Less Than Half Of Health Care Workers Received An Updated COVID-19 Vaccine: CDC

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

A minority of health care workers received an updated COVID-19 vaccine, according to a newly reported survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Just 40.2 percent of health care personnel who responded to the survey said they received a COVID-19 shot between the fall of 2024 and early 2025, CDC researchers said on April 2.

The rate of vaccination was higher, 76.3 percent, for influenza.

The survey was conducted online from March 26 to April 17 in 2025, following the 2024–2025 respiratory virus season. The season begins in the fall of each year and runs into the next year.

Some 2,650 health care workers responded to the survey.

At the time, the CDC recommended influenza and COVID-19 vaccination for virtually all Americans aged 6 months and older, regardless of the number of prior doses. The CDC more recently narrowed its recommendations for those shots, citing factors such as uncertain risk-benefit profiles.

A federal judge blocked the updates in March.

The percentage of workers who took a COVID-19 vaccine increased from the prior season, when the rate was 31.3 percent, according to the newly released survey. The percentage of workers who received a flu shot remained about the same, though it is down from years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

CDC researchers said the increase in COVID-19 vaccination coverage may be from the vaccine for the 2024–2025 season becoming available one month earlier than the preceding year.

Workers aged 18 to 29 were most likely to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Personnel aged 60 and up were more likely to receive an influenza immunization.

According to survey data, nearly four in 10 employers required influenza vaccination, and about 14 in 100 mandated COVID-19 vaccination. People who worked for employers who required vaccination were far more likely to have received the vaccines. Some 83 percent of workers required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine had received one, compared to 46 percent whose employer recommended COVID-19 vaccination and just 19 percent whose employer did not require or recommend vaccination.

CDC researchers said that the data could “help guide the development and implementation of evidence-based strategies to encourage vaccination, increase coverage, reduce influenza incidence among [health care personnel] and their patients, and limit strain on the health care system.”

The researchers said the findings supported actively promoting vaccination in places of business to increase influenza vaccination coverage among health care workers.

Health care workers who decline vaccination have said in previous surveys that they were worried about vaccine side effects and expressed distrust in health authorities.

The CDC published the study in its quasi-journal, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The publication ensures reports align with CDC messaging and typically does not peer-review papers.

“Although most articles that appear in MMWR are not ‘peer-reviewed’ in the way that submissions to medical journals are, to ensure that the content of MMWR comports with CDC policy, every submission to MMWR undergoes a rigorous multilevel clearance process before publication,” the CDC said in a 2011 report. “By the time a report appears in MMWR, it reflects, or is consistent with, CDC policy.”

Limitations of the paper included the vaccination status being self-reported and unverified. Authors disclosed no potential conflicts of interest.

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/04/2026 - 18:05

The post The March Jobs Report and the Story of Time appeared first on CEPR.

How Social Media Verdicts Could Upend Tech Industry

Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times,

Two major court verdicts last week finding social media giants Meta and YouTube liable for harm to users could send shock waves through the tech industry.

In a first-of-its-kind lawsuit, a jury in Los Angeles on March 25 found both companies liable for making their platforms addictive and deleterious to the mental health of young users.

The 20-year-old plaintiff, referred to as “Kaley G.M.” or only her initials K.G.M. during trial, testified that she had become addicted to social media at a young age and that it negatively affected her mental health.

Jurors ultimately decided that Meta was more liable for harming K.G.M., giving the tech giant 70 percent of the responsibility, or $2.1 million of the total $3 million in punitive damages, while YouTube shouldered 30 percent, or $900,000.

An additional $3 million in compensatory damages were recommended by jurors to be paid by Meta and YouTube—the only remaining defendants in the case after TikTok and Snap settled with K.G.M. before trial—after deciding they acted with malice, oppression, or fraud in harming children with their platforms.

In a separate case, jurors in New Mexico determined on March 24 that Meta had violated state law by failing to properly disclose risks to and protect children on its social media platforms. The case, brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, resulted in a $375 million fine.

Prosecutor Linda Singer, who previously served as attorney general of the District of Columbia but now works in private litigation, had asked the jury to fine Meta $2 billion.

Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani called them “bellwether” cases.

“Obviously, these cases will absolutely go up on appeal,” he told The Epoch Times.

“I think they will likely end up before the Supreme Court, and how they view this issue will make or break Big Tech, because I think we’re going to see lots of copycat lawsuits, and the judgments and fines are going to rack up into the billions and billions of dollars.”

