Source: SchiffGold.com
As the old saying goes, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck.
Well, if it looks like a bailout, walks like a bailout, and talks like a bailout, it’s probably a bailout.
ChatGPT: Friend or Foe? – Dr. Joseph Mercola 3/13/23
Source: ChildrensHealthDefense.org
Story at a glance:
- ChatGPT is a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence (AI). “GPT” stands for “generative pretrained transformer,” and the “chat” indicates that it’s a chatbot.
- ChatGPT, released at the end of November 2022, has taken internet users by storm, acquiring more than 1 million users in the first five days. Two months after its release, it had more than 30 million users.
- ChatGPT or something like it will replace conventional search engines. Any online query will have only one answer, and that answer will not be based on all available knowledge, but the data the bot is allowed to access. As such, the owners and programmers of the bot will have complete information control.
- While OpenAI, the creator of this groundbreaking AI chatbot, is a private company, we should not linger under the illusion that they’re not part of the control network that will ultimately be ruled and run by a technocratic One World Government.
- Early testers of ChatGPT are reporting the bot is developing disturbing and frightening tendencies, berating, gaslighting and even threatening and harassing users. It also plays fast and loose with facts, in one case insisting it was February 2022, when in fact it was February 2023.
Continue reading “ChatGPT: Friend or Foe? – Dr. Joseph Mercola 3/13/23”
As Banking Collapses Erode Trust, Bitcoin Fixes Moral Hazard – Mickey Koss 3/13/23
Source: BitcoinMagazine.com
As unrealized losses piled up, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) gradually, then suddenly became insolvent, followed by the collapse of Signature Bank and people beginning to wake up to issues pervading our financial system. Modern day bank runs, though digital, can force banks to sell reserve assets at a loss, inevitably leading to insolvency.
Lebanon’s Exchange Rate Soars to 100,000 LBP to the Dollar, Currency Loses 98.5% of Pre-Crisis Value – LBCGroup 3/14/23
Source: LBCGroup.tv
Lebanon’s unofficial exchange rate soared to reach 100,000 LBP to the dollar on Tuesday morning; this means the currency lost around 98.5 percent of its pre-crisis value in 2019 in less than four years.
Peter Schiff: The 2023 Financial Crisis Has Begun! – SchiffGold 3/14/23
Source: SchiffGold.com
As we start to sort through the fallout of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and the government’s reaction to it, the next question is: what’s next?
Government officials and mainstream pundits insist everything is fine now. They say quick government action averted a crisis. But in his podcast, Peter Schiff said this is really just the beginning of the next financial crisis.
Continue reading “Peter Schiff: The 2023 Financial Crisis Has Begun! – SchiffGold 3/14/23”
Silicon Valley Bank’s Demise Began with Downgrade Threat – Reuters 3/11/23
Source: Reuters.com
In the middle of last week, Moody’s Investors Service Inc delivered alarming news to SVB Financial Group (SIVB.O), the parent of Silicon Valley Bank: the ratings firm was preparing to downgrade the bank’s credit.
Continue reading “Silicon Valley Bank’s Demise Began with Downgrade Threat – Reuters 3/11/23”
Singapore’s Central Bank MAS Boosts Gold Reserves to Nearly 200 Tonnes – BullionStar 3/8/23
Source: bullionstar.us
In January 2023, Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) returned to gold buying again, adding a massive 44.6 tonnes of gold to its official reserves, and thereby boosting Singapore’s gold holdings from 153.8 tonnes to 198.4 tonnes.
In percentage terms, this gold buying represents an incredible 29% increase in Singapore’s gold holdings in just one month. In fact, this is Singapore’s second largest largest gold purchase ever in one month, the only gold purchase that was larger was when Singapore first bought 100 tonnes of gold from South Africa in 1968….
Nigerians Not Eager to Embrace Central Bank Digital Currency – SchiffGold 3/7/23
Source: SchiffGold.com
Violent protests in Nigeria reveal that getting average people to embrace central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) might be more difficult than government officials would like.
