Philly Police Seek Biker Who Stomped Out Back Window Of Sedan Where Two Innocent Children Sat Philadelphia Police are seeking help from the community trying to find a motorcyclist who jumped through the back window of a vehicle on Sunday night while two innocent children sat in the back seat.  On Monday morning a video started making its way around social media showing a gang of motorcycle and quad riders in Philadelphia swarming a vehicle stopped in traffic outside of City Hall in Center City, Philadelphia.  The video -- captured by a tourist sitting atop of a double decker bus -- shows a motorcycle rider stop alongside a sedan before jumping on the back of the vehicle and busting out its back window. While jumping, the perpetrator's gun fell from his pants. The female driver got out of the vehicle to confront the biker, who then headbutted her with his helmet.  Almost all of the vehicles in question did not have license plates, though several did but were affixed with tape to hide their plate numbers.  Fox 29's Steve Keeley, who is one of the only journalists in the city with the courage to confront the crime epidemic the city is undergoing (and who has been villainized for it), reported: "9pm last night, George Colony from Florida watched helplessly as a male on motorcycle kicked in back windshield where two kids sitting." Keeley also posted video of the incident: WATCH as a tourist aboard top level of a Philadelphia double decker sightseeing bus records on the street next to Philadelphia City Hall. 9pm last night, George Colony from Florida watched helplessly as a male on motorcycle kicked in back windshield where two kids sitting. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/YzCQunfgs1 — Steve Keeley (@KeeleyFox29) October 2, 2023 "He had a gun that fell out of his waistband as he jumped down off her car. He then headbutted her with the visor of his helmet, as she fights back despite him being armed & she being way outnumbered," Keeley wrote.  He wrote that the woman is an Uber Eats driver who brings her kids with her because a babysitter is "too costly". He noted that Philadelphia Police are seeking information on the motorcycle rider: Now, @PhillyPolice are now looking for the armed motorcyclist who attacked working woman with her two kids in her car. They have enhanced stills from George Coloney’s video. Maybe parents or someone else recognize his helmet or his shirt or his bike & call in tips on turn him in. pic.twitter.com/coOFGtWs3N — Steve Keeley (@KeeleyFox29) October 2, 2023 Recall, Philadelphia just underwent mass looting last week that resulted in stores closing. Not unlike the crowd on Sunday, last week a crowd of 100 young people looted retail shops.  Police Commissioner John Stanford said the teens began looting stores around 2200 ET, which sparked a massive police presence across Walnut Street between 15th and 18th streets.  "What we had tonight was a bunch of criminal opportunists take advantage of a situation and make an attempt to destroy our city," Stanford told reporters last week. He said, "It's not going to be tolerated."  We reported earlier this month that Philadelphia's police commissioner, Danielle Outlaw - who has overseen years of surging crime, property destruction and violent attacks in the Northeast city - has had enough and was stepping down.  After overseeing a massive crime wave in Philadelphia, Mayor Jim Kenney praised her work in the city, focusing not on the merits of her work (of which there are few), but her "reform" of "racism and gender discrimination", stating: "Commissioner Outlaw has worked relentlessly for three and a half years during an unprecedented era in our city and a number of crisis situations, and she deserves praise for her commitment to bring long-overdue reform to the Department after years of racism and gender discrimination prior to her appointment."  It doesn't seem like any left leaning public officials are actually interested in their jobs in Philadelphia - perhaps, rather, just collecting their pensions. Recall in 2022 we wrote when Mayor Kenney said he was "looking forward to the time he will no longer lead the city". The below suspect is wanted in connection to an aggravated assault and vandalism that occurred on 10/01/23 at 1400 S. Penn Sq. at appx 8:45PM. If you have information about this suspect, please call or text 215-686-TIPS(8477). You can remain anonymous. pic.twitter.com/BQT6fdYVwr — Philadelphia Police Department (@PhillyPolice) October 2, 2023 Tyler Durden Mon, 10/02/2023 - 23:20.....»»

