newswars--2020-03-18--Financialization: Why the Financial Sector Now Rules the Global Economy

To read or watch the news in today ’ s world is to be confronted with a wide array of stories about financial organization and financial institutions .
News about central banks , interest rates , and debt appear to be everywhere .
But it was not always the case that the financial sector and financial institutions were considered so important .
Public policy in general was not always designed with a focus toward propping up banks , keeping interest rates low , and ensuring an ever greater flow of cheap and easy loans .
Reporting on the minutiae of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ directly impact nearly every facet of our lives—wasn ’ t always the norm .
But that is where we are now .
The change is real and it ’ s a thing called “ financialization.
” It has arisen from of an economy that is increasingly focused on the financial sector at the expense of other areas of the economy .
And it ’ s relatively new .
Scholars have suggested many causes for financialization , but they often end up just blaming markets .
In fact , the true cause is decades @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to inflating asset prices in financial markets and bailing out the financial sector again and again .
“ Financialization ” is a term used to describe the process by which financial institutions like banks and hedge funds have taken over economies and political systems in much of the world .
Economist Gerald Epstein provides one definition : “ the increasing importance of financial markets , financial motives , financial institutions , and financial elites in the operation of the economy and its governing institutions.
” Sociologist Greta Krippner provides another : “ the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to occur increasingly through financial channels rather than through productive activities.
” Some scholars have attempted to measure financialization ’ s prevalence in the United States .
Carmen Dorobăț writes : Lin and Tomaskovic-Devey ( 2013 ) argue…one important tendency of the last decades has been the increased participation of both financial and non-financial firms in financial markets .
The two authors analyze the ratio between the financial income ( sum of interest , dividends , and capital gains ) and profits for manufacturing as well as all non-financial firms in the United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , US firms have become more and more financially driven , obtaining an increasingly smaller share of their income from the sale of goods and services , and about four times as much revenues from financial activities compared to 1970 .
Perhaps the most commonly given example of financialization is the expansion of the financial arms of US automobile manufacturers : General Motors established its financial arm General Motors Acceptance Corporation ( GMAC ) in 1919 and Ford established its financial service provider Ford Motor Credit in 1959 .
Before the 1980s , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was to provide their automotive customers access to credit to increase car sales .
Starting in the 1980s , these firms broadened their portfolio .
GMAC entered mortgage lending in 1985 .
In the same year , Ford purchased First Nationwide Financial Corporation , the first thrift that operated at the national level , to enter the savings and residential loan markets .
In the 1990s both GMAC and Ford Motor Credit expanded their services to include insurance , banking , and commercial finance .
By the early 2000s , a majority of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its financial operations and not from automobile production .
What Is the Time Frame ?
Historians of financialization typically place its origins in the late 1970s or during the 1980s .
Sociologist Frank Dobbin , for example , concludes , We saw a rapid shift in the core business of the United States , from manufacturing not to service so much as to finance per se .
As Simon Johnson pointed out , when the market peaked in 2001 , finance accounted for 40 % of profits in the American economy .
An @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the “ ratio of financial income to profits ” more than doubled during the 1980s and then accelerated further during the 1990s .
An increasing trend indicates a higher share of revenues coming from financial relative to non-financial sources of income…The ratio is remarkably stable in the 1950s and 1960s , but begins to climb upward in the 1970s and then increases sharply over the course of the 1980s .
In the late 1980s , the ratio peaks at a level that is approximately five times the levels typical of the immediate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ specific to the United States .
The comparative data shows that most wealthy countries underwent similar transformations .
According to Dobbin : It happened in liberal market economies and coordinated market economies .
It happened in economies with strong welfare states and weak welfare states .
It happened in places where neoliberals took power early and places where neoliberals never quite ran the show .
It happened regardless of the partisan coloration of government .
And so on .
The comparative data also give us something quite close to a natural experiment .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ escaped the fiscal crisis of the state in this period by the lucky expedient of discovering oil .
That country was Norway .
And—apart from the banking enclaves of Switzerland and Luxembourg , which did not financialize only because they were already so dependent on finance—Norway appears to be the only rich democratic country that did not undergo financialization in this period .
What Are Anticapitalists Saying Causes Financialization ?
The causes of financialization have long been debated .
Some causes suggested by scholars are economics based , and some are sociological and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arise “ naturally ” out of market processes , and some come from changes in government policy .
In many cases , the charge that financialization is part of the natural evolution of markets has its roots in Marxism .
Some authors have claimed that financialization is a cyclical process going back to the earliest days of capitalism , as described , for example , by Giovanni Arrighi in his book The Long Twentieth Century .
According to Arrighi , capitalist systems begin with a productive phase , but end up , through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the financial sector in attempts to augment profits through financial speculation rather than through production .
In this view , financialization is just another phase of development in a capitalist system and is baked into the market economy itself .
In this allegedly natural progression of capitalism , Arrighi states , “ material expansions eventually lead to an over-accumulation of capital…and increasingly , competition turns from a positive-sum into a zero-sum ( or even a negative-sum ) game.
” In an earlier , less competititive age , owners of capital might have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ physical plants , employment , and production .
But globalization and “ cut-throat competition ” strengthen “ the disposition of capitalist agencies to keep in liquid form a growing proportion of their incoming cash flow.
” This leads to competition among states for the capital that increasingly is accumulating in financial markets .
The resulting political bias in favor of capital owners leads to “ redistributions of income from all kinds of communities to the agencies that control mobile capital , thereby inflating and sustaining the profitability of financial deals largely divorced from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the “ Shareholder Value ” Movement A second proposed cause of financialization is the acceleration of the “ shareholder value ” movement .
This theory , perhaps described in most detail by sociologist Gerald Davis , holds that prior to the 1970s publicly traded corporations were important social institutions that served several functions beyond just producing goods and services .
Thanks to reforms imposed on them by Progressives , these corporations provided long-term employment and acted as catalysts for saving through their pension programs .
According to Davis , “ the public corporation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ US economy.
” But this stabilizing status quo , Davis asserts , was destroyed by “ bust-up takovers ” in the 1980s , and corporations were “ split up into their constituent parts.
” This led to substantial layoffs , and the corporate economy became less concentrated .
Faced with new competition , corporations abandoned their previous social role and concentrated instead on shareholder value .
This new corporate landscape was one in which shareholders frequently bought and sold their stock and corporations were forced to compete more fiercely to provide larger dividends @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wealth out of pension funds and health programs , and it diminished the social benefits once provided by the old legacy corporations .
Consequently , financialization increased as investors and business owners increasingly adopted the idea that the sole purpose of a company is to increase shareholder value rather than production and market share .
Although skillful production and growing market share can contribute to shareholder value , other methods could prove easier .
Companies could increase their own shareholder value by growing the their portfolios or by harnessing the power of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ production of nonfinancial products and services took a back seat .
Or so the story goes .
A third theory states that speculative manias have over time fostered market demand for ever larger numbers of financial instruments that allow investors to make bets on nearly everything under the sun .
These manias can be triggered by any number of causes , ranging from a bumper crop to the end of a war or the introduction of a new technology .
These manias are then accelerated by cultural or psychological changes that accompany the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reality.
” Economists have long attempted to use these cultural factors to explain economic events .
John Maynard Keynes , for example , used the term “ animal spirits ” to summarize these nontangible changes .
These theories were popularized in part by economists Hyman Minsky and Charles Kindleberger , who held that once markets meet some levels of success , they have a tendency to drive overconfidence in financial markets for future investments .
Although the theory acknowledges that manias can be set off by outside factors , it nonetheless holds that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expectations that “ quickly become divorced from intrinsic values.
” According to Krippner , these “ bubble theories view processes internal to markets as destabilizing rather than stabilizing to markets ” ( emphasis added ) .
In any case , the result is that investors seek to reap greater financial rewards by betting on bubbles rather than through the production of physical goods and nonfinancial services .
Financialization results .
“ Deregualtion ” is also a prominent theme in many analyses of financialization .
Krippner , for example , concludes that “ the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in motion by domestic financial deregulation in the 1970s.
” This was followed by the loosening of many regulations on how banks paid out interests to depositors ( also known as the pre-1986 version of Regulation Q ) .
In short , the abolition of various regulations on the financial sector—many of which had existed since the New Deal—set in motion a greater flow of capital and has led to more competition among banks and financial firms for the dollars of middle- and upper-class savers .
Whereas the game of saving and investment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the deregulation of the 1970s and ’ 80s , the new competition that it unleashed led to a wide array of riskier—but potentially more rewarding—investment instruments .
In this narrative , money poured into the financial sector , since investment firms and banks were competing more than ever and driving up returns for investments .
This sucked money out of other sectors which were still only offering the sorts of moderate , unfrenzied , and long-term returns that came with investing in manufacturing and nonfinancial services .
The Real Cause : Bailouts , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Put ” The critics of financialization are correct that financialization exists .
And they are sometimes correct in describing how events like deregulation and manias have shaped the way financialization has occurred .
But these theories fail to explain the root causes of how the financial sector came to be seen as a safe and profitable haven for so much capital .
The failure to identify the root cause has many implications for policy .
After all , if it is assumed that markets themselves contain the seeds of financialization , and that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allow markets greater freedom , then we easily conclude markets can not function without s sizable load of government regulation , and that markets are to blame for the the various crises and panics of recent decades .
If markets repeatedly cause global crises , perhaps the market really is , to use David Stockman ’ s term , “ a doomsday machine.
” But this narrative ignores key characteristics of the modern economy : namely , that governments use fiscal policy and monetary policy to greatly weaken the discipline of the market @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through central banks ’ policies designed to force down interest rates and increase the money supply .
These policies tend to be geared most toward the financial sector , so the risk of investing in financial sector institutions is reduced for those who hope to benefit from ( full or partial ) bailouts and easy borrowing in case of crisis .
As “ lender of last resort , ” central banks are able to push liquidity to the financial sector with ease .
This encourages investors to engage in higher-risk activities than they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ knowledge that bailouts are likely in case of crisis .
Even those who think markets themselves are geared toward encouraging excessive risk , the problem of bailouts is apparent .
For example , while Minsky and Kindleberger contended speculative manias have their roots in markets , they nonetheless also admitted that these manias often were made far worse by the presence of a central bank acting as a lender of last resort .
As Krippner sumarizes it : “ if financial institutions know that they will be bailed out , they are encouraged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crisis more severe when it finally comes.
” Thus , while changes in policy during the 1970s and early ’ 80s may have contributed to financialization , the foundational cause was how risk was removed from the market place through government bailouts .
After all , in the wake of deregulation , it quickly became apparent that the new financial environment was not always an easy way to riches : Continental Illinois became the largest failed bank in US history in 1984 .
The stock market crashed in 1987 .
Had markets been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been a signal to markets that risky investments come with a downside for the specific investors involved .
But investors didn ’ t learn that lesson at all .
Continental Illinois was bailed out when the US government essentially nationalized the bank , protecting its shareholders .
After the market crashed in 1987 , the new Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan “ immediately flooded the banking system with new reserves , by having the Fed Open Market Committee ( FOMC ) buy massive quantities of government securities from the repo market.
” In other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ financialization was not even a decade old before federal policymakers started teaching investors that if they get into trouble , federal policymakers will bail them out .
By the early 1990s , the US had entered the world of the so-called “ Greenspan Put , ” under which it quickly became clear that the central bank would intervene to rescue markets whenever investors took on too much risk .
While financial sector institutions could reap the rewards of good times , they would be rescued by taxpayers when times turned bad .
Under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to bailout the financial sector through various means repeatedly .
We witnessed this with the Mexican financial crisis , the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s , and the bailouts that followed the Dot-com bust .
Greenspan was at the center of inflating the housing bubble after 2004 .
The Greenspan Put didn ’ t go away after Greenspan retired from the Federal Reserve Board .
It was continued in various forms by all his successors .
So , it ’ s easy to see why , under these conditions , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investors relative to other sectors .
Why invest in industries that won ’ t be bailed out out when excessive risk-taking in the financial sector is likely to be rewarded for engaging in ever greater risks ?
Even when dramatic and targeted bailouts are not the the goal , repeated efforts by central banks to inject more liquidity into markets through new money creation has favored the financial sector relative to other sectors of the economy .
Robert Blumen has described the mechanisms of how central bank policies that drive asset price inflation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ price inflation .
This means price increases in financial assets like stocks further inflate the perceived value of the financial sector relative to other sectors .
All of this drives financialization well beyond what would occur in an unhampered market .
While researchers like Arrighi , Davis , and Krippner all describe various aspects of financialization , but these theories don ’ t work as satisfying explanations of the phenomenon .
Even if cultural changes , new investment instruments , or a lack of government regulation allowed for new avenues of investing in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reason to believe that the very real human fear of monetary loss has fundamentally changed .
In a functioning market the promise of immense profit through investment in the financial sector is tempered by the fear of taking a loss .
As investors see banks fail and stocks take a beating , investors would view these events for what they are : a demonstration of the downside of financialization .
But governments and central banks haven ’ t allowed that to happen in recent decades .
So , it ’ s not enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of cultural changes or vague Marxian notions of capitalist evolution .
At the heart of the issue is government intervention designed to provide the investor class with greater gains and fewer losses .
Yet , the prevailing “ wisdom ” among policymakers and central bankers is that ever greater amounts of financialization—propped up by repeated government interventions — are somehow just a natural and inescapable feature of the market economy .
With each new bubble and each new crisis , the central banks become every more willing to try risky and “ nontraditional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ negative interest rates , the abolition of physical cash , or ever larger purchases of near-worthless assets .
Thanks to decades of government-fueled financialization , the stakes climb ever higher .
But perhaps the most unfortuante part of it all is that as the crises mount , markets get the blame for what would never have happened had markets actually been allowed to function .

