Rep. Jim Jordan Asks 17 Awkward Questions About Pelosi’s “Impeachment Inquiry”
Rep. Jim Jordan has been among the most outspoken critics of the farce that is the Democrats’ “impeachment inquiry,” and tonight, in a series of tweets, the Ohio congressman asks the uncomfortable questions that the media seems unwilling to.
“There has been a lot of noise since Speaker Pelosi decided to call for impeachment before having the facts. Here are a few important questions:”
1. Why did the “whistleblower” write an 800+ word memo describing President Trump and President Zelensky’s call based on second-hand information gleaned from a conversation that lasted just a few minutes?
2. Why did the “whistleblower” wait 18 days to file the complaint after describing the call as “frightening” in their memo?
3. Why and when did the “whistleblower” communicate with Rep Adam Schiff’s staff before filing the complaint?
4. Why did the “whistleblower” hide from the ICIG that they met with Rep Adam Schiff’s staff by not checking the box on the whistleblower form indicating they had spoken to Congress?
5. Why didn’t Rep Adam Schiff tell us his staff had met with the “whistleblower?”
6. Why didn’t the “whistleblower” just give his memo to the Inspector General, instead of a seven page complaint dressed up with extraneous citations and media references?
7. Why is Rep Adam Schiff holding hearings, depositions, and interviews behind closed doors?
8. Why won’t Rep Adam Schiff release the transcripts of these interviews, instead of leaking cherry-picked information that fits his narrative?
9. Why won’t Rep Adam Schiff take questions from the press after these interviews, like Republicans have done?
10. Why does Speaker Pelosi think we need to “strike while the iron is hot,” instead of taking time for serious and thorough investigative fact-finding?
11. Why is Speaker Pelosi scared to have a vote to open an official impeachment inquiry like it’s been done every other time?
12. Why do Democrats keep making up the rules as they go along, instead of following a fair process?
13. What work did the “whistleblower” do with a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate?
14. Why do Democrats and the media keep falsely claiming President Trump pressured Ukraine? President Zelensky has repeatedly said that he wasn’t pushed.
15. Why don’t Democrats trust the American people to choose the President? The election is less than 13 months away.
16. Why won’t Democrats focus on helping the country, instead of attacking the President with this unfair and partisan process?
And finally, and perhaps most importantly…
17. Why won’t the media ask these questions to Rep Adam Schiff or Speaker Pelosi?
The Federal Reserve will be adding assets to its balance sheet again, but Powell insists it’s not “quantitative easing”…
Apparently, the “repo market” purchases by the Federal Reserve we discussed earlier this week —which don’t count as quantitative easing (QE)—were just the beginning of the new, non-quantitative easing but money printing period.
Fed “repos,” you may recall, are now necessary to boost weak overnight liquidity reserves of the big banks and don’t permanently expand the Fed’s balance sheet, unless they go on forever, in which case they would be QE. Now they are more of a short-term bail-out.
It’s Time for “Non-Quantitative Easing”
But in his Tuesday speech, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell explained that for the first time in five years, the “time is now upon us” for the Fed to resume buying U.S Treasury bills and bonds. That means that come November, the American economy will officially enter into another period of quantitative easing, you know, the Fed buying assets to expand its balance sheet.
Or not.
Typically, when the Federal Reserve buys Treasury assets, it’s because of weakness, either in the economy or in the financial system. A weakness that needs to be papered over by money printing, expanding the Fed’s balance sheet and bank reserves. Or the Fed buys other assets that nobody wants to buy at a decent price, like the purchases of mortgage backed securities (MBS) it conducted after the financial crisis.
Not so fast, says Powell. He insisted that there are perfectly good reasons, aside from weaknesses in the financial system, for the Federal Reserve to start printing again. And, he noted, even insisted, what the Federal Reserve will soon begin doing again is NOT quantitative easing.
For example, Powell said that the next round of asset purchases won’t really be the same as prior rounds because the rationale this time is to help maintain an appropriate level of reserves in the financial system. In other words, it’s more than just overnight liquidity that needs propping up. The whole financial system is running low on liquidity.
Almost as telling as the restart of the “non-quantitative easing” program is the way Powell engaged in semantic gymnastics to minimize and avoid using the term, or even evoke comparisons of the same. One would hope he did so for more than just the sake of ambiguity.
This Is QE
Just to clarify to our readers, this is what he is (not) talking about.
The Fed has the power to literally print money, either in paper or electronic form. Both currency in circulation (paper) and reserves held at the Fed (bits and bytes) count as “base money,” of which banks need to hold a certain amount to satisfy regulatory requirements. They hold this either in their vaults (paper) or at the Fed (bits and bytes.) Since the Fed is the source of both paper and electronic money, it is counted as a liability on the Fed’s balance sheet.
