Authored by Jeff Carlson & Hans Mahncke via Truth Over News,

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is hiring a new chief for their virology section. That the federal government should not be hiring anyone, especially not senior staff, during the lame-duck period is self-evident. But what is in many ways even more notable about this appointment is that it reveals that the NIH has a virology section. One certainly could not have guessed this based on the people trotted out by Anthony Fauci during the pandemic, all of whom were from outside the NIH. Curiously, there has been no interest whatsoever from the media as to why that might be, especially since, as we can now all see, the NIH has its own virology branch.

This latest revelation aligns perfectly with newly released emails from January 2021, which gives us an insight into how NIH leadership was not only censoring critical voices in academia, such as that of Jay Bhattacharya, President-elect Trump’s likely pick as new NIH head, but also actively censoring its own experts. In one email, obtained last week by Jimmy Tobias after a years-long Freedom of Information Act battle, Carrie Wolinetz, the senior advisor to the director of the NIH, demanded outright censorship of an in-house NIH expert.

The expert, David Resnick, who works in the NIH’s bioethics section, co-authored a paper discussing the merits (or lack thereof) of gain-of-function experiments. This worried Wolinetz because it might have prompted questions about the origin of Covid and the potential role the NIH may have played in the virus’s creation:

“I have some global concerns with the notion that an NIH employee would be providing what amount to critiques of HHS policy that is implemented by NIH, or suggestions that contradict messaging by NIH leadership.”

The “HHS policy” which Wolinetz felt compelled to protect from any criticism, according to her own email, was based on a blog post by her superior, the then head of the NIH, Francis Collins. In his blog post, dated March 26, 2020, Collins expressed his strong opposition to the lab leak theory, which he called “outrageous.” The sole basis for Collins’ post was the fraudulent Proximal Origin paper, published just a few days earlier. Collins failed to acknowledge that he, along with Fauci, played a significant role in orchestrating the publication of this fraudulent paper, which explicitly aimed to promote the natural origin theory while discrediting the lab leak theory. Wolinetz’s justification for silencing a prominent colleague was so flimsy that the only reasonable conclusion one can draw from her actions is that she was helping Collins and Fauci to cover up their involvement in seeding the pandemic, which included outsourcing gain-of-function experiments on coronaviruses to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Notably, Wolinetz’s email had only one recipient: Lawrence Tabak, the then principal deputy director of the NIH, who would soon become the acting director, a position he held until 2023. In his reply, Tabak agreed to meet Wolinetz to talk about silencing Resnik.

Even more notably, it took another three and a half years years for Resnik to finally publish his article in July 2024, by which time the NIH’s deceitful natural origin narrative had largely collapsed. In the published article Resnik stated:

“the idea that a biosafety lapse at the WIV—or some other laboratory for that matter—could have caused the COVID-19 pandemic is a very real possibility that has significant bioethical and public policy implications.”

It is no wonder that NIH leadership was so eager to silence him.

The implications of Wolinetz’s actions are significant. She pervasively infringed upon academic freedom, as well as on Resnik’s First Amendment rights. Typically, the media experiences a total meltdown when there is even just a suggestion that a government scientist has been silenced; in this instance, we have airtight evidence that this actually occurred. However, since the scientist in question may have made remarks that could be interpreted as mildly critical of Collins and Fauci, the media has completely overlooked the story.

There are additional implications to consider, and this brings us back to the NIH’s recruitment of a new chief virologist. The broader issue, which goes directly to the heart of the Covid origin cover-up, is that despite receiving in excess $60 billion annually from taxpayers and employing over 20,000 staff—many of whom are highly compensated scientists—Collins and Fauci completely disregarded their in-house experts regarding the origins of Covid. Instead, they brought in several conflicted scientists whose careers were entirely dependent on funding from Fauci.

The scientists were subsequently tasked with writing the fraudulent Proximal Origin paper, along with other actions to further the cover-up, such as promoting the false natural origin narrative in the media. Not coincidentally, two of the scientists brought in by Fauci and Collins, Kristian Andersen and Robert Garry, had previously worked in a lab in Kenema, Sierra Leone, which is suspected to be the origin of the Ebola outbreak in 2014. Their expertise in covering up suspected lab leaks may explain why they were chosen. Notably, Andersen had no prior experience with coronaviruses.

