the unbalanced evolution of homo sapiens

There is a reason James Simons' RenTec is the world's best performing hedge fund - it spots trends (even if they are glaringly obvious) well ahead of almost everyone else, and certainly long before the consensus. That's what happened with Deutsche Bank, when as we reported two weeks ago, the quant fund pulled its cash from Deutsche Bank as a result of soaring counterparty risk, just days before the full - and to many, devastating - extent of the German lender's historic restructuring was disclosed, and would result in a bank that is radically different from what Deutsche Bank was previously. In any case, now that RenTec is long gone, and questions about the viability of Deutsche Bank are swirling - yes, it won't be insolvent overnight, but like the world's biggest melting ice cube, there is simply no equity value there any more - everyone else has decided to cut their counterparty risk with the bank with the €45 trillion in derivatives, and according to

US federal authorities have released a cargo ship owned by JP Morgan, weeks after it was seized at the Port of Philadelphia in an unprecedented drugs bust that netted 20 tons of cocaine. They are still considering whether to pursue civil or criminal forfeiture of the ship, MSC ‘Gayane,’ which is now cruising toward the Netherlands. US attorney William McSwain wrote on Twitter: “ My office secured $10 million in cash and a $40 million surety bond from the owner and operator of the vessel in exchange for its temporary release pending a final resolution in this case .” [...] The cargo ship belongs to JP Morgan Chase through a transportation fund managed by the bank. JP Morgan leased the ship to the MSC, which is solely responsible for the vessel’s crews and operations. The vessel was seized last month with nearly 20 tons of cocaine on board worth $1.3 billion. The massive cocaine loot was hidden in shipping containers carrying legitimate goods, such as wine, Chilean dried n

CNN has released a new ‘exclusive’ report, accusing Julian Assange of conspiring with ‘the Russians’ (including RT) to meddle in the 2016 US election – again. Citing a report compiled by a private Spanish security company – but not providing any of it – the network basically re-hashed the entirety of the Russiagate conspiracy on Monday, painting a sinister portrait of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, RT and “Russians and world-class hackers” that supposedly made the revelations of Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Podesta emails happen during the 2016 election. It includes speculation, insinuation, selective quoting of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report, and even an easily and repeatedly disproven lie about RT.  [...] RT journalists simply noticed a pattern to the WikiLeaks’ releases and kept a close eye on its website in expectation of every new batch. As RT’s Dublin bureau editor-on-duty at the time Ivor Crotty put it: “ We merely watched a trend and performe

The British Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday that the UK would send a third warship, HMS Kent, to the Persian Gulf, adding, however, that the decision to do so is not related to the current row with Iran. According to the officials, the HMS Kent, a Type 23 frigate, will deploy to the region later in the year in order to take over after the HMS Duncan. Tensions between Iran and the UK escalated in July, when the Royal Navy and Gibraltarian authorities seized Iran's Grace 1 supertanker, claiming that it was smuggling 2.1m barrels of crude oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions. Later, London also stated that the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had tried to " divert " a British Heritage tanker " from international to Iranian waters " in the Persian Gulf. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani slammed London's decision to send a military escort with the tanker, stating that the UK's previous actions had endangered the safety of navigat

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday accused 2020 Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden of parroting insurance and pharmaceutical industry talking points after the former vice president raised alarm about the supposedly high price tag of Medicare for All and suggested the transition to a single-payer system would leave people with gaps in health coverage. Campaigning in New Hampshire on Saturday, Biden said he wants to expand the Affordable Care Act and add a public option, claiming such incremental steps wouldn't " cost $3 trillion, and it can be done quickly. " " I don't know why we'd get rid of what in fact is working and move to something totally new, " Biden said. " And so, there are differences. " Medicare for All advocates—including Sanders, the lead sponsor of the Medicare for All Act of 2019 in the Senate—argue that the ACA is not working, pointing to the tens of millions of Americans who are uninsured or under-insured. In an i

