Month: September 2024

A new report from wealth-tracking website Informa Connect forecasts that Elon Musk could become the world’s first trillionaire by 2027. This news is likely disheartening for struggling WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann, who famously said in 2019 that he wanted to live forever and become the first trillionaire.  

Informa Connect said that assuming Musk’s wealth growth continues linearly at an annualized rate of 110%, the billionaire, worth $237 billion according to Bloomberg’s wealth index, will reach the $1 trillion club by 2027.

This would mean Musk’s wealth would need to quadruple in the next few years. 

Here’s more from the British data firm:

Who hasn’t heard of Elon Musk? He’s the founder of the rapidly growing automotive company Tesla, the manufacturer of advanced rockets and spacecraft, SpaceX, and the person you can thank (or blame) for Twitter’s rebranding to X. With a net worth of $195 B, growing at an average rate of 109.88% every year, Elon Musk is the clear favorite to become the first trillionaire by 2027.

Much of Musk’s wealth has been derived from Tesla’s dominance in the electric vehicle space. The next leg up in wealth for Trump’s most prominent supporter is the space race and how his company, SpaceX, dominates rocket launches and space internet. Bloomberg reported in June that SpaceX was valued at around $210 billion. We have noted numerous times that SpaceX’s Starlink could be nearing an initial public offering, this would unlock even more wealth for the billionaire. 

Back to Neumann. It’s unclear what he is up to now following WeWork’s implosion.

Latvia said Monday that an Iranian-designed Shahed kamikaze drone has crashed into its territory. Its military said the aerial incursion happened Saturday, and following an investigation the drone was found in the eastern part of the country.

Latvia is a NATO and EU member, and the incident has served to heighten already boiling tensions with Russia further, along NATO’s ‘eastern flank’. Poland too has of late said that a Russian drone violated its airspace and went down in its territory.

“The explosive warhead stuck half a meter deep into the ground and was neutralized on the spot, avoiding detonation,” Latvian armed forces commander General Leonids Kalnins told a press briefing.

This “allowed our military intelligence officers to gather all the debris and remnants from the drone for further investigation, details of which will be shared with all of our NATO partners,” he described.

Separately Latvian air force commander Colonel Viesturs Masulis offered an important caveat, saying “the drone was not aimed at a military target in our country. It sort of drifted into Latvia.”

“The drone was seen by our air defenses while still deep into Belarusian airspace, which gave us time to react,” he said at the same briefing.

It is as yet uncertain whether Latvia’s anti-air defenses engaged the inbound drone at all, or merely tracked it. Latvia’s military had already confirmed a recent build-up of mobile anti-aircraft units in the country’s borderlands, as a response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

While Poland has recorded two cases of Russian drones breaching its territory, Romania similarly registered a new airspace breach on Sunday into its territory.

Warsaw has recently signaled it is ready to begin shooting down Russian drones over Ukrainian airspace which might pose a threat to Poland. But NATO leadership, particularly Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, has rejected this proposal, saying that this should be a common NATO decision given the potential of such an action triggering NATO Article 5.

If a NATO eastern flank country engaged Russian airpower over Ukraine, this presents a likely scenario of a direct shooting war between the West and Moscow forces. At this point saner minds in the West are hoping to avoid such a bigger conflict.

By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com,

Iraq has rejected allegations made by U.S. Congressmen that it was helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions by channeling some of its oil revenues to Iranian entities.

Last week, five Congressmen called on President Joe Biden to ban the Iraqi oil minister from attending events in the United States because of his alleged involvement in Iranian sanction evasion. The group also demanded an investigation into Minister Hayyan Abdul-Ghani and other Iraqi officials on their alleged participation in sanction evasion.

“There are multiple public reports alleging that Abdul-Ghani and other officials in the Iraqi gover

“Given these reports, we respectfully request that your administration prevent Minister Abdul-Ghani from attending events in the United States until these allegations are investigated and the findings are presented to Congress.”

In response, the Iraqi oil ministry said “The letter’s contents have no foundation. The only accurate statement in the letter is that these are allegations and do not rise to the level of verified information,” as quoted by Shafaq News.

“Iraq only engages with a select group of reputable global companies, including American firms, under contracts that follow international transparency and legal guidelines,” the ministry also said.

Reports of Iraqi oil smuggling emerged earlier this year, with Reuters reporting that at least 200,000 bpd of crude from Kurdistan were being transported on trucks to Iran and Turkey. The report cited sources as saying that the oil smuggling was likely happening with the knowledge of the regional and federal governments.