To read or watch the news in today’s world is to be confronted with a wide array of stories about financial organization and financial institutions.
News about central banks, interest rates, and debt appear to be everywhere.
But it was not always the case that the financial sector and financial institutions were considered so important. Public policy in general was not always designed with a focus toward propping up banks, keeping interest rates low, and ensuring an ever greater flow of cheap and easy loans. Reporting on the minutiae of central banks—with the assumption that these changes directly impact nearly every facet of our lives—wasn’t always the norm.
But that is where we are now.
The change is real and it’s a thing called “financialization.” It has arisen from of an economy that is increasingly focused on the financial sector at the expense of other areas of the economy. And it’s relatively new. Scholars have suggested many causes for financialization, but they often end up just blaming markets. In fact, the true cause is decades of government and central bank policy devoted to inflating asset prices in financial markets and bailing out the financial sector again and again.
What Is Financialization?
“Financialization” is a term used to describe the process by which financial institutions like banks and hedge funds have taken over economies and political systems in much of the world.
Economist Gerald Epstein provides one definition: “the increasing importance of financial markets, financial motives, financial institutions, and financial elites in the operation of the economy and its governing institutions.”
Sociologist Greta Krippner provides another: “the tendency for profit making in the economy to occur increasingly through financial channels rather than through productive activities.”
Some scholars have attempted to measure financialization’s prevalence in the United States. Carmen Dorobăț writes:
Lin and Tomaskovic-Devey (2013) argue…one important tendency of the last decades has been the increased participation of both financial and non-financial firms in financial markets.
The two authors analyze the ratio between the financial income (sum of interest, dividends, and capital gains) and profits for manufacturing as well as all non-financial firms in the United States….They discover that between 1970 and 2007, US firms have become more and more financially driven, obtaining an increasingly smaller share of their income from the sale of goods and services, and about four times as much revenues from financial activities compared to 1970.
Perhaps the most commonly given example of financialization is the expansion of the financial arms of US automobile manufacturers:
General Motors established its financial arm General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) in 1919 and Ford established its financial service provider Ford Motor Credit in 1959. Before the 1980s, the main function of these financial institutions was to provide their automotive customers access to credit to increase car sales. Starting in the 1980s, these firms broadened their portfolio. GMAC entered mortgage lending in 1985. In the same year, Ford purchased First Nationwide Financial Corporation, the first thrift that operated at the national level, to enter the savings and residential loan markets. In the 1990s both GMAC and Ford Motor Credit expanded their services to include insurance, banking, and commercial finance.
By the early 2000s, a majority of GM’s profits were coming from its financial operations and not from automobile production.
What Is the Time Frame?
Historians of financialization typically place its origins in the late 1970s or during the 1980s. Sociologist Frank Dobbin, for example, concludes,
We saw a rapid shift in the core business of the United States, from manufacturing not to service so much as to finance per se. As Simon Johnson pointed out, when the market peaked in 2001, finance accounted for 40% of profits in the American economy.
An oft-cited study by Lin and Tomaskovic-Devey shows that the “ratio of financial income to profits” more than doubled during the 1980s and then accelerated further during the 1990s.
Krippner notes:
An increasing trend indicates a higher share of revenues coming from financial relative to non-financial sources of income…The ratio is remarkably stable in the 1950s and 1960s, but begins to climb upward in the 1970s and then increases sharply over the course of the 1980s. In the late 1980s, the ratio peaks at a level that is approximately five times the levels typical of the immediate post-war decades.
Nor was this trend specific to the United States. The comparative data shows that most wealthy countries underwent similar transformations. According to Dobbin:
It happened in liberal market economies and coordinated market economies. It happened in economies with strong welfare states and weak welfare states. It happened in places where neoliberals took power early and places where neoliberals never quite ran the show. It happened regardless of the partisan coloration of government. And so on. The comparative data also give us something quite close to a natural experiment. There was one rich democratic country that escaped the fiscal crisis of the state in this period by the lucky expedient of discovering oil. That country was Norway. And—apart from the banking enclaves of Switzerland and Luxembourg, which did not financialize only because they were already so dependent on finance—Norway appears to be the only rich democratic country that did not undergo financialization in this period.
What Are Anticapitalists Saying Causes Financialization?
The causes of financialization have long been debated. Some causes suggested by scholars are economics based, and some are sociological and cultural. Some causes are said to arise “naturally” out of market processes, and some come from changes in government policy.
Financialization as Endemic to Late-Stage Capitalism
In many cases, the charge that financialization is part of the natural evolution of markets has its roots in Marxism. Some authors have claimed that financialization is a cyclical process going back to the earliest days of capitalism, as described, for example, by Giovanni Arrighi in his book The Long Twentieth Century. According to Arrighi, capitalist systems begin with a productive phase, but end up, through increasingly intense global competition, moving into the financial sector in attempts to augment profits through financial speculation rather than through production. In this view, financialization is just another phase of development in a capitalist system and is baked into the market economy itself.
In this allegedly natural progression of capitalism, Arrighi states, “material expansions eventually lead to an over-accumulation of capital…and increasingly, competition turns from a positive-sum into a zero-sum (or even a negative-sum) game.”
In an earlier, less competititive age, owners of capital might have been motivated to invest most of it in physical plants, employment, and production. But globalization and “cut-throat competition” strengthen “the disposition of capitalist agencies to keep in liquid form a growing proportion of their incoming cash flow.” This leads to competition among states for the capital that increasingly is accumulating in financial markets. The resulting political bias in favor of capital owners leads to “redistributions of income from all kinds of communities to the agencies that control mobile capital, thereby inflating and sustaining the profitability of financial deals largely divorced from trade and production.”
The Rise of the “Shareholder Value” Movement
A second proposed cause of financialization is the acceleration of the “shareholder value” movement. This theory, perhaps described in most detail by sociologist Gerald Davis, holds that prior to the 1970s publicly traded corporations were important social institutions that served several functions beyond just producing goods and services. Thanks to reforms imposed on them by Progressives, these corporations provided long-term employment and acted as catalysts for saving through their pension programs. According to Davis, “the public corporation became the central indispensable actor in the US economy.”
But this stabilizing status quo, Davis asserts, was destroyed by “bust-up takovers” in the 1980s, and corporations were “split up into their constituent parts.” This led to substantial layoffs, and the corporate economy became less concentrated. Faced with new competition, corporations abandoned their previous social role and concentrated instead on shareholder value. This new corporate landscape was one in which shareholders frequently bought and sold their stock and corporations were forced to compete more fiercely to provide larger dividends and stock price growth. This sucked wealth out of pension funds and health programs, and it diminished the social benefits once provided by the old legacy corporations.
Consequently, financialization increased as investors and business owners increasingly adopted the idea that the sole purpose of a company is to increase shareholder value rather than production and market share. Although skillful production and growing market share can contribute to shareholder value, other methods could prove easier. Companies could increase their own shareholder value by growing the their portfolios or by harnessing the power of a speculative frenzy. In any case, production of nonfinancial products and services took a back seat.
Or so the story goes.
Speculative Manias
