BOOM Finance and Economics 14th April 2024 -- a Global Review
WEEKLY -- On Sunday -- All previous Editorials are available at LinkedIn and at Wordpress https://boomfinanceandeconomics.wordpress.com/
ARE COVID VACCINES CAUSING CANCER ? DOES PAXLOVID WORK?
A POSSIBLE TSUNAMI OF FRAUD AND CLASS ACTION LAW SUITS
MODERNA PLANT CLOSED IN KENYA
GEO-POLITICAL AND GLOBAL ECONOMIC BALANCE CHANGING RAPIDLY
BANKERS IN CHINA
TAIWAN AND MAINLAND CHINA IN FOCUS
UK ANNUAL CO2 EMISSIONS DOWN 52% SINCE THE PEAK IN 1971 – NOW BACK TO LEVELS LAST SEEN 150 YEARS AGO
CORRUPTION INDEX – TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
ELON MUSK’S BATTLE FOR FREE SPEECH IN BRAZIL
US SENATOR URGES BIDEN TO BAN CHINESE MADE ELECTRIC VEHICLES
ARE COVID VACCINES CAUSING CANCER ? DOES PAXLOVID WORK?
Pfizer, Moderna, Biontech and Novavax shares continue to fall in price. They are in long term downtrends that began well over 2 years ago. All four companies are promoters of Covid Vaccines.
PFIZER SHARES OVER 5 YEARS — Down 3.00 % Last Week
Pfizer, Moderna and Biotech are using new, controversial mRNA genetic therapy technology in their products which they have called “vaccines” and for which they have made claims of being “95 % effective” and “safe”.
This genetic technology is under a deep cloud of suspicion. And many governments are implicated in their promotion which is unprecedented. Some are even funding future manufacturing facilities. However, it is now common knowledge that the Covid vaccines do not prevent infection or transmission of the virus to others. Thus, it appears that they cannot be described as vaccines using conventional definitions of what constitutes a vaccine.
Dr Hanna Nohynek is chief physician at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and also serves as the World Health Organisation’s chair of Strategic Group of Experts on immunisation. She also serves on the boards of Vaccines Together and the International Vaccine Institute.
Testifying last week in a court in Finland, she stated that the Finnish Institute for Health knew by the summer of 2021 that the COVID-19 vaccines did not stop virus transmission.
MODERNA SHARES OVER 5 YEARS -- Up 2.2 % Last Week
The US CDC defines immunisation thus: -- “Immunity: Protection from an infectious disease. If you are immune to a disease, you can be exposed to it without becoming infected. Immunisation: A process by which a person becomes protected against a disease through vaccination. This term is often used interchangeably with vaccination or inoculation.”
The World Health Organisation definition: “Vaccination is a simple, safe, and effective way of protecting you against harmful diseases, before you come into contact with them”.
So the “covid vaccines” may not be vaccines after all. But that is not the only problem as you will soon see. Pfizer also markets Paxlovid, a major anti-viral product which has been recommended by many doctors world wide to treat patients sick with Covid illness. That product is also now under some considerable suspicion in regard to effectiveness.
Last week, two scientific papers were released concerning these issues. They appear to be of great consequence.
One paper from Japan, published in the medical journal, Cureus, showed that there was a “significant increase in cancers after the third dose of Covid vaccines”.
And, in the other paper, Paxlovid researchers strongly affiliated with Pfizer reported that the drug, in effect, often may not work better than a placebo. Their paper was published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
This is how Yale Medicine still describes Paxlovid on its website — 13 Things To Know About Paxlovid, the Latest COVID-19 Pill
“The drug, developed by Pfizer, had an 89% reduction in the risk of hospitalization and death in unvaccinated people in the clinical trial that supported the EUA, a number that was high enough to prompt the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to prioritize it over other COVID treatments. Studies outside of the laboratory also have confirmed Paxlovid’s effectiveness among people who have been vaccinated, and experts say it is expected to work against the latest Omicron subvariants.”