Once in Iran, the oil is loaded onto ships at the Iranian ports in the Gulf at Bandar Imam Khomeini and Bandar Abbas, or transferred by road to Afghanistan and Pakistan, those sources said, putting the monthly revenue from the scheme at some $200 million.

nment are involved in industrial-scale sanctions evasion on behalf of the regime in Iran,” the Congressmen wrote.

Which EU countries are the cheapest, and which ones are the most expensive?

In this graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Jenna Ross, we look at price differences across EU countries using data from Eurostat. Countries that are dark blue have the lowest relative prices to the EU average, while countries that are bright blue have the highest relative prices.

Relative prices were determined by the currency needed to buy the same product volume in different countries, calculated using actual individual consumption of goods and services and the exchange rate in each country.

EU Countries: Most to Least Expensive

Luxembourg has the highest prices among EU countries, at 52% higher than the EU average. In particular, education is pricier than anywhere else in the EU at 276% above average.

The country also has the highest wages in Europe, which helps support higher costs.

Data is as of 2023. Price levels indicate the currency needed to buy the same product volume in different countries.

At the other end of the scale, Romania has the cheapest prices at 46% below the EU average. The country has health costs 70% below average and education costs 62% below average. However, it also has the second-lowest median income after tax of €6,568.

Looking at the full list of EU countries, prices naturally tend to be higher in Western nations with a higher standard of living and higher incomes.

While prices are worth considering when deciding where to live, they can also be useful for travelers. For instance, many of the countries with prices below the EU average have been ranked as some of the most affordable places to explore.

To see more content about Europe, check out this graphic about how the population has changed in each country from 1990 to 2023.

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

The Ukrainian Armed Forces are in the midst of converging crises caused by the failed counteroffensive, the forcible conscription policy, and Zelensky’s Kursk blunder, which are leading to more desertions, defeats, and ultimately more desperation.

CNN carried out a rare act of journalistic service with their detailed report about how “Outgunned and outnumbered, Ukraine’s military is struggling with low morale and desertion”. It candidly describes the numerous problems afflicting the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) at this pivotal moment in the conflict as they continue to occupy part of Kursk but are still losing ground in Donbass. Their story begins by introducing a battalion commander who lost most of the around 800 men under his control.

This figure couldn’t take it anymore and thus transferred to a cushy military administrative job in Kiev. He and the five others who CNN spoke to when researching their report informed them that “desertion and insubordination are becoming a widespread problem, especially among newly recruited soldiers.”

In the words of one commander, “Not all mobilized soldiers are leaving their positions, but the majority are…They either leave their positions, refuse to go into battle, or try to find a way to leave the army.”

The reader is then informed that these troops are forcibly conscripted, thus adding context to why they desert, but they also claimed that morale problems began to infect the armed forces’ ranks during the now-resolved impasse over more American aid to Ukraine. While that likely played a role, CNN conspicuously omits to mention last summer’s failed counteroffensive, which proved that Ukraine is unable to reconquer its lost lands despite all the hype and the aid that it received up until that point.  

Moving along after having clarified the real reason behind the UAF’s plunging morale over the past year, drones have made the battlefield more unbearable than before, and the amount of time between rotations has grown since some troops simply can’t leave their positions without risking their lives. CNN then added that “In just the first four months of 2024, prosecutors launched criminal proceedings against almost 19,000 soldiers who either abandoned their posts or deserted”.

They also acknowledged that “It’s a staggering and – most likely – incomplete number. Several commanders told CNN that many officers would not report desertion and unauthorized absences, hoping instead to convince troops to return voluntarily, without facing punishment. This approach became so common that Ukraine changed the law to decriminalize desertion and absence without leave, if committed for the first time.”

The impending Battle of Pokrovsk, which could be a game-changer for Russia on the Donbass front, risks turning into a total disaster for the UAF since “some commanders estimate there are 10 Russian soldiers to each Ukrainian.” Just as alarming is the claim from one officer that “There have even been cases of troops not disclosing the full battlefield picture to other units out of fear it would make them look bad.” Communication problems are also reportedly rife between Kiev’s varied units there too.

The Kursk front isn’t as bad, but it might not have served its political purpose of boosting morale among the UAF unlike what Zelensky has claimed. CNN quoted some sappers who were unsure of the strategy involved, questioning why they were redeployed from defending Pokrovsk to invade Russia when the Donbass front is experiencing such difficulties as was already reported. The piece then ends with a psychological support expert declaring that he’s no longer going to be emotionally attached to anyone.

Reflecting on CNN’s surprisingly critical report, it’s clear that the UAF is in the midst of converging crises caused by the failed counteroffensive, the forcible conscription policy, and Zelensky’s Kursk blunder, which are leading to more desertions, defeats, and ultimately more desperation. In such circumstances, Ukraine can either stay the course by remaining in Kursk at the expense of losing more ground in Donbass, withdraw from Kursk to help hold Donbass, or asymmetrically escalate.

