Authored by J. Peder Zane via RealClearPolitics,

Americans are like members of a quarrelsome family, so intent on arguing their petty grievances around the kitchen table that they don’t smell the rising smoke from the oven. As our nation fumes and the world burns, neither major party presidential candidate is addressing the lapping flames around us.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are not simply ignoring our frightening national debt – both vow to ramp it up. Neither candidate has a serious plan to respond to the threats posed by China, Russia, or Iran.

The strangling costs of health care, the sharp decline in mental health, the disintegration of our public schools – which is sharply tied to the breakdown in the family – are all ignored in a race marked by gauzy references to policy and sharp personal attacks.

It’s not just Harris and Trump – our leadership in Washington has long refused to face up to the growing threats to our republic. Their empty promise is that everything is the other side’s fault. Help us annihilate the other guy and everything will be peaches and cream.

A third-grader wouldn’t fall for this nonsense. Neither side can vanquish the other. A Harris victory will not be the death knell of Trump’s populist message; Trump’s win will not defang progressivism’s leftward lurch. Whatever the outcome, we will continue to be a divided, angry nation. And yet, seemingly thoughtful Americans have bought this line hook, line, and sinker.

More importantly, even if one side did seize absolute power, they have no legitimate plan to right the ship of state. Sixty years of Great Society programs have shown us we can’t spend our way out of problems. The 44 years since the Reagan Revolution show us that tax cuts can only set the stage for reforms that have never come – a task that nears the impossible as ever more Americans become dependent on government aid.

America is in a second Age of Nero – our leaders fiddle as the country burns.

In past crises, the strength, resilience, and ingenuity of the American people have saved us from the depths of want and war. It is not clear we retain that grit.

Instead of demanding leadership, we seem content with the bread and circuses of mindless politics more akin to the gladiatorial battle of Rome than the edifying debates of ancient Greece. The broad embrace of victimhood and grievance on both sides has replaced any question of sacrifice for the common good with the desire to demonize our imagined tormentors. If anything, we savor the fight. It makes us feel important, alive – it gives our lives meaning.

Although we have serious problems, we are no longer a serious people. Hence our choice between Donald J. Trump and Kamala Harris.

They are not the disease, however, but a symptom. The first step toward a treatment, if not cure, is obvious: we must reject our empty politics of diversion in order to identify and address our urgent crisis. Honesty really would make a difference. It might also make us happier as we re-channel our energies from angry partisanship into thoughtful partnership.

Still, that would only get us so far. Life teaches that identifying one’s problems is the relatively easy part of change – we all know what’s wrong with the other guy and, sometimes, ourselves. Finding the will and discipline to do something about it is far harder. 

We are sinking before that challenge because it still seems possible to ignore the building fire. Many of us have it pretty good; our fears are mitigated by our confidence in escape. It won’t get me.

Ironically, the fact that much of the rest of the world is crumbling imparts a false sense of security. Instead of seeing those problems as canaries in the coal mine, we think, Hey, we’re still doing okay.

It’s true that history confutes the doomsayers. The world does get better in the long run. But that is little consolation to those whose one short life is spent during the ebbing flow.

History also teaches that judgment for past failure often comes with sudden swiftness, like a thief in the night. As we think about the immense problems we are allowing to smolder, recall Ernest Hemingway’s pithy warning from “The Sun Also Rises.”

“How did you go bankrupt?” one character asks a friend.

“Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”

J. Peder Zane is a RealClearInvestigations editor and columnist. He previously worked as a book review editor and book columnist for the News & Observer (Raleigh), where his writing won several national honors. Zane has also worked at the New York Times and taught writing at Duke University and Saint Augustine’s University.

Out of the world’s top 15 growth hubs, 14 are forecast to be located in Asia, according to the Growth Hub Index 2024 by British real estate service Savills.

These cities have been identified as set to develop particularly quickly by 2033, based on indicators measuring rising wealth, expanding economies and the potential for new development and business expansion.

As the following chart, via Statista;’s Anna Fleck, shows, four Indian cities feature in the top 10, with Bengaluru in the top position. It is followed by Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and India’s Delhi.

You will find more infographics at Statista

Several reasons are cited for the anticipated rise in Asia, including how many parts of the region have embraced tech-driven growth, while at the same time continuing to benefit from a strong traditional manufacturing sector. Many Asian cities are also forecast to see a growing middle class as personal wealth rises across the region, while at the same time they have strategies to improve connectivity and to invest in infrastructure.

