Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Cradle,

At Russia’s Valdai Club meeting – the east’s answer to Davos – intellectuals and influencers gathered to frame West Asia’s current and future developments…

The 12th “Middle East Conference” at the Valdai Club in Moscow offered a more than welcome cornucopia of views on interconnected troubles and tribulations affecting the region.

But first, an important word on terminology – as only one of Valdai’s guests took the trouble to stress. This is not the “Middle East” – a reductionist, Orientalist notion devised by old colonials: at The Cradle we emphasize the region must be correctly described as West Asia.

Some of the region’s trials and tribulations have been mapped by the official Valdai report, The Middle East and The Future of Polycentric World.  But the intellectual and political clout of those in attendance can provide valuable anecdotal insights too. Here are a few of the major strands participants highlighted on regional developments, current and future:

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov set the stage by stressing that Kremlin policy encourages the formation of an “inclusive regional security system.” That’s exactly what the Americans refused to discuss with the Russians in December 2021, then applied to Europe and the post-Soviet space. The result was a proxy war.

Kayhan Barzegar of Islamic Azad University in Iran qualified the two major strategic developments affecting West Asia: a possible US retreat and a message to regional allies: “You cannot count on our security guarantees.”

Every vector – from rivalry in the South Caucasus to the Israeli normalization with the Persian Gulf – is subordinated to this logic, notes Barzegar, with quite a few Arab actors finally understanding that there now exists a margin of maneuver to choose between the western or the non-western bloc.

Barzegar does not identify Iran-Russia ties as a strategic alliance, but rather a geopolitical, economic bloc based on technology and regional supply chains – a “new algorithm in politics” – ranging from weapons deals to nuclear and energy cooperation, driven by Moscow’s revived southern and eastward orientations. And as far as Iran-western relations go, Barzegar still believes the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or Iran nuclear deal, is not dead. A least not yet.

‘Nobody knows what these rules are’

Egyptian Ramzy Ramzy, until 2019 the UN Deputy Special Envoy for Syria, considers the reactivation of relations between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE with Syria as the most important realignment underway in the region. Not to mention prospects for a Damascus-Ankara reconciliation. “Why is this happening? Because of the regional security system’s dissatisfaction with the present,” Ramzy explains.

Yet even if the US may be drifting away, “neither Russia nor China are willing to take up a leadership role,” he says. At the same time, Syria “cannot be allowed to fall prey to outside interventions. The earthquake at least accelerated these rapprochements.”

Bouthaina Shaaban, a special advisor to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is a remarkable woman, fiery and candid. Her presence at Valdai was nothing short of electric. She stressed how “since the US war in Vietnam, we lost what we witnessed as free media. The free press has died.” At the same time “the colonial west changed its methods,” subcontracting wars and relying on local fifth columnists.

Shaaban volunteered the best short definition anywhere of the “rules-based international order”: “Nobody knows what these rules are, and what this order is.”

She re-emphasized that in this post-globalization period that is ushering in regional blocs, the usual western meddlers prefer to use non-state actors – as in Syria and Iran – “mandating locals to do what the US would like to do.”

A crucial example is the US al-Tanf military base that occupies sovereign Syrian territory on two critical borders. Shaaban calls the establishment of this base as “strategic, for the US to prevent regional cooperation, at the Iraq, Jordan, and Syria crossroads.” Washington knows full well what it is doing: unhampered trade and transportation at the Syria-Iraq border is a major lifeline for the Syrian economy.

Reminding everyone once again that “all political issues are connected to Palestine,” Shaaban also offered a healthy dose of gloomy realism: “The eastern bloc has not been able to match the western narrative.”

A ‘double-layered proxy war’

Cagri Erhan, rector of Altinbas University in Turkey, offered a quite handy definition of a Hegemon: the one who controls the lingua franca, the currency, the legal setting, and the trade routes.

Erhan qualifies the current western hegemonic state of play as “double-layered proxy war” against, of course, Russia and China. The Russians have been defined by the US as an “open enemy” – a major threat. And when it comes to West Asia, proxy war still rules: “So the US is not retreating,” says Erhan. Washington will always consider using the area “strategically against emerging powers.”

Then what about the foreign policy priorities of key West Asian and North African actors?

Algerian political journalist Akram Kharief, editor of the online MenaDefense, insists Russia should get closer to Algeria, “which is still in the French sphere of influence,” and be wary of how the Americans are trying to portray Moscow as “a new imperial threat to Africa.”

Professor Hasan Unal of Maltepe University in Turkiye made it quite clear how Ankara finally “got rid of its Middle East [West Asian] entanglements,” when it was previously “turning against everybody.”

Mid-sized powers such as Turkiye, Iran, and Saudi Arabia are now stepping to the forefront of the region’s political stage. Unal notes how “Turkiye and the US don’t see eye to eye on any issue important to Ankara.” Which certainly explains the strengthening of Turkish-Russian ties – and their mutual interest in introducing “multi-faceted solutions” to the region’s problems.

For one, Russia is actively mediating Turkiye-Syria rapprochement. Unal confirmed that the Syrian and Turkish foreign ministers will soon meet in person – in Moscow – which will represent the highest-ranking direct engagement between the two nations since the onset of the Syrian war. And that will pave the way for a tripartite summit between Assad, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Note that the big regional reconciliations are being held – once again – either in, or with the participation of Moscow, which can rightfully be described as the capital of the 21st century multipolar world.

When it comes to Cyprus, Unal notes how “Russia would not be interested in a unified state that would be EU and NATO territory.” So it’s time for “creative ideas: as Turkey is changing its Syria policy, Russia should change its Cyprus policy.”

Dr. Gong Jiong, from the Israeli campus of China’s University of International Business and Economics, came up with a catchy neologism: the “coalition of the unwilling” – describing how “almost the whole Global South is not supporting sanctions on Russia,” and certainly none of the players in West Asia.

Gong noted that as much as China-Russia trade is rising fast – partly as a direct consequence of western sanctions – the Americans would have to think twice about China-hit sanctions. Russia-China trade stands at $200 billion a year, after all, while US-China trade is a whopping $700 billion per annum.

