The New Gold Rush - The American Border

 by Larry Elder via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

I recently traveled to give a speech. I stayed in a hotel where a group of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents were also staying. I spoke to several, mostly men, but a couple were female. The average person I spoke to had been with the agency for over seven years.

Many people told me, all off the record, that before the Biden administration, they thoroughly enjoyed their job. Many were retired military members and felt that protecting the border allowed them to continue their service to the country. But now, several said they were “counting down the days until retirement.”

They were livid at being converted, as more than one put it, into “Uber drivers” for illegal aliens. One said, “If they average American had any idea who what’s going on, if they knew who we’ve knowingly allowed into the country, if they knew the kinds of things some of these guys are bringing into the country—and I don’t just mean fentanyl and other drugs—they’d burn down the White House.” One showed me a cellphone video he had “secretly” taken depicting “migrants” coming across the border while flashing forefingers at the agents.

One agent said, “We give them bank cards, work permits, and let them stay in hotels or in schools. And right around the corner there are homeless Americans who politicians could not care less about.”

They praised the border state governors for putting the illegal aliens on busses and sending them to Chicago, New York, and, as one said, “My favorite, Martha’s Vineyard.” Democrat politicians, one laughingly said, “talk the talk about sanctuary cities, but don’t walk the walk. And can you believe some Illinois politician said rich people should put them up in their homes? You first, dude!”

“Former President Trump,” I said, “brags that under his administration we had the most secure southern border in history. Is that true?”

One responded, “I don’t know about ever, but I can say in all my years here—and it’s over 10—it was, by far, the most secure. Trump let us do our job.”

What they think about Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is unprintable. As for the prospect of impeaching Mayorkas, they were unimpressed. “Mayorkas isn’t the problem,” several said. “He’s just following the marching orders given by Biden. They’ll just replace him with someone just as bad or worse.”

Why don’t they resign? They said, “If we’re not there, it will get worse. This is not an easy job. It takes training and experience. If you think it’s bad now, what do you think would happen if we walked off the job? I care too much about the country to let that happen.”

What, I asked, about the estimated 8 million or so illegal aliens who entered the country since Joe Biden took over? Assuming Donald Trump comes back into office, will they get deported? “No,” one said, “I don’t believe there is the political will for that to happen. I’ll believe it when I see it.”

As for the terrorists we have allowed to come in, they all thought it is “just a matter of time before we have another 9/11” or “several,” one added. “There’s a lot of stuff going on the administration does not want you to know about. There would be panic in the streets. You don’t want to know what I know. I mean, did you heard about the IEDs (improvised explosive devices) that Mexico seized at the border?”

According to Fox Business, “IEDs were found by Mexican authorities ... a Tucson supervisory border patrol agent arrested an armed person on the U.S. side who had a loaded AK-47 rifle, two loaded AK magazines, loose rounds, and a handgun.”

I asked about Biden’s threat to use the Border Patrol to cut the razor wire put up in Eagle Pass, Texas, by the Texas National Guard. Gov. Greg Abbott wants the CBP to stop using a park there as a gathering ground for illegal entrants. Could there be an armed clashed between the Texas National Guard and the Border Patrol?

“Absolutely not,” they all said. “What Biden is doing to this country has got to stop. We’re both on the same team—team America.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/new-gold-rush-american-border

Biden Administration Wants To Force Foster Parents To Sign LGBTQ Pledge

 by Alice Giordano via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Republican lawmakers and Christian organizations are reacting with outrage to a newly proposed policy by the  Biden administration that would force foster parents to sign a contract agreeing to promote gender ideology in their homes.

“The Safe & Appropriate Foster Care Placement Requirements” calls for states to ensure that LGBTQ children are placed in environments  “free from hostility or discrimination.”

It also requires potential foster parents to undergo training to develop “knowledge and skills to support the needs of LGBTQ children.”

The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) cites what it calls a “recent confidential survey” showing that 32 percent of foster children between the ages of 12 and 21 identify as having a diverse sexual orientation or gender identity.

