Today’s News 8th July 2023

• Escobar: Golden Ruble 3.0 – The SCO Welcomes A New 'Global Globe'
  Escobar: Golden Ruble 3.0 – The SCO Welcomes A New ‘Global Globe’

  Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Cradle,

  Discussions at the recent SCO Summit in New Delhi now point to the inevitable: The merging of new multipolar organizations and their collective reorganization of global finance….

  

  The 23rd summit of the heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), held virtually in New Delhi, represented History in the making: three BRICS (Russia, India, China), plus Pakistan and four Central Asian “stans” (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan), finally and formally, welcomed the Islamic Republic of Iran as a permanent member.

  And next year will be Belarus’ turn, as confirmed by India’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Vinay Kvatra. Belarus and Mongolia took part in the 2023 summit as observers, and fiercely independent Turkmenistan, as a guest.

  After years of US “maximum pressure,” Tehran may now finally get rid of the sanctions dementia and solidify its leading role in the ongoing process of Eurasia integration.

  Arguably, the star of the show in New Delhi was Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has led his country since 1994.

  Old Man Luka, unbeatable in the headline-stealing department, especially after his mediator role in the Prighozin saga, may have coined the definitive slogan of multipolarity.  Forget the western-termed “golden billion” which in fact barely reaches 100 million; embrace now the “Global Globe” – with a firm focus on the Global South.

  As the clincher, Lukashenko proposed total integration of the SCO and BRICS – which in their upcoming summit in South Africa will be heading the BRICS+ way. And it goes without saying, this integration also applies to the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU).

  The next step for the “Global Globe” – what the collective west dismissively qualifies as “the rest” – is to work on the complex coordination of several development banks and then the process to issue bonds linked to a new trading currency.

  The main ideas and the basic template already exist. The new bonds will be a real safe heaven compared to the US dollar and US Treasuries, and will imply accelerated de-dollarization. Capital used to purchase those bonds should be used to finance trade and sustainable development, in what will be a certified, Chinese-style “win-win.”

  A converging geoeconomic focus

  The SCO declaration made it clear that the expanding multilateral body is “not directed against other states and international organizations.” On the contrary, it is “open to broad cooperation with them in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, the SCO Charter and international law, based on consideration of mutual interests.”

  The heart of the matter is of course the drive towards a fair multipolar world order – the polar opposite of the Hegemon-imposed “rules-based international order.” And the three key nodes are mutual security; trade in local currencies, and eventually, de-dollarization.

  It’s quite enlightening to outline the converging focus, expressed by most leaders, during the New Delhi summit.

  India’s Prime Minister Modi stated in his keynote address that the SCO will be as important as the UN. Translation: a toothless UN controlled by the Hegemon may end up being sidelined by a real “Global Globe” organization.

  In parallel to Modi praising the key role of Iran in the development of the International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC), Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi firmly supported SCO trade in national currencies to decisively break the US dollar’s hegemony.

  Chinese President Xi Jinping, for his part, was adamant: China is all in favor to sideline the US dollar, stand firm against all forms of color revolutions, and fight against unilateral economic sanctions.

  Russian President Vladimir Putin once again stressed how “external forces have put Russia’s security at threat by unleashing hybrid war against Russia and Russians in Ukraine.”

  Pragmatically, Putin expects trade within the SCO, using national currencies, to grow – 80 percent of Russia’s trade is now in rubles and yuan – plus a renewed cooperation drive in banking, digitalization, high-tech, and agriculture.

  Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov also stressed mutual settlements in national currencies, plus a crucial move: the setting up of a SCO development bank and development fund, quite similar to the BRICS’s New Development Bank (NDB).

  President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, which will exercise the SCO presidency in 2024, also supported a common investment fund, plus the configuration of a network of partners of major strategic ports connected to China’s BRI as well as the Astana-based Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, linking Southeast Asia, China, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Europe.

  Of course all SCO members agreed that no Eurasia integration is possible without stabilizing Afghanistan – in fact linking Kabul geoeconomically with both BRI and the INSTC. But that’s another long, twisting story entirely.

  Strategic connectivity rules

  Now compare all that action in New Delhi with what happened in Tianjin a few days before, in late June: the World Economic Forum (WEF) event known as the “summer Davos”, held for the first time after the Covid-19 pandemic.

  Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s critique of the new US/EU “de-risking” slogan may have been predictably sharp. What was way more intriguing was a BRI panel discussion titled “The Future of the Belt and Road Initiative.”

  In a nutshell, that was some sort of “green” apotheosis. Liang Linchong, from the National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) Department of Regional Opening-Up, which is essential to promote BRI, detailed several clean energy projects, for instance, in key BRI nodes Kazakhstan and Pakistan.

  Africa was also prominently featured. Sekai Nzenza, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, is very much in favor of BRI projects increasing trade “and bringing the latest technology” within Africa and globally.

  Beijing will revive the Belt and Road Forum later this year. There are huge expectations across the “Global Globe.”

  Liang Linchong did go for a breakdown of what lies ahead: “Hard connectivity” (that means infrastructure building), “soft connectivity” (emphasis on skills, technologies and standards), and “connection of hearts,” which translates into the notorious Chinese concept of “people to people exchanges.”

  So what the “Global Globe” should expect, according to Liang, is a surge of “small is beautiful” projects, very pragmatic. That ties up with the new focus by both Chinese banks and companies: Very large infrastructure projects around the world may be problematic for the time being, as China concentrates on the internal market and regimenting every front to fight the Hegemon’s multiple Hybrid Wars.

  Strategic connectivity though won’t be affected.

  Here is a prime example. Two crucial China industrial nodes – the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster – launched their first China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) international multimodal freight trains on the same day of the SCO summit in New Delhi.

  This is classic BRI: Top connectivity, using the containerized “railway-road” multimodal system. The INSTC will be using the same system for trade between Russia, the Caspian, Iran and then by sea to India.

  On the CKU, cargo reaches Xinjiang by railway, then goes on the road via the Irkeshtam border, passes through Kyrgyzstan and arrives in Uzbekistan. The whole journey saves nearly five days in transit time. The next step is to build the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway: construction starts in late 2023.

  BRI is making proverbial inroads in Africa. For instance, last month the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) handed over a prototype satellite co-developed with Egypt to Cairo’s Space City. Egypt is now the first African nation capable of satellite assembling, integration, and testing. Cairo hails it as a prime example of sustainable development.

  That’s also the first time Beijing assembles and tests a satellite overseas. Once again, classic BRI: “Consultation, Cooperation and Shared Benefits,” as defined by CASC.

  And don’t forget the new Egyptian capital: An ultra-modern satellite of Cairo built literally from scratch in the desert for $50 billion, financed by bonds and – what else – Chinese capital.

  The long and winding de-dollarization road

  All this frantic activity correlates with the key dossier to be treated by BRICS+: De-dollarization.

  India’s External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has confirmed there will be no new BRICS currency – for now. The emphasis is on increasing trade in national currencies.

  When it comes to BRICS heavyweight Russia, the emphasis for now is to drive commodity prices higher for the benefit of the Russian ruble.

  Diplomatic sources confirm that the unspoken agreement among BRICS sherpas – who this week are preparing the guidelines for BRICS+ to be discussed at the South Africa summit next month – is to hasten the fiat dollar’s meltdown: The Financing of US trade and budget deficits would become impossible at current interest rates.

  The question is how to hasten it imperceptibly.

  Putin’s trademark strategy is to always let the collective west embark in all sorts of strategic mistakes without direct Russian intervention. So what happens next in the battlefield in Donbass – NATO’s larger than life humiliation – will be a crucial factor in the de-dollarization front. The Chinese, for their part, worry about a collapsed dollar rebound on China’s manufacturing base.

  The road map ahead suggests a new trade settlement currency first designed at the EAEU, supervised by the Eurasia Economic Commission’s head of macroeconomics Sergey Glazyev. That would lead to a wider BRICS and SCO deployment. But first the EAEU needs to get China on board. That was one of the key issues recently discussed by Glazyev, in person, in Beijing.

  So the Holy Grail is a new supranational trade currency for BRICS, SCO, and EAEU. And it’s essential that its reserve status does not allow overriding power to one nation, as it happens with the US dollar.

  The only practical means of tying the new trade currency to a basket of multiple commodities – not to mention a basket of national interests – would be through gold.

  Imagine all that being discussed in depth by that interminable queue for BRICS membership. As it stands, at least 31 nations have entered formal applications or expressed interest in joining an upgraded BRICS+.

  The interconnections are fascinating. Apart from Iran and Pakistan, the only full SCO members that are not BRICS members are four Central Asian “stans,” which already happen to be EAEU members. Iran is bound to become a member of BRICS+. No less than nine nations among SCO’s observers or dialogue partners are among BRICS applicants.

  Lukashenko called it: The merging of BRICS and SCO seems virtually inevitable.

  For the top twin drivers of both organizations – the Russia-China strategic partnership – this merger will represent the ultimate multilateral institution, based on real free and fair trade, capable of dwarfing both the US and the EU and extending well beyond Eurasia to the “Global Globe.”

  German industry/business circles already seem to have seen the writing on the wall, as well as some of their French counterparts, which notably include France’s President Emmanuel Macron. The trend is towards an EU schism – and even more Eurasian power.

  A BRICS-SCO trade bloc will make western sanctions absolutely meaningless. It will affirm total independence from the US dollar, offer an array of financial alternatives to SWIFT, and encourage close military and intel cooperation against serial black ops by the Five Eyes, part of the ongoing Hybrid Wars.

