GOV/MIL Main "Great Reset" Thread

marsh

On TB every waking moment
(Lebanon)


'No Jobs, No Hope': Boat Carrying Lebanese Migrants Sinks Off Syria, Killing 71

FRIDAY, SEP 23, 2022 - 10:45 AM

While there have been a number of tragedies over the years involving capsized migrant ships in the Mediterranean, typically coming from northern Africa or Syria amid regional wars, much less common are incidents involving boats from Lebanon.

But amid the last two years of economic collapse, a banking and political crisis, and runaway inflation - some Lebanese are now taking extreme risks. The latest example led to tragedy just off Syria's coast on Thursday, according to Al Jazeera:

Dozens of people have died after a boat carrying migrants and refugees from Lebanon capsized off Syria’s coast, according to the Syrian and Lebanese governments. On Friday, the Lebanese transport minister said that 71 people had died in Thursday’s disaster.

An estimated 120 to 150 had been on board when the boat capsized, with Syrian authorities saying that 20 survivors were pulled out of the water off the coastal city of Tartus, where bodies of the deceased also began appearing. The survivors are being treated in local Syrian hospitals.

The boat had departed Lebanon's northern Minyeh region on Tuesday, attempting to make the dangerous voyage to Europe as so many refugees during the prior decade of war in Syria had done.

Likely in addition to Lebanese migrants - many reportedly from the impoverished Akkar region - there were Syrians and Palestinians as well, many of them fleeing prior conflict. Families, including children, had been on board.

Relatives are said to be in shock as they await news of their loved ones who were on the boat amid ongoing rescue and recovery efforts. The economic crisis in Lebanon will likely result in more such dangerous attempts to enter Europe by sea:

Family members had explained to Khodr that the father had decided to try to go to Europe, despite the risks, because of the ongoing financial crisis in Lebanon, and the lack of opportunities there.

“We’ve spoken to people who’ve survived being in a boat that capsized and what they tell us is we’re going to keep doing it again and again, because there are no jobs,” Khodr added.


And further according to the AP, "Lebanon has a population of 6 million, including 1 million Syrian refugees, and has been in the grips of a severe economic meltdown since late 2019 that has pulled over three-quarters of the population into poverty."

tartusmap.png
Map via Al Jazeera

Russia's military has been aiding in search and rescue efforts, particularly after bad weather made the mission more difficult, using military planes to locate bodies and any possible remaining survivors.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

'Return To Our Historical Motherland': 4 Ukrainian Regions Vote In Referendums On Joining Russia

FRIDAY, SEP 23, 2022 - 06:45 AM

On Friday Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine kicked off voting in referendums on joining the Russian Federation, according to announcements by a series of separatist leaders, in the biggest political development on the ground thus far in the seven-month long invasion.

These 'popular referendums' are taking place in four areas of Ukraine in the east and south, namely the self-declared republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, and in large parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia - despite these not yet being under full Russian military control. The voting is expected to continue over a period of five days.

In total the four regions make up nearly 20% of Ukraine's territory, and signals huge escalation given this week President Vladimir Putin vowed to use "all the means at our disposal" - including the potential of nuclear arms - to defend Russia's "territorial integrity". Of course, by bringing whole swathes of Ukraine into Russia, Putin effectively issued a 'by all means' declaration for military defense of these territories.

The Ukrainian presidency's office denounced the move as illegal and a "propaganda show", saying, "Today, there is no legal action called a ‘referendum’ in the occupied territories." According to a statement by Zelensky adviser Mykhailo Podolyak:

There is only – 1. [A] Propaganda show for z-conscription. 2. The territory of Ukraine that needs an immediate release,” he added, citing the “Z” letter and symbol that has become synonymous with Russia’s offensive.

Ukraine's Western backers have also dismissed the voting as a "sham" - even as there's widespread acknowledgement the results will likely be overwhelming in favor of joining Russia, given these are by and large places of a concentrated pro-Kremlin and Russian speaking population (especially among those Ukrainians who've remained there under Russian occupation).

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1573247077974425602
.24 min

Western pundits are also seeing the move toward annexation as an act of desperation, following Ukrainian forces' largely successful counteroffensive which has threatened Moscow's grip on the east in particular.

But officials from the two breakaway republics in the Donbas in particular have pointed to years of shelling and atrocities conducted by Ukraine's military and nationalist militias such as Azov battalion.

According to international figures, some 14,000 people had died in total among both sides of fighting in what was essentially a localized civil war since even before the current conflict, since 2014. The Ukrainian government has all along initiated polices in attempts to stamp out Russian language and culture.

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1573213388423204864
.36 min

"The long-awaited referendum has started, which is designed to restore the fair course of things in our land, to return peace to our homes, to consolidate the status of Donbas as part of our historical Motherland – Russia," Vladimir Bidyovka, head of the People’s Council of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic said in a statement on Friday's referendum.

Map showing four regions where referendums being held over coming days, via Al Jazeera:

1663983630207.png

This appears to be a point of no return in the conflict, also following Putin's 'partial mobilization' order this week, with Sky News on Friday quoting the Kremlin as saying, "The negotiation process with Ukraine is required to achieve our goals, but we see no signs of resuming it."
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Stocks Spooked To Session Lows By Unexpectedly Strong PMIs​

FRIDAY, SEP 23, 2022 - 07:12 AM
After last month's shocking PMI print which saw the Service component crater to post Covid crash low of 43.7, and paradoxically spark the last burst higher of the bear market rally as it suggested a recession is now inevitable, moments ago we got more bad news from S&P Global (which took over the compilation of US PMI data from Markit), when it reported that both the manufacturing and service PMIs rebounded from last month's post-covid lows, and in fact both beat expectations, to wit:
  • Manufacturing PMI 51.8, Exp. 51.0, Last 51.5
  • Service PMI 49.2, Exp. 45.5, Last 43.7


The Composite PMI rose to 49.3 in September, up from 44.6 in August, solidly beating expectations of 465.1, and signaled a softer and only marginal decline in private sector business activity. The decrease was also the slowest in the current three-month sequence of contraction.

As S&P Global notes, "contractions in activity across the manufacturing and service sectors eased", and the "overall decrease was only marginal and signalled a notably slower rate of decline compared to that seen in August." Although manufacturers continued to register a slight fall in production, service providers signalled a much slower pace of decline in output.

But the worst news, in this world where good news is bad news, is that private sector employment rose further in September, with the moderate upturn in workforce numbers reflecting expansions in manufacturing and service sector staffing levels: "The rate of job creation at goods producers was the sharpest for six months amid greater success in hiring suitable candidates for vacancies."

Some more details:

  • New orders received by private sector firms returned to expansionary territory in September, with growth broad-based across the manufacturing and service sectors. The upturn was only mild, despite being the quickest since May.
  • Where an increase was noted, some firms linked this to the acquisition of new clients.
  • The rate of expansion was historically subdued, however, as a number of companies suggested that inflationary pressures continued to weigh on customer spending.
  • New export orders remained in contraction, with the rate of decrease the second-fastest since May 2020.
  • For the fourth month running, the rate of input cost inflation eased during September. The pace of increase was the slowest since the start of 2021, as manufacturers and service providers recorded slower upticks in operating expenses.
  • That said, cost burdens continued to rise at an historically elevated pace, with interest rate hikes and S&P Global Flash US PMI Composite Output Index material and wage increases driving inflation.
  • Reflecting softer rises in cost burdens, firms increased their selling prices at a slower pace at the end of the third quarter. That said, the moderation was led by service providers as manufacturers registered a sharper uptick in output charges in an effort to pass on higher costs to clients.
  • In line with a renewed rise in new orders, private sector firms signalled growth in backlogs of work during September. The increase was only marginal overall, but contrasted with a solid decline in August.
  • Manufacturers continued to note difficulties in working through orders due to transportation and supply chain disruption, with capacity constraints hampering service providers for the first time since May.
  • Employment across the private sector rose further in September, albeit at a softer pace than in August. The moderate upturn in workforce numbers reflected expansions in manufacturing and service sector staffing levels. The rate of job creation at goods producers was the sharpest for six months amid greater success in hiring suitable candidates for vacancies
Commenting on the flash PMI data, Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence said:

“US businesses are reporting a third consecutive monthly fall in output during September, rounding off the weakest quarter for the economy since the global financial crisis if the pandemic lockdowns of early-2020 are excluded.

However, while output declined in both manufacturing and services during September, in both cases the rate of contraction moderated compared to August, notably in services, with orders books returning to modest growth, allaying some concerns about the depth of the current
downturn.

“There was also better news on inflation, with supplier shortages easing to the lowest since October 2020, helping take some of the pressure off raw material prices. These improved supply chains, accompanied by the marked softening of demand since earlier in the year, helped cool overall the rate of inflation of both firms’ costs and average selling prices for goods and services to the lowest since early-2021.

What Williamson may not know when he says "better" is that the market interprets any marginal improvement as the worst possible outcome, since it means the recession is not as strong as expected and the all important massive job losses - which are a critical condition for the Fed to stop hiking - are still not here. It's also why futures tumbled to fresh session lows after the report.

1663984032267.png
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

FedEx Announces Largest General Rate Increase In Its History​

FRIDAY, SEP 23, 2022 - 07:25 AM
By Mark Solomon of FreightWaves

FedEx Corp. announced late Thursday a 6.9% general rate increase (GRI) for 2023, the largest year-over-year increase in its history.

The increase will apply to all FedEx services except for its less-than-truckload service, FedEx Freight. Increases there will range between 6.9% and 7.9%, depending on the customer’s transportation rate scale, the company said.

Typically, FedEx raises its annual tariff rates between 4.9% and 5.9%. Analysts were expecting a 2023 GRI increase of 6% or more to offset the impact of cost inflation.

On one level, GRIs, which apply to noncontract shipments, are symbolic because virtually all parcel deliveries move under contract. However, the level of contract rate increases, and the discounts granted from those increases, are pegged to actions that parcel carriers take with their GRIs. As a result, GRIs are a key barometer on what rates and discounts that shippers can expect in their contracts.

Along with the GRI increase, FedEx said it plans to save between $2.2 billion and $2.7 billion during the current 2023 fiscal year through cost reductions at its FedEx Express air and international unit and its FedEx Ground U.S. delivery unit. The company said it would reduce the number of FedEx Express flights and temporarily park an undetermined number of aircraft. Those moves will save between $1.5 billion and $1.7 billion, the company said.

FedEx said it will save $300 million to $500 million at its FedEx Ground unit by closing certain sortation operations and suspending some Sunday delivery operations. It did not shutter virtually all of its costly Sunday delivery network as some have advised.

In addition, FedEx plans to cut $4 billion of costs by fiscal 2025, which starts June 1, 2024. The company said it will stick with its plan, announced in late June, to realign its network and end the siloed operations among its three business units.

The company also officially published its fiscal first-quarter results, which were a de facto formality in light of its pre-announcement last Thursday of a 69% year-over-year decline in operating income at FedEx Express.

FedEx blamed the massive drop at the unit on sudden weakness in trans-Pacific air volumes that hit in the final weeks of the quarter. Cost measures lagged the declines in volume, and operating expenses remained high relative to demand, the company said.

The stunning pre-announcement caught everyone by surprise and sent FedEx shares down more than $40 a share during last Friday’s trading.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

"This Is The Big One" MN Gordon Warns "We're All Facing A Wrath Of Biblical Proportions"

FRIDAY, SEP 23, 2022 - 09:05 AM
Authored by MN Gordon via EconomicPrism.com,

“The LORD sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts.”
– 1 Samuel 2:7

Holy Roll
An enterprising entrepreneur did a comedic graphic of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell captioned: “IN JPOW WE TRUST.”

You may have seen it.

The image shows Powell flamboyantly wearing a preacher’s robe and making an esoteric hand gesture with his right hand. His face is grimacing like he’s passing a kidney stone.

His left hand holds up what appears to be an outwardly facing bible. The scriptures are sparse and hardly legible. But if you zoom in you can make out important prophecies like, “STOCKS ONLY GO UP,” “RECESSION CANCELLED,” “MONEY PRINTER GOES BRRRRRRRR.”

An American dialect of French is also used in several instances to express what happens to market bears and those who short stocks. It’s the sort of thing best reserved for locker room talk.

The designer, who goes by nobiggydiggy, must have created this in the risk-free days before March of this year. Back when the federal funds rate was firmly pressed to zero, as it had been for two years.

That was when Powell was preaching from the New Testament. He was delivering a monetary policy of compassion and forgiveness.

Since then, guided by the wrath of inflation, Powell has turned to the Old Testament. He’s been hiking the federal funds rate and delivering a monetary policy of fire and brimstone. Scriptures like, “CRASH THE MARKET,” “BRING ON THE DEPRESSION,” “BORROWERS MUST PAY,” are more like it.

In the dance between life and art, the odd spectacle of a central banker using rapturous, holy rolling religion to deliver monetary policy announcements is not far from reality. This week, for example, millions of grown men and women tuned into hear Powell preach the sacred truth.

Primal Scream
Trillions of dollars were at stake when the two-day FOMC meeting adjourned on Wednesday. The balance of it was poised to pivot one way or another, to the pull of how many basis points Powell commanded.

As expected, the Fed hiked the federal funds rate 75 basis points, to a range of 3.00 to 3.25 percent. The Fed also telegraphed that it would be hiking above 4.25 percent by the end of the year.

For perspective, the federal funds rate hasn’t been above 3.25 percent since January 2008. That’s over 14 years ago. Or about 6-months after the first iPhone hit the market.

Following the FOMC statement, Wall Street let out a collective primal scream. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) moved with an initial down then up bipolar response. After that, it crashed to the closing bell for a loss of 522 points.