A person holds a sign referencing the 20-year-old plaintiff, identified in court as “Kaley G.M.” or by her initials K.G.M., as people wait for a verdict in the social media trial in Los Angeles on March 20, 2026. On March 25, a jury found both companies liable for making their platforms addictive and deleterious to the mental health of young users and ordered the companies to pay $3 million in damages. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

While the cases reflect two different sets of accusations—addictive design on the one hand and failure to protect children on the other—both will likely invite a torrent of claims, said John Shu, a constitutional law expert who served in both Bush administrations.

“I think this will definitely open the litigation floodgates in California, and not just for individual lawsuits,” Shu told The Epoch Times. “It also opens the floodgates to class action lawsuits; that’s where the big money is.”

Addictive Design Versus Child Safety Issues

In the Los Angeles trial, jurors heard testimony from a range of witnesses, including therapists, adolescent addiction experts, executives, engineers, and whistleblowers.

The case highlighted the platforms’ design and operation, such as their “infinite scroll” features, beauty filters, and the companies’ proprietary algorithms that determine the type of content served to users.

Plaintiff attorney Mark Lanier did not target third-party content found on the platforms, which enjoys broad protection from the First Amendment and Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act.

Instead, he argued that the tech giants preyed on their vulnerable teen users in pursuit of money and power, comparing them to lions stalking wounded gazelles on the Serengeti.

Plaintiffs’ attorney Mark Lanier (C) speaks to reporters outside the Los Angeles Superior Court in Los Angeles on March 25, 2026. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

In the New Mexico case, Torrez argued that Meta violated the state’s Unfair Practices Act by knowing about the potential danger its platforms presented to children and hiding it from the public.

His office had its investigators set up accounts on Meta’s platforms posing as minors, after which they began to receive sexually explicit images and messages from adult users.

Jurors ultimately found 37,500 violations under one subsection of New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act and the same number under another. Since fines were limited to a maximum of $5,000 per violation, Meta was fined $375 million.

“It was pretty remarkable, because the jury came back quickly. And the conventional wisdom in these civil cases is that a quick verdict is usually a defense verdict,” Rahmani said, referring to a verdict that is given in favor of a defendant, often when the plaintiff or prosecutors are unable to prove their case.

Instead, jurors returned an “overwhelmingly plaintiff’s verdict in less than a day,” Rahmani said.

But Meta may be forced to do more after it defends itself during the follow-up hearing in May, which will determine whether the tech giant’s platforms created a public nuisance and whether it should be required to pay for public programs to address harms to users.

Accusing Meta of creating a public nuisance with its digital social media platforms is a novel use of the law, Shu said.

“The historical tradition of public nuisance is tied to land or real estate,” he said, using the example of a landowner being required to remove a fallen tree blocking a public road at the threat of fines from a state or municipal government.

Lawyer Matthew Bergman of the Social Media Victims Law Center speaks to the press as survivor parents Amy Neville, Julianna Arnold, Deb Schmill, Judy Rogg, Toney Roberts, and Brandy Roberts stand outside the Los Angeles Superior Court in Los Angeles on Feb. 18, 2026. Jill Connelly/Getty Images

“This is a novel use of public nuisance. But if they convince a judge to do it, that’s going to open the door to massive payouts, not in actual damages, but in so-called ‘abatement costs,’” Shu said. “Because the state attorney general represents all of New Mexico’s 2.1 million citizens, they and their private sector mass-tort plaintiffs lawyers can ask for billions of dollars.”

That’s because in a public nuisance hearing, the awarded damages would not be based on individual violations of the law, but instead applied to the number of citizens in the state.

Critically, both verdicts only require the companies to pay out monetary damages—neither requires either company to change or alter the design or operations of their platforms. That may change for Meta after its May hearing in the New Mexico case.

Meta, Google Deny Allegations

Both Meta and Google, which owns YouTube, have denied that their platforms are designed to be addictive.

“We disagree with the verdict and plan to appeal,” Jose Castañeda, a Google spokesperson, said in a statement to The Epoch Times. “This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”

Meta said it respectfully disagrees with the two verdicts and plans to appeal.

“Reducing something as complex as teen mental health to a single cause risks leaving the many, broader issues teens face today unaddressed and overlooks the fact that many teens rely on digital communities to connect and find belonging,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to The Epoch Times.

“We remain committed to building safe, supportive environments for young people and will defend our record vigorously.”

Meta also highlighted the fact that the jury in the California case awarded $3 million in punitive damages after the plaintiff’s counsel had sought more than a billion.

