Surveillance firms around the world are licking their lips at a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to cash in on the coronavirus by repositioning one of their most invasive products: the tracking bracelet.
Body monitors are associated with criminality and guilt in the popular imagination, the accessories of Wall Street crooks under house arrest and menace-to-society parolees. Unlike smartphones, de facto tracking devices in their own right, strapped-on trackers are expressly designed to be attached to the body and exist solely to report the user’s whereabouts and interactions to one or more third parties; they don’t play podcasts or tell you how many steps you took that day to sweeten the surveillance.
But a climate of perpetual bio-anxiety has paved the way for broader acceptance of carceral technologies, with a wave of companies trying to sell tracking accessories to business owners eager to reopen under the aegis of responsible social distancing and to governments hoping to keep a closer eye on people under quarantine.
Take AiRISTA Flow, a Maryland-based outfit that helps corporations track their “assets,” breathing or not. In an April 21 press release, the company announced it would begin selling Bluetooth and Wi-Fi trackers to be worn on an employee’s wrist like a Fitbit — or around their neck like a cowbell.
“When people come within six feet of each other for a period of time,” the company wrote in a press release, “the device makes an audible chirp and a record of the contact is made in the AiRISTA Flow software system.”
But the tracking goes far beyond audible chirps: AiRISTA’s platform allows employers to continuously upload a record of close encounters to a corporate cloud, providing an up-to-date list of presumed social distancing violators that would double as a detailed record of workplace social interactions.
The company’s marketing language is explicit in talking up the nonviral benefits of tracking your workers’ every move: By helping companies “Locate people and things in real time” (the two are seemingly treated interchangeably), they can expect a “Reduction in unplanned downtime,” “Improved asset utilization rates, [and a] reduced need for spares.”
In a press release published just a day after AiRISTA Flow’s, Boston-based Redpoint Positioning Corporation, another player in the business of tracking workers and inanimate objects, announced that it was taking its own “cutting-edge technology … already used by leading companies worldwide in third-party logistics, auto manufacturing, mine operation” and repackaging it for social distancing. Like AiRISTA, Redpoint offers companies the ability to “tag” their equipment and employees using ultra-wideband radio signals, a wireless positioning technology only recently added to the most advanced iPhones. Redpoint boasted in the announcement of its ability to use these tags to “track the location of people and equipment with extremely high accuracy, even in complex industrial environments,” now with a coronavirus-specific augmentation:
“If social distancing parameters, such as a 1- or 2-meter radius, are violated between workers, the tag alarm will alert them to the hazard.” The company will also collect a history of employee interactions:
“If an infection does occur, historical data from the system will allow for highly accurate contact tracing, as records can show the individuals who were near the infected party.”
A Redpoint spokesperson did not answer when asked if the company has any policies dictating or constraining how their technology can be used by clients.
While the AiRISTA and Redpoint trackers merely evoke the aesthetics of a police state in the workplace, Israeli surveillance outfit SuperCom is literally repackaging as a Covid-19 “solution” technology previously used on incarcerated or criminally convicted people. The security company has customers in 20 countries, including the U.S., and claims decades of experience with what it calls in a press release “secured boundaries projects,” like border crossings and home confinement. It’s the house arrest expertise that the company is now marketing as PureCare, described on the SuperCom website as a “state-of-the-art solution for quarantine and isolation monitoring to aid government efforts in containing and limiting the reach of infectious diseases” and, incredibly, as “a non-intrusive patient friendly system that constantly tracks patient location within buildings, vehicles and outside.”
SuperCom Americas President Ordan Trabelsi declined to tell The Intercept where the company’s ankle bracelets are currently being used for quarantine enforcement, but it named Central America as the location of one pilot deployment, and referenced a second pilot program in some other, unspecified region, in an April 6 press release announcing a “Coronavirus (COVID-19) citizen quarantine and containment tracking technology.” The company announced separately, on April 27, that it had begun selling tracking devices for prisoners released from an unnamed “United States of America correctional facility due to COVID-19.”
In the same press release, SuperCom claimed to see a spike in interest from “government agencies looking to restrict the spread of COVID-19 among their general population” and envisioned “additional potential industry demand for electronic monitoring services coming from the incarcerated American population.”
One might think that a company like SuperCom would shy away from proposing that those exposed to the novel coronavirus be in any way treated like literal criminals. But in a recent promotional YouTube interview, Trabelsi makes a point of stressing that it’s precisely the company’s work with criminal elements that makes its Covid-19 “solution” superior. “In the past, we have spent a lot of our time focusing on very accurate and state of the art tracking of offenders,” he said in the video. “Many customers and potential customers around the world asked us if we could use that same platform to do, you know, Covid-19 home quarantine tracking and compliance. And we thought, of course we can because it’s exactly what we do in the offender tracking space. But now we’ll just be tracking people that are not essentially offenders but unluckily were exposed to the virus.”
When asked in the YouTube interview about the privacy implications of SuperCom’s ankle bracelets, Trabelsi demurred — though he did note that the hardware is “very comfortable and goes underneath their sock.” He went on to say that how the company’s customers use the technology is their call, not his.
“We leave it to them to make their decisions on rules and privacy,” he stated.
In an interview with The Intercept, Trabelsi said interest in SuperCom’s coronavirus product has been “mostly government” so far. Should any of these intrigued governments decide to use SuperCom bracelets to enforce quarantines, Trabelsi said it’s up to them to do so responsibly.
“Everyone has their own rules,” he told me. “Some countries share that they want to put everyone who comes into the country into quarantine for 14 days, some want to put it onto people who are sick, or who have a confirmed case; it depends what [that government’s] regulations are. They define the rules exactly as they want. We just provide them with technology to track people.”
A laissez-faire approach to privacy and accountability will do little to persuade those who see SuperCom’s strategy as a cynical attempt to push lucrative police technology into the civilian world during a period of widespread social crisis. Leonard Rubenstein, a human rights attorney and bioethicist at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, told The Intercept that SuperCom’s stance has the distinction of being both dangerous and useless.
“I found the ankle monitor and other tracking methods described [by SuperCom] highly inappropriate and detrimental to a public health response in being unreasonably and unnecessarily coercive,” he said, “a serious invasion of privacy without any safeguards, and promoting an adversarial relationship to public health authorities when the relationship should be built on trust.”
Rubenstein, who is affiliated with the school’s department of epidemiology, said that an invasive technology like a tracking bracelet imposes “limitations on human rights to serve public health ends” and must be held to particularly high standards to determine if it’s worth the trade-off.
Jennifer Granick, an attorney specializing in surveillance and cybersecurity technologies at the American Civil Liberties Union, told The Intercept that SuperCom’s Covid-19 marketing efforts put a public health gloss on a police technology and thus helps it to “be normalized among the general population for medical reasons. … This should trouble us all.”
