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Fallout Continues Over Trump “Bloodbath” Media Hoax

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Fallout Continues Over Trump “Bloodbath” Media Hoax

Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news,

The fallout is continuing over the media hoax claiming that Trump warned of a “bloodbath” if he didn’t win the election, when in reality he was speaking in economic terms.

During his speech in Ohio, on Saturday, the former president made comments regarding the car industry, Mexico and China.

“If you’re listening, President Xi — and you and I are friends — but he understands the way I deal. Those big monster car manufacturing plants that you’re building in Mexico right now…you’re going to not hire Americans and you’re going to sell the cars to us, no. We’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those cars if I get elected,” Trump said.

“Now if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s gonna be the least of it,” he added. “It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars. They’re building massive factories,” he added.

Despite the context being clear, the media reported the story as if Trump had threatened a violent bloodbath in America.

Despite the hoax being completely demolished on X, some outlets are still reporting the fake story.

MSNBC claimed the words represented Trump’s “dark vision for America”.

Journalists across the world are still repeating the hoax.

Raheem Kassam highlighted how countless media outlets have used the term “bloodbath” to describe economic downturns and staff layoffs.

The legacy press also routinely uses it to describe political bloodbaths.

Trump haters like Joe Walsh spewed moral outrage at Trump for using the word even though they have done so themselves.

And then there’s Keith Olbermann, who like all the rest went all-in on the bloodbath stuff…

…despite this hypocritical bullshit…

…oh and this…

Despite getting ratioed into oblivion on X, they’re still refusing to back down.

Elon Musk labeled journalists “metaphor murderers”.

They’ll still be whining about this for months to come, just like the “very fine people” hoax.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/18/2024 – 11:30

We Should Thank God For The Communists

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We Should Thank God For The Communists

By Eric Peters, CIO of One River Asset Management

Thank God:

“Value investors think China is cheap, at some point it’ll turn,” said the CIO, decades spent in HK, investing globally, Asia focused. “Perhaps they’re right,” he said, a light shrug. “But markets require capitalism, and capitalism requires rule of law.” China is one of the most important wildcards to track to understand the global economy, markets, geopolitics. “Confucius believed in rule by law, with the word of a wise, moral, ethical leader being law. Mencius (Confucianism’s 2nd sage) agreed about morals and ethics but argued for rule of law.”

“Xi Jinping believes in rule by law; what he says is law,” continued the CIO. “Now that Xi has shown his hand as he tightens his grip on the Party, economy, markets, what could he possibly say going forward that would entice any thinking person to take real risk?” he asked. “For the first time in my career, the Hong Kong tycoons have accepted that it’s over,” he said. “They feel the US has it in for them, and they see China as un-investable now,” he said. “Their grandparents fled the mainland in ’49 and taught them to never trust the Communists.

“The Party hired Xi in 2012 to clean up the mess of successive governments,” said the same CIO. “Rampant corruption of Party members, excessive dependency on property and fixed asset investment, environmental degradation, wealth inequality.” Existential threats to the Communist Party. “Xi looked at this rot and took it apart. It was his chance to introduce rule of law. Had he done so, he would have created a China that could have overtaken the US. But just like in 1949 he caused China’s talent to flee. We should thank God for the Communists.”

“Xi saw the experiment with openness and wealth accumulation as dangerous to Party control,” he said. “He will subordinate everything to enhance state power in his quest to displace America as the world’s rule setter,” he said. “He’s telling you precisely what he’s going to do. Eat bitterness. And each day the surveillance state grows stronger.” AI will make it more so. “What we see as economic sickness, Xi sees a price worth paying, because at the other side of this challenge is China’s rightful place at the head of the table. That’s his objective.”

“Xi believes he can allocate capital to build China top down,” said the CIO. “He thinks he can create Nvidia by decree. But Jensen Huang’s grandparents fled China’s Communists in 1949. Jensen had a vision that accelerated compute would be the future. He suffered multiple failures, made numerous acquisitions over decades, took enormous risks.” 30yr overnight success. “TSMC likewise realized it needed to shrink the geometry to make it happen. ASML knew it needed to go beyond the current understanding of the physics of etching.”

“TSMC’s gross cash flows that they can invest back in capital expenditure eclipses the entire market cap of China’s semiconductor industry,” he said. “Taiwan has an ecosystem with engineers and suppliers who have worked together and know how to talk to each other and make things happen.” No way China catches up. Nor does Intel. “And Sam Altman wants trillions to build data centers and buy chips. Google wants the same.” Microsoft too. “They’re signaling that this is where the future value lies.”