Escobar: Nagorno-Karabakh Is No More Authored by Pepe Escobar, Why would the current administration in Yerevan ever care for a few lost souls in Artsakh? In the end, Nagorno-Karabakh – or the Artsakh Republic – is no more. It will cease to exist on 1 January 2024 – also the first day of the Russian presidency of BRICS 11. All autonomous state structures will be dissolved – according to a decree signed by the head of the Republic, Samvel Shahramanyan. The population – roughly 147,000, 99% of them Armenian Christians – has a choice that’s not really a choice: “familiarize themselves with the conditions of reintegration presented by the Republic of Azerbaijan” and stay, or leave to Armenia for good. Predictably, the exodus is on: an interminable serpent of vehicles congesting the mountain roads of a beautiful landscape where generations of Armenians lived for centuries. As of Thursday night, over 70,000 Armenians had left towards the Syunik region. The Azeri government in Baku sent police/security forces to Stepanakert. Former Foreign Minister Ruben Vardanyan, an oligarch, was detained by Azeri security while trying to leave for Armenia, mingling with refugees. He had renounced Russian citizenship last year when he moved to work in Artsakh. He’ll probably be freed. Others won’t be so lucky. Everyone leaving is being exhaustively searched. Baku has warned that every Artsakh notable – political and military – will be captured. This is how it sadly ends: the story of how a bunch of crooks – Team Pashinyan in Yerevan – profited personally from a geopolitical pretext. Armenian PM Pashinyan announced that in a few days he’ll consider there are no more Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Translation: those that decided to stay will be considered to be Azerbaijanis. Yet for Baku, Armenians from Artsakh will always remain Armenians – and thus an object of suspicion. It’s all about the Zangezur corridor Armenian priests are starting to ask for people power to come up with regime change in Yerevan to save the nation. It’s clear that Syunik will be the next Armenian territory to fall – considering both Azerbaijan and Turkey have their eyes on its strategic position. If Baku takes Syunik, Armenian Orthodox Christian priests will definitely be in hot water. The crucial fact is that the November 2020 armistice between Armenia and Azerbaïjan, with Russian involvement, was not respected either by Baku or Yerevan. Moscow didn’t do much except showing that Pashinyan gave Artsakh away to Baku – which in itself is outrageous and a violation of the armistice: imagine that the object of a war was relinquished by the attacked country to the attacker. What Baku really wanted was the opening of the Zangezur corridor – and that was also part of the armistice. The corridor was supposed to be controlled by Russian guards. Yerevan did nothing about it. Baku for its part kept provoking skirmishes in Artsakh and Syunik. And on top of it did not respect a clause stipulating the building of a road allowing Armenians to travel back and forth to Artsakh. In fact Baku blocked Artsakh by taking over the Lachin road. As corridors go, Zangezur is the proverbial Chinese win-win. Azerbaijan links with its Nakhitchevan enclave and Turkiye. Russia gets a road that goes through Baku and Yerevan. Armenia opens itself to international trade. And Iran is satisfied that the manager will be the former owner of the place: Russia. Ay, there’s the rub. The usual suspects were not happy that Russian guards would be back in Armenia. So they sabotaged this clause via their agent Pashinyan. The record shows how Team Pashinyan behaved these past few months: Armenia’s First Lady visited Kiev; Yerevan transferred “humanitarian aid” to Ukraine; there were joint military exercises with the U.S.; frantic back and forth by U.S. and EU politicos and NGOs. Relations with Moscow are deteriorating fast. Yerevan – a juicy strategic target – is being taken over by the Hegemon and its vassals. It’s not an accident that Yerevan hosts the second largest American embassy in the world. So only one thing is certain: the Transcaucasus will continue to be on fire. Empire of Chaos strikes again It’s not clear what will happen to Zangezur – and if and when Pashinyan will act on it. There’s always a – remote – possibility that Pashinyan, egged on by his Western handlers, may try to strike a deal with Aliyev to leave Russia out. The Russian Foreign Ministry has not minced its words, noting how Yerevan “flip flopped on policy and sought Western support over working closely with Russia and Azerbaijan”. And how in meetings in Prague and Brussels under the EU, Pashynian “acknowledged Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, but failed to address the rights and safety of the Karabakh Armenians.” The Foreign Ministry all but warns Pashynian that “unlike the West which has become quite skilled in organising color revolutions, Moscow does not engage in such activities.” At the same time, “a frenzied anti-Russian campaign has swept the Armenian media at the behest of the authorities. We are convinced that the Armenian leadership is making a huge mistake by deliberately attempting to sever Armenia’s multifaceted and centuries-old ties with Russia, making the country a hostage to Western geopolitical games. We are confident that the overwhelming majority of the Armenian population realises this as well.” Well, USAID head Samantha “Batshit Crazy” Power is in Armenia right now, “affirming U.S. support for Armenia’s democracy, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity and commitment to addressing humanitarian needs stemming from Nagorno-Karabakh”. Nonsense. This is all about the Empire of Chaos conquering a strategic asset close to Russia: Armenia is a member of the CSTO and the EAEU. There are more than 25 USAID projects being implemented in Armenia. Why would the current administration in Yerevan ever care for a few lost souls in Artsakh? Tyler Durden Mon, 10/02/2023 - 23:40.....»»

"We want prices to move and to be more competitive vis-à-vis a hotels—that is really important," Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky told Bloomberg. nullEugene Gologursky and Lorenzo Di Cola/NurPhotoAirbnb CEO Brian Chesky thinks hosts on his platform should lower their prices."We want prices to move and to be more competitive vis-à-vis a hotels—that is really important," said Chesky."We need to get our house in order," he added.Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has a message for hosts on his platform: lower your prices."We want prices to move and to be more competitive vis-à-vis a hotels— that is really important," said Chesky as part of a Monday interview with Bloomberg.Airbnb's current rate comparison tools for hosts do not incorporate nearby hotel rates. Chesky said he wants hosts "to look at rates for hotels in their area just so they have a sense of what travelers are getting on other platforms.""We need to get our house in order," said Chesky, who pointed to issues of affordability, not showing customers total prices per listing, and fake listings as things the company would seek to address going forward.Chesky's comments come amid a mixed year for Airbnb.Though the company reported its first profitable year in 2022, fears of an "airbnbust" have plagued the company since last year — with hosts complaining of a slowdown in bookings, stiff competition over guests, and falling revenue.These fears of an "airbnbust" come after a travel frenzy in 2021, which pushed revenue to record highs for hosts and likely contributed to more people listing their homes as rentals."We've seen a big uptick in supply, which means that demand is being spread out over more listings, leading to the occupancy decline," Jamie Lane, an economist at vacation analytics firm AirDNA, told Insider in 2022.This coming year could be more competitive for hosts. AirDNA predicted in December that 2023 would see a lower occupancy rate for short-term vacation rentals than 2022.The firm also predicted that supply is likely to outpace demand for these rentals in 2023, with the number of listings projected to increase by 9% year-on-year.Representatives for Airbnb and Chesky declined to comment to Insider.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

