Christie Ou of PERE reports OTPP disbands Asia real estate team amid regional retrenchment:

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is disbanding its Asia real estate team, marking the latest step in the Canadian pension fund’s gradual pullback from the region, PERE has learned.

The investor will transition oversight of its Asia real estate investments to its headquarters in Toronto by the end of 2026, according to PERE‘s sources. This decision follows the departure of Jun Ando, OTPP’s head of real estate Asia-Pacific, in September, per a prior PERE report. The organization has yet to name a new head of real estate for the region. Additionally, Singapore-based real estate director Waqar Zahid is set to relocate back to Toronto, according to two PERE sources.

“We recently made the strategic decision to transition oversight of our real estate portfolio in APAC to our Toronto office by the end of next year. This decision impacts a small number of our colleagues who will either relocate to Toronto or leave the organization in phases,” an OTPP spokesperson told PERE.

“This change simplifies our operating structure in real estate, which continues to be a core component of our diversified portfolio at approximately 11 percent of our asset mix. The Asia-Pacific region continues to be part of our long-term strategy, and we have approximately 8 percent of our asset mix in the region.”

As of December 31, 2024, OTPP reported C$29.4 billion ($21 billion; €18.1 billion) in real estate assets under management, with 64 percent of its portfolio in Canada, 16 percent in the US, 11 percent in Europe, 5 percent in Latin America and 4 percent in Asia-Pacific, according to its annual report.

The decision to disband the Asia real estate team comes just a few years after OTPP returned to the market in 2021, when it committed $400 million to Hines Asia Property Partners, marking the investor’s first property investment in the region since the early 2000s, according to a PERE report. In 2023, OTPP also partnered with Sydney-based manager Gateway Capital to launch the Gateway Capital Urban Logistics Partnership, a vehicle targeting a A$1 billion ($655 million; €566 million) portfolio of industrial and logistics assets along Australia’s east coast.

The dismantling of its Asia real estate team is part of a broader trend of OTPP scaling back its presence in the region. The pension fund currently has C$25 billion in total AUM across Asia-Pacific. In March, OTPP announced the closure of its Hong Kong office, which had been operational since 2013. This move followed a series of reductions, including the shuttering of its China equity investment team in 2023 and layoffs within its Asia venture and growth equity team in 2024, according to a Reuters report.

OTPP’s retrenchment in Asia has also been accompanied by significant leadership changes. In 2023, Ben Chan, head of Asia-Pacific, and Raju Ruparelia, who led direct investments in the region, both departed the organization, according to a report by affiliate title Private Equity International. These exits followed the dismantling of OTPP’s Asia-Pacific equity investment team, which resulted in the loss of five roles in Hong Kong.

The retrenchment reflects broader trends among global institutional investors, many of which are re-evaluating their exposure to Asia. Fellow Canadian public pension fund Alberta Investment Management Corporation, for example, closed its Asia office in Singapore in February, shortly after its opening in 2023, amid efforts to streamline resources.

Layan Odey and Echo Wong of Bloomberg also report Ontario Teachers to make cuts to Asia real estate team:

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan will disband its Singapore-based Asia real estate team by the end of next year, further paring its physical presence in the region. 

“This change simplifies our operating structure in real estate,” a spokesperson for the Canadian pension fund said about its plan to wind down the Asia division. OTPP will transition oversight of its property investments in Asia to its Toronto office, and affected staffers in Singapore will either relocate there “or leave the organization in phases,” the spokesperson said.

The Singapore-based real estate team currently has around five individuals, a person familiar with the matter said. OTPP has 30 to 40 employees in the city-state, including investment professionals who focus on private equity and infrastructure assets in Asia.

OTPP earlier this year decided to shut down its Hong Kong office and reduce its exposure to China amid rising geopolitical tensions, Bloomberg News reported in March. That wind-down process is expected to take around 18 months.

“The Asia-Pacific region continues to be part of our long- term strategy,” the fund’s spokesman said, adding that OTPP has approximately 8% of its “asset mix” in the region.

Globally, real estate makes up 11% of the pension fund’s total assets, which stood at C$269.6 billion ($192 billion) at the end of June. Private Equity Real Estate earlier reported the Singapore real estate team changes.

Another Canadian pension fund, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, is cutting Asia buyout team as the pension reassesses its strategy, Bloomberg News reported last month.

You can read about OMERS dismissing its entire Asia buyout team here.

So what's this all about? Basically deal flow or lack of deal flow. 

If you're going to your board of directors to justify boots on the ground in Asia, paying them big compensation, they better deliver the goods or else shut it down the operations and invest in funds that are delivering the goods (pay more in fees but it's the price you pay to gain exposure in Asia).

Asia real estate is a tough market. OTPP isn't the only one that cut its staff there. London based ICG shut down its real estate business there after three years. 

OTPP's Head of Real Estate Pierre Cherki runs a lean team and their focus is mostly on North America and Europe.

He and Jenny Hammarlund recently discussed Ontario Teachers’ real estate reset and clearly the APAC region isn't part of their main focus now.

It's not that there aren't opportunities in Asia, there are especially in Tokyo, Singapore and Sidney, but if you don't have edge there, invest with those that do or get out of the market altogether. 

Moreover, while ULI and PwC found a mood of cautious optimism among real estate professionals in Asia, they report considerable disparities in markets and sectors across the region:

Stuart Porter, Asia Pacific real estate leader, PwC Global Real Estate leadership team, says: “Within a disparate Asia market, what you can discern is that rising rents have cushioned the prospects of rate pressures, global capital pivots further towards the robust markets of Japan and Australia, and construction costs have somewhat redirected focus from new development to disciplined asset management.

“Data centers remain the darlings of the investment world, though assumptions are subject to challenge by the bargaining power of tenants, power capacity constraints, and technological advances. AI [artificial intelligence] is in the early stages of transforming middle and back-office roles and operations while elevating the value of operational expertise. Use of AI might temper the office recovery, even as ‘work from home’ largely dissipates.”

Mark Cooper, senior director, Thought Leadership, ULI Asia Pacific, adds: “Real estate investors expect a more amenable interest rate environment in 2026, with falling rates in markets such as Australia and South Korea and only minor rises from a very low base in Japan. While Asia Pacific faces many challenges, it is still home to the bulk of the world’s growth, and this supports real estate investment in the long term.” 

You can read the full report here.

As far as OMERS, its new head of Private Equity, Alexander Fraser, is clearly outlining his strategy focusing on North America and Europe and will strategically do buyouts in Asia via funds where warranted.

There is not much else to report here, just keep in mind in order to justify employees in Asia or anywhere, they need to deliver to make up for their expenses and that's not always easy in every region.

Below, TPG's latest Investment Insights episode featuring Joel Thickins, Co-Head of TPG Asia and Head of Australia & New Zealand. He shares his perspective on Asia’s macro landscape, highlighting structural tailwinds and growth in alternatives across the region. 

He also explores investment opportunities in Australia, framed by increasing trade opportunities with the Asia-Pacific markets. With 30+ years in Asia, TPG combines sector specialization, operational value-add, and the strength of our global franchise and ecosystem to build regional market leaders and foster long-term growth.

My two cents, if you can't beat the TPGs and KKRs of this world in Asia-Pacific, you shouldn't have employees in this region trying to go it alone.

Collagen Could Be A Natural Way To Ease Osteoarthritis

Authored by Zena le Roux via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The word “collagen” comes from the Greek word for glue, and for good reason—it’s the main protein holding our bodies together. It’s especially critical for cartilage, the tissue that cushions our joints.

When osteoarthritis causes cartilage to wear down, collagen provides more than just structural support—it actively protects joints and helps them move more comfortably. That’s why collagen supplements are gaining ground as therapy for early osteoarthritis. The key is using the right type and amount.

Why Collagen Matters for Joint Health

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body. It forms a big part of tendons and ligaments, but unlike muscle or bone, it breaks down faster as we age. In fact, collagen loss starts as early as our 20s and 30s, and by the time we reach 80, up to 75 percent of the body’s collagen may be gone. Collagen loss can increase our susceptibility to injury and joint problems.

That’s where supplementation comes in.

