Central bank policies create hidden losses and distortions that favor elites over regular people. Paying high interest on reserves while holding long bonds flips normal central bank profits into losses. This keeps government borrowing cheap but builds bigger problems for the future.
By borrowing from banks at 5.4% interest to buy Govt. bonds, the Fed artificially masks the true severity of Govt. debt.
https://twitter.com/i/status/2073433367555534979 Watch on X
(The IMF head is appointed by Europe. The World bank is appointed by the US.
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Burry calls AI narrative mass addiction and shorts the entire hype trade hard.
Michael Burry says the AI story is just mass addiction with no real substance.
He is short big AI names like PLTR, NVDA and MU plus the semiconductor ETF.
He holds longs in names like LULU, PFE and others outside the AI frenzy.
Hyperscalers spending huge on AI but seeing little return while chip makers are up 200 percent.
Semiconductor valuations at extreme levels like dot-com peak.
AI user spending and pricing power already cracking with token spend down 20 percent.
Hyperscalers understating depreciation costs by billions that will hit earnings soon.
Smart money like Burry sees massive spending without matching profits in the real economy.
This mirrors past bubbles where hype outruns actual value creation.
If the correction hits it could crush AI stocks and drag broader markets while exposing weak fundamentals
His longs: MELI, PFE, LULU.
Lulu is a publishing technology platform for on-demand book printing and global fulfillment, powered by APIs and ecommerce integrations.
PFE is Pfizer
MercadoLibre (MELI) is focusing on growth through its expanding credit card business and strong performance in Brazil, despite facing margin pressures
https://citizenwatchreport.com/burry-calls-ai-narrative-mass-addiction-and-shorts-the-entire-hype-trade-hard/#more-226960
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Reposting news or videos now risks jail in Europe
Three German citizens face prosecution simply for reposting Russian media content from RT DE.
Authorities treat sharing on social media or websites as crime.
EU court backed this by saying individuals can be criminally charged for posting RT videos.
German court is prosecuting three German citizens for reposting content from RT DE, the Russian media network.
German authorities want to convict people simply for reposting content on social media.
The level of censorship and authoritarianism in Germany is sickening.
https://citizenwatchreport.com/reposting-news-or-videos-now-risks-jail-in-europe/#more-226990
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The UK's Latest "Debanking" Scandal Should Give Everyone Pause
Authored by Nick Corbishley via NakedCapitalism.com,
UK-based readers may recall the moment almost exactly three years ago when the word “debanking” entered the mainstream British English lexicon. The prestigious London-based private bank Coutts had just decided to close Nigel Farage’s bank account due to his unsavoury political views and alleged Russian connections. That decision turned out to be very costly.
Almost immediately, Farage did what Farage does best: he whipped up a massive media frenzy. In next to no time two senior banking scalps had been claimed: those of Dame Alison Rose, the CEO of Coutts’ parent bank and “Big Four” lender, Natwest (formerly known as the Royal Bank of Scotland) and Coutts’ chief executive Peter Flavel.
Within a month, Natwest’s share price had slumped 8%, wiping £1 billion off its market cap, much of which was being propped up with public funds, and generating juicy returns for short-selling hedge funds. As we reported at the time, the resulting scandal drew much-needed public attention to a long-standing but accelerating trend — the “de-banking” of people and organisations with politically inconvenient views:
[T]his is hardly a one-off event: as I reported a couple of weeks ago, banks on both sides of the Atlantic are increasingly debanking their customers, often without explanation. I gave the example of California-based writer, activist, and social and political commentator Elad Nehorai, whose political views and ideals could not diverge more from those of Nigel Farage. Yet he, too, had his account at Bank of America, his bank of many years, summarily closed with no apparent warning or explanation…
Without a bank account, it is almost impossible to participate in the economy. And it is getting more difficult as cash becomes harder and harder to access and use. As Alex Lo writes for South China Morning Post, “Banking is a fundamental utility like water and electricity, and that’s precisely why democratic societies are increasingly turning to its use as a method of censorship and repression.”
However, the resulting government inquiry concluded that customers were not being “debanked” for political reasons. As a result, not only has debanking continued but debanked customers now face the prospect of being blocked from setting up new accounts at other banks, as the Telegraph reported on Monday:
Banks are planning to block “debanked” customers from setting up accounts with other lenders, potentially leading to innocent people being effectively locked out of the financial system, The Telegraph can reveal.
Lobby group UK Finance is developing a platform that will allow banks to share data on their customers where they detect “markers of economic crime”.
Lloyds, Barclays and Revolut have already started sharing data about customers, leading to accounts being frozen or closed, The Telegraph understands, following a pilot in 2024.
The data-sharing platform will build on that pilot to make a UK-wide system, which could automatically bar people from opening another account.
But concerns have been raised that thousands of innocent customers and businesses who have been debanked unfairly could be barred from opening up an account with another bank, effectively leaving them locked out of the financial system.
