CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currencies):  The End Of Freedom, Privacy, Dignity, Sovereignty And Humanity.  And What Happens When AI (Artificial Intelligence) Takes Over Control Of CBDCs?  (April 17, 2023)

Posted in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), Digital Identification System (DIS), Our Future? on April 17, 2023 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “What happens when AI takes control of CBDCs?”

J          “We lose our humanity and cease being human.”

. . .

J          “The government’s inevitable descent and devolution into a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) means the end of freedom, privacy, dignity, sovereignty and humanity.  Period.”

K          “The government’s inevitable descent and devolution into a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) means the end of humanity, sovereignty, dignity, privacy and freedom.  Full stop.”

. . .

J          “Not good.”

K          “Real bad.”

. . .

K          “Someone said that a cashless society cannot be implemented unless a digital identification system is in place first.  The digital identification system is the line in the sand that cannot be crossed.”

J          “We are way over the line in the sand.  And most folks have buried their heads in the sand.”

. . .

K          “So few folks get it.”

J          “Soon many folks will get it.”

. . .

K          “What happens when AI takes control of CBDCs?”

. . .

[See “Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expresses strong disapproval of CBDCs and Digital IDs” by Brendan Taylor in “Insider Paper” dated April 7, 2023.  (“The central bank will have the power to enforce dollar limits on our transactions restricting where you can send money, where you can spend it, and when money expires.”)]

[See the e-commentary at The Promise Of AI (Artificial Intelligence) (August 20, 2018), “Monitoring The Masses:  The Card And The Chip (January 12, 2015)” Seven Years Later (January 10, 2022), “Monitoring The Masses:  The Card And The Chip (January 12, 2015)” Revisited:  The “Fondle Slab” Enslaves Us All (January 28, 2019) and Monitoring The Masses:  The Card And The Chip (January 12, 2015) and many other e-commentaries.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

What happens when AI takes control of CDBCs?

Question to ChatGPT-4:  What happens when AI takes control of CBDCs?

“When Artificial Intelligence (AI) takes over the management of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), several potential consequences and benefits may arise. It is essential to note that the extent and nature of these outcomes will depend on the degree of AI integration, the specific AI system used, and how it is designed and implemented. Some possible effects include:

  1. Improved efficiency: AI can help automate various processes related to CBDC management, leading to faster and more efficient transactions, reduced operational costs, and minimized human errors.
  2. Enhanced monetary policy implementation: AI can analyze vast amounts of economic data in real-time, enabling central banks to implement monetary policies more effectively. By identifying trends and patterns, AI can help central banks make better-informed decisions to maintain economic stability.
  3. Fraud and crime prevention: AI systems can identify suspicious transactions or patterns indicative of money laundering, terrorist financing, or other illicit activities, improving the overall security of the financial system.
  4. Financial inclusion: AI-driven CBDC management can potentially help extend financial services to underbanked or unbanked populations by lowering transaction costs and making banking more accessible.
  5. Tailored economic policies: AI can help central banks design and implement more targeted monetary policies by analyzing individual and regional economic data, leading to more effective and adaptive policy measures.
  6. Risks and challenges: AI-driven CBDC management also comes with potential risks, such as privacy concerns, increased centralization, reliance on AI systems, and potential job displacement in the financial sector. Ensuring that AI systems are transparent, accountable, and secure will be crucial for addressing these concerns.
  7. Ethical considerations: As AI takes over CBDC management, ethical concerns about algorithmic bias, transparency, and fairness must be considered and addressed to ensure that the system is fair and equitable for all users.

In summary, the integration of AI in the management of Central Bank Digital Currencies has the potential to bring numerous benefits to the financial system, including improved efficiency, enhanced monetary policy implementation, and increased financial inclusion. However, it is essential to address the potential risks and ethical considerations associated with AI-driven CBDC management to ensure a fair, transparent, and secure financial system.”  ChatGPT-4

Make cash great again

“Meanwhile there is still some freedom left in the world.  Many young people, it is true, do not seem to value freedom.  But some of us still believe that, without freedom, human beings cannot become fully human and that freedom is therefore supremely valuable.  Perhaps the forces that now menace freedom are too strong to be resisted for very long.  It is still our duty to do whatever we can to resist them.”  Aldous Huxley

“If there is a solution to a problem, there is no need to worry.
And if there is no solution, there is no need to worry.”  Dalai Lama

Don’t worry.  Be happy.

