From James Harkin (Webmaster & Editor of LindseyWilliams.net). Here is a summary of articles of interest from around the world for this week. Please LIKE the Lindsey Williams Online Facebook Page to see stories posted daily regarding the current state of the economy around the world.

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Latest News From April 21, 2017 to April 27, 2017:

• • Democrats: Trump Must Surrender On Funding For A Border Wall To Avoid A Government Shutdown On His 100th Day In Office
    Is Donald Trump going to unconditionally surrender to the Democrats and completely give up his dream of building a border wall in order to avoid a government shutdown on his 100th day in office?  As I have warned before, the Democrats are perfectly willing to force a government shutdown if the Trump administration and the Republicans in Congress do not let them win all of the key battles in this funding bill fight.  It is being reported that the Trump administration wants 3 billion dollars for extra border security and for construction of a border wall, and the Democrats are insisting that they will keep any bill that includes money for a border wall from ever getting through Congress.  And of course the Democrats are also taking a very hard line on funding for Planned Parenthood, federal support for key Obamacare provisions, and resistance to increased defense spending.  If the Trump administration and enough establishment Republicans in Congress cave in to the outrageous demands of the Democrats, a government shutdown will be avoided.  If not, a government shutdown will begin on April 29th (Trump’s 100th day in office), and it could easily turn out to be the longest government shutdown in the history of the United States.
  • G. Edward Griffin: Exposing The Creature From Jekyll Island
    G. Edward Griffin, the author of the seminal book on the formation of the Federal Reserve, The Creature of Jekyll Island, joins the podcast this week to add his perspective to our ongoing critical examination of the Fed and the impact its actions are having on society. Meeting Ed and getting to spend time with him was a real honor for Chris and me. His breadth of knowledge of the central banking system as well as his engaging manner of storytelling are masterful. Plus, he's simply a wonderfully kind person. Ed's decades of research and critique of the Federal Reserve, sadly, have left him with conclusions that corroborate our own. Despite its carefully-crafted image as an essential public servant, Griffin concludes it is anything but. It is a private cartel that has connived its way to tremendous advantage and power, secretly (and not-so-secretly) plundering the American people of their treasure and freedoms.
  • Silver, Platinum and Palladium as Investments – Research Shows Diversification Benefits
    The review surveys and covers the findings on a wide variety of topics in relation to the White Precious Metals including Market Efficiency, Forecast-ability, Behavioral Findings, Diversification Benefits, Volatility Drivers, Macroeconomic Determinants, and their relationships with other assets. For those asking whether or not they should invest in precious metals or to increase their allocation, it can be of use to read some academic research into the role the white metals can play in hedging risk in their investment and pension portfolios. There are many strongly held opinions regarding gold and silver and precious metals and some mathematical and economic analysis can go a long way in helping us to understand how and why we should consider investing in these less popular precious metals.
  • I’m in Awe of How Fast Brick-and-Mortar Retail is Melting Down
    As so many times, Private Equity firms are in the thick of it. Mall traffic is sagging. Department store sales have been in decline since 2001. Most retailers are loaded up with debt. Many have been losing money. Now they’re running out of options. Store closings numbered in the thousands last year. This year they promise to get much worse. “Zombie malls” have become reality, their vast parking lots rented to car dealers to store their excess vehicle inventory. But ecommerce sales are booming, including online sales by some brick-and-mortar retailers, such as Walmart and Macy’s.
  • Trump To “Bully” Fed Into Printing Money – Negative for Stocks, Positive for Gold
    David McWilliams has written an interesting article in which he puts forward the case that Trump is likely to turn on the “enemy within,” the Federal Reserve and bully them into “printing money.” He points out that this was seen in 1971 when Nixon bullied the Fed into printing and debasing the dollar. McWilliams says this would be bad for stocks markets which would fall in value as was seen in the 1970s. This would be positive for gold as the printing of dollars, rising inflation and stagflation saw gold surge in the 1970s when it rose from $35 per ounce in 1971 to over $850 per ounce in January 1980 (see chart). Along the way there was a significant correction when gold prices fell by nearly 50% – very much akin to gold’s price falls from 2013 to 2015.
  • Ron Paul Rages At Trump: “Assange Is A Hero… Don't Declare War On The Truth”
    “I love Wikileaks,” candidate Donald Trump said on October 10th on the campaign trail. He praised the organization for reporting on the darker side of the Hillary Clinton campaign. It was information likely leaked by a whistleblower from within the Clinton campaign to Wikileaks. Back then he praised Wikileaks for promoting transparency, but candidate Trump looks less like President Trump every day. The candidate praised whistleblowers and Wikileaks often on the campaign trail. In fact, candidate Trump loved Wikileaks so much he mentioned the organization more than 140 times in the final month of the campaign alone! Now, as President, it seems Trump wants Wikileaks founder Julian Assange sent to prison. Last week CNN reported, citing anonymous “intelligence community” sources, that the Trump Administration’s Justice Department was seeking the arrest of Assange and had found a way to charge the Wikileaks founder for publishing classified information without charging other media outlets such as the New York Times and Washington Post for publishing the same information.
  • Trump To Order Corporate Tax Rate Cut To 15%, Loading Up To $2 Trillion In Extra Debt
    Ahead of Trump's much anticipated tax announcement on Wednesday, the WSJ reports that the president has ordered his (mostly ex-Goldman) White House aides to accelerate efforts to create a tax plan “slashing the corporate rate to 15% and prioritizing cuts in tax rates over an attempt to not increase the deficit” which means that without an offsetting source of revenue, Trump is about to unleash the debt spigots, a proposal which will face fierce pushback from conservatives as it is nothing more than a continuation of the status quo under the Obama administration, and may well be DOA. The WSJ adds that during an Oval Office meeting last week, “Trump told staff he wants a massive tax cut to sell to the American people” and that it was “less important to him if the plan loses revenue.”
  • If Mortgage Rates Tick Up Even a Little, What’ll Happen to Canada’s House Price Bubble?
    The question now being asked, years too late: How will this end? “Homeowners and potential first time homebuyers are now even more vulnerable to a payment shock from rising mortgage rates,” the National Bank of Canada warns in its housing affordability report. Eight years of super-low interest rates in the US have succeeded in inflating home prices in many cities way past the peaks of the housing bubble that imploded during the Financial Crisis. A boom-crash-boom movement. But home prices in Canada barely dipped during the Financial Crisis and then continued soaring. So a boom-boom movement.
  • Who Will Live in the Suburbs if Millennials Favor Cities?
    Longtime readers know I follow the work of urbanist Richard Florida, whose recent book was the topic of Are Cities the Incubators of Decentralized Solutions?(March 14, 2017). Florida’s thesis–that urban zones are the primary incubators of technological and economic growth–is well-supported by data that shows that the large urban regions (NYC, L.A., S.F. Bay Area, Seattle, Minneapolis,etc.) generate the majority of GDP and wage gains.
  • If This Is Freedom and Democracy, What Is Tyranny?
    If truth be known, Americans are no more free than were Germans under Gestapo Germany. “Freedom and Democracy America” is the greatest lie in the world. Countries sink into tyranny easily. Those born today don’t know the freedom of the past and are unaware of what has been taken away. Some American blacks might think that finally after a long civil rights struggle they have gained freedom. But the civil rights that they gained have been taken away from all of us by the “war on terror.” Today black Americans are gratuitously shot down in the streets by police in ways that are worse than in Jim Crow days.
  • Fear Campaign Against Americans Continues With Nuclear Drills This Week in New York
    In many ways, you have to feel bad for Americans. They have been on the receiving end of constant fear propaganda for decades. Just look back to the 50’s with the “Duck & Cover” fear campaign as one example. Getting malleable young minds to cower under their desks in their government indoctrination camps, as though that would somehow protect them from a nuclear blast, shows that it has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with fear. The US government even convinced their tax slaves that there was a major war going on all the way from the 1950s to the 1980s even though not a single shot was fired. They called it the “Cold War” and warned petrified citizens that at any moment, if not for the brave US government, they could be blown to oblivion.
  • The IMF Is Not Done Destroying Greece Yet
    Austerity is over, proclaimed the IMF this week. And no doubt attributed that to the ‘successful’ period of ‘five years of belt tightening’ a.k.a. ‘gradual fiscal consolidation’ it has, along with its econo-religious ilk, imposed on many of the world’s people. Only, it’s not true of course. Austerity is not over. You can ask many of those same people about that. It’s certainly not true in Greece.
  • Death by Government – one long-term resident’s personal evidential account of how Ecuador is likely following Venezuela over the cliff … and why Correa’s “robolucion” must be outed as the epic failure and corrupt rort it really is.
    There is always something awful and tragic about watching a perfectly good ship sink. It is of course, significantly more distressing if one is on board at the time! To further imagine the captain and crew themselves … those specifically in charge of your and the ship’s well-being, were entirely responsible for the sinking … is almost inconceivable. Such is life, right now, in Ecuador, however. The purpose of this article is to document and describe the events which have transpired over the near-decade I’ve been here, as succinctly and cogently as possible, such that anyone interested will be able to understand the nature of the tragedy which has befallen Ecuador … and which has resulted in the dire conditions people are currently suffering here. Conditions which, following a very dubious recent election (which resulted in the same incompetent and corrupt party of the last decade retaining power – and which millions believe is fraudulent) … are only likely to get worse. Make no mistake, Ecuador is a bitterly divided country right now. It is in no way over-reaching, to suggest a Venezuela-style demise is now very much on the cards.
  • This Vicious Cycle is What Bedevils the US Economy
    Railroads slash capital spending, but plow more money into buying back own shares, after two years of Freight Recession. CSX reported quarterly earnings late Wednesday. Revenues increased 9.5% from the terrible quarter a year ago, which had been the worst quarter in terms of revenues since Q1 2010! So it’s no big feat to beat last year’s fiasco quarter. At $2.87 billion in Q1 2017, revenues are sill 5.3% lower than they’d been in Q1 2015. This time, moribund coal shipments had increased. Since March, there’s a new guy at the throttle. Hunter Harrison is known as a cost cutter. And that was the theme of the earnings announcement. The railroad said that it plans to cut costs further. It had already slashed its capital spending plans for 2017 by 18% to $2.2 billion. Now more cuts for 2017 are likely. But in the same breath, it announced that it would plow $1 billion into buying back its own shares. Stocks jumps.
  • As long as Americans continue to believe…
    The great foreign policy analyst and author Peter van Buren recounts the lies that have kept the American war machine going. As long as Americans continue to believe, the Empire will happily continue its lies.
  • US has regressed to developing nation status, MIT economist warns
    America is regressing to have the economic and political structure of a developing nation, an MIT economist has warned. Peter Temin says the world's’ largest economy has roads and bridges that look more like those in Thailand and Venezuela than those in parts of Europe. In his new book, “The Vanishing Middle Class”, reviewed by the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Mr Temin says the fracture of US society is leading the middle class to disappear.
  • In New Trade Front, Trump Slaps Tariff on Canadian Lumber
    The Trump administration announced on Monday that it would impose new tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber imports, escalating a longstanding conflict with America’s second-largest trading partner. The Commerce Department determined that Canada had been improperly subsidizing the sale of softwood lumber products to the United States, and after failed negotiations, Washington decided to retaliate with tariffs of 3 percent to 24 percent. The penalties will be collected retroactively on imports dating back 90 days. The decision came days after President Trump complained bitterly about Canada’s dairy trade practices, and the tariffs signaled a harsher turn in his relationship with Canada, even as he seeks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. While he has often assailed China, Mexico and others for their trade practices, he seemed to have forged a strong relationship with Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau.
  • Baby Boomers Borrowed $100BN In Student Loans For Their Children And Now Defaults Are Soaring
    America's snowflake millennials aren't used to being told ‘no', especially by their parents.  Perhaps that's why, as we pointed out a few days ago, more millennials than ever are now living at home with mom and roughly one quarter of them don't even both to enroll in classes and/or find a job (see “A Quarter Of Millennials Living At Home Neither Work Nor Study”).  But, when it comes to racking up massive student loans for their lazy, millennial, snowflakes, we suspect a healthy portion of about 3.5 million Baby Boomers are wishing they had a do-over to do just that. Unfortunately, rather than making some difficult decisions about affordability and/or forcing their kids to pay for their own education, Baby Boomers have incurred nearly $100 billion in student loans so that little Johnny and/or Susie could get that Anthro degree they always wanted. In fact, as the Wall Street Journal notes today, so-called “Parent Plus Loans” have soared over the past 15 years as parents have increasingly found it impossible to cover college tuition costs.
  • Central Banks Are Now Printing $200 Billion Per Month… Without a Crisis
    A tidal wave of inflation is rapidly moving through the financial system. Most investors only pay attention to the Federal Reserve. And they are missing the BIG PICTURE for Central Bank monetary policy. The Fed is tightening policy by hiking rates. But the rest of the world’s Central Banks are printing a combined $200 BILLION in QE every single month. Yes, $200 billion. At a time when the financial system is out of crisis and the Fed’s put its own “print” button on “pause.” This is an all-time record… greater even that the global money printing that occurred at the depth of the 2008 Crisis when Central banks were desperate to prop the system up. Indeed, at $200 billion per month, we’re talking about an annualized pace of over $2 TRILLION in money printing every year.
  • Celente – You Won’t Believe The Incredible Desperation I Saw On My Travels In The U.S.
    As the Dow managed to close out the week near the 20,550 level, today the top trends forecaster in the world spoke with King World News about the incredible desperation he saw on his travels in the United States. Eric King:  “Gerald, I know you want to share about your travels across the country.  What’s really going on out there right now?” Gerald Celente:  “The numbers just came out on existing home sales and they rose to levels not seen since 2007.  2007?  Oh yeah, right before the Panic of 2008.  And when you take a trip across the country as I’ve been doing, you go into one city after another that looks like it’s been depleted of any kind of life and any kind of growth.  This is not only in the ‘Rust Belt,’ but in areas where you would expect things to be quite prosperous…
  • It’s All Illusions And Lies: The Supernova Debt Bubble Is About To Trigger The Death Knell Of The Global Financial System
    As we get ready to kickoff what promises to be a wild week of trading, today the man who has become legendary for his predictions on QE, historic moves in currencies, told King World News it’s all “illusions and lies” and warned the supernova debt bubble is about to trigger the death knell of the global financial system. We Told Our Investors To Buy Gold At $300. Egon von Greyerz:  “To ride a bull market is like climbing a wall of worry. Most of the time the market seems to be consolidating or correcting. The bull market in gold fits that picture perfectly. It started in 1999 at $250 but very few got in at the very bottom. At GoldSwitzerland we instructed our clients to put 50 percent of their net worth into physical gold in 2002 while the price of gold was still near a historic low at $300, with a very strong belief that the world economy and financial system would have unsolvable problems…
  • Captains of Dollar Are Panicked
    Market expert and financial writer Bill Holter says elite were in a “panic” last week to try to push down the price of gold and silver. Holter explains, “You have to understand that gold is the direct competitor versus the dollar.  Other currencies in the world compete with the dollar, but the dollar is the reserve currency.  It supplanted gold in 1971.  Gold and the dollar are direct competitors or arch enemies, or whatever you want to call them.  The best way to make the dollar look good is to make gold look bad.  That’s what the purpose of all these naked sales or contracts are to suppress the price (of gold and silver).   That’s the purpose of it. . . . Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were three big sales back to back to back, which shows the captains of the dollar are panicking.  The dollar definitely looks like its rolling over and has been taking some fairly sizable drops intraday.”
  • The Real Reason For America’s Looming Retirement Crisis
    Did you know that approximately 40 percent of all American workers have absolutely nothing saved for retirement? And did you know that pension funds in the United States are currently underfunded by about six trillion dollars? Social Security is supposed to be the underlying safety net for our entire retirement system, but it is essentially just a massive Ponzi scheme that everyone agrees is heading for a major disaster. Now that the Baby Boomers have started to retire, it is becoming clear that our society simply does not have the resources necessary to keep all of the promises that we have made to them. We are facing a retirement crisis of epic proportions, and by the end of this article you will understand the real reason why we have gotten into this mess.
  • Why Are So Many Millennials Living With Their Parents Instead Of Getting Married And Starting Their Own Families?
