- Why Hillary Clinton's Email Case Is Still Not Closed
Authored by Eric Zuesse, originally posted at Strategic-Culture.org,
Normally, when the head of the FBI under one President says something like «no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case», as the FBI reported regarding Hillary Clinton's emails, that would be the end of the matter; but Clinton actually still isn’t off the prosecutorial hook of this criminal case, unless and until she becomes President herself.
The decision as to whether or not to prosecute her on this matter is not made by the FBI Director, but by the Attorney General. The current one, Loretta Lynch, was appointed by (and holds her job at the discretion of) the man who has endorsed Ms Clinton to become his own successor: the current US President, Barack Obama. If Clinton doesn’t become the next President, the next Attorney General won’t be appointed by Clinton, and that person will then be making any decision as to whether or not to present the Clinton emails case to a grand jury; and, if an indictment results, then to present it to a trial jury.
Even the Obama appointee to be the FBI’s chief, Mr Comey, introduced his statement there, by acknowledging that «there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information». As regards his opinion that «no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case», reasonable prosecutors already have brought such cases, and they have won convictions on these cases. So, just based on that record, Mr Comey clearly lied there.
The independent journalist who goes by the pseudonym 'Tyler Durden' headlined, only a day after Mr Comey on July 5th exonerated Ms Clinton, «Meet Bryan Nishimura, Found Guilty For ‘Removal And Retention Of Classified Materials’», and that conviction was won on the same statute for which Comey as Clinton’s would-be policeman, jury, and judge, has peremptorily exonerated her (exonerated his own next boss if she becomes President). «Durden», at his famous Zero Hedge site, noted: «Here is the FBI itself, less than a year ago, charging one Bryan H. Nishimura, 50, of Folsom [California], who pleaded guilty to ‘unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials’ without malicious intent, in other words precisely what the FBI alleges Hillary did (h/t@DavidSirota)». He linked to this case. If that’s not the spitting-image of what Clinton was investigated by the FBI for, then nothing is – but Nishimura did far less of that crime than Clinton did – and yet he was sentenced «to two years of probation, a $7,500 fine, and forfeiture of personal media containing classified materials. Nishimura was further ordered to surrender any currently held security clearance and to never again seek such a clearance». As America’s President, Ms Clinton wouldn’t even qualify to receive the CIA’s daily national security brief. But, according to Mr Comey, «no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case». He simply lied.
Furthermore, even before Comey had announced Clinton’s exoneration, Josh Gersten at Politico had already headlined on 27 May 2016, «Sub sailor’s photo case draws comparisons to Clinton emails», and he reported that, «A Navy sailor entered a guilty plea Friday in a classified information mishandling case that critics charge illustrates a double standard between the treatment of low-ranking government employees and top officials like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and ex-CIA Director David Petraeus … To some, the comparison to Clinton’s case may appear strained. Clinton has said none of the information on her server was marked classified at the time. In many cases, it was marked as unclassified when sent to her by people in the State Department more familiar with the issues involved».
However, even Mr Comey noted in his statement of exoneration of Ms Clinton, that, among the tens of thousands of Clinton’s emails that were able to be recovered after she had tried to destroy them all, were the following: «Eight of those [email]chains contained information that was Top Secret at the time they were sent; 36 chains contained Secret information at the time; and eight contained Confidential information, which is the lowest level of classification. Separate from those, about 2,000 additional e-mails were 'up-classified’ [by the State Department during its reconstruction of her email record] to make them Confidential; the information in those had not been classified at the time the e-mails were sent». Some of the emails that Clinton had tried to destroy had, in fact, been marked «Confidential», «Secret», and even «Top Secret».
Consequently, when Politico’s reporter, Mr Gersten, exonerated Clinton by saying (and leaving it at that), «Clinton has said none of the information on her server was marked classified at the time. In many cases, it was marked as unclassified when sent to her by people in the State Department more familiar with the issues involved», he was quoting (without even challenging) a liar. That standard (Hillary’s having been sending and receiving information that was classified at the time) was reported by Mr Comey to have actually been met, for her prosecution – Comey simply chose to deny that reality, by then saying, «no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case». He undeniably lied.
On July 6th (the same day as the report from «Tyler Durden»), the Hillary Clinton propaganda-site Slate headlined, from their Fred Kaplan, «The Hillary Clinton Email Scandal Was Totally Overblown: We learned nothing new from the investigation or James Comey’s statement». He wrote: «Did she commit a crime? Would anyone else – a lower-ranking official, someone who’s not a presidential candidate, someone who’s not named Clinton – have been charged with a crime? Absolutely not. And Comey said as much. ‘Our judgment,’ he said, ‘is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.’ In the annals of the Justice Department’s history, he went on, ‘we cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts’». That type of ‘reporting’ is called stenographic ‘journalism’: it’s exactly what America’s press did with regard to ‘Saddam’s WMD,’ for which fabricated reason we invaded Iraq in 2003. Stenographic ‘journalism’ is still the US norm. The American press hasn’t changed since then.
On July 9th, Salon bannered «DOJ veterans weigh in on FBI Director James Comey’s handling of Clinton email probe», and reported many serious irregularities – and false assertions by Comey – in the FBI Director’s handling of this matter.
However, the huge scandal of the FBI’s handling of this matter goes far deeper than any of this, because the real mega-scandal here is that the FBI were extremely selective in regards to what federal criminal laws they would investigate her for having possibly broken. There are at least six federal criminal laws which accurately and unquestionably describe even what Ms Clinton has now publicly admitted having done by her privatized email system, and intent isn’t even mentioned in most of them nor necessary in order for her to be convicted – the actions themselves convict her, and the only relevance that intent might have, regarding any of these laws, would be in determining how long her prison sentence would be.
I have already presented the texts of these six laws (and you can see the sentences for each one, right there), and any reader can easily recognize that each one of them describes, without any doubt, what she now admits having done. Most of these crimes don’t require any intent in order to convict (and the ones that do require intent are only «knowingly… conceals», or else «with the intent to impair the object’s … use in an official proceeding», both of which «intents» would be easy to prove on the basis of what has already been made public – but others of these laws don’t require even that); and none of them requires any classified information to have been involved, at all. It’s just not an issue in these laws. Thus, conviction under them is far easier. If a prosecutor is really seeking to convict someone, he’ll be aiming to get indictments on the easiest-to-prove charges, first. That also presents for the prosecutor the strongest position in the event of an eventual plea-bargain. As Alan Dershowitz said, commenting on one famous prosecution: «They also wanted a slam-dunk case. They wanted the strongest possible case». Comey didn’t. His presentation was simply a brazen hoax by him. That’s all.
