The Triumph of Truthiness

In the recent US Presidential election, I think we may have crossed a Rubicon from "truth" to "thuthiness".

There was a firm reaction by many in the media after this election to the "fake news" being propagated on many social media sites in an obvious attempt to negatively impact the election campaign of Hilary Clinton.  And, sure enough, reports of child abuse rings being run out of the basement of pizza restaurants were 100% fake.  But lurking within the fake news was a shocking amount of outright manipulation by many in the mainstream media, much of which is now crystal clear.

Foremost amongst this was a refusal on the part of many in the US media to report on, or even acknowledge, the devastating revelations by WikiLeaks in the form of the Podesta and other e-mails showing a shocking level of manipulation and outright corruption on the part of the Clintons.  

Be clear on this - these e-mails were true, not fake. This refusal to fully report on these e-mails may stem in part because some news organization - the New York Times and CNN for example - were caught in these same e-mails working with the Clinton Campaign and the Democratic National Committee to get Clinton elected and/or to hurt Trump's campaign. They were close to operating as propaganda arms of the Democrats.

As well, the successful burying of the Clinton e-mail scandal (...she used a personal server while she was Secretary of State, refusing to use the government server even one time, including for the sending and receiving of secret information, which is 100% illegal), shows the extent to which many in the mainstream media in that country is essentially "mobbed up". Every idiotic excuse offered by Clinton was trumpeted without thought or assessment...again and again. (Yes, others used personal emails, but almost exclusively for small things like asking that a car be brought around. No one has ever used only their own personal server exclusively during the entire time they were in office.)

Why does this matter? As intelligent, informed citizens, are we not able to see the BS and manipulation when it is offered to us?

Well, no.

The key here is to understand that, as the progeny of a successful movement to democracy and the idea of a free press, we are conditioned to think that what we read is true. Our most normal approach to news, especially that emanating from the mainstream media, is belief, not doubt. This is changing, and the implications, while not completely clear, are serious.  

Let me illustrate the problem.

The New York Times is the best newspaper in the world. Reading the e-mails between that paper and Obama's politicized Department of Justice, and the Clinton Campaign about how they should spin the story they were about to break about Hillary Clinton using her own personal e-mail server while she was Secretary of State was enlightening and exceptionally disheartening. This was obvious manipulation and spin of the first order.

In short, the NYT allowed these officials and political operatives to look at their report before it went out, and to suggest changes. Unbelievable. You do this if you think you work for the government and the politicians, not report on them.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-02/wikileaks-exposes-collusion-between-clinton-campaign-state-department-and-new-york-t

Maybe this has always happened - the media has always been corrupt and "mobbed-up". Certainly some news outlets - Fox and Huffington Post - are shameless in their support of their favoured champions. But we know that. What may be new is the realization that they may all be corrupt. Or, put another way, it may be that there is no neutral news media, anywhere. The free press is actually the bought press now.

If this is the case, all media necessarily becomes a source of information, because the only way to have even a chance of knowing what is actually going on is to read and compare all reports broadly. And so, you have to read the New York Times and watch Russia Today at the same time to get the complete picture, and then weigh what you read and hear.  

But underscoring this activity is a deep and I think damaging skepticism, the implications of which are not clear. Here are some initial thoughts, in the form of questions to emphasize that I do not know...

Progress is predicated on hope for the future. Will belief in a positive future become more difficult if we think our present is a pack of lies?

Rule of law is one of the hallmarks of democracy itself. Will our willingness to play by the rules, and even the rule of law itself, significantly erode in a world where we are convinced everyone else is cheating?

How do we raise our children so that they can be prepared for a world where we must assume that everyone has an angle to play?  

Beyond teaching them to be skeptical, which is healthy, do we teach them to recognize the facial expressions and idioms of pathological liars?  

Or, do we teach them how to play the game successfully, by showing them how to not give away the tell-tale signs of a liar, given that to be successful in this new world, they are going to have to lie and be good at it?

I don't know the answers to these questions. I do know that the media is how we see the world, and this window may have become substantially murkier.

To summarize - what are the implications for us and our world if we actually can not trust anything we read from any source?  

If they are all playing games, how are we to know?  

They all claim to be telling the truth, and this may be the most insidious aspect of this development. Many in the press are now obviously trading on a professional obligation to tell the truth in order to successfully perpetrate lies and distortions.

The American press has move a far, far distance from the days of Walter Cronkite.  

Do they understand how badly they have damaged themselves?

Without trust, they're out of business....and we are out of freedom.

The Markets

This just about says it all.....

https://www.advisorperspectives.com/commentaries/2017/04/08/stock-market-valuations-and-hamburgers

I don't agree that you should stay in equities.  Take you profits, and hold on!