The most beautiful moment came following JPOW’s press conference. That’s when Senator Elizabeth Warren – the shrew with a plan for everything – took to twitter:

“Chair Powell just announced another extreme interest rate hike while forecasting higher unemployment

“I’ve been warning that Chair Powell’s Fed would throw millions of Americans out of work – and I fear he’s already on the path to doing so.”

The outlook is much, much worse than Warren will let on. She knows decades of profligate government spending programs are nearing the end of the road. She want’s Powell and the Fed to take the fall when it all blows up by the end of the year.

Inflation Deflation
To clarify, the economy and financial markets are currently being devastated by the disagreeable combination of inflating consumer prices and deflating asset prices. Both are the makings of central planners – including both Warren and Powell.

Consumer prices, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), are officially inflating at an annualized rate of 8.3 percent. Consumer prices, in reality, are inflating at about double the CPI rate.

Stocks, on the other hand, are deflating. The DJIA is down over 17 percent year-to-date. The NASDAQ is down over 30 percent.

Bonds are deflating as well. The iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF) is down 15 percent since the beginning of the year. The yield on the 10-Year Treasury note, which moves inverse to price, is now at 3.71 percent. The 10-Year Treasury note yield hasn’t been this high in over a decade.

As interest rates rise, in a desperate effort to contain rampant consumer price inflation, borrowing becomes more expensive. The interest rate on the 30-year mortgage is now 6.29 percent. One year ago, it was just 2.88 percent. In other words, the borrowing costs for buying a home have more than doubled.

As mortgage rates rise, house prices have nowhere to go but down. Houses across the country, priced at levels that would have sold 6 months ago, sit on the market…unsold after two to three months. Several rounds of price reductions aren’t cutting it. Much more will be needed to clear the market.

Indeed, asset prices are deflating while consumer prices are inflating.

This is the exact opposite of the world that everyone knew and loved over the last 40 years. Where consumer prices for imported goods were moderate and stock, bond and real estate prices boomed. Where homeowners could refinance every several years at ever lower rates.

Yet the inflation was there all along.

Services that couldn’t be imported, like medical care and college tuition, inflated beyond comprehension. The CPI masked these rising prices because of the flood of low cost, cheaply made imported goods.

Facing Down a Wrath of Biblical Proportions
The insane amount of money creation to combat the scourge of government mandated lockdowns has proved too much to handle. Between February 2020 and April 2022, the Fed’s balance sheet doubled from $4.15 trillion to $8.96 trillion. It’s no mystery why consumer price inflation is raging.

Now the Fed is tightening back. And financial markets can’t handle it.

In addition to rate hikes, the Fed has reduced its balance sheet ever so slightly to $8.32 trillion. There’s still a long way to go to bring the balance sheet down to the realm of normal – whatever that is.

In the interim, there’s loads of inflation to contend with. David Haggith, publisher and editor-in-chief of The Great Recession Blog recently clarified what we’re up against:

“Those of us who lived through the seventies’ battle with inflation, remember that it is not easy to knock inflation back down! It’s like playing whack-a-mole. So, we know no one should have been surprised, in the least, to find out inflation’s fever was holding on pretty tight to the top of the mercury, in spite of all the Fed’s cold deluges of interest-rate hikes and QT. It took a few years to get the fever fully back under control with extreme interest rates back then. It won’t take that much ice in interest rates now because the economy will completely disintegrate if we even get to rates HALF as great; but that’s the point — economic disintegration is what the Fed is aiming for without realizing it.”

What to make of it?

The U.S. economy’s already in a recession. Nonetheless, consumer price inflation has hardly diminished. Even if the CPI were to be cut in half, it would still be double the Fed’s preferred rate.

So, the Fed will push rates higher in a desperate attempt to clean up its wreckage from the past. And the economy will disintegrate.

All the while, Warren and other political populists will spew nonsense to deflect responsibility for the mess they’ve created.

The depth and duration of the destruction is unknown. Still, we’re fairly certain this is more than your garden variety downturn…

This is the big one we’re all facing. A wrath of biblical proportions.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

FMCSA asked to Keep Emergency Trucking Declaration for Feed, Livestock​

By PRO FARMER EDITORS September 23, 2022

In comments submitted on Sept. 21, National Grain & Feed Association (NGFA) urged the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to extend the emergency declaration for livestock and feed to help provide necessary additional trucking capacity for the agricultural supply chain.

Agricultural shippers have been experiencing significant rail service challenges and emergency truck freight has been indispensable to help meet demand, NGFA noted in response to FMCSA’s request for input on the extent to which motor carriers currently rely on the emergency declaration. “Even though truck transportation capacity is tight, agricultural shippers have been forced to find extra truck freight to help fill the void where rail is unavailable or unreliable,” the comments state.

“While the trucking industry is doing what it can to help with the rail service challenges, there is a limited amount of trucking capacity.” Noting that the Surface Transportation Board called an urgent hearing in April to address rail service challenges, NGFA emphasized that rail carriers do not have enough rail workers to service freight demand. There has been a 20% decrease in train and engine employees compared to five years ago, the comments noted. “The emergency declaration for livestock and feed is still needed to provide flexibility during the ongoing supply chain challenges,” NGFA concluded.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Biofuel Proponents Urge EPA to Maximize RFS Levels

Renewable Fuel Standard

By PRO FARMER EDITORS September 23, 2022

The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is the most successful clean energy tool available to the government, which should make full use of it when setting the biofuel mandate for 2023 and future years, biofuel trade groups said on Thursday. “What we’re really looking to take place with EPA is that they maximize the full potential of the RFS,” said Emily Skor, chief executive of Growth Energy. EPA is due to announce its “set” for the RFS by Nov. 16.

Get more Pro Farmer news and analysis with a trial subscription. Sign up here.

Emily Skor, chief executive of Growth Energy, and Geoff Cooper, chief executive of the Renewable Fuels Association, told reporters they expect the EPA “set” to expand biofuel volumes from this year’s 15.25 billion gallons of corn ethanol and 5.63 billion gallons of advanced biofuels and to list the biofuel targets for the next two or three years.

“We are producing more and more with less and less,” said Jon Doggett, head of the National Corn Growers Association, so each bushel of corn had a smaller carbon footprint than in the past.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Understand the Soybean’s Journey from Planting to Harvest​

 Use this guide to understand the vegetative and reproductive stages of soybeans.
Use this guide to understand the vegetative and reproductive stages of soybeans.(Photos/Illustration: Darrell Smith, B&M Crop Consulting, Inc, Lori Hays)

By SARA SCHAFER September 23, 2022

The success of many of your soybean management decisions depend on the stage of the plant. For example, herbicide applications can injure a plant if applied during the wrong stage, says Seth Naeve, University of Minnesota Extension agronomist. That is why it’s important to identify growth stages rather than just look at plant height.

Use this guide to understand the vegetative and reproductive stages of soybeans. “Plant stages are determined by classifying leaf, flower, pod and/or seed development,” Naeve says.

Remember, stages can overlap. A growth stage begins when 50% or more of the plants are in or beyond that stage.


BLACK LAYER IN SOYBEANS

Black Layer in Soybeans
Photo: Jim Specht , Ph.D., University of Nebraska – Lincoln

You are familiar with the corn development stage when the kernel stops growing and hits maximum kernel dry weight. This physiological maturity stage, called black layer, can also be identified in soybeans. When a soybean pod’s membrane no longer clings to the seeds, the pod has reached black layer. Afterward, soybeans begin drying down from about 60% moisture to about 13% moisture.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

EXCLUSIVE: Venezuelans Expected To Flood US Border Due To A ‘Perception’ They Can Stay Indefinitely, Internal DHS Report Says

JENNIE TAER
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER
September 22, 2022

The Department of Homeland Security is warning of an uptick in illegal migrants from Venezuela crossing the southern border, according to an internal memorandum exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Some Venezuelans have the “perception that once they reach the border, they have a greater chance of remaining in the United States, based on a misunderstood perception of temporary protected status,” the memo stated.
Authorities at the border have seen the number of Venezuelan migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border triple, compared to the last fiscal year, and DHS indicates the trend will continue.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sounded the alarm over a potential surge in Venezuelans illegally crossing into the U.S. due to an incorrect understanding of U.S. immigration policy, according to an internal memo obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The recent alert mentioned a number of reasons that Venezuelans are increasingly coming to the U.S., including political changes, new visa requirements, a lack of resources due to the COVID-19 pandemic and poor economic conditions in Latin American countries they’ve fled to. There’s a possibility that many are also coming because of the protections for Venezuelans already in the U.S. (RELATED: ‘Abuse’: Texas Sheriff Announces Investigation Into Illegal Migrant Flights To Martha’s Vineyard)

“Deteriorating opportunities for Venezuelans in Latin America coupled with changing immigration policies will likely increase Venezuelans’ decision to travel to the U.S. southwest border (SWB) via the Darien Gap and Mexico,” the memo stated. “Venezuelans may also be pulled to the United States by the perception that once they reach the border, they have a greater chance of remaining in the United States, based on a misunderstood perception of temporary protected status.”

There’s no exact date on the memo, which cites a report as recent as Sept. 7.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is currently granted to Venezuelans who were in the U.S. as of March 8, 2021. DHS in July announced an 18-month extension for those already in the program to renew their statuses.

Out of the 153,905 Venezuelan migrants encountered at the southern border between October 2021 and August 2022, only 988 were expelled under Title 42, the pandemic public health order used to quickly remove illegal migrants from the country, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.

The number of Venezuelan migrants encountered in fiscal year 2022 is over triple the number encountered the previous fiscal year, when 1,270 Venezuelans were expelled under Title 42, according to CBP. The Biden administration attempted to end Title 42, but the policy remains due to a court order.

The reason many Venezuelans aren’t sent back under Title 42 is because the U.S. doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Venezuela, which refuses to allow for deportation flights, Cato Associate Director of Immigration Studies David Bier previously told the DCNF.

“This is true for deportations from Mexico as well,” Bier said. “The Trump administration also put a flight ban in effect for Venezuela, meaning no flights are allowed to go there. Nonetheless, some expulsions are still happening via third countries, but it’s much more difficult.”

There are around 5.75 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants living in Latin American and Caribbean countries, according to the Inter-Agency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela.

Around 3.7 million of them live in Colombia and Peru, where they face “violence, hate, abuse, sexual and labor exploitation, and discrimination,” according to the memo. In places like Colombia, Venezuelans are often the prey of armed criminal organizations looking for “cheap recruits.”

“An exodus from these two countries alone would be a major concern as it could potentially signal larger waves of Venezuelan migrants to emigrate to the United States,” the memo said.

Panama is home to around 144,500 Venezuelans, who are at risk of losing their “pathways to residency” because of legislation that is set to expire, making their best option to come to the U.S. illegally.

“Without access to legal status, migrants cannot apply for work permits and are forced to seek jobs in the informal market, making them vulnerable to exploitation,” the memo said. “For those qualified to renew their regularization status, the 2,600 USD smuggling fee is cheaper than paying regularization costs in Panama.”

Venezuelans have also been further unwelcomed in Chile, where 448,100 of them reside, because of anti-illegal immigration protests and police-led evictions.

The issues are forcing Venezuelans to leave Latin America and go to the U.S., where they believe they will be protected, the memo stated.

DHS didn’t respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Biden Admin ‘Appears’ To Have Deported Nearly Seven Times Fewer Illegals Than Obama Admin Did A Decade Ago, Top ICE Official Says

JENNIE TAER
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER
September 23, 2022

It “appears” the Biden administration is deporting nearly seven times fewer illegal migrants than the Obama administration did a decade ago, a top Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official recently said under oath as part of a deposition by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office.

Executive Associate Director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Corey Allen Price made the statement in early September as part of Moody’s lawsuit alleging the Biden administration is releasing illegal migrants without any intention of removing them. Price testified that it “appears correct” ICE is removing almost seven times fewer illegal migrants under President Joe Biden’s leadership than 2012, according to the video. (RELATED: Biden-Appointed Border Patrol Chief Admits There’s A ‘Crisis’ At The Southern Border)

“Our deposition provides even more proof that the Biden administration is intentionally underenforcing federal immigration law in a way that has never been seen,” Moody said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “At every phase of the process, Biden is purposely failing to enforce the law and detain and remove inadmissible immigrants.”

Florida Chief Deputy Attorney General John Guard asked Price about the trend, when he admitted to an apparent decrease.

“Director, ICE currently is removing less aliens from the United States than it has in the last decade, right?” Guard asked.

“I do not have the last ten years’ data available. But it is less than at least the last four years that I have here,” Price responded.

Guard then asked about the comparison between the Biden’s administration deportation actions and the Obama administration’s removals.

“In 2012, a decade ago, under President Obama, ICE removed almost seven times the number of aliens than the Biden administration did in either 2021 or 2022, right?” Guard asked.

In 2012, ICE deported 409,849 illegal migrants compared to 59,011 removed in 2021.

“That appears correct,” Price answered.

WATCH:
View: https://youtu.be/dYDTwAw1X8Q
2:20 min

On President Joe Biden’s first day in office, his administration issued a 100-day pause on deportations. The moratorium order also directed ICE officials to prioritize arrests of those that pose threats to national security, public safety and border security.

A federal judge lifted the enforcement limits in June, according to CBS News.

“Due to limited resources, DHS cannot respond to all immigration violations or remove all persons unlawfully in the United States. Rather, DHS must implement civil immigration enforcement based on sensible priorities and changing circumstances,” a memo on the order stated.

There have been over 2,000,000 migrants encountered at the southern border in fiscal year 2022, around 1,000,000 of which have been expelled under Title 42, the pandemic public health order, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The Biden administration attempted to end Title 42, but the policy remains in place due to a court order.

