It is sad that there are what you might call professional Catholics who make a living on their Catholicism, but in whom the spring of faith flows only faintly, in a few scattered drops. We must really make an effort to change this.
Distinction Matter - Subscribed Feeds
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Site: Zero HedgeChicago's Lori Lightfoot Lands $400 An Hour Job Investigating 'Worst Mayor In America'Tyler Durden Tue, 04/09/2024 - 14:08
Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been appointed by the trustees of Dolton, Illinois as a special investigator to probe Dolton's embattled mayor, Tiffany Henyard - for $400 per hour.
Henyard is accused of mishandling funds. Last month she vetoed calls for an investigation into herself, which was overturned Monday night. A former city employee also accused Henyard of retaliation after she says a village trustee sexually assaulted her on a trip to Las Vegas last year, after which she was fired after speaking up.
During a Monday meeting which had roughly 150 community members in attendance - but Henyard and two village trustees skipped out on, the four remaining trustees present voted in favor of appointing Lightfoot, a former assistant US attorney, to investigate the mayor.
"This board specifically has made reaches to the state’s attorney, attorney general, governor’s office, and as we know, there are ongoing, well, it’s been reported that there are ongoing investigations from federal entities. Those entities as we know can take anywhere from two months to five years," said Trustee Jason House - mayor pro tempore for the meeting, Fox32 Chicago reports.
"We feel this option will give us an independent process," House continued.
Lightfoot will get to work right away, starting her new role as ‘special investigator’ for the Village of Dolton on Tuesday.
She will be launching a probe into Henyard's alleged mishandling of village funds, among other complaints.
"She has more authority to get what we're missing, to seal this deal and take our community back," said Belcher.
On Monday, Belcher stated that the Village of Dolton is more than $7 million in debt. -Fox32
Lightfoot, an objectively horrible mayor, lost her bid for re-election in Chicago last March, coming in third place. Her greatest hits include;
- "F**k Clarence Thomas!" Shouts Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot During Pride Parade
- Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Granting Interviews "Only To Black Or Brown Journalists"
- Did Chicago Punish Car Dealership Rocked By $1 Million Theft After Lightfoot Called Owner An "Idiot"?
- Chicago's Ex-City Attorney Brands Mayor Lori Lightfoot A 'Disaster' After $2.9 Million Settlement Over Botched Police Raid
- Chicago Homicide Crisis Worsens As Mayor Lightfoot Fails To Quell Violence
- Illinois Sheriffs Reject Mayor Lightfoot's Urgent Plea To Cover Police Shortage In Crime-Hit Chicago
Henyard tries a lawyer trick!
In response to Lightfoot's appointment, a Dolton Township lawyer hired by Henyard to serve as the village's prosecutor, Michael del Galdo, said in a Monday letter to the legal team representing the trustees that if Lightfoot is appointed as "additional legislative counsel," Henyard will "not be approving any payments to Lightfoot," as her appointment would violate the law due to the trustees' existing attorney.
Burt Odelson, an attorney for the Trustees, hit back- saying that Lightfoot would serve not as "additional legislative counsel," but rather a "special investigator."
According to the report, Lightfoot's $400 per hour investigation will be capped at $30,000 for now - so she better wrap this up in 75 hours or less.
Henyard was called the "worst mayor in America" by an angry resident during a monthly board meeting earlier this month.
"You know what you’re doing. You’re violating our rights, and that’s a shame," one resident testified. "This is a disgrace what you have done to this village … They say that you’re the worst mayor in America. I agree."
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Site: LifeNews
In a huge pro-life victory, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the state can enforce its abortion ban and protect babies from abortions.
Planned Parenthood was challenging the potential reinstatement of the state’s near-total abortion ban from 1864, which has exceptions for life-threatening emergencies, but had been blocked by 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. The Dobbs ruling should allow it to go into effect but the nation’s biggest abortion business challenged it.
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday to uphold the state’s pro-life law as written by overturning a lower court decision that misinterpreted the law.
“We conclude that [Arizona’s law] does not create a right to, or otherwise provide independent statutory authority for, an abortion that repeals or restricts [the law], but rather is predicated entirely on the existence of a federal constitutional right to an abortion since disclaimed by Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization,” the court wrote in its opinion in Planned Parenthood Arizona v. Mayes. “Absent the federal constitutional abortion right, and because [the law] does not independently authorize abortion, there is no provision in federal or state law prohibiting [the law’s] operation. Accordingly, [Arizona’s law] is now enforceable.”
HELP LIFENEWS SAVE BABIES FROM ABORTION! Please help LifeNews.com with a donation!
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represented Dr. Eric Hazelrigg, an obstetrician and medical director of Choices Pregnancy Center in Arizona, who filed a petition last March asking the state’s high court to review an Arizona Court of Appeals ruling.
The appellate court’s ruling misinterpreted state law, against its plain meaning, to allow abortion in circumstances where the Arizona Legislature prohibited it. It also enjoined officials from fully enforcing the state’s pro-life law to protect unborn children. The Arizona Supreme Court reversed this ruling, allowing the law to be enforced as written.
“Life is a human right, and today’s decision allows the state to respect that right and fully protect life again—just as the legislature intended,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jake Warner, who argued before the court. “Life begins at conception. At just six weeks, unborn babies’ hearts begin to beat. At eight weeks, they have fingers and toes. And at 10 weeks, their unique fingerprints begin to form. Arizona’s pro-life law has protected unborn children for over 100 years, and the people of Arizona, through their elected representatives, have repeatedly affirmed that law, including as recently as 2022. We celebrate the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision that allows the state’s pro-life law to again protect the lives of countless, innocent unborn children.”
In September 2022, the Arizona Superior Court in Pima County appointed Dr. Hazelrigg as the substitute guardian ad litem to legally represent the best interests of unborn children in Arizona, a role Arizona courts have recognized for over 50 years.
The post Arizona Supreme Court Rules State Can Enforce Abortion Ban, Protect Babies From Abortions appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: Zero Hedge"An Open-Minded Spirit No Longer Exists Within NPR" - NPR Veteran Excoriates Outlet Over Hunter, Russiagate ActivismTyler Durden Tue, 04/09/2024 - 13:50
Authored by Uri Berliner via The Free Press (emphasis ours),
You know the stereotype of the NPR listener: an EV-driving, Wordle-playing, tote bag–carrying coastal elite. It doesn’t precisely describe me, but it’s not far off. I’m Sarah Lawrence–educated, was raised by a lesbian peace activist mother, I drive a Subaru, and Spotify says my listening habits are most similar to people in Berkeley.
I fit the NPR mold. I’ll cop to that.
So when I got a job here 25 years ago, I never looked back. As a senior editor on the business desk where news is always breaking, we’ve covered upheavals in the workplace, supermarket prices, social media, and AI.
It’s true NPR has always had a liberal bent, but during most of my tenure here, an open-minded, curious culture prevailed. We were nerdy, but not knee-jerk, activist, or scolding.
In recent years, however, that has changed. Today, those who listen to NPR or read its coverage online find something different: the distilled worldview of a very small segment of the U.S. population.
If you are conservative, you will read this and say, duh, it’s always been this way.
But it hasn’t.
For decades, since its founding in 1970, a wide swath of America tuned in to NPR for reliable journalism and gorgeous audio pieces with birds singing in the Amazon. Millions came to us for conversations that exposed us to voices around the country and the world radically different from our own—engaging precisely because they were unguarded and unpredictable. No image generated more pride within NPR than the farmer listening to Morning Edition from his or her tractor at sunrise.
Back in 2011, although NPR’s audience tilted a bit to the left, it still bore a resemblance to America at large. Twenty-six percent of listeners described themselves as conservative, 23 percent as middle of the road, and 37 percent as liberal.
By 2023, the picture was completely different: only 11 percent described themselves as very or somewhat conservative, 21 percent as middle of the road, and 67 percent of listeners said they were very or somewhat liberal. We weren’t just losing conservatives; we were also losing moderates and traditional liberals.
An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don’t have an audience that reflects America.
That wouldn’t be a problem for an openly polemical news outlet serving a niche audience. But for NPR, which purports to consider all things, it’s devastating both for its journalism and its business model.
* * *
Like many unfortunate things, the rise of advocacy took off with Donald Trump. As in many newsrooms, his election in 2016 was greeted at NPR with a mixture of disbelief, anger, and despair. (Just to note, I eagerly voted against Trump twice but felt we were obliged to cover him fairly.) But what began as tough, straightforward coverage of a belligerent, truth-impaired president veered toward efforts to damage or topple Trump’s presidency.
Persistent rumors that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia over the election became the catnip that drove reporting. At NPR, we hitched our wagon to Trump’s most visible antagonist, Representative Adam Schiff.
Schiff, who was the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, became NPR’s guiding hand, its ever-present muse. By my count, NPR hosts interviewed Schiff 25 times about Trump and Russia. During many of those conversations, Schiff alluded to purported evidence of collusion. The Schiff talking points became the drumbeat of NPR news reports.
But when the Mueller report found no credible evidence of collusion, NPR’s coverage was notably sparse. Russiagate quietly faded from our programming.
It is one thing to swing and miss on a major story. Unfortunately, it happens. You follow the wrong leads, you get misled by sources you trusted, you’re emotionally invested in a narrative, and bits of circumstantial evidence never add up. It’s bad to blow a big story.
What’s worse is to pretend it never happened, to move on with no mea culpas, no self-reflection. Especially when you expect high standards of transparency from public figures and institutions, but don’t practice those standards yourself. That’s what shatters trust and engenders cynicism about the media.
Russiagate was not NPR’s only miscue.
In October 2020, the New York Post published the explosive report about the laptop Hunter Biden abandoned at a Delaware computer shop containing emails about his sordid business dealings. With the election only weeks away, NPR turned a blind eye. Here’s how NPR’s managing editor for news at the time explained the thinking: “We don’t want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don’t want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions.”
But it wasn’t a pure distraction, or a product of Russian disinformation, as dozens of former and current intelligence officials suggested. The laptop did belong to Hunter Biden. Its contents revealed his connection to the corrupt world of multimillion-dollar influence peddling and its possible implications for his father.
The laptop was newsworthy. But the timeless journalistic instinct of following a hot story lead was being squelched. During a meeting with colleagues, I listened as one of NPR’s best and most fair-minded journalists said it was good we weren’t following the laptop story because it could help Trump.
When the essential facts of the Post’s reporting were confirmed and the emails verified independently about a year and a half later, we could have fessed up to our misjudgment. But, like Russia collusion, we didn’t make the hard choice of transparency.
Politics also intruded into NPR’s Covid coverage, most notably in reporting on the origin of the pandemic. One of the most dismal aspects of Covid journalism is how quickly it defaulted to ideological story lines. For example, there was Team Natural Origin—supporting the hypothesis that the virus came from a wild animal market in Wuhan, China. And on the other side, Team Lab Leak, leaning into the idea that the virus escaped from a Wuhan lab.
The lab leak theory came in for rough treatment almost immediately, dismissed as racist or a right-wing conspiracy theory. Anthony Fauci and former NIH head Francis Collins, representing the public health establishment, were its most notable critics. And that was enough for NPR. We became fervent members of Team Natural Origin, even declaring that the lab leak had been debunked by scientists.
But that wasn’t the case.
When word first broke of a mysterious virus in Wuhan, a number of leading virologists immediately suspected it could have leaked from a lab there conducting experiments on bat coronaviruses. This was in January 2020, during calmer moments before a global pandemic had been declared, and before fear spread and politics intruded.
Reporting on a possible lab leak soon became radioactive. Fauci and Collins apparently encouraged the March publication of an influential scientific paper known as “The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2.” Its authors wrote they didn’t believe “any type of laboratory-based scenario is plausible.”
But the lab leak hypothesis wouldn’t die. And understandably so. In private, even some of the scientists who penned the article dismissing it sounded a different tune. One of the authors, Andrew Rambaut, an evolutionary biologist from Edinburgh University, wrote to his colleagues, “I literally swivel day by day thinking it is a lab escape or natural.”
Over the course of the pandemic, a number of investigative journalists made compelling, if not conclusive, cases for the lab leak. But at NPR, we weren’t about to swivel or even tiptoe away from the insistence with which we backed the natural origin story. We didn’t budge when the Energy Department—the federal agency with the most expertise about laboratories and biological research—concluded, albeit with low confidence, that a lab leak was the most likely explanation for the emergence of the virus.
Instead, we introduced our coverage of that development on February 28, 2023, by asserting confidently that “the scientific evidence overwhelmingly points to a natural origin for the virus.”
When a colleague on our science desk was asked why they were so dismissive of the lab leak theory, the response was odd. The colleague compared it to the Bush administration’s unfounded argument that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, apparently meaning we won’t get fooled again. But these two events were not even remotely related. Again, politics were blotting out the curiosity and independence that ought to have been driving our work.
Uri Berliner near his home in Washington, D.C., on April 5, 2024. (Photo by Pete Kiehart for The Free Press)
I’m offering three examples of widely followed stories where I believe we faltered. Our coverage is out there in the public domain. Anyone can read or listen for themselves and make their own judgment. But to truly understand how independent journalism suffered at NPR, you need to step inside the organization.
You need to start with former CEO John Lansing. Lansing came to NPR in 2019 from the federally funded agency that oversees Voice of America. Like others who have served in the top job at NPR, he was hired primarily to raise money and to ensure good working relations with hundreds of member stations that acquire NPR’s programming.
After working mostly behind the scenes, Lansing became a more visible and forceful figure after the killing of George Floyd in May 2020. It was an anguished time in the newsroom, personally and professionally so for NPR staffers. Floyd’s murder, captured on video, changed both the conversation and the daily operations at NPR.
Given the circumstances of Floyd’s death, it would have been an ideal moment to tackle a difficult question: Is America, as progressive activists claim, beset by systemic racism in the 2020s—in law enforcement, education, housing, and elsewhere? We happen to have a very powerful tool for answering such questions: journalism. Journalism that lets evidence lead the way.
But the message from the top was very different. America’s infestation with systemic racism was declared loud and clear: it was a given. Our mission was to change it.
“When it comes to identifying and ending systemic racism,” Lansing wrote in a companywide article, “we can be agents of change. Listening and deep reflection are necessary but not enough. They must be followed by constructive and meaningful steps forward. I will hold myself accountable for this.”
And we were told that NPR itself was part of the problem. In confessional language he said the leaders of public media, “starting with me—must be aware of how we ourselves have benefited from white privilege in our careers. We must understand the unconscious bias we bring to our work and interactions. And we must commit ourselves—body and soul—to profound changes in ourselves and our institutions.”
He declared that diversity—on our staff and in our audience—was the overriding mission, the “North Star” of the organization. Phrases like “that’s part of the North Star” became part of meetings and more casual conversation.
Race and identity became paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace. Journalists were required to ask everyone we interviewed their race, gender, and ethnicity (among other questions), and had to enter it in a centralized tracking system. We were given unconscious bias training sessions. A growing DEI staff offered regular meetings imploring us to “start talking about race.” Monthly dialogues were offered for “women of color” and “men of color.” Nonbinary people of color were included, too.
These initiatives, bolstered by a $1 million grant from the NPR Foundation, came from management, from the top down. Crucially, they were in sync culturally with what was happening at the grassroots—among producers, reporters, and other staffers. Most visible was a burgeoning number of employee resource (or affinity) groups based on identity.
