Drudge lies, fans flames of WWIII based on one guy's opinion: Protests were in Iran only, Israel retaliated in Damascus late Monday after being attacked in Eilat early Monday

                                                                                      WW3 FEARS SOAR

  PROTESTS ERUPT ACROSS MIDDLE EAST  

 

Jerome "Arthur Burns" Powell ignites gold fever

The London PM gold fix soared 437% between 1970 and 1978 using average prices.

Gold is up about 60% since Powell became Fed Chair in February 2018. Gold has risen from about $1333 to $2142 on an average basis.

Gold hits fifth record high in March on Fed rate-cut view :

Gold prices on Thursday hit record highs for the fifth time this month after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled it would press ahead with three rate cuts in 2024 despite elevated inflation.

Spot gold was up 1.1% at $2,209.65 per ounce at after hitting an all-time high of $2,222.39 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures soared 2.4% to $2,212.40. ...

Despite recent high inflation readings, Fed chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank is still likely to reduce interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point by the end of 2024, but that it also depends on further economic data. ...

Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion . . ..

 

Guttmacher: Over 1 million abortions in 2023, 60% by pill

From the story:

 [The 2022 Supreme Court decision] led to a growing reliance on a two-pill regimen to terminate pregnancies, with U.S. abortions administered by pill increasing 10% since 2020, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights advocacy group.

The Institute's report is published every three years and based on data collected from U.S. abortion providers.

The survey found over 1 million total abortions were provided through the U.S. healthcare system in 2023, the first time that number exceeded a million since 2012. ...

The survey likely undercounted the number of abortions in the U.S. since it did not account for terminations obtained outside the formal U.S. healthcare system, such as those done with pills mailed from abroad.

Antifa's anarchist dream comes to Haiti: Bullet ridden bodies in the streets of the safe part of town

Haiti violence: Residents see no end to crisis as capital city reels from gang warfare

12 hours ago

By Will Grant, BBC News, Cap-Haitien, Haiti

Reuters

 

Violence has engulfed the streets of Port-au-Prince

"Port-au-Prince is in panic mode," a friend in the Haitian capital texted me.

Residents of Petionville, a wealthier area of of the city, are shaken after their most violent day so far in the country's spiralling security crisis.

More than a dozen bullet-ridden bodies lay in the street - the victims of the latest gang rampage.

As well as the early morning killing spree, the home of a judge was also attacked - a clear message to the country's elites vying for power.

All this in what is supposedly the safe part of town.

Unicef's executive director, Catherine Russell, has called the situation in Haiti "horrific" and likened the lawlessness to the post-apocalyptic film, Mad Max.

Certainly the latest violence in Port-au-Prince is a reminder, if any were needed, that Haiti remains closer to anarchy than stability.

In that malaise, the UN has also estimated, because of the closure of so many hospitals in the capital, some 3,000 pregnant women were at risk of having to give birth with no maternity care.

More here.

 

Remember the $13 billion poured into Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake?

 

Money is no match against guns, which are strictly prohibited in Haiti, so the vast number of law-abiding people there are completely defenseless against the gangs.

Trumps hit with big fines, but Judge Engoron backed down and didn't dissolve Trump World as promised, Trump certain to appeal

It’s a major reversal after Engoron effectively stripped Trump of his ability to continue as a real estate mogul in New York, recommending at the time that independent receivers begin managing the “dissolution of the canceled LLCs.”

Story. 

The big fines are meant to cover up this fact. The judge knows he went out on a limb on this case and is likely to be overturned.

The novelty of the judgment against Trump will be front and center on appeal to a five-judge panel because there were no victims of Trump's exaggerations:

On appeal to a five-judge panel of the New York Appellate Division - a mid-level state appeals court - Trump's lawyers are expected to reiterate arguments they made to no avail during the trial. They told the judge that lenders at Deutsche Bank were finance experts who were obligated to do their own due diligence and were savvy enough to know that Trump was probably exaggerating his property values. ...