So we appear to have two major questions that must be asked —
ARE COVID VACCINES CAUSING CANCER ?
DOES PAXLOVID WORK?
Cancer Deaths Increased After 3rd Dose – the Cureus Paper
QUOTE:
“… significant excess mortalities were observed for all cancers and some specific types of cancer (including ovarian cancer, leukemia, prostate cancer, lip/oral/pharyngeal cancer, pancreatic cancer, and breast cancer) after mass vaccination with the third dose in 2022.”
Paxlovid – no better than Placebo in patients not at high risk – New England Journal of Medicine
QUOTE:
“Nirmatrelvir–ritonavir (Paxlovid) was not associated with a significantly shorter time to sustained alleviation of Covid-19 symptoms than placebo, and the usefulness of nirmatrelvir–ritonavir in patients who are not at high risk for severe Covid-19 has not been established.”
BIONTECH SHARES OVER 5 YEARS — Down 4.46 % Last Week
References: Do your own research
On Increased Cancer Deaths:
Increased Age-Adjusted Cancer Mortality After the Third mRNA-Lipid Nanoparticle Vaccine Dose During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan
On Paxlovid:
Nirmatrelvir for Vaccinated or Unvaccinated Adult Outpatients with Covid-19
Published April 3, 2024. N Engl J Med 2024;390:1186-1195
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2309003 VOL. 390 NO. 13
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2309003
NOVAVAX SHARES OVER 5 YEARS — Down 3.17 % Last Week
A POSSIBLE TSUNAMI OF FRAUD AND CLASS ACTION LAW SUITS
BOOM is not a lawyer. However, the Law does spring to mind when considering this situation. If companies produce products that don’t fulfil their promises, then at the very least, they may have committed fraud based upon corporate laws that forbid false and misleading statements.
If those same products cause great damage and physical harm to consumers, then the companies concerned may be faced with an avalanche of damages claims if and when Class Action law suits come to courts of law.
In such events, product liability insurance policies may not protect the companies involved. The companies could be left high and dry by their insurers. Such damages claims may amount to many $ Billions. Meanwhile, cash flow from the products can be expected to dry up and any profits made from them will have to be retained by the companies to help fund their legal defences and possible future claims. There is the real possibility that such cash reserves and cash flows may be insufficient to cover all of those potential costs.
And then there is the possibility of criminal charges being brought against the executives of those companies if it can be proved that they had foreknowledge of potential for harm or should have had such knowledge. The subject of intent will also then occupy the minds of the lawyers involved in bringing the cases forward.
Also worthy of consideration will be possible charges of misfeasance, malfeasance and nonfeasance which are all types of failure to discharge public obligations existing in common law, custom, or statute.
Nonfeasance is the failure to act where action is required—wilfully or in neglect. Nonfeasance is similar to omission.
Misfeasance is the wilful inappropriate action or intentional incorrect action or advice.
Malfeasance is the wilful and intentional action that injures a party.
MODERNA PLANT CLOSED IN KENYA
In 2021, at the height of the Covid Madness/Covid Panic-Demic, Moderna announced plans to build a $ 500 Million manufacturing facility for mRNA technology products in Kenya. Since then, Moderna has not received a single order from any African nation.
In a Press Release issued last Thursday 11th April 2024, the company stated “Moderna has paused its efforts to build an mRNA manufacturing facility in Kenya while it determines future demand for mRNA vaccines on the African continent.” ….
“Moderna has not received any vaccine orders for Africa since 2022 and has faced the cancellation of previous orders, resulting in more than $1 billion in losses and write-downs.”
The plant was meant to produce up to 500 million injectable doses annually, plus the flexibility to add fill-finish and packaging lines in future.
The German company, BioNTech, was also planning a large-scale manufacturing plant in Africa with its partner, Pfizer. In September last year, Bloomberg reported that it was “revising its plans”.
