The (Real) New World Order

Some time ago, I wrote about the intention of the Chinese and Russian governments to implement a global Financial system of payments for International trade as an alternative to the US Dollar, currently the preferred currency of trade and the reserve currency held by all Reserve Banks globally. In addition, the (Petro)Dollar is the primary unit of trade for all oil and gas producing nations (OPEC).

Suffice it to say, this whole system of the US Dollar having supremacy over any other currency for international trade was a wholesome illegal gambit enforced upon nations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The US secretly entrapped the Saudi Arabian government (being the leading oil producing nation of OPEC at the time) into a deal that would see their government agree to trade oil and gas only in US dollars in exchange for protection by the US military against regional forces assumed to be bent on invading their Kingdom and stealing their natural resources. As a result of this cosy arrangement, ALL countries trading with Saudi Arabia (and subsequently OPEC) for hydrocarbons had to use the US dollar.  This system became extremely beneficial for the US economy, due to the fact that the Federal Reserve could print US Dollars ad infinitum regardless of what shape their economy was in. Ever heard of the term Quantitative Easing, Fiat currency?  As a result, the EU followed suite, and created the Euro currency as the preferred financial instrument of trade for all European nations in the EU. Thus, should the EU run out of Euros……just print more. 

Although the Dollar was backed by gold up until 1971 through the Bretton-Woods system of monetary management, a huge exodus from this system by various European states caused President Nixon to dump the system as well, in light of the express devaluation of the US Dollar, triggered by the Europeans' exit of this system. Thus, all currencies not backed by an alternative commodity became Fiat money. This system of free-floating currencies led to the illegal gambit plan with the Saudi’s. Consequently, international trade of commerce between all nations uncompromisingly morphed into the exclusive domain of the US Dollar, and only the US dollar. As mentioned, this was all totally illegal, yet ALL nations were forced to toe the line, why? Because Uncle Sam had everyone staring down the barrel of a gun (US military bases globally).  When Saddam Hussein and Muhammar Gaddafi tried to break free from the economic slavery of the US Dollar by selling their hydrocarbons in an alternative currency, they were taken out and their people were “liberated” by the US and NATO militaries to the extent of total catastrophic destruction of their countries; conveniently staged under the pretext of WMD and regime change. The US government also tried the regime change model with Syria for the same reasons, but the Russians would have none of it, and put a stop to their bullying.

The primacy of the US Dollar took a huge wallop recently with the announcement of the Chinese Government trading hydrocarbons only in Yuan backed by Gold. This comes off the back of the Russian Government similarly  enacting legislation, that trade in US dollars will cease at all Russian Seaports  unconditionally. Similar economic activity was brewing in Venezuela, after the US government arrogantly enforced crippling economic sanctions on the South American oil rich country. With new vast oil fields discovered in this country, its oil reserves have exceeded that of Saudi Arabia and are currently the leading producer in the OPEC group of oil producing nations.  The Maduro Government has declared that all trading partners with Venezuela would use the Bolivar with Gold as an alternative. This obviously pissed off the US big time, resulting in the Venezuelan government being branded a rogue nation who is starving and killing their people; another regime change model in the making, and a famous neocon wet dream. Countries like Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and most Eastern European nations are negotiating trade deals in alternative currencies other than the US dollar. All new Projects and Commercial trade deals between the BRICS countries (mainly Russia and China) and nations they trade with are negotiated in their own currencies backed up by a Gold standard. The US dollar as the preferred currency of trade is slowly bypassed as more countries are beginning to adopt the new system of trade.

At the UNGA-2017 (United Nations General Assembly), the Donald (Trump)

lambasted countries seen by the US as “rogue” nations or “An Axis of Evil”, referring to the nations of Syria, Iran, Venezuela and North Korea. There are no prizes for guessing why these countries are demonised and threatened with military intervention.{In the case of North Korea, it is the conduit passageway to containing and surrounding the Chinese.} The US government is well aware of the gradual collapse of their casino-style Dollar-based monetary system, therefore the pressure on them trying to contain the disaster results in the usual military style bullying by the smaller nations unable to defend themselves. This was the exact reason why the Russians intervened in the Syrian crisis in late 2015. The country has now been fully liberated and because the US lost that fight, they’ve now turned their sights on North Korea, Venezuela and Iran.  But, given that all three countries are recognized allies and strategic trading partners of China and Russia, the chances of the US stooges making any headway in destroying any of them is nothing but another stupefying neocon wet dream. The fact that China imports most of their oil from Iran and Venezuela, their safety from US military intervention is all but guaranteed.