“We’re entering a world where the value is in hard tech,” said the CIO. “Where doing important things are very difficult and capital intensive.” We have left a world of capital light opportunity – the software era is ending with the arrival of AI. “Google was built with $100mm and 1000 people. It’s the greatest business on earth,” he said. “Compare those two inputs to what Jensen had to build, it’s drastically different. And this will be more the norm for the people who build tremendous value. More dollars spent, more people, more risk, more time.”

Anecdote

“China’s inward turn will still allow for years of 2-4% growth,” said the CIO from HK. “Each year the Party will forecast better times ahead. They’ll say we’re weaning ourselves off bad habits.” Perpetual propaganda. “What’s interesting is that countries across Asia are now waking up to this problem and becoming more dynamic,” he said.

“Having tried everything else for 35yrs of stagnation, Japan appears willing to try capitalism. It has countless tech companies with small global market share.” Consolidation will create real global competitors. “Tokyo realizes that if you want a defense industry you must pay for it. It’s expensive and requires hard tech.” The Europeans are realizing this too.

“Seoul has too much dependence on China. And with Kim up north and US global engagement increasingly uncertain, they’re copying Japan and trying to increase corporate valuations.” Dynamic economies fund stronger militaries.

“Indonesia has been a non-aligned country and now it wants to join the OECD,” he said. “China joined the WTO at the tail end of the Asian financial crisis,” he said.  “Chinese people don’t need to be told how to make money, they sense profit, and go. The WTO was this gigantic green light to stopped cars at the red light.  And they said this is it. If I want to make real money, I need to bet the farm. I’m going to build a big factory because now I can sell everything to everyone in America without a tariff.” Those who raced got rich.

“In India, historically, entrepreneurs didn’t know what would happen when the government changed, so they built one small factory to ensure they didn’t have overcapacity,” he said. “India never scaled. But now you have a stable government with a consistent set of policies,” he said. “Ambani and Adani, they’re in a league all their own. But the next 50 people down the rankings have a chance and they’re going to go for it. These two guys can’t do everything. And the government needs aggressive risk takers to build the country. If you want to be Vanderbilt or Rockefeller this is your moment.”

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/18/2024 – 10:10

Key Events This Week: Central Banks Galore Including A Historic Rate Hike By The BOJ

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Key Events This Week: Central Banks Galore Including A Historic Rate Hike By The BOJ

According to DB’s Jim Reid, “this could be a landmark week in markets as the last global holdout on negative rates looks set to be removed as the BoJ likely hikes rates from -0.1% tomorrow.” That will likely overshadow the FOMC that concludes on Wednesday that will have its own signalling intrigue given recent strong inflation. We also have the RBA meeting tomorrow and the SNB and BoE meetings on Thursday to close out a big week for global central bankers with many EM countries also deciding on policy. We’ll preview the main meetings in more depth below but outside of this we have the global flash PMIs on Thursday as well as inflation reports in Japan (Thursday) and the UK (Wednesday). US housing data also permeates through the week as you’ll see in the full global day-by-day week ahead at the end as usual.

Let’s go into detail now, starting with the BoJ tomorrow. We’ve had negative base rates now for 8 years which if is the longest run ever seen for any country in the history of mankind. In fact it is doubtful that pre-historic man was as generous as to charge negative interest rates on lending money prior to this! It also might be one of the longest global runs without any interest rate hikes given the 17 year run that could end tomorrow. So, as Reid puts it, a landmark event.

DB’s Chief Japan economist expects the central bank to revise its policy and abandon both NIRP and the multi-tiered current account structure and set rates on all excess reserves at 0.1%. He also sees both the yield curve control (YCC) and the inflation-overshooting commitment ending, replaced by a benchmark for the pace of the bank’s JGB purchasing activity. The house view forecast of 50bps of hikes through 2025 is more hawkish than the market but risks are still tilted to the upside. On Friday, the Japan Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) announced the first tally of the results of this year’s shunto spring wage negotiation. The wage increase rate, including the seniority-based wage hike, is 5.28%, which was significantly higher than expected. This year will probably see the highest wage settlements since 1991 which given Japan’s recent history is an incredible turnaround. This wage data news has firmed up expectations for tomorrow.

With regards to the FOMC which concludes on Wednesday, DB economists expect only minor revisions to the meeting statement that saw an overhaul last meeting. With regards to the SEP, the growth and unemployment forecasts are unlikely to change but the 2024 inflation forecasts potentially could; elsewhere, expect the Fed to revise up their 2024 core PCE inflation forecast by a tenth to 2.5%, although they see meaningful risks that it gets revised up even higher to 2.6%. In our economists’ view, a 2.5% core PCE reading would allow just enough wiggle room to keep the 2024 fed funds rate at 4.6% (75bps of cuts). However, if core PCE inflation were revised up to 2.6%, it would likely entail the Fed moving their base case back to 50bps of cuts, as this would essentially reflect the same forecasts as the September 2023 SEP.

