It remains somewhat unclear exactly what purpose the newest branch of the American military, the U.S. Space Force, is supposed to serve, but you probably didn’t expect this to be part of their duties:
You have heard of a MW???? but what about a MW?????
Protecting our access to space involves many unique aspects, including welcoming @30thSpaceWing's newest Military Working Horse to their Conservation Military Working Horse program. Ghost is a 5 year old @BLMNational Mustang. pic.twitter.com/r1dAd0plsc
— United States Space Force (@SpaceForceDoD) July 23, 2020
That’s right: The U.S. Space Force has horses. No, they’re not going onto orbit—or attacking an enemy spaceship—but the actual explanation for why the Space Force has them is almost as absurd.
Are you ready? They used to be the Air Force’s horses.
As the video posted to the Space Force’s official Twitter account on Friday explains, the “military working horses” are part of the 30th Space Wing based at the Vandenberg Air Base in California. Prior to the creation of the Space Force, they were part of a conservation program run by the Air Force.
“We are able to go through creeks and water with the horses, high hills that we wouldn’t be able to get through with off-road vehicles,” U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Michael Terrazas explained in a 2019 profile of the program.
Yes, yes. If only the Air Force had the means of getting to places that are difficult for earthbound troops to access, right?
When the Space Force was created last year, the Air Force conservation program was spun off to the new branch. But the horses will continue to do the same work as before: helping enforce decidedly earthbound matters like fish and game laws.
Whether they’re air horses or space horses, the real question is why any branch of the military is doing this. Would America’s national security be weakened in any measurable way if the Space Force horses were put out to a privatized pasture?
The last successful cavalry charge in military history occurred more than a decade before the first man-made satellite went to space. The number of horses that have exited the atmosphere is exactly zero. And yet somehow, within the bizarre labyrinth of bloat and waste that is the Pentagon, it made perfect sense for the Air Force, and now the Space Force, to have horses.
Maybe the military doesn’t really need $738 billion a year after all.
from Latest – Reason.com https://ift.tt/3eZlIyO
via IFTTT
A judge has ruled that KING 5, along with four other Seattle news outlets must comply with a subpoena and give the Seattle Police Department unpublished video and photos from a May 30 racial justice protest….
[Judge Nelson] Lee found that the photos and video were critical for an investigation into the alleged arson of police vehicles and theft of police guns.
[1.] Generally speaking, all of us have an obligation to turn over evidence relevant to criminal cases (including not-yet-filed ones) as well as civil lawsuits. That’s so even if we are just bystanders, for instance if the government (or a civil litigant) seeks recordings from our webcams that happened to record evidence relevant to a case. There are limits to this, and procedures that need to be followed—such as the issuance of subpoenas and hearings before judges—but that’s the general view. It’s a limitation on our liberty and privacy, but one that Anglo-American law has long recognized.
[2.] There are of course familiar exceptions to this rule, with the strongest ones generally being the “privileges”: for attorney-client communications, communications among spouses, and the like. But they are indeed exceptions.
[3.] In Branzburg v. Hayes (1972), the Supreme Court held that the media generally don’t have a broad First Amendment privilege to refuse to turn over even information about confidential sources. Surprisingly, though, many courts (including, in large measure, the Ninth Circuit) have interpreted Justice Powell’s concurrence as recognizing such a privilege, in effect adopting a rule closer to that of the dissent than of the majority (which Justice Powell had expressly joined). And some of those courts read the privilege as applying even to information not drawn from confidential sources, such as to videos of events that took place in public.
I think that’s a misreading of Branzburg, even if one wants to give weight to Justice Powell’s concurrence. Justice Powell was basically calling for at most a modest protection against subpoenas, under which courts would reject subpoenas not issued “in good faith,” and subpoenas for “information bearing only a remote and tenuous relationship” or “without a legitimate need of law enforcement.” (This isn’t far off the standard courts are already supposed to apply to subpoenas of third-party witnesses.) For more on this, see In re Grand Jury Subpoena (Judith Miller) (D.C. Cir. 2006). Nonetheless, I must acknowledge that many courts have recognized a First Amendment newsgatherer’s privilege, though one that can be overcome on a case-by-case basis by sufficiently strong reasons (rather than a more categorical privilege, such as the attorney-client privilege).
[4.] Moreover, many states have adopted statutory privileges, and Washington is one. In relevant part, its statute (which provides at least as much protection as does the Ninth Circuit’s caselaw) reads:
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, no judicial, legislative, administrative, or other body with the power to issue a subpoena or other compulsory process may compel the news media to testify, produce, or otherwise disclose …
(b) Any news or information obtained or prepared by the news media in its capacity in gathering, receiving, or processing news or information for potential communication to the public, including, but not limited to, any notes, outtakes, photographs, video or sound tapes, film, or other data of whatever sort in any medium now known or hereafter devised. This does not include physical evidence of a crime.