  In terms of peaceful development, West Asia has shown the way. The minute Saudi Arabia sided with China and Russia – and is now a candidate to both BRICS and SCO membership – there was a new game in town.

  Golden Ruble 3.0?

  As it stands, there’s huge potential for a gold-backed ruble. If and when it hits the road, that will be a revival of the gold-backing in the USSR between 1944 and 1961.

  Glazyev has crucially observed that Russia’s trade surplus with SCO members has allowed Russian companies to pay off external debts and replace them with borrowing in rubles.

  In parallel, Russia is increasingly using the yuan for international settlements. Further on down the road, key “Global Globe” players – China, Iran, Turkey, UAE – will be interested in payment in non-sanctioned gold instead of local currencies. That will pave the way for a BRICS-SCO trade settlement currency tied to gold.

  After all, nothing beats gold when it comes to fighting collective western sanctions, pricing oil, gas, food, fertilizers, metals, minerals. Glazyev already laid down the law: Russia’s got to go for Golden Ruble 3.0.

  The time is fast approaching for Russia to create the perfect storm to deliver a massive blow to the US dollar. This is what’s being discussed behind the scenes at the SCO, EAEU, and some BRICS sessions, and this is what’s driving the Atlanticist elites livid.

  The “imperceptible” way for Russia to make it happen is to let markets drive up the prices of nearly all Russian commodity exports. Neutrals all across the “Global Globe” will interpret it as a natural “market response” to the collective west’s cognitive dissonant geopolitical imperatives. Soaring energy and commodity prices will end up provoking a steep decline in the purchasing power of the US dollar.

  So it’s no wonder that several leaders at the SCO summit were in favor to what amounts, in practice, to an expanded BRICS-SCO Central Bank. When the new BRICS-SCO-EAEU currency is finally adopted – of course it’s a long way away, perhaps in the early 2030s – it will be traded for physical gold by participating banks from SCO, BRICS, and EAU member-nations.

  All of the above should be interpreted as the sketch of a possible, realistic path to real multipolarity. It has nothing to do with the yuan as reserve currency, reproducing the existing rent-extracting racket to the profit of a minuscule plutocracy – complete with a massive military apparatus specialized in bullying the “Global Globe.”

  A BRICS-SCO-EAEU union will be focused on building – and expanding – the physical, non-speculative economy based on infrastructure development, industrial capability, and tech sharing. Another world-system, now more than ever, is possible.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 23:40

• These Are The Healthiest (& Unhealthiest) Countries In The World
  These Are The Healthiest (& Unhealthiest) Countries In The World

  It’s been 75 years since the start of the United Kingdom’s National Health Service, the first universal health system available to all, free at the point of delivery.

  

  In light of this, Statista’s Anna Fleck looks at how different health systems compare around the world, using data from Legatum Prosperity Index, created by The Legatum Institute Foundation, a London think tank.

  As the following chart shows, the UK ranks in 34th place out of the 167 indexed countries and territories, based on not only its healthcare system (such as access to health services) but also its population’s state of health (including mortality rates, illness and risk factors).

  While fairly high, the country has been sliding down the list for the Health category, having placed in 23rd position in 2019, 20th in 2016 and 19th in 2013.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  According to the index, Singapore was rated as having the top service and state of health globally in 2023.

  Asia is well represented generally, with the four top places rounded off by Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

  Meanwhile, the United States trails just behind the UK in rank 38.

  The bottom five places are Somalia, Lesotho, Chad, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

  The ranking was created as part of a wider index, which also looks at indicators such as education, investment environment and governance. When taking all analyzed areas into account, the Legatum Centre for National Prosperity says that the Nordic countries of Denmark, Sweden and Norway come out on top as the most prosperous societies.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 23:20

• America Does Not Have To Face Decline
  America Does Not Have To Face Decline

  Authored by Gabriel Nadales via RealClear Wire,

  Patriotism in America continues to hover near record lows, according to Gallup’s most recent survey. While this may not be a five-alarm fire for those of us who truly love this country – after all, roughly two-thirds of Americans responded that they were either “extremely” or “very” proud to be Americans – it is certainly a cause for concern that should be addressed. As we celebrate the birth of this great country, it is worth examining potential reasons pride in America is on the decline and rehashing why America is a nation worth loving in the first place.  

  

  Only 39% of Americans described themselves as “extremely” proud to be an American – but this statistic doesn’t tell the whole story. The partisan breakdown is fairly staggering, as only 29% of Democrats and 33% of Independents describe themselves as extremely proud, whereas 60% of Republicans said they are extremely proud. 

  While there are certainly many people in the Democratic Party who do love America and its founding values, many figures on the more progressive wing of the party have come to repudiate them. Extreme pride in America has declined slightly for Republicans, but not nearly to the extent that it has for those who identify further leftward. 

  Further, there is a major discrepancy in reported patriotism by age: 50% of those 55 and older report they are extremely proud, compared to only 18% of 18- to 34-year-olds. This could be because civics scores are declining, and more American professors and universities seem to believe America is a terrible place. 

  Dwindling patriotism in America could be due to the increase of Americans sadly believing we are a country in decline. But it doesn’t need to be that way. Although it is fair to say America may be on the wrong track in certain respects, America has the 11th highest GDP per capita, according to the World Bank. Our system of government has been a model for countries across the world. The American flag remains a symbol of freedom and justice for those living in oppressed places like Hong Kong. 

  America was built on the idea that we are all created equal. While there undoubtedly have been instances where America has fallen short of this idea – from slavery to Jim Crow to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II – the greatness of America lies in the fact that we have overcome these deficiencies and made good on the promises of the words etched in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  

  America, like any country, certainly faces many challenges, such as inflation and rising crime rates. But if we remain true to the ideals and principles that made us the country we are today, I have no doubt in my mind that we can overcome them. 

  The United States is the greatest country in the world due to the underlying principles of freedom and equality that have led to its success. A country that fails to recognize the pillars that have propelled it to success is destined to abandon them. In order to preserve and extend the success this country has had in the past, we cannot become complacent. We must continue to teach the core values that have made America such a special country, or we may face the decline the American people are fearing.   

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 23:00

• Who's Still Buying Russian Fossil Fuels In 2023?
  Who’s Still Buying Russian Fossil Fuels In 2023?

  While Russia’s revenues from fossil fuel exports have declined significantly since their peak in March of 2022, many countries are still importing millions of dollars a day worth of fossil fuels from Russia.

  Revenue from fossil fuels exported to the EU has declined more than 90% from their peak, but in 2023 the bloc has still imported more than $18 billion of crude oil and natural gas so far.

  In the following inforgraphic, Visual Capitalist’s Niccolo Conte, using data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), shows the top-importing countries of fossil fuels from Russia so far this year.

  

  China Remains Russia’s Top Fossil Fuel Importer

  China continues to be Russia’s top buyer of fossil fuels, with imports reaching $30 billion in 2023 up until June 16, 2023.

  With nearly 80% of China’s fuel imports being crude oil, Russia’s average daily revenues from Chinese fossil fuel imports have declined from $210 million in 2022 to $178 million in 2023 largely due to the falling price of Russian crude oil.

  Following China are EU nations collectively, which despite no longer importing coal from Russia since August of 2022, still imported $18.4 billion of fossil fuels in a 60/40 split of crude oil and natural gas respectively.

  

  *Over the time period of Jan 1, 2023 to June 16, 2023 in U.S. dollars

  After China and the EU bloc, India is the next-largest importer of Russian fossil fuels, having ramped up the amount of fossil fuels imported by more than 10x since before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, largely due to discounted Russian oil.

  Türkiye is the only other nation to have imported more than $10 billion worth of Russian fossil fuels in 2023, with every other country having imported fewer than $3 billion worth of fuels from Russia this year.

  Navigating the Crude Reality of Oil Exports

  Although crude oil is Russia’s chief fossil fuel export, the nation’s Urals crude traded at a $20 per barrel discount to Brent crude throughout most of 2023. While this discount has narrowed to around $16 following Russia’s announcement of further oil export cuts of 500,000 bpd (barrels per day), the price of Urals crude oil remains just 40 cents below the $60 price cap put in place by G7 and EU nations.

  Alongside Russia, Saudi Arabia also announced it would extend its cut of 1 million bpd until the end of August, with Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman commenting on the country’s solidarity with Russia and saying it would do “whatever is necessary” to support the oil market.

  While OPEC and OPEC+ nations’ cuts are an attempt at pushing crude oil prices up, increased production from the U.S. has counteracted this. The EIA forecasts 2023 U.S. production to be 12.6 million bpd, surpassing the high in 2019 of 12.3 million bpd.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 22:40

• Trump 'In A Much More Dominant Position' Than In 2016: Former GOP Strategist
  Trump ‘In A Much More Dominant Position’ Than In 2016: Former GOP Strategist

  Authored by Ryan Morgan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Former President Donald Trump is in a stronger position so far in the 2024 Republican presidential primary race than he was in the 2016 presidential primary cycle, according to former Republican campaign strategist Matthew Dowd.

  

  Mr. Dowd, who served as the chief strategist on George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign, evaluated the current Republican presidential primary field during a Tuesday panel discussion on MSNBC’s “Lindsey Reiser Reports” program. Mr. Dowd’s political loyalties have shifted since serving on Mr. Bush’s re-election campaign, and in 2021 he entered the race to become the Texas lieutenant governor, running a failed campaign on the Democratic ticket.