The pressure on the “neutrality camp” won’t relent anyway. What is needed by the world’s “silent majority,” as Gong defines it, is “an alliance.” He describes the 12-point Chinese peace plan for Ukraine as “a set of principles” – Beijing’s base for serious negotiations: “This is the first step.”

There will be no new Yalta

What the Valdai debates made crystal clear, once again, is how Russia is the only actor capable of approaching every player across West Asia, and be listened to carefully and respectfully.

It was left to Anwar Abdul-Hadi, director of the political department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the latter’s official envoy to Damascus, to arguably sum up what led to the current global geopolitical predicament: “A new Yalta or a new world war? They [the west] chose war.”

And still, as new geopolitical and geoeconomic fault lines keep emerging, it is as though West Asia is anticipating something “big” coming ahead. That feeling was palpable in the air at Valdai.

To paraphrase Yeats, and updating him to the young, turbulent 21st century, “what rough beast, its hour come out at last, slouches towards the cradle [of civilization] to be born?

They said it was an absurd waste of time, but now, the progressive coastal regions of Oregon and Democrats in Idaho are getting a little worried about the “Greater Idaho Movement,” with at least 11 eastern Oregon counties officially voting to leave the state and join their more conservative neighbors in Idaho.  Democrats were saying that the move was impossible, but with momentum growing they are now suggesting that the break-up is “bad for the country.” 

Why is it bad for the country if a handful of conservative counties decide to freely walk away from the state of Oregon and join with Idaho?  Leftists do not explain the assertion, but one can deduce from their behavior a number of probable conclusions.   

Common arguments Democrats in Oregon and Idaho make against the move are usually an attempt to dissuade Idaho citizens from wanting to pursue secession measures.  The core claim is that the state of Idaho would have to subsidize the new counties, with Dems suggesting that rural areas are a drain on high revenue centers like Portland.

This stems from the leftist argument that red counties and states “cannot survive” economically when detached from blue regions. 

It’s simply not true.

Firstly, if rural counties are a financial sinkhole for progressive states, then why are they so opposed to rural counties leaving?  Would this not enrich blue counties beyond belief?  While at least one study shows that Idaho would incur expenses such as Medicaid costs, it also shows that the state actually stands to gain an extra $170 million in net revenue with the new counties in place, along with an even greater conservative majority population, all without people being forced to relocate. 

Secondly, if we are talking about economic usefulness, it’s important to remember that the majority of people that grow food, produce goods, repair goods and keep the supply chain running are conservative leaning.  Leftists produce very little other than complaints and misery.

The big question Democrats are not asking is why so many Oregon counties want to leave the state at all?  They don’t ask because they don’t care.  Diplomacy and reconciliation with the conservative population has never crossed their minds.  Only now with the secession movement gaining traction are they suddenly interested.

Let’s use the mega-leftist sanctum of Portland as an example of why conservative regions want to break away from progressive controlled regions:

In 2021 alone, Portland witnessed a 38% spike in violent crime including homicides and rapes.  Property crime rose by 17%.  The city also set an all time record for number of homicides in 2021.  In 2022, the city breezed past the homicide record once again.  Portland was once listed among the safest cities in America – Not anymore.

Crime rates skyrocketed almost immediately after Portland embraced the far-left BLM and Antifa calls to “defund the police.”  The city had to reverse course on this stance 18 months later as the program proved to be a dismal failure. 

On the indoctrination end of things, the Oregon Board of Education has advised schools to “keep student gender identities hidden from families.”  This is on top of the already expansive agenda to inject gender identity politics into classrooms in Oregon.  So, what they are saying essentially is that “we are going to brainwash your children with woke ideology, and we are going to lie to you about our curriculum to keep you in the dark.”

Public school policies in Oregon revolve around dictates drafted in progressive controlled counties.  Rural counties can fight back by putting pressure on their local school boards, but it will be a constant battle with losing prospects unless they break from leftist influence completely.

Another big factor in making conservatives want to leave Oregon was the recent draconian covid lockdowns and mandates enforced by the Democrat controlled state government.  Many conservative county officials fought back against these mandates while enduring threats of legal retribution and even arrest.  The leftists revealed their true authoritarian natures during the pandemic event and a number of people ranging from conservative to independent suddenly realized how bad the situation can really get if they remain under the governmental oversight of Democrats.  

It makes perfect sense for red counties to want to break away from blue states after the kinds of chaos leftists have created within our nation in the past few years alone.  When Dems say this would be “bad for the country” what they really mean is that it will be bad for them.  The Greater Idaho Movement may have a very slim chance of success in the long run, but it puts the issue of national divorce front and center in the public consciousness, and they don’t like that.

Democrat representatives like Ned Burns in Idaho asserts that the political system works best “When there’s a balance of different viewpoints,” arguing that efforts “to build a one-party state lead to extremism and that can be very dangerous.”

Idaho Democrat Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow echoed this sentiment:  

“While there are vast political differences in our region, Greater Idaho is not the proper remedy for those differences,” said Wintrow. “Our democratic republic depends on level heads coming together to find solutions to the issues that impact our citizens. Dividing state borders to create enclaves of politically like-minded people is the opposite of a healthy America.”  

But we already have extremist regions of the country in the form of blue states, we saw that clear as day during the covid mandates.  Not only that, cooperation within the status quo only seems to be the Democrat rally cry when progressives are in power. Only five years ago leftists in states like California widely called for secession from the US over the election of Donald Trump.  Today, they rail against a few counties seceding, not from the country, but merely from Oregon.

The political left views everything through the lens of collectivism.  They see people as property of their model of society, which they consider the only model for society.  If Americans are allowed to walk away, then this might reflect badly on progressive society as a whole.  If people are allowed to build their own systems elsewhere they might prove that the leftist system is frail, oppressive and unstable.  If people have the ability to choose and take their county and their land with them, why would they stay under the governance of a leftist dominated place?