They included MGIPOC (Marginalized Genders and Intersex People of Color mentorship program); Mi Gente (Latinx employees at NPR); NPR Noir (black employees at NPR); Southwest Asians and North Africans at NPR; Ummah (for Muslim-identifying employees); Women, Gender-Expansive, and Transgender People in Technology Throughout Public Media; Khevre (Jewish heritage and culture at NPR); and NPR Pride (LGBTQIA employees at NPR).
All this reflected a broader movement in the culture of people clustering together based on ideology or a characteristic of birth. If, as NPR’s internal website suggested, the groups were simply a “great way to meet like-minded colleagues” and “help new employees feel included,” it would have been one thing.
But the role and standing of affinity groups, including those outside NPR, were more than that. They became a priority for NPR’s union, SAG-AFTRA—an item in collective bargaining. The current contract, in a section on DEI, requires NPR management to “keep up to date with current language and style guidance from journalism affinity groups” and to inform employees if language differs from the diktats of those groups. In such a case, the dispute could go before the DEI Accountability Committee.
In essence, this means the NPR union, of which I am a dues-paying member, has ensured that advocacy groups are given a seat at the table in determining the terms and vocabulary of our news coverage.
Conflicts between workers and bosses, between labor and management, are common in workplaces. NPR has had its share. But what’s notable is the extent to which people at every level of NPR have comfortably coalesced around the progressive worldview.
And this, I believe, is the most damaging development at NPR: the absence of viewpoint diversity.
* * *
There’s an unspoken consensus about the stories we should pursue and how they should be framed. It’s frictionless—one story after another about instances of supposed racism, transphobia, signs of the climate apocalypse, Israel doing something bad, and the dire threat of Republican policies. It’s almost like an assembly line.
The mindset prevails in choices about language. In a document called NPR Transgender Coverage Guidance—disseminated by news management—we’re asked to avoid the term biological sex. (The editorial guidance was prepared with the help of a former staffer of the National Center for Transgender Equality.) The mindset animates bizarre stories—on how The Beatles and bird names are racially problematic, and others that are alarmingly divisive; justifying looting, with claims that fears about crime are racist; and suggesting that Asian Americans who oppose affirmative action have been manipulated by white conservatives.
More recently, we have approached the Israel-Hamas war and its spillover onto streets and campuses through the “intersectional” lens that has jumped from the faculty lounge to newsrooms. Oppressor versus oppressed. That’s meant highlighting the suffering of Palestinians at almost every turn while downplaying the atrocities of October 7, overlooking how Hamas intentionally puts Palestinian civilians in peril, and giving little weight to the explosion of antisemitic hate around the world.
For nearly all my career, working at NPR has been a source of great pride. It’s a privilege to work in the newsroom at a crown jewel of American journalism. My colleagues are congenial and hardworking.
I can’t count the number of times I would meet someone, describe what I do, and they’d say, “I love NPR!”
And they wouldn’t stop there. They would mention their favorite host or one of those “driveway moments” where a story was so good you’d stay in your car until it finished.
It still happens, but often now the trajectory of the conversation is different. After the initial “I love NPR,” there’s a pause and a person will acknowledge, “I don’t listen as much as I used to.” Or, with some chagrin: “What’s happening there? Why is NPR telling me what to think?”
In recent years I’ve struggled to answer that question. Concerned by the lack of viewpoint diversity, I looked at voter registration for our newsroom. In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans. None.
So on May 3, 2021, I presented the findings at an all-hands editorial staff meeting. When I suggested we had a diversity problem with a score of 87 Democrats and zero Republicans, the response wasn’t hostile. It was worse. It was met with profound indifference. I got a few messages from surprised, curious colleagues. But the messages were of the “oh wow, that’s weird” variety, as if the lopsided tally was a random anomaly rather than a critical failure of our diversity North Star.
In a follow-up email exchange, a top NPR news executive told me that she had been “skewered” for bringing up diversity of thought when she arrived at NPR. So, she said, “I want to be careful how we discuss this publicly.”
For years, I have been persistent. When I believe our coverage has gone off the rails, I have written regular emails to top news leaders, sometimes even having one-on-one sessions with them. On March 10, 2022, I wrote to a top news executive about the numerous times we described the controversial education bill in Florida as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill when it didn’t even use the word gay. I pushed to set the record straight, and wrote another time to ask why we keep using that word that many Hispanics hate—Latinx. On March 31, 2022, I was invited to a managers’ meeting to present my observations.
Throughout these exchanges, no one has ever trashed me. That’s not the NPR way. People are polite. But nothing changes. So I’ve become a visible wrong-thinker at a place I love. It’s uncomfortable, sometimes heartbreaking.
Even so, out of frustration, on November 6, 2022, I wrote to the captain of ship North Star—CEO John Lansing—about the lack of viewpoint diversity and asked if we could have a conversation about it. I got no response, so I followed up four days later. He said he would appreciate hearing my perspective and copied his assistant to set up a meeting. On December 15, the morning of the meeting, Lansing’s assistant wrote back to cancel our conversation because he was under the weather. She said he was looking forward to chatting and a new meeting invitation would be sent. But it never came.
I won’t speculate about why our meeting never happened. Being CEO of NPR is a demanding job with lots of constituents and headaches to deal with. But what’s indisputable is that no one in a C-suite or upper management position has chosen to deal with the lack of viewpoint diversity at NPR and how that affects our journalism.
Which is a shame. Because for all the emphasis on our North Star, NPR’s news audience in recent years has become less diverse, not more so. Back in 2011, our audience leaned a bit to the left but roughly reflected America politically; now, the audience is cramped into a smaller, progressive silo.
Despite all the resources we’d devoted to building up our news audience among blacks and Hispanics, the numbers have barely budged. In 2023, according to our demographic research, 6 percent of our news audience was black, far short of the overall U.S. adult population, which is 14.4 percent black. And Hispanics were only 7 percent, compared to the overall Hispanic adult population, around 19 percent. Our news audience doesn’t come close to reflecting America. It’s overwhelmingly white and progressive, and clustered around coastal cities and college towns.
These are perilous times for news organizations. Last year, NPR laid off or bought out 10 percent of its staff and canceled four podcasts following a slump in advertising revenue. Our radio audience is dwindling and our podcast downloads are down from 2020. The digital stories on our website rarely have national impact. They aren’t conversation starters. Our competitive advantage in audio—where for years NPR had no peer—is vanishing. There are plenty of informative and entertaining podcasts to choose from.
Even within our diminished audience, there’s evidence of trouble at the most basic level: trust.
In February, our audience insights team sent an email proudly announcing that we had a higher trustworthy score than CNN or The New York Times. But the research from Harris Poll is hardly reassuring. It found that “3-in-10 audience members familiar with NPR said they associate NPR with the characteristic ‘trustworthy.’ ” Only in a world where media credibility has completely imploded would a 3-in-10 trustworthy score be something to boast about.
With declining ratings, sorry levels of trust, and an audience that has become less diverse over time, the trajectory for NPR is not promising. Two paths seem clear. We can keep doing what we’re doing, hoping it will all work out. Or we could start over, with the basic building blocks of journalism. We could face up to where we’ve gone wrong. News organizations don’t go in for that kind of reckoning. But there’s a good reason for NPR to be the first: we’re the ones with the word public in our name.
Despite our missteps at NPR, defunding isn’t the answer. As the country becomes more fractured, there’s still a need for a public institution where stories are told and viewpoints exchanged in good faith. Defunding, as a rebuke from Congress, wouldn’t change the journalism at NPR. That needs to come from within.
A few weeks ago, NPR welcomed a new CEO, Katherine Maher, who’s been a leader in tech. She doesn’t have a news background, which could be an asset given where things stand. I’ll be rooting for her. It’s a tough job. Her first rule could be simple enough: don’t tell people how to think. It could even be the new North Star.
Uri Berliner is a senior business editor and reporter at NPR. His work has been recognized with a Peabody Award, a Loeb Award, an Edward R. Murrow Award, and a Society of Professional Journalists New America Award, among others. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @uberliner.
And fast https://t.co/JwCLUrcTlz
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2024 -
Site: non veni pacem
A lifelong friend posted this yesterday; perhaps the most profound image of the day that I have seen. It was taken during totality by her daughter beside the chapel at the University of Dayton.
The Church in eclipse. A church in eclipse. The Jesuits in eclipse.
The papacy in eclipse.
Yet He is still in there. Thanks be to God. Go visit Him.
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Site: AsiaNews.itA gang of Syrian car thieves is suspected in the abduction and murder of the senior leader of the Lebanese Forces. The Maronite party calls the death, a 'premeditated crime'. For Minister for Displaced Persons Issam Sharafeddine, thousands of armed Syrians are roaming refugee camps, 'ready to take action against the Syrian regime.' Nasrallah denies any Hezbollah involvement and warns against 'dangerous' reactions.
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Site: Zero HedgeTrafigura Gets Bullish On Power Markets As Wall Street Joins The 'Next Big Trade'Tyler Durden Tue, 04/09/2024 - 13:35
It's becoming increasingly clear that cutting-edge chatbot providers and other AI and hyper-scaler businesses will require energy-intensive data centers to operate. This places a significant burden on an outdated electrical grid that desperately needs modernization.
In last week's note, "The Next AI Trade," we explained that soaring power demand is not just AI-related; there are multiple drivers, including onshoring trends, electrification of transportation and buildings, extreme weather, and, of course, data center demand. We also provided several investment ideas on how to capitalize on powering up America for the digital age.
"Every day, I'm surprised by how fast power consumption is growing," One River CIO Eric Peters wrote in a recent note, adding, "Take any application, add AI, and you need 7x-50x the compute power. AI is a black hole; it'll suck money out of everything else and into its vortex. The arms race between industry giants is a 20 on a scale of 1-10."
In addition to grid modernization efforts, we explained to readers in December 2020, "Buy Uranium: Is This The Beginning Of The Next ESG Craze." This is because nuclear power is clean and reliable compared to unreliable solar and wind. The latest sign that a nuclear renaissance is just beginning was a report last month from the federal government about the first-ever restart of a US nuclear power plant in southwestern Michigan.
Given all this, Wall Street is jumping on the bandwagon and seeing the same investment ideas as we see in the uranium industry and companies that will upgrade the power grid to handle EVs and AI data centers.
Richard Holtum, Trafigura's global head of gas, power, and renewables, is the most recent Wall Street analyst to recognize these emerging trends. On Tuesday, he told the audience at the Financial Times Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland, about his incredibly bullish views on power markets.
"Electrification of the vehicle fleet, AI — all these things are massively power-intensive," Holtum said.
Across the world, traders are building out power desks from the US to Japan as regulated electricity markets open up, allowing traders from overseas to buy and sell physical units, according to Bloomberg.
He said, "There's a growing realization that the one piece that binds the traditional fossil and the energy transition is the electron," adding, "As more and more grids get liberalized, the trading sphere gets even larger."
He also noted that the nuclear power industry in the US could tremendously benefit from soaring power demand.
Will there be an 80% growth in US power consumption in the next five years?
— Financial Times Live (@ftlive) April 9, 2024
Richard Holtum, global head of gas, power and renewables @trafigura, says this increase could help the nuclear industry in the US. #FTCommodities pic.twitter.com/n1sVteaKEtLast week, Patti Poppe, the chief executive officer of Pacific Gas & Electric, told a Stanford University forum that nuclear power should continue to be part of the state's power generation mix as efforts to decarbonize the grid move forward.
And Morgan Stanley analyst Carlos De Alba recently conveyed his optimistic outlook for the US metals and mining sector because investment levels in the industry have reached their lowest level in decades. He believes the sector is poised for massive investments as reshoring rare earth mineral supply chains goes into overdrive.
What's clear is that electrifying the economy will require an upgraded grid to handle the new electrical load - and the most reliable form of clean energy to power it all is nuclear.
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Site: Zero HedgeUgly 3Y Auction Tails The Most In Over A Year As Foreign Buyers Flee Ahead Of CPITyler Durden Tue, 04/09/2024 - 13:29
The first coupon auction of the week and the month is in the history books and boy, was it ugly: maybe it was nerves ahead of tomorrow's CPI, maybe it was the realization that there is a lot more where this came from. A LOT more.
With $58 billion in 3Y paper for sale today, tied for the biggest amount on record for sale in the tenor...
... the reception was anything but warm.
The high yield of today's auction was 4.548%, up markedly from last month's 4.256% and the highest since November's 4.701%, the auction tailed the When Issued 4.528% by 2.0bps, which was not only the first tail after 3 stopping though auction, but the biggest tail since February 2023.
The bid to cover dropped to 2.50% from 2.60%; it was the lowest since December's 2.42 and well below the six-auction average of 2.584%.
The internals were also ugly, with foreign demand fading as Indirects took down just 60.3%, the lowest since December's 52.1 (and below the 62.3 recent average), leaving 20.4 to Directs, the most since December, and Dealers awarded 19.31T, the most since, you guessed it, December.
In response to the auction, yields - which were sliding all day in a flight to safety as stocks dumped - moved higher by about 2 bps although remained near session lows amid the general selling everywhere else.
That said, if tomorrow's CPI ends up being hot again, watch out below as all of today's buyers end up being deeply underwater in less than 24 hours.
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Site: Fr. Z's BlogAt the blog A Catholic Life there is an interesting post, with a graphic, that explains how, over the years, fasting changed for liturgical vigils. You can draw your own conclusions, but I think it is telling. It is well … Read More →
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Site: LifeNews
A proposed North Dakota GOP resolution to punish women who have abortions has been voted down after national and state pro-life groups voiced their opposition. Last week, leaders of organizations including SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser and ND Family Alliance Executive Director Mark Jorritsma sent a letter to North Dakota Republican Party Chair Sandi Sanford rejecting the proposed resolution on charging women as “co-conspirators” in their own abortions.
Dannenfelser celebrated the resolution’s defeat:
“We thank North Dakota GOP delegates for representing the pro-life movement in voting down this harmful resolution. Together, we will oppose any effort to criminalize women – even non-binding resolutions. We celebrate that in the very few states where this kind of legislation has been filed not a single bill punishing women has advanced. As many women face abortion coercion, a culture that lies to them about the humanity of their unborn children, and a predatory abortion industry profiting off of lives and women’s suffering, we must provide more support to mothers, not condemnation.”
Referencing a previous pro-life letter sent to legislators across the country in 2022, the signers said:
“As national and state pro-life organizations, representing tens of millions of pro-life men, women, and children across the country, let us be clear: We state unequivocally that we do not support any measure seeking to criminalize or punish women and we stand firmly opposed to include such penalties in legislation.”
Peer-reviewed research from Charlotte Lozier Institute shows nearly 70% of women who have had abortions describe them as inconsistent with their own values and preferences, with one in four describing their abortions as unwanted or coerced; over 60% report high levels of pressure to abort from one or more sources.
Get the latest pro-life news and information on X (Twitter). Follow @LifeNewsHQ//
The resolution stands in contrast to pro-woman legislation recently passed by North Dakota lawmakers including:
- HB 1176: tax credits for contributions to maternity homes and pregnancy help organizations
- SB 2129: an extension of North Dakota Alternatives to Abortion funding
- SB 2181: an extension on TANF assistance for pregnant mothers
The North Dakota GOP Convention was held over the weekend and on Monday afternoon a party representative announced the passage of 14 resolutions and the defeat of the resolution criminalizing women.
The post North Dakota GOP Defeats Resolution to Punish Women Who Have Abortions appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: Zero HedgeMusk Says Starlink Will Be Free For Brazil Schools If Government Cancels ContractTyler Durden Tue, 04/09/2024 - 13:15
Authored by Stephen Katte via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said he will provide Starlink services free of charge for schools in Brazil if the government chooses to follow through and cancel a contract for the service in the country.
