80.1 F
Chicago
Saturday, August 22, 2026
Home Blog Page 3535

Former Senior US Officials Held Secret Talks With The Russians

Former Senior US Officials Held Secret Talks With The Russians

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

A group of former senior US officials has held talks with influential Russians, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in an effort to lay the groundwork for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, NBC News reported on Thursday.

The meeting with Lavrov took place when he was in New York for a UN Security Council meeting back in April. The issues discussed included potential diplomatic off-ramps and the fate of Russian-controlled Ukrainian territory. Throughout the war, there has been no known engagement between the Biden administration and the Russian government on these issues.

Illustrative: CFR meeting, image via Defense Intelligence Agency

The former US officials who met with Lavrov were Richard Haas, a former US diplomat and outgoing president of the Council on Foreign Relations, and Charles Kupchan and Charles Graham, who are both fellows for the Council on Foreign Relations.

Sources told NBC that the discussions have taken place with the knowledge of the Biden administration but not at its direction. The former US officials who met with Lavrov briefed the White House National Security Council about the discussion.

Other discussions have involved former US officials and people who work at prominent think tanks and research institutions in Russia who are said to be close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. It’s not clear how often the talks are taking place. In at least one instance, a former US official traveled to Russia as part of the effort.

Around the time Haas and Kupchan met with Lavrov, they co-authored an article in Foreign Affairs titled “The West Needs a New Strategy in Ukraine”They suggested that Ukraine retaking all of the Donbas and Crimea does not need to be a goal of the US.

“Maintaining Ukraine’s existence as a sovereign and secure democracy is a priority, but achieving that goal does not require the country to recover full control of Crimea and the Donbas in the near term,” they said.

Haas and Kupchan predicted the war in Ukraine would likely turn into a stalemate after Ukraine’s counteroffensive and called for neutral organizations to oversee a ceasefire.

“Under this approach, Ukraine’s Western supporters would propose a ceasefire as Ukraine’s coming offensive reaches its limits,” they said. “A neutral organization—either the UN or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe—would send in observers to monitor and enforce the ceasefire and pullback.”

At this point, there’s no indication the Biden administration will push for a ceasefire anytime soon. In early June, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has only spoken with Lavrov twice since Russia’s invasion, explicitly came out against a pause in fighting and disparaged other countries that are calling for peace.

For their part, the Ukrainians insist a ceasefire and peace talks can’t happen until Russia is expelled from all the territory it controls, including Crimea.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/06/2023 – 18:20

Number Of Manhattan Homebuyers Paying All-Cash Hits Record

Number Of Manhattan Homebuyers Paying All-Cash Hits Record

All-cash purchases make up a larger portion of transactions in the Manhattan residential housing market for one primary reason: The 30-year fixed rate hovers at 6.75%, or levels not seen since the mid-2000s, deterring homebuyers who take out mortgages because of high borrowing costs. 

Bloomberg reports, citing data from Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate, that the share of all-cash deals for the second quarter spiked to a new record of 65%, up from 57% in the first quarter. Data goes back to 2014. 

Source: Bloomberg 

Mortgage rates spiked to two-decade highs in late 2022. The 30-year fixed rate has been range bound since November after rising to 7.16%. The current rate is around 6.85%. 

Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, said the rise of cash buyers “reflects continued relative strength at the upper end of the market that favors cash.”

While cash sales have soared by 22% compared with the prior quarter, financed transactions fell 18% over the same period. 

The median transaction for luxury deals in the borough was $6.7 million, up 3.9% from a year earlier. Inventory is still tight, and cash buyers have less to worry about bidding wars because high mortgage rates have sidelined many buyers. 

What’s notable is that cash buyers can avoid the hit from rising borrowing costs and still make moves in the real estate market, while most homebuyers who rely on financing are paralyzed in the worst housing affordability crisis in a generation

Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/06/2023 – 18:00

Doug Casey On Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And Why The Deep State Hates Him

Doug Casey On Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And Why The Deep State Hates Him

Via InternationalMan.com,

International Man: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is challenging Joe Biden to be the Democratic nominee for the 2024 election.