To Rubenstein, even SuperCom’s most humane use case for tracking bracelets, allowing temporary release of incarcerated people to spare them from a coronavirus prison outbreak, doesn’t pass muster. “In the case of released prisoners, less restrictive means are also available,” he said. An always-on surveillance bracelet might be defensible only “where there was an individualized determination that the person poses a high public safety risk upon release in the absence of monitoring/tracking,” he added.
Responding to these concerns, Trabelsi told The Intercept that despite the company’s own emphasis on monitoring criminals, its products shouldn’t be understood as intended only for that purpose. “The product vision [is] to track the location of people to verify they are following the rules in order to protect themselves and our society,” Trabelsi wrote via email. “The product wasn’t necessarily developed for offenders. The technology also tracks patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other issues that require monitoring for their own safety.” Trabelsi argued that tracking bracelets could allow people to avoid being confined to a hospital or “government controlled facility” while under quarantine. “This technology would give these individuals the option to be at their homes instead and be monitored to reduce the risk of causing harm to others,” he added.
When asked if SuperCom had consulted with any public health experts during the design or sale of its tracking hardware, Trabelsi was unsure — “In the past we probably have, I’m not certain.” But he also seemed to push back on the notion, perfectly framing Granick’s worry, that this is even a public health technology to begin with: “The technology is essentially for tracking people. It’s not a health solution. It can just tell you where people are. It’s not going to keep you from getting sick. It’s not going to heal you.”
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2TIOgVh Tyler Durden
Managing editor Ed Harrison and senior editor Ash Bennington break down the brewing tensions between China and the United States. They comprehend the consequences of a potential “decoupling” between the two superpowers and analyze the possibility of a new Cold War. Ed and Ash also analyze the continued rise of U.S. equities and look forward to see whether the ongoing crisis will be the shortest recession in history or if there is some “post-snapback malaise” in store. In the intro, Jack Farley takes a look at what could be the first convertible bond default in the history of Chinese markets.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3gqkePR Tyler Durden
Twitter ‘Un-Verifies’ Journalist One Hour After He Tweets About Obama Spying On Journalists Tyler Durden
Tue, 05/26/2020 – 17:45
While Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey continues the search for his identity through meditation and fasting, his hyper-partisan San Francisco-based company has escalated its war on wrongthink.
The latest casualty, Mediaite journalist Rudy Takala, was stripped of his blue “verified” checkmark approximately one hour after tweeting his column about the Obama administration spying on journalists last Thursday, according to Breitbart‘s Allum Bokhari.
I tweeted this column about the Obama administration spying on journalists at 5:47 Thursday.
Around an hour later, my verification badge magically disappeared.
Takala’s article suggests that “Obamagate” is just the “latest development in nearly a decade-long battle” for journalists such as former CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson, who has long asserted that she was spied on by the feds from 2011-2014 as part of her reporting on the Obama DOJ’s “Fast and Furious” gun-running debacle, as well as her reporting on the 2012 attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
While her case against the US government was tossed by a three-judge panel last year, Attkison moved to reopen the case in January after she told the court that a whistleblower had provided new information.
That information implicated five specific individuals, according to court filings — including Rod Rosenstein, a familiar target of Trump’s grievances. Court filings allege Rosenstein, who served as the Obama administration’s U.S. attorney for Maryland, “ordered the unlawful surveillance and hacking” of Attkisson’s devices. (He subsequently served as Trump’s deputy attorney general, a capacity in which he appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate Trump’s staffers.) –Mediaite
For his insolence – providing yet another log on the mounting pyre of scandals in Obama’s “scandal-free” administration – Takala appears to have been punished by the Silicon Valley thought police with the removal of his coveted (by some) blue check.
Takala isn’t the only one… As Bokhari reports, podcast host Josh Lekach similarly lost his verified badge after interviewing Republican congressional candidate Laura Loomer – who is suing Twitter over politically biased censorship.
“I interviewed Laura Loomer yesterday, and today my Twitter verification badge is gone,? Lekach tweeted last week.
Listen to my podcast episode with Laura on my Patreon for free, and please subscribe. https://t.co/7tXmZ35tbC
Conservative app developer Doriano Carta, previously a writer for Mashable and GigaOm, reported that his verified badge had also disappeared.
It is unclear how many others have been deverified, or why. Twitter has yet to release any public statements on the matter, and has yet to respond to Breitbart News’ request for comment. –Breitbart
Did any liberal journalists lose their blue checkmarks for promoting debunked russiagate conspiracy theories about the Trump administration?
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3d4HWPL Tyler Durden
“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
– Patrick Henry
“If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.”
– Samuel Adams
After observing the reaction of the America people, over the last two months, to a virus that will not kill 99.97% of them, I wondered how could a country created upon the blood and courage of patriot farmers and leaders who knew they would hang if their revolution failed, have degenerated into an infantilized nation of obedient slaves to un-Constitutionalized authoritarianism. It saddens me that a country borne by revolutionary means against an overbearing authoritarian monarchy has turned into a nation of bed-wetters curled up in their basements sucking their thumbs, begging government overlords to protect them from a virus.
I guess it shouldn’t be surprising after decades of government public school indoctrination where U.S. History facts have been usurped by feelings, diversity and gender agendas pushed by less than mediocre teachers. Government controlled education hasn’t taught children to think critically or question authority, but to obey rules and allow emotions to drive their actions. When multiple generations have been programmed to feel, rather than think, using panic and fear to make them do as they are told isn’t a difficult task. This pandemic reaction is a testament to their decades long propaganda and misinformation campaign. Rather than developing herd immunity the country developed a herd mentality.
I know “they” never let a crisis go to waste, but I’m unsure whether this crisis has been manufactured, and if so, why now and for what ultimate purpose. When in doubt regarding why events develop in a certain way, it is always a safe bet to follow the money. If a particular group receives out-sized benefits as a result of a crisis and the response to the crisis, you can be sure they heavily influenced the outcome. The short-term winners and losers from this plandemic are quite easy to recognize.
It isn’t the 1% who won, as many doctors and small business owners fall into this group and have been royally screwed. It’s the .1% billionaire crowd who have reaped the benefits, including Mr. Vaccine Man himself – Bill Gates. The richest men, running the largest corporations in the world, have increased their net worth by almost a half-trillion dollars in two months – with more to come, as their obedient lackey at the Fed continues to funnel billions into their pockets with his electronic printing press.
As the plebs were thrown $1,200 and an extra $600 of unemployment for a few months by their elected politicians and small businesses were thrown a life preserver attached to an anvil, these same corporately captured political operatives and Wall Street puppets at the Fed delivered trillions of immediate wealth to their true patrons – banking and corporate oligarchs. And to be clear, your government overlords were just giving you back the money they have stolen from your paycheck. But even that is a reach, since every dime handed out to the plebs has been borrowed from your children and grandchildren.
