Month: November 2024

In a historic convergence, three US aircraft carriers will be in Asia by next week after months of absence amid concerns of Chinese activity in the lead up to the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, the Nikkei reported.

USS George Washington, with a crew of 2,702, arrived on Friday in Yokosuka, Japan, home to the US Navy’s 7th Fleet, returning to the port for the first time in nine years. The USS Carl Vinson was deployed to the Pacific on Monday. Meanwhile the USS Abraham Lincoln is now in the Indian Ocean, passing through the South China Sea, before heading home to San Diego, California.

“This presence enables rapid response for maritime and joint forces and brings our most capable ships with the greatest amount of striking power and operational capability to bear,” Lt. Cmdr. Katie Koenig, a U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesperson, told Nikkei Asia. It also “demonstrates our collective resolve to ensure security and stability in the region,” she said.

According to Nikkei, the US had no forward-deployed carrier in Asia since mid-May, when the USS Ronald Reagan left Yokosuka. Other aircraft carriers were sent to the Middle East in response to the rising conflict there after Israel launched missile strikes at Lebanon and Iran-Israel tensions heightened.

Analysts say the increased U.S. military presence in the Pacific is to counter any threat by China in the 50-plus days leading up to Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. The presence in the Middle East, where multiple carriers were redirected from the Pacific over the summer, will be reduced.

Brent Sadler, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a 26-year U.S. Navy veteran, said, “You’re entering a period where the Chinese are positioning for a test of our resolve, and so having that stepped up presence is timely.”

“China is clearly the number one threat,” Sadler said, adding the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden “is in a place where they feel like they can move away” from the Middle East, following the latest round of Iranian missile attacks against Israel and Israel’s retaliatory strike.

Jacob Stokes, deputy director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at Center for a New American Security, said, “China is going to try and test the Trump administration early, probably around Taiwan or the South China Sea, or both.” The test, Stokes said, will attempt to determine which of the two sides of Trump Beijing will be dealing with.

“They’ve seen transactional Trump, that wants to make a deal. Or are they going to get confrontational Trump, which is the way they would characterize his policies from mid to late 2018 on through COVID.”

While the U.S. has 11 carriers, most are under maintenance or have just returned from long deployments, leaving only a handful sea ready. As the wars intensified in Ukraine and Gaza, the Pentagon, under Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, prioritized those regions over the Western Pacific.

Stokes said leaders at the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command “want to reset the baseline and be well situated in terms of military assets and how they’re postured come January.”

Sadler said the carrier gap in the Western Pacific over the past few months had led to Chinese provocations in the South China Sea and around Taiwan.

“It’s not to say that had there been an extra carrier strike group, that wouldn’t have happened. But the president would have had more options to signal displeasure with the Chinese in terms that they could understand,” he said.

To fill that void, the navy first deployed the San Diego-based USS Theodore Roosevelt to the region, only to quickly redirect the aircraft carrier to help out in the Middle East. Although another San Diego-based carrier, the Abraham Lincoln, was sent to Asia, that too was redirected to the Middle East.

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

“This version of Trump knows what buttons to press, he knows where the bodies are buried, he’s absorbed their worst and now he is about to throw it right back at them.” 

– Jeff Childers

You have every reason to believe that this arrogant, malicious, leviathan government, and the vicious intel / lawfare blob at its vanguard, is about to be turned upside-down, inside-out, and sideways. Every appointment by Mr. Trump is a dose of chemotherapy to this malignant beast, aimed at all its diseased organs. The rogue cells within are going to die hard, struggle against their extinction, shriek and thrash as the treatment proceeds. That is, if it is allowed to proceed.

And so: rumors arise of a coup to prevent it from happening. The benchmark version goes like this: “Joe Biden” keeps up his stupid provocation of Russia with those medium-range ATACMS missiles until Mr. Putin is forced to respond with a strike against a NATO member, say, a military base in Poland used to stage and target the ATACMS. Under NATO’s Article Five — an attack against one is an attack against all — Europe and the US must go to war against Russia. This becomes the pretext for “Joe Biden” to declare an extraordinary emergency (or Kamala Harris, if “JB” can be shoved out under the 25th Amendment.) The inauguration of the newly-elected government must needs be postponed. . . .