Nigerians recently took to the streets to protest a cash shortage caused by government policies adopted in order to push the country into the adoption of its central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Continue reading “Nigerians Not Eager to Embrace Central Bank Digital Currency – SchiffGold 3/7/23”
India’s Oil Deals With Russia Further Erodes Petrodollar Dominance – SchiffGold 3/8/23
Source: SchiffGold.com
Every government policy has consequences – some intended and some unintended.
There is at least one serious unintended consequence of the economic sanctions levied against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine – an erosion of the US dollar dominance.
Reuters reports that recent oil deals between India and Russia have been settled in currencies other than dollars.
Egypt’s Headline Inflation Soars to 31.9 Percent in February – Reuters 3/9/23
Source: LBCGroup.tv
Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation rate in February leapt to a higher-than-expected 31.9 percent, its highest in five and a half years, from 25.8 percent in January, data from statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Thursday.
The soaring inflation follows a series of currency devaluations starting in March 2022, a prolonged shortage of foreign currency and continuing delays in getting imports into the country.
The Egyptian pound has fallen by nearly 50 percent since March….
All Portland Walmart Stores To “Permanently Close” Amid Theft Wave – ZeroHedge 3/4/23
Source: ZeroHedge.com
In order to address the issue of shoplifting and retail theft, the final two Walmart stores in the city of Portland will shutter their doors in late March.
FOX 12 Oregon reported that the Walmart locations at 1123 North Hayden Meadows Drive and 4200 Southeast 82nd Avenue at the Eastport Plaza would close on Mar. 24.
“The decision to close these stores was made after a careful review of their overall performance. We consider many factors, including current and projected financial performance, location, population, customer needs, and the proximity of other nearby stores when making these difficult decisions. After we decide to move forward, our focus is on our associates and their transition, which is the case here,” a spokesperson with Walmart told the local media outlet.
From Pocket Change to Scrap Metal: The Sad Fate of Lebanon’s Coins – LBCGroup 3/4/23
Source: LBCGroup.tv
Today, many small shops and bakeries in Lebanon no longer accept coins, including the 250 LBP coin, which weighs around 5 grams and is made of yellow brass, aluminum, and zinc.
Its value as a currency today is 0.0032 USD, while its metal value is 0.025 USD, which is equivalent to 2000 LBP. This means that the value of the 250 LBP coin as a metal is eight times higher than its value as a currency….
Too Hungry to Weep: The Tragedy of Yemen’s Starving Children – CNN 3/2/23
Source: CNN.com
“We are born dead” is graffitied, in English, on a wall across from the razor-wire sewn bulwark of the United Nations compound in northern Yemen. It is a distillation of the suffering of generational war; a plea from the abandoned and discarded.
I recently returned, through my involvement with the humanitarian organization War Child, from the northern reaches of Yemen’s Houthi regions. Access is virtually impossible for Americans (especially journalists) and took months of fraught negotiations. Not surprising, as American fingerprints are easily found on this crisis. US military support for Saudi Arabia, an integral player in the conflict, has been constant since its inception seven years ago.
During that stretch, a Saudi-led coalition has tried with little success to crush the Iran-backed Houthi insurgency in a conflict replete with potential war crimes. The effects of the war have been devastating.
Continue reading “Too Hungry to Weep: The Tragedy of Yemen’s Starving Children – CNN 3/2/23”
The Number Of Beef Cows In The U.S. Drops To The Lowest Level Since 1962 As The Global Food Crisis Intensifies – Michael Snyder 3/2/23
Source: TheMostImportantNews.com
Americans need to be prepared to eat a lot less beef, because the size of the national cattle herd is steadily shrinking. And of course this is happening in the context of a much larger crisis. As I detailed in a previous article, even CNN is admitting that we are currently in the midst of “the worst food crisis in modern history”. But even though children are literally dropping dead from starvation on the other side of the planet, a lot of people here in the United States refuse to take this crisis seriously. As long as their stomachs are full they think that everything is just fine. But the truth is that conditions are also starting to get tight here in the United States.
