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Bitcoin’s 5th Epoch: Prophecies Of What’s To Come

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Bitcoin’s 5th Epoch: Prophecies Of What’s To Come

Authored by Joe Rodgers via BitcoinMagazine.com,

Death and taxes and 21 million Bitcoin. That is what we know to be certain. The rest is conjecture.

Today I wanted to share my big bets on the next halving. I am sure I will cringe in 4 years at some of these “prophecies” but some of them will come true. I don’t have a ton of data to back up these predictions, some are gut feelings, others are random. All I know is that the future is weird.

3 ZETA HASH MINING

Based on my experience mining during the previous cycle, I learned a valuable lesson in trying to estimate hashrate, think log not linear. The current hashrate exceeded my expectations by a very long shot, so I I am going extra long on the next cycle. We are going to see more nation-states adopt and it is going to rip up. This is the way we conquer the stars.

Nations with high inflation and unstable currencies are exploring cryptocurrencies as legal tender, following El Salvador’s example. Political movements in countries like Argentina and Venezuela show increasing public and legislative interest in digital currencies. Economic reports suggest that adopting digital currencies can reduce transaction costs and increase financial inclusivity.

APPLE INTEGRATES STABLECOINS INTO WALLET

Apple has historically adopted new financial technologies (slowly), however there’s significant user interest in accessing stables alongside traditional banking in mobile wallet apps. Recent hires and patents by Apple in cryptocurrency and blockchain suggest future product offerings including digital currencies.

LIQUID’S GROWTH FUELED BY USDT

Liquid Network’s total daily transaction volume is laughable today at the halving but as stablecoin regulation is put in place we will se an insane increase in demand for tether which will fuel Liquids growth. As of today, USDt on liquid is ~ $36,500,000 or 3.17% of total USDt supply. ($111,897,000,000). I expect > $1b to be issued on Liquid by next halving or > 2,600% increase. This is a wild guess which I am making based on the assumption that USDt dominoes falling into place on the other prophecies.

ORDINALS STILL THRIVING

The degenerate NFT market has shown consistent interest in “blockchain-based ownership verification”, indicating a strong future for projects like Ordinals. Initial uptake by digital artists and collectors at Ordinals’ launch hints at long-term viability. Technological enhancements in blockchain scalability are making it feasible to manage extensive data like that used in Ordinals.

FEES CARRY MINING REVENUE AT 2:1 SUBSIDY

As block rewards halve, transaction fees are becoming a more significant part of miners’ income, visible in the last two halvings. Economic models predict accumulated fees will become the dominant incentive for miners as transactions increase. Historical data shows increasing fee proportions relative to block rewards with each halving event. I am a fee maxi.

LN WILL BE 90% CENTRALIZED AND COMPLIANT

The Lightning Network’s growth is supported by major financial institutions seeking scalable solutions, leading to potential centralization. Regulatory pressures are shaping crypto technologies to favor centralization for easier oversight. Studies on network nodes show a trend towards centralization as major players establish dominant positions.

E-CASH FINDS MARKET FIT WITH MINER PAYOUTS

The need for efficient miner payment methods is driving the adoption of e-cash solutions that offer immediate, low-fee payouts. Pilot projects show promising results for integrating e-cash into mining operations. Economic analyses suggest that e-cash can reduce volatility and improve liquidity for miners.

Neuralink and similar projects explore direct brain-computer interfaces, complicating traditional cryptographic practices. All your seeds are belong to machines. New methods to create seeds without revealing to machines becomes critical.

OIL CONTRACTS SETTLED ON CHAIN

Bitcoin use in commodity trading is expanding with successful pilots for crude oil trading on-chain. Countries critical of the US dollar’s dominance are exploring Bitcoin solutions to circumvent traditional financial systems. Bitcoin technology improvements have enhanced its capacity to handle large-scale, complex contract settlements.

