Month: July 2019

CNN: Thou Shalt Have No Other Media Before Ours, Chinamen!

Authored by Tim Kirby via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

Donald Trump’s magical term “Fake News” absolutely hit the nail on the head in regards to the dismal behavior of the current Mainstream Media when they fabricate their product. But below Fake News there needs to be another subcategory of “Fake Outrage”. Meaning the news is presented factually and could be of value to the public, however the reaction within said news is hysterical and/or vastly overblown.

Take for example CNN’s rather detailed breakdown of how China is moving into the African media sphere. The information provided looks to be true but it is written to fill the Western reader with some sort of looming dread. The article ends on a perfect doomsday quote by a PhD candidate that they interviewed…

“In the trade off between letting go of some sovereignty and building a state-of-the-art telecommunications network, most African countries have chosen the latter,”

Apparently you can be horribly naive and biased while working towards a PhD and/or getting your next paycheck from CNN. The idea that modern Africa is completely independent and free as long as the Chinese stop sending phones and cable TV dishes to the continent is mental.

“Post colonial” France has 3,000 troops spread over 5 African nations covering from the very west of the continent to the Horn of Africa according to Business Insider. The Washington Post says that during the middle of Obama’s presidency the US had troops in at least 13 Sub-Saharan African nations. Obviously not all bases are pubic knowledge thus there are “at least” 13 bases. Free and independent nations are not smothered by foreign troops.

Sub-Saharan Africa is also plagued by massive government debts with roughly half the nations being in the red up to half of their national GDP according the Economist. This raises the question of whom are they indebted to? Of course it is lovely white faces at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank not their neighbors. The African Development bank is a player, but behind their local looks they have many foreign (Western) partners. The West still has a financial stranglehold on Africa. Is this Africa’s own fault for having corrupt leaders that took out IMF loans they could never possibly repay? Yes it probably is, but it doesn’t matter how the debt was created, African is beholden to it, thus not very pure and independent.

CNN in their breakdown of Chinese expansion into the African info space also forgot to mention that media the world over is by default – American. It is false to portray poor Africa (which isn’t that poor anymore if you take a virtual trip through their cities via Google Maps) as this totally free media space filled only with some hapless local content that will be Crushed by Xi’s evil 10,000 Villages plan. If you travel the world and see a movie theatre it will have Hollywood movies guaranteed and translated American shows/movies will be on TV in hotel room guaranteed. The entire campy genre of Ugandan action movies (the only African-made movie you will probably ever see) is founded on imitating Hollywood.

To say that Africa is empty of media is mad, the author from CNN needs to be less dishonest or more self-reflective. Their real problem with China putting up TV-dishes in 10,000 villages and selling smartphones built for African realities (cheap, good battery life to survive long power outages, gearing phones to local languages) is that it is a threat to US/Western dominance of the continent. The Chinese Communists are doing Capitalism better than the West in Africa and at least subconsciously some people at CNN are spooked.

There is nothing wrong with an American news outlet saying that they want to keep the world’s eyes seeing history and events through a primarily American filter. There is nothing wrong with wanting America to step up its game in Africa to make sure hearts and minds are won over on a continent that has lots of lovely natural resources. It would be a normal healthy attitude to say something like “If the Chinese want to take Africa, then they’re going to have fight for it, right boys!?”. But somehow trying to make the Chinese look evil for attempting to make money selling products and services and gain soft power influence is Fake Outrage.

China is just trying to do the rational things that America was doing very well for decades after WWII – bringing their media technology to as many markets as possible to make sweet cash and get those all so important soft power victories. If you have a problem with the Chinese answering certain market demands in Africa then you should honestly advocate for giving them an economic fight for the territory. Many of the biggest tech companies in the world are from the West. If you want your info-colonies back so much then go out and win them over with good tech and great content. Don’t lie to the English-speaking speaking public implying Beijing is somehow that vastly inherently different from Washington and by its very nature doing evil.

CNN’s view is both racist and a perfect example of “Fake Outrage”.

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2OsjIa4 Tyler Durden

16 Shot, 3 Dead At California Garlic Festival; Shooter Still At Large

“Who shoots up a garlic festival?” exclaimed one terrified attendee at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Gilroy, California as she fled from an active shooter situation tonight.

