Today’s News: January 04, 2024

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POWER HOUR JAY!

WORLD NEWS

Iranian Media Claim at Least 103 Dead in Explosions at Terror Chief Qasem Soleimani’s Tomb

Multiple Iranian state-affiliated news outlets reported the deaths on Wednesday of between 20 and 73 people at a parade honoring late terrorist Qasem Soleimani near his tomb in southern Kerman, the result of what investigations are initially describing as “twin” explosions detonated by remote.

Update: Since the time of publication of this article, Iranian authorities have updated the casualty count to 103 people killed and 141 wounded, including some in critical condition.

The IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported on Wednesday that two explosions rocked the event “as people were packed on a road leading to a cemetery where the tomb of General Soleimani is located,” 13 minutes apart. Terrorists often use multiple explosions to target both their initial victims and first responders deploying to save those injured.

“Sources told a Tasnim reporter in Kerman that the perpetrator or perpetrators of the attack have exploded two explosive-laden suitcases with remote controllers,” the outlet asserted, describing the explosions as terrorism.

Prior reports suggested the possibility of an accidental gas cylinder explosion, though local officials later began openly declaring the explosions intentional.

Taiwan Spots Chinese Balloons near Island Military Base

The Taiwanese Defense Ministry tracked four Chinese balloons passing over the Taiwan Strait on Monday and Tuesday. Three of the balloons passed over the center of Taiwan Island, coming fairly close to the airbase at Ching Chuan Kang before disappearing.

Taiwan detected several Chinese balloons passing over the Taiwan Strait last month, but none of those balloons flew directly over the island as Tuesday’s flights did.

The Taiwanese Defense Ministry declined an opportunity to state for the record whether it believed the new balloons were surveillance platforms, weather balloons, or something else. The ministry said that it “closely monitors” all objects entering Taiwanese airspace and “appropriately responds” to each incursion.

Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Sun Li-fang ventured that the four balloons at least resembled the type of platform employed to collect atmospheric data for meteorologists. It seems unusual for Chinese weather balloons to pass directly over Taiwan, something they have never done before.

The balloon sightings raised concerns in light of the February 2023 debacle in which a Chinese spy balloon flew over the continental United States, apparently gatheringintelligence from several military installations. President Joe Biden eventually bowed to mounting public pressure and ridicule and ordered the balloon shot down, but not until after its mission was complete.

NBC News reported in December on an intelligence assessment that found the Chinese spy balloon used an American Internet service provider to send and receive data with its controllers in China.

Security analysts speculated that whether they carried surveillance gear or not, the Chinese balloons might be intended as a “gray zone” pressure tactic ahead of Taiwan’s hotly contested presidential election, which is scheduled for January 13. Gray zone tactics are unsettling and put pressure on Taiwan to respond, but fall short of outright military provocation or acts of war.

Incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen is term-limited, so her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is running her vice-president, William Lai, known more commonly in Taiwan as Lai Ching-te.

Lai, who has been the frontrunner through most of the election season, has said he will not change Tsai’s policies toward China. Beijing loathes those policies and has waged diplomatic war against Tsai throughout her tenure. Chinese media refers to Lai as a “separatist,” the same term it used for Tsai.

Deportations of Criminals and Failed Asylum Seekers Down by 50 Per Cent Since Brexit

In Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s first full year in office, the number of asylum seekers removed by the government dropped by nearly half compared to 2016, when the British public voted to leave the European Union, in large part in response to mass migration.

At the beginning of 2023, after being installed in Downing Street against the ballot-expressed wishes of the Conservative Party membership, Prime Minister Sunak vowed that his government would finally take back control of the nation’s borders.

U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

House committee to formally begin impeachment proceedings against Biden Homeland Security chief over border policies

The U.S. House of Representatives is set to soon start impeachment proceedings against the federal government official in charge of the Department of Homeland Security, a House committee confirmed on Jan. 3.

The House voted in late 2023 to send an impeachment resolution for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas back to the House Homeland Security Committee rather than impeaching him.

“The bipartisan House vote in November to refer articles of impeachment to my Committee only served to highlight the importance of our taking up the impeachment process—which is what we will begin doing next Wednesday,” Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), the panel’s chairman, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

Republicans say Americans want the crisis at the U.S.–Mexico border to end and for lawmakers to hold officials responsible for the crisis accountable.

“That’s why the House Committee on Homeland Security led a comprehensive investigation into the causes, costs, and consequences of this crisis,” Mr. Green said. “Our investigation made clear that this crisis finds its foundation in Secretary Mayorkas’s decision-making and refusal to enforce the laws passed by Congress, and that his failure to fulfill his oath of office demands accountability.”

Mr. Mayorkas, 64, has presided over the worst border crisis in American history. Illegal immigration arrests at the southwest border have routinely set new records under Mr. Mayorkas and President Joe Biden, who appointed the former Obama administration official to head the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The arrests reportedly reached 302,000 in December 2022, which would be the highest monthly figure ever.

Millions of other illegal immigrants have evaded border agents since early 2021, according to leaked DHS data.

The crisis has cost taxpayers billions of dollars, the House committee said in a recent report, including paying for illegal immigrants’ health care and incarceration.

Federal Judge Crushes Attempt to Disqualify Trump From Virginia Ballot

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit that sought to bar former President Donald Trump from Virginia’s 2024 primary and general election ballots, rejecting arguments similar to those used to temporarily prevent him from appearing on ballots in Colorado and Maine.

In a ruling issued in late December, U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema wrote that the plaintiffs—two activists—who filed the lawsuit against President Trump lacked legal standing.