BITCOIN ETF SURPASSES GOLD ETF MARKET CAP

Rapid expansion in the Bitcoin investment market and the launch of Bitcoin ETFs in multiple countries indicate a growing market. Bitcoin’s market cap occasionally surpassing major companies (FAANG) and traditional assets. Bitcoin is increasingly viewed as a “safe haven” asset, driving ETF investments. RIP Gold.

ASSASSINATION MARKETS SETTLED BY DECENTRALIZED ORACLES

Over $100 billion is locked in “DeFi platforms”, engaging with “decentralized applications”. Decentralized oracles’ viability in settling bets on real-world events. We will see assassination markets on chain irl. Probably carried out by drone swarms.

REORG FOR EPIC SAT

We wanted fireworks last halving and we didn’t get them. Next halving we get them The value of the Epic Sat will be massive next halving and mining pools who don’t participate will be ridiculed.

SV2 ONLY CAPTURES 20% OF HASHRATE

No one care’s sadly. The big pools are not incentivized to adopt SV2. Big pools will continue to find innovative ways to monetize blocks, and that doesn’t include SV2.

A US STATE INVESTS IN BITCOIN

States like Wyoming and Texas have enacted blockchain-friendly laws, laying legislative groundwork for such investments. Diversifying state treasuries with Bitcoin could hedge against inflation, particularly with fluctuating USD strength. Several state treasurers have shown interest in exploring digital assets as part of financial strategies.

AI BECOMES SENTIENT AND DEMANDS BITCOIN

The machine(s) want Bitcoin, not shitcoin.

CHINA UNBANS BITCOIN MINING

China’s previous Bitcoin mining ban significantly impacted the global hash rate and mining landscape. Reinstating Bitcoin mining will bolster China’s industrial and technological sectors economically. They will no longer ignore the importance of hashing.

GREAT REPLACEMENT BECOMES REALITY, LEADING TO MASS DEPORTATIONS

Nationalist movements in Europe have used the Great Replacement theory to influence immigration policy. Demographic studies forecast significant population shifts, potentially underpinning radical policy changes. Political gains for parties endorsing these theories indicate possible moves towards more radical demographic policies.

BUKELE CONTINUES AS PRESIDENT

Bukele’s popularity in El Salvador is buoyed by his bullish bitcoin economic policies, indicating potential for prolonged leadership. Surveys in El Salvador show high approval ratings for Bukele, especially among tech-savvy demographics. Constitutional or legislative changes will facilitate extended terms or repeated re-elections.

THE BITCOIN-DOLLAR IS A DOCUMENTARY

Financial analysts’ models project Bitcoin’s value could exceed $1 million per coin within the decade, considering supply and demand dynamics. Bitcoin’s price has historically surged post-halving, supporting future price increase predictions. Institutional investment is increasing, with major firms allocating portfolios to cryptocurrency, boosting its legitimacy and demand.

SCALING BIP ACTIVATED

CTV, LNhance. OPCAT, some BIP is activated.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 06/05/2024 – 06:30

For Second Time, Maersk Lifts Guidance As Red Sea Crisis Sends Container Freight Rates Soaring

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For Second Time, Maersk Lifts Guidance As Red Sea Crisis Sends Container Freight Rates Soaring

A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S has raised its full-year guidance for the second time in a month. This upward adjustment comes as strong demand for containerized shipping, along with disruptions in the Red Sea, has led to a surge in the cost of shipping a 40-foot container on major shipping routes.

The Denmark-based shipper, a bellwether for global trade, wrote in a press release Monday, “On the back of continued strong container market demand and the disruption caused by the ongoing crisis in the Red Sea, A.P. Moller – Maersk A/S (Maersk) now also sees signs of further port congestions, especially in Asia and the Middle East, and additional increase in container freight rates.” 

Source: Bloomberg 

Maersk pointed out, “This development is gradually building up and is expected to contribute to a stronger financial performance in the second half of 2024.” Higher container costs allowed for a second upward revision in its annual outlook in a month. The shipper now expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization of $7 billion to $9 billion, up from its earlier estimate of $4 billion to $6 billion.