(2) A court may compel disclosure of the news or information described in subsection (1)(b) of this section if the court finds that the party seeking such news or information established by clear and convincing evidence:
(a)(i) In a criminal investigation or prosecution, based on information other than that information being sought, that there are reasonable grounds to believe that a crime has occurred; … and
(b) In all matters, whether criminal or civil, that:
(i) The news or information is highly material and relevant;
(ii) The news or information is critical or necessary to the maintenance of a party’s claim, defense, or proof of an issue material thereto;
(iii) The party seeking such news or information has exhausted all reasonable and available means to obtain it from alternative sources; and
(iv) There is a compelling public interest in the disclosure. A court may consider whether or not the news or information was obtained from a confidential source in evaluating the public interest in disclosure.
It appears from news accounts that Judge Lee applied this statute, and found that the elements were satisfied. There is no written opinion from Judge Lee yet, though one is expected in the next several days
from Latest – Reason.com https://ift.tt/2OXPQ2J
via IFTTT
It remains somewhat unclear exactly what purpose the newest branch of the American military, the U.S. Space Force, is supposed to serve, but you probably didn’t expect this to be part of their duties:
You have heard of a MW???? but what about a MW?????
Protecting our access to space involves many unique aspects, including welcoming @30thSpaceWing's newest Military Working Horse to their Conservation Military Working Horse program. Ghost is a 5 year old @BLMNational Mustang. pic.twitter.com/r1dAd0plsc
— United States Space Force (@SpaceForceDoD) July 23, 2020
That’s right: The U.S. Space Force has horses. No, they’re not going onto orbit—or attacking an enemy spaceship—but the actual explanation for why the Space Force has them is almost as absurd.
Are you ready? They used to be the Air Force’s horses.
As the video posted to the Space Force’s official Twitter account on Friday explains, the “military working horses” are part of the 30th Space Wing based at the Vandenberg Air Base in California. Prior to the creation of the Space Force, they were part of a conservation program run by the Air Force.
“We are able to go through creeks and water with the horses, high hills that we wouldn’t be able to get through with off-road vehicles,” U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Michael Terrazas explained in a 2019 profile of the program.
Yes, yes. If only the Air Force had the means of getting to places that are difficult for earthbound troops to access, right?
When the Space Force was created last year, the Air Force conservation program was spun off to the new branch. But the horses will continue to do the same work as before: helping enforce decidedly earthbound matters like fish and game laws.
Whether they’re air horses or space horses, the real question is why any branch of the military is doing this. Would America’s national security be weakened in any measurable way if the Space Force horses were put out to a privatized pasture?
The last successful cavalry charge in military history occurred more than a decade before the first man-made satellite went to space. The number of horses that have exited the atmosphere is exactly zero. And yet somehow, within the bizarre labyrinth of bloat and waste that is the Pentagon, it made perfect sense for the Air Force, and now the Space Force, to have horses.
Maybe the military doesn’t really need $738 billion a year after all.
from Latest – Reason.com https://ift.tt/3eZlIyO
via IFTTT
A judge has ruled that KING 5, along with four other Seattle news outlets must comply with a subpoena and give the Seattle Police Department unpublished video and photos from a May 30 racial justice protest….
[Judge Nelson] Lee found that the photos and video were critical for an investigation into the alleged arson of police vehicles and theft of police guns.
[1.] Generally speaking, all of us have an obligation to turn over evidence relevant to criminal cases (including not-yet-filed ones) as well as civil lawsuits. That’s so even if we are just bystanders, for instance if the government (or a civil litigant) seeks recordings from our webcams that happened to record evidence relevant to a case. There are limits to this, and procedures that need to be followed—such as the issuance of subpoenas and hearings before judges—but that’s the general view. It’s a limitation on our liberty and privacy, but one that Anglo-American law has long recognized.
[2.] There are of course familiar exceptions to this rule, with the strongest ones generally being the “privileges”: for attorney-client communications, communications among spouses, and the like. But they are indeed exceptions.
[3.] In Branzburg v. Hayes (1972), the Supreme Court held that the media generally don’t have a broad First Amendment privilege to refuse to turn over even information about confidential sources. Surprisingly, though, many courts (including, in large measure, the Ninth Circuit) have interpreted Justice Powell’s concurrence as recognizing such a privilege, in effect adopting a rule closer to that of the dissent than of the majority (which Justice Powell had expressly joined). And some of those courts read the privilege as applying even to information not drawn from confidential sources, such as to videos of events that took place in public.
