RSnake Report 20240911

Moscow in flames and optical FPV drones

Author

Robert RSnake Hansen
September 10, 2024

Table of Contents

Hello, and thanks for reading! It is September 11th - a day that will live on in American minds forever, when the Twin Towers and Pentagon were attacked out of seemingly nowhere with four hijacked airplanes. The surprise attack killed thousands of civilians and started a war with Al-Qaeda and, eventually, the Taliban. Let’s not forget that.

Let’s start the day with the Russia/Ukraine conflict. There have been more attacks on Moscow over the last few days, and the destruction is rather impressive. Even for a population largely brainwashed by the state media, this is going to be nearly impossible to pretend isn’t happening, which will lead to a declining sentiment for Putin and increasing unrest as people realize their homes are no longer safe.

“Moscow this morning”

The air defense over Moscow is worse than Israel we’re finding. The Moscow airport was successfully attacked, for instance. That shouldn’t be possible for a superpower like Russia to allow drones to penetrate all the way into the center of the capital. It’s not like these things are launched from within Russia. That means they had to go through a hundred or more miles before either being intercepted or hitting their target. That’s a lot of undefended country. It’s got to make the Russian military very nervous.

“Large fire in Moscow”

In light of that it is interesting that we are hearing more calls from within Ukraine to start looking for a way to get to a peace deal. The country is tired, but the military still wants to fight, even as they lose position in Kursk. There are differing opinions about Ukraine attempting a peace treaty. We shall see where that lands, but, it is interesting this is coming at the exact time when Moscow is being attacked. They seem to have more chips to play at the negotiating table now, so perhaps their chances of returning to their original lines before the invasion are better. I have no idea where that leaves their bid to enter NATO though.

A few things on the Russian energy transportation front. First of all, there was a fairly large fuel train fire in the Belgorod region. Second, apparently, some teenagers set fire to a locomotive in the Kemerovo region on orders from their supervisor. While the main issue is manpower, not currently availability of trains themselves, that is an interesting situation where the few people left are subverting their own supply chain due to bad working conditions. But in other energy news, a million people are without power due to a substation being attacked.

“railway fuel storage tanks are on fire”

Deteriorating situation in Donetsk, where there are concerns about the leadership, the supply chains, logistics, but also the conditions of the men themselves who are unfit to fight. Ukraine has been in a rush to get men and weapons to the front, and it not a surprise that their rotations aren’t fast enough or giving enough attention to the wounded. The Pokrovsk loss would make logistics much worse, because it is the central supply hub for most of the eastern front. Russia is stepping up the use of glide bombs to stay away from Ukrainian air defense and to the US’s credit, we are fairly sure that it would require far more missile capacity to attack airfields on the ground than Ukraine has, requiring also our most modern air to air missiles, which we are reluctant to hand over.

“Russian FAB glide bomb”

Speaking of air defense, we have seen US-made Hawk SAM missiles on the ground in Ukraine. They still say the US Army is on the side of them, and they aren’t even painted the same colors. These things are old. Clearly, these missiles were probably pulled out of storage, but they are likely still lethal, and we will finally get to see them used for the purpose for which they were intended - taking out Russian air combat vehicles.

“Ukrainian HAWK medium range SAM”

Speaking of US-supplied weapons, for the first time, I saw a US JDAM-ER on Seym mobile briding unit. These are normal JDAMs with a glide kit added to them to extend their range. More info on them here.

I, can't say I didn't see this coming, ask any of my close friends - I have been saying this should exist for years. But here it is. Remote video game controller for a unmodified gimbal-mounted rifle. First of all, I want one. Second, of all this has so many extremely useful features, such as the ability to stay well and truly far from a combat situation. Coming to a video game console near you!

Imagine dropping one of these every few miles and suddenly you have a sniper on the ground with a distance of over a mile and it would make fighting so much more difficult, and slow and painstakingly dangerous for Russians. Here’s another video of it in action. The questions are how many of these can be produced, how quickly, what is the range of them, can they be intercepted or will they also use fiber optic, etc?