NBC Bay Area News is reporting sources say 16 shot and 3 dead.

Santa Clara Valley Medical Center spokeswoman Joy Alexiou told ABC News that the hospital has received two victims from the shooting and expects three more. She had no information on their conditions.

The shooter is reportedly a white man in his 30s using an automatic weapon.

Festival-goer Evenny Reyes of Gilroy, 13, told the San Jose Mercury News she thought the gunshots were fireworks at first, but then she saw a man with a bandana wrapped around his leg because he got shot.

“And there were people on the ground, crying. There was a little kid hurt on the ground. People were throwing tables and cutting fences to get out.”

The Gilroy Garlic Festival started in 1979 and Sunday was the final day of event, according to the festival website.

Live Feed from NBC Bay Area:

President Trump has tweeted that he is aware of the situation:

Developing…

 

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/32PHpMG Tyler Durden

Russia And China Display Strategic Coordination In Asia-Pacific

Authored by M.K.Bhadrakumar via The Indian Punchline blog,

An exciting new template has appeared in the geopolitics of the Asia-Pacific last week when Russia’s Aerospace Force and China’s Air Force carried out their first-ever joint air patrol in the region.

Steadily and imperceptibly but profoundly, the regional alignments are transforming. Russia and China routinely claim that their entente is neither a military alliance nor is directed against any third country. Yet, the alchemy of that relationship is undergoing a huge transformation, stemming out of a conscious decision by their top leaderships. 

The so-called joint patrol last Tuesday involved Russia’s Tu-95MS strategic bombers and the H-6K aircraft on China’s part. The Tupolov Tu-95MS (which NATO calls the ‘Bear’) is a is a large, four-engine turboprop-powered strategic bomber and missile platform to carry the new Russian Kh-101/102 stealth cruise missile, which uses use radio-radar equipment and target-acquiring/navigation system based on GLONASS. The ‘Bear’ used to be a veritable icon of the Cold War as it performed a maritime surveillance and targeting mission for other aircraft, surface ships and submarines and a versatile bomber that would deliver the thermonuclear bomb.

China’s H-6K is a heavily redesigned version of the ‘Bear’, capable of carrying air launched cruise missiles. According to the Pentagon, the bomber gives China a “long-range standoff offensive air capability” with precision-guided munitions. Russia and China deployed two each of the Tu-95MS and H-6K strategic bombers in the air patrol on Tuesday. 

According to a Russian Defence Ministry statement, the air patrol was undertaken on the “planned route over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.” The statement added that the joint air patrol was intended to strengthen Russian-Chinese relations and raise the level of interaction between the armed forces of both countries, in particular, to expand their capabilities for joint operations. 

Significantly, the Russian statement  said that another goal of the joint patrol is “strengthening global strategic stability.” 

The South Korean defence ministry, however, insisted that following the Russian-Chinese air patrol by the strategic bombers, a Russian A-50 command and control military aircraft also entered the country’s Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) twice. South Korea claimed that it deployed fighter jets and fired 360 warning shots ahead of the Russian A-50, which  is an unarmed AWACS plane, designed for tracking and observation.

Russian A-50 aircraft. File photo

Why Russia and China jointly undertook an unprecedented joint air patrol over the disputed islands in the East China Sea (known to the Koreans as Dokdo and to the Japanese as Takeshima) remains unclear. But, quite obviously, it is an affront to the US, which has alliance treaties with both Japan and South Korea. The incident comes barely two months after the release of the Pentagon’s Indo-Pacific Strategy Report, which spelt out the US’ dual containment strategy against China (“a Revisionist Power”) and Russia (“a Revitalised Malign Actor”.) 

The Chinese Defense Ministry’s official spokesman Col. Wu Qian saidon Wednesday, “I would like to reiterate that China and Russia are engaged in all-encompassing strategic coordination. This patrol mission was among the areas of cooperation and was carried out within the framework of the annual plan of cooperation between the defence agencies of the two states. It was not directed against any other “third state.” 

“As far as the practice of joint strategic patrols is concerned, both sides will make a decision on the matter on the basis of bilateral consultations. Under the strategic command of the heads of states, the armed forces of the two nations will continue developing their relations. The sides will support each other, respect mutual interests and develop corresponding mechanisms of cooperation.” 

