Thursday, October 17, 2024

"The Case Is More Serious": NYT Hid Extent Of Kamala Harris Plagiarism From Their Own Expert

Earlier this week journalist Chris Rufo revealed that Kamala Harris plagiarized giant sections of her book on crime, after famed Austrian "plagiarism hunter" Dr. Stefan Weber found that "Kamala Harris plagiarized at least a dozen sections of her criminal-justice book."

In response, the New York Times bent over backwards (and forwards) to downplay their preferred candidate's cut-n-pastery - first casting it as 'conservative activist seizes on passages' from Harris' book, then totally lying about Rufo's reporting - which Rufo quickly debunked.

As part of their propaganda, the Times wheeled out plagiarism expert Jonathan Bailey, who said "his initial reaction to Mr. Rufo’s claims was that the errors were not serious, given the size of the document."

Except, the Times concealed the extent of the claims from Bailey - who writes in his Plagiarism Today blog: "At the time, I was unaware of a full dossier with additional allegations, which led some to accuse the New York Times of withholding that information from me. However, the article clearly stated that it was my “initial reaction” to those allegations, not a complete analysis.

From Bailey's blog:

Today, I reviewed the complete dossier prepared by Dr. Stefan Weber, whom I have covered before. I also performed a peer review of one of his papers in 2018.
With this new information, while I believe the case is more serious than I commented to the New York Times, the overarching points remain. While there are problems with this work, the pattern points to sloppy writing habits, not a malicious intent to defraud.

Bailey still refers to the plagiarism as nothing more than "sloppy writing habits, not a malicious intent to defraud."

Much like it's not "malicious intent to defraud" when a college student copies Wikipedia word-for-word, then gets expelled?

What's more, Rufo implored the Times to look at the entire claim - which they refused to do.

German Companies Skirt Sanctions To Help Putin's War Machine

Authored by Liz Heflin via Remix News,

Germany continues to sell industrial goods to Russia, including machines for manufacturing vehicle and aircraft parts and ammunition, according to the Tagesschau news portal, which reported on an investigation conducted by broadcaster SWR.

Putin needs a constant supply of military equipment, and due to the sanctions imposed on Russia blocking imports, large parts of Russian industry have been transformed to cater to a war economy, producing military equipment, ammunition and spare parts as required.

However, products from German mechanical engineering companies also continue to help out, with more than 300 machine deliveries for manufacturing everything from vehicle parts to ammunition made in Russia in 2023, often via Turkey, SWR research indicates.

SWR was able to identify more than 30 German manufacturers whose machines were imported to Russia last year, many of them based in Baden-Württemberg, a traditional location for mechanical engineering.

In around two-thirds of the cases, the machines were imported to Russia via Turkey. Some Turkish middlemen involved have direct connections to Russia, while other companies there facilitating the shipments were founded by Russian entrepreneurs.

Videos and photos obtained by SWR prove just how extensively German machines are used by Russian military suppliers, including by Russian companies Parsek, Kamaz, NIR and Industrial Solutions.

Most of the deliveries involved large industrial machines or so-called CNC machines, computer-controlled equipment that enables automated manufacturing.

US Politicians Are Pressuring Ukraine To Lower Draft Age To 18

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

A Ukrainian official said Tuesday that American politicians are pressuring Ukraine to lower the minimum age of conscription from 25 to 18 to make more young men available for combat.

"If this information has surfaced, I can confirm it: American politicians from both parties are putting pressure on President Zelensky to explain why there is no mobilization of those aged 18 to 25 in Ukraine. The argument of our partners is that when the US fought in Vietnam, people were drafted from the age of 19," Serhiy Leshchenko, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, wrote on Telegram.

Back in April, Zelensky signed a bill that lowered the minimum conscription age in Ukraine from 27 to 25. Leshchenko said that Zelensky is resisting the pressure to start conscripting 18-year-olds.

"That’s why the Americans are hinting that Western weapons alone are not enough and that mobilization from the age of 18 is necessary," Leshchenko pointed out.

President Zelensky did not give in and continues to persuade politicians from both parties to provide weapons without changing the draft age," the Ukrainian official added.

Right before Zelensky signed the bill lowering the draft age to 25, he received a visit from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who called for younger Ukrainians to be sent to the frontlines.

"I would hope that those eligible to serve in the Ukrainian military would join. I can’t believe it’s at 27," Graham said. “You’re in a fight for your life, so you should be serving — not at 25 or 27. We need more people in the line."

