Month: September 2024

Via Headline USA,

New York City Mayor Eric Adams compared himself to Job, a biblical figure who experienced severe suffering, amid multiple federal investigations into his administration, The Gothamist reported.

Speaking at the Power and Authority Evangelical Ministry this weekend, Adams called the Book of Job his “favorite” Bible story.

I spent this morning with the congregations at Power and Authority Evangelical Ministry and Changing Lives Christian Center in Brooklyn.

There was so much love and energy today. It was an honor to join them in worship. pic.twitter.com/uQN2yDatT7

— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) September 8, 2024

“It was so important for me as a child, to sit in nursery school and Sunday school to learn that lesson of Job and how, when you’re in those dark places, they are not burials, they are plantings,” Adams said. 

“[A] reporter said to me this morning ‘Do you feel like you’re being persecuted?’” he continued. “I said ‘No, I’m just in my Job moment.’ I know what got me here, and I know what’s going to sustain me here.”

The comments from the mayor come just days after federal agents raided the homes of several of his top aides, including First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks.

The FBI also raided the home of Adams’s key fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, last year. 

No official has been formally accused of a crime. Some, including former President Donald Trump, have suggested that Adams is the victim of a lawfare attack by the weaponized DOJ due to his criticism of the Biden–Harris open-border policy.

In a statement last week, Adams said he was “not aware of any misdoings” on the part of his administration officials and insisted he’s told them to “follow the rules. And that’s what they have been doing, to my knowledge,” he added.

When pressed on why his administration officials continued to come under scrutiny then, Adams answered, “Those are questions I can’t answer. I’m going to … I know what I’m going to do, and that is information that’s needed to show that I have always followed the law, we’re going to give that information.”

As he was leaving the Power and Authority Evangelical Ministry this weekend, Adams also urged congregants to pray for him and his administration.

“Pray—pray for them all,” Adams said. “Pray for me.”

Via The Cradle

The US embassy’s logistical support center at Baghdad International Airport came under attack late Tuesday. “The shelling, the nature of which has not yet been determined, whether by missiles or mortar shells, took place near the US embassy’s logistical support headquarters at Baghdad airport,” an Iraqi security source told Sputnik. He added, “There is no information about human losses so far.”

“The strike, which may have involved rockets or mortars, also impacted areas near the headquarters of the Anti-Terrorism Agency,” a security source told Shafaq news agency on Wednesday. 

Tuesday’s attack on the logistical center at Baghdad airport came hours before Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s visit to Iraq. Later on Wednesday Pezeshkian met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid. 

A spokesperson for the Kataib Hezbollah resistance faction, Jaafar al-Husseini, described the attack’s timing as “suspicious.”

“Those behind the attack on Baghdad airport at this particular time have suspicious motives. The aim is to disrupt the visit of the Iranian president to Baghdad,” Husseini said, calling on Iraqi security forces to “expose those responsible.”

Iraqi resistance factions banded together after the start of the war in Gaza in October, forming a coalition dubbed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI). These groups started carrying out drone and rocket attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria, both in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance and to pressure US forces present in Iraq. 

The Iraqi operations were officially halted in January after a drone attack killed three US soldiers on the Jordan–Syria border. 

This followed intensive pressure from the Iraqi government, which over the past two years has been involved in a diplomatic effort with Washington, said to be aimed at a withdrawal of US forces from the country. Iran also reportedly played a role in pressuring the Iraqi resistance to de-escalate. 

However, as the war in Gaza continues to rage and as troop withdrawal talks between Baghdad and Washington continue to stall, these attacks have witnessed a gradual and unofficial resumption in recent months. 

A drone attack on the Kharab al-Jir base in northeastern Syria injured several US and coalition personnel on August 10th. US bases in Iraq and Syria also witnessed a few attacks in late July. 