These external scientists, employed by Fauci to obscure the true origin of Covid, later collectively received over $50 million in grant allocations from Fauci. Andersen, the lead author of the fraudulent Proximal Origin paper, had an $8.9 million grant awaiting approval on Fauci’s desk as he was tasked with leading the cover-up.

As a general proposition, we were already aware that NIH’s own scientists had been excluded from the Covid origin issue. This was evident because the only names that consistently appeared in connection with Fauci and Covid’s origin were those of his hand-picked group of conflicted scientists, who relied on his financial support. However, the full extent of this exclusion was not revealed until the latest batch of emails was obtained. As is often the case in matters of government corruption, particularly regarding the cover-up of Covid’s origins, the truth is even worse than we initially believed. Rather than merely ignoring or neglecting internal scientists, they were actively silenced by the director’s office.

It cannot be overstated that, although the silencing of Resnik is a serious issue, it is likely just one of many such cases—for which we happen to have obtained incriminating emails. Who else has been silenced? How toxic must the work culture at the NIH be if no one, including Resnik himself, has spoken up?

This entire episode further underscores the urgent need for a total overhaul of the NIH, or perhaps even its complete dissolution. Instead of being dedicated to scientific advancement, the $60 billion organization has become a hub of politics, cover-ups, and corruption. The new Trump administration cannot arrive soon enough.

The trade-down phenomenon has transformed Americans into Walmart shoppers. Goldman confirmed this last week, noting that Walmart’s competitors, such as Target and Dollar stores, suffered market share losses. The reality is that Walmart offers the best deals at a time when consumers are buckling under the weight of record credit card debt, and personal savings have plunged to all-time lows as inflation remains elevated and interest rates sky high. 

“For yet another year, we would call out the strong competitive positioning of the off-price channel, the membership club model, and Amazon, which are all still likely in the middle innings of a decadeslong runway for expansion,” wrote Sharon Zackfia, an analyst at William Blair, in a note quoted by Barron’s. 

The team of analysts led by Zackfia polled 585 consumers about their spending trends this holiday shopping season. They found a third-ranked Walmart as the top destination for gift buying, followed by Amazon.com at 25% and Costco Wholesale at 21%, adding that TJX, Ross Stores, and Burlington Stores were also popular choices. 

Zackfia’s findings come days after Goldman’s consumer specialist Scott Feiler declared Walmart the “winner” in this challenging consumer environment. Feiler’s note was published shortly after Target reported dismal earnings last week.

The takeaway here is that whether they’re grocery shopping or gift buying, consumers think Walmart is the best retailer to find deals. We first revealed this in mid-July. 

In markets, owning these retailers, such as Walmart… Well, Goldman’s Eric Mihelc told clients Monday that shares “aren’t cheap.” 

Here’s more from Mihelc:

The problem for investors is that the shares of these companies aren’t cheap. All trade for more than 20 times next year’s earnings, well above the average of about 14 times for the SPDR S&P Retail exchange-traded fund. Bulls say the premium is worth it because all of these companies have been doing well. Investors looking for a better deal may want to scout the small- and mid-cap aisles, where valuations tend to be lower. DKS, RL, TPR, JWN, ANF are among the stocks favored by Dana Telsey, CEO of Telsey Advisory Group. All five companies have delivered steady revenue and earnings growth in recent quarters, and could continue to do so in 2025. And, all five trade for under 20 times earnings.

In markets, Walmart is the big winner… 

A nation of Walmart shoppers also signifies the implosion of the standard of living through reckless gov’t money printing, which ignited the inflation timebomb. Great job, DC elites!

Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

Donald Trump will not be president for almost another two months… Yet Democrat politicians, both federal and local, vie to be the most strident in denouncing his plans to begin deporting millions of foreign nationals who, over the last four years, have entered the U.S. illegally. Trump pledges to focus initially only on the 400,000 to 500,000 current felons and some 1.4 million additional aliens who have ignored legal summons for their deportation.

Weekly we read of thousands of illegal immigrants arriving from areas controlled by violent Mexican cartel gangs or failed, strife-torn South American countries that have emptied their jails to send their felons northwards. Hundreds of thousands of them have been committing violent crimes while demanding still more free housing and support from strapped American taxpayers.

