Month: December 2019

The Clintons regularly stayed at Jeffrey Epstein’s weird New Mexico ranch where the deceased pedophile had grand plans to seed the human race with his DNA, according to his estate manager.

Bill, Hillary and even Chelsea visited the 10,000-acre estate “almost every year after they left the White House,” according to the Daily Mail. The former first family didn’t stay at the property’s main compound, however – they spent their time in a custom cowboy-themed village Epstein built a mile south of his mountaintop villa.

the Clinton family bunked down in a special cowboy-themed village created by Epstein, which is a mile south of his own luxury mountaintop villa. They’d use one of the two guest houses, which look like they’re straight out of the 19th century.

Seen in exclusive DailyMailTV images, the guest homes are next to other traditional Wild West-style buildings such as an old schoolhouse and saloon bar. An American flag is raised high above the village, which is next door to Epstein’s private airstrip, where he arrived on his private planes, including his infamous ‘Lolita Express’.

This is all according to security expert Jared Kellogg, who was brought in by long-standing ranch manager Brice Gordon to improve security and set up a camera system at the main house and ‘cowboy village’. –Daily Mail

The Clintons maintain that they had minimal contact with Epstein, despite records proving he flew on the disgraced financier’s ‘Lolita Express’ Boeing 727-200 no fewer than 27 times (which Epstein sold one week before his July arrest on suspicion of sex-trafficking minors).

According to Kellogg, ranch manager Brice Gordon kept bragging about the Clintons staying at the ranch – one of several of Epstein’s homes were underage girls were reportedly trafficked from all over the world.

“My contact was Brice, their main concern was that there was no video surveillance on the property at all. I thought this was a simple request, as they wanted surveillance to protect their investment. It’s a huge site,” said Kellogg. “But what was weird was that the whole time I was on site, Brice would be bragging about how the Clintons would visit, the whole family. Not just Bill, but Bill, his wife, their kid, and they would stay on the ranch itself. He had built this Western replica village with a saloon, barn houses, old school house and when you’re walking through it, it feels like you’re walking through the 1800s.”

“His biggest concern was monitoring and covering that area, so my main focus was mounting cameras on poles to cover the driveways, walkways, the ins and outs of each house and facilities,” the Mail cites Kellogg as adding. “It was like Westworld, it’s like they built a functioning movie set, they put a lot of thought and detail into it, the flooring and facilities in there.”

‘I was saying how cool the replica houses were, they’re pretty neat like the 1800s. He said: ”Yeah, they’re built for guests, we get a lot of visitors. It’s really cool the Clintons come out and hang out [with Epstein].”

‘It sounded like a normal summer vacation.’ -Jared Kellogg

As the Mail notes, Epstein had a picture of Bill Clinton in a blue dress hanging in his Upper East Side townhouse – a strange parody of former the infamous cum-stained dress Monica Lewinsky wore (and kept), as revealed by the Drudge Report.

Kellogg says he was stopped from going into certain areas of Epstein’s New Mexico estate, but briefly explored its underground sections.

In November, a former contractor told the Mail that Epstein had built a secret basement ‘strip club.’

“My access was very controlled. During the site walk, it was dictated where I could and couldn’t go. There were certain facilities I wasn’t allowed to go in, which was odd, as they were boarded up, and they looked like they could have big parties in them, but I didn’t think much of it.

“They wanted to put very, very limited camera coverage on the main house itself. I was going to put up a couple of cameras on the exterior of the main entrance.

“At the main entrance, there’s a downward slope at the back that goes into the basement. I was able to briefly go in. There was a long hallway to a big foyer and there was a door and that was about it. The two guest houses I was not permitted to go into,” Kellogg said.

‘Due to security reasons, I wasn’t permitted to even put a camera location on the drawing that we would then have on our records.

‘What is odd is that as a security professional, for me to give the best protection I can give a customer, I need the full layout of the land. I need to see the nooks and crannies, all the blind spots. They were limiting that access.

‘The staff only lived in one house, as far as I was aware, which is the the one nearest to the main gate. The saloon bar is in the center [of the village], there’s a bar area and looks like where they’d throw parties from my own observations. There’s also a barn/hay storage, and they’d put tractors and other vehicles in it.’

Considering Epstein was a multi-millionaire, Kellogg said Gordon wanted to do the security on the cheap. 

Instead of using an expensive, robust camera system, which used underground cables, he wanted a ‘point-to-point wireless fluid mesh design’, which means cameras are operating via antenna, and is considerably cheaper. –Daily Mail

“What was odd to me was that I wasn’t able to interact with Epstein. If it’s your house, you have your concerns, the task had been delegated to Brice, he seemed to be in charge of everything.”

Maybe it would have been different if Bryce was a 14-year-old girl?

Authored by Daniel Taylor via OldThinkerNews.com,

AI tyranny to be “built into the software that runs our society”.

