**Biden Impeachment? Top Republican Says IRS Whistleblower, Chinese 'Collusion' And Hunter Laptop Letter Hoax "Tip Of The Iceberg"**
Biden Impeachment? Top Republican Says IRS Whistleblower, Chinese 'Collusion' And Hunter Laptop Letter Hoax "Tip Of The Iceberg"
A Republican member of the House Oversight Committee thinks **a flurry of recent corruption scandals could lead to the impeachment of President Joe Biden**.
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Between the revelation that the 'Hunter laptop letter hoax (https://www.zerohedge.com/political/revelation-morell-spurred-blinken-organize-letter-discrediting-hunter-laptop-story)' signed by 51 current and former intelligence officials **was created at the best of Antony Blinken** during the 2020 US election, the obvious implications of CCP leverage over the Biden family, and information presented by an **IRS whistleblower** (https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-admin-mishandling-hunter-biden-investigation-says-irs-criminal-supervisory-agent) regarding the Hunter Biden probe **,** things may get interesting according to Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) _._
When asked about **China's influence over the Biden family**, Burchett told _Fox News_' Maria Bartiromo on Friday: "We know of **at least eight Biden family members who have profited from dealings overseas,**" adding "I think if you delve into it deep enough, there's prostitution rings involved in this, human trafficking has been rumored to be part of some of this. These so-called companies that have allowed the Biden family to profit. It is gross, and it is disgusting."
" **If I was those 51 people, I'd be lawyering up right now** because they're going to be asked in public at some point what they knew and if they knew that all this other stuff was going on, because it is very damning Maria. This is just the **very tip of the iceberg**," he continued.
"This very brave IRS agent coming forward, I think, will just start it," Burchett said, referring to the senior agent in charge of the Hunter Biden investigation who came forward (https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-admin-mishandling-hunter-biden-investigation-says-irs-criminal-supervisory-agent) earlier this week in a letter to lawmakers, accusing the DOJ of 'mishandling' the Hunter Biden case, and that his client had information that would contradict sworn testimony from a senior political appointee.
> Rep. Tim Burchett rips Biden WH over influence peddling: 'Corruption goes straight to the top' pic.twitter.com/02eyPaysHW (https://t.co/02eyPaysHW)
>
> — Mornings with Maria (@MorningsMaria) April 21, 2023 (https://twitter.com/MorningsMaria/status/1649386579796828160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
When asked if that might lead to an impeachment, Burchett said: "If this coverup shows what's going on, what we assume is going on, and that the 51 folks were basically lied to and showed false documentation, _**how can you not...**_"
> _The lawyer for the whistleblower joined "Special Report with Bret Baier" Thursday night claiming his client is "not a political person (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/irs-whistleblower-not-political-person-has-documents-support-hunter-biden-allegations-attorney)" and does not have a "political agenda," **but does have documents to support his allegations** that he hopes to bring to both congressional Democrats and Republicans._
>
> _" **If you delve into it deep enough, there's prostitution rings involved in this. Human trafficking has been rumored to be a part of some of these so-called companies** that have allowed the Biden family to profit. It is gross and it is disgusting about what has been allowed to go on," Burchett said. -Fox News (https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/gop-lawmaker-hints-biden-impeachment-hunter-scandal-deepens)_
"I cannot imagine how the Justice Department allowed this to go on, if not for corruption at the highest level. And they are in some serious trouble right now. I think they know it," Burchett continued.
> 🚨 The walls are closing in on the Biden family.
>
> It’s clear Hunter & other members of the Biden family benefited from shady business schemes.
>
> Now it appears the Biden Admin is working overtime to protect the Biden family.@GOPoversight (https://twitter.com/GOPoversight?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) will ensure accountability. @seanhannity (https://twitter.com/seanhannity?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)pic.twitter.com/IUH1fJGNUR (https://t.co/IUH1fJGNUR)
>
> — Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) April 20, 2023 (https://twitter.com/RepJamesComer/status/1649098912727433216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
When it comes to **China**, Burchett said: \[China has\] so much invested in this White House now, that their cover-up upon cover-ups will continue. But I can assure you that the American people understand what's going on," adding "And I can assur…
**Moscow Boots 20 German Diplomats In Tit-for-Tat Mass Expulsion**
Moscow Boots 20 German Diplomats In Tit-for-Tat Mass Expulsion
At a moment G7 countries are mulling whether or not to ratchet the sanctions (https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/g7-allies-consider-outright-ban-all-exports-russia) regimen on Moscow further, relations between Russia and leading EU countries continue sliding with little hope of repair.
The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Germany is initiating **a new massive expulsion of Russian diplomats in the country**, and that Moscow will respond in kind. Russia has blamed Germany for destroying "the foundations of the Russian-German relations."
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_Russian Embassy in Berlin, Getty Images_ (
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"The German government has made a decision on a new massive expulsion of employees of Russian diplomatic missions in Germany ... We strongly condemn this actions of Berlin that continues to **defiantly destroy the foundations of the Russian-German relations**, including their diplomatic dimension," the ministry stated.
"As a response to Berlin's hostile actions, the Russian side has taken a decision on a 'mirror' expulsion of German diplomats from Russia as well as on a substantial reduction of a maximum number of employees of German diplomatic missions in our country. German Ambassador to Russia Geza Andreas von Geyr was informed about it during the discussion in the Russian Foreign Ministry on April 5, 2023," the statement added.
The tit-for-tat move will involve Russia **booting over 20 German diplomats from its soil**, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed to RIA Novosti on Saturday.
Interestingly this comes at a moment the Kremlin is being widely **accused of trying to influence German politicians to form an influential anti-war coalition**, in order to return Germany to a more neutral approach regarding the Ukraine conflict (https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/04/21/kremlin-pushed-for-pro-russia-coalition-in-germany-wp-a80899):
> _The Kremlin **attempted to sway German politicians to form an anti-war coalition as part of a broader strategy to weaken European backing for Ukraine**, The Washington Postreported (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/04/21/germany-russia-interference-afd-wagenknecht/) Friday._
>
> _Citing documents dated between July and November last year that were obtained by an unidentified European intelligence service, the publication said Kremlin deputy chief of staff Sergei Kiriyenko had ordered Russian political strategists at a July 13 meeting to "focus" on Germany._
>
> _A Sept. 9 document spelled out **plans for uniting Germany’s leading far-left lawmaker Sahra Wagenknecht and the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party under a common anti-war banner**, WP reported._
But the reality remains that these groups are already highly skeptical of Germany abandoning its historic neutrality last year, and joining what's now in effect a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. The German Left party MP in question has called (https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1649428603770220546?s=20) the allegations fake news.
> Information warfare: WashPost (owned by oligarch Jeff Bezos, who has big CIA contracts) is smearing the anti-war movement with ridiculous propaganda
>
> It cites a "European intelligence service" to absurdly link Germany's anti-war left to Russia and the far-right with ZERO EVIDENCE https://t.co/YhimATNYid (https://t.co/YhimATNYid)
>
> — Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) April 21, 2023 (https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1649428473109180417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
Germany's Ukraine policy now involves Berlin sending its Leopard II main battle tanks, a highly controversial move. Countries like Germany, France, and Hungary have come under criticism by European hawks for either not acting fast enough to support Ukraine, or blocking muscular initiatives.