That’s the real scandal, and nobody (other than I) has been writing about it as what it is – a hoax. But what it shows is that maybe the only way that Clinton will be able to avoid going to prison is by her going to the White House. Either she gets a term in the White House, or else she gets a (much longer) term in prison – or else our government is so thoroughly corrupt that she remains free as a private citizen and still above the law, even though not serving as a federal official.
If Donald Trump doesn’t soon start talking about each one of those six laws, then his supporters should be asking him whether he himself is hiding something, because those six laws make crystal-clear that Hillary Clinton committed serious crimes, such that, even if she is convicted only on these six slam-dunk statutes (and on none other, including not on the ones that Comey was referring to), she could be sentenced to a maximum of 73 years in prison (73=5+5+20+20+3+10+10). Add on others she might also have committed (such as the ones that Comey was referring to, all of which pertain only to the handling of classified information), and her term in prison might be lengthier still.
Motive is important in Ms Clinton’s email case, because motive tells us why she was trying to hide from historians and from the public her operations as the US Secretary of State: was it because she didn’t want them to know that she was selling to the Sauds and her other friends the US State Department’s policies in return for their million-dollar-plus donations to the Clinton Foundation, and maybe even selling to them (and/or their cronies) US government contracts, or why? However, those are questions regarding other crimes that she might have been perpetrating while in public office, not the crimes of her privatized email operation itself; and those other crimes (whatever they might have been) would have been explored only after an indictment on the slam-dunks, and for further possible prosecutions, if President Obama’s people were serious about investigating her. They weren’t. Clearly, this is selective ‘justice’.
So, the basic question here is: Is this a democracy, at all? Or, are some people just brazenly above the law?
The character and content of this country are at stake here. This issue is important not only as substance, but as symbolism. Of course, that’s also true with any criminal conviction or refusal even to prosecute; but, in Clinton’s email case, the symbolism is simply enormous: it’s a bold statement, to the entire world, about today’s America, and about whether this government’s routine pontifications, regarding other nations’ not being «democratic», are little – if at all – more than a very black pot deriding some kettle for not being sufficiently white. A crony-capitalist country is in no moral position to dictate anything to the rest of the world. Hiding what it is (a foul oligarchy), only makes what it is, even worse, and more dangerous. Its allies – in NATO, the EU, and elsewhere – are then members of an international gang, which has no justifiable reason even to exist, and which is incredibly harmful not only to their own people, but to all nations. And, if the next US President refuses to prosecute this case, then the continuation of hiding it, the continuation of that cover-up, will not only be blatant; it will show, to the entire world, that nothing short of a revolution can rectify the situation in America. If this country is that crooked at the top, what can it be down below?
- A Message To Pokemaniacs: "Think About Your Life Choices"
Now that a Google april fools’ joke appears to have spawned the zombie apocalypse, one local landlord has finally had enough.
h/t @StigAbell
Then again, where else will the non-Pokemummified part of the population apply all those anti-zombie skills acquired while watching the Walking Dead…
- Baton Rouge Killer Was Racist Member Of "Nation Of Islam", Railed Against 'Crackers' On YouTube
The 29 year old ex-marine, Gavin Eugene Long, who ambushed and killed three unsuspecting Baton Rouge police officers on Sunday morning, hated those who did not share his skin-tone and harbored a particular hatred for the police. As revealed in the hours after the shootings, a Youtube account operated by Long under the handle I Am Cosmo where the alleged killer posted dozens of clips, provides insight into what motivated the young man to kill three police officers and wound three more on his 29th birthday.
In the Youtube videos, Long rants against “crackers, and makes multiple references to the July 5th killing of Alton Sterling at the hands of police officers only five miles away from Sunday’s attack. The videos also detail that Long is a member of the Nation of Islam, labelled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its black supremacist and racist views towards Jews, Asians, and whites which the group’s leaders argue have “sucked the blood from and exploited the black community.
As Daily Caller details, the 29-year-old was a native of Kansas City, Missouri and was honorably discharged from the Marines in 2010 after reaching the rank of E-5. He preferred to go by the name Cosmo Ausar Setepenra rather than Gavin Eugene Long.
In a video published on Thursday, the racist shooter says that “If I would have been there with Alton – Clap” before promoting a book that he wrote that discusses black liberation ideology. “I wrote it for my dark-skinned brothers,” said Long. “If you look at all the rebels like Black Panthers, Huey P. Newton, Malcolm X, and Elijah Muhammad, they was light-skinned. But we know how hard y’all got it.”
Phone numbers on buildings in the video show that it was filmed in Baton Rouge. Calls placed to the numbers were not answered because they were out of service.
“I just got here I’m not really into the protesting. I do education because that’s our real freedom,” he is heard telling two men in the video. He called protesting “emotional” and “for the women.”
In another video recorded while Long was in Dallas after the police shooting, he laid out his thoughts on protesting, oppresion and how to deal with bullies. Nothing too earthshattering there.
Long, who operated a self-motivation website called “Convos with Cosmo,” also appears to have tweeted hours before the attack unfolded. In one video posted in recent weeks, Long left a cryptic message that may have foretold Sunday’s attack. And though he said he was once a member of the Nation of Islam, the radical sect led by Louis Farrakhan, Long also said that he had no affiliations with outside groups.
“I thought my own thoughts. I made my own decisions. I’m the one who’s got to listen the judgement. That’s it. And my heart is pure,” he said.
“If anything happens with me, because I’m an alpha male, I stand up, I stand firm, I stand for mine, until the end,” he said. “Yeah, I also was a Nation of Islam member. Don’t affiliate me with it. Don’t affiliate me with anything.”
Just 4 days ago on his Twitter account (under the handle @ConvosWithCosmo), Long wrote that violence is not the answer but “at what point do you stand” up so your people dont become extinct. Four days later he answered his own question.
Violence is not THE answer (its a answer), but at what point do you stand up so that your people dont become the Native Americans…EXTINCT?
— Convos With Cosmo (@ConvosWithCosmo) July 13, 2016
Another time he tweeted “have u ever seen white people march for the things they needed”?
Have u ever seen white people march for the things they needed?
— Convos With Cosmo (@ConvosWithCosmo) July 11, 2016
The assailant also suggested that the black community should buy only from black-owned businesses rather than “working for the white people.”
