Month: January 2019

Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

When all the tribes of Israel still lived in their holy land, they practiced something called the Jubilee.

According to the Book of Leviticus, the Jubilee existed because the Israeli land actually belonged to their god Yahweh…. and the current owners were just borrowing it (sounds like land ownership today – try not paying your property taxes and see who really owns your land).

So every 49 years, the Israelites would celebrate by freeing slaves, redistributing property and forgiving debts.

Of course, a 49-year cycle where debt is forgiven and land is returned to previous owners is ridiculous… markets can’t function under this system. Imagine buying a piece of land and not knowing if you have to give it back down the road… or lending someone money with the possibility that those debts just disappear and you get nothing back for the risk you took.

The Jubilee originated sometime around 1406 BC, so you would think it’s ancient history.

Fast forward 3500 years…

The US government is a record $21 trillion in debt and running $1 trillion annual deficits.

US corporations have a record $9 trillion in debt – with nearly half of that debt maturing in the next five years (meaning the businesses either have to roll that debt into a new loan or pay it back).

Consumer debt – which includes credit card debt, auto loans and student debt – is already at a record high and should pass $4 trillion in 2019.

But the largest portion of consumer debt is student debt. Yes, Americans have borrowed $1.5 TRILLION to earn degrees of questionable use.

As I wrote in a previous Notes:

According to the latest stats, the average student loan debt in the US is nearly $40,000.

But that’s just average…

There are more than two million former students in the Land of the Free with more than $100,000 of debt… around 415,000 people have more than $200,000 of student debt.

And the US Department of Education guarantees 90% of that debt. Which means you, the taxpayer, guarantee that debt. If the borrower defaults, YOU’RE on the hook.

What are the chances millennials will make good on the debt? Not great…

According to a recent Fed study, millennials are much poorer and indebted than previous generations.

Even if they are financially able to repay student loans, you then have to question their will to do so when you can do so many other cool things with the money…

Like this  YouTube bro  who made a video bragging about using his financial aid money to take his girlfriend on a trip to Thailand.

Already we’re seeing student loan defaults creep up…

Loans issued in 2012 are defaulting at a faster rate than ever before. Interest rates are only rising.

Over 44 million Americans owe student loans, and according to the Federal Reserve, 11.2% of them are delinquent (at least 90 days late) or in default.

It’s hard enough to pay back your loans if you study medicine to become a doctor, or something else that could lead to a relatively high paying career.

But now 22-year olds are graduating with $200,000 of debt, and all they have to show for it is an undergraduate degree in underwater basket weaving.

No direction. No plan. Just a useless degree.

Then there’s the adults who are still swimming in student debt…

There are even almost 2 million Americans over the age of 62 who still owe a combined $62 billion in student loans. That’s over 32 grand per borrower over 62.

I don’t think Social Security is going to cover that… even if by some miracle it stays solvent.

Given these headwinds, we’ve been wondering how on earth this crushing student debt load will ever be paid back.

And I think we just got our answer.

This month, Secretary of Education Betsy Davos agreed to forgive $150 million worth of student debt.

It’s a mini Jubilee.

Here’s the thing… Betsy Davos did NOT want to forgive this debt. She fought to change the rules, but an Obama era forgiveness policy was enforced by the courts.

So if one of the meanest women in government can’t stop this debt from being forgiven… just imagine if we had someone like Bernie Sanders or Kamala Harris steering the ship.

And who do you think is going to come after Trump?

Trump was America’s response to Obama. And the next pendulum swing will be even greater to the left.

So we just saw the first $150 million… and there’s another $1.465 trillion to go in the debt jubilee.

If you ever wondered why I think it’s a moral obligation to pay as little taxes as possible, this is it.

If you want to give the government your dollars to fund YouTube bro to go to Thailand, go ahead.

I’ll be in Puerto Rico, paying a 4% corporate tax rate and 0% capital gains.

Maybe I’ll see you down here.

To continue learning how to legitimately reduce your taxes, I encourage you to download our free Perfect Plan B Guide.

via RSS http://bit.ly/2SBDkGF Tyler Durden

It is by now common knowledge that 2018 was the year when “nothing worked“, as virtually no asset classes managed to post positive returns in the past 12 months, the first time traders have observed such a scarcity of upside in over five decades.

And with the S&P500 suffering its worst December drop since the great depression…

… it is perhaps no surprise that the only asset to post a notable upside in the past year was boring old cash.