    Did you know that the percentage of 18 to 34-year-old Americans that are married and living with a spouse has dropped by more than half since 1975?  Back then, 57 percent of everyone in that age group “lived with a spouse”, but today that number has dropped to just 27 percent.  These numbers come from “the Changing Economics and Demographics of Young Adulthood” report that was just released by the U.S. Census Bureau.  Some are postulating that the reason for this dramatic cultural shift is a phenomenon known as “extended adolescence”, while others fear that large numbers of young men and/or young women are giving up on the concept of marriage altogether. Instead of getting married and starting their own households, many young adults are deciding that living with Mom and Dad is the best approach.  In fact, this new Census Bureau report found that one out of every three 18 to 34-year-old Americans is currently living with their parents…
  • Will You Turn Away Family, Friends And Neighbors At Your Door When America’s Day Of Disaster Arrives?
    How will you handle all of the people that will show up at your door when a major crisis strikes because they haven’t been making any preparations of their own?  Earlier today somebody asked me about this on Facebook, and I thought that it was a very good question, because thousands of my readers will be faced with this precise dilemma at some point.  When America’s day of disaster arrives, it is inevitable that most of us that are prepping will have family, friends and neighbors showing up at our door asking for help.  When that happens, what will you do? There are some people out there that are very honest about the fact that they do not plan to share what they have stored up with anyone, and that even close family members will be greeted with a shotgun if they show up unannounced.
  • Major Prophetic Warnings: ‘Socially Accepted But Immoral Lifestyles’ In The Church Will Be Exposed And ‘Judgment Starts Now’
    Judgment begins in the House of God, and those that are playing around with sin need to stop before it is too late.  In recent weeks, I have been writing much about the prophetic voices that have been warning about the “exposure” and the “great shaking” that are coming to the Church.  If you choose to put yourself out there as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, you can’t embrace great sin and expect that there won’t be any consequences.  Our God is a holy and awesome God, and the only way that any of us are going to make it through what is coming is to live in holiness.  The Scriptures tell us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and there isn’t a lot of the fear of God in our churches today, but there will be soon.
  • North Korea Threat Turns Hot, FBI & CIA Look for Traitor, Economic Update
    North Korea made the most provocative and dangerous threat yet through the state media when it said Kim Jong-Un may order a “super-mighty preemptive strike” against South Korea and the U.S. The U.S. says it is sending an armada to deal with the provocation. China and Russia, which both border North Korea, reportedly have deployed troops there. The threat is the worst ever for the Korean Peninsula as the North now has nuclear weapons that it did not have in the Korean War in the early 1950’s.
  • 11 Facts That Prove That The U.S. Economy In 2017 Is In Far Worse Shape Than It Was In 2016
    There is much debate about where the U.S. economy is ultimately heading, but what everybody should be able to agree on is that economic conditions are significantly worse this year than they were last year.  It is being projected that U.S. economic growth for the first quarter will be close to zero, thousands of retail stores are closing, factory output is falling, and restaurants and automakers have both fallen on very hard times.  As economic activity has slowed down, commercial and consumer bankruptcies are both rising at rates that we have not seen since the last financial crisis.  Everywhere you look there are echoes of 2008, and yet most people still seem to be in denial about what is happening.  The following are 11 facts that prove that the U.S. economy in 2017 is in far worse shape than it was in 2016…
  • Going cashless to fight rising financial crime
    Bribery, tax evasion, money laundering, counterfeiting, corruption, even the finance of terrorism. These are among a long list of crimes enabled by the use of “cash.” The attempt to crack down on these crimes is driving governments and a range of companies to pursue the potential of a cashless society. “Cash plays a big role in crime. I think there's a reason cash is king,” says Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff, who has written extensively on the costs and benefits of phasing out paper currency. “Even though we have bitcoin, gold coins, uncut diamonds … you still find cash playing a major role [in crime], because it's basically government-licensed, anonymous currency. It has very high liquidity, low transaction costs. You can spend cash anywhere. All these other things, like you take gold coins to someone and they're actually a lot of trouble to verify.”
  • Deutsche Bank: “It Was Good While It Lasted”
    It all started in February, when we first reported that something unexpected had happened: for reasons that were at the time unknown, the global credit impulse had unexpectedly tumbled, turning negative, a move which we predicted would result in a steep slide in the “soft” economic data, end the “reflation” optimism and unleash a wave of dovishness from the Fed. Then, two months later when the reflation trade was officially over, in early April the culprit for this sudden collapse in global growth momentum was identified: China, which together with the price of oil, had been the only catalyst for the global reflation trade since the “Shanghai Accord” in February 2016, and had seen its credit impulse crash at the fastest pace since the financial crisis, dropping to a level not seen since 2010.
  • Clothing retailer Bebe to close all stores by end of May
    California-based women's apparel retailer Bebe announced plans to close all of its stores by the end of May. Bebe said it anticipates the closure of “all of the stores by the end of May,” according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The retailer had already begun to reduce its number of stores, reporting it still had 134 Bebe stores in 31 states, Puerto Rico and Canada as well as 34 outlet stores.
  • Its not different this time
    The Fed will continue to raise interest rates—we cannot continue like this—negative interest rates in most parts of the world are destroying a lot of people. Many pension plans, insurance companies and trusts are suffering badly now—you are going to have some pension plans in America go bankrupt, or not earn any money. They have the obligations to meet their promises as people continue to get older. When interest rates go higher, they are going to make bonds go lower—it is going to help the US dollar. Historically, in the US, if the Fed raised interest rates four times, it meant the stock market would go down and go down substantially for a while—it is clear that the Fed will raise interest rates four times, and it does not mean that it has to happen that way.
  • “The Retail Bubble Has Now Burst”: A Record 8,640 Stores Are Closing In 2017 
    The devastation in the US retail sector is accelerating in 2017, and in addition to the surging number of brick and mortar retail bankruptcies, it is perhaps nowhere more obvious than in the soaring number of store closures. While the shuttering of retail stores has been a frequent topic on this website, most recently in the context of the next “big short”, namely the ongoing deterioration in the mall REITs and associated Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities and CDS, here is a stunning fact from Credit Suisse:”Barely a quarter into 2017, year-to-date retail store closings have already surpassed those of 2008.”
  • Is World War The Twisted Cure For a Doomed Economy? “Signals for War Are Fiscal”
    The march to war is deafening. But the reasons for it go beyond the elements of military conflict and political intrigue. Underlying it all, the reasons are economic. With a nothing-doing economy that has long dragged on the American soul, there is a growing temptation to wipe the slate clean, and launch a wider war – all with the wider aim of igniting a new economic engine. Theoretically, the economy would spruce up on the same gin that fueled WWII – and not only delivered a victory, but solidified America a prosperous superpower while vanquishing the Great Depression. The thought is twisted, and perhaps more and more likely everyday. Something like economic gains off of spilling blood – true military industrial complex stuff.
  • The Banking Industry Treats Its Customers Worse Than United Airlines
    Last week the Internet was ablaze with disgust after a man was physically dragged off a United Airlines flight. What’s amazing, though, is that there are countless cases of another industry abusing its customers in far, far worse ways than the airlines. I’m talking, of course, about the banking industry. 1. Banks treat you like criminal suspects too. 2. Banks nickel and dime you even more. 3. Overbooking? Try fractional reserve banking. 4. Banks are in bed with the government too. 5. Yet they brazenly screw their own customers.
  • Factory Output Tumbles In March – This Has Never Happened Outside Of Recession
    US Industrial Production peaked in November 2014 and remains down almost 2% from those record highs (despite surging stocks). This has never happened without the US economy being in recession in history. While Industrial production headlines met expectations, factory output for March plunged 0.4% – the biggest drop since Feb 2015. Still who needs ‘production' when we have Snapchat and Netflix!??
  • Meet The Robots That Will Build Your Next House
    The U.S. residential construction industry employs 100's of thousands of people each year in various skilled trades that earn hourly pay rates ranging from minimum wage to $100 per hour, or more. Per BLS statistics, the residential housing space employed over 1 million people at the height of the housing bubble and now accounts for nearly 750,000 jobs. Of course, just like the auto industry, many of those jobs can be done at a fraction of the cost and with much greater precision by industrial robots.  Moreover, those robots work inside a warehouse where they're immune from the negative consequences of weather and can work 365 days per year without compromising construction integrity.
  • MIT Scientist FURTHER Debunks False Flag: “The Nerve Agent Attack that Did Not Occur”
    This analysis contains a detailed description of the times and locations of critical events in the alleged nerve agent attack of April 4, 2017 in Khan Shaykhun, Syria – assuming that the White House Intelligence Report (WHR) issued on April 11, 2017 correctly identified the alleged sarin release site. Analysis using weather data from the time of the attack shows that a small hamlet about 300 m to the east southeast of the crater could be the only location affected by the alleged nerve agent release. The hamlet is separated from the alleged release site (a crater) by an open field. The winds at the time of the release would have initially taken the sarin across the open field. Beyond the hamlet there is a substantial amount of open space and the sarin cloud would have had to travel long additional distance for it to have dissipated before reaching any other population center.
  • Another Flip? Trump Tells Congress Iran Compliant With “Disastrous” Nuclear Deal
    On the heels of an apparant avalanche of flip-flops on campaign comments, President Trump has notified Congress that Iran is complying with the “disastrous… worst deal ever negotiated” 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by former President Obama. During his campaign, Trump raised the prospect the United States will pull out of the nuclear pact it signed last year with Iran, alienating Washington from its allies and potentially freeing Iran to act on its ambitions.
  • Russia Takes $30 Million In Venezuela Oil Hostage Over Unpaid Debt
    Despite having made its bond payment due last week, Venezuela’s state oil company, PDVSA, remains in fire financial straits, with virtually no funds or liquidity, and regardless of the close Russia-Venezuela ties, a Russian state-run shipping company has taken a tanker of PDVSA crude “hostage” in the Caribbean over $30 million worth of unpaid shipping fees. Russia’s shipper Sovcomflot sued PDVSA in the Dutch island St. Maarten in the Caribbean and “imposed garnishment on the aforementioned oil cargo,” Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing a St. Maarten court decision. PDVSA had sent the oil cargo to the Caribbean in October last year, hoping it could net around $20 million from the sale of the crude, but Sovcomflot claims the cash-strapped state-run Venezuelan company owes $30 million in unpaid shipping fees.
  • Trump To Crack Down On Visa “Abuse” In “Hire American” Executive Order
    President Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday that aims to overhaul the H1-B visa program used by tech companies to bring high-skilled workers to the U.S., directing a government-wide review aimed at putting new teeth back into decades-old “Buy American” and “Hire American” directives. As The Hill reports, Trump will travel to a manufacturing plant in Kenosha, Wis., to sign the order, which the administration says will make it more difficult for U.S. companies to look overseas for workers to fill middle-income jobs.
  • Free Money! Is The Fed Paying Banks $22 Billion To Not Lend?
    Excess reserves of depository institutions peaked at $2.7 trillion in August of 2014. By December of 2016, excess reserves fell to $1.9 trillion but have since climbed back to $2.2 trillion. On October 3, 2008, Section 128 of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 allowed the Federal Reserve banks to begin paying interest on excess reserve balances (“IOER”) as well as required reserves. The Federal Reserve banks began doing so three days later. As interest rates have risen, so has the free money to banks.
  • Harvard ‘Shock' Study: Each $1 Minimum Wage Hike Causes 4-10% Increase In Restaurant Failures
    A ‘shocking' discovery was made when a pair of researchers at Harvard Business School decided to analyze the impact of higher minimum wages in San Francisco on restaurant failures…hint:  they went up. Entitled “Survival of the Fittest: The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Firm Exit”, this latest study on the devastating consequences of minimum wage was conducted by Dara Lee Luca and Michael Luca and concluded that each $1 increase in the minimum wage results in a roughly 4-10% increase in the likelihood of a restaurant going out of business.
  • Honeymoon from Hell: The Liberal Media vs. President Trump
    As President Trump approaches the end of his first 100 days in office, he has received by far the most hostile press treatment of any incoming American president, with the broadcast networks punishing him with coverage that has been 89% negative. The networks largely ignored important national priorities such as jobs and the fight against ISIS, in favor of a news agenda that has been dominated by anti-Trump controversies and which closely matches what would be expected from an opposition party. For example, President Trump’s push to invigorate the economy and bring back American jobs received a mere 18 minutes of coverage (less than one percent of all airtime devoted to the administration), while his moves to renegotiate various international trade deals resulted in less than 10 minutes of TV news airtime.
  • Death by overwork: Japan's 100-hour overtime cap sparks anger
    Workaholic Japan has unveiled its first-ever plan to limit overtime, but critics want to give it the boot, saying an “outrageous” 100-hour-a-month cap will do nothing to tackle karoshi, or death from overwork. Tokyo's bid to ease a national health crisis comes after the top executive at advertising giant Dentsu quit late last year in response to the suicide of a young employee who regularly logged more than 100 hours of overtime a month. The death of Matsuri Takahashi generated nationwide headlines, prompting the government to come up with a solution to punishing work hours blamed for hundreds of deaths due to strokes, heart attacks and suicides every year.
  • Is The Deep State Creating Another “Crash Of 1929”?
    In his speech above, future Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledged that, by raising interest rates, the Fed triggered the stock market crash of 1929, which heralded in the Great Depression. Yet, in her speech above, Fed Chair Janet Yellen announced that “it makes sense” for the Fed to raise interest rates “a few times a year.” This is a concern, as economic conditions are similar to those in 1929, and a rise in interest rates may have the same effect as it did then. So let’s back up a bit and have a look at what happened in 1929. In the run-up to the 1929 crash, the Federal Reserve raised rates to 6%, ostensibly to “limit speculation in securities markets.” As history shows, this sent economic activity south rather quickly. Countless investors, large and small, who had bought stocks on margin, would be unable to pay increased interest rates and would be forced to default. (It’s important to understand that the actual default was not necessary to crash markets. The knowledge that investors would be in trouble was sufficient to send the markets into a tailspin.)
  • Steve Keen: “Can We Avoid Another Financial Crisis?” (Spoiler Alert: No!)
    Economic theory is like a layer cake: Explanations within one layer make sense, but once you move to another layer, they no longer apply. Economist Steve Keen‘s new book “Can We Avoid Another Financial Crisis?” is an illustrative example. The good news is that Keen accurately describes the current economic system; the bad news is that the answer to the question in the title is “no.” (And, despite what I believe is his accurate overall assessment, he misses, or skips over, a few key, hidden elements of economic theory.) Keen defines his question within the layer of a corrupt banking system, the system we have now. He explains how it is that banks create money in the form of debt, and how this leads to financial instability.
  • Looks Like John McCain Is Happy With Trump's Foreign Policy
    President Trump and Senator John McCain started off with a rocky relationship. But now that the President has suddenly come around in all the wrong ways, the notoriously war hungry Senator is pleased. McCain was recently on Meet The Press with Chuck Todd, and he joyfully expressed his approval of the Washington establishment sucking Trump in. Isn't it funny how things work in Washington? One week Trump accuses John McCain of “always looking to start World War III,” and the next week McCain is praising Trump for doing that very thing!
  • “Out Of Cash” – More Than 90% Of India ATMs Run Dry
    Five months have passed since the demonetisation drive, but the people of India continue to face a shortage of cash in banks and ATMs. The Times of India reports that more than 90% of the ATMs in the northern region do not have cash, and in the southern states as many as 65% of ATMs have run dry. Speaking to TOI, State Bank of India (SBI) deputy general manager Ajoy Kumar Pandit said the customers are losing confidence in them due to the crisis. “Nearly 70 per cent of our 648 ATMs in the three districts are out of cash. The rest will also become dry in the next few days as we do not have cash to refill the machines. We are helpless from our side,” he said.
  • The Last Country We “Liberated” from an “Evil” Dictator Is Now Openly Trading Slaves
    It is widely known that the U.S.-led NATO intervention to topple Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 resulted in a power vacuum that has allowed terror groups like ISIS to gain a foothold in the country. Despite the destructive consequences of the 2011 invasion, the West is currently taking a similar trajectory with regard to Syria. Just as the Obama administration excoriated Gaddafi in 2011, highlighting his human rights abuses and insisting he must be removed from power to protect the Libyan people, the Trump administration is now pointing to the repressive policies of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and warning his regime will soon come to an end — all in the name of protecting Syrian civilians.
