Month: April 2021

It’s official: the Financial Times (citing an informal polling of anonymous bankers) has declared Deliveroo’s botched London offering the “worst IPO in London’s history.”

As we reported yesterday, shares of the food-delivery competitor, which is struggling to grow market share at all costs in a battle for survival with Uber Eats and “Just Eat Takeaway”, tanked in their public-markets debut, sliding 31% after pricing at the bottom of their range. Bankers immediately started complaining to reporters about being misled by Deliveroo’s bankers, who had initially bragged that the company would price at the high end of the range. The debut, marketed as a major coup for the LSE and London markets, which are struggling for European supremacy with Euronext Amsterdam, more generally, has turned into a major embarrassment for the industry.

As carnage in Deliveroo shares continued Thursday, Bloomberg reported that Amsterdam remains the top European stock trading hub in Europe in March, stretching its dominance into a third straight month (as Brexit cut trading volume in London in half starting in January) . On average, 10.68 billion euros ($12.5 billion) of shares a day were traded on various Dutch venues in March, compared with 10.62 billion euros ($12.47 billion) in London, according to data from Cboe Europe.

Source: FT

Now, bankers in the City are afraid the Deliveroo disaster will ward off any other companies that might have wanted to list in London, effectively sealing the industry’s fate. And unsurprisingly, they’re blaming pernicious short sellers, who “sabotaged” the listing (keep in mind, though the quotes are sourced to anonymous, it’s likely this is coming from the people behind the deal).

The dramatic failure of London’s biggest tech IPO is likely to damp hopes of the British government to attract other high-growth companies to list in the UK, ahead of growing competition from exchanges such as Amsterdam.

“I really hope that this doesn’t shut down the IPO market” in London, said one person close to the listing, pointing to the long hangover from Funding Circle’s dismal debut in 2018. “It’s a big risk.”

Several of Deliveroo’s advisers, bankers and investors were quick to blame short sellers for the opening plunge. “At least three hedge funds have very actively gone short this morning, enabled by banks outside of the syndicate [of the IPO],” said one person directly working on the deal. “The opening move was very sharp.”

To be sure, the FT also quoted critics of Deliveroo’s bankers, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, for botching the roadshow and other pre-IPO necessities.

But others in the market raised questions about the company’s roadshow and said Deliveroo had priced its offering badly, especially after encountering a rebellion from several large British fund managers against its dual-class share structure.

Deliveroo’s advisers, who collected £49m in fees from the company and several million more from Deliveroo’s selling shareholders, unnerved some buyers by refusing to identify the three “anchor investors” who they said were supporting the IPO.

These anchors were said to be based outside the UK, with one of them already a shareholder in Deliveroo through private investment ahead of the IPO, according to a person familiar with the situation.

“We were told throughout that the institutional book was four or five times covered but the maths of that seem doubtful now,” said another person close to the process.

The roadshow ran into further trouble over the dual-class shares that gave Will Shu, chief executive, outsized voting rights, but which meant Deliveroo would not debut into the FTSE 100 index, depriving it of investment from passive tracker funds, and which triggered outrage from a several large British fund.

But rather than admitting any responsibility,  Deliveroo’s bankers accused “non-syndicate” banks of deliberately sabotaging the IPO by facilitating massive short positions for a handful of hedge funds. According to the bankers’ version of events, the evil hedge funds “rebelled” against Deliveroo’s dual-class shareholder structure (which, as we pointed out yesterday, is extremely common in the US – one reason why tech firms from around the world typically choose to list in New York over London). Whether this is believable, or not, we will leave to our readers.

Of course, there are plenty of other reasons besides “ESG concerns” to be skeptical of Deliveroo’s long-term future, as Bill Blain reminds us in Thursday’s Morning Porridge.

* * *

The Deliveroo IPO (“Initial Primary Offering”) at a valuation around…well anywhere from £5-£10 bln depending on whom you ask. Apparently attracting a new listing of such high calibre highlights the attractions of UK Finance Inc relative to Europe. It’s being hailed as a major Tech listing for the UK. Really? If the definition of Tech is ordering a bike delivered pizza online, then it seems a pretty low threshold.

