Larry Summers has been telling any financial journalist who will listen that the bottom is about to fall out of the economy any minute now…but perhaps he has an ulterior motive for all of his economic doomsaying.
The former Harvard President and Clinton-era Treasury Secretary has been cited four times on the flight logs of Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘Lolita Express’. During his first trip, he was still working in the Clinton administration. And during his most recent – in 2005 – he and his wife accompanied Epstein to Epstein’s private island just days after their wedding.
During his first trip on Sept. 19, 1998, (while he was Treasury Secretary) Summers flew from the airport in Aspen, Colo. to Dulles international.
His second trip didn’t take place until April 15, 2004, when Summers flew from JFK to Bedford, Mass., an airport not far from Harvard, where he was president of the university at the time.
On his third trip, Summers flew from Bedford to White Plains for reasons that are unclear.
And during his fourth trip, Larry and Lisa Summers flew from Bedford to Epstein’s Island, and were accompanied by Epstein’s close confidant and alleged Madam Ghislaine Maxwell.
Summers is just one more member of the Clinton inner circle who was ‘exposed’ to Epstein thanks to these trips. And with more Epstein-related document dumps ahead, we may soon learn more about exactly what he was doing on those flights.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2yWHYqe Tyler Durden
There’s a good reason the presidential hopeful met with Assad, but the media doesn’t want to talk about it…
It was eight minutes of hell for Kamala Harris. Onstage at the second Democratic debate in Michigan, Harris was subjected to a blistering assault on her record as a California prosecutor at the hands of Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.
Afterwards, Harris was asked about Gabbard’s attack by CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
“Listen,” she replied, “I think that this coming from someone who has been an apologist for an individual, [Syrian President Bashar al] Assad, who has murdered the people of his country like cockroaches. She has embraced and been an apologist for him in the way she refuses to call him a war criminal. I can only take what she says and her opinion so seriously, so I’m prepared to move on.”
Harris was referring to a controversial four-day visit by Gabbard to Syria in early January 2017, during which she met with Assad. While Gabbard’s performance during the debate was stellar (her name was the most searched of all the Democratic candidates), Harris’s jab regarding Assad seemed like all the mainstream media wanted to talk about.
“When sitting down with someone like Bashar al-Assad in Syria,” MSNBC’s Yasmin Vossoughian asked Gabbard, “do you confront him directly and say why do you order chemical attacks on your own people? Why do you cause the killings of over half a million people in your country?”
Tulsi’s road to Damascus has become an issue in her bid for the White House. To better understand how she found herself in this position, one needs to go back in time, to April 2003, when, while serving as a member of the Hawaiian State Legislature, a 23-year-old Gabbard enlisted in the Hawaii National Guard, and was assigned as a Medical Operations Specialist to the 29th Support Battalion’s Medical Company. When her unit was mobilized for service in Iraq, Gabbard (who was not called up) volunteered to be deployed, because, as she told a reporter in 2004, “I felt it was my duty as a soldier and a friend to join them in the service of our country.”
Following six months of strenuous pre-deployment training, Tulsi Gabbard deployed to Iraq in early 2005 as part of the 29th Brigade Combat Team, an all-National Guard/Reserve unit. She and the rest of the 29th Support Battalion were deployed to Camp Anaconda, a sprawling U.S. facility situated on the grounds of Balad Air Base, north of Baghdad. At the time, Camp Anaconda was under such frequent attack by insurgent mortar fire that it had acquired the nickname “Mortaritaville,” a play on a Jimmy Buffet song of a similar title.
Mortar and rocket attacks became an ever-present reality for the young Hawaiian soldier.
“Sometimes,” Gabbard told the Honolulu Advertiser, “we can go for days with no alarm siren going off, no attacks, and sometimes there can be many in one day…sometimes the attacks are so far away you can’t hear the explosion; other times so close that the ground and sky just seem to shake from the impact.” The feeling of helplessness was palpable: “all you can really do,” Gabbard said, “is say a silent prayer that you and your buddies are unharmed.”
While Charlie Med, as her unit was known, came through the deployment unscathed, 18 members of the 29th Brigade Combat Team were killed in Iraq, and scores more were wounded. “Every single day,” Tulsi Gabbard reminded her fellow Americans during the second Democratic debate in July, “I saw the high cost of war.”
