The Weekly Watch
Another Hot Week of News
This has been our hottest week of the year. Cooler weather is expected as a front moves south and a tropical system moves into the gulf. It was also another very busy news cycle. The BRICS+ meeting had (and will have) a large ripple effect. Trump was indicted yet again, preceded by a widely seen interview with Tucker. The other republican candidates debated. The Ukraine proxy war grinds on as Russian artillery and air power dominates. Wagner's front man, Prigozhin, is presumed dead in plane crash. He's died in one before. DNA evidence has yet to be revealed, however it has been collected. [edit to add: His DNA was identified] The second plane is still a mystery. So, let's dive into these and other stories...
Last week there was some discussion of Oliver Anthony's song. I want to begin by letting him defend his song, and explain why people might have thought he was attacking the poor. Sitting in a truck in the rain, he speaks from his heart. (10 min)
It's a pleasure to meet you - part 2
For those of you who thought he misplaced his blame, I think he explains it well.
All his songs are here.
So now, on to this week's news.
The BRICS+ expanded adding 6 more countries. The world is changing.
PEPE ESCOBAR AND MICHAEL HUDSON JOIN ON BRICS PLUS SIX, UKRAINE, AND THE MULTIPOLAR WORLD ECONOMY!
Geopolitical analyst and journalist Pepe Escobar and Economist Michael Hudson join for a super panel discussion on the economics of BRICS following the historic expansion announced at the 15th Summit this week. You can't go wrong listening to these two analysts. The full conversation takes over 2 hours, but I listened to it all over a couple of days.
The Grayzone's Anya Parampil and Ahmed Kaballo of African Stream report live from Johanesburg, South Africa, where the BRICS convened a historic gathering of over 60 nations to build a more inclusive and democratic financial order.
The investor class have an interesting economic interpretation of BRICS and more...
hear from a wide variety of them, each with their unique take.
Is This Week's BRICS Summit the Start of a New World Order? (10 min)
There has been discussion this year among BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – to launch a new gold-backed currency in an effort to unseat the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency. And with the 15th annual BRICS summit set to take place from tomorrow until Thursday, many market experts are monitoring these discussions to determine the likelihood of a potential new international standard currency. That's why several of my guests over the course of our "summer series" have expressed concerns about the future of the dollar. So today, we'll reflect on their thoughts about the potential impact of the BRICS phasing the dollar out of the global economy...
End of America: Why Inflation, the Dollar, and the Fed Will Doom Us All (12 min)
Despite the market completing an impressive first half this year, investors are unsure about what's to come next as we approach 2024. With inflation, the global de-dollarization trend, and an ongoing banking crisis clouding the markets right now, it remains unclear where stocks are headed right now. Plus, the Federal Reserve looks poised to continue hiking interest rates – meaning today's elevated costs will continue weighing on folks for the foreseeable future.
Eleven Predictions for the Fall of the American Monetary Empire (12 min)
BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – have been talking about establishing a new gold-backed currency this year in hopes of replacing the U.S. dollar as the king of global currencies.
US policy slowing down China's economy w/ Jeffrey Sachs (1st 30 min)
Excellent conversation about central banks and US China relations.
We better finish the Ukraine proxy war before tackling China. Too bad we can't admit our failure there, although MSM is beginning to hint about it.
The Real History of the War in Ukraine | Jeffrey Sachs (62 min)
A Chronology of Events and Case for Diplomacy
Sachs is widely recognized for bold and effective strategies to address complex challenges including the escape from extreme poverty, the global battle against human-induced climate change, international debt and financial crises, national economic reforms, and the control of pandemic and epidemic diseases.
Stupidity on a Massive Scale | Scott Ritter (50 min)
Scott Ritter is a former Marine intelligence officer who served in the former Soviet Union, implementing arms control agreements, and on the staff of General Norman Schwartzkopf during the Gulf War, where he played a critical role in the hunt for Iraqi SCUD missiles. From 1991 until 1998, Mr. Ritter served as a Chief Inspector for the United Nations in Iraq, leading the search for Iraq’s proscribed weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Ritter was a vocal critic of the American decision to go to war with Iraq. His new book, Disarmament in the Time of Perestroika: Arms Control and the End of the Soviet Union, is his ninth.
