Today’s News 9th June 2021

• Biden Belatedly Invites Ukraine's President For White House Visit…After Putin Summit
  Biden Belatedly Invites Ukraine’s President For White House Visit…After Putin Summit

  When last month it became clear that the Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin face to face summit would happen – now set for June 16 in Geneva – Kiev made its anger clear, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urging Biden to meet with him prior to any direct Putin talks. Zelensky further recently went on the attack slamming the White House for cutting Kiev out of key decisions on Nord Stream 2, particularly after weeks ago Biden agreed to drop existing sanctions against the German company overseeing the natural gas pipeline which bypasses Ukraine – and with it badly needed transit fees.

  In an interview this past weekend with Axios, Zelensky said he was blindsided by Biden’s U-turn on the Russia to Germany pipeline after Biden gave him “direct signals” that the US was preparing to block the pipeline. The Ukrainian leader further called it “a weapon, a real weapon in the hands of the Russian Federation,” and that he doesn’t understand how “the bullets to this weapon can possibly be provided by such a great country as the US” – as he described it.

  

  Just after giving the interview, on Monday Biden belatedly phoned Zelensky, also amid widespread anger within his Democratic base over “caving” to Putin, especially over Nord Stream 2, which is said to be a mere month or two away from completion, according to recent statements from Putin. 

  In this call Zelensky finally scored the desired meeting with Biden, but it looks like it will take place after the US president first meets with Putin, with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan subsequently telling reporters:

  “They had the opportunity to talk at some length about all of the issues in the U.S.-Ukraine relationship and President Biden was able to tell president Zelensky that he will stand up firmly for Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and its aspirations as we go forward.”

  And significantly: “He also told President Zelensky that he looks forward to welcoming him to the White House in Washington this summer after he returns from Europe,” according to Sullivan’s statement.

  The Hill noted additionally that “Despite Zelensky’s appeal for a meeting, Sullivan did not say that Biden would meet with him before the summit with Putin.”

  Thank you @POTUS @JoeBiden for inviting me to visit the @WhiteHouse in July during our phone conversation. I look forward to this meeting to discuss ways to expand strategic cooperation between Ukraine and #USA

  — Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 7, 2021

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

  It is indeed looking like that meeting, which will mark Zelensky’s first White House visit since being elected to office in 2019, will come significantly after the Biden-Putin summit – in July according to follow-up confirmation by Zelensky.  

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 06/09/2021 – 02:45

• Denmark Cracks Down On Mass Migration
  Denmark Cracks Down On Mass Migration

  Authored by Soeren Kern via The Gatestone Institute,

  The Danish Parliament has passed a new law that will allow the government to deport asylum seekers to countries outside of the European Union to have their cases considered abroad. The legislation is widely seen as a first step toward moving the country’s asylum screening process beyond Danish borders.

  

  The law, proposed by the Social Democrat-led government, is aimed at discouraging frivolous asylum applications. It has been greeted with fury by those who favor mass migration, presumably out of fear that other EU countries may now follow Denmark’s lead.

  Denmark, which already has some of the most restrictive immigration policies in Europe, is at the vanguard of European efforts to preserve local traditions and values in the face of mass migration, runaway multiculturalism, and the systematic encroachment of political Islam.

  An amendment to the Aliens Act, approved on June 3 by 70 votes to 24, authorizes the government to enter into agreements with non-EU countries (so-called third countries) to allow it to “transfer third-country nationals and stateless persons who apply for asylum in Denmark to the third country in question for the purpose of substantive processing of asylum applications.”

  Danish Immigration Minister Mattias Tesfaye, a Social Democrat and the son of an Ethiopian immigrant, told the Financial Times that Denmark had “identified a handful of countries,” mostly in Africa, that might be open to hosting migrant reception centers.

  In April, Tesfaye signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” with Rwanda regarding “cooperation on asylum and migration issues.” The document raised speculation that Denmark wants to transfer migrants to the East African country, which has a tradition of hosting refugees. The memorandum spelled out the Danish government’s long-term objective:

  “Denmark is committed to finding new and sustainable solutions to the present migration and refugee challenges that affect countries of origin, transit and destination. The current asylum system is unfair and unethical by incentivizing children, women and men to embark on dangerous journeys along the migratory routes, while human traffickers earn fortunes.

  “There is a need to finding new ways of addressing the migration challenges by promoting a fairer and more humane asylum system based on a comprehensive approach. This includes addressing the root causes of irregular migration, providing more and better protection of refugees in the regions of conflict and increasing assistance to host nations, countries of origin and transit — along the migratory routes — in order to improve border management, strengthen asylum systems and fight human smuggling.

  “It is also the vision of the Danish Government that the processing of asylum applications should take place outside of the EU in order to break the negative incentive structure of the present asylum system.”

  Advocates of mass migration have criticized Denmark’s new law. The European Commission, the EU’s powerful administrative arm, said that it had “fundamental concerns” about deporting asylum seekers to countries outside of Europe:

  “External processing of asylum claims raises fundamental questions about both the access to asylum procedures and effective access to protection. It is not possible under existing EU rules or proposals under the new pact for migration and asylum.”

  Others have accused Denmark of seeking to “export” the asylum process. Gillian Triggs, assistant high commissioner of UNHCR, the United Nations’ refugee agency, warned that “such practices undermine the rights of those seeking safety and protection, demonize and punish them and may put their lives at risk.”

  UNHCR global spokesperson Shabia Mantoo added that the agency “remains firmly opposed to national initiatives that forcibly transfer asylum-seekers to other countries and undermine the principles of international refugee protection.”

  In an interview with Euronews, Nikolas Feith Tan, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for Human Rights, said that Denmark’s plan to house asylum seekers outside its borders represents “a fundamental shift” in how the international protection system functions:

  “Up until now, refugee protection has been primarily territorial. If you reach Denmark, then Denmark is responsible for both assessing whether you are a refugee or not, and if you are a refugee, then for granting you protection. The new legislation shifts that idea of territorial asylum.”

  Tan said that transferring asylum seekers abroad in principle does not violate international law, but that the government should still expect be sued in Danish courts and at the European Court of Human Rights.

  Tesfaye said that “a key aim” was to reduce the number of “spontaneous” asylum seekers to Denmark:

  “The current asylum system has failed. It is inefficient and unfair. Children, women and men are drowning in the Mediterranean or are abused along the migratory routes, while human traffickers earn fortunes.”

  Other Measures to Curb Mass Migration

  Since assuming power in June 2019, the government of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has introduced a raft of measures aimed at curbing mass migration. The measures build on those implemented by previous governments.

  June 3, 2021. The Danish Parliament approved by 78 votes to 16 a new law that authorizes the government to revoke Danish citizenship from immigrants who are members of criminal gangs. The law is aimed at tackling a surge in migration-linked violent crime. The amendment to the Citizenship Act allows for the “denial of citizenship for certain forms of serious gang crimes considered detrimental to the vital interests of the State.” The law applies only to dual nationals and not to gang members who, by losing their Danish citizenship, would become stateless. The new law, which is not retroactive, enters into force on July 1, 2021.

  Minister of Justice Nick Hækkerup said:

  “Gang crime in no way belongs in Denmark. When foreigners or persons to whom we in Denmark have granted Danish citizenship participate in the gangs’ ruthless crime, it is a fundamental expression of contempt for the society of which they are a part. Therefore, it is good news that Parliament has today passed the government’s bill to provide the opportunity to revoke citizenship in the event of serious gang crime to the serious detriment of the state’s vital interests. It is a goal for the government to ensure that Danes can be safe in their everyday lives. When the gangs challenge that security, it must have noticeable consequences.”

  May 26, 2021. The Danish Parliament approved by 67 votes to 26 a first-ever Repatriation Law which authorizes the government to deport failed asylum seekers and other migrants illegally in the country. The law allows the government to monitor foreigners’ mobile phones in order to more easily identify and deport them.

  The law was approved amid reports that migrants who had been paid between 100,000 and 225,000 Danish kroner ($16,000 and $37,000) by the Danish government to leave the country took the money but then disappeared without actually leaving. Others took the money and left the country and later returned.

  Minister for Foreign Affairs and Integration Mattias Tesfaye said:

  “We have too many foreigners without legal residence in Denmark who do not return home. It is unsustainable. Both for the individual and for the Danish state, which must spend money on accommodating these people…. The penalties have been increased for those with deportation orders who do not comply with their control obligations. Now we have taken the next step towards a coherent repatriation policy. It is intended to help more foreigners without legal residence to return to their home countries. I am glad that there is broad support for this in the parliament.”

  May 6, 2021. The Danish government tightened citizenship rules. In future, individuals with criminal records will be excluded from obtaining Danish citizenship. Individuals found guilty of committing immigration or social security fraud must wait for six years for their citizenship application to be considered. The new rules also introduced an employment requirement. Applicants must have been in full-time employment or have been self-employed for at least three years and six months within the previous four years. Five questions about Danish values ​​have been added to the citizenship test. Applicants will be required to correctly answer four out of the five questions. “There is great agreement among the parties to the agreement that it is crucial that an applicant has adopted Danish values,” the government said in a statement.

  Minister for Foreign Affairs and Integration Mattias Tesfaye said:

  “We have to draw a line in the sand. People who have been imprisoned must not have Danish citizenship.”

  Spokesman for the Liberal Party, Morten Dahlin, added:

  “Danish citizenship is a gift to be earned. Therefore, we must make an effort when handing out passports. Those we welcome in the Danish family must have embraced Denmark and stayed on the right side of the law. That is why we in the Liberal Party are happy that there is now a greater focus on Danish values ​​and that there is a crackdown on foreigners who have committed crimes. These have been important demands on our part.”

  Conservative Rapporteur Marcus Knuth said:

  “The Conservatives have been fighting for new rules for Danish citizenship for over a year. It is especially important to us that criminal foreigners with a prison sentence can never apply for Danish citizenship, and it is important to us that there is now an employment requirement, so one must now have worked the last 3½ out of four years. We also worked on a ceiling on the number of citizenships for applicants outside the EU and the Nordic countries, but unfortunately the government would not. In return, we now have an audit provision, so the government shall call for discussions if there is a significant increase in the number of applicants.”

  Liberal Alliance Rapporteur Henrik Dahl said:

  “I am first and foremost happy that, as something new, we demand that new citizens have worked for some years before they can get a Danish passport. It is only reasonable that one has contributed to the Danish economy before one gets full rights in Denmark.”

  March 17, 2021. The Danish government announced a package of new proposals aimed at fighting “religious and cultural parallel societies” in Denmark. A cornerstone of the plan includes capping the percentage of “non-Western” immigrants and their descendants dwelling in any given residential neighborhood. The aim is to preserve social cohesion in the country by encouraging integration and discouraging ethnic and social self-segregation.

  March 9, 2021. The Danish Parliament approved a new law that bans foreign governments from financing mosques in Denmark. The measure is aimed at preventing Muslim countries, particularly Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, from promoting Islamic extremism in Danish mosques and prayer facilities.

  March 9, 2021. The Danish Parliament approved by 96 votes to 0 a new law that bans religious marriages of minors and forced marriages. Islamic preachers and others who conduct such marriages now face up to two years in prison and deportation from Denmark. The same goes for parents who allow their children enter into a Sharia marriage. The penalty for detaining a person in a forced marriage was increased to four years in prison. The law also authorizes the government to withdraw the passports of children if there is reason to believe that they are being sent abroad to be married, regardless of whether the marriage is legally valid. The law bans the use of Islamic nikah marriage contracts which often make it difficult for Muslim women to seek a divorce. The new law entered into force on March 15, 2021.

