Sanctions For Thee, But Not For Me...

Bumbling Biden loosens sanctions on some Russian banks to lower energy costs. April 30, 2024 [WEBSITE]( | [UNSUBSCRIBE]( Sanctions For Thee, But Not For Me… SEAN RING Dear Reader, As if we didn’t have enough proof that these sanctions against Russia were a complete disaster. But this takes the cake. What if I told you the Biden Administration, such as it is, has loosened sanctions for some Russian banks because of the adverse effects on Americans’ energy costs? Yes, folks, we have definitive proof that these misguided sanctions are directly impacting your daily lives and hurting Americans where it hurts the most: in their wallets. You might be thinking, “Haven’t you been discussing the negative impact of these sanctions for years?” And my answer is, “Yes, indeed.” I won’t repeat all my objections to sanctions. If you're curious, go to [rudeawakening.info]( and search for “sanctions” in the search bar. There are over fifty articles about them there. But quickly, there are two principal reasons I hate these sanctions: - They hurt Americans and Europeans (especially) more than they hurt Russians. - The weaponization of the USD - and merely the thought of confiscating Russian assets - destroys trust in Western financial institutions, especially the dollar system. Of course, I firmly believe that hurting Russia is not the solution. When one country controls roughly twenty resources the rest of the world needs, the only document other governments should sign with it is a free trade agreement. Admitting the Problem is the First Step The good news is that Biden knows the American people can’t afford to spend any more of their wallets on energy. This move should help the average American. The bad news is that the entire structure of the sanctions is inflationary, which we’ve mentioned in the Rude countless times. The worst news is that he’s only doing this to get re-elected. Am I being cynical? I don’t think so. The easing only lasts until November 1, 2024, right around the election. Therefore, it’s a transparent ploy to bribe Americans to vote for him. But after November 1st, he’ll cease to care about the American people. Win or lose, he won’t need to think about winning your vote again. [URGENT: Regarding Your 2024 Strategic Intelligence Membership Dues!]( Hi, I’m Matt Insley. I’m the Publisher at Paradigm Press. Just moments ago, I just got off the phone with Jim and we agreed: it’s time we start charging more money for access to his newsletter. That’s why we may implement a massive price hike for all subscribers in the coming days. But if you [click here now]( you can lock in your current subscription price at 80% off – and never have to pay the potential new price of $500. Don’t waste any time. [Just click here now to claim this special offer.]( [Click Here To Learn More]( Didn’t You Get the Memo? Boy, they kept this one quiet. We wouldn't know about this without a few enterprising X handles. As the announcement is short, I’ve reprinted it in its entirety. You can read the original [here](. (Bolds are mine.) DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY WASHINGTON, D.C. OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations 31 CFR part 587 GENERAL LICENSE NO. 8I Authorizing Transactions Related to Energy (a) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this general license, all transactions prohibited by Executive Order (E.O.) 14024 involving one or more of the following entities that are related to energy are authorized, through 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time, November 1, 2024: (1) State Corporation Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs Vnesheconombank; (2) Public Joint Stock Company Bank Financial Corporation Otkritie; (3) Sovcombank Open Joint Stock Company; (4) Public Joint Stock Company Sberbank of Russia; (5) VTB Bank Public Joint Stock Company; (6) Joint Stock Company Alfa-Bank; (7) Public Joint Stock Company Rosbank; (8) Bank Zenit Public Joint Stock Company; (9) Bank Saint-Petersburg Public Joint Stock Company; (10) Any entity in which one or more of the above persons own, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, a 50 percent or greater interest; or (11) the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. (b) For the purposes of this general license, the term “related to energy” means the extraction, production, refinement, liquefaction, gasification, regasification, conversion, enrichment, fabrication, transport, or purchase of petroleum, including crude oil, lease condensates, unfinished oils, natural gas liquids, petroleum products, natural gas, or other products capable of producing energy, such as coal, wood, or agricultural products used to manufacture biofuels, or uranium in any form, as well as the development, production, generation, transmission, or exchange of power, through any means, including nuclear, thermal, and renewable energy sources. (c) This general license does not authorize: (1) Any transactions prohibited by Directive 1A under E.O. 14024, Prohibitions Related to Certain Sovereign Debt of the Russian Federation; (2) The opening or maintaining of a correspondent account or