Open Thread - 03-17-23 - King Nothing

Submitted by JtC on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 8:29am

The next shoe to drop hangs by a shoestring over our heads like the Sword of Damocles. And the shoestring is fraying.

Dear citizen, it matters not that you live your life trying to do what's right. You go to work, pay your taxes, obey the laws, save your money only to have it stolen in the form of inflation. The banks don't play by those rules. They have different rules, as do the very wealthy. If you get in financial trouble that's on you. If the banks get in financial trouble that's on you as well.

The recent Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failure is a perfect example of balance of justice weighed in favor of the wealthy. You did everything by the rules, they play fast and loose with the rules. They broke the rules, you didn't, who pays?

"It's not a bailout" has been proclaimed from on high. While it's true the SVB didn't get bailed out, it's also true that the depositors that were above the $250,000 FDIC limit of insurance did get bailed out. You know, the folks that are too big to fail. It was the millionaire and billionaire class that were made whole, the smaller depositors under the limit were already insured. We were told that they were bailed out to stave off the implosion of the economy. That's classic can kicking.

Where's that huge pile of money going to come from to cover the uninsured? You and I. Either by higher FDIC taxes on the banks that will be passed on to the depositors. Some how I doubt that will be the case. Or, the more probable outcome is the FED will print money like there's no tomorrow. We're talking billions or trillions. What will that do to an already inflated economy? Hyper-inflation my friends. You ain't seen nothing yet!

In my humble opinion, this is just the start of more bank failures to come. There won't be enough trees (or is it cotton and linen) on the planet to print the money to cover the uninsured. The can will become too large to kick any further.

The question then becomes, in my mind, is this bailout a legitimate effort to stave off the inevitable or is it part of a plan to usher in CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currency)? The inflation may become so bad and people may become so desperate that they'll beg for a solution. Money will be so useless that it will seem like CBDCs are the only solution. Here's the catch though, if the CBDCs aren't regulated what's to stop the FED or BIS or whoever will be running the show, from printing, at will, electronic digits like they now do with paper money. That printing money at will thing is what's gotten us to our present situation. In my humble opinion, both are a road to ruin.

The empire rolls along, like a dung beetle doing its best Sisyphean imitation, twirling its ball of fetid propaganda, into a lurid squall of lies. That's us packed into that dung ball, arms and legs extruding outward as we are rolled along against our will. The dung rollers need us to feed on, like the parasites they are.

But I have to feel that their day will soon be over, and we who have played by the rules can rebuild. The dung rollers' castle will crumble and they'll be left with just a name. King Nothing.

Lyrics

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Open Thread

my humble opinion

Silicone Valley Bank

FDIC

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Submitted by JtC on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 8:58am

Good morning Free Rangers...

they should be careful what they wish, they just may get it.

Submitted by usefewersyllables on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 9:14am

Our house

burned down on March 20, 2022.

As of March 17, 2023, we still haven't seen a dime from our insurance company.

I expect that a payment will finally arrive on March 19th, at 11:59pm. And probably be about 5 bucks. They are depending on us not being able to afford a lawsuit, I'm sure, and I know that they will terminate us immediately after any payout. So we're already looking for the next sharks to feed, since you can't rent a place without insurance.

I wish that we had the means to play the float the way the financial titans do- then it'd just be a cash flow thing, no big deal. But we've had to rebuild our lives in tiny dribs and drabs as paychecks would permit, and dig into our credit card at ruinous interest when necessary.

It's a big club, but we clearly ain't in it, and we're never going to be. I think that the best way to describe our role in society at this point is "waiting to die", and we're not alone in that. We are definitely occupants of that dung ball.

Not a fan of the monied class. Not a fan at all.

—

Twice bitten, permanently shy.

Submitted by soryang on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 9:33am

Sorry to hear that

@usefewersyllables I think I know the feeling. I lost my home Sep 29. I've been trying to get it restored. If it isn't ready in about a month or so, we will be facing a terrible situation. The NFIP is better than regular home insurance, which is horrible. The problem with the National Flood Insurance Program was no one understood it. My home will probably be ready for occupancy right before hurricane season. If I lose it again, I will probably just abandon it. The stress is unbelievable. I know it isn't just us, but thousands of people and families in similar situations (not counting overseas). Living in this apartment has been one of the worst experiences in our lives.

Usefewersyllables, I hope you get what you need from the insurance company.

