White House Neocon Spokesman Admits – They Do Not Want Peace in Ukraine


Armstrong Economics Blog/Ukraine Re-Posted Mar 22, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

I have had two employees from Ukraine – Kiev and Donetsk. The one from Kiev just mouths the standard Ukrainian propaganda. If they give up the Donbas, they will then want all of Ukraine. The UK is deeply involved walking hand and hand with Biden into world war III. They have clearly crossed the Rubicon here and for no justification. Had they simply honored the Minsk Agreement and let the Donbas, which is ethnically Russian, separate from a regime that hates their guts the war would be over in 5 minutes.

Instead, Britain appears to have been planning to give Ukraine nuclear weapons with depleted Uranium. Putin has come out and warned the UK that “the delivery and use of depleted uranium missiles by the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be perceived as an attack against Russia with a weapon that has a ‘nuclear component’.” Putin elaborated:

“Today it became known that the United Kingdom, through the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Defense of the country, announced the supply of not only tanks to Ukraine but also shells with depleted uranium. It seems that the West really decided to fight Russia in the last Ukrainian not with words, but with deeds Russia will be forced to react once the collective West starts using weapons with a nuclear component.”

There are some who believe that Ukraine should just be nuked. Give the people 2 weeks to flee to Poland or Germany, and then nuke the region and make it unlivable. That is basically the legion that Rome certainly razed the city entirely, but there are no contemporary sources stating that the Romans salted the land to prevent the city of Carthage from rising a fourth time. The Greek writer from the 1st century BC, Diodorus Siculus, informs us that the city had been razed and Carthaginians destroyed. Horace informs us that after the city was destroyed, the land was symbolically plowed. Polybius in his “The Histories” makes no mention of the land being salted just that the city was completely destroyed. Appian of Alexandria does record that Carthage was reconstructed by the first Emperor Augustus (27BC-14AD) and to avoid the evil spells that were cast on the ground, Carthage was rebuilt in a different location.

Surely, if Russia nuked Ukraine that would kill the European breadbasket and it would guarantee Ukraine’s neutrality. Is that the only way to terminate this Neocon Proxy Way and save the world?

The three Punic Wars (264 BC–146 BC) between Rome and Carthage were a turning point in the history of the Mediterranean world and, more than any other conflict, the Second Punic War (218 BC–201 BC) appears to have been a defining time in Roman history. We also see the debasement in that coinage of Carthage as they waged war to defeat Rome. You can see the early silver coinage debased as the war unfolded.

As Hannibal marched through Spain and invaded Italy from the North, Rome issued its first gold coinage more as a symbol of wealth to the other Italian city-states that they should standby Rome and not join Hannibal.

On the Roman side, we also see the consequence of the war with the debasement of the silver quadrigatus, which was the Greek denomination of the didrachm they complied with for trade with the Greek world. Here too, we can see the cost of war is not just the lives lost, but also the inflation and the monetary debasement.

Hannibal’s war also forced Rome to establish the denarius, which was the weight reduction from the Greek standard of the Didrachm 6.5 grams to 4.0 grams in 211BC. Even though Rome won,  the lesson here is that sometimes wars result in the complete collapse of a monetary standard and the rebirth of a new currency. This is what we face. The Neocons care nothing about the economics, nor about the lives of the people they send to die for their arrogance. They are the worst of humanity and should be driven from governments on a global scale.

Indeed, King Louis XIV (1643-1715) was on his deathbed when he lamented.

“I have been too fond of war.”

Meanwhile, the arrogance of the Neocons trying to dictate to the world and ordering China not to help Russia, Xi’s trip to Russia had no other outcome but to support Russia as he called Putin a ‘dear friend’ as China now pushes back against U.S. power knowing full well the real agenda here is to weaken Russia and then for NATO to invade on any pretense to destroy Russia once and for all. This is the Neocon’s dream and they could care less about the Ukrainian people. I have warned that the Ukrainian people are there to be slaughtered for the glory of the Neocons.

French Worker Protests Having Impact


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on March 21, 2023 

Garbage is piling up on the streets, ports are blocked, fuel is running in short supply, transportation of essential goods and services have been brought to a standstill; these are the outcomes of a general labor strike that has been happening in France as a result of protests to Emmanuel Macron’s unilateral pension reforms.

It might seem like a small issue pushing the retirement age back two years for French citizens, but it’s not really about the pension reform – the bigger issue is about this “new democracy” in the aftermath of new powers assumed by the French president during COVID-19.

President Macron used a special constitutional article to push legislation through Parliament last week without a vote.  He now faces two efforts to engage a no confidence vote with only tepid support from his totalitarian allies in government.  The people of France are not only unhappy with the pension reform outcome, but they are also furious about the nondemocratic process – a familiar and growing sentiment that extends far beyond the borders of France.