  “Eight years ago, when Donald Trump first ran, Donald Trump was at 14 or 15 percent in the polls,” Mr. Dowd said. “Today he’s at 50 or 60 percent in the polls. He’s in a much more dominant position—Donald Trump—than he was in 2015 and 2016 when he still won the nomination in this process.”

  Mr. Trump is the frontrunner in the RealClearPolitics Republican presidential primary polling average. With polling data across the month of June, Mr. Trump has the support of 52.4 percent of Republican primary voters across the polling average, compared to the second top Republican candidate—Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—at 21.5 percent.

  Mr. Dowd noted Mr. DeSantis won reelection in Florida “overwhelmingly,” securing a 19-point margin against his Democratic opponent. Yet, Mr. Dowd said, the Republican Florida governor “can’t seem to do anything when he goes out” of Florida.

  NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Ali Vitali, who was also on the MSNBC panel discussion, added that the growing field of Republican presidential candidates is also potentially helping Mr. Trump.

  “I think that the Trump campaign perspective frankly, is the more the merrier,” Ms. Vitali said adding that “the more people who are trying to counter Trump, the more ways the non Trump vote gets split up.”

  Mr. Dowd said the Republican presidential primary is already shaping up as though Trump is the “incumbent.”

  “The problem for Ron DeSantis, I think, and anybody else running in this race, it’s really not about them, but will some external event happen? Something that was some legal cause or something else happen that gives them a window where they can actually succeed? Because without it, I don’t see how they do,” Mr. Dowd said.

  Mr. Dowd’s comments about an “external event” or some “legal cause” changing the course of the race may be in reference to the fact that Mr. Trump is facing multiple criminal indictments and investigations. Mr. Trump was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in April on allegations he falsified his business records in order to conceal an alleged hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The former president and leading Republican candidate was indicted again in June, this time in federal court by Special Counsel Jack Smith, on allegations he improperly retained national defense documents after his presidency and obstructed government efforts to retrieve those documents.

  Trump’s Post-Indictment Polling Rise

  While the indictments against Mr. Trump could pose a legal peril for the 2024 Republican frontrunner, so far they’ve correlated to a boost in Mr. Trump’s popularity among Republican primary voters.

  Mr. Trump led Mr. DeSantis by around 15 points in the RCP polling average throughout the month of March. That lead began to expand in April after the Manhattan indictment.

  The former president again touted a jump in his poll numbers and fundraising after the federal charges brought by Mr. Smith.

  “As far as this joke of an indictment, it’s a horrible thing. It’s a horrible thing for this country,” Mr. Trump said at a June 10 rally following the federal indictment. “I mean, the only good thing about it is it’s driven my poll numbers way up. Can you believe it?”

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 22:20

• Forecasting Models Show Third Round Of Canadian Wildfire Smoke Headed To US
  Forecasting Models Show Third Round Of Canadian Wildfire Smoke Headed To US

  Air quality levels in the Northeast and Midwest could deteriorate next week as The Weather Channel forecasts another round of Canadian wildfire smoke. This would mark the third round of toxic smoke from our neighbor to the north in a month. 

  Computer models forecast a U-shaped “trough” of low pressure will develop next week in eastern Canada. That will be a welcoming sign and offer relief from scorching temperatures in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast as cooler and less humid air pours in from the north. However, with the cooler air comes the possibility of wildfire smoke. 

  

  “This U-shaped trough could also pull in at least lofted smoke from the larger fires in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia into parts of the northern US,” The Weather Channel said. 

  How much smoke blankets major metros in the Northeast is still uncertain. The best way to track the progression of the smoke is through air quality sensors in major cities. 

  

  Also, this topic might be trending on Twitter. 

  

  Be prepared because corporate media climate alarmists will predict imminent doom for the planet if another round of wildfire smoke is unleashed. 

  Recall this week. Corporate media sounded the alarm about the hottest temperatures across the world ever. After all, Pride Month was over, and ‘woke’ journos quickly defaulted back to their climate doom agenda. However, the journos cited data from the 1970s (someone needs to tell these journs the world wasn’t created five decades ago but 4.5 billion years ago). Also, there’s limited to no mention that an El Nino weather pattern has emerged. But who cares about the ‘science’ because it’s all about pushing a global warming agenda for their corporate sponsors… 

  As for Canada, the Trudeau administration better get their act together and start investing in better forest management strategies rather than spending all their time on woke policies. The consequence of failed forest management strategies is toxic air for Americans.  

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 22:00

• Snowden: Today's Surveillance Technology Makes 2013 Look Like "Child's Play"
  Snowden: Today’s Surveillance Technology Makes 2013 Look Like “Child’s Play”

  Authored by Julia Conley via CommonDreams.org,

  “We trusted the government not to screw us,” said Edward Snowden.

  “But they did. We trusted the tech companies not to take advantage of us. But they did. That is going to happen again, because that is the nature of power.”

  With this week marking 10 years since whistleblower Edward Snowden disclosed information to journalists about widespread government spying by United States and British agencies, the former National Security Agency contractor on Thursday joined other advocates in warning that the fight for privacy rights, while making several inroads in the past decade, has grown harder due to major changes in technology.

  “If we think about what we saw in 2013 and the capabilities of governments today,” Snowden told The Guardian, “2013 seems like child’s play.”

  Snowden said that the advent of commercially available surveillance products such as Ring cameras, Pegasus spyware, and facial recognition technology has posed new dangers.

  

  As Common Dreams has reported, the home security company Ring has faced legal challenges due to security concerns and its products’ vulnerability to hacking, and has faced criticism from rights groups for partnering with more than 1,000 police departments—including some with histories of police violence—and leaving community members vulnerable to harassment or wrongful arrests.

  Law enforcement agencies have also begun using facial recognition technology to identify crime suspects despite the fact that the software is known to frequently misidentify people of color—leading to the wrongful arrest and detention earlier this year of Randal Reid in Georgia, among other cases.

  Last month, journalists and civil society groups called for a global moratorium on the sale and transfer of spyware like Pegasus, which has been used to target dozens of journalists in at least 10 countries.

  Protecting the public from surveillance “is an ongoing process,” Snowden told The Guardian on Thursday. “And we will have to be working at it for the rest of our lives and our children’s lives and beyond.”

  In 2013, Snowden revealed that the U.S. government was broadly monitoring the communications of citizens, sparking a debate over surveillance as well as sustained privacy rights campaigns from groups like Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Fight for the Future.

  “Technology has grown to be enormously influential,” Snowden told The Guardian on Thursday.

  Last month ahead of the anniversary of Snowden’s revelations, EFF noted that some improvements to privacy rights have been made in the past decade, including:

  • The sunsetting of Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, which until 2020 allowed the U.S. government to conduct a dragnet surveillance program that collected billions of phone records;

  • The emergence of end-to-end encryption of internet communications, which Snowden noted was “a pipe dream in 2013”;

  • The end of the NSA’s bulk collection of internet metadata, including email addresses of senders and recipients; and

  • Rulings in countries including South Africa and Germany against bulk data collection.

  The group noted that privacy advocates are still pushing Congress to end Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which permits the warrantless surveillance of Americans’ communications, and “to take privacy seriously,” particularly as tech companies expand spying capabilities.

  “Despite calls over the last few years for federal legislation to rein in Big Tech companies, we’ve seen nothing significant in limiting tech companies’ ability to collect data… or regulate biometric surveillance, or close the backdoor that allows the government to buy personal information rather than get a warrant, much less create a new Church Committee to investigate the intelligence community’s overreaches,” wrote EFF senior policy analyst Matthew Guariglia, executive director Cindy Cohn, and assistant director Andrew Crocker.

  “It’s why so many cities and states have had to take it upon themselves to ban face recognition or predictive policing, or pass laws to protect consumer privacy and stop biometric data collection without consent.”

  “It’s been 10 years since the Snowden revelations,” they added, “and Congress needs to wake up and finally pass some legislation that actually protects our privacy, from companies as well as from the NSA directly.”

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 21:40

• Mapping The World's Informal Workforce
  Mapping The World’s Informal Workforce

  The following chart uses data from the International Labour Organization to show the share of informal employment in different countries around the world.

  According to the ILO, informal employment refers to all “economic activities, excluding illicit activities, by workers and economic units that are, in law or in practice, not covered or insufficiently covered by formal arrangements”.

  As Statista’s Anna Fleck explains, this means informal workers are not covered by national labor legislation, income tax or social protection.

  The Covid-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of such workers.

  As shown below, informal employment is most prevalent in the Global South, with several countries in the West and Central African regions recording over 90 percent of employment as informal. Much of South and Southeast Asia also have a relatively high share of informal workers, hitting averages of 75-89 percent.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  According to the ILO’s 2023 report ‘Women and men in the informal economy’, informal employment is a greater source of employment for men (60 percent) than for women (55 percent) worldwide, which is partly due to the influence of major countries such as China and Russia, where men face “greater exposure to informality”.

  In 56 percent of countries, however, especially in low and lower-middle income countries, women represent a higher share of people working in the informal sector.

  Other global trends include the fact that people in rural areas are almost twice as likely to be in informal employment than people living in urban centers.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 21:20

• No Matter Who Shows, The Debates Will Bolster Trump
  No Matter Who Shows, The Debates Will Bolster Trump

  Authored by A.B. Stoddard via RealClear Wire,

  Donald Trump was a well-known reality TV star before he was president of the United States. Anyone hoping to take on a man with perhaps the highest name identification on the planet would need to do well in a nationally televised debate. The Iowa state fair isn’t going to help a candidate like Miami mayor Francis Suarez or North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum break out. With Trump’s dominant lead in polls and a growing sense of inevitability, it seems the Aug. 23 debate in Wisconsin could be the last chance to stop him.