Iran’s President Pezeshkian visits Iraq on his first foreign trip. His three-day trip will include visits to several cities that represent Iran’s political, religious, economic and security interests in Iraq. w/ @Alissanyt https://t.co/wpdzmHXBEK

— Farnaz Fassihi (@farnazfassihi) September 11, 2024

Washington has shown no intention of withdrawing its forces from Iraq. The negotiations themselves have not touched on an actual pullout of US forces but instead an end to the combat role of the US coalition operating in Iraq. This would see their presence transition into an advisory one, and US forces would remain in Iraq to coordinate with Baghdad on “security” matters. 

Reuters reported on Saturday, citing sources, that Baghdad and Washington have agreed on a late 2026 deadline for US troop withdrawal. The Cradle’s Iraq correspondent rejected the report as untrue. 

By Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com

Trillions of U.S. dollars are being “greenwashed” by banks extending loans and credit lines to subsidiaries of fossil fuel companies in secrecy jurisdictions, thus helping hide the true scale of banking support for oil, gas, and coal, a new study by NGO Tax Justice Network showed on Wednesday.

The report, produced in collaboration with the organization Banking on Climate Chaos, found that funds are being strategically channeled through “secrecy jurisdictions”, tax havens, which allow companies to obscure their activities and ownership structures from the public, the authors say.

“Fossil fuel company subsidiaries appear to be deliberately established in secrecy jurisdictions to take advantage of weak transparency regulations and favourable tax regimes,” they added.

The analysis of the fossil fuel financing of the world’s largest 60 banks revealed that 68% of the fossil fuel financing provided by these banks is being granted to subsidiaries in secrecy jurisdictions.

“It is widespread practice among fossil fuel companies to establish financing subsidiaries in secrecy jurisdictions, from which they move funds to expand fossil fuel activities in other locations,” Tax Justice Network’s report said.

“The authors of the report liken banks’ financing through secrecy jurisdictions to granting a loan through a “hall of mirrors” that makes it impossible for regulators, campaigners, and the public to know for certain where money is going and whether banks and fossil fuel companies are abiding by hard-won rules, restrictions, and commitments on sustainable finance,” the NGO said in a statement.

Franziska Mager, senior researcher and advocacy lead at the Tax Justice Network and one of the report authors, commented,

“We’re raising the alarm on banks and fossil fuel companies greenlaundering their finances to hide how much money they’re truly putting into fossil fuels. The situation is much worse than we’ve been led to believe, and the guardrails put in place on fossil fuel financing are being easily jumped over.”

Regional banks in North America have been striking more deals to lend money to the oil, natural gas, and coal industry in recent years, while many European lenders have either shrunk financing for fossil fuels or pledged to lower their exposure to the sector, according to available transparent data compiled by Bloomberg.

Throughout most of the Russia-Ukraine war, Washington’s constant complaint has been that China has ramped up supplies of dual use items and technologies which aid Russia’s defense manufacturing sector. 

It was only in August that the Bident administration rolled out its latest sanctions aimed at disrupting the China-Russia transfers, which have included semiconductor chips, machine tools, microelectronics, navigation equipment, jet parts, ball bearings, and more. Those sanctions impacted over 400 entities and individuals, with many being Chinese companies.

As expected, China had blasted the “typical unilateral sanctions” from the US, warning that this only serves to disrupt global trade orders and destabilize global supply chains. “China urges the U.S. to immediately stop its wrong practices and will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interest of Chinese companies,” a foreign ministry statement said last month.

But this week Washington has gone further in its accusations, for the first time accusing China of providing direct support for Russia’s “war machine”.

Now, the charge has gone from indirect to direct Chinese support. The fresh allegations were first reported by the Financial Times:

US deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell told reporters in Brussels that China was supplying Moscow with items that were directly helping the Russian military as it prosecutes its war of aggression in Ukraine. Campbell’s comments after a visit to Nato headquarters in the Belgian capital marked a new assessment by US officials of the extent of China’s direct military support for Russia. 

“These are not dual-use capabilities,” Campbell said on Tuesday. “These are component pieces of a very substantial effort on the part of China to help sustain, build and diversify various elements of the Russian war machine.”