But the Fed can’t just print that paper or bytes and give them to the banks without making another entry on the asset side of its balance sheet, which backs the currency the Fed prints. This is where the concept of asset purchases comes in because banks usually sell Treasury bonds (assets) to the Fed in exchange for the newly printed money. But it’s not just that, the Fed also has bought MBS before, as explained above, or holds other assets on its balance sheet, like gold, which it could also buy, but doesn’t want to
This is what the last round of QE looked like. Banks bought Treasuries from the Federal Government and the flipped it to the Fed in exchange for newly printed mostly electronic reserves. The Treasuries stayed on the Fed balance sheet permanently, hence the name permanent open market operations, and the whole balance sheet ballooned to around $4.5 trillion, whereas it was a few hundred billion before the crisis.
So anytime the Fed either directly or indirectly buys assets and holds them for longer period of time, this is money printing. Actually already the old QE term was already an obfuscation to lead people away from thinking the Fed is just printing money plain and simple.
In addition, this process also monetizes federal government debt, another no-no in orthodox monetary theory.
Only Good Economic News?
To bolster his point, Powell went on to note that although the short-term yield curve needs to be closely watched, vulnerabilities in the financial system remain moderate overall. He also said that continued economic expansion, a strong labor market and inflation near the Fed’s two percent target is the most likely outlook for the economy. In short, Powell sees no reason why economic expansion can’t continue.
But what about those weak reserve levels? What does that really mean for the health of the banking system and the overall health of the economy?
Powell reiterated that asset purchases for reserve building purposes should not be confused with quantitative easing, although quantitative easing does exactly that: build bank reserves and monetize government debt.
It is totally irrelevant as to why the Fed would think the banking system needs more reserves, or why it would think it needs to print more money. Money printing is money printing it doesn’t matter why you do it.
Getting Beyond the Word Games
But perhaps we should get beyond the word games.
Powell rightly pointed out that while the U.S. trade war with China, political unrest in the far East and political gridlock in the West as well as an overall cooling of the global economy are all relatively bad news. But overall U.S. economic figures are relatively strong. That’s true. The U.S. economy looks better than most in the world.
Powell also pointed out that new aspects of the economy, specifically in the digital economy, are not always accurately measured or understood as clearly as they need to be and thus could be providing “goods” the old statistics don’t capure.
That’s true as well. So why are we restarting that quantitative easing program again we last needed to keep the financial system from completely collapsing if the economy is doing so well? And why does Powell balk at calling the Fed’s new asset purchase policy quantitative easing?
The answer to the first question would appear to be that Powell is being proactive. The global economic slowdown combined with the record-breaking levels of new debt being issued by the federal government need enough dollars to keep the money flowing smoothly. Adding more debt than there is base money (bank reserves) or market willingness to buy is a recipe for failure.
Secondly, quantitative easing is a term loaded with negativity. Unlike political candidates on the left, Powell is wary about jawboning the economy into recession. He weighed his words carefully on Tuesday, if not entirely honestly.
Related to that, Powell is making a false distinction between liquidity weakness in the banking system and current economic strength. For the moment, such a distinction is possible but not plausible. Just as a fire at the bottom of a hill may be, for the moment, distinguishable from houses at the top, it’s possible but not plausible to separate the two in terms of threat and consequences. In both cases, the threats are real with predictable outcomes.
Quantitative Easing by any Other Name
Powell’s insistence to not refer to the Federal Reserve buying assets as not quantitative easing stretches the limits of credulity. At the same time, there is some merit to what he is doing. The Fed, after all, seems to want to act to prevent things falling apart and not react too late like it did the last time around.
Given those realities, Powell seems to be doing what he can to shape the viewpoint of the world, manage expectations, and keep the U.S. economy running. As he noted in his talk, “our job is to keep it there as long as possible.”
Considering the alternatives, this attitude might not be a bad thing, although the Fed is slowly but surely running out of credibility to sell to the markets.
France & Germany Halt Arms Exports To Turkey As 100,000 Syrian Kurds Displaced
Now, in day four of Turkey’s military incursion into northeast Syria following a US troop pullback from border areas, both Germany and France have announced they will halt all weapons sales to Turkey, citing the possibility they could be used in the offensive. This also as an EU-wide embargo is being considered on Ankara amid its so-called ‘Operation Peace Spring’.
Germany moved first, with Heiko Maas on Saturday telling newspaper Bild am Sonntagthat, “against the background of the Turkish military offensive in northeastern Syria, the government will not issue any new permissions for any weapons that can be used by Turkey in Syria.”
France quickly followed, with a joint French Foreign and Defense ministries statement saying, “In expectation of the end of this offensive, France has decided to suspend all plans to export to Turkey weapons that could be used in this offensive.”
Image via the AP
“This decision is with immediate effect,” the French statement added, at a crucial moment days away from next week’s planned EU meeting in Luxembourg were a broader European response to Turkey’s operation will be considered. Notably the Netherlands and Norway have also imposed their own temporary arms embargo on Turkey.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s office “reiterated the need to make the Turkish offensive stop immediately,” in a statement Saturday. Macron also reported told President Trump in a phone call that Turkey’s assault is likely to lead to a resurgence of ISIS and must be immediately halted.
