**Ukraine Adopts New Laws Requiring Public Places Be De-Russified**
Ukraine Adopts New Laws Requiring Public Places Be De-Russified
_Authored by Kyle Anzalone via The Libertarian Institute,_ (https://libertarianinstitute.org/news/ukraine-adopts-two-new-laws-requiring-public-places-be-de-russified/)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has approved two new laws (https://archive.is/XkYHR) intended to erase Ukraine’s Russian culture. The statutes will rename places in Ukraine which stem from the country’s Russian influence.
Additionally, local authorities will be mandated to **"free public space from the symbols of the Russian world."**
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The laws will prohibit names (https://itd.rada.gov.ua/billInfo/Bills/Card/39367) that "perpetuate, promote or symbolize the occupying state or its notable, memorable, historical and cultural places, cities, dates, events," and "its figures who carried out military aggression against Ukraine."
The new statute was signed on Friday and will take effect in 30 days. Local officials will then have (ttps://www.irishtimes.com/world/europe/2023/04/22/zelenskiy-bans-russian-placenames-to-reinforce-ukraines-national-identity/) **six months to completely scrub public places of Russian culture**. A board will be established to determine what names must be purged.
Since 2014, Kiev has waged a culture war against Russian influence in Ukraine. After a coup overthrew Viktor Yanukovych that year, new language laws were imposed that sought to marginalize the Russian language.
Zelensky, who at the time was a comedian, had one of his movies – Love in the Big City 2 – censored because it was in Russian. **Roughly a fifth of Ukrainians identify as ethnic Russians**.
> In April 2019, Ukraine's parliament approved a new law restricting the use of the Russian language despite Russian being the most commonly used language in southern and eastern Ukraine.
>
> Human Rights Watch warned that the law failed to protect the linguistic rights of Russian… pic.twitter.com/vJoL736PuD (https://t.co/vJoL736PuD)
>
> — KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) April 10, 2023 (https://twitter.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/1645536014461722624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
After Moscow ordered its troops to invade Ukraine last year, Zelensky has furthered the process called "de-Russification." Kiev has nationalized the media (https://news.antiwar.com/2022/03/20/zelensky-bans-political-opposition-nationalizes-media-to-create-unified-information/), outlawed Zelensky’s political opposition, targeted branches (https://libertarianinstitute.org/news/kiev-seizes-assets-of-russian-orthodox-clerics/) of the Orthodox church it claims has ties to Moscow, and torn down monuments that represent the historical Russian influence in Ukraine.
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Tue, 04/25/2023 - 02:00
**Escobar: The Empire's Revenge - Set Fire To Southern Eurasia**
Escobar: The Empire's Revenge - Set Fire To Southern Eurasia
_Authored by Pepe Escobar,_
**The collective cognitive dissonance displayed by the pack of hyenas with polished faces driving U.S. foreign policy should never be underestimated.**
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**And yet those Straussian neo-con psychos have been able to pull off a tactical success.**
Europe is a ship of fools heading for Scylla and Charybdis – with quislings such as France’s Le Petit Roi and Germany’s Liver Sausage Chancellor cooperating in the debacle, complete with the galleries drowning in a maelstrom of hysterical moralism. (https://observatoriocrisis.com/2023/04/20/historia-de-una-involucion-de-la-politica-estructural-al-moralismo-histerico/)
It’s those driving the Hegemon that are destroying Europe. Not Russia.
But then there’s The Big Picture of The New Great Game 2.0.
Two Russian analysts, by different means, have come up with an astonishing, quite complementary, and quite realistic road map.
General Andrei Gurulyov, retired, is now a member of the Duma. **He considers that the NATO vs. Russia war on Ukrainian soil will end only by 2030 – when Ukraine would basically have ceased to exist.**
His deadline is 2027-2030 – something that no one so far has dared to predict. And “ceasing to exist”, per Gurulyov, means actually disappearing from any map. Implied is the logical conclusion of the Special Military Operation – reiterated over and over again by the Kremlin and the Security Council: the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine; neutral status; no NATO membership; and “indivisibility of security”, equally, for Europe and the post-Soviet space.
**So until we have these facts on the ground, Gurulyov is essentially saying that the Kremlin and the Russian General Staff will make no concessions.** No Beltway-imposed “frozen conflict” or fake ceasefire, which everyone knows will not be respected, just like the Minsk agreements were never respected.
And yet Moscow, we got a problem. As much as the Kremlin may always insist this is not a war against the Slavic Ukrainian brothers and cousins – which translates into no American-style Shock’n Awe pulverizing everything in sight – Gurulyov’s verdict implies the destruction of the current, cancerous, corrupt Ukrainian state is a must.
A comprehensive sitrep (https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/sitrep-41823-dark-clouds-roll-in) of the crucial crossroads, as it stands, correctly argues that if Russia was in Afghanistan for 10 years, and in Chechnya, all periods combined, for another 10 years, the current SMO – otherwise described by some very powerful people in Moscow as an “almost war” – and on top of it against the full force of NATO, could well last another 7 years.
**The sitrep also correctly argues that for Russia the kinetic aspect of the “almost war” is not even the most relevant.**
In what for all practical purposes is a war to the death against Western neoliberalism, what really matters is a Russian Great Awakening – already in effect: “Russia’s goal is to emerge in 2027-2030 not as a mere ‘victor’ standing over the ruins of some already-forgotten country, but as a state that has re-connected with its historic arc, has found itself, re-established its principles, its courage in defending its vision of the world.”
**Yes, this is a civilizational war, as Alexander Dugin has masterfully argued (https://www.geopolitika.ru/en/article/post-putin-russia-rise-ultra-patriotism). And this is about a civilizational rebirth.**
And yet, for the Straussian neo-con psychos, that’s just another racket towards plunging Russia into chaos, installing a puppet and stealing its natural resources.
Fire in the hole
The analysis by Andrei Bezrukov neatly complements Gurulyov’s (here, in Russian (https://videon.img.ria.ru/Out/Flv/direct/2023_04_19__qwdw3gm5.nyh.mp3)). Bezrukov is a former colonel in the SVR (Russian foreign intel) and now a Professor of the Chair of Applied Analysis of International Problems at MGIMO and the chairman of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy think tank.
**Bezrukov knows that the Empire will not take the incoming, massive NATO humiliation in Ukraine lying down. And even before the possible 2027-2030 timeline proposed by Gurulyov, he argues, it is bound to set fire to southern Eurasia – from Turkey to China.**
President Xi Jinping, in his memorable visit to the Kremlin last month, told President Putin the world is now undergoing changes “not seen in 100 years”.
Bezrukov, appropriately, reminds us of the state of things then: “In the years from 1914 to 1945, the world was in the same intermediate state that it is in now. Those thir…
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/escobar-empires-revenge-set-fire-southern-eurasia
**Pfizer Quietly Financed Groups Lobbying For COVID Vaccine Mandates: Fang**
Pfizer Quietly Financed Groups Lobbying For COVID Vaccine Mandates: Fang
_Authored by Lee Fang via leefang.substack.com (https://leefang.substack.com/p/pfizer-quietly-financed-groups-lobbying),_
In the midst of a contentious debate about Chicago’s plan to force employers to require their workers to take the COVID-19 vaccine, Karen Freeman-Wilson, president of the Chicago Urban League, appeared on television to dismiss complaints that such rules would disproportionately harm the Black community.
“The health and safety factor here far outweighs the concern about shutting people out or creating a barrier,” Freeman-Wilson said (https://news.wttw.com/2021/08/22/will-vaccine-mandates-shut-out-unvaccinated-black-chicagoans) on WTTW in August 2021.
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Earlier that year, her group had received a $100,000 grant from Pfizer, the manufacturer of one of the most commonly used COVID-19 vaccines in the United States, for a project to promote "vaccine safety and effectiveness.” Although the Chicago Urban League is not normally shy about disclosing its corporate donors, the support from Pfizer is not listed in the “partners” (https://chiul.org/partners/) section on its website. The drug industry funding likewise went unmentioned during the interview.
**Pfizer’s grant to the Chicago Urban League was one of many that Pfizer made to nonprofits and trade organizations.** Pfizer doled out special funding to groups across the country that lobbied in favor of government policies to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine.
