Border Blender, Inflation, Gender

by

Fight, Flight, or Flow?

Let’s turn back the clock to our discussion in ShopTalk Sunday. Everyone has their own “TQ” – tactility quotient.  Which is “the Zone” in life where the amount of “head-work” is properly balanced by the amount of “hand-work” one does.  It’s different for everybody; goes back to what humans were bred for.  Whether that little science project was managed by aliens, Anunnaki, or the law of large numbers is a matter of personal choice. Evidence is disputed.

In the same manner (understanding system templates) there are three ways to handle “contention” when reading any news story that comes along.

Take this Border and Tariff (and drugs, and job-jacking that started it all).  Many people don’t understand how the current event-stream has the potential to increase domestic divisiveness.  The “harder borders, tougher stance” – the fight stance – is supported by families who have lost loved ones to fentanyl, or they may have been damaged by the global communists who brought in DEI (and ESG) to neuter America’s common sense, massive energy potential, and ability to stage major “come-backs.”

The flight crowd doesn’t want to confront the FACT that Senator Joe McCarthy was at least partially correct when he pointed out where communism was leading.  He was smeared by Hollywood, the liberal Northeast press, but in fact, China’s continued existence as the poster-child for communism is only enabled by American consumption.  People in China make – says the World Bank –  $12,614 per year.  The corresponding US reading is $82,769 (2023).

The flight crowd instead *(obediently) follows the same (NE liberal press) herd-management and will bend over more or less on command.  Immigrant invasion, side of drug trafficking, and the ongoing “least-cost labor centers” robbing America of its ability to stand on its own two feet.

The third way is not to become a partisan; choosing instead to notice (and calculate likely impacts) from dramatic policy change.  Still armed (there is that Second Amendment problem lefties have been after for years), but willing to take a less frenetic approach to life.  (In my case, it helps keep the blood pressure in-bounds.)

Today’s Pendulum and Change Indicators

In our judgment, the Pendulum’s swing to “extreme liberalism/communist goals” as slowed. With the elevation of Trump to a second term, we see it’s beginning to swing back toward the reasonable middle, too.  A few stories in today’s news dribble will illustrate:

To us, this all smacks of returning to rational.  But the quick-change artists still remain “on plan.”

There are, of course, stories closer to the middle that really require some serious contemplation.  Take Harvard’s New Speech Rules Continue Their Pattern of Repression.  On this gradient, the inference is that criticizing Israel is a kind of de facto “anti-Semitism.”  In a way, it’s like picking over the Gaza mess which is just starting (in the news sense) to “scab-over.” But there’s also the matter of Free Speech – which includes the right to question assumptions.  Zionism doesn’t want that scrutiny.  But even with clear definitions, such stories remain complicated: Judaism is a religion, whereas Zionism is akin to a real estate  movement.

Expansion and Real Estate

Meanwhile, at the Global High Stakes Poker table, the bidding continues.

We think we already can make this one out: China is running a “two-faces” operation against resurgent America:  Smile to our faces, knife in the back (or Canal or South America) if they can.

Markets – Mid Morning Turn?

Maybe.  The reason is today the Labor Dept. rolls the latest JOLTS report.  Job Openings, Lay-offs, Terminations, and Separations.  The market is in a position where  a Big Surprise could tank the market or lead to an upside fireworks display.

Tomorrow, be ready for the ADP Employment report, Challenger job cuts Thursday, and the Federal numbers Friday.  We would not be surprised by a revision to past numbers, so we will snapshot the BLS database numbers in advance.

After dropping below $93,000, Bitcoin is in a minor rally to the $100,000 resistance level.

Hell of a Chart

One of the best on recent inflation – from the NTY Fed site.  Real good work here – tip of the hat.

We think if J. Powell would use a graphic (or two, like this one) for his post-Fed decision discussions, it would add much to Fed creds.  Not everyone is out cruising the NY Fed Research groups to find multivariate middle charts, you know.  In an age of multimedia, why do the talking heads not do more graphics?  They convey a lot more…and faster….

At the Ranch: The 1929 Replay Rolls Along

Much is being made today in the popular press about how Trump orders creation of US sovereign wealth fund, says it could buy TikTok.

We’ve been scratching our heads about this one.  Obviously, America is likely on the brink of a Second Depression, with the US Dollar now worth about 3 percent of what it was worth when the bankster cabal took things over in 1913.  Since then, the Congress has abdicated its financial money creation role, and the inflation picture  ahead is a dart toss.

But we’re starting to wonder if the (proposed) TikTok deal (and likely further ventures into Social media) won’t turn out to be – in retrospect – very much like the massive public works projects from the WPA and CCC in the Great Depression.

One can argue that TikTok can’t be thought of in the same manner as, oh, Grand Coulee Dam, for example. Grand Coulee didn’t come along until 1941 but the TVA was founded in May of 1933 – long before the power needs to make nukes had been quantified.

Thing is, what level of correspondence is implied from talking TikTok as an acquisition and, oh, the founding of the TVA for example?

Both could arguably be classed as “utilities” – because in many places, local and county governments have declared – in effect – that Internet access is a utility government should provide.

