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 January 6, 2017 to January 12, 2017:

• The 70 Nations That Will Meet In Paris On January 15th Are Going To Publicly Commit To Dividing The Land Of Israel
  A draft of the summary statement that will be released at the conclusion of the 70 nation conference in Paris on Sunday has been leaked. As you will see below, this communique is going to call for the division of the land of Israel, for the establishment of a Palestinian state, for the 1967 borders to serve as the basis for final negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and for the condemnation of any officials that refuse to support a two state solution. Of course this comes on the heels of UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which many believe represented America’s greatest betrayal of Israel. Israeli government officials are publicly warning that there is a possibility that the principles agreed upon at this conference may form the basis for another Security Council resolution before January 20th, and this is something that we should all be watching for very closely.
• Activists Are Hoping To Turn Donald Trump’s Inauguration On January 20th Into One Of The Biggest Riots In U.S. History
  Radical leftists are planning to make January 20th the most chaotic Inauguration Day in American history.  Their stated goal is to “disrupt” the Inauguration festivities as much as possible, and they are planning a wide range of “actions” to achieve that stated goal.  Some of the more moderate groups are using terms such as “civil resistance” and “civil disobedience”, but others are openly talking about “blockades”, jumping barricades, throwing projectiles and “citywide paralysis”.  My hope is that all of their efforts will turn out to be a big flop, but it is important to understand that these groups are well funded, highly organized and extremely motivated.  The election of Donald Trump has been perhaps the single most galvanizing moment for the radical left in modern American history, and they are working very hard to turn January 20th into a major political statement.
• U.S. Trade Deficit Widened in November to a Nine-Month High
  The U.S. trade deficit widened to a nine-month high in November as exports fell and companies and governments imported the most since August 2015. The gap grew by 6.8 percent to $45.2 billion from a revised $42.4 billion in the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed Friday. The November shortfall was in line with the Bloomberg survey median for a $45.4 billion gap. Weaker overseas sales of U.S.-made goods and stronger domestic demand for imported merchandise indicate trade weighed on economic growth in last year’s fourth quarter. America’s net export position has also been made even more tenuous given the dollar’s rally in late 2016.
• Vaccine skeptic Robert Kennedy Jr. says Trump asked him to lead commission on ‘vaccine safety’
  Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a proponent of a widely discredited theory that vaccines cause autism, said Tuesday that President-elect Donald Trump asked him to chair a new commission on vaccines. Hours later, however, a spokeswoman for Trump’s transition said that while Trump would like to create a commission on autism, no final decision had been made. If Trump follows through, the stunning move would push up against established science, medicine and the government’s position on the issue. It comes after Trump — who has long been critical of vaccines — met at Trump Tower with Kennedy, who has spearheaded efforts to roll back child vaccination laws.
• Factory orders tumble 2.4% in November
  Factory orders retreated in November, snapping a four-month winning streak, the Commerce Department said Friday. The 2.4% decline was a bit stronger than the 2.3% forecast by economists surveyed by MarketWatch, but it followed an upward revision to October’s gain, taking that to 2.8%. Compared to a year ago, orders were down 1.8%. Orders for durable goods slid 4.5%, while orders for nondurable goods were down 0.2%. Shipments declined 0.1% in November, as did unfilled orders. Inventories increased 0.2%. Economists are hoping that the long slump in manufacturing will reverse as the shock to oil LCOH7, +0.34%  recedes.
• Report: Walmart Workers Cost Taxpayers $6.2 Billion In Public Assistance
  Walmart's low-wage workers cost U.S. taxpayers an estimated $6.2 billion in public assistance including food stamps, Medicaid and subsidized housing, according to a report published to coincide with Tax Day, April 15. Americans for Tax Fairness, a coalition of 400 national and state-level progressive groups, made this estimate using data from a 2013 study by Democratic Staff of the U.S. Committee on Education and the Workforce. “The study estimated the cost to Wisconsin’s taxpayers of Walmart’s low wages and benefits, which often force workers to rely on various public assistance programs,”
• Trump Bump: Small Business Optimism Soars To 12-Year High
  Small business owners' optimism soared in December to the highest level since 2004, the National Federation of Independent Business said Tuesday, as President-elect Trump unleashes “animal spirits” on Main Street, even as corporate titans such as General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) tread carefully with the president-elect. NFIB's small business optimism index shot up 7.4 points to 105.8, the best reading since December 2004. It was the biggest monthly gain in decades. A net 50% of smaller firms see business conditions improving vs. 12% in November and -7% in October. “We haven't seen numbers like this in a long time,” said NFIB President and CEO Juanita Duggan. “Small business is ready for a breakout, and that can only mean very good things for the U.S. economy.”
• Rep. Dave Brat: ‘We Have Five or Six Plans’ to Replace Obamacare; GOP Leadership Needs to ‘Pick One’
  Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA) discussed repealing Obamacare with Breitbart News Daily SiriusXM host Raheem Kassam on Monday, as well as alternate plans, including one he recently introduced in the House. The Daily Signal reports, “Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., has introduced a bill in the House that, if passed, will allow individuals to decide how they want their health care funds to be spent, without the influence of the government or health insurance providers.” Brat said that the health savings account legislation is a way for lawmakers to prove to the American people that they have a plan to replace Obamacare after repealing it. Brat discussed several domestic alternatives, as well as systems other nations use. “We’re waiting for leadership to coalesce around a plan,” said Brat.
• Pope Francis Now International Monetary Guru
  As the new year dawns, it seems the current occupant of St. Peter’s Chair will take on a new function which is outside the purview of the office that the Divine Founder of his institution had clearly mandated. Neo-Papist transmogrification. We highly recommend the economic thought of one of Francis’ storied predecessors, John Paul II, which we have written about on previous occasions. In “A Tale of Two Popes” and “Papal Eco-Hysteria”, we have contrasted Francis and John Paul II and quoted from the latter’s seminal encyclical “Centesimus Annus”, which probably contains the most clear-headed thinking on human liberty and economics that has ever emerged from the Vatican. Francis strikes us as a throwback to a completely discredited and dangerous ideology by comparison. Lately he is even calling for the establishment of a global central bank!
• Banks Not Going Broke, They Are Broke-Rick Rule
  Rick Rule is an expert on investing in all sorts of natural resources, and that includes gold and silver. He thinks it won’t take a “catastrophic event” to move prices higher in precious metals.  Rule explains, “You remember the decade of the 1970’s?  The shocks to the financial system were severe but survivable.  The gold price went from $35 per ounce to $850 per ounce.. . . As you can see, I am not a young guy.  I was a finance major, and the way I learned accounting, it’s not like the banks are going to go broke, the banks are broke. . . . It isn’t a question of ongoing bank solvency.  It’s a question of real bank solvency and how long people will believe in the system. . . . If the major players had to face a liquidity squeeze, even the level of magnitude they faced in 2008, I suspect the fiscal tools available are constrained enough now that they would be unsuccessful in containing a broad liquidity base contagion.”
• ALERT: One Shock After Another Will Create The Biggest Collapse Ever In World Financial Markets In 2017
  As we kickoff the second week of trading in the new year, today the man who has become legendary for his predictions on QE, historic moves in currencies, warned King World News that one shock after another will create the biggest collapse ever in world financial markets in 2017. Terrifying Worldwide Panic In 2017. Egon von Greyerz:  “We are only a week into 2017 but some longer-term trend changes are developing. It is interesting how a new year, combined with a new U.S. president act as a catalyst for what will be the start of monumental events in the world economy. Not that many of these will come as a surprise to the well-informed KWN audience, but for the rest of the world there will be one shock after the next that will create terrifying panic…
• Wholesale Sales Disappoint Sending Inventories-Ratio Back Into Recession Territory
  November saw inventories rise more than expected (+1.0% MoM vs +0.9% exp) and sales disappoint (+0.4% vs +0.5% exp) and were notably revised lower. This sent the inventories-to-sales ratio back up again – stubbornly stuck in recessionary territory. Both Inventories and sales grew year-over-year… But the gap between inventories and sales grew in absolute terms for the first time since July… Sending the inventories-to-sales ratio back up again… Automotive inventories-to-sales jumped higher once again – back near cycle highs.
• The World Has Never Been In A Mega-Crisis Like This In All Of Human History
  Today one of the greats in the business told King World News that the world has never been in a maga-crisis like this in all of human history. Storm Clouds Are Gathering Everywhere. John Embry:  “Eric, I must begin by wishing you and your readers and listeners a belated happy new year.  However, I question how happy a new year it is going to be as storm clouds have been steadily gathering everywhere…
• China’s plan to dominate the global gold market
  Status as one of the world’s biggest bullion importers, participation in the gold fix at the London exchange and a plan to establish a jewelry gold investment center in Shanghai has turned China into one of the leading players in the global gold market in 2016. Gold entered the New Year in a downward trend. In 2016, prices of the yellow metal have continued to drop, for the fourth year in a row. The last time such a trend was registered  was between 1988 and 1992. A drop in global gold prices was advantageous for China, the world’ biggest importer of gold bars, gold investment coins and refined gold.
• Is The S&P 500 Developing Into A “Bull Trap”?
  Monday morning may have marked the beginning of a “bull trap,” should the S&P 500 price remain under the breakout high. Will it? Our bullish V-Spike Reversal off 2,228 set the stage for a continuation of the uptrend and bull market. After two pullbacks (retracements), price surged to new all-time highs Friday. However, Friday afternoon into Monday morning gave us a pullback under 2,270 which is a make-or-break point. Should price remain beneath 2,270, expect a swing back toward 2,255 (failure to break out). Any move back above 2,270 could trigger a powerful short-squeezed breakout but we’re not quite there yet.
• 10 ways the mainstream media creates fake news
  The basic purpose of these ten forms is the presentation of a false picture of reality. You could find more forms, or divide these ten into sub-categories. The ten basic forms are: Direct lying about matters of fact. Leaving out vital information. Limited hangout. Shutting down the truth after publishing it. Not connecting dots between important pieces of data. Censoring the truth, wherever it is found. Using biased “experts” to present slanted or false “facts.” Repeating a false story many times. Claiming a reasonable and true consensus exists, when it doesn’t. Employing a panoply of effects. These are all traditional forms and methods.
• Top Five Monetary Policy Issues To Watch In 2017
  With a new year come new opportunities as well as new issues to take into consideration. Here are the five most important issues to keep an eye on in 2017. 1. Trump Presidency. 2. Ongoing Weakness in Europe. 3. China Is Still a Wild Card. 4. The Relentless War on Cash. 5. A Coming Financial Crisis. As the reality sets in that massive amounts of resources have been malinvested in unproductive sectors of the economy, the bubbles that were blown will inevitably burst.
