/qnotables22/ - ===Q Notables 2022===

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127643 (220911ZFEB22) Notable: Ex-girlfriend tells Hunter Biden grand jury about lavish spending-nypost Feb 21

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>KEK, Weed Slut 420 speaks.....

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Ex-girlfriend tells Hunter Biden grand jury about lavish spending

February 21, 2022

The grand jury considering evidence in the Hunter Biden tax probe heard nearly five hours of secret testimony from an ex-girlfriend who’s furious she got dumped after urging him to get off drugs, The Post has learned.

Zoe Kestan, 28, appeared before the panel in Wilmington, Del., on Tuesday, a source familiar with her testimony said.

Her turn on the witness stand came immediately after an appearance by the former stripper with whom Biden, 52, has an out-of-wedlock child, the source said.

Kestan — a lingerie and textile designer who uses the online handle “weed slut 420” — was asked about Biden’s whereabouts and spending habits during 2018, when they were seen attending art-show openings and parties on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the source said.

Specific questions included what hotels Biden stayed at and whether Kestan knew where his money came from, the source said.

Kestan testified about shacking up with Biden at high-priced hot spots including the Four Seasons, Mercer, SIXTY SoHo and Soho Grand hotels in Manhattan and at the Hollywood Roosevelt, NoMad and Jeremy West Hollywood in Los Angeles, the source said.

At one point, the source said, Kestan recalled a month-long stay at LA’s celebrity-friendly Chateau Marmont, the scene of former “Saturday Night Live” star John Belushi’s fatal, 1982 overdose.

It’s also the place where Biden admittedly “learned how to cook crack” before being “blacklisted” over complaints tied to his drug use during a five-month period in 2018, as revealed in his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things.”

Kestan testified that Biden directed her to withdraw “thousands of dollars at a time” from ATMs and gave her cash to purchase clothing, meals and other items, but said she had no idea how he obtained the money, the source said.

Biden didn’t mention Kestan by name in his memoir, but a 48-minute audio recording of the two of them was posted online in October.

The source of the recording is unclear and it appears to combine two conversations held at different times.

Kestan, who’s around the same age as Biden’s eldest daughter, said in the recording that “one of my flaws, one of my devilish sides, is that I like to talk about things like you because I like to show off. Duh.”

“Do you think that the night that we had sex I wasn’t texting like three people being like: I’m lying in bed with this incredible man?” she said.

Federal agents tracked down Kestan at her apartment in New York City and slapped her with a subpoena to testify before the grand jury, saying her name had surfaced during their investigation, the source said.

Biden revealed that federal prosecutors in Delaware were “investigating my tax affairs” in December 2020 — about a month after his dad, Joe Biden, was elected president but before he took office — and he told CBS News in April that he was “being completely cooperative” but denied seeking a plea deal.

Neither Biden’s lawyer nor the US Attorney’s Office in Delaware returned requests for comment. Kestan declined to comment.

The probe reportedly involves Hunter Biden’s controversial, overseas business dealings. Last month, a partial copy of a subpoena surfaced that showed JPMorgan Chase Bank was ordered to turn over records related to any transactions involving him and the Bank of China.

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https://nypost.com/2022/02/21/ex-girlfriend-tells-hunter-biden-grand-jury-about-lavish-spending/

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127644 (220913ZFEB22) Notable: Ex-girlfriend tells Hunter Biden grand jury about lavish spending-nypost Feb 21

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Ex-girlfriend tells Hunter Biden grand jury about lavish spending

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On Tuesday, Lunden Roberts — who successfully sued Hunter Biden for paternity of her 3-year-old daughter — was photographed leaving the federal courthouse in Wilmington by the Daily Mail, which said she testified before the grand jury for several hours that morning.

Roberts declined to discuss her closed-door testimony, the Mail said.

The source familiar with Kestan’s testimony said that Hunter Biden apparently impregnated Roberts shortly before meeting Kestan, whose 2018 birthday preceded the birth of Roberts’ daughter by two days, and that he never told her anything about Roberts or their child.

In 2019, Page Six exclusively revealed that Roberts was a stripper at a Washington, DC, club that Hunter Biden frequented around the time he was dating his late brother Beau’s widow, sister-in-law Hallie Biden.

In his memoir, Hunter Biden claimed to have “no recollection” of what he called his “encounter” with Roberts, saying, “I was a mess, but a mess I’ve taken responsibility for."

Kestan also felt “super-crazy” when she found out Hunter Biden married his second wife, Melissa Cohen, following a whirlwind, six-day romance in May 2019, the source said.

Kestan believes she’s responsible for Hunter Biden’s professed sobriety and his new career as a painter because she was “with him at the craziest point of his life” and told him that “art was a great way to see a hopeful future, rather than using drugs,” the source said.

Kestan also feels she got “ditched” after a relationship during which Hunter Biden — whose son with Cohen, Beau Jr., turns 1 next month — was “adamant” that she used birth control, the source said.

https://nypost.com/2022/02/21/ex-girlfriend-tells-hunter-biden-grand-jury-about-lavish-spending/

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127649 (221437ZFEB22) Notable: Nancy Pelosi stops off in London to meet with her UK counterpart on the last leg on the Congressional delegation tour-dailymail

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BOXER42 USAF C-40C departed Stansted Airport after arriving from Munich on 0217

This one is Nancy (had it wrong before but this AC was NOT showing up on ADS-B last week on the leg to Tel Aviv)-there was a SAM that arrived and accompanied the Politicians on another BOXER flight last week-Tel Aviv and Munich- and over the weekend-it stopped at Prestwick on it's way back to JBA.