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Sat, 04/22/2023 - 13:00
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/moscow-boots-20-german-diplomats-tit-tat-mass-expulsion
**Supreme Court Restores Full Availability Of Abortion Pill In "Shadow Docket" Ruling**
Supreme Court Restores Full Availability Of Abortion Pill In "Shadow Docket" Ruling
_Authored by Jonathan Turley,_ (https://jonathanturley.org/2023/04/22/supreme-court-restores-full-availability-of-abortion-pill-in-shadow-docket-ruling/)
On Friday night, the Supreme Court ordered the abortion pill mifepristone to continue to be made available to women by mail as challenges continue to be litigated in lower courts. As I mentioned on Fox yesterday before the ruling, the Court usually restores the status quo while challenges are being heard. That is what it did again in this case. However, there are **dissents from two of the most vocal critics of abortion rights: Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.**
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In the only decision in the case, **Justice Alito strongly suggests that some of his colleagues (cited by name) are engaging in rank hypocrisy in using what is known as the “shadow docket” for these purposes.**
As a result of last night’s decision, the drug will continue to be available by mail and can be used for up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy
On April 7, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas invalidated the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone despite its availability for many years. The challenge to how the drug was approved came decades after the drug was approved and long after the time for such challenges had run. However, there were a series of changes, including recent changes in 2020, that challengers cited in support of the lower court’s review. Judge Kacsmaryk found that the agency had failed to meet critical federal standards for promulgating these rule changes.
After the Texas ruling, a federal judge in Washington state added a complication by issuing an opposing preliminary injunction that barred the FDA from “altering the status quo and rights as it relates to the availability of mifepristone.” Many of us stated that the dueling injunctions made an expedited review by the Court extremely likely.
Notably, the Court did not uphold the compromise struck by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in enjoining some recent changes while continuing to allow the drug to be distributed nationally.
The Fifth Circuit considered some of these early changes to be beyond review due to the timing of the challenge. However, while lifting Judge Kacsmaryk’s injunction on the drug nationally, it preserved some of the injunction of recent FDA changes. Those changes would have limited the ability to get the drug without a doctor’s involvement as well as limiting the time when the drug could be taken in the early stages of a pregnancy.
The Justice Department and Danco Laboratories, which makes the name brand version of mifepristone, Mifeprex, brought the matter to the Court for expedited review in seeking to lift all of the injunctions.
**The Court used the “shadow docket” (used for procedural decisions) to dispense with the case. It did not include a majority decision or list the justices voting to restore the availability of the drug. However, Thomas and Alito did publish a dissenting opinion by Alito that lashed out at their colleagues not only for their decision but also the use of the shadow docket for this purpose.**
Justice Alito noted that the decision of the Court was unnecessary because the FDA could have still made the drug available pending appeal. Thus, the FDA could have used its enforcement discretion to allow Danco to continue distributing mifepristone pending final resolution in the case. As such, Alito argued that “the applicants are not entitled to a stay because they have not shown that they are likely to suffer irreparable harm in the interim.”
The discussion of the use of the shadow docket was interesting for a number of reasons. First, **Alito called out three colleagues by referring to past objections from Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Amy Coney Barrett in the use of the shadow docket.**
**The referral to the justices was a peevish moment for the Court since Justice Alito was previously criticized for the use of the shadow docket to make major rulings.**
He used this occasion to level the same objection and suggest a degree of hypocrisy in the majority.
The term “shadow docket” is often credited to University of Chicago law professor William Baude who used it to describe the summary decisions in a law review article (https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1961&context=public_law_and_legal_theory)in 2015. He noted that the Court was issuing “a number of noteworthy rulings which merit more scrutiny than they have gotten. In important cases, it granted stays and i…
**Most Business Leaders Prefer Working With Millennials Over 'Discipline Lacking' GenZers**
Most Business Leaders Prefer Working With Millennials Over 'Discipline Lacking' GenZers
A new study revealed more than half of the business managers surveyed were forced to fire GenZ workers, citing challenges in working with this younger generation.
Resume Builder (https://www.resumebuilder.com/3-in-4-managers-find-it-difficult-to-work-with-genz/) said out of the 1,344 managers and business leaders surveyed in April, a whopping 74% said, "GenZ is more difficult to work with than other generations."
When the business leaders were asked why they felt this way toward the GenZ workers, they responded:
- _49% say it's difficult to work with GenZ all or most of the time_
- _The plurality of these business leaders and managers prefer to work with Millennials_
- _Top reasons they feel GenZ is difficult to work with is they lack of technological skills, effort, and motivation_
- _65% say they more commonly need to fire GenZers than employees of other generations_
- _12% have fired a GenZer less than one week after their start date_
- _Being too easily offended is a top reason GenZers get fired_
Here are the top reasons why managers were annoyed with GenZers in the office:
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"In our organization, the GenZs I have interacted with can be exhausting because they lack discipline, and they like to challenge you," Akpan Ukeme, the head of HR at SGK Global Shipping Services, told Resume Builder.
Ukeme continued:
> _"I've butted heads more than once with a GenZ employee, because since our company is online-based, they think they know everything about the digital world and that they can teach me. They think they're better than you, smarter than you, more capable than you, and they will tell you to your face."_
Among those who consider GenZ the most challenging generation to work with, 34% would instead work with Millennials.
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"As a result of COVID-19 and remote education, it's possible that GenZers lack the foundation to be more successful than older generations in entry-level positions," said Chief Career Advisor Stacie Haller.
And those managers that find it challenging to work with GenZers, 59% said they had been forced to fire this younger generation.
Maybe because they're on TikTok all day?
> We're starting to get 80+ degree days here in NYC.
>
> This calls for rooftops and another Day in the Life in Tech Sales ☀️
>
> Follow along my journey on TikTok @ vinmatano pic.twitter.com/BkQBkDpbue (https://t.co/BkQBkDpbue)
>
> — Vin Matano (@vinmatano) April 17, 2023 (https://twitter.com/vinmatano/status/1647948875477467137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> All these Ochsner nurses got fired for this TikTok pic.twitter.com/oTkdZ0tHrj (https://t.co/oTkdZ0tHrj)
>
> — Nee ❤️ (@slimmxnee) April 16, 2023 (https://twitter.com/slimmxnee/status/1647408583355650048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Sat, 04/22/2023 - 12:00
**Court Filing Suggests Troubling CIA Links To Two 9/11 Hijackers**
Court Filing Suggests Troubling CIA Links To Two 9/11 Hijackers
_Authored by Kit Klarenberg via The Grayzone,_ (https://thegrayzone.com/2023/04/18/9-11-hijackers-cia-recruits/)
A newly-released court filing (https://www.floridabulldog.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Canestraro-Declaration-dated-20-July-2021.pdf) raises grave questions about the relationship between Alec Station, a CIA unit set up to track Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his associates, and two 9/11 hijackers leading up to the attacks, which was subject to a coverup at the highest levels of the FBI.
Obtained by SpyTalk, the filing is a **21-page declaration** by Don Canestraro, a lead investigator for the Office of Military Commissions, **the legal body overseeing the cases of 9/11 defendants**. It summarizes classified government discovery disclosures, and private interviews he conducted with anonymous high-ranking CIA and FBI officials. Many agents who spoke to Canestraro **headed up Operation Encore, the Bureau’s aborted, long-running probe into Saudi government connections to the 9/11 attack**.
Despite conducting multiple lengthy interviews with a range of witnesses, producing hundreds of pages of evidence, formally investigating several Saudi officials, and launching a grand jury to probe a Riyadh-run US-based support network for the hijackers, **Encore was abruptly terminated in 2016**. This was purportedly due (https://www.propublica.org/article/9-11-investigation-saudi-connections-operation-encore-fbi) to a byzantine intra-FBI bust-up over investigative methods.
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When originally released in 2021 on the Office’s public court docket, every part of the document was redacted except an “unclassified” marking. Given its explosive contents, it is not difficult to see why: as Canestraro’s investigation concluded, **at least two 9/11 hijackers had been recruited either knowingly or unknowingly into a joint CIA-Saudi intelligence operation** which may have gone awry.