  • Angst In America – Disappearing Pensions
    There was once a time when many American workers had a simple formula for retirement: You stayed with a large business for many years, possibly your whole career. Then at a predetermined age you gratefully accepted a gold watch and a monthly check for the rest of your life. Off you went into the sunset. That happy outcome was probably never as available as we think. Maybe it was relatively common for the first few decades after World War II. Many of my Baby Boomer peers think a secure retirement should be normal because it’s what we saw in our formative years. In the early 1980s, about 60% of companies had defined-benefit plans. Today it’s about 4% (source: money.CNN). But today defined-benefit plans have ceased to be normal in the larger scheme of things. We witnessed an aberration, a historical anomaly that grew out of particularly favorable circumstances.
  • Wars and Rumors of Wars
    The world is nervous. With the recent US missile strike in Syria and escalating tensions in North Korea, people have turned their thoughts to war. Google searches for “world war 3” have hit all-time highs according to info available on Google Trends. Related searches such as “Trump war,” “Syria war,” and “nuclear war” are also trending at record levels. The Korea Times reported a high level of anxiety in South Korea as the US and North Korea spar in an escalating war of words and military posturing. President Trump recently ordered a US carrier group to waters near the Korean peninsula, saying North Korea is “looking for trouble.” An aid for Kim Jong-un warned a ‘reckless’ Donald Trump that North Korea will ‘annihilate’ the US. Meanwhile, South Koreans have flooded a popular message board in that country with talk of war.
  • Remember quantitative easing? It could make a comeback, says Boston Fed president
    The next recession is likely to force the Federal Reserve to once again buy up large amounts of assets to boost the supply of money and stimulate the economy, a move that nearly a decade ago was considered drastic and unconventional, according to Boston Federal Reserve president Eric Rosengren. During a speech Wednesday at Bard College in New York, Rosengren said that such purchases — called quantitative easing — will probably become a go-to tool for the Federal Reserve in dealing with recessions. Low inflation, limited productivity growth, and an aging population “may necessitate more frequent use of large-scale asset purchases during recessions,” he said.
  • Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen – April 20, 2017
    Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen with his regular short weekly video for readers of Pastor Williams' weekly newsletter.

  Precious Metals Are The Only Lifeboat! I have persistently WARNED you what was happening in the gold market and why you needed to convert your paper assets to physical gold and silver. You need to hedge against financial instability with physical gold and silver. Call the experts to help you convert your IRA or 401k into Gold, Silver and Other Precious Metals. Call GoldCo NOW before it's too late! Call Toll-Free 1-877-414-1385.

From James Harkin (Webmaster & Editor of LindseyWilliams.net). Here is a summary of articles of interest from around the world for this week. Please LIKE the Lindsey Williams Online Facebook Page to see stories posted daily regarding the current state of the economy around the world.

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Latest News From April 14, 2017 to April 20, 2017:

• In Stark Warning, IMF Finds Over 20% Of US Corporations At Risk Of Default Should Rates Rise
  While the market has been generally euphoric over Trump's proposed fiscal agenda (even if in recent weeks it increasingly looks its implementation will be indefinitely delayed), one adverse side effect which has largely been ignored by the market is the impact of rising interest rates not only on sovereign debt, but on record corporate debt loads. Conveniently, this was one of the more notably topics covered in the latest Global Financial Stability report released by the IMF on Wednesday. According to the IMF writes, as corporate leverage has risen, and is now at the highest level since the start either the financial crisis or the dot com bubble, depending on which metric one uses…
• Chaos Coming To A Market Near You This Summer
  This month the Fed is adding $23.4 billion in cash to Primary Dealer Trading Accounts in the period April 12-20. This is slightly more than the March addition of $21.9 billion, the smallest add since January 2016. It was a sharp decline from February’s $41.6 billion. You may have thought Quantitative Easing (QE) ended in late 2014, and it did, but the Federal Reserve has continued to add cash to the financial markets every month. It does so via the purchases of mortgage backed securities (MBS). It calls them “replacement purchases.”
• Our Intellectual Bankruptcy: The “Religion” of Economics, UBI and Medicare For All
  Here we stand on the precipice, and all we have in our kit is a collection of delusional magical thinking that we label “solutions.” We are not just morally and financially bankrupt, we’re intellectually bankrupt as well. Here are three examples of magical thinking that pass for intellectually sound ideas: 1. Mainstream neo-classical/ Keynesian economics. 2. Universal Basic Income. 3. Medicare for all.
• Paul Craig Roberts – A Walk Through The Destruction Of America’s Once Majestic Paradise
  Inlet Beach is an old Florida community in Walton County on the Gulf Coast of the panhandle of Florida. The community circa 1950 originated in federal land dispensed via a lottery to WW II veterans. Winners of the lottery received 1.25 acres in exchange for a $50 filing fee and agreement to construct an 800 square foot block house…
• Another $3 Billion Paper Gold Dump, But Here Is What Is Really Moving The Gold Price
  In our April 2nd report (and before) we argued that if gold could close a week over $1250 (later specified as above $1251.50), then we expected a renewed upside surge. Even in early April before that breakout gold had rallied from its late 2016 low by $130. Gold crossed that next threshold as of the weekly close of 4/7, closing that week above $1254. Gold has since moved to the mid $1290s.
• Gold is on the verge of a big breakout
  Last night, after Donald Trump bemoaned the strength in the dollar and the gold price jumped in reaction, I shared this chart on twitter. The last time gold tested this key resistance line, I was less optimistic about its ability to overcome it. However, as technicians like to say, the more times resistance is tested the weaker it becomes.
• Analyst: Gold’s Long Correction Is Officially Over
  Technical analyst Jack Chan charts the completion of the gold market’s long correction. Our proprietary cycle indicator is now up. The gold sector is on a long-term buy signal. Long-term signals can last for months and years and are more suitable for investors holding for long term. The gold sector is also on a short-term buy signal. Short-term signals can last for days and weeks, and are more suitable for traders that are nimble enough to get in and out of positions relatively quickly. A breakout was confirmed last week, suggesting that the multi-month correction since last summer is now over. This is hugely bullish for gold.
• By 2020 Two-Thirds Of Wild Animals Will Have Been Wiped Out Over A 50 Year Period As Mass Die-Offs Accelerate All Over The Planet
  It has been called “the long extinction”.  Our planet is in the process of dying, and as you will see below, this process of death and destruction appears to be accelerating.  According to a report that was put out by the World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London, the number of wild animals around the globe appears to be decreasing at a rate of about 2 percent a year.  2 percent may not sound like a lot to you, but over 10 years that would mean that 20 percent of all wild animals in the world would be gone.  And according to that same report, it is being projected that the total loss of wildlife during the 50 year period from 1970 to 2020 will be a staggering 67 percent…
• Stocks & Dollar Crash-Gold & Silver Spike
  Market cycle analyst Bo Polny says he may have been wrong in the past about a stock market top, but now the top is in and predicts, “As of March 1st (2017), we believe the stock market, the Dow, the S&P, and all the world markets for that matter, are supposed to have topped and from this point forward, we are supposed to see a very ugly April.” Polny gives another April prediction and states, “Trump’s first 100 days in office ends April 30th.  Before his 100 days are up, expect three things:  Expect a stock market crash, expect a dollar crash and expect gold and silver, they (Fed) are going to lose control, and you are going to see a sharp spike in the month of April.”
• 28 heads of state, leaders to attend Belt & Road summit in Beijing
  28 heads of state and government leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, have confirmed they will attend the Belt and Road summit in Beijing on May 14-15. On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Chinese President Xi Jinping will host the round table summit of the leaders. Dubbed ‘One Belt, One Road,’ the plan is to revive an ancient trading route stretching from Asia to Europe. Beijing and Moscow have also indicated they have reached consensus on integrating China’s ambitious One Belt One Road plan with Russia’s Eurasian Economic Union. The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held from May 14 to 15 in Beijing.
• Alaska Needs Much Higher Oil Prices To Reverse Its Oil Fortunes
  This year marks Alaska’s 40th anniversary of the Trans Alaska Pipeline Systems (TAPS)—an 800-mile-long crude oil route that runs from the North Slope to Valdez, the northernmost ice-free port in North America. However, Alaska’s declining oil output in recent years has not only stretched the state’s budget, it has also added a challenge to the functioning of the pipeline—decreased throughput means the pipeline is now about three-quarters empty, and crude oil flows are slower. The peak of oil flow through the pipeline was at 2 million barrels per day in 1988. Last year, throughput was 517,500 bpd, a 1.8-percent increase from 2015. This was the first annual increase since 2002, but still a far cry from the days of peak flow.
• Europe Gets Its Doomsday Scenario
  The rise of French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has made a lot of people nervous since, among many other things, she’s in favor of leaving the eurozone, which would pretty much end the common currency. But since polling has shown her making the two-person run-off round but then losing to a mainstream candidate, the euro-elites haven’t seen any reason to panic. Here, for instance, is a chart based on February polling that shows Le Pen getting the most votes in the first round, but then – when mainstream voters coalesce around her opponent – losing by around 60% – 40%. The establishment gets a bit of a scare but remains firmly in power, no harm no foul.
• Mapping the Hourly Wage Needed to Rent a 2-Bedroom Apartment in Every U.S. State
  Yes, the American economy is improving, and yes, we’re creating more jobs. But the hourly wages for a lot of these jobs are stagnant at best. According to the Pew Research Center, 30 percent of America’s workforce earns a near-minimum-wage salary—that’s almost 21 million people. As a cruel paradox, rents across the country keep rising. A new report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition examines how these opposite trends play out regionally. The work maps how much an American worker needs to earn per hour in each state to rent a two-bedroom apartment. It finds that in no state can a person earning minimum wage afford such an apartment at market rent.
• ‘The dominoes are starting to fall': Retailers are going bankrupt at a staggering rate
  Retailers are filing for bankruptcy at an alarming rate that's quickly approaching recessionary levels. It's only April, and nine retailers have already filed for bankruptcy since the start of the year — as many as all of last year. “2017 will be the year of retail bankruptcies,” Corali Lopez-Castro, a bankruptcy lawyer, told Business Insider after she attended a recent distressed-investing conference in Palm Beach, Florida. “Retailers are running out of cash, and the dominoes are starting to fall.”
• Uber Confirms Horrendous Loss in 2016
  On Good Friday, when markets were closed and when the entire financial world was tuned out, and when certainly no one was supposed to pay attention, Uber, the most highly valued – at $62.5 billion – and the most scandal plagued tech startup in the world, took the until now unprecedented step of disclosing its audited revenues and losses for the fourth quarter and for the full year of 2016. Rumors of ballooning losses for 2016 had been swirling since last summer. Bloomberg reported in August that Uber had lost “at least $1.2 billion” in the first half. In December, Uber’s loss in Q3 was said to “exceed $800 million,” according to Bloomberg, and its annual loss “may hit $3 billion.” Others chimed in as some of Uber’s dozens of investors who’re getting its financial statements share them in dribs and drabs with the media.
• So Who Are the Debt Slaves in this Rich Nation?
  We constantly hear the factoids about “American households” that paint a picture of immense wealth – and therefore a lack of risk for consumer lenders during the next downturn. We hear: “This – the thing that happened in 2008 and 2009 – won’t happen again.” For example, total net worth (assets minus debt) of US households and non-profit organization (they’re lumped together) rose to an astronomical $92.8 trillion at the end of 2016, according to the Federal Reserve. This is up by nearly 70% in early 2009 when the Fed started its QE and zero-interest-rate programs. Inflating household wealth was one of the big priorities of the Fed during the Financial Crisis. It would crank up the economy. In an editorial in 2010, Fed Chair Ben Bernanke himself called this the “wealth effect.” So with this colossal wealth of US households, what could go wrong during the next downturn?
• Millennials Are Homesteading, Buying Affordable Homes, Building Community
  While it’s certainly good sport to mock “snowflakes,” not all Millennials are snowflakes. Many are homesteading, buying affordable homes and building communities that get stuff done. I discuss these trends with Drew Sample, who is living them in Ohio. ( hear a 60-second excerpt or listen to the full podcast on Drew’s site.) Although the mainstream media focuses on bubble-priced Left and Right coast homes costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, there are perfectly serviceable houses that can be had for $50,000 or less elsewhere in America. Drew just bought one, and rather than go through a bank for the mortgage, he arranged (with the help of a real estate attorney) for a family member to put up the mortgage.
• Man Who Advises Top Sovereign Wealth Funds In The World Says All Hell Is Going To Break Loose In 2017
  “Everything leads to gold (in 2017).  Gold is the undiscovered asset.  Most institutional investors have not been interested in gold because they think the Fed is raising interest rates and the economy is strong.  And yet today, what happened?  Gold and silver took off. Gold and silver both rose above their 200-day moving averages.  With a sudden surge late in the day, Trump came out and said the dollar shouldn’t be so strong.  The dollar sold off and gold and silver took off (to the upside).”
• The U.S. and China: Why the Sudden Convergence on North Korea?
  In the past, China resisted U.S. saber-rattling against North Korea. Now China is threatening North Korea with military action. What’s going on? Why the sudden convergence of U.S.-China threats of military force against North Korea? China Threatens To Bomb North Korea’s Nuclear Facilities If It Crosses Beijing’s “Bottom Line”.
• Does Your Plan B Include a Second Place to Live If Plan A Doesn’t Work Out?
  We all have a Plan A—continue living just like we’re living now. Some of us have a Plan B in case Plan A doesn’t work out, and the reasons for a Plan B break out into three general categories: Preppers who foresee the potential for a breakdown in Plan A due to a systemic “perfect storm” of events that could overwhelm the status quo’s ability to supply healthcare, food and transportation fuels for the nation’s heavily urbanized populace. People who understand their employment is precarious and contingent, and they might have to move to another locale if they lose their job and can’t find another equivalent one quickly. Those who tire of the stresses of maintaining Plan A and who long for a less stressful, less complex, cheaper and more fulfilling way of living.
• A Government of Morons
  It has become embarrassing to be an American. Our country has had four war criminal presidents in succession. Clinton twice launched military attacks on Serbia, ordering NATO to bomb the former Yugoslavia twice, both in 1995 and in 1999, so that gives Bill two war crimes. George W. Bush invaded Afghanistan and Iraq and attacked provinces of Pakistan and Yemen from the air. That comes to four war crimes for Bush. Obama used NATO to destroy Libya and sent mercenaries to destroy Syria, thereby commiting two war crimes. Trump attacked Syria with US forces, thereby becoming a war criminal early in his regime.
• Here Is The Really Big Shocker With The World Now On The Edge Of Destruction
  You have to go back to the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 to find the world as close to nuclear war as today. As tensions surrounding North Korea ratchet up, it’s all too easy to imagine it could lead to a conflict that is part nuclear, part conventional, part chemical, in which millions die and the world’s economy loses trillions of dollars. Is this an invitation to load up on gold? I would wait. The reason I say this is because when I analyze what lies behind the sharp rise in tension, I think the Korean situation is likely to take a turn towards sanity. This could mean additional downside in the metal, any short-term blip notwithstanding. Having said that, the longer term case for gold has strengthened even more.
• China Starting To Resemble Bernie Madoff
  Audible.com just released a new show on Bernie Madoff (Ponzi Supernova, available for free to subscribers) that explains how the world’s biggest financial scam was enabled by banks and hedge funds who were making so much money that they chose to ignore obvious red flags.
• The IRS Now Has Moved Beyond Extortion To Outright Theft While the Police Rob Americans Blind
  People need to realize what government is. It isn’t there to protect you. All government really is is a criminal enterprise that is the most successful one in each geographical jurisdiction. The only difference between the mafia and government is size. And the IRS is just the largest protection racket in the US. If you pay the IRS its “protection money,” which they call taxes, they won’t kidnap you and put you into a rape camp. That’s the “protection.” But now the US government is so bankrupt financially and morally that it is going beyond an outright mafia operation to straight up robbing people. In the US today both yourself and your property are guilty until proven innocent.