However, it's never really about the Ukrainians...

In the early days of the war, Graham said Ukraine would be willing to "fight to the last person" as long as the US continued to provide the weapons.

via zer0hedge

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Kamala Wants To "Turn The Page"

There is an infinite amount of cash in the Federal Reserve.

Money Printer Go Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr

10 Signs That The Economy Is A Giant Mess As The Election Approaches

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

The health of the economy has been a major determining factor in many past presidential elections, and the health of the economy is certainly going to have an enormous influence on the outcome of the upcoming presidential election. In fact, according to a poll that was just released by Rasmussen the economy is the number one issue by a wide margin for voters in the ultra-important swing state of Pennsylvania.

Unfortunately for the Democrats, most Americans are not pleased with how the economy is performing, and it appears that conditions are now taking another turn for the worse.

The following are 10 signs that the economy is a giant mess as the election approaches…

#1 The number of Americans filing first time claims for unemployment benefits just hit the highest level in over a year…

The number of people filing for unemployment for the first time was at its highest levels in more than a year, partly due to storm damage and labor stoppages.
Initial jobless claims for the week ending Oct. 5 came in at 258,000, up 33,000 from last week’s level of 225,000, and the highest since it hit the same level in August 2023, data from the Labor Department shows.

#2 According to Primerica’s latest Financial Security Monitor report, the percentage of middle-income households that “rate their personal financial situation negatively” has hit the highest level that they have ever recorded…

Primerica’s latest Financial Security Monitor report for the third quarter found 55% of middle-income households now rate their personal financial situation negatively, a 6-point jump from the previous survey.
“For the first time in a year, a majority of middle-income households are feeling negative about their personal finances,” said Glenn Williams, CEO of Primerica. “In fact, this latest report represents the highest negative rating we’ve seen since we began fielding the survey exactly four years ago.”

#3 I am old enough to remember a time in this country when you were set for life if you had a million dollars. Unfortunately, thanks to our endless cost of living crisis it now costs 4.4 million dollars to live “the American Dream” over the course of a lifetime…

You can live the American Dream, but it will cost you.
The lifetime tab for such aspirations as owning a home, driving new cars, raising kids and taking annual vacations comes to a cool $4.4 million, according to Investopedia, the financial media site.
That’s more than the average American earns in a lifetime.

#4 The company that produces more french fries than anyone else in North America is cutting production and laying off workers due to a dramatic slowdown in consumer demand…

Lamb Weston, the largest producer of french fries in North America and a major supplier to fast-food chains, restaurants and grocery stores, is closing a production plant in Washington state. The company announced last week that it would lay off nearly 400 employees, or 4% of its workforce, and temporarily cut production lines in response to slowing customer demand.

#5 At one time Boeing was flying high, but now it has decided to lay off approximately 10 percent of its entire workforce…

The CEO of Boeing told employees late Friday that the company plans to cut 10% of its total staff “over the coming months.”
“Our business is in a difficult position, and it is hard to overstate the challenges we face together,” said Kelly Ortberg, who started at CEO of the troubled aircraft maker two months ago and has been dealing with a strike by 33,000 hourly workers for half his time on the job.

#6 The banking industry continues to deeply struggle. So far this year, banks in the United States have permanently shut down over 700 local branches…

US banks closed more than 700 branches in the first nine months of the year, forcing thousands to travel further to access vital services.

Disaster: Kamala.exe Crashes In Fox Interview Meltdown

Kamala Harris appeared in a Fox News interview with Brett Baier Wednesday night, where she alternated between deflection, blame, and then had a complete meltdown when shown a clip of Donald Trump.

For starters, when asked if she would take responsibility for the flood of illegal immigrants after she and Joe Biden ripped up Trump's executive orders on immigration on day one, Harris spat out a well-work Democrat talking point about 'Trump killing a bill' that would have saved the day. Baier - a NeverTrumper who deserves credit for this one - pushed back.

As Fox's Bill Melugin points out, the Democrat bill "would have given pathway to amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants and it failed despite Democrats controlling the White House & Congress."

Kamala.exe Bluescreens

When asked to explain why more than 70% of people say the country is on the wrong track.

"That track follows three-and-a-half years of you being vice president and President Biden being president. That is what they're saying. 79 percent of them. If you're turning the page - you're been in office for three-and-a-half years..."

To which Harris offered the strangest answer yet - "And Donald Trump has been running for office..."

