Be John Galt

War monger Lindsey Graham wants to shoot down Russian planes in international airspace. “If you ever get near another US asset flying in international waters, your airplane will be shot down,” he said, addressing the Kremlin’s leaders on Fox News.

Like many neocons and his late puppet master – John McCain – Miss Lindsey never saw a war he didn’t want the US to be part of. A former former JAG in the Air Force Reserve, the closest Graham came to danger was the night he tried to hit on a brunette’s husband at an officers club dance.

This is not the first time Graham has proposed that the US ramp up hostilities against the Kremlin. Last year, he called on Russians to kill Vladimir Putin to help end the Ukraine war.

“Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?” Graham tweeted on March 4, 2022. Brutus was the historical Roman figure who killed Julius Caesar, while Claus von Stauffenberg was a German officer known for his failed assassination of Adolf Hitler.

Yet Graham is hardly the only member of congress that wants to give Zelenskyy a blank check and is willing to fight a nuclear war over Ukraine. And, the elite and the media fully support giving Ukraine everything Zelenskyy wants. The mainstream media has acted as Zelenskyy’s propaganda arm.

Fortunately, responses from potential Republican presidential candidates to a questionnaire from Tucker Carlson indicates that the serious Republican candidates want a negotiated peace and do not consider the Ukraine one of this country’s most important issues.

All of the three parties to the war — Moscow, Kyiv and Washington — are incentivized to continue the bloodshed. Putin views the outcome of the war as existential. Russia, which has seen its buffer zone with NATO reduced to as little as 100 miles after the Baltic states joined NATO in 2004, has drawn a red line over Ukraine. Russia’s capacity and manpower outmatch Ukraine’s, enabling Putin to continue a war of attrition.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cannot back down either. His entire persona is wrapped up in the image of a wartime president and freedom fighter. Losing his status of international hero by capitulating to Putin would mean that Zelenskyy could no longer secure U.S. and European cash, on which his country is fully dependent for survival as Ukraine’s industrial capacity and agricultural base are destroyed.

(snip)

President Biden must start thinking strategically, and fast. The Russia-Ukraine war is a local conflict between countries the U.S. does not have alliances with. He must consider the larger ramifications of his decision to become deeply involved in it and consequences that threaten the world order that has protected and enhanced U.S. national and economic security for decades.

The war in the Ukraine has already taken it’s toll on the United States:

• We have given Ukraine >$115-billion at a time when our nation’s debt exceeds $30-trillion
• The US has depleted its arsenal by sending so many weapons to the Ukraine and making us vulnerable
• Biden has restarted the cold war and made Russia and China much closer allies
• Our government has demonstrated that it cares more about Ukrainians than Americans. We have covered pensions for Ukrainians, but Biden still has not found time to visit East Palestine

Hat tip Fox News, cf.org and insider.com

“We knew it was financially mismanaged, but oh my gosh, this is probably the most woke bank in existence of mankind — or it was the most woke bank,” said Joel Griffith, a financial fellow at the Heritage Foundation. “We should recognize the primary cause of this bank going belly up was just gross financial mismanagement. They took depositors’ money, and they put this in long term debt investments at record low interest rates, and as any financial risk manager knows, if you have interest rates that increase, the value of those debt assets are actually going to decline.”

Former Treasury Department official Monica Crowley spoke about the recent string of bank collapses during an interview Monday on the John Solomon Reports podcast, saying government “fail safes” haven’t worked and that the dedication to social justice policies helped drive them into the ground.

Source

Will this be the end of it? In banking circles possibly. There is certainly the paradigm that bankers like to eat which means they like to keep themselves employed. But for the broader Woke crowd that is probably not the case. Once they latch onto a lifestyle, short of endangerment due to that lifestyle they will not change. But I think we will see some changes in the inner sphere of Washington DC, specifically US Treasury.

Yellen based on just the rush over the weekend got spooked. Friday thru early Saturday the mantra coming out of the FDIC/Treas. had all the ear marks of going the Bail-in route. Mutterings of “dividends”, “losses for many”, “weeks to unwind” were in the air. Then by very late Saturday the tune changed. Blaring talk of “all depositors made whole”, “FDIC taps emergency fund”, “selling assets” were being issued. All the earmarks of going from Bail-in to Bail-out.

So what scared the regulators? Good guess is that SVB had greater second level knock on effects than they expected. SVB more than most had special relationships with their clients. Yes they provided banking. They also provided Family Bank services for the upper crust of their client list. First line mortgage and lines of credit to that same list. And most importantly they provided payroll services to those companies of the client list and angel funding to start ups in the Bay area. SVB going under and no cover from the regulators would be the financial equivalent of a 10MT nuke going off as a great many firms would not have been able to meet payroll in the coming weeks.

