Solwd

Defying large domestic protests and condemnation from the United States and other Western governments, the Republic of Georgia’s parliament on Tuesday adopted a “foreign agents” law that would impede foreign nongovernmental organizations’ (NGOs’) ability to operate in the country — and put Georgia’s European Union and NATO ambitions in jeopardy. 

🇬🇪 Looks like Soros’s NGOs don’t give up so easy on their control over Georgia

Let’s hope the government of Georgia doesn’t repeat the mistakes the Ukrainian government made in 2014 and takes care of these agitators before things get out of hand. pic.twitter.com/I9TVizIvQW

— Gabe (@GabeZZOZZ) May 14, 2024

Georgia’s president, Salome Zourabichvili, has vowed to veto the measure, but the parliament approved the law by a 84-30 margin, only only needs 76 to override a veto. After the law’s passage, Biden Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters: 

“We’re deeply troubled by Georgia’s Kremlin-style ‘foreign agents’ legislation...we have been outspoken about our concerns with the legislation, which runs counter to democratic values and would move Georgia further away from the values of the European Union and, let’s not forget, also NATO.”

Under the Georgia law, which is modeled after one adopted in Russia, organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from outside the country would have to register as “agents of foreign influence,” under threat of fines. While Western governments officially scoff at the notion, NGOs have been a major vector of Western interference in foreign countries, up to and including regime change campaigns. NGOs played roles of varying significance in the so-called “Colour revolutions” in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.  

Ironically reinforcing the idea that the law would thwart foreign interference, the German Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael Roth and Lithuanian legislator Zhigimantas Pavillionis visited the protest rally outside the parliament — conjuring images of late US Senator John McCain and Sen. Chris Murphy joining anti-government protesters in Kiev as the Ukraine revolution gained momentum.  

🇬🇪🇪🇺❤️ Michael Roth and Zhigimantas Pavillionis came to the protest rally in front of the Parliament#Georgia #NoToRussianLaw pic.twitter.com/dpBvXAzs1e

— Mtavari TV (@MtavariChannel) May 14, 2024

In a vivid display of the intensity of feelings over the law, fists flew in parliament earlier this year: 

Georgia Parliament descends into fight as lawmaker get punch in face pic.twitter.com/LOZyK1oEmD

— BIGMANSHANE1710 (@BIGMANSHANE1) April 15, 2024

In recent months, Georgia has seen large protests against the law, with university students playing a major role. On Monday, 30 different colleges in the country saw students declare “strikes” and join demonstrations that decry “the Russian law.”  

According to some polls, upwards of 89% of Georgians support EU membership to some degree — but, ironically, most of these polls seem to be organized by NGOs like the National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute. Demonstrators frequently wave EU flags and on Tuesday played the EU anthem… 

A historic moment in Tbilisi, as protesters and a European delegation listen to the EU and Georgian anthems, envisioning Georgia’s European future.

Truly remarkable 🥹 🇬🇪🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/3bGmI9xZAC

— Katie Shoshiashvili (@KShoshiashvili) May 14, 2024

The protests have periodically erupted in violence, with police resorting to tear gas, water canons and clubs. 

🇬🇪 #Georgia: Teargas, water cannon, and riot projectiles used by police during huge anti-government protests tonight in Tbilisi. Protesters are now deploying makeshift barricades to defend themselves.

(📹@gattsu17 on IG) pic.twitter.com/Ncj2TPunGm

— Popular Front (@PopularFront_) May 1, 2024

Riot police clash with protesters outside Georgian parliament

Read morehttps://t.co/JR1ZHwxkyy pic.twitter.com/9tz8RqFb2a

— RT (@RT_com) May 15, 2024

European Commission spokesman Peter Stano echoed the White House’s warning about the law’s effect on Georgia’s potential EU membership, telling the Financial Times:

“[The law is] very dangerous for Georgia’s European ambitions. The expectations are very clear — if this piece of legislation is adopted, it will be a grave obstacle for Georgia when it comes to [its] European outlook.”