Reference: Moderna Press Release:
Statement on Kenya Manufacturing Facility April 11, 2024
GEO-POLITICAL AND GLOBAL ECONOMIC BALANCE IS CHANGING RAPIDLY
BOOM has frequently warned Western advanced economies that their political leaders are incompetent and unable to grasp what is happening globally. This incompetence is both Geo-political and economic. In particular, they underestimate the economic and monetary expertise of China’s managers. They rely on mainstream newspaper articles and so-called “China analysts” that disparage China’s economy, calling it “fragile”, “liable to collapse”, “dependent on foreign capital” – all of which are simply untrue or full blown wish fulfilment.
In the past and especially over the last few weeks, BOOM has described how many nations are becoming part of the “Greater China” strategy by joining the Belt and Road Initiative, the BRICS group of nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Agreement group. They seek cooperative relationships with other nations, free of threats and intimidation and they are clearly interested in learning how China has achieved such enormous economic growth over the last 2 decades. Those nations have all seen the following graphs which show the dramatic results achieved by China since the year 2000. Western politicians and their advisers have (generally) not bothered to look.
BOOM is certainly not an admirer of totalitarian rule as practised by the Chinese Communist Party as the government of China. However, it is foolish not to take note of the huge economic achievements of China over the last 20 years and much of that is due to deep understanding of how to run an economy effectively and how to skilfully manage a monetary system.
China offers expertise and assistance to cooperative, friendly nations in energy supply, transportation and distribution. And they also offer advice on how it runs its financial sector and monetary system. In China’s model, the two main engines of growth – energy and funding – are effectively taken out of the hands of the private sector. With a well maintained energy supply and a well managed monetary system ensuring a targeted supply of fresh new money, this allows the free enterprise sectors of the economy to thrive in producing goods and services. Investments are inclined to be productive and not speculative. That distinction is critical to long term economic success.
China’s current CPI inflation rate is close to zero and its key interest rates are falling. The one-year loan prime rate (LPR), the benchmark for most corporate and household loans, was recently reduced to 3.45%. And the five-year rate, used as a reference for property mortgages, was maintained at 3.95%. The annual GDP growth is currently around 5 %.
BOOM has often explained how the “private” finance sector in China is, in fact, a Potemkin Village financial system. It appears to be privatised but, when push comes to shove, the central authorities reveal their power of complete control. No one can argue with the PBOC (the Peoples Bank of China).
BANKERS IN CHINA
To illustrate how China’s financial system differs from the advanced Western nations, all we need to do is to look at the average annual salary of a Banker in China. That is approximately US$ 36,700 (266,000 Yuan/CNY). This is the average salary including housing, transport, and other benefits.
The median annual salary of a banker in China is 246,000 CNY (US$ 34,000). Therefore, half of the professionals who work as banker in China earn less than this amount, and the other half earn more. The median salary denotes the middle value of salaries. Twenty years of banking experience is required to receive the highest salaries of around 32,000 CNY per Month. A typical starting salary is 11,500 CNY per Month. Annual Bonuses are granted from 3 – 6 % of annual salary.
AVERAGE SALARIES FOR OTHER JOBS IN CHINA
How does this compare to other jobs in China? The overall Average Annual Salary in China is 353,000 CNY (US$ 48,000). Thus, bankers earn considerably less than this – 266,000 Yuan per year.
TAIWAN AND MAINLAND CHINA IN FOCUS
Trade between Taiwan and China is a global secret kept by the mainstream media. But some facts are hard to ignore (taken from an article by Evelyn Cheng, published by CNBC in August 2022)
Mainland China and Hong Kong accounted for 42% of Taiwan’s exports last year, while the U.S. had a 15% share, according to official Taiwan data accessed through Wind Information.
About 22% of Taiwan’s imports last year came from mainland China and Hong Kong, versus 10% from the U.S., official data showed.
Many Taiwan-based companies operate factories in mainland China. In 2021, Taiwan businesses received $200.1 billion in U.S. export orders, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service.
Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou left Taiwan on April 1st for an 11-day trip to China. At the airport in Taiwan before flying to the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen in Guangdong province, he said “This is a trip of peace as well as of friendship.” He said he hoped to convey a message that Taiwan’s people love peace. Mr Ma was President of Taiwan from 2008 to 2016 and, in 2023, he became the first former Taiwanese leader to visit China.
Last week, towards the end of his trip, he met with China’s President Xi Jing Ping.
At the meeting, Xi Jing Ping said “The people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are all Chinese. There is no dispute that cannot be resolved, there is no problem that cannot be discussed, and no force can separate us" and "Differences in systems cannot change the fact that both sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to the same country and nation.”
Ma replied that a new war between the sides would be “an unbearable burden for the Chinese nation” and “the Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait will definitely have enough wisdom to handle cross-Strait disputes peacefully and avoid conflicts”.
MA AND XI LAST WEEK IN BEIJING
When Mr Ma initially arrived in the southern Chinese technology hub of Shenzhen on April 1st, he met with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office head Song Tao. He said that both sides of the Taiwan Strait should “strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various fields, especially among young people, to push forward the development of cross-Straits relations,” according to the Xinhua News Agency.
He also visited Shenzhen-based Chinese drone manufacturer DJI Technology Co and Tencent Holdings, the world’s largest video game company and operator of China’s WeChat messaging platform, according to Phoenix TV.
When Ma arrived back in Taiwan last week, he stated in a speech “We are all descendants of the Yellow Emperor and belong to the Republic of China. We are one Chinese people”.
Taiwan is commonly referred to as the Republic of China and mainland China is The People’s Republic of China.
The current government of Taiwan, led by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), issued this statement in response.
“We deeply regret that former President Ma failed to publicly convey to China the Taiwanese people’s insistence on safeguarding the sovereignty of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and its democratic and free system”.
Mr Ma is a senior member of Taiwan’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT).
The following information is sourced from the Taiwan Research Hub at the University of Nottingham in the UK, Taiwan Insight. BOOM is certainly not an expert on this area of history and cannot offer any opinion on its veracity. However, readers may be surprised. You are encouraged to do their own research on Taiwanese history.
Quote: “The Kuomintang Party was established in 1912, ruled China from 1927 until 1948 before then moving to Taiwan. Readers may be surprised to learn that the KMT began life as a socialist, Leninist political force with strong support emerging from the now defunct Communist Soviet Union. The origins of the Kuomintang can be traced back to the decline of the Qing Empire.
The emergence of the Kuomintang party is synonymous with the decline of the Qing Dynasty and the emergence of Sun Yat-sen. The Qing dynasty had ruled China for 268 years. Several internal turmoils during the Qing dynasty ended in devastating rebellions that eventually led to the empire’s downfall.
The crippled Qing Dynasty was eventually ousted in 1912, ending China’s long imperial period. Sun Yat-sen was elected the provisional President of the newly established Republic of China. During this time, Sun Yat-sen decided to convert his revolutionary society into a political party, forming the Kuomintang.
At that time, the Kuomintang, the National People’s Party, was essentially an amalgamation of small political groups. However, the KMT emerged as the dominant political party in China and won the first-ever national elections in 1913. However, shortly after the new republic had been established, a power struggle broke out between the then-President Yuan Shi-kai and the new bicameral National Assembly, which the Kuomintang heavily dominated. As a result, KMT was declared an illegal organisation in November 1913, and the National Assembly was disbanded the following year.
In 1919, Sun re-established the Kuomintang to counter the weak government in Beijing. The KMT, which was rebuilt with Soviet assistance, was a tightly organised Leninist political party in command of an army strong enough to defeat the warlords. Until now, the Leninist organisation of the party still persists.” Unquote
Nationalism runs deep in the veins of the Chinese people. BOOM is of the opinion that Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August 2022 was a major Geo-political blunder. She was then the Speaker of the US House of Representatives and was clearly not a suitable agent for any foreign policy action. The White House was unhappy with her proposed visit and discouraged her. That is understandable. International relations are a State Department matter. The United States Department of State, or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. However, she went ahead and proceeded to meet the current Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and to visit the Taiwanese parliament, the Legislative Yuan. The whole visit gave the impression of an overlord visiting the peasants and could have left a sour taste in the mouths of many Taiwanese citizens. The message was loud and clear “do as we say or else”, “we are here to protect you against any potential threats”.