The ability to walk away would completely destroy the leftist socialist dynamic.  They can only survive if they are able to force people to participate in their model while requiring those same prisoners to adopt woke beliefs.  They see conservative congregation and secession as a threat to their aims to absorb the entire nation; not just half of US states, but all of America. The rest of the US would do well to take the Greater Idaho Movement seriously as it represents a feeling that is growing across the country – We are at an impasse. 

There are two completely separate cultures in America today and they cannot coexist.   

Authored by Michael Clements via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The military’s top enlisted members say poor housing, health care, childcare, and pay problems are deleterious to recruiting and retention.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) claimed that a plan promoted by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to freeze discretionary spending at FY 2022 levels would only make things worse.

“We can’t take a giant leap backward,” Wasserman Schultz said.

The highest-ranking enlisted people for each service testified in an oversight hearing of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies on Feb. 28. They said the Department of Defense (DOD) must address quality of life issues.

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston told the subcommittee that the problem extends beyond just soldiers’ morale. It could impact national security.

“This is an American problem,” he said.

Grinston said the Army had dedicated approximately $1.5 billion to family housing, soldiers’ barracks, and childcare facilities on Army posts worldwide. He said these problems are aggravating matters stemming from pay issues and increased demands on enlisted personnel.

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy James Honea agreed. He said that Navy hospitals in the Pacific Northwest had been recently downsized, forcing Navy personnel to drive farther from their bases for medical care. This only adds to the pressure already felt by many in the enlisted ranks.

“We will begin losing employees that are mission critical,” Honea said.

The housing issue began around the mid-1990s as military budgets were cut after the Cold War.

Approximately 180,000 housing units needed renovation or replacement at that time, according to the Military Housing Association (MHA).

In 1996, Congress authorized the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI). Under the MHPI, each branch contracted with private property managers to handle military housing. The MHA was formed to represent those property managers.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) had issued several reports documenting complaints about mold, pests, lack of maintenance, rundown housing units, and rude and indifferent responses from property managers when they requested help.

According to the most recent GAO report, DOD is increasing its oversight of the MHPI. However, it is hampered by the fact that it deals with civilian property managers.

Dealing With Civilians Complicates Things

“Nevertheless, oversight of the privatized family housing problem will likely continue to face challenges.

In part, because DOD cannot unilaterally make changes to projects without the concurrence of the private companies,” the March 2022 GAO report reads.

For example, the report mentions a Tenant Bill of Rights, which the DOD ordered by Congress to implement in February 2020. By March 2022, the managers of properties at five military installations had not agreed to the Bill of Rights.

Pay issues were further aggravating the problems, the military members said.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, at least 20,000 military families, 213,000 National Guard and Reserve members, and 1.1 million veterans qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Grinston said the issue is “a math problem.”

He said that across-the-board pay increases don’t address the realities that enlisted troops face. While their pay increases, it doesn’t increase comparable to that of commissioned officers. As a result, enlisted pay often fails to keep pace with inflation, the cost of living where the troops live, and other factors.

“Inflation is real, the supply chain is real, these basic needs compete with one another,” said Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps Troy Black.

Grinston said all military branches are doing more to teach enlisted members money management skills. Ultimately DOD will have to develop a better formula for adjusting military pay, according to Grinston. He said that leaving this issue unaddressed would reflect poorly on the military.

“We really wouldn’t want our service members to be eligible for that benefit,” Grinston said.

Wasserman Schultz asked how a cut in the defense budget would impact the issues they had discussed.

She referenced a promise to hold discretionary spending to FY 2022 levels that the Republican “Freedom Caucus” got from McCarthy in his bid to become Speaker.

The plan does not exempt DOD. Wasserman Schultz said this could cost the military $4 billion in lost funding.

Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force JoAnne Bass said such a cut would force all the military services to decide which programs to cut.

“Any cut to those (housing, childcare, health care) would put your services in a position where they have to make those very tough decisions.”

Several months ago, a Goldman trader penned the phrase JOMO (or the Joy Of Missing Out from the daily chaos in stocks) to describe the growing infatuation – across both institutional and retail investors  – with generously-yielding fixed income instruments, at the expense of equities which not that long were the only game in town (a time when FOMO dominated). And nowhere was this more obvious than in today’s 6-Month bill auction.

As Bloomberg notes, retail investors took the most six-month Treasury bills at an auction in nearly 30 years as high interest rates trumped concerns over Federal Reserve tightening.

Noncompetitive bidders, a group of bond buyers which tend to be smaller investors that want to passively accept the auction yield without the risk of submitting a competitive bid, took $2.84 billion of six-month bills at Monday’s auction.

That, as shown in the chart below, was a near-record bid by retail, second only to the $2.88 billion awarded on June 27, 1994, Treasury Department data show. At this rate, expect a new record retail print as soon as next week’s 6M Bill auction.

Today’s $48 billion auction stood out in yet another way: the stop-out yield of 4.97% was the highest for a six-month offering since January 2007.

“Generally, intermediate bills have struggled to generate investor demand due to risks associated with the prospects of a more hawkish Fed, and uncertainty about the debt ceiling,” Jefferies economists Thomas Simons and Aneta Markowska say in a note. “However, with the small cut in supply for 3s, and the high outright yield levels offered, the auctions did a bit better today”

As a reminder, the yield on six-month bills initially rose above 5% on Feb. 14, making it the first US government obligation to reach that threshold in 16 years. That yield is slightly higher than those on 4-month and one-year bills, which according to BBG reflect reflecting concerns over the trajectory of Fed rate hikes and the risk that Congress will fail to raise the debt ceiling before Treasury exhausts its cash reserves. According to various forecasts, the D-Day will realistically hit some time in September or October, which roughly coincides with the maturity of the current 6Month. Of course, in case of a default, repayment on said Bill will be in limbo indefinitely.

While we doubt that the US will default (there will be the usual last minute fireworks but in the end holdout republicans will fold, although we may need a modest scare in stocks to get there), what is more interesting is that so many retail investors are shifting their portfolios to debt securities, whether floating or fixed rate, that continued tightening by the Fed – which ends up pushing yields even higher – will soon have the effect of easing financial conditions as it boosts how much disposable income savers end up getting in the form of interest income. As for those who never saved anything and live month to month on their credit card, better luck next time.