“Collagen has shown potential as a supplement for managing osteoarthritis,” Dr. Deepak Ravindran, a pain medicine specialist, told The Epoch Times. Collagen supplements stimulate the body to produce more of its own collagen, which strengthens cartilage and lowers inflammation, he said.

Research suggests collagen can reduce joint pain and improve mobility. A systematic review involving 870 participants found that oral collagen supplementation relieved osteoarthritis symptoms. Other research has shown that approximately 40 milligrams per day may support cartilage preservation and repair, while providing meaningful pain relief.

“While some may dismiss collagen as hype, the research is gradually catching up, and it suggests measurable benefits,” Jodi Duval, a naturopathic physician and owner of Revital Health, who has seen collagen help patients with injury recovery, postnatal repair, and osteoarthritis, told The Epoch Times.

*  *  * Yes, we sell collagen. It's extremely pure, potent, and features three types of peptides (joints, skin, muscles) and it's on sale right now. Whether you buy it from us or not, please read the rest of this article and absorb the information.

*  *  *

Collagen appears to benefit joints in two primary ways. First, it supports cartilage directly, helping cartilage cells produce more of the building blocks they need, boosting bone-forming cells and slowing the activity of bone-breaking cells.

Second, it works on inflammation—another driver of osteoarthritis. When cartilage breaks down, it can trigger an immune response that increases inflammatory molecules. Collagen appears to ease inflammation and slow further cartilage damage.

Type and Absorption

Not all collagens are the same. The type of collagen you choose—and how your body absorbs it—makes a big difference for joint health.

Hydrolyzed Collagen: The most studied form is hydrolyzed collagen. These are large collagen proteins that have been broken down into smaller peptides and amino acids, making them easier to absorb in the gut. Once in the bloodstream, they can travel directly to joint tissue, where they encourage cartilage cells to produce more cushioning tissue. This high level of absorption, known as bioavailability, is why hydrolyzed collagen is often favored in supplements for joint health.

Native (Undenatured) Collagen: This form functions in a distinctly different manner. Because it isn’t fully digested in the gut, it keeps its natural shape and interacts with the immune system. This process, called oral tolerance, essentially teaches the immune system not to attack joint cartilage. In doing so, native collagen helps reduce inflammation and protect the joints.

In simpler terms, hydrolyzed collagen provides building blocks for new cartilage, while native collagen helps calm the immune system to prevent further damage.

There are also different types of collagen based on where they’re found in the body.

Type 1 is found in skin, tendons, and bones, where it provides structure and strength. Type 2 is concentrated in cartilage and is critical for keeping joints resilient and flexible. Type 3 collagen is found in soft tissues, often working alongside type 1 collagen.

“Type 1 and 3 are better suited for skin and bones; type 2 for cartilage,” Duval said.

When assessing collagen products, Duval generally recommended focusing on hydrolyzed collagen peptides with proven absorption, ideally specifying type 2 if the goal is joint health.

Absorption can be further boosted by pairing collagen with other supportive compounds. Ingredients such as vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, or glucosamine have been shown to enhance both the absorption and efficacy of collagen.

Duval also highlighted the importance of source transparency, noting that grass-fed bovine, wild-caught marine, or eggshell membrane collagen often provides higher quality than generic blends.

Avoid supplements with unnecessary fillers, sweeteners, or synthetic flavors, as they can interfere with absorption or increase inflammation, she said.

How Much Collagen Do You Need?

The next question is whether you’re actually getting enough to make a difference.

“For someone wanting to boost collagen, a mix of both diet and supplements is ideal,” Duval said.

On the dietary side, she pointed to slow-cooked broths, bone marrow, collagen-rich cuts of meat such as oxtail or beef cheeks, as well as chicken skin and fish skin. These foods naturally provide a spectrum of collagen types and gelatin, a protein derived from collagen.

Supplements can help fill the gap. Based on both research and her clinical experience, Duval generally recommends 10 to 15 grams per day, often split into smaller doses, specifically for joint pain and osteoarthritis. Clinical studies suggest that 10 to 20 grams daily, taken consistently over six to nine months, can improve daily function and ease symptoms in mild to moderate osteoarthritis. In severe cases, it’s less likely to reverse damage but may still provide some symptom relief. Side effects are rare, but some people may experience slight digestive discomfort or an allergic reaction if collagen is derived from fish, eggs, or other allergens.

More isn’t necessarily better. “Consistency matters more than mega-dosing,” Duval noted.

Timing may also play a role. Taking collagen peptides 30 to 60 minutes before exercise or rehabilitation therapy could enhance local collagen production, due to the boost in blood flow during activity, Duval said.

As each person’s health situation may differ, it’s best to consult a dietitian before taking supplements. Below is a recipe that most people can enjoy.

Read the rest here...

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 21:45

Verizon Axes 13,000 Workers Just One Week Before Thanksgiving

Verizon CEO Dan Schulman released a public letter to the company's 100,000-person workforce on Thursday morning, revealing that more than 13,000 job cuts will begin today. The timing is optically displeasing, coming just one week before the Thanksgiving holiday.

"Today, we will begin reducing our workforce by more than 13,000 employees across the organization, and significantly reduce our outsourced and other outside labor expenses," Schulman wrote in the letter.

Schulman said Verizon established a $20 million Reskilling and Career Transition Fund for departing workers, focused on training, digital skills, and job placement in the era of artificial intelligence.

"This fund will focus on skill development, digital training and job placement to help our people take their next steps. Verizon is the first company to set up a fund to specifically focus on the opportunities and necessary skill sets as we enter the age of AI," the CEO noted.

Schulman's letter comes one week after the Wall Street Journal reported that Verizon was planning about 15% in job cuts, or about 15,000 workers.

Bloomberg's latest data suggests that 13,000 job cuts equal about 13% of its roughly 100,000-person workforce. WSJ notes this would be the largest workforce reduction on record for the carrier.

Also, last week, Verizon chairman Mark Bertolini told CNBC's Becky Quick on "Squawk Box" that the company needs to "do something different" as it undergoes its leadership change.

Separate but notable... 

So we guess that the "something different" is making 13,000 workers have a miserable holiday season.

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 21:40

Federal Judge Issues Fiery Dissent From Ruling Striking Down Texas Redistricting

Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A federal judge who was outvoted in a judicial panel’s decision to strike down a redrawn election map in Texas issued a blistering 104-page dissent on Nov. 19.

Texas state Rep. Matt Morgan holds a map of proposed new congressional districts in Texas during a legislative session at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on Aug. 20, 2025. Sergio Flores/Reuters

Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, who was appointed to a three-judge U.S. District Court panel hearing the case, said the 2–1 majority opinion of Nov. 18 invalidating the map was the “most blatant exercise of judicial activism that I have ever witnessed.”

The majority opinion “has dramatic political consequences by meddling in the orderly processes of a duly-elected state government,” he said.

“The main winners from Judge [Jeffrey V.] Brown’s opinion are George Soros and Gavin Newsom. The obvious losers are the People of Texas and the Rule of Law,” Smith said.

Soros is a high-profile financier and billionaire philanthropist known for heavily funding Democratic Party candidates and progressive nonprofits. Newsom, a Democrat, is the governor of California, who recently championed Proposition 50, a statewide redistricting referendum approved by voters on Nov. 4 that was designed to reduce Republican representation in his state’s congressional delegation. Newsom said the referendum was called to counteract the Texas redistricting that favors Republicans. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is suing to block the California redistricting plan.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown wrote the majority opinion in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Abbott. U.S. District Judge David C. Guaderrama joined it.

Brown said the state may not use the new map because “substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map.”

Gerrymandering refers to the manipulation of electoral district boundaries to benefit a particular party or constituency. The Supreme Court has previously ruled that race-based gerrymandering violates the U.S. Constitution, but redrawing boundaries to boost partisan fortunes passes constitutional muster.

In the majority opinion, Brown said that earlier this year, President Donald Trump urged Texas to redraw its map for U.S. House of Representatives elections “to create five additional Republican seats.”

When the Trump administration characterized its request “as a demand to redistrict congressional seats based on their racial makeup, Texas lawmakers immediately jumped on board,” Brown said.

On July 7, Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, sent a letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton “making the legally incorrect assertion that four congressional districts in Texas were ‘unconstitutional’ because they were ‘coalition districts’—majority-non-White districts in which no single racial group constituted a 50% majority,” Brown said.