Unlike most Democrats, RFK Jr. is against escalating the war in Ukraine and seems to be generally anti-war. Likewise, he’s not on board with a lot of the woke insanity.

His support among Democrats is around 20% as of writing and rising, worrying many establishment figures.

What’s your take?

Doug CaseyIt’s too bad for him that he’s part of the Democratic Party. They’ll treat him the way they treated Bernie Sanders. During the last two elections, if vox populi had anything to do with it, Bernie Sanders would’ve been the Dem candidate. The average Democrat loved him because he’s a fire-breathing socialist and welfare statist. But Bernie was a party outsider and a loose cannon. The powers that be in the Democratic Party only nominate insiders. They like frontmen who will reliably “play ball.” Kennedy has his own agenda, as did Sanders. That tells me that he doesn’t have a chance of being nominated.

I’ve listened to a number of recent Kennedy speeches. He spends a lot of time promoting peace and defending his views on COVID. Speaking as an anarcho-capitalist, everything he said on those subjects resonated with me.

He’s completely opposed to not just the insane war in the Ukraine but wars in general. Of course, he is famous for his views on vaccines. These are two of the major issues today, and he seems 100% sound on both.

However, he doesn’t talk much about his economic policy; I believe he’s basically an FDR/LBJ mixed economy guy. I haven’t heard him address wokeism directly, but he comes across as a conventional heterosexual. I don’t think he’d actively promote LGBT etc., etc., like the current administration. He’s a lifelong eco-warrior, so he’s on board with the global warming hoax. He’s certainly anti-gun, though he is playing that down. He says he’s open to nuclear power—but not very open. His game is to appear knowledgeable and reasonable and to avoid alienating Republicans.

He’s clearly very well-read. But feels an almost genetic obligation to follow in the footsteps of his father and his uncle.

All things considered, he’s probably the best candidate on the Dem side—for what that’s worth. Probably not much since the Democrat Party is a putrid cesspool, the evil party, and he’s still a member.

International Man: Whenever the mainstream media mentions RFK Jr., they always preface him with a pejorative, usually “conspiracy theorist” or “anti-vaxxer.”

There have been numerous occasions where the media has outright censored him.

They equate any point of view that deviates from the mainstream consensus as so-called “disinformation,” which they don’t refute with better ideas, facts, or logic but use as an excuse to justify their censorship—a despicable practice.

What is really going on with the media censoring RFK Jr.?

Doug Casey: One thing he always emphasizes is his dislike of the military-industrial complex. Especially the CIA, but he seems to sincerely dislike powerful government agencies in general. That means that the members of the Deep State see him as an enemy, somebody who could break their rice bowls. They come out against him not because he has a different philosophy, like Ron Paul, but because he’s an outsider threatening their bottom line.

The fact is that the powers-that-be, the military-industrial-corporate-academic-media complex, the Deep State if you will, are so committed to war in the Ukraine, vaccines, and wokeism that they almost can’t do an about-face at this point.

Whether any of these people like him personally or not or like the Kennedy family’s generally statist policies, they’re committed to promoting their agenda and therefore trying to debunk Bobby.

International Man: What exactly is the Deep State?

Why do they generally hate the Kennedy family and RFK Jr. in particular?

Doug Casey: All countries have a Deep State. The Deep State are people who control and profit from the State. In the US, its top-level might include several thousand individuals. Heads of agencies, top congressmen and senators, generals, top corporate people, bankers, top university presidents and professors, top state and big city officials, and the like. They equate to what were called the Nomenklatura in the Soviet Union. They pull all the strings, have immense power, and have huge amounts of money flowing into their personal pockets. We can call them “top dogs.”

Underneath them, in the Deep State, we have several million people that are equivalent to the apparatchiks of the old Soviet Union. They’re middle managers under the top dogs. They have good positions and get to give a lot of orders. They’re low-level big shots. I like to call them “running dogs.”