I think that’s a misreading of Branzburg, even if one wants to give weight to Justice Powell’s concurrence. Justice Powell was basically calling for at most a modest protection against subpoenas, under which courts would reject subpoenas not issued “in good faith,” and subpoenas for “information bearing only a remote and tenuous relationship” or “without a legitimate need of law enforcement.” (This isn’t far off the standard courts are already supposed to apply to subpoenas of third-party witnesses.) For more on this, see In re Grand Jury Subpoena (Judith Miller) (D.C. Cir. 2006). Nonetheless, I must acknowledge that many courts have recognized a First Amendment newsgatherer’s privilege, though one that can be overcome on a case-by-case basis by sufficiently strong reasons (rather than a more categorical privilege, such as the attorney-client privilege).
[4.] Moreover, many states have adopted statutory privileges, and Washington is one. In relevant part, its statute (which provides at least as much protection as does the Ninth Circuit’s caselaw) reads:
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, no judicial, legislative, administrative, or other body with the power to issue a subpoena or other compulsory process may compel the news media to testify, produce, or otherwise disclose …
(b) Any news or information obtained or prepared by the news media in its capacity in gathering, receiving, or processing news or information for potential communication to the public, including, but not limited to, any notes, outtakes, photographs, video or sound tapes, film, or other data of whatever sort in any medium now known or hereafter devised. This does not include physical evidence of a crime.
(2) A court may compel disclosure of the news or information described in subsection (1)(b) of this section if the court finds that the party seeking such news or information established by clear and convincing evidence:
(a)(i) In a criminal investigation or prosecution, based on information other than that information being sought, that there are reasonable grounds to believe that a crime has occurred; … and
(b) In all matters, whether criminal or civil, that:
(i) The news or information is highly material and relevant;
(ii) The news or information is critical or necessary to the maintenance of a party’s claim, defense, or proof of an issue material thereto;
(iii) The party seeking such news or information has exhausted all reasonable and available means to obtain it from alternative sources; and
(iv) There is a compelling public interest in the disclosure. A court may consider whether or not the news or information was obtained from a confidential source in evaluating the public interest in disclosure.
It appears from news accounts that Judge Lee applied this statute, and found that the elements were satisfied. There is no written opinion from Judge Lee yet, though one is expected in the next several days
from Latest – Reason.com https://ift.tt/2OXPQ2J
via IFTTT
Seattle Police Abandon Residents As Antifa Uses Twitter, Facebook To Organize Nationwide Protests Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/25/2020 – 12:20
The Seattle Police Department announced on Friday that residents and business owners are essentially on their own, after the City Council banned the use of pepper spray and other ‘less lethal tools’ to disperse crowds.
“Simply put, the legislation gives officers NO ability to safely intercede to preserve property in the midst of a large, violent crowd,” reads a letter from Seattle Chief of Police, Carmen Best – who added that thanks to the City Council, “Seattle Police will have an adjusted deployment in response to any demonstrations this weekend.”
The Seattle police chief is sending out letters telling residents: “We cannot enforce the law. You are on your own.” pic.twitter.com/89jyezSBMS
— Christopher F. Rufo (@realchrisrufo) July 25, 2020
And in anticipation of violent weekend protestscoordinated over social media platforms (which ban conservatives for mean words), Seattle business and police have been boarding up.
.@SeattlePD West Precinct, also SPD HQ, has boarded up their windows and brought in cement barriers to keep “peaceful” protesters from vandalizing and breaking-in. pic.twitter.com/WhMgKhYcpz
— Katie Daviscourt🇺🇸 (@KatieDaviscourt) July 25, 2020
Nationwide coordination
The Portland-based Pacific Northwest (PNW) Youth Liberation Front – which describes itself as a “decentralized network of autonomous youth collectives dedicated to direct action towards total liberation,” has issued a call to action for other Antifa cells across the country on Saturday – calling it “J25” (July 25).
The Federal Government has already waged war against Portland, which has been protesting everyday for 50 days straight, and now feds are going to war against protesters everywhere in an attempt to take control and snuff out the fire of this uprising. We must become more powerful than them.
•Oakland action: 7:30pm, Grant Oscar Plaza.
•Tacoma action: July 24th, 2pm, tollefson plaza.
•Seattle: July 25th, 1pm, Pine and Broadway.
•Portland: July 25th, 8pm, Alberta Park.
•Salem: 6pm, Oregon State Capitol.
•New Jersey: at Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 12, 6pm.
•Washington DC: DuPoint circle, 6pm.
•Eugene, OR: 8:00pm, federal courthouse.
