Diabetes Cases Quadruple Over 30 Years; WHO Urges Lifestyle Changes

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Hundreds of millions of people globally have become diabetic over the past 30 years, leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to call for “urgent action” to deal with the health crisis.

A registered nurse checks the breathing of a patient who suffers from severe diabetes, while performing a home health care visit in Thornton, Colorado, on Feb. 24, 2010. John Moore/Getty Images

The number of adults living with diabetes worldwide has more than quadrupled since 1990, the WHO said in a Nov. 13 statement citing the results of a recent study it supported. An estimated 828 million adults were living with the condition worldwide in 2022, an increase of 630 million from 1990.

The lowest prevalence of diabetes was in “Western Europe and East Africa for both sexes, and in Japan and Canada for women.” The highest prevalence was in Polynesia and Micronesia, certain nations in the Caribbean, North Africa, and the Middle East, as well as Pakistan and Malaysia.

In total, 14 percent of the world’s adults had diabetes in 2022, double the seven percent 30 years back.

“We have seen an alarming rise in diabetes over the past three decades, which reflects the increase in obesity, compounded by the impacts of the marketing of unhealthy food, a lack of physical activity, and economic hardship,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“To bring the global diabetes epidemic under control, countries must urgently take action. This starts with enacting policies that support healthy diets and physical activity, and, most importantly, health systems that provide prevention, early detection, and treatment.”

Nearly 450 million adults aged 30 and above with diabetes remained untreated in 2022. This represented 59 percent of all adults who have the condition, a 3.5-fold jump. Ninety percent of untreated adults were living in low- and middle-income countries.

According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 38 million Americans were living with diabetes in 2021, which was roughly one in 10 individuals. One in five didn’t know they had the condition. Nearly 100 million, or more than one in three Americans, suffered from pre-diabetes.

A bipartisan group of senators in June announced legislation aimed at improving the early detection and screening of type 1 diabetes, titled “Strengthening Collective Resources for Encouraging Education Needed (SCREEN) for Type 1 Diabetes Act.”

Early identification “can prevent life-threatening conditions like diabetic ketoacidosis and potentially allow for the use of therapeutics to delay the clinical onset of the condition, helping to improve patients’ quality of life and reliance on insulin,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).

Diabetes Burden in America

A report from the American Diabetes Association last year found that the country’s annual cost of the illness was nearly $413 billion in 2022, which included more than $306 billion in direct medical costs.

Out of every $4 in health care spending in the United States, $1 was used for people diagnosed with diabetes, it said.

“In addition to its enormous physical and health burden, diabetes also carries an untenable cost burden that is often disproportionately borne by vulnerable and underserved communities,” said Charles Henderson, CEO of the organization.

He pointed out that the medical costs for such people have risen by 35 percent over the previous decade. “Reducing the cost of diabetes is essential to improving the lives of all people with diabetes.”

Several studies have shown that certain lifestyle adjustments can go a long way in managing the condition. For instance, a large-scale study involving around 103,000 adults who were followed up for over a seven-year period found that the time of eating breakfast could influence diabetes risk.

Individuals who ate their breakfast after 9 a.m. were found to have a 59 percent higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those who regularly ate breakfast before 8 a.m.

Another study found that intermittent fasting may help control blood sugar better than popular diabetes medications.

This month, a group of senators wrote a letter to senate leaders, seeking reauthorization for the Special Diabetes Program (SDP). Funding for the nearly three-decade-old program is set to expire by the end of the year.

SDP funds research on the prevention and cure of type 1 diabetes. “Research funded by the SDP is leading directly to the development of new insights and therapies that are improving the lives of those with diabetes and accelerating progress toward curing and preventing the disease,” the lawmakers wrote.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/19/2024 - 03:30

Turkey Accused Of Hosting Hamas Political Office After Relocated From Qatar

Early last week several media reports and sources saud that the government of Qatar ordered the leaders of Hamas to leave the country, following pressure from Washington, kicking off speculation over where Hamas leadership would go.

A fresh Israeli media report alleged that Turkey is now hosting them. "Senior members of Hamas’s abroad leadership left Qatar last week for Turkey, an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel on Sunday, after Doha said it was walking away from efforts to mediate an end to the war in Gaza," the report said.

Via Reuters

"The Arab diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, downplayed the significance of the move for the terror group, stressing that Hamas’s leadership abroad already spends much of its time in Turkey when they are not holding meetings in Qatar," the report continued.

If accurate it would shine a spotlight on NATO member Turkey and its dealings with a group designated by the US and Europe, and many countries internationally, as a terrorist organization.

But this is a charge which Turkey is vehemently denying on Monday, per Reuters:

A Turkish diplomatic source dismissed on Monday reports that Hamas had moved its political office to Turkey from Qatar, adding that members of the Palestinian militant group only visited the country from time to time.

The diplomatic source said: "Hamas Political Bureau members visit Turkey from time to time. Claims that indicate the Hamas Political Bureau has moved to Turkey do not reflect the truth."

Hamas also rejected the reports that its offices are being set up in Turkey as "rumors the (Israeli) occupation is trying to publish from time to time."

But if the reports are true, Turkey and Hamas would have every incentive to lie about it - given Israeli spies have long waged a surveillance and assassination campaign targeting Hamas operatives living and working abroad.

Just days ago President Erdogan announced that Turkey has cut all ties with Israel. "We, as the State and Government of the Republic of Turkey, have cut off relations with Israel. We do not have any relationship with Israel at this point. Period," he said.

He and other top Turkish officials have decried genocide of Palestinians by the Israeli military. Erdogan said further, "As you know, intense efforts are being made to keep the pressure on Israel alive and to take coercive measures against this country on the basis of international law We show it."

Turkey even recently blocked an Israeli airplane carrying the Israeli president from traversing over its airspace, and so he wasn't able to attend the COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan. Erdogan has long been known to cozy up to Hamas leaders, even in photographed, well-publicized events.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/19/2024 - 02:45

Damning Report Highlights Growing Intolerance And Violence Against Christians In Europe

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

A new report from the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe) has sounded the alarm about escalating violence and discrimination faced by Christians across the continent.

In 2023, 2,444 anti-Christian hate crimes were documented across 35 European countries. These crimes ranged from vandalism and arson to physical violence and restrictions on religious freedoms. The findings reveal a concerning trend that has left Christian communities feeling increasingly vulnerable.

The report published on Friday highlighted France, the U.K., and Germany as areas of particular concern. France recorded nearly 1,000 hate crimes last year, making it the most affected country. The incidents included the desecration of churches and cemeteries, with at least 84 direct attacks on individuals.

DISCRIMINATION:
OIDAC Europe’s report also found discrimination against Christians in the workplace and in public life in some European countries, leading to increasing self-censorship among Christians in Europe. pic.twitter.com/W8nPfZIX3W

— Observatory on Intolerance against Christians EU (@OIDACEurope) November 15, 2024

Meanwhile, the U.K. experienced over 700 incidents, a 15 percent increase compared to the previous year. One high-profile case involved the conviction of an individual for silently praying outside an abortion clinic, illustrating the growing tension around public expressions of faith.

In Germany, there was a concerning 105 percent increase in anti-Christian hate crimes, climbing from 135 in 2022 to 277 in 2023. Churches were frequent targets, with vandalism and property damage often unreported in official statistics, according to the report. Estimates suggest at least 2,000 cases of property damage against religious institutions went unnoticed due to the lack of a clear political motive.

The report outlines the various forms these attacks have taken. Vandalism accounts for the majority, making up 62 percent of incidents, followed by arson, threats, and physical violence. A small percentage of cases even involved attempted or completed murders.

‘I will rape Jesus!’ – Migrant shouts obscenities on video while smashing Swedish Catholic church windows with rocks. https://t.co/vbxw90EJG6

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) August 23, 2023

The growing self-censorship among Christians in Europe was also highlighted as an equally concerning issue. For the first time since records began in 1953, more Christians report feeling they must be cautious when speaking about their faith than those who feel free to express it openly. This shift marks a dramatic change from 1981 when 83 percent of Christians said they felt no barriers to discussing their beliefs. Now, only 40 percent feel the same way.

Compounding the issue are restrictions on religious freedoms imposed by some European governments. Beyond high-profile legal cases like the U.K. prayer conviction, bans on religious processions and other policies have disproportionately affected Christians.

The mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski has banned the display of religious symbols such as crosses in public buildings, making it the first city in Poland to do so. https://t.co/FpE9whq426

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) May 17, 2024

Moves to secularize traditional Christian holidays have also become more frequent, and despite falling under the threshold of a hate crime, it is indicative of a gradual move away from Christian values.

The move has sparked a backlash from parents and politicians who fear Austria’s customs are being sidelined for cultural sensitivity. https://t.co/8WeCan2Yqo

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 28, 2024

Experts warn that the real scale of the problem is far greater than official statistics suggest. Regina Polak, OSCE’s special representative for combating racism, xenophobia, and discrimination, described anti-Christian hate crimes as a “message of exclusion” that impacts not only the victims but society as a whole.

OIDAC Managing Director Anja Hoffmann echoed this concern, emphasizing the significant number of unreported cases.

She urged governments to take more proactive measures to protect Christian communities and ensure that hate crimes are accurately documented and addressed.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/19/2024 - 02:00

Mad At The Election? Blame Obama

Authored by Josiah Lippincott via American Greatness,

Liberals who are in the throes of capitulation and despair after Donald Trump’s crushing electoral and popular vote win can lay blame for their disastrous loss at the feet of one man: Barack Hussein Obama.

