Steve Bull's Blog, page 1322
September 6, 2017
The Global Elites’ Secret Plan for Cryptocurrencies
Interest in Bitcoin is red hot at the moment. It’s impossible to open a website, listen to a podcast, or watch a video in the financial space without hearing about the meteoric rise in the price of Bitcoin.
Maybe you know a “Bitcoin millionaire” who bought five hundred Bitcoins a few years back for $50,000 and is now sitting on a Bitcoin fortune worth over $2,000,000. It’s true, those people actually do exist.
Yet the crypto-hysteria is distracting you from a scary truth no one is talking about. There is every indication that governments, regulators, tax authorities, and the global elite are moving in for the crypto-kill. The future of Bitcoin may be a dystopia in which Big Brother controls what’s called “the blockchain” and decides when and how you can buy or sell anything and everything.
Furthermore, cryptocurrency technology could be the very mechanism used by global elites to replace the dollar based financial system.
In 1958, Mao Zedong, the leader of the Communist Party of China and China’s dictatorial leader was confronted with demoralized intellectuals and artists who were alienated by Communist rule. As a policy response, he declared a new policy of intellectual freedom.
Mao declared, “The policy of letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend is designed to promote the flourishing of the arts and the progress of science.”
This declaration is referred to as the “Hundred Flowers Campaign” (often misquoted as the “thousand flowers campaign”). The response to Mao’s invitation was an enthusiastic outpouring of creative thought and artistic expression.
What came next was no surprise to those familiar with the operation of state power. Once the intellectuals and artists emerged, it was easy for Mao’s secret police to round them up, kill and torture some, and send others to “reeducation camps” where they learned ideological conformity.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
South Korea Protestors Clash With Police Over Deployment of New U.S. Missile Batteries
South Koreans are now clashing with police ahead of the deployment of four more Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems in southern South Korea.
The clash occurred as police were trying to disperse about 400 residents from their community center near the U.S. missile defense base in Seongju, some 300 kilometers south of Seoul.
Watch Live via RT,
Residents of the South Korean province of Gyeongsangbuk-do have taken to the streets, objecting to the local installation of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. Hundreds of protesters confronted police, the Yonhap news agency reports.
Twitter users show protestors clashing with police
Follow
Guido Mastrangelo @GuidoGma
Clashes in #SouthKorea between police and protesters that try to block the military convoy delivering a THAAD missile system to #Seongju.
2:34 PM – Sep 6, 2017
Scuffles breaking out between protestors and police
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Meanwhile Two More Hurricanes Form: Jose Right Behind Irma, Katia In The Gulf
As previewed yesterday, moments ago the National Hurricane Center said that “quickly strenghtening Jose” which has been quietly following in Irma’s foosteps, has become a hurricane.
Located about 1040 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, Jose is headed at 16 mph on a steady west-northwest track, steered by the same ridge that is helping to direct Irma.
On its current track, Jose would reach the northern Leeward Islands by Saturday, but the ridge is predicted to weaken enough by Saturday to allow Jose to arc just northeast of the islands. Conditions are favorable for Jose to strengthen into a hurricane by later Wednesday, and it could approach Category 3 strength by late in the week. About 25% of the European model ensemble members bring Jose into the northern Leeward Islands, but all of the GFS ensemble members keep Jose north of the islands.
The news means that there are now two major hurricanse barreling toward Florida in the Atlantic, as shown in the map below.
Meanwhile, Katia, which was christened as a Tropical Storm by NHC at 5 am EDT Wednesday, was also just upgraded to a Hurricane.
Chinese Scientists Warn North Korea’s Nuke Test Site At Risk Of Imploding, “Releasing Many Bad Things”
Earlier we showed the shocking satellite images showing numerous landslides aound the mountain that is North Korea’s nuclear test site, and it appears Chinese officials are also keeping a very close eye on the region, instigating “emergency monitoring” for radiation leaks as the former chairman of the China Nuclear Society warns of the potential for a massive environmental disaster.
As SHTFplan.com’s Mac Slavo notes, we already know that North Korea has the capability of not only firing Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles that could strike major U.S. cities, but that they have the nuclear technology to make any such attack absolutely devastating.
Weapons of Mass Destruction, electro-magnetic pulse weapons and World War III aside, however, the South China Morning Post reports that another danger lurks just below the mountain where North Korea has been testing their nuclear devices.
A total of at least six nuclear device tests have reportedly taken place in North Korea and Chinese seismologists have been able to pinpoint their locations to within 100 meters.