The department said it would take legal action if the state didn’t immediately redraw these districts, which was “a threat based entirely on their racial makeup,” Brown said. “Any mention of majority-White Democrat districts—which DOJ presumably would have also targeted if its aims were partisan rather than racial—was conspicuously absent.”

Brown said that two days after the letter was sent, Abbott added redistricting to the agenda of the state Legislature’s special session, and in doing so “explicitly directed the Legislature to draw a new U.S. House map to resolve DOJ’s concerns.” This meant the governor “plainly and expressly disavowed any partisan objective and instead repeatedly stated that his goal was to eliminate coalition districts and create new majority-Hispanic districts,” he said.

Various senior lawmakers said the Legislature had acted “to achieve DOJ’s racial goal of eliminating coalition districts,” Brown added.

Dissenting Opinion

Smith said he was given inadequate time to respond to Brown’s 160-page opinion, which means the dissenting opinion is “far from a literary masterpiece.”

“If, however, there were a Nobel Prize for Fiction, Judge Brown’s opinion would be a prime candidate,” Smith said.

Not giving Smith enough time to prepare has the effect of “diminishing the impact of the dissent,” the judge said, because the majority could not address Smith’s concerns in its opinion. Because Smith was unable to assemble his dissent in time for the release of the majority opinion, it had to be listed separately in the court docket, making it less accessible to the public, the judge said.

Smith said the question at hand was whether Texas state lawmakers carried out a “mid-decade congressional redistricting to gain political advantage,” or “to slash the voting rights of persons of color.”

Because the “obvious reason” for the redistricting was “partisan gain,” Brown “commits grave error in concluding that the Texas Legislature is more bigoted than political,” Smith said.

Smith also suggested Brown acted hastily in issuing the injunction blocking the new map instead of waiting for the Supreme Court to rule in Louisiana v. Callais, a case in which Smith said the high court is poised to resolve the tension between the federal Voting Rights Act and racial-gerrymandering jurisprudence.

During oral argument in that case on Oct. 15, the justices seemed likely to limit the use of race-based districting concerning Louisiana’s congressional map.

Smith said Brown should have considered denying the injunction, “recognizing that a fundamental shift in voting-rights jurisprudence” will likely happen soon.

“It is reckless for this court to proceed with opining on the merits, which amounts to nothing more than a general guess as to whether existing voting-rights jurisprudence will survive Callais,” Smith said.

Because certain statute-mandated election deadlines for the 2026 cycle “kicked in in September 2025,” and candidates began filing for federal and state office on Nov. 8 of this year, the injunction “turns the Texas electoral and political landscape upside down,” Smith said.

Hours after the majority opinion was made public on Nov. 18, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said the claim that the map was discriminatory was “absurd and unsupported” by testimony, adding the state would appeal directly to the Supreme Court.

“The Legislature redrew our congressional maps to better reflect Texans’ conservative voting preferences–and for no other reason,” Abbott said.

Republicans currently enjoy a razor-thin majority over Democrats in the U.S. House. Republicans now hold 25 of the U.S. House seats in Texas. Democrats hold 12 seats. Congressional elections are scheduled for Nov. 3, 2026.

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 20:55

Queer Socialist NYC Councilman To Challenge Jeffries For House Seat

Hoping to ride New York City's wave of surging Marxism, socialist City Council member Chi Osse has filed federal paperwork to challenge House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The move adds new a new dimension of entertainment value to next year's midterms, but has sparked some discouragement from prominent members of the far left.

“The Democratic Party’s leadership is not only failing to effectively fight back against Donald Trump, they have also failed to deliver a vision that we can all believe in. These failures are some of the many reasons why I am currently exploring a potential run for New York's 8th Congressional District," Osse told Axios. 

A comrade of mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, the 27-year-old Osse represents a diversity triple-play, as he's queer, black and Chinese. His late father was a prominent hip-hop media personality known as Combat Jack. Osse will be vying to represent New York's 8th district, which includes areas of south and east Brooklyn. Jeffries has held that seat since 2013. 

Can socialist Chi Osse take down House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries?  

Osse has been weighing a big against Jeffries for weeks, according to the New York Times, ruffling the feathers of figures who readers would otherwise assume to be supportive, including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. While both are allies, each has expressed disapproval of Osse's run. 

Mamdani's reluctance to be associated with Osse's attempt to unseat the top Democrat in the US House is so strong that Mamdani reportedly disinvited Osse from Mamdani's election night watch party -- this despite the fact that Jeffries refused to endorse Mamdani until the eleventh hour, and even then did so with language that didn't exactly exude enthusiasm. 

To this point, Mamdani has largely kept his criticism of Osse's bid private -- or at least opaque. When asked about Osse's potential bid on Monday, before the run became official, Mamdani told reporters, "I believe that there are many ways right here in New York City to both deliver on an affordability agenda and take on the authoritarian administration in the White House." 

Supposed class warrior Chi Osse at the 2023 Met Gala 

According to Times sources, Mamdani and his advisors worry that another far-left targeting of an establishment Democrat could undermine the mayor-elect's attempt to nudge establishment Dems into supporting his ambitious socialist agenda, which includes "free" child care for all, rent-freezes for a million apartments, "free" buses, a higher minimum wage, city-run groceries, and higher taxes for corporations and top earners. 

Another New York City leftist luminary has been publicly pointed with her dismay. "I certainly don't think a primary challenge to the leader is a good idea right now," AOC told Axios. Similarly, at the national level, Progressive Change Campaign Committee leader Adam Green told Politico, "It is not the right moment to launch a primary challenge against Hakeem Jeffries."

AOC's throwing of cold water on Osse's run against a powerful establishment Democrat has a waft of hypocrisy. After all, AOC took down Rep. Joseph Crowley, who was the fourth-ranked Democrat in the House and viewed as a potential successor to then-Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. Mamdani similarly seems to be saying, "Establishment upsets for me, but not for thee." 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez unseated a top establishment Democrat, but is throwing cold water on Osse's bid against Jeffries (Dayton247Now)

Some of Osse's fellow leftists have questioned his devotion to socialism. He rankled some by joining the New York City Democratic Socialists of America in October 2020, only to ditch the group a month later, but then rejoin the group earlier this year. Writing this week at The Socialist Tribune on Substack, Holden T unloaded on Osse:

Chi is dedicated to himself and his career. During the George Floyd Uprising, he and a clique of models and influencers donned black berets, called themselves ‘the Warriors in the Garden’, and sought out attention at every turn with few political principles to guide them. Now, he comes sprinting back to NYC-DSA after Zohran’s historic success in the mayoral primary and general election.

Last month, Jeffries pledged legal retaliation against Trump officials and associates if Democrats retake power, telling MSNBC's Chris Hayes: 

"These people don’t have immunity. And the reality is the statute of limitations is five years, and there will be accountability with the next administration, if not before, when Democrats take back control of the House of Representatives." 

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 20:30

Note: Mortgage rates are from MortgageNewsDaily.com and are for top tier scenarios.

Friday:
• At 10:00 AM ET, University of Michigan's Consumer sentiment index (Final for November).

Socialism Is A Political Doctrine, Not An Economic One

Authored by William Andersen via The Mises Institute,

The doctrines of socialism have been with us for more than 150 years, but no one had really tried it in a total way until the advent of the Soviet Union from the 1920s to the early 1990s. During that period, a number of communist/socialist revolutions occurred in Asia, Cuba, and Africa, all of which provided a laboratory to observe how these socialist economies would perform.

The socialist economies failed spectacularly, as Ludwig von Mises had predicted. His works on socialism published in 1920 and in 1923 show that, as an economic system, it was doomed before it ever was implemented because it had no practical system of economic calculation. Despite the propaganda beamed at people both from socialist governments and the western media that socialist economies were lifting vast numbers of people from poverty, the reality of socialism was what Mises had predicted.

