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“Shots Fired” – MGM Releases Audio Of Security Guard Reporting Las Vegas Shooting

Nearly a month after the worst mass shooting in US history, many questions remain unanswered.

After an exhaustive investigation, the FBI and Las Vegas Police Department have confirmed that Paddock meticulously planned the assault, and even booked hotel rooms overlooking music festivals in other cities – suggesting that he had planned previous attacks, but backed out for whatever reason. However, his motive is seemingly lost to the wind.

But perhaps even more troubling than the absence of a motive (from a legal perspective, at least) is the fact that, four weeks later, the timeline of events remains murky. Specifically, two things are still unclear: The first is whether security guard Jesus Campos, who first alerted the hotel to the attack, was shot before, during or after the assault began. The second is how long it took the hotel’s dispatcher to inform the police.

This information is, of course, crucial because victims of the attack have already begun filing lawsuits against MGM Resorts, the owner of Mandalay Bay, for negligence related to the attack.

So far, the company appears to be doing everything it can to suppress any new information from leaking to the press. The mystery surrounding Campos’s activities following the attack has only further alarmed victims. Following Stephen Paddock's Oct. 1st massacre, Campos flaked on a press conference that he reportedly scheduled then went missing for days before suddenly resurfacing on the 'Ellen' show – a decision that was made for him by MGM management, who apparently believed Ellen wouldn't ask too many probing questions.

On Saturday, audio of Campos’s dispatch call reporting “shots fired” has been released. But curiously, the audio was not released with a time stamp, making it impossible for the public to discern when, exactly, the call was placed.

During the 24-second audio released Friday, Campos can be heard reporting “shots fired” at Mandalay Bay from the 32nd floor.

“Hey, there are shots fired in 32-135,” Campos says, according to the audio, which was released by MGM.

According to the most recent official version of events (which has of course been revised several times) Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo has said Campos first reported that he had come across a blocked off doorway on the 32nd floor at 9:59 pm. The official timeline shows him being shot six minutes later, just before Paddock began firing on the crowd of 20,000 country music fans across the street. The shooting ended around 10:15, and the first police to arrive on the floor encountered Campos minutes later before forcing their way into Paddock’s room.

Last week, the New York Times postulated an alternative timeline that places the shooting of Campos about a minute after the shooting began. While it’s been reported that Paddock fired 200 rounds into the hallway, the gunshots in the record sound distant enough to suggest that he may have been firing on the crowd during the Campos call.  

Of course, the audio clip was not released with a timestamp, and no explanation from MGM was given as to why the clip is just being released now.

But as lawsuits move forward, perhaps more details about what exactly happened that night will emerge.

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SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE PRECIOUS METALS MARKET: Where We Go From Here

SRSrocco

By the SRSrocco Report,

As the U.S. Stock Market Bubble continues upward toward a giant pin, there are some interesting developments that precious metals investors will find quite interesting.  Yes, there’s still a lot of life left in the precious metals, even though pessimistic market sentiment has frustrated a lot of gold and silver investors.

Also, even though precious metals investment demand in the U.S. has fallen 40+% compared to the same time last year, it continues to be strong in other parts of the world.  For example, German physical gold bar and coin demand increased 8% in the first half of 2017 versus the same period last year, while U.S. fell by 45%.  Moreover, flows into European Gold ETF’s hit a record during the second quarter of 2017:

Now, if we look at what is going on with gold and Central Bank demand, Russia takes the first place.  According to the article by Smaulgld, Russia Steps Up Gold Purchase With Massive Buy In September:

In September 2017, the Central Bank of Russia added 1.1 million ounces (34.2138 tons) of gold to her reserves, raising her total to 1779.119 tons or 57.2 million ounces.

Central Bank of Russia has added 5.3 Million ounces (approximately 165 tonnes) in 2017 through September.

If you haven’t already checked out Louis’s work at Smaulgld.com, I highly recommend you do.  So, as the German public and Russian Central bank continue to increase their gold holdings, Americans have cut back considerably, or worse… have been liquidating.  Furthermore, the U.S. gold market is suffering another supply deficit this year.  As of July 2017, U.S. gold mine supply and imports totaled 288 metric tons (mt) while exports were 290 mt.  Thus, we have exported ALL of our gold mine supply and imports overseas.  (NOTE:  1 Metric Ton = 32,150 troy oz.)

You see, the Federal Reserve and Wall Street have done a marvelous job in totally lobotomizing the American public in regards to gold as money.  American citizens have no idea that the printing cost of $1,300 worth of $100 bills (13) costs $1.95, whereas one ounce of gold valued at $1,300 production cost is $1,150-$1,200.   The U.S. Dollar was backed by gold up until 1971 but is now backed by the $20+ trillion in debt.

Surge In U.S. Debt Props Up Stock Market

As I mentioned in a previous article, it was uncanny how the ONE-DAY $318 billion increase in the U.S. debt on Sept 8th marked the peak in the precious metals prices while the Dow Jones Index bottomed.    The next two charts show how an increase in debt impacted REAL MONEY negatively while it pushed the DOW JONES further into bubble territory:

You will notice in the GOLD chart that the Dow Jones Index remained flat right up until Sept 8th.  Since Sept 8th, the Dow Jones Index increased 1,670 points (+8%) while gold fell $85 (-6%) and silver declined $1.30 (-7%).   I get a laugh at the news how the U.S. hit an astonishing 3% GDP in the third quarter.  It’s amazing what debt can do to prop up markets and GDP.

So, how much has the U.S. Debt increased since Sept 8th?  According to the figures at the TreasuryDirect.gov, a bunch:

In just seven weeks the wizards at the U.S. Treasury increased the total government debt by a whopping $600 billion (actually $595 billion to be exact).  Again, amazing things can be done to the economy when you pump $600 billion into the market.  Who the hell knows where this money goes, but I can guarantee that it continues to allow Americans to buy cars, homes and the millions of products and gadgets we most certainly can’t live without.

UPDATE:  The folks at TreasuryDirect.gov just updated the total public debt for Oct. 26th.  I thought you would like to know they added another $14 billion yesterday, to $20,453 billion up from $20,439 billion on Oct 25th:

So, another $14 billion to make sure everything continues to run smoothly… or they hope and pray.

U.S. Interest Expense On Its Debt Hits Record In 2017

The downside to printing money and increasing debt is the little annoying problem called rising INTEREST PAYMENTS.  Even though the Fed has been successful in lowering the interest rate, the U.S. Government paid the largest amount of interest expense ever this year.  In fiscal 2017, the U.S. Treasury forked out $458 billion worth of the American’s hard earned money just to cover its interest expense:

If we look at the historical data on the annual interest payments, this year’s $458 billion was not much higher than the $454 billion in 2011.  The reason for that was the average interest rate on our debt in 2011 was 3.1% versus the 2.3% for fiscal 2017.  Thus, a falling interest rate on rising debt levels keeps the interest payment from surging higher.