(January 2016 Blast Site – via The Daily Signal)
(The September 2017 blast took place in the same location – Via Norsar)
It turns out that all of the tests occurred under the same mountain and scientists are now warning that it could implode, leaving a massive hole that would leak deadly radiation across the entire region, including China:
Wang Naiyan, the former chairman of the China Nuclear Society and senior researcher on China’s nuclear weapons programme, said that if Wen’s findings were reliable, there was a risk of a major environmental disaster.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
September 5, 2017
Virgin Islands Authorizes National Guard To Confiscate Guns, Property, And Supplies
With the devastation of Harvey still fresh in the public’s memory, stores in southern Florida are already running out of necessities like bottled water, and the Mayor of Miami is telling reporters to expect an evacuation order on Wednesday. But outside of the US mainland, the US Virgin Islands, which has activated the national guard as the storm approaches. However, Mapp’s order differed from the order signed by Texas Gov. Mike Abbott with one concerning twist: guardsmen can “appropriate” guns, ammunition, explosives and property needed to respond to Hurricane Irma. The order was signed by Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp on Monday.
Irma’s eye is expected to pass just north of the heart of the U.S. Virgin Islands on Wednesday and bring four to eight inches or rain and 60-mile-per-hour wind gusts, though the gusts in the most powerful areas of the storm have been as fast as 185 mph, the Daily Caller reported.
Mapp signed the order Monday in preparation for Hurricane Irma. It allows the Adjutant General of the Virgin Islands to seize private property they believe necessary to protect the islands, subject to approval by the territory’s Justice Department. Mapp issued an emergency declaration Tuesday and mobilized National Guard units to prepare for the massive storm.
“This is not an opportunity to go outside and try to have fun with a hurricane,” Mapp said. “It’s not time to get on a surfboard.”
Because of its location in the middle of the Pacific, it’s understandable that the Virgin Islands would need to take extraordinary measures to ensure its response to the storm is successful. However, the order too closely resembles an expansion of US civil asset forfeiture powers adopted by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The Narrative of Fear and Insecurity
On March 4 1933 FDR in his inaugural address to the American people said,
“…the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself….”
And it’s true. It is fear more than anything else that prevents people from turning away from what has failed them and stays their hand from picking up the tools which would allow them to build what would work better. And precisely because it is true, every politician, banker, judge and general has realised that if they wished to stop change from weakening their grip on power and wealth, then what they need above all else is …more fear.
As FDR went on to say, it is
“…nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes….”
So if you want to control a people and contain their desire to replace the system which benefits you, with one that benefits them, then you need to feed them fear and the more of it and the more slippery and inscrutable it seems to them, the better.
A looming, shadowy foreign power lurking just beyond the borders is always good. Russia, China, Communists in general, or if they are too far away, then any kind of socialist will do at a pinch. In 1983 Margaret Thatcher famously branded British miners and their union as ‘The enemy within.” Terrorists are a wonderful new fear. They are everywhere, much like Red’s used to be under every bed.
All these are good and have been used, still are used, to good effect. But there is a new fear, one closer to the fear FDR was talking about. And the currency of that fear is Debt. Here is a very short history, in just a few sentences, of how debt became the currency of fear.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Furious North Korea Slams US As “Heinous Aggressor Who Is Begging For War”, Vows To “Respond In Our Own Way”
North Korea said Tuesday it will “respond in our own ways” to any new sanctions that may be put in place following Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test.
According to Yonhap, In a Q&A session with the state-run Korean Central News Agency, the North Korean foreign ministry spokesman blasted the United States for leading the international efforts to adopt a fresh sanctions resolution. Flipping the table on Nikki Haley’s Monday Statement that North Korea is begging for war, North Korea said that it was the US that a “heinous aggressor who is begging for war.”
“Testing an H-bomb for an intercontinental ballistic rocket is a normal process that we must carry out to accomplish our policy of byongjin,” the spokesman said, referring to the North’s signature policy of seeking nuclear armament and economic development.
“In the face of the U.S. scheme of putting pressure through sanctions, we’ll respond in our own ways,” he added. “And the U.S. will be fully responsible for the catastrophic consequences that follow.”
KCNA also said that the US “should not forget even for a moment about the presence of the DPRK, the full- fledged nuclear power in possession of ICBM as well as A-bomb and H-bomb”
As a reminder, the U.S. and South Korea reportedly want new sanctions to include a cutoff of oil supplies to the North, though China appears reluctant to take a measure that it worries would lead to the collapse of its neighbor.
Earlier on Tuesday, North Korea said its recent missile launch and other “self-defense” measures were a “gift package” to the United States and warned other such gifts are on the way if Washington continues its “reckless provocations.”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Does Government Spending Create More Economic Growth?
