Food stocks (CAG) are trading defensively in reaction to Trump's pick to lead Health and Human Services.
Friday, November 15, 2024
'US Pharma is largely immune from 'MAHA' impact: Wolfe'
Wolfe Research argues that despite a near-term impact, large-cap U.S. pharma stocks are largely immune from the anti-chronic disease movement
https://seekingalpha.com/news/4296178-us-pharma-largely-immune-from-maha-impact-wolfe
Zelensky: "The War Will End Faster" Under Trump Administration
Update(1120ET): Merely a year ago or less, Ukrainian officials and Kiev's staunchest supporters essentially considered it 'treason' to even broach the possibility of peace talks with Russia. President Zelensky himself had frequently made it clear that he would not consider it so long as Putin is in power.
But on Friday, Zelensky issued some remarks which constitute a glaring 180-degree reversal, in the wake of Trump's election victory, on the prospect of peace in Ukraine. Zelensky stated that under the Trump administration "the war will end faster". He laid out the following in a fresh interview, according to a regional source:
"It is very important for us to have a just peace, so that we do not feel that we have lost our best because of the injustice that has been imposed on you. The war will end, but there is no exact date. Certainly, with the policies of this team that will now lead the White House, the war will end sooner. This is their approach, their promise to their society, and it is also very important to them," he said.
As for the earlier Putin-Scholz phone call, it ended on a note that the two leaders should talk again soon. Their discussion has been described as "frank" and "detailed" concerning the Ukraine conflict. Putin conveyed to the German leader that Russia-German relations have seen "unprecedented degradation" - according to TASS.
Below is the call summary/readout from the Russian side:
"The chancellor and the Russian president agreed to stay in contact from now on. The German government will ensure that allies and partners, as well as the EU and NATO leadership are informed," the source said.
In addition to the information released by the German government's press service after the conversation, the source said that Scholz expressed concern over reports about the alleged deployment of North Korean servicemen to Russia. According to him, this could allegedly lead to "a significant escalation and expansion of the conflict."
And most importantly the two expressed a desire for formal Ukraine talks:
Russia is open to talks to settle the conflict in Ukraine based on the proposals that were announced at the Foreign Ministry in June, Russian President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as they spoke by phone, the Kremlin said.
"As for the prospects for a political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict, the Russian president noted that the Russian side has never refused and remains open to the resumption of the negotiations that were interrupted by the Kiev regime," the Kremlin said in a statement. "Russia's proposals are well known and outlined, in particular, in a June speech at the Russian Foreign Ministry."
All of this - especially Zelensky's apparent change of heart (or else realization that the war is unwinnable at this point) - points to strong momentum that talks could get underway before Trump is even sworn in on Jan.20. Zelensky, when he last met Trump in New York, had described that Ukraine has "been through hell".
* * *
Potential near-term Russia-Ukraine negotiations to end the war continue to move toward reality in the wake of Donald Trump's election win.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian President Vladmir Putin are planning to hold their first phone call in almost two years on Friday.
Bloomberg was the first to report the development, citing several sources, and highlights the uncertainty felt in Europe concerning Ukraine policy over Trump's return to the White House. "Germany is Ukraine’s second-biggest supporter after the US and has pledged billions of euros in additional aid," it notes.
Scholz first announced Sunday his desire to speak to Putin "soon" about achieving peace in Ukraine, bringing the war to an end. "Yes, I decided to talk to the president of Russia at the right time. But I'm a responsible politician, I don’t do it alone," Scholz told a German broadcaster.
The timing of the German leader's words suggest Trump being in the White House provides the nudge to finally get serious about diplomacy and negotiations with Moscow:
Scholz spoke with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday, with the German chancellor’s spokesman saying the two discussed working "toward a return to peace in Europe."
The last phone call between Putin and Scholz was all the way back in December 2022. Scholz made the call to urge that Russian troops leave Ukraine and return home, and there's been radio silence between the two throughout the war.
Since then, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has insisted that Putin was "no longer even prepared" to speak with the chancellor, amid Berlin ramping up is military support for Ukraine and drastically expanding its defense budget, reversing a posture of historic neutrality.
France's Macron had been the only European leader to hold semi-regular contact with Putin throughout the opening months of the war, but he came under severe criticism from some corners of Europe for doing so.
But the drastic political change in Washington is clearly changing the mood in war-weary Europe as well. Now, even Ukraine is getting the memo - that there's about to be a different track.
