Cultivating the Pull Peddlers

You’ve got to hand it to Sam on one issue: he knew exactly which political actors and media outlets to curry favor with. At least for a while, they’re going to do their best to draw attention away from his, ahem, more “questionable” schemes.

Harnessing the enormous wealth created by FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange that Sam Bankman-Fried had founded, they undertook a project to spend potentially billions of dollars on pandemic prevention, a long-neglected priority on Capitol Hill even amid the coronavirus crisis. The plan, drawn from the brothers’ adherence to a philosophy called effective altruism, sought to maximize philanthropic giving in ways that can have the most impact.

In the months leading up to FTX’s crash, the Bankman-Frieds and their network had rapidly increased their spending on pandemic-prevention initiatives, according to a review of funding announcements, political donations and lobbying disclosures — record-breaking sums and unconventional choices that sometimes astounded political and public health experts.

 

Temporarily Unexpected

A report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on Thursday showed regional manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted at a faster rate in the month of November.

The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current activity tumbled to a negative 19.4 in November from a negative 8.7 in October, with a negative reading indicating a contraction in regional manufacturing activity.

The decrease by the Philly Fed index came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the index to inch up to a negative 6.2.

For Those In The Media Potato Gallery

A review:

November 7th: Global News breaks story – Canadian intelligence warned PM Trudeau that China covertly funded 2019 election candidates

November 15th: Trudeau sets up Xi in an unscheduled private conversation, then leaks ass-covering story to Canadian media – Trudeau expresses concerns to China’s Xi over ‘interference’

November 16th: Xi spanks Trudeau for his duplicity.

That’s what you were watching.

Good point: The leaked “ass-covering story” can never be independently verified since no reporter witnessed or recorded their first conservation. We will never know what the Dear Leader actually said to Xi, and Xi has stated Justin’s version “was not an accurate reflection of their conversation”. The so-called “story” was crafted by Justin’s handlers and “leaked” to the media. Even the CBC is now calling Justin’s version of the first meeting a “readout” of what was discussed…

WTFTX?

The delicious fall of Sam Bankman-Fried;

As everybody who has brushed against big business in recent years will know, ESG stands for ‘Environmental, Social and Governance’ and it rules the corporate world. There was a time when a company might aim to make money for itself and/or its shareholders. If it wanted to do some good works, it might set up an almshouse, a school for urchins or the like.

Today when you want to show that you really care – as opposed to actually caring – then you talk of how concerned your company is about ESG. Firms are even rated by their ESG scores. It is a great medieval Vatican–style scam. And it is everywhere.

In any case, FTX was big on ESG. On a video from January this year the company’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried and the vlogger Nas Daily – the first a shyster, the second possibly a naif – claimed that FTX existed only to make money that could then be given away.

Well, they can’t say they weren’t warned.

New FTX CEO John Ray: Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here.

Meanwhile, at the New York Times…

Y2Kyoto: Schadenfrozen

“Germany is now the largest meat importer in Europe;

While Green politicians have condemned meat eating, the social reality is different, with nearly the entire German population eating meat on a regular basis. However, agricultural and green policies are stifling German meat production, making Germany wholly dependent on meat from foreign countries; this is creating a new dependence similar to Germany’s reliance on Russian gas, which turned out to be a catastrophic mistake.

Let them eat lettuce.

It’s Thursday On Turtle Island

Biden’s America:  Woman trashes Trump at funeral.  Sexual orientation for small children in America.  How to get offended in 2022.  A funeral director arrives in Washington.  Missing the point for the World Cup.  An example of justice in America.  Your morning meme.

Trudeau’s Canada:  Union wants control of services to students.  Although they agreed to the wage increase, Ontario education workers to go on strike.  Justin’s CBC celebrates mental illness.  Shouldn’t the university change its name. Brock was a white, colonial, British officer.  Segregation comes to Brock University.  Justin is busy discouraging mining in Canada.  Its only money.  Bogus payouts totalled 5.3 billion dollars.  Freeland wanted to deny release of frozen funds, unless account holders reported to police.  Justin is having a wonderful time. Today our Dear Leader burns jet fuel to Thailand.

Global Warming Scam News:  Inconvenient facts about electric cars.  Coming soon to Canada.  Charge rage sweeps across UK.

Chinada

Good work by Global News;

A prominent businessman in Toronto’s Chinese community is the subject of two separate investigations involving foreign interference, sources tell Global News, both related to a series of briefings and memos that Canadian security officials allegedly gave to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau beginning in January.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has investigated Wei Chengyi for his alleged role in a covert scheme that facilitated large-fund transfers meant to advance Beijing’s interests in Canada’s 2019 federal election, sources said.

According to RCMP sources, national security investigators are also probing Wei for possible links to several properties in Toronto and Vancouver allegedly used as so-called Chinese government “police stations,” which are believed to secretly host agents from China’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS.)

The owner of the Ontario and British Columbia supermarket chain Foody Mart, Wei is also “permanent honorary chairman” of the Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations (CTCCO), a local umbrella group for dozens of associations that promotes ties to Beijing and consular officials.

[…]

Global News reported last week that early this year, sources say Canadian intelligence officials started briefing Justin Trudeau and several cabinet ministers that the People’s Republic of China has allegedly been targeting Canada with a vast campaign of foreign interference, including attempts to influence the 2019 federal election.

One of the specific allegations detailed the funding of a clandestine network that involved at least 11 federal candidates running in the contest, according to Global News sources.

The briefing did not identify the politicians in the running, but Global News independently confirmed through separate sources that members of the alleged network — which sources say include federal campaign staffers — represented both Liberal and Conservative parties.

HAHAHAHAHA.. jokes on us.

Even if allegations regarding Wei’s role as an actor for the Chinese Communist Party are proven to be true, there is no foreign interference law prohibiting him from doing so.

By design.

Related: Wei Chengyi is also an honorary governor of the Mon Sheong Foundation, which manages long term care facilities in Toronto, among other things. They were heavily criticized during the pandemic. Similar to Anbang. Worth looking at investors.

November 17, 2022: Reader Tips

On this day in 1558, Queen Elizabeth I ascended the throne of England at the age of 25, reigning until 1603 when she was 69. Under her leadership, England became a world power, defeating the Spanish Armada, and witnessed a golden age of literature featuring works by William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser and others. Here’s a documentary about her.

Your more recent tips are much appreciated.

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