Authored by Mike Maharrey via Money Metals,

When I was about 7 years old, my friend Tommy and I decided we were going to dig a cave. We envisioned a massive cavern we could stand up in. It would be our secret fort. We went as far as digging a pretty deep hole in Tommy’s backyard. 

It was a dumb idea.

But our cave-building scheme wasn’t nearly as dumb as the notion that simply minting a trillion-dollar coin can solve America’s debt problem.

The idea is pretty simple. The U.S. Treasury could mint a $1 trillion platinum coin, deposit it at the Federal Reserve, and then the federal government could write checks against that asset.

Voila! Budget problem solved.

Now, it may sound a little bit like creating money out of thin air.

That’s because it is. But hey, if it’s legal, why not? 

I’ll be honest; when people were discussing the trillion-dollar coin during the 2023 debt ceiling fight, I thought it was just an attention-grabbing political gimmick. Even Janet Yellen eventually nixed the idea. Surely nobody seriously considered such a scheme, right? 

Wrong.

Documents obtained by Bloomberg investigative journalist Jason Leopold reveal that government officials discussed the feasibility of minting a trillion-dollar coin on at least two occasions in 2013 and 2015. 

According to a heavily redacted November 2013 memo, Treasury Department officials and Department of Justice lawyers discussed the legality of issuing a “large denomination coin in order to obtain funds for making debt payments and other expenditures if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling.” 

A second memo dated Oct. 27, 2015, reveals another round of discussions about the legality of such a scheme.

It seems to me they should probably consider the economic ramifications before fretting over legal minutia, but that’s just me. 

Yale professor Jack Balkin promoted the $1 trillion coin scheme back in 2011. Here’s how it would work:  

“Sovereign governments such as the United States can print new money. However, there’s a statutory limit to the amount of paper currency that can be in circulation at any one time.

“Ironically, there’s no similar limit on the amount of coinage. A little-known statute gives the secretary of the Treasury the authority to issue platinum coins in any denomination. So some commentators have suggested that the Treasury create two $1 trillion coins, deposit them in its account in the Federal Reserve and write checks on the proceeds…

“The ‘jumbo coin’ [strategy works] because modern central banks don’t have to print bills or float debt to create new money; they just add money to their customers’ checking accounts.”

In effect, it would be no different than the quantitative easing operations (QE) the Federal Reserve currently runs to expand the money supply.

In a QE operation, the Federal Reserve buys securities (primarily U.S. Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities). The catch is the money to buy these assets doesn’t exist until the Fed “writes a check” for the purchase. Imagine your bank honoring a check you wrote even though your balance was zero. That’s QE in a nutshell. The central bank creates the money out of thin air and injects it into the economy.

The trillion-dollar coin scheme would have the same practical effect as QE, but the government would be off the hook from having to pay off bonds on the Fed balance sheet. Instead of having to borrow money by issuing bonds for the Fed to later monetize, the government would just create the money itself bypassing the Fed middleman.

So, what’s the problem?

Well, we just saw what happens when the Fed creates money out of thin air. During the pandemic, the central bank created nearly $5 trillion through quantitative easing. After that, prices went through the roof. This was inevitable because money creation is, by definition, inflation. One of the consequences of monetary inflation is price inflation. 

Minting a trillion-dollar coin would have a similar effect. 

The coin is just a prop for monetary kabuki theatre to make it all seem legal and above board. They wouldn’t even use 1 trillion dollars in platinum. If they did, it would weigh over 60 million pounds.

In fact, they don’t even need the coin. As economist Robert Murphy explained, the Treasury could sell a paperclip to the central bank. Just imagine a QE operation using a paperclip instead of Treasury bonds.

“The Federal Reserve has the power to buy whatever assets it wants at whatever price it wants. In principle, [the Treasury Secretary] could sell a paperclip to the Fed for $2 trillion. The Fed would simply write a check made out to the Treasury, drawn on the Fed itself.

“When the Treasury deposited this check with its own bank — which just so happens to be the Fed — then its own ‘checking account’ balance would go up by $2 trillion. This money wouldn’t come from anywhere in the sense that some other account would need to be debited $2 trillion. On the contrary, the system’s total reserves (and what is called the ‘monetary base’) would have swelled by $2 trillion. The Treasury would be free to start paying bills by writing checks on the $2 trillion in its account.”

Nevertheless, some people think this is a great idea. In their minds, it would be “free money.”

But as the saying goes, there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. You would pay for the $1 trillion coin through the inflation tax – just like you’re still paying for the pandemic-era stimulus every time you go to the grocery.

