Baltic
Dry Index. 2257 -01 Brent
Crude 68.44
Spot
Gold 3337 U S 2
Year Yield 3.91 unch.
US
Federal Debt. 37.150 trillion
US
GDP 30.159 trillion
“Memories
of shame have greater reserves of power to haunt than even memories of love.”
Glenn Haybittle, In the Warsaw Ghetto.
President Trump
arrived at Prestwick Airport, Scotland, last night on a private mostly golf
business visit, and headed to his Scots flagship Golf Club, Turnberry,
Ayrshire.
Over the next 4 days
he travels to Aberdeenshire to open yet another new GC. During his trip, he has
meetings with UK Prime Minister Starmer and Scotland's First Minister Swinney,
who has promised to press Trump on Gaza.
On Gaza, Trump now
acts like the lamest of lame duck Presidents, even upstaging Biden. Completely
irrelevant, and an enabler of the rising deliberate starvation in Gaza. The
Head of one Refugee Agency interviewed Friday morning on the BBC World Service
radio, stated that 50, mostly infants and the aged, were now dying of
starvation daily, but he expected the figure to start increasing
"exponentially".
There is also a
picture of a starving Gaza infant circulating this week in Europe. Not expected
to live. The hospital treating him and his mother in Gaza, has no infant formula and
has run out nappies. I have not seen the picture myself, the news media here
refuse to show it.
Israel said on
Thursday, that they had released 200 trucks of aid into Gaza during the week.
But the head of UN relief in Gaza stated on the BBC that the true figure was 28
trucks. 200 is nowhere near as much as is needed for 2.1 million people.
28?
For the first time
since returning from living in America I got asked on Friday, by Conservative
or possibly now Reform Party likely voters, why American's are aiding and
abetting Gaza starvation. I pointed out I haven't lived there in almost 30
years and have little idea of modern US politics, but that most Americans
probably are unaware that they are being held increasingly complicit by the
rest of the world, in Israel's Gaza starvation policy.
Nothing good lies
this way. The west is fast splitting from US leadership, as per France
joining Spain and the Republic of Ireland in recognising Palestine as a State,
albeit only from September.
If France can
persuade Germany to join them in recognising Palestine, Holland and Austria
will probably go along as well.
In Gaza news, has
Israel/USA/Europe/GB, Bibi/Trump/Starmer no humanity or shame? Were the difficult decisions of Kennedy and Khrushchev
1962, so easily discarded for starvation 2025?
If a King can speak
up, so belatedly can I.
If the king of Belgium can
speak the truth about Gaza, why can’t Europe’s cowardly politicians?
EU leaders should
have said what Philippe did months ago. He has highlighted their complicity
Fri 25 Jul 2025 10.22 BST
Just when it seemed that Europe’s moral failure over
Gaza was complete, the head of state of one EU country has stood up with a
powerful message of moral clarity. King Philippe of Belgium, whose direct
political statements are rare, condemned the grave humanitarian
abuses in Gaza as “a disgrace to humanity”.
In a televised address to mark Belgium’s
national day on 21 July, Philippe said: “I stand with all those who denounce
the grave humanitarian abuses in Gaza, where innocent civilians, trapped in
their enclave, are dying of hunger and being killed by bombs.” The monarch said
he fully supported the calls of the UN secretary general, António Guterres, to
end “this unbearable crisis”. From the royal palace in Brussels, the king
added: “The current situation has dragged on for far too long. It is a disgrace
to humanity.”
After a weekend in which at least 100 people across Gaza were
killed as they sought food and water – violence that elicited no formal EU
response – the monarch’s message stood out. He spoke of a recent meeting
with Rami Elhanan and Bassam Aramin – two
fathers, one Israeli and one Palestinian, who had each lost a daughter in
earlier outbreaks of violence in the Middle East. “They have put aside any
desire for revenge and have chosen to transform their pain into a message of
peace,” he said. “It is always human dignity that is at stake.”
The king’s speech resonated beyond Belgium. The
Dutch national broadcaster NOS openly questioned why King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands had not made a similar
statement.
---- His moral stance has deep roots in the Belgian monarchy. His
great-grandmother Queen Elisabeth was recognised by Yad Vashem as one of
the Righteous Among the Nations. During the second world war, she used her
position as queen mother to intervene on behalf of Jews facing deportation.
According to Yad Vashem, “these interventions by a member of a royal family in
Europe on behalf of Jews were unparalleled”.
More
How good/honest are
the Big Four auditors?
Deloitte probed over audits of
scandal-hit commodities giant Glencore
23 July 2025
Deloitte is being investigated by the UK
accounting watchdog over its audits of Glencore’s finances.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) will
probe the Big Four firm’s work for the Swiss commodities giant over an
eight-year period.