I just learned our bank is on the XXX list. Our bank was taken over by another bank, because it had a solid balance sheet, now it doesn't.

—

語必忠信行必正直

Submitted by on the cusp on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 9:40am

Usefewersyllables,

@usefewersyllables
Your situation is so horrible, so punishing. All your fault, according to tptb. Yes, as soon as you get your insurance check, your insurance will be cancelled. My new policy with Germania is much less expensive than Hoecheim.
I suffered through arson investigations, I had to raise hell about the first adjuster, had him replaced. I was asked repeatedly to give documents regarding loss of income, when the necessary documents were destroyed in the fire.
My last contact with the insurance company was a reminder that I owed no debt on the property, that I was not a defendant in any lawsuit, that COVID and the break in the supply chain doubled the cost of building supplies, so I had no incentive to burn down my fucking office for a building that, overnight, was underinsured. Pay me for what I contracted to receive bastard, or I will sue your fucking ass. I got my full payment that week.
If they had not cancelled my insurance, I would have.
Having cops and bloodhounds combing through the burned pile, right on the town square, with judges, attorneys, and clients watching, almost pushed me to just retire.
I gotta go to work shortly.
They tried, but did not get me to go away.
Fuck 'em.

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by usefewersyllables on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 10:30am

You are made

@on the cusp

of sterner stuff than me, for sure. I have no doubt that this will look better on the other side, sort of like getting my knees replaced- that has been an unalloyed blessing. It's just PTSD, coming up on the anniversary of it and still having it hanging over our head like the dung ball of Damocles (great image there, JtC!).

I like your closing there. As an old buddy used to say, "Fuck 'em until they glow blue, so we can strafe them in the dark...". (;-)

—

Twice bitten, permanently shy.

Submitted by on the cusp on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 5:12pm

I feel for ya, pal.

@usefewersyllables Insurance companies make the loss of your personal possessions, especially those that have special meaning and personal value, a big meh!
I can't imagine working for a company who's goal is to hold on to $ and figure out ways not to pay what's owed. They treat the policies you buy as their money to be distributed when all their tactics fail.
After the anniversary, tomorrow will just be another day.

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by doh1304 on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 3:08pm

One of my favorite stories:

@on the cusp
I met the man who managed my last employer's taxi company. He said, "If we paid half of the judgments against us we would go bankrupt in a week." (the "insurance company" was solely owned by the taxi company and the taxi company was their sole client) One night a driver fell asleep at the wheel and hit 7 people at an ATM. The taxi company declared bankruptcy.

—

On to Biden since 1973

Submitted by on the cusp on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 3:15pm

Let's see...who ruined bankruptcy for we 99%?

@doh1304 Oh, Biden did! He wrote the bill that excluded student debt and medical debt from being wiped out by bankruptcy!
Btw, the taxi co. is run by people who should be put in the stocks. I will supply the rotten tomatoes.

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by doh1304 on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 9:59pm

Too late

@on the cusp
The MFers that ran the company mismanaged(sabotaged) their dispatch system to create an artificial "shortage", paid(wasted) who knows how much in bribes, and overexpanded, turning a $2400/yr rock solid company into a bankrupt hulk. The bankruptcy court let them have $8000 each and let them sell their medallions - if they could find a buyer (they couldn't. Uber moved in)

—

On to Biden since 1973

Submitted by on the cusp on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 10:12pm

USA! USA!

@doh1304 I could say more, but I won't.

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by JtC on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 10:08am

Hang in there, brother...

@usefewersyllables
we, that have played by the rules, will have our day. What do I base that assumption on? History. Many a king have lost their crowns.

Submitted by exindy on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 10:38am

Thanks very much, excellent thread, very needed.

I just saw a good link on the eurasianist this morning. One of many, I guess emperor Macron is wandering around without clothes again. Didn't france invent sir guillotine? Anyway, the one I reference is from https://twitter.com/Kanthan2030 based in India I believe. It showed this graph:

I have no idea whether it's accurate but the article seems credible, lead into by:

The US Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) just printed $300 billion out of thin air last week to bail out the banks. What a joke and a voodoo economics.

This is not free market or even capitalism.

If developing nations want $300 billion, they have to sell their sovereignty to the IMF and the World Bank.

I'll check back in a bit, have to do a supply run.

Submitted by JtC on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 11:25am

France...

@exindy
is burning, again. We don't hear much about that in the MSM, do we?

