GOV/MIL Main "Great Reset" Thread

[marsh]

A Fool Crisis in America

America doesn't have a mental health crisis. We have a fool crisis, and if people would stop acting like fools, they would stop complaining about their mental health. Saying this out loud gets me in lots of trouble, the top reason b...

www.americanthinker.com

A Fool Crisis in America

By Jeremy Egerer
December 10, 2022

America doesn't have a mental health crisis. We have a fool crisis, and if people would stop acting like fools, they would stop complaining about their mental health.

Saying this out loud gets me in lots of trouble, the top reason being that a fool almost never thinks he's a fool — it's his last guess at why he's in pain, and before he gets there, he has a chain of reasons as long as his arm. High up on this list of excuses, probably first, for most actual fools today, is that they're "unwell." The problem? Their brains. So in fact I agree with them — I just happen to view their problem from another angle.

Before explaining, I want to explain what foolish isn't.

Foolish isn't when your kid dies and your life turns black. Foolish isn't being born into an abusive household and trying to recover from trauma. It also isn't waking up one morning and realizing that your whole life is going nowhere and that you're going to die and maybe nobody's going to remember you in a few years. These are all great reasons to be sad, and, I would argue, if you are sad, then it's a sign that you're healthy. It could even be argued that if you aren't sad when bad things happen, you're sick. So we can cross these off the "mental health list," and anybody who says he's suffering mental unhealth because of them is a fool. Wrong words signify the wrong ideas, and wrong ideas are the only reason anybody can be foolish.

So then what exactly is a fool? A fool isn't someone who screws up. A fool is someone who never asks himself if what he's doing is stupid. He never asks himself if what he's doing is morally wrong. He prefers instead to play the victim. He never asks himself what kind of an organism he is and whether or not his lifestyle is healthy. He frames everything in the worst light possible and then expects himself to feel okay about it.

This last one is especially stupid. It's also especially common, so to put it in the clearest light possible, it's being upset about your car problems without thinking you're one of the only people in history who gets to drive a car. Or having someone do you a favor and not saying how lucky you are to have him. It's going through life, having 99% of everything you want go your way (think about this, I dare you), and then pretending the 1% not going your way is your whole life. It's not being thankful to your parents when they care for you, not listening to them when they're just trying to save you, not telling them you love them when the time you've got left with them is short, now, and getting shorter every day.

Every second of every day, there's something or someone beautiful right in front of you. God has put them there, and you never stopped to thank Him. I was told the other day that happy people aren't grateful; grateful people are happy. The reverse is also 100% true, and if you aren't grateful in some way, then you deserve it.

But being a fool is also living a life divorced from everything healthy and then expecting to feel okay. Here are a few prime examples of how modern people wreck themselves.

Having sex with the wrong people. A healthy brain gets pumped with oxytocin every time you have sex. You keep doing this with strangers, or people who aren't worth it, or both, and your brain attaches itself to these people and then rips that attachment right off — the fast lane to feeling empty and abandoned. Self-indulgence to gross women on the internet isn't an alternative, as it makes you lazy, dirty, weak, and stupid.

People are biologically wired for being close to large families and having little privacy. Moving far away from your family, not having any kids, and living for a boss who will throw you away is a good way to kill yourself on the inside. Pretending your dog is your kid is a Band-Aid on a lost arm, and it has the added effect of making you look stupid.

Eating Ding-Dongs instead of veggies. Not exercising and letting yourself get fat and telling yourself you love being fat and publicly making yourself a big fat liar. Staying up late doomscrolling instead of sleeping. Drinking too much too often, or using drugs.

Violating your conscience. Making promises you don't keep. Pretending Nature made promises to you and won't keep them (i.e., having wild and unusual expectations).

Whining about survival. Making excuses for your bad performance. Thinking "doing your job well" is the most important thing and that doing it cheerfully isn't (we still hate you). Never taking obstacles in your path as a personal challenge — as the only way you can become a better person.

Holding long-term grudges against people you never see anymore. Not forgiving people when they say they're sorry. Not asking for forgiveness when you're wrong.

Reading the news all day and believing that the news is the world without just looking at the world in front of you.

Waking up and filling your brain with distractions instead of reading something wholesome. Not going to church regularly, or to any other meaningful organization outside work. Watching trash movies and trash TV and listening to trash music. Not understanding that every song has a vibe, and that every time you listen to music, you're changing the frequency of your soul. Garbage in, garbage out.

Being a consumer instead of a producer. Listening to the radio and never singing with anybody else in unison. Not being great at anything you can feel proud about.

Not valuing people who've spent more time on this earth than you, and neglecting to ask them questions.

Chasing Yin and ignoring Yang. Not seeing the good in bad situations, and not considering the bad in good situations. Thinking you can have your cake and eat it, too.

These are only a few instances, but they sum up the stupid things people think and do and then wonder why they aren't feeling okay. The modern man shoots himself in the foot and then won't acknowledge the gun in his hand.
We commit soul suicide and then expect the body to go on living well without it. But the body is staging a protest, and when it does, we blame the body. This is when we get meds and call in a "mental health day." We ought to be locked up in the looney bin.

I'd also argue that a lot of suffering in life is normal, and we need to just get used to it. Where we draw the line between normal and extraordinary suffering is a matter worth fighting over and will probably be fought about by every generation. But once you get the foolishness and weakness out of the way, you're free to deal with the mentally unwell — the psychopaths, sociopaths, paranoids, perverts, and fanatics, people who need meds and a nice padded room or a jail cell. But of course we don't want to deal with them, either: we give them cheap drugs and let them run wild on the streets of Seattle, or we give them expensive drugs and let them run Stanford, CNN, Nike, and Disney.

 

[marsh]

The Things We Believe In › American Greatness

Rosa Parks was one of America’s indispensable civil rights icons, Rita Hayworth one of its great actresses, Ronald Reagan one of its most consequential presidents, and Norman Rockwell one of its most…

amgreatness.com

The Things We Believe In

The spirit that made America a beacon of freedom and prosperity is in sharp decline. What will replace it?

By Helen E. Krieble
December 9, 2022

Rosa Parks was one of America’s indispensable civil rights icons, Rita Hayworth one of its great actresses, Ronald Reagan one of its most consequential presidents, and Norman Rockwell one of its most beloved artists. They all had something else in common, along with 700,000 Americans who die with Alzheimer’s disease every year. All four of them suffered memory losses so thorough and tragic that they eventually had no knowledge of who they were, how important they had been, and why their lives had mattered to millions.

These and many other sufferers were fortunate enough to have family members and other caregivers to help when they lost their character. Will the United States be as fortunate? American society is losing its character because of its acute memory loss, too, with millions of citizens no longer aware of America’s history, and what it has meant to generations of people around the world. This nation needs more than caregivers to supply day-to-day needs, though. Americans need to be reminded of who they are, and why their character matters.

What exactly is America’s national “character”? There are almost as many descriptions as there are Americans, and today’s opinion leaders disagree on what it means to be an American. Politicians routinely criticize each other with the easy throw-away line, “That’s just not who we are.” The very fact that there is a national debate about it underscores the problem: Americans as a whole do not understand what is so special about their unique place in the world, and in the history of freedom. So, who are we?

From the very first European settlements in America, both at Plymouth and at Jamestown, colonists almost immediately developed a different character than their ancestors in the old world. A rugged individualism began to develop very early, largely because of the circumstances of the land itself—a new world where everyone had to work if they wanted to eat. The land itself served to unite rich and poor alike under the banner of equality. Among the first settlers at Jamestown, and on the Mayflower a few years later, there were people of wealth and upbringing, often from some of the most prominent families in Europe. They sailed on the same boats with farmers, merchants, tradesmen, and people so poor they sold themselves into indentured servitude in order to pay their passage to America—people with whom the noble families would never have mingled back home. Yet even many of the wealthy settlers faced the same oppressive lack of opportunity in Europe as the poor, because they were not the firstborn sons.

Primogeniture, the system under which lands, positions, and titles were inherited by the firstborn sons, had been in place in Europe for centuries, and it left generations of people with at least modest wealth and first-class educations, but no prospects for a better future. They often had as much reason to come to a new land of opportunity as their poor shipmates. Many of the early settlers were the second or third sons of English aristocracy; others were aristocrats’ daughters, some of whom were granted land in the new colonies—something they could never have achieved in England. In fact, King James II was said to have derisively referred to America as “the second sons’ colonies,” a nickname that stuck for many years.

In the South, those wealthier settlers became the planter class, and in New England the merchant class. In Pennsylvania, William Penn dreamed of turning his own land grant into a colony for “common people,” providing opportunity for the poor to prosper alongside the second sons of England. At Jamestown, Captain John Smith had turned the reality of “everyone works if they want to eat” into law. While the colonies in different regions evolved differently, they all shared that common theme of equality.

Equality as a principle may have developed as the culture of the American colonies out of necessity at first, since it certainly did not come naturally to Europeans. But it nonetheless became deeply embedded in the psyche of the colonists. By the time of the American Revolution, the idea that all are equal in the eyes of the law had been part of the American culture for generations.

Moreover, the concept that ordinary people could govern themselves was far more than an abstract notion of philosophers. By that time, it was the proven experience of Americans, whose isolation from the “civilized world” of Europe left them no choice but to govern themselves. That made them unique among the world’s varied cultures, and has made their exceptional system the envy of millions ever since.

At the beginning of Barack Obama’s presidency, he touched off a firestorm of criticism about “American exceptionalism” and what it meant. He, and others, questioned if it even existed. By the end of his tenure, supporters were openly praising him for “redefining” the concept. The Washington Post called him “a tinkerer and a poet in whose hands the concept of ‘American exceptionalism’ is being reshaped for the twenty-first century and weaponized against Trumpism.” That misunderstanding is not only sad, it is dangerous for the future of America. It is now being transmitted to younger Americans through our schools, churches, TV programming, and social media outlets.

We now have a president in Joe Biden, who has echoed the cries of those on the extreme Left, who say that America is “systemically racist.”

The notion that there is an Obama version, or a Trump version, or a Biden version of American exceptionalism belittles and misses the truth: that there are principles and characteristics of America far greater than Obama, Trump, Biden, or any other leader.

The concept of American exceptionalism was first identified, and discussed at length, by Alexis de Tocqueville in the 1830s, when he published two large volumes attempting to explain the uniqueness of America to his fellow Frenchmen. Unlike European societies dominated by aristocrats, he characterized the United States as a society where hard work and personal improvement were the central theme, and where the common man enjoyed an equal level of dignity. In his observation, it was unprecedented that commoners never “deferred” to elites, as was expected in Europe. He described a crass individualism and free-market ethic that had taken root among Americans.

Tocqueville’s description of the American work ethic defined the “American dream,” as it is often called now. “Among a democratic people, where there is no hereditary wealth, every man works to earn a living,” he wrote. “Labor is held in honor.” In old European societies, laborers were looked down upon, so the contrast was palpable. That led to his observation that a rapidly democratizing society had a citizenry devoted to achieving fortunes through hard work. It explained a crucial difference between the United States and Europe, where Tocqueville said nobody cared about making money. The lower classes had no hope of gaining wealth, and the upper classes thought it vulgar to discuss their birthright. Yet by contrast, far from being envious or jealous, Tocqueville said that when American workers saw people fashionably dressed and well-heeled, they simply announced that through hard work they would soon have such things, too.

Americans have come a long way from that rich history. Today, they are frequently told that their strength as a society lies in ethnic diversity, not in unity of purpose. The uniqueness of America is more often misunderstood than well-articulated. It is often expressed as a superficial superiority, that the United States is the richest and most powerful country on Earth.

In his now-famous 2009 press conference, Obama was asked to explain his “enthusiasm for multilateral frameworks,” and his view of American exceptionalism. He replied, “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.” He further explained,

Now, the fact that I am very proud of my country and I think that we’ve got a whole lot to offer the world does not lessen my interest in recognizing the value and wonderful qualities of other countries, or recognizing that we’re not always going to be right, or that other people may have good ideas, or that in order for us to work collectively, all parties have to compromise, and that includes us.​

For the rest of his tenure in office, he never escaped the accusation by some that he didn’t love America enough. He made a point of using the word “exceptional” afterwards, but many critics just didn’t believe him. Perhaps that was because he had such difficulty articulating precisely what was so exceptional, or special, about America. He often spoke about America’s role in defending and rebuilding Europe during and after World War II as a source of great pride. He mentioned the United States having the world’s largest economy and an unmatched military capability. He told the Business Roundtable in 2014,

When you ask people now, what is the number one place to invest, it’s the United States of America. […] A lot of that has to do with the fact that we’ve got the best workers in the world, we’ve got the best university system, and research and development and innovation in the world, and we’ve got the best businesses in the world.​

He told the National Institutes of Health that same month that, “Part of American leadership in the world—one of the things that has always marked us as exceptional—is our leadership in science and our leadership in research.”

