Tag Archives: Agenda 30

Jan 29 2024

No Cash Accepted


Posted originally on Jan 29, 2024 By Martin Armstrong |

cashless society electronic money

Businesses are increasingly preventing customers from using cash as NO CASH ACCEPTED signs line Main Street. No federal law requires businesses to accept cash, but some states and cities have implemented laws mandating businesses to do so. COVID accelerated the push toward a cashless society, as physical cash was seen as unhygienic. Then the US mint faced a physical currency shortage as Americans hoarded their cash. Cashless businesses are now widely accepted and normalized in our society.

Around 6 million Americans who do not have a bank account, and therefore are blocked from participating in our cashless society. This particularly impacts the poorest in our nation, as a recent survey found that 40% of unbanked individuals do not have enough liquidity to meet the minimum balance required by banks. The FDIC found that one-third of respondents simply do not trust the banks and prefer cash for privacy purposes.

Then there are those who use prepaid cards or tools like CashApp that fall in “underbanked” bracket. The latest estimate found that 19 million households fall under this category. Combined, one in five Americans are either unbanked or underbanked, and according to the government, these individuals are merely attempting to avoid taxation.

Another lesser known fact is that banks often charge stores for physical currency. Additionally, the costs of providing and handling physical currency, such as the need for security, transportation, and storage make it more costly for businesses to use cash. The crime wave across blue cities is a contributing factor as well, as it is not uncommon to see signs stating that a business does not have cash on hand to deter thieves.

There is no federal law that requires banks to charge for change, but federal law generally allows banks to charge non-interest charges and fees. Interchange fees are transaction fees that the merchant’s bank must pay whenever a customer uses a credit/debit card to make a purchase, which is why you will often see a surcharge of around 3% at certain businesses to cover this expense. So businesses are faced with fees for all transactions whether they go the cash or card route.

JunkFeesBanking

The 2010 Dodd-Frank ruling permitted businesses to set a credit card minimum of $10, as the interchange fees nulled the profits on small purchases. Debit cards are treated as cash, whereby there is no set minimum by law.

They will soon force the unbanked and underbanked into the banking system, which is one of the reasons why the Biden Administration continually talks about erasing junk fees so that the 40% who claim they cannot meet the minimum balance are not excluded from government oversight. The push for a cashless society is a global phenomenon tied to the DPI and other initiatives that aim to centralize our individual data.

Jan 29 2024

Arrogant Demands Have Consequences – Mass Exodus as U.S. Trade Staff Hit Dead Ends and Unwilling Cooperation


Posted originally on the CTH on January 28, 2024 | Sundance

A story surfacing in Politico about the collapse of the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the inability of the entire trade policy group to find any willing trade partners was entirely predictable.

You might remember how the insufferable U.S. business media constantly said the Trump trade team was not going to be successful because the administration was disliked by global trade partners. Every Trump trade approach from tariffs to section 301 compliance, to U.S. demands around foreign policy tied to the economic Trump Doctrine was decried by U.S. multinational corporations as too divisive, too intransigent. However, Donald Trump and his trade wolverines racked up more trade wins and established more trade agreements than any administration in history.

From KORUS (Korea/US) to the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, India, Japan, European energy deals, massive changes with China, new Ag agreements, demanded technology sector investment back in the USA, and the successful renegotiation of NAFTA (Canada, Mexico, USA) into the USMCA – all of it was stunning in scale, scope and success. Trump’s global trade success was exactly the opposite of every predictive declaration by the professional media. All of the Trump strategic policy shift created the framework for the largest domestic expansion of the U.S. economy, evident in every 2019 economic metric prior to the pandemic.

Biden took office with the full support of the lying liars who lie in the media, and they said Biden’s team was a shoo-in for success. Again, exactly the opposite has happened.

The ideological leftists who came with the Obama/Biden plan forcibly tried to push their Green New Deal policies into every trade agreement. The result and response from all U.S. trade partners has been a massive failure of epic proportions.

Despite the international pontifications around support for the globalist energy policies, ie. the “Build Back Better” bulls**t pushed by western government, the World Economic Forum and the globalists, when it comes to where the rubber hits the road no nation is willing to attach themselves to the economically destructive millstone demands of U.S trade. In material fact, many of the BBB agenda priorities are now completely rejected by the same politicians who promoted them.