For example, in 1988, the interest expense was $214 billion on total public debt of $2.6 trillion.  However, the average interest rate on our interest expense was much higher at 8.2% in 1988.  Can you imagine what the interest expense would be today at an 8.2% rate?  It comes out to be a cool $1.67 trillion.  Well, that just couldn’t fly, could it?  If the U.S. Treasury had to pay $1.67 trillion to service its debt today, it would go belly up.

Now, there’s a good reason I selected 1988 interest rate and expense as an example.  It has to do with the next section and the 1987 market crash.

U.S. Stocks Setting Up For Another 1987 Market Enema All Over Again

Investors who have been around for a while, certainly remember the 1987 market crash.  In just one day, the Dow Jones Index lost 25% of its value.  I bring this up because there seem to be some striking similarities between the market today and the time leading up to “Black Monday,” in 1987.

According to the Zerohedge article,” The Nightmare Scenario” Revisited: Albert Edwards Lays Out The Next Black Monday:

A retrospective macro-narrative was inevitably wrapped around the “Black Monday” 19 October 1987 equity market crash. My 30-year recollection is pretty good: 1987 saw a buoyant equity market rising briskly through most of the year as the oil price recovered from the previous year’s collapse (from $30 to $8, see chart below). After a year in the doldrums the US economy started to accelerate notably through 1987 as the impact of 1986 interest rate cuts and a lower dollar worked. By the time of the Oct crash the US ISM had surged from 50 at the start of the year to over 60 – a level seldom ever reached (see chart below). Amazingly the ISM has just last month exceeded 60.0 for only the second time since 1987. Spooky!

I am clear in my mind both at the time and now, that the US equity market was priced for a continuation of rapid economic and profit growth and this was under threat. The Dow was on nose-bleed valuations, especially as it had ignored the bond sell-off for most of 1997 (was it really 30 years ago that US 10y yields briefly crawled back above 10% – the last time we would see double-digit yields). None of this would have mattered if the US equity market had been cheap. In my view the record 25% ‘Black Monday’ October 19 decline was due to a horrendously expensive equity market suddenly confronted with the fear of recession. Equity valuations matter.

To summarize Albert Edwards, he shows that the rebound in the oil price allowed the markets to recover in ’86 and ’87 as manufacturing (ISM) improved significantly.  Furthermore, he says the ISM manufacturing number last month has exceeded the 60.0 mark, only for the second time since 1987.

Edwards concludes by saying the 1987 “Black Monday” crash would not have taken place if equity valuations were “cheap.”  Unfortunately, for the investors today, the valuation of the Dow Jones Index is most definitely in NOSE-BLEED territory (and then some), as Edwards suggests.

While mainstream investors and many frustrated precious metals holders have totally dismissed fundamental valuations, all bubbles come to an end.  However, it seems to many; this one will go on forever.  It won’t.

Again, we can’t forget about the $600 billion worth of U.S. Treasury Green Juice that was pumped into the market over the past seven weeks.  To put that $600 billion into perspective, look at the following:

What $600 billion would buy:

2.0 million new homes worth $300,000  (New home sales Sept 2017, annualized = 677,000 units)

17.9 million new vehicles worth $33,560 (Total U.S. vehicle sales 2016 = 17.5 million)

15,000 metric tons of gold or five years of global mine supply (482 million oz)

The $600 billion pumped into the market over the past seven weeks would have purchased two million new homes or three years at the annual rate of 677,000 units.  Furthermore, it would have purchased 17.9 million vehicles, more than the 17.5 million sold in 2016.  Lastly, it would have purchased 15,000 metric tons (482 million oz) of gold.

Just think about that for a minute.  The $600 billion of U.S. Treasury Green Juice would have purchased a year’s worth U.S. citizens’ vehicle purchases and three years worth of new homes.  That’s one hell of a lot of propping…. AND IN LESS THAN TWO MONTHS… LOL.

When the stock market finally does a nose-dive as its nose-bleed valuations finally succumb to investor FEAR, the price of gold and silver will head in the opposite direction, and violently.  Yes, I realize it has been a bit of a long haul and a lot of frustration, but it will be worth it.

Lastly, if you haven’t checked out our new PRECIOUS METALS INVESTING section or our new LOWEST COST PRECIOUS METALS STORAGE page, I highly recommend you do.

Check back for new articles and updates at the SRSrocco Report. 

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What Could Pop The Everything Bubble?

Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via PeakProsperity.com,

I’ve long held that if a problem can be solved by creating $1 trillion out of thin air and buying a raft of assets with that $1 trillion, then central banks will solve the problem by creating the $1 trillion out of thin air – nothing could be easier.

This is the lesson of the past eight years: if a problem can be solved by creating new money and buying assets, then central banks will solve that problem.

Problem: stock market is declining. Solution: create new money and buy, buy, buy stock index funds. Problem solved! Market stops falling and quickly rebounds as “central banks have our backs.”

 

Problem: interest rates are inhibiting lending and growth. Solution: create a few trillion units of currency and buy enough sovereign bonds to drop interest rates to near-zero.

 

Problem: nobody’s left who can afford to buy the new nosebleed-priced flats that underpin China’s miracle-grow economy. Solution: create new currency, lend it to local government agencies who then buy the empty flats.

 

Problem: stagnant employment and deflation. Solution: create a trillion in new currency, buy a trillion in new government bonds that then fund infrastructure projects, i.e. bridges to nowhere.

And so on. Any problem that can be solved by creating a few trillion out of thin air and buying assets will be solved.  The mechanism to solve these problems – creating currency out of nothing – is like a perpetual motion machine: there are no intrinsic limits on the amount of new money that can created at near-zero interest, as the interest payments can be funded by new money.

Even better, the central bank (the Federal Reserve) buys Treasury bonds with the new currency that generate income, which is then returned to the Treasury: a perpetual-motion money machine!

The policy of creating trillions in new currency and buying trillions in assets has inflated an everything bubble, a bubble in all the asset classes being supported or purchased by central banks and their proxies.

Many observers wonder what, if anything, could pop the everything bubble.

This leads to an interesting question: what problems can’t be solved by creating another trillion and buying assets?

What Problems Can’t Be Solved by Creating Another Trillion and Buying Assets?

The past eight years have created the comforting illusion that essentially all problems in the modern era of globalized, centralized, debt-based, state-cartel capitalism in all its flavors (Chinese, Japanese, European, American, etc.) can be solved by creating as many trillions as are needed (whatever it takes) and buying assets or issuing guaranteed lines of credit with the new currency.