Such a move would surely provoke a domestic insurrection against the leviathan and Civil War Two would be on. Or else you might expect a swift counter-coup out of the US military not playing along. Mr. Putin, too, could demur from playing the game, that is, just not go for the bait, refrain from striking any NATO territory. After all, his beef is officially with Mr. Zelensky’s Kiev government. Russia could just pound Kiev until that government ceases to exist. So far Mr. Putin has carefully refrained from destroying the historic city center, mainly hitting power plants to turn off the heat and light to make life extremely uncomfortable in the Ukraine capital with winter coming on. But he could level the city.

The choice is Mr. Zelensky’s, and has been for months as his forces, armaments, and prospects dwindle. He could suspend hostilities, go to talks, even raise a white flag and put an end to the needless suffering. Under no circumstances will he get the Donbas or Crimea back. I doubt that Russia wants to take over the rest of Ukraine, considering the cost of having to support it indefinitely. Better that it should remain a sovereign state and look after itself — but neutral, demilitarized, and, if you like, de-Nazified. You understand that these will be Russia’s final terms? And that there is nothing unreasonable about them?

In short, the hypothetical coup would fail, and the Ukraine war will end, and Mr. Trump will get inaugurated if he is careful to avoid the blob’s assassins until January 20. As for Rep. Jamie Raskin’s scheme to prevent a Trump swearing-in on account of him being “an insurrectionist,” you can file that under “dumb-shit grandstanding.” So, the new government will come in, the new department chiefs will get into office, and the leviathan will get the therapeutic treatment it deserves.

You understand, of course, that the federal bureaucracy is a perverse reincarnation of the old 19th century “Spoils System,” an entrenched, self-replicating matrix of parasites. Both parties have nourished it, but the Democrats have made it their extra-special pet since Mr. Obama was in charge of things. He and his AG Eric Holder arranged for the DOJ to target their political enemies and for the to FBI mutate into a US-KGB, and that behavior persisted for eight long years since Obama and Holder left the scene. The malice all flowed from those departments, since any opponent of the Party’s agenda could get lawfared, financially drained, and put out of business. The party’s sole agenda, really, was to just feed the bureaucratic parasite, and grow it ever-larger and more dependent on the party in order to increase its power.

There will necessarily be confusion over the clean-up of all that. Because of Mr. Trump being the primary target of DOJ / FBI enmity, blob publicists will try to color it as “personal retribution,” but it is really the proper response of an aggrieved nation. A large number of current and former officials deserve to face charges for what they did, serious crimes against their fellow citizens. They also deserve fair trials to determine their culpability. The catch is, these proceedings ought to take place outside the DC federal district court, which is itself parasitized and corrupted.

Outside of these criminal proceedings, the rest is executive process — just firing a lot of dead-weight and bureaucrat officials who contribute nothing but inertia and impediment to the normal functioning of a society. And deconstructing whole agencies. The blob will likely attempt to block that effort by marshaling its own allied lawyer army to bombard the courts with suits and writs. If the Trump team does its work carefully, with scrupulous attention to correct process, that offensive can be overcome and worked-around.

After a while, we’ll discover just how much government is really necessary, sort of like twitter did, after Elon Musk fired 80-percent of the loafers on his payroll. Since so much of the US economy has shifted insidiously into government, this downscaling is apt to be painful, but especially for the local economy of Washington DC, which is to say, a grift economy of overlapping rackets. Upgrade a few laws and whole industries — such as lobbying by military contractors — might be wiped out. But you have to ask: how was that ever a good thing?

For now, we give thanks that important changes are probably underway. Stolen liberties will be returned. You will be free to succeed or fail in a society of voluntary transactions. That was always the essence of being an American, not being a client of a fake therapeutic state, savior of all, but really just protector of its own.

After months of rumors surrounding possible peace talks in Turkey that might have ended the war in Ukraine not long after it reignited in 2022, multiple sources confirmed that British Politician and former PM Boris Johnson showed up in Kyiv to dismiss the negotiations and told the Ukrainians “let’s just fight”.  These sources include David Arahamiya, the leader of Ukraine’s ruling party, Tory MP Nadine Dorries and Vladimir Putin himself.