The imminent $30 trillion national debt and $200 trillion of unfunded liabilities is our gift to them. Jerome Powell received his marching orders from his billionaire banker bosses. He was instructed to make Ben Bernanke’s bailout in 2008/2009 look like bush league stuff. He has complied beyond all expectations, driving the stock market up by 32% from its March lows, as more than 38 million Americans lost their jobs and over 100,000 small businesses were forced out of business permanently.
It took Bernanke & Yellen four years of QE1, QE2, and QE3 debt creation to increase the Fed balance sheet by $2 trillion. Powell told Bennie and the troll to hold his beer, as he has taken the balance sheet up by more than $3 trillion in a few months, to $7 trillion. And he ain’t done. J-Po has his minions creating fiat at hypersonic speed, on track to breach $10 trillion by the end of the year.
He is illegally buying junk bonds in a blatant effort to keep horribly run connected companies who should be liquidated in bankruptcy from going bankrupt. Powell and his academic dweebs at the Fed don’t believe in the concept of creative destruction as a key ingredient of capitalism. They believe in creative zombie company creation and a zombie economy with zero interest rates and debt fabrication guaranteed to crash the system. Take one look at the following chart and try to convince yourself we aren’t in a death spiral as a nation.
Not one penny of the trillions generated by the Fed out of thin air is helping the 38.6 million people who were thrown out into the streets by government decree. None of it has trickled down because it wasn’t meant to trickle down. It’s just another example of socialism for the corporate fascists and another screw job for the average working stiff. The Fed’s sole purpose is to enrich their banker benefactors, corporate titans, hedge fund managers and corrupt politicians.
The unemployment rate is headed toward 30%. GDP in the 2nd quarter will approach -40%. We’ve entered a 2nd Great Depression. There will be no V shaped recovery. The damage is permanent and ultimately fatal. The irony of this absurd episode in our nation’s short history is the response to this flu will result in 100,000% more deaths than the actual flu, as the response will result in mass poverty, suicide, civil chaos, deaths from untreated afflictions, and ultimately war with China.
Our beloved government overlords have purposely destroyed our economy and destroyed the lives of millions because of terribly (purposely?) flawed models, clueless IYI medical experts providing horrible advice, outrageously incompetent governors murdering tens of thousands in nursing homes, and those same governors revealing their dictatorial nature by using the Chinese lockdown method of crushing small businesses – while mega-corps like Wal-Mart and Target were “safe” to stay open. The tyrannical dictates of these governors are not based on science, data, or facts. They are just making up the rules as they go along, based upon their political ideology.
They hate you and despise your desire to work and earn a living; hate religion because it gives people hope and an alternative to worshiping the State. They want you hopeless, fearful, and panicked, so you will beg them for sustenance, shelter and protection. They allow mega-corporations to be open so you can consume material goods, but keep houses of worship closed so you are unable to obtain your spiritual needs and the comfort of fellow worshipers. Social distancing is doable at Target, but prohibited in churches. You can buy weed and liquor but not seeds to plant food.
Why is it safe for hundreds of people to be roaming the aisles of Wal-Mart, but not safe for three people to be in a barbershop or nail salon? Why is it OK to stand or walk on a beach, but not sit or swim? Why is it OK to go to Home Depot, but not walk in a national park or swim in a pool? You can surf in the ocean, but not swim. None of the rules make sense or keep you safe.
The rules and masks and regulations and deadlines and color codes and threats are meant to control you and bend your will to the State. Compliance is mandatory, with the threat of corporeal punishment and/or ruining your life through regulatory actions like pulling your business license or imprisonment. We are not in this together as the Madison Avenue ad campaigns claim. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Everybody knows.
It is mind numbing to consider how we arrived at this point.
Nothing but a blizzard of lies, hidden agendas, political maneuverings, incompetent government apparatchiks, media propaganda spreading fear and panic, and authoritarian governors displaying their true dictatorial nature. Let’s summarize. The virus wasn’t transmittable to humans. Then it was. The WHO said not to worry and China had it under control. They applauded the brutal lockdown of Wuhan. Fauci said nothing to worry about in the U.S. Trump said it would be over in a couple weeks.
The “experts” at the CDC said not to wear masks. They don’t help. Now they are mandatory. Only n95 masks would offer enough protection. Now a scarf is fine. The CDC said the virus could live on surfaces for days. Now it doesn’t live on surfaces at all. We needed to quarantine to flatten the curve and keep hospitals from being overwhelmed. Now we must stay locked down until a vaccine is discovered. It should be noted that 95% of the hospitals in this country were never overwhelmed, and 1.4 million hospital employees were laid off in April. I’ll miss all those Tik Tok videos from the heroes.
From the beginning, the medical “experts” knew elderly people with weak immune systems were most susceptible to the virus, but Cuomo, Wolf, Whitmer, Murphy and a slew of other Democrat boneheads purposely put infected seniors back into nursing homes, causing a mass slaughter of senior citizens. The lame ass excuse from these ego-maniacal blowhards is they wanted to relieve their overburdened hospitals.
Remember the fanfare when Trump sent USNS Comfort to NYC, the Javits Center was converted into a hospital and a $21 million hospital was built in Brooklyn? Complete waste of money, as they were never used. Nothing but hysterical overreaction based upon completely wrong models and the corporate media scaring the masses with a false narrative. Maybe Cuomo should have used them for nursing home patients.
In my state, 70% of the deaths have been in nursing homes, with 83% in my county. This is consistent across the country and the world. Our government leaders, who act like they know what they are doing, have been criminally negligent in protecting our most vulnerable citizens, while acting like nazis with regards to small business owners and young healthy citizens with no risk of dying from this flu.
The fact that millions have had this flu and were asymptomatic, will prove the mortality rate of this China flu is only marginally higher than the seasonal flu. A national lockdown was not warranted or necessary. When you purposely destroy an economy over a flu that will not kill 99.97% of the people in the country, it’s not about health. It’s about power, control, and the wealth of the ruling class.
If you are safe by leaving six feet of space between you and others, why do you need a mask? If a mask protects you and others, why do you need six feet of space? Why six feet and not five feet or seven feet? What science determined these proclamations from our leaders? They don’t know shit. Dictator Wolf and his minister of health Rachel (aka Dick) Levine have created a color coded (red, yellow, green) system for PA based upon their idiotic analysis of data.
They have set arbitrary numerical requirements in order for counties to move from red to green. When more than two thirds of cases are in nursing homes, what does that have to do with the general population? As testing increases, more asymptomatic cases are recorded, not allowing the county to meet their arbitrary goal. These control freak bureaucrats are drunk with power and are just making the rules up as they go, shitting on the Constitution all the way.
Government drones love color coding because they believe the dumbed down masses need to be led using simple herding techniques. It’s reminiscent of the threat level color coding at the outset of “The War on Terror”, used to keep the masses panicked and fearful. When was the last time you heard about the terror threat color? It served its purpose of instituting the Patriot Act and the all-encompassing surveillance state.
