Editor’s note: The following is a lightly edited transcript of the accompanying video from professor Peter St. Onge. Japan is on the verge of a fire sale of hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. debt that could crash Treasury markets already teetering on the edge. Just another exciting day for de-dollarization as Japan’s collapse sends people scrounging the couch cushions for dollars to pawn. The news comes from The Wall Street Journal, which reported that Japan’s state-owned Government Pension Investment Fund, which holds Social Security reserves of nearly every Japanese worker, is poised to sell down its $400 billion of U.S. dollar assets and direct the money to Japanese domestic bonds and equities to prop up Japan’s asset markets long enough to limp through the next crisis. The numbers are big because Japan actually has a Social Security lockbox—unlike the U.S., where Congress has frittered away every last penny Social Security has even taken in and replaced them with IOUs. Out of the $1.5 trillion in that lockbox, Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund owns nearly $400 billion in U.S. Treasurys and another $400 billion in overseas equities—stocks—overwhelmingly parked in S&P 500 companies. So that’s $800 billion of U.S. dollar-denominated assets. More important, the government pension influences all the other pensions in Japan, since it’s a quasi-official seal of approval. Those other pensions manage another $1.5 trillion in corporate pensions alone, and a Government Pension Investment Fund allocation would imply that’s another $800 billion in U.S. assets. The party for Japan’s de-dollarization doesn’t stop at pensions. Just two weeks ago, Japan’s No. 5 bank, Norinchukin, announced it will be selling up to $63 billion in Treasurys to plug holes in its balance sheet from unhedged sovereign bond investments—the same investments that crashed U.S. banks last year. The even larger Japan Post Bank could face even bigger dollar sell-offs given its get-rich-or-die-trying portfolio including $200 billion in mainly U.S. bonds and $350 billion in “investment trusts” that, once again, are predominantly in U.S. bonds and private equity. Considering that major banks in Japan also tend to mimic each other, there are probably more dollar fire-sales on the way. Japan at this point is selling off the furniture to pay the rent. The government is essentially out of ideas, having plowed Keynesian stimulus to its logical conclusion and achieved nothing but a debt ratio of 264%—the highest in any major country, and equivalent to $70 trillion in U.S. terms. The one thing Tokyo hasn’t tried, of course, is radically shrinking the government—slashing government spending, slashing small business taxes and regulatory mandates, and getting the central bank out of economic micromanagement. As for the dollar, if Japan is about to flip to mass seller, that knocks out the single biggest overseas holder of U.S. debt. And at a time when the No. 2 holder, China, is selling dollars hand-over-fist. And what if there are not enough buyers for U.S. debt? Easy: Prices crash and interest rates soar. We’d be back to crashing banks here in America, with Washington’s debt service driving toward $2 trillion per year—in interest alone. Toss in a coming recession, the open border, and funding all the wars Biden’s handlers can drum up, and we could be in for a very bumpy ride. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Why Japan Selling Off US Dollars Is Major Threat to US Economy appeared first on The Daily Signal.

MILWAUKEE—Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former President Donald Trump’s foremost rival in the 2024 GOP primary, appeared at the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on Tuesday night with a surprise announcement. “President Trump asked me to speak to this convention in the name of unity,” she said. “It was a gracious invitation, and I was happy to accept.” She said her message to Trump’s critics is this: “You don’t have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him.” “I haven’t always agreed with Trump, but we agree more often than we disagree,” Haley added. She mentioned many issues on which she agrees with the former president—among them, the border crisis, Israel, and keeping peace abroad. “We agree that Democrats have moved so far to the left that they’re putting our freedoms in danger,” she added. The post BREAKING: Nikki Haley Endorses Trump at RNC in Name of Unity appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Convention Video: Ramaswamy Champions American Exceptionalism