• The Globalists’ Russia Game
  Thanks to Barak Obama’s most recent expression of his low character and a foreign policy weirdly akin to fantasy-baseball gone bad, thirty-five U.S.-resident Russian diplomats and their families targeted for rapid deportation feared a frantic search in the holiday crunch for open seats on flights to Moscow. On Friday, Russia sent an Ilyushin 11-96 to collect everyone and the families’ panic that they might not make their deportation deadlines receded.  The embassy’s two retreats, one in New York and another in Maryland, were closed on schedule. Thus was the Obama administration’s maximally-inconvenient timing accommodated.
• Boeing: Three More Waves of Layoffs in 2017, as Orders Collapse to 7-Year Low. Shares Near All-Time High
  This is not the way to start your workday… to find this email from your boss in your inbox: “As we enter 2017, our plan calls for us to reduce our Engineering staff. I realize some of this news is unpleasant. But I wanted to respect your right to know what is occurring this year.” But that’s what happened on Tuesday at Boeing. Hammered by slowing aircraft sales and a declining order book, Boeing warned on Tuesday in an internal memo that it would conduct involuntary and voluntary layoffs of engineers in Washington state, southern California, and South Carolina, according to The Seattle Times. The memo did not mention the size of the staff cuts.
• 2016 Past is 2017 Prologue
  With us being just over a week into the New Year, we feel it worthwhile to look back just one last time at 2016. We believe that many of the themes and risks of 2016 continue in 2017 and that they are likely to impact markets in the coming months – especially the precious metal markets. We always enjoy new perspectives and every year we enjoy the witty, comprehensive and insightful analysis review of the year past by David Collum. His‘2016 Year In Review’ is in the same vein and was missed by many when it was released over the Christmas period.
• Don’t Count On Trump Being Inaugurated — Paul Craig Roberts
  The Ruling Establishment Does Not Intend For Trump To Become President. The latest “explosive” fake news is that “multiple US officials with direct knowledge” told CNN that they have “classified documents” that Russia has compromising documents on Trump that would allow them to blackmail the US President. The documents consist of memos compiled by a former British intelligence operative “whose past work US intelligence officials consider credible.” According to antiwar.com “the dossier claimed several figures in the Trump campaign were in league with the Russian government during the campaign, and that Russia had been conspiring with them to groom Trump as an ally for ‘at least five years.’ It also claims exchanges of information between Trump and the Kremlin for ‘at least eight years,’ . . . The dossier names former Trump adviser Carter Page, his personal lawyer Michael Cohen, as well as incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn as having personally and repeatedly met with Kremlin officials on anti-Clinton leaks.”
• Hideous Constellation of Threats and Challenges Facing Mexico
  Things are rapidly going from bad to worse in Mexico. Hundreds of people were arrested and a handful of people killed over the past week as peaceful protests against the government’s hike of gasoline prices (by as much as 20% in some states) descended into widespread looting and rioting. The mood on the street was hardly helped when Mexico’s deeply unpopular president, Enrique Peña Nieto, tried to defend his actions by asking the public, “What would you have done?” For a lot of people, the answer’s clear: a lot of things, very differently. Right at the top of the list would be launching an all-out war against the endemic culture of corruption plaguing virtually all levels of government. But now, time is fast running out as Mexico now faces a hideous constellation of threats and challenges, all at the same time.
• Get Ready to Pay $500 More in Taxes
  It’s tax time again, and President-elect Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans in Congress have promised to slash them—especially for corporations and the rich. For millions of Americans, however, a tax increase will be the first thing they see. About 12 million workers will pay more this year because of an automatic adjustment in their payroll taxes. Unlike previous years, this rise in the Social Security “taxable minimum”—the amount of income subject to tax—is a whopper: 7.3 percent, the most in 34 years. That could cost each affected worker as much as $539, and much more if they’re self-employed. Why is 2017’s increase so huge? And where does this taxable minimum come from, anyway?
• The Oil Supply Glut is Here to Stay in 2017
  It has become painfully obvious that the much-hyped OPEC agreement to reduce global oil production by close to 2 million bpd won’t have the effect that its initiators had hoped for. True, crude has jumped above US$50 but failed to pass the US$55 barrier and move closer to US$60, which would have solved a lot of problems for some of the world’s biggest producers. This price increase, however, has spurred optimism among some producers and motivated them to plan output ramp-ups, which will in turn dampen the upward potential of crude more effectively than growing doubts about top producers’ willingness to stick to their commitments under the historical agreement.
• Obama Regime Moves To Federalize Elections — Paul Craig Roberts
  The ruling establishment has responded to Donald Trump’s election by laying the groundwork to federalize, and thus control, future elections. The federal government does not have the constitutional authority to administer elections, only to set the date. The Obama regime’s designation of elections as “critical infrastructure” seems to have no function other than to put in place a way to prevent voters from overthrowing an entrenched establishment, as the establishment fears the voters did when they elected Trump president. The distrubing question is: Why do it now after Trump’s election? Could there be a plot to rescind Trump’s election on the basis of the ongoing lies that Trump was elected not by the voters but by Russian interference? Federalization can be used to remove the states from the picture and prevent the states from challenging an establishment coup against the voters.
• US Currency Crisis Coming in 2017
  When the cost of importing goes up, it’s not like Americans are just going to switch from buying goods made in China to goods make in America. No, they’re just going to have to pay more to buy the goods made in China. If they don’t have the extra money, they just won’t buy as much.  So, what’s going to happen as a result of increasing the cost of importing is that consumers will spend less and the bubble economy will deflate. There will be less consumer spending because consumers won’t have as much money or won’t be able to afford the higher prices. It’s going to have a negative effect on GDP.
• Nobel Peace Prize Winner Obama Has 14 Days To Start World War III
  Barack O’Bomber was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize before he even became President. And he hasn’t had one day of peace in his eight years. And, he now has 14 days left and appears to be trying to foment World War III with his remaining opportunity. Long ago O’Bomber accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, but didn’t do anything to either justify or deserve it. More recently he’s actually done a lot to repudiate it. In fact, according to an analysis done by the Council on Foreign Relations of Defense Department data, the U.S. dropped over 26,000 bombs in 2016 during Obama’s final year in office, that’s over 3,000 more than in 2015!
• In 2017 Trump will be Presiding Over a Bankruptcy-Bill Holter
  Financial writer Bill Holter says 2017 will be “the year of the Truth Bomb.” Holter explains, “I have been talking about ‘Truth Bombs’ for about a year and a half. I think what is going to happen in 2017 is that this hologram we’ve been living in, the curtain is going to be pulled back. . . . I want to see the truth come out, and that’s why we do what we do.” One of the big truths that will explode is about the economy, and this will be one of Trump’s biggest problems. Holter goes on to say, “Trump is a smart guy, and he understands that really what he’s going to be doing is presiding over a bankruptcy. That’s what his main job is going to be, and that’s reorganizing this country.”
• Debt Surge Producing Fake Recovery
  What do the following headlines have in common? US wages grow at fastest pace since 2009. Euro area economy ended year with strongest growth since 2011. Surge in home prices is beating the one in mortgage rates. Manufacturing in U.S. Expands at Fastest Pace in Two Years. German Inflation welcomed back. Obviously they’re all favorable, with the possible exception of German inflation – though even that is “welcome”. Taken together they paint a picture of a global economy that’s finally returning to the kind of solid growth and steady, positive inflation that most people consider both normal and good. Unfortunately, the reason for the improvement is emphatically not good: In 2016 the world borrowed a huge amount of money and spent the proceeds. The result is “growth,” but not sustainable growth.
• 11 Numbers That Connect The Year 2017, Israel And Donald Trump
  Is 2017 going to be the most important year that we have seen in a very, very long time? Because of the work that I do, I am constantly immersed in research, and lately I keep coming across very strange “coincidences” regarding the year 2017. The numbers that I am about to share with you certainly appear to be quite remarkable, but there will be many out there that will question their significance. To the naysayers, I would suggest that God has always put a lot of emphasis on numbers from the very beginning. For example, He created the world in precisely seven days, and on the seventh day He rested. All throughout Scripture, we see certain numbers showing up over and over again, and God has a purpose in that. So please keep that in mind as you consider the following 11 numbers that connect the year 2017, Israel and Donald Trump…
• Elitists Hope That Injecting The Blood Of Younger People Into Their Bodies Will Radically Extend Their Lifespans
  Is the blood of young people a “fountain of youth” that will enable those that can afford the treatments to be able to live much longer lives? No matter how much money someone has, life inevitably ends at some point, but there are some extremely wealthy individuals that want to change all that. Billionaire technology investor Peter Thiel, among others, is very excited about advances that have been made in the field of parabiosis. According to Google, parabiosis is “the anatomical joining of two individuals, especially artificially in physiological research.” Based on research that has been done on mice, it is believed that blood transfusions could potentially slow or even reverse aging in humans. The Bible tells us that “the life of the flesh is in the blood”, but now these elitists want to greedily use the blood of younger people to greatly extend their own lifespans. If it turns out that this method is highly successful, will the blood of young people become a greatly valued commodity? When I first started hearing about this, I thought that it all sounded very strange. After all, if people were to drink the blood of young people we would call them vampires, but somehow it is okay to inject it directly into your veins?
• It’s A Retail Apocalypse: Sears, Macy’s And The Limited Are All Closing Stores
  It has only been two weeks since Christmas, and already we are witnessing a stunning bloodbath of store closings.  Macy’s shocked the retail industry by announcing that they will be closing about 100 stores.  The downward spiral of Sears hit another landmark when it was announced that another 150 Sears and Kmart stores would be shutting down.  And we have just learned that The Limited is immediately closing all stores nationwide.  If the U.S. economy is doing just fine, then why are we experiencing such a retail apocalypse?  All over America, vast shopping malls that were once buzzing with eager consumers now resemble mausoleums.  We have never seen anything quite like this in our entire history, and nobody is quite sure what is going to happen next. Not too long ago I walked into a Macy’s, and it was eerily quiet.  I stumbled around the men’s department looking for something to buy, but I was deeply disappointed in what was being offered.  After some time had passed, an employee finally noticed me and came over to help, but they didn’t have anything that I was looking for.
• New Legislation Establishes Orwellian Propaganda Agency
  Our elected officials in Washington have a habit of passing the laws that the American people would probably most like to know about at times when very few are likely to see it. On December 23rd of last year, while we the people were busy making preparations for the holidays, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 into law. Deep within this vast jungle of ink, paper, and legalese, lies a brand new federal agency created to combat what Hillary Clinton has called an “epidemic of fake news and malicious false propaganda.”
