Today’s News 5th August 2021

• A Minute On The Internet In 2021
  A Minute On The Internet In 2021

  The digital world is a universe in its own right and a very fast moving one at that. Myriads of downloads and uploads, posts and searches, messages sent and received, listens and streams happen every minute on the world wide web.

  According to data compiled by Lori Lewis and published on the site AllAccess, Statista’s Claire Jenik notes that 60 seconds on the web in 2021 consist of more than 500 hours of content uploaded on YouTube, 695,000 stories shared on Instagram and nearly 70 million messages sent via WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  That same internet minute also contains more than two million swipes on Tinder as well as an incredible 1.6 million U.S. dollars spent online.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/05/2021 – 02:45

• Spain Complains To EU Over Soaring Cost Of Electricity; But Guess What…
  Spain Complains To EU Over Soaring Cost Of Electricity; But Guess What…

  Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

  Spanish consumers are fretting over record-high power prices just as high summer temperatures are keeping air conditioning and cooling systems operating at full capacity. Why are Spain’s prices so high?

  

  Record High Prices 

  The Independent reports Record-High Electricity Bills Draw Criticism to Spain’s Gov’t.

  The government says that the latest hikes in electricity bills are driven by spiraling prices of so-called carbon certificates, which give companies the right to release carbon dioxide, gas imports that Spain needs to complete its energy mix, and the surging power demand of the summer months.

  In the latest effort to rein in prices, lawmakers were voting Wednesday on whether to uphold the government’s move last month to cut the value-added tax on most households’ electricity bills from 21% to 10% until the end of this year and to scrap a 7% tax on power generation for at least three months. Utility companies pass on the cost of that tax to their customers.

  Facua, one of Spain’s biggest consumer rights platforms, said that Spaniards will see on average a 35% hike on their July electricity bill compared to the same month in 2020. The increase comes at a time when many households are grappling with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

  Environment Minister Teresa Ribera said that she had written a letter to the EU’s executive branch stressing the need to reform the bloc’s electricity market, but warned that the upward trend in prices was likely to continue in the coming months.

  Spain Urges EU to Act on Soaring Energy Prices

  The Financial Times reports Spain Urges EU to Act on Soaring Energy Prices.

  In an interview with the Financial Times, Teresa Ribera, Spain’s deputy prime minister for the environment, suggested that high prices and charges could provoke a backlash against carbon-cutting initiatives, with Spain in the “eye of the hurricane”. 

  Please Iron at at 2:00AM

  In addition to complaining to the EU the Energy Department Has Suggestions like iron and cook at night.

  The Facua-Consumers in Action organization claims that asking customers to use their appliances at night is “degrading” for the most vulnerable consumers.

  “You can’t make the consumer responsible for their bill being high just because they haven’t done the ironing or put their appliances on during the cheapest periods,” Facua states.

  “These times coincide with when people should be getting some rest.”

  Why Are Spain’s Bills the Highest in the EU?

  Spain currently counts on renewable energy sources for nearly 50% of its supply. 

  Guess what happens when you depend on unreliable sources? 

  Greens Demand More Clean Energy 

  But hey, the EU wants more clean energy. 

  Specifically, the EU seeks an energy tax that would drive up the costs of basically everything. 

  Sink America Plan

  The Socialists and Greens in the US latched on to that idea. 

  On July 15, I commented The Greens Hijack Biden’s $3.5 Trillion Budget Proposal 

  On July 30, Arizona Senator Krysten Sinema expressed concerns over the plan to which AOC said “No Climate, No Deal”. 

  That is the preferred outcome of those with an ounce of common sense.

  Previously, I proposed labeling the plan the Stagflation Guarantee Act of 2021.

  However, that name is not catchy enough.

  “Sink America Plan” is a better name for this proposed boondoggle.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 08/05/2021 – 02:00

• Farewell To Yet Another Failed Monetary System
  Farewell To Yet Another Failed Monetary System

  Authored by Egon von Greyerz via GoldSwitzerland.com,

  The beginning of the end of the current monetary system started exactly 50 years ago. In the next few years the world will experience the end of the end of another failed experiment of unlimited debt creation and fake fiat money.

  Economic history tells us that we need to focus on two areas to understand where the  economy is going – INFLATION AND THE CURRENCY.

  

  These two areas are now indicating that the world is in for a major shock. Very few investors expect inflation to become a real problem but instead believe interest rates will be subdued. And no one expects the dollar or any major currency to collapse.

  But in the last two years money supply growth has been exponential with for example M1 in the US growing at an annual rate of 126%!  

  Von Mises defined inflation as an increase in money supply. The world has seen explosive growth in credit and money supply since 1971 and now we are seeing hyperinflationary increases.

  

  Hyperinflation is a currency event. Just since 2000 most currencies have lost 80-85% of their value. And since 1971 they have all lost 96-99%. The race to the bottom and to hyperinflation is now on.

  As I will explain in this article, history is telling us that the explosion of credit and money supply will lead to rapid increases in inflation and interest rates and an even faster fall of the US dollar.

  When it comes to monetary events, inflation and the currency are totally interdependent.

  Normally an economy will be sound when the currency is sound. And the currency is sound when the economy is sound.

  Sounds pretty simple doesn’t it. But then why has no currency ever survived in history? And why has every economy collapsed when the currency has collapsed?

  ECONOMIC & MONETARY CHAOS IS THE RULE RATHER THAN THE EXCEPTION

  For anyone who has thoroughly studied economic history, monetary chaos never comes as a surprise.

  As long as there has been any kind of money or monetary system, chaos has always followed at regular intervals.

  Without chaos there cannot be order. That is the inevitable consequence of economic cycles. But when governments and central banks interfere in the natural cycles of ebb and flow, the world is more likely to have disorder even in the good times and chaos in the bad times.  Thus government interference and manipulation distort natural cycles.

  So “Doing God’s Work”, as Blankfein, a former Chairman of Goldman Sachs stated in 2009, is likely to lead to constant disorder and chaos.

  Cycles, whether they are economic or climate, are normally self-regulating. “Doing god’s work”, whether it involves trying to lower the earth’s temperature or creating fake money, is more likely to create chaos than order.

  In ancient Greece, Chaos was originally thought of as the abyss or emptiness that existed before things came into being.

  In economic history, chaos is a regular phenomenon. Since no currency has ever survived in history, it follows that the demise of a country’s money is always linked to chaos.

  50 YEARS SINCE THE LATEST MONETARY CHAOS STARTED

  On August 15, 2021, there is exactly 50 years since the beginning of the end of the current monetary system.

  Richard Nixon was the unfortunate executor of the inevitable fall of the dollar and the collapse of the US and most probably global economy. As I outlined in my recent article The Dollars Final Crash Down A Golden Matterhorn, we cannot really blame Nixon for the destruction of the dollar.

  Profligate spending and monetary discipline are the worst of enemies. For a politician, the mere thought of frugality would never enter their mind.

  In order to please the people and either avoid a revolution or the risk of not being reelected, a leader will always choose the easy way out which is creating debt and printing money.

  Thus Nixon was in no way unique in going from a gold backed currency to printing whatever fake money was required to continue the illusion of prosperity. As history tells,  this is an event that has taken place throughout history at an amazing frequency.

  THE PETRODOLLAR HAS DELAYED THE DOLLAR’S TOTAL COLLAPSE

  The risk of the dollar collapsing without gold backing was major but Tricky Dick (Nixon) together with his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had a clever, albeit temporary, remedy for that problem.

  They offered Saudi Arabia military protection with the Saudis agreeing to sell all oil in dollars globally. The US would also sell/give Saudi Arabia major quantities of military equipment.

  So that was the start of the Petrodollar which has temporarily protected the US dollar currency from crashing to Zero.

  But Nixon’s promise to the American people 50 years ago on August 15, 1971 that “Your dollar will be worth just as much tomorrow” hasn’t quite held true to say the least.

  Yes, one dollar is still one dollar. But in purchasing power terms it is only worth 2 cents today compared to 1971. So in half a century, the dollar has lost 98% of its value compared to real money i.e. GOLD.

  But the real collapse of the dollar has not started yet in spite of the 98% fall since 1971.

  US MONEY SUPPLY IS GROWING EXPONENTIALLY

  Since the Great Financial Crisis in 2006-9, there has been an exponential growth in US Money Supply.

  Looking at US M1 money supply, the graph below shows how it grew from $220 billion in August 1971 to $19.3 trillion today.

  

  From 1971 to 2011 the growth seems modest at a compound annual growth (CAGR) of 6%. If the dollar purchasing power declined by the same rate, it would lead to prices  doubling every 12 years. Or put in other terms, the value of the currency on average would drop by 50% every 12 years.

  Then from 2011 when Money supply started growing in earnest, M1 has grown by 24% annually.  This means that prices in theory should double every 3 years.

  Finally, from August 2019 to August 2021 M1 has gone up by 126% a year. If that was translated to the purchasing power of the dollar it would lead to prices doubling every 7 months.

  ASSET INFLATION WILL TURN TO CONSUMER PRICE INFLATION

  Von Mises defined inflation as growth in money supply and not in prices. The Western world until now has experienced very little consumer price inflation. Instead the credit expansion has created exponential inflation in asset prices.

