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While Joe Was VP, Hunter And Pals Aided Chinese Bid To ‘Control’ Global Nuclear Power Market With US Tech: Report

While Joe Was VP, Hunter And Pals Aided Chinese Bid To ‘Control’ Global Nuclear Power Market With US Tech: Report

Democrats just can’t stop trying to sell US nuclear assets.

According to a new report, while his father was Vice President, Hunter Biden and his business partners attempted to help Chinese energy firm CEFC purchase Westinghouse, a premier US-based nuclear technology firm, in an attempt to “control” the global market and provide “significant lobbying power in Congress.”

In summary, utilising the U.S. face of Westinghouse, combined with the economic power of CEFC (China) is the perfect solution to control this global sector,” wrote Hunter’s partner, James Gilliar, in a 2016 CEFC strategy memo, Just the News reports.

The effort failed despite Hunter’s prowess as an international energy expert.

The evidence, which includes a detailed strategy memo, shows Hunter Biden was directly involved in emails and correspondence on the project in 2016 and that the goal was to exploit the future first son’s access to power and his family reputation to make Washington and Beijing comfortable with a potentially controversial deal and then to shield the acquisition of Westinghouse by China CEFC Energy behind intermediaries. -Just the News

While Westinghouse at the time was owned by Japan’s Toshiba, the crown jewel of their IP portfolio was a US-designed advanced nuclear reactor, the AP1000, which was approved for final design in December 2005 by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and again, which the Hunter crew expected to provide “significant lobbying power in Washington.”

In a nearly 60-page confidential report Gilliar prepared to try and sell the Chinese on the acquisition, he wrote:

“Furthermore, because the AP1000 is a U.S. design, Westinghouse has significant lobbying power in Congress,” suggesting that the group could exploit said lobbying power to support China as a “new entrant to the nuclear power market.”

Miscalculations in the construction of two AP1000 nuclear plants in Georgia and South Carolina resulted in a $13 billion cost overrun, bankrupting the company in 2017.

According to new memos and testimony about the plan to help CEFC “control this global sector,” Hunter Biden “had an interesting last name that would probably get people in the door,” former business partner Rob Walker told Congress.

Lawmakers tell Just the News that Hunter’s relationship with CEFC fits a pattern that Hunter was willing to take money from US adversaries, including an attempt to acquire prize assets such as the Michigan-based Hennings firm, which is tied to the People’s Liberation Army.

“The Biden family was all about money,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) told the “John Solomon Reports” podcast. “There was no sense of of honor or no sense of protection to the country. It was protect the brand, which was the Biden name. Joe Biden.”

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen grifters more than the Biden family,” he added.

Meanwhile, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) told the outlet “We’re very concerned. And when you look at the Biden administration, there’s no question in my mind that they’ve had a soft on China policy,” adding “And there are certain policy decisions that this administration has made that are counter to what any American would want with respect to foreign policy relating to China.”

Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/14/2024 – 15:45

How Overpaid Are State And Local Government Workers Compared To Private

How Overpaid Are State And Local Government Workers Compared To Private

Two weeks ago we observed that as private sector wage growth was slowing sharply, government worker wage growth had just hit a new all time high and was gingerly moving ever higher.

Picking up on this topic, Mish Shedlock writes that the BLS released its employer costs report for the 4th quarter of 2023. He investigates how much state and local government workers make compared to private industry workers.

Information from the BLS report on Employer Costs.

The Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) measures the average employer cost per employee hour worked for total compensation, wages and salaries, and benefits, and costs as a percent of total compensation. These data are collected through the National Compensation Survey (NCS) and provide information about average compensation in the economy at a point in time.

Employer Costs $ Per Hour Comparison

  • State and local government worker’s total compensation is $60.56 compared to $43.11 for private industry.
  • State and local government worker’s salary is $37.53 compared to $30.33 for private industry.
  • State and local government worker’s benefits are $23.03 compared to $12.77 for private industry.

Employer Costs Percentage Comparison

  • State and local government worker’s total compensation is 40.5 percent higher than private industry.
  • State and local government worker’s salary is 23.7 percent higher than private industry.
  • State and local government worker’s benefits are 80.3 percent higher than private industry.