We now have the “War on a Flu” which we are told will change our lives forever, require obedience to all new government mandates, and of course mandatory vaccinations. I bet you can’t wait to receive your immunity certificate, which will be required to fly, attend sporting events, shop and dine. How come the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, Asian Flu pandemic of 1957, and Hong Kong Flu pandemic of 1968, which killed far more people (millions more), didn’t change the lives of Americans one iota?
It’s because this pandemic is being used by powers that be to further their own agendas. There isn’t one monolithic Deep State with one single agenda, but powerful factions which cooperate when the right crisis comes along, or is manufactured. The same scientists who peddle the global warming nonsense were all-in on Neil Ferguson’s ridiculously (purposely) flawed death model, predicting 20 times more deaths from the virus than have occurred.
These people want companies to go bankrupt and no one be allowed to drive. They want people to be imprisoned in their homes with just enough money electronically transferred into their bank accounts to survive. This is Nirvana for the green crowd. AOC doesn’t think anyone should want to go back to work, instagramming from her luxury townhome in DC, still collecting her $174,000 salary, paid by working taxpayers. Then there is Gates and his paid servants at the WHO and CDC. His global population control and mass vaccination fantasies are within his reach. He is almost giddy when expounding on how the world will be changed forever by this bio-lab virus pandemic.
It is probably just a coincidence that after a three-year coup attempt by the Deep State against Trump, which failed, with the tables about to be turned on the conspirators, a global pandemic magically appeared to take the focus off their failed plot. With an economy in its eleventh year of growth, unemployment around 3%, the stock market hitting all-time highs, and the Democrats running barely coherent badfinger Joe Biden as their candidate, Trump’s chances of victory in November seemed pretty solid. With four more years, he would be able to exact retribution on Obama, Clinton, Schiff, Comey, Clapper, Brennan, Rice and the rest of the co-conspirators.
They used this plandemic to lure Trump into destroying his chances for victory in November. With 30% unemployment, -40% GDP, 38.6 million unemployed (so far), and not a chance of recovery by November, his chances would normally be zero in November. But with a senile, rapist, bigot running against him, he still has a chance. That is why Biden will likely be cast aside by the Deep State before the election, for a winnable candidate.
As devious and undeniably diabolical as it would appear, Democrat governors almost seem to be sabotaging their state economies long enough to ensure Trump loses in November. The idiocy of this national lockdown will eventually become clear to even the densest mask wearing Karen, when the second derivative consequences of this economic disaster hit like a ton of bricks. You cannot just turn off the biggest economy in world history and then turn it back on, expecting everything to go back to normal. But maybe they don’t want anything to return to normal. We know 38.6 million have lost their jobs in the first eight weeks of this self-imposed disaster.
We know thousands of small businesses have already closed permanently. Now larger companies (JC Penney, Hertz, Neiman Marcus, J. Crew) are declaring bankruptcy. The government-imposed restrictions for re-opening will guarantee hundreds of thousands more small companies will throw in the towel. Restaurants and bars operate on thin margins and cannot possibly survive at 50% or 75% of their previous capacity.
Plus, the coronavirus fearmongers have permanently scared a large portion of the population into never eating out or enjoying a drink at the local bar again. Capacity reduced and demand lower equals going out of business for formerly profitable businesses. Every organization in America is now planning for lower revenues and profits, meaning they are going to lay-off more workers. I can guarantee you there will be a second wave of mass layoffs.
The governors, county commissioners, and mayors who continue to keep their states closed don’t have the same ability as the Feds to print money and run deficits. They are required by law to balance their budgets. Their constituents, who they imprisoned, can’t pay taxes without jobs. Income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, gasoline taxes and the myriad of other fees siphoned from their citizens are going down by 20% to 40%. They will be forced to layoff government “heroes”. No more fire engine birthday parades broadcast on your local news stations every night. Government employment exceeds 19 million today. It will be drastically lower in the next two years.
The avalanche of unemployed has only just begun. When the Fed’s market rigging fails again and the stock market reverts to fair market value, even the Wall Street titans will start firing their Harvard MBA high frequency lemming traders. This is going to be an L shaped non-recovery. Trump, Mnuchin, Kudlow and Powell can yammer about recovery and 2021 being the best year ever, but they chose this path into depression and will go down in the history books as men who made dreadfully bad decisions, putting the final nails in the coffin of this empire of debt.
How did the American people allow this fatal farce make them kneel down and beg their “always sure, but never right” government overlords to save them from this invisible enemy? Where is the American spirit which founded this country? Where is the fortitude that compelled farmer soldiers to withstand the brutal winter at Valley Forge to create a fledgling republic? Where is the courage that compelled Pickett’s 15,000 infantrymen to charge across an open field for three-quarters of a mile towards the crest of Cemetery Ridge under heavy artillery and rifle fire for their cause? Where is the bravery of the young men on landing craft at Normandy beach where 90% of them would be dead by days end? Today, we watch commercial after commercial from mega-corporations telling us how brave we are by sheltering in place to avoid a virus with a .03% chance of killing us. What would Cool Hand Luke or Virgil Hilts think of today’s heroes?
I can’t think of two more iconic characters representative of the spirit of toughness, anti-authoritarianism, sacrifice, unflagging spirit, and a willingness to take a beating or die for their cause. They refused to conform or obey. Their insolence and resistance to authority got them thrown into the cooler on a consistent basis. They are lone wolves who inspire their fellow captives to resist and never stop fighting for freedom.
Their mental toughness and refusal to bow down to their captors, infuriates the sadistic jailers, resulting in increasingly sadistic punishment and ultimately death for one. Luke Jackson was a decorated war veteran who advanced to sergeant, but was discharged as a buck private. The unspoken story is that he failed to follow the ridiculous orders of a clueless superior officer.
Upon arrival at the prison for a fairly minor property crime, he doesn’t adhere to the pecking order among the prisoners and ends up in a boxing match with Dragline, the unofficial leader of the prisoners. He gets knocked down over and over again, but refuses to give up. Dragline eventually walks away, not wanting to inflict more damage to Luke. His tenacity and refusal to back down earned him the respect of his fellow inmates, but distinguished himself as troublemaker to the guards and warden. He later wins a poker game by bluffing with a hand worth nothing. Luke comments that “sometimes, nothing can be a real cool hand”, prompting Dragline to nickname him “Cool Hand Luke”. His continued successful efforts to escape make him a hero in the eyes of the inmates, a man worthy of worship.
Luke’s character takes on a Christ-like connotation. After winning the egg eating challenge, Luke is laid out like Christ on the cross. Toward the end of the film Luke speaks to God evoking the Garden of Gethsemane, just before Dragline (Judas) betrays him by leading the authorities to his hideout. After Luke is executed by the authorities in a church and allowed to bleed-out we are left with the impression of Christ’s sacrifice for the benefit of humanity.
The closing shot shows inmates working on crossroads from far above, such that the intersection is in the shape of the cross. Superimposed on this is the repaired photo Luke took during his second escape, the distinct creases of which also form the shape of the cross. Surrendering one’s life fighting against evil authoritarians is the ultimate sacrifice. Are there such men among us today?