ICE didn’t respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

The Stock Market Officially Collapses Into Bear Market Territory

JOHN HUGH DEMASTRI
CONTRIBUTOR
September 23, 2022

The stock market closed out a week of intense losses with the Dow Jones falling more than 750 points Friday, entering bear market territory amid a wave of investor fears.

At time of writing, the index had, at its lowest point, fallen more than 2.7% during the day to around 29,300 points, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 down by 2.7% and 2.64% respectively at time of writing. With the Dow Jones officially falling more than 20% from its recent peak in June, stocks will have entered a slump known by investors as a “bear market” if the losses hold when trading ends Friday, according to CNBC. (RELATED: Stocks Stay Volatile As Recession Fears Loom)

The Nasdaq was down by 30.92% this year, with the S&P 500 down 22.98% this year, as of close of business yesterday, according to data from MarketWatch.

“Stocks were overvalued because their nominal price has been fueled by the inflation of the Federal Reserve,” Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “As soon as the Fed took away the punch bowl… what happened? Stocks immediately took a nosedive and are continuing to do so, because the only thing that has been fueling this economic recovery hasn’t been real growth, but again, money creation.”

1663987882757.png

After wavering early this week as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s Wednesday announcement of a third interest rate hike in just four months, stocks tumbled, with Goldman Sachs warning clients that investors are preparing for recession and slashing its expectations for the S&P 500 stock index by 16%.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has been clear that he is willing for there to be some economic “pain” in order to combat inflation, even as the Biden administration touts its economic record.

Antoni noted that major market moves such as this are typically driven by the “institutional investment class,” and that individual retail investors typically got crushed unless they had “incredible foresight.” Unless retail investors had an immediate need to sell, Antoni cautioned against doing so, urging retail investors to weather the panic.

“Now we’re faced with the reality of having to do it the hard way, of having to actually grow the economy and not just grow the money supply.” Antoni said.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
Michael Yon @MichaelYon
Sep 23, 2022 at 3:36pm
Belgium Shuts Reactor on Eve of Cold-Winter-Energy-Disaster
23 September 2022
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Context matters. If the rest of Europe were mostly healthy this would be a non-story. Like taking a hand out of large pool of warm water. But Europe is not healthy and is piloted by people who are methodically destroying Europe. And so turning off any energy at this time is like watching a hand freeze in a bucket of water.

Every warm shower I take in Europe makes me think someone in about February will not get that warm shower, or the fertilizer to grow food in 2023 for 2024. I’m having a difficult time imagining closing 2024 without seeing Biblical global famines.

^^^^^^^

Belgium shuts down nuclear reactor for first time

Doel 3 nuclear reactor operated for 40 years, providing 1,006 megawatt-hours of power

Ata Ufuk Seker |
23.09.2022

BRUSSELS

The Doel 3 reactor in operation in Belgium for 40 years will be shut down on Friday in compliance with Belgian law on a nuclear phase-out.

Despite the energy crisis in Europe, the nuclear reactor in the town of Doel, north of the port city of Antwerp, will close on Friday.

This is the first time a nuclear reactor will be permanently shut down in Belgium.

The Doel 3 reactor, one of four reactors of the Doel Nuclear Power Plant, will disconnect from the grid at 21.15 local time due to the nuclear phase-out law enforced by past governments.

The 1,006 megawatt-hours capacitated reactor was built in 1978, was grid connected in 1982, and operated for 40 years.

In 2012, capillary cracks in the reactor pressure system were detected resulting in its closure for maintenance for two years.

Belgium hosts a total of seven reactors, four of which are at the Doel Nuclear Power Plant close to the Dutch border, while three are located at the Tihange Nuclear Power Plant, close to the Germany and Luxembourg border.

The electricity produced by these reactors meets about half of the country's needs.

Belgium extends life of two reactors by ten years

After the Russia-Ukraine war, Belgium decided to extend the operation period of the Doel 4 and Tihange 3 reactors by 10 years to avoid energy supply shortages. The reactors were previously planned to close in 2025.

Decisions taken by previous governments prescribed that the Doel 3 and the Tihange 2 reactors would shut down in September and February next year, respectively.

With the looming energy crisis, however, the current government started to work on extending the operation period of these reactors. Negotiations between the operators and the government concluded that it was not technically and legally possible to postpone the Doel 3 shutdown process at this stage.

Nuclear support protest

Meanwhile, a protest with about 100 people took place against the closure of the Doel 3 reactor.

The demonstrators hung a large banner with the words "Why are you closing a nuclear power plant amid the energy and climate crisis?"

Wearing clothes that read "Stop the nuclear exit", the protesters highlighted the need to extend the operation time of the reactor amid energy shortages.

"We are here today for Doel 3, the first reactor in Belgium to be completely decommissioned and shut down," a protester named Emrick said.

Stressing their support for nuclear energy, the demonstrator said the government should change its nuclear phase-out plan and keep the Doel 3 reactor operational.

The demonstrator also emphasized that Belgium needs every megawatt-hour of electricity it produces in its territory over such a challenging period.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
Michael Yon @MichaelYon
Sep 23, 2022 at 5:05pm
China is Restless Tonight
23 September 2022
Amsterdam, Netherlands

I do not know if a coup is underway. Clearly something is afoot but I do not know what.

Even my great sources do not know yet.

I’d say some of your best sources will be Steve Bannon, and Epoch Times.

 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
Dr. Peter Navarro: Joe Biden's Stagflation has Destroyed the Bond and Stock Markets 9:06 min

Dr. Peter Navarro: Joe Biden's Stagflation has Destroyed the Bond and Stock Markets (also includes Boris Epshteyn)​

Bannons War Room Published September 23, 2022

(No summary given. Have not watched.)

^^^^
Boris Epshteyn: The Stock Market Finally Reflecting Joe Biden's Disastrous Economy 6:32 min

Boris Epshteyn: The Stock Market Finally Reflecting Joe Biden's Disastrous Economy​

Bannons War Room Published September 23, 2022
 

Dusty Lady

Veteran Member
Michael Yon @MichaelYon
Sep 23, 2022 at 3:36pm
Belgium Shuts Reactor on Eve of Cold-Winter-Energy-Disaster
23 September 2022
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Context matters. If the rest of Europe were mostly healthy this would be a non-story. Like taking a hand out of large pool of warm water. But Europe is not healthy and is piloted by people who are methodically destroying Europe. And so turning off any energy at this time is like watching a hand freeze in a bucket of water.

Every warm shower I take in Europe makes me think someone in about February will not get that warm shower, or the fertilizer to grow food in 2023 for 2024. I’m having a difficult time imagining closing 2024 without seeing Biblical global famines.

^^^^^^^

Belgium shuts down nuclear reactor for first time

Doel 3 nuclear reactor operated for 40 years, providing 1,006 megawatt-hours of power

Ata Ufuk Seker |
23.09.2022

BRUSSELS

The Doel 3 reactor in operation in Belgium for 40 years will be shut down on Friday in compliance with Belgian law on a nuclear phase-out.

Despite the energy crisis in Europe, the nuclear reactor in the town of Doel, north of the port city of Antwerp, will close on Friday.

This is the first time a nuclear reactor will be permanently shut down in Belgium.

The Doel 3 reactor, one of four reactors of the Doel Nuclear Power Plant, will disconnect from the grid at 21.15 local time due to the nuclear phase-out law enforced by past governments.

The 1,006 megawatt-hours capacitated reactor was built in 1978, was grid connected in 1982, and operated for 40 years.

In 2012, capillary cracks in the reactor pressure system were detected resulting in its closure for maintenance for two years.

Belgium hosts a total of seven reactors, four of which are at the Doel Nuclear Power Plant close to the Dutch border, while three are located at the Tihange Nuclear Power Plant, close to the Germany and Luxembourg border.

The electricity produced by these reactors meets about half of the country's needs.

Belgium extends life of two reactors by ten years

After the Russia-Ukraine war, Belgium decided to extend the operation period of the Doel 4 and Tihange 3 reactors by 10 years to avoid energy supply shortages. The reactors were previously planned to close in 2025.

Decisions taken by previous governments prescribed that the Doel 3 and the Tihange 2 reactors would shut down in September and February next year, respectively.

With the looming energy crisis, however, the current government started to work on extending the operation period of these reactors. Negotiations between the operators and the government concluded that it was not technically and legally possible to postpone the Doel 3 shutdown process at this stage.

Nuclear support protest

Meanwhile, a protest with about 100 people took place against the closure of the Doel 3 reactor.

The demonstrators hung a large banner with the words "Why are you closing a nuclear power plant amid the energy and climate crisis?"

Wearing clothes that read "Stop the nuclear exit", the protesters highlighted the need to extend the operation time of the reactor amid energy shortages.

"We are here today for Doel 3, the first reactor in Belgium to be completely decommissioned and shut down," a protester named Emrick said.

Stressing their support for nuclear energy, the demonstrator said the government should change its nuclear phase-out plan and keep the Doel 3 reactor operational.

The demonstrator also emphasized that Belgium needs every megawatt-hour of electricity it produces in its territory over such a challenging period.

Wow, you would have never thought, protesters FOR nuclear power???
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BOoqLUdG8U
7:04 min

News Video: #StockMarketCrash, Fed Reset Housing Market. UK Gov Slashes Taxes As Recession Starts​


OhCevGwV25_EkHsl-mrc7eHLxUpYbG-HZBcMvIS82hiO6Pt_6gFePr_Jo13ZcJWKe6BEjHwBuQ=s88-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj

The Economic Ninja

You won't find breaking news like this on CNBC or Yahoo Finance. Stock market news happening as the hashtag stock market crash picks up steam as fears that the Fed has went to far in its fight against inflation. The UK is slashing taxes as a recession starts and housing is dropping fast! Prep now as SHTF 2022!
 
Last edited:

marsh

On TB every waking moment
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvvnpkR1ecs
32:36 min

Market CRASHES To LOWER Than Before Biden Took Over, Democrats Are NUKING The Economy & CELEBRATING​

AMLnZu-r6oSrkSDkHGMt3Ql1sSpEKQjV3avfqvWOoXm3Tg=s88-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj

Tim Pool

Market CRASHES To LOWER Than Before Biden Took Over, Democrats Are NUKING The Economy & CELEBRATING. Recently Democrats celebrated the inflation reduction act on the White House lawn at a time when inflation is destroying the middle class. Bidenflation is real and the FED is desperate to get a hold on it. But their efforts are slammed as pointless and many top CEOs and corporations say nothing will stop the coming recession and some say its already here but will get substantially worse The most shocking news is that there is a beer shortage looming and people are going to lose their minds.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP7w4iXMWYs
3:18 min

Environmental Justice Is Within Our GRASP​

Sep 23, 2022

AMLnZu88QMJhoYwyxIwINHVoPfkv3eVbqJWh6VEBP4uxiw=s88-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

An animated video that shares the work of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s Geospatial Research, Analysis, and Services Program (GRASP), and how their resources can be used to advance environmental justice.
Audio Description Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj2eB...
This video can also be viewed at https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/wcms/video/...
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drHDAuoAMSQ
7:27 min

Transparent solar panels & Clean Energy jobs boom | WEF | Top Stories of the week​

Sep 23, 2022

AMLnZu9xjNawITaubcbG9i85j9zF5DK6fHAkDKvM8cuZI2k=s88-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj

World Economic Forum
0:15 Could These Solar Panel Windows Be The Future Of Green Energy? - If deployed on a large scale, Ubiquitous Energy says the windows could transform solar capacity worldwide. 01:33 What Would A Post-Economic Growth World Look Like? - 'What is the type of growth that the world needs? And what is the type of de-growth we need?' asks Tariq Al-Olaimy, Social Entrepreneur and Global Shapers Alumni. 04:41 Clean energy jobs boom - Green energy jobs in wind and solar are more available than fossil fuel jobs for the first time 05:57 Is your smartphone making you less smart? - Not according to scientists
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MDhPZraWLs
15:37 min

521 - All About COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates​

Sep 23, 2022

AMLnZu-C3WzBPz1rQGdJtxkd3z0tyRStiVM7b1up8u9w4Q=s88-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
How effective have federal vaccine mandates for COVID-19 been? Will litigation impact other vaccine requirements, such as those for school attendance? What might happen during future pandemics? Michelle Mello, a professor of law and public policy at Stanford, talks with Stephanie Desmon about the mixed success of COVID vaccine mandates.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
(Italy)

Italy belongs to the Italians, not to Ursula von der Leyen. F*ck the EU! .17 min

ITALY BELONGS TO THE ITALIANS, NOT TO URSULA VON DER LEYEN. F*CK THE EU!​

^^^^^
Von der Leyen threatens the Italians: "If things go in a difficult direction, we have tools!" .21 min

VON DER LEYEN THREATENS THE ITALIANS: "IF THINGS GO IN A DIFFICULT DIRECTION, WE HAVE TOOLS!"​

Von der Leyen threatens the Italians: "We will see the result of the vote in Italy. If things go in a difficult direction, we have tools, as in the case of Poland and Hungary." A desperate attempt to influence the vote in Italy that runs towards the far right. Game over Ursula!

^^^^^
Harnwell: The EU just admitted that last week’s powerplay on Hungary was meant as a threat to Italy 4:58 min

Harnwell: The EU just admitted that last week’s powerplay on Hungary was meant as a threat to Italy​

Bannons War Room Published September 23, 2022

Georgia Meloni being maligned by the left as a Christian fascist prior to the Italian election. Change expected to the right on Sunday.