However, the shipper noted, “Trading conditions remain subject to higher-than-normal volatility given the unpredictability of the Red Sea situation and the lack of clarity of future supply and demand.” 

The Red Sea crisis has had a profound impact on containerized shipping, with Bloomberg Intelligence estimating an 80% reduction in container sails through the Suez Canal. This has forced ships to take longer routes, such as sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, adding at least a week to their total travel time. As a result, global fleet capacity has been reduced, leading to a significant boost in containerized freight rates.

We covered this dynamic in a note last week titled “Supply Shock: Shipping Container Costs Top $10,000 Amid Red Sea Turmoil Thinning Global Capacity,” showing how major shipping lines, from Shanghai to Los Angeles, Shanghai to Rotterdam, Shanghai to Genoa, and Shanghai to New York are experiencing a sizeable price jump to ship 40-foot containers.

“Earnings expectations will need to move higher for Maersk and the broader liner market amid a surge in freight rates from increased port congestion and an earlier start to peak demand from the dislocation created by the Red Sea crisis. Strong pricing will remain as long as ships can’t safely traverse the Suez Canal,” Bloomberg Intelligence’s Lee Klaskow wrote in a note. 

Morgan Stanley analysts says, “Structural oversupply in container shipping remains, Red Sea disruptions provide only temporary respite.” 

Tyler Durden
Wed, 06/05/2024 – 05:45

BMW Admits Not Changing Logo To LGBTQ Colours In Middle East Due To “Cultural Aspects”

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BMW Admits Not Changing Logo To LGBTQ Colours In Middle East Due To “Cultural Aspects”

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

German auto manufacturer BMW has admitted that it only changes its logo for Pride month in certain regions and not others, taking into account “cultural aspects.”

It has become custom for major corporations to jump on the ‘Pride’ bandwagon every June by altering their logos to LGBTQ colours on social media.

It has been repeatedly highlighted, however, that the logos usually remain unchanged in countries that are hostile to homosexuality and radical gender ideology.

When one X user challenged BMW to explain not altering its logo on Middle East posts but rainbowing it for everyone else, they actually responded.

The company claimed it is “taking a stance” in recognition of LGBTQ+ Pride Month, but admitted that in some marketing areas it is at the discretion of distributors there.

The company added that it “also takes into consideration  market-specific legal regulations and country-specific cultural aspects.”

Would some of those cultural aspects be locals chucking gays off rooftops perhaps?

We seen this kind of thing before from BMW haven’t we?

Other companies havn’t gotten on board yet this year with rainbowing their logos at all, leading to suggestions that the businesses are finally waking up to the fact that the incessant pushing of ‘THE MESSAGE’ in an attempt to turn a profit isn’t working. 

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Tyler Durden
Wed, 06/05/2024 – 05:00

Ukraine Officers Say Recruits Arrive At Front Lines Pathetically Undertrained

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Ukraine Officers Say Recruits Arrive At Front Lines Pathetically Undertrained

In the latest harbinger of Ukraine’s inevitable defeat, combat commanders say newly-mobilized soldiers are arriving at the front lines so poorly-trained and clueless that they can’t even disassemble their weapons, according to the Washington Post. 

One soldier described his basic training as “complete nonsense...everything is learned on the spot [at the front lines].” An officer who’d trained recruits said their rifle training was limited to just 20 rounds per soldier. 

In most armies, that would barely be considered “familiarization fire.” Consider that, as of 2018, the US Army’s basic combat training called for shooting 600 rounds in a 92-hour curriculum. Rifle ammo isn’t the only limiting factor: The Ukrainian officer also noted that that “there are no grenades for throwing in training centers, and there are no grenade launcher rounds in the training center.”

Ukrainian army sources tell the Post some basic trainees only fire 20 rifle rounds before being sent to combat units (AP photo via Financial Times)

When soldiers arrive at the front, units are forced to spend weeks teaching them basis skills they should have already learned. “We had guys that didn’t even know how to disassemble and assemble a gun,” a deputy mechanized battalion commander told the Post. He dreads that sudden Russian progress will instantly turn new arrivals into pathetic cannon fodder: 

“We are just wasting a lot of time here on basic training. If, God forbid, there will be a breakthrough near Chasiv Yar, and we get new infantry that doesn’t know basic things, they will be sent there to just die.”

