Crooked Bough News Round-up

— RESTRICT Act Is Orwellian Censorship Grab Disguised As Anti-TikTok Legislation

 

at 3/29/23 4:00pm

RESTRICT Act Is Orwellian Censorship Grab Disguised As Anti-TikTok Legislation The RESTRICT Act, introduced by Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tom Thune (R-SD), is aimed at blocking or disrupting transactions and financial holdings linked to foreign adversaries that pose a risk to national security, however the language of the bill could be used to give the US government enormous power to punish free speech. Warner, a longtime opponent of free speech who, as Michael Krieger pointed out in 2018 (and confirmed in the Twitter Files) pushed for the 'weaponization' of big tech, crafted the RESTRICT act to "ake swift action against technology companies suspected of cavorting with foreign governments and spies, to effectively vanish their products from shelves and app stores when the threat they pose gets too big to ignore," according to Wired. Bad actors listed in the bill are; China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela. In reality, the RESTRICT Act has very little to do with TikTok and everything to do with controlling online content. In very specific terms a lot of U.S. websites would be impacted.  Why?  Because a lot of websites use third-party ‘plug-ins’ or ‘widgets’ or software created in foreign countries to support the content on their site.  The “Restrict Act” gives the DNI the ability to tell a website using any “foreign content” or software; that might be engaged in platform communication the U.S Government views as against their interests; to shut down or face a criminal charge.   In very direct terms, the passage of SB686 would give the Dept of Commerce, DNI and DHS the ability to shut down what you are reading right now. This is a big deal. -The Last Refuge The RESTRICT Act can also be used to punish people using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) if they're used to access banned websites, and directs the Secretary of Commerce to "identify, deter, disrupt, prevent, prohibit, investigate, or otherwise mitigate" that which is deemed a national security risk associated with technology linked to the above countries. Penalties include fines of up to $1 million or 20 years in prison, or both. So what happens if you are designated a national security threat? What can they access of yours to confirm it? Everything. Notice the preemptive attack on quantum encryption in there, too. pic.twitter.com/rXMY8v8lOI — Mises Caucus (@LPMisesCaucus) March 26, 2023 More via Reason: The language describing who the RESTRICT ACT applies to is confusing at best. The commerce secretary would be authorized to take steps to address risks posed by "any covered transaction by any person," right? So what counts as a covered transaction? The bill states that this means "a transaction in which an entity described in subparagraph (B) has any interest." Entities described in subparagraph B are a "foreign adversary; an entity subject to the jurisdiction of, or organized under the laws of, a foreign adversary; and an entity owned, directed, or controlled by" either of these. Foreign adversaries can be "any foreign government or regime" that the secretary deems a national security threat. It's a bit gobbledygooked, but this could be read to imply that "any person" using a VPN to access an app controlled by a "foreign adversary" or its alleged minions is subject to the secretary's ire. Hence anyone using a VPN to access TikTok would be in trouble—specifically, subject to up to $1 million in fines, 20 years in prison, or both. According to Warner's office, however, the provisions only apply when someone is "engaged in 'sabotage or subversion' of communications technology in the U.S., causing 'catastrophic effects' on U.S. critical infrastructure, or 'interfering in, or altering the result' of a federal election in order for criminal penalties to apply," and would target "companies like Kaspersky, Huawei and TikTok … not individual users." Except that the bill specifically says; "no person may cause or aid, abet, counsel, command, induce, procure, permit, or approve the doing of any act prohibited by, or the omission of any act required by any regulation, order, direction, mitigation measure, prohibition, or other authorization or directive issued under, this Act." So that was bullshit. Tucker Carlson had a great recent segment on this featuring Glenn Greenwald. Here are the Republicans supporting the RESTRICT Act. Sen. Thune, John [R-SD] Sen. Fischer, Deb [R-NE] Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS] Sen. Sullivan, Dan [R-AK] Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME] Sen. Romney, Mitt [R-UT] Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV] Sen. Cramer, Kevin [R-ND] Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC] Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC] And that's really all you need to know... Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 18:00

— "More Dangerous Than Ever": Experts Warn Americans Against Going To Mexico To Buy Cheap Pharmacy Drugs

 

at 3/29/23 3:40pm

"More Dangerous Than Ever": Experts Warn Americans Against Going To Mexico To Buy Cheap Pharmacy Drugs Authored by J.M. Phelps via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A recent study by the University of California (UCLA) concluded that many drugs from Mexican pharmacies are laced with fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine. U.S. tourists are often the buyers of these pills, which include counterfeit replicas of Oxycodone, Percocet, and Adderall. U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized approximately 47,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills, 186,000 blue fentanyl pills, and 6.5 pounds of meth hidden in a floor compartment of a vehicle at the Nogales port of entry on the southern border with Mexico on Sept. 3, 2022. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) The UCLA-led study reported that two out of three (68 percent) pharmacies in four cities in northern Mexico had at least one controlled substance for sale without requiring a prescription. Prescriptions were also offered in bottles or individual pills. Eleven pharmacies contain counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl, heroin, and/or methamphetamine. “Of 45 pill samples,” UCLA Health reported, “nine sold as Adderall contained methamphetamine, eight sold as Oxycodone had fentanyl, and three sold as Oxycodone contained heroin.” The Epoch Times spoke to Derek Maltz, a former head of the Special Operations Division (SOD) of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). As the study suggested, he said, “One of the reasons why Mexican pharmacies attract buyers from America is because you don’t need a prescription, and they’re inexpensive.” He further explained, “Some people think they can’t afford medicine here, and others can’t afford medical procedures.” As a result, many go to Mexico to make their drug purchases or get their procedures done at a more affordable rate. “The trend of medical tourism—Americans traveling to Mexico for medical care because it’s cheaper—is now more dangerous than ever,” he said. The UCLA study pointed out that a person could be led into thinking they’re receiving pharmaceutical-grade pills but could be receiving fake pills, Maltz said. “And this is more dangerous than I have the words to express,” he added. “What if these pills make it into the medical offices where you’re having a procedure and are seeking pain relief?” Maltz offered this warning: “You get what you pay for.” With that in mind, he said, “Rather than going to Mexico for inexpensive drugs or medical procedures, it would be smarter to spend a little extra money on this side of the border. “Now, more than ever, dealing with a Mexican pharmacy is a terrible decision because it could kill you.” Fentanyl is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin. Deadly Doses Jaime Puerta, president of the advocacy group Victims of Illicit Drugs, is alarmed by the growing number of deaths attributed to fentanyl. Up to 67 percent of drug overdoses or drug poisonings of over 100,000 people can involve synthetic opioids like fentanyl. He then told The Epoch Times about losing his 16-year-old son, Daniel, to fentanyl in 2020. While he agreed with Maltz, he also added that “a lot of kids are going down to Mexico for spring break, and while they are down there, they could visit the local pharmacy to buy what they think is the Mexican equivalent to a drug they’re familiar with, but they could actually be buying a poison.” While they could be trying to self-medicate a psychological issue or even a physical injury, Puerta said, “It’s not a gamble any kid should be taking.” Adding to the comment about psychological issues, Maltz said, “There’s a growing trend of depression and anxiety, especially in younger kids.” This is one of many reasons teens could be “turning to pills to relieve some of the stress and anxiety they’re feeling,” he said. “And before you know it, they’re addicted to the meds they’re choosing to take.” These can include Adderall, Xanax, Oxycontin, Percocet, and other opioids or pain medications. Coconuts filled with fentanyl seized by Mexican authorities in Puerto Libertad, Mexico, on Dec. 1, 2022, in a still from a video. (Prosecutor General’s Office of Mexico via AP/Screenshot via The Epoch Times) “There’s a great demand for these pills because kids want to feel better,” Maltz said. “But what they don’t know is that many of these kinds of pills that are being made in Mexico are illicitly made in clandestine labs,” he said. “A never-ending amount of these pills are being made with deadly fentanyl, so these kids who purchase them are essentially being deceived to death. Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 17:40

— Zelensky Invites China's Xi To Visit Ukraine As US Rebuffs 'Alternate' Peace Plan

