Does Corporate America Regret Embracing Blatantly Racist BLM?
By Katie Pavlich
And:
BLM Launches Christmas Campaign Against ‘White-Supremacist Capitalism’
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Radicals never know when to stop:
Radical Environmentalism Poses Grave Threat to True Conservation Efforts
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The world's dominant powers have gone from industrial and muscle power to intellectual and information/data power:
The Most Powerful Data Broker in the World Is Winning the War Against the US
By Matt Pottinger and David Feith via New York Times
Matt Pottinger and David Feith write that data is the 21st-century oil, and thus the key resource to fueling engines of economic growth and national strength. The sources of data are human beings, including their health records, their online habits, and flow of their businesses’ supply chains. Pottinger and Feith explain that the Communist Party of China has become the world’s largest data retailer by closing off the outflow of information about Chinese individuals and businesses from the rest of the world while acquiring data globally through surreptitious means, through the purchase of foreign companies, and by enforcing compliance on any commercial entity with access to China’s markets. Pottinger and Feith advocate that the United States and its democratic allies develop a robust strategy to address this national security challenge, which they believe should include unwinding current information outflows to China and restricting future ones
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Ross Rants:
Just when you thought travel stocks were a good investment, my friends the black swans pooped all over that strategy. Although the drug companies are already testing modified vaccines to deal with Omicron, and they have new treatments to stop the virus if you start to get sick, there will be a new reluctance by many to travel on planes, and cruise lines, and especially for international travel. Don't expect the travel business to return to 2019 stats for quite a while, especially business travel, which is never going back to the old patterns. We will have to wait another week before we know how much of a problem this new variant is, but it suggests the stocks of companies that thrived during lockdown will do better in the short run. Early, but not definitive reports out of Israel suggest the vaccines are mostly effective against Omicron, and that it is a very mild virus if infected. That may mean Delta was the peak, and now Covid is more like the flu going forward. It may be that they can adjust the booster so that it is protective against Omicron. If this is proven to be the case in the next 7-10 days we will have a big stock market rally in December. They need time to know for sure. A lot depends on how many more people get fully vaccinated. Almost all hospitalizations now are unvaccinated people.
I expect there to be continued volatility until we get some definitive scientific understanding of Omicron, and we see what happens with BBB. If, as I expect, Omicron is shown to be not a big threat, and if Manchin stands strong with Sinema, the market could go much higher later in December. But if the opposite happens, it will be a bad market in January. I continue to believe there is a good chance BBB fails, but it is totally unclear now. Manchin either stands for the nation or he proves to be just a hypocrite
It is interesting to raise the issue of how long can the ten year remain at 1.5%-1.6% with inflation at 5%. Real rates have remained at around 2%-2.5% for decades until the pandemic. That means as inflation rises, so do rates in tandem. It is highly likely the ten year will be above 2% by mid- 2022, and very likely 2.5%, or maybe higher before year end 2022. When the economy gets back to a normalized basis, maybe in 2023, the ten year will return to its more historic level of 4%-5% depending on what is happening in the world at the time. 2% real rate plus 2% inflation premium. A lot will happen between now and 2023, so projecting interest rates that far out is just a dart board shot while blindfolded. Bottom line, however is, the Fed is raising rates by May at the latest, so market rates are going to rise over the next year, and bonds will lose.