The future needs real humans with a conscience and the ability to question authority.

In 2000, Bill Joy of Sun Microsystems wrote an articled titled Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us that detailed the anti-human worldview of the elite.

If we are to believe Elon Musk, Ray kurzweil and other top Transhumanists, we will need to merge with the machines in order to survive.

In reality the exact opposite is true. Humanity’s survival depends on remaining human and defying the post human agenda.

Two recent stories vividly demonstrate the anti-human future that we all face.

A bombshell story from Austin, Texas revealed that the homeless population is being microchipped as a price of entry into shelter.

In the video clip, a homeless man describes the program, saying:

“It’s some kind of chip, I guess. Some kind of device you put on your body and then all you do is scan and then you don’t have to pay for anything anymore, you just scan.”

Another story from China shows the tyranny of social credit scores as a man is held captive and questioned for criticizing police on social media.

China spies on social media conversations. Then they bring dissidents in for a real-life chat. I’d say we’re AT LEAST five years away from that over here, so no worries. pic.twitter.com/HjXzqsgr8S

— Ezra Levant 🍁 (@ezralevant) December 1, 2019

The elite are pushing the world into an AI driven nightmare.

Medical decisions, law practices, education, news and entire cities will be driven by artificial intelligence.

We are gradually shifting from constitutional law to algorithm driven tyranny.

Tyranny “built into the software that runs our society”

Computer scientist and pioneer of virtual reality Jaron Lanier, named in Time Magazine’s top 100 most influential people for 2010, says that “Cybernetic totalists” could “…cause suffering for millions of people.” Lanier writes in the year 2000 in his “One Half A Manifesto” that,

“There is a real chance that evolutionary psychology, artificial intelligence, Moore’s Law fetishizing, and the rest of the package, will catch on in a big way, as big as Freud or Marx did in their times. Or bigger, since these ideas might end up essentially built into the software that runs our society and our lives. If that happens, the ideology of cybernetic totalist intellectuals will be amplified from novelty into a force that could cause suffering for millions of people.”

The elite want a final revolution against the human race.

Ultimately, the human capacity to defy authority and exercise God-given conscience is to be snuffed out and rendered ineffective.

It has already begun with big tech censorship (driven by AI) of conservative voices, those who question vaccine safety, and many other prescient issues.

Simultaneously, a cultural purge of Judeo Christian values is taking place. Historically, these basic principles have held western society together in a system of true tolerance, and a regard for natural law for all mankind under God reigned us in when we went astray. The AI final revolution cannot succeed with these values widely held and practiced.

In reality, the future does need us. If we robotically sleepwalk into this post-human future we are finished.

A smorgasbord of data from AsiaPac tonight poured a big bucket of cold water on the hopes for a trough in global growth.

Japan was first out of the gate with its Services PMI (slightly better than expected) but the Composite PMI remains below 50 (in contraction)

Source: Bloomberg

A typhoon and bad weather in October have also made it hard to discern the economy’s underlying strength. Economists have long forecast a contraction in the last three months of this year as the sales tax increase hits domestic consumption.

Commenting on the latest survey results, Joe Hayes, Economist at IHS Markit, said:

“November data is highly discouraging for the Japanese economy. October was difficult to interpret as a consequence of the consumption tax hike and powerful typhoon. A rebound was to be expected in November, but disappointingly, the strength of the recovery was limited, with activity growing only marginally.

“No notable acceleration in new business growth was also seen, suggesting that underlying demand conditions in Japan’s service sector have weakened so far in the fourth quarter.

“Japan’s service sector has been robust in 2019 so far, doing a good job at offsetting the strong drag from manufacturing.

However, based on survey data so far in the fourth quarter, a contraction in economic output seems highly plausible as we head into year-end.”

Additionally, rubbing salt in the already sore wounds of the Japanese economy, Japanese car sales in South Korea collapsed 56.4% YoY as tensions between the two nations spark backlash.

But, all will be fixed soon as Japan is preparing an economic stimulus package worth 13 trillion yen (S$163 billion) to support fragile economic growth, two government officials with direct knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg yesterday, complicating government efforts to fix public finances.

Next up was Australia, where GDP grew at only 0.4% QoQ, weaker than the expected 0.5% with consumption remaining very weak (+0.1%). As a reminder, Australia has gone 28 years without a (formal) recession.

This follows a drop in Australian services business activity in the middle of the fourth quarter, accompanied by subdued sales growth, which remained constrained by a further fall in export demand. Job creation was marginal.

November data indicated that the decline in business activity occurred amid subdued demand conditions.

Then came the real fun as Hong Kong’s Composite PMI crashed to a record low of 38.5 in November, with the sharpest drop in new business since the trough of the crisis in Nov 2008…

The average PMI reading (38.9) for October and November combined indicates the economy is on course for its weakest quarter since the survey’s inception over 21 years ago.