The extensive list (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23787007-pfizer-2021-report) of those with funding from the pharmaceutical giant includes consumer, doctor, and medical groups, as well as public health organizations and civil rights nonprofits. Many of those groups did not disclose the funding they received from Pfizer while they were advocating for policies that would force workers to get the vaccine.
There were several different and sometimes overlapping vaccine mandates in the country. At the federal level, President Joe Biden issued an executive order, which was ultimately struck down in court, mandating vaccinations at all employers with 100 workers or more. A number of state and local governments forced public employees to get vaccinated and tried to force private-sector employers to follow suit. And many large employers required their employees to get vaccinated without any prodding from the government.
Critics of these employer mandates have noted that **the majority of the proposed mandates, including Biden’s, made no exception for individuals with natural immunity through prior infection.** Proponents of the mandates claimed (https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/science/articles/vaccines-never-prevented-transmission-covid-alex-gutentag) that the vaccines would prevent transmission of COVID-19, an argument that lacked sound scientific basis at the time and has further unraveled.
“You’re not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations,” Biden falsely claimed (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/07/22/remarks-by-president-biden-in-a-cnn-town-hall-with-don-lemon/) in July 2021, as his administration and local governments were preparing mandate orders. Rochelle Wallensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, similarly stated (https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1376950399232573442?lang=en) that vaccinated individuals "do not carry the virus."
But it wasn’t just these unsupported claims by leading government officials that shaped the groundwork for COVID-19 mandates. A coalition of highly visible groups backed by Pfizer and the pharmaceutical industry provided much of the lobbying support for coercive vaccine policies. Here are the most important examples:
- The **National Consumers League**, a century-old corporate watchdog group, announced support (https://nclnet.org/vaccine_mandates/) for “government and employer mandates requiring \[COVID-19\] vaccination" in August 2021, during roughly the same period in which it accepted $75,000 from Pfizer earmarked for “vaccine policy efforts.” The organization is also led in part by Andrea LaRue, who serves as an NCL board member. LaRue’s work as a highly paid contract lobbyist (https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/463a1699-07ee-4878-ac80-54157a535292/print/) to Pfizer, focused on vaccine policy, is not disclosed by NCL’s website.
- The **Immunization Partnership**, a Houston-based public health nonprofit, lobbied publicly against Texas legislation in 2021 designed to prevent vaccine passports and municipal vaccine mandates. The Immunization Partnership claimed (https://www.statesman.com/story/opi…
**Office Buildings Are Emptying In Major U.S. Cities Like Houston, Dallas, New York And San Francisco**
Office Buildings Are Emptying In Major U.S. Cities Like Houston, Dallas, New York And San Francisco
For anyone looking to keep their finger on the pulse of how commercial real estate is holding up, look no further than major U.S. cities like Houston, Dallas, New York And San Francisco.
Those were the four cities mentioned in a new Yahoo Finance report (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/houston-dallas-lead-the-country-in-office-attendance--and-empty-office-space-125019682.html?ncid=twitter_yfsocialtw_l1gbd0noiom) detailing how landlords are "having a tougher time filling their empty office buildings with new tenants", citing data from CoStar and JP Morgan.
The glut is a result of overbuilding while interest rates were lower, the report says, noting that Houston and Dallas "put up more new office space between 2010 and 2021 than all regions except New York". Even more alarming is the fact that they have **_"millions more square feet under construction",_** Yahoo says. And despite discounting, vacancies are now highest in those two cities compared to any other metro area.
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Houston and Dallas had 18.8% and 17.2% of office space vacant at the end of last year, respectively. The national average is 12.5%, with New York, San Jose, San Francisco, and Chicago posting vacancy rates of 12.3%, 12%, 16.4%, and 15.1%, Yahoo wrote.
> APOLLO: “Data from downtowns show that cellphone activity in San Francisco is at 31% of pre-pandemic levels.
>
> New York is at 74%
>
> Chicago is at 50%
>
> Boston is at 54% ..
>
> … This has implications for retail, restaurants, and office.” \[Slok\] pic.twitter.com/6Zk7apNspI (https://t.co/6Zk7apNspI)
>
> — Carl Quintanilla 🔥 (@carlquintanilla) April 24, 2023 (https://twitter.com/carlquintanilla/status/1650458871494848513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
The vacancies in Houston and Dallas come not only despite aggressive discounting, but even as both cities have had better luck with employees returning to the office than other cities. For example, worker attendance was 60% in Houston and 50% in Dallas, as of the first week in April 2023. Those figures are higher than cities like New York and San Jose.
About $1 billion in outstanding commercial mortgage backed security loans in Houston, secured by office properties, are coming due this year, Yahoo writes. Dallas faces and aggregate of over $1 billion in maturities by 2024, as well.
Itziar Aguirre, CoStar's director of market analytics for Houston, commented: "Refinancing risk over the near term is high and it's gonna be really tough because interest rates are so high. **There's gonna be a lot of foreclosures. I think there's gonna be bankruptcies. There's gonna be a lot of distressed sales."**
You can read Yahoo's full report here (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/houston-dallas-lead-the-country-in-office-attendance--and-empty-office-space-125019682.html?ncid=twitter_yfsocialtw_l1gbd0noiom).
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Mon, 04/24/2023 - 19:20
**New Report Exposes Growing, Billion Dollar Budget Fiasco In Illinois' Free Medicaid Program For Undocumented Immigrants**
New Report Exposes Growing, Billion Dollar Budget Fiasco In Illinois' Free Medicaid Program For Undocumented Immigrants
_Authored by Mark Glennon via Wirepoints.org,_ (https://wirepoints.org/new-report-exposes-growing-billion-dollar-budget-fiasco-in-illinois-free-medicaid-program-for-undocumented-immigrants-wirepoints/)
**How can it happen that an annual program would cost 94 times times what Illinoisans were told it would cost just three years ago - $188 million in its first year?** With subsequent extensions it now costs nearly $1 billion per year and growing, money the state doesn’t have.
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A better question: How could it _not_ happen, given the abject disregard for cost of the program and Illinois’ routinely scandalous budget process?
**And wait ’till you hear the excuse for the fiasco from Gov. J.B Pritzker’s administration.**
Here’s what happened: In May 2020 Illinois, became the first state to provide Medicaid for undocumented seniors. The coverage was “tucked in near the end of the 465-page budget implementation bill that passed the Illinois General Assembly late Saturday night,” as reported by the State Journal-Register (https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/politics/state/2020/05/28/illinois-to-become-1st-state/1141572007/) at the time. That’s how Illinois’ budget is routinely implemented. A budget plus an implementation bill, usually totaling at least a thousand pages, is put up for a vote with only hours of review.
The program would cost just $2 million per year, the bill’s sponsor said at the time. That’s Delia Ramirez, a Chicago Democrat in the Illinois House at the time. Pritzker signed the bill without any cost estimate by his office. That’s all we knew at the time.
But the cost of the program blew though the appropriation for it even within the first month of implementation and soared beyond all subsequent estimates and appropriations. That’s according to a closed-door presentation (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iNWqX0HGuX8E3Hj4cShsvdXHCg4qaV06/view) by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services to lawmakers last month that became public last week.
For the year from March 2022 through February 2023, cost of care for the 65 and over age group was nearly $188 million, which is 94 times what Ramirez claimed.
Since then, the state expanded the program twice, lowering the age limit to 55 in 2021 and 42 a year later. The cost estimates of those expansions also shatter estimates made along the way. Now, the expanded program is estimated to cost $990 million for the fiscal year that starts July 1. That’s an increase of $768 million over this year, which was the first full year under the expanded program.
**No portion of that cost is reimbursable by the federal government.**
More details are reported in a particularly good column (https://www.capitolnewsillinois.com/NEWS/nearly-1b-in-expected-spending-on-health-care-for-noncitizens-adds-to-state-budget-pressures) by Capital News Illinois.
The problem and the cost uncertainty are still growing, largely because nobody really knows how many illegal immigrants are here and millions more enter the country every year.
Undeterred, House Democrats recently filed House Bill 1570 (https://ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=1570&GAID=17&GA=103&DocTypeID=HB&LegID=143901&SessionID=112) to _further_ expand free health benefits for undocumented immigrants by adding ages 19-41 to the program.
Why was the report exposing this discussed only behind closed doors last month in the General Assembly?
I have found no excuse.
**Is anybody being held accountable?**
**Certainly not Ramirez.**
She got a promotion from voters who elected her to the United States House of Representatives in 2022.