Savills analysts note that innovation hubs can attract new businesses, which in turn increases demand for office space, manufacturing spaces and housing and that if rapid urbanization is managed well, then it can lead to better health outcomes of populations and improved employment prospects and education.

If poorly managed, however, rapid urban growth can exacerbate poverty, crime and health issues.

The Growth Hub Index is based on economic, population and wealth indicators across 230 cities, each with a GDP of at least $50 billion in 2023, to identify the fastest-growing cities. The economic indicators included the city GDP in 2033 and future credit rating as well as the percentage increase in city GDP growth between 2023–2033. The personal wealth indicators measured the percentage increase in city GDP per capita and the percentage increase in the number of households earning more than $70,000 over the 10 years analyzed. Meanwhile, the population indicators focused on the percentage increase in city population and migration between 2023–2033 and the future ratio of dependents to the working-age population in 2033. Only cities with a GDP of $50 billion and up in 2023 were included in the index.

30 Miles!!!!

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew on Thursday rescued a man spotted floating on a cooler in the sea, dozens of miles off Florida’s Gulf Coast after Hurricane Milton struck.

The Coast Guard said an Air Station Miami helicopter crew rescued the captain of a fishing vessel called “Capt. Dave” 30 miles off Longboat Key.

He was transferred to Tampa General Hospital to undergo further treatment, officials said in an Oct. 10 statement.

As The Epoch Times’ Katabella Roberts reports below, the Coast Guard said the man survived because he was wearing a life jacket and had an emergency position locator beacon and a cooler.

“This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner,” Dana Grady, the St. Petersburg command center chief of the U.S. Coast Guard, said.

The captain of the fishing vessel and a crew member first reported needing assistance about 20 miles off John’s Pass in Florida on Monday. A Coast Guard Station Sand Key rescue boat crew and an Air Station Clearwater rescue helicopter crew were deployed to the scene, according to the Coast Guard.

The captain and the crew members were rescued and brought back to Air Station Clearwater in “good condition.”

The boat was left adrift and “salvage arrangements were to be made,” the Coast Guard said.

On Wednesday, the owner of the fishing vessel informed the Coast Guard that the captain had returned to the boat at about 3 a.m. to make some repairs but had failed to check in.

“Watchstanders were able to make radio contact with the captain who reported the rudder was fouled with a line and became disabled during his transit back to port,” the Coast Guard said.

At the time of the rescue operation, the weather was “quickly deteriorating” as Hurricane Milton approached, with waves reaching six to eight feet and winds of around 30 mph, according to the Coast Guard.

Air Station Miami airplane crews fly over Florida’s west coast looking for people in distress and assessing damage, on Oct. 10, 2024. Courtesy of Mike O’Keefe/U.S. Coast Guard

The captain was instructed by the Coast Guard to put on a life jacket and “stay with the boat’s emergency position indicating a radio beacon.”

The Coast Guard lost communication with the captain at about 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday.

Search and rescue teams eventually spotted him adrift with the cooler at about 1:30 p.m. on Thursday.

The Coast Guard shared video footage of the rescue on social media platform X.

#Breaking An @USCG Air Station Miami 65 helicopter crew rescued a man clinging to a cooler approximately 30 mi. off Longboat Key.

The man was taken to Tampa General Hospital for medical care.

Sector St. Pete lost communications w/ the man at approx. 6:45 p.m., Wed. #SAR pic.twitter.com/64wSHuRAeH

— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) October 10, 2024

It shows the captain kneeling on the cooler as a Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station Miami approaches. A crew member is then lowered into the water before swimming toward the captain. The video ends before he is hoisted out of the sea.

The rescue came after Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, on Wednesday evening as a powerful Category 3 storm, bringing with it powerful winds, deadly storm surges, and flooding.

At least 10 people are believed to have died in the storm. Search and rescue operations are continuing.

Tesla’s shares stumbled in premarket trading after the company’s long-awaited robotaxi event in Burbank, California. The event showcased the robotaxi Cybercab, the futuristic-looking Robovan concept, and the latest version of the humanoid robot, Optimus.

Just hours after the event, some top Wall Street analysts began weighing in, praising the impressive lineup of new innovative products that will revolutionize transportation and other areas of the economy but noting a lack of technical details. 

Robotaxi details pic.twitter.com/AVSoysc6pS

— Tesla (@Tesla) October 11, 2024

Robovan details pic.twitter.com/Pdito0dfRq

— Tesla (@Tesla) October 11, 2024

Optimus is your personal R2D2 / C3PO, but better

It will also transform physical labor in industrial settings pic.twitter.com/iCET3a9pd8

— Tesla (@Tesla) October 11, 2024

A team of Goldman analysts led by Mark Delaney and Will Bryant attended the robotaxi Cybercab.

