Category: zerohedge

iPhones Harvest And Transmit Massive Amounts Of Data While You Sleep

iPhones are surprisingly active in the middle of the night, according to a report by Washington Post Technology writer, Geoffrey Fowler.

 

Fowler tracked his iPhone’s activity recently, finding that dozens of companies were receiving information at all hours. 

On a recent Monday night, a dozen marketing companies, research firms and other personal data guzzlers got reports from my iPhone. At 11:43 p.m., a company called Amplitude learned my phone number, email and exact location. At 3:58 a.m., another called Appboy got a digital fingerprint of my phone. At 6:25 a.m., a tracker called Demdex received a way to identify my phone and sent back a list of other trackers to pair up with.

And all night long, there was some startling behavior by a household name: Yelp. It was receiving a message that included my IP address -— once every five minutes. –WaPo

Also not lost on Fowler was the irony of a January Apple advertisement which claimed “What happens on your iPhone stays on your iPhone.”

iPhone apps passing information in the middle of the night include Microsoft OneDrive, Intuit’s Mint, Nike, Spotify, The Washington Post and IBM’s the Weather Channel. “One app, the crime-alert service Citizen, shared personally identifiable information in violation of its published privacy policy,” Fowler notes. 

With the help of privacy firm Disconnect, Fowler encountered over 5,400 trackers in just one week – mostly within apps, that send his information to third party companies. Over the course of a month, the unwanted trackers were on track to upload 1.5 gigabytes of data. 

“This is your data. Why should it even leave your phone? Why should it be collected by someone when you don’t know what they’re going to do with it?” said former NSA researcher Patrick Jackson who is currently Disconnect’s chief technology officer. Jackson used special software to analyze Fowler’s iPhone. 

Patrick Jackson, chief technology officer for Disconnect, hooked columnist Geoffrey A. Fowler’s iPhone into software so they could examine the personal data flowing out of the phone. (James Pace-Cornsilk/The Washington Post)

“I know the value of data, and I don’t want mine in any hands where it doesn’t need to be,” he said. 

In a world of data brokers, Jackson is the data breaker. He developed an app called Privacy Pro that identifies and blocks many trackers. If you’re a little bit techie, I recommend trying the free iOS version to glimpse the secret life of your iPhone.

Yes, trackers are a problem on phones running Google’s Android, too. Google won’t even let Disconnect’s tracker-protection software into its Play Store. (Google’s rules prohibit apps that might interfere with another app displaying ads.)

Part of Jackson’s objection to trackers is that many feed the personal data economy, used to target us for marketing and political messaging. Facebook’s fiascos have made us all more aware of how our data can be passed along, stolen and misused — but Cambridge Analytica was just the beginning.

Jackson’s biggest concern is transparency: If we don’t know where our data is going, how can we ever hope to keep it private? –WaPo

App Trackers are akin to the cookies used on websites that monitor and report your activity around the internet. In apps, however, there’s virtually no notice that this is happening, and they’re difficult to block. 

So why do the trackers activate in the middle of the night? Some appmakers set them to harvest data whenever the phone is plugged in, or they think it won’t interfere with other functions. According to Fowler, “These late-night encounters happen on the iPhone if you have allowed “background app refresh,” which is Apple’s default.” 

In the case of Yelp, the company said their app’s behavior wasn’t actually a tracker, rather, an “unintended issue” that’s been mimicking a tracker. According to the company, Fowler’s discovery only affects 1% of its iOS users, especially those who have made reservations through Apple Maps. “At best, it is shoddy software that sent Yelp data it didn’t need. At worst, Yelp was amassing a data trove that could be used to map people’s travels, even when they weren’t using its app,” notes Fowler. 

Popular food delivery app DoorDash is another harvesting offender – which uses a tracker called Sift Science to get a ‘fingerprint’ of your phone – including device name, model, ad identifier and memory size, as well as an accelerometer motion reading to help identify fraud (so they say). Three other trackers used by DoorDash monitor the app’s performance, including one called Segment which routes data such as the delivery address, name, email and cell carrier of the phone’s owner. 

