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Stimulus Today Costs Dearly Tomorrow
Stimulus Today Costs Dearly Tomorrow
Tyler Durden
Wed, 05/15/2024 - 14:05
Authored by Michael Lebowitz via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,
Since the pandemic-related bazooka of fiscal stimulus, the outstanding Federal debt has risen appreciably. In nominal dollar terms, the recent debt surge is mindboggling. However, the increase is on par with the government’s negligent ways over the last fifty years.
The red bars show the percentage increase in debt starting in 1966. The bars reset to zero every time they hit 50%. The numbers to the left of each series of bars correspond to the number of quarters it took for every 50% increase.
Over the last sixteen quarters, 2020 through 2023, the outstanding federal debt has risen by 46%. Of the 11 times the debt has increased by 50% since 1966, five occurred over 15 quarters or less.
That said, the repercussions of relying on stimulus for economic growth and growing debt faster than the ability to pay for it have significant economic consequences. The recent surge in debt will only further handicap our economy and prosperity in the future.
There are predominantly two ways our growing debt load negatively impacts economic growth, as we will share.
#1 Manipulated Interest Rates Cripple Capitalism
Growing debt faster than one’s income is a Ponzi scheme. No matter how politicians sugarcoat fiscal stimulus, there are no two ways around such a characterization. Individuals and corporations that run such a scheme ultimately end up bankrupt. The same holds for governments, but they tend to have much longer runways.
The Federal Reserve allows the government to perpetuate its Ponzi scheme. The Fed keeps borrowing costs lower than they should be through lower-than-market interest rates and asset purchases.
Not only is the growing ratio of debt to income problematic, but it is also a sure sign that the debt in aggregate is used for unproductive purposes. In other words, the debt costs more than the financial benefits it provides. If it were productive debt, income or GDP would rise more than the debt.
In the long run, unproductive debt reduces a nation’s productivity, aka economic potential.
Negative Real Rates And QE
A lender or investor should never accept a yield below the inflation rate. If they do, the loan or investment will reduce their purchasing power.
Regardless of what should happen in an economics classroom, the Fed has forced a negative real rate regime upon lenders and investors for the better part of the last 20+ years. The graph below shows the real Fed Funds rate (black). This is Fed Funds less CPI. The gray area shows the percentage of time over running five-year periods in which real Fed Funds were negative. Negative real Fed Funds have become the rule, not the exception.
Starting in 2008, with QE, the Fed began using its balance sheet to manipulate interest rates further. Currently, the Fed holds $8 trillion in Treasury and mortgage-backed securities. Their Treasury holdings account for almost 25% of all Treasury securities outstanding to the public.
By reducing the supply of bonds on the market, they effectively lower interest rates below where the free market would price them. This makes fiscal stimulus more appetizing for politicians and, by default, encourages even greater federal debt loads.
Like the Fed’s negative real rate interest rate policy, QE also reduces interest rates, allowing for more unproductive federal and private sector debt.
#2 Negative Multiplier
As we note, debt increasing faster than economic growth proves that borrowing and spending are unproductive. Unproductive government debt or private sector debt also results in a negative economic multiplier. Essentially, the ultimate expense of the debt outstrips its benefits over the long run.
Economists define the multiplier effect as the change in income divided by the change in spending. Over an extended period, if the change in spending is more significant than the change in income, the effect of said spending is negative. Replace GDP for income and government debt for spending to compute the government’s spending multiplier.
Multiplier = Change Income / Change Spending
Government Multiplier = Change GDP / Change Debt Outstanding
To help appreciate the negative multiplier, let’s consider the two rounds of stimulus checks sent to the public during the pandemic. Consumers and businesses spent a large percentage of the funds on goods or services that no longer provide economic benefit. The initial result of the direct stimulus was a massive boost to economic activity. Three to four years later, the economic growth spurt is finished, and the debt and its annual interest costs remain. The interest on the debt is capital that will not be put to productive use.
Yesterday’s tailwind is slowly becoming tomorrow’s headwind.
There are other economic considerations as well.
Ricardian Equivalence
This economic theory states that when individuals anticipate tax increases to finance current and future government spending, they increase their savings to offset the expected tax burden. Therefore, any increase in government spending financed by debt may not stimulate consumption and investment, potentially resulting in a negative multiplier effect.
Crowding Out
High levels of government borrowing can lead to crowding out of private investment. This occurs when government borrowing forces higher interest rates, making it more expensive for businesses and individuals to borrow for investment. Further, as banks are asked to hold more government debt, they have less ability to lend to the private sector. Consequently, private investment, likely to be more productive than government spending, may decline.
Capitalism Is Eroding
The graph below shows why capitalism matters. It plots the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom, a measure of capitalism, versus the average family wealth for 137 countries. As shown, economic freedom and wealth have a strong positive correlation.
With that relationship in mind, government spending is a key component of the economic freedom index. Massive government stimulus spending reduces our index score. Further, while not a part of the score, manipulation of free market interest rates also detracts from the benefits of capitalism. As our index score falls, denoting the retreat from capitalism, so does our wealth.
Summary
Nothing is free, it’s just a question of how it’s paid for. While the government spends like there is no tomorrow and the Fed does everything in its power to help them, we must understand that the longer-term consequences of their actions are weaker economic growth and growing wealth disparity, as we discuss in Fed Policies Turn The Wealth Gap Into A Chasm. To wit:
QE may have served as an emergency way to add bank reserves to the system and boost confidence. However, its continued use, even during economic prosperity periods, only makes the wealth gap wider.
We should take the matter personally because, as we have shown, there is a strong link between government borrowing and our prosperity. While the cost of deficits may not be higher taxes, it does show up invisibly in lesser wages and wealth than we otherwise could attain. Any wonder why millennials are on track to be the first generation to fail to exceed their parents in income?
Goldman Warns Copper "Is Having A Cocoa Moment"
Goldman Warns Copper "Is Having A Cocoa Moment"
Tyler Durden
Wed, 05/15/2024 - 13:45
In a Goldman Materials note this morning covering China and copper, analyst James McGeoch pointed out that the base metal is "having a Cocoa moment."
Comex copper futures for July delivery jumped nearly 5% to $5.12 a pound, exceeding an earlier record for the most active contract set in March 2022. According to Bloomberg, the short squeeze "prompted a scramble to divert metal in other regions to US shores."
Comex copper futures are breaking out.
Comex copper futures are in one of the biggest-ever backwardation periods - a clear indication of severely tight supply.
"Short spread and futures holders are being squeezed," Michael Cuoco, head of hedge fund sales for metals and bulk materials at StoneX Group, told Bloomberg.
Here's more commentary on the copper squeeze in the US via McGeoch:
Copper got funky on LME close, the …Copper we see arb positions driving (short CMX/long LME basis producer hedges and other factors) and have seen big unwinds on this, the spread got to +$900 (o’night it got to 1200t….saw people shorting it at $600 and getting stopped out literally hours later). There is also a seemingly large Chinese/Asian position (the arb CMX/SHFE getting bought again over night). The financial flows are typically more CMX heavy (options and outrights) and the change in liquidity. mkt structure is compromised as there is not that much Copper available on CMX to be delivered. For the next two weeks its likely to stay unhinged, as the positions are all against July expiry and we are unsure how it solves ahead of that, ie the delivery mechanism to solve.
Short-squeeze in commodities markets occurs when traders are forced to exit positions due to increasing margin calls or the threat of having to deliver physical material.
Jia Zheng, head of trading at Shanghai Dongwu Jiuying Investment Management, explained that the surge in the July contract was partly driven by a squeeze on traders involved in reverse arbitrage, where they short Comex and go long on Shanghai copper.
This coincides with dwindling copper mining supplies and a surge in AI data center investments across the US. Additionally, the US and UK have banned Russian aluminum, copper, and nickel.
ZH's The Market Ear penned a note earlier indicating the parabolic price action in copper is getting overextended.
Floods in Afghanistan leave tens of thousands homeless
The death toll reached 300, while the Taliban are unable to report the number of missing. Several residents said they have lost everything, while pneumonia and diarrhoea are spreading among children due to the lack of drinking water. The delivery of aid is complicated by the collapse of bridges and roads. The dry winter made the soil impermeable, causing landslides and flooding.
Bitcoin Paves The Way For A New Era Of Free Market Banking
Bitcoin Paves The Way For A New Era Of Free Market Banking
Tyler Durden
Wed, 05/15/2024 - 13:25
Authored by Nick Giambruno via InternationalMan.com,
Hal Finney was a pioneering computer scientist, cryptographer, and prominent Cypherpunk who played a crucial role in the early development of Bitcoin.
He was one of the first supporters, contributors, and adopters of Bitcoin.
In short, Finney was a visionary who understood Bitcoin’s potential before almost everyone else.
In December 2010, Finney wrote:
“There is a very good reason for Bitcoin-backed banks to exist, issuing their own digital cash currency, redeemable for bitcoins.
Bitcoin itself cannot scale to have every single financial transaction in the world be broadcast to everyone and included in the blockchain.
There needs to be a secondary level of payment systems which is lighter weight and more efficient. Likewise, the time needed for Bitcoin transactions to finalize will be impractical for medium to large value purchases.
Bitcoin backed banks will solve these problems. They can work like banks did before nationalization of currency. Different banks can have different policies, some more aggressive, some more conservative. Some would be fractional reserve while others may be 100% Bitcoin backed. Interest rates may vary. Cash from some banks may trade at a discount to that from others.
I believe this will be the ultimate fate of Bitcoin, to be the ‘high-powered money’ that serves as a reserve currency for banks that issue their own digital cash. Most Bitcoin transactions will occur between banks, to settle net transfers.
Bitcoin transactions by private individuals will be as rare as… well, as Bitcoin based purchases are today.”
