investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--Julian Assange and the Conservative Press

To be honest , I didn ’ t think it would ever happen , even though it ’ s been so obvious for so long .
But all of a sudden , the conservative voices questioning the Russia collusion narrative and all the investigations that followed from it , are finally figuring out that those behind that narrative and all that resulted from it , are the same people who have been chasing down Julian Assange for many years .
And that to get to the bottom of the hunt for Trump by the DNC , Clinton campaign , US @ @ @ @ @ @ @ media in their pockets , the NYT , WaPo , MSNBC , CNN et al , they will have to take a much closer look at what happened to Assange .
If they don ’ t they will never understand .
How do we know it ’ s starting to dawn on them ?
Look at this illustration at the Last Refuge site yesterday .
More on them later .
Note : the mostly left wing Assange supporters would do good to consider the same thing : they in turn must look into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as they may not like the president .
Because those stories are why Assange has been chased down like so much roadkill .
And because the right win of America is their best chance at getting him pardoned/released .
The enemy of my enemy is my friend , to put it bluntly .
Sometimes you need blunt .
As I ’ ve pointed out countless times , the Mueller investigation of the Trump campaign -and presidency- may have come up glaringly empty , but the report they issued maintained that “ 13 Russians @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hacking DNC emails .
There is no proof of this , but since none of the “ accused ” can speak out , the report make the claim , and did .
Actually , a source connected to the “ 13 Russians ” that was also named , the firm Concord Management , linked to Internet Research Agency , both owned by “ Putin ’ s cook ” Yevgeniy Prigozhin , one of the 13 Russians , did speak out and hired lawyers in the US .
The case was quietly dropped when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them .
The rest didn ’ t speak , and hired no defense , so that part of the report , nonsense as it may be , still stands .
Mueller et al could simply have met with Assange , he wasn ’ t going anywhere as they knew , but they didn ’ t , because A ) the last thing they wanted was confirmation that “ the Russians ” did not provide any information to WikiLeaks , since that was what little was left of what the entire report was based @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to make Assange look like an enemy of the US .
Meeting with him would have blown both A ) and B ) out of the water , and he wouldn ’ t have been any use to them , or the DNC , or the FBI/CIA/DOJ .
Assange was useful to them exactly because he could *not* speak .
The wake up call for the right must have been Tucker Carlson ’ s interview with Glenn Greenwald about Assange this week .
Of which I said : “ Bless Tucker Carlson for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for his eloquent statement .
Don ’ t miss this.
” But still , as I also said : “ Wonder why it took the right wing so long to wake up to how Julian Assange is linked to the whole machine .
Did they really need Tucker Carlson for that ?
” Greenwald said Trump could pardon Assange , and Snowden too , and there ’ s “ widespread support across the political spectrum for doing both ” ( something I never heard anyone confirm , btw ) , and “ the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be Susan Rice , John Brennan , Jim Comey and James Clapper , because they ’ re the ones who both of them exposed ” .
Well , there ’ s your people .
Those are the people who ’ ve been after both Trump and Assange since at least 2015 .
Do both sides realize what they have in common now ?
I don ’ t want to make this too long , and there ’ s more ground to cover .
First , take a look at what Paul Craig Roberts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the territory .
He worked extensively both as a journalist before that became a tainted term , and served under Ronald Reagan as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury .
Like his views on economics or not , he knows a thing or two about DC .
Here ’ s what he had to say 3 days ago , which ties right into the Assange/RussiaRussia/Mueller/CIA tall tale : The United States & Its Constitution Have Two Months Left To stop Kennedy they assassinated him .
To stop Trump they concocted Russiagate , Impeachgate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unsubstantiated accusations .
The presstitutes repeat the various accusations as if they are absolute proven truth .
The presstitutes never investigated a single one of the false accusations .
These efforts to remove Trump did not succeed .
Having pulled off numerous color revolutions in which the US has overthrown foreign governments , the tactics are now being employed against Trump .
The November presidential election will not be an election .
It will be a color revolution .
[ .. ] the CIA has controlled the prestige American media since 1950 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It provides the Deep State ’ s explanations of events .
This ensures that real news does not interfere with the agenda .
The German journalst , Udo Ulfkotte , wrote a book , Bought Journalism , in which he showed that the CIA also controls the European press .
To be clear , there are two CIA organizations .
One is an agency that monitors world events and endeavors to provide more or less accurate information to policymakers .
The other is a covert operations agency .
This agency assassinates people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ overthrows uncooperative governments .
President Truman publicly stated after he was out of office that he made a serious mistake in permitting the covert operations branch of the CIA .
He said that it was an unaccountable government in itself .
President Eisenhower agreed and in his last address to the American people warned of the growing unaccountable power of the military/security complex .
President Kennedy realized the threat and said he was going “ to break the CIA into a thousand pieces , ” but they killed him first .
It would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump , but the “ lone assassin ” has been used too many times to be believable .
It is easier to overthrow Trump ’ s reelection with false accusations as the CIA controls the American and European media and has many Internet sites pretending to be dissident , a claim that fools insouciant Americans .
Indeed , it is the leftwing that the CIA owns .
The rightwing goes along because they think it is patriotic to support the military/security complex .
After the CIA overthrows Trump , they will use Antifa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presstitutes to foment race war .
Then the CIA will ride in on the Pale Horse , and the population will submit .
And yes , you are right , Julian Assange got in the way of that .
Not because he hated Hillary Clinton , though he detested what she and Obama did to Libya , but because Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning provided him with material that bore witness to the crimes committed by the US intelligence “ cabal ” .
In Snowden ’ s case , it was the NSA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Manning ’ s it was war crimes executed overseas .
The way the “ cabal ” reacted to all that material -there was/is a lot- was to link Assange to a fictitious story about Russia meddling in US elections , a very convenient link because it tied into what they were already constructing to get rid of Trump .
Here is lawyer “ sundance ” at the Conservative Treehouse ( aka The Last Refuge ) .
The -recommended- article has a lot more info , not just on Assange , but also on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; he ’ s been digging for a long time .
I know , it ’ s right wing media .
But nobody else will cover this .
And we want to get Assange released , don ’ t we ?
!
So take a listen to how similar this is , written yesterday , to what I , and others , have been saying about the case for a long time .
Again , I have no idea why it took so long for people like “ sundance ” to catch up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him who may well be our best shot at keeping Assange alive .
And people like Tucker , of course ; you can bet Trump is watching him , and has seen the Greenwald interview by now .
What ’ s Behind The DOJ Aggression Toward Julian Assange Nancy Pelosi previously labeled all Trump supporters as “ enemies of the state.
” Similarly we note the apparatus of the administrative state labels Julian Assange the same .
There ’ s a good argument that the reason why Assange is considered such a threat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could expose the lies of the administrative state .
As a consequence the U.S. intelligence apparatus has targeted the WikiLeaks founder and the Bill Barr DOJ is being extremely aggressive in their effort to get control of him .
Tucker Carlson discussed this dynamic last night ; albeit stopping short of the brutally honest part .
To understand the risk Julian Assange represents to the administrative state , it is important to understand the extent of CIA , FBI and DOJ operations in 2016 .
[ .. ] On April 11th , 2019 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the EDVA .
From the indictment we discover it was under seal since March 6th , 2018 .
On Tuesday April 15th more investigative material was released .
Again , note the dates : Grand Jury , *December of 2017* This means FBI investigation prior to… .
The FBI investigation took place prior to December 2017 , it was coordinated through the Eastern District of Virginia ( EDVA ) where Dana Boente was U.S. Attorney at the time .
The grand jury indictment was sealed from March of 2018 until after Mueller @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Why the delay ?
What was the DOJ waiting for ?
Here ’ s where it gets interesting… .
The FBI submission to the Grand Jury in December of 2017 was four months after congressman Dana Rohrabacher talked to Julian Assange in August of 2017 : “ Assange told a U.S. congressman … he can prove the leaked Democratic Party documents … did not come from Russia.
” [ .. ] Knowing how much effort the CIA and FBI put into the Russia collusion-conspiracy narrative , it would make sense for the FBI @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2017 meeting between Rohrabacher and Assange ; and why the FBI would quickly gather specific evidence ( related to Wikileaks and Bradley Manning ) for a grand jury by December 2017 .
Within three months of the grand jury the DOJ generated an indictment and sealed it in March 2018 .
The EDVA sat on the indictment while the Mueller probe was ongoing .
As soon as the Mueller probe ended , on April 11th , 2019 , a planned and coordinated effort between the U.K. and U.S. was executed ; Julian Assange @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ecuadorian embassy in London < , and the EDVA indictment was unsealed .
As a person who has researched this three year fiasco ; including the ridiculously false 2016 Russian hacking/interference narrative : “ 17 intelligence agencies ” , Joint Analysis Report ( JAR ) needed for Obama ’ s anti-Russia narrative in December ’ 16 ; and then a month later the ridiculously political Intelligence Community Assessment ( ICA ) in January ’ 17 ; this timing against Assange is just too coincidental .
It doesn ’ t take a deep researcher @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to control Julian Assange because the Mueller report was dependent on Russia cybercrimes , and that narrative is contingent on the Russia DNC hack story which Julian Assange disputes .
This is critical .
The Weissmann/Mueller report contains claims that Russia hacked the DNC servers as the central element to the Russia interference narrative in the U.S. election .
This claim is directly disputed by WikiLeaks and Julian Assange , as outlined during the Dana Rohrabacher interview , and by Julian Assange on-the-record statements .
The predicate for Robert Mueller ’ s investigation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 2016 election .
The fulcrum for this Russia interference claim is the intelligence community assessment ; and the only factual evidence claimed within the ICA is that Russia hacked the DNC servers ; a claim only made possible by relying on forensic computer analysis from Crowdstrike , a DNC contractor .
The CIA holds a massive conflict of self-interest in upholding the Russian hacking claim .
The FBI holds a massive interest in maintaining that claim .
All of those foreign countries whose intelligence apparatus participated with Brennan and Strzok also have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hacking and interference narrative .
Julian Assange is the only person with direct knowledge of how Wikileaks gained custody of the DNC emails ; and Assange has claimed he has evidence it was not from a hack .
This Russian “ hacking ” claim is ultimately so important to the CIA , FBI , DOJ , ODNI and U.K intelligence apparatus… .
Well , right there is the obvious motive to shut Assange down as soon intelligence officials knew the Mueller report was going to be public .
Now , if we know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and everything is cited and factual… well , then certainly AG Bill Barr knows this .
That is a lot of information in one go , and not much of it is new , at least to me or to regular readers of the Automatic Earth .
What is new is that the Conservative press are figuring out that if they want to defend Trump against the “ cabal ” , they need to look much more deeply into the role Julian Assange has played in the whole story , especially over the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said above , it would be good if the “ Free Assange ” side would so something similar , reach out , because the Conservative press may well be the best ally there is for their cause .
It ’ s not about how you feel about Trump , it ’ s about the “ cabal ” targeting Trump through Assange , and the other way around .
And in the end it ’ s real simple : Trump has the power to pardon Assange and set him free , him and Snowden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that power , and leave Julian to rot in Belmarsh and g-d knows where next , or do you think you now understand how the game has been played , and will be going forward ?
Your pick .
But remember : it will take Trump overruling Bill Barr and the DOJ , and the right wing can ’ t do that alone .
One last thing , something I ’ ve also tried to explain umpteen times : Whenever you see someone claim that Assange plays to his personal political choices , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do with the Kremlin , or that he lies about anything at all , please remember this : Julian Assange has always been acutely aware of the one weakness of WikiLeaks which is simultaneously its main strength : That is , he can not lie , he can not align with a political side , he can not align with any one country or ideology ( I would almost write : ” he could not ” instead of he can not , but thank God Julian is alive , so I will not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that people like Snowden and Manning and many others , who are in possession of highly sensitive evidence of government or intelligence malfeasance , must be sure the material will not be used for -party- political purposes , or to make a country look good , and first and foremost that it is not distorted or lied about in any way , shape or form .
Because if Julian Assange would ever do any such thing , the bond of trust would be broken , for every single potential future source and/or whistleblower @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would never be able to repair that .
It would be the end of WikiLeaks , right there .
Julian would never have allowed that to happen to his brainchild ; he would die first .
And they all know it , the entire “ cabal ” ; that ’ s why you read in the press what you do , that ’ s why the smear campaigns are there .
None of which are even remotely true .
A last last thing : Julian Assange is so skilled at the digital side @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the entire world , no matter how many people they put on it , has ever come close to hacking or breaking into WikiLeaks .
That should make us all feel safer , and that is why there are all these attempts to make us feel the opposite .

