2023-03
Lockdown files
03/03
The Telegraph has obtained 100,000 WhatsApp messages exchanged between Matt Hancock, UK Health Minister during the COVID crisis, and other officials.
For example, we can see contempt for the people who are victims of their lockdown policy (the minister mocks people returning to the country who find themselves confined to a hotel).
Or even the fear factory, where they discuss deploying a new variant (in the press) to terrorize the population and have them accept lockdown and control measures. The day after this WhatsApp exchange, the "new" variant was announced in Parliament.
Here we have a glimpse of the fabrication of the pandemic in England; why would it have been any different elsewhere?
Attempt to destabilize Georgia
08/03
The strings are getting thicker and thicker... A color revolution in Georgia would allow opening a second front against Russia. The propaganda video is even already prepared for the demonstration!
Some additional remarks:
- It is very strange to see Ukrainian flags everywhere. What is the connection? Have Ukrainians come to lend a hand?
- The press hammers home European support for Georgia, which has applied for membership; but it makes no sense! There is a small part of Georgia on this map, in the red box on the far right. The rest is not even on the map (Wikipedia EU map...). Why not Taiwan while we're at it?
Pension Reform in France
10/03, updated on 25/03.
The government wants to delay the legal retirement age to 64 years old (compared to 62 today). At its core, why not? The population is aging. Yes, but...
- It is a socially unjust reform: healthy life expectancy is 64.1 years for women and 62.7 years for men, with huge disparities depending on socio-professional categories. Pushing back the retirement age for everyone means retiring poor, old, and sick people, while wealthier individuals can still enjoy it.
- More seriously, the reform paves the way for capital-based pensions, which are even more unfair, and will not only increase social disparities but will allow private fund managers to access the billions of pension contributions. Blackrock has been maneuvering for years!
As always, national solidarity mechanisms are dismantled for the benefit of the system, and it is the poorest who will suffer the most.
And nothing new in form:
- Corruption of deputies is rampant in the Assembly.
- "Renaissance" deputies are threatened if they do not vote for the text.
- The massive mobilization of March 7 is superbly ignored: the Senate votes for the extension of the retirement age the next day!
- Closed-door joint committee.
- Adoption in the second reading under Article 49.3.
- Rejection of the cross-party censure motion due to corruption of the "Republicans."
- Contempt for the historic popular mobilization on March 24.
- Police violence.
How many examples are needed to realize that our "representatives" have not represented us for a long time? How much longer before a real social explosion?
Military Escalation
03/10
The USA is going through a difficult period:
- Their unlimited debt is weakened by the decline of the dollar and high interest rates.
- State lies about COVID and the January 6th Capitol incident are revealed to the whole world.
- Russia is making laborious but very real military progress in Ukraine.
But the best defense is offense; even if in this specific case, it looks more like a headlong rush!
So they continue to send military equipment and mercenaries to Ukraine, and according to Asia Times, a counterattack is being prepared to retake Crimea with NATO air support.
In parallel, the destabilization attempt in Georgia continues despite the withdrawal of the text allegedly at the origin of the demonstrations. No one is fooled: the West is maneuvering and wants to integrate Georgia into its sphere of influence, willingly or by force. It's the "Maidan 2014" scenario played out identically.
In Transnistria, a pro-Russian Moldovan region, a rapid military escalation is also possible, under the pretext that its autonomy is illegal and that it threatens Ukraine (with its army of 4,500 to 7,500 men).
Fresh today, Israel and the USA are threatening Iran with a military attack if the country continues to develop its nuclear bomb, with Netanyahu always being subtle.
And let's not forget Taiwan, the geopolitical Tsar Bomba that can explode at any moment.
The West is working on all fronts to face an decline that is accelerating. Events are speeding up, and there are few signs of appeasement.
And what about the people in all this? We know that a majority of Westerners do not want war. And yet our "representatives" are rushing us into it. Who benefits from the crime?
Twitter files 19 - Virality Project
03/18
The Virality Project platform massively monitored Twitter and all social networks, including Gettr or Parler. Initiated for the surveillance of the 2020 elections (which would certainly deserve an investigation as well!), it quickly became interested in COVID-19 to defend the official narrative.
Virality Project was a platform managed by Stanford University, federal agencies, and NGOs often funded by the State. In 2022, it was transferred to the Department of Homeland Security.
Besides the insane scale of control, what is particularly remarkable is the assumed censorship of undeniably true content.
Until its final report, Virality Project required internet platforms to label as disinformation the facts that vaccines did not prevent transmission and that governments were going to implement vaccination passports.
Yet Virality Project knew this was false; the platform responsible for controlling "disinformation" about COVID-19 was ultimately its main producer!
Military Escalation, Two Weeks Later
25/03, updated 31/03
- Poland sends fighter jets to Ukraine and threatens to directly join the conflict.
- First international trip of Xi Jinping after his (re)appointment, who spent two days in Moscow to strengthen ties between Russia and China. No specific announcement regarding military cooperation, but a clear understanding was displayed and a matching speech: "Change is coming that hasn't happened in 100 years. And we are driving this change together." It's hard to be clearer!
- A new front in Syria? We quickly forget that the US illegally occupies a third of Syria, supporting extremist groups like ISIS, without anyone being shocked in the West. Whatever the case, a first attack by an Iranian drone killed one US citizen, triggering a US response that killed 19 people. In return, Iran and/or Syria bombed American bases in Syria (unknown casualties). Here too, we seem to be on the verge of an escalation!