By 1989, even die-hard socialists like Robert Heilbroner had to admit that socialism had been a huge failure. Indeed, by the mid-1990s, the only countries attempting to continue with the socialist experiment were Cuba and North Korea, and neither economy was one to be envied. Heilbroner wrote in The New Yorker:

The Soviet Union, China & Eastern Europe have given us the clearest possible proof that capitalism organizes the material affairs of humankind more satisfactorily than socialism: that however inequitably or irresponsibly the marketplace may distribute goods, it does so better than the queues of a planned economy…. the great question now seems how rapid will be the transformation of socialism into capitalism, & not the other way around, as things looked only half a century ago.

Yet, Heilbroner—echoing Joseph Schumpeter’s belief that capitalism could not survive in the modern age—was not convinced that a capitalist economy would do well under the cultural and political assaults coming from academic, social, and government elites that would always demand more from it than it could produce. Heilbroner admitted that Mises was right, that a socialist economy lacked the necessary economic calculation to flourish, but he could never get himself to endorse the capitalist system itself.

Today, when we see poverty, prices of goods increasing, housing shortages in New York City, or high food prices, the usual suspects blame capitalism, and they blame what has become the overriding symbol of capitalism—the billionaire. It does not matter that the housing problems are caused by rent control and other supply-restricting government interventions, that inflation is a government-caused phenomenon, and that Federal Reserve policies of creating financial bubbles have created a lot of on-paper billionaires, as the critics will blame free markets no matter what. Their arguments do not need to be coherent or logical to have an effect. As I recently wrote, many of the most economically-illiterate people in our midst have become wealthy by making public statements on economics. In our modern media age, even the most ignorant sage is considered an “expert” if one has the “correct” politics.

But despite socialism’s many failures as an economic system, it is more popular than ever as a political system. Declares the socialist publication Jacobin:

For socialists, establishing popular confidence in the feasibility of a socialist society is now an existential challenge. Without a renewed and grounded belief in the possibility of the goal, it’s near impossible to imagine reviving and sustaining the project. This, it needs emphasis, isn’t a matter of proving that socialism is possible (the future can’t be verified) nor of laying out a thorough blueprint (as with projecting capitalism before its arrival, such details can’t be known), but of presenting a framework that contributes to making the case for socialism’s plausibility. (emphasis theirs)

In other words, socialists don’t need to be successful in actually producing goods and services and ensuring people receive them. Instead, all that is needed is for them to promise those things, even if they cannot deliver on their promises, and then win elections. The socialist publication The Nation emphasized five years ago that the only victories needed are at the ballot box:

Most importantly for DSA (Democratic Socialists of America), Democrats cannot control their ballot lines like they once did. There are no mechanisms for dissuading DSA challengers from running; blocking a candidate from the ballot is far more difficult than it used to be. Today’s Democratic Party is a shell waiting to be inhabited by whoever claims the prizes of elected office.

If Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist, is elected president of the United States, the Democratic Party will slowly become his party. And if he loses, inspiring still more DSA recruits and fueling down-ballot victories, socialists can continue to win council, legislative, and even congressional seats on Democratic lines, wielding tangible clout.

In New York, there is one socialist in the state legislature: DSA member Julia Salazar. She has helped lead campaigns for public control of power companies and a universal right to housing. Five DSA-backed candidates are seeking legislative seats this June, challenging establishment-backed Democrats. If they all win, they will start to gain back the momentum of the 1920s.

This time, there will be no reactionary legislative leaders to unseat the new socialists, no Red Scare to feed a public frenzy against their anti-capitalist views. Salazar is a member of the Democratic majority, an ally of the progressive block, unlikely to lose an election anytime soon. The DSA members seeking to join her will be free to advocate for radical change. It’s a future that would have surprised the class of 1920 because Socialists never took over New York, let alone America. But today’s socialists march into the 2020s without the daunting roadblocks of a century ago. They don’t need their own party anymore. They can just take someone else’s.

Today, the socialists not only have captured the mayor’s office of New York City, but also Seattle, where yet another so-called democratic socialist won by emulating Zohran Mamdani’s “affordability” campaign in New York, and the movement looks to capture the Democratic Party. Understand that neither Mamdani nor Katie Wilson in Seattle will be able to successfully keep even a fraction of their campaign promises, and whatever they impose will make life even more difficult for the people who voted them into office but their failures not only will not matter but rather will be reinterpreted as successes.

In his review of Paul Hollander’s Political Pilgrims, in which Hollander wrote about how western elites idealized communism, Paul Schlesinger, Jr., wrote:

In his account of the mechanisms of self-deception, Professor Hollander makes effective use of the concept of “contextual redefinition.” By this he means the way that activities are transformed by their context, so that what is detestable in one society becomes uplifting in another. Thus the left-wing intellectual feels that any society based on state ownership, whatever its superficial flaws, is essentially good; any society based on private ownership, whatever its superficial attractions, is essentially corrupt. Poverty represents a shameful failure in capitalism; but when associated with egalitarianism and the subordination of material to spiritual needs, it expresses a simple, uncorrupted way of life. Manual labor is demeaning under capitalism, ennobling under Communism. Child labor is abominable in the United States, but in Cuba the sight of children working 15 hours a week in the fields is symbolic of high and unified purpose. As Angela Davis once said, “The job of cutting cane had become qualitatively different since the revolution.” Contextual redefinition, Professor Hollander writes, also produces “euphoric response to objects, sights, or institutions in themselves unremarkable and also to be found in the visitors’ own societies.” “There is something about a Russian train standing at a station that thrills,” wrote Waldo Frank. “The little locomotive is human.... The dingy cars are human.”

Moreover, socialists (and especially socialists in higher education) are able to use words to create the imaginary capitalist hellhole that we supposedly inhabit. John Fea—history professor at the Christian college Messiah University—wrote the following screed in the now-defunct webpage “Current”:

As capitalists, we have a deep and abiding trust in financial markets. We believe that the economy, complete with the conspicuous consumption that fuels it, will be our salvation. We stare at the bottom of our screens as the ticker streams by, praying fervently that this will be the day the gods of the Dow perform their magic and bestow us with blessings.

But the prophet Adam Smith has only heard the prayers of a few. The invisible hand has done little to prevent inequality, instability, and environmental degradation. As historian Eugene McCarraher writes in Enchantments of Mammon: How Capitalism Became the Religion of Modernity, we worship at the throne of “capitalism’s ontology of pecuniary transubstantiation, its epistemology of technological dominion, and its morality of profit and productivity.” These gods have few answers when the pandemic comes, or when Black men and women are killed in the streets, or when we give birth to children who will live in a world that is becoming more uninhabitable by the year.

That Fea is describing an imaginary world is irrelevant in his domain and the domain of academic and media elites. To Fea and his fellow faculty members at Messiah and at most colleges and universities, the US economy is a living hell in which most people live in squalor (except for the billionaires), only a few people receive healthcare benefits, the capitalists have utterly polluted our planet, and where profits are gouged from the broken bodies of American workers. Nothing is permitted to contradict this belief. As Thomas Sowell has written about people like Fea:

It is usually futile to try to talk facts and analysis to people who are enjoying a sense of moral superiority in their ignorance.

Socialism, Fea claims, “is based on the fundamental belief in the worth and sacredness of man,” and it is the only moral form of social organization. Fea also argues that democratic socialism has nothing to do with communism and the dictatorships that accompanied that ideology. Yet, many of his blog posts show alliances with the hard leftists that did support those communist dictatorships.

Understand that Fea is not a fringe character in Christian higher education. He writes regularly for Christianity Today and is a sought-after speaker at Christian colleges.

Someone like Fea does not want to be bothered with issues of economic calculation—and since economic calculation depends upon things like market prices and profits, all of which Fea believes are immoral, any argument based upon economic calculation fails to pass the morality test in his view. What matters is intent and only intent. Socialism, he argues, is founded upon the highest ideals of the founding of the United States, so to oppose it is to oppose truth and decency itself.

Fea does address the so-called human nature argument against socialism, claiming that it is easily discredited, since good government via democracy will offset any innate selfishness in human beings. He quotes Ben Burgis of the radical socialist publication Jacobin:

The core of socialism is economic democracy. Whether we’re talking about decision-making in an individual workplace or bigger decisions with a broad impact on the course of society, socialists think that everyone who’s impacted should have a say.

One of the reasons that’s so important is precisely that giving anyone too much power over their fellow human beings creates the danger that their power will be abused. No system is perfect, of course, but the best recipe for minimizing the possibility of abuse as much as possible is to spread around power — political and economic — as much as possible.

