iftttwall

And just like that, Israel – having once again ignored Biden’s pleadings not to escalate the already tense situation – is retaliating against Iran’s weekend strike, which was itself a retaliation against Israel bombing Iran’s embassy in Syria on April 1.

Moments ago futures dumped, oil prices spiked, and treasury yields slumped amid social media reports and Reuters headlines that there have been three “huge explosions” near the central Iran cities of Natanz (location of an Iranian nuclear power plant) and Isfahan (location of the Iranian Nuclear Technology Center which is suspected of being the center of Iran’s nuclear weapons program), as well as simultaneous explosions in Iraq and Syria, where the Israel air force appears to be targeting pro-Iranian militias.

• IRANIAN MEDIA: 3 HUGE EXPLOSIONS WERE HEARD IN ISFAHAN, SOUTH OF TEHRAN

• JERUSALEM POST: SIMULTANEOUS EXPLOSIONS REPORTED IN IRAN, SYRIA, AND IRAQ ACCORDING TO INITIAL REPORTS

• IRAN’S FARS NEWS AGENCY SAYS EXPLOSIONS HEARD IN CENTRAL ISFAHAN AIRPORT, REASON UNKNOWN

• ISRAELI MISSILES HIT IRAN SITE, US OFFICIAL SAYS: ABC

Some more reports:

Iraqi Sources are reporting that the Airstrikes on the Capital of Baghdad have Targeted a Building in which a High-Ranking Meeting was taking place involving several Iranian-Backed Groups and Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) April 19, 2024

Explosions so far have been reported in the last few minutes near the Cities of Isfahan and Natanz in Central Iran, which both contain Significant Facilities for the Iranian Nuclear Program.

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) April 19, 2024

The Natanz nuclear facility is located in Isfahan! https://t.co/OSSqWRCR2b

— EndGameWW3 🇺🇸 (@EndGameWW3) April 19, 2024

⚡️Iranian Outlet Fars:

An explosion was heard in the city of Qahjavaristan, Isfahan

Some local sources report that an explosion was heard in the city of Qahjavaristan in the northwest of Isfahan.

The cause of these noises is still unknown, and Fars reporter’s follow-up…

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) April 19, 2024

👀👀👀👀👀 https://t.co/OpKd5MNdz4

— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) April 19, 2024

Here is Marco Rubio telling us more or less what happened”

Israel has the ability to conduct strikes against targets inside Iran without entering Iranian air space from aircraft over Syrian and Iraqi airspace

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) April 19, 2024

A video of the explosions in Iran:

🚨#BREAKING : 🇮🇷💥🔔Explosions so far have been reported in the last few minutes near the Cities of Isfahan and Natanz in ⛳️ Central Iran, which both contain Significant Facilities for the Iranian Nuclear Program.
pic.twitter.com/xBPteeYA64

— SHORT NEWS (@BuonJose11019) April 19, 2024

There have also been reports of drone activity over Iraq:

Unconfirmed reports of drone activity over Baghdad, Iraq. pic.twitter.com/Dp9E1i28pv

— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) April 19, 2024

Flights above central Iran are diverting from their designations:

Two FlyDubai flights in central #Iran are diverting from their designated flight plans. Unclear why. pic.twitter.com/8Arh1zDaiC

— The Intel Crab (@IntelCrab) April 19, 2024

… as the airspace over the region is rapidly clearing:

Aerial space is rapidly clearing and being diverted. pic.twitter.com/ScWfOwsZtV

— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) April 19, 2024

⚡️#BREAKING NOTAM over parts of Iran pic.twitter.com/aupFwGL2oy

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) April 19, 2024

Unconfirmed reports suggest that the Israeli airstrikes are targeting a building where a high level meeting was being held among groups supported by Iran and the IRGC:

UNCONFIRMED: Iraqi sources report that airstrikes in the capital city of Baghdad have targeted a building where a high-level meeting was being held with the presence of several groups supported by Iran and members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

— Aleph א (@no_itsmyturn) April 19, 2024

The market reaction has been immediate, with S&P futures dumping…

…testing key CTA liquidation levels…

… oil jumping…

… and gold surging back above $2400…

…and Treasuries are aggressively bid…

And Bitcoin repricing WW3 again…

…as traders brace for the worst, because even if Israel hopes to present a “measured” retaliation, now it’s a question of what Iran will do next.