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The Obscene Crime That Is Censorship And Shadow Banning (April 10, 2023)

Posted in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Censorship, Google, Internet on April 10, 2023 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Every week for many months for many years, when I typed in “www.e-commentary.org” to review the weekly e-commentary, Google regurgitated a list of biblical babble.  Even scrolling through all the Google pages rarely provided access to “www.e-commentary.org”.  A few workarounds to gain access worked at times.  Ten years ago or so, an early and rudimentary form of censorship blocked the site before anyone even suspected the extent of the rampant censorship.  AI likely was not sophisticated enough.  What is most troubling is that a person or persons had to review the content and then program the algorithm to block the site.  The censorship today is much more subtle and much more pervasive and much more pernicious.”

. . .

K          “If I type in “The Two Great Geopolitical Elections:  China in 2014-15; Russia in 2022-23 (March 20, 2023)”, a neutral algorithm should return “The Two Great Geopolitical Elections:  China in 2014-15; Russia in 2022-23 (March 20, 2023)”.  However if I type in “The Two Great Geopolitical Elections:  China in 2014-15; Russia in 2022-23 (March 20, 2023)” and even add “www.e-commentary.org”, the Google algorithm shanghaies the viewer to other sites that pay it lucre and purvey official narratives.  Google violates the public trust and breaches the social contract and breaks the law.  Try it at home.  Try it right now.  Try it again later tonight.  Try it again later this week.  Any person can replicate the results.”

. . .

J          “I tried it at home.  I typed in “The Elections Clause And The Independent State Legislature Theory Confront Sound Logic And Settled Practice (December 12, 2022)” and expected Google to respond with “The Elections Clause And The Independent State Legislature Theory Confront Sound Logic And Settled Practice (December 12, 2022).”  Nope.  Other sites are linked.  I get it.  The Internet is not your friend.  Not mine either.”  

. . .

[See “Fighting Shadow-Banning. The Seneca Blog Lands on Substack” by Ugo Bardi in “The Seneca Effect” dated March 23, 2023 (“‘Shadow Banning’ (also ‘soft banning’, or ‘ghost banning’) is a clever way to make someone disappear from the Web, without giving the impression that he or she has been censored (*).  It simply consists in making one’s website disappear from the first pages of the search engines.  It works:  you get lost in the vast prairies of the Internet and your readers can’t find you anymore.  It happened even to Donald Trump when he was still president.”] 

[Google and DuckDuckGo and Brave all respond to a search for https://assangedefense.org/ with a . . . “504 Gateway Time-out”.  Censored again and again and again.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“As of my knowledge cutoff date in September 2021, e-commentary.org does not appear to be a widely recognized or influential website within the realms of finance, economics, or politics.  It is possible that the website has changed or gained prominence since then, but I don’t have any specific information about its content or mission.” ChatGPT-4.

“Any book worth banning is a book worth reading.” Isaac Asimov

The Internet is not your friend.

April 11:  Rallies for Julian Assange in various cities

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Boys v. Boys; Girls v. Girls.  No Foolin’. (April 3, 2023)

Posted in Blue States / Red States, Equal Protection, Gender, Sports on April 3, 2023 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “Boys compete with boys.  Girls compete with girls.  Period.”

K          “Girls compete with girls.  Boys compete with boys.  Full stop.”

. . .

J          “Congress passed Title IX to provide equal opportunities for girls and women.  The legislation is one of the most successful undertakings and resounding successes in American history.”

K          “The irony is that other legislation and court decisions undermine the logic and promise of Title IX.  It is unreal and surreal.”

. . .

J          “The current practice of allowing biological males to compete against biological females is resulting in greater resentment toward trangender folks from otherwise kind and understanding folks.  The reaction is reasonable and palpable.”

K          “This is a subtle variation of the effort by some to get the folks with the burning torches to turn on the folks with the pitch forks.  Think about it.”

. . .

K          “The NCAA women’s championship game yesterday would have been radically different with biological men playing on each team.”

J          “The NCAA men’s championship game tonight would be radically different with biological women playing on each team.”

. . .

J          “You are in a heap of trouble for thinking freely.”

K          “Glad to join the pile of free thinkers.  Logic and common sense still have a place.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “Just visiting, thank you.” (April 1, 2019).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”  The opening text of Title IX followed by several exceptions and clarifications

Boys and girls should be free to bake bread and build bridges.