And yet digging through the world’s various stock markets reveals that not all was a disaster. Yes: most global markets closed the year in the red, but there were two surprising outliers – in dollar terms, two Gulf nations enjoyed a positive return in 2018. In fact, while Saudi Arabia eeked out a 7.2% dollar-denominated gain, it was the UAE that was the year’s best performing stock market of 2018 (in dollar terms). Of course, on the other end, there were the likes of Ireland, Greece, China, Turkey and Argentina, all of which dropped more than 25% last year.

Meanwhile, in local currency terms, the picture was even brighter, with at least 7 major markets generating positive returns last year, among them Brazil, Russia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, India and Argentina.

So to anyone who correctly read the tea leaves and invested in these outperforming markets, congratulations. To everyone else, better luck next year.

via RSS http://bit.ly/2F0JfAP Tyler Durden

Sears is expected to close 80 more stores across the US in early 2019, according to a new report from CNBC. 

Several days ago, we documented how the bankrupt department store chain is now trying to stay solvent via a $4.6 billion lifeline from its chairman, Eddie Lampert. 

Lampert offered a $4.6 billion package backed by existing lenders Bank of America and Citigroup, along with new participant Royal Bank of Canada – which came together to provide a $950 million asset-backed loan and a $350 million revolving line of credit to back Lampert’s bid.

Lampert’s bid would preserve about 425 stores that Sears has yet to close, and secure the jobs of 50,000 workers out of the 68,000 employed by the retailer, the sources said.

Some of Lampert’s bid relies on $1.8 billion of Sears debt that his hedge fund ESL Investments Inc already holds and Lampert plans to forgive to back his offer, the sources said. The bid also has about $400 million in financing from non-bank lenders, according to the sources.

It is possible that Lampert’s bid for Sears will be rejected or otherwise fall through, the sources cautioned, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential. –Reuters

Sears closed about 140 stores back in October when it initially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The retailer also announced in November that it would close an additional 40 unprofitable stores by February 2019. 

The closure of an additional 80 Sears and Kmart stores will be completed by late March 2019. Liquidation of the stores is expected to start in mid-January, according to the company. A full list of store closures can be seen here.

“As part of Sears Holdings’ processes to accelerate its strategic transformation and facilitate its financial restructuring, on December 27, 2018, the company informed associates at 80 stores that we will be closing these Sears and Kmart stores in late March 2019. Liquidation sales at these stores are expected to begin in two weeks. The accompanying Sears Auto Center at these Sears stores will also be closing. This is in addition to the previously announced closure of 40 unprofitable stores expected to be completed in February 2019,” the company said in a press release.

Altogether, Sears has decided to close more than 260 of its 700 stores — or more than a third of its retail footprint — since the bankruptcy filing.  

The list of stores set to close in March listed below:

Kmart, 7055 East Broadway, Tucson, AZ

Kmart, 2180 E Mariposa Rd, Stockton, CA

Kmart, 20777 Bear Valley Rd, Apple Valley, CA

Kmart, 1000 San Fernando Rd, Burbank, CA

Kmart, 2875 Santa Maria Way, Santa Maria, CA

Kmart, 2505 Bell Rd, Auburn, CA

Kmart, 295 Hartford Turnpike, Vernon, CT

Kmart, 200 Irwin Ne Fort, Walton Beach, FL

Kmart, 6126 Hwy 301, Ellenton, FL

Kmart, 11 Sherwood Square, Peru, IN

Kmart, 2940 Veterans Blvd, Metairie, LA

Kmart, 8980 Waltham Woods Rd, Baltimore, MD

Kmart, 201 Ninth St, S E Rochester, MN

Kmart, 155 Twin City Mall, Crystal City, MO

Kmart, 12057 Highway 49 Delmar Plaza, Gulfport, MS

Kmart, 980 Brevard Rd, Asheville, NC

Kmart, 110 112 Bost Rd, Morganton, NC

Kmart, 4841 Arendell St, Morehead City, NC

Kmart, 1900 S Washington St, Grand Forks, ND

Kmart, 1515 W 3 Rd, Alliance, NE

Kmart, 213 Highway 37, E Toms River, NJ

Kmart, 1705 S Main St, Roswell, NM

Kmart, 308 Dix Avenue, Queensbury, NY

Kmart, 1020 Center Street Grand Central Plaza, Horseheads, NY

Kmart, 121 Bolivar Road, Wellsville, NY

Kmart, 1251 State Rte 29 Ste 1O Greenwich Plaza, Greenwich, NY

Kmart, 7701 Broadview Road, Cleveland, OH

Kmart, 620 Plaza Dr, Fostoria, OH

Kmart, 400 N East Circle Blvd, Corvallis, OR

Kmart, 996 West View Park Drive, Pittsburgh, PA

Kmart, 2873 W 26th Street, Erie, PA

Kmart, 1143 Broad St, Sumter, SC

Kmart, 1111 E North St, Rapid City, SD

Kmart, 1805 E Stone Dr, Kingsport, TN

Kmart, 217 Forks Of River Pkwy, Sevierville, TN

Kmart, 4110 E Sprague Ave, Spokane, WA

Kmart, 1450 Summit Avenue, Oconomowoc, WI

Sears*, 2050 Southgate Rd, Colorado Spgs, CO

Sears*, 1650 Briargate Blvd, Colorado Spgs, CO

Sears*, 3201 Dillon Dr, Pueblo, CO

Sears, 1700 W Intl Speedway Blvd, Daytona Beach, FL

Sears*, 1500 Apalachee Pkwy, Tallahassee, FL

Sears*, 347 Westshore Plz, Tampa, FL

Sears*, 1441 Tamiami Trl Pt, Charlotte, FL

Sears*, 9409 Us Highway 19 N Ste 101, Port Richey, FL

Sears*, 150 Pearl Nix Pkwy, Gainesville, GA

Sears*, 4480 Sergeant Rd, Sioux City, IA

Sears*, 235 Saint Clair Sq, Fairview Hts, IL

Sears*, 7200 Harrison Ave, Cherry Valley, IL

Sears*, 7700 E Kellogg Dr, Wichita, KS

Sears, 4400 Veterans Mem Blvd, Metairie, LA

Sears*, 2306 N Salisbury Blvd, Salisbury, MD

Sears*, 5500 Harvey St, Muskegon, MI

Sears, 27600 Novi Rd, Novi, MI

Sears, 2000 N E Court, Bloomington, MN

Sears*, 1620 Guess Rd, Durham, NC

Sears*, The Streets Of Southpoint, Durham, NC

Sears*, 7424 Dodge St, Omaha, NE

Sears*, 6400 O St, Lincoln, NE

Sears*, 3450 S Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV

Sears*, 10 Miracle Mile Dr, Rochester, NY

Sears, 5053 Tuttle Crossing Blvd, Columbus, OH

Sears*, 1400 Polaris Pkwy, Columbus, OH

Sears*, 1475 Upper Valley Pike, Springfield, OH

Sears*, 501 Medford Ctr, Medford, OR

Sears*, 200 Park City Ctr, Lancaster, PA

Sears*, 5256 Route 30, Greensburg, PA

Sears*, 5580 Goods Lane Ste 1005, Altoona, PA

Sears, 1000 Rivergate Pkwy, Goodlettsvlle, TN

Sears, 2021 N Highland Ave, Jackson, TN

Sears*, 201 S Plano Rd, Richardson, TX

Sears*, 4310 Buffalo Gap Rd, Abilene, TX

Sears*, 851 N Central Expwy, Plano, TX

Sears*, 6001 W Waco Dr, Waco, TX

Sears*, 7701 1-40 W Ste 400, Amarillo, TX

Sears*, 2100 S W S Young Dr, Killeen, TX

Sears, 3100 Highway 365, Port Arthur, TX

Sears*, 1531 Rio Rd, E Charlottesville, VA

Sears*, 1321 N Columbia Center Blvd Suite 455, Kennewick, WA

Sears, 4301 W Wisconsin Ave, Appleton, WI

*Sears Auto Center at the property set to close in late January

via RSS http://bit.ly/2s2ZUfm Tyler Durden

Authored by Ron Paul via The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity,

While Congress and the president fight over funding a border wall, they continue to ignore the coming economic tsunami caused by the approximately 22 trillion dollars (and rapidly increasing) federal debt. President Trump may not be troubled by the debt’s effect on the economy because he believes he will be out of office before it becomes a major problem. However, the crisis may come sooner than he, or most people in DC, expects.

The constituency for limited government, while growing, is still far outnumbered by those wanting government to provide economic and personal security. From lower-income Americans who rely on food stamps, public housing, and other government programs, to middle-class Americans who live in homes they could not afford without assistance from federal agencies like Fannies Mae and Freddie Mac, to college students reliant on government-subsidized student loans, to senior citizens reliant on Social Security and Medicare, to billionaire CEOs whose companies rely on bailouts, subsidies, laws and regulations written to benefit politically-powerful businesses, and government contracts, most Americans are reliant on at least one federal program. Many programs are designed to force individuals to accept government aid. For example, it is almost impossible for a senior citizen to obtain health insurance outside of Medicare.

