This is Part 9.
Here is a post from a friend of mine:
Baltimore bridge’s $81 BILLION trade crisis: Ship crash sparks chaos for US goods as collapse blocks ninth-largest hub for foreign goods that handles 52 million tons a year – with 10 vessels stuck in harbor
Ship that hit Baltimore bridge also involved in 2016 Antwerp accident
Mar 26th, 10:17:01
(Reuters) – The ship that caused the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early on Tuesday was also involved in an accident in the port of Antwerp, Belgium, in 2016.
The Antwerp port authorities said the container ship Dali hit a quay on July 11, 2016, as it tried to exit the North Sea container terminal.
The port authority could give no details about the cause of the accident, but said the ship had remained at the dock for repairs for some time after the incident.
“As a general rule, these accidents are investigated and ships are only allowed to leave after experts have determined it is safe for them to do so,” a spokesperson for the Antwerp port told Reuters.
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And some replies to this post:
Internet of Things
Ship traffic in and out of Port of Baltimore suspended
At least 10 commercial ships, including container and bulk carrier ships, headed to the Port of Baltimore have dropped anchor, Reuters reported, citing data from MarineTraffic shows.
It won’t only affect the shipping industry, but it will include the trucking industry big time also. I know you know, but there’s many that don’t separate the two although they work together.
Here is what I got directly from a guy I know who drives the tugs in the Boston Harbor:
That’s fake news. The ships crew isn’t asleep. Most of them would have been up for the undocking evolution. The ships don’t run on auto pilot in areas like that only out at sea. Ship was under command of a Chesapeake bay pilot who is an American. Only way it could be terror is if they somehow shut down the ships propulsion or the helmsman intentionally disobeyed the pilot and turned the ship. Both are highly unlikely. This ship is owned by a sham foreign shipping company and has had many incidents due to improper maintenance. This is why we need to support American mariners and American ships.
Isn’t it somewhat interesting ? “The Federal government will pay for the ENTIRE cost of reconstructing that bridge” Why isn’t the insurance company of that vessel paying for any part of the damages?
Why should our government/ meaning us Proles foot the bill? Biden commits us to pay BEFORE A FULL INVESTIGATION IS HELD.
The ship Dali belongs to Singapore-based Grace Ocean Pte Ltd, which is owned by a Hong Kong group, and was carrying containers on behalf of Danish shipping giant Maersk. It is insured by UK-based Britannia. AFP
Synergy Marine, the Singapore company that operates the Dali, said it was being controlled by two Baltimore port pilots at the time of the collision.
In 2016, soon after commissioning, the Dali accidently hit a dock in the Belgian port of Antwerp, according to the sites Vessel Finder and Shipwrecklog.
we just lost a major bridge and stand still of shipping – plus the ship’s captain is a Ukraine citizen –
And another post from her:
I tried to warn everyone weeks ago this would happen = There is also a shortage
Cocoa Hyperinflation Strikes Before Easter, Prices Surge To New Record High
And yet another post from her:
This is out of control: We’re not in a pan-demic. we’re not in a World W-ar, and we’re in an allegedly healthy economy. When any of those change, debt will skyrocket. With US national debt up $10 trillion since the pan-demic, and roughly sixfold the 2008 crisis, D.C. is goose-stepping us into a collapse
Fiscal collapse accelerates as Treasury issues $7 trillion of debt in just 3 months. That matches the worst of Co-vid — no pan demic needed. And it’s double the previous record that had stood for 231 years
And yet another post from her:
Comment:
“Nebraska.- My husband said our homeowner’s insurance just went up 41 percent and the amount they will pay to replace something is reduced significantly. For example they used to say our barn was worth $29,000 and now they will give us $12,500. It’s very sobering and seems to me like it’s unsustainable. We have good insurance too. How will we all pay for this craziness?”
And yet another post from her:
Comment:
“I live outside of Kansas City and we own a flooring contracting company. We have no business right now it has been in the decline for 4 months. We are usually busy. I haven’t seen it this bad since 2009.”
