The Second US State to Tax Fossil Fuel Companies


Posted originally on Dec 31, 2024 by Martin Armstrong 

Oil Tanker

New York state has enacted a bill to extort fossil fuel companies in the name of climate change. Governor Kathy Hochul believes the bill will generate $75 billion in funds for the state over the next 25 years, which she claims will be used to fight climate change.

Why would any energy company want to operate out of New York? The fines for merely existing are unclear, but the New York Department of Environmental Conservation will begin determining the extent of each company’s greenhouse gas emissions. Worse, they will begin fining companies for the amount they began releasing 24 years ago in 2000. ANY company that the department deems “responsible” for greenhouse gas emissions is subject to a fine.

Vermont was the first state to enact such a law under the Climate Superfund Act. Oil and energy companies are mandated to pay into a climate change fund if they have released over 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases from 1995 – nearly 30 years ago – until now.

“This bill represents a major step forward in ensuring that responsible parties, like Big Oil – companies like ExxonMobil and Shell that have known for decades that their products are disrupting the climate – be required to also pay a fair share of the cleanup costs,” the Vermont Natural Resources Council said after blaming the industry for the catastrophic flooding that occurred earlier in the year.

American Petroleum Institute declared that this tax unjustifiably violated due process of rights. Society at large is dependent on fossil fuels, but these taxes aim to extort profitable companies that have been providing a service to the public. Both Vermont and New York have also failed to explain how they will calculate emissions or the true costs involved.

Imagine if the government told you that you needed to pay additional taxes spanning back decades. This is absolute insanity and yet another brain-dead policy aimed at punishing fossil fuels. Stepping on the neck of a crucial sector is not how to generate state revenue. Anyone cheering that these laws punish Big Oil fails to understand that these fees will simply be passed down to the consumer as residents of New York and Vermont should expect to pay more in energy costs in the near term.

Diamond Dust to End Climate Change?


Posted Dec 30, 2024 by Martin Armstrong 

Stratospheric aerosol injection is the latest proposed method to save civilization from human-induced climate change. I jokingly say that the climate change agenda believes they can simply throw money at the sky to change the weather, and I suppose there is a little truth in every “just kidding” as this method is precisely that.

Volcanoes produce clouds of sulfur dioxide, naturally injecting converted gas into the stratosphere, forming sulfate aerosols that reflect sunlight back to space. Scientists believe that this naturally occurring phenomenon can be replicated. Simply sending sulfur dioxide into the air would not work as it produces solar and terrestrial heat and would actually create a warming effect. Scientists proposed an alternative that involves diamond dust.

As explained in Life Science: “The team compared the cooling efficiency of diamond particles with that of aluminum and calcite particles using an Earth system model that simulates the full climate response of an intervention. They found that the quantity of diamond dust needed to cool the planet by 1.8 F — 5.5 million tons per year — was about one-third the amount of other materials needed to achieve the same cooling effect.”

Therefore, high-altitude aircrafts would need to fly around Earth’s orbit to sprinkle diamond dust constantly. The costs would be outrageous and scientists say this method would merely “buy us time” as no amount is enough to change mother nature. A 2020 study drastically underestimated the cost of this ridiculous idea, stating it would cost $175 trillion over a 65-year period. They could use SAI with sulfur dioxide as an alternative for a mere $18 billion per year.

No amount of funding will allow governments to play God with the universe. The climate is changing on target, as weather has always and will always be a naturally occurring phenomenon. It is downright shameful that these “scientists” are imagining outrageous scenarios fueled by fear-mongering to alter the planet at our expense.

The 39th President, Jimmy Carter Dead at 100-Years-Old


Posted originally on the CTH on December 30, 2024 | Sundance 

Former President Jimmy Carter is dead following almost two-years of hospice care. He was 100 years old.  The Carter Center confirmed his death, saying he died peacefully at his home in Plains, surrounded by his family. He was the longest-lived president in U.S. history.