^^^^^

How afraid should Europe be of Giorgia Meloni?​


Italy’s next leader will be constrained by politics, markets and money

Sep 22nd 2022

Unless the polls are dramatically mistaken, on September 25th Italians will elect the most right-wing government in their country’s post-war history. A three-party alliance is expected to win more than 60% of the seats in parliament; the Brothers of Italy (fdi) looks set to dominate the trio, and its leader, Giorgia Meloni, to take over as prime minister.

Liberals shudder. The fdi has its roots in neo-fascism. In speeches Ms Meloni hammers away at illegal immigrants and “woke ideology”. She told American conservatives earlier this year that “our whole identity is under attack”, and has accused the European Union of being complicit in ethnic “replacement”. She defends and admires Viktor Orban, Hungary’s populist prime minister. Ms Meloni’s elevation would follow the Sweden Democrats’ success last week in becoming that country’s second-largest party, with a probable say in the next government. Marine Le Pen in France took 41% of the vote in her race against Emmanuel Macron in April. All these are signs of a powerful shift in the European balance towards the nationalist hard right. Fed up with the failures of the established parties, voters are plumping for the untried and untested.
(Pay wall)
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

House Passes Election Bill That Makes It Harder to Decertify Presidential Results

By Joseph Lord September 21, 2022 Updated: September 22,

The House of Representatives on Sept. 21 passed an election law bill designed to address President Donald Trump’s legal efforts to decertify some electoral slates in 2021.

The bill, dubbed the Presidential Election Reform Act, passed in a mostly-party line vote with a handful of GOP defections. The final vote, coming in at 229–203, included the support of 221 Democrats and nine Republicans.

During the aftermath of the 2020 election, when Trump was trying to determine how to move forward on his claims of widespread election fraud, lawyer John Eastman was among the attorneys in Trump’s inner circle who supported an effort to refuse to certify electoral slates from states where concerns of election fraud were most prevalent.

The 12th Amendment
Eastman’s position—that Vice President Mike Pence had the power under the 12th Amendment to reject some electoral slates—was heavily taken to by Trump, who tried to convince Pence to refuse to certify some electoral slates.

Specifically, the effort centered on an ambiguous line in the 12th Amendment, passed after the near-crisis of the election of 1800 which saw Congress go through dozens of ballots before finally declaring Thomas Jefferson the winner.

That line reads “the President of the Senate [i.e., the vice president] shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted.”

Eastman proposed that Pence could legally refuse to count the ballots of states deemed most at risk of election fraud.

Opponents of Trump’s 2021 effort have said that the Constitution only intends for the vice president’s role in the Jan. 6 certification of electoral slates to be a “ceremonial” one, while proponents of the effort have pointed to similar events in the past, particularly in regards to the presidential elections of 1800, 1876, and 1960. However, there is no hard-set legal consensus on the issue either way.

Ultimately, the effort was unsuccessful, as Pence refused to use his role to deny certification of contested electoral slates.

‘Opening the Door to Mass Litigation’
Though there is no consensus among legal experts as to the lawfulness or validity of the effort, altering the electoral certification process has been a key focus for many of Trump’s adversaries during the 117th Congress. The focus on the issue has intensified since the beginning of the Jan. 6 Committee hearings, which presented Trump’s efforts as criminal and undemocratic.

The bill passed by the House on Wednesday was sponsored by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and co-sponsored by outgoing Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.). Both members serve on the House Jan. 6 panel.

In addition to naming the vice president’s role in electoral certification a ceremonial one, the bill would up the number of lawmakers needed to sustain an objection to a state’s reported electoral slate.

Currently, a vote on the validity of electoral slates can be forced by a single member of the House and a single member of the Senate, causing the House and Senate to have to vote to sustain or strike down the objection. Under the new bill, that figure would be upped to one-third of the House and one-third of the Senate before a vote on an objection could move forward.

Cheney fell into the camp of those who claim the role is purely ceremonial, saying on the House floor in Washington that the bill would guarantee that Jan. 6 is “as the constitution envisioned, a ministerial day.”

Further, Cheney said that it will “ensure that in the future our election process reflects the will of the people.”

“The American people are supposed to decide an election, not Congress,” Lofgren said, echoing Cheney.

Jan. 6 panel member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) portrayed the bill as a necessary one to update the rules of the Electoral College, which has long been targeted by Democrats, who often portray the system as undemocratic. The party has long hosted calls for the total abolition of the college and movement to a popular vote basis for electing the president.

However, most House Republicans are critical of the bill.

House Administration Committee Ranking Member Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) said that the bill is “opening the door to mass litigation.” In addition, Davis argued that the legislation tramples state sovereignty over election law.

Davis added that Democrats are “desperately trying to talk about their favorite topic, and that is former President Donald Trump.”

In his opening speech on the bill delivered on the House floor, Davis argued that, despite efforts to present the contrary perspective, the 12th Amendment has long been used by members of both parties to ensure the legitimacy of an election’s results.

Davis describes the mechanism as one that preserves the checks and balances of the three federal branches on each other.

Contrary to the position espoused by Democrats, Davis said, lawmakers challenging election results when they see something suspicious “is not an affront to democracy—it’s democracy in action.”

Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), who has faced accusations from the Jan. 6 Committee of leading reconnoitering missions into the Capitol in the days before Jan. 6, also blasted the bill, saying that Congress’s focus should be on pressing contemporary issues like inflation and energy costs rather than on Jan. 6.

Democrats, by contrast, spent much of their time speaking on the floor by relating the bill to the events of Jan. 6 and the future of American democracy.

In a statement indicative of this approach, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) insisted that the bill was not a partisan issue, but “a democracy issue.”

“There are ambiguities in our electoral system and they can jeopardize our democracy—that’s what this bill is about,” Hoyer added later.

The party also spent a great deal of time applauding Cheney for her role in pushing for the bill.

“President Abraham Lincoln would be standing with Liz Cheney if he were on this floor,” said Hoyer, who called Cheney “as Republican as anyone” in the House.

12th Amendment Issue Remains Contested
John Eastman, the Trump attorney who was most supportive of the 12th Amendment scheme, disagreed about the legality of the effort.

Eastman told The Epoch Times before the vote that discussing the role of the 12th Amendment out of the context of the situation on the ground at the time is mistaken.

He noted that the Constitution gives states the power to make their own election laws and determine the manner in which states will choose their electoral slates. In every U.S. state at this point, the popular vote is the method for choosing this slate.

But Eastman also pointed to several last-minute changes by secretaries of state, executive orders from governors, and county clerks that changed or overshot the statutorily-required, legislature-approved legal regulations like deadlines and signature verification.

“Those election codes were violated, there’s no dispute about that,” Eastman contended. “That means the election was not constitutionally conducted. How big the impact was is hard to say.”

He added, “It was rather extraordinary, the illegality of it.”

The use of the 12th Amendment and the vice president’s role, Eastman argued, was a last resort—albeit a legal one—stemming from the unwillingness of courts to consider the legal issues involved and the unwillingness of governors to call legislatures into special sessions to address the concerns.

Finally, Eastman turned to the issue of the 12th Amendment.

“It seems a little odd that [the Founders] would waste a whole amendment on just a ceremonial thing,” Eastman argued, shunting the claim that the vice president’s role is merely ceremonial. “That’s not the way the Founders typically operate.”

Eastman further argued that the electoral process was designed in large part to ensure that Congress does not have the final say in choosing the president, as such a system would “destroy the separation of powers.”

The Current Constitutional System
Under the current constitutional system, Congress can only choose the president in the event of a three-way or more tie with no single candidate winning the majority of the votes. Even in this case, voting is taken up by the House of Representatives by state rather than by simple majority, limiting the ability of larger states or factions in Congress to determine the president by numbers alone.

This role has only fallen to Congress on a handful of occasions, all taking place in the 19th century. Since the rise of the two-party system, such pluralities are astronomically unlikely for a third candidate in the modern world.

In view of this fact, Eastman argued, the framers of the 12th Amendment intentionally wrote it to ensure that the states, the courts, and the vice president, not Congress, had the final say in determining what to do about a contested election.

“If there’s a dispute, somebody’s gotta resolve the dispute,” Eastman said, citing the work of other legal scholars who have said that the arbiter in such an event was intended to be the vice president. This ensures that “a member of the executive branch [chooses] the president” rather than making the executive “subservient to Congress.”

The core issue, the scope of the vice president’s reach under the 12th Amendment, would be resolved by the House bill by declaring the role a ceremonial one. However, under the current form of the law, it remains disputed how far the role extends.

On Track for Passage
With its passage through the House, the bill will now go to the Senate for consideration.

Though it will likely see some reworking in the upper chamber, enough Republicans have signed onto similar legislation to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold, making it possible that the bill will pass.

President Joe Biden has also expressed support for election law reforms in the past.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
Government (With The Support Of Bill Gates) Creating 'Luciferase' Mark To Track Vaccinated People 29:29 min

'Luciferase' Mark To Track Vaccinated People​

Sunfellow On COVID-19 Published September 23, 2022

The Department of Homeland Security filed a patent for a new product using luciferase, a bioluminescent material that is being proposed to mark people as a way to verify if they’ve had vaccinations. The concept is being proposed in several different forms, including for bioluminescent quantum dots, and is part of a larger push for new ways to track people’s medical data.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
The WEF plan to REMAKE Mexico, US, and Canada's borders EXPOSED! | Redacted with Clayton Morris 11:07 min

The WEF plan to REMAKE Mexico, US, and Canada's borders EXPOSED! | Redacted with Clayton Morris​

Does the United Nations have a plan to flood the United States with immigrants to erase borders and create a North American super power? It sure feels like it and that is what journalist Lara Logan says is happening, according to her high level source.

(WEF/UN globalist plan to flood 100 million people over the border to collapse national sovereignty and create a regional government of US/Canada/. Push/pull strategy in Latin America using the cartels. Want to create a critical mass to flip the country. UN made the right to migrate a human right that trumps our sovereignty.

^^^^
Lara Logan: Biden's Invasion at the Southern Border is Next Step to Global Government 20:10

Lara Logan: Biden's Invasion at the Southern Border is Next Step to Global Government​

Bannons War Room Published September 15, 2022

^^^^
Lara Logan: All the Threats I Don’t Care 8:42 min

Lara Logan: All the Threats I Don’t Care​

RedpillUSAPatriots Published September 16, 2022

^^^
Mel K & Lara Logan On Exposing Elitist Agenda & Why We The People Win 9-15-22 1:07:19 min

Mel K & Lara Logan On Exposing Elitist Agenda & Why We The People Win 9-15-22​

The Mel K Show Published September 15, 2022

^^^^
 
Last edited:

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Lara Logan: Biden’s Invasion at the Southern Border is Next Step to Global Government

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Constitutional Nobody
By Alexandra Bruce
Forbidden Knowledge TV

Lara Logan joins Steve Bannon and she’s got a lot to say about The Plan.

“The border is wide open because we are living under a Globalist policy of open borders, so there is no border security to speak of. Weapons are flowing across, drugs are flowing across, people are flowing across, money is flowing across, you know, illicit funds and so on and so on. Everything that comes from an open border is what’s flowing.

“And the reasons it’s happening, Steve – it’s not just an invasion. It is an invasion but an invasion that is primarily that’s part of a longterm plan and political ideology to obliterate the sovereignty of this nation and change the way the world looks, forever.

“It’s not just America’s sovereignty that’s on the chopping block, it’s sovereignty over the world. It’s just that this is the place that is the light and the guide for the whole world. And so this is the country that has to fall first in order for the other countries to fall.

“And what I learned from a source, who is a very unique source, having infiltrated the Globalist “cult” at the UN level is that he was in high-level meetings that required a number of security clearances where they actually discussed the plan to bring 100 million people into the United States, in order to pave the way for a regional government of US, Canada and Mexico.

“And that was to bring in 100 million people from Latin American countries, together with a strategy of creating these cartels, making life unbearable. It’s called the “Push-Pull Strategy”, where they push people out of these countries, where it’s unbearable living like this and they pull them into the United States.

“And then, once you’ve reached that critical number of over a hundred million in this invasion, they will then propose, ‘Well, for your family and friends back home, who need ease of travel, they need a better life and so on and so on – we can do all this better with a regional government than we can with a US Government.’ And they will have enough critical mass inside the country in order to effect that policy.

“That’s the Globalist plan that we’re working towards. But what we’re already doing is that we’re living under their policy, where they’ve made the right to migrate a “human right”, recognized by the UN in 2018 and that now supersedes our sovereign rights, thanks to the Biden administration and the open border ideologues who are in this government, who were never asked, to be honest, about their strategy on the campaign trail, who have bypassed the legislature and are implementing a strategy and a policy that, not only did no Americans vote for it, because they weren’t given the opportunity but most Americans don’t support.”

Since Brain-Dead Biden took office, Lara says, “They have escalated these policies. They’ve escalated the implementation and there are a number of people in intelligence who I talk to who say, the plan was that Trump wouldn’t exist. It would go from 8 years of Obama to 8 years of Hillary, to 8 years of another Democrat, to never seeing another Republican administration.

“If you look at this as a longterm plan over several administrations – in fact, even Democrat and Republican, because both have failed on the National Security element at the border, then what you see is that that this plan is not very far away and it’s not all unrealistic, in a sense.

“And when you look at that and you connect the dots – remember when Chris Matthews compared Comrade Bernie Sanders to Hitler?…I think it was in 2016. And so he was immediately dethroned, because you couldn’t have that. You couldn’t have that comparison coming from the Left, because people would see that it was true!

“So when that happened and Chris was actually removed, his spokesperson was out everywhere, saying that, ‘The Days of milk white America were over and that the future of America is diverse and he spoke with the same kind fo certainty that people have, for example when they don’t write a concession speech, because they know that they’ve ‘won’ the election, as Crooked Hillary Clinton failed to do in 2016 and she was so shocked, when she didn’t ascend to the throne, because they reversed the cheat…and I know this from intelligence people who were involved in this and other people who are familiar with what happened.