The analysts said Tesla “demonstrated very strong progress with the Optimus humanoid robot, and we think the Cybercab looked attractive,” but noted, “the lack of data shared on Full Self Driving (FSD) performance, relatively limited details on the robotaxi business plan, and absence of a lower-cost consumer vehicle unveil may be disappointing for some market participants.” 

Here are more of their thoughts about Cybercab and Optimus:

Cybercab

Tesla unveiled a two-seat Cybercab vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals/controls, and with winged doors. The company also showcased a Robovan that can carry up to 20 people or could transport goods. Tesla expects to start unsupervised FSD robotaxi operations in Texas and California next year with its currently available models (e.g. 3 and Y) and be in production with the Cybercab in 2026/before 2027 (although the company noted that it tends to be optimistic with timelines).

Given that vehicles are only typically used for several hours per week, Tesla believes that autonomous vehicles can offer 5X or even 10X higher utilization. Importantly on costs, Tesla believes the average operating cost of its Cybercab over time will be ~$0.20 per mile and may be priced at ~$0.30-$0.40 per mile including taxes and other costs. Tesla expects the Cybercab to cost ~$30K or less. Tesla also commented that it plans to over-spec the computer for the Cybercab (AI 5 computer) as the company believes that distributed inference compute can be utilized when the vehicle is not in use. Additionally, the robotaxi will use inductive charging, and Tesla indicated there would be self-cleaning capabilities. Finally, Tesla said one business model could be a person owning a small fleet that they put onto the network. Tesla did not provide other details on its business plan (e.g. scope of the initial deployments, pricing to start, if Tesla will own the early fleet, remote assistance, etc).

The timelines for AV deployment (next year with 3/Y in Texas and California) and with Cybercab (in 2026/by 2027) and lack of incremental FSD performance data will likely leave the debate on how close Tesla is to unsupervised FSD (L4) unresolved.

As we have previously written in our report, “Can new AI technology help accelerate AV deployments? Updating our global ADAS and AV forecast” we believe there is a material long-term revenue opportunity from robotaxis. However, revenues from initial smaller scale deployments would likely be more limited, as we show in Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2.

We also provide an illustrative cost model for an owned and operated fleet of robotaxis in Exhibit 3. At scale, we believe that Tesla could benefit from lower per mile costs for its vehicle depreciation (e.g. if Tesla can produce a robotaxi at $30k vs a competitor robotaxi at $50k-$75k, at 100k miles per year and a three year useful life, Tesla would have depreciation costs of $0.10/mi vs a standard robotaxi at $0.15-$0.25/mi). This is driven by the volume leverage Tesla already has making cars (with each vehicle already equipped with inference silicon), and its more narrow sensor stack (e.g. no lidar). Tesla said the cybercab will use vision and AI, implying that it may not use radar (and how it would handle operating in certain weather/lighting conditions without a secondary sensor type is something that may remain a debate).

Optimus

The progress with Optimus was impressive in our view especially given where Tesla was just a few years ago. The robots were very life like in several of the movements, and interacted via voice with attendees, danced, and gave out snacks. We had an impromptu conversation with one of the robots which asked us if we’d checked out the snack bar, and when we asked what it would suggest to eat, it said to ask its friend that was actually giving out snacks (which we found to be relatively human like). We expect Optiumus to be a growing part of the Tesla story.

The TAM for higher-end humanoid robots could be >$10 bn in 2030 per research from a report led by our colleague Jacqueline Du. Recall that on its 2Q24 earnings call, Tesla stated that it expects to have limited production of Optimus Version 1 starting early next year for internal Tesla use (and expects to have several thousand produced and deployed by the end of next year), and expects to ramp production and provide Optimus Version 2 to external customers in 2026.

The analysts are “Neutral-rated” on TSLA shares and believe “that Tesla can grow longer term including with FSD.” However, they noted that “headwinds in the auto business” will limit EPS growth in the near term. Their TSLA 12-month price target is $230, based on 65X applied to our Q5-Q8E EPS estimate, including SBC. 