The many millions who accept these people, the masses who slavishly support the Deep State out of fear or habit, I call “whipped dogs.” They’re strictly pawns in the game. They’re thoughtless and delusional enough, thanks to schooling and propaganda, to believe they’re in control of a so-called “democracy.” Even though they’re 98% of the population, they don’t count unless they go wild due to a serious war, depression, or other catastrophe.

The people in the Deep State deny their own existence. And nobody has a membership card or an official decoder ring. But the Nomenklatura, and a lot of the apparatchiks, went to the same schools, belong to the same clubs, and have the same philosophy and worldview. They all live off the State, which in turn lives off the 98%, the whipped dogs.

So, why do they generally hate the Kennedy family, and RFK Jr. in particular?

In his recent speech at St. Anselm College, he mentioned that his uncle, JFK, wanted to break the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it into the wind. RFK Jr. wants to follow what he thinks are the footsteps of his father and his uncle, not follow instructions from the Deep State.

He’s fervently, and it seems sincerely, anti-war. In today’s world, the US government, through the CIA, the Defense Department, and other agencies, goes out of its way to antagonize other countries, including nuclear-armed countries like Russia and China. I think he understands we’re a hair trigger away from World War III, and he wants to de-escalate. Bravo. It’s idiotic for a declining and sclerotic empire to act tough and pick fights.

And he points out that when his uncle was in office, the advisors around him, the Nomenklatura, all pumped for more foreign intervention, more military spending, and more military adventures around the world. This is true with Deep States everywhere in the world.

The worst guy in a government is not always the guy right on top. His strings are usually pulled by the advisors around him. They actually steal most of the money as well.

International Man: How do you see the 2024 primaries and presidential election unfolding in the months ahead?

Doug Casey: It’s out of the question that the demented, incoherent old Joe Biden will run. Something will happen before the election to preclude that.

The fact that Kamala Harris and Mayor Pete are frontrunners shows how degraded the Dem Party really is. It appears that Gavin Newsom, the disastrous governor of California, is a possibility. He’s slick, looks good, and speaks coherently—even though absolutely everything he advocates is horrible.

On the Republican side, who knows whether Donald Trump will get the nomination or not? There are about a dozen other Republicans who want to be President. Some of them, like Mike Pompeo, John Bolton, Liz Cheney, and Nikki Haley, are loathsome. For all Trump’s faults, they’d likely be worse than Trump. Ron DeSantis has made some appealing moves in the past few years but appears to be a creature of the Bushes; I’m not a fan. He’s just another venal politician.

It’s entirely possible that Kennedy, realizing that he’s going to be shut out, will start a third party or perhaps run as part of the Constitution Party, though that’s unlikely since it’s on the ballot in only 13 states. It’s possible that Trump will also run as a third-party candidate if the Republicans shut him out.

Could either Trump or Kennedy run as a Libertarian? Neither is even remotely a libertarian. Neither even has a philosophical core. But the Libertarian Party doesn’t have a philosophical core anymore either, evidenced by the fact that they ran statists like Bob Barr and William Weld as candidates. The Libertarians would probably welcome any big name just to show that they’re actually players. Pity, really.

Since the military is about the only element of the US government that still has a modicum of trust and respect from Americans, it’s possible that both Dems and Reps will pick a general to run. Things may be chaotic enough in 2024 that the country will be ripe for a” strong man.”

There’s even an outside possibility—dare I say it?—that there will be no election if the economy, the society, or some war gets too out of control. After all, in our 51st state, the Ukraine, Zelensky has canceled their elections.

In any event, I’ll bet that the Democrats will win for many of the same six reasons why I picked the Democrats to win in 2020.

International Man: What do you suggest people do to prepare for the possibility of increasing political turmoil in the US?

Doug CaseyIt’s important to remember that although most members of the police and the military are decent and generally conservative people, they will follow orders, even if they don’t like them. That’s because they’re trained to do so. But also because they don’t want to get into trouble; they all have house payments, car payments, credit card payments, and other debts. They can’t afford to lose their jobs—a pretty different dynamic than was the case in the Revolution or the 19th century.