Beyond 2024, DB expect officials to build in less policy easing due to a higher r-star. If two of the eight officials currently at 2.5% move up by 25bps, then the long-run median forecast would edge up to 2.6%. This could be justified by a one-tenth upgrade to the long-run growth forecast. After all this information is released the presser from Powell will of course be heavily scrutinised, especially on how Powell sees recent inflation data. Powell should also provide an update on discussions around QT but it is unlikely they are ready yet to release updated guidance.

One additional global highlight this week might be a big fall in UK inflation on Wednesday, suggesting that headline CPI will slow to 3.4% (vs 4% in January) and core to 4.5% (5.1%). Elsewhere there is plenty of ECB speaker appearances including President Lagarde on Wednesday. They are all highlighted in the day-by-day guide at the end.

Courtesy of DB, here is a day-by-day calendar of events

Monday March 18

  • Data: US March New York Fed services business activity, NAHB housing market index, China February retail sales, industrial production, property investment, Eurozone January trade balance, Canada February raw materials, industrial product price index, existing home sales

Tuesday March 19

  • Data: US January total net TIC flows, February housing starts, building permits, Japan January capacity utilization, Germany and Eurozone March Zew survey, Eurozone Q4 labour costs, Canada February CPI
  • Central banks: BoJ decision, ECB’s Guindos speaks, RBA decision
  • Auctions: US 20-yr Bond ($13bn, reopening)

Wednesday March 20

  • Data: UK February CPI, PPI, RPI, January house price index, China 1-yr and 5-yr loan prime rates, Japan February trade balance, Italy January industrial production, Germany February PPI, Eurozone March consumer confidence, January construction output
  • Central banks: Fed’s decision, ECB’s Lagarde, Lane, De Cos, Schnabel, Nagel and Holzmann speak, BoC summary of deliberations
  • Earnings: Tencent, Micron

Thursday March 21

  • Data: US, UK, Japan, Germany, France and Eurozone March PMIs, US March Philadelphia Fed business outlook, February leading index, existing home sales, Q4 current account balance, initial jobless claims, UK February public finances, Japan February national CPI, Italy January current account balance, France March manufacturing confidence, February retail sales, ECB January current account, EU27 February new car registrations
  • Central banks: BoE decision, SNB decision
  • Earnings: Nike, FedEx, Lululemon, BMW, Enel
  • Auctions: US 10-yr TIPS ($16bn, reopening)
  • Other: European Union summit, through March 22

Friday March 22

  • Data: UK March GfK consumer confidence, February retail sales, Germany March Ifo survey, January import price index, Canada January retail sales

* * *

Finally, looking at just the US, Goldman notes that the key economic data releases this week are the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index and existing home sales reports on Thursday. The March FOMC meeting is on Wednesday. The post-meeting statement will be released at 2:00 PM ET, followed by Chair Powell’s press conference at 2:30 PM. There are several speaking engagements from Fed officials this week, including Chair Powell, Vice Chair for Supervision Barr, and President Bostic.

Monday, March 18

  • There are no major economic data releases scheduled.

Tuesday, March 19

  • 08:30 AM Housing starts, February (GS +9.4%, consensus +7.4%, last -14.8%); Building permits, February (consensus +2.0%, last -0.3%)

Wednesday, March 20

  • 02:00 PM FOMC statement, March 19 – March 20 meeting: As discussed in our FOMC preview, we continue to expect the committee to target a first cut in June, but we now expect 3 cuts in 2024 in June, September, and December (vs. 4 previously) given the slightly higher inflation path. We continue to expect 4 cuts in 2025 and now expect 1 final cut in 2026 to an unchanged terminal rate forecast of 3.25-3.5%. The main risk to our expectation is that FOMC participants might be more concerned about the recent inflation data and less convinced that inflation will resume its earlier soft trend. In that case, they might bump up their 2024 core PCE inflation forecast to 2.5% and show a 2-cut median.