  February 18, 2021. The Danish government announced that it would review the residency status of 350 Syrian migrants from Syria. The move came after the Danish Refugee Board decided that the Rif Damascus region of Syria is now safe and that there is no longer a basis for granting or extending temporary residence permits.

  Minister for Foreign Affairs and Integration Mattias Tesfaye said:

  “Denmark has been open and honest from day one. We have made it clear to the Syrian refugees that their residence permit is temporary. It can be withdrawn if protection is no longer needed. With the Refugee Board’s decisions this week, the authorities will now review the pile of cases from the same province. This is good. We must give people protection for as long as it is needed. But when conditions in the home country improve, a former refugee should return home and re-establish a life there.”

  October 3, 2020. The government proposed a new Repatriation Law to ensure that more rejected asylum seekers were sent home. At least 1,100 rejected asylum seekers in Denmark do not have the right to reside in the country, and more than 200 rejected asylum seekers have remained Denmark for a more than five years. The measures include paying failed asylum seekers 20,000 Danish kroner (€2,700; $3,600) to leave the country.

  September 11, 2020. The government proposed an amendment to the Foreigners’ Citizenship Act that would deny Danish citizenship to Danish jihadists — so-called foreign fighters. Cabinet Minister Kaare Dybvad said:

  “The government will go to great lengths to prevent foreign fighters who have turned their backs on Denmark from returning to Denmark. We are talking about men and women who have committed or supported outrageous crimes. Therefore, it must also be possible in the future to deprive them of their citizenship.”

  September 10, 2020. The government created a new ambassadorial post and a task force to work to establish migrant reception centers in third countries outside of the European Union — in Libya, Tunisia or Morocco.

  May 31, 2018. The Danish Parliament approved a ban on Islamic full-face veils in public spaces. The law, sponsored by the center-right government in power at the time, and backed by the Social Democrats and the Danish People’s Party, passed by 75 votes to 30. Anyone found wearing a burka (which covers the entire face) or a niqab (which covers the entire face except for the eyes) in public in Denmark is subject to a fine of 1,000 Danish kroner (€134; $163); repeat offenders could be fined 10,000 Danish kroner. In addition, anyone found to be requiring a person through force or threats to wear garments that cover the face could be fined or face up to two years in prison.

  January 26, 2016. The Danish Parliament adopted several measures aimed at reducing the number of asylum seekers arriving in Denmark: The reintroduction of the requirement that only refugees with the highest potential for integration into Danish society be accepted; an increase in time requirement to three years for family reunifications for asylum seekers; an increase in time requirement before the awarding of permanent residency status; additional integration requirements, including the ability to prove language skills, before permanent residency can be attained; permanent and temporary residency status were made easier to lose; the introduction of fees to apply for family reunification and to convert temporary residence permit to permanent residence permit; a 10% reduction in economic aid to asylum seekers; police were given power to confiscate from asylum seekers items of value to support the cost of their stay; asylum seekers were required to live in special housing centers.

  Changing Demographics

  Denmark, which has a population of 5.8 million, received approximately 40,000 asylum applications during the past five years, according to data compiled by Statista. Most of the applications received by Denmark, a predominately Lutheran country, were from migrants from Muslim countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

  In recent years, Denmark has also permitted significant non-asylum immigration, especially from non-Western countries. Denmark is now home to sizeable immigrant communities from Syria (35,536); Turkey (33,111); Iraq (21,840); Iran (17,195); Pakistan (14,471); Afghanistan (13,864); Lebanon (12,990) and Somalia (11,282), according to Statista.

  Muslims currently comprise approximately 5.5% of the Danish population, according to the Pew Research Center. Under a “zero migration scenario,” the Muslim population is projected to reach 7.6% by 2050; with a “medium migration scenario,” it is forecast to hit 11.9% by 2050; and under a “high migration scenario,” Muslims are expected to comprise 16% of the Danish population by 2050, according to Pew.

  As in other European countries, mass migration has resulted in increased crime and social tension. Danish cities have been plagued by shootings, car burnings and gang violence.

  During a recent EU review of the Schengen Agreement, the treaty that regulates the EU’s system of open borders, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Integration Mattias Tesfaye said:

  “The possibility of reintroducing temporary border control is crucial for the security of Danes. This was shown by the refugee and migrant crisis in 2015. And the corona crisis has recently reaffirmed this. There is a need for changes to the Schengen rules so that member states have more flexibility to decide. We in Denmark know best when there is a need for control of Denmark’s borders.”

  On January 22, during a parliamentary hearing on Danish immigration policy, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that she was determined to reduce the number of asylum approvals:

  “Our goal is zero asylum seekers. We cannot promise zero asylum seekers, but we can establish the vision for a new asylum system, and then do what we can to implement it. We must be careful that not too many people come to our country, otherwise our social cohesion cannot exist. It is already being challenged.”

  In an interview with Danish broadcaster DR on June 3, MP Rasmus Stoklund said that if someone seeks refuge in Denmark in the future, he or she must expect to be deported to a third country: “Therefore, we hope that people will stop seeking asylum in Denmark.”

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 06/09/2021 – 02:00

• Why A Judge Has Georgia Vote Fraud On His Mind: "Pristine" Biden Ballots That Looked Xerox'd
  Why A Judge Has Georgia Vote Fraud On His Mind: “Pristine” Biden Ballots That Looked Xerox’d

  Authored by Paul Sperry via RealClearInvestigations.com,

  When Fulton County, Ga., poll manager Suzi Voyles sorted through a large stack of mail-in ballots last November, she noticed an alarmingly odd pattern of uniformity in the markings for Joseph R. Biden. One after another, the absentee votes contained perfectly filled-in ovals for Biden — except that each of the darkened bubbles featured an identical white void inside them in the shape of a tiny crescent, indicating they’d been marked with toner ink instead of a pen or pencil.

  

  Adding to suspicions, she noticed that all of the ballots were printed on different stock paper than the others she handled as part of a statewide hand recount of the razor-thin Nov. 3 presidential election. And none was folded or creased, as she typically observed in mail-in ballots that had been removed from envelopes.

  In short, the Biden votes looked like they’d been duplicated by a copying machine.

  “All of them were strangely pristine,” said Voyles, who said she’d never seen anything like it in her 20 years monitoring elections in Fulton County, which includes much of Atlanta.

  She wasn’t alone.

  At least three other poll workers observed the same thing in stacks of absentee ballots for Biden processed by the county, and they have joined Voyles in swearing under penalty of perjury that they looked fake.

  Now election watchdogs have used their affidavits to help convince a state judge to unseal all of the 147,000 mail-in ballots counted in Fulton and allow a closer inspection of the suspicious Biden ballots for evidence of counterfeiting. They argue that potentially tens of thousands may have been manufactured in a race that Biden won by just 12,000 votes thanks to a late surge of mail-in ballots counted after election monitors were shooed from State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

  “We have what is almost surely major absentee-ballot fraud in Fulton County involving 10,000 to 20,000 probably false ballots,” said Garland Favorito, the lead petitioner in the case and a certified poll watcher who runs VoterGa.org, one of the leading advocates for election integrity in the state.

  He said the suspect ballots remain in the custody of the election officials and inaccessible from public view.

  “We have confirmed that there are five pallets of shrink-wrapped ballots in a county warehouse,” Favorito said in an interview with RealClearInvestigations.

  He and other petitioners were ordered to meet at the warehouse May 28 to settle the terms of the inspection of the absentee ballots. But the day before the scheduled meeting, the county filed a flurry of motions to dismiss the case, delaying the inspection indefinitely.

  “We will be in court on June 21 to resolve these motions,” said Favorito, calling them another “roadblock” the county has tried to throw in their way. He expects talks over the logistics of the inspection to resume after the Fourth of July holiday.

  As part of his May 21 order, Superior Court Judge Brian Amero requested officials guard the warehouse around the clock until an inspection date can be set. But just eight days later, a breach in security was reported after sheriff’s deputies left their post for a couple of hours.

  “The front door was [found] unlocked and wide open in violation of the court order,” Favorito said.

  County officials confirmed that a motion-detection alarm was triggered Saturday, May 29, shortly after the deputies drove away from the building in their patrol cars around 4 p.m. But they said a locked room where the ballots are kept “was never breached or compromised.”

  Favorito is not convinced, and his lawyer is seeking to obtain the video footage from building security cameras. “How do we know for certain there was no tampering with the ballots?” asked Favorito, who said he did not vote for Trump. News of the security lapse caught the attention of former President Trump, who has claimed his loss to Biden was marred by fraud. In a statement, he implied election officials in the Democratic-controlled county are trying to hide evidence of fraud.

  “They are afraid of what might be found,” he asserted.

  Trump is also closely monitoring the ongoing election audit in Arizona, another red state that turned blue in 2020. If evidence of fraud is found in these key swing states, it might help confirm suspicions the election was “stolen” from Trump and the 74 million who voted for him — as a recent poll found 61% of Republicans believe — as well as provide the proof of voter fraud that Democrats and major media have long claimed doesn’t exist.

  The cases could potentially give other battleground states incentive to take steps to tighten election security and root out fraud, including passing legislation to limit the use of controversial mail-in drop boxes and require the verification of signatures on such ballots. In Georgia, relatively few mail-in ballots were rejected for invalid signatures in the November general election, even though several thousand had been disqualified for signature issues in the primary election.

  In a move that inspired national boycotts alleging voter “suppression,” Georgia recently passed a law limiting, but not removing, the drop boxes. The state had installed them for the first time in 2020 under pressure from Democratic groups, who argued officials needed to make voting easier for minorities who didn’t trust the mail and feared going to the polls during the COVID scare.

  The 38 drop boxes Fulton distributed throughout the county in the November election will be cut to eight in the future. The boxes had been largely unregulated and unattended — located outdoors, open 24 hours a day and available for drop-offs until the evening of Election Day, prompting complaints of ballot stuffing and double voting. But now they have to be located inside election offices or early voting locations, and can only be available during the hours when early voting is permitted. The new law also requires ballots be printed on special security paper.

  Voting by mail traditionally was limited to voters who had clearly defined and well-documented reasons to be absent from the polls. But Democrats in key swing states lobbied to relax the rules in the middle of the election and amid the coronavirus pandemic.

  Mail-in or drop-off ballots create opportunities for voter error and fraud. In a typical election, one in 20 mailed ballots are rejected, according to recent studies. More than 534,000 mail-in ballots were rejected during the 2020 Democratic primaries alone.

  Still, both Republican and Democratic officials in Georgia say they have found no credible evidence of widespread fraud in the general election. Democrats, as well as many major media outlets, have written off Favorito’s group’s allegations of fraud as “conspiracy theories.”

  “This is nothing more than a circus that’s being put on by those who promote the ‘big lie’ ” that Trump won the election, said Robb Pitts, the Democratic chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners.

  “Where does it end? The votes have been counted. The elections have been certified. It’s over.”

  Pitts effectively controls the county elections board through his Democratic appointee Mary Carole Cooney, who runs the board. They are in charge of securing the pallets of disputed Biden mail-in ballots awaiting inspection in the county warehouse.

