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Thu, 30 Sep 2021
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Biden says unvaccinated Americans are 'costing all of us' as he presses Covid vaccine mandates

Robert Towey
CNBC
Fri, 24 Sep 2021 11:12 UTC
Biden
© Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Image
US President Joe Biden
President Joe Biden on Friday blamed unvaccinated Americans for slowing down the U.S. economic recovery, accusing some elected officials of actively trying to undermine the administration's efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

Biden's comments came hours after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved distributing Pfizer and BioNTech's booster shots to roughly 60 million Americans. He addressed the nation, noting that three-fourths of those eligible have gotten at least one shot. He criticized the more than 70 million people who haven't yet started the vaccination process:
"The vast majority of Americans are doing the right thing. And to make matters worse, there are elected officials actively working to undermine with false information the fight against Covid-19. This is totally unacceptable."
Economists have lower expectations for the back half of the year following a string of disappointing economic reports. The U.S. economy added just 235,000 jobs in August, well short of expectations for a 720,000 gain from economists polled by Dow Jones. This week, the Federal Reserve forecast 2021 GDP to rise at a 5.9% annual pace, down from its previous forecast of 7% growth.


Comment: See also:

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Calendar

Yellen warns Congress has just three weeks before US expected to default

Aris Folley
The Hill
Tue, 28 Sep 2021 09:21 UTC
Yellen
© Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned congressional leaders of both parties on Tuesday that lawmakers have until Oct. 18 to raise or suspend the debt limit before the United States is expected to default on the national debt.
"At that point, we expect the Treasury would be left with very limited resources that would be depleted quickly. It is uncertain whether we could continue to meet all the nation's commitments after that date."
While Yellen called the date the agency's "best estimate" as of now, she noted:
"the federal government's cash flows are subject to unavoidable variability. For example, the government's daily gross cash flow (excluding financing) over the past year averages nearly $50 billion per day and has exceeded $300 billion. As a result, it is important to remember that estimates regarding how long our remaining extraordinary measures and cash may last can unpredictably shift forward or backward."
That uncertainty, the former Federal Reserve chairwoman said, underscores the "critical importance of not waiting to raise or suspend the debt limit."

Comment: It would be one thing if this administration was 1) on the level, and 2) actually accomplishing something useful. Nada on both counts. Instead it has made a mockery of prudent spending via bad policy and hubris. Sorting out the debt ceiling situation should have been priority one since it affects literally all Americans, all spending, all safety nets. But that isn't the goal, now is it?

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X

Milley contradicts Biden during testimony, calls Afghan withdrawal 'strategic failure' as military leaders are grilled by Senate panel

Sophie Mann
Just the News
Tue, 28 Sep 2021 01:25 UTC
Austin, Milley, McKenzie
© Fox News
Three to testify
U.S. Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before Congress on Tuesday about, among other things, the chaotic withdrawal effort from Afghanistan last month.

When asked repeatedly by various members of the panel what went wrong during the withdrawal and if he agreed with President Joe Biden's statement that elements of the Afghan evacuation had been an "extraordinary success," General Milley said that he agreed with the phrasing of one panel member who had the effort "a logistical success, but strategic failure."

Each military leader declined to discuss publicly what he had said directly to President Biden during closed-door meetings, however, each leader also affirmed that their assessment had been that the United States should maintain a 2,500 troop presence on the ground in Afghanistan. During a mid-August interview, President Biden disputed the claim that his military advisers had recommended keeping troops on the ground in Afghanistan after the withdrawal date.

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Dollar Gold

Inflation is the new normal: We are now seeing a critical shift in global markets


King World News
Mon, 27 Sep 2021 00:00 UTC
world map gold
© Unknown
Inflation is the new normal as we are now seeing a critical shift in global markets and this will have huge implications in the future.

The Golden Reality Behind Uncle Sam's Inflated Bar Tab

Matthew Piepenburg at Matterhorn Asset Management (based in Switzerland): Below we look at even more inflationary forces as confirmed by cost-of-living-adjustments, Uncle Sam's interest expenses, objectively unloved Treasuries and a roaring COVID narrative.

Math vs. Double-Speak

Given the fact that just about everything coming out of the mouths of debt-cornered policy makers requires a lie-detector and "double-speak" translator, we've been arguing since the moment the Fed began peddling the "transitory inflation" meme/myth to think differently.

In short: It's our view that inflation is a snowball growing not melting...
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Arrow Up

ICC prosecutor seeks to resume Afghanistan war crimes probe with focus on Taliban and IS, but not US forces


Dawn
Mon, 27 Sep 2021 00:00 UTC
Khan
© Reuters
ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan
The International Criminal Court's new chief prosecutor said Monday he wants to focus his investigation in Afghanistan on the Taliban and Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), and to "deprioritise" alleged war crimes by US forces.

A statement said the request was being made to the court's judges in light of developments since the Taliban movement seized control of Afghanistan in a lightning advance last month.

The ICC had already spent 15 years looking into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan before opening a full investigation last year. That probe was put on hold by the Afghan government, which said it was investigating the crimes itself.

The Hague-based ICC is a court of last resort, intervening only when a member country is unable or unwilling to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.

The fall of the internationally recognised Afghan government and its replacement by the Taliban represent a "significant change of circumstances", new prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement.

Comment: The US claims the ICC has no authority nor jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by US citizens although that is what it was designed to do according to the Rome Statute - no matter if a country is a member of the court or not. The US and Israel are not members.

