Today’s News 5th July 2024

• NATO Expected To Tell Ukraine It's Too Corrupt To Join
  NATO Expected To Tell Ukraine It’s Too Corrupt To Join

  Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

  Ukraine will be told that it is too corrupt to join NATO at the alliance’s summit in Washington next week, The Telegraph reported on Tuesday.

  The report cited a US State Department official who said Ukraine needed to take “additional steps” before talks on its NATO membership could progress. “We have to step back and applaud everything that Ukraine has done in the name of reforms over the last two-plus years,” the official said.

  

  “As they continue to make those reforms, we want to commend them, we want to talk about additional steps that need to be taken, particularly in the area of anti-corruption. It is a priority for many of us around the table,” the official added.

  President Biden has frequently cited corruption as a reason for not admitting Ukraine into NATO, but that has not stopped him from spending over $100 billion on military and economic aid for the Ukrainian government with virtually no oversight.

  The position is expected to be outlined in a NATO communique issued during the summit. During last year’s NATO summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was looking for a clear roadmap to membership, but the alliance’s communique only offered a vague statement that it would invite Ukraine to join “when Allies agree and conditions are met.”

  NATO is poised to make some gestures to show support for Ukraine, including the stationing of a senior civilian official in Kyiv, according to The Wall Street Journal. The idea is to show support for future Ukrainian NATO membership without actually offering an invitation.

  The Journal also reported that the alliance will announce the establishment of a new command in Wiesbaden, Germany, to oversee military aid and training for the Ukrainian military. The idea is to have the alliance take over duties currently overseen by the US so they could continue in the event that a future US president wants to reduce US involvement in the proxy war.

  The report said the steps to “Trump proof” the Ukraine proxy war have taken on a new urgency after President Biden’s poor performance in the first presidential debate. Former President Donald Trump has expressed skepticism about the war and said he would work out a deal to end it but hasn’t articulated a plan. He also backed House Speaker Mike Johnson as he moved forward an additional $61 billion in spending on the proxy war.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/05/2024 – 02:00

• Some Thoughts On America For Her 248th Birthday
  Some Thoughts On America For Her 248th Birthday

  Authored by James Hickman via SchiffSovereign.com,

  When the 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence 248 years ago tomorrow, they were creating much more than a nation. They were giving birth to an idea.

  America, at its core, is an idea.

  And it’s one that ranks as one of the greatest innovations in the history of human civilization, right up there with the wheel, the steam engine, the printing press, and the Internet.

  

  The idea of America wasn’t born in 1776, however. By then it had already evolved over thousands of years.

  The ancient Greeks embraced individual liberty, direct democracy, and a respect for the rule of law.

  The Roman republic further refined Greek democracy and developed a more professional legal code. The early Roman Empire embodied peace through strength, ushering in nearly two centuries of geopolitical stability and economic prosperity under the Pax Romana.

  The later Byzantine Empire fused Greek and Roman ideas with Judeo-Christian values. And by 1000 AD, the Republic of Venice– borrowing from Rome’s republican form of government– infused an early form of capitalism to this model.

  The Dutch republic of the 1600s refined the concept of a powerful, free, capitalist society even further, as did philosophers like Rousseau, Montesquieu, John Locke, and Adam Smith.

  So, when the Founding Fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence (and subsequently the US Constitution), they didn’t have to start from scratch; they drew from a rich, 2,000-year intellectual heritage of the giants who came before them.

  This means that America is ultimately a composite of the very best ideas that human civilization ever had to offer – and the combined concept was then elevated to unprecedented heights.

  Nothing is perfect, and America wasn’t either.

  But based on this idea, the United States became the world’s largest economy in less than a century and the dominant global superpower about 80 years later. That is an unparalleled achievement which no other superpower in human history has come close to matching.

  It’s also worth pointing out that the majority of the world’s most important innovations, from airplanes and air conditioning to cell phones and chocolate chip cookies, were either born or perfected in America.

  Again, none of this is an accident. America’s success is the deliberate outcome from combining the best ideas from 2,000+ years of human civilization… plus some disciplined execution and a little bit of luck.

  Obviously, America has weathered challenges as well. The Civil War. The Great Depression. The turmoil of the 1960s.

  But its foundation of economic potential, plus a baseline of social cohesion and shared values, have always allowed the nation to overcome… and for the idea of America to persist.

  The country is now at an undeniable crossroads, and it’s not just about a single election.

  There are obvious signs of national decline: rising inflation, mounting debt, diminished global standing, a loss of government dignity, and stinging embarrassments like the shameful withdrawal from Afghanistan.

  Even the idea of America itself is on the ropes; there are powerful forces within government, media, and the education system who seek to redefine America’s core principles.

  Capitalism has been demonized and reinvented. Individual liberty has given way to a radical woke ideology. And the concept of limited government is almost a punchline at this point.

  Still, there is a plausible scenario in which America’s best days are ahead.

  If politicians embrace the principles that originally fueled the country’s prosperity—such as capitalism and laissez-faire productivity—America could experience an economic boom not seen since the Industrial Revolution.

  By cutting taxes, slashing anti-capitalist regulation, and embracing the free market, the increase in productivity could be staggering.

  This boom would lead to increased tax revenue, i.e. funds which could rebuild the military, secure the southern border, save Social Security, curb inflation, balance the budget, and chip away at the national debt.

  As China buckles under the consequences of its central planning and upside-down demographic pyramid (brought on by its idiotic “One Child policy”), the United States could easily reassert its global primacy.

  The dollar’s status as the global reserve currency would be unquestioned, and the world could see a new era of global peace and prosperity.

  This is not a pipe dream. It’s a genuine possibility.

  The other possibility is that the government does nothing to arrest America’s decline.

  The debt continues to spiral further out of control. Rising deficits trigger painful inflation. Excessive regulation stifles economic growth, leaving the economy stagnant and performing far below its full potential.

  Individuals are constrained by politicians’ incessant and debilitating rules about how to live, what to buy, and what to drive. The social fabric continues to tear apart with idiotic mandates, censorship, wokeness, gaslighting, and a hatred for capitalism.

  Unfortunately, that is the road the country is presently on. Yes, it can be fixed. They can change directions. And we certainly hope that happens.

  But as we used to say in the military, hope is not a course of action. That’s why we have a Plan B.

  Having a Plan B is not being negative or pessimistic. It’s certainly not irrational. And it’s not unpatriotic.

  The fierce individuality to NOT bow down to circumstances is exactly what has allowed America to persevere so many times before.

  And taking sensible steps to preserve, protect, and defend what you have worked so hard to achieve in life is about as core of an American value as it gets.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 07/04/2024 – 23:00

• June Payrolls Preview: Another Big Drop
  June Payrolls Preview: Another Big Drop

  US payrolls is expected to once again in June to 190k from 272k in May and after a cycle low 165K in April. Most economic indicators in the past month indicated labor market deterioration: jobless claims that corresponded with the BLS’ survey window for the jobs report worsened. ADP’s gauge of payrolls came in blow consensus, as wage metrics fell and analysts noted that forward looking gauges of pay compensation suggest wage growth will slow even more ahead. Challenger job cuts jumped in June YoY relative to a decline in May. Business surveys were also downbeat, with the ISM manufacturing report seeing its employment sub-index fall back into contractionary territory, while the ISM services employment component dipped further into contractionary territory.

  

  The June jobs report will help shape expectations for near-term Fed rate cuts; currently, markets see a decent chance of two rate cuts this year (in contrast to the Fed’s median forecast for just one reduction in 2024), with the first fully discounted cut seen at the November meeting, and around a 80% chance that the cut could be seen in September – the June report may help to define that pricing. A huge miss tomorrow and the odds of a July rate cut or a double rate cut in September will spike.

  EXPECTATIONS:

  • The rate of headline payrolls growth is expected to cool to +190k in June, down from +272k in May, and down from a 3 month average 249k, 6 month average 255k, and 12 month average 230k. Wall Street estimates range from a high of 237K at RBC Capital Markets, all the way down to 140K at Goldman Sachs, which for once has lost its Panglossian optimism and expects a downright ugly number.

  

  • To justify its bearish outlier estimate, Goldman expects payrolls to rise only 140k in June, as “Big Data measures continue to indicate a below-normal pace of job creation during the spring hiring season, and our layoff tracker  continues to edge higher from low levels. We also assume a 50k drag from payback effects, because we believe the longer-than-usual survey window in last month’s report pulled forward reported job growth from June into May. While the seasonal factors in principle adjust for these effects, it appears they may have been distorted by the weak payrolls reading in May 2019, which was also 5 weeks long.”
  • The unemployment rate is expected to be unchanged at 4.0% (NOTE: the Fed’s June SEP has pencilled in a rate of 4.0% for this year, rising to 4.2% next year).
  • The rate of average hourly earnings growth is seen paring to +0.3% M/M (vs +0.4% in May), while the annual rate is likely to ease to 3.9% Y/Y from 4.1%.