Separately, other Wall Street analysts published notes to clients after the event, with many also detailing how Elon Musk and Tesla were light on details (list courtesy of Bloomberg):

Barclays analyst Dan Levy (equal weight, PT $220)

• Tesla’s Cybercab demo was similar to prior sketches, but “the event was light on the details”
• “Consumers able to buy Cybercab, but Tesla also likely planning to operate fleet,” Levy said
• The near-term stock reaction is likely to be sell the news, “as the focus now shifts back to fundamentals – which has been neutral at best”

Baird analyst Ben Kallo (outperform, $280)

• The company did not unveil a lower-cost vehicle which can be manufactured on existing factory lines.
• Investor attention will now shift to auto margins in the near term as the company reports 3Q results on Wednesday

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Steve Man

• “Tesla will likely need to add steering wheels and pedals to scale its robotaxi production by 2026”
• However, the robotaxi announcement provides a better visibility of the company’s capabilities in affordable cars and autonomy

Citi analyst Ronald Josey

• Tesla’s event clarified the company’s vision and timeline for its robotaxi — leading us to be “incrementally positive on Uber shares as a result”
• “Importantly, details regarding distribution or a potential ride-hailing app for the Cybercab were limited, which leads us to believe it’s still possible that Tesla could partner with Uber for distribution in the future”

Jefferies analyst John Colantuoni

• Tesla’s event is a best-case outcome for Uber as the automaker did not provide verifiable evidence of progress in its self driving technology and it also did not outline the number of robotaxis planned

Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak

• Tesla’s $0.20 cost per mile estimate is in line with expectations, confirming its cost advantage
• “This speaks to TSLA’s current theoretical cost advantage over Uber’s current cars and Waymo”

The market reaction to Thursday’s Tesla event this AM in premarket trading in NYC is simply underwhelming. Shares are down 6%. For the past two years, shares have traded sideways, facing resistance above $250. 

Nancy Tengler, the chief executive officer of Laffer Tengler Investments and a Tesla investor who attended the event, told Bloomberg that the only specifics Tesla gave were the $30,000 price tag for Cybercab. 

Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

Remember the last time the globalists took the mask off?  It wasn’t that long ago, but some people might have already forgotten how the western world almost lost all individual freedom under the guise of an over-hyped health emergency.  When globalists are honest about what they truly want, it usually coincides with an engineered calamity.

In the two years since the failure of the covid pandemic narrative I have argued that globalist organizations are trying to regroup under a new plan. The evidence suggests that these people suffered a shocking revelation after their attempt to implement perpetual medical tyranny. They’ve realized they don’t have as much control over the flow of information and public discourse as they originally assumed.

Even with full-spectrum censorship using algorithms to bury contrary data, even with the full force of the government partnering with social media to silence dissent, even with the threat of economic exile for anyone refusing to take a steady series of mRNA jabs, they still failed. The truth about covid’s minimal Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) still spread, along with data proving the uselessness of the mandates and lockdowns.  There was nothing they could do about it.

Their golden ticket to total control was pushing the vaccine passport concept; the alternative media crushed that agenda like a pestilent cockroach. If the passport had been successful we would not be having this conversation now. Everyone would be in fear of having their passport rescinded. Everyone would be afraid to lose their economic access for saying the wrong thing. Everyone would be afraid of being forced into covid camps (which were indeed a real agenda). Or, we would be in the middle of a bloody civil war.

The events of 2020 were meant to initiate the ultimate coup against humanity. The globalists admitted to their plans over and over again. Klaus Schwab and the World Economic Forum proudly declared covid the catalyst for the “Great Reset” and the “Fourth Industrial Revolution.” They asserted that the lockdowns were just the beginning and that the sweeping restriction on our freedoms would be extended to climate change as well.

They thought they had won without firing a shot, but it’s not that easy. Far more people are awake and aware of their motives than they realized, and, at least in America, over 50 million of those people are armed.  The lockdowns are now gone, almost no one took the vax boosters, far fewer people took the vaccine than the CDC claims, and the vax passports were defeated. This victory was made possible due to the efforts of alternative media platforms circumventing Big Tech censorship. It’s that simple.

This is why the next event will probably be far worse in scale and consequence, and the globalists are already attempting to rectify their previous mistake of underestimating citizen journalism. They will try to silence us if they can and they are openly admitting to it in recent conferences and mainstream articles.  The mask is coming off once more and this suggests to me that something very bad is about to happen.

As I noted in 2023 in my article ‘From Covid To Climate Change: Vehicles For Global Authoritarianism’, the globalists seem to have shifted their more tyrannical efforts away from the pandemic and into the climate discourse. If you really want to know what they are up to these days, you have to watch the climate conferences.

