So Now What
Leaping Faithfully,
There is a lot of danger in the endowment of any human with the powers and agency required to restructure a society, which is declining within a rigid and corrupted system, as the resources which feed the economy dwindle. The decline has become intolerable, and we don't know what plan-a was to be if Trump had not turned his head to look at a video display last July 13, but it was not going to make use of his talents. It may well have involved a kinetic world war...
I suspect that plan-b, with Trump winning the presidency, had to be quickly negotiated under duress. Musk, and then the other tech oligarchs flocked to Trump. What is being offered is a technical solution to the vast divergence between real-economy and financial-economy, which will involve the admission of a lot of financial losses to create a match with reality. those financial losses will need to be "assigned" to asset-holders, and nobody wants to accept losses.
"Assets" are now seldom held in a legal sense, but remain held on trading platforms, while people buy and sell the rights to trade them and get paid dividends from them. In the case of a financial crash, the "owners" do not actually have ownership, but a form of claims. The super-senior claims, which get served first, are now held by the holders of derivatives-contracts, which is backwards and unjust, but the system would otherwise have a hair-trigger for crashing, as everybody tried to unwind their derivatives in a panic.
Elon Musk's forensic-auditing A.I. is doing something in real time that was previously impossible on any time scale. It is doing this with the federal government spending. The arcane is revealed as illegal and poorly hidden, like the $600,000,000 Pentagon spending last year for "sushi". One must wonder about the specifics, but stopping it seems urgent.
It appears that the financial economy is headed for part-2 of the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, and that a technical resolution of this reckoning with forensic AI, and somewhat-fair assignment of properties and losses, is at least possible. The alternative is a really big war in a world of nuclear ICBMs, and now hypersonic bunker-busters with pinpoint accuracy, which can take out deeply buried elite bunkers.
Since $2 trillion of graft and corruption money has been flowing out of the federal government, borrowed on our behalf for nefarious ends, it has been supporting much of the real economy, in ways nobody can really see, but it is money and it has been getting fed into the economy in channels which will now be cut. That is bound to crash the US, and global economy, in ways that we can't foresee. Perhaps the Forensic AI is mapping that now. It will still happen, though.
Crashes like this take about a dozen years to sort out and restructure an economy for health. There was the decline of high-quality coal after WW-1, which contributed to the decline of British alliances, such as Italy, when Newcastle couldn't provide them enough coal any more. Now energy resources are in terminal decline, and we have an elite class which has the hammer of killing-some-folks, which makes our world look like billions of targets to eliminate. Nuclear weapons can't be modulated, and destroy factories and pipelines, so variations on slow-poison are being tried, with some success. But, regular people have caught on. The herds are getting restless, so now what?
What if there could be a meeting of dangerously endowed, powerful and competent elites to negotiate a mechanism to harmonize inflated financial claims to correspond with real physical economy, without the necessity of assumptions of economic growth. How could that be accomplished equitably enough to be more appealing than nuclear war to enough "stakeholder" elites? Is Musk's forensic AI worth a try in this predicament? Can it be downgraded to a problem?
Celia Farber feels good again today. This is a good step, but the work has no end. SENATE CONFIRMS RFK JR. FOR HHS SECRETARY Despite Millions or Maybe Billions Of Black PR, Smear Campaigns, Lies, Slander, Bullying, Mockery, And On The Sweat, Blood and Tears Of Thousands Of Warriors, Over Decades— VICTORY!
Steve Kirsch is also invigorated: RFK Jr. confirmed: 52 to 48. The world is about to change forever. The FDA and CDC will now be required to answer all the questions from the misinformation spreaders that they've been duckingall these years. What a glorious day.