Putin reiterated in his interview with Tucker Carlson that Russia supports a negotiated settlement with Ukraine, and plans were very much underway to making that happen before Boris Johnson stopped it. https://t.co/85LGRfJZzY

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) February 9, 2024

Johnson continues to deny the peace deal claims and “fact checkers” engage in extensive mental gymnastics to argue that there was no “official deal” put to paper, therefore Johnson didn’t sabotage anything.  In other words, if a politician ruins a peace deal in its infancy before it is drafted then he’s not culpable for the war that follows. 

The bottom line? Johnson, a prominent British official with ties to NATO, showed up in the middle of early negotiations and told the Ukrainians to fight instead of pursuing peace.  This alone would have given the Ukrainians a false sense of security that NATO forces would intervene and fight for them.

Boris Johnson would go on to promote a surge in military recruitment in the UK, and supported calls for conscription from military officials.  He has also suggested NATO boots on the ground in the region on multiple occasions – A move that would immediately be seen by Russia as an escalation to world war.

In a recent interview with the Daily Telegraph, the former British PM promoted the idea of British forces entering Ukraine as a part of a “peacekeeping plan.”  The presence of any NATO country’s troops in Ukraine, even those not on the front line, would be seen as a tip-toe towards direct confrontation by the Kremlin.  

In early November, Johnson argued that if Donald Trump pulled US support for Ukraine in order to force a peace deal, Britain might send troops into the fray.  The argument sounds like a thinly veiled threat:  If the US tries to force a peace deal, then Britain will send troops, escalate the war and ensure that no peace is possible.   

Johnson also asserted that if Russia gets the upper hand in the conflict then Britain may deploy it’s forces regardless in order to “defend Europe.”  Ukraine’s eastern defenses are currently being overrun by ongoing Russian attrition tactics.  This reality in combination with Trump’s avalanche election win seems to have triggered establishment ghouls into a frenzy of escalation with Joe Biden giving the greenlight on long range missile strikes coordinated directly by NATO forces.   

To be clear, Ukraine is not part of the EU nor is it a member of NATO.  NATO warhawks like Johnson have consistently claimed that Russia’s intent is to invade greater Europe (domino effect propaganda similar to the Vietnam War), yet there is still no evidence to support this.  The western media has spent the better part of the conflagration claiming that Russian forces have been chewed up beyond repair in Ukraine; at the same time they suggest Russia somehow has the strength to invade the EU. 

The majority of the US and European public have confirmed time and time again that they will not support direct conflict with Russia.  They will not volunteer to fight in such a war and will not submit to military conscription.  Around 70% of Americans say they prefer negotiations to end the war.  Only 10% of Europeans believe Ukraine can win and 52% of Ukrainians say they want negotiations and a quick end to the war.   Despite this, establishment politicians continue to ignore the overwhelming calls for peace in Ukraine.        

Authored by Jonathan Turley via jonathanturley.org,

Just months after a judge dismissed Nina Jankowicz’s much-hyped defamation lawsuit against Fox, a federal district court judge in Delaware, Judge Jennifer L. Hall, has dismissed Ray Epps’s defamation lawsuit. The Jan. 6 rioter said the network falsely identified him as an FBI informant.

U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer L. Hall granted Fox News’ motion to dismiss the suit.

In the original complaint, Epps made a defamation per se claim and a false light claim.

Epps and his wife have clearly been through a nightmare of threats and innuendo. However, this public controversy was discussed by various networks and the Jan. 6th  Committee. It was also a matter of legitimate public debate and commentary, with people on both sides expressing their views on the evidence and underlying allegations.

The problem for the court was trying to draw a line when coverage and commentary becomes defamation on such subjects. The chilling effect on free speech can be immense. The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that tort law could not be used to overcome First Amendment protections for free speech or the free press. The Court sought to create “breathing space” for the media by articulating that standard that now applies to both public officials and public figures. The status imposes the higher standard first imposed in New York Times v. Sullivan for public officials, requiring a showing of “actual malice” where media had actual knowledge of the falsity of a statement or showed reckless disregard whether it was true or false.