They’ll do what they’re told. That’s a real danger when you have Jacobins in control of the apparatus of the State, as we now do.

As far as the average American is concerned, including those reading this now, fighting against the State is dangerous and impossible as a practical matter. Doing so will just result in your being rounded up and imprisoned.

It would be like what happened on January 6th, multiplied by a hundred. Fuhgedabowdit.

I’ve said for years that the US is on the verge of an actual civil war because the factions in the country really hate each other, and they just can’t communicate. If things get really dire, it might be wise to be abroad, just as it was wise to be out of the country during the war Between the States from 1861 to 1865.

It’s too bad the US no longer has the equivalent of California in 1860, a place you could go, seek opportunity, and remain uninvolved with all the foolishness.

Make some contingency plans. But remember, time is short.

*  *  *

Disturbing economic, political, and social trends are already in motion and now accelerating at breathtaking speed. The risks that lie ahead are too big and dangerous to ignore. That’s exactly why bestselling author Doug Casey and his team just released a free report with all the details on how to survive an economic collapse. It will help you understand what is unfolding right before our eyes and what you should do so you don’t get caught in the crosshairs. Click here to download the PDF now.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/06/2023 – 17:40

Money Market Fund Assets Hit New Record High As Inflows Resume; Fed Balance Sheet Shrink Accelerates

Money Market Fund Assets Hit New Record High As Inflows Resume; Fed Balance Sheet Shrink Accelerates

For the first time in four weeks, aggregate money market funds saw inflows this week. After 3 weeks of small outflows, the $43.7 billion surge sent money market fund to a record $5.47 trillion

Source: Bloomberg

However, as we have previously noted, retail fund flows never stopped increasing and now institutional fund inflows have resumed (as we move through the corporate tax day).

This exaggerates the decoupling between ‘rising’ (seasonally-adjusted) bank deposits and rising money market fund assets

Source: Bloomberg

Will tomorrow’s bank deposit data start to show some catch down?

The Fed balance sheet shrank by $42.6 billion last week (the biggest drop since May). The Fed’s balance sheet is now well below pre-SVB levels – at its smallest since Aug 2021…

Source: Bloomberg

QT continues to accelerate with The Fed selling $38.6 billion off its balance sheet last week…

Source: Bloomberg

However, under the hood of that Fed balance sheet shift is the fact that the usage of The Fed’s emergency Bank Term Funding Program (bank bailout) facility shrank modestly last week (-$1.1 billion to $102 billion)…

Source: Bloomberg

The US equity market continues to charge ahead, decoupling from falling reserves at The Fed…

Source: Bloomberg

Finally, as a reminder, banks have around 8 months left under the original 12-month BTFP Fed bailout program to find a way to stabilize their balance sheets.

Not only have they failed to do so, usage of the BTFP facility remains near record highs, and yields are rising even more (great MTM losses).

Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/06/2023 – 16:40

How To Create A Fake News Cycle

How To Create A Fake News Cycle

Authored by Pierre Kory via RealClear Wire,

Despite the best efforts of the mainstream media to pillory him as an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is having a moment. A recent poll from CNN of all places showed him earning 20% of Democratic primary voters – and that was before his Joe Rogan interview and shirtless push-up video went viral. Kennedy’s support only confirms the titanic loss of trust between voters and mainstream media.

Except for those in the business, few people understand the inner workings of the media world. As a doctor and lifelong Democratic voter who pulled the lever for Biden in 2020, I had no clue. Prior to COVID-19, I trusted that what I was reading represented the truth. My experience running the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) quickly disabused me of that idea.

The first wave hit in December 2020, when I testified in the Senate that corticosteroids were saving my COVID patients’ lives. My recommendations weren’t just ignored – they were attacked, and I was personally ridiculed as a fraud and Trump puppet. My life and career were upended. I felt forced to resign my faculty position. It was cold comfort when a few months later, a large study confirmed my testimony and government agencies added steroids to the standard of care for COVID patients.