Attorney Luis Li, representing YouTube and Google, arrives at Los Angeles Superior Court during the social media trial in Los Angeles on March 25, 2026. Both Meta and Google, which owns YouTube, have denied that their platforms are designed to be addictive and plan to appeal. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Future Litigation Potential

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said he noticed similarities between the two social media cases and those he’d previously litigated against the tobacco industry.

“Both [Big Tobacco and Big Tech] have made products with lethal design defects—leading to destructive addiction. Tobacco exploited nicotine’s grip, Big Tech used infinite scrolling, & a myriad of other devices,” he wrote on social media.

“Both have targeted children—relentlessly & reprehensibly—putting profits over public health, promoting generational addiction & harm.”

Shu said social media litigators may follow a similar playbook used against Big Tobacco by first suing based on alleged harms to children before widening the scope to all users of the companies’ products.

“Once they’ve established liability for kids, instead of saying, ‘Well, adults use cigarettes too,‘ now they’re going to say, ’Well, adults use Instagram and Snapchat too,’” he said. “So that’s where all this is headed next.”

Google is particularly vulnerable, Shu said, because it is responsible not only for YouTube, but also for Android, Gemini, and DeepMind, and it is the dominant search engine.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) participates in a forum at the U.S. Capitol on March 17, 2026. Blumenthal said he noticed similarities between the two social media cases and those he’d previously litigated against the tobacco industry. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Braden Perry, a government investigations and corporate litigation attorney, said the verdicts provide regulatory agencies with a road map for pursuing future cases without requiring new legislation.

State attorneys general can also pursue consumer protection actions against tech companies, Perry told The Epoch Times.

Long-Term Impacts on Tech Industry

“If engagement-maximization features become liability risks, platforms will face pressure to redo their algorithms and interfaces to prioritize welfare over engagement metrics,” Perry said, adding that “good actors” in the industry may face more disadvantages than companies “who skirt or ignore the risks” or that are more “aggressive than others.”

He said the verdicts not only threaten Meta and Google, but also the “foundational assumption that technology companies bear no responsibility for their design choices.”

These are not the only ramifications for the tech industry.

The New Mexico case specifically goes “beyond addiction alone and raises broader questions about whether these platforms are reasonably safe for children and adolescents,” attorney Michael Ponce told The Epoch Times.

He said the growing body of scientific research describing how prolonged social media use may negatively impact mental health was critical in both cases.

Images of deceased children are displayed at the “Lost Screen Memorial,” an art installation of large-scale smartphones featuring 50 children who lost their lives due to social media harm online, in Los Angeles on Feb. 13, 2026. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Additionally, the central allegation in the California case and many related lawsuits is that companies were aware of the risks but “nevertheless continued to design their platforms in a manner that prioritized user engagement,” Ponce said.

The two verdicts, and any future cases that draw inspiration from them, could “cripple” the tech industry and send a “warning” to social media companies, Shu said.

He said if prosecutors in other states—particularly one with a large population like California’s—decide to follow the same path as New Mexico, the abatement costs for the citizenry if a public nuisance ruling is granted are likely to be massive.

“This is one heck of a warning, it’s kind of like somebody opening up a fire hose on you to wake you up in the morning,” Shu said.

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/04/2026 - 16:55

US Arrests & Boots Soleimani's Fashion Designer Niece From The Country

The Trump administration is rounding up family members of notable Iranian government figures, accusing them of spreading 'pro-Tehran propaganda'. And apparently this is even if the Iranian officials in question are deceased.

The State Department confirmed an unexpected development on Saturday, announcing that the niece of the late Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani is being booted from the country.

Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were arrested Friday night, and their permanent residence status has been revoked - now in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Maj. Gen. Soleimani was the former leader of the elite Quds force wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who was assassinated via drone strike as his convoy drove outside of Baghdad International Airport in 2020.

This was during the first Trump administration, and in many ways this brazen killing of someone many countries viewed as essentially a 'diplomat' (certainly Iraq and Russia did) set Tehran and Washington on a collision course. Washington long considered him a terrorist. His popularity inside Iran was immense.

According to more details of the arrest of Soleiman's niece and her daughter:

The State Department did not say where they were arrested. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X that Soleimani Afshar and her daughter lived "lavishly" in the U.S. and are now in ICE custody “pending removal” from the U.S.

The State Department described Soleimani Afshar as “an outspoken supporter of the totalitarian, terrorist regime in Iran.” Her husband is also now not permitted to enter the U.S., the State Department said. Her uncle Maj. Gen. Soleimani, the former leader of the foreign wing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in 2020.