Given that now the EU’s two most influential countries have issued the definitive bans, more are likely to follow, especially after the United Nations issued shocking figures this week, tallying that some 100,000 people have been driven from their homes since the start of Turkey’s offensive on Wednesday.
Scores of Syrian civilians have been reported killed by local Kurdish media, while Turkey’s Defense Ministry has boasted of over 400 SDF fighters “neutralized” — killed or captured. Turkish troops and allied Syrian ‘rebel’ proxy fighters captured several northern village, including the key town of Ras al-Ayn by Saturday.
Meanwhile, a top SDF official has again lashed out at Washington’s “betrayal,” telling a senior US diplomat, “You are leaving us to be slaughtered,” according to CNN.
SDF top military commander Mazloum Abdi further said, “You are not willing to protect the people, but you do not want another force to come and protect us. You have sold us. This is immoral.”
Indeed according to a number of reports, the US coalition has for months been blocking attempts of SDF and Syrian Kurdish political groups to negotiate and potentially reconcile with the Syrian government, which would have been essential for the Kurds withstanding the current assault. Now with the sudden withdrawal of US backing against the Turks, the SDF is all alone with no external state support of anyone.
This “impeachment inquiry” is becoming more shady with each passing day. Nancy Pelosi won’t even take a vote in the House to officially approve this “impeachment inquiry” because she is convinced that such a vote is not needed. But as White House Counsel Pat Cipollone has aptly noted, the lack of a vote “violates fundamental fairness and constitutionally mandated due process”. And now we are learning that the original whistleblower is asking if he can “submit testimony in writing instead of appearing in person”, which would likely mean that we may never found out the identify of this individual. So we could potentially be facing a scenario in which the House of Representatives actually impeaches the president of the United States based on “testimony” from an anonymous source that they never actually get to see face to face.
The U.S. Constitution sets a very high standard for impeaching a president, and it is absolutely absurd that this process is moving forward based on information from someone that does not want to face any sort of public scrutiny and that did not even have firsthand knowledge of Trump’s conversation with the president of Ukraine in the first place.
And guess what? Now that the original “whistleblower” has gotten so much favorable attention, it has encouraged other “potential whistleblowers” to start coming forward…
New potential whistleblowers are coming forward to the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, two congressional sources tell The Daily Beast.
They seem to be emboldened by the actions of the whistleblower whose explosive account of President Donald Trump’s phone call to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky about investigating Trump’s domestic political rivals ignited the impeachment inquiry.
Perhaps the Democrats will just keep having “whistleblower” after “whistleblower” come forward until they can find something that finally sticks.
After all, if they never even have to testify publicly, there isn’t much risk for these “whistleblowers”. Anyone in the government that wants to take down Trump could come forward with “damaging information”, and of course the Democrats would be all too eager to gobble it up and run forward with it.
According to the Daily Beast, the new “whistleblowers” are currently being vetted by “congressional investigators”…
Congressional investigators are currently vetting the new accounts they’ve received for credibility. Accordingly, knowledgeable sources would not discuss where in the government these new would-be whistleblowers come from, nor what they purport to have to say.
Needless to say, the term “”congressional investigators” could easily be replaced by “Democratic political hacks”, and anyone that has anything that could even remotely be damaging to Trump will be considered to be “credible”.
If the original whistleblower was forced to testify publicly, a lot of these new “whistleblowers” would quickly disappear. But at this point, it appears that the original whistleblower is going to try to avoid even testifying behind closed doors to Congress. In fact, it is being reported that he may not ever testify in person to anyone. At this point, the legal team representing the “whistleblower” has officially asked Congress if the “whistleblower” can “submit testimony in writing instead of appearing in person”…
Lawyers for the CIA officer whose whistleblower complaint helped ignite an impeachment inquiry into President Trump have asked Congress whether their client could submit testimony in writing instead of appearing in person, according to people familiar with the matter.
The request reflects concerns about whether the whistleblower could testify to Democrats and Republicans without revealing his identity, and fears that doing so would lead to it being publicly leaked, jeopardizing his personal safety. The intelligence committees haven’t yet responded to the inquiry about potential written testimony, the people said.
It is true that once the identity of this “whistleblower” becomes known, that person’s life will never be the same again.
But if you are going to take down the president of the United States, it is not something that can be done anonymously.
At this point Trump’s life has been made a living hell by this “whistleblower”, and Trump deserves to be able to face his accuser.
Not only that, but if a president that is supported by nearly half the country is going to be thrown out of office, the American people deserve to hear directly from the prime witnesses.
This is a very, very serious matter, and this process should be treated with the utmost gravity.
Right now, the mainstream media is relentlessly hammering Trump, and the American public is increasingly becoming convinced that the president may have committed some sort of a crime. In fact, the most recent Fox News poll shows that 51 percent of all Americans want “Trump impeached and removed from office”…
Just over half of voters want President Trump impeached and removed from office, according to a Fox News Poll released Wednesday.