Readers are encouraged to do their own research on Taiwanese history.
Sources used:
and https://taiwaninsight.org/2022/12/20/kuomintang-through-the-ages/
UK ANNUAL CO2 EMISSIONS DOWN 52% SINCE THE PEAK IN 1971 – NOW BACK TO LEVELS LAST SEEN 150 YEARS AGO
Last week, BOOM looked at CO2 emissions and compared various nations’ outputs. The “winners” were China, India and Indonesia. The “losers” were all the Western industrialised nations with the United Kingdom (UK) being the stand-out.
However, BOOM only looked at what had happened in regard to CO 2 emissions since the year 2000, the last 22 years. At the request of a reader, BOOM looked harder at the United Kingdom’s longer term data. It was a shock to discover that the UK reached its CO2 Peak production in 1971. And that it has reduced its CO2 emissions by 52% since that Peak.
This dramatic reduction cannot be because of any concerns about the “threat” of Global Warming. It can only have begun due to de-industrialisation and the growth of service industries which don’t require large energy inputs.
The graph over the time period from 1880 is dramatic. That year, the UK is estimated to have produced 300 million tonnes of CO2. The Peak production occurs in 1971 at peak 660 million tonnes. Since then, the decline is now obvious over the last half century (50 years) and CO2 production is now back at 300 million tonnes — where it was in 1880. That is 150 years ago.
CORRUPTION INDEX – TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
Transparency International describes itself as a global “movement” which states that it is working in over 100 countries to end the injustice of corruption. BOOM applauds such a quest. Now let’s look more closely.
They state that they “focus on issues with the greatest impact on people’s lives and hold the powerful to account for the common good. Through our advocacy, campaigning and research, we work to expose the systems and networks that enable corruption to thrive, demanding greater transparency and integrity in all areas of public life”.
Their stated vision is a world in which government, politics, business, civil society and the daily lives of people are free of corruption. They also state “We are independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit and work with like-minded partners across the world to end the injustice of corruption.”
They define corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. “Corruption erodes trust, weakens democracy, hampers economic development and further exacerbates inequality, poverty, social division and (somehow) the environmental crisis.”
“The first step is Transparency which is all about knowing who, why, what, how and how much. It means shedding light on formal and informal rules, plans, processes and actions. Transparency helps us, the public, hold all power to account for the common good.”
“Seeking and receiving information is a human right that can act as a safeguard against corruption, and increases trust in decision makers and public institutions. However, transparency is not only about making information available, but ensuring it can be easily accessed, understood and used by citizens.”
They have learned “from over twenty-five years of experience that corruption can only be kept in check if representatives from government, business and civil society work together for the common good.” All well and good, now let’s look more closely.
The All Important Funding: They receive funding from a range of donors, including government agencies, multilateral institutions, foundations, the private sector and individuals. Annual Expenditure in 2023 was almost 24 Million Euros. The Cash and Cash equivalents on hand at end of 2022 was 21.6 Million Euros.
This is where it gets interesting. The bulk of their funding -- “The income of the secretariat is predominantly provided by institutional donors, with government agencies and multilateral donors contributing 82 per cent of the funds for 2021.”
Government “agencies” provide almost 60 % of their funds. The implied assumption or implication is that such “agencies” could never be corrupt -- surely? “Multilateral institutions” (22 %) and “foundations and trusts” (11.8 %) provide another 33.8 %. Individuals provide 0.6 %.
On their website, to their credit, they list their funding sources which made contributions exceeding €1,000 in 2021. The list, however, is rather short for a foundation that had an Operating Expenditure in 2023 of almost 24 Million Euros. There are some familiar names on the list which (perhaps) will cause pause to some well-informed observers. For example, the foreign affairs departments of many nations are listed including Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, France, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the USA. Canada is by far the largest national funding source. It is worth noting that those nations comprise only 8 % of the global population. This means that 92 % of the global population’s governments are not involved in the funding of Transparency International.
