Chinese Virus (a.k.a. The Kung Flu) statistics for week number 49 (343 days) as at July 23rd. 2021 (plus political comment and our personal news) since 21/08/20 from Medellin, Colombia

Hola a todos nuestros amigos y familiares,

Esperamos como siempre que todo el mundo este en rosa - 

CHINESE VIRUS STATISTICS and related comment. Note that comparative figures in parenthesis relate to July 9th. (14 days ago).

The official death toll from "vaccinations" world-wide continues to mount. These are deaths directly and incontrovertibly tied to the "vaccines".

We occasionally listen to Dr. John Campbell of the UK who has a regular daily podcast on Youtube and we find the arguments and statistics quoted lately to be contradictory and frankly so confusing as to be virtually useless - certainly no justification for having any of the so-called "vaccines". Israel is one of the most "vaccinated" countries, and yet their infection rates are increasing. And "vaccinated" people are currently comprising 80% of all hospital admissions in Israel. However, there does perhaps seem to be some justification for claiming that "vaccinated" people suffer less severe effects from tne disease this time around. And while the new variants may be more contagious, there is some emerging evidence that "vaccinated" people may suffer less hospitalisation and death, while still contracting the old Kung Flu. Whoop-de-do!!! 

AND with winter fast approaching, it could be a much worse situation developing in the northern hemisphere than previously.

The Vindaflu is spreading everywhere and "vaccines" are having less and less effect; in fact as we've said before, could be helping to encourage the Virus to mutate. At some point there will be a mutation that will make the original virus seem like a childrens' party.

And now there are ever stronger suggestions being made that, as it's increasingly clear that the "vaccines" are less and less effective ánd for a far shorter time than hitherto supposed, "booster shots" will be required indefinitely into the future.

One double prick is harmful enough, without further compromising one's health by injecting more of any of these potentially dangerous substances.

However, we wish to make it clear that it is a private and individual choice whether Covid vaccines are taken or not. There should be no form of coercion by any agency, employer or government to attempt to force anyone to take a Covid "vaccine".

MUNDO - World

Population - 7,879,688,135 - (7,876,572,751) - up 3,115,384 or 0.040%

Active cases - 13,562,941 - (11,857,507) - up 1,705,434 or 14.4%. Percentage of total population - 0.172%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 1,721 - (1,505) - up 216 or 14.4%

See comments above

ARGENTINA

Population - 45,633,094 - (45,617,246) - up 15,848 or 0.035%

Active cases - 261,324 - (288,421) - down 27,097 or 9.4%. Percentage of total population - 0.573%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 5,727 - (6,323) - down 596 or 9.4%
Continuing last week's rate of decrease

 
AUSTRALIA
Population - 25,811,701 - (25,800,387) - up 11,314 or 0.044%

Active cases - 1,929 - (575) - up 1,354 or 235.5%. Percentage of total population - 0.008%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 75 - (22) - up 53 or 240.9%

Still low numbers, but coming off a low base makes the percentage increase look horrendous.

CHILE
Population - 19,289,254 - (19,282,985) - up 6,269 or 0.033%

Active cases - 11,252 - (19,022) - down 7,770 or 40.9%. Percentage of total population - 0.058%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 583 - (987) - down 398 or 40.3%

Same weekly rate of reduction as previously. Good to see.

COLOMBIA

Population - 51,454,592 - (51,433,858) - up 28,734 or 0.040%

Active cases - 125,707 - (166,913) - down 41,206 or 24.7%. Percentage of total population - 0.244%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 2,443 - (3,245) - down 802 or 24.7%

At least the numbers are reducing again. Let's hope the Vindaflu doesn't push them up again!!

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Population - 10,962,598 - (10,958,440) - up 4,158 or 0.434%

Active cases - 47,364 - (55,564) - down 8,200 or 14.8%. Percentage of total population - 0.432%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 4,321 - (5,070) - down 749 or 14.8%

Good to see the active cases reducing at last

ECUADOR

Population - 17,925,168 - (17,914,915) - up 10,253 or 0.057%

Active cases - 5,127 - (12,706) - down 7,579 or 59.6%. Percentage of total population - 0.029%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 286 - (709) - down 423 or 59.7%

Excellent rate of decrease.

GERMANY

Population - 84,066,782 - (84,056,651) - up 10,131 or 0.012%

Active cases - 23,116 - (16,450) - up 6,666 or 40.5%. Percentage of total population - 0.028%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 275 - (196) - up 79 or 40.3%

Disappointing to see the figures rising again.

JAPAN

Population - 126,067,237 - (126,081,982) - down 14,745 or 0.012%

Active cases - 31,218 - (16,804) - up 14,414 or 85.8%. Percentage of total population - 0.025%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 248 - (126) - up 122 or 96.8%

Figures rising again after some solid reductions. 

MALAYSIA

Population - 32,802,919 - (32,787,057) - up 15,862 or 0.048%

Active cases - 147,386 - (80,685) - up 66,701 or 82.7%. Percentage of total population - 0.449%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 4,493 - (2,461) - up 2,032 or 82.6%

This is way out of control; a much bigger increase than previously

MEXICO

Population - 130,360,752 - (130,308,968) - up 51,784 or 0.040%

Active cases - 359,298 - (301,488) - up 57,810 or 19.2%. Percentage of total population - 0.276%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 2,756 - (2,314) - up 442 or 19.1%

Rate of increase up significantly.

NEW ZEALAND

Population - 5,002,100 - (5,002,100) - no change!

Active cases - 80 - (32) - up 48 or 150.0%. Percentage of total population - 0.002%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 16 - (6) - up 10 or 166.7%

Fishing boat crews all in managed isolation

PHILIPPINES

Population - 111,117,599 - (111,061,804) - up 55,795 or 0.050%

Active cases - 55,069 - (51,902) - up 3,167 or 6.1%. Percentage of total population - 0.050%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 496 - (467) - up 29 or 6.2%

Disappointing to see an increase after solid decreases

TAIWAN

Population - 23,862,298 - (23,860,654) - up 1,644 or 0.007%

Active cases - 1,021 - (1,617) - down 596 or 36.9%. Percentage of total population - 0.004%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 43 - (68) - down 25 or 36.8%

Very solid decreases - good to see.

THAILAND

Population - 69,984,915 - (69,978,234) - up 6,681 or 0.010%

Active cases - 143,744 - (74,895) - up 68,849 or 91.9%. Percentage of total population - 0.205%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 2,053 - (1,070) - up 983 or 91.9%

Substantial increase - larger than previous weeks

UNITED KINGDOM

Population - 68,262,351 - (68,248,738) - up 13,613 or 0.020%

Active cases - 1,045,808 - (545,693) - up 500,115 or 91.6%. Percentage of total population - 1.532%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 15,320 - (7,996) - up 7,324 or 91.6%

Very substantial increase. See comments under U.K. below.............

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Population - 333,050,797 - (332,976,690) - up 74,107 or 0.022%

Active cases - 5,109,249 - (4,851,373) - up 257,876 or 5.3%. Percentage of total population - 1.534%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 15,341 - (14,570) - up 771 or 5.3%

Wonderful - what on earth is happening with these wonderful "vaccines"?