A new high of 51 percent wants Trump impeached and removed from office, another 4 percent want him impeached but not removed, and 40 percent oppose impeachment altogether. In July, 42 percent favored impeachment and removal, while 5 percent said impeach but don’t remove him, and 45 percent opposed impeachment.
President Trump bashed his erstwhile favorite news channel, Fox News, in a pair of tweets Thursday touched off by a new Fox News poll that found a majority of Americans want to see him impeached and removed from office.
“From the day I announced I was running for President, I have NEVER had a good @FoxNews Poll,” Trump tweeted. “Whoever their Pollster is, they suck.”
But what everyone seems to be forgetting is that in order for the president of the United States to be impeached and removed from office, he must have committed a crime, and that is simply not true in this case.
You can’t impeach a president just because you don’t like him or her.
Unfortunately, at this point our government has totally gone off the rails. The Democrats and many Republicans seem to have no problem with repeatedly trampling on the Constitution, and this is something that I have repeatedly warned about.
The Democrats, the mainstream media and “never Trump Republicans” are setting this nation up for a major political disaster.
If President Trump is illegally impeached and illegally removed from office, there is going to be an uproar on the right like we have never seen before.
But if President Trump is illegally impeached by the House and then protected by the Republicans in the Senate, that could cause a tremendous amount of unrest on the left.
Either way, this country is going to be deeply, deeply divided by this illegal process, and at this point it is very difficult to see how this story is going to have a positive ending.
Teasing what appears to be a real whistleblower – and remember, these individuals should be protected, according to Schiff et al. – O’Keefe just told an audience in Washington DC that “our next Project Veritas #BeBrave insider is from within CNN.”
Furthermore, O’Keefe warned one very special individual of what is coming… “It might be time to recall the worst things you’ve said to CNN staff in the hallways, Brian Stetler”
It might be time to recall the worst things you’ve said to CNN staff in the hallways, @brianstelter. Project Veritas has a reliable source who wore a hidden 🎥
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God…
– 2 Timothy 3:1-4
As an internet writer seeking common ground, or, rather, a mutual base frame of reference with the readers, I’ll often use widely disseminated resources in order to inspire contemplation and conversation. Obviously, these sources would include movies and books. So, with that in mind, I recently took advantage of $5 Tuesdays at a theater near me and saw “Joker”. The antagonist of the film, of course, is Batman’s old arch nemesis, “The Joker”.
The movie was epic comic book fare – but also realistically familiar at the same time. And this is understandable given the renowned infamy of the DC Comics super-villain. But there were also more current, and grounded, correlations too.
The actor Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of the Joker’s descent from mental illness to evil was sublime, and he’ll very likely be nominated for an Oscar. I, personally, found the socially awkward scenes to be more cringe-worthy than the blood and guts; and both, seemingly, have appeared right on schedule for the congressional debate on red flag legislation.
In any event, Joker was a disturbing film. And I was riveted.
(NOTE: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SLIGHT SPOILERS)
As stated heretofore, there were many parallels in “Joker” corresponding to our current times. In fact, other than the time-stamped set design and props, the chaos in the streets of Gotham City looked like they could have been filmed in the aftermath of the 2020 election.
Phoenix’s artistic rendering of the Joker agonizingly revealed the suffering of someone mentally ill and lost to the system. What was actually lost, however, was the main character’s normal view of reality. Due to a disturbed mind and horrifically abusive experiences, the Joker’s worldview was warped to the extent that his sense of humor was not considered funny by those in the mainstream. It was an unusual film because the main character was, simultaneously, both the protagonist and antagonist in the story. Ironically, in other ways, the film also divides the audience in two as well – except with one side seeing light refraction causing scenes to flip upside down; and with both sides listening to separate laugh tracks.
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
– Isaiah 5:20
And isn’t that what’s happening in America today?
There are those who laugh at Trump’s tweets while others, like Antifa, riot in the streets.
In the film, Joker appears as an anti-hero of sorts, standing in contrast to a cold-hearted billionaire campaigning to be the Mayor of Gotham and one who believes he can save the city by bringing jobs back.
Accordingly, there are some who might see the billionaire as Donald Trump trying to restore order and making the city great again, while others may see Trump as the Joker tearing down the established order.
Depending upon which movie is being seen, it means Joker’s mindless followers in the story will be viewed by some as disaffected deplorables dancing while Rome burns and others as collectivist clowns wearing masks and spreading anarchy.
What is interesting, however, is that both groups would oppose what they each perceive as the establishment; and both camps seemingly lament the worldview breach between the dispossessed and the wealthy elite.
