Month: August 2024

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

The Biden administration’s parole program allowing tens of thousands of migrants from four countries into the United States has been put on hold after an internal report found “massive fraud” in its application process.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Friday that it has temporarily stopped granting new travel authorizations “out of an abundance of caution,” while it reviews sponsor applications.

The pause was initiated after an internal report by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) found the use of fraudulent information in thousands of application forms filed by sponsors. The report was obtained by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

A DHS spokesperson said in a statement to news outlets that the department takes any abuse of the program’s application processes “very seriously.”

“DHS has review mechanisms in place to detect and prevent fraud and abuse in our immigration processes,” the spokesperson said.

“Where fraud is identified, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will investigate and litigate applicable cases in immigration court and make criminal referrals to the Department of Justice,” it added.

The CHNV parole program was set in motion for Venezuelans by President Joe Biden in October 2022 and was intended to help ease the number of illegal border crossings by flying people from certain countries directly to the United States. It was expanded in January 2023 to include Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua.

The program allows up to 30,000 migrants from the four countries into the United States each month, provided they meet certain conditions, including having a sponsor in the United States who will provide them financial support.

DHS promised to resume application processing “as quickly as possible, with appropriate safeguards,” noting that it had not identified “issues of concern” relating to the screening and vetting of beneficiaries.

“The multi-layered screening and vetting for advanced travel authorizations is separate from the screening of U.S.-based supporters,” the DHS spokesperson said.

Internal Report Finds Fraudulent Information

An internal report by USCIS found the use of fake social security numbers (SSNs) and false phone numbers in application forms. It found that some phone numbers were not standardized U.S. phone numbers and some had 11 digits.

In one instance, a sponsor’s phone number appeared in more than 2,000 forms submitted by 200 sponsors. The report found that 100 physical addresses were used in more than 19,000 application forms.

The report stated that 100,948 forms were filed by 3,218 serial sponsors, indicating the repeated use of the same sponsors in multiple forms. It also found that 24 out of 1,000 most used SSNs belonged to a deceased person.

FAIR said the report was based on a review conducted by USCIS of more than 2.6 million sponsor application forms received by the agency as of April 17.

These applications were submitted electronically and reviewed by personnel “who simply deem the application sufficient.” Out of the total applications received, nearly 529,000 applications were approved and 118,000 were rejected.

Rep. Mark Greene (R-Tenn.), chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, called on the Biden administration to terminate the parole program immediately.

Greene said DHS’s pause on the program “vindicates every warning” the committee had issued about the program.

“This is exactly what happens when you create an unlawful mass-parole program,” he said in a statement.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) criticized the Biden administration’s move to implement the program and urged it be “shut it down permanently.”

“This program should have never existed in the first place. It’s just another way the Biden-Harris Administration has welcomed hundreds of thousands of aliens into our country, unchecked,” he stated on X.

At least 494,799 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela have been allowed entry into the country under the administration’s CHNV parole program through June 2024, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Florida and Texas have received the most parole participants.

Regional and international sources, including Reuters, continue to report on Russian forces making steady gains in Ukraine’s east. But now these gains are coming so rapidly that Ukrainian civilians are having to hastily flee their homes amid the onslaught. 

Reuters for example speaks of a “wave of people fleeing Russian advances on several fronts in the eastern region of Donetsk, as Moscow batters” steadily across Ukraine’s defensive front lines.

“Pressing home their advantages in manpower and weapons, Russian forces have fought their way towards major towns and supply routes in pursuit of their goal of full control of Ukraine’s industrialized and mineral-rich Donbas,” the report continues.

Ukrainian officials have of late admitted that Russia has almost captured and solidified its hold over all of Donetsk Oblast. President Zelensky on Friday acknowledged Pokrovsk sector to be scene of the “most severe battles” and now a prime target for Moscow. According to the latest gains:

One recent advance has allowed Russia to open a salient only 20 km (12 miles) from Pokrovsk, an important logistical hub and still home to about 60,000 people. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday that Pokrovsk was now Russia’s main target.

