"QAnon Shaman says he’s rightful president, sues Trump for $40 trillion"

Following on the post immediately below, "Illinois Governor Pritzker Calls For 25th Amendment To Be Invoked On Trump". 

From the Phoenix New Times, September 26:

In a rambling complaint, Jacob Chansley claims DJs are spies, that the NSA stole his work for a Batman movie and more. 

Arizona resident Jacob Chansley, better known to America as the QAnon shaman who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in a striking horned warrior outfit, is suing a host of entities – including the federal government and President Donald Trump – for $40 trillion. In the process, the Phoenix resident is claiming that he is the rightful leader of the United States.

In a rambling, 26-page complaint that consists of a single paragraph and reads like a manifesto, Chansley alleges that his First, Fourth and Second Amendment rights have been violated by a host of parties that are loosely related at best. Named as defendants are Trump, the Federal Reserve, the National Security Agency, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Bank of International Settlements, the state of Israel, Elon Musk’s X Corp., T-Mobile, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Warner Bros. Studios.

Chansley says that the supposed cabal allegedly engaged in a conspiracy to systematically violate the American people’s constitutional rights. Chansley, who is representing himself, filed the suit Monday in Maricopa County Superior Court. Given that it contains federal claims – albeit wildly specious ones – it likely belongs in U.S. District Court.

Chansley did not respond to inquiries from Phoenix New Times made via the phone number and email he listed on his court paperwork.

The claims in Chansley’s suit include:

• That the central banking system and the Federal Reserve are unconstitutional
• That the U.S. government is guilty of treason for prioritizing the interests of foreign financiers at the expense of the American people
• That the NSA surveilled Chansley daily using the Patriot Act as he was writing a “2nd Declaration of Independence”
• That “all radio stations and most of their DJ’s are a part of the intelligence community”
• That a scene in the 2008 Christopher Nolan-directed Batman film “The Dark Knight” and many plot details in 2009’s “Avatar” were cribbed from his writing and are proof that the NSA was spying on him
• That the NSA catfished him on Facebook by contacting him while pretending to be actress Michele Rodriguez, whom Chansley identifies as “my celebrity crush”
• That he was then “offered the opportunity to work with the NASA covertly and help them deal with other-worldly matters” that his “shamanic beliefs” made him “a perfect candidate to handle”
• That he was emailed by Donald Trump on Jan. 8, 2021, from an address of donaldtrump@nsa.gov
• That the government stole more than $100,000 in cryptocurrency from him

“These seemingly insignificant facts are designed to seem insignificant on their face,” Chansley wrote about the NSA’s spying on his computer, “but if a person were in the loop of what I had written on my computer a few months prior those details would stand out to a sharp mind.”....

....MUCH MORE 

Illinois Governor Pritzker Calls For 25th Amendment To Be Invoked On Trump

From Forbes Breaking News, September 30:

'Something Genuinely Wrong With This Man': Pritzker Calls For 25th Amendment To Be Invoked On Trump 

.

Luttwak—"Will Putin call Nato’s bluff? European militaries are a paper tiger"

God I hope not.

From Unherd, September 28: 

“Paper tiger”. That is how Donald Trump described Russia during his UN speech on Tuesday, but judging by their performance, that put-down could equally be applied to most of America’s own allies. That became clear enough earlier this month, when 21 Russian drones flew into Polish airspace, triggering a Nato air-intrusion alert, the closure of Polish airports, the scrambling of fighters to intercept them — and a hard look at combat readiness right across the alliance.

Dutch F-35 fighters bagged four of the drones, and the others went down by themselves: they were not bombardment drones, just plastic decoys without explosive warheads. Debris aside, in fact, the only damage was the destruction of a house near Lublin, caused not by the Russians, but by a sophisticated $1.9 million US air-to-air missile. It had been launched by a Polish F-16 fighter at a drone — and missed.

Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, was quick to use the Russian incursion to call for more defence spending, urging Nato members to spend 5% of their GDPs on defence. This week’s latest apparent drone incursion, this time over Denmark, has raised the pressure even further: especially now that Scott Bessent, the US Secretary of the Treasury, is warning that Trump has no plans to send more troops to help out his European allies.

But simply raising defence spending will not turn Europe’s states into genuinely effective military powers. For one thing, the GDP criterion is much too vague to mean much. Finland, for instance, spends only 2.4% of its GDP on defence and yet can mobilise some 250,000 determined soldiers. Other Nato members, which spend much more than the Finns, obtain far less for their money.

Moreover, focusing on GDP instead of force requirements — so many battalions, artillery regiments, fighter squadrons — is nothing but an invitation to cheat, an opportunity lustily taken up across the continent. The latest Spanish submarine, for instance, is not imported for €1 billion or so from Thyssen-Krupp, which supplies navies around the world with competent, well-proven submarines. Instead, it was proudly designed and built at the Navantia state-owned Spanish shipyard: for €3.8 billion, roughly the cost of a much bigger French nuclear-powered submarine. As a feeble justification for that absurdly high cost, Spain’s defence minister cited a supposedly advanced air-recirculation system — so greatly advanced, in fact, that it is not actually ready, and will not be installed even in the submarine’s next iteration.

Soon, though, Italy will outdo Spain’s platinum submarine: by including a new bridge to Sicily, set to cost some €13.5 billion, into its 2% of GDP Nato spending quota. The government’s excuse is that some 3,000 Italian troops may need to cross the Strait of Messina were the Italian army ever to be fully mobilised. But it would be much cheaper to fly them individually, each trooper in his own luxurious private jet.....

....MUCH MORE

A few of our previous visits:

• "What a Coup Is: A conversation with Edward Luttwak" (with a look at the January 6th demonstration-turned-riot and rumblings in Berlin)
• Luttwak: "Has Xi Jinping bankrupted China? It is finally possible to imagine a post-Communist regime"
• Luttwak: "How to Stage a Coup..."

We also have a few dozen references to his book "Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook." 

Regarding tigers, part of the outro from 2022's "‘We haven’t got this figured out just yet’: Pentagon, industry struggle to arm Ukraine": 

Is it any wonder that Chairman Mao said about the U.S.:

"In appearance it is very powerful but in reality it is nothing to be afraid of; it is a paper tiger. 

Outwardly a tiger, it is made of paper, unable to withstand the wind and the rain. 

I believe that it is nothing but a paper tiger..."*

Or as the philosopher asked the generals and armaments producers some time ago: 

"When was the last time you b****es won a war?

*Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung
U.S. IMPERIALISM IS A PAPER TIGER, July 14, 1956 

Société Générale's Albert Edwards Au Contraire Contrary Indicator

But that way lies madness. 

"In case you missed it, I was bullish last week!"

Oh dear. Probably time to sell everything! https://t.co/pa9lZR63Ig

— Albert Edwards (@albertedwards99) September 26, 2025

"The economics of self-driving taxis" (GOOG; UBER)

You want economics? Here's a nasty person on the economics:

"When there's no other dude in the car, the cost of taking an Uber anywhere becomes 
cheaper than owning a vehicle. So the magic there is, you basically bring the cost below 
the cost of ownership for everybody, and then car ownership goes away."

—Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, May 28, 2014

And from The Economist, September 28, 2025:

Waymo is a case study in automation 

AUTONOMOUS TAXIS are taking over San Francisco. Although Waymo, the world’s most famous robotaxi company, only launched there in 2023, it may now have more than a fifth of the city’s ride-share market (which includes Uber, but not traditional cabs). Wherever you look one of the company’s white Jaguars whooshes past. Tesla’s robotaxis have joined them, though with a supervisor in the driver’s seat. Before long Zoox, a driverless-car firm owned by Amazon, will set taxis free in the city.

San Francisco’s robotaxi boom raises a question: when technology automates a profession, what happens to human workers? You might think that the city’s drivers are doomed. In fact, so far, the rise of autonomy has played out in two different ways. First, it has raised overall demand for taxis in San Francisco, limiting job losses. Second, it caters to a lucrative corner of the market rather than to the masses.

Take the size of the market first. We find little evidence Waymo has put many humans out of work. According to official data, in 2024 the number of people in San Francisco working for “taxi and limousine service” firms grew by 7%, against a year earlier. Total pay in the industry rose by 14%. Figures from the city suggest the number of old-fashioned taxi trips is about the same as it was last year. It can still be hard to find a yellow cab at peak times. “As self-driving cars enter the marketplace, they will actually expand the market,” David Risher, chief executive of Lyft, a human-powered ride-hailing firm, recently suggested.

The extra riders come from different places. Waymo claims that some people visit San Francisco in order to ride their taxi, which would represent pure additional demand. More likely is that residents are using private cars less often. When the alternative was a Lyft or an Uber, people may have preferred to drive themselves. The risk of having to listen to bad music or engage in awkward conversation was too great. In a driverless taxi you can sit in silence. There are signs that San Franciscans are changing their behaviour. Spending on taxis appears to be growing especially quickly compared with that of residents of other cities. And since Waymo’s launch the number of private cars, adjusted for population, has fallen.

Autonomous taxis are nonetheless a long way from being a mass-market product. Waymos are comfortable and generally clean. But they are perhaps 20-40% more expensive than a Lyft or an Uber. They are also slow.

Unlike human-piloted taxis, autonomous ones rarely break traffic rules; you cannot tell a robot to “step on it!” They also get confused and stop in the middle of the street....

....MORE 

Back to Kalanick:

"We're at the very beginning stages of becoming a robotics company," Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said at the Vanity Fair Summit in San Francisco in October. "As we move toward the future, autonomy is a pretty critical thing for us. It's existential."

-via c|net, Dec. 2016

Uber and former Googler Anthony Levandowski stole trade secrets from what became Waymo though to my knowledge they did not experience the promise and limitations of training the AI that Waymo did. From a 2017 post:

"When Google was training its self-driving car on the streets of Mountain View, California, the car rounded a corner and  encountered a woman in a wheelchair, waving a broom, chasing a duck. The car hadn’t encountered this before so it stopped and waited."

—Markets and Waterfowl: Machine Learning Is Only As Good As the Training It Receives

TS Lombard’s Dario Perkins: This chart shows the U.S. labor market is running on fumes. Why that’s a risk for the stock market

From MarketWatch, September 29:

TS Lombard’s Dario Perkins says this chart helps explain why the Fed has started cutting rates again 

A weakening U.S. labor market is a risk for both the U.S. economy and markets right now. But the most closely watched numbers — the rate of new jobs created and the official unemployment rate — don’t tell the full story.

For that, Dario Perkins, an economist with TS Lombard, has a chart that, according to him, offers a more compelling justification for why the Federal Reserve started cutting interest rates again in September after a nine-month pause.

The six-month rate of change in “core” jobs, which Perkins defines as the U.S. payrolls figure excluding government and healthcare, has slowed to just 0.02%, leaving it barely in positive territory.

As presented, the data clearly show that the central bank had good reason to restart rate cuts, Perkins said. It undercuts the argument that pressure from the White House exerted undue influence on the Fed’s decision-making process.

The data also highlight the uniqueness of the current state of the labor market. Since at least the early 1960s, there has never been a time when labor-market growth, based on this measure, has stalled out for months on end. Usually, a slowdown in hiring is followed by rising layoffs and a recession. In the past, when the pace of job creation has fallen to zero, or slipped below it, a recession has typically been under way.

Another important detail highlighted by this chart: Over the past year, the U.S. economy has depended more heavily on the healthcare sector as an engine of job creation. According to Eric Pachman, chief analytics officer at Bancreek Capital Advisors, jobs in healthcare and social assistance accounted for a whopping 87.3% of total private payroll growth in 2025. That is the highest share in recent memory....

....MUCH MORE 

Related, September 28:

"Fed's Bowman says decisive rate cuts needed to offset labor market risks"

With Paris Fashion Week Having Kicked Off Yesterday....

The Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM) 

I'm in the mood for some changes in the wardrobe. 

This house comes with the highest of recommendations.

Murat, Grand Duc de Berg

From a painting of René Berthon: "Napoléon reçoit les députés du sénat conservateur à Berlin" , museum of château de Versailles and planche Rigo.
More than 60 hours of work only for dolman, 500 m of braid....etc

100 % made in France" in our atelier.
Total cost around 15000 €.

....MUCH MORE

That's a lot of braid...etc 

With The News That Jonathan Ruffer Is Stepping Down From The Eponymously-Named Firm He Co-Founded...

...A look at the firm's latest thinking.

First up, from CityAM, September 30: 

Ruffer co-founder retires after 30 years at investment firm  

Jonathan Ruffer, co-founder of the Ruffer investment firm, will step down as chair at the end of the year, after more than three decades at the London-based business.

Henry Maxey, Ruffer’s co-chief investment officer, will become chair from the start of next year, in addition to his other position.

The firm, which manages £19bn of assets, was established by Ruffer’s in 1994 alongside Robert Shirley, the 14th Earl Ferrers, who retired as non-executive in 2021.

It is known for its defensive positions, running an absolute return strategy that aims to generate returns regardless of market performance, it returns an average 8 per cent a year after fees and charges.

However, its flagship Total Return fund faltered in 2023 and 2024....

....MUCH MORE 

And from Jamie Dannhauser at Ruffer:

CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING PUT IT IN 2013, “ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY IS THE SHARP WEAPON OF THE MODERN STATE.” 

The 21st century will be defined by the technological race between China and the US. If financial markets are to be believed, the US has a big lead: an AI-enabled disinflationary nirvana lies ahead for America; for China, a balance-sheet recession without end. This future is not the one we expect: a new more volatile and inflationary regime, posing potent threats to capital preservation. Could we be wrong?

WHICH HISTORY AND WHICH FUTURE?

History is a critical lens through which we try to make sense of our infinitely complex world, where past, present and future are interlinked in mysterious but fundamental ways.

