Month: September 2024

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.

The 14-year-old boy accused of carrying out a deadly mass shooting at a Georgia high school earlier this month had a troubling history that raised red flags last year—but law enforcement didn’t act. Newly released bodycam footage shows Colt Gray, then 13, being questioned by Jackson County deputies in 2023 after they traced online threats of a school shooting to his family’s former address.

Colt’s father, Colin Gray, acknowledged that his son was an avid gamer who used the popular platform Discord, where the threats were posted. “He plays video games all the time,” Colin told deputies, adding that his son had access to guns in their home, though he insisted the firearms were unloaded. “We do a lot of shooting. We do a lot of deer hunting,” he said, showing a picture of Colt with blood on his face after his first deer kill, the Epoch Times reports.

Despite being informed of the threats, deputies left after Colt denied making them. “I have no choice but to take you at your word,” one deputy said, warning, “if I find out otherwise, it’s a different story.”

That “different story” unfolded in a horrifying way on September 4th, when Colt entered Apalachee High School and opened fire, killing four people—including two students—and wounding more than a dozen others, according to court documents. Authorities say Colt surrendered to school resource officers shortly after the shooting began, thanks to a new panic button system worn by teachers that alerted law enforcement.

Colt now faces four counts of felony murder, with more charges expected. His father, Colin, has also been charged for allegedly providing Colt with the gun used in the attack—the first time a parent in Georgia has faced such charges in connection with a school shooting.

At initial court appearances, both father and son were ordered to remain in custody. No pleas have been entered yet.

The FBI has since confirmed it received anonymous tips about a possible school shooting in Georgia but could not substantiate the claims at the time. Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum stated that local deputies interviewed the Grays but found no basis for an arrest. They did, however, notify local schools to keep an eye on Colt—a warning that some schools claim they never received.

As the cases move forward, questions loom over whether the system failed to prevent this tragedy and how a young boy with known access to firearms slipped through the cracks to become a mass shooter.

President Joe Biden’s latest words to reporters related to the Ukraine war strongly suggest the US could be close to greenlighting Ukraine’s ability to use US-supplied long-range missiles to strike deep inside Russian territory.

The pattern of recent history is also that if Zelensky lobbies hard enough in western capitals, there’s eventual capitulation, even should there be great risk of NATO escalation with Russia. This is how the F-16 program happened, and it was rushed through with negative results thus far.

Amid the latest pleas from Zelensky for the West to take off all restrictions on use of offensive weaponry, Biden when asked by reporters Tuesday if the US will allow Ukraine forces to use longer-range missiles to target sites inside Russia, said: “We’re working that out right now.”

Last week while visiting Germany, Zelensky urged, “We need to have this long-range capability, not only on the divided territory of Ukraine but also on the Russian territory, so that Russia is motivated to seek peace.”

“We need to make Russian cities and even Russian soldiers think about what they need: peace or Putin,” he said.

Biden’s latest remark about working out whether to lift all range restrictions come the same week the US has accused Iran of supplying Moscow with short-range ballistic missiles. The White House quickly hit Iran with new sanctions, and there’s the potential that another strong ‘answer’ of the US will be to give Kiev what it wants in terms of lifting arms restrictions.

Secretary of State Blinken while in London this week, just ahead of another trip to Kiev, had this to say:

“It’s not just the system itself that counts,” said Blinken. “You have to ask: Can the Ukrainians effectively use it, and sometimes that requires significant training, which we’ve done. Do they have the ability to maintain it?”

So there continues to be mixed signals. The Pentagon has lately said that Ukraine has long-range capabilities with its drone program. Still, pieces and key aspects of a potential new policy are in motion:

Britain and France build and supply Storm Shadow and Scalp-EG cruise missiles to Ukraine, but it is has become apparent that US technology is also involved and Washington has held back from approving that technology’s use for strikes inside Russian territory. Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, is due to meet with Biden in Washington on Friday.

Pressure is building in Congress too…

Given the escalating Russian attacks on civilian targets across Ukraine, Chair @SenatorCardin is urging the easing of restrictions on Ukrainian’s use of U.S.-provided weapons, adding that America “must act swiftly to grant these permissions.”

