From the world’s first-ever bailout by the Romans to 33% interest loans 5,000 years ago, humans have pretty much always been in financial crisis

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The Romans didn’t just worship money; they weaponized credit in ways that feel eerily contemporary. They had banks, bankers, mortgages, and speculative real estate bubbles. And, in 33 CE, they experienced what McWilliams calls “the world’s first credit crisis.”

Emperor Tiberius was enjoying semi-retirement in Capri when news of an alleged coup shattered his peace. A young pretender named Sejanus had rallied senators and aristocrats to overthrow him. Tiberius, shrewd and ruthless, smoked out the conspirators.

Once he identified the traitors, he had Sejanus killed — and took things even further.

“Shaken by the sheer number of senators prepared to betray him, Tiberius moved against them in the place it hurt them most: their pockets,” McWilliams writes. The Senate, it turned out, was running a massive lending racket, borrowing at low rates in Rome and lending across the provinces at usurious rates. Tiberius passed a law forcing senators to keep a percentage of their income in Italian lands, which meant they had to dump their speculative provincial properties immediately. Land prices collapsed. Debts remained. Balance sheets imploded.

“The empire of credit was in the middle of a property boom, the treasury was full, and low interest rates had pushed up land prices,” writes McWilliams. Then it all seized up. Banks called in loans. Romans hoarded gold and silver. Liquidity vanished. The resulting panic spread throughout the system —landowners had to sell prime real estate in Rome and Capri to cover reckless investments in Syria and Egypt. It was 2008, but with togas.

https://nypost.com/2025/11/10/world-news/from-the-worlds-first-ever-bailout-by-the-romans-to-33-interest-loans-5000-years-ago-humans-have-pretty-much-always-been-in-financial-crisis/

Ukraine — Operation Midas: Criminal scheme involved kickbacks of up to 15% from contracts

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“The main focus of the criminal organization’s activities was the systematic receipt of illegal benefits from Energoatom’s counterparties in the amount of 10% to 15% of the value of contracts. In particular, Energoatom’s counterparties were imposed conditions for paying kickbacks for avoiding blocking payments for services provided/products delivered or deprivation of supplier status. This practice was called ‘slagbaum’ (a Dutch word meaning cement barrier,” the message on the Telegram channel said on Monday.

The head of the criminal organization involved the former deputy head of the State Property Fund, who later became an advisor to the Minister of Energy, as well as a former law enforcement officer who held the position of executive director for physical protection and security of the company, in the implementation of the scheme.

Using official connections in the ministry and the state-owned company, they ensured control over personnel decisions, procurement processes, and the movement of financial flows.

In fact, the management of a strategic enterprise with an annual income of over UAH 200 billion was carried out not by official officials, but by outsiders who did not have any formal powers, but took on the role of “watchers.”

https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/1119310.html

‘We can’t eat money’: Indigenous protesters clash with security at COP30 in Belém

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Maria Clara, a protester from the organisation Rede Sustentabilidade Bahia, said the action aimed to highlight the struggles of Indigenous communities. “These voices are ignored,” she told AFP.

She added that the group wanted to draw attention to the continued destruction of Indigenous lands, even as global leaders discuss solutions to the climate crisis.

The United Nations has not provided details about the incident, despite being contacted by AFP for comment.

https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/1835030/we-cant-eat-money-indigenous-protesters-clash-with-security-at-cop30-in-belem

Bayer in Brazil – big polluter, big lobby spender Sponsoring COP30 to greenwash toxic agribusiness model

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With its slogan ‘health for all’ and ‘hunger for none’ COP30 will be “an important milestone for Bayer, especially as it is taking place in Brazil, the company’s second-largest market worldwide”, announced the Leverkusen-based multinational. The company’s Global PR manager, Max Müller, said: “With a fantastic team, we will be present, stimulate discussions, present ideas and show how innovation and technology have changed the way food security can be achieved in a sustainable manner.”

Bayer is desperately in need of some good PR, after buying Monsanto (‘the most hated company in the world’) in 2018 for 53 billion euro. This led to an avalanche of litigation on cancer and glyphosate in the US, costing the company at least another 10 billion euro. COP30 thus offers an opportunity to change the narrative about its operations.
[…]
In its first ‘Political Advocacy Transparency Report’, published in December 2023, Bayer declared spending €49 million worldwide on lobbying (including the pharmaceutical side of its operations), as well as €26 million on trade association fees. The report shows Bayer spent a staggering €75 million on lobbying in 2022, with at least €13.5 million spent in Europe.

Spending a bit less last year (relatively speaking!) does not mean Bayer was not active at EU level: out of 82 high level meetings with the European Commission in total over the past decade, no less than 26 took place this year. Bayer is also represented in various expert groups, and special groups in the European Parliament. Last year ir also received €363,000 in EU grants for research purposes. And as part of its “series of communication activities” the company is “sponsoring content and events organised by Politico under its “Drive sustainable progress” campaign.