But there are some structural problems that can’t be solved by this mechanism. Some are primarily economic, some are primarily political-social, but all of them affect the entire system, not just the financial realm.

Inflation

We’re told that inflation—the loss of purchasing power of a currency—is near death and this greatly saddens the globe’s central bankers, who desperately need inflation to push wages higher and reduce the burden on debtors.

So let’s say, just as a thought experiment, that central banks get their much-desired inflation, but it runs hotter than their 2% annual target.  Once inflation is embedded in expectations and the supply chain, printing another trillion and using it to buy stocks, bonds, empty flats, etc. won’t make inflation go away.  Rather, the inflation in asset valuations generated by endless central bank buying if assets ends up feeding real-world inflation as all this new currency doesn’t actually produce more goods and services; it simply expands the supply of currency sloshing around the world looking for speculative yield.

The chorus of voices advocating for Universal Basic Income (UBI) is growing, and central banks will increasingly be pressured to issue new currency to fund UBI and its equivalents—what’s known as helicopter money, as the central bank issues currency that then funds deficit spending, i.e. the government dropping cash into the real economy.

Helicopter money comes in a variety of forms: debt forgiveness, negative tax rates (i.e. tax rebates to those who owe no income taxes), and cash stipends such as UBI. In every case, this helicopter money doesn’t expand the supply of goods and services; all it does is expand the funds available for consumption.

While China may be able to export deflation in goods that are tradable, that is, commoditized goods that can be made anywhere and shipped to markets elsewhere, nontradable goods and services such as local government services, housing, groceries, fast food, most healthcare services, haircuts, education, etc.—the bulk of the real economy—soar in price as the supply of money expands faster than the supply of these goods and services.

This is why inflation is already running extremely hot in nontradable sectors (which are often dominated, funded or controlled by the public sector/government), while deflation is still visible in tradable goods such as TVs, software, etc. I covered real-world inflation rates in The Burrito Index: Consumer Prices Have Soared 160% Since 2001 (August 1, 2016))

Much of the real-world inflation in sectors such as healthcare is invisible to protected classes because it’s being absorbed by employers and the government, a topic I covered in Inflation Isn't Evenly Distributed: The Protected Are Fine, the Unprotected Are Impoverished Debt-Serfs (May 25, 2017)

Real-world inflation is also distorted by hedonics and substitution, tricks that lower the official rate of inflation but don’t change the reality that the average prices paid for vehicles have risen substantially, despite the official claim that vehicle prices have been flatlined for years, a topic I addressed in About Those "Hedonic Adjustments" to Inflation: Ignoring the Systemic Decline in Quality, Utility, Durability and Service (October 11, 2017)

Be Careful What You Wish For: Inflation Is Much Higher Than Advertised (October 5, 2017)

As political pressure on central banks mounts to fund QE for the people, QE for Main Street, etc., that is, helicopter money in one form or another, the introduction of new currency into the real economy has the potential to make real-world inflation undeniable.

Once inflation is undeniably in the 5% to 7% range, who will be willing to buy a negative-interest rate bond, or a bond paying 1%?

Another potential engine of inflation that’s widely discounted is global shortages of key commodities such as oil, grain, fresh water, etc. The global economy has come to view cheap, abundant commodities as the natural and permanent state of affairs, but history tells us that abundance and low prices are not permanent.  Since essential commodities are integral to the global supply chain, any price increases due to scarcity or supply disruption quickly feed inflation into the entire supply chain.

Inflation is a problem that creating another trillion won’t solve; creating and distributing another trillion or two will actually make the problem worse.

Rising Social Disorder Due to Soaring Wealth-Income Inequality

Famed financer Ray Dalio recently penned a commentary labeling the divergence of the wealthy elite from the bottom 90% The Most Important Economic, Political And Social Issue Of Our Time.

This is a topic many alt-financial bloggers have covered for years; I’ve penned dozens of essays on the topic, most recently The Fading Scent of the American Dream (October 16, 2017)

This chart depicts the inconvenient reality: central bank currency-creation-asset-buying has enriched the top of the wealth-power pyramid, with limited trickledown to the top 10% and negative effects on the bottom 90%.

The consequences of this outcome of central bank stimulus-for-the-already-wealthy can manifest in all sorts of ways.

Political pressure on central banks may grow, forcing policy changes or even limiting the scope of central bank largesse to banks and financiers.

Social movements demanding UBI and other income-distribution policies may become mainstream, a dynamic that as described above will add to the inflationary pressures building in the real world.

Once again, creating another trillion and buying more assets held by the wealthy won’t fix this problem—it will only make it worse.

Fragmentation of the Elites

As I have often noted, historian Michael Grant identified profound political disunity in the ruling class as a key cause of the dissolution of the Roman Empire. Grant described this dynamic in his excellent account The Fall of the Roman Empire, a book I have been recommending since 2009.

The chapter titles of the book provide a precis of the dynamics Grant identifies:

The Gulfs Between the Classes

The Credibility Gap

The Partnerships That Failed

The Groups That Opted Out

The Undermining of Effort

I’ve discussed profound political disunity in dozens of essays since 2009, for example, When Did Our Elites Become Self-Serving Parasites? (October 4, 2016)

The Real Trouble Begins When Rising Inequality Splinters the Elites (October 22, 2015)

There are a number of manifestations of profound political disunity we can discern:

— The splintering of the technocrat class as soaring wealth and income inequality narrows opportunities for financial security for the class that considered security and wealth a birthright.

 

— The fragmenting of the Deep State, the unelected, permanent leadership of the Establishment, a subject I’ve addressed since 2014: The Age of Disintegration: Political Disunity and Elites At War. (November 21, 2016)

 

— The fragmentation of the two political parties into warring camps that have little common ground in a struggle for control of the rising tide of populism.

 

— The splintering of the social order into conflicting classes of Haves and Have-Nots, a topic I covered in America's Nine Classes (April 13, 2015).

Once again, creating another trillion and buying assets—a policy that enriches the financial elites at the expense of every other class and elite—doesn’t solve the problem, it only makes it worse.

Popping the Everything Bubble Created by Central Bank Currency Creation-Asset Buying

As central bank creation of currency and asset purchases fail to solve the problems outlined above, these dynamics will undermine the status quo rather than prop it up.  As central bank policies are increasingly fingered by the mainstream as the source of soaring wealth-income inequality, central bank policies supporting credit/asset bubbles will either be limited or cut off, and at that point all the credit/asset bubbles will pop.