**How about Pritzker?**
Pritzker’s office has given two answers, the first of which is to blame legislators. His office says they didn’t prepare their own cost estimates before the program became law because it was a lawmaker-driven initiative. Republicans have complained that the program was never vetted in committee before being added to the budget, but that apparently didn’t concern Pritzker.
Pritzker’s second answer is a doozy, essentially saying, “How dare you you question us about budgeting. We Democrats are great with budgets.” Specifically, here’s what Pritzker’s press spokesman, Jordan Abudayyeh, told (https://capitolfax.com/2023/04/21/pritzker-administration-on-defense-over-rising-healthcare-costs-for-undocumented-immigrants/) CapitalFax:
> _The Republicans said it’s time we have some adults in the room when it comes to budgeting. To be clear, t…
**Chinese Foreign Minister Reminds West Beijing Will "Never Back Down" On Taiwan**
Chinese Foreign Minister Reminds West Beijing Will "Never Back Down" On Taiwan
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang reaffirmed in Friday remarks that China would **"never back down"** on the issue of Taiwan - a warning to the West which came during a speech focused on China's central contributions to the global economy.
"The Taiwan problem is at the core of China’s core interests," Qin said (https://apnews.com/article/china-global-security-initiative-taiwan-sovereignty-a1e1c7cb24510e5b00c7e1a7f106d8f8) near the end of the speech. "We will never back down in the face of any act that undermines China’s sovereignty and security. **Those who play with fire on the question of Taiwan will burn themselves**."
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He also addressed recent and ongoing accusations that China is seeking to change the "status quo" across the Taiwan Strait. "It is not the Chinese mainland but the Taiwan independence separatist forces and a handful of countries attempting to disrupt the status quo," he asserted.
Over a month ago his words were even more forceful, and aimed directly at the United States. He said in early March, not long after taking charge as China's foreign minister at the end of December, that "If the United States does not hit the brake, but continues to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailing, and **there surely will be conflict and confrontation**."
But on the other side the West isn't ready to back down from supporting Taiwan security and sovereignty either, seen especially in EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell's controversial call for the bloc's navies to patrol the the Taiwan Strait. He published the words in a French weekly, _Journal Du Dimanche_, on Sunday.
Borrell wrote (https://www.barrons.com/news/eu-s-borrell-asks-european-navies-to-patrol-taiwan-strait-1dcbda5f) that the self-ruled island"concerns us economically, commercially and technologically" - and urged for European navies to ensure its protection. He said, **"That's why I call on European navies to patrol the Taiwan Strait to show Europe's commitment to freedom of navigation in this absolutely crucial area**. **"**
As for Beijing, it has spent years warning the West not to "play with fire" regarding the status of the self-ruled island. Officially, China's policy is to see peaceful reunification via political means, but sees Washington's frequent high level contacts with Taipei's leadership as interference.
Chinese state-owned _Global Times_ (https://maritime-executive.com/article/eu-s-foreign-policy-chief-calls-for-naval-patrols-in-taiwan-strait) has specifically responded to Borrell's plan as follows: **"If European warships still want to show off their might in the Pacific today, the result would only be an embarrassing failure."** The CCP mouthpiece added: "For the People's Liberation Army, which has powerful strength to defend its homeland, facing European warships that come to provoke and show off is not even worth raising an eyebrow. We advise them not to bring shame upon themselves."
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Mon, 04/24/2023 - 18:40
**Senators Question Feasibility Of EPA's New Vehicle Emissions Standards**
Senators Question Feasibility Of EPA's New Vehicle Emissions Standards
_Authored by Nathan Worcester via The Epoch Times,_ (https://www.theepochtimes.com/senators-question-feasibility-of-epas-new-vehicle-emissions-standards_5204546.html)
Lawmakers questioned the feasibility of new vehicle tailpipe emissions proposals from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which the agency predicts will lead to the mass adoption of electric light- and medium-duty vehicles within a decade.
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The April 18 hearing was held by the Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate and Nuclear Safety of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee.
Subcommittee Chair Ed Markey (D-Mass.) lauded the proposals, which the EPA released (https://www.theepochtimes.com/biden-epas-new-vehicle-emissions-standards-sparks-backlash-from-auto-industry-republicans_5190484.html) on April 12.
He suggested that the new EPA standard for light-body vehicles “could be expanded upon,” saying that over $135 billion in spending (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/19/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-driving-u-s-battery-manufacturing-and-good-paying-jobs/#:~:text=The%20Bipartisan%20Infrastructure%20Law%2C%20CHIPS,and%20processing%20and%20battery%20manufacturing) last Congress was being used “to build America’s electric vehicle future.”
_**“Strong proposed regulations are critical to driving climate progress forward, but they are more doable than ever, thanks to the billions in clean vehicle investments passed by Congress,”**_ Markey said.
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_Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) speaks during a press conference in Washington on Sept. 10, 2020. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Green New Deal Network)_
Describing the advantages of stricter regulations, he argued that “those benefits are a bonanza of benefits to our climate, to drivers, and to our health.”
_**“We need to make sure they also benefit Union-American workers,”**_ he added.
Lummis Questions Mineral Sourcing
Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) voiced skepticism regarding the EPA’s vision.
Lummis asked one expert witness, Kathy Harris of the Natural Resources Defense Council, whether focusing on tailpipe emissions alone ignored greenhouse gas emissions from the rare earth mining needed to produce electric vehicle batteries.
_**“There have been many studies that have shown that electric vehicles today, from well to wheel, are still cleaner than compared to a gasoline vehicle,”**_ Harris responded.
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_Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) meets with the media in Washington on Nov. 9, 2020. (Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)_
The Wyoming senator also ran through a list of minerals used in electric vehicle batteries, pointing out that China (https://www.theepochtimes.com/in-depth-bidens-ev-plan-could-be-key-to-chinas-global-economic-dominance_5201194.html), Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo dominate production and downstream processing.
_**“Do any of these countries have anywhere near the stringent environmental regulations the United States has?”**_
“I cannot speak to that today,” Harris said before apologizing and correcting herself: “Not to my awareness.”
_**“I have a rare earth mine in my state that has been trying to open for over ten years and still doesn’t have the environmental permitting to open,”**_ Lummis said.
A staffer for Lummis told The Epoch Times that the lawmaker had in mind the Rare Element Resources Bear Lodge Project (https://www.metaltechnews.com/story/2021/10/13/tech-metals/rare-earths-project-reemerges-in-wyoming/735.html).
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_Soil containing various rare earth elements for export at a port in Lianyungang, China, in a file photo. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)_
“There is no way that the standards and the materials needed to produce and manufacture in the United States can happen in ten years, and to ramp up the supply even in foreign countries that have far lower environmental standards, not to mention human labor standards—this is not possible to do,”…
**Anger, Pushback As Russia's Lavrov Chairs UN Security Council Meeting**
Anger, Pushback As Russia's Lavrov Chairs UN Security Council Meeting
There were fireworks at Thursday's United Nations Security Council meeting chaired by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Already tensions are high in the UNSC due to Russia's chairing the council for the month of April (based on the scheduled monthly rotation).
Lavrov told the council that the world has become a more dangerous place, possibly more so than at the height of the Cold War. **"As was case in Cold War, we have reached the dangerous, possibly even more dangerous, threshold,"** he said (https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/russian-foreign-minister-says-at-un-we-have-reached-the-dangerous-threshold/ar-AA1agMZQ).
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_Via AFP_ (
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The meeting which Lavrov chaired was titled the "Maintenance of international peace and security," but came under criticism by those countries opposed to the Kremlin's war in Ukraine. Western diplomats had complained upon Russia's April 1st takeover of the lead seat at the UNSC that it must be an "April Fool's joke".
In the Thursday address, Lavrov accused the US and its allies of "abandoning diplomacy and demanding clarification of relations on the battlefield."
But the response of Western allies in the UN was fierce. Olaf Skoog, European Union representative to the UN, said (https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/24/europe/russia-lavrov-un-meeting-intl/index.html) that **"Russia is trying to portray itself as a defender of the UN charter and multilateralism. Nothing can be further from the truth. It’s cynical."**
He added that "We all know that while Russia is destroying, we are building. While they violate, we protect."