But we are not out of the woods yet. The other thing I bet is keeping some regulators up these nights is a realization that this can happen again to any bank regardless of form or size. The old trick of close the doors and restrict payouts till things cool in a ‘bank holiday’ don’t work anymore. Banks are now more like a colander. There are so many electronic doors in and out of the typical bank to provide convenience also means a bank run can be over and done with before FDIC even knows it is happening. SVB is a prime example with $1m a minute leaving the bank as companies large and small were transferring funds to other institutions to safe guard working capital. SVB lost $42Bn in liquidity in 48 hours as CFOs covered their butts.

So what can we expect? Well how about this:

Banksters: Go back to what is the essentials and dump the Wokeness and high risk investment route. Kinda dull eh? Or go the SVB route and set up contagion triggers that force the regulators to be unable to utilize Bail-in as a solution.

Regulators: The likes of the FDIC will go before Congress and request authorizations to prevent large cash outflows at the flip of a switch. They might also proffer that banks cannot provide ADP like services to clients and sever any venture capital relationships.

A minor tip as well: Keep one month’s worth of physical cash on-hand at your residence. Some physical silver would also be a good idea. The cash because in the early going it will still be accepted as coin of the realm. But that view may only last a month or two. After that dollars will probably be transacted at a discount while hard assets will not.

We’ll see how it goes.

2023 has not been kind to the left and the mainstream media (but I repeat myself).

First came the Twitter expose. The revelations about how the FBI and other intelligence agencies worked to suppress free speech and influence election was unbelievable.

Next came Seymour Hersh’s investigative account claiming the United States was behind the Nord Stream II pipeline sabotage.

Now Speaker Kevin McCarthy released 40,000 hours of video security footage from January 6, 2021 to Tucker Carlson.

The media is circling the wagons, working overtime in an effort to debunk all these revelations.

The mainstream media has pretty much ignored the Twitter disclosures. Christine Romans, a third-stringer, did a report on CNN in which she quoted Poynter Institute – another left-wing media organization – calling the Twitter disclosures a “nothing burger.”

Hersh, who won accolades from the left for his coverage of My Lai and Abu Ghraib, suddenly finds himself under attack by the mainstream media for opposing the approved narrative.

Now the mainstream media is in overdrive working to debunk the release of the video footage and Tucker Carlson’s coverage. The January 6 “insurrection” has been a focal point for the Democrats and their media allies for more than two years. This release threatens to expose a number of false left-wing narratives – that January was a violent “insurrection,” the FBI’s role in fermenting it, the make-up and false narratives promoted by the bipartisan January 6 (which wasn’t really bipartisan) and the Capitol Police, acting as tour guides for January 6 protesters.

It’s not a good time to be a leftist.

“Twitter is a nothing burger. Who are you going to believe – leftists like Poynter and me or the tens of thousands of Twitter internal emails documenting the role the FBI played in suppressing free speech and influencing elections?” Being a third stringer at CNN is like being the worst pitcher in the Detroit Tigers bullpen.

There has been a long time where I espoused the concept that for the GOP to ‘Win’ they had to take back the cities. The rationale being that if one looks at an election map by county the cities hold the vast majority of the votes. It is how the Democrats control red States and yes even California is red except for the coastal cities. But two things have changed as the basis of my view on the matter:

1. There is an exodus out of the cities by productive members of society to areas less destructive to their interests.
2. The cities have become so dysfunctional that the adage, “Better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven” is very apt. Let the Democrats have them, eventually basis for controlling them will be a millstone rather than an asset.

For these reasons, abandon the cities. Now Trump has unveiled Freedom cities as a concept. Sounds good but as Jefferson warned urban environments tend to degrade over time and have since time began. So abandon the cities. Be as Mao and let them crumble on their own accord.

So what to do next? Support and control the ring suburbs surrounding the city core. How does one do that? The way we have always done it – Feed what you want, starve what you don’t, with legislation. It also means changing the world view of a specific electorate – suburban women. Very specific, those that are neither trad housewife, or flaming blue hair, but middle to mild left leaning married women. 51% of the US population is women, 40% of that fit what was just described.

Is that 40% conditioned to their election choices? My answer is no, they came by it honestly. Worldwide most human societies, women are the caretaker and giver of sustenance. ‘Success’ is making sure that everyone in the family unit gets their ‘fair share’. And fair share does not mean necessarily equally, even in a family unit. But what is a successful approach in the family unit and near tribe soon falls apart once one treads beyond these venues. Your uncle who runs the corner grocery will give you the family discount, but not likely to do so for Margaret who is a regular customer. That idea of generosity follows into these women’s political views which is something Democrats pounce on

Countering this tendency is an old favorite, Fear and its handmaiden danger. It does not have to be over bearing or even overt so long as it is delivered. That cities are the pit that rape, assaults and homicides occur can be gleaned from the dry FBI statistics. The key is delivering the message as one of safety by supporting the right candidates. We saw some of that in action this week with the Dims – Lightfoot lost for failing to deliver on crime and homicides the #1&#2 concerns with the Chicago electorate. Nor does one have to create the danger, merely point it out. Pin the BLM and Defund moniker on the Democrats each and every time possible. Why be generous with your tax dollars if those self same dollars go to DinduNuttin who harms you?