The latest victim of the debanking trend is the left-wing news website The Canary, which has accused the Lloyds Banking Group of “withholding a substantial amount of our money” after nearly a decade of use. The news outlet — which brands itself as “radical working-class media” — says “Lloyds has not explained why it has taken this action… despite multiple communications from us”.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Canary speculated about the possible reasons behind Lloyds’ decision, including its anti-Zionist and pro-Palestine stance:
Whilst we do not currently know the reasons behind our debanking, we cannot afford to be naive about this.
We do know that multiple other politically engaged people have suffered similar actions by other banks in recent times. It is not lost on us that powerful banks are able to restrict the financial activity of anti-Zionist and pro-Palestine organisations and individuals.
It is an outrage that the Canary has been unceremoniously dropped into financial instability with no notice or explanation from Lloyds.
Starmer’s Last AttackIt would hardly come as a surprise the attack was in response to The Canary’s pro-Palestine sympathies. The UK government has done everything within its not inconsiderable powers to criminalise pro-Palestine, anti-genocide activism, including by scrapping the ancient right to trial by jury. Through its new National Security Law, the outgoing Keir Starmer government seeks to bulldoze literal thought crime legislation into law — in Orwell’s native United Kingdom.
I need to explain something very important to you.
The law that the govt used to arrest me, Section 12(1A) — the first ever use against a journalist — is a very short line. It is vague on purpose. And that is the exact line they have copied into the new "National Security Bill"
Here is Section 12(1A) of the Terrorism Act in full: "A person commits an offence if the person expresses an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation."
No action required. No material support. A literal thought crime, which outlaws analysis & journalism.
You can say something that is 100% factual, but if it paints what they deem a "proscribed organization" — even one that has never harmed the UK — in a "good" light, you can get 14 years in prison. (That's also copied from the Terrorism Act).
Anything you say can be twisted.
An article in The Canary explains just how dire a threat the new National Security Law poses to journalism and political dissent, describing it as “one last power grab” by Keir Starmer’s outgoing government:
As I am sat here writing this, there’s a sense of terror kicking in. I’m a journalist. It’s my job to be in the know about foreign affairs. At the Canary we pride ourselves on bringing people the news that the mainstream doesn’t dare. But this terror is absolutely nothing compared to what other people must be feeling.
This radicalised weaponisation of new legislation will hit marginalised communities so first and hardest. Journalists and community workers with direct, lived and painful connections to global conflict zones are facing a massive legal trap. If a reporter so much as quotes an entity that the home secretary has designated as a threat, they face immediate prosecution.
Civil liberties groups warn that the law will grant the Home Office absolute power to decide who is allowed to speak. And by leaving the definition of ‘assisting a designated body’ vague, the state has created a total monopoly on the narrative. It’s very much going to be, follow their way and toe the line, or go to jail, it seems.
Indie media outlet Zeteo warned of the severe danger of this new power-grab. The outlet warned that journalists face immediate arrest simply for conducting public interest interviews with banned groups. People will only get one side of the story. There will only be one narrative fed to us… and it will be the government’s.
The timing of Lloyds Bank’s debanking of The Canary is also curious, coming just two months after it announced the launch of a daily left-wing print tabloid — and what’s more, one that defends Palestinian rights. Following an injection of cash last year from used car and property website founder Cecil Hetherington, Canary director Steve Topple hailed the new tabloid as an alternative to the corporate press.
After its debanking, the Canary says it is now in a “financially precarious situation” and does not know when “money that Lloyds is holding will be returned” or how it will affect “our ability to get another bank account in the future”.
“The immediate effect has been that we have been unable to pay any staff or contractors,” Topple told Novara Media. “We have a large team, and all of them are now extremely distressed and in limbo. Many of them are marginalised people and it has hit them very hard. We are trying our best to mitigate the situation and have so far received much-appreciated support from members of the public.”
Lloyds’ actions have already triggered a storm of protests from across the political spectrum.
UN official Albanese described financial and insurance restrictions imposed on her following her public statement characterizing Israeli actions as genocide.
"I can't make payments with my working credit card nor can I do transfers; my health insurance has been canceled, I can't make hotel reservations."
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/uks-latest-debanking-scandal-should-give-everyone-pause
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China Pulled the Plug on Paper Gold and America Is Running Out of Time
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Red Sea Blockage Fears: Cargo Ship Attacked Off Southwest Yemen
" ... distress alert stating that they are under attack by unknown armed assailants."
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/red-sea-blockage-fears-cargo-ship-attacked-southwest-yemen
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BMW Puts Next-Gen Humanoid Robots To Work On Factory Floors In South Carolina
" ... Plant Spartanburg has become a pioneer of BMW's Physical AI Initiative."