By George Lei, Bloomberg Markets Live strategist and reporter

China’s 5% growth target may appear underwhelming to some, though it is very much in-line with shifting market expectations since last week’s blowout PMI. The modest objective leaves room for upside growth surprises and bodes well for Chinese equities overall, though Hong Kong stocks are likely to keep outperforming their onshore peers.

The 5% goal was below the 5.3% consensus in a Bloomberg survey, as well as the 5.5% objective for 2022 and also targets set by most provinces. Conservative as it is, the number won’t necessarily lead to a weak outcome, according to Citigroup, which noted that as recently as 2021 China managed to grow 8.1% versus a 6% target.

The ongoing Congress in Beijing leaves one thing perfectly clear, though: There will be no major stimulus on either fiscal or monetary fronts. The strength of China’s reopening exceeded the expectations of top leaders, who will be more restrained in rolling out new stimulus, Bloomberg reported last week. Now that the 5% target is in place, Citigroup believes any positive data surprises may “limit the extent of downward move” in market interest rates.

What does that mean for equities? As my colleague Sofia Horta e Costa noted, Hong Kong has so far been home to the reopening trade for investors who believe the post-Covid economy is already doing well. Onshore equities, on the contrary, are the stimulus play for those who expect Beijing to deliver more fiscal spending or PBOC liquidity.

The reopening trade has beaten stimulus bets handily since the end of October when chatter of exiting Covid Zero began to pick up steam. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng China Enterprise Index has rallied more than 40% over the period, while the onshore benchmark CSI 300 advanced less than half of that. The gap will probably persist, or even widen, in the foreseeable future.

China’s reopening is likely to be more V-shaped than consensus expectations, with substantial excess savings likely to support consumption, according to a March 6 research report from Morgan Stanley, which expects equities in North Asia ex-Japan to continually outperform as is “typical in the early phases of a bull market.”

Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A Minnesota judge has ruled that biological men who identify as women can compete against natural-born women in USA Powerlifting (USAPL) following a discrimination case against the organization.

In his ruling (pdf), District Judge Patrick Diamond said that the national powerlifting organization must “cease and desist from all unfair discriminatory practices” after finding that it had engaged in unfair discriminatory practices by denying transgender weightlifter JayCee Cooper “the full and equal enjoyment of public accommodation because of sexual orientation.”

Cooper, who was born a male, filed a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights in 2019 alleging that the organization had violated the state’s Human Rights Act after Cooper was banned from competing in the women’s division.

Cooper then filed a lawsuit against USA Powerlifting in state court in 2021 alleging claims of sex and sexual orientation discrimination under the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA) against USAPL and Powerlifting Minnesota.

The lawsuit, which was filed through the Minnesota-based advocacy group Gender Justice, also alleged that Powerlifting Minnesota had aided and abetted sex and sexual orientation discrimination under the MHRA.

Cooper Was ‘Separated, Segregated’

Lawyers for the weightlifter said in the lawsuit (pdf) that Cooper began powerlifting in 2018 and “fell in love with the sport.”

“Ms. Cooper sees powerlifting as a way to find strength within herself and has found a home in the community of strong supportive women who come together around a shared love of sport,” the lawyers wrote.

It goes on to note that Cooper had been training to compete in the USAPL Minnesota State Bench Press Championship and the Minnesota Women’s State Championship in January and February 2019, respectively, but in December 2018, USAPL sent an email to the weightlifter, stating that Cooper could not compete because of Cooper’s transgender identity.

“USAPL then revoked her competition card, which means that she was not eligible to compete in future USAPL events,” the lawsuit states, referring to Cooper. “USAPL MN then went on to hold both championship events, at which all transgender women athletes were prohibited from competing.”

Diamond ultimately agreed with Cooper’s attorneys.

“By denying Cooper the right to participate in the female category, the category consistent with her self-identification, USAPL denied her the full and equal enjoyment of the services, support, and facilities USAPL offered its members,” Diamond wrote in his ruling. “It separated Cooper and segregated her and, in doing so, failed to fully perform the contractual obligations it agreed to when it accepted Cooper’s money and issued Cooper a membership card.”

The judge also noted in his 46-page ruling that “the harm is in making a person pretend to be something different, the implicit message being that who they are is less than.”

“That is the very essence of separation and segregation, and it is what the MHRA prohibits,” the judge wrote. He also cited the “increased risk of depression and suicide, lack of access to coaching and practice facilities, or other performance suppression common to transgender persons,” as competitive disadvantages for transgender competitors.

USA Powerlifting Must Revise Policy

USAPL had argued that allowing male-to-female transgender athletes to compete against women was against company policy and that Cooper would have a competitive advantage over natural-born women.

In 2021, USAPL established an MX category, which is open to cisgender men and women as well as transgender men and women.

Judge Diamond ordered that USAPL submit a revised policy to remedy three specific areas of discrimination within 14 days and to comply with the revised policy thereafter.

A trial on possible damages has been set for May 1.

In a statement to Minneapolis NBC affiliate KARE-TV after the ruling, Cooper called the decision a “win.”

“After years of experiencing discrimination from USA Powerlifting, and the backlash that has occurred due to that, of course I have complex feelings about the sport,” Cooper said. “But I think that this win – [it] is a representation of where we can move forward.”

‘We Respectfully Disagree’

Separately, USA Powerlifting President Larry Maile told the KARE-TV it is considering appealing the decision.

“Our position has been aimed at balancing the needs of cis- and transgender women, whose capacities differ significantly in purely strength sports,” Maile said. “We have received a summary judgment decision from the Court finding us liable for discrimination. We respectfully disagree with the Court’s conclusions. We are considering all of our options, including appeal.”

The Epoch Times has contacted USA Powerlifting for comment.