URUGUAY

Population - 3,486,439 - (3,485,980) - up 459 or 0.013%

Active cases - 3,287 - (9,088) - down 5,801 or 63.8%. Percentage of total population - 0.094%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 943 - (2,607) - down 1,664 or 63.8%

Great to see such a substantial reduction.

SELECTED FINANCIAL AND COMMODITY PRICE INFORMATION as at July 23rd. with comparisons in parenthesis to January 4th. 2021. 

S & P 500 - US - 4412 - (3701) - up 711 or 19.2%

FTSE - UK - 7028 - (6752) - up 276 or 4.1%

NIKKEI - JAPAN - 27548 - (27258) - up 290 or 1.1%

SSE COMPOSITE INDEX - SHANGHAI - 3550 - (3503) - up 47 or 1.3%

ALL ORDS - AUSTRALIA - 7671 - (6954) - up 717 or 10.3%

NZX50 - NEW ZEALAND - 12736 - (13238) - down 502 or 3.8%

COLCAP - COLOMBIA BOLSA DE VALORES - 1284 - (1418) - down 134 or 9.5%

NZD/USD - .6974 - (.7174) - down 0.02 or 2.8%

NZD/COP (Colombian Peso) - 2706 - (2475) - up 231 or 9.3%

NZD/EURO - .5925 - (.5855) - up .007 or 1.2%

NZD/CHF (Swiss Franc) - .6414 - (.6320) - up .0094 or 1.5%

NZD/JPY - 77.10 - (73.97) - up 3.13 or 4.2%

NZD/CNY (Chinese Yuan) - 4.52 - (4.64) - down .12 or 2.6%

NZD/AUD - .9470 - (.9355) - up .0115 or 1.2%

USD/NZD - 1.43 - (1.39) - up .04 or 2.9%

USD/COP (Colombian Peso) - 3881 - (3420) - up 461 or 13.5%

USD/EURO - .8496 - (.8156) - up .034 or 4.2%

USD/CHF (Swiss Franc) - .9197 - (.8813) - up .0384 or 4.4%

USD/JPY - 110.55 - (103.11) - up 7.44 or 7.2% 

USD/CNY (Chinese Yuan) - 6.48 - (6.46) - up .02 or 0.31%

USD/AUD - 1.36 - (1.30) - up .06 or 4.6%

GOLD - (USD per Troy Ounce) - 1,802 - (1,939) - down 137 or 7.1%

SILVER - (USD per Troy Ounce) - 25.18 - (27.14) - down 1.96 or 7.2%

OIL - West Texas Intermediate - (USD per barrel) - 72.19 -  (47.80) - up 24.39 or 51.0%

COPPER - (USD per metric ton) - 9,433 - (7,972) - up 1,461 or 18.3%

COAL - (USD per metric ton) - 133 - (70) - up 63 or 90.0%

IRON ORE - (USD per dry metric ton) - 214 - (164) - up 50 or 30.5%

Equity markets are generally higher again, but definitely appear to be in "bubble" territory - particularly in the US. There are so many conflicting predictions that one doesn't know what to believe, except that all this crazy money printing is already causing inflation at levels not seen for some years, which despite Federal Reserve denials, will inevitably mean higher interest rates. Whether they reach the dizzy heights of 20%+ in the 80's is so far a moot point. When interest rates are raised as seems inevitable, the equity markets will suffer a substantial correction.

Exchange rates have throughout the past 18 months or so remained fairly constant, except that unfortunately the Colombian Peso has devalued somewhat during that period. But again with all these trillions of dollars being injected into the economies of not just the US, but also the UK, Europe and even NZ (!), it seems most likely that there will be a substantial devaluation of the USD - possibly by as much as 30% sometime soon. Just what that will do to other currencies, including the NZD and COP, remains a matter of speculation.  

Oil is another wildcard, the price of which is artificially driven. And with Biden's shutting down of the main pipeline from Canada into the US, that has only exacerbated the effect.

Coal is interesting - despite the Greens' posturing, demand has skyrocketed - particularly by China which is commissioning one new coal-fired power plant every week! And NZ is burning polluting low grade Indonesian coal to power its previously decommissioned power station at Huntly!! At least NZ could buy Aussie coal you'd think, but the Kiwi cheapskates probably won't pay the price.

COMMENT AND NEWS - 

AUSTRALIA

Once again the whole country has become hysterical and gone into lockdown mode - for God knows how long.

Reminds us of the hysterical Aussie fishwife on another boat that we had the misfortune to encounter when anchoring at Bali, Indonesia in 2013!! 

They have only 0.008% of their population either infected or recording positive tests, which are notoriously unreliable in any case.

The resurgence of the Kung Flu is another godsend to the Socialist/Communist state premiers.

For the flimsiest of reasons and "evidence" they have weighed in hard with lockdowns, business destruction again, and even thinly veiled threats of compulsory "vaccination". Where is the conservative Federal Government - hiding in Canberra letting the Socialist state governments attract all the political opprobrium. Smart move, but hardly meritorious.

COLOMBIA

Following are this week's headlines from the English language www.colombiareports.com. You may need to go to the desktop version to read most of these:

July 11th. Confusion in Colombia over role of mercenaries in Haiti

July 12th. Colombia's government at odds with Congress over human rights sanction

July 12th. Light at the end of Colombia's COVID-19 tunnel

July 12th. Colombia insists anti-government protests are national security threat

July 14th. Confronted with crimes against humanity, Colombia's VP resorts to blatant lies

July 14th. Colombia's president tied to suspect in Haiti president's assassination

July 14th. Colombia presents new tax reform ahead of new protests

July 15th. Colombia charges presidential hopeful with mass murder

July 16th. Colombia: "Some mercenaries knew about plot to assassinate Haiti Leader"

July 16th. Where is Colombia's "clear evidence" of terrorist plot during protests?

July 19th. Former Colombian ambassador admits to turning government into mafia racket⁹

July 19th. Colombia's Congress returns to government crisis and electoral ambitions

July 20th. Duque isolated as many in Colombia go on strike again

July 20th. Why many in Colombia embark on new strike

July 20th. Colombia's anti-government protests: no police = no violence 

July 23rd. Colombia downplays number of victims of violence during protests

July 23rd. The drug trafficking problem of Colombia's Congress

July 23rd. Colombia arrests retired military commander for army base "attack"

The big news for this week is that we finally obtained our new visas -  Cedulas d'Extranjerias (plastic cards about the size of a credit card). So, we are now legal for another 3 years. We went to Migracion Colombia in Belen, Medellin on the appointed day and lo and behold there they were. Almost unbelievable after the bureaucratic run-around we had. We had photos taken by a professional passport photographer in the Oviedo Mall and were careful for Jean to have no hair showing on her face, but they said they had to be redone. Then we see that they must have used an old photograph with lots of hair!! We had applied under the Pensionada scheme as we did 3 years ago, and we well and truly met those requirements, but then they also decided that they needed details of our assets. We duly supplied these but of course it gave rise to all sorts of queries which all had to be dealt with. The whole process of renewing our visas (cedulas) took two and a half months with much frustration. Without Astrid, our long-suffering lawyer, we would have long ago pulled all our hair out - no worries then about hair in the photo!! But of course we are relieved that it's all done and now, in spite of the fact that these current visas have 3 years to run, in 2 year's time we can apply for Permanent Residency. Let's hope that goes a little more smoothly!

