Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

How China won 2020
Axios | Felix Salmon | 12/29/20

China will end this year as the only major country in the world to see its economy grow rather than shrink. China is operating from a position of great strength, with an economy expected to grow by 8.4% in 2021.

"However many times you hear the China growth story, it continues to have the capacity to shock and amaze," says Columbia historian Adam Tooze. "In scale and speed it is unlike any previous experience."

By the numbers: China's economy is projected to grow by 2% in 2020 and by another 8.4% in 2021. By the end of next year, its economy is expected to be 10.6% larger than it it was at the beginning of this year.

By contrast, after shrinking by 3.6% this year and growing by a projected 4% next year, the U.S. economy is going to end 2021 just 0.25% larger than it was at the beginning of 2020. ... Read more

Biden: Transition team has "encountered obstruction" from Pentagon
Axios | Shawna Chen | 12/29/20

President-elect Joe Biden said Monday that his team has "encountered obstruction" and "roadblocks" from political leadership at the Defense Department and Office of Management and Budget that could undermine national security during the transition.

Why it matters: Biden warned that foreign adversaries could gain advantage if his team is cut out of vital information sharing with the outgoing Trump administration. Before Christmas, the Pentagon abruptly halted meetings with transition officials. ... Read more

Trump Made Him a Viral Star. He's Got a Hidden Backer, Too.
DailyBeast | Will Sommer | 12/29/20

The president has pushed out a video from Seth Holehouse. Not mentioned are Holehouse's ties to a group that thinks Trump will bring on Judgment Day.

Little-known jewelry auctioneer Seth Holehouse burst into MAGA stardom last week, after President Donald Trump repeatedly posted a slickly produced video starring Holehouse that alleged the election was stolen. "Wow!" Trump tweeted on Dec. 20, attaching footage of Holehouse's video, "The Plot to Steal America."

In the video, Holehouse threw out a number of discredited election conspiracy theories and intoned that President-elect Joe Biden obviously stole the election, claiming that American political parties and media outlets have been taken over by the Chinese communist government.

"I hope you can see now that the invisible enemy is communism, and the most deadly virus is the Chinese Communist Party," Holehouse said in the clip. ... Read more

Five trends that will shape America in 2021
Axios | staff | 12/28/20

John le Carré was the pen name of David Cornwell, an ex-spy for Britain's famed MI6 | 60Minutes | 12/14/20 | 27:04

Jordan Klepper vs. Trump Supporters: The Complete Collection | Jordan Klepper on The Daily Show | 12/25/20 | 59:22

Americans' acceptance of Trump's behavior will be his vilest legacy
TheGuardian | Robert Reich | 12/27/20

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Monday, December 28 [16:07]

John le Carré (1931-2020) on the Iraq War, Corporate Power, the Exploitation of Africa & More... | DN | 12/25/20 | 43:49

DEVASTATING Report on Covid's Impact on Healthcare Workers | TYT | 12/27/20 | 9:36

UK's Mutant COVID Strain Conquers Scandinavia As Doctors Warn Of "Grim Month Ahead"; Russia Extends UK Travel Ban: Live Updates
ZeroHedge | staff | 12/28/20

As we emerge from the post-holiday weekend in the west, the biggest COVID-19 related news over the past few days has focused mostly on burgeoning fears of the "variant" COVID-19 strain known as B.1.1.7, which is the mutated strain first isolated in the UK believed to be 70% more infectious (according to "official" UK government estimates, which we should probably point out is based on a surprising dearth of research).

Finland became the latest Scandinavian country to confirm a case of the "mutated" COVID, as a Finnish traveler who had recently returned from a UK holiday (before the Finns halted all air travel with Britain last week). Health officials said Monday the Finnish citizen was diagnosed in the southeast Kymenlaakso region over the weekend, and that his family members have been isolated Authorities believed they have "contained" the outbreak.

Russia on Monday morning became the latest power to extend its travel halt involving flights to and from the UK through Jan. 12, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that he would receive the first dose of a Chinese vaccine on Thursday.

While the US remains a critical holdout, refusing to curtail travel with the UK, the number of people screened at US airports hit 1.28MM on Sunday, the highest number since mid-March ... Read more

US poised for deadliest year ever as pandemic cuts life expectancy, experts say
TheGuardian | Victoria Bekiempis | 12/23/20

The US is on track to record its deadliest year in history, largely due to the pandemic, as public health experts say overall life expectancy for 2020 could drop by as much as three years.