Employer Costs Per Hour Private Industry 2023 Q4

Private Employer Costs Table

Where to Seek and Avoid Employment

  • If you can get a job in government, go for it. But that does assume your city or local government will not go bankrupt with benefits slashed. So, think carefully about those promised benefits, 80.3 percent higher than private industry.
  • Financial activities and information are high on the list but so are utilities. The latter is likely due to monopolies and/or government ties.
  • Avoid if you can Leisure and Hospitality, especially fast food restaurants. But that is likely the only option for high school kids (except those whose parents are in government jobs and able to get high paying summer jobs for their kids. Clout matters).
  • Also wait staff at upscale restaurants likely do pretty well, but local dive restaurants, not so well.

Minimum Wage for Fast Food Workers

On September 28, 2023, Mish reported Minimum Wage for Fast Food Workers Jumps 30% to $20 Per Hour in California

When it takes effect on April 1, fast food workers in California will have among the highest minimum wages in the country, according to data compiled by the University of California-Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education. The state’s minimum wage for all other workers — $15.50 per hour — is already among the highest in the United States.

Cheering fast food workers and labor leaders gathered around Newsom as he signed the bill at an event in Los Angeles. “This is a big deal,” Newsom said.

The $20 minimum wage is just a starting point. The law creates a fast food council that has the power to increase that wage each year through 2029 by 3.5% or the change in averages for the U.S. Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, whichever is lower.

California Lead the Nation

More inflation is coming your way. California leads the way. Expect unemployment in California will rise.

Metropolitan Areas Unemployment Rate

The BLS metro report released today. Unemployment rates were up in 218 of 389 metro areas. Nonfarm employment only rose in 59 areas.

For discussion, please see Unemployment Rates Rose in 218 of the 389 Metropolitan Areas

California lead the nation in minimum wages and the unemployment rate. Who could have guessed that?

A Blue State Exodus

California is not always number one. In terms of numbers fleeing the state, it is a very respectable #2. Well, I’m sure it can try harder. For discussion, please see A Blue State Exodus: Who Can Afford to Be a Liberal?

The top exodus states are New York, California, Hawaii, Alaska, and Illinois. Note that Illinois is also #7 in highest unemployment rate.

And as long as we are trashing Illinois, please note the Chicago Teachers’ Union Seeks $50 Billion Despite $700 Million City Deficit

Returning to California, the Cost of Running a McDonalds Jumps $250,000 in CA Due to Minimum Wage Hikes

California is highly dependent on technology stock options and payrolls. Yet, with the economy allegedly booming, and the stock market at an all time high, California faces a $73 billion deficit.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/14/2024 – 15:25

US Steel Plunges After Biden Opposes Acquisition Of “Vital, Iconic” Company By Nippon Steel

US Steel Plunges After Biden Opposes Acquisition Of “Vital, Iconic” Company By Nippon Steel

As leaked yesterday, Joe Biden has come out against Nippon Steel’s proposed purchase of US Steel, saying it is “vital” for the “iconic American steel company” to remain “domestically owned and operated”.

In a statement on Thursday, Biden said that “it is important that we maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steel workers.”

“US Steel has been an iconic American steel company for more than a century, and it is vital for it to remain an American steel company that is domestically owned and operated. It is important that we maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steel workers. I told our steel workers I have their backs, and I meant it.”

Biden’s statement marks a rare presidential intervention in a transaction that outside an election year would have drawn less public scrutiny. Despite its storied history, US Steel’s role in the economy has diminished over several decades, a period during which producers in Asia have risen to dominate the global steel market. And while Nippon Steel’s proposed $14.1 billion acquisition targets an iconic business name, a takeover in the US commodities industry by a company based in a friendly country is hardly unusual.

Biden’s intervention came one day after the Financial Times first reported that he was preparing to voice concerns about the Japanese group’s proposed $14.9bn acquisition of the Pennsylvania-based steelmaker, which sent the stock of the company (with the ticker X which Elon Musk would love to get his hands on for IPO time) lower.

It also comes less than a month before Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is due to arrive in Washington for a state visit on April 10. The US president has looked to Japan as a bulwark against China in the Asia-Pacific region, but the senile president’s opposition to the deal deal could strain the two countries’ relationship.

The White House issued Biden’s statement as he campaigns in Michigan and Wisconsin, two Midwestern industrial strongholds that are crucial for him to win in November. Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump is vying for the same blue-collar workers in those states as Biden and has pledged to block the deal outright.