Now based in Utah, Epps alleged his life was upended after former Fox host Tucker Carlson repeatedly described him as a federal agent who helped instigate the attack on the Capitol, which was an attempt to stop the certification of the election of Joe Biden.

BREAKING: Ray Epps, the only January 6 protester who actually told people to go into the Capitol, has been officially sentenced to one year probation, $500 restitution, and 100 hours community service.

While many J6 protesters are rotting in jail for non-violent crimes, Epps… pic.twitter.com/qPWwktAPbu

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 9, 2024

The breathing space cuts both ways. In reporting on the dismissal of the Epps lawsuit, it is notable that the Associated Press is still referring to Jan. 6 as an “insurrection” rather than a riot. Curiously, when you hit the link on “insurrection,” it goes to an article on the dropping of the Smith case, which notably did not charge Trump or anyone else with insurrection or even incitement. Yet, the AP is still reporting “the insurrection” as a fact.

The dismissal of Jankowicz directly addressed the dangers of using the courts to try to silence your critics. The case backfired on Jankowicz in prompting a court to expressly state that what she has been advocating is censorship. After holding that people are allowed to criticize Jankowicz as protected opinion, the court added:

“I agree that Jankowicz has not pleaded facts from which it could plausibly be inferred that the challenged statements regarding intended censorship by Jankowicz are not substantially true. On the contrary … censorship is commonly understood to encompass efforts to scrutinize and examine speech in order to suppress certain communications.

“The Disinformation Governance Board was formed precisely to examine citizens’ speech and, in coordination with the private sector, identify ‘misinformation,’ ‘disinformation,’ and ‘malinformation.’ … that objective is fairly characterized as a form of censorship.”

Jankowicz previously solicited significant contributions on the promise of this ill-conceived lawsuit. Nevertheless, Jankowicz is still being touted as a hero and enlisted to explain who to combat “disinformation.”

The calls for greater censorship are likely to only increase after the election. However, we have seen figures like Hillary Clinton call on Europeans to force the censorship of Americans.

The last six months has seen more and more Western officials and mainstream media outlets acknowledge reality in Ukraine – that Russian forces are on the advance, with Kiev forces outgunned and most importantly outmanned.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in fresh comments this week admitted the same. He said in a Fox News interview that Ukraine is not in a strong enough position to negotiate an end to the war. At this moment, Rutte explained, there is not enough battlefield leverage to “prevent the Russians from getting what they want.”

He still expressed a wishful thinking that things might change, though without offering any explanation as to how this will be possible.

“I think that’s crucial that we have a good deal because the whole world will be watching what type of deal will be struck between Russia and Ukraine when it comes to it,” Rutte said.

“We have to make sure that Ukraine is in a position of more strength than they are at the moment,” Rutte continued, “so that a deal can be struck which is favorable not to the Russians — and therefore to China, North Korea and Iran — because they all will be watching.”

Rutte at that point referenced China as watching closely. He said President Xi Jinping in particular is awaiting the outcome. “He’ll be very much interested who comes out on top of this,” Rutte said.

“And if it is the Russians, that will pose a threat long term, so we have to make sure that Ukraine is in a position where they can start these talks, and obviously then we have to take it step by step, make sure that Putin comes on board.”

But again he expressed that “We have to make sure … that Ukrainians can discuss the future of their country from this position of strength, so that has to be Ukraine to the table.”

“But they will only do that when they feel that they can get something out of that,” Rutte added, but then admitted, “At this moment, they are really on the back foot.”

PROF. JEFFREY SACHS:

‘Trump is absolutely right that the Ukraine war could end in a day. This war will end the moment a US President picks up the phone and says to Putin ‘NATO enlargement was a bad idea’…that’s the end of the war because that’s the whole premise of this war’ pic.twitter.com/6LB6DXNEvu

— Going Underground (@GUnderground_TV) November 27, 2024

“We will be able to get Putin to the table because he will sense that, ultimately, it is in his interest not to continue the fight,” the NATO chief said, anticipating the incoming Trump administration.

Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news,

Billionaire Justin Sun, who paid $6.2 million for a banana duct taped to a wall, followed through on his promise by eating the fruit.

Yes, really.

