Category: There Goes The Narrative

Strongest Of The Weakest

Great Reset Little Known Facts There Goes The Narrative 7 Comments

As economist Daniel Lacalle points out, the rising dollar price of gold does not mean the US dollar is on the way out. Things are a bit more complicated than that in a fiat currency world with no exit ramps.

The same sources that show soaring gold demand also show that there is no true “dedollarization” in the sense of a fiat‑to‑fiat substitution. This also makes sense. The US dollar is the world’s strongest weak currency because it has a higher level of liquidity, more independent institutions, and better legal and investor security than any alternative. The US dollar is losing its place as a global reserve to gold but not losing its position relative to the euro, yen, pound, or yuan.

IMF COFER figures show that the US dollar’s share of allocated FX reserves remains at 59.6%, and when adjusted for exchange‑rate moves, the IMF itself concludes that the dollar’s share has been broadly stable, with recent declines explained mostly by valuation effects, not active selling. The euro, at 20.3%, is not even close to being a contender.

Is This Elevator Going Down?

Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing New Governor There Goes The Narrative 18 Comments

I’m not so sure that central banks have much of a choice when it comes to cutting interest rates, given the dynamics of fiat currencies with an exponentially growing debt load, but the fact that the mainstream financial media is even publishing Pelletier’s analysis is, in itself, a warning sign.

The issue now is that central banks appear close to implementing yet another round of QE, not to stabilize markets but simply to absorb the massive issuance of government debt. That’s where the real danger emerges: currency debasement. When a central bank prints money to finance deficits, the purchasing power of that currency erodes rapidly.

Now is an ideal time to revisit your portfolio. Start by examining your government bond exposure, especially in jurisdictions such as Canada, where the federal government holds no gold reserves and where 10‑year yields near three per cent offer little compensation for the level of risk.

If It Weren’t For Fake Hate

Chief Big Screen TV There Goes The Narrative 18 Comments

There’d be no hate at all.

On Tuesday, the president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, Frank Star Comes Out, made headlines by claiming that four members of his tribe were unlawfully detained by ICE and calling for their immediate release. He also claimed that the federal government tried to force him to “enter into an immigration agreement with ICE.”

To coin a phrase, “That’s not entirely accurate.”

Mr. Star Comes Out apparently felt that Native Americans were being left out of all the victimization of oppressed minorities in Minnesota and decided to shoulder his way onto the stage.

Democrats and the media leapt at the story that Native Americans, “Americans” before anyone else got here, were being rounded up by evil ICE and thrown into a detention camp.

The only problem with this juicy news item was that it wasn’t true.

ICE never even encountered any Ogala Sioux and never asked for an immigration agreement. The tribe only gave ICE the first names of the supposed detainees. It’s not unreasonable to speculate that the entire “incident” was a publicity stunt, a set-up from the start.

“ICE did NOT ask the tribe for any kind of agreement; we have simply asked for basic information on the individuals, such as names and date of birth, so that we can run a proper check to provide them with the facts,” Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said.

Reality Bites

It's Probably Nothing There Goes The Narrative Ukraine 40 Comments

Doomberg is a podcaster on financial markets whose insights I find quite valuable, although I have yet to understand why he covers his face with a green chicken cartoon. At the 14 minute mark in this interview he gets into the economics of energy and how that’s going to affect the outcome of the war in the Ukraine. In a nutshell, it’s not looking good for Zelensky.

“…once the Ukrainian counteroffensive of 2023 was defeated…it was very clear that this had converted to a grinding war of attrition and Russia was always going to win that war….I’m shocked by this…western techno-arrogance…[Russia] is not a gas station masquerading as a country. It…has a strong manufacturing base, excellent energy resources and a long history of marching east to west.”

 

Muslim Values Are Canadian Values

More Pavilions At Folkfest Religion Of Submission There Goes The Narrative 29 Comments

You’ll eat the Muhammad Torture Meat and you’ll like it;

“Hindu Forum Canada, through its legal representative, is issuing a formal notice to the Honourable Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.”

Federal support for halal meat production raises serious concerns about equality and state neutrality. Public funding should not prioritize one religious practice while overlooking others, as this risks creating inequality rather than inclusion. Exclusive halal production models raise legitimate questions about employment equity, including whether women and non-Muslims may be indirectly excluded, and whether this aligns with Canada’s human rights framework, which guarantees equal opportunity regardless of gender or religion.

Canada is a secular state. Government should not intervene in or invest in production systems that cater exclusively to the requirements of any one religion. Granting special exemptions or preferential treatment risks undermining equality in a diverse society.

There is already significant harm within the meat industry. This reality calls for stronger, science-based animal welfare standards, not weaker ones. Conventional slaughter methods require animals to be rendered unconscious before bleeding, minimizing pain. Allowing exemptions on religious grounds raises serious ethical and policy concerns that warrant public review.

Jeffrey Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself

Media There Goes The Narrative 55 Comments

The Epstein saga is the worst-reported story of all time.

The world’s leading news organizations on a regular basis print easily debunked untruths. Crucial details, like a federal case built on a recovered memory, the chief accuser being an epic fabulist, or nearly a billion dollars in civil claims won by “survivors” who themselves may be “professional recruiters” (as one victim put it to me), are left out of coverage. Almost all of the drama is concentrated in the expectation of revelations around things that still theoretically could be true, like underage hijinks with a Clinton or Trump, or an arrangement with the Mossad, but the absence of evidence of these things is rarely reported.