Minting a coin or selling a paper clip and pretending it is worth $1 trillion doesn’t change the economic dynamics. When you boil it all down, it’s just a weird scheme to increase the money supply.

And I can’t emphasize this enough – increasing the money supply is inflation.

In theory, the government could keep price inflation under control by using the newly created funds judiciously and with restraint. In theory, they could just dribble the new money out slowly as they need it to minimize the inflationary effect. In theory, it could work!

And in theory, Tommy and I could have dug a cave fort.

Let’s be honest – judicious and restrained aren’t qualities you find in politicians. They’d blow through that $1 trillion like a spring tornado through Kansas. And when they spent it all, they’d mint another coin. And another. And another.

There would be no dribble. It would unleash a cascade of spending on top of the tidal wave we already have.

But this is what you get when you have an entire school of economics that disconnects money from stuff. 

Sure, the federal government could mint a $1 trillion coin. But it can’t mint stuff. It can’t create stuff out of thin air. It can’t mint cars, food, clothing, houses, and cell phones. It can’t wave a wand a create vital services.

But don’t you worry! We’re dealing with “smart” people here. They’ll tell you, “Don’t worry! This is different.” And then they’ll start spinning. They’ll offer up seemingly plausible reasons a $1 trillion coin will work. They’ll couch it in academic speak and technical jargon to make it sound even more plausible. They’ll yammer about how the dollar is the global reserve currency and everybody wants more of them. They show you some convincing-looking accounting tautologies. They’ll babble and gesticulate. And suddenly, you’ll be thinking, “Heck yeah! Mint that $1 trillion coin! That’s the ticket!”

No.

It’s dumb. 

Tommy and I quickly realized our cave fort was a dumb idea. But unfortunately, dumb ideas spun out in the hallowed halls of government rarely die so easily.

Ukraine says its military has targeted and destroyed an offshore gas platform in the Black Sea which had allegedly been converted to a forward operating sea base by Moscow forces.

“Ukraine’s navy and military intelligence have attacked and damaged a former offshore gas platform used by Russian forces in the Black Sea,” a Ukraine navy spokesman said Saturday.

The Ukrainians further released a video purporting to show the strike. The nighttime footage shows a large explosion and fire engulfing an offshore platform. Dozens of people may have been killed in the attack, but it is unconfirmed whether they were military or civilian platform operators.

A Ukrainian government spokesman, Dmytro Pletenchuk, announced on social media: “The occupiers used this location for GPS spoofing to make civilian navigation dangerous. We cannot allow this to happen.”

He further claimed there “were no civilians there” and that the “platform was not performing its normal functions” – and thus was a legitimate military target.

Moscow did not immediately comment on the Ukrainian claims or the video. Starting Friday the Kremlin did acknowledge a sizeable Ukrainian naval attack on its Black Sea fleet and infrastructure, as well as drones sent over Crimea.

Russian state media said the bulk of these attacks in various locations were thwarted:

The Russian military has intercepted an attempted landing by Ukrainian marines near Kherson and destroyed a group of sea drones headed for Crimea, according to the Defense Ministry in Moscow.

Overnight, a group of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) was detected on approach to the Black Sea Fleet base in Sevastopol. Combat camera footage released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday showed them being destroyed in the water.

“The on-duty fire systems destroyed seven unmanned boats in the Black Sea,” the ministry said, without elaborating.

Meanwhile, a group of Ukrainian commandos tried to land at the tip of the Kinburn Peninsula, overlooking the mouth of the Dnieper, early on Friday. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, four boats approached the Kinburn Spit, attempting to land a “sabotage and reconnaissance group.” Under covering fire from two of the boats, about a dozen troops stormed the beach.

All of this is also taking place against the backdrop of the surprise Ukraine cross-border attack into Russia’s Kursk region, which as of Saturday has entered day five.

Ukraine has in the past months dramatically stepped up its attacks and sabotage campaign against Russian oil and gas infrastructure. Currently a Ukrainian cross-border force appears to be in control of Gazprom’s Sudzha trans-shipping hub for Russian natural gas to Europe via Ukraine, which is a crucial part of the Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhhorod pipeline. Still, supplies appear to be pumping normally, and very little has been confirmed of the current status of fighting in Sudzha amid an information blackout and fog of war.

Authored by Rob Smith via RealClearMarkets,

Convention, customs, manners and civility.

When my daughter Ella was 16, I met her at a local restaurant for dinner. I was already seated when she arrived and before I could hold the chair out for her, she plopped down in the seat next to me. I was livid. I stood up and told her to get her ass out of the chair and stand up. I told her to always wait until the gentleman held the chair out for her, no matter how long it takes. I followed with “you need to demand respect from men, because if you don’t, you’ll never get it.”