"If the Democrats want to own Kevin McCarthy, they can have him," Gaetz said on Monday night. Rep. Matt Gaetz (left) and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (right).Win McNamee via Getty ImagesRep. Matt Gaetz says the Democratic Party can adopt House Speaker Kevin McCarthy if they so wish."If the Democrats want to own Kevin McCarthy, they can have him," Gaetz told the media on Monday.Gaetz had earlier filed a motion to remove McCarthy from the speakers' seat.Rep. Matt Gaetz says the Democratic Party is welcome to adopt Kevin McCarthy if they want to."If the Democrats want to own Kevin McCarthy, they can have him," Gaetz told journalists on Monday night after filing his motion to remove McCarthy."Because one thing I'm at peace with is when we stand here a week from now, I won't own Kevin McCarthy anymore. He won't belong to me," Gaetz added. "So if the Democrats wanna adopt him, they can adopt him."Gaetz's motion to vacate came after the Florida Republican repeatedly threatened to oust McCarthy from the speakership and accused him of backtracking on conservative reforms.The feud between the pair goes back to January, before McCarthy even secured the speakership. At the time, Gaetz and other GOP holdouts vehemently opposed McCarthy's nomination. This led to a protracted battle in the House, where McCarthy had to sit through 15 rounds of voting before finally getting the votes.This victory did come at a price: McCarthy made several concessions to the GOP holdouts. It included a change in House rules where any member could call a snap vote to remove McCarthy, which Gaetz is making full use of now.According to the challenge's rules, McCarthy has two days to address the House. And for his part, McCarthy has remained defiant in the face of Gaetz's motion to vacate."Bring it on," McCarthy wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday night."Just did," Gaetz replied.Representatives for Gaetz and McCarthy did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Meta's new virtual assistant uses both text and photos from people's public posts, said Nick Clegg, the company's president of global affairs. Meta says it's been using Instagram photos and Facebook posts to train its new AI.Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty Images and Vernon Yuen/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesMeta said on Thursday that it's been using public Facebook and Instagram photos to train its AI.Its new virtual assistant uses both public text and photos, a spokesperson told Reuters.However, the new model didn't touch private messages and posts, he said.Meta has been using public Facebook and Instagram posts to train its new artificial intelligence assistant, a spokesperson said.Posts that were fed to the new AI include both text and photos, Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global affairs, told Reuters in a Thursday interview.However, the AI hasn't touched private posts, like those shared only with friends and family, Clegg said, per Reuters.Meta has some measures to exclude private details from public datasets used by the AI, Clegg told Reuters. The outlet's interview did not mention any specific measures used.Meta also isn't using private messages on its platforms to train the new model, Clegg told the outlet."We've tried to exclude datasets that have a heavy preponderance of personal information," Clegg said, per Reuters. He added that Meta hasn't used sites like LinkedIn to train its AI due to privacy concerns.Meta opened its virtual assistant, Meta AI, to the public on Wednesday in a Beta release.The new assistant is meant to help users create their own digital stickers based on text prompts, edit photos with text instructions, and chat with AI personalities like the rapper Snoop Dogg acting as a "Dungeons & Dragons" Dungeon Master.Meta AI was built using its AI language model, Llama 2, and a text-to-image model called Emu.Both of those models were trained using Instagram and Facebook posts, an unnamed Meta spokesperson told Reuters.Clegg added that he expects some people to legally contest whether training AI with copyrighted content is fair use, per Reuters."We think it is, but I strongly suspect that's going to play out in litigation," Clegg told the outlet.Authors, artists, and developers have been suing AI companies and firms like Meta over concerns that their work is being used without their consent to train a technology that could undermine their careers.Facebook and Instagram users own the content that they post as long as it doesn't infringe on someone else's intellectual property rights, per Meta's policies.Meta's press team did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Trade in Evergrande shares was suspended last Thursday after Bloomberg reported the company's chairman has been placed under police surveillance. An aerial photo shows a residential area of Evergrande in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, on Aug 28, 2023.Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty Images China Evergrande shares surged as much as 42% on Tuesday after trade in the stock resumed. The stock was suspended last Thursday following news its chairman has been put under police surveillance. Trade in the debt-laden real-estate developer's shares has been very volatile since August.  Shares of embattled Chinese real-estate developer Evergrande surged as much as 42% in 15 minutes after the stock resumed trading on Tuesday.Trading in the Hong Kong-listed shares was suspended last Thursday after Bloomberg reported that Hui Ka Yan, the company's founder and chairman, had been put under police surveillance.Evergrande said on Thursday that Hui has been subject to "mandatory measures" relating to "suspicion of illegal crimes."Late on Monday, Evergrande said there is no other inside information relating to the company that needs to be disclosed.Evergrande's share prices have been massively volatile even before Tuesday. The stock had resumed trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange in August following a 17-month suspension since March 2022.The real-estate giant had over $300 billion worth of liabilities at the end of 2022 and filed for bankruptcy protection in the US on August 17.But the debt-laden company's troubles had only been deepening.In late September, Evergrande canceled key creditor meetings as part of its debt-restructuring exercise and announced it would be unable to issue new debt. Evergrande's main domestic unit, Hengda Real Estate Group, also announced it failed to make payments on the principal and interest for a 4 billion Chinese yuan, or $547 million, bond due on September 25.China Evergrande shares surged as much as 42% in early trade. They have pared gains and were 17% higher at 38 Hong Kong cents at 11.06 a.m. Hong Kong time on Tuesday.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