“Steam Deck portable console to operate an M240”

The Iranian ballistic missiles that we were sure would lead to a huge escalation hasn’t. But what has happened is they were blown up by a Ukranian drone attack. It’s not clear if they were all destroyed, but presumably, most were, which is a relief.

We talked a lot about the thermite laden drones that Ukraine has been fielding. One thing that came up was that it can also be used to reduce the need for high explosives when they’re not needed for the mission objective. That could be a win, when explosives are at a premium but highly oxidizable metal dust may not be.

“high-temperatures”

In one offensive, there was a good example of the variety of weapons being used against a single column, and it’s making me think the FPV has a slight edge when it’s not a suicide drone due to the EM jamming and the proximity the suicide drones have to be at. Staying far enough away from EM jamming to drop ordinance might be a useful advantage. Either way, that video is interesting just by the sheer variety, and it also shows that Ukraine is not religious about any means of ordinance delivery.

Fiber optic capacity might be increasing for FPVs in Ukraine which is good, because I have seen enough jamming to think that there are certain places FPVs are simply worthless without it. It is clear what a nuisance FPV drones are becoming to troops, making their lives a nightmare from a 360-degree angle of attack and above, no less. Also, it turns out that even the most basic high-velocity projectiles are likely capable of piercing substandard Russian plate armor, even if they aren’t armor-piercing rounds.

“fiber optic controlled FPVs”

In related European news, a huge Swedish aid package is being sent to Ukraine. $440 million military aid! That’s nothing to sneeze at. It also must be a bit of a sigh of relief to Washington to see Europeans starting to pay for their conflict region. It’s not like they aren’t involved. In Latvia, for instance, a Russian suicide drone crash landed and is being investigated. It was probably an accident, but this is precisely the kind of thing that could trigger more significant conflict. The UK has also started imposing sanctions against Iran over the ballistic missiles it shipped to Russia.

Not much to report in the southeast Asian area except that Kim Jung Un is up to his normal antics. North Korea announced it’s increasing it’s nuclear stockpile. Why? It is likely because it sees an attack against Russia/China/Iran and North Korea being increasingly likely given what is going on in Ukraine and Israel.

Speaking of, let’s head over to the Middle East, specifically Jenin, where after IDF leaves the area, Hezbollah immediately calls for Jihad. This is largely but not entirely just propaganda videos. I think what is going on here is they are using the “he hit me, see?” tactic you see in the schoolyard to cry the victim but also show that they are doing something - the something is questionable, but still. The fact that they amassed so quickly is interesting though. The population of insurgents must be quite high in that area. The IDF isn’t cooling their heels though with more air strikes against Ayta ash-Shab, Khiam and Naqoura.

“Palestinian terrorists are calling for Jihad”

Meanwhile, there is really a good demonstration of what Iron dome can do. Many rockets are still sailing over Israel, but few, if any, are actually landing. Russia should find a new partner because the air defense they are working with pales in comparison.

Those same missiles that Iran sent to Russia that Ukraine just destroyed? Well, the US secretary of state, Blinken, is announcing sanctions against Iran for the missile transfers. I am inquisitive about what sort of sanctions they think will matter to Iran at this point, as I am sure the buy price for those missiles far exceeds whatever we will be doing.

Over in the Red Sea, the Sounion is still ablaze. It was reported that a small oil slick may have appeared, but it is no longer there. However, it is still quite obviously adrift and in danger of becoming a huge ecological disaster.

“burning of the MV Sounion continues”

South of the border, an audacious drone attack has been carried out against the La Roca prison in Ecuador, which houses the former vice president of Ecuador, Jorge Glas, who was arrested in a controversial police raid against the Mexican embassy in April. It’s not clear if he was the target or someone else is, but what is clear is we are going to see drone warfare in other theaters closer to home.

There is also a full-scale internal war in the Sinaloa cartel. It has been spilling out onto the streets of Sinaloa, where people are openly fighting in broad daylight. It’s a complicated situation but, there is a fairly good thread about it here, where the two halves of the gang have fractured on the issue of who controls it.

Rumble has been blocked in Brazil. This is likely related to what has been happening with Musk. They appear to want to get their users back and will likely fight it out in court, but we shall see.