Thursday, March 21

  • 08:30 AM Current account balance, Q4 (consensus -$209.5bn, last -$200.3bn)
  • 08:30 AM Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index, March (GS 3.2, consensus -1.3, last 5.2): We estimate that the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index fell 2pt to 3.2 in March. While the measure is elevated relative to other surveys, we expect a boost from the rebound in foreign manufacturing activity and the pickup in US production and freight activity.
  • 08:30 AM Initial jobless claims, week ended March 16 (GS 210k, consensus 215k, last 209k): Continuing jobless claims, week ended March 9 (consensus 1,815k, last 1,811k)
  • 09:45 AM S&P Global US manufacturing PMI, March preliminary (consensus 51.8, last 52.2): S&P Global US services PMI, March preliminary (consensus 52.0, last 52.3)
  • 10:00 AM Existing home sales, February (GS +1.2%, consensus -1.6%, last +3.1%)
  • 02:00 PM Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Barr speaks: Federal Reserve Vice Chair Michael for Supervision Barr will participate in a fireside chat in Ann Arbor, MI with students and faculty. A moderated Q&A is expected. On February 14, Barr said the Fed is “confident we are on a path to 2% inflation,” but the recent report showing prices rose faster than anticipated in January “is a reminder that the path back to 2% inflation may be a bumpy one.” Barr also noted that “we need to see continued good data before we can begin the process of reducing the federal funds rate.”

Friday, March 22

  • 09:00 AM Fed Reserve Chair Powell speaks: The Federal Reserve Board will host a Fed Listens event in Washington D.C. on “Transitioning to the Post-Pandemic Economy.” Chair Powell will deliver opening remarks. Vice Chair Phillip Jefferson and Fed Governor Michelle Bowman will moderate conversations with leaders from various organizations. On March 6, Chair Powell noted in his congressional testimony that if the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back policy restraint at some point this year.
  • 12:00 PM Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Barr speaks: Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr will participate in a virtual event on “International Economic and Monetary Design.” A moderated Q&A is expected.
  • 04:00 PM Atlanta Fed President Bostic (FOMC voter) speaks: Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic will participate in a moderated conversation at the 2024 Household Finance Conference in Atlanta. On March 4, Bostic said, “I need to see more progress to feel fully confident that inflation is on a sure path to averaging 2% over time.” Bostic also noted, “I expect the first interest rate cut, which I have penciled in for the third quarter, will be followed by a pause in the following meeting.”

Source: DB, Goldman, BofA

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/18/2024 – 09:59

Supreme Court To Hear Arguments In Biden Admin’s Censorship Of Social Media Posts

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Supreme Court To Hear Arguments In Biden Admin’s Censorship Of Social Media Posts

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear oral arguments in a case that concerns what two lower courts found to be a “coordinated campaign” by top Biden administration officials to suppress disfavored views on key public issues such as COVID-19 vaccine side effects and pandemic lockdowns.

President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on March 7, 2024. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

The Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing on March 18 in Murthy v. Missouri, which started when the attorneys general of two states, Missouri and Louisiana, filed suit alleging that social media companies such as Facebook were blocking access to their platforms or suppressing posts on controversial subjects.

The initial lawsuit, later modified by an appeals court, accused Biden administration officials of engaging in what amounts to government-led censorship-by-proxy by pressuring social media companies to take down posts or suspend accounts.

Some of the topics that were targeted for downgrade and other censorious actions were voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, the COVID-19 lab leak theory, vaccine side effects, the social harm of pandemic lockdowns, and the Hunter Biden laptop story.

The plaintiffs argued that high-level federal government officials were the ones pulling the strings of social media censorship by coercing, threatening, and pressuring social media companies to suppress Americans’ free speech.

‘Unrelenting Pressure’

In a landmark ruling, Judge Terry Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana granted a temporary injunction blocking various Biden administration officials and government agencies such as the Department of Justice and FBI from collaborating with big tech firms to censor posts on social media.

Later, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit agreed with the district court’s ruling, saying it was “correct in its assessment—‘unrelenting pressure’ from certain government officials likely ‘had the intended result of suppressing millions of protected free speech postings by American citizens.’”

The judges wrote, “We see no error or abuse of discretion in that finding.”

The ruling was appealed to the Supreme Court, and on Oct. 20, 2023, the high court agreed to hear the case while also issuing a stay that indefinitely blocked the lower court order restricting the Biden administration’s efforts to censor disfavored social media posts.

Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas would have denied the Biden administration’s application for a stay.

“At this time in the history of our country, what the Court has done, I fear, will be seen by some as giving the Government a green light to use heavy-handed tactics to skew the presentation of views on the medium that increasingly dominates the dissemination of news,” Justice Alito wrote in a dissenting opinion.

“That is most unfortunate.”

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito poses in Washington on April 23, 2021. (Erin Schaff/Reuters)

The Supreme Court has other social media cases on its docket, including a challenge to Republican-passed laws in Florida and Texas that prohibit large social media companies from removing posts because of the views they express.