I struggled to make sense of it through much of 2021. The Biden administration and the mainstream media single-mindedly pushed untested vaccines even as the FLCCC accumulated more and more evidence that cheap, generic medicines could stop COVID. As I detailed in my new book, “The War on Ivermectin,” simply presenting evidence that doctors were using the medicine to treat and prevent COVID around the world was a dog whistle for the mob.

After this crash course in media manipulation, I was much savvier and learned to spot the tactics. When in September 2021 Rachel Maddow tweeted a local news story to her 10 million followers about Oklahoma hospitals being overrun with ivermectin overdoses, I knew it was fake news.  

The report quoted a doctor claiming that patients overdosing on ivermectin were backing up rural hospitals. Supposedly people coming to the ER with serious injuries – even gunshot wounds – could not access care. The story was laundered through countless media outlets and blue checks, who were already skeptical of ivermectin because of its association with Trump and his supporters. In their eyes, a bunch of MAGA lunatics overdosing on “horse de-wormer” were killing grandma.

Six days later, the hospital where the doctor worked confirmed that the story was a total fabrication. There were no ivermectin overdoses – none – and the doctor hadn’t worked at the hospital in more than two months.

This was easily the sloppiest and most brazen hit job the media pulled during the pandemic. But Rolling Stone’s coverage took the cakes. The outlet used a photo portraying people lined up outside wearing winter clothes – wrong season. As the saying goes, “A lie is halfway round the world before the truth has got its boots on.” To this day, Rolling Stone still hasn’t taken the story down. It simply changed the headline and slapped on a disclaimer.

The whole debacle presents a neat lesson in how to create a fake news cycle. It goes like this.

  • Step one: Identify a public tool, such as poison control centers, that are easy to manipulate.

These organizations have a public hotline and email address that anyone can use to report a problem. The reports are logged as “adverse events,” but they are not easily confirmed and typically will be tabulated for public records whether or not they have been verified. This is exactly what happened with the Oklahoma story. The local poison control center was deluged with fake calls from people claiming they overdosed on ivermectin.

  • Step two: Deploy “independent,” seemingly credible voices to validate and embellish the false claims.

Doctors are among the most trusted professionals, but having a medical degree doesn’t make you an honest broker. Many doctors struggle to earn a living practicing medicine, and sadly some – like the Oklahoma ER doc – will stoop to industry or political hit jobs if it pays the bills. And doctors willing to go on the record expressing concern about a health scare – ivermectin overdoses – are all a reporter needs for a juicy scoop.

  • Step three: Coordinate with institutional allies to add legitimacy.

FDA, American Medical Association, and GAVI (The Vaccine Alliance) – to add credibility and fan the flames with outraged public statements and targeted ad buys. Reporters can pose questions to their representatives at televised briefings, which carried more significance during the pandemic.

  • Finally, step four: Activate the echo chamber in mainstream and social media.

Twitter influencers who live and play in the Acela corridor can talk to each other in the green rooms of cable news studios and glitzy Beltway gatherings. They can pat each other on the back for exposing the crazies and conspiracy theorists.

The pharmaceutical company didn’t invent this playbook, though it used it effectively to wage war on ivermectin and rake in more than $30 billion dollars from COVID vaccines. Tobacco, energy, chemicals, and other industries have deployed these same tactics to neutralize competition and preserve market control.

Big business has been gaming the system for a long time, but the rise of social media has turned once respected media institutions into clickbait machines easily manipulated by industry. With Americans locked in their homes and constantly primed to accuse each other of killing grandma, the pandemic rapidly accelerated this trend and gave pharma – and its media allies – strong motive and ample opportunity. 

From masks and lockdowns to vaccines and remote learning: Time and again, solutions touted by the media oversold and underdelivered. We may never know how many lives were lost because of the tactics used to suppress ivermectin, but we know we can’t trust the media. That explains RFK Jr.’s rise – and it’s why I wouldn’t bet against him.