President Trump said, “President Jimmy Carter is dead at 100 years of age. While I strongly disagreed with him philosophically and politically, I also realized that he truly loved and respected our Country, and all it stands for. He worked hard to make America a better place, and for that I give him my highest respect. He was a truly good man and, of course, will be greatly missed. He was also very consequential, far more than most Presidents, after he left the Oval Office. Warmest condolences from Melania and I to his wonderful family!” [LINK]

Joe Biden Said, “Today, America and the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian. Over six decades, we had the honor of calling Jimmy Carter a dear friend. But, what’s extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people throughout America and the world who never met him thought of him as a dear friend as well. [LINK]

President Trump Indicates Bill Gates is Going to Mar-a-Lago


Posted originally on the CTH on December 27, 2024 | Sundance 

On December 19th we noted, “Apple CEO Tim Cook and META CEO Mark Zuckerberg were previous guests at Mar-a-Lago for tech meetings before Bezos. Heck, all that’s needed now is for Bill Gates to show up and a wormhole revealing a parallel universe is likely to open.”…

Well apparently, the universe is folding upon itself. President Trump has indicated that Bill Gates is scheduled to appear in Mar-a-Lago for a meeting with President Trump.

[Source]

The last arrival to the southern White House was Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (AWS), who hedged his bets too long and was late in supporting President Trump before the election.  This has put Bezos in a position of riding his bicycle in slow circles at the end of the driveway while Musk (xAI), Ellison (Oracle) and Thiel (Palantir) have full access ‘insider’ passes along with their ally Vice-President Elect JD Vance.

In term #1, the reacting allies dragged their heels to comply with Trump’s requests and expectations.  In Term #2 I expect one of the more visible elements for us to watch will be how fast those same allies react to requests and expectations. In fact, I think we are already seeing this play out.

What Kind of Government is Better?


Posted originally on Dec 26, 2024 by Martin Armstrong 

athens acropolis

QUESTION: Martin:

 You write “Republics are the worst form of government, for every representative can be bribed.”

^That^ translates into “Republics are the worst form of government when every representative IS bribed.”

Is your statement equivalent to “Republics are a good form of government when every representative cannot be bribed?”

Given your opinion regarding republics, what is the best form of government?

Best…

RM

kleroterion Athenian Vote

ANSWER: Not every representative sells out. The reason for this is the lack of term limits. Representatives need money to run the next election, and that makes them susceptible to lobbyists and bribes. The bribes are not like Nancy Pelosi seeking to make a ton of money for personal gain. It begins with trying to raise money for the next election. We should reestablish the Kleroterion, but with improvement to eliminate the flaws pointed out by Aristotle and others.

1 Career Politicians
Career Politicians

But we must also prohibit career politicians. The bureaucracy really runs the state, and the political class is supposed to oversee them, but when they are career politicians, they become one and the same. Politicians act on “staff recommendations,” which occur at every government level – local, county, state, federal, and international at the United Nations. We have NO SAY who represents us at the United Nations and secretly agrees with the World Health Organization of their Climate Change agenda. There is no democratic process in any of this.

The “elected” politician is just for show, in many cases, to pretend we have a democratic process. Try contacting your representative. You will be typically stonewalled and held at bay by their “staff,” which are the real Deep State, for they run the show and remain there, moving from one politician to the next. Try writing to a representative of another district – they usually will not accept it.

JFK Willingboro Oct 1960

More than sixty years ago today, on July 24, 1963, Bill Clinton shook hands with President John F. Kennedy when he was 16. Clinton says that handshake inspired his life of public service. Nearly thirty years later, in January 1993, Bill Clinton was sworn in as the 42nd president. I, too, shook John F. Kennedy’s hand when he was running for office in 1960. It did not inspire me to become president. Look at all the Secret Service people on the tops of the buildings. I remember every building was covered. Biden withheld sharpshooter protection from Trump for two years and refused to give RFK any protection. Was it Biden’s decision or the “staff” who really run the country? I believe the world saw that the emperor had no clothes, so to speak, after Biden’s last term. We witnessed a man in severe mental decline for the past four years. There is no way he could run the country. The deep state is in control, and a good portion of the public now realizes that the president is NOT always in control.

A few things need to happen for conditions to improve:

End lobbying: All elections should be funded by the taxpayer based on the number of signatures they gather

Committees should be based on their expertise. If I were there, it would be on a financial committee, not some medical committee. People are appointed to committees based on who they know rather than WHAT they know.

Athen had the Kleroterion, where names were selected for those who would fill a position. They should be prequalified for various positions.

The Inspector General should be a separate agency NOT subservient to the Executive or Department of Justice with the power to indict anyone in government.

Terms should be limited to a 2-year maximum — there is no room for career politicians.

Public servants MUST serve the people rather than their self-interests. “Politician” should not be a career choice but a role held by a member of our society who desires to SERVE the people by providing their expertise for a limited duration.