Commenting on the latest survey results, Bernard Aw, Principal Economist at IHS Markit, said:

“November PMI data indicated that Hong Kong’s private sector suffered its worst downturn since the 2003 SARS crisis, with the latest survey indicators painting a picture of gloom for the Special Administrative Region.

“The survey showed that the escalating political unrest saw business activity shrinking at the steepest rate since the survey started in July 1998. This occurred concurrently with the sharpest decline in new sales since the depths of the global financial crisis.

“The business outlook unsurprisingly remained gloomy, with confidence still stuck among the lowest levels seen in the survey history. In a further sign of pessimism, firms continued to make deep cuts to purchasing activity and inventories, reducing both at a survey record pace.”

And finally, Aw notes, “The average PMI reading for October and November combined showed the economy on track to see GDP fall by over 5% in the fourth quarter, unless December brings a dramatic recovery.”

And then came the big kahuna – China Services (and Composite) PMI. After China’s government-provided PMI surged magnificently out of nowhere (despite a record collapse in industrial profits), all eyes are on the Caixin data tonight, which also surged dramatically from 51.1 to 53.5 (smashing expectations of 51.2)

Source: Bloomberg

But, oddly, employment fell to 51.0 – the weakest since July 2019.

Commenting on the China General Services PMI™ data, Dr. Zhengsheng Zhong, Director of Macroeconomic Analysis at CEBM Group said:

“The Caixin China General Services Business Activity Index edged up to 53.5 in November, a marked increase from 51.1 in the previous month, marking the highest growth rate since April this year. The reading indicates a recovery in activity across the services sector.

1) The gauge for new business picked up from a recent low in October with a solid rebound in the measure for new export business, indicating domestic and foreign demand both improved.

2) The measure of outstanding business fell back into contractionary territory after two straight months of expansion, suggesting a strengthening capability on the supply side in the services sector. The employment gauge fell marginally in November from the previous month, which marked the most modest expansion since July.

3) The gauge for prices charged by service providers rose marginally, but the reading for input costs edged down, indicating greater company profitability. In the meantime, the measure for business expectations picked up strongly, but was still lower than the long-term average, reflecting depressed business confidence.

This surprising surge in Services sent the China Composite PMI to its highest since Feb 2018…

Source: Bloomberg

“The Caixin China Composite Output Index rose to 53.2 in November from 52 in the previous month, the highest since February 2018. The employment gauge bounced back into positive territory, reflecting easing pressure on the labor market. The measures for new orders and new export orders remained at relatively high levels, reflecting a continuous improvement in demand. The gauge for input prices edged down, pointing to easing pressure on the costs of companies. But business confidence was still weak, with the measure for future output expectations down from October.

“China’s economy continued to recover in November, as domestic and foreign demand both improved. But business confidence remained subdued, reflecting the impact from uncertainties generated by the China-U.S. trade conflicts. That will restrain a recovery in economic growth. The trade dispute is the major reason behind the slowing economic growth this year, and will become a key factor affecting the stabilization and recovery of China’s economy next year.”

PBOC fixed the Yuan notably weaker tonight as the plunge in offshore yuan accelerated after Washington voted on the China Human Rights bill.

Source: Bloomberg

This summed things up rather perfectly…

Their numbers are getting better even during a trade war, a global slowdown, and HK falling into the abyss #ChineseMagic https://t.co/WFbR9otGCE

— Jin SEO (@JTSEO9) December 4, 2019

Do you believe in miracles?

Authored by Chris Farrell via The Gatestone Institute,

There is new evidence that U.S. Attorney John Durham is getting to the root of criminal abuses by senior U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials in their conspiracy to undermine the Trump campaign, transition and presidency. Mr. Durham’s mandate from Attorney General William Barr — to uncover the seditious plot behind the Trump-Russia hoax, if pursued vigorously, will uncover the single greatest threat to the Constitution since the nation’s founding.

Mr. Durham’s apparent interest in FBI source Stefan Halper and the contract vehicles available to the Pentagon think tank, the Office of Net Assessments, for whom Halper worked, is an important clue.

Likewise, Mr. Durham’s travel to Italy for talks with the Italian government and their intelligence service points to another possible clue concerning the mysterious Maltese academic, Joseph Mifsud.

For the purposes of the manufactured Trump-Russia hoax, one need only remember the associations of Halper with Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page — and Joseph Mifsud with George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy junior advisor — to the Trump campaign.

The intelligence agencies of the federal government are prohibited from targeting American organizations in the United States. Executive Order 12333, Section 2.9 states:

Undisclosed Participation in Organizations Within the United States. No one acting on behalf of agencies within the Intelligence Community may join or otherwise participate in any organization in the United States on behalf of any agency within the Intelligence Community without disclosing his intelligence affiliation to appropriate officials of the organization, except in accordance with procedures established by the head of the agency concerned and approved by the Attorney General. Such participation shall be authorized only if it is essential to achieving lawful purposes as determined by the agency head or designee. No such participation may be undertaken for the purpose of influencing the activity of the organization or its members except in cases where:
(a) The participation is undertaken on behalf of the FBI in the course of a lawful investigation; or
(b) The organization concerned is composed primarily of individuals who are not United States persons and is reasonably believed to be acting on behalf of a foreign power.