The Trump Doctrine

A suggestion.  In light of Trump's attack on Syria in response to Syria's use of chemical weapons, maybe we need a "Trump Doctrine" to guide international relations during his presidency?

The Trump Doctrine.

1. If anyone used chemical, biological or nuclear weapons against anyone, including both military and civilian targets, the USA will force the evil-doer to pay a price.  Enemies and neutral parties will be attacked; friends will be punished, likely through massive economic sanctions.  The world will still be a nasty place, but a line has to be drawn....just don't go there.

2. Anyone committing genocide and mass abuse of civilian populations, including their own populations in the case of world leaders, may be subject to arrest by US military forces, and the forces of America's allies, at any time, anywhere.  The USA will not become the world's policeman, but it will also no longer stand by and do nothing in the face of obvious breaches of the most basic human rights, sometimes on a massive scale. Those who are arrested may be delivered to the International Criminal Court of Justice if the USA agrees with the court's indictment, or to American military courts for trial.  Baddies will still do bad stuff in the world....but now they will have to do so never knowing whether or not they may find themselves in a foreign prison.

OK...the USA does some bad stuff, notably bombing foreign persons with drone strikes that have only a very shaky legal basis, at best.  And, some of America's allies are also absolutely awful, and the USA cannot be relied upon to ever arrest them.

So what.  America's foreign policy has been a mass of contractions and hypocrisy for decades. That is not about to change.  I can live with that if it means a virtual halt to the use of weapons of mass destruction, especially against civilians, coupled with significant worry on the part of evil people about whether or not they may be arrested some day, causing them to at least think twice before unleashing the dogs of hell.

Trump could do a lot worse.

BTW - there was no "false flag" in respect of the recent gas attack in Syria.  Some have claimed that Assad is winning the war, so he had no reason to do this, so it likely didn't happen.  Well, no. Assad has spent his entire time in office ruling based on terror.  He gassed his own population precisely because he is winning, as a prelude to what lies in store in a future Syria for anyone who would challenge him again.  Gassing his own people is completely consistent with everything we know about this monster.  He needs to be out of power and incarcerated.

Trump - Obama and Mob Rule

So, what do we know....basically.

Trump's associates were in contact with Russian hackers, who were likely working on behalf of the Russian Government, both prior to and during the Wiki Leaks that largely (and quite properly) destroyed Hillary Clinton's latest run at the White House.

Obama's White House was revealing the names of Americans who were picked up in wiretaps of Russians, and they were reading and distributing the contents of the conversations in order to try to respond to the Wiki Leaks to help Clinton, and/or to gain an electoral advantage over Trump.

All of this activity is illegal.

Basically, every one of these fuc*&rs has been operating like America is an enlarged version of the Cosa Nostra.  It is as if the American Establishment watched a documentary about Watergate, then openly asked..."Uh....so what was the point of all of this again?"

What if EVERYONE is a crook?

And with that, what does the world look like at the end of an empire?  Basically...this.

But take heart.  America's rebirth is coming - the essential genius underpinning American Democracy, and the obvious greatness of the American People will stand for no less.

But this rebirth will not come from anyone associated with these criminal scumbags.

Trump, the Damaged

Cue the smoke and mirrors...

"Blame the Democrats!" "Blame the Freedom Caucus!" and now..."Blame Ryan!"

Reality - no one will see the political catastrophe that is the failure of the effort to "repeal and replace" Obamacare as anything other than an indictment of President Trump.  

A president who cannot get one of the three main domestic policy planks under which he was elected done (the others are tax reform and the Wall), and who is under investigation for cooperating with America's historic enemy to gain power is now so severely damaged that he is not long with the White House.

The math isn't hard - the Democrats plus the Freedom Caucus = enough votes to impeach Trump in the House of Representatives.  An impeachment vote would have to be 50% + 1 there.  He just proved that he didn't have the votes to pass health care reform, in spite of the fact that this has been the number one Republican policy objective for seven years. I think those same votes will soon be mobilized to impeach him.

The Senate requires a 2/3 majority to impeach, meaning 19 Republicans will have to vote with the Democrats/Independents (48 Democrats/Independents + 19 Republicans= 67) to get rid of Trump. I think those who want to impeach will have the necessary votes.

What will be their respective motivations?

First the Republicans...

The Freedom Caucus would likely love a President Pence who is "their kind of people", especially after Trump's deeply ill-considered ultimatum to pass the American Health Care Act or pay a political price. Tax reform, and the elimination of masses of government programming? They don't need Trump for that.