**‘A 50/50 chance’ of Saudi involvement**
In 1996 (https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/04/washington/04intel.html), Alec Station was created under the watch of the CIA. The initiative was supposed to comprise a joint investigative effort with the FBI. However, FBI operatives assigned to the unit soon found they were prohibited from passing any information to the Bureau’s head office without the CIA’s authorization, and faced harsh penalties for doing so. Efforts to share information with the FBI’s equivalent unit – the I-49 squad based in New York – were repeatedly blocked.
In late 1999 (https://www.floridabulldog.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Millennium-Alert-After-Action-Report.pdf), with “the system blinking red (https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_Ch8.pdf)” about an imminent large-scale Al Qaeda terror attack inside the US, the CIA and NSA were closely monitoring an “operational cadre” within an Al Qaeda cell that included the Saudi nationals Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar. **The pair would purportedly go on to hijack American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11**.
Al-Hazmi and al-Midhar had attended an Al Qaeda summit that took place between January 5th and 8th 2000, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The meeting (https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/archive/special/s0606/chapter5.htm) was secretly photographed and videotaped by local authorities at Alec Station’s request although, apparently, no audio was captured. En route (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/07/10/the-agent), Mihdhar transited through Dubai, where CIA operatives broke into his hotel room and photocopied his passport. It showed that he possessed a multi-entry visa to the US.
A contemporaneous internal CIA cable stated this information was immediately passed to the FBI “for further investigation.” In reality, Alec Station not only failed to inform the Bureau of Mihdhar’s US visa, but also expressly forbade two FBI agents assigned to the unit from doing so.
“\[I said\] ‘we’ve got to tell the Bureau about this. These guys clearly are bad…we’ve got to tell the FBI.’ And then \[the CIA\] said to me, ‘no, it’s not the FBI’s case, not the FBI’s jurisdiction’,” Mark Rossini, one of the FBI agents in question, has alleged (https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5SFWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT391&lpg=PT391&dq=got+to+tell+the+Bureau+about+this.+These+guys+clearly+are+bad.+One+of+them,+at+least,+has+a+multiple-entry+visa+to+the+U.S.+We%27ve+got+to+tell+the+FBI.&source=bl&ots=dJz38GoLFg&sig=ACfU3U1x7HuWvQZ01FJgAPgv4LHf3B3nFA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOjseomfLyAhW5_7sIHSQ7D-cQ6AF6BAgCEAM#v=onepage&q=got%20to%20tell%20the%20Bureau%20about%20this.%20T…
**Unvaccinated, Terminally-Ill Alberta Woman Denied Transplant Despite Proof Of COVID Natural Immunity**
Unvaccinated, Terminally-Ill Alberta Woman Denied Transplant Despite Proof Of COVID Natural Immunity
_Authored by Andrew Chen via The Epoch Times (https://www.theepochtimes.com/unvaccinated-terminally-ill-woman-in-alberta-denied-transplant-despite-proof-of-covid-natural-immunity_5207173.html) (emphasis ours),_
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_A vial of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is pictured at an Alberta Health Services vaccination clinic in Didsbury, Alta., on June 29, 2021. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)_ (
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**A terminally-ill Alberta woman** who was removed from an organ transplant list because she was unvaccinated against COVID-19 continued to be denied access to the medical procedure **even after obtaining an independent medical report showing that she has natural immunity**, said the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF).
Sheila Annette Lewis has been challenging the constitutionality (https://www.theepochtimes.com/terminally-ill-woman-asks-supreme-court-to-decide-constitutionality-of-covid-19-vaccination-requirement-for-transplant_4978528.html) of the vaccine requirement put in place by Alberta Health Services (AHS) (https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/aip/resource/c48b05ab-a495-4efd-b1fb-4a51343a4b92/download/AIP-Principles-Immunization-HSCT-SOT.pdf) for transplant candidates.
On March 28 (https://www.jccf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-14-04-letter-to-Morrow-and-Jackson-re-Lewis_Redacted.pdf?mc_cid=bc09bf5dfa&mc_eid=UNIQID), Lewis provided her doctors in the Alberta transplant program with a privately-funded medical report (https://www.jccf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Kinexus-report.pdf?mc_cid=bc09bf5dfa&mc_eid=UNIQID), which established that **she has strong natural immunity to COVID-19 and had overcome previous COVID-19 infections,** the JCCF said in a press release (https://www.jccf.ca/alberta-transplant-program-maintains-refusal-of-transplant-to-terminally-ill-unvaccinated-woman/) issued April 18. The report was provided by the Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation on March 24.
The Kinexus report said Lewis’s blood sample “clearly supports the presence of SARS-CoV-2 immunoreactivity.” It also noted that she was likely infected with the disease around mid-September 2021 and was reinfected again more recently, and thus has “extremely high levels of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.”
Lewis asked her physicians to test her blood for COVID-19 antibodies nearly a year ago to see if she was naturally immune, and they refused to do so, according to JCCF.
Response
After Lewis provided her Kinexus report, one of her transplant physicians informed her on April 3 that despite the test results, “nothing had changed in regards to healthcare policies pertaining to COVID-19 vaccination requirements” and that she would still need to receive the vaccines before the hospital would give her an organ transplant, the JCCF said in its press release.
“ **\[The physician\] told her that the Kinexus Report concluded that even with natural immunity, she would need a booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine**. However, the report does not say anything about Ms. Lewis needing a booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to maintain immunity to Covid-19,” JCCF said.
The Epoch Times reached out to the AHS in regard to Lewis’s case, but didn’t hear back immediately.
Alberta lifted all (https://www.alberta.ca/coronavirus-info-for-albertans.aspx) COVID-19-related mandatory public health restrictions on June 14, 2022.
A guideline (https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/aip/resource/8f7f9960-2647-47af-868c-4394a24fd691/download/AIP-Adult-SOT.pdf) from the Alberta government, listing a number of “routine immunizations” that adult organ transplant candidates are required to receive prior to a transplant, says patients should have a “primary series” of three doses of COVID-19 vaccines, while booster shots are needed “at least 6 months after primary series or previous booster dose.” The guideline, published on March 20, is a revision of immunization principles (https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/aip/resource/c48b05ab-a495-4efd-b1fb-4a51343a4b92/download/AIP-Principles-Immunization-HSCT-SOT.pdf) for transplant recipients issued on June 1, 2022.
JCCF said it has sent a demand letter (https://www.jccf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-14-04-letter-to-Morrow-and-Jackson-re-Lewis_Redacted.pdf?mc_cid=bc09bf5dfa&mc_eid=UNIQID) to AHS, the Alberta hospital, and Lewis’s transplant physicians, “requesting that they accept her now established natural immunity to Covid-19 as an alternative to Covid-19 vaccination and reinstate her to the high-priority transplant waitlist by April 21…
**LVMH Pivots From Hong Kong To Mainland China In Bid To Capture Soaring Lust For Luxury**
LVMH Pivots From Hong Kong To Mainland China In Bid To Capture Soaring Lust For Luxury
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton - the world's biggest purveyor of luxury goods - has shifted resources out of the luxury shopping mecca Hong Kong for mainland China.
According to Bloomberg (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-21/lvmh-is-shifting-out-of-hong-kong-as-luxury-shoppers-stay-home#:~:text=LVMH%20is%20shifting%20resources%20out,switch%20to%20shopping%20at%20home.) sources, LVMH has started the process of moving its regional headquarters from Hong Kong to Shanghai. It has also relocated some top executives to mainland China.
The top global luxury conglomerate will focus on Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen markets as Hong Kong's retail scene slumps.
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Hong Kong suffered a series of missteps over the last several years, including anti-government protests in 2019 that kept visitors away, while China's Covid zero policies limited cross-border activity. This has led to several retailers shuttering retail stores across the metro area.