• The Boston Marathon Bombing After Four Years
  Today, April 15, 2017, is the fourth anniversary of the Boston Marathon Bombing, a hoax event performed by crisis actors and tell-tale bright red Hollywood blood. Sheila Casey has done a good job of exposing the hoax just by using the time line and photos of the event. A number of agencies run training programs in which amputees working as crisis actors have a prosthesis afixed to resemble a bone as a remaining piece of a leg or arm. Casey examines the Boston event by timeline. First the crisis actors are assembled. Then the prosthesis is attached. Then the blood appears.
• I Feel Sick, Because The U.S. Is On The Verge Of Making An Extremely Costly Mistake
  All day long I have just felt sick.  Right at this moment, we are closer to war with North Korea than we have been at any point since the Korean War ended in 1953.  If Donald Trump decides to launch a military strike against North Korea’s nuclear facilities, the consequences could be absolutely catastrophic.  The North Koreans have already promised to launch nukes at South Korea and at U.S. military bases in the region in return, and they also have vast stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons that they could use as well.  To get an idea of the chaos that just a handful of North Korean agents armed with biological weapons could unleash inside the United States, just see this article.  A military strike on North Korea could be the spark that sets off a global war in which millions of people die, and so we need to do all that we can to prevent this from happening.  My hope is that if people make enough noise that Trump will back down and decide not to attack.
• 9-Year-Old Boy Has A Vision Of An Asteroid Hitting The Atlantic And A Nuclear War Involving The United States
  Did God give a 9-year-old boy a vision of the future of America?  Last night, my wife pulled me aside and strongly urged me to watch part of an amazing video that she had found on YouTube.  I was quite tired at the time, but I agreed to watch it because I could tell from my wife’s expression that she had found something special.  And without a doubt, what I am about to share with you does appear to be extraordinary.  A grandmother known as “A Daughter of The Highest King” on YouTube came across a dry erase board that her 9-year-old grandson had been drawing on, and the things that he had been drawing were so unusual that she decided to ask him about them.
• Strong Dollar Could Cause Bond Market Crash
  Renowned financial expert Martin Armstrong says the biggest risk out there is the effect a strong U.S. dollar has on the global bond market. Armstrong explains, “There’s these people who keep saying the dollar is going to crash.  If the dollar crashes, the world is happier and basically celebrating.  You have half the U.S. debt equivalent in emerging market debt issued in dollars.  If the dollar goes up, they are in trouble.  Then you are going to see sovereign defaults. . . . The U.S. is not going to default, but as you start defaults elsewhere outside the country, it makes people begin to get concerned about sovereign debt.  Sovereign debt is the worst of all.  It’s not secured.  If the U.S. government defaulted on its debt, what would happen?  You cannot go down to the National Gallery and start lifting Picassos.”
• The Dow Falls Another 138 Points As Geopolitical Shaking Forces Investors To Race For The Exits
  Stock prices just keep on falling, and many analysts are now wondering if a full-blown stock market crash is in our near future.  On Thursday, the S&P 500 and the Dow both closed at 2 month lows after Donald Trump dropped “the mother of all bombs” in Afghanistan.  It was the first time that one of these bombs has ever been used in live combat, and it is being reported that each of these bombs weighs 22,000 pounds and costs 16 million dollars to make.  Of course Trump was trying to send a very clear message to the rest of the world by dropping this bomb, and investors interpreted it as a sign that we are getting even closer to war.
• Tech Stocks Experience Their Longest Losing Streak In 5 Years As Panic Begins To Grip The Market
  S&P 500 tech stocks have now fallen for 9 days in a row.  The last time tech stocks declined for so many days in a row was in 2012, and that was the only other time in history when we have seen such a long losing streak.  As I have stated before, the post-election “Trump rally” is officially done, and the market is starting to roll over as investors begin to realize that all of the buying momentum has completely evaporated.  Tech stocks tend to be particularly volatile, and so the fact that they are starting to lead the way down should definitely be alarming to many in the investing community.
• Chinese firm halves worker costs by hiring army of robots to sort out 200,000 packages a day
  The machines are cheaper than human workers and are also more efficient and accurate in sorting out parcels, spokesman says. A viral video showing an army of little orange robots sorting out packages in a warehouse in eastern China is the latest example of how machines are increasingly taking over menial factory work on the mainland. The behind-the-scenes footage of the self-charging robot army in a sorting centre of Chinese delivery powerhouse Shentong (STO) Express was shared on People’s Daily’s social media accounts on Sunday.
• The new age of Ayn Rand: how she won over Trump and Silicon Valley
  As they plough through their GCSE revision, UK students planning to take politics A-level in the autumn can comfort themselves with this thought: come September, they will be studying one thinker who does not belong in the dusty archives of ancient political theory but is achingly on trend. For the curriculum includes a new addition: the work of Ayn Rand. It is a timely decision because Rand, who died in 1982 and was alternately ridiculed and revered throughout her lifetime, is having a moment. Long the poster girl of a particularly hardcore brand of free-market fundamentalism – the advocate of a philosophy she called “the virtue of selfishness” – Rand has always had acolytes in the conservative political classes. The Republican speaker of the US House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, is so committed a Randian, he was famous for giving every new member of his staff a copy of Rand’s gargantuan novel, Atlas Shrugged (along with Freidrich Hayek’s Road to Serfdom). The story, oft-repeated, that his colleague in the US Senate, Rand Paul, owes his first name to his father Ron’s adulation of Ayn (it rhymes with “mine”) turns out to be apocryphal, but Paul describes himself as a fan all the same.
• G7 Fails To Agree On New Russian Sanctions: US, UK Push Rejected By Europe
  While eager to show a united front against Russia and Syria, G7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy again failed to reach an agreement over new sanctions against the two nations as a British plan to impose targeted sanctions on military personnel in Russia and Syria, supported by the US, was rejected by European allies. “There is no consensus on additional new sanctions,” Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said.
• Trump Flips On Five Core Campaign Promises In Under 24 Hours
  Blink, and you missed Trump's blistering, seamless transformation into a mainstream politician. In the span of just a few hours, President Trump flipped to new positions on several core policy issues, backing off on no less than five repeated campaign promises. In a WSJ interview and a subsequent press conference, Trump either shifted or completely reversed positions on a number of foreign and economic policy decisions, including the fate of the US Dollar, how to handle China and the future of the chair of the Federal Reserve.
• Trump wants health-care before tax reform, but expects both to be done by year end
  President Donald Trump said he intends to repeal Obamacare before moving on to tax reform and the rebuilding of U.S. infrastructure. “We're going to have a phenomenal tax reform, but I have to do health care first,” Trump said in an interview that aired Wednesday on Fox Business. Trump and the GOP House leaders last month canceled a planned vote on the American Health Care Act, which was the Republican plan to replace the Obama-era health-care law. In the interview, Trump said his initial August deadline for a tax reform plan will be moved back, but he plans to complete both health care and tax reforms by the end of this year.
• Recession Alert: Government Revenues Suffer Biggest Drop Since The Financial Crisis
  On the surface, today's monthly budget statement was disappointing: in March the US Treasury brought in total receipts of $216 billion, below the $228 billion last March, versus outlays of a record $392 billion, resulting in a deficit of $176 billion, more than the $167 billion expected, and $68 billion more than the previous year. For the fiscal year through March 31, the total US budget deficit was $527 billion, compared to $459 billion on year ago.
• Zimbabwe Central Bank To Accept Cows, TVs, Fridges As Collateral
  Long before China Huishan Dairy Holdings, China's largest daily farmer, became known as the latest Chinese corporate fraud whose stock crashed 90% in seconds after a Muddy Waters report brought attention to its questionable shadow banking funding, exposing the company as a hollow sham and leading to the prompt departure of four of its directors who hope (in vain) to escape prison time, the company was best known for being the first ever company to do cow-collateralized stock buybacks.
• Tony Robbins, Pitbull And 5 Other Signs That Toronto Real Estate Is About To Crash
  If Tony Robbins and Pitbull come to your town to present you with ‘an offer you can't refuse' to buy residential real estate after it's already surged over 200% in the past decade and 30-40% in the last year, that should be all the evidence you need to do the exact opposite.  If, however, you're the type of person that doesn't easily pick up on the ‘subtle' market cues then here's a couple more reasons to avoid Toronto real estate at all costs.
• “Worse Than Lehman” – Euro Uncertainty Spikes To Record High
  Investors are showing increasing concern before the French presidential elections, with market complacency giving way to extreme cautiousness. As Bloomberg reports, the spread between one-month and one-week implied volatilities on the euro versus the dollar closed at a record high of 6.35 percentage points on Monday, as near-term risks remain subdued and focus is almost solely placed on the chance that anti-euro candidate Marine Le Pen wins the race.
• Saudi Arabia Vs. Russia: The Next Oil Price War
  International oil markets could be heading towards a new war, as leading OPEC and non-OPEC producers are vying for increased stakes. The unexpected cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC countries, instigated by the full support of Saudi Arabia (OPEC) and Russia (non-OPEC) has brought some stabilization to the crude markets for almost half a year. The expected crude oil price crisis has been averted, it seems, leaving enough room when looking at the fundamentals to a bull market in the coming months. As long as Saudi Arabia, Russia and some other major producers (UAE, Kuwait), are supporting a production cut extension, financials will be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel.
• S&P 500 Chart Indicates A Potential Top Forming
  Below looks at the S&P 500 over the past couple of years on a weekly closing basis. The S&P hit a key level around 6-weeks ago and continues to “back off!” The Power of the Pattern applied Fibonacci to the 2016 “weekly closing highs and lows” at each (1), then applied the 161% extension level to them. SPY hit the 161% extension level around 6 weeks ago, at the 238 level and has proceeded to create a series of lower highs, while breaking a steep rising support line at (2). This line was created off the lows at the time of the election.
• Former Fed Analyst: Gold Is “Ultimate Safe-Haven Investment”
  From both an economic and political standpoint, it seems the only certainty in the world right now is uncertainty. As Danielle DiMartino Booth says, that’s a good reason to buy gold. Booth worked as an as an analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. After leaving the Fed, she founded Money Strong, LLC, an economic consulting firm. She also authored Fed Up: An Insider’s Take on Why the Federal Reserve Is Bad for America. In a recent appearance on Jay Taylor’s Turning Hard Times into Tough Times podcast, Booth called gold “the ultimate safe-haven investment.”
• The Ticking Debt Bomb
  Tick … tick … tick … That sound you hear is a ticking debt bomb. According to the most recent data released by the Federal Reserve, outstanding credit card debt eclipsed the $1 trillion mark in February, increasing 6.2% from a year ago. Credit card debt now stands at the highest level since the 2008 crash, according to Fortune. However, credit cards make up just one component of the debt bomb in America. Student and auto loan debt are also both above $1 trillion and rising. Total consumer credit rose by $15.2 billion in February to $3.79 trillion. The annual growth rate of total consumer debt stands at 4.8%.
• Bank of England Rigging LIBOR – Gold Market Too?
  The LIBOR scandal reemerged yesterday as the BBC’s Panorama uncovered a secret recording implicating the Bank of England in the interest rate manipulation saga. According to the BBC the central bank pressured commercial banks during the 2008 financial crisis to lower their settings for LIBOR. In a telephone recording, aired last night in the UK, a senior Barclays manager, Mark Dearlove, can be heard instructing Libor submitter Peter Johnson, to lower his rates. Mr Johnson: “So I’ll push them below a realistic level of where I think I can get money?” Mr Dearlove: “The fact of the matter is we’ve got the Bank of England, all sorts of people involved in the whole thing… I am as reluctant as you are… these guys have just turned around and said just do it.”
• Millennials Are Abandoning the Postwar Engines of Growth: Suburbs and Autos
  If anything defined the postwar economy between 1946 and 1999, it was the exodus of the middle class from cities to suburbs and the glorification of what Jim Kunstler calls Happy Motoring: freeways, cars and trucks, ten lanes of private vehicles, the vast majority of which are transporting one person. Ol’ 55 (freeway cars and trucks) (written by Tom Waits, performed by The Eagles). The build-out of suburbia drove growth for decades: millions of new suburban homes, miles of new freeways, sprawling shopping malls, and tens of millions of new autos, trucks, and SUVs, transforming one-car households into three vehicle households. Then there was all the furnishings for those expansive new homes, and the credit necessary to fund the homes, vehicles, furnishings, etc. Now the Millennial generation is turning its back on both of these bedrock engines of growth. As various metrics reveal, the Millennials are fine with taking Uber to work, buying their shoes from Zappos (return them if they don’t fit, no problem), and making whatever tradeoffs are necessary to live in urban cores.
• Is That Armageddon Over The Horizon?
  The insouciance of the Western world is extraordinary. It is not only Americans who permit themselves to be brainwashed by CNN, MSNBC, NPR, the New York Times and Washington Post, but also their counterparts in Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan, who rely on the war propaganda machine that poses as a media. The Western “leaders,” that is, the puppets on the end of the strings pulled by the powerful private interest groups and the Deep State, are just as insouciant. Trump and his counterparts in the American Empire must be unaware that they are provoking war with Russia and China, or else they are psychopaths. A new White House Fool has replaced the old fool. The New Fool has sent his Secretary of State to Russia. For what? To deliver an ultimatum? To make more false accusations? To apologize for the lies?
• Jim Rickards: Implementing Trump’s Economic Plan is “Sheer Fantasy”
  Is the so-called Trump Trade about to unravel? Economic analyst Jim Rickards thinks so. The Trump Trade rests on the idea that the president’s proposed policies of lower taxes, infrastructure spending, Obamacare repeal, and decreasing government regulations will juice the economy. As a result, corporate earnings will increase and the stock market will rise with them. Indeed, with Trump’s election, the stock market took off on a bull run. Between Election Day and March 1, the Dow gained 15%, moving from 18,332.74 to 21,115.55. Some have dubbed it the “Trump Bump.”
• Art Cashin – A Great Storm Is Brewing
  On this day in 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte stood in the hands of captors. Just three years earlier he had been the self-proclaimed Emperor of France, de Facto ruler of most of Europe and the proud father of a new-born son by his second wife. In addition, even his enemies had conceded him a unique sense of governance – his Napoleonic code stands to this day on two continents. But he had an aggressive M & A department that told him to gamble all this for a hostile takeover of Russia. It wasn’t junk bonds that did him in. Instead it was junk weather. When his victorious army found itself forthright but freezing, he was forced to retreat. And even though he fought off old enemies in incredible ways – once they touched French soil he abdicated to save his people.
• Grand Goal Is War
  Analyst/trader Gregory Mannarino says war should figure into any investment strategy because one is coming. Mannarino says, “It should be clear to people that we are now at a pivotal moment. . . . Whenever the economy in the United States starts to get shaky, unfortunately, we seem to escalate into new wars, and I think that is where we are going.  We have spoken about this in the past.  This is their grand goal.  War is the goal.  War has always been the goal.  We are already in it, and I really believe this war started a while ago.  It’s now really starting to come into the public light, and now we are in the propaganda war.  This is what goes on at the beginning of every major engagement.”
• Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen – April 13, 2017
  Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen with his regular short weekly video for readers of Pastor Williams' weekly newsletter.

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From James Harkin (Webmaster & Editor of LindseyWilliams.net). Here is a summary of articles of interest from around the world for this week. Please LIKE the Lindsey Williams Online Facebook Page to see stories posted daily regarding the current state of the economy around the world.

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Latest News From April 7, 2017 to April 13, 2017:

• The Price Of Gold Spikes As Investors Get Spooked By Talk Of World War III And Nuclear Conflict
  Whenever the world starts going crazy, investors instinctively begin flocking to precious metals.  So it wasn’t exactly a surprise when gold and silver prices started to move upward aggressively as global leaders continued to talk about the possibility of World War III and nuclear conflict.  The price of gold spiked to a five month high on Tuesday, and as I write this article gold is currently sitting at $1277.10 an ounce.  Right now silver is at $18.35 an ounce, and many analysts believe that it is poised for a dramatic jump in the weeks and months to come as global tensions continue to rise.  Google searches for the phrase “going to war” are the highest that they have been at any point in recent years, and many people out there are starting to understand that the U.S. could soon be facing military conflicts in Syria and in North Korea simultaneously.