The 29th Brigade Combat Team was deployed in Iraq at a time when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, was engaged in an all-out war with U.S. forces. The casualties that Gabbard and her comrades endured were a result of “the fight that is ongoing every day in Iraq against these insurgent terrorists”; these losses, she noted, “we have felt in Hawai’i.” War for Tulsi Gabbard and her fellow soldiers wasn’t an abstraction, but an ever-present, horrible reality.
Gabbard returned from her year-long deployment a decorated combat veteran, having earned commendations and the coveted Combat Medic Badge for her service. Gabbard went on to graduate from Officer Candidate School and was trained as a Military Police Officer. Later she completed a second tour of duty in the Iraq theater, commanding a Military Police Company stationed in Kuwait.
For Gabbard, the road to Damascus began with her initial deployment to Iraq and continued through her 2009 deployment to Kuwait. Having enlisted in response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Gabbard instead found herself engaged in a “regime change” war in Iraq predicated on the lie of weapons of mass destruction. It then continued through the halls of Congress, following Gabbard’s successful bid for office in 2011. From her position as a member of the Armed Services Committee, she watched as the al-Qaeda enemy she’d fought in Iraq morphed into ISIS and spread its influence into Syria.
Over the next few years, Gabbard saw how the Obama administration began, in her words, “funneling weapons and money through Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and others who provide direct and indirect support to groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda” in an effort to overthrow the Assad regime. “If you or I gave money, weapons or support to al-Qaeda or ISIS,” Gabbard declared via Twitter, “we would be thrown in jail. Why does our gov get a free pass on this?”
For someone who watched her fellow soldiers die fighting al-Qaeda in 2005, the Obama policy of supporting terrorists, whether directly or indirectly, as part of a new regime change war against Syria was a betrayal of that sacrifice.
A vocal supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders during the 2016 presidential election, Gabbard opposed Hillary Clinton’s more hawkish policies on Syria. Following Clinton’s defeat at the hands of Donald Trump, she continued to flaunt the rules of political expediency, taking a meeting with the president-elect in order to discuss Syria and the fight against ISIS and al-Qaeda. “I felt it important to take the opportunity to meet with the president-elect now,” Gabbard noted at the time, “before the drumbeats of war that neocons have been beating drag us into an escalation of the war to overthrow the Syrian government.”
In January 2017, Tulsi embarked on her fateful visit to Syria. As she told CNN’s Jake Tapper during an interview after her return, she hadn’t planned on meeting with the Syrian president. When the opportunity presented itself, however, Gabbard stated that she went “because I felt it’s important that if we profess to truly care about the Syrian people, about their suffering, then we’ve got to be able to meet with anyone that we need to if there is a possibility that we could achieve peace, and that’s exactly what we talked about.”
“Obviously,” Tapper stated in response, “Bashar al-Assad is responsible for thousands of deaths and millions of people being displaced during this five-year long civil war. Did you have any compunctions about meeting with somebody like that, giving him any sort of enhanced credibility because a member of the United States Congress would meet with someone like that?”
“Whatever you think about President Assad,” Tulsi replied, “the fact is that he is the president of Syria. In order for any peace agreement, in order for any possibility of a viable peace agreement to occur, there has to be a conversation with him.”
In the aftermath of President Trump’s three meetings with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, Tulsi’s observations don’t seem quite as controversial. But at the time she was lambasted by her colleagues in Congress for ostensibly giving credence to Assad, whom they labeled a “brutal dictator.”
If the U.S. succeeded in overthrowing Assad, Tulsi knew, the very terrorists she’d fought against in Iraq would end up ruling Syria. Meeting with Assad to discuss the prospects of defeating a common enemy was the most meaningful way she could honor the service and sacrifice of her fellow soldiers. That the mainstream media and detractors like Kamala Harris don’t get this only underscores the deep divide between those like Tulsi Gabbard, who have served in combat, and those who have not.
Gabbard’s performances in the first two Democratic debates were strong, but it remains an open question as to whether she will qualify for the third debate in September. At a time when she should be campaigning hard to secure a spot on that debate stage, however, she’s instead taking a two-week break to fulfill her annual training requirement as an officer in the Hawaii National Guard.
Kamala Harris and the other Democratic candidates would do well to take note of the following reality—if the U.S. goes to war in Syria, Iran, North Korea, or elsewhere, Tulsi alone among her colleagues could be called upon to serve on the front line.
“The Congresswoman [Gabbard] is the most qualified and prepared candidate to serve as Commander in Chief, which I believe is the most important responsibility of the President,” Senator Mike Gravel, a Democrat who represented Alaska in the Senate from 1969 through 1981, noted in his letter endorsing Tulsi for president.