by
Rembrandt van RIjn A Woman Standing with a Candle c.1631
To be honest, I didn’t think it would ever happen, even though it’s been so obvious for so long. But all of a sudden, the conservative voices questioning the Russia collusion narrative and all the investigations that followed from it, are finally figuring out that those behind that narrative and all that resulted from it, are the same people who have been chasing down Julian Assange for many years.
And that to get to the bottom of the hunt for Trump by the DNC, Clinton campaign, US intelligence and last but not least the media in their pockets, the NYT, WaPo, MSNBC, CNN et al, they will have to take a much closer look at what happened to Assange. If they don’t they will never understand. How do we know it’s starting to dawn on them? Look at this illustration at the Last Refuge site yesterday. More on them later.
Note: the mostly left wing Assange supporters would do good to consider the same thing: they in turn must look into the RussiaRussia Trump collusion stories, much as they may not like the president. Because those stories are why Assange has been chased down like so much roadkill. And because the right win of America is their best chance at getting him pardoned/released. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, to put it bluntly. Sometimes you need blunt.
As I’ve pointed out countless times, the Mueller investigation of the Trump campaign -and presidency- may have come up glaringly empty, but the report they issued maintained that “13 Russians” and Julian Assange were responsible for hacking DNC emails. There is no proof of this, but since none of the “accused” can speak out, the report make the claim, and did.
Actually, a source connected to the “13 Russians” that was also named, the firm Concord Management, linked to Internet Research Agency, both owned by “Putin’s cook” Yevgeniy Prigozhin, one of the 13 Russians, did speak out and hired lawyers in the US. The case was quietly dropped when it became clear Mueller had nothing on them. The rest didn’t speak, and hired no defense, so that part of the report, nonsense as it may be, still stands.
Mueller et al could simply have met with Assange, he wasn’t going anywhere as they knew, but they didn’t, because A) the last thing they wanted was confirmation that “the Russians” did not provide any information to WikiLeaks, since that was what little was left of what the entire report was based on, and B) they wanted to make Assange look like an enemy of the US. Meeting with him would have blown both A) and B) out of the water, and he wouldn’t have been any use to them, or the DNC, or the FBI/CIA/DOJ. Assange was useful to them exactly because he could *not* speak.
The wake up call for the right must have been Tucker Carlson’s interview with Glenn Greenwald about Assange this week. Of which I said: “Bless Tucker Carlson for providing the platform. Bless Glenn Greenwald for his eloquent statement. Don’t miss this.” But still, as I also said: “Wonder why it took the right wing so long to wake up to how Julian Assange is linked to the whole machine. Did they really need Tucker Carlson for that?”
Greenwald said Trump could pardon Assange, and Snowden too, and there’s “widespread support across the political spectrum for doing both” (something I never heard anyone confirm, btw), and “the only people who would be angry would be Susan Rice, John Brennan, Jim Comey and James Clapper, because they’re the ones who both of them exposed”. Well, there’s your people. Those are the people who’ve been after both Trump and Assange since at least 2015.
Do both sides realize what they have in common now?
I don’t want to make this too long, and there’s more ground to cover. First, take a look at what Paul Craig Roberts had to say recently. He knows the territory. He worked extensively both as a journalist before that became a tainted term, and served under Ronald Reagan as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. Like his views on economics or not, he knows a thing or two about DC. Here’s what he had to say 3 days ago, which ties right into the Assange/RussiaRussia/Mueller/CIA tall tale :
The United States & Its Constitution Have Two Months Left
To stop Kennedy they assassinated him. To stop Trump they concocted Russiagate, Impeachgate, and a variety of wild and unsubstantiated accusations. The presstitutes repeat the various accusations as if they are absolute proven truth. The presstitutes never investigated a single one of the false accusations. These efforts to remove Trump did not succeed. Having pulled off numerous color revolutions in which the US has overthrown foreign governments, the tactics are now being employed against Trump. The November presidential election will not be an election. It will be a color revolution. [..] the CIA has controlled the prestige American media since 1950. The American media does not provide news. It provides the Deep State’s explanations of events. This ensures that real news does not interfere with the agenda. The German journalst, Udo Ulfkotte, wrote a book, Bought Journalism, in which he showed that the CIA also controls the European press. To be clear, there are two CIA organizations. One is an agency that monitors world events and endeavors to provide more or less accurate information to policymakers. The other is a covert operations agency. This agency assassinates people, including an American president, and overthrows uncooperative governments. President Truman publicly stated after he was out of office that he made a serious mistake in permitting the covert operations branch of the CIA. He said that it was an unaccountable government in itself. President Eisenhower agreed and in his last address to the American people warned of the growing unaccountable power of the military/security complex. President Kennedy realized the threat and said he was going “to break the CIA into a thousand pieces,” but they killed him first. It would be easy for the CIA to kill Trump, but the “lone assassin” has been used too many times to be believable. It is easier to overthrow Trump’s reelection with false accusations as the CIA controls the American and European media and has many Internet sites pretending to be dissident, a claim that fools insouciant Americans. Indeed, it is the leftwing that the CIA owns. The rightwing goes along because they think it is patriotic to support the military/security complex. After the CIA overthrows Trump, they will use Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and their presstitutes to foment race war. Then the CIA will ride in on the Pale Horse, and the population will submit.
And yes, you are right, Julian Assange got in the way of that. Not because he hated Hillary Clinton, though he detested what she and Obama did to Libya, but because Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning provided him with material that bore witness to the crimes committed by the US intelligence “cabal”. In Snowden’s case, it was the NSA spying on -the- American people, in Manning’s it was war crimes executed overseas.
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The way the “cabal” reacted to all that material -there was/is a lot- was to link Assange to a fictitious story about Russia meddling in US elections, a very convenient link because it tied into what they were already constructing to get rid of Trump.
Here is lawyer “sundance” at the Conservative Treehouse (aka The Last Refuge). The -recommended- article has a lot more info, not just on Assange, but also on the set-up of the “cabal”; he’s been digging for a long time. I know, it’s right wing media. But nobody else will cover this. And we want to get Assange released, don’t we?! So take a listen to how similar this is, written yesterday, to what I, and others, have been saying about the case for a long time.
Again, I have no idea why it took so long for people like “sundance” to catch up, but it’s people like him who may well be our best shot at keeping Assange alive. And people like Tucker, of course; you can bet Trump is watching him, and has seen the Greenwald interview by now.
What’s Behind The DOJ Aggression Toward Julian Assange
Nancy Pelosi previously labeled all Trump supporters as “enemies of the state.” Similarly we note the apparatus of the administrative state labels Julian Assange the same. There’s a good argument that the reason why Assange is considered such a threat to the U.S. is specifically because he could expose the lies of the administrative state. As a consequence the U.S. intelligence apparatus has targeted the WikiLeaks founder and the Bill Barr DOJ is being extremely aggressive in their effort to get control of him. Tucker Carlson discussed this dynamic last night; albeit stopping short of the brutally honest part. To understand the risk Julian Assange represents to the administrative state, it is important to understand the extent of CIA, FBI and DOJ operations in 2016. [..] On April 11th, 2019, the Julian Assange indictment was unsealed in the EDVA. From the indictment we discover it was under seal since March 6th, 2018. On Tuesday April 15th more investigative material was released. Again, note the dates: Grand Jury, *December of 2017* This means FBI investigation prior to…. The FBI investigation took place prior to December 2017, it was coordinated through the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA) where Dana Boente was U.S. Attorney at the time. The grand jury indictment was sealed from March of 2018 until after Mueller completed his investigation, April 2019. Why the delay? What was the DOJ waiting for? Here’s where it gets interesting…. The FBI submission to the Grand Jury in December of 2017 was four months after congressman Dana Rohrabacher talked to Julian Assange in August of 2017: “Assange told a U.S. congressman … he can prove the leaked Democratic Party documents … did not come from Russia.” [..] Knowing how much effort the CIA and FBI put into the Russia collusion-conspiracy narrative, it would make sense for the FBI to take keen interest after this August 2017 meeting between Rohrabacher and Assange; and why the FBI would quickly gather specific evidence (related to Wikileaks and Bradley Manning) for a grand jury by December 2017. Within three months of the grand jury the DOJ generated an indictment and sealed it in March 2018. The EDVA sat on the indictment while the Mueller probe was ongoing. As soon as the Mueller probe ended, on April 11th, 2019, a planned and coordinated effort between the U.K. and U.S. was executed; Julian Assange was forcibly arrested and removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in London<, and the EDVA indictment was unsealed. As a person who has researched this three year fiasco; including the ridiculously false 2016 Russian hacking/interference narrative: “17 intelligence agencies”, Joint Analysis Report (JAR) needed for Obama’s anti-Russia narrative in December ’16; and then a month later the ridiculously political Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) in January ’17; this timing against Assange is just too coincidental. It doesn’t take a deep researcher to see the aligned Deep State motive to control Julian Assange because the Mueller report was dependent on Russia cybercrimes, and that narrative is contingent on the Russia DNC hack story which Julian Assange disputes. This is critical. The Weissmann/Mueller report contains claims that Russia hacked the DNC servers as the central element to the Russia interference narrative in the U.S. election. This claim is directly disputed by WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, as outlined during the Dana Rohrabacher interview, and by Julian Assange on-the-record statements. The predicate for Robert Mueller’s investigation was specifically due to Russian interference in the 2016 election. The fulcrum for this Russia interference claim is the intelligence community assessment; and the only factual evidence claimed within the ICA is that Russia hacked the DNC servers; a claim only made possible by relying on forensic computer analysis from Crowdstrike, a DNC contractor. The CIA holds a massive conflict of self-interest in upholding the Russian hacking claim. The FBI holds a massive interest in maintaining that claim. All of those foreign countries whose intelligence apparatus participated with Brennan and Strzok also have a vested self-interest in maintaining that Russia hacking and interference narrative. Julian Assange is the only person with direct knowledge of how Wikileaks gained custody of the DNC emails; and Assange has claimed he has evidence it was not from a hack. This Russian “hacking” claim is ultimately so important to the CIA, FBI, DOJ, ODNI and U.K intelligence apparatus…. Well, right there is the obvious motive to shut Assange down as soon intelligence officials knew the Mueller report was going to be public. Now, if we know this, and you know this; and everything is cited and factual… well, then certainly AG Bill Barr knows this.
That is a lot of information in one go, and not much of it is new, at least to me or to regular readers of the Automatic Earth. What is new is that the Conservative press are figuring out that if they want to defend Trump against the “cabal”, they need to look much more deeply into the role Julian Assange has played in the whole story, especially over the past few years.
And as I said above, it would be good if the “Free Assange” side would so something similar, reach out, because the Conservative press may well be the best ally there is for their cause. It’s not about how you feel about Trump, it’s about the “cabal” targeting Trump through Assange, and the other way around.
And in the end it’s real simple: Trump has the power to pardon Assange and set him free, him and Snowden. Would you rather *not* appeal to that power, and leave Julian to rot in Belmarsh and g-d knows where next, or do you think you now understand how the game has been played, and will be going forward? Your pick. But remember: it will take Trump overruling Bill Barr and the DOJ, and the right wing can’t do that alone.
One last thing, something I’ve also tried to explain umpteen times: Whenever you see someone claim that Assange plays to his personal political choices, or that he has something anything to do with the Kremlin, or that he lies about anything at all, please remember this: Julian Assange has always been acutely aware of the one weakness of WikiLeaks which is simultaneously its main strength:
That is, he cannot lie, he cannot align with a political side, he cannot align with any one country or ideology (I would almost write: ”he could not” instead of he cannot, but thank God Julian is alive, so I will not).
The reason for this is that people like Snowden and Manning and many others, who are in possession of highly sensitive evidence of government or intelligence malfeasance, must be sure the material will not be used for -party- political purposes, or to make a country look good, and first and foremost that it is not distorted or lied about in any way, shape or form.
Because if Julian Assange would ever do any such thing, the bond of trust would be broken, for every single potential future source and/or whistleblower, and for all time. He would never be able to repair that. It would be the end of WikiLeaks, right there. Julian would never have allowed that to happen to his brainchild; he would die first. And they all know it, the entire “cabal”; that’s why you read in the press what you do, that’s why the smear campaigns are there. None of which are even remotely true.
A last last thing: Julian Assange is so skilled at the digital side of things that no secret service in the entire world, no matter how many people they put on it, has ever come close to hacking or breaking into WikiLeaks. That should make us all feel safer, and that is why there are all these attempts to make us feel the opposite.


investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--Within Hours After Democrats Release Alleged Domestic Terrorist Arrested for Arson, He Allegedly Sta

Within Hours After Democrats Release Alleged Domestic Terrorist Arrested for Arson, He Allegedly Starts Six More Fires #GlobalWarmingStrikesAgain

NOT CLIMATE CHANGE : Oregon Woman Catches Arsonist on her Property with Matches — Holds Him at Gunpoint Until Police @ @ @ @ @ an arsonist on her property over the weekend .
The woman held him by gunpoint @ @ @ @ @ arrived .
She told the man if her husband would have caught him he ’ @ @ @ @ @ mainstream media ignored this citizen ’ s arrest .
It goes against their global warming @ @ @ @ @ more arsonists arrested in Oregon .
Authorities arrest 4 in connection to possible arson , @ @ @ @ @ of the suspects remain unidentified , and authorities dismissed potential political affiliations

BREAKING: Within hours after being released for allegedly starting a brush fire in Portland using a molotov cocktail, Domingo Lopez Jr. allegedly started six more fires along the west side of the I-205 freeway. He's been arrested again. #OregonFires t.co/2PJpGFqIm8 — Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) September 14, 2020
BREAKING: Portland Police arrested a man today suspected of starting a brush fire using a Molotov cocktail. Firefighters extinguished the grass fire before it could spread further. Domingo Lopez Jr., 45, was arrested. He was quickly released without bail. t.co/NY3001kb9t pic.twitter.com/Tur64x5s9f — Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) September 14, 2020
NOT CLIMATE CHANGE: Oregon Woman Catches Arsonist on her Property with Matches — Holds Him at Gunpoint Until Police Arrive
An Oregon woman found an arsonist on her property over the weekend. The woman held him by gunpoint on the ground until police arrived.
She told the man if her husband would have caught him he’d be dead.
The mainstream media ignored this citizen’s arrest.
It goes against their global warming and anti-gun narrative.
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Four more arsonists arrested in Oregon.
Authorities arrest 4 in connection to possible arson, fires along West Coast
Two of the suspects remain unidentified, and authorities dismissed potential political affiliations


investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--Get Ready! China Has Started The Final Stages Of Its Plan While The U.S. Economy Is Crashing

by Financial Argument via Financial Argument China believes that the time has come , taking advantage of the collapse of its rival America – and the rest of the world ’ s economies – and has started to put all its cards on the table .
I know it ’ s too early to say that China won .
But , it ’ s not too early to say who ’ s losing now… We know that almost every country ’ s economy , especially the U.S. economy , is experiencing collapse and financial crisis unprecedented in history .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of it , at least for now… The latest data shows us that the economies of all G20 countries experienced a massive slump in the second quarter…excluding China .
China grew by 3.2 % in the second quarter , while the U.K. shrank by 21.7 % , the U.S. by 9.1 % , and the Eurozone by 15 % !
India , which has recently experienced border tension with China ( and I think the tensions will continue rising ) had the worst second quarter , with the economy shrinking by 23.9 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ data indicates that China is the only country with a strengthening economy while all the rest of the world ’ s economies undergo a painful collapse .
In addition , China ’ s exports in August increased by 9.5 % compared to August 2019 , exceeding expectations .
While recovery is still just a fantasy for many countries , especially the U.S. , China is recovering and getting stronger .
We had a week full of political speeches vowing a tougher stance on China , and it is obvious that the tension and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the elections .
But the main question is , will markets – which are already collapsing – be able to handle this heavy pressure ?
What will the next few months bring ?
It ’ s best to prepare for a worst-case scenario … Get Ready !

by Financial Argument via Financial Argument
China believes that the time has come, taking advantage of the collapse of its rival America – and the rest of the world’s economies – and has started to put all its cards on the table.
I know it’s too early to say that China won. But, it’s not too early to say who’s losing now…
We know that almost every country’s economy, especially the U.S. economy, is experiencing collapse and financial crisis unprecedented in history. But China seems to have pulled itself out of it, at least for now…
The latest data shows us that the economies of all G20 countries experienced a massive slump in the second quarter…excluding China.
China grew by 3.2% in the second quarter, while the U.K. shrank by 21.7%, the U.S. by 9.1%, and the Eurozone by 15%! India, which has recently experienced border tension with China (and I think the tensions will continue rising) had the worst second quarter, with the economy shrinking by 23.9%…
There’s more. Additional data indicates that China is the only country with a strengthening economy while all the rest of the world’s economies undergo a painful collapse.
In addition, China’s exports in August increased by 9.5% compared to August 2019, exceeding expectations.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
While recovery is still just a fantasy for many countries, especially the U.S., China is recovering and getting stronger.
We had a week full of political speeches vowing a tougher stance on China, and it is obvious that the tension and pressure will increase as we get closer to the elections.
But the main question is, will markets – which are already collapsing – be able to handle this heavy pressure?
What will the next few months bring?
It’s best to prepare for a worst-case scenario … Get Ready !
FULL SHOW NOTES AND LINKS HERE
Donate to Financial Argument: www.patreon.com/financialargu…


investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--Drastic Food Shortages in China