At the end of September there was a host of climate change summits including one held by the WEF in New York called the Sustainable Development Impact Meeting.  It was held by the WEF in tandem with the United Nations General Assembly. Not surprisingly, discussion often veered away from climate into “threats to democracy” as well as bitter complaints about the “spread of disinformation.”

John Kerry, former Democratic presidential candidate, former Climate Czar under Joe Biden and a longtime participant in the WEF, said the quiet part out loud at the summit. He argued that the 1st Amendment was a “roadblock” to proper governance and was preventing the elites from controlling public consensus.

His statements are quite blatant.

First of all, consensus is highly overrated and often poisonous. The very basis of science is that it is always up for debate according to the evidence. Once you have forced a “consensus” you have abandoned all due diligence under the scientific method.

This was made obvious during covid, where the “consensus” was exposed as utterly fabricated and most of the claims made by governments and puppet “medical experts” have been proven false. Keep in mind, these were the same people that tried to ban YOU from going to parks and waterboarding at the beach in the name of “flattening the curve.”

I mean, how retarded do you have to be to believe that outdoor activities will lead to viral transmission? That’s not science, that’s hysteria promoted by people claiming to represent science. The same thing goes for the mask mandates, social distancing, the lockdowns, etc. Not one measure they enforced was legitimate.

If we are talking about the concept of man-made climate change, the claim of consensus in science is a lie. The data suggests there is simply no such thing as man-made climate change. There is no evidence of causation between carbon emissions and global warming. No evidence that global warming causes extreme whether. No evidence that our current warming cycle is significant or unique compared to any other warming cycle in history.

In fact, the Washington Post recently and accidentally proved the alternative media’s point on climate change when they tried to map the temperature history of the Earth over 450 million years, only to discover what I have been saying for the longest time – Today’s temps are far lower than they have been through most of the Earth’s history.

But the more important issue here is John Kerry’s assertion that governance requires public information control. Kerry’s fundamental disconnect is his notion that it’s the job of the elites and the government to moderate information for the greater good. No one gave them permission to do this. The government does not exist to create consensus.

The people are in charge, John. As a politician you are just a public servant, nothing more. Your opinions on free speech don’t matter.

Some of the most egregious disinformation is often released to the public by the government and their approved media sources in the name of “saving democracy.” They lie constantly. John Kerry is just angry because now the public has the means to expose him and his cohorts. If a “democracy” requires censorship in order to survive, then it’s not worth saving.

Finally and hypocritically, Kerry suggests that democracy is “too slow” in implementing the changes to society that he views as necessary to create consensus and “unity.” If the 1st Amendment is a “roadblack” to more effective information control and governance, then he and his slimy brethren must intend to remove it. In other words, he believes tyranny would work better because it’s much faster that trying to manipulate the public with propaganda.

He doesn’t explicitly say this, but that’s exactly what he’s inferring.

Besides some of the speeches made by Klaus Schwab at the height of the pandemic, Kerry’s statements might be the most open declaration of globalist authoritarian intent I have ever heard. He’s pulling the mask off and this has me concerned.

His arguments fall in line with a number of articles published in the past couple months from establishment media platforms. The New Yorker just posted an article asking ‘Is It Time To Torch The Constitution?’ The New York Times published a treatise titled ‘The Constitution Is Sacred. Is It Also Dangerous?’ They also wrote an article highlighting the potential positives of despotic governments in countries like Brazil threatening to shut down public access to Elon Musk’s X (Twitter) in order to force the site to censor citizen accounts. These people are on a war path to convince the public that free speech is a threat.

When political elitists and their lackey’s start attacking free speech it’s usually in preparation for a major crisis that they hope to use as a vehicle to eliminate public freedoms. Free speech is the most important liberty because it enables the populace to discern through debate what the truth is and what to do about it.

The globalists thought they had a lock on information during covid and they were wrong. They won’t make the same mistake again. Whatever the next crisis ends up being, they will definitely seek to silence the the alternative media and any rebellious social media platforms before they move forward.

*  *  *

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According to alternative media outlet The Grayzone, the State of Israel has arrested US citizen and Grayzone investigative reporter Jeremy Loffredo just days after he defied censors by posting a report on Iran’s ballistic missile strike, to include documenting the precise location of an apparent impact close to the headquarters of the country’s principal intelligence agency, the Mossad. 