And yet another post from her:
Comment:
Vermont bread outlet.. Day old bread store CLOSED..no warning just closed with door glass covered and a note they were closed permanently . This place always had lots of business.”
And yet another post from her:
In case you’ve still got money in a bank, Bloomberg is warning that defaults in commercial real estate loans could “topple” hundreds of U.S. banks.
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/meltdown-commercial-real-estate
And yet another post from her:
LONDON, March 25 (Reuters) – Global bank messaging network SWIFT is planning a new platform in the next one to two years to connect the wave of central bank digital currencies now in development to the existing finance system, it has told Reuters.
The move, which would be one of the most significant yet for the nascent CBDC ecosystem given SWIFT’s key role in global banking, is likely to be fine-tuned to when the first major ones are launched.
Around 90% of the world’s central banks are now exploring digital versions of their currencies. Most don’t want to be left behind by bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but are grappling with technological complexities.
SWIFT’s head of innovation, Nick Kerigan, said its latest trial, which took 6 months and involved a 38-member group of central banks, commercial banks and settlement platforms, had been one of the largest global collaborations on CBDCs and “tokenised” assets to date.
It focused on ensuring different countries’ CBDCs can all be used together even if built on different underlying technologies, or “protocols”, thereby reducing payment system fragmentation risks.
It also showed they could be used in highly complex trade or foreign exchange payments and potentially be automated so to both speed up and lower the costs of the processes.
Kerigan said the results, which had also proven banks could use their existing infrastructure, had been widely regarded as a success by those who took part and given SWIFT a timeline to work to.
“We are looking at a roadmap to productize (launch as a product) in the next 12-24 months,” Kerigan said in an interview. “It’s moving out of experimental stage towards something that is becoming a reality.”
Although the timeframe could still shift if major economy CBDC launches get delayed, getting out the blocks for when they do would be a major boost for maintaining SWIFT’s incumbent dominance in the bank-to-bank plumbing network.
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And yet another post from her:
Canadian government spending is growing faster than revenue increases and interest payments continue to climb,
Bloomberg.
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And yet another post from her:
BIS Project Agorá does include the Bank of England, Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan, Bank of Mexico, Bank of Korea, Swiss National Bank, and Bank of France, 
TOKENIZATION of currency/ cross-border payments
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And yet another post from her:
The puzzle is now complete – Thanks to Bill for finding the rest of the puzzle Ripple and FedNow
How many of you remember the post of The Ripple Mafia several days ago that I posted
https://smartoptions.io/the-ripple-mafia/
Breaking Ripple News: Uphold Confirms FedNow Integration for XRP Transactions
And yet another post from her:
Stock market bubbles will pop As Americans and consumers we are going to have a pretty rough summer – By the time the election we could be knee deep in recession , I prefer the continuing ‘depression’. Stock market is going to have a very tough time. Bubbles will pop one after another
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And yet another post from her:
Royal Bank of Canada REFUSES Customer their own cash ‼️
Try not to get mad as RBC stop this man (with ID) withdrawing his own cash.
This is now happening throughout the West – Banks make it as difficult as possible – they fear a ‘Run on the banks’.
Get your cash out while you can.
And yet another post from her:
Germany’s BDI warns industrial production to slump further in 2024
Apr 22nd, 01:07:00
BERLIN (Reuters) -German industrial production is set to fall again this year and exports will stagnate, lobby group BDI forecast on Monday, flanked by other industry groups that also painted an uncertain outlook for Europe’s biggest economy.
“Industry in Germany has not yet recovered from the cost and demand shocks, from moments of extremely high energy prices and from inflation,” BDI President Siegfried Russwurm said at Hannover Messe, one of the world’s biggest trade fairs.
The industry association forecast a 1.5% fall in production in 2024, the same decline as last year, while exports were expected to be flat following a drop of around 1.5% in 2023.
The BDI expects the German economy to grow by just 0.3% this year, compared with forecast global growth of 3%. That would mean Germany again lagging other major industrialised countries.