Pierre Kory, MD, is president and chief medical officer of the Front-Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/06/2023 – 16:20

Good ‘Job’ News Sparks Bad-News-Battering For Bonds, Big-Tech, Banks, Bullion, & Bitcoin

Good ‘Job’ News Sparks Bad-News-Battering For Bonds, Big-Tech, Banks, Bullion, & Bitcoin

A slew of positive labor market data (and an upside surprise for ISM Services – even though Services PMI slipped) was just enough ‘good’ news to be bad for markets… all markets.

US labor market data has serially surprised to the upside in recent weeks. So much so in fact that in the face of The Fed’s tightening, the jobs data is now at its most positive since 2012

Source: Bloomberg

Small Caps were clubbed like a baby seal today as the entire US equity complex was dumped on the good jobs news. After Europe closed, the machines managed to lift the majors well off their lows with Nasdaq and The S&P leading the rebound. However, they all ended lower on the day…

Notably, there has been a regime shift in the stock market’s response to higher rates with Defensives outperforming Cyclicals…

Source: Bloomberg

For context, the 2Y yield is unchanged since right before SVB’s collapse… and the S&P is up around 400 points…

Source: Bloomberg

Treasury yields were higher across the curve today but the action was very mixed with the belly underperforming and the wings (2Y and 30Y ending up the least ugly horse in the glue factory)…

Source: Bloomberg

The 10Y yield broke back above 4.00% and 2Y yield smashed back above 5.00% running the stops above pre-SVB cycle highs before fading back lower…

Source: Bloomberg

Intraday, the 2Y yield reached its highest since July 2006…

Source: Bloomberg

The yield curve immediately crashed back near its most inverted levels of the cycle. But that didn’t last long as the short-end was bid and the curve actually ended steeper on the day…

Source: Bloomberg

The 30Y mortgage rate surged this week to its highest since November…

Source: Bloomberg

The dollar ended marginally higher after fading back from the huge gappy spike after the jobs data…

Source: Bloomberg

Bitcoin kneejerked higher overnight (topping $31,500) before reversing all  those gains and some, testing back below $30,000…

Source: Bloomberg

Gold puked back near last week’s lows…

Oil prices ended marginally higher after puking on the jobs data then ramping on inventory draws…

Finally, Goldman’s Tony Pasquariello dropped a totally striking chart earlier this morning. Essentially, he explains, financial markets had front-loaded the Fed tightening cycle.

Financial conditions are in the same place today as they were when the target rate was just 0.75% (before the Fed started blasting away in 75 bps clips).

The moral of the story here: the long and variable lags of tighter policy may not be SO threatening anymore (famous last words, we know).

Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/06/2023 – 16:00

If You Hate Ordinals, You Might Undervalue The Bitcoin Network

If You Hate Ordinals, You Might Undervalue The Bitcoin Network

Authored by Mark Maraia via BitcoinMagazine.com,

For years, Bitcoiners have been telling almost everyone who would listen that bitcoin is undervalued. Any Bitcoiner who’s done the research knows that bitcoin the asset is radically undervalued. And I wholeheartedly agree!

But even though bitcoin, the asset, is undervalued, it pales in comparison to how much the Bitcoin network is undervalued. I have long held that Bitcoiners, as a group, are undervaluing the Bitcoin network as much or more than no coiners are undervaluing bitcoin the asset.

So, it is with some amusement that I observe the fierce debate between the Bitcoin purists who believe that the use of the Bitcoin network (i.e., the immutable digital ledger) is only for sending value (bitcoin), and the inscriptions, Ordinals and BRC token crowd which says and does otherwise.

In my opinion, what most Bitcoin purists are missing is the difference between bitcoin the asset and the immutable digital ledger, also called “the timechain.” The highest and best use for the immutable ledger is holding and sending value, but it is not the only use, as inscriptions and BRC tokens are showing us.