The 8-year-old Deliveroo is riding high (pardon the pun) as a result of the pandemic – not everyone took lockdown as an opportunity to learn new cooking skills. It’s been taking over 6 million orders per month, distributing over £4.1 bln from food outlets in 2020, primarily in the UK, with Deliveroo taking up to 25% of that value in fees from the food providers.

It claims rising repeat orders and steadily growing “user engagement” providing “a recurring revenue stream that grows over time” as the company says. Yet, 8-year-old Deliveroo has consistently failed to post a yearly profit. (Note the deliberate emphasis on 8-year old.) That’s apparently ok – its prioritising growth over returns. Although revenues in the Pandemic year rose 55%, it still lost £224 mm in the last quarter! It remains to be seen just how resilient user engagement will be once the economy reopens – especially after D-Day (“Drunk Day”) April 12th when Pub Gardens reopen.

The whole proposition of Deliveroo and competitors like Just East is based around expectations the online food delivery market will continue to grow to infinity. Fantastic. What’s not to like or even question about Gen XYZ and their inability to feed themselves… And apparently it’s not about delivering them a pizza, but being able to collate data to target more junk food at them and lining them up for robotic drone deliveries tomorrow. (Always tomorrow.) Let’s be brutally honest – the takeaway food sector has been around for years, and isn’t really that disruptive. There was a time, a long, long time ago when we walked or drove to the Chinese or Fish & Chip shop. Now Deliveroo picks up food from its own dark “editions” kitchens flipping out Micky Dees’ burgers or another brand’s Peri-Peri Chickens.

Apparently Dark Kitchens – cheap and easy to run are a massive differentiator when it comes to the long-term returns from Deliveroo. The company has done “tech”: “Frank” is its’ algo based on predictive tech to “efficiently” distribute orders based on the position of restaurants, riders and customers.

Smart tech means they’ve been able to cut preparation time by 20% enabling everyone to get more delivery work, make more food, and get food faster. Wow.. (that’s a very unimpressed wow btw.)

Moreover, Deliveroo is also a classic case-study of 2020s finance. Call something disruptive, and no matter how base and blasé its business model is, it will soon be worth billions. Well… perhaps it’s time to step back and smell the coffee – from which ever high street shop you with it delivered from. Just apply some simple tests – The Blain DuB-De-PreP test. (Say it fast – sounds better.)

Deliveroo may be disruptive, but is it a Dull, Boring, Defensible, Predictable and Profitable stock? No. Its not. Are there any barriers to entry into Deliveroo’s market? Nope. Anyone can deliver take-away food.

Mini-cab drivers have been doing it for years. Now there are a plethora of other firms including larger, better funded firms like Uber Eats, Door Dash, and big ad spending Just Eats. All of these firms compete for clients with deals and advertising spend.

All of them compete for delivery staff. All of them compete to get restaurants into their dark kitchens. In a market with room for maybe 2 competitors, Deliveroo is at number 3. Are the risks limited?

No, there are major extrinsic risk factors including health and safety, regulation, and market risk. In addition, delivery drivers are increasingly demanding better pay and conditions – which are being agreed by the courts. A business model founded on ripping off cheap Gig economy workers will fail when the courts mandate pension plans. To be fair, its delivery riders have been allocated stock.

Is Deliveroo in possession of a strong balance sheet? Can any firm which consistently fails to post profits be called strong? (Rhetorical question.) And just how dependent on capital markets conditions is the firm? If interest rates rise and the current tech bubble bursts then how is the firm going to attract the ongoing capital markets infusions it requires to cover up its long-term losses? Let’s say it triples its market share, and keeps its cost base low and turns profitable next year? What stock multiple should it command? Something massive because it’s such a secure business, or some low to reflect the obvious weakness? Nor can I get myself particularly enthused about Deliveroo’s management.

If I was talking about a founder who fundamentally loved and understood the rich culinary history of the UK (in other words, someone focused entirely on delivering the best fish’n’chips or Curry), I might get it. But, Will Shu was an investment banker posted to London peeved at the lack of quality delivery options to Morgan Stanley’s Canary Wharf offices.