Federal judge allows Trump to push forward with buyouts for government workers after 75K accept offers https://nypost.com/2025/02/12/us-news/federal-judge-allows-trump-to-push-forward-with-buyouts-for-government-workers/
Gilbert Doctorow on Trump and Putin holding a wide-ranging summit without Europeans or Ukrainians: Shock and awe: News of Donald Trump’s 90-minute phone conversation with Vladimir Putin News of the 90-minute telephone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin came late in the day in Europe, but not too late for the Evening with Vladimir Solovyov show broadcast at midnight from Moscow... ..Looking over the text on Truth Social, he pointed out that the language was diplomatic. Vladimir Putin was referred to as ‘President Putin.’ The words ‘aggressor,’ ‘unprovoked,’ and similar derogatory, propagandistic words used habitually during the Biden administration in relation to the Russian leader and his ‘full scale invasion of Ukraine’ were absent. Very importantly, Trump mentioned the cooperation of the United States and Russia in World War II. He called out the millions of Russians who died in the war as well as ‘many Americans,’ properly indicating who had paid the cost of fighting Nazism more fully.
Implicit in this was the notion that the two countries could have a cooperative relationship again today. Such a notion was further suggested by mention that their talks went well beyond the issue of the Ukraine war and also touched upon energy matters, the general situation in the Middle East, the Iran nuclear program and upon Artificial Intelligence... ..Solovyov pointed out that per Peskov’s summary President Putin had remained firm on Russia’s conditions for a peace, namely that the causes that lay behind the decision to invade, the need to revise the security architecture of Europe andto roll back NATO, be addressed... ..They found it to be very significant that Trump made no mention of the European allies, as if they do not exist ..Since Trump spoke of a visit to Russia that could take place in the near future given his wish to end the confrontation as soon as possible, perhaps they both had sketched 9 May on their agendas as the tentative date. After all, during his first presidency Trump had hoped to come to the Victory Parade in 2020 but was dissuaded from doing so by his advisors... From that speculation on dates, one panelist noted that perhaps the Chinese leader Xi could also show up in Moscow for the Parade, setting the stage for three-way parlays.... ..Per the Russians Witkoff spent three and a half hours in talks with top Russian leadership and we may assume the talks were preparatory to what Donald Trump spoke about with Vladimir Putin yesterday.
One panelist noted that Trump’s talk with Putin also has to be linked with what U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier in the day within his introductory remarks to the Ukraine Contact Group in Brussels. The main points in this were: no to Ukraine joining NATO, no to Ukraine ever recovering its 2014 borders, no American troops participating in any ‘peace keeping force’ to protect Ukraine as part of the peace settlement, the idea that such a force should consist of both European and non-European member countries, no extension of NATO’s article 5 provisions to such a peacekeeping force, the division of labor between the United States and its European NATO allies whereby the USA will redirect its attention to China and the Far East while the Europeans look after their own defense for conventional warfare on their Continent and raise their own defense budgets from 2% to 5% to achieve that move up from its present dependency on the United States... ..I call attention to the contrast between the high sounding and reassuring words in which Hegseth wrapped his speech and the absolutely empty contents from the standpoint of his audience. The high-sounding words ‘Peace through Strength’ were repeated several times, but behind this façade was a vacuum that must have left his audience shocked. The overarching idea was that the Ukraine war is being handed over to the Europeans to pursue as they wish...
..The United States evidently sees its division of labor with Europe to mean that the United States will continue to provide its ‘nuclear umbrella’ as a deterrent to nuclear attack but will no longer contribute to defense for conventional warfare as has been going on in Ukraine. The implication of this is that there will be a draw-down of U.S. forces across Europe. The further implication is that when the Europeans understand they cannot on their own stand up to the Russian armies, then they will on their own understand that they have to make some accommodation with the Russians on Europe-wide security... ..It comes11 days before the Germans go the polls in their federal elections, where the favored candidate to become the next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has been campaigning on a Cold War platform that Trump just shot to hell. There could have been no better boost to the chances of Alice Weidel and the Alternative for Germany than what Trump & Company did yesterday. https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2025/02/13/shock-and-awe-news-of-donald-trumps-90-minute-phone-conversation-with-vladimir-putin/
Trump's former adviser says Trump "has effectively surrendered to Putin" Bolton stressed that "it is unconscionable to allow Russia to assault Ukraine’s sovereignty, recruit enemies like North Korea to aid in their fight, and then sell out the Ukrainians by conceding the loss of their territory and NATO security guarantees or membership".
