Bitcoin drops below $20,000 as crypto selloff quickens

Bitcoin fell below the psychologically important threshold of $20,000 on Saturday for the first time since late 2020, in a fresh sign that the selloff in cryptocurrencies is deepening.

The price of the most popular cryptocurrency had plunged as much as 9.7% to less than $18,600 by late afternoon on the East Coast, according to the cryptocurrency news site CoinDesk. At some points during the day, it was below $18,000.

Ne-au făcut servitorii Europei!

Eram un stat. Ne-au transformat în populație. Cândva, aveam cea mai puternică și stabilă monedă din Estul Europei. Parlamentele țărilor vecine cereau lui Ferdinand să-și extindă coroana. Regina Maria și-a căsătorit fiicele cu junii familiilor domnitoare din regiune. Visa la un Commenwealth balcanic.

Macron Must Avoid the Immolation of French Influence

President Macron’s aspiration to mediate between Putin, who does not respect him, and Ukraine, which does not trust him, is damaging French influence at a time when European leadership is critical.

French President Emmanuel Macron has once again put himself forward as the leading voice for a negotiated end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that does not ‘humiliate’ President Vladimir Putin. In this he echoes an increasingly regular drumbeat of articles in the New York Times and other broadsheets emphasising the risks of an open-ended conflict with Russia and the inevitability of eventual compromise.

How NATO can stick together and keep the pressure on Russia, according to four former Alliance chiefs

NATO should have a few objectives for its summit in Madrid later this month, said former NATO Secretary General George Robertson: “weapons, weapons, weapons—and a free, democratic Ukraine.”

Robertson joined three other former NATO chiefs—Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, and Javier Solana—at an Atlantic Council Front Page event on Wednesday where the group discussed NATO’s response to the war, enlargement, and the next plays in Alliance’s playbook.

Just Business

People didn’t believe that the war would break out, political experts and even intelligence officers doubted it would happen. Only they knew for sure, owners of the US military-industrial complex.Back in January, Lockheed Martin head Jim Taiclet told investors that the military conflict between the US and Russia over Ukraine would bring significant profits for the company.

Not without reason the US military-industrial complex had employed more than 2000 lobbyists since 2017.

Global Surplus Crude Oil Production Capacity

We have published our estimates of OPEC production capacity and surplus capacity every month since 2002 in our Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). This data series is a useful indicator of global oil market tightness. Large surplus production capacity numbers suggest that OPEC has restrained crude oil production in the past to avoid over-supplying markets, which would result in large inventory builds and lower prices.

The Problem With Juneteenth

Juneteenth was a people’s holiday with deep meaning for the descendants of enslaved people. But the declaration of an official federal holiday has turned it into an opportunity for corporate exploiters and cynical politicians to show pretend concern for Black people. At best Juneteenth provides a history lesson and an opportunity for much needed political education.

The People vs. Petrocracy

The United States is moving fast on climate change—in the wrong direction. The Energy Information Agency forecasts that by 2023, the nation will set a new annual record for oil extraction: 4.6 billion barrels. Plans to build more than 200 new natural gas power plants are in the works. More than 130 new oil and gas pipelines now under development will carry enough fuel to increase national emissions by 10 percent—560 million metric tons per year.