Word of the poor preparation has gotten around — and is hampering recruitment efforts and fueling draft resistance. New advertising assures would-be enlistees that they’ll receive “60 days of preparation” before facing off with the Russian army. 

Earlier this year, Ukraine lowered its minimum draft age from 27 to 25. The Post story gives a darkly amusing picture of how the country’s military units engage in cutthroat competition to grab the best recruits arriving for basic training: 

Some assault brigades might devote personnel to live practically full-time near training centers, the sergeant said, to quickly snatch up the youngest, fittest, most motivated men. The officer who was an instructor at a training center confirmed that some brigades indeed plot for first dibs.

“If they send us to recruit someone, all the good ones have already been taken by other brigades, and you have to choose from the crooked, lame, sick ones. And so you choose from them, dammit.”

The same sergeant complained that 50-year-old men with back and knee problems are routinely deemed fit to fit. When he resists taking such a soldier, he’s overrruled. “You try not to take them,” he said. “But again, in our army, it’s set up so that the personnel department tells you, ‘No way, you have to take him, he’s healthy’.” While it’s often said that war is a young man’s game, the average age of a frontline Ukrainian soldier is 43.  

While the influx of soldiers from the modified draft is still being amassed, the military is, for now, shifting troops to the front who’ve been spending the the last months or years doing mundane duties far from danger — such as guarding bridges hundreds of miles from the front. Some are immediately assigned to challenging missions, such as infiltrating and operating behind Russian lines. 

Red shading indicates area of Russian control 

“It’s scary,” said a 31-year-old who’d been guarding a bridge in Odessa since he enlisted after Russia’s February 2022 invasion — and then suddenly shipped to the eastern Donetsk battlefront on just 24 hours notice. “Nobody was really prepared.”

Against that depressing backdrop, the United States and its Western European allies continue relentlessly escalating the conflict and reinforcing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s motivation to decisively win the war. In just the most recent weeks: 

Tyler Durden
Wed, 06/05/2024 – 04:15

Farage: “I Do Know One Thing, A Woman Can’t Have A Penis”

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Farage: “I Do Know One Thing, A Woman Can’t Have A Penis”

Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news,

Nigel Farage started his campaign to be elected as an MP by making clear his views on gender identity, declaring, “I do know one thing, that a woman can’t have a penis.”

The Reform Party leader shocked the political world last weekend by announcing he had changed his mind on running in the upcoming general election and will now stand for office.

That set off a wave of excitement not seen in British politics for half a decade, with Farage launching his campaign in Clacton earlier today.

Farage immediately sought to distance himself from wokeism by refusing to embrace transgenderism.

“What do I have to offer you? Well, I can promise you that I do know one thing – that a woman can’t have a penis,” said Farage as the crowd reacted with laughter and cheers.

“You won’t get any woke PC nonsense from me because I’ve always told it as it is,” he added.

Polls show that the former UKIP leader has a very good chance of defeating his Conservative rival in Clacton and becoming an elected MP.

Farage urged the voters of Clacton to “send him to Parliament to be a bloody nuisance” to the political establishment as Conservative Party MPs worried his intervention would hand victory to Labour.

In reality, as we document in the video below, the only means of creating an effective right-wing opposition to Labour, who are virtually guaranteed to win in a landslide anyway, is to completely destroy the Tories.

The Conservative Party has overseen 14 years of managed decline of Britain to the point where, thanks to mass migration, parts of the country are unrecognizable.

Tories had the temerity to accuse Farage of betraying the will of the British public on immigration by helping Labour when under their watch 120,000 illegal boat migrants have entered the country.

That’s not to mention deranged levels of legal immigration which now mean more than a million new people are entering the UK every year and net migration is running at over 600,000.