•Los Angeles: 4:30pm, LA city hall.
•Richmond, VA: July, 25th, location TBD.
•Las Vegas: Bellagio fountains, 7pm.
Antifa militant and convicted pedophile David Blake Hampe was arrested in the early hours of Saturday following his alleged stabbing of a black Trump supporter in Portland.https://t.co/WqsB6OS1Xo
Another huge crowd tonight in Portland, including a new “wall” on the front lines: a Wall of Vets.
Here’s a look at the line of military veterans getting set up here in front of the federal courthouse. Behind them, the Wall of Moms and the Wall of Dads are arriving. pic.twitter.com/gGnXHjI3k2
The point of no return may have been reached. The effects of the government-mandated shutdowns due to Covid-19 on businesses — especially small businesses — may not be known for months, even decades, but anyone who is paying attention is beginning to realize we are somewhere new. A place no one could’ve predicted at the beginning of 2020 when onlookers were just anticipating an ugly election year. They got more, much more.
Leaving aside an economy that is at best questionable: the culture, interactions amongst family members and strangers, have been negatively affected in an already insane age where one’s character is judged by whether they believe Donald Trump is “literally Hitler,” an amusing deviation, or “the Messiah who has come to deliver us from the Left.” This cultural phenomenon was already in full swing before the war between the “masked” and “unmasked,” or those who believed CV-19 will “have people dying in hospital parking lots,” and those who look upon it as just a “spicy cold” started.
As if all of this wasn’t enough, in May a video was released of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin with his knee forced onto the neck of a prone George Floyd who died during the 8 minute and 46 second assault. Protests, rioting and looting immediately sprung up in Minneapolis which spread all over the country and continue to the day this is being written. Calls for various sorts of police reform have largely gone ignored by those with the power of change.
Some students of history may look at the past several months and see a government that is out of control. A few may see one that is at the top of their game, especially at the state and local level. Others might see a dying wild animal, losing power and lashing out; a sort of death throes. No matter how it is being interpreted by the onlooker, something big has to happen next. Solutions have to be presented.
Shortages of certain items have already occurred but they are finding their way back onto shelves. But what if another lockdown is ordered? Production precedes demand and if production is further hindered, those shortages that were warned of could become a reality.
It would not be unfair to ask if civility is dead. If people are willing to threaten each other’s livelihoods and, in many cases, yell at strangers in public for everything from politics to how to handle the CV-19 crisis, how does one cope?
If there are dangerous, violent mobs in the streets, how is one to feel safe? If those mobs include the police, is there any reason to be optimistic about the future?
Counter-Economics and Networking
Samuel Edward Konkin III developed the idea of agorism. Many people now call themselves “Agorists” but agorism is something you do. The idea of counter-economics, doing business outside of the government approved market is nothing new. Sam was just the first to give it a name and develop it as a strategy.
Sam’s vision was that if enough people can start to operate outside of the “white market,” interactions where taxes aren’t collected and delivered to the overlords, eventually the State could be starved, and subsequently toppled and replaced by a truly free market. As economist Per Bylund once put it, “agorism in action creates its own institutions and builds the institutions of a free society within the shell of the old. When people start offering services, they create markets and prices. When they have conflicts, they find means to arbitration and protection. That’s what’s so beautiful with counter-economics: by withdrawing your support (stop feeding the beast) and start acting economically in freedom, you bring about the market institutions we will need (and must rely on) when the state fails.”
In the age of forced government lockdowns and potential shortages of bare necessities, the “black” and “gray” markets may become essential for survival. Constantly communicating with your local stores is a good idea. If a store owner feels like a shortage is coming, they may hold back supply for themselves so starting a relationship with them in which they may allow you to buy some of that supply for yourself is smart. For those who can access private farms the same kind of friendship would be prudent for in the experience of this author farmers are more apt to participate in such activities.
Preparation is key and can in many cases save you in a time of hardship.
Counter-Economics and Income
At this point it is no longer just people who are “extremely-online” who are familiar with the putrid phrase “cancel culture.” A few short years (months?) ago it presented itself mostly in the online arena where someone who was making their living in the media or arts said or wrote something that a certain group found so offensive that they made it their goal to get that person fired and to make sure they were not re-hirable anywhere in their industry. A popular example is former Google engineer James Damore who wrote an internal memo where one of the things he suggested was ways tech could appeal to a more diverse demographic, especially women. More recently numerous employees of Cisco were fired for posting “All Lives Matter” on internal message boards.
