The current headlong rush to use AI across industries and applications is “unhealthy” and could pose a “danger to political systems, to democracy, to the very nature of truth,” Yoshua Bengio told Canada’s C2 International business conference on 24 May.
ECONOMIC UPDATE – MARKET OVERVIEW
In the U.S., its service industry, which accounts for nearly 70 percent of Gross Domestic Product, fell from 51.9 in April to 50.3 in May, according to data released yesterday by the Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing PMI. Barely in positive territory, a reading above 50 indicates growth.
THE DEBT DEAL: MORE SHOW THAN SUBSTANCE
As we had forecast for over a month, Congressional Republicans and President Joe Biden would reach a meaningless debt ceiling deal to avoid a national default. Also as we had forecast, the debt ceiling would be broken through once again with no end in sight... as the cover of this week’s Trends Journal illustrates.
NO U.S. DEBT CEILING FOR ARMS DEALERS AND WAR
No matter how divided the media Presstitutes and politicians claim the U.S. Congress is divided, when it comes to feeding the military-industrial complex and waging war, the facts prove they are on the same murderous page.
BLOCKCHAIN BATTLES
The draft of a bill that would provide clarity to class some crypto assets as digital commodities has been released by key Republican Chairs on the House Financial Services Committee and House Agriculture Committee.
SPOTLIGHT, TOP TREND 2023: OFFICE BUILDING BUST
Silverstein Properties, which developed the new World Trade Center, has made a deal to sell a 20-story office property on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue for $105 million. In 2020, the company had refinanced the building for $171 million.
IT’S ALL ABOUT DESANTIS, FU RFK JR.
The mainstream media continues to diligently cover Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s bid for president while mostly ignoring Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Joe Biden’s democratic challenger.
Economy
SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GETTING BIGGER
As we had long forecast, the higher central banks raise interest rates, the lower the Merger and Acquisition trend... which hit record highs during the COVID war when interest rates sank and governments pumped in countless trillions to artificially prop up sinking economies.
SPOTLIGHT ON CHINA
China’s manufacturing and services sector both slowed in May, offering more evidence that the growth spurt early this year after the government lifted anti-COVID restrictions has not lasted.
FU ENVIRONMENT, IT’S THE BOTTOM LINE: PORTUGAL APPROVES LITHIUM MINING
Portugal’s environmental regulators have given a positive recommendation on Savannah Resources’ proposed Barroso lithium mine that will produce enough of the metal to supply 500,000 electric vehicles (EVs) annually, the company says.
Geopolitics
MIDDLE EAST MELTDOWN: ISRAEL BOMBS SECRET IRANIAN FACTORIES IN SYRIA: REPORT
The Israeli military bombed secret Iranian weapons facilities inside Syria earlier last month that were believed to be producing precision missiles for Iran’s Quds Force, according to reports.
U.S. MOVES TO FORCE MEXICO TO BUY ITS ZOMBIE CORN
The U.S. upped the ante in its row with Mexico over genetically modified corn imports by requesting dispute-settlement consultations with Mexico City under a major trade agreement—and Mexico City said it is prepared to fight.
CHINA SLAMS U.S. OVER NEAR-COLLISION BETWEEN CHINESE WARSHIP AND U.S. DESTROYER
China’s top defense official criticized the U.S. Sunday following what Beijing described as a reckless near-miss between an American destroyer and Chinese warship in international waters in the Taiwan Strait.
Top Trends 2023
TOP TREND 2023: CELENTE’S HOMELESS SOLUTION
Homelessness is still a top concern in cities across the U.S., and with poverty, crime and government corruption accelerating across the planet, waves of immigrants flooding into safe-haven nations has—and will—make the homeless crisis worsen.
TOP TREND 2023: ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT—NEW POLITICAL PARTIES
Get ready for new anti-establishment, anti-war, anti-immigration, anti-tax political parties to spring up across the globe.
TOP TREND 2023: ANTI-IMMIGRATION
Inflationary pressures, declining economies across the globe, lack of basic living standards... topped off by an expanding war in Ukraine will lead to more people fleeing impoverished countries for Europe and the U.S., which will, in turn, result in the continued growth of anti-immigration policies and movements in the West.
Hi-Tech Science
NEW MOLECULE REGENERATES NERVES, HEART TISSUE AFTER INJURY
Re-establishing nerve pathways after damage is one of medicine’s toughest problems. A related one is dealing with dead heart tissue that clings to the heart after a heart attack and can cause other cardiac problems even years later.
COAL’S NEW ROLE IN A GREEN ENERGY ECONOMY: A HYDROGEN ‘BATTERY’
Among green energy advocates, coal is reviled as the dirtiest and smoggiest of fuels.
PULLING ELECTRICITY OUT OF THIN (OR THICK) AIR
Using a special strain of bacteria, a research team at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has created nanowires that can make an electric charge by pulling humidity—even tiny amounts—from air.