A former Trump banker at Deutsche Bank, David Williams, testified in November that conducting due diligence on information clients provided was standard practice. In one instance, the bank adjusted Trump's net worth down to $2.6 billion from the $4.9 billion he reported, Williams said, adding that such a revision was "not unusual or atypical." ...

Severe penalties in a novel case like this one could potentially be met with skepticism on appeal, legal experts said. They could also prompt appellate judges to consider whether the attorney general overstepped her authority, according to Germain.

"I think the judges are going to have to look carefully at what the powers of the attorney general are here," Germain said. "Are they so broad that any lie can put you out of business, even if nobody believed it?"

More.

 

NATO chief concedes Trump has a point lol

 Stoltenberg knows damn well he might have to deal with Trump again if he's elected in November, and isn't about to alienate him now. After the election and Trump loses? Yeah, maybe then, but not now.

Reported here:

NATO chief concedes 'valid point' of spending criticism as allies up defense budgets

---

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

Susana Vera | Reuters

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg conceded to criticism that some members have been underfinancing the coalition’s defense budget, saying he expects a record 18 allies to meet their military spending goal this year.

His comments come on the footsteps of the controversial remarks of former U.S. president and Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, who said he would not protect NATO nations from Russian hostilities if they fall behind on their membership payments.

Trump’s statements kindled widespread ire from the international community, including from fellow Republicans, drawing Stoltenberg to earlier this week accuse that such a suggestion “undermines all our security.”

“The criticism that you hear is not primarily about NATO, it’s about NATO allies not spending enough on NATO. And that’s a valid point,” Stoltenberg said during a press briefing on Wednesday, in response to a question on whether Trump’s comments aligned with the broader views of Republican officials that the NATO chief has engaged.

“It’s a point and a message that has been conveyed by successive U.S. administrations that European allies and Canada have to spend more, because we haven’t seen fair burden sharing in the alliance,” Stoltenberg added. “The good news is that this is exactly what NATO allies are now doing.”

Reuters got it right, CNBC green lunatics try to soften the blow: "Rental giant Hertz dumps EVs, including Teslas, for gas cars"

Jan 11 (Reuters) - Rental firm Hertz Global Holdings (HTZ.O) is selling about 20,000 electric vehicles, including Teslas, from its U.S. fleet about two years after a deal with the automaker to offer its vehicles for rent, in another sign that EV demand has cooled.

Hertz will instead opt for gas-powered vehicles, it said on Thursday, citing higher expenses related to collision and damage for EVs even though it had aimed to convert 25% of its fleet to electric by 2024 end.

More.

 

Hertz makes ‘agile’ decision to shift strategy and sell EVs, Teslas

Trump promised to build the wall, Biden promised to end fossil fuel lolz

 

Ukraine destroys another Russian warship, CNBC runs Ukraine is losing story instead

 With hopes of victory fading, Ukraine’s fight against Russia could get harder

UKRAINE DESTROYS RUSSIAN WARSHIP
 

You know things have to be pretty bad politically at the Arizona border for its Democrat governor to challenge the do-nothing Democrat president

 

The Biden administration has failed to respond to Governor Hobbs’ request for reimbursement for border security spending.

More.

And Reuters.

Divided Democrats help more divided Republicans pass record high $886 billion NDAA which extends 5.2% pay raise to U.S. military, leaves woke policies intact, authorizes four more months of domestic spying authority

Congress passes $886 billion defense policy bill, Biden to sign into law :

 Congress has passed an NDAA for 63 straight years.

The roll call vote is here. 

 

The real headline is: Dutch Muslims not afraid of Geert Wilders' big win because Dutch system means he will have to compromise

 Muslims in shock over anti-Islam party's Dutch poll win :

"In part the message is that many people are xenophobic and don't want foreigners or Muslims. But another message is that people are very disappointed in 13 years of Rutte," [one Muslim] said. ...

"He will not make the laws alone (other parties) will join and they have to cooperate," Kemal Yildiz, 54, said. "It will be fine," Yildiz added.

 

Economic model lol: Argentina has defaulted, what, nine times since 1816?

 Frontrunner threatening to upend economic model...

