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BREAKING: The number of restaurants in New York dropped ~2,000 YoY in Q1 2026, posting its largest YoY decline in at least 36 years.
This surpasses even the worst contraction recorded in any quarter during the 2020 pandemic.
The number of eating and drinking places in New York State has now declined YoY for 4 consecutive quarters, its longest streak since 2021.
This comes as restaurants are facing surging operating expenses, including insurance premiums, wages, interest rates, utilities, and health coverage, with overall costs rising faster than national averages.
Last year, employee health insurance costs jumped +12.9% for New York-area service firms, business insurance rose +7.0%, while utility costs surged +8.5%, according to the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce.
Skyrocketing costs are crushing New York restaurants.
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The Netherlands is following China, France, and Russia in moving to break the global stranglehold of US tech dominance, it was revealed this week.
The Dutch government was shocked into action after the US remotely disabled the computers of judges in the Hague who criticized Israel leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
The sudden loss of ICC staff’s Outlook email accounts caused significant problems.
The US reserves the right to unilaterally sanction anyone, anywhere in the world--all your Google accounts could disappear in an instant. Bye-bye, gmail.
“The Dutch government is creating its own digital work environment based on the Dutch Linux distribution NixOS,” said Jasper Bakker of news website Tweakers.
The spreading realization: smart countries protect their digital sovereignty.
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HARDWARE, TOO
China is trying to ditch both software and hardware. Beijing in 2019 ordered government offices to switch away from foreign PCs, and fortunately has a great many locally produced computers to fill the gap.
China’s Ministry of State Security this summer told some state-linked organizations to quickly remove a customized version of Windows 10 from their machines, Bloomberg reported in August. Other organizations are set to “clean” their systems of the program by February of 2027.
Russia, France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy and Austria are also replacing Microsoft programs with alternatives in various government areas, particularly in military sectors.
In Hong Kong, a number of government departments have already replaced Microsoft Office products with alternatives.
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THE PROBLEM IS THE PUBLIC
But security specialists worldwide note that large-scale switching will be a challenge.
While multiple countries are clearing their governmental systems of dominant US programs, virtually all computers owned by members of the public are filled with it—and few consumers will take the trouble to switch away from Microsoft Office, let alone from the Windows operating system.
Even in China, Microsoft is dominant at consumer level. The Windows program accounted for 87.64% of desktop web traffic in China as recently as July 2026, StatCounter reported.
Fortunately, alternative operating systems like Huawei’s HarmonyOS work well, and are growing in popularity.
Russia has enforced a total ban on Western software for government and military, mandating the use of domestic Astra Linux.
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ALTERNATIVES
As for Europe, the best hope is the rise of easy-install alternatives. These do exist.
- France, like the Netherlands, is opting for changing the operating systems, transitioning 2.5 million civil servants to Linux. They have also been told to ditch MS Teams and use Visio, a local alternative.
- Individual German states are also opting for Linux, and are using Open Document Format and LibreOffice in place of MS Office.
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WEAPONIZATION IS THE ISSUE
The problem is not US software, which works perfectly well. The issue is the way the programs are weaponized.
When the US weaponized GPS against a Chinese ship they (wrongly) suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction, the world realized they needed an alternative, and now has one: Baidu.
When the US weaponized SWIFT against Russia, the world realized they needed an alternative, and became aware of one: CIPS.
And when the US weaponized Microsoft Outlook against judges in the Netherlands, the Dutch government finally sprang into action. Sometimes you need a shock to get you moving.
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1915. British strategic document. Break Russia into smaller states. Control Siberian resources. Prevent them from challenging the empire.
2022. US Helsinki Commission holds meeting. Openly discusses "decolonization of Russia" - code for breaking it apart. Same territories. Same reasoning.
2026. Kaja Kallas becomes EU foreign policy chief. Says Russia needs fragmentation. Same map. Same goals.
111 years. Same plan. Different people selling it.
They tried through revolution. Through Cold War. Through 1990s economic collapse. Through color revolutions in neighboring states.
Russia survived every attempt. Rebuilt after each one.
Now they're trying proxy war and sanctions. But the goal hasn't changed since 1915. Fragment Russia. Control resources. Keep them weak.
The hypocrisy? They lecture the world about respecting borders and sovereignty while openly planning to carve up a nuclear power.
Divide populations. Fund separatists. Bomb until it splits.
Russia watched what happened to Yugoslavia. They knew they were next. That's why this conflict exists.
The plan is over a century old. And they're still trying.