The BRICS bloc is exploring the idea of a common currency. But China and India are strategic competitors, and their relationship is under strain. China's leader, Xi Jinping, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.REUTERS/Amit Dave The BRICS group of emerging nations is exploring the idea of a common currency. But China and India — the two biggest economies in the bloc — often can't get along. The economist who coined the "BRIC" acronym said the currency idea seemed "crazy." Whether it's the Chinese yuan or gold or even bitcoin, a discussion about alternatives to the US dollar as the world's reserve currency has been raging for over a year.Fanned by fears that Washington is weaponizing the US-dollar-denominated global financial system against Russia over the Ukraine war, the debate has gotten so intense that there was even talk during a bloc summit in August about creating a dollar-challenging common BRICS currency.The bloc is helmed by the major emerging nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.And one expert — the former White House economist Joseph Sullivan — even said a BRICS single currency could erode the dominance of the dollar.Creating a common currency isn't easy, however, and would require the diverse BRICS countries to align on several issues, including setting up a central bank and phasing out their currencies.For example, the euro took decades of preparation within Europe, and the currency's use globally is still a far second to the US dollar's. In August, the greenback accounted for 48% of global payments via the SWIFT messaging system — way ahead of the euro's share at 23%.There's also one other problem. India and China — the two biggest economies in the bloc — can't quite get along.Even Jim O'Neill, the former Goldman Sachs chief economist who came up with the BRIC acronym in 2001 (South Africa joined the bloc in 2010 to round up BRICS) has been fielding interview questions about the proposed idea of a BRICS single currency on repeat mode recently."You can't even get India and China in the same room, so the idea that they would commit to a shared currency and abandon their own domestic monetary policy, it's just kind of crazy," O'Neill told Insider.Other analysts also described relations between China and India as tense.China-India's terse relations are said to be a 'pain point' in the BRICS blocWhile Beijing and New Delhi appear actively engaged with each other, the two counties' ties have been strained. In short, they appear to be frenemies.China and India's relationship goes back centuries, but the two have been embroiled in a territorial dispute along their shared Himalayan border in contemporary history — and even fought a war in 1962.While recent decades have been more amicable, the neighbors have appeared to be getting deeper into frenemy territory since 2020 amid the border dispute and rising nationalism in both China and India.The two sides appeared to make up in August at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, when China's leader, Xi Jinping, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to de-escalate tensions at the disputed border.Barely a month later, the relationship was again in question when Xi did not attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi — the first time since 2008 when he didn't attend the conference. Beijing didn't explain Xi's absence, and Premier Li Qiang led the Chinese delegation instead.Liu Pengyu, China's Washington, DC, spokesperson, told Insider that Xi most recently spoke with Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit — at the request of the Indian leader."President Xi stressed that improving China-India relations serves the common interests of the two countries and peoples, and is also conducive to peace, stability, and development of the world and the region," said Liu, who added that the situation at the border was stable.Politics aside, it doesn't help that the two countries have become strategic competitors on the economic front, too. China, the world's second-largest economy, is worth $19.4 trillion, per the International Monetary Fund. India is the world's fifth-largest economy, with a gross domestic product of $3.7 trillion. There's little indication India's GDP will overtake China's in the next five decades, but there's still no denying the world's top two emerging markets are fierce rivals.By UN estimates, India overtook China earlier this year as the world's most populous country. As a large country with a young population — the median age is 28 — it's an enticing draw for companies looking to diversify their risks beyond China, which has been the factory of the world for 40 years.Among the five BRICS members, the "biggest pain point" is India-China friction, Abishur Prakash, the founder of the advisory firm The Geopolitical Business, told Insider. He added it's "highly unlikely either country will rely on a currency dominated by the other party."And given that China and India are the biggest players in BRICS, it's crucial they must at least come to some common ground for a common currency to happen, O'Neill said.For what it's worth, the August BRICS summit ended with no new currency and all five members issuing differing and contradictory commentary on de-dollarization. It also appears that it's just Russia and Brazil that have really pushed for a BRICS common currency. China hasn't commented on the idea, while India and South Africa said it wasn't on the agenda at the latest summit.A BRICS currency — if it comes to pass — could have a narrow useFor Amitendu Palit, the research lead for trade and economics at the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore, there are bigger issues standing in the way of a common BRICS currency — like diverse regulatory environments and how all its members' currencies can't be easily traded on foreign-exchange markets.As for political differences, Palit thinks countries are ultimately rational. Both China and India are conscious that they are competitors, and while "nobody is going to really grant concessions to each other, that does not mean that they stop working with each other," Palit told Insider."The important thing," Palit continued, "is that both countries have stayed engaged with each other."O'Neill, the skeptical father of the BRICS political bloc, still sees great potential for the group — if its members can only work together. But even if a BRICS currency comes to pass, its use could be limited.Prakash said a BRICS currency would be used in "very narrow and vertical settings, or for BRICS projects."India's External Affairs Ministry did not respond to multiple requests for comment sent by Insider. Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Clarence Thomas recused himself for the first time from a Jan. 6-related matter brought before the Supreme Court by his former law clerk John Eastman. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.Getty ImagesClarence Thomas recused himself for the first time from a January 6-related matter this week.Thomas has faced calls to recuse himself from such matters because of his wife's involvement.A Supreme Court expert said media scrutiny into Thomas' ethics may have convinced him to recuse.After months of media scrutiny, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas recused himself for the first time from a matter regarding the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack.But the conservative justice's decision to withdraw his voice from the court's decision may have been an easy one due to the appeal's lacking legal merits, an expert on the Supreme Court told Insider.As is standard among the justices, Thomas opted not to explain why he recused himself from the Monday matter, which dealt with one-time Trump attorney John Eastman's efforts to block his former employer from handing over his emails to the now-disbanded Jan. 6 Congressional committee.Eastman, who faces criminal charges in Georgia in connection to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, previously served as a law clerk for Thomas.Thomas has previously faced calls to recuse himself from matters before the court concerning the January 6 attack and 2020 presidential election after his wife, Virginia "Ginny" Thomas, supported Trump's efforts to overturn the election.Earlier this year, when the Supreme Court rejected Trump's bid to keep White House documents out of the hands of the January 6 committee, Thomas chose not to recuse himself and offered the court's lone vote in support of Trump.The court's Monday decision comes months after a series of ProPublica reports alleged a pattern of ethical misconduct by Thomas, including accusations he accepted and failed to disclose several luxury vacations from top GOP donor Harlan Crow.A Bloomberg law analysis from February found Thomas was the justice who recused himself the least.His apparent about-face on Monday suggests the increased scrutiny over his ethical conduct may be having a tangible effect on his judicial career, Scott Lemieux, a professor of political science at the University of Washington and an expert in constitutional law, told Insider."The fact that he didn't recuse himself in previous cases involving the 2020 election makes it hard to imagine these recent stories aren't playing a role here," he told Insider.But the Eastman appeal from which Thomas recused himself was effectively settled before the court declined to review the appeal. The Jan. 6 committee obtained the contested emails and published them last year, but Eastman had asked the Supreme Court to reject the lower court ruling that allowed the panel to access the emails and which he said harmed both his and Trump's reputations.John Eastman (left) appeared alongside Rudy Giuliani at a pro-Trump rally on January 6.Jim BourgThe Supreme Court on Monday rejected Eastman's appeal, which Lemieux suggested was "frivolous" from the start, with no additional explanation except to note Thomas' recusal."From his perspective, this may have been a way to address the criticism in a low-stakes, almost symbolic recusal," Lemieux said of Thomas.Supreme Court justices are expected to recuse themselves from any matters that pose a conflict of interest."But the constitutional system doesn't have any way of holding justices accountable," Lemieux said, making each justice the arbiter of their own ethics.Regardless of his reasons, Thomas ultimately did the right thing in recusing himself from the Eastman appeal, Lemieux said."The justices have to be convinced if they do unethical things, it will hurt the legitimacy of the Supreme Court," he said.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

