I will be voting for Pierre Poilievre as I no longer believe the US Congress would permit a world war by allowing Trump to invade and conquer Canada. Carney is a pink liberal who is Canada’s WEF head. He would be Trudeau-plus. His books and speeches speak volumes. Canadians must solve its economic problems that are not of Trump’s making. Trump is doing Canada a favor by getting their diverse interests aligned on tackling problems rather than kicking the can further down the socialist road. Poilievre will do what Canada needs to grow its economy the way it had been 10-20 years ago (i.e., before Trudeau introduced pink Liberal policies.)
jimg
April 2, 2025 7:12 am
#45844
Grant Williams and Michael Kao interview Rabobank’s Michael Every on the decline of the post-WWII Liberal World Order (LWO) and the rise of Economic Statecraft. Best explanation yet that I have seen of the intent of the Trump administration
USTR Releases 2025 National Trade Estimate Report The NTE is an annual report detailing foreign trade barriers faced by U.S. exporters and USTR’s efforts to reduce those barriers.
Today was medical imaging, thyroid. The last was in a private clinic, which took 36 pictures. The family doctor then sent me to an ENT thyroid specialist who cautioned me on what he saw but also didn’t like the picture quality, so he sent me today to what he said is the best thyroid place in the country. Same hospital where 12 months ago my surgeon said my skin cancer was too difficult for her to do it. That from a surgeon who removed two melanomas and various lesser carcinomas. She said that was the best head skin cancer place in the country. So today, 74 pictures, and a 20-minute wait followed by more pictures. The report will be ready later today. I’m thinking of booking an office suite there.
SUCCESS. I am now officially a cancer survivor. Now I can relax.
Two and a half hours after I had my procedure today, I received a copy of the radiologist report sent to the ENT and my family doctor. No further assessment for 3 months.
it’s amazing to me that shortly after getting home, I receive an electronic copy of the assessment. Not being a medical doctor, the terminology is over my head but I can read between the lines that nothing is urgently needed.
jimg
March 31, 2025 10:03 am
#45799
Student loans and credit scores….admitting data over the last 5 years was fake:
The 2020 forbearance marked all delinquent (but not defaulted) loans as current, causing a jump of 74 points, from 501 to 575, in the median score between 2019:Q4 and 2020:Q4 for those borrowers who were previously delinquent but not defaulted. Since then, scores continued to rise for previously delinquent borrowers (as their negative remarks aged) while scores for previously current borrowers remained relatively flat. Defaulted borrowers saw a gradual rise in credit scores as their negative marks aged and as some borrowers voluntarily rehabilitated their defaulted loans.
However, in the fourth quarter of 2022, the Fresh Start program marked all defaulted loans as current, increasing the median score for those with a default in 2019 by 44 points, from 564 in 2022:Q1 to 608 in 2023:Q1. By the end of 2024, those borrowers with loans in delinquency or in default saw scores that were 103 and 72 points higher, respectively, than at the end of 2019.
and now? *****Given these estimates, we expect to see more than nine million student loan borrowers face substantial declines in credit standing over the first quarter of 2025.
“The private equity industry directly employed 13.3 million workers in 2024, an increase from 12 million in 2022.”https://www.investmentcouncil.org/new-ey-report-shows-private-equity-strengthens-u-s-economy-with-more-jobs-higher-pay-and-increased-investment/
Last edited 2 days ago by jimg
jimg
March 30, 2025 3:10 pm
#45782
Maria Bartiromo interviews National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and the intent of the upcoming April 2nd ‘liberation day’ tariffs.
Keep hearing that “America asked for this” or “America voted for this”.
The popular vote was: Trump/Vance 77,303,568 49.81% Harris/Walz 75,019,230 48.34%
Not exactly what I would call a landslide.
Watched all summer last year as 10s of 000s streamed across the US/Mexico border. Shipped to so-called “sanctuary” cities. Where they were supplied with hotel rooms, food, clothing, cell phones, in some cases debit cards.
Americans were, in that regard, fed up with it, rightly so. That is what opened the door to Trump. Not trade, not the economy, the war in Ukraine, nothing else.
Harris did not win a single swing state. Not one.
In the long run it may not matter. The American empire was, and is, on its last legs. No empire lasts forever. I did not think it meant surrendering Democratic principals, overriding the Constitution and the rule of law, but here we are.