In part, we in the USA are suffering through some of the most horrific inflationary economic outcomes from this Biden ‘Green New Deal’ program. Any nation that aligned itself is feeling the same impact in direct proportion to how close they followed the program. The more ‘Green’ compliant the nation, the more the economic hardship upon the citizens within that nation. This is just the non-pretending reality of the thing.

So, it doesn’t come as any great surprise to see a thoroughly rejected and dejected career trade group now walking to the exits with zero accomplishments for their last three years of effort.

WASHINGTON – Frustration with a stalled trade agenda and unhappiness with the leadership of President Joe Biden’s trade chief is pushing more than a half-dozen senior trade officials out the door, according to four current and former administration officials with knowledge of the departures.

The exits include the White House’s point person on international economics and two of the three deputy U.S. trade representatives responsible for implementing the Biden administration’s “worker-centered” trade policy.

The exodus comes after Biden’s trade agenda ran aground on multiple fronts in 2023: failing to reach a green steel and aluminum deal with the European Union and pulling out of trade talks that were part of the U.S.-crafted Indo-Pacific Economic Framework in November. The administration, meanwhile, remains internally divided on other key trade policy decisions, like how to regulate digital information flowing across the globe.

Those headwinds — and the realization that little real progress is likely to be made in an election year during which former President Donald Trump will put a glaring spotlight on trade — have convinced some officials it’s time to move on. Adding to the frustration: simmering discontent with the management practices of U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai.

[…] Biden’s “worker-centered” trade agenda was designed to smooth over frayed relations with close trading partners and win back those blue-collar workers in battleground states. But his sweeping plans to reshape global trade rules haven’t assuaged concerns from Democrats who worry that Trump will again use trade issues as a cudgel against them in the industrial Midwest — a region that could determine control of Congress and the White House in November.

That disconnect has forced USTR to freeze, abandon, or dramatically scale back its signature initiatives and negotiations, leaving some top lawmakers and staffers frustrated. In particular, Wyden and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) are fuming that the administration hasn’t matched the Trump administration’s accomplishments on trade, like the binding labor and environmental standards that Democrats got inserted into the rewrite of NAFTA that Trump signed in 2020.

“Sen. Brown and I have consistently said that you need the kind of proposal that you saw in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement where you open up markets for business and you have tough enforcement,” said Wyden, “and a lot of what’s been put up doesn’t meet that test.” (read more)

Go figure!….

Want success?…

Want trade deals that lift the USA economy?…

Want USA “deflation,” yes, the actual lowering of prices for goods and services?…

Want lower costs of goods, and lower prices for consumers by leveraging the size of the USA market?…

…..Get Donald Trump Back in Office!

Jan 28 2024

Here’s What Nikki Haley Should Do Now (Ep. 2172) – 01/24/2024


Posted originally on Rumble By Dan Bongino on:Jan 24, 2024 at 11:00 am EST

Jan 27 2024

Biden Forced to Stop Funding United Nations Relief Agency After Evidence of 12 UNRWA Agents Participating in Oct 7 Terrorist Attack Against Israel


Posted originally on the CTH on January 26, 2024 | Sundance

Evidence has been shown to the Biden administration and the United Nations that 12 members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) were actual participants in the October 7th Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel.

Yes, you read that correctly. The U.N. was an actual participant in the premeditated slaughter of Israeli citizens.

(Via Axios) The State Department on Friday said it is pausing additional funding for the UN Palestinian refugee agency after Israel alleged 12 UNRWA employees were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack.

The big picture: It’s the first step by the Biden administration against UNRWA since renewing U.S. funding to the agency after the Trump administration completely cut it off.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the U.S. is “extremely troubled by the allegations” and the administration has “temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them.”

State Dept – “The United States is extremely troubled by the allegations that twelve UNRWA employees may have been involved in the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.  The Department of State has temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on January 25 to emphasize the necessity of a thorough and swift investigation of this matter.  We welcome the decision to conduct such an investigation and Secretary General Guterres’ pledge to take decisive action to respond, should the allegations prove accurate.  We also welcome the UN’s announcement of a “comprehensive and independent” review of UNRWA.  There must be complete accountability for anyone who participated in the heinous attacks of October 7. (LINK)

Driving the news: A senior Israeli official said the Shin Bet and Israeli military intelligence provided information that pointed to the active participation of UNRWA staffers and the use of the agency’s vehicles and facilities during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

“This was strong and corroborated intelligence,” the official said. “A lot of the intelligence is a result of interrogations of militants who were arrested during the Oct. 7 attack.”

