Alasdair Macleod: China Ends Retail Paper Gold & Opens the Floodgates (Mining Network)

Alasdair Macleod, economist and leading voice on sound money, returns to Mining Network to break down China’s rapidly accelerating gold strategy and what it means for Western paper markets, the dollar, and global monetary order.

Earlier this month Hong Kong launched its new gold central clearing and settlement system. This week several major Chinese banks (including ICBC) will end retail paper gold trading on the Shanghai Gold Exchange. At the same time, Beijing is easing long-standing restrictions on gold exports between the mainland and Hong Kong. Macleod argues these moves are not isolated — they form part of a deliberate, decades-long plan to secure the yuan against the eventual failure of the Western fiat system.



Both China and Russia hold a lot of gold. Alasdair warns that Western countries are up to their eyeballs in debt and are set for a big fall when Bond rates go up. He thinks that the wars in Ukraine and Iran will help push the West into a corner in terms of their economic positions. This would likely be due to a shortage of oil. The US cannot win against Iran, and Russia is winning in Ukraine where gas supplies to Europe are shut off. Western countries are going backwards economically as their levels of debt balloon.   

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, July 25, 2026.]

Scientists Just Broke the Human Timeline (Michael Button)

For most of the twentieth century, scientists believed sophisticated human intelligence emerged around 50,000 years ago.

Today, that timeline has been pushed back over a million years.

From ancient sea crossings and symbolic art to the oldest wooden structure ever discovered, a series of remarkable archaeological finds has quietly transformed our understanding of what early humans were capable of. Yet almost nobody has stopped to consider what these discoveries mean when viewed together...



[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, July 16, 2026.]

Why have Australians suddenly warmed to One Nation? (Leithvo)

This interview with Mike Jeffreys at Radio 2GB/4BC analyses the rise of Pauline Hanson and One Nation.



The public has warmed because One Nation directly addresses the causes of the cost of living crisis (globalist policies). The country is noticeably in decline and many people are suffering quite severely economically. Labor seems tone deaf when it comes to addressing ordinary people's problems and the public can see this clearly. There's no other choice but to vote for One Nation.

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, June 20, 2026.]

Whale graveyard discovered 7km under the sea (nature video)

Whale bones and ancient fossils have been discovered on the ocean floor, concentrated in a deep groove known as the Diamantina Zone. Researchers used the Fendouzhe submersible to descend into the largely unexplored depths and were amazed to find deep sea creatures living on fallen whale bones as well as hundreds of fossils. The oldest fossil was dated to over 5 million years and another represented a previously unknown species of extinct beaked whale.



Did whales go there to die, or did their carcasses end up at the bottom of this trench due to particular currents, or is this area of the ocean a trap for air breathing mammals, with strong down currents or methane outgassing (causing the water to lose its buoyancy)?  

Related:

The ocean's deepest animal ecosystem (nature video)


[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, June 12, 2026.]

Asia doubles down on coal as Australia chooses energy harakiri (Leithvo)

This interview with Chris Ulhmann at Sky News discusses Australia's energy suicide, while Asia doubles down on coal and emissions.



Stagflation is on the cards with crippling energy prices driving up the cost of everything.

Best comment on You Tube:

@cjaksson
I don't think people realise how dire it is. Yallourn Power Station is shutting down in just 2 years in 2028 and Loy Yang A in 2035.. The State does not have 1480 MW of capacity committed, 100% confirmed to be implemented to replace Yallourn Power Station being decommissioned. A lot of factors have to work in their favour for this ludicrous renewable targets to work. Forecasts are painting costs go up further. Because the state is going to rely on our own LNG at international parity pricing.... to replace load base power while it waits for Batteries to be implemented. The fact we don't have our own supply of LNG at cost or at the very least say 10-15% profit margin for producers for reinvestment or for their shareholders. Instead State government are letting Corpo's dictate State Policy for Energy security. I don't see things getting better in Victoria for 10 years I'd like to be wrong.

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, June 11, 2026.]

Scientists Keep Finding Humans Where They Shouldn’t Be (Michael Button)

For decades, human evolution was explained with a simple story.

Modern humans evolved in Africa… then left once and populated the world.

But the deeper scientists dig into the fossil record, genetics, and ancient DNA, the messier that story becomes.

Earlier migrations.
Unknown human species.
Back-migration into Africa.
Interbreeding with Neanderthals and Denisovans.
And evidence that humanity may never have had a single clean origin point at all...



[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, May 18, 2026.]

XI WARNS TRUMP ON TAIWAN: DON’T PROVOKE A CRISIS IN EAST ASIA | Patrick Henningsen (Rachel Blevins)

President Trump is in Beijing for a highly anticipated summit, and according to Chinese media, he was warned by President Xi Jinping NOT to mess with Taiwan, and that U.S. interference China’s internal affairs would cause “clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy.”