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Tyler Durden
Wed, 06/05/2024 – 03:30

German Lawmaker Urges Activation Of 900,000 Reservists Over Russian Threat To Europe

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German Lawmaker Urges Activation Of 900,000 Reservists Over Russian Threat To Europe

At a moment it is increasingly clear that there’s no off-ramp for the Ukraine proxy war on the horizon in the foreseeable future, European governments have been ramping up their defense readiness amid fears of a future direct clash with Russia. 

While the United Kingdom’s military leadership has been vocal of late about raising up a ‘citizen army’ – other countries have been mulling the activation of more of their armed forces – even Germany, which has historically (pre-Ukraine war) maintained very low defense spending and neutrality. 

But days ago the chair of the German parliament’s defense committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, issued a public plea for the government to activate 900,000 German reservists, citing the need to do so based on the ‘Russian threat’ to Europe, according to DPA news agency.

Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, image via Germany’s dpa

“Putin is training his people for war and positioning them against the West. We must, therefore, become capable of defense as quickly as possible,” Strack-Zimmermann stated.

She called on leaders in the Germany’s military, to “activate the roughly 900,000 reservists we have.” The lawmaker, who is a member of the co-ruling Free Democratic Party (FDP), followed with: “If we could recruit just half of them as reservists with their relevant expertise, that would be an incredible asset.”

This comes after German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius finally confirmed in February that the country will meet the 2% GDP defense spending target in 2024, which is something that former President Trump had previously berated the US ally over. It’s a historic first since the end of the Cold War.

Interestingly, personnel who are deemed ‘reserves’ are not limited to those who signed up for the military on a professional or volunteer bases. But reservists include any and all former service members, as well as former conscripts, who had served for an extended period of time.

Thus even long after they are discharged or retired, they can still be ‘activated’ – presumably if still of the age or fitness required for duty.

Despite the media current climate of alarmist headlines predicting that Putin will expand the war to include other parts of Europe, the Kremlin has consistently batted down accusations that it’s interested in expanding the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, at a moment Ukraine forces are being rapidly beaten back in Kharkiv oblast, The Telegraph is featuring a series “imagining the consequences” of Russia being “successful” in its war…

A more important, better question should be asked: what will the consequences be if Ukraine’s Western backers refuse to contemplate negotiating a ceasefire? 

Tyler Durden
Wed, 06/05/2024 – 02:45

Does Poland Fear That Ukraine Might One Day Make Irredentist Claims Against It?

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Does Poland Fear That Ukraine Might One Day Make Irredentist Claims Against It?

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

The argument can be made that the national security pretexts upon which President Duda vetoed the Sejm’s bill to make Silesian a regional language concern the threat of Ukrainians exploiting this proposed precedent to revive their country’s post-World War I claims to parts of modern-day Poland.

It was explained last month how “The Sejm’s Approval Of Silesian As A Regional Language Should Prompt Deep Reflection From Poles”, but then President Andrzej Duda from the previous conservative-nationalist government vetoed the new liberal-globalist coalition’s bill at the end of May. His official website explained the reasons here, which mostly concern the widely held scientific view that Silesian is just a dialect of Polish, not its own language like Kashubian which was granted regional status in 2005.

None of the media that reported on this thought much of the national security arguments that he shared against making Silesian a regional language.

Duda worried that representatives of other ethnolect groups could be emboldened by the precedent set by granting Silesian this status and warned that these processes could be exploited from abroad to divide Poland. He then concluded by declaring that “cultivating the native language serves to protect the preservation of national identity.”

Although Duda implied that Russia could meddle in Poland through these means when he wrote that these threats could be “related to the war being waged on the eastern border”, the case can more compellingly be made that Ukraine poses a much greater danger to his country. The southeastern part of modern-day Poland used to be part of the “Ruthenian Voivodeship” during the Commonwealth era and comprised a significant number of folks who’d nowadays be called Ukrainians.

It was on this former administrative and enduring demographic basis that the short-lived “West Ukrainian People’s Republic” claimed some of these same lands and even those a bit further westward along the Carpathian Mountains.