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Alastair Crooke (@AWCrooke): Saudi Arabia is a pillar for one family. If it is no longer oil wealth for Wall Street and the petrodollar, there is nothing there. MBS had Trump as his security. That is gone. The reserves went into NEOM. He cannot deal with Ansar Allah because Washington runs the state.
“Saudi is a pillar that rests on one person, one family—one family that gerrymandered the succession so that they can become king. Don’t forget Salman changed the succession. It’s supposed to go from brother to brother to brother, and he changed all of that. He has alienated most of the family. It rests on a very fragile pillar. Unless they are seen as the source of oil wealth for Wall Street, for the petrodollar, for Washington—if that cannot be sustained—then what is there to Saudi Arabia? Nothing. There’s nothing there beyond that.
This is a huge humiliation in terms of Saudi culture. MBS had Trump on his side. This was his security. This was his basis for going ahead. And suddenly it’s clear to all the rivals, all those people in his own family. You recall the Ritz-Carlton episode, where he literally imprisoned them in a hotel and hung them upside down until all the money came out of their pockets. They were just literally humiliated. Some of them have disappeared. Some of them have been humiliated. And there are the tribes that have been largely dispossessed of their income. So what’s going to happen?
Well, there’s no money. The reserves that were built up. No one’s getting paid at the moment. Contracts, building sites—nothing is being paid. There is no money to pay anything. There’s no money to buy people out. There was a big reserve built up of cash, but most of that has gone on these big projects like the NEOM hotel and these other projects, and there’s none of that left.
So bin Salman is on his own there, with everyone looking and wondering. This is the end of a colonial structure. The colonial structure is collapsing in the Gulf, and the Saudis are the lynchpin of that. Why doesn’t he just do a deal with the Yemenis? The answer is he’s just too embedded in the United States structures. He can’t do it. He’s always been wholly embedded with US presidents, with the US military structures, down to the last element. They run the state for him, and he just cannot do it. He cannot make a deal with the Houthis.
The consequences are huge. Saudi Arabia is not selling oil. It doesn’t have money. It’s not allowed to sell its treasuries. It’s been trying to sell shares, but even its allies in the Gulf don’t want to buy them except at a huge discount, because they’re not sure that Saudi will be there as we know it tomorrow or the next day, or next month. There’s a great reluctance, even from Gulf allies, to come and help him out.
We’re seeing a huge shift. All of these post-colonial states are hanging by a thread, because Saudi Arabia and its connections with Israel—and its use by Israel as an Israeli platform over many, many years—have been the pivot for the whole Gulf region. Everyone is watching that.
At the same time, Iran is mobilizing a million people into these self-sacrifice battalions of a thousand people each. A million! This isn’t to defend against some expeditionary force from the United States coming and landing on the other side of the Hormuz. I don’t think that’s even possible. I don’t think it’s likely to happen. I don’t think they can go; where would they launch from? How would they arrive? What would be the transport? Who would supply them? How would they fight? What would be the purpose of it? I think in Washington and the Pentagon, everyone came to the conclusion to pursue this, to go on with war against the Houthis, who have effectively won against Saudi Arabia. It seems pointless and would end badly, end much worse, because it might widen and become a much wider regional war involving Iraq. If I were Bahrain or Kuwait seeing the Iranians mobilizing a million men, I would be very frightened indeed. I’m sure they are.
This was the bedrock of Israeli policy, the big gamble: to isolate, defame and undermine Iran and to base everything on the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia as the means to assimilate itself into the Middle East—into the region. Now that is visibly shaking before their eyes.
Inflation is everywhere. It has gone global. The crisis that was coming has come. It’s arrived. Inflation everywhere is going up because everything moves by diesel in Europe and in America. That’s the delivery system. The trains, often the boats, survive on diesel. So everything is going up. Prices are going up everywhere. Airfares are going up.”
The City built the Gulf on oil, garrisons, and a dollar ledger. The physical economy is sending the bill.
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Вже не слава Україні.
Соромно це гасло говорити.
Слава чому?
Насиллю проти власних громадян?
Жінкам, яких кидають на землю, притискають до стіни, хапають за волосся і за горло?
Людям, яких змушують стояти на колінах під дулами своїх же «захисників»? Дітей, яких вивозять в ліс під Києвом щоб побити за російськомовну пісню?
Тим, кого ловлять на вулицях, у дворах, біля під’їздів на очах дітей — не як ворогів, а як здобич? Тим, в кого стріляють на кордоні як в рабів за бажання виїхати у вільну Європу, в той час як вся еліта має право виїзду та їздить влітку на Лазурний Берег відпочити?