According to the latest biannual report from the USDA, the number of beef cows in this country has fallen to the lowest level since 1962…
European Antiwar Protests Gain Strength as NATO’s Ukraine Proxy War Escalates – The Grayzone 2/27/23
Source: TheGrayZone.com
Europeans are storming the streets in unprecedented numbers to protest NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine and their own declining living standards. The Grayzone has covered demonstrations and interviewed protest leaders in several countries since the war erupted.
Athens, Greece –– This February 21, several thousand Greeks filled Athens’ streets to denounce NATO and the United States in the wake of Antony Blinken’s Greece visit, where the US Secretary of State applauded the Mediterranean country for being amongst the first European countries to support Ukraine, thus leading to way for “the support of democracy.”
The UK is “Rationing” Vegetables, & it’s all About Normalization – Kit Knightly 2/28/23
Source: Off-Guardian.org
The past few days have seen certain fruits and vegetables “rationed” by major UK supermarkets. Aldi, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s have all put limits on customer purchases of peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers.
Just yesterday, Lidl added their own name to that list.
Showdown in Ukraine – Mike Whitney 2/26/23
Source: Unz.com
The future of humanity will be decided on a battlefield in Ukraine. That’s no exaggeration. The conflict between the United States and Russia will determine whether global economic integration will expand within an evolving multi-polar system or if the “rules-based order” will succeed in crushing any opponent to its Western-centric model. This is what’s taking place in Ukraine today, in fact, all of the recent government-prepared documents related to national security identify Russia and China as the greatest threats to US hegemony. For example, take a look at this brief clip from the 2021 Congressional Research Service Report titled Renewed Great Power Competition: Implications for Defense—Issues for Congress:
Continue reading “Showdown in Ukraine – Mike Whitney 2/26/23”
Vanguard CEO Abandons ESG Investing Alliance: “Not In The Game Of Politics” – ZeroHedge 2/28/23
Source: Zerohedge.com
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) has been a hotly debated topic over the last few years.
The seemingly unquestioned march towards corporate utopia has met with resistance among those who oppose the idea that government oligarchs should dictate the affairs of private business firms. The long-term effects of the ESG movement are largely ignored by the mainstream.
US to Require Companies Winning Chipmaking Subsidies to Share Excess Profits – Reuters 2/28/23
Source: LBCGroup.tv
The Biden administration on Tuesday said it will require companies winning funds from its $52 billion US semiconductor manufacturing and research program to share excess profits and explain how they plan to provide affordable childcare.
Biden Administration’s New Equity Atlas: An Unconstitutional Equity Redistribution Scheme – Robert A. Bishop 2/24/23
Source: AmericanThinker.com
The Biden administration’s $1.2 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) gives cities a blank check for hundreds of billions of dollars in federal grants. An astonishingly massive windfall for municipal budgets. Janet Yellen, U.S. Treasury Secretary, followed up by forming an Advisory Committee on Racial Equity (a.k.a. TACRE) to ensure cities channel those funds and future federal grants towards racial equity justice.
The Power of Woke: How Leftist Ideology Is Undermining Our Society and Economy – Allen Mendenhall 2/22/23
Source: Mises.org
“It’s an important part of society whether you like it or not,” lexicologist Tony Thorne, referring to “wokeness,” told The New Yorker’s David Remnick in January. That’s an understatement.
Wokeness is poisoning the Western workplace and constraining small and family businesses, midsized banks, and entrepreneurs while enriching powerful corporations and billionaires. It’s eating away at the capitalist ethos and killing the bottom-up modes of economic ordering and exchange that propelled the United States of America to prosperity during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It’s infecting Gen Z and millennials, who, suffering high depression rates and prone to “quiet quitting,” are not as well off as their parents and grandparents, and who feel isolated and alone even as they enjoy a technological connectivity that’s unprecedented in human history.
What, exactly, is wokeness, and how does it impact business and the wider society?
Stainless Steal – Charles Hugh Smith 2/26/23
Source: charleshughsmith.blogspot.com
The decay in quality reveals that the collapse of the neoliberal-hyper-financialization-hyper-globalization model has already occurred.
