thewashingtonstandard--2020-10-23--To Save Stock Market, Federal Reserve Threatens Destruction Of Trillions In Middle-Class Retirement

The one thing overlooked by people who claim the US has had a great economy , including President Donald Trump , is the fact that it is all based on debt , and when you have a debt-based economy , it is never “ great.
” It ’ s a curse ( Proverbs 22:7 ; Deuteronomy 28:15,43,44 ; Proverbs 17:18 ) .
Sadly , many are about to learn the hard way how they have been lied to by administration after administration , including the current one led by the self-professed “ king of debt , ” Donald Trump .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 , The Multi-Trillion Dollar Stimulus & Indoctrination • The Federal Reserve , Congress , The President & Fiat Money – Recipe For Disaster • It All Comes Back To The Federal Reserve : The New World Order Is Being Shoved Down Our Throats • The Federal Reserve : More Lethal than Coronavirus The Federal Reserve , which these days seems to be the only major part of the federal government capable of operating drama-free , has done a lot to help keep our economy afloat .
It has cut interest rates to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dollars of corporate IOUs , helped stabilize the debt markets and helped rescue a stock market that had begun falling sharply in mid-February when the COVID-19 recession started and that seemed headed for a crash .
In the process , the Fed has indirectly provided support to house prices and to the vital home construction business by forcing down mortgage interest rates to all-time lows of about 3 % .
Given that home equity is a major asset for many middle-class Americans , supporting home prices is especially important .
As is supporting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a major source of blue-collar jobs .
But if you dig deeper , you ’ ll see that the Fed is unintentionally worsening economic inequality by providing the most help to Americans who are least in need of it .
And it ’ s also putting stress on the middle class ’ most important asset : retirement benefits .
Higher stock prices are great for people ( including me ) who own a lot of stocks , but those people are primarily the top 10 % of the country , in terms of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than half of stocks — 52 % — are owned by the wealthiest 1 % of Americans , and 88 % are owned by the top 10 % .
To show you a different aspect of helping the upper class but not the working class , the Fed ’ s securities purchases include buying debt issued by firms that are laying off workers while paying substantial dividends to shareholders .
And for some imprudent or troubled corporate borrowers , the Fed ’ s moves have been hugely helpful .
But those moves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by greatly reducing the income they can earn on Treasury securities and other no-risk investments such as bank certificates of deposit .
That tends to drive people seeking income into the stock market , where their capital is at risk .
By contrast , if you buy a Treasury security , you ’ re sure of getting your money back when the security comes due , even though the security ’ s market value will fluctuate both up and down while you hold it .
Interest rates are so low that they ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ income — Treasury bonds are theoretically supposed to provide over stocks .
If you own a low-cost Standard & Poor ’ s 500 index fund , you ’ re getting much more income from dividends than the interest you ’ d earn having the same amount invested in a 10-year Treasury note .
For example , the dividend yield ( a year ’ s worth of dividends divided by the current market price ) on Admiral shares of Vanguard ’ s S & P 500 fund is more than double the interest yield @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s even higher than the yield on a 30-year Treasury bond , something that you rarely see .
The yield on the Vanguard fund was 1.65 % as of Sept. 30 , the most recent available date .
As I write this , the yield on a 10-year Treasury , the security it generally makes the most sense for a retail investor to buy and hold to maturity , was 0.76 % .
The yield on the 30-year Treasury was 1.56 % .
Despite its good intentions , the Fed is setting the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for pension funds and , therefore , for potential pension recipients .
There are also going to be problems for insurance companies and for other firms onto which many corporate employers have offloaded their pension obligations in order to clean up their balance sheets and minimize their future financial risks .
The firms that have assumed the responsibility for paying these pensions typically own bond-heavy portfolios .
And while bond prices have risen because interest rates have fallen — I ’ ll explain how that works some other day — rates seem much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ low levels in the future than to fall even lower .
And when rates rise , it will decrease the market value of the bonds held by the firms that have assumed responsibility for paying pensions .
What it all adds up to : The Fed is trying to salvage the present by pumping trillions of dollars into the U.S. and world financial systems but in the process is putting our economic future at risk .
“ We ’ re bailing out the present and making the future pay for it , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Tax Policy Center .
Please note that I ’ m not blaming the Fed for what it ’ s doing .
It ’ s trying to fulfill its mandate to keep employment high , inflation relatively low , the dollar reasonably stable and interest rates at what it considers an appropriate level .
The Fed ’ s job , which is already difficult in strange and uncertain economic times like these , is being made much harder by the lack of new economic stimulus packages from Congress and the White House .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ they were in effect earlier this year , not only help individuals but also stimulate the economy when recipients spend the money they ’ ve gotten .
The Fed , by contrast , can help the financial markets and the economy but can ’ t directly help individual people .
Now , let me show you how the Fed ’ s near-zero rates , the culmination of a dozen years of ultralow rates and which Fed Chair Jerome Powell says will continue indefinitely , are undermining the long-range future of the U.S. retirement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — because Fed statistics show that retirement benefits ( not including Social Security ) are hugely important to the middle class .
Prof. Edward Wolff of New York University , who specializes in studying income and wealth inequality , told me that Fed statistics show that pension wealth accounts for 70.3 % of the net worth of the middle class , which he defines as people ranking in the 20^th^ through 80^th^ percentiles in terms of wealth .
By contrast , he said , retirement benefits are only 2.2 % of the upper @ @ @ @ @ @ @ middle class particularly vulnerable to rising rates in the future .
Let ’ s take this piece by piece .
For starters , near-zero rates are making the financial problems of the already-stressed Social Security system worse than they would otherwise be by sharply reducing the interest that Social Security can earn on its $ 2.9 trillion trust fund .
That trust fund consists entirely of Treasury securities and is legally barred from owning stocks .
That means that the fund ’ s interest yield is falling and it ’ s not benefiting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prices since the market bottomed on March 23 .
The near-zero rates also affect private pensions .
David Zion of Zion Research estimates that the pension funds of the Standard & Poor ’ s 500 companies , which he says were underfunded by a total of $ 279 billion at the end of 2019 , were underfunded by $ 407 billion as of June 30 .
“ The main driver of the increase is lower interest rates , ” he said .
( I ’ ll explain the math behind lower rates raising @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) Large as it is , the S & P companies ’ total shortfall is only a fraction of the underfunding afflicting state and local government pension funds .
Keith Brainard , director of research for the National Association of State Retirement Administrators , estimates that the 5,332 retirement funds sponsored by state and local governments were $ 1.96 trillion underwater as of June 30 , the most recent available number , up from $ 1.90 trillion as of year-end 2019 .
This has happened , he said , even though the funds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , an all-time high .
What ’ s more , if you use dispassionate math rather than the generous accounting principles that public pension funds are allowed to use , you see that lower long-term interest rates are doing much more damage to these funds ’ financial status than the numbers from Brainard ’ s organization suggest .
For instance , Steve Church of Piscataqua Research estimates that the shortfalls of the 127 public pension funds that he follows , which have a total of about $ 4 trillion of assets , are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s more than quadruple the funds ’ reported $ 1.53 trillion shortfall .
This huge difference stems mostly from different assumptions about interest rates and different ways of calculating how much money a fund needs to have on hand today to meet a future obligation .
A public pension fund comes up with how much it needs to have on hand today based on the income it expects to earn on its portfolio .
