Big government, big banks, and big tech are now all on the same side in the war against cash. Government — we all know about already. Big banks — they do not want to see the users of cash in retail transactions (for goods and services) getting keener prices than the users of their electronic payment systems. They use their oligopoly power to suppress as far as possible any such differential emerging (as would be the case in a free market) and so expand the market for their plastic alternative. Big Tech — Amazon would suffer a hemorrhage if its present customers could … Continue reading →

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Wednesday morning, President Trump jolted the nation with a tweet that contained both threat and taunt: “Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’ You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!” Trump was responding to a warning by Russia that she would shoot down U.S. missiles fired at her Syrian allies, and she reserved the right to fire on U.S. warships and bases from which any such missiles were launched. The “Gas Killing Animal” … Continue reading →

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The criminally insane governments of the US, UK, and France are sending a flotilla of missile ships, submarines, and an aircraft carrier to attack Syria in the face of Russian warnings. What is the likely outcome of this outrageous act of agression based entirely on an orchestrated and transparent lie, an act of reckless aggression that is more irresponsible and more dangerous than anything done by the demonized Nazi regime in Germany? There are no protests from European governments. There are no protesters in the streets of European and US cities. Congress has not reminded Trump that he has been … Continue reading →

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There were more signs of a retail apocalypse in the first quarter of this year. Defaults by retail companies rated by Moody’s hit an all-time high in Q1. There were a total of nine defaults among Moody’s-rated retail corporates. According to Wolf Street, total corporate defaults in Q1 were up 22% from last year, and the nine retailer defaults accounted for nearly 1/3 of them. As Wolf Street put it, these are not mom-and-pop stores.  These are retailers large enough to be rated by Moody’s –  “corporations that make up the core of the Brick-and-Mortar Meltdown.” Here are some of the retail companies that defaulted … Continue reading →

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Confessedly, I know virtually nothing about the Canadian publication, the National Post. Yet I know more about the Post than one of its contributors, Robert Fulford, knows about Paul Gottfried, the American conservative movement, and the so-called “alt-right,” for of these subjects Fulford knows nothing. This, though, didn’t deter him from presuming to speak to them. So, I know this much about the National Post:  It lost whatever credibility it may have had when it decided to publish Fulford’s hit piece on Gottfried, a retired academic and veteran scholar of European and American intellectual history who Fulford ominously characterizes as … Continue reading →

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Right now, the sun is a cueball, as seen below in this image today from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and has been without sunspots for 10 days. So far in 2018, 61% of days have been without sunspots. IMAGE: NASA SDO Via Robert Zimmerman, Behind The Black On Sunday NOAA posted its monthly update of the solar cycle, covering sunspot activity for March 2018. Below is my annotated version of that graph. March 2018 was the least active month for sunspots since the middle of 2009, almost nine years ago. In fact, activity in the past few months has been so … Continue reading →

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There is a vast industry in the United States that wants a hot war with Syria and Iran as well as increased confrontation with Russia and China. It is appropriate to refer to it as an industry because it has many components and is largely driven by money, much of which itself comes from Wall Street and major corporations that profit from war related business. Some prefer to refer to this monster as the Military Industrial Complex, but since that phrase was coined by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1961, it has grown enormously, developing a political dimension that includes … Continue reading →

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Justin’s note: Stop saying offensive words. That’s what the Associated Press (AP) is telling writers. You see, the AP puts out a stylebook every year that includes universal guidelines for stylistic matters like punctuation, capitalization, and even word choice. In a recent version, the AP encouraged writers to not use words such as “pro-life,” “migrant,” “refugee,” “Islamist,” and “terrorist.” It’s completely ludicrous. Yet, sadly, it’s a sign of the times. In the interview below, Doug Casey tears down the AP’s blacklist and discusses why this is happening… Justin: Doug, what do you think of the AP censoring writers? Are you surprised at … Continue reading →

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Justin’s note: Stop saying offensive words. That’s what the Associated Press (AP) is telling writers. You see, the AP puts out a stylebook every year that includes universal guidelines for stylistic matters like punctuation, capitalization, and even word choice. In a recent version, the AP encouraged writers to not use words such as “pro-life,” “migrant,” “refugee,” “Islamist,” and “terrorist.” It’s completely ludicrous. Yet, sadly, it’s a sign of the times. In the interview below, Doug Casey tears down the AP’s blacklist and discusses why this is happening… Justin: Doug, what do you think of the AP censoring writers? Are you surprised at … Continue reading →

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