United States

Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,

You probably had no idea, but representatives from Silicon Valley, Hollywood and the U.S. government came together earlier this week to privately discuss how they could jointly fight ISIS propaganda online. Never mind the fact that ISIS is the child of reckless and inhumane preemptive wars of aggression perpetrated by the U.S. government. Such introspection naturally never crosses the mind of government bureaucrats ostensibly attempting to understand the epic disasters they created in the first place.

A CIA-backed militia has killed at least one senior Russian military official this week with a U.S. TOW anti-tank missile.  Video footage shows U.S.-armed anti-Assad rebels using U.S.-supplied weapons to target senior Russian military officials in Syria. The video shows the Free Syrian Army using laser-guided BGM-71 TOWs anti-tank to fire a missile at the Russians.

Three days ago in “Canary, Meet Coal Mine: These Are The Tranches Where The CLO 2.0 Meltdown Begins,” we revealed precisely where the rot is starting to show in the CLO market which, you’re reminded, is starting to unravel amid a string of downgrades in HY energy and a general aversion to junk as the US heads into a default cycle.

Earlier today Berkshire Hathaway released its 2015 annual report, which among other things includes Buffett's traditional annual observations and insights. Buffett brushes past last year’s disappointing stock performance, muses on the future of America while taking a swipe at Donald Trump, dwells on Berkshire’s ties to Brazilian PE firm 3G, talks about Berkshire’s big 2015 deal, defends manufactured-housing unit Clayton Homes, bashes inequality and capitalists (just not the crony kind), and concludes with a summary of the biggest risks facing America. 

NATO Supreme Commander Philip Breedlove has accused Russia of deliberately becoming an adversary of the West, and has warned that Russia poses an “existential threat” to the U.S. and the Western world.  U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter added fuel to the fire by accusing Russia of intimidating its neighbours, saying that he doubts Moscow is committed to strategic stability on nuclear weapons. Both of these anti-Russian views were given by Carter and Breedlove in testimony before two congressional committees on February 25, reflecting the growing anti-Russian mood in Washington and Europe.