Looking at the rest of the board I’m not getting that strong governance and passion vibe – I’m seeing a firm providing junk food hits to folk who should be eating healthy, meaning food delivery firms as probably a fail on the S of ESG – Unless they can show me 80% plus of their revenues are organic salads grown by transgender cooperatives..? All of which means… I’m not terribly excited about Deliveroo. But, having worked in Canary Wharf late into the evenings many times in the past, I can understand exactly why it might have seemed a good idea at the time..”

* * *

In summary: if delivering pizzas on bikes is what passes for a ‘high-tech offering coup’ in London, then maybe they should try and recruit WeWork and BowX to re-list WeWork in London.

Whether London can regain some of this lost ground will likely depend on whether the UK and EU can work out an agreement on financial regulation, which they’re reportedly close to doing. Still, as those reports warned, things could fall apart.

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

At this hour, more Russian military forces are massed near Ukraine’s borders than we have ever seen before. 

Wow. Military build up ongoing in full force on #Russia – #Ukraine border.

Video of Ukrainian tanks reportedly rolling today into the Luhansk & Donetsk region: pic.twitter.com/Nkh4yZMb3M

— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) April 1, 2021

Western military leaders say that they are concerned that the troop movements that we have witnessed in recent days may be leading up to an invasion, and if an invasion does happen it will greatly test the resolve of the Biden administration, EU leaders and NATO brass.  In particular, the hawks in the Biden administration would almost certainly not be willing to just sit back and let the Russians conquer all of Ukraine.  There would likely be a major response by the United States, and that could set off a chain reaction that could ultimately spark World War 3.

Fresh train video from the Rostov region. Brownie points to anyone who can translate. pic.twitter.com/wECUqrwFiN

— The Intel Crab (@IntelCrab) April 1, 2021

So what made the Russians suddenly move a massive invasion force toward Ukraine?

Well, it turns out that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky essentially signed a declaration of war against Russia on March 24th.  The document that he signed is known as Decree No. 117/2021, and you won’t read anything about it in the corporate media.

I really had to dig to find Decree No. 117/2021, but eventually I found it.  I took several of the paragraphs at the beginning of the document and I ran them through Google translate…

In accordance with Article 107 of the Constitution of Ukraine, I decree:

1. To put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine of March 11, 2021 “On the Strategy of deoccupation and reintegration of the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol” (attached).

2. To approve the Strategy of deoccupation and reintegration of the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (attached).

3. Control over the implementation of the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, enacted by this Decree, shall be vested in the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

4. This Decree shall enter into force on the day of its publication.

President of Ukraine V.ZELENSKY

March 24, 2021

Basically, this decree makes it the official policy of the government of Ukraine to retake Crimea from Russia.

Of course the Russians will never hand over Crimea willingly because they consider it to be Russian territory, and so Ukraine would have to take it by force.

This is essentially a declaration of war against Russia, and Zelensky would have never signed such a document without the approval of the Biden administration.

Following the signing of Decree No. 117/2021, we started to see Russian forces pour into Crimea and into separatist-held areas of eastern Ukraine at a staggering rate.

For example, you can watch a column of Russian tanks being transported by rail right here.

Крым, 30 марта pic.twitter.com/yaMoN7leio

— IgorGirkin (@GirkinGirkin) March 30, 2021

And you can see a massive column of Russian forces on the Crimea bridge right here.

Russian military equipment on the Crimean Bridge. 2S19 Msta-S self-propelled howitzers, various trucks, BMP-3 IFVs.

29.03.21 pic.twitter.com/c4W2aNqp5M

— Status-6 (@Archer83Able) March 31, 2021

In addition, it is being reported that the 56th Guards Air Assault Brigade is on the move, and that is not a good sign at all.

For those who don’t know, this isn’t the brigade you want to see on the move.

