Economy

Restaurant Bankruptcies Piling Up, TGI Fridays May Be Next

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– Restaurant Bankruptcies Piling Up, TGI Fridays May Be Next:

Restaurant bankruptcy filings have been ticking higher this year as budget-conscious consumers cut back on eating out, and many eateries struggle with high debt loads in a toxic environment of high interest rates. TGI Fridays is the latest casual dining chain preparing a bankruptcy filing.

People knowledgeable of TGI Friday’s bankruptcy plans told Bloomberg that the US casual dining restaurant chain, with 600 locations in 55 countries, including 233 in the US, will file for bankruptcy protection in the coming weeks.

Read moreRestaurant Bankruptcies Piling Up, TGI Fridays May Be Next

Musk Derangement Syndrome: European Censors Warn They May Level Fines Based On All Of Elon’s Businesses

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– Musk Derangement Syndrome: European Censors Warn They May Level Fines Based On All Of Elon’s Businesses:

I have previously written about the European Union’s (EU) effort to use its infamous Digital Services Act (DSA) to force companies like X to censor Americans, including on postings related to our presidential election. This is a direct assault on our free speech values, and yet the Biden-Harris Administration has not raised a peep of objection. Now, the EU is threatening to set these confiscatory fines with reference to revenue from companies other than X, including Space X.

The EU has warned Musk that it is allowed to hit online platforms with fines of as much as 6% of their yearly global revenue for refusing to censor content, including “disinformation.” The inclusion of companies like Space X is ridiculous but perfectly consistent with the effort of the EU to use the DSA to regulate speech in the United States and around the world.

The EU is arguing that as a “provider” Musk’s entire business portfolio can be included in the fine calculation.

It is ridiculous and chilling. Musk’s other companies have nothing to do with the platform policies of X. It is simply an unhinged coercive measure designed to break Musk.

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MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor Sparks Outrage With Crypto Custody Comments

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– MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor Sparks Outrage With Crypto Custody Comments:

“It’s mostly paranoid crypto anarchists that say that.”

With these eight words, issued on the “Markets with Madison” podcast, Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor evoked outrage from just about everyone in Bitcoin.

Shinobi called him a “spook.” Carvalho was confused. Svetski claimed this will start the next Fork Wars.

Put simply, Saylor said a bad thing. He broke the taboo.

He said you’re better off trusting your Bitcoin in state custody than holding your own private keys, then went further, calling out all of the businesses engaged in custody projects by calling them effectively bullshit salesmen.

It was, shall we say, a “big oof,” a “footgun,” the scene in the cartoon where the hero gets hit with an anvil.

Here’s Adam Simecka’s clip from the full video:

Yet, paradoxically, I’ll admit, it’s probably the most interesting thing Saylor has ever said?

Read moreMicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor Sparks Outrage With Crypto Custody Comments

“In Crisis Mode”: EU Automakers Slide Into First Sales Slump In Two Years

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– “In Crisis Mode”: EU Automakers Slide Into First Sales Slump In Two Years:

The downturn in the European auto market is accelerating.

Volkswagen, Mercedes, Aston Martin, and BMW have all cut their financial forecasts in response to the deteriorating conditions. A recently leaked memo from a senior Stellantis executive highlighted increasing concerns over the deepening auto slump. Bloomberg’s latest data shows the downturn continues to worsen.

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Girl Scout Dues Could Rise As Much As 240% Next Year

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– Girl Scout Dues Could Rise As Much As 240% Next Year:

So much for 2% inflation…

The Girl Scouts could be forced to raise yearly membership from $25 to $85, according to a new report from Fox News. That marks a rise of 240%, for those of you keeping inflation score at home. 

Girl Scouts of the USA President Noorain Khan and CEO Bonnie Barczykowski said this week: “We have collectively acknowledged that a membership dues increase is needed which is greater than the 25 percent (or $6.25) the National Board has authority to approve in a single triennium.”

Read moreGirl Scout Dues Could Rise As Much As 240% Next Year

Catherine Austin Fitts: Gold, Kamala, Trump, Control, Cash, Murder & Water (USAWatchdog Video)

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– Gold, Kamala, Trump, Control, Cash, Murder & Water – Catherine Austin Fitts:

Catherine Austin Fitts (CAF), Publisher of The Solari Report, financial expert and former Assistant Secretary of Housing (Bush 41 Admin.), gives her take on gold, Kamala, Trump, control, cash, murder and water.  On gold’s rocket rise, CAF says, “Gold is very important.  We divide gold into two positions:  Your ‘core’ position and your ‘investment’ position. . . . Right now, gold looks phenomenally attractive as a core position.  It is also attractive as an investment position.”

Why the big move up now?  CAF says, “Part of it is the incredible monetary policies and the monetary inflation coming from the central banks.  The other is too many people are watching government implode in a variety of different ways, and people are saying I want a core position in gold.  We are also seeing the BRICs . . . and seeing states in the US move to put gold and silver in a position to be used as a currency.  So, we are watching people put monetary reserves in gold and monetary liquidity in gold.  That is happening steadily, and more and more people are saying they need a percentage of their assets in gold. . . . We are in a long-term bull market in gold.”

Read moreCatherine Austin Fitts: Gold, Kamala, Trump, Control, Cash, Murder & Water (USAWatchdog Video)

Harvest 2024 second lowest on record, says Defra

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– Harvest 2024 second lowest on record, says Defra:

England has experienced its second worst harvest this year after record-breaking wet weather hit crop yields and quality, figures by Defra reveal.

Provisional 2024 Defra cereal and oilseed production figures for England show the country suffered its second worst harvest since records began in 1983, and the smallest since 2020, after heavy rain and flooding caused havoc last autumn and again in the spring.

Wet weather during July and August also disrupted harvesting progress in some English regions.

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Russia Poised To Cripple Ukraine Steel Industry By Seizing Vital Coal Mine

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– Russia Poised To Cripple Ukraine Steel Industry By Seizing Vital Coal Mine:

In what promises to be a major milestone in more than two-and-a-half years of war, Russia is closing in on the capture of a vital industrial asset: a Ukrainian coal mine that’s a cornerstone of the country’s steel industry.

Owned by Ukrainian firm Metinvest, the modern facility — opened in 1990 — is Ukraine’s largest mine for producing coking-coal, a specific grade used to fuel blast furnaces. It’s near the village of Udachne, about 10 kilometers west of the city of Pokvrosk, which is itself a key supply hub in Ukraine’s Donetsk oblast. Per the latest reports, the Russian army is reportedly just 8 to 12 kilometers east of Pokrovsk. Defensive lines have already been dug to Pokrovsk’s west, so Ukrainian units will have positions to drop back to if Pokrovsk falls.

In an interview with The Economist, analyst Andriy Buzarov noted that the Russians don’t have to actually occupy the mine to remove it from Ukraine’s economic equation: They can do that by severing its power or destroying the principal road used to haul its product westward.

Read moreRussia Poised To Cripple Ukraine Steel Industry By Seizing Vital Coal Mine