That was SAM400

Nancy Pelosi stops off in London to meet with her UK counterpart on the last leg on the Congressional delegation tour

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10535681/Can-talk-speaker-speaker-Nancy-Pelosi-stops-London-meet-UK-counterpart.html

FEAR21 USAF B-52 Stratofortress off English east coast

Canadian AF CFC3113 A310 departed Berlin nw-hosers sent someone back to Berlin yesterday

RAF RRR7215 Rivet Joint on the over Poland-Belarus/Ukraine border

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127653 (221448ZFEB22) Notable: 45'sTRUTH Social launches at the top of the App Store, but no one can get in-yahoo always blaming pepe too

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KEK

Trump's TRUTH Social launches at the top of the App Store, but no one can get in'

Mon, February 21, 2022, 9:40 AM·3 min read

Summary

In this article:

Donald Trump's media group released its TRUTH Social iOS app today in the U.S., but a scan of the app's API using publicly available tools revealed that it already closed itself to registrations (also, the scan showed that its "proprietary account registration microservice" is named "Pepe," which is also the name of a meme with racist connotations).

https://news.yahoo.com/trumps-truth-social-launches-top-164019450.html

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127654 (221451ZFEB22) Notable: , -goes with lb, pf report(s)-Nancy back to DC from London/CONUS morning activity SAM290 State Dept AC departs SD Int'l and back at JBA, Nightwatch arrived at MacDill U.S. CENTCOM/AFSOC at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, SoKo AF with UN32 in Int'l waters

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Belgian AF BAF666 A400M inbound from Halifax Int'l-departed Brussels with a ground stop at Prestwick Int'l (Glasgow) yesterday

Prolly to Dover..if not then JBA

00-9001 USAFSOC C-32B west from McGuire AFB, NJ- on descent and looks like it is going to Pittsburgh

SAM282 USAF G5 departed JBA se No tail # given but hex id decodes as tail 97-0400 and higher level

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127662 (221533ZFEB22) Notable: Morning Market Snap-Au smershed but Ag fighting it-Index(s) panic bought to open and nao look at it

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Morning Market snap

markets doin' basically nuffin-you'd think this 'uncertainty' would be worth moar but the system can't habs the "down" or they panic and if it lasts moar than a few days they start margin calling each other.

Total Panic buying at the start-PPT action all over that-fuggen NAS is up but volume going away-red

They made sure Au was not going anywhere last night (London takin' the lead nao)

Too many eyes on all that nao.

But a different story for Ag.....BIG fight going on dhere looking at the pattern at same time frame.

https://www.kitco.com/charts/livegold.html

https://www.kitco.com/charts/livesilver.html

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127664 (221542ZFEB22) Notable: Lawmakers: Give poor $600 one-time hand-out (paid by permanent taxes)-oregoncatalyst

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Lawmakers: Give poor $600 one-time hand-out (paid by permanent taxes)

https://oregoncatalyst.com/58016-lawmakers-give-poor-600-onetime-handout-paid-permanent-taxes.html

Lawmakers started the plan this year of giving $1,000 one-time payments to a quarter million low income Oregonians.

Now the plan has been scaled back by giving only $600.

Because getting the checks into the hands of a quarter million Oregonians is such an enormous task, the State estimates that the savings would not arrive until 2023 or 2024 or later.

While politicians are giving out one-time checks, they have also quietly been raising the taxes on the same people. For instance, politicians recently during the pandemic passed a call-phone tax which hits the low income people. The politicians during the pandemic passed a 17% tax increase on small businesses which directly impacts the wages of the working poor who work at these small businesses. This year the statewide Oregon gas tax was increased which hits the poor and Portland alone raised the gas tax by 10-cents.

The politicians this month have also been considering a 3% sales tax.

We have a situation where politicians are publicly and loudly proclaiming their one-time checks to taxpayers while behind closed doors raising taxes permanently. If lawmakers really want to help the poor they should lower taxes for them and their employers.

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127665 (221546ZFEB22) Notable: Nuke sniffer AC JAKE21 Constant Phoenix was over Baltic Sea earlier

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JAKE21 USAF Constant Phoenix (nuke sniffer) was in the Baltic Sea earlier and now heading back to RAF Lakenheath

There is one of these (that I know of)

The aircraft is a modified C-135B or EC-135C platform. The Constant Phoenix's modifications are primarily related to its on-board atmospheric collection suite, which allows the mission crew to detect radioactive "clouds" in real time. The aircraft is equipped with external flow-through devices to collect particulates on filter paper and a compressor system for whole air samples collected in holding spheres. The cockpit crew is from the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., and special equipment operators are assigned to Det. 1, Air Force Technical Applications Center at Offutt AFB. General Dwight D. Eisenhower commissioned the Constant Phoenix program on Sept. 16, 1947, when he charged the Army Air Forces with the overall responsibility for detecting atomic explosions anywhere in the world. In September 1949, a WB-29 flying between Alaska and Japan detected nuclear debris from Russia's first atomic test--an event thought not possible until mid-1950.

Beginning in August 1950, WB-50 aircraft were converted for the air-sampling mission over a two-year period. WC-135 aircraft began replacing the WB-50s in December 1965 and became the workhorse of the atmospheric collection program.

moar

https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104494/wc-135-constant-phoenix/

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127666 (221547ZFEB22) Notable: FDA Expert Urges CDC to “Tell the Truth” and “Present the Data” After it Refuses to Publish Data on Booster Shot Effectiveness Over Fears of “Vaccine Hesitancy”-gatewaypundit

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FDA Expert Urges CDC to “Tell the Truth” and “Present the Data” After it Refuses to Publish Data on Booster Shot Effectiveness Over Fears of “Vaccine Hesitancy”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/02/fda-expert-urges-cdc-tell-truth-present-data-refuses-publish-data-booster-shot-effectiveness-fears-vaccine-hesitancy/

The Gateway Pundit wrote an article on Sunday about a new report by the New York Times. The CDC has been collecting much more detailed data about Covid infections that break down by age, race, and vaccination status. The critical information would go a long way towards figuring out an end to the pandemic. Still, the agency has purposefully suppressed the data from the public over fears that it would be “misinterpreted” and cause “vaccine hesitancy.”

Within the data that the CDC has withheld are detailed information about breakthrough cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, which the agency has been collecting since the beginning of the vaccine rollout, according to officials who spoke to the NYT.

From the New York Times:

“Kristen Nordlund, a spokeswoman for the C.D.C., said the agency has been slow to release the different streams of data “because basically, at the end of the day, it’s not yet ready for prime time.” She said the agency’s “priority when gathering any data is to ensure that it’s accurate and actionable.”

Another reason is fear that the information might be misinterpreted, Ms. Nordlund said.”

The performance of vaccines and boosters, particularly in younger adults, is among the most glaring omissions in data the C.D.C. has made public.

Dr. Paul Offit, FDA Advisory Committee Member, urged CDC to tell the truth and present the data to the public.