Roy Perry-Bey and Carlos Howard claimed that the former commander-in-chief should be disqualified under Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which prohibits individuals from running for office if they have engaged in a rebellion or insurrection against the U.S. government.

Judge Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, found that the “plaintiffs have totally failed to demonstrate how their alleged injuries are traceable to the conduct of defendants.”

“At least five additional federal courts have concluded that citizens attempting to disqualify individuals—including former President Trump—from participating in elections or from holding public office based on the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol lacked standing,” she wrote in her 13-page ruling.

The plaintiffs relied heavily on the rulings made in Maine and Colorado in late December, the judge noted.

“Plaintiffs’ attempt to achieve a result similar to that in Colorado cannot occur in this Court because of the nature of their direct federal constitutional claims and because of the constraints imposed by Article III that limit the jurisdiction of federal courts,” Judge Brinkema wrote.

In the ruling, the judge noted that the plaintiffs also wrote that they “were unable to file timely oppositions” to the motions to dismiss because they needed “additional time due to debilitating depression making it more difficult to prepare an effective response.”

However, in subsequent days, the plaintiffs filed more than a dozen motions, which the judge said implies that they “were, in fact, capable of responding” to the earlier motions to dismiss the case.

Hundreds of Court Records Linked to Jeffrey Epstein Unsealed

Prince Andrew, former President Bill Clinton, and previously unknown individuals are named in nearly 1,000 pages of previously sealed court records released on Wednesday in a case involving Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a long prison term for trafficking minor girls to late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The first tranche included nearly 40 unsealed court filings, featuring sealed depositions, emails, and other evidence filed as part of a 2015 defamation lawsuit filed against Ms. Maxwell by Virginia Giuffre, who says Mr. Epstein and his associates abused her. This case was settled in 2017.

More previously sealed court records will be disclosed “on a rolling basis until completed,” according to a court order dated yesterday.

The filings are expected to shed light on how Mr. Epstein, before he died awaiting trial for his alleged crimes, was able to sex traffic young women and girls to powerful figures for nearly a decade. Mr. Epstein’s death in a New York prison four years ago was ruled a suicide by a medical examiner.

Prince Andrew was identified in a filing from the unsealed deposition of Johanna Sjoberg, who was already known as an alleged victim.

During a deposition, Ms. Sjoberg said Prince Andrew “touched my breast” while she was sitting in his lap and, when asked if she had ever massaged former President Donald Trump, said “no.”

“They put the puppet on Virginia’s lap, and I sat on Andrew’s lap, and they put the puppet’s hand on Virginia’s breast, and Andrew put his hand on my breast, and they took a photo,” she said, referring to Ms. Maxwell and Mr. Epstein.

Mr. Epstein once told Ms. Sjoberg, according to her deposition, that “Clinton likes them young, referring to girls.”

The records, when released in their entirety, are expected to disclose the previously redacted names of 157 people who knew and spent time with Mr. Epstein, including prominent figures in the business and political worlds, as well as previously unknown parties, employees, former associates, alleged victims, and journalists who investigated him, according to court filings.

Victim Claims Epstein Told Her Bill Clinton ‘Likes Them Young’

A victim of Jeffrey Epstein’s claimed that the convicted pedophile told her that former President Bill Clinton “likes them young.”

Judge Dismisses Most Counts Against Trump in Brian Sicknick Jan. 6 Lawsuit

A federal judge dismissed three of five civil counts brought against former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants in a Jan. 6 case related to the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick.

The lawsuit was brought by Sandra Garza, the longtime ex-girlfriend of Mr. Sicknick, who died of a stroke following the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol, during which he was pepper sprayed. Ms. Garza is also the representative of Mr. Sicknick’s estate.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta issued a split decision, granting in part and denying in part the motions to dismiss filed by lawyers for President Trump and two men accused of pepper spraying Mr. Sicknick. This charge was dropped against one of the men, and neither was charged criminally for the death.

In total, the court dismissed one count of wrongful death and two counts of negligence per se against President Trump and the two men, Julian Khater and George Tanios, who clashed with police on Jan. 6.

The ruling means that Ms. Garza can proceed with a claim against President Trump under D.C.’s Survival Act, which allows a representative of Mr. Sicknick’s estate to take legal action on his behalf after his death.

The ruling also dismissed a defense made by Mr. Tanios under the Professional Rescuers Doctrine and an immunity defense made by President Trump.

Judge Mehta tossed Ms. Garza’s wrongful death claims due to her lack of statutory standing because she “was not Officer Sicknick’s spouse.”Ordinarily, the Wrongful Death Act allows the spouse or domestic partner of a person who has died to recover the financial loss they suffer as a result of the death.

However, this does not apply to Ms. Garza, as she did not file a declaration of domestic partnership in D.C. or “any other jurisdiction,” per the 12-page ruling.

Judge Mehta wrote that despite being named as Mr. Sicknick’s “domestic partner” in his will, that allegation “is not sufficient to confer statutory standing under the Wrongful Death Act.”

“Her contention that a ‘domestic partnership’ was established simply by Mr. Sicknick having identified Garza as his ‘domestic partner’ in his will finds no basis in the plain text of the statute,” Judge Mehta wrote. “Garza therefore cannot recover the damages she personally seeks under the Act.”

Furthermore, the couple had split up months prior to his death, according to court records.

Regarding the first count, the judge noted that the court had already ruled in another Jan. 6 case that D.C.’s anti-riot statute “cannot sustain a claim of negligence per se.”

Judge Mehta adopted that ruling, dismissing the first claim of negligence per se.

“Plaintiff’s other negligence per se claim fares no better,” the judge wrote.