• Donald Trump's big week
  Donald Trump is embarking on the most crucial week of his transition into the presidency — and, as usual, he's at the epicenter of multiple controversies. Several of the President-elect's most prominent Cabinet picks will appear on Capitol Hill this week for confirmation hearings that could be brutal. Trump will also hold his first formal news conference since the summer on Wednesday to address potential conflicts of interest that could surround his presidency. President Barack Obama will move closer to exiting the stage when he delivers a farewell address Tuesday night from Chicago. Though the inauguration is less than two weeks away, the swirl of events means Trump's presidency effectively begins this week.
• The True History of Chemotherapy & The Pharmaceutical Monopoly
  In 2016, approximately 1,685,210 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the United States alone, and approximately 600,000 people will die from the disease. The number of new cancer cases is 454.8 per 100,000 men and women per year, based on cases from 2008-2010. Men have almost a 50 percent chance of contracting the disease at some point in their lifetime, and women have a 1/3 chance. Pretty crazy isn’t it? In a time where so much information is coming to light, challenging the belief systems of so many, it’s important to keep an open mind to new information to help us see through what’s really been happening on our planet. It’s no secret that a small group of corporations dominates almost every aspect of our lives, from energy to education, all the way to modern day healthcare.
• A Nobel Peace Prize Winner Dropped 26,000 Bombs in 2016
  According to an estimate conducted by Micah Zenko, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and national security expert Jennifer Wilson, a CFR research associate, President Obama dropped over 26,000 bombs in 2016. Syria was hit with 12,192 bombs, the highest number of any country on Obama’s hit list. Iraq came in a close second, receiving 12,095 bombs. Altogether, the peace prize laureate dropped at least 26,171 bombs in seven countries last year.
• The Chinese Chart That Keeps The IMF Up At Night
  As the IIF reported yesterday, in the first 9 months of 2016 global debt rose by $11 trillion, hitting an all time high of $217 trillion, ro 325% of world GDP. Of this increase, the IIF said that China accounted for the “lion's share” and while China's relentless debt-funded stimulus continues to be ignored by markets, one other organization that begins with I and ends with F has also noticed that China has a big problem. As the IMF recently wrote in its IMFDirect blog, China urgently needs to tackle its corporate-debt problem before it becomes a major drag on growth in the world’s No. 2 economy. Corporate debt has reached very high levels and continues to grow.
• Venezuela's March Toward Default
  It is only a matter of time until Venezuela will default on its foreign debt. After a short peak in 2009, when the country’s foreign exchange reserves stood at over $40 billion, Venezuela has been steadily hemorrhaging its reserves down to $10 billion. In 2016, Venezuela started to sell gold in order to compensate for the loss of its monetary reserves. As a consequence, Venezuela’s gold reserves plunged from over 360 tons down to less than 190 tons. Other than in the case that some foreign power, such as China, for example, would jump in as a lender, Venezuela’s default seems unavoidable.
• US drops more bombs in Obama’s final year of office than in 2015
  President Obama's shifting approach to the conflict is a lens through which to judge his legacy as a wartime leader. New York Times. The U.S. dropped 26,171 bombs last year, 3,027 more than 2015. According to an analysis of Defense Department data from the Council on Foreign Relations, a non-partisan think tank, the majority of the bombs were dropped in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. leads an international coalition fighting the Islamic State group in both countries and has carried out air operations in attempt to reduce the area controlled by the terrorist organization. Nearly the same amount of bombs were dropped in Syria (12,192) and Iraq (12,095) last year.
• Obama Seized Enough Land and Water in 8 Years to Cover Texas Three Times
  Last week, in one of his final moves out of the Oval Office, Obama executively designated more than 1.5 million acres of land as national monuments, preserving their untouched façade while closing them to human expansion, development, energy use, ranching or state or local jurisdiction. In a move ignored by the liberal media last week, Obama unilaterally seized more than 1.3 million acres from Utah to establish the Bears Ears Monument, preserving it at the behest of conservationist groups and Native American tribes who claimed the land was sacred. Utah’s state legislature, however, opposed the unilateral land grab across party lines, with many speculating that Obama’s move is the latest in an attempt to limit efforts from incoming President Donald Trump to expand domestic energy production.
• The War On Cash Ratchets Up In Greece With “Soft Cash” Ban
  It wasn’t long ago that it came out that the IMF intentionally wanted to create a “credit event” in Greece – part of a larger plan to destabilize Europe. The country has already fallen victim to the repercussions of the war on cash, but now the grip of capital control is growing tighter. The Greek Finance Ministry in their infinite wisdom has decided that its nation’s taxpayers will only be granted deductions or tax-allowances if payments are made using a debit or credit card. This comes after numerous efforts intended to restructure debt. The Greek crisis started in late 2009, as the great recession revealed problems with the Greek economy. These involved difficulties with deficits, especially those that had not been properly accounted for by the Greek government.
• Gold: Getting There A Little At A Time
  One of life’s hardest-to-learn but most necessary lessons is that things usually take a lot longer to work out than you’d like them to. That’s where the sayings “Being too early is the same as being wrong” and “The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent” come from. A current case in point is gold. After the metal’s decade-long bull market, a correction was inevitable. But when it finally came, rather than being short and cathartic it was long and grinding, stretching from 2012 through 2015 and causing many who got back in prematurely to eventually walk away in disgust. Then, after a nice pop in the first half of 2016, came the current long, slow-mo correction that’s fraying the nerves of remaining gold-bugs.
• In Obama's Final Jobs report, A Record 95.1 Million People Were Not In The Labor Force
  As it began so it will finish. Putting the exclamation point on a trend that has marked Obama's entire presidency, in the final Obama jobs report, the BLS announced that the total number of people not in the labor force grew once more, rising by 18,000 in December, and a whopping 841,000 in the past three months, to a new all time high of 95.102 million Americans no longer in the workforce. This meant that the perennial bogeyman of the Trump administration, the collapsing labor force participation rate, remained flat near 35 year lows, risint fractionally from last month to 62.7% as a result of 152.111 million people employed in a civilian non-institutional population of 254.742 million.
• Trump Is Working On A Plan To Restructure, Pare Back The CIA And America's Top Spy Agency
  Just in case the accusations that president-elect Donald Trump is a puppet of the Kremlin, intent on destabilizing and weakening the US weren't loud enough, moments ago the WSJ assured these would hit an unprecedented level with a report that Trump, a harsh critic of U.S. intelligence agencies, is working with top advisers on a plan that would restructure and pare back the nation’s top spy agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, prompted by a belief that it has “become bloated and politicized.” The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, was established in 2004 in large part to boost coordination between intelligence agencies following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
• Looting, Riots In Mexico Spiral Out Of Control Over 20% Gas Hike; Hundreds Arrested
  Four days after the first sporadic protests emerged in Mexico City, following the infamous “gasolinazo”, or mandatory 15%-20% increase in Mexican gas prices which went into effect on January 1, the mood across the country has significantly deteriorated, with hundreds of demonstrators blocking highways, snarling traffic, raiding gas stations, jeopardizing critical supplies, and looting stores as angry but impotent motorists lashed out at the price surge, which is only going to get worse as inflation spikes even more following the record plunge in the Mexican Peso. As a reminder, the price of oil rose Sunday by as high as 20.1% to 88 cents per liter, with diesel at 83 cents — the equivalent of 12 days of a minimum wage to fill a tank of gas – compared to the U.S.’s seven hours — and the price ceiling will be adjusted daily starting Feb. 18, before letting supply and demand determine them in March.
• US national debt soars by $100 billion. . . in just 8 hours
  According to the latest statement issued yesterday afternoon by the Department of Treasury, the US national debt has reached $19,976,826,951,047.80. That’s $19.976 trillion, as of the close of business on Friday December 30, 2016. That number itself is obviously remarkable, just shy of $20 trillion. But what’s even more astounding is that, according to the Treasury Department’s own figures, they STARTED the day with a debt level of ‘just’ $19.879 trillion. So literally in the span of a single 8-hour workday, the US government amassed an astonishing $97 billion in debt. That’s simply incredible– $97 billion is larger than the entire GDP of New Mexico or Luxembourg. In 8 hours.
• What does Donald Trump expect to happen to the price of gold?
  Q: What does Donald Trump expect to happen to the price of gold? A: The public record is clear that on a personal, company and image basis, he loves gold. He does not have the fiat money religion prejudice of the central banker politicians. He will be favourable for gold. Q: Please connect this back to the five dimension analysis. A: You want to be able to go into the fifth dimension and bring back useful information and apply it physically. All successful geniuses have done this. Nikola Tesla comes to mend. He explicitly referenced this in his autobiography. If you wish to join a study group exploring this then you can apply by filling out the registration form at the link below and submitting it.
• Graceland Updates: “Gold: The Cost Of Production Is Near”
  1. Gold is no longer vulnerable. It has entered a nice buying area. 2. The $1225 – $1200 price zone is both technically and fundamentally important. Here’s why: 3. The average cost of producing gold is now approximately $1210. Fundamentally oriented money managers of size are almost always buyers when gold dips into the cost of production zone. 4. For a look at the technical action, please click here now. Double-click to enlarge. 5. The $1225 – $1200 zone is decent support. It’s not huge support, but it’s decent.  I was a modest buyer in the $1220 area this week, after being a seller at $1305 – $1320 last week.
• Bank of England admits ‘Michael Fish' moment with dire Brexit predictions
  The Bank of England has admitted its dire warnings of a downturn in the wake of the Brexit vote were a “Michael Fish” moment and said that the economics profession was now in “crisis”. Andy Haldane, the Bank of England’s chief economist, said there was a “disconnect” between political warnings about Brexit and the “remarkably placid” state of the markets, adding that the worst predictions may turn out to be “just scare stories”. He made the concession as new figures suggested Britain was the fastest growing of all advanced economies last year after the services sector defied gloomy forecasts to hit a 17-month high.
• World’s Largest Democratic Country to Endorse Universal Basic Income
  With Finland implementing a universal basic income (UBI) experiment that will run for the next two years, it seems that UBI is getting more attention as a viable system. Now, a leading advocate of UBI has said that the government of the world’s largest democratic country, India, is going to release a report endorsing UBI as “basically the way forward.” The report, which will be part of the Ministry of Finance’s annual Economic Survey, is expected to be released this month. India has had considerable experience with UBI pilot programs in the country. Behind these programs is Guy Standing, a founding member of the Basic Income Earth Network, and he is the UBI advocate who says that India’s report will endorse the system.