More as we get it, until then, fear not: he is watching everything… closely.

Authored by Lawrence Wilson and Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Florida Supreme Court issued a long-awaited ruling on April 1, upholding a 15-week abortion ban that was signed into law in 2022. The ruling paved the way for a six-week abortion ban to take effect on May 1.

A second ruling on the same day allowed an initiative to amend the state constitution to guarantee abortion access to be placed before voters. An abortion advocacy group had already secured the required signatures, so a constitutional question on abortion will be on the Florida ballot in November.

Barely a week later, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld an 1864 law banning nearly all abortions in the state. Three days later, the Biden campaign initiated a seven-figure ad buy in the Grand Canyon State, including a billboard that reads, “Abortion is banned in Arizona thanks to Donald Trump. He won’t stop until it’s banned nationwide. #TrumpsAbortionBan.”

Democrats are leveraging abortion as a central issue in the 2024 election, and they are waging that campaign through ballot initiatives in key battleground states.

The theory is simple, according to political analyst Keith Nahigian. “Ballot questions help to get more independent expenditures for ‘get out the vote’ campaigns,” he told The Epoch Times.

In Arizona, a campaign is underway for a ballot measure amending the state constitution to provide the “fundamental right” to abortion up to the point a baby could survive outside the womb, typically around 24 weeks. It also would allow later abortions to save the mother’s life or to protect her physical or mental health.

In Nevada, a petition drive is in the works to include an amendment on abortion access. In Colorado and Maryland, voters will decide on abortion-related  amendments in November.

“The Democrats’ strategy heading into this election cycle was to put these measures on the ballot in every big swing state,” Phoenix-based Republican strategist Marcus Dell’Artino told The Epoch Times.

Republicans are using the same tactic with election integrity—placing related measures on the ballot in nine states, including in Arizona, Florida, and Wisconsin.

Both sides appear to believe their efforts will aid them in the fall and ballot measures themselves are a successful way to further a cause.

In the 2022 election, voters in 38 states decided on 140 statewide ballot measures, according to Ballotpedia. Voters approved 69 percent of the measures and rejected 31 percent.

The movement to amend state constitutions to guarantee abortion access is a calculated strategy by the Democratic Party to rally voters to the November election.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee laid out the strategy in an April 5 memo.

The committee attributed a ballot measure to add abortion to the state constitution in Ohio for the “historic” turnout during an off-year election in November 2023. Voters in the state passed the measure 57 percent to 43 percent—a margin of 14 percent. President Trump won Ohio by 8 percentage points in both 2016 and 2020.

“When abortion is on the ballot, voters turn out to defend their rights,” the memo states. “Seven battleground states are on track to have abortion measures on the ballot in 2024 … this further guarantees that reproductive freedom will remain a driving issue for voters this November.”

Capitalizing on Momentum

Momentum around the issue of access to abortion has been building since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade, the seminal decision that, for decades, limited restrictions states can impose on the procedure.

Within 18 months of the Dobbs decision, seven states put abortion-related ballot questions before the public. In red and blue states alike, voters came down on the side of access to abortion.

Voters in Kansas voted to stick with the status quo, which provides the right to abortion in the state constitution, while Kentucky voted to reject an amendment that said there was no constitutional right to an abortion.

Montana voters rejected a measure that would have declared a child born alive at any stage of pregnancy to be a legal person and required medical care for that child. The measure also included criminal penalties for health care providers who violated the “born alive” portion of the law, by establishing a maximum of a $50,000 fine and/or 20 years in prison.

Meanwhile, voters in California, Michigan, Vermont, and Ohio amended their state constitutions to include a right to “reproductive freedom,” defined to include abortion and contraception.

Democrats have hammered the issue for over two years while Republicans have been slow to admit that many of their own voters don’t favor a near-complete abortion ban.

In Virginia, Democrats took advantage of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s interest in a 15-week abortion ban to campaign on abortion access in 2023. They retook control of the state’s General Assembly, prompting prominent Democrats to make abortion a centerpiece of the 2024 campaign.

“The prospect of a national abortion ban is real,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in December 2023.

