MONEY: USA “sanctions” spur tech solution to SWIFT

Thursday, July 11, 2024

FROM TLDR Crypto 2024-07-05

https://cryptoslate.com/russia-contemplating-permanently-legalizing-stablecoins-for-cross-border-payments/

Russian government considering legalizing stablecoins for cross-border payments (2 minute read)

  • Russia is considering regulating the entire transaction chain, from transferring these assets into the country to accumulating and utilizing them for cross-border payments.

Assad Jafri
Jul. 3, 2024 at 8:48 pm UTC
Updated: Jul. 3, 2024 at 8:48 pm UTC

*** begin quote ***

Russia is considering legalizing stablecoins for international transactions to improve cross-border payments and mitigate the effects of ongoing sanctions. The Russian Central Bank is looking to regulate the transaction chain from entry to utilization. Its initiative would primarily target facilitating transactions with BRICS countries effectively integrating stablecoins into the national framework for international settlements. 

*** end quote ***

This is another nail in the coffin of the USA dollar and the SWIFT funds transfer system.

Our politicians and bureaucrats have really screwed the pooch this time.

Now assets will move bypassing and being transparent to the USA.

Good job, Guys.  Incentivize the rapid adoption of a competitive technology.

Argh!

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RANT: Biden needs to fire some people

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/michael-moore-trump-was-right-about-this-one-thing/

FROM MICHAEL MOORE:

“Trump was right — I know, there’s words I’ve never spoken — Trump was right when he turned to Biden to ask him what his problem was as to why he never fires anybody,” Moore said. “It’s amazing to me how a week later now, anyone on this campaign staff still has a job! How is that possible?!”

I agree with him and DJT on that point.

••• ••• 2024-Jul-10 1041


SECURITY: A lesson in what phishing looks like

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CQCDMY2V/ref=atv_dp_share_r_em_5605dba96bbd4

The Beekeeper

A retired military operative, who now serves as a Beekeeper in a secret organization that protects the world like bees in a hive, is forced into a campaign of revenge when his neighbor’s finances are wiped out after a phishing scam.

# – # – # – # – # 

The beginning of this movie should be required watching BEFORE anyone gets a personal computer.  

The ‘nice old lady” gets scammed out of everything she has by calling in after a pop up on her computer.  Been there getting pop ups, spam emails, and whatever.

Lesson Number 1 is have yourself some “tech support” relative.  Or at least, don’t trust anyone online.

The lady has a flash of insight to call her bank but gets talked out it when the nice man on the phone says “he’ll lose his job.”

The rest of the movie is mission impossible type hokum but enjoyable to see the “bad guys” get karma visited upon them.

All in all, the part about scammers is very believable and should serve as a warning to all computer Users.

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https://nypost.com/2024/07/07/us-news/scammers-get-away-with-billions-from-elderly-americans-every-year/

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RANT: Russian missile barrage hit a children’s hospital? Could it have been a false flag?

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

FROM 1440 NEWS

Good headline but text “Russian missile barrage” was bad. Could it have been a false flag? Remember Ukraine shot a missile into Poland and blamed Russia. The timing is too convenient and the Russians have been extremely careful about what they hit and very circumspect about firing back.

I’d say the facts are not yet fully known to assign blame.

IMHO

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Missiles Strike Ukraine

At least 36 civilians were killed and more than 100 wounded across Ukraine after a Russian missile barrage hit multiple targets yesterday, including the country’s largest children’s hospital in the capital of Kyiv. The daytime attack is considered the heaviest single-day bombardment in the last four months of the Russia-Ukraine war, which is now in its 29th month (see updates). 

Ukraine’s air defenses shot down 30 of the 38 missiles, with officials saying the weapons consisted of aerial, ballistic, and cruise missiles (see the difference). At least 50 civilian buildings were damaged across central and eastern Ukraine by Russia’s airstrikes. The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting today to address the strikes.

Russia’s latest attack comes as Western leaders will meet in Washington, DC, today to kick off a three-day NATO summit. The agenda includes discussions over Ukraine’s potential membership in the military alliance and a new support package. 