 

at 3/29/23 3:20pm

Zelensky Invites China's Xi To Visit Ukraine As US Rebuffs 'Alternate' Peace Plan Coming on the heels of Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow where he met with Vladimir Putin last week, Ukraine's Zelensky has formally invited the Chinese leader to visit Ukraine soon, according to his remarks in a newly published Associated Press interview. "We are ready to see him here," Zelensky said. "I want to speak with him. I had contact with him before full-scale war. But during all this year, more than one year, I didn’t have." Zelensky initially expressed openness in comments earlier this month given in reaction to Beijing's 12-point peace plan: "I think some of the Chinese proposals respect international law, and I think we can work on it with China," he said at the time. Just before Xi had arrived in Moscow on March 20, The Wall Street Journal had cited sources as saying there would be a phone call between Xi and Zelensky, but that doesn't appear to have ever materialized. Zelensky has since invited China to sign on to a 'Ukraine formula' for peace, which wouldn't be conditioned on any territorial concessions. Zelensky has vowed to never concede an inch, but has since shown some degree of doubt over how his forces are faring in the battlefield, particularly in Bakhmut. Zelensky described that the capture of Bakhmut will mean that Putin will smell weakness. According to the Ukrainian leader's words this week: Speaking with The Associated Press, Zelenskyy said that if Bakhmut were to fall, Putin could "sell this victory to the West, to his society, to China, to Iran," as leverage to push for a ceasefire deal that would see Ukraine agree to give up territory. This, alongside the potential for Xi and Zelensky to hold direct talks, is worrying the Biden administration, with Ukrainian officials in the meantime seeking to 'assure' Washington of Kiev's steadfastness, as Newsweek in a Wednesday report lays out:  The top diplomats of Ukraine and the United States on Tuesday jointly cautioned against giving any weight to alternate peace plans that seek a cease-fire without the full withdrawal of invading Russian forces, in a subtle rebuff of a recent proposal by China. "Ill-advised concessions to the aggressor would only encourage Russia to intensify its attacks on democracy, giving it time to rebuild its military capabilities and resume the armed offensive against Ukraine," Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's foreign minister, said at a virtual forum hosted by the U.S. State Department. Publicly, Kyiv and Moscow have been cautiously receptive to China's 12-point position paper, which reaffirms the "territorial integrity of all countries" without directly mentioning Ukraine, references "legitimate security interests" in deference to Russia, and calls for a quick end to hostilities on the ground. But if Russian forces do achieve a definitive victory in Bakhmut any time soon, this could tip the scales in favor of Ukraine taking the Chinese peace plan more seriously. As for Zelensky's invitation for Xi to visit, on Wednesday Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said she has no information on whether an invitation had been received by Beijing, or whether the Chinese president would accept it. Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 17:20

— "Global Permission Slip For Every Neocon Fantasy": Gaetz Intros Bill To Withdraw From Somalia

 

at 3/29/23 3:00pm

"Global Permission Slip For Every Neocon Fantasy": Gaetz Intros Bill To Withdraw From Somalia Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com, On Tuesday, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) introduced a War Powers Resolution that would direct President Biden to remove armed forces from Somalia that is cosponsored by Reps. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL). The resolution would mandate the removal of all US armed forces from Somalia, with the exception of embassy security, within 365 days of the bill being adopted. The resolution is privileged, meaning the House will have to vote on the measure within 18 legislative days. Bloomberg via Getty Images The introduction comes after Gaetz grilled Gen. Michael Langley, the head of US Africa Command (AFRICOM), about the pattern of the US military training African coup leaders. "The American people have extremely low confidence in our military leaders and their ability to assess their own efficacy. How do they expect Americans to believe their justification for occupying Somalia when they can’t even determine who in their own training programs will lead a violent coup afterwards?" Gaetz said in a statement. Earlier this month, the House voted down a Syria War Powers Resolution that was introduced by Gaetz. "When the House debated my resolution to withdraw troops from Syria, both Republicans and Democrats argued the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) against Afghanistan serves as a global permission slip for every neocon fantasy. They will argue the same for Somalia," Gaetz said. The 2001 AUMF, which was passed in the wake of the September 11 attacks for the invasion of Afghanistan, is used today to justify the US war against al-Shabaab, a group that didn’t exist when the authorization first became law. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced an amendment in the Senate to repeal the 2001 AUMF last week, but it failed in a vote of 9-86. The US war against al-Shabaab in Somalia has escalated since President Biden ordered the deployment of up to 500 troops to the country in May 2022. The Biden administration recently vowed that it would increase support for the Mogadishu-based government. The Congressional War Machine continues to throw American troops into dangerous situations for unclear gain. I am going to make the warmongers in both parties defend this practice vote by vote. My next War Powers Resolution? Somalia. pic.twitter.com/MvqCp9Om3G — Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) March 28, 2023 The US-backed government launched a major offensive against al-Shabaab last year, leading to more US airstrikes, although AFRICOM has not reported any strikes in the month of March. The last airstrike in Somalia that AFRICOM reported took place on February 21. The US military portrays al-Shabaab as a major threat due to its size and affiliation with al-Qaeda, but it’s widely believed the group doesn’t have ambitions outside of Somalia. Al-Shabaab was born out of a US-backed Ethiopian invasion of Somalia that was launched in 2006, and the group didn’t declare loyalty to al-Qaeda until 2012, after years of fighting the US and its proxies. Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 17:00

— Denmark Recovers, Identifies Mystery Object Found Next To Nord Stream 2 Pipeline

 

at 3/29/23 2:40pm

Denmark Recovers, Identifies Mystery Object Found Next To Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Denmark has announced the recovery of a 'mystery' object spotted by underwater cameras which was lying next to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Russia's Vladimir Putin had called it suspicious and said it must be retrieved and investigated as possible evidence linked to the sabotage bombing.  The Danish Energy Agency said Wednesday that the object was a "smoke buoy". It was found at a depth of 73 meters, according to the agency, and "representative of the owner, Nord Stream 2 AG, was present during the salvage." Nord Stream 2 pipeline being laid in prior years. Upon the retrieval, the object is no longer deemed suspicious. "Investigations indicate that the object is an empty maritime smoke buoy, which is used for visual marking," the energy agency said in the statement, and emphasized, "the object does not pose a safety risk." Russian state media also noted the successful recovery of the object, quoting Danish officials, and did not repeat any further accusations centered on the object. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov last week said "It is critically important to determine what kind of object it is, whether it is related to this terrorist act - apparently it is - and to continue this investigation. And this investigation must be transparent." This after President Putin asserted that it could be a signal antenna to activate an explosive in that part of the pipeline while calling for an investigation in cooperation with Russia's Nord Stream 2 AG. Additionally, an underwater photo put out last Thursday by the Danish energy agency drove further speculation as to what the odd-looking object could be. Photo of the mystery object, now said to be a maritime smoke buoy. Moscow this week mounted a failed attempt to get the UN Security Council to approve the opening of a formal independent investigation into who was behind the sabotage attacks last September. Monday's Russian-drafted text was only approved by Russia, China, and Brazil - while the remainder 12 council members abstained. It would need nine 'yes' votes to pass. Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 16:40

— Zelensky Admits Fear Of Waning Support In US: "If They Stop Helping Us, We Will Not Win"

 

at 3/29/23 2:35pm

Zelensky Admits Fear Of Waning Support In US: "If They Stop Helping Us, We Will Not Win" President Volodymyr Zelensky is deeply concerned over 'Ukraine fatigue' taking over the West, and especially among the populace of his government's biggest supporter, funder, and weapons supplier - the United States. "The United States really understands that if they stop helping us, we will not win," he told the AP in a fresh interview published Wednesday. Waning support has been especially noticeable among Republican voters, according to recent polls, and as we recently reviewed in an article, "The Trump, DeSantis, Tucker Effect: New Polls Show Republicans Increasingly Done With Ukraine." Ukranian Presidential Press Service via Reuters He issued the words specifically in reference to the still raging battle for the strategic city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. Russian forces have it nearly surrounded, even as Kiev has continued to throw additional manpower and weaponry into the city's defense at a huge cost and amid mounting casualties. Zelensky described that the capture of Bakhmut will mean that Putin will smell weakness. According to the Ukrainian leader's words: Speaking with The Associated Press, Zelenskyy said that if Bakhmut were to fall, Putin could "sell this victory to the West, to his society, to China, to Iran," as leverage to push for a ceasefire deal that would see Ukraine agree to give up territory. "If he will feel some blood — smell that we are weak — he will push, push, push," Zelensky continued. "Our society will feel tired" if the Russians gain victory in Bakhmut, he said. "Our society will push me to have compromise with them." Implicit in these words are perhaps a first-time admission that significant sectors of the Ukrainian population are ready for compromise and peaceful negotiations to end the war. And tellingly, CBS commentary on the AP interview included the following observation: "He appeared acutely aware of the risk that his country could see its vital support from the U.S. and Europe start to slip away as the 13-month war grinds on." Zelensky: "The loss of Bakhmut would mean a political defeat, could lead to a general defeat in conflict." If Bakhmut fell to Russian forces, their president, Vladimir Putin, would “sell this victory to the West, to his society, to China, to Iran,” Zelensky said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press. #StandWithUkraine https://t.co/mAj6Y3wy4z pic.twitter.com/BW99uvD5aJ — Dénes Törteli ?????? (@DenesTorteli) March 29, 2023 The bleak assessment comes the same week that Ukraine received 18 German Leopard II tanks at its border, and they are presumably being rushed to the front lines. About 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles were also delivered. Meanwhile, Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin described on Wednesday that his forces and their equipment have been "badly damaged" in the campaign to take Bakhmut. But the admission of a very tough fight was accompanied by his pointing out that Ukraine's forces have suffered worse. "The battle for Bakhmut today has already practically destroyed the Ukrainian army, and unfortunately, it has also badly damaged the Wagner Private Military Company," he said in an audio message, as reported in Reuters. There are currently widespread reports that Russian forces now hold at least 65% of the city, and have it surrounded from most sides. Some analysts have estimated that more is controlled by pro-Kremlin forces, and Wagner has once again taken a lead role, just as it did in nearby Soledar. Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 16:35

— It Has To Stop!