• Donald Trump Is NOT Bluffing – So What Happens If Kim Jong-Un Is Not Bluffing Either?
  Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to “solve” the North Korean problem, and the North Koreans have repeatedly promised to use nuclear weapons in response to any attack by the U.S. military.  So what happens if both sides are not bluffing?  For eight years, Americans had become accustomed to Barack Obama making threats and never following through on them, so it surprised a lot of people when Trump actually backed up his words by striking Syria after publicly pledging to do so.  Now Trump has publicly committed to take military action in North Korea, and I am absolutely convinced that he is not bluffing.  But if Kim Jong-Un is not bluffing either, and I don’t think that he is, that means that we are on the verge of what could be a horrifying military conflict with the North Koreans.
• How China Is Keeping Its Financial System From Collapsing, In One Chart
  Overnight, Bloomberg has posted the latest article in a long-running series of warnings about the dangers of China's, now $9 trillion – and fast approaching 100% of GDP – shadow banking system, which it says is playing a “game of chicken with investors”, and which boils down to the following: if there is a high profile failure of any one of the countless wealth management product, or WMPs, which comprise the vast majority of China's shadow banking system, and if the government does not bail it out – as it has threatened on several occasions to do – there may be a mass “run on the shadow bank”, resulting in unknown adverse consequences for China's broader financial markets.
• California Taxpayers Expected To Nearly Double Public Pension Contributions Over Next 5 Years
  The California Policy Center (CPC) has just updated it's annual study on pension contributions required from local California municipalities and, to our complete ‘shock', the conclusions are brutal for Cali taxpayers.  Among other things, the study found that California taxpayers will be forced to double their contributions to CalPERS over just the next 5 years alone from $5.3 billion in 2017/2018 tax year to $9.8 billion in 2022/2023.
• Are Corporate Pensions About To Start Dumping Their $1 Trillion In Equity Holdings
  Several large public pensions around the country are in serious trouble and, after several years of paying out more in distributions than they take in (which is the textbook definition of a ponzi scheme, btw), many are just one more equity market crash away from completely running out of cash.  In fact, we recently wrote about how Chicago's largest pension fund could run out of cash within 4 years if such a scenario played out (see “How Chicago's Largest Pension May Run Out Of Cash In As Little As 4 Years”).
• Mac Slavo Warns Prepare For War: “It's Going To Obliterate The Global Financial System…”
  You know what’s so tragic about America? Despite all of the wars our nation gets involved in, we’re secretly one of the most peaceful cultures on the planet. We voted for George Bush, because he promised us a non-interventionist foreign policy. We voted for Obama, because he promised to bring the troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan. We voted for Trump, because he promised to end the nation building policies of his predecessor. And that’s the real tragedy. We’ve been voting for peace for nearly 20 years now, and all we get is war. That should really tell you something. It should tell you that our system doesn’t care about what the president stands for, or what the voters want. The system is never held accountable for anything, so there is nothing stopping it. One way or another, the deep state always gets its way. So if our government wants a war, then you can bet that we’re going to war.
• Gold Prices Surge Above Key 200 Day Moving Average $1270 Level
  Gold prices surged another 2% to a five-month high above $1,270 amidst geopolitical uncertainty and weak US economic data. The break above the 200-day moving average has cleared the way for a run towards $1,300/oz. It means that gold continues to be one of the best performing assets in 2017 with gains of 10.3% year to date building on the 9% gains in 2016. Gold’s move was a traditional flight to safety following the US’ missile attack on Syria and Trump making aggressive sounds regarding intervention against North Korea including tweets. The weak jobs report also prompted fears that future Fed interest rate hikes could be delayed or slowed and this has provided further support for the price of gold.
• Toshiba files unaudited results and says future is in doubt
  Toshiba has filed its delayed financial results, warning that the company's survival is at risk. “There are material events and conditions that raise substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern,” the company said in a statement. The electronics-to-construction giant reported a loss of 532bn yen (£3.8bn; $4.8bn) for April to December. However, the results have not been approved by the firm's auditors. These latest financial results have already been delayed twice and raise the possibility that Toshiba could be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Toshiba's president, Satoshi Tsunakawa, apologised for the problems facing the firm and called the auditor's decision not to approve the financial report as “truly regrettable”. He said he hoped the company would not be delisted.
• Confusion In Bond World, As Eurodollar Shorts Hit New Record High Over $3 Trillion
  One week after we observed the biggest monthly short squeeze in 10Y TSYs in history, it was a relatively calm week in the longer-end of the Treasury curve. According to the latest CFTC data, spec net shorts in aggregate Treasury futures was little changed from the previous week at 612K contracts in TY equivalents. While, they continued to pare net shorts in TU and TY by 18K and 14K contracts, respectively, they increased their  net shorts in FV and TN by 35K contracts and 6K contracts, respectively. Spec net shorts as share of open interest was unchanged at -5.8% over the week and was at about -2.0 standard deviations away from neutral.
• War on Cash Puts ECB, EU on Collision Course with Germany
  Relations between Germany, and the ECB have curdled in recent times over a key issue: the role of cash. Germans have a soft spot for physical lucre while the ECB and Europe’s executive branch, the European Commission, have openly expressed their desire to suppress, or even punish, its use. For Germany’s central bank, the Bundesbank, the war on cash is a war on personal freedom and choice, in the name of saving a financial system and its absurd negative interest rates. Last year Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann warned that it would be “disastrous” if people started to believe cash would be abolished — an oblique reference to the risk of negative interest rates and the escalating war on cash triggering a run on cash.
• Great Debt Unwind: Consumer Bankruptcies Jump, First since 2010. Commercial Bankruptcies Spike
  Commercial bankruptcy filings, from corporations to sole proprietorships, spiked 28% in March from February, the largest month-to-month move in the data series of the American Bankruptcy Institute going back to 2012. They’re up 8% year-over-year. Over the past 24 months, they soared 37%! At 3,658, they’re at the highest level for any March since 2013. Commercial bankruptcy filings skyrocketed during the Financial Crisis and peaked in March 2010 at 9,004. Then they fell sharply until they reached their low point in October 2015. November 2015 was the turning point, when for the first time since March 2010, commercial bankruptcy filings rose year-over-year.
• Government Shutdown Odds Are Rising, Goldman Warns
  Having been quite confident that Trump would be able to pass some form of Tax reform as recently as two weeks ago, Goldman's Washington analyst, Alec Phillips, is turning increasingly more pessimistic on the prospects that Trump's economic agenda will gain traction in Congress, especially now that attention has seemingly shifted to Trump's bombing policies in Syria (and perhaps North Korea in the not too distant future). In a note over the weekend, the Goldman strategist writes that “following the failure to pass the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which would repeal the Medicaid expansion and tax hikes enacted in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and reduce the tax subsidies for health insurance under that law, Republican leaders in the House have struggled to develop an alternative health proposal that might find enough support to pass. At this point, it still appears possible that the House could pass a revised version of the bill at some point in May. However, the compromises that might be made in the House to gain support are apt to reduce support in the Senate, and the process in that chamber would take much longer than even the drawn out House process, in our view.”
• Goldman Downgrades French Bonds Ahead Of Elections
  Roughly at the same time as today's French election narrative shifted again as traders started paying attention to the suddenly surging in the polls far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, which pushed the Euro to the lowest level in a month, Goldman has come out with a recommendation to short June OAT futures (OATM7) at 147-72, for an initial target of 144.00, and stops on a close above 150.00. In the note, Goldman's Francesco Garzarelli writes that a victory by a moderate reformist presidential candidate (Fillon, Macron), which is the base case at the bank, would result in a narrowing of French bond spreads but may be offset by a selloff in core rates. He writes that the “fair level” of 10-year spread to bunds is in the region of 30bp-40bp, from 70bp currently, according to Goldman.
• Three More Reasons to Worry about the Euro’s Future
  “Despite uncertainty over Brexit — formally triggered last week by prime minister Theresa May — central bankers from around the world see the UK as a safer prospect for their reserve investments than the Eurozone, a new poll reveals”: The Financial Times. At first whiff, this may smell counter intuitive. After all, it’s the UK that’s supposed to be in the weaker negotiating position over Brexit terms. It also risks losing a sizable chunk of its core industry, finance. Yet according to a survey of reserve managers at 80 central banks, who together are responsible for investments worth almost €6 trillion, the stability of the monetary union is their greatest fear for 2017.
• Buy, Sell, or Crash? Fed Warns on Stocks and Look what Happens
  The Fed has planted three separate warnings on high stock prices into its March-meeting Minutes, released last week. In the past, the Fed has warned on various occasions on high stock prices, with, let’s say mixed results. Stocks have crashed after warnings, and they have crashed without warnings, and they have soared after warnings. Perhaps the most infamous warning on stock prices was when Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan on December 5, 1996, said in a speech that “irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values.” Stocks quaked in their boots for about one breath then soared for another three years and three months before totally crashing.
• “A Blatant Display of Unscientific Propaganda:” Cornell Student Exposes GMO Propaganda in Scathing New Letter
  My name is Robert, and I am a Cornell University undergraduate student. However, I’m not sure if I want to be one any more. Allow me to explain. Cornell, as an institution, appears to be complicit in a shocking amount of ecologically destructive, academically unethical, and scientifically deceitful behavior. Perhaps the most potent example is Cornell’s deep ties to industrial GMO agriculture, and the affiliated corporations such as Monsanto. I’d like to share how I became aware of this troubling state of affairs.
• 700 jobs under threat as Jaeger falls into administration
  Fashion chain Jaeger has collapsed into administration, putting 700 high street jobs at risk. The group's directors have appointed AlixPartners to oversee the process following failed attempts by the company's private equity owner, Better Capital, to sell the struggling business. Jaeger – which employs around 680 staff across 46 stores, 63 concessions, its London head office and a logistics centre in Kings Lynn – had been on the market for around £30 million.
• 40 Different Studies that Confirm GMO Foods are Destroying Your Health
  There has been a debate raging about GMOs for a long time now. On one side of the debate is the idea that genetic engineering is progress for humanity, and it is a natural extension of more traditional breeding techniques. The other side believes genetically modified foods are unsafe for human consumption and harmful to the environment. Biotech companies claim that genetic modification yields more precise control over artificial selection. Studies funded by the industry consistently demonstrate safety, but only over the short term.
• Trump is Pushing US Into Scripted and Pre-Planned World War III
  Remember before the (s)election when Donald Trump, who was a New York Democrat running as a Republican, was the anti-war candidate? And Killary Clinton, who was a lifelong Democrat, the party that sells itself as the more anti-war party, was the war candidate? And, how Trump’s rhetoric about making friends with Russia and even letting Russia take care of ISIS in Syria led many to believe that the only way to get out of a potential World War III scenario was to vote for Trump? And then how Trump was elected, started saber-rattling with Russia… and China… and North Korea… and then bombed Syria just like Hillary Clinton would have? Yeah, that all happened.
• John Embry – A Catastrophic Endgame Is Rapidly Approaching
  With continued uncertainty in global markets, today John Embry told King World News that a catastrophic endgame is rapidly approaching. “Eric, in my vacation enforced absence, the pressure on the gold and silver markets has certainly intensified, as the usual suspects move Heaven and Earth to ensure that sharply rising gold and silver prices don’t undermine the fake reality created by the Western central banks and their almost manic manipulation of the larger markets — stocks, bonds, currencies, real estate, etc…
• Washington’s Deception Is Aimed at Russia
  According to a report on RT, Secretary of State Tillerson has on CBS backed away from his previously reported aggressive rhetoric reported by the presstitutes against Russia and Syria. According to the RT report, Tillerson said that Washington’s plan is to defeat ISIS, not to bring regime change to Syria. It is up to the Syrian people, Tillerson reportedly said, to choose their own president. Tillerson said on CBS that “We’ve seen what violent regime change looks like in Libya and the kind of chaos that can be unleashed and indeed the kind of misery that it enacts on its own people,” he said on CBS. “I think we have to learn the lessons of the past,” he emphasized on ABC, adding, “Any time you go on and have a violent change at the top, it is very difficult to create the conditions for stability longer term.”
• Honest Pension Returns Equal Mass-Bankruptcy
  Last year the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, otherwise known as Calpers, cut the expected return on the funds it invests for plan beneficiaries from 7.5% to 7%. Seems like a modest change that should have a correspondingly limited impact on all concerned, right? Alas, that’s not how things work in the realm of compound returns, where small initial changes produce hugely different outcomes. In fact, this is a bankruptcy-level event for some California cities.
• The Debt Crisis Of 2017: Once Their Vacation Ends, Congress Will Have 4 Days To Avoid A Government Shutdown On April 29
  April 2017 could turn out to be one of the most important months in U.S. history that we have seen in a very long time.  On April 6th, Donald Trump attacked Syria on the 100th anniversary of the day that the U.S. officially entered World War I, and now at the end of this month we could be facing an unprecedented political crisis in Washington.  On Friday, members of Congress left town for their two week “Easter vacation”, and they won’t resume work until April 25th.  What this means is that Congress will have precisely four days when they get back to pass a bill to fund government operations or there will be a government shutdown starting on April 29th. Up to this point, there has been very little urgency by either party to move a spending bill forward.  It is almost as if everyone is already resigned to the fact that a government shutdown will happen.  The Democrats will greatly benefit from a government shutdown because they can just blame the entire mess on the Republicans.  But for the GOP, this is essentially the equivalent of political malpractice. To me, there is simply no way that Congress is going to be able to agree on a bill that funds the entire government in just four days.  And it turns out that this upcoming deadline comes exactly on the 100th day of Trump’s presidency…
• Not Prepared: Will Most Americans Be Absolutely Blindsided By Multiple Wars And A Simultaneous Economic Collapse?
  According to CBS News, an astounding three-fourths of all Americans have to “scramble to cover their living costs” each month.  In other words, most of the country is either living paycheck to paycheck or very close to it.  But instead of tightening their belts and trying to put something away for the very hard times that are coming, most Americans are completely and utterly unprepared for what is ahead because the people that they trust on television keep telling them that everything is going to be okay.  Unfortunately, everything is not going to be “okay”, and when things start falling apart all around us there is going to be a lot of anger directed toward those that have been lulling everyone into a false sense of security.
• South Korean Paper Reports China Has Deployed 150,000 Troops To North Korea Border
  While the catalyst is unclear, it appears the market dropped as headlines of further sanctions against Russia appeared and reports of China deploying 150,000 troops to its North Korea border. According to Korean news agency Chosun, the “Chinese army has deployed about 150,000 troops to the North Korean border in two groups to prepare for unforeseen circumstances.” The reason: the prospect of “military options”, such as preemptive attacks on North Korea, like the one the United States launched on Syria.
• First Ever Global Government Crash Coming
  Internet data mining expert Clif High uses what he calls “predictive linguistics” to spot trends and make predictions for future events. In his latest in-depth report, High sees a “huge” calamity coming for humanity.  Clif High explains, “There is all kinds of data for money and lack of money and lack of funding and all kinds of emotions around this.  There are hints in the data that something huge is coming for August and September that is being exposed by the language now.  I think it’s a bond crash or not a bond crash because I don’t know how that works.  It’s not a stock market crash.  The data I am looking at now says the stock market is not meaningful.  We may lose 50 cents on every dollar in the stock market in just a few days, but it’s meaningless.  It won’t make any difference at all to anybody according to what the data is showing me because the real crisis is in the crash of government.”
• America’s Retailers Are Closing Stores Faster Than Ever
  The battered American retail industry took a few more lumps this week, with stores at both ends of the price spectrum preparing to close their doors. At the bottom, the seemingly ubiquitous Payless Inc. shoe chain filed for bankruptcy and announced plans to shutter hundreds of locations. Ralph Lauren Corp., meanwhile, said it will close its flagship Fifth Avenue Polo store — a symbol of old-fashioned luxury that no longer resonates with today’s shoppers. And the teen-apparel retailer Rue21 Inc. could be the next casualty. The chain, which has about 1,000 stores, is preparing to file for bankruptcy as soon as this month, according to people familiar with the situation. Just a few years ago, it was sold to private equity firm Apax Partners for about a billion dollars. “It’s an industry that’s still in search for answers,” said Noel Hebert, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “I don’t know how many malls can reinvent themselves.”