The welfare state is fueled by the Federal Reserve’s easy money policies, which are also responsible for the boom-and-bust cycle that plagues our economy. The Federal Reserve’s policies do not just distort our economy, they also distort our values, as the Fed’s dollar depreciation causes individuals to forgo savings and hard work in favor of immediate gratification. This has helped create an explosion of business and individual debt. There has been a proliferation of bubbles, including in credit card debt, auto loans, and student loans. There is even a new housing bubble.

An economy built on fiat currency and public and private debt is unsustainable. Eventually the bubbles will burst. The most likely outcome will be the rejection of the dollar’s world reserve currency status due to government debt and the Federal Reserve’s monetization of debt. When the bubbles pop, the result will be an economic crisis that will likely dwarf the Great Depression.

The fall of the dollar and the accompanying economic downturn will make it impossible for the government to continue running up huge debts to finance a massive welfare-warfare state. Thus, Congress will be forced to raise taxes and cut benefits. Cowardly politicians will likely outsource the job of raising taxes and cutting benefits to the Federal Reserve. This will cause a dramatic increase in the most insidious of taxes: the inflation tax.

As the Federal Reserve erodes the value of the dollar, thus reducing the value of both earned paychecks and government-provided welfare benefits, a large number of Americans who believe they are entitled to economic security will react by engaging in acts of violence. Politicians will use this violence to further crack down on civil liberties. The resulting economic and civil unrest will further the growth of authoritarian political movements.

Fortunately, the liberty movement continues to grow. This movement counters the authoritarian lies with the truths of Austrian economics and the non-aggression principle. While the years ahead may be tough, if those of us who know the truth work hard to educate others, the cause of liberty can prevail.

via RSS http://bit.ly/2SwpNjk Tyler Durden

Mere days after Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to “resolutely” defend China’s security interest – a veiled reference to maintaining its domination of the South China Sea – News.au has published details from a speech delivered two weeks ago by one of China’s leading military commanders where he outlined a strategy to rebuff the US Navy should it take an even more interventionist posture within the nine-dash line.

Rear Admiral Lou Yuan told an audience in Shenzhen that the simmering dispute over the East and South China Seas could be decisively ended by sinking two US aircraft carriers.

Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Admiral Lou gave a long speech on the state of Sino-US relations, where he declared that the trade spat was “definitely not simply friction over economics and trade,” but a “prime strategic issue.” And that if China wants the US to back off, it must be willing to attack US ships when they intrude in Chinese territory. 

During the Dec. 20 speech to the 2018 Military Industry List summit, Lou declared that China’s anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles were capable of hitting US carriers, even when they were in the middle of a “bubble” of defensive escorts.

“What the United States fears the most is taking casualties,” Admiral Lou declared.

He said the loss of one super carrier would cost the US the lives of 5000 service men and women. Sinking two would double that toll.

“We’ll see how frightened America is.”

Lou also explained what he described as the US’s five vulnerabilities, and insisted that China must not hesitate to strike back at any of them should a US fleet even dare to stop in Taiwan.

In his speech, he said there were ‘five cornerstones of the United States’ open to exploitation: their military, their money, their talent, their voting system — and their fear of adversaries.

Admiral Lou, who holds an academic military rank – not a service role – said China should “use its strength to attack the enemy’s shortcomings. Attack wherever the enemy is afraid of being hit. Wherever the enemy is weak …”

“If the US naval fleet dares to stop in Taiwan, it is time for the People’s Liberation Army to deploy troops to promote national unity on (invade) the island,” Admiral Lou said.

Should Taiwan become increasingly restive, China possesses the capability to stage  a military takeover of the island in 100 hours, Lou said. This eventuality is more likely than many might believe, Lou said, adding that 2018 could be a “year of turmoil” for Taiwan, and that a military conflict was possible.

“Achieving China’s complete unity is a necessary requirement. The achievement of the past 40 years of reform and opening-up has given us the capability and confidence to safeguard our sovereignty. Those who are trying to stir up trouble in the South China Sea and Taiwan should be careful about their future.”

“The PLA is capable of taking over Taiwan within 100 hours with only a few dozen casualties,” said retired lieutenant general Wang Hongguang.

“2018 is a year of turmoil for Taiwan, and a possible military conflict may take place in Taiwan soon. (But) As long as the US doesn’t attack China-built islands and reefs in the South China Sea, no war will take place in the area.”

US military commanders have long warned that China’s growing military presence in the Pacific is a serious threat to US security, and China has underscored these concerns by organizing military drills explicitly to threaten Taiwan. Indeed, a military conflict with China remains one of the most widely cited “black swan” risks to global security – a possibility that has only been exacerbated by the trade conflict.