Yet one of FT’s sources acknowledge that as yet there is no “clear evidence” of these “very concerning” charges. The Biden administration is said to be scrutinizing potential evidence, however.

As for nailing down specifics of the types of items and aid the US finds so concerning, Campbell has highlighted the exchange of technologies and know-how related to developing submarine, aeronautic, and missile technologies. This would have a “negative and concerning impact” on American security and that of its allies.

“These new areas of collaboration between Russia and China are in the areas of design and . . . application. They are significant,” Campbell said. This China-Russia partnership in the area of military technology would have “very significant impact on Chinese capabilities and deployments in the western Pacific.” This is in reference to the Russians apparently helping the Chinese further advance their submarine and ship capabilities.

The US deputy secretary of state further described that this collaboration has been “orchestrated at the highest levels” in Moscow and Beijing, and that this doesn’t merely mark a “tactical alliance” but instead “this is a fundamental alignment.”

These heightened accusations against China and Russia were accompanied by new warnings and threats from Blinken this week:

Our purpose has been to make the Ukrainians as effective as possible in warding off the Russian aggression. Putin will continue to know a strategic failure in Ukraine. Anyone who is providing assistance to Russia is perpetuating the war. pic.twitter.com/6fmB1DMkMs

— Department of State (@StateDept) September 10, 2024

In the backdrop Russian and Chinese naval and aerial forces are planning a series of drills in Pacific waters, focused especially in the Sea of Japan, for later this month. The reality however, is that as these regional giants continue their “unlimited” friendship and partnership, Washington can do nothing but sit back and seek to ‘manage’ its relations with China. In many ways all of this is but more blowback from round after round of US sanctions and punitive actions aimed at both.

Authored by Jennifer Kary for Metal Miner via oilprice.com,

• Weak domestic demand in China has led to a significant drop in steel rebar and h-beam steel prices, impacting global steel markets.
• The US construction industry, hampered by high interest rates, is preparing for a potential resurgence in demand as the Federal Reserve signals rate cuts in late 2024.
• While interest rate cuts are expected to stimulate the US construction sector, the recovery may not be immediate.

The Construction MMI (Monthly Metals Index) broke further out of its sideways trend, dipping by 3.61%. The main culprits driving the index down month-over-month were falling steel rebar and h-beam steel prices, compelled by weak domestic demand within China. With China’s property sector not anticipated to strengthen in the short term, steel prices could continue to witness bearish pressure. This, in turn, could impact the steel and construction industries far beyond China’s borders.

H-Beam and Steel Rebar Prices Drop Amid Weak Chinese Demand

The global steel market took a turn over the past month as h-beam and steel rebar prices dropped in response to weakened domestic demand in China. This drop, a direct result of China’s ongoing construction slowdown and tightening restrictions on financing for real estate developers, continues to create ripple effects across global steel markets.

Slowing Demand, Sliding Steel Prices

China’s real estate sector, which accounts for a significant portion of steel consumption, witnessed a decline in new projects as government-imposed restrictions on developer financing weigh heavily on the market. This has significantly reduced demand for h-beam steel and steel rebar, essential components for heavy-duty construction.

For Chinese steel rebar, prices dropped by about 7% through August and early September. Meanwhile, the ongoing weak domestic demand is causing an oversupply situation that has spilled into global markets.

The h-beam steel market has experienced a similar downturn, with Chinese prices dropping approximately 7-8% from August to September. This, too, reflects the broader slowdown in infrastructure and construction in China’s property sector.

Global Impact of China’s Steel Slowdown on Steel Prices

China’s weakened steel demand continues to impact global demand as well. This is mainly because China is responsible for more than half of the world’s steel production. As Chinese suppliers flood international markets with excess steel products, other major economies are seeing downward price pressure on both h-beam and rebar steel.

This means that countries that rely heavily on steel imports are now witnessing price decreases in construction materials, which could benefit industries like real estate and infrastructure. However, this trend also risks creating imbalances in global trade. With the Chinese government showing no signs of loosening financing restrictions for developers, the construction sector is unlikely to see a rapid recovery.