The Great Escape, loosely based upon an actual mass escape of POWs from a German prison camp during World War II, had numerous big-time actors playing key roles, but Steve McQueen stole the movie with his performance as Virgil Hilts – The Cooler King. Reflecting the true American spirit of resisting authority and flaunting the rules and regulations, Hilts escapes from the prison numerous times, even purposely being caught so he can further the greater good of his fellow captives.
His insolence towards his captors is reflected in the ball and glove he takes into the cooler, repeatedly bouncing the ball off the wall – reminding him, the other inmates, and the Nazi guards that apple pie and baseball were truly examples of American freedom, and they could not destroy his spirit of dissent and desire to be free. He refused to be broken or admit defeat. At one time, this trait was widespread among Americans, but sadly is no longer prevalent.
This dialogue between Hilts and the camp commandant reflects his utter contempt for authority and unwillingness to bend to their will.
Von Luger: Are all American officers so ill-mannered?
Hilts: Yeah, about 99 percent.
Von Luger: Then perhaps while you are with us you will have a chance to learn some. Ten days isolation, Hilts.
Hilts: CAPTAIN Hilts.
Von Luger: Twenty days.
Hilts: Right. Oh, uh, you’ll still be here when I get out?
Von Luger: [visibly annoyed] Cooler!
Arbitrary rules and regulations imposed by mediocre minds deserve to be treated with contempt and ignored. Muzzled and masked Americans could learn a lesson from Hilts’ disruptive disrespect for self-proclaimed authoritarians by refusing to abide by un-Constitutional directives and utterly preposterous proclamations.
The lack of mental toughness and unwillingness to push back against the ludicrous rules imposed by our overlords is the result of decades of indoctrination by the State and perpetuation of falsehoods by the Deep State controlled media, using the techniques created by Edward Bernays to control and manipulate the masses for the benefit of the few. It is sad watching a vast swath of Americans unquestioningly following the orders of psychopaths in suits and government bureaucrats pretending to be medical experts, as they purposely lead the country into an abyss with no escape route.
This country was created by men “illegally” resisting the legal authorities. Where is the loyalty to the country and Constitution, instead of loyalty to a government controlled by enemies of the people who seek nothing more than power, control and wealth at your expense? Why are people, not only willing, but enthusiastically cheering, for their rights, freedoms and liberties to be stripped in order to obtain false security and the succor of a vast surveillance state hell-bent on enslaving you in debt and consumption servitude?
How can we remain loyal to a government run by criminals, knaves, fools, and billionaire oligarchs who see us as nothing but cows to be milked and sheep to be slaughtered? When did the land of the free and home of the brave become the land of the self-imprisoned and home of the willfully ignorant cowering masses? Where are the Cool Hand Lukes and Virgil Hiltses?
We are not in this together, no matter how many insipid propaganda commercials appear on your boob tube telling you to stay safe, stay strong and stay home. While your humanity and individuality are stripped through the wearing of muzzles (I mean personal protective equipment) and other newspeak terms like “social distancing”, “stronger together”, “flatten the curve” and “see something, say something” have been introduced by your Big Brother overlords to dumb down our language into simplistic slogans mouthed continuously by media talking heads, Hollywood influencers, low IQ athletes, and government rulers.
Any thoughtcrime which contradicts the narrative of the State, voiced on Twitter, Youtube, or Facebook is immediately disappeared and censored as conspiracy theory dissent. Those who fail to obey, conform, and adhere to the narrative are demonetized, ridiculed, prosecuted, and ruined.
I do see embers of dissent and courage flaring up in communities across the country, but will they ignite into a full-fledged firestorm against the all-powerful State, continuously trampling our rights? True courage is the willingness to fight when you know you will lose before the fight has begun. Those in power use fear of retribution to control the masses. Fear is real, but true courage is resistance to fear. And sometimes courage is found in the most unlikely places, like hair salons, barber shops and gyms.
Dallas hair salon owner Shelley Luther, New Jersey Atilis Gym co-owner Ian Smith, and Michigan barber Karl Manke have all defied the un-Constitutional shutdown of their businesses by the State and have been imprisoned, fined, harassed and had their business licenses revoked. Meanwhile, Gretchen Himmler Whitmer screeches that all protestors against her death producing lockdown are racists and nazis, while she lounges at her lakeside mansion this weekend. The irony of her actions versus her words is lost on this vacuous twit.
The State has the power to destroy your life, but each individual has the ability to resist in a small way, whether by not wearing the government mandated muzzle; bartering with locals and denying the state their vig; going Galt and reducing their financial footprint; taking your money out of Wall Street banks; not buying from mega-retailers; eliminating debt from your life; planting gardens; raising livestock; buying guns and ammo; spreading dissent on a one by one basis; supporting truth telling websites; buying gold and silver; and committing the revolutionary act of telling the truth in a time of deceit.
For the time being, we still have the right to tell people what they don’t want to hear. I believe the ruling class has gone too far this time. Their arrogance and hubris have convinced them they could use this crisis to consolidate their power, wealth and control, but they have mistakenly lit the fuse of revolution.
I’m not willing to surrender just yet. One by one, more people are channeling their inner Luke and Virgil and taking the red pill. We are faced with unpleasant truths and once enough critical thinking people decide to accept that reality, a tipping point will be reached. Courage and a complete disrespect for authority will be essential as the inevitable conflict approaches. I know we are fighting an uphill battle against a deeply rooted powerful foe.
I know the Deep State (The Party) has no intention of relinquishing power and has no interest in our well being or what is best for future generations. They are consumed by greed and an unquenchable thirst for power. They won’t blink in sentencing millions to a death sentence. It will require guile, guts and guns to defeat this entrenched vicious enemy. Voting for a different faction of the Party will not change our path or our fate. Only determined resistance using whatever means necessary and a willingness to sacrifice our lives for the sake of our children and grandchildren, along with a good bit of luck, can give us a chance to defeat The Party.
“Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives.
They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now you begin to understand me.”
– George Orwell, 1984
Our choice is to continue to accept beatings from the Captain and consent to their vision of the future – a boot stomping on our faces forever, or a 2nd Civil War. I didn’t say the choices were good. But that’s the unpleasant truth.
“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can’t reach. So, you get what we had here last week. Which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. And I don’t like it any more than you men.” – Captain
Anti-Lockdown Protesters Could Become Violent If US Revives Quarantine Measures, DHS Warns Tyler Durden
Tue, 05/26/2020 – 17:05
Lockdowns and strict social distancing rules have collapsed local economies, led to depression-level unemployment, and sparked outrage among many Americans, resulting in nationwide reopening protests. A new report via the Department of Homeland Security Counterterrorism Mission Center, first seen by ABC News, warns if additional lockdowns are seen, it could very well spark violence.