Drastic Food Shortages in China

Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping has come out officially acknowledging the food crisis in China by asking people not to waste food .
China ’ s rice farmers are fighting insects and weeds the traditional way by bringing in hungry ducks .
Meanwhile , China is facing serious shortages of both grains and pork .
Months of flooding have wiped out the crops while insect infestations attack the rice fields .
Then there is simultaneously the rapidly spreading African swine fever ( ASF ) which is now even starting to make its way into Europe .
On top of all of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( COVID-19 ) which may have been deliberately leaked from the lab there by people who planned this take over of the world with a New Green World Order .
As I have mentioned before , these people have succeeded in subjugating Europe .
They need to overthrow Trump to subjugate the USA .
They are seeking to force Western investors from hedge funds to pension funds to sell all Chinese investments to force them to comply with their demands .
Trump could not dare talk about this prior to the election , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of these people and would call him a conspiracy nut not worthy of the office .
Investigating all the people behind this convenient plan must be done carefully .
I believe that the media MUST be ordered to be unbiased and present both sides or they lose their license as propaganda .

by Martin Armstrong
Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping has come out officially acknowledging the food crisis in China by asking people not to waste food. China’s rice farmers are fighting insects and weeds the traditional way by bringing in hungry ducks. Meanwhile, China is facing serious shortages of both grains and pork. Months of flooding have wiped out the crops while insect infestations attack the rice fields. Then there is simultaneously the rapidly spreading African swine fever (ASF) which is now even starting to make its way into Europe. On top of all of this has been the orchestrated Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) which may have been deliberately leaked from the lab there by people who planned this take over of the world with a New Green World Order.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
As I have mentioned before, these people have succeeded in subjugating Europe. They need to overthrow Trump to subjugate the USA. They are seeking to force Western investors from hedge funds to pension funds to sell all Chinese investments to force them to comply with their demands. Trump could not dare talk about this prior to the election, for the media is in the pocket of these people and would call him a conspiracy nut not worthy of the office. Investigating all the people behind this convenient plan must be done carefully. I believe that the media MUST be ordered to be unbiased and present both sides or they lose their license as propaganda.


investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--You Need Separate Bank Accounts… or You’re Trapped

There are people out there that I would call innumerate .
They don ’ t know anything about math , and they don ’ t want to learn .
The funny thing about “ I Hate Math People ” is they actually cover their ears when you mention numbers .
**La , la , la** A lot of people have a similar attitude toward money .
They don ’ t hate it , but they don ’ t want to deal with it , either .
They simply want someone else to take care of the money stuff .
This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is handling your money , you have rendered yourself totally helpless .
That person might not have your best interests in the mind .
This is how people get scammed .
I ’ ve seen relationships where the man handles all the money stuff—it ’ s usually the man—and the woman has no knowledge of any of it .
The guy does a good job and everybody ’ s happy .
That happens .
The other thing that happens : The man does a terrible job , and they end up broke .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ husband , and they get divorced .
There are all kinds of permutations to this story .
I ’ m sure you ’ ve seen it play out in one form or another .
Sometimes , things get really bad .
Maybe the man gets abusive—either verbally , mentally , or physically ( or all of the above ) .
And the marriage turns into a prison , because the man controls all the money .
This can be disastrous—for women in particular .
They can find themselves in a situation where they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bank account or a credit card .
They ’ re trying to get out of a nightmare situation , but they can ’ t .
They can ’ t get gas for the car… they can ’ t buy groceries… they can ’ t get a hotel room .
Because their whole financial life is controlled by another person .
This is one of the many reasons you should force yourself to learn about money , even if you don ’ t want to .
And when you enter a relationship , you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accounts , separate mutual funds , separate credit cards , separate everything .
Now , I usually recommend separate accounts so people don ’ t squabble over who bought the expensive yogurt .
You don ’ t want to have that argument on repeat for 50 years .
But this is something different—this is for safety .
You need separate accounts in case the relationship becomes dangerous and you need to escape .
If you don ’ t have your own checking account or credit cards , it ’ s very difficult to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ m picking on men here , but sometimes it ’ s the other way around .
There ’ s a person who ’ s near and dear to me who was abused by his wife .
So , it works both ways .
Everyone needs to control their own money .
This is a dark topic , but you have to think about it when you enter a new relationship , especially with a total stranger .
You never really know what you ’ re getting .
Sometimes people present themselves as one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ together , they morph into something totally different .
This is why you need to insist on separate accounts .
If the other person insists on combining financial affairs , you have to resist and say no .
Now , he might say , “ Oh , but if we have separate accounts , that means we don ’ t really love each other.
” In that case , you say , “ This is not negotiable.
” If that ends the relationship , then maybe it wasn ’ t that strong to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ !
I harp on separate accounts all the time , and it makes a lot of people angry .
Because , yes , some people in healthy , safe relationships combine their finances and make it work .
Then they call into my radio show and get indignant about it : My system is better !
Look—if you ’ re in a stable , long-term marriage , and you have a system that works , that ’ s fine .
I know of one couple where the husband handles all the money , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They seem happy .
But wow—that would not work for me .
Jared Dillian is an investment strategist at Mauldin Economics , a former head of ETF trading at Lehman Brothers , and the author of The Awesome Portfolio .
Subscribe to his weekly investment newsletter , The 10th Man , and listen to his daily radio program , “ The Jared Dillian Show.
” You can follow Jared on Twitter @ dailydirtnap .

by Jared Dillian
There are people out there that I would call innumerate. They don’t know anything about math, and they don’t want to learn.
The funny thing about “I Hate Math People” is they actually cover their ears when you mention numbers. **La, la, la**
A lot of people have a similar attitude toward money. They don’t hate it, but they don’t want to deal with it, either. They simply want someone else to take care of the money stuff.
This is not good. If someone else is handling your money, you have rendered yourself totally helpless. That person might not have your best interests in the mind. This is how people get scammed.
Broke & Divorced
I’ve seen relationships where the man handles all the money stuff—it’s usually the man—and the woman has no knowledge of any of it. The guy does a good job and everybody’s happy. That happens.
The other thing that happens: The man does a terrible job, and they end up broke. Then the wife is furious with her husband, and they get divorced.
There are all kinds of permutations to this story. I’m sure you’ve seen it play out in one form or another.
Money Is Control
Sometimes, things get really bad. Maybe the man gets abusive—either verbally, mentally, or physically (or all of the above). And the marriage turns into a prison, because the man controls all the money.
This can be disastrous—for women in particular.
They can find themselves in a situation where they don’t have access to a bank account or a credit card. They’re trying to get out of a nightmare situation, but they can’t.
They can’t get gas for the car… they can’t buy groceries… they can’t get a hotel room. Because their whole financial life is controlled by another person.
This is one of the many reasons you should force yourself to learn about money, even if you don’t want to. And when you enter a relationship, you should insist on having separate accounts—separate checking accounts, separate mutual funds, separate credit cards, separate everything.
Now, I usually recommend separate accounts so people don’t squabble over who bought the expensive yogurt. You don’t want to have that argument on repeat for 50 years.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
But this is something different—this is for safety.
You need separate accounts in case the relationship becomes dangerous and you need to escape. If you don’t have your own checking account or credit cards, it’s very difficult to leave.
Of course, I’m picking on men here, but sometimes it’s the other way around. There’s a person who’s near and dear to me who was abused by his wife. So, it works both ways.
Everyone needs to control their own money.
“This Is Not Negotiable”
This is a dark topic, but you have to think about it when you enter a new relationship, especially with a total stranger. You never really know what you’re getting.
Sometimes people present themselves as one thing, but after you move in together, they morph into something totally different. This is why you need to insist on separate accounts.
If the other person insists on combining financial affairs, you have to resist and say no.
Now, he might say, “Oh, but if we have separate accounts, that means we don’t really love each other.”
In that case, you say, “This is not negotiable.”
If that ends the relationship, then maybe it wasn’t that strong to begin with.
My System Is Better!
I harp on separate accounts all the time, and it makes a lot of people angry. Because, yes, some people in healthy, safe relationships combine their finances and make it work. Then they call into my radio show and get indignant about it: My system is better!
Look—if you’re in a stable, long-term marriage, and you have a system that works, that’s fine.
I know of one couple where the husband handles all the money, and he gives his wife an allowance. They seem happy. But wow—that would not work for me.
Jared Dillian is an investment strategist at Mauldin Economics, a former head of ETF trading at Lehman Brothers, and the author of The Awesome Portfolio. Subscribe to his weekly investment newsletter, The 10th Man, and listen to his daily radio program, “The Jared Dillian Show.” You can follow Jared on Twitter @dailydirtnap.


investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--Get ready for new records; gold, commodities in ‘sweet spot’ – Frank Holmes

The Purchasing Managers ’ Index ( PMI ) has hit two-year highs in August , suggesting that a pickup in @ @ @ @ @ as well higher inflation , is on the way , said Frank Holmes , CEO @ @ @ @ @ .
Holmes added that gold miners are likely to see record cash flow this quarter @ @ @ @ @ commodities demand .
Frank Holmes is the CEO and chief investment officer of U.S .
@ @ @ @ @ a boutique investment advisory firm based in San Antonio that manages domestic and offshore funds @ @ @ @ @ and emerging markets sectors .