Obama built the Trump wave. His failure to live up to the promises of his populist 2008 run has cursed the Democratic Party, probably for a generation. The Washington DC establishment in just two short months is going to get “scholonged” by an angry and vengeful Trump, ready to rain executive hellfire on the bureaucrats and institutions that have spent the last nine years fighting him tooth and nail.

All of this could have been prevented. In 2008, Obama swept into power with a crushing electoral college and popular vote majority. He won Iowa, Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina. He even won Indiana. Democrats swept into power in Congress with a 74-seat lead in the House, nearly 59% of seats, and were gifted with a magical 60-seat filibuster-proof supermajority in the Senate.

This was a generational victory, a sign that voters were fed up with politics as usual and the failures of the GOP and the Washington and Wall Street establishment as such. This victory wasn’t just about electing the first Black president, though that was important: The policies and platform at stake appealed deeply to voters.

It is worth remembering what exactly those policies were.

Obama promised to end the war in Iraq, end the Afghanistan war with honor, help the economy by reducing health care costs (prioritizing “Main Street” over Wall Street), and bring about a new era of racial harmony. Moreover, Obama explicitly eschewed radical leftist politics. He explicitly defended traditional marriage. In his DNC nomination speech, he condemned employers who “undercut American wages by hiring illegal workers.”

Obama ran a campaign on bringing “change” to DC. He made much of his status as a newcomer who lacked the “typical pedigree” of a candidate for the nation’s highest office.

Put another way, Obama won a decisive victory in 2008 by campaigning as a Washington outsider bent on ending foreign wars, boosting the economy by helping ordinary people, and being a moderate on social issues like abortion and gay marriage. Does this message sound familiar? It should.

In broad measure, it is the same formula that brought Donald Trump to power in 2016 and has given him, like Obama, unified control over the executive and legislative branches after a crushing electoral and popular vote win.

Obama’s hubris is the reason the Democratic Party stands here today—powerless in the face of “Orange Hitler.”

Obama did not close Guantanamo Bay, he ended the Iraq War only to get sucked back in, killed Osama Bin Laden but kept troops in Afghanistan, started wars in Libya and Syria, and, most damningly, inflamed racial tensions when he had a chance to calm them.

Far from being a moderate on social issues, Obama was the president whose picks for the Supreme Court rammed gay marriage down Americans throats after it had suffered numerous state-level electoral setbacks, including in California of all places in the very election that brought Obama to power!

Obama’s pledge to reduce health care costs in 2008 did not come with an individual mandate to purchase health insurance. The final bill that snaked its way through Congress and was signed into law did contain such a penalty. Instead of lowering health care costs, Americans watched as their premiums went up.

Instead of fewer foreign wars, we got more. Instead of declaring victory after the death of the mastermind behind 9/11, we got eight more years of war. On every front, Obama didn’t just fail to follow through on his mandate, he actively worked for the opposite outcome.

Obama lacked the strength of character and will to follow through on his promises and to deliver the shake-up in Washington that he promised. He was more concerned with hanging out with celebrities and being cool than facing down his own Party’s bosses to deliver on the promises he made to the American people. Nancy Pelosi, 16 years later, still remains one of the most powerful figures in the Party.

Americans sent a refined, urbane, grassroots college professor to do their bidding in DC. When he failed, they decided to send their message in a language that no one could misunderstand. They sent Trump.

Trump is everything Obama is not: loud, dominating, and brash. There is none of Obama’s snark in his demeanor. And, unlike Obama, Trump has proven durable and faithful. Unlike Obama, Trump has built on his popular vote total with each successive election.

Nothing can stop him: not the GOP leadership class (compare Paul Ryan and Nancy Pelosi’s careers), not the bureaucracy, not the media, not even an assassin’s bullet. Trump is the avenging angel of American populist rage. The post-1945 world order—especially after the fall of the Soviet Union—was supposed to deliver peace and prosperity on an untold scale.

Instead, we’ve gotten more war, more debt, and more of our economy shipped overseas. Americans, even those who are successful, live in a world increasingly pockmarked by obesity, homelessness, crazed radicalism, and a flood of foreigners looking for a hand-out.

This was not what we were promised! Looking back on the last two decades of war in the Middle East, what can anyone say we won in these places? Peace? Stability? The region is as broken and violent as ever. The 9/11 hijackers all came in legally. No one has ever solved that problem or even acknowledged that it existed.

Moreover, the wars never end. Trump is the only president in my lifetime not to get us engaged in any new conflicts, but even he wasn’t able to bring the troops home from Afghanistan in his first term. Biden did, but then immediately hauled the nation back into war in Europe.

We are never allowed to be neutral, never allowed to focus on ourselves, never allowed to rest. Millions of migrants invade our southern border and flood our communities with drugs that kill more than a hundred thousand Americans yearly and not one politician in DC blinks. They care infinitely more about Ukraine’s border than our own. Americans are fed up with this attitude.

Obama’s failures on race were the most striking feature of his presidency and have done the most lasting damage. Race relations have hit an all-time low. Obama could have put a lot of the turmoil to rest, using his position as the first Black president as a way to shore up confidence in our institutions. He could have brought the Civil Rights movement to an end, insisting that our work now was not to gain equality but to preserve the hard and painful work we’d already accomplished. But no. Instead we got George Floyd and the 2020 Summer of Love, in which a dozen major American cities burned because a career criminal died in police custody from an overdose.

And every year, some new cause gets added to the pantheon of aggrieved minorities demanding social justice. First, it was gay marriage; now it is transgenderism. God only knows what will come next. Furries? Polycules? Worse? With each new wave of leftist radicalism has come vicious shrieking from activists aimed at ordinary Americans. The latest cause—the post-COVID explosion of transgenderism—has touched ordinary Americans’ lives in a way that even homosexuality did not.

The LGBT wave has finally hit upon children and teens with its full force. The loss of community and the social upheaval of the COVID period has resulted in a generation of youth particularly susceptible to the promises of transgender identity.

Speaking of COVID, the American medical establishment worked for two whole years to end normal life, destroy free association, and impose draconian measures on the population.

Once the COVID paranoia died down, the regime immediately turned to trying to put the opposition leader into prison for made-up crimes. That all-out media and legal blitz ended with two attempted assassination attempts, one that nearly blew the president’s head off on live television.

The supposedly “apolitical” military, medical, media and legal establishments have shorn themselves of any pretense of neutrality. They have thrown their lot in with the Democratic Party and its most radical wing.

None of this had to happen.

Obama had a golden chance in 2008 to lock in Democratic rule for a generation. All he had to do was follow through. He had to keep his word and he needed to stand up to his own party when they sought to drag him back into their moribund consensus. But Obama chose wealth and respectability over doing the right thing.

He chose to divide the country further instead of rallying it around a new multi-racial coalition dedicated to peace abroad and prosperity at home. Trump has inherited that mantle. Here, in his second term, Trump finally has the full, unquestionable mandate that once rested on Obama’s shoulders.

If he succeeds, the GOP can expect decades of political and cultural dominance. The Trump era will last far beyond Trump’s actual death. There is reason to hope, as well. Trump’s first term and his years in the wilderness have armed him with a better knowledge of DC and a clearer understanding of the qualities and allies he needs to advance his goals.

His slate of cabinet picks is hated by the DC chatterati. This bodes well. Clean house. Go to war. Trump has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

All he needs to do is deliver. He needs to give the voters what he promised them: mass deportations, increased election security, and no new wars. Do those things on Day 1 and the Republicans have 2026 sewn up. Get us out of Ukraine and deliver real economic growth and JD Vance is a lock for 2028. It really is that simple.

Trump has everything he needs. Now all that remains is to act.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/18/2024 - 23:25

Xi's "Four Red Lines" For China Set To Clash With Trump's 'America First' Trade Measures

President-elect Trump is set to steamroll Chinese leader Xi Jinping's 'red lines' communicated to President Biden this weekend, likely to be on display from day one after he enters the Oval Office for the second time on Jan. 20. This is especially given his campaign promises impose a blanket 60% tariff on Chinese goods, touted as key to a package of "America First" trade measures.

Xi conveyed that he's willing and ready to work with the incoming Trump administration, during the meeting with Biden that took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima, Peru. 

Xi told Biden: "The United States has recently concluded its elections. China’s goal of a stable, healthy, and sustainable China–U.S. relationship remains unchanged." But the optics at the Peru summit strongly suggest lame-duck Biden had long already taken a backseat in terms of assertiveness over US-China relations...

WATCH: Biden takes a back seat to other world leaders during an international trip, relegated to a corner spot in the traditional family photo of the world's most powerful figures, while China's president takes the prominent front-and-center position. pic.twitter.com/dyOkaPwqNW

— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 17, 2024

"China is ready to work with the new U.S. administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation, and manage differences, so as to strive for a steady transition of the China-US relationship for the benefit of the two peoples," Xi additionally conveyed to Biden. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan in follow-up emphasized of the "candid" and "constructive" talks–sure to be the last held face to face of the Biden presidency, that Biden "has worked hard to responsibly manage the competition" with China over four years to prevent things from spiraling into conflict.

The some two-hour weekend meeting included what's being described as an olive branch from Xi, but more importantly a series of 'red lines' if Washington wishes to avoid a "new Cold War".

"A new Cold War should not be fought and cannot be won. Containing China is unwise, unacceptable and bound to fail," Xi told the American president.

President Xi broadly laid out four red lines as follows:

"The Taiwan question, democracy and human rights, China’s path and system, and China’s development right are four red lines for China," Xi was quoted as saying.