I recently warned about Brainard becoming vice chair, and gave you the quote of the economic policy of the White House and Dems: have the government spend a lot, keep interest rates too low, and pump up asset values, which, based on their theory, leads to more jobs, which is their driving goal. Brainard was the main influencer on Powell to keep rates too low, too long, and to keep QE going too long in the belief that these steps would create faster job recovery. She is very outspoken about keeping rates ultra-low, and not following past Fed policy of raising rates fairly soon after inflation begins to appear. The new Fed policy has been to keep rates very low until the Fed decides unemployment is low enough to justify raising rates a little. So we had the White House and the Fed believing in MMT, and massive spend to create jobs, in the badly mistaken belief that inflation is transitory, and so not a problem. Now suddenly, as of Tuesday, inflation is a problem, and the Fed is likely to taper faster and raise rates sooner. What changed. Powell got renominated. He has been holding off and spouting the White House lie that inflation is transitory, and rates will not be raised until 2023, until his renomination came through. And you thought the Fed was independent of politics. Once Powell is confirmed, which he will be, he will push rates higher faster. He admitted the word transitory no longer is valid, not that it ever was. It was a big lie driven from the White House political people. The primary ramification from Powell's inflation comments, it raises the probability that Manchin is a no on reconciliation. Now he has cover from Powell's comments. The Fed is now behind the curve, and late to the game, so they will have to raise rates more and faster in 2022. Inflation is not done rising, and now the EU has just hit a many decade high as well. Inflation is worldwide.
So we were stuck with a Fed that has been wrong, a White House that is fixated on job growth, which cannot get any better than it already is with nearly 11 million job openings, and a Democratic controlled Congress that thinks MMT is a correct theory. They also believe spending massively will create more jobs, while instituting a socialist set of entitlements, and changing the national economy and culture permanently. Transform the nation is their goal, even though voters gave no mandate to do so, and really are against it now. The Dems and their policy advisors are all unfortunately very wrong. Inflation is not going away anytime soon, and the Fed policy up until now will only serve to prolong it. If BBB does pass, even if in a smaller form, that will just add fuel to inflation being prolonged by the Fed. If all the entitlement programs in that bill were to pass, the incentives to not work will be embedded. Biden is too stupid and mentally declining to even understand what is going on, and has signed on to this terrible policy.
The other issue with Brainard is, she voted against the Fed board 23 times in a protest against looser regs for banks which Powell instituted. Now she is in a strong position to push through more, and seriously problematic regs along with whoever the new governors will be. She has already been successful in stopping revisions to the CRA rules for low income area lending. And now they are going to nominate Richard Cordray to be in charge of bank regulation at the Fed. He is Elizabeth Warren's puppet. This is going to be very bad for banks. Expect longer inflation, and more bad loans by banks forced to make loans that do not underwrite well, but get made in the name of equality. One day in 2022, especially if BBB passes, it is very possible the Fed will get so far behind the curve that is has to rush rate increases. This pretty well sums up what you will see as to economic and monetary policy for 2022, until it all blows up, which it will at some point.
It now appears Omarosa will not get confirmed. Several Dems quietly said they will not vote for her. My question is, why they had to tell that to the White House quietly. She is an admitted Marxist who said she wanted to eliminate all banks and oil companies, plus she blatantly lied the hearings. Yet only a few Dems felt she is unfit, but thought they had to sneak their dissent. What a disgrace. Biden nominates someone who wants to eliminate the entire banking system, and only a few Dems thought this was not good for America, but were afraid to speak up. Do any of them have any sense of responsibility for the nation. If they nominated this Marxist as Controller of Currency who wants to nationalize the banking system, and Cordray to be in charge of regulation for the Fed, just imagine who is going to get nominated for the three Fed board seats. This is a banking industry, and monetary policy nightmare, and given how the Dems were even afraid to speak out on Omarosa, these nominees will get approved by a 51 vote majority. If they vote against the black or woman or trans person, they will get pounded as racist or whatever.
In the belief that my profits in a few top stocks were too big as a percentage of the portfolio, and that my positions were out of balance, and I should do some rebalancing, I moved some money into other than my top companies. Now weeks later when I look at where I would have been had I stuck with my core investments and not tried to diversify, I would have been far better off. Several of the diversity investments, like PPL, became big losers, and APPL was a big winner, as were TMO and HD. I am back to my long time basic strategy of finding very strong companies that are growing very well and sticking to them. I am back to investing in what I believe are fundamentals, and off diversity for the sake of diversity.