“So, when you connect those dots, what you see is, here’s a guy saying the future of America’s diverse, and yet, at the same moment, 70% of the American nation is still white. So how is he so certain? Well, because there’s a plan.

“That’s what you see behind all of this. That’s what I try to do as an investigative reporter; is not just react emotionally to the fact that Simpleton Kamala Harris is a complete liar and it’s obvious to anyone with eyes that Texas is overrun. The reason they’re sending migrants to Martha’s Vineyard and and so on isn’t just to make a point, it’s because these towns have gone past capacity, the Border Patrol is past capacity.

“The number of border patrol agents who are experiencing extreme trauma, because they’ve got hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied minors crossing that border, many of them are babies…aren’t they supposed to be reunited with their parents in America, who are here without their children? Right? This is to rejoin families that have been separated.

“Well, how were they separated, if they’re just babies? What families are they going to? Why are hey still in the custody of Heath and Human Services, months and sometimes even longer later? Or in the custody of NGOs, because what do they love? They love shoving these kids into NGOs and then they disappear and nobody can ever know what happens to them, whether they reach their families or whether they don’t reach their families and you don’t have any reporters in even asking the question, because most of the media is completely captured and just in the tank for the Biden administration and they’re not asking ay difficult questions about anything.

“If you can imagine the impact that this has on the border patrol agencies, they’re all past capacity. Suicide rates are up and through the roof and it’s the same in the DEA, the Drug Enforcement Agency. They’re not being able to do their job. And what they’re seeing is an endless stream of people, while terrorists come across while National Security is obliterated but what they’re actually looking at, if you step back from that emotion of the moment is that they are looking at a very carefully crafted strategy that is backed by the most powerful people in this country, some whose names we know and some whose names we don’t know and dark mone and all those other things that go behind it, protected by layers and layers of deception, masked with the NGOs that is part of a broader strategy to annihilate not just sovereignty of this nation but of every nation on Earth, because they seek to have control of the whole globe.

“And that shouldn’t be a shock or a conspiracy to anyone, because there’s been 40 million movies made about people that wanted to rule the world, right?”

With all of this, Lara believes that Texas can solve this problem, as she said they did in 2015.

“Texas has the Board of Public Safety, which is a fairly unique law enforcement agency that is able to step in the breach here. They know how to shut down the border, they’ve done it multiple times but what they’re lacking is the political backing to do so. While Governor Abbott is doing a lot and he talks a big game, at the end of the day, Texas hasn’t shut down the border, have they?

“They haven’t taken your Federal Taxes and put them into an escrow account and used that to finance a state border force. Abbott has done nothing about the fact that the border force is derelict in its duty to uphold the Constitution, which then, in that case, some of these powers can revert to the states.

“The states have the power – not just Texas – but they have the power to prevent the federal overflight of federal drones. They can kick out every Federal Employee. They don’t have to be subordinate to these federal agencies who are clearly not doing their job, who are trampling on the rights of American citizens and so on.

“In fact, it’s gotten so bad, that a number of people in Texas, some of them law enforcement, some of them private citizens have come together and they have created a military-style threat assessment. And I say ‘military-style’, not in the sense that there’s anything militaristic about it, but in the sense that that’s what the military’s job is, traditionally.

“We rely on our intelligence agencies and the military to write what is called a threat assessment, a National Security Threat Assessments that identify the true nature a scope of the threat. Because by presenting that to the American People, you can start to get the policies that are actually going to effect change and are actually going to be targeted at the problem as it exists – not the fake problem that people in Washington are pretending doesn’t exist – but the actual problem.

“So they’ve written a threat assessment and you can do things, like you can designate the cartels as a terrorist organization. You can recognize the fact that law enforcement’s model no longer works.”

Steve Bannon then asks her when this report that she’s referring to will be promulgated?

“Tomorrow, Friday, in Houston. It’ll be presented at a workshop open to the public; anybody can come and listen and it will be made publicly available to whoever’s interested. This event is at the VFW and so people can find it online and Steve, it’s really a first, because the Government is so derelict in its duty and in identifying the true National Security Threat of opening the border to the most violent criminal organizations in the world, which are the cartels in Mexico and documenting the concision of those cartels from drug organizations, the multinational drug organizations who are now, their number one product is human beings.

“And so all these people who say they care about slavery and all the rest of it, they apparently don’t care that all these people are being trafficked across the border and put into debt slavery, where they owe the cartels forever, because they can’t pay their debts or they’re being trafficked for sex, where the average amount of time that a child stays alive after being trafficked for sex is 2 years.

“Two years of being raped every single day for money until you’re killed. And then, they’re also trafficking people for labor. So you have all these people in woke cities saying, ‘Oh, aren’t these immigrants good people? They’re working 2-3 jobs.’ They’re working 2-3 jobs, because most of their money is going to those cartels and they don’t see the light of day and their lives don’t get better, they get worse…

“The other part of this strategy is to dilute the pool of people within the United States who know how this country was founded, who understand those principles and believe in them and believe in the flag and are proud to be American and want to preserve this country as it was founded.

“What you’re doing, instead is you’re bringing in illegal immigrants ad legal immigrants and you’re teaching them that America is bad. It’s full of racists. It’s systemically racist. It never did anything good for anybody and you’re encouraging, basically the decline of this nation from within.

“And for many of these people – I just became a citizen – and when I went to my packet on the seat, where the oath is and everything that I needed to know, you know what the top page was? The top page was a flyer from the League of Women Voters.

“And anyone who knows anything about the League of Women Voters today and some of their history knows that this is not a bipartisan organization, this is not a nonpartisan organization. This is a highly-partisan political organization, one of the many that hides behind their 501 c(3) status and lies to people and comes to them deceptively and says, ‘We’re just encouraging you to vote’.

“No. What they’re doing is taking the new immigrants, taking these people who go to cities like Minneapolis and making sure that they have them in their clutches, to get them to vote the way that they want to and to think the way they want to and to believe what they believe.

“So, diluting the pool of patriotic Americans while flooding the country people and ignoring the fact that really, what we’re doing is we have someone like Ingrate Ilhan Omar and people in her district who, the causes they’re signing up to, they don’t believe in the United States. They don’t like anything about this country. They want to change everything about it and they’re at war with the people, themselves.

“But they’re not the ones the FBI is worried about, right? The FBI is worried about people like you and people like me and Mike Lindell, the Pillow Guy, right? Those are the ones they’re going after. Ans what the media is doing is helping them in that, because they are taking a knee to this ideology and they are playing down the fact that there are Islamic terrorists and breeding grounds for Islamic terrorists in our own cities and our own schools. And that’s truly an indictment on our leaders who know exactly what they’re doing, because this is part of a bigger plan.”
 
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marsh

On TB every waking moment

On OAN, Lara Logan claims migrants are part of a globalist plot for a unified North American government​


REAL AMERICA - Dan Ball W/ Lara Logan, The Growing National Security Risks Facing The U.S., 9/15/22 15:29 min (6:55 starts Logan)

REAL AMERICA - Dan Ball W/ Lara Logan, The Growing National Security Risks Facing The U.S., 9/15/22​

One America News Network Published September 15, 2022

Logan baselessly claimed that the United Nations is “infiltrating 100 million people into the United States as the basis for forming a regional government instead of a national government”

WRITTEN BY MEDIA MATTERS STAFF

PUBLISHED 09/16/22 11:51 AM EDT
CitationFrom the September 15, 2022, edition of One America News Network's Real America with Dan Ball

LARA LOGAN: We have in place an administration filled with open border ideologues who are implementing a globalist policy, that no one was given the option in this country to vote on, that bypasses the legislature and is completely in violation of the constitution. And what they're edging towards, and I know this from a source who was in meetings at the UN, and behind you know, closed doors, these are classified meetings and listened to these discussions of infiltrating 100 million people into the United States as the basis for forming a regional government instead of a national government. So, a government of Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. This is the strategy that's in place.

And so things like the cartels were created as part of a push-pull strategy, where they would push people out of those countries because life would become unbearable, and pull them into the United States. It's about the destruction of this country. And, uh, and it's put in place step by step so that you don't really know what is happening. And so what is happening is, what some people have done now, a group of private citizens has funded a threat assessment of the national security threat on the southern border. Because the government is failing to do its job. And the, the basic premise is that you cannot begin to solve a problem that hasn't even been defined.

DAN BALL (Host): Wow, I mean you just threw a lot at us and I hope everybody absorbed that and understands what we're talking about. Because a lot of times we touch the surface on interviews of course we talk about the fentanyl deaths, we talk about the human trafficking and the rape, but we're not talking about the Great Reset, we're not talking about how they're changing the fabric of this nation and what they're attempting to do, by allowing these open boarders and what Laura just told us about blending Mexico, Canada, America, that is no longer American dominant. And then you heard my lead-up, Laura, about how are foes, China, Russia, see all this and they want the fall of the West. That's what everyone wants. No one wants America to be the strong country it's been, especially our foes.

LOGAN: And you know what though, Dan? It's interesting because this isn't just about the fall of America and the West. This is about the end of life as we have known it.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment
1663997465352.png

On 19 September 2016 Heads of State and Government came together for the first time ever at the global level within the UN General Assembly to discuss issues related to migration and refugees. This sent a powerful political message that migration and refugee matters had become major issues squarely in the international agenda. In adopting the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, the 193 UN Member States recognized the need for a comprehensive approach to human mobility and enhanced cooperation at the global level.

Annex II of the New York Declaration set in motion a process of intergovernmental consultations and negotiations towards the development of a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. This process concluded on 10 December 2018 with the adoption of the Global Compact by the majority of UN Member States at an Intergovernmental Conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, followed closely by formal endorsement by the UN General Assembly on 19 December.

The Global Compact is the first inter-governmentally negotiated agreement, prepared under the auspices of the United Nations, covering all dimensions of international migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner. It is a non-binding document that respects states’ sovereign right to determine who enters and stays in their territory and demonstrates commitment to international cooperation on migration. It presents a significant opportunity to improve the governance of migration, to address the challenges associated with today’s migration, and to strengthen the contribution of migrants and migration to sustainable development. The Global Compact is framed in a way consistent with target 10.7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in which Member States committed to cooperate internationally to facilitate safe, orderly and regular migration. The Global Compact is designed to:

  • Support international cooperation on the governance of international migration;
  • Provide a comprehensive menu of options for States from which they can select policy options to address some of the most pressing issues around international migration; and
  • Give states the space and flexibility to pursue implementation based on their own migration realities and capacities.
The New York DeclarationWhat are the aims of the Global Compact for Migration?

The Global Compact is framed consistent with target 10.7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in which Member States committed to cooperate internationally to facilitate safe, orderly and regular migration and its scope is defined in Annex II of the New York Declaration. It is intended to:
  • Address all aspects of international migration, including the humanitarian, developmental, human rights-related and other aspects;
  • Make an important contribution to global governance and enhance coordination on international migration;
  • Present a framework for comprehensive international cooperation on migrants and human mobility;
  • Set out a range of actionable commitments, means of implementation and a framework for follow-up and review among Member States regarding international migration in all its dimensions;
  • Be guided by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda; and
  • Be informed by the Declaration of the 2013 High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development.
The development of the Global Compact for Migration - an open, transparent and inclusive process

The Modalities Resolution for the intergovernmental negotiations of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration outlined the key elements and timeline of the process. The Global Compact was developed through an open, transparent and inclusive process of consultations and negotiations and the effective participation of all relevant stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector, academic institutions, parliaments, diaspora communities, and migrant organizations in both the intergovernmental conference and its preparatory process.

For more information see “GCM Development Process“ and the United Nations Network on Migration

^^^^​

Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries​

10.7 Facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies

^^^^^

Migration is a highly visible reflection of global inequalities whether in terms of wages, labour market opportunities or lifestyles. Many decide to move on the notion that a better life can be had elsewhere and that migrating can reduce the disparities that exist between their circumstances and those in comparatively more affluent places. But the ability to move is also not equally shared. Individual characteristics and resources such as citizenship, financial means, access to the internet, and language skills all determine people’s ability to migrate.

Inequalities can also arise from migration. Those who migrate may face unequal access to rights and social resources, including the right to seek protection in cases of those fleeing conflict, violence and persecution. As there are often persisting development inequalities combined with distinct migration patterns within countries and communities themselves, there also needs to be consideration of whether and how migration contributes or counter-balances the concentration of people and resources in certain areas of a country or region.

IOM’s strategy

The 2030 Agenda has a direct reference to migration in its Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10 – Reduced Inequalities. This provides an opportunity to better understand the relationship between migration and inequality at all levels. Across its approach, IOM adopts an equality lens to understand the circumstances under which migration might exacerbate inequalities and the barriers that can restrict the potential of migration to be a tool to address inequalities.

IOM works to meet the two Targets under Goal 10 which directly reference migration: Target 10.7, on migration governance, and Target 10.C, on remittances.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes that migration is a powerful driver of sustainable development, for migrants and their communities. It brings significant benefits in the form of skills, strengthening the labour force, investment and cultural diversity, and contributes to improving the lives of communities in their countries of origin through the transfer of skills and financial resources.

The benefits of migration should not be seen only from the perspective of what migrants can bring to any given territory. The relationship between migration and s development is much more complex: the political, social and economic processes of potential destination countries will also determine how, where and when migration occurs. If migration is poorly governed, it can also negatively impact on development. Migrants can be put at risk and communities can come under strain.