Bitcoin banking takes the “free banking” concept and makes enormous improvements.
The free banking era in the US lasted from the 1830s to the early 1860s. Minimal regulations and the absence of a central bank characterized it.
Banks were permitted to issue their own currency, known as banknotes, that circulated as money. These banknotes were supposed to be redeemable on demand for the gold or silver reserves they represented.
The value of these banknotes fluctuated based on the perceived solvency of the issuing bank and the distance from the bank itself, as people were less willing to accept notes from distant or unknown banks.
Similarly, Bitcoin banks hold BTC as a reserve asset and issue digital eCash notes redeemable for Bitcoin (either onchain or on the Lightning Network) anytime on demand. These eCash notes are like digital versions of the gold-backed banknotes during the free banking era, but with several significant improvements.
The best way to think of Bitcoin banking is as a massive upgrade to the existing custodial banking models.
Below are a few benefits.
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Private transactions
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Fungibility between different eCash notes
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Low barrier to entry
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Minimizing trust
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Low switching costs
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Convenient and easy to use
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Redeemable at any time
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Backup and recovery of funds
First, we have to understand the basic structure of how a Bitcoin bank could work.
Bitcoin banks are likely to take the form of a federation.
This model reduces trust by distributing control over a group of people or entities. This federated group issues, verifies, transfers, and administers the digital eCash notes—but only if there is consensus among the federation members to take these actions.
The main idea of a federation is that you are reducing the amount of trust needed to run a system by distributing control.
The federation holds its Bitcoin reserves in a multisig wallet, a special type of wallet that requires multiple people’s authorization to spend the funds. Think of it as a safe that requires multiple keys to open.
There will likely be a wide variety of Bitcoin banking federations. Some will be small and focused on local communities, while others will be large and geared towards providing commercial-scale operations.
Naturally, there are risks with any system that depends on trust or third parties.
Bitcoin banks have risks, too, but the main point is that they significantly reduce these risks compared to centralized systems. Specifically, you have to trust that the members of the federation will not form a majority quorum to steal the Bitcoin held in the multisig wallet that backs customer deposits or debase their eCash notes. I’ll discuss these and other risks later.
Here’s how it works.
Someone who wants to obtain eCash notes will first download the software to interact with the federated Bitcoin bank. Then, you will send Bitcoin (onchain or Lightning) to the federated Bitcoin bank and receive eCash notes in return.
With a federated Bitcoin bank, you can also sell something and receive eCash notes in your wallet. You could also earn eCash notes from your employer as they deposit your salary into your wallet, just like they do with your traditional bank account today.
Bitcoin banking federations are meant to be interoperable with the Lightning Network—an open, peer-to-peer network built on Bitcoin that allows for nearly instantaneous transactions and almost zero fees. You can use eCash notes anywhere that Lightning is accepted.
With Bitcoin banking federations, you can withdraw to another federation or your own Bitcoin wallet (onchain or Lightning) anytime on demand.
Unlike self-custody wallets, Bitcoin banking federations can help users recover their funds if they lose access to their wallets.
Suppose you want to spend your eCash with a merchant with a different Bitcoin banking federation. This is where the Lightning Gateways come in. They are market makers who provide liquidity between Bitcoin (onchain and Lightning) and various eCash notes issued by different banking federations for a small fee.
When you send an eCash payment to a merchant at a different banking federation, you will send the eCash to a Lightning Gateway, which will then send the correct eCash to the merchant. Or suppose the Lightning Gateway doesn’t have liquidity in the merchant’s eCash notes. In that case, it will find another Lightning Gateway that does, send that Lightning Gateway a Lightning payment, and then the second Lightning Gateway will forward the payment to the merchant in its eCash note.
In short, Lightning Gateways will provide liquidity that increases the fungibility between numerous eCash notes issued by different Bitcoin banking federations.
It’s like seamlessly sending a payment from PayPal to a user on Cash App, Venmo, or another platform.
If this seems complicated, don’t worry. This just explains how a Bitcoin banking application on your phone would work under the hood. It does all of this in the background without your input. For the user, it will be a seamless experience of simply scanning a QR code and authorizing a payment on a phone application.
Most internet users do not know how TCP/IP or SSL works, but they use it daily in the background as they browse the web. I expect a similar dynamic with Bitcoin, the Lightning Network, federated Bitcoin banks, and various Bitcoin-backed eCash notes.
The graphic below does an excellent job illustrating how transactions with different eCash notes from different federated Bitcoin banks would work. It’s from Eric Yakes, author of The 7th Property: Bitcoin and the Monetary Revolution, which I consider the best resource for understanding the mind-bending potential of Bitcoin banking.
Source: Eric Yakes
Bitcoin Banking and Privacy
Financial privacy is one of the biggest benefits federated Bitcoin banks will offer over traditional custodians.
Chaumian eCash is what will enable it.
The name is a nod to cryptographer and Cypherpunk David Chaum, who created a way to provide secure and anonymous online transactions, much like using cash in the physical world.
With Chaumian eCash, users can spend money online without revealing their identity or transaction details to anyone, including the recipient or the federated Bitcoin banks and Lightning Gateways involved in the transaction.
One of the key features of Chaumian eCash is its use of blind signatures, a cryptographic technique that allows a federated Bitcoin bank to sign and validate eCash notes without actually seeing the transaction details.
In other words, a federated Bitcoin bank knows a valid eCash note has been issued and spent, but it doesn’t know who spent it or on what. Further, they will not be able to know individual account balances nor the identity of those who redeem an eCash note for Bitcoin.
Those running a federated Bitcoin bank will only be able to know the total amount of BTC held in reserves in the federation’s multisig wallet and the total amount of eCash notes outstanding for redemption.
This is a revolutionary improvement in financial privacy over existing custodial solutions, which offer no privacy whatsoever.
The strong privacy protections that Chaumian eCash offers enable another critical benefit: censorship resistance.
With PayPal, Venmo, traditional bank accounts, and other traditional custodial financial services, they can block a payment or cancel your account whenever they want under any pretext they find convenient.
With federated Bitcoin banks, they are unable to censor or block transactions. Thanks to the strong privacy protections from Chaumian eCash, they can’t know the details of each transaction, so they can’t block or prevent them.
In short, with federated Bitcoin banks and Chaumian eCash, we have, for the first time, a convenient custodial solution that is resistant to censorship.
Fedimint
Perhaps the most promising implementation of federated Bitcoin banks is Fedimint.
Fedimint is an open-source protocol that allows anyone to create a federated Bitcoin bank with a few clicks.
Using Fedimint to set up a federated Bitcoin bank costs nothing. No licenses or permission is needed.
In short, Fedimint could do to the banking cartels what Uber did to the taxi cartels.
Rug Pull Risk
Like all Layer 2 solutions, federated Bitcoin banks are a trade-off. They are less secure than self-custody but offer more convenience, ease of use, and privacy, among other benefits.
Specifically, you have to trust that the members of the federation will not collude to form a majority quorum to steal the Bitcoin held in the multisig wallet that backs customer deposits.
The size of that quorum will vary between different federations. The larger the quorum, the more distributed the risk.
It could be as small as a 2-of-3 setup, meaning there are three authorized users, and two are needed to spend the Bitcoin reserves in the federation’s multisig wallet, or as large as a 99-of-100 and anything in between.
Rug pull risk will naturally vary between different banking federations.
Local Bitcoin banking federations could mitigate this risk because known community members would operate them. They would likely suffer serious legal, reputational, and physical consequences for stealing their neighbors’ money.
With larger commercial Bitcoin banking federations, depositors could mitigate this risk with private insurance, rating agencies, and other market solutions.
In any case, ongoing due diligence of federated Bitcoin banks will be important. Depositors will have to do this or find someone to do it.
Centralization Risk
Trusted third parties are centralized vulnerabilities. Governments can capture and coerce them.
This is precisely how governments used the gold standard to bootstrap the fiat currency system into existence.
First, people used physical gold as money. Then, to scale, they necessarily turned to third parties, like banks, that stored gold and issued gold IOUs to facilitate trade. Governments captured those third parties and then gradually removed the gold backing from the IOUs until they were nothing more than confetti. In short, that is how the fiat currency system was born.
Could something similar occur with Bitcoin?
Bitcoin has a great chance of avoiding this fate because of its extreme portability and decentralization.
In the past, government agents could simply show up at a bank and demand they hand over their physical gold reserves to a centralized depository.
Let’s presume government agents would even be able to identify someone running a federated Bitcoin bank.
What could they do?
If the federated Bitcoin bank had been set up with sufficient geographical and political diversification, there’s not much they could have done. They could, at most, detain the one person in their jurisdiction running the federated Bitcoin bank.
Let’s say there was a quorum of 7-of-10, and the other nine federation members were located in different political jurisdictions. The Bitcoin reserves would be safe because the one person the government agents detained could not reach a quorum to spend them. The other nine federation members could then take further defensive measures to ensure the safety of the federation’s BTC.
In short, it would be exponentially more challenging for governments to capture, coerce, and centralize federated Bitcoin banks than it was for them to do the same with banks under the gold standard.
Hal Finney noted that there will likely be a market for the various eCash notes, and their values will fluctuate depending on how the market evaluates their risk. I expect eCash notes with more exposure to riskier jurisdictions to trade a discount to their Bitcoin reserves to reflect this risk.
Remember, with the open-source Fedimint protocol, anyone can easily form a federated Bitcoin bank. This low barrier to entry also helps mitigate the centralization risk.
With the traditional banking system—and banking under the gold standard—the government needs to control a relatively small number of banks and entities. With federated Bitcoin banks, anyone could potentially operate one—permission from a centralized banking cartel is not required.
Here’s the bottom line.
If governments attempted to capture, centralize, and coerce federated Bitcoin banks, I believe it would be a fruitless game of whack-a-mole.