DoorDash’s other five trackers, including Facebook and Google Ad Services, help it understand the effectiveness of its marketing. Their presence means Facebook and Google know every time you open DoorDash.

The delivery company tells me it doesn’t allow trackers to sell or share our data, which is great. But its privacy policy throws its hands up in the air: “DoorDash is not responsible for the privacy practices of these entities,” it says.

All but one of DoorDash’s nine trackers made Jackson’s naughty list for Disconnect, which also powers the Firefox browser’s private browsing mode. To him, any third party that collects and retains our data is suspect unless it also has pro-consumer privacy policies like limiting data retention time and anonymizing data. –WaPo

Some of the other companies mentioned, including Microsoft, Nike and the Weather Channel, insist that their trackers are to improve performance. The Intuit-owned Mint, says it uses Adobe’s marketing tracker to better advertise to Mint users. The Washington Post (awkward) told their employee that the trackers “were used to make sure ads worked.” Spotify simply directed Fowler to their privacy policy. 

Citizen, the app for location-based crime reporting, said in their privacy policy that they wouldn’t share “your name or other personally identifying information.” When Fowler ran his test, however, he found that “it repeatedly sent my phone number, email and exact GPS coordinates to the tracker Amplitude.” 

It was only after Citizen was contacted about this that they removed the Amplitude tracker. 

“We will do a better job of making sure our privacy policy is clear about the specific types of data we share with providers like these,” said Citizen spokesman J. Peter Donald, who added “We do not sell user data. We never have and never will.” 

What does Apple have to say about all of this?

Fowler was disappointed at the orgy of data harvesting happening at all hours, and asked “isn’t Apple supposed to be better at privacy?” 

“At Apple we do a great deal to help users keep their data private,” Apple said in a statement. “Apple hardware and software are designed to provide advanced security and privacy at every level of the system.”

“For the data and services that apps create on their own, our App Store Guidelines require developers to have clearly posted privacy policies and to ask users for permission to collect data before doing so. When we learn that apps have not followed our Guidelines in these areas, we either make apps change their practice or keep those apps from being on the store,” said Apple. 

Except that Fowler found that very few apps using third-party trackers were actually disclosing the names of those companies, or how they protect his data. 

Getting more deeply involved in app data practices is complicated for Apple. Today’s technology frequently is built on third-party services, so Apple couldn’t simply ban all connections to outside servers. And some companies are so big they don’t even need the help of outsiders to track us.

The result shouldn’t be to increase Apple’s power. “I would like to make sure they’re not stifling innovation,” says Andrés Arrieta, the director of consumer privacy engineering at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. If Apple becomes the Internet’s privacy police, it could shut down rivals. –WaPo

Disconnect’s Jackson suggested that Apple might consider adding controls built into the iOS which would give people more visibility, or require apps to clearly disclose when they’re using third-party trackers. 

” If I opened the DoorDash app and saw nine tracker notices, it might make me think twice about using it,” concludes Fowler. Indeed. 

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/30UOb2S Tyler Durden

Is This China’s Biggest Weapon In The Trade War?

Authored by Tim Daiss via OilPrice.com,

Oil markets remain under pressure amid economic downturn worries due to the U.S.-China trade war that shows no sign of ending. Ongoing trade war tensions are causing concern across financial markets as well. The S&P 500 has dropped over 5 percent from its recent record highs, while some analysts claim that there is even more downside potential as markets have barely priced the effects of China’s potential response in the trade war.

Some possible retaliatory moves by China, in addition to its recent tariff increase on $60 bn worth of U.S. goods, include restricting rare earth exports to the U.S., a move that would hurt many U.S. manufacturers since China holds roughly 71 percent of the global market share. Anop-ed in the Beijing-based Global Times newspaper, which often expresses the views of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), said on Wednesday that the U.S. will rue forcing China’s hand on rare earth materials. An official of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said the day before that China will not tolerate foreign high-tech products made from rare earths produced in China being used to contain and suppress China’s development.

“If anyone wants to use the products made from rare earths exported by China to contain and suppress the development of China, I think the people of the old revolutionary base area in the south of Jiangxi Province and the people of China will not be happy,” said the official.