“A variety of illicit actors are responding violently to stay-at-home orders and social distancing measures in place due to COVID-19, and we assess both public and private authority figures and essential workers are at highest risk of being targeted, particularly as the pandemic persists,” DHS said in the report, which was distributed to law enforcement and the federal government agencies last week.
“Even as parts of the country begin lifting some of these measures, some illicit actors probably will view any continued state-mandated orders as government overreach, and anticipated safety guidelines and policies—specifically the use of face masks—probably also will serve as a driving factor behind continued violent incidents related to the pandemic,” the report said.
The DHS report comes as the country, as a whole, has been reopening but comes as media is starting to hype the resurgence of a second coronavirus wave. Not too long ago, we asked: “Will Americans Submit To A Second Lockdown?“ — and the answer to this question is that a massive political divide continues to increase between red-state governors (who want to reopen and stay open) and blue state governors (extend lockdowns and social distancing for fear a second wave is nearing). It will likely be up to each citizen to decide if they should be quarantined in their homes again. DHS warns people could commit “violent acts” against the government if lockdowns are extended or new ones are seen.
“Public health officials are warning of a possible second-wave of COVID-19 in late 2020, which would likely result in at least some states re-implementing stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the virus, according to press reporting. Should this occur, we would expect a repeat of current responses, including additional incidents of hostility against these restrictions, some of which could result in violence targeting law enforcement or other individuals attempting to enforce the stay-at-home orders,” according to the report.
There have already been several incidents during the first round of lockdowns, including militia with assault-style weapons rolling up to multiple state capitol buildings demanding governors reopen their respective local economies.
Second Amendment supporters hanged an effigy of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear from a tree as they denounced his administration’s stay-at-home restrictions over Memorial Day weekend.
Horrifying beyond words…
Outside of the Kentucky Governor’s mansion, an armed protester hung @AndyBeshearKY in effigy while young children watched.
On Monday, Reuters said 11 states recorded a surge in new virus cases, including Alabama, Arkansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Maryland, Maine, Nevada, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Take a look at Virginia:
Also, covidiots stormed beaches over the weekend, many with no face masks — could increase the odds of a second coronavirus wave later this year. States are reopening, giving Americans a taste of freedom after several months of lockdowns, there’s little doubt that some people will strongly object if the government issues an extension to lockdowns or a second round later this year.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3c6QJiA Tyler Durden
“Everything About This Is Insane” – Begging Big Tech To Be Arbiters Of Truth Will Ultimately Backfire Tyler Durden
Tue, 05/26/2020 – 16:45
‘Be careful what you wish for’. To all those calling for more censorship of “the Other’s” voices – urging Big Tech companies to become managers in the ministry of truth to rescue the world from dissent, disagreement, and dissolution – there is a simple message – it will ultimately backfire in ways even Huxley and Orwell could not imagine.
As Evan Greer argues below “we need to address the problem of viral disinformation at its root.”
In the United States, progressive groups and lawmakers rightly concerned about the rise of far right online activity, and attempts by state actors to manipulate elections, have increasingly turned to calls for Internet censorship, deplatforming, and more aggressive moderation by companies like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.
“The tech giants are out of control, actively laundering national security state talking points via mass media “fact checker” censorship. It’s only gonna get worse.”
Okay I’ll admit it. I still use Facebook. When I logged on last night I saw something I had never seen before: a notification that read “Partly false information found in your post by independent fact checkers.” I was surprised, but figured maybe it was a glitch or related to some joke meme I had posted or something like that. I clicked it to learn more.
Screenshot of the notification Facebook sent me.
It turned out that “Independent fact-checkers” at USA TODAY had flagged a VICE article that I shared, and am quoted in, about the reauthorization of the Patriot Act and the ongoing fight around amendments to rein in mass government surveillance. This is an issue that my organization, Fight for the Future, has been working on for the better part of a decade. The post now contains a prominent flag shown to everyone who sees it, effectively censoring the original article and replacing it with a large link to the USA TODAY “fact checking” piece instead.
Screenshot of my original post, now containing Facebook’s flag.
I clicked through to read why exactly they had decided the article was “partly false.” When it comes down to it, the “independent fact checker” at USA TODAY was quibbling about semantics. The VICE headline read, “Senate Votes to Allow FBI to Look At Your Web Browsing History Without A Warrant.” The article is referring to the Senate passing the USA Freedom Reauthorization Act, which reauthorizes several Patriot Act and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) surveillance authorities — while failing to pass an amendment offered by Senators Wyden (D-OR) and Daines (R-MT). The amendment would have required the FBI to get a warrant before snooping on Internet activity like web browsing and search history. The headline is provocative, but it is 100% true. And the article itself elaborates and explains the nuance. The fact checker is essentially claiming that the post is misinformation because the Senate didn’t “vote to allow” — they just “didn’t vote to not allow.”
Even if that were true, it would be a pretty tenuous justification for effectively censoring information on a platform used by billions of people. But it’s not true — the amendment was tacked on to the underlying bill, which reauthorizes FISA surveillance powers that are set to expire. So the Senators who voted to reauthorize Section 215, and voted against the amendment, absolutely did “vote to allow” warrantless government surveillance of Internet activity. The USA TODAY piece is significantly more “false” than the VICE piece.
Not only did Facebook put a notification on my post linking to a blatantly slanted “fact check” article, they sent a notification to everyone who interacted with the post, linking to the same.
It appears that the USA TODAY fact checker first discovered the VICE article via a viral post from the Facebook page “Being Libertarian.” The fact checker took issue with some of the specific language that that page used when sharing the article. But it appears that Facebook has applied the “partly false” flag not just to that page’s post, but to anyone who posts the same article.
The USA TODAY piece relies heavily on “an email exchange” with Stewart Baker, the former top lawyer for the National Security Agency and a staunch defender of mass government surveillance programs. They did not attempt to contact my organization Fight for the Future, or experts from the ACLU, Free Press, Demand Progress, or any of the dozens of other reputable civil society organizations who have issued public statements that closely mirror the article’s framing. It also does not appear that they attempted to contact Senators Wyden or Daines, VICE, or the journalist who wrote the piece. In the end, they claim that the article is “partly false” based on a fairly generous read of how the FISA court works and their best guess at how a reader might interpret the headline and article. Without due process or a meaningful way to appeal the decision, this “fact checker” became judge, jury, and executioner, killing the spread of an organically viral post about government surveillance at a time when activists are working around the clock to inform the public about an upcoming vote that impacts their most basic rights.
The outcry over the Senate vote had an impact, and the House is now expected to vote on a similar amendment in a matter of days. Facebook and their fact checking partner’s arbitrary decision to flag the VICE article as “misinformation” could have a significant impact on that vote.