It is said that although tonight’s official RNC ‘24 theme is “Make America Safe Once Again”, it subtheme is “Unity”. However, some in the media are lamenting this unity.  Watch as CBS’s Senior Elections Correspondent Robert Costa laments the fact that Republicans who opposed Trump in 2024 are insufficiently obstinate, and too quick to endorse their onetime rival: ROBERT COSTA: Trump critics say it’s opposition to President Biden that is bringing Republicans together.  Why isn't the anti-Trump wing of the Republican Party holding a bit more firm and resisting the temptation to endorse? ASA HUTCHINSON: Well, the answer is, because we saw Joe Biden in the alternative in the debate, and he showed weakness. And no one wants a weak president. Costa seems to pine for the theatrics of a contested convention wherein dueling factions duke it out on the open floor before one side acquiesces to the other. But this isn’t that scenario. No matter how badly Costa wishes it were so.  Some choose to unite in support of President Trump, and others will unite in opposition to President Biden. Nikki Haley’s unity appears to be predicated on the latter, a concession to the reality on the ground- Costa’s pining for continued obstinance notwithstanding. Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on the CBS Evening news on Tuesday, July 16th, 2024: NORAH O’DONNELL: Back here in Milwaukee, the energy is high, the music loud on this night 2 of the Republican National Convention. The theme tonight is, “Make America Safe Once Again”. CBS's Robert Costa reports the night's biggest highlight could be the return of Nikki Haley. ROBERT COSTA: Day 2 of the Republican National Convention began with a walk-through by the upbeat vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance ahead of the Ohio senator's acceptance speech. But onetime Trump rival Nikki Haley is getting ready to deliver a high-profile speech making unity, however uneasy it might be, the unofficial theme of Day 2. Even as Republicans rally around Trump in the wake of last weekend’s assassination attempt, tensions nonetheless remain from the primary where Haley challenged Trump and hit him hard. NIKKI HALEY: Chaos follows him. You know I’m right. Chaos follows him. All those things that he is saying is a lie.  He’s not what he has in 2016. He has declined, that's a fact. COSTA: Sources say Haley’s invite came only in recent days as Trump and his advisors try to stitch together the party. Delegates her seemed ready to invite her into the fold.  DELEGATE: The party wants her to speak and she’s willing to speak, and President Trump has certainly invited her, then that's fine with me. DELEGATE 2: I think she ‘s going to bring the women vote. DELEGATE 3: I think what you're seeing here is they unite at the end of the day. COSTA: Trump critics say it’s opposition to President Biden that is bringing Republicans together.  Why isn't the anti-Trump wing of the Republican Party holding a bit more firm and resisting the temptation to endorse? ASA HUTCHINSON: Well, the answer is, because we saw Joe Biden in the alternative in the debate, and he showed weakness. And no one wants a weak president. COSTA: All this comes as Trump is also getting an enormous fundraising boost, including tens of millions reportedly pledged by billionaire Elon Musk, and as Trump works to win over independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who he spoke with by phone about the shooting. DONALD TRUMP: It felt like a giant- like the world's largest mosquito, and it was, it was a bullet going around. You know, what did they call it, an AR-15 or something? That was a big gun. Those are pretty, pretty tough guns, right? COSTA: Former Ambassador Haley is not the only story here tonight. There will also be a big spotlight on Republican Senate candidates across the country, as well as on the issues of crime and immigration. Norah. O’DONNELL: Robert Costa, thank you very much.  

Found in Israel's Cave of Skulls in the Judean Desert, the ancient textile dates back to the Middle Bronze Age. The post 4,000-Year-Old Fabric Found In Israel’s Cave Of Skulls Is The Oldest Ever Made With Insect Dye appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Chicago Mayor Reportedly Removing Washington Statue From City Hall

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In an address to the RNC, Bernie Moreno, a businessman and the Republican Senate nominee in Ohio, implied that his opponent, Sen. Sherrod Brown, is a puppet of President Joe Biden. “Sherrod Brown votes…