In addition, I’ve always thought of the network and protocol (the immutable digital ledger) as a place where I can post a message that cannot be changed. Hence, when the Declaration Of Monetary Independence (DoMI) was first published on October 31, 2021, I had a fellow Bitcoiner make permanent note of it in the timechain.

I believe it can be found at block height 707,575. And when we created the 2023 version of DoMI that people signed in Miami at the Bitcoin 2023 event, I had another Bitcoiner create an inscription for it. Both can now be found on the immutable ledger. I totally understand why many want to use the timechain only for money, but I consider it naive to think it will only be used for that purpose.

ONE MAN’S NONSENSE IS ANOTHER MAN’S MEANING

Where I get worked up is in how little the market (all of us) values the timechain. In my opinion, there isn’t a single person on the planet who values the network properly… yet.

What inscriptions and BRC tokens do is increase the perceived value of the timechain. Overall, that’s a plus. Until the network is valued at 250 sats per $1, it’s insanely underpriced!

Even in the era of inscriptions and BRC tokens, the immutable ledger is still radically undervalued and the cost for putting data on it is way below where an intelligent market will put it.

It’s as if Satoshi Nakamoto invented two things: One, a new kind of scarce digital money and two, an immutable ledger to keep track of every satoshi. Using a metaphor to make the point, he/she/they invented a new kind of railcar and the tracks the railcar runs on.

We silly human beings, who are slavishly obsessed with money, give 99.9% of our attention to the asset and almost none to the network (i.e., the timechain) even though the network is as mind blowing as the asset. More impressively and often ignored is this: Nakamoto had to invent a new way to keep time in order to allow the immutable ledger to remain decentralized. Do we celebrate, applaud and value this new method of keeping time? Not really. As of this writing, at block height 794,076, we still just assume and take for granted that this new timekeeping method will keep working for decades. Tick tock, next block.

We all need to be a bit more humble and, I dare say, reverent about this immutable ledger and appreciate that some people will “waste” block space putting stuff in the timechain that will endure as long as it keeps ticking. Who am I to tell another how to value it? Today, every single Bitcoiner undervalues and underpays for the use of this immutable digital ledger.

Consider this carving into a 300-year-old, majestic oak tree: “Satoshi loves the timechain.”

To those who love majestic oak trees, such an inscription might be seen as vandalism or horrific. To the person who did the carving, it might represent a labor of love to have inscribed that message into the tree. The tree doesn’t care, only people do.

Rather than waste any more human energy arguing about inscriptions and Ordinals, I’m going to take my cue from Bitcoin’s timechain. The timechain is absolutely neutral about how we humans make use of it in the same way that the tree does not care what carvings you make into its trunk.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/06/2023 – 15:40

Watch: Biden Laughs As Reporters Ask Him About Cocaine Found At White House

Watch: Biden Laughs As Reporters Ask Him About Cocaine Found At White House

Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

The biggest story in America yesterday was the discovery of cocaine at the White House, along with images and video of Hunter Biden at the White House on July 4th looking completely wired and allegedly taking a bump.

According to reports, the cocaine was found stashed in a cubby hole in the West Wing.

Yet Joe Biden seemed to think it’s all funny, laughing at reporters trying to ask him about the incident.

The White House Press Secretary also repeatedly dismissed questions about the blow:

The only details she would give were that the coke was found in a “heavily traveled area” and that the Bidens were away for most of the weekend. She attempted to blame tourists:

One reporter asked if staffers will be drug tested after the discovery, to which Jean-Pierre responded claiming the “White House is subject to rigorous guidelines that include drug testing,” adding “We will take any action is that is appropriate and warranted pending the outcome of a Secret Service.”

*  *  *

Brand new merch now available! Get it at https://www.pjwshop.com/

In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch. We need you to sign up for our free newsletter here. Support our sponsor – Turbo Force – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown.