You cannot purchase a firearm in most blue states. In red states you walk in with a driver’s license and walk out with a personal armory. If it comes down to red vs. blue, you already know the outcome.
Thailand 7.7 magnitude earthquake earlier today. At least one skyscraper collapsed, in another, a pool on the rooftop sloshed its water over the side. Scary.
jimg
March 27, 2025 7:48 am
#45722
Danielle DiMartino Booth: We are looking at a North American continent already in recession
Gemini 2.5: Our most intelligent AI model Gemini 2.5 is a thinking model, designed to tackle increasingly complex problems. Our first 2.5 model, Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental, leads common benchmarks by meaningful margins and showcases strong reasoning and code capabilities.
The United States will help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertilizer exports, lower maritime insurance costs, and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions.
Exxon is comfortable with prices at $50/barrel and plans to pump more oil “no matter where prices go.” (Oilprice.com)
jimg
March 23, 2025 11:39 am
#45654
Doomberg: Geopolitics, Debt, and Big Promises. How Trump is Reshuffling the World Order
Trump’s presidency, national debt challenges, energy policy, and global geopolitical dynamics.
Back in December, Doomberg described how Trump is serving the interests of the globalists and would work to install Mark Carny as Prime Minister. ( at 29:19 on the video )
Canada cannot win Trump’s trade war but would survive as a sovereign nation by joining the EU. Canada is a trading nation that has relied on negotiated trade deals with the US, which Trump is determined to end. However, Canada has the natural resources that the EU does not and has been buying from hostile countries in many cases.
I’m not an advocate, but I understand why people are discussing this now.
Canadian actress Jasmine Mooney says she was held for 12 days in an ICE facility.
Jessica Brösche, a German tattoo artist detained at the U.S./Mexico border, was held for over six weeks.
Rebecca Burke, a Welsh comic artist, was detained in an ICE facility in Washington State for 19 days.
According to Salon’s Tatyana Tandanpolie, some travel agents in Canada are now encouraging tourists not to visit the United States because of civil liberties concerns.
I recall eleven years ago, I flew to Boston to visit a Harvard professor who took me to lunch, where I suppose professors eat. I returned to Toronto that day. On my entry, I was required to go to an interview room where an ICE officer grilled me for at least five minutes. He demanded to know why I was visiting for only a few hours, the name of the professor I was meeting, what subject he taught, the purpose of my visit, etc. He found it incredulous that I would fly to Boston for lunch with a friend.
That was unusual but not much of a harassment. Today, because of what I see that ICE is doing, I would not go.
That reminds me of another same-day return flight to Boston. When I returned to the airport, the airline attendant said I was not on the passenger list. I told her I didn’t much care about her list because I was holding their ticket in my hand. She said she didn’t care about my ticket, and lucky for me, she said a seat was available, but I had to pay for it. I paid, and after landing in Toronto, I marched to the airline check-in, showed both tickets for the same flight, and demanded my money back. I got it, but what a hassle.
Travelers, including tourists, often experience needless inconveniences. What concerns me today is that many such incidents are purposeful and carried out because of a political directive. We can’t trust that the records of the carrier or the government are correct. When they are wrong, we could find ourselves in trouble.
Numerous incidents of innocent travelers have been arrested and jailed, and then 10 to 20 days later transported to airplanes in full body chains to be sent back to their countries. These are innocent travelers, and it happened to Canadians, Brits, and Europeans. Canadian snowbirds visiting their second homes are being harassed. Drivers with foreign license plates are harassed. It’s all too much.
Trump has developed hatred and spite as a way of life, which the world can see in the town halls and TV discussions. But the situation is now out of control when travel to the US is no longer safe for legitimate foreigners.
The situation for Canadians regarding US travel has shifted from mere embarrassment over Trump’s actions to a rapidly growing concern about our inability to protect ourselves from his dubious Dept of Justice and FBI to the misguided loyalty of his supporters.
According to Statistics Canada, the number of Canadians returning by car from visits to the US fell by 23% in February, and air travel by Canadians returning from the US was down 13% relative to last year.
The March data will be higher. The reason is simple: Canadians are no longer welcome in the communities where they own second homes and legally manage businesses. They are being harassed, and drivers with Canadian license plates are being harassed.
As I expect this situation to worsen, I recommend that Canadians restrict all non-essential travel and sell their US real estate and businesses. Trump and his Trumper cult are now a clear and present danger to Canadians, a statement I soon anticipate from Ottawa.