"They must not be challenged. These are the most important guardrails and safety nets for China-US relations."

It as especially on the Taiwan question that Xi spoke with firmness, and specifics, at one point mentioning Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te by name (a rarity). He reiterated that Beijing views Taiwan as an integral part of the country and thus that Mr. Lai based on his articulated policies is a "separatist". Xi further warned that the US "should not get involved in bilateral disputes over the relevant islands" in the South China Sea.

Xi said of his four red lines and the future of relations with the US, "Words must be trustworthy and actions must be fruitful. A person cannot stand without credibility. China always follows through on its words, but if the US side always says one thing and does another, it is very detrimental to America's image and damages mutual trust."

China's President Xi Jinping, left, speaks with Peru's President Dina Boluarte, right, amid other APEC leaders, via AP.

Again, these are the four red lines, which the Chinese leader urged Washington to avoid crossing, no matter the administration: 

1) Supporting Taiwan independence.

2) Interfering in China’s democracy and human rights

3) Stifling China’s development path, e.g. by sanctions and trade restrictions.

4) Restricting China’s rights to advancement and development.

Below are more translated details of Xi's words, with some commentary by regional watcher and analyst Arnaud Bertrand.

* * *

According to the Chinese readout (https://guancha.cn/internation/2024_11_17_755645.shtml…) here's what he told Biden were the 7 "lessons of the past 4 years that need to be remembered":

1) "There must be correct strategic understanding. The 'Thucydides Trap' is not historical destiny, a 'new Cold War' cannot and should not be fought, containment of China is unwise, undesirable, and will not succeed."

2) "Words must be trustworthy and actions must be fruitful. A person cannot stand without credibility. China always follows through on its words, but if the U.S. side always says one thing and does another, it is very detrimental to America's image and damages mutual trust."

3) "Treat each other as equals. In exchanges between two major countries like China and the United States, neither side can reshape the other according to their own wishes, nor can they suppress the other based on so-called 'position of strength,' let alone deprive the other of legitimate development rights to maintain their own leading position."

4) "Red lines and bottom lines cannot be challenged. As two major countries, China and the United States inevitably have some contradictions and differences, but they cannot harm each other's core interests, let alone engage in conflict and confrontation. The One China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués are the political foundation of bilateral relations and must be strictly observed. Taiwan issue, democracy and human rights, development path, and development rights are China's four red lines, which cannot be challenged. [Note: Bold text in the original] These are the most important guardrails and safety nets for China-US relations."

5) "There should be more dialogue and cooperation. Under current circumstances, the common interests between China and the United States have not decreased but increased. Whether in areas of economy and trade, agriculture, drug control, law enforcement, public health, or in facing global challenges such as climate change and artificial intelligence, as well as international hotspot issues, China-US cooperation is needed. Both sides should extend the list of cooperation, make the cooperation cake bigger, and achieve win-win cooperation."

6) "Respond to people's expectations. The development of China-US relations should always focus on the wellbeing of both peoples and gather the strength of both peoples. Both sides should build bridges for personnel exchanges and cultural communication, and also remove interference and obstacles, not artificially create a 'chilling effect.'"

7) "Demonstrate great power responsibility. China and the United States should always consider the future and destiny of humanity, take responsibility for world peace, provide public goods for the world, and play a positive role in world unity, including engaging in positive interaction, avoiding mutual consumption, and not coercing other countries to take sides."

Funnily, all this is summarized in the official US readout (https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn/readout-of-president-joe-bidens-meeting-with-president-xi-jinping-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china-3/…) with this short sentence: "The two leaders reviewed the bilateral relationship over the past four years". Talk about an understatement  The language compared to the readout of the last Xi-Biden meeting in San Francisco one year ago is noticeably more forthright, especially on the U.S.'s lack of trustworthiness ("if the U.S. side always says one thing and does another..."). Looks like he's getting very frustrated with U.S. duplicity.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/18/2024 - 23:00

China Fumes As US, Philippines Sign New Intelligence-Sharing & Defense Deal

The Pentagon has made deeper, permanent inroads into southeast Asia, on Monday announcing a major new deal inked by the US and Philippine defense chiefs to share classified military information and technology.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Philippine counterpart Gilberto Teodoro kicked off Austin's visit to Manila this week with the signing of the General Security of Military Information Agreement. Monday's events also included a closed-door meeting between the Pentagon chief and President Ferdinand Marcos.

The deal has been described as allowing the Philippines access to "higher capabilities and big-ticket items" from the US and "open opportunities to pursue similar agreements with like-minded nations," according to Philippine Assistant Defense Secretary Arsenio Andolong.

Via AFP

Beijing is sure to also take note of the newly opened combined command and coordination center inside the Philippine military's headquarters in the capital. Teodoro and Austin formally inaugurated it on Monday.

"This center will enable real-time information sharing for a common operating picture. It will help boost interoperability for many, many years to come," Austin said at the ceremony. "It will be a place where our forces can work side by side to respond to regional challenges," he added.

Philippine military chief General Romeo Brawner hailed the establishment of the joint command center, saying it will "enhance our ability to collaborate during crises, fostering an environment where our strengths combine to safeguard peace and security in our region."

As expected, China blasted the development, with its foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian responding by warning any military agreement or security arrangement must not target "any third party or harm a third party's interests - let alone undermine regional peace, exacerbate regional tensions."

Of course, the US and the Philippines are already defense treaty partners, which has long injected extra tensions as rival patrols in regional waters come up against each other:

China has brushed aside an international ruling that its claims in the South China Sea have no legal basis, and has deployed navy and coast guard vessels that Manila says harass its vessels and stop them accessing some reefs and islands in the waters.

This has led to violent confrontations that have resulted in injuries to Filipino personnel and damage to their vessels in the past 18 months.

That has sparked concern the United States could be drawn into an armed conflict due to its mutual defense treaty with the Philippines.

This new military intelligence and defense tech sharing agreement, along with the inaugurated command center, further solidifies Washington's presence in the region.

Dramatic scenes like the below have been on the increase of late:

WATCH: Two China Coast Guard ships use their water cannons on the much smaller Philippine Navy-contracted Unaizah May 4 during a March 5 resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal. The Philippines says the water cannons shattered the wind shield of the resupply ship, injuring four on… pic.twitter.com/6d28CMFwuj

— Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) March 5, 2024

On the other side of the globe, China seems bent on teaching the US a lesson, in expanding its own intelligence and military presence in places like Cuba, not far off America's coast. Beijing without doubt sees its inroads into Latin America as a necessary response to America's expanding Pacific presence. 

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/18/2024 - 22:10

Kremlin Says Biden "Adding Fuel To The Fire" By Approving Missile Strikes In Russia

By Chris Summers of Epoch Times

The Kremlin has accused President Joe Biden of, “adding fuel to the fire” after it was reported he had given his approval to Ukraine using U.S.-made missiles to strike targets deep inside Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov is reported by the BBC to have said on Monday that the Biden administration was “continuing to stoke tension around this conflict.”

According to anonymous U.S. officials who spoke to media outlets, Biden has authorized Ukraine to use long-range missiles provided by the Pentagon to strike targets in the Russian region of Kursk.

Peskov told the Tass news agency, “If such a decision has indeed been formulated and communicated to the Kyiv regime, then, of course, this is a qualitatively new round of escalation of tensions, and a qualitatively new situation in terms of the involvement of the United States in this conflict.”

The Tass news agency, on its Telegram channel, said Peskov had described the idea of missile strikes inside Russia as “dangerous and provocative.”

Peskov referred journalists to a statement made by Putin in September, in which he said allowing Ukraine to target Russia would change “the very nature of the conflict dramatically.”

But Peskov said Putin was “open to any communication” but had not yet spoken to French President Emmanuel Macron, who was reported to be planning to call the Russian leader.

The UK and France have both supplied Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine, which could be used to hit targets in Russia, but so far, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Macron have not given permission.

Starmer said they “need to double down” on support for Ukraine and insisted that the issue was “top” of his agenda at this week’s G20 summit in Brazil.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and recently deployed thousands of North Korean troops to the frontline, fighting alongside Russian forces.

Ukrainian forces launched a significant cross-border operation into Russia’s region of Kursk earlier this year. Intense fighting is ongoing as Russian forces attempt to reclaim lost territory. Ukraine seized several settlements and is still holding strategic positions.

In response, Russia has allowed 11,000 North Korean troops, volunteered by Pyongyang, to deploy on the frontline in the Kursk region to aid its fight.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pressuring the United States and NATO to allow his forces to use army tactical missile systems they have been supplied with to hit targets deep inside Russia, arguing Moscow has already escalated the conflict with the North Korean deployment.

On Monday, Zelenskyy said “long-range capabilities” were a vital part of his “victory plan,” which he fleshed out in the Ukrainian Parliament last month.

"Missiles Will Speak for Themselves"

“There’s been much said in the media today that we have received approval to take relative actions. But strikes are not carried out with words. These things are not announced. The missiles will speak for themselves,” Zelenskyy said on Monday.

Tass also reported that Viktor Bondarev, a senior Russian senator and former Russian air force commander-in-chief, said, “Russia has sufficient advanced capabilities to counter attacks by any weapons, including long-range weapons.”

Earlier this month, 34 Ukrainian drones attacked targets in Moscow, but the Russian defense ministry claimed the attack had been “thwarted.”

The defense ministry said the Ukrainians targeted the Kursk, Bryansk, Tula, Oryol, and Kaluga regions.