• Central Banks Have Robbed Us Of the Benefits of Free Trade
  The term “globalization” — in the sphere of economics — describes an increase in trade, and greater movement of capital and labor across national and regional boundaries. Free trade has long been among the driving factors behind economic globalization, and for centuries, economists have generally agreed that free trade is an important force in building wealth and economic growth. Even economists who disagree on almost everything else, can often agree that lowering barriers to trade is a good thing.
• In Stunning Last Minute Power Grab, Obama Designates Election Systems As “Critical Infrastructure”
  In a stunning last minute power grab by the Obama administration with just 14 days left in his Presidency, the Department of Homeland Security released a statement this evening officially declaring state election systems to be “critical infrastructure.”  The statement from DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson defines “election infrastructure” as “storage facilities, polling places, centralized vote tabulations locations, voter registration databases, voting machines” and all “other systems” to manage the election process…so pretty much everything. Of course, it's likely not a coincidence that the DHS made this announcement just hours after the “intelligence community” declassified their “Russian Hacking” propaganda which basically noted that RT has a very effective social media distribution platform while once again providing absolutely no actual evidence.
• Every Asset Class Will Collapse: ‘You Need To Be Looking At Your Wealth In Terms Of How Many Chickens And How Much Gas You Can Buy’
  There’s no other way to put it. The system as we know it will collapse. This, argues Karl Denninger of the Market Ticker, is a mathematical certainty. In a recent interview with Future Money Trends Denninger touches on the various dire challenges facing America. From the Presidential election to the rampant corruption in our financial, political and healthcare systems, he pulls no punches and warns that the worst is yet to come unless real action is taken immediately. Failure to do so, says Denninger, will lead to a collapse of everything we consider to be a part of our current way of life.
• 5 Tricks Gun-Control Advocates Play
  There’s been little talk of gun control this presidential election cycle, although state-level proposals continue to make it onto state ballots. Gun control positions have come down along the usual partisan lines. It was clear from Clinton’s comments in the final presidential debate, for example, that she desires greater restrictions on access to firearms for private citizens. She expressed no such caution about weaponry carried by government employees, of course. While the candidates have declined to make gun control a central issue in the campaign, mainstream media outlets, academics, and pundits continue to press for greater government restrictions and prohibitions on firearms access for private citizens. Meanwhile, of course, government agencies continue to purchase more powerful and more deadly weaponry.
• UK military to begin work on high-energy laser weapons for British armed forces
  The UK military has kick-started work on the development of high-power laser weapons after being awarded a £30m contract to build a prototype system. The UK Dragonfire consortium will build a laser weapon “demonstrator” designed to track targets across long distances at land and sea, and under variety of weather conditions. The UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) is exploring the potential of Laser Directed Energy Weapons (LDEWs) as a means of defending British forces against emerging threats from drones and ballistic missiles. If the prototype is deemed successful, service-ready laser weapons will be considered for distribution across the UK military.
• Grave Danger Elite Bankers Might Make Trump Fail-Lior Gantz
  Financial expert Lior Gantz says there is good news and bad news for the economy with the election of Donald Trump. Gantz explains, “If he changes the equation, it could cause a lot of inflation in the U.S.  U.S. banks are so liquid and have so much excess cash because of TARP programs and QE programs that this could prompt them to start lending, and lend to the wrong people.  It could prompt the government to start issuing increased food stamps, universal unemployment checks and all kinds of stuff that can create large inflation in the U.S.  So, that is one side that is problematic.  The other side is very spectacular for the U.S. economy because Trump is doing a lot of things that should have been done years ago:  deregulation, cutting back on taxes, cutting the red tape and making sure that businesses are more comfortable with opening new branches in the U.S.  The best indicator of this is the Russell 2000 index that is up much more than the Dow because the small cap companies are mostly based in the U.S., and the large cap companies are international.”
• Corporations Control Our Lives
  In our nation, finance has a hold on almost every single part of our lives – from the day we’re born, until we take our last breath. Capitalism and the quest for larger profits have taken hold of our healthcare, our education, our homes, our communication, and even our government. Today, most babies are born in for-profit hospitals, and their medical claims are paid by for-profit insurance. As children grow, many go to for-profit charter schools or private schools, and our public education system continues to crumble. Young adults are forced to deal with for-profit lenders to go to college at for-profit universities, and everything from their backpack to their first home will generate a profit for someone on Wall Street.
• Race to replace Ecuador’s Correa begins amid corruption scandal, uncertainty
  Ecuador kicked off its presidential campaign Tuesday amid a looming economic crisis, a lingering corruption scandal and a thirst for change that analysts say may hamper President Rafael Correa’s hopes of putting a successor into power to continue his “Citizens Revolution.” Lenín Moreno, Correa’s handpicked candidate and one-time vice president, is leading polls ahead of the Feb. 19 race against a divided opposition. However, if he doesn’t win in the first round with at least 40 percent of the vote and a 10-point lead over his nearest rival, he’ll be forced into an April 2 runoff that could be tough. “The government has to put all its meat on the grill for this first round,” said Sebastian Hurtado with the Quito-based political analysis group Profitas. If the opposition rallies behind a single candidate in the second round, “ it will be much more difficult,” he said.
• 2017: a Volatile Year from All Angles – Where to now… after what 2016 dished out?
  First, there was the surprise upset of the presidential election of dear old Donald. Then came the surprise shift in sentiment about the election. Before, he was a wrecking ball. After, he’s suddenly Jesus walking on water. Never mind that he’s already pissed off China… twice! Or that many are worried about his overly cozy relationship with “Darth” Putin, as with his new Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, who is also cozy with Putin. And let’s not forget the markets that were already overvalued suddenly breaking up irrationally on promises that Trump can deliver sustainable growth rates of 3% to 4% again. So, we’ll just grow our way out of this big fat bubble, shall we? Ha! That has never happened – not once in history – and there’s NO CHANCE this will be the first time… not given our aging populations, low productivity and unprecedented debt burdens!
• Power & Profit Fuel War on Cash in Europe
  In the wake of the attack on the Christmas market in Berlin in December, the European Commission granted customs and police authorities sweeping new powers to seize cash or precious metals carried by “suspect individuals” entering the EU. People carrying more than €10,000 euros in cash already have to declare this at customs when entering the EU. The new rules would allow authorities to seize money (or precious metals or bitcoin) below that threshold “where there are suspicions of criminal activity.” It was the latest step in the War on Cash. The powers that want to kill off cash include private and central banks, fintech firms, Silicon Valley magnates like Tim Cook and Bill Gates, telecom behemoths, credit card giants, assorted NGOs, a bewildering alphabet soup of UN agencies and many national governments. They all have their own disparate motives for taking out physical money.
• How Bad Will the “Bond Massacre” Get? Worse “than the 1994 ‘Bond Massacre,'” with “sustained double-digit losses on bonds, subpar growth in developed markets, and balance sheet risks for banking systems….”
  The backdrop: after 36 years of bond bull market, the amount of US bonds has ballooned to $47 trillion, up 24% from just ten years ago: US Treasurys ($19.8 trillion), Municipal bonds ($3.8 trillion), Mortgage related bonds ($8.9 trillion), Corporate bonds ($8.6 trillion), Federal Agency bonds ($2 trillion), Money Markets ($2.6 trillion), Asset backed Securities ($1.3 trillion), Bonds dwarfs the US stock market capitalization ($27 trillion). Bonds are a global phenomenon with even bigger bubbles elsewhere, particularly in NIRP countries, such as those in Europe, and in Japan. That’s why bonds matter. They’re enormous. And the damage they can do to investors is huge.
• Masses Shocked By Philly Beverage Tax Impact
  Philadelphia rang in the new year with a controversial new beverage tax on soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks. The tax, which went into effect on Sunday, is the first one of its kind in a major city in the United States. While the tax is technically 1.5 cents per ounce, which doesn’t sound too terrible, when buying a 10-pack of 20 oz bottles those numbers climb pretty quickly. In this case, a 10-pack of Propel flavored water that originally retailed for $5.99 had an additional three dollars tacked on to it in taxes. Chuck Andrews picked up a $1.77 gallon jug of tea, got home and looked at his receipt. “When I read the receipt I’m like, ‘Wait a minute. I paid more in tax than I did for the product,'” Andrews said.
• Dow 20K Is Just The Beginning Of A Massive Rally In 2017
  Interest rates have rocketed since the election. In the past month, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note – a bellwether debt security for long-term interest rates – is up 60 basis points to post the largest monthly spike in three years. Interest rates rose into the Federal Reserve’s most recent FOMC meeting, on Dec. 13 and 14. Fed officials did the expected at the meeting and raised the range on the federal funds rate 25 basis points to 0.75%-to-1%. After the meeting, Fed Chair Janet Yellen hinted that three more increases could be in store for 2017.
• Doug Kass Explains Why He Is Aggressively Buying Gold
  The broad consensus is to own stocks and to sell gold. But, as I have discussed since 2003 in my annual Surprise Lists, the broad consensus of investors is often wrong. Indeed, it is often the case that the very coalescing of popular opinion behind an investment tends to eliminate its profit potential. While the animal spirits may have taken over the equity markets and have ignored the gold market, we should recall that there is a reason why Keynes called them animal and not human spirits. That's because animals are a lot dumber than humans! As excited as investors are about stocks, they are now uninterested in gold.
• Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen – January 5, 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 by the middle of September 2015. You need to hedge against the 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 December 30, 2016 to January 5, 2017:

• 10 Ways That Donald Trump Could Try To Reverse The Curse That Obama Has Put On America
  When Barack Obama betrayed Israel at the United Nations, that put a curse on our nation.  But that doesn’t mean that we have to stay cursed.  In the coming days, the new Trump administration should immediately start taking steps to reverse the curse that we are under as a result of what Obama has done.  Perhaps if Donald Trump takes strong enough steps to try to undo what Obama has done, instead of being cursed we can once again return to being blessed. One thing that Trump will not be able to undo is UN Security Council Resolution 2334.  It would take another UN Security Council resolution to undo it, and the votes simply wouldn’t be there.  UN Security Council Resolution 2334 passed by a vote of 14 to zero with the U.S. abstaining.  And even if Trump could miraculously pull together enough votes, one of the other permanent members of the Security Council (Russia, China, the UK or France) could just veto it. So it looks like we are stuck with UN Security Council Resolution 2334, but that doesn’t mean that Trump can’t do anything to try to address this matter.
