By Elliot Smith
This Blog is created to stress the importance of Peace as an environmental directive. “I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it’s hell.” – Harry Truman (I receive no compensation from any entry on this blog.)
Sunday, December 20, 2020
There are a great deal of optimism about Brexit. There are plenty of opportunity for the financial sector is rock solid real opportunity.
By Elliot Smith
“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs.”
By Emily Graffeo
“The most important words (click here) in the inauguration speech were ‘protection will lead to great prosperity and strength.’ The border-adjustment tax was the answer to corporate-tax reform; it’s trade protectionism.“ ——David Rosenberg.
The new administration of President Joe Biden has a great deal of rebuilding the infrastructure that protects Americans.
By "Nature" Editorial Board
...Biden’s campaign pledges suggest that he and his team have every intention of working to restore and strengthen rules and regulations, and to rebuild the EPA’s in-house science teams. But the incoming administration must think seriously about structural reforms. In addition to the need for past damage to be repaired, the agency must be strengthened in a way that makes it harder for any future administration to even think about strangling the structures of evidence that are essential to good policy. This will not be easy, but the following actions will help.
An EPA administrator will soon be nominated. Once in the post, they must make it an urgent priority to nominate an assistant administrator for the EPA’s research division, the Office of Research and Development (ORD). This position has not been filled for eight years. Senate Republicans refused to confirm former president Barack Obama’s last nominee, and the EPA leadership appointed by Trump never nominated anybody....
Well. So much for sovereign currency. What is this ridiculous relationship between Republicans and Wall Street?
Senator-elect Cynthia Lummis (click here) plans to broaden the coversation in Congress around bitcoin when she assumes office in January.
On an episode of the What Bitcoin Did podcast on Monday, the Wyoming Republican said bitcoin is a great store of value and can help tackle one of her biggest concerns-the US national debt.
Lummis said the US needs to develop a plan to retire the debt, and also needs to develop an "alternative path" in case that fails.
"I see the alternative half as bitcoin, because you have the ability to invest in something that has stability in the store of value," Lummis said....
Scientists (click here) were among the millions of protesters who gathered around the world in 2020 to denounce racism and police brutality in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May. Researchers shared their experiences of racism in science and called for stronger action to address systemic inequalities. Many major scientific organizations released public messages supporting the newly energized Black Lives Matter movement. And on 10 June, thousands of researchers, along with scientific societies, universities and organizations (including Nature), stopped work to reflect on and plan how to fight anti-Black racism in science, following an online campaign that urged the community to #ShutDownSTEM, #ShutDownAcademia and #StrikeForBlackLives....
Redistribution of wealth is normally a bad word to the wealthy.
By Emily Graffeo
Bitcoin bull Mike Novogratz (click here) explained how the coronavirus pandemic accelerated the "cryptocurrency revolution" during a Real Vision interview published Friday.
"In five years from now, we are going to see 2020, as horrible as corona was, and lots of people have lost their lives...we are going to look back and in some weird way, this is going to have been a blessing for the cryptocurrency revolution," Novogratz said.
The Galaxy Digital CEO explained that two pandemic-induced trends propelled cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum to see 216% and 390% year-to-date returns, respectively....
By Alexandra Witze
Lightning is striking the Arctic many times more often than it did a decade ago, (click here) a study suggests — and the rate could soon double. The findings demonstrate yet another way Earth’s climate could be changing as the planet warms, although not all researchers agree that the trend is real.
Robert Holzworth, an atmospheric physicist at the University of Washington in Seattle and leader of the study, defends the findings. “We’re seeing a symptom of global climate change,” he says. Holzworth is director of the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN), the collection of ground-based sensors that measured the data. He reported the results on 8 December at a virtual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (and published them before peer review as a preprint1).
Another lightning-detection network, whose records do not extend as far back as those Holzworth studied, does not find the same increase.
Whether or not lightning is increasing in the Arctic could have a significant impact on the region. The past two years have set records for the largest area of land burnt by wildfires — some of them ignited by lightning — and the most carbon dioxide emitted in the Arctic since records began. More lightning would mean even more chances that wildfires will start, which could in turn put even more climate-altering soot and gases into the air....
Bitcoin is a daydream when things go poorly in the world of finance. Even it's creator is a mystery.
By Ben Winck
Bitcoin (click here) climbed to an all-time high on Thursday as the cryptocurrency's extraordinary 2020 momentum continued through the end of the year.
The world's most popular cryptocurrency leaped to a 24-hour high of $23,770.85 on Thursday, marking a 20% gain over the past day. The climb comes just one day after bitcoin topped $20,000 for the first time, and brings the token's year-t0-date gains above 200%.
Bitcoin advocates have cited the adoption of cryptocurrencies among institutional investors and financial-services companies as a major boon for the token this year. Investing giants including Paul Tudor Jones and Mike Novogratz praised the cryptocurrency earlier this year and forecasted bigger gains to come. The token's rally accelerated in October after PayPal announced it would allow users to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrencies....
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act must be reviewed to strengthen our agreements with our partners.
Europe’s breeding bird populations (click here) have shifted on average 1 kilometer north every year for the past three decades, likely driven by the climate crisis, according to one of the world’s largest citizen science projects on biodiversity.