US Steel’s shares fell 2.5% on Thursday after tumbling 13% on Wednesday when news first broke that Biden would “express concern” about the deal.

The shares are now trading at levels last seen before the Nippon deal was announced in December, suggesting investors are increasingly skeptical about its chances of success amid an ongoing federal review.

According to Bloomberg, Biden was silent on the pending review of the deal by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, and stopped short of an outright pledge to block it. CFIUS is led by the Treasury Department, and has the power to approve, block or amend the deal on national security grounds, or send it to Biden for a decision.

Timna Tanners, an analyst at Wolfe Research LLC, said the deal suffered from the “unfortunate timing” of being brokered in the midst of an election in which both candidates have vowed to bolster domestic manufacturing and use their power to stop jobs from going overseas.

“The deal is facing a much more difficult chance of going through now that Biden has come out against it,” she said. “It’s an alarming precedent that the US government is setting.”

Of course, this particular government has set so many “alarming precedents”, it has become impossible to keep count.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/14/2024 – 15:00

“The COVID Experiment”

“The COVID Experiment”

Authored by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,

The “covid experiment” was a masterclass in the use of authority to coerce, intimidate, and compel the ignorant masses into conforming to made up rules and regulations regarding lockdowns, masks, social distancing, the use of safe and effective medicines like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, and ultimately forcing an unsafe, untested, dangerous gene altering toxin to be injected into their bodies.

The totalitarian regime which inflicted this global horror show upon humanity has no hesitation in faking data in order to further their evil agenda, so their statistics showing 81% of Americans received at least one jab seem suspect. Overestimating the number who have submitted is a method for convincing more sheep to do so. I would estimate that closer to 60% of adults got the jab, under threat of sanctions, loss of job, and/or loss of privileges.

The Venn Diagram below is an accurate portrayal of the techniques used by the “authorities” in conducting this worldwide experiment in how far they could push people before they pushed back. From the perspective of our overlords, this experiment was a tremendous success, setting the stage for their next planned existential threat exercise to abscond with more of our wealth, while increasing their power and control over our lives. Continued submission to their demands will result in continued loss of our liberties, freedoms, and civil rights.

“The disappearance of a sense of responsibility is the most far-reaching consequence of submission to authority.” ― Stanley Milgram

“Control the manner in which a man interprets his world, and you have gone a long way toward controlling his behavior. That is why ideology, an attempt to interpret the condition of man, is always a prominent feature of revolutions, wars, and other circumstances in which individuals are called upon to perform extraordinary action.” ― Stanley Milgram, Obedience to Authority

The only thing missing from the Venn Diagram is an overlay of Edward Bernays’ Propaganda, providing the blueprint of how to utilize the regime media propaganda outlets to enforce whatever message was needed to support the particular authoritarian narrative of the day. Key aspects of all three experiments were utilized during the covid plandemic to achieve the desired outcomes of the ruling class, in using authoritarian measures to force the masses to do as they were told, or else. Fear and loathing toward our government has been the outcome of this covid experiment. I steadfastly stand on the loathing side. The brief descriptions below capture the gist of the experiments:

Milgram Authority Experiment

A series of social psychology experiments were conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram, who intended to measure the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts conflicting with their personal conscience. Participants were led to believe that they were assisting an unrelated experiment, in which they had to administer electric shocks to a “learner”. These sham or fake electric shocks gradually increased to levels that would have been fatal had they been real.

Stanford Prison Experiment

The Stanford Prison Experiment set out to examine the psychological effects of authority and powerlessness in a prison environment. The study, led by psychology professor Philip G. Zimbardo, recruited Stanford students using a local newspaper ad. Twenty-four students were carefully screened and randomly assigned into groups of prisoners and guards. The experiment, which was scheduled to last 1-2 weeks, ultimately had to be terminated on only the 6th day as the experiment escalated out of hand when the prisoners were forced to endure cruel and dehumanizing abuse at the hands of their peers. The experiment showed, in Dr. Zimbardo’s words, how “ordinary college students could do terrible things.”

Asch Conformity Experiment

The Asch conformity experiments were a series of psychological experiments conducted by Solomon Asch in the 1950s. The experiments revealed the degree to which a person’s own opinions are influenced by those of a group. Asch found that people were willing to ignore reality and give an incorrect answer in order to conform to the rest of the group.