As outlined in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, “migration is a multi-dimensional reality that cannot be addressed by one government policy sector alone”. IOM therefore applies a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to migration governance, striving to ensure that migration and migrants’ needs are considered across all policy areas, laws and regulations from health to education and from fiscal policies to trade. 

^^^^
I call this the porous border migration theory of global equality and redistribution of wealth. 17:11 min
 
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marsh

On TB every waking moment

Misery Index: Bidenflation Remains Sky-High, And Americans Aren't Fooled

BY GWENDOLYN SIMS 10:57 PM ON SEPTEMBER 23, 2022

In spite of Joe Biden’s continued delusional pronouncements that “the economy is just fine, man,” most Americans are feeling the detrimental effects of his economic policies with every purchase from the gas pump to the grocery store and beyond.

Each month since the 1970s, economists have used the newly released and updated Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) data to quantify the economic health of the country. To do so, they add the current U.S. unemployment rate, which is a semi-stagnant 3.7%, to August’s worse-than-expected rate of U.S. inflation, which is a harsh 8.26%. Originally coined by intellectual powerhouse and policy economist Arthur M. Okun in the 1970s as the “discomfort index,” the sum of these two rates is now known simply as the U.S. Misery Index.

The current U.S. Misery Index stands at a crippling 11.96%.

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So what exactly does the Misery Index tell us? First, we know that the higher the inflation rate is, the higher the cost of living is as well. Second, as the unemployment numbers rise, more and more people fall into poverty. The Misery Index acts as a kind of snapshot in time that measures the health of the economy as a whole.

Both unemployment and inflation significantly impact the average American wage earner’s spending power, so the Misery Index also gauges the negative impact Bidenflation has on the quality of American life. With inflation at still-record-high levels, it follows that as the Misery Index climbs, the quality of American life declines.

For Our VIP Members: Could the Red Wave Actually Be a Tsunami?

According to the most recent news release from the BLS, however, inflation hasn’t hit just one or two price sectors of the economy: “Increases in the shelter, food, and medical care indexes were the largest of many contributors to the broad-based monthly all items increase…[while] the index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent in August, a larger increase than in July.”

In fact, “shelter, medical care, household furnishings and operations, new vehicles, motor vehicle insurance, and education” increased across the board.

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That’s the thing about inflation that Biden & Co. are either unwilling or incapable of admitting: because inflation is spread throughout the economy, it makes virtually everything more expensive. Americans living on the edge of poverty are now being flung head first into the abyss while the White House crassly gaslights a decrease in the cost of gasoline. Meanwhile, the administration conveniently fails to admit that its policies raised the price to begin with and that gasoline is still more than a dollar per gallon higher today than when Biden took office, meaning many Americans can’t afford to fill up at the pump in order to get to work, let alone the grocery store. Yes, the White House really thinks Americans are this stupid.

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Maybe AAA didn’t get the memo when it reported Thursday that after 98 straight days of so-called Biden-induced decline, “the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline increased by a penny to $3.68” due to “fluctuating oil prices and tight supply due to planned and unplanned maintenance work at refineries on the West Coast and Midwest contribute to rising pump prices.”

Ruh Roh, there goes The Narrative™ of the Biden-induced gas decreases. Surely the stock market has to be faring better under Biden, right? Not so much.

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The reality in America consists of rising gas prices, a tanking stock market, climbing mortgage rates, and a much weaker dollar. Whether they admit it or not, we’re already in a recession and are barreling headlong towards a depression that’s fueled by the failed economic policies of the Democratic Party. If this is what Build Back Better actually means, count me out, Jack.

1664004627658.png1664004627826.png

Remember the good ol’ days of just a few short years ago? The economy was humming even as the pandemic took hold. Now Bideninflation remains in the stratosphere, and the feds are considering raising interest rates yet again. Americans are tightening their belts in uncomfortable ways while our borders are wide open, crime is rising, and our kids are suffering from countless draconian Democratic policies.

It seems pretty clear that both Biden and Bidenflation are disasters for the American family, no matter how they try to distract, gaslight, or deflect blame. November is coming, dear readers. Vote accordingly, and make sure your friends and family do as well.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Bill Gates Announces They’re Halfway Toward Their Goals [The Great Reset]

By M Dowling -September 23, 20222

Bill Gates announced on his Twitter page and elsewhere that the globalists are halfway toward their 17 sustainable goals [to take over the Western World]. They plan to speed it up. All this damage you are witnessing to fossil fuels, gender ideology, spending, climate extremism, CRT, and open borders are all brought to you by these self-appointed world dictators.

GATES DECLARES THEY ARE HALFWAY TO THEIR GOALS [THE GREAT RESET]
“In 2015, leaders from 193 countries agreed to the Sustainable Development Goals—the SDGs. These were big, bold objectives we wanted to achieve by 2030, everything from ending poverty to achieving gender equality. And each year, this report attempts to answer the question, “How is the world doing?” We want people to grasp what the numbers say about the trajectory of human progress.”

“When development experts around the world hammered out the SDGs [sustainable development goals] seven years ago, they had no idea that in four years’ time, a novel virus would jump into the human population, sparking a once-in-a-century pandemic. They didn’t anticipate that wars would begin in Ukraine or Yemen—or that from Afghanistan to the United States, the rights of women would be hurled back decades.”

“As it stands now, we’d need to speed up the pace of our progress five times faster to meet most of our goals—and even that might be an underestimate, because some of the projections don’t yet account for the impact of the pandemic, let alone the war in Ukraine or the food crisis it kicked off in Africa.”

The would-be dictators of Agenda 2030 are rushing us toward the goals of the dictator’s club – the UN.

Be afraid. You see where we are headed, and they are halfway there.

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marsh

On TB every waking moment

Retired Lt. Gen. Flynn: ‘We Have to Quit Playing Games’ With Illegal Immigration

By Brad Jones September 23, 2022 Updated: September 23, 2022

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn said he doesn’t agree with sending illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard and Washington, D.C., but he understands the political reasoning behind the efforts of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to draw more attention to the border crisis.

“It’s a horrible idea,” Flynn told The Epoch Times in an interview preceding a Republican fundraiser in Huntington Beach, Calif., on Sept. 18.

“I think that we should be sending all these illegals back across the border. I understand the [political] tactics … but essentially all they’re doing is exacerbating the problem. We have to quit playing games when it comes to the invasion of our country along our southern border,” he said.

If the Biden administration won’t stem the flow of unvetted illegal migrants across border, then the governors of border states have a duty to step in and deal with the problem, he said.

“The state of Texas does not have to accept these people. They can actually stop them there,” he said.

While the strategy of sending immigrants to sanctuary states or cities is shining a national media spotlight on illegal immigration, Flynn said, having an open-borders policy is a threat to national security and must be addressed.

He warned against putting unvetted “military age males on buses and into planes” and sending them to different parts of the United States.

“I would send them back. We need to send these people back because the problem is only going to get worse,” said Flynn who served as national security advisor to former President Donald Trump until he was implicated in the Spygate scandal.

With an estimated 4.9 million illegal immigrants entering the U.S. in less than two years under President Joe Biden’s watch, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, “we’re destroying the fabric of our county,” Flynn said. “We have too many.”

Like other critics of the Biden administration’s immigration policies, including former ICE director Tom Homan, Flynn said the crisis at the southern border is by design.

“This administration made a conscious decision to have open borders,” Flynn said. “Vice President Kamala Harris is out of her mind when she said that the border is secure. Talk about a strategic blunder—a political blunder.”

Situation ‘Beyond Normal’
Flynn, a lifelong Democrat until recently, said the American political scene has shifted drastically in recent years.

“This is so far beyond normal. This is not politics as normal in this country anymore. We have an attempted takeover of our country by a socialist movement, and they’ve got control of many of the levers of power in our country—the justice system, the rule of law system, our intelligence community,” he said.

American is headed down this path to socialism because too many Americans have become complacent, he said.

“If they don’t see it then they’re foolish. They’re blind. They’re not listening and they’re not paying attention, and they’re not reading enough Epoch Times,” he said. “If people cared about the country, and the direction of the country, then I don’t think we’d have any of these problems.”

Still others are still so caught up in party politics and arguments over big government versus small that they’re missing the big picture, he said.

When asked who is behind the socialist takeover, Flynn replied, “Well, let them define themselves. You’re talking to a guy who was a lifelong Democrat. I just changed parties a little over a year ago.”

With gas prices soaring to more than $5 a gallon under the Democrats and even higher in California, Flynn said he misses former President Donald Trump’s energy independence policies.

According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, gas prices during the Trump administration reached a high of $2.96 in 2018 and a low of $1.77 in 2020. Prices during the Biden administration reached a high of $5.00 in June.

Flynn credited Trump for supporting businesses and pushing back against the Environmental Protection Agency.

“He opened up the industries and he shut down all these environmental protection rules where people who own their own property that had the ability to take care of the environment couldn’t even put a shovel in the ground,” he said.

Foreign Threat
Meanwhile, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has three goals that affect the United States: power, resources, and geography.

“They want to take over the world leadership now and into the remainder of this century, at least as far out as I can see,” Flynn said. “And that’s been their goal for the last 50 to 70 years.”

Secondly, China has its eyes on American resources, “principally energy, but also food production and water,” because the CCP knows America has managed its natural resources wisely, Flynn said.

Flynn pointed out that according to some estimates, such as from the Heritage Foundation, the U.S. has enough energy resources to supply power at current rates for the next 500 years.

“And then, the third big strategic goal is geography,” he said. “Because China has about 1.5 billion people, they could [eliminate] our entire population—the United States—and not even think twice about it.”

Arizona Politics
At the fundraiser, Flynn applauded Arizona Republican candidate Mark Finchem, who is running for secretary of state.

“There are so many problems with our election system,” Flynn said. “People have to understand how our constitution was designed, and Mark Finchem is one of those people who understands it.”

Some mainstream media coverage of Finchem and Kari Lake, who is running for governor in Arizona, has been “totally unprofessional,” Flynn said.

“They don’t want to talk about the policies, and they don’t want to have any kind of debates about the issues—the real issues that Americans care about,” he said.

Steve Bannon, ex-advisor to Trump and host of War Room Pandemic, also attended the fundraiser along with more than 150 Republicans.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

WEF Mafioso Threatens Climate Annihilation, Demands $2 Trillion as Protection Money

BY BEN BARTEE 5:23 PM ON SEPTEMBER 23, 2022

WEF transhumanist Yuval Noah Harari – who recently declared that the techno-hell he’s constructing doesn’t need “the vast majority of the population” – has returned to demand that the serfs offer more tribute to their overlords for “climate change.”

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slAYTeJeyRY
51:34 min

CNN news actor Bill Weir, who facilitates the discussion, gets things started by sycophantically slobbering all over Harari in his introduction, fawning over his supposed genius.

An eager beaver, Weir, a purportedly serious CNN—The Most Trusted Name in News™—”journalist,” gets as giddy introducing Harari as a preteen girl meeting Justin Bieber backstage. It’s very strange and embarrassing.

In this manner, Weir offers an unintentional, powerful insight into just how influential WEF leadership actually is within the corporate media: the mere opportunity to toss Harari softball questions fills him with childlike excitement.

Related: A WEF Op-ed Is Calling for Global Censorship. We Really Need to Cut Ties With These Commies

Weir then introduces, albeit much less enthusiastically, a special guest, the obligatory Climate Change Person of Color©—fresh-faced, barely-legal “climate activist” Vanessa Nakate, who, as Weir explains, “focuses on how the climate crisis is exacerbating gender equality.”

Climate crisis —> gender inequality: imagine connecting those dots! It certainly takes creativity, so credit where credit is due. The girl clearly has a healthy imagination.

Nakate rose to prominence a couple of years back when the white supremacists at the Associated Press cropped her out of a photo taken with Greta Thunberg and some other super-impressive climate activists doing God’s work at Davos.

Of course, everyone knows there’s never any explanation for anything, including photo edits, other than racism.

———–

At 3:50, Harari laments the global “despair” in the zeitgeist vis-à-vis “climate change.” He acts surprised – as if his organization’s nonstop fearmongering over COVID, “climate change,” and all other manner of existential crises (not to mention its project to shunt us all into techno-tenement housing) could produce any other reaction besides despair, fear, or hostility.

View: https://youtu.be/TtSMz-_h_cw
1:16 min

Harari at 4:20 explains that 2% of global GDP is a reasonable amount for his WEF sponsors to further extract from the economy to fight “climate change.” He warns that if you don’t agree right away, we’re all going to die a miserable collective death. He reminds the viewer, like any good high-pressure shyster salesman would, that there’s no time to think.

(Global GDP in 2022 is projected to be $103 trillion dollars. Two percent of that figure is about $2 trillion, give or take a few billion.)

Interestingly, neither Harari nor the CNN actor, Bill Weir, get around to explaining:

which administrative entity will receive that $2 trillion
what exactly the entity is going to do with the money it collects to end climate change
what accountability process will be in place to ensure the money actually goes to combating “climate change” (whatever that means)
…or any of the mechanics, actually.

The important thing is to shut up and write the check. The details will take care of themselves.

How ironic! Harari claims the technocrats don’t need the “vast majority” of peasants anymore – but they would certainly like to commandeer their cash!

————-

At 22:00, we get down to brass tacks when the political rhetoric heats up, betraying the true motivations of the “climate change” agenda – which has nothing, in reality, to do with environmental protectionism.

Using the strange Bill Gates floppy arms common to these people, Harari dives into one of his favorite talking points: demonizing populist nationalist leaders in the vein of Trump, Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, and Viktor Orban of Hungary – the only political movement capable of pushing back against his agenda.