Ms. Whitmer launched the Fight Like Hell PAC in June 2023 to raise campaign funds for Democratic candidates who are “unapologetic in their fight for working people and their basic freedoms.”

The Biden campaign released an emotionally charged ad on April 8 featuring a Texas woman who was denied an abortion after being told her baby would not survive birth. Over the woman’s tearful sobs, text appears on the screen:“Donald Trump did this.”

Read more here…

President Biden has ramped up his anti-China rhetoric on the campaign trail ahead of November, looking to grab headlines away from Trump while touring northern industrial states, and he has just called for major increases to some tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum products.

“These are strategic and targeted actions that are going to protect American workers and ensure fair competition,” Biden told a small crowd of members at the United Steelworkers. “Meanwhile, my predecessor and the MAGA Republicans want across-the-board tariffs on all imports, from all countries, that could badly hurt American consumers.”

According to more from Biden’s speech via the NY Times, he said he would tell US trade representative Katherine Tai to increase tariffs “to what White House officials said would be 25 percent on certain Chinese products that now face tariffs of 7.5 percent, or none at all, pending the outcome of an administration review of the China tariffs initially imposed under Mr. Trump.”

But as fully expected, Biden’s words once again inflamed tensions with Beijing, given that in the remarks he slammed China as “xenophobic” while commenting on the Asian powerhouse’s current economic struggles. 

“They’ve got a population that is more people in retirement than working. They’re not importing anything. They’re xenophobic—nobody else coming in. They’ve got real problems” Biden said further on Wednesday.

He had also accused China of cheating and policies that do harm against fair competition. The president said according to the White House readout:

Because Chinese steel companies produce a lot more steel than China needs, it ends up dumping the extra steel into the global markets at unfairly low prices.  And the prices are unfairly low because Chinese steel companies don’t need to worry about making a profit, because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily. 

They’re not competing. They’re cheating. They’re cheating. And we’ve seen the damage here in America.

You know, back in the early 2000s, the Chinese steel began floating the mar- — flooding the market wi- — in steel towns all across Pennsylvania and Ohio, who were hit very hard.

The accusation of xenophobia and cheating marks the most aggressive rebuke of China thus far on the campaign. 

China’s foreign ministry was quick to respond Thursday by once again highlighting US ‘hypocrisy’ – with spokesman Lin Jian lashing out sarcastically, “China wants to ask the U.S. whether it is referring to China, or the U.S. itself.”

Biden on his Pennsylvania tour also pledged to continue seeking to deny China advanced technology like computer chips. “They can’t be sent to China because it would undermine our national security,” Biden said. “When I spoke with Xi Jinping he said ‘Why?’ And I said, ‘Because you’d use it for all the wrong reasons, so you’re not gonna get those advanced computer chips.’“

US-China relations have someone stabilized of late, also amid the Biden-Xi phone call of two weeks ago. Also, this week Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to his Chinese counterpart for the first time in two years, as the two sides work to restore regular military-to-military communications.

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The secretary of the Army on Jan. 6, 2021, lied about multiple details regarding what unfolded as the U.S. Capitol was breached, National Guard whistleblowers said during a congressional hearing on April 17.

Then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy made multiple false claims, including that he spoke to the commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard on two separate occasions after officials requested that the Guard be deployed to the Capitol, the whistleblowers said.

After Maj. Gen. William Walker conveyed a request from the U.S. Capitol Police for Guard personnel, Mr. McCarthy called Maj. Gen. Walker at 2:14 p.m. and instructed the Guard to stand by, according to a Guard timeline of Jan. 6, 2021. But that call and others that Mr. McCarthy or one of his top advisers were said to have made later authorizing the Guard for mobilization and deployment did not happen, according to the Guard officials.

“At no time did Gen. Walker take any calls, nor did we ever hear from the secretary on any of the ongoing conference calls or the secure video teleconferencing throughout the day,” Capt. Timothy Nick, who served as Maj. Gen. Walker’s personal assistant on Jan. 6, 2021, said during the hearing. “This I know because I was with the command general the entire time recording the events.”