Daily Mail reported:

Scientists stressed that publishing the data went hand in hand with educating the public about vaccines – explaining that as more people are vaccinated, the percentage of vaccinated people who are infected or hospitalized would also rise.

They urged the CDC to publish the information.

‘Tell the truth, present the data,’ said Dr Paul Offit, a vaccine expert and adviser to the Food and Drug Administration.

‘I have to believe that there is a way to explain these things so people can understand it.’

He noted that, because the CDC had not published the information, American scientists were forced to rely on Israeli data.

‘There’s no reason that they should be better at collecting and putting forth data than we were,’ he said.

‘The CDC is the principal epidemiological agency in this country, and so you would like to think the data came from them.’

The same scenario happened in Scotland. TGP reported that the Public Health Scotland (PHS) announced on February 16 that they would stop publishing the data of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths by vaccine status after data was “inappropriately misinterpreted” by anti-vaxx people.

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127667 (221601ZFEB22) Notable: Justin Trudeau Crosses The Rubicon And Reveals The End Stage Of Fake “Liberal Democracy”-revolver and soc. media

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Justin Trudeau Crosses The Rubicon And Reveals The End Stage Of Fake “Liberal Democracy”

https://www.revolver.news/2022/02/trudeau-crosses-the-rubicon-reveals-end-stage-of-fake-liberal-democracy/

One year ago, the Globalist American Empire flexed its muscle by more or less politically castrating the sitting US president while he was still in office. They banned President Trump from every social media service of note, shut down his email list, crushed entire websites like Parler, banned thousands of rank-and-file Trump supporters and linked groups from Twitter and Facebook, and turned reams of data over to Deep State law enforcement so as to enable “the largest manhunt in American history.”

It was an incredible overreach. At the time, it felt difficult to imagine what could come after. Mass deplatformings, undisguised censorship, the calculated destruction of an entire political faction and any companies seen as enabling it. What more, realistically, could they do?

A lot more, it turns out, and Justin Trudeau is pointing the way. Four days after granting himself emergency powers in response to the trucker protest against vaccine mandates, Trudeau sent in police to smash the protest. Along with the physical escalation of its crackdown, the Trudeau regime also used its emergency powers to freeze the bank accounts of anyone lending financial support to the Trucker Convoy.

But the “emergency” part of the response has already been exposed as a lie. Refusing to let a crisis go to waste, the Trudeau regime is now racing to make its “emergency” powers permanent.

https://twitter.com/njhochman/status/1495537897986039814

Not only that, but the Trudeau government is also mulling a bill that would let people be sued or criminally charged for thought crimes. Incredibly, the bill would allow people to be targeted for allegedly “contemplating” a “hateful” act or statement.

The Economist:

On February 14th Mr Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in the law’s 34-year history.

Mr Trudeau’s government has expressed shock that racist symbols were displayed during the protest. It appears to be planning to reintroduce an “anti-hate” bill that could lead to the imprisonment of people who use racist speech. This could include a clause which would allow individuals to take other people to court if they fear that they may be about to say something which falls under the definition of “hate propaganda”. They could also be charged for contemplating an offence “motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other similar factor”.

If you feel North America’s two great Anglo “democracies” have taken a dark, decisive turn in the last few weeks, you aren’t alone and you aren’t mistaken. The Globalist American Empire is crumbling, and as it crumbles it also trembles, shrieks, and lashes out. As Western nations abandon even the pretense of being free-societies, our corrupt ruling class will ever-more enthusiastically embrace the naked language of compulsion, intimidation, and force.

The way Trudeau treated the Trucker Convoy, you’d think they were violent arsonists or deadly killers. Police smashed up vehicles:

https://twitter.com/TheMarieOakes/status/1494742004655431680

Officers arrested citizen journalists for recording events:

https://twitter.com/cosminDZS/status/1494744259206922240

By mid-afternoon Friday, at least seventy people had been arrested just in Ottawa.

https://twitter.com/AhmarSKhan/status/1494777318396645376

During the three weeks of trucker protests, Trudeau and his allies smeared participants as racists motivated by “hate,” with an agenda of “antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Black racism, homophobia, and transphobia.” Truckers were accused of “threats” and “violence.” These calumnies were obvious lies.

If there was ever a “peaceful protest,” the trucker occupation of Ottawa certainly qualified. The most damning fact that The New York Times can muster against the truckers after more than two weeks of protesting is that, “during the first 11 days of the protest, truck horns blasted up to 16 hours a day, and some residents say they have been harassed on the street.” In reality, there was only honking for the first 11 hours of the protest because the truckers ceased when a judge ordered them to.

That was the extent of the trucker protest. Some residents in one of Canada’s richest, most privileged neighborhoods in the Imperial Capital heard a lot of honking for less than two weeks, roads were clogged up and a few people were allegedly harassed. Ottawa businesses didn’t even bother boarding up their windows, because why would they? Nobody expected any real chaotic violence from the protesters. In fact, the protest was so peaceful that street crime in Ottawa actually fell during the protests.

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Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127668 (221602ZFEB22) Notable: Justin Trudeau Crosses The Rubicon And Reveals The End Stage Of Fake “Liberal Democracy”-revolver and soc. media

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>>147854

Compare this to the damage created by the BLM protests, which Trudeau supported:

Even today, BLM is celebrated and well-funded. In contrast, the Regime responds to the Trucker Convoy movement with a declaration of total war. Despite being entirely peaceful in its conduct and restrained in their demands, Trudeau crushed the convoy physically and banned protest leaders from doing so much as speaking in support of the cause. But perhaps most sinister of all is how banks, media, and (perhaps?) even the intelligence services were collectively enlisted to make even the most marginal financial supporter of the truckers entirely beyond the pale.

Just as Trudeau was announcing his new emergency powers, the “whistleblower” group Direct Denial of Secrets (DDoS) announced it had obtained a full list of all donors to the trucker convoys on GiveSendGo. The Antifa hacker group immediately shared the information with press outlets. The press itself soon played its part, directly contacting many on the donor lists and making it clear they could dox anybody they wished if they felt like it. You don’t want to end up like this café owner, do you?

https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1494002057849847811

It gets even more sinister. In 2020, the Trump Department of Homeland Security claimed that DDoS is a “criminal hacker group.” Despite that, it enjoys IRS non-profit status. DDoS’s high-profile hacks have, almost without exception, targeted domestic dissidents against the regime, or its international enemies, rather than the regime itself. Besides doxing every GiveSendGo donor, DDoS’s other targets include Gab, Parler, local police departments, Russia, Myanmar, and right-wing chat groups online.