Many schools in Brazil have reported using the company to provide internet access to their citizens. Starlink terminals connect to the company’s satellites in low Earth orbit and provide high-speed communications.
Brazil’s government has reportedly announced plans to suspend all contracts with Starlink. Prompting Mr. Musk to offer the service free of charge.
“Starlink will provide free Internet for schools in Brazil if the government won’t honor their contract,” he said in an April 8 social media post.
Starlink will provide free Internet for schools in Brazil if the government won’t honor their contract
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2024The moves come amid a growing stoush between social media company X, also owned by Mr. Musk, and the Brazilian government.
According to an April 6 post on the platform, the global affairs team announced they were being “forced by court decisions to block certain popular accounts in Brazil.”
“We do not know the reasons these blocking orders have been issued. We do not know which posts are alleged to violate the law. We are prohibited from saying which court or judge issued the order, or on what grounds,” the post said.
The global affairs team claimed the company had been threatened with fines if they didn’t comply with the order. They also said they were unable to provide a list of which accounts were impacted.
“We believe that such orders are not in accordance with the Marco Civil da Internet or the Brazilian Federal Constitution, and we challenge the orders legally where possible,” the post from the global affairs team said.
“The people of Brazil, regardless of their political beliefs, are entitled to freedom of speech, due process, and transparency from their own authorities.”
The announcement came after a report by investigative journalist Michael Shellenberger and colleagues David Ágape and Eli Vieira, titled “Twitter Files Brazil.”
Mr. Shellenberger said that sitting members of Brazil’s Congress and journalists were among those named by Brazil’s highest court for censorship. He has shared his findings on X.
CONTEXT: Brazil’s Supreme Court and Superior Electoral Court
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) April 3, 2024
Seven justices comprise Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
Three of those justices are also members of the Supreme Court (STF).
One of them, Alexandre de Moraes, presides over the TSE.
Here's background on…Mr. Musk announced soon after he had removed all content restrictions in Brazil in defiance of the order.
As a result, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes opened a probe into Mr. Musk for alleged obstruction of justice after he challenged a court order requiring the removal of certain X accounts.
In his decision on April 7, Justice de Moraes said Mr. Musk will be probed for alleged obstruction of justice, criminal organization, and incitement.
Mr. Musk has made serious allegations of corruption against Justice de Moraes and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In a follow-up April 8 post, Mr. Musk claims that events have since escalated and all Twitter Brazil employees are in danger of arrest. Once safe, he will release the information proving his allegations.
“We need to get our employees in Brazil to a safe place or otherwise not in a position of responsibility, then we will do a full data dump,” he said.
“They have been told they will be arrested. Save the Brazilian X employees.”
We need to get our employees in Brazil to a safe place or otherwise not in a position of responsibility, then we will do a full data dump
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2024 -
Site: RT - News
The ruling party suffered major setbacks in the recent elections; Ankara’s domestic policies and global role are at a crucial junction
In the wake of the March 31 municipal elections, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a significant announcement, declaring them to be his final political contest within the bounds of current legislation. He stated, “For me, this is final. These elections are my last elections within the powers granted by the law. Following this, there will be a transition to my brothers who will come after me.” This marked a pivotal moment, not only for his career but potentially for Türkiye’s socio-political landscape as well.
Erdogan’s tenure as prime minister and later president, which began in 2003, has been characterized by a series of transformative policies that have significantly impacted Türkiye’s domestic and international position. However, the limitations set by Turkish legislation, requiring Erdogan to step back, hint at a broader shift underway, perhaps signaling the close of the Erdogan era.
The 2023 presidential elections underscored this sentiment. Erdogan secured victory in a closely contested run-off, garnering 52.18% of the votes against Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s 47.82%. This narrow margin, unprecedented in Erdogan’s tenure, suggests a changing political tide, which was further substantiated by the results of the recent municipal elections.
The municipal elections of March 31 revealed a stark transformation in Türkiye’s internal socio-political dynamics. The opposition’s People’s Republican Party (CHP) won in 36 out of 81 municipalities, a significant leap from previous years, indicating a rising tide of change. With a national share of 37.7% of the votes against the ruling party’s 35.4% and a voter turnout of 77.3%, these elections represented the opposition’s most substantial victory since Erdogan’s rise to power.
Read more
Türkiye first: How Erdogan’s policies evolved from EU-aligned reforms to conservative Islamism
A focal point of intrigue was Istanbul, Erdogan’s birthplace, where he started his political career. Ekrem İmamoğlu of the CHP won the mayoral seat with a considerable margin, solidifying the opposition’s grip on Türkiye’s most populous city. Similarly, Ankara witnessed a landslide victory for the CHP’s Mansur Yavaş, further illustrating the shifting political landscape.
These elections also highlighted significant regional variations in political allegiance. While Erdogan’s party maintained dominance in central Türkiye, it also made notable gains in the south, regions recently devastated by a catastrophic earthquake. Conversely, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) took control of 10 provinces in the predominantly Kurdish southeast, indicating a diversification in political representation and priorities.
Perhaps most striking was the victory of the moderately Islamist New Welfare Party in Şanlıurfa province, a departure from Erdogan’s ally base, signaling a realignment in Türkiye’s political factions in response to domestic and international pressures, including the fallout from the war in Gaza.
These developments suggest a critical juncture in Turkish politics. Erdogan’s acknowledgment of his final term within the current legislative framework, coupled with the electoral gains of the opposition, points to a potential transformation in Türkiye’s socio-political landscape. As Erdogan’s era is possibly drawing to a close, the rise of new political forces and alignments beckons a period of introspection and potential redirection for Türkiye, navigating between its deep-rooted historical identities and the pressures of modern governance. The implications of this transition extend beyond Türkiye, potentially affecting its role on the global stage, particularly in relation to the West and the Middle East. As Türkiye stands at this crossroads, the unfolding political narrative will be critical in shaping not only its future but also its legacy under Erdogan’s leadership.
Türkiye’s economic crisis: No money, no honey
As Türkiye grapples with a profound economic crisis, the repercussions have echoed loudly in its political arena, particularly influencing the recent electoral outcomes. The nation’s struggling economy, marked by an inflation rate surpassing 65% and a national currency, the lira, which has lost 80% of its value over the past five years, stands as a testament to the challenging times faced by its populace. This economic downturn has played a pivotal role in the defeat of the ruling party, led by Erdogan, in the municipal elections.
Critics often accuse Erdogan’s government of failing to grasp the severity of the common people’s hardships amid this economic turmoil. Throughout the pre-election period, the opposition capitalized on growing concerns about the escalating cost of living, framing it as a key electoral issue. İmamoğlu, the popular newly-elected Istanbul mayor and opposition figure, notably campaigned under the slogan “Our country does not deserve poverty.” His criticism of Erdogan’s economic policies, which he argued “turned the laws of economics upside down,” resonated with the electorate, leading to his convincing victory and re-election for another term.
Erdogan’s promise to revive the economy was a cornerstone of his campaign for a third consecutive presidential term in 2023. Despite these assurances, the economic landscape remained bleak. Following the elections, Erdogan acknowledged his party’s defeat in a speech to his supporters from the presidential palace’s balcony. He interpreted the electoral outcome as a manifestation of the people’s will and a “turning point” rather than an end, asserting that democracy and the nation will emerge victorious. Erdogan pledged to address the shortcomings highlighted by the election results and continue implementing the government’s economic program, aimed at combating inflation.
Read more
Türkiye’s Erdogan concedes ruling party’s electoral loss
The deep economic crisis in Türkiye and its influence on the political shift underscore the intricate relationship between economic health and political stability. The electorate’s response, favoring the opposition in light of economic dissatisfaction, signals a demand for change and accountability from their leaders. As Türkiye navigates through this challenging period, the government’s ability to enact effective economic reforms will be closely watched. The promise of addressing inflation and revitalizing the economy not only forms the crux of Erdogan’s future political agenda but also represents a critical test of his administration’s capability to respond to the pressing needs of its citizens.
This political recalibration in Türkiye, amidst economic adversity, highlights the resilience of democratic processes and the importance of economic governance in shaping political landscapes. The electorate’s shift towards the opposition, driven by economic grievances, suggests a broader call for transparency, reform, and a more equitable distribution of resources. As Türkiye strives to overcome its economic challenges, the world watches closely, recognizing the broader implications for regional stability and the global economic order.
Navigating toward a new era
The aftermath of Türkiye’s municipal elections has underscored a clear demand for transformation within the country, heralding what many see as the dawn of a new era. The victory of the opposition, particularly the CHP, has not only been interpreted as a mandate for change but also as a significant juncture in Türkiye’s political climate. Özgür Özel, a leader of the CHP, emphasized this sentiment, stating that the electorate’s decision “opens the door to a new political climate in our country, balancing the disproportionate power of the government at the municipal level.”
The electoral outcomes serve as a rebuke to Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for its economic mismanagement and signal the reluctance of the urban secular population to support further Islamization. Despite personal criticisms, Erdogan remains a respected and beloved figure in Turkish politics, challenging narratives of authoritarianism that have emanated from the West. Indeed, the competitive nature of the electoral process in Türkiye has been reaffirmed, reinforcing Erdogan’s stature on the international stage and providing an opportunity for his administration to regain public favor.
Anticipating the path ahead, Türkiye is likely to witness a phase of liberalization in its domestic policy. The current leadership is expected to intensify efforts against corruption, enhance social support for the populace, and potentially implement personnel changes within the AKP, particularly at the regional level. This recalibration may also extend to reassessing alliances and partnerships.
On the international front, Ankara is poised to continue its rapprochement with the West, particularly with the United States and the European Union, leveraging this alignment to counterbalance opposition narratives while carefully maintaining relations with non-Western partners. This delicate balancing act in foreign relations reflects a strategic effort to navigate the complexities of global geopolitics, ensuring Türkiye’s interests are safeguarded amidst shifting alliances.
The municipal elections have indeed marked a pivotal moment for Türkiye, prompting a reflective assessment of its internal and external policies. The electorate’s call for change is clear, and the responses from both the ruling party and the opposition will shape the country’s trajectory in the coming years. As Türkiye stands at this crossroads, the actions taken by its leaders will not only define the nation’s political landscape but also its role on the world stage.
The path toward liberalization, transparency, and enhanced democratic processes offers a roadmap for addressing immediate challenges while laying the groundwork for sustainable growth and stability. As Türkiye navigates through these transformations, the enduring resilience of its democratic institutions and the strategic vision of its leadership will be crucial in steering the country toward a prosperous and inclusive future.
Adapting to the shifting global order
In the evolving tapestry of international relations, the old world order is being reshaped, heralding new rules of engagement on the global stage. This transformation necessitates strategic adaptations by all nations, with Türkiye facing its unique set of challenges and opportunities.
The decline of the unipolar world, dominated by the US following the Cold War, has given way to a more multipolar order. Emerging powers are asserting their influence, and traditional alliances are being reevaluated. For Türkiye, a country straddling two continents and multiple fault lines—geopolitical, cultural, and economic—the changing landscape offers a canvas to redefine its role.
Read more
Turkish politician killed while celebrating election win (VIDEO)
Türkiye’s geopolitical significance has often been its ace in international relations. As the global order changes, Türkiye is repositioning its alliances. Its historical ties to the West through NATO and its aspirations for EU membership are being reassessed in light of the EU’s ambivalence and America’s shifting priorities. Meanwhile, Türkiye’s relationships with Russia and China are becoming increasingly significant, both economically and militarily. Balancing these relationships while maintaining its strategic autonomy will be crucial.
In a multipolar world, economic interdependence can be a double-edged sword. Türkiye’s economy, which has faced significant challenges, must adapt in order to thrive amid global economic shifts. Diversifying trade partners, attracting foreign investment, and enhancing technological innovation are steps towards securing economic resilience.
Türkiye’s role in regional stability, especially in the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean, has become more pronounced. Its actions in Syria, Libya, and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, among others, reflect its broader regional aspirations. Balancing these interventions with the need for regional stability will be a delicate endeavor.
The internal political landscape will also influence Türkiye’s global positioning. The rule of President Erdogan and the AKP has seen significant shifts in governance and policymaking. The outcome of the recent municipal elections and the economic situation suggest that voters seek change. How this translates into Türkiye’s foreign policy remains to be seen.
In conclusion, as the global order undergoes a period of transition, Türkiye stands at a crossroads. Its strategic location and historical legacy endow it with the potential to be a pivotal player in the new world order. However, this will require a deft balance of diplomacy, economic foresight, regional cooperation, and internal stability. The choices made by Türkiye’s leadership and citizens in the coming years will not only shape the nation’s future but also influence the emerging global landscape, where the interplay of power is more dynamic than ever.