At least Colombia appears to have realised that they cannot eradicate the Virus and therefore it is necessary to just get on with life. Travel restrictions don't exist and there are no PCR tests to enter the country. Masks are still mandatory, but the rules are often flouted. We wear them inside even if only to respect the people who work in shops, but the effectiveness is highly questionable. There are no other restrictions and everything is open. We take vitamin D3 and zinc daily. That's our Virus defence.

The politics haven't improved, but that's another story!

NEW ZEALAND

Much the same comments apply as for Australia. Both countries have been labouring under the ludicrous delusion that the Virus can actually be eradicated. We cannot say when realisation will finally dawn, but of course it's all a godsend on a plate for the Socialist Ardern government.

The "travel bubble" between NZ and Australia is now suspended for 2 months in another knee-jerk and mindless reaction to the relatively few Australian cases. Surely it could just be managed? 

Once again listen to and read Leighton Smith and Muriel Newman.

Thank God, there does now appear to be a growing anti-Socialist movement taking hold and people are starting to see through the toothy grin which is hellbent on destroying the country by the use of blatant racial division.

NZ is now importing record quantities of coal to burn, generating electric power, and at the same time offering massive subsidies to people to buy electric vehicles. What is going to happen when all these vehicles go on the grid to be recharged and the system crashes - as it will? How hypocritical can you get, but that's the Socialists all over.

We could go on but we'd just be repeating ourselves.

UNITED KINGDOM

Alex Belfield - "The Voice of Reason" - is such a breath of fresh air on Youtube. He continually takes off celebrities and politicians. Amongst all the relentless bad news he manages to raise a smile and even on occasion a laugh.

And Jacob Rees-Mogg (Moggy), the Leader of the House, is always worth listening to. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of history and gleefully took down a Scottish MP the other day. He wondered why the MP was so cheerful because that day was in fact the anniversary of the Battle of Falkirk in 1274 when the British King Edward I decisively defeated the Scottish Army. No doubt a very sad occasion, but Moggy's take on these things is always entertaining.  

Cases have increased dramatically, but by all accounts hospitalisation and death is way down compared to when the pandemic started last year. Of course the claim is that these much better outcomes are due to the "vaccines", but how are all these new cases arising in spite of the "vaccines"? In fact at least 60% of all hospital admissions are for "vaccinated" people. A major reason for these better outcomes is that the new strain(s) is/are much less severe than the original.

And they have this app system, where if you have been within 2 metres of someone who has previously tested positive, you are "pinged" and required to self isolate for 10 days. People are rebelling against this bit of mindless nonsense en masse and deleting the app from their phones. The result has been tens of thousands of workers having to leave their jobs which has meant supermarket shortages due to there not being sufficient delivery trucks on the road. What mindless bureaucrat thinks up this stupidity?

There are also increasing threats for compulsory "vaccination" which are attracting massive opposition and demonstrations. It has been said that the way Britain is going is reminiscent of Germany in the 1930's and that is not far wrong. However, this attitude is gaining ground in many countries as well and it is only a matter of time before the "vaccine's" credibility is so undermined by events that these strident calls will just subside. Unfortunately many people have already died as a result of the "vaccine" and many more will continue to suffer that fate or considerable harm.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IS NOT STARING INTO THE ABYSS; IT IS IN THE ABYSS. 

The chronicle of events and on-going sabotage of the USA by the Biden crooks is so extensive it is difficult to write about completely but we shall try.

** All of the Texas Democrat Senators, who are in the minority in the Texas Senate, decided they would object to perfectly reasonable new electoral laws being promulgated in the Senate for the State. So, in a childish huff they decided to deny the Republicans a quorum in the Senate by departing en masse to see their crooked mates in DC. They flew out on two chartered jets (great carbon footprint!) armed with boxes of Miller Light - and no masks on the flights. Once in DC, at least 5 of them tested positive for the old Kung Flu which provoked a panic, especially as they had been hob-knobbing with the other Dim crooks in the capital. In the meantime, the Texas Governor has said that he will be deducting their pay for the days absent and also included the fact that on their return they would be arrested by US Marshalls and charged with wilful obstruction of the business of the State of Texas. This has turned into the trip to or from HELL and couldn't have happened to nicer people.

** The Speaker (Pelosi), who needs all her orifices stitched up, has been desperately trying to establish, firstly a Commission of Inquiry into the Jan. 6th. invasion of Congress which, while unlawful trespass, was by and large peaceful. Except for the fact that a Capitol Police Officer whose identity has still been suppressed and kept secret, shot and killed an unarmed female protestor who was a 14 year veteran of the military and who served with distinction in America's wars during that time. The Dims are trying to represent the whole fiasco as a full-scale riot in order to heap as much blame as they can on Trump supporters and gain what they believe will be a political advantage. But the American people are not that easily fooled any more. 

Anyway, Pelosi called for 5 Republican nominees and 7 Democrats to what has now become a Congressional committee being established simply to push this  false narrative that the demonstrations were "the worst attack on the American Government since the Civil War" and that it was a full-scale armed assault on the part of Trump supporters. When the 5 Republican nominees were presented to Pelosi, she rejected 2 of them because she knew that they would expose her slimy tricks. This rejection is unprecedented and just confirms the lengths the Dims will go to in order to obscure the truth and push their own false narrative. The committee report is probably already written long before the committee actually sits. 

** The final outcome of the Maricopa, Arizona forensic electoral audit is currently stalled because the Dims and some RINOS are desperately trying to obstruct the audit's final task of examining the modems of the vote counting machines. Once again - what are they hiding? This will go to the Supreme Court if it has to. Some details of fraud have been leaked already, but once the full scale of the fraud is known and proven, all hell is going to break loose. Pennsylvania is following suit, but up against the same desperate attempts by the Dims to stop it. Same goes for Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin. A great number of people are going to go to jail and the Biden crooks will be kicked out of the White House, unless they resign first.

** "Nothing makes sense anymore - no values, no morals, and no civility. People are dying of a Chinese Virus, but it's racist to refer to it as Chinese, even though it began in China. We are clearly living in an upside-down world where right is wrong and wrong is right, where moral is immoral and immoral is moral, where good is evil and evil is good, where killing murderers is wrong but killing unborn babies is AOK.

Wake up America, the great unsinkable ship "Titanic America" has hit an iceberg, is taking on water, and is sinking fast. Speak up!"   

Well that's another fortnight in the great scheme of things. We hope that you have had a great 2 weeks and that the next 2 are equally rewarding.

With lotsaluv and cordial saludos from Medellin,

Jim and Jean

Chinese Virus (a.k.a. The Kung Flu) statistics for week number 47 (329 days) as at July 9th. 2021 (plus political comment and our personal news) since 21/08/20. Greetings from Medellin, Colombia.

Hola a todos nuestros amigos y familiares,

Esperamos como siempre que todo el mundo este en rosa - 

CHINESE VIRUS STATISTICS and related comment. Note that comparative figures in parenthesis relate to July 2nd. We have also reduced the number of countries we collect statistics for to those that we are closely interested in or that we know certain other people have an interest in. So, instead of the 24 countries that we have reported on in the past, there will now be 18 including the World figures.