Debasement Risk
There is also a risk that the people running a federated Bitcoin bank could secretly collude to debase their eCash notes.
Consider the example of the bankrupt exchange FTX, which created many more claims to Bitcoin than the actual BTC held in reserve. FTX account holders who thought they owned Bitcoin and did not withdraw were left holding the bag.
I think several factors will mitigate this risk with federated Bitcoin banks.
First, the cost of switching to another federated Bitcoin bank or withdrawing is low and can occur anytime. The ease at which a potential bank run could occur should put fear in the hearts of those attempting any debasement scheme.
I expect other market-based incentives, such as memberships in exclusive clubs for Bitcoin banks with the best reputations and other reputation systems, will help minimize the debasement risk.
The low barrier to entry to creating a federated Bitcoin bank and low switching costs means there will likely be cut-throat competition. If the market suspects a Bitcoin bank is debasing its eCash notes, it will be an excellent opportunity for a competitor to grab market share.
Likewise, speculators could play an important role. They will be there to short the eCash notes of Bitcoin banks suspected of engaging in debasement.
Conclusion
Bitcoin is a revolutionary innovation for the base monetary layer and provides a foundation for a new financial system.
Consider the implications of the trustless Bitcoin base layer in combination with the Lightning Network, federated Bitcoin banks issuing Chaumian eCash, and other trust-minimized Layer 2 solutions for scaling and convenience.
The amount of value they could unlock is astonishing. It could usher in a new era of free banking worldwide.
While the Bitcoin megatrend is no longer in its infancy, it is still early, and you are not too late. Bitcoin has a long way to go before it emerges as the world’s dominant money and displaces the traditional financial system.
I have little doubt The Bitcoin Supremacy will be one of the biggest financial trends of the decade. I believe that patient investors will reap substantial gains.
That’s why I’ve just released an urgent PDF report revealing three crucial Bitcoin techniques to ensure you avoid the most common—sometimes fatal—mistakes.
Check it out as soon as possible because it could soon be too late to take action. Click here to get it now.
Pro-Life Advocate Jonathan Darnel Thrown in Prison for 27 Months for Protesting Abortion
The Biden administration has thrown yet another pro-life American in prison for protesting abortion.
Thanks to Joe Biden’s politicized Justice Department, pro-life advocate Herb Geraghty has been sentenced to 34 months in prison under the FACE Act just for engaging in a peaceful protest inside an abortion center.
Like fellow pro-life advocate Lauren Handy, Darnel was found guilty on all counts the Biden administration brought against them for allegedly violating the FACE law.
In a previous interview, Darnel called it an “honor” to be arrested for saving babies from abortions.
“FACE is a crime, but it shouldn’t be a crime because abortion shouldn’t be tolerated,” he said in an interview with Catholic News Agency (CNA). “Except for the unjust execution of Christ, abortion is the worst thing that’s ever happened in the history of the world.”
Darnel said he lives in “a nation that murders kids” and attributed his 14-year “quasi-full time” pro-life work to his evangelical Christian faith. “How can I say I love Christ and not respond with extreme zeal, extreme action, and drastic measures to this holocaust?”
Those pro-lifers on trial conducted a rescue at the Washington Surgi-Clinic operated by the notorious late-term abortionist Cesare Santangelo who was busted by a LiveAction undercover investigator for admitting that he would not help a child with life-saving efforts if he or she survived a late-term abortion. He emphatically stated that a nearby hospital’s efforts to save the life of a child he was trying to abort was “the stupidest thing they could have done.”
Lauren Handy, Herb Geraghty, Darnel and others cited those videos as the reason for the rescue and protest at the abortion business because of the concern babies might be left to die. They chained themselves to the entrance of the abortion center in an attempt to stop abortions.
The rescuers were given 115 aborted babies by the driver of a medical waste van outside Santangelo’s late-term abortion facility. The babies were well-developed – second and possibly third trimester. Their remains are still in a vault at the D.C. medical examiner’s office.
In October 2020, about two months after the remains were obtained, the nine pro-lifers blocked the entrance of the abortion facility and protesting abortion. Darnel filmed the protest he participated in alongside Handy and the other convicted activists.
However, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, a Clinton nominee, would not allow the video to be used as evidence. She also prohibited the defendants from arguing their actions were protected by the First Amendment or were committed in defense of a third person, unborn children.
“This is a clear abuse of power and a sign that the Biden administration is using the Department of Justice to attack political targets—particularly those of us who believe in the right to life for all human beings,” Geraghty, a member of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, told The Daily Signal late last year.
Yesterday, another pro-life advocate who participated in the protest, John Hinshaw, was sentenced for 21 months and will get credit for 9 months served. And pro-life advocate Will Goodman was sentenced to 27 months in prison for his role in the 2020 protest.
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If the pro-life advocates were environmental activists or a leftist supporting Hamas, their sit-in at an abortion business would have earned her a misdemeanor charge and maybe a small fine. But because she is a pro-life advocate protesting abortion, the Biden administration used the FACE Act to prosecute her for supposedly blocking access to abortion.
Even though the law, which abrogates the free speech rights of pro-life Americans, has rarely been used, the Biden administration pushed for putting several pro-life advocates in prison for over a decade for protesting abortion. Biden officials misused the law to push for the highest penalties, reserved for violent criminal behavior, to prosecute peaceful pro-life Americans who merely exercised their free speech rights.
Handy, a Catholic, is a well-known pro-life voice on the political left. She was the primary organizer and leader of the peaceful protest sponsored by Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising that led to the ongoing court cases.
In a statement before the ruling, Handy shed some perspective on being jailed for her pro-life activism.
“It has been close to 9 months since I was abruptly ripped from my community. This has led me to think long and hard on what to say about my sentencing today in federal court. Some drafts were angry and righteous while most were just a tearstained longing for my loved ones back home. Yes, this time has been challenging but I refuse to be jaded. Why? Because life goes on… even in jail. So I might as well continue to love and cry and scream and dance. That is joy. The feeling of being fully alive without shame. Which is something no court can take from me. So today, I am at peace with myself and my future. I will go into court with my head held high and my heart open.”
PAAU condemned the ruling today, telling LifeNews that Handy has been wrongly sentenced to 4 years & 9 months in federal prison for an act of peaceful civil disobedience to prevent federal crimes such as partial birth abortion and infanticide.
The condemnation of the ruling was swift.
“Today’s outrageous 57-month sentence for a progressive pro-life activist is a stark reminder: Biden’s DOJ is fully weaponized against pro-life American citizens, and they are using the FACE Act to do it,” Rep. Chip Roy said in a statement. “House Republicans should defund the DOJ weaponization, repeal the FACE Act, and stand up for the freedoms that we campaign on.”
Caroline Smith, Executive Director of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising said, “The abortion industry wants to scare, intimidate, fear-monger, and isolate us. But what they don’t know is we have a radical hope that goes beyond the concrete walls of both prisons and abortuaries. I believe the oppression that the DOJ is expressing right now will absolutely backfire on them in the near future. Oppression always backfires, especially when your motivation is blood money. Abortion is murder, and fetuses are people, and nothing will stop Rescue.”
PAAU Founder Terrisa Bukovinac said “Today the Biden Administration and Merrick Garland’s DOJ have reached a new level of tyranny. There is no other social justice movement in our nation who’s activists are subject to years in federal prison for nonviolent resistance. This blatant viewpoint discrimination has incalculable consequences for babies, their parents, those who defend them, and for peaceful activists across movements worldwide. I continue to stand by Lauren and the other 8 defendants who risked their freedoms to stand in defense of the least of us.”
A total of 10 pro-life advocate face the federal criminal charges after they were arrested and indicted for allegedly violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) in 2020 at the Washington Surgi-Clinic in Washington, DC. That’s a late-term abortion facility suspected of breaking federal law by performing partial birth abortions and illegally allowing babies born aluive after failed abortions to die.
The defendants – often called “rescuers” by fellow members of the pro-life movement – partook in a 2020 peaceful protest against a notorious Washington, D.C. abortuary that performed late-term abortions.
Last year, all nine were found guilty of violating the controversial Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. They each face a sentence of up to 11 years in federal prison. The FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Act prohibits individuals from attempting to injure, intimidate, or interfere (by use of force, threat of force, or physical obstruction) with anyone obtaining or performing an abortion.
The indictment in the case says that on Oct. 22, 2020, 10 individuals “conspired with one another and with others known and unknown to obstruct access” to the Washington Surgi-Clinic in Washington, D.C.
“It was the purpose of the conspiracy to create a blockade to stop the clinic from providing and patients from obtaining reproductive health services,” the indictment alleges. The indictment says the defendants used “deception” to gain access to the clinic, used “force” to enter, and barricaded themselves inside with “ropes and chains.”
A video of the rescue shows the pro-life advocates praying and singing inside the abortion facility and refusing to leave so abortions could end the lives of unborn children.
Stephen Crampton, senior counsel for the nonprofit legal firm Thomas More Society, says the cases are clearly political persecution.
“They waited a year and a half to file this action,” Crampton said. “If indeed this was some sort of dire offense and the defendants ought to be incarcerated, why in the world, does the government wait a year and a half to file the charges?”
“The climate activists were out there [in D.C.] gluing their hands to the streets, shutting down traffic and everything, you think there’s any chance the feds are going to prosecute those people or try to put them in prison for 11 years?” he asked.
He also told Fox News that finding a fair jury was practically impossible considering that D.C. is the “most pro-abortion city in America.”
The pro-lifers on trial conducted a rescue at the Washington Surgi-Clinic operated by the notorious late-term abortionist Cesare Santangelo who was busted by a LiveAction undercover investigator for admitting that he would not help a child with life-saving efforts if he or she survived a late-term abortion. He emphatically stated that a nearby hospital’s efforts to save the life of a child he was trying to abort was “the stupidest thing they could have done.”