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Authored by Daniel DePetris via The National Interest,

Korea, Taiwan, Syria and beyond…

2018 was a year of breakthrough diplomacy and proxy warfare, Trumpian chaos and unexpected U.S. military drawdowns. An American president and a North Korean dictator shook hands for the very first time since the Korean Peninsula was divided into two nations. American pilots released more munitions in Afghanistan this year than at any other time since the U.S. Air Force began collecting statistics in the country. And, in a remarkable 24-hour stretch in December, President Donald Trump ordered via tweet a complete pullout of the 2,000 U.S. ground troops from Syria.

If 2018 was a roller coaster, 2019 could be the year when the dollar-coaster breaks. International politics has a funny way of intruding into a president’s life and forcing policymakers in Washington to stumble around rapidly for a response. Some of the wars now ongoing are likely to continue while new ones could just as easily be sparked.

The Trump administration can do itself and the country a big favor if they stay away from fighting in these places:

Syria

Russia and Iran both look at Syria and see a country that is highly important to their national security interests. There was a reason why Moscow pulled the trigger in 2015 on Russia’s first out-of-area military intervention since the ten-year Afghanistan humiliation in the 1980s. Syria was an old Cold War ally in the Soviet camp sharing a frontline with American-allies Israel, and a nation that hosted Russia’s last warm-water port.

To the Iranians, keeping Syria under the Assad family’s thumb was even more imperative. The demise of Bashar al-Assad would have likely meant the demise of a four-decade strategic relationship between the two—one which lasted throughout some of the Islamic Republic’s darkest days. Assad’s death or overthrow would be the worst setback in Iranian foreign policy since perhaps Saddam Hussein’s 1980 invasion of Iranian territory.

Syria, however, has never been too important for the United States. U.S. policy in the Middle East would go on regardless of whether Assad was in Damascus, dead or in exile. If U.S. troops were in Syria, it was to kill ISIS and retake the areas the group had captured. But with 99 percent of ISIS’s territory now cleared, the time has come for American personnel to pack up their belongings.

Even without ISIS lording over several million Syrians, Syria today is still a pitiful place. The once proud and nationalistic Arab nation is now an arena for foreign powers: Turkish troops are launching artillery against Syrian Kurdish fighters; Syrian Kurds are preparing to battle Syrian Arabs supported by Ankara; Israeli planes are bombing Iranian bases, Hezbollah weapons facilities and Syrian airports; Russian jets are bombing who knows what; and Iranian operatives are digging in for a long stay. If the United States isn’t off Syrian soul by the beginning of 2019, Trump should spend part of his January pushing the Pentagon to accelerate the withdrawal.

Korea

Right now, the reconciliation dialogue between North and South Korea is going well—or at least well enough. Demilitarization agreements have been signed. Landmines and guard posts are being removed on both sides of the DMZ. And North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could travel to Seoul early next year for a fourth meeting with South Korean president Moon Jae-in.

But U.S.-DPRK diplomacy is fragile, and if it gets any more fragile, the bad days of “fire and fury” and mutual threats of nuclear holocaust could return with a vengeance. It’s more than possible that a breakdown in the talks could motivate National Security Adviser John Bolton to chirp in Trump’s ear about the need to prepare for military strikes.

Under no circumstance can the president contemplate such an option. While Washington would win a war on the Korean Peninsula, the destruction would be so immense that historians decades from now would look upon all the players as reckless lunatics for instigating it. A million casualties on the Korean Peninsula is the stuff of nightmares, a nightmare that need not come true.

Yemen

Under political pressure from the brutal assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and the thousands of pages from investigators detailing Saudi war crimes in Yemen, the White House in November stopped refueling Riyadh’s fighter aircraft to, during and from daily bombing missions. The termination of the mid-air refueling came after more than three and a half years of errant airstrikes from the Saudi military coalition on civilian targets as widespread as funerals, factories, bridges and school-buses. No-strike lists handed to Saudi officers have been ignored .

While U.S. pilots aren’t bombing Houthi positions, the U.S. military is a direct participant in Yemen’s civil conflict. Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has committed herself to a debate and vote to end American involvement for good, and progressive and conservative politicians are promising to force a vote under the War Powers Resolution to mandate the withdrawal of all U.S. military aid to the Saudi coalition thirty days upon passage. Trump ought to end it unilaterally.

Taiwan

The “One China Policy” and the three communiques signed between Washington and Beijing from 1972 and 1982 still dictate relations between the two global economic competitors. Taipei, however, still holds people’s hearts in Washington. While the United States hasn’t recognized Taiwan since the days of Jimmy Carter, providing the island with the defense capabilities it needs to defend itself is a bipartisan priority. The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act is still very much the bedrock of the U.S.-Taiwanese partnership.

