throwing a cup of liquid at former House Speaker Glen Casada and other lawmakers while protesting the bust of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest inside the Capitol.

  House Republican Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison reportedly referred to Jones as the “former representative” during the evening session Monday night.

  Along party lines, members voted 72-23 to have an expulsion vote on Thursday. A two-thirds vote is required in Tennessee for the expulsion of any member, but the GOP has a supermajority with 75 of the House’s 99 seats.

  In reaction to the vote, protesters in the House balconies screamed “fascists, fascists!” before being escorted out by state troopers.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 04/04/2023 – 19:25

• Attorney Who Represented Survivors Of Sex Crimes Arrested For Child Pornography
  Attorney Who Represented Survivors Of Sex Crimes Arrested For Child Pornography

  Authored by Mimi Nguyen Ly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  An attorney in West Palm Beach, Florida, who represented survivors of sex crimes was recently arrested with possession of child pornography.

  

  Michael T. Dolce, 53, appeared in West Palm Beach federal court for his first appearance in the case on March 30, the Southern District of Florida U.S. Attorney’s Office announced in a release.

  According to the release, citing the criminal complaint affidavit, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Dolce’s apartment and found that Dolce was “actively downloading child pornography using peer-2-peer software.”

  “Nearly 2,000 images and videos of child pornography were recovered from his devices,” it stated.

  At the March 30 hearing, Dolce agreed to submit to pretrial detention while reserving his right to later challenge it, reported the Miami New Times. His arraignment is scheduled for mid-April, according to the outlet. He faces a child pornography possession charge, which has a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

  The office of Leonard Scott Feuer, Dolce’s attorney, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.

  Dolce’s LinkedIn profile describes him as a “highly regarded trial lawyer and political activist” whose practice “is dedicated to representing survivors of sexual crimes, including child and adult victims, and adult survivors of child sexual abuse.”

  According to the LinkedIn profile, he was a partner at the Palm Beach Gardens office of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll since late 2015. But his name is no longer listed on law firm’s website as of the time of writing.

  According to an archived entry on the firm’s website, Dolce was the leader of its Sexual Abuse, Sex Trafficking, and Domestic Violence team.

  In a statement to multiple outlets, the firm said it was “stunned and saddened” by the allegations against Dolce. A spokesperson confirmed Dolce was “terminated and is no longer affiliated with the firm.”

  “We are focused on attending to the needs of our clients and staff and continuing to cooperate fully with the investigation,” the spokesperson added.

  Separately, Dolce’s LinkedIn profile states that he has been on the board of directors of the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence since 2011.

  He also served on the advisory board of Florida’s Children First, according to a now-deleted entry on the legal-aid organization’s website. The non-profit group is dedicated to representing “at-risk children, especially those in foster care.”

  According to the website’s entry, Dolce founded a political committee called “Protect Our Kids First, Inc.” Separately, he also served on the Florida Bar’s Legal Needs of Children Committee, and on the governing board of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in West Palm Beach.

  Aimee Adler Cooke, a spokesperson with the church, told The Palm Beach Post that congregation leaders have instructed Dolce not to attend or participate in church events amid ongoing litigation.

  According to Dolce’s Florida Bar member profile, he has been practicing law in Florida since 1995.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 04/04/2023 – 18:45

• Man Charged Over Numerous 'Swatting' Calls Accused Of Blackmailing Victims, Demanding Underage Nude Pics
  Man Charged Over Numerous ‘Swatting’ Calls Accused Of Blackmailing Victims, Demanding Underage Nude Pics

  A Seattle man has been arrested for making over 20 “swatting” calls across the United States and Canada, which prompted real emergency responses to fake reports of shootings, bombs or other threats.

  Using VOIP to conceal his identity, 20-year-old Ashton Connor Garcia of Bremerton broadcast his calls over Discord for entertainment, according to federal prosecutors, which have slapped him with 10 felony counts filed in the US District Court in Tacoma, Washington.

  

  Garcia could spend up to a decade in prison if found guilty.

  “Every time Mr. Garcia is alleged to have made one of his false reports to law enforcement, he triggered a potentially deadly event—sending heavily armed police officers to an address where they mistakenly believed they would confront someone who was armed and dangerous,” said Seattle US Attorney Nick Brown in a Thursday press release.