Scott Adams said the unmentioned out loud and paid the price. But like the cartoon said, they may have called him a racist, but they did not call him a liar.

In their rush to accommodate the woke mob and attain high ESG scores, many American-based corporations have declared war on working class Americans and values we hold dear. They are making huge contributions to organizations like Planned Parenthood and the Southern Poverty Law Center rather than organizations like St. Jude Children’s Hospital or Shriners’ Hospitals that no one could object to. Why? Because contributions to organizations that fight childhood cancer don’t move the ESG needle, but contributions to leftist organizations that are working to destroy our culture do.

Banking

The 1792 Exchange identified 21 “High Risk” banks: Ally Financial, Amalgamated Bank, Bank of America, Berkshire Bank, BMO Harris, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Eastern Bank, Fifth Third Bank, First Republic Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, PNC, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank, TD Bank, Bancorp, Trillium Asset Management, Truist, US Bank, and Wells Fargo.

Transportation

American Airlines publicly fought against the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act — commonly and falsely labeled the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” by liberals. The legislation prevents public schools from teaching young children, kindergarten through third grade, about topics related to sex and gender identity.

Similarly, Southwest Airlines fought against state laws that sought to enhance election integrity by limiting questionable practices like mail-in balloting.

Retail Giants

The 1792 Exchange labeled 15 large businesses in the “Retailing” industry as “High Risk” companies, including popular brick-and-mortar stores Best Buy, Home Depot, Kohl’s, Lululemon, Macy’s, Madewell, Target and Walmart. The online retailers included in the report as “High Risk” are Alibaba, Amazon, Chewy, eBay, Etsy, Shopify and Warby Parker.

Food and Beverage Companies

Ten large food and beverage companies were given “High Risk” ratings in the 1792 Exchange report: Altria, Ben & Jerry’s, Cargill, Coca-Cola, HelloFresh, Kellogg’s, McDonald’s, PepsiCo, Starbucks and the JM Smucker Company.

There are many other major corporations that are working with the left to undermine working class Americans ans their values – companies like Disney, AT&T and Procter & Gamble.

In every instance there are alternatives available – a regional bank or credit union in place of Bank of America or  Wells Fargo; Lowe’s over Home Depot; Post cereals over Kellogg’s; Wendy’s in place of McDonald’s; Dunkin’ Donuts over Starbucks. Until working class Americans decide to fight back and withhold their business from these left-loving companies, nothing will change.

Hat tip: Fox News

Our foreign enemies obviously watch what our INTERNAL enemies are doing to our country…on every front.  So with America increasingly demoralized, Balkanized, and weakened militarily & economically, the question needs to be asked: “What are they waiting for??”

Biden and the rest of our INTERNAL enemies, can only be guaranteed a little less than 2 more years to further grind us down.  The Republicans in the House may be able to slow down the grinding…but that is unlikely.

So again: what are they waiting for?

I have no clear opinion, let alone an answer to this question.  But here are some thoughts:

China.   I do believe China has a plan, and a timetable.  While I think they will eagerly take advantage of an “opportunity” if one presents itself BEFORE their timetable, they will act ahead of the 2024 election.  They would be fools not to…and though they are evil, they are NOT fools.   What do they want?  Taiwan…the mineral-rich Spratly islands…and America taken down several more notches militarily.  i.e., they want the Western Pacific to be THEIRS!

Iran.  Their timetable involves a nuclear weapon…but they will pounce on any “opportunity” to damage America and Israel.  Like China, they can’t afford to take the chance that a free and fair election occurs in 2024…and such an election would see DeSantis or Trump as President.  They can’t afford that.

Korea.  They’re nuts.  They also can’t afford to wait for the 2024 election, but aren’t in a position to start the big shit-show.  They will EAGERLY chime in.  They want South Korea, and Japan.  But need LOTS of “help” attack either one.  Such help would have to come in the form of MASSIVE conflicts elsewhere that gave them to chance to attack, with the U.S. unable to assist.

Russia.  They want the USSR back.  I don’t think they have a timetable, but like Korea would love to take advantage of the U.S. being take down…at least several more notches…in order to use ALL their might (yes, including nuclear weapons) to grab the Baltic States and the rest of Ukraine.

The Mexican Cartels.  They are only waiting for others to kick things off, and then will carve out huge swaths of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

Other than a “natural” disaster, I believe all the buzzards are waiting for China to kick things off.  So what is China waiting for??  I wish I knew.  We’ll know it when we see it, and we’ll see it before November 2024.

Cheerful, huh?