The Kremlin’s own Telegram channel has so far not commented on the reports about Biden approving missile strikes.

On Monday, it published photographs of Putin holding a “working meeting” with the governor of the Zaporozhye (Zaporizhzhia) region in occupied Ukraine, Yevgeny Balitsky.

Continue reading at Epoch Times

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/18/2024 - 21:45

Our Elections Are Not OK

Authored by Doug Truax via RealClearPolitics,

On this very terrain, four years ago, I asserted that we can “never again” allow an election like 2020 to happen. I’m back to say that despite Trump’s near landslide, America’s election system is still broken.

And the time to fix it is immediately, while President Trump has the wind at his back with a Republican Congress and the public on his side.

You most clearly see a broken election system when the margins are extremely tight. We saw it in 2020 when approximately 40,000 votes in key states tipped the election, and not so much in 2024. But rest assured, the public still lacks confidence in the integrity of our elections, and rightly so. They are only partially transparent. The tools to cheat are still on the table and able to be used. This is a ticking time bomb that could throw America into chaos in a future close election.

The main problems are ridiculously extended voting periods, mass absentee ballots, lack of voter ID, flimsy signature verification, unsecured drop boxes, voting machines with opaque software and connectivity to the internet, and sloppy, inaccurate voter rolls. We wouldn’t accept any of these third-world standards in our personal banking or accounting practices – why are we OK applying them to our precious votes?

Under our Constitution, we entrust election administration to the states. Some, like Florida, run a tight, efficient ship, counting all votes on Election Day in a few hours and posting ballot movement online in real-time. The public trusts those results. Others, like Arizona, have created a bizarre process that takes days to count the ballots. Even if there is no fraud whatsoever, the public is distrustful of such a Byzantine system. It boggles the mind that in 2024, in the United States of America, we are still counting votes days and even weeks after the election in Arizona and several other states.

The incoming Trump administration must make election integrity a top priority through federal legislation or persuading states to pass reforms. Standards such as voter ID, accurate and transparent voter rolls, and shortened voting periods should be emphasized publicly and perhaps incentivized by the federal government. There are constitutional issues at play here, but there are countervailing constitutional issues when blue states affect federal elections by relaxing their standards to enable cheating.

We are at a crossroads. More people are using absentee ballots and getting used to them. However, as the Commission on Federal Election Reform, headed by Jimmy Carter and James Baker, concluded in 2005, mass absentee ballots invite voter fraud. Many other civilized countries agree – they ban them or sharply limit their use.

Like with money or other valuables, flawed human beings will steal them if you don’t provide strict guardrails and safeguards. In one-party areas without oversight, partisans will be tempted to break the rules and steal votes if they think they can get away with it.

Part of the reason there were fewer voting irregularities in 2024 compared to 2020 is that our organization and others dispatched tens of thousands of lawyers and volunteers to keep an eye on things. And, of course, it helped that the margin was “too big to rig” this time.

Let’s act to close the gaping security holes so we can spend more time debating the issues rather than paying hundreds of lawyers. Our great country deserves a great election system. It is within our power to make it happen in 2025.

Doug Truax is founder and CEO of Restoration of America, one of the most active and effective political organizations in America. He is a West Point graduate, successful entrepreneur, and former Army Ranger.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/18/2024 - 17:00

Berkeley Communists Call For "Righteous Anger & Revolutionary Determination" Against MAGA 

The Revolutionary Communist Party USA, led by Bob Avakian, is outraged that their Marxist-aligned allies within the Democratic Party were defeated in the presidential election by the nation-loving, God-fearing Trump-Vance ticket.

Now, the communists are calling for "righteous anger and revolutionary determination," as their efforts to shape policy outcomes and push for a socialist reconstruction in America will be temporarily derailed under Trump's upcoming second term. 

X user Andy Ngo shared an image of a flyer stapled to a telephone pole in Berkeley, California, calling for a communist workshop to plan a revolution against "Trump fascism."

"Two Countries" Within This Country—And The Whole Damn System's Got To Go!" the title of the poster reads. It states there will be an in-person meeting to plan for revolution at a Berkeley bookshop on Sunday evening and a Zoom meeting on Tuesday.

A QR code attached to the flyer led folks back to Bob Avakian's Substack. He stated the group's intent: 

"This is not a time for demoralization and despair—it is a time for righteous anger and revolutionary determination."  

Other revolutionary communists promoted the upcoming meeting, indicating an "urgent call" for "revolution against Trump fascism and the whole system."

On election night, anarchists, communists, and other socialists in the Antifa group were activated in downtown Seattle, sparking mayhem.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/18/2024 - 16:40

"Precedent... Doesn't Matter Anymore": Democrats Dispense With Pretenses & Principles In Pennsylvania

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

“People violate laws any time they want.”

Those words, shrugging off an alleged unlawful move last week, did not come from some Chicago gangbanger or Washington car thief. Those words of wisdom came from Democrat Commissioner Diane Marseglia in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

They came in response to the fact that the Democratic majority on the election commission had decided to ignore a binding state Supreme Court ruling in an attempt to engineer the election of Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.).

Rather than prompting a degree of introspection, the loss of both houses of Congress and the White House has had a curious effect on many Democrats, dropping any pretense of protecting democracy over partisanship.

Despite polls showing that the public trusted former president Donald Trump more than Vice President Harris in combating threats to democracy, Democrats made “saving democracy” the thrust of this election.

The polls reflected a certain common sense of the public when harangued with predictions from President Biden, Harris and a host of politicians and pundits warned that this would likely be our last election. Few believed that after over two centuries as the most stable and successful democracy in history, all three branches would collapse in unison and embrace dictatorship. Even fewer believed the predictions of the rounding up of homosexuals, journalists and political critics for camps in what some described as an American Third Reich.

American voters are not chumps and what they saw were strikingly anti-democratic positions from those claiming to be the defenders of democracy, including:

• Seeking to strip Trump from ballots under an unfounded theory rejected unanimously by the Supreme Court.

• Fighting to block opponents of Biden from ballots in the primary and general elections.

• Suing to keep Robert F. Kennedy on ballots after his withdrawal in swing states, in order to confuse voters and reduce the vote for Trump.

• Calling for blocking dozens of incumbent GOP officials and legislators from ballots as “insurrectionists.”

• “Protecting democracy” through the most extensive censorship in history and the blacklisting of opponents.

• Engaging in open and raw lawfare in the prosecutions of Trump in places like New York.

Each of these efforts ultimately failed to stop Trump and was opposed by a majority of voters even before the election. So now, Democrats are dropping the pretense for open partisanship.

That was evident in Bucks County, when a motion arose to reject a challenge to count provisional ballots, including undated or invalidly dated mail ballots.

It should have been easy.

To its credit, the majority-Democratic Pennsylvania Supreme Court had already refused a Democratic push to change the rules shortly before the election and to ignore the plain language of the election laws.

In ordering the rejection of ballots without dates, Justice Kevin Doughtery (joined by Chief Justice Debra Todd) wrote a concurrence declaring

“This Court will neither impose nor countenance substantial alterations to existing laws and procedures during the pendency of an ongoing election.’  We said those carefully chosen words only weeks ago. Yet they apparently were not heard in the Commonwealth Court, the very court where the bulk of election litigation unfolds.”

It is apparently still not being heard. In the Bucks County hearing, Marseglia spoke as she and Democratic Board chairman Robert Harvie, Jr., dismissed the earlier rulings in order to accept ballots without required signatures or mandatory dates.  She declared that she would not second the motion to enforce the rulings “mostly because I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country and people violate laws any time they want. So, for me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention to it.”

That was a lot of words to say that she does not really seem to care if this is lawful. For his part, Casey has shown the same abandon as he clings to his Senate seat at any cost.

That cost, in this case, was an alliance with Marc Elias, the controversial Democratic lawyer at the center of the infamous Steele Dossier scandal. Elias has been sanctioned in court and criticized for his work to flip elections. He is known for baselessly blaming voting machine errors for electing Republicans and pushing gerrymandering plans rejected by the courts as anti-democratic.

Casey is unlikely to change the result without counting defective or challenged ballots. Fortunately, law and precedent “does matter in this country.”  There are still officials who can transcend their political preferences to maintain the rule of law. After the last presidential election, many Trump appointees ruled against the former president, and many Democratic judges rejected the effort to strip Trump from ballots.

That does not mean that Democrats who value the weaponization of law will not continue to embrace lawfare warriors like New York Attorney General Letitia James (D).

Others will use the rage of these times as a license to ignore legal and ethical obligations altogether. They are arguably the saddest manifestation of our political discord. They are people who have not just lost faith in our system but in themselves. They have become untethered from any defining principle for their own conduct. This election has left them adrift in a sea of moral and legal relativism, with only their rage as a following wind. They cling to that rage as reason vanishes like a distant shore.

For the rest of us, there is work to be done as a nation committed to the rule of law. We cannot win at any cost when that cost is the very thing that defines us.

*  *  *

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/18/2024 - 16:22

Beyond The Consequence Of The Great Pretending...

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

If you boil down everything the woked-up, psychopathic Democratic Party did the past eight years as it drove the country into a ditch, it all amounted to a Great Pretending.

Whatever the party said, they knew it was not so. Whatever they did, they pretended the other side was doing.

They lied lavishly, knowingly, and incessantly and now they are pretending to soul-search in a great public display of pretend humility as they await the dreaded reckoning.

“I don’t know why the Democrats lost. I don’t understand... Prices have come down, the economy is good. I don’t know why they voted against her, against the party.”