payable-through account for or on behalf of any entity subject to Directive 2 under E.O. 14024, Prohibitions Related to Correspondent or Payable-Through Accounts and Processing of Transactions Involving Certain Foreign Financial Institutions; (3) Any debit to an account on the books of a U.S. financial institution of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation; or (4) Any transactions otherwise prohibited by the Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 587 (RuHSR), including transactions involving any person blocked pursuant to the RuHSR other than the blocked persons described in paragraph (a) of this general license, unless separately authorized. (d) Effective April 29, 2024, General License No. 8H, dated October 25, 2023, is replaced and superseded in its entirety by this General License No. 8I. Note to General License No. 8I. This authorization is valid until November 1, 2024, unless renewed. Bradley T. Smith Director Office of Foreign Assets Control Dated: April 29, 2024 First, as I’ve mentioned, this only lasts until November. It’s clearly a political move, to ease Potatohead Biden back into the Oval Office. Biden probably can’t get the Fed to cut before then, as inflation is out of control (his fault, partially because of these sanctions), so he needs to do something else to ease pricing pressure. Second, as paragraph (b) mentions, it is related only to energy. Last, the Biden administration signed this yesterday, giving the easing only five months to work. They must be getting desperate, as Biden’s polling numbers are in the toilet. Wrap Up There are a few things we can gather from this overtly political move. First, as we've mentioned many times, sanctions are hurting the targeters, not the targeted ones. You can’t take out an enormous seller of goods like Russia and expect the market not to be affected. Thanks to this misguided sanctions plan, the market is wrestling with high costs. Second, Biden now knows his strategy is counterproductive but can’t change it because he’ll lose face on the global stage. Third, Biden made this move quietly to bring down energy prices without admitting his error in an election year. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, “Mr. Biden, tear down these sanctions!” All the best, Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening X (formerly Twitter): [@seaniechaos]( Rate this email Like Dislike Thanks for rating this content! Looks like something went wrong. Please try to rate again. In Case You Missed It… A Matter of Trust SEAN RING When Francis Fukuyama proclaimed “the end of history,” it was a declaration that seasoned historians couldn't help but scoff at. Yet, little did we know that their skepticism would be vindicated in just over three decades. Once on the brink of triumph, the neoliberal Western world order found itself snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. And instead of closing down NATO and the military-industrial complex, middle management at the Pentagon and Foggy Bottom have allowed Congress - and forced its vassal states - to milk its taxpayers into debt slavery. That’s what happens when you get too greedy and try to turn a victory into a rout. However, one subject that Fukuyama wrote about, a subject that continues to captivate and intrigue, is trust. In his book Trust: The Social Virtues and The Creation of Prosperity, Fukuyama asserts that the key to understanding variations in national economic performance is rooted in the concept of trust. Fukuyama makes this claim primarily because he believes that trust enables the formation of large, privately owned corporations. He thought this gave a considerable edge to “high-trust” countries like the United States, Japan, and Germany. “Low trust” countries like France, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and (southern) Italy can only grow with good government past family company structures. I’m unsure if there’s a way to quantify and classify high-trust and low-trust societies. But I think we feel certain ways in certain places. There’s no doubt I do. After traveling to over 60 countries, there are places where I’m happy to walk outside at night and places where I wouldn’t leave my hotel after dark. At the risk of taking Fukuyama’s idea out of context, let me tell you what I learned about trust in Copenhagen. But first, a quick detour… Kelly’s Unfortunately, I didn’t turn 21 until December of my senior year in college. I was one of those late babies who had to pray my fake ID got me into places my friends were going to. Most of the time, I was gracious enough not to go out with them if I knew they were going to strict bars. But since I memorized my fake ID details, I got away with quite a lot. But one place at Villanova that didn’t tolerate fake IDs was Kelly’s, the local dive bar. I simply couldn’t get in until that December, and I was thrilled once I finally ordered a beer there. I was in heaven as I stepped over the peanut shells and other assorted sundries strewn on the floor. Dirty, smelly, and old, Kelly’s was the epitome of a college bar along the Main Line. I only had six months to enjoy it, and enjoy it I did. But when I revisited Kelly's ten years later for my college roommate’s wedding, I was in for a shock. The old, familiar dive bar had undergone a complete transformation. There were no peanut shells on the floor. They served food. And there was—GASP!