Scott Ritter: “The CIA is working directly with Ukraine” | Redacted News (60 min)
Scott Ritter is a former UN Weapons Inspector who exposed the lies in Iraq. He told the world that Saddam Hussein didn't have weapons of mass destruction. Powerful people in Washington didn't want to hear it and he resigned in protest. The War in Iraq cost millions of lives and trillions of dollars. Now Ritter is revealing the truth about the latest U.S. military incursions in Ukraine, Syria, and beyond.
Doug Macgregor has been a rational analyst throughout the SMO. Here he is speaking with Tucker.
Tucker Carlson Talks To Colonel Douglas Macgregor About The Ukraine War (52 min)
Ukraine's Dire Situation w/ Alastair Crooke fmr Brit ambassador (27 min)
I like his clear explanations and analysis.
Let's wait for DNA conformation before before we dive into the Prigozhin plane crash. Lots of different speculative stories are floating around. Russia is investigating and we should know more in a week or so.
Let's briefly look at the possible invasion of Niger being pushed by France. They want their colony back! Pressuring ECOWAS to intervene in Niger (15 min) with the Duran.
On the Domestic Front.
Another Trump indictment and higher poll numbers as a result. Robert Barnes thinks the Georgia case is the best one to use to exonerate him. (25 min)
Trump Indictment, Attorneys Targeted, Vivek Rises, Maui Fires, AND MORE!
More from Robert on the Duran (2.5 hours)
Biden Scandals & Trump Indictments w/ Robert Barnes (Live)
Alex explains how Trump is all over twitter (X). (1st 5 to 10 min)
Trump tweets Never Surrender. Putin, Prigozhin mistakes. UKR lands in Crimea. Kallas Russia biz.
The Duran discuss Trump's Georgia indictment. (10 min)
Robert Kennedy Jr. making moves in SC as he seeks to oust Biden from the Democratic nomination
The DNC have a target on his back, and in my opinion will not allow him the nomination.
We may be a banana republic, but we've not sunk as deeply in the morass as Canada.
Jordan Peterson: I'm Going Through a Very DIFFICULT TIME in My Life (6.5 min)
All the World's a Stage...
Neil Oliver: We’ve all been watching the longest-running show of modern times. But soon the show might soon be over, as more and more of the audience, especially in the cheap seats, are becoming restless, aware of how uncomfortable their seats are.
Yes, the world stage hosts many stories, and they seem to come faster and faster. Like Alice, you've got to run twice as fast just to keep up. The world is in transition. We've been discussing the shift in the balance of power for quite awhile. This week was pivotal in that shift. I hope you are all doing well in your corner of the world. I keep hearing rumors of a new pandemic and future lockdowns. I hope it isn't true, but we'll have to wait and see. You think TPTB can pull off a second round, or will people refuse to comply next time around? I look forward to your thoughts and stories below.
Comments
Good morning
Thanks for the timely watch!
question everything
Good morning...
We are our own worst enemy. We continually shoot ourselves in the foot, and now that we're crippled and there is a BRICS alternative, it is no wonder that the rats are jumping off the sinking ship.
A new fair(er) world order is rising, and we better learn to accept it, but the neolibs and neocons simply can't. More failing war seems to be what they are pushing. What would it take to be shed of these incompetent western leaders? They all seem cut from the same cloth, more loyal to one another than their own citizenry.
Hope you are doing well, and the boats are all afloat!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
On second thought
after I finished amending my comment, it became too much of an essay on its own. So
will use it in my next open thread instead, rather than hi-jacking yours.
We've a new set of deer in the back this morning. A doe and a tiny fawn. Cute.
Cheers!
question everything
I'll look forward to reading it Wed.
Take care till then!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks for another fully loaded WW, LO
This video with Gerald Celente/Judge Napolitano hosted by
Pasta and Metzer via the JD show is well worth the watch.
Judge Nap tells us basically that Joementia isn't in charge at
all of the Ukrainian fiasco. Whereas GC attacks the whole game
itself. Celente is brilliant in his rage at it all
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
Good morning...
Hope all is well with you and yours. Thanks for the clip. I almost included it, but I felt the WW was getting overlong, so thanks for the inclusion here. I also was going to post some of the autoearth stuff from today, but didn't want to just keep adding material with many long features today.
Thanks for coming by and adding the clip. Gerald and the Judge do a weekly discussion I think on Wednesdays.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
So in mentioning automatic earth, here is this gem
MacGregor tells it like it is, it's americans last
It was nice to see the Judge, Gerald on the JD show w/Pasta, it would be
nicer to see them with Jimmy. For the right, left, libertarians all coming together
is a force that could bring down the empire of lies
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
Great discussion...