The moment Trump told Laura Ingraham in her interview for Fox that Canadians are nasty, mean, and steal from Americans, I knew he had crossed the line. In the past 48 hours since that interview went viral, the number of rage incidents against Canadians has multiplied to where it’s ridiculous to put themselves in harm’s way.
This is a serious problem that Trump elevates daily. The man is delirious, thinking Canadians do not embrace sovereignty and will not fight for it.
If you have essential travel, get confirmation from your government. Others, you are advised not to take the risk. Some idiot Trumper could change your life forever.
I recall how our next-door neighbour’s daughter was pulled over on the Interstate while returning home from school in the US south. She was arrested because the state trooper said she didn’t have a US driver’s license. She phoned her parents, both doctors, who sent her money to buy her freedom. It was on the national news. Pat and I were watching and looked at one another, “Is that who we think it is?” She’s a kid that Pat used to babysit.
I am afraid Trump, in two months, has broken the Canada-US bond that has existed for 200 years. ‘Broken’ is not a strong enough word.
I will be voting for Pierre Poilievre as I no longer believe the US Congress would permit a world war by allowing Trump to invade and conquer Canada. Carney is a pink liberal who is Canada’s WEF head. He would be Trudeau-plus. His books and speeches speak volumes. Canadians must solve its economic problems that are not of Trump’s making. Trump is doing Canada a favor by getting their diverse interests aligned on tackling problems rather than kicking the can further down the socialist road. Poilievre will do what Canada needs to grow its economy the way it had been 10-20 years ago (i.e., before Trudeau introduced pink Liberal policies.)
Grant Williams and Michael Kao interview Rabobank’s Michael Every on the decline of the post-WWII Liberal World Order (LWO) and the rise of Economic Statecraft. Best explanation yet that I have seen of the intent of the Trump administration
https://www.urbankaoboy.com/p/kaos-theory-episode-9-michael-every?r=jt0hj&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
USTR Releases 2025 National Trade Estimate Report
The NTE is an annual report detailing foreign trade barriers faced by U.S. exporters and USTR’s efforts to reduce those barriers.
https://ustr.gov/about/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2025/march/ustr-releases-2025-national-trade-estimate-report
Good Stuff. UR Really Good at finding these Nuggets. Much Appreciated. Thanks.
Another day, another hospital visit.
Today was medical imaging, thyroid. The last was in a private clinic, which took 36 pictures. The family doctor then sent me to an ENT thyroid specialist who cautioned me on what he saw but also didn’t like the picture quality, so he sent me today to what he said is the best thyroid place in the country. Same hospital where 12 months ago my surgeon said my skin cancer was too difficult for her to do it. That from a surgeon who removed two melanomas and various lesser carcinomas. She said that was the best head skin cancer place in the country. So today, 74 pictures, and a 20-minute wait followed by more pictures. The report will be ready later today. I’m thinking of booking an office suite there.
SUCCESS. I am now officially a cancer survivor. Now I can relax.
Two and a half hours after I had my procedure today, I received a copy of the radiologist report sent to the ENT and my family doctor. No further assessment for 3 months.
it’s amazing to me that shortly after getting home, I receive an electronic copy of the assessment. Not being a medical doctor, the terminology is over my head but I can read between the lines that nothing is urgently needed.
Student loans and credit scores….admitting data over the last 5 years was fake:
The 2020 forbearance marked all delinquent (but not defaulted) loans as current, causing a jump of 74 points, from 501 to 575, in the median score between 2019:Q4 and 2020:Q4 for those borrowers who were previously delinquent but not defaulted. Since then, scores continued to rise for previously delinquent borrowers (as their negative remarks aged) while scores for previously current borrowers remained relatively flat.
Defaulted borrowers saw a gradual rise in credit scores as their negative marks aged and as some borrowers voluntarily rehabilitated their defaulted loans.
However, in the fourth quarter of 2022, the Fresh Start program marked all defaulted loans as current, increasing the median score for those with a default in 2019 by 44 points, from 564 in 2022:Q1 to 608 in 2023:Q1. By the end of 2024, those borrowers with loans in delinquency or in default saw scores that were 103 and 72 points higher, respectively, than at the end of 2019.
and now?