Kitco News, Released on 9/14/20
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) has hit two-year highs in August, suggesting that a pickup in demand for raw commodities, as well higher inflation, is on the way, said Frank Holmes, CEO of U.S. Global Investors.
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Holmes added that gold miners are likely to see record cash flow this quarter as a result of rising commodities demand.
Frank Holmes is the CEO and chief investment officer of U.S. Global Investors, Inc., a boutique investment advisory firm based in San Antonio that manages domestic and offshore funds specializing in the natural resources and emerging markets sectors.


investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--BLM terrorists smash windows in Lancaster police station after crazed man with giant knife attacks p

BLM terrorists smash windows in Lancaster police station after crazed man with giant knife attacks police officer and gets shot

This is coming to my area now .
Here we go .

This is coming to my area now.
Here we go.
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BLM terrorists smash windows in Lancaster police station after crazed man with giant knife charged at an officer and got himself shot. pic.twitter.com/kYQ8c2voRm — Mark Dice (@MarkDice) September 14, 2020
h/t BFD


investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--Here’s the Likely Roadmap For Stocks Moving Into October

Stocks held their 50-DMA as expected last week .
As I write this Monday morning , they are bouncing hard .
However , this doesn ’ t mean we ’ re out of the woods by any means .
The technical damage from last week ’ s sell offs was significant .
We ’ ve broken below support ( green line ) .
And the bulls have failed to mount any significant energy to get stocks back into an uptrend .
What does this mean ?
That we ’ re likely to see more chopping/ sideways action for some time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had two such periods since the March bottom .
I ’ ve highlighted them in blue rectangles in the chart below .
In terms of price , I wouldn ’ t expect stocks to break down a lot lower than where they are… but similarly I wouldn ’ t expect us to see a sustained rally either .
Instead we ’ re like to see a lot of ups and downs for the next few weeks into October .
However , if things begin to get ugly I expect the Fed to intervene @ @ @ @ @ @ @ day , it all boils down to what I ’ ve been saying since 2017… that the Fed and other central banks are trapped in a vicious cycle through which it INTENTIONALLY creates bubbles to deal with each successive bust .
We had the Tech Bubble in the ’ 90s .
The Housing Bubble in the mid-00s .
And now the Everything Bubble in 2020 .
On that note , we ’ re putting together an Executive Summary on how to play this move .
It will identify which investments will perform best @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , including a unique play that could more than double the performance of the S & P 500 .
This Executive Summary will be available exclusively to subscribers of our Gains Pains & Capital e-letter .
To insure you receive a copy when it ’ s sent out , you can join here :

Stocks held their 50-DMA as expected last week. As I write this Monday morning, they are bouncing hard.
However, this doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods by any means. The technical damage from last week’s sell offs was significant. We’ve broken below support (green line). And the bulls have failed to mount any significant energy to get stocks back into an uptrend.
What does this mean?
That we’re likely to see more chopping/ sideways action for some time. The S&P 500 has had two such periods since the March bottom. I’ve highlighted them in blue rectangles in the chart below.
In terms of price, I wouldn’t expect stocks to break down a lot lower than where they are… but similarly I wouldn’t expect us to see a sustained rally either. Instead we’re like to see a lot of ups and downs for the next few weeks into October.
However, if things begin to get ugly I expect the Fed to intervene aggressively.
At the end of the day, it all boils down to what I’ve been saying since 2017… that the Fed and other central banks are trapped in a vicious cycle through which it INTENTIONALLY creates bubbles to deal with each successive bust.
We had the Tech Bubble in the ’90s.
The Housing Bubble in the mid-00s.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
And now the Everything Bubble in 2020.
On that note, we’re putting together an Executive Summary on how to play this move.
It will identify which investments will perform best during the Fed’s next bubble, including a unique play that could more than double the performance of the S&P 500.
This Executive Summary will be available exclusively to subscribers of our Gains Pains & Capital e-letter. To insure you receive a copy when it’s sent out, you can join here:
phoenixcapitalmarketing.com/TEB.html
Best Regards
Graham Summers
Chief Market Strategist
Phoenix Capital Research


investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--Dave Kranzler: CRAZY BUBBLE, Markets Have No Direction – GOLD HOLDS SUPREME!

Dave Kranzler spent many years working in various Wall Street jobs .
After business school , he primarily traded junk @ @ @ @ @ .
Dave graduated from Oberlin College with majors in Economics and English and he also @ @ @ @ @ University of Chicago , with a concentration in accounting and finance .
Currently , he @ @ @ @ @ mining stock investment fund in Denver .
He has nearly thirty years of experience in @ @ @ @ @ and investing in the financial markets .
His daily articles can be found at his @ @ @ @ @ .

Portfolio Wealth Global, Released on 9/13/20
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Dave Kranzler spent many years working in various Wall Street jobs. After business school, he primarily traded junk bonds for a large bank. Dave graduated from Oberlin College with majors in Economics and English and he also has an MBA from the University of Chicago, with a concentration in accounting and finance. Currently, he co-manages a precious metals and mining stock investment fund in Denver. He has nearly thirty years of experience in studying, researching, analyzing and investing in the financial markets. His daily articles can be found at his site, Investment Research Dynamics.


investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--Ron Paul: Debt is the Real Pandemic

Ron Paul: Debt is the Real Pandemic

Ron Paul , Institute for Peace and Prosperity , Released on 9/14/20 According to the Congressional Budget Office ’ s ( CBO ) latest “ Update on the Budget Outlook , ” this year ’ s $ 3.3 trillion federal deficit is not just three times larger than last year : it is the largest federal deficit in history .
The CBO update also predicts that the federal debt will equal 104 percent of the gross domestic product ( GDP ) next year and will reach 108 percent of GDP by 2030 .
The CBO update also shows that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trust funds will all be bankrupt by 2031 .
This will put pressure on Congress to bail out the trust funds thus further increasing the debt .
This year ’ s spike in federal spending was caused by the multi-trillion dollar coronavirus relief/economic stimulus bills passed by Congress and signed by the president .
However , spending had already increased by $ 937 billion from the time President Trump was sworn in until the lockdown .
Federal spending is unlikely to be reduced no matter who wins the presidential election .
Former Vice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on everything from Obamacare to militarism to “ green ” cronyism .
Yet some progressives are attacking Biden for being to “ stingy ” in his spending proposals .
Even more distressing is how few progressives are critical of Biden ’ s support for increasing the military budget .
With some notable exceptions , such as his infrastructure plan , President Trump is not proposing any massive new spending programs .
However , he Is not promising to stop increasing , much less cut , federal spending .
Most Republicans have abandoned their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Trump ’ s spending increases .
This repeats a pattern where Republicans oppose deficit spending under a Democrat president but decide that “ deficits don ’ t matter ” when a Republican is sitting in the Oval Office .
If Biden wins in November , Republicans will likely once again discover that deficits do matter , especially if Democrats also gain control of the Senate .
Government spending forcibly takes resources from the private sector , where they are used to produce goods and services desired by consumers , and puts them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This distorts the market , reducing efficiency and lowering the people ’ s standard of living .
This , combined with pressure to monetize the federal debt , causes the Federal Reserve to pump money into the economy leading to a boom-bust business cycle .
Unless Congress begins reducing spending , the coming economic crisis will be even worse .
The logical place to start cutting spending is ending all unnecessary overseas commitments , corporate welfare , and shuttling down all unconstitutional federal agencies — starting with the Department of Education .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ used to start paying down debt and providing for those truly dependent on the current system while we transition away from the welfare state .
Private charities , including ones run by religious organizations , are better than government bureaucracies at providing effective and compassionate aid to those in need .
Most politicians will not vote to curtail the welfare-warfare state unless their constituents demand it .
The people will not demand an end to big government as long as so many believe that the government has a moral responsibility to , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economic and personal security .
Therefore , our priority must be on getting people to reject the entitlement mentality and embrace the philosophy of liberty and personal responsibility .
This will enable us to build a movement capable of convincing politicians to stop voting for more spending and debt and instead vote to respect the Constitutional limitations on government in all areas .

Ron Paul, Institute for Peace and Prosperity, Released on 9/14/20
According to the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) latest “Update on the Budget Outlook,” this year’s $3.3 trillion federal deficit is not just three times larger than last year: it is the largest federal deficit in history. The CBO update also predicts that the federal debt will equal 104 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) next year and will reach 108 percent of GDP by 2030.
The CBO update also shows that the Social Security, Medicare, and highway trust funds will all be bankrupt by 2031. This will put pressure on Congress to bail out the trust funds thus further increasing the debt.
This year’s spike in federal spending was caused by the multi-trillion dollar coronavirus relief/economic stimulus bills passed by Congress and signed by the president. However, spending had already increased by $937 billion from the time President Trump was sworn in until the lockdown.
Federal spending is unlikely to be reduced no matter who wins the presidential election. Former Vice President Joe Biden has proposed increasing spending on everything from Obamacare to militarism to “green” cronyism. Yet some progressives are attacking Biden for being to “stingy” in his spending proposals. Even more distressing is how few progressives are critical of Biden’s support for increasing the military budget.
With some notable exceptions, such as his infrastructure plan, President Trump is not proposing any massive new spending programs. However, he Is not promising to stop increasing, much less cut, federal spending.
Most Republicans have abandoned their Obama-era opposition to deficit spending to support President Trump’s spending increases. This repeats a pattern where Republicans oppose deficit spending under a Democrat president but decide that “deficits don’t matter” when a Republican is sitting in the Oval Office. If Biden wins in November, Republicans will likely once again discover that deficits do matter, especially if Democrats also gain control of the Senate.
Government spending forcibly takes resources from the private sector, where they are used to produce goods and services desired by consumers, and puts them in the hands of politicians and bureaucrats. This distorts the market, reducing efficiency and lowering the people’s standard of living. This, combined with pressure to monetize the federal debt, causes the Federal Reserve to pump money into the economy leading to a boom-bust business cycle.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Unless Congress begins reducing spending, the coming economic crisis will be even worse. The logical place to start cutting spending is ending all unnecessary overseas commitments, corporate welfare, and shuttling down all unconstitutional federal agencies — starting with the Department of Education.
The savings from these cuts can be used to start paying down debt and providing for those truly dependent on the current system while we transition away from the welfare state. Private charities, including ones run by religious organizations, are better than government bureaucracies at providing effective and compassionate aid to those in need.
Most politicians will not vote to curtail the welfare-warfare state unless their constituents demand it. The people will not demand an end to big government as long as so many believe that the government has a moral responsibility to, and is capable of, providing them with economic and personal security.
Therefore, our priority must be on getting people to reject the entitlement mentality and embrace the philosophy of liberty and personal responsibility. This will enable us to build a movement capable of convincing politicians to stop voting for more spending and debt and instead vote to respect the Constitutional limitations on government in all areas.


investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--The rise and rise of negative interest-rates

The modern era has brought something that has been in motion all my career , although there have been spells which did not feel like that .
I am discussing bond yields which have been in a secular decline since the 1980s .
Regular readers will be aware that back when I was new to this arena I asked Legal and General why they were buying a UK Gilt that yielded 15 % ?
Younger readers please feel free to delete such a number from your memories if it is all too much .
But there is another shift as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and not 10 .
However you look at it from that perspective a world in which both the 2 and 5 year UK bond or Gilt yields were around -0.13 % would have been considered impossible it not unpossible .
These have been the leaders of the pack in terms of negative bond yields .
Last week Germany sold a benchmark 10 year bond with no coupon at all .
We should take a moment to consider this as a bond is in theory something with a yield or coupon so as it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ left with money being borrowed and then repaid .
Except there was a catch there too as not all of it will be repaid .
The price paid was 105.13 on average and you will only get 100 back .
Or if you prefer a negative yield of the order of 0.5 % per year .
This year has brought something that in the past would have ended the situation as this .
As you can see there were considerably more bonds on offer but it has made little or no difference to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or negative yield .
Oh and maybe even more bonds are on the way .
So we learn that the previous reality that Germany was benefiting from its austere approach to public finances was not much of an influence .
Previously it has been running a fiscal surplus and repaying debt .
The benchmark yield is very similar here as the 10 year yield is -0.49 % .
There are many similarities in the situation between Germany and Switzerland but one crucial difference which is that Switzerland has its own currency .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of an interest-rate of -0.75 % that has begun to look ever more permanent which is an irony as the 1.20 exchange-rate barrier with the Euro was supposed to be that .
The reality is that the exchange-rate over five years after the abandonment of that is stronger at just below 1.08 .
So a factor in what we might call early mover status is a strong currency .
This also includes the Euro to some extent as we note ECB President Lagarde was on the wires over the weekend .
This allows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as the Yen has remained strong in spite of all the bond buying of the Bank of Japan .
The ECB issued a working paper on this subject in January .
Notice the two swerves which are the use of “ stable nominal payoffs ” and “ minimal credit risk ” .
The latter is especially noticeable for a place like the ECB which insisted there was no credit risk for Greece , which was true for the ECB but not everyone else .
They also note a feature we have been looking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decade now .
The problem for the theory above is that the central banks who love to push such theories ( as it absolves them of blame ) are of course chomping on safe assets like they are their favourite sweets .
Indeed there is a new entrant only this morning , or more accurately an expansion from an existing player .
There are all sorts of issues with that but for today ’ s purpose it is simply that the push towards negative interest-rates will be added to .
Or more specifically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assets .
We can be sure however that should some of these implode it will be nobody ’ s fault as it could not possibly have been predicted .
Meanwhile ordinary purchases around the world continue including in my home country as the Bank of England buys another £1.45 billion of UK bonds or Gilts .
There are other factors in play .
The first is that we need to try to look beyond the present situation as we note this from The Market Ear .
That misses out the scale of all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enormous and gets even larger if we factor in expected purchases .
The US Federal Reserve is buying US $ 80 billion per month of US Treasuries but with its announcement of average inflation targeting seems likely to buy many more Also the same Market Ear piece notes this .
Just no .
What it means is that consumer inflation measures have been manipulated to avoid showing inflation in certain areas .
Thus via Goodhart ’ s Law and/or the Lucas Critique we get economic policy based on boosting prices in these areas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for many they are inflation .
We get another shift because if we introduce the issue of capital we see that up to know bond holders will not care much about negative yields as they have been having quite a party .
Prices have soared beyond many ’ s wildest dreams .
The rub as Shakespeare would put it is that going forwards we face existing high prices and low or negative yields .
It used to be the job of central banks to take the punch bowl away when the party gets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alcohol in the bowl .

by Shaun Richards
The modern era has brought something that has been in motion all my career, although there have been spells which did not feel like that. I am discussing bond yields which have been in a secular decline since the 1980s. Regular readers will be aware that back when I was new to this arena I asked Legal and General why they were buying a UK Gilt that yielded 15%? Younger readers please feel free to delete such a number from your memories if it is all too much. But there is another shift as back then the benchmark was 20 years and not 10. However you look at it from that perspective a world in which both the 2 and 5 year UK bond or Gilt yields were around -0.13% would have been considered impossible it not unpossible.
Germany
These have been the leaders of the pack in terms of negative bond yields. Last week Germany sold a benchmark 10 year bond with no coupon at all. We should take a moment to consider this as a bond is in theory something with a yield or coupon so as it does not have one we are merely left with money being borrowed and then repaid. Except there was a catch there too as not all of it will be repaid. The price paid was 105.13 on average and you will only get 100 back. Or if you prefer a negative yield of the order of 0.5% per year.
This year has brought something that in the past would have ended the situation as this.
The German Federal Government intends to issue fixed income Government securities with an aggregate volume of € 210 billion in 2020 to finance
the Federal Government budget and its special funds.
Became this.
The auction volume in the first two quarters of the current year amounted to € 97 billion for nominal capital market instruments (planned at the beginning of the year: € 78 billion) and € 87.5 billion for money market instruments (planned at the beginning of the year: € 31 billion)…….Due to the adjustments, the third quarter auction volume for nominal capital market instruments will total € 74 billion (planned at the beginning of the year: € 41 billion).
As you can see there were considerably more bonds on offer but it has made little or no difference to investors willingness to accept a maturity loss or negative yield. Oh and maybe even more bonds are on the way.
In non-regular reopenings on 1 and 16 April, a total amount of € 142 billion of already existing Federal securities was issued directly into the Federal government’s own holdings. These transactions created the possibility to react flexibly to short-term liquidity requirements.
So we learn that the previous reality that Germany was benefiting from its austere approach to public finances was not much of an influence. Previously it has been running a fiscal surplus and repaying debt.
Switzerland
The benchmark yield is very similar here as the 10 year yield is -0.49%. There are many similarities in the situation between Germany and Switzerland but one crucial difference which is that Switzerland has its own currency. The Swiss Franc remains very strong in spite of an interest-rate of -0.75% that has begun to look ever more permanent which is an irony as the 1.20 exchange-rate barrier with the Euro was supposed to be that. The reality is that the exchange-rate over five years after the abandonment of that is stronger at just below 1.08.
So a factor in what we might call early mover status is a strong currency. This also includes the Euro to some extent as we note ECB President Lagarde was on the wires over the weekend.
ECB Lagarde Says Euro Gains Have Blunted Stimulus Boost to Inflation … BBG
This allows us to bring in Japan as well as the Yen has remained strong in spite of all the bond buying of the Bank of Japan.
Safe Haven
The ECB issued a working paper on this subject in January.
There is growing academic and policy interest in so called “safe assets”, that is assets that have stable nominal payoffs, are highly liquid and carry minimal credit risk.
Notice the two swerves which are the use of “stable nominal payoffs” and “minimal credit risk”. The latter is especially noticeable for a place like the ECB which insisted there was no credit risk for Greece, which was true for the ECB but not everyone else.
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Anyway it continues.
After the global financial crisis, the demand for safe assets has increased well beyond its supply, leading to an increase in the convenience yield and therefore to the interest that these assets pay. High demand for safe assets has important macroeconomic consequences. The equilibrium safe real interest rate may in fact decline well below zero.
They also note a feature we have been looking at for the best part of a decade now.
In this situation, one of the adjustment mechanisms is the appreciation of the currency of issuance of the safe asset, the so called paradox of the reserve currency.
Quantitative Easing
The problem for the theory above is that the central banks who love to push such theories ( as it absolves them of blame) are of course chomping on safe assets like they are their favourite sweets. Indeed there is a new entrant only this morning, or more accurately an expansion from an existing player.
The Executive Board of the Riksbank has decided to initiate purchases of corporate bonds in the week beginning 14 September 2020. The purchases will keep
companies’ funding costs down and reinforce the Riksbank’s capacity to act if the credit supply to companies were to deteriorate further as a result of the corona pandemic. On 30 June 2020, the Executive Board decided that, within its programme for bond purchases, the Riksbank would offer to purchase corporate bonds to a
nominal amount of SEK 10 billion between 1 September 2020 and 30 June 2021.
There are all sorts of issues with that but for today’s purpose it is simply that the push towards negative interest-rates will be added to. Or more specifically it will increasingly spread to higher risk assets. We can be sure however that should some of these implode it will be nobody’s fault as it could not possibly have been predicted.
Meanwhile ordinary purchases around the world continue including in my home country as the Bank of England buys another £1.45 billion of UK bonds or Gilts.
Comment
There are other factors in play. The first is that we need to try to look beyond the present situation as we note this from The Market Ear.
the feedback loop…”the more governments borrow, the less it seems to cost – giving rise to calls for still more borrowing and spending”. ( Citibank)
That misses out the scale of all the central bank buying which has been enormous and gets even larger if we factor in expected purchases. The US Federal Reserve is buying US $80 billion per month of US Treasuries but with its announcement of average inflation targeting seems likely to buy many more
Also the same Market Ear piece notes this.
The scalability of modern technology means that stimulus is going into asset price inflation, not CPI
Just no. What it means is that consumer inflation measures have been manipulated to avoid showing inflation in certain areas. Thus via Goodhart’s Law and/or the Lucas Critique we get economic policy based on boosting prices in these areas and claiming they are Wealth Effects when for many they are inflation.
We get another shift because if we introduce the issue of capital we see that up to know bond holders will not care much about negative yields as they have been having quite a party. Prices have soared beyond many’s wildest dreams. The rub as Shakespeare would put it is that going forwards we face existing high prices and low or negative yields. It used to be the job of central banks to take the punch bowl away when the party gets going but these days they pour more alcohol in the bowl.
Meanwhile from Friday.
UK SELLS 6-MONTH TREASURY BILL WITH NEGATIVE YIELD AT TENDER, FIRST TIME 6-MONTH BILL SOLD AT NEGATIVE YIELD ( @fiquant )
Podcast


investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--NVIDIA Buys ARM for $40B