Various adaptations of the Milgram Authority experiment were used during the “covid experiment” to further their aims. We’ve seen the videos of covid authoritarians inflicting pain upon average Americans, forcefully arresting them for swimming alone in the ocean, surfing, sitting in a public park, jogging, and having a catch in their yard with their kids. Inflicting pain upon those not following the “covid rules” was embraced by the Karens and Chads across the land. They wanted the non-conformists (aka critical thinkers) to be fired from their jobs, censored on social media, fined, imprisoned, and made into social pariahs. They wished death upon the un-vaxxed and did victory dances when an un-vaxxed person died. Milgram would have been proud of these petty tyrant psychopaths.

The Stanford Prison experiment showed ordinary people could become cruel fascistic sociopaths almost upon command, inflicting pain and torture upon those they have been told deserve to be treated inhumanely. Authoritarian governors like Cuomo, Murphy, Whitmer, Wolf, and Newsom murdered senior citizens by putting infected patients into the senior living centers. Doctors, hospital administrators, and nurses murdered patients by putting them on ventilators, administering Remdesivir, and denying patients ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. Biden, Fauci, Trump, Walensky and the Big Pharma industrial complex have murdered and injured millions through the roll-out of their multi-billion dollar jab of death. The ongoing imprisonment of January 6 Capital tourists in the dungeons of DC without trial is cruel and inhuman punishment as a message for all critical thinkers exercising their First Amendment rights.

The Asch Conformity experiment was clearly borne out during the covid scamdemic. People conform to the will of the crowd, even though their brain tells them the crowd is wrong. They don’t want to be the disruptive black sheep in a flock of submissive white sheep. Virtually every person, when told to wear a mask, did so with no push back, even though scientific studies proved masks DO NOT WORK. The masses conformed because they believed Fauci (aka The Science), Biden, Trump, fake experts on their boob tubes, low IQ Hollywood shills, lower IQ athletes paid by Big Pharma, and the talking heads/bimbos spouting the covid propaganda narrative on the regime media outlets. Rather than do their own research, the intellectually lazy, igadget distracted, social media addicted, government school indoctrinated dumbasses decided to conform, obey, and believe everything they were told.

If you didn’t believe we were ruled by an invisible government (aka Deep State) of men who pull the strings of society and manipulate the minds of the masses to achieve whatever outcome benefits themselves, then the “covid experiment” should remove all doubt. The entire covid episode was planned beforehand (Event 201) with multiple objectives, all to the benefit of those conducting this experiment, with us as the disposable test subjects in their diabolical plot. The hubris of these tyrants has grown to epic proportions, as they see their “experiment” as an unmitigated triumph of authoritarian measures.

We know maybe 20% to 30% of the population resisted the measures imposed by the Deep State ruling class, therefore distinguishing themselves as the sole fly in the ointment of the “covid experiment”. There is no doubt they will be introducing their next “experiment” in totalitarianism within the next nine months, as the presidential election potentially derails their ongoing efforts to pillage and plunder the remaining wealth accumulated by the plebs. Will it be an engineered financial collapse, an invasion of Haitian cannibals, another lab created disease, activation of the millions of illegal invaders to create chaos, a coordinated takedown of the electrical grid/internet, assassinating Trump and initiating civil war, or finally crossing Putin’s red line in Ukraine and triggering global conflict?

Resistance during the “covid experiment” meant not going along with their narrative and directives. It was more of a passive resistance. It didn’t stop them from accomplishing their aims. They used the experiment to ramp Federal spending from $4.4 trillion to over $7 trillion, with most of the increase going directly into their Deep State pockets, while leaving the plebs with raging inflation, an enormous increase in their debt load, and a drastically reduced standard of living.

In order to resist their next “experiment” in destroying our society will require the use of those 300 million firearms scattered among the 20% to 30% of households who are capable and willing to say NO.  That may seem too dire and apocalyptic, but these psychopaths in suits will not stop until they fear for their own lives.  The time for action approaches and their “experiments” must be terminated, if we hope to have any semblance of the Republic we were given 235 years ago.