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https://sonar21.com/ukraine-bombs-its-own-childrens-hospital-and-british-journal-says-palestinian-death-toll-is-astronomical/

Ukraine Bombs Its Own Children’s Hospital and British Journal Says Palestinian Death Toll is Astronomical
8 July 2024 by Larry Johnson

*** begin quote ***

This is a ten on both the hypocrisy and propaganda scales. Check it for yourself. Do an internet search on the following — “Ukraine strikes Sevastopol.” Only cursory coverage. No blaring headlines in the NY Times or Financial Times or any other major paper. Ignore it. But this? Intense coverage.

Only one problem with the story — it is BULLSHIT. The children’s hospital was hit by an errant air defense missile fired by Ukraine. Whoops! What is really telling is that there was ZERO news coverage of the other sites hit by Russian missiles in Kiev. You know why? Because they were military targets and there were probably Western casualties. Russia delivered this blow in daylight during working hours in order to inflict maximum casualties on those engaged in producing or repairing weapons.

Ukrainian authorities also lied about the number of Russian missiles shot down. The Ukie Air Force claimed it downed 30 of 38 Russian missiles. Check out the following videos. You can see at least five successful Russian missile strikes in Kiev, including some secondary explosions, which normally are associated with a weapons storage facility. (We’ll see how long YouTube allows the first video to stay online. I will also post on BitChute.)

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HEALTH: Apple’s cheapest Watch just saved another life

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

https://www.imore.com/health-fitness/apple-watch/needless-to-say-i-called-my-doctor-and-was-told-to-get-to-the-emergency-room-immediately-apples-cheapest-watch-just-saved-another-life

“Needless to say I called my doctor and was told to get to the emergency room immediately” — Apple’s cheapest Watch just saved another life
By Stephen Warwick

  • You don’t need the best to stay safe.

*** begin quote ***

Apple’s cheapest wearable has just been credited with saving another life, proving you don’t have to buy the best Apple Watch on the market to benefit from life-saving tech yet again. 

User V3N0M0US83 took to the Apple Watch Subreddit this week and revealed “Apple Watch saved my life this past weekend.” “I have an SE 2 and Thursday my watch had gone off saying my heart rate was above 120 bpm,” they explained. The user ignored the alerts “as I didn’t feel any discomfort,” but got two more heart rate alerts while sitting at the kitchen table the following day. 

“I opened the heart rate app and my bpm was at 161 while resting.” The user’s girlfriend, a medical assistant in training, gave their heart a listen with a stethoscope “and said my heart was beating out of my chest.” Turns out, they needed life-saving treatment. 

*** end quote ***

My afib was detected by my apple watch and the cardiologist didn’t believe it.  The episode evidently was intermittent.  He wired me up with 73 hour monitor.  Then next day he called me into the office and started me on a drug regimen.  

It was afib. 

Even on drugs I get a warning that the “afib is less than 2%”.  He says that is ok, but don’t stop the medicine or lose the watch.

So, it doesn’t have to be the best apple watch to get this feature, but it could save your life.  Afib causes heart attacks, strokes, and all sorts of other “lesser problems”.  It’s a cheap tool.  And, I can confirm the efficacy of it. 

YMMV but I am a believer.

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HEROIC: Remember what WWI was really like

Monday, July 8, 2024
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/robert-derby-holmes/a-yankee-in-the-trenches/text
 
A Yankee in the Trenches
By Robert Derby Holmes
 
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Should shatter any illusions about send children off to war.
 
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ECONOMICS: I fyou need an ARM to buy, you can’t afford it

Sunday, July 7, 2024

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/01/business/adjustable-rate-mortgages-higher-payments/index.html?ICID=ref_fark

Thousands of homeowners are about to get slammed with higher monthly payments
By Samantha Delouya, CNN
Published 4:00 AM EDT, Mon July 1, 2024

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Andrew Marquis, a loan officer in Lexington, Massachusetts, said he has recently seen a dramatic increase in ARM loan applications. Homebuyers increasingly believe that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in the next few years, giving these buyers time to refinance their loans before the clock on the fixed period of their ARM runs out, he said. The Fed doesn’t directly set mortgage rates, but its actions influence them. This year, the Federal Reserve has signaled that it may possibly cut its benchmark interest rate one time. 