I hid the link just above Alstair's video. I've been catching Tucker on X at this channel.
Thanks for the feature!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
another voice of reason
From Simplicius the Thinker, his latest mostly on BRICS and some Wagner stuff ..
simplicius76@substack.com
sorry, can't embed
question everything
Simplicius the Thinker...
...is indeed thoughtful.
Thanks for sharing his link. Here's another... https://simplicius76.substack.com/
The news of the hour is the conformation of DNA...Prigozhin is among the dead as are many in the leadership of Wagner. https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/special-report-the-curtain-closes
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
musical interlude from
Chimes Of Freedom: The Songs Of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years Of Amnesty International
question everything
So many great songs...
Bob was the poet laureate of our generation.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I've posted some dommentary on Anthony Oliver's song
https://caucus99percent.com/content/re-rich-men-north-richmond
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 --
is dommentry a melding of
documentary and commentary?
I enjoy new words and their provenance.
Thanks!
question everything
a slip of the finger, as it were.
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 --
You might want to listen to his clip at the top...
He answers your questions.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
@Lookout I was worried when it
I was worried when it first came out. That is the problem with art and history. Living through the Reagan years ruined a lot for me and that is how I saw the song at first, but I was willing to give it time.
Since then, it has been quite amusing. One picture he drew was a map of Richmond and DC. If you have ever driven I-95, you know that north of Richmond is DC. He drew a nice arrow to show what he meant. No dog whistle there.
Viral clips are to be questioned, IMO...
I liked his explanation. Particularly the part where he was amused by the debate featuring his piece, which he said was about those very people. I also thought he covered the "obese on welfare" line in a thoughtful way...explaining it was TPTB recommendations of processed junk foods and cokes he was referring too.
Thanks for coming by today!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I watched it before I wrote my piece; as I said, I was
writing not about what he felt or intended, but about what I, and probably many others, heard. Could not avoid hearing some things based on the language used.
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 --
As he said...
language is open to interpretation so he understood why people were questioning. I find him a thoughtful young man. YMMV.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good afternoon, Lo, et. al.
After discussing with Dear One that 106 deg. temp discourages going anywhere or doing anything, I will devote my afternoon to reading and listening.
I look forward to listening to Michael Hudson, who can make complicated economics and monetary policies understandable to me.
Anthony Oliver is a good example of how lefties can demonize any criticism of the status quo, unless it is aimed directly at Trump.
You posted the 2 hr 29 minute Duran video with Barnes that I mention in a comment last night. Thanks for linking it.
I thought about the 1st Am. ramifications for hours afterwards. If Trump is convicted, and the legal precedent is established that criticizing election outcomes is a crime, and the 1st Am. doesn't afford protection, it will spread to other criticisms of government.
I really believe a Trump conviction will change our lives forever. Say what you want to say while you can. The window is closing on that opportunity.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
The effort to silence all of us who...
speak against the accept narrative is amazing. I'm no Trump fan, but I'm less of a fan of weaponizing the legal system. The obvious hypocrisy between Biden's blatant graft and the rather trivial cases against Trump just makes Trump more popular. The stupidity is phenomenal.
Try to stay cool. Our heat bubble is supposed to break tomorrow. I hope they are right. Take care and be well!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
We will have highs of 98
for the next 3 days, then it will rise back up to 102 to 107 for the next 2 or 3 weeks. Fall won't come until sometime in October. This has not happened in my lifetime.
I wish I could get it through to the TDS types that whatever happens to Trump will happen to them one day. We must protect the integrity of the 1st. Am. every case, every time, because it is our protection against going to prison for saying what we think.
Now, Hillary wrote a book about how the election was stolen from her. Maddow made millions spouting that meme. So, when do they face their charges? Any day now?
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
oops, comment below
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I wouldn't hold my breath...
I think Gore did win FL and Kerry probably won OH and in both cases would have been presidents. But Trump better not question Biden's victory? The hypocrisy is palatable.
TDS is real. I've got many friends with that infection. Blinded to reality by their obsession.
Once again, stay cool!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I agree that
both Gore and Kerry won.
I am looking for the magic stay cool technique.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
magic cooling?
I bought one of these misting battery powered fan at trade day without battery and charger cause I already had them (for $40). Sure makes going out and doing things more comfortable.
All the best!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I was gonna get one of those.