According to the Global Times, he made the remarks when asked by reporters if China will use rare earths as a countermeasure against U.S. trade moves to contain China. Obviously, the report added, the response is a strong signal from China to the U.S.

Who will blink first?

Despite Beijing’s increasingly defiant tone over the trade war, the question at the end of the day is who will blink first? Trump is hoping that he can outlast China since the U.S. imports around five times more Chinese goods than China imports from the U.S. Some analysts agree with this assertion, while others debunk it as an oversimplification. Yet, noted economist Gary Shilling predicts that not only will President Trump win the seemingly endless trade war with China, but in the long run, the U.S. will be better off.

“People say nobody wins trade wars. Yeah, in the short-run you don’t, but in the long-run…the U.S. will be better off,” Shilling recently said.

“When you’ve got plenty of supply in the world, and I think you do. It’s the buyer that has the upper hand not the seller. The buyer has the ultimate power and who’s the buyer? The U.S. is the buyer, China is the seller,” he said. Other agree, claiming that without the vast U.S. market, China will have trouble finding buyers for many of its consumer products.

China creates gas pain for the U.S.

While China could try to inflict pain on the U.S. by withholding rare earth materials, it is already creating a negative impact on U.S. LNG project development. China’s move to hike tariffs on U.S. LNG from 10 percent to 25 percent will cause a number of greenfield LNG project proposals to not go forward. These projects, unlike their project proposal counterparts that are funded by oil and gas majors with deep pockets, will not be able to strike long term off-take agreements needed to reach the all-important final investment decision (FID) before a project can be built. Moreover, many of these smaller projects which are often being promulgated by a patchwork of various companies and energy players will also need Chinese financing to go forward. The reality that China is now the second largest LNG buyer in the world and will likely pass Japan, the top current LNG buyer, in a number of years is a hard reality for the U.S. LNG sector to deal with as it seeks to compete with both Australia and Qatar as the top LNG export leader by the mid part of the next decade.

The U.S., even without a 25 percent tariff on its LNG exports to China, would struggle to vie with Qatar as the top global LNG producer. The tiny, gas-rich kingdom caught the energy world by surprise in late 2017 when it announced that it would increase its liquefaction capacity from 77 million tons per annum (mtpa) to a staggering 110 mtpa by late 2023 or early 2024 by developing more gas at its North Field, an increase in production of some 43 percent. The move will also increase Qatar’s total production capacity from 4.8 to 6.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day.

For the U.S. to compete with Qatar on a liquefaction-to-liquefaction capacity basis it will need to see a large percentage of current LNG project proposals come to fruition. For the time being, the pain from increased Chinese tariffs on U.S. LNG has been minimized. The U.S. will soon become the world’s third-largest LNG exporter. In December, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected that U.S. LNG export capacity will reach 8.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by the end of 2019, making it the third largest in the world behind Australia and Qatar.

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2Kd6H0t Tyler Durden

Disney’s Iger: “Very Difficult” To Film In Georgia After Abortion Law

Disney CEO Bob Iger said on Wednesday that if Georgia carries out the state’s strict new abortion laws, telling Reuters that it would be “very difficult” for the company to continue filming in the state because “many people who work for us will not want to work there, and we will have to heed their wishes in that regard.” 

On May 7th, Georgia governor Brian Kemp (R) signed into law banning abortion after a doctor can detect a fetal heratbeat, which occurs at approximately six weeks into pregnancy. If it survives court challenges, it will take effect on January 1st. 

If that happens, “I don’t see how it’s practical for us to continue to shoot there,” said Iger. Of note, Disney filmed “Black Panther” and “Captain America: Civil War” in Georgia. 

Georgia is one of eight states to pass anti-abortion legislation this year for the purpose of inducing the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark case that established a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy.

The state offers a tax credit that has lured many film and TV productions. The industry is responsible for more than 92,000 jobs in Georgia, according to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and some 455 productions were shot in Georgia in 2018, according to the state. –Reuters

In 2016, Disney and other major studies threatened to boycott the state if they were to strengthen protections for same-sex marriage opponents – a bill which passed through the state legislature, only to be vetoed by then Republican governor, Nathan Deal. 