“I’ve just learned that @loffredojeremy was among the journalists arrested by the Israeli military and is still in jail,” said Grayzone founder and editor-in-chief Max Blumenthal via social media. “His phone has been confiscated. That is all I’m able to say for now.” On Wednesday at midday, Grayzone journalist Aaron Maté wrote that Loffredo had already been held for more than 24 hours.

Russian independent journalist Andrey X said he and Loffredo were among five journalists grabbed by Israeli security forces, with all but Loffredo having been released. No details have yet surfaced about where or why they were arrested.   

Today I was beaten, kidnapped, blindfolded and taken to a military base by the Israeli Occupation Forces, together with 4 other journalists.

Two of us were held for 11 hours without charges, my phone was confiscated (stolen), and one of us is still in custody.

Full story soon.

— Andrey X (@the_andrey_x) October 8, 2024

On Oct. 1, Iran unleashed multiple waves of ballistic missiles on Israel in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of the Lebanese political and military organization Hezbollah, and Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Abbas Nilforoushan, among others. Despite compelling video evidence that many of those missiles found their targets, Israel downplayed the effect of the Iranian strike while simultaneously declaring it illegal to report on where missiles hit. 

Undaunted, Loffredo set out to find missile impact sites, and filed a 6-minute video report to The Grayzone‘s YouTube channel, which has nearly 400,000 followers, and to its Rumble channel. In addition to showing the remains of an Iranian missile near Israel’s Nevatim Airbase in the Negev desert, Loffredo was able to find what is almost certainly a huge missile blast site less than a thousand feet from Mossad headquarters.

“This information is missing from all Israeli media reports, due to the fact it’s been officially censored,” said Loffredo in his report, before showing the precise longitude and latitude of the impact site.  

When it comes to challenging Israeli government narratives, The Grayzone has been among the most intrepid outlets in journalism. It was among the first to report on evidence that many Israeli deaths during the Oct 7, 2023 Hamas invasion of Israel were inflicted by the Israeli Defense Forces. The Grayzone was also quick to credibly challenge near-universally-accepted claims that Hamas militants beheaded babies, burned babies in ovens, cut a fetus from its mother, and engaged in mass rape. On this Oct. 7, the outlet released a 44-minute documentary titled, “Atrocity Inc: How Israel Sells the Destruction of Gaza.”

Loffredo’s previous reporting from Israel included a set of candid and, to some, disturbing interviews with nationalist Israelis who were blocking humanitarian aid for war-ravaged Gaza. While it’s not clear why, it’s currently not possible to link directly to Loffredo’s posts on X/Twitter or to embed them.

Journalism is not a crime.

I will continue to stand strong for press freedom in Russia and worldwide, and stand against all those who seek to attack the press or target journalists.

— President Biden (@POTUS) July 20, 2024

President Biden claims to stand for press freedom around the world. Let’s see if his administration takes a stand against Israel on behalf of this American journalist…or instead shrugs and redistributes a few more billion dollars of American wealth to the perpetrators. In the meantime, watch Loffredo’s last report before he was seized and locked up: 

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

The Swedish government is considering a law change that would ban marriages between cousins, a move primarily aimed at curbing issues such as honor oppression prevalent in migrant communities.

The proposal, which was introduced by government investigators and aligns with policies laid out in the Tidö Agreement, which facilitated the formation of the current government, would also extend to marriages between other close relatives, such as uncles and nieces.

If approved, the ban could come into effect as early as 2026.

Currently, Swedish law prohibits marriages between parents and children or full siblings, though half-siblings can marry with an exemption. Marriages between cousins are still legal, but this may soon change.

A government-appointed inquiry, which began in September last year, now recommends that cousin marriages be banned under the Marriage Code, citing both social and health concerns.

The proposed ban has significant implications for Sweden’s migrant communities, where cousin marriages are far more common. While this is defended as a cultural practice that prioritizes familial ties, government officials argue that such arranged marriages increase the risk of honor oppression, particularly for young women and girls.

By outlawing cousin marriages, they believe they can reduce the likelihood of coercion and other forms of control within family structures.

Preempting a loophole, a key element of the proposal is that cousin marriages performed abroad will also not be recognized in Sweden, regardless of the spouses’ connection to the country. This is intended to prevent couples from bypassing Swedish law by marrying abroad and then returning to Sweden.

“The recognition ban will be general and cover all cousin marriages,” the inquiry’s findings stated, as cited by the SVT broadcaster, reinforcing the aim to counteract honor-based oppression across all backgrounds.

In Norway, a similar law was enacted this past summer, with officials highlighting the increased risk of genetic disorders and health complications caused by inbreeding.