Final mortality data for this year will not be available for months, but preliminary numbers suggest the country will see more than 3.2 million deaths this year. That would be the first time annual deaths have cracked 3 million and would make 2020 the deadliest year on record.

US deaths increase most years, so some annual rise in fatalities is expected. But the 2020 numbers are expected to amount to a jump of about 15%, which would mark the largest single-year percentage leap since 1918, when tens of thousands of US soldiers died in the first world war and hundreds of thousands of Americans died in the 1918 flu pandemic. ... Read more

President Trump issues 15 pardons, including two Russia figures and Blackwater guards | CNBC | 12/22/20 | x:xx

Anxiety rises at Pentagon over Trump's next move | CNN | 12/22/20 | x:xx

'Sociopathic': GOP Presidential Speechwriter Blasts Trump's Scheme To Overturn Election He Lost | CNN | 12/21/20 | 7:09

'Disgrace To His Uniform': Col. Wilkerson On Flynn's Martial Law Election Plot | All In | MSNBC | MSNBC | 12/21/20 |.6:32

Trump turns on everyone
Axios |Jonathan Swan | date

President Trump, in his final days, is turning bitterly on virtually every person around him, griping about anyone who refuses to indulge conspiracy theories or hopeless bids to overturn the election, several top officials tell Axios.

The latest: Targets of his outrage include Vice President Pence, chief of staff Mark Meadows, White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Secretary of State Pompeo and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Why it matters: Trump thinks everyone around him is weak, stupid or disloyal -- and increasingly seeks comfort only in people who egg him on to overturn the election results. We cannot stress enough how unnerved Trump officials are by the conversations unfolding inside the White House. ... Read more

Barr refutes Trump on Hunter Biden, voting machines, Russia hack
Axios | Zachary Basu | 12/22/20

Attorney General Bill Barr told reporters Monday that he sees no reason to name a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, there is no basis for the federal government to seize voting machines, and that he agrees with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's assessment that Russia was behind the massive recent hack of federal agencies.

Why it matters: Barr has rarely contradicted President Trump so openly, but he did so three times in his last press conference as attorney general. ... Read more

UK Mostly Cut Off From Europe Over Mutation Fears; US COVID Deaths Hit New Record: Live Updates
ZeroHedge | staff | 12/22/20

Boris Johnson managed to keep his promise to the British people, and on Tuesday morning, the French lifted restrictions on British travelers and truckers - with one important catch: to cross into France, truckers and travelers must provide a recent negative test for COVID-19 taken during the last three days.

... Read more

Blame game begins over massive SolarWinds hack
Axios | Ina Fried | 12/21/20

President Trump's reluctance to name and shame Russia for the SolarWinds cyberattack will hamper companies and government agencies as they begin the long and daunting job of assessing and repairing the hack's damage.

Why it matters: Experts say Russia's fingerprints are all over the attack, but the president's dissent will hobble any U.S. response -- at least until Jan. 20.

Catch up quick: Security officials and experts share a broad consensus that the "Cozy Bear" group, also known as APT29, overseen by Russia's SVR intelligence service, was responsible for the hack.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) described the attackers as "a patient, well-resourced, and focused adversary that has sustained long duration activity on victim networks." ... Read more

Analyzing Solorigate, the compromised DLL file that started a sophisticated cyberattack, and how Microsoft Defender helps protect customers
Microsoft | Microsoft | 12/18/20

While the full extent of the compromise is still being investigated by the security industry as a whole, in this blog we are sharing insights into the compromised SolarWinds Orion Platform DLL that led to this sophisticated attack. The addition of a few benign-looking lines of code into a single DLL file spelled a serious threat to organizations using the affected product, a widely used IT administration software used across verticals, including government and the security industry. The discreet malicious codes inserted into the DLL called a backdoor composed of almost 4,000 lines of code that allowed the threat actor behind the attack to operate unfettered in compromised networks. ... Read more

**Inside Trump's pressure campaign to overturn the election
Politico | Anita KU | 12/21/20

No president has ever made such expansive and individualized pleas.

It started with a phone call.
In mid-November, President Donald Trump rang Monica Palmer, the Republican chair of an obscure board in Michigan that had just declared Joe Biden winner of the state's most populous county. ...

Over the next month, the president would conduct a sweeping campaign to personally cajole Republican Party leaders across the country to reject the will of the voters and hand him the election. In his appeals, he used specious and false claims of widespread voter fraud, leaning on baseless allegations that corrupt Democrats had conspired at every level to steal a presidential election.