Clearly, the Chinese statement has been far more assertive than the Russian statement, describing the joint patrol as part of an “all-encompassing strategic coordination” between the two countries and may continue in future as they “support for each other, respect mutual interests and develop corresponding mechanisms of cooperation.” 

Map of the route of Russian-Chinese joint patrol mission on July 23, 2019

Moscow also says that the first-ever joint patrol of the long-range aviation in the Pacific was the beginning of a wider program, which aims to boost the Russian and Chinese militaries’ ability to work together and the planned program stretches at least for the remainder of the year.

Neither Russia nor China is party to the maritime dispute in the East China Sea and when the undertook a joint patrol nonetheless, it bore an uncanny resemblance to the US exercising its ‘freedom of navigation’ in the South China Sea. The US has a big military presence in the region but was rendered an ineffectual observer, unable to go the aid of either of its allies — Japan and South Korea which too could protest and lament from the sidelines. 

The symbolism is striking. The US National Security Advisor John Bolton who was on a visit to Seoul a day after the flyover of the islands by the Russian and Chinese strategic bombers exhorted South Korea and Japan to work together amid growing security concerns. 

On the other hand, the incident last Tuesday only served to highlight the conflicting claims over the islands. Eighteen South Korean jets and about 10 from Japan’s Self-Defense Forces were deployed to the area during the incident. Japan, which considers the South Korean-controlled islands as its own, maintains that the South should not have responded to the Russian plane. Meanwhile, a South Korean Defense Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday that Japan’s views are completely irrelevant. 

In fact, one viewpoint is that China and Russia took advantage of this rift to put their security partnership to the test. The CNN speculated that the Russian-Chinese mission may have been designed to draw out South Korean and Japanese aircraft for intelligence gathering purposes. 

Either way, Russia and China may have underscored that carrying forward their convergence on the Asia-Pacific region, their two militaries intend to undertake active “strategic coordination” in the Far East where the US has begun deploying advanced missile defence capabilities. For China, the timing is particularly significant in view of the proposed US arms sales to Taiwan. 

For both Russia and China, the Far East will be of increased importance in the period ahead as forming a gateway to the Northern Sea Route, the shipping lane which the two countries are jointly developing to connect the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean along the Russian coast of Siberia and the Far East. 

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2SJqc30 Tyler Durden

India Launches First-Ever Space War Drill To Defend Satellites

In the event of war with Pakistan or China, India has determined that the first domain of warfare to defend is low Earth orbit.

Indian news reported last week that the country’s first space war drill on Thursday [July 25] was focused on defending space assets in the event of a shooting conflict with China.

The two-day war exercise, called IndSpaceEx, was conducted by Indian Armed Forces “in the backdrop of China’s rapidly expanding space and counter-space capabilities,” The Times of India (TOI) said.

“There is a need to explore effective tactical, operational, and strategic exploitation on the final frontier of warfare. We cannot keep twiddling our thumbs while China zooms ahead. We cannot match China but must have capabilities to protect our space assets,” the TOI said while quoting an unnamed Indian official.

The Diplomat magazine called the military exercise a “table-top war game,” will allow Indian war planners to design a doctrine that dictates procedures for space battle.

The latest exercise comes after an anti-satellite missile test in March, India emphasized it had developed a level of “deterrence” capabilities on par to the US, Russia, and China.

“We are working on several technologies like directed-energy weapons (DEWs), lasers, electromagnetic pulses (EMP) and co-orbital weapons,” Dr. Satheesh Reddy, chairman of the state-funded the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) said in a press briefing after the anti-satellite missile test.

Earlier last week [Monday], India launched its lunar probe Chandrayaan-2 had successfully performed a second earth-bound orbit-raising maneuver on Friday morning.

“India has paranoia” amid China’s rapid rise across many domains of warfare, including space, Wei Dongxu, a Beijing-based military analyst, told the Global Times Thursday.

Wei said China continued to hold a peaceful attitude towards India’s space ambitions and opposed its militarization in low Earth orbit.

The Pentagon established its Space Force, the sixth branch of the armed forces, on August 2018.