Meanwhile, the outlook for steel rebar and h-beam steel remains similar. Without a clear resurgence in infrastructure projects within China, the oversupply of steel in the global market will likely persist, keeping prices low through the end of the year and further threatening domestic producers of steel in other countries, who can’t compete with such low prices.

U.S. Construction Industry Prepares for Anticipated Interest Rate Drops

The U.S. construction industry currently finds itself in a precarious, yet hopeful situation. For over a year, high interest rates set by the Federal Reserve have cast a shadow over the sector, dampening new residential and commercial projects and pushing developers to the sidelines. However, the anticipation of rate cuts—projected to begin in the latter half of 2024—recently sparked a wave of preparation across the industry.

For the past 18 months, high borrowing costs have slowed the pace of U.S. construction. As high mortgage rates deterred buyers, developers, facing skyrocketing financing costs, significantly scaled back on projects. In fact, construction spending fell for the first time in over a year in mid-2024, signaling a growing weariness across the industry.

The business sector endured the most hardship, as expenditures on retail stores, medical facilities, and offices declined. Meanwhile, the rising cost of mortgages discouraged both developers and potential homeowners, negatively impacting residential building.

The Fed’s Shift in Strategy

The construction industry is already adjusting its strategy in light of signals from Federal Reserve officials that interest rate reductions may start by late 2024. Builders are preparing to profit from a drop in borrowing rates, which could spur demand for residential and commercial real estate once again.

Still, project planning acceleration is one of the tactics. Many developers delayed starting new projects to wait for anticipated rate decreases that will lower the cost of financing, hoping to capitalize on the surge of fresh demand.

How Will Interest Rate Cuts Impact the Construction Industry?

The Federal Reserve’s decision to start cutting interest rates will behoove the construction sector in several ways. First, developers will find it easier to finance new projects as borrowing costs drop. Both residential and commercial building will probably see a resurgence due to this, especially in the housing industry, which suffered significantly under high borrowing rates.?

Also, lower interest rates in the commercial real estate market will make borrowing less expensive for companies wishing to grow or restore real estate. This would revive the market for commercial buildings, shopping centers, and industrial sites, reversing some of the declines seen in recent months. However, while interest rate cuts will undoubtedly have a positive impact, the recovery may not be immediate.

An all-commercial group of four civilian space astronauts aboard the SpaceX Dragon Capsule via the Polaris Dawn mission has just achieved a significant milestone.

“Polaris Dawn and Dragon at 1,400 km above Earth – the farthest humans have traveled since the Apollo program over 50 years ago,” Elon Musk’s space company wrote on X early Wednesday morning. 

Polaris Dawn and Dragon at 1,400 km above Earth – the farthest humans have traveled since the Apollo program over 50 years ago pic.twitter.com/rRDeD1dY1e

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 11, 2024

Musk quoted SpaceX’s post by saying, “Strive to greater heights, For a future brighter than the past, Waking up each morning inspired, To learn new secrets of the Universe!” 

Polaris Dawn on X provided a mission update:

The Polaris Dawn crew completed their first day on-orbit, also known as Flight Day 1. After a successful launch by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to low-Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:23 a.m. ET, the crew took off their spacesuits and began their multi-day mission.

Shortly after liftoff, the crew began a two-day pre-breathe protocol in preparation for their anticipated spacewalk on Thursday, September 12 (Flight Day 3). During this time, Dragon’s pressure slowly lowers while oxygen levels inside the cabin increase, helping purge nitrogen from the crew’s bloodstreams. This will help lower the risk of decompression sickness (DCS) during all spacewalk operations.

About two hours into Flight Day 1, the crew enjoyed their first on-orbit meals before engaging in the mission’s first science and research block and testing Starlink, which lasted about 3.5 hours.