The NPRM also cites a 2019 study by a group of psychology professors that found that LGBTQ+ youth are almost 2.5 times as likely as heterosexual youth to experience foster care placement.

The Biden administration also cites multiple recent surveys by The Trevor Project showing that foster children identifying as LGBTQ+ are 50 percent less likely to be suicidal, use drugs, or have mental health issues if they are allowed to talk openly about their sexual identity with caregivers.

Organizations like The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention accuse the Biden administration of “cherry picking” evidence to create a “false assumption” that affirming a child’s LGBTQ sexuality is the only way to provide a safe foster home.

“Contrary to such assertions by HHS, a foster family should not have to agree with every political, spiritual, and other belief of a child to be deemed “safe and proper,” the group wrote in a statement.

“A foster parent’s biblical belief regarding sexuality and gender identity does not detract from their ability to warmly welcome a vulnerable child into their home. Inevitably, there will be many beliefs on which the child and family disagree.”

The group predicts that if the mandate is implemented, it will cause a substantial reduction in the already deficient number of foster homes in the U.S.

Sam Whiting, a staff attorney at the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI), told The Epoch Times that the mandate potentially puts foster parents who also have biological children in danger of being labeled abusive and could even lead to the state attempting to take custody of their children.

“If you have a foster family that doesn’t believe in teaching gender-affirming ideology to their own kid, the next step could be to refer them to CPS,” said Mr. Whiting.

Earlier this month, six Republican senators sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra expressing what they called “profound concerns” over the proposed policy.

“All children in foster care, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, deserve a safe and proper placement,” the senators wrote.

“However, this proposal goes beyond statutory requirements to force states to adopt extreme gender ideology in their placement decisions.”

Targeting ‘Faith-Based Child Welfare Providers’

The U.S. senators who sent the letter to Mr. Becerra are Roger Marshall (R-Kan.),  Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.),  Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Michael Lee (R-Utah), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.).

They accused the Biden administration of using the LGBTQ+ foster care policy as part of a “campaign to undermine faith-based child welfare providers” under the guise of “advancing equity.”

This will “alienate, if not exclude” many families of faith that were considering fostering—a prediction that has already proven true in some states, the lawmakers warned.

According to a study by the Becket Fund For Religious Liberty, when the city of Boston stopped partnering with faith-based organizations to provide foster care for children, the number who aged out of the system rather than be placed in a home increased by a staggering 50 percent.

The study also showed that Christian homes are three times more likely to foster a child and two times more likely to adopt a foster child than non-Christian homes.

Attorneys general from 19 states also submitted letters of opposition to the policy. They called the proposal unconstitutional and potentially illegal, citing the Supreme Court landmark case Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. In that ruling, the Court determined that the government cannot prohibit a religious organization from excluding same-sex couples from becoming foster parents.

“The Biden Administration is proposing a rule that is unconstitutional, without authority from Congress, and which almost certainly will drive parents of faith out of the foster care system,” Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers wrote.

Opposition has come from child protection agencies including the Texas Department of Family Protective Services and the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. Both agencies said the rule would be a “further disincentive” to foster care providers.

The Biden administration did not respond to inquiries from The Epoch Times about the criticism.

Some states are already rejecting potential foster parents over their religious beliefs against LGBTQ ideology.

Adoptive Parents Being Rejected

Catholic World Report in August reported on an Oregon widowed mother of five who was prohibited from adopting two siblings from foster care because she did not support teaching alternative sexual orientation to children.

In Massachusetts, a Catholic couple has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Children and Families (DCF)  for rejecting their application after they passed a home study and underwent extensive training.

According to their lawsuit,  Mike and Kitty Burke were rejected because of answers they gave about gender dysphoria and a child’s sexual orientation. Mike, an Iraq War veteran, and Kitty, a special ed assistant, were denied even though they were willing to take hard-to-place children with special needs.

“After months of interviews and training, and after years of heartbreak, we were on the verge of finally becoming parents,” the couple said in a statement.

