Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Buffalo blizzard death toll exceeds 30 as storm preparation questioned
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 12/28/22

The death toll from the Buffalo blizzard over Christmas weekend rose to 31 Tuesday, according to numbers from Erie County's chief executive.

Why it matters: The toll makes this the deadliest lake effect snowstorm on record and the most lethal blizzard in Buffalo since at least 1950. It calls into question how a city so used to snow could be endangered to such an extent.

By the numbers: The storm brought more than 37 continuous hours of blizzard conditions to Buffalo.

The National Weather Service defines such conditions as having winds of at least 35 mph and visibility of a quarter-mile or less. (True blizzard conditions are not declared until they last for at least three straight hours.) ... Read more

Discovery of 2-million-year-old DNA
Axios | Stef W. Kight | 12/26/22

Discovery of 2-million-year-old DNA in Greenland reveals new details about ancient life | PBS | 12/22/22 | 7:38

Charted: 2022's year of upheaval
Axios | Stef W. Kight | 12/26/22

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Trash: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | current | 9:05

The Trump Tax Returns: Explained. | 2yr old | 23:29

Famous American Actors Who Died in 2022 | Famous Americans | 10/26/22 | 24:00

"Life-threatening" cold, dangerous blizzard to sweep U.S. this weeke
Axios | Andrew Freedmanr | 12/20/22

The frigid air is already slithering south of the Canadian border, and will soon roar across virtually the entire Lower 48 east of the Rockies.

Threat level: The National Weather Service is calling the cold "life-threatening" for the areas that will be hardest hit, especially the Great Plains and Midwest. ... Read more

"Avatar: The Way of Water" disappointing debut irks Disney investors
Axios | Tim Baysinger & Sara Fischer | 12/20/22

Details: The sci-fi sequel brought in $134 million in its domestic debut, per Comscore, less than the roughly $150 million Disney initially expected.

"The Way of Water" was the sixth-highest domestic opener of the year, following Disney's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" ($187 million), Disney's "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" ($181 million), Universal's "Jurassic World: Dominion" ($145 million), Disney's "Thor: Love and Thunder" ($144 million) and Warner Bros.' "The Batman" ($134 million).

Yes, but: Despite lower-than-expected results, the film still opened as the top film in every market it was shown in globally, helping it bring in $301 million internationally for a total of $435 million in its worldwide debut. ... Read more

John Pilger - The New rulers of The World | older | 53:11

The missing workers who are never coming back
Axios | Emily Peck | 12/16/22

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell struck a particularly somber note at his press conference earlier this week when he mentioned that one reason the labor market is so tight right now is that many workers died from COVID-19.

The big picture: Economists have theorized for a while about the impact of COVID deaths on the labor market. Now, research has started to emerge and key public figures like Powell are starting to talk about it explicitly.

"Close to a half a million who would have been working ... died from COVID," Powell said while talking about the U.S. labor shortage. ... Read more

Donald Trump's NFT Sale Is the Weirdest Thing on Social Media Today
MotherJones.com | Russ Choma | 12/16/22

Donald Trump told his followers earlier this week that America needed a superhero and promised that a "major" announcement was forthcoming. The big reveal, it turns out, was that Trump is selling a collection of 45,000 non-fungible tokens (NFTs)-basically digital cartoons of him depicted in various poses: as a superhero, a businessman, a businessman with a basketball, etc-for $99 apiece.

The announcement was a letdown, and one that raises lots of questions: Whose idea was this? Why pull the trigger now, months after most potential buyers have concluded that NFTs are a lousy investment? And who stands to make money? ... Read more

The asset bubble that's quietly popping
Politico | Victoria Guida | 12/12/22

The crypto market has melted down. Home prices in major markets are dropping. Investors in stocks and bonds are suffering.

And that could be the best-case scenario for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

After months of steep hikes in interest rates, the Fed is facing a surprising reality: The damage to financial markets and the broader economy has been relatively modest, and inflation is showing signs of easing. Bubbles in both the stock market and home prices are shrinking from their historic surge - but only gradually. Crypto’s implosion has barely caused a ripple. And beyond Wall Street, consumer spending has held up, factory orders are rising, and the job market is consistently beating expectations. ... Read more

Arctic blast takes aim at U.S. for Christmas, New Years
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 12/15/22

A blast of Arctic air straight from Siberia is poised to spread across the continental U.S. around Christmas, shattering records and potentially spinning up major storms.