About two hours into Flight Dragon made its first pass through the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), a region where Earth’s magnetic field is weaker, allowing more high-energy particles from space to penetrate closer to Earth. Mission control operators and the crew worked closely to monitor and respond to the vehicle’s systems across all high-apogee phases of flight, particularly through the SAA region.ay 1, the crew enjoyed their first on-orbit meals before engaging in the mission’s first science and research block and testing Starlink, which lasted about 3.5 hours.

Mid-day, the crew settled in for their first sleep period in space, during which Dragon will perform its first apogee raising burn. Orbiting Earth higher than any humans in over 50 years, the crew will rest for about eight hours ahead of a busy day on Flight Day 2.

Most excitingly, during its first orbit, Dragon reached an apogee of approximately 1,216 kilometers, making Polaris Dawn the highest Dragon mission flown to date. Following a healthy systems checkout, the crew and mission control will monitor the spacecraft ahead of the vehicle raising itself to an elliptical orbit of 190 x 1,400 kilometers at the start of Flight Day 2.

Polaris Dawn Flight Day 1 Update

The Polaris Dawn crew completed their first day on-orbit, also known as Flight Day 1. After a successful launch by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to low-Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:23 a.m. ET, the… pic.twitter.com/pcmEF5k2S3

— Polaris (@PolarisProgram) September 10, 2024

Meanwhile, back on Earth, radical leftists in the Biden administration have ramped up their weaponization of federal agencies against Musk’s SpaceX.

Elon Musk Says First Starship Mars Mission In Two Years; Make America Healthy Again To Ensure Space-Bearing Civilization https://t.co/UlI8RcxufW

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 8, 2024

Musk expects the first uncrewed Starship mega-rocket to Mars will lift off in two years when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens. 

Authored by Steve Watson via modernity.news,

In a remarkable exchange, a leftist Kamala Harris supporter argued that her accepting an endorsement from Dick Cheney was justifiable, and that even accepting endorsements from the most genocidal of maniacs would be just fine.

The comments were made by leftist streamer and YouTuber ‘Destiny’, who was invited onto Piers Morgan’s show to defend Harris’ “honor” at being championed by Cheney, who many consider to be a war criminal.

When Morgan asked Destiny if he would be accepting of Cheney’s endorsement, he responded “you take any endorsement you can get, of course. Just because somebody endorses you doesn’t mean that you support their beliefs.”

Morgan shot back “Really? Woah, woah, woah — hang on. You’d take any endorsement you can get? So if Adolf Hitler decides to offer an endorsement, you would accept it?”

The Harris supporter then claimed “a vote is a vote” prompting Morgan to again ask if he would “literally take an endorsement from Adolf Hitler to win power.”

The guy then responded that “Hitler is dead,” prompting Morgan to note “So my question to you was frivolous to start with, would you accept Hitler’s endorsement for a candidate and you said absolutely, didn’t dispute it, and then you said, ‘But he’s dead.’ So then I said, ‘What about Kim Jong-un or President Xi or Vladimir Putin or the Ayatollah Khomeini?’ I mean, at what point do these endorsements, if you accept them proudly, become actually disgraceful slurs on your own integrity?”

The streamer then suggested it was all “nonsense” and suggested Ron Paul was once endorsed by white supremacists and didn’t disavow it.

“Just because somebody endorses me doesn’t mean that I support all the views of that person. You would agree with that, right?” he asked Morgan.

“Sorry no. I would say — no if the KKK wants to endorse me, I will publicly denounce that endorsement and say I want nothing to do with it. That is called being a civilized human being. You appear, Destiny, correct me if I’m wrong, to be of the view that literally any endorsement that helps you win power is absolutely fine even if they’re genocidal maniacs,” Morgan responded.

Watch the segment below.

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.

A federal appeals court has upheld New York City’s contentious gun permit law, which allows officials to reject applications based on their assessment of the applicant’s “good moral character.” The ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit comes after a lower court had previously blocked the law, declaring it an unconstitutional infringement on Second Amendment rights.

