Phone conversations with sources are revealing that inflation is starting to create cracks in the unity of the G7 against Russia for the summit of G7 nations in Bavaria (June 26-28). Already, the leaders of the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, and Japan are not in accord. The people are not in support of this endless war with Russia and are looking at their personal costs thanks to inflation. The Europeans which include Germany, France, and Italy are expressing that the people want an end to this war and that Ukraine should surrender the Donbas. They are not prepared to see their living standards collapse for a war that they see as a civil war. This is starting to show up in polls that they have been taking.
The UK is taking the position of the Baltic States and Poland who collectively fear that if Russia succeeds in Ukraine that they will be next. This seems to be really propaganda that they have bought from Zelensky. Putin has made NO EFFORT to conquer Ukraine. If that was the objective, you first take out the power grid, then communications, followed by the water supply. Zelensky has been willing to sacrifice his own people for the territory that is occupied by Russians who he hates. It takes a blind politician not to see through Zelensky’s hatred and stuffing hundreds of million offshore.
Indeed, if China is smart, it can continue to reduce exports and force prices up even higher in the West. Likewise, the rising inflation may not be because of the war, but the lockdowns caused the collapse of the supply chain and now many are starting to blame Western sanctions for the rising costs of gas and oil, and the massive shortage of wheat and fertilizer. As I have said before, one major tactic in war is to undermine your opponent’s currency. With this crop of world leaders, we have the worst possible people in place in human history. They cannot see that they have made the West vulnerable. Our computer should that wars will escalate starting next year, but international war is more likely after 2024.
My fear is that the sheer stupidity that now dominates world leaders here in the West are playing checkers while Putin and Xi are playing chess. Even Boris Johnson in the UK has announced he effectively wants to be a dictator for life. He said he has no intentions of leaving his position until the mid-2030s!
And Klauss Schwabs wants to eliminate Democracy!
They do not want any more Trumps to come to play in their sandbox.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on June 25, 2022 | sundance
For those not paying close attention, the G7 is in serious trouble right now. The G7 includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and Germany. The EU and Japan are on the verge of a central bank financial crisis. Germany is the heart of the EU and their economy is FUBAR as a result of sanctions against Russia, their energy dependence and an internal inflation rate exceeding 30%.
The G7 spending response to the COVID pandemic, a collective decision outlined by the World Economic Forum and central bank organizers, has created a massive inflation crisis amid all attached economies. Making matters worse the Build Back Better agenda promoting climate friendly energy policy over fossil fuels is pouring gasoline on the raging inferno of economic disruption.
The EU and Japanese central banks are tenuous at best, and the U.S. has seemingly positioned Europe and Asia for even further economic pain as a result of sanctions against Russia (EU) and a contracting U.S. economy impacting Asia. The intentional global cleaving is not working out too well as the G7 leaders assemble for their summit in the Bavarian Alps. This is the backdrop for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. In essence, the G7 climate policy cannot be sustained simultaneously with the German economy surviving:
GERMANY – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said he wants to put soaring inflation, the energy crisis and climate change at the center of the agenda when he meets fellow G7 leaders at Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps.
Germany, which holds this year’s G7 rotating presidency, is hosting the gathering of the heads of state and government of the world’s seven leading industrialized nations from Sunday through Tuesday.
“Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine is also having an impact here,” Scholz said in his video podcast on Saturday, pointing to steep rises in the prices of food and energy.
“Many things we buy are more expensive. Food, but especially the prices for energy. We notice that at the petrol station, we notice that when we have to pay the heating bill. Heating oil, gas — everything is much more expensive than a year ago,” he said, adding: “That’s why we have to prepare for it.”
The chancellor said the G7 leaders would discuss the current situation triggered by the war “and at the same time ensure that we stop man-made climate change.”
He stressed the need for a “climate club” to enable countries to work together to combat climate change as well as the current geopolitical and inflation crises. (read more)
For those unfamiliar with history, finance and global economics… The current geopolitical scenario is coalescing toward one specific outcome, WAR With Russia.
The only way out of the economic crisis the western alliance has created, is to go to war.