The idea that the political process is a morally superior substitute for economic processes is not surprising coming from a college professor who would never accept free markets. But Fea and his allies believe that as long as people can vote in elections, then we can have “economic democracy,” which is little more than an abstract concept that has never squared with reality.

Note that in none of the current socialist writings does anyone actually attempt to deal with real economic questions. Instead, as Jeff Deist has written, socialists practice what he calls “antieconomics”:

Antieconomics…starts with abundance and works backward. It emphasizes redistribution, not production, as its central focus. At the heart of any antieconomics is a positivist worldview, the assumption that individuals and economies can be commanded by legislative fiat. Markets, which happen without centralized organization, give way to planning in the same way common law gives way to statutory law. This view is especially prevalent among left intellectuals, who view economics not as a science at all, but rather a pseudointellectual exercise to justify capital and wealthy business interests.

While socialists like Fea will appeal to “economic democracy,” in reality, the only entity that can carry out the kind of economic organization socialists demand is government. Granted, one will not ever read anything but abstract reasoning from socialists, since a successful socialist economy functions only in imaginary space. After all, Fea and the socialist journalists at The Nation and Jacobin don’t need to concern themselves with ever having to make large-scale economic decisions but they can score points simply by denouncing capitalism and demanding a “just” economy without having a clue as to how an economy even works. They don’t have to be right; all that is needed is for them to be seen as moral by their peers.

In the end, socialists are very good at discussing election strategies, not economics. They speak of their attractive candidates and the prospects for electing new socialists to office. What they cannot do is to present a coherent view on the economy, and when elected, they will have no more success than did the commissars and economic planners of the former Soviet Union who at least had the good sense in 1991 to close shop and turn out the lights.

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 20:05

MAHA And GLP-1s Are About To Deal A Big Blow To The Processed-Foods Industrial Complex 

The US processed-food industrial complex, partly controlled by globalist mega-corps, is beginning to reckon with a new reality: Make America Healthy Again and rising weight-loss drug use are reshaping what Americans eat - and what they're walking away from, mostly junk food loaded with toxic seed oils, as well as alcohol. 

In the coming weeks, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump's Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, will be releasing new dietary guidelines to reset America's food supply chain away from toxic seed oils and highly processed foods toward real food. This is part of the MAHA trend. 

MAHA, combined with the expected surge in GLP-1 demand (thanks to Trump's deal with Novo Nordisk and Lilly to cut costs), is likely to wipe out tens of billions in food and beverage sales in the coming years. 

Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Jibril Lawal and Jennifer Bartashus forecast that the rapid adoption of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs will reduce US and European food and beverage sales by $53 billion by 2035.

Weight-loss drugs are reshaping consumption, and our analysis shows GLP-1s are set to erase $53 billion in food and beverage sales by 2035. Volume losses will be steepest in snacks, baked goods and confectionery -- a 4-6% sales drag in the US and 3-5% in Europe. Alcohol also faces a 2-4% drop as consumers shift to healthier options. -Lawal

Here are the key takeaways from the report that only suggest a coming food revolution across the West:

1. GLP-1s Could Cut Food, Beverage Sales by Billions

The adoption of GLP-1 drugs will significantly reduce US and European food and beverage consumption if uptake reaches 19.5% and 13.1% of the adolescent and adult population (ages 12-65+) by 2035, BI's high-end scenario analysis shows. Our model isolates volume impact only and excludes pricing increases or reformulations that might offset lower consumption. Under these assumptions, baked-goods sales are expected to drop by $11.5 billion and confectionery $8 billion -- the largest food declines -- while beer and spirits may fall by $12.5 billion and $9.2 billion, the steepest beverage contractions. Concurrently, we anticipate demand to shift toward healthier alternatives, with bottled water, fruits and vegetables each gaining more than $4 billion over the period. 

2. Food Losses Exceed $21 Billion in US and Europe

3. Sweet, Salty Sales to Drop $25 Billion on GLP-1s

Consumption of salty snacks and sweet treats, including confectionery, baked goods and cookies, looks set to significantly decline if GLP-1 use expands over the next decade, with our scenario analysis showing as much as a $25.1 billion decrease in total category sales by 2035 -- $13 billion in the US and $12.1 billion in Europe. In the US, confectionery intake is expected to drop 28% per GLP-1 user, followed by baked goods and biscuits (23.7% each), translating to a 4-6% category sales drag by 2035, based on our model. Europe could have even sharper reductions, with confectionery down 31% and baked goods and salty snacks off 28%, weighing on sales 3- 5%.

Companies most exposed, like PepsiCo, Mondelez, Hershey, General Mills and Conagra, may accelerate R&D investments to reformulate products and retain demand.

4. Beer and Spirits Face $29 Billion GLP-1 Hangover

Use of weight-loss drugs stand to deepen alcohol's demand slump in the US and Europe, as moderation and wellness trends gain ground. By 2035, consumption of beer and spirits is expected to drop 20.3% and 19.2% among GLP-1 users, and 22.5% and 23.2% in Europe, according to our analysis. Total losses could reach $28.5 billion, which translates to a 3-4% sales drag in the US and 2-3% in Europe. Major players at risk include Diageo (17.5% share of the $112 billion US spirits market, 16.7% of the $109 billion Western Europe market), AB InBev (31.9% of the $111 billion US beer market), and Heineken (18.3% of the $166 billion Western Europe beer market), based on Euromonitor data

5. Total Beverage Net Losses Could Reach $32 Billion

6. Beer and Spirits Face $29 Billion GLP-1 Hangover

7. Weight-Loss Drugs Trim Soft Drinks' Fizz

As the use of GLP-1s widens, demand for full-calorie sodas will likely erode. BI's model shows US consumption of regular (full calorie) soda will fall about 19.2% among these drug users and 17.2% in Europe a year between 2024-35, equating to a combined $4.7 billion sales hit -- about 3.3% in the US and 2.3% in Europe. The effect on low- or no-sugar drinks might be less pronounced at under 1% in both regions. Leading soft-drink makers such as Coca-Cola, with a 36% share of the $99 billion US soda market, and PepsiCo (20.5%) are most adversely affected. In Western Europe, Coca-Cola has a 48.6% share, while PepsiCo holds 12.9%, according to Euromonitor data. 

8. Fresh Produce Sales to Get $9 Billion GLP-1 Bump

Demand for fresh fruits and vegetables is rising, fueled in part by greater GLP-1 use, and food retailers can benefit as sales for produce are expected to climb to $9.3 billion across the US and Europe by 2035, according to BI's model. Each GLP-1 user is expected to consume about 11.6% more produce, driving a 1-3% sales boost, our analysis shows. Consumer trends emphasizing wellness and nutrition support this as health-focused baskets shift. Retailers such as Kroger, Albertsons, Sprouts, and Walmart are investing in fresh supply chains to enhance produce quality and extend shelf life, while an uptick in consumption of perishables could drive store visits and long-term loyalty.

MAHA and soaring GLP-1 adoption are pushing consumers away from ultra-processed junk food, seed-oil-laden snacks, and alcohol. The emergence of this trend has already been observed, read here and here. The shift is set to accelerate once RFK Jr. unveils new federal dietary guidelines aimed at steering the nation back to real, whole foods after mega corps hijacked the food supply with toxic processed foods and seed oils.

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 19:40

Miller: Democrats Are A "Third World Party"; They Want "An Insurrection"

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

Senior Trump advisor Stephen Miller has unleashed a blistering tirade during a Fox News interview, accusing Democrats of inciting “insurrection” by urging the CIA and Armed Forces to defy President Trump’s orders—demanding their resignation and labeling the party a “third world” entity obsessed with power through any means.

Miller slammed Democrat lawmakers for calling on spy agencies and troops to rebel, urging “These lawmakers should resign in disgrace and never return to public office again!” 

“Saying that you have the right and duty and obligation to defy orders of the Commander-in-Chief?!” Miller proclaimed, adding “It’s a general call for rebellion from the CIA and the Armed Services of the United States by Democrat lawmakers, saying…that those who carry weapons in America’s name should defy their chain of command and engage in open acts of insurrection?!” 

