Category Global Climate Change Emergency

Sep 12 2022

Social Media Weaponized for Political Propaganda


Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption Re-Posted Sep 12, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

It is no coincidence that every social media data leak seems to target conservatives. Snap (formerly Snapchat), an app known for short videos, recently admitted that they leaked Republican voter data to the Democrats. In turn, Snap showed these mostly young voters a barrage of ads in an attempt to change their political stance prior to the midterms.

These ads quickly appear in between videos, and many users may not notice the subconscious level of propaganda they’ve received. The groups TargetSmart and i360 both used the leaked data to their advantage. Ads from the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams’ gubernatorial campaign were sent to Republican users of the platform, as first reported by Axios. Snap claims that this was a glitch in the system, but that seems utterly impossible.

“Unfortunately, due to an internal mistake, we didn’t follow this usual process — which resulted in these two companies’ services being used by advertisers outside of the process, impacting a small number of ads,” a Snap spokesperson told Axios. Both i360 and TargetSmart deny any involvement as well.

If Republicans did this to the Democrats, they would declare it a national emergency and an attack on democracy. YouTube consistently removes any video that goes against the Democrat’s agenda, and Twitter has no problem banning accounts. Facebook’s Zuckerberg admitted that the FBI tipped them off and asked them to hide the Hunter Biden laptop leak before the 2020 US Presidential Election. All of the main social media platforms are now far-left propaganda tools, and freedom of speech does not exist on the main social networks.

Sep 12 2022

De-Energization Plans in California – Lights Out


Armstrong Economics Blog/USA Current Events Re-Posted Sep 12, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

California sent out an emergency public notification to warn residents that the power grid was under a strain. Since people are likely unwilling to turn off their power during the summer heat, California is concocting “de-energization” plans. Simply put, California plans to temporarily turn off the power grid in the name of public safety.

This is the same state that plans to eliminate gas-powered cars yet does not have the capability to maintain the current electrical grid. Companies are already creating advice for residents to “get ready for a PSPS” (Public Safety Power Shutoff). PG&E warned that some residents may be without power for “several days.” Their advice seems quite dystopian. Those who will DIE without power due to medical conditions may receive an exemption to power their medical devices.

Several days without electricity will cripple small businesses, and large businesses will also suffer. Those who may need but do not qualify for an exemption could die. They are recommending that people use camping stoves and outdoor charcoal grills to cook, but that is not an option for many. The elderly are especially vulnerable without power. Those without power banks will be unable to charge their phones and will be isolated from the world. Kids will be unable to attend school. They are asking people to power their EVs, but you can only go so far on one charge. It will come as no surprise if they shut off electricity for the poorest areas first.

Perhaps we could have funded this project instead of sending over $120 billion to Ukraine. California is still pushing to end the use of fossil fuels but look at the situation they are in currently.

Sep 11 2022

Massive Increases in U.S Natural Gas Exports are Driving Up U.S. Energy Prices


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 10, 2022

It is good to see at least one energy finance analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, speaking commonsense.  In an article by Clark Williams-Derry for Barron Magazine [SEE HERE], the author accurately outlines how significant U.S. Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) exports are driving up prices for American consumers.

The author accurately refutes the notion that exports do not drive-up domestic prices, by walking through the example of how natural gas prices dropped for U.S. consumers when the liquefied natural gas plant in Quintana, Texas [Freeport LNG] was temporarily shut down, blocking a portion of the export capacity.  However, that facility is about to come back on-line and with increased exports from other facilities domestic U.S. prices have already doubled.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Association (IEA), U.S. storage of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) is 12% below the five-year average (LINK).  Additionally, the IEA is expecting the U.S. to export 11.7 billion cubic feet of LNG per day during the fourth quarter of 2022 — up 17% from the third quarter. The destination of that export is Europe.

Consider that 43% of U.S. households use LNG for home heating, and power suppliers use LNG to create electricity.  With the massive 2022 exports of LNG to Europe (+17% in fourth quarter alone), that means lower domestic supplies and increased prices here in the United States for electricity and home heating.  We are seeing and feeling these massive price increases right now.