  MAY’S DATA:

  The May jobs data surprised to the upside, with the headline and wage metrics rising above expectations (as we reported, it was the “most ridiculous jobs report in years“). Other analysts also noted that this strong number seemed at odds with other labor market indicators, like initial jobless claims and Challenger layoffs data. Some of the upside has been chalked up to stronger government payrolls, but Capital Economics said that “with balanced budget requirements forcing state and local governments to rein in spending and hiring to eliminate growing deficits, there is scope for a smaller gain, or even outright decline, in government payrolls in June,” and “given the widespread announcements of education sector layoffs, we are worried that will become a drag.” It adds, however, that most of the impact of this will likely be seen in the July data. May’s JOLTs data (a key barometer monitored by Fed officials, and was released after the May BLS jobs data), saw headline job openings rise to 8.14mln (exp. 7.91mln) from a revised down 7.92mln April reading – driven entirely by an increase in government job openings…

  

  …   with the vacancy rate ticking up to 4.9% from 4.8%; some Fed officials see the vacancy rate as one of the best representations of excess labor demand; Fed Governor Waller has said that if the vacancy rate continued to fall below 4.5%, it would likely suggest that excess labour demand has been worked off, and the unemployment rate could start to rise. The May JOLTs data also saw the Quits Rate unchanged at 2.2% for the 7th consecutive month; Oxford Economics notes that it stands a little below pre-pandemic levels, and is consistent with ongoing moderation in wage growth, but it is not sending any signals about significant weakness in the labor market. Note, at the June 12th FOMC, Fed Chair Powell was quizzed about the different pictures the household and establishment surveys are showing within the BLS report. Powell acknowledged that sometimes you can’t reconcile the differences, but that is why it makes sense to look at the 3, 6 and 12-months series, rather than just one report. But nonetheless, the overall picture is one of a strong and gradually cooling-gradually rebalancing labor market.

  JOBLESS CLAIMS:

  In the week that corresponds to the BLS survey window for the June jobs report, weekly initial jobless claims data were at 239k vs 216k heading into the May jobs report, while continuing claims were up at 1.839mln vs 1.79mln going into the prior jobs report. Oxford Economics said that “initial claims suggest that the gain in non-farm employment in May won’t be duplicated in June, and the risks to the labour market should be garnering attention by the Fed.” It points out that the softening in the job growth has been primarily driven by a deceleration in hiring via reduced labour demand, with the job openings rate having declined noticeably, but that still has not translated into a significant rise in the unemployment rate. On continuing claims, it notes that in the week that coincides with the BLS jobs report survey window, it rose to the highest since late 2021; “the rise in continued claims on the surface points to a moderation in job growth,” but adds that “increases in claims in California and Minnesota – which accounted for more than half the total rise in continued claims – are likely due more to noise than any underlying softening in the labour market.”

  ADP EMPLOYMENT & WAGES:

  While analysts offer their usual caveats about how the data series offers low predictive power for the more widely followed BLS jobs report, ADP’s gauge of national employment printed 150k in June (exp. 160k, prior 157k). The median change in annual pay for job-stayers fell to the slowest since August 2021 at 4.9% Y/Y (prev. 5.0%), and it eased to 7.7% Y/Y (prev. 7.8%) for job-changers. The payrolls provider said that while job growth has been solid, it was not broad based, adding that had it not been for a rebound in hiring in leisure and hospitality, June would have been a downbeat month. Despite Average Hourly Earnings moving higher in May, Capital Economics notes that forward-looking indicators, like job quit rates, still point to wage growth declining to nearer 3.5% Y/Y. CapEco is below consensus, expecting average hourly earnings to rise +0.2% M/M (consensus looks for +0.3%), owing to favourable base effects; that may be enough to bring the annual rate of AHE down to 3.8% Y/Y (consensus: 3.9%).

  BUSINESS SURVEYS:

  Within ISM’s manufacturing PMI for June, the employment index fell to 49.3 from 51.1 in May, beneath the 50.0 mark that separates expansion and contraction. The report said that many respondents’ are continuing to reduce headcounts through layoffs, attrition and hiring freezes, though commentary in June indicated a marginal decline in staff reductions vs May, supported by the approximately 1.3-to-1 ratio of hiring versus head-count reduction comments. The ISM Services PMI saw the employment component dip further into contractionary territory at 46.1 from 47.1 in May. Elsewhere, Challenger reported US job cuts were -19.8% Y/Y at 48,786 in June (vs 63,816 in May). So far this year, 434,645 job cuts have been announced (-5.1% vs the 458,209 in H1 of 2023). Most job cuts were seen in consumer products manufacturers, followed by technology, and then construction. Challenger said “June is typically a low month for job cut announcements, as most companies are midyear or at the end of their fiscal years,” and that “the months following fiscal year ends tend to have a spike in cuts, as those plans are implemented.”

  CONSUMER CONFIDENCE:

  The Conference Board’s data showed consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions increased to 141.5 (prev. 140.8), while the expectations on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and the labor market fell to 73.0 (prev. 74.9); the CB notes that the Expectations Index has been below 80, a threshold which usually signals a recession ahead, for five consecutive months. That said, the appraisal of the labor market improved in June, with 38.1 saying that jobs were “plentiful” (prev. 37.0 in May), while 14.1 said jobs were “hard to get” (prev. 14.3%). The short-term outlook was also less negative in the month, with 12.6 expecting more jobs to be available (down from 13.1 in May), while 17.3% anticipated fewer jobs ahead (vs prev. 18.8). The CB’s economists said “confidence pulled back in June, but remained within the same narrow range that’s held throughout the past two years, as strength in current labour market views continued to outweigh concerns about the future,” but warned that if material weaknesses in the labour market were to appear, confidence could weaken ahead. The report also said that consumers’ feelings were mixed; their view of the present situation improved slightly overall, driven by an uptick in sentiment about the current labour market, but their assessment of current business conditions cooled. And for a second consecutive month, consumers were slightly less pessimistic about future labour market conditions despite  expectations for both future income and business conditions weakening.

  ARGUING FOR A WEAKER-THAN-EXPECTED REPORT

  • Big Data. Alternative measures of employment growth generally indicate a softer pace of hiring in June, with a median pace of +150k across the five indicators Goldman tracks (vs. +150k in May and compared to reported May job growth of +272k). An even slower pace of job gains is implied by the Homebase employer panel (+100k). Withheld income and employment taxes also decelerated further (-1% yoy in June compared to +2% in May and +6% on average in January-April, nominal basis).

  

  • Payback from the long May payroll month. Goldman assumes a 50k drag from a pull-forward of reported jobs into May related to a longer BLS survey window—5 weeks from the April survey week to the May survey week, compared to 4 weeks in a typical May. Additionally, the seasonal factor for last month’s report was unusually favorable, providing a 12k boost to monthly payroll gains relative to May 2019 and a 64k boost relative to May 2014, the last two Mays that also had five weeks. While the seasonal factors in principle adjust for the 5-week effect, it appears they may have been distorted by a weak payrolls reading in May 2019, which was also 5 weeks long.

  ARGUING FOR A STRONGER-THAN-EXPECTED REPORT

  • Job availability. JOLTS job openings rebounded 0.2mn to 8.1mn in May, but online measures have trended lower. While labor demand has fallen meaningfully over the last year, it remains elevated by 1mn relative to 2019 and represents a positive factor for job growth. The Conference Board labor differential—the difference between the percent of respondents saying jobs are plentiful and those saying jobs are hard to get—edged up by 1.3pt to +24.0 in June but remains below the +30.4 average level of Q1.

  NEUTRAL/MIXED FACTORS

  • Immigration. Elevated illegal immigration boosted labor supply growth by roughly 80k per month last year, relative to normal, and Goldman expects a continued tailwind averaging 50k per month this year. While the pace of immigration has slowed sharply in 2024 and foreign-born unemployment pulled back in May, the absolute number of jobseekers in that labor supply segment still remained roughly 200k above 2022-23 levels to start the June payroll month.

  

  • Layoffs. Layoff activity increased from low levels in June, with the GS layoff tracker edging up to to 1.24mn from 1.20mn in May and compared to the recent low of 1.1mn in December and January. Initial jobless claims also increased, to an average of 233k in the June payroll month from 218k in May and above the 223k average of 2023 (though some of the increase reflects expanded eligibility). The JOLTS layoff rate was unchanged at 1.0% in May. Announced layoffs reported by Challenger, Gray & Christmas decreased by 6k in June to 50k (SA by GS), compared to 54k on average in the second half of 2023.

  

  • Employer surveys. The employment components of business surveys increased but remained at contractionary levels in June. The employment component of the GS manufacturing survey tracker increased 0.2pt to 48.4 while the employment component of the GS services survey tracker decreased 1.8pt to 49.8. However, the signal from soft data has been less useful—and at times misleading—during the post-pandemic period.

  POLICY IMPLICATIONS:

  Fed officials generally agree that inflation would need to continue cooling, and the labor market would need to continue its gradual rebalancing for rate cut conditions to be met. That said, as Newsquawk notes, their policy reaction could be tilted back towards ‘higher for longer’ if inflation were to misbehave again; although the plan to cut rates could be accelerated if there were unexpected weakness in the labor market. Speaking this week, Fed Chair Powell said that while the labor market was cooling-off, it was still strong. This has also been a theme among other policymakers too. Officials have generally been arguing that they are trying to tame inflation without causing any stress in the labor market; Powell did repeat however that any unexpected weakness in the jobs market could trigger the Fed to react with looser policy. Previously, however, he has indicated that a small movement in the unemployment rate, of a couple of tenths, would not constitute this unexpected weakness.

  For reference, and perhaps providing some context to Powell’s caveats, the Fed’s latest economic projections see the jobless rate at 4.0% at the end of this year, where it currently stands (the Fed’s broad range of forecasts for 2024 is between 3.8-4.5%); it is then seen picking up to 4.1% next year (broad range: 3.7-4.3%), and at 4.1% in the long-run (long-run range of forecasts is between 3.8–4.3%). Fed Governor Cook recently said that it would take monthly job gains of around 200k to keep the unemployment rate steady. In aggregate, the deceleration in inflation, combined with the decent labor market conditions gives the Fed scope to be patient before acting on rates, analysts at Oxford Economics argue; that way they can ensure inflation is on its way to target in a sustainable manner.