Poem of the Century during National Poetry Month:  “Move to adjourn.”

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Russia Is PLANet B!  We Are Saved! (March 27, 2023)

Posted in China, Petrodollar, Russia, War, World War E, World War III on March 27, 2023 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Russia is PLANet B!  At every environmental rally, someone sports a sign proclaiming:  ‘There is no PLANet B’ for us (the US?) to exploit.  The letters ‘PLAN’ and ‘B” are in capitals and usually in a contrasting color.  But there is a ‘PLANet B’!  It is Russia.  The West is not attacking Russia because Russia is a threat, the West is attacking Russia to purloin its resources.  The current Western aggression lead by the Big Uncle is another chapter in the history of colonial oppression of the world by the West.  It is so obvious when it is obvious.”

. . .

J          “In a moment of unguarded weakness, I admit that the West would like to dismember and distribute Russian resources that was started when Yeltsin was in office. The U.S. must counter China’s control of world resources. It is not always pretty.”   

. . .

[See “In Moscow, Xi and Putin bury Pax Americana” by Pepe Escobar, the recipient of the Sixth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2021 (June 7, 2021), dated March 22, 2023 in “thecradle.co”.  “The ‘Junior Partner’ Meme Gives No Insight To Real Changes” in the “moonofalabama.org” dated March 23, 2023 develops the U.S. fixation with dismissing Russia at every opportunity as an equal in any relationship and reveals the united propaganda campaign of the MSM.]

[See the e-commentary at World War E Breeds Bretton Woods III;  BW II And The PetroDollar Will RIP? (March 14, 2022),  World War E Becomes World War III:  The West Versus The Rest:  Uni-Polar Versus Multi-Polar (March 28, 2022) and The War Between The Nation-States:  Architectonic And Tectonic Shifts In The World:  Getting Our Bearings In The Emerging World Order: Land And People And Resources Versus Fiat And Finance And Firearms (August 15, 2022).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

There is no PLANet B!

There is no PLANet B Russia!

Save the Planet!  It’s the only one with beer!

“West” / “North”:  $98.1 Trillion in resources  ???

“East” / “South”:  $211.7 Trillion in resources  ???

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The Two Great Geopolitical Elections:  China in 2014-15; Russia in 2022-23 (March 20, 2023)

Posted in China, Multipolar World, Russia on March 20, 2023 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “China in 2014 – 15.  Russia in 2022 – 23.”

J          “China won resoundingly.  Russia is losing convincingly.”

K          “China won resoundingly.  Russia is winning convincingly.  The U.S. lost astoundingly.  0 – 2 on the international stage.  Sad.  It did not have to be this way.”

. . .

K          “Not a person I have talked with over the last five years is even vaguely aware that in 2014 – 2015 the Chinese held a world-wide election to determine which countries sought to align with China via the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and which countries sought instead to align with the United States.”

J          “China won resoundingly.  Few realize it.  I get it.  We are in trouble.”

. . .

K          “World War E / World War III is forcing a world-wide ‘Oxford Union Debate’ with most the nations of the world surreptitiously slipping out through the ‘East’ (BRICS+ and OPEC+ and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) door and repudiating the West.”

J          “Russia is losing.  The West is winning.  Look at the vote of the United Nations General Assembly a few weeks ago.”

K          “That’s the point.  On the record, the nations must capitulate and kowtow to the Evil Hegemon.  But look at their actions.  They are quietly realigning.  Actions, as they say, speak louder than words.  The payback fueled by simmering resentment in the next fifty years will be Hell.”   

. . .

[See “5 Reasons Why Much of the Global South Isn’t Automatically Supporting the West in Ukraine” by Krishen Mehta in “Globetrotter” dated February 24, 2023, “Global South resists pressure to side with West against Russia” by Vijay Prashad produced by “Globetrotter” dated February 25, 2023 and printed in “Asia Times”.]

[See the e-commentary at AIIB: China: 1; U.S.A. 0? (April 6, 2015), World War E Breeds Bretton Woods III;  BW II And The PetroDollar Will RIP? (March 14, 2022),  World War E Becomes World War III:  The West Versus The Rest:  Uni-Polar Versus Multi-Polar (March 28, 2022) and The War Between The Nation-States:  Architectonic And Tectonic Shifts In The World:  Getting Our Bearings In The Emerging World Order: Land And People And Resources Versus Fiat And Finance And Firearms (August 15, 2022).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Dragon < Eagle > Bruin; Dragon + Bruin > Eagle; Eagle + Bruin > Dragon

War:  The only thing NOT made in China (Or is it?)