Barrons – […]  If you need more evidence of the impact of natural gas exports on prices, just compare supply and demand fundamentals for the year leading up to February 2020 (the last pre-pandemic month) versus the year leading up to this May (the most recent month with full federal data). Annualized production rose over the period, while domestic consumption remained roughly flat. Yet LNG exports almost doubled—a surge that tightened U.S. gas markets and doubled the price that U.S. consumers pay for the fuel. 

The growth of global demand for U.S. LNG can be tied to many market forces, including the shortfalls in Europe due to Russia’s manipulation of European Union gas markets. Sustained high demand in wealthy Asian nations has contributed to export growth as well. And so has the U.S. gas industry’s dogged determination to ship its wares to the highest bidder, foreign or domestic. 

Russia’s role has been particularly critical in the rise of global LNG demand. As Russia choked off gas shipments to Europe, EU buyers have turned to global LNG markets to make up the shortfall. Global LNG prices rose in response, and U.S. LNG companies ramped up output, shipping more cargoes to Europe. But Russia responded by further clamping down on gas supplies to the EU—a vicious circle that has hurt Europe’s economy even more severely than it has harmed America’s.

There’s little sign that U.S. gas prices will ease in the coming years. Freeport’s demand will be back online soon enough, and there are three other massive LNG export projects under construction, with more than a dozen of others waiting for financing.

[…] Curiously, federal regulators have consistently found that the gas export projects are in the public interest—meaning they were in the economic interest of LNG companies and gas drillers. But now, exports are creating sky-high costs for U.S. consumers, and drillers are reluctant to boost gas output lest prices fall back to earth. So, it’s high time to consider whether soaring U.S. LNG exports are actually in America’s interest—or if, instead, runaway LNG exports are fueling energy inflation and undermining the nation’s economic competitiveness. (read more)

Not only are U.S. taxpayers directly paying for the majority of costs in Ukraine, but we are also subsidizing the European Union by exporting LNG and driving up the price for energy here at home.

We the taxpayers are directly paying Ukraine, and indirectly paying Europe to maintain gas sanctions against Russia.  As a result, we the taxpayers are also paying higher prices here at home.  This is the reality of the current exfiltration of wealth as created by the Biden administration.

FUBAR

Sep 10 2022

When a Clown Moves into a Palace


Armstrong Economics Blog/Uncategorized Re-Posted Sep 10, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

-Record-high inflation

-Proxy war with Russia

-Open borders

-Loss of energy independence

-Looming recession

-Reckless spending

-Woke agenda

-Increase in violent crimes

-Polarized nation

-Compromised elections

-America now seen as vulnerable to enemies

The list goes on and on…

Sep 10 2022

Professor Alan Dershowitz Recommends a Retired Federal Judge Should Hold Special Master Appointment in Mar-a-Lago Raid Document Review


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 9, 2022

September 9, 2022 | Sundance | 1 Comment

The deadline for both the Trump Team and DOJ-NSD Team to submit their recommendations for a special master to review the Mar-a-Lago documents is tonight at midnight.

During an interview presented by Newsmax, Harvard Professor Emeritus and legal scholar Alan Dershowitz gives his impression on the appointment itself as well as the background issues surrounding the documents at the heart of the conflict.

Mr. Dershowitz recommends that a former federal judge would be the best candidate for the role of special master and supports the opinion with his viewpoint. WATCH:

.

Sep 10 2022

U.S. Household Net Worth Drops $6.1 Trillion in Second Quarter, Despite Home Values Increasing $1.5 Trillion


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 9, 2022 | Sundance

The U.S. Federal Reserve has published the second quarter 2022 balance sheet of U.S. total household wealth [DATA HERE].

In the second quarter (April, May, June) 2022, the total U.S. household wealth dropped $6.1 trillion, despite a calculated increase in home value of $1.5 trillion.  The majority of the loss is connected to a drop in Corporate Equity (stock market) and household investment in the stock market.