John Kelly, who served as chief of staff for Donald Trump, confirmed the former presidents comments about military members being "suckers" and "losers." U.S. President Donald Trump looks on after presenting the Medal of Honor to Sergeant Major Thomas P. Payne, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry in the East Room of the White HouseDrew Angerer/Getty ImagesFormer chief of staff John Kelly confirmed that he witnessed firsthand Trump's comments about military service. For years, anonymous former staffers have come forward to speak about Trump comments.Trump called marines who died during WW1 "suckers," the Atlantic reported in 2020.Retired US Marine Corps general John Kelly, who served for 17 months as chief of staff for Donald Trump, said that the former president called veterans "suckers" because "there's nothing in it from them," confirming years of anonymous accounts detailing Trump's comments about the military."What can I add that has not already been said?" Kelly told CNN, referring to Trump, "A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all 'suckers' because 'there is nothing in it for them.'"Kelly continued: "A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because 'it doesn't look good for me.' A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family — for all Gold Star families — on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America's defense are 'losers' and wouldn't visit their graves in France."Up until Monday, Kelly did not comment on Trump's alleged statements, which were first detailed by The Atlantic in 2020. Per the Atlantic's reporting, the former president joined Kelly to visit his late son Robert Kelly's grave in 2017 and asked "I don't get it. What was in it for them?"Later, during a 2018 visit to France, Trump called marines who died during WW1 "suckers" and declined to visit their graves, unnamed sources told the publication at the time.Per the Atlantic report, Trump staff witnessed the president ask to exclude wounded veterans from a military parade because "Nobody wants to see that." The book "The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021," by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser later corroborated that anecdote and also revealed that Kelly was present for that conversation."Those are the heroes," Kelly said at the time, according to the book.Per CNN, the Trump campaign responded to the statement by insulting former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley.Insider reached out to Trump's campaign for comment.Trump's comments about the military over the years have contradicted each other. The former president has publicly and positively spoken about US forces.However, he also has a history of insulting the military, including repeatedly disparaging the late Sen. John McCain by declaring that he is not a "war hero" because he was a prisoner of war while he served in Vietnam.Trump, himself, notably evaded the Vietnam War draft five times.Kelly has become increasingly outspoken about Trump since his departure from the White House in 2019. In his latest statement to CNN, Kelly also criticized Trump, saying that he had "contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.""There is nothing more that can be said," Kelly said. "God help us."Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Dish left a satellite in the wrong disposal orbit, the FCC said, noting it was the first enforcement action the agency has taken against space junk. An illustration of space junk. Satellites and debris are not to scale.ESAThe FCC announced a settlement with the Dish Network over one of the company's retired satellites.The agency said Dish left the satellite at the wrong disposal orbit at the end of its mission.Space junk has become a growing concern as more and more companies send objects to space.The Federal Communications Commission announced Monday it has fined Dish Network $150,000 for a retired satellite that was left in the wrong place in space as concerns about space trash grow.The FCC said it was the first enforcement action it's ever taken regarding space debris, or defunct human-made objects that are no longer used but left in space.Dish reached a settlement with the FCC, in which the company admitted liability for not properly disposing of its EchoStar-7 satellite at the end of its mission. EchoStar-7 was initially launched in 2002.In a statement, the FCC said Dish left the retired satellite at a "disposal orbit well below the elevation" that was required. Under a plan approved by the FCC in 2012, Dish committed to relocating the satellite at the end of its mission to about 186 miles above its operational geostationary arc.Instead, after realizing in 2022 that the satellite was low on propellant and would not be able to reach that altitude, Dish retired the satellite only about 76 miles above that operational arc. The FCC said the lower disposal orbit could pose space debris concerns."Orbital debris in space jeopardizes the nation's terrestrial and space-based communication systems by increasing the risk of damage to satellite communications systems," the FCC said in its consent decree.Loyaan A. Egal, the FCC Enforcement Bureau chief, said it was a "breakthrough settlement" that shows the agency "has strong enforcement authority and capability to enforce its vitally important space debris rules.""As satellite operations become more prevalent and the space economy accelerates, we must be certain that operators comply with their commitments," he said.In a statement provided to Insider, a Dish spokesperson noted that the FCC's Enforcement Bureau "made no specific findings that EchoStar-7 poses any orbital debris safety concerns.""DISH has a long track record of safely flying a large satellite fleet and takes seriously its responsibilities as an FCC licensee," the spokesperson said.As more and more companies send objects into space, there are increasing concerns about space trash.NASA last month awarded the company TransAstra an $850,000 contract to work on the possibility of cleaning up space garbage with a large "capture bag" that the company calls Flytrap."Space junk is one of the greatest perils that astronauts face in low Earth orbit today," Joel C. Sercel, a former astronaut and the founder of TransAstra, previously told Insider.Space junk has also already crashed on land, prompting fear that it could someday strike a person.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

New Details Emerge After Woman Found Dead In NJ Trucker's Rig By Clarissa Hawes of FreightWaves A new report is offering more details about what led investigators to file murder charges against a New Jersey truck driver after a woman was found dead on the floorboard of his tractor-trailer in Maryland. Matthew Sidney Watley, 46, of Sicklerville, New Jersey, has been charged with first- and second-degree murder after Candice Thompson, 46, also of Sicklerville, reportedly was found dead in the cab of his truck at a Costco Distribution Center in Monrovia, Maryland. The charging documents state that a detective with the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office was able to positively identify Thompson with the assistance of the Winslow Township Police Department in Camden County, New Jersey, noting that their office had “a long history of domestic violence between Watley and Thompson.” What happened? According to the charging documents, a truck driver parked at the distribution center told investigators that he heard Watley say, “Help me, help me,” and went over to see if he was OK. After climbing up on the running boards on the driver’s side of the silver Freightliner Cascadia Watley was driving, the witness reportedly saw blood on the center of the dash and Watley lying down between the seats. The driver told investigators that he heard a sound that made him think that Watley was cutting or stabbing himself and that he jumped down and drove to the guard station at Costco to notify security that Watley was possibly “having a medical issue or trauma.” Deputies with the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office in Maryland reportedly used stop sticks, pepper spray and then a Taser to subdue Watley after they were called to conduct a wellness check at his truck around 1:30 a.m. Sept. 24. Charging documents claim deputies attempted to talk to Watley several times but that he refused to answer and was incoherent when speaking. He also refused deputies’ demands to put his vehicle in park and shut the vehicle off and “would rev the engine of the tractor-trailer.”  Watley’s tires slowly began to lose air after he attempted to drive out of the gate and into the Costco parking lot.  Deputies were able to eventually arrest Watley. The charging document states a deputy found Thompson’s body lying face down in the cab of the truck between the driver’s and passenger’s seats and observed “two large gashes that were close together on her back.” More wounds were found later on her back, right hand and face. Thompson’s cause of death has not been released. A claw hammer and two folding-style knives were located next to the driver’s side door of Watley’s truck, according to the report.  Trucking company owner speaks out Parminder Singh, owner of PAA Trucking LLC, of Westville, New Jersey, said Watley had worked for him for nearly six months prior to his arrest. He added that Watley had worked for him previously, about two years ago. “He had an accident and damaged one of my trailers. He had gone on a low bridge and hit it — and I had to fire him,” Singh told FreightWaves. “He kept calling me to come back, to give him back his job.” Singh said he’s unclear why Watley was at the Costco Distribution Center in Monrovia, stating he was supposed to deliver a load of pineapples to Del Monte Fresh Produce in Jessup, Maryland, about 50 miles away.  “I don’t know why he drove to Costco — he was supposed to be in Jessup,” Singh said. “This has really messed me up. It’s been a bad thing for my company.”  Singh said he met with Watley about 12 hours prior to his arrest to collect paperwork and hand him his paycheck and the new paperwork for the Del Monte load, which had to be delivered by 11 p.m. Sept. 23. “It was raining so he [Watley] got out of the truck and walked over to my pickup truck and we talked there,” Singh said.  He said that what stands out from Singh’s conversation with Watley was that the driver asked if he could go home first to take a shower and do laundry before delivering the load of pineapples. Singh said Watley told him he was staying at his mother’s home in Sicklerville. Singh said he tried calling and texting Watley around 11:30 p.m. but he didn’t answer. Singh also said Watley’s GPS tracking system had been turned off or wasn’t working.  Singh said he received a call from the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office about 2:30 a.m. Sept. 24 that Watley had been arrested. Watley’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 24. He is being held without bond after waiving his right to a bond hearing, according to Jacqueline Rottmann, communications specialist for the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office. Tyler Durden Mon, 10/02/2023 - 21:40.....»»