  But Judge Amero, who federal elections records show is a Democratic donor, felt compelled to unseal the ballots for a forensics review after reading the sworn affidavits submitted by election monitors. Here are key witnesses in the case:

  Suzi Voyles, a veteran Fulton poll manager who audited the Nov. 14 recount at Georgia World Congress Center, testified she examined several stacks of ballots of about 100 ballots each from a cardboard box marked “Box No. 5 — Absentee — Batch Numbers 28-36.” She said these ballots “came from the ballot [drop] boxes that had been placed throughout Fulton County.”

  “Most of the ballots had already been handled; they had been written on by people, and the edges were worn. They showed obvious use,” she wrote in her Nov. 17 affidavit. “However, one batch stood out. It was pristine. There was a difference in the texture of the paper,” and these mail-in ballots hadn’t been folded even though they ostensibly had been removed from envelopes.

  All but three of the 110 ballots in the bundle — which had been labeled “State Farm Arena” — were marked for Biden and appeared to be “identical ballots.”

  The most “alarming peculiarity” was the identically marked ovals next to Biden’s name. In every ballot, “The bubble next to ‘Joseph R. Biden’ had a slight white eclipse in the bubble,” she said, leading her to believe that the batch of 107 Biden ballots had been “copied” from a single ballot.

  Voyles speculated that “additional absentee ballots had been added [for Biden] in a fraudulent manner” at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta on election night.

  The void she and other auditors witnessed in the exact same spot of the oval filled in on 107 ballots for Biden “was alarming to us,” Voyles said in an RCI interview. “Every single bubble was precisely alike. I had never seen that before in 20 years” of election monitoring.

  But when she and other recount workers raised concerns with county election officials, “we were told not to worry about it,” she said. “They seemed uninterested in the [integrity of the] ballots.”

  After Voyles later blew the whistle in affidavits and state election hearings, she was fired as a poll manager by the Fulton County Department of Elections. “I got the boot for speaking the truth,” she told RCI.

  Robin Hall, a certified Fulton County recount observer, also testified she witnessed a number of boxes of absentee ballots marked “100% for Biden” that appeared to be “perfectly filled out as if they were pre-printed with the presidential candidate selected.” She stated: “They did not look like a person had filled this out at home.  All of them looked alike.”

  Judy Aube also worked at the World Congress Center on Nov. 14 where she observed the same thing: “suspicious batches” of mail-in ballots for Biden whose markings appeared identical, as if they had been duplicated by a machine and not filled out by a voter at home.

  Barbara Hartman, another election official auditor, also doubted the authenticity of absentee ballots she handled that she said were never folded, as would normally be the case for ballots returned in an envelope by mail or dropped in a box. “The absentee ballots looked as though they had just come from a fresh stack,” she swore in her affidavit. “I could not observe any creases in the ballots and [it] did not seem like they were folded and put into envelopes or mailed out.”  Also, “The majority of the mail-in ballots that I reviewed contained suspicious black perfectly bubbled markings for Biden,” Hartman stated, adding that “they looked as if they were stamped.”

  The veteran poll watchers found no plausible explanation for the anomalies other than possible fraud.

  However, election officials have offered an explanation for why the mail-in ballots examined in the stacks did not have folds or creases. They say ballots are sometimes copied onto other paper when they are too damaged to be fed through one of the scanning machines during tabulation. The mailed ballots can be torn or crumpled by postal workers during delivery or by poll workers while opening them and removing them from envelopes, which could prevent the machines from reading them.

  

  From controversial video at State Farm Arena, Atlanta, showing ballots being pulled from under tables. WSB-TV/YouTube

  But Favorito suspects the hundreds, if not thousands, of allegedly duplicate absentee ballots for Biden might be connected to spikes in votes for Biden he observed late on election night in Fulton County after election officials cleared monitors from State Farm Arena and pulled cases full of ballots out from under tables and began scanning them.

  “There’s always the chance it was an inside job,” said Favorito, a career IT professional who’s been a leading advocate for Georgia election integrity over the past two decades.

  On Nov. 3, Fulton County elections officials informed monitors that they were shutting down the State Farm tabulation center before midnight, only to continue counting throughout the night while no one was watching.

  “Election workers don’t bring ballots in after the supervisor has delayed processing until the morning, hide them under a table and then bring them out for scanning and tabulation after the supervisor tells [monitors] they are done scanning for the evening and they go home,” Favorito said.

  “Once scanning [was] completed, an election line feed showed an unprecedented vote spike that turned the election in favor of Biden,” he added. In fact, “just over a half hour after workers scanned the potentially fraudulent ballots, an election line feed showed a 100,000-plus vote spike for Biden.”

  “Where did those ballots come from and why did they handle them so suspiciously?” Favorito asked.

  Voyles noted that the county elections supervisor who oversaw the secret scanning of the cases full of ballots also helps run the warehouse where the suspect ballots are being stored.

  Phone calls and emails to Fulton County went unanswered.

  Similar Anomalies, Other Counties

  Favorito pointed out that the potential for counterfeit ballots exists in other Georgia counties, not just Fulton.

  In fact, two Democrat poll workers blew the whistle on similar anomalies they witnessed in neighboring DeKalb and Cobb counties, where the election process also is controlled by Democrats.

  Carlos E. Silva, for one, declared in a Nov. 17 affidavit that he observed a similar “perfect black bubble” in absentee ballots for Biden during the recount he worked in DeKalb County. And while overseeing the Cobb County recount, he swore he “observed absentee ballots being reviewed with the same perfect bubble that I had seen the night before in DeKalb. All of these ballots had the same characteristics: they were all for Biden and had the same perfect bubble.”

  Added Silva, a registered Democrat: “There were thousands of [mail-in] ballots that just had the perfect bubble marked for Biden and no other markings in the rest of the ballot.”

  Another registered Democrat, Mayra Romera, testified that while monitoring the Cobb County recount, she noticed that “hundreds of these ballots seemed impeccable, with no folds or creases. The bubble selections were perfectly made … and all happened to be selections for Biden.”

  In a recent article pooh-poohing complaints of fraud in Georgia, as well as Arizona, the New York Times portrayed Favorito as “a known conspiracy theorist” and suggested he was a 9/11 truther. As evidence, it cited a 2002 book he published “questioning the origin of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.”

  Asked about it, Favorito responded: “My book did not propose any theories on what happened on 9/11. I don’t mention anything about explosives” planted in the World Trade Center, as truthers have baselessly speculated. Rather, he said, he questioned Bush family business connections with the bin Laden family and other wealthy Saudis, and argued that the war on terror benefited the Bushes. He also faulted the Bush administration for “obstructing” FBI investigations into the attacks.

  Favorito says he is a “constitutionalist” and neither a Republican nor a Trump supporter.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 06/09/2021 – 00:05

• "National Exotic Dancer Shortage" Forces New Orleans Strip Club To Offer Signing Bonuses 
  “National Exotic Dancer Shortage” Forces New Orleans Strip Club To Offer Signing Bonuses 

  Joe Biden’s Universal Basic Income is worsening the unprecedented nationwide labor shortage that even strip clubs face difficulties in hiring. 

  According to local news Fox 8 New Orleans, Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club New Orleans is experiencing what they say is a “national exotic dancer shortage.” Like any business facing difficulties filling positions, the club is offering signing bonuses. 

  “We look forward to reverting back to a seven-day per week operation, just as we were prior to COVID,” said Ann Kesler, General Manager of Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club New Orleans.

  

  Kesler said, “In order to do so, we need to ensure that we have an ample number of entertainers to sustain our guests, which is why we are implementing a signing incentive to both local and out of state entertainers.”

  She said the club is offering up to a $1,000 signing bonus to any new or returning “entertainer,” or commonly known as a stripper. 

  “Believe it or not, New Orleans has everything besides exotic dancers at this time,” Kesler added. “I urge entertainers to contact me for their signing bonus as the city quickly gears towards full capacity.”

  

  The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on sex workers was some of the hardest hit. The stripping industry was decimated for more than a year as direct physical contact and gatherings were limited or banned by states and or cities. Some strippers had enough savings and clientele to weather the pandemic, and others resorted to webcam modeling as supplemental income. Meanwhile, some slipped through the cracks and either left the industry to retool their skills in another industry or have been collecting Biden checks, unwilling to go back to work. 

  After trillions in Biden stimulus, millions of people are not seeking gainful employment but sitting back waiting for the next stimmy check. 

  Strip clubs are no exception to the nationwide labor shortage as they must offer signing bonuses. The dancer shortage is also hitting Las Vegas’ Little Darlings strip club, which recently posted a sign that read: “Stripper Shortage! Now Accepting Ugly Girls.” 

  The stripper shortage threatens to derail our economic recovery pic.twitter.com/c6MM947i4l

  — Las Vegas Locally 🌴 (@LasVegasLocally) June 2, 2021

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  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 06/08/2021 – 23:45

• What Is The FBI Hiding About The DC Pipe Bomb Suspect?
  What Is The FBI Hiding About The DC Pipe Bomb Suspect?

  Authored by Techno Fog via The Reactionary

  

  It has been over five months and the FBI still has not apprehended the hooded suspect who placed pipe bombs near the RNC and DNC headquarters in Washington, D.C. on the evening of January 5, 2021.

  The FBI’s latest wanted poster provides photographs and few identifying characteristics of the suspect:

  

  There are, however, some curious omissions in the FBI’s description. By now, we assume the FBI (if it has done a thorough investigation) has the suspect’s height, approximate weight, and shoe size.

  Why not disclose that information to the public?

  Calculating height from video footage is a simple matter of geometry. I won’t get into the details of the calculations. But in general, this graphic from the FBI’s Best Practices for Forensic Image Analysis shows the analysis done to determine the height of a bank robbery suspect.

  

  In the DC pipe bomb case, the suspect was seen on video standing on a DC street on South Capitol Street on the night of January 5. From this camera angle, the suspect’s height is roughly even with the height of a nearby handrail. Not a complicated problem for the FBI’s experts to solve.

  

  Once the suspect’s height is measured against the fixed object, it could be compared against and confirmed by use of the measurements from the resident seen on video walking his dog. (We assume that the FBI has located and interviewed this resident.)

  

  By now the FBI also likely has a shoe size. Again, based on video footage this would be a simple measurement. Photograph for reference.

  

  Currently, the FBI has a $100,000 reward for information leading to the identification of this suspect.

  The FBI has pleaded with the public, saying “We need your help to identify the individual responsible for placing these pipe bombs to ensure that they will not harm themselves or anyone else.”

  We reached out to the FBI, asking if they would release the suspect’s height and weight and shoe size. This information is essential to help the public identify the suspect.

  The FBI’s response: “The FBI has no further information to supply on this matter other than what has already been released.”

  

  Why keep the suspect’s identifying information under wraps?

  A couple possibilities. First, the FBI’s investigation is probably further along than any of us know. They’re collecting data on purchases of the suspect’s Nike Air Max Speed Turf and the timers, etc. used to make the pipe bombs. From that data they cross-reference travel, locations on 1/5/2021, height, shoe size, etc.

  Second, maybe there’s something else to this story. The FBI has always been sensitive to its public perception and controls information to serve that purpose. For example, the FBI has never been forthcoming about its agents’ involvement with terror suspects. Or, consider whether the pipe bomb investigation would cut against the politics of January 6. I take no pleasure in skepticism of the FBI, but this is a reputation the FBI has earned.