Additionally UN Secretary-General Antonio took a swipe at Lavrov and Russia, saying (https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/24/europe/russia-lavrov-un-meeting-intl/index.html) it's the invasion "causing massive suffering and devastation to the country and its people" and fueling "global economic dislocation triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic."
"Tensions between major powers are at an historic high. So are the risks of conflict, through misadventure or miscalculation," Guterres warned - at least seeming to agree with Lavrov on the extreme dangers of the times.
But it was the US’s Linda Thomas-Greenfield that pushed back hardest, calling Lavrov "hypocritical"...
" **Our hypocritical convener today**, Russia, invaded its neighbor, Ukraine, and struck at the heart of the UN Charter. This illegal, unprovoked and unnecessary war runs directly counter to our most shared principles – that a war of aggression and territorial conquest is never, ever acceptable," Thomas-Greenfield said.
Likely these tensions at the security council will continue so long as Russia is chairing the meetings, also making for awkward business even when Russia-Ukraine is not the topic at hand.
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Mon, 04/24/2023 - 18:00
**David Stockman On Why Decades Of Inflationary Finance Are Finally Coming Home To Roost**
David Stockman On Why Decades Of Inflationary Finance Are Finally Coming Home To Roost
_Authored by David Stockman via InternationalMan.com,_ (https://internationalman.com/articles/david-stockman-on-why-decades-of-inflationary-finance-are-finally-coming-home-to-roost/)
**Eventually, the inflationary credit emitted by the Fed works its way through the global economy and comes home to roost in the form of reduced domestic output and rising prices.**
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**In this regard, there is no more powerful tell than the round trip of the PCE deflator for durable goods during the past 28 years.**
As shown in the chart below, prices for durable goods, which are now mostly manufactured abroad, plunged continuously and by a staggering **_40%_** between early 1995 and the Covid-Lockdown bottom in Q2 2020. There is no broad-scale deflationary gale quite like it in all of recorded history.
_PCE Deflator for Durable Goods, 1995-2022_
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What caused it, of course, was a one-time arbitrage of labor and other local production costs on the massively expanded global supply chain enabled by modern technology.
Again, however, that wasn’t a wonder of capitalism alone. What drove the global supply chain deep into the interior of China and other ultra-low labor cost venues was the Fed’s lunatic inflation-targeting policies—originally de facto under Greenspan and then eventually (2012) official under Bernanke.
The truth is, when Mr. Deng declared that to be rich was glorious and opened China’s great export factories, sound money in the US would have resulted in a continuous deflation of the drastically swollen US cost and price level that had emerged from the Great Inflation of the 1970s.
Obviously, Alan Greenspan, the once and former champion of the gold standard, was having none of it. Had he permitted the nation’s swollen cost structure to deflate in order to keep domestic production competitive, he would not have been the toast of the town in Washington. He would have been vilified by the politicians because the indicated cure of soaring interest rates and shrinking domestic credit on the free market would have made financing the giant Federal deficits which emerged in the Reagan era well nigh impossible.
**So Greenspan pretended to be the champion of sound money by taking credit for a phony gain he was pleased to call “disinflation”. The latter amounted to deliberately depreciating the purchasing power of savers and wage earners, but just not quite as rapidly as during the worst days before Volcker.**
Needless to say, in a globalized economy inflationary money is quite the trickster. In the initial instance it led to the massive and relentless off-shorting of production, and the re-importing of the same goods produced abroad via the cheap labor being requisitioned from China’s vast interior rice paddies.
Inflation of the dollar came back as deflation of durable goods prices!
**It also allowed the Fed to claim that it had vanquished inflation and that its altogether new challenge was the madness called “lowflation” or too little inflation. That’s truly when the Keynesian central bankers lost their minds (https://internationalman.com/special-report/guide-to-surviving-and-thriving-during-an-economic-collapse/).**
Alas, the trouble with “lowflation” is that it was a one-time aberration, not a permanent or sustainable condition. As the above sharp hook in the chart attests, the sub-index for durables is now up by 15% from the bottom, even as the global supply chain continues to contract owing to the exhaustion of cheap labor in China and badly lagging political patience with free trade in the US and throughout the west.
**Not surprisingly, therefore, the deeply embedded inflation that has has been fostered by the Fed and its fellow-traveling central banks is now proving to be far more stubborn than our Keynesian money-printers ever anticipated; and far more vicious that the clownish perma-bulls of Wall Street ever imagined.**
Here is still one more reminder. We have long-argued that the proper approach to fashioning a “core” inflation gauge is not to arbitrarily drop items out of the price basket like food, energy and now shelter, too. Take that far enough and inflation drops to zero because you are no longer measuring anything that even remotely resembles the general price level.
By contrast, the trimmed mean CPI is just the ticket because each month it drops out the high and low 8% of items,…
**Susan Rice Leaving Biden White House**
Susan Rice Leaving Biden White House
The White House announced Monday morning that **Susan Rice is stepping down as President Biden's domestic policy advisor**, after being in the role for over two years.
"I surprised a lot of people when I named Ambassador Susan Rice as my Domestic Policy Advisor," Biden said in a statement which announced the departure. "Susan was synonymous with foreign policy, having previously served as National Security Advisor and UN Ambassador. But what I knew then and what we all know now – after more than two years of her steady leadership of the Domestic Policy Council – it’s clear: there is no one more capable, and more determined to get important things done for the American people than Susan Rice."
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_Image source: BBC_ (
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She'll formally step down next month, and **was in charge of various polarizing Biden administration issues from gun control to student loan forgiveness and immigration**.
Biden said in the statement that she made "history" given her past career as national security adviser and now recently domestic policy adviser.
Before being tapped as Obama's national security adviser for the former Democratic president's second term, she was the US ambassador to the United Nations.
There she had been key in **crafting US messaging on events like the "Arab Spring" and the US-NATO intervention in Libya to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi**...
> From libya to syria, when it came to mid-east, susan rice was hawk pushing for bombings.
>
> Here she is proud of herself for convincing Obama to bomb Syria without congressional approval.pic.twitter.com/5AiJdxTyTc (https://t.co/5AiJdxTyTc)
>
> — Araari (@IconicAraari) November 22, 2020 (https://twitter.com/IconicAraari/status/1330589197498019849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
As for her foreign policy legacy, she was always among the Democrats' stalwart hawks in the mold of Hillary Clinton. It's as yet unclear where she's moving to next - perhaps MSNBC has a cushy political pundit job waiting for her.
As for a possible replacement, Politico writes that (https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/24/susan-rice-step-down-domestic-policy-adviser-00093463) "Rice’s departure leaves a major hole within the top ranks of the White House right as it gears up for a likely re-election campaign and as it faces a stare down with congressional Republicans over raising the debt limit. Among those being eyed as a replacement for her include Neera Tanden, Biden’s staff secretary and a senior adviser, four people with knowledge of the deliberations told POLITICO."
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Mon, 04/24/2023 - 17:20
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/susan-rice-leaving-biden-white-house
**Majority Of Democrats Don't Want Biden To Run For President In 2024**
Majority Of Democrats Don't Want Biden To Run For President In 2024
_Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,_ (https://summit.news/2023/04/24/majority-of-democrats-dont-want-biden-to-run-for-president-in-2024/)
**A majority of Democrats don’t want Joe Biden to run for president again in 2024, a new poll has found.**
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With Biden expected to announce his campaign as soon as this week, there is little enthusiasm to see the 80-year-old grace the national stage again after years of verbal gaffes and odd behavior.
**Only 45 per cent of Dems say Biden should attempt to win a second term in office, while 51 per cent say it’s time to put him out to pasture.**
70 per cent of Americans total say Biden should step aside, with 48 per cent of those saying he shouldn’t run again citing Biden’s age as a “major” reason.
Another Associated Press poll found that **disenchantment with Biden running again was particularly evident amongst younger voters.**
Only 25 per cent of Democratic voters under the age of 45 would definitely support him, the survey found.
Despite Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announcing he will run against Biden and immediately garnering 14 per cent support among Biden voters, the **DNC has announced they won’t be sponsoring any primary debates and will support Biden for re-election.**
A separate Yahoo News/YouGov poll also found that **38 per cent of Americans felt “exhaustion” over a potential Biden-Trump rematch,** with 29 per cent feeling “fear” over the prospect and 23 per cent feeling “sadness and fear”.