The crypto entrepreneur bought the piece of ‘art’ – ‘Comedian’ by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, during an auction at Sotherby’s in New York where he outbid six other people.

And if you think Sun consuming the banana was some kind of sardonic troll of the vacuity of the modern art world, think again.

After buying the banana, Sun pretentiously stated, “This is not just a piece of art: it represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community.”

JUSTIN SUN GOES BANANAS FOR WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE SNACK

The founder of Tron tucked into the priciest banana in the world after buying the artwork for $6.2 million.

Justin:

“This is not just a piece of art: it represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art,… pic.twitter.com/Zpfi30Kj43

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 29, 2024

While devouring the supposed masterpiece, Sun proclaimed, “It’s much better than other bananas. “It’s really quite good.”

Not to worry, after purchasing the piece of fruit, he was given a certificate of authenticity that instructs him on how to replace the banana given that what remains of it now probably reside in the nearest sewerage plant.

As we highlight in the video below, Sun could have bought about 500 kidney dialysis machines for kids for the same price.

Maurizio Cattelan must be laughing all the way to the bank, given that he can just keep re-producing the ‘art’ and make millions every time.

Listen to the way he described it.

“To me, Comedian was not a joke; it was a sincere commentary and a reflection on what we value. At art fairs, speed and business reign, so I saw it like this: if I had to be at a fair, I could sell a banana like others sell their paintings. I could play within the system, but with my rules. I can’t say how people will react, but I hope these new works will break up the normal viewing habits and open a discussion on what really matters. We are surrounded by conversations based on immaterial structures, social values and hierarchies that we created, but usually we prefer to forget this; it’s like being anaesthetised.”

That’ll be $6.2 million dollars, please.

*  *  *

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

While French bond spreads have compressed modestly overnight (as French Finance Minister Antoine Armand announced that he is ready to amend the 2025 budget proposal to avoid a government collapse), they remain extremely elevated (at their highest since the European financial crisis in 2012) as rising tensions threaten the country’s economic stability.

Source: Bloomberg

As Remix News reports, Armand, warned before the upcoming budget debate that the government must make compromises regarding the 2025 budget proposal. The political situation is constantly deteriorating, because the opposition parties in the National Assembly, led by Marine Le Pen of the National Rally, have called for a no-confidence vote if the government does not accept amendments that make a tangible difference to the proposed tax increases.

Armand made headlines in September for asserting that the National Rally party was not a party he would deal with, as it was not part of what he called “the republican arc,” instigating French Prime Minister Michel Barnier to even phone Le Pen to apologize for the comment.

Le Pen, meanwhile, has insisted her budget demands have been long cast aside. 

The budget crisis may have serious consequences for the French economy, with market investors reacting with increased concern, as a result of which the yields on the French bond market have risen. 

Armand has said that the government should avoid unnecessary risk and that the adoption of the budget is now vital for the future of the country.

The discussion of the budget proposal will continue in the National Assembly on Dec. 18, with the outcome of the new amendments still unclear. Armand stated that the government is open to remedying the situation by cutting spending instead of implementing the planned tax increases.

Le Pen has called on the government to institute some €60 billion of adjustments, including a tax moratorium, indexed pensions, and more action to counter migration.

In a post on X, National Party leader Jordan Bardella wrote, “The National Rally has just won a victory by obtaining from Michel Barnier the cancelation of the 3 billion euro tax on electricity. Thanks to our determined action, energy prices would not increase for the French in 2025, if this promise is respected and if it is not financed by other tax increases. We will be vigilant. But we cannot stop there. Other red lines remain.”

Bardella goes on to write that Barnier must abandon demands to have the French pay more for medication, especially when medical costs are covered for illegal migrants. He also wants a moratorium on new taxes and a return to the old pension system.

“A serious crackdown on migration and criminal law must be undertaken, without paying lip service to words and promises: our country can no longer accommodate mass immigration which disrupts its identity and weighs heavily on its public finances. These common sense measures are realistic, quickly applicable and expected by an immense majority of French people. The Prime Minister cannot remain deaf to them. He has a few days left,” wrote Bardella.

But, despite some optimism that Armand and his ‘amis’ are moving to Le Pen’s pals’ position, French asset-swap spreads are diverging from those of Europe, indicating that assets in France are increasingly disfavored as fiscal risks persist.