In Part 2: What To Invest In When The Everything Bubble Bursts, we lay out our how to best prepare for the social discord, political disorder and financial upheaval that will result when the central banks inevitably lose control of the system. As today's bubble-drunk asset prices start plummeting, what investment opportunities will offer the best returns? To find out, click here to read Part 2 of this report (free executive summary, enrollment required for full access)

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Hannity Reacts To Mueller Probe Charges: “When Will Hillary Clinton Be Indicted?”

Last night, shortly after reports leaked to CNN that Special Counsel Mueller had filed his first charges in the Russia investigation, Fox News host Sean Hannity responded via Twitter asking simply: “When will Hillary Clinton be indicted?”

Of course, as we noted last night (see: Mueller Reportedly Ready To File First Charges In Russia Probe), CNN was the first to report that charges had been filed by Mueller and that arrests could be made in the coming days, a report that was subsequently ‘confirmed’ by Reuters.  That said, the subject of the charges was not revealed and details of the court documents were sealed under orders from a federal judge.

A federal grand jury in Washington, DC, on Friday approved the first charges in the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller, according to sources briefed on the matter.

 

The charges are still sealed under orders from a federal judge. Plans were prepared Friday for anyone charged to be taken into custody as soon as Monday, the sources said. It is unclear what the charges are.

 

A spokesman for the special counsel’s office declined to comment.

Hannity, a vocal supporter of President Trump, went on to accuse Mueller of working in conjunction with the mainstream media to “change the narrative” after new details emerged last week regarding the “Uranium One” scandal, which is now being investigated by the House Intelligence Committee and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and the revelation that Hillary’s campaign and the DNC funded the infamous “Trump Dossier”.

Carefully orchestrated attempt to shift the media narrative or just a logical progression in an ongoing investigation, the answer should be unveiled on Monday.

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Catalan Leader Urges “Peaceful” Rebellion As Spain Takes Over Government

Update (0920ET): A Spanish government spokesman has responded to Puigdemont's address, saying that "Spain will not comment on comments by Puigdemont who is out of a job."

*  *  *

As we detailed earlier, in a pre-record message this morning, Catalan separtist leader Carles Puigdemont urged Catalans to peacefully oppose Spain's formal takeover of the region's affairs.

Puigdemont said the activation of article 155 of the Spanish Constitution was illegitimate and called on Catalans to show "patience, perseverance" and faith in the future, and urged "democratic opposition" against Spanish government orders to sack his administration and dismiss the regional parliament.

As The Spain Report notes, he announced he Catalans must "continue defending" their new republic "with a sense of civic responsibility," adding "our will is to continue working to guarantee our democratic mandate".

The use of Article 155 to suspend home rule in Catalonia was a "premeditated attack on the majority will of Catalans" and "contrary" to democracy.

Puigdemont also called on pro-independence Catalans to be respectful of fellow Catalans who are in favor of Catalonia remaining within Spain. Puigdemont didn’t mention central government orders to remove him.

Presumably, Puigdemont's calls suggest a strategy designed to compare Madrid's forcefulness to Catalan's peaceful protest, perhaps in an effort to garner more international favor – as most of the 'developed' nations issued statements overnight declining to reecognize Catalonia and fully backing the establishment's Spanish government.

Live broadcasts showed Puigdemont in a bar in the town of Girona at the time of the televised speech.

Puigdemont declined to speak to reporters when he left the bar shortly after the speech.

Meanwhile, Spain begins implementation of Article 155:

Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz  de Santamaria takes over the management of the Catalonia area after Madrid took its autonomous status yesterday and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy fired the regional government, the agencies said, reports sega.

 

 

Spain's Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido is leading the Catalonian police after the chief of police, Jose Luis Trapero, was removed. Both decisions enter into force immediately.

However, La Vanguardia reports, members of the Catalan government don’t plan to accept being removed, citing sources it doesn’t name, though oit is unclear exactly what they will do. The Catalan government is reportedly preparing next steps in line with proclamation approved yesterday by the regional Parliament. Among the possibilities being weighed is calling constituent elections before the end of the year.

So what happens next?

The Duran.com's Adam Garries lays out 5 possible scenarios…

1. Madrid ignores the implementation of the declaration of independence 

In many ways, it seems counter-intuitive to list this as the ‘most peaceful short term option’, not least because there is ostensibly no bigger insult to a peoples than to simply ignore their declaration of independence. This is ironically, not necessarily the case with Catalonia.

The very reason that Catalan independence was not declared on the 2nd of October is because the Catalan leadership are very moderate in their approach to the issue. Forgetting whether one finds the Catalan leaders inspiring or incipient, the fact of the matter is that they did not so much say “give me liberty or give me death” as they said “give me European values and give me those values on my terms at the soonest possible date after a period of polite discussions”.

Because Catalonia has shown the propensity to wait for a good faith negotiation partner during a very trying month and because furthermore, many Catalan politicians have insisted that they seek peace and cooperation whenever possible, the onus therefore is now very much on Madrid to de-escalate the situation.

Madrid could still go through with the technical firing of the Catalan government in order to administer the humdrum business of daily life in Catalonia for an interim period on their terms, but if Madrid were to officially adopt a position of ignoring the formal independence vote, it could still negotiate with independence leaders in another capacity.

The west, including Spain, continually speaks of ‘moderate rebels’ in places throughout the world, notably Syria, in spite of the fact that they are acting violently, using terrorism as their de-facto means of ‘political expression’, are mostly foreign proxies and are violating not only national but international law. With the exception of Catalonia violating Spanish law, included the much hated 1978 Spanish constitution, which many see as overtly Francoist in nature, none of this applies to Catalonia.

No one can reasonably say that Catalan independence supporters or their leaders are terrorists or post a direct threat to world peace as al-Qaeda, the FSA, Kurdish ethno-nationalists and ISIS do in places like Syria or Iraq. Furthermore, unlike Middle Eastern Kurds who are something of Israel’s de-facto regional puppets, Catalan independence movements have been part of Iberian history going back centuries. The Catalan struggle, in other-words, predates the creation of the dastardly Israeli colonial state, the birth of George Soros, the idea of the New World Order and the advent of neo-liberal economics.  To therefore say that Catalan independence is about any of these things, as many have, fails to realise the long historical basis which underlies recent events in Catalonia.

Because of this, Madrid  has nothing to lose, yet much to gain from engaging in negotiations with the leaders of the independence movement. Had Madrid negotiated directly with the leaders in Barcelona, the entire independence movement may have fizzled-out over time, in the same way that Brexit appears to be doing in another EU state, or otherwise, Madrid could have agreed to a situation whereby Catalonia settles on an Andorra like solution whereby Catalonia becomes a state formally protected by Spain (as Andorra is technically protected by France), while technically enjoying the desired benefits of EU membership which logically derive from the ‘protector’ state. Because of Catalonia’s size vis-a-vis Andorra, some sort of financial agreement could be agreed upon on a per annum basis.