—a salad bar! I’m reminded of the outrage of the future Senator John Blutarsky when Delta House was getting repossessed… “They took the bar! The whole f*cking bar!” “They put in a salad bar! A whole f*cking salad bar!” Essentially, they put lipstick on a pig to increase business. I get it. It happens. But it’s not natural. However, what I experienced this past weekend in Copenhagen was anything but artificial. [“I Am Deeply Disturbed by the Impending Aftermath of the Presidential Election.”]( No one has been properly warned of the election threat facing our nation – until now. Former White House Advisor Jim Rickards explains the disturbing future that awaits us in November. [Click here](. [Click Here To Learn More]( The Taphouse Friday night, Pam and her sister Meg went to the Michael Learns to Rock concert, and my brother-in-law Ken, Micah, and I needed to find something to do. Meg mentioned a place in Copenhagen with 61 taps of draft beer. Ken is a Belgian and, therefore, was born with the best beer palate on the planet. So we boys took a walk to [Taphouse](. As we approached, I was skeptical they’d let kids in, but a handsome young bartender who happened to be outside said kids are allowed. I was shocked, as in Northern Europe, most bars don’t let kids in… for good reason. But when we stepped into Taphouse, we were greeted by a sight that was anything but typical. The pub was the cleanest, coziest, and most trouble-free environment I’d ever seen. The wooden bar was a beauty, free of liquids and stains. The atmosphere was lively but not unhinged, and people of all ages were enjoying their time there. It was a unique experience, one that I couldn't help but contrast with the pubs I had visited in other countries. People of all ages were there, from as young as Micah to some grandfatherly-looking Vikings in the back of the room. During the night, I accidentally dropped a couple of potato chips on the floor. The sight of this minor mess in such a pristine environment was so jarring that I immediately felt compelled to clean it up. To be fair, I noticed this everywhere we were walking around. Danish hygge (pronounced HOO-ga), a cozy, contented mood evoked by comfort and friendliness, is now famous worldwide. But to find such a mood in a bar smack in the middle of a national capital shocked me. I asked myself, “What leads to such relaxed sophistication?” Is It Socialism… or Culture? Ever since Bernie Sanders called for America to look more like “socialist Scandinavia,” the Danes bristled at the notion of being called socialist. The World Bank classifies Denmark as a high-income economy, running on what is loosely termed a developed mixed economy. This means that while Denmark celebrates free trade and market economics (capitalism), it also provides considerable social safety net benefits. However, Denmark is not a socialist country in the strict sense of the term. The fundamental principles of socialism as an economic philosophy are central planning and public ownership of property and the means of production. These are not found in Denmark, where economics is based on the free market and the right to private property. It’s more accurate to say Denmark has a mixed welfare-state economy, combining capitalist free market principles with strong welfare provisions. This model is often referred to as the Nordic Model. Essentially, you do as you please for 364 days. But on Day 365, you pay up to 56% of your income in taxes. However, none of that perceived “collectivism” explains the cleanliness, calmness, and happiness I found all over Copenhagen. To be fair, it wasn’t perfect - there was some graffiti on the trains - but it was as close to perfect as I’ve ever seen in a city. Wrap Up As America moves from a high to a low-trust society, it’s worth asking ourselves how we got here… or how they got there. Trust is the grease in the economy’s wheels. If you feel safe enough to do business with someone, making deals and organizing capital is easy. But we no longer do things on a handshake, and I think that’s reflected in our society. Maybe there’s something we can learn from the Danish. All the best, Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening Twitter: [@seaniechaos]( ☰ ⊗ [ARCHIVE]( [ABOUT]( [Contact Us]( © 2024 Paradigm Press, LLC. 1001 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. By submitting your email address, you consent to Paradigm Press, LLC. delivering daily email issues and advertisements. To end your Rude Awakening e-mail subscription and associated external offers sent from Rude Awakening, feel free to [click here.]( Please note: the mailbox associated with this email address is not monitored, so do not reply to this message. We welcome comments or suggestions at feedback@rudeawakening.info. This address is for feedback only. For questions about your account or to speak with customer service, [contact us here]( or call (844)-731-0984. 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