March 19 – 20, 2003 – U.S. attacks Iraq

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Special Edition.  Deciphering Derivatives.  Oh, And Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! (March 17, 2023)

Posted in Derivatives on March 17, 2023 by e-commentary.org

[See “The Looming Quadrillion Dollar Derivatives Tsunami” by Ellen Brown, the recipient of the Third Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 8, 2018), in “www.ellenbrown.com” dated March 13, 2023 and “The Next Bomb to Go Off in the Banking Crisis Will Be Derivatives” by Pam Mertens and Russ Mertens, the recipients of the Fifth Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 12, 2020), in “www.WallStreetOnParade.com” dated March 16, 2023.]

[See the interview and transcription of the interview by Ben Norton with Michael Hudson, the recipient of the Seventh Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 10, 2022), in “Michael Hudson Talks to Ben Norton About SVB and Bank Failures” with an introduction by Yves Smith, the recipient of the Seventh Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2022 (May 9, 2022), in “www.NakedCapitalism.com” dated March 16, 2023.]

[See the e-commentary at Too Much Dirt; Too Few Rugs. Repurchase Agreements (September 23, 2019) noting the problems in the Repurchase Market in 2019 that still haunt the economy and the choice between an economic or a kinetic declaration of war discussed in Strait of Hormuz or Deutsche Bank?  Deriving Derivatives (July 8, 2019) and the observations at Economics And Finance:  Girls v. Boys (June 4, 2018).]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Derivatives are “financial weapons of mass destruction.”  Warren Buffett

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2024 Pulitzer In “Breaking News Reporting” And “Investigative Reporting News”:  Jeff Gerth And The Columbia Journalism Review / Kyle Pope (March 13, 2023)

Posted in Journalism, Press/Media, Pulitzer, Russia on March 13, 2023 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “One can hope.  He is in the Club, but he has challenged the Narrative with Facts.  He is risking his position yet may now be old enough not to care.  The two Awards should also be awarded jointly to the ‘Columbia Journalism Review’ that showed remarkable courage and integrity.  And with a nod to Kyle Pope.”

L          “Never happen.”

K          “Of course not.”

. . .

K          “They should revoke the Pulitzers awarded for the sham and the fraud in 2018.”

L          “Never happen.”

K          “Of course not.”

. . .

K          “The individuals who were wrongly awarded the Pulitzers in 2018 should muster the dignity and integrity to return the awards.”

L          “Never happen.”

K          “Of course not.”

. . .

K          “And apologize.”

L          “Never happen.”

K          “Of course not.  That would contravene the American Way.”

. . .

[See “The Press versus the President” in four parts:  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 of Jeff Gerth’s magnum opus in the “Columbia Journalism Review” dated January 30, 2023; see “The Press Reckoning on Russiagate” by Patrick Lawrence in “Consortium News” dated February 7, 2023; “Columbia Journalism Review Russiagate Post-Mortem Is a Good Start” by Mark Hemingway in “RealClearPolitics” dated February 6, 2023 and “Take a Bow, Columbia Journalism Review” by Matt Taibbi in “Racket News” dated February 8, 2023.]

[See the e-commentary at Russian Interference; Russian Collusion.   Epilogue (March 25, 2019) and Russian Interference; Russian Collusion (February 26, 2018).  Joe’s Award should have been bestowed for the ideas and insights in these two pieces.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Russia exists to teach Americans hate and to hate.  If Russia did not exist, America would have to create it.

“knowingly, knowingly, knowingly lying, omitting, disinforming, fabricating, and covering up”

“For deeply sourced, relentlessly reported coverage in the public interest that dramatically furthered the nation’s understanding of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and its connections to the Trump campaign, the President-elect’s transition team and his eventual administration. (The New York Times entry, submitted in this category, was moved into contention by the Board and then jointly awarded the Prize.)”  Pulitzer Announcement in 2018.

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Spoiler Alert:  Yup, Uncle Sam Did It . . . Or At Least Approved It (March 6, 2023)

Posted in Russia, Terrorism, Ukraine on March 6, 2023 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “There is something to the story.  There seems to be something more to the story.  I am not completely persuaded and once again reserve judgment.  I suspect the Brits and others were involved.  The only certainty is that nothing was done without the planning and the approval and the participation of Uncle Sam.  And once again the disturbing and unrelenting nightmare continues with any and all debate viciously and almost violently suppressed.”