Lauren Handy and Herb Geraghty cited those videos as the reason for the rescue and protest at the abortion business because of the concern babies might be left to die. They chained themselves to the entrace of the abortion center in an attempt to stop abortions.
A pro-life advocate says the charges are wrong because the protests were non-violent.
Caroline Taylor Smith, executive director of PAAU told LifeNews, “This overreaching of power and authority by Biden’s DOJ is egregious and must be stopped. Nonviolent prolife actions should not be a federal crime, and peaceful people with a desire to save lives should not be jailed for over a decade. Some of these Rescuers could be facing death by incarceration. We must repeal the FACE Act now!”
Jonathan Darnel, one of the four pro-life Americans Biden is targeting in this second trial, plead not guilty to the charges.
“I am definitely not guilty of the charges leveled against me, which is rather ironic that I should find myself in this position,” Darnel told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Nevertheless, if a jury finds me guilty of FACE even erroneously, it would be an honor because the kids are worthy of protection.”
Senior Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotely a Clinton nominee, is presiding over the hearings, which are slated to take place at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia just a few blocks from the U.S. Supreme Court. The sentencings will continue on Wednesday, May 15, with Herb (born Rosemary) Geraghty at 9:00 a.m., Jonathan Darnel at 11:00 a.m., Jean Marshall at 1:30 p.m., and Joan Andrews Bell at 3:00 p.m. On Friday, May 17, the judge is scheduled to sentence Heather Idoni at 9:30 a.m.
Kollar-Kotely was also originally going to sentence the final defendant, Paulette Harlow, on Friday. However, Harlow’s sentencing was postponed until two weeks later on Friday, May 31, at 1:30 p.m.
Last year, former President Donald Trump promised to support “political prisoners” if he’s elected president. During the Family Research Council’s “Pray, Vote, Stand Summit” in Washington, D.C., Trump vowed to get innocent Americans out of jail for standing up for their beliefs while criminals run rampant.
“I am announcing that the moment I win the election, I will appoint a special task force to rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner who has been unjustly persecuted by the Biden administration,” Trump said.
Trump referenced the convictions of pro-life advocates who now face as many as 11 years in prison for rescuing babies from abortions at a late-term abortion business in Washington D.C.
“If we stand together in this fight, we’re going to defeat Crooked Joe Biden; if he runs — will he make it to the starting gate?” Trump said.
The post Pro-Life Advocate Jonathan Darnel Thrown in Prison for 27 Months for Protesting Abortion appeared first on LifeNews.com.
The Grain That Feeds The World Is At Risk Of An Upside Breakout
The Grain That Feeds The World Is At Risk Of An Upside Breakout
Tyler Durden
Wed, 05/15/2024 - 13:05
Rice is a staple food for over 3.5 billion people worldwide, especially in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. It's grown in over 100 countries, with 90% of the world's rice produced in Asia. We have been tracking the prices of Thai white rice, which surged to 15-year highs in 2023 and has since consolidated at these highs with risks of a further upside breakout.
According to new data from the Thai Rice Exporters Association, Thai white rice 5% broken, an Asian benchmark, rose nearly 6% to $649 a ton, inching closer and closer to last year's highs. Since early 2022, prices have surged 64%.
We continue to follow Thai rice prices because rice is a critical staple food for billions of people worldwide.
Here are some of the risks we've pointed out in the last few years:
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Sept. 2022: The Stage Is Being Set For A Massive Global Rice Shortage
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May 2023: Global Rice Shortage Looms, Set To Be The Biggest In Decades
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May 2023: Thai Rice Crop In Crosshairs Of El Nino As Farmers Are Warned About Water Shortages
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July 2023: "So It Begins ": US Supermarkets Hit With Buying Panic As India Bans Rice Exports
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August 2023: Rice Crisis Sends Prices To Highest Levels Since 2008
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September 2023: "Go Easy On The Curry": HSBC Warns Rice Crisis Reminiscent Of '2008 Asian Food Price Scare'
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November 2023: Rice Nears 15-Year High As Global Food Crisis 'Much Worse Than 2008'
The good news is that global food prices measured via the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization print below the 2010 Arab Spring level, an area of risk where high food prices cause social instabilities in third-world countries. However, some of the latest prints show that food inflation could increase.
If prices do surge from here, let's remind readers of this 2008 headline from The Guardian:
Food inflation is certainly not going away. That's evident in the prices of cocoa, OJ, coffee, beef, and many other items at the supermarket.
Venezuela Moves "Substantial Quantities" Of Troops To Guyana Border
Venezuela Moves "Substantial Quantities" Of Troops To Guyana Border
Tyler Durden
Wed, 05/15/2024 - 12:45
By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com
Venezuela has moved “substantial quantities of [military] personnel and equipment to the border with Guyana amid its territorial dispute over the Essequibo region.
The update comes from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C., which this week released a report on the latest developments in the Venezuela-Guyana dispute.
The think tank talks about an expansion of a military base on Anacoco Island in the area, with new roads and a bridge getting built in the past few months. A local airport is also being expanded, CSIS also said, citing satellite imagery and social media posts.
According to the report’s authors, the activity could be preparation for a “manufactured crisis” before or after Venezuela’s next elections, set to take place in late July.
The Essequibo region encompasses about two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is where most of its oil resources lie, and the site of massive discoveries and new production by Exxon and partners.
The International Court of Justice previously ruled that Essequibo is part of Guyana, although this is still not recognized by Venezuela. A written agreement was penned in December between the two that denounced the use of force, instead calling for a commission to address the disputes.
However, after a December referendum, in which Venezuelans overwhelmingly voted that Essequibo is part of their country, the government pushed with its annexation attempt. The buildup of troops began in February this year and prompted expectations of an imminent military conflict.
At the time, Caracas said it had the right to shore up its borders in response to U.S. military exercises in Guyana toward the end of the year and the presence of a UK anti-narcotics vessel that is in Guyanese waters. The Venezuelan government has also criticized Exxon for depending on the U.S. military for its security and for its exploitation of Guyana’s oil resources.
Birth Rates Will Drop Below Replacement Rate for First Time as Underpopulation Crisis Continues
The Wall Street Journal is raising concern over declining global birth rates, which experts predict will dip below the replacement rate, 2.2, for the first time in human history.
“The world is at a startling demographic milestone,” the outlet reported in a May 13 feature piece. “Sometime soon, the global fertility rate will drop below the point needed to keep population constant. It may have already happened.”
The United Nations’ most recent statistics revealed that the global fertility rate was down to 2.3 in 2021, 0.2 points lower than experts estimated that it was in 2017. The UN has not yet released data for 2022 and 2023.
In its analysis of the downward trend, WSJ cites research from 2021, which found that “state-level differences in parental abortion notification laws, unemployment, Medicaid availability, housing costs, contraceptive usage, religiosity, child-care costs and student debt could explain almost none of the decline.”
Instead, researchers stated that the global declining birth rate is likely the result of a societal change not easily quantified.
The WSJ speculated that the trend may be the result of “a societywide reorientation toward individualism that puts less emphasis on marriage and parenthood, and makes fewer or no children more acceptable.”
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Thanks to “urbanizations and the internet,” WSJ continues, even women living in small villages where traditional gender roles were once strictly observed are now “plugged into global culture,” which tells them that “fewer children and a higher quality of life are the norm.”
As CatholicVote previously reported, recent data from the National Center for Health Statistics showed that birth and fertility rates in the US have plummeted to their lowest levels since they have been recorded. Predominantly blue states have the lowest levels.
While state and federal legislators in the US have not made addressing the issue of declining birth rates an explicit priority, as WSJ observed, countries such as Hungary and Japan have created numerous financial incentives for young people to have more children.
In Hungary, for example, the WSJ notes that women under 30 who have children are exempt from paying personal income tax for the rest of their life. The country also boasts lengthy maternity leave policies and various housing and childcare subsidies.
LifeNews Note: Madalaine Elhabbal writes for CatholicVote, where this column originally appeared.
The post Birth Rates Will Drop Below Replacement Rate for First Time as Underpopulation Crisis Continues appeared first on LifeNews.com.
Online prayer in Hong Kong to break the silence 35 years after Tiananmen
While the anniversary of the massacre of the students in Beijing will not take place on 4 June in Victoria Park, a group of individual Christians is calling on people to sign a prayer that will be published as an ad in the Christian Times. The text refers to the repression of that time, but also to the one currently underway in Hong Kong.
Hundreds of People Attend Rally to Defeat UK Bill for Abortions Up to Birth
Earlier today, a large crowd gathered at a rally outside Parliament at the start of the biggest Parliamentary battle on abortion in a generation.
MPs will soon be given the opportunity to vote on two pro-life changes to the law: one amendment tabled by Caroline Ansell MP to lower the abortion time limit from 24 weeks to 22 weeks; and another tabled by Sir Liam Fox MP that would bring the abortion time limit for babies with Down’s syndrome in line with the time limit for babies that do not have disabilities. Abortion for Down’s syndrome is currently legal right up to birth.
MPs will also likely have the opportunity to vote on two extreme abortion up to birth amendments that have been tabled by pro-abortion MPs Stella Creasy and Diana Johnson.
The rally, organised by Right To Life UK and a number of other pro-life groups from around the country, told MPs and those present that “we already have an extreme abortion law – we don’t need to make it worse”.
Report Stage of the Government’s Criminal Justice Bill begins today, and MPs are set to debate the two pro-life amendments and two extreme abortion up to birth amendments on day two of Report Stage. The date for day two has yet to be announced.
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No to abortion up to birth
At the rally, Right To Life UK spokesperson Madeline Page said “Make no mistake, contrary to the claims of those promoting these bills that they will not allow abortions later in pregnancy than our 24-week time limit, in effect, if either of these amendments passes they would likely lead to a significant increase in the number of women performing late-term abortions at home, endangering the lives of many more women”.