 

at 3/29/23 2:20pm

It Has To Stop! Authored by James Howard Kunstler via DailyReckoning.com, The current madness has to stop. And it will stop because, as the old wag Herb Stein laid down in his law years ago: Things that can’t go on, stop. Which raises the question: Which things? And the answer is the things Western Civ is doing in its attempted suicide: inciting war, recklessly running up debt, persecuting its own citizens and stealing their liberties, subjecting them to medical malfeasance, destroying their goods production and food-growing capabilities and subjecting the public to incessant harrassment in a campaign to falsify and disfigure reality. Things like that. A consortium of public and corporate bureaucracies has institutionalized the falsification of reality under the pretense of saving the human race from a pack of hobgoblins led by climate change denial, racism, Putin-worship and normal sexual reproduction. They’ve been driven insane by the actual reality of pending economic collapse, which has only been accelerated by their own suicidal activities. What they apparently really want to save are their own positions, perquisite and power. Their enabling mechanism is the digital computer and its many ways of assembling and controlling information, and thus controlling people, especially those who object to totalizing control. They do it because they can. Truth Became Misinformation You can see how bad it got by reading the Twitter Files No. 19, assembled by independent reporter Matt Taibbi and released on March 17: The Great COVID-19 Lie Machine, Stanford, the Virality Project and the Censorship of “True Stories.” The thread tells of the campaign led by Stanford University called the Virality Project, marshaling government agencies, academia, Big Pharma and NGOs, such as several financed by George Soros, to suppress “misinformation” on social media, including “stories of true vaccine side effects.” Hence, truth became misinformation. You might see in that how anyone on the side of falsifying reality is playing at a disadvantage. If that is your first principle in a political struggle, you are fighting not just against your opponents but against the laws of the universe. The only recourse of a faction at war with reality is tyranny, forcing the people to accept your BS and do your will, whether they like it or not. That is exactly what you get in America’s ruling class and other regimes currently in power around Western Civ. Being at war with reality places them at war against their own citizens. Ulterior Motives? The COVID-19 release seems to have been an act motivated by multiple players for their own reasons, which, combined, amounted to crimes against humanity. Anthony Fauci, America’s infectious disease czar, apparently sought a crowning career triumph, which would have been a successful vaccine against a dangerous virus. So could he have arranged to engineer the organism that he could then triumph against? I’m not claiming he did, I’m just throwing the question out there. But like all of Dr. Fauci’s projects over the roughly 40 years that he ran the NIAID agency, the mRNA vaccines — subcontracted to the U.S. military and manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna — turned out to be an epic fiasco. COVID-19 also happened to be a convenient device for ridding the government of the troublesome President Trump, who threatened to disassemble major parts of the permanent U.S. bureaucracy. If you revisit the many videos of Mr. Trump appearing in the White House COVID crisis room in early 2020 with Dr. Fauci, Dr. Deborah Birx and other public health officials, I’m sure you will notice his discomfort, as if he suspected he was being played (he was). And conveniently, right after that, the locked-down public’s attention was galvanized by the George Floyd, BLM and Antifa riots until the 2020 election was upon us. (Another grotesque prank against the people, never adjudicated.) Meanwhile, it took more than a year after the “vaccines” came out for the disturbing actuarial data to emerge from the life insurance industry that many non-elderly people were being killed and disabled by the shots’ adverse effects. (I think the censors were caught by surprise that the truth leaked out from there). Any able investigator could understand how the “vaccines,” along with the denigration of off-label early-treatment medicines, the reckless use of dangerous remdesivir combined with enormous government payments to hospitals for mistreating patients with it, the gaming and hiding of CDC statistics and the obvious censorship of all that information in the corporate news and social media (with help from the CIA and FBI) all added up to a monstrous criminal offense against human decency. Whose Bright Idea Was This? The government, now led by “Joe Biden,” needed another distraction from intrusive reality in 2022 — including the emergence of the Biden family’s possible crimes — so it arranged to start a war in Ukraine by threatening to turn that country into a forward NATO base on Russia’s border. Russia was exceptionally clear and straightforward that it wouldn’t accept such an arrangement and the U.S. proceeded anyway. Our country was exceptionally dishonest in its positioning for this conflict. (And our NATO allies were astoundingly credulous going along with it, even after we fatally damaged the EU’s economy.) Our lunatic project for using Ukraine to destabilize Russia was an enterprise so feckless it could have only been conceived by the dead-of-brain. Our geniuses of foreign affairs screwed the pooch on this one. It’s almost too obvious that they never cared about the people of that sore-beset land. Notice they do not even use the word “peace” in any of their confabulations about what’s going on there, because it is the opposite of what they seek, which is… chaos unending. Thus, others will end this vainglorious project for us — namely, our antagonist there, Russia — and quite possibly the regime of “Joe Biden.” For the second time in its mortifying two years-plus of rule, it will be left holding in its collective hand another humiliation for our overreaching imperial soldiery — and the deluded empty suits commanding it. Will they be able to pretend this time, as they did in Afghanistan, 2021, that there’s nothing to see here, folks? Just a blizzard of press releases declaring “mission accomplished” or some such other craven BS? I don’t think so. Bye-Bye, Joey? The reaction may be enough to bum-rush “Joe Biden” and company out of office. His grotesque family rackets (including the Ukraine grifts) will finally and magically come to the public’s attention, and that’ll be all she wrote for “JB”— except for the historians waking from their own long catatonic spells to record the disaster they will swear they couldn’t see coming. Or maybe I’m being too hard on him. I don’t know. Now, entering the spring of 2023, all of this sordid untruth is unraveling along with something else that the news media will have trouble lying about: the collapse of the money system in Western Civ. Unlike COVID-19 and the Ukraine war, a banking collapse has no propaganda value to the regimes in power. There is no narrative they can concoct out of it to their advantage. The public will do what they always do to a government that plunges them into penury and hardship. They will turn it out or pull it down. Since money and banking are subject to the laws of physics, we are going to get the ultimate payback for messing with reality. A lot of things that can’t go on will stop. Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 16:20

— Bonds "Quiet, Too Quiet" As Big-Tech Soars Into New Bull Market

 

at 3/29/23 2:01pm

Bonds "Quiet, Too Quiet" As Big-Tech Soars Into New Bull Market The last 'calm' day before GDP and PCE saw bond yields uncomfortably quiet ("too f**king quiet" as one rates vol trader MSG'd us), and more squeeziness in stocks (S&P above 50DMA and Nasdaq soaring) ahead of the month-/quarter-end flow-show. Big banks took a small hit late in the day on a headline that FDIC is "mulling squeezing the big banks to plug its $32 billion hole" but shrugged that off pretty quickly to end a strong day... Regional banks opened exuberantly once again and were sold off once again at the cash open, back into the red. They stabilized then dropped on FDIC headlines only to recover and end modestly green... Mega-cap tech reasserted itself today, with Nasdaq soaring 2% today. The Dow and Small Caps lagged (but were still up 1% on the day... This is Nasdaq's first close above 20% off the December lows - a new bull market? The S&P 500 is back above pre-SVB levels... but Office REITs remain in pain... Source: Bloomberg Semis were on fire today after Intel said new server ships will come sooner than expected, and Micron jumped on upgrades due to "supply discipline" Source: Bloomberg The massive divergence between the Nasdaq and the A/D line confirms this rampage higher is all in the 'safe-haven' mega-cap tech names... Source: Bloomberg And tech is now trading almost as rich as it has ever traded to the overall market... Source: Bloomberg The S&P 500 broke above its 50DMA... We do note that 0DTE traders stormed in to the short-side as the S&P traded back below its 50DMA around 1340ET, but that did nto work out for them and their covering helped lift stocks in the last hour... Source: SpotGamma Treasuries had a second 'calm' day in a row (after the raft of IG/HY issuance earlier in the week). Across the entire curve, yields were basically unchanged today... Source: Bloomberg Notably there is some divergence in positioning in bond-land with aggregate TSY futures specs still near record short (thouhg we do note the last couple of weeks have seen a notable cover)... Source: Bloomberg But, as Bloomberg notes, short interest as a percentage of shares outstanding in the $33 billion iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) fell near record lows (least short)... Source: Bloomberg "Long-duration bonds are coming back as that shock absorber and it helps that the starting yield is a lot higher than it was a year ago,” Gene Tannuzzo, global head of fixed income at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “That’s why you’re not seeing the incredible short interest in long-maturity Treasuries as you were earlier in the year.” The dollar was also practically unchanged on the day (after some buying in the Asia session gave way in Europe)... Source: Bloomberg Bitcoin surged back above $28,500 today... Source: Bloomberg Ethereum topped $1800... Source: Bloomberg After a week-long bounce, crude prices slipped despite a large inventory draw, with WTI dropping back to a $72 handle... US (front month) NatGas prices tumbled back to a $1 handle today again... Which left Nattie at its cheapest to crude in 9 years (a level that historically led to switching efforts)... Source: Bloomberg Gold managed to hold modest gains (despite dollar's small gains), testing $1990 intraday... Finally, off-topic a little, but US unemployment is now worse than Russian unemployment... Source: Bloomberg That's awkward for the sanctions-pushers. And then there's this - the S&P is back at pre-SVB Failure levels while Gold and Bonds (safe havens) remain far away from that level of risk appetite... Source: Bloomberg Will GDP and PCE break that spell? Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 16:01

