from The Duran:
Are Dems trying to kneecap Lindsey Graham before possible Supreme Court nomination fight?
by Martin Walsh, American Mirror:
With Sen. Lindsey Graham serving as the new chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s ailing health, Democrats are conjuring up a vicious smear campaign against the South Carolina Republican.
This week, a newly-elected Democratic lawmaker and liberals in the media spread a conspiracy theory that Graham is “compromised” or “bought” because he has been agreeing with President Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, tweeted “They got him, he is compromised!” in response to a video clip of Graham in 2015 speaking ill of Trump.
Our Elites’ Selective Support for Democracy
by Andrew J Basevich, The American Conservative:
The ongoing parallel crises in the United Kingdom and the United States invite us to contemplate unwelcome truths about the nature of politics in the 21st century. In both countries, deep divisions have resulted in paralysis. In both, that paralysis represents something more profound: disagreement over the meaning and proper conduct of contemporary democracy. Yet there is little evidence that elites on either side of the Atlantic understand the actual problem at hand. Hence, the likelihood that it will fester.
Journalist Given Six Months in Prison for Organizing Yellow Vests Protest on Facebook
by Elias Marat, The Mind Unleashed:
As the Yellow Vests gear up for their tenth consecutive week of protests, dubbed “Act X” by the grassroots social movement, President Emmanuel Macron’s government appears to be raising the stakes of repression in an attempt to quell protests and chill French constitutional guarantees of free speech.
Such appeared to be the case after 28-year-old Frenchman, journalist and movement leader Hedi Martin was sentenced last week to six months’ imprisonment after publishing a Facebook event calling for the Yellow Vests (or Gilet Jaunes).
How California stayed with gold when the rest of the U.S. adopted fiat money
by JP Koning, BullionStar:
We are ten years into the age of bitcoin. But people are still using national currencies like yen, dollars, and pounds to buy things. What does history have to say about switches from one type of monetary system to another? In this post I’ll dig for lessons from California’s successful resistance to a fiat standard that was imposed on it in the 1860s by the rest of the U.S.
Not long after the war American Civil War broke out in 1861, a run on New York banks forced most of the country’s banks to stop redeeming their banknotes with gold. A few months later Abraham Lincoln’s Union government began to issue inconvertible paper money in order to finance the war. These notes were popularly known as Greenbacks.
Ocasio-Cortez Gets Seat on House Financial Services Committee Overseeing Wall Street
by Martin Armstrong, Armstrong Economics:
If you ever needed proof that government is collapsing, here it is live and in full color. Freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) was just placed on the House Financial Services Committee. Who is the Chairperson? None other than the controversial Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). We now have two people with absolutely NO expertise in this field going to overlook banks and Wall Street. This illustrates the entire problem and crisis we face. This like directing me to operate as a Brain Surgeon without any consideration if I even understand the field no less have any experience.
Fueled by Western sanctions Russia outshines China to become world’s 5th biggest holder of gold
from RT:
The Central Bank of Russia reported purchasing 8.5 million troy ounces of gold in January-November 2018. With its 67.6 million ounces of gold Russia is now the world’s fifth largest holder behind the US, Germany, France and Italy.
China dropped to sixth place as it reported an increase in gold reserves just once in more than two years – to 59.6 million ounces in December 2018 from 59.2 million ounces in October 2016.
Industry sources told Reuters that Western sanctions against Russia lifted the country’s gold buying to record highs in 2018. One of the reasons Russia’s Central Bank was betting on the yellow metal was because it could not be frozen or blacklisted, sources explained.
Nigel Farage To Back Another “Vote Leave” Campaign If UK Holds Second Brexit Referendum
from ZeroHedge:
Pro-European MPs from various political parties are pushing back against claims made by Prime Minister Theresa May’s government that a second Brexit referendum – which supporters have branded as a “People’s Vote” on May’s deal – would take roughly 14 months to organize, according to RT.
But while support for a second vote grows, one of the most notorious proponents of the original “Vote Leave” campaign is hinting at a possible return to politics to try and fight the effort.
Troubling Signs for Uncle Sam as Demand for US Treasuries Sags
by Peter Schiff, Schiff Gold:
Last February, we asked the question: who will buy all of this US debt?
With the demand for US Treasuries dropping precipitously as the US Treasury floods the market with paper, it’s time to revisit that question.
With the US running huge deficits every month, the Treasury Department is selling bonds at a dizzying pace. Long-term US debt sales have risen to a level not seen since the height of the financial crisis. In November alone, the US Treasury sold over $200 billion in public debt. The department sold bonds at an average rate of $123 billion a month in the six months between June and November. This pace of borrowing is expected to continue into 2019.