These are very serious times.
Beware the needs of the banks, the drumbeats of war always originate against a backdrop of empty vaults.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on June 25, 2022 | sundance
All things considered, a remarkably honest article from CNBC outlines the likelihood for a wave of retail bankruptcies. In part the issue is driven by COVID bailout and stimulus funds that inflated the balance sheets and hid the natural contraction that was taking place in the last half of 2021 through today. However, bar far the biggest issue is a contraction in current consumer spending due to severe cost increases in housing, food, fuel and energy.
As we have discussed at length, consumer spending patterns shifted radically in the last year.
Despite the 2021 third and fourth quarter giving the artificial impression of strong demand, inventories were climbing and productivity in the manufacturing and services dropped dramatically. In combination these two data points both indicated a contraction in demand.
The first quarter of 2022 showed a -1.5% overall GDP. The second quarter ends next week, and the government data will be released in the last week of July. I predict that Q2 data will be heavily manipulated in two ways: (1) manipulation of import data via the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles; and (2) the intentional use of a lower inflation rate than currently exists in all goods. My best guess on the fake BEA numbers is a +0.2 to +0.5% positive GDP, thereby barely avoiding the technical definition of a recession.
That said, the CNBC article outlines a very bad scenario for retailers, as the consumer spending contraction hits their profit and loss statements.
(CNBC) – […] There could be an increase in distressed retailers beginning later this year, experts say, as ballooning prices dent demand for certain goods, stores contend with bloated inventory levels and a potential recession looms.
[…] The latest retail sales data shows where consumers are pulling back the most. Advance retail and food service spending fell 0.3% in May versus the prior month, the Commerce Department reported last week. Furniture and home furnishings retailers, electronics and appliances stores, and health- and personal-care chains all saw month-over-month declines.
“Consumers aren’t just buying less stuff, they are shopping less, which means a loss of the impulse-shopping moments that are critical to retail growth,” said Marshal Cohen, chief retail industry advisor at NPD Group, a market research firm.
In the first three months of 2022, consumers bought 6% fewer items at retail than they did in the first quarter of 2021, NPD Group said in a survey issued in late May. More than 8 in 10 U.S consumers said they planned to make further changes to pull back on their spending in the next three to six months, it said.
[…] Rising inventory levels are also on bankruptcy advisors’ radar because they have the potential to lead to much bigger problems. Retailers from Gap to Abercrombie & Fitch to Kohl’s have said in recent weeks that they have too much stuff after shipments arrived late and consumers abruptly changed what they were shopping for.
And when a retailer’s profit margins shrink as its inventories are reappraised — a routine practice in the industry — those inventories won’t be worth as much, Malfitano explained. A company’s borrowing base could fall as a result, he said.
“Some retailers have been able to cancel orders to not create more of a bubble on inventory. But a lot of retailers can’t cancel those orders,” Malfitano said. “So if the retailers that can’t cancel orders don’t knock it out of the park during the holiday season, their margins are going to go way down.” (read more)
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on June 23, 2022 | Sundance
To say the recent remarks from German Economic and Climate Minister Robert Habeck showcase the stupidity of the western sanctions would be an understatement. In a broad energy policy announcement to the German people, Minister Habeck has announced that natural gas is now urgently being stored and built up in order to survive next winter.
Additionally, the German parliament is being called into emergency session to re-write climate laws allowing coal-fired electricity power plants to be brought back on-line. Essentially, years of German renewable energy investments and initiatives are now being reversed in order to maintain the commitment to NATO sanctions against Russia.
GERMANY – Minister Robert Habeck […] “The situation on the gas market has deteriorated in recent days. The missing quantities can still be replaced, and the gas storage tanks are still being filled, albeit at high prices. Security of supply is currently guaranteed. But the situation is serious. We are therefore further strengthening precautions and taking additional measures to reduce gas consumption.