FED “The net worth of households and nonprofit organizations declined $6.1 trillion to $143.8 trillion in the second quarter. The value of stocks on the household balance sheet declined by $7.7 trillion, while the value of real estate increased by $1.5 trillion.”  Keep in mind this is backward looking data, and after a period of decelerating rates of growth, the overall real estate market is now in a period of decline as calculated for the most recent month of July [DATA].

The equity position of homeowners is now considerably less than the equity position when the feds calculated the second quarter household wealth (two months ago).  Part of the issue goes back to what we have been discussing with inflation and specifically energy driven increases in fuel and electricity.

Inflation sucks money out of the economy, making people less wealthy.  Energy inflation sucks money exponentially faster out of each household, potentially making the already working-class poor, much poorer.

The higher prices paid for housing, food, fuel and energy do not contribute to anything, the increased costs are just sucked out of the consumers’ pockets without generating any additional value.  It just costs more to live, and that reduces wealth.  Consider this the cost of going green.

Joe Biden and his economic team are introducing phrases like “a growth recession,” to explain a dynamic where earned wages are replaced by government subsidy.  You can no longer afford food, energy, housing etc, so the government steps in as the provider of subsidy based on income level to supplement the gap between wages and the new costs of products and services within the Biden created “green” economy.

However, in the bigger of big pictures, the government does not create wealth.  Wealth is created outside government by private activity.  Government income via taxation is lowered when the economic activity of the private sector drops.

There is currently a massive lag in recording dropped economic activity that is going to surface very soon.  The rate of energy price increase has been so large, so fast, the ability of producers to transfer the cost creates an economic lag.

Total product costs (except imports) are rising faster than finished good prices to consumers.  At the same time, consumer demand for goods has dropped dramatically due to the speed and rate of increased energy costs.  As a combined result, the equity market will likely continue to decline as each earnings report comes in lower than prior expectation.

Now, looking at wealth over time, what happens to the economic model of Biden when current housing value ($41.2 trillion) simply drops back to 2020 levels ($33.0 trillion a conservative real estate market correction)?

Continued higher prices to consumers, less money to government, less economic activity and lower household equity.   That’s trouble, big trouble.

Wave #3 of food inflation starts hitting hard next month as the increased costs at the field start to transfer through the supply chain from harvest to the fork.

WASHINGTON DC – […] The sour mood appears to stem from record food, energy and housing prices. Positive views of the grocery industry dropped 14 percentage points from last year, the biggest drop in the survey. The real estate industry dipped 9 points, the second-largest decline.

Just 22 percent of respondents reported having a positive view of the oil and gas industry, down from 28 percent last year. Twenty-nine percent reported having a positive view of electric and gas utilities, down from 36 percent last year. 

Grocery prices rose a stunning 13.1 percent over the last 12 months ending in July, the largest annual increase in more than four decades, according to Labor Department data. 

Housing affordability has fallen to its lowest level since the Great Recession, according to the National Association of Home Builders, with rents and home prices at record levels.

Gas prices reached an all-time high in June before falling slightly in recent months, while energy bills are also soaring amid huge demand for natural gas. (read more)

Meanwhile Biden’s economic team is bragging that Main Street is in better shape?

“The President’s first two years in office have been two of the most productive in American history, and as the Blueprint explains, these accomplishments are all part of one economic vision.”  (more)

Sep 9 2022

Electric Air Taxis Coming Soon


Armstrong Economics Blog/Technology Re-Posted Sep 9, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Technological advancements are quite an amazing achievement. Although I never thought I’d see them in my lifetime, electric air taxis may become commonplace in the not-so-distant future. United Airlines announced that they are investing in air taxis from Eve Air Mobility and have already purchased 200 four-seat electric aircrafts. Eve, which was listed on the NYSE in May, will receive an additional $15 million investment from United. Flying taxis or eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles) are designed for short commuter trips.