"Ukrainian officials have said for months that they would not cede territory occupied by Russia in any peace settlement. Now, as Ukraine contemplates an accelerated timetable for negotiations pushed by President-elect Donald J. Trump, it is putting at least as much importance on obtaining security guarantees as on where an eventual cease-fire line might fall," NY Times wrote Thursday.
"The territorial question is extremely important, but it’s still the second question," one Ukrainian official told the Times. "The first question is security guarantees."
Trump's team has been talking about pressuring Kiev to halt aspirations to join NATO for twenty years. It would likely be on that basis that Ukraine will seek pledges from Western partners for protection in the event Moscow breaks any potential deal.
American People May Finally Know COVID Origins With Trump In Office
Despite Covid-19 killing 1.2 million Americans and unleashing $18 trillion in economic damages on the US economy, the origins of the virus have yet to be officially disclosed to the American public by regulators, policymakers, and public health officials. Corporate mainstream media, Washington elite swamp creatures, intelligence agencies, and Big Tech unleashed a censorship cartel in a multi-year crusade on anyone who dared to mention a potential research lab leak in Wuhan, China. Under the Trump administration's second term, the origin of Covid is likely to be revealed to the American people.
In an exclusive interview, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told New York Post reporters he will take over the upper chamber's Homeland Security Committee in January after serving two years as the panel's top Republican. He explained that he would uncover the truth about Covid's origins.
"I chose to chair this committee over another because I believe that, for the health of our republic, Congress must stand up once again for its constitutional role," Paul told the Post in an interview Wednesday, adding, "This committee's mission of oversight and investigations is critical to Congress reasserting itself."
"I think we're on the cusp of, really, the beginning of uncovering what happened with COVID," Paul continued. He believes his new position and Trump in the White House will help promote transparency on this sensitive subject.
Paul said, "We are going to, hopefully, have a friendlier administration, and we're hoping that there will be a friendly person at [the Department of Health and Human Services], and we're hoping they'll be friendly at [the National Institutes of Health]."
He's right about that. On Thursday afternoon, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Paul noted, "The biggest item of the COVID coverup is that for years, we've known there is this dangerous research." He added that Americans should be free to discuss any topic related to Covid without Washington elites and big tech's censorship cartel silencing anyone who has a non-governmnet approved opinion.
Remember this from Jan. 2020. We were one of the first to mention the lab leak theory in the public domain.
Then 2021.
Fast forward to 2023...
And this year...
Also, on Thursday, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) penned a letter (first revealed by NYPost) to the Intelligence Community Inspector General Thomas Monheim about the integrity of the federal investigation into the origins of Covid...
" ... conflicted individuals may have censored the laboratory-origin related intelligence," Marshall wrote.
The American people deserve answers.
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/american-people-may-finally-know-covid-origins-trump-office
Trump Supporter Trolls Californian Leftists By Selling Fluoridated Drinking Water
by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news,
A Trump supporter in Los Angeles is selling fluoridated water on Facebook Marketplace to cater for panicked Californians who are worried that RFK Jr. may remove the additive from drinking water.
Yes, really.
Now that Trump has announced the appointment of Kennedy as Secretary of Health and Human Services, some leftists are worried that that he will take away their precious fluoride.
Oh no, the horror!
Trump voter Case Bradford decided to troll the libtards by advertising fluoridated drinking water at $199 a bottle (glass not included).
“I am now selling fluoridated water in Los Angeles to the panic stricken population,” Bradford posted on X.
Last week, the Los Angeles Times reported that, “A Trump win in Tuesday’s election could spell the end of fluoridated water” in California and across the U.S., where 75 per cent of residents live in communities where fluoride is artificially added to the water supply.
Indeed, before Trump’s victory, RFk Jr. promised that, “On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” calling the compound “industrial waste” and asserting it was associated with health risks.
Despite the medical establishment continually touting its supposed benefits, adding fluoride to drinking water has been linked with lowering IQ.
However, a report published earlier this year by the National Toxicology Program, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, summarized a review of studies conducted in Canada, China, India, Iran, Pakistan and Mexico on fluoridated drinking water.
The report concluded that drinking water containing more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter is consistently associated with lower IQs in kids, with children exposed to higher levels suffering a 2 to 5 point IQ drop.
Apparently, some Californians are desperate to stunt their own children’s cerebral development because “follow the science,” or something.
* * *
X Sees Return Of Major Advertisers As NewsGuard & "Boycott Cartel" Hit by FCC
While Mark Cuban and other sore losers are leaving X to shout into the void, several major advertisers have returned to the platform.