In a speech praising health care workers who went to West Africa to combat Ebola, he said,

A lot of people talk about American exceptionalism. I’m a firm believer in American exceptionalism. You know why I am? It’s because of folks like this. It’s because we don’t run and hide when there’s a problem. […] It is people who are willing to go there at significant sacrifice to make a difference. That’s American exceptionalism. That’s what we should be proud of. That’s who we are.​

Americans can take pride in having the world’s strongest economy, unmatched military, best workers, top universities, and leadership in research, development, and health care, among many others. They can also be proud of the generosity of Americans who travel the world helping those less fortunate.

They are a brave, independent, entrepreneurial, virtuous, and generous people. But other cultures can also be charitable; there are several other very strong economies, and numerous military powerhouses. Many other nations also invest heavily in healthcare, education, and technological research. These are important, but they are not what makes America unique. They are a result of national exceptionalism, not the source of it.

For years Americans have been bombarded by political and cultural leaders lecturing about the importance of diversity. President Clinton said, “My fellow Americans, we must never believe that our diversity is a weakness. It is our greatest strength.” President Obama went further, “The world respects us not just for our arsenal; it respects us for our diversity.” Strength from diversity has been a common theme of the last 50 years, readily found in speeches by leaders of the U.N., the USSR, India, New York City, London, France, Uganda, and many others. “Diversity, our strength” is the official motto of Toronto, Canada, but not of the United States of America. In fact, it is diametrically opposed to the American motto e pluribus unum which stresses unity, not diversity. Yet the joke nowadays, that is too close to the truth, is that many of our citizens believe the American motto of e pluribus unum means “out of one, many.”

All of this preoccupation with race as a dividing line in America may seem ironic, given that the United States has a more diverse population than any other nation. There is no question that diversity adds to society’s rich character, and contributes to many of its traditions. But America’s strength, and especially its endurance, do not spring from its diversity. They come from its unity.

Americans of all backgrounds are united behind a set of governing principles.

That is the source of American exceptionalism. It is a unity that transcends party politics, race, color, religion, national origin, gender, or any other human trait. In America, it does not matter where your family came from, what language your parents spoke, or who you are related to.

Americans are united by a belief in the essential principle that ordinary people can govern themselves, and that the primary role of government is to protect their right to do so.

That principle is what defines Americans. In fact, among such a vastly diverse population that includes elements of every other culture in the world, it is the only truly unifying theme. That is what has held this diverse country together for nearly 250 years.

How the Mighty Have Fallen
The same Alexis de Tocqueville, whose seminal work on American democracy in the 1830s extolled the virtues of a free society, also foresaw some of its greatest challenges. In fact, his warnings were mostly ignored, and have largely come true.

He warned especially about the omnipotence and all-powerful character of the majority in a democratic system. He knew that unchecked political power inevitably leads to tyranny, and warned that such power is just as dangerous in the hands of an unchecked majority of citizens as in the hands of a king or dictator. Thus, the greatest danger Americans faced, what he called the “tyranny of the majority,” could already be seen in their mistreatment of minorities.

Part 1 of 2

 

[marsh]

Part 2 of 2

The Bill of Rights was adopted specifically to guard Americans’ individual rights, especially against abuses of power, but they were mainly worded as restrictions against the government, not against the people themselves. For instance, the First Amendment guaranteed that “Congress shall make no law […] abridging the freedom of speech” but that does not guard against angry mobs shouting down speakers on college campuses. In fact, one of Tocqueville’s most shocking claims, from today’s perspective, is that there was less freedom of discussion and “independence of mind” in America than in Europe in his time, such was the power of peer pressure, the human tendency to follow the crowd, and the fear of angry mobs. Today, many students are taught and believe that people don’t have the right to say things that might “offend” others.

Several observers over the past two centuries have worried that Americans might discover the ability to vote themselves benefits from the public treasury, or to make other policy mistakes that endanger their own future as a republic. Tocqueville put it elegantly, “It is not necessary to do violence to such a people in order to strip them of the rights they enjoy; they themselves willingly loosen their hold. […] They neglect their chief business, which is to remain their own masters.”

That prediction has come true, and today Americans face an uncertain future because their national character is no longer rooted in fierce individualism and personal responsibility. Instead, they have opted for massive public benefits at the expense of future generations, completely ignoring the economic disaster this will eventually cause (not to mention the immorality of leaving such debt behind). Some observers now think that unfathomable public debt is the only thing that still unites a politically and socially divided American people.

Perhaps worse, citizens have demanded, and Congress has delivered, ever-increasing levels of government regulation over virtually every aspect of modern life—almost none of which was envisioned by the Constitution. Today’s mass of government agencies, laws, rules, permits, and enforcement is the furthest thing imaginable from citizens “remaining their own masters.”

The Steady Erosion of Freedom
America’s founders envisioned a system of “checks and balances,” to insure against a powerful government usurping or abusing the sovereign power that belongs to the people. So, they wrote the Constitution to embody a system of carefully divided responsibilities, where each branch of government has a distinct responsibility in preserving the people’s rights: Congress legislates, the president administers, and the courts provide independent judgment in contested cases. But the federal system no longer works that way. Today, the executive branch not only administers, but also makes laws, and sits in judgment. The courts, now, not only sit in judgment, but also make laws, and enforce their judgments. Meanwhile, Congress has delegated most of its legislative authority to executive branch agencies. The constitutional lines separating the branches are now almost nonexistent.

A group called the New Civil Liberties Alliance has tracked and reported on the massive growth of “administrative law:” rules and regulations enacted by executive branch agencies, not by Congress, and enforced by executive branch agencies, not by courts. Its conclusions are frightening. “Americans accused of violations are now ten times more likely to be tried by an unelected bureaucrat than by a federal judge.” For example, the IRS has evolved into a tax collection agency that operates on the principle that you are guilty until you can prove yourself innocent.

Pointing out that Congress now enacts fewer than 100 laws per year (many of them on superficial subjects such as naming buildings), the group points out that Congress is “handing over the task of legislating to federal administrative agencies. This Administrative State now enforces and adjudicates hundreds of thousands of regulations governing daily activities in our lives.”

Keeping in mind the founding declaration that government only “derives its just powers from the consent of the governed,” this administrative usurpation could only happen with the consent of the people themselves. It is by inaction that Americans have consented to the steady chipping away of their principles, and their freedom.

The individual rights guaranteed to all Americans have been chipped away, little by little, without anyone ever having decided on such a plan. It has happened slowly and incrementally, but in response to demands by the citizens themselves. That’s because Americans have an insatiable need to fix every single problem, or at least try to do so. Unfortunately, they have been told that almost always requires government action, regardless of the obvious reality that many problems in life cannot be solved by government.

It is a virtual cliché that when Americans sense something is wrong, they respond with: “There ought to be a law.” The result is an unseemly and un-American expectation of government programs that care for us from cradle to grave. That has led to a “nanny state” view that government should decide everything and pay for everything, and an intrusiveness on the part of citizens, who no longer think of anything as “none of your business.” There is virtually nothing left which is universally considered none of the government’s business.

What Have We Become?
Modern liberals like to call themselves “progressives.” The word implies progress, but it is a difficult concept to justify when they call for restrictions on free speech and other essential rights while building up a government that surpasses any other in history in terms of its size, power, and cost. Such views actually harken back to earlier times, not a better future. Thus, liberals should more accurately be called “regressives.”

Sadly, few seem to know the difference, at least partly because these concepts were never taught in their schools. Several states have passed laws requiring graduating high school students to pass the same citizenship test required of new, naturalized immigrants. Yet numerous studies show that most Americans today could not pass that test, even though it has been simplified several times.

King George III would be so proud. He and his aristocratic friends were amused by America’s quaint “experiment” with self-government. To them, it was unthinkable that common people were enlightened enough to rule themselves. That experiment is now the hope and dream of people throughout the world, but what about here in the United States?

Hillsdale College’s Matthew Spalding wrote a persuasive and best-selling book called We Still Hold These Truths. He made the case that despite shockingly poor educational outcomes, at heart, Americans still believed in the founding principles. Indeed, most people still tell pollsters they strongly believe in freedom, limited government, and personal responsibility. But do they?

Astonishingly, many Americans expect government to care for their every need, the way commoners once expected a benevolent king to care for his subjects. They treat people as members of groups rather than as individuals, which insidiously devolves into a “class” system that was the very concept against which the founders rebelled.

Today’s “classes” are not based on relative wealth like those of the 18th century, but modern law nevertheless singles out “protected classes” based on qualities like race, color, gender, religion, national origin, sexual preference, age, disabilities, and military service. The result is unequal treatment under the law, entirely contrary to the principles of natural law expressed by the Declaration of Independence. Americans are voluntarily surrendering the very freedoms that millions have fought and died to establish and protect.

Many of the “long train of abuses” that led to America’s rebellion from the British Crown are eerily similar to the excesses of America’s own government today. The Declaration of Independence listed grievances against King George III that are all too familiar. The authors accused him of refusing “his assent to laws […] necessary for the public good,” of forbidding locals to pass laws “of immediate and pressing importance,” even of dissolving local representative bodies.

How different is that from a Congress that cannot pass the most essential bills for annual appropriations and budgets? How different is it from today’s “supreme” federal system that routinely overrides local and state laws, especially by federal court orders and “constitutional” rulings based on premises that are not in the Constitution?

The Crown had “obstructed the administration of justice” by controlling judges’ tenure and salaries. Today’s government does so by empowering judges to usurp legislative powers by making up new laws rather than interpreting laws passed by the people’s representatives. It is a more modern technique, but with the same anti-democratic result.

King George III had “erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.” By 2020, the federal government had more than four million employees, at a cost approaching $5 trillion a year. The King “combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution,” much as our modern leaders compromise America’s sovereignty to institutions like the U.N., international courts, the World Health Organization, and foreign trade commissions.

The founders said government should protect private property, but today’s Supreme Court lets government take private property and sell it to developers, destroy the value of land by denying the right to use it, and forces landowners to give up their land for endangered species habitat, parks, trails, and “open space.” The first “inalienable right” in the Declaration was the right to life, but today’s courts prohibit states from protecting it. If Americans still believe “all men are created equal,” how can they justify racial preferences in school admissions, government contracts, or congressional reapportionment? Freedom of speech is central to the Bill of Rights, but it is under attack by politically correct thought police all across America, especially at government-financed educational institutions.

“The policy of the federal government,” wrote President Jefferson, “is to leave her citizens free, neither aiding nor restraining them in their pursuits.” Today, Americans face restrictions on how to plan their own retirements, design their own health insurance, or even devise their own children’s education. The endless intrusion reaches into every facet of their lives, from where they can hike in the woods to how their hamburgers must be cooked. Both parties instinctively look to government as the first answer to all problems. Even many Republicans propose solving issues like illegal immigration by hiring thousands more federal employees.

There is one crucial difference: Unlike their colonial ancestors, contemporary Americans voluntarily agreed to all these usurpations with their votes. Voters have been warned frequently to be alert to threats against their freedom, but have often shirked that most essential duty of citizenship.

Americans have two clear choices: Do they really want to declare the America of their founders dead, and accept the mediocre socialism it has devolved into? Or, will they withdraw the “consent of the governed” and revive the American experiment that made them the freest people on earth and the envy of the world?

Our New National Character?
Today, millions of Americans watch from the sidelines as uninvolved spectators, while government leaders routinely ignore the most basic principles. The federal government has nationalized private industries from healthcare, child care, and electric power, to passenger rail service and airport security. Federally owned businesses compete against private enterprise in telecommunications, utilities, transportation, insurance, consumer loans, and dozens of other areas. Government dictates the terms of business in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, fishing, pharmaceuticals, broadcasting, education, and nearly every other industry. The New York Times recently published a front-page story with the headline that Joe Biden’s budget plan would provide “cradle-to-grave government” assistance to Americans.