The pivot by LVMH, which owns brands including Tiffany & Co., Christian Dior, Fendi, and Louis Vuitton, is due to a surge in first-quarter sales as Chinese consumers on the mainland splurged on luxury items as the pace of the world's second-largest economy gained momentum.
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In a post-Covid era, LVMH anticipates that most Chinese luxury spending will be in mainland China rather than Hong Kong. Shopping centers located in duty-free zones like Hainan and the gambling districts of Macau are being swamped by these shoppers, leading to a decline in the importance of Hong Kong as a top luxury shopping hub.
LVMH is following the money.
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Fri, 04/21/2023 - 22:00
**AI Will Eventually Be 'As Good A Tutor As Any Human': Bill Gates**
AI Will Eventually Be 'As Good A Tutor As Any Human': Bill Gates
_Authored by Samantha Flom via The Epoch Times (https://www.theepochtimes.com/ai-will-eventually-be-as-good-a-tutor-as-any-human-bill-gates_5207460.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge&src_src=partner&src_cmp=ZeroHedge) (emphasis ours),_
**Artificial intelligence (AI) may not be advanced enough to replace teachers now, but according to Bill Gates, that time is not far off.**
“The AIs will get to that ability to be as good a tutor as any human ever could,” the Microsoft co-founder said at the ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego on April 18.
“We have enough sample sets of those things being done well that the training can be done,” he added. “So, **I’d say that is a very worthwhile milestone, is to engage in a dialogue where you’re helping to understand what they’re missing**. And we’re not that far.”
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_Bill Gates speaks onstage at the TIME100 Summit 2022 in New York City on June 7, 2022. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for TIME)_ (
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Gates’ comments came within the context of a larger conversation about the future role of technology in education with Jessie Woolley-Wilson, CEO of DreamBox Learning.
“AI has, ever since the focus became machine learning, it’s achieved some unbelievable milestones,” Gates told Woolley-Wilson. “You know, it can listen to speech and recognize speech better than humans. It can recognize images and videos better than humans. The area that it was essentially useless in was in reading and writing. You could not take, say, a biology textbook and read it and pass the AP exam.”
However, Gates noted that, where previous iterations of AI were incapable of replicating human understanding, **emerging systems, like Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s GPT-4, had begun to bridge the gap.**
“The breakthrough we have now, which is very recent, is more to do with reading and writing—this incredible fluency to say, ‘Write a letter … like Einstein or Shakespeare would have written this thing,’ and to be at least 80 percent of the time very stunned by it.”
**Threat to Humanity**
In truth, industry experts have not only been stunned but, in many cases, unnerved (https://www.theepochtimes.com/elon-musk-leads-joins-over-1000-experts-calling-for-pause-on-advanced-ai-development_5156849.html) by recent advancements in the evolution of AI, fearing the ripple effects of such technology on society.
“AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity, as shown by extensive research and acknowledged by top AI labs,” warns a March 22 letter (https://futureoflife.org/open-letter/pause-giant-ai-experiments/) that has more than 27,500 signatures, with dozens of AI experts among them.
Accusing AI creators of engaging in an “out-of-control race” to develop “ever more powerful digital minds that no one—not even their creators—can understand, predict, or reliably control,” the letter’s signatories called for an immediate six-month pause in the training of more advanced AI systems as society grapples with how to ensure their safety.
One of those signatories was Tesla CEO Elon Musk, another tech tycoon who has been outspoken about his concerns (https://www.theepochtimes.com/ai-could-cause-civilizational-destruction-musk-warns_5195736.html) regarding the capabilities of AI.
_Read more **here...** (https://www.theepochtimes.com/ai-will-eventually-be-as-good-a-tutor-as-any-human-bill-gates_5207460.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge&src_src=partner&src_cmp=ZeroHedge)_
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Fri, 04/21/2023 - 21:40
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/ai-will-eventually-be-good-tutor-any-human-bill-gates
**A $300,000 Salary Feels Like $100,000 In These U.S. Cities**
A $300,000 Salary Feels Like $100,000 In These U.S. Cities
Today in "why, again, do we _need_ inflation?" news, a brand new study by SmartAsset (https://smartasset.com/data-studies/new-100k-how-taxes-costs-affect-us-cities-2023) reveals that in several U.S. cities, earning as much as $300,000 per year only feels like $100,000 due to increases in cost of living.
The study "adjusted $100,000 for the local cost of living in 76 of the largest cities in the U.S. using data from the Council for Community and Economic Research" using an index that took into account the price of housing, groceries, utilities, transportation, and other necessary purchases for Q3 2022.
The study found that three major U.S. cities required take home pay of over $300,000 to be able to spend like you earn $100,000 per year. Among them, _of course,_ is San Francisco: **"Residents of Honolulu, New York City and San Francisco who earn this amount are taxed roughly 40.5% or higher and have a cost of living more than 82% above the national average."**
**
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The study also found that it is easiest to "make it" in Texas - which could explain the massive defection currently taking place, wherein California residents are hauling their belongings to, and putting up roots in, the lonestar state.
"Salaries in El Paso, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth and Arlington can be as low as $119,300 while feeling like a true $100,000. Texans at this income level hold onto an average of 5.7 percentage points more of their annual salaries compared to states that charge income taxes, while the cost of living across Texas is generally lower than the national average," the study reads.
Meanwhile, for the privilege of living in California, you require the highest gross income of any state. SmartAsset writes (https://smartasset.com/data-studies/new-100k-how-taxes-costs-affect-us-cities-2023): "San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego all require exceptionally high salaries to feel like $100,000. Those in the Bay Area, for example, require at least $147,000 in salary for middle-class comfort. These Golden State cities command particularly high tax rates and cost of living premiums."
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And believe it or not, despite Miami's high cost of living, the study found that **_due to its low taxes_** it is more affordable to live in than places like Chicago and Baltimore:
> _**In general, states with no state income taxes have an edge** when it comes to overall purchasing power. States that don’t take a cut of residents’ income taxes include Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming._
_**Are politicians, including Chicago's newly elected Mayor, paying attention?**_
You can read the entire study here. (https://smartasset.com/data-studies/new-100k-how-taxes-costs-affect-us-cities-2023)
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Fri, 04/21/2023 - 21:20
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/300000-salary-feels-100000-these-us-cities
**Johnstone: Biden DOJ Indicts Four Americans For "Weaponized" Free Speech**
Johnstone: Biden DOJ Indicts Four Americans For "Weaponized" Free Speech
_Authored by Caitlin Johnstone,_ (https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2023/04/19/biden-doj-indicts-four-americans-for-weaponized-free-speech/)
The Biden administration’s Department of Justice has just charged four members of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) for conspiring to act as agents of Russia by using speech and political action in ways the DOJ says “weaponized” the First Amendment rights of Americans.
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The Washington Post reports (https://archive.is/EzCv7):
> Federal authorities charged four Americans on Tuesday with roles in a malign campaign pushing pro-Kremlin propaganda in Florida and Missouri — expanding a previous case that charged a Russian operative with running illegal influence agents within the United States.
>
> The FBI signaled its interest in the alleged activities in a series of raids last summer, at which point authorities charged a Moscow man, Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov, with working for years on behalf of Russian government officials to fund and direct fringe political groups in the United States. Among other things, Ionov allegedly advised the political campaigns of two unidentified candidates for public office in Florida.
>
> Ionov’s influence efforts were allegedly directed and supervised by officers of the FSB, a Russian government intelligence service.
>
> Now, authorities have added charges against four Americans who allegedly did Ionov’s bidding through groups including the African People’s Socialist Party and the Uhuru Movement in Florida, Black Hammer in Georgia, and an unidentified political group in California — part of an effort to influence American politics.
AFP reports (https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/americas/1681886498-u-s-charges-four-black-nationalists-with-working-for-russian-intelligence) that the conspiracy charges carry a sentence of up to ten years, with three of the four APSP members additionally charged with acting as unregistered agents of Russia which carries another five years.