She explained that if Diana Johnson’s amendment passes and all offences that make it illegal for a woman to perform her own abortion at any point right through to birth are removed, in reality, “self-abortions will become possible up to birth for any reason including abortions for sex-selective purposes, as women could mislead abortion providers about their gestational age”.
“As we all remember, being able to mislead abortion providers is precisely what happened in the tragic case of Carla Foster and baby Lily, whose life was ended when she was only 32 to 34 weeks old in the womb. If this amendment passes, cases like this are more likely to occur and more babies at a late gestation are likely to lose their lives”.
“If Stella Creasy’s amendment passes, key deterrents against late-term abortions will be removed. The effect will likely be very similar to the former amendment – a significant increase in the number of women performing late-term abortions at home, endangering the lives of many more women” she added.
Madeline also described the pills-by-post scheme in which a woman can procure abortion pills without ever having an in-person appointment with a medical professional as “a deeply misguided twist [in which] the state actively enables backstreet abortions”.
A contradiction at the heart of our abortion law
Madeline also pointed out that medical advances over the last 30 years mean that babies are born and increasingly able to survive before the current 24-week abortion limit, but also that the “abortion limit has been stuck at 24 weeks gestation” during this time.
She said that “the most recent annual abortion statistics for England and Wales reveal there were 755 abortions performed at 22 or 23 weeks gestation under Section 1(1)(a) of the Abortion Act”.
“At the same time, there were a total of 261 babies born alive at 22 and 23 weeks before the abortion limit, who survived to discharge from hospital in 2020 and 2021″.
“This means in the same hospital, on the same day, two babies at the same gestational age (22 or 23 weeks gestation) could have very different fates – one could have his or her life deliberately ended by abortion, and the other could be born prematurely and have a dedicated medical team provide the best care they can to try to save his or her life”.
Madeline concluded by urging those present to contact their MPs to support Caroline Ansell’s amendment to lower the abortion limit and saying “These unborn babies at 22 and 23 weeks deserve the protection of law just as those babies born at the same gestation are granted the protection of law outside the womb”.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “At the moment, a baby at 22 or 23 weeks gestation could be born prematurely and have a dedicated medical team provide expert care to try to save his or her life, while another baby at the same age could have their life deliberately ended by abortion in the same hospital at the same time. This is a contradiction in UK law“.
“That’s why we need to support Caroline Ansell’s amendment to lower the abortion time limit from 24 to 22 weeks“.
“Johnson’s and Creasy’s extreme and radical abortion amendments have no place in the UK. Recent polling clearly shows that the public does not support these changes to the law and MPs must vote against them”.
LifeNews Note: Republished with permission from Right to Life UK.
The post Hundreds of People Attend Rally to Defeat UK Bill for Abortions Up to Birth appeared first on LifeNews.com.
Canadian euthanasia doctor giggles about killing.
Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
Liz Carr is an actress, comedian and disability rights activist produced a documentary titled; Better off Dead? that was aired on May 14 by BBC1.
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
Carr who is best known for her role as Clarissa Mullery on the BBC series Silent Witness, interviewed Ellen Wiebe, a Vancouver doctor who has committed some of Canada's most controversial euthanasia deaths.
Ellen WiebeElmira Tanatarova reported for the Daily Mail on May 15 that many of the viewers of the Better off Dead? documentary were uneasy with Wiebe as she giggled when discussing the number her euthanasia deaths. Tanatarova reports:
A Canadian doctor who has personally euthanised more than 400 people has left viewers feeling 'uneasy' as she 'giggled' while discussing the solemn topic with a disability rights campaigner in a new BBC documentary.
Speaking to Liz Carr's programme, Better Off Dead?, Dr Ellen Wiebe, who works with Dying With Dignity, had audiences feeling uncomfortable as she laughed and smiled while discussing assisted death.
'I love my job,' she said in the show, which aired on Tuesday night. 'I've always loved being a doctor and I delivered over a 1000 babies and I took care of families but this is the very best work I've ever done in the last seven years.Wiebe tells Carr that nobody is more grateful than the patients that she has killed. Tanatarova reports some of the comments from the BBC documentary viewers:
Ellen WiebeElmira Tanatarova reported for the Daily Mail on May 15 that many of the viewers of the Better off Dead? documentary were uneasy with Wiebe as she giggled when discussing the number her euthanasia deaths. Tanatarova reports:A Canadian doctor who has personally euthanised more than 400 people has left viewers feeling 'uneasy' as she 'giggled' while discussing the solemn topic with a disability rights campaigner in a new BBC documentary.
Speaking to Liz Carr's programme, Better Off Dead?, Dr Ellen Wiebe, who works with Dying With Dignity, had audiences feeling uncomfortable as she laughed and smiled while discussing assisted death.
'I love my job,' she said in the show, which aired on Tuesday night. 'I've always loved being a doctor and I delivered over a 1000 babies and I took care of families but this is the very best work I've ever done in the last seven years.Wiebe tells Carr that nobody is more grateful than the patients that she has killed. Tanatarova reports some of the comments from the BBC documentary viewers:
Enjoying her job a little too much I felt,' one wrote.
'She was extremely scary and oddly cheerful,' another added. 'But it might have been defensiveness which made her so very strange indeed.'
'Her eagerness and her excitement over grateful patients was unsettling,' one poster penned.
'Really eerie,' one comment read. 'Her job should bring feelings of solemnity, profoundness, sadness... anything but the weird euphoric state she seems to be in.'
The Better off Dead? document gives Wiebe an opportunity to explain her experience with euthanasia. Tanatarova reports:
'We have a law and I obey this law and there are people who are not eligible under the law,' she explained.
'There are situations where I might find somebody not eligible or eligible when another person won't because of the way our law is written.'
Ellen explained that the 'number one reason' people look into assisted death is autonomy.
'Everybody's different in what they think of as autonomy and control,' she added.
'They desperately want control. Like, they want to say "it's now".
'At the end we say "OK well I can get back here at seven o'clock is that ok?" and they'll say yes and they'll be so grateful that they can skip the last two days of their life.
'And I look at it and think all you really needed was some more drugs - but you want my drugs? I'll give them to you.'Wiebe admits that she has killed people who only need "some more drugs" but because they want euthanasia, she kill them.
When commenting on euthanasia for people with disabilities, Wiebe reportedly says:
'I've certainly met people who are no more disabled than I am saying that life is not acceptable in this state,' she explained.
'And I would say "hm, you and I are different". But not different in the sense of wanting to have some control.'Carr then asks Wiebe if she would approve her for euthanasia. Tanatarova reports:
'So Liz right now you love life and you want to live but there's lots of nasty illnesses you might get,' the doctor continued.
'And if you got terminal cancer and you were having to deal with chemotherapy and radiation wouldn't you be thrilled if you had the choice to say "I'll go this far and no further?"'
'For me,' Liz replied. 'I'm concerned that giving the option and the right to a group of people puts another group of people at risk. But I don't feel you see that as a worry.'Tanatarova responds with Wiebe stating:
'She was extremely scary and oddly cheerful,' another added. 'But it might have been defensiveness which made her so very strange indeed.'
'Her eagerness and her excitement over grateful patients was unsettling,' one poster penned.
'Really eerie,' one comment read. 'Her job should bring feelings of solemnity, profoundness, sadness... anything but the weird euphoric state she seems to be in.'
'We have a law and I obey this law and there are people who are not eligible under the law,' she explained.
'There are situations where I might find somebody not eligible or eligible when another person won't because of the way our law is written.'
Ellen explained that the 'number one reason' people look into assisted death is autonomy.
'Everybody's different in what they think of as autonomy and control,' she added.
'They desperately want control. Like, they want to say "it's now".
'At the end we say "OK well I can get back here at seven o'clock is that ok?" and they'll say yes and they'll be so grateful that they can skip the last two days of their life.
'And I look at it and think all you really needed was some more drugs - but you want my drugs? I'll give them to you.'Wiebe admits that she has killed people who only need "some more drugs" but because they want euthanasia, she kill them.
When commenting on euthanasia for people with disabilities, Wiebe reportedly says:
'I've certainly met people who are no more disabled than I am saying that life is not acceptable in this state,' she explained.
'And I would say "hm, you and I are different". But not different in the sense of wanting to have some control.'Carr then asks Wiebe if she would approve her for euthanasia. Tanatarova reports:
'So Liz right now you love life and you want to live but there's lots of nasty illnesses you might get,' the doctor continued.
'And if you got terminal cancer and you were having to deal with chemotherapy and radiation wouldn't you be thrilled if you had the choice to say "I'll go this far and no further?"'
'For me,' Liz replied. 'I'm concerned that giving the option and the right to a group of people puts another group of people at risk. But I don't feel you see that as a worry.'Tanatarova responds with Wiebe stating:
'And I am so glad, so glad that I'm a Canadian and that we have this law so that people can choose that or not choose that
'But to say that somebody has to suffer like that is simply cruel.'Tanatarova then explains that Wiebe has been involved with some controversial deaths.
Last year, it was reported that Ellen said she helped euthanise a man who was previously deemed unsuitable for assisted suicide.
Speaking in a seminar for physicians working in assisted suicide, she told attendees about the time she treated a patient who did not qualify for the end of life service.
A MAiD assessor had rejected the unnamed man because he did not have a serious illness or 'the capacity to make informed decisions about his own personal health.'
But the man eventually made his way to Ellen, who cleared him, flew him out to Vancouver, and euthanised him, The New Atlantic said.Tanatarova reports on why Liz Carr produced the Better off Dead? documentary:
She told the programme: 'On an everyday basis, disabled people are dealing with a lower expectation and people actually saying to their faces: "Gosh, surely it's better to be dead than be you?"