Also, we urgently need your financial support here.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/06/2023 – 15:00

“Bitcoin Is Digital Gold” – BlackRock CEO Flip-Flops From Crypto-Hater To Advocate For ‘Revolution’

“Bitcoin Is Digital Gold” – BlackRock CEO Flip-Flops From Crypto-Hater To Advocate For ‘Revolution’

From crypto-hater in 2017, the CEO of the world’s largest asset-manager is now suddenly ‘shilling’ for Bitcoin just days after BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF filing…

As CoinTelegraph’s Turner Write reports, Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, has delivered pro-crypto remarks amid the asset manager applying to list a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States.

Speaking on Fox Business on July 5, Fink said the role of cryptocurrency was largely “digitizing gold,” suggesting U.S. regulators consider how an ETF directly linked to Bitcoin could democratize finance, and has the potential to “revolutionize” the financial system.

During his time at BlackRock, Fink has often commented on major events affecting the crypto space, including the collapse of FTX in 2022 and rising interest in BTC.

“Let’s be clear: Bitcoin is an international asset,” said Fink.

“It’s not based on any one currency, and so it can represent an asset that people can play as an alternative.”

Fink suggested that investors could turn to Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation or the devaluation of certain currencies.

As CEO of the largest asset management firm in the world, with more than $9 trillion in assets under management as of April, Fink’s pro-crypto sentiment could create ripples in and out of the space.

Many crypto users on social media reacted positively to Fink’s interview, with at least one suggesting his words could cause the price of certain assets to surge in what the user called the “Fink Pump.” At the time of publication, the BTC price was $30,473, having dropped by roughly 1% in the previous 24 hours.

Under Fink, BlackRock has attempted to launch a spot BTC ETF with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase acting as a surveillance partner. It’s unclear if the Securities and Exchange Commission will approve the investment vehicle, given its track record of rejecting all previously filed spot BTC ETF applications to date.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/06/2023 – 13:00

ChatGPT Usage Drops For First Time As AI Buzz Fades

ChatGPT Usage Drops For First Time As AI Buzz Fades

An indication that the hype surrounding ChatGPT, the viral chatbot developed by OpenAI, may have reached a peak is new data from analytics firm Similarweb. The data reveals monthly traffic to the chatbot site experienced the first-ever decline in June. 

There’s been a lot of buzz around artificial intelligence since ChatGPT was released seven months ago. About a month and a half before the chatbot was released to the public, the stock market bottomed in a bear market around Oct. 12. When the AI theme was embraced, stocks have since entered a bull market. 

But against the backdrop of challenging macroeconomic headwinds and a hawkish Federal Reserve, AI stocks like Nvidia have been on a tear. 

However, waning interest in AI chatbots could be the pin that pricks the AI bubble: New Similarweb data shows ChatGPT’s website traffic slid 9.7% from May to June. The decline in traffic was the worst in the US, falling 10.3% over the month. As for the unique worldwide visitors, ChatGPT’s website slid by 5.7%, and the time spent on the site was down 8.5%. 

“In June, traffic and engagement for ChatGPT finally began to retreat after months of dizzying growth,” Similarweb pointed out. This came after the chatbot added 100 million users in the first few months of operation. 

Visitor engagement with ChatGPT is also sliding. Similarweb said, “We don’t yet have this metric for June, but it was already down 8.5% in May.” 

The drop in ChatGPT interest is a warning sign that the “novelty has worn off for AI chat,” Similarweb said. It added, “Chatbots will have to prove their worth, rather than taking it for granted, from here on out.” 

And this may all suggest peak hype in the AI space… 

Seemingly confirming this, we note that Goldman’s S&T desk points out that they are starting to see some signs of rotation from AI stocks to EV.

Also notice how news stories about “ChatGPT” have been sliding since early May.

We have cited Jim Bianco, Bianco Research President, and others, who have explained AI stocks are in a classic bubble. Investors need to understand that sliding interest in ChatGPT could be a catalyst for the AI bubble to begin deflating. 

“At the moment, AI’s risks are as massive as its potential. We won’t know until ten years later whether AI’s impact is more akin to the internet or the Google Glass,” Epoch Times’ Fan Yu noted this week. 

Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/06/2023 – 12:40