  

  But that won’t happen. Trump is threatening to skip the forum and hold his own event because – of course. No matter who ends up on stage, and who performs well, the net effect will likely just serve to cement Trump’s standing in the race.

  The rules that the Republican National Committee have set to limit participation are making it difficult for candidates to make the cut. They are being asked to sign a pledge to support the nominee – one Trump would never honor if he even signed – and must not only reach certain threshold in polling but also have contributions from 40,000 donors. The night isn’t likely to include the full roster of candidates, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is getting cold feet about showing up as well.

  The fewer the A-list participants and the lower the television ratings, the slimmer the possibility that the first primary debate, let alone the second one, can shuffle the race. In the words of Chris Christie, the debate next month is likely to end a lot of campaigns, not jump-start them. “I think for those people who don’t make the debate stage, it’s very hard for them to make the case for why they should stay in the race, and I’m sure they will have trouble raising money after that,” the former New Jersey governor told Politico.

  To make the stage at the debate hosted by Fox News Channel, partnering with the conservative platform Rumble and the Young America’s Foundation, the RNC is requiring candidates not only to have collected 40,000 individual donations but that 200 of them come from 20 different states. This has put the former vice president, who has collected large sums from fewer donors, in a scramble to reach the requisite number since he entered the race relatively late on June 7.

  The rules for polling qualification are more difficult. Candidates must have reached 1% in three polls of at least 800 “likely” primary voters or caucus participants. The 1% threshold will not be the problem for these lower tier candidates, it will be the polling sample size. Most recent polling had smaller samples so candidates have to hope by the Aug. 21 deadline there will be new, larger ones in which they reach 1%.

  Trump told Fox News last month that with his commanding lead in the polls he doesn’t have to debate. “Why should I let these people take shots at me?” he asked. When he boycotted the first Fox News primary debate in 2016 Trump held a competing event in Des Moines where he boasted he was raising money for veterans.

  There could be a scenario in which Trump, perhaps fresh off his third indictment – this time in the state of Georgia – suddenly wants to burst on to the debate stage in late August at the last minute. Just like his trashing of E. Jean Carroll in the town hall he did with CNN the day a jury found him guilty of sexual abuse and defamation, Trump might attack Fani Willis, the district attorney likely to bring charges against him. It would likely turbocharge his post-indictment fundraising if he bellowed from a debate stage instead of just sending ominous and angry emails and posts on Truth Social.

  But in all likelihood Trump doesn’t want to take any incoming on stage from anyone, particularly DeSantis or Christie. Nor does he want to answer hard questions from a moderator. This will not cost him votes. When Trump whines and complains, his supporters purr.

  And if Trump boycotts, DeSantis is likely to as well.

  As RCP’s Phil Wegmann reported here, “The pro-DeSantis super PAC, which does not (and cannot legally) coordinate with the candidate, expects that if Trump skips that contest, the governor won’t participate either.”

  Should he refuse to debate, the Florida governor will forgo the opportunity to separate himself from the frontrunner and do what he has yet to – take Trump on. The former president’s absence from the debate will not remove him from the discussion. Participating candidates will still be asked why they are running against him and why they believe the party should not nominate him. If DeSantis wants to gain a foothold against Trump, he needs to show up and answer those questions. Should he wimp out, Christie and others will likely mock him for it. Again, advantage Trump.

  A health event, or something in another indictment, could blunt Trump’s path to the nomination, but no candidate forum will do the job. On Aug. 23 a Republican not named Trump can “win” the debate, or even the following one, but neither night can make this a different race.

  A.B. Stoddard is associate editor and columnist at RealClearPolitics and a guest host on Sirius XM’s POTUS Channel.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 21:00

• Strengthen America's Energy Security: Unlock Appalachia's Natural Gas
  Strengthen America’s Energy Security: Unlock Appalachia’s Natural Gas

  Authored by  Dave Callahan, Charlie Burd & Rob Brundrett via RealClear Wire,

  While not a Presidential election year, 2024 hopefuls are spending the summer promoting policy solutions to win the hearts and minds of Americans across the country. Energy – and our country’s strategic advantage as the world’s largest natural gas and oil producer – remains a focal point on both sides of the political aisle.

  

  Why? Because access to energy is directly tied to human progress and economic well-being. Against the Independence Day backdrop, we celebrate the freedoms made possible by our energy abundance in America and our ability to share it with the world.

  “We can make our country more energy independent. We can make our allies more energy secure. We can make our world and our future safer in the face of climate change and geopolitical turmoil,” Energy Secretary Granholm noted about the benefits of natural gas for our nation.

  After nearly 70 years of policymakers talking about the importance of energy independence, America achieved this goal in 2019 – a direct result of the market forces and technological innovations that unlocked vast deposits of oil and natural gas. In the years since, America has become an energy exporter because of a thriving industry capable of providing clean, reliable energy to allies across the Atlantic and Pacific.

  Appalachia has played a critical role in this energy landscape. Our three states – Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia – are situated in the largest U.S. natural gas producing basin and perhaps the largest in the world, supplying over one-third of the nation’s total gas production.

  We are proud that the industry here not only produces and delivers the hydrocarbon products needed for modern life, but also contributes to massive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Ever evolving, Appalachian developers continue to push the envelope to safely bring more supply to market, deploying cutting edge technology in the field, driving production efficiencies and sustainability initiatives.

  Four short years after achieving this long-sought energy security status, we unfortunately face incredible challenges here at home. Extremist policies have put all the progress we have made at risk. America’s power grid is struggling, thanks to policies forcing economy-wide electrification while decommissioning valuable baseload power plants that balance intermittent power sources. Compounding this challenge are policies creating an infrastructure-starved natural gas network. We desperately need more pipelines and related facilities to bring natural gas to markets regionally, nationally, and globally.

  Indeed, the sector has seen some important wins this year in the region, particularly with Mountain Valley Pipeline being included in the national debt ceiling deal’s passage, which is crucial to relieving the infrastructure constrains that have plagued our region for too long. Other advancements include natural gas-fired electric generating capacity expanding in Ohio, opportunities arising in West Virginia and Pennsylvania’s quest to build out a liquified natural gas (LNG) export facility near Philadelphia.

  As these three areas of development are encouraging steps in the right direction, they also highlight the key growth areas required to continue providing this essential resource.

  Appalachia’s reserves of natural gas can support our energy needs for generations. Matched with our highly skilled workforce, it’s a winning combination to drive further economic and environmental gains. Unfortunately, regulatory bottlenecks, permit delays, and frivolous legal challenges are holding back the region from fully realizing its potential.

  The politicization of energy is threatening our energy and national security. Picking winners and punishing losers via policy is not the way to manage energy. We need commonsense solutions that allow all sources in the energy marketplace to evolve. American natural gas developers are future-focused and working every day to meet our complex energy needs safely, efficiently, and sustainably.

  As we celebrate our Independence Day, let’s not lose sight of the importance of energy independence and allow Appalachian ingenuity to keep driving our nation forward.

  Dave Callahan is President of the Pennsylvania-based Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), Charlie Burd is Executive Director of the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia (GO-WV), and Rob Brundrett is President of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association (OOGA).

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 20:40

• Newsom Calls For DOJ Probe Into Florida's Transporting Of Illegal Immigrants To California
  Newsom Calls For DOJ Probe Into Florida’s Transporting Of Illegal Immigrants To California

  Authored by Caden Pearsen via The Epoch Times,

  California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday penned a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland calling for an investigation into the recent transport of illegal immigrants from Republican-led border states under “deceptive representations.”

  

  In the letter, Mr. Newsom and his co-signatories say that illegal immigrants purportedly seeking asylum in the United States have been transported from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts and Sacramento, California under false pretenses in a program funded by Florida.

  The letter is co-signed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar of Texas.

  They acknowledge that it’s common for local jurisdictions and nongovernmental organizations “to facilitate onward travel from the border.” But their letter describes the recent efforts to move illegal immigrants to California and Massachusetts as a “scheme” in which, “according to news reports, recruiters deceived migrants into taking flights to these particular locations based on promises of jobs and shelter.”

  The letter cites “recent reporting by the Los Angeles Times and other outlets” purporting that some of the illegal immigrants who arrived in Sacramento on June 2 and 5 “may have been similarly induced by deceptive representations about access to jobs, housing, or other services.”

  A number of Democrat-led cities declared themselves sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants in response to former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

  Mr. Newsom’s letter emphasizes that while ongoing investigations into potential violations of state laws are still underway, the Department of Justice possesses the “unique capability” to conduct investigations in cases like the one they allege, which spans “no fewer than five states.”

  Last month, Mr. Bonta characterized the transport of illegal immigrants from Texas to California as “state-sanctioned kidnapping” and suggested the possibility of criminal charges against Florida.

  ‘Unconscionable’

  Last September, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is currently running for president in 2024, transported around 49 illegal immigrants from San Antonio, Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. In June, Florida admitted to sending two flights carrying illegal immigrants to Sacramento.

  This action, taken as a form of protest against what Republican lawmakers describe as President Joe Biden’s lax immigration policies, saw several GOP governors bus or fly thousands of illegal immigrants to so-called sanctuary cities led by Democratic officials.