  Either way, this outside observer can’t help but notice that one group of targets – those who entered the Capitol Building on January 6 – are pursued in the public sphere more aggressively than the person who set out pipe bombs the night before.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 06/08/2021 – 23:25

• "Joints For Jabs": Washington State Bribes Residents To Get Covid Vaccine With Marijuana
  “Joints For Jabs”: Washington State Bribes Residents To Get Covid Vaccine With Marijuana

  The great state of Washington has given permission to licensed retailers to hand out free marijuana to residents who get vaccination at in-store clinics.

  While we have documented numerous other states offering up lottery-style cash prizes for residents getting vaccinated, Washington has been the first to try and entice people by using a drug that still isn’t legal on a federal level. 

  The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board is calling the program “Joints for Jabs”, according to a Newsweek report. The WA Liquor and Cannabis board Tweeted out the news Monday night. 

  Media Release: LCB Allows “Joints for Jabs” Promotions to Support Vaccinations https://t.co/v9bvcnuIJw

  — WA Liquor & Cannabis Board (@WSLCB) June 7, 2021

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  “In an effort to support COVID-19 vaccinations, the Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) today announced that it would provide a temporary allowance to state licensed cannabis retailers to provide one joint to adult consumers who receive a vaccination at an in-store vaccination clinic,” the press release reads. 

  It continues: “Participating cannabis retailers may only provide a pre-roll joint, and no other product may be provided as part of this allowance.”

  

  Other rules include:

  • Any cannabis joint provided to a customer must be associated with an active vaccine clinic event at the retail location.
  • Only one complimentary joint may be provided to a customer who receives a first or second COVID-19 vaccine dose at the event.
  • Receipt of the complimentary joint must occur during the same visit as receiving the vaccination, and may not be delayed, postponed, or otherwise acquired at a later date or time.
  • Retailers may only provide the complementary joint to persons 21 years of age and older.
  • Any vaccine clinic held inside a licensed retail location must comply with all age restriction requirements for the cannabis retailer.
  • The cannabis joint must be provided by a retailer, and not a producer or processor.

  And if you’re a drinker, and not a smoker, it doesn’t look like Washington’s LCB discriminates. The board also recently “provided an allowance for a beer, wine or cocktail to be provided at no cost for those vaccinated by June 30.”

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 06/08/2021 – 23:05

• Texas Bans Businesses From Requiring "Vaccine Passports"
  Texas Bans Businesses From Requiring “Vaccine Passports”

  Authored by Mimi Nguyen Ly via The Epoch Times,

  Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday signed into law a bill to ban government entities and private businesses from requiring proof of vaccination as a condition for service or entry amid the CCP virus pandemic.

  “Texas is open 100 percent, and we want to make sure you have the freedom to go where you want without limits,” the Republican governor announced in a video post on Twitter.

  The Lone Star state in March ended its statewide mask mandate and allowed all businesses to open at full capacity after having implemented mandates and restrictions due to the pandemic caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

  

  Abbott announced on Monday with the signing of the legislation that “No business or government entity can require a person to provide a vaccine passport or any other vaccine information as a condition of receiving any service or entering any place.”

  The new law SB 968 covers many aspects of the public health disaster and public health emergency preparedness and response. It was approved unanimously in April and was passed by a vote of 146-2 by the state House in May.

  Effective immediately, Texas businesses “may not require a customer to provide any documentation certifying the customer ’s COVID-19 vaccination or post-transmission recovery on entry to, to gain access to, or to receive service from the business,” the legislation states. State agencies in charge of different business sectors can require that businesses comply with the new law as a condition to be authorized to conduct business in Texas.

  Furthermore, businesses that don’t comply with the law will not be able to enter any state contracts and will be ineligible to receive a grant.

  Businesses can still implement their own COVID-19 infection control protocols “in accordance with state and federal law to protect public health.”

  Abbott had signed an executive order in April that banned government entities from requiring vaccine passports as a condition to receive services or gain entry to premises. The order included any private businesses that receive public funding. But the executive order did not apply to entirely private businesses, which the new law covers with regard to vaccine passports.

  The Carnival Cruise Line said in its latest announcement on Monday that “current CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] requirements for cruising with a guest base that is unvaccinated will make it very difficult to deliver the experience our guests expect.” Therefore, it said it would be restarting its operations for vaccinated passengers with its cruise ship leaving from Texas’s Port of Galveston on July 3.

  

  The cruise ships “Carnival Sunrise” (L) and “Carnival Vista” (R) part of the Carnival Cruise Line, are seen moored at a quay in the port of Miami, Florida, on Dec. 23, 2020. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)

  The cruise liner’s decision is in accordance with federal guidelines published by the CDC, which recently stipulated that if cruise liners are to obtain a conditional sailing certificate for simulated (“trial”) voyages amid the CCP virus pandemic, their volunteer passengers must have proof of being fully vaccinated, or written documentation that the passenger has no medical conditions to be at high risk for severe COVID-19 as defined by the CDC’s guidelines.

  It is unclear as of Monday how the new law will affect the cruise liner’s plans.

  “We are evaluating the legislation recently signed into law in Texas regarding vaccine information,” Carnival spokesperson Vance Gulliksen told the Houston Chronicle in an email. “The law provides exceptions for when a business is implementing COVID protocols in accordance with federal law, which is consistent with our plans to comply with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s guidelines.”

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 06/08/2021 – 22:45

• WHO Chief Scientist Served Legal Notice In India For Allegedly Suppressing Data On Drug To Treat COVID-19
  WHO Chief Scientist Served Legal Notice In India For Allegedly Suppressing Data On Drug To Treat COVID-19

  Authored by Meiling Lee via The Epoch Times,

  The Indian Bar Association has taken legal action against the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Chief Scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan for her alleged role in spreading disinformation on the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19.

  

  World Health Organization’s chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan looks on during an interview with AFP in Geneva on May 8, 2021. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

  The association served a legal notice (pdf) on Swaminathan on May 25, claiming that she was “spreading disinformation and misguiding the people of India, in order to fulfill her agenda” and sought to prevent her from “causing further damage.”

  They further say that Swaminathan, in her statements against the use of ivermectin, ignored research and clinical trials from two organizations – the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care (FLCCC) Alliance and the British Ivermectin Recommendation Development (BIRD) – who have presented solid data showing ivermectin prevents and treats COVID-19.

  “Dr. Soumya Swaminathan has ignored these studies/reports and has deliberately suppressed the data regarding effectiveness of the drug Ivermectin, with an intent to dissuade the people of India from using Ivermectin,” the plaintiff said in a statement (pdf).

  In a May 10 tweet that has since been deleted after the notice was issued, Swaminathan wrote, “Safety and efficacy are important when using any drug for a new indication. WHO recommends against the use of ivermectin for COVID-19 except within clinical trials.”

  Swaminathan made the Twitter post soon after Goa’s health minister announced that every Goa resident 18 and older would be given ivermectin as prevention regardless of their COVID-19 status, as part of the state government’s effort to stop the transmission of the virus. India has been hit hard in the second wave of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic beginning in March 2021.

  The legal notice calls for a clear response from Swaminathan on a number of key points, and the association said that in the case of a failure to provide a clear response, it reserves the right to initiate prosecution under sections of the Indian Penal Code and Disaster Management Act, 2005.

  The WHO’s chief scientist didn’t reply to a request for comment.

  

  A health worker shows a box containing a bottle of Ivermectin, a medicine authorized by the National Institute for Food and Drug Surveillance (INVIMA) to treat patients with mild, asymptomatic, or suspicious COVID-19, as part of a study of the Center for Pediatric Infectious Diseases Studies, in Cali, Colombia, on July 21, 2020. (Luis Robayo/AFP via Getty Images)

  A link to Merck’s statement on ivermectin was also included in Swaminathan’s tweet. The pharmaceutical company that developed the anti-parasitic drug in the 1980s and held a patent until 1996 said in February of this year that the available data did not support the efficacy and safety of ivermectin beyond what the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved it for.

  Merck, in collaboration with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, is conducting a Phase 3 trial of an investigational anti-viral drug molnupiravir, which the company says has shown to reduce infectious viruses quicker in COVID-19 outpatients. But unlike ivermectin, molnupiravir demonstrated no clinical benefit in hospitalized patients.

  The trial is expected to complete later this October and Merck said it will apply for an emergency authorization use for the drug if results are favorable.

  Researchers are hoping that molnupiravir will impair the CCP virus’s ability to replicate so as to prevent severe illness and hospitalization, something that ivermectin has demonstrated to do in a meta-analysis of 57 clinical trials involving more than 18,000 patients, according to ivmmeta.com, a website that provides real-time meta-analysis of ivermectin studies.

  In 23 early treatment studies, there was a 78 percent improvement in patients given ivermectin, and in 14 preventative trials, an 85 percent improvement was shown. As for the studies involving late treatment, there was a 45 percent improvement in 20 studies.

  Proponents of ivermectin say the drug can treat all stages of COVID-19 and reduce hospitalization and mortality rates due to its anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties. But there has been pushback on approving the drug as a COVID-19 treatment by the United States federal health authorities and the WHO.

  The FDA says it hasn’t approved ivermectin for COVID-19 and issued a warning in early March informing people to not take the drug meant for animals, as the larger doses intended for animals may be harmful to humans.

  While the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the largest medical research agency, is neither recommending for or against using ivermectin to treat COVID-19 in its updated guideline in February. This comes after members of the FLCCC Alliance presented their data to the agency at the beginning of the year.

  In April, the NIH announced it would fund a large randomized, controlled study of seven repurposed drugs to treat mild to moderate COVID-19 patients. The research agency said it will begin enrolling for its Phase 3 trial on ivermectin this month.

  “Trial enrollment is expected to open this month, and the trial is expected to run for up to 2 years,” an NIH spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email.

  The WHO, in its Living Guideline, has advised against the use of ivermectin except in a clinical setting, citing inconclusive data similar to both the FDA and the NIH.

  “The current evidence on the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 patients is inconclusive,” the WHO said in a press release.

  “Until more data is available, WHO recommends that the drug only be used within clinical trials.”

  Dr. Pierre Kory, President and Chief Medical Officer of the FLCCC Alliance claims there is a concerted effort to censor information on the effectiveness of ivermectin against COVID-19, a disease caused by the CCP virus.

  “There are forces that are seeking to make sure that ivermectin is not accepted widely as an effective therapy,” Kory said in an interview on June 1.

  “We have randomized [trials], you have observational [studies], you have case series, you have epidemiologic analyses, and then the clinical experience of doctors. You can’t find a doctor who has incorporated ivermectin into their treatments who will come back and say my patients didn’t get better, you can’t find that doctor,” he added.

  

  A screenshot of the results of a meta-analysis of 57 clinical trials on the use of ivermectin in COVID-19 patients, from ivemmeta.com. (Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

  While ivermectin is yet to be approved as a treatment for COVID-19, doctors around the world, including in the United States, are offering the drug to their patients. And for doctors who refuse to administer the drug to patients suffering severe COVID-19, judges have had to order them to do so.

  In their legal notice, the Indian Bar Association cited the case of 80-year-old Judith Smentkiewicz, who made a full recovery after being on a ventilator and told she only had a 20 percent chance of survival. Her family obtained a court order that allowed her to receive additional doses of ivermectin after doctors were hesitant to give her more than one dose, according to Buffalo News.