Asset-swap spreads are what you receive if you want to hedge out the funding risk from owning a bond. They therefore capture the non-interest rate risk from a bond, i.e. supply and demand factors and credit risk. French asset swaps have become much more negative as the market factors in more supply and increased credit risk as the country deals with bigger fiscal deficits and political volatility.

But swap spreads in general have been declining in Europe as well as the US for a variety of reasons, such as QT and rising fiscal deficits. Euro swap spreads have generally fallen with French ASW spreads, but they have seen two big divergences: in June after Macron’s surprise election announcement, and now.

A narrowing in the spread differential would be a key sign the market is becoming less skittish on the budgetary outlook.

Le Pen gave PM Barnier until Monday to accede to her budget demands before she decides whether to topple the government.

How do you say “Tick tock!” in French?

Authored by Richard Maybury via The Mises Institute,

Each year at this time, schoolchildren all over America are taught the official Thanksgiving story, and newspapers, radio, TV, and magazines devote vast amounts of time and space to it. It is all very colorful and fascinating.

It is also very deceiving. This official story is nothing like what really happened. It is a fairy tale, a whitewashed and sanitized collection of half-truths which divert attention away from Thanksgiving’s real meaning.

The official story has the Pilgrims boarding the Mayflower, coming to America, and establishing the Plymouth colony in the winter of 1620–21. This first winter is hard, and half the colonists die. But the survivors are hard working and tenacious, and they learn new farming techniques from the Indians. The harvest of 1621 is bountiful. The pilgrims hold a celebration, and give thanks to God. They are grateful for the wonderful new abundant land He has given them.

The official story then has the Pilgrims living more or less happily ever after, each year repeating the first Thanksgiving. Other early colonies also have hard times at first, but they soon prosper and adopt the annual tradition of giving thanks for this prosperous new land called America.

The problem with this official story is that the harvest of 1621 was not bountiful, nor were the colonists hard-working or tenacious. 1621 was a famine year and many of the colonists were lazy thieves.

In his History of Plymouth Plantation, the governor of the colony, William Bradford, reported that the colonists went hungry for years because they refused to work in the field. They preferred instead to steal food. He says the colony was riddled with “corruption,” and with “confusion and discontent.” The crops were small because “much was stolen both by night and day, before it became scarce eatable.”

In the harvest feasts of 1621 and 1622, “all had their hungry bellies filled,” but only briefly. The prevailing condition during those years was not the abundance the official story claims, it was famine and death. The first “Thanksgiving” was not so much a celebration as it was the last meal of condemned men.

But in subsequent years something changes. The harvest of 1623 was different. Suddenly, “instead of famine now God gave them plenty,” Bradford wrote, “and the face of things was changed, to the rejoicing of the hearts of many, for which they blessed God.” Thereafter, he wrote, “any general want or famine hath not been amongst them since to this day.” In fact, in 1624, so much food was produced that the colonists were able to begin exporting corn.

What happened? After the poor harvest of 1622, writes Bradford, “they began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a better crop.” They began to question their form of economic organization.

This had required that “all profits & benefits that are got by trade, traffic, trucking, working, fishing, or any other means” were to be placed in the common stock of the colony, and that, “all such persons as are of this colony, are to have their meat, drink, apparel, and all provisions out of the common stock.” A person was to put into the common stock all he could, and take only what he needed.

This “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need” was an early form of socialism, and it is why the Pilgrims were starving. Bradford writes that “young men that were most able and fit for labor and service” complained about being forced to “spend their time and strength to work for other men’s wives and children.” Also, “the strong, or man of parts, had no more in division of victuals and clothes, than he that was weak.” So the young and strong refused to work and the total amount of food produced was never adequate.

To rectify this situation, in 1623 Bradford abolished socialism.

He gave each household a parcel of land and told them they could keep what they produced, or trade it away as they saw fit. In other words, he replaced socialism with a free market, and that was the end of the famines.

