- Evidence Indicates French Government Coverup Of ISIS Involvement In Kardashian Paris Incident
The 2016 robbery of Kim Kardashian sent shockwaves around the globe and caused observers to question the efficiency of France’s state of emergency. However, the incident may have been more serious than authorities and the press have previously admitted. Research by Disobedient Media has revealed that the French government may be attempting to conceal the involvement of terror group ISIS in Kardashian’s robbery to prevent further public panic over the event.
Conflicting facts given by sources to the media, analysis of the criminal group allegedly behind the attack given the known involvement of terror groups in organized crime, the French government’s apparent mishandling of the investigation into the robbery and reports that the proceeds from the heist made their way into the hands of jihadists all suggest that authorities may be seeking to conceal the involvement of terrorism in the incident.
I. Timeline Of The Paris Incident
The facts of Kardashian’s robbery are muddled and confused even months after the event occurred, but a basic timeline of events still can be constructed. On October 3rd, 2016, The Guardian and other outlets reported that a group of five armed assailants wearing masks and police armbands approached the Hotel Pourtales in Paris both on foot and riding bicycles. The group was captured on a CCTV security camera in a nearby nail salon as they came and went from the incident.
- CCTV footage showing one of the intruders donning a mask as he approaches the Hotel Pourtales on foot
The men made their way into the hotel just a few minutes after 2:30 AM, where they restrained the hotel’s concierge. AP reported that they then took Kim Kardashian hostage in her hotel room, restraining her with zip ties and locking her in the bathroom. The celebrity oddly was alone and did not have any security present with her that night. Kardashian feared that she would be raped as she was held at gunpoint.
Evidence indicates that Kardashian’s attackers may have originally intended to kidnap her. CCTV footage taken from a shoe shop near the Hotel Pourtales caught a black car with tinted windows passing by the hotel just four minutes after the attackers entered. It circled the block and passed by two additional times.
The presence of a vehicle circling the block just minutes after a breach of the premises is a disturbing sign that the intruders were likely not only after Kardashian’s jewelry, but attempted to take her with them. An employee from the shoe shop where the camera was located stated that French police had spent more than 30 minutes viewing and analyzing the footage.
- CCTV footage showing a black car with tinted windows passing the Hotel Pourtales at 2:45 AM for the second time while the attack occurred
It appears that after entering the Hotel Pourtales however, the intruders may have struck a hitch in their plans and had to exit the premises in haste. Reports have indicated that Kardashian’s stylist Simon Harouche was in a different room nearby Kardashian and apparently contacted members of her security detail to raise the alarm. The attackers left, taking a large amount of Kardashian’s jewelry worth over €10 million as well as a number of cell phones and €1,000 in cash. In their rush to escape the premises, the robbers dropped a jeweled cross outside the Hotel Pourtales which was found by a pedestrian several days after the attack and handed over the police.
People Magazine reported that Kardashian was somehow able to subsequently free herself from the zip ties that had been used to restrain her and call for help. But Daily Mail has cast aspersions on this claim, pointing out that zip ties are designed to tighten, not loosen when moved. They can be broken if pulled apart with great force, but survival experts warn that trying to break free in this manner will likely cut ones wrists. Kardashian did not display any such injuries after the incident.
In the United States, Kardashian’s husband Kanye West immediately walked off the stage of a show at the New York City festival The Meadows to rush to Paris and bring her home. On October 4th, 2016, Page Six reported that West suffered a nervous breakdown the day after the attack and fired 30 staffers from his Yeezus Season 4 fashion show. Media outlets blamed the incident on stress caused by a underperforming fashion show, totally ignoring the fact that West’s wife had been attacked just one day prior.
On January 9th, 2017, multiple media outlets reported that French police had arrested 17 individuals in connection with the robbery, confiscating a number of firearms and more than €140,000 in cash. Daily Mail reported that the arrestees included the chauffeur who had been driving Kardashian around Paris the week of the incident.
II. Misinformation About The Robbery, Conflicting Facts Were Promoted By French And American Media
In the months following the Paris incident, the media engaged in a frenzy of reporting on the robbery, promoting a large amount of information which conflicts with government records and expert testimony.