After the 2007-2009 global financial crisis, fears of ballooning public debt and worries about the drag on economic growth pushed authorities in some countries to lower government spending, a tactic that economists now think may have slowed recovery. Note that in the United States the total debt to GDP ratio stood at 349 in Q1 this year.
In a paper presented at the Kansas City Federal Reserve’s annual economic symposium on August 26 2017, Alan Auerbach and Yuriy Gorodnichenko from the University of California suggested that “expansionary fiscal policies adopted when the economy is weak may not only stimulate output but also reduce debt-to-GDP ratios”. (Fiscal Stimulus and Fiscal Sustainability, August 1,2017, UC – Berkley and NBER).
Some commentators are of the view that these findings may be welcome news to central bankers who face limited options of their own to combat a future downturn, given existing low interest rates and low inflation rates in their economies. “With tight constraints on central banks, one may expect — or maybe hope for — a more active response of fiscal policy when the next recession arrives,” the University of California researchers wrote.
These findings are in agreement with Nobel Laureate in economics Paul Krugman, and other commentators that are of the view that an increase in government outlays whilst the economy is relatively subdued is good news for economic growth.
Can increase in government outlays strengthen economic growth?
Observe that government is not a wealth generating entity as such — the more it spends, the more resources it has to take from wealth generators. This in turn undermines the wealth generating process of the economy.
The proponents for strong government outlays when an economy displays weakness hold that the stronger outlays by the government will strengthen the spending flow and this in turn will strengthen the economy.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Tracking Military Weaponry and War Machines Flowing to America’s Local Police Departments
This week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions outlined plans to transfer heavy military weapons to local police across America. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images – taken before Miami press conference on sanctuary cities.)
This week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced President Donald Trump’s plan to distribute military gear to state and local law enforcement agencies. The rule change means weapons typically reserved for war-time use – tracked armored (tank-like) vehicles, weaponized aircraft and vessels, grenade launchers, bayonets, and firearms with ammunition of .50-caliber or higher – will start flowing to local law enforcement agencies through the Department of Defense’s 1033 Program.
Yes, the story is familiar. In 2016, we sounded the alarmat Forbes about the Obama administration sending heavy weapons to local police departments. We noted that people of good faith on both the left and right were raising serious concerns regarding civil liberties and the growth of government.
Today, the same questions are valid: What’s the legitimate law enforcement purpose for these weapons? Does the militarization of local police threaten our civil liberties?
Search our OpenTheBooks interactive map for all weaponry transferred to the 6,500 local, state and other federal police agencies across America since 2006. See it all – in your hometown, park district, forest preserve, junior college, university, county, state police – or federal agency such as Homeland Security, Interior and the Justice Department – across any ZIP code!
OpenTheBooks.comSearch the 6,500 local police departments across America for the military weaponry transferred from the Dept. of Defense.
What military gear will you find in your local police department? Here’s a sample of our findings:
In Illinois, the College of DuPage received 14 fully automatic M16 rifles. The police department in Wheaton (pop. 53,000) picked up 68 M16 and M14 rifles plus five pistols (.45 caliber). Evanston – a small community known to promote gun control ordinances – procured 20 M16 rifles.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Using Gold To Hedge Korea Nuclear War Risk? This Is How To Do It, According To Goldman
In a note on the role of gold as a “geopolitical hedge of last resort“, Goldman chief commodities strategist, Jeff Currie, writes that while it is tempting to blame the rally in gold prices on recent events in North Korea – which have certainly helped create a bid in gold – they only explain a fraction, or ~$15/oz of the more than $100/oz rally since mid-July. Instead, Goldman finds that the events in Washington over the past two months play a far larger role in the recent gold rally coupled by a sharply weaker dollar.
Currie writes that Goldman’s market strategists have found that Trump’s approval rating is a good proxy for this “Washington risk” with a high correlation to both interest rates and gold prices (see Exhibit 1).
The Washington risk premium is highly correlated to Trump’s approval rating
Goldman also notes that the Trump risk premium is reflected in both real interest rates and a weaker US dollar account for 85% of the price movement in gold prices this past year.
The Trump risk premium as reflected in real rates and the US dollar (as reflected in a basket of EM FX) explain 85% of the price movement
So what about the risk, or threat, from a North Korean escalation, potentially culminating with a nuclear exchange? Here Goldman is more skeptical about the causal linkage between the growing risk level and the price of gold.
The view that North Korea is a stable equilibrium is consistent with a lack of a large North Korean risk premium in gold prices and consistent with the history of gold prices.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