Your blockquote seems accurate to me. If there's anything to doubt about it it's the $300 billion figure, that maybe too low.

Thanks for weighing in.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 11:54am

Good morning Johnny, et. y'all. I think the proper

terminology might be "Bail through". Though I am far from sure on any of this shit after all of the fiddling, both legislative and administrative, that has come down the pike in the post Clinton era.

SVB has filed for bankruptcy. This is supposed to trigger a "Bail in" whereby the uninsured funds of depositors are captured by the bank and used to pay its "secured creditors", including all counter-parties to "notional principal contracts" (derivatives and shit like that). These counter parties are first in line then the other secured creditors get theirs and/or eat any shortfall. Any residue would go to insured depositors and the FDIC pays the rest. HOWEVER, in this case the FDIC will repay the "bail in" funds back to those depositors who had uninsured amounts captured by the bank. This is effectively just the same as if the FDIC gave that money straight to the bank, merely passing it through a certain class of depositors, hence bail-through. As you said, benefits the big guys only.

What is problematic is that a lot of these depositors are also debtors, on the hook to the svbank for various borrowings. Zo, does the bank get to collect the entire debt before the above rigamarole, or only the portion currently due? Anybody know?

be well and have a good one

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by JtC on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 11:18am

Good question...

@enhydra lutris

What is problematic is that a lot of these depositors are also debtors, on the hook to the svbank for various borrowings. Zo, does the bank get to collect the entire debt before the above rigamarole, or only the portion currently due? Anybody know?

I highly doubt that any debtors will be left off the hook. It's arguable that the uninsured bailout has essentially nationalized the bank, so does the government take on the payment of the loans? I don't know. It may well boil down to the fine print in the contracts as to whether the borrowers debt can be transferred.

I stand by my original assumption that borrowers will not be let off the hook. That's not how the bank game is played.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 11:19am

Did our $600 go to China?

.
Or maybe a rainy day fund just in case banks needed to be bailed out…but seriously why are we bailing out China? Aren’t they are enemy?

Yves said that the stupidest timeline would quite naturally have the stupidest Secretary of the Treasury:

Stripped bare of the technocratic mumbo jumbo, Janet Yellen is utterly utterly reckless. This clip is just astonishing (ht @DoombergT) https://t.co/mxxwygMKN9

— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) March 17, 2023

Bottom line is that the biggest banks that have the upper crust as clients will get bailed out time after time while the banks that we little folks use will not.

Weird how svb didn’t use bail ins and Biden bailed them out instead. But why did the bank fail in the first place? Take time to read this. It’s not long, but it will piss you off.

Financial Failure in America: The Cover-up Begins

Silicon Valley Bank failed because in 1999 the Clinton regime signed the repeal of the Glass-Steagall act and because the Dodd-Frank Act allows failing banks to seize the deposits of depositors in order to have a bail-in instead of a bail-out. The foolish legislation causes depositors to withdraw their deposits on any sign of bank trouble.

The utterly mindless Dodd-Frank Act set up the mechanism for modern-day bank runs. If you have more money on deposit than the $250,000 insured amount, Dodd-Frank allows the bank to bail itself out by seizing your deposits. Many companies and corporations have payroll deposits in excess of $250,000. If deposits are seized, business can’t pay their workers or their bills. Thus Dodd-Frank is an excellent way of initiating bank runs and collapsing businesses and employment and city and state tax revenues.

It also will lead to bank consolidation because the smaller banks will fail and just leave us at the mercy of the big banks and they can charge whatever fees they want which will only make them bigger!

I want out of this timeline! Stat!

—

There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.

Submitted by JtC on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 11:32am

If the uninsured bailouts...

@snoopydawg
and bank failures cascade and the uninsured are made whole ad infinitum, the government may end up owning the whole monetary system. A perfect set up to introduce CBDCs, don't you think?

Everything may crash on a Friday and when we wake up Monday morning it may be a brave new world. You will own no cash and be happy.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 12:17pm

Well of course

@JtC

In order to build back better you have to burn everything down first and what they build back will better suit them…as in digital money and 15 minute cities.

I was going to essay this, but not up to it today. I highly recommend reading it. Simplicius has become one of my favorite writers. He starts off with 5G and what its role is going to be…and then he gets into the nitty gritty about the cities which is why the elite needs 5G up and running.