What society has recently experienced – the global financial crisis (GFC), ten years of squeezed living standards, pandemic lockdowns and the ensuing inflation surge – shapes how we perceive the world and make the decisions that will drive our economic and financial future. The experiences of previous generations informed their decisions, too. The Great Depression and the Second World War moulded the post-war policy environment. Rapid growth and financial stability under the Marshall Plan and Bretton Woods led to elite complacency during the 1970s. And that decade’s economic malaise and geopolitical turmoil spawned the neoliberal world order.1

That world order – US-led, globalising, respectful of the rule of law, technocratic and 

with left and right increasingly aligned on economic policy – has now become our history. To be replaced by a future that is not yet known. We are leaving one regime, which we dubbed the deflation machine, of low and stable inflation.2 And we believe we are entering a new one, far more hostile to the owners of capital. Inflation will be higher on average and there will be greater macroeconomic volatility. Since the absence of inflation risk was a critical driver of cross-asset dynamics in the dying regime, its return will upend the rules the casino plays by.3

THE DEFLATION MACHINE REVISITED

In 2003, Mervyn King, then governor of the Bank of England, called the preceding ten years the nice (non-inflationary consistently expansionary) decade. He was talking about Britain’s experience. But the world economy enjoyed an even nicer period, with per capita real GDP growth accelerating markedly (Figure 1)....

Since the absence of inflation risk was a critical driver of cross-asset dynamics

in the dying regime, its return will upend the rules the casino plays by.3 

....MUCH MORE 

Capital Markets: "US Government Shut Down looks Nearly Inevitable"

From Marc Chandler at Bannockburn Global Forex: 

Overview: The US dollar is mostly softer against the G10 currencies and emerging market currencies. The hawkish hold by the Reserve Bank of Australia has helped lift the Australian dollar almost 0.5% to a four-day high above $0.6700. The Japanese yen is up nearly as much despite poor industrial production and retail sales data. A US federal government shutdown looks nearly inevitable at this juncture. The US also announced 10% tariffs om softwood timber and lumber, as well as a 25% tax on kitchen cabinets, vanities, and upholstered wood products. Some will take place as soon as October 14, others not until January 1. Canada is the most exposed and is already subject to 35.2% duty meant to counter alleged subsidies and unfair pricing.

Equities were mostly firmer in the Asia Pacific regions, but South Korea, Australia, and Index markets traded lower. Europe's Stoxx 600 is nursing a small loss, and US index futures are around 0.15%-0.25% lower. Note that a third of the S&P500 are in a blackout period ahead of earnings when they can no longer buy back their own shares. By mid-October, it will rise to around 80%-85%. Benchmark 10-year yields are narrowly mixed in Europe, while the 10-year US Treasury yield is off a little more than a basis point to slightly below 4.13%. Gold is reversing lower after setting a new record high of almost $3871. It has now slipping through $3800. November WTI extended yesterday's nearly 3.5% drop and is off another 1% today. It fell to $62.45 after finishing last week a little above $65.70....

....MUCH MORE 

China: Manufacturing Contracts For The Sixth Consecutive Month

A trend is emerging.

From the South China Morning Post, September 30: 

China’s factory activity contracts again, prompting calls for policy support
Manufacturing purchasing managers’ index hits 49.8 in September, staying in contraction range for sixth consecutive month 

China’s official gauge of manufacturing activity has stayed in contraction for a sixth consecutive month in September, providing more fuel for calls to step up government support amid persistent external headwinds and weak domestic demand.

The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) stood at 49.8 in September according to a Tuesday release from the National Bureau of Statistics, higher than August’s reading of 49.4 but falling short of a 50.1 projection from a survey of economists by financial data provider Wind.

The monthly index compiles survey data given by supply chain managers from a variety of sectors. A reading above 50 suggests economic expansion, while one below 50 indicates contraction.

Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said the figure shows economic momentum is “weak” in the third quarter.

However, he added, the October meeting of the Communist Party’s Politburo “will shed light on the policy reaction to the slowdown.”

Considering the relatively strong economic performance recorded in the first half of 2025, Zhang said, Beijing may tolerate some deceleration in the second half – as long as it does not jeopardise the annual gross domestic product growth target of “around 5 per cent”.

The new orders sub-index – a measure of manufacturing demand – came in at 49.7 in September, compared to 49.5 a month earlier.

China’s non-manufacturing PMI, which measures activity in the construction and services sectors, dropped to 50 from 50.3 last month, the bureau’s data showed....

....MUCH MORE 

 Mot seeing the knee-jerk "they have to stimulate" reaction in the equity markets that we have seen following previous contractive reports.

"Oracle will have to borrow at least $25B a YEAR to fund AI fantasy, says analyst"

When the U.N. and the WEF call for a circular economy I don't think this is what they mean.

From The Register September 29: 

Bubble, you say? OpenAI will borrow billions to pay Big Red, who will borrow billions on the hope OpenAI pays it 

As part of its $300 billion cloud compute contract with OpenAI, Oracle may need to borrow roughly $100 billion over the next four years to build the datacenters required, according to KeyBanc's projections.

KeyBanc Capital Markets reportedly estimates that Big Red may need to raise about $25 billion a year in debt over the next four years if it intends to build all the extra cloud compute infrastructure required as part of a deal the company signed with OpenAI earlier this month. Where that funding will come from is anyone's guess, but it makes this one of the largest deals in AI look increasingly like one propped up by debt that, were the AI bubble ever to pop, could mean a lot of unpaid bills. 

The OpenAI agreement sent Oracle shares soaring earlier this month after the company confirmed the deal in its Q1 FY26 earnings call, which indicated that its total remaining performance obligations (RPO - a backlog of contracted revenue still to be delivered and recognized) ballooned by 359 percent year-over-year to reach $455 billion. 

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the financial soothsayers at KeyBanc don't think Oracle has anywhere near enough cash to build out the infrastructure. It's going to need to earn the bulk of that RPO - and with good reason. Oracle had around $82.2 billion in long-term debt as of Aug. 31, plus $18 billion worth of bonds it put on offer in September to fund its AI-fueled expansion plans. 

According to Big Red's most recent earnings statement, Oracle has around $10 billion worth of cash and equivalents on hand, and around $9 billion of debt due within a year. Additionally, Oracle's free cash flow has declined 152 percent [sic] YoY on the back of a massive increase in capex, with the company spending $8.5 billion in Q1 26, up from $2.3 billion a year earlier....

....MUCH MORE

I don't understand the 152% decline figure but am too lazy to check.  

Redwood Materials: "Tesla Co-Founder JB Straubel’s Redwood Chases EV Battery Future Amid A.I. Energy Rush"

From Observer, September 26:

Tesla veteran JB Straubel is betting his second act on closing the loop in EV batteries. 

“If someone can do it, it’s JB Straubel.” That’s how Edward Sanchez, a senior analyst at automotive consultancy TechInsights, describes the strategic vision of Tesla’s co-founder and former CTO. Straubel has set out to build the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) battery recycling company. Founded in 2017, his startup Redwood Materials aims to create a circular supply chain for lithium-ion batteries, sourcing them from automakers, dealers, parts suppliers, dismantlers and waste management firms.