Yet in 2018, Chinese president Xi Jinping became increasingly irritated with the Trump administration for selling defense equipment to what Beijing views as a lawless province of the mainland. Chinese officials were also upset about several freedom of navigation operations executed by the U.S. Navy in the Taiwan Strait. While no one is predicting a Chinese invasion of Taiwan anytime soon, not many people are ruling it out either. If the People’s Liberation Army-Navy takes full control of the Strait or if Beijing actually invades the island, it would be a act of recklessness on par with Russia’s invasion of Crimea.

China hawks in both parties would urge a forceful response in such a scenario. Yet according to an October 2018 survey from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, only 35% of Americans would support using U.S. troops in such a contingency. U.S. Taiwan policy is one of many cases where the beliefs of foreign policy elites don’t correspond to the beliefs of the American public.

Is the benefit of protecting Taiwan and saving a democratic David from an authoritarian Goliath worth the costs of a great power naval clash between the world’s two largest economies and military spenders? Certainly not.

Afghanistan

This list wouldn’t be complete without putting America’s longest war in the mix. Everything that can be said about Afghanistan has been said before over the last seventeen years and two months.

Dozens, sometimes hundreds, of Afghanistan’s soldiers and police officers are killed every week in Taliban attacks from inner Kabul to remote lands in Farah province with no end in sight. U.S. trainers continue to train and U.S. advisers continue to advise, with no end in sight. Afghan politicians in the capital continue to fight amongst themselves for prestige, power and money, with no end in sight. U.S. generals issue the same bland and eye-rolling statements about the Afghan army getting better, the Taliban getting more agreeable to negotiations, and the Afghan government getting less corrupt. And, like clockwork, independent investigators like the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction release assessments detailing fraud, abuse and misapplication of taxpayer money; systemic attrition problems in the ranks of the Afghan National Defense and Security Force; bone-headed leadership at the senior levels; and corruption in the ministries. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joe Dunford called Afghanistan a “ stalemate” last November, the same word he used to describe the situation in 2017.

2019 should be the last year U.S. troops have to deploy on behalf of an expensive stalemate.

via RSS http://bit.ly/2F1PbK7 Tyler Durden

Erik Prince, the founder of private security firm Blackwater, plans to raise as much as $500m to capitalize on the rush into metals required for batteries used in electric cars, according to the Financial Times.

“For all the talk of our virtual world, the innovation, you can’t build those vehicles without minerals that come from generally weird, hard-to-access places,” said Prince, and adviser to president Trump and brother of US education secretary Betsy DeVos. 

Miners – particularly from China, have been pouring billions into the metals as the electric vehicle industry expands, which include cobalt, copper and lithium. 

One of the largest investors has been China, with Chinese companies buying stakes in deposits in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Chile this year. Mr Prince also runs a Hong Kong-listed security and logistics company that is backed by China’s state-owned Citic Group. –Financial Times

Prince says his new fund will focus on unexplored deposits which could be brought into production and then acquired by larger mining companies, and will look to offload its investments within four to five years. 

“Chinese companies are not necessarily interested in the very upstream exploration,” said Prince. “They want to buy something in production which leaves that gap for us.”

More than 60 percent for the world’s cobalt supply originates from the DRC, which has attracted major investments from Chinese companies including Citic, Jinchuan Group and China Molybdenum. 

Prince gained notoriety as the founder of Blackwater – the world’s most famous private military contractor which has been targeted with lawsuits alleging civilian deaths in Iraq, including a 2007 incident in Nisour Square, Baghdad, where 17 civilians were killed and 20 injured after Blackwater guards claim their convoy was ambushed. And FBI investigation concluded that at least 14 of the 17 Iraqis were shot without cause. 

Prince sold the company in 2010, which has changed names and is now known as Academi. 

Since parting ways, Prince has run Frontier Services Group, providing logistics and security services to companies operating in risky or unstable countries. For example, they provide anti-piracy support to Somalia and security to oil firms doing business in South Sudan. The company has also ventured into natural resources, however, after discovering a copper and cobalt deposit in the Congo, and investing in a bauxite mine in Guinea. 

A former Navy Seal who now lives in Abu Dhabi, Mr Prince’s strong Chinese connections have helped with his mining investments. This year his mine in Guinea secured an agreement to supply China’s state-owned aluminium producer Chalco with bauxite.