• Creepy IMF Paper Teaches Governments How to Wage War on Cash
  There’s been another shot fired in the “war on cash.” Recently, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a working paper offering governments suggestions on how to move toward a cashless society even in the face of strong public opposition. Over the last several years, we’ve seen a steady push to eliminate, or at least limit, the use of cash around the world. In May of 2016, the European Central bank announced it will stop producing and issuing 500-euro notes by the end of 2018. Not long before the EU announcement, a former Obama economic adviser/ex-Treasury secretary floated the idea of eliminating the $100 bill in the US.
• Larry Lindsey – What The World Is Now Witnessing Is Unprecedented
  On the heels of the U.S. attack on Syria, the man who served three U.S. presidents and was also a governor of the Federal Reserve, told King World News that what we are now witnessing is unprecedented. “When you look at the U.S. economy, Larry, there’s a rot that’s underneath it.  John Williams of Shadowstats keeps track of the real unemployment, and when he quantifies it the way they used to in the 1980s it’s around 23%.  We haven’t really seen it come off of that 23% figure yet.
• A Loss Of Faith In The American Dream And Why All Roads Lead To China And A New Gold-Backed Monetary System
  On the heels of wild week that included a missile attack against Syria, today one of the top money managers in the world spoke with King World News about a loss of faith in the American dream and why all roads lead to China and a new gold-backed monetary system. “One of the most disquieting reports to come out recently has been that in the U.S. – in contrast to every other developed country – death rates have been rising among middle-aged, largely middle-class whites. At the century’s start, death rates for this demographic were roughly equal in the U.S., France, and Germany. Today death rates in the U.S. are more than 30 percent greater…
• The U.S. Entered World War I On April 6, 1917 – Did Trump Just Start World War III On April 6, 2017?
  Did World War III begin on April 6th, 2017?  After Donald Trump fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Syria on Thursday night, millions of Americans were cheering, but the cheering isn’t going to last for long if a new world war erupts.  What is amazing to me is that this happened on the 100th anniversary of the United States entry into World War I.  The U.S. officially entered that war on April 6th, 1917, and now 100 years later to the day Donald Trump has essentially declared war on Syria. If you think using the term “World War III” is alarmist, you might want to tell that to the vast numbers of people that are buzzing about a new world war all over social media.  If you don’t yet understand why a strike on Syria could be so dangerous, go back and read my article from yesterday.  If we continue striking Syria, we could very easily find ourselves in a direct military conflict with Russia, Iran and Hezbollah.
• Ron Paul: “Zero Chance” Assad Behind Chemical Weapons Attack In Syria; Likely A False Flag
  According to former Congressman Ron Paul, the chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun that killed 30 children and has led to calls for the Trump administration to intervene in Syria could have been a false flag attack. As Paul Joseph Watson details, pointing out that the prospect of peace in Syria was moving closer before the attack, with ISIS and Al-Qaeda on the run, Paul said the attack made no sense.
• Why Traders Are Now Selling Insurance To Protect Against Volatility: A “Feedback Loop” Theory
  Over the past several months, one of the proposals floated on this website to explain the strange collapse in volatility at a time when uncertainty has soared, was the so-called “negative convexity” gamma trade, demonstrated best by the Catalyst Funds' Hedged Futures Strategy Fund in mid-February, according to which traders buying vol has led to dealers offsetting these purchases with more than proportional purchases of offsetting underlying assets as a hedge, in the process pushing sending realized – and thus implied – volatility even lower. Today, the WSJ picks up on this idea, and looks at a possible “feedback loop” scenario in which selling of volatility leads to even more selling of volatility, resulting in a market in which the VIX appears oddly disconnected from prevailing nervous sentiment. According to the WSJ's Jon Sindreau, the theory, advanced by several money managers, bankers and analysts, “describes a type of feedback loop in which calm markets make selling insurance against sharp swings in asset prices profitable, which makes the markets more calm, which then makes selling insurance yet more attractive. And on and on.”
• Gerald Celente Just Released Third Major Trend Forecast For 2017!
  On a day where stocks are rallying and gold is weaker, top trends forecaster Gerald Celente has just released a third major trend forecast for 2017! Who Ever Said 2017 Would Be A Dull Year? “At the Trends Research Institute, we observe three worlds of influence that drive trends up or bring them down: The media world, the political world and the real world. For the vast majority of society, beliefs are established and decisions are influenced by mass-media headline stories and social-media sound bites… both of which are steeped in overtones from the political world and passed off as news you can use. Absent real-world facts and solid numbers – as the Donald Trump stock market rally, which has entered its fifth month, stalls – the 10 percent Standard & Poor’s bounce was pumped up by the business-media world of economic hype and the political world of hope and change you can believe in…
• Michael Savage Turns on Trump, Says Syrian Gas Attack Was False Flag Operation
  Conservative talk show host, Michael Savage, who fervently supported Trump during the Presidential campaign, soured on him today. Savage, referencing his background in science, having a PhD in epidemiology, said the alleged gas attack in the ISIS controlled city of Idlib was most likely phosgene and not sarin. Backing up his claim that the attack did not contain sarin, Savage made reference to photos showing first-responders attending to bodies without gloves or protective gear. Had sarin been used in the attack, all of those men in white helmets would be dead.
• IMF De-Cashing: Soft-Selling Financial Enslavement
  The IMF (International Monetary Fund) or as I like to call them – International Mafia Federation – is showing its true colors and proving beyond question this organization is nothing more than street-corner-thugs in high priced suits. With the release of this latest working paper on how to enslave nations, steal the remaining sovereignty of the people and the nations they have drawn up plans to force a cashless society upon all the people within IMF member nations.
• Uncertainty and the Humility of Forecasting an Unknowable Future
  Certainty and uncertainty come in a variety of flavors. “Certainty” seems rather definite, but lurking beneath certainty is the more scientifically verifiable notion of probability: the probability of outcomes can be high enough to qualify as certain and low enough to qualify as unlikely. We can’t know with perfect certainty that our neighbor hasn’t invented a death-ray and may decide to test it on us due to that simmering feud over his dog Fluffy’s antics on our yard. But we can make an assessment of the probability of this occurring, and conclude the probability is low with a high degree of certainty.
• The World’s Best Economist
  If you want to learn real economics instead of neoliberal junk economics, read Michael Hudson’s books. What you will learn is that neoliberal economics is an apology for the rentier class and the large banks that have succeeded in financializing the economy, shifting consumer spending power from the purchase of goods and services that drive the real economy to the payment of interest and fees to banks. His latest book is J is for Junk Economics. It is written in the form of a dictionary, but the definitions give you the precise meaning of economic terms, the history of economic concepts, and describe the transformation of economics from classical economics, where the emphasis was on taxing incomes that are not the product of the production of goods and services, to neoliberal economics, which rests on the taxation of labor and production.
• Social Media Companies Must Be Made Public Utilities to Stop Further Abuse
  Political correctness has become a cancer in Western society. It inhibits the free and open discussion of ideas, making all of us the worse off for it as it slowly erodes our proud culture of free and open speech. And we’re not talking about repressing anything even close to hate speech, unless you think that dressing up in the colors of the American flag is somehow hate speech. And no, that’s not a joke. In today’s information age, free speech has never been more powerful, or threatening to established powers. And because freedom of speech is generally enshrined in Western culture while censorship is frowned upon, they have had to go with other routes to censor information. Their latest ‘non-censorship censorship’ tactic is to simply label it as ‘fake news’. And while that’s been going on for a while, Germany has stepped it up by putting it into law.
• Ron Paul: “The Neo-Conservatives Won”
  It's “a victory for neo-conservatives” is how Ron Paul described the US strike on Syria, saying that he does not expect peace talks to resume any time soon. Speaking to RT, Ron Paul said that there is no proof of Damascus’ guilt that could trigger such a rash and violent response from the US. “I don't think the evidence is there, at least it hasn’t been presented, and they need a so-called excuse, they worked real hard, our government and their coalition.” This is not the first time something like this has happened in Syria or elsewhere, Paul said, but now it is convenient to pay attention and react immediately.
• Millions of Google Android Phones Actively Spying On Their Users Privacy
  The question of the recent decades has been how much of our liberty can we and should we give up in the name of security. And while that question continues to persist, the new question of the modern age is how much privacy can we and should we give up in the name of convenience? We have apps that make life infinitely easier and more convenient, but with each app we use we give them some of our personal data. And while most of us think we can control what data each app gets, new research shows we might be gravely mistaken.
• The Spoils of War: Trump Lavished With Media and Bipartisan Praise For Bombing Syria
  IN EVERY TYPE of government, nothing unites people behind the leader more quickly, reflexively or reliably than war. Donald Trump now sees how true that is, as the same establishment leaders in U.S. politics and media who have spent months denouncing him as a mentally unstable and inept authoritarian and unprecedented threat to democracy are standing and applauding him as he launches bombs at Syrian government targets. Trump, on Thursday night, ordered an attack that the Pentagon said included the launching of 59 Tomahawk missiles which “targeted aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars.” The governor of Homs, the Syrian province where the attack occurred, said early this morning that the bombs killed seven civilians and wounded nine.
• Germany RIP
  Who would have imagined that the once great German nation would be ruled by Washington? It is extraordinary, but that is what has happened. Merkel, Washington’s whore, has agreed to fill up Germany with the refugees from Washington’s 16 years of illegal wars against Muslims in North Africa and the Middle East. These are wars that Merkel’s corrupt government enabled. The German people themselves are not pleased with this result, but their rising voice is being throttled by Merkel legislation ordered by Washington that defines opposition to accommodating Washington’s war refugees as “hate speach.” Washington’s whore and the whore’s subservient German cabinet want to impose fines of $53 million dollars on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms if they permit complaints about Germany being overrun by Muslims. Those who complain, that is, those who use Germany’s guaranteed free speech, are defined as hate criminals or purveyors of fake news.
• The Imperial War Machine Marches Forward Under Donald Trump
  Given Trump’s statements on Syria this morning, I’m moving from “becoming concerned,” to nearly convinced that Donald Trump will not only expand America’s idiotic, ongoing wars, but at the same time, start some new ones. This chemical attack just happened, how does he know the Assad regime did this? Is it because the same deep state people who have been trying to sabotage him sine day one told him so? Is he that stupid? Does it even make sense considering things were going pretty well for Assad in the conflict before this attack? No, it doesn’t, and many people are starting to ask these questions.
• Trump Has Surrendered. Will Putin Be The Next To Surrender?
  Washington has reopened the conflict with a Tomahawk missile attack on Syrian Air Force Bases. The Russian/Syrian air defense systems did not prevent the attack. The Washington Establishment has reasserted control. First Flynn and now Bannon. All that are left in the Trump administration are the Zionists and the crazed generals who want war with Russia, China, Iran, Syria, and North Korea. There is no one in the White House to stop them. Kiss good-bye normalized relations with Russia.
• Quick Look At How The U.S. Attack On Syria Will Really Impact Markets In Coming Days, Plus Today’s Other Big Surprise…
  Here is a quick look at how the U.S. attack on Syria will really impact markets in coming days, plus today’s other big surprise. But first, a look at that jobs report. Here is what Peter Boockvar wrote today as the world awaits the next round of monetary madness:  March payrolls grew by just 98k, almost half the estimate of up 180k and the two prior months were revised down by 38k. Of this, the private sector added just 89k jobs vs the estimate of up 170k. In contrast, the household survey said 472k new jobs were created and because the size of the labor force grew by 145k, the U3 unemployment rate fell to 4.5% from 4.7%, the lowest since May 2007 and is just one tenth from matching the low in the mid 2000’s expansion…
• #NoWarInSyria: If You Don’t Want World War III In The Middle East You Need To Let Your Voice Be Heard NOW
  We are closer to the start of World War III than we have been in decades.  In part 3 of this series of articles, I discussed the fact that President Trump’s team was preparing a “military response” in Syria and that a “coalition” is being formed to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power.  Well, as I am writing this article the missiles have started flying.  Cruise missiles from a U.S. Navy vessel in the Mediterranean Sea have hit multiple targets inside Syria, and many fear that what we have just witnessed could be the beginning of a broader conflict. Trump should not have done this, because according to the U.S. Constitution the president needs the approval of Congress to go to war.  Fortunately there are still a few members of Congress that still care about the Constitution and that are bold enough to point out this fact.
• Putin believes US attack on Syria violates international law – spokesman
  President Putin “regards the strikes as aggression against a sovereign nation,” his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, noting that the president believes the strikes were carried out “in violation of international law, and also under an invented pretext.”
• Trump Prepares ‘Military Response’ For Syria As Tillerson Works To Form A ‘Coalition’ To Remove Assad From Power
  It makes me physically ill when I think that the U.S. could be on the verge of starting a disastrous war in the Middle East that will not benefit us in any way, shape or form.  I can’t believe this is happening, and a lot of other people apparently can’t either.  In fact, there were some that heavily criticized me when I suggested that Donald Trump had just committed to taking military action in Syria in part 1 and part 2 of this series of articles.  But less than 24 hours later, the front page of USA Today was running this jarring headline: “Trump team developing military response in Syria”.  It is interesting to note that this came on the 77th day of Trump’s presidency, and on Thursday it was also revealed that the Trump administration is working to put together an international coalition to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power.
• Trump Attacks Syria, Spying on Trump Worse than Watergate, Fed Dumping Debt
  The “War Card” has been flipped over as President Trump orders an attack on Syria. The attack came as a response to the chemical weapons attack in Syria allegedly by the Assad regime.  Not everyone is buying the story it was Assad that ordered a gas attack on his own people.  Former Congressman Ron Paul thinks it was a false flag to get the U.S. to make a move against Assad.  Now, the U.S. foreign policy in Syria has gone from destroying ISIS to removing Bashar al-Assad from power in Syria.  Russia will surely weigh in.  Will the Russians stand by and allow Assad to be attacked and removed by the U.S.?
• Debt Based System Running Out of Steam-Paul Craig Roberts
  Former Assistant Treasury Secretary in the Reagan Administration, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, sees trouble for the economy. Dr. Roberts explains, “This image of a strong stock market is based essentially on debt, borrowing and debt, money creation and debt.  It’s a false signal that shows prosperity, and it’s not really there. . . . So, during a period of time when there has been no interest income on peoples’ savings in the form of bonds or CDs, there has also been no growth in Social Security income.  So, the elderly, or the largest block of them, are hard pressed.  The young come out of school with student debt and no good jobs.  A large percentage can’t find sufficient employment to support an independent existence.  They can’t possibly pay off the loans.  So, wherever you look, you see a debt based system that’s running out of steam.”
• Trump Defunds The Agency Responsible For Implementing The Sick Population Control Agenda Of The United Nations
  All over the world, the United Nations Population Fund has been promoting abortion and sterilization as ways to slow down the rate at which the population of the planet is growing.  In some cases, the United Nations Population Fund has actually partnered with countries that have conducted forced abortions and involuntary sterilizations.  In other words, those procedures were being done to women against their will.  The United Nations Population Fund is the tip of the spear when it comes to implementing the UN’s twisted population control agenda, and so Donald Trump should be greatly congratulated for defunding them.
• In Anticipation Of The Coming American Apocalypse, 2 Lawmakers Plan To Create ‘Christian Survivalist Centers’ In Rural Areas
  A couple of lawmakers from South Carolina want to establish a network of self-sufficient communities in their state in preparation for “societal collapse”.  In the long-term, they hope to “train and equip one million neighborhood leaders” that will be able to establish “a fresh beginning for America” in the aftermath of the great crisis that is coming.  State Representatives Josiah Magnuson and Jonathon Hill are both relatively young, they were both home-schooled, and each of their fathers are pastors.  They are calling their dream the “Virtue Solution Project”, and they are examples of a new breed of American politician that recognizes that the system is failing and that we desperately need to return to the values that this nation was founded upon.
• Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen – April 6, 2017
  Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen with his regular short weekly video for readers of Pastor Williams' weekly newsletter.