The latest ruling comes shortly after 22 Republican senators, including Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), and Mike Lee (R-Utah), reintroduced a bill aimed at protecting female athletes and ensuring fairness and safety in women’s sports at educational institutions across the United States.

Known as the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” the bill would preserve Title IX protections for female athletes, which ban discrimination on the basis of sex in sports programs and require all educational institutions in the country to reward male and female athletes equally.

That bill would counteract the Biden administration’s expected plans to finalize rules in May that would force institutions to allow biological males to share women-only spaces and compete in women’s sports.

A sheriff’s office in Oregon reported a man was stranded in Willamette National Forest due to heavy snowfall. He was stuck on a stretch of roadway with no cellphone service and decided to use his drone to call for help. 

In a Facebook post, the Lane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue detailed the man attached his smartphone to a drone. He typed out a message to a friend. When he hit send, he launched the drone hundreds of feet into the air. After several tries, the phone connected to a nearby cell tower, and the message was sent. 

“The increased elevation allowed his phone to connect to a tower and send the message, which resulted in our teams being deployed and assisting him out of his situation,” the search and rescue team wrote.

Here’s more on the out-of-the-box, or rather over-the-box, thinking that saved this man’s life. 

Recently Lane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue responded to an all-too-familiar mission, but with a unique twist.

A motorist had attempted to traverse a remote road in the U.S. Forest Service – Willamette National Forest that is not maintained for winter travel. His vehicle became stuck in the snow and he did not have cell service to call for help (cell reception is very limited in many forested areas of Lane County). Making his situation worse, his family was out of the country and nobody knew where he had gone or to call for help if he didn’t make it home.

Regardless of the circumstances leading to his situation, once stranded this person made several smart decisions. First, he stayed with his vehicle. Rarely does anyone in Oregon die from exposure waiting in their vehicle to be found and rescued, but we have unfortunately seen many poor outcomes from those who chose to walk away. Second, he used some ingenuity to find a way to call for help. The man had a drone with him and attached his cell phone to the drone. He then typed a text message to a trusted person describing his situation and exact location, hit send, and launched the drone several hundred feet into the air. The increased elevation allowed his phone to connect to a tower and send the message, which resulted in our teams being deployed and assisting him out of his situation.

While our teams were rescuing this person, another motorist who had also been stranded nearby in the snow for multiple days was located and rescued.

We are happy with the outcome of this call for service, and impressed with the creatively displayed to call for help, but we would like to take this opportunity to ask everyone to help us spread some important winter travel safety messages:

1) Forest Roads are not maintained for winter travel. Any attempt to travel on unmaintained snow or ice covered roads (no matter how much or little) should only be made with a group of well-equipped vehicles. If one vehicle becomes stuck, the other vehicles can attempt to free the stuck vehicle or can turn around and be used to drive everyone back to safety.

2) Always tell a responsible person EXACTLY where you are going, and when you expect to be back. Do not deviate from this plan. If a road becomes unpassable, turn around and go back the way you came, do not attempt a detour without first updating your plan with your emergency contact.

3) Of the dozens of missions we have had this winter involving a vehicle stuck in the snow, nearly all of them were 4×4 vehicles and almost all of the drivers told us “I didn’t think I would get stuck.” Instead of asking yourself whether you think you can get through a section of road, ask yourself “What will happen if I do get stuck?” If you (and the group of other vehicles you are traveling with) are not prepared to deal with any of the possible outcomes from an attempt, turn around and go back the way you came.

Full story here.

Authored by Allen Stein via The Epoch Times,

Set against a rocky slope, Fortitude Ranch resembles almost any other desert grange scattered along the barren highway in northwestern Nevada, far from any city or town.

On this 174-acre privately owned spread are free-roaming cattle, pens for raising sheep and chickens, a main house, and other living quarters under construction.

The ranch has good soil for growing crops, fruit-bearing trees, natural springs for gardening and livestock, and austere, rolling mountains on either side of the highway for cover.

Here, the resemblance ends.

The new Viking Lodge survival shelter is a work in progress at Fortitude Ranch Nevada on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Fortitude Ranch is anything but your typical farmstead. Its founder, Drew Miller, said its purpose is to ensure the safety of its inhabitants during a societal disintegration.

“Our design is to survive any collapse,” Miller said.

“We define a collapse as no functioning economy and widespread loss of law and order.”

It could take any form: a bird flu pandemic with heavy casualties, an economic depression, a world war, or global famine resulting in civil unrest and death.

A Question of Survival

During such a scenario, Miller said, “some people will just stay at home and starve to death.”

Others won’t go quietly into the twilight of civilization.

“A lot of people will say, ‘You know what? I will go out and steal food from my neighbor and do what I can to keep my family alive.”

A view of the desert scape from the windows of survival housing under construction at Fortitude Ranch Nevada on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Miller said this group poses a significant risk to the prepared.

Today, only some people feel the urgency to stock up against these terrifying scenarios or even think about them, said Miller, who started building survival ranches in 2012 as the need became more apparent.

Back then, the notion of preparing for a collapse of civil society still carried the stigma of tin foil hats and conspiracy theories.

The television series “Doomsday Preppers” further tarnished the image of “preppers” for years.

Miller, a former U.S. Air Force colonel, said a decade ago, people either smirked or turned away whenever he mentioned prepping.

That was then.

After the COVID-19 lockdowns and urban riots of 2020, the power substation attacks of 2022, the possibility of looming war with Russia—and China—and toxic chemical spills in 2023, hardly anyone is smirking now.

“People get it now. There’s much more recognition that you need to prepare for the fragile electric grid. For the avian flu contagion—and bad people,” Miller said.

Jason, a carpenter at Fortitude Ranch Nevada, works on a section of a new section of survival shelters on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

“We tell our members there’s a chance a collapse could be something they haven’t even considered.”

The company lists 50 known triggers for a societal collapse on its website, taking each one seriously as its likelihood increases with each passing year.

Miller said the probability of an unexpected “black swan” event occurring this year is anywhere from 1 and 21 percent based on current trends and models.

Network of Like-Minded Survivors

The purpose of Fortitude Ranch is to meet the challenge through a network of survival communities with close to 500 members across the United States.

