The battle over Twitter is often made to appear complex and chaotic, but it can all be boiled down to a simple dichotomy – It’s about the people who demand censorship in favor of the establishment narrative vs. the people who want free speech and fair rules applied to everyone equally. 

Everything else is noise and distraction.

The complications arise when we try to define free speech when it comes to social media.  Private companies are not subject to many legal boundaries related to free speech rights.  This is an argument that the political left and government representatives made constantly during the massive purge of conservative and liberty oriented accounts by Big Tech companies since 2016.  And, as we saw with Twitter previous to Elon Musk’s takeover, governments took full advantage of this legal loophole in order to silence people using social media websites as middlemen.  

The ongoing release of the Twitter Files proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that collusion between Big Tech and governments for the sake of censorship is a reality.  In America, at least, this is a constitutional no-no.  The fact that politicians and agencies like the FBI were actively seeking out and targeting ideological opponents and having them silenced on Twitter is a direct violation of the 1st Amendment and these people should be subject to prosecution (the FBI even shelled out at least $3 million to Twitter for services rendered). 

Prosecution might never happen, but at least the evidence is undeniable today after years of the public being lied to.

The reality that Twitter was acting as an enforcement agent for government censorship around the world tells us exactly why so many establishment officials have been up in arms over Musk’s purchase of the platform.  Until now, every single major Big Tech company has been operating in lock-step with the establishment narrative.  People couldn’t even talk about Hunter Biden’s laptop, let alone talk about the inconvenient facts surrounding “climate change” or the covid mandates and vaccines.

This is a dynamic that elitists would still like to keep in place, and they are looking to use international trade rules as a means to pressure Musk into conforming. 

EU Commissioner for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová makes a statement from the frozen doorstep of Davos arguing that Twitter is subject to EU rules for preventing “harm to society”.

“The time of the Wild West is over,” Jourova told EuroNews.

“We will have the Digital Services Act [DSA]. We will have the Code of Practice as a part of this legislation.”

“So, after Mr Musk took over Twitter with his ‘freedom of speech absolutism,’ we are the protectors of freedom of speech as well,” she added.

“But at the same time, we cannot accept, for instance, illegal content online and so on. So, our message was clear: we have rules which have to be complied with, otherwise there will be sanctions.”

Who is Věra Jourová to determine what type of speech is harmful to society? She’s a bureaucrat who has long insisted that “hate speech” laws utilized in the EU should be instituted in the US.  In other words, she’s nobody.  

But two very important conclusions can be derived from her statements here. 

• First, she is essentially admitting that the EU Commission was working directly with the previous Twitter leadership to censor the public in a bid to control their behavior. 

• Second, establishment bureaucrats overseas assume that they should have the power to dictate the policies of private media companies in the US when it comes to communication. 

It should be noted that these same bureaucrats were defending Twitter operations as a private company only a year ago (as long as company policies fell in line with government messaging).  As soon as Twitter started to allow more free speech, suddenly its operations as a private company became an international problem. 

Again, the conflict is about one question – Should people be allowed say what they want and share the information that they want within the confines of constitutional law?  For those that believe the answer is no, we have to then ask “Why?”  What about free speech is so threatening to them?  Can mere speech really do damage to society? Is this really about public safety?  Or, is it about power, and the means to lie to the public while removing their ability to contradict?       

The United States is once again putting pressure on China over its alleged behind the scenes assistance to Russia as it executes the war in Ukraine.

“The Biden administration has confronted China’s government with evidence that suggests some Chinese state-owned companies” may be providing assistance, Bloomberg reports, while seeking to “ascertain if Beijing is aware of those activities, according to people familiar with the matter.”

The sources cited in the report said the support involved non-lethal military aid and economic assistance that “stops short of wholesale evasion of the sanctions regime” put in place by the US and its allies on Russia. 

It’s believed that non-lethal equipment such as helmets and flak jackets are being transferred, which US officials say is still “concerning” – and Secretary of State Tony Blinken is expected to inquire about the issue when he travels to China within coming weeks.

Washington has since the start of the Russian invasion worried that Moscow and Beijing’s mutual declaration of having a “friendship without limits” at the Putin-Xi summit on Feb. 4, 2022 will turn into supplying the Russian war machine militarily. 

There have even been suggestions coming out of US officials that President Xi knew about the invasion beforehand, something Beijing as firmly denied. The timing of Putin’s cozy visit with this Chinese counterpart, having come just weeks before he ordered the Ukraine invasion, has long raised eyebrows.