On October 27th, 2016, the concierge from the hotel, identified only by his first name, Abdulrahman, gave an interview to Entertainment Tonight where he claimed, among other things, that the attackers were looking primarily for cash instead of Kardashian’s jewelry. His statements directly contradict the contents of Kim Kardashian’s police report, which was obtained by Le Journal du Dimanche (an English version can be found here) where she stated that the robbers immediately asked her for her ring, and for her other jewelry immediately afterwards. She also told police that her phones had been stolen and that she could only be reached through her bodyguard. But video taken by an unknown individual in the hotel soon after police arrived shows Kardashian huddled on the couch using a cell phone. Radar Online published the video, asking where Kardashian obtained the phone from and citing security experts who wondered why there had been no cameras installed within her room for security per standard procedure. The online publication was forced to remove the video after legal threats from Kim Kardashian’s lawyers, raising questions about whether or not they were attempting to conceal evidence that she made false statements to the French police.
- Screengrab from the video obtained by Radar Online showing Kardashian using a cell phone after police arrived on the scene
Though a number of the attackers appeared to approach the hotel on bicycles, several others did so on foot. Media outlets mentioned the CCTV footage which caught the attackers approaching the Hotel Pourtales, but only ran footage showing the assailants on bikes and omitted to mention the individuals who approached on foot in an apparent attempt to spin a false narrative about the incident. But CNN ran an interview with former jewel thief turned security consultant Larry Lawton and former Kardashian bodyguard Steve Stanulis where Lawton stated that it is common for robbers to move a few blocks before making their getaway in a van or truck. The notion that the attackers attempted to escape on foot and by bicycle does not seem consistent with what appeared to be a very thorough and well thought out operation.
On February 20, 2017, the Mirror ran a bizarre article where they showed footage run by French TV broadcaster TF1 which they claimed showed “surveillance tape” footage of Kardashians attackers. However, the images were zoomed in, focused on the subjects and very clearly taken by an individual using a telephoto lens, rather than on CCTV or any other kind of surveillance camera. The broadcast appeared to be a strange attempt by the French media outlet to misrepresent information about the case.
- Image run by French broadcaster TF1 claiming to show “surveillance tape” footage of one of the attackers
III. Evidence Indicating ISIS Involvement In Kardashian’s Robbery
In February 2017, Disobedient Media published an analysis piece which referenced studies by the French anti-counterfeiting agency Union des Fabricants (UNIFAB) highlighting the growing involvement of ISIS in petty crime such as counterfeiting and The International Centre For The Study Of Radicalisation And Political Violence, who reported last year that “up to 40 per cent of terrorist plots in Europe are at least part-financed through ‘petty crime,’ especially drug-dealing, theft, robberies, the sale of counterfeit goods, loan fraud, and burglaries.” ISIS supporters have also penned and distributed guides teaching readers how to establish “Muslim gangs” in an effort to fuse organized crime and terror in Western Europe.
On January 24th, 2017, Radar Online cited an official from Interpol who informed them that the stolen jewels had made their way into the hands of money launderers connected to jihadist groups, as well as a European official involved with tracking terror funding networks who said that the proceeds of the haul had gone to terror groups. Radar also spoke with David Levine, a professor at the University of California-Berkeley who stated that terror groups are commonly funded by the sale of black market gems. Hollywood tabloid Gossip Cop claimed that Radar’s article was false but offered no proof for this beyond citing “sources close to Kardashian.”
On January 28th, 2017, Daily Mail reported that Aomar Ait Khedache, the alleged ringleader of Kardashian’s attackers, told French police that his team took the stolen jewelry to Antwerp, Belgium where they had it melted down and sold on the black market. The Financial Action Task Force has designated Belgium as one of several locations in Europe where organized crime funds terrorist groups.
In the aftermath of the attack, The Sun reported that Kardashian majorly ramped up security, purchasing an armored car and hiring former members of the Secret Service, CIA and Israeli Special Forces. Daily Mail also reported that Kardashian was adding a $100,000 panic room to her home in Los Angeles. Ynet News reported that Aaron Cohen, one of Kardashian’s Israeli hires had been a member of Israel’s elite Duvdevan Unit. Cohen has trained soldiers around the world in fighting terrorism. The drastic security increases and employment of individuals with explicit counter-terror backgrounds suggests that Kardashian’s attackers were likely more than mere jewel thieves.