The non-Freedom Caucus-linked Republicans hate Trump. He stole their party last year when he won the nomination, and even in his Inaugural Address, he just shit all over them while doing it.

The problem is in the Senate, where 19 Republicans have to turn against their party's president. In that august house, it is likely that McCain would sponsor the impeachment resolution, so at least his vote is in the bag!  The 18 others are all career politicians - they are the Establishment; they own Washington; and I think they deeply resent this impolitic interloper who is trying to change their game.  They are no doubt chafing at the bit to get at him. With the announcement of the FBI investigation, and the failure to deal with Obamacare, all they need now is an opportunity to launch some "we need to save America" propaganda lines to be rid of this troublesome man.

Finally, after demonizing this man in their propaganda to a point where he may even rival Hitler now in terms of his assumed inherent evil, and after beating their champion, Hillary Clinton, the Democrats would also love to get rid of Trump...regardless of the fact that the guy who would replace him is WAY more conservative than he is.

In short, Trump has managed to make enemies just about everywhere he has gone in Washington. Vengeance may be a dish best served cold, but I think things are about to get very hot there.

And, ironically enough, cross-party cooperation may finally come to Washington!!...albeit only as these very strange bedfellows look across the aisle and see their opportunity to strike a blow for America's deep and damaging cynicism. The Washington Establishment is about to win again!

Trump is now obviously done.  It is just a matter of time.

Comey v Trump

The Comey Circus continues!

What we know...

There is no evidence that Obama and his White House wiretapped the Trump Campaign, and/or Trump Tower....which, of course, is impossible as this is not how wiretaps come about. In short, the impossible didn't happen.

There is an investigation underway into whether Russia influenced the recent US Presidential election, and with that, whether the Trump Campaign colluded with Russia to influence that campaign. This investigation started last July!

No information will be provided by Comey regarding this investigation, except that he confirmed that Russia was trying to influence the campaign, defeat Clinton and help Trump. He did not say how he knows this, but this repeats past allegations by the US Security Establishment. He also said that the Russians concluded that Trump was hopeless last August. Note! He is not revealing anything about the investigation!!! "Hush hush, nothing to see here".

What we don't know...

Who leaked wiretap information that destroyed Flynn's nomination as National Security Advisor and/or who may have ordered the leak. Doing this is a crime. Comey refused to answer whether or not he discussed Flynn's wiretap information with Obama or the White House...he didn't take the Fifth in so doing. We also do not know if there is an on-going investigation into this and other clearly illegal leaks.

Whether the FBI/CIA/Dept of Justice or anyone in the US Security Establishment tried to obtain a warrant to wiretap the Trump Campaign last Spring and again in October after the first request was denied. It seems clear that these wiretaps actually were sought.

Whether certain Trump Campaign staff were in regular e-mail communications with Russians and Wikileaks throughout the presidential campaign, including BEFORE the leaks began, as alleged by the Democrats. It seems clear that some of them were.

Comments...

1. The investigation into the Trump Campaign's relationship with Russia would not go ahead without a wiretap. I think we can assume that this was successfully obtained in October of last year, and that Trump, his staff, and all significant campaign workers have been wiretapped for the last five months. In short, the allegation that Trump and his staff were wiretapped will be proven true - there is an actual wiretap - not because he was running for office, but because of their links to Russia which makes these wiretaps perfectly legitimate.

2. Comey needs to step aside.

He was a card-carrying Republican and is now leading an investigation into whether or not a Republican president may have won an election, in part, through collusion with a foreign government. He is not a Republican now, but ANY appearance of a possible conflict of interest in what will likely turn out to have a Watergate level of political importance is so serious that he needs to recuse himself so that a prosecutor with no previous political ties can take over.   

More than that, this man is manifestly incompetent. He has noted that it is a standard operating procedure to not comment on ongoing investigations, and if any FBI agent had done what he just did in confirming the investigation into Russia and Trump, they would have been fired - by Comey. He has now gone public about ongoing investigations not once, but four times in the last 9 months, and has personally affected the outcome of a US Presidential election. Far from following the Golden Rule of "no comment", one is left wondering if he ever does anything else? He needs to go. Now.

3. We are on the precipice of a Constitutional Crisis in the USA. This is exceptionally serious.

Comey told Congress that as part of his investigation, he will be looking into whether or not crimes were committed.  Well, duh!  As part of his incompetence, he does not seem to understand the magnitude of either his investigations, or of what the political implications of having confirmed that the investigation is underway may be. Here they are...

Collusion with a foreign government to affect a US presidential election isn't just a possible criminal matter...it is possible treason. This is Article 3 of the US Constitution, "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort...."  