A French Nobel Laureate winning virologist, Luc Montaigney, has stated that the COVID "vaccinations" are an "unacceptable mistake" because they are actually creating the variants which are now causing so much concern. This should have been obvious to anyone with half a brain because when viruses are threatened, they will look for ways to defend themselves and will therefore mutate. The extreme risk is that, while some of these mutations may be relatively harmless, others may in fact turn out deadlier than the original virus and in addition may be resistant to any current "vaccines". 

This is another reason why the COVID "vaccines" SHOULD NOT BE TOUCHED WITH A BARGE-POLE. We despair of people though, because it seems fairly obvious, certainly among many of the people we know, that they are taking these "vaccines" out of FEAR, STRAIGHT OUT COERCION, AND A SHAMING CAMPAIGN - "YOU ARE NOT DOING YOUR CIVIC DUTY", and probably most concerningly, a complete lack of, or only cursory attention to probably the greatest threat to human health that we will face in our lifetimes. These "vaccines" are still only experimental, do not have approval from the USFDA, and have known serious side-effects. The timing of these side-effects, possibly some years down the track, is absolutely unknown because there have been NO trials undertaken over longer time periods. 

The latest is the Johnson & Johnson "vaccine" which has now started to produce a number of Guillain-Barre Syndrome cases. This GBS is a neurological disease that causes minor symptoms at first, but can progress to complete paralysis - and apparently it is not necessarily exclusive to J & J. 

There are other effective ways of dealing with the Chinese Virus and these have been canvassed here exhaustively. And the added bonus is that after exposure to the Ch. Virus, you are likely to develop an immunity far superior to anything that a "vaccine" may confer. "Vaccines" actually destroy natural immunity and leave you vulnerable to a wide range of potential diseases in the future.   

And latest death figures directly attributed to these "vaccines" - up to mid June there have been over 5,000 deaths in the US. Surely, even if there is doubt in some cases, these figures are unacceptable and by themselves should be full justification for immediate cessation of any further Chinese Virus "vaccine" administration until it is proved beyond doubt to be safe. But political and financial imperatives prevail with no consideration whatsoever for the long-term health and wellbeing of populations generally. 

Fear has always been an effective means of controlling populations for thousands of years, and so it is proving yet again. Sheeple indeed, and the similarity to Lemmings is unmistakable. Instead of this pervasive mentality that "the Government will look after me", develop some independence and self-reliance and above all - COMMONSENSE!!!!!  

MUNDO - World

Population - 7,876,572,751 - (7,875,015,059) - up 1,557,692 or 0.020%

Active cases - 11,857,507 - (11,542,025) - up 315,482 or 2.7%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 1,505 - (1,466) - up 39 or 2.7%

Disturbing to see this change upwards - must be the Vindaflu! But what about the vaccines? See above for the answer! This question is becoming ever more pressing and calling into question the false narratives and lies continually being foisted on the world's population. It is good to see that people are waking up and pushing back against this nonsense.

ARGENTINA

Population - 45,617,246 - (45,609,321) - up 7,925 or 0.017%

Active cases - 288,421 - (304,726) - down 16,305 or 5.4%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 6,323 - (6,681) - down 358 or 5.4%

A better rate of weekly increase from last week but still a long way to go.

AUSTRALIA

Population - 25,800,387 - (25,794,730) - up 5,657 or 0.022%

Active cases - 575 - (416) - up 159 or 38.2%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 22 - (16) - up 6 or 37.5%

A few clusters of infection - but numbers still very low 

CHILE

Population - 19,282,985 - (19,279,850) - up 3,135 or 0.016%

Active cases - 19,027 - (23,558) - down 4,531 or 19,2%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 987 - (1,222) - down 235 or 19.2%

A slightly lesser weekly rate of decrease but still solidly in the right direction

COLOMBIA

Population - 51,433,858 - (51,423,492) - up 10,365 or 0.020%

Active cases - 166,913 - (198,086) - down 31,173 or 15.7%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 3,245 - (3,852) - down 607 or 15.8%
At last the very high figures are starting to decrease. 

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC  

Population - 10,958,440 - (10,956,361) - up 2.079 or 0.019%

Active cases - 55,564 - (54,957) - up 607 or 1.1%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 5,070 - (5,016) - up 54 or 1.1%

Half the rate of increase from last week, but still going the wrong way.

ECUADOR

Population - 17,914,915 - (17,909,788) - up 5,127 or 0.029%

Active cases - 12,706 - (14,245) - down 1,539 or 10.8%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 709 - (795) - down 86 or 10.8%

A resumption of case decreases - good to see.

GERMANY

Population - 84,056,651 - (84,051,450) - up 5,201 or 0.006%

Active cases - 16,450 - (18,610) - down 2,160 or 11.6%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 196 - (221) - down 25 or 11.3%

rate of decrease reduced substantially, but still a very solid result. Time to ease the draconian and ridiculous lockdown.

JAPAN

Population - 126,081,982 - (126,089,354) - down 7,372 or 0.006%

Active cases - 16,804 - (16,869) - down 65 or 0.4%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 126 - (134) - down 8 or 6.0%

Smaller rate of decline, but sadly the Japanese Government has still decided that there will be no spectators at the Games.

MALAYSIA

Population - 32,787,057 - (32,779,126) - up 7,931 or 0.024%

Active cases - 80,685 - (66,084) - up 14,601 or 22.1%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 2,461 - (2,016) - up 445 or 22.1%

A much bigger increase than previous weeks; this needs to be brought under control

MEXICO

Population - 130,308,968 - (130,283,076) - up 25,892 or 0.020%

Active cases - 301,488 - (288,625) - up 12,863 or 4.5%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 2,314 - (2,215) - up 99 or 4.5%

Weekly increase about double the previous week. 

NEW ZEALAND

Population - 5,002,100 - (5,002,100) - no change as always!

Active cases - 32 - (27) - up 7 or 25.9%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 6 - (5) - up 1 or 20.0%

Nothing exciting here!!

PHILIPPINES

Population - 111,061,804 - (111,033,906) - up 27,898 or 0.025%

Active cases - 51,902 - (55,482) - down 3,580 or 6.5%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 467 - (500) - down 33 or 6.6%

Another good solid rate of decrease, slightly higher than last week

TAIWAN

Population - 23,860,654 - (23,859,832) - up 822 or 0.004%

Active cases - 1,617 - (2,586) - down 969 or 37.5%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 68 - (108) - down 40 or 37.0%
Better decrease than last week - keep it going!

THAILAND

Population - 69,978,234 - (69,974,894) - up 3,340 or 0.005%

Active cases - 74895 - (54,440) - up 20,455 or 37.6%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 1,070 - (778) - up 292 or 37.5%

Not good; weekly rate of increase greater than last week

UNITED KINGDOM

Population - 68,248,738 - (68,241,931) - up 6,807 or 0.020%

Active cases - 545,693 - (372,745) - up 172,948 or 46.4%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 7,996 - (5,462) - up 2,534 or 46.4%

Unbelievable increases. Can't be the "vaccine" - can it? Must be the dinghy divers coming across the Channel.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Population - 332,976,690 - (332,939,657) - up 37,033 or 0.011%

Active cases - 4,851,373 - (4,888,671) - down 37,298 or 0.7%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 14,570 - (14,683) - down 113 or 0.7%

A much reduced rate of decrease from last week. What is going on - with all these "vaccinations"?