*****Given these estimates, we expect to see more than nine million student loan borrowers face substantial declines in credit standing over the first quarter of 2025.
https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2025/03/credit-score-impacts-from-past-due-student-loan-payments/
“The private equity industry directly employed 13.3 million workers in 2024, an increase from 12 million in 2022.”https://www.investmentcouncil.org/new-ey-report-shows-private-equity-strengthens-u-s-economy-with-more-jobs-higher-pay-and-increased-investment/
Maria Bartiromo interviews National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and the intent of the upcoming April 2nd ‘liberation day’ tariffs.
https://twitter.com/SundayFutures/status/1906365713654137102
Data Says We Haven’t Had a Recession: Mike Green on the Hidden Metrics That Tell a Different Story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBDOU6Btwtc
Keep hearing that “America asked for this” or “America voted for this”.
The popular vote was:
Trump/Vance 77,303,568 49.81%
Harris/Walz 75,019,230 48.34%
Not exactly what I would call a landslide.
Watched all summer last year as 10s of 000s streamed across the US/Mexico border. Shipped to so-called “sanctuary” cities. Where they were supplied with hotel rooms, food, clothing, cell phones, in some cases debit cards.
Americans were, in that regard, fed up with it, rightly so. That is what opened the door to Trump. Not trade, not the economy, the war in Ukraine, nothing else.
Harris did not win a single swing state. Not one.
In the long run it may not matter. The American empire was, and is, on its last legs. No empire lasts forever. I did not think it meant surrendering Democratic principals, overriding the Constitution and the rule of law, but here we are.
You cannot purchase a firearm in most blue states. In red states you walk in with a driver’s license and walk out with a personal armory. If it comes down to red vs. blue, you already know the outcome.
These next 4 years are gonna’ be so lit.
The Roadmap:
Stephen Miran: President Trump’s Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
“A User’s Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System”
https://www.hudsonbaycapital.com/documents/FG/hudsonbay/research/638199_A_Users_Guide_to_Restructuring_the_Global_Trading_System.pdf
Good Stuff — Good Post — Thanks!!!
New York Fed is doing a series on student loans delinquency.
A New Student Loan Delinquency Can Reduce Credit Scores by More than 150 Points
https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2025/03/credit-score-impacts-from-past-due-student-loan-payments/
@BretBaier interview of Elon Musk and DOGE team members
Remarkable group of highly intelligent Americans sharing stories of inefficiency and waste of our tax money.
https://x.com/BretBaier/status/1905393918977393099
YES It was an Excellent Interview. They should do that every 2-3 months to update people.
Thailand 7.7 magnitude earthquake earlier today. At least one skyscraper collapsed, in another, a pool on the rooftop sloshed its water over the side. Scary.
Danielle DiMartino Booth: We are looking at a North American continent already in recession
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3UYhcHu-Go
Gemini 2.5: Our most intelligent AI model
Gemini 2.5 is a thinking model, designed to tackle increasingly complex problems. Our first 2.5 model, Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental, leads common benchmarks by meaningful margins and showcases strong reasoning and code capabilities.
https://blog.google/technology/google-deepmind/gemini-model-thinking-updates-march-2025/
http://www.ai.dev
Germany ‘continuing’ with F-35 fighter jets order despite concerns about over-reliance on US
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/germany-continuing-with-us-f-35-fighter-jets-order-despite-concerns
The Black Sea grain deal:
The United States will help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertilizer exports, lower maritime insurance costs, and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/03/outcomes-of-the-united-states-and-russia-expert-groups-on-the-black-sea/
Exxon is comfortable with prices at $50/barrel and plans to pump more oil “no matter where prices go.” (Oilprice.com)
Doomberg: Geopolitics, Debt, and Big Promises. How Trump is Reshuffling the World Order
Trump’s presidency, national debt challenges, energy policy, and global geopolitical dynamics.
Back in December, Doomberg described how Trump is serving the interests of the globalists and would work to install Mark Carny as Prime Minister. ( at 29:19 on the video )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2agAGd0NHsE
Google plans to release new ‘open’ AI models for drug discovery
https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/18/google-plans-to-release-new-open-ai-models-for-drug-discovery/
Revealed: How the UK tech secretary uses ChatGPT for policy advice
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2472068-revealed-how-the-uk-tech-secretary-uses-chatgpt-for-po
Could Canada join the EU?