The company is currently recycling 20 GWh of batteries annually—enough to power 250,000 EVs—and is working to increase that capacity substantially over the coming years. To get there, Redwood is building a $3.5 billion battery materials and recycling facility in Ridgeville, S.C., which will produce cathode and anode components for future vehicles and employ 1,500 people in the U.S. “Battery Belt.”

Straubel has raised alarms about A.I.’s soaring energy demands, warning they could strain future power supplies. In June, he launched Redwood Energy to help tackle the issue by repurposing second-life battery packs—still with half their useful life left—to power data centers and stabilize the electric grid.

To jumpstart that effort, Redwood Energy struck a deal with Crusoe, a company focused on sustainable energy for A.I., to power a new data center in Abilene, Texas. The project will run on a 63-MWh microgrid designed to operate independently from the main electricity network.

Redwood is part of the energy sector’s scramble to keep pace with the U.S.’s rapid A.I. infrastructure boom, which will consume 12 percent of the nation’s electricity within five years, up from 4.4 percent today, according to the International Energy Agency.

That growth won’t come without hurdles. Analysts warn that Redwood faces steep logistical challenges, rising capital costs and a potential shortage of used batteries as it tries to scale. The company reported $200 million in revenue in 2024, but it remains unclear whether it’s profitable.

How A.I. simplifies battery recycling
Experts say machine learning could help companies like Redwood build a closed-loop battery supply chain, reducing U.S. dependence on China-controlled components such as cobalt, which is increasingly in short supply, as well as lithium and nickel.

A growing number of institutions are exploring how A.I. could drive economies of scale in three areas critical to recycling: battery diagnostics, disassembly and refining.... 

....MUCH MORE 

We have quite a few posts on Redwood, if interested see for more links:

• Battery Recycling: Best-in-Class Redwood Materials
• "Trump’s second term is creating ‘a limbo moment’ for US battery recyclers"
• Battery Recycler Redwood Materials Has A New Business: Microgrids

"Johnny Carson’s Longtime Malibu Estate Just Landed on the Market for $110 Million"

From the Robb Report

The legendary TV host acquired the four-parcel Point Dume complex in the mid-1980s for $9.5 million and resided there until his death in 2005. 

Heeere’s Johnny’s house! It’s been two decades since Johnny Carson died at age 79. Now an epic oceanfront Malibu estate best known as the longtime home of the late-night TV legend has popped up for sale at a substantial $110 million, with the listing held by Chris Cortazzo of Compass. 

 The Tonight Show host acquired the four-parcel Point Dume complex in the mid-1980s for $9.5 million. Carson’s widow Alexis inherited the property upon his death in 2005, then sold the entire spread two years later for $46 million to billionaire apparel mogul-turned-film producer Sidney Kimmel and his wife Caroline. In 2019, the Kimmels transferred the place to venture capitalist Riaz Valani, an early investor in the e-cigarette manufacturer Juul, and his wife Augusta Tigrett, a daughter of Hard Rock Café co-founder Isaac Tigrett and Ringo Starr’s ex-wife Maureen Starkey. The clandestine deal took place off-market and was valued at $40 million in cash, more than half off the original $81.5 million asking price....

....MUCH MORE 

Again:

https://www.compass.com/listing/6962-wildlife-road-malibu-ca-90265/1933477151613203889/ 

"Inflation Is in Services despite Powell’s Denials: PCE Price Index for Core Services Accelerated Further. Durable Goods Prices Fell for 2nd Month "

First up, from Wolf Street, September 26:

The 12-month overall PCE & core PCE price indices, which the Fed uses for its target, are worse than a year ago.

Inflation is in services, where it accelerated further, even in the inflation index that the Fed prefers, the PCE Price Index released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, though Powell has been denying it in recent speeches, blaming instead imported goods and tariffs for the current inflation impetus. But the PCE price index for durable goods, many of which are tariffed, fell (negative readings) in August for the second month in a row, while inflation in services, which are not tariffed, accelerated further.

Both the overall PCE price index and the core PCE price index accelerated further year-over-year, and their increases (+2.7% and +2.9%) are now worse than a year ago.

The core services PCE Price Index, which excludes energy services, accelerated to +0.34% (+4.1% annualized) in August from July, the fourth month in a row of acceleration. The increase was driven by rents (+4.4% annualized, the worst since March) and some non-housing services (blue in the chart). The 3-month index accelerated to 3.5% annualized, the worst since March (red).

 

This confirms what we have already seen in the primary inflation index of the US, the CPI,  whose August data were released earlier in September by the Bureau of Labor Statistics: the month-to-month increase of core services was above 4% annualized for the second month in a row, the worst since January.

Rent inflation jumped in August, increasing by 4.4% annualized from July. The six-month index ticked up to 3.9%, the worst increase since March.

 

Year-over-year, the core services PCE price index accelerated to 3.51%, the second month in a row of acceleration. It is substantially above the pre-pandemic range and accelerating away from it.

Two-thirds of consumer spending is for services, and this year-over-year inflation rate of 3.5% powers the overall PCE price index and the core PCE price index.....

....MUCH MORE 

And from the recently released BEA PCE report:

 

If interested see also Sept. 26 - Inflation: PCE Price Index UP 0.3 Percent, Core UP 0.2%

"This VC firm out of Paris just launched a €100 million fund to back European AI sovereignty"

 From EU Startups, September 23:

C4 Ventures, a French VC firm, announces the launch of its third fund, with a target fund size of €100 million to focus on early-stage investments in AI and DeepTech startups across Europe, reinforcing the continent’s ability to create global contenders in the field.

“The AI revolution is bigger than any previous technological shift we’ve seen since the Internet,” comments C4 Ventures Founder & CEO Pascal Cagni. “We are at the forefront of a massive transformation that will redefine industries. With C4 Ventures III , we are doubling down on this moment, backing talented founders in AI, robotics, quantum computing and beyond.”

Founded in 2014, C4 Ventures is a Venture firm led by former Apple and Microsoft executives Pascal Cagni and Eric Boustouller. Moreover, C4 Ventures draws on a global network of over 30 operating partners from the world’s leading tech companies.

Since inception, C4 Ventures has backed 54 startups of which 12 became unicorns. Its most recent fund stands out for allegedly having delivered liquidity to investors faster than most of its peers, earning a top-decile ranking within its vintage.

The firm has now seen a full investment cycle, with over 20 exits, 2 IPOs on NYSE (Riskified and Via) and 7 corporate M&A deals. C4 Ventures II, launched in 2020, already ranks in the top quartile for value creation and nearly top decile for liquidity, just five years after inception....

....MUCH MORE 

Bloomberg New Energy Finance: " ....Grid must double in size in 15 years"

From Bloomberg, September 18/19:

Five Takeaways From the BNEF Barrel of Tomorrow Summit 

A few key forces — President Donald Trump, the rise of artificial intelligence and global electrification — have compelled companies across the energy spectrum to adjust their sustainability goals and investment priorities.