Big-city left-wing mayors and city councils boast that they will do all their best to nullify federal immigration laws, even as their cities face near insolvency housing, feeding, and monitoring the influx. More specifically, they brag they will continue to order local and state authorities to resist all efforts of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. They scream about possible “massive deportations” to come under Trump, callously ignoring that their own advocacy has fueled rising crime waves of unaudited illegal aliens. And they appear absolutely indifferent to the social costs imposed by illegal immigration upon their own poor and middle-class constituents.

Virtue-signaling Democratic governors and mayors have so far not dared to utter a word of criticism about what has been the Biden administration’s truly historic “massive importation” of illegal aliens into the U.S. over the last four years.

Why?

Largely because these political grandees and media demagogues have the money, connections, zip codes, and influence to be immune from the fallout of their own performance-art advocacy of illegal immigration.

They take for granted that the baleful consequences of open borders always falls upon the distant and vulnerable Other.

Again, consider the left-wing logic:

it is deemed moral to dismantle the border, disrupt the social fabric of the country, and destroy federal immigration laws.

But:

it is immoral to restore U.S. sovereignty, secure the border, stop the flux of lethal cartel-supplied fentanyl and child sex trafficking, and follow the law?

In this regard, the party that prides itself as progressive is regressively adopting the states’ rights arguments of 19th-century southern states that boasted they would resist all federal enforcement of tariffs. By the late 1850s, these future Confederates were asserting that the national government had no jurisdiction in their state domains. Such brazen nullification would lead to the Civil War.

Note the left assumes that conservatives will not emulate their tactics and thus declare swaths of federal firearms or environmental laws null and void within their red state and county jurisdictions. They know that doing so would start a cycle of lawlessness that would eventually result in either civil war, total anarchy, or both.

The open-borders-left’s more immediate spiritual predecessors are states’-rights-resisters like former segregationist Governor George Wallace. He boasted that federal civil rights legislation had no sway over his own state’s laws. Wallace, remember, in a historic moment, was removed from blocking the entry of black students to the University of Alabama by federal troops.

Given that nullification now has been turned upside down, will California Governor Gavin Newsom or New York Governor Kathy Hochul block the entrance to their state jails to prevent federal agents from sending home murderers and rapists who arrived in the U.S. illegally?

The left has learned nothing and forgotten nothing from the recent election and decisive Trump victory. The defeat of left-wing candidates was a result most prominently of the Biden administration’s deliberate destruction of the southern border and the illegal welcoming of some 12 million foreigners without legal sanction or health and criminal background audits.

This lawlessness ensured that Kamala Harris, who had sanctioned it, was going to lose the election. The daily sight of thousands swarming the border with impunity, coupled with Orwellian assertions of President Biden, “Border Czar” Vice President Harris, and Homeland Security Director Alejandro Mayorkas that the border was absolutely “secure,” doomed the Biden and then Harris campaigns.

Violating U.S. sovereignty and laws while sending millions into already frayed health, food, housing, medical, legal, and education social services designed to help American citizens was never a winning campaign strategy.

Yet almost nothing could deter the Biden-Harris administration from their fixation with undermining the border and federal immigration law while seeking to change the very demography of the American southwest. The resulting influx of illegal aliens within just three years proved comparable in size to the creation of some 12 American cities, all the size of San Francisco.

The mass crossings resulted from an effort by Joe Biden to utterly disregard his oath to faithfully execute the laws of his country. He was also helped in his lawlessness by some 600 state and local “sanctuary city” jurisdictions that subverted federal law by using their own offices to thwart immigration enforcement. Indeed, left-wing state and local officials pledged their own greater fealty to the welfare of the illegal millions who ignored the law and swamped the border than to their own overtaxed and underserved American citizen constituents.

Finally, on November 5, the people said no more. In historic fashion, traditional Democratic constituencies of the working class and minorities turned on their own left-wing politicians who had first turned on them.

Yet the cynicism of the left had known no bounds. As the presidential campaign had heated up, and the polls, first for Biden and then for his surrogate Harris, began to erode, both began to lie that their vanished border was in fact “secure.”

In other words, they knew they had permanently alienated the American public, knew that it would cost them the election, and so then frantically first tried to deny the truth they had welcomed in millions of illegal aliens. Then they pivoted and sought belatedly to stop the public relations disaster at the border for a few weeks before the election, vainly hiding the sheer cynicism of such an insincere effort.