In one video Long is heard lamented “working for the white people.” He encouraged one man riding in his vehicle as he filmed using a body camera to shop only at black-owned businesses. He brought up a hypothetical scenario in which a family member who wanted to buy carpet was forced to buy from non-black business owners saying – “Who’s she going to f— with? The cracker, the Arab, the Chinese?”
“These Arabs, these Indians, they don’t give two fucks about us,” said the shooter.
Come to think of it, he may have a point.
- America Wastes Half The Food It Produces While Hunger Runs Rampant Around The Globe
Submitted by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,
Is the United States the most wasteful nation on the entire planet? We are all certainly guilty of wasting food. Whether it is that little bit that you don’t want to eat at the end of a meal, or that produce that you forgot about in the back of the refrigerator that went moldy, the truth is that we could all do better at making sure that good food does not get wasted. It can be tempting to think that wasting food is not a big deal because we have so much of it, but an increasing number of people around the world are really hurting these days. In fact, it has been estimated that there are more than a billion hungry people around the globe right now. So as a society we need to figure out how to waste a whole lot less food and how to get it into the mouths of those that really need it.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, close to a third of all food in the United States gets wasted after it gets to the store. This is commonly referred to as “downstream” waste. When you add all of this “downstream” waste up, it comes to a grand total of 133 billion pounds of food each year…
Nearly a third of the 430 billion pounds of food produced for Americans to eat is wasted, a potential catastrophe for landfills and a wake-up call to officials scrambling to feed the hungry, according to a stunning new report from the Department of Agriculture.
The just-issued report revealed that in 2010, 31 percent, or 133 billion pounds, of food produced for Americans to eat was wasted, either molded or improperly cooked, suffered “natural shrinkage” due to moisture loss, or because people became disinterested in what they purchased.
How many people do you think we could feed with 133 billion pounds of food?
But that isn’t all of the food that we waste. In addition to “downstream” waste, we also have to add “upstream” waste to the equation. Massive amounts of food are wasted each year because American consumers don’t want to eat fruits and vegetables that are “imperfect”. The following comes from the Guardian…
Americans throw away almost as much food as they eat because of a “cult of perfection”, deepening hunger and poverty, and inflicting a heavy toll on the environment.
Vast quantities of fresh produce grown in the US are left in the field to rot, fed to livestock or hauled directly from the field to landfill, because of unrealistic and unyielding cosmetic standards, according to official data and interviews with dozens of farmers, packers, truckers, researchers, campaigners and government officials.
And I know that as a consumer I am guilty of this. Just yesterday, I was picking through the apricots at the grocery store looking for the prettiest ones that I could find. Of course they were all good to eat, but most of us are in the habit of wanting produce that looks as “perfect” as possible.
As a result, a lot of perfectly good food that may look a little ratty ends of being wasted…
“Sunburnt” or darker-hued cauliflower was ploughed over in the field. Table grapes that did not conform to a wedge shape were dumped. Entire crates of pre-cut orange wedges were directed to landfill. In June, Kirschenman wound up feeding a significant share of his watermelon crop to cows.
As the Guardian article quoted above noted, when you add “downstream” waste and “upstream” waste together, we end up wasting about half our food.
This is tragic, because there are a whole lot of people in our own country that could use this food. According to one estimate, there are 49 million Americans dealing with food insecurity. But if we didn’t waste nearly half our food, we could likely feed just about everyone sufficiently.
Globally, about one-third of all food is wasted. That is better than the U.S. number, but it is still way too high.
At this point, we just don’t have a lot of resources to waste. So many people are suffering these days, and this includes an explosion of crushing poverty in the country that is hosting the Olympics this summer. Just yards away from the primary stadium that will be used by the Olympic games, people actually have raw sewage running through their homes…
In the Mangueira ‘favelas’ no more than 750m away from the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, which will host the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, young families are living in makeshift houses with no sanitation.
The stadium will stage both the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics in August, and as global superstars such as Usain Bolt, Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Justin Gatlin take to the track, the favela residents will be dealing with raw sewage running through their homes.
It has been estimated that more than 20 percent of the population of Rio lives in “favelas”. But instead of doing something for those people, the government of Brazil has spent hundreds of millions of dollars hosting the World Cup and the Olympics.
What is wrong with that picture?
Meanwhile, things continue to get even worse elsewhere in South America. In Venezuela, 47 percent of the country can no longer provide three meals a day for their families, and the lack of toilet paper has become a national crisis…
Venezuela’s government said it occupied Kimberly-Clark Corp.’s local plant, days after the company had halted operations because of shortages of raw materials in the socialist crisis-stricken country.
“Kimberly-Clark will continue producing for all Venezuelans and is now in the hands of the workers,” Labor Minister Oswaldo Vera said Monday in a televised address from the company’s plant in central Aragua state, before signing an order to take it over, according to WSJ. The labor ministry claims Kimberly-Clark had violated Venezuelan law by firing more than 900 workers without consulting the government.
“It doesn’t matter who’s running the factory,” said Henkel Garcia, director of the Caracas business consultancy Econometrica told WSJ. “The bottom line is that there are no raw materials that anyone can afford to import.”
As the global economy continues to deteriorate, the need to waste less food and less resources will become even more acute. Over the past several decades, we have grown accustomed to not even thinking twice about wasting food. In fact, I rarely come across parents that insist that their children finish everything on their plates these days.
But in the not too distant future, things are going to completely change. Even in the United States, we will eventually get to the point where every scrap of food is considered to be precious.
We are moving into a time when wasting nearly half our food will no longer be an option, and so we should start coming up with better ways of doing things as soon as we can.
- PoCa-HYPoCRiTe, PACToNS and $HiTTiNG BuLL…
- "Not A White Problem"
Submitted by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,
The statistics in the chart below are representative of every Democrat controlled urban shithole city in America. Obama and his anti-gun activist minions are peddling a false narrative about guns because they understand most Americans are dumber than a sack of hammers and easily manipulated by propaganda. Obama uses every high profile shooting to blame guns, in order to deflect people from seeing the truth. And the truth is guns are not a problem in white America.
It’s only a problem in the urban ghettos with the toughest gun laws run by Democrat mayors and city councils. Chicago is a perfect example of Obama ignoring the real problem. Fifty years of welfare programs and treating black people like victims has created a dysfunctional system leading to hopelessness, crime, and perpetual poverty. Chicago is 32% white, but they commit only 3.5% of the murders. Over 96% of the murders are committed by non-whites. Essentially, it is young black men murdering other black men. White people are not in the equation and are not part of the problem. It’s a black problem framed as a gun problem by Obama and his lying apparatchiks.