That was the message from executives, investors and industry leaders at BloombergNEF’s Barrel of Tomorrow in the Age of AI Summit in Houston on Thursday.

The meeting took place against the backdrop of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which preserved incentives for some sectors while clawing them back for others. Meanwhile, the nation’s shakeup of clean energy policy has prompted some companies to look for opportunity elsewhere, and the AI boom is forcing grids to expand.

Here are five takeaways from the summit about the state of the energy transition in the age of Trump and AI....

....Grid must double in size in 15 years

The US grid took more than 100 years to build out and now has to double in size to meet demand. And it has to do it in the next 15 years, according to industry executives.

Connecting the three power main grids is one of the “most cost effective things to do,” said Michael Skelly, co-founder and CEO of transmission developer Grid United. A national policy to develop high voltage power lines would facilitate that, he said.

Frank Kreikebaum, engineering chief for Smart Wires, said his company was able to help data centers connect in half the time of alternate solutions with the aid of hardware to better manage flow across power lines, substations and other equipment.

Read: JB Straubel Says Batteries Can Make Gas Plants More Efficient

The data center build-out is costly

The bitter battle brewing over how to accelerate the AI data-center build-out without unduly burdening consumers was a key point of discussion, with NRG Energy Inc. CEO Larry Coben asking “Who pays for this expansion?”

Coben also noted that this new wave of infrastructure-building isn’t creating the jobs generated by past build-outs. “Data centers are extremely important, both business wise and to national security, but the long term job creation generally isn’t there,” he said.

Terawatt Infrastructure CEO Neha Palmer, meanwhile, emphasized the need for new power generation as electric vehicles proliferate. Like data centers, EVs need power “as fast as possible but the cost is also incredibly important” especially for heavy duty truck fleets that are comparing the cost per mile versus diesel, she said.

Redwood Materials Inc. Chief Executive Officer JB Straubel said batteries have a role to play in stabilizing the load for data centers, which see oscillating rather than steady power demand....

....MUCH MORE

Are People Speaking Differently Than They Used To? (James Comey and Peter Thiel edition)

First up we have The Times (Londinium), September 25:

Regulating AI hastens the Antichrist, says Palantir’s Peter Thiel 

One of the world’s most powerful technology leaders has reportedly warned that regulating artificial intelligence risks hastening the coming of the Antichrist.

Peter Thiel, the conservative billionaire who co-founded Palantir, the data analytics group, and PayPal, the payments operator, is said to have made the comments during a lecture delivered in San Francisco this week....

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The more I am exposed to Mr. Thiel, the more I come to believe he's a nut. 

Whereas, on the other hand it is perfectly normal to see his quote and immediately think of the EP by Infernal: Summon Forth the Beast:

• Songs

1.	Branded by Hellfire	03:31
2.	Infernal Holocaust	03:10
3.	Bleed for the Devil (Morbid Angel cover)	02:22	Show lyrics
4.	Devil Pig (Von cover)	02:40	Show lyrics
5.	Of Doom (Bathory cover)	03:50	Show lyrics
		15:33

Encyclpædia 

Metallum 

From Politico, also September 25:

‘We will not live on our knees’: A defiant Comey mounts a video defense

A defiant James Comey is mounting a defense in the court of public opinion — insisting in a video on Instagram that he’s innocent and won’t be cowed by President Donald Trump....

....MUCH MORE 

His poor wife, Patrice Failor: 

"Jim, Jim wake up.

You were making the speech again. 

And almost got to the Sic semper tyrannis part and what with Brutus using it re: Caesar and John Wilkes Booth and Abraham Lincoln and the current political mood, I get so worried."

And from The Socratic Method:

Emiliano Zapata: 'It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.'

Emiliano Zapata, a revered Mexican revolutionary, once proclaimed, "It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." This powerful quote encapsulates the essence of courage, resilience, and the refusal to accept oppression. It advocates for the importance of standing up for one's beliefs and values, even in the face of extreme adversity. It serves as a reminder that a life lived with dignity and integrity, though potentially filled with challenges, is ultimately far more fulfilling than a life of submission and surrender. 

Zapata's words inspire individuals to embrace the potential sacrifice that may come with fighting for what is right, rather than conforming to societal norms and enduring a life of oppression.Moreover, beyond its immediate interpretation, Zapata's quote brings forth an unexpected philosophical concept - the distinction between choosing to live and merely existing. 

While living on our knees implies a passive acceptance of circumstances, dying on our feet represents a courageous act of defiance. This philosophical perspective challenges us to consider the value and purpose of our lives. It prompts us to reflect on whether we are truly living authentically and passionately, or merely surviving day by day, relinquishing our dreams and aspirations.In contemplating this dichotomy, one may argue that choosing to die on our feet may seem irrational or simplistic in the face of complex realities. After all, life is a nuanced tapestry of experiences, and circumstances can often limit our ability to stand for what we believe in.

However, Zapata's words ultimately resonate with the notion that freedom and self-determination are fundamental aspects of the human spirit. They remind us that it is our duty to challenge oppression and injustice, regardless of the challenges we face.When we surrender to a life lived on our knees, we forfeit our autonomy, our voice, and our ability to shape our own destiny. We become trapped in a never-ending cycle of subservience, our potential and dreams gradually eroded. 

On the other hand, choosing to die on our feet symbolizes an unwavering commitment to self-liberation, even if it means embracing the uncertainty and sacrifices that may follow.A wise person once said that the moment we are born, we are given two gifts - our potential and the freedom to choose how we use it. Zapata's quote serves as a profound reminder of these gifts. 

It urges us to embrace the inherent power within ourselves to manifest our desires and aspirations. It pushes us to embark on a journey of self-discovery, to explore our true purpose and to live a life that is aligned with our values.In the end, our existence is shaped by the choices we make. 

Are we content with living a life stifled by conformity, fear, and submission, or are we willing to risk it all for the chance to stand tall, embracing the winds of change? Zapata's words encourage us to reflect upon the legacy we wish to leave behind and the mark we want to make on this world. 

Let us remember that it is better to die on our feet, knowing that we have lived with integrity and fought for what we believe in, than to live on our knees, forever wondering what could have been. 

What he said. 

Except the attribution to Zapata is laziness. The quote goes back farther than Zapata, and the idea it expresses farther still.

"Moldova's pro-EU party has 40% of votes with 28% of votes counted - electoral commission"

From Reuters, September 28:

Moldova's ruling pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) has won 40% of the votes counted so far in Sunday's parliamentary election versus 31.5% for the pro-Russian Patriotic Bloc, with 28% of votes counted, according to the country's Central Electoral Commission. 

This, despite Russia pulling out all the stops:

Russian propagandists create fake Ukraine LEGO sets to ‘sway Moldova elections’
—TVP World Sept. 26 (Polish public television)

"Barack Obama: evidence on Covid school closures was ignored"

The school closures were nothing short of a disaster. A disaster for the children, from the academic retardation to the lack of socialization to fact that for many they never went outside, all day to the...it's a long list.