Leaders engage in fierce debates almost every year about the simplest of constitutional rights, such as the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, and increasingly, the First Amendment right to free speech and assembly. Political correctness is effectively silencing all speech with which academic dictators disagree, on college campuses, radio and television, and in everyday workplaces. People accused of various offenses are automatically deemed guilty until proven otherwise, their careers and reputations destroyed without due process of law.

America’s national identity is in danger of being erased. Many millions of Americans, like me, fear that our nation is being replaced by a borderless socialist regime that has lost its moral compass. A free people would never tolerate such abuses if they remembered their principles; if they retained the character that comes from their history. When America stops teaching that history, it risks losing that character, the rugged individualism that makes America special, unique, different, and exceptional.

The first attempts by government to expand its power were not “nipped in the bud,” and today’s power grew incrementally and no doubt began as soon as the ink was dry on the Constitution. That is why its authors said only a vigilant public could prevent tyranny, and why they thought educating the people was so important. It is why they called it the first duty of citizenship to pass along these principles to future generations. This is why we have public education in America, and yet the government schools are failing that sacred mission.

But there is a problem here. This tradition of passing down the principles of American greatness has become dislodged.

People cannot pass along memories they don’t have, and neither can a nation. The failure to educate future generations guarantees a loss of national memory and, thus, national character. Sadly, this is happening—on purpose—as people increasingly look to government for solutions to every problem, and decline to teach history, values, principles, and civics to their children. Is the entire American system of self-government slowly and painfully committing suicide?

Angry protests and demonstrations are more common than ever in America’s cities, but they lack the unifying theme that characterized such protests in the 1960s. In that era, protesters articulated a deep fear and anger about the Vietnam War, and about civil rights abuses. More recently, from Occupy Wall Street in 2011 to the 2017 Women’s March, the 2020 takeover of neighborhoods in Seattle and Minneapolis, and countless others, demonstrators have had difficulty explaining exactly what they were marching for. All seemed angry, but with dozens of different causes, and with many protestors remarkably unable to tell interviewers why they were there. Some complained about “unfair” wages, others about “unequal” treatment, still others about the presence of police (who were there to protect the demonstrators’ safety), and most recently, nearly every incident involving police shootings. Today, demonstrators take to the streets to protest against political views with which they disagree, seeking to shout down their adversaries, tear down statues regardless of their symbolism, and vandalize the private property of innocent people.

Numerous participants in demonstrations and riots have confirmed that they were paid to be there, but rarely does anyone seem to know where the money came from, or what the organizers hoped to accomplish. That does not mean there are no problems worthy of such activism. Rather, it is a symptom of the void left by an insufficient education in civics. Vast numbers of people simply do not understand how their government works, what it is (and is not) in charge of, and what avenues they have for redress of grievances. They have little idea of the power of engaged citizens. That lack of understanding is easily replaced with emotion, as the all-too-regular newscasts show.

On March 7, 2015, on the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s Selma-to-Montgomery march, President Obama finally expressed how the civil rights movement actually fulfilled the founders’ dream. “What Selma does better than perhaps any other moment in our history is to vindicate the faith of our founders; to vindicate the idea that ordinary folks—not of high station, not born to wealth or privilege or certain religious belief—are able to shape the destiny of their nation,” Obama said. “This is the most American of ideas.” He was right.

That lofty rhetoric is exactly on point, yet Americans sometimes seem convinced that their history is more about slavery and other evils than it is about Dr. King and other triumphs. It is a society that loves self-criticism, to a fault. Slavery did not make America unique. Every society had slavery for thousands of years, and many still do. There is no need to sugarcoat the areas where Americans have fallen short of their own ideals. History happened and it cannot be altered.

What makes America unique in the world, however, is not these failures (those are not unique at all), but the fact that they were overcome, and that Americans never give up, but continuously strive.

American history is a spellbinding tale of how ordinary people from all their diverse backgrounds have worked and fought together to throw off the chains of the past, and to forge a better and freer future. It is about how they continually come together, as the Constitution says, “to form a more perfect union.” But that spirit, which made America a beacon of freedom and prosperity, is in sharp decline. And that puts America’s future in jeopardy.

 

[marsh]

Government will try to bring in social credit scores and it will be up to us to fight it. 2:07 min

GOVERNMENT WILL TRY TO BRING IN SOCIAL CREDIT SCORES AND IT WILL BE UP TO US TO FIGHT IT.​

• WATCH

The fight is coming. Government will try to bring in social credit scores and it will be up to us to fight it.

Are you ready? Are you making an effort to use cash where you can? Are you restricting your data sharing as much as you can?

 

[marsh]

What are 15 Minute Cities? Have you ever heard of that term? 2:18 min

WHAT ARE 15 MINUTE CITIES? HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THAT TERM?​

• WATCH

What are 15 Minute Cities? Have you ever heard of that term? It is an agenda to divide cities into districts in which we would be limited in movement within 15 minutes of our place of residence (a time of 15 minutes)

 

[marsh]

James Baker was running block-&-tackle campaigns at the FBI to prevent the disclosure of info!!! .50 min

JAMES BAKER WAS RUNNING BLOCK-&-TACKLE CAMPAIGNS AT THE FBI TO PREVENT THE DISCLOSURE OF INFO!!!​

• WATCH

“James Baker was the one running block-&-tackle campaigns at the FBI to prevent the disclosure of docs…Fast forward…he was running the same operation that he ran as FBI General Counsel inside of Twitter HQ,” argues Kash Patel.

 

[marsh]

China's first 100MW solar plant uses 12,000 mirrors. Capable of producing energy day and night?! 1:13 min

CHINA'S FIRST 100MW SOLAR PLANT USES 12,000 MIRRORS. CAPABLE OF PRODUCING ENERGY DAY AND NIGHT?!​

• WATCH

CAPABLE OF PRODUCING ENERGY DAY AND NIGHT, Or is it? Green energy???

 

[marsh]

Younger Generations Are Becoming More & More Insane, When They Vote They Will Destroy The US 19:44 min

YOUNGER GENERATIONS ARE BECOMING MORE & MORE INSANE, WHEN THEY VOTE THEY WILL DESTROY THE US​

• WATCH

(No summary given. Have not watched)

 

[marsh]

Perfect Storm Fuels Massive Natural Gas Price Spikes On West Coast | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

Perfect Storm Fuels Massive Natural Gas Price Spikes On West Coast

SATURDAY, DEC 10, 2022 - 03:30 PM
Authored by Leticia Gonzales via NaturalGasIntel.com,

Against a backdrop of mostly mild weather across the Lower 48, winter unleashed its fury on the West Coast a bit early this season. The frigid temperatures and unusually heavy precipitation have fueled natural gas demand at a time when storage inventories are low, a drought has reduced hydro-electric power supplies and regional utilities are having trouble receiving coal deliveries.

The result: historically high natural gas prices that have surged to levels not seen since the summer of 2018. The surge in prices has spread across the Pacific Northwest, farther south throughout California and inland across the Rockies.



On Thursday, Northern California’s PG&E Citygate recorded spot natural gas prices as high as $36.00/MMBtu. SoCal Citygate cash reached a $33.00 high, while Malin hit $32.00. And that only proved to be batting practice.

On Friday, the highest price on the West Coast hit $55.00, with offers up to $60.00.

“I’ve seen prices spike before, but over a short period of time,” said Michael Wiliamson. His consulting firm Williamson Energy purchases wholesale natural gas for end-use customers in California.

“This sustained period of high prices has never happened before. There’s a lot of different things going on, and they’re all falling at the same time.”

Is It Really That Cold In California?
Bitter winter weather has slammed the West Coast this month, driving up heating consumption in a region that normally sees its highest energy needs in the summer.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said widespread heavy precipitation would begin to blanket the Pacific Northwest and Northern California on Friday and further over the weekend into the Northern Rockies, Great Basin and the rest of California. Anomalously high moisture associated with an atmospheric river was expected to usher in heavy mountain snow, as well as strong rains for lower elevations along the West Coast.

Snow totals should generally range between six inches and a foot for the higher elevations, according to NWS forecasters. Lighter accumulations of up to three inches were forecast for the interior valleys.

In the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, several feet of snow were expected, while excessive rainfall was possible along the coast of southern Oregon and Northern California. Rainfall totals could reach up to four inches, NWS said.

Even still, with temperatures forecast to climb into the 60s in Los Angeles and into the mid-50s in San Francisco, “it’s not really that cold,” said Fuel and Purchased Power’s Marlon Santa Cruz, manager for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). The executive said a key issue facing the region was that storage inventories are lagging behind.

Supplies Reclassified, Not Refilled
Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. (PG&E) in the summer of 2021 reclassified 51 Bcf of storage inventories to cushion gas, rather than working gas. It marked the largest reclassification in any one region, with some market observers calling the scale of the change “preposterous.”

Williamson said the problem wasn’t with the reclassification. It was that PG&E hasn’t rebuilt working gas inventories.

As of Dec. 2, Pacific stocks stood at only 217 Bcf, which is more than 18% below year-earlier levels and nearly 24% below the five-year average, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The Pacific is the only region that continues to fall significantly short of historical levels. After a string of above-average injections in the late fall, Mountain stocks sit about 6% below the five-year average. East inventories sit around 2% below that level. The South Central region, meanwhile, is now at a modest surplus.

“That’s the head of the nail,” Williamson said.​

​

“If we had plenty of gas in storage, this wouldn’t be happening. Now, everyone is a hostage.”​

With a client base that include commercial greenhouses and other small customers, the exorbitant prices are concerning, according to Williamson. He worries that if prices were to remain elevated – or climb even higher as the winter progresses – customers may be unable to pay their bills.

What’s more, the higher prices are not limited to California. In the Desert Southwest, spot gas prices at El Paso S. Mainline/N. Baja surged to $35.75 on Thursday, while the KRGT Del Pool rose to $32.85. By Friday, cash prices in the region also had rocketed to $55.00.

“At what point in time does a number get so high that people go bankrupt and stop paying their bills? I think we’re getting close to that point,” Williamson said.​

He likened the situation to the fallout of Winter Storm Uri, where utilities filed for bankruptcy and spawned lawsuits and investigations into market manipulation. “People are going to grab lawyers instead of their pocketbooks.”

Other Issues
LADWP’s Santa Cruz agreed the storage situation in the West is a concern.

However, while stockpiles in Northern California remain short of what the market sees as comfortable through the winter, Aliso Canyon storage in Southern California has been “a savior” for the region as it copes with the heightened demand, he said. The storage facility, operating at a reduced capacity following a major leak in 2015, has often had to serve as a buffer during periods of strong demand.

In November 2021, the California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously to increase the amount of gas stored at Aliso Canyon to boost winter supplies for gas and electric customers. The decision was seen as an effort to ensure reliability for the region.

California may not be the friendliest state to the natural gas industry. Several municipalities have banned the use of new natural gas hook ups, including Los Angeles. Santa Cruz, though, said the municipal utility is relying on natural gas more because coal deliveries also are falling short.

President Biden earlier this month averted a strike among railroad workers that could have put a stop to coal deliveries. Still, the strike was only one issue plaguing the railroad industry.

Santa Cruz said following the Covid-19 pandemic, Union Pacific and other railroad companies were forced to lay off workers. Many of the laid off employees never returned as the economy recovered. Now there aren’t enough engineers to drive the trains, he said.

“There is an endemic supply chain issue impacting the coal industry,” Santa Cruz said.​

​

“Despite the mines producing, it’s the railroad that can’t deliver the contractual volumes. We find ourselves unable to ramp those coal-fired units up as we normally would. So we make up that generation with natural gas.”​

Meanwhile, West Coast customers find themselves battling for limited supplies.

Wood Mackenzie notified clients of maintenance on Gas Transmission Northwest’s system between Dec. 6 and 8 that had the potential to impact up to around 300,000 MMBtu/d of volumes flowing through Kingsgate.

In the Permian Basin, pipeline work on El Paso Natural Gas and the Permian Highway Pipeline also cut into gas deliveries. Ironically, these curtailments have sent prices in that region plunging below zero.