A week ago, after Mark Carney became Prime Minister, I remarked to someone that the next question is, will he propose that Canada join the EU?
People are now talking about it.
Canada cannot win Trump’s trade war but would survive as a sovereign nation by joining the EU. Canada is a trading nation that has relied on negotiated trade deals with the US, which Trump is determined to end. However, Canada has the natural resources that the EU does not and has been buying from hostile countries in many cases.
I’m not an advocate, but I understand why people are discussing this now.
Do Foreign tourists feel safe visiting the US?
If Americans wonder why foreign countries are issuing US travel warnings, they should be aware of what Trump’s ICE is doing.
From MSN;
I recall eleven years ago, I flew to Boston to visit a Harvard professor who took me to lunch, where I suppose professors eat. I returned to Toronto that day. On my entry, I was required to go to an interview room where an ICE officer grilled me for at least five minutes. He demanded to know why I was visiting for only a few hours, the name of the professor I was meeting, what subject he taught, the purpose of my visit, etc. He found it incredulous that I would fly to Boston for lunch with a friend.
That was unusual but not much of a harassment. Today, because of what I see that ICE is doing, I would not go.
That reminds me of another same-day return flight to Boston. When I returned to the airport, the airline attendant said I was not on the passenger list. I told her I didn’t much care about her list because I was holding their ticket in my hand. She said she didn’t care about my ticket, and lucky for me, she said a seat was available, but I had to pay for it. I paid, and after landing in Toronto, I marched to the airline check-in, showed both tickets for the same flight, and demanded my money back. I got it, but what a hassle.
Travelers, including tourists, often experience needless inconveniences. What concerns me today is that many such incidents are purposeful and carried out because of a political directive. We can’t trust that the records of the carrier or the government are correct. When they are wrong, we could find ourselves in trouble.
Germany issues a US travel warning, like Canada, the UK, and others I’m sure to follow.
Numerous incidents of innocent travelers have been arrested and jailed, and then 10 to 20 days later transported to airplanes in full body chains to be sent back to their countries. These are innocent travelers, and it happened to Canadians, Brits, and Europeans. Canadian snowbirds visiting their second homes are being harassed. Drivers with foreign license plates are harassed. It’s all too much.
Trump has developed hatred and spite as a way of life, which the world can see in the town halls and TV discussions. But the situation is now out of control when travel to the US is no longer safe for legitimate foreigners.
Traveler Alert to Canadians
The situation for Canadians regarding US travel has shifted from mere embarrassment over Trump’s actions to a rapidly growing concern about our inability to protect ourselves from his dubious Dept of Justice and FBI to the misguided loyalty of his supporters.
According to Statistics Canada, the number of Canadians returning by car from visits to the US fell by 23% in February, and air travel by Canadians returning from the US was down 13% relative to last year.
The March data will be higher. The reason is simple: Canadians are no longer welcome in the communities where they own second homes and legally manage businesses. They are being harassed, and drivers with Canadian license plates are being harassed.
As I expect this situation to worsen, I recommend that Canadians restrict all non-essential travel and sell their US real estate and businesses. Trump and his Trumper cult are now a clear and present danger to Canadians, a statement I soon anticipate from Ottawa.
The moment Trump told Laura Ingraham in her interview for Fox that Canadians are nasty, mean, and steal from Americans, I knew he had crossed the line. In the past 48 hours since that interview went viral, the number of rage incidents against Canadians has multiplied to where it’s ridiculous to put themselves in harm’s way.
This is a serious problem that Trump elevates daily. The man is delirious, thinking Canadians do not embrace sovereignty and will not fight for it.
It’s not just Canada. Many countries are feeling the same.
Canadians and others, this could happen to you.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/traumatic-british-tourist-sent-home-from-us-in-chains-after-visa-error/ar-AA1BjnZ5
If you have essential travel, get confirmation from your government. Others, you are advised not to take the risk. Some idiot Trumper could change your life forever.
I recall how our next-door neighbour’s daughter was pulled over on the Interstate while returning home from school in the US south. She was arrested because the state trooper said she didn’t have a US driver’s license. She phoned her parents, both doctors, who sent her money to buy her freedom. It was on the national news. Pat and I were watching and looked at one another, “Is that who we think it is?” She’s a kid that Pat used to babysit.
I am afraid Trump, in two months, has broken the Canada-US bond that has existed for 200 years. ‘Broken’ is not a strong enough word.