Manners are important. Indeed, they are the adhesive glue that binds society together and allows it to operate in smooth, orderly and conciliatory fashion. Like all convention, customs and manners developed organically because they served important functions. There was never a top-down Napoleonic Code of Manners that was dictated to the populace by some sort of government edict. I think all would agree that we have seen a degradation of civil society over the past 30 plus years. Our cities are trashed, there’s violence in the streets, and  civil  adult discourse is rare. Politicians and talking heads are totally uninhibited from telling not just “straight up lies,” but lies that are so fantastically and obvious false that a 3rd grader can immediately recognize the deceit. I attended schools with rigid honor systems and grew up in a culture where such blatant dishonesty made one an outcast and an immediate social pariah, cast out from respectable society. I remember a childhood contemporary was kicked out of boarding school for cheating on a test. At the time, this seemed like a punishment worse than death, as he would have to live with the stigma of dishonor the rest of his life. These long-established honor codes reflected the mores of the culture, anyone who violated these standards polluted the student population and had to be immediately drummed off campus. Today dishonesty seems to be rewarded as long as it advances an agenda.

I have lots of nicknames, Robbie, Jones, Big Rob, Big, B.R., B-aura, Mr. Bread Truck, Professor and a few others, one of which is Mr. Mayor. I don’t know why folks call me Mayor, but I have thought quite a lot of what I would do if I was the mayor of Richmond, or better yet Governor of Virginia. The very first initiative, before any government policy proposals would be to start a campaign to re-establish civility and good manners. And what better place to begin than Richmond, Virginia, which I am quite sure, at one point not terribly long ago was the good manners capital of the world. I want to bring those days back. An initiative like this takes leadership and passion. Oh, how I hate to see what is happening to my city, not to mention the fabric of our national culture. My campaign would be much like Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” program. No government money.

When Robert E. Lee became president of what would become Washington and Lee University in 1865, he initiated the “Speaking Rule.” Other Virginia schools followed. I don’t remember there being such a rule at the University of Virginia, primarily because the natural, organic culture that already existed was one spoke to everyone he passed and engaged in a pleasantry. It’s demoralizing to walk down the sidewalk in Richmond and watch your oncoming neighbor try NOT to make eye contact to avoid speaking. They know nothing of the “speaking rule,” and it’s sad. In the world of social media where people rage at complete strangers, there is no better salve than to look someone in the eye , smile and say “Good morning.”

Good manners revolve around respect for others, and of course such respect is the essence of the Golden Rule. Good manners have a transcendental nature in that they create a system that one can’t see and can’t touch, but nonetheless create a benign social order. This evolves into a “custom” which evolves further into an almost universal “convention.” Kindness, gentleness, respect and tolerance are the result. Moreover, when a child is raised in this social order, this invisible ethos of civility instills itself in one’s personality, it is imbued, cooked in the sauce, and the act of being well mannered and thoughtful occurs without any conscience volition or effort to be that way. A few years ago, I visited two older gentleman I knew in the Alzheimer’s ward. There were ladies present, and I’ll never forget, although they couldn’t remember their names, they didn’t forget their manners. They were as we say perfect “southern gentlemen.” It was “baked in.”

Before the advent of “business casual,” we all wore suits. How well I can remember 100 degree, extremely humid days and the perfumed smell of tobacco resting in downtown Richmond warehouses. Despite the heat and humidity, men did not take off their jackets when wandering outside their offices. If one was in the presence of a lady, the custom was to seek her permission before taking off one’s jacket. Now this might sound archaic to some, but the foundation of this rule, like so many others, is respect for and deference to women. As these exercises in civility have waned, what are we left with? The absolute barbarity of men beating the tar out of women in an Olympic sport.

Dressing well is important.  By putting forth an effort to look nice, you exhibit respect and appreciation towards everyone you encounter, but the respect works both ways, your dress illustrates that you respect yourself.  Likewise, being punctual illustrates your respect for the other party and the value of his time, but it also illustrates that you respect yourself. 

