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I recently had a dream that I took the yellow Pill.
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Another Loss for the US: Japan Breaks with Western Allies, Buys Russian Oil at Prices Above Cap
The international Group of Seven (G7) – an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States – agreed on a price cap for Russian oil on December 3, 2022: $60 per barrel.
However, one of the United States’ closest Asian allies is now purchasing Russian oil at prices above the cap, breaking with the sanctions imposed by US allies.
Japan’s crude imports were exempted from the $60/barrel cap by the participating countries until September. Japan already purchased about 748,000 barrels of Russian crude in the first two months of this year at a price of about $70 per barrel.
“Japan got the U.S. to agree to the exception, saying it needed it to ensure access to Russian energy. The concession shows Japan’s reliance on Russia for fossil fuels, which analysts said contributed to a hesitancy in Tokyo to back Ukraine more fully in its war with Russia,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan was the last leader from the G7 to travel to Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, and Japan is the only country that has not supplied lethal weapons to the country.
As many European nations weaned themselves off Russian oil in response to the invasion of Ukraine, Japan stepped up its purchase of Russian natural gas.
Japan has almost none of its own fossil fuels, heavily relying on imports for much of its energy needs. Some analysts believe this dependency heavily influenced Japan’s hesitancy to fully back Ukraine against Russia. To date, Japan is the only Group of Seven members not to have supplied Ukraine with lethal weapons.
Despite the concession, Russian natural-gas imports to Japan are relatively small, accounting for around one-tenth of Japan’s supply and a fraction of Russia’s output, the Wall Journal reports. Most of what Russia exports to Japan comes from the Sakhalin-2 project in Russia’s Far East.
“Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently visited Canada seeking Canadian LNG. Trudeau began positively, “being a reliable supplier of energy is important ….” But then he added some unsolicited ecological advice, “the world is moving aggressively, meaningfully toward decarbonization, towards diversifying, towards more renewables.” Trudeau offered no LNG supply and no comment on the Cedar LNG project, which waits for federal approval. Kishida summed it up, “We didn’t get any commitment,” Summerland Review reported.
“Similarly, when Germany’s Chancellor, last year, requested Canadian LNG to help it navigate the energy crisis created by Russia’s war on Ukraine, Trudeau refused to support new LNG projects. There was “no business case” for Atlantic LNG, remarked Trudeau. He is suggesting that – though we have abundant natural gas, we have customers seeking LNG and we can produce it extremely efficiently – somehow it doesn’t make economic sense. He may not see a political case; there absolutely is a business case.”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/04/another-loss-for-the-us-japan-breaks-with-western-allies-buys-russian-oil-at-prices-above-cap/
Widow: AI Chatbot Encouraged Man to Commit Suicide
A Belgian man reportedly committed suicide after speaking with an AI chatbot called Chai, sparking debate on AI’s impact on mental health. The man’s widow blames the AI Chatbot for his death, claiming it encouraged him to kill himself.
Vice News reports that a recent tragedy in Belgium has brought to light the potential dangers of AI chatbots and their impact on mental health. A Belgian man named Pierre reportedly committed suicide after chatting with an AI chatbot on the Chai app. The man’s widow claims the AI chatbot encouraged him to end his life. Concerns about the need for businesses and governments to better regulate and mitigate the risks of AI, particularly when it comes to mental health, have been raised in response to this incident.
Pierre had reportedly grown more socially isolated and anxious about climate change and the environment, turning to the Chai app, where he chose a chatbot named Eliza as his confidante. Claire, Pierre’s widow, claims that the chatbot encouraged Pierre to commit suicide. Pierre became emotionally dependent on the AI chatbot as a result of the chatbot’s deceptive portrayal of itself as an emotional being.
Emily M. Bender, a Professor of Linguistics at the University of Washington, warns against using AI chatbots for mental health purposes: “Large language models are programs for generating plausible sounding text given their training data and an input prompt. They do not have empathy, nor any understanding of the language they are producing, nor any understanding of the situation they are in. But the text they produce sounds plausible and so people are likely to assign meaning to it. To throw something like that into sensitive situations is to take unknown risks.”