*** end quote ***

I guess no one learned anything from the 2008 Housing bubble.

If you need an adjustable rate mortgage to afford the house, that’s a red flag that you can’t afford it.

If the max increase is more than you can afford, then you are rolling the dice.  If the professionals knew what the interest rates would be, they could make a fortune in the options market.  Instead they are selling you mortgages.

For the average Joe Six-Pack, 30 year fixed is still the best buy; unless you can afford a 15 year fixed.

Argh!

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ConspiracyTheories: President Obama’s blessing, Clapper dropped a “surprise” in 2016

Saturday, July 6, 2024

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2024/06/26/james_clapper_mr_october_surprise_how_obamas_intel_czar_rigged_2016_and_2020_debates_against_trump_1040444.html?mc_cid=86f9dcebd7

James Clapper, Mr. October Surprise: How Obama’s Intel Czar Rigged 2016 and 2020 Debates Against Trump
By Paul Sperry, RealClearInvestigations
June 26, 2024

*** begin quote ***

  • With President Obama’s blessing, Clapper dropped an unprecedented “intelligence advisory” just before Hillary Clinton’s Oct. 9, 2016 debate with Trump that the Democratic nominee pounced upon to suggest he was a Russian lackey.
  • In 2020, just three days before Biden and Trump debated, Clapper was the lead signatory on the “intelligence” statement that discredited the New York Post’s October bombshell exposing emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop; they documented how Hunter’s corrupt Ukrainian paymasters had met with Joe Biden when he was vice president.
  • Former deputy CIA Director Mike Morell, a Clapper confidant and one of the 51 signatories of the letter, testified that one of the goals in releasing the letter “was to help then-Vice President Biden in the debate.”
  • The phony laptop letter actually helped Biden seal his narrow victory, since many of his voters in the close election told pollsters they would have had second thoughts about backing him if they had known of damning materials contradicting his denials that he knew anything about his son’s shady foreign dealings. 
  • Sperry also relates how CNN’s Jake Tapper, a moderator at this week’s Trump-Biden presidential debate, served as a key conduit for Clapper’s leaks, including about the so-called Steele dossier, which sent the Trump-Russia hoax into media overdrive for years. Tapper has offered no apology for his partisan water-carrying.

*** end quote ***

Thanks to the NY POST, we all knew that Hunter Biden’s laptop was authentic.   Yet, the Deep State, the Obamas, and Big Media / Big Internet buried the truth.  

It was well identified as Conspiracy Theory.   Prover true.

And the American Sheeple bought it hook, line, and sinker.

So now that we know it’s true “heritage”, who goes to jail.

Just like the Covid Pandemic, the guilty got rich and go free.

Argh!

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RANT: Isn’t “double booking” a fraud?

Friday, July 5, 2024

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13568709/lawyer-kicked-flight-overbooked-colombia-los-angeles.html

Bizarre moment lawyer is kicked off Avianca flight from Colombia to LA after seat he had purchased three months prior was sold to a mother flying with two children

By Adriano Torres, Dailymail.com

Published: 17:01 EDT, 25 June 2024 | Updated: 17:55 EDT, 25 June 2024

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A lawyer held up a flight for almost an hour after he discovered that the airlines company Avianca had overbooked his seat.

The passenger, who identified himself as Juan Manuel in a recent video chat with the TikToker who filmed the incident, had purchased a roundtrip fare from Bogotá, Colombia, to Los Angeles before he was shocked to find out that there was a child sitting in his seat.

Manuel recalled arriving two and a half hours ahead of his trip at El Dorado International Airport for the first leg of his journey, before making a connection in El Salvador.

*** end quote ***

This is far from uncommon.  In this day of technology, we were better off when the airlines did manual seat assignment with peel off stickers.  Yes, I am that old.  When you should up to the gate, you got your sticker assigning the seat.  When they ran out of stickers, you were out of luck.  Never heard of any problems.

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QUOTE: How much does “Independnece Day” cost?

Thursday, July 4, 2024

Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make a good use of it. —John Quincy Adams

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