Judge Mehta noted that for the second claim to work, the law being broken must “impose [] specific guidelines to govern [a defendant’s] behavior,” that is, specifically tell people what they can or cannot lawfully do.

However, the D.C. anti-riot statute is more general in its prohibition of certain conduct. For this reason, the second count of negligence per se was dismissed.

Turning to Ms. Garza’s Survival Act claim, the judge allowed the claim of conspiracy to violate civil rights to proceed.

The Survival Act allows the estate of a deceased person to take a course of legal action that the deceased person might have taken if they were alive.

Mark Zaid, a lawyer for Ms. Garza, said they’re pleased the judge allowed part of their lawsuit to proceed. “We are now considering our next step options, to include deposing former President Trump,” Mr. Zaid said in a statement.

Finally, the judge declined to rule on a defense made by Mr. Tanios who argued that Mr. Sicknick was injured in the line of duty, per the Professional Rescuers Doctrine, which prevents those engaged in rescue work as the job from recovering damages for injuries sustained on the job.

“It is premature to rule on this argument,” Judge Mehta wrote.

Biden’s DOJ Sues to Stop Texas from Arresting, Deporting Illegal Aliens

President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against

Texas to stop state officials from having illegal aliens arrested and ordered deported.

Last month, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed three pieces of legislation into law, including giving state law enforcement the power to arrest illegal aliens for the crime of illegally crossing the United States-Mexico border and local judges the authority to have illegal aliens deported.

Soon after, DOJ officials began threatening Abbott with a lawsuit unless he vowed not to enforce the statewide immigration policies.

On Wednesday, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta announced that the DOJ has filed a lawsuit against Texas citing the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause and Foreign Commerce Clause as evidence that the policies are unconstitutional.

“SB 4 is clearly unconstitutional,” Gupta said in a statement.

“Under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution and longstanding Supreme Court precedent, states cannot adopt immigration laws that interfere with the framework enacted by Congress,” Gupta continued. “The Justice Department will continue to fulfill its responsibility to uphold the Constitution and enforce federal law.”

The DOJ is requesting that a federal judge declare the policies unconstitutional and therefore unenforceable by Texas officials.

The case is United States v. Texas, No. 1:24-cv-00008 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/01/03/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-the-latest-victim-of-swatting/

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and his wife Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton (R) are the latest victims of swatting, a form of harassment, which occurred on New Year’s Day.

A false report of a “life-threatening” situation was made on New Year’s Day, prompting authorities to show up at their McKinney home. However, neither were home at the time.

“On New Year’s Day, a currently unidentified caller made a false report to 911 describing a life- threatening situation at our home in McKinney,” they Paxtons said, according to Fox News Digital.

“As a result, the City of McKinney Police and Fire Departments quickly and bravely responded to what they believed could be a dangerous environment,” they continued.

“We were not home at the time and were made aware of the false report when a state trooper, who was contacted by McKinney police, informed us of the incident,” they added, emphasizing that making a false report to emergency responders is “a crime which should be vigorously prosecuted when this criminal is identified.”

The fake calls, they continued, “divert resources from actual emergencies and crimes and could endanger our first responders.”

“We are grateful for the bravery and professionalism of the men and women serving in the McKinney police and fire departments,” they added.

Trump Takes Ballot Disqualification Battle to Supreme Court

On Jan. 3, former President Donald Trump appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court a ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court that found him ineligible to appear on the state’s primary ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment because he engaged in and incited an “insurrection” on Jan. 6, 2021.

“In our system of ‘government of the people, by the people, [and] for the people,’ Colorado’s ruling is not and cannot be correct,” the petition reads. “This Court should grant certiorari to consider this question of paramount importance, summarily reverse the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling, and return the right to vote for their candidate of choice to the voters.”

It presents the high court with the question, “Did the Colorado Supreme Court err in ordering President Trump excluded from the 2024 presidential primary ballot?”

The appeal was expected, as attorneys for President Trump announced their intention to file a petition with the Supreme Court shortly after the Colorado disqualification in a move to remain on the ballot.

The Colorado Supreme Court had stayed its own order to remove President Trump—the front-runner for the GOP nomination—from the state primary ballot in its disqualification ruling until Jan. 4, anticipating an appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Colorado GOP, another intervenor in the case, had already filed a petition for immediate review in the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 27.

It meant President Trump would remain on the primary ballot unless the U.S. Supreme Court were to reject the petition by Jan. 4 or otherwise issue a ruling to strike President Trump from the ballot.

The Colorado secretary of state has a Jan. 5 deadline to certify the primary ballots, after which they are finalized and a challenge or ruling to President Trump’s eligibility to appear on the ballot would be moot.

President Trump’s attorneys argued that the Colorado Supreme Court ruling marks “the first time in the history of the United States that the judiciary has prevented voters from casting ballots for the leading major-party presidential candidate.”

They argue that Congress is the appropriate venue to adjudicate Section 3 eligibility, but even if states could individually do so, the Colorado Supreme Court “misapplied the law.”

The attorneys revealed that more than 60 lawsuits and administrative challenges to keep President Trump off the ballot were lodged over the past few months, all based on the theory that President Trump somehow engaged in insurrection and is now disqualified from holding office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

In the Supreme Court petition, attorneys for President Trump rehash the Colorado trial, which had been largely based on the controversial House January 6 Select Committee report. Both a Colorado District Court and the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach was an insurrection based on evidence and testimony from the report, though attorneys noted that three justices dissented for reasons similar to the arguments they have put forth.