IV. The French Government Is Covering Up ISIS Involvement To Prevent Fears About Security Failures
There are a number of concerning indications that the French government has no intention of properly investigating the Kardashian robbery and may in fact be attempting to cover up details of the incident to prevent further embarrassment. As Kardashian left Paris the day after the attack, Daily Mail ran an interview with Matt Fiddes, Michael Jackson’s former bodyguard, where he expressed surprise at the French government’s decision to allow Kardashian to leave the country so quickly and noted that it is common procedure for victims of serious crimes to assist police and prosecutors with inquiries for at least a few days. Kardashian has still not returned to Paris since the incident, possibly due to reports in tabloids that Kanye West will not allow it out of fears for his wife’s safety.
The French government has routinely displayed a disinterest in speaking to any of the key witnesses who actually interacted with the attackers in the Hotel Pourtales. Despite being labeled a key witness by the media, the concierge at the hotel who was one of the only individuals to see the intruders face to face appears to remain outside of France, and is being denied re-entry by authorities. On January 9th, 2017 the concierge spoke with Daily Mail and revealed that he had left for Algeria to recover from the stress of the attack. He stated that the French authorities were refusing to renew his residence permit so that he could return to France, and that investigators had not contacted him to identify the suspects who were arrested. These details are troubling indications that France is more concerned with suppressing details about the attack than conducting a transparent and fair investigation into the incident.
French police have also insisted that there was no CCTV footage or cameras installed in the Hotel Pourtales. On October 5th, 2016, Fox News interviewed several security experts with backgrounds in law enforcement and private investigation who expressed skepticism about these claims given the relative cheapness of security surveillance equipment and the high end, prestigious nature of the Hotel Pourtales. The experts stated that the claimed lack of security cameras indicated that either French authorities were lying about this fact, or that Kardashian’s security team was so utterly compromised that the attackers had foreknowledge of this blatant weakness. The Hotel Pourtales and Paris police department refused to comment to Fox News when the media outlet reached out with questions.
An alleged coverup of ISIS involvement in Kardashian’s robbery would not be the first time that the French government engaged in unethical censorship to keep details about terror attacks from the public. In July 2016, online publication Heat Street translated and published a report by France’s Commission of Inquiry which revealed that the attackers of the Bataclan Theater in the November 2015 Paris terror attacks subjected victims to horrific torture, including disembowelment, cutting off body parts while victims were still alive, decapitation and other actions too graphic to put into print while videoing the acts for future use in propaganda. French lawmakers were outraged when prosecutors tried to claim that these details were just “rumors” despite a preponderance of evidence that this was not the case.
The involvement of ISIS in the Kardashian attack would be a major blow to French efforts to ramp up security in the city after ISIS killed hundreds there in 2015. The day of Kardashian’s robbery, The Washington Post noted that the incident would do nothing but fuel already heightened concerns about the security situation in Paris and would create doubts about France’s state of emergency which was ostensibly put in place to prevent further terror attacks. BBC News has noted that there were a million fewer tourists visiting Paris in 2016 compared with the year before. To admit that not even an A-list celebrity was beyond the reach of terror groups operating in France would continue to cripple the vital tourism industry, which makes up more than 7% of France’s annual GDP.
The facts surrounding the Kardashian robbery indicate that both authorities and various outlets of the media have not only ignored telltale signs that terror was a factor at play, but in some cases have actively sought to minimize or ignore evidence in the case. Given the unwillingness of the French government to address the increasing involvement of terrorism in European organized crime and its focus on prioritizing the prevention of public alarm at the true state of affairs in Paris, France could continue to remain unsafe, even for the rich and famous, despite the country’s longstanding state of emergency.
- Sheelah Kolhatkar: Hedge Funds Are The Robber Barons Of Our Time
Authored by Adam Taggart via PeakProsperity.com,
Sheelah Kolhatkar, former hedge fund analyst and staff writer at the New Yorker, thinks hedge funds have enjoyed enormous unfair advantages for far too long.
In her recent book Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street, she details out how many hedge funds use financial engineering and accounting tricks — even illegal insider information — to fill their coffers at investor expense. And then they use those ill-gotten gains to influence politics.
The hedge fund industry grew up quietly out of almost nothing into this enormous force on Wall Street. There's almost $3 trillion estimated to be under management at hedge funds around the world — but hedge funds are lightly regulated, so we don’t always know what's going on in that sector.