> _“Russia’s foreign intelligence service allegedly weaponized our First Amendment rights – freedoms Russia denies its own citizens – to divide Americans and interfere in elections in the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen in the DOJ’s press release (https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-citizens-and-russian-intelligence-officers-charged-conspiring-use-us-citizens-illegal) regarding the indictments, adding, “The department will not hesitate to expose and prosecute those who sow discord and corrupt U.S. elections in service of hostile foreign interests, regardless of whether the culprits are U.S. citizens or foreign individuals abroad.”_
**Looks like the United States has decided to dispense with those freedoms as well.**
> This fake and racist case flows from the Russiagate hysteria that convinced millions of Americans that Russia was paying dissident groups to destabilize the US political system
>
> The FBI was unable to find anything real, so it went after the African People’s Socialist Party https://t.co/C1fUn2pyuW (https://t.co/C1fUn2pyuW)
>
> — Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) April 19, 2023 (https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1648559808318955520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
**The superseding indictment (https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1580251/download) containing these charges consists of a lot of verbal gymnastics to obfuscate the fact that the DOJ is prosecuting US citizens for speech and political activities in the United States which happen not to align with the wishes of the US government.** The grand jury alleges that the aforementioned Ionov “directed” these Americans to “publish pro-Russian propaganda” and “information designed to cause dissention in the United States,” which is about as vague and amorphous an allegation as you could possibly come up with.
For the record Omali Yeshitela, the founder and chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party and one of the four Americans named in the indictment, has adamantly denied ever having worked for Russia. Earlier this month before charges were brought against him, the Tampa Bay Times quoted him (https://www.tampabay.com/news/st-petersburg/2023/04/10/st-petersburg-uhurus-fbi-russia-update/) as saying, “I ain’t ever worked for a Russian. Never ever ever ever. They know I have never worked for Russia. Their problem is, I’ve never worked for them.”
**But it’s important to note that this should not matter.** Under the First Amendment the government is forbidden to abridge anyone’s freedom to speak however they want and associate with whome…
**"Buy Now, Pay Later" Mania Sends Americans Deeper Into 'Black Hole' Of Debt**
"Buy Now, Pay Later" Mania Sends Americans Deeper Into 'Black Hole' Of Debt
Americans are drowning in credit card debt as elevated inflation makes the cost of living unbearable. About 70% of consumers are financially stressed, which means ones who've maxed out credit cards and drained personal savings amid 24 months of negative real wages are now resorting to "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) apps for basic items like groceries.
Bloomberg (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-18/high-grocery-prices-make-americans-use-buy-now-pay-later) spoke with Faith Smith, a 34yo administrative assistant that is financially stressed, who said she couldn't resist when retailer Target Corp. pinged her email with the ability to BNPL.
Smith said she spends upwards of $500 per month on groceries. She said she already uses BNPL apps to purchase clothing and school supplies for her young daughter, but when the option came up to use it for groceries -- she said it was a no-brainer:
> _"It helps for a week or two, but then you're stuck with a grocery bill for a couple of months."_
In the last several years, consumers have been addicted to the BNPL apps such as Afterpay, Affirm, Klarna, and PayPal.
> _Almost half of Americans have used BNPL apps, and of those, about 1 in 5 rely on such apps to buy groceries, according to a recent survey from LendingTree Inc. Some 27% of users use the loans as a bridge to their next paycheck. -- Bloomberg_
According to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, BNPL surged during the pandemic, with five of the main US lenders originating $24.2 billion in 2021, up from $2 billion in 2019. The payment method is an attractive alternative to credit cards, with elevated interest rates (https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/some-store-credit-cards-hit-30-interest-rates-consumer-balances-rise).
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_Source: Bloomberg_ (
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The popularity of BNPL will only soar from here as CNBC's Financial Confidence Survey found most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Inflation, economic instability, and a lack of savings led to 70% of respondents indicating they were stressed about their personal finances.
However, the convenience of BNPL and spreading monthly payments out for a predetermined time, if it's just a few months or several years, can lead to a financial disaster if consumers miss payments, as this would mean late fees would pile up and credit scores would drop.
> _"You are putting yourself into the cycle of debt that would be very difficult to get out of," says Terri Bradford, a payments specialist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City._
LendingTree showed nearly half of the consumers are using BNPL for clothing, shoes, and accessories. About 21% are using it for groceries.
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_Source: Bloomberg_ (
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We expect an increasing number of financially stressed consumers will be tapping BNPL for groceries and basic items as macroeconomic conditions continue to sour (https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/beige-book-sees-slowdown-employment-and-inflation-sharp-tightening-credit-standards-and?ref=biztoc.com).
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Fri, 04/21/2023 - 20:40
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/buy-now-pay-later-mania-sends-americans-deeper-black-hole-debt
**Confidence In Childhood Vaccine Plunges By Up To 44% During COVID-19**
Confidence In Childhood Vaccine Plunges By Up To 44% During COVID-19
_Authored by Jessie Zhang via Epoch Times (https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/confidence-in-childhood-vaccine-dips-by-44-percent-during-covid-19_5208048.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge&src_src=partner&src_cmp=ZeroHedge) (emphasis ours),_
**A new report on immunisation suggests that confidence in childhood vaccines has fallen up to 44 percent in 52 countries** coinciding with the largest sustained backslide in childhood immunization in 30 years, fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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_Childhood vaccine confidence drops by over a third during the pandemic. (Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images)_ (
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The only three countries where vaccine confidence remained steady were China, India, and Mexico. The data from these countries indicates the perception of the importance of vaccines held firm or even improved.
**The report attributed this trend to several factors**, including uncertainty about the response to the pandemic, growing access to a wider range of information, and political polarization.
Catherine Russell, the executive director of UNICEF, said that this data is a worrying warning signal.
“ **At the height of the pandemic, scientists rapidly developed vaccines that saved countless lives. But despite this historic achievement, fear and disinformation about all types of vaccines circulated as widely as the virus itself**,” Russell said in a press release.
“We cannot allow confidence in routine immunizations to become another victim of the pandemic. Otherwise, the next wave of deaths could be of more children with measles, diphtheria or other preventable diseases.”
72 doses of Vaccines from Birth to Eighteen Years
Recently, vaccine critics have brought to light the large number of shots that are given to American children.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s immunization schedule, children are given up to 72 doses of 16 vaccines.
Despite this, **Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the founder and chief legal counsel of Children’s Health Defense and author of “The Real Anthony Fauci,” said that not a single vaccine on the schedule has been safety tested prior to being approved.**
“None of the 72 doses of vaccines that are currently mandated for children has ever been tested in a pre-licensing safety study against a true placebo,” Kennedy told (https://www.theepochtimes.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr-part-1-the-dark-secrets-of-the-childhood-immunization-schedule-and-the-vaccine-approval-process_5114709.html) the Epoch Times.
It is a big problem, he says, because many of the injuries that come from vaccines, like all medicines, are long-term injuries.
“You may say that the vaccine prevented the infection, but then **you don’t count the cancers, the neurological disorders, the ADHD, and the autoimmune diseases that pop up five years from now**. You need long-term studies,” he said.
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_Many injuries that come from vaccines are long-term injuries but are often pushed out before these are discovered for expediency. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov)_ (
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**Kennedy said that DTP (Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis) vaccine is the most popular vaccine in the world because of the efforts of those behind vaccines.**
“Incidentally \[the US\] withdrew the vaccine because it was killing so many children, it was causing brain damage according to a study that was done by UCLA,” Kennedy said.
“ **We ended it in the United States**. We replaced it with a DTaP vaccine, an attenuated version, which is safer but less effective. They did the same thing in Europe.”