  I experienced how asset inflation in the UK in the late 1960s and early 1970s led to price inflation with the collapse of the UK stock market and the pound.

  I received my first options in the company I worked in 1972 at £1.27. Two years later they were worth 10 pence. The FT index went down by 2/3 and the pound lost 40% against the dollar between 1972 and 1976.

  Another remarkable move in the 1970s which I experienced was gold going form $35 in 1972 to $850 in 1980. In my view that exponential move will be dwarfed by what we will experience in the next few years.

  As the chart below shows, inflation in the UK went wild in the 1970s. I experienced the perfect combination of a collapsing currency and surging prices. The average inflation was around 15% for 6-7 years in the 70s. Mortgage rates went to levels that would make all borrowers bankrupt today. The interest rate on my first mortgage was 21%!

  As the graph shows, annual inflation was 1% for 171 years and has averaged 5.5% since then – a 5 x increase! We must thank Nixon for that!

  

  THE GOLD PRICE RISE HAS ONLY STARTED

  As I have pointed out in many articles, the gold price is currently not reflecting the massive debt expansion and money printing that the world has experienced, especially since 2006.

  The graph below tells the story. I am including it in many of my articles just to illustrate that gold at $1,800 in relation to US money supply is today as cheep as it was in 1971 at $35 and in 2000 at $300.

  Skillful but deceitful manipulation, through the issuing of uncovered paper gold, by the BIS and bullion banks has so far kept gold well below its intrinsic value, measured in dollars.

  The short term relationship between money supply and inflation is not straight forward but the long term effect on inflation is inevitable.

  So the fact that money supply is increasing much faster than the decline of the dollar is only a temporary disconnect.

  As money supply continues to grow exponentially, leading to chaos in the US as well as  in the global economy, we will soon see the dollar reaching the abyss as the Greeks defined chaos.

  The dollar has outstayed its usefulness as sound money and will soon be in the graveyard where every single currency in history has ended up.

  It would be very brave of anyone to doubt or deny the demise of the dollar.

  The dollar collapse into the abyss will happen. Take my word for it. Anyone betting against thousands of years of history would be a fool.

  Yes, I do know that the world is full of fools who believe that it is different today. But it never is. History has a 100% success record when it comes to the total destruction of every currency that has ever existed. I obviously exclude eternal money in the form of gold or silver.

  CRACK-UP-BOOM

  What we are seeing now is what von Mises called the Crack-up-Boom.

  Von Mises defined a crack-up-boom as:

  • The crash of the credit and monetary system due to continual credit expansion leading to unsustainable and rapid price increases or inflation.

  • The consequence would be “a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved.

  So I dare anyone to bet against a perfect history record as regards a currency collapses and the imminent demise of the dollar.

  The only question is how long it will take before the dollar loses another 98% from here. It has taken 50 years to lose the first 98% but losing another 98% or more from here is likely to go much faster. 

  It could take 5 years or maybe 10 but I fear that it could be very quick. History also tells us that once hyperinflation takes hold, it develops very quickly. It could all be over in 2-3 years.

  But although the collapse of the currency can be very quick, the effect on the economy and the financial system can last for years or even decades when, as in this case, we are dealing with a global explosion of debt.

  GOLD – SILVER AND WEALTH PRESERVATION

  In the coming collapse of the monetary system, wealth preservation will be critical. Physical gold and silver has a proven record in history as the ultimate form of wealth preservation.

  Measured in collapsing paper money, gold and silver will reach unthinkable levels.

  In the next 5-10 years, precious metals will vastly outperform all asset classes in real terms.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/04/2021 – 23:40

• Biden Approves First Taiwan Arms Sale Of Presidency, Ratcheting China Tensions Further
  Biden Approves First Taiwan Arms Sale Of Presidency, Ratcheting China Tensions Further

  After a series of US-backed arms sales packages to Taiwan during Trump’s last year in office, severely ratcheting tensions to where they are now, President Biden’s administration on Wednesday approved its first arms sale to the island claimed by China. 

  Bloomberg is describing the potential $750 million deal as including 40 new M109 self-propelled howitzers, essentially a highly maneuverable tank-like military vehicle with a giant gun, and some 1,700 kits designed to convert projectiles into more precise GPS-guided munitions.

  

  The contract by BAE Systems must first pass through congressional review, which is expected, and while it’s not a large number for a foreign country sale at less than one billion dollars in weaponry, the symbolism is huge and will be seen as a provocation surely to be loudly denounced by China.

  The howitzer and kit conversion sale is seen as geared toward improving the Taiwanese army’s ability to repel a potential Chinese land invasion, based on similar equipment that the US Army currently possess.

  According to commentary featured in Bloomberg by the influential US-Taiwan Business Council:

  The proposal “serves as a timely reminder of the close national security partnership between the United States and Taiwan,” as China is now violating Taiwan’s air defense identification zone “on a near-daily basis,” said Rupert J. Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council. “We also hope to see additional offers from the Biden administration of new capabilities to Taiwan to both help expand its current military posture and to continue improving its multilayered self-defense capacity.”

  Indeed those PLA aerial incursions have only grown during the Biden administration, in part to ‘answer’ the Biden Pentagon’s own monthly warship sail-throughs of the contested Taiwan Strait.

  Taiwan is seeking a strategy dubbed as establishing “fortress Taiwan” – building up enough advanced weaponry to blunt a direct Chinese assault – at least until bigger allies could be called in. Last year after the Trump administration pushed forward an unprecedented seven major weapons systems sales to the democratic island, the South China Morning Post recently had warned of China’s ‘red lines’: “Unlike other areas of territorial contention, such as in the South China Sea, analysts say Beijing will show no flexibility on this issue and has not ruled out force to reunify Taiwan with the mainland,” it said at the time.

  

  Beijing considers US weapons sales a flagrant violation of the longstanding ‘One China’ policy and has in the recent past charged Washington with intentionally destabilizing the region.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/04/2021 – 23:20

• Russia Developing New X-95 Air-Launched Long-Range Hypersonic Missile
  Russia Developing New X-95 Air-Launched Long-Range Hypersonic Missile

  Via SouthFront.org,

  Russia is working hard and developing the latest air-launched X-95 long-range hypersonic missile, Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitsky, head of the military academy of the General Staff, said in an article for the Military Thought magazine.

  

  Zarudnitsky said that he considered dominance in the aerospace sphere to be the most important condition for the successful conduct of hostilities, and it can be ensured through the effective use of strike and fighter aircraft.

  “For these purposes, for the Aerospace Forces, new and modernized models of weapons, military and special equipment are being developed and adopted, such as the Tu-160M ​​strategic missile-carrying bomber; the Kinzhal aviation hypersonic missile system; long-range high-precision airborne weapons, in particular, the X-95 hypersonic missile,” Zarudnitsky said.

  An unnamed RIA Novosti source in the military-industrial complex also confirmed that the missile was being developed for use in the armament of the modernized Tu-22M3M long-range bomber, the modernized Tu-160M ​​strategic bomber and the Advanced Long-Range Aviation Complex. The interlocutor of the agency claims that “prototypes of the new product have already been tested from the air carrier.”

  According to Zarudnitsky, domination in the aerospace sphere is “the most important condition for the successful conduct of hostilities by land and sea groupings of troops.” In his opinion, it is necessary not only to produce and adopt new types of weapons, but also to develop “new forms of their use and methods of combat operations”, which will ensure the achievement of domination in the aerospace sphere.

  At the end of June, President Vladimir Putin announced that the Sarmat intercontinental missile and the Zircon hypersonic missile would soon enter service. He recalled that the Avangard and Dagger hypersonic complexes had already been put on alert.

  In addition, he added, unmanned aerial vehicles, over-the-horizon detection radars, anti-aircraft missile systems, and other state-of-the-art military equipment are being created.

  A source in the military-industrial complex told RIA Novosti that a new hypersonic missile is being developed for Tu-22M3M and Tu-160M ​​bombers, as well as for the Advanced Long-Range Aviation Complex (PAK DA).

  “Prototypes of the new product have already been tested from the air carrier,” Zarudnitsky said.

  In February, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that the various hypersonic systems would become the backbone of Russia’s non-nuclear deterrent forces.

  Currently, the Russian Aerospace forces are carrying out experimental combat duty of the Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, which during tests reached a speed of Mach 10.

  Intra-fuselage hypersonic missiles are being developed for the fifth generation Su-57 fighter.

  The warships and submarines of the Navy are to be armed with the Zircon hypersonic cruise missile – on July 19 the frigate “Admiral Gorshkov” successfully test-fired such a projectile and successfully destroyed a ground target.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/04/2021 – 23:00

• Broward County Public Schools "Pause" Proposed Mask Mandate After DeSantis Threatens To Cut Funding
  Broward County Public Schools “Pause” Proposed Mask Mandate After DeSantis Threatens To Cut Funding

  Update: Broward County schools on Aug. 3 again changed course on whether to comply with or defy an executive order by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis which prohibited schools from imposing mask mandates on students.

  In a written statement to The Epoch Times, the school board has not changed its policy but “paused it.”

  “In light of the governor’s executive order, the district is awaiting further guidance before rendering a decision on the mask mandate for the upcoming school year. At this time, the district’s face covering policy, which requires the use of masks in district schools and facilities, remains in place.”