  More in the full preview folder available to pro subscribers.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 07/04/2024 – 22:26

• Labour Set For Crushing 170 Seat Majority In UK General Election, As Conservative Party Suffers Worst Result In Its History
  Labour Set For Crushing 170 Seat Majority In UK General Election, As Conservative Party Suffers Worst Result In Its History

  The year of record elections continues to serve up dramatic results, and on Thursday, a national exit poll in the UK general election indicated that Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives will crash out of office after 14 years after Keir Starmer’s Labour party was heading for a massive majority of about 170 seats. The poll on Thursday night suggested Starmer will become prime minister with 410 seats out of 650 in the House of Commons, while Sunak’s party is facing the worst result in its history, with just 131 seats.

  

  The result, according to the FT, is “momentous for Britain and will resonate around the world” because at a time when right-wing populists are advancing in many countries, political power in the UK has swung back to a liberal, internationalist, centre-left party. 

  But Labour’s victory was projected to be delivered on a smaller share of the vote than the 40% secured by leftwing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in his 2017 general election defeat — suggesting the public remains sceptical.

  Labour’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy warned: “If we do not deliver for working people, we will be out and nationalists will be on our tails.” He added: “That’s the lesson we have seen around the world.” Meanwhile, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK was projected to do better than expected with 13 seats, a result that would be a big breakthrough for his right-wing populist party.

  The first two constituencies to report results on Thursday evening, both in the north of England, showed Labour wins with Reform in second place.

  Labour’s victory is a personal triumph for Starmer, who took over the party’s leadership in 2020 after the party’s worst election defeat in almost a century. His projected victory is similar in scale to Sir Tony Blair’s 1997 Labour landslide.

  That said, while the Ipsos exit poll is usually a reliable predictor of overall results, the final result may still differ. Vote counts from individual constituencies will trickle in through the night, with Labour, if the polls are correct, likely to have a clear majority by 5am.

  According to the exit survey, the centrist Liberal Democrats was on course to win 61 seats, close to the 62-seat record set by the party in 2005. The Lib Dems are forecast to make big gains in the Tory “blue wall” of rich constituencies in the south of England. The Scottish National party was set to come behind Labour in Scotland with just 10 seats, according to the exit poll, putting a serious dent in the party’s dream of securing independence.

  The survey exposed the overwhelming sentiment reported by candidates from all parties that Britain wanted “change”, with many senior Tories admitting during the campaign that the party looked exhausted. The UK has been under Conservative rule for 14 years, during which time there have been five prime ministers, with a near catastrophic banking and bond market crisis erupting during the brief reign of Liz Truss. The period was marked by economic austerity, Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic and an energy price shock.

  Former Tory minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said it was “clearly a terrible night” and added that the Conservatives had taken votes for granted.

  Starmer is set to become only the seventh Labour prime minister in the party’s history, and his victory is the first since 2005 for the center-left party. Labour last ousted the Tories from power in 1997, when Tony Blair became prime minister in a crushing victory over John Major’s Tories. He will move into 10 Downing Street on Friday and immediately form his cabinet, with an instruction to ministers to quickly deliver policies to jolt Britain out of its low-growth torpor.

  The exit poll indicated that Starmer’s avowedly pro-growth, pro-business agenda has paid off, as Labour bucked international political trends. Far-right parties have performed strongly in recent elections for the European and French parliaments, while in the US, Donald Trump is leading in polls for the presidential race.

  Labour’s chancellor-in-waiting Rachel Reeves has said she hopes investors will now see the UK as a “safe haven” although once the UK unleashes the next spending spree to fund all the various welfare projects, we fully expect another quick funding crisis and even more QE. 

  Starmer has promised to work with business to stimulate growth, with an agenda that includes planning reform and state investment in green technology. Labour will also pursue a traditional agenda of reforms to worker rights.

  As for outgoing PM Sunak, the result is a personal disaster. He chose to hold an early election on July 4 — against the advice of his campaign chief Isaac Levido — and ran an error-strewn six-week attempt to turn around his party’s fortunes.

  The party’s projected total of 131 seats is lower than the party’s worst-ever result of 156 in 1906. Starmer’s expected seat haul is close to the 418 seats won by Tony Blair in his 1997 landslide victory.

  A number of senior Tory figures are expected to lose their seats on a night of devastation, reducing the cast list of potential contenders for the party leadership if, as expected, Sunak stands down. Among the cabinet ministers deemed to be at risk by the exit poll are Penny Mordaunt, Jeremy Hunt, James Cleverly, Kemi Badenoch and Grant Shapps, with results due in their seats in the early hours.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 07/04/2024 – 21:42

• Americans Warned To Stop Shopping Via Chinese App Temu
  Americans Warned To Stop Shopping Via Chinese App Temu

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

  The top prosecutor in Arkansas warned on July 2 that Americans should be wary of using the Temu marketplace app because it’s effectively a “data theft business.”

  “The threat from China is not new, and it is real,” Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin told Fox Business on July 2, a week after his office filed a lawsuit against the company. “Temu is not an online marketplace like Amazon or Walmart. It’s a data theft business that sells goods as a means to an end.”

  He said that it’s “common for an online marketplace like Amazon, like Walmart, to collect certain consumer data as part of the normal course of business. I think we all know that that’s not what’s going on here.”

  

  Instead, the company is using malware and spyware to “get into your phone, your device, and to collect your data,” Mr. Griffin told the outlet.

  “Not just traditional consumer data, but using malware, spyware to have complete access to your information. And [taking it] one step further, their code is written in such a way to evade detection,” he said.

  Temu is operated by Shanghai, China-based parent company Pinduoduo Inc., which includes “former Chinese communist officials” in its ranks, Mr. Griffin said.

  The lawsuit, filed against the firm’s parent company, is seeking a jury trial as well as a permanent block against Temu’s data-collection activities. It also seeks a $10,000 fine for each violation of an Arkansas state law known as the Deceptive Practices Act.

  The suit primarily cites research from Grizzly Research, which analyzes publicly traded firms, and alleges that Temu can “purposely … gain unrestricted access to a user’s phone operating system, including, but not limited to, a user’s camera, specific location, contacts, text messages, documents, and other applications.”

  In its report, Grizzly Research said that it suspects that Temu is “already, or intends to, illegally sell stolen data from Western country customers to sustain a business model that is otherwise doomed for failure.”

  “Temu is estimated to be losing $30 per order. Its ad spending and shipping costs (1 to 2 weeks from China, expedited to U.S. delivery) are astronomical,” the report states.

  “One is left wondering how this business could ever be profitable. Temu is a notoriously bad actor in its industry. We see rampant user manipulation, chain-letter-like affinity scams to drive signups, and overall, the most aggressive and questionable techniques to manipulate large numbers of people to install the app.”

  In a statement to The Epoch Times on Tuesday evening, a Temu spokesperson that it was “disappointed” and said the Arkansas lawsuit doesn’t cite “any independent fact-finding.”

  “The allegations in the lawsuit are based on misinformation circulated online, primarily from a short-seller, and are totally unfounded. We categorically deny the allegations and will vigorously defend ourselves,” the firm stated. “We understand that as a new company with an innovative supply chain model, some may misunderstand us at first glance and not welcome us.”

  The spokesperson continued, “We are committed to the long-term and believe that scrutiny will ultimately benefit our development. We are confident that our actions and contributions to the community will speak for themselves over time.”

  According to analytics website Backlinko, Temu was the most downloaded shopping app around the world in 2023, with more than 330 million downloads—about 1.8 times more than the Amazon Shopping app.

  On July 1, the Texas Public Policy Foundation issued a similar warning about the app, saying that it “can access almost anything on your phone,” which means that Chinese Communist Party officials “could theoretically install applications and spyware files on an individual’s smart device to use for complete surveillance of all user activity on a phone.

  “This would allow China to monitor keystrokes and logs to have direct insight into login credentials for other social media, emails, and bank accounts,” the foundation warned.

  Temu officials didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 07/04/2024 – 21:30

• Big Mexican Cartels Ramp Up Operations In Hawaii As America's Fentanyl Crisis Broadens
  Big Mexican Cartels Ramp Up Operations In Hawaii As America’s Fentanyl Crisis Broadens

  Mexican drug cartels, including Sinaloa and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), are aggressively expanding into Hawaii, flooding the islands with methamphetamines and fentanyl. 

  Local authorities told media outlet KHON2 that Sinaloa and CJNG are expanding business in the island state by sending drugs via passengers’ luggage, mailed packages, and body carriers flying into Honolulu International Airport. 

  Drug cartels from Mexico are operating in Hawaii, making and pushing deadly drugs including methamphetamines and fentanyl.

  Read more: https://t.co/7ZVGQSVB1H pic.twitter.com/qTQxls6ufZ

  — Cartel Watch (@CartelWatchNet) July 4, 2024

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

  “Violent cartels, primarily the Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco New Generation cartels, and they’re killing each other,” explained Gary Yabuta, executive director of the Hawaii High-Density Drug Trafficking Area. 

  Yabuta said, “They’re competing for territory and turf to make sure that their drugs get across the border and sent throughout the nation, including Hawaii.”

  US Attorney Clare Connors told the local media outlet that Sinaloa and CJNG are primarily behind the new push in flooding Hawaii with drugs. 

  “Largely, however, it is cartel interaction with local drug trafficking organizations,” Connors said. 

  Yabuta said, “Methamphetamine is still our greatest drug threat here in Hawaii, and that has risen, too throughout the years, including 2023 drug-related deaths,” adding, “However, fentanyl drug-related deaths are catching up. It’s rising at a faster rate.”

  One of the main reasons cartels expand across the islands is the lack of competition and law enforcement. 

  NewsNation noted, “An oxycodone pill selling for $2 in Los Angeles can fetch $16 or more in Hawaii.” 

  According to Families Against Fentanyl, the surge in fentanyl overdose deaths placed Hawaii number seven nationally on a list with a 27% increase in fentanyl-related deaths in 2023. 