This prohibition on running penetration operations against domestic political organizations is a legal and political “hangover” from the 1960s civil disturbances that saw (among a host of other covert action programs) US Army Counterintelligence agents working undercover against the militant Leftists organizations such as Students for a Democratic Society. The U.S. Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, better known as the “Church Committee,” was empaneled in 1975 under the leadership of Sen. Frank Church (D-ID) to review and make recommendations on intelligence operations. The Church Committee was controversial. Critics claimed the committee exposed the “crown jewels” of U.S. intelligence and hobbled our ability to conduct legitimate collection activities. Today’s Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and Court were inspired by the final reports of the Church Committee.

The seditious coup plotters working against Trump knew the legal prohibitions on what they planned to do. How to target Trump & Co. in a “legal” manner? Was it possible, or more importantly, desirable, to have a legal finding from Attorney General Loretta Lynch justifying their plan to frame-up Trump & Co.? That would authorize their operation — but would Lynch support it? Could Lynch be counted on? Did they want a piece of paper like that floating around Washington D.C.? No, there had to be a better way to pull off the coup.

The alternative to a purely domestic intelligence operation targeting a major political party’s candidate for the presidency (and later, president) was to manufacture a foreign counterintelligence (FCI) “threat” that could then be “imported” back into the United States. Plausible deniability, the Holy Grail of covert activities, was in reach for the plotters if they could develop an FCI operation outside the continental United States (OCONUS) involving FBI confidential human sources (Halper, Mifsud, others?) that would act as “lures” (intelligence jargon associated with double agent operations) to ensnare Trump associates.

We have evidence of these machinations from December 2015 when FBI lawyer Lisa Page texts to her boyfriend, the now infamous FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok, “You get all our oconus lures approved? ;).”

To inoculate themselves from further charges of misconduct and criminality, the FBI’s mutually agreed upon lie is that their investigation of Trump/Russia began on July 31, 2016 with the improbable name “Crossfire Hurricane.” That coincides nicely with their manufactured FCI “event,” allowing the full-bore sabotage of all things and persons “Trump.” The coup plotters used a July 2016 event at the University of Cambridge as the opportunity for Carter Page to meet and develop a friendship with Stefan Halper. This is roughly the same time period that Australian diplomat Alexander Downer reported the supposedly drunken ramblings of George Papadopoulos concerning the Russians having Hillary’s emails to the FBI. Papadopoulos had already serendipitously met the mysterious Joseph Mifsud in Rome during the second week of March 2016. Learning that Papadopoulos would be joining the Trump campaign, Mifsud let Papadopoulos know that he had many important connections with Russian government officials.

In July 2019, Special Counsel Robert Mueller was questioned closely by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) concerning the persons and sequence of events detailed above.

The summation of Mueller’s testimony was, “Well, I can’t get into it.”

The coup plot failed, but the chief coup conspirators are free, crisscrossing the country on book tours and appearing as paid contributors to CNN and MSNBC. A bright note in the so far grim saga is that one of the collateral casualties has filed a civil lawsuit in the Eastern District of Virginia against Stefan Halper and MSNBC for defamation, conspiracy and tortious interference. It’s the closest thing we’ve seen to justice to date. The complaint makes remarkable and insightful reading.

It is now time for Mr. Durham to “get into it,” in a manner Mr. Mueller was either unwilling or unable to do. Time is of the utmost importance. The American public needs to see action. Indictments and trials are the only antidote for the poison of treasonous sedition.

*  *  *

Chris Farrell is a former counterintelligence case officer.

Ahead of the next market crash, Japan’s public pension fund, one of the largest pension funds in the world, has developed a new market tool where it will no longer allow shares of its $733 billion global equity portfolio to be loaned out for short selling, reported the Financial Times.

The announcement by Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), comes at a time when the global economy is quickly decelerating into year-end, could see a significant repricing event where global equities correct into 1H20. 

To get ahead of the downturn, about $370 billion of its $733 billion global equity portfolio will no longer be loaned out. It could be used as a weapon to combat evil short-sellers when the market plunges. If other pension funds follow GPIF’s lead, which they likely will, this could be a highly disruptive market tool to stem downside and also create the mother of all short squeezes. 

The reasoning behind GPIF’s move to discontinue lending of at least half of its global equity book isn’t because it’s “concerned that lending stocks out stopped it exercising proper stewardship over the underlying investments. This included a lack of transparency over the final borrower and how it was using GPIF shares,” as FT notes, but rather it’s an unorthodox market tool that was similarly used by the Chinese government to stem further downside in a 2015 stock market crash.