Слава корупції, яка робить одних «недоторканними», а інших — витратним матеріалом?
Слава брехні, коли все це називають «оповіщенням», «заходами», «законними діями», а відео — «не тим, що ви подумали»?
Коли держава починає воювати зі своїми ж людьми так само жорстоко, як з ворогом, гасло перестає бути про Україну. Воно стає про режим партії війни, який боїться власного народу більше, ніж ворога.
Це вже не слава.
Це сором.
І чим довше ми будемо робити вигляд, що не бачимо цих кадрів — тим глибше цей сором буде в’їдатися в слово «Україна», який перетворюється в гасло «Сором Україні!».
З цією недодержавою будь-яка адекватна, патріотична людина не хоче мати нічого спільного.
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South Korea Just Said It: The Era of Sole U.S. Reliance Is Over
South Korea’s ruling party just said it out loud: the era of sole reliance on Washington is over.
Not a slogan. A recognition that the “indulgent big brother” has become a transactional, demanding partner who treats allies the way Trump treats Canada — public humiliation, trade pressure, and security needs that get sidelined the moment U.S. priorities shift.
Seoul is also showing clear reluctance to lock itself deeper into a U.S.-Japan-South Korea trilateral alliance.
It will still hold exercises when it suits its interests, but it refuses to become a permanent junior partner in a Washington-designed bloc that treats Korean security as expendable whenever the Empire’s attention moves to the Middle East or elsewhere.
This is what happens when you weaponize the dollar, treat alliances as cost-benefit ledgers, and expect others to keep underwriting your hegemony. Sovereignty is returning. South Korea is building independent capabilities and looking beyond a single patron. Japan and Australia should take notes.
The multipolar world is not arriving through speeches. It is arriving because countries are finally calculating that exclusive dependence on the Empire is a strategic liability.
Stay informed.
South Korean Ruling Party Leader: The Era of Solely Relying on the U.S. Is Over
On September 7, Kim Min-seok—a senior figure in South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party of Korea and a former Prime Minister—delivered a speech at the National Assembly declaring that "the era of solely relying on the U.S. is over." He argued that South Korea must undertake significant strategic adjustments in the face of fundamental changes in the South Korea-U.S. relationship.
Kim emphasized that the essence of this shifting relationship lies in the waning of America's "overwhelming hegemony" alongside South Korea's growing autonomous capabilities. He asserted that South Korea’s national strategy can no longer depend on any single party; instead, the nation must cultivate its own irreplaceable strength.
In the current climate, the U.S. no longer acts as an "indulgent big brother" to South Korea but has become a "demanding transactional partner." Moves such as the U.S. proposing a reduction in joint military exercises while simultaneously demanding that South Korea strengthen its autonomous defense capabilities signal a shift in the relationship's landscape. Kim also argued that "irreplaceable technological prowess equates to national security," stressing that South Korea cannot afford to fall behind in the artificial intelligence revolution.
Many analysts believe that by publicly highlighting the relative decline of U.S. influence, Kim sent a "very strong signal" regarding South Korea's foreign policy and security stance. While his remarks did not call for an end to the South Korea-U.S. alliance, they directly addressed the core issue of the country's long-standing dependence on the U.S.: when Washington evaluates alliances through a cost-benefit lens, Seoul’s reliance on the U.S. for its entire security framework leaves it ill-equipped to handle the rapidly changing international landscape.
Indeed, recent statements from the South Korean government echo this sentiment. In a recent interview with the French newspaper *Le Monde*, President Lee Jae-myung stated that South Korea would increase defense spending, expand core military capabilities, and strive to "safeguard its security through its own strength." Experts have noted that the troop deployment for recent joint U.S.-Japan-South Korea military exercises reflects the priorities within America's global military posture. For instance, the Trump administration redeployed the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier *USS George Washington*—previously stationed in Japan—to the Middle East due to protracted conflicts there. Even as the three nations loudly proclaim their commitment to "solid cooperation," actual U.S. military deployments demonstrate that Washington consistently prioritizes its own global strategy, and that the security needs of allies may at any time be sidelined in favor of U.S. interests.
Trump’s "America First" doctrine is dismantling the alliances the American empire has built over decades—a development that is not necessarily a bad thing for a multipolar world order. Europe, the Middle East, and Canada are already reflecting and waking up to this reality; the next nations that ought to thoroughly re-examine their relationships with the United States are Japan and Australia.
