Authored by RFE/RL staff via OilPrice.com,

• The EU has approved a new sanctions mechanism to target Russian hybrid threats, expanding the scope of existing sanctions beyond geographical limitations and specific actions.

• The new sanctions aim to address a wider range of destabilizing activities, including election interference, disinformation campaigns, and attacks on critical infrastructure.

• The effectiveness of the new sanctions will depend on the ability of EU member states to provide compelling evidence of Russian involvement in such activities.

Ambassadors from the 27 European Union member states on October 2 agreed to a new sanctions mechanism targeting Russian hybrid actions. Broadly, “hybrid” here means actions carried out on behalf of a state to undermine the functioning of another country, so, for example, trying to impact elections or targeting critical infrastructure. It is expected that the new measures will be formally agreed by the bloc’s finance ministers when they assemble in Luxembourg on October 8.

The new sanctions regime is, according to the EU diplomats I have spoken to, meant to plug some of the gaps in the current restrictive measures on the Kremlin.

Essentially, the EU has two types of sanctions regimes: geographical and horizontal. Brussels has mostly used geographical sanctions — which focus on a particular location or political entity — to hit Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In short, it targets the Russian government, its citizens and entities, such as companies, that the bloc deems to have undermined the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

In this area, Brussels has gone quite far — introducing all sorts of economic sanctions on various Russian industries, such as oil, diamonds, and coal, just to mention a few, as well as imposing visa bans, and asset freezes on around 2,300 people and firms.

Then, on top of that, there are horizontal sanctions that are not limited to one country and that target people and companies around the globe. In this area, the bloc has sanctions pertaining to terrorism, cyberattacks, the use of chemical weapons, and human rights abuses. Russian citizens are blacklisted under these horizontal sanctions as well.

Deep Background: 

Earlier this year, the EU created something of a mix between a geographical and a horizontal sanctions regime — creating a blacklist of people committing human rights abuses in Russia. The sanctions largely targeted people responsible for the jailing and mistreatment of Russian opposition figures such as Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was released from a Russian prison last month in a major prisoner swap between Russia and the West, as well as Aleksei Navalny, who died in mysterious circumstances in a Russian prison in February.

The sanctions just agreed by the EU are a similar mix. But, actually, they go a step further. The text, prepared by the legal service of the Council of the EU, one of the bloc’s main decision-making bodies, and seen by RFE/RL, notes that the EU is free to impose asset freezes and visa bans on people or entities that are “responsible for, implementing, supporting, or benefiting from actions or policies by the government of the Russian Federation, which undermine or threaten democracy, the rule of law, stability or security in the union or in one or several of its member states, in an international organization, or in a third country.”

So, in a sense, it covers not only Russian citizens, but also other nationals working for Russia — and it involves not only actions taken in the European Union but worldwide. Brussels could, in other words, now go after a wide spectrum of Russian activities, not just confined to a narrow geographical area (such as Ukraine) or very specific actions (such as human rights abuses).

The two big challenges going forward, however, will be defining the hybrid actions, or “destabilizing activities,” as the official document puts it, and then proving that Russia is responsible.

It will be up to the member states to present compelling evidence that the bloc’s legal service can approve. This is likely to prove tricky, especially given that all 27 member states must sign off. It is also unclear how far back the sanctions can go — or if potential new listings will only be able to concern recent actions.

Drilling Down:

The legal text lists eight different examples that are sanctionable.

The first one is perhaps the most wide-ranging: “the obstruction or undermining of the democratic political process,” which includes trying to tamper with elections or challenging the constitutional order of a country.

It will likely be hard to prove that Russia is effectively interfering in an EU member state. However, the new sanctions may open up the possibilities of the bloc punishing Russians attempting to interfere in vulnerable third countries. Two cases in point: both Georgia and Moldova are holding crucial elections this month. Georgia is holding parliamentary elections on October 20.

The second example listed in the EU’s legal document concerns the planning, directing, or engaging in violent demonstrations. Diplomats I spoke to said that this could apply to a situation such as recent riots in the United Kingdom, which began in July after the fatal stabbing of three young girls in the northern English town of Southport. Disinformation helped fuel the riots, which developed strong anti-Muslim and anti-migrant sentiments. If it was proven that Russians were fanning the protests online, they could be targeted if something similar were to occur.