Mr Prince, whose father sold automotive parts in West Michigan, said carmakers will need huge amounts of minerals to fulfil their visions. –Financial Times

“When I see the R&D budgets of all the major automakers ploughing huge money into hybrid or electric vehicles, I believe the demand curve for the unique minerals that make up an electric car and battery technology will be enormously high over the coming years,” said Prince. 

Prince has been investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller over a meeting with Kirill Dmitriev, the head of one of Russia’s sovereign wealth funds, which the Blackwater founder said was a chance encounter for the two to discuss trade and mineral wealth.  

via RSS http://bit.ly/2CKPXJX Tyler Durden

Authored by John Laforge via Counterpunch.org,

NATO’s and the US military’s desecration of corpses, attacks on wedding parties, mosques, hospitals and market places – along with the bombing of allied troops, torture of prisoners, and their notoriously unaccountable drone warfare – are a few of the alliance’s more infamous outrages in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, and Somalia.

Twenty years’ worth of “unintended” or “collateral” damage hasn’t created friends in the war zones:

+ On April 23, 1999, NATO rocketed the central studio of Radio Televisija Srbije (RTS), the state-owned broadcasting corporation in Belgrade, destroying the building. Sixteen civilian employees of RTS were killed and 16 wounded. Amnesty International concluded the attack was a war crime.

+ In a Feb. 12, 2010 atrocity that was kept secret until March 13, US Special Forces killed a teenage girl, a pregnant mother of 10, a pregnant mother of 6, a police officer and his brother, and were accused of then trying to cover-up the killings by digging bullets out of the victims’ bodies, washing the wounds with alcohol and lying to superior officers.

+ While bombing Libya in March 2011, NATO refused to aid a group of 72 migrants adrift in the Mediterranean Sea. Only nine people on board survived. The refusal was condemned as criminal by the Council of Europe.

+ On Nov. 26, 2011, NATO jets bombed and rocketed an allied Pakistani military base for two hours, killing 26 Pakistani soldiers and wounding dozens more. NATO refuses to apologize.

Allies have reacted angrily. Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai gave his “last” warning against NATO’s bombing of Afghan homes on May 31, 2011, saying, “If they continue their attacks on our houses … history shows what Afghans do with trespassers and with occupiers.” On March 20, 2012, Pakistani lawmakers demanded an end to all NATO/CIA drone strikes against their territory. The drone attacks continue, and newspapers repeatedly remind readers of the self-defeating hopelessness of using atrocities to fight a tactic or to enforce US military occupation.

Headlines Record NATO’s Global Crime Spree

“Civilians Killed in US-Afghan Operation,” New York Times, Nov. 29, 2018

“Navy SEAL is Accused of Bloodthirsty Killings,” New York Times, Nov. 16, 2018

“Report: 3,301 civilians killed in US-led strikes in Syria since 2014,” Duluth News Tribune, Sept. 24, 2018

“Study: US killed 500 civilians” (“Pentagon may be grossly undercounting”), Mpls. StarTribune, June 3, 2018

“More Afghan Civilians are Victims of Targeted Attacks, UN Says,” New York Times, Feb. 16, 2018

“Afghan Pedophiles Get Pass from US Military, Report Says,” New York Times, Jan. 24, 2018

“‘Killed, Shovel in Hand’: Afghan Farmers are the Latest Victims of a Chaotic War,” New York Times, March 19, 2018

“American Airstrikes in Afghanistan Stir Debate Over Who Was Killed,” New York Times, Nov. 11, 2017

“US Airstrikes kill at least 13 civilians,” Mpls. StarTribune, Nov. 5, 2017

“Airstrike Kills at Least 25 at Street Market in Yemen,” New York Times, Nov. 2, 2017

“Civilian deaths from US-led strikes on ISIS surge under Trump administration” (“Airwars, a UK-based watchdog group, estimates the civilian death toll from coalition airstrikes at over 3,800.”), The Guardian, June 6, 2017

“11 Afghans Killed in US Airstrike,” New York Times, Aug. 31, 2017

“3 Children Among Dead in a Raid In Somalia,” New York Times, Aug. 26, 2017

“Afghans Say US Strike Hit Civilians,” New York Times, Aug. 12, 2017

“Civilian deaths a windfall for militants’ propaganda,” AP/Mpls. StarTribune, April 2, 2017

“US Airstrike ‘Probably Had a Role’ in Mosul Civilian Deaths, Commander Concedes,” New York Times, March 29, 2017

“US strike reportedly killed 30 Syrians,” New York Times/Mpls. StarTribune, March 23, 2017

“US military says fight with Taliban killed 33 civilians,” Mpls. StarTribune, Jan. 13, 2017

“US-led strikes in Iraq, Syria have killed at least 188 civilians, military says,” Duluth News Tribune, Jan. 3, 2017