3D Printer
At a time when even private companies are bending the knee to the mob and destroying people’s livelihoods for having an opinion contrary to an incredibly small minority, it has never been more important to start a side-hustle outside of your day job. Quality 3D-printers can be had for under $300. There are free files all over the web that allow you to make wallets, statues and trinkets that can be sold on eBay, Poshmark, Etsy and other sites that will allow you to bring in tax-free income. People who live in apartments can grow potatoes in 55-gallon drums on their porch and sell them to friends or at the local farmer’s market. Again, untaxed income.
Whatever you come up with just start doing it. Get moving. Protect yourself and your family in these extremely uncertain times.
Counter-Economics and Safety
Contrary to popular opinion the police are not there to protect you. If you are in the process of suffering a home invasion and the closest officer is five minutes away, that can be the longest five minutes of your life. Or it could be the end for you. The protests that have turned into riots and lootings clearly show the police are not only not willing to protect private citizens but, in many cases, they are abandoning their own precincts and allowing the mob to take them over.
If you own firearms get training. In the experience of this author, most firearm instructors work counter-economically. Meaning, they will accept cash in exchange for their services. Many will even teach you how to buy a weapon privately and off the books (no taxes collected) if that is legal in your area. 3D-printers must be mentioned along with CNC machines as they will allow you to manufacture a quality weapon in the privacy of your own home.
That there are still people out there who have experienced the last four months and are relying on the government for necessities, security and safety is a testament to how well the State has convinced us that they are mommy and daddy. The time for begging for scraps and calling for them to act is over. If we are to survive this chaotic epoch, it is incumbent upon the individual to act, that he or she takes matters into their own hands and become as independent from the system as they can. Many lives have already been lost or irreparably damaged due to either the action, or inaction of the State. Make a decision to cast them aside and live free. Death is on the table.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/39sz4SL Tyler Durden
White House Slams SCOTUS Decision Putting Nevada Entertainment Ahead Of Churches Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/25/2020 – 11:21
A divided Supreme Court on Friday evening rejected a request by a rural Nevada church to lift a 50-person cap on religious services.
In a 5-4 ruling, the justices denied the request from the Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley, a Christian church located outside the state’s capital, Carson City, to be held to the same COVID-19 restrictions that allow bars, casinos, gyms, and restaurants to operate at 50% of capacity.
Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley said the attendance cap on religious services was an unconstitutional violation of its First Amendment right to express region freely. It emphasized the willingness to comply with social distancing rules and also asked to be treated like everyone else.
Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative, joined the court’s four liberal justices in refusing the church’s request without explanation. The majority did not elaborate on their decision.
In a strongly worded dissent accompanied by Justices Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh, Justice Samuel Alito wrote it was no surprise that “Nevada would discriminate in favor of the powerful gaming industry and its employees, …but this Court’s willingness to allow such discrimination is disappointing.”
“We have a duty to defend the Constitution, and even a public health emergency does not absolve us of that responsibility, Alito wrote.
He continued, “For months now, States and their subdivisions have responded to the pandemic by imposing unprecedented restrictions on personal liberty, including the free exercise of religion.”
Alito added Washington does not have the ability “to disregard the Constitution for as long as the medical problem persists.”
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote,
“In Nevada, it seems, it is better to be in entertainment than religion. Maybe that is nothing new. But the First Amendment prohibits such obvious discrimination against the exercise of religion.”
David Cortman, senior counsel for Georgia-based Alliance Defending Freedom representing the church, told AP News that “the government treats churches worse than casinos, gyms, and indoor amusement parks in its COVID-19 response, it clearly violates the Constitution,” adding that he was very disappointed in the ruling.
Some on social media weren’t happy about the ruling:
The SCOTUS decision in the Nevada Church Case is unbelievable. At best, each of the lockdown rules were / are arbitrary so why casinos could be open at 50% and not churches is insanity. Justice Roberts has lost his mind.
The White House slammed the high court for putting casinos ahead of churches.
In the SCOTUS ruling against Nevada’s Calvary Chapel today, Justice Gorsuch nails it — it’s a sad day for our country when the high court supports casinos and not churches.
This Supreme Court ruling would be a supreme disappointment to our founding fathers. https://t.co/iGyP8gRSM8
Even though economic conditions were absolutely awful, during the month of June the mainstream media kept insisting that the U.S. economy was “recovering” and the stock market kept surging on every hint of good news.
But now the “economic recovery” narrative is completely dead, because the numbers clearly show that the U.S. economy is rapidly moving in the wrong direction. On Thursday, the Labor Department announced that another 1.416 million Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week. Prior to this year, the all-time record for a single week was just 695,000, and so we are talking about a level of unemployment that is absolutely catastrophic. But what is really alarming many analysts is that the number for last week was quite a bit higher than the number for the week before.