The third sanctionable offense is activities that “silence, intimidate, coerce, or exact reprisals against persons critical of the actions or policies of the Russian Federation.” So, for example, that could apply to something like the hammer and tear-gas attack in Lithuania earlier this year on Leonid Volkov, a former close aide to Navalny.

Then there is “coordinated information manipulation.” A good example of the type of activity this could apply to would be the Prague-based Voice of Europe website that both the Czech Republic and the EU placed sanctions on earlier this year for running a Russian influence operation.

Another sanctionable offense would be the targeting of critical infrastructure in EU member states. This includes crimes such as damaging undersea cables, but could also include arson attacks on buildings and public transportation.

What the EU called the “instrumentalization of migrants” could also be targeted, with examples seen at the borders of Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, where the Belarusian authorities, often supported by Russia, have been accused of flying in migrants, mainly from Asia, and then sending them to the borders of nearby EU countries.

The last two items on the EU’s list are activities that Wagner and other Russian-sponsored mercenary groups would most likely carry out. The EU would target actions such as “instigating or facilitating an armed conflict in a third country” and exploiting such armed conflicts through “the illicit exploitation or trade of natural resources and wildlife in a third country.” That is a reference to illegal ivory or diamond trading.

A woman in Denmark is being sued for $14,000 due to allegations of “harassment and defamation” for misgendering a “trans-identified male with masculine pronouns”. To be honest, after reading that line multiple times, we still don’t know what gender the “victim” was formerly, and claims to be now.

Psychotherapist Lotte Ingerslev, a critic of gender ideology, “misgendered” Nadia Jacobsen while alerting her female followers about his hardcore fetish porn content. According to Reduxx:

Ingerslev’s blog post had documented the pornographic videos and images Jacobsen had posted to his social media and various fetish pornography websites. In one post made by Jacobsen to his now-defunct Tumblr account, nadiatv, he can be seen engaging with his male followers by way of gamifying his own sexual masochism.

After warning her followers, on August 29, Ingerslev received a letter from Jacobsen’s attorney demanding she delete a blog post exposing his sexual behavior and his role in drafting “inclusivity” policies for the Danish Football Association.

The post, published March 6, was titled: “Man whose pornographic, fetish-focused videos are available for public viewing online helped draft DBU’s new ‘inclusive’ recommendations to allow men into girls’ changing rooms.”

“To make it a little more interesting I am going to let you all decide for how long I should refrain from masturbating. I can’t wear a chastity cage all the time, but when I am home I will… For every ‘like’ you add one day. For every reblog you add 3 days… I will only come [sic] as a girl for the rest of my life,” Jacobsen had written. Reduxx notes:

There are also several photos and videos of Jacobsen masturbating himself anally with a sex toy while pretending to be a woman and wearing lingerie. Within the transgender pornography fetish community, a man’s rectum is described using terms typically associated with female genitalia.

The letter also sought compensation of at least DKK 100,000 ($14,000 USD) and accused her of harassment, defamation, and misgendering, according to Reduxx.

The Reduxx report notes that lawyer Nikolaj Nielsen wrote: “Lotte Ingerslev has unlawfully violated Nadia Jacobsen’s privacy and honor by publishing on her website transkoen.dk an article that contains a number of information and images of an intimate nature, untrue claims, as well as by harassing Nadia Jacobsen in the article because of Nadia Jacobsen’s gender identity.”

“As illustrated by the title of the article, Lotte Ingerslev chose to misgender Nadia Jacobsen throughout the blog post and consistently refer to Nadia Jacobsen as a man, as well as to use the pronouns he/his when she refers to Nadia Jacobsen in the third person,” the suit continues. 

“In Danish law, it is generally recognized that deliberate misgendering of a trans person constitutes harassment.”

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

Concern among Spaniards about immigration has surged in the past year with 57 percent of citizens believing there are now “too many” immigrants in the country, new polling shows.