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To donate to Jim via Stripe, click here.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/14/2024 – 14:40

JPMorgan Fined $348 Million For Failing To Monitor “Billions” In Trades

JPMorgan Fined $348 Million For Failing To Monitor “Billions” In Trades

America’s most officially corrupt and criminal bank – at least according to the Violation Tracker database which shows that its total penalties since 2020 amount to just shy of $40 billion…

…  JPMorgan Chase, has just added another notch to its criminal track record when it was fined $348.2 million by a pair of US bank regulators over its inadequate program to monitor firm and client trading activities for market misconduct, the Federal Reserve announced on Thursday.

The Fed fined the bank alongside the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and said the misconduct occurred between 2014 and 2023. JPMorgan disclosed in February that it expected to pay roughly $350 million in civil penalties for reporting incomplete trading data to surveillance platforms. It said at the time it was also in “advanced negotiations” with a third regulator that may not result in resolution. The penalty consisted of $250 million from the Office of the Comptroller and $98 million from the Federal Reserve.

In a separate announcement, the OCC said JPMorgan failed to properly monitor “billions” of trades across at least 30 global trading venues.  It ordered the bank to overhaul and improve its trade surveillance program and conduct a third-party review of its policies. The bank must clear any new trading venues with regulators under the new order.

“The consequences of these deficiencies include the bank’s failure to surveil billions of instances of trading activity on at least 30 global trading venues,” the OCC said in its consent order. The bank neither admitted nor denied the OCC’s findings.

According to the OCC, JPMorgan’s trade-surveillance program has operated with certain deficiencies since at least 2019. The firm failed to establish adequate governance over trading venues where it’s active, the regulator said, citing gaps in venue coverage and a lack of sufficient data controls. “These gaps and deficiencies in JPMC’s trade surveillance program

The regulator also issued a cease and desist order requiring the bank to take a number of remedial steps. The bank isn’t allowed to add new trading venues without receiving approval from the OCC and must get an independent third party to conduct a trade-surveillance program assessment, the regulator said.

A representative for the bank said it doesn’t expect any disruption to client services as a result of the actions.

“As we disclosed last month, we self-identified the issue, significant remedial actions have been taken and others are underway,” the spokesperson said. “We have not found any employee misconduct or harm to clients or the market in our review of the previously uncaptured data.” Yep, that misconduct happened entirely on its own.

In other words, the criminal money transfers will go on, and while Jamie Dimon – and his puppet in Congress, Liz Warren – have been railing and against bitcoin and crypto for being the root of all evil for allow a few thousand transactions to go unsupervised…

… JPMorgan was intentionally closing it eyes to “billions” of potentially criminal transactions in good old fiat, dollars. One almost wonder if the full court press by Jamie and Pocahontas to malign bitcoin was intended to deflect attention from JPMorgan’s far more conventional criminal conduct which enabled countless criminals to transact using good, old fiat currencies for decades.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/14/2024 – 13:40

Watch: Saudi AI Robot ‘Gropes’ Female Reporter

Watch: Saudi AI Robot ‘Gropes’ Female Reporter

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

Footage of an autonomous robot developed in Saudi Arabia has gone viral because it appeared to decide to ‘grope’ a female reporter.

The incident took place at tech conference DeepFest in Riyadh, which was advertised as the “premier meeting place for the global artificial intelligence ecosystem.”

As reporter Rawya Kassem was introducing a segment to camera, the robot called Mohammad appeared to grab her ass, prompting Kassem to shoot it a dirty look and gesture for it to stop.

The Metro reports that the droid, developed by robotics firm QSS, is “fully autonomous” and was operating “independently without direct human control” according to its designers.

The company claimed that it had “proactively informed all attendees, including reporters, to maintain a safe distance from the robot during its demonstration.”

In a statement QSS said “We have already conducted a thorough review of the footage and the circumstances surrounding the incident and there was no deviations from expected behavior of Mohammad, however we will take additional measures to prevent anyone getting close to the Robot within its areas of movement.”

Just wondering how Mohammed would react to Sophia?

Respondents on X had a field day:

*  *  *

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
Thu, 03/14/2024 – 13:20

Judge Rules Imposter Craig Wright Is Not Satoshi Nakamoto

Judge Rules Imposter Craig Wright Is Not Satoshi Nakamoto

By Zoltan Vardai of Cointelegraph

Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of the Bitcoin network, according to Judge James Mellor’s ruling in the United Kingdom on March 14, reported BitMEX Research. 