Moscow has claimed control of four villages east of Pokrovsk in the last week. Ukraine did not comment on those claims.

Russian soldiers have reached the edge of Toretsk, where the regional governor said a week ago that only 3,500 people were left, just over 10% of the prewar population. More have since been evacuated by authorities and humanitarian organizations.

Russian Telegram channels report a drone attack on the Slavyansk-EKO refinery, Ilsky oil refinery, and a bitumen plant in Russia’s Krasnodar region last night.

Locals report multiple explosions and fires. According to eyewitnesses, the explosions did not stop for more than 30… pic.twitter.com/oyXBVg9eW3

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) April 27, 2024

As for offensive actions, Kiev as appeared somewhat helpless on key front lines in the east, and so instead has chosen to continue escalating its highly provocative cross-border operations. 

On Saturday Russian officials said that some 55 drones were launched against the Rostov region, with at least 36 of them being intercepted.

But reportedly a number of targets still suffered damage. Ukraine says it successfully degraded Russian military capabilities across three regions, including strikes on an airfield and fuel depots.

In addition to making Russia’s Morozovsk Airbase completely uninhabitable last night, at least 6 Ukrainian attack drones successfully struck a large Russian fuel storage depot in Rostov Oblast, setting several storage tanks ablaze. pic.twitter.com/r6q6QGuNm8

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) August 3, 2024

Local Russian officials confirmed fires at tanks at a fuel storage depot in the Kamensky district of Rostov on Saturday. Belgorod also saw oil storage depots on fire, but the blaze was quickly extinguished.

Rostov oblast governor said some civilian infrastructure was damaged, announcing on Telegram, “At the moment we have recorded damage to the windows in several social facilities, including schools and kindergartens, as well as in residential houses and industrial premises.” 

At this point is has become clear that no matter how many weapons the West pours into Ukraine’s military, it is Russia’s ability to overwhelm the front with more manpower and artillery ammo that is making all the difference.

Authored by Summer Lane via The Epoch Times,

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors this week approved an ordinance establishing a student loan forgiveness program for first responders in the city, if voters approve the measure during the November election.

The ordinance, sponsored by Supervisors Ahsha Safaí, Matt Dorsey, and Shamann Walton, will allow voters to decide if the city’s administrative code should be amended for the purpose.

The fund would pay outstanding student loans and job-related educational training expenses for first responders employed by the city, according to the proposal.

It would apply to members of the police, fire, and sheriff’s departments. Paramedics, registered nurses, 911 dispatchers, and emergency supervisors and coordinators would also qualify, per the ordinance.

During a rules committee meeting July 22, Safaí, who is running for mayor this year, said staffing shortages among first responders in the city had become a “dire situation.” He also described the public safety and healthcare system in San Francisco as “severely strained.”

“We need creative incentives to prevent a catastrophic breaking point and ensure that we can attract and retain excellent, qualified candidates to serve our city’s public safety ecosystem,” he said.

Safaí said the ordinance, if passed, would go into effect Jan. 1, 2025.

To qualify, candidates would also have to be employed for at least three years, he said.

“These are all the people we count on every single day, and we must prioritize proper staffing levels,” he said.

According to a letter from the city controller’s office in July, funding for the program would be appropriated by the mayor and the board of supervisors or private donations.

According to Safaí, the ordinance’s goal is to build the loan forgiveness and job training fund to $25 million and provide up to $25,000 in loan forgiveness and job training for each qualifying employee.

The ordinance needs more than 50 percent approval from voters to pass.

Less than a week after people were snickering over Kamala Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff taking a SoulCycle class with “a gay couple friend” in West Hollywood when he learned of President Biden’s decision to step out of the 2024 race – the Daily Mail wants us to know that Emhoff cheated on his first wife Kerstin with their blonde nanny, Najen Naylor, who also taught at their children’s private school.

Emhoff’s cheating ‘scandal’ is said to be causing “panic in Harris’s campaign.”