State of play: UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said he has terminated the contracts of the accused staff members and launched an investigation to “establish the truth without delay.” (Axios More)

UNITED NATIONS – “The Israeli Authorities have provided UNRWA with information about the alleged involvement of several UNRWA employees in the horrific attacks on Israel on 7 October.

“To protect the Agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, I have taken the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation in order to establish the truth without delay.  Any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution.

“UNRWA reiterates its condemnation in the strongest possible terms of the abhorrent attacks of 7 October and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all Israeli hostages and their safe return to their families.

“These shocking allegations come as more than 2 million people in Gaza depend on lifesaving assistance that the Agency has been providing since the war began. Anyone who betrays the fundamental values of the United Nations also betrays those whom we serve in Gaza, across the region and elsewhere around the world”. (LINK)

Jan 26 2024

Your Morning Coffee is Killing the Planet


Posted originally on Jan 26, 2024 By Martin Armstrong 

The ruling elites want to strip us of all our earthly pleasures. Swiss banker Hubert Keller took to the stage at Davos to declare that coffee consumption is destroying the climate.

“The coffee that we all drink emits between 15 and 20 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of coffee… Every time we drink coffee, we are basically putting CO2 into the atmosphere,” Keller stated. Every time we BREATHE, we are “putting CO2 into the atmosphere” and this argument is completely absurd. Life cannot exist on Earth without CO2. Surely they serve coffee on Mr. Keller’s private jet.

The World Economic Forum first presented this idea in August 2016 in an article entitled, “Your morning coffee is destroying the planet.” The article begins by discussing the waste of plastic cups – OK, fine, pollution is an undeniable problem. This was also when Keurig machines and coffee pods became popular. It seemed reasonable to find a plastic alternative, but that was merely a way to plant the seed.

Fertilizer 2

Coffee agriculture is a significant global market. The annual revenue of the global coffee industry is estimated to exceed $200 billion, with over 25 million farming households depending on coffee bean production for their living. Global coffee production reached 168.5 million 60-kilogram bags as of 2021/2022, and coffee is commercially produced in more than 50 countries. The United States coffee industry alone is responsible for nearly 1.7 million American jobs and $225 billion of national Gross Domestic Product.

The global market for coffee shops is projected to reach $237.6 billion by 2025. Countless mom-and-pop shops are centered around the world’s second most popular beverage. Coffee is ingrained in countless cultures throughout the world. It is part of our daily routine and way of life. Interestingly, his warnings come at a time when Starbucks plans to expand into China and is defying the WEF by siding with Palestine in the Israel-Palestine war.

YOU WILL OWN NOTHING, including coffee production, according to the WEF:

“The opportunity is to basically bring capital for return in this value chain, to basically, you know, acquire or lease these coffee assets, these monoculture coffee assets, to transform them to a regenerative agroforestry model. In doing so we would create effectively a climate and a nature premium which will have a lot of value for these parts of the value chain that can inset these climate and the nature premium and you end up with basically coffee plantations that are fully regenerative, that are sequestering carbon, that are positive for nature, that are restoring biodiversity, and that basically are creating better value for an asset that has a longer life without actually the consumer paying any more for its daily coffee.”

“A regenerative agroforestry model” is precisely what farming has always been and there is no need to redesign the wheel. The WEF introduced the concept in 2019 in an article entitled, “How regenerative agroforestry could solve the climate crisis.” The article claims that farming, the most essential industry for our survival, has contributed to 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and is the cause of 80% of deforestation. The latter is the key here – they want the land in order to seize the means of production.

LandUseEfficency.WEF_.Farming

The globalists claim that “land use efficiency” needs to improve by 2030. They have already implemented restrictions on fertilizers and taxed the life out of farmers. I mentioned in another article how US farmers are unable to pass their land onto the next generation due to the death tax. Globalists like Bill Gates have been buying countless acres of farmland to prepare for the next step. Farmers throughout the world are protesting the increased regulations, but you won’t see that covered by the media.

The ultimate plan is to force farmers to lease their land. You will own nothing, but they will own everything.