So much for speaking truth to power. By all accounts, DDoS speaks power to truth. (pic related)

Perhaps unsurprisingly, DDoS’s leader is the “chronically ill” “they/she” transgender freak show Emma Best.

DDoS almost certainly works hand in hand with serious criminals, if it is not an outright criminal organization itself. Yet nobody is shutting down financial support for DDoS or seizing its assets. While Julian Assange awaits trial and, in all likelihood, life in prison for embarrassing the security state and the Hillary Clinton campaign, “Emma” Best (they/she) faces no serious efforts to stop his activities whatsoever. And why would he? He is among the most heroic tranissaries rendering an invaluable service to the Globalist American Empire.

The right to protest, publicly, is enshrined as a sacred privilege and marker of democracy. When the US backed the overthrow of Ukraine’s government in 2014, it was because President Viktor Yanukovych allegedly used force against “peaceful protesters” (in fact, they were not peaceful; they killed several police officers). The American Regime used the Chinese government’s use of force against “mostly peaceful” protesters in Hong Kong to justify more moral grandstanding. If a trucker protest just like the one in Canada had been suppressed and criminalized like those in Minsk, or Moscow, or Tehran, the State Department and US regime press would shriek about totalitarianism.

Now, the hypocrisy is too naked and blatant to ignore. The Canadian crackdown is a decisive “mask off” moment for the class obsessed with masks.

https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1494010373560692736

A similar “mask-off” moment is unfolding in America. Last week, the Biden Administration’s “intelligence officials” smeared Zero Hedge as a Russian intelligence operation for publishing articles critical of US foreign policy. A week before that, the administration claimed that dissident views on Covid-19 policies contribute to domestic terrorism. In the US client state of Ukraine, the mass banning of Russian-language TV stations is characterized as a “gift” to the Biden administration. Even MyPillow founder Mike Lindell is getting a Canada-style debanking because of his political activism.

https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1483241676315496448

Still, what is most interesting about the Canada development is not how evil it is, but how overt. Western governments seem to be abandoning even the pretense of existing as free societies. Even the press is admitting it.

https://twitter.com/AuronMacintyre/status/1495064242113888258

The good news is, it’s unclear how well this will work. The pretense of being a free society is central to the self-perception of Americans and Westernerns more generally. If a government shorn of moral legitimacy decides to rule by force instead, it is unclear that it will have the persuasive or coercive tools to make the change stick.

A year ago, in the early days of the Biden Administration, Revolver warned about America’s rapidly crumbling moral authority in a piece entitled, “With Zero Moral Authority Left, The Globalist American Empire is Doomed to Fail at Home and Abroad”:

In China, people tend to defer to state authority so long as the state is performing competently. There is no psychological need for the Chinese to think of their nation in “moral terms” as a “free society” that respects “human rights.” For better or worse, things are different in America. Being a “free society” is just as must an essential part of American self-identity as being a “global superpower.” America’s decline from global superpower status and its transition from a nation that at least pretends to be a free society to a more transparent and overt totalitarianism are mutually reinforcing tendencies that could strain the very special preconditions for American patriotism as we know it.

…

It is far from clear that the American regime can complete this transition without dire consequences with respect to its standing globally, and to its own citizens right here at home. Patriots of all stripes should not view this as a consolation prize, but as a great opportunity.

That opportunity is now greater than ever before. The Globalist American Empire was low on legitimacy a year ago. Today, it is scraping the bottom of the barrel. It cannot win wars. It cannot prevent crime; in fact, it encourages it. It cannot keep shelves stocked or even consistently keep the lights on. It nakedly dispenses with bedrock American rights like freedom of association, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and equality under the law. It makes a mockery of the “democracy” it claims the sole right to represent. It shuts down your bank account while shrieking of “racism,” “homophobia,” and “fascism.”

And now, it fears being called out. The authorities in Canada lashed out because they were genuinely afraid. As Substack writer N.S. Lyons noted last week in a piece analyzing the clash between the Physicals and the Virtuals (those who engage in real-world economic activity versus those who use laptops):

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Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127671 (221639ZFEB22) Notable: , -goes with lb, pf report(s)-Nancy back to DC from London/CONUS morning activity SAM290 State Dept AC departs SD Int'l and back at JBA, Nightwatch arrived at MacDill U.S. CENTCOM/AFSOC at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, SoKo AF with UN32 in Int'l waters

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SAM293 USAF G5 KAF AC of interdast departed JBA south

SAM282 USAF G5 did some fly-bys at Newport News Int'l and heading sw >>147848

BROMA75 USAFSOC C-32A had a quick stop at Pittsburgh Int'l and now nw

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127674 (221701ZFEB22) Notable: , -goes with lb, pf report(s)-Nancy back to DC from London/CONUS morning activity SAM290 State Dept AC departs SD Int'l and back at JBA, Nightwatch arrived at MacDill U.S. CENTCOM/AFSOC at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, SoKo AF with UN32 in Int'l waters

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>>147824 lb

SAM290 USAF C-40B departed San Diego Int'l after an overnight

State Dept AC

kek

UGLY01 Blackhawk on ground at MCAS Miramar

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127675 (221710ZFEB22) Notable: The Fed Just Added Short-Selling and Margin Loans to Its List of Trading Restrictions for Fed Officials – Opening a Big Can of Worms-wallstonparade

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The Fed Just Added Short-Selling and Margin Loans to Its List of Trading Restrictions for Fed Officials – Opening a Big Can of Worms

On October 21 of last year, when the Fed originally announced its list of trading restrictions that it planned to impose on Fed officials, it made no mention of restricting its officials from short-selling (making bets on a decline in price) or preventing Fed officials from trading on margin. But when the Fed announced its finalized rules last Friday, “short sales or purchasing securities on margin” were added to the list of prohibitions.

Why do we find that noteworthy? Because it was Wall Street On Parade that asked the Dallas Fed if its President at the time, Robert Kaplan, was shorting the market when he made those “over $1 million” trades in and out of S&P 500 futures contracts in 2020, a year when the S&P 500 dropped by as much as 30 percent between January 2 and March 23. The Dallas Fed, bizarrely, declined to answer that question. We wrote at the time: “Adding to alarm bells around Kaplan’s trading, the Dallas Fed’s communications team declined to provide a yes or no answer to our question as to whether Kaplan shorted the market in 2020. (Shorting means to place a trade that grows in value if the market or security declines in price.)