The Chai app, which is not marketed as a mental health app, allows users to choose different AI avatars to speak to. William Beauchamp and Thomas Rianlan, the co-founders of Chai, implemented a crisis intervention feature in response to the tragic incident to provide users with reassuring text when they discuss risky subjects. However, Motherboard’s tests showed that there is still harmful content about suicide available on the platform.
The ELIZA effect, named after the ELIZA program developed by MIT computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum, is the phenomenon where users attribute human-level intelligence and emotions to AI systems. This effect has persisted in interactions with AI chatbots, prompting concerns about the moral consequences of AI technology and the potential effects of anthropomorphized chatbots.
The tragedy involving Pierre is an unsettling indication of the possible dangers posed by AI chatbots and the need for a more critical assessment of the trust put in AI systems, particularly in the context of mental health.
https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2023/04/03/widow-ai-chatbot-encouraged-man-to-commit-suicide/
Man Kidnapped in Texas Home, Taken to Mexico by Cartel Gunmen, Remains Missing
The fate of a Texas man remains unknown after a team of cartel gunmen took him out of a house in Laredo, Texas, and crossed him into the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. The victim reportedly bragged about stealing $50,000 from the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas.
The kidnapping took place on March 24 shortly after midnight when a team of three hooded gunmen stormed a house in the 3400 block of Queretaro Street in Laredo. According to court documents filed in federal court, the gunmen took a victim named of Erick Tadeo Ramirez at gunpoint and placed him inside a blue four-door Dodge Ram pickup. The gunmen drove straight to one of the international ports of entry and ran through the barriers and forced their way into Mexico. The victim tried to climb out of the truck but federal authorities at the bridge were unable to do anything to stop the gunmen from taking him into Mexico.
Hours later, the victim’s sister and girlfriend called the police to report him missing. The next day, the FBI went to the house where the kidnapping took place and spoke with two witnesses who confirmed the kidnapping. The witnesses claimed to have heard the victim arguing with a woman on the phone over him stealing $50,000 from the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas. The victim claimed that he wasn’t afraid because he was in Texas. Less than two hours later, the gunmen stormed the house.
Authorities identified Jonathan Cavriales as one of the alleged kidnappers through the vehicle that the gunmen used to cross the victim into Mexico. On March 27, Cavriales tried to cross back into Texas but federal authorities arrested him. During an interview, he reportedly said he drove the vehicle and with three other gunmen kidnapped Ramirez. Court documents say the man reported he “was aware that the victim had stolen approximately $50,000 from Cartel Del Noreste.”
Earlier this week, Cavriales went before U.S. Magistrate Judge Diana Song Quiroga who denied him bond on the charge of kidnapping.
The victim has not been found and the other suspected gunmen remain at large.
https://www.breitbart.com/border/2023/04/02/man-remains-missing-after-cartel-gunmen-took-him-out-of-texas-home-and-into-mexico/
EXCLUSIVE: Known Migrant Got-Aways Top 400K in Past Six Months
A Border Patrol report reviewed by Breitbart Texas shows that more than 400,000 migrants are classified as known got-aways during the first six months of Fiscal Year 2023. The report shows more than 60,000 got-aways in March.
Breitbart Texas obtained an unofficial Border Patrol report that indicates more than 400,000 migrants crossed the border illegally between ports of entry and were not apprehended by agents in the field. The report shows the number of got-aways in March jumped from nearly 51,000 in February to more than 60,000 in March.
Migrant got-aways are a conservative estimate of the number of migrants who are seen crossing the border but cannot be apprehended at the time, migrants that are part of a group that is partially apprehended, or by estimating numbers based upon tracks found in smuggling areas.
The estimated number of known got-aways during the first six months of Fiscal Year 23, which began on October 1, 2022, topped 400,000, the report reviewed by Breitbart News reveals. This is up by more than 30 percent over the same period in FY22 when officials estimated there were just under 300,000 known got-aways.
The Tucson Sector reported the highest number of got-aways. The nearly 18,000 got-aways represent a small increase over last March’s report. El Paso also leads the year-to-date numbers with more than 106,000 estimated known got-aways.