'That happens. It's shocking. So I wanted that to be the starting point and then let's unravel why that is and how that leads to my fear of legalising assisted suicide.'
The British actress added that 'of course we don't want [a person at the end of their life] to suffer'.
She continued: 'The problem is, actually, a lot of disabled people do suffer. But what they suffer from are the barriers and the obstacles, the fact they have to fight for support, the fact their isn't social care, the fact of attitudes, the fact of lack of access to so many things.
'You know, we do suffer. So don't then make it legal to end that suffering through assisted suicide, that's the fear.'
Carr explains that she is treated differently by people who recognize her as an actress compared to those who don't recognize her. Tanatarova reports:
She explained: 'From my gaze, from somebody who lives in a world where, you know, if I'm recognised in the street, then people are giddy and excited and it's wonderful.
'If I'm not recognised in the street, then I'm ignored or sometimes I'm glanced at as I'm just trouble and I'm a problem and: "Oh god, have we got to get the ramp out? Ugh." I'm just a pain.
'So that difference shows me that oftentimes I think disabled people are just tolerated and I think that's the same with ill people and older people, and I think all those groups would be affected by these laws.
'As long as there's that inequality, it is not safe to legalise... no amount of safeguards will prevent us from mistakes and abuse and coercion, that's my belief.'
'But to say that somebody has to suffer like that is simply cruel.'Tanatarova then explains that Wiebe has been involved with some controversial deaths.
Last year, it was reported that Ellen said she helped euthanise a man who was previously deemed unsuitable for assisted suicide.
Speaking in a seminar for physicians working in assisted suicide, she told attendees about the time she treated a patient who did not qualify for the end of life service.
A MAiD assessor had rejected the unnamed man because he did not have a serious illness or 'the capacity to make informed decisions about his own personal health.'
But the man eventually made his way to Ellen, who cleared him, flew him out to Vancouver, and euthanised him, The New Atlantic said.Tanatarova reports on why Liz Carr produced the Better off Dead? documentary:
She told the programme: 'On an everyday basis, disabled people are dealing with a lower expectation and people actually saying to their faces: "Gosh, surely it's better to be dead than be you?"
'That happens. It's shocking. So I wanted that to be the starting point and then let's unravel why that is and how that leads to my fear of legalising assisted suicide.'
The British actress added that 'of course we don't want [a person at the end of their life] to suffer'.
She continued: 'The problem is, actually, a lot of disabled people do suffer. But what they suffer from are the barriers and the obstacles, the fact they have to fight for support, the fact their isn't social care, the fact of attitudes, the fact of lack of access to so many things.
'You know, we do suffer. So don't then make it legal to end that suffering through assisted suicide, that's the fear.'
She explained: 'From my gaze, from somebody who lives in a world where, you know, if I'm recognised in the street, then people are giddy and excited and it's wonderful.
'If I'm not recognised in the street, then I'm ignored or sometimes I'm glanced at as I'm just trouble and I'm a problem and: "Oh god, have we got to get the ramp out? Ugh." I'm just a pain.
'So that difference shows me that oftentimes I think disabled people are just tolerated and I think that's the same with ill people and older people, and I think all those groups would be affected by these laws.
'As long as there's that inequality, it is not safe to legalise... no amount of safeguards will prevent us from mistakes and abuse and coercion, that's my belief.'
Previous articles about Liz Carr:
- Liz Carr: I'm fighting for the right to live (Link).
- Better off Dead? documentary to be aired on BBC1 on May 14 (Link).
- Laws against assisted suicide provide equal protection (Link).
- Liz Carr address to Victoria Australia parliament on assisted suicide (Link).
- Disability activists say no to euthanasia bill (Link).
Poll Shows Many Conservative Catholic Voters Didn’t Vote in 2020, We Must Fix This
A recent set of New York Times / Siena polls show that nearly one in five registered voters from six swing states, including many Catholics, did not vote in the 2020 presidential election.
The polls surveyed respondents from the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Of those registered voters, 18% said they did not vote in 2020. Thirty-nine percent indicated they voted for Joe Biden, while 36% said their vote was for Donald Trump.
However, the polls also asked the respondents their religious affiliation. Eighteen percent indicated that they considered themselves to be Catholics.
Out of registered voters who did not vote in the last presidential election, 15% said they were Catholics.
By contrast, 20% of Trump voters in 2020 and 18% of Biden voters that year claimed to be Catholic, per the polls.
When mathematical analysis is applied to the polling results, it reveals that roughly 13% of self-identified registered Catholic voters admitted to not voting in 2020.
This figure does not take into account the millions of unregistered adult Catholic citizens who were not included in the Times / Siena polls of registered voters.
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In the polls, Wisconsin was the swing state with the highest proportion of Catholic respondents. Over a quarter (26%) of the state’s registered voters surveyed said they were Catholic.
Notably, the surveys also found that Wisconsin was the only state where Biden was leading Trump among registered voters – albeit by only two points.
The state with the second-highest proportion of Catholic voters was Pennsylvania, with 21% of its respondents reporting to be Catholic.
“This poll reveals that an estimated 13% of registered Catholic voters admitted to not even bothering to vote in the 2020 election,” noted former Congressman Tim Huelskamp, Ph.D., a senior advisor to CatholicVote.
“Perhaps more shocking is that an even larger number of Catholics weren’t even registered to vote,” Huelskamp continued:
And combined, an estimated 25-30% of American Catholics refused to engage in their basic moral obligation to vote in 2020. This is a tragedy for America and for the entire Catholic Church, and I call upon all laity, priests and bishops to work together to inspire all Catholics to become responsible citizens and vote in the 2024 election.
LifeNews Note: Joshua Mercer writes for CatholicVote, where this column originally appeared.
The post Poll Shows Many Conservative Catholic Voters Didn’t Vote in 2020, We Must Fix This appeared first on LifeNews.com.
Did Michael Cohen Commit Perjury In The Trump Trial?
Did Michael Cohen Commit Perjury In The Trump Trial?
Tyler Durden
Wed, 05/15/2024 - 10:45
Below is a slightly expanded version of my column in the New York Post on the first day of cross examination for Michael Cohen. He still has one day of cross examination ahead of him on Thursday. With the government resting after Cohen’s cross examination, I believe that an honest judge would have no alternative but to grant a motion for a directed verdict and end the case before it goes to the jury. Judge Juan Merchan will now have to give the full measure of his commitment to the rule of law. Given the failure to support the elements of any crime or even to establish the falsity of recording payments as legal expenses, this trial seemed to stumble through the motions of a trial. Michael Cohen was only the final proof of a raw political exercise. For critics, some of Cohen’s answers appear clearly false or misleading. Like their star witness, the prosecutors have shown that they simply do not take the law very seriously when there is an advantage to be taken. Cohen has truly found a home with the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Here is the column:
On Tuesday, the prosecution surprised many by suddenly announcing that it would rest its case against former president Donald Trump with the completion of testimony by Michael Cohen.
It was surprising because the prosecution never clearly stated the crime that it was proving, the elements of that crime, or even why denoting payments related to Stormy Daniels were not properly recorded as legal expenses.
Indeed, the only thing the prosecutors proved was that, in the pantheon of dishonesty, there are liars, pathological liars . . . and Michael Cohen.
Cohen spent the last two days insisting that he used to be a liar but lied to help former President Donald Trump. If that is the thrust of his testimony, it is just the latest lie told by Cohen under oath.
Cohen has lied to Congress, courts, special counsels, the IRS, the banks, and virtually every creature that walks or crawls on the face of the Earth.
Notably, his past conviction for business and tax fraud were not taken in the interests of Trump but himself.
When he admitted on the stand that he lied during his prior plea agreement, that was not to assist Trump who he had already denounced. It was to advance his own interests.
There is every indication that Cohen is still lying.
Cohen repeatedly said that he could not remember even recent calls after recounting calls from eight years ago with crystal clarity. He said that he could not remember if he leaked information in the case to CNN. However, these paled in comparison to other glaring moments.
Take, for example, his testimony on his unethical decision to secretly record a Sept. 6, 2016 telephone call with Trump.
It was a breathtaking betrayal that most lawyers would not contemplate, let alone carry out.
When asked by the prosecutors about that act, Cohen bizarrely claimed that he did so to guarantee that David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, would “remain loyal to Mr. Trump.”
No one seriously believes that this is true. It does not even make sense. Pecker was speaking to Trump about the payments and even met with him at the White House.
Playing for him a call with Trump would produce nothing but confusion rather than pressure for Pecker.
Moreover, why would Cohen tape the call without letting Trump know? The obvious motive was to squirrel away material to use against Trump if he ever needed a little leverage.
Again, it was for Cohen.
Cohen’s testimony showed that he has consistently acted in his sole interest.
After portraying his sudden cooperation with prosecutors as a type of Road to Damascus, jurors learned that all roads lead back to Cohen and his bank accounts.
After telling the jury that he has dedicated his life to righting the wrongs of Trump and holding him accountable, he admitted that he repeatedly acted to undermine the prosecution in order to make a buck.
Told by prosecutors to stop doing public interviews, Cohen did not care. He did roughly two dozen television appearances and recorded hundreds of podcast episodes.
He admitted that Trump is mentioned in virtually every episode, of which he did roughly four a week.
He recounted how he raked in millions on books, including one titled “Revenge.” He admitted that he is selling items like a $32 shirt with a photo of Trump in a jumpsuit behind bars and a coffee mug with the phrase “send him to the big house, not the White House.”
He is also peddling a reality show called “The Fixer,” in which he promises viewers, “I am your fixer.”
After just a few hours of cross examination, it was clear that Cohen is the same grifter saving himself — one Venmo at a time.
Yet, Cohen continued to reframe reality in his own self-constructed image.