“We were absolutely devastated to learn that Massachusetts would rather children sleep in the hallways of hospitals than let us welcome children in need into our home.”

A DCF spokesperson told The Epoch Times that the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

According to a 2022 DCF report, more than 10,000 children in Massachusetts are under the care of the DCF.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-administration-wants-force-foster-parents-sign-lgbtq-pledge

Ignore the Amazing Headline Job Numbers, Note the Revisions

 Every year, the BLS makes major adjustments to the data then does not revise history. The charade puts a constant spectacle on monthly job reports. This month let’s start with revisions.

Today the BLS reported jobs rose by 353,000 in January but employment fell by 31,000. Revisions are massive so I will cover them first then do my normal jobs report shortly.

BLS Revisions

Effective with data for January 2024, updated population estimates were incorporated into the household survey. Population estimates for the household survey are developed by the U.S. Census Bureau. Each year, the Census Bureau updates the estimates to reflect new information and assumptions about the growth of the population since the population base year, typically the last decennial census. The change in population reflected in the new estimates results from adjustments for net international migration, updated vital statistics, and improvements in estimation methodology. In accordance with usual practice, BLS will not revise the official household survey estimates for December 2023 and earlier months.

The adjustments decreased the estimated size of the civilian noninstitutional population in December by 625,000, the civilian labor force by 299,000, employment by 270,000, and unemployment by 28,000. The number of people not in the labor force decreased by 326,000. The total unemployment rate, employment-population ratio, and labor force participation rate were unaffected.

Data users are cautioned that these annual population adjustments can affect the comparability of household data series over time.

Let’s start with that last sentence. For January of 2023, the BLS revised jobs lover by 234,000. Yet, the as revised monthly change was +10,000. This implies a huge negative revision to December of 2022 that we do not see.

For 2023, the BLS revised jobs significantly lower for the first half of the year but tapering off towards December. The result was a huge month-over-month upward revision to December from +216,000 to +333,000.

Meanwhile, the BLS also tells us (next chart) that employment in December fell by 270,000.

Employment Revisions to December 2023

Whereas the BLS revised Jobs for December by +333,000 (previous chart), the BLS revised employment for December by -270,000.

Adjusted for population changes, the actual reported impact to employment in January of 2024 was -31,000 rather than the negative cumulative change of -270,000.

Smoothing this all out in one big bang, we see jobs up by 353,000 in January with employment down by 31,000. 

The way the BLS handles the data in one big bang makes year over year comparisons bogus.

Massive Ongoing Discrepancy

The massive discrepancy between jobs and employment continues. Revisions make it worse but due to reporting practices we cannot see actual month-by-month totals.

However, data continues to suggest the discrepancy is very suggestive of people working extra part time jobs to make ends meet or to fill spots by boomer retirements.

Quits Tell the Real Story

On January 30, I commented Job Openings Rise in December But Quits Tell the Real Story

I will cover the as reported data in my next post. Here’s a teaser. Full time employment is below the level in February of 2023!

https://mishtalk.com/economics/ignore-the-amazing-headline-job-numbers-note-the-revisions/

US Banks See Massive Deposit Flight (Biggest Since SVB) As Fed Ends BTFP 'Arb'

 After two weeks of outflows, money market funds saw $42BN of inflows last week, sending the total assets above $6TN for the first time ever..

Source: Bloomberg

Not exactly a bullish sign for stocks as investors are choosing super safe money markets, where six-month bills yield about 5.17%, as the Fed sticks to its higher-for-longer policy.

In a breakdown for the week to Jan. 31, government funds - which invest primarily in securities like Treasury bills, repurchase agreements and agency debt - saw assets rise to $4.89 trillion, a $31.6 billion increase. 

Prime funds, which tend to invest in higher-risk assets such as commercial paper, meanwhile, saw assets rise to $994 billion, a $7.32 billion increase.

Institutional funds saw a large $33BN inflow and retail funds saw yet another inflow...