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Site: Henrymakow.comPlease send links and comments to hmakow@gmail.comIf you open your mind and heart, this video could change your life!Andy Petro drowned in a lake for 15 minutes two days before his high school graduation in 1955. At the bottom of the lake, he heard a voice telling him to "just let go." Suddenly he was no longer cold or in pain. He looked back and saw his body -- entangled in the weeds at the bottom of the lake. Then he felt himself rushing toward a light. The Light said, "Andy, don't be afraid, we love you."This video confirms that God is Consciousness, a state of Being where Truth, Beauty, Goodness, Justice and Love are self-evident. Humanity is One wearing different customs and beliefs but essentilly identical in spirit. Watch this and the gloom hanging over life will dissipate. This video is truly inspiring. Love must triumph over hate.Andy Petro: "We are ONE""The three most significant aspects of my NDE (near-death-experience) are that there is no hierarchy, no judgment, and no separation in the Light. Once I remembered that those three, ego-based, concepts did not exist in the Light, everything else about the Light made sense to me. Earth-Andy remembered that we are truly ONE, and in order to be ONE with the universe ... hierarchy, judgment, and separation can not exist. We are all composed of vibrating strings of energy; vibrating strings of unconditional Love; vibrating, holographic, strings of the Light. The different vibrating pieces of Light make us unique, but we are also absorbed into ONE Light. The Light is truly very simple!"Viewer asks: If the "soul's purpose" is to experience joy, why do we come to a place of pain and suffering?Makow: We (souls) are angels from Heaven sent to colonize the Earth, i.e. create Heaven on Earth. Heaven is a State of Perfection i.e. God.-
Catholic investigative reporter explains why he's exposing Freemasonry, Bohemian GroveKyle Clifton told LifeSiteNews that he is willing to risk his life for Christ in order to stop the spread of evil.-Boston Satanic Temple is firebombed with explosives in 'horrific act of attempted terrorism' - as FBI launches urgent investigation--Universities used to be dedicated to free speech and free inquiry'Columbia is making us homeless': Students evicted for hosting Palestinian eventColumbia University indefinitely suspended four students for hosting a discussion on campus that featured an alleged former official from the Popular Front For The Liberation of Palestine-West Virginia stands up for fossil fuels, bans major banks from state contracts over ESG policies"We've offered woke financial institutions a choice: you can boycott fossil fuels, or you can do business with our state, but you can't do both."-
Mark Trozzi, left, fights the toxic vaccine agenda. He is a international hero. I send him money.-Elon Musk says Brazil X employees have been threatened with arrest, promises 'data dump' on Supreme Court judge once they're safe-Sorry is not enough. We want billion dollar fines and jail sentences.Pfizer Says 'Sorry' for Illegally Promoting Unlicensed COVID Vax with No Safety Data.Big Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has "deeply" apologized for promoting an "unlicensed" coronavirus vaccine, after being rebuked for the fifth time by state regulators. The move earned the firm another reprimand from the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA) in the United Kingdom.The British government regulator found Pfizer had "proactively disseminated" an "unlicensed medicine" on Twitter, now X, in November 2020 while providing no information on its safety or adverse side effects.--COVID was another boondoggle.Health Canada Sells $170M Worth of COVID-19 Ventilators for 'Scrap Metal'-Space Oddity: The Eclipse Sun Worshiping Rituallock down / shut down. state of emergency. FOR AN ECLIPSE!!What's important is what people believe, not what you think is real or what will actually happen. Many high level public officials are initiated into these secret and hidden practices and they use these events as rituals to generate power from the unknowing participants. What are they up to with the eclipse?---
Reader--"THEY" desperately need to start WWIII. If they fail to accomplish this deed, THEN "They Will Have Failed"And then maybe, just maybe, the world will turn back to it's senses. Other wise WWIII, will spiral out of control and go nuclear.You F#$&@^% NWO people, don't you get it, YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE THIS, YOU ARE SAWING OFF THE VERY BRANCH ON WHICH YOU SITHOW STUPID Are you, TAKE YOUR BILLIONS & LEAVE US ALONE."-The Illuminati: How the Cult Programs People by SvaliSvali used to be a programmer and trainer in the cult of the Illuminati. Both she and her entire family were involved in the cult group until several years ago, when they finally broke free. She has been a consultant to an on-line survivors group that helps people dealing with issues related to cult programming and ritual abuse.Svali, a writer and a registered nurse, has self-published a book on breaking free of cult programming, which several experts in the field have said has "invalueable information" for the survivor of ritual abuse.Her articles are published online at www.suite101.com. She is now married to her second husband and has two children.Chapter Fifteen: Core splits, Denial programming, the last Five Steps of Discipline Virtual Reality Programming.The Illuminati: How the Cult Programs People-
Russ Winter--Food Collapse as Key Driver for New Underworld Order RevolutionParallels between the French Revolution and the Commie Biden Revolution-WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT THE GREAT RESET, GREAT TAKING, GREAT REPLACEMENT, GREAT DEFLATION AND NEXT GREAT DEPRESSION?"In the past few years, you have been living within an escalating hybrid war. Globally, we have witnessed overt media control and propaganda campaigns; censorship, including arrests of people speaking in public; monitoring of all electronic communications and physical contact tracing; brutally enforced lock-down and masking requirements, with people being beaten, handcuffed, and arrested, even in their homes; suspension of healthcare services and weakening of healthcare systems; invasive testing requirements for employment and travel; forced quarantine of travelers; and coerced quarantine and "vaccination" of the healthy, general population.Governments dropped all pretence of democracy and were emboldened to open despotism. There were no functioning checks on this power. The courts provided no effective recourse to the public. Governments broadly abused fundamental human rights using as justification prevention of the spread of infectious diseases, which are, in truth, a great many, ever-present, and continually evolving. And so, this justification, if allowed to stand, assures the end of democracy and installation of openly despotic government." - David Webb - The Great Taking---
VIDEO - Truth Warrior (David Whitehead) with Dr.William Makis - Pedophilia and corruption within Canada's healthcare system (Alberta Health Services, College of Physicians & Surgeons) (Apr.4, 2024)--Jordan Maxwell explains Illuminati symbolism-Ron Unz--The Bibliography for an Alternative Historical Narrative--Dane Wigington- GeoEngineering Watch"Tennessee's bill to ban geoengineering has now successfully passed the House in addition to previously passing the Senate, now only Governor Bill Lee's signature is needed for the proposed legislation to become law. Though any ban on climate engineering will be difficult to enforce, it is critically needed public awareness of the issue that is the most important factor in this equation. Many are finally waking up to core components of climate engineering like chemical ice nucleation cloud seeding, extreme weather and temperature whiplash scenarios occurring around the world are now the norm. From climate catastrophes to earthquakes and the coming eclipse, what aren't we being told?All are needed in the critical battle to wake populations to what is coming, we must make every day count. Share credible data from a credible source, make your voice heard.Dane Wigington-Men are realizing that apart from sex, modern women have little to offer them except headaches. Women used to nurture & love men and were cherished in return; now, thanks to feminism (Communism) they trade in sex like streetwalkers.Viewer comments- "Modern women drained more wallets than ATMs, induced more comas than asylums, and sucked more souls than vampires.Remember, Red Pill SAVES wallets, minds, and lives."There are 10 women looking for a husband for every man looking for a wife. Yet, women think they're the prize and keep raising their standards. It's not a good business model."Being labeled a creep, being shamed, laughed at, that is what guys have to look forward to, when approaching "weeman". Gee, why am I single?- -
Site: RT - News
The West is scouring the world for more anti-aircraft systems to send to Kiev
Ukraine urgently needs more air defense missiles, but Berlin doesn’t have any to give, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday.
Baerbock spoke with reporters after meeting with her Moldovan counterpart, Mihai Popsoi, in Berlin.
“Unfortunately, the stocks, especially our own Patriot systems, are now pretty much exhausted,” she said. “Therefore I made it clear at a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting that we need to check the availability of all Patriot systems in Europe and globally, and that we will make every effort to obtain these systems for Ukraine.”
Officially, Germany has sent Ukraine two batteries of the US-made Patriot systems. Late last month, the government said it was preparing additional systems for delivery, without specifying their number.
Berlin is working with Kiev and other European countries to buy Patriot systems from elsewhere and deliver them to Ukraine, Baerbock said, noting that a special fund might be set up for that purpose. An update on the project might be available at next week’s meeting of the G7 foreign ministers in Italy, she added.
Read more
Ukraine running out of air defense missiles – WaPo
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has repeatedly demanded more Patriot systems and missiles for them. His foreign minister, Dmitry Kuleba, said last week that Kiev’s “partners” had more than 100 of the air defense systems on hand but weren’t willing to provide half a dozen of them.
“Is it such a big problem? Is it not feasible to provide Ukraine with the minimum request?” Kuleba said at the time, adding that the systems delivered so far were appreciated, but “simply insufficient, given the scale of the war.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg responded by saying that the US-led bloc would “explore opportunities” to supply Ukraine with more air defenses.
So far, the US, Germany and the Netherlands have sent several Patriot launchers to Ukraine. While Kiev has claimed that they are very effective against the incoming missiles, the Russian Defense Ministry has provided evidence that several of the launchers and radars have already been destroyed.
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Site: LifeNews
A federal district court issued an order Monday that allows Chelsea Mynyk, a licensed nurse practitioner and certified nurse midwife, to intervene in a lawsuit defending her use of providing patients with abortion pill reversal. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Mynyk asked the court to allow her to intervene in the case, Bella Health and Wellness v. Weiser.
“Colorado can’t silence medical professionals and prevent them from saving lives,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot. “Many women regret their abortions, and some choose to reverse the effects of the first abortion drug, often saving their baby’s life. But Colorado’s law wrongly denies women the freedom to make that choice. The state can’t force women to follow through with an abortion when a safe alternative is available—one that Chelsea and the pro-life plaintiffs in this case can skillfully provide.”
Abortion pill reversal is a safe and often effective treatment for women who change their minds about abortion and is used to reverse the effects of the first chemical abortion drug, saving the unborn child. However, in April 2023, Colorado enacted a law that prohibits doctors and nurses from providing abortion pill reversal, forcing women to undergo abortions they wish to avoid.
As ADF attorneys explain in the proposed complaint they filed with the court last month, “although Colorado claims to recognize the ‘fundamental right to continue a pregnancy,’ this law actively thwarts women from making that choice, and it makes it illegal for nurses and doctors to assist them or even inform them about their options. The law’s implementing regulations leave those prohibitions in place, making it professional misconduct for doctors and nurses to assist a woman in attempting to reverse the effects of the first abortion pill.”
Get the latest pro-life news and information on X (Twitter). Follow @LifeNewsHQ//
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty sued Colorado on behalf of Bella Health and Wellness, a pro-life pregnancy center, in April 2023 and secured a preliminary injunction, preventing Colorado’s law from being enacted while the lawsuit continues; however, the injunction only applied to Bella Health and Wellness.
Mynyk runs her own clinic, Castle Rock Women’s Health, where she provides reproductive health care services to women. As the proposed complaint notes, Mynyk, like Bella Health and Wellness, believes that she is compelled by her faith to provide abortion pill reversal to women who request it. Two months ago, Mynyk received a letter from the Colorado State Board of Nursing notifying her that she is being investigated for a possible violation of the Nurses Practice Act because of an anonymous complaint about her provision of abortion pill reversal.
The post Court Allows Pro-Life Nurse to Fight for Abortion Pill Reversals That Save Babies appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: AsiaNews.itSouth Koreans go to the polls to elect the 300-seat National Assembly. This is a crucial test for the conservative president, who has had to bargain for votes in the Democratic Party-controlled legislature to pass his bills. Yoon arrives at the finish greatly weakened. The new Rebuilding Korea Party, which sees itself as a third force, is an unknown factor.
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Site: Zero HedgeStudent Loan Inflation, Here It Goes AgainTyler Durden Tue, 04/09/2024 - 12:25
As the Democratic Party has shifted away from its traditional base of working-class and middle-class Americans, to an increased reliance on college professors, students, and highly educated but low-paid professions, such as social workers, a new policy has risen to prominence: student loan forgiveness.
Borrowed money to advance your career or to study something you got pleasure from but don’t want to pay your loans back?
The new favorite argument by progressive policymakers is that you shouldn’t have to; the taxpayers can take the financial hit for you.
President Biden early in his term tried to deliver on that left-wing commitment by unilaterally canceling $400 billion in student loans. Biden claimed that the Higher Education Relief Opportunities For Students Act, which allowed the Secretary of Education to modify loans in response to national emergencies, combined with the pandemic coronavirus let him waive and modify student loans. The Supreme Court rejected his interpretation of that law.
Now, President Biden is back at it trying for another round of student loan forgiveness despite the mountains of criticism earlier actions took. Beyond the legal criticisms, policy experts have pointed out that student loan forgiveness is regressive because much of the debt is held by students who borrowed tens of thousands to go to graduate school, some of whom will go on to lucrative careers as doctors, dentists, lawyers, and more. Further, when debtors no longer devote part of their budget to repaying loans, this will free up their spending on other goods and services. The influx of new dollars chasing goods and services will make the prices increase in general. This is another inflation-pushing policy.
On Monday, April 8, Biden revealed the details of his new student loan forgiveness plan. It involves several planks. One plank would allow wiping away tens of thousands of accrued interest for borrowers and would extend forgiveness to relatively wealthy borrowers- couples making almost a quarter of a million dollars annually would be eligible. It would also reward borrowers who delayed paying back their loans, providing forgiveness to borrowers who still have not repaid their loans after 20 years for undergraduate students, or 25 years for undergraduate students.
The legal basis for this executive action is a law from the 1960s, the 1965 Higher Education Act, which as written allows the Secretary of Education to amend student loan terms.
When Senator Elizabeth Warren ran for president, she argued that this meant the Secretary of Education could be ordered by the president to forgive student loan borrowers en masse.
Perhaps the worst thing about these student loan forgiveness moves for the broader public is that even if courts limit or strike down some of these executive actions, student loan borrowers, to the extent that they are rational, should price in a now higher probability that at some point a Democratic president will try to bail out their loans, no matter how regressive such a policy might be.
These “rational expectations” that student loan borrowers now have an increased probability of a sudden windfall in the form of student loan forgiveness, should encourage them to save less, deprioritize paying off loans they voluntarily took, and increase their spending on consumption.
This increased consumption is rational already and encouraging additional dollars to chase the same supply of goods and services will drive inflation.
Another major downside of these student loan forgiveness plans is how they might encourage borrowers to run up higher tabs because they know there is some possibility that Biden or some other left-wing politician might waive their loans. While college students might reasonably borrow loans to pay for educational programs, each dollar borrowed with under market rates or forgiven by the federal government is fundamentally paid for by the rest of society. Students might also rationally borrow money they don’t strictly need for educational purposes to increase their standard of living, a practice that actually has sound economic logic and is known as consumption smoothing. However, to the extent this practice increases due to the risk of student loan forgiveness it will just be another factor propping up the painful Biden-esque levels of inflation we are already stuck with.
Until Congress changes the law to prevent unilateral executive action on student loan forgiveness or proponents of it pay a heavy political cost, inflation will be higher than it should be due to the specter of student loan forgiveness.
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Site: AsiaNews.itThe Franciscan Missionary Sister of Mary, originally from Ireland but a Malaysian citizen since 1966, was 95 years old. Nicknamed 'the singing nun', she left behind her care for students of all religions and ethnicities. "No one ever felt out of place," says Jemilah Mahmood. The testimonies of those who knew her speak of a passionate teaching. She founded the Assumption schools and the Ave Maria Welfare clinic.
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Site: LES FEMMES - THE TRUTH
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Site: Mises InstituteThe Fed has created its own narrative for far too long. This is why we are making our new Federal Reserve documentary. Help us meet our fundraising goal.
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Site: The Orthosphere
There was a much-talked-about recent public declaration by Richard Dawkins that he considers himself to be a cultural Christian, that he likes living in a culturally Christian (i.e., Christian) country, that “if we substituted any alternative religion, that would be truly dreadful,” that Christianity is a “fundamentally decent religion,” and the Islam that surrounds him in England is not.
It generated a lot of reaction, but I have not heard anyone point out the most important thing. Dawkins said publicly that Christianity is “fundamentally decent” and he greatly prefers it to Islam. He publicly supported our side. Richard Dawkins, of all people, said things that are dangerous to say in public but which support our side.
Dawkins has been, of course, an enemy of Christianity. In the linked interview he reiterates his belief that Christian doctrines are false. But he also speaks important truths about an important subject, namely the disaster of the de-Christianization of Western nations. In the current situation we need all the help we can get, even if it comes from one who has been known as an enemy.
Dawkins is showing signs that he may be prepared to give a measure of actual support to our side. He regards Christian society as fundamentally good. This immediately suggests that the ideas and beliefs which make Christianity what it is have fundamental validity. He or some of his minions may start to realize this.
When anyone supports my side, I don’t attack him for it. I acknowledge his past villainy and guard against further attacks, should they occur, but I also accept his support and acknowledge it. So should you.
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Site: Mises InstituteAs artificially low interest rates damage the economy, progressives in Congress demand more of the same. In the vernacular, they want the economy to “take the hair of the dog that bit them.” Of course, this only makes things worse in the long run—which is where we are today.
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Site: Zero HedgeJack Smith Urges Supreme Court To Reject Trump's Presidential Immunity Claim In Final FilingTyler Durden Tue, 04/09/2024 - 11:45
Authored by Stephen Katte via The Epoch Times,
Special counsel Jack Smith in his final filing before the hearing is urging the Supreme Court to reject former President Donald Trump’s presidential immunity claim and deny any motions to delay a trial on charges related to the 2020 federal election conspiracy case.
Prosecutors from the DOJ allege President Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 election result on Jan. 6, 2021, charging him with four counts of conspiracy and obstruction.
Former President Trump has denied he did anything wrong by calling for transparency and audits of the vote counts in swing states, and maintains presidential immunity for his actions on that day, which prevents prosecution for any actions he took while still in the top job.
In a fresh court brief on April 8, Mr. Smith pressed that President Trump’s argument for presidential immunity over official acts as president has no grounding in the Constitution, the nation’s history, or Americans’ understanding that presidents are not above the law.