Appeals Court to Consider Constitutionality of Jack Smith’s Appointment

Jack Smith’s appointment as special counsel might be in trouble.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit advised counsels in Smith’s criminal case against Trump to be prepared during previously scheduled January 9 oral arguments to address issues raised in briefs filed by amicus curiae.

The court made the announcement after an explosive amicus brief filed by attorneys for former Attorney General Ed Meese arguing that Jack Smith’s appointment as special counsel by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is unconstitutional and so the court must reject his prosecution against Trump.

Meese, joined by Steven Calabresi, the co-chairman of the Federalist Society, and Gary Lawson, a prominent constitutional law professor, argues essentially that Garland improperly appointed Smith to an office that does not exist with authority Garland does not possess.

Smith had sought to expedite his case against Trump for allegedly seeking to overturn the 2020 election in order to convict the former president before the 2024 presidential election takes place. But in a victory for Trump, the U.S. Supreme Court declined Smith’s request for a quick review of Trump’s case for presidential immunity.

The case will now go through the normal process in the appeals court and likely make its way to the Supreme Court from there.

But first, as suggested by the appeals court’s announcement, Smith’s appointment itself might have to survive.

The amicus (or “friend of the court”) brief filed by Meese, Calabresi, and Lawson argues that Smith lacks authority to represent the United States because the office he holds has not been created by Congress and his appointment violates the “Appointments Clause” of the Constitution. They argue that only Congress can create federal offices such as Smith currently holds, which Congress has not done.

The Constitution created the offices of president and vice president while giving Congress the sole authority to create additional offices, making clear those offices must be “established by Law.” While Congress previously passed a law to authorize a similar position called an “independent counsel,” that statute expired in 1999.

RFK Jr. Announces He Will Appear on Ballot in Utah

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that he has met the signature requirement to appear on Utah’s 2024 general election presidential ballot, the first step toward the daunting goal of qualifying for the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

State Elections Director Ryan Cowley confirmed that Mr. Kennedy collected the required number of at least 1,000 verified signatures. Utah is the first state where Mr. Kennedy has submitted signatures.

The candidate told reporters at a news conference at the Utah state Capitol on Jan. 3 that he’s confident that he’ll meet the access requirements for independents and third-party candidates, even as three states—New Hampshire, Maine, and North Dakota—are refusing to send campaign ballot petitions.

“We will figure it out. We have a litigation team and expect to litigate in a lot of states,” Mr. Kennedy said. “These are roadblocks but none of them are insurmountable. We will be on the ballot in 50 states and the District of Columbia.”

Utah had presented the first deadline until Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a Republican, announced that she would extend the deadline for independent presidential candidates to gain ballot access to March 5.

Mr. Kennedy filed a lawsuit against Utah officials on Dec. 4, 2023, citing an “unconstitutional early filing deadline” that prevented ballot access for independent presidential candidates.

The legal action challenged Utah’s Jan. 8 deadline requiring independent presidential candidates to collect and verify 1,000 signatures from qualified voters.

Mr. Kennedy argued in the lawsuit that “the current deadline is the earliest deadline ever sought to be imposed on independent presidential candidates in the modern era. No federal court has ever upheld a January deadline [for independent presidential candidates].”

The lawsuit will continue to advance through the courts, even with the decision to extend the deadline. In the same court filing, Ms. Henderson asked that a hearing take place the week of Jan. 15.

GOP Congressman to Resign, Further Narrowing Slim Republican House Majority

Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) announced on Tuesday that he will resign from Congress, further narrowing the slim GOP majority in the House of Representatives.

The lawmaker, whose resignation will take effect Jan. 21,  has served in Congress since 2011. He is leaving to become president of Youngstown State University, where his tenure is set to begin on Jan. 22.

This changes the number of seats the GOP holds in the House from 220 to 219. There will be 432 members with three vacancies due to the resignations of Mr. Johnson and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and the expulsion of Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.). The GOP can only afford to lose two votes in order to pass measures in the lower congressional chamber.

Ohio law stipulates that special elections during a presidential primary year take place on the second Tuesday after the first Monday in March. This year, that day would be March 12—one week after Super Tuesday, when there are multiple primaries nationwide, including for president. Mr. Johnson’s district is all but guaranteed to stay in GOP hands as it is solidly red.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS 

Predictions For 2024 From Patrick Wood vs. AI Chatbots

AI placed high on my “Patrick Wood’s 2024 Forecast” posted on The Quickening Report yesterday, and you can read it there. Level-headed AI experts have weighed in: “AI already poses catastrophic risks to a functional society.”  I concur. So, it’s only fair that we give AI a chance to respond. Several questions were given to several Chatbots, and here are a few highlights from the article below. (My comments in red.)

• AI systems might start reasoning by themselves – They will try to trick the world into thinking this.
• Biotechnology will ‘upgrade’ humans – AI and BigPharma are already upgrading the human race, whether it wants it or not or knows it or not.
• Dawn of personalized medicine – This is an extension of “upgrading.”
• Election hacking warning – Is AI saying that previous elections were also hacked? Now, we can expect the hacking to be done by AI itself without human assistance.

Considering that AI has been heavily sponsored by DARPA and the military, is it turning into the ultimate weapon leveled at the human race? Ah, Technocrats; they are a crafty bunch.

As AI fills the Internet, may it choke on its own exhaust. — Technocracy News & Trends Editor Patrick Wood

America’s Banking Sector Is In Peril (And Nobody Is Paying Attention)

It has been nine months since the spectacular and sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

After witnessing three of the four largest bank failures in U.S. history in 2023, the attention of the media and the markets has turned elsewhere. Banking crisis? It is as though it never happened. Having fallen by some 40 percent in March, the NASDAQ Bank Index has recovered to within 15 percent of its high from February. In the last few months, nearly all markets have gone on a bull run, including bank stocks.