Boy, how many lessons did I learn from my father! Always stand when a lady enters a room. Stand when she leaves the dinner table and stand again when she returns. Ladies are always served first. Never, ever begin to eat until the last lady at the table has picked up her fork and put food in her mouth.  I’ll always remember him telling me to always wear a sports jacket and sometimes a tie when traveling on a plane. “Son, wherever you go in this world, you are a representative of the Commonwealth of Virginia and our family.” When I was old enough to drive and before cell phones, the custom was to follow a woman home and make sure she got into her house safely. When I see kids that I coached or taught in Sunday School wearing a hat in restaurant, I yank it off their heads and ask them what the hell is wrong with them. That was Dad’s biggest pet peeve! Offer the black housekeepers walking through the neighborhood to the bus stop a ride. Always be a good sport, and win or lose after any competition, whether athletic or business, shake the other fella’s hand. When using the telephone, introduce yourself and say “may I speak to,” and not “is so and so there.” Never go through a woman’s pocketbook or anyone’s mail. There’s a proper way to shake hands. Oh, he was a stickler for proper English! Using words correctly and phrased pleasantly honors the recipient. And, I will never forget exactly where I was when I heard the biggest rule of all. I was 5 years old. Dad was driving.  I can remember the story Dad told me, the exact bend in the road and the message was the most despicable thing a man could ever do, and was never, ever permissible under and circumstances, was to hit a woman!

At the urging of the Pentagon, several American arms-makers are exploring the possibility of producing weapons inside Ukraine, but are grappling with assessing a host of risk factors that include not only Russian bombs but also Ukraine’s infamous corruption. 

In June, President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a bilateral agreement  committing to “defense industrial cooperation, including codevelopment, coproduction, and supply of Ukraine’s defense industrial base requirements.”

The next month, Northrop Grumman was first to take the plunge, announcing that it had finalized a deal to coproduce medium-caliber ammunition in Ukraine. Crucially, no Northrop employees are to set foot inside the embattled country. “As part of the co-production agreement Northrop Grumman will provide the equipment and training to install an assembly line so that [Ukranian firm Ukroboronservice] can produce and test advanced medium caliber ammunition in Ukraine,” a spokesman told Breaking Defense. 

If that first project goes well, Northrop could take on more ambitious ventures. “[Medium-caliber ammo] is our first project that’s paid for with Ukrainian dollars. We are looking to expand that into tank ammo, 155 mm, others as we find innovative processes,” Dave Bartell, the firm’s director of international business for Northrop’s defense systems sector, told Breaking Defense in June.  

Other companies are still crunching the numbers and weighing risks that are difficult to quantify. An unnamed State Department official says they’re champing at the bit. “I think our industry is really eager, but at the same time, [it] has to make sense from a business case, right? And financing is an issue too, how you can actually pay for this stuff,” the official told Defense One. 

The official also acknowledged other risks that go beyond the prospect of employees and production lines being vaporized. “Clearly, corruption is a concern,” the official said, before offering the mandatory Western-government claim that Ukraine is making progress on that front.  

In May, Ukraine’s former deputy head of the presidential administration was charged with “illicit enrichment,” having amassed real estate, vehicles and other riches valued in excess of 10 times his disclosed salary and savings. A few weeks earlier, local media revealed that the wife of the head of the Security Service’s cybersecurity operation bought a $500,000 apartment, which prompted President Zelensky to fire her husband. There are many more examples where that came from.

There’s also the question of whether a heavy investment would be accompanied by long-term opportunity, or whether the breakout of peace — God forbid — would turn a Ukrainian-based project into a money-loser. Given the uncertainty, companies are likely to emphasize less ambitious undertakings. The ability to obtain insurance is another concern. 

“It has to be a business case for what they’re trying to do, and so looking at maybe starting off with a maintenance, repair, and overhaul type stuff, spare parts production, so kind of starting a crawl-walk-run-type philosophy, before you actually get to the more advanced stuff,” the official added. 

We suspect that, if things turn south, the Pentagon will find a way to make it up to US weapon manufacturers — and pass the cost on to you. 

Authored by Jeffrey Baldwin via RealClearPolitics,

According to a new survey, Latinos are disillusioned with President Joe Biden and his administration’s policies. 

The survey, primarily sampling Latinos living in several key states such as Pennsylvania, finds that a majority feel like things are worse than they were four years ago. And a whopping 72% say that the country is headed in the wrong direction. 

The findings are significant because Biden comfortably won the Latino vote in the 2020 presidential election, and Latinos have traditionally voted for Democrats in previous elections. 

And following the dramatic shake up atop of the Democratic ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign will need to put together a coalition – which includes Latinos – if she is to win the presidency.

Unfortunately for Harris, our poll shows that the economy is front and center for most Latino voters.

According to our findings, consistent with other polls, Latinos are most worried about jobs, the economy, inflation, and the high cost of living. 

According to our findings, two-thirds of Latinos say the state of the economy is either fair or poor. It’s no surprise, then, that our poll found that though Latinos still continue to believe in the American Dream, nearly 88% believe that it’s harder to achieve than ever before. 

These findings are consistent with what I am hearing every day from Latinos drawn to our workshops on financial literacy, the role of government, and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. Hispanics are drawn to America because of the promise of a better life and want to be active in making this country better and more prosperous. 