A third theory states that speculative manias have over time fostered market demand for ever larger numbers of financial instruments that allow investors to make bets on nearly everything under the sun. These manias can be triggered by any number of causes, ranging from a bumper crop to the end of a war or the introduction of a new technology. These manias are then accelerated by cultural or psychological changes that accompany the perception that there is a “new reality.” Economists have long attempted to use these cultural factors to explain economic events. John Maynard Keynes, for example, used the term “animal spirits” to summarize these nontangible changes.
These theories were popularized in part by economists Hyman Minsky and Charles Kindleberger, who held that once markets meet some levels of success, they have a tendency to drive overconfidence in financial markets for future investments.
Although the theory acknowledges that manias can be set off by outside factors, it nonetheless holds that markets themselves foster a tendency toward unrealistic expectations that “quickly become divorced from intrinsic values.”
According to Krippner, these “bubble theories view processes internal to markets as destabilizing rather than stabilizing to markets” (emphasis added).
In any case, the result is that investors seek to reap greater financial rewards by betting on bubbles rather than through the production of physical goods and nonfinancial services. Financialization results.
Deregulation
“Deregualtion” is also a prominent theme in many analyses of financialization.
Krippner, for example, concludes that “the turn to finance [was] set in motion by domestic financial deregulation in the 1970s.” This was followed by the loosening of many regulations on how banks paid out interests to depositors (also known as the pre-1986 version of Regulation Q).
In short, the abolition of various regulations on the financial sector—many of which had existed since the New Deal—set in motion a greater flow of capital and has led to more competition among banks and financial firms for the dollars of middle- and upper-class savers. Whereas the game of saving and investment had been relatively boring and sedate before the deregulation of the 1970s and ’80s, the new competition that it unleashed led to a wide array of riskier—but potentially more rewarding—investment instruments.
In this narrative, money poured into the financial sector, since investment firms and banks were competing more than ever and driving up returns for investments. This sucked money out of other sectors which were still only offering the sorts of moderate, unfrenzied, and long-term returns that came with investing in manufacturing and nonfinancial services.
The Real Cause: Bailouts, Central Banks, and the “Greenspan Put”
The critics of financialization are correct that financialization exists. And they are sometimes correct in describing how events like deregulation and manias have shaped the way financialization has occurred. But these theories fail to explain the root causes of how the financial sector came to be seen as a safe and profitable haven for so much capital.
The failure to identify the root cause has many implications for policy. After all, if it is assumed that markets themselves contain the seeds of financialization, and that these processes are merely unleashed when governments allow markets greater freedom, then we easily conclude markets cannot function without s sizable load of government regulation, and that markets are to blame for the the various crises and panics of recent decades.
If markets repeatedly cause global crises, perhaps the market really is, to use David Stockman’s term, “a doomsday machine.”
But this narrative ignores key characteristics of the modern economy: namely, that governments use fiscal policy and monetary policy to greatly weaken the discipline of the market. Governments do this through bailouts and through central banks’ policies designed to force down interest rates and increase the money supply.
These policies tend to be geared most toward the financial sector, so the risk of investing in financial sector institutions is reduced for those who hope to benefit from (full or partial) bailouts and easy borrowing in case of crisis. As “lender of last resort,” central banks are able to push liquidity to the financial sector with ease. This encourages investors to engage in higher-risk activities than they would have in the absence of the knowledge that bailouts are likely in case of crisis.
Even those who think markets themselves are geared toward encouraging excessive risk, the problem of bailouts is apparent. For example, while Minsky and Kindleberger contended speculative manias have their roots in markets, they nonetheless also admitted that these manias often were made far worse by the presence of a central bank acting as a lender of last resort. As Krippner sumarizes it: “if financial institutions know that they will be bailed out, they are encouraged to speculate with abandon, making the crisis more severe when it finally comes.”
Thus, while changes in policy during the 1970s and early ’80s may have contributed to financialization, the foundational cause was how risk was removed from the market place through government bailouts. After all, in the wake of deregulation, it quickly became apparent that the new financial environment was not always an easy way to riches: Continental Illinois became the largest failed bank in US history in 1984. The stock market crashed in 1987. Had markets been allowed to function, this should have been a signal to markets that risky investments come with a downside for the specific investors involved.
But investors didn’t learn that lesson at all. Continental Illinois was bailed out when the US government essentially nationalized the bank, protecting its shareholders. After the market crashed in 1987, the new Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan “immediately flooded the banking system with new reserves, by having the Fed Open Market Committee (FOMC) buy massive quantities of government securities from the repo market.”
In other words, this new post-1970s world of financialization was not even a decade old before federal policymakers started teaching investors that if they get into trouble, federal policymakers will bail them out.
By the early 1990s, the US had entered the world of the so-called “Greenspan Put,” under which it quickly became clear that the central bank would intervene to rescue markets whenever investors took on too much risk. While financial sector institutions could reap the rewards of good times, they would be rescued by taxpayers when times turned bad. Under Greenspan, the central bank was there to bailout the financial sector through various means repeatedly. We witnessed this with the Mexican financial crisis, the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, and the bailouts that followed the Dot-com bust. Greenspan was at the center of inflating the housing bubble after 2004.
The Greenspan Put didn’t go away after Greenspan retired from the Federal Reserve Board. It was continued in various forms by all his successors. So, it’s easy to see why, under these conditions, the financial sector becomes the go-to place for investors relative to other sectors. Why invest in industries that won’t be bailed out out when excessive risk-taking in the financial sector is likely to be rewarded for engaging in ever greater risks?
Even when dramatic and targeted bailouts are not the the goal, repeated efforts by central banks to inject more liquidity into markets through new money creation has favored the financial sector relative to other sectors of the economy. Robert Blumen has described the mechanisms of how central bank policies that drive asset price inflation don’t show up in consumer price inflation. This means price increases in financial assets like stocks further inflate the perceived value of the financial sector relative to other sectors. All of this drives financialization well beyond what would occur in an unhampered market.
Financialization and Our Bubble Economy
While researchers like Arrighi, Davis, and Krippner all describe various aspects of financialization, but these theories don’t work as satisfying explanations of the phenomenon. Even if cultural changes, new investment instruments, or a lack of government regulation allowed for new avenues of investing in the financial sector, there is no reason to believe that the very real human fear of monetary loss has fundamentally changed. In a functioning market the promise of immense profit through investment in the financial sector is tempered by the fear of taking a loss. As investors see banks fail and stocks take a beating, investors would view these events for what they are: a demonstration of the downside of financialization.
But governments and central banks haven’t allowed that to happen in recent decades.
So, it’s not enough to attempt to describe financialization in terms of cultural changes or vague Marxian notions of capitalist evolution. At the heart of the issue is government intervention designed to provide the investor class with greater gains and fewer losses.
Yet, the prevailing “wisdom” among policymakers and central bankers is that ever greater amounts of financialization—propped up by repeated government interventions — are somehow just a natural and inescapable feature of the market economy. With each new bubble and each new crisis, the central banks become every more willing to try risky and “nontraditional” interventions, whether they’re negative interest rates, the abolition of physical cash, or ever larger purchases of near-worthless assets. Thanks to decades of government-fueled financialization, the stakes climb ever higher.
But perhaps the most unfortuante part of it all is that as the crises mount, markets get the blame for what would never have happened had markets actually been allowed to function.