Such a solution would require creativity, but crucially it requires no blood and could be arranged to create face-saving and money saving measures that cover both sides in terms of economic, political and even ego driven requirements and desires. It is still not too late to achieve this as the “slowly-slowly” attitude in Barcelona has not dramatically changed, in spite of recent dramatic events. In this sense, yesterday’s vote was more of a sign that Barcelona is not bluffing, that it is a sign that Madrid is now an automatic enemy of the largely unrecognised new Catalan Republic.

2. Barcelona initiates a dialogue process….and it works 

It must be re-stated that one of the reasons Catalonia implemented a declaration of independence yesterday was because it felt it had no option to do anything else. If Catalonia’s leaders did nothing while Madrid moved to abolish their autonomy, they would have looked weak before the eyes of their constituents and ineffective in the eyes of the world from which they will need to garner support, in one way or another.

Thus, we now know that Catalonia’s leaders have the collective strength to do what they said they would do. But can they now do something more difficult? Can they offer the wider world an option that cannot be refused?

Catalonia has gone out of its way to do that which, for example, the Kurds in the Middle East have not done. While Kurds have resorted to armed conflict and terrorism in their disregard for both national and international law, Catalans have practised entirely peaceful civil disobedience in arguable violation of national law, but in full compliance with EU law which is theoretically superior to national law in many cases, among member states.

The fact that Catalans are being totally disregarded by most EU states and the EU itself, is symptomatic of double-standards in the west, whereby an armed terrorist in Asia or Africa is a ‘freedom fighter’, but peaceful individuals initiating a controversial but totally non-violent political process in the west, are somehow bandits. Furthermore, Catalonia is a regional crisis and for the EU, an existential crisis. Such a reality is miles away from the very real security crisis that Turkey, Syria and Iran felt when Iraqi Kurds, machine guns in hand, voted in a secession referendum which went beyond their legally defined autonomous borders within Iraq. Again, none of this applies to Catalonia.

If followed to its logical conclusion, Catalonia can now call on international mediators to instigate a process for dialogue that Madrid simply could not ignore. If such a process fails, it will represent a total failure of the so-called international community. If not a single nation, not the UN, not a former UN Secretary General, not a single peace activist can step forward and heed Catalonia’s calls for a truly international dialogue process to be organised, then there truly is no international community to speak of. It certainly behoves Catalonia to attempt and find out.

3. Duelling governments in Barcelona 

Madrid is set to appoint a new interim leadership in Barcelona who will answer directly to the Spanish government, while calling for new elections to form a Catalan parliament in December. The effectiveness of such a move depends on the de-facto current leaders in Barcelona (Puigdemont et al.) and their supporters simply going away quietly.

If anyone thinks it is likely that after a long standoff which was capped by the declaration of a Catalan Republic will end the moment Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy sends ‘his man’ to Barcelona, then they are not living in the real world.

With two competing governments in Barcelona, the short term confusion and deadlock could lead to disaster, as shall be explored in the following two, very un-peaceful possibilities.

4. Mass arrests of Catalan independence leaders 

Spain has already set a worrying precedent by arresting Catalan independence organisers on sedition charges. There are now open fears that such a precedent could now lead to the arrest of the entire de-facto leadership in Barcelona, as well as many members of the Catalan parliament (even though the vote for independence was conducted via secret ballot).

This would not only set-off an uncontrollable chain reaction of fear and almost certainly violence in Catalonia and beyond, but would set off a chain of lawsuits which would test the primacy of national law versus EU and international law. If Madrid were to invoke the most neo-Francoist elements of its constitution and subsequently conduct mass arrests reminiscent of the 1930s, it would not only embolden more Catalans than ever in their desire to breakaway from Spain permanently, but it will be guaranteed to keep both the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice busy for years if not decades to come.

The legal issues which currently exist, could and should be solved through mediation followed by an accord. However, if mass arrests of prominent Catalan leaders are conducted by Spain, a larger legal Pandora’s Box would be flung open and more importantly, any claim of a peaceful regional dispute would be forever lost. Instead, it would be a repeat of the 1930s in more ways than one, combined with the legal labyrinth of 21st century judicial mechanisms.

5. Civil War 

Depending of various push-pull factors at play, a repeat, however microcosmic, of the 1930s Spanish Civil War could take place. If Madrid cracks down hard on political leaders, demonstrators and other civil bodies in Catalonia, it is possible that Catalans could find the means to arm themselves and fight back.

If an armed struggle took place in the heart of the EU, not only would it quite possibly be the end of Spain and western Europe as we know it, but it could be the end of the EU…full stop.

Whatever would be leftover, would by definition be unrecognisable and only a great deal of effort to put the region back together could restore peace.

For mercenary thinkers who see questions of war and peace simply in economic terms, it is worth saying this: for the moment, the Catalan crisis has not drastically impacted global markets. If things escalate into an armed civil conflict, it will impact markets, but primarily in Europe with some ricochets in North America.  The rest of the world will remain financially stable.

This will be the ultimate sign that an Iberian peninsula which once ruled large quarters of the world, is now reduced to a corner of a European Union that far from leading the world, can now, barely lead itself.

In many ways, this will be the ultimate wake-up call.

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USDA Threatens Maine over Food Freedom: New at Reason

meat processingThis past June, Maine legislators passed a law that allows cities and towns in the state to adopt laws permitting farmers and other food producers within their borders to engage in a host of direct-to-consumer food sales. The law, intended to bolster local food economies in the state, allows Maine municipalities to “regulate by ordinance local food systems,” and requires the state, in turn, to “recognize such ordinances.”

While the act was intended to protect people like the “one-cow farmer who feeds the people in his community the food they want to eat,” its protections had limits.

“The law does not cover sales outside a given city or town that has a food sovereignty ordinance in place,” food policy expert Baylen Linnekin wrote in a column shortly after the law passed. “Neither does the law pre-empt federal law.”

And it’s that latter area that got Maine into hot water with the federal government, before the law ever took effect. Linnekin explains.

View this article.

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Bombshell: Hillary Clinton, DNC Colluded With Russia In An Attempt To Steal The Election From Donald Trump

Authored by Alex Thomas via SHTFplan.com,

Fresh off the heels of a shocking report, published by the Washington Post, that confirmed that the infamous “Russia dossier” was actually funded by both the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee, an even more startling revelation has emerged – The Clinton-DNC machine colluded with the Russians to fabricate and spread serious disinformation about Donald Trump in a failed attempt at swaying the election in the favor of Hillary Clinton.

