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Best of the Web: America's debt crisis could well shake the world. Cut off by sanctions & suspicion, Russia should ironically find itself insulated

Glenn Diesen
RT
Tue, 12 Oct 2021 11:49 UTC
collapse rome us empire
The long-awaited American financial crisis appears to be on its way. Inflation is increasing, energy prices are out of control, and debt levels are already unsustainable. Washington has few tools left, and an awful lot to lose.

An American financial and currency crisis seems to be building, ready to flood the world and result in dramatic shifts in the international distribution of power. However, Russia has been preparing for the coming tumult, with a strategy that can be summarized as simply getting out of the splash zone. Besides ensuring fiscal discipline, the strategic partnership with China has focused on decoupling from the US-led international financial system.

Kicking the can down the road

The benefits that come with being able to print the world's reserve currency are, sadly, also a curse. The US has been able to run massive deficits for years to have a living standard and an empire that was beyond its means, while politicians have been able to claim the imbalances were a sign of a healthy economy, evidenced by the willingness of the world to lend the US such vast amounts of money. The plague of printing the world's trade and reserve currency is that it erodes the need for fiscal discipline as problems can be kicked down the road.


Comment: Incredibly, 40% of all US dollars currently in global circulation were 'printed' - digitally-issued for the most part - in just the last 12 months. This kind of fiscal irresponsibility is proof positive that the US is no longer 'fit to rule'.

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Handcuffs

Iraq captures ISIS finance chief and former deputy leader Sami Jasim al-Jaburi

Omar Abdulkader
CBS News
Mon, 11 Oct 2021 20:35 UTC
sami jasim al jaburi isis forces
© AFP/AlamySami Jasim Muhammad al-Jaburi, the ISIS 'banker' who controlled the terror group's £1.5billion stolen fortune, was captured by Iraqi security forces
Iraqi security forces escort captured ISIS finance chief and former deputy leader Sami Jasim al-Jaburi, after his arrest in an unidentified third country.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi announced on Monday the capture of one of the top leaders of ISIS. Al-Kadhimi said in a Twitter post that Sami Jasim al-Jaburi, the former deputy of the terror group and its head of finance, was detained in a third country, which he declined to name, by Iraqi intelligence forces in a "complex external operation."

Al-Jaburi, born in Iraq in 1973, was a deputy to slain ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and is believe to have remained close to the group's current commander Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi.

Al-Jaburi was designated as a terrorist by the U.S. government and there was a $5 million reward on offer from the State Department for information leading to his arrest.
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Microscope 1

Hair sample test reveals Navalny's benzo and lithium addictions his German doctors are covering up - plus hiding tropicamide poisoning

John Helmer
Dances with Bears
Sun, 10 Oct 2021 18:52 UTC
Navalny, Red SQ
© Instagram/KJNAlexey Navalny • Red Square, Moscow
German clinical evidence of Alexei Navalny's chronic use of lithium and benzodiazepine drugs before his sensational collapse last year is being withheld and covered up by the Berlin doctors who obtained the evidence from testing a sample of Navalny's hair.

The significance of the hair testing was identified this month by an expert toxicologist employed by the British government. "[It] would be interesting," he said, requesting his name not be released, "to see the hair test as this will reflect only the drugs given up to six days and more earlier in Russia."

Dr Kai-Uwe Eckardt, the head of the team of German doctors treating Navalny in Berlin's Charité University Hospital, reported publicly last December that "a hair sample obtained on day 4 confirmed the presence of several of the compounds detected in blood and urine." Day-4 in Berlin meant August 24, four days after Navalny alleges he was poisoned in Tomsk by Novichok on orders of the Kremlin. Navalny's allegation was endorsed by the German, British and US governments on the evidence, they said at the time, of Navalny's tests in Germany.

Comment:

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X

Hundreds of thousands of US troops have not yet complied with vaccine mandate as deadlines near

Alex Horton
ctpost.com
Sun, 10 Oct 2021 00:00 UTC
troops temp
© John Moore/Getty ImagesUS Army medic checking temperatures of soldiers returning from deployment.
Hundreds of thousands of U.S. service members remain unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated against the coronavirus as the Pentagon's first compliance deadlines near, with lopsided rates across the individual services and a spike in deaths among military reservists illustrating how political division over the shots has seeped into a nonpartisan force with unambiguous orders.