newswars--2020-03-18--Coronavirus Hysteria Kills Economy As Americans Prepare For Quarantine

On this live Wednesday edition of The War Room , Owen Shroyer breaks down President Trump ’ s activation of @ @ @ @ @ businesses , financial markets , and Washington continue to reel from the coronavirus pandemic .
@ @ @ @ @ BAIT – WILL ENTER GREAT DEPRESSION Tune in as we cover how overreactions by corporations @ @ @ @ @ local governments are making the Coronavirus crisis worse than it already is : David Knight @ @ @ @ @ .
Follows Mao ’ s “ Great Leap Forward ” Into Starvation On this Wednesday @ @ @ @ @ Show you ’ ll receive the latest updates on COVID-19 , the Democrat presidential race @ @ @ @ @ how far will the American government go to fight the virus and will 5G play @ @ @ @ @

On this live Wednesday edition of The War Room, Owen Shroyer breaks down President Trump’s activation of FEMA across the nation as businesses, financial markets, and Washington continue to reel from the coronavirus pandemic.
AMERICA TAKES THE CHICKEN LITTLE BAIT – WILL ENTER GREAT DEPRESSION
Tune in as we cover how overreactions by corporations and out-of-control, power hungry local governments are making the Coronavirus crisis worse than it already is:
David Knight Show: NeoMarxism – U.S. Follows Mao’s “Great Leap Forward” Into Starvation
On this Wednesday edition of The David Knight Show you’ll receive the latest updates on COVID-19, the Democrat presidential race and more.
Also, how far will the American government go to fight the virus and will 5G play a role in surveillance?
Don’t forget to follow David Knight on Telegram:
Watch Live: NeoMarxism – U.S. Follows Mao’s “Great Leap Forward” Into Starvation https://t.co/BSHC0TlEva — David Knight (@libertytarian) March 18, 2020


newswars--2020-03-18--US Embassies, Consulates Canceling Routine Visa Appointments Over Coronavirus

The US State Department has suspended all “ routine ” visa appointments at embassies and consulates in “ most countries ” due to the coronavirus pandemic , promising to resume “ as soon as possible.
’ A number of US embassies around the world will suspend routine visa services due to coronavirus precautions , the US State Department confirmed on Wednesday .
A department spokeswoman declined to give an exact number but said that “ most countries ” would be affected .
Emergency visa services would remain available “ as resources allow , ” while US citizens would continue to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suspension will affect both immigrant and non-immigrant visa services at embassies in countries with a US State Department travel advisory level of 2 , 3 , or 4 , according to an earlier statement from the US Embassy in South Korea .
As of Wednesday , that includes around 100 countries for which warnings have been issued , according to the US State Department website .
In South Korea , which has seen the largest number of infections in Asia outside of China , embassy appointments will be canceled from Thursday , Reuters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ visa services as soon as possible but are unable to provide a specific date at this time , ” the department said in a statement posted to Twitter .
The US has banned the entry of foreigners who have traveled through China , Iran and European Union in the preceding two weeks .
Alex Jones breaks down what is behind the martial law response to the coronavirus panic .

The US State Department has suspended all “routine” visa appointments at embassies and consulates in “most countries” due to the coronavirus pandemic, promising to resume “as soon as possible.’
A number of US embassies around the world will suspend routine visa services due to coronavirus precautions, the US State Department confirmed on Wednesday. A department spokeswoman declined to give an exact number but said that “most countries” would be affected.
Emergency visa services would remain available “as resources allow,” while US citizens would continue to receive services, she clarified.
The suspension will affect both immigrant and non-immigrant visa services at embassies in countries with a US State Department travel advisory level of 2, 3, or 4, according to an earlier statement from the US Embassy in South Korea.
In response to #COVID19, @StateDept is suspending routine visa services in most countries. Routine visa services will resume ASAP but we are unable to provide a specific date at this time. Check embassy/consulate websites for current operating status: https://t.co/vIXaMPomVS pic.twitter.com/uDuLjkKZmW — Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) March 18, 2020
As of Wednesday, that includes around 100 countries for which warnings have been issued, according to the US State Department website. In South Korea, which has seen the largest number of infections in Asia outside of China, embassy appointments will be canceled from Thursday, Reuters said.
“We will resume routine visa services as soon as possible but are unable to provide a specific date at this time,” the department said in a statement posted to Twitter.
The US has banned the entry of foreigners who have traveled through China, Iran and European Union in the preceding two weeks.
Alex Jones breaks down what is behind the martial law response to the coronavirus panic.


newswars--2020-03-18--Delta March Revenue To Crash By $2 BIllion, April Will Be Even Worse; Unveils Massive Pay Cuts

Those looking for signs of what the shut down of the US economy will look like once the dust settles , look no further than Delta which moments ago announced that it expect revenue for the month of March to plunge by $ 2 billion compared to last year , with its projection for April falling even more , it said in an 8-K filing .
To offset this depressionary plunge in sales , the airline said it will continue to make significant capacity reductions with a 70 % systemwide pullback planned until demand starts to recover , which may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health experts .
Delta said that international operations would take the biggest hit , with over 80 % of flying reduced over the next two to three month , with CEO Ed Bastian explaining that “ cash preservation remains our top financial priority right now , ” and adding that “ Making swift decisions now to reduce the losses and preserve cash will provide us the resources to rebound from the other side of this crisis and protect Delta ’ s future.
” Until things normalize , all Delta officers will take a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with directors and managing directors taking a 25 % cut during that same period .
“ I ’ ve cut my own salary by 100 % through the next six months , ” Bastian said .
“ Our Board of Directors elected to forego their compensation over the next six months as well ” Delta also said it was reducing active fleet size by parking at least half of fleet – more than 600 aircraft ; will be accelerating retirements of older aircraft such as MD-88/90s and some of 767s .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ below : As the COVID-19 ( coronavirus ) pandemic progresses globally , its impact on our business continues to grow .
To contain the virus , social distancing has become widespread and new travel directives are being enacted , now including more than 40 nations worldwide .
First and foremost , I want to remind everyone of the importance of your health and safety .
It is safe to travel , but always make sure you are taking the necessary steps to ensure your health and that of our customers and our people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , so please follow all necessary precautions .
Following the national emergency that was declared by the U.S. President , demand for travel has dropped significantly .
Revenue for the month of March is now expected to decline by almost $ 2 billion over last year , with our projection for April falling even more .
Therefore , we will continue to make significant capacity reductions with a 70 percent systemwide pullback planned until demand starts to recover .
Our international operation will take the largest reduction , with over 80 percent of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three months .
We are having constructive discussions with the White House and Congress , and remain optimistic that our industry will receive support to help address this crisis .
That said , we have to continue to take all necessary self-help measures .
Cash preservation remains our top financial priority right now .
Making swift decisions now to reduce the losses and preserve cash will provide us the resources to rebound from the other side of this crisis and protect Delta ’ s future .
We are deferring nearly all of our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deliveries , until we have better clarity on the duration and severity of the situation .
In addition , we are looking to secure more than $ 4 billion in cash savings in the June quarter alone .
This will include capacity-related savings as we suspend flying , and we are also targeting expense reductions from : All Delta officers will take a 50 percent pay cut through June 30 , with directors and managing directors taking a 25 percent cut during that same period .
As I mentioned last week , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 100 percent through the next six months .
Our Board of Directors elected to forego their compensation over the next six months as well .
With fewer customers flying , we need less space in airports .
Among other initiatives , we will temporarily consolidate airport facilities in Atlanta and other locations as necessary and close the majority of our Delta Sky Clubs until demand recovers .
We are reducing our active fleet size by parking at least half of our fleet – more than 600 aircraft .
We also will be accelerating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and some of our 767s .
We are reducing any maintenance spend that is not necessary to support the safety of our operation .
We have reduced most contractor spend , except where needed to support the operation .
Voluntary leaves are one of the best and most immediate ways you can help as we strive to protect jobs and pay .
I want to thank each of the roughly 10,000 Delta people who have already volunteered and I urge everyone , especially our merit employees , to seriously consider whether a temporary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family right now .
Please remember that you will continue to have access to your health and flight benefits while on leave .
As we draw down our operation , I know how painful it is to essentially hit the “ pause button ” on so many things that are core to what we do for our customers and our mission to connect the world .
But what will never stop is the spirit of the Delta people , which is shining through brighter than ever even in this dark moment .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from my Delta colleagues over the past week , and your passion , commitment and confidence in our future is truly inspiring .
In particular I want to thank the Reservations and Customer Care team , who are doing incredible work managing an unprecedented volume of calls and taking care of our customers who need to adjust their travel plans .
Make no mistake – we will get through this .
This is a temporary health crisis and an end will , hopefully soon , be in sight .
Never underestimate the power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our world .
All of our work over the past decade to fortify our company and transform our business model will serve us well in the weeks and months ahead , as we endure and , eventually , recover .
Please continue to make the health and safety of each other and our customers our top priority .
Wherever possible , we are moving to have our people work remotely to reduce the risk of transmission .
For those working in the operation , continue to always follow our safety and security guidelines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ safety time-out when needed .
And please be mindful in your personal lives to take steps to protect yourself and your loved ones , including social distancing and recognition of those who are most vulnerable , including the elderly and those in poor health .
Be aware that if your doctor advises you to stay home because you may have been exposed to COVID-19 , you will be paid and won ’ t have to deduct that time from your PPT bank .
I know everyone is concerned about the security of your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the duration of this crisis , we are not yet at a point to make any decisions .
And those are very painful decisions to even consider .
But know that my No .
1 priority is taking the very best care of all of you .
In this unpredictable environment we can ’ t take any options off the table , but any steps that would affect your jobs or pay rates would be the absolute last thing we would do , and only if necessary to secure Delta ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ touch again by the end of the week with additional updates as we navigate this together .
Thank you for all you are doing for each other , for our customers , and for your communities and your loved ones in this unprecedented time .

