trendsjournal.com – History Before It Happens

December 19, 2023

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U.S. TRADE AND ECONOMIC POLICIES PUSHED EURO UP…AND DOWN

Last week it was reported that the dramatic shift in U.S. trade and economic policies, and their erratic implementation, have shaken investors’ confidence in the U.S. dollar as a safe store of wealth, The New York Times reported.

AI’S NEW WORLD OF HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS

The rise of AI is accentuating the global divide between nations that have the resources to run with the technology and those who don’t.

TRUMP AI ACTION PLAN UNLEASHES AMERICAN AI INNOVATION, FOR BETTER AND WORSE

The clear object of a new AI action plan articulated as an overall framework this past week by the Trump administration, is to win what we have long termed in these pages “The AI Ams Race.”

MAGIC MUSHROOMS MAY HOLD A MAGIC ANTI-AGING COMPOUND

Psilocybin, the psychedelic substance in a family of mushrooms, is the new headliner in mental health treatment.

ECB HOLDS INTEREST RATES FIRM AS A BULWARK AGAINST TARIFF UNCERTAINTY

On 24 July, the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to hold its key policy rate at 2 percent after reducing it eight times in a row over the past 13 months.

MISSILE BOOM: WESTERN COMPANIES THAT MAKE MISSILES SEE SURGE IN ORDERS, KEEPING MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX HAPPY

Western missile manufacturers have seen a significant boost in sales given the need for ammunition amid global wars that have governments attempting to restock their arsenals.

WHEN THE ECONOMY FALLS, JOBS GO WITH IT

Intel expects to cut its workforce by 25,000 this year through layoffs, attritions and other methods and will cancel plans to build new chip facilities in Europe.

CHINA’S INDUSTRIAL SECTOR SAGS AGAIN IN JUNE

In China, manufacturers’ profits declined again in June as the country’s deflation continued and consumer demand remained feeble, the U.S.-China trade agreement remained unsettled, and the global economy remained generally uncertain, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported.

OPENAI TAKES A SALES COMMISSION ON CLICK-THROUGHS

OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which shows ads to users, will now include a payment system that will let shoppers complete purchases within the AI platform. OpenAI then will collect a commission from merchants making the sales.

BRAZIL’S PRESIDENT LOOKS PAST TRUMP WITH COMMITMENT TO BRICS

Brazil is reportedly “reinforcing” its commitment to BRICS countries in an act of defiance against the Trump administration that has threatened Brasília with steeper tariffs for its participation with the group that President Donald Trump has called an “anti-American” alliance.

TOP ISRAELI RIGHTS GROUP SAY U.S./WEST BACKS ISRAELI GENOCIDE IN GAZA

B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, two top Israeli human rights groups, issued new reports on Monday that accused Tel Aviv of carrying out a genocide in Gaza—the first time these two groups made such a severe claim.

IMPROVED AI AUTOMATED LAB SPEEDS EXPERIMENTS TENFOLD

Scientists at North Carolina State University have found a way to improve automated laboratories in a way that speeds their work by a factor of ten, they say.

MORE THAN 100 HUMANITARIAN AID AGENCIES ISSUE STATEMENT ABOUT WORSENING CRISIS IN GAZA

In hopes of drawing attention to the worsening humanitarian conditions inside Gaza, over 100 aid organizations issued a statement urging Israel to allow unimpeded access to life-saving relief.

GERMANY APPEARS TO BE STANDING JUST OUTSIDE THE FRENCH NUCLEAR UMBRELLA

Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, and French President Emmanuel Macron have both spoken out about the need for their countries to work together to be less reliant on the U.S. for their defense, but their effort to come together on nuclear deterrence has hit a roadblock and has been scaled back, according to a report.

U.S. ECONOMIC BRIEFS

American companies did more business overall this month as manufacturing sagged and the service sector showed its strongest month since December.

SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GETTING BIGGER

After a year of regulatory review—and after a change in presidential administrations—the three-member U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved Skydance Media’s $8-billion acquisition of Paramount Global.