That’s right, in a literal reverse of what the entire mainstream media has fed the American people for over a year, we now have evidence that, either wittingly or unwittingly, the Clinton campaign and the DNC paid for what amounted to disinformation that came directly from “Russian sources”.

 

Obviously this may seem truly unbelievable to some, but the facts speak for themselves and there is no denying that Democrats paid a shady opposition research company to try and dig up dirt on Donald Trump who then subsequently hired former British spy Christopher Steele. Steele then openly used Russian sources for most of the serious allegations in the “Russia dossier”.

Clinton Lawyer Hires Fusion GPS For Disinformation

According to The Washington Post report, which was later confirmed by Politico, Clinton and DNC lawyer Marc Elias hired the “opposition research” (see disinformation) company Fusion GPS who then outsourced the work to former British spy Christopher Steele who eventually went on to release the “Russian dossier” which was chalked full of disinformation, including lurid sexual allegations against Donald Trump.

The fact that the Clinton campaign would hire Fusion GPS in the first place paints a clear picture of a campaign willing to pay for any dirt on then candidate Donald Trump whether it was true or not. This becomes even more clear when you consider the history of Fusion GPS itself.

As Breitbart reported, “Fusion GPS is not some usual-usual oppo-research firm. Among other things, the company has been accused of being a “Democrat-aligned misinformation firm” aligned with Russia. While refusing to cooperate with congressional investigations, including taking the fifth, Fusion GPS has also been accused of advocating for “the interests of corrupt Russian and Venezuelan officials while hiding its foreign work from federal authorities.”

The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway also noted the serious allegations against the company:

At a July hearing, Senate Judiciary members were told Fusion GPS helped advocate the interests of corrupt Russian and Venezuelan officials while hiding its foreign work from federal authorities.

 

Fusion GPS has been accused of illegally working as an undisclosed foreign agent and is currently refusing to comply with federal subpoenas for information on its foreign clients.

Fusion GPS also has deep connections to the mainstream media, including the fact that it was literally founded by a team of former mainstream media reporters who have deep connections to those currently in the profession.

Again Hemingway notes:

The principals at Fusion GPS are well-connected to mainstream media reporters. They are former journalists themselves, and know how to package stories and provide information to push narratives. They are, in fact, close friends with some of the top reporters who have covered the Russia-Trump collusion story.

 

Fusion GPS has placed stories with friendly reporters while fighting congressional investigators’ attempts to find out the group’s sources of funding. Fusion GPS leaders have taken the Fifth and fought subpoenas for information about the group’s involvement with Russia.

 

Their close friendships with key reporters on these stories have paid huge dividends for the firm, although these friendships and cooperative relationships have not served the public well.

Former Spy Used “Russian Sources” For Infamous Trump Dossier 

This is where the story turns from shocking to downright unbelievable, especially when you consider the year long mainstream media disinformation narrative that claims that the Russians helped Donald Trump win the election.

The spook working for Fusion GPS, (which was hired by the Clinton campaign) Christopher Steele, openly bragged about his sources being within the Russian government itself.

Buried deep in a report by Vanity Fair that spends thousands of words trying to pretend that the dossier could be legitimate, is this nugget that paints a picture of direct or indirect collusion between the Clinton team and Russia.

How good were these sources? Consider what Steele would write in the memos he filed with Simpson: Source A—to use the careful nomenclature of his dossier—was “a senior Russian Foreign Ministry figure.” Source B was “a former top level intelligence officer still active in the Kremlin.” And both of these insiders, after “speaking to a trusted compatriot,” would claim that the Kremlin had spent years getting its hooks into Donald Trump.

 

Source E was “an ethnic Russian” and “close associate of Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump.”

After “gathering” the information, Steele was then directed by Fusion GPS to “brief” the media about the Russian government fueled allegations against Trump.

As The Daily Caller noted in July:

In one, dated May 18, Steele says that he was instructed by Fusion GPS to meet with reporters at various outlets in order to publicize some of the allegations made in the dossier.

 

It has been widely known that Fusion GPS and Steele were in contact with reporters to discuss the dossier. It has been reported that rumors of the dossier were floating around in Washington, D.C. political and journalist circles for months prior to BuzzFeed’s decision to publish it on Jan. 10.

 

[…]

 

In the response, Steele’s lawyers state that the former spook briefed several reporters at the end of September at the instruction of Fusion GPS, which was working on behalf of a Democratic ally of Hillary Clinton’s.

 

The outlets were The New York Times, The Washington Post, Yahoo! News, The New Yorker and CNN.

 

Steele met once more — and again at Fusion GPS’s instruction — with The Times, The Post, and Yahoo! News. Fusion GPS took part in all of those meetings, Steele’s lawyers say.

 

“In each of those cases the briefing was conducted verbally in person,” the document reads.

 

In October, Fusion GPS instructed Steele to brief a journalist from Mother Jones. The interview, which was conducted through Skype, was likely with reporter David Corn.

It doesn’t get any clearer than this. Fusion GPS was paid by Democrats to dig up dirt, that dirt was then supplied by the Russians, and subsequently became a major part of the narrative surrounding Donald Trump and Russia.

“What you clearly have here is the Clinton campaign openly COLLUDING with a foreign country, with the Russians, to fabricate scurrilous lies about Trump, which were then fed to a willing media as a means to affect their news coverage, and by extension, sway the election,” Breitbart’s John Nolte wrote.

Fusion GPS “Was Acting On Behalf Of Russia”

Amazingly, testimony and evidence already exists that Fusion GPS has in the past worked directly for Russia and may have been doing so with the Trump disinformation dossier.

At a Senate Judiciary Hearing in late July, Hermitage Capital Management chief William Browder testified that the company was acting on behalf of Russia after co-founder Glenn Simpson was hired by a person connected to lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya to lobby for the repeal of the  Magnitsky Act.

The following exchange between Browder and Senator Lindsey Graham is shocking to say the least.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: This whole story reads like some kind of novel that nobody would buy, it’s got to be fiction, but unfortunately maybe it’s true. Let’s just break down sort of why you’re here. You believe that Fusion GPS should of registered under FARA, because they were acting on the behalf of the Russians?

 

WILLIAM BROWDER: That’s correct.

 

SEN. GRAHAM: So, I just want to absorb that for a moment. The group that did the dossier on President Trump hired this British spy, wound up getting it to the FBI. You believe they were working for the Russians?

 

BROWDER: And in the Spring and Summer of 2016 they were receiving money indirectly from a senior Russian government official.

 

SEN. GRAHAM: Okay. So, these are the people that were trying to undermine Donald Trump by showing the nefarious ties to Russia. Is that what you’re saying?

 

BROWDER: Well, what I’m saying with 100% certainty is that they were working to undermine the Magnitsky act and the timing of that.