The case originated with Joseph Srour, a New York resident whose gun permit application was denied due to prior arrests and traffic violations. Srour, who was never convicted of any crime, argued that the city’s denial violated his constitutional rights. In 2023, a U.S. district judge sided with Srour, ruling that New York officials failed to prove their restrictions were consistent with America’s historical tradition of firearm regulation—a standard set by a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

New York City lawyers appealed the decision, and the Second Circuit stayed the district court’s order, temporarily allowing the law to stand. Srour then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but Justice Sonia Sotomayor declined his request to lift the stay.

The appeals court on Monday upheld the law but cited a twist in the case—Srour had since been granted a gun permit by city officials. “We now hold that because Srour has been granted the very relief he sought, the case before us is moot, and we lack jurisdiction to hear the merits,” wrote Circuit Judge Eunice C. Lee on behalf of the panel.

As a result, the panel vacated the previous ruling that blocked the law and dismissed New York City’s appeal as moot, returning the case to the district court to dismiss the part dealing with the moral character requirement. However, Srour’s claims that the city’s initial rejection of his application violated his Second Amendment rights remain unresolved, according to his attorney, Amy Bellantoni.

“Mr. Srour’s plenary claim for the city’s violation of his Second Amendment rights remains alive and well,” Bellantoni told The Epoch Times.

The New York City Law Department welcomed the ruling. “We are pleased with this court ruling which keeps an essential part of the city’s sensible rifle and handgun permitting law in place,” a spokesperson said.

The case has reignited debate over the balance between public safety and individual rights. New York City officials had originally denied Srour’s permit application on the grounds that he failed to disclose his arrest history—though he was never convicted—and cited his driving record as further evidence of poor moral character.

Critics, however, see the decision as a troubling precedent. Bellantoni pointed out that despite Srour’s current permit status, he remains vulnerable to future “at will” suspensions or denials based on the city’s broad interpretation of what constitutes a change in “status.”

The court’s ruling emphasizes the lack of a “reasonable likelihood” that Srour will face the contested “good moral character” standard again unless he is arrested or breaks the law. This unanimous decision from Judges Eunice C. Lee, Pierre N. Leval, and Raymond J. Lohier Jr. underscores a significant moment in the ongoing battle over gun rights and regulatory powers in one of the nation’s most populous cities.

Authored by Rebecca Friedrichs via RealClearPolitics,

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerburg now admits in writing that he was manipulated by the Biden administration into suppressing free speech on Meta platforms. His actions obstructed vital information on effective COVID protocols, and bolstered the lie that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation. This did enormous damage to our health and polity.

But Facebook’s censorship brought harm to innocent children too. I’m a longtime teacher, and for decades I’ve personally witnessed dangerous corruption in America’s schools. I dared to warn families, so I was silenced by Zuckerberg’s “shadow-banning,” thanks to algorithms imposed by censors (“fact checkers”) at Meta.

Meta’s banning (as well as Twitter’s) began the very same night of my 2020 speech at the Republican National Convention. My pages changed from active with hundreds of likes and shares to zero likes and shares. And I went from rapid, daily follower increases to a complete halt in growth. Hundreds of my followers have reached out to me since the banning began to tell me that they no longer see my posts in their newsfeeds. Instagram’s (Meta’s) analytics show that an average of only 25% of my followers are seeing my content. That’s how shadow-banning works. I’m allowed to post, but my message is squelched.

Though I’m a volunteer in this battle for the kids, I had to hire social media experts to help me get my message to the public. They’ve reignited my social media presence – predominantly on Meta’s Instagram – with a reel-heavy strategy. Our ratios are the highest they’ve ever been – with the exception of follower count. That doesn’t add up.

It’s even worse on Facebook and X. We have high hopes that we’ll be freed on X since Elon is now in charge, but we’ve been unable to reach their tech team for support and believe our pre-existing Twitter shadow-banning has yet to be lifted on X.

Government tech is suppressing my speech because I exposed so-called teacher unions for morphing America’s schools into social, sexual, and political warzones, and I shared personal stories of how they pick on loving teachers and little kids. Though I spoke 100% eyewitness truth, I’m still shadow-banned four years later.