“The President’s constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed does not entail a general right to violate them,” Mr. Smith said in the brief.
“The Framers never endorsed criminal immunity for a former President, and all Presidents from the Founding to the modern era have known that after leaving office they faced potential criminal liability for official acts.”
According to Mr. Smith, former President Richard Nixon’s official conduct revealed during the Watergate scandal is the closest historical precedent for this situation.
Mr. Smith says President Nixon eventually accepted a pardon from his successor, former President Gerald Ford, and that “his acceptance of a pardon implied his and President Ford’s recognition that a former President was subject to prosecution.”
“Since Watergate, the Department of Justice has held the view that a former President may face criminal prosecution, and Independent and Special Counsels have operated from that same understanding,” he said.
Mr. Smith claims that despite President Trump’s claim of presidential immunity, all former presidents knew and wholly understood they were open to facing criminal charges for conduct while in the White House.
“The effective functioning of the presidency does not require that a former president be immune from accountability for these alleged violations of federal criminal law,” he said.
“To the contrary, a bedrock principle of our constitutional order is that no person is above the law, including the president.”
Trump Brief Argues Presidents Need Immunity to Function Effectively
Former President Trump has continued to argue that official acts by presidents should have immunity from criminal prosecution. Last month, he asked the Supreme Court to hold that he and other former presidents enjoy absolute criminal immunity from prosecution for official acts during their time in office.
According to him, from 1789 to 2023, no former or sitting president has faced criminal charges for their official acts, and for good reason.
“The President cannot function, and the Presidency itself cannot retain its vital independence if the President faces criminal prosecution for official acts once he leaves office,” President Trump’s brief to the Court says.
“The threat of future prosecution and imprisonment would become a political cudgel to influence the most sensitive and controversial Presidential decisions, taking away the strength, authority, and decisiveness of the Presidency.”
The attorneys general from 18 Republican states have submitted an amicus brief in support of President Trump’s argument, saying Mr. Smith’s legal efforts against the presumed GOP 2024 presidential nominee is partisan in nature.
“Prosecutors purport to represent the People, but their approach toward President Trump suggests ulterior motives. The Court should take seriously the risk that exposing former Presidents to criminal liability will enable partisan abuse,” they wrote.
Attorneys for President Trump on March 19 argued that presidential immunity is necessary in the context of criminal prosecution to prevent cycles of recrimination and even political “blackmail” of sitting presidents.
The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on April 25. It will examine what presidential immunity covers and how it should affect the nation’s separation of powers in future administrations.
...
The outcome for the case could impact President Trump’s other legal battles, in which he also argues presidential immunity as a defense.
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Site: LifeNews
The Mississippi Department of Health provided 2022 abortion statistics to the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) in February 2024, showing that abortions decreased from 2021.
Abortion Totals and Trends
There were 2,286 abortions reported in Mississippi in 2022, down 40% from 2021. Drug-induced abortions decreased by 43% and composed 83% of the total in 2022, one of the highest percentages in the country (Fig. 1). CLI estimates that Mississippi’s abortion rate decreased by 40% in 2022 (Fig. 2).1
State Report Summary
Seventy-two percent of Mississippi abortions reported in 2022 were performed on state residents. Twenty-one percent were performed on women from states bordering Mississippi (Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, and Tennessee), and 7% were performed on women from other states. The percentage of out-of-state residents who obtained abortions in Mississippi increased markedly from 2021, when 18% of total Mississippi abortions were performed on nonresidents, versus 28% in 2022.
Nine percent of the abortions reported in Mississippi were performed on girls aged 19 or younger. Sixty-three percent were performed on women in their twenties, including 32% on women ages 20 to 24 and 31% on women ages 25 to 29. Twenty-six percent of the abortions were obtained by women in their thirties, and 2% by women ages 40 and older.
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Similar to previous years, a large majority of the abortions reported in Mississippi were performed on black women (77%). Twenty-two percent were on white women, and 1% were on women of an unknown race. CLI estimates that the black abortion rate was 7.2 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44, five times the white rate of 1.6.
Nine percent of the abortions were performed on women with less than a high school education. Thirty-one percent were performed on women who had graduated from high school as their highest level of education, and 28% were obtained by women who had attended some college but had no degree. Thirty-two percent of the abortions were on women with a college degree, and just four abortions were performed on women whose level of education was not reported.
Most abortions occurring in Mississippi (94%) were on unmarried women, and 6% were performed on married women. Thirty-two percent of the abortions were performed on women with no living children, while 28% were on women with one child and 39% on women with two or more children. Over two-thirds (68%) of the abortions were obtained by women with no previous abortions. Twenty-two percent were performed on women with one prior abortion, and 11% were on women with more than one previous abortion.
Almost all Mississippi abortions occurred in the early second trimester or before. Fifty-six percent were performed at eight weeks of gestation or earlier, and 27% between nine and 10 weeks, a noteworthy increase in percentage from 2021, when 17% of Mississippi abortions occurred between nine and 10 weeks. Eight percent were reported between 11 and 12 weeks, and 10% occurred between 13 and 16 weeks of gestation. Zero abortions were performed between 17 to 20 weeks, while there was one abortion at 21 weeks of gestation or later.
Drug-induced abortions made up 83% of the total in 2022, while 17% of the abortions were performed via suction curettage. One dilation and evacuation abortion was reported.
Abortion Resident Totals in 2022
Both abortions occurring in Mississippi and abortions reported to be performed on Mississippi residents decreased in 2022. In addition to its annual abortion report, Mississippi also reports abortions performed on state residents, both in Mississippi and in other states, in the Mississippi Statistically Automated Health Resource System (MSTAHRS). In 2022, 3,463 abortions were reported to have been performed on Mississippi residents, a decrease of 35% from 2021 when there were 5,316 resident abortions. In 2022, 47% of Mississippi resident abortions occurred in the state and 53% of resident abortions occurred outside of the state. However, not all states share data with Mississippi, so not all abortions performed on Mississippi residents are included in MSTAHRS.
State Ranking
In CLI’s 2016 survey of abortion reporting across the country, Mississippi tied for 25th best. As CLI has previously suggested, to improve Mississippi could provide more detailed reporting of abortion trends in the region by identifying the states to which Mississippi residents travel for abortions. Additionally, Mississippi could ensure that all health care providers are aware of the state’s complication reporting requirement and that all complications are reported.
- National rates were calculated by the Guttmacher Institute. Mississippi rates were calculated by CLI using the following formula: (total number of abortions performed in Mississippi ÷ number of resident women ages 15-44 [using most recent available population estimates]) x 1,000. Rates may differ slightly from previous CLI articles due to revised population estimates. Population estimates were obtained from the CDC WONDER database. Estimates for 2005-2009 are intercensal estimates of the July 1 resident population. Estimates for 2010-2019 are Vintage 2020 postcensal estimates of the July 1 resident population. Estimates for 2020-2022 are Vintage 2022 postcensal estimates of the July 1 resident population. Estimates were produced by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics.
- Mississippi’s number of total abortions and drug-induced abortions for 2020 were taken from the 2020 CDC Abortion Surveillance Report, as the Mississippi Department of Health did not provide CLI with those figures but did provide them to CDC .
LifeNews Note: Tessa Longbons is a research associate with Susan B. Anthony List’s research arm, Charlotte Lozier Institute, where this appeared. Mia Steupert serves as Research Associate at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, where she conducts and edits research on a variety of topics related to science and statistics for life.
The post Mississippi Abortion Ban Saves Up to 1,500 Babies From Abortions in First Six Months appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: Zero HedgeWhat Do They Know: Goldman, Amex Quietly Cut Rates On Savings Accounts... Is The Fed Next?Tyler Durden Tue, 04/09/2024 - 11:30
It is not a secret that the biggest market debate of 2024 is when - and even if - the Fed will cut rates: after all, with the US labor force adding hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, and core CPI bubbling along at a blistering hot ~4% pace, many - such as Larry Sanders and even Neel Kashkari - are warning that the Fed does not need to cut rates (in fact, a rate hike may be prudent). On the other hand, we have a growing roster of Democrat politicians (most notably Senator Elizabeth "Pokarenhontas" Warren) demanding Powell cuts rates to "help address the affordable housing crisis" and also reduce the record high credit card APRs for their voters.
It's not just the politicians: the dovish Fed itself in its latest dot plot indicated that it still expects to cut rates 3 times in 2024, a schedule which - when accounting for the November elections - would mean the Fed has to start cutting in June if it wishes to avoid delaying the start of the easing cycle and also avoid the impression that it is hoping to influence the outcome of the presidential elections (much to the chagrin of Bill Dudley who wrote a 2019 op-ed demanding Powell do just that).
Yet even as the market has recently taken a machete to its own dovish expectations, and after pricing in more than 6 rate cuts in 2024 at the start of the year, has since trimmed its forecast to less than 3 full cuts...
... or even fewer than the Fed has telegraphed...
... suggesting that the market is convinced that the Fed is wrong, the economy will run hotter than expected, and Powell will be forced to delay, or even scrap, the easing cycle.
But maybe not, because while signs mounts - especially in the realm of higher commodity prices - that a June cut is a pipe dream, some financial institutions are aggressively taking matters into their own hands: consider that in the last week, not one but two financial giants, have quietly cut the interest rate they pay on their "high yield" savings accounts, a step that usually takes place just around the time they are dead certain the Fed will cut rates or right after.
We are talking about Goldman and American Express: starting with the former, last Wednesday, Goldman’s consumer bank Marcus lowered the rate on its high-yield savings account for the first time in more than three years, trimming the APR on the bank’s flagship product to 4.4%, down from 4.5% in March. It was the first cut since November 2020, when Goldman lowered the rate from 0.6% to 0.5%.
“Our current rate places us ahead of the majority of our peers,” a Goldman spokesperson told Bloomberg in an email when asked to explain the rate cut. “We will continue to focus on providing value to our customers and growing our Marcus deposits business which is a priority for the firm.”
Well, you can only keep growing deposits if the rate cut does not lead to deposit outflows... which can only happen if Goldman knows that everyone else is also about to cut rates, following in the footsteps of the Fed
And then moments ago, doubling down on the clear dovish trend that is suddenly sweeping banks for "reasons unknown", American Express did the same, when it cut the rate on its High Yield Savings Account to 4.30% from 4.35%.
Or maybe the cuts are not for "reasons unknown": maybe the banks realize that they can start cutting rates because soon everyone else will do the same for one simple reason: the Fed will fire the starting pistol to an easing cycle so many believe will start momentarily.
As Bloomberg notes, the move signals that financial institutions are on alert for when they can lower interest rates for individuals, and the fact that not one but two of the biggest players in the game just did that, should be enough to raise a lot of eyebrows about the Fed's rate cutting plans...
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Site: Mises InstituteWhen the government wants to make something more affordable, that usually means new subsidies, laws, and regulations that drive up the real price. Higher medical prices will mean more medical bankruptcies.
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Site: Mises InstituteA recent CNN broadcast claimed that deflation was bad for the economy and that we need to adjust to higher prices. As usual, the journalistic “experts” got it backward.
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Site: Mises InstituteWhile Vivek Ramaswamy was unsuccessful in his Republican presidential primary bid, at least he helped to demystify the Federal Reserve. This is not the usual political rhetoric the public receives.
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Site: Mises InstituteCalifornia’s legislature wants to combine the idea of two-part price discrimination with a soak-the-rich mentality in charging for utilities. What possibly could go wrong?
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Site: Mises InstituteCongress and the courts have eviscerated the Constitution to empower police dogs. The injustices are massive, but the authorities don't care.
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Site: Mises Institute“The public be damned” is a statement by railroad magnate William Henry Vanderbilt that has been twisted out of context. While the American ruling classes insist that private enterprise is the enemy of the people, it really is our government that bears that distinction.
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Site: Mises InstituteIn reviewing Reconsidering Reparations by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò, David Gordon and Wanjiru Njoya point out the book's many fallacies and the lack of a coherent theory of justice by the author.
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Site: Mises InstituteAs the official government in Haiti loses control, many are calling it a failed state. Crises like this are often evoked to discredit libertarians. But blame for Haiti’s current plight lies with the actions of states, not the absence of them.
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Site: Zero HedgeOne More Hot CPI Print Could Prove Existential Difference Between “Being And Nothingness” For TradersTyler Durden Tue, 04/09/2024 - 11:05
By Michael Every of Rabobank
Being and Nothingness
With a solar eclipse as the epic backdrop, and 10-year US Treasury yields over 4.40% and testing towards 4.50% despite (or because of?) pledged Fed rate cuts, markets are focused on US CPI tomorrow. Without getting into omens or phenomenological ontology, or the workings of carry trades, one more hot CPI print could prove the existential difference between “being and nothingness” for some trades, especially if it’s seen as a harbinger of sustained inflation pressure rather than (yet another) ‘one off’. So, let’s try to focus on what matters.
Tellingly, as the Guardian notes, in August 1943, the French publisher of Jean-Paul Sartre’s new 700-page philosophical tome, ‘Being and Nothingness’, noticed it was selling unexpectedly well. Did his pretentious thoughts resonate with those enduring Nazi occupation? “Not quite. It sold well because the book weighed exactly one kilogram and so was a perfect substitute for copper weights, which had been sold on the black market or melted down for ammunition.” Today, we also don’t have time for pretentious sophistry: markets need to look at key weights and measures - and copper and ammunition.
Oil remains above $90; the Middle-East is on a knife-edge; Ukraine is striking Russian oil refineries, prompting the latter to ask Kazakhstan for energy; and Rabo’s Joe DeLaura has revised his Brent forecasts up to $89.5 for 2024, $93.5 for 2025, and $98.75 in 2026. Moreover, the cargo ship that brought down Baltimore’s Key Bridge *may* have suffered a power failure due to dirty fuel, as a similar containership tragedy was nearly just repeated at New York’s Verrazzano Bridge. If this is human error twice, it’s bad; but dirty fuel, it would suggest sabotage. In which case, things go from bad to much, much worse. One hopes that was not the case.
Russia claims the Tajiks who carried out the attack on the Crocus theatre were paid by Kyiv. Former president Medvedev blames the West. A Financial Times life & arts op-ed from Janan Ganesh, ‘The price of peace is stagnation’, zeitgeists, “I have no certainty that a war would be creative stimulus, just a nauseous feeling that we are due to find out.”
Japan is being invited to join AUKUS, bringing that defence pact up to China’s doorstep, as the White House is about to warn China it stands behind the Philippines in the South China Sea. This is despite the US Navy running years behind on producing the nuclear submarines it had already promised Australia. And it’s as the CSIS warns, “China’s defence industrial base is operating on a wartime footing, while the US defence industrial base is largely operating on a peacetime footing… China has a shipbuilding capacity that is roughly 230 times larger than the US.”
With Canada also looking at joining AUKUS, can the EU see an Asia-Pacific-focused alliance that could leave Europe to do its own heavy lifting vs. Russia, at vast cost? The latest €7bn German order of two new frigates is a drop in the ocean given the Houthis now claim they can strike the Indian Ocean too, which means container shipping may not be safe trying to get to the EU round Africa either. The Financial Times is also warning that the EU cannot rely on Chinese cotton, a byproduct of which, nitrocellulose, is used in ammunition, as the price of copper soars.
US Treasury Secretary Yellen just returned from China, where Bloomberg suggests “warming ties” between the two economic giants: that author only needs to wear a T-shirt all next winter, as they are such a good judge of “warm” vs. cold. Indeed, Bloomberg also notes, ‘Yellen Threatens Sanctions for China Banks That Aid Russia War’, which is not very cuddly. Moreover, David Fickling says, ‘Yellen junks 200 years of economics to block China clean tech’. Cold once again though, sorry. Not about blocking, but 200 years of economic theory.