"Severe Crash" Looms For CRE Office Towers, Turmoil Lasting Years, Bloomberg Survey Finds About seven months ago, panic gripped financial markets over the regional bank meltdown, primarily due to exposure to the commercial real estate space, specifically office towers. Since then, many market participants have forgotten the turmoil, but not all have done so.  A new weekly survey of Terminal users by Bloomberg's Markets Live team finds two-thirds of the 919 respondents believe the office tower market needs to crash before a rebound can be seen.  Nearly half (44%) of respondents said tower prices will trough in the second half of 2024. About 29% believe 2025 or later.  Terminal users likely understand what Morgan Stanley pointed out earlier this year: a staggering $2.5 trillion in debt maturities and rollovers at much higher rates over the next five years: Last month, Kyle Bass told Bloomberg TV that the US banking industry will lose hundreds of billions of dollars from exposure to the office market amid shifting workplace trends and elevated interest rates. "Banks in the US will lose $200, $250 billion in office over time here," Bass, founder of Hayman Capital Management, best known for correctly predicting and profiting from the bursting of the subprime housing bubble. He noted, "And there's about $2 trillion of equity in the banks so it's like a 10% hit to US banking equity." What's clear is that refinancing won't be pretty for building owners. A Green Street commercial property index shows towers have already fallen 16% from a peak in March 2022.  "Nobody wants to sell at a huge loss," said Lea Overby, an analyst at Barclays Plc. "These are properties that don't need to be sold for long periods of time, and that means holders are likely to delay a sale as long as they can." According to a March report from Goldman Sachs, regional banks hold about 30% of office tower debt as of 2022. Small banks have seen deposits shrink 2% over the last 12 months ending August. That means less funding.  Bloomberg noted it could take several years for some building owners to experience pressure from higher rates: Pain from higher interest rates can take years to filter through to owners of the US commercial real estate, which Morgan Stanley values at $11 trillion in total. Investors in office buildings, for example, often have long-term fixed-rate financing in place, and their tenants can be subject to long- term leases as well. It will take until 2027 for leases that are in place today to roll over to lower revenue expectations, according to research by Moody's Investors Service published in March. If current trends hold, then revenues by then will be 10% lower than today. Barclays's Overby said the office tower market "will take a long time to work out," adding she isn't too worried about the threat of the overall CRE market because "debt is spread across a wide enough array of investors to absorb losses."  Meanwhile, a recent report from the Morgan Stanley team expects CRE prices to be down 27.4% from peak to trough in 18 to 24 months this cycle, not that far off from the -34.9% during the GFC in 34 months, which will range from a decline of 15% for apartments to a stunning plunge of 40% for office.  In places like San Francisco and Baltimore, some office tower prices have already crashed: Downtown San Fran Office Tower Sells At 66% Off As CRE Crisis Claims Another Victim Baltimore Sun Editorial Board Tells Everyone 'Keep Calm' Amid CRE Panic While progressive corporate media outlets tend to attribute the decline of office towers in metro areas to Covid and the rise of remote work, there's another seldom-discussed factor at play: disastrous social justice reforms that have triggered lawlessness, forcing companies to move to the suburbs or even to states that embrace law and order.  To sum up, office districts in Democrat cities will be dead for years. This will have significant impacts on recovery and taxes.  Tyler Durden Mon, 10/02/2023 - 22:00.....»»

Trump Lead Widens After Second GOP Presidential Debate: Poll Authored by Frank Fang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours) Former President Donald Trump has further solidified his lead in the Republican presidential primary, following the second GOP debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute in Simi Valley, California. Former President Donald Trump speaks to a crowd during a campaign rally in Summerville, S.C., on Sept. 25, 2023. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images) “63% of potential Republican primary voters support Donald Trump for the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination, up from 58% in our survey released Monday ahead of the latest primary debate,” Morning Consult said in its survey released on Sept. 29. In comparison, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, seen as Mr. Trump’s biggest rival, saw his support dip from 15 percent to 12 percent after the second debate, though the Florida governor is still in second place. [ZH: According to PredictIt, the figures look even worse for DeSantis...] The survey, which polled 1,183 potential GOP primary voters, was conducted on Sept. 28, one day after the second debate, which Trump didn’t attend. Instead, he spent the debate night in battleground Michigan, delivering a speech to striking auto workers. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley both lost 2 percentage points since the debate. Mr. Ramaswamy is at 9 percent and Ms. Haley is at 5 percent. Former Vice President Mike Pence lost one percentage point and is at 5 percent. Meanwhile, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) did not see any change after the debate, remaining at 2 percent. “This data reinforces our view that Trump is in the driver’s seat of the Republican primary, and that Trump-less debates aren’t having much of an impact on the other candidates’ national support, and may in fact be helping the former president,” the survey concludes. In August, Morning Consult found that the support for President Trump went unchanged at 58 percent after he skipped the first GOP presidential debate in Milwaukee. Instead of attending the debate, the former president aired a pre-recorded interview he did with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. The second debate, which was aired on Fox News Channel and Fox Business, drew 3.5 million fewer viewers than the first debate. Even with the absence of President Trump, the seven GOP presidential contenders did not make a breakthrough in the second debate, as they argued over topics including China, the border crisis, crime, fentanyl, and education. (L–R) North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former South Carolina Gov. and U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and former Vice President Mike Pence at the second Republican presidential primary debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. on Sept. 27, 2023. (Pedro Ugarte /AFP via Getty Images) Mr. Ramaswamy finished third with 18 percent saying they were more likely to support him, ahead of Mr. Pence with 16 percent, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with 15 percent, and Mr. Scott with 14 percent. Following the second debate, Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to President Trump’s 2024 campaign, urged the Republican National Committee (RNC) to cancel future debates. “Tonight’s GOP debate was as boring and inconsequential as the first debate, and nothing that was said will change the dynamics of the primary contest being dominated by President Trump,” Mr. LaCivita said on Sept. 27. Mr. LaCivita added, “The RNC should immediately put an end to any further primary debates so we can train our fire on Crooked Joe Biden and quit wasting time and money that could be going to evicting Biden from the White House.” According to Mr. LaCivita, Mr. Trump has no plans to attend future GOP presidential debates, after skipping the first two. The third debate is set to take place in Miami on Nov. 8. The former president is scheduled to host the Iowa Commit to Caucus event in Ottumwa, Iowa, on Oct. 1. “Just landed in the Great State of Iowa,” President Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on early Sunday. “Remember, I got the farmers 28 Billion Dollars from China. Nobody else would have even thought of doing that, and if they did, wouldn’t have been able to get it done!” The former president was also in Iowa on Sept. 20, when he told supporters in Dubuque that he would use troops to secure the southern border if reelected. Tyler Durden Mon, 10/02/2023 - 22:20.....»»