According to the report:

Emhoff, 59, and movie producer ex-wife Kerstin, 57, ended their 16-year marriage in 2009 when she discovered the affair, the sources said. Their daughter Ella was 10 and son Cole was 15 at the time.

Sources claimed that after the affair, Naylor had to leave her job as a teacher at The Willows, an elite private elementary school in Culver City, California, where she had been teaching the Emhoff children and moonlighting as a nanny for the couple.

Employment records obtained by DailyMail.com show Naylor worked at The Willows in 2009. She is friends on Facebook with current staff. -Daily Mail

A close friend with knowledge of the affair and pregnancy told the Mail that Naylor didn’t keep the child – however a mysterious baby girl named Brook appeared on her social media feed in 2009, the year the baby would have been born.

Emhoff admitted to the affair, telling CNN‘s Edward-Isaac Dovere, “During my 1st marriage, Kerstin and I went through some tough times on account of my actions. I took responsibility, and in the years since, we worked through things as a family and have come out stronger on the other side.”

NEWS: @DouglasEmhoff to me:

“During my 1st marriage, Kerstin and I went through some tough times on account of my actions. I took responsibility, and in the years since, we worked through things as a family and have come out stronger on the other side.” https://t.co/tTkiGEq6bY

— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) August 3, 2024

Democrats on one of their own cheating:

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has scheduled a mid-August status conference in the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, while denying his legal team’s motion to dismiss the indictment.

The status conference, set for Aug. 13 in a Washington, D.C., federal courthouse, will address procedural matters and help determine the next steps in the proceeding, reads an order signed by Chutkan on Aug. 3.

Chutkan ordered both the prosecution and the defense to submit a joint status report by Aug. 9, which will update the court on the progress of the case and can include such information as any agreements or disputes between the parties, as well as completed tasks and upcoming deadlines.

In the same order, Chutkan granted a brief stay on the briefing deadlines for special counsel Jack Smith’s motion seeking to limit the evidence and arguments that Trump’s legal team can introduce during the trial, particularly those that prosecutors argue are irrelevant or prejudicial.

Specifically, the government’s motion seeks to exclude evidence related to Trump’s claims of selective prosecution, alleged investigative misconduct, and speculative theories about foreign influence or undercover agents during the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol. Smith has also asked the judge to disallow arguments meant to sway the jury with political rhetoric or potential consequences of a conviction, and to impose limits on cross-examination by the defense, including potential testimony on Trump’s state of mind or belief that the 2020 election was stolen.

Chutkan’s order also denied without prejudice Trump’s motion to dismiss the indictment, which was filed on statutory grounds. Trump attorneys claim in their motion that Smith’s indictment improperly applied legal statutes, while arguing that the charges filed failed to demonstrate any acts of deceit or trickery necessary to establish conspiracy to defraud the United States, a key charge leveled against the former president in the case.

Smith’s team charged Trump with four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and to obstruct an official proceeding, in a case that centers on the former president’s actions after the 2020 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty, arguing that the case is motivated by political animus against him and is designed to thwart his 2024 presidential campaign.

Trump counsel also argued in the motion to dismiss that Trump’s public comments and actions to contest the results of the 2020 election were lawful exercises of his First Amendment rights and do not amount to obstruction of a government function. They also claimed that the indictment lacked the specificity required to support claims of corrupt intent, while arguing that the legal statutes cited by Smith’s team in the indictment should be interpreted more narrowly to avoid criminalizing legitimate political activity.

A request for comment sent to Trump counsel regarding Chutkan’s rejection of the motion to dismiss was not immediately returned.

The renewed activity in the case, which had been put on hold pending Trump’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on arguments he was immune from prosecution, occurred after the case was returned to Chutkan on Aug. 2, paving the way for further motions and hearings.

The Supreme Court ruled on July 1 that Trump is entitled to some immunity, based on the high court’s finding that presidents have absolute immunity for actions within their “conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority,” presumptive immunity for official acts, and no immunity for unofficial acts.