There are approximately 8,000 gun related homicides annually in the U.S. The vast majority occur in the urban ghettos and are committed by blacks and hispanics against other blacks and hispanics. They use illegally acquired guns, so more gun laws will do nothing. Their lawless culture, requiring no personal responsibility by those who father children, creates the dysfunction and crime. The urban ghetto kill zones all have the same thing in common – run by liberal Democrats for decades, with poverty created by their welfare policies, dreadful public schools, and a black population who don’t work and take no personal responsibility for their lives or their children.
Here are the murders by city for a sampling of these shitholes:
- Los Angeles – 587
- Chicago – 508
- NYC – 333
- Detroit – 316
- Phila – 248
- Baltimore – 233
- New Orleans – 150
- Indianapolis – 129
- Memphis – 124
- St. Louis – 120
- Newark -112
- Milwaukee – 104
- Washington DC – 103
There are dozens of other shitholes like Camden, Kansas City, Atlanta, Oakland, Pittsburgh, and Miami with extremely high murder rates, and in every case more than 90% are committed by non-whites. Why don’t you hear Obama giving speeches about black communities policing themselves and taking responsibility for the crime, drugs and murder in their neighborhoods? He has no problem with proclamations about white people clinging to their guns in middle America where there are virtually no murders.
The entire gun narrative peddled by liberals is false. The crime rate has been falling for 25 years. There were 24,703 murders in 1991 when the population was 253 million. Murders in 2014 totaled 14,249 with a population of 317 million. The willfully ignorant American public completely buys the falsehoods presented by Obama and believes murders and crime are skyrocketing.
Today, the national crime rate is about half of what it was at its height in 1991. Violent crime has fallen by 51 percent since 1991, and property crime by 43 percent. In 2013 the violent crime rate was the lowest since 1970. And this holds true for unreported crimes as well. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, since 1993 the rate of violent crime has declined from 79.8 to 23.2 victimizations per 1,000 people.
So, with homicides at a 25 year low and completely confined to the urban ghettos where young black men kill other young black men, we need new gun laws to restrict what white people can own? It makes you wonder. Why has the government militarized local police forces across the country in white communities when crime and murder is virtually non-existent in those communities? Why is Obama and his liberal nazi hordes trying to ban any gun capable of providing defense against a tyrannical government? Why has this become a war on whites when it is solely a black problem? It’s almost as if the government is treating working class whites with guns as the enemy. I wonder.
- 29-Year-Old Black Male Dead After Killing 3 Cops, Wounding 3 More In Baton Rouge "Cowardly" Ambush
Summary:
- Three police officers were shot to death Sunday and three others wounded in Baton Rouge, the same city where Alton Sterling was killed two weeks ago, after they responded to a call of shots fired when they were attacked by at least one gunman, Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden said. The three officers had died in what he described as "an ambush-style deal."
- The gunman, who has been killed, has been identified as 29 year old, black male named Gavin Eugene Long of Kansas City, Missouri. CBS News reports the suspect gunned down three Baton Rouge police officers on his birthday. He was born July 17, 1987.
- According to CBS News, Long was honorably discharged from the Marines in 2010.
- Authorities initially believed that two other assailants might be at large, but hours later said the dead gunman was the only person who fired at the officers. However, a state police spokesman said investigators were unsure whether he had some kind of help from others. “We are not ready to say he acted alone,” Major Doug Cain said.
- President Barack Obama condemned the "attack on law enforcement in Baton Rouge" and vowed that justice would be done. "We may not yet know the motives for this attack, but I want to be clear: There is no justification for violence against law enforcement. None. These attacks are the work of cowards who speak for no one," Obama said in a statement.
- Sen. Bill Cassidy told CNN “there’s a war right now on police.”
A timeline of today's events:
- About 9 a.m.: Less than one mile from police headquarters, shots fired at police officers from the Baton Rouge Police Department and the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office. Five officers are rushed to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital. Three are dead on arrival, one is in serious condition and another in fair condition. One gunman is killed while two other possible suspects are at large. The scene of the shooting remains active as police continue their search of the area. State SWAT officers arrive, and a robot is sent in to scan for explosive devices. A witness told television station WAFB that he saw a masked man in black shorts and shirt running from the scene where the three officers were killed.
- 12:06 p.m.: Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards tweets a statement calling the act "unspeakable" and "unjustified."
- 12:30 p.m.: Dallas police chief David Brown, whose department lost five officers last week in their own ambush of police, tweets support to Baton Rouge.
Live Feed:
Update 18: Hillary Clinton condemned the attack on law enforcement in Baton Rouge. In a statement on Sunday afternoon the Democratic presidential nominee said, "There is no justification for violence, for hate, for attacks on men and women who put their lives on the line every day in service of our families and communities."
* * *
Update 17: A spokesman for the Louisiana state police says they believe the gunman who killed three officers in Baton Rouge was the only shooter but that officials are unsure whether he had accomplices.
Major Doug Cain said Sunday, "we are not ready to say he acted alone." Cain says two people had been detained in another town called Addis, which is near Baton Rouge, and called them "persons of interests."
* * *
Update 16: Baton Rouge gunman identified as 29 year old, black male named Gavin Eugene Long of Kansas City, Missouri.
* * *
Update 15: The governor of Louisiana says the attack on law enforcement in Baton Rouge was unjustified. Gov. John Bell Edwards told media Sunday afternoon that the gunman committed, "an absolutely unspeakable, heinous attack." Edward says the hatred has got to stop.Three officers are confirmed dead in the attack outside a store in Baton Rouge about a mile from police headquarters early Sunday morning. Three others are injured. The gunman was fatally shot.
Police added there is no active shooter in Baton Rouge where three police officers were killed Sunday morning. Col. Mike Edmonson told media, "We believe that the person who shot and killed our officers that he was the person that was shot and killed at the scene.
* * *
Update 14 – Attorney General Loretta Lynch, responding to the police shootings Sunday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, says there is no place in the United States for such appalling violence.
In a statement issued Sunday, Lynch says she condemns the shooting deaths of three officers and the wounding of several others "in the strongest possible terms." She also is pledging the full support of the Justice Department as the investigation unfolds. The attorney general says Agents from the FBI and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are on the scene, and Justice Department will make available victim services and federal funding support, and provide investigative assistance to the fullest extent possible.