National Guard Captain Blows Up J6 Narrative, Accuses U.S. Govt of Lying to the American People

“I’m here today to aid the subcommittee in resolving factual errors in the official record of what happened on January 6th, 2021, specifically regarding the alleged District of… pic.twitter.com/1hJAarFgdx

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) April 18, 2024

Capt. Nick has not previously discussed publicly what transpired on Jan. 6, 2021, and neither has Brig. Gen. Aaron Dean, who was the National Guard’s adjutant general on the day that the Capitol was breached.

The Department of Defense (DOD) inspector general report on Jan. 6, 2021, which relied heavily on Mr. McCarthy and other military officials, was rife with “inaccuracies,” Brig. Gen. Dean said. “I believe it is my duty and moral obligation to stand before you today and illuminate the truth,” he told the hearing, which was held by the House Administration Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight.

Despite Mr. Walker conveying the request for assistance at about 1:50 p.m., the Guard was not deployed to the Capitol until about 5:10 p.m.

“This was a dereliction of duty by the secretary of the Army,” Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.), one of the members of the committee, said.

Mr. McCarthy refused to appear before the panel, Dr. Murphy said.

Christopher Miller, the acting secretary of defense at the time, authorized Guard deployment at 3:11 p.m., but Mr. McCarthy took the order and decided to draw up a plan before ordering the deployment, according to military timelines and testimony from Mr. McCarthy and others.

“You never would employ our personnel, whether it’s on an American street or a foreign street, without putting together a [plan],” Mr. McCarthy told the now-disbanded House Jan. 6 committee.

Mr. McCarthy could not be reached for comment. The Army declined to comment.

“We stand by our January 6th Report and have no further comment at this time,” a DOD inspector general spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email.

Other Leaders

The whistleblowers also testified that Army officials Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt and Gen. Charles Flynn, during a 2:30 p.m. conference call on Jan. 6, 2021, expressed concern about the optics of having the Guard at the Capitol.

“I did hear the word optics. And they did use it. Specifically, Gen. Piatt said ‘optics.’ And his concern was that he did not want soldiers or airmen on Capitol grounds, with the Capitol in the background,” Brig. Gen. Dean said. “They were giving every other reason why we should be around the Capitol, away from the Capitol, and not responding to the Capitol.”

The officials lacked familiarity with the Guard and the Guard’s capabilities, Brig. Gen. Dean said.

Lt. Gen. Piatt has been quoted by Maj. Gen. Walker and others as saying during the call: “I don’t like the visual of the National Guard standing a line with the Capitol in the background. I would much rather relieve USCP [U.S. Capitol Police] officers from other posts so they can handle the protestors.”

Lt. Gen. Piatt has told lawmakers that he did not recall using the words optics, visuals, or image during the call or in any other conversations on Jan. 6, 2021. But he later said, “I may have said that,” citing people who took notes during the call.

Gen. Flynn told the House Oversight Committee in 2021 that he “never expressed a concern about the visuals, image, or public perception of sending the D.C. National Guard to the U.S. Capitol.”

Col. Earl Matthews, a lawyer who was with Maj. Gen. Walker on Jan. 6, 2021, and who has challenged the Pentagon Jan. 6 narrative, and District of Columbia National Guard Command Sgt. Michael Brooks, a senior officer with the Guard until he retired in 2022, also testified during the hearing in Washington.

None of the Guard officials who testified were formally interviewed by the House Jan. 6 committee, which was primarily run by Democrats and disbanded at the end of the previous Congress.

The officials said the Guard was ready to act and could have made a difference if not for the delay.

“I know if we were able to deploy immediately when Gen. Walker made the request, the National Guard could have helped end civil disturbance and restore order quickly,” Capt. Nick said.

With an ominous soundtrack throughout, Chasing Trump is the very first documentary produced by American Greatness.

The documentary does a deep dive into the backgrounds of the four prosecutors handling former President Trump’s various legal cases, making the case that they are all “politically corrupt”, and accusing them of trying to “get Trump” because they fear he will win the November 2024 US presidential elections.

With the former President facing increasingly restrictive gag orders, Donald Trump Jr said “‘Chasing Trump’ is an important documentary that exposes the leftwing prosecutors weaponizing the government to target my father,” adding that:

“It’s the first documentary to do a deep dive into the backgrounds of the prosecutors behind the four cases against him and is a must watch for anyone who cares about preserving the rule of law and protecting our constitutional rights.“

“Four corrupt, politically motivated prosecutors. One target: Donald Trump,” the narrator begins…

“They say they’re upholding the law. But a close examination reveals politics of the very worst kind meant to influence the 2024 election.”