Why it matters: Meteorologists tell Axios this may be the most extreme cold air mass to affect the U.S. during December in many years, with computer model data showing temperatures running 30 degrees below average by Dec. 23.

The end result may revive talk of more extreme cold as a paradoxical effect of human-caused global warming since the Arctic will wind up milder than average while the lower latitudes freeze. ... Read more

What the Jan. 6 select committee's final report will look like
Politico | By KYLE CHENEY and NICHOLAS WU | 12/12/22

The final report, according to those briefed on it, will have eight chapters that align closely with the evidence the panel unveiled during its public hearings in June and July:

1. Trump's effort to sow distrust in the results of the election
2. Trump's pressure on state governments or legislatures to overturn victories by Joe Biden
3. Trump campaign efforts to send pro-Trump electors to Washington from states won by Biden
4. Trump's push to deploy the Justice Department in service of his election scheme
5. The pressure campaign by Trump and his lawyers against then-Vice President Mike Pence
6. Trump's effort to summon supporters to Washington who later fueled the Jan. 6 mob
7. The 187 minutes during which Trump refused to tell rioters to leave the Capitol
8. An analysis of the attack on the Capitol

Major storm sweeping U.S. brings blizzards, flooding and tornadoes
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 12/14/22

A severe winter storm is sweeping through the Midwest and South with blizzard conditions and freezing rain while spawning tornadoes elsewhere and taking aim at the East Coast.

The latest: Over 31 million people across the U.S. were under winter storm warnings or advisories on Wednesday. Authorities said tornadoes caused injuries and destruction to buildings in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, where two people were confirmed dead.

A boy and his mother were found dead near their razed home in Keithville, Louisiana, south of Shreveport, the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office said. ... Read more

Voter Fraud, Italian Satellites and... Marla Maples? - Jordan Klepper Fingers the Conspiracy | Jordan Klepper | 12/14/22 | 57:49

"The Dawn of Everything": David Wengrow & the Late David Graeber On a New History of Humanity | DN | | 21:33

Nuclear fusion technology passes key milestone
Axios | Alison Snyder | 12/13/22e

A federal fusion energy reactor has achieved a crucial goal for the first time: producing more energy than required to start the reaction in the first place, Department of Energy officials announced at a press conference Tuesday.

Why it matters: Scientists have worked for six decades to develop nuclear fusion as a source of effectively limitless clean energy. Ignition is a key milestone in harnessing nuclear fusion, but turning it into a commercial power supply would require clearing additional scientific, technical and financial hurdles.

"We have taken the first tentative steps toward a clean energy source," said Jill Hruby, the Energy Department's national nuclear security administrator.

Driving the news: On Dec. 5, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the federal Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) achieved "ignition," in which a fuel is ignited and can keep burning on its own. ... Read more

Why America's inflation cooldown might be here to stay
Axios | Courtenay Brown, Neil Irwin | 12/13/22

There is more good news for an American consumer bedeviled by soaring prices, and policymakers racing to tame them: inflation slowed even further in November, the latest clue that the worst of it may be behind us.

The big picture: Similar optimism this summer was quickly crushed by subsequently higher inflation readings. But there are good reasons to believe this time really is different, with key inflation drivers - housing, goods and services - all pointing in a favorable direction.

Why it matters: The fate of the economy hangs largely on how inflation evolves. If it continues cooling without a drastic slowing of growth, a soft landing might be possible after all. ... Read more

Unlike Mueller, special counsel Jack Smith is already "moving fast" on Trump criminal probe: report
Salon | Tom Boggioni | 12/12/22

According to a report from CNN, newly appointed special counsel Jack Smith has hit the ground running after taking over at least two criminal probes into Donald Trump's links to the Jan. 6 insurrection and his hiding of government documents at Mar-a-Lago.