  Smentkiewic’s family and attorneys say they believe that ivermectin saved her life.

  Ivermectin is on the WHO’s list of essential medicines and has a high safety profile with more than 3.7 billion doses having been distributed in over 30 years.

  Since the drug was first given to humans in 1987, there have only been 4,600 adverse events and 16 deaths reported on the pharmacovigilance database, according to Dr. Tess Lawrie in an interview on March 6. Lawrie is director of Evidence-based Medicine Consultancy Ltd. and co-founder of the BIRD panel, which includes international expert scientists and doctors who are advocating for the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19.

  Remdesivir, an anti-viral drug, is the only FDA-approved therapy for treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The drug has shown no effect on mortality and a minuscule benefit on time of recovery that even the WHO has recommended against its use last November.

  A treatment course of remdesivir is a little over $3,000, while ivermectin ranges between $3 to $12 a treatment, according to Kory.

  He also said that places in India where ivermectin is used preventatively or as early treatment, such as Goa and Uttar Pradesh, are seeing COVID-19 cases declining versus states that have banned the drug.

  “Every one of those states, the curves are now precipitously declining,” said Kory.

  “But there’s a state in India called Tamil Nadu whose minister there basically effectively outlawed ivermectin and went all-in on remdesivir, bought a whole bunch of remdesivir, [and] the cases and deaths in that state are skyrocketing,” he added.

  The Epoch Times has reached out to the chief minister in Tamil Nadu for comment.

  According to data by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, Tamil Nadu saw 20,421 new cases and 434 deaths on June 6, while Goa recorded 403 new cases and 16 deaths, and Uttar Pradesh reported 1,037 cases and 85 deaths.

  Uttar Pradesh, one of the most populous states in India with over 200 million people, has been handing out free medical kits containing seven days’ worth of medication, one of which is ivermectin, for COVID-19 positive patients under home isolation.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 06/08/2021 – 22:25

• China Launches Price Controls After Red Hot Inflation, Highest PPI Since Lehman Collapse
  China Launches Price Controls After Red Hot Inflation, Highest PPI Since Lehman Collapse

  Update 10:00pm ET: moments after reporting a red hot PPI which was the highest since Lehman, China effectively launched price controls, with China’s economic planning agency vowing to increase supply of key consumer goods to stabilize prices, according to a statement on NDRC website on a national video meeting Tuesday.

  • *CHINA VOWS TO CONTROL CORN, WHEAT, PORK PRICES AFTER PPI SURGE
  • *CHINA TO KEEP PRICES OF GOODS LINKED TO LIVELIHOOD STABLE: NDRC

  From the NDRC statement:

  It was recently approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, the State Administration of Market Supervision, Food and Reserves Bureau and other 6 departments jointly issued and implemented. In order to do a good job of implementation, on June 8, the National Development and Reform Commission held a national video conference…

  The meeting pointed out that the Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to the price control of important livelihood commodities. In recent years, the price control mechanism for important livelihood commodities has been continuously improved, and remarkable results have been achieved in the work of ensuring supply and stabilizing prices. However, the production, supply, storage and sales of important livelihood commodities have a long chain, many links, and a wide range of coverage. The characteristics of “small production and large market” are prominent. In the face of natural disasters, market risks, and emergencies, prices are prone to rise and fall. It is necessary to speed up the improvement of the price control mechanism of important livelihood commodities, continuously improve the ability to maintain supply and stabilize prices, effectively resolve the impact of livelihood commodity supply and price fluctuations on people’s lives, better meet the people’s growing needs for a better life, and effectively enhance the people’s sense of gain, sense of happiness and security.

  Production, distribution, consumption and other links, give full play to the role of government, market, society, etc., use economic, legal, administrative and other means to improve the ability and level of price control, and effectively guarantee the effective supply of important livelihood commodities and the overall stability of prices.

  The meeting also analyzed the current and future price situation, made comprehensive arrangements for this year’s work to ensure the supply and price stabilization of important livelihood commodities, combined with the improvement of the price control mechanism of important livelihood commodities, and focused on key points such as corn, wheat, edible oil, pork, and vegetables. Promote the effective connection of production, supply, storage, and sales. At the same time, we will actively do a good job in the regulation of the bulk commodity market, strengthen market supervision, and make every effort to ensure sufficient supply of important people’s livelihood commodities and basically stable prices.

  And now that China is officially setting prices, expect black markets for everything which the government is micromanaging to emerge and lead shortages that will make the current batch of supply-chain bottlenecks look like a walk in the park.

  * * *

  As noted in the preview of today’s potentially “shocking” China inflation data, moments ago Beijing reported that while CPI came in just softer than expected at 1.3% Y/Y, below the 1.6% consensus, or PPI – or factory-gate inflation – came in at a scorching 9.0% as a result of surging commodity prices. That number was higher than the consensus estimate of 8.5% and was the highest since September 2008, just around the time Lehman collapsed. Also of note, the spread between the CPI and PPI growth rates, a metric highlighted earlier today in Gundlach’s Doubleline call, rose further and hit the highest level since 1993.

  

  Looking at the CPI side, the number came in less than expected thanks to a mute core component which rose just 0.90%, while the food inflation tracker rose a modest 1.65%, a far cry from the soaring, double-digit food inflation from one year ago when sky high pork prices nuked the food basket.

  

  The bigger problem for China is that PPI came in just shy of the record print of 10%…

  

  … and since CPI remains dormant, it is clear that Chinese factories are still absorbing rising costs rather than passing them on, which means it is only a matter of time before industrial profits plummet.

  

  From China’s perspective, as long as CPI remains subdued, there is no crisis. As for soaring PPIs, as noted earlier, the prevailing view is that such sharp gains in producer prices are a short-term phenomenon driven by the restarting of economies and supply constraints, although increasingly more analysts are issuing loud warnings that higher prices may become more sustained.

  It is the concern that the PBOC will sooner or later have to intervene and contain imported inflation by tightening conditions further (and/or hiking rates), that has depressed local markets, and has sent the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index falling for five straight days, the longest losing streak since September. In June, the gauge is among the worst performing global benchmarks, along with the CSI 300 Index of mainland-listed firms. Meanwhile, the government bond market also starting to lose altitude, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note increasing the most in six months on Friday.

  And while we don’t expect any activity from the PBOC for the near future, the big question is how can Chinese companies pretend all is well, before the surge in commodity prices which is not passed on to consumers (courtesy of repeated taps on the shoulder from Beijing) sends profit margins plunging and sparks yet another Chinese crash.

  

  * * *

  Authored by Sofia Horta e Costa, Bloomberg reporter and commentator

  China is about to unveil closely-watched inflation data, and, as in much of the world, policy makers will be hoping accelerating prices are transitory.

  Figures due 9:30 a.m. local time will show China’s producer-price index rose to 8.5% in May, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists, the highest reading since Lehman Brothers collapsed in September 2008.

  

  Economists are sanguine about the risks right now. Chinese factories are still absorbing rising costs rather than passing them on. The result is the consumer price index probably only rose to 1.6%, the survey shows.

  That’s good news for a central bank that, according to ANZ Banking, lacks tools to deal with such supply-side price pressures. Globally, the prevailing view is that such sharp gains in producer prices is a short-term phenomenon driven by the restarting of economies and supply constraints, although warnings are growing that higher prices may become more sustained.

  Beijing is dealing with a number of fronts at once as a result of pandemic-era stimulus. Much of the money pumped by central banks around the world is making its way into China’s borders, complicating Beijing’s efforts to put a lid on prices without abandoning market reforms. This has led to a tricky balance of using strong rhetoric and market expectation management instead of blunt intervention when it comes to tackling overheating in the yuan, crypto, housing and raw materials.

  Wariness is creeping into the nation’s financial markets. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index has fallen for five straight days, the longest losing streak since September. In June, the gauge is among the worst performing global benchmarks, along with the CSI 300 Index of mainland-listed firms.

  China’s currency too has turned bearish after a strong rally pushed the PBOC to act to curb gains. The offshore yuan has lost 0.5% this month, the most in Asia. The government bond market is equally losing altitude, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note increasing the most in six months on Friday.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 06/08/2021 – 21:58

• 40M Americans Bracing For End Of Student Loan Moratorium As Politicians Acknowledge "Unsustainable" Debt
  40M Americans Bracing For End Of Student Loan Moratorium As Politicians Acknowledge “Unsustainable” Debt

  President Joe Biden is still reportedly mulling whether to cancel up to $10K in student debt per borrower, a plan that, as we have pointed out in the past, would mostly benefit the Democrats’ wealthier, college-educated voters.

  In Congress, several plans were kicked around earlier his year before President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus was ultimately passed. But analysts at Goldman Sachs believe a more scaled-down plan is the most likely. With the moratorium on student loan payments set to expire on Oct. 1, a critical headwind that has allowed (mostly middle-class) Americans to bolster their savings substantially.

  

  According to Bloomberg, “there’s an unwelcome side of the return of business-as-usual after the pandemic: They’ll have to start repaying their student loans again.”

  “More than 40 million holders of federal loans are due to start making monthly installments again on Oct. 1, when the freeze imposed as part of Covid-19 relief measures is due to run out. It covered payments worth about $7 billion a month, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York estimated. Their resumption will eat a chunk out of household budgets, in a potential drag on the consumer recovery.”

  The problem is that even before the pandemic started, Americans were starting to slack on their student loan payments. In a sense, politicians were fortunate when COVID-19 hit, if only because it gave the government cover to impose the moratorium.

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Politicians already recognize that America’s student debt burden is already unsustainable. Of the government’s $1.7 trillion student loan portfolio, almost one-third is unpaid. That $435 billion is comparable to the $535 billion that private lenders lost on subprime mortgages during the 2008 financial crisis.

  Repaying is especially difficult when recent graduates are finding trouble earning high wages in the labor market And with the US economy is still 7.6 million jobs short of pre-pandemic levels, many more of them are likely to be out of work now..

  Minority borrowers and older borrowers also struggled to keep up with payments before the pandemic.

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  And with today’s desperate drop in bitcoin along with several meme stocks, a critical lifeline for retail traders is now in jeopardy. Young people who are already living with their parents because of their onerous student debt are wondering if they’ll soon need to get a second (or, for some, a first).

  The notion that college degrees have become an asset with diminishing returns (given the proliferation of low-value Liberal Arts degrees) has started to spread.

  Many Democrats like Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have called for write-offs of $50,000 or more per borrower. Local leaders are pressuring the Biden administration to take action. Even some Republicans have joined the cause, including  Wayne Johnson, the Trump Administration’s first student-aid chief, who said the student-loan system is fundamentally broken. He proposed not just $50K in debt relief, but also a similar sum in tax credits to those who paid off their loans already.

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Of course, none of this will fix the overall system, and instead could encourage students to irresponsibly pile on more education-related debt.

  For this reason, Biden has resisted calls to cancel loans via EO. In early April, he asked Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to prepare a memo on the president’s legal authority to cancel debt.

  Still, as millions struggle, a few students who spoke with Bloomberg talked about feeling like they’re “in a relationship” with their student debt.

  Other steps the government has taken include allowing employers to contribute toward monthly student loan payments as a tax-free benefit. The pandemic relief bill in March last year allowed firms to reimburse employees up to $5,250 annually.