  Meanwhile, these same cartels are fueling the fentanyl epidemic across the Lower 48, resulting in a US drug death catastrophe that eclipses the Vietnam War every six months.

  Last week, a new report from the Financial Times revealed details about a dark Chinese money-laundering network partnering with Mexican drug cartels. 

  In mid-April, the House Select Committee on China revealed that the Chinese Communist Party used tax rebates to subsidize the manufacturing and exporting of fentanyl chemicals to overseas customers. 

  “The West Coast Coalition is comprised of law enforcement agencies from California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, and Alaska,” Peace Officers Research Assoc. of CA recently wrote on X.

  They continued, “We can’t sit here and continue to let our communities suffer.” 

  Fentanyl is one of the many issues the West Coast Coalition is working together to address. We can’t sit here and continue to let our communities suffer.

  The West Coast Coalition is comprised of law enforcement agencies from California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, and Alaska.… pic.twitter.com/uSxO6Xirts

  — PORAC (@PORACalifornia) March 18, 2024

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

  The biggest mystery here is why the Biden administration hasn’t taken a tougher stance on China while America’s fentanyl epidemic is killing a generation of youth. This should be a national security threat, yet elderly Joe Biden is likely too busy eating ice cream. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 07/04/2024 – 20:45

• 16 Things Individuals Can Do To Help Bring America Together
  16 Things Individuals Can Do To Help Bring America Together

  Authored by Lawrence Reed via The Foundation for Economic Education,

  Americans are angry and divided – perhaps more than at any time since the Civil War.

  Holding strong opinions, especially in defense of truth, is no vice.

  

  But failing to bridge our differences and resolve them peacefully is no virtue, either.

  Here’s my “to do” list if you want to be part of the solution instead of the problem.

  1. Choose someone you disagree with and start a dialogue. Make friends, even if neither of you changes your mind.

  2. Find common ground, avoid epithets, and presume goodwill on the part of others unless and until their actions suggest otherwise.

  3. Embrace America as an imperfect, unfinished product—and one whose future depends on a respect for those principles that made it largely free and exceptional in the first place. No country is without flaws, and few countries in world history have accomplished as much for life and liberty as America.

  4. Think twice before using political connections and influence to get something you can’t secure voluntarily from others in the marketplace. Cronyism diminishes respect for both you and for the free enterprise system it corrupts.

  5. Judge every individual by “the content of his character” and the merit of his actions, not by the group to which he was assigned by birth, origin, faith, color, or politics.

  6. Elevate the importance of personal character in your life. No society can flourish if it denigrates virtues such as honesty, humility, patience, responsibility, tolerance, courage, gratitude, self-discipline, and respect for the lives, rights, property, and choices of others.

  7. Choose liberty over power and persuasion over force. Find ways in which you can leave the world not only a better place, but a freer one as well, for life without liberty is both unthinkable and unlivable.

  8. Live your life as though politics is but a corner of it, not consumed by it. Recognize the incalculable value of intact families, vibrant and voluntary associations, community engagement, loving relationships, and institutions created and sustained outside the divisive realm of politics.

  9. Ask yourself every day, “Am I good enough for liberty?” Then dedicate yourself to self-improvement if you can’t honestly answer “yes.” Reforming the world starts with reforming oneself.

  10. Defend the free speech of all people. If you catch yourself attempting to intimidate, shut down, or frighten others into submission, shake it off before the impulse turns you into an antisocial monster. “Cancel” nobody except those who insist on canceling others.

  11. Revere truth and the honest search for it. Never let truth be obscured or destroyed by claims that it doesn’t matter or that it is nothing more than a subjective whim of the moment. There is no such thing as “his truth” or “her truth,” only “the truth.”

  12. Seek diversity of opinion. Minds that try to stigmatize or close the minds of others or that pretend that color, sex, and religion are all that matter are enemies of the “diversity” that matters most.

  13. Love peace more than you love force, conflict, compulsion, and intolerance. Work toward a society in which individuals choose to do right because they want to, not because they’re forced to.

  14. Reject nihilism, cynicism, and pessimism. People of goodwill and character can shape the future for the better. It’s never too soon or too late to start.

  15. Learn from history; don’t rewrite it. Lessons from the past can make us better people in the future. Don’t twist your underwear into a knot over an old statue. Never allow the poison of “presentism” to corrupt your perspective.

  16. Celebrate the “uncommon.” It is the uncommon to whom we owe the greatest debt—those who speak truth to power, invent and innovate, turn failure into success, and add value to society. No one should encourage a child, for example, to aspire to nothing more than “commonness.” Respect and encourage the exceptional.

  Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell (D-Maine) once said:

  “I believe there’s no such thing as a conflict that can’t be ended. They’re created and sustained by human beings. They can be ended by human beings. No matter how ancient the conflict, no matter how hateful, no matter how hurtful, peace can prevail.”

  I hope he’s right. But in any event, no peace of any kind can prevail so long as we nurture conflict within and between ourselves. No peace of any kind can long be imposed from the outside in. It must begin on the inside, as a matter of conscience, one conscientious individual at a time, and then grow outward into a course of action.

  These 16 suggestions constitute a course of action for each reader to consider.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 07/04/2024 – 20:00

• Dior, Armani Under Investigation For "Made In Italy" Handbags Produced By Migrants
  Dior, Armani Under Investigation For “Made In Italy” Handbags Produced By Migrants

  Italian prosecutors investigated the local supply chains of two major Italian fashion houses. Their investigation found that some designer handbags are manufactured by exploited foreign labor. This revelation, while shocking to some, comes as no surprise to readers who already understand the agenda of the Western elites: flood Europe and the US with illegal aliens to capitalize off cheap labor (also votes). 

  The Wall Street Journal cited court documents showing LVMH subsidiary Dior paid a supplier about $57 to assemble luxury handbags that sell for $2,780 in brick-and-mortar retail shops. Meanwhile, Giorgio Armani bags were sold to local suppliers for around $100, then resold to Armani for $270, and ultimately placed on retail store shelves for $1945 or more.

  WSJ noted, “The cost prices don’t include leather or other raw materials. The companies separately cover the costs of design, distribution, and marketing.” 

  “Why does it cost so little to manufacture the product?” said Fabio Roia, president of Milan’s court system, adding, “The brands need to ask themselves this question.”

  Prosecutors allege that some of the luxury handbags made by the fashion houses’ suppliers with the “Made in Italy” stamp are actually made in sweatshops within the European country, employing low-cost Chinese labor. They say many of the sweatshops fall extremely short of legal workshop codes.

  As a result of the Italian investigation, judges in June placed Manufactures Dior SRL—a unit of Dior—under so-called court administration after ruling that its supply chain included Chinese-owned firms in Italy that mistreated migrant workers. The same measure was taken against Armani in April and Alviero Martini, known for its map-print bags and other items, in January. -WSJ

  In a 34-page court order, the court wrote that Italian police in March and April found migrant workers in “hygiene and health conditions that are below the minimum required by an ethical approach” at Milan-area companies in Dior’s supply chain. 

  Investigators interviewed workers from one of Armani’s subsidiaries, GA Operations, which hired a number of Chinese-owned subcontractors across Italy. These subcontractors paid migrant workers a few euros per hour.

  

  “The main problem is obviously people being mistreated: applying labor laws, so health and safety, hours, pay,” Roia told Reuters earlier this year.

  

  Customers who expect the highest quality from the “Made in Italy” label are just now discovering that some of these luxury products are tainted with exploited migrant labor. The grim reality of open borders is revealed: it’s about diluting domestic workers for cheap migrants. For this, we can thank the Western elites. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 07/04/2024 – 19:15

• 5 Things You May Not Know About Independence Day
  5 Things You May Not Know About Independence Day

  Authored by Joseph Lord via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  On July 4, Americans will observe the 248th birthday of the United States.

  

  In 1776, members of the Second Continental Congress gathered in Philadelphia had already made a decision the impact of which would be felt around the world for centuries to come: the collective colonies agreed to declare their independence from Great Britain, at the time the most powerful nation on the planet.

  Many people know what happened next.

  The document, written by a young and upstart Thomas Jefferson, was officially approved by the Continental Congress.

  News of its adoption traveled the breadth of the eastern seaboard, the news slowly and painstakingly making its way to the frontiers.

  It reignited the political tensions felt everywhere at the time between loyalists and the patriots clamoring for independence.

  Fewer people know about the personal intrigues, motives, and political aspirations of the 56 men who ultimately affixed their name to the document, pledging: “Our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor” to a cause that, at the time, may have seemed nearly hopeless.

  July 4, 1776, changed the trajectory of world history forever.

  On that day the Continental Congress voted to adopt Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence.

  But at the time, it was far from obvious that July 4 would become Independence Day.

  July 2 seemed the obvious day for celebration to John Adams.

  On that day, the Continental Congress adopted Virginian Richard Henry Lee’s motion officially declaring that the colonies “are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states.”

  Writing to his wife, Abigail Adams, Adams famously declared that July 2: “Will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.

  “It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other.”

  Of course, it was ultimately the adoption of the Declaration on July 4, and not the July 2 adoption of the resolution that paved its way, that became the United States’ formal Independence Day.

  When people think about the Declaration of Independence, they may think of a room of elder statesmen, as depicted in the famous work of artist John Trumbull.

  

  In point of fact, the 56 delegates gathered in Philadelphia in 1776 were younger than this image may suggest, on average clocking in at just 44 years old.

  That included a broad range of ages, from 20-somethings to a septuagenarian.

  The youngest signatory of the document was South Carolina’s Edward Rutledge, who was just 26 years and 8 months old.

  Another South Carolina signatory, Thomas Lynch Jr., was three days shy of his 27th birthday.

  A plurality of the signatories, meanwhile, were in their 30s with many others in their early 40s.