“That the CIA, the clandestine service, which isn’t even legally authorised to operate in the United States, should engage in, again, acts of rebellion and insurrection!” Miller reiterated.

“It is insurrection. Plainly, directly, without question!” He stressed.

? BREAKING: Stephen Miller just WENT OFF on Democrat members of Congress for demanding "INSURRECTION" from the CIA and U.S. Armed Forces

"These lawmakers should RESIGN IN DISGRACE and never return to PUBLIC OFFICE AGAIN!" ?

"Saying that you have the right and DUTY and… pic.twitter.com/lVDVpFStfA

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 19, 2025

Miller further highlighted the severity, stating “There is nothing graver that you could possibly say as a United States Senator than encouraging, URGING, DIRECTING members of the Armed Forces of the United States or the clandestine services of the United States, to defy their president, defy their chain of command, defy their superiors.” 

“To say such a thing would require you to have and to present to the nation some extraordinary scandal beyond even our wildest imagination, which of course they don’t have, because every single thing that this president has done has been not only lawful, but has been repairing and reversing the unlawful and unconstitutional behavior of the previous administration!” Miller declared.

? JUST IN: Stephen Miller TRUTH NUKES Democrat Senators for demanding the troops and CIA officers commit insurrection against President Trump

"There is nothing graver that you could possibly say as a United States Senator than encouraging, URGING, DIRECTING members of the Armed… pic.twitter.com/V5oeiRbe9w

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 19, 2025

Miller eviscerated the Democrat mindset, noting  “When we say that Democrats are communists, we don’t just mean that they believe in the state control of property. We mean they’ve adopted a method of thinking in which ANY use of force is justified for their state of power and control!”

“They don’t believe in systems, they don’t believe in rules, they don’t believe in laws. They believe in whatever keeps them in power,” he exclaimed.

“And if what they think keeps them in power is a military insurrection or a CIA insurrection, that’s what they support!” Miller continued, adding “If a Democrat complains about election integrity, that person’s a hero. If a Republican complains about election integrity, that person’s to be jailed and incarcerated for life.” 

“This is the moment that we’re in. This is what we’re dealing with! They have become a third world party and we have to internalize that. We’re not dealing with the old Democratic Party, we’re dealing with a third world party,” Trump’s advisor sternly outlined.

?JUST NOW: Stephen Miller CALLS IT LIKE IT IS on the true state of the Democrat Party

"When we say that Democrats are communists, we don't just mean that they believe in the state control of property. We mean they've adopted a method of thinking in which ANY use of force is… pic.twitter.com/izk4yosgZS

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 19, 2025

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 19:15

India's Reliance To Stop Processing Russian Oil At Giant Jamnagar Refinery

India's Reliance Industries said it would stop processing Russian oil at part of its giant Jamnagar oil refinery as US sanctions force the company to shy away from dealings with Moscow, Bloomberg reported.  

The export-focused part of the refinery took its last shipment of Russian crude on Thursday, the company said in statement adding that some purchases bought before the US put sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies would discharge at another part of the facility.

Starting Friday, four of Russia’s top producers - accounting for as much as 80% of the country’s exports to India - are under sanction, leaving counterparties at risk of secondary sanctions. 

Reliance’s plant at Jamnagar can process more than 1.4 million barrels a day of crude and in turn supply products to both the domestic market and overseas. 

Jamnagar refinery at night

In a sign that Trump's sanctions on Russian oil may finally be working by alienting its largest clients, a Bloomberg source said that Reliance isn’t currently buying Russian oil and hasn’t taken a view yet on whether it will resume doing so.

Last month, the Trump admin announced sanctions on Russian oil giants, Lukoil and Rosneft, meaning a swath of Russia’s flows are pumped by blacklisted firms. This week Intercontinental Exchange Inc. said that it would not allow diesel from refineries served by ports that receive Russian crude to be used in the settlement process for January ICE gasoil futures contracts.

As Bloomberg notes, a deadline to wind down deals with the two firms is set to pass on Friday, putting pressure on the companies and countries that had continued to buy barrels from Moscow. And while Indian refiners have been booking ships for alternative cargoes over recent weeks, sending tanker rates soaring, the impact on oil prices of the sanctions has been relatively muted, suggesting there’s little panic in the market.

Separately, Bloomberg reports that at least 7.7 million barrels of Russia’s flagship Urals crude loaded on 11 tankers (full list below), linked to the two sanctioned producers are set to reach India’s shores after the US restrictions take effect today, according to data from Kpler. That raises questions on whether the crude will be able to discharge smoothly, given the deadline.

Most of the tankers are heading either to the Jamnagar refinery or to Rosneft-linked Nayara Energy’s Vadinar port. Delivery dates range from the end of November and into December.  Should the ships fail to arrive by Nov. 21, they could idle off India’s shores while they consider their next moves, which can include ship-to-ship transfers to other tankers and diversions to new destinations such as the waters off Malaysia or even further to China.

It remains unclear if other Indian companies have sought any exemptions from the US to continue buying some crude parcels from Rosneft or Lukoil after the Friday deadline. Earlier in November, Hungary won an exemption on procurement of Russian oil and gas and the US has also extended a waiver for some Lukoil transactions.

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 18:50

RFK Jr. Says Government Going To Figure Out What's Causing Food Allergies

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

Government agencies are going to pinpoint causes of food allergies, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Nov. 17 at an event held by an organization that funds and promotes research aimed at preventing and treating food allergies.

Kennedy said that while there have been lots of animal studies on food allergies, there has been a dearth of human studies, including research that looks at whether allergies are caused by aluminum-containing vaccines.

“It’s pretty easy to figure this out, and we will figure it out,” Kennedy said at the Washington event held by the Food Allergy Fund.

A number of vaccines contain aluminum salts as adjuvants, or ingredients that help trigger a stronger immune response.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its website that aluminum salts “have been used safely in vaccines for more than 70 years,” although it notes that a study from CDC researchers and other scientists in 2022 found a possible link between exposure to aluminum from vaccines and the development of asthma.

A study based on surveys from mothers of homeschooled children, published in 2017, found that vaccinated children were more likely to have allergies than unvaccinated children.

President Donald Trump said in September that the government was removing aluminum from vaccines. No official steps have been taken, but the panel that advises the CDC on vaccines recently said it would analyze the safety of vaccine ingredients such as aluminum, and plans to discuss in a December meeting “adjuvants and contaminants.”

Some experts believe the rise in allergies to peanuts and other substances over the years stems from avoidance of those substances. The American Academy of Pediatrics in 2000 said parents should not expose children to peanuts until they turn 3 years old. Peanut allergies have dropped since those recommendations were reversed, a recent study found.

Kennedy said he does not think the spike in food allergies is due to avoidance, citing that his own home was filled with peanut products, yet five of his children still developed allergies, and that countries where peanut butter was introduced did not see large increases in peanut allergies.

He said that aluminum is one possible cause, but there are others, including pesticides. He questioned why scientists, both within and outside the government, have not been working to rule out possible causes.

“You make a list of all the potential culprits that fit those criteria, and then you begin eliminating them. But those studies have never been done. We are going to do them now, and we will identify what is causing these allergies,” he said.

Dr. Jeffery Taubenberger, acting director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said later it was a trial funded by the institute that discovered early peanut exposure could prevent peanut allergies.

“What we need to do now and to go forward is to think about more research on prevention, and that is the back to this key of how do we shape the developing immune system early in life so that it doesn’t have these kind[s] of allergic responses but has more of a tolerant response,” Taubenberger said.

Some of the factors could include changes in the microbiome, he said.

National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Taubenberger’s superior, asked Taubenberger how the government could study the hypothesis that aluminum exposure contributes to the development of allergies.

“This would require clinical trials, prospective clinical trials—well-designed—and they would have to be long-term,” he said. “It would be expensive, but these are things that should be discussed.”

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 18:25

Louisiana Has The 2nd Highest Incarceration Rate In The World...

Millions of prisoners are detained in America, but incarceration rates vary widely by state.

Overall, detaining inmates costs an estimated $182 billion each year across 1,566 state prisons, 3,116 local prisons, and 98 federal facilities.

Despite being the world’s largest economy, America has the fourth-highest incarceration rate globally.

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, shows prisoners per 100,000 people by state, based on data from the Prison Policy Initiative.