Kamala Enraged!

When shown a clip of Trump denying he would 'turn the American military on the American people,' Harris went ballistic...

"Probably Worse Than It Looks": IMF Sounds Alarm Over Government Spending

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued a stark warning about the rising tide of public debt in countries across the globe, with the United States standing out due to its persistent fiscal deficits and mounting spending pressures.

The IMF’s latest Fiscal Monitor report, released on Oct. 15, projects that global public debt will exceed $100 trillion in 2024, equal to about 93 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP), and could approach 100 percent of GDP by the end of the decade. The United States, in particular, faces significant risks if fiscal policies are not adjusted urgently.

The report emphasizes that countries, including the United States, need to address debt risks with carefully crafted fiscal strategies.

It warns that debt levels could be worse than anticipated due to large spending pressures, sizeable unidentified debt, and overly optimistic debt projections.

Disaster Loan Program Runs Out Of Money As Hurricanes Drive Demand

Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times,

The Small Business Administration’s (SBA) disaster assistance loan program is out of money after hurricanes Helene and Milton struck parts of the United States, the agency has announced.

In an Oct. 15 press release, the SBA said funds for the program have been exhausted following increased demand from disaster survivors in the wake of multiple extreme weather events, including the two hurricanes that made landfall in September and October.

The agency will therefore be pausing new loan offers for its direct, low-interest, long-term loans to disaster survivors.

The SBA encouraged individuals and small businesses to continue applying for loans, citing assurances from congressional leaders that additional funding will be provided once they return to Capitol Hill in November.

The agency’s loan application portal will also remain open, while its disaster centers and in-person staff will continue to be deployed across the country, the press release said.

“The agency will continue to accept new applications and ready borrowers to get their disaster loan offers as soon as possible once Congress appropriates funds,” the SBA stated.

Additionally, the SBA noted it may continue to make a “small number of new loan offers during this time,” using funds made available through loan cancellations and similar actions.

The SBA was created in 1953 and offers low-interest loans to businesses, homeowners, renters, and private nonprofit organizations to help them recover from federally declared disasters.

Thousands Seek Relief Funds

Through its loan program, homeowners can receive up to $500,000 to replace or repair their primary residence, while businesses and private nonprofit organizations can get up to $2 million to cover disaster-related physical damage and economic injuries that aren’t fully covered by insurance.

In a statement, SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman stressed the importance of getting swift financial relief to communities, noting it helps in both recovery efforts and stabilizing local economies.

“While we await Congress to provide much-needed funding, we strongly encourage eligible businesses and households to apply for SBA disaster loans,” Guzman said.
“SBA will continue to support homeowners, renters, businesses, and nonprofits in processing their applications to ensure they receive assistance quickly once funds are replenished,” she added.

Stealth Edit: FBI Quietly Revises Violent Crime Stats Higher

It's no secret that the Biden-Harris administration has been lying to us - publishing positive economic data that they tout, while quietly revising lower months later after achieving their desired result.

Now we find out that they've also been lying about crime statistics - something that author John R. Lott has been tracking and covering extensively.

Now we find they've been lying about crime stats too.

In September 2023, the FBI released the "final" crime data for 2022 - showing that the nation's violent crime rate fell by 2.1% - which Democrats used to counter Donald Trump's claims that crime has been soaring.

Now we find that the FBI has quietly revised those numbers - and that crime actually increased by 4.5% in 2022 (4.9% in absolute terms)...

Breaking it down by type of crime, we see that property crime and larceny/theft were the top changes, followed by aggravated assault, burglary, rape, and motor vehicle theft.

And of course, the Bureau made absolutely no mention of these revisions in their September 2024 press release.

And of course, ABC used the bad data to fact-check Trump during a debate.

As John R. Lott Jr. explains once again via RealClearInvestigations, RCI discovered the change through a cryptic reference on the FBI website that states: “The 2022 violent crime rate has been updated for inclusion in CIUS, 2023.” But there is no mention that the numbers increased. One only sees the change by downloading the FBI’s new crime data and comparing it to the file released last year.

After the FBI released its new crime data in September, a USA Today headline read: “Violent crime dropped for third straight year in 2023, including murder and rape.”

It’s been over three weeks since the FBI released the revised data. The Bureau’s lack of acknowledgment or explanation about the significant change concerns researchers.