  Only seven of them, including 70-year-old Benjamin Franklin, the oldest signatory of the declaration, were 60 years of age or older.

  While independence may seem in retrospect to be a foregone conclusion, that wasn’t necessarily the case.

  Several members of the Continental Congress were skeptical of independence.

  Many founders initially took a more moderate stance toward grievances with the home island.

  That’s not to say that nobody was thinking about it—the idea was already stirring in coffeehouses and taverns across the colonies, and revolutionary leaders like Adams were outspoken in favor of independence as early as 1774.

  By 1775, particularly following the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the idea had been adopted by most congressional leaders.

  But some moderates—led by John Dickinson, famous for his “Letters From a Pennsylvania Farmer”—remained skeptical about independence until the eleventh hour.

  These included Robert Livingston, one of the most powerful and renowned names in New York who later served a variety of diplomatic roles for the fledgling U.S. government, and John Jay, who later became the first chief justice of the Supreme Court.

  The divides were even more pronounced among the people: After the war, Mr. Adams was famously quoted as saying: “One-third of the [American] people were for the Revolution, one-third were against it, and one-third were neutral.”

  Of all the signatures attached to the Declaration of Independence, John Hancock’s is perhaps the most famous.

  Mr. Hancock was famously unfazed by the risk of being hanged for treason, affixed his name—now the most recognizable signature in American political history—in large characters to the bottom of the Declaration.

  

  What fewer people know are the personal motives that may have influenced this decision.

  Prior to the Revolutionary War, Mr. Hancock was one of the most successful smugglers in North America.

  His business flourished, in large part, thanks to the phenomenon of “salutary neglect,” during which British agents were lax in their enforcement of customs laws.

  But after the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, British coffers were empty.

  To refill them, Britain ended the unofficial policy of salutary neglect, coming down hard on smugglers and others trying to evade British customs laws.

  Mr. Hancock, as the most successful smuggler in North America, was especially adversely affected by this crackdown, even having his ship—the Liberty—seized by British officials for legal violations.

  Thus, for Mr. Hancock, the Revolution represented not only an ideological imperative but a financial one as well.

  The Declaration of Independence is today viewed by Americans as a near-sacrosanct document, a founding justification of the core ideals of the new nation founded in 1776.

  Today, its words—with their message of “inalienable rights” and “self-evident” truths—are deeply entangled in Americans’ political sense of self and are regularly repeated from presidential stump speeches to the halls of Capitol Hill.

  But for all that, it took time for the declaration to become such an important fixture of American life and history.

  At the time, it simply made official a revolt against the Crown that was already effectively underway.

  After the last signature was affixed in August 1776, the document itself remained in the custody of Congress in Philadelphia, only one of several important documents at the time.

  It wasn’t until Jefferson became President Jefferson in 1800—the “Revolution of 1800”—that the document, written by him, began to take pride of place in Americans’ hearts and minds.

  That year, the document was moved to the new seat of government in Washington.

  Until 1952, it was moved often within the capital, sometimes being held in the Library of Congress, sometimes in the State Department; it was moved twice, during the War of 1812 and again during World War II, for safekeeping.

  But since 1952, the document has been prominently displayed in the National Archives, where it remains one of the capital’s most famous attractions.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 07/04/2024 – 18:30

• Orwell Hits The Highway: Starting This Month Cars In Britain Will Have "Speed Limiters"
  Orwell Hits The Highway: Starting This Month Cars In Britain Will Have “Speed Limiters”

  t’s bad enough cars are all basically equipped with GPS homing devices – and some now even with driver-facing cameras that can monitor you while you drive – but now some vehicles in Britain are being equipped with “speed limiters”. 

  Starting Sunday, July 7, 2024, all new vehicles in the EU must be equipped with Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) systems due to a new safety regulation, according to the Daily Mail. 

  Although this law doesn’t apply in Britain, most vehicles sold in the UK will still have the speed-limiting technology installed by manufacturers.

  As the Daily Mail explains, Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) technology can automatically restrict a vehicle’s speed using GPS, satellite navigation, and speed-sign recognition cameras. If the vehicle exceeds the speed limit, ISA reduces engine power to comply with the legal limit. For example, on the M1, ISA can limit the car to 70 mph.

  Before ISA reduces a car’s speed, it warns drivers through visual, audible, or haptic alerts, such as vibrations in the steering wheel. If ignored, the system restricts engine power to slow the car but never applies the brakes. Manufacturers may use any or all of these warning methods.

  And of course chalk this brilliant idea up to big government.

  

  In 2019, the European Parliament mandated ISA technology to reduce traffic collisions and injuries. Recommended by the European Transport Safety Council, ISA aims to cut collisions by 30% and casualties by 20%, contributing to a goal of zero road deaths by 2050.

  The Daily Mail states that since July 6, 2022, all new models must have ISA, and from July 7, 2024, it must be retrofitted to all new vehicles in showrooms, including older models like the VW Touran.

  Although ISA isn’t required for UK models, many new cars sold there will likely have it. Volvo has included speed limiters since 2020, capping speeds at 112 mph. Since 2022, Renault and Dacia have also implemented ISA, and brands like Citroen, Ford, and Jaguar are following suit.

  The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) states that fitting ISA in UK cars is up to individual manufacturers. However, experts like the AA’s Jack Cousens and RAC’s Rod Dennis expect many new cars in the UK to come equipped with ISA. Safety advocates urge the UK government to adopt EU safety regulations to avoid confusion and provide certainty for car makers.

  ISA can be overridden temporarily by pressing the accelerator hard or turned off before each journey, though it reactivates each time the engine starts. Benefits include fewer crashes, reduced traffic jams, and better fuel efficiency. However, there are concerns about driver reliance on ISA, the accuracy of traffic sign recognition, and potential issues in areas with poor GPS signals. 

  Isn’t the government running out of things in our lives they can assert control over?

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 07/04/2024 – 17:45

• Alaska's Strategic Importance To U.S. Security
  Alaska’s Strategic Importance To U.S. Security

  Authored by Seth Cropsey via RealClearDefense,

  From grave deficiencies in strategic lift and defense industrial base to submarine repair inadequacies, Yorktown Institute continues to highlight shortfalls in the enabling elements on which the continued global supremacy of the U.S. military depends. This article is another in that series.

  

  China’s pressure on Taiwan and Russia’s assault on Ukraine demonstrate the deterioration of the Eurasian security. In turn, Congress and the military have at least recognized the implications of the threats the U.S. faces. But budgetary constraints, Congressional gridlock, and a poor sense of precise threat have limited America’s ability to build up its military forces and confront its enemies. It is thus crucial to invest in the long-term enabling capabilities that ensure U.S. strategic superiority. A real Alaskan communications network that circumvallated the state and connected to its outlying islands in the Bering Strait and Northern Pacific, would enhance deterrence in the long run at only limited cost.

  Despite over two years of war in Ukraine, the threat from Russia has not diminished. In some respects, it has grown, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. The Russian Army may have been savaged in Ukraine and will be largely incapable of matching NATO forces for the coming half-decade at least, if not longer. But the Russian air force and navy maintain robust conventional and nuclear strike capabilities. Of notable relevance – as American strategists understood in the Cold War – is Russia’s nuclear submarine bastion in the northern Pacific’s Sea of Okhotsk. Russian submarines secure Moscow’s second-strike from here, supported by heavy bombers. Russia has also conducted several naval exercises in the Arctic and Bering Strait, including last autumn, when Russian warships conducted missile tests near the U.S.-Russia maritime boundary line. With a new European Cold War threatening to turn hot, Alaskan territorial defense is now more critical than at any time since the 1980s.

  The China challenge, moreover, increases the strategic importance of Alaska to U.S. policy. While Beijing is unlikely to assault Taiwan soon, owing to a combination of military unpreparedness, economic disruption, and a broader pressure strategy against the island-republic, a confrontation between China and the U.S. over the Indo-Pacific’s future is nearly guaranteed in the next decade. China may prefer to absorb Taiwan absent a full-scale war with the U.S., but if it begins to apply pressure to Taiwan, it will be willing to climb the escalation ladder to major combat, particularly since – unlike the Soviets in 1962 – China has a chance to win a war with the U.S..  In turn, during any major conflict, critical U.S. bases will be on the Chinese target list, namely Okinawa, Yokosuka, and Guam, and perhaps even Pearl Harbor. By destroying U.S. regional logistical infrastructure, China can buy the time it needs to overwhelm Taiwan, and even pressure Japan and the Philippines into submission.

  The only other way to sustain U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific is through Alaskan bases and depots. They were crucial during the Second World War’s early days, when Imperial Japan captured part of the Aleutian Islands to secure the Japanese Navy’s northern flank, delay U.S. counterattacks, and prevent an expected U.S.-Soviet joint attack from the Kuril Islands. Since this point, the U.S. has maintained significant Alaskan military infrastructure, including Elmendorf and Eielson Air Force Bases. Historically speaking, the U.S. Navy maintained air bases in the Aleutians, most critically Dutch Harbor, which could be used for patrol and reconnaissance during wartime.

  U.S. policy has a nominal focus on the High North – including the White House’s National Arctic Strategy, the Pentagon’s Arctic Policy, the Navy’s Strategic Outlook for the Arctic, the Army’s Arctic Strategy, and the Air Force’s Arctic Strategy. Indeed, this focus has existed since the Trump administration, and has continued in the Biden administration despite their obvious strategic distinctions. In turn, the Department of Homeland Security and multiple members of the intelligence community have an obvious interest in the High North. Because Alaska is the only part of the United States with physical territory in the High North, robust infrastructure in Alaska should be a clear policy priority.