In total, the president talked to at least 31 Republicans, encompassing mostly local and state officials from four critical battleground states he lost -- Michigan, Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania. The contacts included at least 12 personal phone calls to 11 individuals, and at least four White House meetings with 20 Republican state lawmakers, party leaders and attorneys general, all people he hoped to win over to his side. Trump also spoke by phone about his efforts with numerous House Republicans and at least three current or incoming Senate Republicans. ... Read more

Exxon Researched Climate Change in 1977 | FRONTLINE | 09/16/15 | 3:20

The 2016 Pulitzer Prize Finalist | For a probe into a major oil company's decades-long misinformation campaign to muddy the debate over climate change.
The 2016 Pulitzer Prize Finalist | 2016

InsideClimate News | For a probe into a major oil company's decades-long misinformation campaign to muddy the debate over climate change.

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Thursday, December 10 [15:41]

Trump Joins INSANE Texas Election Lawsuit | TYT | 12/09/20 | 13:15

Defense Budget Passes BEFORE Covid Relief Bill, Rep. Ilhan Omar RIPS Congress | TYT | 12/09/20 | 8:16

NBC Nightly News Broadcast (Full) - December 9th, 2020 | NBC Nightly News | 12/09/20 | 21:06

Investigation Finds Exxon Ignored Its Own Early Climate Change Warnings
FrontLine | author | 09/16/20

Despite its efforts for nearly two decades to raise doubts about the science of climate change, newly discovered company documents show that as early as 1977, Exxon research scientists warned company executives that carbon dioxide was increasing in the atmosphere and that the burning of fossil fuels was to blame.

The investigation found that long before global warming emerged as an issue on the national agenda, Exxon formed an internal brain trust that spent more than a decade trying to understand the impact of rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere -- even launching a supertanker with custom-made instruments to sample and understand whether the oceans could absorb the rising atmospheric CO2 levels. ... Read more

Exxon Researched Climate Change in 1977 | FRONTLINE | 12/16/20 | 3:20

America's new news war
Axios | Sara Fischer | 12/09/20

President Trump's election loss has upended America's news landscape, cementing a parallel universe on the right where even Fox News isn't Trumpy enough for millions of his diehards.

Why it matters: The coming diffusion of news across many easily-accessible streaming channels will likely cause Americans to become even further entrenched in their own, partisan filter bubbles. This could lead to the most profound change in news consumption that America has seen in decades. ... Read more

The search for misinformation's measure
Axios | Kyle Daly | 12/09/20

Social media interactions on stories involving misinformation-linked topics

Facebook and other big online platforms insist they're removing more and more misinformation. But they can't say whether they're actually stemming the tide of lies, and neither can we, because the deluge turns out to be impossible to define or measure.

Why it matters: The tech companies mostly won't share data that would let researchers better track the scale, spread and impact of misinformation. So the riddle remains unsolved, and the platforms can't be held accountable. ... Read more

Shell's Climate Ambition | Shell | 10/29/20 | 1:51

Shell Oil's Stark Climate Change Warning from 1991 |Shell | 1991 | 28:31

Introducing: The Fossil Fuel Ad Anthology
heated.world | Emily Atkin | 12/13/19

From 1986 to 2015, the five biggest fossil fuel corporations in America spent a combined $3.6 billion on advertisements.

These advertisements have served not to sell the public on products, but ideas--namely, that fossil fuels are good and necessary; and that the companies extracting and burning them are effectively fighting environmental problems like air pollution and climate change. ... Read more

The rocky path into a lower carbon world
Axios | Ben Geman | 12/09/20

Two huge oil companies charting different paths through the industry's uneven movement toward lower-carbon sources are both coming under fresh -- but different -- forms of pressure and scrutiny.

Driving the news: The Financial Times scooped yesterday that several clean energy executives have left Shell "amid a split over how far and fast the oil giant should shift towards greener fuels." ... Read more

FDA review of Pfizer vaccine clears way for emergency authorization
Axios | Orion Rummler | 12/08/20

The FDA's vaccine advisory committee released a detailed analysis on Tuesday finding that Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine appears to meet the safety and efficacy requirements necessary for an emergency use authorization (EUA).

Why it matters: The FDA's initial review suggests that the agency will issue an EUA after its advisory committee meets on Thursday. The publication of the analysis comes the same day that the U.K. began administering its first doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which regulators cleared for emergency use last week.