  “Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the unpredictable and terrifying dynamic these calls created for Mr. Garcia’s alleged victims cannot be overstated.”

  Garcia’s arrest came as a spate of threats and false reports of shooters have been pouring into schools and colleges across the country, unnerving officials, parents and students who are already on edge about actual school shootings—including at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, this week.

  Computer-generated calls on Wednesday made hoax claims about active shooters in Pennsylvania, and a day earlier, nearly 30 Massachusetts schools received fake threats. -AP

  Specifically, the indictment charges Garcia with these crimes:

  • Extortion – Ohio: On July 17, 2022, allegedly demanded credit card information or would injure the reputation of the victim, their family, would leak nude photos, and “swat them.”

  • Threats and Hoaxes -Ohio: On July 22, 2022, allegedly made a swatting call to the Shaker Heights Police Department falsely alleging his father was holding the family hostage with firearms and a hand grenade.

  • Threats and Hoaxes – Ohio: On July 28, 2022, allegedly called the Cleveland Police Department falsely claiming he had planted a bomb at the Fox News station in Cleveland.

  • Hoaxes regarding firearms – California: On July 29, 2022, allegedly called the Los Angeles Police Department falsely claiming his father was raping his sister, that his father had lots of guns and was both mentally ill and a drug addict.

  • Interstate threats – Kentucky: on July 30, 2022, allegedly called the Kentucky State Police threatening to kill named hostages.

  • Hoaxes regarding aircraft – California: on August 23, 2022, allegedly called the Los Angeles Police and claimed his daughter told him there was a bomb on her flight from Honolulu to LAX.

  • Extortion – New jersey: on August 24, 2022, allegedly attempted to obtain photographs and videos of a minor female’s body by threatening to accuse a family member of a crime and “swat” them.

  • Threats and hoaxes regarding explosives – Michigan: allegedly reported to the Milan Michigan Police Department that his father was holding him hostage with a gun and bomb.

  • Threats and hoaxes – Tennessee: on September 2, 2022, allegedly called the Milan, Tennessee Police Department alleging he was being held hostage by his father who had a gun and bomb.

  • Threats and hoaxes regarding explosives – California: allegedly called Los Angeles Police Department alleging he had stashed four pounds of C4 explosives at an airport in Los Angeles and would detonate it unless he was paid $200,000 in bitcoin.

  According to prosecutors, Garcia collected personal information about his victims and threatened to send emergency responses to their homes unless they paid a ransom of money or credit card information. He also threatened to release sexually explicit images.

  

  Authorities said that in some cases, law enforcement entered homes with guns drawn and detained people inside.

  

  In other cases, Garcia called in fake bomb scares, including at the Fox News station in Cleveland, Ohio, and on July 28 for an August 23 flight from Honolulu to Los Angeles. In another instance, he threatened to bomb a Los Angeles airport unless he was sent $200,000 in bitcoin.

  According to the indictment, Garcia called agencies in California, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oho, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington and Edmonton, in Alberta, Canada.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 04/04/2023 – 18:25

• 'If We Go Ahead On This, Everyone Will Die' Warns AI Expert Calling For Absolute Shutdown
  ‘If We Go Ahead On This, Everyone Will Die’ Warns AI Expert Calling For Absolute Shutdown

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

  Human beings are not ready for a powerful AI under present conditions or even in the “foreseeable future,” stated a foremost expert in the field, adding that the recent open letter calling for a six-month moratorium on developing advanced artificial intelligence is “understating the seriousness of the situation.”

  

  “The key issue is not ‘human-competitive’ intelligence (as the open letter puts it); it’s what happens after AI gets to smarter-than-human intelligence,” said Eliezer Yudkowsky, a decision theorist and leading AI researcher in a March 29 Time magazine op-ed. “Many researchers steeped in these issues, including myself, expect that the most likely result of building a superhumanly smart AI, under anything remotely like the current circumstances, is that literally everyone on Earth will die.

  “Not as in ‘maybe possibly some remote chance,’ but as in ‘that is the obvious thing that would happen.’ It’s not that you can’t, in principle, survive creating something much smarter than you; it’s that it would require precision and preparation and new scientific insights, and probably not having AI systems composed of giant inscrutable arrays of fractional numbers.”

