More News, Rumors and Opinions Wednesday PM 8-23-2023
KTFA:
Clare: The first comment from the Iraqi Foreign Ministry regarding the kidnapped in Iran: Good news will be announced within hours
8/23/2023
Wednesday, the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs made, through Shafaq News Agency, the first comment about the kidnapping of a number of Iraqi travelers in Iran, and while it revealed the kidnapping party, it indicated that "good" news would be announced in the coming hours.
The ministry's spokesman, Ahmed Al-Sahhaf, told Shafaq News agency, "The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been following the issue with great interest for more than a week, as a result of information we received, and the Iraqi embassy in Tehran was instructed to communicate with the relevant authorities in Iran, and coordination was also made with the Iraqi national agencies on Security level High-level security communications took place between the specialized agencies in Baghdad and the specialized agencies in Tehran.
Al-Sahhaf said, "The kidnapping incident is the result of this group of Iraqi travelers dealing with a human smuggling network, as these Iraqis were caught, kidnapped as hostages, and bargained for sums of money."
He added, "Coordination is high with the Iranian side, and we have very positive information that reached us during the past hours. We may announce it in the next few hours. What is certain to us is that the whereabouts of the kidnapped have become known, and their number is also known, and the network that carried out their plan is a human trafficking network, and these The Iraqis tried to enter Iranian territory illegally, and they were caught by this network."
Al-Sahhaf continued, "The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs always warns at a high level of the dangers of dealing with human trafficking networks, as this is a real threat to the lives of travelers among the Iraqi people."
For several days, social media has been dealing with pictures and video clips showing the kidnapping of a group of Iraqi citizens in Iran, and the video clips showed the kidnapped while they were chained. LINK
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Clare: The President of the Republic receives the Vice President of the World Bank for the Middle East and North Africa
8/23/2023
His Excellency the President of the Republic, Dr. Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid, received today, Wednesday, August 23, 2023, at the Baghdad Palace, the Vice President of the World Bank for the Middle East and North Africa, Mr. Farid Belhaj, and his accompanying delegation.
During the meeting, Mr. President stressed the importance of the existing relations between Iraq and the World Bank, and the need to work on strengthening and developing them in order to develop the Iraqi economy, noting that Iraq is a founding member of international organizations and associations, pointing out to the importance of Iraq having an appropriate representation in these organizations.
His Excellency the President pointed out the importance of supporting Iraq's efforts to improve its environmental situation and rehabilitate the infrastructure in the fields of health and education, in addition to developing services and rebuilding Iraq after the victory over ISIS and continuing to defeat its terrorist remnants.
The President of the Republic also referred to Iraq's efforts, in cooperation with neighboring countries, to completely eradicate terrorism and get rid of the phenomenon of drug trafficking, as it poses a threat to everyone.
For his part, the World Bank's Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa, Mr. Farid Belhaj, expressed his happiness to visit Baghdad and meet His Excellency the President of the Republic.
He stressed that the World Bank has distinguished relations with Iraq, as it is one of the founding countries, pointing to the bank's efforts to provide support to it. LINK
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Courtesy of Dinar Guru
Walkingstick [Aki's Iraqi Bank report] Not all banks will be brought back even though they will all be online. This is to monitor them. This step has already started. It is already well advanced ... Bringing these banks back online is needed for the monetary reform...these banks are scattered all over Iraq...
Frank26 It's like a black hole in space. We know it exists. We can see all the evidence...the gravitational fields around the black hole is the evidence of it...You just can't see it. The monetary reform is alive, is moving, is activated. The new exchange rate is coming to the citizens. The currency will float...everything we want is occurring...we are at the 'event horizon'...
Brian Hirschmann: $7000 Gold & The Global Debt Contagion Powder Keg
Palisades Gold Radio: 8-23-2023
Brian discusses how many investors don't know how to value gold in comparison to other assets. He explains how they have a methodology for analyzing the gold price over long times. Currently it's below the fifty year average and that could cause gold to skyrocket in coming years.
He explains why gold did quite well during the inflationary period of the 1970s. Gold is the one asset that has no counterparty risk.
Gold has seemingly lagged possibly because bond investors remain confident in their inflation expectations but should that perspective change we will see gold rise.
High inflation can be caused by excessive debt which can cause investors to dump that debt. This is especially a problem developing for the United States and some other Western nations.
He discusses the British Empires debt to GDP ratio and how they eventually defaulted on their obligations. He explains how Japan's approach differs but there situation remains precarious. Japanese depositors are now getting negative return when adjusted for inflation which has been increasing.
It's possible that depositors might decide to start investing elsewhere to seek returns. This could become a big problem for the Bank of Japan.
Brian explains why global bubbles are worsening and why we could see multiple collapses all at once.
Whatever bubble bursts first will take others with it. The situtation has only deteroriated and he expects to see higher inflation again soon.
He gives some targets for where gold and the miners could head as a result of the economic situation that is developing. Brian also talks about why the Mining ETFs and equities have largely not kept up with the gold price.
A.I. will probably improve economic growth but it likely won't be the panacea to get us out of the coming crisis.
Demographics are contributing to the entitlement problems and why the budget looks awful. This also means a general decline in the labor force which is not good for GDP.
Time Stamp References:
0:00 – Introduction
0:30 - Perspectives & Time
5:40 - Golds Recent Performance
8:10 - Inflation Causes & Effects
12:30 - Debt & Avoiding Default
20:10 - Capital Control Contagion
25:00 - Cures & Causation
28:00 - Growing Global Bubbles
37:30 - Gold Price Target
39:30 - Resource Valuations
41:20 - GDXJ Performance
43:10 - A.I. & Inevitable Crisis 45:30 - Demographic Issues
46:55 - Wrap Up