• House Passes Bill To Undo Months Of Obama Regulations With Just One Vote
  The House of Representatives passed legislation on Wednesday giving Congress the power to kill so-called “midnight rules”, months of recently enacted Obama administration regulations with just one vote, as Republicans charged ahead on their campaign to strip down federal regulations. If passed by the Senate and signed by President-elect Donald Trump, the legislation would amend the Congressional Review Act to allow lawmakers to bundle together multiple rules and overturn them en masse with a joint resolution of disapproval. The White House has already threatened to veto the bill if it were to make it to President Obama's desk before he leaves office. “Because outgoing administrations are no longer accountable to the voters, they are much more prone to issue midnight regulations that fly in the face of the electoral mandate the voters just gave the new, incoming administration,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte before the vote. “Waves of midnight rules can also be very hard for Congress or a new administration to check adequately.”
• Global Debt Hits 325% Of World GDP, Rises To Record $217 Trillion
  While we eagerly await the next installment of the McKinsey study on global releveraging, we noticed that in the latest report from the Institute for International Finance released on Wednesday, total debt as of Q3 2016 once again rose sharply, increasing by $11 trillion in the first 9 months of the year, hitting a new all time high of $217 trillion. As a result, late in 2016, global debt levels are now roughly 325% of the world's gross domestic product. In terms of composition, emerging market debt rose substantially, as government bond and syndicated loan issuance in 2016 grew to almost three times its 2015 level. And, as has traditionally been the case, China accounted for the lion's share of the new debt, providing $710 million of the total $855 billion in new issuance during the year, the IIF reported. Joining other prominent warnings, the IIF warned that higher borrowing costs in the wake of the U.S. presidential election and other stresses, including “an environment of subdued growth and still-weak corporate profitability, a stronger (U.S. dollar), rising sovereign bond yields, higher hedging costs, and deterioration in corporate creditworthiness” presented challenges for borrowers.
• Donald Trump Was Born Exactly 700 Days Before Israel Became A Nation
  Do you want to see something amazing?  If you go to any of the major search engines and ask when Donald Trump was born, you will be told that it happened on June 14th, 1946.  And then if you go to any of the major search engines and ask when Israel became a nation, you will be told that it happened on May 14th, 1948.  If you take both of those dates and plug them into the handy calculator provided by timeanddate.com, you will discover that Donald Trump was born exactly 700 days before Israel became a nation. I was first alerted to this incredible fact by Daily Crow.  Here are some other incredible numbers that link Trump and Israel from that same source… -Israel was 77 days old exactly 777 days after Donald Trump was born. -Israel’s 70th birthday will come exactly 700 days after Trump’s 70th birthday. -Donald Trump won the election on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 7th year, 7th month and 7th day in office. On top of everything else, Donald Trump will be 70 years, 7 months and 7 days old on his first full day in the White House.
• Three ridiculous ways Congress plans to Keep America Safe Again
  It’s amazing that this is what passes as Defense policy… THIS is how they plan on spending hundreds of billions of dollars to keep you safe– sending useless reports to their central bureaucracy. Then, of course, there’s section 1287, my personal favorite. Section 1287 requires that, within 180 days of the bill being signed to law, a new agency called the Global Engagement Center will be created under the State Department. The Global Engagement Center’s job is to combat FAKE NEWS around the world, with sweeping powers to train and fund legions of journalists and bloggers to inundate the world with US propaganda. Politicians have been praising the idea for the Global Engagement Center as a landmark new tool to keep Americans safe. This is totally bogus; the US government has had propaganda and psychological warfare resources for decades.
• Ford to scrap Mexico plant, invest in Michigan; CEO cites Trump policies
  Before he's even taken office, President-elect Donald Trump has proven to be quite the job creator. Ford Motor Company announced Tuesday it will cancel a $1.6 billion plant planned for Mexico and will instead invest $700 million in a Michigan assembly plant, directly tying the decision to “pro-growth policies” championed by President-elect Donald Trump. Trump had previously been critical of Ford’s plans to build in Mexico. After the announcement, Trump tweeted a link to a story about the Ford decision and then added in a subsequent message: “Instead of driving jobs and wealth away, AMERICA will become the world's great magnet for INNOVATION & JOB CREATION.”
• Scotland set to pilot universal basic income scheme in Fife and Glasgow
  A councillor has backed the introduction of a universal basic income in Scotland because he says it is the best way to tackle poverty. A radical scheme to give every citizen a universal basic income (UBI), regardless of whether or not they work, is set to be piloted by two Scottish councils this year. Labour-run Glasgow and Fife councils are designing trial schemes following meetings held late last year. It has not yet been announced what level the basic income will be set at, but the councils are to proceed with the pilots, subject to sufficient funding being secured.
• 47% of Jobs Will Disappear in the next 25 Years, According to Oxford University
  The Trump campaign ran on bringing jobs back to American shores, although mechanization has been the biggest reason for manufacturing jobs’ disappearance. Similar losses have led to populist movements in several other countries. But instead of a pro-job growth future, economists across the board predict further losses as AI, robotics, and other technologies continue to be ushered in. What is up for debate is how quickly this is likely to occur. Now, an expert at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania is ringing the alarm bells. According to Art Bilger, venture capitalist and board member at the business school, all the developed nations on earth will see job loss rates of up to 47% within the next 25 years, according to a recent Oxford study. “No government is prepared,” The Economist reports. These include blue and white collar jobs. So far, the loss has been restricted to the blue collar variety, particularly in manufacturing.
• Is the 2nd Half of 2017 when Sears Finally Kicks the Bucket?
  Sears Holding Corp., which owns the Sears and Kmart stores and is run by hedge-fund manager Eddie Lampert, who is also its largest shareholder, pulled off another little trick when it announced today that it had lined up $200 million “to fund its operations,” but not cash, which is what Sears needs more than anything, given the rate at which it is burning it, but a Secured Standby Letter of Credit, which may be expanded to $500 million, “with the consent of the lenders.” This announcement gives some clues that after many years of disappointment, Sears doom-and-gloomers might finally approach the end of their long wait.
• The Death Of The U.S. Petrodollar, and What Comes After
  In the following interview, Turd Ferguson of TF Metals Report interviews the one and only Dr. Jim Willie, in what is undoubtedly one of the best Dr. Willie interviews I’ve ever heard. The article that follows the interview is also from TF Metals Report, and it’s written by Grant Williams, who is a Singapore-based hedge fund manager. First, the interview covers three main areas of discussion. First, Ferguson and Dr. Willie review the generally accepted narrative that has been coming from the mainstream media more or less since Donald Trump won the election. We keep hearing how bonds are selling off, which is sending interest rates higher, and making the stronger Dollar. There’s nothing to worry about, and the Dow will be at 25,000 in no time, right?
• America’s Economy Before Versus After Obama
  Something that is happening with increasing regularity across today's mainstream media, is that regardless of what subject matter is being discussed, and despite the need today more than ever before for Americans to have access to accurate information that could prove vital for the safety and well-being of their families, almost without exception the information the mainstream media is providing as “real news,” is almost always woefully incomplete, or lacking any information that resembles news with an ounce of journalistic integrity. He who controls information, controls absolutely, and “The Powers That Be” have made sure that we the people do not have access to real information. Instead, what the mainstream media calls “real news,” is little more than sound bites and propaganda intended to keep the masses distracted and pacified.
• A great story from when America was still the Land of Opportunity
  Last week during a long overdue vacation, a close friend of mine recommended reading the autobiography of Rich DeVos called Simply Rich. DeVos is a billionaire entrepreneur who started countless ventures during his nine decades on this earth. Back in the 1946, for example, DeVos started an airline… virtually overnight. He just bought an airplane and started flying people around. No rules. No regulations. They didn’t even have an airport. The local airfield north of Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they were based, hadn’t been completed yet. As DeVos recounts in his book, “We put pontoon floats on our plane and took off and landed on the Grand River, which ran along the airfield.” His first office at the airfield was an old chicken coop that he found, washed in the river, and re-painted. The following year he and his partner opened up one of Michigan’s first “Drive Through” restaurants at the airfield, catering to passengers, workers, flight students, and spectators who came by in the evenings just to marvel at the planes.
• A Terrifying Warning That The West Is Now Approaching The ‘Brick Wall’
  As we kickoff the first week of trading in January, today the man who has become legendary for his predictions on QE, historic moves in currencies, warned King World News that the West is now approaching the “brick wall.” West Rapidly Approaching The “Brick Wall” Egon von Greyerz:  “On the first day of the new year it would be totally natural to forecast what the likely events and trends will be for the coming year. A lot of experts around the world will predict a number of ‘new’ events as if a lot of things will change just because we are entering a new year…
• 2017 SHOCKER – Banks Near All-Time Record Long Positions In Major Market, Plus A Look At Gold
  As we get ready to head into 2017, banks now have near all-time record long positions in a major market, plus a look at gold. The following charts are from SentimenTrader. Commercial Long Positions Near All-Time Record! The commercials have continued to dramatically increase their long positions in the U.S. 10-Year Treasury market to near all-time record levels.
• The Almighty Dollar and the Currencies that Crushed it in 2016
  Much of the strength of the dollar in 2016 has been ascribed to rising interest rates in the US and minuscule tightening by the Fed – or rather “removing accommodation,” as it likes to say – even as other central banks still engage in QE and negative interest rate absurdities. So the US became a destination for the hot money. By December 20, the dollar reached the highest point since December 2002 against the basket of currencies in the Dollar Index, though it has since eased off somewhat since then. But the Dollar Index contains only six currencies: euro, yen, pound sterling, Canadian dollar, Swedish krona, and Swiss franc. It doesn’t even include the currencies of two of the four largest US trading partners, Mexico and China. So how has a broader range of currencies fared against the dollar? Turns out, some soared, others plunged.
• US Government Attacks Drudge Report? Conservative Website Down Because Of Distributed Denial Of Service Attack, Matt Drudge Tweets
  A tweet from conservative media icon Matt Drudge's verified Twitter account Thursday night appeared to accuse the government of interfering with his website, DrudgeReport.com, just hours after the Barack Obama administration announced new sanctions against Russia over election hacking. “Is the US government attacking DRUDGE REPORT? Biggest DDoS since site's inception. VERY suspicious routing [and timing],” the tweet to Drudge's 457,000 followers read. There were no other tweets from the account at the time. A large-scale distributed denial of service attack, or DDoS, can cause major Internet disruptions. In the past, such attacks have shut down major websites such as Twitter, Spotify, Netflix, Amazon, Tumblr, and Reddit. The attack sends a server many illegitimate requests to make it hard for real requests to get through, effectively shutting down the site.