  “It is unconscionable to use people as political props by persuading them to travel to another state based on false or deceptive representations. We urge USDOJ to investigate potential violations of federal law by those involved in this scheme,” the letter reads (pdf).

  The letter asks the DOJ to open criminal and civil investigations into the matter.

  The Bexar County sheriff’s office recently revealed that it had submitted a criminal case to the district attorney concerning the flights to Martha’s Vineyard, claiming that the illegal immigrants were deceived and persuaded to accept the free travel based on false promises, according to the letter.

  California’s attorney general, Mr. Bonta, has pledged to investigate any potential misconduct by Florida officials in connection with the flights that arrived in Sacramento. DeSantis defended these flights, arguing that sanctuary jurisdictions like California share the blame for the illegal immigration crisis.

  The letter did not mention or discuss the actions of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has also transported numerous illegal immigrants by bus to cities such as Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City.

  Mr. DeSantis has criticized the lack of federal action in safeguarding U.S. sovereignty and territorial integrity. In June, he specifically targeted sanctuary jurisdictions, suggesting that they should bear the consequences of the ongoing illegal immigration crisis.

  “These sanctuary jurisdictions are part of the reason we have this problem because they have endorsed and agitated for these types of open border policies. They have bragged that they are sanctuary jurisdictions,” Mr. DeSantis said.

  Since Biden took office, there has been a significant increase in illegal immigration at the U.S.–Mexico border. Additionally, Florida has experienced arrivals by boat at its maritime border, with individuals coming from countries like Haiti.

  Nevertheless, certain sanctuary cities, such as New York and Chicago, have faced challenges in handling the influx of illegal immigrants who are being sent to them by border states.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 20:20

• Visualizing The Global Implications Of Fertilizer Shortages
  Visualizing The Global Implications Of Fertilizer Shortages

  Fertilizer, the lifeblood of agriculture and a key input in global food production, is currently in high demand.

  However, as Visual Capitalist’s Tessa Di Grandi and Sarbrina Fortin explain below, a notable supply shortage could trigger a domino effect of harmful consequences, if not addressed.

  In this visualization below, from Brazil Potash, we take a look at the knock-on effects of fertilizer shortages.

  

  High Fertilizer Costs

  Recent supply chain disruptions, initially caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and later exacerbated by the onset of the war in Ukraine, have been causing fertilizer prices to skyrocket. Although these prices have slowly begun to cool, they are still hovering significantly above their pre-pandemic levels.

  Long-term prices are expected to be driven by the growing global population and evolving patterns in agricultural productivity.

  Rising fertilizer prices have a critical impact on the accessibility of this vital commodity to farmers. This is especially true for farmers in low-income, food-deficit countries. As a result, we see a direct impact on global food prices and overall food security.

  Strained Food Security

  Although fertilizer prices are not the sole determinant of overall crop production, they play a vital role in optimizing yields. An imbalance in this dynamic can have severe consequences.

  World cereal production declined 1.3% year-over-year from 2021 to 2022, with Europe down 5.9%.

  

  Research shows that high fertilizer prices in 2023 could lead to increased undernourishment. This would affect around 100 million people and cause approximately 1 million additional deaths.

  With the planet’s population expanding, it’s critical to ramp up crop production to safeguard global food security.

  The Case for Localized Production

  One strategy to combat the rising cost of fertilizers and avoid the looming risk to food security is investing in new, localized fertilizer companies. This approach could significantly reduce costs, creating a buffer against supply chain disruptions.

  Brazil Potash is actively involved in extracting and processing local potash ore, a key ingredient in many fertilizers. This enhances yields and fortifies crop growth across Brazil, effectively creating a localized supply chain resilient to global disruptions.

  With innovative approaches like those taken by Brazil Potash, there’s hope to offset the potential risks to global food security.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 20:00

• 'Forever Chemicals' In At Least 45 Percent Of US Tap Water: USGS Study
  ‘Forever Chemicals’ In At Least 45 Percent Of US Tap Water: USGS Study

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

  Nearly half of the tap water in the United States is estimated to have what are known as “forever chemicals,” also referred to as per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

  

  The study by the U.S. Geological Survey tested for the presence of 32 types of PFAS from samples taken from 716 locations—269 private wells and 447 public supply—across the nation from 2016 to 2021.

  Based on these samples, USGS researchers determined by modeling that, on average, at least one PFAS is detected in about 45 percent of U.S. tap water.

  There are more than 12,000 types of PFAS, which are invisible man-made chemicals, high levels of which have been linked to adverse health issues, including various cancers, reproductive issues, and adverse effects on immune function. But not all of the PFAS types can be detected with current tests.

  

  “USGS scientists tested water collected directly from people’s kitchen sinks across the nation, providing the most comprehensive study to date on PFAS in tap water from both private wells and public supplies,” USGS research hydrologist Kelly Smalling, the study’s lead author, said in a statement on July 5.

  “The study estimates that at least one type of PFAS—of those that were monitored—could be present in nearly half of the tap water in the U.S. Furthermore, PFAS concentrations were similar between public supplies and private wells.”

  PFAS are colloquially referred to as “forever chemicals” because they don’t easily break down in the human body or the environment, and some of them never fully break down. These substances are known for their resistance to grease, oil, water, and heat, and as such, can be used in a wide range of products, including non-stick cookware, stain- and water-resistant fabrics and carpets, as well as cleaning products, paints, water repellents, and fire-fighting foams.

  

  According to the USGS, the study marks “the first time anyone has tested for and compared PFAS in tap water from both private and government-regulated public water supplies” on a broad scale throughout the United States.

  “Those data were used to model and estimate PFAS contamination nationwide. This USGS study can help members of the public to understand their risk of exposure and inform policy and management decisions regarding testing and treatment options for drinking water,” the agency said in a release.

  More Risk of PFAS Exposure in Urban Areas

  Urban areas are more at risk of PFAS exposure compared to rural areas, with the forever chemicals detected in over 70 percent of urban areas or areas with a known history of PFAS contamination, compared to 8 percent of rural areas. Researchers observed the exposure in urban areas including around the Great Plains, Great Lakes, Eastern Seaboard, and Central/Southern California regions.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 19:40

• Watch: Taibbi, Brand, & Shellenberger Expose The Censors As Malign Disinformation Superspreaders
  Watch: Taibbi, Brand, & Shellenberger Expose The Censors As Malign Disinformation Superspreaders

  “How long can we allow convenience, safety, and security to enable centralized authoritarian systems to shut down communication and free speech?

  “What is the nature of this new centralizing authoritarian system?”

  “What is the misanthropy that lies at the heart of a discourse that believes our speech needs to be controlled?”

  “Where is the moral authority that is entitled to make those decisions on our behalf?”

  That is what Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger have been brave enough to dare to ask and even braver, to answer, in the following videos of the pair joining Russell Brand in London for a live discussion of The Censorship-Industrial-Complex (joined by Tim Robbins and Stella Assange).

  

  Shellenberger began by laying out the many governments enacting previously unthinkable laws encroaching on your free speech rights (and more) driven by ‘The Elites’ desire “to censor the authentic voice of the people.”

  As he ended his initial thoughts, emotions began to well up as Shellenberger explained:

  “The most painful thing – and there’s a lot of painful things that one goes through – is losing almost all of your friends as a consequence of using your speech.”

  Something many on the right can empathize with.

  But there is hope, as he noted: “The only positive thing to come out of this is to make new friends. It is not the most obvious thing you expect to lose all of your friends in your late 40s, but the ones you keep are so dear.”

  Shellenberger turned to his ‘new’ friend Matt Taibbi, they embraced, and the legendary investigative reporter began… by noting that he had written 1000s of words for his opening statement but would instead cherry pick the most notable (since his friend Michael had done such a good job) – you can read Taibbii’s full note here.

  Several points stood out from Taibbi’s summary including the day – during their Twitter Files discovery – that:

  it became “clear that the idea behind the sweeping system of digital surveillance combined with thousands or even millions of subtle rewards and punishments built into the online experience, is to condition people to censor themselves…

  …What Michael and I were looking at was something new, an Internet-age approach to political control that uses brute digital force to alter reality itself.”

  In fact, he went on to warn ominously:

  “…after enough time online, users will lose both the knowledge and the vocabulary they would need to even have politically dangerous thoughts.

  What Michael calls the Censorship-Industrial Complex is really just the institutionalization of orthodoxy, a vast, organized effort to narrow our intellectual horizons.”

  Citing a company called Graphika, Taibbi explains the causation:

  “This continual process of seeding doubt and uncertainty in authoritative voices leads to a society that finds it too challenging to identify what’s true or false.”

  The point he makes is if there is no ‘middle’ – you are either defined as ‘approved’ or ‘unapproved, or as Orwell put it ‘good’ or ‘ungood’ – individuals will naturally self-sort and self-homogenize, “and this is happening all across society.”

  What happens to a society that doesn’t square its mental books when it comes to facts, truth, errors, propaganda and so on?

  There are only a few options.

  Some people will do what some of us in this room have done: grow frustrated and angry, mostly in private.

  Others have tried to protest by frantically cataloging the past.

  Most however do what’s easiest for mental survival. They learn to forget.

  This means living in the present only. Whatever we’re freaking out about today, let’s all do it together. Then when things change tomorrow, let’s not pause to think about the change, let’s just freak out about that new thing. The facts are dead! Long live the new facts!