It will look into whether Deloitte gave
‘sufficient consideration to the risk of non-compliance with laws and
regulations’ when signing off accounts between 2013 and 2020.
Glencore has been rocked by bribery and
corruption lawsuits in the last few years.
The FRC noted that the FTSE 100
commodities trader and miner and a UK subsidiary had been ‘subject to
investigations by government agencies into misconduct’.
In total Glencore, which produces coal,
copper, nickel, zinc and cobalt, has had to pay out over £1billion after legal
action in Brazil, the UK, and US.
In 2022, it was fined £281million
following an investigation by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office.
The SFO found Glencore paid nearly
£21million in bribes to gain preferential access to oil in Africa. It flew cash
to Africa and falsified documents.
In 2022 Glencore admitted bribery and
failure to prevent bribery after transactions in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea,
Ivory Coast, Nigeria and South Sudan.
Six former executives have been charged
with bribery. A trial is yet to begin.
Regulators are probing Deloitte’s work on
four audits, including for bus operator Go-Ahead, fashion brand Joules, car
seller Lookers and fintech Stenn.
Deloitte UK said: ‘We are committed to the
highest standards of audit quality and will fully co-operate.’
he FRC can impose fines and non-financial
penalties if it finds wrongdoing.
In 2019 Deloitte was fined £4.2million for
its audit of outsourcing firm Serco, which had paid more than £20million to
settle fraud and false accounting charges.
This year PwC was hit with a £4.5million
fine for ‘serious failings’ in its 2019 audit of Wyelands Bank.
Big Four peer KPMG paid out £4.5million
after ‘serious failures’ in its audit of Rolls-Royce’s 2010 accounts.
In January, the FRC probed KPMG’s audit of
Ladbrokes-owner Entain’s 2022 accounts.
The gambling giant paid a £615million
settlement to resolve a probe into alleged bribery at its former Turkish online
betting business.
Deloitte probed
over audits of scandal-hit commodities giant Glencore
Global
Inflation/Stagflation/Recession Watch.
Given our Magic Money
Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians, inflation/recession now needs an entire
section of its own.
Making
America Alone Again
History Offers Few
Parallels for Washington’s Repudiation of Its Own Alliances
Margaret MacMillan July 21, 2025
Henry Kissinger once
compared himself to the lone cowboy who rode into town to sort out the bad
guys. But the U.S. secretary of state, who also served as national security
adviser, knew different when it came to dealing with major powers. His hero was
the Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich, who somehow brought together the
unlikely combination of Austria, the United Kingdom, Prussia, Russia, and a
number of even smaller allies and their incompatible leaders into the alliance
that finally defeated Napoleon in 1815. As Kissinger understood, even lone
rangers need friends.
It is an insight that
appears to be lost on U.S. President Donald Trump. Since returning to office in January, Trump has
called the United States’ closest allies cheaters and freeloaders. Japan and
other Asian trading partners, he insists, are “very spoiled”; immediate North
American neighbors stand accused of exporting drugs and criminals. He freely
and publicly labels the leaders of some of the United States’ most important
democratic partners as has-beens, weak, or dishonest, while heaping praise on
autocrats he finds easier to deal with, such as Hungarian President Viktor Orban
(“a very great leader”), Salvadoran strongman Nayib Bukele (“a great friend”),
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un (“a smart guy”), and—at least until very
recently—Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he has called “a genius” and
“very savvy” in attacking Ukraine. In what would have been
unthinkable in previous administrations, including Trump’s first, the United
States in February even sided against its own democratic allies and with Russia
and other authoritarian states, such as North Korea and Belarus, in voting
against a UN resolution that condemned Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and
upheld the latter’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Perhaps most baffling, at
a time when Washington is trying to contain China and shore up U.S. defenses in the Indo-Pacific, the administration
is preparing punitive tariffs on South Korea and Japan, the United States’
closest Asian allies, as well as on a sweeping list of European partners it is
trying to keep away from Beijing. U.S. allies around the world are also rattled
by the public musings of Trump and members of his cabinet that the so-called
nuclear umbrella under which the American nuclear deterrent was a guarantee for
their defense is no longer a sure thing. Such is now the level of doubt that in
July, France and the United Kingdom announced a new agreement to begin
providing extended nuclear deterrence in Europe for themselves, and allies such
as South Korea, Poland, and even Japan have begun to contemplate acquiring their
own nuclear weapons.