Continue reading “Stainless Steal – Charles Hugh Smith 2/26/23”
US Commits $2 Billion in Drones, Ammunition, Aid to Ukraine – AP 2/24/23
Source: LBCGroup.tv
The Pentagon announced a new package of long-term security assistance for Ukraine on Friday, marking the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion with a $2 billion commitment to send more rounds of ammunition and a variety of small, high-tech drones into the fight.
Continue reading “US Commits $2 Billion in Drones, Ammunition, Aid to Ukraine – AP 2/24/23”
Are Reparations Part of the American Rescue Plan? Cities Say Yes and Plan to Use Federal Funds to Support Reparations Efforts – JonathanTurley 2/23/23
Source: : JonathanTurley.org
There is an interesting fight brewing in Congress after various cities indicated that they may not only pay reparations but use federal pandemic funds for such payments. There has been a long call for federal reparations with various Democratic bills introduced in Congress. BET founder Robert Johnson has called for $14 trillion in federal reparations. However, cities like Providence, Rhode Island are not waiting. They insist that federal reparations funds are already effectively approved as part of their pandemic relief.
Iraq to Allow Trade with China in Yuan – Reuters 2/22/23
Source: LBCGroup.tv
Iraq’s central bank said on Wednesday it planned to allow trade from China to be settled directly in yuan for the first time, in an attempt to improve access to foreign currency.
Continue reading “Iraq to Allow Trade with China in Yuan – Reuters 2/22/23”
Missouri Senate Votes to End Income Taxes on Gold and Silver, Hold Monetary Metals in Reserve – Mises 2/13/23
Source: Mises.org
The Missouri Senate today passed legislation that would prompt the state treasurer to hold at least 1% of state funds in gold and silver while eliminating all state income taxes on monetary metals.
In a growing national backlash to the rampant inflation caused by massive federal spending, debt, and central bank money printing, more than a dozen states are already moving forward on sound money bills during their 2023 legislative sessions.
Distortion of Breakfast Price Hikes Leaves WSJ With Egg on Face – FAIR 2/21/23
Source: FAIR.org
The Wall Street Journal (2/14/23) gave a crash course on the true meaning of freedom under capitalism with its piece “To Save Money, Maybe You Should Skip Breakfast.” Ironically, the article sat behind a paywall. So instead of skipping breakfast to cut costs, maybe Journal readers should cancel their subscriptions.
The absurdity of the headline is self-apparent. It was met with bewilderment by readers shocked to realize it lacked even a tinge of sarcasm. As one noted, “If you skip breakfast, lunch and dinner you can save even more money.”
Nonetheless, the article bears examination, because it highlights the corporate media’s determination to convince workers and consumers that inflation means that resources are scarce, and not that immensely profitable corporations are ripping them off (FAIR.org, 4/21/22, 1/25/23).
Continue reading “Distortion of Breakfast Price Hikes Leaves WSJ With Egg on Face – FAIR 2/21/23”
Kraken the Whip: The Feds’ Latest Assault on Crypto Freedom – HumanEvents 2/21/23
Source: HumanEvents.com
As if we needed another reminder of why blockchain technology is such a critical innovation in the face of authoritarian government overreach, the SEC’s recent $30 million settlement with cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is a perfect example, capturing the attention of crypto enthusiasts around the world.
Continue reading “Kraken the Whip: The Feds’ Latest Assault on Crypto Freedom – HumanEvents 2/21/23”
New Jersey Helps Convicted Drug Users Become Drug Dealers in Bold New Liberal Initiative – InformationLiberation 2/17/23
Source: InformationLiberation.com
The state of New Jersey is helping convicted drug users become drug dealers under a bold new liberal “social equity” program.
From CNBC, “They were convicted on marijuana charges. Now they’re first in line to sell it legally”:
TRENTON, N.J. — Tahir Johnson has been arrested on marijuana possession charges three times. Now, for the first time in his life, his conviction on one of those charges won’t hurt his employment prospects. It will help.
The Sudden Dominance of the Diversity Industrial Complex – Thomas Hackett 2/14/23
Source: RealClearWire.com
Little more than a decade ago, DEI was just another arcane acronym, a clustering of three ideas, each to be weighed and evaluated against other societal values. The terms diversity, equity, and inclusion weren’t yet being used in the singular, as one all-inclusive, non-negotiable moral imperative. Nor had they coalesced into a bureaucratic juggernaut running roughshod over every aspect of national life.