Miller sees it as a work in progress with five discreet corporate locations and a sixth survival ranch franchise.

He envisions as many as 100 nationwide franchises to keep pace with the demand.

From a survival standpoint, Fortitude Ranch is less costly than going alone, Miller said, because “you’ve got a survival community to share the cost.”

“We’ve got the staff. We’ve got the facilities. When our members show up in a collapse, all they have to do is follow directions.”

However, Fortitude Ranch is not geared toward the well-to-do. Its target membership is the middle class.

Ranch manager Brandon M stands in front of the new survival shelter lodge at Fortitude Ranch Nevada on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

While yearly dues are low (about $1,000 per person), amenities are substantial and guaranteed to ride out the collapse in comfort and safety, Miller said.

“We are affordable because of large numbers of members and economies of scale. Fortitude Ranch is attractive to join because it is a recreation/vacation facility as well,” according to the company’s website.

Each ranch setup has a basic fortified shelter design that varies by location.

There are log-cabin-style living quarters and below-ground configurations made with corrugated steel, including shared spaces, quarantine buildings, recreational areas, and guard posts.

The simplicity of each location’s design is the key to its efficiency, Miller said.

“That’s why we formed Fortitude Ranch. Our system is for the middle class. We have plywood bunk beds in some of the rooms. It’s not fancy. We’ve got some nice digs, but many of our rooms are called Spartan rooms.”

“We don’t give out our locations because it upsets our members,” Miller told The Epoch Times, but “if you’re alive in a collapse, they will find you. You cannot hide. You’ve got to be able to protect yourself.”

Buckets of long-term survival food are stacked against the basement wall at Fortitude Ranch Nevada on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

The rule is safety in numbers and armed security around the clock. When it’s time to “bug out,” members will arrive with extra food, guns, and ammunition.

“Hopefully before the collapse occurs—if the collapse occurs—we tell them don’t wait for a warning,” Miller said. “If you can’t contact us—that’s a good clue.”

At Fortitude Ranch in Nevada, Brandon M said the facility has everything an individual or family would need to survive following a general collapse.

“We’ve got over a year’s worth of food for more members than we have,” Brandon said. “That gives us time to have our agriculture and crops in place. We’ve also got our livestock.”

The ranch, built in 2020, is operational with solar and gas-powered generators for off-grid living. Brandon is the full-time manager, and Heather is his new assistant. Jason is a carpenter, helping construct the new Viking Lodge overlooking the ranch.

“I’ve been to some of the ranches. [Fortitude Ranch Nevada] is probably my favorite from a strategic standpoint,” Brandon said. “You have a lot of high points, but you don’t have a lot of trees, which can be a disadvantage as far as not having wood. The advantage is to see who’s coming at you.”

Ranch manager Brandon M stands in the middle of a new room under construction at Fortitude Ranch Nevada on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Brandon, now retired from the military, said the political climate in America has become more unstable and divided.

“I was looking to find a place with like-minded [people]. I realized I couldn’t do it alone,” he said.

After a decade serving in the Air Force, Heather said she found Fortitude Ranch online and applied for a job. She’s been out here for about three weeks and has enjoyed her experience.

“I like this because it’s more realistic. I don’t know if you even think about luxuries—water, food, and shelter. Those are the priorities. I think everybody should be concerned [about a societal collapse]. Not like fear—just aware,” Heather said.

The new Viking Lodge features a pair of log cabins joined with a corrugated steel enclosure to provide even more living space when complete. The ranch also has a small medical clinic, a workshop, and a practice firing range.

“We’re still building. We’re always building as we keep adding members,” Brandon told The Epoch Times. “Once we finish the Viking Lodge, we could easily have 200 [people].”

“Like right now, I’m working on rooms for paid members. It was just me out here for a long time, so it was slow. I don’t mind it; I like the isolation. You can’t just run to the store and grab some cough medicine.”

Fortitude Ranch Nevada manager Brandon M demonstrates a ham radio on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Brandon said Fortitude Ranch offers good protection against thieves and roaming bands of marauders. Given its remote location, finding the ranch wouldn’t be easy for the hungry and desperate following a collapse in the city.

“Being this far out here, nobody will want to waste calories walking and not even knowing what you’ll find,” Brandon said. “North of us, there isn’t anything for 30 miles.”

The ranch currently has more than 50 members, and everyone will have a job to do when they arrive, as determined by their skill set.

Brandon said two members are medical professionals. There are engineers and teachers as well.

One member is a culinary chef. The oldest member is 90.

“We’ve got big families, small families, individuals—all kinds of political backgrounds. Right and left. You’d think it would be all right [leaning]. We do have some [left-leaning] people. We’re getting more and more,” Brandon said.

“It’s like any other community. When civilization started, people had to come together in some way. It comes down to this: are the things that unite you stronger than those that divide you?

The medical clinic is fully stocked at Fortitude Ranch Nevada on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

The medical clinic at Fortitude Ranch Nevada includes a single bed on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

The nearest town is about a half-hour drive south. Brandon said some people suspected a nearby survival community whenever he shops for supplies. They’ll spot him at the supermarket, loading 20 bags of beans and 20 bags of rice into a cart.

Sometimes, they’ll ask him questions.

“I’ll make a joke. I don’t talk about what we are or where we are. They think you’re from a restaurant,” Brandon said.

Rebuilding Society

In the main house at Fortitude Ranch are furnished rooms with beds, fresh linen, and other amenities. The ranch guarantees a daily minimum of 2,000 calories for one year for each member.

However, some members prefer to stock their own food for long-term storage.

Brandon said members are serious about their preparations as national and global tensions worsen.

“A lot of them will come out here and store stuff. They’re constantly asking me how we are doing, where are we at.”

Fortitude Ranch Nevada manager Brandon M enters the work shed where gardening supplies are kept on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Members receive a monthly online newsletter to stay informed. So when the critical moment arrives, they will know what to do.