While I was working on the parallels to Smoot-Hawley (tariff) Act (enacted within seven months of the 1929 Crash) and Trump’s tariff raising walls around America, this “TikTok acquisition” could be a real temporal marker.

We know from messing about with time, cycles, and people more serious about it than me, that Future shows up in rhymes.

Interestingly, government did “show the way” with their two big data centers in Provo.  One is the NSA’s site, known as the Bumblehive, more formally the UDS – Utah Data Center.. Another is the  Wasatch Front Research Data Center (WFRDC). This second one is really interesting because it “eats” a lot of the “restricted information” that government has (projections of things ahead and behind that would almost certainly light your hair on fire because some data ain’t going to be pretty).

Leads us to wondering, to what extend is a big “utility acquisition” (and like the Smoot-Hawley Act) all independent coincidences?

Or does it ALL rhyme?

Something to think about?  We are getting real close to another cyclical time marker – a year or two out perhaps?  Lindbergh Kidnapping — FBI  March 1, 1932.  Secure your children.

Write when you get rich,

George@Ure.net

77 thoughts on “Border Blender, Inflation, Gender”

  1. We already have a sovereign wealth fund and have so for a very, very long time. It’s called Ft Knox, New York Fed and West Point and while DOGE is providing vast entertainment exposing the fraud in Gov’t spending etc – It would seem to me it would be a great time to cheer the populace with an audit of our gold reserves especially with Gold at all-time highs so everyone can glow in the wealth of our nation ……

    • Clawsy, I believe we stand a better chance of world peace than any chance of our gold deposits being audited! That’s if they are even there to be audited!

      • World peace…
        I was thinking there was a better chance at the space station falling from the sky hitting the train and derailing it to land in front of a ceiling nap being pursued by the police. saving a small child and their pet from harm while sending them in a direction discovering the lost Dutch mans mine and winning the lottery twice.. than of either of those two..lol lol lol

      • A-men!

        For how many decades has Ron Paul been trying to have Fort Knox audited? He tried before he ever got to Congress. He has continued to harp on it since he retired.

        ‘Never seen so many cases of “selective hearing loss” in one place in my entire life…

        • Exactly….Since I was a young man…
          won’t happen.. my thought is.. the refusal alone is enough to spark concern over what they would find. the moment the truth is known the federal reserve and the usa superiority would be toast..
          Here’s a question..what about the ….football….
          when we marched in to free Libya from that cruel Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi …. They confiscated what 147 tons of gold and a few warehouses filled with stacks of us currency that was nicknamed the football..
          before we went in to save the people there.. Germany was requesting the return of the gold we were storing for them for safe keeping..lol lol we were stalling return of the what 331 tons of gold.. so what happened to that gold that we confiscated from the Libyan government???? then we found another what 152 tons of gold in Iraq about the same time ( before )
          sounds fishy to me.. then again its all in the business model..the citizens of those two countries are now living in poverty..

        • They really need to switch the Item we use to value the currency.. hey peanuts.. we could have nut bucks…. lol lol put the old peanut man on the front and a theme song..this nuts for you sounds like a catchy song title..lol lol lol
          then again crimes would change ..the criminals would eat the evidence lol lol lol

        • Brings up another question…
          could this be an indicator that with the usa being the warring country for 230 plus years and our legislators flaunting our gratitude.. ( I once read that the usa dropped a half million a month off at one countries leaders home every month) that there could possibly be some mismanagement of our resources and men involved in the operations of our government..
          brings back all those conspiracy theories about the twin towers and the pentagon that the section holding the documentation on the vanished cash was hit by the plane..

        • After John Durham shows up in person and delivers on his investigation of things 4 Qtards, maybe then an audit will take place. But firstly we need to shut down AID.

          – which will NEVER happen either.

          Just rebranded under State as American 1st – YEAH !

          >Lets go orange jesus!

        • @LOOB

          “when we marched in to free Libya

          They confiscated what 147 tons of gold and a few warehouses filled with stacks of us currency that was nicknamed the football..”

          Dunno about your numbers — I never heard actual numbers. I just thought it interesting that we (meaning Forbes and Fortune magazines) were jacking their sales by debating whether Buffett or Gates was the richest person in the world, and which would hit a net worth of $100bln first. Meanwhile, it was quietly mentioned (then conveniently forgotten by the media) that Gaddafi’s personal fortune included over $200bln in PMs and liquid assets.

          Do you realize that Mr. Trump has not only begun, but accomplished more stuff in his first two weeks than Mr. Biden (or whomever had their hand up his backside) accomplished in four years?

          I would NEVER use the word “never” WRT this Administration. If’fn Trump gets a hair up his ass about something — anything, at all, I am fully convinced he will do it. Who’s going to stop him, and how? Is someone going to shoot him? I believe he has the T-Shirt on that one, already…

    • The gold should be stated in ounces, not dollars.
      Title to all government precious metals should be clearly stated along with it’s location. If any changes have taken place, when and on whose authority.
      BTW, where in the Constitution is the authorization for a Central Bank?
      We all should be acquainted with President Jefferson s thoughts and condemnation of same! “Den of vipers and thieves….” etc.