During a recent interview (https://summit.news/2023/04/12/trump-theres-something-wrong-with-biden/) with Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump said “there’s something wrong” with Joe Biden, with the former president suggesting Biden won’t be able to run in 2024.
> _“Look. Uh, I watch him just like you do. And I think it’s almost inappropriate for me to say it. I don’t see how it’s possible. There’s something wrong,” Trump claimed._
A report by Politico back in February detailed how top Democrats had major concerns (https://summit.news/2023/02/17/top-dems-still-privately-opposing-biden-running-for-re-election-in-2024/) about Biden’s age and cognitive functioning, with many wanting him to drop out of the race.
**Meanwhile, another NBC News hypothetical primary poll shows that Donald Trump enjoys a healthy 15 point lead over his nearest rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.**
46 per cent of Republican primary voters said they would vote for Trump if it was held today.
\* \* \*
_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. (https://www.pjwshop.com/)I need you to sign up for my free newsletter (https://www.pjwshop.com/)here (https://summit.news/newsletter). Support my sponsor – Turbo Force (https://bit.ly/TURBOFORCE) – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown. Get early access, exclusive content and behind the scenes stuff by following me on Locals (https://pauljosephwatson.locals.com/)._
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Mon, 04/24/2023 - 13:05
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/majority-democrats-dont-want-biden-run-president-2024
**And Now A "Stunned" Don Lemon Out At CNN**
And Now A "Stunned" Don Lemon Out At CNN
Two rival networks and two superstar hosts departing on the same day. Within a mere hour after the bombshell news of Tucker Carlson's departure from Fox News, CNN announced Don Lemon is leaving.
Lemon, who was long part of the prime-time lineup did a very short but controversial stint as a morning show co-host. "CNN and Don have parted ways," the network announced. "Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors."
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As for the fate of his morning show which he hosted alongside Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins, the network said "'CNN This Morning’ has been on the air for nearly six months, and we are committed to its success."
The 57-year old whose recent words and actions have been met with widespread controversy of late said he's "stunned"...
He said (https://twitter.com/donlemon/status/1650533617636966400) on Twitter: "I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN." Head added: " **I am stunned**. After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly. At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network."
_**oops, to ad insult to injury...**_
> Don Lemon’s statement about this morning’s events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.
>
> — CNN Communications (@CNNPR) April 24, 2023 (https://twitter.com/CNNPR/status/1650545115897769985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
Among other things, he's recently been accused of misogynistic comments and threatening co-workers. For a review of his rocky (to put it mildly) controversies at the network and largely failed morning show, here's a trip down ZH headline memory lane:
- Don Lemon's New Morning Show Debuts, Immediately Bombs In Ratings (https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/don-lemons-new-morning-show-debuts-immediately-bombs-ratings)
- Don Lemon's Co-Hosts "Stormed Off The Set" After His Comments About Nikki Haley Being Past Her Prime (https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/don-lemons-co-hosts-stormed-set-after-his-comments-about-nikki-haley-being-past-her-prime)
- Don Lemon Off Air (Again) Monday Following Growing Fallout From His Sexist Comments About Nikki Haley (https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/don-lemon-air-again-monday-following-growing-fallout-his-sexist-comments-about-nikki-haley)
- Watch: 2023 Don Lemon Would Accuse 2013 Don Lemon Of Being A White Supremacist (https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-2023-don-lemon-would-accuse-2013-don-lemon-being-white-supremacist)
Lemon has increasingly been seen by co-workers as **a "diva" who berates his female cohosts at the drop of a hat**...
> I made a video of all the times from December 8's @CNNThisMorning (https://twitter.com/CNNThisMorning?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) when Kaitlan Collins and Don Lemon talked over each other before Lemon berated Collins after the show to the point that she got emotional and stormed off the set https://t.co/Bw1edg9OxY (https://t.co/Bw1edg9OxY)pic.twitter.com/q6ZEkqmMva (https://t.co/q6ZEkqmMva)
>
> — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) February 3, 2023 (https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1621604195626356736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
Recall, back in September 2022 we wrote about Lemon's obvious demotion from primetime to mornings on CNN. At the time, he said: "For all those who are out there saying, ‘Oh, he moved me and without my —,’ he asked me and I said yes. I could have said no. This is my show, I have a contract for this show, I decided I would take him up on that and take this journey with him. This is not someone moving me."
Lemon exclaimed back in September: "I was not demoted. None of that. This is an opportunity. This is a promotion. This is an opportunity for me to create something around me and **I get to work with two great ladies \[Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins\] who you know."**
Things went bad from the start, and not such good rapport with "the ladies"...
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Mon, 04/24/2023 - 12:45
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/and-now-stunned-don-lemon-out-cnn
**What Brookfield's Default Has To Do With You**
What Brookfield's Default Has To Do With You
_Authored by MN Gordon via EconomicPrism.com,_ (https://economicprism.com/what-brookfields-default-has-to-do-with-you/)
**Over more than two decades we worked off and on in Downtown Los Angeles.** We had a client for several years at 555 West 5th Street, in the tower at the base of Bunker Hill. We’d meet several times a week. Always in the morning.
Sometimes he would boast about his property in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and how he’d one day leave LA. Other times he’d deliver us a wire brushing for events beyond our control. One time he accused us of ‘smash and grab’ tactics for merely requesting payment of a past due invoice for contracted work that had already been delivered.
**After these inspiring encounters we’d hike by the collection of derelicts and dope smokers sprawled out on the wall in front of the Central Library.** This was as we made our way back to our office at the Wedbush Center on Wilshire Boulevard near Figueroa Street.
On the corner in front of the 7-Eleven a clown appeared one day. He had oversized shoes, a rainbow wig, face paint – the whole costume. All day every day, rain or shine, he was there, jumping around, waving at cars and buses, and fist bumping people walking by. Then, after about nine months, he was gone. We never saw or heard of him again.
One spring day in 2016, amongst a mob of pedestrians, we gazed up at the skeleton frame of what would become the Wilshire Grand Center. For the first time in several years the buzz and hum of diligent building activity was eerily silent. Construction efforts had been shut down for the day.
**Sadly, less than 24 hours earlier a distraught electrician had taken a swan dive off the 53rd floor.** The man’s death prompted an immediate work stoppage and evacuation of the tower.
> _“It sounded like a bag of cement fell off the edge of the building,”_remarked (http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-construction-worker-falls-from-l-a-high-rise-hits-cars-dies-20160317-story.html) one observer.
Naturally, the sound of impact was far too grim for us to contemplate. We didn’t have much of an appetite that day.
But out of habit, we stopped at the food court – FIGat7th – and ate something called a moon bowl. There, in the shadow of the tower at 777 South Figueroa Street, **we wondered how time must have simultaneously slowed down and sped up for the jumper as he descended toward the ground.**
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**Brookfield Defaults Again**
This trip down memory lane was wandered with intent and purpose. Because this week Bloomberg reported (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-17/brookfield-defaults-on-161-million-debt-for-office-buildings) that **Brookfield Corporation, one of the largest commercial real estate companies in the world, has defaulted on $161.4 million of office building mortgages.**
These office buildings are mostly in Washington, DC. However, **this Brookfield default comes just two months after its much larger default of $784 million in mortgages for two office towers in Los Angeles.** These include our old haunts at 555 West 5th Street and 777 South Figueroa Street.
The reasons behind the defaults are generally straightforward.
**The double whammy of higher vacancy rates post-Covid and higher interest rates have turned these buildings from profit generating ventures into huge gaping money pits.**
Here are the grim particulars from Bloomberg:
> _“In the Washington metro area, office property values have plunged 36 percent through March from a year earlier, on par with declines nationwide, according to the Green Street index._
>
> _“Among the dozen buildings in the Brookfield portfolio with the $161.4 million debt, occupancy rates averaged 52 percent in 2022, down from 79 percent in 2018 when the debt was underwritten, according to the report. Monthly payments on the mortgage’s floating-rate debt jumped to about $880,000 in April from just over $300,000 a year earlier as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates.”_
In short, as rental income declined due to higher vacancy rates and monthly mortgage payments jumped over 190 percent, **throwing good money after bad became untenable for Brookfield.** Default was the better option.
**Fake Insurance**
**The fact is there’s simply too much unused office space. This is not a situation that will magically change.**
Maybe a savvy developer will come in and complete an office-to-residential conversion. But that’s not Brookfield’s game. And whoever does it will only take the risk at a much lower price and with much better terms.