Eventually, the Danish government did an extensive study of DTP with 30 years of vaccination records with leading pro-vaccination scientists, including Peter Aaby. They found that the vaccine was causing anemia, dysentery, and pneumonia and were killing more people than diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis did prior to the introduction of the vaccine.
“ **That’s the danger.** You could have a vaccine for 30 or 40 years, and nobody actually notices that the kids who are taking it are worse off from a health perspective because you have never done the placebo-controlled trials,” he said.
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Fri, 04/21/2023 - 20:20
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/confidence-childhood-vaccine-dips-44-percent-during-covid-19
**Sons Of El Chapo Fed Enemies To Pet Tigers, DoJ Says**
Sons Of El Chapo Fed Enemies To Pet Tigers, DoJ Says
The Justice Department revealed in new court documents (https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1579751/download) that the sons of notorious drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman were absolute savages.
The four sons — Ivan Guzman Salazar, 40, Alfredo Guzman Salazar, 37, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, 36, and Ovidio Guzman Lopez, 33 — known as the Chapitos, or little Chapos — were among 28 Sinaloa cartel members charged by the DoJ last week with fentanyl-trafficking.
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DoJ accused the cartel members of running "the largest, most violent and most prolific fentanyl trafficking operation in the world," it also listed the torture methods and types of executions used by the cartel.
As per the indictment, the Chapitos owned multiple ranches where they would interrogate rival cartel members, public officials, law enforcement officers, and anyone who got in their way.
> _"Once information was obtained by these captives, typically through torture, these individuals were killed — either by or at the direction of the Chapitos themselves — and the bodies disposed of throughout the area. While many of these victims were shot, others were fed dead or alive to tigers" belonging to Alfredo and Ivan, the indictment read._
Court documents said one of the Sinaloa cartel's hitmen, known as "Ninis," ripped out the muscles of a person they were interrogating and fed the flesh to one of the Chapitos' pet tigers.
El Chapo's sons also used waterboarding and electrocution against rival cartel members. The DoJ said the Ninis would test the potency of the fentanyl on prisoners.
Among the three Chapitos charged, only Ovidio Guzmán López has been detained by police (https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/watch-el-chapos-son-arrested-blow-sinaloa-cartel). El Chapo, their father and Sinaloa cartel's founder, is in a maximum security prison in Colorado and serving a life sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering.
**Full DoJ Indictment**
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Fri, 04/21/2023 - 20:00
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/sons-el-chapo-fed-enemies-pet-tigers-doj-says
**IRS Pays $23 Billion Less In Tax Refunds For 2023 Filing Season, Worrying Americans**
IRS Pays $23 Billion Less In Tax Refunds For 2023 Filing Season, Worrying Americans
_Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (https://www.theepochtimes.com/irs-pays-23-billion-less-in-tax-refunds-for-2023-filing-season-worrying-americans_5208861.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge&src_src=partner&src_cmp=ZeroHedge) (emphasis ours),_
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is paying $23 billion less in tax refunds for the 2023 filing season— **with the average refund amount found to be lower by nearly $300.**
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_The IRS building is seen in Washington on Sept. 28, 2020. (Erin Scott/Reuters)_ (
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**The IRS has issued over 69 million refunds collectively worth $198.868 billion for the week ending April 7, 2023**, according to the agency’s filing (https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-statistics-for-week-ending-april-7-2023) statistics. Compared to the $222.344 billion in refunds handed out in the 2022 season, the 2023 filing season’s refund is $23.476 billion smaller or about 10.6 percent lower.
**The average refund amount between the filing seasons has dropped from $3,175 to $2,878,** a decline of 9.3 percent or $297. In fiscal 2022, the IRS collected $2.9 trillion in individual income taxes.
Back in January, the IRS had suggested that refund amounts could be smaller this time around. “Due to tax law changes such as the elimination of the Advance Child Tax Credit and no Recovery Rebate Credit this year to claim pandemic-related stimulus payments, many taxpayers may find their refunds somewhat lower this year,” the IRS had said in a Jan. 23 news release (https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-kicks-off-2023-tax-filing-season-with-returns-due-april-18).
The U.S. government handed out three rounds of stimulus checks to Americans during the pandemic period. People could claim the missed first and second rounds of stimulus checks on the 2020 tax return. Any missed third-round stimulus checks were claimed in the 2021 return which was filed in the 2022 season.
The federal government had also expanded the Child Tax Credit (CTC) program during the pandemic, **boosting benefits per child from $2,000 to $3,600 for children under the age of 6, and to $3,000 for children between the ages of 6 and 17.**
The benefits of stimulus payments and CTC have now ended, thereby contributing to a lower refund amount during the 2023 filing season.
Americans Concerned Over Smaller Tax Refunds
Smaller tax refunds pose a major issue for Americans, according to the results of a Bankrate survey (https://www.bankrate.com/taxes/tax-return-survey/#counting-on-refund) published last month. When asked how important the tax refund is to their overall financial situation, 43 percent said that the refunds are “very important” while 32 percent said it was “somewhat important.”
_Read more **here...** (https://www.theepochtimes.com/irs-pays-23-billion-less-in-tax-refunds-for-2023-filing-season-worrying-americans_5208861.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge&src_src=partner&src_cmp=ZeroHedge)_
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Fri, 04/21/2023 - 19:40
**California Meets 100% Of Water Requests For First Time Since 2006**
California Meets 100% Of Water Requests For First Time Since 2006
Due to a wet winter and record mountain snowpack, California will provide 100% of the water requested by cities and farms, marking the first time in nearly two decades.
The office of California Governor Gavin Newsom released a statement (https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/04/20/california-to-deliver-100-water-supply-allocation/) Thursday that said, "State water contractors to 100% of requested supplies for 29 public water agencies that serve 27 million Californians."
This is the highest water allocation since 2006, as state water officials rush to replenish groundwater and aquifers after years of drought.
> _"California is taking action to maximize the capture and storage of water from recent storms and snowpack, increasing water deliveries to 100% for the first time in nearly two decades._
>
> _"California is moving and storing as much water as possible to meet the state's needs, reduce the risk of flooding, and protect our communities, agriculture, and the environment," said Governor Newsom._
Since December, the deluge of atmospheric rivers dumped 78 trillion gallons of water in California, effectively ending a severe multi-year drought (https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/half-california-lifted-out-drought-flooding-now-concern-more-rain-looms).
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Many once-depleted reservoirs are filling up with over 80% full - and groundwater reserves have received a significant boost...
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Many regions received record snowpacks (https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/hyper-emergency-over-california-readies-big-melt-after-record-snowpack).
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And the abundance of water has created a rare super bloom (https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/stunning-satellite-images-show-rare-superbloom-blanketing-californias-hillsides) in the state's southern region across hillsides.
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However, the Department of Water Resources still urges people to limit water usage because one extremely wet year could be followed by more drought.
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Fri, 04/21/2023 - 19:20
**Macleod: How Quickly Will The Dollar Collapse?**
Macleod: How Quickly Will The Dollar Collapse?
_Authored by Alasdair Macleod via GoldMoney.com,_ (https://www.goldmoney.com/research/how-quickly-will-the-dollar-collapse-2023)
_This article looks at the factors behind the growing rejection of the dollar for trade settlement purposes by **non-aligned nations around the world. They no longer fear political or economic reprisals from America.**_
_The dollar’s monopoly was notably challenged by Saudi Arabia, which removed itself from the US’s sphere of influence to that of China and Russia. Consequently, peace has broken out throughout the Arab lands._
_But **rising interest rates have destabilised western banking systems,** which have added to the attractions of payment in China’s renminbi relative to maintaining bank deposits and investments in the currencies of the western alliance — particularly of the dollar. **Foreigners hold $7 trillion of deposits and short-term bills and $24.5 trillion in bonds and equities.** These balances are becoming surplus to their needs._
_**The outlook is for US bank credit to contract further, which will drive interest rates even higher.** More banks can be expected to fail. Foreigners are bound to become increasingly reluctant to hold dollars, which they will sell. **Therefore, the question now is not how much will the dollar decline, but how rapidly.**_
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Introduction
We know that the Russia and China’s desire to do away with the dollar is coming true, due to factors beyond their immediate control. Increasing numbers of nations are now committing to accepting payment for cross border trade in currencies other than the dollar, despite US insistence that the only currency for pricing commodities, settling international trade, and therefore the reserve currency must be its own.