Inconvenient facts excised, reporters have used remaining details to build the mother of conspiracy tales, a keyhole through which the world may see All The Secrets, except the evidence doesn’t support the marquee. On closer examination, most elements of popular belief about Epstein collapse, leaving a manic, breathlessly wrong legend that’s on track to be remembered as a combination of Salem and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Including — everything you ever wanted to know about Virginia Giuffre but they were afraid to tell you.

Elbows Down!

Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing New Governor There Goes The Narrative 21 Comments

Since existing port facilities don’t have the capacity, I fully expect that someone will soon suggest that we access magical new export markets by shipping through Churchill. This is what Canadian exceptionalism actually amounts to: the stubborn insistence that we’re entitled to our dreams no matter how hard reality smacks us in the face.

But a recent announcement from one of Canada’s most successful natural resources exporters, saying that future exports will soon be shipped to overseas markets from a port in the state of Washington instead of Canada’s west coast, has raised fresh questions about whether some key Canadian ports even have the capacity to handle any more of those diversified goods. Any bottlenecks or other inefficiencies would only be magnified if exporters are able to hit Carney’s recent target that Canada will double non-U.S. exports over the next decade.

Clinging To Myths

Climate Cult There Goes The Narrative 20 Comments

Far from sleepwalking into an unmitigated disaster, farmers appear to have adapted quite well to the challenges posed by climate change. Or maybe climate change was just a fiction all along. Note how routine advances in crop genetics and machinery design are presented as responses to climate change as opposed to something that the ag industry, driven by the profit motive, has always done.

Spring wheat, used to make high-quality bread, yielded 58.8 bushels per acre this year, according to the government data release. That’s a gain of 77% from 30 years ago, based on a three-year average. Canola yields nearly doubled, reaching 44.7 bushels per acre, also based on a 1994-1996 average.

While most climate ⁠science paints a bleak picture for global food supply, with a study in Nature this year forecasting ‌up to 40% reduction in North America’s wheat harvest by 2100, the agricultural experts Reuters interviewed said that with climate adaptation strategies the prairies can continue to produce bigger and bigger crops in the future.

Coulda Had A Pipeline

Art Of The Deal Drill, Baby, Drill There Goes The Narrative 12 Comments

Oilprice;

Iraq’s Oil Ministry has revealed that it has sent out exclusive invitations to several major U.S. energy firms to develop the country’s huge West Qurna 2 oilfield following the withdrawal of Russian oil number two Lukoil after Washington ratcheted up sanctions on Moscow. “It’s a huge turnaround in the trajectory it [Iraq] had been headed with Russia and China, marking a massive win for us [the U.S.] and Europe,” a senior legal source who works closely with the U.S. Treasury Department exclusively told OilPrice.com last week. “Stay tuned – there’ll be more of this to come,” he added.

The significance of this sea-change in Iraq’s geopolitical leanings can barely be overstated. Following the increasing perception among the Iraqi people that the U.S. had overstayed its welcome after it removed Saddam Hussein as leader in 2003, Russia and China – in that order – looked to boost their influence across the country for three key reasons. First, it offers a huge repository of oil at the world’s joint lowest average lifting cost of $2-4 per barrel, together with large quantities of associated and non-associated gas. Second, it occupies the geographical heart of the region, lying west of Iran, north of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, east of Jordan and Syria (with its long Mediterranean coastline offering access to further critical sea routes), and south of Turkey (affording an entry into the European continent). And third, it is a key member of the ‘Shia Crescent of Power’ geopolitical arc that stretches from Iran through Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, where Shia communities and Iran-backed groups exert significant influence over regional politics, economics, and security. In short, if you are a global superpower or wannabe, Iraq is where you need to be.

Collateral Damage?

47 Art Of The Deal There Goes The Narrative 28 Comments

Needless prosecution of a victimless crime, or a case of “the law is the law“?

The administration’s sudden expansion of immigration arrests in Chicago meant Guzmán was in the government’s custody for about 34 hours. She was kept in a holding facility that was intended to house people for only a small fraction of that time… Even though she was still trying to produce breast milk for her daughter, Guzmán had limited access to food and water at the Broadview Processing Center and was never provided a breast pump. She said she was never assessed by a medical professional while in the government’s custody. Guzmán was left to manage the pain of her C-section recovery as well as her Type 1 diabetes with the supplies she had in her backpack at the time of her arrest.

 

Y2Kyoto: News They Can’t Use

There Goes The Narrative Y2Kyoto 10 Comments

Roger Pielke Jr.

Some huge news dropped today that will reverberate through climate science and policy. Nature has finally retracted “The Economic Commitment of Climate Change,” by Kotz et al. (KLW24), more than 18 months after first learning that the paper was fatally flawed, with the authors acknowledging that its errors are “too substantial” for a correction.

It is not just the retraction that matters — that’s long overdue — but the reaction to the retraction, which indicates that while the old ways still have a grip on the climate discussion, things may be changing for the better.

Back in August, I explained the growing scandal around KLW24: It wasn’t just a fatally flawed paper, but a flawed paper that had taken on outsized influence in climate advocacy and policy.

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