Lynch says everyone's hearts and prayers are with the fallen and wounded officers, their families and the entire Baton Rouge community in "this extraordinarily difficult time."
* * *
Update 13 – The White House releases a statement proclaiming "There is no justification for violence against law enforcement. None."
* * *
Update 12 – Confirmation of multiple suspects:
A sheriff's spokesman in Baton Rouge said earlier that one suspect is dead and two others are believed to be at large.
* * *
Update 11 – Louisiana GOP delegation issues statement from Cleveland on BatonRouge: "We will stand united and prayerful against evil"
* * *
Update 10 – Donald Trump respons to Baton Rouge police shootings… (via Facebook)
We grieve for the officers killed in Baton Rouge today.
How many law enforcement and people have to die because of a lack of leadership in our country?
We demand law and order.
* * *
Update 9 – It just got serious – President Obama has been made aware of the murders…
The White House says President Barack Obama has been briefed on the shooting of police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and has asked to be updated throughout the day as more details become available.
The White House has been in contact with local officials in Baton Rouge and offered any assistance necessary.
Obama spent most of last week focused on trying to reduce tensions and helping build trust between police and the communities they serve.
It's not working!
* * *
Update 8 – Police in Louisiana say they are using a specialized robot to check for explosives near the body of a suspect who was shot and killed in Baton Rouge early Sunday.
VIDEO: Footage shows the moment suspect(s) open fire at police in Baton Rouge.- @CBSNews/@WAFB pic.twitter.com/EMiI7PIFSn
— Conflict News (@Conflicts) July 17, 2016
The suspect is believed to have been involved in the shooting of law enforcement officers in the Louisiana city early Sunday. Three officers are dead and three are hospitalized with injuries. The shooting occurred less than 1 mile from police headquarters
* * *
Update 7 – Reports of shots fired at Cortana Mall in Baton Rouge
* * *
Update 6 – BATON ROUGE OFFICERS ARE IN AN ARMED STANDOFF WITH ONE OF THE SUSPECT via @pzf
* * *
Update 5 – CBS adds that while 1 suspect is dead, 2 other suspects may still be at large.
* * *
Update 4 – the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's office reports that while the scene is still active, it is now "contained"
JUST IN: East Baton Rouge Sheriff: Scene 'Still Active, But Contained'https://t.co/Ot5An1XmiG pic.twitter.com/gmtm44d9Ez
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 17, 2016
Update 3 – BREAKING NEWS: BATON ROUGE POLICE CONFIRM THREE SHOOTERS INVOLVED. ONLY 1 DETAINED – BREAKING NEWS FEED
* * *
Update 2 – AT LEAST 8 POLICE OFFICERS SHOT IN BATON ROUGE – WAFB
Update 1 – CNN is reporting
Three officers are feared dead after a shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, officials said.
Kip Holden, the mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish, said authorities were still trying to get a handle on the situation, but added, "The count is three officers dead possibly."
The victims may include police officers and sheriff's deputies.
"There is still an active scene. They are investigating," he said. "Right now we are trying to get our arms around everything."
* * *
As we detailed earlier, police have closed streets between Baton Rouge Police Headquarters and I-12 where at least three law enforcement officers have been shot. According to local media WBRZ, shots were fired around 9 a.m. Sunday morning kicking off a manhunt for the shooter or shooters. There is an active shooter situation in the area of Airline and Old Hammond Highways according to The Advocate. A police spokesperson was not ready to release specifics as of yet.
Obviously, police-community relations in Baton Rouge have been especially tense since the killing of 37-year-old Alton Sterling, a black man killed by white officers earlier this month after a scuffle at a convenience store.
A witness told WBRZ News 2, a man was dressed in black with his face covered shooting indiscriminately when he walked out between a convenience store and car wash across from Hammond Air Plaza.
“The scene seems to be contained right now,” said Sgt. Don Coppola, Baton Rouge Police Department. “We’re asking everyone to stay out of the area.”
* * *
While we hope it is unrelated, it is notable that ovenright WBRZ reported that Baton Rouge residents gathered Saturday afternoon to form the newest chapter of the New Black Panther Party. The New Black Panthers arrived in Baton Rouge last Saturday to protest the officer-involved shooting death of 37-year-old Alton Sterling. Two videos of the shooting sparked national outcry and protests across Baton Rouge.
Jerald Justice said the group was approached by local residents like Edwin Smith to help establish a Baton Rouge chapter.
“It is time for new leadership and a new organization to step forward in Baton Rouge,” Smith said. “I feel like the New Black Panther Party is the organization that can bring new leadership to Baton Rouge.”
Founders met Saturday to formally establish the chapter as well as gather names for new members. WBRZ News 2’s Earl Phelps was able to briefly attend the event on the condition that he does not reveal the meeting’s location.
“With the help of the New Black Panther Party, these members should be able to handle any or everything in their city,” Justice said.
Over the course of five days, authorities arrested 185 protesters in Baton Rouge. Friday, District Attorney Hillar Moore said that his office will not prosecute 100 protesters who were only charged with misdemeanor crimes.
Justice said that the Black Panthers were involved in the protests, but none of their members were arrested or were carrying guns during the demonstrations.
* * *
Live Feed:
* * *
SWAT now on scene…
State Police SWAT now on scene pic.twitter.com/r3Eni4aODL
— Michael Vinsanau (@MVinsanau) July 17, 2016
Multiple police ????….on Air Line Hwy. Right now. #BatonRouge pic.twitter.com/vhdR3N9r1H
— Biko Misabiko (@BikoTheGreat) July 17, 2016
- U.S. Warships Surround Disputed Chinese Waters, Prepared For War: "WWIII At Stake"
Submitted by Mac Slavo via SHTFPlan.com,
Territorial disputes are a delicate thing… and potentially deadly as well.
That’s why the U.S. is backing up its positions with an ever-increasing presence of warships in the South China Sea.
China is very touchy about these territories, and unwilling to give up what they perceive as their waters, even as a UN tribunal just denied their claims and strengthened the U.S. hand.
Indeed, the entire situation is combustible and very dangerous.
As James Holbrooks of the Underground Reporter noted:
In a congressional hearing on Wednesday, former Director of National Intelligence and retired Navy admiral Dennis Blair told the panel that the United States should be prepared to use military force to oppose Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.
“I think we need to have some specific lines and then encourage China to compromise on some of its objectives,” Blair, who headed the U.S. Pacific Command while in the Navy, said at the hearing.