— Watch: Ted Cruz Eviscerates DHS Secretary For Still Refusing To Admit There Is A Border Crisis

 

at 3/29/23 1:45pm

Watch: Ted Cruz Eviscerates DHS Secretary For Still Refusing To Admit There Is A Border Crisis Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News, During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, Senator Ted Cruz grilled Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and described his refusal to answer questions on the border crisis as “disgraceful.” Cruz asked Mayorkas if he thinks there is currently a crisis at the border, with Mayorkas only responding that there is “a very significant challenge” and refusing to answer with a “yes” or “no.” Cruz noted that Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz has repeatedly testified that there is a crisis, and asked Mayorkas to “speak with the same clarity.”  “That’s how someone answers a question and does their job,” Cruz asserted, adding “You’re being a politician, misleading the American people.” The Senator went on to describe how migrant deaths, child assaults and rapes have risen significantly since Mayorkas took office “The men and women of the Border Patrol, they’ve never had a political leader undermine them,” Cruz declared, telling Mayorkas that he should resign. “They despise you, Mr. Secretary, because you’re willing to let children be raped to follow political orders. This is a crisis, it’s disgrace, and you won’t even admit this human tragedy is a crisis,” Cruz blasted. Mayorkas called Cruz’s comments “revolting,” prompting Cruz to respond, “Your refusal to do your job is revolting.” Watch: Elsewhere during the hearing, Senator Josh Hawley slammed Mayorkas for assisting with and incentivising illegal entry into the U.S., noting that “It’s like a concierge service for illegal immigrants.” “Rather than building a wall, Mr. Secretary, you have built Ticketmaster for illegal immigrants,” Hawley proclaimed. Watch: Related: CBP Data: 16 Terrorists On FBI Watchlist Crossed Southern Border In February Alone //-- //-- //-- Video: Border Patrol Chief Testifies Border Is Not Secure, Wall Needed //-- //-- //-- Videos: Massive Group Of 1000 Illegals Attempts To Smash Through El Paso Border Barriers //-- //-- //-- Report: Red Cross Provides Illegals With Maps And Tips About How To Cross Border Into U.S. //-- //-- //-- Pictured: Biden Admin Hands Out Nonsensical ‘Black Resistance’ Flyers To BORDER PATROL Agents //-- //-- //-- *  *  * Brand new merch now available! Get it at https://www.pjwshop.com/ In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch. We need you to sign up for our free newsletter here. Support our sponsor – Turbo Force – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown. Also, we urgently need your financial support here. Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 15:45

— FDIC Weighs Squeezing Big Banks To Plug $23 Billion Hole From Small Bank Failure Costs

 

at 3/29/23 1:24pm

FDIC Weighs Squeezing Big Banks To Plug $23 Billion Hole From Small Bank Failure Costs Yesterday, we explained that the reason why the stock price of First-Citizens Bank & Trust exploded on Monday after the FDIC revealed that it would "acquire" much of the now failed Silicon Valley Bank, is because in exchange for paying $500 million to the FDIC, the Raleigh, N.C. bank would not only get $16.5 billion in clean assets, but would also get a taxpayer backstop for future losses to boot. But while the transaction was immediately accretive to First-Citizens shareholders (not to mention the billionaire dynasty of controlling shareholders) which doubled its market cap moments after the news hit... ... the question is who would end up footing the bill. The logical answer, of course, is "US taxpayers"... unless of course the FDIC found someone else to front the massive costs that have emerged as a result of the ongoing bank failures. Well, moments ago Bloomberg reported that the FDIC may have found someone to "volunteer" and pick up most of the tab: that someone are the very same large, megabanks that have directly benefited from the ongoing crisis of confidence shaking their small, regional peers. According to Bloomberg, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, which is facing almost $23 billion in costs from recent bank failures, is "considering steering a larger-than-usual portion of that burden to the nation’s biggest banks." The agency has said it plans to propose a so-called special assessment on the industry in May to shore up a $128 billion deposit insurance fund that’s set to take major hits after the recent collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, and whose purpose is to "insure" the roughly $10 trillion in guaranteed deposits (those under $250,000) yet which is a small fraction of that total amount. The regulator — under political pressure to spare small banks now that politicians and the Fed have decimated small banks with both their actions and inactivity — has noted it has latitude in how it sets those fees. Behind the scenes, Bloomberg reports, officials are looking to limit the strain on community lenders by shifting an outsize portion of the expense toward much larger institutions, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. That would add to what already may be multibillion-dollar tabs apiece for the likes of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Talks for setting the size and timing of the assessment are in early stages. Leaning heavily on big banks is seen as the most politically palatable solution, some of the people said, asking not to be named describing private deliberations. To be sure, the contentious question of how to spread the cost of SVB’s and Signature’s failures is already a hot topic in Washington, where lawmakers have pressed FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over who will shoulder the burden — especially after an unusual decision to backstop all of those banks’ deposits while refusing to backstop all uninsured deposits across other banks, thus keeping the bank run dormant. The extraordinary measure saved legions of tech startups and wealthy customers whose balances far exceeded the FDIC’s typical $250,000 limit on coverage, and sparked a backlash against VC "billionaire bros" who were the latest beneficiaries of depositor bailouts. “I’m concerned that Arkansans will have to subsidize Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Banks deposits, and maybe others that come forward,” Republican Senator John Boozman told Yellen at a hearing last week. “Will the community banks get charged that special assessment?” She assured him the FDIC has leeway in deciding which banks will pay. “We’re going to be keenly sensitive to the impact,” Gruenberg added at a hearing on Wednesday, when asked about the strain on community banks. “We have the discretion to tailor that assessment to the institutions that most directly benefited.” And just as we explained in "Too-Big-To-Fail Banks Flooded With Deposits As Bank Run Drains Small Bank Of Cash", with the big banks benefiting "the most directly" from the regional bank crisis, it makes sense that they end up paying, and that the special assessment will be reserved for the Jamie Dimons of the world. What kind of damage do the big banks have to look forward to? Well, as Bloomberg calculates "leaning on big banks can add up fast" - when the FDIC set out to raise $5.5 billion with a special assessment in 2009, JPMorgan said the surcharge extracted $675 million from its second-quarter earnings. Of course, the impact from SVB and Signature could easily go far beyond that; after all the implicit gift to First Citizens is at least $16 billion. Sure enough, the agency estimated Sunday that SVB’s failure will cost $20 billion, on top of the $2.5 billion bite it expects from Signature. It is unclear is how quickly the FDIC wants to collect the assessment. Recently, some large banks have also faced pressure to shore up the balance sheet of another troubled lender, First Republic Bank. For now, regulators are giving that bank more time to reach a deal to bolster its balance sheet, people with knowledge of the situation said late last week. FRC traded up 7% late on Wednesday. The news initially hit the KBW Bank ETF, but as traders assessed the broader implications of the report, they may concluded that more capital from the big banks to offset the pain caused by small banks may end up boosting confidence in the broader banking sector, and with some 40 minutes to go until he close, the KBWB ETF rose to session highs amid fresh optimism that the acute phase of the bank crisis is now in the rearview mirror. Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 15:24

— FDIC Weighs Squeezing Big Banks To Plug $23 BIllion Hole From Small Bank Failure Costs