The issue of potential sanctions-violating items sent to Russia by state-owned companies has been raised directly with top Chinese government officials in the foreign ministry. “The trend is worrying enough that US officials have raised the matter with their Chinese counterparts and warned about the implications of supplying material support for the war,” Bloomberg details.

But then even if the Chinese government is shown to have had direct knowledge of its state-owned firms sanctions-busting activities, the question remains of how far the Biden administration is will to go in terms of punishment. 

If Russia loses, China is next on the US list https://t.co/hYbLbAaYnI

— Elijah J. Magnier 🇪🇺 (@ejmalrai) January 18, 2023

The Bloomberg report highlights the dilemma in the following: “And if Biden and his advisers determined China’s government was involved in or tacitly accepted the actions of those state-owned enterprises, they would be forced to decide how much to push back.”

And further: “That could risk opening a whole new area of dispute at a time when the US has sought to balance its desire for stabilized ties with Beijing against moves to limit Chinese access to high-end mircochips and confront China over what it sees as a more aggressive posture toward Taiwan.”

The Kremlin potentially being able to tap China as a reliable military supplier would have huge repercussions for its war effort especially given the widespread assumption that Russia is fast depleting its artillery reserves. A large, powerful secret backer which could keep up fresh supply would be a game-changer, also at a moment the Ukrainian side is desperate for more from its Western backers. US intelligence has lately eyed North Korea too as a culprit in aiding the Russian invasion via equipment and ammo. The US has recently alleged Pyongyang is arming the Wagner private military firm in particular.

The Russian navy is set to participate alongside the Chinese and South African navies in exercises set for February off South Africa, Russia’s state TASS has announced. 

Importantly, the Russian frigate named ‘Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov’ is armed with hypersonic cruise missiles, after it entered deployment in the Atlantic Ocean three weeks ago.

The Zircon hyperonics it is carrying are believed to be able to fly at nine times the speed of sound, with a range of over 620 miles. The ship is expected to traverse the Mediterranean, making its way to Russia’s port at Tartus, before heading south.

“‘Admiral Gorshkov’ … will go to the logistic support point in Syria’s Tartus, and then take part in joint naval exercises with the Chinese and South African navies,” TASS reported.

The South African National Defense Force has also confirmed the drills, which will run February 17-26 and be located off the port cities Durban and Richards Bay, describing that the exercise aims “to strengthen the already flourishing relations between South Africa, Russia and China.”

The South African military also pointed out it will be the second joint drills involving the three countries, after a 2019 exercise.

Interestingly, the timing of the new drills will correspond with the one year anniversary of Russia’s Feb.24 invasion of Ukraine. Given that it remains a US ally, South Africa is coming under heavy criticism for hosting the drills, and for also allowing Russian warships at its ports.

South Africa had been among the some three dozen countries to abstain from a UN vote last year to condemn Russia’s annexation over the four eastern Ukrainian territories. 

The New York Times reported of the US reaction as follows: 

The United States, which has fostered a decades-long strategic partnership with South Africa, immediately expressed disapproval. David Feldmann, a spokesman for the United States Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, said in a statement, “We note with concern” the plan by South Africa to move ahead with the joint exercises “even as Moscow continues its brutal and unlawful invasion of Ukraine.”

“We encourage South Africa to cooperate militarily with fellow democracies that share our mutual commitment to human rights and the rule of law.” Feldmann said further.

The NY Times further notes on the significance of South Africa’s defiant and independent stance: “The naval drill is a show of diplomatic independence for South Africa, analysts said.” And further, “South Africa is part of an alliance with Brazil, Russia, India and China — known by the acronym BRICS — and this naval exercise reasserts South Africa’s position that it will not allow the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to dictate its diplomatic relations.”

Via SchiffGold.com,

Last week, the Producer Price Index data finally showed some cooling of wholesale prices. That coupled with better-than-expected CPI data further buoyed hope that the Fed is winning the war on inflation. But in his podcast, Peter Schiff emphasized that easing inflation is transitory. And a weakening dollar will be a big part of the story.

Markets rallied after the PPI data came out last week.

The markets liked this number and that was part of the reason for a rally that day — the reaction to this better-than-expected news on inflation. But you have to remember that all of this better-than-expected news on inflation is transitory. So, it wasn’t the increase in inflation that was transitory. That’s permanent. What is transitory is this slight decrease that we’re enjoying now.”