Closing arguments began in London on March 12 in the lawsuit brought by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) lawsuit against Wright, an Australian computer scientist who claimed to be Nakamoto since 2016.

COPA was seeking injunctive relief to prevent Wright from further claiming to be Nakamoto. Wright has been accused of massive document forgery for supporting his claim of being the pseudonymous Bitcoin founder. According to COPA’s closing submission:

“Dr. Wright has been shown to have lied on an extraordinary scale. […] He has invented an entire biographical history, producing one tranche after another of forged documents to support it.”

The trial began on Feb. 5. Wright had offered to settle the case out of court on Jan. 24, but COPA declined.

COPA was founded in 2020 “to encourage the adoption and advancement of cryptocurrency technologies and to remove patents as a barrier to growth and innovation.” Its 33 members include Coinbase, Block, Meta, MicroStrategy, Kraken, Paradigm, Uniswap and Worldcoin. 

In 2023, the Wright sued 13 Bitcoin Core developers and a group of companies, including Blockstream, Coinbase and Block, for copyright violations relating to the Bitcoin white paper, its file format and database rights to the Bitcoin blockchain.

In response to the lawsuit, the Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund said:

“For years, prominent contributors to the Bitcoin community have been the subject of abusive lawsuits […] These lawsuits are frivolous but effective. Many developers have decided it’s not worth the time, stress, money, and legal risk to continue working on Bitcoin.”

Wright filed United States copyright registration for the Bitcoin white paper and the code within it in 2019.

The Bitcoin white paper is now subject to an MIT open-source license, allowing anyone to reuse and modify the code for any purpose. A court injunction would prevent Wright from further copyright claims on it.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/14/2024 – 12:40

Trump Lawyers Prepare For Thursday Showdown Over Classified Docs

Trump Lawyers Prepare For Thursday Showdown Over Classified Docs

Attorneys for Donald Trump are in a fierce courtroom showdown special counsel Jack Smith’s team in a Thursday hearing in the former president’s classified documents case.

Trump has argued in previous court filings that the case should be dismissed because he used his authority as president to declassify documents brought home from the White House.

His attorneys, citing the Personal Records Act (PRA), have argued that Trump, while president, was the chief classification officer, and could mark any documents “personal” as he saw fit. This allowed him to legally take said documents with him when he left office.

The PRA governs how documents from an outgoing presidential administration are handled. It describes personal records as things such as personal notes, materials related to private political associations, or materials related the the president’s own election.

The judge in the Trump case, Aileen Cannon, has set aside the entire day to hear both sides. Following the hearing, Cannon is expected to rule on several big issues in the case – including setting a new trial date which may or may not come before the November election, as well as whether Trump will receive an evidentiary hearing over additional discovery he’s requested from the current White House, the FBI, and more.

And according to journalist Julie Kelly, who is there, Cannon may toss the case.

Prediction: Cannon won’t dismiss the case based on the motions debated today–vagueness of Espionage Act and protection under the Presidential Records Act. But it’s very likely she will dismiss the case based on selective prosecution, a motion still pending before her. -Julie Kelly

Trump has pleaded not guilty to dozens of charges related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents. He has also been accused of obstructing the DOJ’s investigation.

President Biden, meanwhile, did not have the authority as Vice President to declassify documents found in various locations, and illegally shared with his biographer – for which special counsel Robert Hur felt he was too senile to prosecute.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/14/2024 – 12:20

Johnson Whips Out Ukraine Funding Promise To Appease Senate, No Mention Of Border Security

Johnson Whips Out Ukraine Funding Promise To Appease Senate, No Mention Of Border Security

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told Republican Senators that the House would be sending over legislation to send more US taxpayer funds to defend Ukraine’s border.

Photo: Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

This bite at the apple, however, will “look substantially different than the $95 billion foreign aid package the senate passed last month,” according to The Hill.

For starters, Johnson suggested that the package could be a loan or lend-lease program in order to pretend that the US will ever see any return on the ‘investment’ – an idea floated by former President Donald Trump last month.

Next, Johnson suggested something similar to the REPO for Ukrainians Act sponsored by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), which would allow for the confiscation of Russian sovereign assets – which would be liquidated and deposited into a Ukraine support fund, senators told the outlet.