Either way, as anarchist art or comic book fodder, the Joker film illustrates death to establishment via the ideology of Destructionism:
Destructionism is stage two of any unachievable vision of what society should be like against a reality that refuses to conform. Destructionism also proves to be strangely compelling to populist movements that are anxious to externalize their enemies and smite the forces that stand in the way of their reassertion of power. Finally they discover satisfaction in destruction – as an end in itself – because it makes them feel alive and gives their life meaning.
But who are actually the disaffected and who is, in reality, the establishment?
That is the question, isn’t it?
Like so much of entertainment and politics today – the movie Joker is being seen by two separate audiences. And the reaction to the movie has been similar to comedian Dave Chappelle’s recently-released Netflix comedy special entitled “Sticks and Stones”.
Just as Chappelle’s show was panned by critics but enjoyed by audiences, so, too, is Joker. Just as those on the left and in the mainstream media consider Chappelle’s “Sticks and Stones” as no laughing matter, we are now seeing the same treatment for Joker by those so suddenly serious :
Why? Because, to the Political Left, optics are everything. And this means if the illusion does not fit, then it must be sh*t.
Notice how some of the headlines have reported on Joker as being “boring” or as “numbing emptiness”. This is because, just like Chappelle’s show, art has mocked life and the leftist gestapo has been revealed as the allegorical emperor standing naked. They have no defense against truth; and common sense is truth.
Anything debated, created, manufactured or produced, is derived from a certain tension of thought. It is sewn from threads of chaos and formulated with, and for, a purpose. In Dave Chappelle’s “Sticks and Stones” hour-long routine on Netflix, he is very, very careful – almost akin to a surgeon methodically suppurating a wound. Or a serial killer teasing and torturing victims.
Like a Joker.
Chappelle opened his routine by playfully excoriating singer Michael Jackson’s alleged pedophilia. Then the comedian boldly proclaimed that Jackson didn’t do it. So the pedophilia is addressed in a way that Michael Jackson fans can’t hold against Chappelle. The viewers are disturbed and disgusted and laughing, but nothing can be stuck on the messenger.
Chappelle did the same thing when he ridiculed the LGBTQ crowd as the “alphabet people” – the problem isn’t that they’re gay, it’s that they’re so seriously, and stupidly, self-concerned.
On the topic of abortion, Chappelle said he supported a woman’s right to choose. This, of course, would endear the comedian to those supporting “my body, my choice”. But then Chappelle added a new angle: He argued if the woman decided to have her baby, then men shouldn’t be forced to be involved. Because if the mother has a right to kill her baby then the father should have the right to abandon it. Said he: “My money, my choice”.
And regarding guns, Chappelle said he really, really hates them…. but… that he owns several; and followed by an entire humorous bit as to why he owns them.
One wonders if the same sort of subterfuge was incorporated into the movie Joker by its director, Todd Phillips, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Because there is a scene in the film where Joker’s alter-ego, Arthur Fleck, legitimately used a hand-gun in self-defense against three bad guys on a subway train. Later, a common office (and school) supply item was used to massacre someone, but you’ll never hear the Political Left demanding Red-Flag legislation for the particular item in question. Why? Because it would not represent a threat to the collectivists should they regain power in the U.S. 2020 elections.
Therefore, if the narrative doesn’t fit, it must be sh*t.
Just as Trump supporters don’t find late-night comedy shows like Saturday Night Live or Jimmy Kimmel funny anymore, liberals have also stopped laughing.
It’s because things are getting serious.
In the movie Joker, Gotham also resembles Democrat run New York City in the 1970s as well as many other Democrat Party run sh*t-holes all over America today. Yet the sad-eyed clowns performing as the Democrat Presidential Candidates are all out on the campaign trail promising utopia while endorsing lies, and promoting lawlessness and tumult – and all wanting to mow down a billionaire making Gotham great again; as other mask-wearing clowns riot in the street and raise hell under the guise of “resistance”.
Before anarchy and chaos takes to the streets, a desire to turn society upside down must first take hold. Before that, however, those creating the bedlam must be driven into a rage; or, rather, an insane rage.
In an article I once wrote about Ken Kesey’s novel “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”, I claimed it could be viewed as more than a fictional story and more than an allegory because it had been proven prophetic. Towards that end, I wrote the following:
It is the story of the Divided States of America; an asylum imprisoning subjects suffering under the final stages of Cultural Marxist Dementia and secured by a police state enforcing a twisted type of morality designed to make the inmates progressively and increasingly loony. In a deranged world turned inside-out, the sane ones are labeled insane.
Indeed. Life has imitated art.
In the same article I mentioned how Kesey’s novel delineated “the epic contest between individual autonomy versus the Feminine Authoritarianism of MatriarchalTyranny”.
And isn’t that way of the collectivists currently? Because we never see any negative headlines telling people not to watch shows like Netflix’s recent “In the Shadow of the Moon” where fictional time-travelers retroactively murder American patriots in order to advance the cause of globalism.
Why isn’t that considered boring?
Indeed, the hypocrisy resembles a feminist-type double-standard whereby what is good for the goose is not for the gander – in the same way many modern women condescendingly, and even snottily, lecture men on the perils of “Mansplaining”.