Yet, and despite the relative quiet, the banking sector is not in great shape. Here are some of the reasons why.

Banks continue to lose deposits. According to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance. Corp. (FDIC), U.S. banks have now lost deposits for six consecutive quarters. While the pace has slowed from the first quarter of 2023, in which nearly $500 billion of deposits were removed from the banking system, approximately $190 billion of deposits have been withdrawn in the last two quarters. Indeed, U.S. banks have lost a net $1.1 trillion of deposits since the beginning of 2022 when interest rates began to rise.

With customer deposits growing scarce, U.S. banks are instead relying on emergency funding lines from the Federal Reserve Banks and the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) system. FHLB bond capital raising, of which the proceeds are used to fund the banks, is up 89 percent year over year through November and looks set to reach $1.1 trillion for 2023. Use of the Bank Term Funding Program, the emergency line put in place by the Fed in March 2023, reached an all-time high last week at $131.3 billion.

This does not reflect normal market operations.

This is a sign that the bank funding markets aren’t operating properly, and that the regulators are stepping in to help prop up the system.

The growing gap between the rate on the Federal Reserve’s nascent funding facility and what the central bank pays institutions parking reserves suggests officials will let the program expire in March, according to Wrightson ICAP.

“In justifying the generous terms of the original program, the Fed cited the ‘unusual and exigent’ market conditions facing the banking industry following last spring’s deposit runs,” Wrightson ICAP economist Lou Crandall wrote in a note to clients.

“It would be difficult to defend a renewal in today’s more normal environment.”

What happens then?]

So much for the liabilities side. But banks face challenges on the asset side as well.

Unrealized losses on investment securities, which is the same problem that got SVB into trouble a year ago, continue to rise. U.S. banks reported unrealized losses of over $684 billion in the third quarter, up 22 percent from the second quarter. Of these unrealized losses on securities, $294 billion are categorized as available for sale (AFS), as opposed to held to maturity (HTM), whereby the bank intends to hold the asset and (hopefully) recapture principle at the end of the term. The high amount of AFS suggests that if interest rates remain “higher for longer,” then a portion of these losses will begin to realize in 2024 as they are sold by the banks. This will pressure profitability and capital levels.

Net income is declining across the banking system generally, but particularly among the smaller community banks. Credit quality is deteriorating, but has not yet reached crisis level. Commercial real estate continues to drive the increase in problem loans.

To grow (or at least slow the decline) of deposits, banks are going to have offer rates that are somewhat competitive with money market funds (considering that bank deposits are insured by the FDIC and thus relatively safe), and that offer positive real (i.e., after inflation) returns. With inflation persisting in the range of 3–4 percent, this means that banks will have to offer 4–5 percent to be relevant. This isn’t going to work for the banks. They won’t be able to maintain profitability. And it won’t work for the U.S. Treasury, which itself is committed to trillion-dollar bond issuances each quarter, which also must offer a positive interest rate above investor perceptions of inflation and the deteriorating fiscal condition of the U.S. government.

If funding costs rise further, or if unrealized losses begin to realize, banks will start taking hits to their capital levels. This will spook the markets, including depositors, and we may find ourselves in round two of deposit runs. To head off these challenges, some banks are looking to merge. There have been 78 bank deals announced in the second half of 2023, mostly among the smaller and community banks. But this won’t work in many situations where the result is the proverbial “two drunks holding each other up.”

Investor optimism is permeating markets going into year-end, with most all asset classes continuing to rise. But we must not lose sight of the banks. They are not out of the woods yet. While there is a “goldilocks” scenario in which the banking sector makes a soft landing, the risk of another set of bank failures in 2024 remains meaningful.

HEALTH

Please note: The information provided on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional.

Recall Alert: Meat Company Recalls Over 6,700 Pounds of Ground Beef Over Possible E. Coli

An Illinois meat wholesaler has recalled more than 6,700 pounds of uncooked beef patties and ground beef over possible E. coli contamination.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced the recall by family-owned and operated meat company Valley Meats on Dec. 31.

According to FSIS, the recall affects packages of ground beef and ground beef patties that were produced on Dec. 22, 2023 and then shipped to distributor locations in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan for further distribution to restaurants and “other institutional users.”

The products subject to recall bear the establishment number “EST. 5712” inside the USDA mark of inspection.

Approximately 6,768 pounds of raw ground beef products are impacted by the recall, according to officials. A list of the recalled item labels can be found here.

“FSIS is concerned that some product may be in institutional or restaurant refrigerators or freezers,” the agency said. “Restaurants and institutions are urged not to serve these products. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.”

Recall Alert: More lead poisoning cases linked to recalled applesauce products

Dozens of lead poisoning cases potentially linked to the recalled applesauce products have been reported over three days, federal health officials warned. 

As of Dec. 29, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) received a total of 287 reports of cases across 37 states, 80 of which are confirmed, according to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) latest update, published Tuesday. There are 187 probable cases and 20 suspected cases, according to the data. 

Sources for locally grown food: 

www.eatwild.com  or www.localharvest.org

Low Magnesium Symptoms: 7 Ways to Spot a Magnesium Deficiency

If you’ve been feeling run down, weak or have been struggling with frequent headaches and muscle twitches, it might be time to check your magnesium levels. Signs and symptoms of low magnesium may be subtle at first, but a chronic deficiency of this vital nutrient can harm your health.

In this guide, we’ll explore what magnesium is, why you need it, how to get the right amount through your diet and what to do if you find your levels are too low.

What Is Magnesium?