J          “That is the way it is and the way it should be.”

. . .

K          “The United States clearly violated Article 5 of the NATO Charter when it aided and abetted a terrorist attack on Germany’s infrastructure . . . so all the other members of NATO must come to the defense of the Germans.  All for one; one for all.”

J          “A treaty is followed when it is convenient and disregarded when it is inconvenient.  That is known as the ‘rules-based international order’ and is one of America’s great contributions to humanity.  In this situation, the NATO Charter is inconvenient.  Ergo . . .”

. . .

K          “No one in the know is surprised that the United States brazenly destroyed the link between Germany and Russia with its ‘Pearl Harbor’ attack on the infrastructure of sovereign countries.  Few in America have ever heard of Halford Mackinder who correctly observed almost ten dozen years ago that a united Eurasia will rule the world.  Germany was maintaining cordial commercial relationships with Russia which threatened American hegemony.”

. . .

K          “The Swedes and the Norwegians and possibly the Danes seem to be accessories to the crime.  Yet they still seem like good people.” 

J          “They are.”

K          “Makes one wonder if there is some spare Brittingham Scholar with a modicum of courage who might step up and demur.”

. . .

[See “How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline” by Seymour Hersh in ‘www.seymourhersh.substack.com’ dated February 8, 2023 and “Sy Hersh & The Way We Live Now” by Craig Murray in “Consortium News” dated February 10, 2023.]

[See the e-commentary at The U.S. Declares War On Germany, Europe, Russia And The Free World . . . Bank Of England Flops Then Flips . . . And The Supreme Beings Saunter Into Town (October 3, 2022) and What Is With Our Friend Sweden And Our Friends The Swedes?  The Swedish Central Bankers Reward One Of Their Criminal Home Boys:  Bernanke.  The “Real” Nobel For Peace (War?) Rewards Hypocrisy And Dishonesty.  The Nord Stream Pipeline Terrorism Investigation Is Dodgy. (October 24, 2022).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

February 7, 2022:

Biden:  “If Russia invades – that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine again – then there will be – there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2.  We will bring an end to it.”

Andrea Shalal:  “But how will you – how will you do that exactly, since the project and control of the project is within Germany’s control?”

Biden:  “We will – I promise you, we will be able to do it.” 

January 26, 2023:

“Senator Cruz, like you, I am, and I think the administration is, very gratified to know that Nord Stream 2 is now, as you like to say, a hunk of metal at the bottom of the sea.”  Victoria “Fuck the EU” Nuland. 

“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” Maya Angelou

“The diplomats want war and the warriors want peace.”  Elon Musk

Is the Europe Effete as decadent and corrupt as the American Effete?

Remember the Nord Stream!

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Monkeying Around With Cryptocurrency:  Pumping And Dumping And Monkey Hammering The Villagers (February 27, 2023)

Posted in Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Kleptocracy on February 27, 2023 by e-commentary.org

Revised from a variety of incarnations on the Internet:

How Cryptocurrency Works

 
Not long ago a Merchant found many stray monkeys living near a village that were disregarded and overlooked by the villagers.

 
One day the Merchant came into the village stating that he wanted to buy these stray monkeys.

 
He announced that he would buy the stray monkeys for $100 each.

 
The villagers thought that this man must be crazy.  “How can somebody buy stray monkeys at $100 each?  Why would he buy stray monkeys at $100 each?”

 
Still people caught some monkeys and sold them to the Merchant for $100 each.


This news spread like wildfire.  More villagers caught monkeys and sold them to the Merchant.


After a few days, the Merchant announced that he would now buy monkeys for $200 each.

 
Now even the laziest villagers ran around to catch the remaining monkeys.


They sold the remaining monkeys at $200 each.


The Merchant then announced that he would buy monkeys for $500 each.


The villagers started to lose sleep.


They caught six or seven monkeys which was all that were left and got $500 each.

The villagers were awaiting anxiously for the next announcement.
 
Then the Merchant proclaimed that he is going on holiday for a week, but when he returned, he would buy monkeys at $1000 each.


He also said that in his absence his Employee would be in charge to take care of the monkeys he had purchased.


The Merchant went on holiday.


The villagers were frantic and very sad as there were no more monkeys left for them to sell at $1000 each as promised by the Merchant, but then the Merchant’s Employee publicized that he would secretly sell some monkeys at $700 each.