- William Shatner (Captain Kirk)

Case in point: the interview on PBS between Aspen Institute chief Walter Isaacson and Harvard civics philosophy prof Michael Sandel, “to make sense of Donald Trump’s Presidency.” Listen to them prattle about “the dignity of work,” “credentialist condescension,” and “income disparities.” You know it was way worse than that: censorship, witch hunts, the gestapo FBI, a stupid money-pit war, medical fascism, the wide-open border, race-and gender hustles, state-sponsored riots, lawfare programmatically destroying lives, careers, reputations, and misuse of the news media (including PBS) to lie about all of it. These two pusillanimous pricks, pretending to be genteel, are the poster boys for a diseased polity.

And behind the scenes now, in the C-suites of the big agencies, the faculty lounges of Higher Ed, the Zoom meet-ups of so many crypto-government NGOs, and especially in the Big Media board-rooms, the cries of anxiety and desperation signal a momentous end of something: the punking of America by a gang of vicious, criminal snobs. The aggregate insult alone deserves a world-class beat-down. They know it, and they know they are going to get it, and it will be satisfying to watch them rat each other out as judgment nears.

But even as all that plays out, and justice returns to the scene, Mr. Trump and Company face the enormous task of getting our nation’s house in order. The balance sheet is a catastrophe, we are functionally bankrupt, and “Joe Biden” has been busy destroying the value of our money in the futile attempt to work around all that. All the economic statistics rolled out to benefit Ms. Harris in the election are false. Something is underway that is too big to stop and it will express itself as ruinous inflation and economic depression in some wicked combo of the two. It will surely lead to epic rearrangements in everyday life. I will suggest a few examples.

The people of this land have been deprived of purpose and meaning in an economy organized among giant enterprises and vast distances from wherever you live. To call ourselves “consumers” degrades us. We are citizens who have duties, responsibilities, and obligations to each other. We are economic actors who can make choices and take risks, not passive units to be exploited. The people need an economic role in their locality: employer of neighbors, producer of useful goods and services, all the way down to faithful servants of something and someone.

Monopolies and chain stores killed American towns and all the complex relations in them that furnished purpose, meaning, and livelihoods for the people in a rich ecosystem of production and services. Now it’s the monopolies and chain stores turn to decline and die off — and they will in the course of things, but it would be foolish to try to prop them up. Let them go and let the people rebuild their networks of making-and-doing locally. It’s already happening.    

The giant shopping malls that came along in the 1970s have already died, and there was no official campaign to rescue them, nor any official funeral. It just happened quietly in the background. The malls were a pure product of the combo of Boomer household formation and Happy Motoring. That’s ending now. What replaced the malls, strangely, is the new model of Garage Sale Nation. That will continue to evolve and elaborate itself, and integrate into what happens next — which will not be the A-I robot nirvana of endless leisure, but rather an era of tribulation. You can see it coming on all around you. So many things don’t work anymore. Medicine. School. The task of reorganizing them is monumental. It will generate plenty of friction and hardship.

The people also need a social role in their community: head of household, mother, mentor, public servant, caretaker, local hero. You need a place in this world to enact those roles, a location in it, at the proper scale, and it must be a place that is worthy of your affection. Too many places in the USA do not meet these requirements. They are ugly, sprawling, chaotic, and grotesque. The suburban template for development is a long-running fiasco, the anti-community, and MAGA’s psychological investment in it is, sadly, a mistake — though it is consistent with the psychology of previous investment (sunk costs).

We’ve got to fix all that and it’s another monumental task. I would argue against the idea that we should just forget about the wrecked existing towns and cities and build all-new ones out in the hard-pan somewhere. First of all, our cities and towns exist where they are because they occupy important geographical sites: rivers, harbors, a rail nexus. Secondly, the capital (money) will not be there to build these proposed sci-fi utopias in the middle of nowhere. We’ve already squandered it on color revolutions, grift, and four-star hotel rooms for Venezuelan gangs. So, forget about that. Just realize that what we’re left with — Detroit, Bangor, Memphis, Spokane, and thousands of small towns — is what we’ve got to work with, and wrap your head around making them better places.

If the Democratic Party had not gone completely insane for a decade, its many eggheads like Walter Isaacson and Michael Sandel would have been working on these major socio-economic transformations instead of punking us with drag queens, pointless wars, and Marxian punishments. I don’t know whether Mr. Trump and Company can tackle the transformations that this new pulse of history is calling for. The Elon-and-Vivek DOGE initiative is at least a good start in rescaling the way we govern ourselves. But it’s going to take a lot more than that to meet what circumstances require of us.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/18/2024 - 16:20

Bitcoin, Bullion, Black Gold, & Bonds Bid As 'Trump Trade' Builds

A slow start (volume-wise) with light macro this week dominated by heavy micro with NVDA's earnings on Wednesday after the close.

Vol markets are already pricing some notable moves - but also then the normalization into the holidays as seasonals help...

Source: Bloomberg

On the bright side from the equity bulls, Nasdaq broke its 5-day losing streak today (while The Dow ended red)...

The 'Trump Trade' continues to build momentum, holding its post-election spike gains (Republican policy basket / Democrat policy basket)...

Source: Bloomberg

Cyclicals continue to outperform Defensives post-election...

Source: Bloomberg

GLP-1 weakness continues with the group down for the 5th straight session as near-term catalysts + RFK overhang remain headwinds...

Source: Bloomberg

...pushing Goldman's MAHA-exposed basket down to multi-year lows...

Source: Bloomberg

 

In the short term - since the election - trannies are trouncing tech...

Source: Bloomberg

But longer-term, drilling down, semis are slamming planes, trains, and automobiles...

Source: Bloomberg

Treasury yields pumped and dumped AGAIN with the belly of the curve outperforming (yields were lower across the whole curve on the day). The overnight Asia session was flat but Europe saw selling which was then dominated by buying during the US session...

Source: Bloomberg

Crypto markets were volatile (as always) today  with bitcoin chopping between $89500 and $92500...

Source: Bloomberg

...but all in all holding up well on the post-election gains...

Source: Bloomberg

Side-note - DJT rumored to buy BKKT...

However, crypto continues to dominate gold post-election...

Source: Bloomberg

But the barbarous relic did surge today...

Source: Bloomberg

While WTI futures front-month soared higher today...

Source: Bloomberg

...A key oil market gauge is flashing signs of oversupply in the US, in the latest indication of a looming global glut. The so-called prompt spread — which measures the difference in price between futures for immediate delivery and those a month later — traded in negative territory for the first time since February.

Source: Bloomberg

Finally, it's not over yet if history is any precedent...

Source: Goldman Sachs

Goldman's Pete Callahan notes that during the market rotations around 2016 and 2024 elections, cyclicals sharply outperformed Defensives around the election while domestic facing stocks outperformed international facing stocks by a smaller magnitude.

Trade accordingly.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/18/2024 - 16:00

Bakkt Soars 90% On Report Trump's Socal Media Company Will Buy The Crypto Trading Venue

Donald Trump's social media company, DJT, soared 8%, amid reports that it was in advanced talks to buy Bakkt, a cryptocurrency trading venue owned by Intercontinental Exchange, as it pushes to expand beyond online conversation.

The US president-elect’s Trump Media and Technology Group, in which he has pledged to retain his 53% stake, is closing in on an all-share purchase of Bakkt, the FT reported citing two people with knowledge. The valuation under discussion was not immediately clear but Bakkt’s market capitalization stood at just over $150 million on Monday. DJT's market cap was $6 billion before the news hit.

As the FT reports, TMTG, which operates Truth Social, has become one of the most actively traded US stocks since Trump’s election victory as retail investors try to profit on its often-volatile trading moves. What is remarkable is that the company has a $6 billion market cap even though it has reported just $2.6 million in revenues; clearly the stock is extremely overvalued and gives the management a valuable currency with which to buy other companies. Which it is now doing.

A successful deal would deepen Trump’s move into the cryptocurrency market after he began promoting a new crypto venture set up by longtime business partners, World Liberty Financial, from which he stands to earn significant fees. Crypto markets have also soared following his election victory, with bitcoin up more than 30 per cent on speculation that his administration would enact favourable legislation for the industry.

Bakkt, which has also struggled for profitability since its launch, was created by ICE, and the owner of the New York Stock Exchange still holds a 55% economic interest in it. Its stock soared 47% on the news and was promptly halted.

Bakkt’s first chief executive was Kelly Loeffler, a former head of marketing at ICE and a Republican ex-senator for Georgia during Trump’s first presidency. She is co-chair of the committee organising his inauguration in January. She is also married to Jeff Sprecher, ICE’s founder, chair and chief executive.

Bakkt previously said its crypto custody business, which has a regulatory license from New York authorities, is likely to be wound down. The FT noted that it would not be included in the deal.

The crypto business had been set up to hold digital assets such as bitcoin and ether on behalf of customers but failed to gain traction and made operating losses of $27,000 from revenues of $328,000 in the three months to September 30. Bakkt is planning to build a trading platform for institutional investors. Bakkt had faced delisting from NYSE owing to its lowly share price, until it effected a 1 for 25 reverse stock-split in April. Last week its share price rose 15%; the stock soared almost 90% and was halted on the FT news, while DJT stock jumped 8%.

Truth Social remains tiny in terms of its reach, averaging 646,000 daily visits to its website this month, according to Similarweb, compared with 155mn a day for Elon Musk’s X platform. Even so, the president-elect’s stake now accounts for more than half of his $5.7bn wealth, as calculated by Bloomberg.