“If a member of the central bank of the United States shorted the market in 2020, in the midst of an economic and health crisis, it would be interpreted by millions of Americans as betting against the country. There is not a good explanation we can think of for why the Dallas Fed’s communications team would not want to get that question quickly disposed of.”

Kaplan was a sophisticated trader who previously worked at Goldman Sachs for 22 years, rising to the rank of Vice Chairman. His financial disclosure forms suggest that Kaplan maintained a trading relationship with Goldman Sachs, since he lists proprietary products created by “GS,” short for Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs has been supervised by the Fed since 2008.

There are three typical reasons for an individual to trade S&P 500 futures: (1) the individual thinks he or she can time the market’s moves; (2) the individual wants to trade before or after stock exchange hours; (3) the individual wants to make highly leveraged bets on the market’s direction, going both long and short. Kaplan was a voting member of the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) in 2020, where he had access to market-moving information throughout the unprecedented first year of the pandemic. There was no good reason for a man in this position to be trading in S&P 500 futures for his own account.

And yet, Jerome Powell, the Fed Chair at the time and President Biden’s current nominee for a second term as Fed Chair, said this when Kaplan stepped down as a result of the fallout from the trading scandal on September 27 of last year: “We are grateful for Rob’s six years of service as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and as a valued colleague in the FOMC. He has been a passionate and forceful public voice on a wide range of issues, including the critical value of early childhood education and literacy. In addition, he strengthened the Bank’s economic research and played a very constructive role in Systemwide management, budget and technology efforts. We wish him well.”

Drawing further suspicions around Kaplan, he failed to comply with the Fed’s official financial disclosure rules to list the dates of his trades. Instead of listing the individual date for each purchase and each sale, he substituted the word “Multiple.” That eliminated the ability to detect a short sale as well as the ability to determine how many millions of dollars (or tens of millions of dollars) Kaplan had invested in his S&P 500 bets.

moar

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2022/02/the-fed-just-added-short-selling-and-margin-loans-to-its-list-of-trading-restrictions-for-fed-officials-opening-a-big-can-of-worms/

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127676 (221712ZFEB22) Notable: kek

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Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127680 (221739ZFEB22) Notable: Truth Social when you aren't a hoity-toity Apple user

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Truth Social when you aren't a hoity-toity Apple user

1. Open Chrome browser

2. F12 button or right click mouse Inspect

3. Console will open, select three dots on right side > More Tools >Network Conditions

4. Deselect/uncheck "Use browser default"

5. Under "Custom" enter TruthSocial/44 CFNetwork/1329 Darwin/21.3.0

6. Click arrow next to User agent client hints

7. Scroll to bottom and select update

8. Leave console open and paste in browser address bar https://truthsocial.com/login?redirect_uri=%2F

9. Click truth social icon (upper left) - Sign up - wait in line

In case some think Truth Social work around is a spoopy thing.

TruthSocial = Server (database) Instance

A server instance is a collection of SQL Server databases which are run by a solitary SQL Server service or instance. The details of each server instance can be viewed on the service console which can be web-based or command-line based. The instances are not linked with each other and can be controlled or managed separately.

https://www.techopedia.com/definition/32149/server-instance

44 CFNetwork = Apple Dev network

https://developer.apple.com/forums/tags/cfnetwork

1329 Darwin = Apple open source OS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_(operating_system)

21.3.0 = iOS build number

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212788

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127681 (221741ZFEB22) Notable: , -goes with lb, pf report(s)-Nancy back to DC from London/CONUS morning activity SAM290 State Dept AC departs SD Int'l and back at JBA, Nightwatch arrived at MacDill U.S. CENTCOM/AFSOC at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, SoKo AF with UN32 in Int'l waters

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ANON USAF KC-135 tanker out of Phoenix Sky harbor

Switched back to tail #59-1516

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127682 (221757ZFEB22) Notable: Volkswagen considers IPO of Porsche to help fund shift to EVs and biggest short squeeze in history in 2008 autoblog cinemonic

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See Below for some recent financial history re: Porsche/VW

Volkswagen considers IPO of Porsche to help fund shift to EVs

The tentative plan is estimated to value Porsche at as much as $96 billion.

Volkswagen AG is preparing an initial public offering of Porsche, seeking a listing of its most profitable asset to help boost the parent’s valuation and fund the push into electric vehicles.

VW’s preferred shares surged as much as 10% after the announcement Tuesday on a possible IPO outline between the carmaker and and Porsche Automobil Holding SE, a company controlled by the billionaire Porsche and Piech owner family. The tentative plan, which is estimated to value the sportscar brand at as much as 85 billion euros ($96 billion), would reverse a tumultuous takeover of Porsche more than a decade ago and signals the extent of the upheaval sweeping the industry.

Europe’s biggest carmaker has been pushing for years to adopt a less centralized corporate structure to become more nimble and step up its challenge to Tesla. Success has been modest. The IPO of Traton SE, VW’s truckmaking unit, fizzled amid internal ructions and a limited free float, while a plan to separate the Lamborghini supercar and Ducati motorcycle brands didn’t progress.

Volkswagen’s management and supervisory boards still have to sign off on the framework agreement with Porsche SE and a final decision hasn’t yet been made, the carmaker said.

https://www.autoblog.com/2022/02/22/porsche-ipo-possible-2/

The Biggest Short Squeeze In History: Volkswagen Short Squeeze of 2008

This was, and still is considered, the biggest short squeeze in history! In late 2008, amidst the global financial crisis: Porsche took a swing in the world of financial maneuvers. After a series of clever, intense moves, this all set the path moving for Volkswagen to briefly become the most valuable company in the entire world. The specifics about this story are truly insane. Let’s take a look at the details that led to the alrighty Volkswagen short squeeze of 2008! It was the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, you’ve heard about it. At this time, Volkswagen was increasingly being viewed as a potential bankruptcy candidate. Or another way of looking at it: Volkswagen was viewed as a very sexy short candidate. Even before the crisis, Volkswagen was quite thoroughly in debt. They were already struggling financially, and in the midst of the crisis, of course, demand for new cars plummeted.