“Rumble has been blocked”

In domestic news, the drone manufacturer, the US House of Representatives has voted to ban DJI from operating any of their new drones in the United States. It's not a terrible idea because there is no certainty about their reliability or safety, given that they are manufactured in China. But it does beg the question, what about Chinese cars, computers, appliances, TVs, and software of all kinds? We are thoroughly infiltrated with Chinese technology that could be directly tied to the CCP and either modified on the fly or shipped with malware.

In related communist news, Wix is discontinuing service to Russians. This likely isn’t a huge blow to Russians, except for the handful that are trying to sell commodities because Wix has relatively good shopping cart integration. It’s also a relatively robust CMS as well, so some bloggers might be impacted.

For the information security people reading, if you are using Obsidian, the TrustedSec team put together a nice read about how they do red-teaming using Obsidian, replete with many good examples. It's worth taking a look at if you do penetration testing. Oh, and if you remember the last newsletter when we discussed the Reflection LLM model and how it might have built-in meta-cognition… yes, it was all hype and doesn’t work. Lol

Last night's presidential debates between Kamala and Donald were pretty much a mess. I think the press will report that Kamala won, but both of them felt like they were using propaganda, verifiably incorrect lies, and ad hominem attacks to make their points instead of actually having any actual policies worth discussing. In hindsight, it was not worth watching except to see what terrible debaters they both were.

Okay, onto the articles!

At least 48 people and 50 animals were killed in Nigeria after a fuel tanker collided with another truck, resulting in an explosion. The incident occurred in the Niger state, where emergency services found additional victims burned beyond recognition. The governor of Niger state urged residents to remain calm and emphasized the importance of following traffic regulations to prevent future tragedies.

  • Fatal truck accidents are a common occurrence in Nigeria, where infrastructure challenges contribute to high fatality rates.

  • In 2020 alone, Nigeria's Federal Road Safety Corps recorded 1,531 tanker crashes, resulting in 535 deaths and over 1,000 injuries.

As the 2024 U.S. presidential election approaches, significant global issues are at stake, including U.S. foreign policy, relations with China, and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Key international leaders are reportedly awaiting the election results to determine their next moves.

  • The outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election could drastically influence global dynamics.

  • International leaders are positioning themselves based on the potential victory of Donald Trump or Kamala Harris.

It is safe to say that everyone is holding their breath, both in and out of the United States. I wish we were bringing forward candidates with better policies and policies.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to a terrorist attack at the Allenby border crossing, stating that without strength and security, there is no forever in the Middle East. He emphasized the importance of unity and the need to eliminate Hamas and return hostages. The incident occurred just days after six Israeli hostages were murdered by terrorists.

  • A terrorist attack at the Allenby border crossing resulted in three Israeli deaths.

  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized the importance of unity and strength to prevent further attacks.

He has a big problem with his population protesting against the war. Until they see a path through, he will have to figure out a way to dance through this political minefield.

Russia has reported the loss of 1,270 soldiers in just one day amid ongoing conflict with Ukraine, bringing total military losses since February 2022 to approximately 625,260 personnel. Additionally, Russia continues to face substantial equipment losses including tanks and artillery systems as it engages in ongoing military operations.

  • Russia has experienced significant daily military casualties in its conflict with Ukraine.

  • The cumulative losses for Russian forces include a large number of soldiers and military equipment.

This is largely related to those ‘meat-waves’ that we talked about in a previous newsletter.

The Biden Administration has struggled to define a clear strategy for victory in Ukraine, instead prioritizing avoiding escalation and appeasing Russia's interests.

  • The Biden Administration's lack of clear strategy for victory in Ukraine has allowed Russia to maintain the upper hand.

  • Washington's hesitation to provide Kyiv with long-range weapons that could change the tide of the war

  • The Administration's policies have been marked by procrastination, obstructionism, and a failure to grasp the true nature of the conflict

Of course, there is always the possibility that the US is playing 3D chess here. We are getting much insight into the Russian war machine, supply chains, and logistics. If you don’t think our satellites are working overtime, you’re crazy. The nice part about long-term operations like this is we get a really great look into where everything is stored, who does what, and where the weak spots are. Not to mention who is supplying Russia, and how can those people be bribed/subverted?

Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets and drone attacks on Israeli cities, sparking wildfires and forcing thousands to evacuate. The attacks were claimed by Hezbollah, but the Iranian proxy's permission is assumed. Israel's leaders are considering a major ground operation into southern Lebanon.

  • Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets and drone attacks on Israeli cities, sparking wildfires.

  • The attacks were claimed by Hezbollah, but the Iranian proxy's permission is assumed.

They are considering another, ground invasion, as this isn’t the first time they have sent troops in. But I think this one would be larger, and Lebanon should do everything it can to stop this before it happens. This will not end well for the civilians there, their economy, etc.

Judge Cannon's handling of Trump documents case is being scrutinized, with implications for US politics and global stability. The case has significant consequences for the separation of powers in the US government. The ongoing saga has far-reaching impacts on domestic and international politics.

  • Judge Cannon's decisions are influencing the Trump documents case, affecting the balance of power in the US government.

  • The implications of Judge Cannon's handling of the case extend to global politics and stability.

Iran's uranium stockpiles continue to grow and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has lost continuity of knowledge about Iran's centrifuge inventory, uranium ore, and heavy water stocks due to Tehran's refusal to cooperate. The IAEA is calling for renewed cooperation from Iran to address outstanding safeguards issues and implement the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

  • Iran's uranium stockpiles continue to grow.

  • The IAEA has lost continuity of knowledge about Iran's centrifuge inventory, uranium ore, and heavy water stocks due to Tehran's refusal to cooperate.

  • Iran's nuclear breakout time is likely to have shrunk to one or two weeks.

That is a very tight deadline and likely one that Israel can’t live with. If this is this close, I would be completely unsurprised to see an escalation from Israel at least long enough to destroy their progress once again.


AMD is shifting its focus to AI chips and merging its RDNA gaming graphics and CNDA data center efforts into a single universal "UDNA" strategy aimed at AI first. The company's goal is to build scale and market share at lower price points, rather than competing with Nvidia for flagship GPUs. This move follows rival Nvidia's lead in prioritizing AI chips and marks a significant shift in AMD's business strategy.

  • AMD is shifting its focus to AI chips and merging its RDNA gaming graphics and CNDA data center efforts into a single universal "UDNA" strategy aimed at AI first.

  • The company's goal is to build scale and market share at lower price points, rather than competing with Nvidia for flagship GPUs.

This is a good bet, especially as they must compete with Apple’s M series of chips and NVIDIA. I am still waiting for Apple actually to embrace local LLM and RAGs on hardware you can install in your home so that you can ingest all your own data and produce findings and knowledge from it without it ever leaving your four walls.

Recent research from Tel Aviv University has developed a new technology using touchless infrared imaging to monitor pupil size and eye movements behind closed eyelids. This innovation aims to track awareness, pain, and the depth of sedation in patients during sleep, anesthesia, and intensive care, potentially transforming clinical monitoring practices.

  • A new method allows monitoring of pupil size and gaze direction behind closed eyes.

  • The technology has potential uses in various medical domains, including sedation monitoring and assessing pain.

This is super cool tech, and I bet it could be useful for a wide variety of applications related to the sedated, comatose, or simply understanding dream patterns.

Artificial intelligence can accurately classify individuals as entrepreneurs based on a single facial image with high accuracy, outperforming human experts.

  • Deep neural networks can classify individuals as entrepreneurs based on a single facial image with high accuracy.

  • The AI model achieved a classification accuracy of 79.51% while human experts were unable to classify entrepreneurs with accuracy above chance levels.

This is very weird - I wonder if it is related to what they wear or how they groom themselves rather than the facial features themselves. Entrepreneurs do tend work a lot, so perhaps there is greying of facial hairs, or worry lines, etc?

Music recommendation systems can perpetuate gender imbalances due to biases in their algorithms and user interactions. Research shows that re-ranking strategies significantly influence the fairness of these recommendations, which could impact the representation of artists based on gender.

  • The study investigates gender biases in music recommendation systems.

  • Re-ranking strategies are found to have a greater impact on fairness than user choice models.