Free trade is only a few decades old and has always collapsed when tried. It started with the UK in 1846, at gunpoint; was never embraced by the US; and in Europe, reversed into imperialism in the 19th century, then WW1; it failed with communism/fascism and WW2; trade from 1945-1973 was hardly free under Bretton Woods, before that paradigm also collapsed; and only after the end of the Cold War did it get tried properly, by those who thought history was over. Yet it’s failing again due to mercantilism and national security concerns. There is nothing new under the solar eclipse.
China has offered bilateral discussions over what the US (and Europe) calls its over-production. However, immediate follow-up statements, the clear heuristic, and the domestic imperative argue nothing will change without Western action, i.e., tariffs, which would up-end markets even if they don’t flow through to geopolitics directly: recall 1985‘’s Plaza Accord, and the less well-known 1995 ‘Inverse Plaza’, where the US dollar soared, leading to the Asian Crisis in 1997?
Even Wall Street titan JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon just made the following public statement, which I won’t apologize for quoting at length given what he says:
“We may be entering one of the most treacherous geopolitical eras since World War II… We remain wary of economic prognosticating… Instead, we look at a range of potential outcomes for which we need to be prepared. Geopolitical and economic forces have an unpredictable timetable - they may unfold over months, or years, and are nearly impossible to put into a one-year forecast. They also have an unpredictable interplay: For example, the geopolitical situation may end up having virtually no effect on the world’s economy or it could potentially be its determinative factor.
Many key economic indicators today continue to be good and possibly improving, including inflation. But when looking ahead to tomorrow, conditions that will affect the future should be considered. For example, there seems to be a large number of persistent inflationary pressures, which may likely continue. All of the following factors appear to be inflationary: ongoing fiscal spending, remilitarization of the world, restructuring of global trade, capital needs of the new green economy, and possibly higher energy costs in the future (even though there currently is an oversupply of gas and plentiful spare capacity in oil) due to a lack of needed investment in the energy infrastructure.
In the past, fiscal deficits did not seem to be closely related to inflation. In the 1970s and early 1980s, there was a general understanding that inflation was driven by “guns and butter”; i.e., fiscal deficits and the increase to the money supply, both partially driven by the Vietnam War, led to increased inflation, which went over 10%. The deficits today are even larger and occurring in boom times - not as the result of a recession - and they have been supported by quantitative easing, which was never done before the great financial crisis...
Therefore, we are prepared for a very broad range of interest rates, from 2% to 8% or even more, with equally wide-ranging economic outcomes - from strong economic growth with moderate inflation (in this case, higher interest rates would result from higher demand for capital) to a recession with inflation; i.e., stagflation. Economically, the worst-case scenario would be stagflation, which would not only come with higher interest rates but also with higher credit losses, lower business volumes and more difficult markets. Under these many different scenarios, our company would continue to perform at least okay. Importantly, being prepared means we can continue to help our clients no matter what the future portends.”
So, it seems we are at an historic juncture on multiple, conflating fronts; and past history does not suggest this ends with Goldilocks scenarios for markets. Something is going to give. Indeed, the real risk is that this is about being or nothingness: NOT “who is rate cuts?”
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Site: AsiaNews.itThe Bishops' Conference sets guidelines for the thousands of Church-run educational establishments, with suggestions on how to promote respect for all faiths, such as reciting the Preamble of the country's constitution every morning. The goal is to rediscover 'justice, liberty, equality and fraternity' as 'the essence of India's core values.'
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Site: LifeNews
Quite a headline, I know. We try not to be the clickbaity sort here at Secular Pro-Life. But an Indiana court has, in fact, opened the door to religiously motivated legal homicides.
A little background: We are talking about a RFRA challenge to Indiana’s abortion law. RFRA (short for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act) is a law adopted by the federal government and numerous states, including Indiana. It governs when people can obtain religious exceptions to generally applicable laws. For example, a prison may have a generally applicable policy requiring inmates to be clean-shaven, but a Muslim inmate with a sincere religious belief that he must grow his beard can obtain an exception.
In the Dobbs era, pro-abortion activists got creative and brought RFRA lawsuits against pro-life laws in several states. They argued that since some religious groups support abortion, adherents of those religions should be able to disregard pro-life legislation.
There are limits, however, and one of them is that RFRA won’t apply if the state has a “compelling interest” in the law. A prisoner’s beard length is really not that important in the grand scheme of things. But when a human life is on the line, the state’s compelling interest will prevail. Jehovah’s Witnesses have filed unsuccessful lawsuits to avoid giving medically necessary blood transfusions to their children. Since the state has a compelling interest in saving a child’s life, those challenges were doomed. Abortion laws are also motivated by compelling interest in children’s lives, which Dobbs allows. So case closed, right? I certainly thought so.
The Court of Appeals of Indiana begs to differ. It issued an opinion enjoining Indiana’s abortion law (that is, putting it on hold) while the pro-abortion RFRA case proceeds. A court of appeal will only do that if it believes the plaintiffs are likely to win. And the reasoning it used should horrify every American, whether pro-life or pro-choice.
LifeNews is on GETTR. Please follow us for the latest pro-life news
The opinion first addresses various procedural issues, including standing and class certification. The heart of the opinion begins at paragraph 120, and the most worrisome passage starts at paragraph 141:
The State has not shown that its claimed compelling interest in protecting the potential for life is satisfied by denying Plaintiffs’ religious-based exception that prioritizes a mother’s health over potential life, given that other exceptions are allowed based on the same prioritization—that is, the exceptions applicable when the pregnancy poses a “serious health risk” or termination would “save the pregnant woman’s life.” [. . .]
This weakness in the State’s argument is even more apparent when the Abortion Law’s other exceptions are considered. First, the Abortion Law does not apply to in vitro fertilization. See Ind. Code § 16-34-1-0.5. That suggests the Abortion Law does not criminalize zygote destruction, although the State is claiming a compelling interest that begins the moment an egg is fertilized.
The Abortion Law also allows abortions when the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest or when the fetus has been diagnosed with a lethal fetal anomaly so long as other statutory conditions are met. Ind. Code §§ 16-34-21(a)(1)(A)(ii), (2)(A), (3)(A). The State does not explain why a victim of rape or incest is entitled to an abortion, but women whose sincere religious beliefs direct an abortion are not. The State also does not explain how allowing an abortion of a “fetus diagnosed with a lethal fetal anomaly”—as is conditionally permitted by the Abortion Law—advances the State’s alleged compelling interest in protecting potential life.
In conclusion, because the Indiana legislature allowed some “hard case” exceptions, its interest in protecting prenatal human life is not truly compelling, so it must grant RFRA exceptions too. This decision completely undermines the incentive for legislators to compromise on the most hotly debated issue of our era. If a state permits a single legal abortion, by this logic, it must permit abortions for anyone who claims a religious motivation. It’s an abolitionist’s dream.
And here’s the kicker: they forgot that Indiana has similar exceptions to homicide.
Indiana Criminal Code § 35-41-3-2 permits the use of “deadly force” if “the person reasonably believes that that force is necessary to prevent serious bodily injury to the person or a third person or the commission of a forcible felony” or “reasonably believes that the force is necessary to prevent or terminate the other person’s unlawful entry of or attack on the person’s dwelling, curtilage, or occupied motor vehicle.” Those individuals are exempt from murder charges. So are executioners, since Indiana is a death penalty state.
Because Indiana has legislated at least two exceptions to its homicide law, Indiana does not have a compelling interest in enforcing that law against religiously motivated murderers. Let the legal human sacrifices and honor killings begin!
If you happen to be a criminal defense attorney in Indiana, with a murder defendant whose case is open-and-shut, give this argument a try. “Your Honor, my client had to kill his wife when she threatened to leave him; divorce is against his religion.” What do you have to lose? Until the state supreme court weighs in or the state legislature repeals RFRA, it’s open season.
LifeNews Note: Kelsey Hazzard is the head of Secular Pro-Life and this article originally appeared at its blog.
The post Human Sacrifice Is Now Legal in Indiana appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: Zero HedgeSomething's Breaking...Tyler Durden Tue, 04/09/2024 - 10:55
Last Thursday we got a 'glimpse'...
Is today another?
No FedSpeak. No Macro. No major geopol issues.
But, stocks suddenly puked...
Led my MAG7 stocks...
Source: Bloomberg
Notably, 0-DTE traders were buying puts aggressively out of the gate...
As Crypto was slammed...
Source: Bloomberg
Oil prices tumbled...
Source: Bloomberg
All as Treasury yields actually fell...
Source: Bloomberg
... and rate-cut expectations rose...
Source: Bloomberg
Anxiety ahead of tomorrow's CPI?
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Site: RT - News
Those without a good excuse will face a €5 penalty, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has said
The French government is proposing to fine patients if they fail to attend doctor appointments without a good excuse, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has announced.
The policy is reportedly aimed at supporting the health service as it struggles to cope with the rising demands of an aging population amid staff shortages and increasing costs.
Attal said on Monday that an estimated 27 million patients fail to show up for medical appointments each year.
“We cannot allow this to continue,” the prime minister said, noting that the new measure could free up between 15 million and 20 million appointments a year for other patients.
The proposed step would be part of a law that, if approved by parliament, could come into effect from January 2025.
Attal’s announcement of the proposed €5 penalty for failing to attend scheduled appointments was met with immediate outcry from doctors’ unions and patients’ groups.
“It won’t work. It’s just a tax… and the end result will be that the health system will lose,” Patrick Pelloux, president of the Emergency Doctors’ Association, told The Guardian.
GP Luc Duquesnel reportedly told France Bleu radio that it would be better to “educate people rather than tell professionals they have to tax them, which will strain relations with our patients.”
Read more
French leader proposes expansion of euthanasia laws
According to Gerard Raymond, the president of the French Patients’ Association, who opposes the measure, the penalty is aimed at making patients feel guilty rather than responsible.
Under the plan, patients would be obliged to give debit or credit card details when arranging an appointment. If they fail to turn up without giving at least 24 hours’ notice, doctors could fine them. Patients with a valid reason for missing their appointment would be exempt.
It would be up to the doctor to decide whether the reason for missing the appointment was sufficiently reasonable to avoid the fine.
A shortage of doctors has long been the biggest problem facing France’s national healthcare system, along with access to treatment and long waiting times.
Attal said he would also seek to increase the number of students finishing high-pressure medical training in a bid to address a critical shortage of medical staff. The number of students entering the second year of medical degrees would rise from 10,000 a year in 2023 to 12,000 in 2025, and 16,000 in 2027, according to the prime minister.
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Site: RT - News
The Jewish state has threatened retaliation against Ankara’s restrictions over the Gaza war
The Turkish government has imposed export restrictions on Israel covering 54 product categories, in response to the Gaza war, the Trade Ministry announced on Tuesday.
Ankara has been one of the fiercest critics of Israel since the conflict with Hamas broke out in October. Protests have been held in Istanbul in recent days demanding a trade ban. Ankara’s decision also follows the Israeli government’s refusal to allow Turkish aid drops into Gaza.
According to Turkish Trade Ministry, the items on the export embargo list – which takes immediate effect – include aluminum, copper, steel, construction materials, machinery, and various chemical products. Türkiye had already stopped sending Israel any goods that could be used for military purposes, the ministry noted.
The restrictions will remain in place until Israel declares a ceasefire in Gaza and allows “the unhindered flow of sufficient humanitarian aid” into the area, the document adds. Israel has been accused by the UN and human rights groups of obstructing the deliveries of aid into Gaza.
Read more
Israel summons Turkish envoy after Erdogan’s ‘send Netanyahu to Allah’ remark
In response to the restrictions, the Israeli Foreign Ministry accused Türkiye of “unilaterally” violating bilateral trade deals. Foreign Minister Israel Katz took to X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday to threaten Ankara with “parallel measures” that will “harm” the Turkish economy. Israel will prepare a list of products it intends to stop buying from Türkiye, he said. Katz also called on the US to halt investments in the country and impose sanctions on Ankara.
The trade dispute follows a diplomatic row between the two nations’ leaders. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly compared the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler and accused Israel of committing “genocide” against the Palestinians. Israel, meanwhile, has claimed that the Turkish president ranks among the worst anti-Semites in history, due to his stance on the conflict and support for Hamas.
Israel declared war on Hamas in October in response to a deadly raid staged by the militant group, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 taken hostage. The retaliatory bombing of Gaza and ground operation has caused the deaths of at least 33,000 people, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.
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Site: LifeNews
Two years ago, pro-life advocates made a horrific discovery when they opened boxes of medical waste from a late-term abortion facility in Washington, D.C.
Inside were the bodies of 115 aborted babies, including five who appeared to be nearly full term and possibly victims of illegal partial-birth abortions or infanticide.
However, D.C. officials seemingly have done nothing to investigate the horrific discovery despite repeated calls from U.S. Congressional leaders and pro-life advocates. Undercover investigations exposing other unethical and potentially illegal activity by abortionist Cesare Santangelo and his Washington Surgi-Clinic appear to have gone ignored as well.
Now, Pro-life groups are urging the House Judiciary Committee and pro-life Chairman Jim Jordan to hold a thorough hearing while continuing the fight for justice for the five babies. The babies are five children whose lives were reportedly brutally ended at the clinic of a notorious late-term abortionist in Washington D.C.
The letter appears below:
Dear Chairman Jordan,
We are grateful for the timely intervention of House Judiciary Subcommittee Chairmen Chip Roy and Andy Biggs on behalf of the D.C. Five this February. The D.C. Five—ngel, Christopher X, Harriet, Holly, and Phoenix—are five children whose lives were reportedly brutally ended at the clinic of notorious late-term abortionist Dr. Cesare Santangelo in Washington D.C. The Biden administration has so far refused to investigate the deaths of these children, despite evidence of potential federal crimes, and instead greenlit discarding their bodies. Dozens of members of Congress stepped in to block the D.C. Medical Examiner from disposing of their remains prematurely. We urge the House Judiciary Committee to investigate Cesare Santangelo’s practices and to demand justice for the Five.
The bodies of the D.C. Five were discovered by pro-life activists two years ago, on March 25, 2022, outside of the Washington Surgi-Clinic, only five blocks from the White House. The lives of these five children were ended late in pregnancy. Although the activists who found them asked the police to investigate, and despite repeated requests from members of Congress and the public, to date, no autopsies or investigations have occurred. In the meantime, several Ob-Gyns including former abortionists have reviewed many pictures of the remains and determined the likely gestational ages of these babies and the probable procedures used by which their lives were ended.
REACH PRO-LIFE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE! Advertise with LifeNews to reach hundreds of thousands of pro-life readers every week. Contact us today.
While these experts believe ngel and Holly may have been killed via the tragically legal procedure of dismemberment abortion, several federal laws – including the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act (18 USC § 1531) and/or the Born Alive Infants Protection Act (1 USC § 8) allegedly may have been violated in conjunction with the deaths of the other three.[1] These are the estimated gestational ages of the babies who were potential victims of federal crimes:
- Harriet (possible partial-birth abortion): 28-29 weeks
- Christopher X (possibly born-alive): 32-33 weeks
- Phoenix (possibly born-alive): 25-26 weeks
Members of Congress and of the public have continued calling on the Department of Justice and the mayor of the District of Columbia to investigate Cesare Santangelo and the deaths of the Five. Nonetheless, no investigation has occurred, and there is evidence indicating they have no intention to investigate.