The people who have founded many of these hedge funds have become enormously wealthy. They have become the new robber barons of our time. The most successful among them have amassed multi-billion dollar fortunes largely based on trading and extracting very large fees from their investors for trading their money.
These people now exert outside influence in our society, including as major political donors and lobbyists and in the world of philanthropy and other areas as well. So, I always like to keep an eye on that world — I think there’s a lot going on there that explains what’s going on in Washington, and we don’t always realize it’s connected.
In this podcast, Chris and Sheelah discuss the racket the hedge funds run, and as a case study, give close examination to the US government's tortured (and ultimately, unsuccessful) efforts to convict hedge fund kingpin Steve Cohen of SAC Capital on insider trading charges. Given their vast resources and paid influence, these modern robber barons remain practically untouchable.
Click the play button below to listen to Chris' interview with Sheelah Kolhatkar (44m:50s).
- The Balance of Gold and Silver, Report 2 April, 2017
Last week, we discussed the growing stress in the credit markets. We noted this is a reason to buy gold, and likely the reason why gold buying has ticked up since just before Christmas.
Many people live in countries where another paper scrip is declared to be money—to picture the absurdity, just imagine a king declaring that the tide must roll back and not get his feet wet when his throne is placed on the beach—not real money like the US dollar. It should be obvious, but we have seen much disinformation out there promoting the idea that the dollar is collapsing. Most of the time, most of these people buy dollars as the escape hatch from their native currencies.
They buy the dollar first, and gold (for now) is a distant second.
That leads to the question of silver. Do they buy silver in equal measure as gold, or is silver a distant second to gold, as gold is a distant second to the dollar?
Theory tells us that gold is more portable. It is much, much more portable. First, the same weight of gold is about half the volume of silver. A 1oz gold Maple Leaf coin (which is pure gold) is much smaller than a 1oz silver Maple. And right now, the value of an ounce of gold is just about 70 times greater than the value of an ounce of silver. The math works out that the same value of silver is 126X more bulky than gold.
If you are paying for storage, that may be important. It sure is, if you are thinking you may need to carry it on your person. A gold bar worth $120,000 would fit in your trouser pocket (a bit heavy at 3kg, but you could do it). That much silver would be almost 7 of those big bars which are the size of small loaves of bread. Each. All that silver would weigh about as much as two heavyweight boxers.
Gold is also more liquid.
What does the data tell us about demand for silver relative to gold right now?
We will look at that below in the only true picture of supply and demand in the gold and silver markets. But first, the price and ratio charts.
The Prices of Gold and Silver
Next, this is a graph of the gold price measured in silver, otherwise known as the gold to silver ratio. It moved down this week. Is it approaching a line of support?
The Ratio of the Gold Price to the Silver Price
For each metal, we will look at a graph of the basis and cobasis overlaid with the price of the dollar in terms of the respective metal. It will make it easier to provide brief commentary. The dollar will be represented in green, the basis in blue and cobasis in red.
Here is the gold graph.
The Gold Basis and Cobasis and the Dollar Price
The price of the dollar fell a bit more (this is the inverse of the rising price of gold, measured in dollars, +$14). But look at that move in the cobasis (i.e. the red line, our measure of scarcity). What does it mean when the price of gold rises, but the metal becomes more scarce?
We have been saying for a few weeks that fundamental buying—when people take real metal home, presumably not to bring it back to the market for the foreseeable future—is “sputtering”. Last week, gold buying this week was biased towards speculation on futures. This week, the bias is back to physical metal.
Our calculated fundamental price of gold is up over $30. It’s just a hair under $200 over the market price. Gold is being offered at a quite a discount.
Now let’s look at silver.
The Silver Basis and Cobasis and the Dollar Price
Uh oh. We can see immediately, that the cobasis has fallen in silver about 2/3 as much as it rose in gold. Granted, the price of silver rose 2.9% whereas that of gold went up only 0.5%. The speculators were much more aggressive in the silver market, as they often are.
Our calculated silver fundamental price is up about 40 cents, whereas the market price was up 51 cents. The silver fundamental price is now about $0.80 over the market.
Getting back to our question at the top, we can see in the data that people buy first gold when they fear credit stress and default. Speculators can temporarily move the price quite a lot, as they attempt to front-run the market. So, naturally, they are focusing on the silver market as the general rule when gold goes up, silver goes up more. That may be true when central banks’ stimulus efforts are successful in causing an increase in production of goods, including goods that contain silver.