Earlier, they had tried blaming border hawk Republicans for not signing onto a false border “bipartisan,” red-herring bill. The left introduced it in Congress solely to allow blanket amnesties for millions of illegal aliens while still allowing 4,000 illegal aliens daily to enter the U.S.

The great majority of sane senators who did not sign the Trojan Horse bill were then immediately demonized for the mess by Biden and Harris themselves, who deliberately created the catastrophe.

Now that the election is over, an enfeebled Joe Biden has two months left on his presidency and no longer worries about reelection. So, in its final gasp, the left is again trying to invite in more illegal aliens. Apparently one final huge caravan is forming south of the border and plans to make its way northward just days before Trump takes office and begins to fulfill his promises to the majority of voters to close the border.

Finally, why did illegal immigration explode to levels never seen before?

One, the left saw millions of desperately poor foreign nationals as a natural long-term constituency for their big-government, anti-poverty programs. They felt that some 20-30 million illegal aliens over the last 50 years, along with their children, had flipped California, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado—and soon Arizona—from blue to red as planned. Of course, should the sudden Hispanic backlash against the immigration insanity of bicoastal elites persist, then the left might turn on their Hispanic voters as illiberal or brainwashed by the right—and ironically move to close the border to preclude more MAGA boosters.

Two, Mexico and Latin America received some 120 billion dollars per year in remittances, mostly sent by their own citizens residing illegally in the U.S. and reliant on American government services that free them up to send billions into the coffers of our own increasingly hostile neighbors. Mexico further sees its 20 million expatriate illegal aliens as a strong lobby group to promote Mexico City’s agendas. The more Mexico exports its impoverished citizens, the more it saves on social services for them, while cynically noting that the more distant and longer their citizens reside away from Mexico, the more they romanticize it, safely from afar.

Three, corporate employers like cheap labor from Latin America, especially when the U.S. government subsidizes such workers with massive housing, food, transportation, and health social services.

On the other side of the ledger, the left cares little that an open border is destroying support for legal immigration and de facto punishes immigrants who wish to follow our laws. A cynic might argue that the left also may fear legal immigrants applying under meritocratic standards, as too independent, self-supporting, educated, skilled, and law-abiding to become its predictably loyal constituents at the polls.

So, what might change to close the border and stop the massive influx?

Donald Trump won the electoral college and the popular vote with a mandate to restore border security and immigration sanity. He received a near-record number of minority voters for a Republican candidate, given they believed that most often must deal with the realities of what elites have unleashed.

In other words, the proverbial people are on to the no-borders elites. They suffer firsthand from their utopian bromides and are tired of being smeared as racists and xenophobes for simply wishing the United States to follow the law, restore secure borders, and end illegal immigration.

And now they have the power and mandate to do all of that.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has come under fire after the Washington Free Beacon reported earlier this month that the State Department held therapy sessions for employees who couldn’t handle President-elect Trump’s election win.

“I am concerned that the Department is catering to federal employees who are personally devastated by the normal functioning of American democracy through the provision of government-funded mental health counseling because Kamala Harris was not elected President of the United States,” said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) in a letter to Blinken last week.

According to the Free Beacon, two alleged therapy sessions were held after Trump’s victory, with sources telling the outlet that one session amounted to an information “cry session,” Fox News reports.

Meanwhile, a State Department email sent to agency employees touted an “insightful webinar where we delve into effective stress management techniques to help you navigate these challenging times.”

“Change is a constant in our lives, but it can often bring about stress and uncertainty,” reads the email. “Join us for an insightful webinar where we delve into effective stress management techniques to help you navigate these challenging times. This session will provide tips and practical strategies for managing stress and maintaining your well being.”

Issa slammed the reported sessions as “disturbing,” adding that “nonpartisan government officials” should not be having a “personal meltdown over the result of a free and fair election.”

While the Republican lawmaker acknowledged that the mental health of the agency’s employees was important, he questioned the use of taxpayer dollars to counsel those upset about the election, demanding answers on how many sessions have been conducted, how many more are planned, and how much the sessions are costing the department.