URUGUAY

Population - 3,485,980 - (3,485,750) - up 230 or 0.007%

Active cases - 9,088 - (14,690) - down 5,602 or 38.1%

Active cases per 1 million of total population - 2,607 - (4,214) - down 1,607 or 38.1%

Excellent rate of reduction - we might get to Uruguay yet!!

SELECTED FINANCIAL AND COMMODITY PRICE INFORMATION as at July 9th. with comparisons in parenthesis to January 4th. 2021. As this blog has been so long in coming, we thought it would be useful to simply add values below as at 16/07 - Colombia time. No percentages - just bare numbers - + or - since July 9th.

S & P 500 - US - 4370 - (3701) - up 669 or 18.1% 4360 -

FTSE - UK - 7122 - (6752) - up 370 or 5.5% 7012 -

NIKKEI - JAPAN - 27940 - (27258) - up 682 or 2.5% 28023 + 

SSE Composite Index (Shanghai) - 3524 - (3503) - up 21 or 0.6% 3564 + 

NZX50 - NZ - 12690 - (13238) - down 548 or 4.1% 12664 -

COLCAP - Colombia Bolsa de Valores - 1293 - (1418) - down 125 or 8.8% 1273 -

NZD/USD - .6996 - (.7174) - down 0.0178 or 2.5% .7019 + 

NZD/COP (Colombian Peso) - 2681 - (2475) - up 206 or 8.3% 2679 -

NZD/EURO - .5891 - (.5855) - up 0.0036 or 0.6% .5944 -

NZD/CHF (Swiss Franc) - .6396 - (.6320) - up 0.0076 or 1.2% .6447 + 

NZD/JPY - 77.00 - (73.97) - up 3.03 or 4.1% 77.22 + 

NZD/CNY (Chinese Yuan) - 4.53 - (4.64) - down 0.11 or 2.4% 4.54 + 

NZD/AUD - .9344 - (.9355) - down 0.0011 or 0.1% .9439 + 

USD/NZD - 1.43 - (1.39) - up 0.04 or 2.9% 1.43 no change

USD/COP (Colombian Peso) - 3832 - (3450) - up 382 or 11.1% 3817 -

USD/EURO - .8420 - (.8156) - up 0.0264 or 3.2% .8468 + 

USD/CHF (Swiss Franc) - .9142 - (.8813) - up 0.0329 or 3.7% .9185 + 

USD/JPY - 110.06 - (103.11) - up 6.95 or 6.7% 110.01 -

USD/CNY (Chinese Yuan) - 6.48 - (6.46) - up 0.02 or 0.3% 6.47 -

USD/AUD - 1.34 - (1.30) - up 0.04 or 3.1% 1.35 + 

GOLD - (USD per Troy Ounce) - 1,809 - (1,939) - down 130 or 6.7% 1,826 + 

SILVER - (USD per Troy Ounce) - 26.81 - (27.14) - down 0.33 or 1.2% 26.36 -

OIL - West Texas Intermediate - (USD per barrel) - 74.63 - (47.80) - up 26.83 or 56.1% 71.68 -

COPPER - (USD per metric ton) - 9,438 - (7,972) - up 1,466 or 18.4% 9,437 -

COAL - (USD per metric ton) - 126 - (70) - up 56 or 80.0% 128 + 
IRON ORE - (USD per dry metric ton) - 216 - (164) - up 52 or 31.7% 219 +

COMMENT AND NEWS - 

AUSTRALIA

Australia and New Zealand are in panic mode - designed to increase the FEAR in the population - and it's working. The "travel bubble" between NSW, Victoria and NZ has been suspended all in the continuing, but mistaken, belief that it is still possible to eliminate all Coronaviruses. This is ludicrous anti-science and people just have to get over it and themselves. Everyone also needs to realise that with the panic to get "vaccinated", it is extremely likely that the Coronaviruses will continue to mutate as a reaction. See the comments at the start of this blog.

COLOMBIA

Following are this week's headlines from the English language www.colombiareports.com. You may need to go to the desktop version to read most of these:

July 5th. After 50 years, Colombia seems to have given up on drug war

July 6th. Medellin gangs have as many members as ELN in all Colombia

July 6th. Colombia's "first-line" protestors: folk heroes and terror suspects

July 8th. Colombia clashes with OAS over damning human rights report

July 8th. Colombia's far-right regime put on despot watch list

July 8th. Colombia recycles terrorist conspiracy theory ahead of new protests 

July 9th. Colombia vows cooperation in Haiti president assassination probe - apparently 26 of the 28 member hit team that took out Haitian president Moise on the 7th. July were Colombian nationals and some had been members of the Colombian National Army.

We read on the front page of the NZ Herald that Dave Petraska, a well-known writer for NZ Soccer some years ago, and a Colombian resident for the past 7 years, had died in Colombia - apparently of the Chinese Virus on July 7th. We knew him, but had no idea of that previous life of his - he never discussed it with us. We feel quite sad because we knew Dave reasonably well. First met him in a coffee bar just up the road from our apartment and we kept in touch sporadically. We also had lunch with him a couple of times along the road in the restaurant quarter of this part of Envigado. He came to our apartment for drinks also not too long ago. He had asked us to go to his musical recitals at a restaurant in the restaurant area of the Sao Paulo Mall just up the road, but we never made it - often for a genuine reason, but also because we avoid going out at night - not for any safety reasons, because there aren't any around here, but that's just us and getting older no doubt! We are sad we never heard him play.

We regularly sent him these blogs and there was one occasion some weeks ago when the headline was briefly changed from the "Chinese Virus" to "Covid-19". He rang us up to chide us over that and it's been the Chinese Virus again ever since. Our political views it has to be said, were diametrically opposed to his and we had some vigorous discussion with Dave on that subject from time to time, but never with any rancour!! He also didn't take any prisoners, although we gave as good as we got!! He was somewhat of a hippy and it also has to be said that he wasn't the healthiest person we have ever known. Undoubtedly that would have contributed to his succumbing to Pneumonia - apparently caused by the Kung Flu. We understood that he was working on-line for some sports betting agency in the UK and working all sorts of unsociable hours as a result. That wouldn't have contributed to his health either, but at least he was doing something associated with what had been a consuming passion for him. 

We feel sad that we won't be having any more uplifting (!) political discussions with Dave. He was only 56. We hope that he is now at peace.

Otherwise life continues pretty much as before. Had a bit of a disappointment with our orange/yellow Bougainvillea. It flowered magnificently about 6 weeks ago - probably the best ever - but soon after that it seemed to be dying. Leaves falling off and looking very sick. We wondered whether it was the Kung Flu?!! So, we thought we might have to replace it, but after heavily pruning within 6-8 inches of the pot it is in, the woody growth was all green inside and looks very healthy. So, we've left it pruned and hope that it will grow again. We have heavily scarified the soil in the pot and fed it.

The Chinese Virus seems to be once more on the wane - active cases in Colombia as at 15/07 are 133,599 - a 33,314 (20.0%) reduction since last Friday. This is only 0.26% of the total population. In most of S America the infection rates now appear to be declining again, which is good to see. We have our Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine so we're ok - Jack!!! We have started a course of Ivermectin for parasites, which should be done in any case here as parasites are endemic. And the beneficial side-effect is the resistance to the old Kung Flu!! 