The Supreme Court justices sent the case back to district court, leaving it up to Chutkan to decide how to apply the ruling to the case.

The US embassy in Lebanon has issued an alert warning American citizens to exit Lebanon on “any ticket available” as the likelihood of a major war between Israel and Hezbollah as well as Iran grows.

A series of international and Western airlines have suspended service to the region as a the specter of all-out war looms. The embassy said that though there have been service stoppages and cancellations, “commercial transportation options to leave Lebanon remain available.”

“We encourage those who wish to depart Lebanon to book any ticket available to them, even if that flight does not depart immediately or does not follow their first-choice route,” the embassy stated.

Starting in late June, Biden’s special envoy Amos Hochstein warned the Lebanese government, “The US won’t be able to hold Israel back if the situation on the border continues to escalate and that Hezbollah needs to indirectly negotiate with Israel instead of ratcheting up tensions.”

Hezbollah Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah has warned of a “new phase” in the war following an Israeli airstrike targeting and killing his top military chief Fuad Shukr this week.

Iran has already signaled what this will look like, with its Permanent Mission to the United Nations on Saturday saying in a statement to CBS that the group is expected to strike deeper inside Israel and that it will no longer confine itself to military targets.

The Iranian statement outlined that so far Hezbollah has limited itself according to an “unwritten understanding” or status quo engagement with Israel “confining their actions to border areas and shallow zones, targeting primarily military objectives.”

“However, the [Israeli] regime’s attack on the Dahieh [neighborhood] in Beirut and the targeting of a residential building marked a deviation from these boundaries,” the statement added. 

“We anticipate that, in its response, Hezbollah will choose both broader and deeper targets, and will not restrict itself solely to military targets and means,” the spokesperson emphasized.

The Department of State has raised its Lebanon Travel Advisory from Level 3: Reconsider Travel to Level 4: Do Not Travel. We recommend that U.S. citizens enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive alerts. https://t.co/vE02vvquJg pic.twitter.com/7baXCRN5oV

— U.S. Embassy Beirut (@usembassybeirut) July 31, 2024

If the situation begins to spiral, it is likely the US military will use its significant naval assets in the Mediterranean to begin evacuating American nationals from Lebanon. Often the first place Israel bombs is Beirut’s lone international airport.

On Friday night US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered additional navy cruisers, destroyers and a fighter squadron to deploy to the Middle East.

Authored by Daniel Lacalle via The Mises Institute,

Why is the price of gold rising if the global economy is not in recession and inflation is allegedly under control? This is a question often heard in investment circles, and I will try to answer it.

We must begin by clarifying the question. It is true that inflation is slowly decreasing, but we cannot say that it is under control. Let us remember that the latest CPI data in the United States was 3% annualized and that in the eurozone it is 2.6%, with eight countries publishing data above 3%, including Spain.

This is why central banks need to give the impression of hawkishness and maintain rates or lower them very cautiously. However, monetary policy is far from being restrictive. Money supply growth is picking up, the ECB maintains its “anti-fragmentation mechanism,” and the Federal Reserve continues to inject money through the liquidity window. We can say, without a doubt, that monetary policy is beyond accommodative.

At the end of this article, the price of gold is above $2,400 an ounce, up 16.5% between January and July 19, 2024. In the same period, gold has performed better than the S&P 500, the Stoxx 600 in Europe, and the MSCI Global. In fact, over the past five years, gold has outperformed not only the European and global stock markets, but also the S&P 500, with only the Nasdaq surpassing the precious metal. This is a period of alleged recovery and strong expansion of the stock markets. On the one hand, the market is discounting the central banks’ continued accommodative and expansionary policies, even possible high debt monetization, given the unsustainable deficits in the United States and developed countries. That is, the market assumes that the Federal Reserve and the ECB will not be able to maintain the reduction of their balance sheets in the face of rising debt and public spending in many economies. As a result, gold protects many investors against the erosion of the currency’s purchasing power, i.e., inflation, without the extreme volatility of Bitcoin. If the market discounts further monetary expansion to cover the accumulated deficits, it is normal for the investor to seek protection with gold, which has centuries of history as an alternative to fiduciary money and offers a low-volatility hedge against currency debasement.