The parliament’s ruling coalition is led by the Georgian Dream party. On Tuesday, the party’s principal benefactor, Bidzina Ivanishvili, refused to meet with German and US officials who wanted to persuade him to intervene and prevent the vote from taking place. 

What’s next? The parliament has 10 days to deliver the bill to Georgian President Zourabichvili. She then has two weeks to issue her promised veto, and then an override seems a certainty. Then things will get interesting as foreign-funded NGOs will have to start complying with the registration requirement or cease their activities. Don’t expect the US empire to sit on its hands…

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

Below is a slightly expanded version of my column in the New York Post on the first day of cross examination for Michael Cohen. He still has one day of cross examination ahead of him on Thursday. With the government resting after Cohen’s cross examination, I believe that an honest judge would have no alternative but to grant a motion for a directed verdict and end the case before it goes to the jury. Judge Juan Merchan will now have to give the full measure of his commitment to the rule of law. Given the failure to support the elements of any crime or even to establish the falsity of recording payments as legal expenses, this trial seemed to stumble through the motions of a trial. Michael Cohen was only the final proof of a raw political exercise. For critics, some of Cohen’s answers appear clearly false or misleading. Like their star witness, the prosecutors have shown that they simply do not take the law very seriously when there is an advantage to be taken. Cohen has truly found a home with the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Here is the column:

On Tuesday, the prosecution surprised many by suddenly announcing that it would rest its case against former president Donald Trump with the completion of testimony by Michael Cohen.

It was surprising because the prosecution never clearly stated the crime that it was proving, the elements of that crime, or even why denoting payments related to Stormy Daniels were not properly recorded as legal expenses.

Indeed, the only thing the prosecutors proved was that, in the pantheon of dishonesty, there are liars, pathological liars . . . and Michael Cohen.

Cohen spent the last two days insisting that he used to be a liar but lied to help former President Donald Trump. If that is the thrust of his testimony, it is just the latest lie told by Cohen under oath.

Cohen has lied to Congress, courts, special counsels, the IRS, the banks, and virtually every creature that walks or crawls on the face of the Earth.

Notably, his past conviction for business and tax fraud were not taken in the interests of Trump but himself.

When he admitted on the stand that he lied during his prior plea agreement, that was not to assist Trump who he had already denounced. It was to advance his own interests.

There is every indication that Cohen is still lying.

Cohen repeatedly said that he could not remember even recent calls after recounting calls from eight years ago with crystal clarity. He said that he could not remember if he leaked information in the case to CNN. However, these paled in comparison to other glaring moments.

Take, for example, his testimony on his unethical decision to secretly record a Sept. 6, 2016 telephone call with Trump.

It was a breathtaking betrayal that most lawyers would not contemplate, let alone carry out.

When asked by the prosecutors about that act, Cohen bizarrely claimed that he did so to guarantee that David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, would “remain loyal to Mr. Trump.”

No one seriously believes that this is true. It does not even make sense. Pecker was speaking to Trump about the payments and even met with him at the White House.

Playing for him a call with Trump would produce nothing but confusion rather than pressure for Pecker.

Moreover, why would Cohen tape the call without letting Trump know? The obvious motive was to squirrel away material to use against Trump if he ever needed a little leverage.

Again, it was for Cohen.

Cohen’s testimony showed that he has consistently acted in his sole interest.

After portraying his sudden cooperation with prosecutors as a type of Road to Damascus, jurors learned that all roads lead back to Cohen and his bank accounts.

After telling the jury that he has dedicated his life to righting the wrongs of Trump and holding him accountable, he admitted that he repeatedly acted to undermine the prosecution in order to make a buck.

Told by prosecutors to stop doing public interviews, Cohen did not care. He did roughly two dozen television appearances and recorded hundreds of podcast episodes.

He admitted that Trump is mentioned in virtually every episode, of which he did roughly four a week.

He recounted how he raked in millions on books, including one titled “Revenge.” He admitted that he is selling items like a $32 shirt with a photo of Trump in a jumpsuit behind bars and a coffee mug with the phrase “send him to the big house, not the White House.”

He is also peddling a reality show called “The Fixer,” in which he promises viewers, “I am your fixer.”