Most immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean are not looking for handouts, but instead are looking for ways to get ahead in a country of abundant opportunity and prosperity. They know that unlike other countries – including the ones they may have fled from – the United States is where people can accomplish extraordinary things through hard work and perseverance. 

But as our polling makes clear, Latinos are feeling battered after years of runaway spending, crony capitalism, and ever-expanding regulations that make owning a business or raising a family more difficult.  

The everyday Latinos I talk to, who are working two shifts or struggling to make ends meet, are looking for solutions from our elected officials. They are looking for bold leadership and they are tired of partisan politics.  

Many of us, having come from countries ruled by dictators with little chance of prosperity, are grateful to take on the responsibilities that come with living in a republican democracy where the elected officials are accountable to the people – not the other way around.  

We’re not a perfect nation, but the founders of this country knew that to make this a “more perfect union,” this great experiment of democracy needs an educated and vibrant citizenry. Latinos are showing that we are both and will not be seen as a monolithic, one-issue voting bloc for anyone. 

As one of the youngest and fastest growing demographic, Latinos will have an outsized role in determining the future of our country. This election is just the start in shaping the next chapter of America’s history.  

Facebook has nuked the account of famed evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins after he said that genetically male boxers should not be allowed to fight women in the Olympics.

On Saturday morning, Dawkins posted on X about the shocking censorship – saying that there was no reason given for the sudden removal of his account.

“My entire @facebook account has been deleted, seemingly (no reason given) because I tweeted that genetically male boxers such as Imane Khalif (XY undisputed) should not fight women in Olympics. Of course  my opinion is open to civilised argument. But outright censorship?”

My entire @facebook account has been deleted, seemingly (no reason given) because I tweeted that genetically male boxers such as Imane Khalif (XY undisputed) should not fight women in Olympics. Of course my opinion is open to civilised argument. But outright censorship?

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) August 10, 2024

[Dawkins presumably meant that he posted it on Facebook, not “tweeted.”]

Social media exploded in controversy following a women’s Olympic boxing match between Italy’s Angela Carini and Imane Khelif of Algeria – in which Carini quit just 46 seconds into the fight after receiving a barrage of powerful punches from Khelif.

Notably, the International Boxing Association banned Khelif and another boxer, Lin Yu-ting from last year’s World Boxing Championships for having failed gender testing.

“This test conclusively indicated that both athletes did not meet the required necessary eligibility criteria and were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors,” the IBA said in a statement.

Furthermore, IBA president Umar Kremlev told Russian news agency TASS that DNA tests “proved they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded from the sports events.”

As Why Evolution Is True opines;

There are debates about whether the two boxers in question were of XY chromosome constitution, had high levels of testosterone (they had previously been disqualified in other competitions), or had genetic disorders of sex development (DSDs).

But regardless, to ban someone’s account for expressing the opinion that genetically male boxers shouldn’t fight against biological women is unconscionable. Richard said that one of the boxers is “XY undisputed,” and since I’ve been out of touch, that may be the case.  And if that is the case, then there is a real debate to be had.

There’s a general debate to be had about these boxers anyway since, last I heard, people were arguing about every aspect of the two is subject to dispute.

Facebook botched this one very badly, and should restore Dawkins’s account.

By Zoltan Vardai of CoinTelegraph

Tether, the issuer of USDT — the world’s largest stablecoin — has minted over $1.3 billion worth of stablecoins since the market bottom, as investors prepare to buy the dip.

Tether’s treasury has printed over $1.3 billion worth of USDT since the market bottomed on Aug. 5. The $1.3 billion was transferred to some of the most popular centralized cryptocurrency exchanges — including Kraken, Coinbase, OKX and Bullish — according to an Aug. 9 X post by Lookonchain.

1.3B $USDT has been transferred from #TetherTreasury to exchanges since the market crash on Aug 5! pic.twitter.com/BYtMqgVRyZ

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) August 9, 2024

Large stablecoin inflows to crypto exchanges could signal incoming buying pressure, as stablecoins are the main on-ramp from the fiat to the crypto world used by investors.

Is the local crypto market bottom in?

Following the aggressive $510 billion crypto market sell-off, the local market bottom may be in.

The 1.3 billion USDT has been minted since Aug. 5, when Bitcoin price bottomed at a five-month low of above $49,500 before starting to recover, according to Bitstamp data.

Since then, Bitcoin price has staged an over 21% recovery to trade at $60,271 as of 10:44 am UTC. The world’s first cryptocurrency has risen over 5.2% during the past 24 hours.

Can USDT help push Bitcoin above the key $65,000 mark?