The German government will on Wednesday nudge up its growth forecast for this year to 0.3%, from 0.2% previously, a source told Reuters on Friday.
“The challenges for industry remain great,” said Russwurm. “German companies are currently achieving stronger growth and profits primarily at their production sites abroad.”
“Despite moderate recovery prospects, we must not delude ourselves: Overall, production figures have been showing a worrying downward trend for years,” Russwurm said.
The VDMA Engineering Association said a slump in foreign orders had bottomed out, but production in its sector was still expected to drop this year, confirming its previous forecast of a 4% decline.
“The negative factors are still noticeable,” VDMA President Karl Haeusgen said in a speech at the Hanover Messe.
The German electro and digital industry association, ZVEI, was also cautious about prospects, as orders remained weak at the start of the year.
It forecast a 2% drop in sector production this year, although its medium-term outlook is rosier.
“Despite the somewhat tense situation at the moment, we assume that our megatrends of electrification, automation and digitalisation will always provide us with a strong tailwind, so that we have real growth prospects on average in the coming years,” ZVEI president Gunther Kegel said.
(Reporting by Christian Kraemer, Andreas Rinke, Tom Kaeckenhoff, Hakan Ersen; Writing by Rachel More and Maria Martinez; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Mark Potter)
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And yet another post from her:
Comment:
” I got laid off in December as a very decorated project manager- I was at my job for 17 years- I’ve applied for at least 500 jobs, only got 2 calls had 2 interviews. It’s the worst job market I’ve seen in my life!!!!!!”
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And a reply to this post:
On local groups, I see constantly, ” there’s plenty of jobs out there! ” they’re just repeating nonsense. My daughter told me her 2 delivery jobs have slowed down so much, people aren’t spending like they used to….
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Here is a post from a friend of mine:
Macquarie Bank in Oz is going Cashless to Digital! All the SHEEP should enjoy banking there.
Sky News just announced it 5/1/2024.
Here is a post from a friend of mine:
Donald Trump’s team is reportedly considering options to devalue the dollar if the former president returns to office. There would be support for an attempt to hammer the greenback
Both political parties has worked towards this for years – As I stated, who ever wins the next election we can kiss the way that we have lived. I have mentioned several times Ronald Reagan was not what Americans thought he was – I am telling all of you the truth.
HISTORY
The Plaza Accord: Reagan’s Role, USD Collapse & Japan’s Fall
https://youtu.be/8InylV457-I?si=U2Urk0y8hIg19CAO
The Plaza Accord – https://www.investopedia.com/…/forex/09/plaza-accord.asp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaza_Accord
The plaza hotel has New York glamour in spades. Sitting at a corner of Central Park, it was the setting for “Home Alone 2”, a film that came out in 1992 in which a child finds himself lost in the metropolis. He takes up residence in one of the hotel’s suites, thanks to his father’s credit card, and briefly lives a life of luxury. Donald Trump, the hotel’s owner at the time, has a walk-on part, which was the outcome of a hard bargain. According to the film’s director, he demanded to appear as a condition for giving the filmmakers access to the hotel. This was not the first deal in which the venue had played a part. Seven years earlier it hosted negotiators for the Plaza Accord, which was agreed on by America, Britain, France, Japan and West Germany, and aimed for a depreciation of the dollar against the yen and the Deutschmark.
Echoes of the period can be heard today. In the mid-1980s America was booming. Ronald Reagan’s tax cuts had led to a wide fiscal deficit and the Federal Reserve had raised interest rates to bring inflation to heel. As a consequence, the dollar soared. American policymakers worried about a loss of competitiveness to an up-and-coming Asian economy (Japan then, China today). The Plaza Accord was designed to address what officials saw as the persistent mispricing of the dollar. Robert Lighthizer, Mr Trump’s trade adviser, has mulled a repeat. The accord set a precedent for “significant negotiation between America’s allies to address unfair global practices”, he wrote in “No Trade is Free”, a book published last year. Mr Trump’s team is reportedly considering options to devalue the dollar if the former president returns to office.
patriotmongoose 