 

SEN. GRAHAM: But, the Fusion GPS products apparently as they hired a guy to look into Trump?

 

BROWDER: Yes.

 

SEN. GRAHAM: Right

 

BROWDER: Correct.

When you put all the evidence together, keeping in mind that this is only what has been released so far, you can see a clear picture of, at the very least, indirect collusion between the highest levels of the Democratic Party and unknown figures within the Russian government. The scheme was then directly propped up and spread by the mainstream media.

As Nolte so aptly notes, “If purchasing misinformation from Kremlin official as a means to manipulate media coverage and sway public opinion is not colluding with the Russians to rig an election, nothing is.”

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Nobody’s Buying Hamptons Mega-Mansions Because ‘Small Is The New Big’

Any realtor worth their salt will tell you, when it comes to the home-buying habits of wealthy hedgies and bankers, gaudy McMansions and sprawling estates are so last season.

Or, as they say in Greenwich: “Small is the new big."

Owners of large homes in tony Hamptons neighborhoods hoping to cash in on a frothy housing market before the inevitable rise in mortgage rates will be disappointed to learn that the trend of buyers favoring lower-priced homes continued in the third quarter, according to the latest Douglas Elliman Real-Estate Report. This left the high end of the market in a double-bind as supplies of new homes hit the market while sales tapered off…

Purchasers agreed to pay more than the asking price in 10 percent of deals for properties under $3.3 million — this quarter’s definition of “non-luxury” homes, making up the bottom 90 percent of the market, according to a report Thursday by appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate. It was the biggest share of transactions with bidding wars since the firms began tracking the data in the second quarter of 2016.

 

In their zeal for lower-end deals, buyers snapped up condos as well. Those units — with a median sale price of $567,500 — were available for just 97 days on average before going under contract, the fastest clip in six years of record-keeping. On the high-end, buyers showed less interest in acquiring luxury homes than sellers did in listing them. Inventory in that top 10 percent of the market jumped 22 percent, the biggest pile-up in two years.

 

“The market is looking towards those smaller, more manageable homes,” said Carl Benincasa, a regional vice president at Douglas Elliman who oversees sales in the Hamptons. “That’s certainly been a trend we’ve been observing.”

Bloomberg, which obtained an advance copy of the report, noted that the Hamptons housing market often parallels performance in the financial industry, seeing as many buyers of luxury homes out east are wealthy finance types.

With markets at record highs, the Hamptons housing market is doing reasonably well – but buyers’ unwillingness to snap up the most expensive homes in a way mirrors the trepidation surrounding stretched stock valuations and record low volatility.

With stocks at record highs, people are in a buying mood in the Hamptons. The beachside towns on Eastern Long Island, whose fortunes are closely linked to the performance of the financial industry, had 517 total sales in the three months through September — or 12 percent more than the 10-year quarterly average, Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman said. Even with all that buying, inventory declined only in the non-luxury category, with listings dropping 10 percent from a year earlier to 1,143.

 

Deals for less than $500,000 fell 12 percent to 57 — because there weren’t many such properties available, Town & Country Real Estate said in its report on Hamptons. But sales of homes priced between $500,000 and $999,000 jumped 22 percent to 131, and those between $1 million and $1.99 million climbed 12 percent to 76, the brokerage said.

One realtor noted that inventory is thinnest in the under-$1 million category, which has forced some buyers to the next rung of the market.

“When you look at the inventory under a million, that’s the largest shortage, so buyers stepped up to the next level of the market,” said Ernest Cervi, a senior vice president at Corcoran Group, which released its own report Thursday.

One couple recounted their struggle finding a new home in the Hamptons for under $1 million after selling their old home for $1.4 million.

For Brian DeSesa, it was much easier to sell his under-$2 million home than it was to buy one in that price tier. Sensing the market demand for lower-cost properties, he and his wife listed their three-bedroom Sag Harbor Village house in June at $1.45 million. It went into contract in July, to a buyer offering $1.35 million but willing to pay all cash and close within 14 days, said Jessica von Hagn, the Brown Harris Stevens broker who marketed the property.

 

Then came the hard part: finding a new house in the area for less than $1 million. The couple bid on at least three such properties, offering the asking price each time and getting outbid within hours, said DeSesa, 36, a land-use attorney with the Adam Miller Group in

 

Bridgehampton. On the next try, they offered the $795,000 asking price on a ranch-style home — and then, in a second round of bidding, offered $860,000, which won them the deal.

 

“It’s pure competition,” von Hagn said. “At the $1 million mark, you’re competing with year-rounders trying to live out there, you’re competing with builders who are going to tear it down, and you’re competing with flippers.”

To be sure, there were still some ultra-luxury deals in the quarter, including two for more than $20 million, the same as a year earlier, Bloomberg reported. Purchases between $5 million and $9.99 million plummeted 56 percent to just 11. Sales were up 30 percent in Bridgehampton, with six deals over $10 million, but plunged 29 percent in the Sag Harbor area, where none of the 17 transactions were for more than $5 million.

Of course, as we noted last quarter, “smaller” in the Hamptons is purely relative, because apparently there’s nothing more modest among today’s Hamptons set than trading a 13,000 square-foot home for an 8,000 square-foot home.
 

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Saudi Arabia Might Recognize Israel Because Of NEOM

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Oriental Review,

The half-a-trillion-dollar initiative to build a tristate city at the Saudi, Egyptian, and Jordanian border in the Gulf of Aqaba will more than likely lead to Riyadh recognizing Israel and integrating Tel Aviv into the project.

The ambitious Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman unveiled a $500 billion project at an investment forum earlier this week in an effort to bring some serious substance to his Vision 2030 project of fundamentally diversifying his country’s oil-dependent economy in the coming decade. The proposal calls for a gigantic city called NEOM to be built at the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba in the northeastern corner of the Red Sea, with the plan being for it to eventually extend into neighboring Egypt and Jordan as well. The Crown Prince promised that it would be a technologically advanced city with its own laws and administration, and it will also be free from anything “traditional”.

The latter remark hints that Mohammed Bin Salman won’t allow the Kingdom’s traditional Wahhabi socio-cultural “regulations” to be enforced there, which goes along with his other headline-grabbing statement during the event when he said that Saudi Arabia will “return…to moderate Islam” and “swiftly deal a blow to extremist ideologies”. Quite clearly, as analyzed in the author’s earlier piece this month about Saudi Arabia’s shifting grand strategy, a “deep state” conflict is indeed being fought in the country between its monarchic and clerical factions, with the former poised to carry out a “soft coup” against the latter as it seeks to “modernize” the country. This will surely result in some behind-the-scenes tumult in the coming future, if not overt destabilization, but the point of the present article isn’t to dwell too much on that tangent.