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Attention

Hungary summons Ukrainian ambassador, blasts Kiev for 'interfering' in its internal affairs as row over Russian gas deal heats up


RT
Tue, 28 Sep 2021 10:25 UTC
Szijjarto/Pipe workers
© Reuters/Anton Vaganov/John Thys
Hungary's Minister for External Economy and Foreign Affairs Peter Szijjarto
Construction site of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, near the town of Kingisepp, Russia
The Hungarian Foreign Ministry has summoned Ukraine's ambassador over Kiev's reaction to Budapest's new deal with Russia's Gazprom energy giant, Hungary's top diplomat revealed in a statement published on Facebook on Tuesday. Peter Szijjarto wrote:
"The Ukrainian government's actions aimed against the deal, through the European Commission, are extremely outrageous. Ukraine has nothing to do with those we make deals with. Budapest views such steps by Kiev as a violation of [Hungary's] sovereignty and national security interests."
Budapest has accused Ukraine of meddling in its sovereign political decisions after Kiev decried the arrangement as a decision made only to serve the interests of Moscow.

It will see around half of the country's annual gas supply transported via the Balkans and Austria. Effective from Friday, the new arrangement will cost Kiev millions in transit fees.
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Wolf

An FBI informant was marching into the Capitol on Jan. 6 'riot' - testimony contradicts media spin

Alan Feuer and Adam Goldman
New York Times
Sat, 25 Sep 2021 21:00 UTC
capitol hill protest riot
© Jason Andrew for The New York Times
Records show that an F.B.I. informant marched from the Washington Monument to the Capitol and told his handler that Trump supporters were entering the building.
A member of the far-right Proud Boys texted his F.B.I. handler during the assault, but maintained the group had no plan in advance to enter the Capitol and disrupt the election certification.

As scores of Proud Boys made their way, chanting and shouting, toward the Capitol on Jan. 6, one member of the far-right group was busy texting a real-time account of the march.

The recipient was his F.B.I. handler.

In the middle of an unfolding melee that shook a pillar of American democracy — the peaceful transfer of power — the bureau had an informant in the crowd, providing an inside glimpse of the action, according to confidential records obtained by The New York Times. In the informant's version of events, the Proud Boys, famous for their street fights, were largely following a pro-Trump mob consumed by a herd mentality rather than carrying out any type of preplanned attack.

Comment: Well, Feuer and Goldman certainly know how to pile on the purple prose. And even though it was buried paragraphs down, they deigned to give an accurate account of the informant's statements. They just seemed to be hoping no one would read that far.

Far from being FBI fumbling, it would appear they were orchestrating a good part of the day's events:

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X

South Korea may ban dog meat consumption amid debate over animal rights


South China Morning Post
Mon, 27 Sep 2021 18:56 UTC
dog meat korea protest
© AP
Activists wearing dog masks stage a rally in Seoul in 2020 opposing South Korea's culture of eating dog meat.
South Korea's President Moon Jae-in on Monday said there might be a need to prohibit dog meat consumption amid debate over the controversial practice and growing awareness of animal rights.

While no longer as common as before, dog meat is eaten mainly by older people and is served in some restaurants and can be bought at specific markets.

Moon made the remarks after being briefed by Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum on efforts to improve the handling of abandoned animals and a mandatory registration system for dogs.

"After the briefing, he said time has come to carefully consider imposing a dog meat ban," Moon's spokeswoman Park Kyung-mee said in a statement.

It was the first time that Moon raised a ban, which is likely to give fresh momentum to debate over whether to curtail the practice.

To boost their popularity, several presidential hopefuls have pledged to ban dog meat in recent weeks, especially as dogs have become popular as pets and advocacy groups have urged South Korea to close down restaurants and markets selling dog meat.
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NPC

Totalitarian nutjobs: Taliban prohibits barbers from shaving, trimming beards in Helmand province

Tala Michel Issa
Al Arabiya
Mon, 27 Sep 2021 18:46 UTC
afghan barber
© Reuters
An Afghan man gets his beard trimmed at a street barber shop in Kabul, Afghanistan October 11, 2017.
The Taliban have prohibited barbers in Afghanistan's Helmand province from shaving or trimming beards, saying it breaches their interpretation of Islamic law and anyone who does not adhere to the rule will be punished, the BBC reported on Monday.

Some barbers in Kabul have also received similar orders, which included banning them from playing music in their shops, according to CNN.

The rules suggest a return to the strict control of the extremist group, similar to that of its past tenure in power, despite their promises to exercise a milder form of government.

"You are urgently informed that from today, shaving beards and playing music in barbershops and public baths are strictly prohibited. If any barbershop or public bath is found to have shaved anyone's beard or played music, they will be dealt with according to the Sharia principles and they will not have the right to complain," the local authorities said in a statement issued on Sunday.

"The fighters keep coming and ordering us to stop trimming beards," a Kabul-based barber told the BBC.

"One of them told me they can send undercover inspectors to catch us."
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Cult

Biden tacitly admits he's never letting US return to pre-Covid normal

Shawn Fleetwood
The Federalist
Tue, 28 Sep 2021 17:21 UTC
Joe Biden
© AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
President Joe Biden speaks in the State Dining Room at the White House, Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, in Washington. Biden is announcing sweeping new federal vaccine requirements affecting as many as 100 million Americans in an all-out effort to increase COVID-19 vaccinations and curb the surging delta variant.



Comment: But we knew that a long time ago.


President Joe Biden indicated that it will take 97 to 98 percent of Americans receiving the COVID-19 jab before he lets the nation move on from the pandemic. The moment came during a White House event on Monday, where the president was receiving his COVID-19 booster shot.

"I think we get the vast majority ... 97 percent, 98 percent. I think we'll get awful close," he said. "But I'm not the scientist. I think one thing is for certain. A quarter of the country can't go unvaccinated and us not continue to have a problem."

Comment: But 'the science' . . . . .

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