Honestly, who do these people think they are for telling me what shows I should watch? And why is it they can hate Trump, but I’m not allowed to laugh at his tweets?
It was also interesting to watch Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of the Joker showing the character transition from hapless schmuck, to imagined virility, to actual evil that manifested in sort of a twisted femininity; pure narcissism demonstrated onscreen to the tune of graceful little dances in the wake of brutal acts.
It is no surprise, therefore, that many have tied Joker to what has become known as “Inceldom”, or “the online subculture of men (mostly young, white, and heterosexual)” who have become violent as a result of being involuntarily celibate. Many past mass-shooters have been identified as Incels (i.e. the portmanteau of “involuntary celibates”) including Elliot Rodger who killed six people in 2014 at the University of California Santa Barbara and Nikolas Cruz who killed seventeen at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida on Valentine’s Day 2018.
In fact, the U.S. Army has warned of possible shootings at Joker film screenings because of the tendency of violent Incels to imitate each other – or, actually, very similar to what happens in the narrative of the Joker film.
People are also on edge because of the December 2012 mass-shooting in Aurora, Colorado where the killer, James Holmes, killed twelve people in a movie theater at a Batman screening. What was especially strange is that the killer, Holmes, even looked like the Joker.
But it was while reading Santa Barbara killer Elliot Rodger’s online manifesto, two years after the Batman massacre, that marked my first exploration into Inceldom – although I didn’t become aware of the term Incel until several years later. Rodger, like the Joker, over time developed a desire for revenge upon those whom he perceived had treated him unjustly – a classic example of resentment magnified into full-blown rage.
In this embedded link there is a six-minute video of Elliot Rodger discussing his forthcoming “day of retribution” where he absolutely comes across as a comic book villain, complete with an unsettling evil chuckle.
To be sure, life does, indeed, imitate art.
Rodger’s disturbing manifesto made it very clear his pre-teen psyche was formulated by television, video games and porn. Perhaps all of these modern-day manifestations have led to a sort of neo-Gnosticism in modern youth; or, rather, the intellect seeking salvation while divorced from reality. Comic books, movies, gaming, and porn all provide immediate gratification but without any of the fleshly aggravations like body-fluids, bad breath, sweat, and stench. Is it any wonder, then, why self-concerned spoiled Incels believe they are programmed for pleasure without travail and, then, become hostile when the world operates beyond the range of their remote controls?
Another component of Incel rage is suppressed hostility against masculinity. Because, after all, it is the more attractive real boys and men who get the girls, thus robbing Incels of their fair share. In Rodger’s YouTube videos and manifesto, his rage and envy was obvious: He despised the knuckle-dragging Neanderthals who the girls had chosen over him – the true gentleman.
Accordingly, an ex-girlfriend of the Aurora Batman shooter, James Holmes, ended a two-month relationship with him “following an encounter between Holmes and another man who talked to her during a date on Saint Patrick’s Day”.
In the Joker movie, the old-school masculinity of the future Batman’s father, Thomas Wayne, is displayed in stark contrast to Joker’s pathetic, even effeminate, frailty. Surely any Incel or Antifa snowflake seeing Joker would judge Thomas Wayne as a knuckle-dragging rich prick in the same vein as… say… Donald J. Trump; and, later in life, perhaps even the crime-fighting Batman himself.
Remember when kids idolized the heroes over the villains? Times have changed.
Certainly, Joker offers legendary comic book plotlines and rising action, but also with a “Taxi Driver” patina of reality at the same time. Adding to the angst, the soundtrack’s stringed instruments correspond to the main character’s nervous tension , which remains ever-present throughout the film – even as the Joker deftly dances down the stairs toward hell to the drumbeat and instrumentation of convicted pedophile Gary Glitter’s 1972 “Rock and Roll Part 2”.
And if there’s any question in anyone’s mind whether Joker’s controversy is the result of a middle-finger-flip to Woke Culture, just know Todd Phillips, who also directed the Hangover series and other comedies, has unequivocally answered that question. In an interview with Vanity Fair magazine, Phillips stated the following:
“Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture,” he [Phillips] says.
“There were articles written about why comedies don’t work anymore – I’ll tell you why, because all the f*cking funny guys are like, ‘F*ck this sh*t, because I don’t want to offend you.’ It’s hard to argue with 30 million people on Twitter. You just can’t do it, right? So you just go, ‘I’m out.’ I’m out, and you know what? With all my comedies – I think that what comedies in general all have in common – is they’re irreverent. So I go, ‘How do I do something irreverent, but f*ck comedy? Oh I know, let’s take the comic book movie universe and turn it on its head with this.’ And so that’s really where that came from.”
A modern internet phenomenon where a person is ejected from influence or fame by questionable actions. It is caused by a critical mass of people who are quick to judge and slow to question. It is commonly caused by an accusation, whether that accusation has merit or not. It is a direct result of the ignorance of people caused communication technologies outpacing the growth in available knowledge of a person.