  There has been some movement on actual material improvements to the U.S.’ strategic position in Alaska. As of early 2024, all services have adopted some form of “Arctic Pay,” covering equipment purchases and often increasing salaries given the harsh conditions of the Alaskan environment. The U.S. military has begun to prepare to expand the Port of Nome – the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a nearly $550 million budget for the project. Late last year, Congress also approved $200 million of funding for military installations in Alaska.

  However, none of these cover the basic connectivity and communications improvements that are needed to establish situational awareness and leverage Alaska’s geography for strategic benefit. A large-scale communications system that connects Alaska’s outlying islands and locations along the coast together could immediately be leveraged to create a variety of surveillance sites—including much needed acoustic sensing capacity for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard—that can be expanded in wartime.

  The Pentagon and Services are largely unwilling to fund these, seeing them as a civilian responsibility, despite the fact that locations like St Lawrence Island, under 100 kilometres from Russia’s Chukchi Peninsula, are obvious areas for military forward deployment. However, the scale of a simple communications cable project – which would cost around $50 million – is beyond that of the State government and other relevant Federal agencies, both because of the cost involved and the need to coordinate development across multiple departments. Additionally, the Pentagon shies away from concluding contracts directly with individual medium-sized vendors that could actually do the job of communications infrastructure development.

  The solution is for Congress to mandate in the next NDAA a major communications infrastructure project with a short timeline – ideally completed within two years – and absent spools of red tape. Combined with short-term federal investment in civilian networks that could be installed in such locations as St. Lawrence Island, DoD could leverage its increased connectivity the better to patrol the Arctic and protect the U.S. homeland. The only way to ensure the U.S. military has a competitive advantage in the High North, and leverages Alaska properly, is through construction of these enablers.

  Seth Cropsey is president of Yorktown Institute. He served as a naval officer and as deputy Undersecretary of the Navy and is the author of “Mayday” and “Seablindness“.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 07/04/2024 – 17:00

• Inflation Hits The Grill: The Price Of A July 4th Cookout Keeps Soaring Under Biden
  Inflation Hits The Grill: The Price Of A July 4th Cookout Keeps Soaring Under Biden

  As memories of COVID restrictions are quickly fading, Americans are looking forward to proper, carefree Fourth of July celebrations this year.

  According to AAA, more than 70 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles this Independence Day week in order to celebrate with their friends and families – a new record.

  Aside from the obligatory fireworks, a proper cookout is the key ingredient for a real Independence Day celebration in many households. Speaking of ingredients: how much will a typical Fourth of July menu set you back these days?

  

  Well, there’s the catch: Bidenflation makes no exception for national holidays, so expect your feast to be more expensive than ever this year.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  According to the American Farm Bureau’s annual Fourth of July market basket survey, a 10-person cookout involving cheeseburgers, chicken breasts, pork chops and several sides and dessert options will cost $71.22 this year.

  That’s up “just” 5 percent from last, but 30 percent from 2019.

  “No matter which state or city you call home, Americans everywhere are still feeling the heat at the grocery checkout,” Datasembly said in a statement to Axios.

  “Consumers will see — once again — that prices are still climbing compared to pre-pandemic times,” the company told Axios.

  Which is odd since Biden and his lackeys keep telling us that ‘inflation is coming down’, in an attempt to gaslight Americans into believing that prices are coming down… they’re not!

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 07/04/2024 – 16:15

• Reporters Blame "Right-Wing Media" For Their Failure To Disclose Biden's Infirmity
  Reporters Blame “Right-Wing Media” For Their Failure To Disclose Biden’s Infirmity

  Authored by Jonathan Turley,

  The media is sorry . . . sort of. After the shocking appearance of President Joe Biden in the presidential debate, the public has turned its attention to the press which has, again, buried a major scandal for years. According to CNN, the reporters at the White House are really, really sorry but explained that it was the “right-wing media” that prompted them to avoid the story. It is a telling admission that, yet again, reporters chose not to report on a story because they wanted to frame the news for political purposes. It is precisely the pattern that I discuss in my new book The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage where the media now rejects objectivity and neutrality as core values in journalism.

  For years, there have been questions about President Joe Biden’s mental and physical decline. Those concerns reached their apex when Special Counsel Robert Hur issued his report. While finding that Biden had unlawfully retained and mishandled classified material for decades, he concluded that prosecution would be difficult because a jury would be swayed by the appearance of an elderly man with declining memory.

  The media pounced and attacked Hur while media figures attested to the President’s acuity and ability. Then, as videos repeatedly surfaced showing the President confused and fragile, the media declared them “cheap fakes” and attacked Fox News and other outlets for airing them even though Fox noted that the clips were unedited. (For full disclosure, I am a Fox News analyst). Virtually every news outlet aired the attack with politicians, pundits, and celebrities attesting that the President was sharp and engaged.

  On MSNBC, Joe Scarborough stated

  “start your tape right now because I’m about to tell you the truth. And F— you if you can’t handle the truth. This version of Biden intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever. Not a close second. And I have known him for years…If it weren’t the truth I wouldn’t say it.”

  Then the presidential debate happened and, after years of being protected by staff, tens of millions of people watched the president struggle to stay focused and responsive.

  So, as an embarrassed press struggled to explain the most recent belated disclosure, the reason is the “right-wing press” and the need to counter their narratives.

  While saying that reporters “are now expressing regret,” CNN explains that “some members of the White House press corps who have regular exposure to President Biden are now admitting they were “turned off” from exposing his mental decline before last week’s debate in part because of the attention it has got from ‘right-wing media.’”

  

  It was just part of shaping the news, which is now the priority in journalism.

  A recent series of interviews with over 75 media leaders by Leonard Downie Jr., former Washington Post executive editor, and Andrew Heyward, former CBS News president, reaffirmed this shift. As Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor-in-chief at the San Francisco Chronicle, stated: “Objectivity has got to go.”

  But that objectivity seems to depend heavily upon what ideology you are advocating.

  We have been discussing the rise of advocacy journalism and the rejection of objectivity in journalism schools. Writers, editors, commentators, and academics have embraced rising calls for censorship and speech controls, including President-elect Joe Biden and his key advisers. This movement includes academics rejecting the very concept of objectivity in journalism in favor of open advocacy.

  In an interview with The Stanford Daily, Stanford journalism professor, Ted Glasser, insisted that journalism needed to “free itself from this notion of objectivity to develop a sense of social justice.” He rejected the notion that journalism is based on objectivity and said that he views “journalists as activists because journalism at its best — and indeed history at its best — is all about morality.”  Thus, “Journalists need to be overt and candid advocates for social justice, and it’s hard to do that under the constraints of objectivity.”

  Lauren Wolfe, the fired freelance editor for the New York Times, has not only gone public to defend her pro-Biden tweet but published a piece titled “I’m a Biased Journalist and I’m Okay With That.” 

  Former New York Times writer (and now Howard University Journalism Professor) Nikole Hannah-Jones is a leading voice for advocacy journalism.

  Indeed, Hannah-Jones has declared “all journalism is activism.”

  The problem comes with these little embarrassing moments when the public suddenly sees that prior coverage was false. Whether it is the Russian collusion story (for which reporters received Pulitzer Prizes) or the Hunter Biden laptop or the Lafayette Park photo shoot or the migrant whipping controversy, there is an inescapable pattern of omission and misdirection. This is why media outlets are collapsing as the public seeks other sources for information.

  As I previously wrote, the mantra “Let’s Go Brandon!” was embraced by millions as a criticism as much of the media as President Biden.  It derives from an Oct. 2 interview with race-car driver Brandon Brown after he won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race. During the interview, NBC reporter Kelli Stavast’s questions were drowned out by loud-and-clear chants of “F*** Joe Biden.” Stavast quickly and inexplicably declared, “You can hear the chants from the crowd, ‘Let’s go, Brandon!’”

  So, in expressing guilt for not pursuing the President’s mental and physical decline, the media is left with explaining that they are just doing what they are trained to do in the new J Schools. They were countering conservatives and framing the news.

  This is why Washington Post publisher and CEO William Lewis is under attack for dropping a truth bomb on the staff of the Post when he told them:

  “We are going to turn this thing around, but let’s not sugarcoat it. It needs turning around,” Lewis said.

  “We are losing large amounts of money. Your audience has halved in recent years. People are not reading your stuff. Right. I can’t sugarcoat it anymore.”

  Staff is now trying to get him fired.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 07/04/2024 – 15:30

• Putin & Erdogan Discuss Syria Rapprochement To Squeeze Out Pentagon Occupation
  Putin & Erdogan Discuss Syria Rapprochement To Squeeze Out Pentagon Occupation

  During the ongoing Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) annual summit which is being held in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana, Russia’s Putin and Turkey’s Erdogan publicly broached the subject of a potential Turkey rapprochement with the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.

  The two have been in a de facto state of war for over a decade, with Turkish troops still occupying parts of northern Syrian territory, and after relations were cut in 2011 upon the start of the war. Turkey was foremost among NATO allies pushing regime change in Damascus, which involved covert support to ISIS, al-Qaeda, and other jihadist insurgents.

  

  But more recently Ankara’s priorities have shifted as it seeks to root out Syrian Kurdish paramilitary groups in north Syria, as well as squeeze out the US troop presence there. The Pentagon has long backed the Kurds and their aspirations for an autonomous region, but both Assad and Erdogan agree that the US occupation must end immediately.

  “We couldn’t meet with my dear friend for a long time,” Erdogan had told Putin at the SCO during introductory remarks. And the Russian leader in turn told a press briefing, “We continue to work actively on a number of the most important lines of international policy. We are in constant contact with you. Our ministries and agencies are constantly exchanging information and coordinating positions on key areas.”

  Regarding Syria, a Turkish readout of the Putin-Erdogan meeting said, “He [Erdogan] stressed the importance of taking concrete steps to end the instabilities that create fertile ground for terrorist organizations, especially in the Syrian civil war… Turkey is ready to cooperate for a solution.”