Apparently her social media accounts have already been scrubbed and/or deleted, and there are reports saying that she did modeling and/or fashion design in the United States.

Niece of Qasem Soleimani, former commander of the IRGC Quds Force who has now been arrested in the United States is identified as Hamideh Soleimani Afshar. Her daughter has also been arrested by the FBI. Hamideh Soleimani Afshar was a Model in the United States. https://t.co/uiwTiiWTwX pic.twitter.com/5jrfrKn3Qa

— Niloofar Mansoori نیلوفر منصوری (@NiloofarMM) April 4, 2026

It's not entirely clear what exactly she posted that caught the attention of US authorities. She may have merely critiqued the US-Israeli bombing of her homeland - but some X accounts have accused her of positively praising Iranian leadership while opposing the anti-government and economic protests from last January. Laura Loomer is claiming credit for alerting the Trump administration, or playing some kind of role in Hamidea's apprehension and pending expulsion. 

According to more from the WSJ, "Rubio also ended legal status protections for Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of the late Ali Larijani, Iran’s former top national-security official, and her husband, the State Department said. The department said they are no longer in the U.S. and not permitted to enter in the future."

This means that likely other permanent residence holders who have family ties to the Islamic Republic leadership are being scrutinized by US federal authorities.

There could be a lot of Instagram, X, and Facebook scrubbing happening among the Iranian diaspora at this point.

* * *

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/04/2026 - 16:20

Dems' Ballroom Hate Is the Saddest Proof Yet of Their State of TDS Mental Unwellness

Authored by Stephen Kruiser via PJMedia.com,

There was a time not so long ago when the Democrats were formidable and — I'm not kidding here — occasionally enjoyable political foes. During the Tea Party years, we would often encounter Dem activists and hang out with them for a while. Sometimes we would even socialize. The Democrats of recent yesteryear bore no resemblance to the feral, frothing rage mob that the No Kings/Resist Dems are today. 

It's both stunning and depressing that America's oldest, continuously-running political party could undergo a wholesale personality change in just a decade because its entire focus was the hatred of one man, but here we are. There's an oft-repeated line here on the right that says if President Trump cured cancer, the Democrats would suddenly be pro-cancer. It's the kind of absurdist illustration that I've enjoyed using throughout my career but find almost impossible to apply to the Democrats anymore. They're just that far gone. 

Which is why they are up in arms about the building of a ballroom. This is from Sarah:

President Donald Trump has been having a great time building the new White House Ballroom in recent months, but anytime the president is having a good time doing something, a judge comes in and stops him. Apparently, that expands to this $400 million, 90,000 square-foot construction project that is said to be fully funded by private donors.  

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon determined on Tuesday that no statute comes close to allowing Trump to carry out this project  of his own accord, and that construction must be halted until Congress approves the completion.

So, I guess we're just stuck with a half-finished project?  

Well, we're stuck with a half-finished project until this cockamamie ruling gets overturned, which is how this dance usually goes. I would like to note that every one of these Trump Derangement Syndrome judges looks like either a Harry Potter villain or a skin suit tailor from The Silence of the Lambs. 

I'm no legal expert, but much of Leon's ruling reads like a tantrum in a feelings journal. Everything is just so overwhelmingly emo with these people. It's both tedious and exhausting. In fact, if there were an animal representation of "tedious and exhausting," it would be a perfect new mascot for the Democratic Party.

Let's just look at the surface of this. The lefties are furious that a place for formal dancing is being built in the most important residence in the United States of America. A residence that frequently hosts world leaders for formal events. That's like showing up to a kid's birthday party and being deeply offended by the presence of a jumping castle. 

One has to be severely broken inside to be angered by the thought of a place designed specifically for people to have some wholesome fun. Wholesome fun that reflects well on the Republic, to boot. At this point, Congressional Democrats should be showing up to work in straitjackets. For a while, I kept writing that the Dems' TDS behavior was an ongoing cry for help. That's inaccurate though — they are addicted to their misery and don't want to be helped. 

Also, as we have discussed on many occasions, hating Trump is their strategy.

Bill Maher recently chastised the execrable Adam Schiff for prioritizing pushing back on President Trump.

Maher said, "That's all you Democrats have, is 'F*** Trump'." Schiff just sat there looking like the one-note moron that he is.

It would be nice to think that we live in a time where we could find common ground with our political adversaries. We don't, though, and that is 100% the Democrats' fault.