  The School Board plans to discuss next steps at a special meeting on August 10.

  Dr. Vickie Cartwright, interim superintendent of Broward County schools is looking into the executive order further.

  “The school board is reviewing information and looking for language from our executive rules as a result of the governor’s executive order,” Cartwright said in a video statement.

  On July 30, the governor signed an executive order that protects parents’ right to make decisions regarding the masking of their children as a means of protecting them from COVID-19. A month earlier, he signed a bill that protected the parents’ “fundamental right” to make decisions for the upbringing, education, health care, or mental health of their minor children.

  “Many Florida schoolchildren have suffered under forced masking policies, and it is prudent to protect the ability of parents to make decisions regarding the wearing of masks by their children,” DeSantis said.

  *  *  *

  As we detailed earlier, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has had enough of the Covid hysteria.

  Aside from going on record and calling the lockdowns a “huge mistake” back in April of his year, DeSantis has done everything he can to try and turn over the power in his state to its citizens, and away from the government.

  The latest example of this comes this week, where DeSantis stood down Florida’s second largest school district that was attempting to impose a mask mandate. In response, DeSantis threatened to withhold funding from the district. 

  “Broward County Public Schools announced last week that it would require mask use after the CDC issued new guidance recommending universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students and visitors to K-12 schools this incoming school year, regardless of vaccination status,” Axios reported this week.

  DeSantis had issued an executive order last Friday barring schools from requiring masks when school re-opens next month. His order read that “if the State Board of Education determines that a district school board is unwilling or unable to comply with the law, the State Board shall have the authority to, among other things, withhold the transfer of state funds, discretionary grant funds … and declare the school district ineligible for competitive grants.”

  

  And that’s exactly what DeSantis threatened to do before Broward County Public Schools backed down, releasing a statement on Monday that said: “Broward County Public Schools intends to comply with the governor’s latest executive order.”

  The statement continued: “Safety remains our highest priority. The district will advocate for all eligible students and staff to receive vaccines and strongly encourage masks to be worn by everyone in schools.”

  DeSantis also spoke at a press conference this week, stating: “Even among a lot of positive tests, you are seeing much less mortality that you did year-over-year. Would I rather have 5,000 cases among 20-year-olds or 500 cases among seniors? I would rather have the younger.”

  “We are not shutting down. We are going to have schools open. We are protecting every Floridian’s job in this state. We are protecting people’s small businesses. These interventions have failed time and time again throughout this pandemic, not just in the United States but abroad.”

  As we noted back in April, DeSantis told The Epoch Times that the lockdowns were a “huge mistake,” including in his own state.

  “We wanted to mitigate the damage. Now, in hindsight, the 15 days to slow the spread and the 30—it didn’t work,” DeSantis said.

  “We shouldn’t have gone down that road.”

  Florida’s lockdown order was notably less strict than some of the stay-at-home measures imposed in other states. Recreational activities like walking, biking, golf, and beachgoing were exempted while essential businesses were broadly defined.

  “Our economy kept going,” DeSantis said. “It was much different than what you saw in some of those lockdown states.”

  DeSantis has also opposed vaccine passports in Florida. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/04/2021 – 22:40

• 1619 Project, Touted As Racial Reckoning, Ignores Democratic Party Racism
  1619 Project, Touted As Racial Reckoning, Ignores Democratic Party Racism

  Authored by Mark Hemmingway via RealClearInvestigations (emphasis ours),

  Democrats who advanced a bill in June to remove statues of white supremacists from the U.S. Capitol ignored a central fact about those figures: All of them had been icons of their party, from Andrew Jackson’s adamantly pro-slavery vice president, John C. Calhoun, to North Carolina Gov. Charles B. Aycock, an architect of the white-supremacist campaign of 1898 that ushered in the era of Jim Crow.

  At a time when governments, sports teams, schools and other bastions of American society are rushing to expunge legacies of slavery or racism, this was another instance of the Democratic Party’s failure to acknowledge that it did more than any other institution in American life to preserve the “peculiar institution” — and later enforce Jim Crow-style apartheid in the Old South.

  “I think it’s absolutely fair to criticize the history of the Democrat Party when we’re literally changing the names of birds because they’re named after racists,” said Jarrett Stepman, author of “The War on History: The Conspiracy to Rewrite America’s Past,” referring to a new racism-cleansing push in, yes, ornithology.

  
  Democrats’ circumspection in the face of this trend is especially noteworthy because it comes at a time when they are criticizing Republican legislation to block the teaching of critical race theory on the ground that the GOP wants to whitewash American history. But one of the most noteworthy efforts to reframe American history in terms of race, the New York Times’ 1619 Project, virtually ignores the Democrat Party’s role in advancing and sustaining racism in the United States.

  Named after the year slaves from Africa were first brought to North America, the curated collection of essays on race in America presents even the most complex modern issues – from obesity and traffic jams to capitalism itself – as being primarily a consequence of America’s history of slavery and racial injustice. The 1619 Project has been widely adopted as an historical framework on the left despite criticism from eminent historians, being repudiated by the 1619 Project’s own fact-checkers, and mangling basic facts.

  Yet, in the essay texts, the Democratic Party is named only three times, in passing. The Republican Party, the political entity formed to fight slavery, also receives little mention. But when the GOP is mentioned, it is excoriated as the 21^st century heir to 19^th century racist ideology.

  For critics of the 1619 Project, the virtual omission of any discussion of the Democratic Party is not only galling but revealing. In their view, the goal of the 1619 Project is neither historical nor educational – it’s thoroughly political. “[1619 Project editor] Nikole Hannah-Jones has been explicit about saying that the point of her essay and the point of the 1619 Project more broadly is to get a reparations bill passed. So that’s a partisan objective,” says Lucas Morel, a professor at Washington and Lee University who has authored books on Abraham Lincoln and Ralph Ellison.

  Hannah-Jones did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Jake Silverstein, the editor of the Times Sunday magazine, where the essays originally appeared.

  

  Peter Wood, head of the National Association of Scholars and author of “1620: A Critical Response to the 1619 Project,” agrees that politics is a likely explanation for the 1619 Project’s significant analytical failing.

  “If you’re going to be leveraging this project in order to persuade Congress to pass legislation that would entail spending many billions of dollars giving money to the descendants of former slaves, then you need to court favor with the political party that is most likely to advance that agenda,” he says. “At least from Nikole Hannah-Jones’ perspective, I would think that the careful avoidance of casting shade on the Democratic Party fits with her longer-term agenda of extracting wealth from the American people and transferring it to a subset of American people who can prove they are descendants from slaves.”  

  Historians also note that applying the 1619 Project’s standards for evaluating historical racism could prove especially awkward for Democrats. “I think the history of the Democratic Party is even more problematic than anyone suggests, and the time period of its ‘criminality’ is very long indeed,” says historian Jay Cost, author of several books including “Spoiled Rotten: How the Politics of Patronage Corrupted the Once Noble Democratic Party and Now Threatens the American Republic” and a forthcoming biography of James Madison. 

  It would be difficult to overstate the Democratic Party’s enduring and baleful role in slavery and racism. Its origins in the 1820s are closely aligned with Martin Van Buren, Jackson’s second vice president and later president himself. Van Buren was a New York power broker whose efforts supporting slavery, partly in the name of preserving the union, earned him the moniker “a northern man with southern principles.”

  The Democratic southern states, such as Georgia, specifically criticized the anti-slavery policies of President Lincoln’s Republican Party in their declarations of succession in the Civil War. Even after the war, Cost notes, the Democratic Party’s “central purpose in the second half of the 19^th century was specifically to prevent civil rights legislation from being implemented.”

  In response to black Republicans being elected in Southern states during Reconstruction, it was Democrats who enacted poll taxes and literacy tests to suppress the black vote. A Democratic president, Woodrow Wilson, resegregated the federal work force in Washington and hosted a White House screening of D.W. Griffith’s egregiously racist, white supremacist “Birth of a Nation.” As late as 1952, the running mate of Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson, John Sparkman, was an open segregationist. A significantly higher percentage of congressional Republicans voted for the 1964 Civil Rights Act than did congressional Democrats, and segregationists such as George Wallace were major figures in the Democratic Party until  the 1970s.  

  Even during President Obama’s tenure, Robert Byrd, a former Exalted Cyclops of his local KKK chapter, was one of the most powerful Democrats in the Senate.

  

  Remarkably, Bouie manages to explain reactionary politics in the South, from secession over Abraham Lincoln becoming President to “solid blocs of Southern lawmakers” and “reactionary white leaders” resisting federal regulation of their region up until the 1965 Voting Rights Act, all without mentioning it was the Democratic Party in control of those southern states. Bouie thinks that Republicans today are somehow the heirs of an institution that owes its defense and longevity in American history almost entirely to the historical Democratic Party. 

  He argues that “a homegrown ideology of reaction in the United States, inextricably tied to our system of slavery,” has outlived some but not all of its racist origins and concludes that today’s Republican opposition to Democratic policies “are clearly downstream of a style of extreme political combat that came to fruition in the defense of human bondage.”