Corporate pension funds engage in the same process , but they are required to make far less optimistic assumptions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ money to meet that obligation if the money were invested at the interest rate on high quality , long-term risk-free bonds .
Let me give you one example of the difference .
If a pension fund expects to pay someone $ 10,000 in 10 years and anticipates it will earn 7 % a year , compounded , today ’ s cost of that benefit — what numbers crunchers call its “ present value ” — shows up on its books as a liability of $ 5,083 .
If , however , the fund @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year , which is about the rate that corporate pension funds use these days , the fund would need to set aside $ 7,441 .
All of this is leading private and public pension funds to take on more risk .
“ When yields are low , you go looking for income somewhere else , ” Zion told me .
That means putting money into stocks and various aggressive ( and high-cost ) Wall Street schemes such as private equity and venture capital funds .
In addition , some public pension funds are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ financial types call “ spread income ” by investing the borrowed money in assets whose returns exceed the funds ’ borrowing costs .
“ When the risk-free rate is zero and you need seven , that ’ s what prompts plans to move outside their traditional comfort zones , ” Steve Foresti , chief investment officer of Wilshire Consulting , said .
Foresti , who advises numerous public pension funds , says that the use of borrowed money , alternative investments and such began getting more popular about a decade ago .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rates to near zero and has pretty much kept them there .
One prominent example of a fund trying to borrow its way out of trouble is the California Public Employees ’ Retirement System ( CalPERS ) , the nation ’ s largest government pension fund .
It ’ s considering borrowing up to $ 55 billion more than it has already borrowed , hoping that its return on the assets it will buy with that borrowed money exceeds what it will pay in interest .
The fund , which says it currently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ money for which it ’ s paying an average interest rate of 0.18 % , now has authority to borrow up to 20 % of its assets .
That ’ s roughly $ 80 billion .
CalPERS says borrowing has helped it because it ’ s been earning more on the assets it bought with the borrowed money than the interest it ’ s paying .
“ It ’ s a moderate use of leverage .
We will do it opportunistically and gradually , ” Marcie Frost , CalPERS ’ chief executive , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up our capital for a long time .
…We are able to be opportunistic.
” However , as Frost readily acknowledges , “ Leverage can exacerbate your losses.
” Or let ’ s look at another big fund , the Teacher Retirement System of Texas , which last year lowered the assumed rate of return on its investment portfolio to 7.25 % from the previous 8 % .
Among other things , that lower assumption is indirectly responsible for teachers , school districts and the state of Texas having to increase their future @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fund having to slash future benefits .
Jase Auby , TRS ’ chief investment officer , says the fund has been borrowing 4 % of its assets for about a year .
The idea , he said , is “ to diversify away from equity risk ” — the danger that stock prices will fall — caused by low interest rates .
“ Equity risk is greater because interest rates are low , ” he said .
The fund says its borrowing cost is currently about 0.25 % a year .
TRS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by its borrowings , but it ’ s ahead so far because its total fund return has exceeded its borrowing costs .
If , however , the value of the assets bought with the borrowed money goes down , the fund obviously will be worse off than if it hadn ’ t borrowed the money .
By forcing bond yields down sharply and helping drive up stock prices , the Fed ’ s low-interest rate regime has made 401 ( k ) and 403 ( b ) and other individual retirement accounts more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the market values of both stocks and bonds .
However , these low rates are now exposing those individual accounts to considerably more risk than if stock prices were lower and bond yields higher .
Why do I say this ?
Because high stock prices can fall — we ’ ve had two 50 % market drops in the past 20 years — and low-yielding Treasury securities will lose value if interest rates move higher .
How can U.S. Treasury securities lose value , given that the federal government can create as many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ redeem its obligations ?
Let ’ s say that you spend $ 10,000 to buy a 10-year Treasury note yielding 0.76 % , the current rate .
You ’ d collect $ 76 in interest a year , $ 760 over the issue ’ s lifetime , before getting your $ 10,000 back in 2030 .
But let ’ s say that a year from now , despite Fed Chair Powell ’ s predictions , the rate on such a security has risen to 1.76 % , around where it was for parts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of your now-nine-year security would be only about $ 9,174 , according to my handy-dandy online bond calculator .
That $ 826 decline in value is more than the total interest you stand to collect over the Treasury note ’ s lifetime .
You can take your loss directly by selling your security , or you can take it indirectly by collecting $ 76 of annual interest for 9 years rather than the $ 176 that holders of market-rate securities would be getting .
I ’ d love to be able to quote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s side of all of this .
Alas , none of the people I ’ ve talked with or approached , some of whom I ’ ve known for years , are willing to be quoted by name .
Privately , various Fedniks past and present readily agree that there are serious downsides to what the Fed has been doing since then-chair Ben Bernanke ( who declined , through a spokeswoman , to talk with me ) first cut rates to near zero in 2008 and successfully ended the stock market meltdown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also familiar with the risks that ultralow rates pose to the retirement system and the impact these rates have on economic inequality by sharply raising the values of financial assets , which are owned disproportionately by high-net-worth people , while doing relatively little for the less well off .
But they won ’ t talk about it publicly .
Still , the issue needs to be recognized .
If we don ’ t do something to offset the damage to our retirement system , today ’ s problems could end up looking like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ future holds .
The Federal Reserve Is “ Fighting The Last Battle ” Why The Federal Reserve Chose Trump Over Hillary In 2016 Dr. Thomas DiLorenzo : From Hamilton ’ s Curse To Lincoln ’ s Tyranny To The Federal Reserve Of Today Federal Reserve Banking Terrorist : We Need Another Lockdown To “ Save ” The Economy More Criminal Fascism : Federal Reserve POMO Schedule For Next Two Weeks – Will Buy $ 9 Billion In Treasurys & MBS Each Day The founders of the US also believed debt to be an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the many reasons they rejected Alexander Hamilton ’ s appeal for a central bank .
A departure from principle becomes a precedent for a second ; that second for a third ; and so on , till the bulk of society is reduced to mere automatons of misery , to have no sensibilities left but for sinning and suffering… And the fore horse of this frightful team is public debt .
Taxation follows that , and in its train wretchedness and oppression .
-Thomas Jefferson I go on the principle that a public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a Republican Government a greater curse than any other .
– James Madison We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt .
– Thomas Jefferson Avoid occasions of expense .
.
.
and avoid likewise the accumulation of debt not only by shunning occasions of expense but by vigorous exertions to discharge the debts , not throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear .
– George Washington When you run in debt ; you give to another power over your liberty .
– Benjamin Franklin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of public debts in other countries ought to admonish us to be careful to prevent their growth in our own .
– John Adams Nothing is so well calculated to produce a death-like torpor in the country as an extended system of taxation and a great national debt .
– William Cobbett The burden of the national debt consists not in its being so many millions , or so many hundred millions , but in the quantity of taxes collected every year to pay the interest .
If this quantity continue the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the same to all intents and purposes , be the capital more or less .
-Thomas Paine No nation ought to be without a debt .
A national debt is a national bond ; and when it bears no interest , is in no case a grievance .
– Thomas Paine Even Hamilton , wanting a central bank , had to acknowledge debt was a terrible thing against liberty .
Allow a government to decline paying its debts and you overthrow all public morality — you unhinge all the principles that preserve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ affect national prosperity than a constant and systematic attention to extinguish the present debt and to avoid as much as possibly the incurring of any new debt .
-Alexander Hamilton Article posted with permission from Sons of Liberty Media