A new article in the NY Post details how the Biden's are getting paid off by the Chinese. Much of the information is well established already, but this ties it together with names, dates and places, and shows how Hunter is the lead bag man for the family, and Joe was a participant. The Post was first with the laptop story and got attacked by the MSM who claimed it was all Russian disinformation, until it was proven true. Joe is totally corrupt, but the media outside of the Post and Fox will not look into the story.
Watch China actions on crypto. They want to displace the US dollar because most trade is in dollars which gives the US control of Chinese financial strategy. We can shut down their banks ability to access the world banking system and convertibility. By getting the world to use Chinese crypto they would be able to circumvent US sanctions should we ever do that. I doubt they will succeed in getting their crypto to replace the US Dollar.
As a result of the disaster of Afghanistan, China and Russia are now heavily testing Biden. It seems they are coordinating Ukraine threats and Taiwan. It is unclear what Putin is really up to. I doubt he will invade and is just using the threat to get what he wants as to stopping the west from further encroachment on it s sphere of influence. The cost to Russia if it invades Ukraine would be substantial. We will have to see what difference Merkel retiring will have a she was always ready to be easy on Russia as with Nordstream and Crimea. 2022 will be a very high risk year geopolitically, as Biden continues to show how weak and stupid he really is. Between inflation, geopolitics and BBB, and the upcoming appointments to the Fed, the market risks are getting very high.
Now that SCOTUS has heard the abortion case, it is important to remain calm and wait until they rule. While the case is the most important in decades, we do not know how they will rule. The various Dems issuing threats at the court are a disgrace. That sort of thing is the last thing we need. The outburst by Sotamayor was out of place at SCOTUS. The issues are not simple. This is the most emotion packed case of any that the court has ever heard. It is important to remember, even Ginsberg said Roe was badly decided, and it is possible in light of that statement she would vote to change Roe this time. What weight should the badly decided law apply to something which is now ingrained in the culture. What rights accrue to the states, to the woman, the unborn. Is the court the place to decide such a politically charged issue, or is it properly decided in the legislatures. Does the 14th amendment apply here. Despite what many of you may feel on a religious basis, that is irrelevant in a court of law. Based on what several legal analysts said, it seems possible the court will say, it is up to the states to each decide what the law is in that state, but a woman has an absolute right to have an abortion within certain minimum guidelines, such as, how long is long enough to be able to make a decision to get an abortion or not. Is 15 weeks, as in Mississippi, long enough. Should that be the minimum. They will not decide that life begins at conception. Viability is now a major issue. Whatever is decided, it will get very ugly, and will affect the midterm election in some way. The issues are very complex and tainted with extreme political, religious, and emotional ramifications whatever they decide. For around 50% of the voters the decision is going to be wrong, but which 50%. This is a massively political game changer no matter how they
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Continued buildup of feckless and dangerous stupidity by Biden
Biden Admin Waives Sanctions on Iran as Nuclear Talks Restart
Adam Kredo
The Biden administration quietly waived sanctions on Iran to allow the hardline regime to sell electricity to Iraq, according to a non-public notification obtained by the Washington Free Beacon that was provided to Congress just as nuclear talks between the United States and Tehran resumed this week.
The timing of the waiver notification—which was signed Nov. 19 but not transmitted to Congress until Nov. 29, the day nuclear negotiations resumed—has prompted accusations the Biden administration is offering concessions to Tehran to generate goodwill as talks aimed at securing a revamped version of the 2015 nuclear deal restart following a months-long standoff.
During the several-month pause, Tehran increased its nuclear program, including the enrichment of uranium and installation of advanced nuclear centrifuges. One senior congressional source familiar with the matter said the delay in transmitting the waiver to Congress indicates the administration is sensitive to the optics of waving sanctions just as negotiations resume.
Richard Goldberg, the former director for countering Iranian weapons of mass destruction on Trump's White House National Security Council, told the Washington Free Beacon that the latest electricity waiver amounts to a "dressed-up Chanukah present to" Iran.
"This is just another unfortunate example of projecting weakness and deference at a time when the U.S. needs to build leverage and project strength," said Goldberg, who is now a senior adviser to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank. "If the waiver was going to be renewed for Iraq relations, it should have been messaged and announced well before arrival in Vienna. It just screams desperation."