 

at 3/29/23 1:24pm

FDIC Weighs Squeezing Big Banks To Plug $23 BIllion Hole From Small Bank Failure Costs Yesterday, we explained that the reason why the stock price of First-Citizens Bank & Trust exploded on Monday after the FDIC revealed that it would "acquire" much of the now failed Silicon Valley Bank, is because in exchange for paying $500 million to the FDIC, the Raleigh, N.C. bank  would get $16.5 billion in clean assets, and would also get a taxpayer backstop for future losses to boot. But while the transaction was immediately accretive to First-Citizens, which doubled its market cap moments after the news hit... ... the question is who would end up footing the bill. The logical answer, of course, is "US taxpayers"... unless of course the FDIC found someone else to front the massive costs that have emerged as a result of the ongoing bank failures. Well, moments ago Bloomberg reported that the FDIC may have found someone to "volunteer" and pick up most of the tab: that someone are the very same large, megabanks that have directly benefited from the ongoing crisis of confidence shaking their small, regional peers. According to Bloomberg, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, which is facing almost $23 billion in costs from recent bank failures, is "considering steering a larger-than-usual portion of that burden to the nation’s biggest banks." The agency has said it plans to propose a so-called special assessment on the industry in May to shore up a $128 billion deposit insurance fund that’s set to take major hits after the recent collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, and whose purpose is to "insure" the roughly $10 trillion in guaranteed deposits (those under $250,000) yet which is a small fraction of that total amount. The regulator — under political pressure to spare small banks now that politicians and the Fed have decimated small banks with both their actions and inactivity — has noted it has latitude in how it sets those fees. Behind the scenes, Bloomberg reports, officials are looking to limit the strain on community lenders by shifting an outsize portion of the expense toward much larger institutions, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. That would add to what already may be multibillion-dollar tabs apiece for the likes of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Talks for setting the size and timing of the assessment are in early stages. Leaning heavily on big banks is seen as the most politically palatable solution, some of the people said, asking not to be named describing private deliberations. To be sure, the contentious question of how to spread the cost of SVB’s and Signature’s failures is already a hot topic in Washington, where lawmakers have pressed FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over who will shoulder the burden — especially after an unusual decision to backstop all of those banks’ deposits while refusing to backstop all uninsured deposits across other banks, thus keeping the bank run dormant. The extraordinary measure saved legions of tech startups and wealthy customers whose balances far exceeded the FDIC’s typical $250,000 limit on coverage, and sparked a backlash against VC "billionaire bros" who were the latest beneficiaries of depositor bailouts. The news initially hit the KBW Bank ETF, but as traders assessed the broader implications of the report, they may concluded that more capital from the big banks to offset the pain caused by small banks may end up boosting confidence in the broader banking sector, and with some 40 minutes to go until he close, the KBWB ETF rose to session highs amid fresh optimism that the acute phase of the bank crisis is now in the rearview mirror.     Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 15:24

— The Implausibility Of A Net Zero Carbon Energy Future Is Now Obvious

 

at 3/29/23 12:45pm

The Implausibility Of A Net Zero Carbon Energy Future Is Now Obvious Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com, Germany has hit a brick wall on clean energy, postponing a ban on internal-combustion automobile engines. Let's start there... EU Drafts Plan to Allow E-Fuel Combustion Engine Cars Reuters reports EU Drafts Plan to Allow E-Fuel Combustion Engine Cars The European Commission has drafted a plan to allow sales of new cars with internal combustion engines after 2035 if they run only on climate neutral e-fuels, as it tries to resolve a spat with Germany over moves to phase out combustion engine cars. The draft proposal, seen by Reuters on Tuesday, suggests creating a new type of vehicle category in the European Union for cars that can only run on carbon neutral fuels. Such vehicles would have to use technology that would prevent them from driving if other fuels are used, the draft said. The proposal could offer a route for carmakers to keep selling combustion engine vehicles after 2035, the date when a planned EU law is set to ban the sale of new CO2-emitting cars. Preposterous E-Fuel Assumptions Eurointelligence comments on E-Fuel Assumptions.  ARD German TV reports on a study by the Potsdam institute for climate impact research, which reveals the utter lack of reality in the German debate about e-fuels. Even in the best-case scenario, Germany will struggle to get enough e-fuels to meet its indispensable demand, from shipping, air transport and the chemical industry. These will all still require liquid hydrocarbons as their energy source. In other words, there won't be anything left for cars. The whole FDP debate about the exemption for e-fuelled power cars after 2035 is a smoke screen. The politics of this is that the FDP is trying to arrest its political decline by appealing to rural voters, who are dependent on the motorcar for transport. A recent poll in Germany has shown that around two thirds of the population opposes the end of the fuel-driven car. E-fuels are based on the extraction of hydrogen from water through a process called electrolysis. In a second stage the hydrogen then combines with carbon dioxide to produce hydrocarbons. The idea is to use green energy for the production of e-fuels, for use by ships and airplanes. The same goes for parts of the chemical industry. Together, they account for 40% of Germany's total demand for liquid hydrocarbons. The institute's simulation assumes the relatively optimistic assumption that air transport stays at current levels. A far more likely scenario is that there won't be enough e-fuels around even to satisfy the indispensable demand. So far, only 60 production facilities are currently in the pipeline worldwide. Of those, only a small fraction are funded. Even if they all get funded, they will only produce a tiny fraction of what Germany itself demands. The idea that there is enough left for cars is completely unrealistic. What this is telling us, beyond the petty FDP politics, is that the Germans are fighting tooth and nail to squeeze the last hydrocarbons into their cars, rather than focus on next generation technologies. All for the sake of a couple of percentage points in the polls. It is the classic losers' strategy. Europe Backtracks on Its Gas-Car Ban The WSJ reports Europe Backtracks on Its Gas-Car Ban The implausibility of a net-zero carbon energy future is becoming so obvious that even Europeans are starting to notice. Witness the weekend decision to step back from the ban on internal-combustion automobile engines that the European Union had intended to implement by 2035. The eurocrats in Brussels had formulated the ban as part of their plan to reach net-zero carbon-dioxide emissions by 2050. But what regulators imagine would replace conventional engines remains a mystery. Battery technologies don’t exist to replace fossil fuels in driving distance or ease of refueling, and no one can say if or when such batteries will materialize.  Electric vehicles also require rare-earth minerals often sourced from dirty mines in China. They’re only as green and affordable as the electricity used to charge them. In Europe that means coal-fired power for which consumers pay a huge price owing to the costs of forcing intermittent renewables such as wind and solar into the grid. Resistance from Berlin and several other European governments has forced Brussels into all but abandoning its engine ban. Consumers will be allowed to buy internal-combustion autos as long as those cars can run on synthetic fuels, which are fuels made from captured carbon or renewable energy. Brussels still seems to hope that these cars will run only on such “e-fuels” by that deadline. But doubts about the technological feasibility of that pledge may explain why environmental groups were aghast at the weekend decision. No Country is Prepared Electric cars are coming, like it or not. No one anywhere is prepared for it.  Germany is scheming preposterous e-fuel ways to make it appear to work. Eurointelligence picks up on that point but misses the broad picture. One cannot set a date and force it to happen if the science does not match. In the US, Biden is forcing electric vehicles whether the infrastructure is ready or not. And it's obvious the infrastructure is not ready and likely won't be ready. Nonetheless, California, Oregon and Washington state still have internal-combustion-engines bans slated for for 2035.  A Big Green Mess in Germany With Coal a Stunning 31 Percent of Electricity Meanwhile, please note A Big Green Mess in Germany With Coal a Stunning 31 Percent of Electricity Germany managed to avoid a harsh winter from the reduced supply of natural gas from Russia.  It did so by ramping up the use of coal. Ironically, the Greens backed this policy. Hoot of the Day In reference to California, Oregon and Washington, the WSJ conclusion is my hoot of the day: "You know your state capital has taken a wrong turn when your lawmakers would do well to learn a lesson from Brussels." And in case you missed it, please note Biden's Energy Policy Mandates Cause Severe Shortage of Electrical Steel and Transformers *  *  * Please Subscribe to MishTalk Email Alerts. Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 14:45

— No, Social Media Had Nothing To Do With SVB's Implosion

 