After just a few hours of cross examination, it was clear that Cohen is the same grifter saving himself — one Venmo at a time.

Yet, Cohen continued to reframe reality in his own self-constructed image.

When asked about his TikTok antics, he portrayed his postings as a type of sleep deprivation therapy, explaining that “having a difficult time sleeping and [he] found an out.”

No sane prosecutor would rely on Cohen, let alone make him the entirety of their case.

The prosecutors did not even bother to show that Trump was responsible for or knew about how the payments were recorded on ledgers and business records.

They also just shrugged away the need to show why denoting these payments as “legal expenses” was fraudulent — or what the correct description might be.

Those details might be demanded in any other courtroom, but this is New York and the defendant is Donald Trump.

For Bragg and his team, it is all about what they can get out of this case despite the law.

In that sense, they found a kindred spirit in their star witness, and Michael Cohen has finally found a place that values what he calls on his reality show promo his “particular set of skills.”

Oil prices are tumbling this morning despite lower CPI (juicing rate cut hopes), weak retail sales (but strong gas station spending), and a big draw reported overnight by API. It seems the main downside driver was IEA lowering its 2024 demand forecast.

World oil demand is forecast to grow by 1.1 million barrels per day this year, down 140,000 bpd from last month’s projection.

Global crude inventories surged in March by 34.6 million barrels as trade disruptions pushed oil on water to a post pandemic high, according to the IEA.

The question is – will the official data confirm API’s big crude draw and re-energize prices.

API

Crude -3.1mm (-1.1mm exp)

Cushing -601k

Gasoline -1.27mm (unch exp)

Distillates +349k (+300k exp)

DOE

Crude -2.508mm (-1.1mm exp)

Cushing -341k

Gasoline -235k (unch exp)

Distillates -45k (+300k exp)

The official data shows inventory draws across the board with crude stocks down 2.5mm barrels…

Source: Bloomberg

The Biden admin continued to add to the SPR, adding 593k barrels…

Source: Bloomberg

US Crude production remains flat near record highs at 131.mm b/d…

Source: Bloomberg

WTI was trading just above $77 ahead of the official print and rallied further on the across-the-board draws…

Finally, we note that refinery utilization rates are back above 90%, the highest since January. Rates increased in all regions, with the Midwest rising for the second straight week to 90.8%, from 85.2% in the previous week, as refineries wake up from maintenance.

President Biden on Wedensday says he won’t participate in the decades-old tradition of three fall debates by the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, and has proposed two televised debates in June and September – with no audience, RFK Jr. can’t participate, and Trump’s mic will be muted when Biden is speaking. Oh, and they can only be hosted by a regime-friendly network.

Outlined in a video message and a letter to the commission, Biden called for direct negotiations between his campaign and the Trump campaign over rules, moderators, and network hosts for the one-on-one debates. He proposed a separate VP debate in July, after the Republican nominating convention and before the Democratic nominating convention.

“Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020, and since then he hasn’t shown up for a debate. Now he is acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal. I’ll even do it twice,” Biden said in a video released Wednesday, poking fun at Trump’s trial schedule in which the former President is free on Wednesdays. “So let’s pick the dates, Donald. I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.”

According to Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon, the commission’s proposed schedule and difficulty in keeping candidates from violating debate rules are the reason for the proposal, the Washington Post reports.

“The Commission’s model of building huge spectacles with large audiences at great expense simply isn’t necessary or conducive to good debates,” she wrote in a letter. “The debates should be conducted for the benefit of the American voters, watching on television and at home — not as entertainment for an in-person audience with raucous or disruptive partisans and donors, who consume valuable debate time with noisy spectacles of approval or jeering.”

Here’s the notice. https://t.co/peSh2ZW0ZX pic.twitter.com/hBcUBHp27o

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) May 15, 2024

Trump responded to the challenge, telling Fox News’ Brooke Singman “I’m ready to go…The dates that they proposed are fine…Let’s see if Joe can make it to the stand-up podium,” adding “The proposed June and early September dates are fully acceptable to me. I will provide my own transportation.”