Comcast, IBM, Disney, Warner Brothers, Discovery and Lionsgate Entertainment have all resumed ad spending on the social media giant - albeit this is more of a toe-dip than a full recommitment. According to Adweek, the brands collectively spent less than $3.3 million on X from January to September 2024, a far cry from the $170 million spent during the same period in 2023.
Either way, it's an admission that pulling ad spend over 'hate speech' and 'antisemitism' was nothing more than a giant virtue signal, particularly considering Facebook and Instagram's long history of providing a safe forum for child sexual abuse.
While a global survey by Kantar of senior marketers across 20 countries found that 26% of them plan to cut spending on X in 2025, the 2024 election may have changed that.
"X’s owner now has the ear of the president-elect, a man who has a long history of helping his friends, and punishing his enemies," said Max Willens, senior analyst at Emarketer. "Sending at least a trickle of ad spending toward X may be seen as good for business, albeit in an indirect way."
Advertising Cartel Under Fire
Speaking of the tide turning, the woke cabal of advertisers trying to starve conservative platforms out of a voice is now coming under fire (have we mentioned lately that we really appreciate our premium subscribers?).
In a Wednesday letter to Microsoft, Alphabet (Google), Apple, and Meta, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr accused them of having "participated in a censorship cartel that included not only technology and social media companies but advertising, marketing, and so-called "fact-checking" organizations as well as the Biden-Harris Administration itself."
"The relevant conduct extended from removing or blocking social media posts to suppress their information and viewpoints, including through efforts to delist them, lower their rankings, or harm their profitability."
Carr then suggested that their protection from liability under Section 230 may be on the line.
"As you know, Big Tech's prized liability shield, Section 230, is codified in the Communications Act, which the FCC administers. As relevant here, Section 230 only confers benefits on Big Tech companies when they operate, in the words of the statute, "in good faith."
Wow...
Carr then set his sights on NewsGuard - which Jonathan Turley notes has been long accused by conservatives "of targeting conservative and libertarian sites and carrying out the agenda of its co-founder Steven Brill. Conversely, many media outlets have heralded his efforts to identify disinformation sites for advertisers and agencies."
Basically, NewsGuard bombards conservative sites with struggle-session questionnaire emails demanding explanations for the slightest of indiscretions, after which they issue a "report card" that advertisers use to justify pulling ad spend.
As Carr notes in the letter; "It is in this context that I am writing to obtain information about your work with the one specific organization - the Orwellian named NewsGuard. As exposed by the Twitter Files, NewsGuard is a for-profit company that operates as part of the broader censorship cartel. Indeed, NewsGuard bills itself as the Internet's arbiter of truth or, as its co-founder put it, a "Vaccine Against Misinformation." Newsguard purports to rate the credibility of news and information outlets and tells readers and advertisers which outlets they can trust."
Carr suggests following NewsGuard's ratings may constitute a violation of Section 230 (this is huge).
"NewsGuard's own track record raises questions about whether relying on the organization's products would constitute "good faith" actions within the meaning of Section 230. For one, reports indicate that NewsGuard has consistently rated official propaganda from the Communist Party of China as more credible than American publications."
"For another, NewsGuard aggressively fact checked and penalized websites that reported on the COVID-19 lab leak theory."
Carr then demands the following information:
- A list of every one of your products or services (if any, including advertising) that use or rely on any NewsGuard product, service, or ranking.
- A list of every one of your products or services (if any) that enables any of your users or customers to use or rely on NewsGuard product, service, or ranking.
- If you offer an advertising service, provide details on the use of any media monitor or fact checking service, including NewsGuard, that you may utilize.
Kudlow Eyed to Lead National Economic Council or Treasury
Larry Kudlow is reportedly under consideration to lead the National Economic Council or Treasury Department.
Kudlow served as President Trump’s Chief Economic Advisor in his first administration.
On March 14th, 2018, President Trump named Larry Kudlow Director of the White House National Economic Council.
The Wall Street Journal reported:
Donald Trump is considering naming Fox Business Network host Larry Kudlow to a senior economic policy role in his administration, according to people familiar with the matter, amid the president-elect’s mounting frustration with jockeying for top jobs.
Kudlow met late this week with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the president-elect’s private Florida club, the people said. Trump’s advisers see Kudlow as a contender to lead the National Economic Council and possibly the Treasury Department.
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