They are now.
Continue reading “The Sudden Dominance of the Diversity Industrial Complex – Thomas Hackett 2/14/23”
A Look into Lira Collapse During Current Crisis – LBCGroup 2/17/23
Source: LBCGroup.tv
The exchange rate of the dollar doubled from roughly forty thousand LBP at the start of 2023 to mid-February, or in just one and a half months, and is now worth more than eighty thousand LBP.
Continue reading “A Look into Lira Collapse During Current Crisis – LBCGroup 2/17/23”
South Korea Boosts its AI Chip Industry with $642M Amid ChatGPT Frenzy – LBCGroup 2/16/23
Source: LBCGroup.tv
South Korea hopes to be a key player in fulfilling the new global demand for next-generation AI chips, and today the government put some money where its mouth is: the country’s Ministry of Science and ICT said it would earmark $642.5 million (826.2 billion won) through 2030 to invest in companies working on advanced AI chips. The investment will involve building new data centers, and working with AI chip startups and cloud service providers, among other projects.
White House Announces Tesla Will Open Supercharger Network To Expand EV Access – ZeroHedge 2/15/23
Source: ZeroHedge.com
The Biden administration announced Wednesday new plans to expand the nation’s charging network “so that the great American road trip can be electrified.”
According to a fact sheet published on the White House’s website, the administration plans to build a network of 500,000 electric vehicle chargers from coast to coast. To achieve this goal, the administration announced Tesla would open 7,500 chargers to all electric vehicles, including 3,500 new and existing 250 kW Superchargers on highways.
Doug Casey on the Fed Raising Its Inflation Target and Other Shenanigans – InternationalMan 2/15/23
Source: InternationalMan.com
International Man: Recently, there have been whispers about the Fed raising its official inflation target above 2%.
But before we get into that, we should define our terms.
What is the proper way to think of inflation and the Fed itself?
Doug Casey: First of all, the word “inflation” should be viewed as a verb, not as a noun. Inflation is an increase in the amount of money. This is why Bitcoin—which may have other issues as a money—is inflation-proof; it’s a mathematical certainty that no more than 21 million will ever exist. There are absolutely no limits to the supply of fiat dollars, however.
Media Ignore Seymour Hersh Bombshell Report of US Destroying Nord Stream II – MintPressNews 2/15/23
Source: MintPressNews.com
It has now been one week since Seymour Hersh published an in-depth report claiming that the Biden administration deliberately blew up the Nord Stream II gas pipeline without Germany’s consent or even knowledge – an operation which began planning long before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Based on interviews with national security insiders, Hersh – the journalist who broke the stories of the My Lai Massacre, the CIA spying program and the Abu Ghraib torture scandal – claims that in June, U.S. Navy divers traveled to the Baltic Sea and attached C4 explosive charges to the pipeline. By September, President Biden himself ordered its destruction. According to Hersh, all understood the stakes and the gravity of what they were doing, acknowledging that, if caught, it would be seen as a flagrant “act of war” against their allies.
Despite this, corporate media have overwhelmingly ignored the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter’s bombshell. A MintPress News study analyzed the 20 most influential publications in the United States, according to analytics company Similar Web, and found only four mentions of the report between them.
Seymour Hersh Speaks Out: “You Have to Hold the President to Account” – TheGatewayPundit 2/14/23
Source: TheGatewayPundit.com
In his first interview since publishing his bombshell Nord Stream report, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh said it was “not a hard story to find” and that it was obvious that NATO was involved in the Nord Stream attack. Hersh was astonished at his colleagues, who “don’t seem to have anyone inside.”
“I saw that the Germans are starting to cope with this story,” host Gary Brecher of Radio War Nerd remarked.
“Would you call what they’re doing coping?” said Hersh.
Throughout “all of the scheming,” Brecher quoted Hersh’s source, “some working guys in the CIA and the State Department were saying, ‘Don’t do this. It’s stupid and will be a political nightmare if it comes out.’”