The news spread like wildfire as the Merchant had promised that upon his return monkeys would be purchased for $1000 each, producing a $300 profit for each monkey.


The next day the villagers queued up near the monkey cage.


The Employee sold all the monkeys at $700 each. The rich villagers bought monkeys in large numbers.  The poor villagers borrowed money from money lenders and bought the rest of the monkeys.


The villagers took care of their monkeys and waited for the Merchant to return.


When the Merchant didn’t return, they searched for the Employee, but he could not be found either.


Eventually the villagers realized that they had been duped into buying the useless stray monkeys at $700 each and were now unable to sell them for any amount.


This Monkey Business is now known as cryptocurrency.

. . .

[See “There’s a wild theory that the price of Bitcoin is being propped up—and the academic who proved manipulation in 2017 suspects it may be happening again” by Shawn Tully behind a paywall at “fortune.com” and reprinted at “yahoo.com” dated February 2, 2023.]

[See the e-commentary almost a half dozen years ago in “Bitcoin”, “Ethereum” . . . “Blockchain Technology” Say What? (July 3, 2017) and a few comments on blockchain five years ago at One World Currency? (January 8, 2018) (K  “On a simple level, ‘cryptocurrencies’, etc. are digital and gold, etc. is analog.  Blockchain technology underlying ‘cryptocurrencies’ is likely to be supplanted by a fast, fair, sustainable, scalable, guaranteed Byzantine fault tolerant consensus digital technology using gossip protocols and virtual votes such as Hashgraph.  And Hashgraph is likely to be supplanted by even more advanced and sophisticated technologies.”)  The analogy between “gold” and “analog” is weak because gold is real and can be held in one’s palm and as they say, there is no counterparty risk.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

FOMO

HODL

Let’s celebrate one big happy extended family of transformational leaders and selfless visionaries serving the public interest and promoting the common weal in law, media, business, politics and academia:

SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s old boss at MIT was Glenn Ellison.  His daughter Caroline Ellison is the CEO of FTX sister-company Alameda Research (and Sam Bankman-Fried’s lover at one time apparently).

The General Counsel of FTX used to be lead counsel to Gary Gensler when he was the CFTC Chair.

Sam Bankman-Fried’s mother was one of Hillary Clinton’s lawyers.

Gabe Bankman-Fried, brother to Sam (also a former Jane Street trader), is founder of “Guarding Against Pandemics”.  He was a Legislative Correspondent for the U.S. House of Representatives and an advisor to large political donors in the Democratic Party.

Aunt Linda Fried is a WEF member on the Global Agenda Council on Aging.

The father, Joseph Bankman, is a Stanford professor who has lobbied on behalf of hedge fund managers before Congress (film at eleven).

Amy Wu, FTX Head of Ventures & Commercial, started with the Clinton Foundation years ago.

Nishad Singh, FTX Director of Engineering, has spent over 8 million dollars for Democratic candidates.

Mark Wetjen, Obama’s Commodity Futures Trading Commissioner, was the head of FTX Policy & Regulation.

Dan Friedberg, Chief Regulatory Officer of FTX, was previously a lawyer at Ultimate Bet (a site where they basically cheated against players).

Stuart Hoegner, General Counsel at Bitfinex/Tether, was previously Director of Compliance at Excapsa which was responsible for the Ultimate Bet Poker software.

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World War E / World War III Is 1 [9?] Year[s] Old This Week.  Oh, And Happy Presidents’ Day! (February 20, 2023)

Posted in China, Dollar - World's Reserve Currency, Petrodollar, Russia, Ukraine, War, World War E, World War III, World's Reserve Currency on February 20, 2023 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “Putin is desperate.”

K          “Biden is desperate.  The speakers yesterday proclaimed a word that has almost been expunged from the American lexicon – peace.  And look at his latest desperate theatrical antic.  The puppet flies to meet the marionette.”

. . .

K          “Russia is subtly and methodically winning the ‘economic war’ and is slowly and patiently winning the ‘kinetic war’ and ceaselessly and unrelentingly losing the ‘propaganda war’ . . . at this time.  The unprovoked Western sanctions are destructive and counterproductive.  The truth is emerging.  The West is very, very slowly unraveling.”

J          “The West will prevail.”

. . .