[…] In order to reduce gas consumption, less gas is to be used to produce electricity. Instead, coal-fired power plants will have to be used more. […] That means, to be honest, more coal-fired power plants for a transitional period. That’s bitter, but in this situation it’s almost necessary to reduce gas consumption. We must and we will do everything we can to store as much gas as possible in summer and autumn. The gas storage tanks must be full in winter. That has top priority, ”said Habeck. (read full remarks)
In order to unbuckle themselves from dependence on Russian pipelines, Habeck also announced that floating Liquified Natural Gas terminals will have to be created so they can source LNG from other nations. Currently Germany has no port system to offload LNG, they will be purchasing and leasing floating ships to act as LNG terminals.
I am reminded of the prior warning to Germany from U.S. President Donald Trump. It’s worth remembering that U.S. media blasted President Trump for being so brutally honest in his NATO remarks where he warned about the danger of Germany being so dependent on Russia for oil and gas. WATCH:
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on June 23, 2022 | Sundance
In a 6-3 ruling [pdf HERE] the Supreme Court has ruled that New York state cannot require an individual to prove a “special need” in order to carry a firearm for self-protection. The ruling, likely to have ramifications for other gun restricting states, affirms the constitutional right of an individual to carry a firearm, and blocks the efforts of states to make the individual prove they have a need for one.
Writing the majority decision Justice Clarence Thomas concluded there was no historical requirement that law-abiding citizens show the kind of special need for self-defense required by the New York law to carry a gun in public. Indeed, as Thomas wrote, there is “no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need.” [Ruling Here]
SCOTUS BLOG – The state law at the heart of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen required anyone who wants to carry a concealed handgun outside the home to show “proper cause” for the license. New York courts interpreted that phrase to require applicants to show more than a general desire to protect themselves or their property. Instead, applicants must demonstrate a special need for self-defense – for example, a pattern of physical threats. Several other states, including California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, impose similar restrictions, as do many cities. (read more)
Leftists, particularly those who have recently become drunk on power from their COVID dictates, are apoplectic about the supreme court limiting the power of government to control the constitutional rights of the individual. It’s quite remarkable to watch the far-left lash out against the institution that has the role in our government to protect the constitution.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on June 23, 2022 | Sundance
Oh, there’s so much that could be said about this… so much. However, what Tucker Carlson outlines in this monologue is accurate insofar as it merely scratches the surface of the DeceptiCons in Washington DC. {Direct Rumble Link} WATCH:
The UniParty issue does not start in Washington DC, it surfaces in Washington DC.
The UniParty agenda, the origin of the crap that we see surface in a toxically corrupt federal government, starts IN YOUR STATE.
The UniParty is an outcome of the private organizations that run the political parties known as the RNC and DNC. This is where almost all voters and political followers get lost. The Republican and Democrat parties are not affiliated with any construct of the United States government. They are private entities, private clubs, that can establish any set of rules and regulations for the people within the club/party. That’s where the origin of the feces begins.
The club can accept or deny membership for any person who wants to run for political office. The RNC and DNC clubs essentially select the politicians. There is nothing within this process that is even remotely democratic, representative or even visible in the framework of the U.S. constitution.
Private corporations known as the RNC and DNC run the professional political apparatus, and from that origination all of the corruption in the body politic -as outlined in the visible UniParty agenda- surfaces. Two clubs, both funded by Wall Street power brokers, globalists and ultra-rich mega-donors, select the members who will represent their interests in Washington DC. That’s the root of the issue.
The Republican National Committee (RNC), and the Democrat National Committee (DNC), are private clubs.
The RNC and DNC are corporations, private businesses; and just like all private businesses, they have the ability to make rules, bylaws, terms and conditions of membership and association that are completely arbitrary according to their charter.
The RNC and DNC are not entities of government. The RNC and DNC are not affiliates of government. The RNC and DNC have absolutely no connection to government, other than their arbitrary business model for helping politicians enter and remain within government.
In fact, the RNC and DNC are simply private corporations who engage in the business of politics. Whenever we start to forget the DNC and RNC are private corporations, we can slip into the mistaken belief that they operate on any form of baseline altruism.
These corporations exist for the fulfillment of their mission; and their mission is to use the business of politics as a method of financial reward to sustain the business model.