Yeah, this is the standard filter bubble problem. It’s not “stereotypes” because that is not how algos are written, but it is creating more insular groups for sure. I can’t remember the last time I have had a good cry over a Tori Amos song though.

The technology sector is experiencing significant challenges with artificial intelligence due to high costs and limited practical applications. Major tech firms are investing heavily in AI, driven by a long history of easy money, but rising operational expenses and diminishing returns are causing unease about the sustainability of these investments.

  • Artificial Intelligence development is becoming increasingly expensive with limited viable applications.

  • The reliance on easy money has fueled excessive investment in AI projects, leading to potential market corrections.

The bubble is bursting because people are realizing that it’s hard to work with AI, and the use cases almost all need to be vetted by experts who actually know what they’re doing. That is not to say it isn’t useful, it absolutely is. I have written thousands of lines of code with the help of a co-pilot, but that doesn’t mean the code quality is good or that it works without a lot of intervention. LLMs aren’t a moat, just like software isn’t - it’s too easy to replicate and now in the age of LLMs can write software it’s getting even worse.

Grok AI, developed by xAI, is actively collecting data from users on the X platform, creating privacy concerns due to its automatic opt-in policy. Grok-2's integration into X allows it to generate and analyze information with less moderation, resulting in potential misinformation during critical events like the 2024 US elections. Regulatory scrutiny is anticipated as xAI appears to neglect user privacy rights, especially within the context of EU regulations.

  • Grok AI collects data from X users automatically, raising privacy issues.

  • The AI tool has been associated with spreading misinformation about the 2024 US elections.

  • Regulatory concerns are growing regarding xAI's compliance with privacy laws.

Yes, and where do you think Llama3.1 came from? No one’s data? Articles like this are a bit silly, but I understand people's concerns. It’s easy to opt out, and you can, and maybe even should, if you want your viewpoint not to be part of the Grok ecosystem. For everyone else, this is a bit of a nothing-burger.

A critical security vulnerability has been identified in SonicWall's SonicOS firewall devices, affecting their management access and SSLVPN features. Exploitation of this vulnerability is currently underway, with ransomware groups using it to breach victims' networks, prompting urgent patching recommendations from SonicWall and federal agencies.

  • SonicWall firewalls have a critical access control flaw (CVE-2024-40766) that is being actively exploited.

  • Ransomware groups, including Akira, are targeting vulnerable SonicWall devices to gain access to their victims' networks.

It’s funny how security tech is the thing that people exploit to get in. Isn’t it supposed to be the thing that saves you? This is why software liability is useful for companies, and they should demand SLAs and warranties.

Brute force attacks use computational power to systematically test password combinations, exploiting weak passwords and inadequate security protocols, and can be mitigated with robust password policies, multi-factor authentication, and advanced security tools.

  • Brute force attacks exploit weak passwords and inadequate security protocols.

  • Robust password policies, multi-factor authentication, and advanced security tools can mitigate brute force attacks.

  • Computational power, password reuse, and predictable patterns contribute to the effectiveness of brute force attacks.

I’m on the advisory board of Arkose (full disclosure) so I know a lot about this problem. And yes, this is the ideal way to go after the problem. Instead of thinking of solving it outright (blocking with allow/deny lists), creating economically challenging tasks makes it unfeasible for the most pernicious nation-state actors.

As machine learning models become increasingly complex, they also become more susceptible to sophisticated adversarial attacks. Researchers have developed a strategy to plant undetectable backdoors in neural networks and language models, allowing the designer of the model to influence its outcome without being detected.

  • Researchers have developed a general strategy to plant backdoors in obfuscated neural networks that satisfy the security properties of indistinguishability obfuscation.

  • The existence of these backdoors is undetectable, even if the weights and architecture of the obfuscated model are accessible.

  • Researchers have extended their neural network backdoor attacks to language models based on the existence of steganographic functions.

Not only this, it can be used to sway the output in one direction, politically or another. I created two custom LLMs one that was very slightly left and one that was very slightly right and people could barely tell the difference even in side by side comparisons because it would give you both sides of the policy issue, just with slightly less detail on one side, ever so slightly pushing you in one direction.