Another important factor is the central bank’s purchase of gold. JP Morgan is credited with the phrase “gold is money and everything else is credit.” All the world’s central banks include treasury bonds from countries that serve as global reserve currencies in their asset base. This allows central banks around the world to try to stabilize their currencies. When we read that a central bank buys or sells dollars or euros, it is not making transactions with physical currency but with government bonds. Hence, as the market price of government bonds has fallen 7% between 2019 and 2024, many of these central banks are facing latent losses from a slump in the value of their assets. What is the best way to strengthen a central bank’s balance sheet, thereby diversifying and reducing exposure to fiat currencies? Purchase gold.

The rising purchases of gold by central banks are an essential factor justifying the recent increase in demand for the precious metal. Central banks, especially in China and India, are trying to reduce their dependence on the dollar or the euro to diversify their reserves. However, this does not mean full de-dollarization. Far from it.

According to the World Gold Council, central banks have accelerated their gold purchases to more than 1,000 tonnes per year in 2022 and 2023. This means that monetary authorities account for almost a quarter of the annual demand for gold during a period when supply and production have not grown significantly. The ratio of output to demand stands at 0.9 in June 2024, according to Morgan Stanley.

Global official gold reserves have increased by 290 net tonnes in the first quarter of 2024, the highest since 2000, according to the World Gold Council, 69% higher than the five-year quarterly average (171 metric tonnes).

The People’s Bank of China and the Central Bank of India are the biggest buyers as they aim to balance their reserves, adding more gold to reduce loss-making exposure to government securities. According to Metals Focus, Refinitiv GFMS, and the World Gold Council, China has been increasing its gold purchases for seventeen months, and since 2022, it has shot up its reserves by 16%, coinciding with the increase in global polarization and the trade wars.

That does not mean full de-dollarization, as the People’s Bank of China has 4.6% of its total reserves in gold. US Treasury bonds are the most important asset, accounting for more than 50% of the Chinese central bank’s assets. However, its goal is to raise gold reserves to at least 14%, according to local media. Thus, it would imply a significant annual purchase of gold for years.

India’s central bank increased its gold reserves by 19 metric tonnes during the first quarter. Other central banks that are diversifying and buying more gold than ever are the National Bank of Kazakhstan, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Central Bank of Qatar, the Central Bank of Turkey, and the Central Bank of Oman, according to the sources cited above. During this period, both the Czech National Bank and the National Bank of Poland increased their gold reserves in Europe, reaching the highest level since 2021. In these cases, the aim is to balance the exposure in the asset base with more gold and less eurozone government bonds.

The goal of this central bank trend is to increase the weight of an asset that does not fluctuate with the price of government bonds. It is not about de-dollarization but about balancing the balance sheet from the volatility created by their own misguided expansionary policies. For years, the policy of central banks has been to reduce their gold holdings, and now they must come back to logic and rebalance after suffering years of latent losses on their government bond holdings. In fact, one could say that the world’s central banks anticipate their own widespread erosion of the purchasing power of reserve currencies due to the saturation of fiscal and monetary policies, and for that reason, they need more gold.

After years of thinking that money can be printed without limits and without creating inflation, monetary authorities are trying to return to logic and have more gold on their balance sheets. At the same time, many expected that the trade war between China and the United States and global polarisation would be reversed in the Biden years, and the opposite has happened. It has accelerated. Now, the latent losses in the sovereign bond asset portfolio are leading all these central banks to buy more gold and try to protect themselves from new bursts of inflationary pressures.

In an era of high correlation between assets and perpetual monetary destruction, gold serves as a low volatility, low correlation, and strong long-term return addition to any prudent portfolio.

Authored by Steve Watson via modernity.news,

Donald Trump has claimed that Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg reached out to him to let him know that he admires Trump’s reaction to the attempt on his life and that he won’t be supporting the Democrats in the upcoming election.