“I have checked the data on total violent crime from 2004 to 2022,” Carl Moody, a professor at the College of William & Mary who specializes in studying crime, told RealClearInvestigations. “There were no revisions from 2004 to 2015, and from 2016 to 2020, there were small changes of less than one percentage point. The huge changes in 2021 and 2022, especially without an explanation, make it difficult to trust the FBI data.”

“It is up to the FBI to explain what they have done, and they haven’t explained these large changes,” Dr. Thomas Marvell, the president of Justec Research, a criminal justice statistical research organization, told RCI.

The FBI did not respond to RCI’s repeated requests for comment.

Extensive Revisions in Violent Crime Stats

The actual changes in crimes are extensive. The updated data for 2022 report that there were 80,029 more violent crimes than in 2021. There were an additional 1,699 murders, 7,780 rapes, 33,459 robberies, and 37,091 aggravated assaults. The question naturally arises: should the FBI’s 2023 numbers be believed?

Without the increase, the drop in violent crime in 2023 would have been less than half as large – only 1.6% instead of the reported drop of 3.5%.

FEMA Still Paying $9,000 For COVID Funerals, Billions On Pandemic Payouts

By Brian McGlinchey at Stark Realities

As the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) carries out widely-criticized responses to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, officials say the agency’s Disaster Recovery Fund is incapable of handling a third major storm. While some are circulating false accusations that disaster funds have been diverted to immigrants or poured into the proxy war in Ukraine, a review of the agency’s 2024 outlays reveals a different, ongoing drain on FEMA’s coffers: Long after the end of the declared Covid-19 emergency, FEMA is still pumping out billions of dollars to pay for pandemic expenses — including, believe it or not, up to $9,000 each for funerals.

As previously detailed here at Stark Realities, governments’ response to the Covid-19 pandemic was disastrous on many fronts. While the Pandora’s box of collateral damage included widespread harm to the physical and mental health of individuals, it also dealt a blow to the nation’s fiscal well-being, as the federal government recklessly showered trillions of dollars it didn’t have on people, businesses and state and local governments — with much of that money intended to offset the effects of government’s own tyrannical and counterproductive policies.

While all but the most diehard Branch Covidians have moved on from that dark chapter, the federal government has a distinct version of “long Covid.” Though it’s not clear where all the money is going, FEMA is paying up to $9,000 each to reimburse funeral expenses for those who die from Covid.

That’s an especially odd example of government picking winners and losers. As Stanford University School of Medicine professor and prominent Covid-regime critic Jay Bhattacharya said in a social media post that drew my attention to this giveaway program and its hyper-longevity, “There are apparently more and less worthy ways to die in the US.”

Indeed: Why is the family of someone who dies from Covid more deserving of a government-paid funeral than the family of someone who dies from cancer, cardiac arrest or a car accident? It bears emphasis that this question was every bit as relevant in 2020 as it is today.

The favoring of one cause of death over another isn’t the only winners-and-losers dimension of the funeral program: There’s no reimbursement for those who’d planned ahead via pre-paid funerals. Echoing the grievances of people who saved up to pay for college only to see their neighbor’s student loans forgiven by vote-buying politicians, some families say they feel like they’re being punished for having planned for the future.

This isn’t FEMA’s first funereal foray, but it’s the largest by orders of magnitude. In the 10 years before the pandemic, FEMA received about 6,000 applications for funeral assistance for various natural disasters. As of Jan. 1, 2024, FEMA had approved more than 300,000 for Covid-19, shelling out $3.15 billion to cover an expense that, whether caused by a pandemic or something else, is universally inevitable.

Of course, the magnitude of that inevitable expense isn’t fixed, and the mere presence of a government subsidy reliably results in higher costs. Knowing they can spend up to of $9,000 of other people’s money on their Covid-19 funeral, it’s safe to assume many affected families have made more expensive choices than they otherwise would — bolstering the profits of funeral homes, casket producers and other associated businesses.

Unsurprisingly, the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), a trade group and principal lobbyist for the industry, hailed the passage of the COVID 19 Relief Package/Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020. The legislation not only funded Covid funeral reimbursements, NFDA enthused, but also funeral payments “for any subsequent major disaster declared by the President,” an expansion the group had been lobbying for.

To qualify for reimbursement under the funeral assistance program, the death certificate must either indicate the death was caused by Covid-19 — or that it merely may have been caused by Covid-19 or “Covid-19-like symptoms.”