GPIF will lose nearly $300 million in fees per year from discontinuing its lending of shares from the foreign segment of its portfolio, FT noted. 

Traders in Tokyo told FT that other pension funds will likely follow suit. Though they said, the move to stop lending shares to short-sellers wouldn’t have an immediate impact on market fundamentals, though it could prove useful to limit the downside during the next market crash. 

And it already seems like Elon Musk is already a big fan of GPIF’s market tool:

Bravo, right thing to do! Short selling should be illegal.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 3, 2019

 

Authored by Michael Snyder via TheMostImportantNews.com,

Mt. Rainier and the New Madrid fault zone are both shaking, and a catastrophic seismic event at either location would cause death and destruction on an unimaginable scale.

Mt. Rainier has been called “one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world”, and scientists tell us that it is just a matter of time before a major eruption occurs. When that day finally arrives, Mt. Rainier has the potential to bury hundreds of square miles with a colossal tsunami of super-heated mud that is literally several hundred feet deep. And since Mt. Rainier is very close to major population centers, we are talking about the potential for the worst disaster that we have seen in modern American history.

But a massive earthquake along the New Madrid fault zone actually has the potential to be far worse. A very deep scar under the ground that was created when North America was originally formed has made that part of the country very mechanically weak, and many experts believe that a big enough earthquake along that fault zone could literally rip the United States in half.

But before we discuss the New Madrid fault zone, let’s talk about what just happened at Mt. Rainier first.

According to the USGS, Mt. Rainier was hit by a magnitude 3.6 earthquake on Sunday afternoon…

After a spurt of seismic activity this weekend, Mount Rainier National Park was shaken by a 3.6 magnitude earthquake Sunday afternoon.

The quake hit at 12:31 p.m. and was felt as far as Kent, nearly 80 miles away, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The relatively shallow quake was centered roughly a mile beneath the earth’s surface.

In addition to that quake, there have been quite a few others in recent days.

In fact, it is being reported that Mt. Rainier has been hit by “more than a dozen” earthquakes since Thanksgiving day.

The Seattle Times is assuring us that this is perfectly normal, but they are also warning their readers that they “should prepare for what might happen in the event of an eruption” just in case…

Regardless, people living near Mount Rainier should prepare for what might happen in the event of an eruption, said Wes Thelen, a research seismologist at the Cascade Volcano Observatory. Specifically, an eruption could cause lahars — large volcanic mudflows — to rip down the side of the mountain.

Many of my readers clearly remember the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980, but a catastrophic eruption of Mt. Rainier would be so much worse that the two events would not even be worth comparing. The following comes from Wikipedia…

If Mt. Rainier were to erupt as powerfully as Mount St. Helens did in its May 18, 1980 eruption, the effect would be cumulatively greater, because of the far more massive amounts of glacial ice locked on the volcano compared to Mount St. Helens,[40] the vastly more heavily populated areas surrounding Rainier, and the simple fact that Mt Rainier is a much bigger volcano, almost twice the size of St. Helens.[49] Lahars from Rainier pose the most risk to life and property,[50] as many communities lie atop older lahar deposits. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), about 150,000 people live on top of old lahar deposits of Rainier.[9] Not only is there much ice atop the volcano, the volcano is also slowly being weakened by hydrothermal activity. According to Geoff Clayton, a geologist with a Washington State Geology firm, RH2 Engineering, a repeat of the 5000-year-old Osceola Mudflow would destroy Enumclaw, Orting, Kent, Auburn, Puyallup, Sumner and all of Renton.[39] Such a mudflow might also reach down the Duwamish estuary and destroy parts of downtown Seattle, and cause tsunami in Puget Sound and Lake Washington.[51] Rainier is also capable of producing pyroclastic flows and expelling lava.[51]

A lahar is essentially a giant tsunami of super-heated mud, and they can be hundreds of feet high. If you live in that region, you might be thinking that you will just outrun any lahar that is headed your way, but the truth is that the highways will instantly be jammed once an eruption happens and a lahar can travel at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour. The following is how one author described the danger that those living in the area could potentially be facing…

The numerous towns and cities that occupy the surrounding valley would all be at risk for not only severe destruction, but complete annihilation. Residents of cities like Orting, Sumner, Buckley, and Enumclaw are estimated to have no more than 30 minutes before the lahar, speeding down from the many rivers that flow from Mount Rainier, buries their homes and businesses beneath as much as 30 feet of mud and debris. Even the larger cities like Auburn, Puyallup, and Tacoma itself are not safe. Auburn and Puyallup, with nearly 80,000 residents between them, would be covered in 20 feet of mud in less than an hour, and Tacoma, at almost 200,000, is estimated to be hit with nearly 10 feet from the lahar.