“All these constraints, and the market is fighting for stagnant supply,” Santa Cruz said. “This is unprecedented.”​

 

[marsh]

NYC Health Officials Urge Residents To Mask Up Amid 'Tridemic' | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

NYC Health Officials Urge Residents To Mask Up Amid 'Tridemic'

SATURDAY, DEC 10, 2022 - 12:00 PM

A 'tridemic' of flu, RSV, and Covid-19 cases have led New York City health officials to 'strongly' recommend that people wear "a high-quality mask, such as a KN95 or KF94, or an N95 respirator" indoors and in crowded outdoor settings.

On Friday, the city's health commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan, recommended that New Yorkers get vaccinated and boosted, and wear a mask whenever 'inside stores, lobbies, hallways, elevators, public transportation, schools, child care facilities and other shared spaces."



While respiratory viruses are spreading at high levels in NYC, there are common-sense ways to protect yourself and your loved ones this holiday season: vaccination, boosters, wearing a mask indoors or among crowds and staying home if you don't feel well: https://t.co/sQgAPLhjMo https://t.co/nmYf7bJiVq

— Commissioner Ashwin Vasan, MD, PhD (@NYCHealthCommr) December 9, 2022

Masks will remain voluntary except in health care facilities such as nursing homes, where mask mandates are still enforced.

Of course, there's plenty of evidence masks provide minimal, if zero benefit.

• Why Did Masks Stop Working In Japan And South Korea?
• World's Top Epidemiologists - Masks Don't Work!
• Not Even N95 Masks Work To Stop Covid
• Do Masks Work? A Review Of The Evidence

According to the NY Times, hospitalization rates have increased around 20% over the past two weeks, with the city's seven-day average going from 2,425 to 3,761 over that period. The number of Covid cases has increased around 55% over the period, while flu cases rose 64% during the week ending Dec. 3, and RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus has also been on the rise.

Have people's immune systems been weakened by two years of avoiding largely non-lethal diseases and other factors?

 

[marsh]

Cut Interest Rates & Dollar is done, Toast, It’s Over – David Morgan 45:50 min

Cut Interest Rates & Dollar is done, Toast, It’s Over – David Morgan (GOLD)​

Greg Hunter's USAWatchdog.com Published December 10, 2022

^^^^^^

Cut Interest Rates & Dollar is Done, Toast, It’s Over – David Morgan | Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com (Saturday Night Post) Economic analyst and financial writer David Morgan says do not expect the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates anytime soon. Morgan thinks the Fed is not going to devalue the dollar. Morgan explains, “We need to continue the dollar until...

usawatchdog.com

Cut Interest Rates & Dollar is Done, Toast, It’s Over – David Morgan​

By Greg Hunter On December 10, 2022
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com (Saturday Night Post)
Economic analyst and financial writer David Morgan says do not expect the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates anytime soon. Morgan thinks the Fed is not going to devalue the dollar. Morgan explains, “We need to continue the dollar until the new system is initiated. That’s the point. Yes, it’s about interest rates, that is part of the mechanics about this. The philosophy is we need a dollar in the system as the king when we transition into the new system. Now, there is a debate whether that is true or false. Is this going to be a global currency? Is it going to be a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that is worldwide? Or is it going to be nation states with their own currencies? That has yet to be determined. I think the power behind the Fed wants the dollar to survive, and they are going to make it survive. That means they are going to push interest rate as high as necessary until they can transition to this new system.”

So, what about this so-called Fed “pivot” to lower interest rates to save the day? Forget it. Morgan explains, “Take the converse. Most of my peer group talks about the ‘pivot.’ Meaning, the Fed stops raising interest rates or they get to a level, they pause, and they start to lower them. Anybody who is anybody in the financial markets knows if that is the case, they have basically destroyed the U.S. dollar. It’s done. It’s toast. It’s over. What that means is people will get rid of it as fast as they can. All the dollars overseas will come back and repatriate for anything such as land, Toyotas, Fords–anything. . . .

60% of all printed physical currency (U.S. dollars) is held outside the borders of the United States. The reason for that is two-fold. Number one, it is the reserve currency of the world. The second reason is that it is trusted in countries that continually have currency crises. Argentina has a currency crisis every decade, and you have Turkey, and you have several others including Zimbabwe. What do they use? They use metal and U.S. printed currency.

That’s their black market or free market. So, the currency of the U.S. dollar is trusted. . . . If you use the Exter Inverted Pyramid as a model as to how the crash happens, there is a run to the U.S dollar before there is a run to gold.

So, I am not surprised to see the dollar so high, but it has backed off some recently. . . . The dollar is trusted at this point in time, and to keep that trust going, we are going to sweeten the deal and keep pushing interest rates up higher and higher. They are saying trust us, trust us, trust us. They are doing it to buy time because everyone knows the system is failing, and they have to do something different.”

Morgan also gives predictions for what is in store in 2023. He talks about why you need gold and silver and why you need it now. Morgan also has predictions for war, real estate, food, unemployment, the vaxed and inflation along with deflation. The unprepared will be struggling way more than the prepared next year. You need to get ready now according to Morgan.

 

[marsh]

No DATA for "safe and effective", but the Dec 8th - FDA News Release wants physicians to inject our babies with a 3rd dose...

and... The FDA then writes that data to support giving an updated bivalent booster dose to children are expected in January...

rwmalonemd.substack.com

No DATA for "safe and effective", but the Dec 8th - FDA News Release wants physicians to inject our babies with a 3rd dose...​

and... The FDA then writes that data to support giving an updated bivalent booster dose to children are expected in January...

Robert W Malone MD, MS
7 hr ago



“FDA NEWS RELEASE” (December 8, 2022)

“Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Authorizes Updated (Bivalent) COVID-19 Vaccines for Children Down to 6 Months of Age”​

In the news release, the FDA has bulleted points on what “parents and caregivers” should know. Here they are:

• Children 6 months through 5 years of age who received the original (monovalent) Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine are now eligible to receive a single booster of the updated (bivalent) Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine two months after completing a primary series with the monovalent Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine.
• Children 6 months through 4 years of age who have not yet begun their three-dose primary series of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine or have not yet received the third dose of their primary series will now receive the updated (bivalent) Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as the third dose in their primary series following two doses of the original (monovalent) Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine.
• Children 6 months through 4 years of age who have already completed their three-dose primary series with the original (monovalent) Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine will not be eligible for a booster dose of an updated bivalent vaccine at this time. Children in this age group who already completed their primary series would still be expected to have protection against the most serious outcomes from the currently circulating omicron variant. The data to support giving an updated bivalent booster dose for these children are expected in January. The agency is committed to evaluating those data as quickly as possible.
• The Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent COVID-19 vaccines include an mRNA component corresponding to the original strain to provide an immune response that is broadly protective against COVID-19 and an mRNA component corresponding to the omicron variant BA.4 and BA.5 lineages to provide better protection against COVID-19 caused by the omicron variant.
• Individuals who receive the updated (bivalent) vaccines may experience similar side effects reported by individuals who received previous doses of the original (monovalent) mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.
• The fact sheets for both bivalent COVID-19 vaccines for recipients and caregivers and for healthcare providers include information about the potential side effects, as well as the risks of myocarditis and pericarditis.

So, let’s recap. There is NOTHING in the news release or the bulleted points that shows data that these injections are safe or effective for children four years old down to six months old. Side effects continue same as before - which means they are significantly higher than is expected for normal vaccines. This by the way, is the understatement of the year.

Then comes the next paragraph in the FDA News Release:

“The data to support giving an updated bivalent booster dose for these children are expected in January. The agency is committed to evaluating those data as quickly as possible.”

Yeh - so the FDA literally does’t have any data for this bivalent booster for this age cohort but they are making it available under emergency use authorization anyways. We do know based on the ACIP /CDC slide deck from the Sept 2022 ACIP meeting, that there were significant side effects of this vaccine in older children. THESE DATA ARE FROM THE CDC. Of course, there are many unbiased studies that show even more significant adverse events.
One of the slides from CDC deck is as follows (just this one - shows just how dangerous these jabs are):

---

~25% OF CHILDREN WERE UNABLE TO PERFORM DAILY ACTIVITIES AFTER RECEIVING A BOOSTER.
ALMOST 20% WERE UNABLE TO ATTEND WORK OR SCHOOL AFTER RECEIVING A BOOSTER.

---

So three months after the CDC presented this data, and the FDA is recommending a THIRD booster for little children and babies…
The shiver up my spine - alerts me to the fact that this feels an awfully lot like child abuse.

---

Let’s recap: A total of less than 600 children in the last three years have died in this age cohort (CDC data), and according to peer reviewed scientific studies virtually none of these deaths were in the “healthy, normal” cohort…
Can our government get any more sick?

The News Release also states that the vaccine is “broadly protective.” I must say that I am not sure what that even means anymore to government scientists.

To me, “broadly protective” means that there are a wide range of proteins that immune system responds to. That immune evasion by the virus does not happen after vaccination. That the product clearly protects against infection, replication and spread of the virus. These mRNA vaccines only offer protection against one protein, which is easily evaded by the virus. So why is the FDA trying to deceive us again?

The FDA also writes that it “relied on immune response data that it had previously evaluated from a clinical study in adults of a booster dose of Moderna’s investigational bivalent COVID-19.” The bridging evidence of adult immune responses to the bivalent vaccines with what the FDA expects for children was lacking in depth and data. There is no validated immunologic correlate of protection. In other words, this is non-sensical scientific and regulatory gibberish. Frankly, it was sobering to realize just how thin their data is.

Please people - doctors around the country will be reading this news release and advocating that babies and children receive this new bi-valent mRNA vaccine. Be ready and armed with the facts. Do not comply.

 

[marsh]

EXCLUSIVE POLL: Over 40% Of Small Business Owners Give Biden Failing Grade On Helping Main Street

Over 40% of small business owners gave President Joe Biden an F grade on his management of the economy, according to the Job Creators Network's SBIQ poll.

dailycaller.com

EXCLUSIVE POLL: Over 40% Of Small Business Owners Give Biden Failing Grade On Helping Main Street​

JOHN HUGH DEMASTRI CONTRIBUTOR
December 09, 202212:23 PM ET

Roughly 43% of small business owners gave President Joe Biden an “F” grade on his support for small business, according to the Job Creators Network’s monthly Small Business IQ poll, obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The Small Business Intelligence Quotient — a measure of small business optimism where scores of 100 and 0 represent the best and worst possible conditions respectively — slid to 52.9 in November from 53.3 in September and October, returning to just above the yearly low of 52.7 set in June, according to the poll conducted by pollsters Scott Rasmussen and John McLaughlin. On a monthly basis, small business owner’s optimism about current conditions climbed 0.2 points to 55.9, but expectations about the future slipped 0.09 points to 50.6.

“Small business sentiment is souring as we enter the holiday season, which should be sending off alarm bells within the Biden administration,” Elaine Parker, president of the Job Creators Network Foundation, said in a statement to the DCNF. “Entrepreneurs are feeling pessimistic because of high inflation, the threat of tax increases associated with government programs like the proposed $400 billion illegal student loan bailout, and more government red tape.”



While 79% of small business owners described their current financial condition as excellent or good, 55% anticipated that economic conditions in the U.S. were deteriorating and 59% reported that the climate for small business was only fair or poor, according to the poll. Just over 70% reported that the U.S. economy was on course to hold steady or get worse, while 60% reported that they believed the economy was in a recession.

Small business owners considered inflation to be their biggest concern, with 49% citing it as either their first or second most important issue; next was consumers’ spending habits, which was in 31% of owners’ top two concerns, followed by operating costs at 26%, according to the poll. Wholesale price inflation has moderated since hitting a peak of 11.7% annually in March, but at 7.4% in November remains extremely elevated, and a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday indicated that elevated prices may not fall as rapidly as some economists had hoped.

The poll sampled 500 small business owners across the country, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4%.