Gradually, as the Western Dollar-backed financial system becomes less prominent, the Eastern model led by Russia and China gains traction with European and Asian nations slowly considering the alternative, and re-evaluating their options. All new trade deals forged with these two countries are finalized in currencies other than the US Dollar. That said, the amount of trade deals signed off at the European Economic Union Conference earlier this month, between attending nations, was equivalent to a staggering 400 billion US dollars. At the recent BRICS Summit in China, projects to the equivalent of $4,5 Billion were approved between these countries, and will be denominated in an alternative basket of BRICS currencies backed by, you guessed it, Gold.

I said this before, but will reiterate; as the US meanders along threatening nations, and spewing all kinds of hateful rhetoric at everyone that opposes their moronic agendas, Messrs Putin and Jinping are forging commercial trade deals with anyone interested in their vision of a Multipolar world, where no nation holds sway over another economically, politically, socially or militarily. This is the Real New World Order envisioned by the rising Superpowers of 2030.

Is Cryptocurrency the currency of the 21st century?

The first time I heard of Bitcoin was around 2009 through a documentary on an International TV News Channel. At the time the concept of cryptocurrency was barely discovered, and while watching the show, I brushed off the idea of buying into something that may not last beyond the year 2009.  At the time the currency was trading around one US dollar per Bitcoin. Since then, I didn’t bother pursuing or following the trend until recently when I heard Bitcoin was trading around US$4500 per bitcoin, and approaching US$5000 at lightning speed. That’s when I realized my utter stupidity for not buying and investing at least 100 US dollars in Bitcoin!

Cryptocurrencies are a relatively new digital financial instrument that has its trading platform entirely independent from traditional financial trading markets. The first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was developed in 2009, by Satoshi Nakamoto. Although the founder has never revealed himself to the public, the general consensus is that this name is just a pseudonym to hide the founder’s real identity. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. Digital cryptocurrency trading has grown with new currencies like Etherium, Zcash, Litecoin, Ripple, etc entering the market. The phenomenal growth in terms of trading price has grown with these currencies and out-performed the growth of traditional commodities, like gold or natural gas. So what are Cryptocurrencies, and why all the hype around it?

A Cryptocurrency is a digital currency that uses cryptography as a means of security in the exchange of this digital currency during trade. This cryptography in turn is also a means of creating new digital currencies based on complex algorithms processed by the Bitcoin application software.  Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency that was created and traded through a digital trading market. The trading of Bitcoin is referred to as a Peer-to-Peer trading system for online payments that does not require a central authority or third party to vet or manage the transaction, as in the traditional trading market where brokerage firms manage your share trading. Bitcoins are generated or “mined” by miners with specialised computer hardware that processes transactions and packages them into a blockchain. A blockchain is a collection of linear, timestamped series of transactions formulated in a block. The blockchain is essentially a digital transactional ledger which is freely shared and is under no control of any regulatory body.

The Real value of Bitcoin & Crypto Currency [Source: Youtube -Beschrijving]

Bitcoins can be used to trade any goods and services. It is also a convenient investment vehicle through manipulation of its market price. Bitcoins can be used to trade in Forex and can be exchanged for any currency. It is a purely digital entity and has no physical appearance. It is usually stored in digital Wallets that are protected by Cryptographic signatures. All transactions, cryptographic signatures and Private keys are protected by sophisticated encryption algorithms generated by the Bitcoin application software. It therefore protects a transaction and currency from being traded to two different recipients.  