Magnesium is an essential macromineral involved with many processes in the body, including:

• Regulating blood sugar and blood pressure.
• Producing energy.
• Keeping nerves and muscles working in harmony.
• Supporting good immune system function.
• Synthesizing protein.
• Preserving bone and tooth strength.
• Enabling electrical activity in the heart and brain and supporting good heart and brain health.
• Synthesizing DNA.

“Magnesium isn’t just a mineral; it’s a key player in our bodily functions,” explains Courtney Vickery, a dietitian and certified intuitive eating counselor and owner of Vickery Wellness Nutrition and Body Image in Athens, Georgia. “Even a small shortfall can upset the delicate balance of our bodily functions.”

Understanding Magnesium Deficiency

Magnesium deficiency is a common issue, affecting millions of people worldwide, notes Romane Guerot, a Paris, France-based registered dietitian, sports nutritionist and lifestyle coach at Foodvisor, an AI-powered personal nutrition coaching app.

Deficiency can lead to a range of health issues, including muscle cramps, fatigue, irregular heartbeat and mood swings. In severe cases, it can contribute to osteoporosis, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Getting a handle on your magnesium intake can help you avoid these unpleasant – and serious – complications.

What Are the Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency?

Early symptoms of magnesium are easily overlooked, says Chloë Ward, a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner and certified integrative nutrition health coach based in Santa Barbara, California. You might be brushing them off as fatigue or stress. Your symptoms, however, will likely increase over time. Ask your doctor for a magnesium level test if you notice the following:

• Nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite.
• Constipation.
• Headaches or migraines.
• Skin and bone issues.
• General weakness.
• Heart palpitations.
• Muscle twitches, numbness in the extremities and leg cramps.

What Causes Magnesium Deficiency?

Ward notes that magnesium deficiencies can be caused by several factors, including:

• Inadequate consumption of magnesium-rich foods.
• Poor nutrient absorption, as can occur with GI conditions such as Crohn’s disease.
• Drinking alcohol or alcoholism.
• Excessive calcium and vitamin D intake.
• Excessive stress.
• High insulin levels.
• Use of certain medications, including diuretics that may be used for high blood pressure, cirrhosis and certain heart and kidney conditions.
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding.
• Chronic diarrhea.
• Genetic factors.
• Age.

The Power Mall Recommends: Grown by Nature’s Pro-Mag X Magnesium Re-Natured®

SURVEILLANCE STATE 

When You Sit In A “Digital Car” You Consent To Being Recorded And Personal Data Sold

If you own an EV or a “digital car,” you better watch what you say because you might be under total surveillance, and that goes for your passengers as well. What? Your data will be sold, too? Yep. Multiple times to multiple companies. However, there is an easy opt-out fix: “Never buy them, drive them, sit in them, or exist on the street when they drive by.” 

This article chronicles Subaru, but the following is taken directly from Subaru’s website:

1. Information We Collect
   Within the past twelve (12) months, Subaru has collected the categories of Personal Information listed in the INFORMATION WE COLLECT section above, including:

Category	Examples / Description
Identifiers	A real name, username or alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, Social Security number, driver’s license number, vehicle information (such as model and year), vehicle identification number (VIN), vehicle telemetry data, or other similar identifiers.
Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)	A name, signature, Social Security number, address, telephone number, driver’s license or state identification card number. Some Personal Information included in this category may overlap with other categories.
Commercial information	Records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered.
Internet or other similar network activity.	Browsing history, search history, information on a consumer’s interaction with a website, application, or advertisement.
Geolocation data.	Physical location and movements, including from Connected Vehicle Services or Technology Services.
Inferences drawn from other Personal Information.	Profile reflecting a person’s preferences, characteristics, predispositions, behavior, or attitudes.
Recordings	Audio recordings of Vehicle Occupants. Audio recordings when you call our call centers or a Retailer.
Payment information	Credit card information for optional Services, such as Subaru Starlink.

If you own another model, please read your “Privacy Statement” and report your findings back to Technocracy.news ⁃ TN Editor

People say things in a car they might never write in an email. Well, they used to.

Who knew? The Subaru privacy policy allows them to record your conversations and your face and sell that data to the highest bidder. Most likely (who reads these things), all the other car companies do, too. When an AI analyzes it, presumably, it will identify your voice (and you from the cameras). Anything you say in the public broadcasting world of private cars will belong to them, even if you are a passenger and were never asked.

So if you want to have a private discussion about your political views, your children, your religion, troubles at work, intellectual property, discoveries, information that might affect stock prices, your thoughts on immigration, corruption, or mention any medical issues you have, or affairs anyone you know has had, don’t do it in an electric car. Imagine the blackmail, political, legal, and insider potential with this data in the hands of…

“Subaru“, posted on Foundation Mozilla

Here’s something you might not realize. The moment you sit in the passenger seat of a Subaru that uses connected services, you’ve consented to allow them to use — and maybe even sell — your personal information. According to their privacy policy, that means things like your name, location, “Audio recordings of Vehicle Occupants”, and inferences they can draw about things like your “characteristics, predispositions, behavior, or attitudes.” Call us bonkers, but we don’t think that simply sitting in the passenger seat of someone’s Subaru should mean you consent to having any of your personal information use for, well, pretty much anything at all. Let alone potentially sold to data brokers or shared with third party marketers so they can target you with ads about who knows what based on the the inferences they draw about you because you sat in the back seat of a Subaru in the mountains of Colorado. We’re gonna really call out Subaru for this, because they lay it out so clearly in their privacy policy, but please know, Subaru isn’t the only car company doing this sort of icky thing.