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From James Harkin (Webmaster & Editor of LindseyWilliams.net). Here is a summary of articles of interest from around the world for this week. Please LIKE the Lindsey Williams Online Facebook Page to see stories posted daily regarding the current state of the economy around the world.

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Latest News From March 31, 2017 to April 6, 2017:

• Now That Trump’s ‘Red Line’ Has Been Crossed, Will He Turn Damascus Into A ‘Ruinous Heap’?
  Will a false flag chemical attack in Syria’s Idlib province be the trigger that causes World War 3 to erupt in the Middle East?  In Part I of this series, I discussed how previous chemical attacks that were blamed on the Assad regime actually turned out to be false flag attacks conducted by Syrian rebels that were absolutely desperate to draw the United States into the Syrian civil war on their side.  And considering the fact that the Syrian rebels have been consistently losing territory in recent months, they are now more desperate than ever.  So even though it didn’t work before, they probably figured that a false flag chemical attack was worth one more try, and so far the Trump administration appears to be buying it hook, line and sinker.  Trump has called the attack a “terrible affront to humanity”, and he is placing all of the blame on the shoulders of the Assad regime.  But now that Trump has committed the U.S. to take military action in Syria, what is that actually going to look like?
• Donald Trump Has Just Committed The United States To A Disastrous War In Syria
  Rumors of war are percolating in Washington D.C., and if the Trump administration is not extremely careful it may find itself fighting several disastrous wars simultaneously.  Just one day after threatening North Korea with war, Donald Trump has committed to taking military action against the Assad regime in Syria.  Trump is blaming the chemical attack in Syria’s Idlib province on Tuesday on the Syrian government, and he is pledging that the United States will not just sit by and do nothing in response.  Unfortunately for all of us, military contingents from Russia, Iran and Hezbollah are mixed in among the Syrian forces, and so any strike on the Syrian military could potentially spark World War 3.
• The Next Subprime Crisis Is Here: 12 Signs That A Day Of Reckoning Has Arrived For The U.S. Auto Industry
  In 2008, subprime mortgages almost single-handedly took down the entire financial system, and now a new subprime crisis is here.  In recent years, the auto industry has been able to boost sales by aggressively pushing people into auto loans that they cannot afford.  In particular, auto loans made to consumers with subprime credit have been accounting for an increasingly larger percentage of the market.  Unfortunately, when you make loans to people that should not be getting them, eventually a lot of those loans are going to start to go bad, and that is precisely what is happening now.  Meanwhile, automakers and dealers are starting to panic as sales have begun to fall and used car prices have started to crash.  If you work in the auto industry, you might remember how horrible the last recession was, and this new downturn could eventually turn out to be even worse.
• September 6, 1984: Ron Paul Warns of Surveillance State
  1984 … A dystopian novel that ended up being an instruction guide for government. Back in 1984, Ron Paul was warning America of the “disgusting” surveillance that was emerging in “a professed free society.”
• China plans to build new city nearly three times the size of New York
  A hitherto anonymous region near China’s smog-choked capital has been overrun by house buyers after Beijing unveiled “historic” plans to build a new city there in a bid to slash pollution and congestion. Plans for the Xiongan New Area, a special economic zone that authorities say will eventually cover an area nearly three times that of New York, were announced by the Communist party’s top leaders on Saturday with a flurry of government propaganda. In a joint statement two of China’s most powerful political bodies, the central committee and state council, described the new city, which will straddle three counties about 100km southwest of Beijing, as “a strategy crucial for a millennium to come”.
• How Chicago's Largest Pension May Run Out Of Cash In As Little As 4 Years
  Chicago's pension funds, along with several other large public pensions around the country, are in serious trouble (we recently discussed the destruction awaiting our financial markets here: “Are Collapsing Pensions “About To Bring Hell To America”?”). The problem is that the pending doom surrounding these massive public pension obligations often get clouded over by complicated actuarial math with a plan's funded status heavily influenced by discount rates applied to future liability streams. Take Chicago's largest pension fund, the Municipal Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago (MEABF), as an example.  Most people focus on a funds ‘net funded status', which for the MEABF is a paltry 20.3%.  But the problem with focusing on ‘funded status' is that it can be easily manipulated by pension administrators who get to simply pick the rate at which they discount future liabilities out of thin air.
• Prepare For “Manias, Panics And Crashes”: An Ominous Warning From Bank Of America
  Bank of America's Michael Hartnett is back with another controversial note overnight, reminding readers that “it ain't a normal cycle” for one overarching reason: central banks. As Hartnett explains, the catalyst for bull in equity and credit markets since 2009 was the “revolutionary monetary policy of central banks” who, since Lehman, “have cut rates 679 times and bought $14.2tn of financial assets.” And, once again, he warns that this central bank “liquidity supernova” is coming to an end, as is “the period of excess returns in equities and corporate bonds, as is the period of suppressed volatility.”
• Moscow And Beijing Join Forces To Bypass US Dollar In Global Markets, Shift To Gold Trade
  The Russian central bank opened its first overseas office in Beijing on March 14, marking a step forward in forging a Beijing-Moscow alliance to bypass the US dollar in the global monetary system, and to phase-in a gold-backed standard of trade. According to the South China Morning Post the new office was part of agreements made between the two neighbours “to seek stronger economic ties” since the West brought in sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis and the oil-price slump hit the Russian economy. According to Dmitry Skobelkin, the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Russia, the opening of a Beijing representative office by the Central Bank of Russia was a “very timely” move to aid specific cooperation, including bond issuance, anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism measures between China and Russia.
• Connecticut Set To Become First State To Allow Deadly Police Drones
  Connecticut could become the first US state to allow police to use drones equipped with deadly weapons if a bill opposed by civil libertarians becomes law. The bill, which was approved overwhelmingly by the state legislature's judiciary committee on Wednesday, would ban so-called weaponized drones in the state but exempts police and other agencies involved in law enforcement, the AP reported. The legislation was introduced as a complete ban on weaponized drones but just before the committee vote it was amended to exclude police from the restriction. Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, a Democrat, was reviewing the proposal, “however in previous years he has not supported this concept,” spokesman Chris Collibee wrote in an email.
• Auto Industry Resorts To Biggest Incentives Ever To Slow Decline In Sales
  The Last time automakers tried this was in 2009! In a few days, automakers are going to report their new vehicle deliveries for March. TrueCar, Kelley Blue Book, and LMC Automotive are predicting total vehicle sales slightly above the flat-line compared to March a year ago, though sales were down year-over-year in both January and February. TrueCar forecasts an increase of 0.2% year-over-year to 1.586 million new cars and light trucks, with retail deliveries (excluding fleet sales) growing 1% to 1.276 million units. J.D. Power and LMC Automotive said on Friday that they expect an increase of 1.9%, to 1.62 million units, with retails sales up 1%, boosted by record incentives.
• First Post-Brexit Tremors: Theresa May “Would Go To War” To Protect Gibraltar
  The ink has yet to dry on Theresa May's Article 50 signature from last week which officially started the UK's 2-year long divorce from the EU, and already Europe has been traumatized by comments from former Conservative leader Michael Howard, who suggested that Theresa May is be prepared to go to war to protect Gibraltar as Margaret Thatcher once did for the Falklands, comments which according to the Guardian were “immediately criticized as inflammatory.” Howard told Sky News on Sunday that: “There is no question whatever that our Government will stand by Gibraltar… 35 years ago this week another woman Prime Minister sent a task force half way across the World to defend the freedom of another small group of British people against another Spanish-speaking country…. I am absolutely certain our current Prime Minister will show the same resolve in standing by the people of Gibraltar.”
• What Is America Going To Look Like When Stocks, Home Prices And Even Used Cars All Crash By At Least 50 Percent?
  Have you ever thought about what comes after the bubble?  In 2008 we got a short preview of what life will be like, but most Americans seem to have come to the conclusion that the last financial crisis was just a minor bump in the road toward endless economic prosperity.  But of course the truth is that the ridiculously high debt-fueled standard of living that we are enjoying now is not sustainable, and after this bubble bursts it will be an extremely painful adjustment for our society. Since the last financial crisis, the U.S. national debt has nearly doubled, corporate debt has doubled, stock valuations have reached exceedingly ridiculous extremes, the student loan debt bubble has surpassed a trillion dollars, we are facing the largest unfunded pension crisis in U.S. history, and in many parts of the country (particularly the west coast) we are facing a housing bubble that is even worse than the one that burst in 2007 and 2008.
• Maybe The Recovery Wasn’t Real After All
  For a while there it looked like the US and its main trading partners had finally achieved escape velocity. Growth was up, inflation was poking through the Fed’s 2% target, and most measures of consumer sentiment were bordering on euphoric. Then it all started to evaporate. Lackluster manufacturing and consumer spending reports sent the Atlanta Fed’s reading of Q1 GDP off a cliff to less than 1%.
• You Do Not Go To War With Your Own People
  Donald Trump is making the exact same tragic mistake that other prominent leaders have made in the past. You never, ever, ever go to war with your own people. Yes, you may have some very serious disagreements with your own team sometimes, but you never go to war with them. When Trump openly declared war on the Freedom Caucus, he immediately lost the support of millions of conservatives. And now Trump is going to have a tremendously difficult time getting anything on his agenda through Congress, because without Freedom Caucus votes the Democrats will be able to block just about everything that Trump wants to do.
• Money Riots Coming in Next Financial Collapse
  Financial expert and four time, best-selling book author James Rickards says there is no avoiding another economic collapse. Every time the economy suffers a setback, such as recently hitting a $20 trillion debt ceiling in the United States Congress, things get a little worse. Rickards explains, “The point of my books, ‘The Death of Money’ and my more recent book ‘The Road to Ruin,’ is that these are like snowflakes building up to cause an avalanche.  The avalanche is the instability of the financial system as a whole.  The concentrations of assets among the banks, the interconnectedness of the system, and almost a $1 quadrillion, not $1 trillion, $1 quadrillion, that’s a $1,000 trillion of notional value of derivatives, all these things are unstable.  What does it take to cause that avalanche?  What does it take to cause a loss of confidence in the system?  These are major body blows.  When you say the government will shut down or you say the government can’t borrow, the Congress is really playing with fire here.  We are going through some very dangerous periods.  I am not saying the system is going to collapse in the next 30 days.  I am saying the system is very vulnerable to collapse, and it will collapse sooner than later.  These are the kind of things that can cause it. . . . We are really playing with fire here.”
• The Ticking Time Bomb That Will Wipe Out Virtually Every Pension Fund In America
  Are millions of Americans about to see the big, juicy pensions that they were counting on to fund their golden years go up in flames in the biggest financial disaster in U.S. history? When Bloomberg published an editorial entitled “Pension Crisis Too Big for Markets to Ignore“, it simply confirmed what a lot of people already knew to be true.  Pension funds all over America are woefully underfunded, and they have been pouring mind boggling amounts of money into very risky investments such as Internet stocks and commercial mortgages.  Just like with subprime mortgages in 2008, this is a crisis that everyone can see coming well in advance, and yet nothing is being done about it. On a day to day basis, Americans generally don’t think very much about pensions.  Most of those that have been promised pensions simply have faith that they will be there when they need them. Unfortunately, the truth is that pension plans all over the country are severely underfunded, and this has already resulted in local fiascos such as the one that we just witnessed in Dallas.
• A Cyber-Gulf of Tonkin
  The “cyber-security” firm that everyone is depending on to make the case for Russia’s alleged “hacking” of the 2016 presidential election, CrowdStrike, has just retracted a key component of its analysis – but the “mainstream” media continues to chug along, ignoring any facts that contradict their preferred narrative. As Voice of America – hardly an instrument of Russian propaganda! – reports: “U.S. cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has revised and retracted statements it used to buttress claims of Russian hacking during last year’s American presidential election campaign. The shift followed a VOA report that the company misrepresented data published by an influential British think tank.” This retraction pulls the rug out from under CrowdStrike’s identification of the hacking group that supposedly broke into the Democratic National Committee’s server.
• High doses of vitamin C can help treat cancer, scientists find
  High doses of vitamin C injected into the blood stream could help treat cancer, new research from scientists suggests. Injecting patients with a dose 1,000 times higher than the recommended level could target tumour cells and make radiation and chemotherapy more effective. Scientists gave eleven brain cancer sufferers regular dosages of vitamin C every week for nine months while receiving typical radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Tests showed the extra vitamin – usually found in oranges, green vegetables, broccoli and strawberries – made cancer cells more susceptible to treatment.
• The Root Cause of Health Care Dysfunction
  Largely absent from the vigorous debate over reforming the nation’s health care laws is the understanding that simply being covered by health insurance does not reduce health care costs. Before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed in March 2010, President Obama repeatedly promised that the typical family’s health premiums would go down by (sometimes “up to” but frequently “on average”) $2,500. That decline did not occur because the ACA strengthened the control that insurance companies—as opposed to patients—have over health care spending. In fact, Americans’ increasing dependence on health insurance over the last seven decades has been a major contributor to exploding health costs. It’s a fundamental economic truth that too much health insurance actually increases costs. That is why other types of insurance—think of car accidents or warehouse fires—only cover catastrophic costs. According to my new study published by the Mercatus Center, the full cost impact of our health insurance, provided by both government and private insurers, is staggering.
• 43 Facts About Love, Sex, Dating And Marriage That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe
  Is it more difficult for a woman to find a husband in America today compared to several decades ago?  If a couple lives together before marriage, are they more likely or less likely to get divorced?  Are married men more satisfied with their intimate relationships than single men are?  You will get answers to these questions and many more in this article, and what the numbers actually show may surprise you.  The truth is that there have been some seismic cultural shifts when it comes to romantic love, courtship, marriage and parenting in America.  The way things worked for our parents and grandparents is not necessarily the way that things work in 2017.  I expect that the statistics I am about to share with you will provoke some extremely strong reactions, and that is okay, because we need to have open and honest discussions about these things.
• Credit Suisse Offices Raided In Multiple Tax Probes: Gold Bars, Paintings, Jewelry Seized
  Credit Suisse has confirmed that the Swiss bank, some of its employees and hundreds of account holders are the subjects of a major tax evasion probe launched in UK, France, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands, setting back Swiss attempts to clean up its image as a haven for tax evaders. According to Bloomberg, Dutch investigators seized jewellery, paintings and even gold bars as part of a sweeping investigation into tax evasion and money laundering in the Netherlands. They added that the sums involved amounted to “many millions” of lost tax revenue.
• Here’s Why Italy’s Banking Crisis Has Gone Off The Radar
  For a country that is on the brink of a gargantuan public bailout of its toxic-loan riddled banking sector, or failing that, a full-blown financial crisis that could bring down the European financial system, things are eerily quiet in Italy these days. It’s almost as if the more serious the crisis gets, the less we hear about it — otherwise, investors and voters might get spooked. And elections are coming up. But an article published in the financial section of Italian daily Il Sole lays out just how serious the situation has become. According to new research by Italian investment bank Mediobanca, 114 of the close to 500 banks in Italy have “Texas Ratios” of over 100%. The Texas Ratio, or TR, is calculated by dividing the total value of a bank’s non-performing loans by its tangible book value plus reserves — or as American money manager Steve Eisman put it, “all the bad stuff divided by the money you have to pay for all the bad stuff.”
• Fewer Than 1 Percent Of Papers in Scientific Journals Follow Scientific Method
  Fewer than 1 percent of papers published in scientific journals follow the scientific method, according to research by Wharton School professor and forecasting expert J. Scott Armstrong. Professor Armstrong, who co-founded the peer-reviewed Journal of Forecasting in 1982 and the International Journal of Forecasting in 1985, made the claim in a presentation about what he considers to be “alarmism” from forecasters over man-made climate change. “We also go through journals and rate how well they conform to the scientific method. I used to think that maybe 10 percent of papers in my field … were maybe useful. Now it looks like maybe, one tenth of one percent follow the scientific method” said Armstrong in his presentation, which can be watched in full below. “People just don’t do it.”
• Why Foreign Robots Are The Real U.S. Job Killer
  Over the past several months President Trump has called out pretty much every major auto OEM for their efforts to move low-skilled assembly jobs to Mexico.  But absent new tariffs, it's not terribly surprising to most people that American companies would seek to move low-skilled, labor-intensive jobs to lower cost labor markets…the math is pretty simple. But what is somewhat surprising is how poorly the U.S. is performing versus international competition in the development of advanced manufacturing robotics.  As the Wall Street Journal points out this morning, when it comes to automating a manufacturing floor, buying robotics ‘Made in America' isn't even an option.