Details: The FDA found that there are no specific safety concerns from Pfizer's vaccine by race, age, ethnicity, medical co-morbidities, or a prior COVID infection. The most common negative side effects of vaccination were fatigue, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, and fever. ... Read more

Christopher Krebs unloads on Trump disinformation "threat" | Axios | 12/08/20 | 1:35

Azar: Vaccine will be available to all by mid-2021
Axios | Sam Baker | 12/07/20

Every American will be able to get a coronavirus vaccine by the second quarter of 2021, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in an interview for "Axios on HBO."

Why it matters: As cases, hospitalizations and deaths keep climbing higher, a vaccine seems to be the only chance the U.S. will have to arrest this pandemic. "My expectation is that next year we return to normalcy in our lives thanks to the incredible work of Operation Warp Speed and these vaccines, as well as the therapeutics," Azar told Axios' Mike Allen. ... Read more

Inside China's "cover-up" and the weaponisation of COVID-19 | 60 Minutes Australia | 11/30/20 | 9:12

Shell's Climate Ambition | Shell | 10/29/20 | 1:51

Shell Oil's Stark Climate Change Warning from 1991 |Shell | 1991 | 28:31

Introducing: The Fossil Fuel Ad Anthology
heated.world | Emily Atkin | 12/13/19

From 1986 to 2015, the five biggest fossil fuel corporations in America spent a combined $3.6 billion on advertisements.

These advertisements have served not to sell the public on products, but ideas--namely, that fossil fuels are good and necessary; and that the companies extracting and burning them are effectively fighting environmental problems like air pollution and climate change. ... Read more

US faces grim winter as Covid cases and deaths set new records again -- live
TheGuardian | Jessica Glenza | 12/04/20

US sees 217,664 new cases and 2,879 deaths -- both new highs

As we wait to see the impact of Thanksgiving travel on the coronavirus pandemic, new data is troubling. The Associated Press gave us a glimpse the nation's failure to heed health warnings, and stay home.

The nation's unwillingness to tamp down on travel offered a warning in advance of Christmas and New Year's as virus deaths and hospitalizations hit new highs a week after Thanksgiving. U.S. deaths from the outbreak eclipsed 3,100 on Thursday, obliterating the single-day record set last spring.

Vehicle travel in early November was as much as 20% lower than a year earlier, but it surged around the holiday and peaked on Thanksgiving Day at only about 5% less than the pandemic-free period in 2019 ... Read more

President-elect Biden: Trump attending inauguration is 'of personal consequence' to the US | CNN | 12/03/20 | 5:18

US breaks daily coronavirus records as Fauci warns January will be 'terrible'
TheGuardian | Adam Gabbatt | 12/04/20

The US set three grim coronavirus records on Thursday, as it recorded the highest daily number of coronavirus deaths, the highest number of new cases, and the number of people admitted to hospital with Covid exceeded 100,000 for the second day in a row.

Some 2,879 people died from coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University, while there were 217,664 new cases, as the top infectious disease official, Dr Anthony Fauci, warned "January is going to be terrible". ... Read more

Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds: Ebola and the Ravages of History by Paul Farmer

In 2014, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea suffered the worst epidemic of Ebola in history. The brutal virus spread rapidly through a clinical desert where basic health-care facilities were few and far between. Causing severe loss of life and economic disruption, the Ebola crisis was a major tragedy of modern medicine. But why did it happen, and what can we learn from it?

Paul Farmer, the internationally renowned doctor and anthropologist, experienced the Ebola outbreak firsthand?Partners in Health, the organization he founded, was among the international responders. In Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds, he offers the first substantive account of this frightening, fast-moving episode and its implications. In vibrant prose, Farmer tells the harrowing stories of Ebola victims while showing why the medical response was slow and insufficient. Rebutting misleading claims about the origins of Ebola and why it spread so rapidly, he traces West Africa's chronic health failures back to centuries of exploitation and injustice. Under formal colonial rule, disease containment was a priority but care was not – and the region's health care woes worsened, with devastating consequences that Farmer traces up to the present.

This thorough and hopeful narrative is a definitive work of reportage, history, and advocacy, and a crucial intervention in public-health discussions around the world.

**Coronavirus hospitalizations top 100,000 for the first time
Axios | Sam Baker | 12/03/20

More than 100,000 Americans are now in the hospital with coronavirus infections -- a new record, an indication that the pandemic is continuing to get worse and a reminder that the virus is still very dangerous.

Why it matters: Hospitalizations are a way to measure severe illnesses -- and severe illnesses are on the rise across the U.S. In some areas, health systems and health care workers are already overwhelmed, and outbreaks are only getting worse. ... Read more

**Our make-believe economy is here to stay
Axios | Dion Rabouin | 12/03/20

The Federal Reserve and global central banks are remaking the world's economy in an effort to save it, but have created something of a monster.