“US admits its airstrikes likely killed Afghan civilians.” Washington Post/Mpls. StarTribune, Nov. 6, 2016

“US Drones Hit Civilians, U.N. Says,” New York Times, Sept. 30, 2016

“Residents Say US Strike Killed Civilians” (killed at least 15 civilians), Wall Street Journal, Sept. 29, 2016

“Pentagon: Errors led to hospital strike” (“which killed 42 people”), New York Times, & Mpls. StarTribune, May 1, 2016

“A Moral Debt for Bombing a Hospital” (“killing 42 innocent people”), editorial, New York Times, April 30, 2016

“Airstrike on Afghan hospital stirs fury,” New York Times/Mpls. StarTribune; and “19 die in apparent US airstrike on Afghan hospital,” Los Angeles Times, Oct. 4, 2015

“US marine pleads guilty to urinating on corpse of Taliban fighter in Afghanistan,” The Guardian, Jan. 16, 2013

“US troops posed with body parts of Afghan bombers,” Los Angeles Times, April 18, 2012

“Drones At Issue… Raids Disrupt Militants, but Civilian Deaths Stir Outrage,” New York Times, March 18, 2012

“G.I. Kills 16 Afghans, Including 9 Children In Attacks on Homes,” New York Times, March 12, 2012

“NATO Admits Airstrike Killed 8 Young Afghans, but Contends They Were Armed,” New York Times, Feb. 16, 2012

“Informer Misled NATO in Airstrike That Killed 8 Civilians, Afghans Say” (seven shepherd boys under 14), New York Times, Feb. 10, 2012

“Video [of Marines urinating on dead fighters] Inflames a Delicate Moment for US in Afghanistan,” New York Times, Jan. 12, 2012

“Commission alleges US detainee abuse,” Mpls. StarTribune, Jan. 8, 2012

“Six Children Are Killed by NATO Airstrike in Afghanistan,” New York Times, Nov. 25, 2011

“American Soldier Is Convicted of Killing Afghan Civilians for Sport,” New York Times, Nov. 11, 2011

“US Drone Strike Kills Brother of a Taliban Commander,” New York Times, Oct. 28, 2011

“Afghanistan officials ‘systematically tortured’ detainees, UN report says,” The Guardian, & BBC, Oct. 10; Washington Post, Oct. 11, 2011

“G.I. Killed Afghan Journalist, NATO Says,” New York Times, Sept. 9, 2011

“Cable Implicates Americans in Deaths of Iraqi Civilians,” New York Times, Sept. 2, 2011

“Civilians Die in a Raid by Americans and Iraqis,” New York Times, Aug. 7, 2011

“NATO Strikes Libyan State TV Transmitters,” New York Times, July 31, 2011

“US Expands Its Drone War to Take On Somali Militants,” New York Times, July 2, 2011

“NATO admits raid probably killed nine in Tripoli,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, June 20, 2011

“NATO airstrike blamed in 14 civilian deaths,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, May 30, 2011

“Libya Effort Is Called Violation of War Act,” New York Times, May 26, 2011

“Raid on Wrong House Kills Afghan Girl, 12,” New York Times, May 12, 2011

“Yemen: 2 Killed in Missile Strike,” Associated Press, May 5, 2011

“NATO Accused of Going Too Far With Libya Strikes,” New York Times, May 2, 2011

“Disposal of Bin Laden’s remains violated Islamic principles, clerics say,” Associated Press, May 2, 2011

“Photos of atrocities seen as threat to Afghan relations,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, March 22, 2011

“Missiles Kill 26 in Pakistan” (“most of them civilians”), New York Times, March 18, 2011

“Afghans Say NATO Troops Killed 8 Civilians in Raid,” New York Times, Aug. 24, 2010

“A dozen or more” Afghan civilians were killed during a nighttime raid Aug. 5, 2010 in eastern Afghanistan, NATO’s officers said. Chicago Tribune, Aug. 6, 2010

“Afghans Say Attack Killed 52 Civilians; NATO Differs,” New York Times, July 27, 2010

“Afghans Die in Bombing, As Toll Rises for Civilians,” New York Times, May 3, 2010

“Pakistan Angry as Strike by U.S. Kills 11 Soldiers,” New York Times, June 12, 2008

“Marines Used ‘Excessive Force’ in Afghan Civilian Deaths,” Washington Post, April 14, 2007

To end NATO’s recruitment of terrorized enemies, a lesson from Dr. King needs to be learned: “The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours.”

via RSS http://bit.ly/2Asegur Tyler Durden