Apart from all that, after yours truly's Endoscopy and Colonoscopy on June 21st., the follow-up appointment occurred last Wednesday and there is nothing to give concern, except that there is a VERY small mass in the stomach which he couldn't reach to take a biopsy. So, there is to be a lesser and more specialised procedure in another clinic in the near future so that a biopsy can be taken. The specialist however, said that he is sure that it is certainly not malignant in any way. But it will be good to have the confirmation. They are very thorough and competent and we have nothing but praise for the professionalism so far. Jean's experience last year when she was so sick with respiratory issues, which we are sure were caused by the Kung Flu, was the same. Medellin, it is said, has the best medical system and hospitals in all of Latin America.

NEW ZEALAND

Once again we must remind everyone to listen to Leighton Smith's weekly podcasts and PLEASE read Dr. Muriel Newman's weekly newsletter. These voices are just about the only voices of reason coming out of Godzone these days. And for God's sake, if you haven't already done it, listen to Dr. Damian Wojcik's podcast on the subject of the Kung Flu "vaccinations". His voice is also the calm voice of reason in an otherwise insane world. We can only hope that he hasn't had his practising certificate taken as has been threatened for any medical practitioner who dares to speak the truth about these Chinese Virus "vaccines". 

We have just heard another ludicrous and damaging story that has been born out of the hypocritical climate fanatics and their weaponising of the whole issue of climate - 

NZ is currently importing low grade and polluting coal from Borneo, Indonesia to run the Huntly power station. 

Reminds us of when in 2013 we were sailing along the north-east coast of Java in Indonesia and on the horizon we could see a sawtooth silhouette. We were somewhat perplexed as there were no islands charted there. However, as the distance closed we could see that the sawtooth was in fact a very large fully laden coal barge under tow by a large tug. There were 4 or 5 "peaks" of coal on the barge. It was underway from Borneo to Java to power Indonesia's power stations. We prudently altered course to pass astern of the barge so there was no question of getting hung up on the tow hawser. But you have to be careful because sometimes there is a second barge in the same tow. Not so bad in daylight, but very dangerous at night because these tow combinations are almost always incorrectly lit (incl. on the tug) and possibly without lights altogether. 

Anyway, we digress - this low-grade coal is being imported into NZ from Indonesia (Borneo). It is trucked to Huntly by a fleet of some hundreds of trucks. NZ obviously cannot produce enough electricity from its hydro storage lakes - hence the imported coal. Great for the environment - where are the hypocritical Greens who should be up in arms? And what will happen when this vast new fleet of EV's all tries to be recharged at once? These destructive clowns couldn't run a p----p in a brewery, all the while having hugely prejudicial effects on the lives of just about everyone.

Questions - why isn't NZ using local coal? There's plenty in Southland and possibly still at Huntly where there was an overhead line to transport coal from the mines to the power station. And what happens when the draconian taxes on gasoline powered vehicles come into effect and which are designed to penalise buyers of gasoline vehicles in favour of expensive electric ones? The whole thing is a sick and destructive joke (if that's the right word) which is all part of the Socialist aim of destroying the country and its economy.

And following on from that, there are extensive protests planned by farmers who are being persecuted for owning and using gasoline and diesel vehicles and farm equipment. With any luck the wheels are falling off the Ardern Communist government.  

We have been reading about the protests and while it is good that they made their point somewhat with causing traffic jams with the farm vehicles, in our view they should go further and do what the French do and block all motorway access to Auckland and other main centres. Drastic action like this which will result in notice being taken is really the only way forward.

   

UNITED KINGDOM

We are continually and hilariously entertained by Alex Belfield who is a British broadcaster and who only appears to have a nodding acquaintance with "political correctness". He has been on holiday in the Balearics. He has been persecuted shamelessly by the BBC and the Nottingham Police since he began his own broadcast channel over a year ago. He comments on the political situation in the UK and in particular about the nonsensical C Virus regulations.

There has been concern about the shortage and corresponding long hours of long-distance truck drivers in the UK and Alex blithely said that his grandfather never had a problem when he was driving long-haul on the Isle of Wight!!

He also referred to his grandfather, no doubt later in his life, when he happened to mention that he (the grandfather) never knew whether he was coming or going as he always took his Viagra in prune juice!!!😀  

The C Virus infection figures are again going through the roof. This suggests that the "variant" is mutating to overcome the "vaccine" resistance. This is entirely that elusive commodity of commonsense, so not unexpected. It is disingenuous on the part of the so-called experts/propagandists to claim otherwise.

However, there is one piece of good news; Boris of the Johnson has announced that his government will be continuing to proceed with Freedom Day on 19/07 in spite of increasing infections. These infections are nowhere near the severity of the original virus as hospitalisations and deaths are way down from those times. So, the UK will be losing much of the original Chinese Virus restrictions, which will help business and life in general. The liberal lefties will no doubt be crying foul.

The place is a total nuthouse, as is the rest of the world. What the F------G HELL is going on and what is the world coming to? Have just heard from another commentator, Jeff Taylor, that if the owner of a cell phone has tested positive and the system has "detected" that another cellphone has been within 2 metres of the first, then the owner of the second MUST also self isolate. Good luck with that with reports that millions are deleting the App in absolute frustration. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Democrats and associated Fruit Loops - Much Ado About Nothing (as Shakespeare would have said) - the Dims have finally acknowledged after their much hyped attack on Donald Trump's tax returns, that there is NO evidence of any tax fraud and that therefore President Trump would not be facing any charges - civil or criminal. The AG of New York ran for office on this investigation of Trump and the "certainty" of charges to come with absolutely no proof, which in itself was illegal and probably defamatory. Trump should sue the ass off her and the State of New York; maybe then they would learn their lesson. Doubtful though, because they are good at spending public money which isn't theirs.

This comes after the entirely unjustified witch hunt before and during the Trump presidency when they were screaming "Russia, Russia Collusion". They spent 30 million dollars on this wasted effort and then there were 2 attempts at Impeachment. None of it was justified; it was all a criminal effort on the part of the Dims and their lying conspirators in the FBI and CIA. 

But the Dims are so paranoid and fearful of Donald Trump that they will never stop in their efforts to destroy him and his businesses. We just hope that he has good security protection because the Dims would not stop at a physical attack if they thought they could get away with it. 

After all the totally bad news of the past few months during which the Biden/Harris crooks have wrought so much damage on the US in so many ways, it is now very encouraging to see a real push-back from true patriots. Chief of these is Mark Levin who has a weekly TV show on Fox called Life, Liberty and Levin. Just recently the format changed slightly because he has just completed his eleventh book - "American Marxism" in which he details how the Marxists have been working to take over American institutions (educational, governmental and commercial) for at least the past 70 years. For example he chronicles John Dewey who died in 1952 in his 90's and who was a prominent educational reformer and indirectly the architect of the present day Critical Race Theory, historical revisionism and general wokeness that we see today. He doesn't despair that the present situation is irredeemable as many do; on the contrary he educates people how the present appalling situation came about through the evil machinations of a variety of people, including Dewey, so that the path forward to clear America of these malevolent ideas can be seen clearly. We certainly intend to obtain a copy of "American Marxism" when it becomes available on July 13th. from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and bookstores everywhere. The last chapter deals with the means that every citizen has to contribute to healing America. So many people say "what can I do"? Well, according to Mark Levin there is plenty and it behoves everyone to obtain a copy of his book. If Secession is to be avoided - and we are not at all sure that it can be avoided, as America is badly broken right now - then a read of Levin's book seems to be a must. 