Incarceration Rates Are Highest in the South

Below, we rank states by incarceration rates, using 2021 state-level data applied to the 2024 national prison population:

With 1,067 prisoners per 100,000 people Louisiana has a staggeringly high rate of people behind bars.

Not only is this nearly double the national average, it is more than 12 times higher than in Canada.

Despite being the “incarceration capital of the world”, it has the second-highest murder rate in the country, after Mississippi.

Making matters worse, several prisoners, including juveniles, face life sentences in Louisiana without the chance of parole.

As we can see, Southern states make up eight of the 10 highest incarceration rates, disproportionately impacting people of color. Over the past 25 years, penalties for non-violent offenses have also become increasingly severe, with detainees serving longer sentences.

By contrast, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Rhode Island have the lowest rates in the nation—however, they remain higher than most countries.

To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on the cost per prisoner by U.S. state.

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 18:00

Florida Dem. Rep. Indicted On $5 Million FEMA Money-Laundering Scheme, Faces Up To 53 Years In Prison

Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness,

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) is facing suspension from Congress and up to 53 years in prison after being indicted on federal charges for stealing $5 million in FEMA disaster relief funds.

The funds were allegedly overpayments to Trinity Health Care Services, a family-run company she previously led, which had a state contract for COVID-19 testing and vaccinations.

McCormick allegedly laundered the proceeds to support her 2021 congressional campaign.

Prosecutors claim she and her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, conspired to funnel the money through multiple accounts and used it for campaign contributions and personal benefit.

She faces additional charges along with her tax preparer for allegedly filing a false federal tax return by inflating deductions and charitable contributions.
If convicted, she could face up to 53 years in prison.

“Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.

“No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice.”

Republican Rep. Greg Steube, a fellow Floridian, stated Thursday that he will file a resolution to expel McCormick later today. In response to her indictment Wednesday night, Steube had initially indicated he would be moving to censure her.

“On second thought, I have decided to skip censure and move straight to expulsion,” the Republican posted on X, Thursday morning.

“Defrauding the federal government and disaster victims of $5 million is an automatic disqualifier from serving in elected office,” he added.

"Cherfilus-McCormick needs to be swiftly removed from the House before she can inflict any more harm on Congress, her district, and the State of Florida.

I’ll be filing the resolution today. If she refuses to resign and save Congress the embarrassment of having to expel her, I will bring this resolution to the floor for a vote."

Cherfilus-McCormick, who has been under House Ethics Committee investigation since 2023, denies the charges, calling the indictment “unjust” and “baseless,” and has pledged to fight the allegations in court.

Cherfilus-McCormick is the third Democrat member of Congress to be under current federal indictment.

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, were indicted in May 2024 on federal charges including bribery, money laundering, conspiracy, and acting as agents of foreign principals.

The charges stem from allegations that between December 2014 and November 2021, the couple accepted approximately $600,000 in bribes from an oil and gas company controlled by the government of Azerbaijan and a bank headquartered in Mexico City.

These payments were allegedly funneled through sham consulting contracts to shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar, who performed little to no legitimate work.

The indictment includes multiple counts such as conspiracy to commit bribery, honest services wire fraud, violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and money laundering, with potential penalties totaling up to 204 years in prison if convicted.

Cuellar, who denies any wrongdoing, continues to serve in Congress and is running for re-election.

LaMonica McIver (N.J.) was indicted in June for allegedly interfering with federal officers during a scuffle outside an immigration detention facility in Newark on May 9.

An online video shows McIver,  a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, screaming at law enforcement officers as they tried to break through their blockade,  throwing punches and shoving the officers as they tried to regain control.

US Attorney Alina Habba announced on X that a Newark federal grand jury had returned a three-count indictment charging McIver with “forcibly impeding and interfering with federal law enforcement officers.”

A federal judge last week dismissed McIver’s bid to have the federal charges dismissed, rejecting her claims that she was conducting congressional oversight and is just the victim of selective prosecution.

“Defendant has not met her burden of establishing that her predominant purpose in physically opposing the Mayor’s arrest was to conduct oversight or gather information for a legislative purpose. No genuine legislative purpose was advanced by Defendant’s alleged conduct,” U.S. District Court Judge Jamel K. Semper wrote.

The N.J Democrat faces up to 17 years in prison for her aggressive conduct.

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 17:40

New NTSB Images Show Moment UPS Air Freighter's Engine Ripped Off On Takeoff

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board have released frame-by-frame images showing the left engine of the UPS McDonnell Douglas MD-11F freighter separating from the aircraft during a straight-out departure earlier this month in Louisville, leading to a horrific crash.

NTSB's preliminary report showed the left engine (No. 1) and entire pylon assembly tore away from the wing immediately after rotation, igniting into a massive fireball.

With the wing on fire, the air freighter managed only about 30 feet AGL before losing lift. It cleared the blast fence on Runway 17 Right at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport but struck the roof of a UPS warehouse with its left main gear, then crashed into a nearby industrial park.

In total, three pilots died and 11 people on the ground. Twenty-three others on the ground were injured.

UPS has since grounded all MD-11 air freighters operating in its fleet. The Federal Aviation Administration issued emergency directives grounding all MD-11/MD-11F and later DC-10 series aircraft pending inspection due to a similar wing design.

The NTSB pointed back to a similar crash in 1979 when American Airlines Flight 191, a DC-10, experienced a catastrophic engine-pylon separation on takeoff.

*  *  * GRAB A MULTITOOL! (Christmas is right around the corner... maybe get a few for the volume discount)

Christmas is right around the corner... pic.twitter.com/TXc7STNYQW

— ZeroHedge Store (@ZeroHedgeStore) November 3, 2025

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 15:05

Tariffs have changed frequently throughout 2025. CBO has regularly updated Congress about how those changes affect projected tariff revenues. This blog post is the latest in that series.

Hotel occupancy was weak over the summer months, due to less international tourism.  The fall months are mostly domestic travel and occupancy is still under pressure! 

From STR: U.S. hotel results for week ending 15 November

The U.S. hotel industry reported negative year-over-year comparisons, according to CoStar’s latest data through 15 November. ...

9-15 November 2025 (percentage change from comparable week in 2024):

• Occupancy: 60.9% (-4.1%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): US$154.41 (-0.5%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$93.97 (-4.6%)

The Veteran’s Day calendar shift drove a double-digit decline in group demand, resulting in lower performance levels across the U.S.
emphasis added

The following graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using the four-week average.
Click on graph for larger image.

The red line is for 2025, blue is the median, and dashed light blue is for 2024.  Dashed black is for 2018, the record year for hotel occupancy. 
The 4-week average of the occupancy rate is tracking behind last year and close to the median rate for the period 2000 through 2024 (Blue).
Note: Y-axis doesn't start at zero to better show the seasonal change.
The 4-week average will decrease seasonally until early next year.
On a year-to-date basis, the only worse years for occupancy over the last 25 years were pandemic or recession years.

$1.2 Billion Suspicious Epstein Transactions? Wyden Demands Investigation After JP Morgan Failed To Report For Years

Now that we're making progress on Epstein - after President Trump and Mike Johnson were forced to cave under overwhelming pressure for DOJ disclosure - a logical next step is to look into who was funding the notorious sex-trafficker. 

Jeffrey Epstein, former Barclays / JP Morgan exec Jes Staley

On Thursday morning, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) called for an investigation into whether JPMorgan Chase deliberately concealed suspicious transactions by Epstein. 

You really just need to look at Exhibit A in Wyden's memo (dated Wednesday) based on unsealed court records: the number of transactions flagged as suspicious between 2002 - 2016, vs. a flurry of almost $1.3 billion in suspicious transactions that the bank scrambled to file right after Epstein died in jail awaiting trial. 

Wyden writes: 

The unsealed court records include copies of SARs that JPMC filed on Epstein’s accounts between 2002 and 2019. Between 2002 and 2016, JPMC filed 7 SARs flagging only $4.3 million in suspicious transactions from Epstein’s accounts.¹ Only after Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges did JPMC report the full extent of Epstein’s suspicious financial activity. In August and September of 2019, JPMC filed two SARs flagging more than 5,000 suspicious wire transfers moving approximately $1.3 billion in and out of Epstein’s accounts.² This is the strongest evidence yet that JPMC should face an investigation for failure to appropriately monitor and report Epstein’s financial activity.