Those looking for signs of what the shut down of the US economy will look like once the dust settles, look no further than Delta which moments ago announced that it expect revenue for the month of March to plunge by $2 billion compared to last year, with its projection for April falling even more, it said in an 8-K filing.
To offset this depressionary plunge in sales, the airline said it will continue to make significant capacity reductions with a 70% systemwide pullback planned until demand starts to recover, which may take 12 to 18 months according to health experts.
Delta said that international operations would take the biggest hit, with over 80% of flying reduced over the next two to three month, with CEO Ed Bastian explaining that “cash preservation remains our top financial priority right now,” and adding that “Making swift decisions now to reduce the losses and preserve cash will provide us the resources to rebound from the other side of this crisis and protect Delta’s future.”
Until things normalize, all Delta officers will take a 50% pay cut through June 30, with directors and managing directors taking a 25% cut during that same period.
“I’ve cut my own salary by 100% through the next six months,” Bastian said. “Our Board of Directors elected to forego their compensation over the next six months as well”
Delta also said it was reducing active fleet size by parking at least half of fleet – more than 600 aircraft; will be accelerating retirements of older aircraft such as MD-88/90s and some of 767s.
The full letter filed as an 8-K is below:
To: Delta Colleagues Worldwide
From: Ed Bastian, CEO
Subject: Protecting Delta’s Future
As the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic progresses globally, its impact on our business continues to grow. To contain the virus, social distancing has become widespread and new travel directives are being enacted, now including more than 40 nations worldwide.
First and foremost, I want to remind everyone of the importance of your health and safety. It is safe to travel, but always make sure you are taking the necessary steps to ensure your health and that of our customers and our people. The CDC has important guidelines available, so please follow all necessary precautions.
Following the national emergency that was declared by the U.S. President, demand for travel has dropped significantly. Revenue for the month of March is now expected to decline by almost $2 billion over last year, with our projection for April falling even more. Therefore, we will continue to make significant capacity reductions with a 70 percent systemwide pullback planned until demand starts to recover. Our international operation will take the largest reduction, with over 80 percent of flying reduced over the next two to three months.
We are having constructive discussions with the White House and Congress, and remain optimistic that our industry will receive support to help address this crisis. That said, we have to continue to take all necessary self-help measures. Cash preservation remains our top financial priority right now. Making swift decisions now to reduce the losses and preserve cash will provide us the resources to rebound from the other side of this crisis and protect Delta’s future.
We are deferring nearly all of our capital spending, including all new aircraft deliveries, until we have better clarity on the duration and severity of the situation.
In addition, we are looking to secure more than $4 billion in cash savings in the June quarter alone. This will include capacity-related savings as we suspend flying, and we are also targeting expense reductions from:
All Delta officers will take a 50 percent pay cut through June 30, with directors and managing directors taking a 25 percent cut during that same period.
As I mentioned last week, I’ve cut my own salary by 100 percent through the next six months. Our Board of Directors elected to forego their compensation over the next six months as well.
With fewer customers flying, we need less space in airports. Among other initiatives, we will temporarily consolidate airport facilities in Atlanta and other locations as necessary and close the majority of our Delta Sky Clubs until demand recovers.
We are reducing our active fleet size by parking at least half of our fleet – more than 600 aircraft. We also will be accelerating retirements of older aircraft like our MD-88/90s and some of our 767s.
We are reducing any maintenance spend that is not necessary to support the safety of our operation.
We have reduced most contractor spend, except where needed to support the operation.
Voluntary leaves are one of the best and most immediate ways you can help as we strive to protect jobs and pay. I want to thank each of the roughly 10,000 Delta people who have already volunteered and I urge everyone, especially our merit employees, to seriously consider whether a temporary leave makes sense for you and your family right now. Please remember that you will continue to have access to your health and flight benefits while on leave.
As we draw down our operation, I know how painful it is to essentially hit the “pause button” on so many things that are core to what we do for our customers and our mission to connect the world. But what will never stop is the spirit of the Delta people, which is shining through brighter than ever even in this dark moment. I have received hundreds of emails and messages from my Delta colleagues over the past week, and your passion, commitment and confidence in our future is truly inspiring.
In particular I want to thank the Reservations and Customer Care team, who are doing incredible work managing an unprecedented volume of calls and taking care of our customers who need to adjust their travel plans.
Make no mistake – we will get through this. This is a temporary health crisis and an end will, hopefully soon, be in sight. Never underestimate the power of travel as an essential service to our world. All of our work over the past decade to fortify our company and transform our business model will serve us well in the weeks and months ahead, as we endure and, eventually, recover.
Please continue to make the health and safety of each other and our customers our top priority. Wherever possible, we are moving to have our people work remotely to reduce the risk of transmission. For those working in the operation, continue to always follow our safety and security guidelines to minimize distractions, and call a safety time-out when needed. And please be mindful in your personal lives to take steps to protect yourself and your loved ones, including social distancing and recognition of those who are most vulnerable, including the elderly and those in poor health. Be aware that if your doctor advises you to stay home because you may have been exposed to COVID-19, you will be paid and won’t have to deduct that time from your PPT bank.
I know everyone is concerned about the security of your jobs and pay. Given the uncertainty about the duration of this crisis, we are not yet at a point to make any decisions. And those are very painful decisions to even consider. But know that my No. 1 priority is taking the very best care of all of you. In this unpredictable environment we can’t take any options off the table, but any steps that would affect your jobs or pay rates would be the absolute last thing we would do, and only if necessary to secure Delta’s long-term future.
I will be in touch again by the end of the week with additional updates as we navigate this together. Thank you for all you are doing for each other, for our customers, and for your communities and your loved ones in this unprecedented time.
Ed


newswars--2020-03-18--On the origin of massive stars

On the origin of massive stars

This scene of stellar creation , captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope , sits near the outskirts of the famous Tarantula Nebula .
This cloud of gas and dust , as well as the many young and massive stars surrounding it , is the perfect laboratory to study the origin of massive stars .
The bright pink cloud and the young stars surrounding it in this image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have the uninspiring name LHA 120-N 150 .
This region of space is located on the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula , which is the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Universe .
The nebula is situated over 160 000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud , a neighboring irregular dwarf galaxy that orbits the Milky Way .
The Large Magellanic Cloud has had one or more close encounters in the past , possibly with the Small Magellanic Cloud .
These interactions have caused an episode of energetic star formation in our tiny neighbor—part of which is visible as the Tarantula Nebula .
Also known as 30 Doradus or NGC 2070 , the Tarantula Nebula owes its name to the arrangement of bright @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a tarantula .
It measures nearly 1000 light-years across .
Its proximity , the favorable inclination of the Large Magellanic Cloud , and the absence of intervening dust make the Tarantula Nebula one of the best laboratories in which to study the formation of stars , in particular massive stars .
This nebula has an exceptionally high concentration of massive stars , often referred to as super star clusters .
Astronomers have studied LHA 120-N 150 to learn more about the environment in which massive stars form .
Theoretical models of the formation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ form within clusters of stars ; but observations indicate that up to ten percent of them also formed in isolation .
The giant Tarantula Nebula with its numerous substructures is the perfect laboratory in which to resolve this puzzle as in it massive stars can be found both as members of clusters and in isolation .
With the help of Hubble , astronomers try to find out whether the isolated stars visible in the nebula truly formed alone or just moved away from their stellar siblings .
However , such a study is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , before they are fully formed—especially massive ones—look very similar to dense clumps of dust .
LHA 120-N 150 contains several dozen of these objects .
They are a mix of unclassified sources—some probably young stellar objects and others probably dust clumps .
Only detailed analysis and observations will reveal their true nature and that will help to finally solve the unanswered question of the origin of massive stars .
Hubble has observed the Tarantula Nebula and its substructures in the past—always being interested in the formation and evolution of stars .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ published in the Astrophyiscal Journal .