        • I’m sure there is. I’m sure there’s a lot of gold at Fort Knox. I would be willing to bet the bars on the outside of the stacks are 324oz each of assayed .999 aurum.

          I would not be willing to bet that once an auditor got more than two bars deep, any bar present would be more than 6-7mm of gold surrounding a tungsten slug.

          If it is all there, and all legit, there would be no reason to not audit it, and certainly no reason to thwart NINE ATTEMPTS to mandate and execute a Congressional audit.

    • Classy did you get the memo? Gold the ancient relic is being traded out for Bitcoin. But you don’t get the bars, you get a gold bond(not the foot powder).

      I love this lady!

      https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2024/12/18/strategic-bitcoin-reserve-by-2025-says-senator-lummis/

      LMAO don’t get me wrong I’ll be restocking the PM vault as soon as it reaches its lows against BTC, could take a few decades lol.

      https://cryptobriefing.com/bitcoin-reserve-strategy-us-treasury/

      If Lummis says that we will own 5% of Butcoins float for 2 decades to pay off the debt. And we assume that the debt is a static 36tril . Welp, that would connote a value of ~ $1.74^12 FRNs(paper) or RLUSD(digital stablecoin) per Bitcoin. By 2045. That’s just the US demand.

      All countries keying to US currency will need and SBR now too. Clif Highs Bitcoin impossible is coming in hard and fast . I am grateful for this!

      Got blockchain.

  2. “fentanyl”

    People like to numb-up. A few starfish get decent jobs which leads to normal while the bulk just exist and give-up.

    I was talking to an accountant lady yesterday. She has five people in her household – two kids, husband and a mother. She made a comment about her food bill. She likes to feed her family fresh. Tariffs are going to jack up fresh foods for all of us.

    She confided she’s pulling money but getting nowhere fast. Her comment was she’s on the financial edge of getting more by doing less riding .gov aid, why bother? Fentanyl is around that bend.

    Jobs are never coming back. Look to Intel and our return on the free they got.

    “Intel’s manufacturing facilities are highly automated, using artificial intelligence (AI) and automated material handling systems (AMHS).”

    • Its like that for everyone ..draconian cuts are across the board for everybody..
      I would like to believe that I’m pretty open about what’s going on in our life..its not implied as anything other than to show that the survival of the lower waged and retired have issues that they each have to work and deal with.
      I had a really good friend great guy..but he would feel envious of others assuming they were so much better off than he was.. I kept telling him..no they are not..what you see is the public face they put on..each and everyone is dealing with the same issues. there was a time I was like that..one guy down the street from us was a guy..dam he had it made.. I THOUGHT….then he applied for a job I had..I snuck a peek at his application during lunch time and the boss was gone..dam if I wasn’t making fifty cents more an hour than he was.. what I was seeing was his public mask. then his daughter got pregnant.. he took her in to the hospital..she had the baby and there was complications that shot up to a quarter million on the new grandson.. the insurance company refused to pay it.the hospital took everything he had..his home everything..he was dealing with the same deal I was.
      the problems I see that trump and musk have to deal with will take huge changes.. the damages that have been done for decades need reforms that no one.. you didn’t see anyone in congress sticking around to deal with the mount Everest of issues..they went along their way..
      the accountant is dealing with everything I and millions of others here are dealing with..
      what trumps trying to do is reset the economy and strengthen the dollar..I personally don’t think he’s in time..I believe we are over the tipping point and the dollar and all fiat currencies are toast will have to be default on our loan interests.. if that happens there will be a catastrophic economic situation around the world.
      the Bric’s seen it..they have fought to keep their cost of living down. it shows up as a view that they are not being prosperous.
      our legislators have been tossing the citizens under the wheels of their neglegence.. she like I did..will have to make the tough decisions like I did..will it stall the velocity of cash..absolutely.. stores will have to compensate to maintain..tricky being in the economic death spiral.. been there done that.. trumps got huge issues..get rid of the Graff and still keep the noodle moving. presidents in the past gave out stimulus checks to keep the noodle moving.. that’s not a fix just a temporary bandaid..
      Trump has to fix it or lose everything..instead of a truckload of bread he wants to keep the gold faucets and airplanes..
      the again I am no one with any edgumification.. my income level has always been someone else’s lunch money ..so what would I know..just an old schmuck in the wastelands that’s dealt with more than his share..

      • BTDT Loob .
        – we bee broke as a Nation..in hock up to our collective eyeballs –

        What happened to put USA under Admiralty Law, ya know the yellow fringed flag…

        when You “KNOW” the “dog” you worship is a flesh eating adrenochrome junkie (subconciously repressed memory) We bee “slaves” of course the Human Mind goes for some modicum of protection – Drugs that make you comfortably numb..

        Why Mr floyd even wrote a song about- “relax, relax I need some information first…There is no pain you are receiving..Ure lips move but I cant hear what say…2 ballons. Comfortably Numb/PF – https://youtu.be/sR4t_j_pCnY?si=XFP6iuxVASBmf3uQ

    • “Tariffs are going to jack up fresh foods for all of us.”

      Why?