Issa also raised fears that the sessions could also call into question the willingness of some of the State Department’s employees to carry out Trump’s new vision for the agency. -Fox News

“The mere fact that the Department is hosting these sessions raises significant questions about the willingness of its personnel to implement the lawful policy priorities that the American people elected President Trump to pursue and implement,” Issa said. “The Trump Administration has a mandate for wholesale change in the foreign policy arena, and if foreign service officers cannot follow through on the American people’s preferences, they should resign and seek a political appointment in the next Democrat administration.”

Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news,

Donald Trump’s popularity has surged among young Americans, jumping nearly 20 per cent with those aged 18-29 in the space of just over a week.

“Conducted from November 17 to 19, the survey revealed that 57 percent of Americans aged 18 to 29 now hold a favorable view of Trump, marking a net favorability increase of 19 points in that demographic since the YouGov poll on November 9 and 12,” reports Newsweek.

This segment of the demographic represented 16 per cent of the 2024 voting electorate

A video posted to TikTok by a young woman underscores the enthusiasm towards Trump being expressed by Gen Z and younger millennials.

REPORT: Trump’s favorability surges by almost 20 points with young Americans, according to a new YouGov poll.

The seismic shift is extremely noticeable on TikTok, where young people (like in the video below) explain why they left the Democratic party for the Right.

57% of… pic.twitter.com/zucKAotvIb

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 24, 2024

“Why are we being fed this narrative [about Trump] over and over… when it directly contradicts the truth at every turn,” said Natalya Toryanski.

“Then I realized conservatives are the resistance. Conservatives are resisting against the big government machine,” she added.

Part of the reason driving the numbers is the fact that Trump appeared on a number of viral podcasts with personalities who resonate with a younger demographic, including Adin Ross, Logan Paul, and the Nelk Boys.

Meanwhile, approval ratings for both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris continue to plummet.

Biden’s job approval now stands at 37 per cent, with 57 per cent disapproving, while Harris has a net disapproval rating of minus 7 per cent.

Among all adults, Trump has a favorability rating of +5 points.

Meanwhile, it’s been revealed that the oldest person running Kamala’s TikTok account was just 25-years-old, but that didn’t stop her from falling short after a campaign centered on cringeworthy messaging.

The oldest person at Kamala HQ TikTok was 25 years old.

The Kamala HQ team was known for spreading cringey propaganda across all platforms.

Trump’s favorability has surged by nearly 20 points with young Americans

We can thank these clowns for helping make that happen. pic.twitter.com/e0xcViGdc3

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 23, 2024

* * *

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.

AMC Entertainment Holdings announced on Monday that it achieved the highest domestic revenue in its 104-year history during the pre-Thanksgiving weekend – mainly because millions of Americans flocked to theaters nationwide to watch WICKED and GLADIATOR II.

In a press release, AMC reported its “highest domestic revenue (admissions revenue plus food and beverage, including merchandise) on the weekend before Thanksgiving in AMC’s 104-year history.” It also noted this marked “highest domestic admissions revenue on the weekend before Thanksgiving since 2019, and the third highest domestic admissions revenue on the weekend before Thanksgiving in AMC’s history.” 

AMC recorded 4.6 million moviegoers across its US and international theaters from Thursday to Sunday. The world’s largest movie theater chain operates 900 theaters with 10,000 screens globally, including 660 theaters and 8,200 screens in the US.

“Naturally, we are pleased that at our US theatres, AMC just recorded our highest revenues for a pre-Thanksgiving weekend in AMC’s entire history. Similarly, it is thoroughly satisfying that fully 4.6 million people graced our AMC Theatres in the US and Odeon Cinemas abroad over the just completed four days Thursday to Sunday. What a wonderful way to head into what we expect will be a busy and entertaining holiday moviegoing season,” AMC Chairman and CEO Adam Aron wrote in a statement. 

With the Goldman Most Shorted Index in a bull market year-to-date, up 27% as of Monday afternoon, everyone who cares asks whether the Reddit Army of Apes jumps back into ‘meme’ stock AMC…

AMC has over $4 billion in long-term debt on the books and has refinanced and extended its maturities to 2029 and beyond. However, interest payments remain a massive burden on its bottom line.

Eric Wold, analyst at B. Riley, recently noted, “They’ve taken moves to reduce their debt, but they still have a lot of debt and they’re still paying pretty high interest rates on it.” 