  We’re building a global mass culture that sees everything in black and white, fears difference, and abhors memory.

  Sadly, Brand notes that the framing of ‘free speech’ as only being an enabler of hate speech continues to dominate the narratives, and both Shellenberger and Taibbi reflected on the disappointing realization that despite all the ‘truths’ exposed by The Twitter Files, it has done little to shift the mainstream (in fact, it has done the opposite with the MSM directly targeting the reporters, and downplaying/normalizing the censorship (self-defined or imposed) we all live with every day.

  But we offer some hope, as we wonder did last week’s ruling blocking government’s direct intervention with social media companies mark the beginning of the end of the Censorship Industrial Complex? Or simply pushed the dark arts further underground?

  As Michael Shellenberger wrote at his Public Substack this week, the censorship denialism by the New York Times is a sign that the totalitarians are on the defensive. Its doublespeak is becoming laughably obvious.

  The July 4 ruling that the federal government must not demand censorship by social media companies is a major setback in the war on disinformation, reports the New York Times yesterday. The reason, says The Times, is that the Trump-appointed judge and other Republicans have fallen prey to a conspiracy theory that a Censorship Industrial Complex exists.

  Most dangerously, reports the Times, “The judge’s preliminary injunction is already having an impact. A previously scheduled meeting on threat identification on Thursday between State Department officials and social media executives was abruptly canceled…”

  In other words, there’s no Censorship Industrial Complex — no conspiracy by the US government and social media companies to censor disfavored speech. At the same time, it’s a tragedy that the US government isn’t able to meet secretly with Facebook to censor disfavored speech. Got that?

  In London, on stage with Russell Brand and me, Matt Taibbi described this kind of pretzeling as “doublethink,” which comes from George Orwell’s “1984.” Taibbi gives the example of how the US government insisted for months that the Russians blew up their own natural gas pipeline, Nord Stream, and then abruptly blamed our allies, the Ukranians, without ever bothering to explain the switcheroo.

  At least in that case, a few months had passed before the narrative shifted. In the case of the New York Times yesterday, the doublethink is occurring within the same article.

  As Matt Taibbi concluded:

  “This is more than a speech crisis. It’s a humanity crisis. I hope we’re not too late to fix it.”

  Watch the excellent full discussion below:

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 19:20

• Disney Dealt Another Major Blow Amid Backlash: 'A Losing Trade'
  Disney Dealt Another Major Blow Amid Backlash: ‘A Losing Trade’

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

  Disney’s stock was downgraded by investment company KeyBanc Capital Markets over fears of stalled growth due to lower attendance at its Disney World and Disneyland theme parks and lower streaming viewership.

  “While Disney appears less expensive versus its historical average, we believe the stock is unlikely to work until a number of items have line of sight to being resolved,” analyst Brandon Nispel wrote, Barron’s reported.

  

  KeyBanc analysts reduced Disney’s rating from overweight to sector weight, coming as the firm carried out more layoffs at ESPN. The company, which also owns ABC News, announced layoffs earlier this year.

  In a note, Mr. Nispel made reference to several areas of concern for Disney, including stalling direct-to-consumer subscriber growth, sagging content sales, a “materially harder” plan for ESPN to migrate to streaming, and fears that its U.S. theme park visits may stagnate.

  “We prefer to step aside, acknowledging meaningful uncertainty, and wait for further catalysts, as buying the dip has been a losing trade,” he wrote to clients, noting that there are “more negative than positive [near-term] catalysts.”

  Mr. Nispel also predicted that Disney will see a “deceleration of revenue” between the third and fourth quarters, according to reports. That comes in contrast to views expressed by executives at Disney, who have been bullish on revenue this year.

  As of July 5, Disney’s stock stood at about $89. Even after it brought back CEO Bob Iger in recent months, the company’s stock remains far below its early 2021 peak of $200 per share.

  While Mr. Nispel and many other analysts have made no mention of Disney’s wading into social issues, some consumers and conservative influencers called for a boycott in 2022 of the multinational media corporation after it publicly opposed a Florida law that prohibits teachers from instructing young children on transgender issues and sexuality, among other topics.

  Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis ended a decades-long deal allowing Disney World to govern its vast Central Florida resort by itself. The Republican governor has explained that the action was aimed at holding Disney accountable.

  “The corporate kingdom finally comes to an end,” he said in February. “There’s a new sheriff in town, and accountability will be the order of the day.”

  Last month, Disney’s chief diversity officer, Latondra Newton, reportedly departed the company. Notably, Ms. Newton was criticized in 2022 after she confirmed that Disney World would no longer use “ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls” for its fireworks display.

  “We want to create that magical moment with our cast members, with our guests,” Ms. Newton said when making the announcement. “And we don’t want to just assume because someone might be, in our interpretation, may be presenting as female that they may not want to be ‘princess.’”

  

  A poll last month found that Disney’s reputation has suffered in recent months. Disney was ranked in an Axios and Harris Poll as the fifth-most polarizing company in the United States.

  Layoffs

  In an announcement this year, Mr. Iger confirmed that Disney will slash about 7,000 jobs to cut costs. As part of that effort, ESPN last week announced that it’ll part ways with some major on-air talent.

  “Given the current environment, ESPN has determined it necessary to identify some additional cost savings in the area of public-facing commentator salaries, and that process has begun,” ESPN stated in an announcement on June 30. “This exercise will include a small group of job cuts in the short-term and an ongoing focus on managing costs when we negotiate individual contract renewals in the months ahead.

  “[The cuts are] an extremely challenging process, involving individuals who have had tremendous impact on our company.

  “These difficult decisions, based more on overall efficiency than merit, will help us meet our financial targets and ensure future growth.”

  ESPN’s top NBA color commentator, former New York Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy, is also leaving the channel, according to reports. Unconfirmed reports said that former NBA player-turned-commentator Jalen Rose, former NFL star Keyshawn Johnson, and former quarterback Steve Young were also among those who were laid off on June 30.

  Suzy Kolber, a longtime ESPN host, wrote on Twitter that she’s among those who were terminated.

  “Today I join the many hard-working colleagues who have been laid off,” Ms. Kolber wrote. “Heartbreaking—but 27 years at ESPN was a good run.”

  The sports network also canceled its national morning radio show with Max Kellerman, Jay Williams, and Johnson, the New York Post reported, citing anonymous sources.

  Other top ESPN personalities have indicated that they may get the axe. Stephen A. Smith, who has been with ESPN since 2003, said regarding the layoffs, “more [are] coming.”

  “And yes, ladies and gentlemen, I could be next,” Mr. Smith said during his radio program this week.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 19:00

• Taxpayer Tab For DOJ's Trump-Takedown Broke $9 Million In First Four Months Alone
  Taxpayer Tab For DOJ’s Trump-Takedown Broke $9 Million In First Four Months Alone

  The tab for special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into former president Donald Trump exceeded $9 million in the first four months of the probe, according to DOJ records released on Friday.

  

  Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland on Nov. 18, 2022 to oversee the probe into Trump’s retention of classified documents and possible obstruction of the investigation. From that date through March 31, 2023, Smith spent over $5.4 million on personnel, travel, rent and other costs. On top of that, an additional $3.8 million was provided by the DOJ when accounting for the labor of other offices involved in the investigation.

  Current costs are likely far higher, as April – July of this year were not included in the tally.

  “Although not legally required, DOJ components that support the [Smith special counsel office] were asked to track non-reimbursed expenditures attributable to this investigation, which includes hours worked by agents and investigative support analysts, as well as the cost of protective details for the Special Counsel when warranted,” the DOJ report reads. “The expenditures for this period totaled $3,818,818.“

  Smith is also looking into “any person or entity unlawfully interfered in the transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election,” or with the certification of the electoral votes around Jan. 6.

  As the Epoch Times notes, the John Durham investigations into the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane probe cost around $1 million over the same period, while special counsel Robert Hur’s probe into Biden’s mishandling of classified documents has cost some $600,000. The Mueller probe, meanwhile, cost a total of $32 million at the end of the day.

  So, for those keeping track, the investigations into Trump went all-out, while those against Biden have required far less taxpayer funds. Wonder why?

  More via the Epoch Times;

  Overall, Mr. Durham’s team spent about $9.4 million over several years, according to a filing, starting in late 2020 after then-Attorney General Bill Barr named him to head the investigation into the origins of the Trump–Russia probe and collusion narrative. His work ended in May after releasing a significant, 300-page report that faulted the FBI’s leadership for approving the investigation into Mr. Trump—although no charges were filed against any current employees at the FBI or DOJ and no one was fired.

  

  That investigation netted one guilty plea from a former FBI lawyer who admitted to falsifying an email about a surveillance warrant for a former Trump aide. Mr. Durham’s prosecutions against a Democratic campaign lawyer, Michael Sussmann, and Igor Danchenko, who was used as a source for a controversial and widely discredited dossier, ended up in acquittals, respectively.

  Last month, Mr. Smith presented charges against Mr. Trump that alleged the former president mishandled classified documents and make false statements to a grand jury, which indicted the 45th president. His office claimed that Mr. Trump misled federal officials in an attempt to allegedly hold on to sensitive material that he knew was not declassified.

  In a court hearing in Miami, Mr. Trump entered a not guilty plea. On Truth Social and in public appearances since then, the former commander-in-chief claimed that the investigation is politically motivated and that Mr. Smith may even bear a personal animus against Mr. Trump and said it’s a naked attempt to harm his chances at winning the presidency in 2024.