Separately, the WSJ reported that Trump is meeting with the CEO of Coinbase Monday, according to people familiar with the matter. The duo is expected to discuss personnel appointments for his second administration. The meeting between Trump and Brian Armstrong would mark the first time the two have met since Election Day and comes as Trump continues to fill out his cabinet and other senior posts. Trump, formerly a crypto skeptic, has turned into a vocal supporter of the industry.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/18/2024 - 15:41

Hamas Guns Down 20 Palestinians After Over 100 Aid Trucks 'Violently Looted'

Amid the ongoing humanitarian and severe food and medicine crisis in war-ravaged Gaza, a United Nations agency has confirmed a Saturday incident which saw a convoy of 109 aid trucks come under attack by desperate Palestinians. 

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has described the worst such incidnet since the 13-month-old Israeli military assault on Hamas and the Gaza Strip began. A UN official called said it "highlights the severity of access challenges of bringing aid into southern and central Gaza." The UN further said the situation in the Strip has reached a low point.

Illustrative file image: AFP

"⁠The urgency of the crisis cannot be overstated; without immediate intervention, severe food shortages are set to worsen, further endangering the lives of over two million people who depend on humanitarian aid to survive." The UN didn't identify who carried out the assault on the large convoy. 

In a new Monday development, Hamas said it has shot at Palestinians who carried out the robbery of aid trucks, resulting in 20 killed. In a highly unusual statement Hamas said it shot and killed over 20 people who it called "gang members":

The Hamas TV channel Al-Aqsa quoted Hamas interior ministry sources in Gaza as saying that over 20 gang members involved in looting aid trucks were killed during an operation carried out by Hamas security forces in coordination with tribal committees.

It said anyone caught aiding such looting would be treated with "an iron fist".

This seems an unprecedented first wherein Hamas conducts a mass slaughter of other Palestinian groups seeking to access aid. 

Details of who exactly was behind the looting remain unclear, and Hamas describing that "gang members" were behind it seems dubious or at least a surprising development. The more desperate things have gotten in the Strip, the more that violence spirals out of control.

However, the NY Times and many other outlets have described that the initial weekend theft of over 100 trucks was conducted by armed gunman, and that the truck drivers were forced to abandon their vehicles at gunpoint. 

The UNRWA, said it happened at Kerem Shalom border crossing in southern Gaza. Given the large-scale nature of the theft, those attacking the convoy were likely lying it wait, and thus the plot had some level of pre-planned organization.

Prior footage from many months ago shows the break down in security at aid stations and warehouses in the Gaza Strip:

Hamas stole the food from the people of Gaza? ✋⛔️

A new video shows Hamas warehouse full of supplies.

It seems that when the Hamas reduced the number of guards, people were able to break into them pic.twitter.com/leu99ynXyp

— Hezi Hershkovitz (@hhezi) January 30, 2024

Some large swathes of the Stip have been in a state of lawlessness since the Israeli military ground invasion began. Israeli officials have argued that this underscores the need to keep a permanent IDF military presence there.

Several top Hamas leaders have been assassinated over the past several months, and it remains unclear of the degree to which the terror group still has a governing and command structure in tact.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/18/2024 - 15:25

Jay Bhattacharya Emerges As Top Contender For NIH Chief

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

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of health policy at Stanford University, is a top contender to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the next Trump administration, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of health policy at Stanford University, at his home in California on April 17, 2021. Tal Atzmon/The Epoch Times

Bhattacharya was a key figure who spoke out against COVID-19 lockdowns and mandates during the pandemic.

The consideration, first reported by The Washington Post, comes after President-elect Donald Trump named Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the NIH.

If Bhattacharya is ultimately nominated and confirmed to lead the agency, he would be responsible for 27 institutes and centers on issues ranging from cancer and aging to drug abuse. Those include the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which was formerly chaired by Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The agency’s $48 billion budget funds medical research on cancers, vaccines, and other diseases through competitive grants to researchers at institutions across the nation. The agency also conducts its own research with thousands of scientists working at NIH labs in Bethesda, Maryland.

In October 2020, Bhattacharya was a lead author of the Great Barrington Declaration alongside Harvard University’s Martin Kulldorff and Oxford University’s Sunetra Gupta. That document, which garnered hundreds of thousands of signatures, called for an end to the COVID-19 lockdowns, which had been in effect for most of 2020.

“As infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists we have grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies,” the letter reads.

In the letter, Bhattacharya and his co-authors described the COVID-19 vaccines as merely one aspect of public health policy, which they said should also focus on immunity through natural infection because of the low risks the disease posed to the young and healthy.

Bhattacharya and his co-authors were opposed to both lockdowns and mask mandates.

In emails obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request, former NIH Director Francis Collins—who left the post in December 2021 but continued to work as a science adviser to President Joe Biden—expressed concern that the declaration was “getting a lot of attention.”

“There needs to be a quick and devastating public takedown of its premises,” the October 2020 email from Collins to Fauci reads.

Bhattacharya said during an April 2022 appearance on EpochTV’s “American Thought Leaders” that COVID-19 policy was “the biggest public health mistake in history,” citing both the direct harms it caused to the economy and the indirect harms it caused to children.

Research by the University of California–Riverside released in March 2023 found that lockdowns alone contributed to a more than 5 percent dip in U.S. gross domestic product and caused a 7.5 percent dip in consumer spending.

NIH research into the effect of COVID-19 policies on children has also found that these policies caused children to miss important opportunities for crucial early socialization in the first five years of life. Since then, the NIH has found a marked increase in developmental delays, learning disabilities, and behavioral disorders in children.

Bhattacharya told The Epoch Times that these and other costs were ignored. He blamed senior health officials for this, who he said imposed a narrative of medical unanimity on how to respond to COVID-19 that didn’t truly exist.

If Bhattacharya is chosen and confirmed, he would be subordinate to Kennedy if the latter is also confirmed. Trump’s HHS secretary pick has said he would fire about 600 NIH employees on his first day.

“We need to act fast, and we want to have those people in place on Jan. 20, so that on Jan. 21, 600 people are going to walk into offices at NIH and 600 people are going to leave,” Kennedy said on Nov. 9 at the Genius Network Annual Event in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Kennedy told The Epoch Times in September that he would order the NIH to focus on the sharp increase in autism, autoimmune diseases, and neurodevelopment disorders in recent decades.

The Associated Press and Jeff Louderback contributed to this report. 

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/18/2024 - 15:05

Five Reasons Why The 2024 Election Has Been Devastating For Leftists

The political left's whole world has been turned upside down and just like 2016, millions of people are sitting back and enjoying the show on social media with a big tub of popcorn.  However, some may have noticed that the behavior of the woke mob is even more unhinged than eight years ago.  The defeat of Hillary Clinton hit Democrats hard because polling had been so drastically weighted in Clinton's favor.  Trump's win in 2016 shook their faith in the mainstream media, election statistics and their belief that progressive ideology was the dominant force in American society.  

Their response to the loss was tears and rage.  They acted as if they had been betrayed by the system; that ever present cradle rocking them to sleep with a sense of false security.  Nanny government was no longer there to protect them from scary words and contrary ideas.  Unfortunately this led to years of false Russian collusion conspiracies and race riots. 

This year's election, though, seems to have broken progressive brains.  They aren't just lashing out, they've gone completely insane.  Liberal women have been shaving their heads in protest of men (as if men care), Kamala Harris supporters have taken to social media to scream incoherent gibberish about misogyny and racism, and many are threatening to divorce their spouses, cut off ties to their families and even kill Trump voters using poisons, guns, knives, etc.

The WORST Election Day Meltdowns – @CarolineDowney_ reacts to the worst and most extreme meltdowns from progressive TikTokers over the re-election of Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/LupSgV0dg3

— National Review (@NRO) November 13, 2024

The corporate media has been actively endorsing and encouraging this behavior.  It's a good thing their ratings are plunging and their influence continues to wane.

Yale psychiatrist tells people not to spend the holidays with their family members if they voted for Trump. pic.twitter.com/HX5gejOfDV

— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) November 9, 2024

The amped up media rhetoric might explain the hysterical fears of fascism, but there's more to it than the forked tongues of CNN and MSNBC.  Why does it seem like leftists have gone far more insane during the latest election cycle?  What's different this time?

Losing The Popular Vote

Democrats often fall back on the argument that "something is wrong" with American voting methodology when they lose an election.  They blame the electoral college because they don't understand how it works or why it's important.  Needless to say, the Founding Fathers were highly suspicious of pure Democracy and sought to prevent tyranny by the majority.  The EC helps to stop the major population centers of the nation (people that lean towards exploitation of rural producers) from ruling over all the people in the "flyover states".   

Because the protections of the 10th Amendment and state's rights have been diluted over the past century, the Electoral College is usually the only thing standing in the way of fully centralized government under the control of blue population centers holding a few million more votes more than the rest of the country. 

In 2024, though, Trump won the popular vote on top of the EC.  The Democrats have no excuses to hide behind and they can no longer claim they're the majority.  They realize the popular vote, which they hold in reverence, is against them.  The "democracy" they claim to protect did not work in their favor and now they're confused.

Desperation For A Token Female President

The establishment media initially argued that Kamala Harris lost because of her race.  But when it became clear that more black men and a large percentage of Hispanics voted against her compared to Barack Obama, the MSM shifted their narrative and blamed "misogyny" instead. 