Not sure about the availability in NZ - Amazon may be the only practical source. We watch Levin's programmes on Sunday nights often and have always found him to be informative and extremely uplifting. He has interviewed some wonderful people during the time that we have been watching Fox. Sean Hannity calls him "Oh, Great One"!! He is a lawyer, author and a former member of the administration of President Ronald Reagan before becoming Chief of Staff to Attorney-General Edwin Meese. You can watch Levin's more recent interviews on Foxnews.com or probably on his own website, although on trying just now, it appears that the pages have been taken down/disappeared - no doubt more of the disgusting censorship that we are seeing more and more of from Big Tech who are 100% in bed with the Biden crooks. But Fox so far seems to be intact.

Snippets of news re the Arizona forensic audit are finally coming to light - including that 74,000 more mail-in ballots were received back than had originally been mailed out!! There were also 11,000 ballots received from people who were not resident in Arizona and many more thousands printed on non secure paper which allowed marker pen (Sharpies) ink to bleed through - thus making ballots unreadable - mostly Trump ballots. These are just some of the "irregularities" so far and when you consider that the Biden crook "won" by just 10,000 votes, it is clear that Trump won Arizona. Similar "discrepancies" have now been found in Fulton County which comprises most of the City of Atlanta, Georgia. Pennsylvania in the crooked counties that cover Pittsburgh and Philadelphia is likely to follow suit. Then there are Wisconsin and Michigan - all of which without a doubt Trump won handily. That would easily hand Trump the presidency. Some commentators are saying that even if this most egregious fraud is proved, it would still not result in a change in the White House - because there is no precedent. But that is how legal precedents are created. All situations which result in legal precedent, many of which are slavishly followed in subsequent court decisions, have to start somewhere at some time - and this is precisely one of those times - THE BIGGEST AND MOST EGREGIOUS ELECTORAL FRAUD EVER PERPETRATED ON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. If the fraud is finally proved on the scale that seems most likely, the American people will not let the present situation stand and our prediction coming from that is Secession at the least or Civil War. The only action that could prevent either of these debilitating, and frankly shocking, outcomes would be for the Biden crooks to resign en masse and allow the legal resumption of the Trump Presidency.

In the meantime in just two crooked actions of the Dims, the entire Democrat Caucus of the Texas Senate walked out because they object to new legislation aimed at eliminating electoral fraud. Typical of them - anything which reduces their chances of winning fairly, they object to. Anyway, they all went to DC to be with their crooked friends and the Texas Governor has said that they will all be arrested when they eventually return and charged with deliberate obstruction of the legitimate business of the State of Texas, not to mention dereliction of duty. And he has said that in addition their salaries will be cancelled while they are AWOL. 

And in DC the Dims in the Senate are going all out to smash the Fillibuster in order to get their crooked electoral bill through which would remove control of national elections from the states and hand it to the Federal Government. This is totally unconstitutional because the US Constitution specifically provides for electoral matters to be solely under states' jurisdictions. If this bill were to somehow pass, this would be another cause for Secession and/or Civil War. Just these matters alone illustrate how close the USA is to disintegration. 

And even if the above matters are resolved, it is arguable that the USA is so much on the brink with civil riots in "blue" cities and the unspeakably horrible conditions on the Mexican border and with tens of thousands of illegals being secretly and forcibly distributed around ALL of the US, that the US is so broken now that it is not possible to resurrect it in its present form. This would be unspeakably tragic after 245 years but sometimes history builds a momentum that in the end is unstoppable.

And none of the above even begins to address the economic situation which has been unfolding ever since that other crook, Nixon, took the US off  the Gold Standard in 1971. This is the other elephant in the room, which is arguably the biggest elephant of all. All we can say at this point is be very cautious with any financial decisions you may make right now - especially if there is any contemplation to borrow money. Inflation is increasing rapidly and in the very near future the US Fed will raise interest rates to curb this dangerous trend which they are still in denial about.

Well, on that happy note, that's all we have to say for this blog. There has been so much happening that it has been badly delayed but the sentiments are still very much valid. We have decided that in order to get some of our lives back, we will in future be issuing only fortnightly blogs (not weekly as in the past), so the next blog will be for week number 49 (343 days) - July 23rd.

In the meantime we hope that everyone is staying well and as always we will welcome any feedback that you wish to foist upon us!!

Cordial saludos y mucho amor de nosotros en la Ciudad de la Eterna Primavera...............  

Jim and Jean     

Fwd: Après uber-loose monetary policies

"Prepare for the deluge". This is ESSENTIAL READING. The effects in Colombia may not be so bad because we already have 1st. mortgage interest rates at a minimum of 10%, but there will no doubt be imported inflation and Colombian exports to the US could also be affected. For NZ though and other countries with currently low interest rates, the outcome will be different. Time will tell.

Cheers again from Medellin......................

Jim and Jean

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Bill Bonner <feedback@exct.bonnerandpartners.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2021 at 11:43
Subject: Après uber-loose monetary policies
To: <tiare.taporo3@gmail.com>