  A number of polls show that Mr. Trump is leading other GOP candidates by large margins. An average of polls shows Mr. Trump has 53 percent support, compared with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has about 20.9 percent, and No. 3 is former Vice President Mike Pence with 6.3 percent.

  Mr. Smith’s office is also investigating Mr. Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach and his claims made after the 2020 presidential election. It’s not clear when either of those investigations will conclude.

  Earlier this week, an aide to Mr. Trump, Walt Nauta, pleaded not guilty to charges that he helped the former president hide classified documents from federal authorities, appearing with a new Florida-based lawyer to represent him as the case moves forward. Mr. Nauta was charged alongside Mr. Trump in June in a 38-count indictment alleging the mishandling of classified documents.

  *  *  *

  In June, Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 counts related to the classified documents case – the first time a former president has been federally indicted. The charges include 31 counts of alleged violation of the Espionage Act.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 18:40

• The Federal Reserve Has Been A Disaster For America
  The Federal Reserve Has Been A Disaster For America

  Authored by Paul Craig Roberts,

  Like all indoctrinated economics PhDs, I used to teach students that the Federal Reserve was created as a central bank in order to provide cash to banks experiencing a run on deposits so that bank failures would not become general and collapse the money supply and, thereby, employment and output.  It all sounds so reasonable and rational until you realize that finance least of all is idealistic.

  

  The Federal Reserve was actually created in order to save the big New York banks from their greed-driven mistakes, and that is the Fed’s principal activity. In recent decades the Fed has gone beyond merely saving the big banks from their mistakes to helping the big ones concentrate more banking into their hands.  The Fed causes banking crises and then provides funds for the big banks to absorb the troubled regional banks.  The Fed’s current policy of raising interest rates after a decade of negative interest rates has the entire banking system insolvent. This resulted in runs on the banks, which the Fed did not save by expanding reserves, instead permitting failure and acquisition.  Obviously, what I had been trained to teach was false.

  This is true of so much of what is taught in every subject.  

  This bit of history is only a prologue to my exposé of the Fed.  The Federal  Reserve has the sole responsibility for all inflation, depression, and recession since its creation.  Until the Fed’s creation, the purchasing power of the US dollar was essentially constant over massive periods of time.  Since the creation of the Federal Reserve (1913), today’s dollar is a small fraction of the value of a dollar in 1912.  I recently published a menu from 1914, around the time when my parents were born, showing restaurant prices ranging from 10 to 25 cents. Today you cannot purchase anything for 10-25 cents.

  Milton Friedman and Anna Swartz in their Monetary History of the United States proved conclusively that the Federal Reserve caused the Great Depression of the 1930s by allowing the money supply to contract. 

  So, it was the Fed that was responsible for the ability of President Franklin D. Rosevelt, a destroyer of American liberty, to use the Great Depression to coerce the US Supreme Court with threats of packing the court with his stooges  and to force the US Congress to delegate legislative authority to new executive branch regulatory agencies.  Previously under the US Constitution Congress wrote laws that also governed their implementation. But with Roosevelt’s new regulatory agencies, this power passed to the executive branch.  Today Congress is nothing but an authorizing agency for the executive branch to make the law.

  Economists, unable or unwilling if they were existing on bank grants to point a finger at the Fed as the cause of the money supply shrinkage that caused the Great Depression, misread John Maynard Keynes and blamed the Great Depression on the inadequacy of consumer, investment, and government demand.  The Keynesial solution was to increase demand.  Keynesians said the easiest way to do this was for the government to increase government demand by running a deficit in its budget.

  Keynes himself said no such thing.  

  Keynes said that the problem was caused by central banks causing the money supply to shrink.

  But this explanation did not fulfill the aspirations that liberal economists had for fiscal policy.  Insufficient demand gave them an excuse for expanding demand via government deficit spending for causes and agendas that they supported.

  The consequence was the rise of one-dimensional macroeconomics. 

  In Keynesian economics demand (consumer, investment, government) is the only operative principal.  Supply is passive. It only responds to demand.

  Prior to Alfred Marshall, economists argued whether price was determined by what people were willing to pay–demand–or by the cost of production–supply.  Alfred Marshall resolved this controversy by saying it was like arguing over which blade of the scissors cut the paper.  Price, Marshall said, was determined by supply and demand, and there it has rested since.

  But in Keynesin macroeconomics there is only demand. This one-dimensional model has caused massive economic hardship.

  The Federal Reserve in the past and currently fights inflation by fighting employment and by reducing output.  This is because the Fed only has a demand model.  The incompetent Fed is incapable of realizing that by fighting employment and output, the Fed is reducing supply, thus rising prices.

  The current “inflation” is a supply-side inflation caused by Covid lockdown and Russian, Iranian, etc. sanctions that have without any doubt reduced supply. Simply observe the inflation in the UK and Europe. It cannot have anything whatsoever to do with “excess consumer demand” in the U.S.  Prices will fall as a result of disrupted and destroyed supply chains being reestablished, not because of the incompetent Fed’s high interest rates. The Fed’s high interest rate policy is interfering with the rebuilding of the damaged supply chains.

  The Fed’s high interest rates only serve one purpose–bank insolvency, the result of which is more concentration in the hands of the Big Banks.  The Federal Reserve chairman recently said that inflation was caused by a strong labor market driving demand and that more interest rate hikes would be necessary.  The stupidity of this position is incomprehensible.  

  People working and earning money by providing goods and services is inflationary! 

   Amazing stupidity.  

  But stupidity is all that can be found in Washington.

  What the Fed is doing is frustrating the lives of people who want to sell and buy homes, frustrating businesses who need loans to finance inventories, frustrating investors by driving down the value of their financial instruments.  No good purpose is being served.  It is amazing that Americans tolerate an institution that seeks to make them unemployed, to prevent them from selling and buying homes, that drives up prices by driving up the cost of borrowing.

  Listen to Jerome Powell and you will hear a harmful policy described as beneficial:

  And an alternative view to Jerome Powell’s view of a hot labor market.

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 18:20

• Cruise Ship Carrying 4,000 People Crashes Into San Francisco Pier
  Cruise Ship Carrying 4,000 People Crashes Into San Francisco Pier

  A Princess Cruises ship carrying nearly some 4,000 people careened into a San Francisco peer this week while attempting to dock, in what the company described as an “unexpected contact” with the Pier 27 dock at the Port of San Francisco.

  

   

  The US Coast Guard is investigating the Thursday incident.

  “There were no injuries and at no time were any guests or crew in danger,” the company told the press, adding “The ship is safely alongside and disembarkation is complete.”

  The ship was returning from an Alaska cruise which departed June 26, according to CruiseMapper.nmk

  Footage of the incident showed the extent of the damage, including a large hole or dent in the side of the ship. According to a Princess spokesperson, the extent of the damage hasn’t been fully ascertained, and the next departure time is “still being determined.”

  Ruby Princess cruise ship just slammed into Pier 27 in San Francisco. Source tells me bar pilot “tried docking on a 3knot ebb current which is insane.” Bar pilots are captains who board cruise/cargo ships and tankers to guide them through the bay’s sand bars and into port. pic.twitter.com/y1nAJ31WvX

  — Dan Noyes (@dannoyes) July 6, 2023

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

  According to reports, around 3,000 passengers and 1,200 crew were on the vessel.

  “I noticed we were spinning pretty quick, to be that close to the dock, and I was mid-ship, portside, looked out the window and we smacked into the dock,” Sacramento resident and passenger Paul Zasso told ABC7.

  Another passenger said that while the effects were minimal, “you could definitely” feel it. “It wasn’t like things falling off the shelves or anything like that, kind of like when you get the tugboats coming up against us. So yeah … it was different,” Jeremy Jordan told the outlet.

  “It was so funny, because one of the dock guys, you can hear him yell out like ‘whoa’ and then you can kind of hear it just slowly going in,” Mr. Jordan continued. “It’s ironic, because I think it was yesterday the captain was talking about how he goes into docks and how unpredictable the currents are. So yeah, it’s a challenge for them to be able to do that.”

  Here’s a look at the damage on the Ruby Princess cruise ship after it hit the dock at San Francisco’s Pier 27. https://t.co/xDT2aTlvIa pic.twitter.com/aO3yOfnkWR

  — NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) July 6, 2023

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

  Passenger Jim Simpson told KGO-TV that he and his family are still waiting to go back to Alaska.

  “I don’t swim that good. I just think they patch it up,” he said, adding “It’s a 10-day cruise, there’s plenty of time … We can make up time moving and things like that. So I don’t think it’s going to be an issue.”

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 18:00

• Twitter's Final Boss: Zuckerberg Wages War
  Twitter’s Final Boss: Zuckerberg Wages War

  Authored by Mike Solana via Pirate Wires (which we encourage readers to check out and subscribe),

  I am become Thottr, the destroyer of worlds. Last night Meta launched Threads, Mark Zuckerberg’s hotly-anticipated Twitter clone, and almost immediately blew a 10 million-person sized hole in the endless debate over Twitter’s fate: will the House that Dorsey Built survive a little more freedom of speech, or will this be the end of the most hated company in tech press history (to which journalists all, of course, remain hopelessly addicted)? Enthusiasm for this latest clone, not only from the press but also from the industry, has been deafening, and for good reason. The truth is, Elon’s Substack nuke never made much sense, nor did the media’s obsession over every other fake Twitter. But Meta is a proven clone assassin; Meta’s Instagram, the backbone of Threads, operates at the scale of something like 2 billion users; and the company is helmed by the most seasoned and successful social media executive in history. From Jack’s inaugural “just setting up my twttr” 13 years ago, this is the first real challenge the platform has ever faced. If Zuckerberg’s challenge fails, it will likely be the last. But if Zuckerberg succeeds, and Twitter declines, there will not be another conventional social media challenge to state power in our lifetime.