  Morel observes this is a dubious argument, either as a matter of journalism or history, and “any objective reader, I don’t care what your political party is, would have to conclude it is a hit piece on the modern Republican Party.” Bouie did not respond to a request for comment.

  

  What Morel finds most alarming is that the Pulitzer Center, co-sponsor of “1619,” immediately turned the project into K-12 course materials now in use in thousands of classrooms. The study guide that accompanies Bouie’s essay asks students to answer the question: “According to the author, how do 19^th century U.S. political movements aimed at maintaining the right to enslave people manifest in contemporary political parties?”

  In a courtroom, that would be called leading the witness. Students given this curriculum are going to be expected to give only one correct answer, though that answer is more a matter of indoctrination than education. “Bouie identifies only one contemporary political party as the heir of 19th-century racist politics — namely, the Republican Party,” Morel writes. “By omitting the reactionary politics of the historical Democratic Party — for example, the ‘Massive Resistance’ to school desegregation in the 1950s — the only evidence presented in the essay implicates the Republican Party.”

  An honest accounting would acknowledge that contemporary racial issues have a complicated history that implicates both major parties. The problem, illustrated by the 1619 Project, is that the media and other increasingly left-leaning institutions are invested in historical narratives that help achieve specific political ends.

  Peter Wood suggests that the New York Times itself seems to have used the 1619 Project as part of the paper’s broader agenda to affect the outcome of the 2020 election. While the Times committed to doing the 1619 Project in January of 2019, Wood observes that “the hope of energizing the Democratic electorate to oppose Trump in the 2020 election” was one of the animating reasons the Times featured and promoted the 1619 Project so prominently.

  To that end, Wood notes the timing of the 1619 Project’s publication in August of 2019 came just one month after “the failure of the Mueller investigation to deliver the results that the Times eagerly anticipated (the 1619 Project was intended as part of what New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet called a ‘pivot,’ from Trump as Russian collusionist to Trump as the face of white supremacy).”

  

  “It’s almost like history is being used as like a vast oppo research thing to make things that they don’t like in the present look bad,” says Stepman. “I think it really comes down to power.”

  The Times is hardly alone in distorting history. USA Today ran an article last year headlined: “Fact check: Democratic Party did not found the KKK, did not start the Civil War.”

  “I was honestly quite amused reading through the USA Today ‘fact check’ last year saying that the Democrats weren’t really the party of slavery and the KKK,” says Stepman. “They came up with all these various caveats – ‘Well, you know, it wasn’t all Democrats; it was only most Democrats in the South.’ I’m thinking, if this was literally any other institution, if this was the name of a street, or if this was a statue, it would have been immediately canceled. It might have even been ripe for being torn down by a mob.”

  To the contrary, USA Today is now one of Facebook’s official fact-checking partners. After the right-leaning Media Research Center published an article critical of USA Today’s fact check absolving the Democratic Party of its ugly legacy, Facebook started censoring the MRC.

  One can recognize that the Democratic Party is conscious of its problematic past — for example, many of its organizations have renamed Jefferson-Jackson Day fundraising dinners to avoid any racist taint –  and yet still see why it’s problematic to whitewash its racist history.

  “[Nikole Hannah-Jones] produced a partisan polemic and left out anything in the historical record that wouldn’t help her make the case. They’re trying to shape how people think about our past so that what happens going forward will of course follow a particular liberal agenda,” Stepman says. “This is a travesty of history and the fact that it’s being taught in high schools is rank partisanship. Believe me, I would rather be doing other things than correcting her errors, but the fact that her errors are being printed as gospel and sold as gospel, that’s a problem. It’s a problem for civic education, and it’s a problem for our cohesion and our unity as a nation.”

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/04/2021 – 22:20

• Mexico Sues US Gun Makers For "Arming The Drug Cartels" In Unprecedented Federal Filing
  Mexico Sues US Gun Makers For “Arming The Drug Cartels” In Unprecedented Federal Filing

  “Guns don’t kill people, the cartels do…” or so we thought. Perhaps we could add corrupt government and police officials do too, by facilitating or turning a blind eye to the soaring violence which has long made Mexico rank within the top 20 most dangerous countries in the world based on murder rate.

  But apparently Mexico officials think it’s in reality the US gun companies to blame for fueling the violence with their products. Bloomberg reports Wednesday, “Mexico filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court Wednesday against Smith & Wesson Brands Inc., Glock Inc., Sturm, Ruger & Co. and other major gun manufacturers, accusing them of contributing to gang violence south of the border.”

  

  The companies stand accused of wreaking havoc in Mexican society “by persistently supplying a torrent of guns to the drug cartels,” according to the civil suit filed in a Massachusetts federal district court.

  The complaint lists among American manufacturers “whose guns are most often recovered in Mexico” – particularly Barrett and its highly sought-after .50-caliber sniper rifle – the following:

  • Smith & Wesson
  • Glock and Sturm
  • Ruger and Co., 
  • Beretta U.S.A. Corp, 
  • Colt’s Manufacturing Company LLC and Century International Arms Inc.
  • Barrett
  • Interstate Arms wholesaler.

  The lawsuit filing reads that “For decades the government and its citizens have been victimized by a deadly flood of military-style and other particularly lethal guns that flows from the U.S. across the border, into criminal hands in Mexico.”

  The country adds that “This flood is not a natural phenomenon or an inevitable consequence of the gun business or of U.S. gun laws. It is the foreseeable result of the defendants’ deliberate actions and business practices.”

  Mexico only has one gun store, the suit reads…

  Mexico filed suit in US federal court against major gun manufacturers. Crazy stat from that suit: pic.twitter.com/wwLY2VnYBn

  — Tina Davis (@tina_davis) August 4, 2021

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

  Damages are being sought in an amount to be determined by the court, the filing indicates, while ultimately it seeks to put a stop to what it describes as the US gun companies’ “dangerous and illegal sales practices”. And underscoring that Mexico sees this as ‘intentional’ – the filing adds that the listed companies sell “in ways they know routinely arm the drug cartels in Mexico.” Some reports have cited Mexican officials who’ve floated they could seek up to $10 billion from the American companies.

  Mexico has called gun companies’ tactics “reckless” – specifically citing the example of Colt’s iconic .38-caliber Emiliano Zapata 1911… apparently history-themed commemorative guns are out of bounds.

  This is one of Colt’s guns, the “Emiliano Zapata 1911” pistol, engraved with the image of the Mexican revolutionary. Apparently it’s coveted as a status symbol among drug cartels. pic.twitter.com/HicBhPyxXb

  — Tom Hals (@tomhals) August 4, 2021

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

  The suit details that some 17,000 Mexican citizens were murdered with US-made guns in 2019 alone, mostly in the context of cartel-related violence.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/04/2021 – 22:00

• Goldman's Top 13 Charts For The Month Of August
  Goldman’s Top 13 Charts For The Month Of August

  The start of a new month means that Goldman’s flow traders need a new set of exciting ideas and trades to dangle before their clients, and that’s just what Goldman traders Scott Rubner, Matthew Fleury, Matthieu Martal , Kavita Vaja, and Jonas Bovbjerg are doing by putting together the following 13 charts that capture some of the best ideas and trade recos emerging from the world’s most powerful trading desk.

  1. “If you are a stock picker watching earnings prints you are likely fully engaged this week. This week will be peak liquidity for the rest of the summer. Vacation or extended vacation schedules officially kick off next week after earnings season. As we sit right now. Liquidity is at the highs into a busy week”

  

  2. “I think equities would be fine with higher yields – the negative correlation of SPX & NDX with the 30yr has turned positive again. Higher yields are much less of a problem than they were earlier this year”

  

  3.  “China Regulation: As the regulatory pressure on China’s leading offshore internet & education firms has increased in recent weeks, tech hardware companies listed onshore have outperformed the Chinese market. With the broader Chinese economy still in a growth phase (with Chinese equities historically displaying 22% return over 15months, entirely driven by earnings re-rating), and earnings revisions outside of the internet sector higher year to date (MSCI China ex Internet EPS up +5% vs China Internet EPS down -22% YTD), this basket is designed to benefit from the expansion of China’s high tech manufacturing capabilities. For the first time in 5 years we have seen a meaningful divergence between HK and China listed Tech. ADRs have consistently underperformed.”

  

  4. Implied dispersion levels have structurally reset higher over the past 5Y in Europe & US.

  

  5. Dispersion performance has been stable due to rising realized levels over the same period

  

  6. SX5E 1Y Vega neutral dispersion offered defensives properties in GFC & COVID due to realized volatility spikes.

  

  7. Index implied volatility has reset sharply lower pre- and post-COVID, which has contributed to rising implied entry levels for dispersion. However, the compression of index realized volatility since the US elections has maintained stable dispersion performance from the index leg. SX5E 1Y Dispersion performance has been stable due to contribution from both index and single-stock legs.

  

  8. The fall in index implied volatility in recent years can be partly explained by the sharp fall in index implied correlation levels as well as falling demand for upside call options in European equities. Market-implied average single-stock correlation shows that whilst index implied volatility has fallen since 2015 and again post-COVID, driving the implied dispersion entry level higher, this has coincided with a sharp fall in implied correlation levels over the same period. Therefore, dispersion strategies which sell expensive implied correlation have continued to perform well despite higher implied dispersion entry levels. SX5E 1Y implied correlation has fallen more than index implied volatility levels. 