What is Bitcoin [Source:Youtube; WeUseCoins]

Due to the huge success of the Bitcoin, several other crypto coins have emerged on the market that offers additional trading services which are not offered with Bitcoin. Etherium cryptocurrency  has additional service offerings through their smart contract applications. Where Bitcoin’s primary function is Peer-to-Peer transacting, thus eliminating the middleman in the form of a Broker or trading entity, Etherium takes this one step further where application code can be developed to form contracts that, in essence eliminates any third party or middleman between two transacting entities. Thus, a smart contract can be developed to sell your house directly to a buyer without an intermediary of an estate agent or any lawyers. This naturally reduces additional expenses and time incurred through these middlemen.

Source: Blockgeeks.com

There are several other Cryptocurrencies in circulation. As of July 2017, more than 900 cryptocurrencies were available for trading over the Internet. Bitcoin is currently the largest blockchain network with a market capitalization of 75 Billion US Dollars. The total market capitalisation of all cryptocurrencies is around 175 Billion US Dollars. The purposes for development of these cryptocurrencies varies from servicing the legalized Cannabis community in the US (Potcoin) to the trusted storage of any kind of small data, like DNS entries, KPIs, or SSL protocol data (Emercoin). There is even a cryptocurrency that services the adult entertainment industry, called Titcoin!

Trading in cryptocurrencies is available for trade in most countries globally, with a few exceptions like Saudi Arabia, Bolivia, Ecuador, etc. Due to the lack of a regulatory framework to govern the crypto markets, although it can be legally traded in most countries, there are specific restrictions of its trade for businesses and financial Institutions. Countries and regional Trade bodies do not have explicit systems that restrict, regulate, or ban cryptocurrency. The decentralized and anonymous nature of cryptocurrency has challenged many governments on how to allow legal use while preventing criminal activity. Most countries are still analysing ways to properly regulate cryptocurrency. Overall, it remains in a grey area as the technological breakthrough has left lawmakers at a loss for a feasible regulatory framework. Recently countries like Russia and China have moved to restrict its trade further so that a more rigid and manageable control can be formulated to prevent criminals from seeking a safe haven to launder and move illegal money around.

The key differences between Cryptocurrencies and your credit/debit cards when trading on the Internet are:

1. There is no central bank that determines its value or controls the flow of new money being created.  Hence, there is no manipulation of the amount of money in existence by an institution, like the US Dollar  The US Dollar is controlled by the Federal Reserve, but cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, are controlled to produce an amount of coins limited by an algorithm that no single person, company or country or other type of interest can change.
2. The value of a cryptocurrency is determined by the market .  Countries are not involved, so the welfare of your nation’s economy will not affect the value of your cryptocurrency.  The value of a true cryptocurrency is based solely on supply and demand and functions much like a commodity on the stock market.
3. Cryptocurrencies command the lowest fees to transfer money anywhere in the world.  The fee is not affected by distance, or country borders.  

At the rate that this Industry is growing and the popularity it’s attracting, the Bitcoin may well be the currency of the future. Although there are some countries that refuse to recognize or allow the trading of cryptocurrencies, it is quite evident that this Industry is here to stay and will grow exponentially based on its current status and trajectory.

The Indispensable Nation and the Dear Leader

Image by Rob Rogers

North Korea is branded a rogue nation with their Dear Leader portrayed as a psychopath bent on destroying the US or any nation that criticises him or his alleged provocative actions. His persistent testing of missiles which are assumed to be nuclear capable ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles) is condemned daily, by specifically, the US and its allies and perpetuated by a pliant mainstream media. The global perception, as a result of this condemnation and media frenzy, unsurprisingly categorizes the North Korean leader as an evil maniac itching to start another world war. On the face of it, the projected perception makes any logical thinking person agree with this status quo. But as in any situation, there are always two sides to a story, and this little story is no exception. 

The history of the North Korean/US relationship goes way back to the Korean War between North Korea/China and South Korea/US from 1950 through 1953. Near the end of the war, the US military ran amok on the Korean Peninsula, and wiped out approximately 30% of the North Korean population. Included in its vast arsenal of conventional weapons, chemical weapons (Napalm) were used in abundance. The amount far exceeded the quantity used in the entire Second World War by the US. The destruction wrought was a deliberate, horrific slaughter of men, women and children from a war mongering nation against another. In the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, only two buildings were left standing. A total of seventy eight cities were flattened.  The US only relented when the Chinese intervened. The North Koreans will never forget; and all its leaders since, have vowed never again would their nation be subjected to such brutality. Thus, it was agreed that the only way they could protect themselves from such brutality was to create a deterrent. Hence, the North Korean Nuclear arms programme.