The 56th Guards Air Assault Brigade is an airborne brigade of the Russian Airborne Troops. The brigade was first formed in 1979 and fought in the Soviet–Afghan War, the 1st & 2nd Chechen War. https://t.co/lAthOpiIvw

— ASB News / MILITARY〽️ (@ASBMilitary) March 31, 2021

The Russians are taking Zelensky’s declaration of war very seriously, but the corporate media in the western world is blaming “Russian aggression” for the increase in tensions in the region.

But the truth is that the Russians never would have made any of these moves if warmongers in the Biden administration had not given Zelensky the green light to sign Decree No. 117/2021.

And what most people in the western world don’t know is that fighting has already begun in Ukraine.  The ceasefire that was agreed to in July 2020 has been violated hundreds of times over the past week…

The OSCE’s civilian Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine has reported hundreds of cease-fire violations in recent days. On March 26, four Ukrainian soldiers were killed and two others injured in the eastern part of the country.

The Ukrainian military said its soldiers were hit by a mortar attack it blamed on Russian troops. Russia denies having a military presence in eastern Ukraine, where it backs separatist forces.

At this point, the ceasefire of July 2020 is completely dead.

Helicopter flights over #Crimea this afternoon. https://t.co/ztJitMyUZa

— The Intel Crab (@IntelCrab) April 1, 2021

In response to the renewed fighting, U.S. European Command “has raised its alert status to the highest level”…

U.S. European Command has raised its alert status to the highest level after fighting resumed between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian soldiers in the Donetsk Region of eastern Ukraine, marking the end of a June 2020 ceasefire, and Russian forces began building up military equipment along the border.

And we just learned that the chairman of the joint chiefs actually had a telephone call with his counterpart in Russia on Wednesday to address the escalating situation…

In a statement on Facebook on Wednesday, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that at the initiative of the U.S., chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Mark Milley, had a telephone conversation with his counterpart. “Issues of mutual interest were discussed,” the statement said.

In the days ahead, the corporate media in the western world is going to continue talking about “Russian aggression”, and the Russians are going to continue to blame Zelensky and the Biden administration for the rise of tensions in the region.

Ultimately, we could spend countless hours debating who is in the right and who is in the wrong.

But what really matters is keeping this from escalating into a global conflict.  Because if someone does something really stupid and the Russians feel a need to send their invasion force into Ukraine, there will be no going back ever.

I have been warning about a future conflict between the United States and Russia for a very long time, and we have never been closer than we are right now.

With Trump in the White House, relations with Russia were relatively stable, but now Joe Biden is in charge.

Biden is a hothead that is showing signs of advanced cognitive decline, and he is surrounded by a team of warmongers that are determined to put Russian President Vladimir Putin in his place.

The inmates are running the asylum, and it won’t take much of a mistake at all for things to go horribly, horribly wrong.

*  *  *

Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.

For more than a year now, Spain’s tourism industry, which accounts for more than 10% of average annual GDP in Europe’s 4th-largest economy, has been hanging by a thread.

And while the world is nearing the 600MM vaccine jabs-in-arms mark, Southern Europe is still nowhere near the level of herd immunity needed (according to the bloc’s public health nabobs) for crowds of German, British, American and Chinese tourists to fill hotels and inns, crowd on to beaches and into bars, and take planes and cruises to popular holiday destinations.

Data released by Eurostat in February showed non-resident holiday nights, a key indicator of demand in the local tourism & hospitality industry, fell by at least 70% in Italy, Spain and Greece. And with France, Germany and others reimposing, or at least pushing to reimpose, national lockdowns and curfews (including restrictions on travel and movement), business owners are bracing for another quiet season. Unfortunately for many, they will either need to be bailed out, or succumb to bankruptcy.

Spain’s coronavirus alert system has officially triggered fears of a “fourth wave” of COVID infections (distinctions between various “waves” can be blurry, and the Continent is generally said to be seeing a third wave of infections). The latest government data show the first three indicators now exceed the established thresholds. The 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100K inhabitants stands at 152, the seven-day incidence rate is at 79.8 and COVID patients are occupying 18.4% of the country’s ICU beds. Spain’s 7-day moving average of new cases rose to 6,144 on Wednesday, the highest level since February.