"By making these and others concessions before negotiations even started, Trump has effectively surrendered to Putin on Ukraine," he said. https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2025/02/13/7498077/
Kiev backtracks on Tulsi Gabbard claims
Ukraine’s ‘anti-disinformation’ center has admitted to spreading disinformation about the new US director of national intelligence. The news site Strana.ua reported in November that the CCD took down four of its bulletins mentioning Gabbard from social media, including one from April 2022 that described her as someone who “for several years, has been working for foreign audience for the Kremlin money.”
A June 2024 bulletin accused Gabbard of spreading disinformation about Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, and a February 2023 post claimed she was “espousing pro-Russian rhetoric,” according to the outlet.
On Thursday, the center admitted to past misjudgments concerning Gabbard, who has just been confirmed by the US Senate as the national intelligence director. https://swentr.site/russia/612660-gabbard-ukraine-disinformation-center/
Alex Krainer is hopeful. Is a Grand Bargain between US and Russia in the works? The Grand Bargain could lead to a complete overhaul of the global order. We know that the Kremlin and many other powers including China, India and Iran are keenly interested in redrawing the Eurasian continent's security architecture and also improving global economic, financial and trade relations.
Since the post World War II period, these relations have heavily favored the Western world in general, but especially the United States. As a result, the West will resist any real changes. However, judging by the statements of Trump's Secretary of State during his confirmation hearing last month, the current administration may have adopted a different approach.
Secretary Marco Rubio said that, "The postwar global order is not just obsolete - it is now a weapon being used against us. And all of this has led to a moment in which we must now confront the single greatest risk of geopolitical instability and of generational global crisis..." At the same time, one of Russia's leading intellectuals and an advisor to the Kremlin, Sergei Karaganov may have revealed the Russian thinking in stating that Russia's task was to help the United States transition to the new global order as peacefully and with the least disruption as possible.
European Leaders Freaking Out Over Trump-Putin Summit: 'Dirty Deal' For Ukraine https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/european-leaders-freaking-out-over-upcoming-trump-putin-summit-dirty-deal-ukraine
European leaders are freaking out at the speed at which Presidents Trump and Putin are headed toward a summit to talk Ukraine peace, following their 90-minute Wednesday phone call, the first known contact between the two since Trump took office.
Zelensky too is loudly demanding that nothing be agreed to without Ukraine's direct representation and input. He has also asserted that in any negotiations to end the war, Kiev's European allies must be at the table. Reuters has characterized a "scramble" to get a seat. Defense Secretary Hegseth's Ukraine bombshell of ruling out future NATO membership in statements yesterday have also left the Europeans reeling.
There's also Trump's blunt Monday words to Fox wherein he said of Ukraine, "They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday." https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/european-leaders-freaking-out-over-upcoming-trump-putin-summit-dirty-deal-ukraine
Trump Orders Reciprocal Tariffs, Will Also Respond To Value Added Taxes As reported last night, Trump has officially signed an action on reciprocal tariffs, targeting all countries around the globe that have higher tariffs than the US. It appears that Trump has picked reciprocal in place of a inform tariff on all exports. That's just the start however: what is more important is that as we cautioned earlier, the US also appears set to retaliate against Europe's VAT buffer which could very well cripple the continent's exporters. Trump ordered his secretary of commerce Howard Lutnick to prepare the tariffs for implementation by April 1. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/trump-imposes-reciprocal-tariffs-will-also-respond-value-added-taxes
Simplicius has a contrarian read: Hysteria Ignites as Trump Throws Ukraine on the Third Rail Meltdown in the Atlanticist sphere ensues. If you read between the lines above, you’ll note Ukraine barely covered a fraction of the talk, which included artificial intelligence and a host of other geopolitical issues. Likewise, Trump’s guarded remarks in press statements afterwards also left much to be desired, for instance describing the only Ukraine-related ‘achievement’ of the talks being Putin acknowledging that ‘he would like to end the killing’. This is the clear definition of reaching: Trump’s team is trying to sell the phone chat as a much larger leap of progress than it really was. The added declaration that Putin intends to meet Trump in Saudi Arabia was empty garnish, as no urgent date was set, and they were bound to meet at some point in the future anyway. The same goes for the timed release of “political prisoner” Mark Fogel, which was meant to dress up the occasion, to add grist to the narrative that Trump is making some big ‘headway’ with Russia—nothing of the sort; this is desperate trickery to mask the major failure of Trump’s braggadocio about swiftly ending the war.