This scene of stellar creation, captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, sits near the outskirts of the famous Tarantula Nebula.
This cloud of gas and dust, as well as the many young and massive stars surrounding it, is the perfect laboratory to study the origin of massive stars.
The bright pink cloud and the young stars surrounding it in this image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have the uninspiring name LHA 120-N 150. This region of space is located on the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula, which is the largest known stellar nursery in the local Universe. The nebula is situated over 160 000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighboring irregular dwarf galaxy that orbits the Milky Way.
The Large Magellanic Cloud has had one or more close encounters in the past, possibly with the Small Magellanic Cloud. These interactions have caused an episode of energetic star formation in our tiny neighbor—part of which is visible as the Tarantula Nebula.
Also known as 30 Doradus or NGC 2070, the Tarantula Nebula owes its name to the arrangement of bright patches that somewhat resemble the legs of a tarantula. It measures nearly 1000 light-years across. Its proximity, the favorable inclination of the Large Magellanic Cloud, and the absence of intervening dust make the Tarantula Nebula one of the best laboratories in which to study the formation of stars, in particular massive stars. This nebula has an exceptionally high concentration of massive stars, often referred to as super star clusters.
Astronomers have studied LHA 120-N 150 to learn more about the environment in which massive stars form. Theoretical models of the formation of massive stars suggest that they should form within clusters of stars; but observations indicate that up to ten percent of them also formed in isolation. The giant Tarantula Nebula with its numerous substructures is the perfect laboratory in which to resolve this puzzle as in it massive stars can be found both as members of clusters and in isolation.
With the help of Hubble, astronomers try to find out whether the isolated stars visible in the nebula truly formed alone or just moved away from their stellar siblings. However, such a study is not an easy task; young stars, before they are fully formed—especially massive ones—look very similar to dense clumps of dust.
LHA 120-N 150 contains several dozen of these objects. They are a mix of unclassified sources—some probably young stellar objects and others probably dust clumps. Only detailed analysis and observations will reveal their true nature and that will help to finally solve the unanswered question of the origin of massive stars.
Hubble has observed the Tarantula Nebula and its substructures in the past—always being interested in the formation and evolution of stars.
The scientific results of this observation were previously published in the Astrophyiscal Journal.


newswars--2020-03-18--Authorities Arrest Person For ‘Falsely Claiming’ to Have Coronavirus

Texas police say they arrested a person for falsely claiming on social media to be infected with coronavirus .
“ Over the weekend , an individual in Tyler County falsely reported on social media that the individual tested positive for COVID-19 at Tyler County Hospital , ” the Tyler County District Attorney ’ s office announced in a Facebook post .
“ The case was promptly investigated by the Tyler County Sheriff ’ s Office and delivered to the District Attorney ’ s Office.
” The unidentified individual has been charged with a Class A Misdemeanor , False Alarm/False Report @ @ @ @ @ @ @ users , with one accusing Texas authorities of behaving like their contemporaries in China , where COVID-19 originated .
In a follow-up post , the DA ’ s office warned , “ Knowingly communicating , initiating , or circulating a false report/false alarm of COVID-19 that one *knows is false or baseless* , and that would ordinarily cause action by an official or interrupt the occupation of any place of assembly , can be a criminal offense in the State of Texas.
” There are at least 83 confirmed cases of coronavirus in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but none in Tyler County .
Alex Jones reveals how the coronavirus outbreak is the perfect crisis for the globalists to use in order to create a totalitarian prison planet in a very short amount of time .

Texas police say they arrested a person for falsely claiming on social media to be infected with coronavirus.
“Over the weekend, an individual in Tyler County falsely reported on social media that the individual tested positive for COVID-19 at Tyler County Hospital,” the Tyler County District Attorney’s office announced in a Facebook post.
“The case was promptly investigated by the Tyler County Sheriff’s Office and delivered to the District Attorney’s Office.”
The unidentified individual has been charged with a Class A Misdemeanor, False Alarm/False Report.
The announcement elicited mixed reactions from users, with one accusing Texas authorities of behaving like their contemporaries in China, where COVID-19 originated.
In a follow-up post, the DA’s office warned, “Knowingly communicating, initiating, or circulating a false report/false alarm of COVID-19 that one *knows is false or baseless*, and that would ordinarily cause action by an official or interrupt the occupation of any place of assembly, can be a criminal offense in the State of Texas.”
There are at least 83 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Texas at the time of this writing, but none in Tyler County.
Alex Jones reveals how the coronavirus outbreak is the perfect crisis for the globalists to use in order to create a totalitarian prison planet in a very short amount of time.
Dan Lyman: Follow @CitizenAnalyst


newswars--2020-03-18--Ammo Seller Reports 276% Sales Increase Amid Coronavirus

A discount ammo seller reported a 276 % sales increase in the past several weeks .
Ammo.com says the sales spike first started in late Feb. , with a 53 % sales increase , and it exploded in March with a 276 % increase by March 15 .
A gun news outlet , Bearing Arms , crunched the sales numbers and reported that , obviously , it was due to the Coronavirus hype .
“ Much of the online traffic appears to be coming from states that either have reported a high number of COVID-19 cases , or states that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” reported Bearing Arms .
“ Delaware has seen a sales growth of 4,529 % .
The state ’ s own numbers are low , but it ’ s surrounded by a high concentration of cases in New Jersey and the Philadelphia area.
” “ Oklahoma saw a growth of 1,081 % in sales and borders states like Texas and Colorado , both of which have been hit hard with COVID-19.
” As expected , Texans overall were the biggest customers , with a 338 % sales increase of already-large purchases .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ moment seems to be 9mm , followed closely by .223/5.56 , and .45 ACP , ” Bearing Arms continued .
“ Other popular calibers at the moment include 7.62×39 , 40 caliber , and 12-gauge shotgun shells.
” Brick-and-mortar stores have also experienced a sales surge with the same rounds , popular with preppers , typically sold out .
Local gun shops have also been stripped clean of in-stock firearms and ammunition .
Fortunately , however , other less-popular-but-still popular rounds are readily available .
Gun buyers , especially first-timers , would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arms chambered in cartridges they can still readily buy .
While interviewing border crossers , reporters noticed almost everyone was coming across with toilet paper .

A discount ammo seller reported a 276% sales increase in the past several weeks.
Ammo.com says the sales spike first started in late Feb., with a 53% sales increase, and it exploded in March with a 276% increase by March 15.
A gun news outlet, Bearing Arms, crunched the sales numbers and reported that, obviously, it was due to the Coronavirus hype.
“Much of the online traffic appears to be coming from states that either have reported a high number of COVID-19 cases, or states that border others where clusters have been reported,” reported Bearing Arms. “Delaware has seen a sales growth of 4,529%. The state’s own numbers are low, but it’s surrounded by a high concentration of cases in New Jersey and the Philadelphia area.”
“Oklahoma saw a growth of 1,081% in sales and borders states like Texas and Colorado, both of which have been hit hard with COVID-19.”
As expected, Texans overall were the biggest customers, with a 338% sales increase of already-large purchases.
“The most popular ammo at the moment seems to be 9mm, followed closely by .223/5.56, and .45 ACP,” Bearing Arms continued. “Other popular calibers at the moment include 7.62×39, 40 caliber, and 12-gauge shotgun shells.”
Brick-and-mortar stores have also experienced a sales surge with the same rounds, popular with preppers, typically sold out.
Local gun shops have also been stripped clean of in-stock firearms and ammunition.
Fortunately, however, other less-popular-but-still popular rounds are readily available.
Gun buyers, especially first-timers, would be well advised to buy handguns and long arms chambered in cartridges they can still readily buy.
While interviewing border crossers, reporters noticed almost everyone was coming across with toilet paper.


newswars--2020-03-18--Gorgeous Hubble Image Sheds Light on Origin of Massive Stars

This scene of stellar creation , captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope , sits near the outskirts of the famous Tarantula Nebula .
This cloud of gas and dust , as well as the many young and massive stars surrounding it , is the perfect laboratory to study the origin of massive stars .
The bright pink cloud and the young stars surrounding it in this image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have the uninspiring name LHA 120-N 150 .
This region of space is located on the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula , which is the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Universe .
The nebula is situated over 160 000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud , a neighbouring irregular dwarf galaxy that orbits the Milky Way .
The Large Magellanic Cloud has had one or more close encounters in the past , possibly with the Small Magellanic Cloud .
These interactions have caused an episode of energetic star formation in our tiny neighbour — part of which is visible as the Tarantula Nebula .
Also known as 30 Doradus or NGC 2070 , the Tarantula Nebula owes its name to the arrangement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ legs of a tarantula .
It measures nearly 1000 light-years across .
Its proximity , the favourable inclination of the Large Magellanic Cloud , and the absence of intervening dust make the Tarantula Nebula one of the best laboratories in which to study the formation of stars , in particular massive stars .
This nebula has an exceptionally high concentration of massive stars , often referred to as super star clusters .
Astronomers have studied LHA 120-N 150 to learn more about the environment in which massive stars form .
Theoretical models of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they should form within clusters of stars ; but observations indicate that up to ten percent of them also formed in isolation .
The giant Tarantula Nebula with its numerous substructures is the perfect laboratory in which to resolve this puzzle as in it massive stars can be found both as members of clusters and in isolation .
With the help of Hubble , astronomers try to find out whether the isolated stars visible in the nebula truly formed alone or just moved away from their stellar siblings .
However , such a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ young stars , before they are fully formed — especially massive ones — look very similar to dense clumps of dust .
LHA 120-N 150 contains several dozen of these objects .
They are a mix of unclassified sources — some probably young stellar objects and others probably dust clumps .
Only detailed analysis and observations will reveal their true nature and that will help to finally solve the unanswered question of the origin of massive stars .
Hubble has observed the Tarantula Nebula and its substructures in the past — always being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stars .
Alex Jones breaks down what is behind the martial law response to the coronavirus panic .