Ukraine's military intelligence has launched a cyberattack targeting Russian resources involved in the war effort, affecting companies that manufacture electronic components and military infrastructure. The operation resulted in data destruction, server access, and website defacement, with access gained to multiple Russian servers.

  • Ukraine's intelligence agency executed a cyberattack on Russian military-linked resources.

  • The attack targeted companies involved in producing military components, leading to significant disruptions.

Very cool use of hybrid software, but it makes me shudder at how insecure the United States is.

Researchers have developed a new type of black-box attack on machine learning models that can guarantee the success probability of adversarial examples before querying the target model. This new attack has been shown to break strong defenses with provable confidence and has significant vulnerabilities compared to traditional empirical attacks.

  • A novel theoretical foundation for ensuring the success probability of black-box attacks with randomized adversarial examples is established.

  • Several techniques are proposed to craft randomized adversarial examples while reducing perturbation size for better imperceptibility.

  • The certifiable black-box attack has been comprehensively evaluated on various datasets and benchmarks, and has shown significant vulnerabilities compared to traditional empirical attacks.

This is one of the best uses for synthetic data—adversarial attacks against LLMs. Having LLMs attack LLMs is a good thing; they have the time/resources and creativity to do a relatively good job of finding edge cases.

Security researchers discovered a vulnerability in TSA's login system that allowed them to add fake pilots to rosters used for checks, potentially bypassing security at airport checkpoints. The bug was found through SQL injection and could be exploited by anyone with basic knowledge of the technique. The TSA has stated that it does not solely rely on this database to authenticate flight crew.

  • A vulnerability in TSA's login system allowed researchers to add fake pilots to rosters used for checks, potentially bypassing security at airport checkpoints.

  • The bug was found through SQL injection and could be exploited by anyone with basic knowledge of the technique.

  • TSA has stated that it does not solely rely on this database to authenticate flight crew

We talked about this a bit, but yes, this is a nightmare. If you have never seen the back-end of airplane/flight control systems, it is virtually antiquated and vulnerable.

Sophisticated malware targeting military and satellite-related industrial supply chains has been launched by a Chinese-speaking group globally. The threat actor 'TIDrone' uses enterprise resource planning software to deploy advanced, proprietary malware. Multiple countries have been targeted.

  • A Chinese-speaking group is launching sophisticated malware targeting military and satellite-related industrial supply chains globally.

  • The threat actor 'TIDrone' uses enterprise resource planning software to deploy advanced, proprietary malware against targets.

  • Multiple countries have been targeted by the 'TIDrone' malware campaign.

Google is facing multiple significant antitrust trials aimed at its advertising monopoly, with the upcoming trial focusing on its underlying software for online display ads. The U.S. Justice Department has twice ruled in prior cases that Google is an unlawful monopoly, and further legal actions are expected, raising the potential for industry restructuring and preserving competition in the advertising market. Experts predict that the outcomes could lead to significant changes in how Google operates and affect the wider digital advertising ecosystem.

  • Google is currently involved in major antitrust trials concerning its advertising business.

  • The outcomes of these trials could enforce significant regulatory changes in the digital advertising space.

There is another article about this here as well. Newspaper publishers will testify in a trial beginning in Virginia. I sincerely hope they win—I strongly suspect Google knew they were hurting publishers.

Boeing and its largest union have reached a proposed agreement that includes a 25% wage increase over four years, a commitment to build the next plane in the Seattle area, and additional financial incentives for workers. This deal comes amid a looming strike vote, as the union seeks to leverage its position due to Boeing's recent struggles and history of contentious labor relations. If the agreement is rejected, it could lead to a strike that would significantly disrupt Boeing's production capabilities.

  • Boeing has proposed a contract that includes a substantial wage increase and bonuses for union workers.

  • The outcome of the contract vote on September 12 could lead to a strike that would severely impact Boeing's production.

If it doesn’t involve hiring more talented engineers, increasing a preference for safety and promoting workplace meritocracy, then these problems will continue.

Circle K's owner, Alimentation Couche-Tard, plans to pursue a takeover of 7-Eleven despite their initial offer being rejected. The proposed acquisition, valued at around $40 billion, could face regulatory challenges and was characterized by 7-Eleven's parent company as undervaluing the business.