And for the country it resulted in enormous lost potential income:

"Covid’s Hit to Education Is Still Hanging Over the Economy" (These Kids Got Screwed Out Of $31 Trillion in GDP)

And here is the former President at UnHerd, September 25:

The evidence on whether school closures were necessary during the pandemic was ignored, Barack Obama has claimed. He added that open conversation was shut down as the debate became overly politicised. 

Speaking to British historian David Olusoga at the O2 Arena in London last night, the former US president said that “sometimes we weren’t looking at some of the evidence that said: ‘You know what, most kids really need school.’” He added that “it got politicised and became ideological and was viewed as a Left versus Right issue.”

On 30 January 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded the first instance of Covid-19 in the US, and by the end of March all states had closed schools until further notice. In mid-September 2020, about 60% of US schools were fully virtual and only 20% were operating a traditional in-person schedule, while around 20% were hybrid. Well into 2021, many schools — primarily in Democratic states — were operating on reduced timetables with mask mandates and social distancing rules.

In May 2020, Obama called the federal government’s response to the pandemic “an absolute chaotic disaster”. Speaking to college graduates in an online commencement address, he said: “More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing. A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.” Earlier that year, in March, the former president advocated for the cancellation of large gatherings so as to “slow the spread of the virus and save lives”. He added: “We have to look out for each other.”

Five years later, there is a wide consensus among experts that closing schools during the pandemic hampered children’s education and social development while failing to stop the spread of the disease. A report in the New York Times in March 2024 said that “today, there is broad acknowledgment among many public health and education experts that extended school closures did not significantly stop the spread of Covid, while the academic harms for children have been large and long-lasting.”

Earlier this month, data from The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), known informally as America’s report card, showed that reading and maths scores for senior high school students were down significantly from 2019. Average scores are down dramatically since 1992 among the worst-performing students, but experts suggest that pandemic closures exacerbated an already worsening decline in attainment. For example, a McKinsey study showed that by the autumn of 2020, students in the sample had only learned 67% of the maths curriculum they were due to cover by that point....

....MUCH MORE 

 As to lockdowns in general, you quarantine the sick, not the healthy. Period.

Some earlier posts:

October 2021 - Covid-19: The Stupidity Of Lockdowns

December 2021 - "COVID-19: Rethinking the Lockdown Groupthink"

December 2021 - WSJ: "The Fickle ‘Science’ of Lockdowns"

The tricks were: First, conflate lockdowns with quarantines when in truth no one in history had ever attempted to shut down entire HEALTHY populations and Second, use the camel's nose under the tent technique, also known as, among political scientists, the 'I'll just put the tip in' method of coercion. 

Just two weeks, that's all. Two weeks to bend the curve.

***** 

Previously:

Covid-19: "China’s Global Lockdown Propaganda Campaign"

Covid-19: "Lockdown Harms and the Silence of Economists"
Covid-19: The Stupidity Of Lockdowns
Money, Money, Money: "A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Systemic Collapse and Pandemic Simulation"
Is this why we had lockdowns? 

November 2022 - "Nuremberg II: What a Real Inquiry into the Response to Covid Would Look Like"

I hope the people who spent over two years on their covid jihad, destroying lives and livelihoods, retarding the education of an entire generation of children, twisting facts to fit a corrupt agenda, I hope they understand there were millions of people keeping receipts, and that the receipt-keepers won't be trying to shame their persecutors, for they know they feel no shame. They will be seeking justice, and possibly vengeance, against the entire class that oppressed them.

I think I will retreat to the castle keep for a couple years and just observe how things play out.

If you'll excuse me, there's a drawbridge to be raised, can't take too many precautions against the risk of misidentification. I'd prefer the last sound I hear not be the mob baying "À la lanterne!"

We've visited the author of this piece, Michael Senger a few times, usually identifying him as a San Francisco Attorney. I'm wondering now if he somewhat fancies himself in the role of the chief American prosecutor at Nuremberg, Justice Jackson...."Nuremberg II: What a Real Inquiry into the Response to Covid Would Look Like"

November 2023 - Lockdowns: The Epidemiologist and Public Health Giant Who Knew What Would Happen

The Joe Nocera/Bethany McLean piece posted late Wednesday, "COVID Lockdowns Were a Giant Experiment. It Was a Failure. A key lesson of the pandemic." mentioned Donald Henderson and his arguments against lockdowns. Unfortunately for the world he died five years before Covid-19 began its rampage. He was a Professor of Medicine and Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. One of his gigs was eradicating smallpox.

He probably should have received a Nobel Prize in Medicine.

A repost from October 2022...

And many, many more. 

"Walmart CEO Issues Wake-Up Call: ‘AI Is Going to Change Literally Every Job’"

Another CEO with a pretty good perch from which to observe.*  

From the Wall Street Journal via MSN, September 27: 

Walmart executives aren’t sugarcoating the message: Artificial intelligence will wipe out jobs and reshape its workforce. 

Now the country’s largest private employer is making plans to confront that reality.

“It’s very clear that AI is going to change literally every job,” Chief Executive Doug McMillon said this week in one of the most pointed assessments to date from a big-company CEO on AI’s likely impact on employment.

His remarks reflect a rapid shift from just months ago in how business leaders discuss the potential human cost of the technology. Companies including Ford, JPMorgan Chase and Amazon have bluntly predicted job losses associated with AI. Some have advised other employers to prepare their workforces for change.

Some jobs and tasks at the retail juggernaut will be eliminated, while others will be created, McMillon said this week at Walmart’s Bentonville headquarters during a workforce conference with executives from other companies. “Maybe there’s a job in the world that AI won’t change, but I haven’t thought of it.”

Inside Walmart, top executives have started to examine AI’s implications for its workforce in nearly every high-level planning meeting. Company leaders say they are tracking which job types decrease, increase and stay steady to gauge where additional training and preparation can help workers

“Our goal is to create the opportunity for everybody to make it to the other side,” McMillon said.

For now, Walmart executives say the transformation means the size of its global workforce will stay roughly flat even as its revenue climbs. It plans to maintain its head count of around 2.1 million global workers over the next three years, but the mix of those jobs will change significantly, said Donna Morris, Walmart’s chief people officer. What the composition will look like remains murky.

“We’ve got to do our homework, and so we don’t have those answers,” Morris said.

Already Walmart has built chat bots, which it calls “agents,” for customers, suppliers and workers. It is also tracking an expanding share of its supply chain and product trends with AI. In July, Walmart hired an executive from Instacart, Daniel Danker, to oversee those ambitions. Danker reports to McMillon. Part of his role includes working with Morris to determine how Walmart’s workforce should shift.

‘Agent builders’ vs. humanoid robots
Some changes are already rippling across the workforce. In recent years Walmart has automated many of its warehouses with the help of AI-related technology, triggering some job cuts, executives said. Walmart is also looking to automate some back-of-store tasks.

New roles have been established, too. Walmart, for example, created an “agent builder” position last month—an employee who builds AI tools to help merchants. It expects to add people in areas like home delivery or in high-touch customer positions, such as its bakeries. The company has also added more in-store maintenance technicians and truck drivers in recent years.....