The admiral’s recommendation came the day after a United Nations tribunal invalidated China’s claim of territorial rights to nearly all of the waters in the South China Sea.
The U.S., citing the territorial dispute and security concerns raised by its allies in the region, have for months been sending warships into the South China Sea as a check against Chinese hostility.
Beijing, acutely aware of the military buildup off its coast, has publicly warned the U.S. it’s more than ready to defend against provocations. “China hopes disputes can be resolved by talks… but it must be prepared for any military confrontation.”
It seems that the situation is being deliberately stoked into conflict, and that tensions are programmed to reach a boiling over point. If true, there is no indication of where the point of no return would be.
The U.S. has the excuse of protecting its ally, and former territory, the Philippines, and thus has a pretext to play policeman in the region.
But in turn, that is only a thinly-veiled ruse to amplify the military pressure, and let bloated speech and menacing saber-rattling episodes set the tone for ‘diplomacy’ with the Red Dragon.
Now, there is not only an escalation, but an acknowledgement on both sides of the Pacific that things are headed towards war – and it is being openly discussed in those stark terms:
“If our security is being threatened, of course we have the right to demarcate a zone,” Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said Wednesday at a briefing in Beijing. “We hope that other countries will not take this opportunity to threaten China and work with China to protect the peace and stability of the South China Sea, and not let it become the origin of a war.”
And war, it appears, is becoming increasingly likely by the day — with other countries in Southeast Asia beginning to take sides.
[…]
So, with the U.S. demanding compromise from a China who refuses to bow down — and forcing local powers to choose sides in the process — it seems the stage is being set for a potential military conflict in the South China Sea that could engulf the entire region.
Are we really to expect a looming world war from China, who has played the parts of villain, ally, trade partner and rival all at the same time?
No one can say, but there is plenty of worry that war could really happen. Even billionaire George Soros warned that the potential danger of WWIII breaking out with China was ‘not an exaggeration’:
The US government has little to gain and much to lose by treating the relationship with China as a zero-sum game. In other words it has little bargaining power. It could, of course, obstruct China’s progress, but that would be very dangerous. President Xi Jinping has taken personal responsibility for the economy and national security. If his market-oriented reforms fail, he may foster some external conflicts to keep the country united and maintain himself in power. This could lead China to align itself with Russia not only financially but also politically and militarily. In that case, should the external conflict escalate into a military confrontation with an ally of the United States such as Japan, it is not an exaggeration to say that we would be on the threshold of a third world war.
And yet, President Obama and numerous other U.S. officials have been deliberately stoking the tension and adding fuel to the fire with provocation in the disputed waters.
As Michael Snyder wrote several months ago:
Barack Obama sent a guided missile destroyer into disputed waters in the South China Sea to see if the Chinese would start shooting at it. Yes, this is what he actually did. Fortunately for us, the Chinese backed down and did not follow through on their threats to take military action. Instead, the Chinese have chosen to respond with very angry words. The Chinese ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, says that what Obama did was “a very serious provocation, politically and militarily.” And as you will see below, a state-run newspaper stated that China “is not frightened to fight a war with the US in the region”. So why in the world would Obama provoke the Chinese like this? Yes, the Chinese claims in the South China Sea are questionable. But there are other ways to resolve things like this.
Most Americans assume that an actual shooting war between the United States and China is not even within the realm of possibility, but many of our leaders see things very differently. For instance, just check out what CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell thinks…
The current posturing in the area has led to heightened tensions between the world’s preeminent military powers, and in May Former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell told CNN that the confrontation indicates there is “absolutely” a risk of the U.S. and China going to war sometime in the future.
Not long ago, the U.S. also demonstrated ballistic missiles – armed with nuclear warheads – over the coast of California in an apparent demonstration towards China regarding the readiness and seriousness of their clash.
Though it isn’t on the front burner right now amid other sensational headlines, keep an eye to the fact that World War III is slowly being brewed on the back burner. Someday, it could ignite into a full blown nightmare. Stay vigilant. Hope for peace, prepare for war.
- The Struggling Norwegian Economy Illustrated in Charts
Submitted by Alexander Grover in Oslo, Norway
The Norwegian Economy Illustrated in Charts
Norges Bank continues to hold rates at .5%, signaling an upward bias but willing to cut if needed, depending on unforeseen external shocks like BREXIT. In my opinion, they really don’t know what to do while the country heads for stagflation (simultaneous rising unemployment and inflation). They are in a “damned if they do and damned if they don’t situation.”
As the currency weakens, import prices rise. If they raise rates to quell inflation, they will slow down an already lethargic economy and may burn down the housing market in the process. If they cut, inflation will continue to accelerate. Staying put appears to be the best option, waiting for the oil sector continues to recover. However, then they are betting against the engineering profession, determined to drive down extraction costs or make oil irrelevant. Rising rig counts in America and the return of Iran and Libya to the marketplace further dim hope for North Sea oil.
Siv Jensen (Finance Minister) stated that the Norwegian economy is “Rock Solid.” Instead, it is more like ice (in reverse): solid only under specific (temperature and pressure) conditions and wobbly otherwise, unable to support a meaningful load. Above the $70/barrel threshold, the Norwegian economy is invincible, able to support generous social programs while making deposits to sovereign wealth fund (referred to as The Fund). Below $70, “the ice melts;” the rate of which depends on the ambient temperature above freezing. If the oil is only slightly below $70, The Fund could cover budget gaps indefinitely, replenishing the drawdown with capital gains, interest and dividend payments. Perhaps they could levy some new taxes as well. However, when substantially below the key threshold, the melting accelerates, drawing down the fund quicker than it can be restored.
Although, The Fund holds over $800 billion, covering near-term budget gaps with ease. Waiting for $70/barrel is like waiting for hell to freeze over or the Americans to join the EU. Also, The Fund carries various risks, investing mostly in US and European based assets. The big question is when will Norwegian housing prices peak and reverse course. That day is impossible to predict.