“It’s just about bringing communities back to what they once were,” Jason told The Epoch Times. “We’re trying to get people to work together in an environment to sustain themselves from anything.

“The template was there back in the day. It’s a winning model that works for everybody.”

Believing “history repeats itself” and collapse is inevitable, Jason said the sooner members work as a community, the sooner they can help to rebuild society.

“We’ve seen this before, and we’ll see it again. The probability of biological attacks is the norm right now,” Jason said.

Brandon said the collapse of society would look different than what people expect or imagine.

“You saw the rioting with [Hurricane] Katrina. This time will be on a much bigger scale.”

A barren lake bed stretches for miles on the way to Fortitude Ranch Nevada. Below, manager Brandon M walks along the dirt road to the main ranch house on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

“It’s going to suck,” Brandon said, as people long to go back to life before the collapse.

“When we get knocked back into the Stone Age, you’re going to have a lot of unhappy people,” he said.

Jason added, “People will get caught where they don’t want to be. That’s the beauty of being a member [of Fortitude Ranch].”

Living Large Post-Apocalypse

Located in central Kansas, Survival Condos is a former missile silo turned into a luxury survival shelter on the higher end of the affordability spectrum.

Developer Larry Hall considers the project life-affirming in a world gone further off the deep end.

“For me, I took an intercontinental ballistic missile site that used to have a weapon of mass destruction designed to kill hundreds of thousands of people. I turned it into the complete opposite,” Hall said.

“It’s now a green facility, state-of-art technology that protects families.”

Fortitude Ranch Nevada is located in a remote northwestern part of the state, far from any city or town on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

He admits the condos are expensive. A 3,600-square-foot Penthouse unit starts at $4.5 million. A full-floor unit measuring 1,840 square feet costs $3 million, and a half-floor condo runs about $1.5 million.

“People buy what they can afford and what they perceive they need protection from,” Hall told The Epoch Times.

“I decided there was a missing niche market in the luxury high-end bunker where people didn’t know how long they’d need a bunker.”

Hall said before COVID-19, people used to scoff at survival shelters as a fringe market demographic.

The question was always, “What are the chances of society collapsing?”

Then came the lockdowns, the urban riots, and the general chaos in 2020.

Hall said the events of the past three years have only vindicated the preparedness mindset. Survival Condo is now considered the “Gold Standard” for survival shelters.

Raising sheep is one of the main activities at Fortitude Ranch Nevada on March 2, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

“I never get asked that question [will society collapse] anymore,” Hall said. “You’ve pretty much become mainstream. People realize the value of having a hardened property to go to and that extra degree of safety.”

He said Survival Condo’s purpose is to make sure that clients will survive the collapse and thrive in the process.

To that end, Survival Condo hired a psychologist to aid in the project design for extended off-grid living. The psychologist looked at basic human physical and emotional needs—from the need for optimum lighting and color schemes to foster a positive mood, better food quality to improve personal satisfaction, and recreational activities to keep tenants happy and fit.

“The single thing you need to have to keep people from going stir crazy—what people call cabin fever—is to have a good quality of food,” Hall said.

The original complex held 72 silos. Hall bought two silos with options to purchase another four, built out the first silo, and is working on completing the second.

An aerial view of the dome as it is built over the existing missile silo at Survival Condo in central Kansas. (Courtesy of Survival Condo)

The finished silo is 15 stories tall and built with a military-grade redundant air filtration system to handle nuclear, chemical, and biological attacks. The facility has redundant power sources and more than 20,000 square feet of floor space under the dome.

Each fully furnished condo unit has a biometric key entry. Other high-end amenities include a custom theater, bar and lounge, a library, indoor swimming pool and spa, workout facility, command and control center, hydroponic gardens, a medical first-aid clinic, a digital weather station, and homeschooling classrooms.

Hall said there’s a long waiting list for units when they become available.

“Ours is way up at the top for a reason—military-grade everything with high engineering,” Hall said. “The book has done everything with very tough standards.”

“We’re constantly keeping the place in a state of readiness. We could scale it up if we needed to be here for an extended time.”

The interior floor plan for Survival Condo, a former intercontinental ballistic missile silo turned condominium in central Kansas. (Courtesy of Survival Condo)

That time now appears close as the Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists stands 90 seconds away from midnight.

Whether a natural or man-made disaster is on the horizon—”pick a poison,” Hall said. “All result in one common denominator, and that’s civil unrest.

“People are afraid and trying to get by and survive. So, ultimately, you need something where you can sleep with both eyes closed and don’t have to worry about a gang of MS-13 guys kicking in your door.”

“The whole thing is you have a place designed to protect families,” Hall said. “We’ve got a facility that can do that. We’re not out to muck with anybody. We want to be out of sight and mind, do our best to survive, not burden society, and take care of ourselves.”

Miller, at Fortitude Ranch, said the demand for survival ranch franchises has been growing exponentially.

“We’re going like mad now through franchising. We’ll double our number of locations this year. It could take off even more,” Miller said.

A furnished condominium at Survival Condo in central Kansas. (Courtesy of Survival Condo)

But even with 100 new franchise locations, “that’s still a tiny percentage of the population,” he said. “We’re not even close to handling 1 percent of the population.”

Miller said people owe it to themselves and the future to survive the coming collapse as the opportunities to rebuild will be “phenomenal.”

“I hope the United States will recover and follow the Constitution. We don’t follow it today,” Miller said.

Could the automobile love affair at Morgan Stanley be shifting?

Analyst Adam Jonas, long known for his affection of Tesla and Elon Musk, has penned a note to start this week introducing Ferrari as a top pick by the firm, which has raised its price target on the company to $310 from $280.

Jonas has an overweight rating on the name and called the company “the most defensive name in his coverage” that avoids much of the “EV hype and EV risk”, according to a Monday morning Bloomberg wrap-up.

“We believe RACE is the best positioned company in our coverage in a highly uncertain macroeconomic and geopolitical tape. In addition to its strong fundamentals, we believe RACE has levers to pull for both growth or downside protection, within a wide dispersion of macro outcomes,” Jonas and peers wrote in their note.