When asked about his TikTok antics, he portrayed his postings as a type of sleep deprivation therapy, explaining that “having a difficult time sleeping and [he] found an out.”
No sane prosecutor would rely on Cohen, let alone make him the entirety of their case.
The prosecutors did not even bother to show that Trump was responsible for or knew about how the payments were recorded on ledgers and business records.
They also just shrugged away the need to show why denoting these payments as “legal expenses” was fraudulent — or what the correct description might be.
Those details might be demanded in any other courtroom, but this is New York and the defendant is Donald Trump.
For Bragg and his team, it is all about what they can get out of this case despite the law.
In that sense, they found a kindred spirit in their star witness, and Michael Cohen has finally found a place that values what he calls on his reality show promo his “particular set of skills.”
Hell and Eternal Punishment
Three of the most beautiful things in the Bible are:
Romans 8:38-39
“I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor power, nor heights, nor depths, nor any other thing in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
First Corinthians 13 – possibly the most profound and beautiful passage anywhere, including all philosophy and all literature.
And the story of the Prodigal Son.
Mystery and not knowing or understanding everything is just fine. In fact, it is good and beautiful. People who say things like, “I just don’t understand how free will is possible,” as grounds for not believing in free will, are just annoying. And really they say that because they are committed to materialism as a matter of faith, and materialism and free will do not mix.
It does seem that concerning some moral matters God has not left us in the dark. The assertion that our conscience is a direct link with God seems true, though not infallible. And, one thing our conscience prevents us from doing is being overly punitive and aggressive in our reaction to perceived wrongs. You give me a disparaging look and I burn your house down. Not cool! Avicenna points out that a God who tortured you with scorpions, whips and red hot rods in an act of vengeance for all time would be doing precisely the sort of thing that He forbids us from doing. God the Hypocrite is not an appealing character – Vengeance is Mine or no Vengeance is Mine.
Origen is a truly impressive figure. One can sometimes think, “Yeah, those old guys were smart and everything, but we’ve had a couple of thousand years to think about some of this stuff, so, of course, we’ll have figured more things out.” And then one reads Origen, and realizes, God damn it, he’s got an extremely high level and advanced understanding in the second century AD – no need for 2000 years! And one of the things he had already realized was that a premature introduction to moral truths could be pathological. The moral moron thinks that escaping official state punishment means that no punishment will be forthcoming at all, and that is simply not the case. Telling someone that God is watching you all the time and judging you is not really satisfactory. It is misleading and generates a pretty strange picture of God – very moralistic and judgmental. God the Church Lady. But, most people are pretty stupid on such questions, especially the young, and if that’s what it takes to understand that being a bad person is bad and will be bad for you, then so be it. Everyone’s understanding is imperfect. We can only understand at our own level.
The only reason I do not have an even higher opinion of Origen is that I agree with him too much, so reading him can be a little redundant.
Church doctrine has historically been decided by committees and by voting. It is a truism in philosophy that truth is not democratic. It is not whatever the majority of us think. There was a lot of horse trading, for instance, concerning whether the Book of Revelations was going to be included in the Bible or not. The participants had to make a lot of compromises to get it included and make a lot of concessions – though I cannot remember what those were.
Avicenna says “punishment” is really a pain in one’s soul reflecting our soul’s deficiency. We call this “alienation from God” or being distant from God. Of course, one can never actually be alienated nor distant. “It is in God that with live, and move and have our being.” And “reward” is really pleasure in the soul reflecting our soul’s perfection. We call this being close to God.
Official church doctrine will have to be aimed at the great mass of people, not the Origens and Avicennas. Teaching people that God is not a judge or a king could be corrupting, so they do not. Berdyaev, who of course is completely heretical, regards thinking of God as a judge or king as “sociomorphic:” i.e., we are applying human social categories and concepts completely inappropriately. On Earth, we need judges and kings to rule over us and to protect ourselves from the most predatory humans. In heaven, we don’t need to be so protected – or rather, the protection will be perfect and instantaneous. And, God does NOT protect us from human predators on Earth. In fact, the reward for being the most pious, faithful servant of God can be crucifixion. Human history appears to have no meaning on earth and there is little to no earthly justice. One can only cross one’s fingers that history means something transcendentally and thus serves some divine purpose, otherwise it is just terrible and a travesty.
God has clearly decided in favor of free will. Nuns are not protected from rape nor monks from slaughter. It would be strange that he would leave it up to us whether such things happen, but that he would take a highly interventionist approach to church doctrine. The Great Schism between the Eastern church and the Western church was officially over a relatively minor doctrinal difference. Was one of the churches divinely inspired and the other not? By what method might one choose between them?
How free will functions in heaven seems completely mysterious. It has been claimed that free will is even greater and more dynamic in heaven than on earth. That sounds appealing, but we will have to wait to find out how that actually works.
It would be ironic if being skeptical about eternal punishment was actually grounds for eternal punishment. I like to imagine that even the famous atheist skeptics, the Daniel Dennetts and Bertrand Russells will be forgiven. They will say, “If you really wanted belief and devotion, why did you make it optional? Why did you not provide more definite proof of your existence?” The answer is that only a freely chosen belief and love is worth anything. But, as Nietzsche stated, to destroy the poorly constructed pots and lids and to seek vengeance upon them, those same pots and lids that you made, is a sin against good taste. Much as I don’t like them, I’m hoping that the Dennetts and Russells end up saying, “Well, don’t I feel like an idiot.”
There are plenty of moral questions about which I am perplexed, but proportionality, redemption, atonement and forgiveness are not among them. I used to think that when one gets to heaven one could ask God, “Did I do the right thing that time?” And He would answer. Now, I suspect that He might say, “I don’t know. What do you think?”
Pope prays for Afghanistan, urges the international community to provide aid
Francis pleads for peace again during this Wednesday general audience. Calling for a 'definitive peace', he slammed war, which 'is always a defeat. Always.' He also mentioned "tormented Ukraine", Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, and 'all peoples who suffer war". Charity is the focus of his weekly catechesis, 'for those who are not lovable, [. . .] even for one's enemy.'
WTI Rebounds Off Lows After Across-The-Board Inventory Draws
WTI Rebounds Off Lows After Across-The-Board Inventory Draws
Tyler Durden
Wed, 05/15/2024 - 10:39
Oil prices are tumbling this morning despite lower CPI (juicing rate cut hopes), weak retail sales (but strong gas station spending), and a big draw reported overnight by API. It seems the main downside driver was IEA lowering its 2024 demand forecast.
-
World oil demand is forecast to grow by 1.1 million barrels per day this year, down 140,000 bpd from last month's projection.
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Global crude inventories surged in March by 34.6 million barrels as trade disruptions pushed oil on water to a post pandemic high, according to the IEA.
The question is - will the official data confirm API's big crude draw and re-energize prices.
API
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Crude -3.1mm (-1.1mm exp)
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Cushing -601k
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Gasoline -1.27mm (unch exp)
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Distillates +349k (+300k exp)
DOE
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Crude -2.508mm (-1.1mm exp)
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Cushing -341k
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Gasoline -235k (unch exp)
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Distillates -45k (+300k exp)
The official data shows inventory draws across the board with crude stocks down 2.5mm barrels...
Source: Bloomberg
The Biden admin continued to add to the SPR, adding 593k barrels...
Source: Bloomberg
US Crude production remains flat near record highs at 131.mm b/d...
Source: Bloomberg
WTI was trading just above $77 ahead of the official print and rallied further on the across-the-board draws...
Finally, we note that refinery utilization rates are back above 90%, the highest since January. Rates increased in all regions, with the Midwest rising for the second straight week to 90.8%, from 85.2% in the previous week, as refineries wake up from maintenance.
Pro-Life Advocate Herb Geraghty Thrown in Prison for 27 Months for Protesting Abortion
The Biden administration has thrown yet another pro-life American in prison for protesting abortion.
Thanks to Joe Biden’s politicized Justice Department, pro-life advocate Herb Geraghty has been sentenced to 27 months in prison under the FACE Act just for engaging in a peaceful protest inside an abortion center.
Like fellow pro-life advocate Lauren Handy, Geraghty found guilty on all counts the Biden administration brought against them for allegedly violating the FACE law.
Those pro-lifers on trial conducted a rescue at the Washington Surgi-Clinic operated by the notorious late-term abortionist Cesare Santangelo who was busted by a LiveAction undercover investigator for admitting that he would not help a child with life-saving efforts if he or she survived a late-term abortion. He emphatically stated that a nearby hospital’s efforts to save the life of a child he was trying to abort was “the stupidest thing they could have done.”
Lauren Handy and Herb Geraghty cited those videos as the reason for the rescue and protest at the abortion business because of the concern babies might be left to die. They chained themselves to the entrance of the abortion center in an attempt to stop abortions.
The rescuers were given 115 aborted babies by the driver of a medical waste van outside Santangelo’s late-term abortion facility. The babies were well-developed – second and possibly third trimester. Their remains are still in a vault at the D.C. medical examiner’s office.
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In October 2020, about two months after the remains were obtained, the nine pro-lifers blocked the entrance of the abortion facility and protesting abortion.
However, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, a Clinton nominee, would not allow the video to be used as evidence. She also prohibited the defendants from arguing their actions were protected by the First Amendment or were committed in defense of a third person, unborn children.
“This is a clear abuse of power and a sign that the Biden administration is using the Department of Justice to attack political targets—particularly those of us who believe in the right to life for all human beings,” Geraghty, a member of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, told The Daily Signal late last year.
Yesterday, another pro-life advocate who participated in the protest, John Hinshaw, was sentenced for 21 months and will get credit for 9 months served. And pro-life advocate Will Goodman was sentenced to 27 months in prison for his role in the 2020 protest.