Specifically, the mini-documentary makes the case that Trump is being punished for taking on the status quo and reinforces the narrative that he is subject to a witch hunt.

Curt Mercadenta, managing editor of American Greatness, said it would shock anyone who believed the legal system was free from partisan political considerations.

“With the 2024 election starting to heat up, it’s imperative that Americans have the opportunity to learn more about the truth behind the prosecutions targeting President Trump, along with the partisan prosecutors behind the cases.”

Mike Davis, founder of the Article III Project, which was set up to press for conservative judicial nominees and now campaigns against what it sees as liberal activism in the courts, said:

“These four prosecutions against President Trump are nothing more than partisan political activism masquerading as the rule of law.”

“‘Chasing Trump’ exposes the leftwing prosecutors behind these cases as nothing more than puppets for Joe Biden and his political machine.”

Watch the full documentary free here…

WATCH: Chasing Trump is the very first documentary produced by American Greatness. We do a deep dive into the backgrounds of the four leftwing prosecutors targeting President Trump.

You can watch the whole documentary right here for free! pic.twitter.com/97UUpGdlP2

— American Greatness (@theamgreatness) April 15, 2024

 

Authored by Emel Akan and Jeff Louderback via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President Joe Biden on April 18 traveled to Philadelphia, the final stop of his three-day tour of the crucial battleground state, where he received the Kennedy family’s endorsement for his reelection campaign.

More than 15 members of the Kennedy family, who had previously criticized Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent bid for the White House, endorsed President Biden at a campaign event in Philadelphia.

Speaking at the event, Kerry Kennedy, the sister of RFK Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy’s seventh child, praised President Biden, stating that reelecting him is the best way forward for the country.

“President has been a champion for all the rights and freedoms that my father and uncle stood for. That’s why nearly every single grandchild of Joe and Rose Kennedy supports Joe Biden,” Ms. Kennedy said.

“In 2024, there are only two candidates with any chance of winning the presidency,” she added.

Speaking at the event, President Biden thanked the family members for the endorsement.

Six of RFK Jr.’s siblings stood alongside President Biden on stage at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center in Philadelphia.

“I don’t want to become emotional. What an incredible honor to have the support of the Kennedy family,“ President Biden said. ”Most meaningful introduction I’ve ever gotten in my life.”

RFK, Jr. entered the presidential race in April last year, challenging President Biden for the Democratic Party nomination.

After encountering multiple hurdles by the DNC and accusing the organization of “rigging the primary” and not allowing any candidate to compete against President Biden, Mr. Kennedy announced he would run as an independent in October 2023.

Many believe Mr. Kennedy’s third-party challenge threatens President Biden more than former President Trump.

In the RealClearPolitics average of polls as of April 17, President Trump leads with 41 percent, followed by President Biden (35.7 percent), and Mr. Kennedy (11.7 percent).

Multiple times on the campaign trail, Mr. Kennedy has pointed out that he has more than 100 family members and said that many of them are working on his campaign.

Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, his daughter-in-law, is his campaign manager.

RFK Jr. responded in a social media post to his family members’ endorsement of President Biden.

“I hear some of my family will be endorsing President Biden today. I am pleased they are politically active—it’s a family tradition,” Mr. Kennedy wrote on X on April 18. “We are divided in our opinions but united in our love for each other.”

During a recent interview with CNN, Mr. Kennedy criticized President Biden, saying he is a bigger threat to democracy than President Trump.

“I can make the argument that President Biden is the much worse threat to democracy, and the reason for that is President Biden is the first candidate in history—the first president in history that has used the federal agencies to censor political speech, so to censor his opponent,” Mr. Kennedy said.

In March, the DNC announced the creation of a team to counter third-party and independent presidential candidates.

It hired Lis Smith, a veteran Democrat strategist who managed Pete Buttigieg’s unsuccessful 2020 presidential campaign, to spearhead an aggressive communication plan to combat Mr. Kennedy, independent Cornel West, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein.

In October 2023, Mr. Kennedy’s sister, Rory Kennedy, called her brother’s campaign “dangerous” in a post on X.