EXCLUSIVE@realDonaldTrump tells me:

“I’m ready to go…The dates that they proposed are fine…Let’s see if Joe can make it to the stand-up podium.”

“The proposed June and early September dates are fully acceptable to me. I will provide my own transportation.”

— Brooke Singman (@BrookeSingman) May 15, 2024

Trump and the RNC have also shown interest in ditching the commission, which has held presidential debates since 1988. They have already scheduled three presidential and vice presidential debates starting on Sept. 16, as well as a presidential candidate meeting in Texas that would have been simultaneously broadcast by major networks.

“Let’s set it up right now,” Trump told Biden in a May 9 video posted to Truth Social. “I’m ready to go anywhere that you are.”

The two camps will conduct extensive negotiations over the coming weeks, with Biden’s team requesting that only broadcast networks which hosted Republican primary debates in 2016 and Democratic primary debates in 2020 should be eligible to host – meaning CNN, ABC News, Telemundo and CBS News.

To that end, Biden has ‘received and accepted an invitation from CNN for a debate on June 27th.’

I’ve received and accepted an invitation from @CNN for a debate on June 27th. Over to you, Donald. As you said: anywhere, any time, any place.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 15, 2024

As far as moderators go, Biden’s team has proposed that the host be picked from networks’ “regular personnel,” and that the actual debate have firm time limits on answers, equal speaking time, alternative turns to speak, and microphones that are only active during each candidate’s turn.

DEBATE: Biden’s debate challenge to Trump came with fine print:

• No live audience
• RFK Jr. is banned
• Trump’s mic is muted when Biden speaks
• Only hosted by NPR, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, or CBS
• Moderated by Democrat-aligned reporter pic.twitter.com/ST4ZKTcMFA

— @amuse (@amuse) May 15, 2024

Volatility in “meme stocks” continued in premarket trading on Wednesday as AMC Entertainment Holdings announced a debt-for-equity exchange for $163.9 million in bonds maturing in 2026. This strategy mirrors management’s approach that helped the struggling movie theater chain capitalize on retail day traders to boost liquidity in 2021. 

A regulatory filing released Wednesday morning detailed how AMC reached a deal to swap about $164 million of its 10% notes due 2026 for 23.3 million shares of newly issued stock. The new stock is valued at $7.33 per share. 

“AMC, much of whose debt trades at distressed prices, has been chipping away at its maturities through other swaps and buybacks. It exchanged around $200 million of the debt for shares last year,” Bloomberg pointed out. 

Today’s news sparked a rally in AMC’s high-yield bonds. The company has over $2.5 billion in outstanding bonds, most of which will mature in 2026. 

News of the added supply sent shares down nearly 9% in premarket trading to the low $6 handle. 

Shares were as high as $11.48 early Tuesday in the multi-day meme stock mania, triggered by a post on X from Roaring Kitty, also known as Keith Gill, on Sunday night.

Also, on Tuesday, AMC completed a previously disclosed ATM. The deal was completed through Citigroup Global Markets, Barclays Capital, B. Riley Securities, and Goldman Sachs & Co., raising about $250 million in new capital for the struggling company. 

The old saying goes, “Strike while the iron is hot.” That’s precisely what AMC’s management is doing: taking advantage of retail day traders by completing ATM and debt-for-equity exchanges. Somehow, this company, which should’ve been dead a long time ago, continues to stay alive with help from Roaring Kitty, squeezing bearish hedge funds by igniting upside momentum through retail day traders. 

We asked this question yesterday: Who’s Next For The ‘Roaring Kitty’ Treatment?

With the CPI report came in on top of expectations on 3 of the 4 closely watched metrics, with just headline CPI coming in at 0.3%, just shy of the 0.4% expected (with the retail sales print coming in far uglier and missing across the board), there has been some debate among the usual commenting suspects whether this inflation report was enough to tip the scales to an earlier rate cut or not, although the consensus seems to suggest that the print was enough to keep September, if not the July, FOMC meeting in play for a rate cut.