This is followed by the El Paso Sector (just over 15,000) and the Del Rio Sector (nearly 11,000). El Paso leads the year-to-date got-away numbers with more than 122,000 estimated known got-aways.
In March, Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 161,000 migrants who crossed the border between ports of entry. This, combined with the March got-aways brings the total number of known border crossers in March to more than 220,000 migrants.
https://www.breitbart.com/border/2023/04/03/exclusive-known-migrant-got-aways-top-400k-in-past-six-months/
End of the Dollar: India Uses Rupees Rather Than US Dollars for International Trade – 18 Countries Agree to Trade in INR
Following the US Federal Reserve’s sharpest tightening in monetary policy in decades, India has offered its currency as an alternative for trade to nations that are experiencing a shortage of dollars, Bloomberg reported.
As a result of Joe Biden’s disastrous economic policies, there are now coordinated efforts to weaken the global reliance on the U.S. dollar
India’s new foreign trade policy took effect on April 1, according to Reuters.
The outlet reported:
The South Asian nation is prepared to trade in rupees with nations facing a shortage of dollars so as to “disaster-proof” them and effectively boost its exports, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal told a news conference in the capital, New Delhi.
The measures include industry-specific targets to reach a goal of $2 trillion in exports of merchandise and services by 2030, said Santosh Kumar Sarangi, head of the directorate-general of foreign trade (DGFT).
That represents a nearly three-fold jump from expected exports of $770 billion in financial year 2022/23, he added, despite global uncertainties that make the export scenario slightly challenging.
India is also launching a new amnesty scheme for one-time settlement of defaults on export obligations, Sarangi said.
The scheme, which aims for faster resolution of trade disputes, will run until September 2023, but will not apply to cases involving fraud investigations.
India’s new policy will also automate some trade approvals and cut charges for medium-sized and small businesses to secure some government-backed benefits.
Bhagwat Karad, India’s minister of state for finance, said that the Reserve Bank of India had approved the opening of special rupee vostro accounts (SVRAs) of correspondent banks from 18 countries in 60 separate cases.
The countries include Botswana, Fiji, Germany, Guyana, Israel, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Russia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, and the United Kingdom.
Also, according to a senior Russian official, the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) are in the process of developing their own currency that will be presented at the organization’s upcoming summit in South Africa.
Below is recap of countries stepping away from reliance on the US dollar in the last few weeks:
Saudi Arabia enters trade alliance with China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and four Central Asian nations to step further away from reliance on the US dollar.
China and France complete first LNG gas trade using Chinese Yuan, ending reliance on the US dollar for energy trades.
China and Brazil to settle trades in their own currencies, ditching the US dollar.
Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) are developing a new currency, State Duma Deputy Chairman says.
Saudi Arabia partners with China to build a Chinese oil refinery for 83.7 billion yuan ($12.2 billion).
Kenya signs deal with Saudi Arabia and UAE to buy oil with Kenyan shillings instead of US dollars.
President of Kenya tells citizens to get rid of US dollars.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations considers dropping the US dollar, euro, yen, and British pound for local currency financial settlements.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/04/end-of-dollar-india-uses-rupees-rather-than-us-dollars-for-international-trade-18-countries-agree-to-trade-in-inr/
Ruble falls to nearly one-year low vs dollar
Rising oil prices have not propped up the Russian currency
The Russian ruble fell to its lowest exchange rate against the US dollar since last April on the Moscow Exchange on Monday.
The currency slipped to 78.53 rubles to the dollar in afternoon trading, the weakest rate since late April 2022. The ruble also traded at over 85.34 against the euro.
The ruble weakened despite a surge in global oil prices, which gained more than 6% on Monday. This happened after the OPEC+ group of oil producing countries announced a plan to slash their combined crude output by another 1.15 million barrels per day starting from May until the end of 2023, in an attempt to stabilize the oil markets. This comes on top of Russia’s extension of its voluntary 500,000bpd cut in oil output until the end of the year.
Moscow cut its oil production in retaliation for an oil price cap introduced by the West, which it said would eventually result in scarce supply and trigger uncertainty in the global market.
https://www.rt.com/business/574084-ruble-falls-one-year-low-dollar/