 

[155 arty]

What are 15 Minute Cities? Have you ever heard of that term? 2:18 min

WHAT ARE 15 MINUTE CITIES? HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THAT TERM?​

• WATCH

What are 15 Minute Cities? Have you ever heard of that term? It is an agenda to divide cities into districts in which we would be limited in movement within 15 minutes of our place of residence (a time of 15 minutes)

Yeah ok go ahead

 

[marsh]

(Twitter dumpster dive)

(Digital ID)


(Climate Change)




(COVID)

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1601568366179028992

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1601568366179028992
1:37 min

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1601721454848270337

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1601721454848270337
2:19 min

(Twitter dumps)

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1601693734835736577

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1601693734835736577
3:44 min

(ESG)

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1601371617128423425

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1601371617128423425
.53 min

(Corruption)


(Migration - Ireland)

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1601520493609132032

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1601520493609132032
.24 min

 

[marsh]

'Irreparable Harm,' Judge Gives Brutal Smack Down To President Joe Biden's Administration On Religious Liberty Case

Biden got annihilated.

conservativebrief.com

Judge Smacks Down Biden Administration On Transgender Surgery​

Carmine Sabia December 10, 2022

---

OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.

---

A federal judge has smacked down the Biden administration on a law that would force doctors who have a religious opposition to gender reassignment surgery to perform them.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision that said the Obamacare mandate that required religious doctors and hospitals to perform the surgeries would cause “irreparable harm” to the plaintiffs’ “exercise of religion,” The Blaze reported.

The court ultimately found the transsexual mandate unlawful and granted a coalition of Catholic healthcare professionals a permanent injunction. They will no longer face multimillion-dollar penalties for keeping their consciences clear.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed an August opinion issued by the Fifth Circuit, which struck down an interpretation of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.

Section 1557 prevents federally-funded healthcare programs from discriminating against patients on the basis of sex.

“The mandate made no exception for providers who believe those procedures to be harmful or object to them on religious grounds, and it applied to all patients, including children,” Beckett said.

By unanimous decision the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that doctors could not be forced to perform the surgeries that violated their conscience and professional judgment.

The court also said that the “loss of freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment, [the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act], and [the Religious Freedom Restoration Act] all constitute per se irreparable harm.”

The Biden administration appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and was again smacked down.

The Biden administration now has 90 days to ask the Eighth Circuit to hear it again or appeal to the Supreme Court.

A federal appeals court has dealt another blow to a major Biden administration initiative. On Thursday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld a ruling issued in October by U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman of the Northern District of Texas in which he struck down President Joe Biden’s student loan debt relief action as unconstitutional.

The ruling from the three-judge panel allows Pittman’s ruling to remain in force until the case is heard by the full appeals court.

The Western Journal explains: “Biden announced in an executive order in August that his administration would forgive up to $10,000 in student loan debt for individuals making less than $125,000 a year, or couples whose incomes are below $250,000. Pell Grant recipients were eligible for up to $20,000 in debt forgiveness under Biden’s order. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the plan would cost $400 billion, according to Reuters. Although forgiveness is uncertain, the Biden administration has put repayment on hold, extending a freeze on payments that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Payments had been scheduled to resume Dec. 31.”

Pittman, in his ruling, noted: “No one can plausibly deny that it is either one of the largest delegations of legislative power to the executive branch or one of the largest exercises of legislative power without congressional authority in the history of the United States.”

He added: “In this country, we are not ruled by an all-powerful executive with a pen and a phone. Instead, we are ruled by a Constitution that provides for three distinct and independent branches of government.”

“The Court is not blind to the current political division in our country. But it is fundamental to the survival of our Republic that the separation of powers as outlined in our Constitution be preserved. And having interpreted the HEROES Act, the Court holds that it does not provide ‘clear congressional authorization’ for the Program proposed by the Secretary,” he added.

“Whether the Program constitutes good public policy is not the role of this Court to determine. Still, no one can plausibly deny that it is either one of the largest delegations of legislative power to the executive branch, or one of the largest exercises of legislative power without congressional authority in the history of the United States,” the judge continued.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear arguments on the legality of Biden’s order, which critics say amounts to an unconstitutional expenditure of hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars that Congress never approved.

“The decision tees up a high-stakes battle at the high court early next year that will decide the fate of Biden’s sweeping plan to provide up to $20,000 of debt relief to tens of millions of Americans who owe federal student loans,” Politico reported.

“The court on Thursday deferred a ruling on the administration’s emergency request to immediately reinstate its debt relief program. Instead, the court said, the justices will hear arguments on the matter next year,” the outlet continued.

Politico went on to report that putting the case on the current docket means that a decision will come by next June, if not sooner, adding:

The case that the justices have agreed to hear involves a challenge from six Republican-led states: Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, and South Carolina. The states argue the debt relief plan will reduce tax revenues or other funding that is related to state-related entities that own, manage or invest in federal student loans. The Supreme Court said it would address two questions: whether the Republican attorneys general have standing to bring the case in the first place and “whether the plan exceeds the Secretary’s statutory authority or is arbitrary and capricious.”

 

[marsh]

Decolonize the Green Movement! | The Pipeline

Where's Kipling when we need him?

the-pipeline.org

Decolonize the Green Movement!​

Tom Finnerty • 09 Dec, 2022 •

And lay down the "White Man's Burden."

It doesn't take a lot of effort to find places where the Left's rhetoric and ideals fail to align with their real-world actions. Their years of pearl clutching about election denialism after making a celebrity of election denier Stacey Abrams and, more recently, selecting election denier Hakeem Jeffries to replace Nancy Pelosi as Democratic House Leader are examples which come immediately to mind.

But there are darker examples. For instance, if you've spent any time in the presence of Leftist academics over the past quarter century, you have likely observed their obsession with colonial imperialism, which they contend to be among the greatest evils ever perpetuated by man. Though the major western empires were dismembered over the course of the 20th century, the Left's fixation on imperialism is justified by the claim that that system has left indelible marks on both the imperialists and their former colonial subjects to this day. And yet, as Michael Schellenberg has pointed out, a form of imperialism is still alive and well... and being practiced by prominent Left-leaning environmentalist governments:

The narrative is that imperialism is, by its very nature, exploitative, that it consisted of, in Shellenberger's words, "rich nations taking raw materials from poor nations and leaving behind poverty rather than development." While the historical reality might be more complicated than that presentation suggests, the modern day geo-political reality perfectly matches this critique. Keen-for-Green Germany is paying African nations not to use coal to help save the planet... and then using the coal itself.

Shellenberger goes on to argue that this is tantamount to bribing the "corrupt" leaders of poor nations to keep their countries poor, while publicly lying about what they're doing and why:

Sounds like some of the worst excesses of colonial imperialism.

Here's another example -- perhaps the only institution which is worse than imperialism in the Leftist mind is slavery. Now, slavery is a grave evil, and its extirpation in the wake of the Civil War is among the glories of our nation. (Of course Leftists hate when you point out that it is thanks to the Republican Party that this came about.) But, more than 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, the end of the Civil War, and the ratification of the 14th Amendment, progressives insists on using it as a cudgel to batter every opponent, whether or not their ancestors had anything to do with slavery, and as a condemnation of the nation itself.

Historically, slavery was colorblind.

But its worth noting that slavery still exists in the world today, not just in failed states like Libya (thanks to Barack Obama and Hillary "We came, we saw, he died! " Clinton's decision to back the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi), but in places like the People's Republic of China. And yet, "progressives" love China, and openly argue it should be a model for the west. Moreover, China is the world leader in solar panel construction, and solar panels are central to the Left's vision of the future. Consequently, they have an incentive to look the other way.

And yet it is becoming increasingly clear how central slavery is to the production of solar panels.

According to Andrew Follett,

In 2021, a shocking 42 percent of the world’s production of the kind of silicon used to manufacture solar panels took place in areas of China known to employ slave labor, and China’s dominance of the solar market is expected to continue to grow.... Slave labor is also used for the mining, smelting, and slicing of silicon into the wafers used in panels that convert sunlight into energy — processes for which China has over 95 percent of the existing global

Amazingly, when Biden Administration "climate czar" John Kerry was asked about China's use of forced labor in the process of producing solar panels he replied that that was “not my lane.” The hypocrisy is not only astounding. It is also commonplace.

 

[marsh]

War, Famine and Disease — w/ Michael Yon & Matt Bracken 1:10:32 min

War, Famine and Disease — w/ Michael Yon & Matt Bracken​

GWM3Analysis Published December 8, 2022

(No summary given. Have not yet watched)

 

[marsh]

Here We Go Again: Bill Gates, Johns Hopkins, & the WHO Just Simulated Another Pandemic 2:44 min

Here We Go Again: Bill Gates, Johns Hopkins, & the WHO Just Simulated Another Pandemic​

Red Voice Media Published December 10, 2022

Almost 3 years to the day, the same people behind Event 201 just completed a desktop simulation for a new Enterovirus originating near Brazil.

The virus has a higher fatality rate than COVID-19 and disproportionately affects children.

 

[marsh]

Fox's Kurtz: The Entire System Was Aimed At Censoring The Right 1:11 min

Fox's Kurtz: The Entire System Was Aimed At Censoring The Right​

therightscoop Published December 11, 2022

Howard Kurtz says Elon Musk has proved conservatives right on the Twitter suppression of speech "beyond the shadow of a doubt." And he's right:

 

[marsh]

Who is making the decisions at the Montreal climate conference, and what do Canadians think? 8:01 min

Who is making the decisions at the Montreal climate conference, and what do Canadians think?​

Rebel News Published December 11, 2022

Of the 17,000 people expected in Montreal for the UN Biodiversity conference, only one head of state will be present, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. But who are the other representatives from other countries — who are mostly unelected and who have to make crucial decisions for the future?

 

[marsh]

Families in the United Kingdom struggle as prices climb 2:51 min

Families in the United Kingdom struggle as prices climb​

Just The News Published December 11, 2022

The rising cost of living in the UK is impacting thousands of working families.

 

[marsh]

'Give Up Your Car': The WEF Calls for the Reduction in Ownership of Private Vehicles 2:19 min

'Give Up Your Car': The WEF Calls for the Reduction in Ownership of Private Vehicles​

Red Voice Media Published December 11, 2022

"They're essentially trying to take away your free will," argued Dagen McDowell. "Stick that idea where the sun doesn't shine."

"By the way, those CEOs that go to Davos, many of them, they go on their own private jets."

 

[marsh]

“We Don’t Live In A Democracy” Matt Kennard 10:34 min

“We Don’t Live In A Democracy” Matt Kennard​

Russell Brand Published December 11, 2022

Matt Kennard is a London based author and journalist. He is head of investigations at the investigative journalism website Declassified UK. He explains in his new book how corporations overthrew democracy. Do you agree?

 

[marsh]

An Experienced Spy’s Assessment: Joe Biden is a “Controlled Asset” of the CCP 14:11 min

An Experienced Spy’s Assessment: Joe Biden is a “Controlled Asset” of the CCP​

CPDChina Published December 10, 2022

On the eve of the 2020 presidential election, former members of the U.S. intelligence community lied about Hunter Biden’s laptop. Now that its authenticity has been confirmed, and the fact that America’s top counterintelligence organization knew the truth all along – and colluded with Joe Biden’s campaign and others to conceal it, an experienced American spy named Charles “Sam” Faddis has rendered a terrifying professional assessment: The President of the United States is a “controlled asset” of the Chinese Communist Party. See highlights of Mr. Faddis’ exclusive interview on “Securing America with Frank Gaffney,” which ran over the past twenty-four hours on the Real America’s Voice and the American Family Radio networks.

^^^

Sam Faddis Retired CIA Ops Officer - The Spy In The White House

“So, here’s a guy who’s maybe about to sit down in the Oval Office, ultimately was, [and] everything says this guy may very well be owned by our number one enemy on the planet. And our top counterintelligence agency steps [00:04:00] in – I’m trying to resist the urge to laugh, not because it’s...

andmagazine.substack.com

Sam Faddis Retired CIA Ops Officer - The Spy In The White House​

Sam Faddis
4 hr ago

“So, here’s a guy who’s maybe about to sit down in the Oval Office, ultimately was, [and] everything says this guy may very well be owned by our number one enemy on the planet. And our top counterintelligence agency steps [00:04:00] in – I’m trying to resist the urge to laugh, not because it’s funny, but because it’s just so mind boggling. The guys who are the number one domestic counterintelligence agency for the US government don’t jump all over that and say, “Good Lord, this could be the biggest CI scandal in American history.” They say, “Oh, we can’t let anybody know about this.” Nobody, nobody should have any inkling that Joe may be a Chinese spy.”