Below we quote some of the most active Wall Street economists and strategists who have already manged to sneak in a bullet point or two with their kneejerk response to the CPI print.

Neil Birrell, CIO at Premier Miton Investors:

“The usual excitement over US inflation ended up being a damp squib, as it came in exactly as expected. However, retail sales were weaker than expected and the core rate is back to levels not seen for quite some time, which might well see optimists calling for rate cuts and markets rallying.”

Capital Economics

“Core CPI was even better than it looked, particularly given that we already know the PPI components that feed into the Fed’s preferred PCE deflator measure came in, on balance, weaker than expected. We estimate that core PCE increased by around 0.20%m/m. All things considered, this is consistent with the Fed cutting interest rates in September.”

David Russell, Global Head of Market Strategy at TradeStation

“Shelter didn’t ease as hoped, but there was improvement in transportation and healthcare. The number wasn’t perfect, but we’re staggering toward lower inflation. Weaker data on retail sales and the Empire Index also suggest growth is slowing, which keeps rate cuts on the table. It was a trifecta of dovish news.”

Nick “Nikileaks” Timiraos, WSJ resident Fed leaker:

“One good print can’t offset three unfavorable ones. It may take a couple more for officials to get over the PTSD of the Q1 inflation. It reduces the risk of any shift to a neutral bias (ie, open the door to hikes).”

Florian Lepo, Lombard Odier Asset Management

“With this in-line inflation print, rates are likely to break the [4.4%] level, dragged down by real rates. With that, the dollar should fall, supporting most assets labeled in it.”

Rubeela Farooqi, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics:

“Overall, price pressures remain elevated but are moving in the right direction. We think the data support the case for a patient approach on policy decisions from the Fed going forward although the base case remains one of lower rates this year.”

Gregory Faranello, head of US rates for AmeriVet Securities:

“Fed friendly data for the most part with both the CPI and retail sales. Both indicate a tempering which is what the Fed is looking for. These numbers support Chair Powell’s notion of ‘higher for longer’ to potentially lower.”

Ira Jersey, head of rates at Bloomberg

“The relief-rally knee-jerk reaction may be more about retail sales slowing meaningfully than the close-to-expected CPI. Sales have tended to lead goods CPI by a few months. The CPI report being pretty close to consensus underlines the continuing trend of lower-volatility core CPI sectors contributing nearly 4% on a year-on-year basis, while higher-volatility ones (right now generally goods sectors) contribute nothing. So although the data was broadly in line, inflation continues to run above the Fed’s comfort level, meaning near-term rate cuts aren’t likely.”

Source: Bloomberg

For once, BofA’s analysts ‘missed’ as their expectations for a small beat in retail sales was eviscerated by a huge miss across the board.

Headline Retail sales were unchanged MoM (versus +0.4% exp) and last month’s +0.7% MoM move was revised slightly lower to +0.6% MoM.

Source: Bloomberg

Nonstore retailers and Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers saw the biggest MoM declines while spending at Gasoline Stations rose the most (biggest MoM rise since Aug 2023)…

Source: Bloomberg

Both headline and core retail sales slowed on a YoY basis (ex-Autos and Gas Stations actually declined 0.1% MoM)…

Source: Bloomberg

Finally, the crucial core-control group – used in GDP calculation – plunged by 0.3% MoM (vs +0.1% MoM exp) – its third big miss in the last four months…

Source: Bloomberg

Not a good start for Q2 GDP.

Slovakia’s populist prime minister Robert Fico has been shot, according to breaking news reports, after which he was rushed to the hospital and appears to be alive according to early reports. But some reports have listed his condition as “very serious” and that he had to be airlifted.

According to emerging details in The Associated Press, Fico “was injured in a shooting and taken to hospital. The incident took place in the town of Handlova, some 150 kilometers northeast of the capital, according to the news television station TA3.”

Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico, file image

Local authorities say that a suspect is in custody. The shooting happened in front of the House of Culture where a government meeting was taking place.

One eyewitness “saw the prime minister being lifted from the ground by security guards and loaded into a car and driven away.”