“I feel strongly that this is the most important election of our lifetime, and there’s so much at stake. And I do think it’s going to come down to a handful of votes in a handful of states.

“And I do worry that Bobby just taking some percentage of votes from Biden could shift the election and lead to Trump’s election,” she told CNN in March when asked about her comment.

Campaign Events in Pennsylvania

President Biden traveled to Pennsylvania this week for a three-day tour of the battleground state, starting with a campaign event in his hometown of Scranton on April 16.

In Scranton, the president highlighted a contrast between his economic agenda and that of his 2024 presidential rival and predecessor, former President Trump.

He also reiterated his push to raise taxes on the rich and big corporations.

“Folks, where we come from matters. When I look at the economy, I don’t see it through the eyes of Mar-a-Lago; I see through the eyes of Scranton,” President Biden said.

On April 17, President Biden traveled to Pittsburgh, where he announced dramatically higher tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from China, a move likely aimed at pleasing blue-collar voters in the battleground state.

With 19 crucial electoral votes, the state is a key focus for the Biden campaign.

The campaign says it believes it has a clear advantage in Pennsylvania for the 2024 election, and is making significant investments in key voter groups, including black and Latino communities in the state.

Last month, for example, the campaign opened 14 offices in a single week, enlisted 1,700 volunteers, and formed key coalitions around the state to reach out to various demographics.

The campaign has seven offices in Philadelphia to mobilize voters and ensure a high turnout in November.

“In contrast, the Trump campaign still has no public presence—and across Pennsylvania, local media have reported there are no signs of the Trump campaign.

“The RNC was even forced to scrap plans to open a minority outreach office in Allentown, Pennsylvania,” the Biden campaign said in a statement.

While Democratic strategists have long tried to downplay and dismiss President Biden’s obvious age and cognitive issues—which have been on continual display of late—he has just made fresh comments which illustrate the dangers of these persistent issues for the Commander-in-Chief and for the nation at a moment the Middle East stands on the brink of major war.

The 81-year-old president said in an interview with Nexstar Media’s Reshad Hudson that he is urgently trying to de-escalate tensions centering on Gaza and Iran, following Iran’s Saturday night unprecedented attack on the Jewish state. That’s when he explained that he urged Israel to exercise restraint, and in his words he “made it clear to the Israelis: don’t move on Haifa.” Watch below:

According to Biden, he is pressuring the Israelis not to attack “Haifa”. Leader of the free world, ladies and gents pic.twitter.com/SeZJPfaJAS

— Jake Wallis Simons (@JakeWSimons) April 18, 2024

He then began immediately mumbling: “It’s Just Not, I Mean, Anyway…” – and trailed off, apparently losing his train of thought before moving on to speak about the Saturday Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack on Israel.

Biden was apparently intending to refer to Rafah in the comments, which is the Palestinian city in the far southern Gaza Strip, and not the third largest city in Israel. The Netanyahu government has for weeks said it is preparing to move militarily on the refugee-packed enclave. 

The US is worried that an IDF ground offensive will trigger further regional escalation, including the potential for attacks on American bases from Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.

But the obvious question is: will Israeli leaders really taking Washington’s stance seriously when they hear the American president, or “leader of the free world,” warning Israel not to attack a city in Israel?

If Biden can’t distinguish Gaza’s Rafah from Israel’s Haifa, then certainly we can expect to see many more of these consequential gaffes if he gets into office another four years.

Authored by Eric Lundrum via American Greatness,

One of the many nonprofits run by far-left billionaire George Soros donated tens of millions of dollars to a major super PAC that funds multiple left-wing groups.

According to Fox News, Federal Elections Commission (FEC) records posted Monday reveal that the Fund for Policy Reform gave $60 million to the Democracy PAC in the first quarter of 2024; the Democracy PAC subsequently sent $21 million to Democratic committees in support of various congressional candidates in both the House and the Senate.

The $21 million was dispersed among a dozen left-wing groups, with $8 million being split two ways between top outside groups in support of House and Senate Democrats.

Additionally, $2.5 million was donated to Planned Parenthood, as well as another $2.5 million to BlackPAC, and $1.8 million to American Bridge, a Democratic opposition research firm.

Other donations included $1 million to the ColorOfChange PAC and $500,000 to Americans for Contraception Victory.