Some call these private entities, these corporations, “clubs,” because using that term helps to remind us that these groups do not operate without a private agenda.
The rules within the RNC club are determined by the people who control the club charter, primarily large donors who fund the corporate business. If they have a particular intent or direction, they wish the club to support or take, they control how the club engages in the process of achieving their outcome. That effort is taken regardless of the opinion from the subordinate members in the club.
Through the process of controlling the corporations, the private clubs, both the RNC and DNC control how political events take place. Nothing within this process is contingent upon the support of the voting electorate.
Each state and local precinct has their own chapter of the club, and often the corporate direction, specifically the club activity in/around Washington DC, is different from what the local groups want to see take place. However, just because the local chapter of the group disagrees with the parent company or board of directors, does not mean the larger corporate entity will change anything.
When we are evaluating political events inside the United States, it is critical to keep reminding ourselves that what is taking place, or what is not taking place, are outcomes determined within the executive suites of a private club. This is an unfortunate system dynamic, but it is a critical point that once fully understood explains many of the issues people have with the registered politicians within the club.
The RNC and DNC are businesses. Their decisions are business decisions. The club actions, or lack thereof, are all part of the business of politics.
The tenured participants in the club do not operate arbitrarily in a vacuum. They talk to each other, communicate with each other, organize with each other, plan with each other, and collaborate for the larger objectives of the private corporation.
Nothing within the business system of DC and club politics has anything to do with the constitutional framework of U.S. government.
Again, for emphasis. The governing process and constitutional aspects of the framework within the U.S. government, have absolutely nothing to do with the two private corporations known as the RNC and DNC.
A potato farmer has no influence on McDonalds, despite the fact the fast food corporation sells french fries.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on June 22, 2022 | Sundance
… And if they don’t, they are Russian sympathizers.
Delivering remarks from the stage built next to the White House, earlier today Joe Biden demanded that congress and states suspend gasoline taxes for 90-days in order to offset the massive price increases his energy policy has created. {Transcript Here} Additionally, Biden says any political opposition to his demand means his opponents support Russia:
“for all those Republicans in Congress criticizing me today for high gas prices in America, are you now saying we were wrong to support Ukraine? Are you saying we were wrong to stand up to Putin? Are you saying that we would rather have lower gas prices in America and Putin’s iron fist in Europe? I don’t believe that.” {Direct Rumble Link}
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It will be worth watching how California Governor Gavin Newsom responds to this instruction. California has the largest gasoline taxes in the nation and uses them to fund the majority of their left-wing policies.
Full video and transcript below.
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[Transcript] – “Good afternoon, everyone. I’d like to talk to you about the actions I’m announcing to bring down gas prices.
First, today I’m calling on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax for the next 90 days, through the busy summer season — busy travel season.
Here’s what that means: Every time you go to the gas station to fill your tank, the federal government charges an 18-cent tax per gallon of gas that you purchase and a 24-cent tax per gallon of diesel you purchase. It’s a tax that’s been around for 90 years.
It’s important because we use it for the Highway Trust Fund to keep our highways going. But what I’m proposing is suspending the federal gas tax without affecting the Highway Trust Fund.
And here’s how we do that: With the tax revenues up this year and our deficit down over $1.6 trillion this year alone, we’ll still be able to fix our highways and bring down prices of gas. We can do both at the same time.
By suspending the 18-cent gas tax — federal gas tax for the next 90 days, we can bring down the price of gas and give families just a little bit of relief.
I call on the companies to pass this along — every penny of this 18-cents reduction — to the consumers. This is — there’s no time now for profiteering.
There are a number of other proposals by Democrats in the House and the Senate, and I hope my call for action can help move those proposals forward as well. But we can also cut gas prices even more in another way.
That’s why the second action I’m taking is calling on states to either suspend the state gas tax as well or find other ways to deliver some relief.
State gas taxes average [another] 30 cents per gallon. Already, some states have acted.
In Connecticut and New York, the governors have temporarily suspended their gas tax as well.
In Illinois and Colorado, governors delayed theirs to give families a bit more breathing room as well.