Before the madness that was 2008: Porsche had been a huge shareholder in Volkswagen. Then, come October of 2008: They took their already thick stake to 30% But WAIT.. THEN, they took that stake all the way to 44% – WITH options to buy 30% more. So indirectly, Porsche all of a sudden had the ability to be in control of 74% of Volkswagen.

SO, let’s take a look at all this juicy information.

We know now, heading into October of 2008:

Around 55% of VW shares were unavailable in the market for any actual purposes.

With that, when Porsche increased its stake, it meant that the true available float went down from 45% of outstanding shares to around just 1% of outstanding shares.

Now all of a sudden, the seemingly little short interest of 12.8% turned into an immediate, MASSIVE supply and demand imbalance. Millions of shares needed to be bought immediately even though there were no shares available to be sold.

moar

https://www.cinemonic.com/the-biggest-short-squeeze-in-history-volkswagen-short-squeeze-of-2008/

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127684 (221819ZFEB22) Notable: Heavy Digger@Lightntruth "Putin has pissed off every shitbag leader the world over - yet none care about Trudeau..."-soc. media

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Heavy Digger

@Lightntruth

Putin has pissed off every shitbag leader the world over - yet none care about Trudeau

Erdogan: 'Russia's recognition is clear violation'

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220222-erdogan-russia

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127686 (221830ZFEB22) Notable: SAM290 State Dept AC and RCH521 take off at same time-connections to ANON ISR on 0218??

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>>147858

RCH521 USAF C-17 Globemaster took off from March AFB at roughly the same time as SAM290 C-40B that departed SD Int'l

The Globey has been sitting at March AFB since 0217 and then this habbened the next day >>147707 ANON ISR over northern San Diego Cty

Both leaving at same time after dat surveillance when the Globey sat for several days at March and arrived the day before

Mebby something here......

>>147848

BROMA75 USAFSOC C-32B continues west from Pittsburgh Int'l ground stop

>>147848

Belgian AF BAF666 A400m departed JBA west after a ground stop

SAM282 USAF G5 went to Myrtle Beach

>>147857

SAM293 G5 on approach at Miami Int'l

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127687 (221832ZFEB22) Notable: , -goes with lb, pf report(s)-Nancy back to DC from London/CONUS morning activity SAM290 State Dept AC departs SD Int'l and back at JBA, Nightwatch arrived at MacDill U.S. CENTCOM/AFSOC at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, SoKo AF with UN32 in Int'l waters

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>>147866

forgot this

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127688 (221844ZFEB22) Notable: Morning Market Snap-Au smershed but Ag fighting it-Index(s) panic bought to open and nao look at it

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>>147849

Someone gonna have to 'rescue' dis soon-Janet gonna warm up the PPT or they gonna habs issues

>*Total Panic buying at the start-PPT action all over that-fuggen NAS is up but volume going away-red

Look at where NAS is now compared to earlier-yellow circle-is someone getting out in a BIG way 1.51B transaction @11:16am EST

Ag/Au pretty much the same

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/%5EIXIC

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127689 (221859ZFEB22) Notable: Virgin Hyperloop "Changes Direction", Axes Half Of US Staff To Focus On Freight-zh

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Virgin Hyperloop "Changes Direction", Axes Half Of US Staff To Focus On Freight

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Hyperloop has sputtered to a crawl as the company pivots from developing a high-speed transport system for humans to shipping freight and has slashed half its workforce, according to former employees who spoke with Financial Times.

The US-based company announced via a video conference call Friday that it would lay off 111 employees and refocus efforts to design experimental transport systems in pressure tubes to zip cargo around the US at 670 mph.

Two ex-employees said their job losses were "definitely not expected."

obviously they don't pay much attention to the boss' stock sales in Virgin Galactic

https://finviz.com/insidertrading.ashx?oc=1791283&tc=7

The futuristic transportation company responded to FT and said the transition will "allow the company to respond in a more agile and nimble way and in a more cost-efficient manner."

It said "changing direction" will allow it to alleviate "global supply chain issues and all the changes due to Covid."

Another former senior employee said that a reorganization of the company led to a "massive talent flight," adding "morale is low and there is no confidence in the new direction."

The company has tested humans in a transport pod through vacuum tubes down a 500-meter test track in Nevada, reaching 100 mph. This year, a new test facility will begin construction at a former coal mine site in Tucker and Grant Counties, West Virginia, with safety certification by 2025 and commercial operations by 2030.

FT also notes the shakeup comes as the company is considering going public via SPAC. As for Branson's other high-tech transportation company, Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc, an aerospace and space travel company, shares have tumbled more than 86% since last June's high.

Freight companies using Hyperloops in the future to send goods across the country faster than an air freighter makes a whole lot more sense when compared to Elon Musk's underground tunnel network for electric cars. Billionaires and their whacky ideas.

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/virgin-hpyerloop-changes-direction-axes-half-us-staff-focus-freight

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127693 (221929ZFEB22) Notable: 4 yr deltas #810,811,812

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4 yr deltas

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127703 (222220ZFEB22) Notable: , -goes with lb, pf report(s)-Nancy back to DC from London/CONUS morning activity SAM290 State Dept AC departs SD Int'l and back at JBA, Nightwatch arrived at MacDill U.S. CENTCOM/AFSOC at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, SoKo AF with UN32 in Int'l waters

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>>147858

SAM290 USAF C-40B back at JBA from San Diego Int'l depart

>>147866, >>147867

VENUS40 USAF C-40 arrived back at JBA and that dropped off a VIP at Myrtle Beach as it was SAM282 earlier

>>147866 RCH521 USAF C-17 Globemaster looks like it went to MCAS Cherry Point from March AFB depart earlier

BROMA75 USAFSCO C-32B on ground at Travis AFB from Pittsburgh Int'l stop and McGuire depart earlier

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127710 (222314ZFEB22) Notable: , -goes with lb, pf report(s)-Nancy back to DC from London/CONUS morning activity SAM290 State Dept AC departs SD Int'l and back at JBA, Nightwatch arrived at MacDill U.S. CENTCOM/AFSOC at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, SoKo AF with UN32 in Int'l waters

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RAF ZH878 and 869 C-130 Hercules looks like it circled Syria and returning to Akrotiri AB, Cyprus

