The Trillion-Dollar Military Still Isn’t Enough for the War Party
September 11th, 2019Via: Mises Institute:
Since the end of the Cold War in 1990, US defense spending has increased 182 percent in nominal terms, and 44 percent in inflation-adjusted terms. In inflation-adjusted terms, defense spending is now about equal with the all-time peak reached in 2011, and the White House’s Office of Management and Budget estimates that defense spending will reach an all-time high in 2020.
Why Don’t We Hear Much About Julian Assange?
September 11th, 2019Via: Medium:
In Orwell’s dystopian fiction 1984, the government’s mission through the Ministry of Truth is to supply its people with news, entertainment, books, films, plays and songs, packed with the information it wants the people to know. It constructs lies to fit the narrative it wishes to establish and sets about rewriting historical documents so they match the constantly changing current party line.
Have we slept walked our way into 1984 with the curious witchhunt of Julian Assange?
Trump Says Fed ‘Boneheads’ Should Cut Interest Rates to Zero ‘Or Less,’ U.S. Should Refinance Debt
September 11th, 2019As I was driving through town yesterday afternoon, I saw a bug eyed crazy dude on the side of the road. He was wearing a blanket and frantically babbling to the sky.
That’s about the level we’re at with the suggestion that the U.S. national debt could be refinanced.
Although…
I remember a conversation with my dad about twenty years ago. I was talking about the national debt, how it could never be paid back and how it would keep snowballing until it couldn’t anymore.
Dad’s response was something along the lines of: Simple. The president cancels the debt. The U.S. military has a lot of nuclear missiles and bombers and submarines. Let anyone who wants to collect try it. They were stupid enough to lend money to a country with that kind of firepower—that’s their fuckin’ problem. Fuck ’em.
I laughed and said, “Ok dad, sounds good.”
Then I played this song for dad. It became one of his favorites.
Maybe this could serve as the theme song for how America handles its finances when the debt charade finally breaks down.
F yez all, F yez all, F yez all
Via: CNBC:
President Donald Trump on Wednesday continued his verbal assault on the Federal Reserve, which he blames for slowing the economy, tweeting that the central bank should cut interest rates to zero or even set negative interest rates. The president also called Fed officials “boneheads” in the tweet.
“The Federal Reserve should get our interest rates down to ZERO, or less, and we should then start to refinance our debt. INTEREST COST COULD BE BROUGHT WAY DOWN, while at the same time substantially lengthening the term,” he said.
…
During a CNBC interview in May 2016, Trump said that if the economy turned south, he would try to get creditors to accept partial payment on U.S. debt.
“I would borrow, knowing that if the economy crashed, you could make a deal,” he said then.
His idea was that the U.S. would pay less than face value on the Treasury debt it issues to cover the burgeoning budget deficit.
Trump Says He Fired National Security Advisor John Bolton
September 10th, 2019Via: CNBC:
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he had fired national security advisor John Bolton, saying he had “disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions.”
“I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House. I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning,” Trump said in a tweet.
Japan May Be Forced to Dump Radioactive Fukushima Water Into the Pacific
September 10th, 2019Via: U.S. News and World Report:
Radioactive water from Japan’s destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant may have to be dumped into the ocean, the country’s energy minister reportedly said Tuesday, igniting concern and anger from nuclear safety experts and Japan’s neighbors in the region.
The electric utility overseeing the crippled power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, is running out of room to store the contaminated water, the minister, Yoshiaki Harada, said at a news conference. The water has built to a stockpile of more than 1 million metric tons, taken from cooling pipes being used to keep the plant’s fuel cores from melting.
McDonald’s Acquires AI Company to Help Automate the Drive-Thru
September 10th, 2019In other AI news, 120 Million Workers May Need to be Reskilled or Retrained in the Next Three Years.
Via: CNBC:
McDonald’s said Tuesday it has agreed to acquire a company that is trying to automate the drive-thru. It’s the fast-food giant’s third tech-focused deal this year.
Apprente, a Silicon Valley company founded in 2017, uses artificial intelligence to understand drive-thru orders, which could cut down on service times. McDonald’s said the technology also could be used someday in its self-order kiosks and mobile app.
The Chicago-based company said it evaluated Apprente’s technology in McDonald’s test restaurants.
Apprente’s employees will be the founding members of a group called McD Tech Labs, which will be housed within McDonald’s global technology team. The burger chain wants to grow its presence in Silicon Valley by hiring more tech experts, including engineers and data scientists.
IBM: 120 Million Workers May Need to be Reskilled or Retrained in the Next Three Years
September 9th, 2019Via: IBM:
In the next three years, as many as 120 million workers in the world’s 12 largest economies may need to be retrained or reskilled as a result of AI and intelligent automation, according to a new IBM (NYSE: IBM) Institute for Business Value (IBV) study. In addition, only 41 percent of CEOs surveyed say that they have the people, skills and resources required to execute their business strategies.
Saudi Arabia Wants to Enrich Uranium
September 9th, 2019Via: Reuters:
Saudi Arabia wants to enrich uranium for its nuclear power program, its energy minister said on Monday, potentially complicating talks with Washington on an atomic pact and the role of U.S. companies.
Uranium enrichment has been a sticking point with the United States, especially after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in 2018 that the Sunni Muslim kingdom would develop nuclear arms if regional rival Shi’ite Muslim Iran did.
The world’s top oil exporter says it wants to use nuclear power to diversify its energy mix, but enrichment also opens up the possibility of military uses of uranium.
Army Starts Testing Next Generation Squad Weapons In 27-Month Test
September 9th, 2019Via: ZeroHedge:
The U.S. Army is getting much closer to deploying the next generation weapon that could soon replace the M4 carbine and M249 light machine gun sometime in the early 2020s.
On Aug. 29, the Army announced it selected three defense companies to deliver prototype weapons for the Next Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) program.
The new weapons must be lighter and able to penetrate the world’s most advanced body armor from at least 600 meters away, defense insiders say.
Baltimore: Police Found Van Containing 1,000 Gallons of Gasoline
September 9th, 2019Via: The Baltimore Sun:
Baltimore police discovered a van loaded with 1,000 gallons of gasoline Monday morning and are evacuating several office buildings from the Inner Harbor — where emergency officials are urging people to stay away, city council members confirmed.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is assisting Baltimore police on the scene.
A police spokesperson said they received a call at 11:02 a.m. about a suspicious van and began evacuating 100 E. Pratt St., which houses T. Rowe Price and and global professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