Why it matters: The Fed-driven economy relies on the creation of trillions of dollars -- literally out of thin air -- that are used to purchase bonds and push money into a pandemic-ravaged economy that has long been dependent on free cash and is only growing more addicted.

However, most of the money gets stuck at the top -- winding up in the accounts of large corporations and highly paid executives, while leaving behind small businesses and everyday Americans.

What's happening: Stocks are hitting all-time highs while millions remain out of work and on unemployment insurance. That's not a coincidence. ... Read more

**Trump's spy chief plans dire China warning
Axios | Mike Allen | 12/03/20

Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe on Thursday will publicly warn that China's threat to the U.S. is a defining issue of our time, a senior administration official tells Axios.

Why it matters: It's exceedingly rare for the head of the U.S. intelligence community to make public accusations about a rival power.

I'm told the DNI will make a series of public statements and appearances outlining intelligence that argues China is the greatest national security threat that America faces.

Between the lines: The P.R. blitz is one of the first major components of a broader, administration-wide effort to raise the alarm about China and to build consensus and awareness about China's intent to supplant the United States as the world's dominant power. ... Read more

Trump's 2024 begins
Axios | Jonathan Swan, Mike Allen | 12/02/20

President Trump is likely to announce he'll run again in 2024, perhaps before this term even ends, sources tell Axios.

Why it matters: Trump has already set in motion two important strategies to stay relevant and freeze out other Republican rivals. ... Read more

Biden's economic team will write a new crisis playbook
Axios | Felix Salmon | 12/02/20

Joe Biden's economic team faces a daunting task helping the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs or otherwise been financially ravaged by the coronavirus. But most of them have first-hand crisis experience, dating back to when Barack Obama inherited a crumbling economy when he took office in 2009.

Employment is much worse than during the Great Recession. The total number of jobs in America is still more than 10 million below its peak, even after a significant rebound.

Why it matters: Most of President-elect Biden's economic nominees served in the Obama administration, and wish that they could have gone bigger to help America recover from the 2008 financial crisis. But it's not going to be easy for them to push through massive fiscal spending in 2021. ... Read more

Disputing Trump, Barr says no widespread election fraud
AP| Michael Balsamo | 12/02/20

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Disputing President Donald Trump's persistent, baseless claims, Attorney General William Barr declared Tuesday the U.S. Justice Department has uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could change the outcome of the 2020 election.

Barr's comments, in an interview with the The Associated Press, contradict the concerted effort by Trump, his boss, to subvert the results of last month's voting and block President-elect Joe Biden from taking his place in the White House.

Barr told the AP that U.S. attorneys and FBI agents have been working to follow up specific complaints and information they've received, but "to date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election." ... Read more

Bipartisan group of senators unveil $908 billion COVID stimulus proposal
Axios | Orion Rummler | 12/01/20

A bipartisan group of senators on Tuesday proposed a $908 billion coronavirus stimulus package, in one of the few concrete steps toward COVID relief made by Congress in several months.

Why it matters: Recent data shows that the economic recovery is floundering as coronavirus cases surge and hospitals threaten to be overwhelmed heading into what is likely to be a grim winter. ...
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How Trump's Hill allies could take one last shot to overturn the election
Politico | Kyle Cheney | 12/01/20

The framers declared that the presidential election isn't official until lawmakers certify the winner. The voters, on Nov. 3, picked 306 electors for Biden and 232 for Trump. Those electors will cast their formal votes for president on Dec. 14.

President Donald Trump's arsenal for overturning the election will soon be down to one final, desperate maneuver: pressing his Republican allies on Capitol Hill to step in and derail Joe Biden's presidency.

Although the Electoral College casts the official vote for president on Dec. 14, it's up to Congress to certify the results a few weeks later. And federal law gives individual members of the House and Senate the power to challenge the results from the floor -- a rarely used mechanism meant to be the last of all last resorts to safeguard an election. But several House Republican lawmakers and aides now tell POLITICO they're considering this option to aid Trump's quest. ... Read more

Citi Warns "100% Probability Of Loss" In Most "Euphoric" Market Since Dot Com Bubble
ZeroHedge | staff | 12/01/20

The last time the market was this 'extreme' in its greed did not end well, but as FOMO dominates any downside fears, Citigroup's Panic-Euphoria indicator - which tracks metrics from margin debt to options trading and newsletter bullishness - has reached its highest since the August tumble and equaled its highest since the peak of the dotcom bubble...