Jan 23 2024

Supreme Court Rules 5-4 That State Authorities Cannot Protect American Citizens from Illegal Border Entry


Posted originally on the CTH on January 22, 2024 | Sundance

In a 5-4 ruling today [pdf Available Here], Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined with the radical leftists on the court, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, to say that Texas is not permitted to protect itself from illegal border crossers.  None of the justices provided any explanation for their vote.

The court majority sided with the Biden administration policy of removing razor wire to permit illegal alien entry without impediment.  Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas voted with Texas, in favor of national border integrity.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed Border Patrol agents to cut razor wire that Texas installed on the U.S.-Mexico border, while a lawsuit over the wire continues.

The justices, by a 5-4 vote, granted an emergency appeal from the Biden administration, which has been in an escalating standoff at the border with Texas and had objected to an appellate ruling in favor of the state.

The concertina wire along roughly 30 miles (48 kilometers) of the Rio Grande near the border city of Eagle Pass is part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s broader fight with the administration over immigration enforcement. (read more)

God, I pray for stability right now, because this is infuriating.

The irony and hypocrisy of the Supreme Court having a security perimeter for their own security yet dismissing the establishment of a security perimeter for the citizens of the country is not lost on me.

I am beyond angry!

Jan 21 2024

Team Nikki Haley Has Spent $30 Million on New Hampshire Media Ads, but President Trump Still Dominates


Posted originally on the CTH on January 20, 2024 | Sundance

Good grief, talk about burning cash….  According to Politico, the three corporate super PACs and the Nikki Haley campaign have spent almost $30 million in New Hampshire on ad buys.

Three super PACs backing Haley — SFA Fund (aka Randal and Barbara Smith, Alden Global Capital), Americans for Prosperity (aka Charles Koch) and Independents Moving the Needle (aka Jonathan Bush, the cousin of former President George W. Bush, billionaire CEO Frank Laukien, and Big Pharma) have spent more than $24 million across TV, radio and digital ads targeting New Hampshire, according to data from AdImpact, an ad tracking platform. Haley’s own campaign has chipped in another $4.7 million.

[Source]

NOTE: Ron DeSantis has not run any ads in New Hampshire since November, and the DeSantis camp have no additional advertising commitments in any state, including South Carolina.  It would appear the DeSantis campaign is low on cash and being very selective about spending prior to announcing their exit.

[…] According to an additional tracking service, AdImpact Politics, the last DeSantis ad to air on television was Monday, the night of the Iowa caucuses, which he lost by 30 points. That is reportedly the longest period his campaign and PACs Never Back Down, Fight Right, and Good Fight have gone without appearing on the airwaves. (MORE)

President Trump is leading Nikki Haley in New Hampshire polling 53% to 36%.  Ron DeSantis has 6.6% support. {source}

President Trump played this primary contest brilliantly, with a little assist from divine providence.

President Trump kicked off his campaign in South Carolina and now has the teams of the governor and both senators on his side.  The South Carolina electorate is filled with MAGA base supporters, and Trump has essentially funneled DeSantis and Haley into a no-win position.

Knock out Haley in New Hampshire, crush them both in Nevada with an Iowa like outcome, then stomp them in their fallback position, South Carolina.

This primary contest should be over immediately following South Carolina.

Jan 20 2024

The Nightmare at the Border


Posted originally on Jan 20, 2024 By Martin Armstrong 

Jan 20 2024

McDonald’s Bets on China


Posted originally on Jan 18, 2024 By Martin Armstrong 

mcdonalds

My humorous post about McDonald’s celebrating Davos with the McKlaus bug burger deluxe was a pretend advertisement, for now, but McDonald’s is a World Economic Forum partner. This is relevant as McDonald’s is the second-largest private employer in the world. Their chains run across 100 countries, in nearly 40,000 stores, serving about 69 million customers daily. The yellow arches may be one of the first images that come to mind when you think of capitalism and the United States in general, but the company has set its sights on the nation that will replace America as the world’s financial capital.

CEO Chris Kempczinski has said that the Israel-Palestine war had a “meaningful business impact” as people on both sides are boycotting the restaurant chain, with most believing the establishment is pro-Israel. Less than half of their locations are located in the US, and although their business is performing well in America, the fast-food chain is betting on the future of China.

McDonald Buddist

McDonald’s plans to expand by 10,000 new restaurants by 2027, with one-third of those establishments opening in China. The company expanded its dealings in China from 20% to 48% in November 2023 after purchasing shares owned by investment firm, the Carlyle Group. Their analytics found China to be the fastest-growing consumer economy, but it was not always this way. Due to low demand, McDonald’s was forced to sell off nearly 80% of its Chinese interests in 2016.