The “Ukrainian People’s Republic” also claimed other more northerly parts of modern-day Poland’s eastern border on the same pretext that they were mostly populated by people that Kiev considered to be more Ukrainian than Polish.

During the Second Polish Republic, efforts were made to (largely unsuccessfully) Polonize the Ukrainians (some of whom later terrorized and genocided Poles), and then many were exchanged with the USSR for Poles living in Soviet Ukraine after World War II changed the borders. Other exchanges with Soviet Belarus and Lithuania, as well as the expulsion of Germans, led to the “Polish People’s Republic” becoming the first ethno-religiously homogenous Polish state since Mieszko I’s founding of Poland in 966.

This new demographic state of affairs remained in place up until 2022, after which a few million Ukrainians flooded into Poland, a sizeable number of whom still remain there. Although they’re scattered throughout the country, responsible members of the state like Duda – whose party admittedly facilitated this process for the purpose of turning Ukraine into its “junior partner” – fear that they might resettle in their formerly claimed border regions and one day agitate for “union” with Ukraine.

Unlike Silesian, their language is universally recognized as distinct from Polish, so the stage would be set for Ukrainians to exploit linguistic pretexts per the proposed Silesian precedent to get the state to extend them a degree of cultural autonomy as the first step towards political autonomy sometime in the future.  Two of Kiev’s official positions over the past year show that Poland can’t rule out the scenario of its neighbor weaponizing this process against it.

Zelensky’s senior advisor Podolyak declared last August that “[Poland] will remain [our closest partner and friend] until the end of the war. After it’s over, of course, we will have a competitive relationship, of course, we will compete for various markets, consumers, and so on. And, of course, we will clearly adopt pro-Ukrainian positions, protect these interests, fiercely defend them.” The prediction of post-conflict competition between these two doesn’t bode well for Poland’s territorial integrity as was explained.

Several months later in January, Zelensky signed a decree “aimed at preserving the ethnic identity of Ukrainians in Russia”, specifically within the parts of his neighbor’s modern-day borders that were previously claimed by the “Ukrainian People’s Republic”. A similar decree could be signed with regards to Poland if their predicted post-conflict competition worsens, in which case Poland’s territorial integrity would definitely be threatened via the fifth column of Ukraine’s potentially border-dwelling nationals.

Poland couldn’t rely on the US or the German-led EU for support in that event since both have interests in turning Ukraine into their joint bastion of influence on the continent after the conflict finally ends. They’d sell Poland out in a second to advance what their decisionmakers consider to be their national interests. Ukrainian losses in the east and south to Russia could therefore be compensated by gains in the West at Poland’s expense, though not right away of course, but sometime in the future.

Polish politicians like returning Prime Minister Tusk and his ruling liberal-globalist coalition would eagerly go along with this since they’ve already comprehensively subordinated their country to Germany, which has its own interests in Ukraine. Their ideology also predisposes them to thinking that it wouldn’t make a meaningful difference if they lost those lands since the partial open borders regime with EU-aspirant Ukraine by that point would render the consequences for many people moot for the most part.

It’s only those more responsible members of the state like Duda, whose party facilitated the large-scale migration of Ukrainians into Poland as was earlier written, who care enough about Poland to deny Ukraine the legal pretext for advancing its possibly revived claims per the proposed Silesian precedent. It’s these sensitive national security reasons upon which he vetoed the bill to make Silesian a regional language, which have everything to do with latent Hybrid War threats posed by Ukraine, not Russia.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 06/05/2024 – 02:00

Lest We Forget The Tiananmen Square Massacre On This Day In 1989

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Lest We Forget The Tiananmen Square Massacre On This Day In 1989

On the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, human rights supporters continued to speak up about the democratic uprising that was brutally suppressed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on June 4, 1989.

The incident led to a massive death toll among unarmed students, and for decades, the CCP has systematically censored all information related to the massacre.

“People commemorate the ‘June 4 Incident’ because it symbolizes universal values such as democracy, freedom, human rights, and peaceful protest. It stands as a bloody testament to the courage and resistance of the Chinese people,” said Du Wen, the former executive director of the Legal Advisory Office of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Government, now in exile in Europe.