Dozens of celebrities and producers have already committed to no longer working in Georgia over the abortion law, while others such as JJ Abrams’ and Jordan Peele’s production companies have said that they would remain in the state, but donate “100% of our respective episodic fees” from the current season of “Lovecraft Country” to the ACLU of Georgia. 

On Tuesday, Netflix said that they would have to “rethink our entire investment in Georgia” if the new law is enacted – however they will continue production there for now while working with groups opposing the legislation. The company films shows such as “Stranger Think” and “Ozark” in Georgia – the latter of which star Jason Batemen told The Hollywood Reporter he would no longer work in the state if the legislation survives court challenges. 

“We have many women working on productions in Georgia, whose rights, along with millions of others, will be severely restricted by this law,” said Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos. “It’s why we will work with the A.C.L.U. and others to fight it in court. Given the legislation has not yet been implemented, we’ll continue to film there — while also supporting partners and artists who choose not to.”

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2WfAYTB Tyler Durden

The Bull Case – A Path To Intervention

Authored by Sven Henrich via NorthmanTrader.com,

The May correction was technically well advertised in April, even before that, but the run in April stretching to new highs on $SPX and $NDX was a tricky exercise to navigate through. Extremes become more extremes as I outlined in my 2018 market lessons.

The wedge patterns I outlined in advance finally met their end with downside breaks bringing us the May correction highlighting again that technicals matter. The wedge mattered. The weekly hanging man mattered. The trend breaks mattered.

And yes historic technical extensions mattered:

That deviation having gone from most positive ever to now negative:

Also mattering: The negative divergences highlighted in Lying Highs II.

All of these factors have now resulted in a technical reaction that produced a retrace to not only the daily 200MA yesterday, but also the critically important weekly 50MA, another key support pivot:

See a sustained close below these MAs and bears may be devouring bulls.

After all this H&S pattern is triggered and it has a 2640 target and bulls need to step it up here today & tomorrow into the end of May and invalidate this pattern now that we’ve seen a break of the neckline:

So let’s be very clear there are numerous critical technical concerns that very much suggest markets may be engaged in major topping patterns, the Wyckoff pattern I outlined on May 1 right near the top is still fully valid at this stage, and the ghost chart is casting a long shadow here as well. With the combined backdrop of an escalating trade war, yield curve inversions, slowing growth, trapped central banks and a toxic political climate there’s a lot that can seriously wrong for bulls here, a macro and technicals backdrop that is paving the path to intervention.

But navigating markets is a complex exercise that requires an open mind to the other side of any argument and now that May has brought the first correction of 2019 it may be worthwhile to take a look at the bull case from here.

Keep in mind that ,in context of the larger 2019 rally, the May correction has been run of the mill. A near 8.5% correction in $NDX a 6% correction on $SPX. Nothing super dramatic has happened yet and we remain inside the larger 2018 price range.

What is the bullish case then? Well, take out all the noise and all the headlines and let me highlight here a couple of interesting considerations.

As corrections unfold it’s always important to watch for potential signs of turns. I outlined one of these yesterday:

This potential pattern is by no means confirmed at this stage, but it leaves room for a bullish interpretation, at least short term if the pattern triggers.

But let’s look at 2019 from a broader seasonal perspective:

Massive ramp up for 4 months straight, then a correction in May which may or may not be over yet as mentioned above.

But guess what year it is? Yea, I know, 2019, but what is 2019? It’s a pre-election year with 2020 being the next presidential election.

Now check this out this chart on pre-election year seasonality:

Look familiar? 4 month ramp out of the gate and then a correction into the end of May. Oops.

See it’s the what happens next on that seasonality chart that should scare the hell out of bears as it implies new highs to come if it plays out this year again.

Also keep in mind the megaphone structure I first outlined in Combustion is still out there as well:

Without a fast close above 2800 this week into next this scenario may be quite moot as the H&S pattern may trigger, but it’s best to keep an open mind and an eye on a broad range of possible outcomes. Levels, patterns and signals will keep us appraised as to the next big move.