United also purchased 100 electric aircrafts from Archer Aviation. They expect the first shipments to arrive in 2026. Airlines Ventures President Michael Leskinen projects that a one-way trip to the airport would cost between $100 to $150, but these air taxis only have a range of 60 miles. This is a workaround to abide by the coming zero carbon emission laws but certainly will not be a replacement for affordable public transportation that many in the working class rely on.

Much is unknown about this new technology. Eve plans to hold a simulation later in the week in Chicago to study how eVTOLs will function in an urban environment. It is always refreshing to see technological advancement as innovation paves the way for opportunity.

Sep 9 2022

Secretary Yellen Celebrates Treasury Policy Making “Future U.S. Economy Dependent on the Wind and the Sun”


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 9, 2022 | Sundance 

Every institution of the JoeBama administration is filled with climate change ideologues. Never is that more abundantly clear than a U.S. Treasury Secretary who celebrates the future of the U.S. economy becoming “dependent on the wind and the Sun“.  {Direct Rumble Link}

[Transcript] – “Our plan – powered by the Inflation Reduction Act – represents the largest investment in fighting climate change in our country’s history. It will put us well on our way toward a future where we depend on the wind, sun, and other clean sources for our energy. We will rid ourselves from our current dependence on fossil fuels.” (link)

.

To understand the scale of the ideological effort, review this earlier statement in her prepared remarks, “In markets where we could not help lower prices by expanding supply, we have aimed to mitigate the pain directly, through cost relief.”  The admission here is that ideologically the Biden administration cannot expand energy supplies to lower energy prices without compromising their climate change mission.

[Full Transcript Here]

Sep 8 2022

Is the US Sacrificing Europe to Maintain Global Dominance?


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Sep 8, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Vladimir Putin believes that Washington is sacrificing Europe to maintain global dominance. The United States has always been the world police, and the top country that others turn to in times of crisis. America’s post-World War II status left it as the financial capital of the world, and the dollar has remained the world’s reserve currency. Nothing has topped the dollar.

Europe attempted to create the European Union in an effort to prevent European conflicts, but it also created the euro to compete against the dollar. I explained various times how their attempts have failed. However, the euro is now beneath the dollar and on the decline. Nations maintain diplomatic relations, but only Schwab wants a one-world government as everyone is competing for global dominance.

Putin claims that the West rushed to place sanctions on Russia. There was indeed a rush to place sanctions on Russia despite Joe Biden himself coming out and admitting sanctions never work. Peace talks were never an option. Returning land or promising to curtail NATO was never an option. Sanctions and threats were immediately imposed. Why?

“The pandemic has been replaced by new challenges of a global nature, carrying a threat to the whole world, I’m talking about the sanctions rush in the West and the West’s blatantly aggressive attempts to impose their modus vivendi on other countries, to take away their sovereignty, to submit them to their will,” Putin told delegates at Russia’s Eastern Economic Forum in the port city of Vladivostok on Russia’s Pacific coast, as reported by CNBC.

It is true that Europe is facing the brunt of these sanctions as they sacrificed their main supplier of energy to save a nation with a GDP of roughly only $200 billion. Europe did not want to allow Ukraine to join the euro, and they had no interest in the country prior to this conflict. The hatred for Russia runs deep in Europe, especially in Germany after Russia took hold of the east after the last World War. The politicians are certainly old enough to remember when Germany was split in two until 1989. There is a reason Russia’s integral support for the axis powers during World War II is diminished in Western history books.

Putin went on to say that the standard of living in Europe and overall social and economic stability was “being thrown onto the fire of sanctions.” The United States has been eager to sanction Russia since the war in Syria began. Obama tried but failed to kick Russia out of the SWIFT system in 2014, with Christine Lagarde offering her support. Zelensky, who rand the NYSE bell this week remotely, admitted that he needed America to place harsh sanctions on Russia to accelerate the war.

“So far, I think that the United States of America is the accelerator of the sanction policies and I think they do more than any other country. And this is the way it should be because they are the most powerful country right now. I see the same support with respect to sanctions from the United Kingdom,” Zelensky told reporters at Fox in May.