It’s important to remember that even though the rate of increase is slowing down, prices are still going up.

They’re just not going up as fast as they were. But all of that is temporary because the reason that we saw a decline in the rate of increase in prices was because we got a correction in commodities, in particular oil prices. We’ve also got a decline in longer-term interest rates. That has affected mortgage rates and probably other debt payments that are being made. That is helping to reduce somewhat the rate of increase in costs businesses are experiencing. But all these factors are temporary.”

Peter noted that commodity prices have already reversed their decline.

One of the reasons commodity prices fell was the strength of the dollar. But the dollar completely reversed in the fourth quarter. On Sept. 27, just before the start of Q4, the dollar index reached 114.11. That was the highest level of the year. From there the dollar index fell by nearly 8%. Today, the DIX is hovering just above 101.

Peter said he expects this dollar weakness to continue for the balance of the year.

I still think that 2023 could end up being one of the worst years ever, and maybe the worst year ever for the US dollar, and that weakness is going to help propel consumer prices much higher. So, I believe that after this transitory reduction in the acceleration of the inflation rate, I think we’re going to head higher again and that before the year is over, we’re going to be printing year-over-year increases in the CPI that will eclipse the high from last year.”

Peter also covered some of the most recent economic data that came out last week. For instance, the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index for January came in weak. And existing home sales also underscored the growing weakness in the housing market. In 2022, existing home sales fell by 34%. That was the single biggest drop in home sales ever.

That means the drop is bigger than it was during COVID. It’s bigger than it was at any point during the 2008-2009 financial crisis.”

Peter said this has very ominous implications for the economy in 2023 because a lot of economic activity that shows up in GDP is related to home sales.

So, all those people who are still clinging to the false hope that the economy is going to experience a soft landing are not reading any of the very bold upper-case letters clearly written on this collapsing wall.”

In this podcast, Peter also talks about the rollover in growth stocks, gold making a 9-month high last week, job losses in the tech sector, the wasteful meeting in Davos, and how a Netflix documentary on Bernie Madoff proves more regulations won’t help us.

Elon Musk is once again standing by his story that he thought he had “funding secured” at the time he Tweeted it out, mid-trading day, back in 2018.

This time Musk is recounting the events while testifying at a trial in an investor lawsuit that claims Musk’s Tweets cost shareholders millions of dollars. The suit says Musk “artificially boosted Tesla’s stock price” with his August 2018 “funding secured” Tweet and that the ensuing whipsaws of the share price cost them money.

Yesterday was Musk’s second day of testimony in federal court in San Francisco, FT reported. During his appearance, he said that he thought a deal for the company with the Saudis was a “done deal” and that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund would support taking Tesla private at $420 per share. 

But Musk also acknowledged there was no contract at the time, and that “many details” had not been worked out. 

“It’s important for the jury to know that,” Musk said, telling the jury that his shares in SpaceX would have made up for any shortfall, if the Saudis had not been able to commit what was needed to purchase the company. He testified that the PIF had “many multiples” of what was needed to take Tesla private at the time. 

Musk testified it was “difficult to say” whether or not he thought shares would rise or fall in reaction to his Tweet. The proposed takeover price, meanwhile, was about 20% higher than Tesla’s stock price at the time. 

He said his Tweet was made on a “split second” decision after he found out FT was preparing a report about the Saudi PIF taking a $2 billion stake in Tesla. 

“I expected that there (would) probably be some increase in the stock price — seems likely. If you say that you’re considering taking a company private or acquiring a company . . . there is going to be some premium . . . In this case, I’m clear about what the premium would be,” he said, according to FT. 

When questioned about the nonsensical-looking $420 per share proposed price, Musk answered: “There is some karma around 420, although I’d question (whether it) is good or bad karma, at this point.”

When questioned about why he didn’t consult the board about the offer, Musk responded: “I, as the bidder, am not allowed to have detailed discussions with the board because it represents the counterparty. So, it would be collusion if I discussed in detail with the board.”

So far, Musk has been able to dodge a litany of courtroom bullets during his tenure as Tesla’s CEO. Let’s see if that pattern continues…

Authored by Grzegorz Adamczyk via Remix News,

Only 8.5 percent of all EU and G7 companies have actually left Russia, according to research from the University of St. Gallen and the IMD business school in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Before the outbreak of war, there were more than 2,400 company branches and 1,400 companies from the EU and G7 operating in Russia. By the end of November last year, only 120 companies had left Russia or sold their company there. 