  

  9. Correlation of returns on t vs t-1 is deeply negative in SX5E

  

  10. Despite the spread trading off the lower values during the post-Mar20 period, it remains at historical lows (18th percentile vs. past 5y). The recent pick up in realized spread should support the forward vol level as we roll into the spot spread. Term-structure roll is favorable due to the steepness of the SPX term structure (~0.5v positive carry over the next 3m, everything else remaining equal). The spot spread gets delivered in December at extreme lows, >3v below current 6m realized.

  

  11. Significant roll-up in the SX5E-SPX spread

  

  12. Realized correlation between broader market vs. Momentum vs. EU Cyclicals/Defensives

  

  13. VOW3 term structure has materially flattened over the past year (red vs. grey), driven by a combination of call overwriting in the front-end and more recently, long-dated upside options buyers. Implied volatility has also recently reset lower across the curve (red vs. navy) and the skew is flat/call skew is inverted. Therefore, consider owning long-dated upside call spreads which offer a high max. payout ratio (chart 4, navy) where you sell a call 3v higher (grey) than where you buy a call.

  

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/04/2021 – 21:40

• 'A Variant Worse Than Delta': Fauci Dials Fear To 11 As Emerging 'Lambda' Strain Appears More Resistant To Vaccine
  ‘A Variant Worse Than Delta’: Fauci Dials Fear To 11 As Emerging ‘Lambda’ Strain Appears More Resistant To Vaccine

  Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease specialist who funded controversial coronavirus research in Wuhan, China – and is now managing the coronavirus pandemic response for the US government, says the country could be “in trouble” unless everyone who hasn’t been vaccinated gets the jab.

  

  “What we’re seeing, because of this increase in transmissibility, and because we have about 93 million people in this country who are eligible to get vaccinated who don’t get vaccinated — that you have a significant pool of vulnerable people,” said Fauci, who added that delta variant cases are rising in a “very steep fashion” and may hit 200,000 cases per day.

  “And so when you look at the curve of acceleration of 7-day averages of cases per day, it is going up in a very steep fashion.”

  No stats from Fauci on who’s dying, who’s getting hospitalized, or who’s the most vaccine ‘hesitant’ of course.

  The CDC reported today that only 28.4% of the black community have received the Covid vaccine. With states like CA and NY mandating vaccine passports to enter restaurants and businesses, the black community would be most affected by this modern day segregation

  — Dr. Drew (@drdrew) August 4, 2021

  And while the Biden administration is now framing this as a “pandemic of the unvaccinated,” McClatchy notes that “recent data shows that vaccinated people who still get infected with the delta variant also have high viral loads and can spread it to others, even when they aren’t showing symptoms or are experiencing mild disease.”

  Fauci said that data shows people infected with the delta variant have viral levels “about 1,000 times higher in quantity” than were recorded in people who were infected with the alpha variant, also known as the U.K. variant, which earlier this year became predominant in the United States.

  Studies have emerged in recent weeks indicating that vaccinated individuals are at risk of “long COVID” — a series of conditions associated with infection such as fatigue, shortness of breath and loss of smell that can last for weeks or months — even if they are largely protected from severe illness and death, Fauci said.

  “We already know that people who get breakthrough infections and don’t go on to get advanced disease requiring hospitalization, they too are susceptible to long COVID,” Fauci said. “You’re not exempt from long COVID if you get a breakthrough infection.” -McClatchy

  Fauci also said he fears strains which are even scarier than delta!

  “If we don’t crush the outbreak to the point of getting the overwhelming proportion of the population vaccinated, then what will happen is the virus will continue to smolder through the fall into the winter, giving it ample chance to get a variant which, quite frankly, we’re very lucky that the vaccines that we have now do very well against the variants — particularly against severe illness,” he said, adding “We’re very fortunate that that’s the case. There could be a variant that’s lingering out there that can push aside delta.“

  “If another one comes along that has an equally high capability of transmitting but also is much more severe, then we could really be in trouble,” Fauci continued. “People who are not getting vaccinated mistakenly think it’s only about them. But it isn’t. It’s about everybody else, also.”

  Lambda evading vaccine?

  While the highly infectious Lambda variant of Covid-19 may or may not be deadlier than any of the other strains – meaning the vast majority who contract it won’t be hospitalized or die – researchers at the University of Tokyo have warned in a new study that it may be vaccine-resistant, according to Newsweek.

  Like the Delta variant, Lambda is highly transmissible but Japanese researchers believe that three mutations in the variant’s spike proteins make it more resistant to antibodies induced by vaccination.

  Lambda, which is also known as the C.37 variant, is responsible for 1,037 cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., according to data from the GISAID Initiative, which promotes the rapid sharing of information about influenza and coronaviruses.

  The variant was first identified in Peru in August, 2020, where it has now become the dominant strain of the virus, and it has been reported in 29 countries including the U.S. -Newsweek

   “…because the Lambda variant is relatively resistant to the vaccine-induced antisera, it might be possible that this variant is feasible to cause breakthrough infection,” reads the paper, with “Vaccine-induced antisera” referring to antibodies which arise from vaccination.

  There MAY be an Omega Death Variant coming if we don’t lock down and wear masks forever and get vaccinated and get 15 booster shots and never go outside but maybe not still let’s be on the safe side and do all of it anyway even if it destroys the country.

  Am I doing this right?

  — Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) August 4, 2021

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

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/04/2021 – 21:20

• Baylor Prof Demands Prosecution Of Criticism Of Fauci And Other 'Scientists' As Hate Crime
  Baylor Prof Demands Prosecution Of Criticism Of Fauci And Other ‘Scientists’ As Hate Crime

  Authored by Jonathan Turley,

  Physicist Richard P. Feynman once said “Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt.” 

  Feynman’s statement captures how science depends upon constant questioning and challenging of assumptions. Yet, what is healthy debate to some is criminal dissent to others. Dr. Peter Hotez, a professor of pediatrics and molecular virology at Baylor College of Medicine is calling for federal hate-crime protections to be extended to cover criticism of Dr. Anthony Fauci and other scientists.

  The frequent MSNBC and CNN guest wants Congress to expand hate crimes to “scientists currently targeted by far-right extremism in the United States.”

  

  In a July 28 paper in Plos Biology titled “Mounting Antiscience Aggression in the United States,” Hotez encourages Congress to focus on the “band of ultraconservative members of the US Congress and other public officials with far-right leanings are waging organized and seemingly well-coordinated attacks against prominent US biological scientists.”

  Hotez insists that it is not enough to support such science but to criminalize attacks on their research. This suggestion is just one of a number of ideas briefly put forward to support scientists but it is the most chilling.  Referring Nazi and fascist movements in history, Hotez argues that good science requires cracking down on the right.  He concludes:

  “As Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel once pointed out, neutrality or silence favors the oppressor. We must take steps to protect our scientists and take swift and positive action to counter the growing wave of far-right antiscience aggression. Not taking action is a tacit endorsement, and a guarantee that the integrity and productivity of science in the United States will be eroded or lose ground.”

  The federal hate crime laws focus on basis of a person’s characteristics of race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity. We have seen calls for adding professions like police officers, which I also opposed.  As with police officers, the inclusion of such professions would have a direct and inimical impact on free speech in our society. Indeed, it would create a slippery slope as other professions demand inclusion from reporters to ministers to physicians.  Hate crimes would quickly apply to a wide array of people due to their occupations.

  What is most striking about the article of Hotez is its lack of analytical balance. He rages against the right without even acknowledging how social media companies have already enforced a massive censorship program that bars even reporting the results of public clinical trials or repeating CDC positions on vaccinations. For a year, Big Tech has been censoring those who wanted to discuss the origins of pandemic and those who suggested the lab theory were attacked as right-wing conspiracy theorists.  It was not until Biden admitted that the virus may have originated in the Wuhan lab that social media suddenly changed its position. Facebook only recently announced that people on its platform will be able to discuss the origins of Covid-19 after censoring any such discussion.

  Many of us have criticized the hateful rhetoric on both sides of our politics. However, there remain important debates over not just the underlying science relation to Covid-19 but the implications for such science for public policies. Criminalizing aspects of that debate would ratchet up the threats against those with dissenting views, including some scientists. That would harm not just free speech but science in the long run.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/04/2021 – 21:00

• Inventory At US Car Dealers Falls To New All Time Low
  Inventory At US Car Dealers Falls To New All Time Low

  The latest auto sales data revealed that in July, auto sales came in at a 14.75 million SAAR per Wards; while total unit sales in July declined by less than 1% sequentially to 1.288 million (from 1.295 million in June), when factoring in the seasonality adjustment, July US SAAR declined by about 4% sequentially (US SAAR was 15.4 million in June per Wards). The July SAAR came in just below the consensus estimate of 15 million.

  

  Some more details: car sales were up about 4% yoy, SUV sales were up about 9% yoy, and pickup truck sales were down about 3% yoy. Pickups and SUVs as a percent of total units were 18% and 54%, respectively (vs. 20% and 52% in July 2020). Per Motor Intelligence, Ford sales were down about 32% yoy and GM sales were down about 3% yoy in July. Ford’s market share in July decreased yoy to 9% from 14%, and GM’s market share decreased yoy to 15% from 17%. According to media reports, production levels at Ford have been particularly impacted by the semiconductor shortages.