The 7-day average for deaths, meanwhile, was 199 on Wednesday.

Source: Worldometer

As Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias urges all Spaniards to act responsibly to try and quell the pandemic, the Spanish government earlier this week passed a new law making mask-wearing mandatory in all public spaces, regardless of the distance between the people. Many were less than thrilled by the restrictive new mask rules. As Spanish newspaper El Pais reports, some regional officials reacted defiantly to the news. For example, the government of the Balearic Islands said the new rules wouldn’t be enforced on its beaches and swimming pools.

And according to a Guardian report, representatives of the tourism industry are reporting a growing backlash to the rules. They have already given up Easter as a lost cause. But many fear another slow summer season will destroy their livelihoods.

The Spanish tourist industry has reacted with dismay to the government’s decree that face masks must be worn in all outdoor spaces, including beaches and swimming pools, even when it is possible to maintain social distancing.

“We’re going through hell with thousands of jobs and businesses threatened and now they want to turn the beaches into open-air field hospitals,” José Luis Zoreda, vice-president of Exceltur, the umbrella organisation that represents Spain’s tourism industry, told El País newspaper.

Industry representatives complain that they were not consulted over the decision, which was announced in an official state bulletin on Tuesday.

“We’ve already given up on Easter as a lost cause,” said Zoreda. “Now we have to put our hopes on summer.”

Scientists have long warned that there’s little benefit to wearing masks in the open air. But despite this, masks have been mandatory both indoors and outdoors (in public places) in Catalonia and Valencia since early this year.

Earlier this month Fernando Simón, head of Spain’s coordination centre for health emergencies and alerts, said: “I don’t believe that masks are the key to reducing transmission. It’s not necessary for everyone to wear one. What’s important is that people who are infected wear one, although we don’t know who is infected and who isn’t.”

But it’s not just the new rules that have the tourism industry spooked. In some cases, enforcement will be almost draconian. The Daily Mail reports that sunbathers in Mallorca, one of the country’s most popular tourism hotspots, will be spied upon by police drones aiming to enforce all COVID restrictions, including the mask bill. Police and government inspectors in Calvia, Mallorca’s party hotspot before the pandemic, are also carrying out a ‘thorough inspection’ of hotels to make sure people are following the rules.

To be sure, Europe isn’t the only the region struggling with a resurgence. COVID cases globally have been expanding at their fastest rate since last fall. India reported 72,330 new cases Thursday over the last 24 hours, the biggest single-day increase since October, as the Indian government moves to ramp up vaccinations by limiting exports. And the US earlier this week reported its biggest daily jump in cases in months as the growing dominance of the B.1.1.7 variant, first spotted in the UK, stoke fears that the current surge will worsen.

Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

Yet another poll has shown that a clear majority of Brits support mandatory ‘vaccine passports’ in order to be able to go to the pub, use public transport or even have a haircut.

A poll undertaken by Ipsos Mori asked respondents, “To what extent would you support or oppose the introduction of a vaccine passport?”

62% said they would support it to visit pubs or restaurants, while only 22% opposed the idea.

An even higher figure, 78% said they would mandate the vaccine passport for international travel, while 61% said it should be required to attend sports games and 58% said it should be mandated for public transport.

Another clear majority, 56% to 24%, even say that you should need to present proof of vaccination before being allowed to get a haircut.

As well as 58% of Brits supporting the introduction of vaccine passports to get on the bus or train, Brits also back vaccine passports for a whole range of social scenarios too, from going to the barbers, going to the theatre and travelling abroad pic.twitter.com/VVwYzTr31w

— Kelly Beaver (@KellyIpsosMORI) March 31, 2021

The survey results showed a substantial majority support for the scheme despite the fact that it has been opposed by innumerable pub landlords.

The results of the poll once again underscores how the population has been so terrorized by the media’s coverage of a virus that has a 99%+ survival rate, they are willing to give up virtually any freedom.

Over the past year, the citizenry has been so browbeaten into obsequious obedience that it’s likely they would support virtually anything if the state and the media told them it was necessary because of the pandemic.