The one thing overlooked by people who claim the US has had a great economy, including President Donald Trump, is the fact that it is all based on debt, and when you have a debt-based economy, it is never “great.” It’s a curse (Proverbs 22:7; Deuteronomy 28:15,43,44; Proverbs 17:18). Sadly, many are about to learn the hard way how they have been lied to by administration after administration, including the current one led by the self-professed “king of debt,” Donald Trump.
ProPublica reports:
The Federal Reserve, which these days seems to be the only major part of the federal government capable of operating drama-free, has done a lot to help keep our economy afloat. It has cut interest rates to unprecedented low levels, bought billions of dollars of corporate IOUs, helped stabilize the debt markets and helped rescue a stock market that had begun falling sharply in mid-February when the COVID-19 recession started and that seemed headed for a crash.
In the process, the Fed has indirectly provided support to house prices and to the vital home construction business by forcing down mortgage interest rates to all-time lows of about 3%. Given that home equity is a major asset for many middle-class Americans, supporting home prices is especially important. As is supporting the home construction industry, which is a major source of blue-collar jobs.
But if you dig deeper, you’ll see that the Fed is unintentionally worsening economic inequality by providing the most help to Americans who are least in need of it. And it’s also putting stress on the middle class’ most important asset: retirement benefits.
Higher stock prices are great for people (including me) who own a lot of stocks, but those people are primarily the top 10% of the country, in terms of wealth. According to Fed statistics, more than half of stocks — 52% — are owned by the wealthiest 1% of Americans, and 88% are owned by the top 10%.
To show you a different aspect of helping the upper class but not the working class, the Fed’s securities purchases include buying debt issued by firms that are laying off workers while paying substantial dividends to shareholders. And for some imprudent or troubled corporate borrowers, the Fed’s moves have been hugely helpful.
But those moves are hurting prudent savers of modest means by greatly reducing the income they can earn on Treasury securities and other no-risk investments such as bank certificates of deposit. That tends to drive people seeking income into the stock market, where their capital is at risk. By contrast, if you buy a Treasury security, you’re sure of getting your money back when the security comes due, even though the security’s market value will fluctuate both up and down while you hold it.
Interest rates are so low that they’ve largely erased the key benefit — income — Treasury bonds are theoretically supposed to provide over stocks. If you own a low-cost Standard & Poor’s 500 index fund, you’re getting much more income from dividends than the interest you’d earn having the same amount invested in a 10-year Treasury note. For example, the dividend yield (a year’s worth of dividends divided by the current market price) on Admiral shares of Vanguard’s S&P 500 fund is more than double the interest yield of a 10-year Treasury. It’s even higher than the yield on a 30-year Treasury bond, something that you rarely see.
The yield on the Vanguard fund was 1.65% as of Sept. 30, the most recent available date. As I write this, the yield on a 10-year Treasury, the security it generally makes the most sense for a retail investor to buy and hold to maturity, was 0.76%. The yield on the 30-year Treasury was 1.56%.
Despite its good intentions, the Fed is setting the stage for huge problems down the road for pension funds and, therefore, for potential pension recipients. There are also going to be problems for insurance companies and for other firms onto which many corporate employers have offloaded their pension obligations in order to clean up their balance sheets and minimize their future financial risks.
The firms that have assumed the responsibility for paying these pensions typically own bond-heavy portfolios. And while bond prices have risen because interest rates have fallen — I’ll explain how that works some other day — rates seem much more likely to rise from their current low levels in the future than to fall even lower. And when rates rise, it will decrease the market value of the bonds held by the firms that have assumed responsibility for paying pensions.
What it all adds up to: The Fed is trying to salvage the present by pumping trillions of dollars into the U.S. and world financial systems but in the process is putting our economic future at risk. “We’re bailing out the present and making the future pay for it,” said Gene Steuerle, a co-founder of the Tax Policy Center.
Please note that I’m not blaming the Fed for what it’s doing. It’s trying to fulfill its mandate to keep employment high, inflation relatively low, the dollar reasonably stable and interest rates at what it considers an appropriate level. The Fed’s job, which is already difficult in strange and uncertain economic times like these, is being made much harder by the lack of new economic stimulus packages from Congress and the White House. These packages, as we saw when they were in effect earlier this year, not only help individuals but also stimulate the economy when recipients spend the money they’ve gotten.
The Fed, by contrast, can help the financial markets and the economy but can’t directly help individual people.
Now, let me show you how the Fed’s near-zero rates, the culmination of a dozen years of ultralow rates and which Fed Chair Jerome Powell says will continue indefinitely, are undermining the long-range future of the U.S. retirement system. This matters — a lot — because Fed statistics show that retirement benefits (not including Social Security) are hugely important to the middle class.
Prof. Edward Wolff of New York University, who specializes in studying income and wealth inequality, told me that Fed statistics show that pension wealth accounts for 70.3% of the net worth of the middle class, which he defines as people ranking in the 20^th^ through 80^th^ percentiles in terms of wealth. By contrast, he said, retirement benefits are only 2.2% of the upper class’ wealth.
This makes the middle class particularly vulnerable to rising rates in the future. Let’s take this piece by piece.
For starters, near-zero rates are making the financial problems of the already-stressed Social Security system worse than they would otherwise be by sharply reducing the interest that Social Security can earn on its $2.9 trillion trust fund. That trust fund consists entirely of Treasury securities and is legally barred from owning stocks. That means that the fund’s interest yield is falling and it’s not benefiting from the 50% rise in stock prices since the market bottomed on March 23.
The near-zero rates also affect private pensions. David Zion of Zion Research estimates that the pension funds of the Standard & Poor’s 500 companies, which he says were underfunded by a total of $279 billion at the end of 2019, were underfunded by $407 billion as of June 30. “The main driver of the increase is lower interest rates,” he said. (I’ll explain the math behind lower rates raising pensions’ underfunding in a bit.)
Large as it is, the S&P companies’ total shortfall is only a fraction of the underfunding afflicting state and local government pension funds. Keith Brainard, director of research for the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, estimates that the 5,332 retirement funds sponsored by state and local governments were $1.96 trillion underwater as of June 30, the most recent available number, up from $1.90 trillion as of year-end 2019. This has happened, he said, even though the funds’ assets totaled about $4.65 trillion, an all-time high.
What’s more, if you use dispassionate math rather than the generous accounting principles that public pension funds are allowed to use, you see that lower long-term interest rates are doing much more damage to these funds’ financial status than the numbers from Brainard’s organization suggest. For instance, Steve Church of Piscataqua Research estimates that the shortfalls of the 127 public pension funds that he follows, which have a total of about $4 trillion of assets, are about $7.44 trillion. That’s more than quadruple the funds’ reported $1.53 trillion shortfall.
This huge difference stems mostly from different assumptions about interest rates and different ways of calculating how much money a fund needs to have on hand today to meet a future obligation. A public pension fund comes up with how much it needs to have on hand today based on the income it expects to earn on its portfolio. Corporate pension funds engage in the same process, but they are required to make far less optimistic assumptions. They have to set aside enough money to meet that obligation if the money were invested at the interest rate on high quality, long-term risk-free bonds.
Let me give you one example of the difference. If a pension fund expects to pay someone $10,000 in 10 years and anticipates it will earn 7% a year, compounded, today’s cost of that benefit — what numbers crunchers call its “present value” — shows up on its books as a liability of $5,083. If, however, the fund predicts it will receive 3% per year, which is about the rate that corporate pension funds use these days, the fund would need to set aside $7,441.
All of this is leading private and public pension funds to take on more risk. “When yields are low, you go looking for income somewhere else,” Zion told me.
That means putting money into stocks and various aggressive (and high-cost) Wall Street schemes such as private equity and venture capital funds.
In addition, some public pension funds are borrowing money to try to earn what financial types call “spread income” by investing the borrowed money in assets whose returns exceed the funds’ borrowing costs. “When the risk-free rate is zero and you need seven, that’s what prompts plans to move outside their traditional comfort zones,” Steve Foresti, chief investment officer of Wilshire Consulting, said.
Foresti, who advises numerous public pension funds, says that the use of borrowed money, alternative investments and such began getting more popular about a decade ago. That’s about when the Fed knocked rates to near zero and has pretty much kept them there.
One prominent example of a fund trying to borrow its way out of trouble is the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), the nation’s largest government pension fund. It’s considering borrowing up to $55 billion more than it has already borrowed, hoping that its return on the assets it will buy with that borrowed money exceeds what it will pay in interest.
The fund, which says it currently has about $25 billion of borrowed money for which it’s paying an average interest rate of 0.18%, now has authority to borrow up to 20% of its assets. That’s roughly $80 billion. CalPERS says borrowing has helped it because it’s been earning more on the assets it bought with the borrowed money than the interest it’s paying.
“It’s a moderate use of leverage. We will do it opportunistically and gradually,” Marcie Frost, CalPERS’ chief executive, told me. “We can tie up our capital for a long time. …We are able to be opportunistic.” However, as Frost readily acknowledges, “Leverage can exacerbate your losses.”
Or let’s look at another big fund, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, which last year lowered the assumed rate of return on its investment portfolio to 7.25% from the previous 8%. Among other things, that lower assumption is indirectly responsible for teachers, school districts and the state of Texas having to increase their future contributions to the pension fund to avoid the fund having to slash future benefits.
Jase Auby, TRS’ chief investment officer, says the fund has been borrowing 4% of its assets for about a year. The idea, he said, is “to diversify away from equity risk” — the danger that stock prices will fall — caused by low interest rates. “Equity risk is greater because interest rates are low,” he said.
The fund says its borrowing cost is currently about 0.25% a year. TRS says there were no specific assets financed by its borrowings, but it’s ahead so far because its total fund return has exceeded its borrowing costs. If, however, the value of the assets bought with the borrowed money goes down, the fund obviously will be worse off than if it hadn’t borrowed the money.
By forcing bond yields down sharply and helping drive up stock prices, the Fed’s low-interest rate regime has made 401(k) and 403(b) and other individual retirement accounts more valuable — for now — by boosting the market values of both stocks and bonds.
However, these low rates are now exposing those individual accounts to considerably more risk than if stock prices were lower and bond yields higher.
Why do I say this? Because high stock prices can fall — we’ve had two 50% market drops in the past 20 years — and low-yielding Treasury securities will lose value if interest rates move higher.
How can U.S. Treasury securities lose value, given that the federal government can create as many dollars as it needs in order to redeem its obligations? Let’s say that you spend $10,000 to buy a 10-year Treasury note yielding 0.76%, the current rate. You’d collect $76 in interest a year, $760 over the issue’s lifetime, before getting your $10,000 back in 2030.
But let’s say that a year from now, despite Fed Chair Powell’s predictions, the rate on such a security has risen to 1.76%, around where it was for parts of last year. The market value of your now-nine-year security would be only about $9,174, according to my handy-dandy online bond calculator. That $826 decline in value is more than the total interest you stand to collect over the Treasury note’s lifetime. You can take your loss directly by selling your security, or you can take it indirectly by collecting $76 of annual interest for 9 years rather than the $176 that holders of market-rate securities would be getting.
I’d love to be able to quote Fed people to give you the Fed’s side of all of this. Alas, none of the people I’ve talked with or approached, some of whom I’ve known for years, are willing to be quoted by name.
Privately, various Fedniks past and present readily agree that there are serious downsides to what the Fed has been doing since then-chair Ben Bernanke (who declined, through a spokeswoman, to talk with me) first cut rates to near zero in 2008 and successfully ended the stock market meltdown and financial panic.
These Fedniks are also familiar with the risks that ultralow rates pose to the retirement system and the impact these rates have on economic inequality by sharply raising the values of financial assets, which are owned disproportionately by high-net-worth people, while doing relatively little for the less well off.
But they won’t talk about it publicly.
Still, the issue needs to be recognized. If we don’t do something to offset the damage to our retirement system, today’s problems could end up looking like a rounding error compared to what the future holds.
The founders of the US also believed debt to be an awful thing, which was one of the many reasons they rejected Alexander Hamilton’s appeal for a central bank.
A departure from principle becomes a precedent for a second; that second for a third; and so on, till the bulk of society is reduced to mere automatons of misery, to have no sensibilities left but for sinning and suffering… And the fore horse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression. -Thomas Jefferson
I go on the principle that a public debt is a public curse, and in a Republican Government a greater curse than any other. – James Madison
We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. – Thomas Jefferson
Avoid occasions of expense. . . and avoid likewise the accumulation of debt not only by shunning occasions of expense but by vigorous exertions to discharge the debts, not throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear. – George Washington
When you run in debt; you give to another power over your liberty. – Benjamin Franklin
The consequences arising from the continual accumulation of public debts in other countries ought to admonish us to be careful to prevent their growth in our own. – John Adams
Nothing is so well calculated to produce a death-like torpor in the country as an extended system of taxation and a great national debt. – William Cobbett
The burden of the national debt consists not in its being so many millions, or so many hundred millions, but in the quantity of taxes collected every year to pay the interest. If this quantity continue the same, the burden of the national debt is the same to all intents and purposes, be the capital more or less. -Thomas Paine
No nation ought to be without a debt. A national debt is a national bond; and when it bears no interest, is in no case a grievance. – Thomas Paine
Even Hamilton, wanting a central bank, had to acknowledge debt was a terrible thing against liberty.
Allow a government to decline paying its debts and you overthrow all public morality — you unhinge all the principles that preserve the limits of free constitutions.Nothing can more affect national prosperity than a constant and systematic attention to extinguish the present debt and to avoid as much as possibly the incurring of any new debt. -Alexander Hamilton
Article posted with permission from Sons of Liberty Media