Vice President Pence said after the creation of the new force, “Russia and China to North Korea and Iran have pursued weapons to jam, blind and disable our navigation and communications satellites via electronic attacks from the ground,” adding that, “our adversaries have been working to bring new weapons of war into space itself.”

As evident by many of the world superpowers, a race to defend military assets in low Earth orbit is underway, an ominous sign of war preparation as protectionism and nationalism is spreading across the world — straining relations that could ultimately lead to war in the next decade.

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2GAgdYM Tyler Durden

No Accountability In Washington. The CIA Wants To Hide All Its ‘Assets’

Authored by Philip Giraldi via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

Government that actually serves the interests of the people who are governed has two essential characteristics: first, it must be transparent in terms of how it debates and develops policies and second, it has to be accountable when it fails in its mandate and ceases to be responsive to the needs of the electorate.

Over the past twenty years one might reasonably argue that Washington has become less a “of the people, by the people and for the people” and increasingly a model of how special interests can use money to corrupt government. The recent story about how serial pedophile Jeffrey Epstein avoided any serious punishment by virtue of his wealth and his political connections, including to both ex-president Bill Clinton and to current chief executive Donald Trump, demonstrates how even the most despicable criminals can avoid being brought to justice.

This erosion of what one might describe as republican virtue has been exacerbated by a simultaneous weakening of the US Constitution’s Bill of Rights, which was intended to serve as a guarantee of individual liberties while also serving as a bulwark against government overreach. In recent cases in the United States, a young man had his admission to Harvard revoked over comments posted online when he was fifteen that were considered racist, while a young woman was stripped of a beauty contest title because she refused to don a hijab at a college event and then wrote online about her experience. In both cases, freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment was ruled to be inadmissible by the relevant authorities.

Be that as it may, governmental lack of transparency and accountability is a more serious matter when the government itself becomes a serial manipulator of the truth as it seeks to protect itself from criticism. Reports that the Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.) is seeking legislation that will expand government ability to declare it a crime to reveal the identities of undercover intelligence agents will inevitably lead to major abuse when some clever bureaucrat realizes that the new rule can also be used to hide people and cover up malfeasance.

A law to protect intelligence officers already exists. It was passed in 1982 and is referred to as the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (I.I.P.A.). It criminalizes the naming of any C.I.A. officer under cover who has served overseas in the past five years. The new legislation would make the ban on exposure perpetual and would also include Agency sources or agents whose work is classified as well as actual C.I.A. staff employees who exclusively or predominantly work in the United States rather than overseas.

The revised legislation is attached to defense and intelligence bills currently being considered by Congress. If it is passed into law, its expanded range of criminal penalties could be employed to silence whistle blowers inside the Agency who become aware of illegal activity and it might also be directed against journalists that the whistleblowers might contact to tell their story.

The Agency has justified the legislation by claiming in a document obtained by The New York Times that “hundreds of covert officers [serving in the United States] have had their identity and covert affiliation disclosed without authorization… C.I.A. officers place themselves in harm’s way in order to carry out C.I.A.’s mission regardless of where they are based. Protecting officers’ identities from foreign adversaries is critical.”

Some Congressmen are disturbed by the perpetual nature of the identification ban, while also believing that the proposed legislation is too broad in general. Senator Ron Wyden expressed had reservations over how the C.I.A. provision would apply indefinitely. “I am not yet convinced this expansion is necessary and am concerned that it will be employed to avoid accountability,” he wrote.

Agency insiders have suggested that the new law is in part a response to increasing leaks of classified information by government employees. It is also a warning shot fired at journalists in the wake of the impending prosecution of Julian Assange of WikiLeaks under the seldom used Espionage Act of 1918. Covert identities legislation is less broad that the Espionage Act, which is precisely why it is attractive. It permits prosecution and punishment solely because someone either has revealed a “covert” name or is suspected of having done so.

But up until now, government prosecutors have only used the 1982 identities law twice. The first time was a 1985 case involving a C.I.A. clerk in Ghana and the second time was the 2012 case of John Kiriakou, a former C.I.A. officer who pleaded guilty to providing a reporter with the name of an under-cover case officer who participated in the agency’s illegal overseas interrogations. Kiriakou has always claimed that he had not in fact named anyone, in spite of his plea, which was agreed to as a plea bargain. The covert officer in question had already been identified in the media.