A more in depth analysis of the technical factors/signals weighing the bull versus the bear case can be read in Fire Hazard.

*  *  *

For the latest public analysis please visit NorthmanTrader. To subscribe to our market products please visit Services.

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2Z1OeZ1 Tyler Durden

Malaysia Proposes Common Asian Currency Pegged To Gold

For years, gold bulls had speculated that China has been quietly piling up physical gold, awaiting the moment to unveil a gold-backed currency, either after the dollar’s reserve status falters or before.

Today, the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad took one large step in that direction when he proposed the launch of an Asian version of the euro: a common trading currency for East Asia that, unlike the euro, would be pegged to gold, describing the existing currency trading in the region as manipulative (perhaps in reference to China’s currency setting framework).

According to the Malaysian PM, the proposed common currency could be used to settle imports and exports, but would not be used for domestic transactions.

“In the Far East, if you want to come together, we should start with a common trading currency, not to be used locally but for the purpose of settling of trade,” he said at the Nikkei Future of Asia conference in Tokyo. “The currency that we propose should be based on gold because gold is much more stable.”

He said under the current foreign exchange system, local currencies were affected by external factors and were manipulated. He did not elaborate on how they were manipulated, and whether his complaint was against the dollar or the yuan. That said, Mahathir has long been a critic of currency trading, and according to Reuters, he once accused George Soros of betting against Asian currencies.

Incidentally, during the Asian financial crisis two decades ago, Mahathir pegged the ringgit currency at 3.8 to the dollar and imposed capital controls. That peg was scrapped in 2005.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration said that no major trading partner met the criteria required to be placed on the U.S. Treasury Department’s list of its currency manipulators, it named Malaysia among nine countries that required close scrutiny. In response, Malaysia’s central bank said on Wednesday its intervention in currency markets was limited to managing excessive volatility.

While it is unclear if the Malaysian PM’s proposal is serious or just jawboning, should the Asian nation truly push for a currency alternative that evades the dollar, then many of the narrative gaps in the Zoolander script will finally become self-explanatory.

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2YXTWLc Tyler Durden

Goldman Says Trump Will Win In 2020, Unless…

There is a reason why Trump is so transfixed on the state of the economy:  according to an analysis by Goldman, when it comes to politics, “it’s the economy, stupid”, and specifically the seasonally-adjusted economy, i.e., GDP.

What Goldman means by that is that Trump’s re-election chances will depend on two things: the president’s net approval rating on one hand, and the two-year average GDP growth through the third quarter of election year (in this case Q3 2020). And as the chart below shows, with Trump having one of the worst net approval ratings of all time, below even that of Jimmy Carter, what Trump does have going for him is the solid – for now – economy, thanks to a trailing two-year GDP which will be around 2.6% next September.

As a result, Goldman claims that according to economic growth forecasts, Trump will-be re-elected…

… unless GDP (any by implication, the market) crashes in the upcoming 16 months, sliding below 2.00%.

There is another reason why Goldman believes Trump will be re-elected: according to the bank’s economist Alec Phillips, incumbent presidents carry a 5 to 6 percentage-point edge over rival candidates in the popular vote. “The advantage of first term incumbency and the relatively strong economic performance ahead of the presidential election suggest that President Trump is more likely to win a second term than the eventual Democratic candidate is to defeat him,” said Phillips.

In some more good news for Trump, who is obsessed with the current level of the S&P. Well, if Goldman is right, he doesn’t have to be. Historically, Goldman has found that variables such as employment and income are better indicators of an election result than market-based forces such as equity or oil prices.

Which is why instead of focusing so much on pushing the S&P higher, which only affects a relatively small group of potential voters, Trump should be far more careful what impact his policies (and tweets) will have on the broader economy, which after an impressive 3.1% jump in the first quarter, is expected to slump to just above 0% in the second.

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2HLlw8H Tyler Durden

Barclays Is Tired Of Taking The Tesla “Blue Pill”, Slaps It With $150 Price Target

Better late than never. 