Gravel, an Army veteran, is perhaps most famous for placing the Pentagon Papers in the public record in 1971. A popular progressive voice for peace, his endorsement should not be taken lightly. Kamala Harris should take note.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2KFs6hm Tyler Durden
It looks as though something big was taking place around Area 51 over the weekend, according to “fragmented reports from various sources” compiled by The Drive.
The report notes that “significant tests” could have been happening over the weekend after learning that Notices To Airman (NOTAMs) had been published that marked certain areas within the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) off limits to any air traffic at any altitude.
The NOTAMs are generally for military aircrews, not civilian or commercial air traffic. They were first pointed out by an aviation enthusiast on Twitter.
I see a NOTAM for what appears to be a launch in R-4806E. I wonder if the aircraft was for launch support.
Also want to point out I did not hear the aircraft land at Nellis or Creech. If they did, I did not hear them contact Approach or Tower. pic.twitter.com/Zp71rfiAA0
The area in question, R-4806 is “an elongated north-to-south block of restricted airspace that measures roughly 50 by 15 miles and sits south of the small community of Alamo and east of R-4806W.”
The area is noteworthy for a couple of reasons:
R-4806W includes Dog Bone Dry Lake. A number of air-to-ground targets and a MOUT facility that is often used for JTAC training and other ground and air asset integration exercises are located there. At the center of R-4806E, the restricted airspace in question, is Desert Dry Lake, but nothing is really located there or on the stretch of ground that sits below this airspace as a whole. It’s also worth noting that Desert Lake sits roughly 30 miles southeast of Groom Lake/Area 51.
Another NOTAM was posted for August 10th for the same airspace, beginning at 8PM local time. It was similar to the initial NOTAM in that it covered from the ground to “unlimited altitude”.
Another NOTAM for R-4806E. The window opens at 8 PM Los Angeles time. Just like the other night the ceiling on this is unlimited indicating its some sort of launch. pic.twitter.com/wf8Nofvu0r
Finally, another NOTAM was published spanning several days, starting on August 10 that also limits the same massive stretch of airspace. This NOTAM was for a “massive” block of restricted airspace on the “western flank of Area 51’s notorious no-go ‘box’ that hangs over the clandestine installation”.
This NOTAM is active from midnight on August 11th, through 5:59AM on August 12.
Another interesting NOTAM, this one is for R-4807A which separates Groom Lake (R-4808N) from Tonopah Test Range (R-4809) pic.twitter.com/bjq6YnVhSU
In addition to these notices, there were also reports of odd “Janet flights” – the nickname for the nonstop flights to Area 51 from Las Vegas’ airport – by onlookers. This activity was described as “unusual” and is speculated to be indicative of a “major test event” near Area 51.
It’s well-known that the NTTR is used for all different types of training, test flights and classified exercises for new technology. And while setting aside airspace for tests may not be uncommon, this activity on the weekend, covering an unlimited altitude, is noteworthy.
The article notes that the NTTR usually doesn’t support traditional rocket testing, but some have suggested the obvious explanation of test rocket launches due to the unlimited altitude restrictions. Some have also noted that laser and other direct energy weapon systems could require fully sanitized airspace for safety concerns. The precautions could also just be for testing sensitive aircraft that could be capable of extreme altitudes.
“Janet” flights
There has also been some more exotic speculation:
Of course, there are many other potential explanations. They don’t call Area 51 “Dreamland” for nothing and its own relatively limited airspace would certainly get augmented by the surrounding ranges for expanded testing as required—especially on the weekends when normal military traffic is at a minimum. N-4807A also contains the Tolicha Peak Electronic Combat Range (ECR), a critical complex that is dotted with real and simulated enemy air defense and electronic warfare systems that is highly relevant to the development of future air combat systems and the fine-tuning of tactics and subsystems for ones that are already in operation.
People have also speculated in recent years that secret testing around Area 51 has to do with the B-21 Raider’s development. Or, perhaps the government is simply gearing up for the “raid” on Area 51 that will supposedly take place in early September.
Regardless, it was undoubtedly a busy weekend for one of the most mysterious and widely speculated about test ranges in the United States. We will follow this story closely for updates.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/31z6xpr Tyler Durden
There’s perhaps no indicator more damning of a state’s failure to govern than the flight of its residents to other states.
People of every stripe are leaving Illinois. Old and young, rich and poor. They are going to warm states and cold states, big states and small states. Overall, Illinois netted losses of residents to 43 other states in 2016.