This scene of stellar creation, captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, sits near the outskirts of the famous Tarantula Nebula.
This cloud of gas and dust, as well as the many young and massive stars surrounding it, is the perfect laboratory to study the origin of massive stars.
The bright pink cloud and the young stars surrounding it in this image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have the uninspiring name LHA 120-N 150.
This region of space is located on the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula, which is the largest known stellar nursery in the local Universe. The nebula is situated over 160 000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighbouring irregular dwarf galaxy that orbits the Milky Way.
The Large Magellanic Cloud has had one or more close encounters in the past, possibly with the Small Magellanic Cloud. These interactions have caused an episode of energetic star formation in our tiny neighbour — part of which is visible as the Tarantula Nebula.
ESA/Hubble, NASA, I. Stephens
Also known as 30 Doradus or NGC 2070, the Tarantula Nebula owes its name to the arrangement of bright patches that somewhat resemble the legs of a tarantula. It measures nearly 1000 light-years across. Its proximity, the favourable inclination of the Large Magellanic Cloud, and the absence of intervening dust make the Tarantula Nebula one of the best laboratories in which to study the formation of stars, in particular massive stars. This nebula has an exceptionally high concentration of massive stars, often referred to as super star clusters.
Astronomers have studied LHA 120-N 150 to learn more about the environment in which massive stars form. Theoretical models of the formation of massive stars suggest that they should form within clusters of stars; but observations indicate that up to ten percent of them also formed in isolation. The giant Tarantula Nebula with its numerous substructures is the perfect laboratory in which to resolve this puzzle as in it massive stars can be found both as members of clusters and in isolation.
With the help of Hubble, astronomers try to find out whether the isolated stars visible in the nebula truly formed alone or just moved away from their stellar siblings. However, such a study is not an easy task; young stars, before they are fully formed — especially massive ones — look very similar to dense clumps of dust.
LHA 120-N 150 contains several dozen of these objects. They are a mix of unclassified sources — some probably young stellar objects and others probably dust clumps. Only detailed analysis and observations will reveal their true nature and that will help to finally solve the unanswered question of the origin of massive stars.
Hubble has observed the Tarantula Nebula and its substructures in the past — always being interested in the formation and evolution of stars.
Alex Jones breaks down what is behind the martial law response to the coronavirus panic.


newswars--2020-03-18--Economic Perfect Storm To Drive Price of Gas to Under $1 Per Gallon

Trump unleashing the energy sector , the Saudi ’ s increasing production in their oil war with Russia , and @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus are going to drive the price of gas to under $ 1 per @ @ @ @ @ the country .
This will help the economy rebound and offset the cost living for @ @ @ @ @ .

Trump unleashing the energy sector, the Saudi’s increasing production in their oil war with Russia, and the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus are going to drive the price of gas to under $1 per gallon in some parts of the country. This will help the economy rebound and offset the cost living for those affected by coronavirus-induced layoffs.


newswars--2020-03-18--America First! Trump Bars Immigrants From Entering Country Citing Coronavirus

President Trump has barred immigrants from entering the country due to the coronavirus and the city of Laredo is the @ @ @ @ @ of more than 10 people .

President Trump has barred immigrants from entering the country due to the coronavirus and the city of Laredo is the latest Texas city barring gatherings of more than 10 people.


newswars--2020-03-18--Hillary Clinton Pushes Mail-In Ballots Ahead Of General Election

Failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wants to make voting by mail “ the norm ” for the 2020 election due to the coronavirus pandemic .
The former Secretary of State tweeted a docket by Marc Elias of Perkins Coie , the same law firm that funneled her campaign ’ s funding of the infamous “ Steele Dossier ” , calling for vote by mail to be widely implemented in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak .
“ Congress needs to act to make voting by mail the norm going forward , with the specifics outlined by election expert Marc Elias @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Clinton tweeted Wednesday .
In fact , one Texas lawmakers referred to mail-in ballots as “ the wild West of voter fraud , ” calling it the “ biggest problem we see across the state.
” Clinton calling for mail-in ballots is the same reason why the left claims voter ID laws are “ racist ” : they want to make voting for illegal immigrants easier since that ’ s their growing supporter demographic .
Clinton and the left are just trying to use the coronavirus outbreak to eliminate paper ballots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pappert and Savanah Hernandez reveal the latest news about the Democrat caucus failure and how the cause may have something to do with Hillary Clinton .

Failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wants to make voting by mail “the norm” for the 2020 election due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The former Secretary of State tweeted a docket by Marc Elias of Perkins Coie, the same law firm that funneled her campaign’s funding of the infamous “Steele Dossier”, calling for vote by mail to be widely implemented in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
“Congress needs to act to make voting by mail the norm going forward, with the specifics outlined by election expert Marc Elias below to make it accessible for all,” Clinton tweeted Wednesday.
Congress needs to act to make voting by mail the norm going forward, with the specifics outlined by election expert Marc Elias below to make it accessible for all. https://t.co/K2TlHIJx2d — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 18, 2020
Mail-in ballots are notoriously susceptible to voter fraud.
In fact, one Texas lawmakers referred to mail-in ballots as “the wild West of voter fraud,” calling it the “biggest problem we see across the state.”
Clinton calling for mail-in ballots is the same reason why the left claims voter ID laws are “racist”: they want to make voting for illegal immigrants easier since that’s their growing supporter demographic.
Clinton and the left are just trying to use the coronavirus outbreak to eliminate paper ballots to steal the 2020 election.
Tom Pappert and Savanah Hernandez reveal the latest news about the Democrat caucus failure and how the cause may have something to do with Hillary Clinton.


newswars--2020-03-18--Orange County Outlaws “All Public and Private Gatherings of Any Number”

Orange County Health Officer Dr. Nichole Quick issued a Health Officer ’ s Order on Tuesday banning “ all public and private gatherings of any number of people.
” The order is in effect until March 31st , but could be subject to an extension if conditions don ’ t get better .
“ Households and living units ” will be the only places Orange County isn ’ t monitoring .
People and businesses performing “ essential activities ” are exempted from the order .
For example , emergency responders , farmers , health care providers , grocery stores , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and homeless shelters will continue to operate , but have to maintain “ a six-foot separation of Social Distancing between persons.
” According to The Orange County Register , “ The county order allows fines or jail time for those who violate it , but Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said he ’ s told police chiefs to have officers use their best judgment , asking people to disperse if needed before taking more punitive steps.
” “ Our first and foremost job is to protect people from the spread of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ good citizens who find themselves in technical violation of the order , ” Spitzer said .
“ If people are talking outside Starbucks , I ’ m not going to prosecute.
” One Twitter user asked , “ Anyone else had enough of the government overreach yet ?
” After residents of Orange County responded with confusion over the order , the county ’ s Emergency Operations Center released another message telling citizens it was not an order for them to shelter in place and it was “ not a lockdown.
” Because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ businesses in the county were closed , but the updated press release stated , “ It is important for all Orange County businesses to remain open while practicing social distancing consistent with the Governor ’ s guidance.
” However , “ bars and other establishments that serve alcohol and do not serve food shall close.
” See the full Public Health Order below :