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A group of Europe’s biggest mobile operators are in early talks to create a consortium to bid on satellite spectrum and offer direct-to-mobile service, which would rival Elon Musk’s Starlink service on the continent, sources said bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
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Much of the Russian military has not been negatively affected by the war in Ukraine - US General Christopher Cavoli
➡️ Russia can keep going for years and their defense is not down.
All talk about inflicting a strategic defeat is just European hot air.
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🇷🇺 Vostok Oil: Russia Just Opened a World-Class Arctic Oil Province — Bigger Than Venezuela’s Entire Current Output.
While Western headlines still recycle the same tired “Russia is isolated / collapsing / running out of options” script, Moscow quietly launched one of the largest energy projects on the planet.
President Putin initiated the start of the Vostok Oil project. First oil has now been exported through the new Sever Bay (Bukhta Sever) terminal on the Taimyr Peninsula — one of the northernmost oil ports in the world — onto an ice-class tanker via the Northern Sea Route.
This is not a press release. This is infrastructure.
Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin laid out the scale:
•30 million tons per year by late 2027
•50 million tons by 2030
•potential of 100 million tons per year — around 2 million barrels per day — if market demand is there
That 2 million bpd figure is not a rounding error. Venezuela’s entire current production sits around 1.1–1.25 million bpd. Even optimistic Western forecasts for a Venezuelan rebound talk about years, maybe a decade, to get back toward 2 million. Vostok Oil is already building toward that scale from a new Arctic province.
The resource base: about 7 billion tons of premium low-sulfur crude across 52 license areas. Light, high-quality oil. Not the heavy sludge that requires constant diluent and political permission from Washington.
A 790 km trunk pipeline (Vankor–Payakha–Sever Bay), including a buried dual-line crossing under the Yenisei. Tens of thousands of workers. Trillions of rubles already invested. Lifecycle designed for 100 years. Domestic equipment. Ice-class shipping. Year-round Northern Sea Route ambitions.
Sechin even thanked the former Western partners who walked away. The message was clear: they left. Russia finished the job.
What this actually means geopolitically
Sanctions were supposed to freeze Russian energy at 2022 levels and force Moscow to beg. Instead Russia built a new export corridor that does not depend on European pipelines, Baltic chokepoints, or Western insurance and tanker markets.
The Arctic is no longer just a climate talking point. It is becoming a Russian-controlled energy and logistics highway toward Asia. China and other Asian buyers get another source of high-quality crude that does not travel through the Strait of Hormuz or the Suez. Russia gets optionality: west when convenient, east when necessary.
This is energy sovereignty in practice. Not slogans. Steel, ice-class hulls, and a 100-year resource base.
The Empire spent years trying to weaponize energy against Russia. Russia answered by opening a new oil province the size of a mid-tier OPEC producer — in the High North — and shipping the first cargo while the same media that predicted collapse looked the other way.
Stay informed, not distracted.
The multipolar world is not a theory. It is being built in Taimyr.
buymeacoffee.com/angelogiuli…
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🇷🇺 Vladimir Putin:
The West is prepared to make any sacrifice to preserve the neocolonial system that effectively colonizes the world through the power of the dollar and enjoys undeserved prosperity through hegemonic rents.
What is critical for them is that all countries surrender their sovereignty to the United States. While the ruling elites of some states voluntarily accept vassalage, others are forced to submit through bribery or threats. When this fails, entire nations are destroyed; leaving behind humanitarian disasters, devastation, and ruins.
Millions of ruined lives, terrorist enclaves, areas of social catastrophe, protectorates, and semi-colonies… This is why they are waging a hybrid war against Russia. They want to see us as a colony.
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There is ZERO evidence of a ‘Russian attack!’ here. Yet, look at these empty suits all copying & pasting the identical tweets hyping up their false flag fiction…
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You've been told the conflict in Palestine is ancient, rooted in centuries of religious hatred between Arabs and Jews.
This video shows an Arab man who grew up in Jerusalem, describing something completely different.
He lived alongside Jews and Christian Arabs. They studied in the same schools. His family was friends with Jewish families. They coexisted peacefully.
For 13 centuries, Jews found refuge in Islamic states when Europe was persecuting them. Palestine welcomed them. The Ottoman Empire protected them.
The conflict began with the arrival of international Zionism. Not before. A political movement created the divide. The hatred you see today was manufactured, not inherited.
This video is from a Soviet documentary from 1982.
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SEMCAP LEADS A MINORITY ROUND IN HEALF AT OVER $135M OF ANNUALIZED REVENUE
SEMCAP Beauty & Wellness led a minority investment in Healf, the London wellbeing platform.