  Malia Rivera, a 46-year old marketing executive with Austin, Texas-based Innovetive Petcare, says her employer has partnered with GiftofCollege.com, a platform that bridges automatic payroll deductions to student loans and college savings accounts.

  Rivera says she’s made sure to keep up the payments on her own student loan even through the freeze. She says she’s learned after “racking up late fees over the years and navigating the trials and tribulations of career advancement” that automatic deductions as soon as she gets paid are the best route — and it’s helped lower her balance to about $8,000 from $38,000. 

  That took time. “I have been in a ‘long-term relationship’ with my student loan,” says Rivera, recalling the initial payment that she made in the first month of her marriage. “My husband is celebrating his 15-year anniversary with me…and my student loan.”

  The year-plus loan-payment moratorium was a welcome respite. But the debt for most borrowers is still there. Fortunately, with Dems still in the driver’s seat, it’s likelier than ever a jubilee will arrive eventually – just like reparations –  once all the studies have been finished and the reports are in.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 06/08/2021 – 21:45

• Watch: Kamala Harris Snaps At NBC Host After Being Caught In Border Lie
  Watch: Kamala Harris Snaps At NBC Host After Being Caught In Border Lie

  Things aren’t going so well for Vice President Kamala Harris during her Guatemala trip, where as we observed earlier she went full Trump mode in a speech before Guatemalan press: “…I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States Mexico border: Do not come, do not come,” she said.

  Simultaneously NBC News published a sit-down interview between Harris and news anchor Lester Holt which took place during the trip. He pressed her on why she hadn’t visited the border and that’s where things quickly got testy…

  Given she was recently “put in charge” of the crisis, Holt had asked simply whether she had any near future plans to visit the US-Mexico border – a line of inquiry which she clearly took offense to.

  “We are going to the border, we’ve been to the border. So this whole – this whole thing about the border, we’ve been to the border, we’ve been to the border,” Harris said

  “You haven’t been to the border,” Holt accurately shot back.

  A visibly upset Harris then came back with a retort that was awkward at best: “And I haven’t been to Europe, and I don’t understand the point that you’re making,” she snapped. “I’m not discounting the importance of the border,” she claimed while continuing to lose her cool.

  WATCH → Kamala Harris jokes that she hasn’t been to Europe either when even NBC News confronted her about why she still hasn’t visited the border.

  This is a crisis we’re talking about—not a vacation. pic.twitter.com/YTMhtP6s1F

  — Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) June 8, 2021

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  Her irritation appeared to stem from being caught in the lie, given the whole tense exchange had been kicked off with the following: 

  “The question that has come up and you heard it here and you’ll hear it again I’m sure, is, ‘Why not visit the border? Why not see what Americans are seeing in this crisis?'” Holt wondered aloud.

  “Well, we are going to the border,” Harris responded. “We have to deal with what’s happening at the border, there’s no question about that. That’s not a debatable point. But we have to understand that there’s a reason people are arriving at our border and ask what is that reason and then identify the problem so we can fix it.”

  As we noted earlier, Kamala Harris’s enormous ego and disturbing lack of self-awareness had quite the weekend.

  I thought someone gave Kamala cookies that look like her.

  That would’ve been a cute gift.

  Instead, she gave cookies that look like her to other people.

  That’s a narcissistic AF and a totally weird gift. https://t.co/cyeW2ZvmFK

  — Lauren Chen (@TheLaurenChen) June 7, 2021

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  For one, while en route to Guatemala she walked to the back of Air Force 2 on D-Day and handed out cookies of herself donning a distinctive pearl necklace and frosted face, prompting condemnation and ridicule from Twitter users far and wide.

  Then, upon touching down in Guatemala to meet with foreign leaders about what can be done to stem the influx of illegal immigrants into the United States, the Vice President was greeted by protesters bearing signs. “Trump Won” , “Stop Funding Criminals” , and “Kamala Go Home” were among them, according to the Floridian Press.

  * * *

  Fixed that faceless Kamala Harris cookie. pic.twitter.com/vHpZwmGBxz

  — ForAmerica (@ForAmerica) June 7, 2021

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  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 06/08/2021 – 21:44

• Anti-Pipeline Activists Including Jane Fonda Seize Minnesota Construction Site, Strap Selves To Bulldozers
  Anti-Pipeline Activists Including Jane Fonda Seize Minnesota Construction Site, Strap Selves To Bulldozers

  A group of young climate activists met shortly after sunrise in Mahnomen, Minnesota to conduct several ‘missions’ in a civil disobedience campaign to try and stop a border-crossing oil pipeline which will run across the wetlands and forests of northern Minnesota.

  People chained themselves to equipment and occupied a pump station in Minnesota as part of protests against the Enbridge Line 3 oil pipeline being built from Canada to the U.S.

  Critics say the project would worsen the climate emergency, risk oil spills & infringe on tribal land. pic.twitter.com/wYlHpM5Rpe

  — AJ+ (@ajplus) June 8, 2021

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  Using various code names – and operations “marmalade” and “peanut butter” being of particularly high risk, according to the Washington Post – the protesters planned to descend on an undisclosed location along a pipeline route known as “Line 3.”

  

  Dozens of cars were soon caravanning down dusty dirt roads amid corn and soybean fields in the largest salvo yet in an ongoing civil disobedience campaign to try to stop a border-crossing oil pipeline running from Canada across the wetlands and forests of northern Minnesota.

  By midmorning, hundreds of protesters, led by Native American women and joined by celebrities such as Jane Fonda and Catherine Keener, had marched into a construction site operated by Enbridge, the Canadian company behind the pipeline, and strapped themselves to bulldozers and other heavy machinery. -WaPo

  “Good morning water protectors!” shouted Native American attorney Tara Houska – a leader of the Line 3 protests, as she addressed the group and crossed into a pump station used to electrify the pipeline, according to organizers.

  Indigenous activists have been a driving force in the conflict over Line 3, as they see a two-pronged threat, “a carbon-producing fossil fuel project at a time of worsening climate change and one that also risks polluting tribal lands in the headwaters of the Mississippi River.” The group has been emboldened by victories such as the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline, as well as gatherings at Standing Rock. They hope to similarly pressure the Biden administration into suspending the pipeline permit before Enbridge can complete the project.

  

  “Biden has taken a very clear and very beautiful position on the climate crisis,” said activist and Vietnam-era traitor Jane Fonda during her second trip to protest Line 3. “But we are really facing a potential catastrophe, and the science is very clear: it’s not enough to do something good here — like shutdown Keystone XL, shut down drilling on the Arctic national refuge — and then allow Line 3 to go through.”

  “We can’t do this in bits and pieces,” she added.

  Jane Fonda encouraging ppl to mess w/ critical US infrastructurepic.twitter.com/xKA6uL50XG

  — maggie battles (@maggiebattlesxo) June 8, 2021

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  The activists have thus far made little progress in impeding the $4 billion project to replace a decades-old pipeline, as well as add new portions to various endpoints. The 350-mile Line 3 project stands at around 60% complete, while some 4,000 construction workers (a growing figure) are spread between five different areas of the project.

  Enbridge director of tribal engagement in the US, Paul Elberth, said that the ongoing protests haven’t “had a significant impact on construction,” adding “Obviously it’s stressful when people are out protesting or if they’re doing damage to equipment or being disrespectful for the workforce.”

  “Construction largely has proceeded as planned.”

  Enbridge responded to the protest, saying in a statement: “We recognize people have strong feelings about the energy we all use, and they have the right to express their opinions legally and peacefully,” adding “We hoped all parties would come to accept the outcome of the thorough, science-based review and multiple approvals of the project.”

  The protesters unsurprisingly pushed back, saying that the seriousness of the climate crisis demands more dramatic action to stop fossil fuel projects.

  [A side note: despite the pandemic-driven lockdown which ground travel to a halt, C02 levels continued to climb to record highs.]

  “I’m sick and tired of these corporations busting through all these sacred lands, trying to take up everybody’s livelihoods and take away the sacredness this earth carries. And I’m done,” said protesters Kerry Labrador, a 39-year-old Native American from Boston, who had chained himself to the tire of a crane-type machine inside the Enbridge facility, adding “I traveled out here two days so I can sit here and do what I’m doing now.”

  By midafternoon, a Department of Homeland Security helicopter flew circles over the pump station telling the protesters to leave and that they were on the site illegally. Protestors said it hovered low above them, kicking up clouds of dirt. A few hours later, police arrived in riot gear and began arresting dozens of people.

  “Our security guard force is armed with a cellphone,” Eberth said. “From here it’s up to law enforcement.”

  Enbridge officials said that one of the two companies involved in building the pump station that protesters occupied is Native American-owned. That company, Gordon Construction, had “numerous employees who needed to be evacuated this morning” when the protest began, Eberth said.

  The occupation of the pump station appeared to be largely peaceful, with protesters climbing onto machinery and chanting such slogans as “Hey hey, ho ho, Line 3 has got to go.”

  Houska took a bullhorn and urged the crowd to “protect the sacred”— “For our daughters, for our sons, for the animals, for the water.” -WaPo

  Department of Homeland Security is using a helicopter to clear out indigenous activists trying to stop the installation of a $3 billion new oil pipeline in Minnesota. 24 activists have chained themselves to a piece of equipment. #StopLine3 pic.twitter.com/kUxhqVghHm

  — ᒍOSᕼᑌᗩ ᒍEᖇEᗪ (@Joshuajered) June 8, 2021

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  Given that he majority of global pollution is caused by China, India and the ocean freight industry, perhaps the pipeline protesters should be looking beyond their own backyard if they’re really interested in the global issue they claim to stand for.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 06/08/2021 – 21:25

• Senate Passes Sweeping Bipartisan Legislation To Counter And Compete With China
  Senate Passes Sweeping Bipartisan Legislation To Counter And Compete With China

  In a rare show of bipartisan solidarity in the deeply polarized US Congress, the Senate came together on Tuesday to pass sweeping $250 billion legislation designed to strengthen Washington’s hand in its escalating geopolitical and economic competition with China. The bill touches on nearly every aspect of the nations’ complex relationship, including semiconductors, Taiwan, Xinjiang and the 2022 Winter Olympics.

  In a 68 to 32 vote, the 2,400-page US Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 brought together a coalition of progressives, moderates and conservatives who, despite their intense disagreements on virtually every other policy issue, were united in their view the Chinese government under the rule of Xi Jinping has become a threat to global stability and American power.

  “The world is more competitive now than at any time since the end of the second world war,” Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said on the Senate floor moments before the vote. “If we do nothing, our days as the dominant superpower may be ending.”

  “This bill could be the turning point for American leadership in the 21st century, and for that reason, this legislation will go down as one of the most significant bipartisan achievements of the US Senate in recent history.”

  The bill includes about $250 billion worth of spending, and touches on nearly every aspect of the complex and increasingly tense relationship between Washington and Beijing.

  According to SCMP, it includes billions of dollars to increase American semiconductor manufacturing, a sign of growing urgency in Washington that the US has become dangerously reliant on Chinese supply chains. It bans American officials from attending the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights concerns, and declares Beijing’s policies in China’s far-west Xinjiang region a genocide, echoing the position of the US State Department and multiple parliaments around the world.

  Some US$2 billion of spending would be earmarked solely as incentives “to solely focus on legacy chip production to advance economic and national security interests, as these chips are essential to the auto industry, the military, and other critical industries”.