In the third quarter, AMC’s revenue exceeded spending, but around $100 million in interest payments pushed the movie chain $21 million into the red for the period.

Wold said, “I don’t think it’ll be consistently profitable for a number of years.” 

However, the latest weekend performance highlights an improving box office environment.

And what do hedge funds know? Instutional ownership is on the rise.

Short interest has plateaued since mid-year. Current Bloomberg data shows about 13.5% of the float is short, equivalent to 48.6 million shares. The short-interest ratio jumped to 2023 highs above 8. 

Shares have been trading laterally for much of the year after the company took advantage of retail traders and completed ATM and debt-for-equity exchanges (see here & here). 

Meanwhile, Google searches show the apes are more focused on crypto than ‘meme’ stocks…

Will that all change? 

Authored by Rick Moran via PJ Media,

The hosts of “The View” were forced to eat a little crow and correct the record after they casually smeared three of  Donald Trump’s cabinet picks and former Rep. George Santos.

ABC’s legal team thought that the anti-Trump harridans were exposing the network to several potential libel suits and hurriedly told the hosts to read the “legal notes” on air.

During a segment discussing the 23 charges against former Rep. Santos, including wire fraud, Joy Behar “forgot” to mention that Santos pled guilty to wire fraud and identity theft. Behar left the impression that Santos’s case had yet to be adjudicated.

That brought a quick legal disclaimer from ABC legal.

 “One minute, I just got a note,” Behar said. “We have to clarify that Santos eventually reached a plea deal after pleading guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.”

It went downhill from there.

The hosts then discussed the sexual assault allegations against Trump’s first attorney general-designate, Rep. Matt Gaetz, and his nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth. After playing fast and loose with the truth by “forgetting” to mention that neither Gaetz or Hesgeth was never charged after an investigation into the allegations, Hostin was once again forced to read a legal disclaimer supplied by the producers.

“I have a legal note,” she said. “Matt Gaetz has long denied all allegations and has not been charged with any crime.”

“Also, another legal note,” Hostin said, looking annoyed “Pete Hegseth’s lawyer said he paid the woman [the person accusing him] in 2023 to head off the threat of a baseless lawsuit. He has denied any wrongdoing.“

A few minutes later, they were forced to issue a fourth legal disclaimer after implying that Trump paid off attorney general nominee Pam Bondi when she was Florida’s AG by donating to her campaign.

“I’m sorry everyone, I have another legal note,” Hostin said.

“Both Trump and Bondi have denied allegations of a quid pro quo that his past donation played any role in her office’s decision not to take legal action against Trump University when she was attorney general of Florida,” Hostin stated.

The View was forced to issue Four “Legal Notes” today for their lies against, Matt Gaetz, Pam Bondi, George Santos, and Pete Hegseth lol

There is a pattern…

They knowingly spread lies about Donald Trump and his ally’s… only to issue a “legal note” minutes later to avoid the… pic.twitter.com/LHLiQFZMyS

— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) November 22, 2024

LMAOO

The View has to KEEP reading legal notes, because all they do is LIE. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/UYVVCrB79R

— American AF 🇺🇸 (@iAnonPatriot) November 23, 2024

“The View” hosts issuing “legal notes” is a regular part of the broadcast.

“Quick legal note!”

The View was forced to issue 36 legal notes this year, due to their reckless, hate-fueled comments. pic.twitter.com/dqH7RXrgmo

— Media Research Center (@theMRC) December 23, 2022

New York Sun:

The compulsory reading of  the  “legal notes” comes as ABC’s owner, The Walt Disney Company, may be particularly sensitive to conservatives taking legal action against ABC News’s liberal television personalities for defamation. ABC News, which oversees “The View”,  is currently being sued by Trump over on-air comments made by “Good Morning America” co-host George Stephanopoulos who pestered Rep. Nancy Mace by asking her repeatedly to comment on how Trump had been “found liable for rape.” Mr. Trump was in fact only found liable for “sexual assault” in the case of the writer E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of raping her in a dressing room on the lingerie floor of the venerable Manhattan department store Bergdorf Goodman some time in the 1990s. Trump has strenuously denied the accusations.. 