The problem isn't just that they hate us, it's obvious that they hate themselves as well. People who like themselves don't pathologically seek misery the way that the Democrats do here in the Year of our Lord 2026. We can't help them be happy. 

We can, however, win a few more elections and keep giving them things to complain about. That's probably a kindness at this point. 

* * *

credittrader Sat, 04/04/2026 - 15:45

Iran Scrambling To Restore Bombed Missile Bunkers Within Hours After Being Struck

Iran's resilience after more than a month of very heavy US-Israeli bombing has become obvious. The country's somewhat ancient air force and navy have been largely obliterated, and yet all the while the Iranian military has kept up intense ballistic missile and drone strikes on Israel and Gulf states. Tehran's missile arsenal is what is understood to have always been formidable.

And now US intelligence has freshly assessed that Iranian personnel are busy excavating bombed underground missile bunkers and silos and restoring them to operation within a mere hours of US and Israeli strikes.

The New York Times on Friday featured American intelligence analysis saying that Tehran has retained a substantial number of missiles and mobile launchers, raising serious doubts on how close Washington actually is to eliminating the Islamic Republic’s missile capability.

via BBC

The report states that Washington cannot determine how many launchers have been destroyed because Iran has deployed decoys. Underground bunkers and silos may appear damaged, but launchers are rapidly recovered from rubble and returned to use through the quick work of excavators and heavy equipment.

Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, has painted a rosy picture from the Pentagon's point of view: "Here are the facts: Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks are down 90 percent, their navy is wiped out, two-thirds of their production facilities are damaged or destroyed, and the United States and Israel have overwhelming air dominance over Iran," she said.

A senior Western official in the NY Times stated that Iran is firing approximately 15-30 ballistic missiles and 50-100 suicide drones per day across the region.

US officials additionally told the Times that Iran aims to preserve as much of its missile-launch capability as possible to sustain its threat posture throughout the conflict and after it ends.

Some of the remaining launchers are currently inaccessible, buried under rubble from repeated airstrikes, but there's the expectation that Iran will race to dig them out. NYT further cites the following:

Haaretz, the Israeli publication, reported earlier that Iran had used bulldozers to dig out missile launchers that had been buried, or “corked,” in underground bunkers.

President Trump and US planners around him probably didn't expect the Islamic Republic to put up as much of a fight as it's still able to do this many weeks into Operation Epic Fury.

Tehran was heavily bombed last night. Ishfahan was the main target. Visible secondary explosions suggests that underground weapon storages and missile silos were penetrated by the bunker busters.
Huge loss for Iran.#IranWar‌ #middleastconflict #MiddleEastConflict pic.twitter.com/T7HEzhPJyh

— Global Conflict Monitor (@watchdog_global) March 31, 2026

Iranian missiles have continued to wreak havoc across Israel especially, with citizens spending many hours each day huddled in shelters, especially in central Israel and Tel Aviv.

* * *

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/04/2026 - 15:10

DHS Rescinds Policy Requiring Secretary Review Of Contracts Above $100,000

Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rescinded a policy on March 31 that required the department secretary to personally approve every contract and grant exceeding $100,000.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington on Feb. 17, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin issued the reversal across all DHS components, including Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The change ends an earlier directive from former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that required the secretary’s office to handle routine purchasing decisions previously handled at lower levels.

However, contracts and grants above $25 million will still require secretary review.

DHS stated that the move will “streamline the contract process and empower components to carry out their mission to protect the homeland and make America safe again.” The department told The Epoch Times in a statement that Mullin “re-evaluated the contract processes to make sure DHS is serving the American taxpayer efficiently.”

Mullin signaled the shift at the department during his confirmation hearing this month.

“I’m not a micromanager,” he said, referring to Noem’s policy. “We put people in, we empower them to make decisions. What is required to come up to my level, we'll make decisions.”

Noem’s policy, signed shortly after she took office in 2025, sought to tighten oversight of taxpayer dollars at a time when DHS managed billions in contracts for border security, immigration detention, and disaster response.

In September 2025, a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee review found 1,034 Federal Emergency Management Agency contracts, grants, or disaster-assistance awards that were pending or delayed. The average approval took three weeks, affecting housing inspections, temporary sheltering, and aid distribution after the July 2025 Texas floods and Hurricane Helene.

The change comes as Mullin seeks to reduce bureaucratic gridlock.

The policy shift does not alter core missions funded through contracts, such as ICE detention operations or CBP’s use of surveillance technology and logistics support. Officials say the streamlined approach will help DHS respond faster to both routine needs and emerging threats.

