Category: News Wire

How The COVID-19 Lockdowns Will Increase Resentment Of The Elderly Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2020 – 21:30 Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute, In an article for the LA Times earlier this month, Laura Newberry contends that the COVID-19 panic has “amplified” ageism in the United States. This is likely true, yet the article completely misses the true cause. Certainly, ageism is a problem for many people. Reprehensible crimes such as elder abuse deserve our attention.  Thanks to our highly mobile society, fewer people spend time with their elderly parents or grandparents. This has in many cases reduced the degree to which the elderly[…]

Jordan’s King Warns “Massive Conflict” Coming If Israel Moves To Annex West Bank Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2020 – 21:10 With Washington’s backing, Israel is planning to move forward on controversial plans to annex a broad swath of the West Bank, particularly the Jordan Valley, as early as this summer. PM Netanyahu last month issued a likely time table of “within two months”. Arab nations, especially in the gulf, have remained uncharacteristically mum about the whole thing as they focus on countering Iran (which has, it should be noted, actually brought Saudi Arabia into a quiet ‘covert’ intelligence sharing relationship with Israel[…]

COVID-19 Deaths & Pre-Existing Conditions. What Illinois’ Data Says About Who’s At Risk Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2020 – 20:50 Authored by Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner via Wirepoints.org, Wirepoints recently analyzed data from Cook County’s Medical Examiner and found that 92 percent of Cook County COVID-19 victims had pre-existing conditions. Those that died had comorbidities including diabetes, obesity, hypertension and heart disease. Many Americans have pre-existing conditions. Data from the CDC says that 45 percent of people have hypertension. Another 43 percent are obese. And another 10 percent have diabetes.  However, that doesn’t mean that all Americans with one or more pre-existing conditions are at serious risk[…]

“Bolsonaro Is A Virus” – Opposition Leader Calls For President’s Impeachment As Brazil Reports Record 15k Cases In A Single Day Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2020 – 20:30 It’s become blindingly obvious that the coronavirus outbreak in Brazil has spiraled out of control, offering an example of the consequences of minimal containment efforts, and causing unease across Latin America, as Brazil’s neighbors move to close borders to ensure Brazilians don’t carry the virus across the border. As the situation spirals out of control, President Jair Bolsonaro is spending more time egging on his most radical supporters, who are now openly calling[…]

JC Penney Files For Chapter 11 Bankrtupcy Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2020 – 19:06 In what may be one of the most bizarre bankruptcy filings, just hours after JCPenney stock was halted first thing in the morning when everyone was certain the company would announce its has filed its Chapter 11 petition only to read in a bizarre 8K that the company had instead made a $17 million interest payment due on its secured term loan during the 5-day grace period, the iconic retail giant (or maybe not so giant any more) and anchor mall tenant threw in the towel to[…]

How COVID-19 Is Forcing Americans Into Early Retirement Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2020 – 18:50 Via Birch Gold Group, It goes without saying, the economy has been severely damaged as a result of various “stay-at-home” orders in response to COVID-19 (coronavirus). One of the emerging ripple effects is that more Americans close to retirement are now considering whether or not to retire early. In fact, due to prolonged business shutdowns, some may feel as though the decision is being made for them. According to Forbes, even before COVID-19, “More than half of workers will be forced out of the workforce earlier than[…]

“Selling American”: Buffett Dumps Most Of His Goldman Stake, Trims JPMorgan In Turbulent First Quarter Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2020 – 18:39 Airlines aren’t the only sector that Warren Buffett notoriously dumped in April, ahead of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. According to the just filed Berkshire 13F, in the first quarter when the conglomerate’s equity holdings took a record hit of $66.5 billion, as the value of Berkshire’s disclosed equity positions tumbled from $242BN as of Dec 31, to $175.5BN on March 31, Buffett also sold the bulk, or 84%, of his Goldman Sachs stake – formerly a top 20[…]

NYC’s Rat Population Hit With Hunger Crisis During Lockdowns  Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2020 – 18:30 There’s a silver lining to virus-related lockdowns in New York City. That is, the rat population is now starving. Just last year, New Yorkers were complaining about rats taking over the city — now it seems these rodents have food security issues.  An urban rodentologist has told The Wall Street Journal that rats have become hostile and are resorting to cannibalism as food becomes scarce with restaurants closed.  Strict social distancing has confined millions of people to their homes as economic activity has ground to a halt in the city.[…]

Another Week, Another Governor With A God-Complex Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2020 – 18:10 Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com, Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, risks to your prosperity… and on occasion, inspiring poetic justice. Police arrest surfers for standing still on the beach Like most of the world, Cape Town, South Africa is on lockdown to stop the spread of the virus. The city does allow residents to walk along the beach during an “exercise window” every morning from[…]

Gold, Dollar, & Bonds Jump; Stocks Slump On Fauci Fearmongering, China Trade Turmoil Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2020 – 16:00 US equities suffered their worst weekly drop in two months… Shock horror…how did that happen? Fauci Fearmongering started the ball rolling down-hill: “The reality is [Fauci] is scared the crap out of Americans,” House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs, R-AZ, said. “That’s what he’s done. And with his co-folks in the left wing media, they’ve scared people. You’ve got businesses that are afraid to open. They’re scared to death to open because someone is going to get sick or they get[…]