John Kiriakou also observes how the I.I.P.A. has been inevitably applied selectively. He describes how “These two minor prosecutions aside, very few revelations of C.I.A. identities have ever led to court cases. Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage famously leaked Valerie Plame’s name to two syndicated columnists. He was never charged with a crime. Former C.I.A. Director David Petraeus leaked the names of 10 covert C.I.A. operatives to his adulterous girlfriend, apparently in an attempt to impress her, and was never charged. Former C.I.A. Director Leon Panetta revealed the name of the covert SEAL Team member who killed Osama bin Laden. He apologized and was not prosecuted.”

Kiriakou also explains how the “…implementation of this law is a joke. The C.I.A. doesn’t care when an operative’s identity is revealed — unless they don’t like the politics of the person making the revelation. If they cared, half of the C.I.A. leadership would be in prison. What they do care about, though, is protecting those employees who commit crimes at the behest of the White House or the C.I.A. leadership.” He goes on to describe how some of those involved in the Agency torture program were placed under cover precisely for that reason, to protect them from prosecution for war crimes.

Even team player Joe Biden, when a Senator, voted against the I.I.P.A., explaining in an op-ed in The Christian Science Monitor in 1982 that, “The language (the I.I.P.A.) employs is so broadly drawn that it would subject to prosecution not only the malicious publicizing of agents’ names, but also the efforts of legitimate journalists to expose any corruption, malfeasance, or ineptitude occurring in American intelligence agencies.” And that was with the much weaker 1982 version of the bill.

The new legislation is an intelligence agency dream, a get out of jail card that has no expiry date. And if one wants to know how dangerous it is, consider for a moment that if it turns out that serial pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was indeed a C.I.A. covert source, which is quite possible, he would be covered and would be able to walk away free on procedural grounds.

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2OqoJ37 Tyler Durden

Israel & US Conduct High Altitude ‘Arrow-3’ Missile Defense Tests In Alaska

Following Iran’s provocative test firing last week of its medium-range ballistic missile the Shahab-3, which is capable of hitting Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday the successful test firing of Israel’s own Arrow-3 ballistic missile shield over Alaska, tests previously considered secretive.

“The performance was perfect – every hit a bull’s eye,” Netanyahu, who doubles as defense minister, said in a statement  following the three secret “live interception” tests held in coordination with the United States and the missile system’s maker, Boeing Co. The Arrow-3 is touted as being able to shoot down incoming missiles in space, or while a hostile missile is still outside the earth’s atmosphere, and is the “bottom tier” and longest range integration on top of the the short-range Iron Dome interceptor.

Specifically the Arrow-3 is designed to take out advanced ballistic missiles in Iran and Syria’s arsenal. The tests were held in Alaska due to Israel not being considered a capable hosting site given the system’s specifications, as well as likely the current soaring regional tensions with Iran.

“Today Israel has the capabilities to act against ballistic missiles launched at us from Iran and from anywhere else,” Netanyahu said on Sunday. “All our foes should know that we can best them, both defensively and offensively.”

“They were successful beyond any imagination. The Arrow 3 – with complete success – intercepted ballistic missiles beyond the atmosphere at unprecedented altitudes and speeds,” the Israeli PM added. However, no details regarding what altitudes were reached during the testing were given.

During the Alaska tests the Israeli Arrow-3 missiles were also integrated with the US’ long-range, very high-altitude active electronically scanned array surveillance radar which globally assists in early detection of hostile projectiles with a range up to 2,900 miles. As Reuters summarized:

Israel’s Ministry of Defense said that, as part of the Alaska tests, Arrow-3 was successfully synched up with the AN-TPY2 radar – also known as X-band – which provides the United States with extensive global coverage. Israel hosts an X-band battery.

“We are committed to assisting the government of Israel in upgrading its national missile defence capability to defend the state of Israel and deployed U.S. forces from emerging threats,” Vice Admiral John Hill, director of the Pentagon’s Missile Defence Agency, said in a statement.

The Arrow-3 system, once fully integrated with the Iron Dome and the medium-range ‘David’s Sling,’ will mark the highest level in Israel’s multi-tiered missile defense network.