While the protests did carry the customary French socialist-leaning violence, the issues underpinning the anger are felt by more than just the radicals.  The larger network of ordinary French workers has now begun using the power of the people to shut down the economics of society.

Trash is piling up in the streets as sanitation workers refuse to work {LINK}.  Ports and critical energy infrastructure like refineries are also shut down, and things are starting to get sketchy amid the social and economic fabric that generally goes unnoticed.  Indeed, you might say, ‘the peasants are revolting‘.

(Reuters) – Several French refinery sites were still blocked from delivering products after two weeks of strikes in France, causing production to be disrupted while the government requisitions workers at the Fos refinery, and power supply was also disrupted.

The industrial action is part of a nationwide movement against pension system changes that lift the retirement age two years to 64. The changes were forced through parliament without a vote last week.

The Normandy refinery operated by oil major TotalEnergies’ will be shut down on Tuesday due to the strike, a company spokesperson said, as the industrial action against the pension changes stretched into its 14th day.

Production disruptions at the other sites operated by TotalEnergies remained unchanged, the spokesperson added. About 36% of operational staff at TotalEnergies’ refineries and depots were on strike on Tuesday morning, the spokesperson said. (read more)

All of these tremors point to a larger issue in the background of “western government” policy.   Something is going to eventually erupt.  Government cannot keep a lid on the chaos they create forever.  Sooner or later a spark will ignite something… and it will not just be in France.

Do not focus too heavily on the weeds of any particular issue or nation lest we lose sight of the much larger dynamic.  One thing is most certainly assured; Chairman Xi and President Putin can see that larger dynamic clearly, and there’s abundant opportunity within the geopolitical unrest.

Western governments are being led by blinded ideologues working furiously in the background….

The Decline & Fall of the United States


Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption re-Posted Mar 20, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: Hi Marty,

Seems to me the Democrats are following the time honored practice South American governments have resorted to in recent years when one party displaces another in a national election. In Brasil, the current president, Lula, spent 3 years in jail for charges of corruption. His successor was later removed from office. Now Bolsonaro has fled the country and is living in South Florida. In Ecuador, a past president, Moreno ,is under indictment and it appears he too will end up being arrested on trumped up corruption charges. In Bolivia, two term ex-president Evo Morales, after trying to run for an unprecedented third term, fled the country in 2019 when it appeared opposition to his run would potentially result in his being jailed. He fled to Argentina, then later got asylum in Mexico. The woman who replaced him was subsequently arrested on trumped up charges of conspiracy. IN Peru, which has gone through more presidents in recent years than most countries have experienced in a half century, has arrested the past 5 presidents. In Chile, the last president who served in office was run out of office for using the military to suppress protests. This was back in 2019.  The revolution that led to the country abandoning their old constitution has put the country in chaos.. The current president is extremely unpopular and one can imagine he won’t last another year in office. In Colombia, the country now is run by a communist/socialist who is now flirting with an ambitious spending program designed to buy time and slow down the opposition building against him. In Argentina, the former president, Christina Fernandez Kirchner, is dodging charges of corruption(and just avoided being assassinated by a lone gunman) after presiding over another series of IMF sponsored funding that has left the country in a perpetual state of default. The socialist in office today, Fernandez, is one of a long line of failed presidents who is destined to be pulled under by the corruption so deeply embedded in this country.

Now the Democrats appear to have imported South America’s tradition of imprisoning opposition leaders.It’s hard to imagine a party as corrupt as that of the Democrats. But nothing happens in a vacuum. With Republican support in Congress during Trump’s term when they opposed him and did everything they could to undermine him, the uni-party now operates without even the slightest effort to disguise their true intentions. An outsider like Trump is anathema to both parties. It reminds me of the PRI in Mexico. which put forth its candidate every year pretending people there actually had a choice, It took AMLO to break this tradition. Only because the drug cartels today are so powerful, the central government is virtually impotent to extend its reach outside of the capital.

We are watching the dying days of this republic. Biden’s “election” has assured that no serious challenger can ever emerge.Locking up your opponent now has become part of their playbook.  This is the tradition of the Sandinistas, the Peronists in Argentina, and now the Biden dictatorship.

MS

REPLY: People do not realize that Zelensky wants to imprison the former president indefinitely pending a rigged trial for corruption. This is the one man who could probably run against Zelensky and beat him with his high heel shoes. Zelinsky is so perverse and a disgrace to Ukraine when in fact it has been clearly established there is NO accountability for any money handed to Zelensky and any American politician who votes for this money for Ukraine should be removed from office for they are probably tainted as well.

It has been established that Zelensky has been stashing money offshore. When the last Ukrainian fall on the battlefield, the US will have him airlifted in style and he will flee to his mansion in Miami after destroying his own country. Zelensky has been caught. Who will prosecute him? Not the Biden Administration which owed him the Midterm elections for being the 2nd largest donor under the money laundering scheme of FTX which will also be swept under the rug to protect the corruption that has consumed governments.