• Visualizing NAFTA's Mixed Track Record Since 1994
  On January 1, 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) officially came into effect, virtually eliminating all tariffs and trade restrictions between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Fast forward 20 years, and NAFTA is a hot-button issue again. Donald Trump has said he is working on “renegotiating” the agreement, and many Americans are sympathetic to this course of action. However, coming to a decisive viewpoint on NAFTA’s success or failure can be difficult to achieve. Over two decades, the economic and political landscape has changed. China has risen and created a surplus of cheap labor, technology has changed massively, and central banks have kept the spigots on with QE and ultra-low interest rates. Deciphering what results have been the direct cause of NAFTA – and what is simply the result of a fast-changing world – is not quite straightforward.
• Obamacare ‘Explosion' Could Come On May 22nd, Here's Why
  After a stunning healthcare defeat last week, delivered at the hands of his own party no less, Trump took to twitter to predict the imminent ‘explosion' of Obamacare. As it turns out, that ‘explosion' could come faster than anyone really expects as legislators and health insurers have to make several critical decisions about the 2018 plan year over the next 2 months which could seal Obamacare's fate. As the Atlanta Journal Constitution points out today, the Trump administration has until May 22nd to decide whether they will continue to pursue the Obama administration's appeal to provide subsidies to insurers who participate in the federal exchanges.
• Surveillance on Trump Backfires, Russian Collusion False Narrative, Are Markets Topping
  The pile of felonies against people in the Deep State that illegally released classified information, for the purpose of embarrassing and destroying the incoming Trump Administration, keep stacking up. This crime is orders of magnitude worse that Watergate.  The White House invited leaders of Congress to see documents from whistleblowers that point to improper handling of Intel surrounding the Trump team. Meanwhile, the Democrats and their allies in the mainstream media (MSM) continue to push a false narrative of Trump and his team colluding with the Russians without one single piece of evidence of wrongdoing after 8 months of an FBI investigation. The leader of Russia, Vladimir Putin, said this week that Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential Election is “fictional, illusionary, provocations and lies . . . used for domestic political agendas.”
• Is George Soros Behind This Plot To Topple Trump?
  The mainstream media hates him. Hollywood hates him. The “Intellectual Yet Idiot” academia class hates him. Most critically, the CIA hates him. So does the rest of the Deep State, or the permanently entrenched “national security” bureaucracy. They did everything possible to stop Trump from taking office. None of it worked. I think the CIA hates Trump for a very simple reason: he’s threatening to take away their livelihood. Trump wants to make nice with Putin and the Russians. But countering the so-called “Russian threat” is how many thousands of Deep State bureaucrats make a living. These people feed off the trough of the $1 trillion-plus military/security budget. Playing nice with the Russians would kill their jobs—and end their way of life.
• WikiLeaks Reveals “Marble”: Proof CIA Disguises Their Hacks As Russian, Chinese, Arabic…
  WikiLeaks’ latest Vault 7 release contains a batch of documents, named ‘Marble’, which detail CIA hacking tactics and how they can misdirect forensic investigators from attributing viruses, trojans and hacking attacks to their agency by inserted code fragments in foreign languages.  The tool was in use as recently as 2016.
• The Last Two Times After The Government Reported Data Like This, Stocks Crashed
  Wall Street claims surge in stocks is based on rising corporate earnings. So, let’s see. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis released its third estimate of fourth quarter 2016 GDP and corporate profits today. This second revision of its first estimate of January 27 contains more data and is considered a more accurate approximation of what happened in the vast, devilishly hard-to-quantify US economy. In terms of GDP, the fourth quarter was revised up slightly, but there were adjustments for prior quarters, and overall GDP growth for the year 2016 remained at a miserably low 1.6%. We’ve come to call this the “stall speed.” It’s difficult for the US economy to stay aloft at this slow speed. As Q4 gutted any hopes for a strong finish, GDP growth in 2016 matched the worst year since the Great Recession. And corporate profits, despite a stock market that has been surging for years, are even worse. A lot worse. They’ve declined for years. In fact, they declined for years during the prior two stock market bubbles, the dotcom bubble and the pre-Financial-Crisis bubble. Both ended in crashes.
• Obama's rule changes opened door for NSA intercepts of Americans to reach political hands
  As his presidency drew to a close, Barack Obama’s top aides routinely reviewed intelligence reports gleaned from the National Security Agency’s incidental intercepts of Americans abroad, taking advantage of rules their boss relaxed starting in 2011 to help the government better fight terrorism, espionage by foreign enemies and hacking threats, Circa has learned.
• Trump May Be Right: The ‘Five Eyes' Allies Do Spy On One Another
  In a rare public announcement, Britain’s signals intelligence agency, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), issued a rare public statement concerning a charge by an American former judge that it conducted electronic surveillance of president-elect Donald Trump after his upset victory on November 8, 2016. GCHQ stated: “Recent allegations made by media commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano about GCHQ being asked to conduct ‘wiretapping’ against the then president-elect are nonsense. They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored”. Its public announcement belied the fact that GCHQ and its four ‘Five Eyes' partners have spied on each other’s citizens as a legal ‘work around' to their national laws designed to prevent such domestic eavesdropping on citizens by their respective agencies.
• Margin Debt Hits New Record High But Analysts Say “Don’t Worry”
  The Wall Street Journal reports Margin Debt Hit an All-Time High in February. Given that Margin debt has a history of peaking right before financial collapses this seems like a warning to me but analysts say it’s different this time. ‘Margin debt climbed to a record high in February, a fresh sign of bullishness for flummoxed investors trying to navigate the political and economic crosscurrents driving markets. The amount investors borrowed against their brokerage accounts climbed to $528.2 billion in February, according to the most recent data available from the New York Stock Exchange, released Wednesday. That is up 2.9% from $513.3 billion in January, which had been the first margin debt record in nearly two years. Before January, the previous record high for margin debt was $505 billion in the spring of 2015. Margin debt then started falling, months ahead of a summer swoon that sent major indexes down more than 10%.' Analysts Say Don’t Worry.
• Chinese Gold Miner Claims Discovery Of Largest Ever Gold Mine
  Shandong Gold Group, China’s second biggest gold producer by output, announced on Tuesday that it has discovered deposits in eastern China containing an estimated 380 tons of gold reserves, which would represent the nation’s largest ever gold deposit. According to a Tuesday statement that cited the company on sdchina.com, the Xiling mine in Shandong province told local authorities it had found 382.58 tons of gold reserves and that the volume could reach more than 550 tons once exploration is completed in two years. According to local media reports, the Xiling gold seam in eastern China is more than 2,000 meters long and 67 meters wide; operating at full capacity, the mine would have a life of 40 years, according to the statement.
• Trump signs order dismantling Obama-era climate policies
  President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an order to undo Obama-era climate change regulations, keeping a campaign promise to support the coal industry and calling into question U.S. support for an international deal to fight global warming. Flanked by coal miners and coal company executives, Trump proclaimed his “Energy Independence” executive order at the headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency. The move drew swift backlash from a coalition of 23 states and local governments, as well as environmental groups, which called the decree a threat to public health and vowed to fight it in court.
• Venezuela Supreme Court Grants Itself Legislative Powers
  Venezuela's Supreme Court took over legislative powers Thursday from the opposition-majority National Assembly, a dramatic tightening of leftist President Nicolas Maduro and his allies' grip amid a devastating economic crisis. The opposition attacked what it called a “fraudulent court” packed with Maduro loyalists bent on keeping him in power in the South American oil giant, where a three-year recession has caused food shortages, riots and an epidemic of violent crime.
• This Is The 6-Page Letter Delivered From The UK To The EU Triggering Article 50: Full Text
  Moments ago, the UK Prime Minister's office posted the 6-page letter that was delivered by the UK to the EU, triggering Article 50 and officially starting the 2 year Brexit process. In the letter, Theresa May proposes “bold and ambitious” Free Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom and says the agreement should cover important sectors, including financial services and network industries. Some of the key highlights from the letter, courtesy of Bloomberg: U.K. Seeks to Minimize Disruption in Brexit Talks, U.K. Seeks Technical Talks on Policy Details ASAP, U.K.'s May Wants to Avoid Return to Hard Irish Border, U.K. Seeks Implementation Periods to Ease Transition to Brexit, U.K. Seeks Free Trade Agreement That Includes Finance.
• One of the Most Important Scientists in the World: “Most Cancer Research is Largely a Fraud”
  “Everyone should know that most cancer research is largely a fraud, and that the major cancer research organisations are derelict in their duties to the people who support them.” The above quote comes from Linus Pauling, Ph.D, and two time Nobel Prize winner in chemistry (1901-1994). He is considered one of the most important scientists in history. He is one of the founders of quantum chemistry and molecular biology, who was also a well known peace activist. He was invited to be in charge of the Chemistry division of the Manhattan Project, but refused. He has also done a lot of work on military applications, and has pretty much done and seen it all when it comes to the world of science. A quick Google search will suffice if you’d like to learn more about him.
• Westinghouse Bankruptcy Puts Fate Of Four U.S. Nuclear Reactors In Limbo
  When Westinghouse Electric filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday morning, few were surprised as the outcome was the only one which allowed the company's troubled, and near-insolvent Japanese parent, Toshiba, to continue operating, even if it meant the bankruptcy of the iconic company. Westinghouse was one of the originators of the nuclear age, building the world’s first commercial nuclear reactor 60 years ago. Its pressurized water reactor design is in 430 power plants and accounts for 10% of electricity generated in the world. However, few were prepared for the unexpected aftermath of this particular bankruptcy, which has set off a showdown between Toshiba and a major U.S. utility, has left the fate of four half-finished nuclear reactors and is threatening to drive a wedge between the US and Japanese governments over the fate of industries each considers vital.
• The Complete History of Monsanto, “The World’s Most Evil Corporation”
  Of all the mega-corps running amok, Monsanto has consistently outperformed its rivals, earning the crown as “most evil corporation on Earth!” Not content to simply rest upon its throne of destruction, it remains focused on newer, more scientifically innovative ways to harm the planet and its people.
• Finally! The FDA Admits That Nearly Over 70% of U.S. Chickens Contain Cancer-Causing Arsenic
  I don’t know about the rest of you, but lately my poultry purchases at my local market have become more and more of a ‘hit-and-miss’ situation, with more ‘misses’ if I’m being honest. As I bite into my homemade chicken nuggets or Coq au Vin (when I’m feeling fancy) I can’t help but feel that the chicken just tastes weird, stringy, just…funny. So a few days ago when I turned on the tube and saw the news headlines stating that the FDA has finally confirmed that chicken meat sold in the USA contains arsenic, my head, and stomach, nearly hit the roof. This cancer-causing toxic chemical, that in high doses could kill you, is actually being added to chicken feed on purpose, giving store-bought chicken the illusion of healthy coloring and plump appearance. Shockingly, this is the case with more than 70 percent of all U.S. chickens! That is just awful!
• EU could BREAK UP the US: Juncker in jaw-dropping threat to Trump over support for Brexit
  EUROPEAN Union boss Jean-Claude Juncker issued a jaw-dropping threat to the United States, saying he could campaign to break up the country in revenge for Donald Trump’s supportive comments about Brexit. In an extraordinary speech the EU Commission president said he would push for Ohio and Texas to split from the rest of America if the Republican president does not change his tune and become more supportive of the EU. The remarks are diplomatic dynamite at a time when relations between Washington and Brussels are already strained over Europe’s meagre contributions to NATO and the US leader’s open preference for dealing with national governments.
• Gold Set to Soar to $1,500 as Inflation Makes a Comeback
  Gold is poised to rally to levels last seen four years ago as rising inflation and negative real interest rates combine to boost demand, according to Incrementum AG, which says that the precious metal may be in the early stages of a bull market. Prices may climb to $1,400 to $1,500 an ounce this year, said Ronald-Peter Stoeferle, managing partner at the Liechtenstein-based company, which oversees 100 million Swiss francs ($101.5 million). Spot bullion — which was at $1,249 on Wednesday — last traded at $1,400 in September 2013.
• How Many Jobs Do Robots Destroy? Answers Emerge
  How many jobs do robots – whether mechanical robots or software – destroy? Do these destroyed jobs get replaced by the Great American Economy with better jobs? That’s the big discussion these days. The answers have been soothing. Economists cite the Industrial Revolution. At the time, most humans replaced by machines found better paid, more productive, less back-breaking jobs. Productivity soared, and society overall, after some big dislocations, came out ahead. The same principle applies today, the soothsayers coo. But this isn’t the Industrial Revolution. These days, robots and algorithms are everywhere, replacing not just manufacturing jobs but all kinds jobs in air-conditioned offices that paid big salaries and fat bonuses.
• CNBC: China’s Secret Plan to Crush the U.S. Space Program
  In a feature on Tuesday, CNBC explained how the Chinese government plans to overtake the US space program, as well as private companies such as SpaceX. “China’s breakneck economic expansion may be flagging, but the country’s ambitions in space show no signs of slowing down,” wrote CNBC. “Alongside ongoing efforts to rival NASA by placing robotic landers, and eventually astronauts, on the moon and Mars, China’s government is increasingly looking to its burgeoning space sector to rival U.S. companies like Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which is targeting March 30 for the latest launch of its Falcon 9 rocket.”
• Shock, Horror: ECB Not as “Independent” as it Claims – Report
  The European Central Bank has found itself in the rare position of having to defend itself in the public arena following the release of a scathing report on its perceived lack of political independence. The report, published by anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International, argues that the institution has accrued new power and influence in the wake of the financial crisis but its code of conduct has not kept up with that newfound clout. It even suggests that the ECB should withdraw from the Eurozone’s Troika of creditors, precisely at a time that calls are rising for the creation of a European Monetary Fund.
• Look What Just Happened To The US National Debt In 68 Days Since Trump Was Elected
  If one looks back at the U.S. stock markets reaction since the historic election that was held in November, it's difficult to find a comparable period of euphoria over the last couple of years that matches the one we’ve seen the last 60 days or so. With that said, even though optimism is always is a better recipe for success than than pessimism, many have lost touch with “realism,” and the end result has been anything but responsible planning on the part of most Americans. Most are too busy enjoying what many have referred to as “Trumphoria.” Make no mistake, a global economic crisis is coming, and it’s coming fast, but you have to give credit where credit is due, and this statistic about the U.S. national debt is nothing short of miraculous.
• 12 Signs That America Has Become A Politically-Correct Madhouse
  What in the world has happened to the United States? We are rapidly getting to the point where political correctness is in danger of becoming our national religion. Of course most people would not even call it a “religion”, but for most Americans this unwritten set of rules shapes everything that they think, do and say. Many had been hoping that the spell of political correctness would be broken by the election of Donald Trump, but that obviously has not happened. The forces of political correctness still have a stranglehold on our education system, on all forms of entertainment, on our legal system, and on most of the politicians in both political parties.
• The World Is On The Edge Of A Financial Fukushima-Style Nightmare
  Today an associate of former U.S. Treasury official, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, just warned the world is now on the cusp of a financial Fukushima-style nightmare. Dave Kranzler:  Several “black swans” are looming which could inflict a financial nuclear accident on the U.S. markets and financial system.  I say “black swans” in quotes because a limited audience is aware of these issues – potentially catastrophic problems that are curiously ignored by the mainstream financial media and financial markets…
• If You Are Confused About Where Markets Are Headed From Here, Just Read This…
  The major theme of our comments recently on the near-term direction of the stock market can best be summed up with one word – uncertainty. That’s what happens when the indicators we trust, and even the price action of the market itself, start sending mixed messages that make it difficult to provide the clear green light that everyone desires. I know I’m sure getting tired of writing about the confusion, and I’d wager everyone playing along at home is a bit exhausted from reading about it every day, but we unfortunately have to play the cards we are dealt and this has been a market trying to decide if it should fold or not.
• Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen – March 30, 2017
  Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen with his regular short weekly video for readers of Pastor Williams' weekly newsletter.

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