Oral arguments were heard on Feb. 26 in the Florida and Texas cases, with debate focusing on the validity of laws that deem social media companies “common carriers,” a status that could allow states to impose utility-style regulations on them and forbid them from discriminating against users based on their political viewpoints.

The tech companies have argued that the laws violate their First Amendment rights.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision in the Florida and Texas cases by June 2024.

‘Far Beyond’ Constitutional

Some of the controversy in Murthy v. Missouri centers on whether the district court’s injunction blocking Biden administration officials and federal agencies from colluding with social media companies to censor posts was overly broad.

In particular, arguments have been raised that the injunction would prevent innocent or borderline government “jawboning,” such as talking to newspapers about the dangers of sharing information that might aid terrorists.

But that argument doesn’t fly, according to Philip Hamburger, CEO of the New Civil Liberties Alliance, which represents most of the individual plaintiffs in Murthy v. Missouri.

In a series of recent statements on the subject, Mr. Hamburger explained why he believes that the Biden administration’s censorship was “far beyond anything that could be constitutional” and that concern about “innocent or borderline” cases is unfounded.

For one, he said that the censorship that is highlighted in Murthy v. Missouri relates to the suppression of speech that was not criminal or unlawful in any way.

Mr. Hamburger also argued that “the government went after lawful speech not in an isolated instance, but repeatedly and systematically as a matter of policy,” which led to the suppression of entire narratives rather than specific instances of expression.

“The government set itself up as the nation’s arbiter of truth—as if it were competent to judge what is misinformation and what is true information,” he wrote.

“In retrospect, it turns out to have suppressed much that was true and promoted much that was false.”

The suppression of reports on the Hunter Biden laptop just before the 2020 presidential election on the premise that it was Russian disinformation, for instance, was later shown to be unfounded.

Some polls show that if voters had been aware of the report, they would have voted differently.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/18/2024 – 09:45

Elon Musk Reveals Two “Very Mentally Ill” People With Guns Tried To Assassinate Him

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Elon Musk Reveals Two “Very Mentally Ill” People With Guns Tried To Assassinate Him

On Sunday night, Elon Musk revealed in an X Spaces with Dr. Gad Saad, a professor of marketing at the John Molson School of Business at Montreal’s Concordia University, that two “very mentally ill” people have tried to kill him in Austin, Texas. 

Near the end of the one-hour interview, Musk discussed his level of fame and how it’s been problematic when he goes out in public. He said people are super nice, but every time he goes to restaurants, there are lines of people who want selfies with him. 

“I can’t easily go to the mall or a movie theater or walk around without creating a ruckus,” the world’s richest man said. 

Saad asked Musk: “Do you have security around in your daily life?”

Musk responded: “Yes. It’s very rare for me to get death threats.” 

However, he said, “I have had two cases in the last six months where two people, unfortunately very mentally ill, came to try to kill me in Austin with guns.” 

In December 2022, Musk posted a video of a “crazy stalker” who followed a vehicle carrying his son X Æ A-Xii. The billionaire then wasted no time suspending X accounts for ‘doxxed real-time location info.’  

Meanwhile, Musk’s commitment to ‘free speech’ X has infuriated Deep State entities, leftist corporate media outlets, and radical Democrats. The Biden administration has been increasingly weaponizing federal agencies after the billionaire’s companies. It wouldn’t be surprising if the two crazies that came after Musk in Austin were flaming libtards. 

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/18/2024 – 09:30

Rates Markets Are At A Hawkish Tipping-Point

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Rates Markets Are At A Hawkish Tipping-Point

Authored by Simon White, Bloomberg macro strategist,

The rates market in the US is once again on the threshold of expecting rates to peak at a higher level than the Federal Reserve. If the central bank does not raise its projections next week, the market may take the initiative and price higher rates.

Traders have been consistently clear for most of this cycle that Fed rate rises will eventually have to be met with swift cuts to restabilize the economy. Only on a few, fairly brief occasions did pricing get ahead of the Fed and rates were expected to peak at a higher level than the central bank’s projections.

We could be knocking on the door of another of these episodes. The peak expected rate as inferred from fed funds futures has been moored almost identically at the peak rate expected by the Fed itself, based on the FOMC’s dots. The chart below shows the previous times pricing exceeded the Fed’s projections.

There are four distinct episodes, all of them driven by a sell-off in rates markets rather than a move lower in the dots. As shown in the chart, the first two were when CPI was rising and had not yet peaked. The third was a higher-than-expected CPI print, while the fourth was January 2023’s monster payrolls number.