at 3/29/23 12:25pm

No, Social Media Had Nothing To Do With SVB's Implosion An odd narrative which emerged following the dramatic collapse of Silicon Valley Bank was that it was the "first Twitter-fueled bank run," with notables such as Peter Thiel and Bill Ackman taking the blame for influencing businesses to withdraw funds from the bank. Also promoting this absurd narrative (without a clue about the underlying causes of the collapse, such as failure to hedge against interest-rate risk) was the 'woman-owned and operated' Alethea Group, which circulated a dossier of sorts accusing ZeroHedge and others of potentially contributing "to increased online panic about SVB." Interestingly, Alethea - run by a former staffer for Sen. Angus King - cropped up in 2019, and last November received $10 million from Ballistic Ventures, whose general partner is Ted Schlein. Ted "provides counsel to the U.S. intelligence community, serves on the Board of Trustees at InQTel, and was recently named as a board member of the CISA Cybersecurity Advisory Committee." Is this the same Alethea whose board member Ted Schlein "provides counsel to the US intelligence community" and serves on the Board of CIA's Venture Capital firm InQTel?https://t.co/JbmnsW3F9jhttps://t.co/DVUip7QEWs https://t.co/hW1qUH4IK1 — zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 17, 2023 Connecting the dots... What did we learn recently from the latest "Twitter Files" from Matt Taibbi? Last June, the advisory board recommended that CISA [on whose board Schlein sits] should work with and provide support to external partners “who identify emergent informational threats,” and find ways to mitigate “false and misleading narratives.” Last June, the advisory board recommended that CISA should work with and provide support to external partners “who identify emergent informational threats,” and find ways to mitigate “false and misleading narratives.” …The group worried about how to “strategically approach MDM… — Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) March 24, 2023 So, the US Government is farming out 'misinformation' research, and a CISA board member doled out $10 million to Alethea as part of that effort. Bloomberg, (which excluded ZeroHedge from their report referencing the Alethea dossier after we told them what bullshit it is), now reports that "SVB's demise swirled on private VC founder networks before hitting Twitter." "It wasn’t phone calls; it wasn’t social media," said one Silicon Valley startup founder who wishes to remain anonymous. "It was private chat rooms and message groups." By the time most people figured out that a bank run was a possibility on Thursday, March 9, it was already well underway. -Bloomberg A WhatsApp text exchange in the chaotic hours leading up to SVB’s failure. Source: Avinash Raghava According to the report; Gunjit Singh, the San Francisco-based co-founder of Electric Sheep Robotics, first heard chatter about Silicon Valley Bank’s financial straits in January via WhatsApp messages. Initially he dismissed it. His company, which makes robotic lawn mowers, had a line of credit and most of its cash with the bank, but the worry at that point was mostly theoretical. “There are rumors about everything,” he said. The rumors, of course, turned out to be true. Silicon Valley Bank had liquidity issues thanks to the combination of rising interest rates and a large portfolio of long-term, low-interest assets. When it moved to shore up its financial position in early March, many people started taking the risks more seriously.  It was Wednesday, March 8, the day before the company’s stock tumbled 60%, when Alfred Chuang became aware of worries over Silicon Valley Bank’s health, mostly via email and phone calls. Chuang, an investor at VC firm Race Capital, said chief executive officers of public companies began warning him about the bank that evening. “I knew it meant one thing: They were withdrawing money,” Chuang said. Race Capital “exited out of SVB in record time.” The rest of the Bloomberg report, available to BBG subscribers, lays out what happened in painstaking detail. But the bottom line is this; This was not a "Twitter-fueled bank run," and those accusing ZeroHedge or other financial media outlets of contributing to it for accurately reporting on what was going on can go pound sand. You mean Zero Hedge wrote 20 articles about a bank that was the biggest bank failure since Lehman? Clearly only Putin can be behind this https://t.co/bNhN5nCGDB — zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 17, 2023 Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 14:25

— Ohio River Disaster As Barge Hauling 1,400 Tons Of Methanol Smashes Into Dam

 

at 3/29/23 12:20pm

Ohio River Disaster As Barge Hauling 1,400 Tons Of Methanol Smashes Into Dam Three large barges, one carrying 1,400 tons of methanol, were wedged against a dam and partially submerged, on the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky, following their detachment from a tugboat.  The Louisville Metropolitan Emergency Services  said the navigation accident occurred early Tuesday morning when three barges -- part of a group of ten -- broke free from a tugboat after hitting a structure at the entrance to the Portland Canal near the river's McAlpine Locks and Dam.  Videos from Tuesday evening show the three barges pinned against the bridge ?#BREAKING: Multiple Emergency Response Teams has been Deployed to Address Submerged Barge Carrying 1,400 Tons of Toxic Methanol in the Ohio River ?#Louisville | #Kentucky ⁰A major incident has taken place in the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky, requiring multiple… pic.twitter.com/swXQD8c5Zk — R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) March 29, 2023 Louisville | Barge containing 1,400 tons of methanol, loose on the Ohio Riverpic.twitter.com/tMf6YQMB1r — Ｎｅｒｄｙ ?????? (@Nerdy_Addict) March 29, 2023 The barge carrying 1,400 tons of methanol is partially submerged at McAlpine Dam. Emergency Response Team (ERT) at a barge incident on the Ohio River in Lville. 10 of 11 barges are loose from the tug. One carrying 1400 tons of methanol partially submerged at McAlpine Dam. Nearest water intake is in Henderson. @USCG @kyfishwildlife @ORSANCOchannel pic.twitter.com/qyWJZkTYGg — Kentucky EEC (@KentuckyEEC) March 28, 2023 Coast Guard spokesperson Chris Davis told NBC News that state and federal agencies are trying to remove barges. Downriver traffic has been halted.  "We had shut down traffic.  "There's going to be salvage operations, and it's going to be dangerous," Davis said. As of now, Louisville Water Co. has reported the incident has not triggered an environmental disaster, and the city's drinking water remains unaffected. "Your water is safe to drink," the water agency said in a Facebook post. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that methanol is highly toxic to both humans and wildlife. This chemical, classified under the category of "toxic alcohols," is commonly found in antifreeze, carburetor cleaner, and windshield washer fluids. ... and this incident comes on the heels of the toxic water release from the train derailment in East Palestine, which flowed down the Ohio River, prompting water agencies to take preventive measures to safeguard drinking water for millions of people.  Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 14:20

— Peter Schiff: Bank Regulations Aren't The Solution; They Are The Problem

 

at 3/29/23 12:05pm

Peter Schiff: Bank Regulations Aren't The Solution; They Are The Problem Via SchiffGold.com, In the aftermath of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, everybody is trying to figure out what happened, who’s to blame, and what can be done to prevent it from happening again. One of the most popular “solutions” is more bank regulations. But in his podcast, Peter Schiff explained why regulations are the problem, not the solution. During a congressional hearing on the bank failures, a common refrain from Democrats was that it was caused by “deregulation.” Deregulation! Deregulation! Deregulation! Like the D in the regulation is the problem. The D is not the part that’s the problem. It’s the regulation that is the problem, and deregulation, to the extent that we actually had any, didn’t cause the problem. If we had any deregulation the problem is we didn’t deregulate enough.” Politicians would have us believe that if we just had more bureaucrats overseeing banks, there wouldn’t be anything to worry about. They think that some politically connected people they appoint to a government job will somehow be so smart that they can figure out the problems and protect everybody. They’re not. Chances are the regulators are dumber than the people that they’re regulating. Because, if the regulators were smarter, they wouldn’t be regulators. They could make a lot more money in the private sector.” The best and the brightest aren’t the regulators. And competency isn’t generally the most important criterion in government hiring. Also, the government sector has very little accountability. Nobody cares. If you screw up in government, nobody loses any money.  I mean, the public loses money. But the politicians don’t care about that. So, you’re never going to have the most competent people in government. That’s why you want the free market to regulate banks, as well as everything else.” People often claim that advocates of the free market don’t want any regulation. But Peter said that’s not true. In fact, the free market is another way of regulating behavior and conduct. You can have the government regulate, or you can have the market do it. When the market does it, it works a lot better than when the government does it. In fact, when the government basically usurps the job that would be better done by the market, they short-circuit the market safeguards. They basically prevent the markets from doing their job and regulating, and they substitute the judgment of these incompetent bureaucrats.” So, how can the market regulate banks? The same way the market regulates everything — competition and individual self-interest.” In a truly free market, people wouldn’t just put their money in a bank without doing some homework. That’s your hard-earned life savings. You’re not just going to throw it into any old bank. You’re going to do some research. And even if you’re not competent to do the research yourself, you’re going to make damn sure somebody else did the research, and you’re going to follow their lead and subscribe to that service.” Meanwhile, banks would know this. They would value their reputation for safety and soundness. Bankers would be rewarded for sound, prudent stewardship of deposits. I’m going to succeed as a banker by nurturing my reputation for sound, prudent banking. So, in a free market, the banks that are the most sound, the most prudent, take the fewest risks are going to be the ones that succeed because they’re going to gather the most deposits, and those riskier banks, well, they’re not going to make it. That’s the free market.” But in a government market, the FDIC ensures all of the deposits. After the collapse of SVB and Signature Bank, the government made it clear that the insurance limits now go to infinity. The result? Who cares where you put your money? No bank is safer than any other bank. No matter what they do, no matter what hair-brained scheme they concoct, your money is safe.” In effect, the government has eliminated competition based on safety and soundness. Bankers are no longer rewarded for playing it safe. He’s not going to get any more customers by avoiding risk than he will by assuming risk because the government has taken that out of the equation. So, that is why there is so much risk. That is why the banks are so insolvent.” The government has replaced free market regulation that would rein in risky behavior with government regulation that encourages risky behavior. Of course, this system empowers government people. That’s why they don’t want a free market. They want to be able to appoint people of their choosing to “oversee” everything. This gives them power. They don’t want a level playing field. They get power by tilting that playing field.” In this podcast, Peter goes on to talk about a very interesting point that came out during the congressional hearing regarding bank “stress tests.” Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 14:05

— Trump Grand Jury To Take One Month Break, Former Attorney Claims "I Think I Got Through To Them"