Is Russia an "enemy" of the US, and is colluding with Russia to take control of the US Government the equivalent to "adhering" to this enemy? In a time when wars are not declared, the USA is in confrontations with Russia in Ukraine and Syria, at least. While there is no on-going traditional war between these two nations, they are clearly "enemies" of a sort.  If any such charges were to be successfully pursued, the possible sentence could be death - especially if promises were made in return for the assistance of the Russians. Obviously, the possibility of this is very remote - but it is also very real. When was the last time you could seriously suggest that a President of the United States or anyone associated with that person may have possibly committed treason?

The revelation that there is an investigation into possible collusion between the Trump Campaign and Russia suggests the possibility that the last US presidential election was not free and fair. There is an argument that this Russian hacking/Wikileaks leaking would not matter if the Clintons were not magnificently corrupt. No matter. While the corruption of these people is a matter of grave concern (see below), the fact that a foreign government may have tried to impact a US election is itself very serious, especially if they got help from one of the candidates, or vice versa. If this is the eventual conclusion, the only political recourse is impeachment. Again, this matter is potentially at the level of at least Watergate in its importance and significance.

Before anything like this happens, the confirmation of this on-going investigation will work to very seriously damage the Trump Presidency, and with that the Office of the President while he is in office (more on this below), and the USA itself.  America's enemies are likely singing Comey's praises today - the USA is much weaker than it would have been had he simply said "No comment...you will know when it is appropriate to tell you, as with any such investigation." With the confirmation of an on-going investigation, Trump looks very impeachable, and anything he will do in office just became much more difficult. At the very least, the ability of Trump to just lead the US Government has been seriously undermined. ISIS and other nasties, including North Korea, will likely try to take advantage of this situation.

4. Trump will be impeached soon - maybe before my prediction for the end of the Summer.

Trump used the POTUS Twitter account to continue his battle against all opponents yesterday. This was an escalation in his unrelenting battle to illustrate just how obviously unfit he is to occupy the Office of the President of the United States. His challenge is to put this office before himself. He is finding that this is simply impossible - his basic temperament will simply not allow him to behave appropriately.

The Republicans are going to use him to try to get some sort health insurance reform through, blaming him for the fact that it is "amendment" not "repeal and replace". After that, they will leave him like that "ship-leaving rats" that they are. I think an impeachment vote will be above 75% in favour. Trump will not resign, and will have to be dragged out of the White House kicking and Tweeting all the way.

5. The Democrats are doomed.

The Democrats need Trump to deflect attention from just how corrupt and disconnected from Americans they have become. The Wikileaks e-mails about the Clintons were devastating.  Once Trump is gone, and President Pence goes ahead and acts like a quasi-normal Republican politician, the Democrats are going to face a new and brutal nomination fight as Hillary Clinton announces she will run for a third time. Her hubris will tear that party apart.

And so....there you go.

PDAC!!!!

The PDAC

I went to the Prospectors and Developers Association Convention in Toronto last weekend. Highlights and reflections follow.

The general mood was the most positive I have seen since before the Great Recession.  Most of the companies that I approached had money in the bank and real exploration or mining plans underway. There was a general sense that this will be a great year for junior exploration and mining companies. I think the confidence is warranted.

There were fewer companies at the PDAC than in past years. I have not been for four years, and it is obvious that many of the companies that were struggling at the time did not survive. I think that the ones that did have a much better appreciation of just how close they are to catastrophe - they are on the margin at all times, and I hope that this knowledge will drive much better management and more thoughtful risk-taking in years to come.

I did notice a few geologists who had rented booths in order to sell prospective claims. I don't recall seeing this before. It may reflect lower rental costs for booths, a stronger sense of the opportunities in the market, or both. One geologist advised that two of her properties were going to be gone by the end if the first day.

There was also a good share of more memorable exchanges with less reputable companies. Some of these follow...same company.

The IR guy was at the booth - no geologists or other managers, who we were told were on holidays. We were shown a group of about 12 prospective properties...

Q - "Are all of these properties in good standing?"

A - "Well...no."

Q - "Do you have any cash?"

A - "Not at the moment, but we are hoping for $70,000 in a private placement from insiders soon."

  

Q - "What does this company need to move ahead successfully?"

A - "We need new management, asap!!!"

Q - "Is there a search underway for new management?"

A - "Yes!  The new guy was supposed to fly in today.  I have no idea where he is."

Q - "Do you know who he is?"

A - "Well...no."

I took a pass on that one.

The quote of the Convention, courtesy of my cousin..."Let your winners run!"

The only difficult aspect was missing my father with whom I had attended all previous PDAC's that I went to. Here he is, about to launch on a tremendously interesting and eventful life. He is missed every day.