None lasted long, with the previous episode being curtailed by the SVB crisis, but the move higher in rates on each occasion was rapid and brutal if you were on the wrong side of it.

Speculation is mounting that the Fed at its meeting might reduce the number of cuts expected.

All else equal, that would take the market back below the dots.

But traders are beginning to get uneasy about “sticky” inflation. Sticky might not be the problem – there are multiple signs that inflation will start rising again, as discussed here and here. Moreover, it’s not just a US phenomenon: globally there are signs that the disinflation trend is ending.

The market may well get impatient and move rate expectations higher if the Fed does not move the dots higher next week, sensing a policy mistake is in the offing. And if inflation keeps rising, then this latest episode where the market out-hawks the Fed may not be so brief.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/18/2024 – 08:51

“I Wish Upon You Ample Doses Of Pain And Suffering”

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“I Wish Upon You Ample Doses Of Pain And Suffering”

By Eric Peters, CIO of One River Asset Management

“When Heaven is about to confer a great office on a man, it first exercises his mind with suffering, and his sinews and bones with toil,” whispered Xi to himself, contemplating the ancient wisdom of Mencius, born 100yrs after Confucius and considered Confucianism’s 2nd sage.

“It exposes his body to hunger, and subjects him to extreme poverty; it confounds his undertakings,” continued Xi, alone on a long walk. “By all these methods it stimulates his mind, hardens his nature, and supplies his incompetencies.”

Xi’s intelligence services had sent him TikTok videos of Jensen Huang, the founder/CEO of Nvidia, who spoke this week at Stanford University, in the heart of Silicon Valley. Jensen was born in Taiwan in 1963, his ancestors having escaped from the Communists all those years ago. His family made their way to Kentucky, where Jensen was mercilessly bullied by racists and worked at Denny’s where he washed dishes and cleaned toilets as he made his way through school.

And now this remarkable man who in a parallel universe would have grown up as a Chinese national, is worth $80bln and built the firm which is leading the West into an unknowable future of artificial intelligence.

“Greatness comes from character and character isn’t formed out of smart people – it’s formed out of people who suffered,” said Jensen Huang to the captivated Stanford students.

“I was fortunate that I grew up with my parents providing a condition for us to be successful on the one hand, but there were plenty of opportunities for setbacks and suffering,” continued Huang, his wisdom racing across social media. Xi sighed, increasingly confused, marveling at Jensen’s wildly popular reception, while his directive to Chinese youth to “eat bitterness” had left them lying flat.

“I don’t know how to do it for all of you Stanford students, but I wish upon you ample doses of pain and suffering,” said Huang, as Xi felt a growing sickness rise from within.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/18/2024 – 07:45

Musk Defends Former President, Scarborough Deletes, After Leftist Corporate Media Unleashes Trump “Bloodbath Hoax”

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Musk Defends Former President, Scarborough Deletes, After Leftist Corporate Media Unleashes Trump “Bloodbath Hoax”

Update (1551ET): The walkbacks have already begun – with MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough deleting his ‘Bloodbath’ post on X after getting called out by Musk.

Now to see how this blatant callout is handled elsewhere in the media.

*  *  *

Corporate media and their woke allies on the Biden/Harris social media campaign team launched a disinformation and misinformation propaganda campaign against former President Trump, purposely misconstruing his speech at an event on Saturday. 

The blatant disinformation and misinformation by leftist newspapers, radicals in the Biden administration, and even Democrat lawmakers have been on full display over the last 15 hours. There has also been an awakening on X of just how bad Democrats are at propaganda – and they can’t even make it believable anymore. 

Let’s begin with the actual speech. On Saturday evening, X account EndWokeness posted a video of Trump at a campaign rally in Vandalia, Ohio. In it, Trump tells the audience that the American automobile industry will be a bloodbath if he’s not re-elected because the Biden administration will allow Chinese cars to flood the market.  

Almost immediately, legacy media outlets, such as NBC News, ABC News, and Politico, among others, took Trump’s speech entirely out of context… 

Then, the official X account of Biden/Harris trimmed down the clip to just nine seconds, taking Trump’s speech even more out of context. 

The Biden/Harris X account even released this ridiculous statement: 

And the ‘Bloodbath Hoax’ by Democrats was even pushed on CNN this morning by the best stock trader who has ever lived: 

Meanwhile, Elon Musk commented on the absurd propaganda, saying, “Legacy media lies.” 

Musk added, “Yup, hoax-making in process. And it is surprisingly effective!” 

“Please send links from this platform to your friends who are still being misled by the legacy media!” said Musk.