Source: Bloomberg

After a small expansion in the prior week, The Fed's balance sheet contracted by $47.2BN last week...

Source: Bloomberg

And for the first time since May of last year, usage of The Fed's BTFP facility dropped (by $2.5BN to still $165BN), after The Fed crushed the arb and vowed to end it on time in March...

Source: Bloomberg

The Reverse Repo facility saw more liquidity drawn down, testing down to $500BN left...

Source: Bloomberg

US equity market cap remains decoupled from the shrinking reserves at The Fed once again...

Source: Bloomberg

The timing of the end of the arb, the imminent end of BTFP, and the rapid approach of zero liquidity left in the RRP all line up for a March D-Day for the banks.

Talking of which, on a non-seaonally-adjusted basis, total deposits plunged by a stunning $168BN last week - the biggest weekly drop since the SVB crisis...

Source: Bloomberg

Seasonally-adjusted total deposits also decline, by $28BN...

Source: Bloomberg

And, excluding foreign deposits, The Fed managed to turn a giant domestic deposit flight of $160BN NSA (Large banks -$141BN, Small banks -$19BN) into a tiny domestic deposit decline of $458MN only (Large banks -$16BN, Small banks +$15.5BN)...

Source: Bloomberg

On the other side of the ledger, loan volumes rose byjust over $10BN with Small banks adding $10.5BN while large banks saw loan volumes drop $238MN...

Source: Bloomberg

And finally, as is now finally becoming evident in the share prices, the regional bank crisis is back (it never left) as evidenced by the red line below (without The Fed's BTFP facility there is a major hole) and big banks have money to burn (green line) with help from the FDIC...

Source: Bloomberg

So, when will Powell be forced to admit a March rate-cut is back on the table? Or QE?

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/bank

US Launches Airstrikes On Eastern Syria & Iraq, Significant Casualties Reported

 Update(1640ET): The Biden administration has begun its much anticipated retaliatory strikes: 

FIRST US MILITARY RETALIATORY STRIKES UNDERWAY IN SYRIA: ABC

Regional analyst Kevork Almassian comments as this initial wave of attacks begins: "The US air force is bombing Eastern Syria near al-Mayadeen. Syria is a sovereign country which has not attacked the United States. A clear violation of international law." US B1 bombers have been involved, according to officials. Initial unconfirmed footage from the region:

The Department of Defense has since suggested the initial eastern Syria strikes which were first reported might be the work of a partner air force, possibly Israel(?). There are a number of reports suggesting Israel is participating as a partner force. Additionally:

• Initial report of a US attack against targets in the Deir ez-Zor area on the Syria-Iraq border.
• US Official confirms strikes occurring in Iraq and Syria. “8 targets is just first of many courses” so far
• Reuters, citing American officials: “The strikes targeted facilities in Iraq and Syria linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and groups that it supports.”
• Start time was about 4 p.m. Eastern Time.

The administration appears to have waited until market close on Friday to start bombing.

Significant casualties are being reported, and will likely trickle out through the evening.

Confused messaging coming from Biden administration and mainstream reports:

* * *

French container shipping giant CMA CGM has announced suspension of all its Red Sea transit due to security risks, Bloomberg has reported Friday, adding to a growing list of major firms now deeming the area too unsafe. 

The Bloomberg note additionally confirms that "CMA CGM will keep operating in the northern Red Sea but will not send its fleets through the southern part that is unavoidable for any vessel seeking to use Egypt’s Suez Canal to go between Europe and Asia." With every addition of a shipping major, there's yet further confirmation that the US-led 'Operation Prosperity Guardian' is failing. 

Via Reuters

"Hundreds of container ships and large numbers of oil tankers and commodity carriers have elected to avoid the area altogether," Bloomberg underscores.

Until this week, CMA CGM had continued sending some vessels through the vital transit passage despite the almost daily Houthi missile and drone attacks, but which have been supported by French navy escort. But at this point it appears even the large Western warship presence isn't enough.