As we previously highlighted, the government has already been funding companies to create a domestic passport that is linked to a facial recognition system, meaning it will eventually become a digital ID card.

The level of Stockholm Syndrome created by the restrictions means that a majority of Brits now say they will miss “some” or “many” aspects of the lockdown if and when it is fully lifted.

This all highlights how despite months of promises from the government that a domestic vaccine passport wouldn’t be introduced or that the vaccine itself wouldn’t be mandatory, it’s now becoming clear that those who don’t take it will remain under a permanent state of de facto lockdown.

Their lives will never return to normal.

*  *  *

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*  *  *

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British government ministers practically jumped over one another to defend the AstraZeneca jab from allegations that it might be linked to rare cases of sometimes-deadly cerebral blood clots, particularly in patients who have low blood platelet counts. The British-Swedish multinational has insisted there is no evidence of any link between the jab and clots (despite some researchers in Germany finding possible evidence of a link), yet several governments have restricted or halted the jab, and Germany has decided to limit its use to patients younger than 60.

Europe’s main drug regulator, the EMA, reiterated on Wednesday that “there is no evidence that would support restricting the use of this vaccine in any population” (and yet, they admitted in their safety review that it was possible some patients might experience side effects like these). Germany’s medical regulator has counted 31 blood clots. Nine of those died. In Norway, three medical workers all were afflicted, and one of them died. In total, Norway reported 6 cases, four of whom died. Cases have been reported in Italy, Austria and elsewhere.

And now, the FT reports that 25 new incidences of blood clots have been reported, bringing the total to 30.

On Thursday evening, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency released information confirming 25 new cases of severe and very rare blood clotting in British patients, on top of five milder cases it had reported earlier this month.They also clarified that they hadn’t seen any such reactions in patients who received the jab developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

As the FT pointed out in its coverage of the admission, the new cases will “call into question the view that this is purely a phenomenon being seen in mainland Europe.”

As with the earlier cases on the Continent, the main condition causing alarm is called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, when blood forms clots in the veins that run from the brain, a potentially fatal complication. What’s more, as the UK announced new accomplishments in its race to vaccinate its entire population, 17 more reports of CVST have been made this week compared to the previous week.

MHRA chief Dr. June Raine reiterated that ‘the benefits of the vaccine outweigh any risks’ and that the public should continue to line up and receive their jabs without fear.

After all, pretty soon, you won’t be able to go anywhere without proof that you got it.

Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

We have all heard this time honored cautionary mantra: “All governments lie”.

It’s not a theory, it is a fact that history has proven time after time.

I would only expand on the rule and say this: All governments, all corporations, all corporate media, all think tanks, and all corporate funded activist groups lie. There is a reason why public trust is at all time lows for the majority of these organizations, and it’s not because they are managed by good and honest people.

If you operate on the assumption that these groups are lying to you most of the time then you will find yourself on the right side of history.

That said, there are questions we need to ask ourselves if we ever hope to change the world for the better and remove these liars from power: Why do they lie? Why has this become a rule to live by? And, how are they able to lie and get away with it so often?

Well, it’s not because power corrupts. That cliché might be true to a point, but I think it’s a way for people to dismiss the bigger problem because they are afraid to address the ugly truth. The reality is, power does not necessarily corrupt; it’s that the corrupt seek out power.

Governments and other mainstream institutions always lie because psychopathic liars always infiltrate and overrun them. We have very few checks in place to prevent this, and very little is understood about psychopaths in the general public. To understand destructive institutions is to understand the character traits and methods of the psychopaths that run them.

Psychopaths are not very complicated people nor are they all that intelligent, but they often succeed because they are relentless in their pursuits. The common signs of psychopathy include a complete lack of empathy, the obsessive desire for dominance, the use of physical or psychological violence to gain control over others, a narcissistic need to feel superior to everyone else and a habit of playing the victim while victimizing others.

A common assumption about psychopaths is that they are incapable of working in a group or organizing for mutual gain. This is simply nonsense. In reality, numerous studies have shown that psychopaths are adept at finding their own kind in a crowd and even working together as a pack of predators. Some modern examples would be organized crime, cartels, sex traffickers, online scamming groups and religious cults.