ECONOMIC UPDATE—MARKET OVERVIEW

Go back to 2 April when President Trump announced his Liberation Day tariff war policies. Threatening to impose skyrocketing tariffs on nations across the globe, the equity markets tanked.

TRUMP’S “AI ACTION” PLAN (5 DOCTRINES) WITH A FULL—BREAKDOWN

Chief AI Officers in Major Agencies—Executive Order 14110 mandates large federal departments to appoint Chief AI Officers, including GSA, DOE, DHS, Veterans Affairs, and Education.

SPECIAL REPORT: TRUMP CALLS FOR MAJOR U.S. PUSH IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

On 23 July, Donald Trump signed three executive orders calling for the accelerated expansion of the U.S.’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry and announced an “AI Action Plan.”

THE ART AND ARTIFICE OF PROMPT ENGINEERING

Why do generative AI chatbots need to be prompted to impersonate fantasy roles in order to provide (supposedly) better content, or answers to queries?

Woman Holds A Sign At Anti-Genocide Protest In Toronto, Ontario, Canada

TOP ISRAELI RIGHTS GROUP SAY U.S./WEST BACKS ISRAELI GENOCIDE IN GAZA

French President Emmanuel Macron And His Wife Brigitte In Paris, France

J’ACCUSE! MACRON SUES CANDACE OWENS AFTER PODCASTER CLAIMS HIS WIFE’S A MAN

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte filed a lawsuit last week claiming that Candace Owens, a popular podcaster in the U.S., defamed his wife by claiming that she was born a man to promote “her independent platform, gain notoriety, and make money,” according to a report.

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Global Economy

SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GETTING BIGGER

SPECIAL REPORT: TRUMP’S TARIFF WAR

The U.S. treasury has raked in an additional $55 billion so far in Donald Trump’s tariff war and most of it has come out of Corporate America’s pocket, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, The Current President of Brazil, Speaking At An Event In São Paulo, Brasil

BRAZIL’S PRESIDENT LOOKS PAST TRUMP WITH COMMITMENT TO BRICS

The Israel War

Palestinians Transport Injured And Dead People From The Site Of An IDF Airstrike

GAZA DEATH TOLL

The death toll in Gaza surpassed 60,000 on Tuesday as the IDF continued its killing spree across the destroyed enclave—with the full backing of the Trump administration. Health officials also reported that at least 145,870 people have been injured in the war.

Displaced Palestinian Families Wait For Food Distribution

TRUMP’S GREEN LIGHT FOR ISRAEL TO ABANDON CEASEFIRE ENABLED NETANYAHU TO CARRY OUT STARVATION CAMPAIGN

President Donald Trump fully supported Israel’s decision to abandon the ceasefire deal in March that enabled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ramp up his starvation campaign inside the enclave—likely at the expense of the remaining Israeli hostages still in Hamas captivity, Haaretz, an Israeli paper, said.

Empty Seats In The Knesset Hall In Jerusalem, Israel

WHAT TOOK SO LONG: ISRAEL FACES NEW PRESSURE FROM ALLIES TO END ITS GENOCIDE

Israel’s revenge campaign in Gaza has gotten so atrocious that even Tel Aviv’s most loyal allies are beginning to speak out about the need to end the war and rush humanitarian aid into the enclave.

Trends in AI

OPENAI TAKES A SALES COMMISSION ON CLICK-THROUGHS

IMPROVED AI AUTOMATED LAB SPEEDS EXPERIMENTS TENFOLD

Scientists at North Carolina State University have found a way to improve automated laboratories in a way that speeds their work by a factor of ten, they say.

GOOGLE BEWARE: STARTUP LAUNCHES AI-BASED SEARCH ENGINE

The Browser Company of New York (BCNY) has created Dia, an AI-based search engine. That’s a big deal because Google and other engines have largely tried to tack AI onto their existing platforms. Dia has AI in its DNA.

Hi-Tech Science

DARPA ADVANCES WIRELESS POWER TRANSMISSION

The idea of beaming electric power through the air has been a dream since the days of Nikola Tesla more than a century ago. Now the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is taking steps toward making it happen through its Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay (POWER) program.