thewashingtonstandard--2020-10-23--I Hunt Pedophiles To Bring Them To Justice – Now I’m The One Targeted

I Hunt Pedophiles To Bring Them To Justice – Now I ’ m The One Targeted Pedophilia is growing in our day and we are hearing about it more and more .
In fact , we are hearing about it so much that there are actual media outlets and organizations attempting to claim it is normal , which ties right into the 45 goals of the Communists to take over America .
Lee Garrett is from the UK and has been working for years to find and expose pedophiles and bring them to justice .
Now , he is being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ threatened and threats to take his children .
He joins me to tell what he ’ s doing and how he has now become a target for daring to act .
Lee Garrett was an independent candidate in Blaydon in the UK Parliament elections .
He ’ s a husband , a father , and a clear example of what it means to take information and put it into action for the betterment of his community and his posterity .
Discovering dirty needles out in the open : Partner with us as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : //thesonsofliberty.squarespace.com/membership/ Article posted with permission from Sons of Liberty Media SonsOfLibertyMedia.com , Minds , MeWe , Spreely , Tim Brown is an author and Editor at FreedomOutpost.com GunsInTheNews.com and TheWashingtonStandard.com .
He is husband to his `` more precious than rubies '' wife , father of 10 `` mighty arrows '' , jack of all trades , Christian and lover of liberty .
He resides in the U.S. occupied Great State of South Carolina .
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Follow Tim on Twitter .
Also check him out on Gab Mumbl It and Steemit

Pedophilia is growing in our day and we are hearing about it more and more. In fact, we are hearing about it so much that there are actual media outlets and organizations attempting to claim it is normal, which ties right into the 45 goals of the Communists to take over America. Lee Garrett is from the UK and has been working for years to find and expose pedophiles and bring them to justice. Now, he is being targeted by police, had his life threatened and threats to take his children. He joins me to tell what he’s doing and how he has now become a target for daring to act.
Lee Garrett was an independent candidate in Blaydon in the UK Parliament elections. He’s a husband, a father, and a clear example of what it means to take information and put it into action for the betterment of his community and his posterity.
Articles on Lee’s work.
Guardians of the North & Predator Exposure Documentary
Discovering dirty needles out in the open:
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/gateshead-wardley-pelaw-lee-garrett-13412671
Helping the homeless:
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/rough-sleepers-share-sleeping-bags-15795708
https://sonsoflibertyradio.com
https://sonsoflibertymedia.com
Sons of Liberty Store: https://thesonsofliberty.squarespace.com/
Support us through a donation: https://thesonsofliberty.squarespace.com/donate
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Article posted with permission from Sons of Liberty Media


thewashingtonstandard--2020-10-23--The Sales Job On The Virus That Isn’t There

It ’ s incredible the political maneuvering and sleight of hand that the media , the Center for Disease Control , the World Health Organization and the lying politicians are engaged in to push terroristic fear tactics on the public for the sake of dishonest gain and their fascist approach to enslaving the population under the guise of COVID .
Yet , this is exactly what they are doing .
Everyone has something to gain except the American people , who are those under attack and are the ones of whom are being taken advantage .
Former CBS Healthwatch reporter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rappoport has pulled the curtain back on what he calls “ one of the greatest frauds in modern history ” in several articles .
• Former CBSHealthwatch Reporter : “ ‘ The Virus ’ Is One Of The Greatest Frauds In Modern History ” • Another One Comes Forward “ CBS Reporter : Virus Is One Of The Greatest Frauds !
• The Virus That Isn ’ t There : The Con , The Game & The Hustle • CDC Documents : “ No Quantified Virus Isolates Of The 2019-nCoV are Currently Available @ @ @ @ @ @ @ How CDC/WHO Will Fake Effects Of COVID Vaccine To Make It Look Like A Success Now , Rappoport is pointing out the antics used to sell the American people on the “ virus that isn ’ t there.
” In previous articles [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] , I ’ ve established the fact that the existence of the SARS-CoV-2 is unproven ; and I ’ ve brought forward Dr. Tom Cowan ’ s evidence that the genetic sequence of “ the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from databases , based on zero science .
In other words , the “ sequencing ” was a fraud .
[ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] The chosen direction of the fraud : a coronavirus .
That was the arbitrary choice .
Researchers picked , off the data-shelf , a “ new coronavirus ” —meaning they assembled pieces of genetic code they claimed were “ corona , ” and they hooked them up and said , “ Voila , we have a new SARS-type virus.
” If you look at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exercises and conferences , the theoretical virus almost always turned out to be a coronavirus .
THAT was the pre-ordained story line .
That was the plan .
Selling that story .
Am I suggesting that many , many scientists , and even political leaders and globalist big shots knew , in advance , that no real virus would ever be discovered , that the sequencing would be a fake ?
Of course not .
In every major covert operation , information is compartmentalized .
In this particular operation , we have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the genetic sequencing and the virus are real .
That goes for elite scientists as well .
They ’ re in the dark .
Only a very few are aware that the whole process of cobbling together the “ new virus ” is fraught with fraud .
So , for all intents and purposes , “ the virus ” con is protected .
It ’ s protected by institutionalized science .
By massive consensus and massive ignorance .
The situation is even more stunning than that .
All over the world , there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who believe they ’ re working with “ the virus , ” when they ’ re working with a cobbled-together IDEA of the virus .
So , for the most part , in this COVID operation , the key players are only aware that researchers could arbitrarily choose one virus over another as the “ cause of the pandemic.
” They ’ re not aware that the choice is actually a fake virus .
The choice of a new coronavirus was made for a simple reason .
The diagnostic test would turn up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jacking up case numbers and providing the rationale for the lockdowns and the economic devastation .
Which were , all along , the real aims of the operation .
To put in more specifically , the PCR test would register positive , because it was geared to detect genetic sequences commonly present in people all over the world .
To put it still another way—the PCR test was pre-set with DATA which would “ match ” THE DATA extracted from patients .
The fix was in .
The virus was concocted out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The test was loaded with data that frequently matches the virus-data .
Think of it this way .
You have a map of a lost gold mine .
It seems to chart a course through the mountains and valleys of California .
Of course , the map is a fake .
It was drawn and made to look old .
You follow the map , and sure enough , in a remote mountain area , you arrive at a giant hole in the side of a hill .
But the hole and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ too .
They ’ re a Potemkin Village .
The tunnel and the braces and the struts were built recently .
In the digital age , any material thing can be digitized .
The material thing is then represented by code .
“ Activate the code ” and a virtual portrait of the thing pops up .
But it ’ s just as easy to invent code for something that doesn ’ t exist .
Or has never been proven to exist .
Pure gold and pure garbage are made interchangeable .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ] • Former CBS Healthwatch Reporter : COVID Is A Fraud , But So Are Trump & Biden • Former CBS Healthwatch Reporter : “ If The Virus Isn ’ t There… Why Do They Believe It Is ?
• Former CBS Healthwatch Reporter Reveals “ Missing Study ” In Coronavirus Narrative – Claims Secret Of Fraud Is In Plain Sight • Former CBS Healthwatch Reporter : Phony Test , Dangerous Drugs – Trump Is Poster Boy For COVID-19 Propaganda • Former CBS HealthWatch Reporter Exposes 16 Step Pattern For How COVID-19 Illusion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : In The Political Battle Over A COVID Vaccine , Your Health Is Of No Concern And there you have it , friends .
The biggest sales pitch on the biggest fraud in history is being sold to you by the pimps of the Big Pharma companies , whether they be politicians or media outlets .
Rappoport isn ’ t the only one saying this .
When it comes to vaccines , Robert F. Kennedy , Jr. has also spoken out on this subject and points out how Big Pharma manipulates the pimps @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr : “ This Is How They Fool You… This Will Effect You More Than The Pandemic ” ( Video ) • Robert F. Kennedy Jr. : The CIA Killed My Father & Uncle – Do Not Trust The Medical Or The National Security Establishment !
• Congress-CDC Sold YOU Out : Robert Kennedy Tells You Everything You Need To Know About Big Pharma And Fake Science !
• Robert Kennedy Jr. : “ Pharmaceutical Drugs Are Now The 3rd Leading Cause Of Death ” In US • @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gate ’ s “ Obsession With Vaccines… Fueled By Messianic Conviction… To Save The World With Technology & God-Like Willingness To Experiment With Lives Of Lesser Humans ” Article posted with permission from Sons of Liberty Media

