Thurs: Russia & Iran Have a "Brilliant" Go Into Crypto

The Leopards are Coming! The Leopards are Coming!

Increasing indications that even if Germany doesn’t send Leopards of its own, the “Leopard alliance” of Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Poland, and United Kingdom have put sufficient pressure on Scholz that permission to transfer some of the over 2,300 Leopard 2 tanks slumbering across Europe will be given. There may be limits on numbers, or other conditions, but it’s likely some kind of announcement that allows the Leopards to move will come today or tomorrow.'''

So Are These Things:

Announcements so far today:

Denmark: 19 CAESAR self-propelled guns
Estonia: FH-70 towed howitzers, D-30 howitzers, M2 anti-tank grenade launchers
Latvia: 2 Mi-17 helicopters, Stinger missiles, UAVs, training
Lithuania: 2 Mi-18 helicopters
Poland: S-60 anti-aircraft guns and ammunition
Sweden: 50 CV-90 combat vehicles, 12 Archer artillery systems
UK: 600 Brimstone missiles

Several of these packages also include large amounts of ammunition, including extended range GMLRS rockets, and numerous additional systems.

When You Launch a Brimstone Anti-Tank Missile, You Yell "Fire!"

Last week, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that the U.K. would be sending 15 Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine—enough to form a company of the formidable vehicles and an end to all the semantic wrangling required to maintain the idea that the West would not send Ukraine a “tank.” In fact, the announcement from Downing Street makes it clear that the U.K. isn’t just sending its tanks, it’s sending along a whole tank unit, including the armored vehicles needed to recover and repair the tanks in the field. It appears they’re going to pick up a company and shift it to Ukraine, complete with everything but the drivers and support staff.

In addition, the U.K. package includes more AS-90 self-propelled artillery systems, ”hundreds” of the precision guided GLMRS missiles (the family of M30 / M30A1 used with the M270), Starstreak air defense systems, “dozens” of unspecified UAVs, and as many as 200 additional armored transports.

What Does It Mean To Reach the Debt Limit?  It Means We Cannot Issue New Debt (Bonds, Notes, Bills)

The countdown toward a possible U.S. government default is in the offing, and frictions between President Joe Biden and House Republicans are raising alarms about whether the United States can sidestep a potential economic crisis.

The Treasury Department on Thursday said in a letter to congressional leaders it has started taking “extraordinary measures” as the government has brushed up against its legal borrowing capacity of $38.381 trillion. An artificially imposed cap, the debt ceiling has been increased roughly 80 times since the 1960s.

If We Retire Old Debt, We Can Match It With New

What's Another Day Without Another Santos Lie?

Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., has claimed that his mother was at her office inside the World Trade Center during the 9/11 terror attacks, but records obtained by NBC News on Wednesday show she was living in Brazil at the time.

The immigration records, unearthed through a Freedom of Information Act request by genealogical researcher Alex Calzareth and first reported by The Washington Post, show that Santos’ mother, Fatima Caruso Devolder, was admitted to the U.S. in April 2003 and had not been in the country since 1999. She had been living in Rio de Janeiro.

Devolder last left New York in 1999, and claimed in 2001 when she was back in Brazil that her green card was stolen, according to the records. She later applied for re-entry and was re-admitted into the U.S. in 2003, the records show. Devolder indicated that she was unemployed or retired and that she planned to live in Woodside, N.Y., a neighborhood in Queens, according to the documents obtained via a FOIA request.

But despite the records showing Devolder’s absence from the U.S. between 1999 and 2003, Santos’ congressional campaign website says, “George’s mother was in her office in the South Tower on Sept. 11, 2001, when the horrific events of that day unfolded. She survived the tragic events on September 11th, but she passed away a few years later when she lost her battle to cancer.”

Millions of Saudi Dollars to Previous Guy'

It’s not often that an article in Golfweek sets the tone for the actual week, but on Saturday the premier journal of hitting small balls with sticks noted continuing problems for the nascent LIV Golf tour. The schedule of tournaments isn’t full. The roster of big name players that LIV needs to make itself seem a legit competitor to the 93-year-old PGA Tour have failed to materialize. The team-based structure of LIV has failed to create the kind of rivalries that the creators suggested would help raise interest in the new offering.

However, all those concerns could turn out to be minor. That’s because a court case in California, where LIV has filed an antitrust suit against the PGA, has gone in a direction that LIV definitely, definitely did not want. While fighting back against this suit, the PGA has sought to compel discovery about the real sources behind the fund picking up the ticket on LIV’s considerable expenses. As it happens, a slip of the tongue from a LIV attorney during the trial revealed that the fund owns 93% of LIV Golf and covers all of its expenses.

The chairman and controlling officer of that fund is Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Its bin Salman paying all the bills and taking all the risks for LIV Golf. But who is making a profit?

[LIV Golf] has paid Trump-owned golf resorts unknown millions of dollars to hold its events there, and former President Trump has publicly championed the new league, made prominent appearances at its events, and urged PGA players to sign on with LIV Golf.

Exactly how many millions is bin Salman funneling to Donald Trump through LIV? We don’t know.