BEDEN WATCH: 4.23.22 - Is the Dollar about to Be Dethroned?

A Plague of Media Disinformation – Jonathan Tobin - https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=5315 It turns out that The Atlantic magazine did a better job explaining the problem of disinformation than even those planning its recent conference on the subject held at theUniversity of Chicago could have hoped. The magazine modestly described the event, titled "Disinformation and the Erosion of Democracy," as "groundbreaking," and in one sense, it was. It was hosted by an institution that is one of the pillars of the liberal Washington establishment and had a list of speakers that was filled with well-known talking headsregularly seen on CNN and MSNBC, as well as published in outlets like The New York Times and, of course, The Atlantic. It was a nonstop compendium of conventional wisdom that put forward the notion that the problem of misleading and false information aboutimportant subjects all came from conservatives and their media outlets. Some on the right are certainly not always truthful. But there was nothing groundbreaking about a collection of liberal elites telling each other that their political foesare terrible people who believe bad things and cynically peddle lies to their ignorant followers. What was important about it was that when confronted by a student reporter with examples of how those present at the conference were themselves a primary source of misinformation,the response of the presenters did more to illustrate how the spread of such falsehoods endangers democracy than anything said or written on the subject in recent memory. Their hypocrisy has provoked a great deal of partisan score-settling, a lot of which centers around the epic lying that was done by the legacy corporate media and theirSilicon Valley allies during the last weeks of the 2020 presidential campaign. If Americans think their views about this subject should be determined solely by partisan affiliations or opinions about President Joe Biden or Trump, they're wrong. The willingness of both the political and media divisions of the Washington establishment to spread lies also goes to the heart of the misrepresentation of other issuesand stories, including those that affect both the security of the state of Israel and the spread of anti-Semitism. The Atlantic conference became notorious because University of Chicago students were able to ask some of the speakers about examples of misinformation that they had spreadthemselves. One, in particular, was The Washington Post's Anne Applebaum, a once-respectable journalist who nevertheless asserted that an October 2020 New York Post scoop with revelations about the corrupt business activities and influence peddling of HunterBiden was Russian disinformation. At the time, like other members of the liberal establishment that circled the wagons around the campaign of Hunter's father, Applebaum believed that nothing was more importantthan defeating Trump's bid for re-election. The scandal was ignored outside of conservative outlets. Social-media companies censored and shut down the accounts of the Post and others who sought to publicize it. This matters because now that the details about the infamous Biden laptop and the emails on it have been belatedly declared genuine by both The New York Times and The WashingtonPost, and the claims about Russian involvement (that were attested to by dozens of fervently anti-Trump former intelligence officials) debunked, those who lied about it have not been held accountable. On the contrary, Applebaum's response to the student'squestion was simply to declare herself "uninterested" in something that she claims is "irrelevant." The rest of the conference's speakers held to the same line with Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg, even summoning up the chutzpah to declare criticism of the hypocrisy ondisplay at the event to also be disinformation. But to focus only on him or Applebaum is a mistake. The keynote speaker of the conference--former President Barack Obama--is an even more egregious example of double standardsabout misinformation. Though widely treated like a secular saint, Obama was, after all, the person who repeatedly fibbed about those who used his signature health-care plan being able to keep their doctors if they liked them. Just as important, he and therest of his administration also continuously dissembled about the Iran nuclear deal. His utterly false claims about the agreement preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and being enforceable were dutifully reported as facts by a mainstream press thateven a member of his own White House staff dismissed as a "media echo chamber." To this day, you can read accounts of the issue in outlets like the Times and the Post without once encountering key facts about the pact allowing Iran to keep all of its advancednuclear facilities and research, or that it actually expires by the end of this decade. The key knowledge that the deal didn't just enrich and empower the world's leading state sponsor of international terrorism, but that it guaranteed that Tehran would achieveits ambition to be a nuclear power is missing from Obama's self-congratulatory comments and almost all of the media's stories about the subject. In his remarks at the conference, Obama defined disinformation as "a systematic effort to either promote false information, to suppress true information, for the purposeof political gain, financial gain, enhancing power, suppressing others, targeting those you don't like." Somehow, it never occurred to the former president that it was an apt characterization of his own approach to public policy, as well as of his key mediaand big tech allies. It's equally true of much of mainstream media coverage of Israel. Unfair and misleading reporting on the Mideast is often the product of ignorance on the part of reportersand editors. But anti-Israel bias is also motivated in large measure by