Orange County Health Officer Dr. Nichole Quick issued a Health Officer’s Order on Tuesday banning “all public and private gatherings of any number of people.”
The order is in effect until March 31st, but could be subject to an extension if conditions don’t get better.
“Households and living units” will be the only places Orange County isn’t monitoring.
People and businesses performing “essential activities” are exempted from the order.
For example, emergency responders, farmers, health care providers, grocery stores, banks, food banks, gas stations and homeless shelters will continue to operate, but have to maintain “a six-foot separation of Social Distancing between persons.”
According to The Orange County Register, “The county order allows fines or jail time for those who violate it, but Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said he’s told police chiefs to have officers use their best judgment, asking people to disperse if needed before taking more punitive steps.”
“Our first and foremost job is to protect people from the spread of the virus. It is not to arrest good citizens who find themselves in technical violation of the order,” Spitzer said. “If people are talking outside Starbucks, I’m not going to prosecute.”
One Twitter user asked, “Anyone else had enough of the government overreach yet?”
Taking a walk outside with someone not in your family is now police enforceably illegal in Orange County, CA Anyone else had enough of the government overreach yet? Link: https://t.co/KLPCJz35Ax pic.twitter.com/M4EW0H7Y1n — Brian Harrington (@BrainHarrington) March 17, 2020
After residents of Orange County responded with confusion over the order, the county’s Emergency Operations Center released another message telling citizens it was not an order for them to shelter in place and it was “not a lockdown.”
Because of confusion surrounding the order, many businesses in the county were closed, but the updated press release stated, “It is important for all Orange County businesses to remain open while practicing social distancing consistent with the Governor’s guidance.”
However, “bars and other establishments that serve alcohol and do not serve food shall close.”
#OCCOVID19 | @OCHealth Order is NOT an Order to Shelter in Place. pic.twitter.com/B0L0IrDARW — Orange County Emergency Operations Center (@OrangeCountyEOC) March 18, 2020
See the full Public Health Order below:
EOC-Press-Release-7-Public-Health-Order


newswars--2020-03-18--Hilary Clinton Amplifies Chinese Propaganda That Trump is ‘Racist’ For Blaming Beijing For Coronavir

Hilary Clinton Amplifies Chinese Propaganda That Trump is ‘Racist’ For Blaming Beijing For Coronavirus

Hillary Clinton and much of the mainstream media continue to amplify Chinese Communist Party propaganda by accusing President Trump of ‘ racism ’ for blaming Beijing for the coronavirus .
Trump was once again scolded by a reporter during his White House press conference today for referring to COVID-19 as the ‘ Chinese Virus ’ , despite this being a completely accurate description given that the virus originated in Wuhan , China .
Hillary Clinton also claimed Trump was “ turning to racist rhetoric to distract from his failures to take the coronavirus seriously.
” This claim almost directly mirrors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agency Xinhua , which tweeted , “ Racism is not the right tool to cover your own incompetence.
” Both the media and people like Clinton are directly amplifying Chinese propaganda by suggesting that Trump blaming China for the outbreak is a dangerous form of “ racism ” that will lead to Chinese people being violently attacked .
Beijing has repeatedly tried to absolve itself of blame for the spread of coronavirus by spinning the narrative that Trump trying to hold them accountable is “ racist.
” The media blame game continues despite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blame for the spread of coronavirus .
– The virus was allowed to massively spread because China covered it up for a month .
– Even as the threat of a global pandemic loomed large , China threatened to withhold medical supplies ( which they have a near monopoly over ) from the United States .
– China ’ s Foreign Ministry spokesman suggested the U.S. military was to blame for coronavirus .
This claim was then embraced by official Communist Party mouthpieces .
Trump keeps calling COVID-19 the ‘ Chinese Virus ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s propaganda that they weren ’ t to blame for the spread of coronavirus ( they were ) , and that the true source of the virus was actually the United States .
And the media has chosen to side with the Communist Chinese .
Because orange man bad .
My voice is being silenced by free speech-hating Silicon Valley behemoths who want me disappeared forever .
It is CRUCIAL that you support me .
Please sign up for the free newsletter here .
Donate to me on SubscribeStar here .
Support my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ boost of clean energy without the comedown .

Hillary Clinton and much of the mainstream media continue to amplify Chinese Communist Party propaganda by accusing President Trump of ‘racism’ for blaming Beijing for the coronavirus.
Trump was once again scolded by a reporter during his White House press conference today for referring to COVID-19 as the ‘Chinese Virus’, despite this being a completely accurate description given that the virus originated in Wuhan, China.
The media is STILL upset that Trump calls it the ‘Chinese Virus’. In doing so, they’re still amplifying rhetoric directly from the Chinese Communist Party that to do so is “racist,” despite the fact that it’s completely accurate.pic.twitter.com/exq0AUgX6K — Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) March 18, 2020
Hillary Clinton also claimed Trump was “turning to racist rhetoric to distract from his failures to take the coronavirus seriously.”
This claim almost directly mirrors the narrative from Chinese state media news agency Xinhua, which tweeted, “Racism is not the right tool to cover your own incompetence.”
The Communist Chinese media and Hillary Clinton have the same messaging right now. pic.twitter.com/9F18QA0MEd — Gab.com: Speak Freely (@getongab) March 18, 2020
Both the media and people like Clinton are directly amplifying Chinese propaganda by suggesting that Trump blaming China for the outbreak is a dangerous form of “racism” that will lead to Chinese people being violently attacked.
Beijing has repeatedly tried to absolve itself of blame for the spread of coronavirus by spinning the narrative that Trump trying to hold them accountable is “racist.”
The media blame game continues despite the fact that China is solely to blame for the spread of coronavirus.
– The virus was allowed to massively spread because China covered it up for a month.
– Even as the threat of a global pandemic loomed large, China threatened to withhold medical supplies (which they have a near monopoly over) from the United States.
– China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman suggested the U.S. military was to blame for coronavirus. This claim was then embraced by official Communist Party mouthpieces.
Trump keeps calling COVID-19 the ‘Chinese Virus’ in an effort to repel China’s propaganda that they weren’t to blame for the spread of coronavirus (they were), and that the true source of the virus was actually the United States.
And the media has chosen to side with the Communist Chinese. Because orange man bad.
SUBSCRIBE on YouTube:
Follow on Twitter: Follow @PrisonPlanet
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My voice is being silenced by free speech-hating Silicon Valley behemoths who want me disappeared forever. It is CRUCIAL that you support me.
Please sign up for the free newsletter here. Donate to me on SubscribeStar here.
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newswars--2020-03-18--Magnetic Anomaly Found Beneath Ancient Standing Stones

The discovery was made when the team that studies the Callanish Stones was examining a nearby satellite site where only one stone that used to be a part of a circle was left standing .
Researchers studying the ancient site known as the Callanish Stones , an arrangement of standing stones dating back to the late Neolithic era and located on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides , have recently made an interesting discovery that may hint at a potential relation between this site and “ the forces of nature ” , as Heritage Daily put it .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ discovery was made when a team from the Calanais Virtual Reconstruction Project performed a survey of the satellite sites located near the main stone circle , in an attempt to find evidence of similar monuments that might be buried beneath the ground .
While examining the so called Site XI , a.k.a .
Airigh na Beinne Bige , which currently consists of a single standing stone , the team has established that the stone in question was once part of a circle of standing stones , and that there was a massive “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ center of that circle – “ either the result of a single , large lighting strike or many smaller strikes on the same spot ” .
“ Such clear evidence for lightning strikes is extremely rare in the UK and the association with this stone circle is unlikely to be coincidental ” , said project leader Dr. Richard Bates of the of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of St Andrews .
“ Whether the lightning at Site XI focused on a tree or rock which is no longer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strikes , is uncertain .
However , this remarkable evidence suggests that the forces of nature could have been intimately linked with everyday life and beliefs of the early farming communities on the island.
” The project team also reportedly managed to reconstruct another similar site where no stones were left standing , allowing people to “ virtually ” walk around that ancient monument for the first time in 4,000 years .
“ Everyone will be able to visit this remote site and get a real sense of what it was like just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have only just scratched the surface of this landscape and already we can get a feel for what might be buried out there waiting for discovery ” , Dr. Bates remarked .
Alex Jones breaks down what is behind the martial law response to the coronavirus panic .

The discovery was made when the team that studies the Callanish Stones was examining a nearby satellite site where only one stone that used to be a part of a circle was left standing.
Researchers studying the ancient site known as the Callanish Stones, an arrangement of standing stones dating back to the late Neolithic era and located on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, have recently made an interesting discovery that may hint at a potential relation between this site and “the forces of nature”, as Heritage Daily put it.
According to the media outlet, the discovery was made when a team from the Calanais Virtual Reconstruction Project performed a survey of the satellite sites located near the main stone circle, in an attempt to find evidence of similar monuments that might be buried beneath the ground.
While examining the so called Site XI, a.k.a. Airigh na Beinne Bige, which currently consists of a single standing stone, the team has established that the stone in question was once part of a circle of standing stones, and that there was a massive “star-shaped magnetic anomaly” situated in the center of that circle – “either the result of a single, large lighting strike or many smaller strikes on the same spot”.
“Such clear evidence for lightning strikes is extremely rare in the UK and the association with this stone circle is unlikely to be coincidental”, said project leader Dr. Richard Bates of the of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of St Andrews. “Whether the lightning at Site XI focused on a tree or rock which is no longer there, or the monument itself attracted strikes, is uncertain. However, this remarkable evidence suggests that the forces of nature could have been intimately linked with everyday life and beliefs of the early farming communities on the island.”
The project team also reportedly managed to reconstruct another similar site where no stones were left standing, allowing people to “virtually” walk around that ancient monument for the first time in 4,000 years.
“Everyone will be able to visit this remote site and get a real sense of what it was like just after it had been constructed. We have only just scratched the surface of this landscape and already we can get a feel for what might be buried out there waiting for discovery”, Dr. Bates remarked.
Alex Jones breaks down what is behind the martial law response to the coronavirus panic.