The dollar remains strong and is the last safe haven. The war in Ukraine has only promoted capital to rush into the dollar. So is Europe “being sacrificed in the name of preserving the US dictatorship in global affairs,” as Putin claims? Europe will suffer more than the United States due to these sanctions. In fact, had Biden not eliminated domestic oil production, the US would not be facing an energy crisis at all. One thing is clear – the support to Ukraine is not an act of kindness. The invisible hand is at play.

Sep 8 2022

EU Commission Announces 5 Point Plan for Energy Crisis, Including Increased Imports of U.S. Natural Gas Driving Up Prices for U.S. Consumers


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 7, 2022 | Sundance 

According to the U.S. Energy Information Association (IEA), U.S. storage of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) is 12% below the five-year average (LINK).  Additionally, the IEA is expecting the U.S. to export 11.7 billion cubic feet of LNG per day during the fourth quarter of 2022 — up 17% from the third quarter. The destination of that export is Europe.

Consider that 43% of U.S. households use LNG for home heating, and power suppliers use LNG to create electricity.  With the massive 2022 exports of LNG to Europe (+17% in fourth quarter alone), that means lower domestic supplies and increased prices here in the United States for electricity and home heating.  We are seeing and feeling these massive price increases right now. As a result, consider this reality….

Not only are U.S. taxpayers directly paying for the majority of costs in Ukraine, but we are also subsidizing the European Union by exporting LNG and driving up the price here at home.

We are directly paying Ukraine, and indirectly paying Europe to maintain gas sanctions against Russia.  This is the reality of the current situation as created by the Biden administration.

Now, consider this.  The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen held a press conference in Brussels today, announcing five initiatives to contain the expensive EU energy crisis: “The goal is clear. We must cut the revenues of Russia that Putin uses to finance this atrocious war against Ukraine. And now our work is paying off. At the start of the war, gas from Russian pipelines accounted for 40% of all imported gas. Today it has dropped to only 9% of our gas imports. These are tough times. But I am convinced that Europeans have the economic strength, the political will and the unity to maintain the upper hand,” she said.  The United States and Norway are the primary suppliers of gas to the EU to fill the void.

Commissar von der Leyden’s five initiatives include:

(1) Conservation of electricity through forced and mandated cuts in electricity use.  The amount of the cut has yet to be determined but reducing demand through forced curtailment of electricity use is the first approach.  [Insert California as an example here in the United States.]

(2) A cap on the profit generated by energy suppliers who use renewable energy like wind and solar.  The renewable industry has lower costs, yet they are profiting from the top line increase in delivered electricity.  The EU commissar is proposing to confiscate the profits of Green Energy suppliers, direct the funds to the member states and then use those funds to subsidize the energy costs of poorer EU citizens.

(3) A cap on the profits generated by traditional fossil fuel energy suppliers (oil, coal, nuclear, gas electricity generation), and the diversion of those profits following the same formula as above.

(4) Banking support and financial liquidity for smaller regional energy providers who are having short term financial issues as they must pay massive amounts of money for the raw material needed to generate electricity.  Essentially, the cost of coal, oil and LNG has skyrocketed, and there is a lag between the time they energy company must pay for the fuel source and the time the customer pays the electricity bill.   The inbound fuel costs (new) are so extreme the inbound payments for prior electricity (old) are not covering the cost of the new supplier purchase.

(5) A price cap on Russian natural gas.  To accompany the increased import of Norwegian and U.S. gas.  This sounds like a bizarro effort to manipulate the market which could backfire.  If Russian gas is cheaper than EU market gas, the smart energy providers will purchase the Russian gas.

Not a single word about increasing the supply of any traditional energy resource.  These ideologues are so committed to the cult of climate change and renewable energy, they are intent on destroying the economy in order to lower demand to the level of their windmills and solar farms.  This is madness, absolute madness.

Here’s the presser:

.