  The standout category again was electric vehicles with with July EV sales up about 106% yoy, and hybrid sales up about 65% yoy, per Motor Intelligence. According to Goldman this was due in part to growing consumer demand for EVs and hybrids (as well as more EV/HEV models on the market) in addition to an easier yoy compare (given some areas where EV sales are particularly strong, such as in California, were experiencing COVID-related shutdowns in July 2020). Note that Tesla does not report monthly sales, and with its its dominant EV market share in the US, the EV data has a greater degree of estimation than the other monthly datapoints.

  And while incentive spending per vehicles was down a record 37% Y/Y and 7% sequentially to just $2.5 per car, which was to be expected at time when new and used car prices are surging at record levels…

  

  … what we found most interesting in the July data is that inventory at US dealers plunged sequentially to ~1.0 million from 1.3 million in June 2021, and down from 2.5 million in July 2020. This means that industry DOI came in at a record low 22 days compared to 25 days in June 2021 and 53 days in July 2020. Pickup truck DOI was 31 days (vs. 30 in June 2021 and 56 in July 2020), SUV DOI was 20 days (vs. 24 in June 2021 and 52 in July 2020), and car DOI was 19 days (vs. 24 in June 2021 and 55 in July 2020).

  

  As inventories at dealers continue falling from already historically low levels, it will take a long time for inventory at dealers to return to normalized levels given the strong demand for vehicles coupled with ongoing supply chain challenges (particularly with semiconductor chip shortages, but also due to shipping constraints).

  Additionally, given that the absolute level of auto sales was down only slightly mom to 1.29 million units, but inventory declined by about 300K, it implies that net supply into the market was lower in July (as inventory declined by about 100K units last month on a similar level of sell through).

  Looking ahead, Goldman expects auto production issues “to persist in the near-term due primarily to chip constraints (but also due to shipping challenges, and rising COVID cases in some geographies), which could continue to weigh on industry sales.” The good news: the tide is finally turning and per company comments, automakers expect more chip supply later in 3Q and in 4Q as the semi industry began taking steps to add capacity in late 2020/early 2021 (it takes approximately 9 months to bring semi capacity online, on average, assuming there is clean room space) but supply/demand for chips will remain  tight all year.

  So as a result of low inventory, and the continued strong pricing environment, Goldman expects industry pricing to remain strong in 3Q.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/04/2021 – 20:40

• "They Can't Arrest Us All" – Sen. Rand Paul Urges Americans To "Resist" Pelosi & The Petty Tyrants
  “They Can’t Arrest Us All” – Sen. Rand Paul Urges Americans To “Resist” Pelosi & The Petty Tyrants

  Authored by Rand Paul, op-ed via Fox News,

  Resist. 

  

  They can’t arrest us all. They can’t keep all your kids home from school. They can’t keep every government building closed – although I’ve got a long list of ones they should.

  We don’t have to accept the mandates, lockdowns, and harmful policies of the petty tyrants and feckless bureaucrats. We can simply say no, not again. 

  Speaker Nancy Pelosi — you will not arrest or stop me or anyone on my staff from doing our jobs. We have all either had COVID, had the vaccine, or been offered the vaccine. We will make our own health choices. We will not show you a passport, we will not wear a mask, we will not be forced into random screening and testing so you can continue your drunk with power rein over the Capitol. 

  President Biden — we will not accept your agencies’ mandates or your reported moves toward a lockdown. No one should follow the CDC’s anti-science mask mandates. And if you want to shutdown federal agencies again — some of which aren’t even back to work fully — I will stop every bill coming through the Senate with an amendment to cut their funding if they don’t come to work. 

  No more.

  Local bureaucrats and union bosses — we will not allow you to do more harm to our children again this year. Children are not at any more risk from COVID than they are for the seasonal flu. Every adult who works in schools has either had the vaccine or had their chance to. There is no reason for mask mandates, part time schools, or any lockdown measures.

  Children are falling behind in school, and are being harmed physically and psychologically by the tactics you have used to keep them from the classroom last year. We won’t allow it again.

  If a school system attempts to keep the children from full-time, in-person school, I will hold up every bill with two amendments. One to defund them, and another to allow parents the choice of where the money goes for their child’s education.

  Do I sound fed up to you? That’s because I am. 

  I’m not a career politician. I’ve practiced medicine for 33 years. I graduated from Duke Medical School, worked in emergency rooms, studied immunology and virology, and ultimately chose to become a surgeon. 

  I have been telling everyone for a year now that Dr. Anthony Fauci and other public health officials were NOT following science, and I’ve been proven right time and time again. 

  But I’m not the only one who is fed up.

  I can’t go anywhere these days — from work, to events, to airports and Ubers, restaurants and stores, without people coming up to me thanking me for standing up for them.

  For standing up for actual science. For standing up for freedom. For standing against mandates, lockdowns, and bureaucratic power grabs.

  I think the tide has turned, and more and more people are willing to stand up. I see stories from across the country of parents standing up to teacher unions and school boards.

  I see members of Congress refusing to comply with Petty Tyrant Pelosi. 

  We are at a moment of truth and a crossroads. Will we allow these people to use fear and propaganda to do further harm to our society, economy, and children?

  Or will we stand together and say, absolutely not. Not this time. I choose freedom. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/04/2021 – 20:20

• Investors Parse President Xi's Speeches For Clues About China's Next Target
  Investors Parse President Xi’s Speeches For Clues About China’s Next Target

  Investors have been distracted Wednesday by the wild ride in Robinhood shares, but that doesn’t mean thousands of investors are trying to anticipate any potential targets for China’s next crackdown. Yesterday, it was video games, but other targets have included education, Big Tech, crypto, payments, ride-sharing etc. Just yesterday, Tencent, the worst-hit US-traded ADR, shed another 10% in early trade as an economic publication slammed video games as “spiritual opium” – before the article was withdrawn and edited to be much less aggressive.

  Alibaba and Tencent, two of China’s biggest companies and among the most visible to international investors, have taken major hits. China has become one of the most controversial topics of the summer, yet it still has plenty of defenders: billionaire Bridgewater Founder Ray Dalio praised the opportunities to be seized by investing in China.

  

  Despite Beijing’s egregious rug-pull of the Didi IPO, it likely won’t be the last Chinese IPO. But US investors now realize they need to be much more careful of the risks surrounding China. In the absence of other strategies, Bloomberg reports that many analysts have resorted to reading old speeches by President Xi and parsing them for clues about other companies and businesses that might be targeted.

  Investors can afford databases of the leader’s speeches. According to Bloomberg, President Xi has denounced “obscene” online content, education inequality and housing-price speculation in popular school districts.

  Dan Wang, an analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics, one of the most respected China-focused research shops, said investors previously ignored what he called “Party Speak” because it’s too “dense”. But now, many realize that they must redouble their efforts to parse the contemporary political climate in China, especially since President Xi is expected to seek a third term.

  “Investors and analysts have tended to dismiss party-speak, usually because it’s so impenetrable,” said Dan Wang, a technology analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics in Shanghai, who regularly reads the Qiushi Journal, a bi-monthly Communist Party publication. “But much of it is perfectly readable, and we should know at this point that Xi usually follows through on what he says.”

  Another issue with reading Xi’s speeches is that many of them are “classified” and available only to CCP members.

  Still, anybody seeking to understand the complexities and contradictions of “Xi Jinping Thought” will find plenty of resources.

  “With power mostly centralized in his hands, Xi now can change status quo policy quickly and even without much warning,” said Victor Shih, associate professor at UC San Diego and author of “Factions and Finance in China: Elite Conflict and Inflation.”

  “On top of quick policy changes, officials below him will want to zealously implement any new policy or ‘spirit,’ the party’s term for policy direction,” Shih added. “This zealous implementation will often take place regardless of the longer-term consequences because officials are afraid of being accused of lackluster implementation.”

  Another important element to watch is which agency makes the decision.

  One element to watch is which agency makes the announcement, and over the past decade there’s been an increasing amount of joint statements that span different arms of the government and the party. China’s ban on profits for its tutoring industry was jointly issued by the general offices of top government and party bodies — the State Council and the party’s Central Committee — giving the decision more authority than any single department.

  Looking ahead, the CCP will likely focus on reforming areas that would have the biggest societal impact. The price of real estate, availability and affordability of health care and retirement living are all important issues that the CCP must tackle to stave off public anxieties.

  Jason Hsu, founder and chief investment officer of Rayliant Global Advisors, said” RRight now, it feels like throwing the baby out of the bathwater and every industry is at risk…If you are more aware of what the Chinese has been communicating all along, you know what they will do. Real estate, health care, retirement living — these are identified by policy makers as undermining societal harmony, and the quality of life.”

   

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/04/2021 – 20:00

• "LIAR!" Twitter Brawl Erupts Between Taleb & Snowden Over Cyberbullying Accusations
  “LIAR!” Twitter Brawl Erupts Between Taleb & Snowden Over Cyberbullying Accusations

  Arguably the most unexpected Twitter brawl coupled with fierce accusations and denunciations in the recent history of the platform erupted without warning Wednesday afternoon when NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden went after Black Swan and Antifragile author Nassim Taleb. 