No doubt, the publication of the weekend tests doubly serves as a strong message of warning to Iran amid soaring tensions and a US military build-up in the Persian Gulf after tit-for-tat drone shoot downs over the past month and ongoing “tanker war”. 

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2ymym7S Tyler Durden

By Not Renewing The CBGA, Central Banks In Europe Are Ready To Buy Gold

Submitted by Ronan Manly, BullionStar.com

Last month, a BullionStar article titled “The Fifth Wave: A new Central Bank Gold Agreement?” brought your attention to the fact that the fourth and current round of the Central Bank Gold Agreement (CBGA) run by a cartel of heavyweight central banks in Europe was about to expire, and that these gold agreements, which have been running in rolling five year periods since September 1999, were not designed for the purposes they claimed to be.

That CBGA1 and CBGA2 from 1999 – 2008, were not intended to help the wider gold market by limiting central bank gold sales, but were really a cover by the central bank syndicate members to account for nearly 4000 tonnes of gold that had already been sold or leased in the 1990s. That CBGA3 was then used to distract the gold market about the secretive ‘gold sales’ that the IMF claimed to have undertaken in 2010, which were really another book squaring exercise for disposed IMF gold.

The heavyweight signatories to the central bank gold agreements (CBGAs) include Eurozone member banks such as the Bundesbank, the Banque de France, Banca Italia, De Nederlandsche Bank, National Bank of Belgium, the European Central Bank (ECB) itself, as well as the non-Eurozone Swedish Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank. In its composition, the consortium replicates the nexus of the 1960s London Gold Pool (Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium) and the nexus of the central banks which met at the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) in 1979 and the early 1980s to plan a secretive new 1980s gold pool.

Swedish Riksbank press release 26 July 2019

 

Last month’s article also pointed to the fact that this syndicate of European central banks had also been absent as buyers of monetary gold over the 1999 – 2019 period, when all around them central banks of nations such as Russia, China, India, Turkey, and Kazakhstan were busily doing the opposite and boosting their strategic monetary gold reserves.

The question then was, do these European central bank signatories to the CBGAs have an agreement among themselves not to buy any gold, that is contained in, for example, a non-public annex to the Agreement? If so:

“It would not be the first time that G10 and Switzerland central banks agreed among themselves not to purchase gold. They did so in the mid 1970s when in conjunction with the IMF, when “the countries in the Group of Ten and Switzerland also agreed that there be no action to peg the price of gold, and that the total stock of gold in the hands of the Fund and the monetary authorities of the Group of Ten and Switzerland would not be increased.”

European System of Central Banks

 

Open Season on Gold Buying

While waiting for word from the European Central Bank (ECB) about a fifth CBGA, the conclusion here last month was that:

“Given that the whole CBGA scheme was a cover whose main purpose has already been achieved, there is no compelling logic for a fifth CBGA, except of course unless there have been further physical gold flows out of western central banks which need to be squared off in the books.”

Well, we don’t have to wait any longer, since the ECB, Swiss National Bank, and Swedish Riksbank have all issued coordinated press releases dated 26th July, confirming that there will not be a fifth central bank gold agreement when the current agreement expires in September 2019.

This is because, according to the ECB press release, the signatory banks “conclude that a formal gold agreement is no longer necessary” because they say “the market has developed and matured”, more specifically that “since 1999 the global gold market has developed considerably in terms of maturity, liquidity and investor base.”

Given that the real reason for the CBGAs from 1999 onwards was to close out previously sold and leased gold while hiding the transactions, this excuse for non-renewal is irrelevant, but even in its wording about the changing shape of the global gold market it is misleading.

The ECB – SNB – Riksbank press releases also mislead with the ironic claim that “the Agreement contributed to balanced conditions in the gold market by providing transparency regarding the intentions of the signatories”, when in fact the Agreement was the complete opposite, i.e. a cover for gold that had already been disposed of.

However, this latest news about the non-renewal of the CBGA is important because it is the best evidence yet that there most likely is an unpublished agreement among the participating European central banks not to buy any gold, but that this private agreement not to buy gold is now being torn up. Which would mean that open season for central bank gold buying is about to begin.

Now that it seems to be open season for central banks in Europe to begin buying gold, the ECB still has an input on the subject, saying its governing council update, also 26th July, that the decision not to renew the CBGA “is without prejudice to each national central bank’s competences regarding the management of its own gold reserves.”