intersectional ideology that holds the Jewish state to be a "privileged" oppressor, in addition to more traditional anti-Semitic tropes. That is a good way to understand why issues like the complicated property dispute in the Nahalat Shimon or Sheikh Jarrah section of Jerusalem are portrayed in such a one-sidedmanner, in which Jewish rights and history are simply ignored, and a blatantly false Palestinian Arab narrative about victimhood is accepted at face value. Mainstream media outlets repeated such Palestinian propaganda about Jerusalem as a justification for Hamas firing thousands of missiles at Israel last May. That same misinformationwas used by as an excuse for anti-Semitic incitement heard in Congress, as well as for violence against Jews in the streets of American as well as European cities. But apologies from media outlets on that score are just as scarce as those about silencing theHunter Biden story. The same is also true for mainstream media accounts of the recent series of terrorist attacks in Israel. They are invariably attributed to the lack of a Palestinian statewithout ever acknowledging that the Palestinians have repeatedly rejected a two-state solution, and that their claims about Jerusalem and the holy sites are blatant lies and denial of Jewish history. The point here is that the same people who lied about Hunter Biden, and before that, about Trump colluding with Russia in the 2016 election and the Iran nuclear deal arethe same "trusted" figures that many rely on to tell them the truth about the attempt to revive the pact and about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. No news source should be consumed uncritically. Still, if there is anything we should have learned in the last few years, it is that when legacy media use the word "misinformation,"it's often merely shorthand for political speech they don't like or stories that make their preferred candidates or policy prescriptions look bad. Too often, it is better applied to what the same people crying foul about the spread of misinformation are themselves reporting. That is something that is destroying themainstream media's credibility and eroding democracy. --------------------------------------- Radical Climate Activists Insist It�s Time To �Carefully Escalate� Their Methods To Get Public�s Attention � By HD Staff - https://harbingersdaily.com/radical-climate-activists-insist-its-time-to-carefully-ecalate-their-methods-to-get-publics-attenchion/ A radical activist group, Adbusters, is currently patting themselves on the back after claiming to have deflated �thousands� of SUV tires to fight �climate change.� The group recently sparked backlash on Social Media after they instructed their followers to go into �wealthy areas� and �wedge gravel in the tire valves, leaflet the SUVto let them know the tires are flat and why it was done, and walk away.� �Climate change is the biggest crisis we�ve faced as a species,� they insisted, adding that it is time for their group to �carefully escalate� their �methods.� Meanwhile, in the UK, hundreds of climate activists have been arrested in just the last 12 days for attempts to disrupt fuel supplies. �The Home Secretary is being told to seek nationwide injunctions to stop �guerrilla tactics� being used by the group of largely privileged students and professional protestersshutting down oil terminals by chaining themselves to pipes, digging tunnels, or blocking tankers to cripple critical UK infrastructure and leave petrol stations without fuel,� the Daily Mail reported. �As a result, petrol and diesel shortages are �an issue� and some filling stations are �drying up'� Despite calls for action against the eco-protesters, it seems that their lawless actions are receiving minimal ramifications. The Daily Mail detailed that no charges havebeen filed against the hundreds arrested in the last two weeks, and only 11 remain behind bars. World leaders, governments, and organizations have continuously stoked fears of a fast-approaching climate disaster. Even amid the war in Ukraine, many prominent globalistvoices expressed concern that their favorite crisis, the �climate emergency,� was being eclipsed. Deborah Brosnan, a professor at Virginia Tech University, reiterated this sentiment, stating that, although the war in Ukraine is �a terrible tragedy,� the world has nowbecome �blind to the fact� that climate change is �an even larger and existential crisis already unfolding today � one that will result in a global humanitarian crisis and on a scale never seen before.� Big Tech social media platforms have also exacerbated the eco-terrorism problem by essentially banning what they refer to as �misinformation� surrounding the climate. Thispolicy has silenced many scientific experts from sharing online evidence that debunks much of the so-called �settled science� about climate change. �We�re dangerous,� Greg Wrightstone, a geologist and climate expert, who was banned on LinkedIn, underscored. �They cannot allow our factually-based presentations to getout to the public, because what we say makes sense and it�s backed up by science. We�re rational, thoughtful people that are scientists, that are distinguished scientists, and we�re presenting this information.� �I look at this on a daily basis and there�s no way to sugarcoat it,� he stated; people �are being lied to on a daily basis about climate change and its ramifications.� Answers In Genesis explained that, despite public perceptions, the majority of climate scientists do not believe we are in a �climate crisis.� �In reality, only a small sampling of climate scientists believe we are facing imminent doom,� the AiG article explained. �Furthermore, thousands of scientists with climate-relateddegrees have sent letters and signed petitions arguing against a climate crisis, further emphasizing that the scientific community can�t reach a consensus on the issue.� �So why all the insistence on anxiety and panic?