Many early groups of colonists set up socialist states, all with the same terrible results. At Jamestown, established in 1607, out of every shipload of settlers that arrived, less than half would survive their first twelve months in America. Most of the work was being done by only one-fifth of the men, the other four-fifths choosing to be parasites. In the winter of 1609–10, called “The Starving Time,” the population fell from five-hundred to sixty. Then the Jamestown colony was converted to a free market, and the results were every bit as dramatic as those at Plymouth.

US semiconductor equipment makers rose in premarket trading following a Bloomberg News report indicating that an additional round of US restrictions on semiconductor equipment sales to China might be less severe than previously anticipated. 

People familiar with trade policy said the new restrictions could debut as soon as next week. The measures were part of a multi-month deliberation by top US officials, negotiations with allies in Japan and the Netherlands, and lobbying by US chip equipment makers who’ve cautioned that stricter measures would harm the industry. 

Here are the key differences between the latest proposal and earlier drafts, according to Bloomberg, citing those familiar with trade policy:

The first is which Chinese companies the US would add to a trade restriction list. The US had previously considered sanctioning six suppliers to Huawei Technologies Co. — the telecom giant at the center of China’s tech industry — and officials are aware of at least a half dozen more, the people said. But they now plan to add only some of those Huawei suppliers to the entity list, with the notable omission of ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc., which is trying to develop AI memory chip technology.

As a result of the report, Japanese and European chip-related stocks gained on the news on Thursday, while US markets closed for Thanksgiving.

In premarket trading in New York, Applied Materials rose 2.5%, Lam Research increased 3%, and KLA moved higher by 4.3%. 

“The watered-down rules are a partial win for the three firms, which have argued against unilateral US restrictions on key Chinese companies, saying this would put them at an unfair disadvantage to Tokyo Electron and ASML, whose governments have not yet agreed to the toughest restrictions on sales to China,” Bloomberg said. 

On Thursday, Citi analyst Kevin Chen told clients that the news report was a “near-term positive relief to investor concerns of escalating export controls.” 

Chen continued, “Still, there could be future restrictions under the Trump administration next year and we expect China’s semiconductor localization to continue to positively impact supply chain companies’ share prices.” 

Also, watch other chip stocks, including Nvidia, Intel, Qualcomm, ARM Holdings, Broadcom, Micron Technology, Super Micro Computer, and AMD. 

Whitney Tilson, famous for blowing up two hedge funds before becoming a newsletter writer, has announced he is running for mayor of New York City.

Tilson fired off an email and press campaign last week where that led with him complimenting himself for running a Tough Mudder: “I just filed to run for mayor of NYC. Why? Those who know me well might think I’m a glutton for punishment and, because I wasn’t able to run my annual 24-hour World’s Toughest Mudder sufferfest earlier this month, I’m doing this instead!”

The email eventually got to the point, stating: “But seriously, I’m deeply concerned – and a majority of New Yorkers agree – that our beloved city is headed in the wrong direction. I am committed to turning our city around and have many bold ideas for how to do so.”

Tilson says his 5 biggest priorities are:

1. Cut violent crime by 50%;
2. Address the cost-of-living crisis, much of it driven by housing costs and unnecessary regulation, and put more money in working people’s pockets;
3. Rein in out-of-control spending by eliminating corruption, reducing inefficiency and delivering better services for less;
4. Improve our public schools; and
5. Prioritize citizens (and permanent legal residents) in the allocation of city resources.

And of course, Tilson also introduced the news by releasing a 16 page letter and posting a 32-minute interview with none other than Don Lemon, which you can watch above. No word yet on whether either included ruminations about his recent colonoscopy. 

Last time we checked in on Tilson people on social media were scrambling to try and figure out ways to get off his mailing list…

As a reminder, Tilson famously blew up closed Kase Capital Management in 2017 (5 years after shuttering its predecessor T2) after getting his ass handed to him by the market “sustained underperformance”. 

“Reporting sustained underperformance to you was making me miserable,” Tilson wrote to his investors in 2017. He continued: “I couldn’t in good conscience continue to manage your money unless I had a high degree of confidence that I could turn things around within a reasonable time frame.”

Recall, Tilson had relaunched his first fund, T2 Partners, as Kase Capital in 2012 after losing 24.9% in 2011.

And so if you thought financial newsletter spam and political ad spam on their own were each forces to be reckoned with, imagine when they combine…