The CBGA member press releases acknowledge the eagerness to buy gold, saying that “central banks and other official institutions in general have become net buyers of gold” and that “the signatories confirm that gold remains an important element of global monetary reserves, as it continues to provide asset diversification benefits.”  The Swiss National Bank press release adds some flavor claiming that the “gold agreement [is] no longer necessary due to changes in market conditions and in central bank activities.”

As none of the CBGA cartel central banks “currently has plans to sell significant amounts of gold“, has it been a case of gold buying envy as Russia, China and the even Poland and Hungary have piled into the yellow metal? It would certainly seem so.

The press release from the ECB can be read in pdf format here, from the Swiss National Bank (SNB) in pdf format here,  and from the Swedish Riksbank in pdf format here.

This article was originally published on the BullionStar.com website under the same title “By Not Renewing the CBGA, Central Banks in Europe Look Ready to Buy Gold“.

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2GtQDEX Tyler Durden

Mansion Crisis: Hamptons Housing Market Had Its Worst Spring Quarter In 8 Years

Hamptons, the beachfront playground for New York City’s financial elite, just recorded the worst second quarter for sales in eight years, according to a report from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel, and first reported by CNBC.

Real estates sales and prices in the Hamptons extended lower through 2Q19, indicating the luxury home market continues to stagnate for the last six quarters, the report said.

The weakness in the Hamptons was confusing for CNBC, considering they said real estate in the region should have been positive because the stock market is higher. But as Zerohedge readers know, the stock market has remained extremely disconnected from fundamentals this year, if not the last decade.

The Hamptons is experiencing the same pressures as many luxury markets across the country: an oversupply of mansions, dwindling demand from foreign buyers, changes to SALT deductions, and sellers who have become delusional that real estate prices can still hold 2014 values.

With no end in sight, the bust of the Hamptons real estate market could become more severe through 2020.

Miller Samuel said the number of homes listed in the region doubled in 2Q19, to 2,500. This is the highest level the research firm has recorded since it started gathering data in 2006.

According to the report, there is a 5-month supply of listings, with more than a three-year supply of luxury properties.

“I think it’s premature to talk about a turnaround until the inventory growth slows down,” said Jonathan Miller, CEO of Miller Samuel, the appraisal firm.

“There is just not a sense of urgency. The buyers are just waiting it out.”

Brokers told CNBC that demand is showing up for more affordable homes but not for +$5 million.

“You might look at Zillow and see nine properties on the oceanfront in Southampton, which looks like a lot,” said Cody Vichinsky of Bespoke Real Estate in the Hamptons.

“But then you dig into it, and you see that six of them are in places where you’d never want to live, with constant helicopter noise or a triple dune or encumbrances. And then the others, the price is ridiculous. When a property is priced decently, it goes.”

Glancing at Zillow Hamptons, hundreds of homes are for sale ranging from $625k to $60 million.

In a recent listing, the family of James Evans, the former chairman of the Union Pacific railroad empire, put their waterfront estate in East Hampton on the market for $60 million. The 5,500-square-foot home sits on 5.4 oceanfront acres, has an estimated mortgage payment of $362k per month.

A $49 million mansion on 4.5 acres with 430 feet of direct oceanfront has been on the market for 850 days.

The pullback in Hamptons real estate is a sobering reminder that inventory is building to levels that are making sellers uncomfortable, could unleash panic selling and metastasize into a full-blown market rout with implications beyond New York City.

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2SJbbOG Tyler Durden

Everyone’s Gone Nuts… For Power and Profit!

Authored by Raheem Kassam via HumanEvents.com,

A few Democrats get angry and all of America has to endure the hand-wringing…

Senator John Kennedy said the “four horsemen” of the Democratic party’s internal apocalypse were the “reason there are directions on a shampoo bottle”.

I doubled over in laughter. Then I watched the interview with “the squad”.

Rashida Tlaib whined about Trump being a “bully”. AOC called America a “story. Ayanna Pressley called the president “predictable” despite her and her colleagues constantly appearing surprised or taken aback by his actions. Ilhan Omar refused to retract her wildly anti-Semitic comments.

Gaslighting America into believing they’re the helpless victims of a pitchfork-wielding president.