And is that not the modus operandi of the mob?
Surely, if the collectivists had their way, they would cancel Joker in the same way the Democrats in congress now wish to cancel Donald Trump. Because both the movie and the president have revealed the mob as being mad like the Joker; and with the same lack of identity and accountability.
Hence, the grand confrontation of our time: How do crime fighters battle against those not moored to civilized society and who don’t believe in anything except their own will to power?
That was the question I was contemplating as I left the theater. On the way out, I noticed two police officers in full uniform in the lobby. They were different than the other two I saw while entering, before the movie started. Did they have a shift change during the movie? Or were there now more cops on location?
As I walked by the armed officers, who were dutifully standing guard against any potentially devastating Incel violence, I looked around at the others leaving the theater and noticed something else. No one was laughing.
It’s All About The December Tariffs Now: “These Negotiations Look Much More Difficult Than Phase 1”
For all the breathless excitement unleashed by the Trump administration, what happened on Friday as part of “Phase 1” of the US-China trade deal, was rather underwhelming: the tariff increase scheduled to take effect on October 15 (from 25% to 30% on $250bn of imports) has been suspended, in return for greater Chinese purchases of US agricultural products (mostly soybeans and pork, which China desperately needs anyway), as well as some vague currency transparency provisions, and greater Chinese market access for financial services firms. Specifically, as laid out earlier, in return for suspension of the October 15 US tariff increase, China appears to have agreed to:
$40-50bn of purchases of US agriculture and agricultural policy changes,
currency transparency, and
opening market access for US financial services firms.
Additionally, while president Trump indicated that some progress was made on technology transfer, deal enforcement and intellectual property hinting that some aspects might be addressed in Phase 1, it appears that these key issue will be dealt with primarily in subsequent negotiations.
Yet even with this minimal list of actual accomplishments, Goldman notes that there is “still slight uncertainty regarding the details of the agreement” and adds that “the White House has indicated that the details of the deal will be written up over the next four weeks, with an expectation that the agreement would be signed by Presidents Trump and Xi at the APEC Summit in Santiago, Chile in mid-November.” That said, given that the core aspects of “Phase 1” look fairly straightforward, there appears to be a fairly low risk that the deal – as it currently stands – falls through at this point.
To be sure, much of this was anticipated with most analysts expecting an extension of the October 15 tariffs, with the December tariff round the wildcard. It is here that things get more complicated.
Indeed, as Goldman’s Alec Phillips writes, while the October 15 tariff increase may have been called off, “the White House has not committed to suspending the planned December 15 tariff round.”
As a result, the outlook for that next tariff round depends on progress made in “Phase 2” talks, which will likely to take place in November. And since “Phase 2” , which Lighthizer described as as “down to final details”, is expected to focus on far more problematic issues such as intellectual property and technology transfer issues, particularly with regard to enforcement of those reforms, Goldman cautions that “these negotiations nevertheless look like a much more difficult undertaking than the issues addressed in Phase 1.” As such, while Trump – and the market – may have taken a victory lap, the real test will take place in about 2 months.
Putting all this together in practical terms, this is what Goldman believes will happen next:
At this point, we see a 60% chance that the announced 15% tariffs on List 4B will take effect, though a delay until early 2020 is likely in our view given the proximity of the December 15 deadline to the Christmas holiday. In light of the complexity of the issues in Phase 2, we would not expect a decision on the December 15 tariff round until shortly before the deadline. We also note that the December FOMC meeting will be held on December 10-11, and it looks more likely that if a tariff delay were agreed to, it would be more likely to be announced after the FOMC decision than before.
Finally, it’s worth recalling that both previous ceasefire “deals” fall apart in a shorter time than the 2 months we have to wait until Phase 2, so for all those wondering why the market bought the rumor and sold the news…
… it likely has to do with the assumption that Friday’s trade “deal” was as good as it will get.
The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has added a question on crypto ownership to the standard 1040 income tax form for the coming tax season.
On Oct. 11, a draft of the “Additional Income and Adjustments to Income” section of the new 1040 form surfaced that included a change was made to the ‘Additional Income and Adjustments to Income’ section. On the new 1040 form, the additional question reads:
“At any time during 2019, did you receive, sell, send, exchange, or otherwise acquire any financial interest in any virtual currency?”
The question expects a straightforward yes or no, with no additional details requested.
Cointelegraph previously reported that the IRS had issued new guidelines for tax reporting on cryptocurrency airdrops and hard forks. The tax agency’s guidance answered questions about cryptocurrency transmissions for investors that hold cryptocurrencies as a capital asset and set general principles of tax law to determine that virtual currency is property for federal tax purposes.
H&R Block helps with crypto taxes
Cointelegraph reported in September that United States-based accounting firm H&R Block started acting as an intermediary between crypto users and the IRS after the agency began sending letters to crypto traders who may have failed to report income and pay taxes.