In short: the talk was the perfunctory, basic exchange of pleasantries and customary political gestures, nothing more. If you read the actual quotes and soundbites from various Russian officials, it is clear that Russia is no closer to any real negotiations, and is merely indulging the US its moment in the limelight of ostensibly ‘leading the peace charge’. In fact, I believe Trump even said he offered Putin a temporary ceasefire, which was quickly swept under the rug after Putin declined.
I say the above because I was quite taken aback by the online reactions, particularly from well-known geopolitical cognoscenti, who have flown into premature declarations that the war is now officially nigh over, and the final performative phase of negotiations will proceed from here on out.
Russian SVR: Ukrainian intelligence plans to blow up a ship in the Baltic Sea and shift the blame onto Russia Ukrainian intelligence agencies are planning to detonate a vessel in the Baltic Sea and shift the blame onto Russia, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) stated on February 11.
According to the SVR press bureau, the plan involves using Russian-made naval mines that Ukraine possesses to stage an explosion of a foreign vessel in Baltic waters. The incident would then be attributed to Russia.
Western and Ukrainian intelligence agencies believe that such an operation could pressure NATO leadership into restricting Russia’s access to the Baltic Sea under the pretext of ensuring maritime security. https://eu.eot.su/2025/02/11/russian-svr-ukrainian-intelligence-plans-to-blow-up-a-ship-in-the-baltic-sea-and-shift-the-blame-onto-russia/
John Helmer, Russia's War Against The Baltic Pirates
A new era of piracy may begin in the Baltic Sea. The European Union is going to proclaim it if the EU implements its intention to hunt down Russian oil – or rather, tankers carrying Russian oil. Ships sailing under various flags, carrying black gold and not subject to Western oil sanctions, including the so–called price ceiling.
The motives of the European pirates are simple and at the same time multifaceted. For example, some countries want to achieve a direct Russian-American conflict, or at least disrupt the US Administration’s plans for negotiations with Russia. https://johnhelmer.net/russias-war-against-the-baltic-pirates/#more-91073
Simplicius: European elite bets appear to have been placed upon war, not technical solutions. Danger Ramps Up in the Baltics, as War Party Won't Go Quietly
Maybe Xi can just visit Moscow on May 9 for Victory Day. China offers to host Putin-Trump summit – WSJ
Beijing has long sought to mediate the peace process between Moscow and Kiev https://swentr.site/news/612639-china-putin-trump-summit/
Musk calls for complete overhaul of NATO
The Trump-appointed US government efficiency tsar earlier called for the closure of state-funded cold-war-era propaganda outlets https://swentr.site/news/612568-us-musk-nato-needs-overhaul/
Trump decries ‘tremendous kickbacks’ in US government contracts. America has lost billions of taxpayer dollars to “waste, fraud, and abuse,” the president has said https://swentr.site/news/612572-trump-tremendous-kickbacks-government/
Trump ally promises info on Epstein’s ‘Lolita Express’
Americans should be given the “answers they deserve,” new declassification task force head Anna Paulina Luna has said The Republican-led congressional task force was created to oversee the release of government files linked to a wide range of high-profile topics, including the 9/11 attacks, the origins of Covid-19, UFOs, and the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother and political ally Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights campaigner Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. https://swentr.site/news/612623-epstein-client-list-classified/
The Houthis are ready to mount attacks on Israel if it resumes its assault on Gaza and does not commit to the ceasefire deal, the group’s leader Abdulmalik Al-Houthi said on Tuesday. “Our hands are on the trigger and we are ready to immediately escalate against the Israeli enemy if it returns to escalation in the Gaza Strip,” Al-Houthi said in a televised speech. https://www.arabnews.com/node/2589830/middle-east
Trump's ethnic cleansing plan for Gaza derails recovery of Red Sea shipping
Shipping executives fear Yemeni forces will resume attacks on US and UK-linked ships off the Yemeni coast in response to Trump's plan https://thecradle.co/articles/trumps-ethnic-cleansing-plan-for-gaza-derails-recovery-of-red-sea-shipping
Not even Hezbollah, just the locals. Lebanese tribesmen humiliate HTS elite forces
Ongoing battles on Syrian Lebanese border have potential to undermine Al Jolani's assumed power in Syria
Egypt to present proposal for Gaza’s reconstruction ensuring Palestinians remain on their land
Egypt expresses its eagerness to cooperate with US administration to ‘reach a comprehensive and just peace in the region’ https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/egypt-to-present-proposal-for-gaza-s-reconstruction-ensuring-palestinians-remain-on-their-land/3479131
Truth-serum? What's his motive? UAE Ambassador Says Arab World Has 'No Alternative' To Trump's Gaza Plan In an extraordinarily surprising development, the United Arab Emirates (UAE)has signaled the possibility of removing all Palestinians from Gaza, in accordance with Trump's controversial Gaza plan.
UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba in a fresh interview called the plan "difficult but inevitable" and said he's sees "no alternative" but Trump's plan to expel Gaza's population and undertake massive economic redevelopment of the Strip. He had been asked by a reporter whether the UAE is working on a separate plan, to which he responded no, there's no other plan... ..UAE has long been a close regional US-ally, but the ambassador's words are still deeply surprising and might actually contradict the UAE's official stance.
For example, regional media just yesterday reported:
The UAE, a key ally of both Israel and the United States in the Muslim world, has taken a firm stance against U.S. President Donald Trump’s reported plan for Gaza. In a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan strongly rejected any attempt to displace Palestinians or deny them their “inalienable rights.”
The country's leadership has just this week called for a two-state solution. And per Reuters:
It said the UAE, one of the few Arab countries that normalised relations with Israel, categorically rejected any attempt to displace the Palestinians and deny them "inalienable rights". https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/uae-ambassador-says-arab-world-has-no-alternative-trumps-gaza-plan
US Intelligence Suggests Israel Is Trying To Drag Trump Into Preemptive Attack On Iran The key line in the report is that "The intelligence analysis concluded Israel would push the Trump administration to back the strikes, viewing him as more likely to join an attack than now-former President Joe Biden and fearing the window for halting Tehran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon was closing, two of the people familiar with the intelligence said." https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-intelligence-report-suggests-israel-trying-drag-trump-preemptive-attack-iran
I just wrote a vaccine exemption for a little girl to get into school, who got seizures after her 8 month vaccinations, which lasted for weeks, and after her 12 month vaccinations, which lasted over a year. Her little sister now has them after getting shots. Her Pediatrician is sympathetic, but apparently afraid to fill out the form. Nicole Shanahan Announces $3.5 Million Foundation Grant For Honest Scientists To Publish Papers Documenting The Evidence Of Vaccines Inducing "Autism" (Toxin Induced Gut-Brain Inflammation)
Posts One Mother's Story Of Her Child's Regressive Autism After Shots And Says She Gets "Thousands Of Messages Like This A Week."
Kentucky Becomes the 9th U.S. State with Legislative Efforts to Ban mRNA Injections. Amid Interference by the Bio-Pharmaceutical Complex
Ugo Bardi tries, but all the pieces don't quite fit properly. The Mesozoic Climate Mystery: What caused Warming During the age of Dinosaurs?
It's only 1 out of 43... Asteroid’s chances of hitting Earth in 2032 just got higher – but don’t panic Space rock now has 2.3% risk of collision – up from 1.3% in December – but danger is likely to fall with more data https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/feb/06/asteroid-impact-chances
Monitoring the Situation (pictured throwing out kitchen compost)
I can rarely digest the numerous resources you cobble together for your readers, Doctor, but I am grateful for your diligent efforts. I was very intrigued by your opening take on monetary policy and AI. I was unaware you were so well-versed in fiat currencies, and I ponder many of these same issues. Where will the real economy land? If it implodes, will that be the MSM propaganda push to blame DT and call for a tyrant to rescue the proles? Will the evildoers hasten their genocidal plans to avert accountability and a well-deserved visit to the populist guillotine? Time will tell, while I leap faithfully! Ciao!
Bolton is a serial criminal who should be gitmo'd...There won't be concessions from Putin on Ukraine, but an all encompassing agreement with the US would be very good news...
Bardi doesn;'t seem aware that the Sun was considerably hotter 100 million years ago...