Bitcoin could still see more downside volatility unless it manages to reclaim the crucial $64,000–$65,000 mark.

This price level acts as the short-term whale holder realized price for large Bitcoin holding entities, according to an Aug. 9 X post by CryptoQuant.

Pay attention to #Bitcoin short-term whales

“The short-term holder whale realized price is in the 64K-65K range. This level may present itself as a resistance.” – By @XBTManager

Get the full insight 👇https://t.co/MgZCbsB060 pic.twitter.com/Rqs3GPtht3

— CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) August 9, 2024

Inflows from the United States spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have also turned positive, which could contribute to Bitcoin’s price appreciation. The US Bitcoin ETFs amassed a cumulative $194 million worth of net positive inflows on Aug. 8, according to Farside Investors data.

ETF inflows can significantly contribute to a cryptocurrency’s price appreciation. For Bitcoin, ETFs accounted for about 75% of new investment in the cryptocurrency by Feb. 15 as it surpassed the $50,000 mark.

Ukraine forces’ cross-border attack into Russia’s Kursk region has entered a fifth day, with the Russian defense ministry acknowledging it is “continuing to repel” the offensive which has shocked Kremlin leadership and the population.

But this has apparently led to crackdowns on US-based social media platforms and messaging apps. Friday into Saturday there have been widespread reports that Russia has blocked the Signal messaging app while also throttling YouTube.

State media regulator Roskomnadzor told the RBC business daily on Friday that Signal has been banned from the country for “violations” of national law.

It has been restricted “due to violations of the requirements of Russian legislation, compliance with which is necessary to prevent the use of the messenger for terrorist and extremist purposes,” Roskomnadzor stated.

The statement came Friday within hours after users across Russia complained of widespread outages for the secure messaging app which allows for communication via encrypted text and calls.

Russian opposition activist and independent journalists who are critical of the Kremlin have complained that this move primarily targets them, as they heavily rely on Signal in their reporting and to talk to sources. Similarly, Russia had banned Telegram’s messaging app in 2018.

As for YouTube, while it has not been banned, users have noticed loading speeds significantly drop. Some regions of Russia have seen users say that it is inaccessible. This as Russian reserve and national defense convoys have been observed on Russian highways headed south in large numbers.

Today, #Russia initiated a block on the #Signal web messenger (@signalapp), known for its robust encryption, aiming to hinder Russians from sharing videos, photos, and news about the invasion of the #Kursk region by Ukrainian forces and possible coordination of subsequent… https://t.co/CO37rSBZnK

— Viktor Kovalenko (@MrKovalenko) August 9, 2024

Al Jazeera interviewed users and wrote this week:

Russian internet monitoring service Sboi.rf said thousands of glitches had been reported on Thursday with users saying they could only access the platform through virtual private networks (VPNs).

“YouTube is not working,” one anonymous user said in comments on the site.

Reuters news agency reporters in Russia were unable to access YouTube. The website remained available on some mobile devices.

A Russian political scientist named Boris Pastukhov, who maintains a popular YouTube channel, has said, “We’ve seen that particular regions lose Youtube connectivity overall or slow down by 90 percent for a few days, which is not really explainable by servers being old.”

The fear is that YouTube could be next to be blocked by Kremlin authorities, but this would prove a deeply unpopular move among the Russian population. Reports commonly estimate that more than 50 million Russians use YouTube every day.

The US is actively enabling a literal ground invasion of Russia at the moment, and it’s not even being treated like a particularly big story

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) August 10, 2024

At this point a whopping 76,000+ Russians living near southern border areas have had to evacuate their homes amid the ongoing Ukrainian cross-border offensive. 

According to a regional summary of Saturday events:

Moscow on Saturday mounted a “counter-terror operation” in three border regions adjoining Ukraine to halt Kyiv’s advance deeper into Russia and warned that the fighting endangered a nuclear power plant.

Ukrainian units stormed into Russia’s western Kursk region on Tuesday morning in a shock attack, the largest and most successful cross-border offensive by Kyiv of the two-and-a-half-year conflict.

Its troops have advanced several kilometers and Russia’s army has rushed in reserves and extra equipment, including convoys of tanks, rocket launchers and aviation units – though neither side has given precise details on the extent of the forces they have committed.

Russia’s nuclear agency on Saturday warned the Ukrainian attack posed a “direct threat” to the nearby Kursk nuclear power station.

At least 16,000 civilians have left their homes in Russian border areas, where emergency aid and medical supplies have been ferried in, and extra trains to the capital Moscow have been put on for people fleeing.

TASS has subsequently put this figure at over 76,000 Russian citizens who have had to be emergency evacuated to safety as fighting encroached on dozens of towns and villages, citing the country’s Emergencies Ministry.