  This comes one week after Erdogan shocked his own population and officials by saying there’s currently no obstacle which would prevent the restoration of official ties with Syria. According to the Associated Press:

  His comments came just days after Syrian President Bashar Assad made similar remarks, indicating a willingness among the two neighboring countries to end tensions and normalize relations.

  “There is no reason why (diplomatic ties) should not be established,” Erdogan told reporters.

  “In the same way that we kept our relations with Syria alive in the past — we had these meetings with Mr Assad that included family meetings — we cannot say that it will not happen again,” Erdogan said. He was referring to a vacation that the Erdogan and Assad families took in southern Turkey in 2008, before their relationship soured.

  Currently, there’s talk of a future meeting between Syrian and Turkish delegations in Baghdad, but the date has yet to be announced.

  At the SCO meeting Putin and Erdogan also discussed the possibility of peaceful settlement in Ukraine…

  Istanbul agreements ‘remain on the table’, can lay the basis for continuing peace talks with Ukraine – Vladimir Putin thanks Turkish President Erdogan as he speaks at SCO summit in Kazakhstan#Kazakhstan #Russia #Ukraine #Turkiye #Turkey #Erdoğan #VladimirPutin… pic.twitter.com/P5GT0GBpoL

  — Viory Video (@vioryvideo) July 4, 2024

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

  Major issues which remain, however, is Turkey’s ongoing support for proxies in Syria, including the “Syrian National Army” (SNA) and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The latter still controls Idlib and is Syrian al-Qaeda.

  If a final deal and restoration of relations is eventually achieved between Assad and Erdogan, it could be the death knell for the Pentagon occupation of northeast Syria. This has long been openly stated as a goal of Erdogan, amid increased tensions with Washington, despite both being in the NATO alliance. Putin certainly wants to see that happen too.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 07/04/2024 – 14:45

• Americans Share What Patriotism Means To Them
  Americans Share What Patriotism Means To Them

  Authored by Lawrence Wilson, Dan M. Berger, Janice Hisle, Natasha Holt, Jackson Richman, Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times,

  Independence Day is the nation’s most patriotic holiday, and Americans celebrate it with abandon.

  

  On this day of parades, baseball games, hot dogs, and sparklers, even the stodgiest old uncle may arrive at the family cookout wearing a red-white-and-blue top hat and suspenders.

  By day’s end, some 260 million pounds of commercial fireworks will be lit, filling city skies with splendor and leaving the air in suburban neighborhoods thick with the smell of smoke and sulfur.

  Americans love to display their patriotism.

  Yet there is little agreement on what that means. The majority—some 55 percent—of Americans think the United States has become a less patriotic nation in recent years, according to a Marist poll released on July 1. Only 14 percent think Americans have become more patriotic.

  That could be because Americans display patriotism in a variety of ways and may not recognize it in others, says Ken Kollman, director of the Center for Political Studies at the University of Michigan.

  “Definitions of patriotism, and behavioral standards for what counts as patriotic, are both folded into our current political divisions and reflect them,” Mr. Kollman told The Epoch Times. “Who counts as a patriot and what counts as patriotism are in the eyes of the beholders.”

  Just ahead of the 248th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, The Epoch Times asked Americans to define patriotism.

  “What does patriotism mean to you?” we wanted to know, “And how do you display it?”

  Most answers were rooted in a deep appreciation for sacrifices that were made to create and defend the country, and a desire to continue to do the same. That desire manifests itself in different ways.

  Honoring the Symbols

  Pride in America and its symbols was the most common way people said they expressed patriotism. We heard frequent references to standing for the national anthem, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and wearing star-spangled clothing. Voting was mentioned often.

  These simple expressions of national pride can also be used by some—though not by everyone—to emphasize divisions within the country, according to John Bodnar, an emeritus professor of history at Indiana University.

  

  “Some people express their patriotic loyalty to show they are superior to other citizens within the nation,” Mr. Bodnar told The Epoch Times. “On the other hand, some patriots see in the flag or in the nation they love the promise of equal rights for all, regardless of one’s political views or race or religion.”

  The latter seemed to describe most of the people we encountered.

  Bailey, 31, of Las Vegas, said that standing for the national anthem is one way he shows patriotism. Another was his recent visit to the nation’s capital. He believes that a patriot should respect the office of the president regardless of which party is in power.

  “You love America? You’ve got to love who’s running it,” he said.

  Healing Divisions

  Brothers Peter and Rory Corrigan, whose parents met while serving their country during World War II, are driven both to honor the past and to ensure that America lives up to its promise.

  Their father, a lieutenant in the Marine Corps SeaBees Battalion, met their mother on Guam, where she served with the Red Cross.

  “[Our father] rarely talked about the war. Both parents had acquaintances who were killed or seriously wounded in the Pacific,” Peter Corrigan, 76, of Delmar, New York, told The Epoch Times.

  Yet the war symbolized something more than bloodshed to the elder Corrigan.

  “One night in the mid-1950s, while tucking me into bed, I was probably 7 or 8, [my father] asked if I could think of one good thing about the war,” Peter Corrigan recalled. “I tried, but I couldn’t.”

  What his father said next made a lasting impression on the boy.

  “It’s where I met your mother,” he said simply.

  Peter Corrigan now honors the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation by wearing a SeaBees cap and holding an American flag as veterans pass by in the Memorial Day parade.

  “And I think how grateful I am to live in this country,” he said.

  Brother Rory Corrigan, 74, of Richmond Hill, Georgia, said his sense of patriotism took on a more profound meaning after the 9/11 attacks.

  “I lost 37 friends that day,” Rory Corrigan said. “My sense of America’s unique promise and necessary leadership was deepened as the face of evil confronted me in a new and profound manner.

  “I have never been prouder of our country than in the period closely following those attacks,“ he said, citing pride in the nation’s struggles ”to overcome our demanding history and divisions.”

  

  Connecting America to the World

  Peter McCormick, 69, of Dunedin, Florida, found a sense of patriotism as a foreign correspondent in Central America during the 1980s.

  “It was our backyard, and as a reporter I realized U.S. readers needed, as citizens, to know what was going on,” he told The Epoch Times. His reporting on Marxist versus right-wing factions shattered preconceived notions held by friends on both the left and the right, he said.

  Mr. McCormick later worked as a USAID contractor in Rwanda, where he wrote checks to charities that supplied wells, food, and medical attention to that war-stricken nation. He considered it an expression of patriotism.

  “The operation was an example of American largesse being put to efficient use,” he said.

  Political Activism

  Shelley Freeman, 58, of Clements, California, is part of a four-generation military family and has a son now on deployment with the Army. She has served her country as a civilian by sitting on local government committees, volunteering for Senate and presidential campaigns, and hosting political discussions on social media.

  She sees political discourse as unifying rather than divisive.

  Ms. Freeman recalled a discussion she had about presidential candidates that provoked strong disagreement from another woman. Though the debate was intense, it ended with a hug.

  “It’s OK. We’re going to get through this, and we’re all going to be alright,” Ms. Freeman said she told the debater.

  “Our Constitution gives us our First Amendment right, and to have our own opinions,” she said. “That’s why it’s important to agree to disagree … no matter who you are.”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 07/04/2024 – 14:00

• New Fires Erupt In Israel After Hezbollah Sends 200 Rockets, Drone Swarms
  New Fires Erupt In Israel After Hezbollah Sends 200 Rockets, Drone Swarms

  Large wildfires are once again raging in northern Israel’s Galilee region after on Thursday Hezbollah launched a particularly intense barrage of 200 rockets as well as drone swarms.

  Some of the fires are believed the result of burning fragments from interceptor shrapnel which fell as anti-air defenses are heavily at work. Soon after, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sent a stern warning and message to all of Lebanon, sending jets over Beirut which broke the sound barrier. This happened in other parts of the country as well.

  

  The IDF further said the Air Force “struck Hezbollah military structures” in south Lebanon’s Ramyeh and Houla areas. Casualties – whether among militants or civilians – were not immediately known.

  Throughout Thursday fires have raged in at least ten locations in the Galilee and Golan Heights areas due to the ramped up Hezbollah attacks.

  Israeli emergency and civic services have reported that at least one highway in the area has been blocked as a result of the fast encroaching fires.

  Just the day prior, on Wednesday, Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon, Muhammad Nimah Nasser, and Thursday’s huge rocket barrage is seen as retaliation for that.

  

  Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine warned while speaking at Nasser’s funeral, “The series of responses continues in succession, and this series will continue to target new sites that the enemy did not imagine would be hit.”

  These ‘new sites’ could include strikes as deep into Israel as Haifa, which would mark a much bigger escalation in attacks. Last month Hezbollah published drone surveillance footage taken over Israel’s port city of Haifa in an effort to spook Tel Aviv leaders.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 07/04/2024 – 13:15

• Watch: Leaked Video Shows Trump Call Biden "Broken Down Pile Of Crap", Kamala Is "So F**king Bad"
  Watch: Leaked Video Shows Trump Call Biden “Broken Down Pile Of Crap”, Kamala Is “So F**king Bad”

  Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news,

  A leaked video features Donald Trump calling Joe Biden a “broken-down pile of crap” who is “quitting the race,” with Trump predicting he’ll now face off against Kamala Harris, who is “so fucking bad.”

  

  It’s unknown when the exchange happened, but it was some time after last week’s debate.

  Sitting in a golf cart, Trump responds to one of his supporters who told him he did “fantastic” during the debate.

  “Look at that old, broken down pile of crap,” Trump says, referring to Biden, adding, “He’s a bad guy, he just quit you know, he’s quitting the race…and that means we have Kamala.”