      I had this debate with Mark years ago, on Urban Survival. It was not much of a debate. He whined because “without the transient Mexican laborers harvesting veggies, a head of lettuce would cost $12.50.”

      I demonstrated that it already did.

      What the farmer doesn’t pay his seasonal laborer in slave wages, we make up for by subsidizing the farmer’s bunkhouse, transportation, & chow, and paying all of that $20,000-$50,000 ER bill when he slices his leg with a machete. That organic $3 head of lettuce you buy at the local Farmer’s Market is a rare bargain, even when an out of work accountant has to pick it…

      • “Tariffs are going to jack up fresh foods for all of us.”

        “”Why?”” Because the tariffs partly impact food. Do you have a link to the actual law Trump signed? I can’t find anything, yet.

        “About one-third of US imports come from the three countries Trump targeted Saturday. Their products are among some of the most commonplace and critical items used by Americans, including fruits and vegetables, meat, gas, automobiles, electronics, toys, clothing, lumber, and beer and spirits. ”

        “Mexico and Canada supply a significant share of several key food categories. For example, Mexico is the largest supplier of fruit and vegetables to the US, while Canada leads in exports of grain, livestock and meats, poultry and more. ”

        https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/01/economy/trump-tariffs-mexico-canada-china-increased-costs/index.html

        Fresh foods. It’s right there.

        • So, more fresh fruit is produced in California than Mexico.

          Why don’t we simply use what we grow?

          And yeah, I get you can’t buy an Indiana muskmelon or Georgia peach in January. We get those from Peru or Argentina, not Mexico. Part of what made the Tennessee watermelon or Washington apple so good was the anticipation — waiting until something came in season.

          BTW, unless I’m in a restaurant, I ONLY eat Indiana muskmelon, tomatoes, or (Indiana or) California apricots; I ONLY eat Maine or Michigan blueberries and Michigan onions, beets, cherries, or apples; I ONLY drink Yuengling (or Bell’s or Founder’s) beer, or whiskey from Kentucky (or maybe Seagram’s “Canadian whisky,” which comes from Lawrenceburg, Indiana, AKA Cincinnati…) — unless I make or grow it, myself.

          Except for exotics like limes and figs (and things like wild blueberries, of which Canada’s are without peer), we grow the best (or nearly so.) I’d rather wait for the good stuff than eat crap year ’round…

          However, it’s all moot, because while future tariffs will be designed to balance the many thousands of tariffs Canada has on U.S. products, all Trump is trying to do right now is get rid of da drugs.

          It’s best not to get sucked in to the discussion on a “tariff war” that every talking head is talking about, because they have to talk about something, and they can make many, many discussions about nothing, discussing a tariff that’s put in place to modify someone’s behavior, nor punish them — especially is they equate it to previous tariffs. It lets people drag out Smith-Hawley and a whole bunch of other irrelevant clutter, so they can sell commercial time instead of reassuring their listeners/viewers on the literal insignificance of Trump’s tariffs — unless they be ignored.

  3. Oh George
    Thanks once again for the compression of Facist doctrines as revealed truth. It saves me so much wondering as to what is happening on the fervent authoritarian wing of our country, now in power.
    Really, you are venerating Joe McCarthy as well as Hitler these days? You love Musk shutting down AID, probably because some of his family in South Africa was being threatened by those peering into their colonial land holdings?
    Meanwhile, with your track record, we will probably still be watching for a replay of 29′ in 2029. It is a manipulated market providing comfort for those who equate its performance with out collective well being.
    Oh, and what will be happening to all our food bills when the round up of the Mexican laborers takes full force? Where I live, already, a pound of broccoli or oranges costs more than a pound of local chicken. When are your fellow Americans going to show up to claim those farm jobs stolen by the Mexicans?
    With the destruction of FEMA, I will be ever so curious who is going to show up to help dig out from the growing avalance of climate emergencies like in LA or NC. Right, you think it is just “weather”. Let’s check back on that in Mid July and see how your garden is doing.

    • Thought the policy around hear was “We will post no Whine before its time” ?

      What gives with this butt hurt karen,TDS ?

      Border is OPEN for the lazy, good4nothings” to EXIT “stage left or right”

      Seems like another whiney smelly(catpiss) Addict bitching about supply problems..

      Soup nazi can kiss my arse..

      “No Adrenochrome(or Baby parts) 4 You! – BCN

      • (
        “ Americans going to show up to claim those farm jobs stolen by the Mexicans?”)

        Well..I did.. I have worked so many day labor and part time I cannot even tell you how many through the years. and when there weren’t any day labor I sold plasma..
        walked ditches for cans and empty pop bottles..
        seen a little girl the other morning as I headed to an appointment her school bag coat..going into the mission for breakfast..its not just adults that face this..

      • So go to Texas and work in Construction:
        ‘An estimated 1.6 million immigrants work in the construction industry nationwide, comprising 20% of the industry’s total workforce. In certain states and locations, this percentage can be much larger. For example, 63 percent of New York City’s construction workforce are immigrants, and it is estimated that 40 percent of those workers are undocumented. This figure is similar to the entire state of Texas’ construction workforce where half of the workers (an estimated 400,000) are undocumented.’