The same people who refuse to accept the scientific definition of a woman are mad that we still don't have a woman president.  Trump has defeated Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, and this has driven third-wave feminists into a spiraling breakdown.  The problem is not that Democrats ran two women against Trump, the problem is that they ran two corrupt and reprehensible women against Trump.  The character of the individual matters far more than identity politics.  

Kamala Harris' massive loss heralds the death of the social justice crusade and feminism in general, and this is very difficult for leftists to handle.

Get Woke, Go Broke Confirmed

When asked why they voted for Trump Americans often mention the economy, but in the same breath they cite woke ideology as the reason why they no longer support the Democrats.  For years the political left built up their power using woke taboos as a basis for social control.  People don't forget.  Even when Dems tried to go more centrist towards the end of the election cycle the public wasn't buying it.

The last straw was undoubtedly the targeting of children with trans propaganda.  Voters will only tolerate drag queen story hour, sexualized dances in front of kids (or involving kids), men in women's bathrooms or tampons in boys bathrooms for so long.  The public finally snapped and sent leftists a clear message:  Your ideology is cancer and we're cutting it out.

For a long time progressives have denied that "Get Woke, Go Broke" is a reality.  Now it's undeniable.  Kamala Harris, the ultimate DEI candidate who once argued that all of America needs to "go more woke" has been rejected by the masses. 

The Fall Of The Mainstream Media

If it wasn't obvious before it's clear now; the mainstream media is done.  Their viewership is dwindling to nothing.  Certain outlets (like MSNBC) are about to be parceled out in a fire sale.  Only a tiny percentage of the population watches or listens to corporate journalists anymore.  They're about to be jobless.

The era of the Fourth Estate is over and the alternative media has won.  The political left clings to the false legitimacy of the academic elite, the end of the establishment controlled media leaves them in a whirlwind of doubt.  The "experts" have been exposed as impotent but the left refuses to move on with the rest of Americans.  Their beloved gatekeepers have been crushed.

Brainwashing And Irrational Fears Of "Fascism"

For the past four years Democrats have been drowning in a sea of anti-conservative propaganda telling them that anyone who disagrees with them is a fascist, an insurrectionist and an enemy of democracy.  The corporate media has been conjuring endless images of Nazi marches, genocidal purges and book burnings.  Even though Trump was already President for four years and none of these things happened under his direction, leftists are convinced that he intends to resurrect the Third Reich in his final term.

Nationalism by itself is not a precursor to fascism and the system has nothing to do with conservative principles.  In fact, fascism is a creation of the far-left.  Both Hitler and Mussolini held up Karl Marx as the inspiration for the development of National Socialism.  Hitler's efforts to expand control over the means of production was rooted in Marxist ideology and most industries were run behind the scenes by the fascist leadership.  They also instituted price controls, wage controls and inflated the money supply to expand their power, just as Marxists do. 

Leftists have spent decades trying to plant the association of conservatives as fascists into the collective consciousness, but as Adolph Hitler noted in 1934:

“National Socialism derives from each of the two camps the pure idea that characterizes it, national resolution from bourgeois tradition; vital, creative socialism from the teaching of Marxism.”

Socialists and communists go to war with each other all the time.  Leftists turn on each other all the time.  It's not surprising that they turned against each other during WWII, and it's not surprising that leftists today have no understanding that they have more in common with Nazis than conservatives do.  The defeat of the progressives in 2024 is forcing them to question if they're on the right side of history.  Some of them are starting to wonder if they might be the baddies, and that revelation is devastating.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/18/2024 - 14:45

The US Has Been In Recession For Years...

Authored by Daniel Lacalle,

Many commentators cannot understand why Trump won the elections despite a robust economy. The reality is far more complex. I have repeatedly stated in my articles and TV appearances on Making Money (Fox News) and CNBC’s Squawkbox Europe that the U.S. economy was significantly weaker than the official headlines suggested. I called it a “private sector recession”.

Anyone who has delved into the supposedly solid headline figures can clearly see the real weakness of the U.S. economy. An unsustainable increase in government spending and federal debt bloated the official GDP, making gross domestic income significantly weaker than headline GDP. Additionally, the Conference Board and University of Michigan consumer confidence readings, well below 2019 and 2021 levels, indicated a stagnant economy. Significant negative revisions and concerning elements were evident in the job reports. The entire improvement of the labor force since 2021 came from foreign workers, and the employment-to-population and labor force participation ratios remained significantly below 2019 levels. Real wages were stagnant in the past four years using official figures. Investment was weak, and the Russell 2000 index, which includes the top small-cap companies generating most of their business in the US, reflected an insignificant 1.8% sales growth and no real earnings growth between 2021 and November 2024.

Professors EJ Antony and Peter St Onge recently published an excellent study, “Recession Since 2022: US Economic Income and Output Have Fallen Overall for Four Years,” through the Brownstone Institute. It perfectly summarizes why Americans have not responded favorably to Bidenomics and his assessment of his economic legacy as the “best economy in the world” or “the best economy ever.” The study concludes that adjustments reflecting a more realistic measure of average price increases in the period have understated cumulative inflation by nearly half since 2019. An enormous divergence between reported CPI and adjusted inflation led to an overstatement of cumulative GDP growth by roughly 15%. Furthermore, these adjustments indicate that the American economy has been in recession since 2022.

As the authors rightly say, “Our results are consistent with the perceptions of the American public, of whom a majority believe we are in recession.”.

The study reveals that understating the CPI and GDP deflator measures of inflation has boosted GDP and real disposable income, resulting in figures that no American who pays bills and receives a wage can relate to. Once adjusted, the harsh reality arrives. The U.S. economy has been in recession for years. Interestingly, Keynesian economists spent these past two years trying to explain why the disaggregated macroeconomic figures I mentioned before did not match the strong headline GDP and disposable income. Despite their numerous justifications, the underlying issue was the government’s overstatement of the growth in disposable income and real GDP.

Americans are not stupid. You cannot tell them that the economy is marvelous and stronger than ever when they do not see it in their daily finances. Such ludicrous propaganda may work in France or Spain, but not in America. Thus, the optimism, publicity, and complacency of a government that constantly repeats that the economy is great backfires. Normal.

Governments create inflation, a hidden tax that erodes the purchasing power of the currency through increased spending and money printing. People often mistakenly report inflation and CPI as identical. CPI is just a measure of the loss of purchasing power of the currency.

Economists often criticize the CPI and GDP deflator measures of inflation for their inadequate reflection of real inflationary pressures. Indeed, there have been numerous studies that show how CPI calculation understates real inflation. “Underweighting of rising food prices and overweighting of falling transport prices are the main causes of the underestimation of inflation,” according to the IMF’s Marshall Reinsdorf (COVID-19 and the CPI: Is Inflation Underestimated?). Peter Schiff also explains it perfectly: “If you run today’s price data through the old formula, you will find that the CPI is nearly double the number the government reports. So, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 9.2% CPI in June 2021, it was closer to 18% when calculated using the 1970s formula.” Why Do You Say the Consumer Price Index (CPI) Understates Inflation?). Vahan P. Roth also comments that, “One of the most important effects that an inaccurate and possibly biased measure of inflation has on the consumer and taxpayer is that it directly influences and justifies monetary and fiscal policy decisions”

(How CPI calculations misrepresent real inflation, GIS).

Indeed, “the CPI is a government statistic, and since the government’s expansionary monetary policy creates the inflation, officials have an incentive to underestimate it” (Mark Brandly at Mises). According to Professor Joseph Salerno, author of the excellent book “Money, Sound Unsound” (Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2015), the current method of calculating the annual inflation rate is backward-looking, as the previous eleven months’ rates significantly outweigh the most recent monthly rate. In contrast, calculating the annual inflation rate by compounding and annualizing the most recent monthly or quarterly rate of change in the CPI gives a better idea of what inflation currently is and how it may be trending.” Thus, after the recent figures, no one would declare victory over inflation, and the Federal Reserve’s policy would be completely altered.

Bloated government spending has disguised a private sector recession and the real decline in real disposable income, real wages, and margins of SMEs (small and medium enterprises). We can now see that real GDP has been in contraction for the past two years, even after accounting for real inflationary pressures. Furthermore, the temporary and exogenous factor of widespread weaker commodities boosted the external contribution of gross domestic product.

The issue is that attempts to lessen the impact of currency destruction have repeatedly compromised the reliability of official data. As the government’s influence in the economy increases, technical recessions may not show up in official data, but they still affect citizens. Furthermore, deficit spending and money printing now result in both higher taxes and lower real wages in the future. Therefore, the unintended consequence of an official recession is an increase in government debt, an increase in taxes, and a decrease in the purchasing power of the currency.

Biden and Harris believed that strong official headline figures would reward them, leading them to implement an ultra-Keynesian approach: the most aggressive government expenditure and debt increase plan in decades. They also thought that citizens would fall for the trick of blaming corporations and shops for inflation. They were wrong. They engineered a recession, and families and businesses suffered as a result. However, many people mistakenly believe that Bidenomics was a miscalculation that ultimately backfired. The objective was to advance the stealth nationalization of the economy by increasing the public sector size and dissolving the wealth of the private sector, making it impossible for the next administration to undo the damage. That is what all socialist parties do. They leave a mess that is difficult to unravel, then return in the next election to continue raising taxes and expanding the role of government in the economy.

The United States should steer clear of these impoverishing Keynesian policies and instead adopt a private sector-driven pro-growth strategy, coupled with a sound money policy, to stabilize public sector finances and restore prosperity to America. It has successfully achieved this in the past and can continue to do so in the present.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/18/2024 - 14:25

Boeing Lays Off 438 Union Workers As Drastic Cuts Begin

Boeing, still grappling with financial setbacks, regulatory scrutiny, and the aftershocks of an eight-week machinists’ strike, has begun delivering layoff notices to more than 400 members of its unionized workers as part of a broader plan to cut approximately 10% of its workforce, or 17,000 jobs.