Since the Korean war, the US maintained up to 54 military bases in South Korea,  but eventually scaling down to the current 16, with at least three on the border of the two countries. This excludes the bases stationed in Japan and the Island of Okinawa of which there are no less than 20. With these bases in South Korea, the US, in partnership with the South Korean military, conducts annual military exercises on the peninsula with a strategic focus of the “decapitation of Kim Jong Un and his Generals”; basically, regime change. As if that is not enough provocation, the US persistently overflies B-1B bombers over North Korea in “simulations” with their ally.  Suffice it to say, these B-1B bombers flies from a military base in Guam. This may explain the Dear Leader’s threat of a possible attack on Guam. A total of eleven such overflights had occurred since May 2017. The simulation exercises for this year, bizarrely named Ulchi-Freedom Guardian, is taking place throughout this month of August, and includes the militaries of South Korea (50, 000 troops), Australia, Canada, Netherlands and Japan.

By now you are probably wondering why the US is threatening and bullying a small country like North Korea with a population of only 26 million people. Without stressing the obvious fact that the US government is nothing but a schoolyard bully, who finds pleasure in picking a fight with small nations who are unable to fight back, (like Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Granada, Yemen), this is no exception, but with underlying strategic intentions.

Let me put this into perspective. North Korea is the only country in North East Asia that is not an ally of the US/West, but is instead aligned with China and Russia. China is North Korea’s number one economic trading partner, with Russia being the second. The US strategically wants total control over the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan in its bid to contain China’s influence in the region and in so doing have complete control of Regional Economic activity aligned with its own interests. The growth of the Chinese economy and the expansion of their regional influence (throughout Asia and Eastern Europe) have the US government pissing in their pants. The strategic partnership between Russia and China on all diplomatic fronts, has already gained significant traction in Eastern Europe and Central/South Asia through bodies such as ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations), SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) and the EEU (Eurasian Economic Union). The diplomatic relationships and trade partnerships forged between members of these Organisations are changing the political and economic landscapes in the region. For obvious reasons, the US and the West is doing whatever they can to derail this amalgamation of nations.

The Chinese have a standard military agreement in place with North Korea since 1961, in that, should the North Koreans be attacked militarily, the Chinese are obliged to assist militarily. Conversely, should the North Koreans invoke a military provocation and start a war, the Chinese would be neutral. The tense stand-off of the US/Korean crisis, has seen China and Russia call for restraint on both sides and urged the US to refrain from their provocation with their military exercises in exchange for Pyongyang suspending their missile tests. The latest missile test by Pyongyang is a direct response to the persistent military exercises by the US and its allies. Yet, only one side of this situation is covered by the mainstream media with the US playing the victim amid threats of full scale war against North Korea. However, all this rhetoric, sabre rattling and hubris coming out of Washington will amount to nothing lest they forget the implications of starting a fire fight with the Dear Leader.

Donald Trump and his battle with the Deep State

The last time I wrote about The Donald, I defended his success in the US Elections in 2016.  Some friends voiced their disappointment in my stance, yet others (childishly) unfriended and blocked my profiles on Social Media. I don’t know what it is, but when everyone else goes left, I will unassumingly go right! Maybe it’s that silent rebel in me, or that uncontrollable urge to piss people off!

Anyway, my analysis was partly based on his promises and commitments to the American people and his stance on America’s foreign policy in the Middle East and elsewhere.  Though it probably has always been a risk trusting politicians with their promises during campaign trails, I threw my hat in with the Donald due to my distrust of a Presidency of one Hilary Rodham Clinton. This scepticism was based purely on her history of sowing chaos in the Middle East (Libya, Yemen) and Eastern Europe (Ukraine). I firmly believed that Hilary Clinton would have been the cause of the next global war between nuclear armed countries. I firmly believed that this woman was crazy enough to instigate such a global catastrophe. If you have seen the video of her interview commenting on the destruction of Libya and the death of Muhammar Gadhafi, you would understand what I’m talking about.