    • Seriously? Another one…

      “You love Musk shutting down AID”

      I love Musk shutting down USAID, because the organization has murdered over two million people.

      Less than 2% of illegal border crossers have EVER engaged in field labor in CONUS. They collect welfare checks from people like you, in lieu of work. The itinerant farm workers who move through CONUS and southern Canada are rarely illegal, and only a small number, percentagewise, overstay their visas. I have had dinner with a number of them over the years. They’re generally good people and in-general, respect our laws. Sorry about your broccoli. Maybe you should pick it yourself.
      ______

      “With the destruction of FEMA, I will be ever so curious who is going to show up to help dig out from the growing avalance of climate emergencies”

      I AM FEMA, and you obviously don’t live in any area in which a social or climate emergency has occurred. FEMA, like every other governmental agency, manages stuff. It does not fix stuff. My FEMA training is to control the panic and boss people around, not get my hands dirty actually doing stuff. TBF, part of that is because I’m old, but most of it is because I took the courses, went to the seminars, and in some cases passed the quiz. FEMA is a “partnership,” in which we tell locals what to do and they actually do it. This is why, in places like Joplin, after the f-5 hit, the place was pretty much rebuilt before FEMA ever got there. The Missourians didn’t need anyone to “show them” and refused to wait around for weeks or months, to have someone from the government tell them how to do something they’d already done.

      My ancestral farm lies on the west side of Greenland, under 2880 feet of ice and hardpack. 35 generations ago it was a working farm with crops and livestock. This farm existed when the Earth’s temperature was normal. Global temperatures are currently many degrees below normal. I look forward to many years of WEATHER bringing my family farm back to its former glory and lament the fact it will happen neither in my lifetime, nor that of any relative who’s living at this time.

  4. Proper dough.. had someone ask me and showed me what they had..their dough was slightly to dry.. it should feel like play dough..

    1 cup of flour
    1_tsp. salt
    1 tbsp of oil
    1 egg..
    egg pasta two eggs…
    once you knead it beat it work it roll it.. take a small round ball and gently flatten it..if you see at the edges that its splits a little bit.. cracks..that’s an indication that your dough is to dry..and a couple drops of water is needed to fix it..totally depends on your flour.. once it flattens so that its not split or cracked on the edge..then set it covered for twenty minutes to allow for the gluten to form..

  5. The same thing if its sticky..if the dough is sticky then it needs a little bit of flour..

  6. “Sovereign Wealth Fund” – ordered to be created by Prez Trump.
    – You could look at it as a bank for “Trump Projects”.., like the acquisition, whole or part, of TikTok.., so in affect like funding the CCC, only in ‘todays’ electronic world.
    Large social impact – like the CCC.
    Does that make sense? I don’t think I am wording this correctly.
    .
    I think the first deposit into the “Sovereign Wealth Fund” will be the bitcoin the government has “acquired” over the past few years. [ Or did Biden siphon that all off to ‘Green Energy’ projects ? ]

    • Soverign Wealth Fund? Guess I misunderstood. I thought they were created by the oil-rich countries to invest the revenues they didn’t immediately need to be used when their oil runs out. WTF, we are in hock beyond our eyeballs and we are going to do a SWF? Looks to me like yet another scam. Meanwhile millions,, mainly in Africa, are likely to get sick and/or die because of closed HIV clinics. And, of course, the virus gets a renewed chance to mutate and possibly end up here as a drug-resistant strain.

    • Something that occurred to me a few hours ago: You could also look at it as the first step in eliminating the FED and forcing Congress to resume its Constitutional duty as the source and keeper of the “coin of the realm…”

  7. It will be a rescue fund for the Billionaires that backed and advise him – similar to USAID that benefitted politicians – Same game different beneficiaries…..

  8. Deepfake video’s are becoming astonishingly ‘real’.

    According to Deloitte, AI-generated content, Deepfake videos contributed to more than $12 billion in fraud losses in 2023, and could reach $40 billion in the U.S. alone, by 2026.

    , by ByteDance [ owner of TikTok ] – creates video of a real person that even their own people have a hard time distinguishing from ‘real’ video.
    – Note: ByteDance has decided not to release OminHuman-1 .., for now., as they are working on a program that can independently examine and prove a video is real, or a deepfake.

    In Moldova, deepfake videos depicted the country’s president, Maia Sandu, resigning. And it went viral and was believed for many hours, world wide -until she went on local TV to denounce the videos.

    It is only a matter of time & timing before a ‘solid’ deepfake video emerges, goes viral, world wide, even for just a few hours, that causes a political, or military disaster.

    I watched a 22 second Deepfake video of Einstein explaining ’emotions’. It was entirely fake – the small speech never took place. It was created by OmniHuman-1 using a five second sentence that Einstein made on film. It was very impressive. ‘Very’.

  9. re: red pill
    feat: Agent Smith

    Folks,
    There is a loop in the Matrix program. The LA-based senior broadcast journalist of the BBC published a report yesterday on the BBC website that President Biden has signed with a powerhouse talent agency. It’s the same one representing Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama.

    Some sentences of the BBC report could read a bit AI-ish. Separately on Muckrack, a Yahoo pickup of the report warns: ” Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article”.