• Bitcoin Surges Above $1,000 As China Unveils New Capital Controls
  As noted yesterday, for the first time in three years, and only the second time in history, bitcoin rose above $1,000 in Yuan-denominated Chinese trading, however it was limited to the lower side of this “round number” psychological barrier in US trading, as BTC flirted with $999.99 for most of the day on the popular Coinbase exchange, without crossing it. Overnight, however, Chinese demand proved too great and US markets had no choice but to arb the difference. So with Bitcoin trading in China at an implied price of over $1,050 at this moment, bitcoin finally soared above $1,000 in the US as well, trading just around $1,024 on Coinbase as of this moment.
• China tightens control of personal forex purchases
  China has tightened checks on citizens exchanging foreign currency in anticipation of renewed downward pressure on the renminbi in the new year. Banks have been asked to improve standards for verifying customers’ identities and to report “large or questionable transactions”, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe) said in a public statement at the weekend. “There have been leaks in China’s system of personal foreign exchange purchases,” the statement said, giving as an example the way individuals and companies avoid capital controls on overseas investments by disguising their transactions as goods purchases.
• China’s Credit Engine Is Running Out of Gas
  The People’s Bank of China faces a reckoning after revving its credit engine for years. Three conditions suggest traditional financing and shadow banking are due to cool: Restrictions on property markets are poised to start weighing on mortgage issuance; bond market turbulence has spurred widespread cancellation of new corporate issues; and banks face more curbs on selling wealth-management products amid a regulatory tightening. With economic expansion on pace to meet the government’s objective and inflation pressure rising, leaders are signaling tighter monetary policy as they seek to reduce risks. The PBOC also cut language from its last quarterly statement saying it would reduce lending costs.
• Deutsche Bank chairman rules out European merger – Frankfurter Allgemeine
  Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) Chairman Paul Achleitner has ruled out a European merger or a state bailout after the lender's mortgage settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported. The bank, Germany's biggest, last week announced a $7.2 billion (5.83 billion pound) settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over its sale and pooling of mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis. “The management board in principle looks at everything that could help the business,” Achleitner said in an interview with the weekly newspaper published on Sunday.
• The New World Order Has Collapsed – Predictions for 2017
  The beauty of our current situation lies in the sheer unpredictability of it all. A lot of long-term plots and schemes got derailed this past year, and even one of the great architects of the project, Zbigniew Brzezinski, has declared the New World Order agenda obsolete. The Globalists went for too much, too soon, and inadvertently triggered a worldwide populist uprising. Heading into 2017, there are very few safe bets. Certain trends are evident, and a few projections can be made. Barring a wave of suicides and single-car accidents, a tsunami of tell-all books about the Hillary Clinton campaign should hit the shelves by spring. Every excruciating detail of working for a brain-damaged alcoholic closet lesbian psychopath will be revealed. Her vicious temper and open contempt for her staff will become the stuff of political legend. By November, it’ll be hard to find anyone willing to admit that they voted for her. I doubt that we’ll ever get to the bottom of the Podesta Pizzagate emails. Whatever he’s referring to, it sure as hell isn’t pizza. Maybe drugs, but it doesn’t sound like it. I wouldn’t want to be in close proximity to John Podesta. He looks unlucky to me.
• U.S. Special Operations Numbers Surge In Africa's Shadow Wars
  AFRICA HAS SEEN the most dramatic growth in the deployment of America’s elite troops of any region of the globe over the past decade, according to newly released numbers. In 2006, just 1% of commandos sent overseas were deployed in the U.S. Africa Command area of operations. In 2016, 17.26% of all U.S. Special Operations forces — Navy SEALs and Green Berets among them — deployed abroad were sent to Africa, according to data supplied to The Intercept by U.S. Special Operations Command. That total ranks second only to the Greater Middle East where the U.S. is waging war against enemies in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. “In Africa, we are not the kinetic solution,” Brigadier General Donald Bolduc, the chief of U.S. Special Operations Command Africa, told African Defense, a U.S. trade publication, early this fall. “We are not at war in Africa — but our African partners certainly are.”
• Get Ready for Passport “Globalization”
  “The bottom line is that anyone can be ISIS. We therefore need an approach to securing civilized societies that doesn't allow individuals to hide behind the cloak of Western passports… The time has come for a “global passport,” a parallel digital certification of a person's identity, background, criminal record, travel history, and other details. The digital record would be regularly updated based on databases from airlines, customs agencies, banks and other sources, and could be managed by an independent international authority.” The quotation above comes from CNN, an American news network that has done such an exemplary job in recent years in serving as a mouthpiece for the US Government. The argument for global passports is a familiar one: “You are in danger of being killed by terrorists. We will save you by removing yet another of your freedoms.” Or, as Hermann Goering said, “The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”
• What Is The Obama Regime Up To? — Paul Craig Roberts
  Obama has announced new sanctions on Russia based on unsubstantiated charges by the CIA that the Russian government influenced the outcome of the US presidential election with “malicious cyber-enabled activities.” The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a report “related to the declaration of 35 Russian officials persona non grata for malicious cyber activity and harassment.” The report is a description of “tools and infrastructure used by Russian intelligence services to compromise and exploit networks and infrastructure associated with the recent U.S. election, as well as a range of U.S. government, political and private sector entities.” The report does not provide any evidence that the tools and infrastructure were used to influence the outcome of the US presidential election. The report is simply a description of what is said to be Russian capabilities.
• What is Henry Kissinger Up To? — Paul Craig Roberts
  The English language Russian news agency, Sputnik, reports that former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is advising US president-elect Donald Trump how to “bring the United States and Russia closer together to offset China’s military buildup.” If we take this report at face value, it tells us that Kissinger, an old cold warrior, is working to use Trump’s commitment to better relations with Russia in order to separate Russia from its strategic alliance with China. China’s military buildup is a response to US provocations against China and US claims to the South China Sea as an area of US national interests. China does not intend to attack the US and certainly not Russia.
• Keiser Report: Outlook for 2017
  We discuss the outlook for 2017: from Trump’s first 100 hours, not days to fake news and a market crash following the biggest rally since Hoover. In the second half Max is joined by Gerald Celente of trendsresearch.com to discuss the big trends of 2017: Rustbelt 2.0, economic disorder and ‘Sell, Buy China’.
• “Trumpflation” Will Have Big Ramifications For Gold In 2017
  Something is brewing in the economy. Since the election of Donald Trump, interest rates have spiked, copper prices have surged, and various sectors of the stock market have swung bigly on speculation of what “Trumponomics” will bring. Scores of triumphant Republican commentators are already painting a bullish picture of the Trump economy. The GOP – which will control the White House, Congress, and most state governments – has a rare opportunity to implement a pro-growth agenda. Republicans squandered their last great window of opportunity. George W. Bush and his Congressional allies grew government spending at a faster clip than the economy and saddled the country with trillions of dollars in new debt.
• Will Gold & Silver Finally Bottom In 2017?
  There has indeed been an ongoing cleansing in the precious metals market since the spike highs five years ago. Remember, there have been calls for a massive turnaround in prices for both gold and silver since 2013…2014…again, even more so in 2015. 2016 has just freshly passed, and both metals continue to flirt with their lows from a year ago. A few years ago, all the rage was for the man and woman on the street to be buying gold and silver coins, long lines, especially in China, forming for blocks to make purchases for the inevitable rally “sure” to soon follow. During that time, we mentioned that individuals, small traders, et al, rarely, if ever, get in at the bottom or get out at the top of market turns. Both gold and silver were much higher, a few years ago, but the moneychangers continue to prevail as the “cleansing process” is still ongoing, tiring out the masses who had been certain that gold and silver would soar to $5,000+ in gold, $200-$300 in silver.
• Barack Obama’s Legacy: War, Debt and Poverty
  As 2016 winds down, so does Barack O’Bomber’s $80 million in paid vacations and his legacy of war, debt and poverty. It’s quite amazing how much one man can ruin a country while playing so much golf. WAR Just 12 days after being elected, Barack Obama was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He accepted the prize in Oslo on December 10, 2009. It was assumed that he would shut down Guantanamo Bay and end the military occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Finland to pay unemployed basic income of $587 per month
  Finland has become the first country in Europe to pay its unemployed citizens a basic monthly income, amounting to 560 euros ($587), in a social experiment hoped to cut government red tape, reduce poverty and boost employment. Olli Kangas from the Finnish government agency KELA said Monday that the two-year trial with the 2,000 randomly picked citizens who receive unemployment benefits kicked off Jan. 1. Those 2,000 unemployed chosen will receive 560 euros every month, with no reporting requirements on how they spend it. The amount will be deducted from any benefits they already receive. The unemployment rate of Finland, a nation of 5.5 million, stood at 8.1 percent in November with some 213,000 people without a job — unchanged from the previous year.
• European Commission Threatens Widespread Asset Confiscation
  The “war on terror” continues… The US and the North Atlantic Terrorist Organization (NATO) attacked Libya and Syria and began transporting Muslims to Europe as a means of destabilization. They have also conducted numerous other false flag attacks, such as Charlie Hebdo, by which to further confuse and imprison the local population. The most recent was the so called “terror attack” which occurred several days before Christmas in Berlin, Germany. A truck was deliberately driven into a crowded market killing 12 people and leaving 48 injured. Now it reaches a logical conclusion with cash and gold being confiscated in the name of making people “safe”. There is always an ulterior motive which becomes clearly apparent after such “terror” events. It is no coincidence that in Europe, the European Commission just made a new capital control proposition.
• Obama Chaos Before Leaving Office, Obama Punishes Russia Hacking & Economic Warning
  The Obama Administration basically stabbed Israel, its top U.S. Middle East ally, in the back by not stopping a UN resolution that makes the Western Wall occupied Palestinian territory. It also makes building Israeli settlements in the West Bank an international crime.  This is all taking place less than thirty days before Trump’s inauguration.  Is Obama creating as much chaos as possible before he leaves office?  I say YES!!! On another front, President Obama has expelled 35 Russian officials from the U.S. because of allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The Russians say Obama is “paranoid” and denies the charge.  Now, the Kremlin is vowing retaliation for expelling its diplomats and seizing Russian property in the U.S.  Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has negotiated a ceasefire in Syria without any involvement from the Obama Administration.
• 2017 Predictions on Trump, Gold, Silver, Housing, Stocks, Bonds & Antarctica-Clif High
  Internet data mining expert Clif High says forget about the rumors and predictions of Donald Trump being blocked from taking office. High says Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President and explains, “I don’t have any data that says, hard stop, Trump is assassinated.  I don’t have that . . . . I am willing to back my data with real money, an ounce of silver, and I have an ounce of silver, and I would be willing to bet the inauguration part goes through smoothly given the emotional data sets we have now.” High, who calls what he does “Predictive Linguistics,” mines the internet and collects billions of data points to produce forecasts of the future.  On the financial markets, High simply says, “We’re screwed. . . . The equity markets in our data sets are highly manipulated.  So, if you ask will there be a crash?  I say there already is a crash.  Everybody that is not part of the financial system at the top end is currently living in a depression, and the media does not acknowledge this.”