Instead of investigating Cesare Santangelo and his practice for these alleged federal crimes, the Biden administration submitted a budget that would fund abortion for any reason at any stage of development in D.C. They have turned a blind eye to these tragic deaths and alleged crimes and instead proposed sending more business to abortion clinics in the District—including the Washington Surgi-Clinic—with taxpayer dollars.
Because the District of Columbia falls under federal jurisdiction and federal crimes may have been committed by Cesare Santangelo, we urge the House Judiciary Committee to hold a thorough hearing into the D.C. Five. These five children should be toddlers now, but instead are lying in a morgue awaiting the justice that continues to be denied to them. Cesare Santangelo must be investigated. We demand Justice for the Five.
Sincerely,
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising
Thomas More Society Americans United for Life
American Association of Prolife Obstetricians Concerned Women for America
and Gynecologists Legislative Action CommitteeFamily Policy Alliance Family Research Council
March for Life Action National Right to Life
Students for Life Action The Abortion Survivors Network
Live Action CatholicVote
Center for Family and Human Rights Eagle Forum
Ethics and Public Policy Center The Center for Medical Progress
American Cornerstone Institute The FAMiLY Leader
Choose-Life America Citizens for a Pro-Life Society
Coalition for Jewish Values Good Counsel
Human Coalition Action Human Life Alliance
Human Life of Washington Kentucky Right to Life
Liberty Counsel Liberty Counsel Action
Life Issues Institute Life Legal Defense Foundation
Life Matters TV and Media, Inc. LifeNews.com
Louisiana Family Forum NC Values Coalition
New Mexico Alliance for Life Ohio Right to Life
Operation Rescue Priests for Life
Pro-Life Action League Protect Life Michigan
Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Secular Pro-Life
South Dakota Right to Life Speakhope.net
Stand True The White Rose Resistance
Wisconsin Family Action Wyoming Family Alliance
Images of the brutalized remains of these children have been circulated across the globe and appear to be evidence of federal crimes including violations of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act and the Born Alive Infant Protection Act.
Earlier this year, the Biden administration ordered destruction of the babies’ bodies — which could permanently destroy the criminal evidence. But pro-life attorneys were able to stop it.
Caroline Taylor Smith, Executive Director of PAAU, the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, says this day has long been feared and she told LifeNews that destruction of their bodies could forever deny them justice.
“We suspected that Biden’s DOJ would attempt to sweep this evidence under the rug. This is yet another step in the coordinated effort to protect Big Abortion and Caesare Santangelo’s horrific crimes. These children cry out for justice and we won’t stop fighting for them,” she told LifeNews.
In March 2022, Terrisa Bukovinac and Lauren Handy found the bodies of the five late-term aborted babies and more than 100 first-trimester aborted babies in boxes that they received from a truck driver who was collecting medical waste from Santangelo’s abortion facility.
Last year, dozens of U.S. Congressional leaders joined pro-life advocates in demanding a federal investigation into Santangelo’s practice. However, some expressed doubts that the U.S. Department of Justice will do anything because pro-abortion Democrat officials with the Biden administration lead the agency.
The post 50 Pro-Life Groups Call for Investigation of Five Babies Killed in Infanticides or Abortions appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: RT - News
The billionaire suggested the southern border crisis could eventually lead to a 9/11-scale tragedy
Elon Musk has warned that a terrorist attack on the scale of September 11, 2001 could take place in the US unless the crisis at the southern border and the uncontrolled influx of migrants is addressed.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO made the remarks in response to an X post by former Republican presidential candidate and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who called for mass deportations and the sealing of the US-Mexico border.
“Even if only 0.1% of illegal aliens who’ve crossed our border have hostile intentions, that’s tens of thousands of would-be attackers,” Ramaswamy pointed out, suggesting that unless special attention is paid to the issue, “we’re paving the way for another 9/11-scale tragedy.”
Musk replied, saying it is “only a matter of time” before such a disaster unfolds.
Previously, the billionaire argued that the ability of illegal migrants to cross the US-Mexico border and claim asylum without showing any identification “has turned America into a refuge for the world’s worst criminals.” His claim followed reports that Venezuela’s homicide rate had dropped to its lowest in 22 years – with some suggesting this was due to Venezuelan gangs moving to the US.
Read more
Elon Musk accuses Democrats of ‘importing voters’
Meanwhile, a Politico report published last month suggested that US President Joe Biden was considering offering permanent residency to millions of illegal immigrants. Musk responded to the news by accusing the US Democratic party of intentionally opening up the southern border in order to “import voters.”
There are currently thought to be around 10.5 million illegal immigrants living in the US, according to data compiled by Pew Research in 2021. However, according to figures from the Department of Homeland Security, at least 6.3 million more have entered the US in the years since.
In February, Musk claimed Biden’s plan to keep the Democrats in power was a “very simple” one, which involves getting “as many illegals in the country as possible,” then legalizing those people “to create a permanent majority.”
The state of the US-Mexico border has become one of the key issues in US politics over the past year amid a historic influx of millions of immigrants. Republican lawmakers have been demanding tighter controls and more money to be set aside to deal with the border crisis, prompting them to use a multi-billion-dollar aid package for Ukraine as leverage.
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Site: Ron Paul Institute - Featured Articles
We stand on the cusp of what might be termed Chaotic War. Not the formula used by Israel often in the past to intimidate adversaries; this is different.
Israeli reporter Eddie Cohen said, in the wake of the attack on the Iranian Consulate: “We are very clear that we want to start a war with Iran and Hezbollah. Do you still not understand?”
“Israel wants to drag Iran into a full-scale war in order to be able to strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities,” though these facilities are beyond American and Israeli reach, buried beneath mountains.
Cohen, and of course, Israel’s military leadership, will know that; but Israel nonetheless is locking itself into a logic that can only lead to defeat. Iran’s nuclear facilities are safe from Israeli assault. The destruction of civilian Iranian infrastructure, which is out in the open, may kill many, but will not, per se, collapse the Iranian state.
Trita Parsi places Israel’s objective in attacking the Iranian Consulate in Damascus in a different context:
An important aspect of Israel’s conduct – and Biden’s acquiescence to it – is that Israel is engaged in a deliberate and systematic effort to destroy existing laws and norms around warfare.
Even during wartime, embassies are off-limits [yet] Israel just bombed an Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus.
Bombing hospitals is a war crime, [yet] Israel has bombed EVERY hospital in Gaza. It has even assassinated doctors and patients inside hospitals.
The ICJ obligated Israel to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Israel actively prevents aid from coming in.
Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited under international humanitarian law. Israel has deliberately created a famine in Gaza.
Indiscriminate bombings are illegal under international humanitarian law. Biden himself admits that Israel is bombing Gaza indiscriminately.The list goes on and on … However, Israel’s breach of Vienna Convention immunity accorded to diplomatic premises – plus the stature of those killed – is highly significant. It is a major signal: Israel wants war – but with U.S. support, of course.
Israel’s aim, firstly, is to destroy the norms, conventions and laws of warfare; to create geo-political anarchy in which anything goes, and by which, with the White House frustrated, yet acquiescing to each norm of conduct obtrusively trodden underfoot, allows Netanyahu to grip the U.S. bridle and lead the White House horse to water – towards his regional End of Times “Great Victory”; a necessarily brutal war – beyond existing red lines and devoid of limits.
As symbolically significant as the Damascus attack is that the U.S., France and Britain – after a brief “hat tip” to the Vienna Convention – refused to condemn the levelling of the Iranian Consulate, thus placing the shadow of doubt over the Vienna Convention’s immunity for diplomatic premises.
Implicitly, this refusal to condemn will be widely understood as a soft condoning of Israel’s first tentative step towards war with Hizbullah and Iran.
This Israeli chaotic “Biblical” nihilism, however, bears no relationship in purely rational terms to Netanyahu’s aspiration for a “Great Victory.” The reality is that Israel has lost its deterrence. It won’t return; the deep anger across the Islamic world generated by Israel through its massacres in Gaza during the last six months precludes it.
Yet, there is a second, adjunct reason why Israel is set on deliberately flouting humanitarian law and norms: Israeli journalist, Yuval Abraham reports in +972 Magazine in great depth how Israel has developed a AI machine (called “Lavender”) to generate kill lists in Gaza – with almost no human verification; only a “rubber stamp” check of about “20 seconds” to make sure the AI target is male (as no females are known to belong to the Resistance’s military).
The blatant extra-legality behind the Gaza “kill list” methodology, as reported by Abraham’s various sources, can only be immunised and sheltered through normalising them as but one amongst a general pattern of illegalities – and in effect, claiming sovereign exceptionalism:
[T]he Israeli army systematically attacks the targeted individual whilst in their homes — usually at night whilst the whole family is present — rather than during the course of military activity … Additional automated systems, including one, [callously] called ‘Where’s Daddy?’ were used – specifically to track targets when they had entered their family’s residences… However, when a home was struck, usually at night, the individual target was sometimes not inside at all.
The result is that thousands of Palestinians — most of them women and children or people who were not involved in the fighting — were wiped out by Israeli airstrikes, especially during the first weeks of the war, because of the AI program’s decisions.
‘We were not interested in killing [Hamas] operatives when they were in a military building … or engaged in a military activity,” A., an intelligence officer, told +972 and Local Call. ‘On the contrary, the IDF bombed them in homes without hesitation – as a first option. It’s much easier to bomb a family’s home. The system is built to look for them in these situations.’
In addition … when it came to targeting alleged junior militants marked by Lavender, the army preferred to only use unguided missiles, commonly known as “dumb” bombs (in contrast to “smart” precision bombs) which can destroy entire buildings on top of their occupants and cause significant casualties. ‘You don’t want to waste expensive bombs on unimportant people — it’s very expensive for the country and there’s a shortage [of those bombs].’
… The army also decided during the first weeks of the war that, for every junior Hamas operative that Lavender marked, it was permissible to kill up to 15 or 20 civilians … in the event that the target was a senior Hamas official with the rank of battalion or brigade commander – the army on several occasions authorized the killing of more than 100 civilians in the assassination of a single commander.
Lavender — which was developed to create human targets in the current war — has marked some 37,000 Palestinians as suspected ‘Hamas militants,’ most of them junior, for assassination (the IDF Spokesperson denied the existence of such a kill list in a statement to +972 and Local Call).So, there it is – no wonder Israel might seek to camouflage the details within a normalised general array of transgressions against humanitarian law: “They wanted to allow us to attack [the junior operatives] automatically. That’s the Holy Grail. Once you go automatic, target generation goes crazy.”
It is not difficult to speculate what the ICJ might determine …
Does anyone imagine that this flawed Lavender AI machine would not be asked to churn out its kill lists, were Israel to decide to surge into Lebanon? (Another reason for normalising the procedures first in Gaza).
The key point made in the +972 Magazine report (with multiple sourcing) is that the IDF were not focused on pin-point elimination of Hamas’ Qassam Brigades (as claimed):
‘It was very surprising for me that we were asked to bomb a house to kill a ground soldier, whose importance in the fighting was so low,’ said one source about the use of AI to mark alleged low-ranking militants:
‘I nicknamed those targets “garbage targets.” Still, I found them more ethical than the targets that we bombed just for “deterrence” — high-rises that are evacuated and toppled just to cause destruction.’This report makes clear nonsense of Israel’s claims to have dismantled 19 out of 24 Hamas Battalions: One source, critical of Lavender’s inaccuracy, points out the obvious flaw: “It’s a vague boundary”; How to tell a Hamas fighter from any other Gazan civilian male?
‘At its peak, the system managed to generate 37,000 people as potential human targets,’ said B. ‘But the numbers changed all the time, because it depends on where you set the bar of what a Hamas operative is. There were times when a Hamas operative was defined more broadly, and then the machine started bringing us all kinds of civil defence personnel, police officers, on whom it would be a shame to waste bombs.’
Just last week, War Cabinet member and Minister Ron Dermer, was delegated to travel to Washington to plead that the IDF success in dismantling 19 Hamas battalions justified an incursion into Rafah to dismantle the 4 to 5 battalions that Israel claims still remain in Rafah.
What is clear is that AI was a key Israeli tool to its Gaza “Victory.” Israel was going to sell a “smoke and mirrors story” based on “Lavender.”
By contrast, Palestinians, who are aware of their quantitative inferiority, have a very different outlook: they switched to a new way of thinking that gives the simple act of resisting a civilisational meaning – a path to metaphysical victory (and quite possibly a kind of military victory), if not in their lifetimes, then for the Palestinian People, thereafter. This constitutes the asymmetrical nature of the conflict that Israel has never managed to understand.
Israel wants to be feared, believing this will restore its deterrence. Amira Hass writes that regardless of any revulsion for this government and its members: “The vast majority [of Israelis] still believe that war is the solution.” And Mairav Zonszein writing in Foreign Policy, notes that “The Problem Isn’t Just Netanyahu, It’s Israeli Society”:
The focus on Netanyahu is a convenient distraction from the fact that the war in Gaza is not Netanyahu’s war, it is Israel’s war—and the problem isn’t only Netanyahu; it’s the Israeli electorate … A large majority—88 percent—of Jewish Israelis polled in January believe the astounding number of Palestinian deaths, which had surpassed 25,000 at the time, is justified. A large majority of the Jewish public also thinks that the [IDF] is using adequate or even too little force in Gaza … Putting all the blame on the prime minister misses the point. It disregards the fact that Israelis have long advanced, enabled, or come to terms with their country’s system of military occupation and dehumanization of Palestinians.
Yet neither Israel, nor the U.S., has a comprehensive strategy for this mooted war. Israel’s approach is all tactical – claiming to have degraded Hamas; turning Gaza into a humanitarian hellscape and setting the scene for the “decisive plan” devised by Bezalel Smotrich for the Palestinians. Amira Hass again:
Either agree to an inferior status, emigrate and be uprooted ostensibly voluntarily, or face defeat and death in a war. This is the plan now being carried out in Gaza and the West Bank – with most Israelis serving as active and enthusiastic accomplices, or passively acquiescing in its realisation.
The U.S. “vision” is also tactical (and far removed from reality) – Imagining the transformation of Gaza into a “Vichy collaborator” statelet; imagining that political pressure by the French in Lebanon will force Hizbullah’s retreat from its ancestral lands in south Lebanon; and imagining that the Biden White House is able to achieve politically through pressure what Israel cannot do militarily.
The paradox is that, with Israel and the U.S. being dependent on an “image” that has been confused with reality, this too works to Iran’s and the Resistance Front’s advantage. (As the old adage goes, “do not disturb an adversary who is making mistakes”).
Reprinted with permission from Strategic Culture Foundation.
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Site: Steyn OnlineProgramming note: Please join me tomorrow, Wednesday, for another midweeek Clubland Q&A, when I'll be taking questions from Steyn Club members live around the planet. As always, I'm happy to address whatever's on your mind. The time zones having
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Site: RT - News
“Nobody can stop” Israel from going after Hamas, the prime minister has declared
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted his country will conduct a military operation in the city of Rafah in Gaza, despite concerns over the civilian death toll it could cause.
An estimated 1.3 million people, most of them displaced from parts of the Palestinian enclave, are crammed into the settlement on the border with Egypt. Netanyahu is under pressure from a government coalition partner to attack the city.
“We will complete the elimination of the Hamas battalions, including in Rafah. No force in the world will stop us. Many forces are trying to do this, but it will not help because this enemy, after what he has done, will not do it again,” the prime minister declared on Tuesday during a visit to the Tel HaShomer military base.