**In the meantime, who loses?**
According to Federal Reserve…
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/what-brookfields-default-has-do-you
**While Under Felony Investigation, Crack Addict Influence Peddler Hunter Biden Demands Ethics Probe Into MTG**
While Under Felony Investigation, Crack Addict Influence Peddler Hunter Biden Demands Ethics Probe Into MTG
Recovering crack connoisseur Hunter Biden has called for an **ethics investigation into Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)** over alleged defamatory statements and personal attacks, according to a Monday letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics from Hunter's lawyer, Abbe Lowell.
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The younger Biden is currently under federal criminal investigation for **two misdemeanor counts for failure to file taxes, a felony count of tax evasion and a potential felony related to lying on a federal firearms application**.
The DOJ _isn't_ touching; Hunter's trips on Air Force Two (https://www.zerohedge.com/political/schweizer-does-compromise-president-biden) with his then-VP-daddy to ink shady family deals with CCP-linked business partners, or that giant diamond & a $30 million offer (https://nypost.com/2021/11/28/chinese-titan-lavished-hunter-biden-with-3-carat-gem-offer-of-30-million/) that has all the appearances of a bribe, or the $3.5 million payment (https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/imo/media/doc/HSGAC_Finance_Report_FINAL.pdf) made to a Hunter-founded firm from the wife of the former Mayor of Moscow. Or Hunter's offer to **trade info on Russian oligarchs (https://www.zerohedge.com/political/hunter-biden-55000-offer-russian-oligarch-info-falls-under-fresh-scrutiny) to Alcoa for $55,000**. Or Hunter's access to classified documents (https://www.zerohedge.com/political/classified-docs-were-biden-house-while-hunter-took-millions-representing-fking-spy-chief) at Joe Biden's house while he was representing the "fucking spy chief of China (https://www.zerohedge.com/political/classified-docs-were-biden-house-while-hunter-took-millions-representing-fking-spy-chief)." Or how Hunter admitted that Burisma, his Ukrainian employer, **saw his name as "gold" (https://www.barrons.com/news/hunter-biden-admits-ukraine-firm-saw-his-name-as-gold-01617720006)** when it came to peddling influence.
In any event, **Hunter wants MTG investigated** for casting aspersions which might damage his stellar reputation. For example:
> MTG: "\[Hunter Biden\] was engaged in a human trafficking ring. And he was paying a lot of money for it." pic.twitter.com/ak6rfBv9YR (https://t.co/ak6rfBv9YR)
>
> — MTG Battleground (@battlegroundMTG) April 18, 2023 (https://twitter.com/battlegroundMTG/status/1648403399875137537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 🤔 If the politically weaponized FBI had dealt with Hunter Biden’s laptop in 2019, they would have saved the American people from all the radical ideological damage Biden has done to the country.
>
> MTG: “There’s..an enterprise wrapped around Joe Biden involving multiple family… pic.twitter.com/9ApKkJSAV5 (https://t.co/9ApKkJSAV5)
>
> — LionHearted (@LionHearted76) April 21, 2023 (https://twitter.com/LionHearted76/status/1649207421460512769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
"Since her election to Congress in 2020 (and before), Representative Greene has engaged in steady, dogged verbal and defamatory attacks against Mr. Biden, and members of his family," wrote Lowell, who accused Greene of "undignified rhetoric and brazen violations of the standards of official conduct that do not reflect creditably on the House of Representatives."
**Greene hit back on Monday,** tweeting: "The FBI, DOJ, Treasury, and the entire government knows and has proof Hunter Biden was involved in human sex trafficking and they have done absolutely nothing about it," adding "But just imagine if Hunter’s last name was Trump."
> The FBI, DOJ, Treasury, and the entire government knows and has proof Hunter Biden was involved in human sex trafficking and they have done absolutely nothing about it.
>
> But just imagine if Hunter’s last name was Trump.
>
> — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) April 24, 2023 (https://twitter.com/RepMTG/status/1650499488979533824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> _Greene is a member of the Oversight and Accountability Committee, which has been looking into the financial activities of Hunter Biden and some of his associates._
>
> _In his letter Lowell cites a video statement Greene released on her Twitter account, standing in front of the Treasury building, in which she stated, “The Biden crime family participated in human trafficking by soliciting prostitutes from the United States and abroad in countries like Russia and Ukraine.” She claimed that it extended “past Hunter Biden and his immediate family.” -Bloomberg_
"Her online statements and public appearances are neither legislative drafting, nor oversight, nor real congressional business — they are a spray of shotgun pellet…
**Zimbabwe To Introduce Gold-Backed Digital Currency**
Zimbabwe To Introduce Gold-Backed Digital Currency
_Authored by Ana Paula Pereira via CoinTelegraph.com,_ (https://cointelegraph.com/news/zimbabwe-s-central-bank-to-issue-gold-backed-digital-currency-report)
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is set to introduce a gold-backed digital currency to serve as legal tender in the country. **The move is a government initiative to stabilize the local currency from continued depreciation against the U.S. dollar.**
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According to a report from local media outlet The Sunday Mail, **the move will allow (https://www.sundaymail.co.zw/rbz-introduces-gold-backed-digital-currency) small amounts of Zimbabwean dollars to be exchanged for the digital gold token,** enabling more Zimbabweans to hedge against currency volatility. Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mangudya said **the plan intends to “leave no one and no place behind.”**
Zimbabwe’s currency trades at 1,001 ZWL against $1 but is typically exchanged (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-23/zimbabwe-to-introduce-gold-backed-digital-currency-sunday-mail) for 1,750 ZWL on the streets of Harare, the country’s capital, according to Bloomberg.
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The country’s annual consumer price inflation reached (https://tradingeconomics.com/zimbabwe/inflation-cpi) a one-year low in March at 87.6%, down from 92% in February.
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_Zimbabwe‘s inflation rate. Source: Trading Economics/Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe_
According to Mangudya, the exchange rate in **the parallel market is expected to stabilize after tobacco farmers receive their U.S. dollar payments in the coming weeks.**
He said the current exchange rate volatility has been caused by “expectations of increased foreign currency supply” on the market due to the tobacco season.
**The monetary dysfunction in Zimbabwe and lack of changes have led to businesses printing (https://www.wsj.com/articles/zimbabwe-money-aa13a052) their “own money,” often on handwritten scraps of paper, so that users can pay for future purchases,** according to a Wall Street Journal report from March
Zimbabwe has been fighting against currency volatility and inflation for over a decade.
In 2009, the country adopted the U.S. dollar as its currency after an episode of hyperinflation.
In 2019, the Zimbabwean dollar was reintroduced in an effort to revive the country’s struggling economy.
Last year, the government decided to use the U.S. dollar again in a bid to curb surging prices in the country.
**Crypto adoption has grown in many African countries as a result of economic challenges.**
According to Chainalysis, the Middle East and North Africa is the fastest-growing region for crypto adoption (https://cointelegraph.com/news/middle-east-and-north-africa-are-fastest-growing-crypto-markets-data) thanks to cross-border remittances, with **over $566 billion in crypto transactions between July 2021 and June 2022, up 48% from the previous year.**
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Mon, 04/24/2023 - 11:45
https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/zimbabwe-introduce-gold-backed-digital-currency
**Tucker Carlson Out At Fox**
Tucker Carlson Out At Fox
Tucker Carlson, **the highest rated (https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjoyella/2020/06/30/tucker-carlson-has-highest-rated-program-in-cable-news-history/?sh=45aa23496195) cable news host in history, is _out_ at Fox News.** The news comes days after the network cut ties with host Dan Bongino 48 hours (https://www.zerohedge.com/political/dominion-vs-fox-news-defamation-trial-kicks-delaware) after the network settled with Dominion Voting Systems for nearly $800 million.
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"Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways," reads a statement from the network, which thanks him for his service "as a host and prior to that as a contributor."
According to the statement, Carlson's last show was Friday, April 21st as he continued to dominate (https://twitter.com/TVNewsNow/status/1648482676318539778?s=20), and his slot will now be filled by 'an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named."