List of sources in the USA TODAY “fact check” piece
This is not some epic conspiracy. I’m sure the fact checker at USA TODAY did their best to research this complex topic and come to a determination they felt was fair. I doubt they’re secretly working for the surveillance state. Reporters will always bring their implicit biases to the ways they frame stories, which details they include and which ones they omit. In this case, clearly the VICE story was more sympathetic to civil liberties advocates working to limit government surveillance. The USA TODAY piece is more sympathetic to the government and intelligence agencies. Neither of them are “false,” and neither of them should be effectively censored by Facebook or buried by its non-transparent algorithm in the name of stopping disinformation. Facebook should not be putting its thumb on the scale, to say that one article is “more true” than the other, when such determinations can be incredibly subjective and have profound implications for the democratic process.
The spread of online hate and outright lies on platforms like Facebook is a real problem. And social media amplification of corrosive and violent ideologies like white nationalism and transphobia are causing real world harm right now, disproportionately affecting Black and brown people and trans women of color. We must not downplay or ignore the ways that indiscriminately giving platform to these ideologies in the name of free speech can result in making it unsafe for marginalized people to freely express themselves.
There are no easy answers.
But I would argue that these are deep societal problems that can only be addressed through organizing and community building, and that they can’t be fixed with more censorship or by demanding that Big Tech companies become the arbiters of what is and isn’t true.
Around the world, we’ve seen governments scrambling to stem the flow of “misinformation,” often by enacting policies that do more harm than good. Ethiopia’s “Hate Speech and Disinformation Prevention and Suppression Proclamation” has been decried by activists there as being abused to stifle free expression and freedom of the press. Similar legislation in Egypt has raised alarm bells for human rights groups. YouTube’s attempt to remove white nationalist videos from its platform resulted in automated censorship of anti-racist videos from groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center.
In the United States, progressive groups and lawmakers rightly concerned about the rise of far right online activity, and attempts by state actors to manipulate elections, have increasingly turned to calls for Internet censorship, deplatforming, and more aggressive moderation by companies like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. These calls are well intentioned but ultimately misguided.
Empowering for-profit companies to become the referees of speech and determine what we are and are not allowed to debate solidifies the status quo, and largely benefits the powerful while silencing the oppressed. And in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, this situation could easily get worse very quickly. Facebook has already admitted that it’s relying more on the use of artificial intelligence, and prioritizing the “removal of harmful content” over all else. Implied is that they are prioritizing removing “harmful” content over ensuring that their moderation systems don’t also remove legitimate content in the process. A software “bug” led Facebook to remove factual posts about COVID-19 from actual healthcare professionals, for example.
There is no silver bullet solution that will stop the spread of online misinformation without resulting in collateral damage and censorship of legitimate content and marginalized voices. Instead of calling for more aggressive moderation, we should address the problem at its root: Big Tech companies’ underlying business model of data harvesting, micro-targeting, and artificial algorithmic amplification maximized for engagement above all else. These inherent flaws have become societal crises as a tiny handful of companies have become so large that their policies become de facto law for the entire Internet, something that can only be addressed by either breaking them up or building decentralized alternatives.
The problem with Facebook is not that it’s a place where people can say what they want or share articles that may or may not be true. It’s that Facebook is not a town square — it’s a machine designed to make money by shoving content down the throats of people that Facebook thinks will engage with it, and thus generate advertising revenue, no matter what the cost. Politicians, pundits, racists, and scam artists have always lied in public. Facebook allows them to directly target those lies to the people most likely to believe them.
Facebook isn’t broken. It’s working exactly as intended. The product that Facebook has built is fundamentally incompatible with basic human rights and democracy -– and begging Mark Zuckerberg to take down things we don’t like won’t change that. Worse, if we fail to address the underlying problems and get caught in an endless game of partisan whack-a-mole or working the refs, we will continue to see more and more collateral damage, like with my post about the Patriot Act.
Facebook’s surveillance capitalist business model inadvertently helped prop up the US government’s surveillance state ahead of a crucial vote.
It’s hard to imagine a better example of how urgent it is that we hold Big Tech companies accountable and fight for policies that limit their ability to manipulate and control public debate, rather than giving them more power in name of truth.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2X5YQI5 Tyler Durden
DOJ Closes Insider Trading Investigations Into Three Senators, Keeps Burr Probe Going Tyler Durden
Tue, 05/26/2020 – 16:25
The Department of Justice is closing investigations into three US senators accused of trading stocks based on privileged coronavirus briefings right before the market tanked due to pandemic, however a fourth investigation into Sen. Richard Burr will continue, according to the Journal, citing people familiar with the matter.
Defense attorneys for Republican Senators James Inhofe (OK) and Kelly Loeffler (GA), as well as Democrat Dianne Feinstein (CA) were notified by prosecutors on Tuesday that they are closing investigations into their trades.
All of the lawmakers denied wrongdoing – with Inhofe and Loeffler saying their financial advisers made the trades which they had no knowledge of until after the fact.
The FBI began investigating the trades two months ago after lawmakers learned of the threat of coronavirus during closed-door briefings. In some cases, the trades saved lawmakers up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses as stocks tanked into mid-March.
Burr, meanwhile, has temporarily stepped down as Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. The FBI seized the cell phone of the North Carolina Republican, who had more of a direct involvement in his trades.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3gplliG Tyler Durden
Vaccine Vacillation Sparks Stock Surge, Dollar Purge Tyler Durden
Tue, 05/26/2020 – 16:01
US equity markets roared higher overnight on several vaccine-related headlines (but repeated China sanctions headlines – especially at the close, took the shine off the ball, especially for tech stocks)…
Shrugging off Gilead’s Remdesivir “statistically insignificant” results and Moderna’s reality checks in favor of Merck and Novavax…
NOTE – Moderna is now 20% below its secondary offering levels.
Novavax soared early on the back of an announcement that it was planning on starting a phase 1 trial in Australia… no results at all… But the market didn’t hold all those gains…
It appears Dr.Fauci’s optimism was unfounded… just as his pessimism was too…
Of course, US equity markets are not alone in their irrationality. Nothing says bid the yuan like Washington threatening China with sanctions and capital controls…
Source: Bloomberg
And nothing says Buy Hong Kong stocks like the cavalcade of freedom-crushing new laws and headlines unleashed from the mainland this weekend…
Source: Bloomberg
While the Nasdaq (blue) lagged on the day it was still higher on the day BUT just look at Trannies (green) and Small Caps (red). Dow broke above 25k and S&P above 3,000 before the whole fragile facade fell apart on repeated headlines on China sanctions…
The S&P 500 broke above its 200-DMA and Small Caps tested their 100DMA (as The Dow got close) but the late-day China sanctions headlines spoiled the party…
But it was a different crowd leading the day with FANG stocks back at one-week lows…
Source: Bloomberg
As FANGs faltered, Bank stocks soared…
Source: Bloomberg
But the “virus fear” is fading fast once again…
Source: Bloomberg
“Most Shorted” Stocks extended their fourth squeeze leg higher…
Source: Bloomberg
Treasury yields were higher across the curve with the long-end notably underperforming (2Y +1bps, 10Y +7bps)…
Source: Bloomberg
The Dollar dumped notably today – biggest daily drop in 2 months…
Source: Bloomberg
Breaking below critical support…
Source: Bloomberg
Cryptos have slipped lower since Friday…
Source: Bloomberg
Oil and copper ended the day higher but, despite the dump in the dollar, precious metals ended the day down…
Source: Bloomberg
Finally, you have to laugh really… The last 16 trading days have seen the S&P rise 163.0 points from the US day session close to the open the next day… and fall 4.3 points from the open of the US day session to the close.