H&R Block can now assist people who have engaged in digital currency transactions, specifically providing consultations on how to properly file their cryptocurrency gains and losses on tax returns.
Historic Typhoon Devastates Japan; Millions Told To Evacuate Amid Flooding, Widespread Outages
The largest typhoon in recorded history of Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture caused widespread flooding, power outages and destruction on Saturday, as local authorities warned over 7 million people to evacuate, according to Bloomberg(with other sources quoting figures ranging from 1-4 million).
Damaged houses in Ichihara, Chiba, on Oct. 12. Source: Jiji Press/AFP via Getty Images
The sky turned brilliant purple right before Hagibis hit.
It might look lovely however this is a BIG calamity, Japan’s skies turn profound shade of purple as Typhoon Hagibis is coming. #PRAYFORJAPANpic.twitter.com/XxkgDOoF9B
According to the Japan Times, Typhoon Hagibis was downgraded to “strong” just prior to landfall, however “as of 8 p.m., it was still packing sustained winds of 144 kph and gusts of 198 kph. The storm is forecast to travel over Kanto region and then north into Tohoku region before moving into the Pacific.”
“A typhoon of an unprecedented scale is about to hit Kanto. I’d like you to take actions to protect your own life,” said Tokyo Gov. Kuriko Koike in an emergency news conference.
Dozens of rivers in the Tokyo region saw waters rise to dangerous levels on Saturday, while upstream dams are set to release water due to the heavy rains according to NHK. One of the largest rivers in the region, the Tama, has already begun to overflow into the residential district of Setagaya, per the land ministry.
Pray for Japan, for their safety… 🙏
Typhoon Hagibis is currently one of the strongest typhoons recorded to date.
“If we leave this situation unattended, the dam would collapse and more than 60 million tons of water would be unleashed at once,” said Kanagawa Gov. Yuji Kuroiwa while announcing that the Shiroyama Dam in Sagamihara was scheduled to release water at 10 p.m.
More than 100 rivers were at risk of overflowing, including the Arakawa River in Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward, the Karasawa River in Saitama Prefecture and Koito River in Chiba Prefecture.
The Tama River running between Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture began to overflow into the Tamagawa area of Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward at around 10:30 p.m. The area is better known as Futako-Tamagawa.
The Chikuma River flooded in the city of Ueda and the city of Nagano, both in Nagano Prefecture, as did the Minami-Asakawa River in Hachioji and the Nariki River in Ome, both in Tokyo. –Japan Times
Emergency warnings are in effect for: Kanagawa, Saitama, Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Nagano, Niigata, Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures.
Meanwhile, a 5.7 earthquake also struck Japan on Saturday.
On top of dealing with Typhoon #Hagibis, just felt an earthquake in #Chiba. The building was swaying. Local media is reporting a 5.7 magnitude quake struck near the region.
J.P. Morgan has taken to issuing warnings over the mental state and overall health of the American consumer’s habits. As a nation, we are deeply indebted to consumerism and that’s what is currently keeping the fragile economy afloat.
With the manufacturing industry already officially in a recession, the Institute of Supply Management purchasing manager index was registering a reading of 47.8 (anything over 50 indicated growth) for September, the worst reading since 2009 the news seems bleak even for the consumerism that’s fueling this debt-based economy. The U.S. and the Chinese trade war is also degrading business confidence, causing management teams to pull back on spending. That leaves consumers to carry the economic water – and many are tapped out; no longer able to take on any more debt in order to keep things afloat.
J.P. Morgan consumer-finance analyst Richard Shane sees this as bad news for the stocks he covers, according to Barron’s. On Tuesday morning, Shane cut his target prices on every single stock he covers—including names like American Express and Capital One Financial—by an average of almost 10%. What’s more, he downgraded shares of auto lender Ally Financial.
Shane is seeing some visible cracks in this “booming” economy and it’s time to be aware of them, “While the sector should continue to enjoy solid fundamentals through year-end, our outlook headed into 2020 becomes more cautious,” Shane wrote in a research report.
“Specifically, the prospects of a slowing economy, indications of pockets of labor weakness and heightened political uncertainty all may weigh on the group.”
Investors so far, appear to be aware of the risks in the markets going into 2020. Consumers, on the other hand, appear to have hardly noticed any of the red flags appearing right in front of them. After all, total household debt rose to $13.9 trillion in the second quarter, its 20th consecutive quarter of growth, according to Shane. Most consumer debt is housing-related, but borrowers also have $1.3 trillion in car loans. $0.8 trillion in credit-card debt, and $1.5 trillion in student debt.
Shane doesn’t see the bottom falling out of the economy. He doesn’t think it’s time to panic just yet because while consumer debt loads are at record highs, debt as a percentage of household wealth isn’t, he points out.
But the red flags are still there. Consumerism is being fueled by a strong job market. Should that go sightly the wrong way, things could get ugly, quickly.