Overall, the military's vaccination rate has climbed since August, when Defense Department leaders, acting on a directive from President Joe Biden, informed the nation's 2.1 million troops that immunization would become mandatory, exemptions would be rare and those who refuse would be punished. Yet troops' response has been scattershot, according to data assessed by The Washington Post.

For instance, 90 percent of the active-duty Navy is fully vaccinated, whereas just 72 percent of the Marine Corps is, the data show, even though both services share a Nov. 28 deadline. In the Air Force, more than 60,000 personnel have just three weeks to meet the Defense Department's most ambitious deadline.

Deaths attributed to covid-19 have soared in parts of the force as some services struggle to inoculate their troops. In September, more military personnel died of coronavirus infections than in all of 2020. None of those who died were fully vaccinated, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Charlie Dietz said.


Comment: This is a threat, not a number. Even if it was 'a number', would it be true and accurate?


Comment: Given: An exercise in the use of 'No' within the context of 'a mandatory refusal of choice'.



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Stop

Biden's DHS cancels remaining border wall contracts in Texas, asks Congress to fund 'Smarter' security measures

Nick Monroe
Post Millennial
Sat, 09 Oct 2021 06:23 UTC
border wall
© UnknownBorder wall between USA and Mexico
The Biden administration's Department of Homeland Security recently cancelled US border wall contracts, with the reason being the available funds needed to be "consistent with their appropriated purpose" under the current law.

In terms of official numbers, when Pew Research last checked in, migrant encounters at the United States-Mexico border were at a 21-year high. Internationally, people as far away as Uzbekistan recognize that America's southern border is an open door they can walk in.

Comment: Biden's plan without a plan seems to be the standard for the whole administration.

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Dollars

40% of US dollars in existence were printed in the last 12 months: Is America repeating the same mistake of 1921 Weimar Germany?

Nickie Louise
TechStartups
Sat, 22 May 2021 00:00 UTC
Digitaldollar
© ledgerinsights.comDigital Dollar
On January 1, 2020, bitcoin was trading at $7,160. The Dow Jones was also trading at 28,634 on January 3, 2020, before crashing to 19,173 on March 20, 2020, after the coronavirus pandemic broke out in the United States. States and the Federal governments immediately shut down the economy and millions of people lost their jobs.

As part of its effort to stimulate the economy, the U.S. government issued stimulus checks to millions of employed Americans. Where did the money coming from? The government had to borrow by selling its debt in the form of U.S. Treasury bonds and other types of securities. The after the bonds are sold, the Federal Reserve gets to work and starts printing money.

But money printing is not new. The Federal Reserve has printing money to pay for about $29 trillion in U.S. debt. However, what's new is that the 40% of US dollars in existence were printed in the last 12 months alone.

What is so ironic about this number is that just two years ago, Federal Reserve reported that 40% of Americans don't have $400 in the bank for emergency expenses, according to a report from ABC News. The 2019 Federal Reserve survey finds that almost 40% of American adults wouldn't be able to cover a $400 emergency with cash, savings, or a credit card charge that they could quickly pay off.


Comment: The 'cost' of hyperinflation:
Zimbabwe dollar


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Attention

Kim Jong-un acknowledges 'grim situation' facing North Korea's economy


Reuters
Mon, 11 Oct 2021 12:56 UTC
Kim Jong-un
© Reuters/KCNANorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un •ˆPeople's Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Korea
Kim Jong-un urged officials to focus on improving citizens' lives in the face of a "grim" economic situation, state media reported on Monday, as he marked the anniversary of the country's ruling party.

Art performances, galas, and a fireworks show were held in Pyongyang to celebrate the 76th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea on Sunday, but no large military parade, which are sometimes held on such occasions, was reported.

North Korea's economy has been battered by years of sanctions over its nuclear and weapons programmes, and heavy rains and floods have also taken a toll. The country's most vulnerable risk starvation after it slipped deeper into self-imposed isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the worsening humanitarian situation could turn into a crisis, a UN rights investigator said in report seen by Reuters last week.