The goal of this article is to give normal hardworking people insight into what is happening around them, which is difficult to comprehend. The following charts and commentary examine the underlying economy:
Real Interest Rates:
Sources: Norges Bank (The Norwegian Central Bank) and SSB.no (Norwegian Statistics Bureau)
Sources: US Federal Reserve and Bureau of Labor StatisticsThe real interest rate, which subtracts inflation from the nominal one, is already negative, meaning that saving is losing. The weakening currency also makes Norwegian companies susceptible to foreign takeover, sending the profits abroad. Real interest rates should be at least zero and ideally positive, enticing people to put their money into the bank. Compared to the USA, which is also facing headwinds, Norway’s negative rate situation is accelerating. Negative rates make it difficult to sell bonds and the public starts to lose trust in the currency. People generally want to be rewarded for parting with their cash during a given period. Moreover, negative rates cause the public to question their government. Central banks and Governments can normalize rates to zero either by either raising rates or quelling demand, which brings down inflation, using various methods: allowing unemployment to rise, raising taxes or “open mouth operations.” Central bankers often posture, talking a lot, attempting to maintain the delicate balancing act without actually touching anything.
In Layman’s terms: I would never lend money to any person or entity, knowing that I will get back less in the future, even if guaranteed or “risk-free.” I would prefer to invest in whiskey, cigarettes or keep my money in the mattress.
Negative interest rates, combined with digitalized currency (most transactions in Norway are cashless), raises an important question: What is a “bank?” In the past, it was a place with a secure vault where people could deposit their cash. The banks would lend this money, after doing extensive due diligence, to those who needed to buy a home or wanted to start a business. Since there were many banks, they had to entice depositors by paying interest. If the currency is digital, potentially storable on a USB stick, on iTunes or in my Dropbox account, and bank interest rates are negative, charged to store your money, then what is the bank’s purpose? Perhaps lending? However, with peer to peer lending platforms like Viventor, an investor can lend directly to a borrower, authenticated and verified during the signup process. The investor and borrower can work out interest rates and collateral agreements between themselves or with a lawyer, arranged by the platform, signing documents at the notary or even online, using Altinn and electronic signatures. The investor can be an individual with some “bits” socked away on a USB stick, hidden in the attic, or a cash-rich company, like Leroy Seafood Group. So, once again, ask yourself, “what is a bank?”
It is worth noting that it’s better to pay the one-time 2% fee (1% in and 1% out and no storage fees) with the new BitGold platform than it is to deposit money in a bank or buy bonds. (this is not a paid endorsement nor advice but a simple observation. It remains to be seen if BitGold is legitimate or another Mt.Gox).
Real Economic Growth
Sources: Norges Bank and SSB.no
Even with negative interest rates, supposedly encouraging people to withdraw their money from the bank and spend, the economy continues to decline when accounting for inflation. Stating economic growth, without considering inflation, is a common parlor trick. Although goods and services production increased, it is discounted by the cost of inputs rising faster.
In Layman’s terms, one gets a pay raise for 200 NOK per month, but rent goes up by 210 per month. You may feel richer, but you are falling behind.
Oil Prices
Source: Baker Hughs and EIA
Source: Rystad Energy via CNN
As oil approaches $50/barrel, American rig counts (mainly fracking) started to recover. The idle rigs are portable and able to be restarted with ease. The other 1400 may either end up in Ukraine or Poland or moved to new locations. This scenario is plausible since the US now has more untapped oil than Saudi Arabia or Russia. Therefore, Øystein Olsen’s (Head of Norges Bank) prediction last year, oil recovering to $65, may be another case of misplaced optimism. Although oil has recovered, it seems to be having difficulty in the high $40’s. Recently there was a surprise inventory build in the US, supporting the thesis that betting against innovation is risky at best.
Source: Government.no and Statsbudsjettet.no70% of lottery winners end up bankrupt: Sudden wealth creates a sense of euphoria, making the lottery winner think they are invincible and powerful, like Batman. They often give away too much money to friends and family. They start expecting more and more, becoming difficult to turn off the spigot and reverse course. New millionaires often neglect to seek help, managing their fortune for the long term. Norway won the lottery back in 1969. Initially, they managed responsibly, creating a The Fund, adding surpluses on the back of consistently strong oil prices.
Perhaps, to get elected or appointed, politicians told voters that they could sit back and collect the dividends when the oil is gone. They assumed that stocks, bonds and real estate, in financial centers, are constants or absolutes and not variables, subject to natures whims. Life in paradise would go on. Economic diversification would take care of itself. Selling apps to iPhone users would be the new economy, replacing petroleum. There was nothing to worry about. After all, “even when it rains in Norway, the sun is still shining!” Nevertheless, the budget is more or less the same, ticking up, while tax revenues decline, falling $3 billion (25 BNOK) year-over-year, and The Fund’s holdings are at risk. Let’s hope that Norway does not go the way of most lottery winners.
Unemployment, Oil Prices & Inflation:
Sources: EIA (Energy Institute of America) and SSB.no
The Norwegian economy mostly depends on oil and therefore unemployment rises as oil falls. Normally, rising unemployment mitigates inflation, cooling demand, causing prices to fall. However, this inflation is from the supply side and not demand driven. The cost of imported inputs, priced in foreign currencies, are rising regardless of demand.
Consumer Debt:
Source: SSB.noAll the while, consumer debt keeps rising, mostly driven by lending for apartments. Debt levels are higher now than they were during the 2007-2008 financial crisis. If Norges Bank were forced to raise interest rates by ca. 3%, getting real rates to zero, safeguarding the Krone, it would be catastrophic to the average person. Their loan payments would skyrocket. We can expect debts to rise since many have “Champaign taste but only beer money.” There may be other troubles ahead for indebted consumers. DnB, Norway’s largest bank, reported huge and unexpected loan losses, attributed to the struggling oil sector. DnB and other banks may be forced to make this up by raising consumer rates and fees.
Trade Balance
Source: Google Finance
Sources: SSB.no and EIA
Sources: Norges Bank and SSB.noDeclining currency theoretically boost exports. That has not been the case for Norway. Although fish and knit sweaters have seen the benefit, the overall balance is down because no one needs expensive oil (the leading export). These charts indicate that there is an urgent need for new and substantial export related industries.
Conclusions & Thoughts:
Norges Bank, although seeming reluctant to cut rates, may have to do so, trying to stimulate the economy and postpone housing’s day of reckoning (defined as the price when real rates are zero). To correct the current imbalances, either productivity will have to grow by leaps and bounds, getting more done with less or interest rates will have to jump, guarding the Krone against people like Kyle Bass and George Soros (currency shorts). Norges Bank has already joined the BREXIT bailout party, injecting $2.73 billion into the banks and readying rate cuts, indicating that going negative to support GDP growth is an option.