Sisi Tells Egyptians "Hunger A Price Worth Paying For Progress" In Bizarre Speech.....»»

Fifth Circuit Court Rules Against Biden"s ATF In Ghost Gun Case .....»»

Sidney Powell Paid For Georgia Election Machine Examination Upon 'Threat', Her Lawyer Says Authored by Petr Svab via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours) Sidney Powell, a former federal prosecutor charged with breaching election machines in Georgia, had nothing to do with the breach, save for paying for it after the fact, and only because the forensic firm that did it threatened to dump the data online, her lawyer said in a recent court filing. Sidney Powell, author of the bestseller “Licensed to Lie” and lead counsel in more than 500 appeals in the Fifth Circuit, in Washington on May 30, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Ms. Powell was charged as part of the election interference case against former President Donald Trump that was brought on Aug. 14 by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. It alleges that the efforts of President Trump and 18 others, including Ms. Powell, to challenge the 2020 election results amounted to a racketeering conspiracy. Ms. Willis has accused Ms. Powell of participating in the alleged conspiracy and conspiracies to commit computer trespass, computer theft, computer invasion of privacy, election fraud, and defrauding the state. The charges are tied to a Jan. 7, 2021, incident in which personnel of data forensic company SullivanStrickler copied data from election machines and computers in Coffee County, Georgia. The lawyer for Ms. Powell, Brian Rafferty, has vehemently denied the allegations and is seeking dismissal of the charges. Mr. Rafferty has argued that examination of the machines wasn’t a crime because it was authorized by the Coffee County Election Board. Even if the board didn’t ultimately have the authority to allow the examination, the people involved operated under the belief that their action was authorized. For their actions to be criminal, they would have to have been undertaken with a knowing lack of authority. Further still, however, Ms. Powell didn’t organize or participate in the incident, Mr. Rafferty asserted. “There are no communications of any kind between Ms. Powell and any of the alleged coconspirators or unindicted coconspirators that evince any agreement by Ms. Powell to have SullivanStrickler personnel to travel to Coffee County or to contract for their services for Coffee County—much less to do so for any illegal purpose,” he said in a Sept. 28 filing. Ms. Powell challenged the election results in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona, but she never represented President Trump, he said. “It cannot be disputed that Ms. Powell went her own way following the election, and she never reached an agreement on a course of action with any indicted or unindicted coconspirator,” he said. She did share evidence used in her lawsuits, all of which failed, with President Trump and his aides, and she advised him on his authorities in case of foreign interference in the election, Mr. Rafferty acknowledged. “All those substantive communications, limited as they were, effectively ended by December 19, 2020,” he said. He also acknowledged that “Defending the Republic Inc., a non-profit Ms. Powell founded, paid a bill from SullivanStrickler,” but he added that it did so only upon the company’s “threat to post information publicly online after its technicians apparently collected data from Coffee County machines.” SullivanStrickler didn’t respond to a request for comment. “Ms. Powell did not request that trip; she did not even know of that trip—much less authorize it,” Mr. Rafferty said. “Accordingly, she did not agree with anyone to undertake the collection of Coffee County data—even though it was done with permission of Coffee County officials—and the State has no evidence she conspired with anyone to violate any law.” Ms. Powell and another defendant, attorney Kenneth Chesebro, asked for a speedy trial, which is scheduled to commence on Oct. 23. Other defendants will be tried separately, though it’s not clear when. Several defendants are also trying to have the case removed to a federal court. In some of the latest developments, lawyers for President Trump informed the court that they will not joint the removal effort. President Trump is facing another indictment for his election challenges in a federal court in the District of Columbia. He’s also fighting charges of illegal retention of defense information in Florida and more charges in New York for allegedly fraudulent bookkeeping entries. In a separate civil suit targeting his businesses, a New York judge recently ordered his businesses in the state dissolved. President Trump has denounced the legal cases against himself as politically motivated efforts to interfere with his 2024 presidential run. Tyler Durden Mon, 10/02/2023 - 19:00.....»»

NY Gov. Hochul Suddenly Shifts Gears On Illegal Immigration As Her State Is Overrun Only a year ago NY Governor Kathy Hochul adamantly supported illegal immigration, and some argue she encouraged it by stating publicly that New York was "desperate for workers" and that the migrant were "good for the economy."  However, as NYC and the state in general is being overrun with hundred of thousands of illegals, suddenly the governor has changed her tune - Now she believes at least "some restrictions" should be put in place to limit the number of people who enter the country.  NY Gov. Kathy Hochul Calls for a “Limit On Who Can Come Across the Border” “It is too open right now. People coming from all over the world are finding their way through simply saying they need asylum and…ending up in the streets of New York.”pic.twitter.com/fcCmQMpUqc — Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) October 1, 2023 The abrupt change of heart follows a swiftly derailing situation in the sanctuary state, as local governments struggle to house and feed the surging invasion of asylum seekers demanding access to welfare services.  Reports from a year ago should have made the outcome obvious, with Illegals canvassing door-to-door in NYC asking for handouts and homeless shelters packed to capacity.  At the time, Hochul was more concerned with wristbands put on migrants bussed from Texas that had barcodes designed to show that they arrived safely to New York, calling the practice inhumane.  Today, Democrats from Washington DC to New York to Chicago are finally getting a taste of their own Robitussin and they really don't like it.  The concept of open borders and sanctuary cities was perfectly acceptable to them, as long as they never had to deal with the direct consequences.  How quickly people adjust their thinking when the crisis they caused is on their doorstep. Tyler Durden Mon, 10/02/2023 - 19:20.....»»

Gaetz Moves To Formally Remove McCarthy As Speaker.....»»

Starlink Now Operational Across Entire US As Elon Musk Becomes "Uncancellable".....»»