 

[marsh]

10-Minute Summary Of U.S. Senator Ron Johnson's 3-Hour Washington D.C. COVID-19 Roundtable Meeting 9:55 min

10-Minute Summary Of U.S. Senator Ron Johnson's 3-Hour Washington D.C. COVID-19 Roundtable Meeting​

Sunfellow On COVID-19 Published December 10, 2022

Summary of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson's roundtable discussion on COVID-19 Vaccines: What They Are, How They Work, and Possible Causes of Injuries, to shed light on the current state of knowledge surrounding the vaccine and the path forward. Medical experts and doctors who specialize in COVID-19 vaccine research and treatment joined Senator Johnson at the roundtable. December 7, 2022.

To watch the full roundtable discussion, go here:
Senator Ron Johnson - COVID-19 Vaccines: What They Are, How They Work, Possible Causes Of Injuries

 

[marsh]

(segment)
This reporter VANISHED after covering the Pelosi story | Redacted with Natali and Clayton Morris 8:46 min

This reporter VANISHED after covering the Pelosi story | Redacted with Natali and Clayton Morris​

Redacted News Published December 10, 2022

(No summary given. Did not watch.)

 

[marsh]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZAvwmCdCFg
5:51 min

All The Food Shortages Coming To Grocery Stores Soon​

The Economic Ninja
Dec 11, 2022
All The Food Shortages Coming To Grocery Stores Soon. People need to be prepping for food shortages and empty shelves in 2022

^^^^^^

Dutch Gov't Attempts To Forcibly Close 3,000 Farms To Comply With 'Green' Agenda | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

Dutch Gov't Attempts To Forcibly Close 3,000 Farms To Comply With 'Green' Agenda​

SUNDAY, DEC 11, 2022 - 05:45 AM

Dutch farmers protesting for months over the government's radical 'green' plan to slash nitrogen emissions by 50% - 95% could soon face forced buyouts of their land.

"For agricultural entrepreneurs, there will be a stopping scheme that will be as attractive as possible," Christianne van der Wal, nitrogen minister, recently said in the Dutch parliament. The Dutch government plans to purchase 3,000 "peak polluter" farms via a €24.3 billion ($25.6 billion) fund.

Van der Wal said farmers would be offered 100% value for their land, but if voluntary efforts fail, farmers will face forced buyouts.

The country is attempting to reduce nitrogen pollution and will make farm purchases if not enough landowners accept buyouts. She added: "There is no better offer coming."

So, how did this happen? As we explained over the summer, farmers were livid with the Dutch government for following through with their green agenda to reduce nitrogen emissions on farms. Many of these folks took to the streets with their tractors and pitchforks and demanded the government reverse course on crushing the country's agriculture industry.

• Dutch Farmers Livid Over EU's 'Green' Nitrogen Rule Block Border Between Holland And Germany
• Dutch Protesters Pour Manure On Government Offices Over Industry-Killing Regulations
• Dutch Farmers Bring Tank To Fertilizer Protest; Cops Shoot Tractor

The Dutch government began implementing new rules on nitrogen activity on farmers and farm buildings as early as 2019. That halted the expansion of dairy, pig, and poultry operations for the last several years, which are significant sources of nitrogen pollution.

One Dutch farmer spoke with 'Fox & Friends Weekend' to discuss the pressure from the government and their move to close down thousands of farms.

"I don't know what we can expect. For my own family, I hope that one of my sons can continue farming if he wants," Dutch Farmer Geertjan Kloosterboer said. ​

The Netherlands is trying to reduce emissions and follow through with a green agenda, but it could jeopardize the nation's food supply and put the world's supply at risk. Recent data shows the country, which is the size of Maryland, is the world's second-largest exporter of agricultural products by value behind the US.

Their centrality in the global food supply is indisputable, and so-called green politicians want to destroy the industry in the name of climate change.

It seems like the protests aren't going away anytime soon.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1598343215177994241

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1598343215177994241
1:23 min

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1598353919394054147

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1598353919394054147
1:13 min

Just imagine if the Biden administration attempted such a land grab Stateside...

 

[marsh]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZTnilU7_HM
8:14 min

Dutch Government To Forcibly Close 3,000 Farms​

The Economic Ninja
4 hours ago
Dutch Government To Forcibly Close 3,000 Farms

^^^^^

All the Food Shortages Coming to Grocery Stores Soon, Experts Predict

After a year of extreme weather, a number of crops are in trouble and several food shortages could be coming soon as a result.

bestlifeonline.com

All the Food Shortages Coming to Grocery Stores Soon, Experts Predict​

THESE ARE THE MAJOR SUPPLY CONCERNS THAT COULD AFFECT YOUR FUTURE GROCERY TRIPS.

By KALI COLEMAN
DECEMBER 7, 2022

From toilet paper to cleaning supplies, shoppers were rocked by major shortages in 2020 as a result of the pandemic and everything that came with it. But even as the COVID situation has improved, supply chain issues have continued, some with major consequences. Now, many experts are warning that we should prepare ourselves for several food shortages in the not-too-distant future. Read on to find out what you might not be able to find at your local grocery store.

The U.S. has faced extreme weather in 2022.
Violent weather events have wreaked havoc on the nation this past year, including major floods, hurricanes, extreme heat, drought, and unusually large bouts of rainfall, according to USA Today. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that in 2022 alone, there have been 15 climate disaster events in the U.S., with losses exceeding $1 billion each.

That extreme weather has hurt harvests and devastated certain crops.

Erica Kistner-Thomas, PhD, a national program leader with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Institute of Food Production and Sustainability, told USA Today that it's becoming more difficult for farmers to adapt to the increasingly common weather extremes. "One year they'll have the best year ever and then the next year they'll be hit with a major flooding event or drought," she explained.

The end result is food shortages, with more on the horizon.

Rice is in serious trouble.​

One of the foods most affected by weather extremes in 2022 is rice.

The Sacramento Valley of California is one of just four regions that produce almost the entire U.S. rice crop. California is the main producer of both medium-grain rice and short-grain rice, according to the USDA. But as USA Today reported, the western part of the U.S. experienced its worst "megadrought" in 1,200 years in 2022, and that had a serious impact on farming in California.

Roughly 7 percent of California's crops were not planted in 2022 because there was a lack of water for irrigation. Rice was the hardest-hit crop because it relies on groundwater, resulting in more than half of the state's rice acres going unplanted, according to the USDA.

Sean Doherty, a fifth-generation rice farmer from Colusa County, California, told USA Today that he was only able to plant four rice fields this year. In a normal year, he plants 20. "I've never experienced a year like this," Doherty said."There's just no comparison to other years whatsoever."

Certain fruits are in trouble as well.​

Grains are not the only staple that may start disappearing from grocery stores. Citrus fruits were also hit hard by extreme weather this year.

In October, the USDA warned that Florida's orange crop production is likely to drop to record-low levels as a result of Hurricane Ian, NBC News reported.

According to the USDA's forecast, only about 28 million boxes of Florida oranges are expected to be produced this season—which would be the lowest level since 1943, and a 32 percent drop from the already-low production of 41 million boxes in 2022.

John Matz, a citrus grower in Wauchula, Florida, told USA Today that he lost more than 50 percent of his crops due to Hurricane Ian blowing fruits off of his orange and grapefruit groves. "It's pretty disgusting to look at the amount of fruit that was on the ground," he said.

Roy Petteway, president of the Peace River Valley Citrus Growers Association, said that subsequent issues from the hurricane are likely to lead to more trouble as time goes on. "Trees are very sensitive, they're not like squash or cucumber," Petteway told USA Today. "You might not see the full extent of the damage for eight months to a year."

You should also be prepared for a major meat shortage.​

Alongside grain issues and fruit troubles, there's also concern for meat. According to USA Today, beef production is walking a tightrope this year.

Nationwide, beef slaughter is up 13 percent and in certain states like Texas—where major drought has hit—it's up by 30 percent.

That might sound like a good thing, but those cows being slaughtered would normally end up producing calves in the near future. They're being culled now, because there isn't enough food for them to eat—and that will result in less beef down the line.

"There isn't enough grass to eat and it's become too expensive to buy feed. We've had a large amount of culling this year because of drought," David Anderson, a livestock specialist at Texas A&M University, told USA Today.

"We're sending young female heifer cows to feed lots because we don't have the grass to keep them."

As Kistner-Thomas bluntly told the newspaper, "There's going to be a shortage of beef and prices are probably going to go up."

 

[marsh]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvo3KSaXy6M
25:01 min

LA Brings Mask Mandates Back As Cult Begins Locking Down Again​

Timcast IRL
Dec 11, 2022

(No summary given. Did not watch.)

 

[marsh]

Death of the Petrodollar

CCP & Saudi's will likely unseat trade for oil denominated in dollars soon.

farm.substack.com

Death of the Petrodollar​

CCP & Saudi's will likely unseat trade for oil denominated in dollars soon.

The Farm
7 hr ago



The Chinese Communist Party & the Federal Reserve (by way of currency devaluation) have long entered a contest to see who can destroy the value of the US dollar most quickly.

The CCP is now working on a methodology where it can buy oil produced in the Middle East directly in yuan — thereby strengthening the value of yuan as an ‘export’ by bypassing the traditional ‘petrodollar’ exchange.


Read more

At some point — the CCP may even want to de-couple the yuan from its fixed exchange ratio with us dollars. A price that they manipulate to benefit Chinese exports. All they need to work out are the international payment and settlement systems, as well as the timing of all these moves.



If this happens in the near-term — expect a massive drop in the standard of living in most Western countries practically overnight.

 

[marsh]

Masks as Occult Symbolism Representing Subservience

Masking is coming back. But what is the real purpose?

farm.substack.com

Masks as Occult Symbolism Representing Subservience​

Masking is coming back. But what is the real purpose?​

The Farm
2 hr ago

With masks making an unwanted comeback.. The usual analogies like ‘trying to stop a mosquito with a chain link fence’, and the false datasets that ‘prove’ masks offer some kind of ‘protection’ against COVID all continue to apply. Without delving into the developmental harm being done to a generation of children — there is another purpose behind the masking phenonomom.


Hawk Mask 19th - early 20th Century

There is, as with most everything else these days, a far more sinister purpose lurking behind the proliferation (and reoccurrence) of the phenomenon of mass-masking — besides the overt social signaling pattern between those who supposedly ‘care’ about their community. Make no mistake — inside the mind of the average masker, they truly believe they are doing the ‘right’ thing and that the ‘data’ they have seen (in reality: the propaganda) confirms the usefulness of masks in stopping the spread of SARS-CoV-2. While we know this is all upside-down — and the harms being done far outweigh any perceived benefit to the mass-adoption of masking, particularly in young children — the reoccurrence is important to make note of.

That sinister purpose is an inward-focused building of a pattern of blind subservience to authority driven by intangible fear. Another purpose is the initiation, by way of the repeated ritual of donning the face covering itself, into a form of occult subservience. The repetition of the act by itself is enough to identify this as behavior largely driven as part of a larger cult initiation procedure. By covering their faces — they are placing an overt signaling pattern out to others that they too are in danger. Now, when these individuals leave their home, in their minds — they are no longer ‘safe’ to breathe the air.

Regardless of what one believes about the mortality or negative outcomes of a SARS-CoV-2 infection — the fear that there is ‘danger’ in sharing air with others in a confined space (or even when alone) is, in and of itself, a self-sustaining fear manifestation factory. Inwardly this decision is driven primarily out of fear, and outwardly the decisioning process manifests itself by instilling fear in others.


Eyes Wide Shut

Perhaps, overtly at least, this (the reintroduction of masking as part of ‘official guidance’ in certain geographies) is part of a larger strategy around driving the mass injection campaigns into the winter — to make sure doses aren’t wasted. Covertly, it is an indoctrination technique specifically designed to continue the spread of the fear and paranoia propaganda operation.

---

I saw an elderly woman, who I can only assume was frightened half to death of her own shadow, drive the wrong way down a one-way. She was alone in her car — looking straight ahead (at signs directing ‘DO NOT ENTER’ while wearing an N95 mask. She continued on past the signage anyway.
Some ‘official instructions’ are ‘valid’ — but others are ‘invalid’ as the circumstances permit.