    The accompanying Reuters picture of President Biden features a red light in the background. The image shows up 20 times around the period of January 20, 2025 as the Biden Administration was leaving office.

    Interestingly there is one earlier appearance of the image on March 19, 2015 in “The Baltimore Sun”. The 2015 image shows the exact same looking side-profile of Mr. Biden against a slightly darkened background to 2025 and cropped to exclude the red light. Last year “The Baltimore Sun” was purchased by an entity led by a Mr. Smith. He was a fervent supporter of the first Trump Administration, and his “Wikipedia” entry contains one red-light.

    The program is running? Here is a link to the BBC report:

    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgl55wng87o

  10. I’m tired of all this supposed… “reality” stuff.

    I’m going back in time… I want to watch Gumby…
    … and after that Jonny Quest.

    Thanks for your comprehension.

  11. In a series of transactions across late January and early February, Berkshire Hathaway bought up just over 2.3 million shares, bringing Berkshire’s total position in SiriusXM to more than 119.78 million shares. At the stock’s Tuesday price, Berkshire’s stake in Sirius is worth about $2.91 billion. Roughly 35% of the available shares.
    Berkshire Hathaway has been trimming some of their long time holdings., such as Apple and Bank of American. Growing their cash reserves to record highs..,$325.2 billion cash and $288 billion—invested in U.S. Treasury’s. While also buying share in Sirius and Domino’s Pizza.
    Domino’s Pizza ? Stock price is up 10.2% YTD and is a recommended Buy, or Strong Buy, from 34 analysts. However, the stock price is down nearly $90 from their all time high from last June. [ Sell-off was brought on by a drop in quarterly profits from inflation. ]
    SiriusXM [ which own Pandora ] down 52% YTD., but has climbed 4% when it was announced the Berkshire acquired more stock. $51.80 All time high – today’s price $ 24.39 Recommended? a ‘Hold’ by 14 analysts.
    Berkshire Hathaway is the third largest holder of U.S. Treasury’s., behind China and Japan.

  12. thanks for the inflation chart. nice to see validation for when inflation (too many dollars chasing too few goods) started. it’s pretty obvious that QE, trump covid checks and tax cuts exacerbated inflation. disagree? what did biden do in 2020 to cause inflation to spike??

    but keep believing the lies told to you by the spinmasters.

    and i agree with the other commenter about GU lionizing mccarthy. but y’all are salivating over your black lists, loyalty oaths and going after “the other”.

    • “salivating” ??

      No – it is a CELEBRATION the of LIGHT overcoming the DARKNESS that is Ure commie progtards, et al.

      Back under Ure collective rocks you will be once this is all worked out.

      In meantime enjoy the show as we start shining Light on all dirty millions in “kickbacks”..Chucky/Amy/”Pencilneck” those screaming the loudest regards AID are in fact largest recipients of the ill gotten $$$.

      Checkout the Torre over on insta gram – details,names, numbers..OH MY! She bee hard trolling the ds trolls

      Down,down…where youse all belong.

  13. George,

    As a long time follower and PN subscriber I have always admired your work ethic and journalistic integrity i.e, use of data and the facts vs political rhetoric and confirmation bias.

    As such, how would you characterize Donald Trump’s assessment of the Canadian contribution to fentanyl entering the US?

    The data collected by US Border Customs and Border Protection for 2024 was:

    Fentanyl seized: Total – 21,900 lbs; Northern border – 43 lbs (0.20%).
    Source: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/drug-seizure-statistics

    Trump seems to be struggling (yet again) with the facts, confirmation bias and the truth.

    That is not to say Canada as well as other countries are not struggling with a fentanyl problem.

    Imposing tariffs where there is no material trade deficit between the countries may create chaos and distraction, but seems unlikely to effectively address the problem.

    • The AI on this is clear: The scale of illegal drug trafficking into the United States varies significantly between the Mexican and Canadian borders, with the Mexican border being the primary conduit for most illicit substances. Here’s a breakdown by drug type:

      Fentanyl:

      Mexican Border: The majority of fentanyl entering the U.S. is smuggled through the Mexican border. Mexican cartels, notably the Sinaloa Cartel, manufacture fentanyl using precursor chemicals, often sourced from China, and smuggle it into the U.S. through official land crossings, primarily in California and Arizona.
      APNEWS.COM
      Canadian Border: While Canada has been identified as a production hub for fentanyl, the quantity smuggled into the U.S. from Canada is smaller compared to Mexico.
      WSJ.COM
      Cocaine:

      Mexican Border: Mexico serves as a significant transshipment point for cocaine produced in South America. The drug is trafficked through Mexico and into the U.S. via the southwest border.
      JUSTICE.GOV
      Canadian Border: There is limited evidence to suggest substantial cocaine trafficking into the U.S. through the Canadian border.
      Heroin:

      Mexican Border: A considerable portion of heroin in the U.S. is trafficked through the Mexican border. Mexican cartels cultivate opium poppies and process them into heroin, which is then smuggled into the U.S.
      JUSTICE.GOV
      Canadian Border: Heroin smuggling through the Canadian border is minimal in comparison.
      Methamphetamine:

      Mexican Border: Methamphetamine production in Mexico has increased, leading to higher quantities being smuggled into the U.S. through the southwest border.
      JUSTICE.GOV
      Canadian Border: There is little evidence of significant methamphetamine trafficking into the U.S. from Canada.
      Marijuana:

      Mexican Border: Historically, large quantities of marijuana have been smuggled through the Mexican border. However, with changing U.S. state laws and increased domestic production, this trend has seen some decline.
      Canadian Border: While Canada has legalized marijuana, there is limited information on illegal marijuana trafficking into the U.S. from Canada.
      In summary, the Mexican border remains the predominant route for most illegal drugs entering the United States, with the Canadian border playing a comparatively minor role.
      But now to the second point: Trump is Trump.
      We have no way of knowing what he’s up to – because his thinking is never completed shared – everything is a negotiation.
      I think the Canadian tariffs are about something else – what hasn’t been revealed yet. Just my sense of it.

  14. http://www.economicfractalist.com/blog/

    After 30 years of establishing international supply chains and a linked global macroeconomy, the decoupling effect of US tariffs and the counter tariffs will result in a much greater global effect than the early 1930’s.

    With the ongoing Chinese housing bubble still undergoing collapse and a probable further decline in Chinese domestic consumption, a very hard landing global recession is coming.

  15. “sovereign wealth fund ”

    ‘A sovereign wealth fund is an investment fund owned and operated by a government. ‘

    I’m so old that I recall that used to be called TARP. IF you’re ahead of me you may remember it being called Communism. “.gov owns”, right?

    I did C&P but decide –

    An economic system in which the government owns the means of production is called ______.

    Socialism
    Capitalism
    Democracy
    Liberalisation

    • it’s all in the eye of the beholder. when .gov gives me a benefit, why it’s capitalism of course! when .gov gives my neighbor or colleague a benefit, it’s socialism. And when .gov gives “the other” the benefit it’s no good red communism.

  16. Trump has couple of issues:
    1) deficiet… 1T interest a year…
    2) oil prices..unchanged
    3) Fed treasury …interest rates
    4) tariffs versus trade versus funds flows…market as hot money
    5) wars
    6) food think british common wealth
    7) small changes versus 1.5 T reduction fed outlays to balance budget by 29 Feb
    8) bloated market values
    9) stagnant tech industry
    10) no new industry
    11) likelihood of new covid
    12) crypto bots not stable enough (chaos theory) to create wealth to distribute like Japan Inc post 1990 shakedown and their fed buying stocks for two decades.
    13) oil at 50% depletion worldwide… half gone, rest expensive, 100M barrels a day production… inflation covers expense extraction at 5:1 return to cost to produce.
    14) Study Rome pollution costs world wide.. primarily china
    15) Europe CO2 conflicts for control
    16) Republic USA versus Empire USA
    17) Social security outlays for baby boomers till 2032
    18) Increase in poor post Covid
    19) natural disasters recovery
    20) Banking leverage overseas

    • Suggest you subscribe to John Mauldin’s Rational Optimist. It’s free. Or start on an antidepressant. Or go off-grid in southern latitudes. On the other hand, the list is not exhaustive and neglects Putin, genocides, and nukes deployed by various countries. Thanks for brightening my morning!

  17. Not communism.

    A wealth fund would be a storehouse. Fort Knox was a wealth fund, (and still is, assuming the tungsten rumors are unfounded.)

    An economic system in which the government owns the means of production is called communism.

    A social system in which the government controls the means of production is called socialism.

    Fascism and its bastard step-brother Nazism are socialism. They are not communism.

    A wealth fund is not a means of production. It is a glorified bank.

  18. So, step right up. The line forms on the right for choice building sites on the MAGA Strip!

    LMAO!!!

    One thing nobody seems to realize is DJT is ALWAYS working the deal. He’s angling for a full economic partnership and free trade between Egypt, Israel, and the Saudis (and probably others.) They can’t grok that what he says is generally far from what he’s working toward. They take him literally and lose their damn’ minds.

    Life is too short. Folks who lack a sense of humor take stuff way too seriously. When I feared Mr. Biden would blow up the world, I prepped, but I didn’t wring hands. I have no fear Mr. Trump will blow up the world but accept the possibility someone else may do so, just to keep him from fixing stuff that JFK would likely have fixed, if he’d lived out his two terms as Prez, or Reagan, if he hadn’t had GHW standing behind him in the shadows.

    But now I’m prepped, and this is fun theatre to just watch…

    • I liked Reagan… I believe he thought the powers of industry was similar to the powers of industry of his youth..

      • Understand, as I’ve told George in several different ways over the years: It is not good to be da Prez, when your VP has a higher security clearance than you.

        GHW was our top spook before he became VP, and the CIA under (and after) Bush did some really “hinky shit.” I absolutely believe Reagan knew nothing about Iran Contra until the story broke. I still remember his prime-time speech regarding it. I know he was an actor, but I don’t believe he could fake the changing colors of the fury under his makeup.

        That was the reason I made the “behind him” comment. Bush was behind Reagan with a figurative shiv, for much of his Presidency.