During Noem’s first seven months, DHS saved taxpayers $13.2 billion by reducing grant contracts and cutting 8 percent of non-law enforcement personnel.

The policy also resulted in terminating 118 bad contracts and accelerating state-led recovery funding to get money to victims faster and prevented up to $1.3 billion in external fraud.

Noem left DHS earlier this year after President Donald Trump tapped her for a new hemispheric envoy role focused on regional security.

During his Senate confirmation hearing on March 28, Mullin told senators he would maintain “a very clear line of communication with every one of our agencies’ heads on their authority that [Congress] gave to them within their parameters.”

“But we’re also going to be very responsible for the taxpayer dollars,” he said.

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/04/2026 - 14:35

Peter Schiff: Printing Money Is Not the Cure for Cononavirus



In his most recent podcast, Peter Schiff talked about coronavirus and the impact that it is having on the markets. Earlier this month, Peter said he thought the virus was just an excuse for stock market woes. At the time he believed the market was poised to fall anyway. But as it turns out, coronavirus has actually helped the US stock market because it has led central banks to pump even more liquidity into the world financial system. All this means more liquidity — central banks easing. In fact, that is exactly what has already happened, except the new easing is taking place, for now, outside the United States, particularly in China.” Although the new money is primarily being created in China, it is flowing into dollars — the dollar index is up — and into US stocks. Last week, US stock markets once again made all-time record highs. In fact, I think but for the coronavirus, the US stock market would still be selling off. But because of the central bank stimulus that has been the result of fears over the coronavirus, that actually benefitted not only the US dollar, but the US stock market.” In the midst of all this, Peter raises a really good question. The primary economic concern is that coronavirus will slow down output and ultimately stunt economic growth. Practically speaking, the world would produce less stuff. If the virus continues to spread, there would be fewer goods and services produced in a market that is hunkered down. Why would the Federal Reserve respond, or why would any central bank respond to that by printing money? How does printing more money solve that problem? It doesn’t. In fact, it actually exacerbates it. But you know, everybody looks at central bankers as if they’ve got the solution to every problem. They don’t. They don’t have the magic wand. They just have a printing press. And all that creates is inflation.” Sometimes the illusion inflation creates can look like a magic wand. Printing money can paper over problems. But none of this is going to fundamentally fix the economy. In fact, if central bankers were really going to do the right thing, the appropriate response would be to drain liquidity from the markets, not supply even more.” Peter explained how the Fed was originally intended to create an “elastic” money supply that would expand or contract along with economic output. Today, the money supply only goes in one direction — that’s up. The economy is strong, print money. The economy is weak, print even more money.” Of course, the asset that’s doing the best right now is gold. The yellow metal pushed above $1,600 yesterday. Gold is up 5.5% on the year in dollar terms and has set record highs in other currencies. Because gold is rising even in an environment where the dollar is strengthening against other fiat currencies, that shows you that there is an underlying weakness in the dollar that is right now not being reflected in the Forex markets, but is being reflected in the gold markets. Because after all, why are people buying gold more aggressively than they’re buying dollars or more aggressively than they’re buying US Treasuries? Because they know that things are not as good for the dollar or the US economy as everybody likes to believe. So, more people are seeking out refuge in a better safe-haven and that is gold.” Peter also talked about the debate between Trump and Obama over who gets credit for the booming economy – which of course, is not booming.