These risks include higher rates of stillbirth and infant mortality.

In addition to the ban on cousin marriages, the inquiry also suggests eliminating the current exemption that allows half-siblings to marry in certain circumstances, thus better protecting vulnerable individuals from coercion.

A final decision on the reforms is expected in the coming months which, if passed, is expected to enter into force in 2026.

Read more here…

Authored by Alan Tonelson via RealityChek,

So much outrage (including from Vice President and Democratic presidential contender Kamala Harris) about the claim in Bob Woodward’s upcoming book that Donald Trump during his presidency sent some test kits to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin at the height of the Covid pandemic when they were scarce in the United States. And about the famed journalist’s report that the former president called Putin seven times since the former left the Oval Office in January, 2021. (See, e.g., here.)

And so little about by far the biggest outrage described in War (if true, of course – as with the above revelations): that President Biden may have pushed the United States, and the world, to within a coin flip of nuclear war in Ukraine.

Think I’m kidding? Here’s the description by CNN – which broke the news about Woodward’s book – his account of a crucial moment in U.S. policy toward Russia’s invasion. It’s worth quoting in full:

By September 2022, US intelligence reports deemed “exquisite” revealed a “deeply unnerving assessment” of Putin — that he was so desperate about battlefield losses that he might use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

“Based on the alarming new intelligence reports, the White House believed there was a 50% chance Russia would use a tactical nuclear weapon — a striking assessment that had skyrocketed up from 5% and then 10%, Woodward reports.

“’On all channels, get on the line with the Russians,’ Biden instructed his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan. ‘Tell them what we will do in response,’ he said, according to Woodward.”

That’s the key phrase: “Tell them what we will do in response.”

It doesn’t necessarily mean that Mr. Biden had decided to use a nuclear weapon against Russia itself, or even against Russian forces inside Ukraine, or was considering such actions. Nor does it necessarily mean that the president had decided to deploy U.S. military forces in Ukraine in response.

But it’s difficult to imagine what else President Biden might have been thinking of that would deter the Russians from a step like tactical nuclear weapons use, or that would have convinced them to abandon this policy after firing one nuclear shot.

And the real outrage here – again, if Woodward has the story right – is that Mr. Biden actually was prepared to run such a catastrophic risk on behalf of a country whose fate Washington had never officially considered to be a remotely vital American security interest even at the height of the Cold War — and still hasn’t.

It’s one thing to threaten nuclear weapons use to protect a country or region that has been deemed a vital interest by U.S. leaders – like Western Europe or Japan. Or to do so when adversaries try to place nuclear weapons close to the American homeland (as was the case with the Soviet Union during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962).

But even to contemplate Armageddon in a situation meeting absolutely none of these characteristics? How can that be viewed as anything but needlessly reckless and even suicidal?

Bob Woodward reports that at one point Biden believed there was a 50% chance of Russia using nukes over Ukraine

He chose to escalate the war anyways and lied to the American people about the risk pic.twitter.com/Ce8IMAST9w

— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) October 8, 2024

Keep that in mind the next time you hear that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is too dangerously off his rocker to be fit for the presidency (in particular that his warnings about the current administration bringing World War III closer are nothing more than fear-mongering). And that the aforementioned Kamala Harris, when asked what she would have done differently from Mr. Biden, responded, “Not a thing that comes to mind.”

Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

Denmark looks to commission a cross-border green hydrogen pipeline to Germany in 2031, three years later than the previous timeline, the Danish government said on Tuesday.

Denmark has been working with local transmission system operator Energinet to have the timeline to commissioning shortened to 2031, from 2032 as Energinet’s latest plan says, according to a statement from the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy, and Utilities.

Energinet has been cooperating with Gasunie on the development of the Danish-German hydrogen network as part of a cooperation agreement. Initial plans envisaged that a cross-border transmission connection between Denmark and Germany would enable the transport of green hydrogen from 2028.

However, after Energinet’s market dialogue on the hydrogen infrastructure ended, the booking requirement was recalculated and the schedule updated, the operator said today.

“Several activities on the critical path have proven to be more extensive and time-consuming than originally anticipated. Therefore, Energinet now assesses that the ‘Lower T’ can be commissioned by the end of 2031 at the earliest, and the interconnections to Holstebro and Lille Torup by the end of 2032 and 2033,” the system operator added, referring to the initial and follow-up branches of the hydrogen network.

“We are still ready to bring state co-financing to the table if the industry commits to booking capacity in the pipeline,” said Lars Aagaard, Denmark’s Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities.