This week, the US Navy saw its closest call yet when a Houthi-launched cruise missile came within a mere mile of the destroyer USS Gravely.

Details have only just emerged late in the week based on the accounts of several US defense officials. Presumably other longer range anti-air defenses failed as the missile was inbound close the ship. CNN describes:

In the past, these missiles have been intercepted by US destroyers in the area at a range of eight miles or more, the officials said. But the USS Gravely had to use its Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) for the first time since the US began intercepting the Houthi missiles late last year, which ultimately succeeded in downing the missile, officials said.

The CIWS, an automated machine gun designed for close-range intercepts, is one of the final defensive lines the ship has to shoot down an incoming missile when other layers of defense have failed to intercept it.

So this "last line of defense" which utilizes a 20 mm radar-guided canon had to be activated. The mounted weapon is a General Dynamics and Raytheon-produced ship defense system which engages closely inbound targets...

Fox News' Pentagon correspondent Lucas Tomlinson has said this week marks the "first time in history CIWS ('sea-wiz') has been used in combat from a warship to destroy an incoming cruise missile seconds away from impact.

What has been clear based on other recent incidents is that Houthi drones and missiles are in some instances slipping through the Western navel coalitions 'defense umbrella'.

We detailed a week ago how the US Navy essentially "lost a battle at sea" given that a missile landed in the water very close to a commercial vessel which was being escorted by no less than three US warships. During that time two American merchantmen - the Maersk Detroit and the Maersk Chesapeake - had been attempting to run the Bab al-Mandeb from south to north while being covered by the USS Gravely. But as with this fresh incident of the Gravely's CIWS system having to engage at close range, one missile apparently slipped through in that Jan.17 encounter.

Below is a very different 'close call'...

The MK-15 Phalanx CIWS, a defense system on U.S. Navy ships, can automatically track and target threats.

Here it’s shown targeting a commercial aircraft, likely in semi-automatic mode. pic.twitter.com/d3sUeo2n3C

— VisionaryVoid (@VisionaryVoid) January 30, 2024

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/french-shipping-giant-latest-suspend-red-sea-transit-details-emerge-us-destroyers

Bio-Techne cut to Hold from Buy by Stifel

 Target $65

https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=TECH&p=d

BioRestorative Therapies to Present Preliminary BRTX-100 Clinical Data

 — Blinded data from the ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial of BRTX-100 to be described in poster presentation —

— Company to host webcasted conference call to review data on February 5, 2024 at 8:30am EST —

BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. (“BioRestorative”, “BRTX” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:BRTX), a clinical stage company focused on stem cell-based therapies, today announced that preliminary 26–52 week blinded data from the ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial of BRTX-100 in subjects with chronic lumbar disc disease (“cLDD”) will be presented by Francisco Silva, Vice President of Research and Development, at the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) 2024 Annual Meeting, taking place February 2-6, 2024 in Long Beach, California.

BRTX-100, a novel cell-based therapeutic engineered to target areas of the body that have little blood flow, is the Company’s lead clinical candidate. The safety and efficacy of BRTX-100 in treating cLDD is being evaluated in a Phase 2, prospective, randomized, double-blinded and controlled study. A total of up to 99 eligible subjects will be enrolled at up to 16 clinical sites in the United States. Subjects included in the trial will be randomized 2:1 to receive either BRTX-100 or placebo.

BioRestorative management will host a webcasted conference call with an associated slide presentation at 8:30am EST on Monday, February 5, 2024 to review the BRTX-100 poster. To join the conference call via phone and participate in the live Q&A session, please dial 888-506-0062 (United States) or 973-528-0011 (International), participant access code 234972. The live webcast and audio archive of the presentation may be accessed on the investor section of the BioRestorative website at https://www.biorestorative.com/investor-relations/. An archived replay will be available for approximately 90 days following the event.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/02/01/2821878/0/en/BioRestorative-Therapies-to-Present-Preliminary-BRTX-100-Clinical-Data-at-the-Orthopaedic-Research-Society-ORS-2024-Annual-Meeting.html