ECM China 2 2048

So, what was happening in China during 2016? In 2016, China’s growth dropped to 6.7%, marking the slowest pace of growth in 25 years. Fixed asset investment was no longer coming from the private sector, posing a challenge to the economy’s growth and development. The government’s attempts to inject funds into the economy through various means, including easing credit in the real estate sector, did not yield the desired results. This raised concerns about the effectiveness of the stimulus measures. China also faced challenges related to a weak banking system, overreliance on fixed investment and government support for state-owned firms, and increasing debt levels.

Additionally, the world could not see China as anything but a Communist nation. Corporations and institutions see it otherwise; they see the lucrative business potential and a growing middle class eager to spend. Hence, they are heavily investing in future business ventures there.

China’s economy turned around in 2017, as predicted by our computer. Large-scale capital investment, financed by large domestic savings and foreign investment, and rapid productivity growth helped the economy recover. These two factors appeared to have gone hand in hand, with consumption being a major growth driver, contributing 58.8% to GDP growth in 2017.

China on the Rise

The 2018 special report, “China on the Rise,” further explains how Socrates has been honing in on China, whose economy is expected to surpass that of the United States by 2032. With special attention to the Chinese yuan and Shanghai composite, this report examines how, when, and why China will become the new financial capital of the world.

China now has a growing middle class with some expendable income. Big corporations like McDonald’s see China as the next big opportunity, as our computer has been outlining for some time.

Jan 19 2024

Winter Woes – Green New Deal Turns Deadly


Posted originally on Jan 17, 2024 By Martin Armstrong 

Extreme Cold

Over 150 million Americans are under a winter chill advisory due to life-threatening temperatures. Every state besides Hawaii has issued some form of caution to residents as nearly 80% of the nation faces below-freezing weather. Extreme weather highlights the importance of fossil fuels, as there is NO reliable alternative.

Texas is on the verge of having another power grid failure of the ERCOT system. Around 11,000 Texans experienced power outages on Monday. In 2021, a winter storm devastated the state, millions lost power, and hundreds lost their lives, causing state leaders to move further from renewables. Governor Abbott blamed solar and wind energy reliance for thrusting the state into a lethal situation, and called the Green New Deal “a deadly deal for the United States of America.”

Texas Frozen Wind Farms

EV owners across the nation are already feeling the impact. Tesla owners in the Chicago area have been unable to charge their vehicles due to the extreme cold. The frigid temperatures have caused the charging stations to become congested with non-charging and abandoned cars, leading to a challenging situation for the owners. Cold weather, in general, will hurt the ability of electric vehicles to charge properly, requiring the battery to be preconditioned to accept a fast charge.

Yet, the US government wants to implement electric school buses and military vehicles.

ElectricSchoolBus

California plans to ban gas-powered vehicles by 2035 under the Advanced Clean Cars II, which will ban ALL gas car sales. California has routinely seen its power grid weaken due to extreme weather. In the summer of 2022, the California Independent System Operator called for a “voluntary energy conservation” during the upcoming Labor Day weekend due to the failing power grid. They are asking residents to refrain from charging their cars between 4 PM and 9 PM, which is when demand peaks. “If left unmanaged, the power demanded from many electric vehicles charging simultaneously in the evening will amplify existing peak loads, potentially outstripping the grid’s current capacity to meet demand,” Cornell University’s College of Engineering stated.

Rise Fall or Empires Climate

The state estimates it will need 1.2 million charging stations by 2030, but they have a mere 80,000 currently. California does not have the infrastructure to implement this zero-emission ban without toppling the entire power grid. So, electric vehicles alone have the potential to take down California’s power grid.

Clearly, we are amidst a period of global cooling and not warming. This is part of nature’s cycle — we cannot intervene. The globalists have descended their private jets at Davos to discuss climate change and how they can eliminate the least desirable carbon — YOU. They will plot how to limit the public’s usage of essential resources, causing people worldwide to suffer under the belief that they must go without to save the world.

The New Green Deal has become deadly in America and all climate change initiatives threaten civilization at large. The globalists will never convince free thinkers that they must save the planet by limiting indispensable resources that are essential for certain states and nations to remain inhabitable.