Many states are rolling out new restrictions as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases continues to surge, and this is having a huge impact on economic activity. For months I have been warning that fear of COVID-19 would prevent economic activity from returning to normal levels for the foreseeable future, and that is precisely what has happened.
Overall, more than 52 million Americans have filed new claims for unemployment benefits over the past 18 weeks, and that makes this the biggest spike in unemployment in U.S. history by a very wide margin.
In fact, this dwarfs all previous spikes by so much that the others are not even worth mentioning.
Of course it isn’t just the employment numbers that are depressingly bad. According to Jefferies, in late June 19 percent of all U.S. small businesses were closed, but now that number has risen to 24.5 percent…
As of Sunday, 24.5% of small businesses in the United States were closed, according to Jefferies. That is worse than late June, when only 19% were closed. Jefferies pointed to “particular weakness in COVID hot spots” and noted that small business employment had dropped to levels unseen since the end of May.
Just think about that number for a minute.
Nearly a quarter of all small businesses in the entire country are closed.
And the really bad news is that many of them will never end up reopening.
At the beginning of the pandemic, I received a lot of criticism for stating that many of the small businesses that were shutting down at that time would never open again, but over the long-term the numbers have shown that I was correct.
In fact, Yelp says that a whopping 60 percent of the restaurants that were initially listed as “temporarily closed” on their site are now classified as permanently closed…
It’s tough out there for restaurants and other small businesses.
Yelp’s Economic Average report out Wednesday shows exactly how tough: 60 percent of the 26,160 temporarily closed restaurants on the business review site as of July are now permanently shut. Temporary closures are dropping, and permanent shutdowns are increasing.
Fear of COVID-19 is going to cause a large portion of the population to continue to avoid restaurants for as long as this pandemic persists, and it is becoming clear that it is likely to persist for a long time to come.
We are going to lose so many small and independent places to eat. Many of the big corporate chains that have very deep pockets will survive, at least for a while, but there is simply no replacing what small and independent restaurants mean to our communities.
Bars and clubs are being hit extremely hard as well. According to Yelp, 44 percent of the bars and clubs on their site that were initially listed as “temporarily closed” have now been shut down on a permanent basis…
Bars and clubs are also closing forever at high rates: 44 percent (as of July) of 5,454 temporarily shuttered bars and other nightlife establishments are shut for good.
Other sectors of the economy are doing relatively better, but the overall outlook for small businesses in America is exceedingly bleak.
As many as 76,000 small businesses in New York City – a third of the 230,000 citywide – may never reopen after forced to close during the COVID-19 lockdown, business leaders have warned.
The Partnership for New York City, a not-for-profit organization that connects business leaders with local government, predicted that 76,000 small businesses will never be able to reopen in a report produced by 14 consulting firms.
I know that number is hard to believe, but this is actually happening.
Our politicians want to encourage people “to go back to work”, but for millions upon millions of Americans the jobs that they once had are gone forever.
Air travel is another industry that is being absolutely devastated by this pandemic. After a modest bounce in June, the number of air passengers is starting to fall again…
The resurgence of coronavirus infections is derailing the travel industry’s modest recovery. The number of air passengers processed through TSA security lines fell during the week ended July 20, compared with the prior week, according to Bank of America. This metric is down more than 70% from a year ago.
United (UAL) CEO Scott Kirby told CNBC on Wednesday that the airline doesn’t “expect to get anywhere close to normal until there’s a vaccine that’s been widely distributed to a large portion of the population.”
All of the numbers that I have shared in this article tell us that we are in an economic depression.
Many had hoped that this economic downturn would be short-lived and that a “V-shaped recovery” would commence once the coronavirus lockdowns were lifted.
But instead a resurgence of cases has caused new restrictions to be implemented, and economic activity is slowing down again.
The bottom line is that all of us need to get prepared to weather a long-term economic storm that is going to be incredibly painful.
The last recession was bad, but it isn’t even worth comparing to the times that we are entering now. All of our lives are being turned upside down, and a lot of people are not going to be able to handle what comes next.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2WRiqHu Tyler Durden
“A Valet Stand In A Parking Garage”: World Gets One Step Closer To Calling B*llshit On Musk’s Las Vegas Tunnel Project Tyler Durden
Sat, 07/25/2020 – 10:20
The most high profile win for Elon Musk’s Boring Company – in fact, its only win – has come in the form of a nearly $50 million contract it won from Las Vegas last year to create the “Vegas Loop”.
The project is supposed to be able to help people travel the length of the city’s convention center and it is doing so by digging two 0.83 mile long, 14 foot wide tunnels that will allow “vehicles” to travel underground.