....MUCH MORE  

As of the end of FY2024, Walmart employed approximately 2.1 million associates worldwide, with approximately 1.6 million associates in the U.S.—WMT

Of course, because they are spread out over a billion square feet of retail space, it's not as crowded as might appear at first glance. 
*September 27 - Thrift Stores+: "Goodwill CEO says he’s preparing for an influx of jobless Gen Zers because of AI—and warns, a youth unemployment crisis is already happening"

"Story of Eau: The Taste of Water...."

Your water sommelier will be with you shortly.*

From the London Review of Books, July 4:

The Taste of Water: Sensory Perception and the Making of an Industrialised Beverage 
by Christy Spackman.
California, 289 pp., £25, December 2023, 978 0 520 39355 4

Among​ all the things that people take into their bodies, water is special, its necessity matched by its neutrality. There’s no doubt about the necessity. Human bodies are mostly water: about 60 per cent in adult men; a little less in adult women. Without water, death comes within days. A sedentary man of roughly normal weight, living in a temperate climate, requires about three litres per day; women need less; athletes and people living in tropical environments more. Thirst is generally a reliable indicator that your body needs more water. It has become fashionable to pay close attention to maintaining due ‘hydration’, but for the most part a normal response to thirst takes care of that. The sensory neutrality of water is more problematic. The French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said that water had ‘no taste, no colour, no odour’. But that judgment has to be qualified.

In ancient Greek thought, water was one of the four elements; in modern science, water is H2O, a compound of two elements, but the water in rivers, lakes, seas and wells, let alone the stuff that flows from household taps, is never pure. Water dissolves and contains bits of all the things it has passed through over millions of years: inorganic minerals like the salts (chlorides, sulphates, carbonates) of calcium, potassium, magnesium and sodium. Even rainwater, reckoned especially pristine, contains dissolved atmospheric gases, so its purity is of the not-quite variety. These dissolved minerals are one signature of the water’s provenance – its terroir, as they say in the wine world.

‘Taste and Odour Wheel’ for the drinking water industry.

Even if naturally occurring water is never pure, the idea of water contains the idea of purity. In secular mode, water washes off dirt; in sacred mode, it washes away sins. Purity is always threatened by pollution. You do not want your drinking water to look cloudy (‘turbid’) or coloured, though rust-coloured, iron-containing spa waters were once very fashionable; milk-white glacial meltwater may or may not be potable; and naturally bubbly spring waters command a fancy price. You do not want to see rotting organic matter floating in your water and, even if you cannot see it, smell often betrays its putrefying presence. Traditionally, such water was said to be ‘foul’ or ‘fetid’, and, prior to the development of reliable municipal water systems, people encountered stinking water all the time and learned to avoid it if they could.

Water that smelled bad wasn’t just disgusting; it was thought to be dangerous. In the mid-19th century, the great English sanitary reformer Edwin Chadwick pronounced that ‘all smell is disease.’ He was pointing to the role of stinking vapours – ‘miasmas’ – rising up from putrefying matter. These miasmas – the word was derived from the Greek for ‘pollution’ or ‘stain’ – caused morbid conditions (cholera, malaria, typhoid fever, dysentery) in people who drank the putrid water or breathed the infected air rising up from it. Smell was accounted a reliable index of risk. In London, the Thames had long been used as a common dump for human and animal excrement. In 1855, the chemist Michael Faraday was horrified by the river’s appearance and stink: ‘The whole of the river was an opaque pale brown fluid’; ‘The smell was very bad’; ‘The feculence rolled up in clouds so dense that they were visible at the surface.’ The coincidence of unbearable stench and epidemic disease seemed to confirm Chadwick’s dictum and eventually spurred one of the great feats of Victorian engineering – Joseph Bazalgette’s vast metropolitan sewer system.

The germ theory of disease that gained currency in the last decades of the 19th century provided a new vocabulary for talking about the risks of foul water, but new concepts reinforced old sensibilities. In the 1780s, Thomas Henry, an English medic, wrote that ‘the drinking of putrid water is not only highly disagreeable and disgusting, but extremely noxious to the constitution.’ From the early 19th century, both private and governmental action was taken to make municipal drinking water palatable and safe. You could use quicklime (calcium oxide) or alum (aluminium sulphate) to precipitate obnoxious matter from a relatively small quantity of water, or you might use charcoal filtration to clarify it. Slow filtration through sand was carried out in Scotland from the early years of the 19th century; in 1829, the Chelsea Waterworks employed sand filtration for water drawn from the Thames; the Metropolis Water Act of 1852 prohibited taking household water from the tidal reaches of the Thames and mandated effective filtration. The idea that chlorine might ‘cleanse’ water was current from at least the mid-19th century, but from the 1890s microbiological discoveries inspired municipal suppliers in England, Germany and the US to chlorinate water to make it ‘germ-free’.

This is where Christy Spackman takes up the story. An American sensory scientist now working in parched Arizona as an academic commentator on water policy, Spackman thinks we shouldn’t take the modern water supply for granted. She wonders whether the water delivered to our taps really is neutral and tastes of nothing at all. How has the widespread assumption of water’s neutrality come about? Who gets to say what water does taste like, how it ought to taste, whether its sensory aspects do or do not testify to its quality? How do you know if the water is good?

By the early 20th century, in most European and North American settings, the urban water supply had been made safe, or at least far safer than it had been in the past. Waterborne infectious disease had been substantially eliminated – a signal achievement of city life made healthful. Outbreaks of cholera almost always happened elsewhere in the world, and when they did happen in a ‘civilised’ society, it was a sign that modern infrastructure had broken down and needed urgent repair. (In 2010, the UN acknowledged a supply of clean water as a universal human right.) The control of water supplies was shifting – from free-for-all private enterprise to government regulation and then to government control, with medical and scientific expertise informing its effective management. In England and Wales, water was in the charge of a patchwork of local governments before it was passed in the 1970s to ten regional water authorities. In the 1880s, Joseph Chamberlain had argued that the control of water and sewerage could never be subject to the profit motive, but a hundred years later Thatcher made England and Wales the first countries in the world to have a wholly privatised water system. (Water remains in public hands in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the US has a sprawling mishmash of over a hundred thousand independent systems, mostly publicly controlled, and regulated by the US Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA.) There were now political institutions you could complain to if you thought the water tasted odd or if there were reasons to think it unsafe. Government authorities would, ideally, respond to public discontent; private bodies might respond – if profits and shareholder value were thought to be at risk or if governments required them to do so.....

....MUCH MORE

*Probably related, last seen in "Premium Water: Evian Is Just Naive Spelled Backwards":

...Previously on "God is saying you have too much money":
I'm in the Wrong Business Part 625: "$20 for a bottle of water? Your water sommelier will bring the menu right away"
Talking to New York’s First, and Only, Mustard Sommelier
Climateer Line of the Day: H2Oh Give Me a Break Edition

"Iskilde from Denmark is a great water for a vegetarian mushroom dish because it has earthy taste notes. Beverly Hills 90H20 is the perfect pairing for a seasonal salad because it will cut through the acidity of a vinaigrette dressing and help balance out the flavors."