K          “One of the tectonic shifts on the journey from illusionment to disillusionment was the gradual realization that the United States of America since 1945 was not the world’s policeman as I was directed in grammar school . . . it is the world’s bully.  After that realization was confirmed by a thousand historical footnotes, nothing is or can ever be the same.”

J          “Policemen need to be bullies at times.”

. . .

K          “The bourse is the battlefield; the battlefield is the bourse.  The PetroDollar is supported by violence; the violence is funded by the PetroDollar.  The de-dollarization efforts may not dethrone the PetroDollar, but little by little they are moving the PetroDollar to a highchair at a table with other currencies.”

J          “Some two-party commercial transactions are being undertaken without the PetroDollar.  However, the PetroDollar still has a long shelf life and a long half-life.  For better and for worse.” 

. . .   

K          “Biden will instigate a false flag event to go nuclear.”

J          “Putin will instigate a false flag event to go nuclear.”

. . .

K          “Biden’s war is not going to end well.”

J          “Putin’s war is not going to end well.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at Portentous Developments In 2022? (January 23, 2023), Washington Wants War In The Worst Way:  Dust Off The IOSAT Or Return To The Status Quo Ante Bellum? (January 24, 2022), N. Propaganda R. Transcribed:  “Get Vaccinated.  Attack Russia.”  Oh, And Happy Presidents’ Day! (February 21, 2022), The Cuban Missile Crisis And The Monroe Doctrine Today (February 28, 2022), Sanctions, Supply Chains And World War E (March 7, 2022), World War E Breeds Bretton Woods III;  BW II And The PetroDollar Will RIP? (March 14, 2022) (“The ‘PetroDollar’ has had as much influence on civilization as the implementation of the wheel, the creation of the printing press and the discovery of electricity.  Yet, the ‘PetroDollar’ and BW II are dying a slow but accelerating death.  In a stupendous irony, U.S. stupidly killed BW II which had served it so well and has now spawned an uncertain BW III.”), The War Between The Nation-States:  Architectonic And Tectonic Shifts In The World:  Getting Our Bearings In The Emerging World Order: Land And People And Resources Versus Fiat And Finance And Firearms (August 15, 2022), The U.S. Declares War On Germany, Europe, Russia And The Free World . . . Bank Of England Flops Then Flips . . . And The Supreme Beings Saunter Into Town (October 3, 2022), What Is With Our Friend Sweden And Our Friends The Swedes?  The Swedish Central Bankers Reward One Of Their Criminal Home Boys:  Bernanke.  The “Real” Nobel For Peace (War?) Rewards Hypocrisy And Dishonesty.  The Nord Stream Pipeline Terrorism Investigation Is Dodgy. (October 24, 2022), Existential Threat + Existential Threat = World War.  Are We Mired In World War E[conomic] / World War III? (November 21, 2022), The China-Russia Affair: Advancing The Petro-Yuan; Dictating The Future (March 26, 2018), World’s Reserve Currency War I = Cold War 2.0 = WW III (?) (September 8, 2014), AIIB: China: 1; U.S.A. 0? (April 6, 2015), The Mandibles, FRNs, SDRs, IMF, G20, WTD! (September 5, 2016), USA + FRN/PD — > IMF + SDR — > NDB + UMU? The “Universal Monetary Unit” . . . Coming To a Planet Near You (January 2, 2017), One World Currency? (January 8, 2018), and two prescient pieces on NATO at NATO: Nations Aggressively Taking Over (March 31, 2014) (“If Bush can invade Iraq without any good reason, can Putin invade Ukraine without any good reason?”) and NATOExit? NATOExeunt? (July 4, 2016).]

It is going nuclear.

Bumper stickers of the week:

“The other thing I will say is that the war didn’t start in February last year.  The war started in 2014.  And since 2014, NATO Allies have provided support to Ukraine, with training, with equipment, so the Ukrainian Armed Forces were much stronger in 2022, than they were in 2020, and 2014.  And of course, that made a huge difference when President Putin decided to attack Ukraine.”  NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

“They’ve lost strategically, they’ve lost operationally and, I repeat, they’ve lost tactically.  . . .  What they’ve tried to do, they’ve failed at.  The strategic reframing of their objectives, of their illegal invasion, have all failed, every single one of them.”  Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark A. Milley

Desperate people do desperate things

“It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.”  Voltaire

Dragon < Eagle > Bruin; Dragon + Bruin > Eagle; Eagle + Bruin > Dragon

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