The disinformation and misinformation campaign by the Democrats this weekend is right out in the open. And they’re not even good at it! 

And you wonder why trust in corporate media is imploding to record lows as Americans are tired of being lied to for years. The result of breaking out of the corporate/government propaganda matrix has been the flood of Americans finding their news on X. 

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/18/2024 – 07:00

Alphabet Shares Higher On Report Apple In Talks To License Gemini For iPhones

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Alphabet Shares Higher On Report Apple In Talks To License Gemini For iPhones

Apple is in “active negotiations” to equip iPhones with Google’s generative artificial intelligence engine, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the situation. The possible deal signals Apple’s AI technology remains inferior to Google’s suite of generative AI tools. 

“The two companies are in active negotiations to let Apple license Gemini, Google’s set of generative AI models, to power some new features coming to the iPhone software this year,” said the people, adding that Apple also recently held talks with OpenAI. 

The report said while Apple and Google talks continue, a deal might not be reached until June, when the iPhone maker plans to hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. There is even a possibility that an agreement between the two mega-tech giants will not materialize, and/or Apple will seek multiple partners to build a chatbot. 

Alphabet’s Class A shares were 3.5% higher in premarket trading. 

“A deal would give Gemini a key edge with billions of potential users. But it also may be a sign that Apple isn’t as far along with its AI efforts as some might have hoped — and threatens to draw further antitrust scrutiny of both companies,” Bloomberg said. 

However, the report said, “the two parties haven’t decided the terms or branding of an AI agreement or finalized how it would be implemented.”

Last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company sees “incredible breakthrough potential for generative AI, which is why we’re currently investing significantly in this area.” 

“We believe it will unlock transformative opportunities for our users when it comes to productivity, problem-solving and more,” Cook said, adding a major AI announcement was planned for later this year. 

The big question is, if Alphabet is forced to de-woke-ify Gemini too.much after it’s last incarnation, will Cook and his cronies still want the AI on their phones?

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/18/2024 – 06:55

“We’re So Sick Of It”: Northern Border Crisis Gets Worse

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“We’re So Sick Of It”: Northern Border Crisis Gets Worse

Authored by Allan Stein via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

At dawn or dusk, Kristy Brow used to enjoy alone time walking in the woods on her 21-acre property in Highgate, Vermont, a small rural town near the U.S.–Canada border.

(Illustration by The Epoch Times, Getty Images, U.S. Supreme Court, Allan Stein/The Epoch Times, U.S. Border Patrol photo)

Lately, however, she’s cautious—she’s worried about potential encounters with illegal immigrants along the remote logging trail.

“I don’t go out by myself anymore—especially at night,” said Mrs. Brow, who runs a dog obedience business from her home.

“It’s unsettling. You can’t feel relaxed anymore,” she said. “You want to be safe in your own house and on your property.

“It’s getting bad. Sometimes, you see them on the interstate, looking for a ride.”

Mrs. Brow and her husband are both avid hunters and have deer stands set up on their property. Their game cameras often record illegal immigrants passing through.

The illegal immigrants travel alone or in small groups, discarding unwanted belongings as they trudge further south into Vermont, headed for destinations unknown.

“We find clothes out here. We found shoes and a bicycle. We see Border Patrol out there on snow dogs following footprints,” Mrs. Brow told The Epoch Times.

Once a place of peace and solitude, she said the woods behind her house are now a shortcut for illegal immigrants.

And it’s only gotten worse since President Joe Biden took office, she said.

In fiscal year 2023, border officials encountered 189,401 illegal and inadmissible immigrants along the U.S.–Canada border, including at the ports of entry. Of those, 10,021 were caught crossing illegally between ports of entry.

In fiscal 2021, that number was 916.

Mrs. Brow’s property falls within the Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Swanton Sector, a 295-mile stretch of largely unguarded border with Canada.

Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia wrote on social media earlier this month that border agents in his sector apprehended more illegal immigrants in fiscal year 2023 than “the prior 11 fiscal years combined.”

The Swanton Sector encompasses 24,000 square miles and includes all of Vermont and several counties in New Hampshire and New York State.

Kristy Brow stands in an open field on her 21-acre property in Highgate, Vt., on March 8, 2024. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Traveling on foot in the area is especially challenging during the winter months.

Border officials have encountered illegal immigrants marching across miles of snow-covered wilderness, swamps, muddy fields, and meadows in sub-freezing temperatures.

Many succumb to the elements.

This month, eight illegal immigrants from Albania and India died while trying to cross the St. Lawrence River in New York State.