Iran insists the United States unwind all economic sanctions that were imposed by the Trump administration, a demand the Biden administration says it is willing to make good on. The E3—Germany, the United Kingdom, and France—said on Friday, however, that Iran's demands are "not serious," according to reports. "Iran is backtracking on almost all of the difficult compromises reached in months of tough negotiations and is demanding substantial changes to the text," E3 diplomats were quoted as saying in Axios.
The sanctions waiver gives Iran another 120 days to sell electricity to Iraq without facing penalties, an arrangement that has generated income for the hardline regime. The Trump administration had limited the waiver's time frame in an effort to wind down these sales, but the Biden administration renewed it for the maximum period of 120 days.
The State Department says it attempted to "deliver the classified portion on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 23 and 24, but due to the closure of congressional offices in connection to the Thanksgiving holiday were not able to identify appropriate recipients." Due to this delay, Congress did not receive the information until Monday.
The State Department maintains in the waiver that Iranian electricity sales to Iraq remain "in the national security interest of the United States." Iraq's failure to reduce its reliance on Iranian electricity necessitated the United States to waive sanctions to enable these sales, according to the waiver.
"In light of the considerations detailed in the classified annex to this report, the secretary determined this waiver is in the national security interest of the United States, and vital to the national security of the United States, with respect to Iraq, and certifies that this jurisdiction faced exceptional circumstances preventing it from significantly reducing its purchases of petroleum and petroleum products from Iran," according to the waiver, which is signed by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. "Iraq continues to be a critical partner in the region, and its continued concrete political and economic cooperation is expected as a result of this waiver."
A State Department spokesman, speaking only on background, confirmed the waiver was issued and said that it is meant to help ensure Iraq can generate energy. The spokesman would not comment on the timing of the waiver, or if it was part of an effort to ease nuclear negotiations with Iran.
"The secretary has renewed the sanctions waiver for Iraq to engage in financial transactions related to the import of electricity from Iran," the spokesman said. "The waiver ensures that Iraq is able to meet its short-term energy needs while it takes steps to reduce its dependence on Iranian energy imports." The waiver was granted "at the secretary [of state's] discretion."
As the first week of talks come to a close, Iran and the United States appear to be at an impasse.
Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Twitter on Friday that "a good deal is within reach if the West shows goodwill." This includes the removal of all sanctions and other measures aimed at keeping Iran from completing construction on a functional nuclear weapon.
Iran is enriching uranium, the key component in an atomic bomb, to levels surpassing 20 percent purity, which is barred under the current terms of the nuclear accord. Reports this week indicate that Iran is taking steps to enrich uranium to 90 percent purity, which is weapons-grade fuel.
United Against Nuclear Iran, a watchdog group, said on Friday that Tehran is committing nuclear extortion as the West entertains its demands at the negotiating table in Vienna.
"The Biden administration has asserted that the U.S. will not allow Iran to use this round of talks as cover to accelerate its nuclear program. Iran is showing, however, that it needs no pretext to continue on its path to a nuclear weapons capability. It is speeding in that direction today," UANI CEO Mark D. Wallace, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said in a statement. "The leaders of the international community choose not to see what is plainly evident. The JCPOA—in recognizing Iran’s right to enrich uranium—provided the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism with the option to resort to the nuclear extortion it is carrying out now."
Finally:
T. Belman. Why was this info divulged to THE JEWISH CHRONICAL exclusively and why did Israel choose now to divulge it.
Mossad recruited a team of Iranian nuclear scientists to carry out a covert operation which blew up one of the regime’s most secure nuclear facilities earlier this year, the JC can reveal.
Up to 10 scientists were approached by Israeli agents and agreed to destroy the underground A1000 centrifuge hall at Natanz in April, though they believed that they were working for international dissident groups.