Less so, when metal buyers are not buying to consume but to opt out of the banking system.
There are people who buy silver metal in preference to gold, for example those who cannot afford to buy gold. But at this stage, the balance favors gold.
We calculate a fundamental gold-silver ratio of about 75.8.
© 2017 Monetary Metals
- REPORT: Mike Cernovich Reveals Obama Natl Security Advisor Susan Rice Responsible For Unmasking Trump Team
Journalist and author Mike Cernovich has just dropped an exclusive bombshell – naming Obama’s National Security Advisor Susan Rice as the official responsible for the ‘unmasking’ of the incoming Trump team during ‘incidental’ surveillance. This was apparently discovered after the White House Counsel’s office reviewed Rice’s document log requests:
The reports Rice requested to see are kept under tightly-controlled conditions. Each person must log her name before being granted access to them.
Upon learning of Rice’s actions, [National Security Advisor] H. R. McMaster dispatched his close aide Derek Harvey to Capitol Hill to brief Chairman Nunes.
Cernovich points out, as revealed in an article by Circa, that President Obama began loosening the rules regarding “incidental intercepts” starting in 2011 – making it easier for the US Government to spy on individuals who are not the primary target(s) of a surveillance operation.
As his presidency drew to a close, Barack Obama’s top aides routinely reviewed intelligence reports gleaned from the National Security Agency’s incidental intercepts of Americans abroad, taking advantage of rules their boss relaxed starting in 2011 to help the government better fight terrorism, espionage by foreign enemies and hacking threats
And guess who had authorization to unmask individuals who were ‘incidentally’ surveilled? Former CIA Director John Brennan, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and Obama’s National Security advisor Susan Rice.
Also of note is the claim that New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman has been sitting on the Susan Rice story for at least two days:
This reporter has been informed that Maggie Haberman has had this story about Susan Rice for at least 48 hours, and has chosen to sit on it in an effort to protect the reputation of former President Barack Obama.
Fox News anchor Adam Housley tweeted on Friday that the surveillance that led to the unmasking began before Trump was the GOP nominee:
Our sources: This surveillance that led to the unmasking of private names of American citizens started before Trump was the GOP nominee.
— Adam Housley (@adamhousley) March 31, 2017
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Housley also said that the person who did the unmasking is a “very senior” and “very well known” person in the surveillance community – and not someone in the FBI.
Our sources:The person who did the unmasking is “very well known, very high up, very senior, in the intelligence world & is not in the FBI
— Adam Housley (@adamhousley) March 31, 2017
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It seems the spreading of names was done for “political purposes that have nothing to do with national security,” or foreign intelligence, but hurting Trump’s team, Housley noted.
“It had everything to do with hurting and embarrassing Trump and his team,” according to his sources. –TownHall
This of course begs the question of whether or not President Obama would have ordered Rice to perform the unmasking…
Content originally generated at iBankCoin.com * Follow on Twitter @ZeroPointNow
- Experts Warn A Single North Korean Nuke Could Blackout National Electric Grid And Kill 90% Of Americans
For those who are skeptical about North Korea’s capabilities, there is an excellent article presented by The Hill, entitled How North Korea could kill 90 percent of Americans.” The article is authored by none other than R. James Woolsey, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and by Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, the Executive Director of the EMP Task Force on National and Homeland Security and a former analyst with the CIA.
Although the President is moving forward with his agenda, he has hit a “stall” in these first two months just on repealing Obamacare: The Republican Party has been the stall, refusing to give him the necessary votes and impetus to overcome it. As mentioned in previous articles, it will take the President at least 6 months before his actions and effectiveness can be assessed. Six months is a long time. In the meantime, the U.S. continues to emplace measures such as THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Aerial Defense) being deployed to South Korea.
China and Russia view it as an aggressive measure and a threat rather than a defensive strategy to protect South Korea and Japan. This is partially correct. The important thing to consider here is that North Koreans and their leader are starting to become more irate regarding the deployment of THAAD, the ongoing military exercises of U.S. and South Korean troops in the latter’s nation, and the demand by Japan for a first strike initiative to occur.