  • Circle K's owner intends to make a significant foreign acquisition in the convenience store sector.

  • The takeover could become the largest foreign acquisition of a Japanese firm.

99 Speed Mart Retail Holdings successfully completed Malaysia's largest initial public offering in seven years, raising $531 million. This shows growing investor confidence in Malaysia's economic potential and positions Kuala Lumpur as a key center for market debuts in Southeast Asia this year.

  • 99 Speed Mart operates over 2,600 convenience stores and holds a significant market share in Malaysia.

  • The company's IPO proceeds will be used for expansion and operational improvements.

Global inflation is beginning to ease, prompting some central banks, particularly in emerging markets, to lower interest rates. Major institutions like the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, and the Bank of England are expected to follow suit, as they face challenges in reaching inflation targets amidst ongoing price pressures.

  • Central banks worldwide are expected to lower interest rates due to easing inflation.

  • Many countries have seen a reduction in inflation, but challenges remain to meet central bank targets.

It is far too early to tell if this will hold, but let’s hope that inflation has reached its peak and that we can return to a much lower or even negative inflation rate.

Europe's top court ruled in favor of the European Commission, confirming that Apple must pay 13 billion euros in back taxes to Ireland, a decision stemming from a 2016 ruling that deemed Apple's tax benefits in Ireland illegal.

  • The European Commission mandated Apple to recover 13 billion euros in back taxes.

  • This ruling closes a decade-long legal battle over the company's tax arrangements in the EU.

I have a feeling this will be happening more with more large US companies as the EU struggles to increase their tax base. The good news is this makes foreign investments less attractive to US companies and we may keep more companies and employees here in the US.

Billy McFarland is planning a reboot of Fyre Festival, despite previously being convicted and imprisoned for scamming millions from the original event. The new festival, called Fyre II, promises luxury experiences but has raised concerns among investors who fear it may be another failure. Andy King, an investor in the original festival, has expressed doubts about McFarland's ability to succeed with the reboot.

  • Billy McFarland is planning a reboot of Fyre Festival called Fyre II

  • The new festival promises luxury experiences but has raised concerns among investors

  • Andy King, an investor in the original festival, has expressed doubts about McFarland's ability to succeed with the reboot

It’s gonna be lit. If it is a shit show, this would actually be good publicity. There are more stupid movies about it, and he gets to do Fyer III and attract even more people who want to see how bad it can really be. How does he top it? Give everyone a disease, maybe?

Volkswagen employees at a Brussels plant have taken keys to 200-300 completed cars, demanding clarity over their futures after the plant was earmarked for potential closure. The move comes as Volkswagen attempts a €10 billion cost-cutting drive and faces pressure from CEO Oliver Blume to reduce staff. The company has been struggling with falling demand and rising competition in Europe.

  • Volkswagen employees at a Brussels plant have taken keys to 200-300 completed cars, demanding clarity over their futures.

  • The move comes as Volkswagen attempts a €10 billion cost-cutting drive and faces pressure from CEO Oliver Blume to reduce staff.

  • The company has been struggling with falling demand and rising competition in Europe.

That’s a funny way to shut down a plant—simply make the cars undriveable and only movable by towing them.

Consumer credit in the U.S. has unexpectedly surged, with credit card debt reaching an all-time high of $5.093 trillion, despite record high interest rates averaging 22.76%. Meanwhile, the personal savings rate has dropped to historical lows, indicating financial strain on consumers ahead of looming economic challenges and the upcoming election.

  • Consumer credit surged to a record high of $5.093 trillion.

  • The personal savings rate in the U.S. has reached a historic low.

  • Average credit card interest rates are now at 22.76%.

That debt bubble tho… one day, at some point, it has to either shrink or pop. That means we need a lot more money being made by the average US debt holder, or we see what happens when banks shutter because no one can pay off those huge debts.

Thanks so much for reading, and once again, please forward this newsletter to anyone you think should be reading it. It’s how the newsletter grows, how I know you love it, and encourages me to keep going. I’d really appreciate it!