The European Breeding Bird Atlas 2 (EBBA2) provides the most detailed picture yet of the distribution of the continent’s birds, after 120,000 volunteers and field-workers surveyed 11 million square kilometers, from the Azores in the west to the Russian Urals in the east.
The book documents changes in the range of Europe’s 539 native bird species in the 30 years since the first EBBA, which was published in 1997 but was based on observations from the 1980s. It shows that since the first study, each population can be found around 28 kilometers further north.
Mediterranean species such as the European bee-eater and little egret are now reaching the UK, France, and the Netherlands, mainly due to milder winters. Eurasian bitterns, pied avocets, and red kites have also expanded their range, probably in response to better protection of habitats coupled with laws banning persecution.
Overall, 35 percent of birds increased their breeding range, and 25 percent contracted their breeding range. (As for the rest, either they did not show any change or the trend is unknown.) Forest birds and those protected by international legislation have generally expanded their range, while farmland birds occupy a smaller total area....
Has Trump closed USA borders? The pandemic is only beginning to be addressed with a vaccine.
European nations (click here) have begun to impose travel bans on the UK after it reported a more-infectious and "out of control" coronavirus variant.
Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium are all halting flights. The measures vary and are initially short-term but the French rules also affect Channel freight.
An EU meeting on Monday morning will discuss a more co-ordinated response.
The new variant has spread quickly in London and south-east England.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday introduced a new tier four level of restrictions for those areas, scrapping a planned relaxation of rules over the Christmas period for millions of people....
Fight Extinction
By Lauren M. Johnson
It may surprise Wall Street, but, President Joe Biden actually care about the people before their greed.
By Matthew Fox
...But a swift reopening of the economy (click here) and return to normal could deliver strong trend reversals for stock market investors in early 2021, DeSpirito highlighted....
"Wall Street" by Wig Wam (Official website - click here)
Buy me a suit with the cash in handTrade my guitar for a company brand
Don't need much, but for a man on my fields
Just need a place up in Beverly Hills
I don't care about the money
Wanna a trance of a life so sweet
I'll be square about the hot air
What I need is to have a little luck on Wall Street
(Wall Street) (Wall Street)
The grass is always greener around the other side
Greed turns me into Dr. Jekyll and Hyde
The well I'll surely dry
Such strain movin' up my tie
I don't care about the money
Wanna a trance of a life so sweet
I'll be square about the hot air
What I need is to have a little luck on Wall Street
(I don't care) about the money
Just enough to keep me on my feet
I'll be square about the hot air
What I need is to have a little luck on Wall Street
(Wall Street) (Wall Street) (Wall Street)
Must be legion being a bilionaire
But I don't much as keep your hands on my share
(Guitar Solo)
I don't care about the money
Want a trance of a life so sweet
I'll be square about the hot air
What I need is to have a little luck on Wall Street
(I don't care) about the money
Just enough to keep me on my feet
(I'll) be square about the hot air
What I need is to have a little luck on Wall Street
Have a little luck on Wall Street
Have a little luck...
Wall Street
So it was the communists.
By Tommy Beer
President Donald Trump (click here) finally broke his public silence Saturday concerning the massive cyber strike perpetrated on the United States, but downplayed its severity and— repudiating his own high-level intelligence officials and the U.S. Secretary of State— claimed that China may be responsible for the attack instead of Russia, which he has traditionally been loath to ever criticize....
July 18, 2018
By Ellen Nakashima and Shane Harris
Beijing - China on Monday denied that two Canadian citizens (click here) held for almost two years had been "arbitrarily" detained in response to Canada's arrest of an executive of technology giant Huawei.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian's denial came days after China granted consular access to Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor for the first time since January. Canada's government on Saturday issued a statement saying it remains "deeply concerned by the arbitrary detention by Chinese authorities" of the two, and called for their immediate release.
Zhao said China "firmly opposes the erroneous statements made by Canada" and reiterated its claim that Kovrig and Spavor were "suspected of engaging in activities that endanger China's national security."...
Marshall Law has rarely been declared in the USA.
August 20, 2020
By Joseph Nunn
On August 20, 1942, (click here) military police in Honolulu, Hawaii, arrested a man named Harry White. Under normal circumstances, the U.S. military would not have been involved in his case. He was a stockbroker, not a soldier, and neither he nor his business had any connection with the armed forces. Even his alleged crime — embezzlement of funds from a client — was a violation of civilian, not military, law.
But nothing about Hawaii was normal in 1942. It had been under martial law since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Its courts were closed and replaced with military tribunals. The rules governing everyday life were set not by an elected legislature but by the military governor. The army controlled every aspect of life in the islands, from criminal justice to parking zones and curbside trash removal.
White was brought before a military provost court. His attorney objected to the court’s jurisdiction, requested a jury trial, and asked for time to prepare a defense. But Major Murrell, the presiding military officer, rejected these motions. Instead, just five days after being arrested, White was tried without a jury, convicted, and sentenced to five years in prison.
As White’s story illustrates, martial law — a term that generally refers to the displacement of civilian authorities by the military — can be and has been employed in the United States. Indeed, federal and state officials have declared martial law at least 68 times over the course of U.S. history.
There will never be a space currency either. Space is a frontier. It will always be a frontier. It is vast, dangerous and uncontrollable. Space travel will require interdependence that relies on trust and mutual interest. If human beings leave Earth in search of a new home because Sol is getting old it will never proceed on any currency except survival and hope. No one will need a gas station.