 

[marsh]

Now that Covid is no longer dangerous, shrieking hypochondriac and ScIEnCE-journalist-of-the-year Christina Berndt demands a continuation of mask mandates to combat RSV and influenza

They will never, ever, ever stop.

www.eugyppius.com

Now that Covid is no longer dangerous, shrieking hypochondriac and ScIEnCE-journalist-of-the-year Christina Berndt demands a continuation of mask mandates to combat RSV and influenza​

They will never, ever, ever stop.

eugyppius
4 hr ago

Our virus lunatic explaining why you need to brush your teeth every day to prevent stroke and erectile dysfunction.

Germany’s foremost science journalist and canonical plague chronicle villain Christina Berndt warns against ending mask mandates in Germany, lest people get the flu or something:

The virus is at its weakest ebb: In the past few weeks, case numbers are lower than they’ve been in a year. So the desire to abolish mask mandates on buses and trains –one of the last remnants of this pandemic, which is seemingly over – is fully understandable. …. But … this is the worst possible moment…
Children's hospitals are overloaded. Influenza has returned with a vengeance.

Nursing staff are at their limits. Rates of sick leave are higher than ever before.

It’s undeniable that the importance of Corona has decreased considerably.

After a fierce wave in early autumn, which brought crisis conditions to our hospitals, the virus seems to have taken a break. But apart from the fact that its unlikely to remain at such low levels over the course of the winter, many other pathogens are taking advantage of the opportunity that our behaviour has offered them. Among them are influenza and RSV, both viruses that can be very dangerous to the young and the old of our society, and also to the vulnerable. Some people are dying, others are becoming seriously ill, even more are absent from work. And the hospitals are once again groaning under the load, with the consequence that not everyone is getting the treatment they need. Dropping mask mandates now shows that health policy has lost contact with reality….

Masking is a stupid, superstitious exercise that does nothing to stop virus infections, but that’s beside the point. Imagine, instead, that strapping these low-quality pseudomedical plastics to your face actually reduced your rate of respiratory infection. In this counterfactual scenario, it would follow that masks are at least partly responsible for the immunity deficit causing the unusually high rates of RSV and influenza infection that Berndt deplores. Continuing to mask would merely prolong our immunological naiveté for another season, potentially leading to long-term dependence on this ridiculous, antisocial ritual. It’s a blessing that masks actually do nothing.

I’m working on a longer piece which I hope to post soon, so I don’t have a lot else to say, except that the existence of stupid people like Berndt is in itself a reason to resist all pandemic measures, now and forever, whatever the threat may be. Three years of virus propaganda have consolidated these crazy people into small but durable political constituencies, and they pose a grave danger to human health, our economies and our society. They’ll support lockdowns to stop rhinovirus if given the chance, and should public health restrictions ever return, we’ll be fighting an uphill battle with them all over again to get our lives back.

 

[marsh]

The Pentagon Wants To Regulate Defense Contractors’ Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Experts Say That’s Counterproductive

The Pentagon wants oversee the climate impacts of businesses that provide weapons and services for the U.S. military.

dailycaller.com

The Pentagon Wants To Regulate Defense Contractors’ Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Experts Say That’s Counterproductive​

MICAELA BURROW REPORTER
December 10, 202211:57 AM ET

• The heavy burden implied in the Pentagon’s plans to monitor and regulate the greenhouse gas emissions of large defense contractors could backfire by hedging out competition, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
• While Congress and the Pentagon have taken steps toward awarding contracts more efficiently, taxpayers will bear the brunt of climate costs, experts said.
• “Higher costs associated with these woke compliance contrivances will eventually result in either higher taxes,” Pete Earle, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research, told the DCNF.

The Pentagon wants to oversee the climate impacts of businesses that provide weapons and services for the U.S. military, inflating costs and worsening problems already eroding the defense-industrial base.

The Department of Defense’s (DOD) proposed rule would require all of the 5,766 “major” and “significant” contractors to disclose their yearly greenhouse gas emissions on a standardized basis and meet federally-mandated targets.

While Congress is egging defense contractors to upscale production to meet deterrence challenges in Europe and Asia, experts told the DCNF the rule could be counterproductive and shift the burden of meeting the Fed’s climate goals to U.S. taxpayers.

“Higher costs associated with these woke compliance contrivances will eventually result in either higher taxes,” Pete Earle, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research, told the DCNF.

The Biden administration’s Pentagon has elevated climate to the forefront of national security. Defense Secretary Loyd Austin declared “climate change” a national security priority in January 2021 and later instated the DOD’s first-ever climate czar.

In keeping with those priorities, the Pentagon could weigh a company’s climate scores in making acquisition decisions, Maiya Clark, a senior research associate at the Heritage Foundation, told the DCNF.

Take two prime contractors competing for a DOD slot to produce a submarine, for example. “One contractor makes a better item than the other, but the other contractor has a better emission score. DOD could potentially award the contract to the contractor with the lower emission score rather than the one with the better product,” said Clark.

“That’s just an unacceptable result for our national defense and for the warfighter,” she added.

The rule requires “significant” contractors, those registering contracts worth between $7.5 million and $50 million yearly with the government, to disclose emissions generated directly or indirectly from facilities owned by the company. Larger contractors would also be required to report “Scope 3” emissions, those generated at all points of the value chain, according to National Law Review, and develop reduction targets in line with the government’s standards.

The rule will assist the government in identifying and minimizing climate risks, inspiring contractors to take action on climate and thus improve the “resilience of the Federal supply chain,” according to the filing. A global shift away from systems relying on carbon-intensive energy sources will result in “enhancing U.S. competitiveness and economic growth, promoting environmental justice, and creating well-paying job opportunities for American workers,” it said.

Congress’ historically expensive defense budget for 2023, widely anticipated to become law this week, includes a new provision for multi-year contracting for smaller items like ammunition. The amendment aims to help DOD accelerate acquisition of 155mm munitions, javelin anti-air missiles and other equipment the administration has drained from U.S. stockpiles to support the Ukrainian war effort.

It also comes as Congress is increasingly worried about a potential conflict with China, whose rapid nuclear buildup and saber-rattling against Taiwan is seen by many on the Hill and in the administration as indicative of a planned military operation.

However, the rule could impede parallel initiatives to streamline and speed up the contracting process, Clark explained.

It could also add an additional regulatory burden that will eventually be passed down to taxpayers, experts told the DCNF. Smaller entities with fewer resources to devote to tracking emissions may choose not to do business with the government at all.

Rulemakers estimated a public cost between $3.3 and $3.9 billion in the decade after enforcement. Major contractors that do not qualify as small businesses could pay as much as $4.6 million in the first year — plus a $9,500 fee every five years to certify their “science-based” reduction target — with significant contractors and small businesses hovering near $1.7 million.

“There is already a lack of competition in the defense industrial base,” said Clark. The shrinking number of companies dominating the Pentagon’s contract awards could end up introducing supply chain vulnerabilities if only one company can produce a part needed to support a crucial weapons system, like an engine for an F-35 fighter jet.

“Policies that bring massive defense contractors closer to the U.S. government are a manifestation of the military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned of half a century ago,” Earle told the DCNF.

Some climate watchers warn that the Pentagon dwarfs other entities in terms of pollution.

“The Department of Defense, the entity that is the U.S. war machine, is the largest institutional contributor to global warming on planet Earth,” David Vine, a professor of political anthropology at American University in Washington, D.C., told The Guardian in March.

It’s unclear exactly how much the prime defense contractors, many of whom already post emissions data and attest to Paris Accords goals, will adjust operations to meet the Pentagon’s rule requirements, as the rule has until January to be finalized. Lockheed Martin, for example, the DOD’s highest-grossing contractor, tracks Scope 1 and 2 emissions, self-reporting a 47% reduction compared to a 2015 baseline in its latest annual statement.

When reached for comment, Lockheed referred the DCNF to the company’s reporting. The DOD did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.

 

[marsh]

In Joe Biden’s Woke America, Enemies Exploit Our Achilles Heel

Since Biden came into office, his administration has prioritized wokeness over American values, and our enemies are using it to their advantage.

dailycaller.com

In Joe Biden’s Woke America, Enemies Exploit Our Achilles Heel​

ANALYSIS
MARY ROOKE COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS WRITER
December 10, 20229:42 PM ET

Since Joe Biden came into office, his administration has prioritized wokeness over American values, and our enemies are using it to their advantage.

Tuesday’s prisoner swap of WNBA star Brittney Griner for Russia’s ‘Merchant of Death’ Viktor Bout is the latest example of President Joe Biden’s commitment to promoting far-left causes at the expense of the safety and well-being of U.S. citizens.

Our enemies see the one-sided trade deals based on identity politics and no longer respect American power, opening up a world where U.S. citizens are not safe at home or abroad.

After promising that the Biden administration would keep working to free former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan from a Russian prison, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre praised the U.S. on securing the release of “an important role model,” citing Griner’s racial and sexual identity as an influential factor in her rescue.

“On a personal note, Brittney is more than an athlete, more than an Olympian. She is an important role model and inspiration to millions of Americans, particularly the LGBTQI+ Americans and women of color,” Jean-Pierre said.

Griner was arrested at a Russian airport Feb. 17 for attempting to enter the country with a vape pen containing cannabis oil, an illegal substance in Russia.

Jean-Pierre’s “role model” was previously arrested in the U.S. in 2015 for a domestic violence incident with then-fiancé Glory Johnson. Johnson’s sister told police officers the two women were fighting so hard that they “couldn’t get them pulled apart.”

The White House promoted the trade as a victory for the U.S., without explaining how it keep Americans safe to release a man with “Death” in his name. The narrative that it’s a fair exchange is hard to sell when the other half of the U.S./Russian prisoner swap is the notorious weapons dealer Viktor Bout.

Bout was finally caught after a sting operation in Thailand in 2008 which led to his conviction and subsequent 25-year prison sentence in 2012 for selling millions of dollars worth of weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, to Columbian Marxist terrorists.

At his trial, a secret recording was admitted into evidence that showed Bout knew he was selling weapons that would kill Americans and supported the endeavor, saying “We have the same enemy.”

Former President Donald Trump criticized the decision to trade “one of the biggest arms dealers anywhere in the world,” who is “responsible for tens of thousands of deaths and horrific injuries,” for Griner instead of retired U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.

“The Trump Administration got 58 hostages released from various hostile countries without paying any money, or giving up anything,” Trump said. “That is something, both in numbers and lack of remuneration, that has never been done before in any other administration. The America hating basketball player for the ‘Merchant of Death,’ especially when the former Marine is not even included, is a one-sided disaster, and a BIG WIN FOR RUSSIA. If I made that deal the Dems would chant, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA!”

Trump’s former National Security Advisor John Bolton, hardly a leader among conservatives after his infamous and brief tenure in the Trump administration, told CBS News that the trade was “a very bad mistake by the Biden administration.”

“This is not a deal. This is not a swap. This is a surrender. And terrorists and rogue states all around the world will take note of this, and it endangers other Americans in the future who can be grabbed and used as bargaining chips by people who don’t have the same morals and scruples that we do,” Bolton said.

The former national security advisor went on to say that, “there are occasions when you swap spies” or “prisoners of war,” but that the Griner/Bout exchange “doesn’t even approximate that.”

“The idea that somehow what Brittney Griner did, very foolishly in my estimate, but that whatever she did compares to Viktor Bout is something that shows just how desperate the administration was to make this deal,” Bolton said. “And I’m just very worried about the effect it has and the danger that it can put many other Americans in, all around the world.”

Bolton said that dealing with the ramifications of allowing Bout to be freed into Russia’s custody was a determining factor in any scenario that would have seen Whelan exchanged, after being “likewise set up by the Russians back in late 2018.”

“But this is a huge victory for Moscow over Washington,” added Bolton. “And it’s the kind of thing that says to terrorists and rogue states and other malign actors who would consider kidnapping or seizing Americans, that we’re willing to trade almost anything to get Americans back. There are other ways to deal with hostage-takers through sanctions and other things, not swaps like this one.”

Russian media wasted no time mocking the Biden administration’s prisoner swap with Russia. Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT, announced (through barely disguised laughter ) that Bout “was not exchanged for the heroic spy” because, unlike Griner, he is a straight white man.

“[Whelan] is a hero, a decorated Marine covered in medals. He only has one. No, two. No, three problems. His first problem is that he is white. His second problem is he is a man. His third problem: he is a heterosexual,” the reporter said, according to a confirmed translation. “American voters were given a choice: a hero who suffered while serving his Fatherland … the United States or a black lesbian, hooked on drugs, who suffered for a vape with hashish.”