NVIDIA Buys ARM for $40B

NVIDIA to Acquire Arm for $ 40 Billion , Creating World ’ s Premier Computing Company for the Age of @ @ @ @

NVIDIA to Acquire Arm for $40 Billion, Creating World’s Premier Computing Company for the Age of AI. t.co/Pj0lR8W03u pic.twitter.com/6fJ9zltWz8
— NVIDIA (@nvidia) September 13, 2020


investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--NOTHING TO SEE HERE. MOVE ALONG. Who Are These ‘Unemployed’ Donors Contributing Nearly Half of Democ

NOTHING TO SEE HERE. MOVE ALONG. Who Are These ‘Unemployed’ Donors Contributing Nearly Half of Democrat Group ActBlue’s Massive Campaign Funds?

The fundraising group ActBlue is the most successful leftwing money group in the country .
In 2019 , they raised more than $ 467 million from 3.7 million donors .
But there are questions where a lot of that money comes from .
More than 40 percent of the cash came from donors who said they were “ unemployed.
” Federal law requires that political donors disclose the name of their employer in giving money .
By contrast , a GOP group called WinRed raised $ 301.8 million in 2019 but only 5 percent of the donors were unemployed .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ group , examined the ActBlue fundraising figures .
They found the discrepancies and are continuing to see if they can track down who these unemployed donors are .
The fear is that foreign sources have been funneling millions of dollars into liberal coffers in violation of U.S. law .
“ After downloading hundreds of millions of [ dollars in ] donations to the Take Back Action Fund servers , we were shocked to see that almost half of the donations to ActBlue in 2019 claimed to be unemployed individuals , ” he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be disclosed when making political donations , but more than 4.7 million donations came from people who claimed they did not have an employer .
Those 4.7 million donations totaled $ 346 million ActBlue raised and sent to liberal causes.
” The trend is continuing this year : An Action Fund examination of 2020 data from January through August showed an uptick in “ unemployed ” donations through ActBlue , to 50.1 % this year .
In 2008 , the FEC fined the Obama for President campaign a record amount for accepting illegal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ small potatoes .
We ’ re looking at hundreds of millions of dollars now — easily enough to sway elections or ballot initiatives — with questionable origins .
“ It is hard to believe that at a time when the U.S. unemployment rate was less than 4 percent , that unemployed people had $ 346 million dollars to send to ActBlue for liberal causes , ” Pudner said , adding that “ 4.7 million donations from people without a job … raised serious concerns .
”

The fundraising group ActBlue is the most successful leftwing money group in the country. In 2019, they raised more than $467 million from 3.7 million donors.
But there are questions where a lot of that money comes from. More than 40 percent of the cash came from donors who said they were “unemployed.” Federal law requires that political donors disclose the name of their employer in giving money.
By contrast, a GOP group called WinRed raised $301.8 million in 2019 but only 5 percent of the donors were unemployed.
Take Back Action Fund, a conservative group, examined the ActBlue fundraising figures. They found the discrepancies and are continuing to see if they can track down who these unemployed donors are.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
The fear is that foreign sources have been funneling millions of dollars into liberal coffers in violation of U.S. law.
Fox News:
“After downloading hundreds of millions of [dollars in] donations to the Take Back Action Fund servers, we were shocked to see that almost half of the donations to ActBlue in 2019 claimed to be unemployed individuals,” he said. “The name of employers must be disclosed when making political donations, but more than 4.7 million donations came from people who claimed they did not have an employer. Those 4.7 million donations totaled $346 million ActBlue raised and sent to liberal causes.” The trend is continuing this year: An Action Fund examination of 2020 data from January through August showed an uptick in “unemployed” donations through ActBlue, to 50.1% this year.
In 2008, the FEC fined the Obama for President campaign a record amount for accepting illegal donations from overseas. But that was small potatoes. We’re looking at hundreds of millions of dollars now — easily enough to sway elections or ballot initiatives — with questionable origins.
“It is hard to believe that at a time when the U.S. unemployment rate was less than 4 percent, that unemployed people had $346 million dollars to send to ActBlue for liberal causes,” Pudner said, adding that “4.7 million donations from people without a job … raised serious concerns.”
pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2020/09/13/who-are-these-unemployed-donors-contributing-nearly-half-of-democrat-group-actblues-massive-campaign-funds-n925065


investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--There is almost no journalism around these days; 99%+ is poorly written leftist propaganda.

The Mueller team intentionally wiped their phones to thwart an investigation into their work .
Stunning revelation about something that @ @ @ @ @ to debunked claim from anonymous sources .
Note disparity in media coverage .

The Mueller team intentionally wiped their phones to thwart an investigation into their work. Stunning revelation about something that actually happened, as opposed to debunked claim from anonymous sources. Note disparity in media coverage.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) September 11, 2020


investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--CONTRA TODAY’S NARRATIVE: Flashback: Fauci: The Response Of Trump Admin Has Been Impressive, I Can’t

CONTRA TODAY’S NARRATIVE: Flashback: Fauci: The Response Of Trump Admin Has Been Impressive, I Can’t Imagine Anybody Could Be Doing More.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says the White House Coronavirus Task Force is working around the clock to fight the coronavirus outbreak @ @ @ @ @ Levin on FNC ’ s ‘ Life , Liberty & Levin.
’ Fauci said Trump @ @ @ @ @ the science of coronavirus on ‘ Life , Liberty & Levin .
’

Dr. Anthony Fauci says the White House Coronavirus Task Force is working around the clock to fight the coronavirus outbreak in an interview with Mark Levin on FNC’s ‘Life, Liberty & Levin.’ Fauci said Trump has never challenged him on the science of coronavirus on ‘Life, Liberty & Levin.’
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www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/03/23/fauci_the_response_of_trump_admin_has_been_impressive_i_cant_imagine_anybody_could_be_doing_more.html


investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--INDIAN ASTROLOGER SAYS TRUMP WILL WIN THE ELECTION

Ayurvedic Astrologer from India predicts DONALD TRUMP WILL WIN THE 2020 ELECTION !
“ No matter what the circumstances are @ @ @ @ @ world , the next President of the United States of America will be Mr. Donald @ @ @ @ @ win .
”

Ayurvedic Astrologer from India predicts DONALD TRUMP WILL WIN THE 2020 ELECTION!
“No matter what the circumstances are in the USA or the world, the next President of the United States of America will be Mr. Donald Trump. He will definitely win.”
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
AC


investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--Pelosi to Britain: ‘No chance’ of a U.S. trade deal if you jeopardize the Good Friday accord – REPUB

Pelosi to Britain: ‘No chance’ of a U.S. trade deal if you jeopardize the Good Friday accord – REPUBLICANS APPROVE

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the U.K. can forget about Congressional approval for a free-trade deal with the U.S. if Britain ’ s withdrawal from the European Union imperils an agreement that ended conflict in Northern Ireland .
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing a backlash from the EU and from within his own ruling Conservative Party after his government said it ’ s making plans to break its commitments to the bloc over the Irish border .
Pelosi said that the U.K. must ensure the free flow of goods across the border , as agreed in Britain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year .
Last year ’ s accord gave Northern Ireland the same trade rules as the EU to avoid customs checks at the land border between Ireland and Northern Ireland , a key part of the Good Friday Agreement two decades go that ended years of bloodshed .
A U.K. bill published on Wednesday would allow ministers to override parts of that accord .
“ If the U.K. violates that international treaty and Brexit undermines the Good Friday accord , there will be absolutely no chance of a U.S.-U.K. trade agreement passing the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s top elected Democrat , said in a statement Wednesday .
And rightly so , if Brits will try to blackmail the European union with the Irish dispute , bring instability and religious tension amongst the Irish , then surely they don ’ t deserve anything , let alone a deal The Good Friday Agreement ( GFA ) , or Belfast Agreement ( Irish : Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste ; Ulster-Scots : Guid Friday Greeance or Bilfawst Greeance ) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Troubles , a political conflict in Northern Ireland that had been ongoing since the 1960s .
It served as a major development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s .
Northern Ireland ’ s present devolved system of government is based on the agreement .
The agreement also created a number of institutions between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland , and between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom .
Issues relating to sovereignty , civil and cultural rights , decommissioning of weapons , demilitarisation , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agreement .
The agreement was approved by voters across the island of Ireland in two referendums held on 22 May 1998 .
In Northern Ireland , voters were asked in the 1998 Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement referendum whether they supported the multi-party agreement .
In the Republic of Ireland , voters were asked whether they would allow the state to sign the agreement and allow necessary constitutional changes ( Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland ) to facilitate it .
The people of both jurisdictions needed to approve the agreement in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The British–Irish Agreement came into force on 2 December 1999 .
The Democratic Unionist Party ( DUP ) was the only major political group in Northern Ireland to oppose the Good Friday Agreement .

