US Tariffs Set to Make world economic and military History


It is worth capturing this moment. It has the potential to be elevated to a moment in world economic history in the same vein as Bretton Woods, World Trade Organization, United Nations, and many other bedrock areas that preceded and followed WWII. The broad perspective was to encourage World stability in economic terms and those tools were designed to create a global platform of stability that would make WWxx things of the past. Here we are 80 years later and the flaws in those tools with their commensurate inability to adapt have created a global world of bad actors yet … Continue reading US Tariffs Set to Make world economic and military History

Biden Administration Outlines Government ‘Guardrails’ for A.I. Tools


A national security memorandum detailed how agencies should streamline operations with artificial intelligence safely. President Biden has released a series of documents that grapple with the challenges of using A.I. tools to speed up government operations.Credit…Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times By David E. Sanger Reporting from Washington Oct. 24, 2024Updated 4:44 p.m. ET President Biden on Thursday signed the first national security memorandum detailing how the Pentagon, the intelligence agencies and other national security institutions should use and protect artificial intelligence technology, putting “guardrails” on how such tools are employed in decisions varying from nuclear weapons to granting asylum. The … Continue reading Biden Administration Outlines Government ‘Guardrails’ for A.I. Tools

TD Bank created an environment that allowed financial crime to flourish


Senator Colin Deacon summarised the impact of the fine TD Bank was hit with after the US Innvestigation assessed they knowingly worked to avoid AML rules and thuse became criminals themselves. This United States Attorney General Merrick Garland humiliated this Canadian bank over something so fundamental. AML rules are intended to eliminate one aspect of the transfer of cash or funds from being criminal proceeds to legitimate business proceeds. Deacon is correct in thei being a humiliation for Canada, yet OSFI have been silent on this matter, something I find even worse. Here is a short piece on thereaction of … Continue reading TD Bank created an environment that allowed financial crime to flourish

Spy Chiefs of the C.I.A. and MI6 Convene, on a Couch and for a Crowd


Appearing together publicly for the first time in the history of their agencies, the heads of the U.S. and British intelligence services discussed Ukraine’s incursion into Russia and the war in Gaza. Listen to this article · 4:49 min Learn more By Mark Landler Reporting from London Sept. 7, 2024Updated 4:54 p.m. ET The chiefs of the C.I.A. and the British Secret Intelligence Service, appearing together publicly for the first time in the history of their agencies, said on Saturday in London that Ukraine’s surprise offensive in the Kursk region had exposed vulnerabilities in Russia’s military and was an “audacious” effort to “try and … Continue reading Spy Chiefs of the C.I.A. and MI6 Convene, on a Couch and for a Crowd

The US National Intelligence Council, part 1:


The US National Intelligence Council, part 1: the discreet forum in charge of strategic analysis The NIC is little known, even within the US intelligence community, but is responsible for producing the most authoritative analyses in Washington. The forum brings together experts from all the US agencies and can adapt to political decision-makers’ needs. Continue reading The US National Intelligence Council, part 1:

The Forty-Year War


How America Lost the Middle East By Lisa Anderson May/June 2023Published on April 18, 2023 In March 2023, China’s announcement that it had brokered renewed diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran threw into sharp relief the United States’ rapidly diminishing role in the Middle East. Shortly after President Joe Biden came to office, the United States completed its inept withdrawal from Afghanistan, a country that Washington had spent 20 years trying and failing to bring into the Western fold. Then the president, who as a candidate had cast Saudi Arabia as a “pariah” because of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s alleged … Continue reading The Forty-Year War

Bidenomics- hardly game changing


“Yes, at the margin, there’ll be some more chips made here. Is it going to be, are we going to get 30%, 40%, 50% of global production? No, nowhere near that. Is the ED revolution going to continue? I don’t think the $7,500 rebate is going to drive that. What’s going to drive that is ultimately market economics and innovation. You might coax another mile or two per gallon out of internal combustion engines, but if there’s going to be a tech breakthrough, it’s going to be across the battery platforms and the mileage and the range and the pricing … Continue reading Bidenomics- hardly game changing

Live Updates: The Fed Hinted That Rate Cuts Could Come Soon


The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a two-decade high but suggested that recent progress in lowering inflation could enable it to cut interest rates soon. Updated  July 31, 2024, 2:49 p.m. ET6 minutes ago Pinned Federal funds target rate Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged at their July meeting, as economists had expected, and hinted that recent progress in lowering inflation could enable them to cut interest rates soon. Continue reading Live Updates: The Fed Hinted That Rate Cuts Could Come Soon