Statement ⤵️https://t.co/N73L0fBq41

— Senate Foreign Relations Committee (@SFRCdems) September 11, 2024

Just on Tuesday several oblasts in Russia were rocked by wave after wave of Ukrainian drones, described as one of the single biggest drone attacks of the war.

One Moscow woman died as a result of a drone slamming into her apartment building. If these attacks are done by missiles and not just UAVs, the casualties and devastation will be much worse. Such would certainly cross Putin’s red lines and he would likely escalate the war with major attacks on the Ukrainian capital and perhaps even government buildings like the parliament.

After many months of propaganda from the western media asserting that Russia’s military capacity had been shattered by the brutal “meat grinder” of the Ukraine front, it appears that the Kremlin is actually accelerating their offensive with more troops and artillery than ever.  And, they are poised to take all of the Donbas and large portions of Eastern Ukraine if they succeed in the pivotal city of Pokrovsk. 

For the majority of the war Pokrovsk has acted as the logistical hub and rear operations base for Ukraine’s eastern defensive lines.  It sits astride both a key railroad juncture and the highway to Ukraine’s fourth-largest metro, Dnipro.  The city’s defensive positions are a final obstacle to Russia’s access to most of the region.  If Pokrovsk falls Russian forces will be able to easily flank entrenched troops in the north and south of the country.

   

The loss of the primary rail lines and highway routes in and out of Pokrovsk would cut resources to Ukrainian units across the Donbas and possibly force them to retreat before running out of supplies.  This would mean an immediate and sweeping Russian advance all along the eastern lines.  Where Putin goes from there is hard to say, but a campaign back into Western Ukraine, this time using attrition tactics, would not be unthinkable.  

Pokrovsk is, interestingly, valuable for another reason that’s not immediately apparent:  It acts as high ground in a nation of lowlands, and high ground allows for more effective use of drones because the signals travel further and are harder to jam with electronic interference.

   

Even the Kyiv Independent has published a worried analysis of the situation, though they assert the fall of Pokrovsk would not affect Ukraine’s overall war footing.  Citing a military analyst they admit: 

“The further the Russians advance, the more they unlock the entire front line to move, the more resources it will take for the Ukrainians to contain…”  “Ukraine’s ability to tackle its manpower and ammunition shortages will determine Pokrovsk’s fate, which in turn will depend on Kyiv’s priorities. Losing the city would be a logistical blow for Ukraine, threatening the defense of other Donbas cities…”  

They also admit that Zelensky’s stated plan of using the Kursk offensive to force Russia to slow their activities in the Donbas had failed.  Russia has gained more ground in the east since Kursk was contained, not less: 

“Contrary to the president’s claim, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi acknowledged that despite over 30,000 Russian soldiers being transferred to Kursk Oblast from other fronts, Russia “is only increasing its forces” in the Pokrovsk sector…” 

Far-left outlet CNN has, surprisingly, admitted to the dire nature of the situation and reported on the rising problem of deserting soldiers near Pokrovsk: 

“Two and half years of Russia’s grinding offensive have decimated many Ukrainian units. Reinforcements are few and far between, leaving some soldiers exhausted and demoralized. The situation is particularly dire among infantry units near Pokrovsk and elsewhere on the eastern front line, where Ukraine is struggling to stop Russia’s creeping advances… 

CNN spoke to six commanders and officers who are or were until recently fighting or supervising units in the area. All six said desertion and insubordination are becoming a widespread problem, especially among newly recruited soldiers…” 

This tone is a far cry from CNN’s pro-Ukraine cheerleading a few months ago, which means the situation must be even worse than is being reported openly.  Ukraine is conscripting convicted criminals and putting them in the trenches in Pokrovsk in order to fill manpower shortages; a policy which Russia was once criticized for.

 

Russian forces are currently engaged in at least eight offensives across the east and they are within three miles of Pokrovsk; that’s spitting distance for their artillery and guided FAB munitions.  Their strategy so far has been to encircle urban centers and slowly squeeze Ukrainian defense units out, which means the battle for Pokrovsk may not be decided for many weeks.   