ColorOfChange is one of the most radical groups when it comes to the far-left “defund the police” agenda.

“We know that policing doesn’t keep us safe, communities do,” the group said in a petition demanding that supporters harass politicians to get them to support the defunding movement.

“Policing doesn’t lead to thriving communities, investment does.”

The massive $60 million dump was the second-largest donation in the 2024 election cycle thus far, only surpassed by the $82.6 million that was donated by a state super PAC to Never Back Down, the super PAC that backed the doomed presidential campaign of Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.).

The 93-year-old George Soros recently handed full control of his political empire to his son, Alex, and Alex’s subsequent moves have been watched closely.

The younger Soros shows no signs of slowing down his family’s influence over left-wing politics both in America and globally, continuing to pour millions into far-left causes that undermine the security of the United States of America, including pro-amnesty and pro-open borders groups, as well as backing progressive district attorneys who refuse to enforce basic laws.

In response, Musk is gathering signatures…

Given the relentless attacks on free speech, I am going to fund a national signature campaign in support of the First Amendment

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 18, 2024

The Biden administration is keeping its dream of seeing Saudi-Israeli diplomatic normalization achieved (or rather, what is in fact originally Trump’s dream set in motion via the Abraham Accords).

But Biden is dangling something before Netanyahu that the Israeli leader is unlikely to be very attracted by. “The Biden administration is pushing for a long-shot diplomatic deal in coming months that presses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a new commitment to Palestinian statehood in exchange for diplomatic recognition by Riyadh, U.S. and Saudi officials said,” writes The Wall Street Journal Thursday.

This is not the first time the plan has been floated or was leaked to the media. Last year, for example, Saudi Arabia asked the US for help with developing a “civilian nuclear program” and for fewer restrictions on arms purchases in exchange for normalizing ties with Israel, as the New York Times previously reported.

The only thing that has changed is there are even bigger hurdles at this moment of a post-Oct.7 Middle East, including a still impending Israeli ground offensive on Rafah, and the specter of a major Iran-Israel war in the wake of the Saturday Iranian drone and ballistic missile attack on Israel.

“As inducements to recognize Israel, the White House is offering Riyadh a more formal defense relationship with Washington, assistance in acquiring civil nuclear power and a renewed push for a Palestinian state—a package that U.S. officials say they are in the final stages of negotiating,” continues the WSJ.

Admin officials speaking to the Journal also claimed that the major weekend attack out of Iran could hasten broader Arab Gulf and Israeli rapprochement:

U.S. officials say the successful multicountry effort to shoot down Iranian missiles and drones on Saturday should make it clear to Israel that its security against threats from Tehran can be enhanced through closer integration with Saudi Arabia.

However, as we underscored in featuring this Wednesday analysis: US Push For A ‘Middle East NATO’ Failed To Emerge During Iran Strikes, the reality is that in the end, the oil-rich Gulf states downplayed any involvement and left the heavy lifting of fighting off Iran’s attack to the US and its western allies and Jordan, the resource-poor Hashemite Kingdom dependent on US financial assistance.

On Friday the UN Security Council is expected to vote on an Algerian-proposed draft resolution to recognize a Palestinian state, which would give the Palestinian representatives full membership status at the United Nations.

The US position has long been that a Palestinian state must be born out direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, and not accomplished superficially within an external forum like the UN. The US has already said, via a State Department statement, that it will vote down the measure.

Israel for its part has clearly rejected that it will allow for a Palestinian state so long as Hamas still exists, and PM Netanyahu has even linked the more secular-leaning Palestinian Authority in the West Bank to ‘terrorism’. He has also rejected a prior US call to allow the PA to take over and administer the Gaza Strip. The reality is that the current Gaza war makes the prospect of achieving a Palestinian state more distant than ever.

And the prospect of Palestinian statehood resulting from some kind of Israel-Saudi normalization agreement – which US media reports previously dubbed the ‘deal of the century’ – also seems a pipe dream at this point.

By Jan Nieuwenhuijs of Gainesville Coins

Recently the World Bank released a handbook for asset managers on why to invest in gold. At Gainesville Coins I have written numerous articles on gold revaluation accounts and how these can be deployed by central banks to absorb losses in case of emergency. The World Bank has taken notice of my research as they allude to this practice in a chapter on reserve accounting and reference to my work.