I know many people like me who are also banned on social media. We’re denied our free speech rights, while the predators we’re exposing broadcast loudly.

Zuckerberg stated that he believes “the government pressure [to censor content] was wrong.” He also penned, “I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any Administration in either direction – and we’re ready to push back if something like this happens again.”

That sounds nice. But I’m still shadow-banned, and the day after Zuckerberg’s letter released, my personal page was inexplicably suspended. Many of my allies in the cause for truth are banned too.

Because of the censorship, we’re now ruled by tyrants. I have friends whose family members died from untested COVID shots and government-mandated hospital protocols. I know many who are suffering serious shot-related health complications. And the kids I’ve been trying to protect are being sexualized in our schools in record numbers.

That’s why I’m concerned about Zuckerberg’s claims that he’ll “push back if something like this happens again,” because it’s still happening – it never stopped. He never freed us from censorship.

Nothing Zuckerburg can say now will erase the injury he and the other tech titans have done to the country that made them billionaires. But I’ll believe he’s sorry when he ends the silencing of honest Americans like me.

Who knows how many Americans are dead, or severely injured, because tech titans silenced expert opposing views about the government’s handling of COVID? How many of those untested shots would have been rejected? How many patients would have taken commonsense, award-winning medicines like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, instead of dying on ventilators?

How many Americans might have voted differently in 2020 had they known the Hunter Biden laptop – loaded with authoritative accounts of government corruption and crime – was legitimate?

A little closer to home, how many additional families have lost their children to sexualized curricula, school violence, and the transgender agenda because Zuckerberg blocked our vital information about corruption in government schools? How many kids lost two years of learning because schools were shuttered thanks to the politicking of teacher unions? 

While those unscrupulous unions enjoy the freedom to propagandize on social media, thousands of commentators, including myself, are still shunted off the main feeds of innumerable apps because we dare stray from the official government tech line.

That my friends, is reflective of communism.

In regard to demoting the Hunter laptop as “Russian disinformation,” Zuckerburg now says, “We’ve changed our policies and processes to make sure this doesn’t happen again – for instance, we no longer temporarily demote things in the U.S. while waiting for fact-checkers.”

Since I’ve been demoted for four years without explanation, this is not reassuring.

And what about the hundreds of millions of dollars in cash Zuckerburg doled out to nearly 2,500 counties in 49 states? All on the up-and-up? Not according to numerous skeptics, including Hans von Spakovsky, a former Federal Election Commission member who in 2021 said it was clearly an effort to aid Democrats.

Spakovsky said “this was a carefully orchestrated attempt to convert official government election offices into get-out-the-vote operations for one political party.”

In a contemporary period where numerous government agencies are weaponized to serve the so-called Democratic Party in its persecution of those they dislike, Zuckerberg’s words here are poignant.

“I know that some people believe this work benefited one party over the other,” Zuckerburg deadpanned, adding meaningfully, “I don’t plan on making a similar contribution this cycle.”

But it’s hard to believe a man who cannot fully admit that his actions did benefit Democrats over the democratic process, and who continues blocking truth-tellers on the very day he released his confession.

Calling your bluff, Zuckerberg. Prove your sincerity by freeing persecuted truth-tellers like me. You can find me @RebeccaForKids.

Rebecca Friedrichs is the founder of For Kids and Country, author of Standing Up to Goliath, and a 28-year public school teacher who was lead plaintiff in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association.

After yesterday’s lethargic sideways move, where traders sat on the sidelines waiting for the outcome of the triple main event of the past 24 hours, the presidential debate result, the CPI report and NVDA’s presentation, the Wednesday market did not disappoint and there were both emotional lows and more recently highs.

The action over the past 24 hours can be roughly divided into three sections:

• i) the debate and its aftermath;
• ii) the CPI print and its immediate aftermath, and
• iii) comments from NVDA CEO Jensen Huang.

And visually

Starting at the top, the debate – which was really a 1-on-3 with Trump taking on not just Kamala but the ABC moderators as well, was seen as won by her, if only by online betting services such as predictit…

… and polymarket…

… where election odds shifting in her favor.