“Ferrari has built its moat on scarcity, desirability, and brand values around performance (“driving thrills”) and luxury which is the key driver for continued demand. These factors make it hard for a competitor to replicate the Ferrari model overnight. In our view, buying a Ferrari today is not so much about ‘the sound of the engine’ or the ‘performance’ in and of itself,” it continues.

“Rather, we think it is a totality of factors that drive customers to want the elements that a Ferrari possesses: scarcity, desirability, connotations of luxury and performance (stemming from Formula 1 racing pedigree),and exquisite Italian design and engineering. The brand and scarcity drive unprecedented demand for the vehicles, which Ferrari is able to leverage with tight supply control.”

Jonas also likes that Ferrari has the longest order backlog, greatest earnings visibility and highest pricing power of any of the companies he covers, the Bloomberg note also said. 

Long-term opportunities, a predictable business model and a “near unmatched brand and market moat” were cited as additional factors for the believe in Ferrari. 

Jonas wrote: “We believe investors over-estimate the risk of EVs to Ferrari and misprice the inherent opportunity in EVs coupled with continuing the ICE business on an exclusive basis with price points for ICE approaching $1mn/unit.” 

“The key concern we field from investors on RACE is the shift to EVs. Although the shift away from the ICE engine which has been at the heart of RACE’s brand since inception presents a profound shift in Ferrari’s powertrain technology, it need not threaten the company’s DNA. We believe the engine is only part of the reason why Ferrari has been able to create one the strongest brands in the world,” it reads. 

The firm also didn’t seem to see risks of Ferrari shifting their model to EV from traditional ICE, concluding that Ferrari “can offer an EV that will be just as high in demand as what investors are used to from ICE.”

Broadly, however, Jonas is getting more cautious about the sector in general, citing the “rebound in equity prices and continuing signs of unaffordability and auto credit pressure”. 

Submitted by Blue Apples

Since late January when a fatal shooting between Atlanta-area police and ANTIFA-affiliated broke out, Georgia’s capital has become ground zero of the continually fomenting hostilities from the radical leftist group. The tenuous situation saw that violence continue at the site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. Under the pretense of a “mostly peaceful protest,” rioters unleashed their fury by destroying construction equipment at the site of where Georgia State Patrol Troopers had exchanged gunfire with protesters occupying the site in late January. The latest ANTIFA insurgency resulted in the arrest of 23 people on domestic terrorism charges.

One arrest in particular particularly sticks out. Thomas Webb Jurgens was one of the 23 arrested on Sunday according to DeKalb County arrest records. Jurgens arrest is notable because he is a staff attorney at the Decatur, Georgia office of the Southern Povery Law Center. Ironically, the SPLC have cultivated a partnership with state and federal law enforcement across the United States to designate and investigate extremists groups like those engaged in domestic terrorism across the country. Now, they are in a position where it’s difficult to unequivocally deny the criticism levied against them that their own members qualify to be designated among those ranks.

One of the Antifa members arrested on domestic terrorism charges in Atlanta last night is a staff attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The FBI has historically used the SPLC as a source for who should be considered domestic terrorists. pic.twitter.com/y5isk5AHaq

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 6, 2023

According to Jurgens LinkedIn page, he joined the SPLC in September 2021 as a new hire to its Economic Justice Project. He presently is admitted to both the Georgia and Florida state bar associations. Jurgens had graduated with his Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law, the campus of which is located in Athens, Georgia. The campus is just 60 miles from Atlanta where he was arrested.

The Atlanta Police department detailed how the events leading to Jurgens arrest unfolded. Those arrested initially convened under the cover of gathering for a protest before events turned violent. “They changed into black clothing and entered the construction area and began to throw large rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails, and fireworks at police officers.” according to Atlanta police who responded to the scene of the crimes. Footage released by the police department shows approximately 150 masked rioters breaking into the construction site. 35 were detained in total, with 23 already being charged and the potential charges looming for the remaining 12.

CONSTRUCTION SITE BURNS: Huge plumes of smoke and massive police response after @defendATLforest / #StopCopCity protesters face off with police at the site of Atlanta’s future Public Safety Training Facility. I’m told Molotov cocktails were thrown. Construction equipment is on… https://t.co/6dIyrPff6T pic.twitter.com/0F9qj8dgFn

— Billy Heath III (@BillyHeathFOX5) March 5, 2023

Fortunately, unlike the police engagement in January, the events from Sunday evening went without any serious injuries or fatalities. No indication that any of the arrested ANTIFA supporters were armed with a firearm has arisen yet either. Despite that outcomes, Atlanta police aren’t viewing that good fortune as an auspice of what lies ahead. Officials cataloged Sunday night’s arrests as a catalyst for reactionary violence in the coming days. Police department officials forewarned “with protests planned for the coming days, the Atlanta Police Department, in collaboration with law enforcement partners, have a multi-layered strategy that includes reaction and arrest.”

Following violence during the “Night of Rage” ANTIFA organized in response to January’s shooting, Georgia Governor Brian P. Kemp issued a response indicating that state prosecutors would execute a new strategy to prosecuted rioters under domestic terrorism charges. Kemp’s Attorney General, Chris Carr announced his office’s intention to continue to pursue sweeping indictments against ANTIFA members for domestic terrorism continuing to riot. Carr also took the media to task for categorizing ANTIFA members as protesters. The arrest of 23 more ANTIFA rioters, including the SPLC’s Thomas Jurgens, conveys the commitment to a concerted effort between Georgia’s law enforcement and attorney general’s office to prosecute rioters to the furthest extent of the law.

The SPLC could not be reached for comment and has released no official statement regarding Jurgens arrest. In addition to domestic terrorism charges, Jurgens faces potential discipline from the bar associations he is admitted to in Georgia and Florida which could result in the loss of his license to practice law. The revelation of his arrest should also be cause for law enforcement officials around the country to reassess their working relationship with the SPLC. If Jurgens arrest says anything about the non-profit, it’s that their offices are a place where hate groups are apparently being cultivated instead of persecuted.