ABC’s lawyers have failed to get his lawsuit thrown out and it’s entering the deposition phase, when ABC will be forced to disgorge internal communications. 

Is it that they feel so entitled that the truth shouldn’t matter, or are they so stupid they think that just because they believe something, it must be so?

Can ABC afford to have “The View” hosts running off their mouths, saying whatever comes into their tiny brains? Stay tuned.

Arabica futures in New York surged to 13-year highs amid concerns about inventory stockpiles this season in Brazil, the world’s top producer. With next year’s harvest still eight months away, supply fears are beginning to spook agricultural traders. 

Carlos Santana Jr., a Brazil-based commercial director at trader Ecom Group, told Bloomberg, “There are about eight months before the start of the next season, and the percentage of coffee sold by Brazilian growers is very high.”

“We might not have enough coffee to get to the next season,” Santana warned. 

Consultancy Safras e Mercado calculated that 70% of the current harvest has been sold, much of which pours into international markets. That compares with 64% in the previous season.

The strong stream of exports led the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service to estimate a reduction in Brazil’s coffee stockpiles. Inventories are expected to reach only 1.2 million bags when the current season ends in June. That is a 26% decrease compared to the previous year. The outlook for next year’s harvest is also rather dire. 

Skyrocketing prices have been fuelled by trees in Brazil that have an ultra-low number of cherries containing coffee beans, a byproduct of adverse weather conditions, such as drought, this year. Simultaneously, consumers have ramped demand for brews that require additional beans.

Arabica futures in New York have touched the highest levels since 2011. 

If monthly gains of +27% hold, Arabica futures will have sustained the biggest gains since February 2014.

Citi commodity strategist Arkady Gevorkyan told clients, “Coffee’s bull run [is] likely to continue near term,” adding, “We revise up our three-month target for Arabica coffee to $US3.10 a pound, and note a significant upside risk skew to this forecast as supply from Brazil and Vietnam could still underperform.”

Soaring demand for ready-to-drink coffee, combined with a bleak supply outlook in Brazil, will likely continue driving prices higher through the end of the year. This is terrible news for consumers as food inflation remains sticky. 

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday dropped the election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump, seeking a judge’s dismissal of the charges.

In a 6-page court filing, Smith’s team argued that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has long argued “that the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated,” referring to Trump’s recent election victory.

“This outcome is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant,” the filing states.

His office said that prosecutors have conferred with Trump’s attorneys, who indicated they do not oppose the government’s motion.

“Based on the Department’s interpretation of the Constitution, the Government moves for dismissal without prejudice of the superseding indictment,” the court documents state.

The move marks an end to Smith’s criminal pursuit of Trump over the past two years or so, accusing him of attempting to illegally overturn the 2020 election. Smith also accused Trump of allegedly mishandling classified documents in a separate case, which was dismissed over the summer by a federal judge.

The decision was anticipated after Smith’s team said in court filings that it was assessing how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the classified documents case in the wake of Trump’s win on Nov. 5 over Vice President Kamala Harris.

According to Smith’s team, the DOJ believes the president-elect can no longer be tried in accordance with longstanding policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.

The president-elect has often criticized the two cases that were brought by Smith, named as the special counsel by now-outgoing Attorney General Merrick Garland, describing them as attempts to use the DOJ to target a political opponent. Earlier this year, Trump told a radio host that if he were elected, he would move to remove Smith as special counsel.

Over the summer, the election case triggered a U.S. Supreme Court decision that said presidents can enjoy some immunity from prosecution for their official acts and duties.

Months later, Smith filed a superseding indictment that argued Trump acted on his own accord and not within his presidential duties when he allegedly broke the law. Trump had pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Trump also faced similar, election-related charges in Fulton County, Georgia. However, that case is in limbo after a co-defendant accused the prosecutor, Fani Willis, of being in a relationship with her special counsel, Nathan Wade, who resigned earlier this year after a judge issued an order.

That Fulton County judge, however, allowed Willis, an elected Democrat, to remain on the case. But Trump and several co-defendants petitioned the Georgia Court of Appeals to reject the judge’s ruling, effectively pausing the case.

In his business records case in New York, sentencing for Trump was postponed indefinitely last week by a judge after his election win. On May 30, Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to payments he made during the 2016 presidential campaign, which he had denied were illegal.