• Army’s brain: Russia’s ‘colossal’ supercomputer helps predict wars, defense minister says
  A “colossally powerful” supercomputer installed at Russia’s military headquarters helps the country’s armed forces tackle emerging threats by analyzing previous conflicts, such as the Yugoslavian war and the like, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said. The supercomputer is a key part of the headquarters’ IT infrastructure and is so powerful that the military uses less than half of its capacity, Shoigu told Rossiya 24 TV channel, which filmed a documentary about Russia’s National Defense Management Center (NDMC). “It has open architecture – you can add or remove specific elements, build up, increase and expand its capacities, it has plenty of them,” the minister said. The center’s supercomputer was designed to predict the development of current or future wars by analyzing the current security environment and drawing conclusions from past conflicts. It not only stores data on all major wars and conflicts, but also helps predict upcoming ones, Shoigu explained.
• Germany Unveils “Cash Controls” Push: Ban Transactions Over €5,000, €500 Euro Note
  It was just two days ago that Bloomberg implored officials to “bring on a cashless future” in an Op-Ed that calls notes and coins “dirty, dangerous, unwieldy, and expensive.” You probably never thought of your cash that way, but increasingly, authorities and the powers that be seem determined to lay the groundwork for the abolition of what Bloomberg calls “antiquated” physical money. We’ve documented the cash ban calls on a number of occasions including, most recently, those that emanated from DNB, Norway’s largest bank where executive Trond Bentestuen said that although “there is approximately 50 billion kroner in circulation, the Norges Bank can only account for 40 percent of its use.” That, Bentestuen figures, “means that 60 percent of money usage is outside of any control.” “We believe,” he continues, “that is due to under-the-table money and laundering.” DNB goes on to say that after identifying “many dangers and disadvantages” associated with cash, the bank has “concluded that it should be phased out.”
• Three Mini-Bubbles Are Bursting
  The world has gotten so used to ultra-low interest rates that even economists and money managers seem to be shocked by what happens when rates start creeping back towards normal levels. Some of the mini-bubbles that formed in an essentially free-money environment are now starting to leak. Notably: US Housing – While the action in this sector is nothing like the raging mania of the 2000s, prices in many hot US markets are at all-time highs, while affordability is at or near an all-time low. And now rising mortgage rates are beginning to bite. US Auto Sales – Cars and trucks have been one of the economy’s bright spots for several years — which seems to have gotten everyone just a little too excited. Auto financing practices have lately begun to resemble those of the subprime mortgage bubble: Today’s average loan is for more money, lasts much longer, and is held by a much weaker credit than ever before. Now, with interest rates rising and pretty much every potential buyer already locked into a car mortgage, the bubble optimism is evaporating. China – That the world’s second largest economy — with a debt load that has quintupled in the past seven years — can be called a “mini-bubble” illustrates the size of the meta-bubble in which it has emerged.
• Trump’s Border Wall, Deportation Plans Face Pushback From GOP
  Donald Trump’s pledges to deport undocumented immigrants and build a U.S.-Mexico border wall helped fuel Republicans’ surprising election victories, but they now face growing challenges from fellow party members. Three Republican senators are working with Democrats to shield about 750,000 young undocumented immigrants from deportation if Trump cancels a 2012 order from President Barack Obama that let them stay in the U.S.
• Brits Are Hoarding Cash Amid “Economic Uncertainties” As FTSE Hits Record High
  Despite the FTSE 100 soaring to new record highs, Britons are holding onto their cash in a sign that they may be hunkering down in the face of economic uncertainties, according to the British Bankers Association. As Bloomberg reports, personal deposits grew an annual 4.8 percent in November, data compiled by the BBA show. They increased by 32.4 billion pounds ($39.7 billion) in the first 11 months of the year, outstripping the 19.8 billion-pound growth in the same period of 2015. But while the economy has held up well so far, most economists foresee a slowdown in 2017 as businesses seek more clarity on the nation’s future relationship with the world’s largest trading bloc.
• Mining 24 Hours a Day with Robots
  Mining companies are rolling out autonomous trucks, drills, and trains, which will boost efficiency but also reduce the need for human employees. Each of these trucks is the size of a small two-story house. None has a driver or anyone else on board. Mining company Rio Tinto has 73 of these titans hauling iron ore 24 hours a day at four mines in Australia’s Mars-red northwest corner. At this one, known as West Angelas, the vehicles work alongside robotic rock drilling rigs. The company is also upgrading the locomotives that haul ore hundreds of miles to port—the upgrades will allow the trains to drive themselves, and be loaded and unloaded automatically. Rio Tinto intends its automated operations in Australia to preview a more efficient future for all of its mines—one that will also reduce the need for human miners. The rising capabilities and falling costs of robotics technology are allowing mining and oil companies to reimagine the dirty, dangerous business of getting resources out of the ground.
• Italy's Insolvent Monte Paschi To Issue €15 Billion In Debt
  For a glimpse into just how insane modern finance and capital markets are, look no further than Italy's thrice insolvent (in three years) bank Monte Paschi, which after failing to finalize a private, is finalizing the terms of its nationalization with the Italian government: a rescue which will cost Italian taxpayers at least €6.6 billion, and likely more. The bailout, however, is not the punchline. What is, is that according to Reuters, Monte dei Paschi di Siena – which has yet to be bailed out, plans to issue no less than €15 billion of debt next year “to restore liquidity and boost investor confidence.” According to daily La Repubblica, Monte dei Paschi would issue the debt in the form of bonds and commercial paper. A third of that debt would have a short-term maturity date, while the rest would mature in three years, it added. The bank could not immediately be reached for comment.
• John McAfee on Russian hacking allegations: “If it looks like the Russians did it, then I can guarantee you it was not the Russians”
  Following the release of an FBI report outlining Russia's alleged role in hacking the 2016 election, Larry King sat down to talk with tech pioneer John McAfee to discuss the current state of cybersecurity. McAfee is no stranger to cybersecurity. As the developer of the first commercial antivirus program, he has been a major player in the industry for the past 50 years. He is also the CEO of MGT Capital Investments, and an outspoken former presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party. Based on all of his experience, McAfee does not believe that Russians were behind the hacks on the Democratic National Committee (DNC), John Podesta's emails, and the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. As he told RT, “if it looks like the Russians did it, then I can guarantee you it was not the Russians.”
• Republicans Consider Obamacare Repeal Without A Replacement Strategy
  Republicans have spent a lot of time in recent weeks vowing to repeal Obamacare.  But, it is quickly becoming apparent that, since precisely zero people expected the 2016 election cycle to end with Republican control of all three branches of government in Washington D.C., no viable alternative has been fully vetted and stands ready to replace the failed legislation.  According to Bloomberg, the lack of a fully negotiated replacement option could result in Republicans repealing the bill on a piecemeal basis with a replacement to be implemented at a later date. While Trump has repeatedly called for expanding the use of Health Savings Accounts and allowing insurance companies to sale policies across state lines, none of those policies have been officially written into a bill at this point.  And while dozens of Obamacare alternatives have been introduced in Congress over the years none of them have actually received enough support to get off the ground.
• Walking your children home from school and driving while caffeinated are now felony crimes in police state America
  In Magnolia, Texas, it is now a felony crime to walk your own children home from school. Er, I mean the “government indoctrination center.” Seriously, parents can now be charged with serious crimes for merely meeting their children at the school and walking them home. “The principal has decided that no matter how close the student lives to the school, the student must either take the bus, or the parent must wait in a long car pickup line,” reports Fox 26 in Houston. “Try to walk your student off the campus and you could face criminal charges… Fox26 knows of 2 other parents who were just threatened with arrest.” This is yet more evidence that even in Texas, the government thinks it owns your children. Parental rights are being obliterated across the country at a breathtaking pace, including in California where the state can now mandate government injections of your children with aluminum, mercury and other toxic substances that cause autism and neurological disorders.
• 5 Pieces of News That Show Global Warming Still Isn't Happening The Way Leftists Say
  As 2016 comes to a close, it's important to realize that the left's continuing hysteria over global warming still does not match reality. The current facts show that there are not rising temperatures at alarming levels and, if anything, the planet seems to be experiencing more of a cooling phase than a warming phase. Here are five pieces of news that show that global warming is not causing armageddon. 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) graphs showing accelerated increases in temperature appear to be fabricated. 2. The evidence points to record amounts of cold weather. 3. The polar bear population seems to be thriving. 4. There were 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers in 2016 that concluded there was not wide-scale global warming. 5. The weather trends don't indicate that anything severe is occurring.
• Europe Proposes Confiscating Gold In Crackdown On “Terrorist Financing” 
  Hot on the heels of China gold import restrictions, and India's demonetization and gold confiscations, The European Commission proposed tightening controls on cash and precious metals transfers from outside the EU under the guise of shutting down one route for funding of militant attacks on the continent, following the Berlin Christmas attack. China has already begun de facto gold import restrictions, and as Jayant Bhandari detailed previously, India is experiencing a continuation of new social engineering notifications, each sabotaging wealth-creation, confiscating people’s wealth, and tyrannizing those who refuse to be a part of the herd, in the process destroying the very backbone of the economy and civilization. There are clear signs that in a very convoluted way, possession of gold for investment purposes will be made illegal. Expect capital controls to follow.
• JP Morgan Gobbles up a Minimum of Over 31 Tons (Possibly up to 186 Tons!) of Physical Gold!
  Back in August 2015, I noted that Goldman Sachs and HSBC had taken delivery of a huge tonnage of physical gold, probably purchased near the lows. Physical bars of gold are, by definition, a very long term investment in the yellow metal. At the time, the two banks were telling clients and others not to buy gold, even as they were loading up on it, themselves. Let’s fast forward… Starting in December 2015, JP Morgan began buying tremendous quantities of physical gold, as opposed to paper/electronic gold futures, forwards, ETF certificates etc. From December 1, 2015 to December 29, 2016, the big bank purchased and took physical delivery of over 31 metric tonnes worth of bars of the yellow metal for its house account at COMEX alone.
