By Bill Holter
Growing up in the 1960's, I can still remember hearing and reading
about Russian propaganda. While I am certain some of what the Western
press reported was "spun", even a 10 year old could see through
much of what Russia was trying to portray to its people.
Fast forward to present day, we seem to have switched places.
The current mainstream media reports defy nearly any and all logic on a
daily basis. Reporting has obviously been very poor for many years and
it really did not matter what the subject was. Economics, finance,
geopolitics, home grown politics, it has not mattered, logic has been turned
on its head. I could go through example after example but would now
require a book ...or more likely a "series" of books. Using
just one example to illustrate the lunacy, the U.S. now has 95 million OUT OF
THE WORKFORCE and thus no longer counted as "unemployed"!
Where is the logic here? Mainstream media reports it (under their
breath) while cheerleading the lowest unemployment rate in decades. The
White House and Wall Street both report "strong"
employment with glee. The fact remains, our true unemployment
number as calculated back in the day of "Russian propaganda" is
somewhere around 20% ...
We just had an election here in the U.S. that I've dubbed as a
rejection "fake news", fake polls, fake values, fake
everything. My first thought was "hooray for the rule of
law"! What is truly disturbing (especially after the election),
the
House Quietly Passes Bill Targeting "Russian
Propaganda" Websites.
I say "disturbing" because the lame duck House of
Representatives was elected two years ago to eviscerate Obaminationcare along
with many other "executive orders" ...and did absolutely none of
what they promised. Why would the House pass this now? Why would
they not wait until the newly elected Reps and Senators (not to mention new
President) arrive? What can they possibly be thinking other than a
failed (thwarted) arrival to Washington of Mr. Trump?
Getting into the "meat" of what they are trying to pass,
it is most obvious they are trying to legislate away TRUTH! In
essence, they are trying to say and I paraphrase, if you disagree with the
official story, you are Russian propaganda. Never mind that these
"propaganda sites" document, footnote and use rock solid logic in
their work ...they are "fake news" and should be ignored or worse,
JAILED! What a travesty Mr. Paul Ryan!
Reported today, the website www.nakedcapitalism.com is
fighting back and is considering filing suit against and demanding
retraction from the Washington Post
"Fake News" Site Threatens Washington Post With
Defamation Suit, Demands Retraction I find it beyond lame when the
likes of WAPO and NY Times resort to labelling obvious truth as
fake news. This is surreal on so many levels it is beyond words.
Shifting gears but in keeping with the subject of "truth",
let's look at just one market, gold. For years it has been said central
banks have no reason to and would never manipulate gold. GATA has over
the years posted reams of hard and easily connectible evidence
showing this is not true. In fact, Deutsche Bank agreed to a wrist
slap $60 million fine for doing just this, manipulating the gold
markets. This will be followed by other firms and most likely larger
fines (as DB rolled over first).
An excellent article last week;
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-02/buy-...es-3-year-highs discusses
gold demand. The below chart shows offtake from the Shanghai exchange.
With just one month left in the year, Shanghai has withdrawn close
to 2,200 tons (28 tons just this last Friday). If you take Chinese and
Russian supply out of the equation as they do not export, total global
production of gold is roughly 2,400 tons. Shanghai/China have been
purchasing nearly all global production of gold over the past several
years. This does not account for Indian demand which has historically
been another 1,000 tons per year or thereabouts. Nor does it account
for the rest of global demand which has been brisk from Europe, the U.S. and
elsewhere. Where exactly is/has this excess demand being met with
supply? From where is this gold coming from? The obvious answer,
and one of common logic says it can only be coming from where it exists
(existed), Western vaults!
We could look at other markets like the credit markets where
interest rates went negative ...at a time debt ratios were never worse.
Or, we could look at equity valuations at a 98 percentile in historic
valuation levels. The point is this, markets do not make any sense from
the standpoint of any fundamental logic in all of history!
Many say that anyone claiming "manipulation"
or "rigged markets" are just sore losers because they are wrong and
need something to cover their errors. The tactic now by
government/mainstream media/"official finance" is to label obvious
truth as lies. MSM has become so desperate they start stories by
claiming "fake news" as their proof and refutation of facts and
logic. Government is apparently trying to legislate away
"truth" if it does not agree with the official story by labeling
websites as Russian propaganda. What proof has been offered showing any
connection to any of these websites to Russia in any fashion? The
answer of course there is none whatsoever other than being said "it is
so". This course of thought and action is no different than the child
caught with his hand in the cookie jar asking "who are you going to
believe, me or your own lying eyes"?
To finish, and to pre answer the legion of trolls sure to
jump on this article, please answer these questions. Do you believe
mainstream media is or has been reporting news truthfully or in any fair
or balanced way? Do you believe the media is separate and autonomous
from government? I would remind you of the 10's of 1,000's of e-mails
hacked from John Podesta. The only response to date has been
"these were illegally stolen", NEVER have they been claimed to be
false. If the e-mails then are not false (several people have already
resigned because of the revelations), then we know for an absolute fact that
polls, debates, and other news to "affect perception" are outright
bogus and propaganda!
I would then ask, if there has been a coordinated effort to
"shape" public consciousness, why would these people leave markets
to their own to possibly discredit their desired stories? What good
would it do to report economic growth, low interest rates, low unemployment
and basically "economic and financial nirvana" if the Dow was
trading at 6,000, interest rates at 7% or gold trading at $5,000 per
ounce? I would suggest the "propaganda" was ramped up to
unbelievable levels BECAUSE THEY HAD TO SUPPORT the picture of where markets
were and are trading! I believe the "LIE" began in the
markets and then had to be supported with the story, not the other way
around.
So there you have it, please explain why markets must be free, fair
and unfettered if we know for a fact that mainstream media and government
have massaged, spun and outright lied to the public in so many documented
instances? If you do answer this, please do so as an adult. Do
not reply saying "because" or "because they say so".
MSM, Washington and Wall Street have burned their credibility ...yet
people still ask why the Dow is 19,000, gold is $1,175 or the dollar still
spends...? So simple a caveman could figure this one out!
Standing watch and not being fooled,
Regards, Bill Holter for;
Holter/Sinclair collaboration.
Prior, he wrote for Miles Franklin from 2012-15. Bill worked as a
retail stockbroker for 23 years, including 12 as a branch manager at A.G.
Edwards. He left Wall Street in late 2006 to avoid potential liabilities
related to management of paper assets. In retirement he and his family moved
to Costa Rica where he lived until 2011 when he moved back to the United
States. Bill was a well-known contributor to the Gold Anti-Trust Action
Committee (GATA) commentaries from 2007-present.
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