The powerful but unelected European Commission is listed as is the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). BOOM will avoid comment.
Then it gets even more interesting under the Heading “Foundations and Trusts” where the following names appear (amongst others) –
BHP Foundation (Australia’s mega global mining company)
FERN (chief Debtor listed in 2022 accounts is the Ford Foundation. Open Society Foundation is also listed as a debtor (George Soros)
Luminate (founded by the Omidyar Group – Pierre Omidyar is founder of eBay)
Open Society Foundations (George Soros)
Siemens AG (German multinational technology conglomerate)
Global Witness (Funding sources include Arcus Foundation, Ford Foundation)
Waverly Street Foundation $ 3 Billion Fund (Laurene Powell Jobs - the widow of Steve Jobs, co-founder and former CEO of Apple Inc)
Five Individuals are listed (as having granted permission to publish).
BOOM will refrain from any comment, leaving readers to make their own conclusions. As always, readers are encouraged to do their own research.
CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX – OVER 180 NATIONS
The Transparency International website provides a ranking of Corruption Perceptions Index for over 180 nations. The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is “the most widely used global corruption ranking in the world”. It measures how corrupt each country’s public sector is perceived to be, according to “experts and business people”.
The CPI Score -- 100 is very clean and 0 is highly corrupt
Each country’s score is a combination of at least 3 data sources drawn from 13 different corruption surveys and assessments. These data sources are collected by a variety of (?) “reputable institutions”, including the World Bank and the World Economic Forum. BOOM will refrain from comment on the description of “reputable”. Again, readers can make up their own mind.
A country’s score is the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0-100, where 0 means highly corrupt and 100 means very clean. A country's rank is its position relative to the other countries in the index.
The Top 10 nations include – Denmark (Ranked Number 1 with a Score of 90), Finland, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg
The lowest 10 scores are Somalia (Ranked Number 180 with a Score of 11), Venezuela, Syria, South Sudan, Yemen, North Korea, Nicaragua, Haiti, Equatorial Guinea, Turkmenistan.
Source: https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2023
How CPI Score’s are Calculated
https://www.transparency.org/en/news/how-cpi-scores-are-calculated
ELON MUSK’S BATTLE FOR FREE SPEECH IN BRAZIL
Elon Musk is now involved in a battle to preserve Free Speech in Brazil. It is a major distraction from running his various businesses that are based in the USA. However the battle for free speech is definitely worth fighting and Elon appears committed to it (thankfully). The business facts of the matter are clear. If various hostile governments achieve Twitter censorship anywhere in the world, it will harm Twitter’s business everywhere. And, because of Elon’s ownership dominance of both companies, the future prospects of both Twitter and Tesla are inextricably linked.
Michael Shellenberger made this report on Twitter last week under the Title BRAZIL IS ON THE BRINK. Shellenberger is an American author and journalist who writes about politics, the environment, climate change, and nuclear power. He is a co-founder of the Breakthrough Institute and the California Peace Coalition. Shellenberger founded the pro-nuclear non-profit Environmental Progress in 2016. BOOM will make no comment.