The United States is NO LONGER the beacon of liberty to the world. We have descended to the lowest possible level of absolute duplicity and corruption. People are bearish about the dollar because of the quantity of money? Get real! The collapse in the dollar will not be because of such petty nonsense. it will collapse because these people are destroying the very foundation of confidence and respect the United States once had.

MSNBC HOST USES THIS PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR GETTING COVID INFO SO WRONG | ROUNDTABLE | RUBIN REPORT


First published on BitChute at 21:11 UTC on March 17th, 2023.

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Potential GOP Presidential Candidates – Spot the Neocons


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Mar 16, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Can you spot the Neocons? Trump and Biden seem to be alone amongst GOP members in their desire to end America’s role in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Trump said he would end the conflict within 24 hours, while DeSantis said Ukraine is not a vital national interest. Trump has already been attacked for merely existing, but now the establishment Republicans are going after DeSantis for his comments.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio criticized DeSantis for calling the war a “territorial dispute.” “Well, it’s not a territorial dispute in the sense that any more than it would be a territorial dispute if the United States decided that it wanted to invade Canada or take over the Bahamas,” Rubio stated. “Just because someone claims something doesn’t mean it belongs to them.” Clearly, this has no validity. The Donbas region has always been primarily Ukrainian. Those along the Canadian border don’t identify as American nor has their land been American territory since about 1846, when a treaty established the 49th parallel from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Georgia. Rubio also falsely claimed that the war is about Russia’s “sphere of influence, not so much about the land.” America had no reason to fear Russian influence at any point.

Nikki Haley, a popular potential candidate, is also pro-war. She claimed DeSantis is merely copying Trump on his opposition to mass deaths. “America is far better off with a Ukrainian victory than a Russian victory,” Haley said after claiming she does agree with Trump on “most policies.” Why would it be more beneficial to see an insignificant trading partner win? Is the result really worth the “blank checks” that we are sending Ukraine, as DeSantis said?

Lindsey Graham voices his terror of big bad Putin, and failed politician Liz Cheney is keeping her dad’s legacy alive by reiterating her desire to rid the world of Russia. Clearly, we can spot the Neocons and within the Republican Party who are within the establishment and will make choices based on the greater agenda rather than the wishes of the people. The issue of Ukraine will be a hot topic for the 2024 US Presidential Election, again, if the election is even permitted.

Russia Shoots Down US Drone, Escalating Fears of Hot War. Plus, David Sacks Argues SVB “Bailouts” Averted Financial Meltdown | SYSTEM UPDATE #55


By Glenn Greenwald Posted Originally on Rumble on Mar 14, 7:04 pm EDT

The Ukraine People Must Overthrow Zelensky to Save Their Country


Armstrong Economics Blog/Ukraine Re-Posted Mar 14, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

This is the former adviser to Zelensky, Alexey Arestovich, who quit in protest. He has publicly stated that “The west deceived Russia. They promised not to push NATO to the east, and they did. They turned Ukraine into a huge anti-Russian country. If I was in Russia’s shoes, I would have done the exact same thing.”

The West’s Neocons have exploited Ukraine to wage war against Russia, for the sole reason they hated Russia, and even with the fall of the USSR, they have never changed their views. They tried to stop Reagan from meeting Gorbachev. I found myself back in 1999 to seize control of Russia by having the bankers, led by Edmond Safra, blackmail Yeltsin to step down and hand Russia to the boy, Boris Berezovsky. They tried to get me to invest $10 billion into their Hermitage Capital Management. When I refused, even Boris tried to call me to persuade me to contribute to their cause. When I refused, Edmond stole $1 billion I had on deposit at his bank and the NY press supported the Neocons, as always.

Ironically, they began their manipulation of Ukraine in 2014. It was the Neocons, not the CIA with this plot. John McCain was there meeting even with the Neo-Nazis in public and promising the crowd that America will stand with them if they overthrow their government – Regime Change has always been their agenda. It has NEVER worked out even once – Vietnam, Iraq, Syria, Cuba, and Ukraine just to mention a few.

Where to Go?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Forecasts Re-Posted Mar 14, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

A lot of people have been asking where to go, what bank is safe, and what’s next? This is by no means over. The fiscal mismanagement is off the charts and we have a major clash with the Marxist views of the Democrats who always want to punish the rich and then ask them for funding. Only in the Democratic Party can you have a $ 10,000-a-plate fundraiser and preach how evil inequality is and that the rich must be held accountable.