Some of the explosives they used were dropped into the compound by a drone and quietly collected by the scientists, while others were smuggled into the high security facility hidden in boxes of food on a catering lorry. The ensuing destruction caused chaos in the highest echelons of the Iranian leadership. It demolished 90 per cent of the centrifuges at the nuclear plant, delaying progress towards a bomb and putting the key complex out of action for up to nine months.
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Pillaging merchandise from stores has nothing to do with Democrat policies and encouragement. It is all because of Covid. Where do they come up with this mockery? Democrats are without any feelings of shame.
Stores in Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul are the latest to be hit by organized thieves.
AND:
In Seattle The City Council must have plenty of stupidity logs to throw on the fire.
Updated on:
By Kate Gibson, Megan Cerullo
Organized shoplifting is an ongoing menace for major retailers across the U.S., with groups of thieves making off with electronics, clothing and footwear on Black Friday in Minneapolis-St. Paul and Chicago.
Large groups of criminals stole pricey products from Best Buy stores in Maplewood and Burnsville, Minnesota.
"We can't tolerate that kind of behavior. Just as a society, we just can't," Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher told a live stream. "As an industry we are working with local law enforcement and taking additional security precautions where it makes sense," Best Buy told a local CBS affiliate.
Police in Chicago are investigating four "smash-and-grab" retail robberies downtown and on the city's near Northwest side targeting stores including Foot Locker, the North Face and Canada Goose, WGN9 and the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The large-scale thefts follow other alarming incidents this month that had an estimated 80 thieves ransacking a Nordstrom store in California and more than a dozen people swiping merchandise from a Louis Vuitton store in suburban Chicago. Thieves tend to target densely populated urban areas with a high volume of stores in close proximity to one another.
"A lot of times they will target stores located near major interstates. They won't go to stores that are way off beaten path because it's all about return on investment," said Tony Sheppard, who heads loss prevention at ThinkLP, a software company that helps retailers report and prevent organized theft. "Stealing from retailers in bulk is widespread and it's happening where the population is. If I go to a city, there are more targets and I will get more bang for my buck because there are more locations."
Pandemic-fueled uptick
Multiple retailers and at least two states have reported an increase in mass thefts, with experts saying that the COVID-19 pandemic has fueled the uptick in this kind of activity.
"Retailers have always had shoplifting, but the concern now is there seems to be a surge in organized, gang-related theft," said Neil Saunders, an analyst and managing director at GlobalData Retail. "Shoplifting was very covert — you don't see it — but this is very blatant."
Electronics retailer Best Buy is hiring additional security personnel at some of its more vulnerable locations and also locking up valuable in-store merchandise to combat the rise in theft. While reasonable, these measures can scare away shoppers who may be intimidated by a large security presence or who don't want to have to flag down a salesperson to unlock products they wish to purchase, experts say.
Smash-and-grab thieves target Bay Area stores...
A problem that "hurts and scares people"
"Across retail, we are definitely seeing more and more, particularly, organized retail crime and incidence of shrink in our locations," Best Buy CEO Cori Sue Barry said during an earnings call early last week. "This is a real issue that hurts and scares people."
The problem is also hurting Best Buy's bottom line and could make it harder for the retailer to hire and retain workers in an already tight labor market, Barry told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" this week. Some criminals are armed with guns and crowbars and can scare away customers and employees alike, she said.
In the call, Barry also said such crimes are "traumatizing" to the company's employees, calling the crime spree "unacceptable."
Cleaned out
Sheppard, the loss-prevention expert, said the orchestrated raids impact retailers, customers and even the local community. "Retailers do all sorts of things to protect product, but even when merchandise is locked up it hurts sales because they don't have the manpower to unlock things for customers," he said.
According to Sheppard, crime groups often take a store's entire supply of a given product, like allergy medication Zyrtec or the cold treatment Mucinex, and swipe the same item from neighboring stores, leaving customers to do without. Consumers may have to wait a week or more for a new shipment to arrive, with delays exacerbated by the ongoing supply chain slowdown retailers are grappling with.
"They take everything that these locations have, and they will hit all the stores that sell the product in the vicinity, too," Sheppard added. "Then, when a consumer comes in to buy a legitimate item, it's not in stock and the retailer loses a sale."