In Minnesota, Governor Walz proposes using state budget surpluses to give households a rebate that will help them pay for gas at the pump or other essential needs.
I’m calling on more states and local governments to take actions like these.
Thanks to our historic economic recovery, which fortified state budgets that had been hurt in the pandemic, states are now in a strong position to be able to afford to take some of these actions.
Now, I fully understand that a gas tax holiday alone is not going to fix the problem, but it will provide families some immediate relief — just a little bit of breathing room — as we continue working to bring down prices for the long haul.
Third, I’m calling on the industry to refine more oil into gasoline and to bring down gas prices.
Let me explain. I know my Republican friends claim we’re not producing enough oil and I’m limiting oil production. Quite frankly, that’s nonsense.
Here’s the truth: Just this month, America produced 12 million barrels of oil per day. That’s the highest — that’s higher than average under my predecessor. And I’m — we’re on track to set a new record for production next year.
Plus, I’ve added to that supply of oil by releasing a record 1 million barrels of oil per day from what’s called the Strategic Petro- — Petroleum Reserve.
In fact, I just led the world to coordinate the largest release of global oil reserves in history, including from other countries. In total, that’s 240 million barrels to boost global supply.
And Republicans falsely claim that I’m blocking production on federal lands. But again, that’s nonsense.
The industry has more approved permits for production on federal lands than they can possibly use. That’s a fact.
My administration also directed the sale of gasoline using homegrown biofuels — ethanol, E15 — this summer, which will boost gasoline supplies and lower the price at thousands of gas stations across America.
And I welcome the recent announcement from what’s known as the OPEC+, a group of nearly two dozen oil-producing nations, to increase global oil supply.
The bottom line is: We are setting records in terms of American energy production. We’re supplementing that supply with a release from our oil reserves. So the issue isn’t oil production alone; the problem is the refining of that oil into gas at the pump.
During the pandemic, some oil and gas companies shut down refining facilities.
Last week, I sent a letter to the CEOs of the largest oil-refining companies asking them to work with my administration to bring refineries back online to get more gas to the pump at lower prices.
The Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, and members of my team will be meeting with many of these refining companies tomorrow. And I hope they’ll come up to the table with some real ideas and practical steps in the near term.
And I’m prepared to act quickly and decisively on their recommendations if they make sense to address the immediate challenge in front of us and the American people.
Finally, when the cost of oil does come down, we need the price at the gas stations — that they — what they charge at the pump — to come down as well.
For example, in the last two weeks, the price of oil has fallen by more than $10.00 a barrel. Normally, this would reduce the cost at the pump about 25 cents a gallon. Yet, so far, gas stations have only reduced prices by a few cents a gallon. Some haven’t reduced prices at all.
I’ve heard plenty of explanations from companies and economists about why it normally takes time for these price reductions to reach the consumer. I might note that when the price of a barrel of oil goes up, it doesn’t make — ta- — take much time for the price at the pump to go up.
So, let’s be honest with one another. My message is simple. To the companies running gas stations and setting those prices at the pump: This is a time of war, global peril, Ukraine. These are not normal times.
Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you are paying for the product. Do it now. Do it today. Your customers, the American people, they need relief now.
So, let me summarize:
Today, I’m calling for a federal gas tax holiday, state gas tax holiday for [or] the equivalent relief to consumers; oil companies to use their profits to increase refining capacity rather than buy back their own stock; gas stations to pass along the decree — excuse me, not the decree, but the decrease in oil prices to lower prices at the pump.
And together, these actions could help drop the price at the pump by up to $1.00 a gallon or more. It doesn’t reduce all of the pain, but it would be a big help.
I’m doing my part. I want the Congress, the states, and the industry to do their part as well.
And let’s remember how we got here: Putin invaded Ukraine. Putin invaded Ukraine with 100,000 forces.
Just look at the facts: Since the start of the war in Ukraine this year, gas prices have risen by almost $2.00 a gallon in the United States, and sometimes more, around the world.
But it wasn’t just Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. It was the refusal of the United States and the rest of the free world to let Putin get away with something we haven’t seen since World War Two.