Banking Sector Struggles
25/03
The interest rate hike supposed to counter inflation is producing the opposite effect; banks find themselves with worthless government bonds. These are potential billions of losses on banks' balance sheets until the end of these bonds. Technically, almost all Western banks are insolvent, forcing the FED to finance these losses and cover bank deposits... At the risk of accelerating inflation!
After Silvergate, SVB, Signature Bank, and First Republic in the US, Credit Suisse collapses, taken over by UBS. In disregard of best practices, this state-supported takeover cancels $17 billion of Credit Suisse bonds; it's as much lost for investors and completely discredits European banks on the international market. Who will invest in Europe with such risk?
As a result, Deutsche Bank's difficulties come at a bad time. It is one of the "too big to fail." Who can save it? We will probably witness the creation of an unprecedented mechanism, a kind of nationalization with magic dollars, further increasing Germany's dependence on the US... To be continued. In any case, a bankruptcy would drag all of Europe into an unprecedented crisis and likely the collapse of the Euro.
Interestingly, Bitcoin reacts positively to these difficulties and has appreciated significantly, to the point of worrying US authorities who are starting to limit access to exchange platforms to slow down the conversion of the Dollar into Bitcoin. Is Bitcoin fulfilling the destiny its creator wished for it?
In any case, the hyper-derivatives-based economy of the West and its addiction to low interest rates are risking economic and banking collapse. Central banks certainly have plans to deal with this risk, but at what cost?
Heading Toward a Multipolar World
Snippets gathered on 03/31
BRICS' GDP Surpasses G7's
For the first time, the GDP of "developing" countries exceeds that of "developed" countries. Of course, their population is larger... But the trend is clear; over the long term, one bloc will quickly overtake the other.
Moreover, many countries are knocking on the door: Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria... The BRICS will soon represent an economic power greater than the West. This is the acceleration of the decline...
Iran - Saudi Arabia Rapprochement
China is asserting itself as a global political player by negotiating a peace agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
If this rapprochement materializes, the prospects are disastrous for Western influence in the Middle East: could these countries join the BRICS? Would they extend their trade in Yuan for oil? This would be the beginning of the end of the petrodollar.
Saudi Arabia - Syria Rapprochement?
According to Reuters, Saudi Arabia and Syria will reopen their embassies and resume diplomatic contacts. Little information is available at the moment; is China playing a role in this rapprochement? Is there a connection with the beginning of a military escalation between the US-occupied Syrian zone and Bashar al-Assad's "free" zone?
The de-dollarization of the world is accelerating
- The Indonesian president asks his citizens to switch to the national payment system and to stop using Visa and Mastercard networks. "Let's be cautious. We must remember the sanctions imposed by the US on Russia. Visa and Mastercard could be a problem."
- Numerous bilateral agreements to enable exchanges in Yuan: Russia - China of course, Brazil - China, Kenya - Saudi Arabia...
- ASEAN wants to reduce its dependence on the Dollar
- Even France (via Total) has bought Chinese gas in Yuan!
However, the status of world reserve currency (and the resulting demand) is the only reason that allows the US to print money without limit. It is the US hegemony, nothing less, that is threatened by the de-dollarization of the world.
Admittedly, the Dollar is still king, but the trend is accelerating and the sanctions against Russia are encouraging any sensible country to prepare a Plan B. This kind of transition is built slowly... Until it happens all at once.
Saudi Arabia is set to join the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization)
It will join China, Russia, Iran, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan... This alliance is certainly disparate, carrying conflicts within itself, but it remains strategic because it offers its countries a multilateral framework for resolving their disputes, while facing the West together.
The AI Boom
31/03
March 2023 will go down in history as THE month the world shifted towards AI. GPT-4 is a true revolution, both in terms of its performance and its ability to be extended through plugins. This future integrated system, almost an OS in fact, suddenly brings us closer to AGI and will deeply transform society.
To the point that the system is panicking a bit:
- Call from several big names for a "6-month pause" whose aim is undoubtedly to allow competitors to catch up and states to put the system under control.
- Blocking of ChatGPT by Italy, under the pretext of privacy protection...
In just a few weeks, we have the whole issue of the battle for technology control unfolding before our eyes. The future masters of the world will be those who control technology. In the Software Democracy, it is the citizens who will play this role!
Tweets of the month on this topic:
- The updates from the week of March 13.
- The updates from the week of March 20.
- Some reflections on the "pause" call.
- The blocking of ChatGPT in Italy.
- A study on GPT-4's "intelligence", full of absolutely fascinating examples. "Given the breadth and depth of GPT-4's capabilities, we believe it can be reasonably viewed as an early (and still incomplete) version of an AGI." If you don't have the courage to go through the 150 pages, an excellent thread (EN) summarizing the study.
Miscellaneous
- A standardized digital driver's license in Europe. One small step further towards Software Democracy... "This connected car cannot start because your license has been deactivated."
- CBDC - CCDCs are arriving faster than expected, probably to deal with the looming hyperinflation. Here's Christine Lagarde announcing that the digital Euro is on its way, and that all transactions can be controlled... And the Bank of England trying to make us dream... But only with £20,000 per person!
- A new IPCC report, with a summary available here. The presentation is, of course, impeccable... But I don't know; 30 years ago, in school, I vividly remember the predicted disaster... in 30 years, with rising sea levels, acid rain, the hole in the ozone layer... Today? The hole has disappeared, acid rain no longer seems to be an end-of-the-world type of threat, and as for rising sea levels... They are at the very least, very slow. In any case, even acknowledging the risk, there are better things to do than panic with hypocritical "Net Zero" policies. Let's not be fooled!