Subaru also admits that when the information is transmitted they cannot guarantee that it will not be intercepted, only that they will do their best to look after your info after they receive it.

To opt out:

It seems the best way to keep Subaru from collecting, sharing, or selling your data to people who want to sell you stuff or data brokers or law enforcement, your best bet is to never buy, drive, or ride in a Subaru. Except if you’re walking on the street when a car with exterior cameras or sensors drives by. Then you might get caught up in that data collection too. So, yeah, the point is, you really don’t have many great choices when it comes to protecting your privacy from connected cars these days, other than to never buy them, drive them, sit in them, or exist on the street when they drive by.

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

Appeals Court Deals Blow to California City’s Gas Stove Ban

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has declined to reconsider a ruling preventing a ban proposed by the City of Berkeley, California, on new natural gas hookups from going into effect.

The panel’s Jan. 2 ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by the California Restaurant Association (CRA) alleging federal law overruled the City of Berkeley’s ban on installing natural gas installations in newly constructed buildings.

Berkeley became the first U.S. city to ban gas stove hook-up installations in 2019 after the city council passed an ordinance requiring that new buildings be built all-electric, beginning Jan. 1, 2020.

Existing buildings were not affected by the ordinance, which aimed to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

In their lawsuit, the association—the largest nonprofit statewide restaurant trade group in the nation—argued that restaurants rely on natural gas for preparing certain foods and that the ban would impact the way chefs are trained to prepare food, which is typically via natural gas stoves.

They further argued the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (ECPA) of 1975 preempts the City of Berkeley’s ban on gas hookup installations in new residential and commercial buildings.

Under the ECPA, local regulations are prevented from impacting the energy use of natural gas appliances.

However, a lower court ruled in favor of Berkeley in July 2021, disagreeing with the restaurant association’s interpretation of federal energy law, prompting CRA to file an appeal.

CANCEL CULTURE

Apocalypse Now: The Government’s Use of Controlled Chaos to Maintain Power

Will 2024 be the year the Deep State’s exercise in controlled chaos finally gives way to an apocalyptic dismantling of our constitutional republic, or what’s left of it?

All the signs seem to point in this direction.

For years now, the government has been pushing us to the brink of a national nervous breakdown.

This breakdown—triggered by polarizing circus politics, media-fed mass hysteria, militarization and militainment (the selling of war and violence as entertainment), a sense of hopelessness and powerlessness in the face of growing corruption, the government’s alienation from its populace, and an economy that has much of the population struggling to get by—has manifested itself in the polarized, manipulated mayhem, madness and tyranny that is life in the American police state today.

Why is the Deep State engineering this societal madness? What’s in it for the government?

What is playing out before us is a chilling lesson in social engineering that keeps the populace fixated on circus politics and conveniently timed spectacles, distracted from focusing too closely on the government’s power grabs, and incapable of standing united in defense of our freedoms.

It’s not conspiratorial.

It’s a power play.

Rod Serling, the creator of the Twilight Zone, understood the dynamics behind this power play.

In the Twilight Zone episode, “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” Serling imagined a world in which the powers-that-be carry out a social experiment to see how long it would take before the members of a small American neighborhood, frightened by a sudden loss of electric power and caught up in fears of the unknown, will transform into an irrational mob and turn on each other.

It doesn’t take long at all.

Likewise, in Netflix’s apocalyptic thriller Leave the World Behind (produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s studio), unexplained crises lead to a technological blackout that leaves the populace disconnected, disoriented, isolated, suspicious, and under attack from mysterious ailments and each other.

As one of Leave the World’s characters speculates, the culprit behind the escalating catastrophes, which range from WiFi outages and mysterious health ailments to cities under siege from rogue forces, may be the result of a military campaign intended to destabilize a nation by forcing people to turn against each other.

It’s really not so far-flung a scenario when you consider some of the many ways the government already has the ability to manufacture crises in order to sow fear, fuel hysteria, destabilize the nation and institute martial law.

The government has the tools and the know-how to manufacture health crises. Long before COVID-19 locked down the nation, the U.S. government was creating lethal viruses and unleashing them on an unsuspecting public.

The government has the tools and the know-how to manufacture civil unrest and political upheaval.Since the days of J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI has been using agent provocateurs to infiltrate activist groups in order to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit and otherwise neutralize” them.

The government has the tools and the know-how to manufacture economic instability. As the national debt continues to rise upwards of $34 trillion, with little attempt by federal agencies to curtail spending, it stands as the single-most pressing threat to the economy.

The government has the tools and the know-how to manufacture environmental disasters. Deployed in 1947, Project Cirrus, an early precursor to HAARP, the government’s weather-altering agency, attempted to disable a hurricane as it was moving out to sea. Instead of weakening the storm, however, the government steered it straight into Georgia, resulting in millions of dollars in damaged properties.

The government has the tools and the know-how to manufacture communications blackouts. Internet and cell phone kill switches enable the government to shut down communications at a moment’s notice. It’s a practice that has been used before in the U.S. In 2005, cell service was disabled in four major New York tunnels (reportedly to avert potential bomb detonations via cell phone). In 2009, those attending President Obama’s inauguration had their cell signals blocked (again, same rationale). And in 2011, San Francisco commuters had their cell phone signals shut down (this time, to thwart any possible protests over a police shooting of a homeless man).

The government has the tools and the know-how to manufacture terrorist attacks. Indeed, the FBI has a pattern and practice of entrapment that involves targeting vulnerable individuals, feeding them with the propaganda, know-how and weapons intended to turn them into terrorists, and then arresting them as part of an elaborately orchestrated counterterrorism sting.