It’s incredible the political maneuvering and sleight of hand that the media, the Center for Disease Control, the World Health Organization and the lying politicians are engaged in to push terroristic fear tactics on the public for the sake of dishonest gain and their fascist approach to enslaving the population under the guise of COVID. Yet, this is exactly what they are doing. Everyone has something to gain except the American people, who are those under attack and are the ones of whom are being taken advantage.
Former CBS Healthwatch reporter and author of The Matrix Revealed Jon Rappoport has pulled the curtain back on what he calls “one of the greatest frauds in modern history” in several articles.
Now, Rappoport is pointing out the antics used to sell the American people on the “virus that isn’t there.”
Rappoport writes:
In previous articles [1] [2] [3] [4] [5], I’ve established the fact that the existence of the SARS-CoV-2 is unproven; and I’ve brought forward Dr. Tom Cowan’s evidence that the genetic sequence of “the virus” was cobbled together, piecemeal, from databases, based on zero science. In other words, the “sequencing” was a fraud. [6] [7] [8]
The chosen direction of the fraud: a coronavirus. That was the arbitrary choice.
Researchers picked, off the data-shelf, a “new coronavirus”—meaning they assembled pieces of genetic code they claimed were “corona,” and they hooked them up and said, “Voila, we have a new SARS-type virus.”
If you look at the motley collection of pre-pandemic drills and exercises and conferences, the theoretical virus almost always turned out to be a coronavirus. THAT was the pre-ordained story line.
That was the plan. Selling that story.
Am I suggesting that many, many scientists, and even political leaders and globalist big shots knew, in advance, that no real virus would ever be discovered, that the sequencing would be a fake? Of course not.
In every major covert operation, information is compartmentalized. In this particular operation, we have a stunning fact: almost everyone automatically believes the genetic sequencing and the virus are real. That goes for elite scientists as well. They’re in the dark.
Only a very few are aware that the whole process of cobbling together the “new virus” is fraught with fraud. So, for all intents and purposes, “the virus” con is protected. It’s protected by institutionalized science. By massive consensus and massive ignorance.
The situation is even more stunning than that. All over the world, there are scientists in labs of various kinds who believe they’re working with “the virus,” when they’re working with a cobbled-together IDEA of the virus.
So, for the most part, in this COVID operation, the key players are only aware that researchers could arbitrarily choose one virus over another as the “cause of the pandemic.” They’re not aware that the choice is actually a fake virus.
The choice of a new coronavirus was made for a simple reason. The diagnostic test would turn up huge numbers of false positives, thus jacking up case numbers and providing the rationale for the lockdowns and the economic devastation. Which were, all along, the real aims of the operation.
To put in more specifically, the PCR test would register positive, because it was geared to detect genetic sequences commonly present in people all over the world.
To put it still another way—the PCR test was pre-set with DATA which would “match” THE DATA extracted from patients. The fix was in.
The virus was concocted out of data. It was and is data. The test was loaded with data that frequently matches the virus-data.
Think of it this way. You have a map of a lost gold mine. It seems to chart a course through the mountains and valleys of California. Of course, the map is a fake. It was drawn and made to look old.
You follow the map, and sure enough, in a remote mountain area, you arrive at a giant hole in the side of a hill. But the hole and the “mine” are fake, too. They’re a Potemkin Village. The tunnel and the braces and the struts were built recently.
The “map” matches “the mine.” Fake leads to fake.
In the digital age, any material thing can be digitized. The material thing is then represented by code. “Activate the code” and a virtual portrait of the thing pops up. But it’s just as easy to invent code for something that doesn’t exist. Or has never been proven to exist.
Like SARS-CoV-2.
Pure gold and pure garbage are made interchangeable. In the form of DATA. [9]
SOURCES:
[1] https://blog.nomorefakenews.com/2020/10/08/the-smoking-gun-where-is-the-coronavirus-the-cdc-says-it-isnt-available/
[2] https://blog.nomorefakenews.com/2020/10/09/covid-the-virus-that-isnt-there-the-root-fraud-exposed/
[3] https://blog.nomorefakenews.com/2020/10/12/the-fake-coronavirus-and-the-missing-study-the-secret-in-plain-sight/
[4] https://blog.nomorefakenews.com/2020/10/13/yet-another-case-of-the-missing-virus-they-lied-and-locked-down-the-world/
[5] https://blog.nomorefakenews.com/2020/10/15/if-the-virus-isnt-there-why-do-they-believe-it-is/
[6] https://drtomcowan.com/only-poisoned-monkey-kidney-cells-grew-the-virus/
[7] http://blog.nomorefakenews.com/2020/10/19/dr-tom-cowan-explores-the-covid-virus-invented-out-of-sheer-nonsense/
[8] https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/6/20-0516_article
[9] https://blog.nomorefakenews.com/2020/10/22/the-virus-that-isnt-there-genetic-sequencing-and-the-magic-trick/
And there you have it, friends. The biggest sales pitch on the biggest fraud in history is being sold to you by the pimps of the Big Pharma companies, whether they be politicians or media outlets.
Rappoport isn’t the only one saying this. When it comes to vaccines, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has also spoken out on this subject and points out how Big Pharma manipulates the pimps for their drugs (Revelation 18:23).
Article posted with permission from Sons of Liberty Media


thewashingtonstandard--2020-10-23--The Only People Jailed 10 Years After The Iraq War Logs Are Those Who Exposed War Crimes

The Only People Jailed 10 Years After The Iraq War Logs Are Those Who Exposed War Crimes Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange and a clearly mentally disturbed Bradley Manning seem to be the ones under arrest and imprisoned , even though they divulged information that the united States federal government was engaged in war crimes due largely to the lies about Iraq under the George W. Bush administration .
On October 22 , 2010 , WikiLeaks published the Iraq War Logs , a colossal compendium of nearly 400,000 classified U.S. Army field reports revealing what founder Julian Assange called “ intimate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and other serious human rights abuses perpetrated by American and coalition troops , private contractors , and Iraqi government and paramilitary forces .
It was the largest leak in U.S. military history and a stunned world demanded justice .
However , in the decade since then , only the whistleblowers who revealed the crimes detailed in the logs were ever seriously punished , while the architects and the perpetrators of the atrocities continue to enjoy impunity .
The publication of the Iraq War Logs was the culmination of a year full of WikiLeaks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the so-called War on Terror .
Early in the year , U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning leaked the “ Collateral Murder ” video , which shows U.S. Apache attack helicopter crews laughing and joking while massacring a group of Iraqi civilians , including journalists , and shooting children .
In July 2010 , WikiLeaks published the Afghan War Logs , which contained over 75,000 classified Army reports detailing war crimes committed by coalition forces in Afghanistan .
None of the Bush or Obama administration officials who planned or executed the illegal war @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or even rank-and-file troops connected with any of the crimes revealed in the logs , were ever seriously punished .
The whistleblowers , on the other hand , suffered tremendously for exposing the truth .
Both Manning and Assange were charged under the 1917 Espionage Act .
Manning was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to 35 years in prison , although her sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama just before he left office in January 2017 .
Assange is today imprisoned in Britain ’ s notorious Belmarsh Prison as he awaits possible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he faces up to 175 years behind bars , most likely in a supermax facility a former warden described as a “ fate worse than death.
” Both Assange and Manning have suffered abuse that prominent human rights advocates have called torture .
The aggressive prosecution of Manning and Assange is a deliberate attempt to silence would-be whistleblowers , says Marjorie Cohn , professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego and a former president of the National Lawyers Guild .
“ The Obama administration charged Chelsea Manning , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to extradite Julian Assange , in an attempt to punish the messengers to obscure the message and protect the real culprits , ” Cohn told Common Dreams .
“ Their prosecutions are calculated to chill the willingness of would-be whistleblowers to reveal , and journalists and media outlets to publish , material critical of U.S. policy.
” “ WikiLeaks ’ publication of the Afghan War Logs , however , has led to the opening of a war crimes investigation of U.S. leaders in the International Criminal Court , ” Cohn noted .
Asked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would improve if Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden defeats President Donald Trump next month , Cohn said that “ Biden is more likely to follow Obama ’ s policy—he refrained from prosecuting Assange because [ the administration ] couldn ’ t distinguish between what WikiLeaks did and what what The New York Times , The Guardian , Le Monde , Der Spiegel and El País also did—than Trump ’ s. ” “ Assange ’ s lawyers think he faces a worse fate if Trump is reelected , ” she added .
Cohn said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in silencing whistleblowers as it intended .
Although there haven ’ t been any Mannings , Assanges , or Edward Snowdens of late , “ last year a whistleblower in the intelligence community revealed evidence of Trump using the power of his office to solicit foreign interference in the 2020 election .
And in May , another whistleblower complained that some federal Covid-19 vaccine contracts were awarded based on political connections.
” “ If Assange successfully resists extradition or escapes a conviction if he is extradited to the U.S. for trial , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when they see evidence of criminal government activity , ” said Cohn .
“ That ’ s one of the reasons it ’ s so critical to oppose the U.S. government ’ s persecution of Assange.
” The Iraq War Logs comprised a staggering collection of documents offering an unprecedented inside look at the U.S. war and occupation , then in its eighth year .
The bombshell revelations contained in the 391,832 Army field reports showed that : • Coalition officials lied about not recording the number of Iraqi civilians killed by coalition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ we don ’ t do body counts ” in the early days of the U.S.-led invasion , and Bush administration and Pentagon officials repeatedly said they did not track civilian casualties .
• Some 66,000 of the 109,000 total Iraqi deaths recorded by U.S. authorities from 2004 to 2009 were civilians .
• These figures were still likely an undercount of the true civilian death toll ; for example , no civilian deaths are recorded from the two brutal battles for Fallujah in 2004 , although the monitor group Iraq Body Count @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and children died .
• U.S. troops often falsely claimed that civilians they killed were insurgents , as was the case with the “ Collateral Murder ” video .
• U.S. troops killed nearly 700 civilians—including pregnant women and people with mental illness—for coming too close to checkpoints .
• American and other foreign mercenaries and contractors killed many Iraqi civilians .
• U.S. officials failed to investigate hundreds of reports of torture , rape , murder , and other crimes committed by Iraqi security forces with impunity .
• American forces @ @ @ @ @ @ @ detainees to Iraqi forces known for murder , torture , and other atrocities , including the notorious Wolf Brigade .
“ The stated aims for going into that war , of improving the human rights situation , improving the rule of law , did not eventuate , ” Assange said at the time .
“ In terms of raw numbers of people arbitrarily killed , [ that ] worsened the situation in Iraq.
” International media published many of the leaked documents , sparking global outrage and condemnation of the United States and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. corporate media , however , downplayed and whitewashed the American lies and war crimes revealed in the logs and instead focused on revelations of Iranian involvement in Iraq and abuses committed by private contractors and Iraqi forces .
Almost immediately , the U.S. government went into attack mode .
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the release , claiming—apparently without irony—that it “ puts the lives of United States and its partners ’ service members and civilians at risk.
” Assange rightfully countered that there was no evidence anyone was harmed by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ national was widely condemned in the U.S. , with prominent Republicans and others—including a television game show host and businessman named Donald Trump—calling for his execution .
Meanwhile , U.S. military leaders kept on lying .
Gen. George Casey insited that U.S. policy “ all along was if American soldiers encountered prisoner abuse , to stop it and report it immediately up the U.S. chain of command and up the Iraqi chain of command.
” The horrific torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib prison and throughout Iraq tell a very different—and often deadly—truth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our military or federal government or detest Iraq , the fact remains that crimes were committed and the G.W .
Bush and Obama administrations swept it under the rug and attacked men who tried to expose those crimes .
The Trump administration is no better having continued the targeting of Assange and Manning .
The real criminals are those in our government and I don ’ t know what it ’ s going to take for the people of the US to pull the scales from their eyes and begin to bring justice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ involved .
Article posted with permission from Sons of Liberty Media