• Italy Urges Europe To Begin Censoring Free Speech On The Internet
  First it was the US, then Germany blamed much of what is wrong in society on “fake news”, and not, say, a series of terrible decisions made by politicians. Now it is Italy's turn to call for an end to “fake news”, which in itself would not be troubling, however, the way Giovanni Pitruzzella, head of the Italian competition body, demands the European Union “cracks down” on what it would dub “fake news” is nothing short of a total crackdown on all free speech, and would give local governments free reign to silence any outlet that did not comply with the establishment propaganda. In an interview with the FT, Pitruzzella said the regulation of false information on the internet was best done by the state rather than by social media companies such as Facebook, an approach taken previously by Germany, which has demanded that Facebook end “hate speech” and has threatened to find the social network as much as €500K per “fake” post. Pitruzzella, head of the Italian competition body since 2011, said “EU countries should set up independent bodies — co-ordinated by Brussels and modeled on the system of antitrust agencies — which could quickly label fake news, remove it from circulation and impose fines if necessary.”
• Geoengineered Winter Weather Whiplash With Patented Climate Engineering Processes 
  Patented processes for artificially ice nucleating winter storms are owned by our government and have existed for many decades (the Chinese have openly stated they are “engineering snowstorms”). Weather warfare has been waged against populations all over the globe for decades, this includes the US population. Engineered winter weather events are now the norm. Though US media has done their best to sweep the subject of weather warfare under the rug in recent decades, there is a great deal of historical coverage. The US military has made clear the fact that they have long since considered climate change to be the greatest national security threat of all, are we to believe they would ask our permission before they would modify the weather and climate to suit their own agenda? Global geoengineering programs are not about the common good, they are not about saving the planet or humanity. The ongoing climate engineering insanity is about power, control, and attempting to mask the damage already done to our climate system while inflicting unimaginably more destruction to the climate and biosphere in the process.
• Putin mic drops Obama: Russia retaliates against US retaliations… by inviting families of US diplomats to New Year's party at Kremlin, wishes Obama and family all the best 
  The Russian president has rejected a suggestion of the foreign ministry to expel 35 American diplomats in response to a similar move by the US. He said Obama's act was designed to provoke a reaction, but Russia would not take the bait. “We reserve the right to retaliate, but we will not sink to the level of this irresponsible ‘kitchen' diplomacy. We will take further moves on restoring Russian-American relations based on the policies that the administration of President-elect Donald Trump adopts,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a statement published by the Kremlin website. Putin said that, unlike the Obama administration, Russia will not target foreign diplomats and their families days before New Year's celebrations. “We will not forbid families and children from spending the New Year's holidays at the places they are used to. Moreover, I invite the children of all American diplomats with accreditation in Russia to New Year's and Christmas festivities in the Kremlin,” the Russian president said.
• Trump praises Putin for holding back in U.S.-Russia spy dispute
  U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Friday praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for refraining from retaliation in a dispute over spying and cyber attacks, in another sign that the Republican plans to patch up badly frayed relations with Moscow. Putin earlier on Friday said he would not hit back for the U.S. expulsion of 35 suspected Russian spies by President Barack Obama, at least until Trump takes office on Jan. 20. “Great move on delay (by V. Putin) – I always knew he was very smart!” Trump wrote on Twitter from Florida, where he is on vacation.
• Why Lew Rockwell is Optimistic the Drug War Will End
  Look to the war on drugs to understand why the United States has become “a prison state,” says Lew Rockwell in a new video interview with Future of Freedom Foundation President Jacob Hornberger. And, says Rockwell, look to educational efforts and state governments’ “nullification” of US drug laws for indications why drug prohibition will end. While Rockwell notes there are powerful interests fighting to perpetuate the war on drugs, Rockwell also declares in the interview his optimism that educational efforts will help increase public support for ending drug prohibition. Pointing to states “nullifying” US government anti-drug laws through actions including medical and recreational marijuana legalization, Rockwell says “we have every reason to be optimistic” that the drug war “will eventually come to an end.”
• Two of the world’s most evil people – Bill Gates and George Soros – behind Facebook’s news censorship agenda
  If there’s one thing the political Left hates more than anything else it’s an honest, open debate over ideals. Authoritarian to the core, Leftists shun debate and discussion because deep down, they know they cannot defend their positions—more and bigger centralized government, top-down government-imposed “solutions,” big expensive bureaucracy, limited freedom and individualism. So what does the Left seek to do instead? It seeks to shut down debate, shout down opponents, wall off competing ideas and censor anyone who doesn’t toe the liberal line. That’s what this business of rooting out so-called “fake news” by Facebook, Google, and other social media giants is really all about. After GOP presidential nominee Donald J. Trump mopped the floor with the Left’s anointed candidate, four-time loser Hillary Clinton, the insane Left began blaming “fake news” from alternative media sources (like ours) who dared to publish the truth about what Clinton stood for and how she, not Trump, was the one “unfit” for the Oval Office.
• Bank Bailout Balloons, Tab for Italian Banking Crisis Soars
  Over the Christmas holidays, when no one was supposed to pay attention, and when the markets were closed, the bailout costs of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the third largest bank in Italy, and the center of the Italian banking crisis, suddenly jumped by 75% to €8.8 billion ($9.2 billion)! Just how immense the black hole inside of a bank really is remains unknown until the bank collapses entirely and the pieces are sorted out. No one wants to know, especially not bank regulators. But when banks are teetering, and a bank bailout, or rather a bondholder bailout is being discussed, the aspects of that hole begin to emerge, and the hole keeps getting bigger the longer someone looks at it. Earlier this year, the ECB’s stress tests of 51 large European banks determined that Monte dei Paschi was the shakiest among them. The ECB gave the bank until the end of 2016 to raise enough capital or contemplate the prospect of being wound down.
• Trump Inherits Political and Economic Titanic-Warren Pollock
  Analyst and financial expert Warren Pollock says Donald Trump has been dealt a horrendous hand when it comes to the political environment and the economy. Pollock explains, “Trump inherited the Titanic or a nuclear reactor that is about to explode.  As he tries to fix this giant mess, he’s bound to upset the apple cart.  The economy is fragile.  The society is fragile.  If he touches anything, something is liable to break somewhere.  People want Obama Care removed immediately.  They want to see the swamp drained immediately.  I think these are things he believes in, and he is certainly a pragmatic manager compared to Hillary Clinton, who would have been an utter disaster for everyone in this country. . . . The problem for Trump, besides the piranhas that are circling him, both the Democrats and Republicans, is that he has inherited the Titanic, which means he can cause us to sink faster simply by touching something.  That’s why Obama Care can’t be turned off overnight.  That’s why he can’t impose massive tariffs on China overnight.  Whatever he does will cause tremendous dislocations.  Any corrective action that he takes will have unintended consequences, and he understands that.  He’s a pragmatist, and I think he is prepared to deal with this.  All the people he has chosen, all have differing opinions, but they are all excellent in one way or another.”
• Those That Bless Israel Will Be Blessed And Those That Curse Israel Will Be Cursed – So Now America Is Greatly Cursed
  There are consequences for our actions, and on a national level we are going to experience tremendous consequences for the very foolish decisions of our national leaders. When Barack Obama decided to betray Israel at the United Nations, he made the most fateful decision of his entire presidency. Because the Scriptures tell us that those that curse Israel will be cursed, and so America is now under a great curse due to what Barack Obama has done. All throughout the Scriptures there are equations. What I mean by that is there are many passages that tell us that if we do things God’s way we will get one result, and if we do things another way we will get another result. One of my favorite examples of this is Matthew 5:19. I have been on both sides of that particular equation, and being on God’s side of the equation is much better by far. As far as Israel is concerned, all throughout the Bible we see the principle that those that bless Israel are blessed and those that curse Israel are cursed. The very first place where we find this is in Genesis chapter 12 where God makes his famous promise to Abraham.
• John Kerry Unveils His Plan For A Palestinian State Based Upon 1967 Borders With East Jerusalem As The Capital
  Barack Obama stabbed Israel in the back on Friday, and now John Kerry has slapped Israel in the face just five days later.  In a shameful speech that lasted for 71 dreadful minutes, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry laid out his plan for peace in the Middle East on Wednesday.  His six-part plan is being welcomed warmly by the Palestinians, but it has further infuriated the Israelis.  Kerry claims that his plan reflects the emerging global consensus as to what a “final solution” will look like, and now we will wait to see what the 70 nations that will be gathering in France to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on January 15th will do.  There is a great deal of concern that the principles agreed upon at that conference will form the basis for a UN Security Council resolution that will be rushed to a vote before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20th. The core of Kerry’s plan is the division of the land of Israel into two states.  The borders between Israel and “Palestine” would be based upon the 1967 ceasefire lines with mutually agreed upon land swaps.
• 100% Of US Warming Is Due To NOAA Data Tampering
  Climate Central just ran this piece, which the Washington Post picked up on. They claimed the US was “overwhelmingly hot” in 2016, and temperatures have risen 1,5°F since the 19th century. The first problem with their analysis is that the US had very little hot weather in 2016. The percentage of hot days was below average, and ranked 80th since 1895. Only 4.4% of days were over 95°F, compared with the long term average of 4.9%. Climate Central is conflating mild temperatures with hot ones. They also claim US temperatures rose 1.5°F since the 19th century, which is what NOAA shows. The problem with the NOAA graph is that it is fake data. NOAA creates the warming trend by altering the data. The NOAA raw data shows no warming over the past century. The adjustments being made are almost exactly 1.5°F, which is the claimed warming in the article.
• Circle January 15th: 70 Nations Will Gather In Paris To Discuss The Creation Of A Palestinian State
  On January 15th, representatives from 70 different countries will gather in Paris, France for an unprecedented global conference.  The stated goal of this conference is to promote a “two-state solution” as the way that lasting peace will be brought to the Middle East.  In Israel, there is a tremendous amount of concern that whatever is agreed upon at this conference will immediately be used as the basis for a UN Security Council resolution that would permanently divide the land of Israel and create a Palestinian state.  But things would have to move very rapidly in order for that to happen, because Barack Obama’s time in the White House comes to an end on January 20th, and Donald Trump has already made it exceedingly clear that he would never support such a resolution. The UN Security Council resolution that was passed on Friday was one of the most significant events that we have witnessed in decades.  Resolution 2334 made all Israeli settlements in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem illegal, it set the 1967 ceasefire lines as the border between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and it granted every single inch of East Jerusalem to the Palestinians.  But it stopped short of giving official UN Security Council recognition to a Palestinian state, and that is why this conference on January 15th is so important.
• Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen – December 29, 2016
  Pastor Lindsey Williams introduces Pastor David Bowen with his regular short weekly video for readers of Pastor Williams’ weekly newsletter.

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