We are also seeing the introduction of socialist solutions applied to free market problems, predicted last year. The Oslo Municipality purchased 154 properties for ca. $60 million (514 MNOK), mostly in the more affluent west side of the city, to house refugees. The total 2016 budget for this programs is ca. $105 million (885 MNOK). The European/Bernie Sanders approach, giving people free stuff without responsibility and incentive, does nothing to empower them. Being unemployed in a good neighborhood, where everyone knows the government pays or subsidizes the rent, could make things worse for both the refugees and society as a whole. Consider that there are 24 hours in a day. Eight are for sleep; two are for getting ready and meals and another two for fitness and transportation. What are the consequences of idling people for the remaining twelve hours? Let’s be honest. At the micro (personal) level, Norwegian (in general) society is not that open or welcoming. Winters are long and brutal, further making contact difficult. Isolation, alienation, combined with not much to do in a culture that generally discourages achievement, being the best you can (Janteloven), can’t lead to anything good. Only a person with incredible will power and a strong “compass” can overcome such barriers. If Norway is going to continue with their ideological approach, saving the world, perhaps they need to re-examine their culture at the individual level. People need the pursuit or hunt when obtaining income. It is rewarding, building confidence. The culture may need an adjustment, embracing merit, defining character through hard work and encouraging upward mobility, encouraging immigrants to get in the game and excel. The current welfare society model only works when there is money growing on trees (North Sea Oil).
In my opinion, the better approach, mimicking the US Homestead Act, would be to settle them in areas where there are labor shortages, giving them an opportunity to earn their way. Northern Norway (Nordland and Finnmark) needs thousands of people as of May 2016. America takes refugees. In fact, it’s the top country for resettlement. However, I never heard of refugees being settled in Midtown Manhattan – all expenses paid. If this happened, I am sure many Americans would toss their identification, quit their jobs and line up at the refugee center, claiming to be from somewhere else.
When I was in college, I had an Afghan roommate. His parents settled as refugees in central Kansas, taking a job at a meat packing factory. The saved their money and eventually started their own business. Through the process of work, dealing with adversity, and moving forward, day by day, they became an integral part of the community, paying taxes and adding to the economy. The process of struggle and advancement made them stronger, self-assured and, eventually, affluent. Hence, a proper integration strategy, matching economic needs and limitations, needs to be developed.
Øystein Olsen stated, in September 2015, that he has no problem with inflation hitting 3.5% and saw it moderating to 3%. He is also predicted better times in 2017 with unemployment peaking at 3.4%. It is already H2-2016, and the latest inflation print (June 2016) is 3.7%. As of June 2016, unemployment hit 4.6%, still considered full employment. Nevertheless, the rate of increase is worrisome. If unemployment continues to rise, the national and local governments may have to buy more apartments, supporting housing while tax and oil revenues decline. That will further stress the budget, resulting in withdrawals from The Fund.
Skepticism is very much ingrained into the Norwegian psyche. Hence, I remain skeptical that the Norwegian Government and Central Bank can deal with the coming crisis in a way where the people, who did honest work but were tricked into “drinking the Kool-Aid,” are least affected, and those responsible take the brunt of the damage. I suspect that they will tell the public to sacrifice for the greater good (banks and large corporations) without telling the whole story.
Bankruptcy means that those who fail in business or banking must liquidate their assets, selling to those who were saving and living modestly, to get their debts forgiven. Those who got them in debt may also be at risk for irresponsible lending. They attempt to build an enterprise with a better business model at lower cost, catering to current needs. In the case of a bank failure and housing. The failed bank would liquidate their loan portfolio at a discount, passing on the benefit to borrowers. For example, the buyer of this paper acquires a loan with a 4 MNOK obligation, paying 3% interest, for a distressed price. Let’s say 2 MNOK. They could then settle with the struggling homeowner, offering a revised loan of 2.2 MNOK at 4% interest. Both sides win while asset prices move to sustainable levels. (It’s the same things as when a pizzeria in New Jersey goes bankrupt, selling their equipment for pennies on the dollar to an aspiring entrepreneur. The new guy gets into the game, starting a new business at lower cost, and life goes on. Often, he will hire failed entrepreneur because he still knows how to make a good pizza but not allow him near the cash register.)
Oil prices (Brent on EIA.gov) averaged $77/barrel from the beginning of 2007 to the end of 2009 whereas they are hovering under $50 per barrel today – well under the $70/barrel threshold. Therefore, managing that crisis compared to the coming one is the difference between misplacing your wallet, finding it a few hours later with $50 missing, versus losing your job at middle age to robot automation while having a huge mortgage and spoiled kids enrolled in a private college. Sounding an alarm, Tine Choi, Nordea analyst, located in Denmark, warned about negative interest rates leading to hyper-inflation (article in Danish). She warns that we are in uncharted territory. She warns that a massive bond sell-off would spike inflation, causing interest rates could explode. Hence, the concern is extending past those of us seen as “wearing tin foil hats.”
I still do not foresee Norges Bank buying gold to hedge against unprecedented times or working with Stortinget (parliament) to engineer a soft landing, bringing us back to balance. I do not see the Cultural Ministry acknowledging that the current Bernie Sander’s like approach to society lacks the necessary mathematical foundation for long-term sustainability. I only see a lot more inflation than forecast.
So what to do?
Start by aiming your skepticism towards the government instead of those wearing tin foil hats or living in bunkers. Contact your politicians and voice concerns about the banks, potentially having a monopoly to store your digital money, at a forced loss (real negative interest rates). Also push for gold and silver to get status as money instead of as an asset, ensuring personal inflation protection. That is possible in a democracy. The British did BREXIT, and the predicted fallout appears to have been hyped. Already, Americans, Chinese and Indians are “lining up” to make agreements. The GBP is already moving back up; The Bank of England did not panic. Moreover, don’t forget that the Icelanders voted in a new government after a major banking scandal. I have faith that Norwegians will start waking up and using their democracy, preserving the way of life.
Description
4-Jan-16
15-Jul-16
Change
9,536
11,345
19%
601
622
4%
Oslo Apartments (NOK/sqm)*
60,606
68,883
14%
Oslo Apartments (USD/sqm – calculated)
6,846
8,226
20%
Oslo Apartments (Oz Gold/sqm – calculated)
6.36
6.07
-4%
8.8525
8.3737
-5%
* SSB.no Table 05963 Freeholder – average apartment price per sqm.
Price from 2015 Q4 (YE) to 2016 Q2Source: See Links – There are alternatives to dollars, housing, and stocks.
Source: BitGold.com – When you buy gold, you are ”buying the inflation” and then some.
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