Here are some excerpts from the article that readers should keep in mind:
“The mainstream media, and some officials who should know better, continue to allege North Korea does not yet have capability to deliver on its repeated threats to strike the U.S. with nuclear weapons. False reassurance is given to the American people that North Korea has not “demonstrated” that it can miniaturize a nuclear warhead small enough for missile delivery, or build a reentry vehicle for an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of penetrating the atmosphere to blast a U.S. city.
Yet any nation that has built nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, as North Korea has done, can easily overcome the relatively much simpler technological challenge of warhead miniaturization and reentry vehicle design.”
These two paragraphs clearly state that North Korea can miniaturize a warhead. Once again, the naysayers will only be satisfied that they “can” when either an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) weapon and/or a nuclear warhead is delivered with either complete loss of power in the U.S. and/or the loss of an American city. When such occurs, the naysayers will then say nothing.
The objective is not to be “right” in this debate, but to be aware…to foster such awareness and help others to make whatever preparations they can before such occurs. Here is another declaration by this article…a deep one:
“The notion that North Korea is testing A-Bombs and H-Bomb components, but does not yet have the sophistication to miniaturize warheads and make reentry vehicles for missile delivery is absurd.”
The threat could not be made any clearer than that. The article goes on to describe assessments made in February and March of 2015 by former senior national security officials who warned this:
“…North Korea should be regarded as capable of delivering by satellite a small nuclear warhead, specially designed to make a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack against the United States.”
In April Admiral William Gortney, former Commander of North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) warned at a press conference that the KN-08 mobile ICBM missile system of North Korea could strike the United States with a nuclear warhead.
Exactly six months later, Gortney declared (based on intelligence analyses) that North Korea has nuclear weapons, the capability to miniaturize them, and is capable of placing them on a missile that can reach the continental United States. This last excerpt of the article is very important due to the gravity of the current situation (the article was written today), the warning it gives, and the denouncement of the MSM (mainstream media) for obfuscating the facts on the matter and “underreporting” an issue of this magnitude:
“According to the Congressional EMP Commission, a single warhead delivered by North Korean satellite could blackout the national electric grid and other life-sustaining critical infrastructures for over a year – killing 9 of 10 Americans by starvation and societal collapse. Two North Korean satellites, the KMS-3 and KMS-4, presently orbit over the U.S. on trajectories consistent with surprise EMP attack.
Why do the press and public officials ignore or under-report these facts? Perhaps no administration wants to acknowledge that North Korea is an existential threat on their watch. Whatever the motives for obfuscating the North Korean nuclear threat, the need to protect the American people is immediate and urgent…”
These men are experts in the field. Why is the United States (as a whole) being so lackadaisical when it comes to such a problem? As I have written in the past, it is my fervent wish that it never comes to pass…because the death of millions is not a “fair tradeoff” just to be able to be “right” or “correct” in a point of view. For me personally, it is not about that. It is about paying attention to men who make it their full-time business to be aware of the true threat that the MSM does not report, and reporting it here. In this manner, you may be able to give yourself a small edge to make it by being aware and taking any precautions you can take with your family. It is better to be aware, prepared, and have nothing happen than to wake up one morning and find an American city has been nuked and an EMP has rendered us without power. Let us hope that doesn’t ever happen.
- UK Puts Nuclear Power Plants And Airports On Terror Alert Over "Credible" Cyber Threat
The global cyberwarfare scare washed ashore the British isles this weekend after UK nuclear power stations and airports were told to tighten defenses against terrorist attacks in the face of increased threats to electronic security systems, after intelligence agencies concluded terrorists could plant explosives in laptops and mobile phones that won’t be caught by normal security screenings.
The Telegraph reports that British security services issued a series of alerts in the past 24 hours, warning that “terrorists may have developed ways of bypassing safety checks.”
To be sure, there was no surprise as to the bogeyman behind the latest terror threat: intel agencies believe that ISIS and other terrorist groups have developed ways to plant explosives in laptops and mobile phones that can evade airport security screening methods.
What is perhaps surprising, is that it is this latest intelligence which is said to be behind the recent bans, in both the US and UK, of travellers from a number of countries carrying laptops and large electronic devices on board. Furthermore, “there are concerns that terrorists will use the techniques to bypass screening devices at European and US airports.”