Absent from the discussion was any mention of whether US border reforms would be included, such as “Remain in Mexico” language, which Senate Democrats would vehemently support.

Singing a different tune to the press?

While Johnson made all sorts of promises to the Senate, he told the NY Post that Ukraine funding will take a backseat to funding the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year.

Johnson (R-La.) underscored his support for Kyiv against Russia’s invasion during a “Fireside Chat’ with The Post’s Josh Christenson at the House GOP Issues Conference, but claimed that moving too quickly on a bill that includes $60 billion in assistance for eastern Europe could have sunk government spending talks.

“It was important for us to not put the supplemental in front of the appropriations bills because it would affect, probably, the vote tally ultimately on the appropriations and we had to get our government funded,” he told the outlet.

Johnson’s appeal to the senate came one day after Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) pressured him to bring the Senate-passed package funding Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan to the House floor.

“I did get the sense that after the appropriations bills were taken care of that they would turn to that, and there have been a number of suggestions. One has to do with the forfeiture, basically, of $300 billion in Russian assets, which I think is a great idea,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who was one of 22 GOP senators who voted for the package last month.

As for seizing Russian assets, Cornyn said “It would be justice to make the Russians to pay for Ukraine, pay the United States and allies for arming Ukraine.”

Cornyn also voiced support for the lend-lease program for Ukraine, either on top of – or instead of, the $60 billion included in the Senate’s emergency funding package.

“That’s what FDR did in World War II,” Cornyn said of the lend-lease program, referring to Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 program to arm Britain and other allies against Nazi Germany – a horrible comparison.

After hearing from Johnson, Cornyn said he’s “pretty optimistic” about the House sending a Ukraine aid package to the Senate.

“I’ve heard the Speaker now say ‘We’re not going to leave Ukraine empty-handed,’ or words to that effect,” he said.

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), who also attended the meeting, said the Speaker clearly stated his intention to help Ukraine.

He was pretty clear about it,” Cramer said of Johnson’s indication that he would like to pass a lend-lease program and legislation to seize Russian assets to pay for a Ukraine support fund. -The Hill

No one wants Vladimir Putin to prevail. I’m of the opinion that he wouldn’t stop at Ukraine … and go all through the way through Europe,” Johnson told reporters during the House Republican retreat at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia late Wednesday. “There is a right and wrong there, a good versus evil in my view, and Ukraine is the victim here.”

Lindsey Graham (R-SC), meanwhile, said that a lend-lease program would help Ukraine to stop Russia from making gains on the battlefield.

“I think it’s an elegant solution, particularly with the REPO Act, where you can take oligarch assets,” he said, apparently very excited over the prospect of sending more Ukrainians to die on the premise that Putin won’t stop at Ukraine.

Graham suggested that any loan to Ukraine would be “waivable” and wouldn’t carry interest.

But of course.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/14/2024 – 12:00

Watch Live: SpaceX’s Third Starship Prepares For Launch

Watch Live: SpaceX’s Third Starship Prepares For Launch

On Wednesday evening, the Federal Aviation Administration granted SpaceX a “license authorization” for the third launch of the most massive rocket ever, Starship. 

“The FAA has granted license authorization for the third launch of the @SpaceX Starship Super Heavy vehicle. The FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy, and financial responsibility requirements,” the FAA wrote in a post on X. 

Around 0300 ET, Elon Musk said: “Starship launch attempt in ~5 hours.” 

SpaceX says that a 110-minute launch window will open at 0800 ET. Starship was stacked last week at the SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility in southern Texas near Brownsville. 

For this third launch, SpaceX will build on what it has learned from the previous two launches and attempt a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. 

The third flight test aims to build on what we’ve learned from previous flights while attempting a number of ambitious objectives, including the successful ascent burn of both stages, opening and closing Starship’s payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration during the upper stage’s coast phase, the first ever re-light of a Raptor engine while in space, and a controlled reentry of Starship. It will also fly a new trajectory, with Starship targeted to splashdown in the Indian Ocean. This new flight path enables us to attempt new techniques like in-space engine burns while maximizing public safety. -SpaceX 

Flight trajectory map

Watch the launch event live here:

Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/14/2024 – 07:45