Smart Cities and the Geofencing Nightmare

5th Generation

There’s a lot of digital noise out there regarding the well-worn bugbears of 5G and WEF climate agendas. Partly this is the elites’ doing—it’s in their interest to create a dissonance by magnifying adherents of the most outlandish of the theories while shunting the others into becoming social pariahs.

So, what is this actual main thrust behind the globalist 5G push you’re wondering?

Geo-Fencing

When most think of 5G, what first comes to mind are things like: faster internet speeds, lower latency, and ubiquitous HD/4k video streaming. Sure, these are all welcome trojan horses to lower our guards, but the true heart of the matter begins with the premise of geofencing. What’s that you say? Geofencing is a way to track and demarcate a given geographical area, by establishing a digital ‘boundary’. In a way, your cellphone is already doing this when it enters the ‘zones’ of a particular cell-phone mast/tower.

Y’all can read the rest. Back in 2020 didn’t you find it weird how every world leader was talking about building back better? Are you even aware of how long this has been planned?

—

There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.

Submitted by exindy on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 1:08pm

I haven't seen the tech info on 5G

@snoopydawg but there's some noise in the webosphere that thing uses Huawei tech. Might cause a slight difficulty here in the US of A if we cut off the chinese source. It might just make our upcoming war difficult.

From Pepe Escobar's twitter feed regarding the EU boycott:

That's the codename of a German report, seen by Handelsblatt, stating that dismantling all 80,000 Huawei 5G antennas will cost 3 billion euros and take 5 years.

The Stupid-O-Meter in the EU works 24/7.

I've never been a fan of over the air comms for primary connections. I like the stuff buried and running on fiber with interchangeable components. Really tiresome here in an apartment complex when I see just how many hosts I have within a few hundred yards.

Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 2:26pm

I get the feeling that the definition of 5G

@snoopydawg

....is different in the US than in the rest of the world. You know, the way the definition of 'vaccine' appeared to have changed?

By Huawei standards, the US is just faking 5G. The 5G technology developed by Huawei is about a lot more than fast data. (The 5G in the US is not even fast.) It's about integrated data, contextual data, and anticipated data at the same time. Interetingly, the US banning of Huawei was not just a matter of the US' inability to compete with China. The US doesn't really want its People to have access to this technology. In my view.

The US is such a bottom thinker, I wouldn't be surprised to see TikTok outlawed sometime soon. LMAO = Spy Balloon.

Submitted by Linda Wood on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 11:42am

Jim Kunstler

at Clusterfuck Nation:

https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/svb-ftx-sbf-wtf/

James Howard Kunstler
March 17, 2023

... As if all the operations around finance in this land were not already unsound and degenerate enough, the alleged president just cancelled moral hazard altogether.

... Be advised: the situation is not in-hand and is going to get a whole lot worse as new and subsidiary shocks thunder through the weeks and months ahead, until the whole wicked business blows. Likewise, the reactions of our government will only get more tragi-comically pathetic. The harder this gang of feckless, wannabe control freaks pretends to control events, the faster events spin out of control.

Money dies when it loses its direct connection to the generation of wealth from the real things of this earth: fuels, crops, metals, materials, labor, and the value-added products made from them.

... In the meantime, expect more disordering tragi-comedy from the “Joe Biden” led psychotic regime ruling over us with its drag queen commissars, lawless Lawfare vandals, race hustlers, agents provocateurs, informers, censors, prosecutors, inquisitors, jailers, and propagandists — the worst collection of imbeciles, grifters, and villains ever assembled into political party.

Submitted by JtC on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 11:47am

I read...

@Linda Wood
JHK first thing every Friday and Monday when his essays are published.

What a wordsmith he is. He's usually spot on.

Thanks Linda.

Submitted by Linda Wood on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 2:07pm

I always hope

@JtC

it's obvious that I don't support his racist or homophobic remarks when I post him here, but I'm stating it now to be clear.

But why do I post him anyway? I guess because he's fearless in calling out the merchants of death.

Submitted by JtC on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 2:12pm

That's why I stated...

@Linda Wood
"He's usually spot on". His political views have changed considerably over the years.

Submitted by ggersh on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 12:00pm

I couldn't say it any better myself

https://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/

—

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Submitted by JtC on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 12:19pm

Crony capitalism is...

@ggersh
an incestual circle of greed. Term limits, banning lobbyist and reversing Citizens United would be a good start to thwart the maggot's quid pro quo.

Great cartoon, thanks, g.