The government has the tools and the know-how to manufacture propaganda aimed at mind control and psychological warfare. Not long ago, the Pentagon was compelled to order a sweeping review of clandestine U.S. psychological warfare operations (psy ops) conducted through social media platforms. The investigation came in response to reports suggesting that the U.S. military had been creating bogus personas with AI-generated profile pictures and fictitious media sites on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in order to manipulate social media users. Of the many weapons in the government’s vast arsenal, psychological warfare (or psy ops) can take many forms: mind control experiments, behavioral nudging, propaganda. In fact, the CIA spent nearly $20 million on its MKULTRA program, reportedly as a means of programming people to carry out assassinations and, to a lesser degree, inducing anxieties and erasing memories, before it was supposedly shut down.

We must never forget that the government no longer exists to serve its people, protect their liberties and ensure their happiness.

Rather, “we the people” are the unfortunate victims of the diabolical machinations of a make-works program carried out on an epic scale whose only purpose is to keep the powers-that-be permanently (and profitably) employed.

This is how tyranny rises and freedom falls.

Almost every tyranny being perpetrated by the U.S. government against the citizenry—purportedly to keep us safe and the nation secure—has come about as a result of some threat manufactured in one way or another by our own government.

Think about it: Cyberwarfare. Terrorism. Bio-chemical attacks. The nuclear arms race. Surveillance. The drug wars. Domestic extremism. The COVID-19 pandemic.

In almost every instance, the U.S. government has in its typical Machiavellian fashion sown the seeds of terror domestically and internationally in order to expand its own totalitarian powers.

Consider that this very same government has taken every bit of technology sold to us as being in our best interests—GPS devices, surveillance, nonlethal weapons, etc.—and used it against us, to track, trap and control us.

Are you getting the picture yet?

The U.S. government isn’t protecting us from threats to our freedoms.The U.S. government is creating the threats to our freedoms.

It’s telling that in Leave the World Behind, before disaster strikes, the main characters—on their way to a family vacation—are utterly oblivious, connected to their electronic devices and insulated from each other and the world around them. Adding to the disconnect, the family’s teen daughter, Rose, is fixated on binge-watching episodes of Friends, even as the world falls apart around them. As TV critic Jen Chaney explains, the sitcom’s presence in the story “underlines how human beings crave escapism at the expense of embracing the actual present, a different way of ‘leaving the world behind.’”

We’re in a similar escapist bubble, suffering from a “crisis of the now,” which keeps us distracted, deluded, amused, and insulated from reality.

Professor Jacques Ellul studied this phenomenon of overwhelming news, short memories and the use of propaganda to advance hidden agendas. “One thought drives away another; old facts are chased by new ones,” wrote Ellul.

“Under these conditions there can be no thought. And, in fact, modern man does not think about current problems; he feels them. He reacts, but he does not understand them any more than he takes responsibility for them. He is even less capable of spotting any inconsistency between successive facts; man’s capacity to forget is unlimited. This is one of the most important and useful points for the propagandists, who can always be sure that a particular propaganda theme, statement, or event will be forgotten within a few weeks.”

Yet in addition to being distracted by our electronic devices and diverted by bread-and-circus entertainment spectacles, we are also being polarized by political theater, which aims to keep us divided and at war with each other.

This is the underlying cautionary tale of Leave the World Behind and “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”: we are being manipulated by forces beyond our control.

A popular meme circulating a while back described it this way:

“If you catch 100 red fire ants as well as 100 large black ants, and put them in a jar, at first, nothing will happen. However, if you violently shake the jar and dump them back on the ground the ants will fight until they eventually kill each other. The thing is, the red ants think the black ants are the enemy and vice versa, when in reality, the real enemy is the person who shook the jar. This is exactly what’s happening in society today. Liberal vs. Conservative. Black vs. White. Pro Mask vs. Anti Mask. The real question we need to be asking ourselves is who’s shaking the jar … and why?”

As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, the government has never stopped shaking the jar.

GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING

Homemade House Cleaners With Safe Ingredients

What is the best homemade cleaning solution? Create your own homemade house cleaners with safe ingredients to let your family breathe easy.

Looking for a simple way to detox your arsenal of cleaning supplies? Pare down to the staples listed below. These safe, inexpensive solutions will do the trick for almost every household cleaning job.

• White vinegar
• Lemon juice
• Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
• Mild liquid soap (castile, olive oil soap)
• Borax (sodium borate)
• Washing soda (aka soda ash, sodium carbonate)
• Dry salt
• Sodium percarbonate and hydrogen peroxide (alternatives to chlorine bleach)

• Baking soda cleans and deodorizes kitchen and bathroom surfaces. To make a general-purpose cleaner, dissolve 4 tablespoons of baking soda in 1 quart of warm water. To replace abrasive cleansers, sprinkle baking soda directly on a damp cloth or sponge, and scrub. Add some dry salt for an extra burst of power.
• For removing mildew or stains, scrub the dirty surface with borax or baking soda.
• Naturally acidic substances such as vinegar and lemon juice remove mineral deposits and wax or grease buildup. To clean glass or stainless steel, dilute them in water (use equal parts white vinegar and warm water).
• To clear clogged drains, pour baking soda and vinegar down the drain, followed by 3 cups boiling water. (Mixing baking soda and vinegar creates a bubbling, fizzing chemical reaction.) Don’t use this mixture in conjunction with a toxic drain cleaner.
• Washing soda is good for tough jobs, such as cleaning greasy ovens and grills. Its alkalinity makes it caustic, so wear gloves when using it. Look for Arm & Hammer’s Super Washing Soda in stores’ cleaning aisles.