A recent survey by the 40dB Institute for El País and Cadena SER revealed that 75 percent of Spaniards now associate immigration with negative concepts such as insecurity, crime, and overburdened public services. The increase in concern — up by 16 points over the last year and a half — reflects a considerable shift at a time when the migrant crisis, particularly on the Canary Islands archipelago is at the forefront of public debate.

A total of 41 percent of respondents described immigration as a significant concern with a growing unease particularly prevalent among Gen Z males who broadly agree with the description of Vox leader Santiago Abascal, who has described the current migration crisis as an “invasion,” and the center-right opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who has linked immigration with crime and called for “mass deportations.”

The survey reveals significant differences in opinions based on political affiliation. Among supporters of the hard-right SALF, 93.4 percent believe there are too many immigrants, with Vox supporters close behind at 86.1 percent. However, 4 out of 10 left-wing PSOE voters (41 percent) also share the belief that there are too many immigrants, while 27.7 percent of Sumar voters and 24.2 percent of Podemos voters express similar views.

The majority of respondents (74.8 percent) link immigration to various negative outcomes, such as increased insecurity (29.5 percent), strain on public services (27.2 percent), social divides (21.2 percent), and crime (19.2 percent). A significant portion also associates immigration with unemployment (16.7 percent) and a “loss of cultural identity” (7.6 percent).

Despite these concerns, there remains support for humanitarian immigration policies. A majority (64.3 percent) agree that Spain should welcome people fleeing war or political persecution, though over half (52.8 percent) believe this should come with limitations.

A significant takeaway from the survey is that 1 in 4 Spaniards would halt immigration from North Africa’s Maghreb region, while 1 in 6 would restrict immigrants arriving from sub-Saharan Africa.

Respondents also saw a difference in the origin of immigration when asked whether they would be happy with a family member marrying a foreign national. While nearly half (49 percent) would approve of a son or daughter entering into a relationship with someone from northern, central, or southern Europe, just 22.8 percent would be happy for a child’s partner to originate from North Africa.

Despite its current handling of immigration, the incumbent PSOE was still seen as the most competent party to address the issue among the wider population with 20.5 percent, followed by Vox (17.7 percent) and the center-right PP (16.2 percent).

Vox supporters, however, were the most convinced their party was the best equipped to tackle the issue with 83 percent of support. In contrast, 67.7 percent of PSOE voters believed their party had the best approach, and 57.3 percent of PP voters supported their own party’s stance.

Read more here…

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.

*  *  *

If you would like to support the work that Alt-Market does while also receiving content on advanced tactics for defeating the globalist agenda, subscribe to our exclusive newsletter The Wild Bunch Dispatch.  Learn more about it HERE.

A severe geomagnetic storm disrupted golf cart operations relying on GPS technology at courses across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. On Thursday, Club Car sent an email to courses, warning that a powerful solar storm “will impact all GPS devices” on these high-tech carts.

Courses that use ‘Club Car Connect,’ a heads-up display in the golf cart that utilizes GPS and acts as rangefinders for golfers while simultaneously allowing course management to geofence locations on each hole, experienced widespread disruptions during today’s solar storm, which brought many carts at various courses to a standstill.

“Geomagnetic storms will impact all GPS devices, and the Visage Units may be affected by this solar event. You may experience cars falsely triggering action zones during this event, our recommendation is to reduce the restriction of action zones or turn off the zones. We will continue to monitor conditions today,” Club Car Connected Account Manager David Nichols, PGA, wrote in an email to US courses.

In other words, the solar storm interfered with the GPS satellite signals used by the carts, causing inaccurate location data and triggering course restrictions. This sent many golf carts into snail mode, which only infuriated golfers. According to the email, the solution was to turn off the geo-fencing limits.

Into the evening, a severe solar storm is underway.

Colorful auroras could be visible in areas across the nation.

Intense solar storms can wreak havoc on the modern economy.

The chaos on courses today was a first-world problem.

Amid ongoing heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in south Lebanon, the only external troops which have long been present on the ground are a group of UN peacekeeping troops. They are a mainly Irish contingency, called the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and have remained near the Israel-Lebanon border since the 2006 war.

The UN peacekeepers have been increasingly alarmed over the Israeli army setting up forward bases in areas near their operations, and this week the Israeli government alerted the UN troops they must move positions or risk coming under fire. 