As you can see, the death and destruction would be off the charts, and let us hope that such a disaster does not arrive any time soon.

And as I mentioned earlier, a major earthquake along the New Madrid fault zone has the potential to create even greater death and destruction.

According to scientists, the New Madrid fault zone sits directly above a very deep geological scar that was created when North America was formed. According to Wikipedia, this immense scar makes “the Earth’s crust in the New Madrid area mechanically weaker than much of the rest of North America”.

Today, the New Madrid fault zone is approximately six times bigger than the San Andreas fault zone in California. It covers portions of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, and the largest earthquakes in the lower 48 states have happened in this region.

Scientists assure us that it is just a matter of time before more catastrophic earthquakes hit this fault zone, and that is why what has been happening near the town of Ridgely, Tennessee in recent days is so concerning…

A swarm of at least 15 earthquakes reaching up to 2.1 magnitude rattled Ridgely, Tennessee — a small town near the Mississippi River — over a two-day period, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.

The other quakes in the swarm ranged from 1.1 to 1.5 magnitude, according to the USGS.

Most Americans have never heard of Ridgely, and it is definitely a very small town, but what makes this so important is that Ridgely sits directly inside the New Madrid fault zone…

Ridgely is home to just 1,657 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and sits less than four miles from the banks of the Mississippi River.

It’s also part of the New Madrid Seismic Zone — which the Missouri Department of Natural Resources refers to as “the most active seismic area in the United States, east of the Rocky Mountains.”

In 1811 and 1812, four absolutely massive earthquakes along the New Madrid fault zone opened up very deep fissures in the ground, they caused the Mississippi River to actually run backwards in certain places, and they were reportedly felt as far away as Washington D.C. and Boston.

Fortunately, very few people populated the region in those days, but if such a quake happened today the death and destruction would be unimaginable. The following description of one of the quakes that happened in 1811 comes from Smithsonian.com, and for a moment I would like for you to imagine what would happen if such an earthquake happened in our time…

The Midwest was sparsely populated, and deaths were few. But 8-year-old Godfrey Lesieur saw the ground “rolling in waves.” Michael Braunm observed the river suddenly rise up “like a great loaf of bread to the height of many feet.” Sections of riverbed below the Mississippi rose so high that part of the river ran backward. Thousands of fissures ripped open fields, and geysers burst from the earth, spewing sand, water, mud and coal high into the air.

The New Madrid fault zone has altered the course of the Mississippi River before, and someday it will happen again.

We live at a time when our planet appears to be getting increasing unstable. In addition to the other earthquakes that I have already mentioned, Alaska was actually hit by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake on Monday.

Unfortunately, most Americans are not going to start caring about the warning signs until a major disaster has already happened.

Most people will simply not wake up without a major amount of shaking, and let us hope that such a day can be put off for as long as possible.

In the past few days, China’s Global Times twitter troll Hu Xijin has been quite vocal not only about China’s anger over the recent passage of the pro-HK bill that was signed by Trump last Thursday, but also about China’s response to what he said was the imminent passage of a Xinjian-related bill, which would sanction Chinese officials responsible for the repression of over a million Muslim Uighurs in the Xinjiang region.

Overnight, Hu issued his latest not so veiled threat on the matter saying that “since US Congress plans to pass Xinjiang-related bill, China is considering to impose visa restrictions on US officials and lawmakers who’ve had odious performance on Xinjiang issue;it might also ban all US diplomatic passport holders from entering Xinjiang.”

Based on what I know, since US Congress plans to pass Xinjiang-related bill, China is considering to impose visa restrictions on US officials and lawmakers who’ve had odious performance on Xinjiang issue;it might also ban all US diplomatic passport holders from entering Xinjiang.

— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) December 3, 2019

Yesterday, Hu retweeted a post by The Business Source division of the Global Times, which warned that China would release an “unreliable entity list” soon, which includes relevant US entities, in response to the passage of the Xinjiang-related bill “that will harm Chinese firms’ interests, prompting China to speed up the move.”

Source told Global Times that China will release an “unreliable entity list” soon, which includes relevant US entities. US House is expected to pass a Xinjiang-related bill that will harm Chinese firms’ interests, prompting China to speed up the move.

— The Business Source (@GlobalTimesBiz) December 2, 2019

His comments came just days after one or more Chinese dissidents leaked the troubling secrets of China’s Xinjiang camps to the foreign media, which prompted the following retort from Hu: “China wants real human rights in Xinjiang: people’s rights to have a peaceful life. West’s hypocrisy won’t affect Xinjiang internally, nor will it influence Muslim countries’ attitude. It’s just a few media outlets and politicians pretending to be representing the world.Pathetic.”