I said at the time: Siding with Ukraine during the most serious aggression in Europe since World War Two — defending freedom, defending democracy — was not going to go without cost for the American people and the rest of the free world. We were going to have to pay a price as well — in the cost of military equipment, economic assistance, humanitarian relief. And sanctioned Russian banking industries.
Russia is also the largest oi- — one of the largest oil producers in the world. We cut off Russian oil into the United States, and our partners in Europe did the same, knowing that we would see higher gas prices.
We could have turned a blind eye to Putin’s murderous ways, and the price of gas wouldn’t have spiked the way it has.
I believe that would have been wrong. I believed it then — I believed then and I believe now: The free world had no choice.
America could not stand by and the West could not have stood by — although some suggested at the time — and just watch Putin’s tanks roll into Ukraine and seize a sovereign country.
If we did stand by, Putin wouldn’t have stopped. Putin would’ve kept going, and we’d face an even steeper price.
And it wasn’t just me. The American people understood. The American people rose to the moment. The American people did what they always have done: defend freedom around the world. They chose to stand with the people of Ukraine.
We had near unanimous support in the Congress — Democrats, Republicans, and independents — for supporting Ukraine, knowing full well the cost.
So, for all those Republicans in Congress criticizing me today for high gas prices in America, are you now saying we were wrong to support Ukraine? Are you saying we were wrong to stand up to Putin? Are you saying that we would rather have lower gas prices in America and Putin’s iron fist in Europe? I don’t believe that.
Look, I get the easy politics of the attack. I get that. But the simple truth is gas prices are up almost $2.00 a gallon because of Vladimir Putin’s ruthless attack on Ukraine, and we wouldn’t let him get away with it. And we’re doing everything we can to reduce this pain at the pump now.
And if those experiences has shown us anything, it’s that we need to grow and harness more energy here at home.
Let’s lower the price of electric vehicles so we never have to pay at the pump in the first place.
Major auto companies are preparing for 50 percent of future sales to be electric vehicles by 2030, 100 percent by 2035. We’re already building secure supply chains to build these electric vehicles here in America.
And we’re investing almost $100 billion in public transit and rail, for all the studies show that it will take millions of cars off the road and significantly reduce pollution if there’s a serious transportation system available.
Let’s keep accelerating our deployment of homegrown resources — sources of energy like solar and wind and nuclear and hydrogen and carbon capture and storage — and keep developing battery technologies so we can store that power we need when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow.
Folks, let’s make sure we’re never again forced to pay the price of a menacing dictator halfway around the world.
We can deal with the imme- — this immediate crisis of high gas prices and still seize the clean energy future.
We’re Americans. We can do both. We have the most qualified people in the world.
Let me close with this: Even as we lead the world in defending democracy and standing up to a brutal autocrat, there are actions we can take to help American families now. We have taken them. We are taking them. The federal gas tax holiday, state gas tax holiday. Bringing back refineries, putting them back online.
We just have to keep going. I promise you I’m doing everything possible — everything possible to bring the price of energy down, gas prices down. And I want to make sure we all work on this together.” (LINK)
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on June 20, 2022 | Sundance
I’m not sure how everyone feels about this new effort to make bugs into food for humans, but everything about it seems weird. A Canadian company is now celebrating the opening of a manufacturing facility in Ontario what will generate 9,000 metric tons of crickets for people to eat.
I will not be eating the bugs, slugs or any other creepy crawling critter regardless of “protein transfer efficiency.” Nope. Not happening.
(CANADA) – On May 26th, Aspire Food Group announced that it has completed construction of its alternative protein manufacturing facility. London, Ontario is now home to the world’s largest cricket production facility.
Aspire’s new plant will reportedly produce 9000 metric tons of crickets every year for human and pet consumption. That’s about two billion insects to be distributed annually across Canada and throughout the United States.
Aspire also reports that it already has orders for the next two years.
Crickets are currently being explored as a protein-rich superfood. They contain fibre and are already found in grocery stores and restaurants, and have a smaller environmental footprint than traditional protein sources. (read more)
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
Centinel2012 