That has major implications for the state and the Illinoisans who remain. A shrinking population means a future with less economic growth, less investment, falling real estate values and an eroded tax base. And as people leave, fewer residents will be left to pay down the state’s growing debts, meaning the already massive burden will only gets worse.
Illinois has netted a loss of 1.5 million people to other states since 2000, based on U.S. Census data. And as international immigration and births in Illinois have declined in recent years, they’re failing to make up for Illinois net outmigration. As a result, the state’s population has shrunk five years in a row. Wirepoints analysed the results of the census data in our report: Illinois’ Demographic Collapse.
The following multi-part series will reveal just who is leaving, where they are going and what incomes they’re taking with them.
Wirepoints’ analysis uses national state-by-state migration data compiled by the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS reviews tax returns annually to track when and where people move. It also aggregates the ages, income brackets and adjusted gross incomes of filers.
In this first piece, we’ll cover Illinois’ net loss of tax filers and their incomes since 2000.
* * *
Losing people and their incomes
Illinois is a national outlier when it comes to losing residents and their taxable income to other states.
In 2016, IRS data shows Illinois gained nearly 165,000 people from other states and they brought with them a combined Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of about $6.3 billion. Meanwhile, more than 250,000 Illinoisans left the state and they took more than $11 billion with them.
That means Illinois suffered a net loss of about 86,000 residents and a loss of $4.8 billion in taxable income – the equivalent of more than $100 million in state income tax revenues.
And that doesn’t include the additional loss in sales, property and other taxes those residents no longer pay.
Illinois has lost tax filers and taxable income, on net, every year since 2000. Between 2000 and 2010, the state averaged net losses of about $1.8 billion in taxable income each year. Since then, the state’s losses have accelerated by about $500 million a year, growing to $4.8 billion by 2016.
The problem isn’t just that more people are leaving than coming into Illinois. It’s also that those who leave, on average, earn more than those moving in. That too is draining the state’s tax base.
In 2016, the average taxable income of people leaving Illinois was in excess of $81,000. The taxable income of those coming from other states was just over $67,000.
So not only did Illinois lose a net 86,000 people and their AGI, but it also lost an average of $14,000 in AGI for every person that moved into Illinois in 2016.
Illinois the outlier
How did Illinois rank nationally for loss of AGI? We’ll take that up in our next piece, but for now we’ll share how Illinois stacks up on a per capita basis.
Take Illinois’ $4.8 billion AGI loss divided by the state’s 12.8 million people and Illinois lost $371 in income per person in 2016. Only 5 states lost more AGI per capita, including Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.
In contrast, states that are winning people saw their tax base grow. Florida gained more than $800 in AGI per capita in 2016. Idaho and South Carolina, more than $400. Even neighboring cold-state Michigan gained $114 in AGI per capita.
Illinois out-migration situation is dismal. And the problem becomes even more stark when you look at the state’s record nationally over time. That’s the subject of Part 2 of this series.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2TqbNZT Tyler Durden
Even in death, Jeffrey Epstein continues to confound the authorities. According to the Daily Mail, FBI agents were spotted raiding the deceased pedophile/financier’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, Little St. James – or “Pedophile Island”, as it’s become known.
The Daily Mail captured footage of a dozen officers arriving on speedboats at the island’s peer, before decamping on golf carts to explore the property just two days after the billionaire’s suicide. Some agents were spotted on top of Epstein’s luxury home. All officials wore jackets with the letters ‘FBI’ in clear view.
The search follows the unsealing of 2,000 pages of documents by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. The documents detail some of the beyond lurid behavior that Epstein and his compatriots engaged in with young women.
A group of onlookers initially tipped off the Mail.
“I’m on a boat charter with guests. We are the only guests out here at the moment.”
“We were enjoying lunch when we saw over a dozen people getting off their speedboats and landing on the island.”
“When we looked harder, we could see the FBI logo on the backs of their shirts.”
“It didn’t take long for us to realize they must be conducting a raid on Epstein’s house.”
Epstein’s home, which has alternatively been called ‘Pedophile Island’ and ‘Orgy Island’ was allegedly home to a haram of underage sex slaves who serviced Epstein and his wealthy and famous friends.
The disgraced financier recently purchased the larger neighboring island – dubbed Great St. James – and had planned extensive renovations, which had only just begun.
Other officials with ‘FBI’ lettering on clear display were later seen overlooking the crystal blue sea from the top of Epstein’s remote luxury home off the coast of St Thomas.