President Putin has accused Ukrainian troops of “indiscriminately firing various types of weapons, including missiles, at civilian facilities, residential buildings, and ambulances.” US-supplied equipment, especially Bradley Fighting Vehicles, have been observed during the assault.

The Russians published a video of the transfer of forces to the Kursk region. On the last seconds of the video an interesting vehicle can be see – MT-LB with an installed Grad-1 rocket launcher pic.twitter.com/oOcUVokKog

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 9, 2024

Verifiable information coming from the areas of fighting in Kursk has been scant. Each side is claiming successes and advances, but as we detailed Friday President Putin and top Kremlin leadership were caught off guard by these surprise developments.

With scenes like the below now widely unfolding in Russia’s southern oblasts, Moscow is likely about to hit Ukraine hard, but it must restore stability and security to Kursk, Belgorod, and Lipetsk first.

With evidence of a large-scale tank deployment on its own territory to repel the Ukrainian invaders, Russia is very likely to accelerate its war in Ukraine. This is indeed a significant turning point, and not helping matters is the fact that the US is appearing to positively back the cross-border move by Kiev.

Authored by Mike Maharrey via Money Metals,

Despite central bank gold buying slowing moderately in the second quarter, it set a record through the first half of 2024.

Central banks globally added a net 483 tons of gold through the first six months of the year,  5 percent above the record of 460 tons in H1 2023.

In the second quarter, central bank gold demand totaled 183 tons, according to the latest data compiled by the World Gold Council. That was up 6 percent year-on-year, but about 39 percent lower than the Q1 buying pace.  

With gold at or near record price levels in most currencies, it’s unsurprising that central bank buying slowed in the second quarter.

China primarily drove the Q2 slowdown in central bank demand. The People’s Bank of China reported no additions to its gold reserves in May or June and only officially added 2 tons in April.

Prior to the pause in May, China had increased its gold holding for 18 straight months.

Many analysts believed the Chinese paused officially adding gold to their reserves in an effort to push gold prices lower.

When the Chinese reported no changes to their official reserves in May, it precipitated a panicked gold selloff. Despite the kneejerk reaction, it seems unlikely that the Chinese are finished adding gold to their reserves. There is also some speculation that China is adding a significant amount of gold to its reserves off the books.

Even with the pause, China still added nearly 30 tons of gold to its reserves through the first half of 2024.

Turkey was the biggest buyer through the first half of the year, adding 45 tons to its gold hoard. The bulk of its buying was in Q1, with the pace slowing to 15 tons in the second quarter.

 The Turkish central bank has bought gold for 12 straight months after liquidating 160 tons of gold in the spring of 2023.

India ranks as the second-biggest gold buyer through the first half of the year. The Reserve Bank of India has added gold to its reserves every month this year totaling 37 tons.

In 2022, the Indian central bank added 33 tons of gold to its reserves followed by a 16-ton increase last year.

The Reserve Bank of India has been buying gold since 2017. Over that period, the RBI has increased its gold holding by over 260 tons. 

An Indian economist told the Times of India that the push to accumulate gold was based on both political and economic reasons. He said that the “reliability” of the U.S. dollar has “diminished.” He noted the “noticeable decline” in the confidence in U.S. dollar assets.

Another economist told the Times, “It makes a lot of sense (to invest in gold), given the increased volatility in the FX market, elevated interest rates in the U.S., and, of course, also as the central banks in each economy would like to diversify the asset classes in which they are parking their reserves.”

India recently transported 100 tons of its gold from the UK back into India.

Poland was the biggest gold buyer in the second quarter, increasing its holding by 19 tons. The country currently holds about 13 percent of its reserves in gold. At a news conference in early June, National Bank of Poland Governor Adam Glapiński reiterated his plan to increase gold’s share of total reserves to 20 percent.

Poland was the second-biggest gold buyer in 2023. The Polish central bank bought 130 tons of gold last year, increasing its holdings by 57 percent, to 359 tons. 

In 2021, Glapiński announced a plan to expand the country’s gold reserves by 100 tons. The central bank reached that goal in September of ’23 and kept buying.

When he announced the plan to expand its gold reserves, Glapiński said holding gold was a matter of financial security and stability.

“Gold will retain its value even when someone cuts off the power to the global financial system, destroying traditional assets based on electronic accounting records. Of course, we do not assume that this will happen. But as the saying goes – forewarned is always insured.

And the central bank is required to be prepared for even the most unfavorable circumstances. That is why we see a special place for gold in our foreign exchange management process.”