But as a scathing new piece in Curbed points out, the evolution of how Musk originally pitched his hyperloop idea to the world – traveling from New York to San Francisco in what seemed like light speed – is extraordinarily different from what the reality of the Las Vegas project is going to look like when its done.
But that didn’t stop Musk from Tweeting out new renderings of the project, which we will compare to the station that was originally proposed. This was the rendering making its rounds in early 2019, provided by The Boring Company:
And this is how the project looks according to 2020 renderings:
The biggest obvious difference is the “pods” disappearing from the rendering. The project was initially described with 12 passenger pods that would move 4,400 people per hour. Those have now been changed to Tesla Model 3 vehicles in the new rendering.
Hey, that’s one way to get some inventory off your hands.
Since a Model 3 only fits 5, the system’s capacity has been cut in half. Compared to other projects in Las Vegas, this number is hardly impressive. Curbed notes: “An automated tram at the Mandalay Bay resort moves 2,600 passengers per hour; a single New York City subway train can hold 2,000 people and some lines can move up to 30 trains per hour.”
So what is the city getting for its nearly $50 million in hotel tax money – much of which likely won’t even be there in 2020 as the city grapples with the coronavirus? “A valet stand in a parking garage,” Curbed writes. And “station designs that don’t comply with ADA guidelines.”
The project will “move an infinitesimal percentage of the populace, without making the slightest dent in traffic, or carbon emissions, or getting anybody to or from work,” the piece says.
“Even if the tunneling technology were somehow revolutionary — which is debatable — as an infrastructure project, this is now officially less useful than a parking garage.”
And we’re near-certain that the final product is going to look significantly different from both of these renderings, assuming The Boring Company is able to finish it. The project is expected to open by January 2021, which puts it on schedule.
We can’t wait to see it – and we bet Las Vegas taxpayers can’t wait either.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/32RUVBQ Tyler Durden
Zeus punished the hubristic King Sisyphus to roll a huge boulder up a very steep hill in Hades. Before Sisyphus reached the top, the stone rolled down and he had to start all over again.
Hubris is a serious sin that seldom goes unpunished. The arrogance and uber-confidence which TPTB (the powers that be) have displayed in leading the world to ruin will clearly be severely punished. But sadly the punishment will affect the whole world and not just the Elite that caused it.
BANKERS AND GOVERNMENTS HAVE INFLICTED INCREDIBLE DAMAGE
It could be argued that blaming one group for the coming global collapse might be unfair. The world economy has always oscillated between boom and bust and is thus a natural phenomenon like the seasons. But the main difference this time is the incredible damage that governments, central bankers and bankers have inflicted on the world.
In 2006 when the Great Financial Crisis started, US Federal debt was $8.5 trillion and today it is $26.5t. In 14 years debt has more than trebled. GDP in 2006 was $14t and is now $21.5t. So debt to GDP has gone from 60% to 123%.
This is what is called running on empty. US debt creation has nothing to do with investing in productive assets. With the debt to GDP ratio doubling in 14 years it is clear evidence that all the printed money is not going into the real economy but is supporting a bankrupt financial system which has kept the money to prop up their own insolvent balance sheets and to remunerate the top executives with fantasy money.
PRINTED MONEY TO FATTEN CORPORATE EXECUTIVES
The printed money has also gone to inefficient mega-corporations which have leveraged their balance sheets with total borrowings going from $3t in 2006 to $7t today. During the same period, US companies have spent in excess of $6t in share buybacks. So instead of investing in the business, companies have borrowed money in order to buy back their own shares with the purpose of inflating the share price and executive remuneration in options and stocks.
This is hubris of the highest degree. Ignore investing to grow the business. Instead leverage the company to the hilt to inflate the share price and compensation for the top echelon. Will this corporate arrogance go unpunished? The executives will hardly roll a big boulder up a hill in Hades but when the US and global economy collapses and social unrest spreads, the have-nots are not going to treat the haves kindly.
GLOBAL SAND CASTLE BUILT ON MMT
As I have stated many times, it is absolutely guaranteed that the global sand castle resting on worthless debt will crumble. Timing is always tricky and central banks have performed the most outstanding act of wizardry since 2006.
By increasing global debt from $125t in 2006 to $270t today, they have drowned the world in so much worthless money that virtually nobody has understood that it is all fake money and fake wealth that has been created.
Actually, nobody understands it, not even Nobel prize winners who believe that MMT or Modern Money Theory is the solution to everything. You wonder how anybody can believe that creating money out of thin air can actually create wealth. But since so many have benefitted why worry. The Elite has become mega wealthy (measured in fake money) and the masses have a perceived improvement in living standards with more gadgets like cars or iPhones. What few realise is that it all comes from debt. Either increased personal debt or more government borrowing.