China wants real human rights in Xinjiang: people’s rights to have a peaceful life. West’s hypocrisy won’t affect Xinjiang internally, nor will it influence Muslim countries’ attitude. It’s just a few media outlets and politicians pretending to be representing the world.Pathetic. https://t.co/zMKlMVttEz

— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) November 25, 2019

Well, moments ago the U.S. House of Representatives indeed overwhelmingly approved legislation that would impose sanctions on Chinese officials over human rights abuses against Muslim minorities, provoking Beijing to retaliate just as trade deal negotiations between the two sides appear to be on the verge of collapse.

The bill is an amended version of the Senate’s S. 178 to support the Uighurs, a Muslim ethnic group in western China, and it passed Tuesday, on a vote of 407 to 1. Chinese state media warned before the vote that the government could release a list of “unreliable entities” that could lead to sanctions against U.S. companies. The measure follows legislation supporting Hong Kong protesters signed into law last week by President Donald Trump.

And now, with Xi Jinping having already lost serious credibility after he failed to forcefully respond to Trump’s signing of the Hong Kong bill, all eyes will be on China, and whether it will indeed trigger visa restrictions and limit travel for US officials to Xinjiang province (something which will never happen) and, more importantly, if Beijing will finally publish its “unreliable entity”, aka black list, which it has been threatening to do since May and which may include such names as Apple and Micron. Well, now that the House has passed the Uighur bill, Beijing may no longer be able to delay, or else it will be seen as a pushover every time a diplomatic – or other – challenge escalates. Needless to say, for a president for life such as Xi Jinping, that is hardly an option, so stay tuned for China’s response which may be due any moment.

DoubleLine’s Jeff Gundlach sat down with Yahoo Finance and discussed how US stocks would get absolutely crushed in the next recession. 

Gundlach said 2019 was the year when investors could pick “just about anything…Just throw a dart, and you’re up 15-20%, not just the United States, but global stocks as well.” He warns that it could all change in 2020, as a recession is fast approaching.

He shared his “chart of the year,” which divides global equities into four regions (the US, Japan, Europe, and Emerging Markets). What it shows is an alarming market top forming in US stocks, similar to what happened with the Nikkei 225 in the early 1990s or the Euro Stoxx 50 Index in the late 1990s or MSCI Emerging Markets in 2007/2008.

“So, where are we today? Today, we have the S&P 500 is killing everybody else over the last ten years, almost 100% outperformance versus most other stock markets,” he said.

“My belief is that pattern will repeat itself,” said Gundlach, who has spent much of 2019 warning of a downturn ahead of the 2020 elections.

“In other words, when the next recession comes, the United States will get crushed, and it will not make it back to the highs that we’ve seen, that we’re floating around right now, probably for the rest of my career, is what I think is going to happen,” he added — suggesting that a recovery won’t be seen for years.

Last month, Gundlach warned about the levels of government debt, and the US equity markets are not sustainable. He told investors that they should brace for significant disruptions.

“The corporate bond market in the United States is rated higher than it deserves to be. Kind of like securitized mortgages was rated way too high before the global financial crisis. Corporate credit is the thing that should be watched for big trouble in the next recession.”

And maybe a downturn in the economy has already started, considering credit markets usually lead. As shown below, significant cracks in the junk bond space are beginning to appear:

The spreads on CCC US junk bonds have jumped above 1,000bps for the first time in more than three years as a sell-off in energy weighs on the lowest-rated debt.

Blowing the CCC market’s risk out to its widest against single-B since April 2016…

Generic CLO BBB tranche is starting to flash very red…

The broader junk bond market posted negative returns last month… as stocks have soared…

Gundlach’s Sept. presentation titled “The Greatest Economy Ever!” made it clear that the next big move for the dollar is lower, and warned that when the next recession occurs, the US dollar and stocks will be in trouble, recommending investors to diversify into other currencies and markets.

And since his view on the economy is that it is anything but the “Greatest Ever”, pointing out the sharp slump in 2019 global GDP projections…

And as we’ve said on multiple occasions, the next shoe to drop is likely the consumer. Something that Gundlach is waiting for as well explained in the latest interview with Yahoo. 

Highlight: A recession probability “is around 40% right now,” @truthgundlach says. “The ISM looks bad… Consumer sentiment, though, remain at a decent level. What we have to watch for is consumer confidence declining, because that’s almost definitional we cause a recession.” pic.twitter.com/cI0JQil68b

— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) December 2, 2019

Authored by Mac Slavo via SHTFplan.com,

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is pushing hard for mandatory facial recognition scans at airports.  The government wants to “remove a loophole” that is currently allowing Americans to opt-out of it right now.

Considering artificial intelligence is already watching and judging almost every move we make, this could be the last nail in the coffin for what’s left of individual freedom.  The government is asking for complete domination over everyone and everything, and so far, people have allowed their very human dignity to be eroded because of it.