The Jewish state says it is trying to obliterate the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which launched a deadly incursion into Israel last October, triggering the current round of violence.
Read more
Date set for Rafah offensive – Netanyahu
Netanyahu said in a video statement on Monday that a date had already been set for an operation in Rafah, but declined to name it. His message followed an ultimatum by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who threatened that Netanyahu would lose his mandate if he failed to end the war in Gaza “without a broad attack on Rafah.” Ben-Gvir heads the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, and is part of the coalition government led by Netanyahu’s Likud political force.
The Israeli leader is also under pressure to change tactics in Gaza from key ally the US, whose arms supplies are crucial for the war effort. President Joe Biden last week demanded “specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” warning that the US could reconsider its support.
The change of tune in Washington followed the killing last week of six aid workers from the World Central Kitchen humanitarian organization. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) targeted the group’s convoy in what it claimed to be a tragic mistake, despite the food supply mission being closely coordinated with the military. Chef Jose Andres, who leads the relief organization, is a prominent public figure in Washington.
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Site: Ron Paul Institute for Peace And Prosperity
David Lin, in the Monday episode of the David Lin Report, asked libertarian communicator Ron Paul what nations Paul considers top adversaries or competitors internationally, suggesting that World War III could arise from conflict with one of them. In response, Paul replied that it is his own government — that of the United States — he is worried about, not Russia, China, or some other nation.
Here is the exchange between Lin and Paul:
Lin: OK, Dr. Paul, even though you may not be predicting World War III to be happening imminently, the concept of a World War III involves the US at war with an adversary. So, who do you consider America’s top adversaries or competitors even in the political sphere internationally right now
Paul: I tell you what, it’s not foreign. We took an oath to [defend the country from enemies foreign and domestic]. I don’t lay awake worrying about the Chinese invading us. I don’t worry about the Russians invading us. I worry about what our government is doing, and that’s where the real problem is. So, I can’t pick one military force because we precipitate so many problems ourselves, and, you know, if one thing is settled, we go looking for some more trouble. And I was much more optimistic when the Cold War ended, but things have deteriorated since then.Indeed, it is the threats to Americans’ lives and liberty from their own government that Paul warned about in many speeches on the US House of Representatives floor as a member who had taken, as had his fellow members, the required oath of office Paul mentioned in the interview.
Watch here Paul’s interview, in which he also discusses matters including economic conditions in America, the Federal Reserve, and the price of gold:
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Site: Zero HedgeGM's Cruise Plans To Restart Robotaxi Operations Across PhoenixTyler Durden Tue, 04/09/2024 - 09:25
Cruise, the driverless car company owned by General Motors, is preparing to resume robotaxis operations in Phoenix, Arizona. This is a crucial step before resuming service nationwide following the grounding of the taxi fleet after a pedestrian in San Francisco in October was dragged under one of the vehicles.
Sources familiar with Cruise told Bloomberg that the company is planning to announce the resumption of robotaxi service in Phoenix sometime on Tuesday. They said Cruise officials have been talking with government leaders in dozens of US cities before the planned restart.
"We are in the process of meeting with officials in select markets to gather information, share updates and rebuild trust," Cruise spokesman Pat Morrissey wrote in an emailed statement, adding there was no timeline on when operations would begin.
What led to Cruise's nationwide grounding of robotaxis was an October incident when one of the vehicles ran over a pedestrian in San Francisco. California regulators immediately investigated the incident and found that the company withheld key video and details, which resulted in the suspension of Cruise's license in California. Shortly after, Cruise suspended all operations nationwide, reshuffled top management, and added a new chief safety officer.
Before last year's accident, the company had hundreds of robotaxis operating across San Fran, Austin, Houston, and Phoenix.
Meanwhile, crowds in downtown San Fran destroyed a Waymo self-driving car earlier this year.
BREAKING: An autonomous Waymo vehicle is intentionally set on fire in Chinatown, according to SF Fire. Firefighters said they got reports around 10 people were involved.
— Gia Vang (@Gia_Vang) February 11, 2024
Waymo said “a crowd surrounded and vandalized the vehicle, breaking the window and throwing a firework … pic.twitter.com/6QN2jTppRuDays ago, Elon Musk wrote on X, "Tesla Robotaxi unveil on 8/8."
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Site: AsiaNews.itThe Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly, a likely candidate for the country's presidency, has arrived in Beijing for a six-day visit. In a meeting with Xi Jinping, he spoke about 'global peace, cooperation, and development". Meanwhile, the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, landed in Hanoi today, where he will meet with the prime minister, and hold celebrations with local Catholic communities.
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Site: RT - News
A woman has been arrested in Poland for attacking her partner during a political argument, according to local media
A woman in Poland has been taken into police custody for hitting her partner with a bone taken from soup that was cooking, after the two had a drunken disagreement over politics, PAP news agency reported on Tuesday.
The domestic argument had to do with a local election in Bartoszyce, a city in the country’s north, according to the report. The 44-year-old suspect was cooking at the time, so she used the bone as an improvised weapon to hit her opponent on the head. The man was taken to hospital, where he received stitches for his injury.
Both sides confirmed the circumstances of the altercation to the police, who said they have yet to inspect the scene of the alleged crime, where they will likely confiscate the weapon.
“We don’t have it yet, so it’s hard to say which bone the couple is talking about,” a local officer was quoted by the agency as saying.
READ MORE: French mayor arrested after 70kg of cannabis found at her home – media
The spokesman remarked that the row over the runoff ballot was influenced by alcohol that both participants had apparently been consuming at the time.
The woman has a criminal record and, if convicted of the assault, is facing up to seven years and six months behind bars, according to the report. PAP described the woman as “sobering up in a police detention center.”
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Site: RT - News
The EU’s top diplomat also warned that the US defense “umbrella” could soon cease to cover the continent
A full-scale military conflict in Europe has become more likely due to the standoff with Russia, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, has claimed, while warning member states against relying on the US to defend them.
Several other European officials have cited a heightened military threat in recent months, with UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps saying last week that the world is moving from a “post-war to a pre-war” state due to the alleged threat emanating from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk made a similar “pre-war” assessment in March.
Speaking at a Forum Europa gathering in Brussels on Tuesday, Borrell claimed that the “possibility of a high-intensity conventional war in Europe is no longer a fantasy” and that the bloc must “do everything to avoid it".
The EU’s top diplomat alleged that Russia poses a growing threat to the continent, citing the conflict with Ukraine, and accused Moscow of seeking to destabilize the union.
Read more
Polish president pours cold water on fears of Russian attack
According to Borrell, while a military conflict in Europe is not imminent and “not going to start tomorrow,” citizens should understand that the “US umbrella that has protected us during the Cold War and after, may not be open all the time.”
“Maybe, depending on who is ruling Washington, we cannot rely on the Americans’ support and American capacity to protect us,” he said.
Describing the EU as being surrounded by a “ring of fires” and instability, Borrell called on member states to become more self-sufficient with their security and to ramp up their defense spending.
He added that while NATO is as “irreplaceable” as ever, Europeans should start building their own “pillar” within the US-led bloc.
The diplomat acknowledged that Brussels’ stance on the conflicts in Gaza and in Ukraine is not fully shared by many non-Western audiences.
Borrel’s remarks follow suggestions from numerous Western civilian and military officials in recent months that Russia could attack NATO within a few years.
Speaking in late March, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed such speculation as “nonsense.” He argued that talk of a potential Russian attack on Poland, the Czech Republic, or the Baltic countries is propaganda coming from governments that seek to scare their citizens “to extract additional expenses from people, to make them bear this burden on their shoulders.”
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Site: LifeNews
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) released on Monday a new document addressing human dignity, reaffirming the traditional teaching of the Church that not only condemns abortion, sex-change surgery, gender ideology and surrogate maternity as contrary to human dignity, but also adds social justice issues to the list of “equally important” themes for Catholic doctrine.
The declaration Dignitas Infinita on Human Dignity (DI) commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and reaffirms “the indispensability of the concept of dignity of the human person within Christian anthropology.”
The document clearly restates Catholic doctrine opposing abortion and euthanasia.
It explains that surrogacy “violates the dignity of the woman, whether she is coerced into it or chooses to subject herself to it freely.”
Regarding euthanasia and assisted suicide, it reiterates that “suffering does not cause the sick to lose their dignity, which is intrinsically and inalienably their own.”
DI also addresses gender theory and criticizes how it “intends to deny the greatest possible difference that exists between living beings: sexual difference.”
“This foundational difference is not only the greatest imaginable difference but is also the most beautiful and most powerful of them. In the male-female couple, this difference achieves the most marvelous of reciprocities,” the document continues.
“Only by acknowledging and accepting this difference in reciprocity can each person fully discover themselves, their dignity, and their identity.”
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In its discussion of sex changes, DI states: “it is in the body that each person recognizes himself or herself as generated by others, and it is through their bodies that men and women can establish a loving relationship capable of generating other persons.”
According to the document, this is why Pope Francis has affirmed that “creation is prior to us and must be received as a gift.
“At the same time, we are called to protect our humanity, and this means, in the first place, accepting it and respecting it as it was created,” DI adds.
Except for the opening proposal, which embraces the approach that issues of different moral gravity are still “interconnected,” there are no doctrinal novelties.
Every controversial issue is addressed with quotes from the magisterium.
The Prefect of the DDF, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, agreed with one of the journalists during the press conference that the text is mostly a “collection of quotes.”
In the introduction, DI justifies its publication by explaining the need to reassert the Catholic teaching regarding human dignity, since “history illustrates how individuals—when exercising their freedom against the law of love revealed by the Gospel—can commit inestimably profound acts of evil against others.”
The introduction is followed by four parts:
1. “A Growing Awareness of the Centrality of Human Dignity” makes the theological case that “dignity is intrinsic to the person” and that “all human beings possess this same intrinsic dignity, regardless of whether or not they can express it in a suitable manner.”
2. “The Church Proclaims, Promotes, and Guarantees Human Dignity” argues how, according to Catholic tradition and theology, “faith plays a decisive role in helping reason perceive human dignity and in accepting, consolidating, and clarifying its essential features.”
3. “Dignity, the Foundation of Human Rights and Duties” explains that although there is significant advancement in human rights issues in the world, “the arduous journey of advancing human dignity remains far from completion.”
4. “Some Grave Violations of Human Dignity” is the longest part of the document and attempts “an updated list” of issues that affect human dignity.
“While not claiming to be exhaustive,” the document warns, “the following paragraphs draw attention to some grave violations of human dignity that are particularly relevant.”
The issues to which a paragraph is dedicated are these, in the order they are presented:
- The Drama of Poverty
- War
- The Travail of Migrants
- Human Trafficking
- Sexual Abuse
- Violence Against Women
- Abortion
- Surrogacy
- Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
- The Marginalization of People with Disabilities
- Gender Theory
- Sex Change
- Digital Violence
In all these issues, Catholic doctrine is reaffirmed with quotations mostly from Pope Francis’ magisterium.
“Even today, in the face of so many violations of human dignity that seriously threaten the future of the human family, the Church encourages the promotion of the dignity of every human person, regardless of their physical, mental, cultural, social, and religious characteristics,” DI states in its short conclusion.
LifeNews Note: Joshua Mercer writes for CatholicVote, where this column originally appeared.
The post New Vatican Document Condemns Abortion and Surrogacy Because Humans Have Dignity appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: Zero HedgeStocks Face Rug-Pull From Extreme Momentum MoveTyler Durden Tue, 04/09/2024 - 09:05
Authored by Simon White, Bloomberg macro strategist,
Momentum stocks are very stretched. A reversal exposes the equity market to the risk of a potentially sizable correction, with rising inflation a potential catalyst. Portfolios taking advantage of cheap hedges are better placed to weather any fall in prices.
Momentum is leading the charge in the current rally, with it being the best performing of the most popular types of factor. But the trend is looking increasingly extended.
On a quarterly basis, you have to go back over 30 years before you decisively see more extreme outperformance in the factor.
The two most recent times showing a similar degree of relative upside were March 2022 and June 2008, neither of which were particularly propitious for the stock market.
That’s a risk that it would be folly to ignore, especially as — even if the market escapes unscathed — portfolio hedges remain cheap (although that is already changing as vol begins to rise — discussed here last month).
Momentum’s popularity means when the unwind comes, it has the potential to be severe. Hedge-fund portfolios carry a record tilt to momentum, according to Goldman Sachs.
Source: Goldman Sachs
Furthermore, JPMorgan sees record high crowding in momentum stocks (i.e. stocks that are part of momentum-factor portfolios).
Source: JP Morgan
Momentum’s blessing is also its curse. Momentum begets momentum, driving the market yet higher. But when the trend changes, momentum strategies can quickly go into reverse, selling stocks that are falling. In some cases, that can cause the market to correct, or worse. That risk is especially elevated when everybody’s in the same trade, as is the case today.
The prognosis is not good from a historical standpoint. The quarterly outperformance of MSCI’s momentum factor is at 13 percentage points. The forward return of the MSCI US is negative on a one and three-month basis when the quarterly outperformance is more than 10 percentage points, and it is well under the average on a six-month horizon. History is telling us too much momentum is a bad thing.
But it could be even worse given the current set up. Momentum is a key reason why the stock market has managed to rally despite elevated and rising yields. Of the most common factors (using the Bloomberg market-neutral factor indexes), momentum currently has the highest beta-and-correlation combination to changes in US 10-year real yields.
This is almost exactly inverse to the S&P, which has a very negative correlation and beta to 10-year real yield changes. It is unusual to have this combination. But it is a mix that has allowed stocks to continue rallying despite higher real yields.
Why? In the months when yields have risen, the index was down slightly, but the momentum factor was up strongly. In months when yields were down, the momentum factor fell by more than the index rose. But as yields increased in about twice as many rolling-month periods as they fell since the rally began in October 2022, overall the market has been able to rise — despite real yields rising over 150 bps.
The positive yield-versus-momentum correlation and the negative yield-versus-index correlation started to develop at the beginning of 2022, before inflation had topped, but around the time when the peak was soon anticipated. A re-acceleration in inflation would likely trigger a reversal in this trend, with elevated real yields quickly becoming a problem for stocks.
We will get March data for US CPI on Wednesday. Disinflation has already stalled, while leading indicators see a re-rise in inflation.
Assets are not priced for this eventuality. Among the biggest stocks in many momentum portfolios are tech firms, such as Nvidia, Meta and Broadcom, which have high duration and are therefore in the inflation headlights. With such extreme crowding in the momentum space, a re-increase in CPI has the potential to trigger a selloff that could develop into a nasty correction, or worse.
Top 10 Stocks in iShares MSCI US Momentum Factor ETF
It comes at a time of potential short-term headwinds from liquidity as taxes are paid to the Treasury. The Treasury General Account at the Federal Reserve has its largest average two-week rise in the second half of April — leading to the removal of market liquidity, all other things equal — until the Treasury re-injects the money back into the system.
It’s probably not enough to derail the bull market as recession risk remains low and excess liquidity is supportive, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be uncomfortable.
Equity hedges, though, still remain cheap.
Other hedges include VIX call options (vol of vol remains low), short credit, and bond volatility.
Momentum signals for US stocks, such as Z scores of returns, look to have peaked and are rolling over. That brings forward the time when systematic strategies such as CTAs start to exit high-momentum and crowded stocks.
A trickle of selling could turn into a flood. Momentum begets momentum — until it doesn’t.
Uri Berliner near his home in Washington, D.C., on April 5, 2024. (Photo by Pete Kiehart for The Free Press)
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