The World Bank publication underlines the fact that gold is the only financial asset without counterparty risk, and due to its scarcity relative to fiat currencies its price in the long run always increases. Central banks that own gold for an extended period can reap the benefits of their gold revaluation account without having to sell any gold.

Introduction

The Gold Investing Handbook for Asset Managers document published earlier this year by the World Bank Treasury is an interesting read for investors. It covers the gold market structure, optimal portfolio assessments, geopolitical aspects, a trading and liquidity guide, and a discussion on gold accounting, among other subjects.

The World Bank Treasury is tasked to manage the World Bank’s finances and contribute to the Bank’s twin goals of “ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity.” As such it acts as a trusted advisor to its member countries to support financial stability and provide “thought leadership in the broader treasury and financial management arena.” With this mission in mind the Bank’s Treasury writes that:

Throughout history, gold has played a vital role as a financial asset in the global financial system. … In the modern era, gold continues to play a critical role in the global financial system, serving as a hedge against inflation, a safe haven asset, and a reserve asset for central banks. … The role of gold in the global financial system has evolved over time, with changes in monetary policy, economic conditions, and technological advancements influencing demand and supply dynamics. Despite these changes, gold remains a crucial component of the global financial system and is likely to continue to play an essential role in the future. … The market disruptions brought about by the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), the US and China trade war, Brexit, and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a prolonged period of negative real interest rates and geopolitical uncertainties caused by financial sanctions imposed on Russia to freeze its foreign reserves, reinforced the strategic importance of gold as a buffer against financial instability.

Central Bank Gold Revaluation Accounts

After the central banks of advanced economies such as the Netherlands and Germany stated their gold revaluation accounts (GRAs) guarantee their solvency in 2013, the World Bank now joins the discussion on GRAs. On page 57 of its report there is a summary of my article on how the central bank of Curaçao and Saint Martin utilized its GRA to cover losses in 2021.

Simplified, a GRA is an accounting entry on the liability side of a central bank’s balance sheet that records unrealized gains in gold. Because central banks are the root of the modern money tree, they can use these entries to pay for expenses. A GRA, if sufficient, can prevent a central bank from going into negative capital in times of financial stress without having to sell gold (for more details read my article here).

All in all, the World Bank’s reporting of GRAs is bullish for gold as it once again confirms gold’s position front and center in the monetary system. Gold—as per International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank’s sister institute—is the only universally accepted financial asset that is not someone else’s liability. From the IMF (BPM6):

Financial assets are economic assets that are financial instruments. Financial assets include financial claims and, by convention, monetary gold held in the form of gold bullion … A financial claim is a financial instrument that has a counterpart liability. Gold bullion is not a claim and does not have a corresponding liability. It is treated as a financial asset, however, because of its special role as a means of financial exchange in international payments by monetary authorities and as a reserve asset held by monetary authorities.

Gold has no counterparty risk and can’t be arbitrarily devalued. Hence, the IMF lists gold at the very top of reserve assets, which makes gold the hardest asset for central banks to own and creates significant unrealized gains over time through the debasement of the currency they issue. And as I have explained previously these unrealized gains can be turned into realized gains to pay for expenses.

Conclusion

In the past years more and more central banks from both the global South and North—and international financial institutions like the World Bank—are pitching gold as an imperative asset with multiple functions. Gold is a safe haven asset, inflation hedge, backup currency, its revaluation accounts can be used, etcetera.

If one looks at the order of the IMF’s list of reserve assets the similarities with Exter’s inverse pyramid is easily seen. Gold truly underpins the global financial system. In my view, though, the value of all financial assets resting on gold has grown too large in the past decades. For stabilizing the pyramid (financial system), the value of the gold needs to increase accordingly.

But we will explore these imbalances more in depth in my next article.

Further Reading

• German Central Bank Doesn’t Rule Out Gold Revaluation
• Governor Dutch Central Bank States Gold Revaluation Account Is Solvency Backstop
• How a Central Bank in the Caribbean Recently Used Its Gold Revaluation Account to Cover Losses
• German Central Bank: Gold Revaluation Account Underlines Soundness of Balance Sheet
• How Central Banks Can Use Gold Revaluation Accounts in Times of Financial Stress