Instead, it’s relevant to have brought that up in order to make the case that Saudi Arabia is on the cusp of an unprecedented paradigm change that will likely see it recognizing Israel if the monarchy is successful in snuffing out the clerics’ political influence. Saudi Arabia’s Egyptian and Jordanian NEOM partners have already recognized and signed peace treaties with Israel, and Riyadh is known to be coordinating with Tel Aviv in crafting a comprehensive anti-Iranian regional policy, amongst other strategic commonalities that they share. Moreover, the secret meetings between Saudi Arabia and Israel over the years suggest that their relationship is much warmer in private than either side publicly presents it as for their own respective domestic political reasons.

Israel has always wanted relations with Saudi Arabia, though Riyadh has traditionally shirked away from this because it wanted to present itself as a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, made all the more symbolic by the Saudi monarchy’s custodianship over the Two Holy Mosques given the religious dimensions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, if Mohammed Bin Salman comes out on top in his “deep state” “soft coup” against the Wahhabi clerics, then he can easily lay the “blame” on them for his country’s refusal to recognize Israel after all of these decades. Not only could he be interested in doing this as the ultimate expression of his country’s radically transformed identity under his stewardship, but he might be just as importantly driven by the geostrategic imperatives related to Vision 2030’s flagship NEOM project.

Red-Med Railway

The Gulf of Aqaba was chosen not just because it would allow NEOM to spread into Egypt and Jordan, but also because of its proximity to Israel, which is promoting its “Red-Med” railway proposal as the perfect Mideast complementary component of the New Silk Road. Tel Aviv keenly knows that the Chinese are always looking for backup plans and transport route diversification in order to not be too dependent on any single connectivity corridor, and in this case, overland rail transit from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Eastern Mediterranean via Israel comes off as exceedingly attractive to Beijing’s strategists. Furthermore, China has fantastic relations with both Saudi Arabia and Israel, so from Beijing’s perspective, this is the perfect Mideast “win-win”, especially if the People’s Republic can find a way to insinuate that its possible financing of both the NEOM and “Red-Med” projects contributed to bringing peace to the Mideast.

In addition, there’s also the Russian factor to take into consideration, and it’s objectively known – though commonly denied in the Alt-Media Community – that Moscow and Tel Aviv are on excellent terms with one another and basically cooperate as allies in Syria. When accounting for the fast-moving Russian-Saudi rapprochement and Moscow’s envisioned 21st-century grand strategic role in becoming the supreme balancing force in Eurasia, it’s likely that Russia would be in favor of any Saudi recognition of Israel and Tel Aviv’s integration into the NEOM project because it would then allow the Russian business elite both in the Russian Federation and Israel to invest in this exciting city-state and the complementary “Red-Med” Silk Road corridor.

Seeing as how Mohammed Bin Salman is trying to purge the clerics’ political influence from the Kingdom, it’s very possible that Saudi Arabia will end up recognizing Israel in the near future and blaming its decades-long delay in doing so on the Wahhabis. The grand intent behind this isn’t just to formalize the Saudi-Israeli anti-Iranian partnership or to show the world just how serious the Crown Prince is in changing the course of his country, but to please Riyadh’s newfound Multipolar Great Power partners in Moscow and Beijing, both of which enjoy exceptional relations with Tel Aviv but would probably be reluctant to invest in the Kingdom’s NEOM city-state project so long as its connectivity access remained dependent on the Suez Canal chokepoint.

Russia and China would feel more strategically secure if Israel was incorporated into this megaproject so that its territory could be used for overland transshipment between the Red and Mediterranean Seas via the “Red-Med” railway proposal, which would then make NEOM infinitely more attractive from a logistics perspective for all sorts of investors.

If Saudi Arabia doesn’t recognize Israel, then this non-Suez workaround is impossible and the NEOM city-state loses its grand strategic significance in the context of the Multipolar World Order, which could consequently lead to a lack of investment and therefore the potential failure of Vision 2030’s flagship project. As such, due to the economic-strategic imperatives associated with NEOM, as well as the geopolitical paradigm shift staking place in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh will probably recognize Israel in the coming future in order to guarantee that its city-state initiative succeeds and ultimately transitions the Kingdom away from its oil-exporting dependency.

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Orban Launches Intelligence Probe Into George Soros’ “Open Society” Network

Apparently, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban thinks his propaganda campaign to discredit Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros – Orban’s political archnemesis – hasn’t been sufficiently effective.

As Orban’s ruling party gears up for parliamentary elections in April – where it is the prohibitive favorite to win largely thanks to its refusal to accept refugees under a plan devised by the European Commission – the prime minister has instructed his intelligence services to map what he described as the networks run by the billionaire financier’s “empire” targeting his country, Bloomberg reported.

Intelligence agencies will help evaluate what he sees as efforts by Soros to get Hungary punished by EU institutions pursuing a “mixed-population” continent, Orban said in an interview with Kossuth Radio on Friday.

The Associated Press added that the investigation will also focus on alleged Hungarian members of the network.

Intelligence agencies will help evaluate what Orban sees as efforts by Soros to get Hungary punished by EU institutions pursuing a “mixed-population” continent, Orban said in an interview with Kossuth Radio on Friday.

Orban speaks often of a coming split in Europe between “migrant-free zone” and those in the west who refuse calls to “haul” undocumented migrants away.

The unraveling of the friendship between Orban and Soros in some ways mirrors the falling out between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US-based cleric Fehtullah Gulen in terms of the extent of the deterioration.

Three decades ago, billionaire financier George Soros paid for a young Viktor Orbán to study in Britain. And as recently as 2010, Soros donated $1 million to Orbán’s government to help the cleanup effort following the infamous “red sludge” disaster.

But the once-warm relationship between the two men has deteriorated substantially over the past seven years, as Orban has drifted further to the right. In 2014, the leader of Hungary’s Fidesz party declared he would seek to model Hungary’s government after “illiberal” democracies like the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In response, Soros this summer denounced his former protege and accused him of creating a “mafia state” in Hungary.

One of dozens of billboards around Hungary bearing anti-Soros messaging…

Orban responded by accusing Soros's network of using the European Union to achieve its own aims, including the promotion of mass migration into Europe.

Orban was no doubt provoked to launch the probe by reports Soros has donated $18 billion from his family office to his “Open Society” foundation, his primary tool for influence policy throughout the west. The group funds a network of dozens of organizations that fund liberal, globalist causes throughout Europe and the US. At times, recipients of funding have included Black Lives Matter groups, and even Antifa.

But will Orban’s investigation morph into a full-on, Turkey-style purge of anyone with ties to Soros’ linked organizations, regardless of their actual complicity? That, of course, remains to be seen.
 

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