The Only People Jailed 10 Years After The Iraq War Logs Are Those Who Exposed War Crimes
Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange and a clearly mentally disturbed Bradley Manning seem to be the ones under arrest and imprisoned, even though they divulged information that the united States federal government was engaged in war crimes due largely to the lies about Iraq under the George W. Bush administration.
Brett Wilkins reports:
On October 22, 2010, WikiLeaks published the Iraq War Logs, a colossal compendium of nearly 400,000 classified U.S. Army field reports revealing what founder Julian Assange called “intimate details” of the war—including war crimes and other serious human rights abuses perpetrated by American and coalition troops, private contractors, and Iraqi government and paramilitary forces.
It was the largest leak in U.S. military history and a stunned world demanded justice. However, in the decade since then, only the whistleblowers who revealed the crimes detailed in the logs were ever seriously punished, while the architects and the perpetrators of the atrocities continue to enjoy impunity.
The publication of the Iraq War Logs was the culmination of a year full of WikiLeaks revelations regarding U.S. and allied conduct during the so-called War on Terror. Early in the year, U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning leaked the “Collateral Murder” video, which shows U.S. Apache attack helicopter crews laughing and joking while massacring a group of Iraqi civilians, including journalists, and shooting children.
In July 2010, WikiLeaks published the Afghan War Logs, which contained over 75,000 classified Army reports detailing war crimes committed by coalition forces in Afghanistan.
None of the Bush or Obama administration officials who planned or executed the illegal war, nor any of the field commanders or even rank-and-file troops connected with any of the crimes revealed in the logs, were ever seriously punished.
The whistleblowers, on the other hand, suffered tremendously for exposing the truth. Both Manning and Assange were charged under the 1917 Espionage Act. Manning was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to 35 years in prison, although her sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama just before he left office in January 2017.
Assange is today imprisoned in Britain’s notorious Belmarsh Prison as he awaits possible extradition to the United States, where he faces up to 175 years behind bars, most likely in a supermax facility a former warden described as a “fate worse than death.”
Both Assange and Manning have suffered abuse that prominent human rights advocates have called torture.
Julian Assange on the power of the accused. Tune in to the #BelmarshTribunal now: https://t.co/rWU9k3QhRk Video courtesy of @wikileaks. pic.twitter.com/jOB6TEfxv3 — Progressive International (@ProgIntl) October 2, 2020
The aggressive prosecution of Manning and Assange is a deliberate attempt to silence would-be whistleblowers, says Marjorie Cohn, professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego and a former president of the National Lawyers Guild.
“The Obama administration charged Chelsea Manning, and the Trump administration indicted and is trying to extradite Julian Assange, in an attempt to punish the messengers to obscure the message and protect the real culprits,” Cohn told Common Dreams. “Their prosecutions are calculated to chill the willingness of would-be whistleblowers to reveal, and journalists and media outlets to publish, material critical of U.S. policy.”
“WikiLeaks’ publication of the Afghan War Logs, however, has led to the opening of a war crimes investigation of U.S. leaders in the International Criminal Court,” Cohn noted.
.@theCCR's @katherga1 opens today's args in historic #ICC Appeals Chamber hearing on investigation of crimes against humanity, war crimes committed in Afghanistan & States Parties with a nexus to the armed conflict. Video now available here: https://t.co/28vCUrSiYp pic.twitter.com/qNtLLIQw01 — The CCR (@theCCR) December 4, 2019
Asked whether Assange’s prospects for freedom would improve if Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden defeats President Donald Trump next month, Cohn said that “Biden is more likely to follow Obama’s policy—he refrained from prosecuting Assange because [the administration] couldn’t distinguish between what WikiLeaks did and what what The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and El País also did—than Trump’s.”
“Assange’s lawyers think he faces a worse fate if Trump is reelected,” she added.
Cohn said the government hasn’t been successful in silencing whistleblowers as it intended. Although there haven’t been any Mannings, Assanges, or Edward Snowdens of late, “last year a whistleblower in the intelligence community revealed evidence of Trump using the power of his office to solicit foreign interference in the 2020 election. And in May, another whistleblower complained that some federal Covid-19 vaccine contracts were awarded based on political connections.”
“If Assange successfully resists extradition or escapes a conviction if he is extradited to the U.S. for trial, that would encourage future whistleblowers to come forward when they see evidence of criminal government activity,” said Cohn. “That’s one of the reasons it’s so critical to oppose the U.S. government’s persecution of Assange.”
The Iraq War Logs comprised a staggering collection of documents offering an unprecedented inside look at the U.S. war and occupation, then in its eighth year. The bombshell revelations contained in the 391,832 Army field reports showed that:
Coalition officials lied about not recording the number of Iraqi civilians killed by coalition forces—Gen. Tommy Franks infamously declared that “we don’t do body counts” in the early days of the U.S.-led invasion, and Bush administration and Pentagon officials repeatedly said they did not track civilian casualties.
Some 66,000 of the 109,000 total Iraqi deaths recorded by U.S. authorities from 2004 to 2009 were civilians.
These figures were still likely an undercount of the true civilian death toll; for example, no civilian deaths are recorded from the two brutal battles for Fallujah in 2004, although the monitor group Iraq Body Count said at least 1,153 men, women, and children died.
U.S. troops often falsely claimed that civilians they killed were insurgents, as was the case with the “Collateral Murder” video.
U.S. troops killed nearly 700 civilians—including pregnant women and people with mental illness—for coming too close to checkpoints.
American and other foreign mercenaries and contractors killed many Iraqi civilians.
U.S. officials failed to investigate hundreds of reports of torture, rape, murder, and other crimes committed by Iraqi security forces with impunity.
American forces often handed over suspected insurgents and other detainees to Iraqi forces known for murder, torture, and other atrocities, including the notorious Wolf Brigade.
“The stated aims for going into that war, of improving the human rights situation, improving the rule of law, did not eventuate,” Assange said at the time. “In terms of raw numbers of people arbitrarily killed, [that] worsened the situation in Iraq.”
International media published many of the leaked documents, sparking global outrage and condemnation of the United States and the already tremendously unpopular war. The U.S. corporate media, however, downplayed and whitewashed the American lies and war crimes revealed in the logs and instead focused on revelations of Iranian involvement in Iraq and abuses committed by private contractors and Iraqi forces.
Almost immediately, the U.S. government went into attack mode. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the release, claiming—apparently without irony—that it “puts the lives of United States and its partners’ service members and civilians at risk.”
Assange rightfully countered that there was no evidence anyone was harmed by the leaks. Regardless, the Australian national was widely condemned in the U.S., with prominent Republicans and others—including a television game show host and businessman named Donald Trump—calling for his execution.
Meanwhile, U.S. military leaders kept on lying. Gen. George Casey insited that U.S. policy “all along was if American soldiers encountered prisoner abuse, to stop it and report it immediately up the U.S. chain of command and up the Iraqi chain of command.”
The horrific torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib prison and throughout Iraq tell a very different—and often deadly—truth.
Whether you have a love for our military or federal government or detest Iraq, the fact remains that crimes were committed and the G.W. Bush and Obama administrations swept it under the rug and attacked men who tried to expose those crimes. The Trump administration is no better having continued the targeting of Assange and Manning. The real criminals are those in our government and I don’t know what it’s going to take for the people of the US to pull the scales from their eyes and begin to bring justice against their representatives and the un-elected bureaucrats involved.
Article posted with permission from Sons of Liberty Media


thewashingtonstandard--2020-10-23--Activists Build Their Own Facial Recognition System To ID Bad Cops Who Hide Badges