Trump made the comments in a Fox News interview, noting “I was called by Mark Zuckerberg, yesterday, the day before… He actually announced that he can’t support a Democrat, because he can’t because he respected me for what I did that day.”

Trump added that Zuckerberg told him that he thought the reaction of standing up after being shot was “brave,” even though Trump considers it just “a normal response.”

Donald Trump has claimed that Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg reached out to him to let him know that he admires Trump’s “brave” reaction to the attempt on his life and that he won’t be supporting the Democrats in the upcoming election. Report here: https://t.co/lOR6OsFpBX pic.twitter.com/vSsKNXZ0x2

— m o d e r n i t y (@ModernityNews) August 3, 2024

Trump also claimed that Zuckerberg “actually apologized, he said he made a mistake,” for Facebook initially censoring the iconic image of Trump fist pumping the air.

The ‘mistake’ apparently stemmed from the fact that someone altered the original image.

“I believe Mark Zuckerberg,” Trump further declared, explaining “he called me a lot, they are working on it, and I think they fixed it, and he’s not doing what he did four years ago with the $500 million,” referring to huge grants Zuckerberg gave to Democrat supporting non profit organisations four years ago.

Trump added that “no one called from Google” after it emerged that search results on the assassination attempt had been repressed.

“Google has been very bad,” Trump continued, adding “they’ve been very irresponsible. And I have a feeling that Google’s going to be close to shut down, because I don’t think Congress is going to take it. I really don’t think so. Google has to be careful.”

As we previously highlighted, Zuckerberg admitted that he believes Trump’s reaction after the failed assassination attempt was the one of the most “badass” things he’s ever witnessed.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

When yesterday we said, when discussing Buffett’s ongoing liquidation of his Bank of America stake, that “Berkshire’s rising cash stockpiles merely reflect the firm’s inability to find deals in today’s overvalued and weak economic environment”, little did we know just how accurate that would be, because fast-forwarding just one day later we find that far from only dumping Bank of America, the 93-year-old Omaha billionaire had been busy quietly dumping his most iconic holding in an unprecedented selling spree that sent Berkshire’s cash pile soaring by a record $88 billion to an all time high $277 billion at the end of Q2.

As shown in the chart below, in the second quarter (which ended June 30, and thus just two weeks after the Apple’s Developer Conference which took place on June 10 and which was – at least on the day of – a total bust), Berkshire sold a net $75.5 billion worth of stock, the bulk of which we now know, came from Buffett’s liquidation of half his Apple shares.

While there was no 13F filed yet to go with the Berkshire’s 10Q, the company did provide a snapshot of its top holdings, revealing that as of June 30 it held only $84.2 billion in Apple stock, down sharply from $135.4 billion as of March 31 and $174.3 billion as of Dec 31, 2023. This translates into just 400 million shares of AAPL held as of June 30, down almost 50% from 789.4 million as of March 31 and 905.6 million as the end of 2023.

The rest of Berkshire’s top 5 holdings (Bank of America, American Express, Coca Cola and Chevron) was left untouched in Q2, meaning that Buffett clearly decided that it was time for Apple to go (we have since learned that subsequent to the end of Q2, Buffett also started to dump a large portion of his Bank of America shares where he is the single largest shareholder).

While Berkshire’s cash balance rose by a record $88 billion – where proceeds from the sale of Apple were the bulk of the new cash – the company also generated substantial cash from its own operations, and in Q2 Berkshire reported operating earnings of $11.6 billion, up from $10 billion for the same period a year ago.

Berkshire has for years struggled to find ways to deploy its mountain of cash in a sluggish deal environment, lamenting the lack of cheap opportunities. At the firm’s annual shareholder meeting in May, Buffett said he wasn’t in a rush to spend “unless we think we’re doing something that has very little risk and can make us a lot of money.” It now appears that not only was Buffett not in a rush to spend, but taking advantage of the AI bubble, he has been aggressively liquidating his biggest holding.