Those who keep calling for a gold standard are clueless. To have a return to balanced budgets means that the Democrats will have to completely reform. They DO NOT know how to govern without class warfare. Politics has deeply divided the United States to the point that the only reasonable solution will be to separate between the blue v red. As Lincon said, a house divided cannot stand. That is becoming so obvious that there will come a day soon when that will be the case. There are over 30 civilizations that have come before us. Every single one has collapsed. We are merely waiting for our 15 minutes in the spotlight.

We must understand that things are far worse outside the United States geopolitically thanks to the Neocons who have done nothing by conniving endless wars. They are ruthless evil people who have no problem sacrificing your family for their political aspirations. Short term, as they create World War III, the dollar will be the strongest currency as capital always flees from a conflict. We really need to IMPEACH Biden, because he is a dangerous puppet who reads whatever the Neocons write on the cue cards. Then we really need to launch an investigation of these Neocons who have usurped US foreign policy for decades and are never held accountable.

Now, many people have asked what is a small bank. They are typically local regional banks. The problem is if they just make decisions based on the talking heads on TV, then they will face tremendous problems ahead. To be diverse, for now into 2024, you may want to look at US T-bills 30-day to the 90-day max. Not every bank is in trouble. You should ask if they publish their portfolio. The big risk is that money was basically free, and they were investing that long-term. But as rates have risen, they have suffered losses.

Week in Review: Bipartisan Populists Unite Against War in Syria, China Brokers Historic Iran/Saudi Arabia Peace, & More, w/ Michael Tracey | SYSTEM UPDATE #53


By Glenn Greenwald Posted originally on Rumble on: March 8, 2023 at 7:01 pm EST

Why Most Americans Cannot Afford a Home – A Price Breakdown


Armstrong Economics Blog/Real Estate Re-Posted Mar 9, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Are you too poor for the basic human necessity of shelter in Biden’s America? The average home price in Q4 of 2022 was $535,800, according to the St. Louis Fed.  If you live in a highly desirable area, expect to pay more. To simplify the math, let’s say that you are looking to purchase a $500,000 property. To heighten the fantasy, let us also pretend you are one of the rare Americans with zero monthly debt. This means that you do not have student loans, car payments, childcare expenses, medical bills, credit card debt, or any major outstanding bill. Fewer than 25% of American households are debt free and this number is rapidly dwindling.

Ok, so you decide to put 5% down on the house or $25,000 for a loan of $475,000. You manage to lock in a 6.7% interest rate for a 30-year mortgage under a conventional loan. Nationwide averages in real estate drastically undercut true averages due to the outliers, but the average annual property tax in America is around $3,000. I personally have not seen a property tax this low between FL or NJ, but I’ll attempt some optimism. After all, this should be a simple price breakdown that does not lead to a mental one.

We will average the PMI payment of 0.5% at $197.92 for 125 months. We will also incorporate the low home insurance average estimate of $1,000 annually. To be most forgiving in my calculations, I will also assume that your monthly HOA fee is $0. This is utterly impossible for anyone seeking to purchase a condo. In my area, the average HOA fee is $600 per month, and a $500,000 property will not afford you a single-family house. At best, you’d be lucky to find a two-bedroom property at that price point in my area. In contrast, home prices here were about 40% to 60% lower in 2019.

Therefore, the overall total monthly payment for a $500K home is $3,596.32. This home can be yours by 2053 if you close this year. Forget “starter homes” as once you are locked into a good rate, you will likely not leave. So how much income do you need to afford this monthly payment? The MAXIMUM debt that the bank will allow you to qualify for is around 50% of your total gross income if you have good credit. If you choose this method, you will be “house poor” and unable to afford other basic human needs. So based on these calculations, you would need to make at least $7,192.64 GROSS per month to afford this property and live “house poor.” This would equate to a salary of $86,311.68 per year BEFORE TAXES.

I did not factor in closing costs, inspections, maintenance, moving, or even furniture. So should you continue renting while establishing zero equity? The median rental price in America as of February 2023 was $1,978. Inventory is low, and landlords are compensating for the money lost during COVID moratoriums. Most leasing offices require tenants to earn 3X the monthly rental price, equating to a monthly gross income of $5,934. This has left countless Americans stuck on the rental carousel of paying the majority of their monthly income to the landlord and being unable to save for a future that includes home ownership. Landlords can raise rental costs yearly at whim, and there is no guarantee that you will comfortably be situated in your rental unit from one contract to the next. Rental properties have also begun charging fees for everything under the sun, such as repairs and parking, which was one of the reasons people chose this method.

Gone are the days when Americans comfortably paid ¼ of their monthly salary toward living expenses. We have not even touched on the astronomically cost of other basic living necessities such as food or energy. You must make a decent income if you want to buy a home in 2023. The bank does not care if you are unable to pay because they will simply take your house. Some are lucky enough to secure an interest-free loan from the central bank of mom and dad. Others, the majority of the Great Unwashed, are scraping by—YOU WILL OWN NOTHING AND BE HAPPY!