The search comes after 2,000 pages of documents detailing the lurid allegations of his sexual abuse of underage girls were unsealed to the public on Friday, adding more fuel to the fire of the government’s case of sex trafficking against Epstein.
Of particular interest to certain corners of the Internet that have long suspected Epstein as the head of an international community of child abusers, is the island’s temple, which according to Internet lore, was a sort of barracks for Epstein’s sex slaves.
The island was listed at Epstein’s primary residence, though he owned some $150 million in property, including a tony Manhattan townhouse that was raided shortly after his arrest. Police reportedly found a trove of photos of underaged women.
While it’s unclear what investigators are looking for, AG William Barr made it clear in a statement delivered after Epstein’s death that the investigation is shifting to those who helped Epstein carry out his nefarious schemes, including his alleged ‘madame’, socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, whose whereabouts are unknown.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2ZVdzVn Tyler Durden
On the same day Russia belatedly admitted that the mystery explosion which released radiation into the air last Thursday – and had triggered warning alerts across towns in northern Russia – involved a “small-scale nuclear reactor”, President Trump tweeted concern over the radiation leakage.
Radiation levels had spiked to 20 times their normal levels after the incident at a military testing ground in Russia’s Arkhangelsk region, prompting an emergency response team to deploy in full nuclear radiation protective gear, as photos which came out in the aftermath appeared to show.
The United States is learning much from the failed missile explosion in Russia. We have similar, though more advanced, technology. The Russian “Skyfall” explosion has people worried about the air around the facility, and far beyond. Not good!
“The United States is learning much from the failed missile explosion in Russia,” Trump stated late in the day Monday. He added concern over the “air around the facility” which area residents have been exposed to and could possibly impact neighboring areas.
We have similar, though more advanced, technology. The Russian “Skyfall” explosion has people worried about the air around the facility, and far beyond. Not good!
Local Russian media photo showing emergency response united in full chemical/radiation protective suits.
Consistent with early speculation, western defense officials and analysts now believe it was a failed test of a Russian nuclear powered cruise missile.
One US defense analysts has pointed to “an experimental nuclear-powered cruise missile known in Russia as the 9M730 Burevestnik and by Nato as the SSC-X-9 Skyfall” — precisely the type of nuclear-powered weapon Putin had previously touted among Russia’s developing hypersonic arsenal in a 2018 speech. This is the “Skyfall” reference Trump made in his tweet.
Though within two days following last Thursday’s accident – believed to have happened on a sea platform, which resulted in an area of a White Sea port being shut down – Russia’s nuclear agency Rosatom, admitted it had been testing an “isotope power source in a liquid propulsion system,” there’s now greater confirmation it involved a cutting edge hypersonic cruise missile.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/31Bw1Tf Tyler Durden
In a recent note to clients, Goldman Sachs published a bullish forecast for Bitcoin price. The forecast is based on Elliott Wave Theory, which projects market trends by identifying extremes in investor psychology, along with price highs and lows.
It’s tested/held the target for wave iii of v from July at 11,880 and now Bitcoin has a short-term target of $13,971…
A pullback from there should find support near/around 11,094. As long as it avoids any contact with the top of wave i at 10,791, there’s still room for at least one more leg higher towards 12,916 and 13,971. Reaching these levels could mean completing a v wave count from July. Bottom line, watch for signs of a short-term top/consolidation once satisfied.
That being said, in the bigger scheme of things, this might still be the first leg of another 5-wave count similar to the trend that lasted from Dec. ’18 through Jun. ’19. Said another way, any such retracement from 12,916-13,971 should be viewed as an opportunity to buy on weakness as long as it doesn’t retrace further than the 9,084 low.
View: Tactically higher targeting between 12,916 and 13,971. Might hold once reached, consolidate for a period of time before resuming higher. Short-term stop 10,791.
If global negative-yielding debt continues to soar, and tensions in Hong Kong (and now Argentina) remain, one wonders what safe-haven flows would do to Bitcoin.
Finally, it is worth noting, as Cointelegraph reported, in the last month Goldman has gone from “looking at [the] potential” of launching its own virtual token, to making hires to accelerate the program.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2YJFSto Tyler Durden
As it turns out, Miami Herald reporter Julie K Brown was right about Epstein managing to manipulate MCC staff into letting him off of suicide watch. Because, according to an ABC News report, Epstein’s defense attorneys successfully lobbied for him to be taken off suicide watch on July 29, about a week before he was found dead in his cell.