Trifecta, We Have a Hot Sauce Sommelier To Go Along With The Mustard Sommelier and the Water Sommelier

First posted July 6, 2024.

Oddly, no mention of living downhill from a cemetery: 

"Apparently the Brontës all died so early because they spent their lives drinking graveyard water."

Big Money: "Recycling Cowboys: How Russian Scammers Built a Financial Pyramid Out of Trash"

From VSquare, May 1, 2025: 

• A group of Russian fraudsters created two pyramid schemes, called Recyclix and Juicy Fields, swindling victims out of €700 million.
• They rehearsed their scheme in Poland. At the height of their activity, they were featured in the media and even took photos with Polish president Andrzej Duda.
• After eight years of investigation, the Polish prosecutor’s office charged only a front man — and then let him go free.
• We later discovered that he became a GRU saboteur who sent out explosive devices that caused fires in Poland, Germany, and the UK.
• The first part of our investigation focuses on Recyclix. Click here to read the second part about the Juicy Fields pyramid scheme.

In April 2024, more than 400 police officers raided 38 locations across Europe and the Dominican Republic on the same day. The operation, codenamed “Operation Stoner,” was organized by Germany, Spain, and France, with support from Europol, and involved law enforcement officers from 11 different countries.

Most of those arrested held Eastern European passports. The most prominent among them, a Russian named Sergei Berezin, was arrested in the Dominican Republic. Viktor Bitner, a German citizen born in the USSR with ties to Russian intelligence services, was arrested in Germany. Another Russian accomplice, Nikolai Mikhailuk, was arrested in Lublin, Poland. The Polish police later published a video showing the confiscated equipment — laptops, memory sticks, and phones — as well as footage of Mikhailuk being led from the Lublin police station to a car.

Along with six others, they were suspected of organizing one of the largest scams in history: the Juicy Fields financial pyramid scheme.

Three months later, in July, a container of shipments caught fire at the airport in Leipzig, Germany — the blaze broke out just before the shipments were to be loaded onto a plane. The cause: one of the packages contained a concealed incendiary device.

According to Wyborcza, a day later, a similar shipment was activated in a truck near Warsaw. The next day, another device was found at a DHL facility in Birmingham, UK. A fourth device was intercepted by Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW). The packages had been sent by Lithuanian citizen Aleksandr Šuranovas, who was caught on CCTV wearing a T-shirt and shorts while mailing the bombs from a DHL office in Lithuania.

The Lithuanian and Polish prosecutors claim that the parcels were sent on behalf of the Russian intelligence service GRU.

What connects the sender of the explosive parcels with the Russians from Juicy Fields? Šuranovas is their man. A decade ago, his associates set him up as the front man for the Polish company Recyclix, which received money from an identical scam. The swindlers defrauded customers of almost €40 million before disappearing.

What role does the Russian military intelligence service, the GRU, play in all this? Who are the people behind Recyclix and Juicy Fields? What connects them to Putin’s regime? How were they able to launch another pyramid scheme even though the Polish prosecutor’s office had them within reach? And how is it possible that money stolen from customers was used to build a military drone factory near St. Petersburg?

A Wagner Associate: Turning Against His Own 
We have been tracking Šuranovas and his associates since October 2024. We established that the GRU saboteur and his colleagues from Russia quietly built and tested the Polish version of the Juicy Fields pyramid scheme. They named it Recyclix, after their Warsaw-based company. It was a trial run, a first attempt — and when things got hot, they disappeared with at least €39 million. Their next scam, Juicy Fields, was a pyramid scheme on steroids. This time, they stole almost €645 million from their victims.

The reality we uncovered behind the Recyclix and Juicy Fields gang is as dense and colorful as a thief’s ballad. The action unfolds quickly, across several continents, with exotic locations and colorful characters: expensive banquets on the French Riviera, celebrities, private jets, promises of easy profits, glitz, and luxury. Add to that fake aristocrats, medical marijuana, and — as the icing on the cake — a warm embrace with the president of Poland.

We will cover Juicy Fields in the next part of our investigation, but here’s a brief summary: in 2020, criminals from Russia (or with ties to Russia) created a platform that lured investors with promises of profits from medical marijuana cultivation. It promised sky-high returns to investors from around the world.

In reality, Juicy Fields never grew cannabis at all. The entire business, registered in Germany, Switzerland, Portugal, and the Netherlands, was a pyramid scheme — a scam in which investors’ profits were paid from the deposits of new users until the scheme’s creators shut down the operation and vanished to tropical islands.

The gang defrauded €645 million from 550,000 people, mainly Europeans. It stands as one of the largest Ponzi schemes in recent years.

After the pyramid collapsed and the criminals disappeared, investigators from Germany, France, and Spain took up the case. Igor Kekszin, a repentant gang member and former associate of the Wagner Group, revealed the real names of the leaders to both investigators and journalists.

It was Kekszin who disclosed that a few years earlier, the same group had created a nearly identical pyramid scheme in Poland, using a waste management business built around the Recyclix company to defraud investors.

Waste: Perhaps Worth Its Weight in Gold 
In the spring of 2025, there is no trace of Recyclix; it has been removed from Polish registers.

When it was founded a decade ago, the idea sounded enticing: the company would buy used plastic packaging, process it into valuable plastic granules, and resell it at a profit. Most importantly, the profits would be shared with investors through a crowdfunding model. The message was simple and appealing: even small savers could make a fortune from recycling — as long as they kept investing regularly and brought in new customers.

To share in the profits, investors had to deposit a minimum of €20 (with an incentive: each new investor received an additional €20 in virtual cash to use on the platform). There was also a commission bonus for deposits made by referred users.

The recycling profit game took place entirely online. On recyclix.com, with just a few clicks, you could buy several tons of plastic waste and then wait patiently for the company to process it into granules within five weeks. No need to worry about suppliers, sales, or efficiency — zero risk, pure income.

Where did the waste come from? Where was it processed into granules? Who were the buyers? Could you visit Recyclix factories — and if so, where? Customers didn’t ask questions....

....MUCH MORE 

The crooks have been attracted to the garbage business for years:

Why the Mafia Loves Garbage 

Talking Trash and Making Cash: FT Alphaville On The Garbage Beat

....The "Talking Trash...." formulation is not original to me.
I first heard it from a mafia guy years ago as he was pitching the remunerative opportunities I would be afforded by portfolio or direct exposure to the municipal solid waste removal businesses serving the City of New York.

For folks looking for the philosophical underpinnings of waste we have on offer "Waste and Recycling: 'In the flow of things'" which links to the indispensable Discard Studies.... 

"Putin’s Inner Circle Corners $30Bln Garbage Reform Market" 

Talkin' Trash and Makin' Cash: Crime and Illegal Landfills in Scotland 

Police in Italy Seize Mafia-linked assets worth $1.9 billion "Mob was Going Green"