Effeminate, non-threatening Bill Gates floppy arms: the telltale sign of a brutal anti-nationalist eugenicist:

View: https://youtu.be/BeaIUCE6vas
3:48 min

————-

The saddest aspect of this propaganda effort, perhaps, is the spectacle of the Ugandan university girl – a significantly more pleasant, less autistic version of Greta Thunberg. Unless she is an even more gifted sociopath than other actors in the “climate change” movement, Katane, by all appearances, means well. But she’s in way over her head.

She has no idea that the only reason she is there is for Harari and the CNN news actor to cynically weaponize her idealistic, ethnically diverse avatar to further their scam.

She actually apparently earnestly believes she is leading some kind of brave, grassroots rebellion movement against power when, in reality, she is serving it.

Young people, by simple virtue of their dearth of real-world experience, don’t know much. More importantly, they don’t know what they don’t know. Predators like Harari make quick work of them.

The WEF social engineers frequently attempt to invert the narrative in this manner. Harari plays the game in this summit interview: “There is a very big danger that, with climate change, the population might divide into the majority who suffers, and the minority who can protect themselves.”

The “minority,” in his conceptualization, is any nationalist who opposes his global, borderless technocracy.

He continually refers to “the powerful” in reference to national political leaders in opposition to the global “climate change” agenda, as if he is not the top lieutenant of the most powerful multinational organization in the world.

This is, to emphasize, Harari’s transparent attempt to subvert political opposition by hoodwinking enough gullible (mostly young) people into believing the WEF is actually Robin Hood. The reality is the inverse: the WEF serves the interests of the elite of the elite – the Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos of the world.

They camouflage themselves in a cloak of the popular folk-hero archetype to try to claim the moral high ground. They are, in every sense, Goliath, but play the role of David on the world stage – a direct and, sadly, highly effective ploy to pull on the heartstrings of liberals, who value weakness and victimhood as the highest virtues.

————

Notice how frequently the characters in this melodrama employ rhetoric such as “fighting climate change on the frontlines.” They intentionally frame COVID-19 as a war. And it is – only against you, not against carbon emissions.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

California Bans Natural Gas Furnaces, Water Heaters

Infowars.com
September 23rd 2022, 2:57 pm

Liberal state becomes first in nation to enact radical new green energy policy in name of stopping climate change.

The state of California is banning the sale of natural gas furnaces and water heaters by the year 2030 in the name of its anti-fossil fuel green energy agenda.

On Friday, the California Air Resources Board voted to enact the policy, which will phase out sales of gas heaters and furnaces in favor of electric ones in purported efforts to combat climate change.

Environmental advocate Leah Louis Prescott claimed the move would eventually lead to cleaner air for Californians by reducing emissions, pollution and smog.

“Together furnaces and water heaters typically that run on gas account for 90% of gas use in the average California household. So just eliminating these two sources of pollution is going to be a big win for our air quality and our health as well as for addressing climate change,” Prescott stated, according to Fox 5 San Diego.

“We’re really hopeful that this is the beginning of a domino effect and other states will follow California’s lead,” she said, adding, “I do think a lot more states are going to be following in California’s footsteps and looking at this as an opportunity to reduce the pollution in our homes and businesses.”

The radical move comes amid a slate of other carbon-cutting “green” policies, with the state’s Air Resource Board announcing last month it aimed to ban the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles incrementally over the coming years, with a goal of 100% of new vehicles sold to be electric by 2035.

Leftist politicians in the Golden State also earlier this year enacted a ban on “small off-road engines,” referring to motors in gasoline-powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers, with a goal of eliminating gas-powered lawn equipment sales after 2024.

A proposal floated earlier this week by the Air Resources Board also wants to phase out semi-trucks that run on diesel by 2040.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles City Council passed a resolution last May banning gas appliances from being installed in new homes and businesses, and instead requiring electric stoves, clothes dryers, furnaces and water heaters.

As admitted by Bloomberg News, California’s latest policy affecting furnaces and water heaters will have little to no effect on the state’s carbon output.

“Since California still gets about 40% of its power from fossil fuels, the transition won’t eliminate carbon emissions,” Bloomberg reports.

And California will never “eliminate carbon emissions” unless the state plans to run 100% fully on unreliable wind, solar, or water power, each of which carry various other risks to the environment.

Just where does the Air Resources Board think the state will produce the energy to power electric lawn mowers, stoves, water heaters and cars?

Video on website 7:49 min How are electric vehicles charged? With Gas

Video on website 55:35 min Great Reset Collapse Mode
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Belgium Permanently Shuts Down Nuclear Reactor Amid Power Crunch

Chris Menahan
InformationLiberation
Sep. 23, 2022

The Belgian government is shutting down a major nuclear power plant amid a record power crunch and skyrocketing energy costs to "appease" Green parties who oppose nuclear power.

From The Brussels Times, "Doel 3: Shutdown confirmed for Friday despite politicians' pleas":

Despite calls from members of the Federal Government to postpone the dismantling of the Doel 3 nuclear reactor, both the operator Engie and the reactor's director have confirmed that it will be permanently shut down on Friday.

In 2003, the Federal Government passed a law that nuclear reactors would have to stop producing electricity 40 years after their installation.

This was in part an agreement to appease the Green parties in government who have been noteworthy for their long-standing opposition to nuclear power.

This is especially funny because elites are now coming around to the fact nuclear power has the lowest emissions of any power source and is nearly carbon neutral.

While Europeans are being told to suffer high energy prices and the collapse of their industries to fight Russia and "climate change," Russians' gas is so cheap that people are burning it 24/7 on livestreams just for laughs.

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1573334469704290304
1:19 min
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Germany: Greens Plan to Ban Native Germans From a Third of Jobs to Promote ‘Diversity’​

Despite the fact that it’s clearly unconstitutional.

23 September, 2022
Paul Joseph Watson

In the name of promoting “diversity,” ruling Greens in the German the city of Hanover plan to ban a third of native citizens from applying for government jobs so they can be given to migrants.

Yes, really.

“A green mayor makes the difference!” wrote Turkish-born Filiz Polat, managing director of the Greens parliamentary group.

Polat was referring to Hanover Mayor Belit Onay, who came to power in November 2019, and is also of Turkish heritage.

“By the end of 2026, a third of all newly advertised positions in the city should be filled by applicants with a migration background,” wrote Polat.

In an effort to vastly increase the number of foreign-origin migrants in positions of local authority, a draft resolution brought by the city’s integration committee will ensure that the “target figure for all new hires is 30 percent.”

As part of a program to establish Hanover’s status as an “immigration city,” the government will also launch a PR campaign to “motivate young people from immigrant families to take advantage of the wide range of training and study opportunities in the state capital.”

“The campaign will comprise a “Day of Diversity” at local schools, while further developing “anti-racist coaching” across authorities and public bodies. A prize will also be awarded for “migrant companies” in the local area,” reports ReMix News.

Critics of the proposal assert that it is completely unconstitutional and violates anti-discrimination laws.

Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, an FDP member of the Bundestag, said the plan was “evidently unconstitutional, if I understand our Basic Law correctly.”
“What happens to the other two-thirds?” Lambsdorff asked in a tweet. “Are they reserved for organic Germans?”

Lambsdorff pointed out that reserving any jobs purely on the basis of someone’s ethnicity or migrant background, whether they be Germans or foreigners, is unconstitutional.

As we previously highlighted, back in July, the Green Party in Germany launched a PR campaign celebrating its vision for the future of the country.

Out of all the promo posters created for the campaign, none featured any white people.

But remember, demographic replacement is a dangerous right-wing extremist conspiracy theory.

The Green Party in Germany is by no means an obscure entity, it’s a major force in German politics.

It currently holds 118 of the 736 seats in the Bundestag after winning 14.8% of votes cast in the 2021 federal election and is now has the third largest of six parliamentary groups.

As we previously highlighted, 300 delegates of the Green Party loathe their own country to such a degree, they petitioned for the word ‘Germany’ to be removed from their own manifesto.

Germany’s new ‘anti-discrimination’ commissioner recently came under scrutiny because she previously used derogatory language in referring to ethnic Germans as “potatoes.”

Meanwhile, diversity continues to be such a strength that figures released by the German government show non-German foreigners are responsible for over 39 per cent of total murders and 56.25 per cent of manslaughter convictions, despite representing only 12 per cent of the population.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Biden Admits His Attacks on MAGA Are NOT Just About Trump – But Involves All of Those Who Disagree with the Regime

By Jim Hoft
Published September 23, 2022

On September 1, Joe Biden declared war on Trump supporters in a divisive primetime speech on the ‘battle for the soul of America’ from Philadelphia.

Joe Biden called 75+ million Trump supporters “a clear and present danger to our democracy.”

“MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution, they do not believe in the rule of law … They promote authoritarian leaders and they fan the flames of political violence,” said Biden.

Biden added, “MAGA Republicans embrace anger, thrive on chaos, live in shadow of lies.”

And this, “History tells us a blind loyalty to single leader has failed democracy.”

Classic projection from a senile and corrupt career politician.

It was clearly the most disgusting speech given by any American president in the history of the republic.

Former Trump aide Stephen Miller delivered an amazing rebuttal to Joe Biden’s historic declaration of war on the American people.

“President Trump poured out his heart, his soul, his spirit every day to build a better America for everyone to build a safer and more prosperous America. While Democrats and the deep state launched an illegal operation to take him out and it is now in its sixth year!” said Stephen Miller.

“President Biden tonight gave the speech of a dictator, in the style of a dictator, in the visual of a dictator, using the words of a dictator.”

Less than 18 hours after demonizing Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters, Joe Biden suddenly changed his mind.

Joe Biden said he doesn’t consider “any Trump supporter as a threat to the country.”

That was the entire theme of his speech!

“I don’t consider any Trump supporter a threat to the country,” Biden said at the White House.

He insisted his speech was directed at those who attacked democracy.

“I do think anyone who calls for the use of violence, fails to condemn violence when it’s used, refuses to acknowledge an election has been won, insists upon changing the way in which the rules and we count votes, that is a threat to democracy. Democracy. And everything we stand for, everything we stand for, rests on the platform of democracy,” he said.

“So I am not talking about anything other than it is inappropriate. And it’s not only happening here, but other parts of the world with failure to recognize and condemn violence whenever it’s used for those purposes, failure to condemn the attempt to manipulate an electoral outcome, failure to acknowledge when elections were won or lost.”

On Thursday, Biden participated in a Democratic National Committee reception in New York.

During his speech, Biden admitted that he’s “not just talking about Trump” when he calls “MAGA Republicans” a threat to the country.

“And one of the things that I think is really important is that — you know, the press is here, and they sometimes, legitimately — legitimately criticize me a lot, legitimately. But one of the things they talk about — when I talk about MAGA Republicans, I’m not just talking about Trump, I’m talking about those folks who have a different view of how the institutions should function,” Biden said.

1664008383505.png

More from his speech:

They’re very much up for grabs right now, the institutions — whether or not the Supreme Court — what legitimacy it has, what it should have; what the Congress can and can’t do.

And, you know, we ta- — when I talked about there are some extremes within the other party — and this is not your father’s Republican Party. This is a different party than when you started helping me years ago. It’s a very different party.

And, you know, when you — when you defend people who broke down doors in the Capitol and tried to turn around an election and ended up with some police being dead, and when you defend them as patriots, there’s something different about what’s out there.

When you hear Republicans talking about “if certain things happen, there’ll be riots in the street and there’ll be blood on the streets,” it — it’s just — it’s not consistent with who we are as a democracy.

And when you see the continuation of the notion of failing to recognize the legitimacy of an election when there’s not a single thread of evidence to suggest it was anything other than legitimate, it’s — it’s a dangerous trend. And the fact of the matter is that, you know, the MAGA Republicans have a very different view of where they want to take the country.

And so I think there’s a lot of stake — a lot of stake in this election. And — but I feel quite confident about how — what we’re going to be able to do.

You know, I’ve had — and the press has heard me say this before — six of my former Republican co- — my Republican colleagues in the Senate that I knew, that are still there, have come to me. And I’ve promised I would never mention their names, and I will never. And they’ve came separately to tell me they agree with me on a lot of things but they just can’t vote with me because they’ll lose their election — they’ll lose the primary.

And it’s not like there is — there’s almost a — it seems as though a bit of a fear factor that if you don’t support the position of Mr. Trump and the MAGA Republicans, that you are not — you can’t get the nomination to run for office.

And — but, you know, it’s interesting that we’ve been able to get a fair amount done, and we have to keep the momentum going, instead of, you know, dealing with the anger and — and division that is being preached. I’m optimistic.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

Price Controls Have Never Worked (Commentary)​

Heartland Author
September 23, 2022

In 1892 the French archaeologist Henri Pognon made a historic discovery a few dozen miles northeast of Baghdad: a massive tell that held the ruins of the ancient city-state Eshnunna.

Though it was not excavated until decades later by another archaeological team led by Dutch Egyptologist Henri Frankfort, the tell was one of the great finds of the century, revealing secrets of a Mesopotamian city that had been hidden for millennia.

Among the secrets discovered on cuneiform tablets was that Eshnunna used price controls, a discovery notable in that it appears to be the oldest historical record of humans fixing prices. (I’ve attempted to verify this fact with economic historians, and will let you know if I get a response.)

1 kor of barley [she’um] is (priced) at [ana] 1 shekel of silver;
3 qa of “best oil” are (priced) at 1 shekel of silver;
1 seah (and) 2 qa of sesame oil are (priced) at 1 shekel of silver. . . . The hire for a wagon together with its oxen and its driveris 1 massiktum (and) 4 seah of barley. If it is (paid in) silver, the hire is one third of a shekel. He shall drive it the whole day.


Eshnunna’s price controls edge out by a couple centuries the Code of Hammurabi (1755–1750 BC), a more famous record from ancient Babylon that was a “maze of price control regulations,” as the historian Thomas DiLorenzo put it.