In February, a Mexican man traveling in a group near Holland, Vermont, collapsed and died after crossing illegally into the United States.

“It cannot be stressed enough: not only is it unlawful to circumvent legal means of entry into the United States, but it is extremely dangerous, particularly in adverse weather conditions, which our Swanton Sector has in incredible abundance,” Mr. Garcia said in a statement.

Border officials often use snowmobiles and tracked all-terrain vehicles to pursue illegal immigrants.

“Despite sub-freezing temperatures, Swanton Sector continues encountering family groups with young children, including infants, illegally crossing from Canada into the U.S.,” according to the CBP website.

A woman who lives in New Hampshire told The Epoch Times an illegal immigrant swam across Wallace Pond in Canaan, arriving soaking wet on her neighbor’s doorstep asking for help.

In a separate incident, Mrs. Brow recalled her neighbor returning home one afternoon to find an illegal immigrant sitting on her front steps.

“He wanted to charge his phone at her house,” Mrs. Brow said.

While the neighbor allowed the man to charge his cellphone outside the house, she also called Border Patrol, who came and arrested him.

In yet another incident, a neighbor informed Mrs. Brow that three illegal immigrants were on her property.

“They just walked down my driveway and turned around and came back onto my property,” Mrs. Brow said. “The way I see it, if you have nothing to hide, you do things legally.”

Illegal immigrants are caught walking through the snow in the Swanton Sector that borders Canada, in this recent Border Patrol photograph. (U.S. Border Patrol)

Border Patrol agents apprehended 6,925 illegal immigrants from 79 different countries in fiscal 2023, Mr. Garcia wrote on X, an “astonishing 550-percent increase compared to last year.”

And during the first four months of fiscal year 2024, apprehensions have already doubled the same period in fiscal 2023, he wrote.

Last month, “a citizen’s report in Champlain, NY, led to the arrest of 10 Bangladesh citizens,” Mr. Garcia wrote.

Mr. Garcia highlighted the arrest of a Mexican national who had crossed illegally into the United States. The man was arrested in September 2023 in North Troy, Vermont.

“He was in possession of drugs, ammunition, and multiple weapons. He was sentenced to 10 months for unlawful possession of a firearm,” Mr. Garcia wrote on X.

Swanton Sector Local 2266, the union that represents border agents working in the sector, didn’t respond to a request from The Epoch Times seeking comment for this story.

“We are also seeing a lot of movement at the Canada–U.S. border,” said Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Charles Poirer, Division C communications officer in Quebec.

“The trend of ’southbound’ crossing (illegal crossings from Canada to the U.S.) is growing. Our patrol officers are intercepting a lot of migrants almost every day and every night along the border,” he told The Epoch Times.

Although Canadian law enforcement “can only speculate at the motives of those individuals,” it appears a “sizable proportion” is using Canada as a stepping stone to gain entry to the United States, Mr. Poirier said.

“They land at one of Canada’s international airports (Montreal or Toronto), and within a few hours of their arrival, we intercept them at the border.”

The RCMP recently launched a number of investigations into human smuggling operations, several of which resulted in criminal charges in Canada, he said.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers greet asylum-seekers as they arrive at the Roxham Road border crossing in Champlain, N.Y., on March 25, 2023. (Lars Hagberg/AFP via Getty Images)

‘It’s Frustrating’

Matt, an employee at the Derby Four Seasons Motel in Derby, Vermont, said that illegal immigrants come expecting rides and other assistance from the locals after Border Patrol drops them off in town.

From that point on, the illegal immigrants are on their own, he said.

“We’re so sick of it. It’s frustrating. It’s the [language] barrier. They can’t speak English. That’s where the barriers take so much out of us.

“They’re coming from everywhere,” Matt told The Epoch Times. “They’re trying to go to New York. They say they have no money, but somebody comes up with the money. Their shoes are high-end. We had a family with a baby with a $300 baby crib. They have money somewhere.”

Matt said the illegal immigrants usually walk into the motel lobby in the cold morning hours to warm themselves or wait for transportation.

“They always have the phone in your face, trying to translate. Oh, I get so mad. I can’t handle that,” Matt said.

“The problem is they expect from us. They expect from the taxpayers. We’re all struggling. They expect us to go out of our way and give them free rides. Some of them thought we offered free rides here.

“It’s not our job to babysit them. That’s how we feel here—we have to babysit them a lot.”

‘Abdication of Duty’

In North Dakota, 1,600 miles west of the Swanton Sector, Gov. Doug Burgum said he’s concerned about the worsening northern border problem under the Biden administration.

Read more here…

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/18/2024 – 06:30

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