  The bill also contains a range of provisions meant to strengthen US ties with Taiwan and US military alliances in the Pacific, including the Quad, a quasi-formal pact between the US, Australia, India and Japan, as well as others to crack down on Chinese influence on US campuses, in international organizations and online.

  “This is an opportunity to compete with China at the research level,” Senator Roger Wicker, a Tennessee Republican, said before the vote. “This bill will strengthen our country‘s innovation in key technology fields of the future, areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum computing and communications, and this bill also is a game changer in terms of giving universities all over the United States an opportunity to participate in game-changing research.”

  The legislation also authorises new sanctions on Chinese officials for a range of crimes, including cyberattacks, intellectual property theft and, in Xinjiang
  – where human rights groups cite United Nations reports and witness accounts that as many as 1 million Uygurs and other Muslim minorities are held in “re-education camps” – against perpetrators of “systematic rape, coercive abortion, forced sterilisation or involuntary contraceptive implantation policies and practices”.

  Beijing has repeatedly denied the allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang and insists that the camps are vocational training facilities.

  Now the issue shifts to the House of Representatives, which has already begun considering a number of China-related bills, the largest being the Eagle Act. Eventually, if the House passes its own legislation, the two chambers will have to reconcile any differences in their respective bills before they can send them to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

  Biden has used the US competition with China as justification for a range of domestic and foreign policies, and is almost certain to sign a final bill once it reaches his desk.

  For various reasons, including stated concerns about rising US debt and individual amendments not being added to the bill, a handful of the Senate’s frequent critics of Beijing voted against the legislation. They included Republicans Ted Cruz of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida, who said the cost of the legislation was too high despite “the threat [the Chinese government] poses to our national security”.

  The Chinese embassy in Washington has yet to issue an official statement.

  “I think the bill is important, whether or not we’re talking about the competition with China,” said Elizabeth Economy, a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. “It’s clear that the United States needs to do more, and I think this is a really important effort and it sends an important message as well.”

  “I think there is widespread acknowledgement among both Democrats and Republicans that we need to be smarter and do better in terms of meeting the broad array of challenges that China presents to our political, economic and security interests,” she said. “There‘s a sense that China poses a clear and present danger, if not an existential threat, and that if the US fails to step up and meet this challenge at this particular moment in time, it may not have another opportunity.”

  The Senate vote followed months of debate in the chamber. In February, Schumer asked numerous Senate committees to draft China legislation of their own, which he ultimately combined into the expansive bill that passed on Tuesday.

  Asked in a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday whether he would support the funding requests in the bill, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he would “welcome” the opportunity. “I have to tell you again that we really applaud this initiative,” Blinken said.

  “It‘s going to give us new tools, new resources to deal more effectively with the competition, and I very much welcome the opportunity to work closely with you, members of this committee, other relevant committees to put this into practice,” he said.

  Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee have already agreed to some changes to the Eagle Act, including adding clearer language calling for a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Politico reported, citing people involved in the discussions.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 06/08/2021 – 20:45

• China Mulls Unprecedented Legislation To Counter Western Sanctions
  China Mulls Unprecedented Legislation To Counter Western Sanctions

  Beijing is poised to take an unprecedented step in its latest efforts to combat US and Western sanctions which have recently been ratcheted up particularly surrounding the Uyghur issue in Xinjiang. A draft law is now being examined by the National People’s Congress (NCP) which would shield Chinese entities and institutions from “the unilateral and discriminatory measures imposed by foreign countries” and ultimately the “long arm jurisdiction” of the United States, according to state media. 

  Called the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, a vote by lawmakers is expected soon after a series of reviews by committees under the NPC, it will allow or possibly even require quick retaliatory measures in instances a foreign country targets a Chinese company, entity or individual with punitive legal measures – ensuring a greater level of tit-for-tat escalation. In short it would mean the power of the Chinese government to sanction all who comply with US/EU sanctions by drawing a bright red line, forcing entities to choose whether to comply to Washington’s side or Beijing’s side. Or in even simpler terms, it’s something which the United States has already long practiced – for example in the case of far-reaching Iran sanctions which blacklisted European or other companies which had dealings with the Islamic Republic.

  

  According to an expert quoted by the state-run Global Times, the law “will deter foreign governments, notably the US and the EU, from resorting to long-arm jurisdiction,…if Chinese entities are hit with unjustified sanctions, the proposed law is supposed to crystallize actionable countermeasures against the foreign governments and institutions…expecting the legal effort to make up for losses that Chinese entities would suffer.“

  It’s intended to further boost Beijing’s legal firepower in hitting back – again which practically translates to any future measures out of the US or EU like to be automatically met with escalation in terms of trade disruptions or immediate measures targeting US or Western companies wishing to do business in China. 

  “Legal experts said that speeding up legislation in foreign-related fields is necessary as it’s important to use legal measures to safeguard the legitimate rights of Chinese institutions, enterprises and citizens,” GT comments further. “Especially in recent years, the US government has been imposing sanctions on some Chinese entities such as high-tech firms Huawei and ZTE for so-called national security risks, and sanctioned a number of senior Chinese officials under the US’ so-called Xinjiang and Hong Kong bills last year.”

  And here’s more from the state publication: 

  While the EU has a regulation to protect against the effects of the extraterritorial application of legislation adopted by a third country and the US owns a large number of “legal ammunition” in terms of long-arm jurisdiction, China lacks relevant laws in response to the external legal weapons, Qi Kai, an associate professor of the Institute of Globalization and Global Issues at China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times on Monday. 

  If passed, China could sanction those who comply with US/EU sanctions. Companies and individuals would need to choose between whether to follow US/EU law or that of China. https://t.co/ba622uYei6

  — Emily Feng 冯哲芸 (@EmilyZFeng) June 8, 2021

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  Chinese commentators are treating it as a necessary ‘deterrence’ measure, but Rabobank details… 

  The example of the Australian government’s decision to tear up Victoria’s Belt and Road agreements with China is given as a “wake-up call” for China to “broaden the extraterritorial reach of its own legislation.” In other words, the proposed law would have allowed China to impose countermeasures on Australia, or demand compensation, for Canberra following Australian federal law within its own territory – because it harmed Chinese interests. Of course, the US, and now EU and UK –and Hong Kong– extend their legal remits outside their geographical territory. Now China is going to join in – and in the opposite direction to the West’s legal moves.  This potentially leaves Western firms damned-if-they-do and damned-if-they-don’t, which is a wake-up call for those who haven’t heard any of the alarm bells so far. It’s also another factor likely to play into supply-chains and inflation over time, even if mentioning it is as popular as Invermectin.

  * * *

  In particular Chinese media has highlighted the West’s using stories of Xinjiang-related human rights abuse to “spread rumors and suppress China.”

  The timing of the new legislation’s likely near-future passage will be interesting, given that as it’s being mulled over the G-7 summit will be underway in the UK (starting Friday), where it’s expected that Joe Biden and other world leaders representing the US, UK, Canada, Japan, Germany, France and Italy – and other guess countries – will produce a statement that’s heavily critical of China especially on the human rights front.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 06/08/2021 – 20:25

• SCOTUS Unanimously Denies Green Cards To TPS Illegal Immigrants
  SCOTUS Unanimously Denies Green Cards To TPS Illegal Immigrants

  Authored by Maryellen Fullerton via SCOTUSblog.com,

  The Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Monday that noncitizens who have been granted temporary humanitarian relief from deportation cannot use the process known as “adjustment of status” to obtain lawful permanent residency in the United States without leaving the country.

  

  The court ruled in Sanchez v. Mayorkas that adjustment of status is reserved for those who were inspected at the border and admitted to the United States by an immigration officer, thus disqualifying the majority of those granted Temporary Protected Status.

  Justice Elena Kagan wrote the opinion for the court.

  Jose Sanchez and Sonia Gonzalez came to the United States from El Salvador without authorization in the 1990s. The U.S. government granted them temporary protection in 2001 when the United States designated El Salvador as part of the TPS program in the wake of devastating earthquakes in that country. Under the TPS program, foreign nationals living in the United States are permitted to remain here due to unsafe conditions in their home countries. 

  Sanchez and Gonzalez have maintained TPS status for 20 years, during which Sanchez’s employer filed an immigration-visa petition for Sanchez as a skilled worker. Immigration officials approved this petition, authorizing Sanchez to be admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident. They simultaneously approved Gonzalez, his wife, for admission as a lawful permanent resident.

  The government, however, denied the couple’s subsequent application to use the adjustment-of-status process in order to transition from temporary to permanent residency without leaving the United States. Immigration officials ruled that the couple’s original unauthorized entry disqualified them from adjustment of status.

  The government relied on the text of Immigration and Nationality Act Section 1255(a), which restricts the in-country adjustment-of-status process to noncitizens who were “inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States.” 

  Sanchez and Gonzalez argued that the TPS statute includes a provision making TPS holders eligible for adjustment of status even if they had not been inspected and admitted or paroled when they originally entered the United States. Specifically, Section 1254a(f)(4) states that “for purposes of adjustment of status under Section 1255 …, the [TPS holder] shall be considered as being in, and maintaining, lawful status as a nonimmigrant.” They asserted that the phrase “considered as being in … lawful status” makes the grant of TPS the equivalent of being inspected and admitted as a lawful nonimmigrant. Sanchez and Gonzalez argued the detailed vetting that accompanies applicants for TPS is equivalent to the vetting that accompanies inspection and admission at a port of entry.

  The court sided with the government and rejected the interpretation advanced by Sanchez and Gonzalez.

  “Section 1255 generally requires a lawful admission before a person can obtain LPR status,” Kagan wrote.

  “Sanchez was not lawfully admitted, and his TPS does not alter that fact. He therefore cannot become a permanent resident of this country.”

  Cases: Sanchez v. Mayorkas

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 06/08/2021 – 20:05

• Northeast Power Prices Jump As Heat Wave Forces Millions To Crank Up Air-Conditioning 
  Northeast Power Prices Jump As Heat Wave Forces Millions To Crank Up Air-Conditioning 

  With the latest heat wave subsiding in the northeastern U.S., after several days of dangerously high temperatures above 90 degrees, power prices skyrocketed as tens of millions turned down their thermostats. 

  According to Bloomberg, electricity prices in New England tripled on Monday from a year ago. Since the weekend, a heat wave blanketed the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast but will subside by midweek. 

  Gary Cunningham, director of market research at Tradition Energy, said energy demands are way “above normal” for this time of year because of increasing air-conditioning use. New England’s grid operator could reach its summer peak in June instead of August, typically the hottest part of summer.

  Monday’s highs were 90-95 degrees in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area to New York City to Boston. 

  Grid operator PJM Interconnection LLC, a regional transmission organization serving all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia, issued a hot weather alert Monday. PJM requested owners of transmission lines and power plants to delay maintenance. 

  On-peak electricity prices for Bloomingdale, Massachusetts, energy prices per megawatt-hour spiked on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. 

  

  Peak energy prices for New York City also spiked. 

  

  The heat wave is expected to dissipate by mid-week as Mid-Atlantic and Northeast temperatures will be around average or slightly below normal as a cold front rolls in through the weekend. 