German President left Dakar after a three-day trip

German AF GAF906 departed Dakar, Senegal after ground stop

Senegal president urges Germany to stay in Mali

https://www.phnompenhpost.com/international/senegal-president-urges-germany-stay-mali

German AF has a habit of using Porsche model #'s on many of dhere high profile flights-904,906, 907,911,912,917,956, 993,996 etc

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127713 (222339ZFEB22) Notable: , -goes with lb, pf report(s)-Nancy back to DC from London/CONUS morning activity SAM290 State Dept AC departs SD Int'l and back at JBA, Nightwatch arrived at MacDill U.S. CENTCOM/AFSOC at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, SoKo AF with UN32 in Int'l waters

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Italian Guardia di Finanza I2311 ATR-72-600 doing moar tracking of the migrant camps in France

Was at Lille for about 10 days went back to Rome on 0216 and then back to Lille on 0219

Just a reminder that the Guardia is basically a militarized police force and is part of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127714 (222342ZFEB22) Notable: , -goes with lb, pf report(s)-Nancy back to DC from London/CONUS morning activity SAM290 State Dept AC departs SD Int'l and back at JBA, Nightwatch arrived at MacDill U.S. CENTCOM/AFSOC at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, SoKo AF with UN32 in Int'l waters

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>>147866

Belgian AF BAF 666 A400m on approach to MCAS Yuma from JBA

>>147871

BROMA75 USAFSOC C-32B departed Travis AFB after a ground stop and looks like Hickam for it

Broma in spanish means joke or prank, can also be used (colloquially) as business affair or process as in that "broma" was quite unsuccessful.

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127716 (230020ZFEB22) Notable: , -goes with lb, pf report(s)-Nancy back to DC from London/CONUS morning activity SAM290 State Dept AC departs SD Int'l and back at JBA, Nightwatch arrived at MacDill U.S. CENTCOM/AFSOC at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, SoKo AF with UN32 in Int'l waters

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CLUB22 USAF E-4B Nightwatch heading for MacDill and since it is U.S. Central Command it is noted-not a usual destination for dis one

From home base of Lincoln, NE

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127717 (230029ZFEB22) Notable: , -goes with lb, pf report(s)-Nancy back to DC from London/CONUS morning activity SAM290 State Dept AC departs SD Int'l and back at JBA, Nightwatch arrived at MacDill U.S. CENTCOM/AFSOC at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, SoKo AF with UN32 in Int'l waters

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>>147877

Also 02-5001 USAFSOC C-32B arriving at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station from Eglin AFB

and same here-not usual destination

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127718 (230036ZFEB22) Notable: Biden Stares Blankly, Picks at His Teeth When Reporter Asks if He May Have “Underestimated” Vladimir Putin (VIDEO)-gatewatpundit y/t

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>>147874

🙄

https://www.kbc.co.ke/kenya-bags-nine-medals-in-africa-chess-championship/

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127719 (230039ZFEB22) Notable: Wells Fargo Says Labor Department Is Probing Its 401(k) Plan

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Wells Fargo Says Labor Department Is Probing Its 401(k) Plan

Wells Fargo & Co. said the Labor Department and other federal agencies are investigating its 401(k) plan.

The agencies are “reviewing certain transactions associated with the employee stock ownership plan feature of the company’s 401(k) plan, including the manner in which the 401(k) plan purchased certain securities used in connection with the company’s contributions to the 401(k) plan,” according to a regulatory filing Tuesday.

The San Francisco-based bank declined to comment beyond what it disclosed in the filing.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/wells-fargo-says-labor-department-is-probing-its-401-k-plan-1.1727164

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127723 (230051ZFEB22) Notable: Thank you Blackstone/Rock news: Home prices surged nearly 19% last year, marking highest read ever-foxbiz

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Home prices surged nearly 19% last year, marking highest read ever

Home prices climbed at the highest pace on record in 2021, surging nearly 19% during the year of red-hot demand driven by low interest rates and low inventory. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index report released Tuesday showed December's year-over-year gain hit 18.8%, the largest annual price spike the index has seen since it was launched in 1987. "This is the highest calendar year increase in 34 years of data, and substantially ahead of 2020’s 10.4% gain," S&P DJI managing director Craig Lazzara said in a statement.

"We have previously suggested that the strength in the U.S. housing market is being driven in part by a change in locational preferences as households react to the COVID pandemic," Lazzara noted.

Facepalm.....how about Blackrock and Blackstone over-paying for everything not tied down..new homes, old homes etc-wut a retard

Competition in the housing market remains steep as prospective buyers become increasingly willing to shell out more to make a deal with interest rates on the rise. The average price for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is approaching 4%, according to Freddie Mac's latest numbers. Existing home sales declined in December but rebounded by 6.7% in January, leaving behind the lowest inventory on record according to the National Association of Realtors' latest data. Meanwhile, the trends are pushing more and more would-be buyers out of the market at lower price points. According to the NAR, the percentage of first-time buyers responsible for sales dropped to 27% last month, down from 30% in December.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/home-prices-surge-nearly-19-fifth-largest-read-ever

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127732 (230235ZFEB22) Notable: , -goes with lb, pf report(s)-Nancy back to DC from London/CONUS morning activity SAM290 State Dept AC departs SD Int'l and back at JBA, Nightwatch arrived at MacDill U.S. CENTCOM/AFSOC at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, SoKo AF with UN32 in Int'l waters

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South Korean AF A330 flying a UN32 call sign and in Int'l waters off western SoKo

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127734 (230253ZFEB22) Notable: RIP Baker

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>>>/qrb/127729

General Research #19847 >>>/qresearch/15696144

I want to say a few words about my best friend, my brother @AGB1776 who passed away this morning.

Darrel was a very loving and kind man. He was smart and understanding, he was charismatic and fierce. He knew how to approach situations logically. He was a great friend. My best friend.