  19. My credit card had 2 airline tickets purchased for over a $1000 each that I didn’t buy ,so my card has been deactivated and I’m waiting 2 weeks for a new one with new numbers. The same thing happened about a year ago. Mostly I use cash except for drugstore items and Amazon but both times I had just used a credit card at Home Depot. Coincidence maybe, but next time I’m using cash there.

  20. As a side note, was wandering through a Rural King yesterday and casually contemplating a few boxes of their $9.99 9mm Remingtons, when this stack of military bullet boxes with a $599 pricetag caught my eye. Linked belts of 12.7×99mm NATO (.50cal BMG) ammo — TRACERS, nonetheless! Stacks and stacks of those ammo boxes — made me want to investigate a Class III on the spot. I had no idea Joe Blow could buy that kind of ammo and I have no idea what Clem Kadiddlehopper the farmer would do with it (Rural King is a farm store like TSC, only better, cheaper, and unfortunately regional.) I swear, if’fn I were rich I’d buy a Deuce-and-a-Half and mount an M-2 on it, just as yard art.

    BTW, Pam Bondi is now our AG and the CIA just offered employee buyouts to its entire workforce. I now kinda wonder what’s in those USAID files…?

    • That was a really good find.. and here I was congratulating my luck for finding that potato peeler I thought I had thrown away lol lol lol

    • Maybe your local militias are coming out of hibernation ? I can do without the local meth-head militia crawling out from under their rock.
      The last Knob Hill shoot in Kentucky was in 2021. Not sure if there are any other Class III ranges in that area.

      • Dunno. I’ve never looked. They seem to be all over Michigan. I know of a couple each in MO, IL, TN, and PA, and one each in IN, OH, and WV, but it’s not something I look for.

  21. re: “Border Blender”
    feat: “Never Cry Wolf”, F. Mowat

    Folks,
    It looks like Mrs. Clinton took time out of her busy day to throw tweets at the US executive branch. She is promoting an in/res/surrection of the 2016 anti-Trump Indivisible dot org and its related site Mobilize dot us.

    Interestingly both sites are registered with tucows which is headquartered in Old Toronto on Mowat Avenue. To make it three’s the charm, President Trump’s Truth Social is also registered with Tucows. Thank goodness there’s at least a 30 day reprieve on tariffs someone might otherwise be paying, hahaha!

    I think this makes one thing crystal clear: it’s not difficult to get along with Canadians. Obviously the problem is Americans can’t get along with Americans.

    By the way, I picked up the second last in-stock bag of BC apples from my local grocer today. The USA origin varieties had been marked down 25% less expensive in comparison, but didn’t appear to be drawing a crowd.

    • (“The USA origin varieties had been marked down 25% less expensive in comparison, but didn’t appear to be drawing a crowd.”)

      they probably were suffering from the same RARE but spreading disease I seem to have recently contracted……… Lackocashitis

  22. Secure your children indeed. Swedish school shooting. Might have been as reported an adult education center but I believe that rhymes.

    • 10 dead — 11 counting the shooter.

      Andersson had high-functioning autism and Asperger’s — same as Greta Thunberg. Somebody’d better lock her up before she goes copycat.

  23. Eleanor.
    I have not had credit card since 2009. Cash only. Just a reminder to obtain receipt or no refund/trail of sale.

  24. I’m surprised that the crew here doesn’t realize that the tariffs are a bluff to get these countries to do what the DON wants.
    They only thing NAZI about King Don is his affective us of the art of Blitzkrieg. He is hitting the deep state and their decades of corruption hard and fast.
    what we should be concerned about is how long will they let him go until they have no choice but to take him out, these people he is messing with are not nice folks.

    What I would like to know is what’s behind the significance of the helo pilots parents connection to cv19 research at Duke University with Dr Mousei. I can’t get this coincidence out of my head. WTH.

    • Some of us know.

      The tariffs aren’t really a bluff, because Trump WILL impose them if someone forces his hand, but they are certainly a big f*ing, force-multiplying lever.

      DJT is not only using a Blitz, he has stacked several gimmicks and is using them both concentrically, and in parallel: He’s playing “good cop, bad cop” with Musk and both are moving with lightning speed to attack different points of corruption and inequity, and a major “fix” hits the news cycle every day or thereabouts.

      Today was Rubio, firing 90% of USAID, Bondi pushing to release the Epstein papers, unredacted, and Trump announcing his sweeping tax cut for middle-class America (and as a big F*U to Mark Cuban, eliminating the huge tax break billionaire sports team owners got until this afternoon.) Yesterday was Trump signing the “no outies in innie sports or locker rooms” bill. Previous editions of the Trump Opera were the MAGA Strip, the USAID lockout, and so on.

      Nobody is even noticing the dozens or hundreds of Administration actions that aren’t getting air. One of Trump’s greatest gimmicks is the one he used to win in 2016: He does something every day to both stay in, and control the news cycle. The news nerds, whether they be content suppliers (like AP), editors or news directors, or pretty faces with microphones, all fall into line and cover exactly what Trump wants them to cover, and IMO more often than not, cover it exactly the way he has predetermined that they should.

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