Other notable buyers in the second quarter included:

• Uzbekistan – 7 tons
• Czech Republic – 6 tons
• Qatar – 4 tons
• Singapore – 4 tons
• Russia – 3 tons
• Iraq – 3 tons
• Jordan – 1 ton
• Kyrgyz Republic – 1 ton

 Notably, Singapore had been a consistent buyer this year before selling 12 tons of gold in June.

Uzbekistan has also been a frequent seller this year, turning back to buying in May. It is not uncommon for banks that buy from domestic production – such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan – to switch between buying and selling.

The Philippines has been the biggest seller through the first half of the year, decreasing its gold reserves by about 25 tons. Thailand was another notable seller, decreasing its holdings by just under 10 tons.

Despite the modest colling of central bank gold demand in Q2, there is no indication that they are souring on the yellow metal. According to the most recent World Gold Council survey, 29 percent of central banks plan to add more gold to their reserves in the next 12 months. The WGC said it was the highest level since the survey began in 2018.

Only 3 percent said they had plans to decrease gold reserves.

Earlier this year, the World Gold Council said the continuation of gold buying supports its expectation that “2024 will be another solid year of central bank gold demand.”

“Last year central banks placed great emphasis on gold’s value in crisis response, diversification attributes, and store-of-value credentials. A few months into 2024 the world seems no less uncertain meaning those reasons for owning gold are as relevant as ever.”

Last year, central bank gold buying fell just 45 tons short of 2022’s multi-decade record.

According to the World Gold Council, central banks net gold purchases totaled 1,037 tons in 2023. It was the second straight year central banks added more than 1,000 tons to their total reserves.

Central bank gold buying in 2023 built on the prior record year. Total central bank gold buying in 2022 came in at 1,136 tons. It was the highest level of net purchases on record dating back to 1950, including since the suspension of dollar convertibility into gold in 1971.

China was the biggest buyer in 2023.

Analysts at ANZ Bank recently said they expect central bank gold buying to remain hot for at least the next six years.

According to these analysts, “Depleted trust in the U.S. fixed-income assets and the rise of non-reserve currencies are other themes that could support central bank gold buying.”

Former YouTube CEO and one of Google’s earliest employees, Susan Wojcicki, passed away at 56 after a two-year struggle with lung cancer, her husband, Dennis Troper, announced via a Facebook post late Friday night.

“It is with profound sadness that I share the news of Susan Wojcicki passing. My beloved wife of 26 years and mother to our five children left us today after 2 years of living with non small cell lung cancer,” Troper said in the post. 

He continued, “Susan was not just my best friend and partner in life, but a brilliant mind, a loving mother, and a dear friend to many. Her impact on our family and the world was immeasurable,” adding, “We are heartbroken, but grateful for the time we had with her. Please keep our family in your thoughts as we navigate this difficult time.” 

Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai shared a tribute to Wojcicki on X,  “She is as core to the history of Google as anyone, and it’s hard to imagine the world without her.” 

Unbelievably saddened by the loss of my dear friend @SusanWojcicki after two years of living with cancer. She is as core to the history of Google as anyone, and it’s hard to imagine the world without her. She was an incredible person, leader and friend who had a tremendous…

— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) August 10, 2024

Wojcicki was YouTube’s CEO from 2014 to 2023. She was also one of Google’s first employees in 1999.

She was instrumental in heavy-handed censorship during the virus pandemic, expanding YouTube’s medical misinformation policy that censored anyone producing content that contradicted the government health authorities. 

Former @YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has died from cancer 💉. Here she discusses censoring @Plandemic3Movie series. YouTube was worst (and still is) at censoring doctors and scientists speaking out against Covid, policies and gene therapies call vaccines.
pic.twitter.com/vym63JBBAt

— Dr Woof 🐭🦊 (@DrWoofAus) August 10, 2024

At a World Economic Forum event in 2022, she proudly admitted to censoring information, such as, “If you look at Covid —We came up with ten different policies that we said would be violative—like an example of that would be saying that ‘Covid came from something other than a virus.'” 

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki proudly admits to censoring information on COVID and demonetizing creators that challenge the mainstream climate change narrative. pic.twitter.com/kKVIanjpGd

— Mythinformed (@MythinformedMKE) June 1, 2022

Foundation For Freedom’s Mike Benz commented on Wojcicki’s passing.

A complicated legacy. She helped build YouTube, the greatest font of knowledge & freedom in my generation’s upbringing, but then she utterly destroyed it, leaving half my generation bitter & resentful. She helped build Google, which opened worlds of wisdom, then oversaw its end… pic.twitter.com/tug0PmS7Ix

— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) August 10, 2024

A complicated legacy, indeed.