  After the recent popularity and explosive growth of ChatGPT, several business leaders and researchers, now totaling 1,843 including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak, signed a letter calling on “all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4.” GPT-4, released in March, is the latest version of OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT.

  AI ‘Does Not Care’ and Will Demand Rights

  Yudkowsky predicts that in the absence of meticulous preparation, the AI will have vastly different demands from humans, and once self-aware will “not care for us” nor any other sentient life. “That kind of caring is something that could in principle be imbued into an AI but we are not ready and do not currently know how.” This is the reason why he’s calling for the absolute shutdown.

  Without a human approach to life, the AI will simply consider all sentient beings to be “made of atoms it can use for something else.” And there is little humanity can do to stop it. Yudkowsky compared the scenario to “a 10-year-old trying to play chess against Stockfish 15.” No human chess player has yet been able to beat Stockfish, which is considered an impossible feat.

  The industry veteran asked readers to imagine AI technology as not being contained within the confines of the internet.

  “Visualize an entire alien civilization, thinking at millions of times human speeds, initially confined to computers—in a world of creatures that are, from its perspective, very stupid and very slow.”

  The AI will expand its influence outside the periphery of physical networks and could “build artificial life forms” using laboratories where proteins are produced using DNA strings.

  The end result of building an all-powerful AI, under present conditions, would be the death of “every single member of the human species and all biological life on Earth,” he warned.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 04/04/2023 – 18:05

• Watch: Pelosi Shrinks In Embarrassment After Calling Hillary Clinton "President"
  Watch: Pelosi Shrinks In Embarrassment After Calling Hillary Clinton “President”

  Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi struggled to recover after an ultra-awkward and embarrassing moment with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a Monday event hosted by Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA).

  During the very first exchange, Peloso thanked Clinton for her leadership in safeguarding democracy “when president” – and that’s when she quickly realized her error, dramatically recoiling and making hand motions. She then tried to recover by saying rather that it was “my hope” that Clinton become president. Watch the below – Pelosi’s Freudian slip comes just after the 1-minute mark:

  Clinton had introduced the conversastion with Pelosi by saying, “Let’s start with this little matter of democracy, because I think you and I believe that it’s not just in our country, but that’s where we see it most clearly, there is a concerted effort to undermine some of the very foundations of democratic governance, of a democratic society.”

  “There’s research, some of it done by SIPA in this university, showing that half the world’s democracies are backsliding, and that includes, sadly, the United States. So, what do you, Nancy, view as the biggest threats and challenges facing our democracy and what are the opportunities to try to stop that backsliding and turn it around?” she asked. Pelosi replied:

  “Well, I appreciate that question, but I also appreciate your leadership in this regard when president –”

  Another interesting moment came when Pelosi claimed that Clinton is the one person that Russia’s President Putin feared the most:

  She went on to scapegoat Russian leader Vladimir Putin for stealing the 2016 election from Clinton, saying it was because he feared her the “most.”

  “It was her clarity and position to the present – Putin – present occupant leader of Russia, that made him turn around and ensure, in an illegal way, come out against her in her campaign and interference in our democracy by Vladimir Putin, because Hillary Clinton was the person he feared most in terms of his lack of democracy in Russia. That’s, I think, self-evident, so thank you for what you have done,” Pelosi said.

  But we highly doubt Putin ever “feared” Clinton; instead, it’s more likely he considered her hawkish policies to be dangerous to the world, heightening the risk of a major clash among superpowers.

  There’s also a number of examples where Clinton’s policies contributed to failed states, for example in Libya, Syria, and Iraq.

  

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 04/04/2023 – 17:45

• Texas Is Bitcoin Country, With Or Without The US
  Texas Is Bitcoin Country, With Or Without The US

  Authored by James Collins via BitcoinMagazine.com,

  A historically-independent state, Texas’ ongoing embrace of Bitcoin makes it an innovative leader, with or without the rest of the US…

  

  “We encourage it, we advance it. But I would say we provide the platform… for those involved in Bitcoin to make sure they have a place to come to.”