After last week’s onslaught of sell side downgrades of Tesla, Barclays joined the party, and on Thursday it slapped the second lowest street $150 price target on the company (Vertical Group’s Gordon Johnson has the lowest at $54) and highlighted a scenario that could see shares go as low as $133. 

Analyst Brian Johnson said that the automaker could be relegated to the status of becoming just a “niche luxury carmaker”, an angle that many Tesla skeptics have insisted would have been a better path for Tesla from the get go.

Barclays predicts that there isn’t much left of the blissfully ignorant illusionary view on Tesla, stating that the company’s “blue pill” call option value now appears far out of the money. Barclays also predicts that it could be time for the rest of the market to embrace the harsh realities and brutal truths of the dying Tesla narrative. Johnson’s note suggests that recent price action, “even in the face of a successful fund raise” indicated that market participants are starting to take the “red pill”. 

As a result, Barclays lowered its target on the company to $150 from $192, saying that – despite Elon Musk’s recently leaked email claiming “great” demand – that demand for the Model 3 has stagnated in the U.S. 

“The company lacks a path to significant profitability from its auto business and its solar storage installations have declined sequentially over the past two quarters,” Johnson said. Like Morgan Stanley last week, Barclays said that there was “no excitement” around the brand anymore, observing that the CEO’s pivot to robotaxis fell on deaf ears. 

Johnson did try to recant some of the bull case that has been successful, but he then turned around to note why all of these points did not justify the company’s current valuation. He says that Barclay’s looks at four “articles of faith”, that Tesla bulls take to be gospel, with an eye of skepticism. 

He also pointed out comparable EVs that will be coming to market and challenging Tesla, along with their price points and range. 

Johnson blasted the company’s Autonomy Day, stating that it made the company’s “lead” in Autonomous “even less credible”. 


The onslaught continued, interspersed with the occasional silver lining of optimism, like this: “We expect more investors to gravitate back to Tesla’s near-term fundamentals of demand, profitability and cash generation.” Well, maybe optimism for the shorts. He also said his “niche carmaker” model would price the company’s shares around $133. 

Recall, last week started with Wedbush proclaiming that Tesla faced a “Kilimanjaro-like uphill climb” to hit its profitability goals for the second half of the year. Analyst Dan Ives also slashed his price target from $275 to $230 and called the company‘s current state of affairs a “code red situation”.

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas then picked up the bearish baton with a midweek call with investors in which he  said “supply exceeds demand, they’re burning cash, nobody cares about the Model Y, they raised capital near lows” and there’s been “no strategic buy-in”. 

He then said: “Tesla’s is not seen as a growth story, it’s seen as a distressed credit and restructuring story.” 

This came after Jonas’ note last Tuesday, which saw the investment bank lower its “bear case” target to on the company to just $10 per share.

Later in the week, longtime Tesla bull Gene Munster capitulated and issued a stern warning that he believed Tesla will miss its 2019 delivery target range. Munster cited shrinking sales in China and the ongoing trade war as the reason for his increasingly bearish commentary. Munster cut his estimate for Tesla’s full year global car sales by about 10%, to 310,000 vehicles, versus the 360,000 vehicle target that the company put out back in March.

Citigroup and Robert W. Baird & Co. analysts also slashed their target prices last week. 

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2Xhbstp Tyler Durden

When Will The FBI Place Informants In Bernie Sanders’ 2020 Campaign?

If the 2016 US election taught us anything, it’s that the FBI feels it’s necessary to send people to spy on the campaigns of candidates who might have ties to Russia. We’ve also learned that the agency’s bar for launching a massive counterintelligence investigation is incredibly low – spending what President Trump says was $40 million to probe flimsy rumors that Russia has ‘dirt’ on another candidate.

Which brings us to Bernie Sanders – who honeymooned in the USSR and campaigned for the Marxist party during the Reagan era. And while that may have put him in great company with former Obama intel chiefs James Comey and John Brennan, there’s just no way to know if Sanders is a 77-year-old manchurian Red Dawn candidate, ready to strike at the heart of Democracy. 