With a reflection on the list of failures in his career, and his family’s alleged affiliation with the far right, The Donald’s success in the White House was always going to be questionable and controversial.  His success at the polls was the last thing that was expected from liberal America and prior to the elections Hilary Clinton’s rise to the White House was a forgone conclusion by every media pundit trolling the mainstream media; Little did they know that rural America was going to have none of it, and was sick of the cyclical bullshit every US President had brought to their Society since the first Clinton enjoyed fellatio in the White House. They were sick of the endless wars their government was sowing around the world. They wanted real change locally. They wanted someone who would provide some hope of rebuilding their country, and not send their fathers, sons, brothers, and partners to remote areas of the globe to fight wars which had very little bearing or influence on the prosperity of their society. On the contrary, these wars fueled more hatred for the US government, from almost every other nation in the world, especially in the Middle East. In Donald Trump, they had a flicker of hope; not much, but it was a better choice than ordering more of the same in Hilary Clinton. They knew that in Clinton, nothing would change, but things would probably get worse. Her political scandals did little to convince the American public that she was the real deal. Thus, the electorate decided that they would choose the lesser of two evils, in Donald Trump.

Donald Trump’s first 100 days in the White House was not convincing, and there was little evidence of commitment to his campaign promises. He flip flopped on various issues and occasionally did or said the exact opposite of what he promised. He changed staff in his team the way American Football players are substituted. He would say one thing today, and a few days later would totally reverse and take a different stance. After the first one hundred days, it was starting to look like The Donald was totally out of his depth and it seemed like he didn't have a clue.

One of the things Trump promised on his campaign trail, was that he was going to “drain the swamp” when he got to the White House.  He implied that he was going to purge his administration of the undesirable factions whose agenda was not consistent with the policies of the US Government or in the interests of the American Public. On his arrival in Washington, he realized that this draining the swamp would be more challenging than hanging someone from a tree in the Deep South. He realized that running the US Administration was not the same as running an Academy of MBA hopefuls. But, he was consistent in his “You’re fired” mantra when someone did not supposedly conform, as was witnessed in his chopping and changing staff almost weekly in those one hundred days. 

In politics around the globe there will always be groups or organisations, be they profitable or non- profitable, contesting for a slice of a sitting government’s influence to further their own interests. In American politics this type of external influence in government policy is no exception.  Depending on the extent to which this interest is sought, it can hugely affect the strategic goals of that Administration. The bigger the influence, the more a sitting Government may surrender their mandate in exchange for political favours or self-interests. This phenomenon has come to be known as a “Shadow State” or “Deep State”.  There are various examples around the world where this “takeover” of a sitting government is evident.  A prime example of this would be none other than in my own country, the South African Government.

This “Deep State” is what Trump was referring to when he committed to “draining the swamp” in Washington.  On taking up the Presidency, only then did he realise the extent to which this Deep State had influenced the US Administration.  Needless to say, this external influence on the US Government dates back to the George Bush Snr and Bill Clinton Administrations. These influences were especially prominent in the many State Security agencies, like the FBI, CIA, and some fifteen other agencies. Yes, there are 17 official State Intelligence agencies in the United States. Therefore, this changed the simple task of “draining the swamp” into a mammoth Macro Project of desalinating the Atlantic, instead. When Trump showed signs that he wanted to deliver on some of his campaign trail commitments, e.g. improve relations with Russia, he was accused of colluding with the Russians to influence the elections in his favour.  When he tried to de-escalate the US presence in Syria, more allegations of bribery and corruption were leveled against him. He subsequently had no choice but to play ball with his adversaries in his Administration, or risk the possibility of impeachment through nefarious motives and unsubstantiated allegations.

Since Hilary Clinton was the preferred candidate to push the agenda of the Deep State, yet lost the election, it put much more pressure on The Donald to conform to their needs or face the consequences.  Hence, his unpopularity from the day he beat Hilary at the polls. His battle with this party of rogues is far from over, and they will not rest until he is totally in their court, or he is impeached. Their goal was always to have a pliable individual in the White House to further their agenda.