In economics, religion, and politics, the moral path is freedom.

Looking into the pit of evil.

Russia, Vladivostok, 28.10.2018: Monument to Alexander Isayevich Solzhenitsyn on city embankment in downtown. He was Russian novelist and historian, awarded the 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

If you can bear looking into the pit of hell on earth which humans can create, you ought to check out The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Prof. Gary Morson provides us a glimpse of the book in his Wall Street Journal article, “The Gulag Archipelago”: An Epic of True Evil.

Solzhenitsyn describes, in three volumes, the ideological goal of Marx, Lenin, and Stalin. Their desired outcome was the mass incarceration in forced labor camps, working in temperatures of -40° or -60°, without sufficient nutrition to stay alive, leading to the fully expected death of millions of non-conforming people.

Descriptions of the routine punishments in the camp turn the stomach.

More frightening is Solzhenitsyn’s description that this pure evil is not limited to just socialism and communism. He declares “alas, all the evil of the 20th century is possible everywhere on earth.” More on that warning in a moment.

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By Jim Ulvog, ago

Headline from 2017 which is relevant again today: Credit Suisse under investigation. Again. For money laundering. Again.

With Credit Suisse expected to get swallowed up into UBS today and thus disappear as an independent entity, I thought it would be a fine time to reprint this article which describes the bank’s legacy.

Pay particular attention to comments at then of the post – – Credit Suisse has a subsidiary whose sole purpose in life is to launder money for clients. They have been laundering money since 1910. Yes, 1910.

(This discussion is cross-posted from my other blog, Attestation Update, because the flagrantly immoral behavior by a major international bank is an attack on the economic freedom of all. As a second order effect, this appallingly bad behavior, which has been an ongoing practice of Credit Suisse for over a hundred years, is a convenient excuse for national regulators in the U.S. and around the world to strip away more of our freedoms.)

Previously posted at Attestation Update on 2/24/17:

A different type of money laundering. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.
A different type of money laundering. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Looks like Credit Suisse is in trouble again. The feds and NYDFS have opened another money laundering investigation.

Check out the report on 2/23/17 at Wall Street Journal – Credit Suisse Probe Opens Old Wounds for the following info.

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By Jim Ulvog, ago

A few notes on the banking crisis. Trying to keep track of the evolving story.

Whether considering assets, net income, market capitalization, or liquidity, some variation of above graph could be used when discussing Credit Suisse. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

To keep track of the spreading banking crisis, I’m going to staring making notes here on the blog.  This will not be full coverage. Instead, this will highlight some parts of the story as it emerges.  This will help me track of developments.

(Cross posted from my other blog, Attestation Update, because the banking crisis is a threat to the economic freedom of us all.)

Previous discussions:

Update to late Sunday afternoon, 3/19/23 (yeah, it is necessary to time stamp blog posts that closely):

3/16/23 – Wall Street Journal –Eleven Banks Deposit $30 Billion in First Republic Bank – $30 billion of uninsured deposits went into First Republic Bank. Five billion each from J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. 2.5 billion from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Five others deposited 1 billion each. Purpose is to shore up liquidity.

Article indicates a large portion, if not most, of the funds are from money that regional banks have moved into the super big banks. They are recycling some of it back to the regional banks. These are uninsured deposits…well…conceptually they are uninsured, but after the bailout that wasn’t a bailout of Silicon Valley Bank, those are essentially insured.

The shoring-up started about four days earlier with money from Morgan.

3/16/23 – Wall Street Journal –Credit Suisse Will Borrow Up to $53.7 Billion – For several days there have been rumors Credit Suisse has been teetering on the edge of collapse. They announced borrowing $50 billion Swiss francs, which is US$53.7 billion, from Swiss National Bank, the nation’s central bank.

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By Jim Ulvog, ago

What is a “militia?”

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

The 10 Key Campaigns of the American Revolution by editor Edward Lengel and a collection of contributing authors is a delightful description of key fights in the battle for American liberty and freedom.

A side discussion in the text is pertinent to the ongoing debate over the Second Amendment.

The book explains every free male in the colonies from the age of 16 up to 60 was required to report annually for training as a part of the militia.

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By Jim Ulvog, ago

Some tidbits from the American Revolution.

Re-enactment of Battle of Monmouth. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

The American Revolution is a delight to study. A few tidbits from Edward Lengel and the contributing authors in The 10 Key Campaigns of the American Revolution are relevant to this blog. Some fun stuff:

  • Perseverance in face of ongoing reversals.
  • Paying Continental soldiers in specie, that means silver.

Next post will discuss What is a “militia?”

Perseverance in face of ongoing reversals.

Author points out George Washington had more losses in battle than wins. In spite of that he led the patriot forces to victory over the greatest world power of the time.

An overarching feature that shows throughout the book is perseverance in face of trials, tribulations, and battlefield defeats.

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By Jim Ulvog, ago

Stuff you can now safely say about COVID: the virus came from a lab leak.

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

There are many things you could not say in public two or three years ago, all of which are now safe to say. Here is a starting point of the list of things you can now talk about in the open:

  • The virus came from a lab leak.

As I find articles to further develop the issues now say to say, I will have further discussion.

The virus came from a lab leak.

This was crazy talk three years ago but is slowly becoming accepted: the most likely place the COVID-19 virus came from was a Chinese research laboratory. Oh, by the way, said lab was funded in part by Dr. Fauci’s department.

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By Jim Ulvog, ago