Founded by Lestat McCree and Max Clarke in 2020, Healf has passed £100M annualized revenue. The company curates supplements based on blood results and wearable tech customizing wellness solutions for each user.
News comes at the heels of SEMCAP’s minority investment in MERIT last month
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Ray Dalio: “The debt problem is followed by devaluation of the currency.”
Every country with a debt problem said they would grow their way out of debt.
They all ended up devaluing their currencies.
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No, POTUS, you did not double US oil reserves. You stole 65 billion barrels of ultra-high cost Venezuelan heavy oil reserves that are worth 1.7% of USA reserves on an NPV (8% discount rate over 50 years) basis. Congratulations on being the stupidest thief in world history!
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Why a primary deficit is a massive reason to change your investment portfolio
When primary deficits, the budget deficit BEFORE interest expenses, are presented, a lot of investors, journalists, and even economists look at the numbers and think: well, that’s not too bad.
Likely this is because budget deficits are normally presented as a total, hence including interest expenses, and as you will know by now, those expenses are huge and rising fast.
But the gigantic impact of running primary deficits becomes clear when you measure them against the “fiscal sustainability gap.” This is exactly what I do in my book, The Great Rebalancing.
The fiscal sustainability gap is the budget SURPLUS a government must realize just to maintain existing commitments, expenses, and outlays without debt levels going up even more.
For the United States, it is estimated that a surplus of 0.6% of GDP is needed to keep debt stable. Again, a lot of people look at this number favorably because it is “pretty close to zero.”
But you have to compare that number with the actual deficit.
After the Great Financial Crisis, the U.S. total and primary budget deficits averaged roughly 6% and 4% of GDP, meaning the fiscal sustainability gaps were a staggering 6.6% and 4.6%.
With a forecast primary deficit of 3.6%, the U.S. is still looking at a 4.2% fiscal sustainability gap.
Just imagine what the U.S. would have to do to close that gap. Cut spending by more than 4% of GDP, raise revenues by more than 4% of GDP, or some combination of the two.
Living standards would decline sharply while taxes would spike.
The first chart, h/t @KobeissiLetter, shows that some European countries do much better on their primary balances. It is no surprise that the list contains several highly indebted countries like Italy and Greece. But even those surpluses are too small to close their fiscal sustainability gaps.
Now for the investment part of the story.
The U.S. already pays more than 3% of GDP in interest expenses, and this is heading toward 5% of GDP. Not only does this sound pretty unsustainable, it also offers governments of highly indebted countries an opportunity to kick the can down the road.
Force interest rates lower, ultimately toward zero if you ask me, and with the help of their central banks, governments can reduce one of their biggest budgetary pressures with the stroke of a pen.
Forcing interest rates lower is much easier than cutting mandatory spending on Social Security and healthcare or increasing already high tax rates even further.
None of this is rocket science, but the implications are tremendous. They WILL hurt your assets, pension, wealth, and ultimately the quality of your life, which, unfortunately, depends a lot on money.
Highly indebted governments will crush the value of that money, your savings, and your bonds through financial repression, negative real rates, money creation, inflation, and outright currency debasement.
That is why primary deficits are lethal for traditional investment portfolios in a debt-driven economic system.
And this is exactly why I launched the Blokland Smart Multi-Asset Fund almost three years ago, holding zero cash, savings, money market funds, or bonds and allocating only to scarce assets like quality equities, physical gold, and bitcoin.
Primary deficits are not just a government problem.
They are your problem too.
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BREAKING: The US government is now running a primary budget deficit of -3.59% of GDP, the largest among major advanced economies.
The primary budget deficit EXCLUDES the $1.1+ trillion in interest payments on existing government debt.
This is followed by the UK at -3.51% of the country’s GDP.
Belgium, France, Austria, and the Euro Area run primary budget deficits of -2.14%, -1.97%, -1.66%, and -1.40%, respectively.
In other words, even excluding the cost of servicing existing debt, which is the 2nd-largest US government expenditure, even larger than defense spending, the US deficit is the biggest relative to GDP among all major advanced economies.
US deficit spending is out of control.
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ECB’s Schnabel Calls for Central-Bank Money to Move Onchain
According to Bloomberg, ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel said central banks should bring central-bank money onto blockchain infrastructure and use the programmability of distributed ledgers to modernize monetary-policy implementation, collateral management, and liquidity provision.
The ECB plans to launch its Pontes initiative next month to connect DLT platforms with existing TARGET services, while a blueprint for its longer-term Appia initiative is expected in 2028. Schnabel said the ECB is still assessing different models, including a unified ledger or connecting multiple ledgers.