We also know that since the Second World War, the US Government has acted robustly against dissenters to enforce its currency monopoly. Libya’s Ghaddafi and Iraq’s Saddam Hussein both proposed new currencies to free themselves from the dollar and came to a sticky end. But all monopolies eventually fail. Encouraged by signs that the dollar’s has now run its course, increasing numbers of nations are abandoning it.
When the US was the world’s policeman, very few countries would have dared to challenge the mighty dollar. American foreign policy was driven by its battle against communism, protecting economic freedom for nations in its sphere of influence. But for the ruling elites around the world, America created distrust and resentment. These are the world policeman’s legacy.
A seminal event, which westerners have mostly forgotten about, was the Asian crisis of 1998. China believes it was planned by the Americans for their own benefit. Here is an extract from an important speech by Major General Qiao Liang, strategist for the Peoples’ Liberation Army, to the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee in April 2016, when he laid down what has become China’s version of events:
> _“What was the hottest investment concept in 1980s? It was the “Asian Tigers.” Many people thought it was due to Asians’ hard work and how smart they were. Actually, the big reason was the ample investment of U.S. dollars._
>
> _“When the Asian economy started to prosper, the Americans felt it was time to harvest. Thus, in 1997, after ten years of a weak dollar, the Americans reduced the money supply to Asia and created a strong dollar. Many Asian companies and industries faced an insufficient money supply. The area showed signs of being on the verge of a recession and a financial crisis._
>
> _“A last straw was needed to break the camel’s back. What was that straw? It was a regional crisis. Should there be a war like the Argentines had? Not necessarily. War is not the only way to create a regional crisis._
>
> _“Thus, we saw that a financial investor called “Soros” took his Quantum Fund, as well as over one hundred other hedge funds in the world, and started a wolf attack on Asia’s weakest economy, Thailand. They attacked Thailand’s currency Thai Baht for a week. This created the Baht crisis. Then it spread south to Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Then it moved north to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and even Russia. Thus, the East Asia financial crisis fully exploded._
>
> _“The camel fell to the ground. The world’s investors concluded that the Asian investment environment had gone south and withdrew their money. The U.S. Federal Reserve promptly blew the horn and increased the dollar’s interest rate. The capital coming out of Asia flew to the U.S.’s three big markets, creating the…
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/macleod-how-quickly-will-dollar-collapse
**Stocks, Bonds, Gold, & Crypto Slide As US Sovereign Risk Roars To Record High**
Stocks, Bonds, Gold, & Crypto Slide As US Sovereign Risk Roars To Record High
A glimpse at the short-end of the yield curve shines a bright light on market stress around the debt-ceiling X-Date being dragged closer. Bills that mature within a month are dramatically bid, while Bills that mature after a potential sooner-than-expected X-Date are bidless...
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_Source: Bloomberg_
The yield curve itself shows that huge kink more clearly...
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?itok=EaNNGiG6)
_Source: Bloomberg_
And that is reflected in the surge to record highs for short-dated USA sovereign protection costs...
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_Source: Bloomberg_
But while USA risk is rising, US equity risk has been falling all week (to its lowest close since Nov '21)...
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_Source: Bloomberg_
However, as VIX tumbled to cycle lows this week, VVIX is notably decoupling from it across today's OpEx...
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?itok=fntpZRnX)
_Source: Bloomberg_
Stocks suffered their worst week since March 10th (SVB collapse) with Nasdaq the biggest loser and Small Caps actually managing small gains...
?itok=6ak0MybH (
?itok=6ak0MybH)
Despite squeezes everyday this week, 'Most Shorted' stocks ended lower...
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?itok=n9jPBL6I)
_Source: Bloomberg_
Energy stocks were the weakest this week while Staples and Real Estate outperformed...
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?itok=q-eXlI-h)
_Source: Bloomberg_
As Defensives outperformed Cyclicals...
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?itok=ySaiS6ii)
_Source: Bloomberg_
FSOC voted to tighten up regulation on the financial system (including non-banks) but while regional banks were up on the week, marginally, they are well off the week's highs...
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...and remain just drooling along at the post-SVB lows in context...
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?itok=I-jcjMRp)
_Source: Bloomberg_
Treasury yields ended the week higher (with the short-end underperforming) after today's post-PMI spike changed the week...
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?itok=l7SPTcYX)
_Source: Bloomberg_
Fed Chair Powell's favorite yield-curve-based recession-signal (18m fwd 3m to spot 3m yield spread) hit its most inverted ever this week....
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?itok=fwl17UkT)
_Source: Bloomberg_
Rate-hike expectations continue to rise for next week (now 92% odds of a 25bps hike) but we also saw the entire STIRs curve shioft hawkishly (with June now at 25% odds of a 25bps hike) and the terminal rate back above 5.00%...
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?itok=__DR2isH)
_Source: Bloomberg_
The dollar saw its first weekly gain since…
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/stocks-bonds-gold-crypto-slide-us-sovereign-risk-roars-record-high
**TikTok's Democrat Lobbyists Visited Biden White House At Least 40 Times In Past Year**
TikTok's Democrat Lobbyists Visited Biden White House At Least 40 Times In Past Year
A recent report may explain why there hasn't been much action against TikTok - which collects its users' browsing data and keystrokes (https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2022/08/18/tiktok-in-app-browser-research/?sh=32c0ce87c550) \- at the federal level.
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According to the _Washington Free Beacon_ (https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/tiktok-lobbyists-visited-white-house-at-least-40-times-in-past-year/), **TikTok lobbyists visited the Biden White House at least 40 times over the past year**, according to official White House visitor records.
> _The Chinese social media platform and its parent company, ByteDance, **are mounting a massive public relations blitz as lawmakers are seeking to ban the app due to national security, espionage, and data privacy concerns**. ByteDance and TikTok have spent **$13 million on federal lobbying since 2019** and hired heavyweight firms such as influential Democratic public relations shop SKDK._
>
> _**Those hired guns have had the ear of the White House**, the records show. Former Louisiana Democratic senator John Breaux, a TikTok lobbyist (https://disclosurespreview.house.gov/ld/ldxmlrelease/2022/Q4/301437326.xml) at Crossroads Strategies, visited the White House at least three times last year, most recently for an event on Dec. 21. Stephanie Leger Short, another (https://disclosurespreview.house.gov/ld/ldxmlrelease/2022/Q4/301437326.xml) TikTok lobbyist who works with Breaux, attended a June 23 meeting with White House adviser Mitch Landrieu. Breaux also met with (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/tiktok-lobbyist-meeting-top-biden-adviser-before-white-house-ban) White House official John Podesta last November. -Free Beacon_
Other TikTok lobbyists include former Congressman Barton Gordon (D-TN), who attended two White House events (Dec. 1 and last September), and ByteDance lobbyist Lauren Aronson, who visited twice in September.
Meanwhile, ex-congressman Joseph Crowley (D-NY) is listed at least **four times** in the 2022 visitor logs - meeting with presidential special assistant John McCarthy in August and White House adviser Mariana Adame in September. Crowley notably **helped arrange meetings for TikTok on Capitol Hill last month**.