  

   

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 06/08/2021 – 19:45

• 78% Of Those Not Planning To Get Vaccinated Unlikely To Change Their Mind: Gallup
  78% Of Those Not Planning To Get Vaccinated Unlikely To Change Their Mind: Gallup

  By Jeffrey Jones of Gallup

  Seventy-six percent of U.S. adults say they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or plan to be, a number that has been stable over the past three months but is higher than in late 2020 and early 2021.

  

  As of the May 18-23 survey, 60% of U.S. adults report they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, 4% have been partially vaccinated, 12% plan to be vaccinated and 24% do not plan to be vaccinated.

  Among those not planning to be vaccinated, 78% say they are unlikely to reconsider their plans, including 51% who say they are “not likely at all” to change their mind and get vaccinated. That leaves one in five vaccine-reluctant adults open to reconsidering, with 2% saying they are very likely and 19% saying they are somewhat likely to change their mind and get vaccinated — equivalent to 5% of all U.S. adults.

  Last week, the Biden administration announced plans to increase efforts to achieve its goal of having 70% of adults at least partially vaccinated by the Fourth of July holiday. With 64% already vaccinated, that goal seems within reach if half of the 12% planning to get vaccinated follow through, even if none of those not planning to get vaccinated change their mind. The administration’s efforts include outreach to citizens, offers of free childcare, and incentives such as free air travel and free sports tickets.

  States are also trying creative approaches to encourage those who are reluctant to get vaccinated, including offering lottery prizes of varying amounts, savings bonds, free amusement park tickets and free hunting and fishing licenses.

  The brewer Anheuser-Busch is offering Americans free beer if the nation meets Biden’s goal.

  Gallup’s data suggest the ceiling on vaccination could be about 80% of U.S. adults. That would include the 76% who are already vaccinated or plan to be plus the 5% who do not plan to get vaccinated but say they are at least somewhat likely to change their mind.

  A steady 53% of U.S. adults say they are worried about people choosing not to get vaccinated, including 25% who are very worried. It is now the public’s greatest worry about the virus by a wide margin, surpassing concerns about lack of social distancing in their area (27%), availability of local hospital resources and supplies (11%), and availability of coronavirus tests in their area (5%),

  Reasons for Not Getting Vaccinated Vary

  Gallup’s March and April COVID-19 surveys found no dominant reason among vaccine-reluctant individuals for their intention not to get vaccinated. The most common reasons given were wanting to confirm the vaccine was safe (23%) and a belief they would not get seriously ill from the virus (20%). Slightly fewer expressed concerns about the timeline for developing the vaccine (16%) or mistrust of vaccines in general (16%). Ten percent said they already have immunity because they have had COVID-19, while 10% cite allergies or concern about allergies as the reason they do not plan to get vaccinated.

  The one in four vaccine-reluctant adults are not distributed equally across major demographic groups:

  • About half of Republicans, 46%, compared with 31% of independents and 6% of Democrats, do not plan to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

  • Americans without a college degree are much more likely than college graduates to be vaccine-hesitant, 31% to 12%.

  • Vaccine hesitancy is more common among middle-aged Americans (33% of those between the ages of 35 and 54) than among younger (22%) and older Americans (20%).

  Bottom Line

  Widespread COVID-19 vaccination has undoubtedly been a major reason behind the steep decline in infections and deaths from the disease in the U.S. in recent months. The rate of vaccinations has slowed down considerably in recent weeks, now that most Americans who wanted to get vaccinated have done so. Further increasing the proportion of vaccinated adults in the population will be a challenge, as the remaining vaccine-willing population may be less eager to get their shots. They may also face practical or logistical challenges to getting vaccinated, something vaccine administrators are attempting to overcome by offering walk-in appointments at pharmacies and health centers, on-site vaccination for employees at work sites, travelers at airports, and in churches. Incentives may also encourage those who are less motivated to get the vaccine to do so.

  

  However, these efforts seem unlikely to convince the nearly one in five Americans who do not plan to get vaccinated and say they are unlikely to change their mind. Still, having somewhere between 65% and 80% of the public vaccinated, in addition to the unvaccinated Americans who have had and recovered from COVID-19, may be enough to ensure that Americans can largely return to their pre-pandemic lives without fear of getting sick or contributing to further spread of the disease.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 06/08/2021 – 19:25

• NASA Satellites Spot Dust-pocalypse Headed To Americas 
  NASA Satellites Spot Dust-pocalypse Headed To Americas 

  The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite attached to NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP satellite spotted what appears to be a dust storm blowing off the Sahara Desert and into the waters of the Atlantic Basin, where it could eventually end up in the Americas. 

  

  NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP satellite took the image on June 4. A more recent update shows the dust is well over the central Atlantic Ocean by Tuesday. 

  💨Big outbreak of Saharan dust across the MDR of the Atlantic.

  Sleepy in the tropics this week thanks to this. 🌀🚫 pic.twitter.com/zcAhg7M7tR

  — Griffin Hardy (@GriffinHardyWX) June 8, 2021

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  Weather modeling via meteorologist John Gerard suggests this is “the beginning of the Saharan Dust season soon, satellite indicates the first large plume of the summer has emerged off the coast of Africa now and should arrive in Florida by next week.”

  

  Texas Division of Emergency Management’s meteorologist John Honoré says, “It’s that time of year again. Saharan dust is working its way across the Atlantic this week.” 

  It’s that time of year again. Saharan Dust working its way across the Atlantic this week. #OrangeHaze #TXwx pic.twitter.com/185wLom8zD

  — John Honoré (@JohnHonore) June 8, 2021

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  “The African easterly jet [stream] exports the dust from Africa towards the Atlantic region,” Bing Pu, a geologist and atmospheric scientist at the University of Kansas, said in a NASA press release. “Then the North Atlantic subtropical high, which is a high-pressure system sitting over the subtropical North Atlantic, can further transport it towards the Caribbean region. The Caribbean low-level jet, along with the subtropical high, can further transport the dust from the Caribbean region towards the [U.S.].”

  The storm comes about one year after a massive dust storm from the Sahara blanketed the Caribbean region and the Gulf of Mexico. 

  So it appears the Sahara dust is back, and it’s already approaching parts of the Caribbean Sea. Next stop the U.S.? 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 06/08/2021 – 19:05

• "A Matter Of Public Concern": Virginia Judge Orders Reinstatement Of Teacher Who Criticized Gender Policy
  “A Matter Of Public Concern”: Virginia Judge Orders Reinstatement Of Teacher Who Criticized Gender Policy

  Authored by Jonathan Turley,

  We recently discussed the case of Loudoun County teacher Byron “Tanner” Cross who was suspended for speaking against gender policies. In a major victory for the free speech rights of teachers, Twelfth Circuit Judge James E. Plowman ordered LCPS to restore Cross’ position as a physical education teacher at Leesburg Elementary School. In a letter, the court found a basis for a temporary injunction to allow Cross to return until Dec. 31 pending further orders of the court.

  

  Cross ran into trouble when he appeared at a meeting of the school board.

  He began by stating “My name is Tanner Cross and I am speaking out of love for those who are suffering from gender dysphoria.”

  He goes on to reference that he is a teacher but would not follow the policies:

  “It’s not my intention to hurt anyone, but there are certain truths that we must face when ready. We condemn school policies [that] would damage children, defile the holy image of God. I love all of my students but I will never lie to them regardless of the consequences. I’m a teacher but I serve God first and I will not affirm that a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa because it’s against my religion. It’s lying to a child, it’s abuse to a child, and it’s sinning against our God.”

  Cross was making reference to a “60 Minutes” program interviewing people who were diagnosed with gender dysphoria as young children and quickly put through gender changing procedures with little time or serious review. Those interviewed described how they were harmed by the transitioning procedures and felt that little was done to protect them.

  Cross’ statement appeared to refuse to comply with Policy 8040, which requires Loudoun staff to use preferred pronouns.

  “LCPS staff shall allow gender-expansive or transgender students to use their 18 chosen name and gender pronouns that reflect their gender identity without any substantiating evidence, regardless of the name and gender recorded in the student’s permanent educational record. School staff shall, at the request of a student or parent/legal guardian, when using a name or pronoun to address the student, use the name and pronoun that correspond to their gender identity.”

  Notably, the rule extends to other students who can be punished for failing to use the required pronouns:

  “The use of gender-neutral pronouns are appropriate. Inadvertent slips in the use of names or pronouns may occur; however, staff or students who intentionally and persistently refuse to respect a student’s gender identity by using the wrong name and gender pronoun are in violation of this policy.”

  The punishment of a student for failing to use the pronouns could create the most difficult constitutional challenges under the First Amendment. That could be deemed as compelled speech in contravention of their religious and political views.

  However, now Cross appears likely to prevail as a teacher. The ruling in his favor required a finding that he was likely to prevail in seeking the injunctive relief.

  The county notably stressed that the basis for the suspension was the disruption caused by Cross’ comments.  That was a major blunder by the county and its counsel.

  Notably, the school district did not find that the national controversy surrounding the remarks of another teacher presented similar disruption.

  Loudoun County teacher Andrea Weiskopf called for book bans and attacked those supporting classics like To Kill A Mocking Bird as advocating harmful “White Saviorism.”

  It would have been wiser to focus on a refusal to comply with school policy, though it would need to confirm with Cross that he would do so. Accordingly, “[T]he Court has found … that the disruption relied upon was insufficient.” Plowman further found that  Cross’ “interest in expressing his First Amendment speech outweigh the Defendant’s interest in restricting the same and the level of disruption that Defendant asserts did not serve to meaningfully disrupt the operations or services of Leesburg Elementary School.”

  The Court also noted that at least five teachers submitted declarations that they would like to speak publicly but are afraid to do so because of the retaliation against Cross.  By focusing on the likely “disruption” caused by Cross’ views, the county undermined its position by focusing on the content of his views. The suspension occurred within 24 hours of his remarks, so there was little time to establish his position on carrying out his duties in light of the policy. The court distinguished between the “expectations” and the “mandate” of the policy.  It found that Cross may not satisfy the expectations but still not violate the policy. Thus, the suspension was viewed as premature and the evidence insufficient.

  That is a remarkable win for a teacher in the current environment. There has been growing pressure to monitor and sanction teachers for public comments. Last year, Winthrop University Professor, April Mustian threatened K-12 teachers that they are being watched for any “rhetoric” deemed pro-police or anti-Black. We previously discussed the Vermont principal who was removed for  expressing her opinion of Black Lives Matter on her personal Facebook page. We also recently discussed the firing of a Michigan coach who expressed support for President Trump. However, this did not begin with the recent protests.  We have previously seen teachers (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here) students (here, here and here) and other public employees (here and here and here) fired for their private speech or conduct, including school employees fired for posing in magazines (here), appearing on television shows in bikinis (here), or having a prior career in the adult entertainment industry (here).

  The school could appeal but it would be wise to reframe its position before it reenters litigation. Better yet, it could work out a compromise to protect free speech rights. As I discussed earlier, the rule does state that “School staff shall, at the request of a student or parent/legal guardian, when using a name or pronoun to address the student, use the name and pronoun that correspond to their gender identity.” Yet, this is “when using a name or pronounce to address the student.” What if a teacher simply does not use a pronoun?  If Cross refers to such students by their last name and avoids any pronoun, would that be considered compliance? If so, the board should clearly lay out such options in writing. Indeed, if Cross is fired, such questions could be soon before a court.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 06/08/2021 – 18:45

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