� the article urged. �Secular scientists approach the climate debate from an unbiblical perspective, believing that humans alone manage the rising temperatures,� AiG insisted. �Certainly whenwe have clear evidence that we are abusing creation, we should take actions to correct it. But Christians know that God designed our magnificently complex climate and has promised that the present earth will be inhabitable until he creates a new heaven anda new earth (Isaiah 65:17).� When humans look at God�s creation, the response should be reverence to the One who created it. Romans 1:19-20 explains that the incredible creations of God cause humansto be without excuse about His existence. This same chapter, however, states that our culture has deliberately chosen a very different path in their collective rebellion against God: Worshiping the creation, rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25). Christian author Terry James explained that �climate worship� is fast becoming a new global religion. James described the religious parallels, including the insistence that climate change �deniers� or �nonbelievers� be �branded as her­etics.� Christianity, James stated, runs in direct opposition �to the unimpeachable declarations of the environmental gurus who say man is destroying the earth with green­housegases from carbon emission� and �only man, himself, through draconian actions to stop these deadly gases, can save himself from choking to death from unbreathable air or drowning because of the melting ice of the North and South poles.� �The Bible declares that Jesus Christ, who is the very Word of God (John 1:1�3), is who has this earthly orb in His grip. It is not man who controls planet earth,� he urged. ------------------------------------' Is the Dollar about to Be Dethroned as the World�s Reserve Currency? � Todd Strandberg - https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/ The dollar has been the world�s reserve currency since the U.S. and its allies agreed at the 1944 Bretton Woods conference. According to the International Monetary Fund,the dollar�s share of global reserves stands at 59%, far above the euro at 20.5%. After the euro, there�s a steep drop to the No. 3 slot, which is occupied by Japan�s yen at 5.83%. What really cements the dollar as the world�s reserve currency is an agreement reached with Saudi Arabia. The U.S. promised to protect Saudi Arabia if it would require thatall oil sales be made in dollars. If a nation wants oil from the kingdom, they would have to go to the F.X. market and buy dollars. The majority of global oil sales�around 80%�are done in dollars. As the world�s primary reserve currency, the U.S. enjoys the �exorbitant privilege� that goes along with that, such as interest rates that are lower than they might otherwisebe and the government being able to fund budget deficits in perpetuity. The U.S. has a massive shortfall in trading with the rest of the world. The U.S. goods trade deficit reached a record $1.09 trillion in 2021�an increase of $168.7 billion(18.3%) from the 2020 trade deficit�according to new U.S. Census Bureau data. In 1991 our trade deficit was only $28 billion. There is very little concern about the deficit because we can simply print the money to pay for our imports. We do export a lot of goods and services to our trading partners. In December of 2001, the value of our exports was $228.1 Billion, but we imported $308 Billion worth ofstuff, leaving us with a deficit of $80 Billion. Over the years, the quantity of dollars has built to a huge amount. According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, foreign countries held a total of $8 trillion dollars.It would be very natural to assume that the $1 dollar bill has the highest quantity in circulation. There are actually more $100 bills in circulation than $1 bills. The dollar has been slowly losing its status as the reserve currency. After peaking at 73% of all currency transactions in 2001, the dollar has been in constant decline.The one thing that is preventing a collapse in the dollar is that no other currency is set to capture the world�s reserve currency title. One of the greatest dangers to the dollar is inflation. High levels of inflation are eating away at the purchasing power of the dollar. Once people realize what is happening,they will use their dollars to buy hard assets like gold, silver or real estate. Another reason for nations to back away from the dollar is sanctions. The U.S. has frequently used the dollar to punish rogue nations. Over the years, the White House hasincreasingly turned to economic sanctions to punish other nations. In the 90s, there were about 20 sanctions issued every year. In 2021 there were over 100 sanctions issued. One explanation for the massive increase in the number of sanctions is the start ofissuing them against individuals. Russia is currently the top target because of its invasion of Ukraine. Putin has been very crafty at avoiding sanctions. He sold off all of Russia�s holdings of U.S. bondsand purchased large quantities of gold, which has no financial loyalty to any nation. The latest move by Putin is to require all purchases of Russian commodities to be made in rubles. This is very clever because many nations need Russian natural gas, oil,and fertilizer. By forcing them to buy rubles, Putin will gain access to foreign currency. China is making moves that may harm the dollar. It is in active talks with Saudi Arabia to price some of its oil purchases in yuan. This move would dent the U.S. dollar�sdominance of the global petroleum market. Because America is not mentioned in Bible prophecy, it is very likely that the U.S. is going to suffer a financial meltdown or some other calamity. If the Antichrist isable to control the world�s financial centers, the Mark of the beast will clearly become the world�s reserve currency. �He causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, savehe that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name� (Rev 13:16-17). --------------------------