There are also fears that computer hackers were trying to bypass nuclear power station security measures. Government officials have warned that terrorists, foreign spies and “hacktivists” are looking to exploit “vulnerabilities” in the nuclear industry’s internet defences. Energy minister Jesse Norman told The Telegraph that nuclear plants must make sure that they “remain resilient to evolving cyber threats”.
Norman said: “The Government is fully committed to defending the UK against cyber threats, with a £1.9 billion investment designed to transform this country’s cyber security.”
He said the civil nuclear strategy published in February sets out ways to ensure that the civil nuclear sector “can defend against, recover from, and remain resilient to evolving cyber threats”.
Meanwhile, back in the US, intelligence officials have warned that groups including ISIS and al-Qaeda may have developed ways to build bombs in laptops and other electronic devices that can fool airport security. There are fears that terrorists made the breakthrough after obtaining airport screening equipment to allow them to experiment. FBI experts have tested how the explosives can be hidden inside laptop battery compartments in a way that allows a computer still to be turned on.
The US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement: “Evaluated intelligence indicates that terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation, to include smuggling explosive devices in electronics.
“The US government continually reassesses existing intelligence and collects new intelligence. This allows us to constantly evaluate our aviation security processes and policies and make enhancements when they are deemed necessary to keep passengers safe.”
Manny Gomez, a former FBI special agent, cited by the Telegraph said: “We had the shoe bomber, cartridge attempt, now this is the next level. We need to be several steps ahead of them.”
For now there have been no effected cyber-terrorist attacks, although few things can redirect public attention and send the world to scramble demanding the “safety of the government” quite like a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant. We can only hope that despite the overt warnings, such an escalation will not take place.
- Bond Bears Battered As March Saw Biggest Short-Covering In 10Y Futures History
Bond bears covered over 340,000 10Y futures contracts in March – more than $34 billion notional Treasuries – making it the biggest short-squeeze in Treasury Futures history.
In fact, shorts covered across the entire yield curve complex… except for the every short-end…
Net Treasury futures shorts are now back to the lowest levels since early December 2016 but traders continue to pile into the short-end betting massively on further rate hikes as Eurodollar shorts push on beyond $3 trillion…
Seeingly betting on the continued "policy error" collapse of the yield curve…
This was not a surprise to Raoul Pal who explains "Why Everyone’s Got It Wrong on Bonds"
Raoul Pal is the man who correctly called the strong dollar in late 2014.
And the crash in oil prices in 2014.
And the fall in emerging markets.
And the fall in junk bonds.
He is the man who wrote ‘The End Game’ which is the most widely read financial article in the history of the internet.
He’s also the person who writes The Global Macro Investor, an original research service for a hand-picked selection of hedge funds, family offices, sovereign wealth funds and other high-end investors. Not to mention he has a background in co-managing the Goldman Sachs hedge fund sales business in equities and equity derivatives. As well as founding and managing a macro hedge fund for GLG Partners, one of the world’s largest hedge fund firms.
It might not surprise you to know that Raoul retired at 36 and now lives in a beach house on the tropical island of Little Cayman in the Caribbean.
(That’s what happens when you get the big calls right).
Today, he is predicting that the biggest ever short positions in the bond market are about to be proven wrong.
Pal believes investors are looking the other way, with the economy likely to do the opposite of what people expect. In this exclusive presentation, Real Vision co-founder and writer of the elite research service, The Global Macro Investor, he explains why everyone’s wrong on bonds and why they are probably wrong on the dollar too – outlining two trades with a great risk reward and a high probability of success.
While the market narrative is one of reflation and growth, Raoul looks behind the headlines and lays out the scenario for an exciting opportunity in fixed income and an additional related FX play. Speculative short positioning in bonds was recently at record levels, but with real growth more of an illusion, due to the translation effects of very weak data this time last year, Raoul thinks the market could be caught out on the wrong side, with a great trade for right here, right now. While everyone is talking about Trump and reflation, Raoul is looking for the reversal of inflation and the actual story where everything is going to weaken dramatically.
In this special video presentation, Raoul also alludes to what he thinks could be: ‘The Trade of 2017’ in the oil market and Real Vision subscribers will be the first to get in on the action.