That appears to have happened this week. On Thursday the UNIFIL force said its headquarters came under fire by the Israeli army and that two of its troops were wounded. The UN team had refused Israeli army (IDF) demands to evacuate its position further north, setting up for a bloody standoff as tanks moved in.

“The injuries are fortunately, this time, not serious, but they remain in hospital,” said UNIFIL in its statement. UNIFIL is further calling the fresh incident “very serious” given the IDF “deliberately fired” on its positions.

The UN HQ is located in the village of Labbouneh, and its team said IDF fire hit “the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, and damaging vehicles and a communications system.”

The statement warned that “targeting peacekeepers is a very serious violation, not only of Resolution 1701 but also of international humanitarian law.” Monitoring cameras have also been destroyed. The Israeli action reportedly involved several tanks.

“If the situation becomes impossible for the mission to operate in the south of Lebanon … it will be up to the Security Council to decide how to move forward,” the UN said. Israel’s military did not issue immediate comment.

Days prior, UNIFIL said it is “deeply concerned by recent activities by the IDF immediately adjacent to the Mission’s position 6-52, southeast of Maroun al-Ras… inside Lebanese territory.”

Italy is among countries contributing to the UN mission who are outraged, and its government summoned the Israeli ambassador in Rome. “The shooting at the UNIFIL headquarters” which involved “small arms fire” is “intolerable, they must be carefully and decisively avoided,” Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto Crosetto said in a statement.

 Ireland too has issued formal protest and is livid:

Two United Nations (UN) peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have been wounded after an Israeli tank directly hit a UN observation tower, prompting outrage from troop-contributing nations.

Italy, which leads the 10,000-strong peacekeeping force along the Lebanon-Israel border, said firing on UN bases broke international law, and summoned the Israeli ambassador. 

Ireland, which contributes several hundred soldiers to the force, said targeting peacekeepers was “reprehensible and unacceptable”.

Typically in any UN Security Council vote which seeks to censure Israel for military actions, the United States is among the lone vetoes. Washington has rarely spoken up in defense or support of the UN peacekeeping mission in south Lebanon. The UNIFIL force was establish all the way back in 1978, in connection with Israeli incursions into Lebanon, and related to the events of the Lebanese civil war of the latter part of the 20th century.

“The Most Important Tesla Event Ever”

Tesla’s much awaited Robotaxi event, “We, Robot,” is set for tonight, live from Warner Bros. Discovery Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The event starts at 7 p.m. and will be livestreamed on Tesla’s social media platforms, including X and YouTube.

It’s widely rumored that the event will feature prototypes of Tesla’s upcoming autonomous vehicle, which has been spotted around the studio grounds and key locations in San Francisco and LA.

Tesla has been actively collecting Full Self-Driving (FSD) data in these areas ahead of the event, fueling speculation about new advancements like Robotaxi sanitization and wireless EV charging. As we noted weeks ago, invites were sent to winners of a shareholder raffle, with tickets arriving just days before the event.

“Join us for We, Robot — our official unveiling of the future of autonomy,” the invitation read. 

Wedbush’s Dan Ives has said of the event: “We believe this is a pivotal time for Tesla as the company prepares to release its years of Robotaxi R&D shadowed behind the curtains, while Musk & Co. lay out the company’s vision for the future.”

Some enthusiasts are calling it “the most important Tesla event ever.”

Just three more days to go.

This is the most important Tesla event ever. pic.twitter.com/NSYZd8ewYn

— Nic Cruz Patane (@niccruzpatane) October 7, 2024

Cybercab Expectations

The folks at NotTeslaApp expect: “Tesla to deliver a small, two-door sedan with two seats. The car is expected to have four wheels, although there was some speculation of three wheels at one point”. They write  that it’ll “likely include a good amount of trunk space for luggage as well”

They write that Tesla’s Robotaxi is expected to be smaller than current models, resembling a compact version of the Model 3 with a simplified interior focused on autonomy and low-cost production. It will likely feature a single central screen like the Model 3, but with a stripped-down UI displaying key information such as ETA and fare price.