The first two scenarios are self-explanatory while the last could concern expanding the conflict into other Russian regions, Belarus, and/or Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria region, seriously damaging Russian nuclear power plants out of desperation to provoke a nuclear response, and/or assassinating top Russians. There are only a few months left before the winter impedes combat operations on both sides, after which the status quo will persist until spring, when one or both sides might go on the offensive.

This timeline adds urgency to the impending Battle of Pokrovsk, which Russia wants to win as soon as possible in order to push through the fields beyond, capture more territory, threaten the Kramatorsk-Slavyansk agglomeration from the south, and possibly prepare to make a move on Zaporozhye city from the northeast. If Ukraine can hold out into next year, then it could have more time to build more defenses beyond Pokrovsk, thus reducing the pace of Russia’s advance if it comes out on top there.  

Even if Ukraine holds on for at least several months or perhaps as long as half a year longer there, the problems touched upon in CNN’s piece will likely only exacerbate seeing as how more forcibly conscripted troops will be thrown into what might by then become the next infamous meat grinder. Morale will probably continue plummeting while defections could spike, both of which could combine to cripple the UAF and create an opening for Russia to exploit in Pokrovsk or elsewhere along the front.

The ideal solution for Kiev would be to reach a ceasefire for facilitating its voluntary withdrawal from part of Donbass (ex: Pokrovsk’s surroundings) in parallel with pulling out of Kursk, which are terms that Russia might entertain since they’d advance some of its political and military goals. It’s better for Ukraine from the perspective of its regime’s interests to have an orderly withdrawal than a chaotic one if Russia achieves a breakthrough, but Zelensky and his ilk aren’t known for their rational decisions.

Nevertheless, those like India and Hungary who are want to help politically resolve this conflict could propose something of the sort, perhaps also suggesting the revival of last month’s reported Qatari-mediated partial ceasefire proposal for eschewing attacks against the other’s energy infrastructure. Zelensky is unlikely to agree, especially since he’s under the influence of uber-hawk Yermak, but it would still be best to informally circulate some variant of the aforementioned proposal sooner than later.

Regardless of well-intentioned third parties’ proposals, the conflict appears poised to continue raging into the next year absent a complete military and/or political breakdown in Ukraine, neither of which can be ruled out though considering how bad everything has become per CNN’s latest report. Ukraine and its Anglo-American “deep state” allies could also stage a major provocation aimed at desperately “escalating to de-escalate” on more of their terms, so observers shouldn’t rule that scenario out either.

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that an illegal immigrant agreed to plead guilty to charges of stealing an American citizen’s identity, using it to vote in elections, and obtaining a U.S. passport.

Angelica Maria Francisco, 42, who had been residing in Alabama but is originally from Guatemala, was charged with making false claims of citizenship in connection with voting, aggravated identity theft, false statements to apply for a U.S. passport, and use of a U.S. passport obtained by false statements, said the DOJ in a news release on Sept. 5.

Francisco, described by the DOJ as an “undocumented individual,” assumed the identity of a U.S. citizen in 2011 before using her false identity to get a passport that same year. Subsequently, she used the passport to travel to and from Guatemala and the United States. In 2021, she used the false identity to renew the passport and used it to travel from the United States to Guatemala in 2022.

The indictment said Francisco allegedly registered to vote in Alabama using the same fake name and voted in both the 2016 and 2020 primary and general elections. Details about how she voted or whether she registered with a specific political party were not provided. Voters in Alabama, long a Republican stronghold, overwhelmingly voted for former President Donald Trump in those two elections.

The DOJ said the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, as well as Alabama state officials, investigated Francisco’s case.

In response to the woman’s arrest, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, a Republican, said that “a top priority of this Office is ensuring only eligible American citizens are voting in Alabama elections,” according to a statement from his office.

“We will continue to assist law enforcement in every way possible as they prosecute individuals who vote illegally in Alabama elections to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.

It’s not clear if Francisco has an attorney or how she allegedly stole the U.S. citizen’s identity. A plea agreement filed in connection with the case indicated that the woman agreed to plead guilty to nine counts that she faced, according to court records.

Since the 2020 election, Republicans and the former president have expressed concerns about voter fraud and whether illegal immigrants and noncitizens could cast votes in elections.