  Unlikely as a Snowden vs. Taleb war of words and showdown might be, it quickly spun into a full blown meltdown with supporters of each side quickly jumping in and assorted hangers on rubbernecking amid accusations of cyberbullying and retorts of “LIAR!”. Things spiraled further from there…

  This you?

  Because it sure looks like you were trying to destroy a promising young woman’s reputation in front of extremely powerful members of her industry—with precious little to support your claims.

  I guess my eyes deceive me. https://t.co/HdYIsbl2Sh pic.twitter.com/nR4svyuGIp

  — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) August 4, 2021

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

  Here’s how it all began… 

  I was looking to understand why @nntaleb was cyber-bullying a young woman who writes on economics, and I stumbled upon a frankly unbelievable history of inability to handle even gentle criticism—by a man who titled his book “Antifragile.”

  This behavior goes back years. pic.twitter.com/Jm2cSqC0EC

  — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) August 4, 2021

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

  Taleb has recently come out vocally against Bitcoin, which he says immediately turned into a sustained avalanche of trolls and bots targeting his account – resulting in him blocking just as fast, also with his usual colorful language and notoriously curmudgeonly rhetoric, which he’s never shied away from using in the case of all those “fucking idiots” and imbeciles.

  Snowden initially took issue with a July 30 response of Taleb to writer and analyst Lyn Alden, founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy. Snowden said Taleb had engaged in “cyber-bullying a young woman who writes on economics” leading him to list out an “unbelievable history of inability to handle even gentle criticism” including “behavior goes back years” according to Snowden’s tweet.

  

  Taleb blasted away in response to the charge..

  Edgar @Snowden, formerly a victim, is now joining the #BTC cyberbullying mob in devious way, misportraying the victim “you can’t take criticism?”
  What should I do to him?
  Mr Snowden are you capable of a debate? https://t.co/i1IrbGASr9

  — Nassim Nicholas Taleb (@nntaleb) August 4, 2021

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

  

  Despite the rarity of Snowden getting into a personal Twitter fight, the gloves came off – with the former NSA analyst apparently making an “exception” – even later pinning his original attack on Taleb to the top of his profile.

  With respect, I would be more sympathetic to this defense had you not been using substantially the same language in 2016 (and perhaps earlier) about subjects entirely unrelated to Bitcoin—which at the time was largely ignored at $700.

  Exhibit A: https://t.co/ZBuFZMvqd8 pic.twitter.com/0Gt3YdJY1f

  — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) August 4, 2021

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

  And then time to rehash old controversy and dig up old tweets, as any proper twitter fight tends to go down…

  

  My friend, believe me when I say I understand what it is like to be the subject of unfair and even untrue criticism, but if *this* is all you take away from this exchange, I can’t help you.

  You are a public intellectual. You should be above reflexive insults. pic.twitter.com/xYrrWX4ecQ

  — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) August 4, 2021

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

  

  

  And things got progressively nastier into the evening, particularly with this Taleb retweet accusing Snowden of being “owned” by Russia, given the place of his asylum and recent citizenship….

  

  For these couple hours Twitterati collectively put down all things COVID, mandates and masks etc., and grabbed the popcorn.

  

  Taleb has since challenged Snowden to a “face-to-face” (or presumably live-streamed) debate, while also charging him with “spreading lies unwittingly”.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/04/2021 – 19:40

• Tenant Stampede Results In Largest-Ever Surge In Rents
  Tenant Stampede Results In Largest-Ever Surge In Rents

  Under Biden’s unconstitutional eviction moratorium order, the CDC has mandated thousands of small and medium to drop dead by not only barring them from evicting any deadbeat tenants in the process defying the highest US judicial organ, but also contemplating steep criminal penalties for those who follow this order.

  The new 60-day CDC eviction moratorium carries steep criminal penalties for individual landlords who break the law:

  – Potential $100k fine and 1 year in jail if eviction doesn’t result in death
  – Up to $250k fine and 1 year in jail if evicted person dieshttps://t.co/d0KRACRFUy pic.twitter.com/MVnUQDJQGD

  — Joseph Zeballos-Roig (@josephzeballos) August 3, 2021

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

  Meanwhile, as many small landlords continue to go out of business barred from collecting revenue even as costs pile up, Wall Street’s renting giants such as Blackstone will continue to grab market share on the cheap, becoming ever bigger in the process as this WSJ article attests.

  

  But that’s just the beginning: with much of America reopening from covid and a reverse migration into major cities on the rise, Blackstone has a very clear reason to pursue regaining the largest US landlord title: the largest flood of renters in US history are now competing with each other amid record low vacancies – leading to the largest-ever rent increases, and what will be an record cash flow bonanza for Wall Street’s mega landlords.

  

  According to industry consultant RealPage, in the second quarter the number of occupied units jumped by around 500,000, the largest annual increase since records began in 1993 according to  Rents on newly signed leases, meanwhile, jumped by 14.6% last month vs. one year earlier – the most on record, while occupancy reached 96.5%, the highest level in 21 years.

  

  “We’re seeing record low vacancy,” said Jay Parsons, deputy chief economist for RealPage. “Wages are up, people have the money. And people are saying take my money, I want to move in.”

  As Bloomberg notes:

  The rental market is getting flooded with Americans searching for apartments. The economy is revving up, and young people ready to leave their parents’ homes are competing with others who delayed moves because of Covid-19. At the same time, remote work is enabling families to relocate to more-affordable areas, and vaccines have made seniors comfortable again with downsizing.

  The surge confirms what we reported in late June we discussed the biggest rent jump on record according to Apartment List, and crushes any expectations for just a “transitory” inflation hike, because even as the supply chain-driven spike in prices moderates (eventually), it will be replaced with far higher housing prices which contribute to a far higher portion of the CPI basket, resulting in an even bigger spike in year-over-year housing comps which only another change to the composition of the CPI and PCE baskets will be able to sweep under the rug.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/04/2021 – 19:20

• China's "Social Credit" System Has Arrived In America
  China’s “Social Credit” System Has Arrived In America

  Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

  As a journalist in China, Liu Hu was no stranger to punishment.

  For reporting on corruption among government officials, Hu was arrested, accused of “fabricating and spreading rumours,” and fined.

  But then one day in 2017 he suddenly found that he was unable to buy a plane ticket. The system just rejected him. He also found he couldn’t purchase certain train tickets.

  Then he discovered that he was unable to acquire a loan from any bank, and even forbidden from buying property at all.

  Eventually Liu Hu discovered his name on a government “List of Dishonest Persons Subject to Enforcement.” And there was no obvious way to appeal the designation, or have his name removed from the list.

  Hu was one of the early victims of the Chinese social credit system which blacklists citizens who are found to be untrustworthy— in the sole discretion of the Chinese government.

  Others on the list have been prevented from renting certain apartments, holding particular jobs. They’ve even,had their bank accounts frozen.

  Sometimes, all it took to become blacklisted was an accusation from a disgruntled business partner, or a social media post critical of the government.

  It’s almost like an official version of the Twitter mob’s habit of “canceling” people for wrong-think.

  The Twitter mob may be easy enough to ignore for most of us. But now it’s become more mainstream to purge US residents who have bad social credit.

  For example, PayPal has announced an inquisition in partnership with the Anti-Defamation League to research funding for extremism on its payment platform.

  “PayPal and ADL will focus on further uncovering and disrupting the financial pipelines that support extremist and hate movements. In addition to extremist and anti-government organizations, the initiative will focus on actors and networks spreading and profiting from all forms of hate and bigotry against any community.”

  They are extremely vague about what exactly they will consider extremist content. But we have some idea…

  The New York Times, for example, considers the word “freedom” to be an “anti-government slogan,” according to a recent article on the protests in Cuba.

  Twitter considered it hate speech and banned a Spanish politician for Tweeting, “a man cannot get pregnant.”

  If you protest lockdowns, you are an extremist putting lives in danger. If you burn down police stations and flip cars in the name of social justice, you are a mostly peaceful protester.

  And these days, anything from the “Ok” hand gesture to cheese is considered racist.

  PayPal is not going to keep this research to itself. It intends to be the tip of the social justice warrior’s spear:

  “The intelligence gathered through this research initiative will be shared broadly across the financial industry and with policymakers and law enforcement.”

  So the Big Banks will be able to use this same intelligence to blacklist “extremists” peddling “hate speech.”

  Just last month Wells Fargo closed the accounts of two different conservative activists, without explanation. In 2019, JP Morgan Chase did the same thing.

  And the CEO of the alternative social media website Gab had four banks in four weeks ban the company’s account, allegedly because the platform harbors “extremist content.”

  All of this looks eerily like a back door for a Chinese-style ‘social credit system’ in the United States.

  

  Vaccine passports are an obvious example.

  If certain people have their way, the unvaccinated will be unable to board an airplane and banned from restaurants. Some people even say the unvaccinated should lose their health insurance for making an unpopular personal health decision.

  During the pandemic, governments across the world set up reporting systems to rat out your neighbors for having family over for the holidays. Bad Citizen!