Adding to the possibility of Putin Puppetry was special counsel Robert Mueller’s conclusion that 13 Russian ‘trolls’ he indicted were instructed “to support Bernie Sanders and then-candidate Donald Trump.” In other words – when Bernie was a contender, Russia wanted him to win. 

Meanwhile, Bernie and his wife Jane were placed under FBI investigation for bank fraud in 2017 related to a $10 million loan Jane took out for her very ill-fated Burlington College fiasco, though we’re unsure if their home, office and hotel room were raided like Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s. Politico reported that prosecutors were also investigating allegations that Sen. Sanders’ office inappropriately urged the bank to approve the loan.

And while a top Sanders adviser told CNN in November that the Vermont US Attorney’s Office notified Jane that charges would not be filed, how do we know for sure that Russians weren’t involved? 

Which begs the question – when is the FBI going to investigate, raid, and send informants into the Sanders campaign? He might after all be a Kremlin agent, right?

(h/t Andrew Wilkow)

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2W4017c Tyler Durden

Buchanan: Is The Liberal Hour Ending In The West?

Authored by Patrick Buchanan via Buchanan.org,

Hillary Clinton called them “the deplorables.”

Barack Obama called them losers who “cling” to their Bibles, bigotries and guns.

To President Jean-Claude Juncker of the European Commission, they are “these populist, nationalists, stupid nationalists… in love with their own countries.”

Well, “stupid” they may be, and, yes, they do love their countries, but last week they gave Juncker a thrashing, as they shook up the West and the world.

Elections in the world’s largest electoral blocs — the 28-nation EU, and an India of 1.3 billion people — showed that the tide of nationalism continues to rise and spread across Europe and Asia.

In India, the Hindu Nationalist BJP party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a smashing victory. So strong was Modi’s showing that he rushed to reassure non-Hindus, especially India’s 200 million Muslims, that they remain equal citizens. But in India the Hindu hour is at hand.

Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, formed just months ago, ran first in Britain with 31%. No other party came close. Labor won 14% and Prime Minister Theresa May’s Tories ran 5th with 9%, a historic humiliation.

In the French elections, Emmanuel Macron’s party lost to the National Rally of Marine Le Pen, whom he had defeated 2-1 in the last presidential election.

Matteo Salvini’s populist-nationalist League, with 34%, ran first in Italy in a showing that could lead to national elections that could make him prime minister.

The nationalist Law and Justice Party in Poland and the populist Fidesz Party of Viktor Orban in Hungary were easily victorious.

In Germany, however, the conservative-socialist coalition of Angela Merkel bled support. Both the CDU and SPD lost strength in defeats that could shake the Berlin government.

What do these elections tell us?

If the Conservatives wish to remain in power in Parliament, they will have to leave the European Union and, if necessary, crash out without a divorce settlement with Brussels.

The Tories cannot defy the will of their own majority on the most critical issue in 50 years — a nationalist demand to be free of Brussels — and still survive as Britain’s first party.

Whoever wins the Tory competition to succeed May will almost surely become the prime minister who leads Britain out of the EU.

Nor is that such a tragedy.

The first Brexit, after all, was in 1776, when the 13 colonies of North America severed all ties to the British crown and set out alone on the path to independence. It did not turn out all that badly.

Last week’s election also saw major gains for the Green parties across Europe. Laser-focused on climate change, these parties will be entering coalitions to provide center-left and center-right regimes the necessary votes to create parliamentary majorities.

The environment is now likely to rival Third World immigration as an issue in all elections in Europe.

While nationalist and populists control a fourth of the seats in the EU Parliament, they are isolated. They may have the power to block or veto EU actions by Brussels, but they cannot impose their own agenda.

Yet even larger lessons emerge from these two elections.

Liberalism appears to be losing its appeal. A majority in the world’s largest democracy, India, consciously used their democratic right to vote — to advance sectarian and nationalist ends.

Why is liberalism fading away, and nationalism ascendant?