The past offers plenty of
examples of world powers falling out with erstwhile alliance partners or
seeking new ones. But it’s hard to think of a case in which the leader of a
major alliance has so casually and brutally cast aside allies that, for the most
part, have been dependable and have accepted its writ. If the United States wants Canadian or Greenlandic resources,
those have always been available. Threatening annexation is counterproductive,
stirring up anti-Americanism as it has already done. Washington’s NATO allies,
it is true, have not been spending enough on defense but that is partly because
the United States has insisted for decades on having the dominant role. And
when pressed, as at the most recent NATO summit in June, members of the
transatlantic alliance have increased their defense budgets, or pledged to do
so, to levels that could not have been imagined only a few years ago.
More
Consul Warns Mexicans Must Take ‘Extreme
Precautions’ in Florida as ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Leads to Diplomatic Tensions
July 24, 2025 9:30 a.m.
Citing conditions and legal issues at Governor Ron
DeSantis’ “Alligator Alcatraz” facility in the Everglades, a Mexican diplomat
issued a stark warning to anyone from his country thinking of traveling to
Florida.
“They should take precautions or not come to
Florida,” Juan Sabines, the consul of Mexico in Orlando, told TPM in a
conversation this week. “You should take extreme precautions when you come to
Florida.”
Speaking in Spanish during an interview Tuesday
evening, Sabines said Mexicans visiting the state need to take care with “basic
things” such as ensuring they are renting cars from legitimate locations,
driving with a license, and carrying documentation at all times. Sabines’
concerns were based on a case he has been involved in where two brothers were
brought to the detention camp. Mexican officials have said both brothers had
valid documentation.
“They will detain you here for anything,” Sabines
said.
Sabines cited the steps DeSantis, a Republican, has
taken in support of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. He also
argued that the situation in Florida, specifically, goes beyond anything
ordered by Trump.
“It’s a state that has more risks than other states
… including for people with visas,” he said.
More
Consul Warns Mexicans Must Take ‘Extreme Precautions’ in Florida
Technology
Update.
With events happening
fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section.
Discarded battery causes fire at new Rumpke recycling facility
Fri, July 25, 2025 at 8:38 PM GMT+1
A fire broke out at Rumpke Waste & Recycling’s
new $100 million recycling facility Thursday night.
A lithium-ion battery caused the fire,
Rumpke said.
Jeff Snyder, senior vice president of
recycling and sustainability at Rumpke, said these batteries pose a danger to
workers and firefighters.
“Fortunately, we were able to address
quickly, and the facility didn’t experience damage and no one was injured,”
Synder said. “Situations like this puts people—our workers and firefighters in
harm’s way which is the ultimate risk we take when we all toss these batteries
into trash and recycling containers.”
Snyder noted that this is a common issue
at recycling facilities, with the Columbus fire being the fourth such incident
in July alone.
Other fires occurred at Rumpke’s
facilities in Cincinnati and Dayton, all of which were caused by lithium-ion
batteries.
Lithium-ion batteries, found in everyday
items such as phones, laptops, and power tools, should not be disposed of in
trash or recycling containers.
Rumpke’s Dayton facility has frequently
encountered these batteries on the tipping floor, where they can be crushed and
ignite.
Residents are encouraged to check their
local solid waste district’s website for proper battery disposal locations.
Many retailers, including Staples and
Batteries Plus, offer collection programs for safe disposal.
Other hazardous items that should not be
placed in recycling include propane tanks, charcoal embers, and pool chemicals.
Acceptable items for recycling include
cardboard, plastic bottles, and glass jars.
Discarded
battery causes fire at new Rumpke recycling facility
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt Clocks (usdebtclock.org)
Exponent
Calculator
Enter
values into any two of the input fields to solve for the third.
This
weekend’s music diversion. My favourite opening movement of a Brandenburg concerto.
Approx.7 minutes.
J.S.
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto no. 4, 1st mvt. - Apollo's Fire
J.S. Bach:
Brandenburg Concerto no. 4, 1st mvt. - Apollo's Fire - YouTube
In Trump tariff war news. Approx. 16 minutes.
This Boycott Is Spreading Fast Across Canada
and Europe!
This Boycott Is
Spreading Fast Across Canada and Europe! - YouTube
Finally, Norway’s future after oil? Will Trump now
covet Norway instead of Canada and Greenland? Approx. 11 minutes.
Norway has Discovered a Resource that Could
Surpass Oil
Norway has
Discovered a Resource that Could Surpass Oil
Kindness is probably the most underrated human quality. We tend to dismiss it
when we come across it and seek out more exciting character traits. But
kindness is often a refined form of courage. It brings light and warmth into
the world. You should always value kindness when you find it.
Glenn Haybittle (In the Warsaw Ghetto)
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