We are living in crazy times. I have a hard time believing that most of the general public is not awake, but in reality, they are. We've never seen anything like this; I mean not even under Obama during the worst part of the Great Recession." Now the Fed is desperately trying to keep interest rates from rising. The problem is that it's a much bigger debt bubble this time around , and the Fed is going to have to blow a lot more air into it to keep it inflated. The difference is this time it's not going to work." It looks like the Fed did another $104.15 billion of Not Q.E. in a single day. The Fed claims it's only temporary. But that is precisely what Bernanke claimed when the Fed started QE1. Milton Freedman once said, "Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program." The same applies to Q.E., or whatever the Fed wants to pretend it's doing. Except this is not QE4, according to Powell. Right. Pumping so much money out, and they are accusing China of currency manipulation ? Wow! Seriously! Amazing! Dump the U.S. dollar while you still have a chance. Welcome to The Atlantis Report. And it is even worse than that, In addition to the $104.15 billion of "Not Q.E." this past Thursday; the FED added another $56.65 billion in liquidity to financial markets the next day on Friday. That's $160.8 billion in two days!!!! in just 48 hours. That is more than 2 TIMES the highest amount the FED has ever injected on a monthly basis under a Q.E. program (which was $80 billion per month) Since this isn't QE....it will be really scary on what they are going to call Q.E. Will it twice, three times, four times, five times what this injection per month ! It is going to be explosive since it takes about 60 to 90 days for prices to react to this, January should see significant inflation as prices soak up the excess liquidity. The question is, where will the inflation occur first . The spike in the repo rate might have a technical explanation: a misjudgment was made in the Fed's money market operations. Even so, two conclusions can be drawn: managing the money markets is becoming harder, and from now on, banks will be studying each other's creditworthiness to a greater degree than before. Those people, who struggle with the minutiae of money markets, and that includes most professionals, should focus on the causes and not the symptoms. Financial markets have recovered from each downturn since 1980 because interest rates have been cut to new lows. Post-2008, they were cut to near zero or below zero in all major economies. In response to a new financial crisis, they cannot go any lower. Central banks will look for new ways to replicate or broaden Q.E. (At some point, governments will simply see repression as an easier option). Then there is the problem of 'risk-free' assets becoming risky assets. Financial markets assume that the probability of major governments such as the U.S. or U.K. defaulting is zero. These governments are entering the next downturn with debt roughly twice the levels proportionate to GDP that was seen in 2008. The belief that the policy worked was completely predicated on the fact that it was temporary and that it was reversible, that the Fed was going to be able to normalize interest rates and shrink its balance sheet back down to pre-crisis levels. Well, when the balance sheet is five-trillion, six-trillion, seven-trillion when we're back at zero, when we're back in a recession, nobody is going to believe it is temporary. Nobody is going to believe that the Fed has this under control, that they can reverse this policy. And the dollar is going to crash. And when the dollar crashes, it's going to take the bond market with it, and we're going to have stagflation. We're going to have a deep recession with rising interest rates, and this whole thing is going to come imploding down. everything is temporary with the fed including remaining off the gold standard temporary in the Fed's eyes could mean at least 50 years This liquidity problem is a signal that trading desks are loaded up on inventory and can't get rid of it. Repo is done out of a need for cash. If you own all of your securities (i.e., a long-only, no leverage mutual fund) you have no need to "repo" your securities - you're earning interest every night so why would you want to 'repo' your securities where you are paying interest for that overnight loan (securities lending is another animal). So, it is those that 'lever-up' and need the cash for settlement purposes on securities they've bought with borrowed money that needs to utilize the repo desk. With this in mind, as we continue to see this need to obtain cash (again, needed to settle other securities purchases), it shows these firms don't have the capital to add more inventory to, what appears to be, a bloated inventory. Now comes the fun part: the Treasury is about to auction 3's, 10's, and 30-year bonds. If I am correct (again, I could be wrong), the Fed realizes securities firms don't have the shelf space to take down a good portion of these auctions. If there isn't enough retail/institutional demand, it will lead to not only a crappy sale but major concerns to the street that there is now no backstop, at all, to any sell-off. At which point, everyone will want to be the first one through the door and sell immediately, but to whom? If there isn't enough liquidity in the repo market to finance their positions, the firms would be unable to increase their inventory. We all saw repo shut down on the 2008 crisis. Wall St runs on money. . OVERNIGHT money. They lever up to inventory securities for trading. If they can't get overnight money, they can't purchase securities. And if they can't unload what they have, it means the buy-side isn't taking on more either. Accounts settle overnight. This includes things like payrolls and bill pay settlements. If a bank doesn't have enough cash to payout what its customers need to pay out, it borrows. At least one and probably more than one banks are insolvent. That's what's going on. First, it can't be one or two banks that are short. They'd simply call around until they found someone to lend. But they did that, and even at markedly elevated rates, still, NO ONE would lend them the money. That tells me that it's not a problem of a couple of borrowers, it's a problem of no lenders. And that means that there's no bank in the world left with any real liquidity. They are ALL maxed out. But as bad as that is, and that alone could be catastrophic, what it really signals is even worse. The lending rates are just the flip side of the coin of the value of the