About two months ago, the House passed legislation mostly along party lines that would mandate voters to provide proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. The White House had expressed opposition to the bill, which has seen no movement in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

On Aug. 26, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said more than 1 million ineligible voters, including about 6,500 noncitizens, had been removed from state voter rolls in the past three years. About 1,900 of those noncitizens have a voter history, which was sent to the Texas attorney general’s office for “potential legal action,” he said.

A left-leaning policy group, the Brennan Center for Justice, has said that noncitizens are largely not voting in U.S. elections. It said that casting a ballot during an election occurs only in “extremely rare instances,” citing its own study of the 2016 election.

“We found that election officials in those places, who oversaw the tabulation of 23.5 million votes, referred only an estimated 30 incidents of suspected noncitizen voting for further investigation or prosecution,” the center said in April. “In other words, even suspected—not proven—noncitizen votes accounted for just 0.0001 percent of the votes cast.”

A 2014 study published in Science Direct, however, found that during the 2008 election, “noncitizen voting likely changed” the outcome of Electoral College votes and the composition of Congress. The study authors also added that roughly one-fourth of noncitizens in the United States “were likely registered to vote” at the time.

China revealed Monday that it plans to hold another major joint military exercise with Russia. It confirmed its PLA naval and air forces will participate in the “North-Joint 2024” exercises

The location is sure to be provocative to Tokyo and the West’s eyes as it the drills are happening around the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk. “This exercise aims to deepen the strategic cooperation level between the Chinese and Russian militaries and enhance their ability to jointly deal with security threats,” China’s defense ministry said.

No date was specified other than to say that the drills will kick off later this month, and will include the two sides sending naval fleets to “relevant sea areas of the Pacific Ocean” for a joint maritime patrol. Both will also participate in Russia’s “Ocean-2024” strategic exercise.

NATO leaders have recently charged that China has “become a decisive enabler” of Russia military assault on Ukraine. Beijing has in turn warned NATO and Washington against “provoking confrontation.”

Germany’s Deutsche Welle has noted that Russia needs China’s help in asserting itself as a Pacific power, in regional waters which have long remained dominated by US naval patrols:

Russia is seeking China’s help in strengthening its position as a Pacific power, while Moscow has supported China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea and elsewhere.

Increasingly, this has come to include the 180-kilometer (110-mile) wide Taiwan Strait dividing mainland China from the self-governing.

Russia and China, along with some BRICS countries, have been teaming up against what they see as encroaching “Western hegemony” – which has include a pledge of the “no limits” partnership between Presidents Xi and Putin.

China’s state-run Global Times has framed the upcoming exercises as part of necessary ‘deterrence’ aimed at the West or any external force which interferes in the Pacific region:

China routinely organizes the Interaction series of exercises with Russia and joins strategic exercises organized by Russia, while the two countries also routinely hold joint naval and air patrols. It highlights China and Russia’s close military ties, and the two militaries’ efforts to further deepen pragmatic cooperation, a Beijing-based military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times.

The military cooperation between China and Russia is at a strategic level in terms of not only the two countries, but also to the region and the world, the expert said, noting the strong capabilities of their militaries can serve as a deterrence to any force that dares to sabotage peace and stability.

In August President Putin hosted Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Moscow, and described at the time that Russia’s economic and trade links with China are “yielding results”.

Authored by Kyle Anzalone via The Libertarian Institute,

Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently traveled to Haiti to show support for the US-backed government and Kenyan police in their struggle for legitimacy. As the Kenyans have been unable to take Port-au-Prince from the gangs and paramilitary groups, the White House is considering changing the status of the mission in Haiti to a UN Peacekeeping force. 

According to the Washington Post, Blinken’s trip to Haiti is an “unusual attempt to boost the country’s interim leader and deliver a message of support for a US-backed international policing mission that has so far failed to make a significant impact.”

After Haitian President Jovenal Mosie was assassinated in 2021, the Joe Biden administration backed Ariel Henry’s claim to power in Port-au-Prince. Under Henry, Haiti descended into chaos, with paramilitaries and gangs taking control of most of the capital city. 

In response, the White House and Henry worked out a plan with Nairobi to have armed Kenyans deployed to Haiti to take control from the armed groups and transfer it to the US-backed government. 

However, the plan backfired, and gangs shut down the airport in Port au Prince while Henry was in Nairobi inking the deal to have the Kenyan soldiers – dubbed police – deployed to Haiti, and he was unable to return to the country. 

The White House then pulled support from Henry and forced his resignation. Then, Washington formed a new government headed by Prime Minister Garry Conille.

Under Conille, the Kenyan police finally arrived in Haiti with US financing and military equipment. So far, Nariobi’s security force has failed to have a major impact on the ground and Conille’s government has not gained legitimacy among Haitians. 