Here is a short clip of Raoul’s presentation:
To access his full presentation for free, simply click the link below:
- China Unveils New Drone-Killing Weapons
While the "Silent Hunter" laser-gun is a more 'offensive' weapon, China has stepped up it's 'defense' too. As PopSci reports, Chinese authorities have developed and rolled out anti-drone "jamming" guns domestically…
The $19,000 gun drone-jamming gun, one of several owned by the Wuhan police, can shut off drones up to a kilometer away.
At a March 11 soccer game in Wuhan, China, police faced a new kind of threat: drones trespassing near the stadium. Their response was to use a new kind of weapon: an anti-drone gun that jammed the control signals, forcing the trespassing drones to land automatically.
Given China's role as a global leader in consumer drone and military unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) exports, it only makes sense that China is also developing a range of anti-drone capabilities to stop unauthorized or hostile flying robots from coming over sensitive or vulnerable sites. In the case of Wuhan, the jammer "guns"—known as such not just because they "shoot" but also because they look like an assault rifle—cost approximately $19,000, and can reportedly jam control signals up to a kilometer away (though that figure assumes that the user has exceptional aim). Impressed with its capabilities, Wuhan police intend to buy more.
The weapon is only one example of anti-drone tech. Comparable American jamming rifles, like the Battelle Drone Defender, are already used by Coalition forces in Iraq looking to shut down ISIL quadcopters used for surveillance and grenade attacks.
Meanwhile, some European forces have gone for more novel solutions, like training eagles to attack errant small drones.
- 46% Of Millennials In San Fran Ready To Move Out; Blame Housing, Traffic & Trump
A growing number of snowflake millennials are saying they can no longer stand to live in the preeminent American ‘safe space’ of San Francisco because the “rent is too damn high”, the traffic is too damn congested and, well, President Trump. According to a new poll conducted by the Bay Area Council, 40% of all people living in San Francisco say they’re ready to ditch the city for greener pastures while the number is even higher among millennials at 46%.
A growing number of Bay Area residents, led by millennials (18-39), are looking to greener (or less expensive) pastures as the region’s housing and traffic crises combined with an astronomical cost of living take their toll, according to results of the 2017 Bay Area Council Poll released today. The poll found that 40 percent of respondents are considering leaving the Bay Area in the next few years, with millennials leading the way at 46 percent, along with those who spend the biggest share of their income on housing.
“Losing our youth is a very bad economic and social strategy,” said Jim Wunderman, President and CEO of the Bay Area Council. “But until we get serious about building the housing we need we’re going to continue seeing our region drained of the young and diverse talent that has helped make the Bay Area an economic powerhouse. We know what the solutions are – streamline local approval and reduce fees and regulatory costs – we just need the political will here and in Sacramento to make them happen. It can be done, it must be done and we’re working now to get it done.”
Meanwhile, the number of people saying they’re looking to ditch the city jumped 6 points versus 2016.
Of course, housing and traffic were the most cited reasons that people were looking leave San Fran. But, in a rather surprising new addition to the list of complaints, President Trump also showed up as a key threat to life in the Bay Area. Perhaps, the snowflakes of California’s northern shores aren’t aware that even if they move elsewhere in the country that President Trump would still be their president?
So it’s probably not at all surprising that a growing number of people think San Fran is on the “wrong track.”
Santa Clara County, home to Silicon Valley and some of the region’s most expensive housing, has the highest number of residents thinking of finding a new address outside the Bay Area, at 47 percent. Across the entire region, renters (50%) are also much more likely than homeowners (31%) to want to cast off, while those who have lived in the Bay Area the longest are far less likely to want to exit than those who have more recently arrived.
“We’ve pulled up the welcome mat,” Wunderman said. “A healthy, growing economy needs new blood, but resistance to new housing combined with the grind of traffic and an ever-lengthening commute are closing the door to new residents, to a new generation. The Council is addressing these problems by supporting new funding at a state level to fix roads and highways, advocating for federal funding to increase capacity on Caltrain, working to expand regional ferry service and urging employers to promote greater use of carpool and rideshare technologies. On the housing front, the Council last year sponsored the only significant housing bill to win approval, making it faster, easier and less expensive for homeowners to add affordable in-laws units. This year, we’re working with legislators on a number of bills to streamline housing approvals that represent our best
hope to address the state’s massive housing shortage.”
Seems like the flood of tech gurus swarming San Fran have just found out that their $200,000 salaries will buy them the same lifestyle as a $60,000 salary in any other ‘normal’ American town.
Here are the full survey results:
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