As is increasingly the case with government handouts, there’s no requirement of US citizenship, for either the decedent or the person paying the funeral expenses. A family’s ability to pay for the funeral is likewise irrelevant — there are no income or wealth criteria.

There’s more to the cost of this program than the reimbursements themselves — there’s also significant overhead. Pressed to implement the program as soon as possible, FEMA opted against creating a website to receive applications for reimbursement, choosing to instead require that all claims be submitted via 20-minute phone conversations, necessitating the creation of a huge call center operation staffed by 5,000 phone agents, all of whom would require training and support.

While you might think word-of-mouth would be sufficient to encourage widespread use of a handout program, still more money was spent on advertising. In a 2022 report lamenting that many eligible people hadn’t cashed in yet, NPR’s Blake Farmer — blissfully oblivious to the federal government’s relentless march to insolvency — cheerfully said “FEMA is launching an outreach campaign to promote the program, since there's plenty of money left.”

Berlin Freezes School Budgets While Allocating Billions For Migrant Housing

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

Berlin’s public schools are facing a budget freeze that has halted spending on key activities, including school trips, as the city contends with major financial challenges.

The freeze follows the Berlin House of Representatives’ decision to allocate an additional €1.3 billion for the accommodation of migrants, raising concerns about the city’s spending priorities.

In a letter issued on Wednesday, Education State Secretary Christina Henke (CDU) informed school administrators that they are no longer allowed to enter into “financially effective” contracts that extend into the next financial year. According to Tagesspiegel, this restriction includes school trips, where teachers’ travel expenses — typically reimbursed by the state — will no longer be covered.

Sven Zimmerschied, head of Friedensburg High School in Charlottenburg and board member of the Berlin Secondary School Heads’ Association, expressed his concerns over the sudden halt.

“On Monday I signed the leasing contract for a new copier,” he said, ahead of the ban.

The budget freeze, he explained, will disrupt many routine activities, though he noted that exceptions could be made in cases of “indispensability and urgency.”

The move comes as the city struggles to balance its budget following the House of Representatives’ decision in June to spend an additional €1.3 billion on the accommodation of asylum seekers. This includes expanding tent cities at former airports in Tegel and Tempelhof, renting more hotel space, and setting up 16 new locations for container housing.

During the summer, Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) warned that Berlin’s capacity to accommodate more refugees was nearing its limit.

“The pressure is increasing. We already have no places,” Wegner said.

The billions set aside have funded new emergency housing but at the cost of cuts to other areas, including education.

The budget freeze has drawn criticism, with many wondering why funds are available for migrant accommodation but not for school activities.

For now, schools must seek special approval for any expense through a written request to education authorities. Essential programs like school trips remain uncertain.

Read more here...

via zer0hedge

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Trump Destroys Bloomberg Editor-In-Chief, Receives Standing Ovation In Chicago

Former President Donald Trump sat down with Bloomberg Editor-In-Chief John Micklethwait for an interview in partnership with the Economic Club of Chicago - where he knocked several tough questions out of the park, while starting - and ending, with a standing ovation.

At the beginning of the interview, Micklethwait said Kamala Harris refused to appear to discuss her 'economic vision.' Probably a smart move.

Some highlights:

Trump slammed Micklethwait to his face over tariffs - saying "It must be hard for you to spend 25 years talking about tariffs as being negative and then have somebody explain to you that you're wrong." To which the crowd erupted in applause.

"It’s going to have a massive effect, positive effect," Trump said. "The higher the tariff, the more likely it is that the company will come into the United States, and build a factory in the United States so it doesn’t have to pay the tariff."

Of note, Trump's economic plan includes a 60% levy on imports from China and 10% duties on the rest of the world. Trump also vowed to block the sale of US Steel Corp. to Nippon Steel Corp if the $14.1 billion transaction wasn't concluded by the time he reenters office.

Trump then roasted the federal reserve, saying "It's the greatest job in government. You show up to the office once a month and say, 'Hmm, let's flip a coin,' and everybody talks about you like you're a god."

"I think it sets a horrible tone," said Trump, adding "There are certain companies you have to have."

Trump landed more hits when the topic moved to inflation. When Micklethwait noted that the WSJ says Trump's economic plan will increase the national debt by more than 7 trillion, Trump replied:

"What does the Wall Street Journal know? They've been wrong about everything. And so have you, by the way..."

"You're trying to turn this into a debate," Micklethwait shot back - to which Trump said "It's not a debate, but you've been wrong all your life on this stuff."

The Informatarian