Oh yeah. That would be horrible.

The lie of the day comes from Reuters via CNBC

... the national debt, which at $31.4 trillion is roughly equal to the annual output of the economy.

 

More.

 

1Q2023 GDP, 2nd estimate: Nominal: $26.4863 trillion.

 

118% is not "roughly equal".

 

And look what has happened to interest payments on the debt, which come out of current revenues. They have gone vertical. At $929 billion annualized, they represent 31.4% of current tax receipts annualized.

 

Everyone minimizing the gravity of this situation is whistling past the graveyard when government social benefits to persons already exceed the tax receipts.

 

This will continue until it can't, and great will be the fall of it.

 

 

Before the election Biden declared the pandemic over, then he declared it on again afterwards but WaPo just ignores that

Biden still hasn't "shut down the virus".

 

 

782,913 out of 10 million in the v-safe program reported seeking medical attention following a COVID-19 vaccination according to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the CDC

 Reuters, October 12, 2022

Despite FDA approval of mRNA COVID vaccines, you still can't sue the pharmaceutical companies, and the only government program adjudicating cases is hopelessly overwhelmed

This story is outrageous.

The bastards.

You are already completely out of luck if you received a jab more than one year ago and haven't filed a claim for an injury.

Some excerpts, but make sure to read the whole thing.

Reuters (June 16, 2022):

Part of the Health Resources and Services Administration, the CICP was designed to be “the payer of last resort” for people who suffered injuries from treatments or “countermeasures” related to “a declared pandemic, epidemic or security threat” like Ebola or anthrax. Payouts are limited to unreimbursed medical expenses and up to $50,000 a year in lost wages, with no provisions for pain and suffering or legal fees. A death benefit of $370,376 is also available. 

The CICP is the only option under current law for people seeking damages for COVID-19 vaccine-related injuries. 

Per a declaration under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, the federal government indemnified the vaccine makers, which are not party to CICP proceedings. A Pfizer spokesman declined comment. Media representatives from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson did not respond to requests for comment. 

Until March 2020, the CICP attracted little attention, deciding fewer than 500 cases in its entire history. It’s now drowning in a 16-fold spike in claims, with more than 5,400 COVID-19 vaccine injury cases pending. Another 2,990 allege injuries or death from other COVID-19 countermeasures, such as being placed on a ventilator. ... At the current rate of adjudication – 18 cases a month, by my calculation – it will take 38 years to get through the backlog. That’s not much help for claimants who are unable to work or pay rent right now. ... 

Without exception, the CICP requires claims to be filed within one year of vaccination.

Italy has another opportunity to vote for someone who wants to end the immigration emergency: Giorgia Meloni of The Brothers of Italy Party

Giorgia Meloni, leading the race to become Italy's next prime minister, was accused on Monday of shameful electioneering by her rivals after posting a video of a Ukrainian woman being raped by a migrant in an Italian city. ...

Meloni, whose Brothers of Italy party heads the polls ahead of a Sept. 25 national election, tweeted the video, which had been posted on a newspaper website with the image blurred but the woman's cries clearly audible.

"One cannot remain silent in the face of this atrocious episode of sexual violence against a Ukrainian woman carried out in daytime in Piacenza by an asylum seeker," Meloni wrote.

"A hug to this woman. I will do everything I can to restore security to our cities."

Reuters.

Reuters has "MAGA" on the brain

 Here.

 

 

LOL, Bitcoin mining operations in Texas threaten power limits, perverse grid operator blames coal and natural gas plants for being offline when overreliance on wind in summer is to blame

 From the story here: 

ERCOT blamed forced outages at coal- and natural gas-fed power plants, and low wind power generation. A spokesperson declined to provide details on the number or type of generating plants that were offline and prompted conservation measures. ... As on Monday, it avoided forced cuts when big power consumers agreed to halt operations. Lee Bratcher, president of Texas Blockchain Council, said all of the state's large-scale Bitcoin mining operations, which consume about 1,000 megawatts, are currently offline because of ERCOT's call for conservation and high power prices.