The former is an idea that appeals to the intellect; the latter, rooted in love of family, faith, tribe and nation, is of the heart. In its potency to motivate men, liberalism is to nationalism what near beer is to Bombay gin.

To be a proud Pole, Hungarian, Italian or Scotsman has a greater grip on men’s love, loyalty and allegiance than to be a citizen of Europe.

“Whoever speaks of Europe is wrong,” said Bismarck. Europe is but “a geographical expression.”

Identity politics, people identifying themselves by their ethnicity, nationality, race, culture and faith, appears to be the world’s future.

Even leftists are bowing to the new reality.

“Identity politics is exactly who we are and it’s exactly how we won,” says Stacy Abrams, the African American Democrat who almost won the Georgia governor’s race. “By centering communities in Georgia, we… increased voter participation, we brought new folks to the process.”

The Democratic Party is now a coalition easily identifiable by race, ethnicity, ideology and gender — African American, Hispanic, Asian, LGBTQ, feminist and Green.

Our Founding Fathers believed we Americans were a new people, a separate, unique, identifiable people, a band of brothers, who had risked their lives and shed their blood. Liberals believe we are held together by abstract ideas and ideals, such as democracy, equality and diversity.

But did Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Calhoun, Clay, Jackson, Sam Houston, Tyler and Polk really believe in equality and diversity as they drove Indians, French, British, Spanish and Mexicans out of this land to create a continentwide nation of their own?

Or was Manifest Destiny really all about us, and not them?

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2Xgv7ts Tyler Durden

Chinese Man Behind Viral “Trade War” Song Debuts Hymn Praising Huawei 

Last week we reported that the Sino-American trade war now has a song, titled “Trade War,” had gone viral on the largest Chinese social media platforms. Now, the man behind “Trade war,” has written two more nationalistic songs praising Huawei and its “ironman” founder Ren Zhengfei.

Zhao Liangtian’s original anti-American anthem begins with a chorus singing: “Trade war! Trade war! Not afraid of the outrageous challenge! Not afraid of the outrageous challenge! A trade war is happening over the Pacific Ocean!”

The song also included lyrics such as: “if the perpetrator wants to fight, we will beat him out of his wits.“

The song, set to a tune of an anti-Japanese song from the 1960s, reveals the tsunami of anti-US sentiment spreading across the country. Liangtian told Bloomberg earlier this month: “Since the trade war broke out, I felt the urge to do something.”

According to the Shanghai Morning Post, Liangtian has been searching for collaborators to help him compose more songs since the trade war began early last year. Besides “Trade War,” he has also been working on two more songs, one called The Song of Ren Zhengfei, and the other called Our Name is Huawei.

Liangtian said after his first video went viral, a music teacher from Shandong province contacted him, wanting to provide his expertise in the producing of future songs.

Also, five other people have written lyrics to accompany his song for Huawei’s founder Ren Zhengfei, which they read:

“The ironman/ Shouldering heavy burdens/ Marching on a tough entrepreneurial journey/ The road to success is long and dangerous.”

“Sleep on brushwood and taste gall/ Never say never/ Never surrender/ Fighting with the headwind and giant waves/ For a rich and strong motherland.”

Besides being a member of the Poetry Association of China, Liangtian works as a civil servant at the culture, broadcast, news and tourism bureau of Yan Ting County in Sichuan province.

In a recent interview with mainland media outlets, Zhengfei said: “One can’t be deemed patriotic simply for using Huawei products, or the other way round. Huawei is a commercial business. If you like [the product] then use it. Do not politicize it.”

Despite the popularity of Liangtian’s nationalistic songs on Chinese social media platforms, no one from Huawei has contacted him.

In encouraging anti-US sentiment, in mid-May China aired anti-American war films from the Maoist era.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government has been leery of attacking President Trump directly, fearful that the vilification of the self-proclaimed ‘tariff man’ will only deepen the trade war.

China’s leaders seem to be fueling anti-American nationalist sentiments across the country, which has recently led one company to prohibit all employees from the use of iPhones, driving in American automobiles, eating at American fast food restaurants, using American household products, and even traveling to the U.S.

via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2wwNui0 Tyler Durden