  

  The now endemic drama of “we need a new, free Twitter” (which the far right defines as “the far right gets to post,” and the far left defines as “the ‘far right’ does not get to post”) began in earnest in the era of Trump. This was a couple years before Dorsey’s last ditch attempt to save his platform from the fate of every other major speech platform in the country, as America lurched obviously, and dangerously, toward a single political party’s de facto control of publishing. At that time, it was the right wingers pathetically declaring victory, again and again, from their freshly minted, and only ever briefly popular political ghettos: Parler, Gab, and Donald Trump’s Truth Social. A couple years later, following the incredible saga of Elon’s Twitter takeover, came the left’s pathetic reaction, which mirrored the right exactly, and with zero self-awareness: Mastodon, Hive, and finally Post were each stupidly celebrated as the future of social media, and always for ideological rather than pragmatic reasons.  

  Until yesterday, the only apolitical Twitter clone of note, and our exception that proves the rule — that this is all just war for power — was Substack’s Notes, the introduction of which led to Elon’s most dramatic and unfortunate overreaction to date. In stripping Substack of distribution on Twitter, Twitter nuked the only real long-form alternative publishing platform in the media ecosystem, inadvertently benefiting every one of the company’s full-time assailants from the Washington Post and the New York Times to the sinking ships of Buzzfeed News and Vice (links from which are all still amplified over Substack), while significantly damaging the legacy media’s only natural critics, and Elon’s most natural allies. At the time of the Substack nuke, I warned of the greater threat, and the more ambitious challenge, in Meta. Twitter’s potential was not the upper bounds of a media company like the New York Times ($6.5B at the time of my writing), but of a social media company like Meta ($753B at the time of my writing, after a peak of over $1 trillion). Elon’s competition wasn’t Chris Best, I wrote, it could only be Mark Zuckerberg.

  Well, kids, here we are.

  There’s a good reason every Twitter clone before Threads failed: with the exception of Substack, they each had to bootstrap a social network from something like 0 people. This meant almost every person who would ever join every new, fake Twitter had to be drawn from Real Twitter, and if enough weren’t drawn — rapidly — the userbase would not be large enough to sustain interest. The few people there would grow bored, and the platform would die. But Meta’s Threads is built on top of Instagram, where, in the first place, janky pictures of tweets have gone viral for years, implying the Instagram userbase is at least interested in shortform text. More critically, that userbase is numbered in the billions, greatly dwarfing Twitter’s, which means the population of this fake Twitter is not coming from Real Twitter. It’s coming from Instagram. This is why the Threads userbase is already exploding, and users are for the most part not tweeting (thritting? thotting?) about Twitter. They’re talking about other random shit, if in a mostly cringe and boring way.

  This brings us to the Threads bear case.

  Zuckerberg’s greatest asset in Meta’s war against Twitter is the population of his Instagram userbase, but in the context of shortform text the platform’s userbase is also a curse. Instagram constitutes a massive population for the most part interested in pictures of butts, puppies, and food. Competence in the realm of visual stimuli, whether pictures or brief video clips of gyrating women, is totally different from the lifeblood of Twitter, and any would-be Twitter clone, which is wit. There is a reason picture and video-based content diverged from literary content early on in the history of social media, concentrating on separate platforms, and Twitter’s userbase was always smaller. Word chads are rare (though we are mighty, bitch), and while Instagram is populated by an ocean of people, it is an ocean of people with nothing to say. Because he’s very good at what he does, Zuckerberg seems to understand this crucial distinction among men, which is why he’s been meme’ing like hell. The literal cage match he instigated with Elon was no whimsical bit of internet fun. Mark’s new social media strategy amounts to an ad campaign targeting the world’s top poasters, wordcels, and psychologically broken (but prolific) amphetamine-addicted poets. Why? Because two of the richest men who have ever lived now need us (lol).  

  As with every new Twitter clone in the middle of a press cycle, Threads will experience massive, short term user growth. But with Instagram operating at the scale of billions, Threads’ growth trajectory will dwarf every other previous entrant by hundreds if not thousands of times. At this clip, Threads’ userbase will likely surpass Twitter’s, ushering in a flood of obituaries from a press that lock-step hates Elon. But shortly after the Twitter obituaries will come a Threads crash of probably historic nature. The problem will be content. Most Instagram users on the Instagram word vertical will weigh to visuals, as that is all they’re good at, and most observers (who comprise the bulk of every social platform population) will fail to understand why they’re not just back on Instagram or the Chinese spy app. If Zuck fails to attract some core subset of actual poasters from Twitter with the lure of a far bigger audience — a group of people talented at this type of content, who only want to be around other people talented at this type of content — his latest clone will just be this:  

  

  And then, more problematically (for all of us), this:

  

  Setting aside the fact that the above post is technically speaking cringe as hell, and ‘cringe as hell’ content is now broadly representative of Thread’s current stars, it’s important to note Ellen isn’t talking about “gay” here as defined in terms of “I am a man aware of the musical artist Betty Who.” This use of “gay” is strictly meant in the contemporary, political sense of the word as Ellen, like every institutionally-endorsed voice celebrating Threads, considers the social media platform war as, primarily, a war of politics. And sure, she may no longer matter in any kind of rising cultural sense, but here, at least, Ellen’s instincts are correct. Threads is the preferred app, and the last hope, of the One Party State.

  While Zuck was one of the earliest champions of free speech, his company ultimately proved one of the worst censors in American history — far worse, in almost every charged political respect, than Twitter. Last night, just hours into Threads’ release, it became clear Threads would police content in keeping with the Stasi hall monitor shit that defined our nation’s information hellscape Covid years. Then, while the follower counts of celebrities and influencers using Threads are naturally exploding, as should be expected given Instagram’s userbase, what could possibly account for the sudden popularity of journalists from our most state-friendly institutions (the Times, the Post, the dying new media giants)? Facebook is clearly amplifying all of the voices Twitter used to amplify. Will our newly (again) anointed arbiters of truth be able to compete with the unshackled shitposters of Twitter? It remains unclear, but we’re about to find out.   

  Given the content requirements of a short form, text-based application, the platform war does still seem, despite Zuck’s tremendous population advantage, Twitter’s game to lose. But Twitter can lose, especially if Elon continues to neglect his greatest asset, which is the committed, aligned interest of the most independent-minded and prolific writers who not only live on his platform, but only live on his platform. Zuckerberg might sweep every mainstream outlet, but so long as he’s only juicing the Death Star the rest of us will remain orientated towards Twitter. As “the rest of us” comprises the entire future of our culture, Elon’s relationship with independent writers is the only relationship that really matters.

  Back in December, at the conclusion of the great ‘Elon Takes Twitter’ saga, I warned:

  Elon’s second danger is the far more formidable danger of himself. What the Twitter Files prove beyond doubt is censorship in the age of social media is power — a real and dangerous power that corrupts.

  Today, there is only one rule on Twitter, and that rule is Elon is king. Ground floor, this is still preferable to Twitter’s prior order of ambiguity by design, in which draconian censorship was enforced, lock-step, with every other platform, and we were all just gaslit when we asked why it was happening. But then, as Elon happens to care a great deal about political freedom, the discourse is freer than it was a year ago, and not only because of the many controversial topics writers are finally permitted to question on his platform. In changing the rules of Twitter, Elon has freed discourse throughout the country.

  The rough dynamic is something like this: for real authoritarian state censorship to succeed in a free country, every major platform has to subscribe to unofficial state dogma (literally just whatever the New York Times editorial board wants), or at least fear the state enough to submit. Until Elon’s Twitter, every major platform submitted. But in such a system even one platform’s resistance breaks the whole machine. Today, if Facebook censors information about the Wuhan lab (along with Google, YouTube, and TikTok), we can all still read about it on Twitter. Censorship elsewhere is therefore meaningless. Our Overton Window broadens to a more tolerable degree. Liberty is not guaranteed, but our odds greatly improve.

  Recently, Twitter has more often stumbled in the context of the platform’s perceived competitors, and nowhere more than in the case of Substack, a still relatively unknown (among normal, happy people) content management system . There is a naïve question of the open internet here, and whether we might all just live up to the earlier, superior ideals of the 90s, which I’ll table on account of I’m trying not to be an idiot. Until Bitcoin finally gets around to “solving this,” the halcyon, glorious days of web anarchy are over, and Twitter is not the first, but the last great giant to fall. In terms of Twitter’s dominance, however, Substack could and should be one of Elon’s most important partnerships, and defenses against state power. If Twitter isn’t going to clone Substack — precisely, with all the vital freedoms and benefits it now affords writers — he needs to either buy the thing or free the Substack boys from prison. Because this is war now, with real consequences, against a real challenger, and Twitter is going to need every advantage that exists to realize Elon’s original vision for speech in this country.

  I still believe in that vision — a vision of legal dissent — and I hope Twitter acts in the most rational manner to secure that vision. Because a wild, free Twitter is still our last hope of a free country, and I really do like talking shit.

  -SOLANA

  Tyler Durden
  Fri, 07/07/2023 – 17:40

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