Dear One was skeptical that they worked as advertised.
Well, your endorsement will send me shopping!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
misting fans give evaporative cooling...
...much like why we sweat. Years ago, I read about Babylon's hanging gardens designed to provide evaporative cooling through plant transpiration. The misting fan is that on steroids. You can also just purchase a mister for say a box fan.
All we can do is our best to survive heat.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
An example of the arrogance of the West to the global south.
The irony is blatant isn't it?
Thanks for the X clip and comment!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Lets not forget that Biden offered $700.
Maui is a shame...
The folding homes Hungary is providing is neat. And the contrast of Ukraine support vs Hawaii support is very telling. Thanks for pointing it out!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
How will Macron react to this unverified information?
As an aside: This information is revealing.
Amazing that only 2 countries weren't colonized.
one of which became a member of BRICS+
Ethiopia and the other a US cut out.
I hope Niger can manage to escape western domination. All I can say is good luck.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Does Liberia even count???
It's Israel for Subsaharans, that's all it ever was - and from what little I've heard, the relationship between settlers and already-theres didn't go much better (at least they didn't have the State Department constantly pressing the scales and stirring the pot, AFAIK).
Interesting, pattern, though; all the "best" countries were British colonies...and the whole world is lucky Belgium and Italy never got any more than they did; I hear Eritrea's recently been making North Korea look livable.
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
Don't threaten me with a good time.
“The loyal Left cannot act decisively. Their devotion to the system is a built-in kill switch limiting dissent.” - Richard Moser
I'll vote for Bro Cornell...
if he makes it to our AL ballot. I'm voting RFK in the dim primary, and if by some miracle he gets the nomination (and I don't think there's a chance) I'll vote for him instead of bro Cornell. Won't matter. My vote never seems to matter.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I'll try to restrain myself
This article from the Hill is hilarious. The author ostensibly an expert, observes quite a few salient facts, then draws the wrong conclusions. He notes quite a few of Yoon's shortcomings, although not his through and through corruption and authoritarian inclinations.
South Korea’s Yoon could be the weakest link in the next Korean War
Aug 21
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/4158145-south-koreas-yoon-...
Kishida isn't increasing military spending by 2 percent of GDP but to 2 percent of GDP which is effectively setting a goal of doubling the budget. (that's his intent anyway) South Korea's defense budget is characteristically substantially over 2 percent.
It's ironic that the US should say this. If the US Forces Korea, the so called United Nations Command, aren't committed to the defense of North Korea by their treaty with South Korea, what are they doing in South Korea conducting military exercises, dispatching troops, aircraft and ships from other locations in Asia and the US every year? Why do they maintain the biggest foreign miliary base the US has in the entire world at Camp Humphreys? Why do they have dozens of bases there? You could have fooled me. The South Koreans recently spent more than 10 billion dollars expanding Camp Humphreys for the US forces. The author also forgets that the US is party to the armistice in a war with North Korea that is still technically ongoing. In fact, the war is a direct result of the US occupation of South Korea and the US imposed division of the peninsula. It isn't as if we just happened to be there.
Most of his political appointees are far right or they wouldn't be appointed.
When the US had a competent party in power in South Korea, with President Moon Jae-in, they did everything possible to undermine his position diplomatically and politically. The Biden administration loves Yoon Suk-yeol because he is far right and is slavishly obsequious to the US and Japan. He couldn't possibly unite the country behind him. Yoon's signature on the Camp David Trilateral "Partnership" was a long cherished goal of the US for decades. Now its not good enough. That's ironic as hell.
This author seems to think that Japanese military intervention in South Korea is necessary or might be tolerated by South Koreans. This thinking is totally out of touch with historical and political reality in South Korea. Some analysts are deeply concerned that because of the military threats and no diplomacy approach posed both Yoon and the US, that there will be some sort of provocation or incident with North Korea before the next South Korean election to try to muster some South Korean support behind Yoon.
The more Yoon is involved with Japan, the more unpopular he becomes. This is just a fact of life in South Korea. As Chung Dong-young former Unification Minister of South Korea noted just yesterday in a recorded video, the Trilateral alliance with Japan adds nothing to South Korean security that it didn't already have with its alliance to the US, and Yoon by committing himself to US-Japanese objectives against China, actually jeopardizes South Korean national security. What did Yoon gain? Zero. He already had US military commitment, and the role of Japanese armed forces in South Korea's defense is a US delusion.