With its Haiti policy failing, the White House is seeking to escalate the Kenyan mission to Haiti by declaring the police official UN Peacekeepers. Brian A. Nichols, U.S. assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs, affirmed the Biden administration was considering pursuing that path. 

“A (peacekeeping operation) is one of the ways we could accomplish that,” he said. “But we are looking at multiple ways.”

VIDEO: Haitians are fleeing their country’s violence-plagued capital Port-au-Prince across dangerous mountain paths, as they seek to avoid the armed gangs that are ruling the area. #AFPVertical pic.twitter.com/2mFj5jhvwI

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) September 5, 2024

Washington will likely struggle to gain support for the UN Peacekeeping mission from both the Security Council and Haitians. Peacekeepers have a dark legacy in Haiti, including causing a cholera outbreak that killed over ten thousand people and committing rampant acts of sexual violence against women. 

As the energy transition continues, tapping into the reserves of critical minerals and securing their supply chains is crucial. 

For this graphic, Visual Capitalist partnered with Appian Capital Advisory to provide visual context to the top countries for reserves, production, and processing of minerals that are vital to the energy transition.

The analysis uses data from the USGS and the IEA across four minerals: lithium, cobalt, natural graphite, and rare earths. 

Which Countries Hold the Most Critical Minerals Reserves?

South America dominates the reserves for lithium, with nearly half of all known reserves located in Chile (34%) and Argentina (13%). Australia, with 22% of global lithium reserves, is in third place.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is home to the highest share of cobalt reserves, at 57%. Australia, at 16%, also possesses a sizable source of the metal.

Natural graphite reserves are relatively spread out geographically. China (28%) and Brazil (26%) hold comparable amounts. Mozambique (9%) rounds out the top three list.

Rare earth minerals are primarily located in Asia, with China (38%) and Vietnam (19%) holding the greatest reserves. Brazil has 18% of known global reserves. 

The Production and Processing of Critical Minerals

Overwhelmingly, China is the main hub for processing critical minerals across the board. The country is responsible for processing 65% of global lithium mined, 74% of cobalt, 100% of natural graphite, and 90% of rare earths.

Similarly, mine production is also fairly concentrated. This represents a potential risk to supply chain stability. For each mineral, over half of production occurs in a single country.

For lithium, the top-producing country is Australia (51%) and for cobalt it is the Democratic Republic of Congo (73%). Meanwhile, China produces the highest share of both natural graphite (72%) and rare earths (70%). 

Future-Proofing the Supply of Critical Minerals

Expanding the global supply chain for minerals that are vital to the clean energy transition will require investing in new mining projects, particularly in countries with high reserves but low production and processing rates.

Via The College Fix,

A sociology professor at the University of New Mexico believes “how you believe others see you” should be included in the United States Census.

Nancy López, whose research interests include race, ethnicity, gender, inequality, and Latino/a Studies, refers to this as a person’s “street race,” according to the UNM Newsroom.

Aspects such as hair, facial features, and skin color can lead people to believe a person is an ethnicity/race the person actually is not, López said.

Latinos, in particular, can be the victims of anti-Asian hate or anti-blackness based on how they look to others.

López (pictured) said adding “street race” to the Census can “make visible discrimination and equity that happens based on race as a visual status.”

“Street race” is not a novel concept, López said, noting it’s “been built on decades of research” and may go by terms such as “folk race or socially assigned, described race.”

Although the federal Office of Management and Budget has made ethnicity and race a “co-equal” category in federal agencies, López said this doesn’t mean they can’t also ask about “street race.”

The same goes for institutions such as schools and hospitals.

From the article:

[But] López says when you’re asking about race and ethnicity together, you don’t know what you’re measuring. She says in the end, we will no longer be collecting data on race, only ethnicity, referring to that as ‘troubling.’

“I call it statistical gaslighting because here you are claiming that you’re not making Hispanic a race, but you’re asking about it with race, López said. “If someone dares to mark more than one box then you’re put into this amorphous box, ‘two or more’, which has no analytical value if you’re trying to understand reeducations in poverty or housing segregation by race.” …

“If you care about knowing things like housing discrimination, employment discrimination, or healthcare access, you need to add another question,” she said. “Inequities will remain invisible if you only ask how you identify and neglect to add that second question, how you believe others see you.”

López is the co-founder of UNM’s Institute for the Study of “Race” & Social Justice, “race” being in quotes on purpose “to underscore its nature as a socially constructed category of social status in particular historical contexts, rather than as a reified category that is essential or fixed.”

She’s also author of the books “Quantcrit: An Antiracist Quantitative Approach to Educational Inquiry” and “Mapping “Race”: Critical Approaches to Health Disparities Research.”