Patrick Henningsen, a journalist, geopolitical analyst and host of the Sunday Wire, noted that this visit is largely a “photo-op,” but also a reminder to Washington that the U.S. is in an increasingly weak position on the global stage, amid its ongoing illegal war against Iran.



[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, May 16, 2026.]

“Russia & China Preparing For War With The U.S.!” – Col. Douglas Macgregor (Jimmy Dore)

Colonel Douglas Macgregor explains that as a result of recent military conflicts, Russia, China, and Iran have become allies, and that Beijing and Moscow have concluded that "if we let Iran fail, we're next on the menu" from what he describes as a "rogue state led by a rogue personality," meaning they will intervene to prevent Iran's collapse if the US threatens it.

He tells Jimmy that Putin called Trump for an hour and a half to make it clear that a military campaign in Iran would not succeed and would make the situation much worse, offering to store Iran's enriched uranium as a diplomatic gesture. Macgregor warns that if the US restarts the war, China could send 40 or 50 surface combatants and submarines to the Indian Ocean, and Russia could fly MiG-31s into Iranian airspace — not to provoke a direct confrontation but to "make a point."

He concludes that the British Empire overreached and overextended with World War I, and that Trump has ample support on the Hill for this war—including from Democrats who gave him a standing ovation during the State of the Union as Jimmy points out that Chuck Schumer remains one of Congress’s most ardent Zionists.



A good overview of the situation, that it is no win, an economic disaster in the pipeline, and also who is pushing for conflict. Better information than what the MSM is relaying.

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, May 12, 2026.]

WE'RE BEING LIED TO: Oil Shock Coming by Fall, Even if Iran War Ends Today /Chris Martinsen (Daniel Davis)

There's shortages in the supply chain that are working their way through the system. Economic calamity is on the horizon, with double digit inflation and rising interest rates on the way. This will crash the global debt bubble, at least according to this analysis. We're in a wait and see period until this situation is cleared one way or another.

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, May 4, 2026.]

Col Douglas Macgregor: Trump is Dangerous (Daniel Davis)

Macgregor addresses the wars in both Iran and Ukraine which are neocon driven projects, done at the expense of everyone else, for the benefit of Israel and US hegemony. As a result of the Iran operation the rest of the world, including US allies, are looking to become more independent, in order to avoid the military and economic mess. Some very good comments about Russia and Putin appear at the end, about the measured Russian response to being attacked compared to the unhinged, and untrustworthy US actions. One cannot negotiate with people who constantly go back on their word, and who engage in assassination operations rather than real diplomacy.  

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, April 30, 2026.]

Prof John Mearsheimer: The HORRIBLE NAVAL BLOCKADE in Hormuz Strait (Daniel Davis)

The rest of the world can see that the war against Iran has put the global economy on the road to ruin. Will the US follow Israeli wishes and continue with the conflict, or will the US back off? Presently things are set up for the fighting to continue for some time to come. This means the global economy is in big trouble.

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, April 15, 2026.]

Australia's energy crisis could be far worse (Leithvo)

The latest "Dismal Science" segment with Sean Murphy on ABC Upper Hunter Radio explains how Australia's oligopolistic market power in LNG has given the nation a key bargaining chip to secure the supply of liquid fuels from our Asian suppliers.



[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, April 11, 2026.]

How to fix Australia's fuel crisis (Leithvo)

This interview with Jeremy Cordeaux explains how Australia should leverage its power as a major global supplier of LNG to guarantee supplies of liquid fuels from Asia.



The key thing is to guarantee diesel fuel for trucks and freight trains. The present Government seems to be run on ideology, not common sense (factual assessment). 

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, April 3, 2026.]

American Oil is back, like it or not. Topher Project Ep 385

From Australia to Asia to the EU, everyone is signing up for American Energy.

Trump is pivoting from protecting the US Petro-Dollar, to exporting US Petro-leum, and the energy crisis caused by the war in Iran means everyone else is falling in to line.



The US is now getting other countries to sign up for US oil, replacing the oil cut off from the Middle East. Is the war a scam for the US to take over the global oil market? The next step would be to provoke Iran to strike the Gulf State oil refineries, which would probably come about from the US or Israel hitting their refineries. 

As a footnote, there's no way a coalition of navy ships will be able to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as mentioned in the video. The countries mentioned do not want to take action, and are not able, which includes the US. If the US could open the Strait they would have done so already.  