“A nation that spits on its heroes to the extent that it considers it significantly more important to free a rightfully charged well-known athlete … instead of freeing the person imprisoned for two years for serving his Motherland. This says a lot about the state of this society, of these intelligence agencies,” she added.

The Biden administration has repeatedly said that rescuing Whelan was never an option given by the Kremlin. However, a scrubbed NBC report said a senior U.S. official told the outlet that the U.S. government sought to have both Griner and Whelan released as part of the prisoner exchange, but that Russia gave the U.S. a choice between the two Americans and Biden chose Griner.

 

[marsh]

Putin Threatens To Launch ‘Hundreds Of Missiles’

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Friday that "hundreds of missiles" would be launched in response to aggression against Russia.

dailycaller.com

Putin Threatens To Launch ‘Hundreds Of Missiles​

GRETCHEN CLAYSON CONTRIBUTOR
December 10, 202211:25 AM ET

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Friday that “hundreds of missiles” would be launched in response to aggression against Russia.

“I assure you, after the early warning system receives a signal of a missile attack, hundreds of our missiles are in the air. It is impossible to stop them,” Putin warned at a summit in Kyrgyzstan according to Fox News.

“There will be nothing left of the enemy, because it is impossible to intercept a hundred missiles. This, of course, is a deterrent — a serious deterrent,” Putin added.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1601365753852481537

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1601365753852481537
5:05 min

His comments come after three separate drone attacks, two of which hit Russia’s Engels airbase hundreds of miles within Russian territory, were carried out this week, Fox News reported. Although Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, Secretary of State Antony Blinken implied Kyiv was behind the attacks Tuesday.

“We have neither encouraged nor enabled the Ukrainians to strike inside of Russia. But the important thing is to understand what Ukrainians are living through every day with the ongoing Russian aggression against their country,” Blinken stated according to Fox News.

Since Engels airbase houses “strategic assets” such as nuclear-capable bombers, current Russian doctrine states Russia can respond to the threat with nuclear strikes, explained Rebekah Koffler, former Defense Intelligence Agency intelligence officer for Russian Doctrine & Strategy per Fox News.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin accused Russia of engaging in “deeply irresponsible nuclear saber-rattling” as it continues its “cruel and unprovoked” war in Ukraine, according to Reuters.

Koffler accused both sides of playing a proverbial game of chicken. “There’s no question that Russia and the U.S. are climbing an escalatory ladder in Ukraine, which may end up in Putin’s use of nuclear weapons. Neither side wants to end up in a direct conflict, but they are climbing this ladder unintentionally due to the misunderstanding of each other’s posture. Both sides are betting that the other one will blink first,” she told Fox News.

NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg warned against escalating the “terrible war” in Ukraine. In an interview Friday , he stated that it could become a “full-fledged war” between NATO and Russia and emphasized that things could go “horribly wrong.”

 

[marsh]

Mapped: Which Countries Have The Highest Inflation Rate? | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

Mapped: Which Countries Have The Highest Inflation Rate?​

SUNDAY, DEC 11, 2022 - 06:55 AM

Inflation is surging nearly everywhere in 2022.

Geopolitical tensions are triggering high energy costs, while supply-side disruptions are also distorting consumer prices. The end result is that almost half of countries worldwide are seeing double-digit inflation rates or higher.

With new macroeconomic forces shaping the global economy, Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Nuefeld shows, in the infographic below, countries with the highest inflation rates, using data from Trading Economics.

Double-Digit Inflation in 2022​

As the table below shows, countless countries are navigating record-high levels of inflation. Some are even facing triple-digit inflation rates.

Globally, Zimbabwe, Lebanon, and Venezuela have the highest rates in the world.


*Inflation rates based on the latest available data.

As price pressures mount, 33 central banks tracked by the Bank of International Settlements (out of a total of 38) have raised interest rates this year. These coordinated rate hikes are the largest in two decades, representing an end to an era of rock-bottom interest rates.

Going into 2023, central banks could continue this shift towards hawkish policies as inflation remains aggressively high.

The Role of Energy Prices​

Driven by the war in Ukraine, energy inflation is pushing up the cost of living around the world.

Since October 2020, an index of global energy prices—made up of crude oil, natural gas, coal, and propane—has increased drastically.



Compared to the 2021 average, natural gas prices in Europe are up sixfold. Real European household electricity prices are up 78% and gas prices have climbed even more, at 144% compared to 20-year averages.

Amid global competition for liquefied natural gas supplies, price pressures are likely to stay high, even though they have fallen recently. Other harmful consequences of the energy shock include price volatility, economic strain, and energy shortages.

“The world is in the midst of the first truly global energy crisis, with impacts that will be felt for years to come”.​

-Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA​

Double-Digit Inflation: Will it Last?​

If history is an example, taming
rising prices could take at least a few years yet.

Take the sky-high inflation of the 1980s. Italy, which managed to combat inflation faster than most countries, brought down inflation from 22% in 1980 to 4% in 1986.

If global inflation rates, which hover around 9.8% in 2022, were to follow this course, it would take at least until 2025 for levels to reach the 2% target.

It’s worth noting that inflation was also highly volatile over this decade.

Consider how inflation fell across much of the rich world by 1981 but shot up again in 1987 amid higher energy prices. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell spoke to the volatility of inflation at their November meeting, indicating that high inflation has a chance of following a period of low inflation.

While the Federal Reserve projects U.S. inflation to fall closer to its 2% target by 2024, the road ahead could still get a lot bumpier between now and then.

 

[marsh]

Morgan Stanley On What Will Drive The Next Phase Of ESG Research | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

Morgan Stanley On What Will Drive The Next Phase Of ESG Research

SUNDAY, DEC 11, 2022 - 01:30 PM
By Stephen Byrd, Head of North American Equity Research, Power/Utilities and Clean Tech at Morgan Stanley

Debate among investors is growing about whether to focus on stocks which are ESG ‘enablers’ with best-in-class ESG metrics, or on ‘ESG improvers’. We see merit in both approaches but believe the benefits of owning ‘ESG rate of change’ stocks and engaging with companies in transition are underappreciated. In a recent report, Morgan Stanley's Sustainability Research team, in collaboration with industry analysts, our Quantitative Investment Strategies (QIS) team, and AlphaWise, show that focusing on names with improving ESG metrics can deliver both alpha and positive ESG impacts.

Our work is distinctive on multiple fronts. First, in collaboration with our analysts, we developed a forward-looking framework to analyze ESG rate of change at the stock level. We think it provides a better gauge of the likely future rate of change than typical data services, which are often backward looking and/or not informed by in-depth, sector-specific analyses. In addition, our analysts focused on companies with an opportunity to improve their financial performance thanks to ESG rate of change, a key difference from typical ESG analyses.

From a quant perspective, our QIS team assessed the impact on stock returns of ESG criteria such as carbon efficiency, exclusions driven by environmental harm, percentages of revenues linked to fossil fuels, and non-climate ESG concerns. The team found little evidence of a significant positive or negative effect on performance from screening on such broad ESG criteria. This underscores the need to marry ESG capabilities with strong sector expertise in order to generate alpha, tailoring ESG criteria and strategies to industry dynamics. We developed a robust set of sector-specific ESG rate of change criteria.

We were surprised how often deflationary technologies are driving simultaneous improvement in both ESG and financial metrics. An usually broad range of innovations are dropping in cost so much that they offer significant net benefits on both fronts. These include solar/wind/clean hydrogen, green ammonia, precision agriculture, improved molecular plastics recycling technology, more efficient electric motors, energy storage cost reductions, ‘green steel’, more durable vehicle tires, recycling technologies, electrification of many products/industrial processes, carbon capture tech, and waste-to-energy/waste-to-plastics technologies.

We reject a dichotomy between investing in ESG ‘enablers’ versus ‘improvers’. We would highlight a recent Morgan Stanley report on Earthshots led by Ed Stanley that identified a number of important emerging ‘enabling’ technologies – radical decarbonization accelerants or global warming mitigants. With the help of our global analysts, the team reviewed 40 promising technologies but zeroed in on six of the most game-changing. Given a growing mismatch between the pace of climate technology adoption and the planet's need for these solutions, we believe these Earthshots are likely to be a key secular trade of the 2020s.



In evaluating ‘improvers’, we reiterate the need to marry ESG investing principles and deep sector expertise. Applying ESG metrics without such knowledge can lead to suboptimal results. For example, in the US utilities sector, management teams are shutting down expensive coal-fired power plants and building renewables, energy storage, and transmission, which drives superior EPS growth. Our quantitative research team showed the superior stock returns for companies leading the way on this ‘carbon rate of change’ strategy, but many of these stocks would screen negatively on classic ESG metrics such as carbon intensity.

 

[marsh]

"Egregious": McCarthy To Subpoena 51 Intel Agents Who Called Hunter Laptop Bombshell 'Disinformation' | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

"Egregious": McCarthy To Subpoena 51 Intel Agents Who Called Hunter Laptop Bombshell 'Disinformation'

SUNDAY, DEC 11, 2022 - 02:00 PM

Amid calls that he sucks and should be replaced, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) says he'll subpoena the 51 former intelligence officials who said the New York Post's bombshell report on the Hunter Biden laptop had 'all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation."

"Those 51 intel agents that signed a letter that said the Hunter Biden information was all wrong, was Russia collusion, many of them have a security clearance," McCarthy told Fox News on Saturday. "We’re going to bring them before a committee. I’m going to have them have a hearing, bring them and subpoena them before a committee. Why did they sign it? Why did they lie to the American public?"

McCarthy - former roommate of liberal pollster (and Hunter Biden pal) Frank Luntz - has faced strong opposition to his bid to become the next Speaker of the House, particularly from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), so you'll understand our skepticism over his 'vow' to get to the bottom of the 51 former senior intelligence officials.

Former CIA Director John Brennan and ex-National Security Council Director James Clapper were among a group of former intelligence officials who signed a statement days after the expose, claiming it “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”

McCarthy questioned the move. “Why did you use the reputation that America was able to give to you … but use it for a political purpose and lie to the American public?” he said on Fox.

Republicans are preparing to launch a number of investigations into the Biden family as a result of The Post’s reporting about Hunter Biden’s overseas business relationships while his father was vice president in the Obama administration. -NY Post

Journalist Glenn Greenwald puts the whole thing in perspective in a great Twitter thread:




The 2 worst media offenders in spreading this lie were NBC and CNN. They put one liar after the next on to say this laptop was forged and came from Russia. @RepAdamSchiff as usual, took the lead in lying. He should be removed from the Intel Comm for this:https://t.co/o6CCIhcSTm

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 11, 2022

 

[marsh]

Lithium-Ion Battery Prices Rise For First Time | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

Lithium-Ion Battery Prices Rise For First Time​

SUNDAY, DEC 11, 2022 - 01:00 PM

Lithium, a mineral used in batteries to power electric vehicles, smartphones, laptops, and all sorts of gadgets, has surged to a record high this year as the world pushes forward with a 'green' future. But in the process of decarbonizing the global economy, battery prices, for the first time since BloombergNEF began tracking the market in 2010, have risen on an annual basis.

After a decade of deflation, the volume-weighted average price of lithium-ion battery packs across all industries increased to $151 per kilowatt-hour in 2022, a 7% increase from last year. BloombergNEF forecasts prices could continue rising next year.



"Never before in the 12 years BNEF has surveyed battery prices have they recorded an annual increase, instead dropping sharply as production grew," Bloomberg said.

The rising costs of lithium, nickel, cobalt, aluminum, and manganese -- crucial metals used in battery making have increased lithium-ion battery pack prices.
Just look at the Lithium Price Index -- prices are out of control ...



"Not until 2024, when more lithium production is expected to come online, are prices forecast to drop again," Bloomberg explained.

The rise in lithium-ion battery packs could be the first red flags in the energy transition that prices to decarbonize economies will be costly.

"With the advent of electromobility and all this excitement about lithium, the world needs new sources," Daniel Jimenez from consultancy iLiMarkets recently told the FT. "Whoever is producing lithium in the coming three years is going to make abnormally high margins."​

Yet until new supply comes online, lithium-ion battery packs will rise, which has already caused EV affordability concerns.