“ Beat them at their own game.
” “ Flip the script.
” “ Give them a taste of their own medicine.
” Any of these phrases will apply to the absolutely ingenious measures taken by activists who are creating their own facial recognition systems to identify cops who hide their badges .
As TFTP reported during the George Floyd protests , across the country , in dozens of cities , cops were doling out unprecedented violence in the face of angry protests stemming from unchecked police brutality .
Though Floyd ’ s death was the flash point of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deeper — systemic abuse by law enforcement of minorities , the poor , and everyone else not directly connected to the establishment .
Countless incidents throughout this unrest involved officers who could not be identified and as a result of their anonymous instigation and violence , there has been no accountability .
In multiple states , police have been seemingly taking measures to avoid this accountability by removing their name tags or covering their badges .
This is in direct violation of most departments ’ policies .
But no politicians , mayors , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ care .
Cops hiding their identification is ominous for two reasons .
The first reason being that they can enact brutality against the innocent and we do not know who they are to hold them accountable .
The second reason is the fact that anyone can dress up like a cop with no badge number and start doing whatever they want , up to and including inciting violence , detaining people , or any other numerous unscrupulous acts .
As we reported at the time , many of these departments appeared to have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to cover their badge numbers and remove their name plates .
This is not acceptable and thanks to a self-taught programmer , Christopher Howell , it no longer has to be .
Howell created a program that identifies cops who were permitted by their supervisors to cover their names while responding to protests .
“ I am involved with developing facial recognition to in fact use on Portland police officers , since they are not identifying themselves to the public , ” Howell told the NY Times .
Because Portland made it illegal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Howell had some barriers to using his software .
However , as the NY Times reports , Portland ’ s mayor , Ted Wheeler , told Mr. Howell that his project was “ a little creepy , ” but a lawyer for the city clarified that the bills would not apply to individuals .
The Council then passed the legislation in a unanimous vote .
“ There ’ s a lot of excessive force here in Portland , ” Howell told the NY Times .
“ Knowing who the officers are seems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ programmer has since created a system that has led to flipping the script on police accountability .
“ This was , you know , kind of a ‘ shower thought ’ moment for me , and just kind of an intersection of what I know how to do and what my current interests are , ” he said .
“ Accountability is important .
We need to know who is doing what , so we can deal with it.
” Howell is not alone in his pursuit of identifying anonymous cops who can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Colin Cheung , a protester in Hong Kong , had developed a tool to identify police officers using online photos of them .
His technology was so effective that the Chinese government arrested him for it .
As the Times reports , Paolo Cirio published photos of 4,000 faces of French police officers online for an exhibit called “ Capture , ” which he described as the first step in developing a facial recognition app .
He collected the faces from 1,000 photos he had gathered from the internet and from photographers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ folks are getting on board as well .
If the state is willing use facial recognition on innocent citizens , they shouldn ’ t be surprised with the cameras and software begin pointing back at them .

“Beat them at their own game.” “Flip the script.” “Give them a taste of their own medicine.” Any of these phrases will apply to the absolutely ingenious measures taken by activists who are creating their own facial recognition systems to identify cops who hide their badges.
As TFTP reported during the George Floyd protests, across the country, in dozens of cities, cops were doling out unprecedented violence in the face of angry protests stemming from unchecked police brutality. Though Floyd’s death was the flash point of the unrest, the uprising represented something far deeper — systemic abuse by law enforcement of minorities, the poor, and everyone else not directly connected to the establishment. Countless incidents throughout this unrest involved officers who could not be identified and as a result of their anonymous instigation and violence, there has been no accountability.
In multiple states, police have been seemingly taking measures to avoid this accountability by removing their name tags or covering their badges. This is in direct violation of most departments’ policies. But no politicians, mayors, governors, or mainstream media seem to care.
Cops hiding their identification is ominous for two reasons. The first reason being that they can enact brutality against the innocent and we do not know who they are to hold them accountable. The second reason is the fact that anyone can dress up like a cop with no badge number and start doing whatever they want, up to and including inciting violence, detaining people, or any other numerous unscrupulous acts.
As we reported at the time, many of these departments appeared to have been given orders from the top down to cover their badge numbers and remove their name plates. This is not acceptable and thanks to a self-taught programmer, Christopher Howell, it no longer has to be.
Howell created a program that identifies cops who were permitted by their supervisors to cover their names while responding to protests.
“I am involved with developing facial recognition to in fact use on Portland police officers, since they are not identifying themselves to the public,” Howell told the NY Times.
Because Portland made it illegal to use facial recognition against the police, Howell had some barriers to using his software. However, as the NY Times reports, Portland’s mayor, Ted Wheeler, told Mr. Howell that his project was “a little creepy,” but a lawyer for the city clarified that the bills would not apply to individuals. The Council then passed the legislation in a unanimous vote.
“There’s a lot of excessive force here in Portland,” Howell told the NY Times. “Knowing who the officers are seems like a baseline.”
This self-taught computer programmer has since created a system that has led to flipping the script on police accountability.
“This was, you know, kind of a ‘shower thought’ moment for me, and just kind of an intersection of what I know how to do and what my current interests are,” he said. “Accountability is important. We need to know who is doing what, so we can deal with it.”
Howell is not alone in his pursuit of identifying anonymous cops who can dole out violence without fear of retribution.
Colin Cheung, a protester in Hong Kong, had developed a tool to identify police officers using online photos of them. His technology was so effective that the Chinese government arrested him for it.
As the Times reports, Paolo Cirio published photos of 4,000 faces of French police officers online for an exhibit called “Capture,” which he described as the first step in developing a facial recognition app. He collected the faces from 1,000 photos he had gathered from the internet and from photographers who attended protests in France.
Other folks are getting on board as well. If the state is willing use facial recognition on innocent citizens, they shouldn’t be surprised with the cameras and software begin pointing back at them.
Article posted with permission from Matt Agorist


thewashingtonstandard--2020-10-23--An Islamic State Where Wife-Beating is Legal Opens a Feminist Hotel

A feminist hotel whose lobby has a giant portrait of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg made out of “ repurposed tampons ” .
Of all the ways the deceased justice would want to be remembered , a giant tampon portrait likely ranks below being the new Land O ’ Lakes or Aunt Jemima mascot .
But Hotel Zena ’ s incredible commitment to female empowerment also includes a reception desk full of jumbled high heels , giant portraits of female warriors , thousands of feminist protest buttons , and a Wall of Honor that includes Oprah and Hillary Clinton , for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who doesn ’ t come on a business trip to D.C. and then wants to stay overnight in a “ fierce ” atmosphere while being glared at by a mural of a dour Greek goddess in every room ?
The only thing funnier than a “ fierce ” , but “ inviting ” feminist hotel is who ’ s behind it .
Viceroy Hotels & Resorts announced that “ Hotel Zena was created primarily by women , for people , both women and men .
It is a hotel that offers a haven @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sexualities.
” That might nor be quite the attitude of Viceroy ’ s Maldives hotel in a country where Islamic sharia law orders women who have been raped to be lashed .
The Islamic regime made headlines around the world when it ordered a 15-year-old girl to be lashed for having premarital sex .
But then again , 50 % of Viceroy is owned by the Mubadala Investment Company , a sovereign wealth fund in Abu Dhabi .
Its CEO is the grandson of the former top Sharia judge there .
Some 50 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Low , the businessman at the center of Malaysia ’ s 1MDB scandal that dragged in sections of its government and assorted Muslim royals .
The Justice Department seized some of Low ’ s assets and the Abu Dhabi wealth fund was negotiating to buy that 50 % , but it ’ s unclear who now owns the other half of Viceroy .
Viceroy ’ s true hometown in Abu Dhabi is about as feminist as a tampon portrait of RBG .
Women have “ male guardians ” who run their lives and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sharia Court of Appeals found that men have the right to beat their wives .
Female genital mutilation is commonplace , and rape is only a crime for girls under fourteen years old .
Hugging a man without the benefit of marriage however , is a crime .
Foreign tourists who reported being raped were sentenced to prison because they had confessed to extramarital sex .
In other words , it ’ s the usual sort of Sharia setup .
And don ’ t ask about “ sexualities ” .
“ Unnatural sex @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years prison .
That ’ s progressive in a region where Iran hangs gay people .
And it ’ s not the only one dispensing death penalties freely .
All of this is a little awkward for a feminist hotel that boasts of its “ provocative art ” produced by “ feminists of both genders ” who are “ working globally for the cause of human rights ” .
A giant tampon portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a very convenient distraction even if it ’ s not too clear how all those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rights around the world .
The business model is a familiar one .
Take an underwhelming hotel , and renovate it into a “ luxury urban lifestyle hotel ” by throwing lots of bad art , and virtue signaling at every inch of it .
But the investors are often foreign , looking for someplace with potential to put their money .
Last year ’ s reviews for The Donovan mentioned smells , leaks , and dirty toilets .
The hotel had been renamed several times and showed up in the D.C. Madam @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of the accomplishments of female empowerment that the current management would like to celebrate , but you never know ) and then a $ 25 million renovation gave it a feminist makeover .
Now if there are any leaks , visitors will be too distracted by all the feminist virtue signaling .
Washington D.C. is leading the nation in the trend of woke hotels with extremely un-woke owners .
The Eaton Workshop had been previously announced as a woke hotel with crystal healing , politically correct lectures , and bibles replaced with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ linked to a Hong Kong family entangled with Chinese state-owned enterprises .
Like the NBA , Disney , and the rest of the huge corporate titans , woke is reserved for America .
Opening a hotel in D.C. that blathers about oppression or feminism is fine .
It ’ s just marketing to the ruling class of a government town that sees oppressors everywhere except in the mirror .
But don ’ t expect any lectures about human rights in a Hong Kong hotel or feminist tampon portraits in the hotels of Maldives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the difference between virtue and virtue signaling .
So many corporations have been happy to shout , “ Black Lives Matter ” , lecture on “ toxic masculinity ” , ban gun owners , and pro-life activists because that ’ s the official dogma .
Every dot com from Amazon to Spotify will rename Columbus Day , Indigenous Peoples Day , because that ’ s what the ruling class here wants , the way the PRC ’ s ruling class wants Mao portraits .
There ’ s no contradiction between Sharia law in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , or Communist propaganda in Shanghai and Black Lives Matter t-shirts in San Francisco .
It ’ s not about rights , principles , or commitments : it ’ s about power .
That ’ s why shoving the Uighurs in the NBA ’ s face is a great own on Twitter , but not much else .
The NBA doesn ’ t care about rights .
No more than Disney or any corporation shooting off emails about its commitment to racial equality and the millions it ’ s sending to Black Lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ patriotic , corporations also wanted to be seen as patriotic .
But these days most Americans matter about as much as most Chinese or most Venezuelans .
The ruling class has a new set of mores and virtues to distinguish it from the folks , as Obama once put it at a San Francisco fundraiser with George Soros in attendance , bitterly cling to their guns and religion , instead of bitterly clinging to their Black Lives Matter signs and RBG portraits .
The luxury hotels of D.C. cater to the new ruling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Zena Hotel , like the Eaton Workshop or any of the new urban luxury leftist hotels , doesn ’ t represent rights , but the power of the ruling class to repress the rest of the country .
The more obnoxious , crude , hypocritical , and abusive its propaganda , the greater its show of strength .
The propaganda can be about female empowerment , the glories of Maoism or Sharia law , but their real message is in the universal language of the power and preening of the ruling class @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be groped by Biden before checking into a feminist hotel where tampon portraits and murals of female goddesses and warriors make them feel empowered .
It ’ s no different than the Muslim women who claim that Sharia law empowers them .
Empowerment is different from freedom .
Rights provide real freedom while empowerment offers a heady rush .
One is a legal reality and the other is an emotional feeling .
A brief history of the tyranny of the Left is that it substitutes emotions for rights .
Its empowerment doesn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the thrill of power over others .
“ Every architectural line , material and art peinstallation was thoughtfully designed and curated to send a message of female empowerment , ” a story about the Zena Hotel claims .
It ’ s not about the empowerment of women .
The Zena Hotel is still a product of two massive companies with male CEOs , not to mention Islamic emirates with male rulers , and even the hotel ’ s chef is a man .
But it is about the empowerment of some women of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over their male bosses , but the rest of the country which lacks their wealth and power .
A ruling class doesn ’ t seek to empower women or anyone else , but to hold and wield power .
Zena ’ s portraits of Ruth Bader Ginsburg , of Hillary Clinton and Oprah , are not about rights : they ’ re a celebration of the power of a ruling class while pretending that power is feminism .
And if you get too worried about the wife-beating in Abu Dhabi , here ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @

What was Washington D.C. missing?
A feminist hotel whose lobby has a giant portrait of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg made out of “repurposed tampons”. Of all the ways the deceased justice would want to be remembered, a giant tampon portrait likely ranks below being the new Land O’Lakes or Aunt Jemima mascot.
But Hotel Zena’s incredible commitment to female empowerment also includes a reception desk full of jumbled high heels, giant portraits of female warriors, thousands of feminist protest buttons, and a Wall of Honor that includes Oprah and Hillary Clinton, for a “fierce” atmosphere.
Because who doesn’t come on a business trip to D.C. and then wants to stay overnight in a “fierce” atmosphere while being glared at by a mural of a dour Greek goddess in every room?
The only thing funnier than a “fierce”, but “inviting” feminist hotel is who’s behind it.
Viceroy Hotels & Resorts announced that “Hotel Zena was created primarily by women, for people, both women and men. It is a hotel that offers a haven for all genders, races, and sexualities.”
That might nor be quite the attitude of Viceroy’s Maldives hotel in a country where Islamic sharia law orders women who have been raped to be lashed. The Islamic regime made headlines around the world when it ordered a 15-year-old girl to be lashed for having premarital sex.
But then again, 50% of Viceroy is owned by the Mubadala Investment Company, a sovereign wealth fund in Abu Dhabi. Its CEO is the grandson of the former top Sharia judge there.
Some 50% of Viceroy was owned by Jho Low, the businessman at the center of Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal that dragged in sections of its government and assorted Muslim royals. The Justice Department seized some of Low’s assets and the Abu Dhabi wealth fund was negotiating to buy that 50%, but it’s unclear who now owns the other half of Viceroy.
Viceroy’s true hometown in Abu Dhabi is about as feminist as a tampon portrait of RBG.
Women have “male guardians” who run their lives and decide whether they can travel and the Sharia Court of Appeals found that men have the right to beat their wives. Female genital mutilation is commonplace, and rape is only a crime for girls under fourteen years old.
Hugging a man without the benefit of marriage however, is a crime.
Foreign tourists who reported being raped were sentenced to prison because they had confessed to extramarital sex. In other words, it’s the usual sort of Sharia setup.
And don’t ask about “sexualities”.
“Unnatural sex with another person” gets you 14 years prison. That’s progressive in a region where Iran hangs gay people. And it’s not the only one dispensing death penalties freely.
All of this is a little awkward for a feminist hotel that boasts of its “provocative art” produced by “feminists of both genders” who are “working globally for the cause of human rights”.
A giant tampon portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a very convenient distraction even if it’s not too clear how all those “repurposed tampons” are advancing human rights around the world.
The business model is a familiar one. Take an underwhelming hotel, and renovate it into a “luxury urban lifestyle hotel” by throwing lots of bad art, and virtue signaling at every inch of it. But the investors are often foreign, looking for someplace with potential to put their money.
Last year’s reviews for The Donovan mentioned smells, leaks, and dirty toilets. The hotel had been renamed several times and showed up in the D.C. Madam’s phone records (probably not one of the accomplishments of female empowerment that the current management would like to celebrate, but you never know) and then a $25 million renovation gave it a feminist makeover.
Now if there are any leaks, visitors will be too distracted by all the feminist virtue signaling.
Washington D.C. is leading the nation in the trend of woke hotels with extremely un-woke owners. The Eaton Workshop had been previously announced as a woke hotel with crystal healing, politically correct lectures, and bibles replaced with UN pamphlets. But its ownership was linked to a Hong Kong family entangled with Chinese state-owned enterprises.
Like the NBA, Disney, and the rest of the huge corporate titans, woke is reserved for America.
Opening a hotel in D.C. that blathers about oppression or feminism is fine. It’s just marketing to the ruling class of a government town that sees oppressors everywhere except in the mirror. But don’t expect any lectures about human rights in a Hong Kong hotel or feminist tampon portraits in the hotels of Maldives or Abu Dhabi. That’s the difference between virtue and virtue signaling.
So many corporations have been happy to shout, “Black Lives Matter”, lecture on “toxic masculinity”, ban gun owners, and pro-life activists because that’s the official dogma. Every dot com from Amazon to Spotify will rename Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples Day, because that’s what the ruling class here wants, the way the PRC’s ruling class wants Mao portraits.
There’s no contradiction between Sharia law in Abu Dhabi and tampon portraits in D.C., or Communist propaganda in Shanghai and Black Lives Matter t-shirts in San Francisco.
It’s not about rights, principles, or commitments: it’s about power.
That’s why shoving the Uighurs in the NBA’s face is a great own on Twitter, but not much else. The NBA doesn’t care about rights. No more than Disney or any corporation shooting off emails about its commitment to racial equality and the millions it’s sending to Black Lives Matter does.
When most Americans were patriotic, corporations also wanted to be seen as patriotic. But these days most Americans matter about as much as most Chinese or most Venezuelans.
The ruling class has a new set of mores and virtues to distinguish it from the folks, as Obama once put it at a San Francisco fundraiser with George Soros in attendance, bitterly cling to their guns and religion, instead of bitterly clinging to their Black Lives Matter signs and RBG portraits.
The luxury hotels of D.C. cater to the new ruling class and its mores and fetishes.
The Zena Hotel, like the Eaton Workshop or any of the new urban luxury leftist hotels, doesn’t represent rights, but the power of the ruling class to repress the rest of the country. The more obnoxious, crude, hypocritical, and abusive its propaganda, the greater its show of strength.
The propaganda can be about female empowerment, the glories of Maoism or Sharia law, but their real message is in the universal language of the power and preening of the ruling class.
In D.C., Democrat women can be groped by Biden before checking into a feminist hotel where tampon portraits and murals of female goddesses and warriors make them feel empowered. It’s no different than the Muslim women who claim that Sharia law empowers them. Empowerment is different from freedom. Rights provide real freedom while empowerment offers a heady rush.
One is a legal reality and the other is an emotional feeling.
A brief history of the tyranny of the Left is that it substitutes emotions for rights. Its empowerment doesn’t promise freedom or rights, only the thrill of power over others.
“Every architectural line, material and art peinstallation was thoughtfully designed and curated to send a message of female empowerment,” a story about the Zena Hotel claims.
It’s not about the empowerment of women. The Zena Hotel is still a product of two massive companies with male CEOs, not to mention Islamic emirates with male rulers, and even the hotel’s chef is a man. But it is about the empowerment of some women of the ruling class, not to rule over their male bosses, but the rest of the country which lacks their wealth and power.
A ruling class doesn’t seek to empower women or anyone else, but to hold and wield power. Zena’s portraits of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, of Hillary Clinton and Oprah, are not about rights: they’re a celebration of the power of a ruling class while pretending that power is feminism.
And if you get too worried about the wife-beating in Abu Dhabi, here’s a tampon mural of RBG.
Article posted with permission from Daniel Greenfield