Almost all psychopaths are inherent cowards; they will rarely pick on anyone their own size unless they have large numbers. The worst case scenario is fully realized organized psychopathy; the advent of a totalitarian culture in which psychopathic behavior is rewarded and defended by those in authority or influence, while honesty, morality and liberty are punished.

Over the course of generations, psychopaths have used different groups and ideologies to gain control over the public, but today organized psychopaths have chosen the cult of socialism, social justice, fake environmentalism and leftist ideology as their vehicles. Essentially, we are dealing with a modernized version of communism. And if we examine the habits of current leftist and globalist “movements” we will see a lot of similarities to historic communism, not to mention numerous psychopathic behaviors.

The use of “Gaslighting” as a weapon is a classic mainstay of psychopaths and by extension communist regimes, and it is visible EVERYWHERE in politics and the media right now. It’s perhaps ironic that I am publishing this article on April Fools Day, because gaslighting is very much a kind of trick, a con game. And, in order to control people, it helps to humiliate them and make them doubt their own conceptions of reality.

The basic definition of gaslighting is the manipulation of a person by psychological means into questioning their own sanity. In other words, making a sane person believe they might be insane. This, however, is not an adequate explanation of gaslighting. It’s not only about questions of sanity, it is also about questions of principle and morality.

The communist Soviet Union was notorious for gaslighting the public with propaganda that suggested anyone who defied the will of the state and who demanded freedom was “mentally ill”. The Cheka secret police and the KGB had special hospitals set aside for political dissidents called “Psikhushkas”. People of any prominence who were critical of the status quo were immediately disappeared and sent to these facilities after being accused of mental instability.

In Maoist China, especially during the Cultural Revolution, Mao targeted impressionable and gullible Chinese youth, brainwashing them into believing there was “institutional imperialism” hiding within every facet of Chinese society. The stability of communism in China was under question at the time, and Mao knew a rebellion was possible. So, instead of immediately cracking down with the military, he encouraged Chinese academics and youths to “rebel” and “bring down the secret imperialists”. He redirected social discontent and aimed it at a non-existent ghost so that a rebellion would never rise up against him and the politburo.

Young and dumb Chinese activists thought they were rebelling when they were actually serving the interests of government elites.

Gaslighting in China was pervasive. Any person that held the most remote belief in freedom, free markets, business, private property or anyone that had any objections to the crimes of the communists was forced to undergo a trial, a kangaroo court called a “struggle session”.

During a struggle session, a dissident was sometimes apprehended, or sometimes shamed and compelled to stand before a large crowd of true believers in the communist faith. The crowd would browbeat them with accusations of criminality and immorality, trying to convince them of the evil of their ways. If the dissident bowed and submitted to the collective, begging forgiveness, then they might be allowed to live, but they had to BELIEVE that they had sinned. They had to fully adopt the communist ideology and plead for absolution.

Many victims that underwent such struggle sessions continued to believe they were criminals for the rest of their lives. They believed they were terrible people, even though they had no idea why they were punished in the first place.

Gaslighting is a powerful device for subjugation because it makes good people who love freedom think they are evil people that need to be restrained. It is also a way for a corrupt system to maintain control of the general population because it normalizes psychopathic behavior and suppresses moral conscience by convincing people that morality is “relative” or a “matter of perspective”, and that some abusive and destructive behavior is “necessary” in order to achieve a better world. If you can discombobulate a population into questioning their own morality, or if you can convince then to question their own sanity, then you can prevent them from ever rebelling against you.

These are the tried and true methods of psychopaths. If you ever wonder why abused spouses or family members stay with and even defend their abusers, it is because psychopaths use gaslighting to disarm their victims. If you are crazy or subconsciously treacherous, then maybe you aren’t being abused at all. Maybe, you are being saved from yourself, and maybe society is being protected from you?