The research indicates that the news of a mass exodus of Western firms from Russia has been largely exaggerated.

In fact, businesses have resisted calls from governments, media, and civil society, according to the Belgian daily newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.

Companies remain skeptical and reluctant about leaving Russia over fears of losing their business and staff.

Those who have left have ended up transferring assets into Russian hands, even for a single symbolic ruble or euro, as was the case with Renault and Nissan. 

According to Forbes, the biggest beneficiary was oligarch Wladimir Potanin, whose Interros company bought Rosbank from Societe Generale, making nearly 50 billion rubles (€667 million) in the process.

The second-biggest earner was Vladyslav Sviblov, whose Highland Gold Mining bought the assets of Canada’s Kinross corporation, which netted him almost 40 billion rubles.

Not far behind was Ivan Tirishkin from SPB, who bought 49.5 percent of the shares in HKF-Bank LLC, making over 35 billion rubles.

Fourth on the list was the state research center FSUE NAMI, which took over the plants owned by Renault and Nissan, gaining assets worth just under 35 billion rubles. 

When it comes to sexual deviancy among priests who are supposed to be celebrate, it’s not just about the kids – although pedophilia does come up in this report.

According to The Sunday Times, the Vatican is now investigating allegations of a lockdown ‘sex party’ in the priest’s quarters at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Newcastle, UK.

“A number of complaints were made by individuals within the diocese after information came to light about a sex party taking place in the priests’ living quarters attached to Newcastle cathedral,” a diocese source told the outlet. A second source said: “The cathedral had become a laughing stock.”

And in a letter seen by the Times, the investigation has been assigned to the Archbishop of Liverpool, who’s been ordered to produce “an in-depth report into the events leading up to Bishop Byrne’s resignation.”

There is no suggestion that Byrne, who served both Hexham and Newcastle, participated in the alleged party inside a property adjoining St. Mary’s Cathedral, Newcastle, curing the Covid-19 lockdowns, nor whether he was aware of it.

The churches had remained closed for much of the pandemic lockdowns, with only religious funerals allowed. But Father Micael McCoy, who Byrne installed in 2019, is said to have approached several worshippers, asking if they would like to attend “a party” at the cathedral, according to a source close to the investigation.

McCoy notably committed suicide in April 2021 after finding out that he was under investigation by Northumbria police’s child and adult protection department over a historical child sex abuse allegation made against him (there it is).

And in another related pedo investigation, the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA) will focus on convicted sex offender, Father Tim Gardner, and his relationship with the diocese. Gardner admitted in a London court to making and/or possessing thousands of indecent images of children.

He was caught with more than 500 pictures of children and more than 5,000 prohibited images downloaded on to his computer. Gardner, aged 42 at the time, who was teaching religious education at a Catholic school in north London, also pleaded guilty to ten counts of making indecent images of children and one count of possession of prohibited images. He was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years. -The Times

Gardner was allegedly offered an opportunity to stay at the ‘orgy’ accommodation within the Newcastle diocese after his conviction, a move which senior figures within the diocese stepped in to block, according to allegations contained in the report.

A letter from the Liverpool Archbishop has put priests on noticed that the CSSA  review will include “clergy former and present, staff former and present, lay volunteers former and present, victims as appropriate.”

The investigation is a rare move by the Dicastery for Bishops – the department within the Vatican tasked with nominating bishops and overseeing their performance worldwide, and which answers directly to the pope. Last week the CSSA confirmed that it had begun an “unscheduled safeguarding audit” in the Hexham and Newcastle diocese.

“The scope of the investigatory work will cover any reported abuses, alleged abuses, safeguarding concerns and the culture of safeguarding in the diocese as a whole,” said Steve Ashley, CSSA CEO, adding that their work was “independent” and had “full autonomy over our findings.”

“There should be no doubt that we will leave no stone unturned when it comes to keeping people safe, and this includes investigating the safeguarding culture in Hexham and Newcastle,” said Nazir Afzal, chairman of the CSSA and former chief prosecutor for the northwest of England.

Authored by Kyle Anzalone via AntiWar.com,

The German foreign intelligence service assesses that Kiev is losing a “three-digit number” of soldiers daily, according to a report in Der Spiegel. Berlin informed politicians of the assessment during a secret meeting this week.

Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) is “alarmed” by the high number of losses Ukraine is suffering. The report says Berlin believes Ukraine was losing a three-digit number of soldiers every day during the battle of Bakhmut with Russian forces. The BND informed German politicians of the high number of injured and killed Ukrainian forces during a covert Bundestag meeting last week.

The BND believes the Ukrainian casualties will have severe consequences during future battles. The German intelligence service also believes that Russia is suffering high casualties and using its soldiers as “cannon fodder.”

Reuters reported officials in Washington believe Kiev spent significant resources attempting to defend Bakhmut. The White House is currently advising Ukraine not to launch any major counteroffensives to recapture the city.

The Joe Biden administration is additionally advising Kiev that continuing to pour soldiers into defending Bakhmut is preventing Ukrainian forces from attacking Russians defending other cities.

Ukraine is seeking tanks from its NATO partners. However, many countries, including the US and Germany have resisted sending their modern tanks to Ukraine.

Report from Bakhmut showing a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter.https://t.co/XmxqB0vEgE pic.twitter.com/aSiLCg7ALk

— Rob Lee (@RALee85) January 22, 2023

Bakhmut is located in the Donetsk region. The BND believes if Russia takes the city, it will open the door for additional gains. Bakhmut has seen fierce fighting for several months, but the intensity picked up last week. Russian forces have made some gains in the city.

The Prime Minister of Japan says the country is in a precarious position as a society over its plummeting birth rate.

“Japan is standing on the verge of whether we can continue to function as a society,” said Fumio Kishida, saying that the situation was a case of “now or never.“

“Focusing attention on policies regarding children and child-rearing is an issue that cannot wait and cannot be postponed,” he added.

The island nation currently has a population of 125 million, and had just 800,000 births last year. For comparison, that figure was north of 2 million in the 1970s.

And while other Asian nations have experienced similar slowing birth rates, Japan’s issue is particularly acute as life expectancy has risen at the same time – meaning there are a larger of older people, with a declining pool of working-age people to support them.

In fact, Japan has the world’s 2nd highest percentage of people over the age of 65, after the tiny state of Monaco, the BBC reports, citing data from the World Bank.

The comments come as Kishida’s cabinet approval rating has dropped another 2.7% from last month to 26.5% – the lowest since he took office in Oct. 2021, according to Jiji, citing its latest poll conducted Jan. 13-16. The poll also found that just 40.9% of people approve of the government’s response to coronavirus, while 31.2% say they disapproved.

Kishida added that eventually he wants the Japanese government to double its spending on child-related programs, and wants a new government agency set up by April to focus on the issue. That said, previous strategies to lift the birth rate have been met with limited success.

Meanwhile, real wages in Japan haven’t grown in 30 years, while incomes in South Korea and Taiwan have caught up and overtaken the country.

By Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com

Retail and professional investors expect copper to be the top-performing commodity this year, outperforming gold, corn, and crude oil, according to Bloomberg’s MLIV Pulse survey published on Monday.

A total of 45% of retail investors and 36% of professional investors see copper as the best-performing commodity asset this year, compared to 26% of professional and 21% of retail investors who picked crude oil as most likely to be the top commodity performer in 2023. 

Copper prices have strongly rebounded in recent weeks, thanks to the reopening in China, which is expected to spur additional demand, and to the long-term bullishness of the market for metals necessary for the energy transition.

Copper prices are set for a new record-high in 2023 amid an “extremely” tight market, Goldman Sachs said last month.

“The sequential increase in policy targets and commitments to green transition, alongside a minimal supply response so far… have resulted in earlier and larger open-ended deficit conditions that essentially are already here, not beginning at some point in the future,” Nicholas Snowdon, metals strategist at Goldman Sachs, said in December, as carried by Financial Review.

Moreover, mining and commodities giant Glencore said in an investor update last month that a huge shortage of copper is looming, reiterating warnings from other industry players and analysts that a supply crunch could slow the energy transition.

According to Glencore’s estimates, under the net-zero emissions pathway of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the world will be more than 50 million tons short of copper between 2022 and 2030.

“But increasing mine supply is challenging given heightened country and operational risks and the industry remains wary of multi-billion dollar investment decisions,” Glencore said.

In the latest reporting week to January 17, copper, one of the best-performing commodities this month, attracted more bullish positions, and the net long position—the difference between bullish and bearish bets—jumped to a nine-month high, Ole Hansen, Head of Commodity Strategy at Saxo Bank, said on Monday.