  🚨 LEAKED VIDEO: Trump on Biden he’s “quitting the race.. I got him out” he’s an “old broken-down pile of crap… Now we have Kamala. She’s so f—king bad”

  pic.twitter.com/G9eLy1hmIc

  — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 4, 2024

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

  “I think she’s gonna be better, she’s so bad, she’s so pathetic, she’s so fucking bad,” he says of Harris.

  Switching back to Biden, Trump asserts, “Can you imagine that guy dealing with Putin? And the president of China – who’s a fierce person. He’s a fierce man, very tough guy. And they see him.”

  “They just announced he’s probably quitting,” Trump concludes before driving away and saying, “Keep knocking ’em out, right?”

  As we highlighted yesterday, Biden took part in a closed doors meeting with Democratic governors last night in an effort to convince them that he is capable of continuing as the Party nominee.

  A report by Reuters also claimed that 25 House Democrats are preparing to band together and call for Joe Biden to step down.

  A report published by Axios citing insiders with the Biden campaign also explained how Biden’s top aides are telling everyone to carry on as normal, despite the fact that “everyone is freaking the fuck out over his mental decline.”

  The Biden campaign, after claiming his dreadful debate performance was due to a “cold,” later pivoted to Biden’s personal explanation that he was tired from jet lag, despite Biden having been in the United States for nearly two weeks before the debate.

  *  *  *

  Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 07/04/2024 – 12:30

• 'Sharp And Focused But Sometimes Confused': AP Gaslights With New 'Fiery But Mostly Peaceful' Propaganda
  ‘Sharp And Focused But Sometimes Confused’: AP Gaslights With New ‘Fiery But Mostly Peaceful’ Propaganda

  While Democrats scramble to perform triage on the Joe Biden situation following last week’s disastrous debate against Donald Trump, which has included multiple calls for him to exit the race from his own party – and the editorial boards of several major newspapers, the Associated Press just dropped the most propagandistic damage control headline since CNN‘s ‘fiery but mostly peaceful‘ khyron during a 2020 BLM riot over a police shooting.

  Biden at 81: Sharp and focused but sometimes confused and forgetful https://t.co/PhTx6aK0lW

  — The Associated Press (@AP) July 4, 2024

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

  This is the same outlet that laundered a Biden State Department hit-piece against ZeroHedge, accusing us of ‘spreading Russian propaganda’ in early 2022.

  Remember when Biden was sharp and focused as he bit his wife Jill’s finger during a 2019 campaign event?

  

  The headline, an IQ test for idiots, was rightly mocked:

  5 Bylines trying to tell you what you saw was “sharp and focused” pic.twitter.com/Tdw5kPdLJU

  — Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) July 4, 2024

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

  Lizzo is sometimes fat.

  — Ian Haworth (@ighaworth) July 4, 2024

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

  Who in the F*** wrote this headline… What morons..

  — Matt Couch (@RealMattCouch) July 4, 2024

  https://t.co/8XOibhKT0Y pic.twitter.com/JOpjCtaWme

  — Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) July 4, 2024

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

  “Biden at 81: Sharp and focused but sometimes confused and forgetful” https://t.co/VLycpz0fnX pic.twitter.com/yy46dPY5CV

  — Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 4, 2024

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

  The Democrats: everything is fine. Joe is the best President we’ve ever had!

  The media: Joe is “Sharp and focused but sometimes confused and forgetful.”

  Joe Biden: pic.twitter.com/LxawhC866I

  — Ada Nestor (@AdaNestorWC) July 4, 2024

  This comes on the heels of Axios reporting that Biden ‘maintains a schedule that tires younger aides.‘

  As much as you hate corporate media, it’s truly not enough. 

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

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 07/04/2024 – 11:45

• The Sociology And Psychology Of The Backyard Grill
  The Sociology And Psychology Of The Backyard Grill

  Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,

  Across America, the backyard grills are out and fired up, along with the rich and complicated culture they unleash. Watching this unfold, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is this feature of the experience more than the culinary results that provides the main attraction to grilling.

  

  I’ll put the most provocative point up front so you don’t have to dig through and find it. The backyard grill allows men a space of control in a society and culture in which such settings have otherwise dwindled to nearly none. Before you get angry and cite a thousand exceptions and qualifications, and I’m sure they are all valid, hear me out.

  When I was growing up in Texas, my grandmother did all the cooking and the kitchen was her domain, no question. There was a sense that the men weren’t even allowed in there. I never once saw my grandfather open a cabinet or the refrigerator. His job was to provide the material blessings of the house for his wonderful wife and children to enjoy. And enjoy them they did.

  She was a kind and generous cook. As I was very interested in the kitchen goings-on, she took me in as her protege, teaching me baking and so on. I love it but that was unusual. My cousins were never part of that experience.

  And yet once a year, around the fourth of July, that house hosted an extended family event in which the barbecue came out. My grandfather donned a chef’s coat and hat, and held high his huge cooking tools. The fire was built and the smoke from the cooking meat, wood, and coals lifted high in the air and drifted to all the neighbors.

  Despite all the theater, he was only making burgers and hot dogs but that didn’t stop the waves of adulation he would receive for his fine skills. There was always a round of applause after and he took bows.

  As a kid, I wondered at the time how that made my grandmother feel, who cooked 1,000 meals for his one. And yet the embedded ethos of the table in those days was always to praise her mastery at every meal without exception. Looking back, she must have felt great pride that her beloved husband had one day to bask in the warmth of a grateful clan that had been fed by the work of his own hands.

  It’s obvious that the sheer physicality of the grilling experience taps into a primordial longing in the human personality in general but it seems particularly appealing to men.

  The clinical and anodyne experience of modern kitchens, particularly with electric this and that, does not satisfy that evolved desire to build a real fire and sear meat on it.

  It’s there in all of us, just waiting for the right season and setting.

  Men are never more in their element than when poking around on a fire in the backyard and hurling large pieces of meat this way and that. It’s beautiful to watch. The experience is undeniably gendered too. Even when I was young, the women would be in the kitchen preparing the rolls and salads, while the men would be in the backyard building the fire for the grill.

  The conversations were different too: Men spoke of practical and even gritty things as the women spoke of impractical and idealistic dreams. The men would speak in sharper, less decorous, and blunter ways than they would otherwise talk in mixed company, and the women (I’m told) would be more revealing of thoughts and speculations they would not otherwise share with men present.

  To be clear, this separation was not about “power,” as the post-structuralists would have it; it was never about force or exclusion. It was to the advantage of both, each group with its own space, however temporary, so that when the two came to dinner as the meal was served, they could meet on common ground, each group shaving off the gendered eccentricities in deference to the other.

  The outdoor grill enables this in ways that cooking indoors simply does not. Consistent with my childhood experience, and probably with experience dating back to prehistoric times, the kitchen space was always the primary domain of the women in the household, probably because in prehistoric times the division of labor meant that men would hunt and women would prepare the food.

  But with hunting (mostly) gone and the experience of food acquisition itself now nothing more than a shopping experience, men have lost their usefulness. The outdoor grill offers something of an outlet.

  All that aside, the outdoor grill offers a respite from the tedium of kitchen duty and the luxury of restaurants. It’s something we can do ourselves, close to the roots of our species.

  If you are reading this as an apartment dweller, you might be feeling a bit of pain right now. For the most part, you cannot grill. There is either no space or your lease does not allow it. Perhaps you can get by with an electric grill on your tiny porch but, honestly, is there any point to that overcooking in the kitchen? Not really. Not much, in my view.

  The choice between owning and renting is a financial one but there are practical implications, among which is this one. Your home and backyard enable the grill. Maybe you use it just a few weeks a year or maybe for months but most apartment dwellers never have that option. In other words, people could be paying tens of thousands of dollars a year for the grill, but for many this is entirely worth it.

  Again, I long ago concluded that nearly every seeming advantage of outdoor grilling can be recreated with the skilled use of ovens and stoves in the kitchen. Even the smoke flavor has an authentic answer with liquid smoke that can be added to iron skillets and dutch ovens. In any case, the culinary advantages of grilling are not the primary point. The point is to build a real fire and recreate in a safe way the days of yore as a means of working out something deep within us.

  The choice of grill itself is a fascinating one. They range from the most primitive to the most elaborate. I recently witnessed two neighbors grilling at the same time. One had a small/medium aluminum circle cut in half with a top and bottom filled with coals and wood, with no controls, switches, dials, hoses, starters, hooks or cabinets or anything else. It was probably $40.

  The other neighbor had an apparatus that was likely fancier and with more technological sophistication than existed inside. Its stainless steel exterior gleamed like a fine treasure. It was a marvel and it probably costs up to $4,000 (I’m seeing online prices for these up to $15,000).

  But which one does a better job? Which one speaks most to the primal need? I don’t need to give you my answer. It seems obvious to me that the closer you get to the essence of the thing, the better off you are, so I would certainly go for the simple model, with no propane and only the coals. The more technology you add, the less it seems to achieve the goal, unless the main point is a Veblenian one of creating an ostentatious display for others.

  There are other advantages to a simple round grill (called a Weber). People can stand around it instead of only in front of it. That provides a better and more adaptable social environment.

  There are other options at some public parks, which provide grills for the public to use. Bring your own coals, tools, and meat and you have all you need. Of course that doesn’t quite achieve that sense of having a “cave of one’s own” but it’s something in any case.

  The reason we drag all these out at this time of the year is not just that the weather is nice and everything is green and pretty in the United States. It’s also about recalling our past: the Revolutionary War, the Founding era, and generally remembering who we are and what kinds of things we did before all the innovations, good and bad, interrupted our sense of rooted meaning and memory.

  The outdoor grill offers the hope that we can find our way back to fundamentals again.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 07/04/2024 – 11:00

Digest powered by RSS Digest