And, if you lash out and defend yourself against the abuser, now you are truly a horrible human being. You just attacked your “protector”. You are now a danger to society. You are now a terrorist. The only way to avoid being labeled a terrorist or a madman is to quietly accept the abuse.

I see this control tactic all over the world, and it is becoming rather prevalent here in the US. The capitol building protest is a perfect example. Millions of law abiding Americans have been abused and oppressed by the establishment through lockdowns and censorship, while groups of leftists like BLM and Antifa are allowed to run rampant across the country looting and burning as they go. Conservative Americans reacted with a protest after the election, seeing that such abuses were likely to be aided in the near future by the federal government under Joe Biden. They raided the capitol building, without armaments, to make a point. Then, they peacefully left.

Afterwards, the media bombarded us for months with the narrative that the capitol protest was actually an “insurrection” and an act of domestic terrorism. So, BLM gets to loot and burn their way through dozens of American cities and it’s called peaceful protesting. Conservatives protest at a single building and bust through the doors, and it’s considered an act of war. This is gaslighting.

Under pandemic mandates a vast portion of the US has been shut down and hundreds of thousands of small businesses have been lost. The fear mongering in the media over the coronavirus has been egregious and ridiculous. Hundreds of thousands of people die every year in America from communicable diseases. Now, suddenly, we are supposed to abandon all of our constitutional rights because of covid?

Anyone who has disagreed with these measures has been called a “conspiracy theorist” and a danger to others. The science is on our side, and always has been. Every element of the pandemic has been exaggerated and overblown. Every statistic supports our skepticism of the government’s response, as I outlined in my recent article ‘The Real Reasons Why Millions Of Americans Will Defy Covid Mandates And Vaccines’.

But, when we cite these facts, we are told by the establishment that we are “lunatics” and “idiots”.

Of course, now we know that the death rate of Covid-19 according to scientific studies is a paltry 0.26% outside of nursing homes. We also know that lockdowns were completely useless in controlling the spread of the virus, as states with the harshest mandates ended up with the highest infections rates. And, finally, we know that masks are also useless in controlling the spread of the disease according to scientific studies and common sense observation.

Rather than admitting that lockdowns are pointless, that the masks do nothing and that it is silly to take an experimental mRNA vaccine for a virus that is a non-threat to 99.7% of the population, establishment hacks continue to double down on their propaganda when it comes to covid. The media continues to attack anyone that points out the REAL science as “conspiracy theorists”. This is gaslighting.

And finally, we can’t really have a discussion about gaslighting without mentioning the social justice agenda.

The phrase “white supremacy” is being repeated by corporate journalists and politicians until they are blue in the face. And more specifically, conservatives are being called out as the “biggest terrorist threat” to the US in decades because of our supposed white supremacist tendencies. The latest “spike” in Asian hate crimes is the new excuse for this propaganda campaign.

Set aside the fact that millions of conservatives are black and brown, not white. Set aside the fact that the majority of the hate crimes targeting Asians the past couple years were actually perpetrated by black assailants (as I noted in last week’s article), and one of them is even a known BLM activist. Also set aside the fact that around 50% of all violent crime in the US is caused by black perpetrators according to the FBI. Somehow, all of this anarchy is the fault of white people in general and conservatives in particular.

The race baiting used by leftists the past several years is a prime example of gaslighting – Telling people they are responsible for evils they had nothing to do with and that are completely unrelated to them, then demanding they declare submission and loyalty to an ideology that seeks to enslave them as a means to wash away sins they were never guilty of.

If totalitarian control of the population is to be established in the US and the west, we have to be tricked into thinking our values of freedom, truth and meritocracy are somehow inherently evil. We have to be tricked into thinking we are insane for wanting liberty. To be clear, there only three ways that the brainwashing and gaslighting of free people will stop:

1) We submit and embrace the false narrative as if it is true and give in to psychological slavery.

2) We separate completely from leftist totalitarians and organized psychopaths and go our own way.

3) We remove the psychopaths from the picture and rebuild without their influence.

Until one of these three things happens, like all psychopaths, leftists and globalists will continue trying to wear us down. This is what they do. They have seen it work in the past and they are single minded in their objectives.

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