> TV RATINGS: Fox News was #1 in total viewers in cable news on Monday April 17, led by these hours:
>
> 1\. @TuckerCarlson (https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
>
> 2\. @TheFive (https://twitter.com/TheFive?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
>
> 3\. @seanhannity (https://twitter.com/seanhannity?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
>
> 4\. @jesseprimetime (https://twitter.com/jesseprimetime?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)@PeteHegseth (https://twitter.com/PeteHegseth?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
>
> 5\. @BretBaier (https://twitter.com/BretBaier?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
>
> 6\. @maddow (https://twitter.com/maddow?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
>
> 7\. @Gutfeldfox (https://twitter.com/Gutfeldfox?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
>
> 8\. @OutnumberedFNC (https://twitter.com/OutnumberedFNC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
>
> 9\. @DanaPerino (https://twitter.com/DanaPerino?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)@BillHemmer (https://twitter.com/BillHemmer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
>
> 10.… pic.twitter.com/FlYDu6zPHu (https://t.co/FlYDu6zPHu)
>
> — TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) April 19, 2023 (https://twitter.com/TVNewsNow/status/1648482676318539778?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
Full statement from the network (emphasis ours),:
> _**FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways**. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor._
>
> _Mr. Carlson's last program was Friday April 21st. **Fox News Tonight will air live at 8 PM/ET starting this evening as an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named.**_
>
> _FOX News Media operates the FOX News Channel (FNC), FOX Business Network (FBN), FOX News Digital, FOX News Audio, FOX News Books, the direct-to-consumer streaming services FOX Nation and FOX News International and the free ad- supported television service FOX Weather. Currently the number one network in all of cable, FNC has also been the most watched television news channel for more than 21 consecutive years, while FBN ranks among the top business channels on cable. Owned by Fox Corporation, FOX News Media reaches nearly 200 million people each month._
> From 8pm to 9pm on Fox, there was extreme, even fundamental, disagreements between Tucker and Hannity on those key issues - the kind of internal debate unthinkable on any other network: in lockstep.
>
> I'd wager the new 8pm host will be far more aligned with Hannity: standard GOP.
>
> — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 24, 2023 (https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1650539824128962569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
Shares of 21st Century Fox dropped like a rock on the news, and is now sitting at January lows (the drop in FOXA's market cap is around the same as the settlement with Dominion).
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One of Carlson's last monologues at _Fox_...
Were Carlson and Bongino sacrificed as part of the settlement?
And where to next?
Rumble..?
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Twitter...?
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ZeroHedge?
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Mon, 04/24/2023 - 11:36
**McCarthy Faces Most Important Week Since Becoming Speaker As Debt Battle Looms**
McCarthy Faces Most Important Week Since Becoming Speaker As Debt Battle Looms
House Republicans are set to vote this week on a **$4.5 trillion GOP bill**, the Limit, Save, Grow Act (https://www.speaker.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/LSGA_xml.pdf), which would raise the debt limit into 2024, while cutting federal spending by tens of billions of dollars, _Punchbowl News_ (https://punchbowl.news/archive/42423-punchbowl-news-am/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=4/24/23%20%20Punchbowl%20News%20AM&utm_term=Punchbowl%20AM%20and%20Active%20Subscribers%20from%20Memberful%20Combined) reports, adding that the Treasury Department is expected to chime in this week on when they think the US is likely to default on its $31.4 trillion debt.
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The bill, unveiled by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) last week, is the GOP's **first stab at bringing Democrats and the Biden administration to the table** after the two sides have made no progress over the past three months. It would raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion, or through March 31 of next year, whichever comes first.
Republicans are insisting on linking a debt ceiling increase to spending cuts, but the White House says it wants a 'clean' hike of the borrowing limit.
It's unclear whether the GOP bill has enough support to pass.
On Sunday, McCarthy said he thought the bill would pass this week.
" **We will hold a vote this week, and we will pass it, and we will send it to the Senate**," he told _Fox News_' "Sunday Morning Futures."
That said, the bill has an unlikely chance of passage in its current form, **as several GOP lawmakers - including Rep. Andy Biggs (AZ) and Tim Burchett (TN) are a 'lean no' and undecided - voiced concerns with it last week**. In total, McCarthy can only afford to lose five votes, assuming all Democrats oppose the legislation.
"When we send this to the Senate, we’re showing that, yes, we’re able to raise the debt ceiling into the next year, but what we’re doing is, we’re being responsible fiscally and bringing our house back in order," McCarthy said on Sunday, adding "It doesn’t solve all of our problems, but it gets us on the right path. And this gets us to the negotiating table, just as government and America expects us to do so."
More via _Punchbowl News (https://punchbowl.news/archive/42423-punchbowl-news-am/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=4/24/23%20%20Punchbowl%20News%20AM&utm_term=Punchbowl%20AM%20and%20Active%20Subscribers%20from%20Memberful%20Combined) (emphasis ours);_
**No. 1:** The House GOP whip operation worked throughout the weekend to shore up support for the package. As of late Sunday night, party leaders felt as if undecided Republicans were breaking their way.
**The House Freedom Caucus** is pushing their leadership to have new work requirements for social safety net programs under this legislation kick in during FY 2024 instead of FY 2025. Conservatives also want to increase the hours covered recipients must work from 20 to 30 per week. The leadership feels as if both of these asks are implausible..
**No. 2: Democrats have no idea what McCarthy is up to**. They don’t have much insight into him or how the House GOP leadership operates at this point. But the mystery is overrated. McCarthy simply wants to get to the negotiating table with President **Joe Biden** and top Democrats. To do that, it’s imperative that House Republicans pass this bill. Otherwise, the House could be forced to move a clean debt limit increase this summer. That’s exactly what Biden wants, but it would be devastating for McCarthy.
**At the end of the day,** McCarthy wants three things in a final bill: spending reductions, permitting reform and some work requirements for social programs.
**No. 3:** House Republicans have become concerned about eliminating some tax provisions and whether outside groups would score that as a tax increase. The House Republican package got rid of a slew of tax credits that originated in the Inflation Reduction Act.
**As we noted above,** McCarthy and the GOP leadership wereparticularly concerned that Americans for Tax Reform would be opposed to repealing the tax credits. However, the group sent this statement over Sunday afternoon: “ATR supports the repeal of all green new deal tax credits in Biden’s IRA. And always has.”
**No. 4:** We also told you on Friday (https://punchbowl.news/archive/42123-punchbowl-news-midday/) about a group of Midwestern Republicans who were concerned about the proposal eliminating ethanol credits. Right now, GOP leadership insiders believe that there won’t be a serious problem with these members.
**First,** all House Republicans …
**America's Afghan Watchdog Says "You're Gonna See Pilferage" Of Ukraine Aid**
America's Afghan Watchdog Says "You're Gonna See Pilferage" Of Ukraine Aid
_Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,_ (https://news.antiwar.com/2023/04/23/afghanistan-watchdog-says-youre-gonna-see-pilferage-of-ukraine-aid/)
The watchdog for US spending on Afghanistan told _Responsible Statecraft_ (https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2023/04/21/afghanistan-watchdog-youre-gonna-see-pilferage-of-ukraine-aid/)in an interview that he expects "pilferage" of US aid to Ukraine.
John Sopko, who has served as the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) since 2012, said that he personally favored creating a similar position for US spending on the war in Ukraine. Explaining why more oversight on the Ukraine policy is needed, Sopko pointed to the fact that the US has already authorized **$113 billion** in spending. **"That money is flowing like manna from the sky. If you don’t get in there soon, you’re gonna see pilferage,"** he said.
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Sopko said he was not just concerned about military assistance to Ukraine but also aid disbursed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). "We’ve always had more problems with AID. In Afghanistan, my experience with them is they have not been a very well-run organization," he said.
Sopko pointed to the fact that USAID was overseeing aid that’s paying the salaries of Ukrainian government workers. In Afghanistan, Sopko said the Pentagon directed the paying of government salaries and could never come up with a system to make sure the US was paying the salaries of real Afghans.
**"Well, have you heard anybody saying, ‘what’s the system they have in place to ensure that they’re not paying ghost Ukrainian civil servants, ghost Ukrainian police, ghost Ukrainian soldiers?'"** he said.
Sopko said USAID has "had a poor track record on ghosts and on oversight" and added that the State Department is "even worse." The US has provided Ukraine with tens of billions in "budgetary aid," (https://news.antiwar.com/2023/02/23/yellen-says-us-will-send-10-billion-in-economic-aid-to-ukraine/) funds that go directly to the Ukrainian government.