Sentencing in that case was initially scheduled for July but was postponed until Nov. 26. In a ruling on Nov. 22, Judge Juan Merchan wrote that he was granting a request to adjourn that sentencing date.

Having made it clear that US energy is a core spoke of Trump’s economic revitalization strategy, the president-elect’s transition team is putting together a wide-ranging energy package to roll out within days of his taking office that would approve export permits for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, increase oil drilling off the U.S. coast and on federal lands, and accelerating the replenishing of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve largely drained by Biden who did everything in his power to prevent oil prices from rising.

As reported by Reuters, the energy checklist largely reflects promises Trump made on the campaign trail, but the plan to roll out the list as early as day one ensures that oil and gas production will rank alongside immigration as a pillar of Trump’s early agenda.

Trump also plans to repeal some of Biden’s key climate legislation and regulations, such as tax credits for electric vehicles and new clean power plant standards that aim to phase out coal and natural gas, Reuters reported.

An early priority would be lifting Biden’s election-year pause on new export permits for LNG and moving swiftly to approve pending permits. Trump would also look to expedite drilling permits on federal lands and quickly reopen five-year drilling plans off the U.S. coast to include more lease sales.

Trump would also call on Congress to provide new funding so he can replenish the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve which was depleted under Biden during the Ukraine war. Replenishing the reserve would boost short-term oil demand and encourage U.S. production.

And yes – in a symbolic gesture, Trump would approve the Keystone Pipeline, an issue that was an environmental flashpoint and which was halted after Biden canceled a key permit on his first day in office. But any company looking to build the multibillion-dollar effort to carry Canadian crude oil to the U.S. would need to start from scratch because things like easements have been returned to landowners.

“The American people can bank on President Trump using his executive power on day one to deliver on the promises he made to them on the campaign trail,” Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s transition spokesperson, said in a statement.

Many of the elements in the plan would require time to move through Congress or the nation’s regulatory system. Trump has promised to declare an energy emergency on his first day in office that could test whether he can bypass those barriers to impose some changes on an accelerated schedule.

Separately, as discussed last week, Trump will also put pressure on the highly politicized and pro-Biden International Energy Agency, the Paris-based energy watchdog that advises industrialized countries on energy policy. Republicans have criticized the IEA’s focus on policies to reduce emissions. Trump’s advisers have urged him to withhold funding unless the IEA takes a more pro-oil position.

“I have pushed Trump in person and his team generally on pressuring the IEA to return to its core mission of energy security and to pivot away from greenwashing,” said Dan Eberhart, CEO of oilfield service firm Canary.

Trump’s push to restore LNG exports comes less than a year after Biden put a freeze on new LNG export permits in January to study the environmental impacts, in a failed election-year move aimed at making gains with the party’s green voting blocs. Without the export permits, developers cannot go ahead with multi-year construction plans for new projects. Projects delayed include Venture Global’s CP2, Commonwealth LNG, and Energy Transfer’s Lake Charles complex, all of which are in Louisiana.

The United States is the world’s top producer of natural gas, and became the No. 1 exporter of LNG in 2022 as Europe looked to America to wean itself off Russia’s vast energy supplies following the invasion of Ukraine, and especially after the CIA blew up the Nord Stream pipeline and tried to blame Putin.

“The LNG issue is a lay-up and he plans to go strong on the issue,” said one of the sources.

There are five U.S. LNG export projects that have been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, but are still awaiting permit approvals at the Department of Energy, federal records show.

Biden’s pause also halted necessary environmental reviews, portions of which may still be needed for the five pending DOE permits to withstand legal scrutiny.

Finally, Trump will look to accelerate drilling off the U.S. coast and on federal lands. The average time to complete a drilling permit on federal and Indian land averaged 258 days in the first three years of Biden’s administration, up from 172 days during the four years of Trump’s presidency, according to federal data. Trump is expected to expedite pending permits, hold sales more frequently and offer land that is more likely to deliver oil.

Still, despite the lag time in permit approvals, Biden’s Interior Department approved more onshore oil drilling permits on average than Trump’s first administration, federal records show. Oil output on federal lands and waters hit a record in 2023, while gas production reached its highest level since 2016, according to federal data.

Drilling activity on federal lands and waters accounts for about a quarter of U.S. oil production and 12% of gas output.