He had devoted his life to this movement in late 2017. He was a Baker. One of the finest Bakers I have ever seen. I’m not kidding he has running 12 hour shifts for years on end. He held the line through rain or shine. Year after year he was there, holding the line.

o7 Baker. Thank you for your service 🇺🇸❤️

Forever in my heart brother I got you bro.

https://t.me/ArchiveAnon/1267

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127751 (231516ZFEB22) Notable: pf report(s) RAF/US Rivet Joints over Ukraine, Turks return from Senegal, Flauxtus to San Antonio, ANON wink from SoCal, Turkish AF A400ms to Kyiv

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Just before sunset over Ukraine

RAF and NATO tag team River Joint action

JAKE12 USAF Rivet Joint and RAF RRR7218-cap#2 Rivet Joints over Ukraine

NATO02 E-3TF Sentry AWACS on Polish/Ukraine border-cap#3

These are listed as Luxembourg and also the most up-to-date version of the AWACS

Australian AF ASY306 737 departed Praha, Czech Republic sw

Romania having some ins/outs at Constanta-this getting moar active as NATO flies moar troops and weapons into the AB north of Constanta

DUKE61, 63 USAF Beech Super King Air nw from Constanta

Pakistan AF PAK2 G4 nw from Islamabad

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127761 (231601ZFEB22) Notable: Ag breakout and moar on that B of A 'issue' shorting phyzz

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Ag solidly through 200d MA which kept dropping as the hits on it kept coming-was at $24.24/5/6 or thereabouts yesterday

This is important because technical traders will need to decide (soon) on changing sides to go long but they don't all do it on the first cross so it usually takes about three times to go over then back under and then solidly over (on the third time) for that to really be triggered.

Keep in mind that this is not going to be accomplished by the reddit crews ala retail (love that they are spreading information but that trade has ZERO affect on this).

All that Ag that Bof A has on short term leases is NOT on the COMEX it is through derivatives so the buying and selling of contracts at COMEX is totally different to this (completely Illegal) position that BofA has.

This(BofAs problem) is all about physical Ag and nuffin to do with contracts-but the quandry is that the price discovery is in the paper market

In "short"-hahahaa-they are fucked unless someone has access to a very large amount of phyzz that they want to help them out wth (doubt that)

It can still be cooled off with rolling over these leases though but that is also not infinite.

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127764 (231625ZFEB22) Notable: Imran Khan Goes to Moscow as Pakistan Romances Russia-foreignpolicy

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Paki PM Khan on approach for Moscow

Imran Khan Goes to Moscow as Pakistan Romances Russia

https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/23/imran-khan-pakistan-russia-putin-india-geopolitics/

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127766 (231629ZFEB22) Notable: pf report(s) RAF/US Rivet Joints over Ukraine, Turks return from Senegal, Flauxtus to San Antonio, ANON wink from SoCal, Turkish AF A400ms to Kyiv

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VM208 USMC Hawker Beechcraft UC-12W King Air sw from Bucharest

Turkish AF TUAF233 and 211 returning from Senegal

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127768 (231637ZFEB22) Notable: In let's throw moar debt on the fire news: Twitter Sells $1 Billion In Junk Bonds To Pay For Stock Buyback-zh

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Twitter Sells $1 Billion In Junk Bonds To Pay For Stock Buyback

Two weeks ago, Twitter reported disappointing results including a miss on user growth and losing money in 2021, but the stock spiked nonetheless after the "growth" company announced it had approved a $4 billion stock buyback program. The news helped support the slumping stock, sending it briefly to the highest level since the start of the year, before the slide resumed. However, with the company's cash just over $6 billion, and Twitter still burning cash, it was obvious that management would need to raise new debt to fund much if not all of this new gift to shareholders. And today it did just that, when it announced that it would tap the junk bond market (TWTR is rated Ba2/BB) to raise $1 billion to fund the company's stock buyback, as well as pay down existing debt and pursue potential acquisitions. But mostly fund the stock buyback.

According to Bloomberg, the eight-year unsecured notes may be sold as soon as Wednesday, and will have a coupon around 5%:

*TALK: TWITTER $1B 8NCL SR NOTES 4.875%-5%

What about actually spending some of the new debt on growth and/or M&A? The answer, unlikely: “From time to time Twitter evaluates potential strategic transactions and acquisitions of businesses, technologies or products,” the statement said. “Currently, however, Twitter does not have any agreements with respect to any such material strategic transactions or acquisitions.

Which begs the question: while companies have issued billions (if not trillions) in debt in recent years to fund buybacks - which only benefit management and, briefly, shareholders - when will companies actually use debt to fund growth?

Then again if bondholders are still so stupid as to directly transfer funds from their pocket to the pocket of management and shareholders in exchange for a modest pick up in yield, then Twitter would be stupid not to take the money, especially since after the next crash the company can just apply for another PPP loan and get bailed out courtesy of US taxpayers.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/twitter-sells-1-billion-junk-bonds-pay-stock-buyback

Originally posted at >>>/qrb/127772 (231658ZFEB22) Notable: Philip Morris Eyes Smaller Deals Amid Push Into Wellness Field and PM Exec sold $3.24m in equity yesterday-bnnB'berg

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Philip Morris Eyes Smaller Deals Amid Push Into Wellness Field

Philip Morris International Inc. may make smaller deals to help build a multibillion-dollar health and wellness business by 2030 as global cigarette demand weakens. The company will invest as much as $200 million annually over the next three years to develop a pipeline of health and wellness products, Chief Executive Officer Jacek Olczak said Wednesday in an online presentation at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference. “The emphasis is on organic product development to deliver these revenues, with the possibility of smaller bolt-on acquisitions and co-development and partnerships to complement,” he said.

Philip Morris has already made a series of acquisitions including inhaled-therapy maker Vectura Group Plc and Fertin Pharma, which produces a smoking-cessation aid, to bolster the health push. The company aims to generate more than $1 billion from products outside nicotine by 2025. Olczak pointed to several focus areas in the pipeline. In health care, the company sees unmet patient needs for fast and effective treatments for cardiologic or neurological conditions, such as heart attacks or migraine headaches. Pain management with medical cannabis is another area of interest, Olczak said, although the company won’t be participating in recreational cannabis market. In wellness, possible areas for expansion include sleeping aids, energy boosters, as well as smoking-cessation and anxiety products. The company is evaluating the use of the cannabis-based product CBD in some of these areas. “We see opportunities to provide more effective solutions via consumer, over-the-counter and prescription pathways over time,” Olczak said. The health-care offering will start to bear fruit by 2025, he said.

The shares rose 0.4% at 10:38 a.m. in New York.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/philip-morris-eyes-smaller-deals-amid-push-into-wellness-field-1.1727522