Under the existing guidelines, U.S. citizens and other lawful permanent residents have the ability to avoid airport biometric scans and identify themselves by other means. While some travelers have found it difficult to opt-out given opaque or inconsistent guidelines from airport to airport, the DHS would apparently like to cut down on the confusion by doing away with the exemption altogether.

Proposed in a recent filing, the DHS requested a change to the current rules in order to “provide that all travelers, including US citizens, may be required to be photographed upon entry and/or departure” from the US, citing the need to identify criminals or “suspected terrorists.” 

While not yet implemented, the rule change is in the “final stages of clearance,” a DHS official told CNN Business, according to a report by RT.

This new attack on freedom is being condemned by a few groups. 

“Time and again, the government told the public and members of Congress that U.S. citizens would not be required to submit to this intrusive surveillance technology as a condition of traveling,” said Jay Stanley, a senior policy at the American Civil Liberties Union, adding that the rule raises “profound privacy concerns.”

Recalling a data breach in June which saw 100,000 license plate and traveler images stolen from a private contractor hired to store information for the DHS, Stanley said the government simply “cannot be trusted” with the invasive technology.

We are losing what’s left of our basic human rights and liberties pretty quickly at this point.

Rep. Devin Nunes has sued CNN for defamation after the outlet alleged he met with a fired Ukrainian prosecutor in an attempt to obtain information that would be harmful to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, according to the Washington Examiner‘s Byron York.

CNN claimed in a Nov. 22 article entitled that Nunes, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, traveled to Vienna in Dec. 2018 to meet with Viktor Shokin – the former Ukrainian prosecutor who claims he was fired for investigating then-US Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter.

The “demonstrably false” report was based on allegations by Joseph Bondy, the attorney for Ukrainian-born Lev Parnas – who was heavily involved in efforts by Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani to get to the bottom of alleged meddling in the 2016 US election, along with corruption allegations against the Bidens.

CNN reported that Bondy said Parnas was “willing to tell Congress” that in December 2018, Nunes traveled to Vienna to meet with Viktor Shokin, the top Ukrainian prosecutor who was famously fired in 2016 under pressure from the U.S., represented by Biden, who said Shokin did not do enough to prosecute corruption in Ukraine. CNN cited congressional travel records showing Nunes and a few aides traveled to Europe between November 30 and December 3, 2018.

Quoting Bondy, the CNN report said: “Mr. Parnas learned from former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Victor Shokin that Nunes had met with Shokin in Vienna last December.”

Shortly after the report was published, Nunes said it was “demonstrably false,” but declined to elaborate. In the lawsuit, Nunes has provided the details.

Nunes did travel between Nov. 30 and Dec. 3. The lawsuit says that on those dates, Nunes was in Libya and Malta. Nunes traveled to Libya to “discuss security issues with General Khalifa Haftar,” the suit says. In Malta, Nunes “met with U.S. and Maltese officials, including Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, and participated in a repatriation ceremony for the remains of an American World War II soldier missing in action,” according to the suit.

The lawsuit provides photos of Nunes with Haftar, with Muscat, and at the repatriation ceremony. –Washington Examiner

“[Nunes] was not in Vienna in December 2018,” reads the suit. “Further, he has never met Shokin; never spoken to Shokin; and never communicated with Shokin.”

“At no time during his visits to Libya or Malta did [Nunes] or his staff ever meet any Ukrainians or have any discussions with anyone about the Bidens.”

York notes that Nunes argues CNN should have known that Parnas was an untrustworthy source.

“From all the evidence in its possession, CNN was well-aware that Parnas was a renowned liar, a fraudster, a hustler, an opportunist with delusions of grandeur, a man in financial extremis laboring under the weight of a $500,000 civil judgment, and an indicted criminal defendant with a clear motive to lie.“

That said, York also notes that CNN has a leg to stand on – in that they can simply claim they were reporting an allegation by Parnas through his attorney. The outlet was careful to frame the allegations with phrases such as “Bondy said,” or “According to Bondy” and “Parnas claims.” Thus, CNN can say it accurately reported on an allegation which turned out to be untrue.

That said, CNN’s on-air ‘talent’ presented the Nunes allegation as fact.

The story’s author, Vicky Ward, appeared the night of November 22 on Chris Cuomo’s program. Cuomo asked, “How do we know that Nunes met with Shokin?”

“So, it gets interesting,” Ward answered. “So, Shokin tells Lev Parnas, Rudy Giuliani’s associate, who’s Ukraine-born…”

“So Devin Nunes, who’s at the hearing,” said Cuomo, “and — I’m sorry, but I’m learning this from you, you know, this is new reporting — “

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,” said Ward.

“Devin Nunes, at the hearing, saying ‘This is crazy that the president would want Ukraine to look at the Bidens,’ the prosecutor who was the one at the center of all the controversy — “

“Right,” said Ward.

“Met with Nunes in Vienna — ” said Cuomo.

“Right,” said Ward.

Read the rest of York’s report – including details on a second allegation, here.