Several people were greeting Fico and the moment the shots rang out, after which the prime minister fell to the ground. The would-be assassin was then taken by police. No details have been released as to the extent of his injuries.

Unconfirmed video of the immediate aftermath:

🇸🇰 Details on the assassination attempt on Slovakian PM Robert Fico:

The shooter was hiding in the crowd that had gathered at the building where the Prime Minister was speaking. He fired from within the crowd, presumably 3-4 times.

He then tried to escape but was apprehended by… pic.twitter.com/jS3waHm9q0

— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) May 15, 2024

He has been outspoken against deepening Western involvement in the Ukraine war, for which he’s made many enemies and critics among Western allies, and of course within Ukraine itself.

For example, here’s how CNN last October described his ascendancy to prime minister and leader of the small NATO member state… “A party headed by a pro-Kremlin figure came out top after securing more votes than expected in an election in Slovakia, official results show, in what could pose a challenge to NATO and EU unity on Ukraine.”

However, at this early point a motive is unknown.

A national outlet in Slovakia has reported the following unconfirmed details of his condition (machine translation):

According to the available information, which immediately began to spread, Prime Minister Robert Fico was hit by 2-3 wounds, allegedly in the limb, chest and abdomen. It is said that up to 4-5 shots should have been fired. According to information from the PLUS 7 DAYS weekly , someone from the crowd called out “Robo, come here” and the shooting started.

“It’s a gunshot wound to the abdomen and arm. He’s currently out of danger. They’re going to operate on him,” our well-informed source told us at 3:30 p.m.

developing…

A 0.1% MoM miss in Headline CPI and continued slowing in Core CPI was all the algos needed to ‘buy all the things’.

The initial reaction to this morning’s data was a surge in rate-cut expectations – two cuts fully priced back in for 2024 and more than three more cuts priced in for 2025…

Source: Bloomberg

That sent stocks soaring…

…and TSY yields tumbling with 10Y erasing all of its increase since the last CPI print…

Source: Bloomberg

Gold is rising – from its pre April CPI level…

Source: Bloomberg

As the dollar dived back towards pre-April CPI…

Source: Bloomberg

Bitcoin rose on the cool CPI…

Source: Bloomberg

Of course, it’s still early in the day…

Authored by Jesse Coghlan via CoinTelegraph.com,

Ilya Sutskever, the co-founder and chief scientist of OpenAI’s for-profit arm who helped briefly oust CEO Sam Altman last year, is leaving the artificial intelligence firm.

“After almost a decade, I have made the decision to leave OpenAI,” Sutskever wrote in a May 14 X post saying he was going to work on a “personally meaningful” project. He added he was confident the firm would build an artificial general intelligence (AGI) that is “safe and beneficial.”

Altman posted on X that Sutskever and OpenAI would “part ways” and the former chief scientist “has something personally meaningful he is going to go work on.”

Source: Ilya Sutskever

pic.twitter.com/qyPMIcvcsY

— Ilya Sutskever (@ilyasut) May 14, 2024

OpenAI announced Jakub Pachocki as its new chief scientist. Pachocki has been the firm’s director of research since 2017 and led the development of its GPT-4 large language model.

Sutskever was part of an effort that successfully saw OpenAI’s board briefly push out Altman as CEO in November last year before he was later re-hired to the role after backlash from employees.

The Information reported at the time that Sutskever — who was one of six board members for the nonprofit OpenAI, Inc. — told employees Altman’s ouster was the board doing its duty to ensure OpenAI “builds AGI that benefits all of humanity.”

Sutskever later wrote in a November X post:

“I deeply regret my participation in the board’s actions.“

After Altman was rehired, Sutskever stepped down from OpenAI’s board and it’s been unclear what role he had at the firm which sparked the meme template “Where is Ilya?” that speculated what position he had at OpenAI.

Source: Elon Musk

AGI is a term for a hypothetical artificial intelligence that can perform the same as or better than humans on a range of tasks.

Altman said last month he doesn’t care how much it costs to make an AGI, even if he spends $50 billion a year.

Others, such as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, have called for a measured approach to developing a possible intelligent AI saying it poses unknown risks.