  Vermont’s governor even asked students to snitch on their own parents who might have invited extended family over for Thanksgiving 2020.

  And now the US government is leading the charge— with the help of the Big Tech companies, of course— by providing new, easy ways to report your ‘radical’ friends and family to the government.

  What exactly constitutes radical? Anything they don’t want you to do, or believe.

  This is the problem when just a handful of powerful centralized institutions controlling society.

  And it is the reason a solid Plan B gives you options to ensure that you’re not entirely reliant on one country’s government, one country’s banking system, or one country’s public health policies.

  I’m actually an optimist, and I have strong hope that humanity will overcome authoritarianism, as it always has before.

  But hope is not a course of action. Optimism is not a viable strategy.

  To truly become more secure from threats like America’s version of the Chinese social credit system, it’s important to give deliberate consideration to Plan B options that will put you in a position of strength.

  *  *  *

  On another note… We think gold could DOUBLE and silver could increase by up to 5 TIMES in the next few years. That’s why we published a new, 50-page long Ultimate Guide on Gold & Silver that you can download here.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/04/2021 – 19:00

• 'For $1/Day'… Double-Blind Ivermectin Study Reveals COVID Patients Recover More Quickly, Are Less Infectious
  ‘For $1/Day’… Double-Blind Ivermectin Study Reveals COVID Patients Recover More Quickly, Are Less Infectious

  A double-blind Israeli study has concluded that Ivermectin, an inexpensive anti-parasitic widely used since 1981, reduces both the duration and infectiousness of Covid-19, according to the Jerusalem Post.

  

  The study, conducted by Prof. Eli Schwartz, founder of the Center for Travel Medicine and Tropical Disease at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, looked at some 89 eligible volunteers over the age of 18 who had tested positive for coronavirus, and were living in state-run Covid-19 hotels. After being divided into two groups, 50% received ivermectin, and 50% received a placebo. Each patient was given the drug for three days in a row, an hour before eating.

  83% of participants were symptomatic at recruitment. 13.5% of patients had comorbidities of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, hypertension or cancer. The median age of the patients was 35, ranging from 20 to 71-years-old.

  Results

  Treatment was discontinued on the third day, and patients were monitored every two days thereafter. By day six, 72% of those treated with ivermectin tested negative for the virus, vs. 50% of those who received the placebo. Meanwhile, just 13% of ivermectin patients were able to infect others after six days compared to 50% of the placebo group – nearly four times as many.

  Hospitalizations

  Three patients in the placebo group were admitted to hospitals for respiratory symptoms, while one ivermectin patient was hospitalized for shortness of breath the day the study began – only to be discharged a day later and “sent back to the hotel in good condition,” according to the study.

  “Our study shows first and foremost that ivermectin has antiviral activity,” said Schwartz, adding “It also shows that there is almost a 100% chance that a person will be noninfectious in four to six days, which could lead to shortening isolation time for these people. This could have a huge economic and social impact.”

  The study, which appeared on the MedRxiv preprint server and has not yet been peer-reviewed. That said, Schwartz pointed out that similar studies – ‘though not all of them conducted to the same double-blind and placebo standards as his’ – also showed favorable results for the drug.

  Ivermectin is incredibly cheap due to its widespread use across the world to treat malaria, scabies, lice and other parasitic infections. In Bangladesh, the cost of ivermectin is around $0.60 to $1.80 for a five-day course, according to the report. In Israel, it costs up to $10 per day.

  While Schwartz’s study showed efficacy among those who had already tested positive, it didn’t determine whether ivermectin is an effective prophylactic which could prevent one from contracting Covid-19, nor does it show whether it reduces chances of hospitalization – however Schwartz noted that other studies have shown such evidence.

  For example, the study published earlier this year in the American Journal of Therapeutics highlighted that “a review by the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance summarized findings from 27 studies on the effects of ivermectin for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infection, concluding that ivermectin ‘demonstrates a strong signal of therapeutic efficacy’ against COVID-19.”

  “Another recent review found that ivermectin reduced deaths by 75%,” the report said. –Jerusalem Post

  As the Post notes, Ivermectin has been actively opposed as a Covid treatment by the World Health Organization, the FDA, and pharmaceutical companies.

  The “FDA has not approved ivermectin for use in treating or preventing COVID-19 in humans,” it said.

  “Ivermectin tablets are approved at very specific doses for some parasitic worms, and there are topical (on the skin) formulations for head lice and skin conditions like rosacea. Ivermectin is not an antiviral (a drug for treating viruses). Taking large doses of this drug is dangerous and can cause serious harm.”

  Mere discussion of the drug has resulted in big-tech censoring or deplatforming thought leaders in collaboration with the Biden administration.

  Meanwhile, Merck Co. – which manufactured the drug in the 1980s, has come out big against the use of ivermectin to treat Covid-19. In February, the company’s website read: “Company scientists continue to carefully examine the findings of all available and emerging studies of Ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19 for evidence of efficacy and safety. It is important to note that, to date, our analysis has identified no scientific basis for a potential therapeutic effect against COVID-19 from pre-clinical studies; no meaningful evidence for clinical activity or clinical efficacy in patients with COVID-19 disease, and a concerning lack of safety data in the majority of studies.”

  As the Post points out – Merck has not launched a single study of its own on ivermectin.

  “You would think Merck would be happy to hear that ivermectin might be helpful to corona patients and try to study it, but they are most loudly declaring the drug should not be used,” said Schwartz.

  “A billion people took it. They gave it to them. It’s a real shame.”

  In closing, the research team writes that “Developing new medications can take years; therefore, identifying existing drugs that can be re-purposed against COVID-19 [and] that already have an established safety profile through decades of use could play a critical role in suppressing or even ending the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.”

  “Using re-purposed medications may be especially important because it could take months, possibly years, for much of the world’s population to get vaccinated, particularly among low- to middle-income populations.“

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/04/2021 – 18:55

• Watch: Judge Orders Bailiff To Remove Maskless Top Dallas Official From Meeting
  Watch: Judge Orders Bailiff To Remove Maskless Top Dallas Official From Meeting

  As the debate rages over the CDC’s new guidance advising that even vaccinated people must musk up in places where COVID-19 cases are on the rise, a major incident in a Dallas courtroom is drawing national attention and outrage.

  Dallas County Commissioner J.J. Koch (a Republican) was ordered out of a courtroom by the presiding county judge for not wearing a mask. Judge Clay Jenkins (a Democrat) asked a bailiff to escort the commissioner out after everyone else agreed to don a mask, leaving him the only one to refuse, as video of the incident shows…

  “Under the authority that I have as a constitutional court judge… I’m going to require that we do wear our masks in this courtroom given the evolving situation with the Delta virus, the recommendations of the CDC,” the judge began the tense proceedings.

  Koch responded by saying the new “move toward masking” was issued “without any notice” and questioned whether it is in accordance with Governor Abbot’s most recent mandate which bans local governments and officials from imposing mandates for vaccinations and masks:

  Koch said it was illegal for Jenkins to require him to wear a mask because it directly violated Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) executive order forbidding local jurisdictions from mandating face covering.

  “A failure to comply with this executive order of the governor is subject to a fine of $1,000,” Koch warned.

  The courtroom then briefly adjourned to allow private consultations over what the law actually says, and what policy the court would enforce. Jenkins cited the Texas Supreme Court which broadly gives judges authority to “protect” their courtrooms. “Commissioner Koch do you refuse to wear your mask in this courtroom?” Jenkins asked. “Yup, you do not have the authority under the governor’s order,” Koch replied, calling in an abuse of his power.

  However, as The Dallas Morning News notes, “Jenkins is not a judge in the judicial sense. The county judge title comes from Texas’ roots as an independent nation, when county officials had both judicial and executive responsibilities.” Jenkins said after the tumultuous meeting: “My enemy is the virus, not each other.”

  .@JJKoch escorted from today’s @DallasCountyTx Commissioners Court meeting by order of @JudgeClayJ for refusing to wear a mask as #COVID19 #DeltaVariant surges. @NBCDFW #NBCDFWNow pic.twitter.com/JVTOQ8RfRR

  — Ken Kalthoff (@KenKalthoffNBC5) August 3, 2021

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

  Subsequently, “Democratic county Judge Clay Jenkins asked a bailiff to remove Koch from the Dallas County courtroom after he refused. Koch gathered his belongings and left,” local media reported.

  The momentary legal dueling briefly seen in the video before Koch was escorted out of the courtroom by a uniformed officer has no doubt gained the notice of Abbot’s office:

  State Rep. Vikki Goodwin (D) and about 30 other lawmakers wrote a letter to the governor urging him to reverse his executive order banning mask requirements on public schools. However, Abbott has continued to fight against mask mandates, even going as far as threatening to fine local officials if they impose such a measure. 

  

  Likely such scenes will continue to play out in public spaces across the nation, as it seems the Delta variant is sending state and local governments back to a ‘lockdown playbook’ and mentality, despite the “successes” of the vaccines – which was previously touted as the passport back to normalcy.

  Koch’s office has since indicated he has filed a lawsuit against Judge Jenkins as of Wednesday morning.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 08/04/2021 – 18:40

Digest powered by RSS Digest