assets lent against. If the rates go up, the value goes down. And with rates spiking to 10%, how far does the value fall? Enormously! And if banks had to actually mark down the value of the assets to reflect 10% interest rates, then my god, every bank in the world is insolvent overnight. Everyone's capital ratios are in the toilet, and they'd have to liquidate. We're talking about the simultaneous insolvency of every bank on the planet. Bank runs. No money in ATMs, Branches closed. Safe deposit boxes confiscated. The whole nine yards, It's actually here. The scenario has tended to guide toward for years and years is actually happening RIGHT NOW! And people are still trying to say it's under control. Every bank in the world is currently insolvent. The only thing keeping it going is printing billions of dollars every day. Financial Armageddon isn't some far off future risk. It's here. Prepare accordingly. This fiat system has reached the end of the line, and it's not correct that fiat currencies fail by design. The problem is corruption and manipulation. It is corruption and cheating that erodes trust and faith until the entire system becomes a gigantic fraud. Banks and governments everywhere ARE the problem and simply have to be removed. They have lost all trust and respect, and all they have left is war and mayhem. As long as we continue to have a majority of braindead asleep imbeciles following orders from these psychopaths, nothing will change. Fiat currency is not just thievery. Fiat currency is SLAVERY. Ultimately the most harmful effect of using debt of undefined value as money (i.e., fiat currencies) is the de facto legalization of a caste system based on voluntary slavery. The bankers have a charter, or the legal *right*, to create money out of nothing. You, you don't. Therefore you and the bankers do not have the same standing before the law. The law of the land says that you will go to jail if you do the same thing (creating money out of thin air) that the banker does in full legality. You and the banker are not equal before the law. ALL the countries of the world; Islamic or secular, Jewish or Arab, democracy or dictatorship; all of them place the bankers ABOVE you. And all of you accept that only whining about fiat money going down in exchange value over time (price inflation which is not the same as monetary inflation). Actually, price inflation itself is mainly due to the greed and stupidity of the bankers who could keep fiat money's exchange value reasonably stable, only if they wanted to. Witness the crash of silver and gold prices which the bankers of the world; Russian, American, Chinese, Jewish, Indian, Arab, all of them collaborated to engineer through the suppression and stagnation of precious metals' prices to levels around the metals' production costs, or what it costs to dig gold and silver out of the ground. The bankers of the world could also collaborate to keep nominal prices steady (as they do in the case of the suppression of precious metals prices). After all, the ability to create fiat money and force its usage is a far more excellent source of power and wealth than that which is afforded simply by stealing it through inflation. The bankers' greed and stupidity blind them to this fact. They want it all, and they want it now. In conclusion, The bankers can create money out of nothing and buy your goods and services with this worthless fiat money, effectively for free. You, you can't. You, you have to lead miserable existences for the most of you and WORK in order to obtain that effectively nonexistent, worthless credit money (whose purchasing/exchange value is not even DEFINED thus rendering all contracts based on the null and void!) that the banker effortlessly creates out of thin air with a few strokes of the computer keyboard, and which he doesn't even bother to print on paper anymore, electing to keep it in its pure quantum uncertain form instead, as electrons whizzing about inside computer chips which will become mute and turn silent refusing to tell you how many fiat dollars or euros there are in which account, in the absence of electricity. No electricity, no fiat, nor crypto money. It would appear that trust is deteriorating as it did when Lehman blew up . Something really big happened that set off this chain reaction in the repo markets. Whatever that something is, we aren't be informed. They're trying to cover it up, paper it over with conjured cash injections, play it cool in front of the cameras while sweating profusely under the 5 thousands dollar suits. I'm guessing that the final high-speed plunge into global economic collapse has begun. All we see here is the ripples and whitewater churning the surface, but beneath the surface, there is an enormous beast thrashing desperately in its death throws. Now is probably the time to start tying up loose ends with the long-running prep projects, just saying. In other words, prepare accordingly, and Get your money out of the banks. I don't care if you don't believe me about Bitcoin. Get your money out of the banks. Don't keep any more money in a bank than you need to pay your bills and can afford to lose.











The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more













The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more

The FBI released a summary of its file from the Hillary Clinton email investigation on Friday, showing details of Clinton's explanation of her use of a private email server to handle classified communications. The release comes nearly two months after FBI Director James Comey announced that although Clinton's handling of classified information was "extremely careless," it did not rise to the level of a prosecutable offense. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the next day that she would not pursue charges in the matter. "We are making these materials available to the public in the interest of transparency and in response to numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests," the FBI noted in a statement sent to reporters with links to the documents. The documents include notes from Clinton's July 2 interview with agents, as well as a "factual summary of the FBI's investigation into this matter," according to the FBI release. Throughout her interview with agents, Clinton repeatedly said she relied on the career professionals she worked with to handle classified information correctly. The agents asked about a series of specific emails, and in each case Clinton said she wasn't worried about the particular material being discussed on a nonclassified channel.