This might explain why the First Babylonian Empire fizzled nearly a thousand years before the Greek poet Homer told the story of the Trojan War. Price controls don’t work, and an abundance of history (as well as basic economics) proves it.

A Brief History of Price Controls​

The Ancient Greeks may have given us Homer and his wonderful stories, but they suffered from the same economic ignorance as the rulers of Eshnunna when it came to price fixing.

In 388 B.C., grain prices in Athens were out of control—largely because Athenian rulers had an incredibly complex set of regulations on agriculture production and commerce, which included “an army of grain inspectors appointed for the purpose of setting the price of grain at a level the Athenian government thought to be just.” The penalty for evading these price controls was death, and many grain traders soon found themselves on trial facing such a punishment when it was discovered they were “hoarding” grain during a (man-made) shortage.

The Athenian Empire was history by the time Rome attempted its own price control scheme seven hundred years later on a much larger scale. In 301 A.D. the Emperor Diocletian passed his Edict on Maximum Prices, which set a fixed rate on everything from eggs and grain to beef and clothing and beyond, as well as the wages of laborers who produced these items. The penalty for anyone caught violating these edicts was—you guessed it—death. Traders responded exactly as one would expect to these regulations.

“The people brought provisions no more to market, since they could not get a reasonable price for them,” one historian wrote. Not coincidentally, Rome’s empire soon went the same way as that of the Athenians (though the eastern half would survive another thousand years).

And then there’s the British colony of Bengal, located in northeast India. Few people today remember the Bengal Famine of 1770, which is astonishing considering an estimated 10 million people died, roughly a third of its population. What’s even more astonishing is how little attention the event attracted at the time, at least in the London press. While many attributed the famine to the monsoons and drought that plagued the region in 1768 and 1769, Adam Smith, writing in The Wealth of Nations, correctly observed that it was the price controls that came afterwards that likely turned a scarcity of food into a full blown famine.

“The drought in Bengal, a few years ago, might probably have occasioned a very great dearth. Some improper regulations, some injudicious restraints, imposed by the servants of the East India Company upon the rice trade, contributed, perhaps, to turn that dearth into a famine.

When the government, in order to remedy the inconveniencies of a dearth, orders all the dealers to sell their corn at what it supposes a reasonable price, it either hinders them from bringing it to market, which may sometimes produce a famine even in the beginning of the season; or, if they bring it thither, it enables the people, and thereby encourages them to consume it so fast as must necessarily produce a famine before the end of the season.”


And let us not forget the French Revolution, where in 1793 leaders paused their head-lopping to pass the Law of the General Maximum, a set of price controls passed to limit “price gouging.” (Henry Hazlitt had it right when he called the law “a desperate attempt to offset the consequences of [the leaders’] own reckless overissue of paper money.”)

The American historian Andrew Dickson White (1832-1918), a cofounder of Cornell University, explained the consequences of the policy.

“The first result of the Maximum [price law] was that every means was taken to evade the fixed price imposed, and the farmers brought in as little produce as they possibly could,” White wrote. “This increased the scarcity, and the people of the large cities were put on an allowance.”

Important Market Signals​

Fortunately, today we have the advantage of not just history but the science of economics to show us that price controls don’t work.

Basic economics teaches that prices are important market signals. High prices might be an aggravation for consumers, but they signal to producers the opportunity for profit, which leads to more production and investment. They also signal to consumers that the good is scarce, which encourages people to use less of it.

Take gasoline. When prices are $7.50 a gallon, people drive less than they would if the price were $1, $3, or $5 per gallon. Meanwhile, the high price also signals to producers an opportunity for profit, which encourages investment and production, which ultimately leads to lower gasoline prices. As economists will sometimes say, the solution to high prices is high prices.

Putting an artificially low price on gasoline sends the wrong signals to both consumers and producers. The low price discourages producers from bringing fuel to market, and it also encourages consumers to use more fuel because it’s artificially inexpensive—which is a recipe for a gas shortage.

This is precisely what happened in the 1970s after President Nixon announced price controls on gasoline, resulting in a sustained national shortage and massive gas lines. (For what it’s worth, Nixon knew his price controls would be a disaster, but passed them anyway because it would signal to voters he “meant business.”)

Price Controls Are Back​

Today nearly all economists agree that price controls are harmful—yet this has not stopped the specter of them from rising once again during our current global economic turmoil.

As Axios recently reported, price controls are back and are no longer a relic of the 70s. Facing an energy crisis, G-7 countries are seeking to form a buyers cartel that would effectively put a price cap on Russian crude oil.

The scheme, like all price control schemes, is likely to backfire. An abundance of evidence shows price fixing produces little beyond scarcity, black markets, and—in worst case scenarios—death and famine.

The people of ancient Eshnunna can be forgiven for not understanding why setting the price of a kor of barley at a shekel of silver was a harmful policy.
Today’s policymakers, who have the benefit of history and economics, have no excuse.
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

A Mask Off Moment

The EU is a totalitarian outrage.

23 September, 2022
Paul Joseph Watson

The EU is threatening to punish Italy for electing a right-wing coalition government.

How dare they democratically elect people the EU doesn’t like! The sheer nerve!

View: https://youtu.be/GfXFSBaLvPg
3:29 min
 

marsh

On TB every waking moment

The Idea of Liberty Is Western

09/22/2022Ludwig von Mises

[This article is excerpted from chapter 21 of Money, Method, and the Market Process, a collection of essays selected and edited by Margit von Mises and with an introduction by Richard M. Ebeling.]

I
The history of civilization is the record of a ceaseless struggle for liberty.

Social cooperation under the division of labor is the ultimate and sole source of man's success in his struggle for survival and his endeavors to improve as much as possible the material conditions of his well-being. But as human nature is, society cannot exist if there is no provision for preventing unruly people from actions incompatible with community life. In order to preserve peaceful cooperation, one must be ready to resort to violent suppression of those disturbing the peace. Society cannot do without a social apparatus of coercion and compulsion, i.e., without state and government. Then a further problem emerges: to restrain the men who are in charge of the governmental functions lest they abuse their power and convert all other people into virtual slaves. The aim of all struggles for liberty is to keep in bounds the armed defenders of peace, the governors and their constables. Freedom always means: freedom from arbitrary action on the part of the police power.

The idea of liberty is and has always been peculiar to the West. What separates East and West is first of all the fact that the peoples of the East never conceived the idea of liberty. The imperishable glory of the ancient Greeks was that they were the first to grasp the meaning and significance of institutions warranting liberty. Recent historical research has traced back to Oriental sources the origin of some of the scientific achievements previously credited to the Hellenes. But nobody has ever contested that the idea of liberty was created in the cities of ancient Greece. The writings of Greek philosophers and historians transmitted it to the Romans and later to modern Europe and America. It became the essential concern of all Western plans for the establishment of the good society. It begot the laissez-faire philosophy to which mankind owes all the unprecedented achievements of the age of capitalism.

The meaning of all modern political and judicial institutions is to safeguard the individuals' freedom against encroachments on the part of the government. Representative government and the rule of law, the independence of courts and tribunals from interference on the part of administrative agencies, habeas corpus, judicial examination and redress of acts of the administration, freedom of speech and the press, separation of state and church, and many other institutions aimed at one end only: to restrain the discretion of the officeholders and to render the individuals free from their arbitrariness.

The age of capitalism has abolished all vestiges of slavery and serfdom. It has put an end to cruel punishments and has reduced the penalty for crimes to the minimum indispensable for discouraging offenders. It has done away with torture and other objectionable methods of dealing with suspects and lawbreakers. It has repealed all privileges and promulgated equality of all men under the law. It has transformed the subjects of tyranny into free citizens.

The material improvements were the fruit of these reforms and innovations in the conduct of government affairs. As all privileges disappeared and everybody was granted the right to challenge the vested interests of all other people, a free hand was given to those who had the ingenuity to develop all the new industries which today render the material conditions of people more satisfactory. Population figures multiplied and yet the increased population could enjoy a better life than their ancestors.

Also in the countries of Western civilization there have always been advocates of tyranny—the absolute arbitrary rule of an autocrat or an aristocracy on the one hand and the subjection of all other people on the other hand. But in the Age of Enlightenment the voices of these opponents became thinner and thinner. The cause of liberty prevailed. In the first part of the nineteenth century the victorious advance of the principle of freedom seemed to be irresistible. The most eminent philosophers and historians got the conviction that historical evolution tends toward the establishment of institutions warranting freedom and that no intrigues and machinations on the part of the champions could stop the trend toward liberalism.

II
In dealing with the preponderance of the liberal social philosophy there is a disposition to overlook the power of an important factor that worked in favor of the idea of liberty, viz., the eminent role assigned to the literature of ancient Greece in the education of the elite. There were among the Greek authors also champions of government omnipotence, such as Plato. But the essential tenor of Greek ideology was the pursuit of liberty. Judged by the standards of modern liberal and democratic institutions, the Greek city-states must be called oligarchies. The liberty which the Greek statesmen, philosophers and historians glorified as the most precious good of man was a privilege reserved to a minority. In denying it to metics and slaves they virtually advocated the despotic rule of an hereditary caste of oligarchs. Yet it would be a grave error to dismiss their hymns to liberty as mendacious. They were no less sincere in their praise and quest of freedom than were, two thousand years later, the slaveholders George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. It was the political literature of the ancient Greeks that begot the ideas of the Monarchomachs, the philosophy of the Whigs, the doctrines of Althusius, Grotius, and John Locke, and the ideology of the fathers of modern constitutions and bills of rights. It was the classical studies, the essential feature of a liberal education, that kept awake the spirit of freedom in England of the Stuarts and George III, in France of the Bourbons, and in Italy, subject to the despotism of a galaxy of princes.

No less a man than Bismarck, among the nineteenth-century statesmen the foremost foe of liberty, bears witness to the fact that even in the Prussia of Frederick William III the Gymnasium was a stronghold of republicanism.1 The passionate endeavors to eliminate the classical studies from the curriculum of the liberal education and thus virtually to destroy its very character were one of the major manifestations of the revival of the servile ideology.

It is a fact that a hundred years ago only a few people anticipated the overpowering momentum which the antiliberal ideas were destined to acquire in a very short time. The ideal of liberty seemed to be so firmly rooted that everybody thought that no reactionary movement could ever succeed in eradicating it. It is true, it would have been a hopeless venture to attack freedom openly and to advocate unfeignedly a return to subjection and bondage. But antiliberalism got hold of people's minds camouflaged as superliberalism, as the fulfillment and consummation of the very ideas of freedom and liberty. It came disguised as socialism, communism, and planning.

No intelligent man could fail to recognize that what the socialists, communists, and planners were aiming at was the most radical abolition of the individual's freedom and the establishment of government omnipotence. Yet the immense majority of the socialist intellectuals were convinced that in fighting for socialism they were fighting for freedom. They called themselves left-wingers and democrats, and nowadays they are even claiming for themselves the epithet liberals.

These intellectuals and the masses who followed their lead were in their subconsciousness fully aware of the fact that their failure to attain the far-flung goals which their ambition impelled them to aim at was due to deficiencies of their own. They were either not bright enough or not industrious enough. But they were eager not to avow their inferiority both to themselves and to their fellow men and to search for a scapegoat. They consoled themselves and tried to convince other people that the cause of their failure was not their own inferiority but the injustice of society's economic organization. Under capitalism, they declared, self-realization is only possible for the few. "Liberty in a laissez-faire society is attainable only by those who have the wealth or opportunity to purchase it."2 Hence, they concluded, the state must interfere in order to realize "social justice." What they really meant is, in order to give to the frustrated mediocrity "according to his needs."

III
As long as the problems of socialism were merely a matter of debates people who lack clear judgment and understanding could fall prey to the illusion that freedom could be preserved even under a socialist regime. Such self-deceit can no longer be nurtured since the Soviet experience has shown to everybody what conditions are in a socialist commonwealth. Today the apologists of socialism are forced to distort facts and to misrepresent the manifest meaning of words when they want to make people believe in the compatibility of socialism and freedom.

The late Professor Laski—a self-styled noncommunist or even anticommunist—told us that "no doubt in Soviet Russia a Communist has a full sense of liberty; no doubt also he has a keen sense that liberty is denied him in Fascist Italy."3 The truth is that a Russian is free to obey all the orders issued by the great dictator. But as soon as he deviates a hundredth of an inch from the correct way of thinking as laid down by the authorities, he is mercilessly liquidated. All those politicians, office-holders, authors, musicians, and scientists who were "purged" were—to be sure—not anticommunists. They were, on the contrary, fanatical communists, party members in good standing, whom the supreme authorities, in due recognition of their loyalty to the Soviet creed, had promoted to high positions. The only offense they had committed was that they were not quick enough in adjusting their ideas, policies, books or compositions to the latest changes in the ideas and tastes of Stalin. It is difficult to believe that these people had "a full sense of liberty" if one does not attach to the word liberty a sense which is precisely the contrary of the sense which all people always used to attach to it.

Fascist Italy was certainly a country in which there was no liberty. It had adopted the notorious Soviet pattern of the "one party principle" and accordingly suppressed all dissenting views. Yet there was still a conspicuous difference between the Bolshevik and the Fascist application of this principle. For instance, there lived in Fascist Italy a former member of the parliamentary group of communist deputies, who remained loyal unto death to his communist tenets, Professor Antonio Graziadei. He regularly received the pension which he was entitled to claim as professor emeritus, and he was free to write and to publish, with the most eminent Italian publishing firms, books which were orthodox Marxian. His lack of liberty was certainly less rigid than that of the Russian communists who, as Professor Laski chose to say, "no doubt" have "a full sense of liberty."

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