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/bmw-puts-next-gen-humanoid-robots-work-factory-floors-south-carolina
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Trump Pardons 6 Prosecuted For 'Fixing Their Car' Under Biden-Era Emissions Rules
The pardoned individuals allegedly disabled or tampered with vehicle emissions control systems.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-pardons-6-prosecuted-fixing-their-car-under-biden-era-emissions-rules
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Houthis Say Forces 'Repelled' Saudi Warplanes From Threatening Iranian Civilian Airliner
Saudi warplanes violating Yemeni airspace were targeted with several air-defense missiles...
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/houthis-say-forces-repelled-saudi-warplanes-threatening-iranian-civilian-airliner
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Six California Cities Ranked Among Top 10 Least Educated In US
Six California cities ranked among the top 10 least educated metropolitan areas in the United States, according to a report by WalletHub published on June 29.
Looking at the 150 most populated metro areas, the city of Visalia ranked as the second least educated, while Bakersfield was fourth, and Modesto, Fresno, Stockton, and Salinas followed.
All six are in central California.
The other four metros that rounded out the top ten were all in Texas - McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Brownsville-Harlingen, Beaumont-Port Arthur, and El Paso, at first, third, ninth, and tenth least educated, respectively.
“Higher education doesn’t guarantee better financial opportunities in the future, but it certainly correlates with it,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said in the report.
“The most educated cities provide good learning opportunities from childhood all the way through the graduate level.”
As Dylan Morgan reports for The Epoch Times, to determine the ranking, WalletHub equally factored in the share of adults at least 25 years old who have a high school diploma or higher, who have at least some college experience, who have a bachelor’s degree or higher, and who have a graduate or professional degree.
Visalia ranked last among the 150 metros in percent of bachelor’s degree holders and percent of graduate or professional degree holders.
It ranked 107th highest in median annual household income, and there appeared to be a general correlation between income and education rates across the nation.
However, Visalia still had a lower poverty rate than the state average—11.3 percent compared to 11.8 percent, according to U.S. Census data—and Stockton ranked as having the 31st highest median household income while Salinas ranked as 26th highest, though those two cities were near the bottom in education.
Education and income rate correlations may not reflect California’s higher cost of living and regional economic structures, such as the Central Valley’s reliance on agriculture, an industry that has not historically required higher education the same way other California hubs have, such as Silicon Valley.
The San Jose metro, home to Silicon Valley, ranked as the fourth most educated in the United States.
WalletHub said that more than 55 percent of the San Jose metro’s population over the age of 25 have at least a bachelor’s degree, while nearly 28 percent have an advanced degree. .
It also ranked third for university quality. San Jose is near Stanford University and has Santa Clara University and San Jose State University in the center of the metro.
The nearby San Francisco metro area, which is home to the University of California—Berkeley, ranked as the eighth most educated.
(All of these cities have high Mexican demographics. High Cuban areas are not in this list of underperformers.)
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/six-california-cities-ranked-among-top-10-least-educated-us
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THE 15 ASTONISHING HEALTH BENEFITS OF CAYENNE PEPPER REVEALED & BACKED BY SCIENCE
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Germany's AfD Tricks Thousands Of Antifa Revolutionaries
Germany's right-wing AfD party re-elected co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla at its annual conference in Erfurt, a central German city. Meanwhile, far-left activists, professional political agitators, and NGOs funded by dark money attempted to restrict access to the event through a coordinated pressure campaign.
Local police estimate that around 15,000 far-left activists descended on Erfurt to block roads and prevent AfD members from reaching the convention area. However, as one news outlet pointed out:
AfD tricks Antifa. The motley crew of disheveled youths, chronic unemployed, students of babble studies, and NGO staffers sat on the street starting at 05:30 a.m. to block the AfD's arrival. But the AfD had already arrived an hour and a half earlier in a long convoy under police protection. And while the AfD delegates could leisurely have breakfast and prepare for the party congress that starts at 10 a.m., Antifa is squatting pointlessly on the street. With the AfD, you just get up earlier
The conference comes as AfD's growing confidence among the population becomes evident, with the party leading polls ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives. Recent surveys put AfD support at 29%, compared to about 22% for the CDU/CSU bloc.
Weidel and Chrupalla used their speeches to attack mainstream parties, blast globalists, and sharpen their anti-immigration message.
AfD became the second-largest party in last year's elections, with its influence growing amid mounting public frustration with liberals and their failed globalist policies, whether nation-killing open-border migration, de-growth climate policies, or other progressive policies that are ruining the West.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/germanys-afd-tricks-thousands-antifa-revolutionaries
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NYC Bans “FREE DELIVERY”… Amazon Closes 7 Warehouses PERMANENTLY (Cash Jordan)
500 Million Disappeared? Dead Factories, Empty Streets, 90% China Counties Turn Ghost Towns
(Chinese economy is near collapse. Chinese population is at least 500 million fewer people than they claim.)
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Trump Is Furious at Mark Levin