And yet, outside this easily manipulated echo chamber which can be rigged by a handful of wealthy accounts, who then use their money to set the media narrative and discussion in social networks, the reality is that a Kamala victory was far from a given, especially after reading the following poll from Reuters:

Kamala Harris was widely seen as dominating Tuesday’s presidential debate against Republican former president Donald Trump, but a group of undecided voters remained unconvinced that the Democratic vice president was the better candidate.

Reuters interviewed 10 people who were still unsure how they were going to vote in the Nov. 5 election before they watched the debate. Six said afterward they would now either vote for Trump or were leaning toward backing him. Three said they would now back Harris and one was still unsure how he would vote.

Alas, this was too nuanced, and certainly did not get any airplay from the liberal mainstream media, and the market moved accordingly, with Goldman’s Democratic Policy Pair (GSP24DEM) surged +270bps to a new 2024 high, while the Republican Policy Pair (GSP24REP) tumbled -145bps (In HC specific, consistent with higher Kamala odds, seeing outperformance Medicaid, Exchanges, Hospital vs. Underperformance in Medicare).

Other assets which were hammered as the market (and its 3 second attention span) saw a looming Kamala victory, were the dollar, yields and crypto, at least initially: by the end of the day, most of the moves would be unwound.

Which brings us to point 2: today’s CPI report, which as discussed earlier, came in just hotter than expected on the MoM Core CPI print, which printed 0.3% vs exp. of 0.2%…

… where the biggest surprise was the unexpected heating up in shelter inflation, which ended its nearly 2-year stretch of declines…

… rising for the first time since March 2023.

This begs the question: if housing inflation is already reversing higher with Fed rates at the highest they have been since the Volcker Fed, what happens when Powell cuts more than 4 times this year (or more than 100bps), as the market expects, and another 6 times one year from today (bringing total cuts to 250bps).

Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time the market has expected huge rate cuts at the end of the calendar year… or the second time. In fact, this will be the third year in a row when stocks – having gone through a recession scare late in the year – price in multiple rate cuts. Only this time, the Fed appears willing to oblige. Still, as the following chart from DB shows, at the start of the year, market expectations were that the Fed would have already cut 100 bps by now.

One thing is clear: if we do get an inflation spike after the Fed cuts, the “stag” and the “flation” that Powell has been looking for so ardently will come looking for him, because if the Fed is indeed cutting rates just as inflation takes off again, well… everyone has seen this chart by now…

… and so have the algos, which is why stocks dumped immediately after opening, with the S&P sliding as low as 5400, and just shy of the key 100DMA support level, which is at 5391, below which CTAs would be active sellers of $6bn S&P futs, and supply would double below the key 5343 level which is medium term momentum threshold.

That’s why a some Hail Mary was urgenly needed, and it emerged shortly after Jensen Huang start speaking at 10:20am ET at the Goldman tech conference in San Fran, when the Nvidia CEO said that “the demand [for chips] is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most.” that “we probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.”

That was all the market needed to hear, to unleash a buying spree first in NVDA, whose stock soared by $10 to $117 or about $250billion in market cap, making a mockery of other pennystocks (speaking of which Gamestop plunged 13% after Roaring Kitty failed to spark another short squeeze after yet another dismal earnings report), while the S&P soared alongside it, not only erasing all losses but actually closing more than 1% higher…

So powerful was today faceripper of a rally sparked by Huang that not even several attempts by the 0DTE crew to spark a delta flow selloff had any chance.

So powerful was today’s risk rally that even bonds, which are now convinced a recession is imminent and ignored one of the strongest 10Y auctions on record, finally sold off…

… and even oil, where sentiment is most negative on record, managed to find a bid.

Of course, with cross-asset confusion raging, with bonds and oil certain a hard-landing is inevitable, while stocks – and AI in particular – confident there will be no landing, it means that there is no local equilibrium and tomorrow we will go through this rollercoaster all over again.