French police have used tear gas to disperse protesters who occupied the Champs Elysees hours after French President Emmanuel Macron together with European leaders took part in a military parade. Prior to the police reaction, the protesters started destroying the barriers installed on the streets, trying to build barricades and chanting yellow vest movement slogans.  According to a Sputnik correspondent, several people have been injured as a result of clashes between the police and the protesters. Minutes before the parade, clashes between activists and law enforcement officers also erupted in one of parade viewing zones. Police reportedly arrested three key members of the yellow vest movement, including its ideologist, Eric Drouet. The wave of the yellow vest rallies started in France in mid-November over planned hikes in fuel taxes. While the French government abandoned its plans to raise fuel taxes and introduced other measures to improve the country's socio-economic

While the BBC ratchets up its campaign against the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, the timing of its Panorama programme couldn’t have been more perfect.  by Readers of The National  Part 1 The BBC is fearful that with the Tories tearing chunks out of each other, the socialist leader could be the next but one Prime Minister, but it could get worse for the BBC. The polls are suggesting the SNP could gain many more seats in a new parliament a double whammy nightmare scenario for our state broadcaster. Whenever the Tory party are in trouble the BBC helps them out; we’ve seen it in Scotland. In England, time and time again the anti-Semitism cudgel is wielded and it is all aimed directly at one man: the Labour leader.   To try to make sense of it all perhaps one way is to examine who would benefit most should there be success in damaging Jeremy Corbyn, compelling him to stand down? The Blairite right of the Labour party of course, who have never agreed on anything he stands

 του Στέλιου Κούλογλου Η γερμανική Deutsche Bank είναι η μεγάλη ασθενής του ευρωπαϊκού, και όχι μόνο, τραπεζικού συστήματος. Η μετοχή της πέφτει και τα προβλήματα συσσωρεύονται τα τελευταία τρία χρόνια, χώρια τα σκάνδαλα που έχουν κοστίσει δισεκατομμύρια σε πρόστιμα ή ακόμη διερευνώνται δικαστικά, όπως το ξέπλυμα μαύρου ρωσικού χρήματος. Αποτέλεσμα κακοδιαχείρισης, η πορεία της τράπεζας έχει οδηγήσει στην απομάκρυνση των υπεύθυνων ηγετικών στελεχών της. Τις προάλλες, παραδείγματος χάριν, αποφασίστηκε η απομάκρυνση του κ. Garth Ritchie,  επικεφαλής των επενδύσεων. To τμήμα του παρουσιάζει μειωμένα έσοδα τα τελευταία τρία χρόνια, ζημιές τα δύο τελευταία τρίμηνα και αναμένεται να καταρρεύσει το επόμενο διάστημα. Για τις ανδραγαθίες του του αυτές, ο κ. Ritchie πήρε αποζημίωση μόλις … 11 εκατομμύρια ευρώ. Ο πρώην διευθύνων σύμβουλος John Cryan 10,9 εκατομμύρια. Για τους προηγούμενους και τα υπόλοιπα 7 ηγετικά στελέχη που επίσης απολύθηκαν ή αποχώρησαν τον τελευταίο χρόνο, η τράπε

globinfo freexchange It is remarkable how the independent information, flowing through internet, changed the balance between non-controlled and completely controlled information reaching the average viewer by the mainstream media. Thousands of independent blogs and websites host information, analyses and opinions which normally would have been blocked in case that internet had not been invented yet. It's true of course that there is a lot of misinformation and propaganda circulated through the internet too, as the mainstream media also participate in the "web war" of information, or, due to other independent sources who have their own secret agenda. But, at least, one has the option to find a different point of view and information, other than that promoted by the "official channels" of the dominant - currently Western - systemic establishment. This is probably the reason that governments already trying to find ways to control internet and therefore

The Grayzone The Grayzone 's Anya Parampil reports from inside a student occupation at the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH), where US-trained troops shot activists protesting the Juan Orlando Hernandez government's attempt to privatize education and healthcare.