Sopko said he was worried about after the war when the US and its allies fund Ukraine’s reconstruction. "The real crisis is going to happen once the shooting stops, and they start laying concrete, and they start rebuilding things … **We’re going to be buying horribly overpriced steel and cement and other products**," he said.
US government agencies have assigned their own inspector generals to oversee Ukraine aid but have resisted efforts to establish a position similar to Sopko’s. He said a "whole of government" approach was necessary for the oversight. The Senate recently voted down an amendment (https://news.antiwar.com/2023/03/28/senate-votes-down-amendment-to-create-special-watchdog-for-ukraine/) introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) that would have created a special inspector general for Ukraine.
_From the Corruption Perceptions Index—2022 (https://cpi.ti-ukraine.org/en/)_
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Earlier this month, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a report (http://grammarly.com/) that alleged the **CIA is aware of rampant corruption in Ukraine and estimated that Ukrainian officials have skimmed at least $400 million** in US-provided funds earmarked for diesel purchases.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Ukraine’s notorious corruption was commonly cited by Western governments. In June 2021, President Biden said Kyiv must "clean up corruption" (https://news.antiwar.com/2021/06/14/biden-ukraine-must-clean-up-corruption-to-join-nato/) before it can join NATO. But since the US began flooding Ukraine with weapons and money, the corruption concerns have barely been mentioned.
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Mon, 04/24/2023 - 11:05
**Biden Holds Fewest Press Conferences Of Any US President In 40 Years**
Biden Holds Fewest Press Conferences Of Any US President In 40 Years
Despite a pledge to "bring transparency and truth back to the government," **President Joe Biden has held the fewest press conferences since Ronald Reagan**.
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It's so bad that last Thursday he bailed on a decades-old tradition of holding a press conference with Colombian President Gustavo Petro following a White House meeting. Instead, **Petro held a news conference all by himself in front of the West Wing**, the _NY Times_ (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/21/us/politics/biden-public-appearances-media.html) (!) reports.
In more than two years as president, Biden has held just **54 interviews**. For comparison, Trump held 202 during the first two years of his presidency, while Obama gave 275.
> _**More than any president in recent memory, Mr. Biden, 80, has taken steps to reduce opportunities for journalists to question him in forums where he can offer unscripted answers and they can follow up.** The result, critics say, is a president who has fewer moments of public accountability for his comments, decisions and actions._
>
> _Mr. Biden has not accused the news media of being “the enemy of the people,” as his predecessor did during four years in which news organizations documented thousands of lies by Mr. Trump. -NY Times_
Meanwhile, with Biden's 2024 reelection announcement waiting in the wings, "he is accelerating the demise of traditions that have underpinned the relationship with the news media for decades," by keeping the press at arm's length in an attempt to sidestep those traditions.
According to the White House, **the lack of transparency is a deliberate attempt** to connect with audiences without the traditional news media (what?) that can cast a filter on his words (i.e. accurately report that he's a highly-medicated vegetable).
"Our ultimate goal is to reach the American people wherever and however they consume media, and that’s not just through the briefing room or Washington-based news outlets," said White House comms director, Ben LaBolt. " **The fracturing of the media and the changing nature of information consumption requires a communications strategy that adapts to reach Americans where they get the news.**"
Instead, the new strategy "often means low-risk conversations with celebrities or supportive internet influencers as a regular means of generating publicity," according to the report.
Sure guys.
Instead of facing tough questions from actual journalists, Biden has sat for interviews with actors Jason Bateman and Drew Barrymore, as well as weatherman Al Roker and YouTube beauty blogger Manny MUA (who?).
> Biden last week: "There are more important things than going to the border"
>
> Biden this week: \*interviews with Drew Barrymore\*pic.twitter.com/1vmktN9gMF (https://t.co/1vmktN9gMF)
>
> — Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) December 19, 2022 (https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1604872070839513091?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
" **All presidents chafe at people questioning what they think is the great policies that we’re enacting and the good things that we’re doing**," said former Bill Clinton press secretary, Mike McCurry. "But at some level, you’ve got to have a process in the White House that respects that."
According to McCurry, presidents feel less pressure to engage journalists in today's news environment **because 'traditional news organizations have lost the influence they used to have...'**
"That’s a real issue too, because we can sort of say, ‘Well, we don’t have to be as responsive to this group of journalists who are yapping at our knees every day,’" said McCurry. " **And that’s too bad.** Preparing for and giving press conferences forces the White House and other agencies to come up with better answers and sometimes better policies."
Tyler Durden (https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)Mon, 04/24/2023 - 07:45
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-holds-fewest-press-conferences-any-us-president-40-years
**5 Economic Disasters We Were Warned About In Advance That Are Happening Right Now**
5 Economic Disasters We Were Warned About In Advance That Are Happening Right Now
_Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,_ (http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/5-economic-disasters-we-were-warned-about-in-advance-that-are-happening-right-now/)
**Our leaders were able to successfully kick the can down the road for a long time, but now many of our long-term problems are becoming short-term problems**, and the economic outlook for the remainder of 2023 is extremely bleak. But none of the economic hardships that we are experiencing at this moment should shock any of us. The truth is that we were warned about all of these things well ahead of time.
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**Many independent voices have been warning us that there would be severe consequences for the exceedingly foolish economic decisions that our leaders were making, and now those severe consequences are starting to play out right in front of our eyes.**
The following are 5 economic disasters we were warned about in advance that are happening right now…
**#1** We were warned that a great commercial real estate crisis would be coming, and now it is here. In fact, we just witnessed another massive default (https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/dominos-falling-brookfield-defaults-161-debt-dc-office-buildings)…
> With recent stress in the regional banking sector, sentiment in US commercial real estate (CRE) – and especially the office sector – has turned negative as investors prepare for potential spillover effects (with JPM (https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/nowhere-hide-cmbs-cre-nuke-goes-small-banks-acount-70-total-commercial-real-estate-loans), Morgan Stanley (https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/new-big-short-hits-record-low-focus-turns-400-billion-cre-debt-maturity-wall), and Goldman Sachs (https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/state-commercial-real-estate-goldman-expects-sharp-spike-office-delinquency-rates) all joining the gloom parade), especially as high-profile defaults continue to make headlines as borrowers face higher debt service costs and refinancing becomes much harder ahead of a $400 billion CRE debt maturities this year alone.
>
> The latest headline fueling concerns about a potential CRE crisis involves a fund belonging to CRE giant Brookfield defaulting on a $161.4 million mortgage for twelve office buildings in Washington, DC.
>
> According to Bloomberg (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-17/brookfield-defaults-on-161-million-debt-for-office-buildings), the loan was transferred to a special servicer working with “the borrower to execute a pre-negotiation agreement and to determine the path forward.”
**#2** We were warned that there would be widespread layoffs as economic conditions in the United States deteriorated. Sadly, that is now happening all around us. For example, on Monday accounting firm Ernst & Young announced that they will be laying off thousands of highly paid workers (https://news.bloombergtax.com/financial-accounting/ey-to-trim-3-000-us-jobs-in-wake-of-failed-breakup-effort?trk=public_post_embed_feed-article-content)…
> Ernst & Young said Monday that it would eliminate roughly 3,000 jobs from its US workforce as it pivots to address shifts in demand and “overcapacity” in sections of its business.
>
> The cuts represent less than 5% of the US firm’s total workforce. EY described the workforce reduction as “part of the ongoing management of our business” and said it didn’t stem from the firm’s recent failure to implement a global breakup.
**#3** We were warned that the largest corporate debt bubble in the history of the world would eventually burst, and now corporations are beginning to default on their debts at a rate that should deeply alarm all of us (https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/18/business/global-corporate-defaults-highest-level/index.html)…
> More companies around the world defaulted on their debts in the first three months of this year than in any quarter since late 2020, when businesses were still hamstrung by restrictions to stop the spread of Covid.
>
> In a report Tuesday, credit rating agency Moody’s said 33 of the corporations it rates defaulted on their debts in the first quarter, the highest level since the last quarter of 2020 when 47 companies defaulted. Almost half, or 15 companies, defaulted last month — the highest monthly count since December 2020.
>
> Defaulting firms included Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed in March, its holding company SVB Financial Group and Signature Bank.
**#4** We were warned that we would witness a dramatic surge in bankruptcies in 2023, and that is precisely what is happening (https://www.zerohedge.com…