Bayer’s self reported Brazilian lobby budget amounted to $1.5 million in 2023. The money seems well spent: a 2024 study by investigative journalist consortium ‘O Joio e o Trigo’ and ‘Fiquem Sabendo’ revealed that the pesticide industry in Brazil secured a whopping 752 lobby meetings with government officials between October 2022 and July 2024. Bayer is the front-runner in this lobby record – according to the research Bayer lobbyists met with government officials 52 times between August 2022 and October 2024.

https://corporateeurope.org/en/2025/11/bayer-brazil-big-polluter-big-lobby-spender

BlackRock started buying American public utility companies

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They buy them with debt, when the purchase goes through the debt goes to the power company, not to BlackRock

This means entire states power bills will instantly rise to pay off the debt. It’s a racket and it’s started

“What if I told you that your electricity bill isn’t just paying for the power you use? It might also be paying off Wall Street’s debt.”

https://x.com/WallStreetApes/status/1987725418045317434

Report: Private equity firms like BlackRock SNAPPING UP Public Utilities & Electric Bills To SKYROCKET

Private equity firms like BlackRock and Blackstone are acquiring U.S. electric utilities, raising concerns about monopolistic control and skyrocketing electricity rates. Historical examples, such as California’s 2000–2001 energy crisis, demonstrate how privatization can lead to price gouging, rolling blackouts, and market manipulation for profit. Critics warn that these acquisitions exploit political influence, labor allies, and clean energy groups to advance deals, while leaving consumers with limited recourse and higher costs.

https://www.climatedepot.com/2025/08/27/report-private-equity-firms-like-blackrock-snapping-up-public-utilities-electric-bills-to-skyrocket/

Europe without microchips and Germany ignored by Beijing

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Once again, Europeans are falling into a trap set by their Anglo-Saxon allies, especially the US. In its strategy against European industry, the US will guarantee another influx of investors and a likely exodus of companies to its struggling economy. However, it has a clear reindustrialisation plan, supported by both the Biden and Trump administrations.
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The short-term implications for Europeans are clear: automotive, satellite, military, and electronics industries, among others, are now literally scrambling for new suppliers. These will eventually appear, but when, and at what price?

Germany is the most affected and has already protested: ‘German industry depends on these chips!’ complained its Minister for the Economy, who was travelling in Kiev.

Just as with energy, which, following the Nord Stream explosions, is now entirely dependent on expensive US-produced LNG, Germany and Europe’s industries are suffering another major setback, this time in the semiconductor sector, for which they have no domestic production or immediate alternatives.

https://williambowles.info/2025/10/27/european-without-microchips-and-germany-ignored-by-beijing/

House Republicans Preserve Provision Gifting Millions of Dollars to GOP Senators

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Refreshed from a lengthy break, courtesy of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) desire not to vote on a measure that would compel the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files, GOP lawmakers bravely protected the “America First” priorities in the bill.

For example, they voted down an attempt to extend the Obamacare subsidies that make health insurance more affordable for millions of Americans, blocked an effort to prevent the administration from using $40 billion in taxpayer money to prop up Argentina’s economy just because Donald Trump likes their president, and protected language allowing a few Republican senators to personally enrich themselves just because DOJ had dared to investigate the president’s 2020 coup attempt.

In other words, in spite of their Epstein vacation, they haven’t missed a beat.

https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/house-republicans-preserve-provision-gifting-millions-of-dollars-to-gop-senators/

Fed Quietly Injects $125 Billion in Repo Market

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The public must have confidence in the banks, and the banks must have confidence that the Federal Reserve will always catch them before they fall. We’ve seen several smaller banks go under in 2025, yet they were small enough not to raise concerns. The Fed fears panic more than it fears inflation. Powell knows that the central bank lost the ability to control inflation, but for now, it can control panic.

https://www.theburningplatform.com/2025/11/12/fed-quietly-injects-125-billion-in-repo-market/

Michael Burry of ‘The Big Short’ is back with cryptic messages — and two massive bets

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Burry’s fund, Scion Asset Management, disclosed on Monday that it bought puts — bets that share prices will fall — on two stars of the AI wave: Nvidia (NVDA) and Palantir (PLTR). Scion bought roughly $187.6 million in puts on Nvidia and $912 million in puts on Palantir, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Burry is known for his prophetic call that the US housing market would collapse in 2008. He was profiled in the 2010 book “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine,” by Michael Lewis, and portrayed by Christian Bale in the 2015 film adaptation.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/05/business/nvidia-palantir-michael-burry-stock

The Assassination of U.S. Secretary of Defense James Forrestal with David Martin

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After Truman’s reelection, Truman forced Forrestal to resign on March 28, 1949. Forrestal was then essentially placed under house arrest at Bethesda Naval Hospital, where he was murdered in the early morning hours of May 22, 1949, shortly before his brother was expected to arrive to assist him in leaving the institution.

It was the National Security Act of 1947 that created the CIA—but the Agency’s powers were expanded dramatically a month after Forrestal’s assassination. The CIA Act of 1949 was passed by the House on March 7, 1949, by the Senate on May 27, 1949, reported and agreed to by the joint conference committee from June 2-7, and signed into law by President Truman on June 20, 1949. It authorized the CIA “to use confidential fiscal and administrative procedures” and exempted it from many of the usual limitations on the use of federal funds. The Act (Section 6) also exempted the CIA from having to disclose its “organization, functions, officials, titles, salaries, or numbers of personnel employed.” And it created a program called “PL-110” to handle defectors and other “essential aliens” outside normal immigration procedures, as well as give those persons cover stories and economic support.

Forrestal’s death is a case study in fake news and the use of the media to kill a man’s name, making it easier to kill the man. If you look at the policies that Forrestal argued for—against the creation of the state of Israel and for greater transparency regarding the black budget—we would be living in a different world today if he had remained as the Secretary of Defense. Indeed, it is more than possible that there is a direct connection between Forrestal’s death, the deaths of a series of politicians over the following two decades—including Senator Joseph McCarthy, President John Kennedy, and Senator Robert Kennedy—and the steady rise of “secret monies for secret armies” and funds disappearing from the U.S. Treasury.

https://solari.com/the-assassination-of-james-forrestal-with-david-martin/