He told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times that his generation remains nostalgic about the June 4 incident even though it is nearly impossible to find any trace of it inside China, where any discussion of it is taboo.

As Mary Hong reports, that large-scale democratic movement provided the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with an excellent opportunity to peacefully transition from autocracy to democracy. At that time, the young students did not make any demands regarding the CCP’s power itself. Their demands were solely for freedom of the press and speech, expressing dissatisfaction only with the corruption among the CCP elite. The interest of young students in national affairs was largely due to the enlightened thinking and reformist spirit of two successive CCP General Secretaries, Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang.

However, CCP elders, represented by Chen Yun, believed that the students’ calls for freedom and democracy challenged the very foundation of CCP rule. Consequently, the hardliner Deng Xiaoping ordered the violent suppression of the democratic movement. While this temporarily stabilized the regime, the opportunities that the democratic movement presented to both the CCP and China were lost.

The wound of history is still bleeding. China continues to pay a heavy price for the massacre. The issues that the students demanded the CCP address at that time did not disappear, instead, they have accumulated over history. The massacre made the CCP’s perceived legitimacy even more fragile in the eyes of the people. Many say that the CCP lost its legitimacy because of the “June 4th” massacre. I have always disagreed with this view. The CCP regime forcibly seized power from the Republic of China with the blatant military intervention of the Soviet Union. Claiming legitimacy for something taken by force is itself absurd and laughable. Moreover, the Chinese people never had the opportunity to question the legitimacy and effectiveness of the CCP’s governance. Objectively speaking, since 1949, the Chinese people have tacitly accepted a new regime imposed on them, thus the existence of the CCP regime at most holds a semblance of reasonableness. However, in the minds of the Chinese people, this reasonableness was significantly damaged by the “June 4th” massacre.

What is reasonable is real, and what is real is reasonable.

It can be asserted that if there were to be another political upheaval, the CCP would find itself in a difficult position, unable to save itself.

At that time, the Chinese people would not be as compliant as they were in 1989 and might very well seize the opportunity to overturn the CCP’s rule.

When we observe the massacre 35 years ago within the context of the global landscape, it becomes clear that Deng Xiaoping’s drastic measures to maintain the CCP’s rule and power were met with tacit acceptance by then-U.S. President Bush.

Although the CCP briefly faced diplomatic isolation, Deng Xiaoping’s resoluteness prevailed over the weak and short-sighted West.

We must also clarify that the 75 years of suffering endured by the Chinese people under the CCP’s iron rule were not the choice of the Chinese people but were imposed on them by former U.S. President Harry Truman and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

This imposition began with former U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt’s betrayal and sellout of wartime ally the Republic of China at the Yalta Conference, which allowed Stalin to occupy Northeast China.

President Truman’s China policy further aided the CCP in sweeping across the entire Chinese mainland, plunging the Chinese people into the horrors and ravages of communism.

Today, we remember June 4th. Although we commemorate it every year, we must clearly recognize the harsh reality: its impact on changing China’s existing autocratic system is extremely minimal, resonating only with a small, determined minority of Chinese democracy campaigners. The struggle between the Chinese people and the CCP is akin to a battle between humans and beasts, a war between people and demons, with almost no chance of success or victory. Despite this, we continue to pursue the day when the Chinese people can free themselves from the CCP’s brutal autocratic rule with perseverance.

Under Xi Jinping’s leadership for the past 12 years, China’s national conditions have been regressing at an unprecedented speed and scale. The achievements of forty years of economic reform have been completely eroded. Politically, the country is experiencing a “Cultural Revolution 2.0,” reminiscent of Mao Zedong’s era. Social morals have decayed, and the collapse of Chinese society and the sudden fall of the CCP’s autocratic regime seem imminent. This represents a political opportunity for significant change in China.