 

at 3/29/23 11:49am

Trump Grand Jury To Take One Month Break, Former Attorney Claims "I Think I Got Through To Them" After so much media hype (including Trump himself) about the imminent arrest of the former President, it appears things are not going so well for the "we got him this time" crowd as the New York grand jury hearing evidence in the hush money probe is not scheduled to meet about the case until late April. AI mock up of Trump's arrest Politico reports, according to a person familiar with the proceedings, the break would push any indictment of the former president to late April at the earliest. Politico claims this is due to a "previously scheduled hiatus", but that seems an odd admission now - why wouldn't that have been brought up when the world was praying for the perp-walk of the former president? Interestingly, as The Epoch Times' Jack Phillips reports, this month-long delays comes as an attorney in former President Donald Trump’s orbit who testified in front of a Manhattan grand jury earlier this month believes that there has been a shift in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against the 45th president. “Well, I think I got through to them, because [Monday] I understand they called back another witness by the name of David Pecker, who used to run the National Enquirer,” Costello, a former Michael Cohen attorney, told Newsmax on Tuesday. “Basically, what they’re doing is really gerrymandering this,” he said of Bragg’s probe into Trump. Costello said he had represented Cohen, himself a former Trump lawyer, and told reporters last week that he does not believe Cohen is a credible witness against Trump. Trump had predicted he would be arrested last week. After that did not come to fruition, the former president repeatedly attacked Bragg, and earlier on Wednesday, Trump said he had “gained such respect” for the grand jury. Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 13:49

— AZ Governor's Press Secretary Resigns Amid Outrage After Calling For Violence Against 'Transphobes'

 

at 3/29/23 11:25am

AZ Governor's Press Secretary Resigns Amid Outrage After Calling For Violence Against 'Transphobes' Update (1325ET): Josselyn Berry, Governor Hobbs' Press Secretary, has resigned after responding to the Nashville school shooting with a tweet that appeared to advocate violence against "transphobes." BREAKING: Josselyn Berry, the Press Secretary to Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, has resigned after posting this image on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/M9zUz84gbd — Ben Kew ?️‍♂️ (@ben_kew) March 29, 2023 *  *  * As Paul Joseph Watson of Summit News detailed earlier, there was widespread outrage after Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’ press secretary responded to the school shooting in Nashville by posting a tweet that appeared to advocate violence against “transphobes”. A transgender-identified individual killed three children and three adults after a rampage at The Covenant School, a private Christian school for students aged three to 11, on Monday. Hobbs’ spokeswoman Josselyn Berry responded to the carnage by posting an image from the 1980 movie Gloria showing a woman brandishing two handguns. The image was captioned with the text “Us when we see transphobes.” This is Governor Katie Hobbs's press secretary, Josselyn Berry, advocating for violence against those who oppose the radical Trans agenda. pic.twitter.com/5dH7aCmi8U — Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 29, 2023 The sickening nature of the response to children being murdered has understandably caused massive outrage, with many calling for Berry to be immediately fired. “This is what @katiehobbs press secretary decided to tweet after a trans militant shut up a school. Any Republican would be fired for this in an instant. We’re done with the double standard. @joss_berry must be fired,” asserted commentator Matt Walsh. This is the contact information for the governor’s office. I’ll be giving it out again tomorrow on my show. And the next day. And the day after. We are going to start holding these people to the same standard and the same rules. pic.twitter.com/VEqxaWAvmj — Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 29, 2023 “This is the contact information for the governor’s office. I’ll be giving it out again tomorrow on my show. And the next day. And the day after. We are going to start holding these people to the same standard and the same rules,” he added. The Arizona Freedom Caucus has also called for Berry’s immediate dismissal. “Less than 12 hours after the tragic shooting in Nashville by a deranged transgender activist [Hobbs’] Press Secretary calls for shooting people Democrats disagree with,” the group tweeted. For all who are wondering… The vile tweet encouraging violence is still live on @GovernorHobbs Press Secretary’s Twitter account https://t.co/tq22p1cQCW — Arizona Freedom Caucus (@AZFreedomCaucus) March 29, 2023 “Calling for violence like this is un-American & never acceptable. [Berry] should be fired immediately,” the GOP group added, before noting that the “vile tweet encouraging violence” had been seen by millions. The New York Post contacted Hobbs’ office, which has yet to respond. Twitter appeared to take no action against Berry’s account, which is now on lockdown. Many were reminded of the infamous Sam Hyde quote. "When we win, do not forget that these people want you broke, dead, your kids raped and brainwashed, and they think it's funny" - Sam Hyde pic.twitter.com/NgnURq4oKB — ScooterPhy (@ScooterPhy) March 28, 2023 *  *  * Brand new merch now available! Get it at https://www.pjwshop.com/ ALERT! In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch. I need you to sign up for my free newsletter here. Support my sponsor – Turbo Force – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown. Get early access, exclusive content and behind the scenes stuff by following me on Locals. Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 13:25

— Mediocre 7Year Auction Tails For The 5th Time In The Past 6 Months

 

at 3/29/23 11:16am

Mediocre 7Year Auction Tails For The 5th Time In The Past 6 Months After a dismal 2Y auction and a solid 5Y, moments ago the Treasury concluded the week's coupon issuance when it sold $35BN in 7 paper in a passable auction. The high yield of 3.626% was down sharply from the 4.062% in February if above January's 3.517%; it also tailed the When Issued 3.615% by 1.1 basis points; this was the 5th tailing 7Y auction in the past 6. The bid to cover of 2.394 was the lowest since November and was on the lower end of the range from the past year; it was certainly below the six-auction average of 2.49. The internals were likewise mediocre at best, with Indirects awarded 63.2%, down from 65.5% last month and below the 66.4% recent average; and with Directs awarded 21.4%, the highest since October, Dealers were left holding on to 15.4% of the auction, modestly above the recent average of 14.0%. Overall, this was a passable, if mediocre auction, which however considering the bone-crushing rates volatility in the past two weeks, the fact that it wasn't even worse is probably a victory.   Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 13:16

— Jefferies Sends A Warning To The Big Banks As Profit Plunges

 

at 3/29/23 11:04am

Jefferies Sends A Warning To The Big Banks As Profit Plunges By now everyone knows that small banks - which have little to no capital markets exposure and are almost entirely reliant on NIM and debt transformations courtesy of their balance sheets in many cases with catastrophic results - are hanging by a thread and all it takes is one (alleged) tweet for deposits to be drained from bank XYZ, sending the bank into the waiting arms of the FDIC within hours, while Jamie Dimon will be delighted to collected the deposits. But while the large banks (and money markets) have been clear beneficiaries of the deposit flight, a question ahead of earnings season which starts in two weeks with JPMorgan, is how are they doing on their non-interest income which for most banks amounts to roughly half of their total revenue. The answer, courtesy of mid-tier investment bank Jefferies which after the financial crisis remains perhaps the only one with an "off" fiscal year end  (not Dec 31, but Nov 30) reported earnings last night one month ahead of the group, and in the process sent a flashing red alert for anyone expecting strong bank earnings this quarter. That's because the bank reported profit for fiscal Q1 which plunged as a bump in equities and fixed income trading failed to offset a slump in investment banking. Investment banking revenue dropped about 42% to $568 million in the period ended Feb. 28, the New York-based firm said late Tuesday in a statement. That fell well short of the $616.5 million average estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Meanwhile, sales and trading revenue grew 33% $639.4 million. Total revenue of $1.283BN dropped 24% Y/Y while EPS of 54c plunged 56% from the $1.23 a year ago. The silver lining: while the bank was hit by the freeze in underwriting and advisory, it benefited from the turmoil in the secondary market, and fixed-income was a growth engine for Jefferies, posting a 63% gain to $330.7 million amid continued volatility across markets caused by economic uncertainty and rising interest rates. Revenue from equities trading also grew 11% from a year earlier to $308.7 million. Of note: the surge in market vol stemming from Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse happened outside Jefferies’ fiscal first quarter, but it will be captured in the Q1 period for most other banks that have a conventional March 31 quarter end. “Despite the significant decline in M&A activity and a continued lull in the IPO and leveraged finance markets, our investment banking business continues to build on our momentum and growing market position,” Chief Executive Officer Richard Handler and President Brian Friedman said in the statement. Capital markets will reopen, though probably not until the third or fourth quarter, Handler said after results were announced. “We saw capital formation early in the year, then the music just stopped. It won’t be a turn of the switch,” he said. Handler said he sees pent-up demand for mergers and acquisitions, but interest rates will determine whether deals return (spoiler alert: higher rates aren't helping). The recent banking crisis will cause even more complications for the Federal Reserve, he said. To address the broader decline in revenue, the company's non-interest expenses fell to $1.125 billion from $1.3 billion a year ago. Costs have been a focus for investors with persistent inflation putting pressure on spending and wage growth across the globe. As Bloomberg notes, Jefferies’ results offer an early snapshot of how Wall Street’s biggest banks may fare as they report earnings for the first three months of 2023. Investment banking revenue plummeted last year, after corporate dealmaking and sales of new securities waned during 2022’s market swings. The shares gained less that 1% Tuesday in regular New York trading to $30.20, and have declined about 8% this year. Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 13:04