Source: Bloomberg
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3d3gZMk Tyler Durden
Locking down much of the country may have helped to “flatten the curve” a bit, but it has also had some very serious consequences that public health officials did not anticipate. Humans were created to be social creatures, and forcing us to isolate ourselves from one another for weeks on end has turned out to be quite problematic. This has especially been true for those that live alone. Today, the U.S. has a higher percentage of one person households than ever before, and keeping those individuals totally isolated in their own homes is not that different from putting prison inmates in solitary confinement for an extended period of time. In both cases, it can be just a matter of time before people mentally break.
Even before this pandemic came along, the suicide rate in the United States was already soaring, and now the number of suicides is spiking like we have never seen before. Just consider what Dr. Mike deBoisblanc of John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, California says is happening in his area…
“We’ve never seen numbers like this, in such a short period of time,” he said. “I mean we’ve seen a year’s worth of suicide attempts in the last four weeks.”
And suicide helplines all over America are seeing an enormous increase in the number of people calling in…
Many crisis centers are reporting 30% to 40% increases in the number of people seeking help. The helpline at Provident is experiencing a tenfold increase compared with this time last year, when no national disaster was occurring.
In addition to being isolated in their own homes, Americans have also been bombarded by endless coverage of this pandemic by the mainstream media, and this has definitely helped to fuel a lot of anxiety…
In all, 66% are watching and consuming more news than ever before, which is particularly puzzling considering that 68% also admitted that COVID-19 coverage gives them considerable anxiety. It’s not just anxiety either; 65% said they feel overwhelmed by coronavirus news, 56% just get plain angry, 67% feel burnt out, 59% experience fearfulness, and 50% can’t help but feel hopeless after hearing the nightly news.
And of course Americans are not just watching more news than ever before. According to Comcast, the average U.S. household has actually been watching 66 hours of TV a week during this pandemic…
New research from telecomms firm Comcast has revealed viewing time has soared as a result, with households watching an extra eight-plus hours of TV each week – equivalent to the time spent on a full days’ work shift.
This means the average household now watches 66 hours of TV a week, up from 57 hours a week in early March.
Watching endless hours of television is one of the worst possible things that you can do for your mental health.
If you put garbage into your mind, you are going to get garbage out.
And allowing the corporate media elite to endlessly feed hour after hour of “programming” directly into your mind is incredibly self-destructive.
In addition to binge-watching television, many Americans have also been dealing with this crisis by turning to drugs and alcohol…
Findings by The Recovery Village, a Florida-based network of addiction treatment facilities, reflect an “expected” increase in substance use during the pandemic, with Americans reporting a 55% rise in alcohol consumption in the last month. When it came to illicit drugs, 36% of Americans reported increased use of marijuana and prescription opioids, among others.
Needless to say, this is more self-destructive behavior that is just going to fuel even more anxiety, depression and despair.
But this isn’t the worst thing that we are going to face. In fact, it isn’t even close.
So if we can’t handle what is happening right now, how in the world are we going to be able to handle what is coming?
The good news is that this pandemic is causing a lot of people to wake up and reflect on what really matters.
Prior to COVID-19, a lot of Americans were living for their careers. But this crisis has demonstrated how rapidly those jobs can disappear. There is absolutely no loyalty in the corporate world today, and most corporations will not hesitate to lay off workers once they start bleeding money. At this point, more than 38 million Americans have already lost their jobs, and more job losses are coming in the weeks and months ahead.
Other Americans were living for the pleasures of this life before this pandemic came along. But now bars, clubs and movie theaters all over the country have been shut down, professional sports leagues have been paralyzed, and this virus has even transformed dating into a hazard that many people simply don’t want to deal with.
So many of the things that we once valued so highly have been taken away, and maybe that is precisely what we needed. Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan created quite an uproar when he made this point very strongly on Instagram…
“Word up, can you handle the truth my brother only love HH,” wrote Hogan, who has 1.5 million followers on Instagram. “In three short months, just like He did with the plagues of Egypt, God has taken away everything we worship.
“God said, ‘you want to worship athletes, I will shut down the stadiums. You want to worship musicians, I will shut down Civic Centers. You want to worship actors, I will shut down theaters. You want to worship money, I will shut down the economy and collapse the stock market. You don’t want to go to church and worship Me, I will make it where you can’t go to church.
“‘If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself. I wrote an entire book urging people to start focusing on what really matters, because true hope will not be found in the temporal things that the world is constantly chasing.
A majority of teens and young adults say they are praying more or thinking about spiritual issues more than they were prior to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new survey.
The poll of 800 high school students and 800 post-secondary students found that 67 percent said they’re either praying more often or thinking about spiritual issues more compared to the time before the virus.
There is hope, but it won’t be found on a television screen, at the bottom of a bottle or at the end of a needle.
So please don’t give up. Despite all of the craziness in our world today, the best chapters of your life can still be ahead of you.
But if you keep feeding your mind endless hours of media “programming” and you keep chasing the things that they tell you to chase, all that is ahead of you is more pain, more anxiety, more depression and more despair.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2LZy3Xz Tyler Durden
S&P Drops Below 3,000 On Report US Considering “Transaction Controls, Asset Freezes” On Chinese Officials, Firms Tyler Durden
Tue, 05/26/2020 – 15:45
In the latest rehash of the exact same headline a variation of which we have seen every single day for the past two weeks, moments ago Bloomberg reported that The Trump administration is considering “a range of sanctions on Chinese officials, businesses and financial institutions” over Beijing’s accelerating effort to crack down on Hong Kong.
While there was nothing materially new in this particular Bloomberg report that other newswires did not already report previously, it claims that the “Treasury could impose controls on transactions and freeze assets of Chinese officials and businesses for implementing a new national security law that would curtail the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong citizens.”
On the other hand, and feeding the growing speculation we discussed yesterday that the “bluffing” US has become a paper tiger and will not actually do anything besides jawbone, the report also notes that while discussions are ongoing “no decision has been made on whether or how to employ the sanctions.”
Earlier in the day, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that Trump is “displeased” with China’s efforts and “that it’s hard to see how Hong Kong can remain a financial hub if China takes over.” She also declined to elaborate about specific actions the president was considering, because so far it really has been just non stop chatter.
The report however was sufficient to push the S&P back below 3,000 as the Dow flirts with 25,000, which spark some modest dollar buying.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3gpDrRW Tyler Durden