According to internal bank emails, JPMorgan may have held off on filing the SARs (suspicious activity reports) because it wanted "to continue working with Epstein," who was a great source of referrals despite firing him as a client in 2013, the report found.

The bank said in late October that "it was flagging about 4,700 transactions, totaling more than $1 billion, because they were potentially related to reports of human trafficking involving Mr. Epstein. It also mentioned Mr. Epstein’s wire transfers to Russian banks and sensitivities around “his relationships with two U.S. presidents.” Mr. Epstein at times was close with President Trump and former President Bill Clinton," according to the NYT.

Wyden said in a statement that it was "clear that JPMorgan Chase ought to face criminal investigation for the way it enabled Epstein’s horrific crimes," and that both Congress and the DOJ should investigate the bank - which has repeatedly issued statements of regret for working with Epstein, and claims it did all it could with the information it had at the time.

"The second the government finally made public the sex trafficking details in 2019 — information they clearly had for years — we identified for law enforcement a range of Epstein’s past transactions intended to assist with the investigation," said bank spokeswoman Patricia Wexler on Thursday. 

Will Wyden actually follow the money?

Related:

The Overlooked Shell Company Operated By Epstein's Accomplices

Epstein's Inbox Lays Out Gift Networks, PR Tactics, And Strange Habits

Revelation Of Epstein Investment Tied To Peter Thiel Adds To Growing Concerns About Palantir

Victoria's Secret Boss Wexner Swears He Didn't Know About Epstein Penchant For Pedophilia

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 14:25

In analyzing the availability and use of aircraft by the U.S. Coast Guard from 2006 to 2024, CBO found that total flying hours have decreased, especially for H-65 helicopters.

5 Plead Guilty In First Antifa Terrorism Case Relating To Texas Detention Center Attack

Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times,

Five people pleaded guilty on Nov. 19 to terrorism-related charges after facing accusations of supporting Antifa in a July shooting that wounded a police officer outside a Texas immigration detention center.

The Justice Department prosecution followed President Donald Trump’s executive order designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. Antifa, short for “anti-fascists,” is a militant group that functioned as the violent arm of the communist party in Germany, giving the modern Antifa movement its nickname and symbols that are still in use today.

FBI Director Kash Patel described the Texas charges as the first time that material support to terrorism has been applied to Antifa. The incident took place on July 4 outside the Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas. Prosecutors allege a “North Texas antifa cell” attacked the facility with gunfire and fireworks.

Nathan Baumann, 20; Joy Gibson, 30; Seth Sikes, 22; Lynette Sharp, 57; and John Thomas, 32, each entered guilty pleas to one count of providing material support to terrorists during a hearing in federal court in Fort Worth. They each face up to 15 years in prison.

Erin Kelley, an attorney for Sharp, told The Associated Press the plea was just one “step one in a long process” before the final sentence is determined.

Attorneys for the other defendants couldn’t be reached.

Proceedings against other suspects involved in the shooting remain ongoing. A federal grand jury recently indicted nine additional individuals on charges such as rioting, using explosives, obstruction, and the attempted murder of federal officers.

Those indicted are Cameron Arnold (also known as Autumn Hill), Zachary Evetts, Benjamin Song, Savanna Batten, Bradford Morris (also known as Meagan Morris), Maricela Rueda, Elizabeth Soto, Ines Soto, and Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada. Their arraignments are scheduled for next month.

Court documents lay out a tumultuous scene at the detention center, a facility used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hold individuals awaiting deportation.

Prosecutors allege group members clad in “black bloc” attire—dark clothing and face coverings—arrived late at night. They allegedly vandalized vehicles, a guard shack, and a security camera, as well as launched fireworks at the building.

As an Alvarado Police Department officer responded to a 911 call from correctional staff, one suspect reportedly yelled “get to the rifles” ahead of opening fire, striking the officer in the neck area. The wounded officer fell but shot back. Additional rounds were then shot at the injured officer and an unarmed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) correctional officer, who was seeking cover.

Gibson, Baumann, and Sikes were arrested in the near vicinity shortly after the attack. Sharp and Thomas are accused of assisting the main shooter evade capture until July 15.

The group allegedly acquired over 50 firearms in the Dallas-Fort Worth area ahead of the incident and used encrypted messaging apps with auto-delete features to coordinate the operation, including reconnaissance and discussions on supplies, such as medical kits and explosives.

The indictment alleged that Song was a group leader who distributed weapons and recruited members at gun ranges, combat training sessions, and from ideologically similar groups. Some defendants, such as the Sotos and Batten, are allegedly tied to producing “zines”—insurrectionary pamphlets promoting anti-government and anti-ICE ideas.

Defense attorney Patrick McLain, representing Evetts, stated there is “no evidence that such an organization [as a North Texas antifa cell] ever existed” and that his client is not affiliated with any such group.

Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy E. Larson praised the investigation involving the FBI, ICE, ATF, Texas Department of Public Safety, Alvarado Police, and Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.

“This is the first indictment in the country against a group of violent antifa cell members,” she said in a statement, reaffirming a commitment to safeguarding federal facilities from “organized domestic terrorist cells.”

If convicted on the more severe charges, some defendants face life imprisonment. Others could receive sentences up to 50 years.

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 14:00

BitMine Sits On $3.7B Loss As DAT 'Hotel California' Meets BlackRock's Staked ETH ETF

Authored by Zoltan Vardai via CoinTelegraph.com,

Concerns are mounting over the sustainability of corporate crypto-treasury firms as BlackRock moves forward with a staked Ether fund that analysts say could compete directly with existing digital-asset treasuries.

BitMine Immersion Technologies, the world’s largest corporate Ether holder, is currently down $1,000 per purchased ETH, implying a cumulative unrealized loss of $3.7 billion on its total holdings, according to a Thursday research report from crypto insights company 10x Research.

The decline in net asset value (NAV) across these firms is making it difficult to attract new retail investors while leaving many existing shareholders effectively “trapped” unless they sell at a steep loss, 10x Research founder Markus Thielen wrote in a LinkedIn post.

“When the premium inevitably shrinks to zero, as it is doing now, investors find themselves trapped in the structure, unable to get out without significant damage, a true Hotel California scenario,” he said.

He added that, unlike exchange-traded funds (ETFs), digital-asset treasury companies, or DATs, “layer on complex, opaque, and often hedge-fund-like fee structures that can quietly erode returns.”

BitMine, Ethereum, right-hand side (RHS) price. Source: 10X Research

The mNAV ratio compares a company’s enterprise value to the value of its crypto holdings. An mNAV above 1 allows a company to raise funds by issuing new shares to accumulate digital assets. Values below 1 make it much harder to expand capital and holdings.

BitMine’s basic mNAV stood at 0.77 while its diluted mNAV stood at 0.92, according to data from Bitminetracker.

BitMine overview, holdings, share metrics. Bitminetracker.io

BitMine holds about 3.56 million ETH valued at roughly $10.7 billion, representing 2.94% of the total Ether supply. The firm’s average cost basis is $4,051 per ETH.

Other DATs also suffered a sharp decrease in their mNAVs, including Strategy, Bitmine, Metaplanet, Sharplink Gaming, Upexi and DeFi Development Corp.

BlackRock steps in with lower-cost competition

BlackRock has registered a new staked Ether ETF offering in Delaware, marking the first step for the $13.5 trillion asset management giant’s diversification into Ethereum-based products, Cointelegraph reported earlier on Thursday.

Source: Eric Balchunas

BlackRock’s proposed Ether staking ETF could offer another low-cost, yield-generating fund, without the hidden costs associated with traditional treasury firms.

This development may threaten the economics of DATs, according to 10x Research.

“With BlackRock now seeking approval to stake ETH in its ETF, offering a low-cost source of yield, the economics of DATs are likely to face increasing scrutiny,” the research report states.

More investors may start reallocating toward a potential staked Ether fund from BlackRock when they realize that the 0.25% management fee is far smaller compared to the embedded costs of DATs, according to 10X.

Asset managers REX-Osprey and Grayscale have already launched staked ETH ETF products in September and October.

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 13:20