Large Portion of Santa Cruz Warf Collapses as Massive Ocean Swells Batter Area


Posted originally on the CTH on December 23, 2024 | Sundance 

Remarkable video shows three people surviving after a 15o foot portion of the Santa Cruz Pier collapses.  Two engineers and a project manager from a construction team fell into the ocean with the pier and were rescued as the portion that collapsed floated away.

Remarkable video captures the aftermath, and the lifeguards responding as even a skid loader was floating atop the debris.

CALIFORNIA – A portion of the Santa Cruz Wharf has collapsed and is floating away Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

Three people went into the water when the pier section collapsed, according to the Santa Cruz Police Department. Two of them were rescued by lifeguards, and a third person was able to get to safety on their own. All three were treated and released, according to Santa Cruz Fire Department officials.

The incident occurred around 12:45 p.m., officials said. About 150 feet of pier section at the end of the Northern California wharf collapsed.

The end of the pier that broke off had been shut down for repairs caused by prior storms. The portion, which included public restrooms and the closed Dolphin restaurant, floated about half a mile down the coast and wedged itself at the bottom of the San Lorenzo River.

The collapse comes amid a major swell that is expected to bring wave heights up to 26 feet high to parts of the California coast. The swell is expected to last through Tuesday.

“You are risking your life, and those of the people that would need to try and save you by getting in or too close to the water,” the NWS said.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said the governor has been briefed on the pier collapse. The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services is coordinating with local agencies and officials. (read more)

Yikes!  In the shocking video (screengrab below) you can see two of the workers floating away on top of the debris, shortly before lifeguard arrived to pull them to safety.

New Regulations on US Dairy


Posted originally on Dec 19, 2024 by Martin Armstrong 

Dairy Cow

Two-thirds of American dairy farms have been eliminated within one generation. Cows produce dangerous emissions and have no place in modern society, according to the World Economic Forum and climate change proponents. We are seeing a drastic decline in dairy farms across the world thanks to this mentality. The latest crackdown on dairy farms comes from new regulations by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that demand dairy cattle be tested for the bird flu or H5N1.

There has not been a single case of a person falling ill with the bird flu from drinking milk. Yet, the USDA insists farmers comply with their guidance that is no longer mandatory. The World Health Organization managed to work its way into the situation too as they have criticized the lack of testing. Again, no one has fallen ill from drinking milk. There may have been cases of infection in farmhands who had direct contact with cows, but there is not a single case proving anyone contracted H5N1 in this manner.

This won’t prevent the government from spending recklessly on testing as they have already set aside $200 million. The USDA will ship samples to the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) for testing. Then, the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) stated they set aside $824 million in emergency funding for response and diagnostic efforts.

US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that widespread mandatory testing “will give farmers and farmworkers better confidence in the safety of their animals and ability to protect themselves, and it will put us on a path to quickly controlling and stopping the virus’s spread nationwide.” The virus is not spreading through the milk supply so why are they so eager to begin this program?

Better yet, the USDA is offering farmers a measly $75 payment for personal blood and nasal swab samples for the CDC. The government has also said it would provide funding for farmers with infected cattle.

Is this another excuse to add regulations to agriculture? Could there be ulterior motives here? The New York Post said that it is “unclear” whether this program will continue under Trump.

The Majority Must Always Be Wrong


Posted Dec 17, 2024 by Martin Armstrong 

You are all Wrong

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong, I am new to your blog. My friends here have been on my case to listen to you. Our government has fallen, and I have observed one thing. Your forecasts are correct because nobody here will ever make a bold forecast, and they all seem to preach the same scenario. You have been accurate on Germany against the herd of analysts here. One by one, European nations are falling, and I can now see your 2032 and the e collapse of governments unfolding before our eyes. What do you see in 2025 for Germany? You have a solution for the United States. Could you save Europe from itself?

Thank you

DT

Armstrong Majority must be Wrong

ANSWER: Because I am not an academic, what I speak comes from experience and direct observation. The only economic theories that have survived are exclusively from those who have been traders – not academics. John Law traded on the Amsterdam exchange and gave birth to Supply and Demand. He articulated his famous water vs diamond analogy, which stated that water was vital to society. Still, water had little value compared to a diamond that had no true utility value yet was worth more than water. Even David Ricardo was involved in trading and saw the implications of international capital flows. He expressed that a nation should focus on its comparative advantage – something Trump must understand.