As the report notes, Smith will not follow in the footsteps of former special counsel Robert Mueller in how he deals with Trump's criminality and will instead conduct in the management style of a U.S. Attorney.

CNN reports, "Smith takes over a staff that's already nearly twice the size of Robert Mueller's team of lawyers who worked on the Russia probe. A team of 20 prosecutors investigating January 6 and the effort to overturn the 2020 election is in the process of moving to work under Smith, according to multiple people familiar with the team," before adding, "According to several people familiar with his appointment, Smith will operate more like a US Attorney - managing an existing team of career prosecutors already working on the cases, and signing off on evidence they bring him - rather than as a de facto-department head like Mueller, who tapped several lawyers from outside the Justice Department to pursue parts of the Russia investigation from scratch." ... Read more

Scoop: Iran plans to limit range of missiles sent to Russia, Israeli officials say
Axios | Barak Ravid | 12/12/22

Fearing international backlash, Iran wants to limit the range of the missiles it plans to provide Russia for the war in Ukraine, four senior Israeli officials told Axios, citing intelligence reports.

Why it matters: Iranian ballistic missile deliveries to Russia could violate a UN Security Council resolution and trigger a "snapback" mechanism, which would reimpose UN sanctions on Iran.

Under UN Security Council resolution 2231, which passed in 2015 as part of the nuclear deal, countries are not allowed to transfer or receive Iran ballistic missiles and drones that have a range of more than 300 kilometers and a payload of more than 500 kilograms until October 2023. ... Read more

Marjorie Taylor Greene's MAGA power play
Axios | Alayna Treene | 12/09/22

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is making a new play for influence, becoming a surprising yet crucial defender of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Why it matters: Greene has a playbook to follow from another bombastic outsider who climbed the ranks within the House GOP, moving from a fringe conservative to a key party player who now serves in leadership - Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

"Jim and I talk frequently ... we're similar thinkers," Greene told Axios about Jordan, a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus and longtime antagonist of GOP leadership.

The big picture: Greene is betting that backing up McCarthy in his time of dire need will pave a path to legitimacy and power if he becomes speaker. ... Read more

Hunter Biden’s Laptop - Jordan Klepper Fingers the Conspiracy | Jordan Klepper | 12/07/22 | 1:17:45

Microsoft's new antitrust nightmare
Axios | Ashley Gold | 12/09/22

The Federal Trade Commission's suit to block Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard marks the U.S. government's biggest tech-antitrust move in years.

Yes, but: It's happening on a very different sector of the Big Tech power map than most observers expected when the techlash began five years ago.

At that era's start, an unprecedented accumulation of money and power in a handful of giant tech companies, along with rising concerns over data privacy, misinformation and user harms, led a wave of tech critics to demand government action.

Calls rose to "break up" Facebook and Google. Plenty of people were angry with Apple and Amazon, too. Lawsuits and investigations followed. But Microsoft largely escaped the techlash's bite. ... Read more

Trump cash haul spiked after 2024 launch - but not as high as in the past
Politico | Jessica Piper | 12/08/22

The main fundraising committee powering former President Donald Trump's campaign raised more than $4.1 million online in the two weeks after he launched his 2024 bid - a sum that, while significant, lags well behind the eye-popping fundraising numbers he has posted in the past.

The former president's digital fundraising efforts are detailed in the latest campaign finance filing from WinRed, the widely used GOP online donation processor. Trump, whose online fundraising prowess has set him apart from other GOP politicians, raised more than $850,000 for his joint fundraising committee on WinRed on the day of his campaign launch and more than $750,000 the following day, a POLITICO analysis found. Through Nov. 28, the committee raised more than $4.1 million via 108,000 distinct donations - an average of about $38 per contribution. ... Read more

New special counsel Jack Smith is not wasting any time issuing subpoenas in Trump investigation
Salon | Maya Boddie | 12/08/22

ust a few weeks after his appointment by Attorney General Merrick Garland as DOJ special counsel, Jack Smith is making major moves in his role. The former prosecutor and veteran investigator has subpoenaed local election officials in four states: Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and Pennsylvania - all of which were targeted by Trump and his allies during the 2020 election.