What is perhaps most remarkable is when and how Buffett dumped half his Apple holdings: Berkshire managed to offload a stunning $84 billion, or some 390 million shares, in AAPL at a time when the stock was appreciating rapidly, and especially after the meltup following the WWDC24 developer conference. In other words, the smart money was furiously dumping to retail, because as we noted at the time, hedge funds were certainly not buying tech at this time, as we reported on July 1 in “Getting Out Of Dodge: Hedge Funds Are Selling And Shorting Stocks At The Fastest Pace In Two Years“, almost as if they had notice that Buffett was dumping…

It also makes one wonder if Buffett may not have had something to do with Apple’s bizarre performance after the WWDC24 conference. As a reminder, the kneejerk response to Tim Cook’s “earthshattering” reveal of a chatGPT Siri was a huge dud, with the stock dumping on the day of WWDC24.

*APPLE EXTENDS DECLINE AMID DEVELOPER CONFERENCE PRESENTATION

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) June 10, 2024

It wasn’t until the next day when, thanks to a relentless barrage of bullish sellside reports and kickstarted by a furious buyback order from the company itself, the stock proceeded to surge and regain the world’s most valuable slot from Microsoft. Almost makes one wonder if Buffett didn’t call in a few favors from his banker friends on this one…

Finally, it’s not just AAPL that Buffett believes is overvalued and is aggressively dumping: the billionaire clearly believes the entire market is way expensive, and Berkshire bought back only $345 million of its own shares during the quarter, the lowest amount since the company changed its buyback policy in 2018. It’s hardly a surprise why:  as we noted in “Berkshire’s Growing Cash Pile Has A Hidden Message On Stocks” the Buffett Indicator has rarely signaled a more expensive market.

Bottom line: unlike October 2008, when Buffett led the clarion call to “Buy American“, this time he is selling American at a never before seen pace.

Are you?

One thing we know, Buffett is fearful.

Authored by Savannah Fortis via CoinTelegraph.com,

The Worldcoin Foundation has announced that its World ID-issuing orb has been introduced in Austria, which adds another location in Europe with access to its digital identity verification technology. 

As of July 31, residents of Vienna over the age of 18 can verify their World ID at several locations throughout the city, joining a network of over 6.3 million users worldwide.

Worldcoin in Europe

Tools for Humanity, the Germany-based company operating Worldcoin, is complying with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

The project has also consulted with the Austrian data protection authority to address privacy and data security concerns. The company emphasized that World ID verification does not collect additional personal data beyond the iris scan required for the process.

Friederike Lumbroso-Baumgartner, the general manager at Tools for Humanity for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, stated that the project aims to rapidly expand its reach:

“Our goal is to enable as many people as possible to obtain the World ID quickly.”

Worldcoin said that Austrians interested in the initiatives can become Worldcoin ambassadors to help spread “awareness and understanding of the project.”.

The launch in Austria follows a similar launch that recently took place in Germany, which comes after an investigation into Worldcoin by the Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision, or BayLDA, over concerns of biometric data collection.

Reports revealed that the BayLDA probed Worldcoin’s activities back in November 2022.

The company has faced skepticism from other governmental agencies across the globe, including in Spain, where it has halted operations for the time being.

Mixed reception

Along with Spain, it has been asked to stop services in Hong Kong, where the region’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data concluded that Worldcoin’s operations violated its Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.

At the same time, the company has been actively working toward compliance with local privacy laws, in an attempt to gain more trust from users and regulators worldwide. In May, Worldcoin upped its security by open-sourcing its biometric data system and confirmed that users can now securely delete old iris codes.

After dropping operations in Kenya in 2023 due to a probe opened by local authorities, Kenya dropped its investigation in June, saying “no further police action” will be taken.

However, Worldcoin has faced new allegations related to price manipulation and a scam involving its native Worldcoin (WLD) token. The company has since denied insider trading and manipulation accusations.

The project celebrated its first anniversary on July 23, 2024.