Greek Hoard

Sir Thomas Gresham also traded on the same Amsterdam exchange and saw that debasement drove out the older coinage from the money supply. Gresham’s Law became that bad money drove good out of circulation. We saw this even during the 3rd century AD when people hoarded the old silver coins and spent the debased. Even Albert Einstein, I was told, got his idea of general relativity from moving up and down in an elevator. Albert’s special theory of relativity appeared to be incompatible with the gravitational force as described by Newton’s law of gravity.

May 1928 Fed Raises Rates

Most analysts espouse the same old nonsense and project the future based on what the central bank will or will not do. These analysts are not real, for all they purport is the same Keynesian theories they were taught in school. Sorry – they were an academic theory inspired by Marx and no longer work. Even Paul Volcker, former Fed Chairman, delivered his speech – the Rediscovery of the Business Cycle, in which he stated that the “new economics” ultimately failed. Any analyst who points to the Fed has never read the memos. Here, we have the thinking process before Keynes. The Fed raised rates in May 1928 and continued into the 1929 high with no effect.

CALLMONY MA

Here is a chart of call money rates from the NYSE. Just look closely. We see that 1929 was the biggest stock market rally but the lowest level of interest rates, all because of the capital inflows. The Panic of 1899 saw rates rise to virtually 200% because of the capital outflows. There is no such theory of stock market up interest rates down that can be verified whatsoever.

2024_12_16_19_13_02_Scholz_branded_a_failure_as_Germany_s_government_collapses_and_33_more_pages_
IBEUUS M Tech 12 16 24

You are correct. Europe is imploding one nation at a time. As I have said many times, the creation of the euro was a compromise, and it could never rival the dollar, forcing institutional investors to still pick and choose between member states lacking a national debt market. Mr Scholz is a disaster. He lost a vote of confidence by 394 to 207, with 116 members of the Bundestag abstaining. Scholz’s last-ditch attempt to retain power with promises of massive spending fell flat on its face. This will send Germany to the election in February, precisely when our computer has been projecting a Panic Cycle in advance. Leaders from several major parties have since agreed to move up the parliamentary election to February 23, seven months ahead of schedule.

EU Parliament
Europe can it be saved

I would gladly fly to Brussels to address all members at once. But you must understand the computer forecasts that my best efforts will not succeed. Each member retained its debt. If Germany listened, it would pressure others to follow or be left behind. But politicians have been brainwashed by the NEOCONs and NATO and are preparing for a third World War which the computer forecasts that they will lose. This will be the demise of the West. I suppose historically, we all have our minutes of fame.

Charlemagne 3

In 800AD, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne (768-814AD) Holy Roman Emperor. Today, Charlemagne is referred to by some as the father of Europe. From that date, the EU is not likely to exist after 2029. Europe is heading in the wrong direction, and NATO is pushing for World War III, and there is not a single government even willing to negotiate. That makes it very hard. In all reality, I suspect they would only listen to me in 2029 and beyond.

This is a Technical Study of the Relationships in Solar Flux, Water vapor and all the other Gasses in the Atmosphere, Using the September, 2024 NASA & NOAA Data


The attached report on Global Weather for September 2024 Data has charts showing the relationship between CO2 growth and Temperature increases going up since we started to accurately measure CO2 in the atmosphere in 1958. These Charts were created by showing CO2 as a percent increase from when it was first measured in 1958, the Black plot, the scale is on the left and it shows CO2 going up by about ~34.0% from 1958 to October 2024. That is a very large change as anyone would have to agree. 

Now how about temperature, well when we look at the percentage change in temperature also from 1958, using Kelvin (which does measure the actual change in heat), we find that the changes in global temperature (heat) is about ~.3% and may reach .5% by 2028. To even be able to see this minuscule change we had to reduce the scale of the Temperature Axis by a factor of ten.

This Chart 8 uses unaltered values from NOAA and NASA properly displayed ,and the Blue and Yellow projections are created by Microsoft Excel not me.

The NOAA and NASA numbers tell us the story of the Very Small Changes in the temperature of the planets Atmosphere As Carbon Dioxide goes up geometrically.

Bob MacGuffie: We Have Now Begun The ‘Resolution’ Of This Fourth Turning


Posted originally on Rumble By Bannons War Room on: Dec 14, 2024 at 12 pm EST