The video is correct in pointing out that restrictions on Middle East oil are a spanner in works for the Chinese, although they will be able to source more energy from Russia. And the Middle East crisis is not a crisis for Russia, except for the destabilisation of a region near its borders. 

The end result, unless the Chinese and Russians become directly involved the the war, will not be a change in the globalist system. China will still be afloat and connected to the rest of the world. The only way globalism will end might be a harsh sanctions war against the Chinese that forces them to cut ties to the West. One way this might happen would be if the Iran war continues, where both Russia and China support Iran. However, a long war strategy would be highly unpopular when it comes to US domestic politics, and Mid Term elections happen this year.   

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, March 28, 2026.]

Global Energy War EXPLODES: $150 Oil, Iran Retaliates After US & Israel Attack Its LARGEST Gas Field (World Affairs in Context)

The world is waking up—Iran now holds the keys to global energy markets. After strikes on the South Pars gas field and escalating attacks across the Gulf, oil prices are surging, supply chains are breaking, and panic is spreading across Asia and beyond.

With retaliatory strikes hitting Saudi and Qatari energy facilities, and potential new controls over the Strait of Hormuz, this conflict is triggering a massive oil shock. Gas prices are rising in the U.S., markets are unstable, and governments are scrambling to respond.

Is this the beginning of a global economic crisis? What happens next could impact billions.



Short 8 minute summary of the latest events in the Middle East where the Iranians have retaliated after Israeli attacks on their gas infrastructure. Expect high oil and gas prices, and some shortages. 

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, March 19, 2026.]

U.S. Is Abandoning ALL OUR Asian & Middle Eastern Allies! – Scott Ritter (Jimmy Dore)

The U.S. is currently stripping THAAD missile defense systems from South Korea—a move that betrays decades of security commitments to Asian allies—and sending them to Israel, where they're all but useless against Iranian hypersonic weapons. Former weapons inspector and geopolitical analyst Scott Ritter explains to Jimmy that the entire missile defense concept is a "giant grift" that never worked, and that Iran has proven this by systematically dismantling U.S. military infrastructure while deliberately avoiding mass American casualties—a strategic choice born of intelligence and humanity, not weakness.

Ritter contrasts American arrogance and ignorance with Iranian precision and restraint, noting that even after the U.S. murdered their Supreme Leader and 186 schoolgirls, Iran targets only military assets, not civilians. The segment concludes that the U.S. has betrayed every ally—South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the Gulf Arabs—all for Israel, and that the Iranians are fighting with more honor than their attackers.



This might be part of the point of the conflict - to lose big and turn allies against the US, to thrown a spanner in the works of being the world's policeman.

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, March 17, 2026.]

Graham and John speak with Sally Clark...(Graham Hood)

The evidence is clear and based on published Government data.

The Global Population is in collapse, and the consequences are dire.

From Manila, Philippines, Sally Clark presents compelling data.

Back in the 1990's, Bill Gates, in a TED Talk, stated that the population needed to be decreased by 15% and that this could be achieved with Vaccines.

Now, death rates are increasing dramatically, and birth rates are decreasing in like fashion.

If this is philanthropy and he is a hero, then the world is in bad shape.



[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, February 24, 2026.]

Is Nipah virus the next pandemic (John Campbell)

Nipah virus, serious infectious disease that periodically causes outbreaks in parts of Asia.

Case fatality rate 40 to 75%

During outbreaks, 10 to 92%

Person to person transmission is possible

Close care home or hospital environments

Overcrowded, poorly ventilated environments

Transmission via droplets is suspected, (Boston Uni)

WHO has listed Nipah virus as an epidemic threat requiring urgent research and development action, including vaccine development.

Potential risks

Environmental encroachment

Viral mutation

Gain of function ‘research’

Weaponisation

Risk from transmission during flights



[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, February 5, 2026.]

We're Missing Something Big in Indonesia (Michael Button)

Lost civilizations are the stuff of legend, and more often than not, our search for them confirms exactly that.

But Indonesia may be about to change this. Because research suggests that human culture here could extend far deeper into the past than we’ve allowed for, testing the limits of how we define civilization itself.

Sundaland, Gunung Padang, Nan Madol, Ancient Seafaring and Sea Level Rise all point to the possibility, that human culture here may be far older than we think...



[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, January 24, 2026.]

Trump VETOES Starmer's Surrender Treaty (Michael Heaver)

Starmer is against the US buying Greenland, pointing out that both Denmark and the inhabitants don't want the deal, but wants to sell the Chagos Islands to Mauritius against the wishes of the people living there. It's hypocrisy central from an unhinged globalist puppet. However, Trump is prepared to veto the deal because it threatens their military forces in the region - on Diego Garcia.  

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, January 22, 2026.]