— Musk, Wozniak Call For Pause In Developing 'More Powerful' AI Than GPT-4

 

at 3/29/23 11:01am

Musk, Wozniak Call For Pause In Developing 'More Powerful' AI Than GPT-4 Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio and others have signed an open letter calling for a six-month pause in developing new AI tools more powerful than GPT-4, the technology released earlier this month by Microsoft-backed startup OpenAI, the Wall Street Journal reports. Contemporary AI systems are now becoming human-competitive at general tasks, and we must ask ourselves: Should we let machines flood our information channels with propaganda and untruth? Should we automate away all the jobs, including the fulfilling ones? Should we develop nonhuman minds that might eventually outnumber, outsmart, obsolete and replace us? Should we risk loss of control of our civilization? Such decisions must not be delegated to unelected tech leaders. Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable. -futureoflife.org "We’ve reached the point where these systems are smart enough that they can be used in ways that are dangerous for society," said Bengio, director of the University of Montreal’s Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms, adding "And we don't yet understand." Their concerns were laid out in a letter titled "Pause Giant AI Experiments: An Open Letter," which was spearheaded by the Future of Life Institute - a nonprofit advised by Musk. The letter doesn’t call for all AI development to halt, but urges companies to temporarily stop training systems more powerful than GPT-4, the technology released this month by Microsoft Corp.-backed startup OpenAI. That includes the next generation of OpenAI’s technology, GPT-5.  OpenAI officials say they haven’t started training GPT-5. In an interview, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company has long given priority to safety in development and spent more than six months doing safety tests on GPT-4 before its launch. -WSJ "In some sense, this is preaching to the choir," said Altman. "We have, I think, been talking about these issues the loudest, with the most intensity, for the longest." Goldman, meanwhile, says that up to 300 million jobs could be replaced with AI, as "two thirds of occupations could be partially automated by AI." So-called generative AI creates original content based on human prompts - a technology which has already been implemented in Microsoft's Bing search engine and other tools. Soon after, Google deployed a rival called Bard. Other companies, including Adobe, Salesforce and Zoom have all introduced advanced AI tools. "A race starts today," said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in comments last month. "We’re going to move, and move fast." One of the letter's organizers, Max Tegmark who heads up the Future of Life Institute and is a physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, calls it a "suicide race." "It is unfortunate to frame this as an arms race," he said. "It is more of a suicide race. It doesn’t matter who is going to get there first. It just means that humanity as a whole could lose control of its own destiny." The Future of Life Institute started working on the letter last week and initially allowed anybody to sign without identity verification. At one point, Mr. Altman’s name was added to the letter, but later removed. Mr. Altman said he never signed the letter. He said the company frequently coordinates with other AI companies on safety standards and to discuss broader concerns.  “There is work that we don’t do because we don’t think we yet know how to make it sufficiently safe,” he said. “So yeah, I think there are ways that you can slow down on multiple axes and that’s important. And it is part of our strategy.” -WSJ Musk - an early founder and financial backer of OpenAI, and Wozniak, have been outspoken about the dangers of AI for a while. "There are serious AI risk issues," he tweeted. Meta's chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun, didn't sign the open letter because he says he disagrees with its premise (without elaborating). Of course, some are already speculating that the signatories may have ulterior motives. Read this as “a moratorium of six months or more would give me time to copy and/or build something similar and not be left sidelined” https://t.co/MsO0PwkJON — alpha raccoon (@thealpharaccoon) March 29, 2023 Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 13:01

— De-Dollarization Just Got Real

 

at 3/29/23 10:45am

De-Dollarization Just Got Real Authored by John Rubino via Substack, A multi-polar world is bad news for the American Empire but great news for gold... Since the 1970s it’s been virtually impossible for a country to function without access to US dollars. And Washington maintained this highly-favorable status quo by putting various kinds of pressure — from sanctions to election theft to outright invasion — on anyone who stepped out of line. This weaponization of the world’s reserve currency has, not surprisingly, created resentment in a lot of foreign capitals. And after a long gestation period, that resentment is now erupting into a rebellion against dollar hegemony. Among the big recent events: The BRICS coalition has become the hottest ticket in geopolitics. Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (the BRICS) have been toying with the idea of forming a political/monetary counterweight to U.S. dominance since 2001. But beyond some aggressive gold buying by Russia and China, there was more talk than action. Then the floodgates opened. Whether due to the pandemic’s supply chain disruptions, heavy-handed sanctions imposed by US-led NATO during the Russia-Ukraine war, or just the fact that de-dollarization was an idea whose time had finally come, the BRICS alliance has suddenly become the hottest ticket in town. In just the past year, Argentina, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mexico, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Egypt have either applied to join or expressed an interest in doing so. And new bilateral trade deals that bypass the dollar are being discussed all over the place. Combine the land mass, population, and natural resources of the BRICS countries with those of the potential new members and the result is more or less half the world. And now things are getting real: China brokers a peace deal between Saudia Arabie and Iran, two bitter historical enemies who want to join the BRICS alliance but can’t if they’re in an undeclared war. Should they stop competing and start cooperating they could dominate the Middle East and raise China’s clout in the region, at the petrodollar’s expense. An example of the press coverage: Eurasia’s geo-economic integration took a great leap forward as a result of the Iranian–Saudi rapprochement, which unlocks the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) trade potential with Russia and China. Its wealthy members can now tap into two series of Iranian-transiting megaprojects in one fell swoop through this deal, with the North-South Transport Corridor (NSTC) connecting them to Russia while the China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor (CCAWAEC) will do the same vis-à-vis China... …Only two weeks after Saudi Arabia announced an effort to establish diplomatic ties to Iran in a deal mediated by China, more news surfaced that Saudi Arabia was also planning to reopen its embassy in Syria for the first time in over a decade.  Rumors are swirling that Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria are on the verge of geopolitical and economic agreements that sidestep the US.  Russia and India agree to trade oil for rupees. Russia is now India’s largest oil supplier, with 35% of that massive, growing country’s imports. The U.S. is not happy about this — but India doesn’t seem to care. From a recent article: Even the US itself seems to have finally accepted that it can’t reverse this trend, which is evidenced by former Indian Ambassador to Russia Kanwal Sibal recently telling TASS that “Lately, the discourse from Washington has changed and India is no longer being asked to stop buying oil from Russia. In a recent visit to India, the US Treasury Secretary actually said that India can buy discounted oil from Russia as much as it wants so long as western tankers and insurance companies are not used.” African leaders travel to Moscow. Representatives of 40 African nations traveled to Rissia for the Second International Parliamentary Conference “Russia – Africa in a Multipolar World.” According to the press release, the attendees: … discussed the potential for collaboration across a range of sectors, their contribution to the African continent’s economy and security, and their work in the realms of science and education, politics, and techno-military area. During the conference, the African continent was invited to work together to form a new multipolar world order. This is especially important given the significant human resources of Africa, which is home to more than 1.5 billion people and has enormous mineral reserves in its soil. Brazil and Argentina announce a common currency. In February, the two dominant Latin American economies announced plans for a common currency called the “sur” for use in bilateral trade. South America is a big, resource-rich place with numerous grudges against its intrusive northern neighbor. So a de-dollarization movement there, while not as immediately consequential as what’s happening in the Middle East or Asia, is both plausible and potentially serious for the dollar. Lower Dollar, Higher Gold Even in an emerging multi-polar world, there’s no obvious replacement for the deep, liquid US capital markets. So the dollar won’t disappear from global trade. However: If the BRICS have the commodities and the US and its allies are left with finance, pricing power for crucial things like oil and gold will shift to Russia, China, and the Middle East. Falling demand for dollar-denominated bonds as reserve assets will send trillions of dollars now outside the US back home, raising domestic prices (which is to say lowering the dollar’s purchasing power and exchange rate). The loss of its weaponized reserve currency will lessen the US’ ability to impose its will on the rest of the world (witness China as Middle-East peacemaker and India buying Russian oil with rupees). To sum up, tomorrow’s world is multi-polar, and for the US and its allies, inflationary. That means a commodities bull market — at least in dollar terms — and extreme financial instability as the US Empire is forced to live within its means. It won’t be pretty but for gold bugs and commodity bulls, it might be extremely profitable. I’ll leave you with this: First CNN does a segment on de-dollarization, now Fox News also. What is going on here? ?pic.twitter.com/uBocFnLIMJ — Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) March 27, 2023 Tyler Durden Wed, 03/29/2023 - 12:45

As of 3/29/23 5:10pm. Last new 3/29/23 5:10pm.