Then there was Yahoo News basically calling actor Chris Pratt a white supremacist for wearing a t-shirt with a Gadsden Flag on it for a veteran’s charity.

It’s only been about 10 days since the Betsy Ross flag debacle. Megan Rapinoe’s U.S. flag would still be on the ground were it not for her lesbian teammate who picked it up. I mention her sexuality only because we were expected to be mad about that, for some reason. No one was.

Everyone’s gone nuts.

They know they’ve gone nuts because they stealthily try to go un-nuts, having gone nuts already. Check the stealth edit on the Yahoo News article.

Originally: “Chris Pratt criticised for ‘white supremacist’ T-shirt’.

Later: “Chris Pratt criticised for T-shirt choice’.

You can’t go un-nuts once we’ve seen you go nuts.

That applies to Starbucks, Nike, Oreos, Yahoo, CNN, all of you.

…

For the right, it’s an example of how “everything is racist to the left”.

For the left it is an opportunity to shift the Overton window further. To create consternation about a flag that requires no consternation. To undermine the founding of America by undermining its symbols.

That’s all it took.

And that’s why all it takes to upset the political apple cart is those who John Kennedy referred to as the Democrats’ four horsemen: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar.

One media company rattled the cage of another – for exposure, clicks, and profit – and America got sucked into a heated political war as a result.

The same reason Nike snubbed the Betsy Ross flag. For profit.

And that’s what the ‘Squad’ are doing to America.

Riling her up. Dividing her. Causing consternation and upheaval wherever they go, and through whatever they say.

For profit.

In their case, it’s not so much financial gain they’re after. It’s power. That’s what the whole internal fight they’re having with Nancy Pelosi is about. Power. The left craves power as the right craves autonomy.

But they’re forgetting those now “racist” words: Don’t Tread On Me.

And that’s why Trump continues to goad them. Because Americans don’t like being tread upon. And he knows elevating them provides his best hope of waking people up to the danger of a Democrat president, House, and Senate in 2020.

Read the full story here…

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2LMTRHV Tyler Durden

Supreme Court Ruling Will ‘Really Accelerate’ Border Wall Progress: DHS Chief

A Supreme Court decision to allow President Trump to redirect $2.5 billion in Pentagon funds towards his long promised border wall will “really accelerate” progress on the project, according to Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan in Sunday appearance on Fox News. 

The 5-4 decision will allow for the construction of more than 100 miles of fencing – the most significant step yet, according to Bloomberg.

McAleenan said while the court’s ruling was “a big victory” to build more of the wall, “we do remain in the midst of a border security crisis” with migrants flooding the region and that Congress must take more action to deter crossings.

“We made very clear the targeted changes in law that we need,” McAleenan said. –Bloomberg

In Friday’s order, the Supreme Court said that the government made a “sufficient showing” that several groups challenging the decision had insufficient grounds to bring a lawsuit against President Trump’s Feb. 15 national emergency to fund the wall without congressional approval. 

“Today’s decision to permit the diversion of military funds for border wall construction will wall off and destroy communities, public lands, and waters in California, New Mexico, and Arizona,” said Sierra Club attorney GLoria Smith. 

Trump, meanwhile, took a victory lap – tweeting “Wow! Big VICTORY on the Wall,” adding “Big WIN for Border Security and the Rule of Law!”

 

The wall segments in Arizona, New Mexico and California would give Trump a tangible achievement to tout in his re-election campaign. Until now, congressional and court resistance had thwarted significant progress toward a stronger barrier on the almost 2,000-mile frontier.

During his campaign, Trump said Mexico would pay for the wall. On Saturday he said the U.S. would be “fully reimbursed for this expenditure, over time, by other countries.” He didn’t say how. –Bloomberg

“This is not over,” said the ACLU’s lead lawyer, Dror Ladin. “We will be asking the federal appeals court to expedite the ongoing appeals proceeding to halt the irreversible and imminent damage from Trump’s border wall.” 

That said, even Bloomberg has to admit: “the court’s unsigned order suggested the administration was likely to win the fight. The order said the administration “has made a sufficient showing at this stage” that the groups don’t have the legal right to challenge the Pentagon’s spending decisions.”

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2Mn1bcQ Tyler Durden