"In contrast to Yoon’s failing leadership style, Japan’s Kishida..." Actually, Kishida isn't much more popular than Yoon according to the poll the author cites himself.
Below is a case in point, burning up the South Korean internets the last couple of days- periodically Yoon goofs like this. I call it his anti-Bamboo Spear campaign to vilify Korea patriots, national heroes actually, who resisted Japanese conquest for 50 years.
Thanks for the OT Lookout, I'm enjoying the videos and news items.
(edited to add link)
語必忠信 行必正直
The narrtives are really pretty funny...
...but then again not so funny. Much like the situation in America.
I've been thinking about you as this new storm system heads into the gulf. Hopefully it will keep on track and hit in the mostly empty great bend of FL. I don't know how my FL friends deal with multiple storm impact...but they do. However, I know it becomes more difficult as we age.
hope all is well in your newly recreated digs.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks LO
Yes TS Idalia is very much on our minds. It could follow the very same track Hurricane Ian did coming up I-4 from the Tampa Bay area. Or it could go on a more northerly track from the big bend coast. I guess we won't know for sure until sometime Tuesday. I deliberately didn't fix everything or buy a complete set of furnishings because I thought something like this could happen.
As long as it doesn't drag along inhabited areas or stall, drenching everything with absurd levels of rain, we should be okay. That's what I hope anyway.
語必忠信 行必正直
So far looks like it will come ashore north of you...
...but never can tell as you well know. Anyway for what it's worth you've been in my thoughts. Most of my friends are east coast people who have felt multiple impacts, and may even with this system. That's the odd thing you never know. All the best!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
signing out with this song I love...
We need to find our way across our great divide and find our common ground.
I've been walkin' in my sleep
Countin' troubles 'stead of countin' sheep
Where the years went I can't say;
I just turned around and they've gone away
I've been siftin' through the layers
Of dusty books and faded papers
They tell a story I used to know
And it was one that happened so long ago
It's gone away in yesterday
Now I find myself on the mountainside
Where the rivers change direction
Across the Great Divide
Now, I heard the owl callin'
Softly as the night was fallin'
With a question, and I replied
But he's gone across the borderline
He's gone away in yesterday
Now I find myself on the mountainside
Where the rivers change direction
Across the Great Divide
The finest hour that I have seen
Is the one that comes between
The edge of night and the break of day
It's when the darkness rolls away
It's gone away in yesterday
Now I find myself on the mountainside
Where the rivers change direction
Across the Great Divide
It's gone away in yesterday
Now I find myself on the mountainside
Where the rivers change direction
Across the Great Divide
Where the rivers change direction
Across the great divide
Good night all...
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Delusions of grandeur
.
Check out his many posts demanding this and that. He looks so normal, but sheesh he’s like the devil wearing Prava
https://twitter.com/GunterFehlinger?t=YTorCjYHypBQcKlC9zRTRw&s=09
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
Boy is he crazy...
and as you suggest deluded. Old school thinking that the US runs the world. Those days are over and all they got left is copium like this.
Thank for the heads up about the nut job.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
WTF happened to Bernie?
.
Y’all remember when Bernie threatened to primary Obama because of his policies? I can’t for the life of me understand why he has changed so much.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
wtf?
I was all in for him. Then, figured he was a plant. Then questioned my skepticism. Now, I am glad I was/am a Bernie skeptic.
I am not a Brother West supporter, but will not detract from him. He is as honest as the day is long. He means well, means no harm, has no hate in his heart, and if he is on the ballot, he is very likely to get my vote. He is a vote for love and respect. I have never had the chance to vote for that. May as well do it once, before I get old and die.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
provided they allow the green party
ballot access in TX. They didn't last year in AL.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
my only guess is that...
he (or his family) was possibly threatened by deep state goons or he cherishes his senate committee chair too much. So many of us thought he was for the people, but the revolution he called for was just talk. What a disappointment. His foreign policies have been his weakest point.
Why does no dim call our the Biden graft? All they got is Trump bad.
I'm sorry it turned out this way.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Would someone please do me a favor?
Give me the skinny (I think that's the right term) on the latest Trump thing; is anything actually NEW? Is anything actually DIFFERENT?
All I know is hooplah about a mugshot - but wasn't there already one, and one that looked way worse? Was that bogus or something? This one looks a lot less like a mugshot than it does an inept selfie; I'd half-expect a big patch of thumb in the corner.
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!