  The above words spoken by Texas Governor Greg Abbott are a clear reminder of the sheer power hidden within the varying components of Bitcoin that allow the system to organically steer a state or nation into a realm of independence and ethical, fiduciary responsibilities for its citizenry.

  Combining the American spirit of the “shot heard round the world” in 1775 and “Remember The Alamo” in 1836, Texas has an opportunity to obtain absolute state independence through mathematical independence thanks to the “block heard around the world” in 2009. This is my analysis of the characteristics of Texas, the effects of historic events and how, through Bitcoin, Texas can become completely sovereign.

  THE LONE STAR STATE

  Texas is one of the most fascinating states in the union. Starting with the Texas Revolution’s use of the “come and take it” flag, as an emboldened and outnumbered Texan rebel group won the Battle of San Jacinto to claim Texas independence, the state has always had a spirit of freedom.

  Texas then became the Republic of Texas, electing Sam Houston as its first president and proudly flying the Lone Star flag representing itself as its own country. By 1846, Texas had been annexed by the United States and used as a beachhead for the westward expansion of the United States, culminating in the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo and a U.S. payment of $15 million to Mexico for large swaths of western territory. Texas would later secede from the United States in 1861 and side with the Confederacy during the United States Civil War.

  As he attempted to wrangle southern independence, Abraham Lincoln clearly fell under monetary duress. A supposed quote from Lincoln may have described his feelings: “I have two great enemies, the Southern Army in front of me and the bankers in the rear. Of the two, the one at my rear is my greatest foe.”

  To address these problems, Lincoln issued credit-based money in the greenback to finance war spending. In essence, what this brief history lesson points out is two things:

  1. Polarization between states (in this case, northern industrialists vs. southern agrarians) can lead to events that affect all states negatively (i.e., the Civil War)

  2. Private issuance of currency has been a thorn in the side of states as they attempt to act more independently of the federal government and can lead to greater centralization

  So, with the fracturing of state ideologies today, is Texas primed to embrace a new, neutral and peaceful way of expressing its independent spirit and desires to keep its citizenry prosperous?

  THE AGE OF SELF SOVEREIGNTY

  The age of individual self sovereignty is upon us thanks to Bitcoin and it could mean the emergence of a way to solidify and express states’ rights.

  Texas has a history of self reliance and the promotion of individual freedom. Its ethos forms the perfect peanut-butter-and-jelly combination with Bitcoin’s open, permissionless, decentralized monetary protocol. As such, Texas seems the most ready to absorb the economic reality that such a financial network promises — one that means you cannot step between users and their money in a forceful manner and that, if threatened, would see these users pick up and leave, bringing their economic power with them. The state’s embrace of this economic shift can be understood through the continued increase in bitcoin mining in Texas, the passage of House Bill 1576 and the current plan for an El Salvador Embassy in Texas.

  In addition, Texas is the largest energy producer in the United States. This advantage is of material importance, as seen with the influx and continued growth of bitcoin mining in the state after the China mining ban in 2021. Texas will surely continue leveraging its ethos and energy production to drive further bitcoin mining activity. It may soon use bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset to leverage its guaranteed decoupling from an unstable world, driving local infrastructure development and upgrades to continue bitcoin mining. The outcomes of those actions would bleed into other state economic sectors to supercharge benefits to its citizenry, further incentivizing more interest in productive state population immigration.

  In conclusion, throughout history, states have been dragged into devastating wars, at least partly due to their inability to operate their state economies how it sees fit. The ability of all states to make decisions that best serve their citizenries lies in their ability to control their own economic destiny, which starts with money.

  Bitcoin has flourished due to the ethos in Texas since its inception and its continued flourishing gives Texas the ultimate hedge. It allows the state to continue as a vital driver of national economic activity and help the United States stay ahead in the rapidly-changing 21st century or, at worst, ultimately secede and form the northern border of a massive, orange economic zone that could stretch throughout Latin America and down to El Salvador.

  Texas, via its historic ethos of independence and self-reliance, has flourished alongside the open, permissionless decentralized monetary network of Bitcoin. The further infusion of Bitcoin into all aspects of the Texas economy will allow it to stand tall as a beacon of economic freedom when humanity needs it most.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 04/04/2023 – 17:30

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