**Former Biden campaign spokesman Jamal Brown**, another revolving door lobbyist hired by TikTok in November, visited the White House numerous times in June, August and December, while **Paul Thornell** \- another ByteDance lobbyist, visited at least three times last year.
"If administration officials appear highly susceptible to TikTok's lobbying efforts, it's probably because they're highly dependent on the app for political reasons," said Michael Sobolik, a China expert at the American Foreign Policy Council. "The Biden administration claims to be serious about TikTok, but the facts suggest otherwise."
"Democratic operatives are already planning to push Biden's reelection agenda on the Chinese-controlled app," Sobolik added.
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Fri, 04/21/2023 - 15:47
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/tiktoks-democrat-lobbyists-visited-biden-white-house-40-times
**Watch: Bill Maher Blasts "Intellectual Cowardice" Of Those Who "Just Fall In Line" With Woke Madness**
Watch: Bill Maher Blasts "Intellectual Cowardice" Of Those Who "Just Fall In Line" With Woke Madness
_Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,_ (https://summit.news/2023/04/21/video-bill-maher-slams-intellectual-cowardice-of-those-who-just-fall-in-line-with-woke-madness/)
**Comedian Bill Maher has labeled those who choose to go along with woke nonsense as “intellectual cowards.”**
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Maher made the comments in an interview with Piers Morgan, noting “Nobody ever get canceled for being too woke.”
_**“So you can say the craziest thing, like ‘men can have babies’ and then nobody will — even though people are thinking, ‘well, that’s kind of nuts,’ nobody will say it. They’ll just fall in line,”**_ Maher noted.
“‘Uh, yeah, exactly, that’s what I’ve always thought,’” Maher said, mocking those who know what they are agreeing with is insane.
“‘Sure. I saw a dude who was glowing yesterday.’ And that’s the problem.” he added.
**Maher then agreed with Morgan that people go along along with it because they’ve seen others get “Hounded out of jobs — they think, ‘I don’t want it to happen to me.’”**
Watch:
> "Nobody ever gets cancelled for being too woke...
>
> "You can say the craziest thing, like 'men can have babies' and nobody will say anything."@billmaher (https://twitter.com/billmaher?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) \| @piersmorgan (https://twitter.com/piersmorgan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) \| @TalkTV (https://twitter.com/TalkTV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) \| #PMU (https://twitter.com/hashtag/PMU?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)pic.twitter.com/8O98S6B1kP (https://t.co/8O98S6B1kP)
>
> — Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) April 17, 2023 (https://twitter.com/PiersUncensored/status/1648049724883341312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
The full interview is below:
Maher has always railed against political correctness and fake activism, so it’s no surprise to see him take this direction.
> Epic Video: Bill Maher Blasts “Fat Celebration” In America (https://summit.news/2022/08/08/epic-video-bill-maher-blasts-fat-celebration-in-america/)
> I’m triggered every time I see a "Trigger Warning" because I’m reminded of how weak my country has become. pic.twitter.com/EAxurVGymU (https://t.co/EAxurVGymU)
>
> — Bill Maher (@billmaher) March 4, 2023 (https://twitter.com/billmaher/status/1631877626313711619?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> Bill Maher: ‘Equity‘ Is Orwellian Shifting of Language ‘To Change the Way People Think‘ and That‘s Happening More https://t.co/wI3YuV3WAR (https://t.co/wI3YuV3WAR) via @BreitbartNews (https://twitter.com/BreitbartNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
>
> — Lois Levine Fishman (@FishmanLevine) March 11, 2023 (https://twitter.com/FishmanLevine/status/1634684276942974978?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> How bad does this atmosphere we're living in have to get before the people who say cancel culture is overblown admit that it is in fact an insanity that is swallowing up the world? #WokeOlympics (https://twitter.com/hashtag/WokeOlympics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)pic.twitter.com/P9rJNs6nrs (https://t.co/P9rJNs6nrs)
>
> — Bill Maher (@billmaher) July 31, 2021 (https://twitter.com/billmaher/status/1421335013446938625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
\* \* \*
_Brand new merch now available! Get it at https://www.pjwshop.com/ (https://www.pjwshop.com/)_
_In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch. We need you to sign up for our free newsletter here (https://summit.news/newsletter). Support our sponsor – Turbo Force (https://bit.ly/TURBOFORCE) – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown. Also, we urgently need your financial support here (https://www.subscribestar.com/paul-joseph-watson)._
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Fri, 04/21/2023 - 14:05
**"Brace" - JPMorgan Warns Debt-Ceiling Showdown Means "Non-Trivial Chance Of A Technical Default" On US Treasuries**
"Brace" - JPMorgan Warns Debt-Ceiling Showdown Means "Non-Trivial Chance Of A Technical Default" On US Treasuries
'Be afraid, be very afraid' - that is the **message from the markets**(well, every market that isn't US equities) with regard the debt-ceiling debacle in the US.
US Sovereign risk has soared to record highs in recent days, far above previous debt-related periods of crisis...
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We have been warning of the imminence (and immensity) of the threat for weeks, and now even the mainstream media is starting to recognize some of the signals being flashed of just how dire the situation is for Washington (and implicitly the rest of us)...
> the WSJ also rooting for Joe now https://t.co/HXNX6zhp3m (https://t.co/HXNX6zhp3m)https://t.co/hdf3lpuYIl (https://t.co/hdf3lpuYIl)
>
> — zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 21, 2023 (https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status/1649385616856043521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
While most remain convinced that this 'threat' remains a nothingburger (because, well, you know, they've always folded and compromised in the past), this time could be different given the political division and diametrically-opposed policy beliefs when it comes to America's debt.
Most recently, one of the main findings from JPMorgan's Investor Seminar during the 2023 IMF/World Bank Meetings was as follows:
> _**Brace for a Congressional showdown over the debt ceiling beginning as early as May with a non-trivial risk of a technical default on US Treasuries.**_
Sounds ominous, and rightly so since, as we detailed yesterday, **dismal tax receipts mean we are leaning towards the 'worst case' debt-ceiling X-Date scenario (https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/tax-receipts-are-leaning-toward-worst-case-debt-ceiling-scenario).**
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...adjusted for calendar issues and assuming that a slightly greater share of taxpayers file electronically this year (electronic payments show up more quickly, raising the hurdle for the yoy comparison), **month-to-date receipts are down 31% from last year** (which, incidentally, is happening at a time when the BLS is laughably, claiming that there are millions more taxpaying workers than there were a year ago this time).
JPMorgan agrees:
> _**The debt ceiling could become an issue as early as May**, with speakers assigning a **10-15% probability of the US defaulting on US Treasuries**, with outlier views as high as 35%._
>
> _Both the debate over the debt ceiling and federal funding bill will likely run dangerously close to their respective final deadlines._
>
> _**In the coming days, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will likely revise the X-date** (i.e., drop dead date), which is currently early June, while the markets see it as falling between July to September._
>
> _J.P. Morgan’s US Rates Strategy team expects Treasury will run out of available resources by the middle of August._
**Signs of stress typically start in the T-bill market 2-3 months before the X-date** given money market funds (MMF), which are large holders of T-bills, will begin to more actively advertise that they don’t hold any bills that mature over those dates..
That 'advertising' is becoming very evident as the short-end of the T-Bill curve has massively kinked with anything within a month well bid and anything beyond about a month from now, bidless...
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To put this shift in context, here is the 1m and 2m T-Bill yield (before and after an earlier X-Date threat)...
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And the OIS/Bill yield spread has exploded to its highest 'since Lehman'...
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Something is definitely spooking markets more than before this time... and no obvious solution, aside from compromise - which is about as useful as the other 'c-word' in Washington these days - will fix things.
> _**While a number of proposals have been floated to avert a debt ceiling default, including the use of a discharge petition, a platinum coin and execut…