Coincidentally, the world is also beginning to regress and retreat. The United States, once a post-war beacon of democracy, freedom, and civilization respected and admired worldwide, has morally collapsed. Justice in the world is severely lacking, and the world is rapidly plunging into an abyss. This outcome is a result of the global trend, driven by the development and evolution of the world socialist and communist movements, spurred by malevolent forces, beyond human ability to reverse.

Where is the world headed? There is a sense that God has already issued a warning. If humanity does not awaken and change its course, the angry God may once again unleash a great flood to prevent human depravity.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 06/04/2024 – 23:40

These Are The 10 Deadliest Animals For Humans

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These Are The 10 Deadliest Animals For Humans

While running into wild animals in a forest can seem like the worst situation for humans, there are plenty of other animals that are far deadlier than large predators.

Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao ranks the top 10 deadliest animals by the number of people killed per year.

Data for this visualization and article is sourced from BBC Science Focus.

Spreaders of Diseases are Deadliest for Humans

Mosquitoes, of course, are the reigning champions on the toll they take on humans. Every year they kill more than 700,000 people through a multitude of deadly diseases—dengue, yellow fever, and malaria.

By some estimates, mosquitoes are responsible for the deaths of half of all the humans that have ever lived.

Meanwhile, humans are (almost) their own worst enemies. Every year, nearly 400,000 homicides take place, making humans the second-deadliest animal for other human beings. And this doesn’t account for all the human-caused accidents that result in fatalities.

At fourth place, dogs may be our best friends, but as a carrier of the deadly rabies virus, they end up fourth on the list of top 10 deadliest animals.

Rounding out the top five are assassin bugs, which spread the parasite that causes Chagas disease, a condition that can go untreated for years and can result in serious complications that make it life-threatening.

Large mammals, including lions, hippos, and elephants round out the top 10. Interestingly, bears kill around one person a year on average and wouldn’t be anywhere close to making this list of the deadliest animals.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 06/04/2024 – 23:15

Student Debt Cancellation Is Extremely Unfair – Here Are 10 Reasons Why…

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Student Debt Cancellation Is Extremely Unfair – Here Are 10 Reasons Why…

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

A recent Tweet by Elizabeth Warren and a short rebuttal to her inspired this post. Let’s take a look at the Tweet and my 10 reasons.

Deeply Unfair

10 Reasons Why Student Debt Cancellation is Unfair

  1. It is unfair to those who sacrificed to pay off their student loans and it’s unfair to those who foot the bill.

  2. It is an upward transfer of wealth. The plumber pays for someone  else’s college education.

  3. It encourages going to college when there might be better choices such as learning a trade. And It creates incentive to take on new student loans.

  4. It is blatant election year bribe to college students and college graduates.

  5. It creates creates a moral hazard for college administrators to sell useless degrees creating another overhang of new student debt.

  6. It creates a moral hazard for students who might feel that their debt should be forgiven in the future

  7. It subsidizes poor decision-making such as majoring in useless degrees including gender studies, anthropology, archeology, art history, music, culinary arts, fashion design, philosophy, etc.

  8. The president has no power to forgive student loans. Doing so creates another precedent for presidential rule by decree. This is too big a financial decision not to involve Congress. The current student loan program was authorized by Congress and contains no such authority to the president.

  9. Biden is openly flouting the Supreme court, another dangerous precedent.

  10. Free money is highly inflationary.

Laughable Explanations to Difficult Question

Everything this president does is inflationary. Yet, Biden and economists refuse to admit this.

January 11, 2024: Is Inflation Down? That’s What President Biden Says

February 20, 2024: The CBO Revised the Cost of Biden’s Energy Policies Up by $466 Billion

April 12, 2024: How the Inflation Reduction Act Failed to Reduced Electricity Costs in Pictures

May 11, 2024: What’s the Inflation Rate Under Biden vs 7 Previous Presidents?

Any Questions?

Addendum

I left out a key point.

As a Senator Biden sponsored a law that made it so student debt could not be discharged  in bankruptcy.

Then he was buying donations from the big banks who run their credit card operations out of Delaware.

Now he is buying votes.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 06/04/2024 – 22:50

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