The revelation comes as AG William Barr warned any and all of Epstein’s alleged accomplices on Monday that he would look over the “serious irregularities” in the prison’s treatment of Epstein, and that Epstein’s death doesn’t mean his co-conspirators won’t be brought to justice.
Before Epstein could be removed from suicide watch, he had to undergo several psychiatric evaluations allowing prison officials to make the move.
As has already been reported, though there are cameras on Epstein’s former cell block, they don’t show the inside of the cells, meaning there’s likely no video of Epstein committing suicide.
Circling back to Barr, the AG said Monday that Epstein’s alleged co-conspirators “should not rest easy” just because Epstein won’t have his day in court.
“Let me assure you that case will continue on against anyone who was complicit with Epstein,” Barr told a law enforcement group in New Orleans on Monday. “Any co-conspirators should not rest easy. Victims deserve justice and will get it.”
However, bringing them to justice might be harder than it seems, since nobody can seem to locate Ghislaine Maxwell, the socialite and Epstein’s alleged madam, who allegedly helped groom young girls to work as ‘sex slaves’ for Epstein and his many influential friends.
NEW: Attorney General Bill Barr: “Let me assure you that this case will continue on against anyone who was complicit with Epstein. Any co-conspirators should not rest easy.” https://t.co/2UAm012vCApic.twitter.com/YGAKFg2oYg
Barr added that he was “angered” by MCC’s “failure” to keep Epstein safe, and mentioned certain “irregularities” that have already surfaced in his investigation – though he declined to go into further detail.
“We are now learning of serious irregularities at this facility that are deeply concerning and demand a thorough investigation,” Barr said. “We will get to the bottom of it, and there will be accountability.”
Barr isn’t the only one who has attacked MCC over its handling of the situation: Republican Sen. Ben Sasse said that given Epstein’s prior suicide attempts, the financier paedophile should have been kept in a “padded room under unbroken, 24/7, constant surveillance.”
“Obviously, heads must roll,” he continued.
But whose heads, exactly? That of some patsy? Or those who were truly behind Epstein’s downfall?
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/31Btfx8 Tyler Durden
Did you wear a black armband When they shot the man Who said “peace could last forever” And in my first memories They shot Kennedy I went numb when I learned to see So I never fell for Vietnam We got the wall of D.C. to remind us all That you can’t trust freedom When it’s not in your hands When everybody’s fightin’ For their promised land
You know things are getting really weird when news of Jeffrey Epstein’s death in a New York City prison operated by the U.S. Department of Justice is the least surprising part of the whole story. Countless people, including myself, assumed this exact sort of thing would happen. Then, just like that, he’s gone.
I continue to think the players involved with Epstein in what appears to have been an intelligence-linked blackmail operation, as well as those at risk of being exposed in more detail, are simply too powerful and connected to the institutions that run this country (and others) for us to ever get real answers. It’s cynical and depressing, but based on what I’ve seen over the past couple of decades, it’s the most likely outcome.
Rule of law in America? Don’t be ridiculous. There are rulers and the ruled. Which bucket do you think you’re in?
It seems almost impossible that someone could believe in something so ridiculous. And yet this is the world we are living in. The path to prosperity is now based on unelected central bankers conjuring millions of dollars out of thin air.
Bankrupt governments are issuing bonds with negative yields, meaning they are being paid to go deeper into debt. And there are more than $15 trillion of these negative yielding bonds in the world.
If anything this makes a compelling case for why people should consider owning gold.
It’s a store of value with a 5,000 year track record of withstanding inflation, political crisis, and monetary stupidity.
I’ve been suggesting people consider buying gold for quite some time, especially over the last year. I argue that the supply of gold, is actually declining, yet the demand will increase in large part due to all of this central bank lunacy.
And that has absolutely been happening. The price of gold is up more than 25% over the last year, and just surpassed $1,500 per ounce. But unlike most other assets like real estate, stocks, bonds, etc, gold is still far from it’s all time high.
There could still be plenty of gains ahead.
And silver would have to triple before it reaches it’s all time high.
Every summer for the past eight years, I’ve enjoyed a week or two in the Italian countryside at a 400 plus year old villa. Here I relax with friends, family, business colleagues, and some of our Total Access members who fly in from around the world, to break bread and enjoy really stimulating and entertaining conversations.
This year Peter Schiff has been one of my guests. He’s an old friend who shares many of the same beliefs. And when our conversation this morning turned to gold, I thought it appropriate to record it, and make a Podcast out of it.
In our conversation we talk about why gold and silver have plenty of room to rise, and a number of different ways to invest.