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the U.K. can forget about Congressional approval for a free-trade deal with the U.S. if Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union imperils an agreement that ended conflict in Northern Ireland.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing a backlash from the EU and from within his own ruling Conservative Party after his government said it’s making plans to break its commitments to the bloc over the Irish border. Pelosi said that the U.K. must ensure the free flow of goods across the border, as agreed in Britain’s deal with the EU last year.
Last year’s accord gave Northern Ireland the same trade rules as the EU to avoid customs checks at the land border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, a key part of the Good Friday Agreement two decades go that ended years of bloodshed. A U.K. bill published on Wednesday would allow ministers to override parts of that accord.
“If the U.K. violates that international treaty and Brexit undermines the Good Friday accord, there will be absolutely no chance of a U.S.-U.K. trade agreement passing the Congress,” Pelosi, the nation’s top elected Democrat, said in a statement Wednesday.
fortune.com/2020/09/10/pelosi-britain-brexit-good-friday-accord/
And rightly so, if Brits will try to blackmail the European union with the Irish dispute, bring instability and religious tension amongst the Irish, then surely they don’t deserve anything, let alone a deal
Good Friday Agreement
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The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement (Irish: Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste; Ulster-Scots: Guid Friday Greeance or Bilfawst Greeance) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, a political conflict in Northern Ireland that had been ongoing since the 1960s. It served as a major development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s. Northern Ireland’s present devolved system of government is based on the agreement. The agreement also created a number of institutions between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Issues relating to sovereignty, civil and cultural rights, decommissioning of weapons, demilitarisation, justice and policing were central to the agreement.
The agreement was approved by voters across the island of Ireland in two referendums held on 22 May 1998. In Northern Ireland, voters were asked in the 1998 Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement referendum whether they supported the multi-party agreement. In the Republic of Ireland, voters were asked whether they would allow the state to sign the agreement and allow necessary constitutional changes (Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland) to facilitate it. The people of both jurisdictions needed to approve the agreement in order to give effect to it.
The British–Irish Agreement came into force on 2 December 1999. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) was the only major political group in Northern Ireland to oppose the Good Friday Agreement.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Friday_Agreement
AC


investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--Germany halts harvest! Bans agriculture! Even forestry! More food shortage measures!

This is insane and more proof they are doing this on purpose !
!
!
Lots of good links on @ @ @

This is insane and more proof they are doing this on purpose!!!
Lots of good links on this site:
Germany Stops Harvest, Bans Agriculture as African Swine Fever Reaches Europe
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www.iceagefarmer.com/2020/09/12/germany-stops-harvest-bans-agriculture-as-african-swine-fever-reaches-europe/
KZ


investmentwatchblog--2020-09-14--Devastating Wildfires Continue To Blaze Across California, Oregon And Washington

( Natural News ) Historic wildfires continued to blaze through the US west coast , causing tragic loss of life , the destruction of homes and a bright orange haze obscuring the skies as seen from San Francisco .
The fires , which started last month due to unusual lightning storms , have been raging out of control from Southern California , through Oregon and up into Washington , according to Financial Times .
In California , the North Complex Fire , a monstrous group of blazes that includes the fast-moving Bear Fire , has spread to cover more than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ claiming 10 lives in Butte County .
Thick smoke and ash from the blazing fires are also mixing with cooler air from the Pacific Ocean , blocking the sun .
This had the effect of blanketing San Francisco in an eerie , orange haze .
Parts of Oroville in California are also under urgent evacuation orders as the North Complex Fire threatens to spread further north to neighboring Oregon .
State officials in Oregon put the damage at almost 900,000 acres .
The raging fires there have also devastated entire communities , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Vida in Lane County and Phoenix and Talent in Jackson County .
“ We have never seen this amount of uncontained fire across our state , ” said Oregon Governor Kate Brown .
In all , five of the state ’ s largest fires are still about one percent contained due to strong winds .
During a virtual news conference , Brown has also announced that an evacuation order had been put in place for the Molalla area , where two fires being monitored are expected to merge .
Meanwhile , dozens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Cascades mountain range in Washington , burning at least five towns , reported Seattle Times .
More than 3.1 million acres have burned in California so far during this year ’ s fire season , according to officials from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Agency ( CAL FIRE ) .
In fact , six of the state ’ s 20 largest fires recorded to date have occurred in 2020 , added CAL FIRE .
The fires have also burned more than 3,900 structures , and at least 14,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But despite these record-breaking figures , CAL FIRE spokesman Daniel Berlant said Thursday that this number could continue to increase as this year ’ s fire season is far from over .
This unprecedented firestorm has also prompted the Forest Service of the US Department of Agriculture to temporarily close all 18 of California ’ s national forests in a bid to protect the public .
But despite state efforts to curb the spread of the fires , firefighters have been hard-pressed to contain major blazes due to unstable weather conditions , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fires to neighboring states .
On top of the insurmountable damage , the fires raging in California , Oregon and Washington are also generating bad air throughout the entire West Coast .
It has even extended far out into the Pacific Ocean .
Given this blanket of orange haze , state authorities are urging residents to prepare for unhealthy air quality .
In particular , health officials are primarily concerned about fine particles found in smoke .
If inhaled , these particles could cause health problems like itching and shortness of breath , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health and exposure assessment branch in the research division of the California Air Resources Board .
People with preexisting lung or heart conditions and pregnant women are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of exposure to wildfire smoke .
If smoke is present , Holmes-Gen recommends closing windows and turning on the air-conditioning to create a clean air space inside the house .
Moreover , given the COVID-19 pandemic , it is even more important to protect oneself from air pollution due to wildfires , she added .
Doing so can help minimize @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could lead to hospitalization or death .
( Related : Study : Deaths in intensive care units for coronavirus patients are declining . )
Read the latest articles about the ongoing California wildfire situation at ClimateScienceNews.com .
Editor ’ s Note : Fire shown in featured image is the ongoing “ Bobcat Fire ” : It ’ s a screenshot via the LA County Fire Department , on this page , used for the sole purpose of education .

by Divina Ramirez via Natural News
(Natural News) Historic wildfires continued to blaze through the US west coast, causing tragic loss of life, the destruction of homes and a bright orange haze obscuring the skies as seen from San Francisco.
The fires, which started last month due to unusual lightning storms, have been raging out of control from Southern California, through Oregon and up into Washington, according to Financial Times.
In California, the North Complex Fire, a monstrous group of blazes that includes the fast-moving Bear Fire, has spread to cover more than 200,000 acres northeast of San Francisco, claiming 10 lives in Butte County.
Thick smoke and ash from the blazing fires are also mixing with cooler air from the Pacific Ocean, blocking the sun. This had the effect of blanketing San Francisco in an eerie, orange haze.
Parts of Oroville in California are also under urgent evacuation orders as the North Complex Fire threatens to spread further north to neighboring Oregon. State officials in Oregon put the damage at almost 900,000 acres.
The raging fires there have also devastated entire communities, including Detroit in Marion County, Blue River and Vida in Lane County and Phoenix and Talent in Jackson County.
“We have never seen this amount of uncontained fire across our state,” said Oregon Governor Kate Brown. In all, five of the state’s largest fires are still about one percent contained due to strong winds.
During a virtual news conference, Brown has also announced that an evacuation order had been put in place for the Molalla area, where two fires being monitored are expected to merge.
Meanwhile, dozens of wildfires are burning on both sides of the Cascades mountain range in Washington, burning at least five towns, reported Seattle Times.
Firefighters stretched thin as fires spread to neighboring states
More than 3.1 million acres have burned in California so far during this year’s fire season, according to officials from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Agency (CAL FIRE).
In fact, six of the state’s 20 largest fires recorded to date have occurred in 2020, added CAL FIRE. The fires have also burned more than 3,900 structures, and at least 14,000 firefighters are still out battling major fires.
But despite these record-breaking figures, CAL FIRE spokesman Daniel Berlant said Thursday that this number could continue to increase as this year’s fire season is far from over.
This unprecedented firestorm has also prompted the Forest Service of the US Department of Agriculture to temporarily close all 18 of California’s national forests in a bid to protect the public.
But despite state efforts to curb the spread of the fires, firefighters have been hard-pressed to contain major blazes due to unstable weather conditions, leading to the eventual spread of the fires to neighboring states.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Fires are generating unhealthy air conditions
On top of the insurmountable damage, the fires raging in California, Oregon and Washington are also generating bad air throughout the entire West Coast. It has even extended far out into the Pacific Ocean. Given this blanket of orange haze, state authorities are urging residents to prepare for unhealthy air quality.
In particular, health officials are primarily concerned about fine particles found in smoke. If inhaled, these particles could cause health problems like itching and shortness of breath, said Bonnie Holmes-Gen, chief of the health and exposure assessment branch in the research division of the California Air Resources Board.
People with preexisting lung or heart conditions and pregnant women are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of exposure to wildfire smoke. If smoke is present, Holmes-Gen recommends closing windows and turning on the air-conditioning to create a clean air space inside the house.
Moreover, given the COVID-19 pandemic, it is even more important to protect oneself from air pollution due to wildfires, she added. Doing so can help minimize the risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes that could lead to hospitalization or death. (Related: Study: Deaths in intensive care units for coronavirus patients are declining.)
Read the latest articles about the ongoing California wildfire situation at ClimateScienceNews.com.
Sources include:
FT.com
OregonLive.com
SeattleTimes.com
Fire.ca.gov
LATimes.com
WBUR.org
*****
Editor’s Note: Fire shown in featured image is the ongoing “Bobcat Fire”:
It’s a screenshot via the LA County Fire Department, on this page, used for the sole purpose of education.