If the pro-life advocates were environmental activists or a leftist supporting Hamas, their sit-in at an abortion business would have earned her a misdemeanor charge and maybe a small fine. But because she is a pro-life advocate protesting abortion, the Biden administration used the FACE Act to prosecute her for supposedly blocking access to abortion.
Even though the law, which abrogates the free speech rights of pro-life Americans, has rarely been used, the Biden administration pushed for putting several pro-life advocates in prison for over a decade for protesting abortion. Biden officials misused the law to push for the highest penalties, reserved for violent criminal behavior, to prosecute peaceful pro-life Americans who merely exercised their free speech rights.
Handy, a Catholic, is a well-known pro-life voice on the political left. She was the primary organizer and leader of the peaceful protest sponsored by Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising that led to the ongoing court cases.
In a statement before the ruling, Handy shed some perspective on being jailed for her pro-life activism.
“It has been close to 9 months since I was abruptly ripped from my community. This has led me to think long and hard on what to say about my sentencing today in federal court. Some drafts were angry and righteous while most were just a tearstained longing for my loved ones back home. Yes, this time has been challenging but I refuse to be jaded. Why? Because life goes on… even in jail. So I might as well continue to love and cry and scream and dance. That is joy. The feeling of being fully alive without shame. Which is something no court can take from me. So today, I am at peace with myself and my future. I will go into court with my head held high and my heart open.”
PAAU condemned the ruling today, telling LifeNews that Handy has been wrongly sentenced to 4 years & 9 months in federal prison for an act of peaceful civil disobedience to prevent federal crimes such as partial birth abortion and infanticide.
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The condemnation of the ruling was swift.
“Today’s outrageous 57-month sentence for a progressive pro-life activist is a stark reminder: Biden’s DOJ is fully weaponized against pro-life American citizens, and they are using the FACE Act to do it,” Rep. Chip Roy said in a statement. “House Republicans should defund the DOJ weaponization, repeal the FACE Act, and stand up for the freedoms that we campaign on.”
Caroline Smith, Executive Director of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising said, “The abortion industry wants to scare, intimidate, fear-monger, and isolate us. But what they don’t know is we have a radical hope that goes beyond the concrete walls of both prisons and abortuaries. I believe the oppression that the DOJ is expressing right now will absolutely backfire on them in the near future. Oppression always backfires, especially when your motivation is blood money. Abortion is murder, and fetuses are people, and nothing will stop Rescue.”
PAAU Founder Terrisa Bukovinac said “Today the Biden Administration and Merrick Garland’s DOJ have reached a new level of tyranny. There is no other social justice movement in our nation who’s activists are subject to years in federal prison for nonviolent resistance. This blatant viewpoint discrimination has incalculable consequences for babies, their parents, those who defend them, and for peaceful activists across movements worldwide. I continue to stand by Lauren and the other 8 defendants who risked their freedoms to stand in defense of the least of us.”
A total of 10 pro-life advocate face the federal criminal charges after they were arrested and indicted for allegedly violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) in 2020 at the Washington Surgi-Clinic in Washington, DC. That’s a late-term abortion facility suspected of breaking federal law by performing partial birth abortions and illegally allowing babies born aluive after failed abortions to die.
The defendants – often called “rescuers” by fellow members of the pro-life movement – partook in a 2020 peaceful protest against a notorious Washington, D.C. abortuary that performed late-term abortions.
Last year, all nine were found guilty of violating the controversial Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. They each face a sentence of up to 11 years in federal prison. The FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Act prohibits individuals from attempting to injure, intimidate, or interfere (by use of force, threat of force, or physical obstruction) with anyone obtaining or performing an abortion.
The indictment in the case says that on Oct. 22, 2020, 10 individuals “conspired with one another and with others known and unknown to obstruct access” to the Washington Surgi-Clinic in Washington, D.C.
“It was the purpose of the conspiracy to create a blockade to stop the clinic from providing and patients from obtaining reproductive health services,” the indictment alleges. The indictment says the defendants used “deception” to gain access to the clinic, used “force” to enter, and barricaded themselves inside with “ropes and chains.”
A video of the rescue shows the pro-life advocates praying and singing inside the abortion facility and refusing to leave so abortions could end the lives of unborn children.
Stephen Crampton, senior counsel for the nonprofit legal firm Thomas More Society, says the cases are clearly political persecution.
“They waited a year and a half to file this action,” Crampton said. “If indeed this was some sort of dire offense and the defendants ought to be incarcerated, why in the world, does the government wait a year and a half to file the charges?”
“The climate activists were out there [in D.C.] gluing their hands to the streets, shutting down traffic and everything, you think there’s any chance the feds are going to prosecute those people or try to put them in prison for 11 years?” he asked.
He also told Fox News that finding a fair jury was practically impossible considering that D.C. is the “most pro-abortion city in America.”
The pro-lifers on trial conducted a rescue at the Washington Surgi-Clinic operated by the notorious late-term abortionist Cesare Santangelo who was busted by a LiveAction undercover investigator for admitting that he would not help a child with life-saving efforts if he or she survived a late-term abortion. He emphatically stated that a nearby hospital’s efforts to save the life of a child he was trying to abort was “the stupidest thing they could have done.”
Lauren Handy and Herb Geraghty cited those videos as the reason for the rescue and protest at the abortion business because of the concern babies might be left to die. They chained themselves to the entrace of the abortion center in an attempt to stop abortions.
A pro-life advocate says the charges are wrong because the protests were non-violent.
Caroline Taylor Smith, executive director of PAAU told LifeNews, “This overreaching of power and authority by Biden’s DOJ is egregious and must be stopped. Nonviolent prolife actions should not be a federal crime, and peaceful people with a desire to save lives should not be jailed for over a decade. Some of these Rescuers could be facing death by incarceration. We must repeal the FACE Act now!”
Jonathan Darnel, one of the four pro-life Americans Biden is targeting in this second trial, plead not guilty to the charges.
“I am definitely not guilty of the charges leveled against me, which is rather ironic that I should find myself in this position,” Darnel told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Nevertheless, if a jury finds me guilty of FACE even erroneously, it would be an honor because the kids are worthy of protection.”
Senior Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotely a Clinton nominee, is presiding over the hearings, which are slated to take place at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia just a few blocks from the U.S. Supreme Court. The sentencings will continue on Wednesday, May 15, with Herb (born Rosemary) Geraghty at 9:00 a.m., Jonathan Darnel at 11:00 a.m., Jean Marshall at 1:30 p.m., and Joan Andrews Bell at 3:00 p.m. On Friday, May 17, the judge is scheduled to sentence Heather Idoni at 9:30 a.m.
Kollar-Kotely was also originally going to sentence the final defendant, Paulette Harlow, on Friday. However, Harlow’s sentencing was postponed until two weeks later on Friday, May 31, at 1:30 p.m.
Last year, former President Donald Trump promised to support “political prisoners” if he’s elected president. During the Family Research Council’s “Pray, Vote, Stand Summit” in Washington, D.C., Trump vowed to get innocent Americans out of jail for standing up for their beliefs while criminals run rampant.
“I am announcing that the moment I win the election, I will appoint a special task force to rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner who has been unjustly persecuted by the Biden administration,” Trump said.
Trump referenced the convictions of pro-life advocates who now face as many as 11 years in prison for rescuing babies from abortions at a late-term abortion business in Washington D.C.
“If we stand together in this fight, we’re going to defeat Crooked Joe Biden; if he runs — will he make it to the starting gate?” Trump said.
The post Pro-Life Advocate Herb Geraghty Thrown in Prison for 27 Months for Protesting Abortion appeared first on LifeNews.com.
First ATM, Now Debt-For-Equity Swap, AMC Drains Equity In Bid To Stay Alive
First ATM, Now Debt-For-Equity Swap, AMC Drains Equity In Bid To Stay Alive
Tyler Durden
Wed, 05/15/2024 - 10:05
Volatility in "meme stocks" continued in premarket trading on Wednesday as AMC Entertainment Holdings announced a debt-for-equity exchange for $163.9 million in bonds maturing in 2026. This strategy mirrors management's approach that helped the struggling movie theater chain capitalize on retail day traders to boost liquidity in 2021.
A regulatory filing released Wednesday morning detailed how AMC reached a deal to swap about $164 million of its 10% notes due 2026 for 23.3 million shares of newly issued stock. The new stock is valued at $7.33 per share.
"AMC, much of whose debt trades at distressed prices, has been chipping away at its maturities through other swaps and buybacks. It exchanged around $200 million of the debt for shares last year," Bloomberg pointed out.
Today's news sparked a rally in AMC's high-yield bonds. The company has over $2.5 billion in outstanding bonds, most of which will mature in 2026.
News of the added supply sent shares down nearly 9% in premarket trading to the low $6 handle.
Shares were as high as $11.48 early Tuesday in the multi-day meme stock mania, triggered by a post on X from Roaring Kitty, also known as Keith Gill, on Sunday night.
Also, on Tuesday, AMC completed a previously disclosed ATM. The deal was completed through Citigroup Global Markets, Barclays Capital, B. Riley Securities, and Goldman Sachs & Co., raising about $250 million in new capital for the struggling company.
The old saying goes, "Strike while the iron is hot." That's precisely what AMC's management is doing: taking advantage of retail day traders by completing ATM and debt-for-equity exchanges. Somehow, this company, which should've been dead a long time ago, continues to stay alive with help from day traders.
Maintaining the Façade
Programming note: Tomorrow, Thursday, the evening repeat of Steyn's Song of the Week airs on Serenade Radio at 9pm BST - that's 4pm North American Eastern. You can listen from almost anywhere on the planet by clicking the button at top right here. The
California and New York Are Even Shaking Down Fleeing Residents
Even though people are leaving California and New York in droves due in large part to their ruinous taxes, the state authorities are tracking these emigrants down and demanding they continue to pay state taxes. Right out of Orwell.
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