Smith was originally hired to conduct the criminal investigation of classified documents Trump retained at his Mar-a-Lago resort and further investigate the January 6 insurrection. The special counsel is requesting "communications with or involving Donald Trump between June 1, 2020, and Jan. 20, 2021, to, from, or involving" Trump, his campaign attorneys and aides including John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani. ... Read more

Powerful "Greenland Block" may yield extreme weather through December
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 12/08/22

An extreme weather pattern is affecting conditions across the U.S. and Europe, specifically a powerful area of high pressure across Greenland and Hudson Bay. This feature, known as a “Greenland Block,” along with another weather cycle, typically lead to cold and snow in the eastern U.S., parts of Europe and Asia.

The big picture: The blocking high over Greenland is acting like an atmospheric detour, diverting weather systems around it and favoring, but not guaranteeing, cold air outbreaks in Europe and North America as Christmas approaches.

In the U.K., temperatures plunged below freezing in many areas Wednesday with unusually cold conditions predicted to last into the weekend and next week. ... Read more

Mediterranean ecosystem suffering 'marine wildfire' as temperatures peak
TheGuardian | Jon Henley | older

Parts of the Mediterranean are more than 6C warmer than normal for the time of year, scientists have said, sparking fears that the sea's fragile ecosystems are suffering the equivalent of a "marine wildfire" and being permanently altered by global heating.

Water temperatures have been well above average since May and hit a peak of 30.7C off the eastern coast of Corsica last weekend, meaning the summer of 2022 is likely to set new records for both the intensity and duration of the marine heatwave.

Several areas of southern France this month experienced record air temperatures, which combined with low winds has produced a layer of surface water that is significantly hotter and much deeper than usual, marine ecologists say.

"A water temperature of 28C or 29C may feel pleasant to bathers, but it is worrying for the Mediterranean's ecosystems," Frederic Denhez told BFMTV. "The Mediterranean is starting to resemble the Red Sea, and its species are not adapted to that." ... Read more

The U.S. chip boom is just beginning
Axios | Matt Phillips | 12/07/22

Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s decision to triple its investment in Arizona is part of a national rush to re-shore key inputs for the American economy.

Driving the news: President Biden traveled to TSMC's Arizona plant on Tuesday to bask in the glow of the announcement. The company - which by some measures manufactures over half the world's chips - said the three-fold increase would bring its investment to around $40 billion.

TSMC says the plants will create more than 10,000 high-paying tech jobs, including 4,500 directly at the plants themselves.

The big picture: The last few years of economic disarray - broken global supply chains, high inflation, Russia's war on Ukraine, and growing trade and technology tensions with China - upended the system of globalization that emerged after the Cold War. ... Read more

Germany arrests 25 people over far-right coup plot
Axios | Ivana Saric | 12/07/22

German authorities on Wednesday arrested 25 members of a far-right group that prosecutors said was plotting to violently overthrow the government.

Driving the news: Authorities believe that 22 of the individuals arrested are suspected members of a "terrorist organization," while the remaining three are suspected supporters, according to a press release from Germany's federal public prosecutor.

The big picture: The federal public prosecutor said the group was founded in November 2021 at the latest and subscribed to various conspiracy theories, including QAnon and the far-right extremist Reichsbürger movement, which denies the legitimacy of the modern German state, per the Washington Post. ... Read more

Supreme Court grapples with 'independent state legislature' theory in blockbuster case
Politico | Zack Montellaro | 12/07/22

John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett are the key justices to watch in a case that could allow state legislatures to bypass courts on election rules.

The Supreme Court is grappling Wednesday with a legal theory that could strip state courts’ ability to review election laws passed by legislatures, in a case that would mark a dramatic change in how states oversee elections.

The case - Moore v. Harper - surrounds North Carolina’s congressional map. There, the state Supreme Court tossed the maps drawn by the GOP-controlled Legislature as an illegal partisan gerrymander, with court-drawn maps ultimately being used for the 2022 election. ... Read more

The alternative-media industrial complex
Axios | Sara Fischer | 12/06/22

Elon Musk is the latest patron for an alternative-media ecosystem - right-leaning but not conventionally Republican - that has emerged in the last two years.