BIGGEST SWINDLE IN HISTORY
You can fool most of the people for quite a long time and sadly the world will only realise that all of this was only possible due to the biggest swindle in history. Charles Ponzi or Bernerd Madoff was kindergarten stuff compared to this mega-fraud.
And soon the chickens will come home to roost. Timing is always tricky. It could all happen very quickly as my good friend Alasdair Macleod has described in many excellent articles on KWN. Or it could take 1-2 years longer. Alasdair foresees a bank and currency collapse before the end of 2020. He is not a sensational man but rather a conservative Englishman who has a deep knowledge of both currency and economic matters. Above all he understands history. There we are in full agreement. The majority of economists and bankers think it is different today because they are alive. But they will soon be proven wrong again.
FINAL CURRENCY COLLAPSE COMING NEXT
Whether we go back to for example the Roman Empire in the 3rd century or John Law around 1720, we can see how history repeats itself over and over. Virtually all economic collapses involve a total debasement of the currency. We are now in the very final innings of a global currency collapse. All major currencies are down 97-99% in real purchasing power (gold) since 1971. August 15, 1971 was a significant date for the currency system. That was the day when Nixon pulled the rug of the dollar and thus all currencies since they were tied to the dollar.
With gold no longer backing the currency system and irresponsible governments issuing unlimited amount of debt, this was the beginning of the end of the current currency system. The second leg of the currency race to the bottom started in the early 2000s and since then all currencies are down around 80-85%.
GOLD WILL NOT LOOK BACK
Gold made a temporary peak in 2011 and resumed the uptrend in 2016. The massive amounts of money that have been printed since 2006, and accelerating now in 2020, have not yet been reflected properly in the gold price. But this is what is coming next.
Prospects for a currency collapse have never been greater for the West. This means that the prospects for gold are absolutely outstanding.
NO PHYSICAL TO BACK UP PAPER GOLD
But there are more factors that affect the gold price. There is a massive shortage of physical gold in the futures markets and LBMA system. As gold goes up and the holders of gold ask for physical delivery, there will be no gold available to settle the paper claims. There are only two potential outcomes. A default of the LBMA system which would also mean a total bank collapse. They will attempt to settle the claims in paper money but that will also lead to defaults eventually.
It is of course possible that central banks print trillions of dollars to save the banks so that they can buy the gold. The problem is that there is no gold available at current prices but only at multiples of the current price. And the more money central banks print, the less it will be worth and the more the gold will cost. So a real Sisyphean task that is guaranteed to fail.
INSTITUTIONAL GOLD BUYING
Another important factor is that only 0.5% of world financial assets are in physical gold. As inflation goes up and the bubble assets like stocks, bonds and property collapse, private and institutional investors all want to own gold. Institutions will need gold to protect against inflation and risk. Let’s say that an institution wants to buy around $120m worth of gold and that multiplied a few hundred times for all the institutional demand. Instead of getting 2 tonnes at $1,900 per ounce they will get 200 kilos at $19,000 per ounce. So they have got their $100b of gold but at a price 10x higher. As production can’t be increased, higher demand can only be satisfied by a higher price.
There is of course a total of 170,000 tonnes of gold in the world, including 50% in jewellery and 35,000 tonnes in central bank gold. But only a minuscule percentage of this gold will be available at current prices. Bigger quantities will cost multiples of today’s price. Annual production of gold and scrap gold is all absorbed every year and we have reached peak gold.
Currently Swiss refiners are seeing low demand but this is only the lull after a very hectic period and before the next big move down in stocks and up in the metals.
FOUR FACTORS TO DRIVE THE GOLD PRICE
To summarise, the gold price will be fuelled by four incredibly strong factors:
Major debasement of currencies due to money printing
Substantial shortages of gold in LBMA and Futures markets
Major new private and institutional gold investors entering the market
Only smaller quantities of gold available at current prices
Silver is likely to move 3x as fast as gold but remember that it is very volatile and the corrections will be vicious. If you want to sleep well at night, own only gold. Still with the gold/silver ratio historically high at 93, an allocation of 75% physical gold and 25% in silver, is what we advise our clients currently.
Bigger quantities of precious metals should preferably be stored outside your country of residence and outside the financial system. It is very risky to store wealth preservation assets in a bankrupt banking system whether in the bank’s general vault or in safe deposit boxes.
Gold and silver are in the acceleration phase. The trend will be strongly up but with the normal corrections. The time when you can buy gold below $2,000 and silver below $25 is very limited.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/39rwL2t Tyler Durden