The Danish Government will work on measures to support the possibility of commissioning the first part of the hydrogen backbone in 2031, it said today.

Green hydrogen has seen several setbacks in Europe recently, due to a lack of customers.

Most recently, Shell and Equinor have ditched plans for low-carbon hydrogen production and transportation in north Europe, due to a lack of demand.

Uncertainty around demand and incentives coupled with cost pressures are weighing on the global adoption of low-carbon hydrogen despite an uptick in final investment decisions in the past year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report last week.

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

CNN reported last week that “China’s Coast Guard claims to have entered the Arctic Ocean for the first time as it ramps up security ties with Russia”, though at the time of writing, neither the Russian nor American Coast Guards confirmed their presence in the Arctic. CNN also noted that TASS’ report on this only cited the China Coast Guard’s (CCG) statement on its WeChat page. It’s therefore dubious whether the CCG actually entered the Arctic or just remained in the Bering Sea.

This distinction is important since the perception that Sino-Russo Coast Guard drills were just carried out in the Arctic, no matter how possibly inaccurate as clarified by CNN to its credit, could fuel the West’s efforts to contain Russia along that front. It also adds false credence to the artificially manufactured speculation that Russia is willing to cede sovereignty rights there to China after becoming disproportionately dependent on it over the past two years since the special operation began.

About that, readers should be aware of several relevant pieces of Russian legislation for governing its Arctic maritime territory. A 2017 law banned shipping oil, natural gas, and coal along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) under a foreign flag, while a 2018 one mandates that these ships will also have to be built in Russia. These were complemented by a 2022 law stipulating that all foreign warships must require prior permission to transit the NSR, and only one can do so at a time. These three laws remain on the books.

Their purpose is to ensure that Russia profits as much as is realistically possible from the NSR and can properly protect its sovereignty there. China poses no threat to Russian sovereignty, but allowing its warships to operate unrestricted within Russia’s territorial waters could raise the chances of an incident at sea with its Western Arctic rivals, especially the US. There’s also no reason for them to be there anyhow since Russia is more than capable of ensuring security along this route on its own.

The same can be said for the CCG seeing as how the Arctic is obviously far away from the Chinese coast, but it’s possible in theory that those of its icebreakers that already entered these waters for the first time over the summer could be escorted by the CCG as they lead the way for commercial vessels. If that happens, then this would likely be coordinated with Russia as part of a signal to the West as intuited by what head of the new Maritime Board Nikolai Patrushev hinted at in an interview over the summer.

This could possibly be preceded by formal naval drills in the Arctic Ocean, once again for the same purpose of sending a signal to the West, albeit a misleading one since China isn’t an Arctic naval power and it also has no mutual defense commitments to Russia like such a stunt might make some think. Those aforementioned false perceptions would be deliberately fanned in these scenarios for sending a signal to the West despite the likelihood that it would be exploited to fuel containment along this front.

Russia might conclude that there’s nothing that it can do to stop these developments anyhow so it’s therefore better to play along with these perceptions in order to boost its soft power across the Global South by making these countries think that it and China are jointly countering the West in the Arctic. Even in that case, however, Russia will remain the senior partner in this aspect of its relationship since it’s an actual Arctic state while China claims to only be a so-called “near-Arctic” one.

China’s policy is meant to ensure it a seat at the table in multilateral discussions about that body of water through which it plans to expand trade with Europe via the NSR. This is the natural evolution of its desire to play a greater role in global governance in general and specifically in all emerging frontiers like the Arctic, AI, climate change, etc. The CCG’s drills with their Russian counterparts there, even if they were only in the Bering Sea, reinforces its claim as a “near-Arctic state” due to its adjacency to the Arctic.

Russia tacitly supports this claim as proven by the above, but it remains unclear whether it’s comfortable with China playing a role in Arctic governance, which Russia is reluctant to internationalize since it fears that this could lead to more pressure to curtail the sovereignty rights that it enshrined into law there. All countries want to cut costs on trade so there’s no reason why China wouldn’t want its own natural gas, oil, and coal ships to sail along the NSR instead of having to contract Russia’s for this task.

To avoid any misunderstanding, nothing is being implied about an impending problem in their strategic partnership over this issue since all that’s being put forth is that they have natural differences over this issue, though they’ve thus far been responsibly managed and there’s no reason to expect this to change.  Sino-Russo cooperation in the Arctic is indisputably on pace to continue, including in the security dimension, though energy and logistical cooperation are expected to remain the drivers of this trend.