Victor Davis Hanson: California, The Great Destroyer Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness, In 1996, the California legislature created the high speed rail authority. In 2008, voters passed a $33 billion bond to build an envisioned 800 mile project eventually to link Sacramento with San Diego. Fifteen years later, a scaled-down plan from Bakersfield to Merced remains not even half finished. Yet the envisioned costs will exceed that of the original estimate for the entire project. The rail authority now estimates that just the modest 178 mile route—only about a fifth of the authorized distance—will not be completed at least until 2030. Past high speed estimates of both time and cost targets have been widely wrong and perhaps deliberately misleading. Total costs for the entire project are now estimated at nearly $130 billion. Many expect that figure to double in the next quarter-century. Planners also concede there will likely not be much high speed rider demand from San Joaquin Valley residents willing to pay $86 to travel at a supposed 200 mph from Bakersfield to Merced. Nine years ago voters amid drought and water shortages also passed a state water bond, authorizing $7.5 billion in new water projects and initiatives. Some $2.7 billion was targeted for new dams and reservoirs. The current water storage system had not been enlarged since the early 1980s, when the state population was 15 million fewer residents. So far not a single dam or new reservoir has been built. And Californians expect more water rationing statewide anytime the state experiences a modest drought. In 2017, a $15 billion bond authorized a complete remodeling of Los Angeles International Airport—recognized as one of the more congested, disorganized, and unpleasant airports in America. Now the cost to complete the project has grown to an estimated $30 billion, with a proposed finish date of 2028—11 years after the project was authorized. And the ongoing LAX remake is considered one of California’s more successful public construction projects. In 2002, California began construction on the eastern span replacement of the iconic San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge—less than half of the bridge’s total length. It was scheduled to be finished in five years at a cost of $250 million. The job in fact took 11 years. And it cost $6.5 billion—a 2,500 percent increase over the estimate. In contrast, original construction of the entire Bay Bridge began in 1933, at the height of the Great Depression. Yet the job was completed in a little  more than three years. The list of such delayed, canceled, or prolonged projects could be expanded, from the proposed widening of the state’s overcrowded, antiquated, and dangerous north-to-south “freeways” to the now inert Peripheral Canal project that would have allowed the California aqueduct to transfer needed water southward by precluding the present inefficient pumping into and out of the San Francisco delta. So what happened to the can-do California of former governors Pat Brown, Ronald Reagan, George Deukmejian, and Pete Wilson? They had bequeathed to the Baby Boomer generation a well-run state, renowned for its state-of-the-art infrastructure. All four governors, a Democrat and Republicans, had ensured the nation’s most sophisticated higher education system, iconic freeways, and model water transference systems. The current disaster has many parents. A coastal culture of globally rich elites began passing some of the most stringent environmental and zoning regulations in the nation. Such Byzantine roadblocks deliberately stalled construction and skyrocketed costs—all of little concern to the “not-in-my-backyard” wealthy in their secluded coastal enclaves who had ensured the virtual end of infrastructure investments. The state’s public unions and bloated bureaucracies guaranteed Soviet-style overhead, incompetence, and unaccountability. The more California raised its income taxes—currently the nation’s highest topping out at 13.3 percent—the more it borrowed, spent, and ran up huge annual budget deficits. The nation’s highest gasoline taxes along with steep sales and property taxes—coupled with unaffordable fuel and housing, a homeless epidemic, dismal public schools, out-of-control crime, and mass, illegal immigration—soon all led to a bifurcated state of rich and poor. The middle class either became poor or fled. Indeed, businesses and millions of the middle class hightailed it out of California over the last three decades in one of the greatest state population exoduses in our nation’s history. But they also took with them the very prior experience, expertise, and capital that had once made California the nation’s envy. In contrast, millions of impoverished illegal immigrants arrived over the last 30 years without legality, English, or high school diplomas. And thus millions were immediately in dire need of costly state-supplied health, education, housing, and food subsidies. Currently well over half of all California births are paid for by Medi-Cal. Well over a third of the resident population depends on the state to provide all their health care needs. Twenty-seven percent of California’s resident population was not born in the United States. That reality created a vast challenge of civic education to ensure assimilation and integration. Unfortunately, millions entered California at precisely the time of a new tribalism and racial essentialism that has taken hold of the state’s government, media, schools, and universities. Tribalism, not the melting-pot, is California’s paradigm. California is a one-party state. There are no statewide Republican elected officeholders. Progressive Democrats also enjoy a supermajority in both houses of the legislature. Only 12 of 52 congressional seats are held by Republicans. And almost all of California leftwing politicians are funded or influenced by Silicon Valley—the richest corridor in civilizational history, with $9 trillion in market capitalization. In sum, a now broke California became a medieval society of Leftwing ultra-rich and Leftwing ultra-poor. On one end, there was no longer the skill or expertise to modernize the state. And on the other, an elite became more interested in dreaming of heaven on earth for itself as it ensured a veritable hell for others. There is one thing, however, that California does quite well: demolition. Currently it is destroying four dams on the Klamath River that had provided clean hydroelectrical power, water storage, flood control, and recreation. The media, the bureaucracy, and the politicians acted with unaccustomed dispatch to obliterate the dams and thus supposedly to liberate salmon to swim better upstream. And the state is blowing up these dams partly by directing hundreds of millions of dollars voters had allotted for reservoir construction—adding insult to the injury of state voters. A haughty green California also regulated timber companies out of business. It ceased traditional selective logging and clearing of brush from its forests. It also limited cattle grazing of grasses and shrubs. And it embraced  new “natural” forestry initiatives that postulated that rotting dead trees, dense brush, and tall summer grasses—dry kindling for devastating forest fires—created a rich “sustainable” ecosystem for wildlife. Letting nature be would prompt occasional “natural” corrective fires as in the nineteenth-century past. The predictable results were massive, destructive—and once preventable—forest fires in the Sierra Nevada mountains and foothills. During California summers, their vast plumes of soot and smoke have polluted the skies for months and sickened residents, destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses, and wiped out billions of dollars in valuable timber even as lumber prices soared. And California’s lesson for the nation? If you want to topple a statue, re-label an historically named street, burn up millions of pine and fir trees, blow up a dam, turn parks and the public square into dangerous and toxic squatter cities, then the state can do all of that and in record time. But try building something to ensure Californians can travel quickly and in safety, or have affordable power, homes, and fuel, and assured water? All that is simply beyond the current state’s comprehension, ability, and desire. So like modern Vandals or Goths, contemporary Californians are far better destroying the work of others than creating anything of their own. And what is next? We await the 2024 national elections, when a few California politicians may run for our highest offices, no doubt with the campaign promise, “I can do to America what I did to California.” Tyler Durden Mon, 10/02/2023 - 20:20.....»»