The big picture: Feeding on resentment against mainstream media, new media players have established a power base via Substack newsletters, podcasts and other independent channels.

These writers - including Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss and Glenn Greenwald - are getting new attention with Musk's ownership of Twitter. And they're reigniting long-simmering debates about what constitutes journalism in the internet era.

Driving the news: Musk handed Taibbi what the reporter said were "thousands" of internal Twitter documents, then promoted a Twitter thread by Taibbi chronicling the company's decision to limit the distribution of the Hunter Biden laptop story in 2020. ... Read more

Appeals court rejects Trump lawsuit in Mar-a-Lago documents case
Politico | Josh Gerstein | 12/01/22

A federal appeals court panel has scrapped former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit aimed at derailing the FBI’s investigation of classified records stashed at his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left the White House.

The three-judge panel’s unsparing ruling moves to shut down an outside review of the Justice Department’s use of nearly 3,000 documents the FBI seized from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August. And it deals Trump a devastating legal setback as he seeks to block the criminal probe into his purported retention of national security information, theft of government records and obstruction of justice. ... Read more

Ancient Apocalypse - Dogger Land | The Lost Civilization Beneath the North Sea | EPIX PICTURE'S | 2022 | 49:58

Addressing Climate Change Will Not "Save the Planet"
TheIntercept | Christopher Ketcham | 12/03/22

CONSERVATION BIOLOGY FINDS itself in a terrifying place today, witness to mass extinction, helpless to stop the march of industrial Homo sapiens, the pillage of habitat, the loss of wildlands, and the impoverishment of ecosystems. Many of its leading figures are in despair. "I'm 40 years into conservation biology and I can tell you we are losing badly, getting our asses kicked," Dan Ashe, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under President Barack Obama, told me recently. "There are almost no reasons to be optimistic." ... ... Read more

CEO optimism fading as economy teeters
Axios | Courtenay Brown | 12/05/22

The chief executives of America's biggest companies have downgraded their view of the economy - though not to the levels of gloom normally seen in recessions.

Why it matters: Economic jitters have not sent CEO confidence diving off a cliff. Their plans for hiring and capital spending are more consistent with a slowdown in growth than outright economic contraction.

By the numbers: The latest Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook index, first shared with Axios, declined 11 points - continuing the steady slide that's happened every single quarter this year. ... Read more

Forever Prison | PBS FRONTLINE | 12/01/22 | 13:38

The Sahara Desert's Scorching Heat | How the Earth Was Made (S2, E4) | History | 11/01/21 | 45:11

Jay Powell explains America's worker shortage
Axios | Dan Primack | 12/01/22

America's worker shortage has puzzled employers, consumers and economists since the pandemic began to ease. When Axios asked U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh last fall, he admitted to being stumped.

Driving the news: Fed chair Jay Powell yesterday provided some answers, in a speech that garnered bigger headlines for signaling that the pace of interest rate hikes will slow.

By the numbers: Powell says that there are around 3.5 million fewer U.S. workers than forecast.

He argued that most of that gap, or around 2 million people, was caused by "excess retirements." In other words, more people called it quits over the past couple of years than normally would have aged out.

The other major driver, according to Powell, is slower working-age population growth. Specifically, a significant decrease in net immigration and a "surge in deaths during the pandemic." ... Read more

Trump calls McConnell "loser for our nation" after he condemns Fuentes dinner
Axios | Shawna Chen | 12/01/22

Former President Trump insulted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, calling him a "loser for our nation" after McConnell appeared to criticize his decision to have dinner with white supremacist Nick Fuentes and antisemitic rapper Ye.

Why it matters: The dinner has divided the GOP, with some playing it down and others denouncing the move. McConnell said Tuesday that anyone who meets with antisemites or white supremacists is "highly unlikely to ever be elected president of the United States."

What he's saying: "Mitch is a loser for our nation and for the Republican Party who would not have been re-elected in Kentucky without my endorsement, which he begged me for because he was going down," Trump told Fox News. ... Read more