QUOTE:
“I’m reporting to you from Brazil, where a dramatic series of events are underway. At 5:52 pm Eastern Time, today, April 6, 2024, X corporation, formerly known as Twitter, announced that a Brazilian court had forced it to “block certain popular accounts in Brazil.” Then, less than one hour later, the owner of X, Elon Musk, announced that X would defy the court’s order, and lift all restrictions. “As a result,” said Musk, “we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there. But principles matter more than profit.” At any moment, Brazil’s Supreme Court could shut off all access to X/Twitter for the people of Brazil. It is not an exaggeration to say that Brazil is on the brink of dictatorship at the hands of a totalitarian Supreme Court Justice named Alexandre de Moraes. President Lula da Silva is participating in the push toward totalitarianism. Since taking office, Lula has massively increased government funding of the mainstream news media, most of which are encouraging increased censorship. What Lula and de Moraes are doing is an outrageous violation of Brazil’s constitution and the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. At this moment, Brazil is not yet a dictatorship. It still has elections and the Brazilian people have other means at their disposal to confront authoritarianism. But the Federal Supreme Court and the Superior Electoral Court are directly interfere in those elections through censorship. Three days ago I published the Twitter Files for Brazil. They show that Moraes has violated the Brazilian Constitution. Moraes illegally demanded that Twitter reveal private information about Twitter users who used hashtags he considered inappropriate. He demanded access to Twitter's internal data, violating the platform's policy. He censored, on his own initiative and without any respect for due process, posts on Twitter by parliamentarians from the Brazilian Congress. And Moraes tried to turn Twitter's content moderation policies into a weapon against supporters of then-president Jair Bolsonaro. I say this as an independent and non-partisan journalist. I'm not a fan of either Bolsonaro or Trump. My political views are very moderate. But I know censorship when I see it. The Twitter Files also revealed that Google, Facebook, Uber, WhatsApp and Instagram betrayed the people of Brazil. If such evidence is proven, the executives of these companies behaved like cowards: they provided the Brazilian government with personal registration data and telephone numbers without a court order and, therefore, violating the law. When Twitter refused to provide Brazilian authorities with private user information, including direct messages, the government attempted to sue Twitter's top Brazilian lawyer. When I lived in Brazil in 1992, I was very left-wing. At the time, Lula and the PT's slogans were “Without fear of being happy”. In recent days, I have spoken to dozens of Brazilians, including professors, journalists and respected lawyers. Everyone tells me they are shocked by what is happening. They told me that they are afraid to speak their mind and that the Lula government is complicit in creating this climate of fear. Brazil belongs to the Brazilians. It is not my country. As such, there are limits to what I am capable of doing. But I can say things that many Brazilians do not feel safe saying: Alexandre de Moraes is a tyrant. And the only way to deal with tyrants is to confront them. It is up to Brazil’s senators to confront the tyrant. And it is up to the people of Brazil to demand that their senators do so” UNQUOTE
US SENATOR URGES BIDEN TO BAN CHINESE MADE ELECTRIC VEHICLES
A Democratic Party US Senator, Sherrod Brown, has decided that the United States should turn its back on free trade and free markets. He has called for Joe Biden to ban the sale of electric cars in the USA that are made in China.
Yet another “threat” has been identified to national security. BOOM has previously referred to the obsession with “threats” and “protection” in the minds of many Western politicians. Perhaps, this could be called Threat Ideology.
In a letter to the President he wrote --
“Chinese electric vehicles are an existential threat to the American auto industry. Ohio knows all too well how China illegally subsidizes its companies, putting our workers out of jobs and undermining entire industries, from steel to solar manufacturing. We cannot allow China to bring its government-backed cheating to the American auto industry. The U.S. must ban Chinese electric vehicles now, and stop a flood of Chinese government-subsidized cars that threaten Ohio auto jobs, and our national and economic security,”
"There are currently no Chinese EVs for sale in the United States, and we must keep it that way. I implore you to take bold, aggressive action and to permanently ban EVs produced by Chinese companies or whatever subsidiaries they establish to conceal their origins. Further, I urge you to work with our allies to address these concerns in a wholistic manner that supports American jobs and innovation." And "Lastly, allowing Chinese EVs on our roads could pose risks to our national security. The technology in EVs includes apps, sensors, and cameras.”
BOOM wonders if the Senator is aware that American made cars are also bristling with apps, sensors, and cameras? He appears unaware that Tesla manufactures in China and sells its cars freely in China, bristling with apps, sensors and cameras.
How many clueless Western politicians can we fit on the planet?
In economics (and finance), things work until they don’t. Do your own research. Make your own conclusions. BOOM does not offer investment advice.
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