Online shopping emboldens criminals
Organized retail crime was on the rise before 2020, but the jump in online shopping during the pandemic has emboldened criminals, who typically take to the internet and its online marketplaces to resell stolen merchandise for a profit.
Such thefts have risen nearly 60% since 2015 and costs stores an average of $700,000 for every $1 billion in sales, according to a 2020 National Retail Federation survey of 61 retailers.
"At the end of the day, it is all about supply and demand," Sheppard told CBS MoneyWatch. "We saw this rush to online marketplaces among customers who had never shopped online, and that is where you find the bulk of your stolen goods."
In other words, organized shoplifting has risen in tandem with the rise in online shopping, as thieves respond to increased demand for everyday items online.
Organized Retail Theft California A security guard stands outside the Nordstrom store at The Grove retail and entertainment complex in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021. Los Angeles police say a group of thieves smashed windows at the department store at the luxury mall late Monday, the latest incident in a trend of smash-and-grab crimes is part of a national trend. Eugene Garcia / AP
"The pandemic created a larger demand for the stolen goods marketplace for more criminals to make huge profits. It's lucrative because the customer base is everyone," Sheppard added.
Thieves tend to steal those items that are most in demand by consumers and can range from cold and allergy medication and other toiletries to jeans and portable electronic devices.
"It's things that are typically smaller and that can be resold at a decent value," Sheppard said.
Sharp rise in organized retail crime
Organized retail crime "has increased dramatically over the last two years," the Illinois Attorney General's Office stated in September. In one recent incident in the state, more than a dozen people stormed a Louis Vuitton store in Oak Brook, Illinois, and stole about $120,000 worth of merchandise.
The November 17 robbery involved 14 suspects wearing masks and sweatshirts who escaped in three separate vehicles, one of which has been recovered, according to local police.
The problem has only increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. He cited CVS' estimate of a 30% increase in thefts and Lowe's Home Improvement's closing of 25 organized retail crime cases amounting to $1.3 million in losses last year — compared to 20 theft cases and $388,000 in losses in 2019.
Recent weeks have also seen smash-and-grab thieves hitting a mall in Hayward, California, where witnesses describe as many as 50 people wielding hammers and breaking glass cases inside a jewelry store. Separately, a group of suspects stole merchandise from a Lululemon store in San Jose on Sunday night, marking a third straight day where large groups stole from retailers in the Bay area.
The brazen acts came after police in Walnut Creek, California, issued a warning on social media that thieves might strike again, after about 80 people swarmed a Nordstrom store, then fled with stolen goods in waiting vehicles. Five Nordstrom workers sustained minor injuries, the retailer said.
"There's absolutely a very similar MO with what you're seeing in other cities and what we're seeing here," Barry Donelan, president of the Oakland Police Officers' Association, told CBS San Francisco's Justin Andrews about the string of retail robberies in the Bay Area. "We just have significantly more violence associated with it."
Stores shut down
California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the state's highway patrol to heighten its presence in highly trafficked shopping areas in response to increased organized retail theft activities across the state.
"Businesses and customers should feel safe while doing their holiday shopping," stated Newsom, who is also proposing an increase in the state's 2022-23 budget to fight retail theft.
Walgreens said last month it would shut down five stores in San Francisco due to increased thefts.
The National Association for Shoplifting Prevention (NASP) predicted the pandemic would lead to a spike in retail theft and organized crime as stores started reopening, citing similar surges after the September 11 attacks and the 2008 financial crisis.
"We believe the existential threat we're now facing with COVID-19 will be both financially and emotionally traumatic, and could lead to even greater increases," NASP Executive Director Caroline Kochman stated in a May 2020 report. "Times of hardship make it easier for [organized retail crime] teams to recruit regular people and employees."
And:
Seattle Defunds the Police Again
Voters have rejected lawlessness, but the City Council isn’t listening.
By The Editorial Board
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By The Editorial Board
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