While Tesla may not reveal much about FSD hardware, the Robotaxi will probably include the upcoming Hardware 5 FSD suite or new hardware designed for redundancy and safety, essential for autonomous fleet operations.

According to Electrek, the robotaxi is rumored to be “Cybertruck-like” in design, without a steering wheel or pedals, and potentially smaller in size. A prototype was spotted testing at the Warner Bros. lot. Tesla may also showcase its latest Optimus humanoid robots with a focus on autonomous features.

Gene Munster with Deepwater Asset Management tells MarketWatch he expects “at least a robotaxi prototype, and talk of a ‘Model 2’ cheaper EV”.

“What will most likely be on display is a demonstration of the latest iteration of FSD [full self-driving] software and a demonstration of a fully autonomous ‘cybercab’ in a closed or semi-closed course,” Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas wrote last month, per Yahoo Finance. 

He believes the robotaxi will come from the preexisting fleet of Tesla vehicles already on the road:

While the cybercab — a vehicle envisioned as one without a steering wheel or pedals — may be the natural fit for a robotaxi, Jonas believes it is the preexisting fleet of Teslas out on the road that, when combined with FSD and Tesla’s upcoming rideshare mobility app, will allow owners of those Tesla EVs to put those vehicles on Tesla’s rideshare service. The true game changer would be unlocking the potential of those vehicles, he said.

“It is our expectation that Tesla will offer a ‘dual’ approach with respect to autonomous ridesharing: (1) the fully autonomous app-based cybercab and (2) a ‘supervised’ autonomous/FSD rideshare service. We think the latter of these may get the most attention or have the greatest room to surprise investors, at least near term,” he said.

Deutsche Bank’s Edison Yu added his expectations: “For Robotaxi Day on Oct 10th, we expect an unveiling of the ‘CyberCab’ at the venue, [and] some type of robotaxi demo … Moreover, Tesla should unveil the new lower cost vehicle slated for SOP [start of production] next year (“Model 2” or cheaper/smaller Model 3 variant).”

Expectations For Release Timeline And Final Product

Expectations for a final or near-final working product seem low. “Few observers, if any, expect a fully functioning product,” Reuters wrote. 

“We believe the robotaxi event will be long on vision, and short on immediate deliverables or incremental revenue drivers,” Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi said. 

Tesla executives will need to “reinforce to consumers and investors that they continue to be innovators,” Gene Munster with Deepwater Asset Management told MarketWatch. “The bar on the robotaxi is is pretty high, but the rest of the stuff is pretty easy, they don’t need to roll a vehicle out there. They can just talk about it,” he added.

Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions LLC, added: “Tesla’s history is overpromise and underdeliver, so whatever timing is put on this vehicle, it’s going to be pushed back. We are still considering what promises will make it to production and what won’t”.

Longtime Tesla bull and Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas says to “keep expectations well managed” for the event. 

“We think this [robotaxi fleet] is still several years away and numerous technological hurdles, safety tests, and regulatory approvals are still standing in the way,” Garrett Nelson of CFRA told Yahoo Finance.

Impact On Tesla Stock Price

As far as impact on the stock price, Elliot Johnson, chief investment officer at Evolve ETFs, which manages investments in Tesla, told Reuters: “They need to get going because this has been sort of discussed, rumored, talked about and announced in various forms for a while.”

He says nothing announced this week will have a financial impact for one to two years, the report says. Barron’s has also speculated that the event could be a “sell the news” event. Columnist Al Root wrote that “Robotaxi Day may be Elon Musk’s last chance to convince investors that Tesla still has it”. 

Edison Yu has been telling his clients to be “tactically cautious” with the stock. 

Reaction By Other Autonomous Driving Companies

Elsewhere in autonomous driving, Investing.com did a good job laying out what competitors and the rest of the industry may be watching.

The U.S. rideshare market, currently just 1% of total miles driven, could expand significantly with the introduction of autonomous vehicles (AVs), according to Morgan Stanley. While Tesla’s technological advancements may drive faster AV adoption, the transition faces challenges in scaling and regulation.

