Thursday, August 23, 2018

The State of the Nation On This Day — 23 August 2018


The state of the nation is parlous. 

"Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand." Mt 12:25 (KJV), Abraham Lincoln 

Mark Penn


Strategic Culture Foundation
Weaponizing the US Dollar Is Accelerating Global De-Dollarization
Frederico Pieraccini

Moneyness
Europe's SWIFT problem
JP Koning



2 comments:

Konrad said...

“This November, U.S. President Trump has threatened to impose sanctions on SWIFT if it doesn't remove a set of Iranian banks from the SWIFT directory.”

The SWIFT system cut off Iran from 2012-2016.

Initially in 2012, SWIFT authorities only pretended to cut off Iran. Therefore SWIFT acted “illegally” -- i.e. SWIFT failed to obey Washington D.C.

Anything that does not comply with the murderous edicts of Israel and the Empire is “illegal” and “illicit.” It is “terrorism” and “hate speech.”

“A fully functioning SWIFT, one that can't be manipulated by foreign bullies, is key to Germany meeting its current foreign policy goals.”

That’s why China and Russia are racing to create their own SWIFT systems, plus their own Internets. When these are operational, they will be able to cut off the USA from parts of the world.

“If I want to send you $10,000 from my bank in Canada to your bank in Singapore to pay for services rendered, bank employees will use SWIFT terminals and codes to communicate how to manipulate the various bank ledgers involved in the transaction.”

Wow. Money is created, destroyed, and transferred via the manipulation of bank ledgers? Who knew? I thought money was physical, and dollars were limited.

Speaking of that, on 4 Feb 2016, hackers used the SWIFT network in an attempt to steal $1 billion from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. They got away with $101 million before their heist was shut down. Since the hackers were never caught, the FBI claimed (with zero proof) that North Korea did it. Or Iran. Or Russia. Or China. Or Venezuela. The FBI had irrefutable evidence that the heist was done by...someone.

That $101 million was instantly transferred between several bank accounts worldwide. If money was physical and scarce (like politician claim it is), then $101 million in hundred-dollar bills would weigh over a ton. (2,222 pounds to be exact.)

Andrew Anderson said...

"Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand."

Yet government privileges for private credit creation divide us into the more and less so-called creditworthy of what is then, in essence, the public's credit but for private gain.