The timing of the battle is no mistake, however.  It would appear Putin is intent on securing the city and the Donbas before the US elections in November, just as Zelensky’s Kursk operation was designed to disrupt Russian advances before November.  Both sides are preparing contingencies regardless of who enters the Oval Office in 2025.

Authored by Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov via Headline USA,

Leonard Leo, a conservative billionaire activist who was responsible for the driving force behind the conservative movement to reshape the American legal system, recently started a $1 billion campaign to “crush liberal dominance” in American corporations, mass media and the entertainment industry.

Leo, who became famous for helping to make the Supreme Court conservative during Donald Trump’s first presidential term, said his non-profit group, the Marble Freedom Trust, is prepared to make the government and the private sectors conservative.

“We need to crush liberal dominance where it’s most insidious, so we’ll direct resources to build talent and capital formation pipelines in the areas of news and entertainment, where leftwing extremism is most evident,” Leo told the Financial Times.

According to him, the company would achieve this by helping anti-woke organizations.

“Expect us to increase support for organizations that call out companies and financial institutions that bend to the woke mind virus spread by regulators and NGOs so that they have to pay the price for putting extreme leftwing ideology ahead of consumers,” Leo said.

Trending Politics reported that Leo is a prominent conservative figure in American politics primarily known for reshaping the American legal system.

Leo, a lawyer and political consultant with deep ties to conservative activism, particularly in the judicial nomination process, was crucial in recommending and advancing conservative judges for federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. The news source added that he did this through his work with the Federalist Society, a well-known legal organization that promotes originalism and textualism in judicial interpretation.

He told the Financial Times that his goal was to discover “very leveraged, impactful ways of reintroducing limited constitutional government and a civil society premised on freedom and personal responsibility and the virtues of Western civilization.”

The $1 billion operation now supports the conservative agenda against private institutions, challenging diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, climate and social considerations in investments and the “debanking” of conservative customers. According to Leo, this also extends to the public sector.

He stated that Leo plans to invest in a local media company in the U.S. over the next year, though he hasn’t yet chosen which one.

Uranium stocks jumped in the early US cash session after Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to review possible measures to restrict exports of strategic raw materials, such as nickel, titanium, and uranium, in retaliation for Western sanctions.

“Russia is the leader in reserves of a number of strategic raw materials, namely natural gas that is nearly 22% of the world’s reserves, gold at nearly 23%, and diamonds at nearly 55%. Mikhail Vladimirovich [Prime Minister Mishustin], I have a request for you to look, please, at some types of goods that we supply in large quantities to the world market. Supplies of a number of goods are limited to us, but maybe we should also think about certain restrictions; uranium, titanium, nickel. Just do not do anything to our detriment,” Putin told several cabinet ministers on Wednesday, as the Russian news agency Interfax reported.

Putin said, “Strategic reserves are being created in some countries, and some other measures are being taken,” adding, “In general, if this will not harm us, then we could think – I am not saying that we need to do this tomorrow – think about certain restrictions on deliveries to the foreign market, not only of the goods that I have named, but also of some others.” 

The US, UK, and EU unleashed a barrage of financial, economic, military, and energy sanctions on Russia shortly after it invaded Ukraine. Washington and Brussels were attempting to cripple Russia’s economy or its war effort, yet that turned out to be a failure since China stepped up as a major commodity buyer. 

Meanwhile, the Kremlin has transitioned its economy into a full-blown war economy. Putin has boosted the nation’s military budget by 70% this year, a post-Soviet record of over $100 billion. 

Due to failed Western sanctions, the US and Europe must face the genuine risk of trade restrictions by Moscow pushing prices of nickel, palladium, and uranium higher. This comes as Western central banks are fighting the inflation monster, sparked by their own doing.

In markets, uranium stocks, such as CCJ, UEC, URA, and URNM, jumped between 5% and 7%. 

In addition to fears of Russia reducing or entirely cutting uranium exports, Kazatomprom, the world’s largest uranium producer, announced last month that it would cut its 2025 production forecast due to mounting supply chain woes.

We suspect uranium prices are set to jump once again…

A tight uranium supply theme rolling into 2025 could pressure prices even higher.