Tesla’s potential to launch a Level 4 (L4) autonomous service could yield a 41% cost advantage over Uber and Lyft, and 21% over Waymo, thanks to its camera-based approach versus Waymo’s sensor-heavy system. Market trends in cities like Austin and Phoenix will indicate whether AVs can integrate effectively with rideshare platforms, a key concern for Uber’s hybrid model strategy.

We’ll know more in just hours…

Addiction is a complex subject, much of our understanding of which is incomplete, as many common and rewarding substances have the potential to be “addictive.” Still, the relative harm associated with that addiction is not linear, nor are the consequences of the addiction.

For this graphic, Visual Capitalist partnered with the Global Kratom Coalition to explore the landscape of addictive substances and investigate why some substances have more risk than others.

How Common Are Substance Use Disorders?

The 2023 United States National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reported that nearly 50 million Americans believed they had some form of substance use disorder (SUD).  

SUDs are characterized using 11 criteria, including how dependent a person becomes on a substance and whether the person continues to use it despite adverse effects.

However, a person does not need to meet all 11 criteria to be considered to have an SUD. Instead, the more criteria a person meets, the more severe the SUD is. 

It’s worth noting that not everyone reacts to a substance in the same way. People may develop use disorders depending on their genetic predisposition, family history, socioeconomic status, mental disorders, trauma, and, importantly, the substance involved.

How Severe are Addictive Substances?

A substance can impact a person in various ways. However, the impact is determined by how many of the 11 criteria a person endorses.

So, a person is considered to have ‘mild symptoms’ if they endorse 2-3 criteria, moderate 4-5, and severe would be the endorsement of 6 or more criteria.

When analyzing the symptoms people describe after using certain substances, the severity of these symptoms is heavily dependent on the substance in question. For example, Kratom and caffeine users are more likely to experience mild symptoms, while severe symptoms are more common with substances such as heroin.

How Many Adverse Events are Caused by Substances?

While substances do impact people in different ways, it’s important to note when this impact becomes an adverse event—a harmful or undesirable outcome resulting from exposure to a toxic substance. 

But, the volume of adverse events is also often tied to how many people use the substance in question, with the most common substances like alcohol and cannabis generating the most adverse events—despite their relatively mild symptom profiles.

Kratom: A Misunderstood Leaf

Millions of people battle against substance abuse every year. However, the severity of symptoms and the impact those symptoms can have on a person vary. But, substance use disorders are common, underscoring the urgent need for a deeper understanding of the complex nature of addiction and substances in general.

Are you interested in continuing the vital conversation around addiction?

Authored by Emel Akan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Vice President Kamala Harris proposed a new plan on Oct. 8 that would require Medicare to cover the cost of long-term home care.

With the election only 27 days away, the Democratic nominee made the announcement first on ABC’s “The View.”

Harris said that caregivers are facing challenges in balancing their lives, particularly when they are working while also needing to care for their aging parent and their children.

“We’re finding so many are them having to leave their jobs, which means losing a source of income, not to mention the emotional stress,” she said during the show.

Almost one in five Americans over the age of 65 require assistance with basic daily tasks such as bathing, dressing, eating, and toileting, according to a 2023 study published in medical journal Epidemiologia.

Medicare generally does not cover home health care services. Medicaid offers a long-term care safety net but to qualify for coverage, people “must meet state-specific eligibility requirements regarding their levels of income, wealth, and functional limitations,” a Brookings report said.

An estimated 105 million people provide unpaid care across the country, according to studies.

Harris said her plan would require Medicare to provide better wages to care workers and improve the quality of care for seniors and those with disabilities.

Any plan would need Congressional approval to take effect.

It is uncertain how much her home care proposal will add to the national debt.

In response to Harris’s announcement, the Trump campaign drew attention to his plan to remove tax on seniors’ social security and other measures for seniors receiving at-home care.

“Trump will prioritize home care benefits by shifting resources back to at-home senior care, overturning disincentives that lead to care worker shortages, and supporting unpaid family caregivers through tax credits and reduced red tape,” the campaign said in a statement.

During an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” on Oct. 7, Harris faced several questions regarding the funding of her economic plan, which included the expansion of the child tax credit.