Après Uber-Loose Monetary Policies By Bill Bonner Thursday, July 15, 2021 YOUGHAL, IRELAND – As we saw yesterday, inflation has not gotten on the bus yet. At a 5.4% annual running rate, consumer prices are now rising about as fast as they did in the mid-1970s. Producer prices are rising at an even faster pace – 7.3% year-on-year. Here's Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, speaking to the House Financial Services Committee yesterday: Right now of course inflation is not moderately above 2%, it is well above 2%. It's nothing like "moderately." What's ahead, reporters wanted to know? Here's Powell again... It will depend on the path of the economy, it really will. It's just a perfect storm of high demand and low supply. And it should pass. Unless we think there's going to be a multi-year shortage of used cars in the United States, we should look at [high inflation] as temporary. Used cars… used tractors (as we saw yesterday)… and used houses are all rising in price. New cars are scarce on dealer lots; used cars are especially in demand, trading for 10.5% more in June than the previous month. Recommended Link Fmr. Dock Worker Turns Millionaire...Warns Americans This video is going viral… A former NY loading dock worker – who rose to the top of Wall Street in just 3 years – blasts Congress and reveals nasty truths about America… Now, in his latest video, he shares a fiery warning for all Americans… His videos have often been blacklisted by major networks… But this one is posted for free – on an independent website – so you can make your own decision. Do you think this message should be banned? Watch Teeka's Video Now -- Catch-22 But Powell did not mention where all that demand comes from… or why it might not go away anytime soon. Say's Law – named after French economist Jean-Baptiste Say – tells us that real demand comes from real people who produce real goods and services. They sell their output for money, which they can then use to buy other peoples' goods and services. This demand does not increase prices, because it only arises as the quantity of goods and services available also rises. Powell must know that his money-printing creates a whole different kind of demand – one that brings forth no corresponding goods or services… and thereby, causes prices to rise. He has created a bubble economy, in other words – inflated by fake money. He knows, too, that the Fed has put itself in the Inflate and Die trap. It has to keep the fake money flowing… or the fake boom will collapse. But if it keeps the money flowing, consumer prices will continue to rise… and Powell may be forced (at least, according to the mainstream narrative) to restrain them. [Featured: Shameful! See What Biden and the Democrats Just Did To YOUR Money] No Escape Which leaves inquiring minds with a giant question mark. This from Mohamed El-Erian, writing in the Financial Times: What is clear to me is that we are moving irresistibly closer to a critical question for the economy and markets, and not just in the US: is there still the possibility of an orderly exit from what has been a remarkably long period of uber-loose monetary policies? You already know the answer to that, don't you, Dear Reader? The elite control the government. The government controls the money. The whole economy – notably the wealth, power, and status of the elite themselves – now depends on more and more money-printing. Ergo, there will be no exit – orderly or otherwise – from the Fed's uber-loose monetary policies. But staying the course will not be orderly, either. Bubbles blow up and burst… in a disorderly way. And then, central bankers… presidents… members of Congress… economists… investors… and columnists panic, causing more disorder and chaos. Recommended Link U.S. Treasury Secretary Mark Zuckerberg? Mayer Rothschild once said, "Give me control of a nation's money supply and I care not who makes its laws." Now, the U.S. government is handing over control of its currency to one of the most powerful companies in the world.  This could be the biggest disruption to the U.S. dollar we've seen in a century… And the technology behind it will change the world in ways you can't imagine. Click here for more info. -- Subsidized Gambling But let us look at what Powell et al. have wrought. Then, we will see what an exit from their uber-loose policies would mean. Currently, house buyers can get a mortgage at a negative real interest rate. A cursory Google search turns up rates under 4%, while consumer prices rise at least 100 basis points faster. At these interest rates, it is no wonder house prices are going up so fast. Wall Street speculators are also able to get super-cheap money. They can now borrow money at zero real cost. In an honest economy, speculators have to pay to play. Interest rates serve as a kind of ticket price for gamblers entering the casino. But today, the doors are wide open. The "cost of carry" – the charge speculators pay to gamble with someone else's money – is less than zero. In other words, it is as if they were being paid to make reckless bets. [Featured: Have a Visa or Mastercard? Get Ready To Shred Them!] Major Shock Getting back to normal would be a major shock to the marketplace. Let's see, if the "cost of carry" suddenly went up to 5%... or 8%... the rank speculation would quickly come to an end. Investors would toss aside the riskiest stocks as if they were used face masks. Zombie businesses, that can only pay the interest on their debt by borrowing more, would collapse. Asset prices, generally, would drop, and probably come to rest at only half of today's levels. Mortgage rates are usually 2.5% to 3% above inflation. Today's rates would have to double to get there. What would that do to house prices? As for the Fed's key funds rate – now at 0.25% – it would have to go up by more than 500 basis points, just to pull even with consumer price increases. Jobs lost, businesses failed, households bankrupted, investments wiped out – welcome to the end of the uber-loose monetary policies. Recommended Link The Millionaire with a Double Life And His Next Big Discovery In the photo on the left, (in the red shirt) he's like Indiana Jones in Myanmar. He jumped crocodile infested waters in South America in search of "hidden" investment ideas.  Last year he closed out 12 plays. Ten of them were winners with GRAND SLAMS like 4,942% and 2,805%, in one of his research services.  On the right, he's on the streets of Denver...  Ready to unveil his next HUGE investment he calls a tech "Master Key".  You'll want to put aside any skepticism because this will seem controversial.  But it could be responsible for a staggering amount of wealth in the coming months. This is the ground floor. This video unlocks this secret right now. -- Inflate and Die Trap And here, we see clearly how the Inflate and Die trap works: The higher inflation rates go, the bigger the shock to the economy needed to bring them under control. And this shock wouldn't be limited to home buyers and stockholders. The biggest borrower in the world is the federal government. And the biggest lender in the world is the Fed. Thanks to Fed buying, a 10-year Treasury note – the building block of all federal debt – now trades at a yield of about 1.4%. At last month's CPI reading (5.4% year-on-year), that yield is negative by 400 basis points (4%). "The trouble with trouble is that it starts as fun," a dear reader reminded us. And if bond buyers demanded a real return (above inflation)… the interest charged on new bond issues would quadruple. The fun would be over. All of a sudden, more stimulus would be out of the question. The big, new "infrastructure bill" (at $3.5 trillion), too. And those unemployment "toppers," that pay people more for not working than they earned on the job? History! Exiting in an orderly way? Nah… Prepare for le deluge. Regards, Bill Like what you're reading? Send your thoughts to feedback@rogueeconomics.com. FEATURED READS McDonald's Promoting Competitive Pay and Benefits to Attract New Employees Pandemic layoffs and high turnovers have left the service industry in a lurch. To entice new workers, McDonald's is piling on the benefits, like higher starting pay and emergency child-care.... Why Inflation Isn't Going Anywhere Anytime Soon Casey Daily Dispatch editor Kris Sayce explores why rising inflation is anything but temporary. Read about his predictions for gold assets and crypto, and what steps you can take to profit during this period... MAILBAG Dear readers are weighing in on Bill's essay from Tuesday regarding COVID-19 lockdown policies... Why is it never mentioned all year about South Dakota? They never did any mandates. They rode in rodeos, businesses stayed open. Life just went on as usual. –Richard S. I believe the turn by the U.K's. Boris Johnson government was not caused by sudden sanity and seeing real facts and unbiased science, but rather fear of losing their seats in the next election. The recent massive demonstrations in London, involving thousands of people, against government COVID-19 measures (especially coerced vaccinations) were visible from miles away and shared on social media by attendees. The MPs in Westminster must have seen it, too. The non-reporting by the BBC and other news media made it more damning and loud. They are still looking after their own short-term self interests by changing policy to appear to be empathetic with the people. –Elaine S. Bill, the conclusions that your essay has come to seem to coincide with the "Great Barrington Declaration" which was published in October 2020. One of the conclusions was to lock down people 65 years and older, as they are the most fragile, and that everyone else should take precautions but still go to work. Apparently, the elite can't read – or was unwilling to absorb and implement what it stated. So the great American experiment worked for the elite, while the middle class suffers and, as usual, pays the bill for their dishonesty, stupidity, and greed for money, control, and power. Where do we go from here? Nowhere, except in the direction of the "New Consciousness," which is alive and gaining momentum. Thank you for your thoughts; you bring some sanity to the insane world of today. –Scott S. If things "return to normal" and a major market shock happens, how will you be financially ready? Used cars, used houses, and used tractors are in high demand and low supply… which is sending their prices higher. What other prices are going to rise? Write us at feedback@rogueeconomics.com. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT… MISSING: Bill Bonner's LAST and Most Important Book Recently, Bill Bonner published a new book, which details his final warning to investors. But shortly after it hit bookstore shelves, it disappeared, without a trace. Today, you'd be lucky to find a used copy online for $79. While some suspect Bill's book has been "shadow-banned" by major retailers… the truth is far more interesting… and urgent. For the full story – including how you could claim a copy, free as part of this limited-time offer – click here. Get Instant Access Click to read these free reports and automatically sign up for daily research. An Insider's Guide to Making a Fortune from Small Tech Stocks The Trader's Guide to Technical Analysis The Ultimate Guide to Taking Back Your Privacy Rogue Economics 55 NE 5th Avenue, Delray Beach, FL 33483 www.rogueeconomics.com FACEBOOK TWITTER To ensure our emails continue reaching your inbox, please add our email address to your address book. 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