The country faces "huge tasks for adjusting and developing the state economy" and accomplishing the economic goals established in recent party and government meetings, Kim said in a speech, according to state news agency KCNA. Making no mention of the political standoff over its nuclear weapons, he said:
"The only way for dynamically pushing forward the unprecedented crucial work despite grim situation is for the entire Party to get united." Officials "should not wish for privilege and preferential treatment, should always consider whether their work infringe upon the interests of the people or cause trouble to the people."
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Footprints

Washington and Moscow drop some tit-for-tat sanctions to allow blacklisted Victoria 'f**k the EU' Nuland enter Russia for talks


RT
Sun, 10 Oct 2021 21:16 UTC
Victoria Nuland
© Reuters Yiannis KourtoglouVictoria Nuland
Moscow has lifted sanctions on Victoria Nuland, allowing the US undersecretary of state to enter the country for a summit with her Russian counterparts. The US is said to have dropped sanctions on a Russian diplomat in exchange.

Nuland is expected to visit Moscow on Monday, where she will take part in three days of meetings with officials at the Russian Foreign Ministry. However, up until Sunday, Nuland was forbidden from entering Russia.

"She was actually on our sanctions lists that mean that a person cannot cross the border," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russia-1 channel on Sunday.
"She was actually on our sanctions lists that mean that a person cannot cross the border. [The US] included Russian representatives and foreign policy experts on their sanctions lists. So in this case, the question was resolved on a parity basis. Yes, she will be in Russia,"
The US reportedly initiated the summit.

Comment: Victoria Nuland and hubby Robert Kagan champion neocon manipulations at home and abroad. That Biden gives such a faction power and influence adds two more black marks to his corrosive and dim-witted administration.

See also:

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Dominoes

Austria's new chancellor takes the reins of power


Independent.ie
Mon, 11 Oct 2021 11:49 UTC
Schallenberg
© Lisa Leutner/AP.FILE PHOTO: Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg. Fast-tracking membership for Kiev would imply some candidates are "more equal than others," Alexander Schallenberg has warned.
Austria's new chancellor has taken the reins of power, two days after Sebastian Kurz resigned amid corruption allegations.

Austrian president Alexander Van der Bellen swore in Alexander Schallenberg, currently the foreign minister, as chancellor. Career diplomat Michael Linhart became the country's new foreign minister, Austrian news agency APA reported.

Mr Kurz, 35, announced on Saturday that he would step aside to defuse a political crisis triggered by prosecutors' announcement that he is one of the targets of an investigation into suspected bribery and breach of trust. The conservative Mr Kurz's junior coalition partners, the Greens, had demanded his replacement. Mr Kurz denies any wrongdoing.

Mr Kurz and his close associates are accused of trying to secure his rise to the leadership of his party and the country with the help of manipulated polls and friendly media reports, financed with public money.

Mr Kurz became the leader of his Austrian People's Party and then chancellor in 2017.

Comment: See also:
Austrian prosecutors target Kurz in bribery investigation

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Dollar

Moderna founders debut on Forbes' list of 400 richest Americans

Will Feuer
New York Post
Thu, 07 Oct 2021 20:04 UTC
Moderna chairman Noubar Afeyan
© Getty Images for Aurora HumanitaModerna chairman Noubar Afeyan, whose estimated net worth is $3.7 billion, is ranked 212 on the Forbes' 400 list in 2021.
The success of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine has minted three new billionaires who had early stakes in the biotech startup, leading to their debut on this year's Forbes list of the 400 richest people in the US.

Moderna co-founder and chairman Noubar Afeyan along with fellow co-founder and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Robert Langer both made the list, with estimated net worths of $3.7 billion and $3.5 billion, respectively.

Timothy Springer, a Harvard Medical School professor and early Moderna investor, also debuted on the list with a net worth of $4.4 billion, according to Forbes.

Since Moderna became the second company to win an emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine, more than 152.3 million doses have been administered, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The company has previously said it expects to make at least $19.2 billion in sales of its COVID-19 vaccine.

Moderna's successful development of the vaccine propelled it out of the world of biotech startup obscurity and landed huge gains for shareholders.

The stock has fallen off its peak in recent weeks, but it's still up more than 189 percent since Jan. 1, and over 300 percent higher compared with a year ago.

Since its initial public offering at $22 per share in 2018, the company's stock is up more than 1,200 percent. It was last seen trading at $297.50 a share.

Comment: It's a tough job putting self-interest above public health (all in the name of public health), but somebody's gotta do it.

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