In September, Harris announced new economic proposals, including permanent restoration of the COVID-19-era increase in the Child Tax Credit to as high as $3,600 per child up from $2,000 currently, and a $6,000 one-time tax cut for families with newborns.

According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the vice president’s previous proposals were projected to raise the debt by $3.5 trillion over the next decade.

Harris maintained her position that she would increase taxes on the wealthy.

When questioned about Congress’s lack of willingness to raise taxes and how she would achieve consensus on the matter, Harris disagreed and said there are “a lot of folks in Congress” who agreed with her plans to raise taxes.

A solar storm classified as “severe” (ranked 4 out of 5 in severity) hit Earth on Thursday and brought stunning displays of the northern lights. 

UPDATE! CME passage intensified; things are favorable for G4 levels to potentially continue into night hours. Keep space weather aware at https://t.co/YLUbTRM02y for the latest. We take actions to notify officials and critical infrastructure operators, so you can enjoy the aurora pic.twitter.com/uvZ7Ju0ps8

— NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (@NWSSWPC) October 10, 2024

Look up! 

Whoa. 

Levels are now approaching G5 Solar Storm conditions – higher than what we saw with the May Aurora. The show may get even better later this evening. Northern lights now being reported as far south as Florida. #SCwx #NCwx @WMBFnews pic.twitter.com/T43LOzQRNG

— Jamie Arnold WMBF (@jamiearnoldWMBF) October 11, 2024

Here’s what X users are seeing:

Aurora Borealis over Lewes, Delaware#aurora #AuroraBorealis pic.twitter.com/4Q4ojkyMVQ

— Christian Schaffer (@schaffer_tv) October 10, 2024

Spectacular view of the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) from the office this evening. pic.twitter.com/tqZeykveL1

— NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) October 10, 2024

Aurora visible in the Washington DC suburbs (Rockville, MD) this evening. Barely visible to the naked eye given competition from streetlights but shows up on iPhone. pic.twitter.com/1N6zmTroHA

— Jeff Foust (@jeff_foust) October 10, 2024

Frederick, MD with Thursday night football happening! pic.twitter.com/DgA3Lxtz0i

— Liz Matheny (@lizmathenyfcps) October 10, 2024

Breath taking! Saugus, MA #Northernlights #aurora #AuroraBorealis pic.twitter.com/p8I0NNZhAr

— David J Bagley-Meteorologist ⚡️ (@DavidBagleyWX) October 10, 2024

Tonight’s aurora lights over New York City pic.twitter.com/bAV0hKUrUr

— Max Guliani (@maximusupinNYc) October 10, 2024

Aurora over NYC from Hell’s Kitchen! @nymetrowx pic.twitter.com/TL4p4iVox5

— nic uff (@nic_uff) October 10, 2024

WOW, ABSOLUTELY SPEECHLESS! 🤯

THESE AURORA VISIBLE WITH THE NAKED EYE IN #NYC! 📸🚨

It’s even brighter with just 5-second night mode. In Soundview #Bronx. #StormHour pic.twitter.com/LKWvrtlM0f

— Allan Nosoff (@AWxNYC) October 10, 2024

Just an unbelievable aurora! Get outside!

📍Horseneck Beach, Massachusetts pic.twitter.com/sLBodKGEui

— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) October 10, 2024

Wow. #aurora in the #hudsonvalley pic.twitter.com/M0c3gbHrtm

— Mick Fine (@MickFine) October 11, 2024

My house in MA pic.twitter.com/DEqtMgQXUw

— SomedaySouthern (@SomedaySouthVSS) October 11, 2024

Hershey Pennsylvania – 7:30PM EST#aurora https://t.co/tGe0R7Pyrs pic.twitter.com/4uz3mnOHh9

— Thomas L. Fessler (@thomaslfessler) October 10, 2024

Over the OBX pic.twitter.com/5zj0QwNbaY

— Skeptical Redneck (@redneckskeptic) October 11, 2024

Central MA pic.twitter.com/20mYbU72qJ

— TCG (@3PuttNation) October 11, 2024

#northernlights & stars, rocky mount, nc pic.twitter.com/GjNymEspSQ

— 🌱 (@plantbasedvibes) October 11, 2024

*Developing…