Boeing employees work on the 737 MAX on the final assembly line at Boeing's Renton plant in Renton, Wash., on June 15, 2022. Ellen M. Banner/The Seattle Times via AP, Pool

The layoffs target members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), a union representing thousands of Boeing employees. According to the union, 438 members received pink slips last week, with affected employees remaining on the payroll through mid-January.

According to an October statement by Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, the layoffs are the result of 'overstaffing,' adding that the company must "reset its workforce levels to align with our financial reality."

Of the 438 SPEEA members impacted:

• 218 are engineers and scientists from the union’s professional unit.
• 220 are from the technical unit, which includes roles such as planners, technicians, and skilled tradespeople.

SPEEA, which represents 17,000 Boeing workers, noted that most of its members are based in Washington State, though the layoffs also affect employees in Oregon, California, and Utah.

For those losing their jobs, Boeing is offering limited support, including career transition services, subsidized healthcare benefits for up to three months, and severance packages typically amounting to one week of pay per year of service.

A Company Under Pressure

Boeing’s challenges have been mounting for years, exacerbated by a series of missteps and external pressures.

Boeing, based in Arlington, Virginia, has been in financial and regulatory trouble since a panel blew off the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines plane in January. Production rates slowed to a crawl, and the Federal Aviation Administration capped production of the 737 MAX at 38 planes per month, a threshold Boeing has yet to reach. -AP

The company’s troubles worsened in September when its machinists went on strike for eight weeks, further disrupting operations. Although unionized machinists began returning to work earlier this month, the strike strained Boeing’s already fragile finances.

Ortberg has insisted that the layoffs are unrelated to the strike and are instead part of broader efforts to address overstaffing. However, the timing has raised questions among labor advocates and analysts, who point to the compounding financial pressures Boeing faces.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/18/2024 - 14:05

"Voters Did Not Reject Our Economic Policies" Says Delusional Progressive Leader

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

My hoot of the day is the disregard by Democrats of the key election message.

The lead image is from the Washington Post. That’s a free link. Enjoy!

Most of the nation’s 3,000-plus counties swung rightward compared with 2020. The Republican shift appeared across rural border communities in Texas, the wealthy suburbs of Washington, D.C., and even reliably Democratic counties in New York City.

Trump widened his margins in rural areas, while Harris underperformed compared with Biden in safely blue cities. This combination, and a rightward lurch in major suburbs and midsize metros, amounted to a Trump victory in every battleground state.

Progressive Infighting Underway

As expected in this corner, Democrats, Reeling from Election Losses, Cast Blame on Each Other.

Two weeks removed from a set of losses that sent Democratic leaders into a tailspin, the years-long ideological battle between the progressive left and centrists has once again come to a head as both sides fight to shift blame and take the reins of the future direction of the party.

“It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them,” Sanders wrote. “While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right.”

DNC Chair Jaime Harrison described that analysis as “straight up BS,” arguing that the Biden-Harris administration had brought about a slew of pro-worker reforms, including creating new jobs through major legislation, such as the Inflation Reduction Act.

For nearly a decade, progressives trying to get to the top of their party’s tickets have been stymied in favor of more centrist choices. [That is outright bullsheet. Biden promised to be a moderate and morphed into a senile, Progressive’s wet dream candidate. ]

Progressives have complained that Harris made a broad play for the political center, campaigning with billionaire Mark Cuban and former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, rather than trying to generate more enthusiasm for Harris among some left-leaning voter blocs. [Had Harris tilted further to the Left, Democrats may have lost Virginia.]

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California), who supported Sanders’s presidential bid in 2020 and campaigned for President Joe Biden and then Harris this year, and other progressive Democrats said they had no conversations with Harris about her efforts to appeal to voters who might be interested in progressive policies.

“We didn’t emphasize the economy,” Khanna said. “We didn’t emphasize the renewal of the American Dream. We didn’t emphasize manufacturing and higher wages and corporations not having excessive CEO pay. Instead, we spent a billion dollars having concerts all over America. I mean, it was ridiculous.”

A campaign official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to openly discuss strategy, said that Harris’s policy ideas about ending corporate price gouging and reducing housing costs were taken from long-standing progressive proposals. One of Harris’s final campaign stops included an appearance by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York). Meanwhile, Sanders, Khanna and other progressives were surrogates for the campaign.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, pointed to the pandemic-era relief pushed by Democrats during the Trump administration. Getting those checks during Trump’s presidency might have led some to feel they had more money then than during Biden’s term once the aid ended. [Excuse me for pointing out that 2 of the 3 checks were delivered by Biden although 2 of them passed under Trump. But it was the massive third round of stimulus, totally unwarranted, that set off the big inflation wave. The absurdly named Inflation Reduction Act piled on even more inflation].

Voters preferred the progressive policies but they didn’t realize who was behind them, Jayapal said. “I don’t think we’ve ever really articulated that,” she said. “Voters did not reject our economic policies.”

“Voters Preferred Progressive Policies”

That statement is my top hoot of the day. And it’s from a totally brain-dead Progressive clown.

And my second hoot of the day is from another Progressive clown.

“We didn’t emphasize the economy,” said Rep. Ro Khanna.

The fact is, Harris purposely avoided the economy because Biden made a total inflationary mess of it.

Mish Flashback October 15: Is the Harris Media Blitz Backfiring or Is Her Slippage Due to the Something Else?

When asked by The View what she would have done differently than Biden, Harris replied with her only believable comment “There is not a thing that comes to mind.” 

That truthful statement immediately confirmed the entire rest of her campaign was a big misinformation lie.

And now, Progressive say she should have talked more on the economy.

Mish Flashback August 24: Vote for Harris if You Want Radical Racial Indoctrination of Your Kids

What starts in California and Minnesota is guaranteed to not stay in California and Minnesota if you vote for Harris.

Q: Would Harris have changed that?
A: Hell no.

And the Progressive clowns wanted Harris to openly admit that.

Allan Lichtman Blames Elon Musk “Director of Misinformation” for Huge Democrat Loss

On November 11, I noted Allan Lichtman Blames Elon Musk “Director of Misinformation” for Huge Democrat Loss

This is my Hoot of the Day, candidate for Hoot of the Year.

This is difficult, but I will be very polite: Allan Lichtman, @AllanLichtman, is a first class politically arrogant moron.

The directors of misinformation are MSNBC, CNN, ABC, the View, CBS, Biden, Harris, the Washington Post, and alleged gurus like Lichtman.

Democrats sought to silence everyone who even slightly disagreed with any of the above.

The inimitable @AllanLichtman a.k.a. “Election Nostradamus” insists his forecasting techniques would have worked perfectly if only Elon Musk, Fox News and all other conservative media had not spread so much “disinformation.” Pure comedy gold! pic.twitter.com/O0BRiTlb5y

— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) November 14, 2024

Yes, that’s quite the hoot. But this may be a close call.

So we need a vote: Who is more delusional, Allan Lichtman, Pramila Jayapal , Ro Khanna, or AOC?

Those who have already voted, anyone care to change their vote.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/18/2024 - 11:05

Well, that was a lot more fun than I expected!

I submitted the final manuscript for my new book, How Not to Invest, last week. The final edit will involve some back-and-forth, but the writing is finished.

I recall “Bailout Nation” as more of a slog, in part because so much of it happened in real-time. I constantly rewrote entire chapters as various companies blew up. There was always this time pressure, and since it was my first book, I had little idea what I was doing other than expanding various blog posts into full-length chapters.

HNTI was a very different experience. This book was joyous to write for a few reasons:

First, it was a giant puzzle that I had to figure out how to put together. It’s not easy to distill your entire investing philosophy into a single work. What do you include? What do you leave out? How do you best bring three decades of your prior writings into the 2020s? My trick was to sneak in the investing lesson by showing some really bad outcomes—not only in finance but in many other fields. Figuring that out was, surprisingly, a lot of fun.

Second, we all put ideas out into the world and hope for the best. It was fun to revisit some prior concepts to see what has stood the test of time and then to flesh those ideas out more fully. Seeing these examples of bad behavior from a historical perspective was really eye-opening. I cherry-picked the worst outcomes because they were both instructive and amusing. (This is a target-rich area.)

Third, Morgan Housel (Psychology of Money) and Craig Pearce of Harriman House had been encouraging me to write this book for a few years, but I didn’t initially see either a useful or new & different approach. The reality is after more than a century of books instructing people how to invest, most of us remain mediocre at the task at best. My insight was avoiding all of the usual errors was a better approach than laying out all of the “How to’s.” Channeling Charley Ellis and Charlie Munger was the key to coming up with this line of attack.

I am really proud of this.

Sure, you always want another six months to massage, edit, and polish it, but at a certain point, you have to let it go.

The book will have its own website at hownottoinvestbook.com.* (You’ll be able to order the book from all of the major book retailers there.) If you want to learn more about how the book was made, any related media appearances, background, ask questions, get special bonus material, etc., you can sign up here: HNTI -at- RitholtzWealth.com

And please, pre-order a copy today!

 

 

__________

* Until that site goes live in January, the redirect will be to the posts at HNTI category at the blog: https://ritholtz.com/category/how-not-to-invest/

 

The post Coming March 18: “How Not To Invest” appeared first on The Big Picture.