Posted Originally on the conservative tree house on September 13, 2022 | Sundance
We are in an abusive relationship with our own government. If you want a real-time example of how governmental bureaucracy fits into this statement, look no further than the footnote at the bottom of this article ¹cited from the BLS report today.
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) has released the August inflation data today [DATA HERE] with a top line at 8.3 percent year over year. Unfortunately, things are unfolding exactly as we previously shared. [Modified Table 1 at left]
Despite the temporary drop in gasoline prices (-12%), the costs of food (+13.5%), electricity (+15.8%) and housing (+6.7%) are crushing U.S. consumers. The stock market is responding accordingly. We can only imagine the inflation data if the heavily weighted gasoline factor was not pushing overall toplines down. Estimation of inflation would be well over double digits.
Keep in mind, as you read this review the price of the current harvest (prior field costs) is only right now coming into the food supply chain.
Food inflation is running at its highest rate since 1979 (+11.4%) and it will go higher as the third wave in this sector hits.
To give you an example, margarine increased in price 7% in August alone, that’s an annualized rate of 94% [Table 2 details]. Flour is also on pace for another 22.8% increase right as the holiday baking season begins.
We cannot eat gold, silver or durable goods. Electricity, home heating (natural gas), food and housing costs are priorities right now. Main Street USA is being crushed by Joe Biden overall economic and energy policies. It’s bad now, and going to get worse – much worse, as the third wave of food inflation has only just begun.
¹Before sharing a MSM perspective I want to draw your attention to the BLS notation for 2023. This innocuous footnote tells us just how manipulative the governmental bureaucracies are:
In order to give the statistical appearance of things being better than they are, the BLS is going to reset their weighting for the CPI to only compare against 2021. This is being done with purpose to give the illusion next year that things are not as bad. 2021 was when Joe Biden’s inflation policies first surfaced. By comparing consumer prices to the timing when those prices first increased, the scale of future price increases will be statistically diminished. We are in an abusive relationship with our government.
.
(CNBC) – Inflation rose more than expected in August as rising shelter and food costs offset a drop in gas prices, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday.
The consumer price index, which tracks a broad swath of goods and services, increased 0.1% for the month and 8.3% over the past year. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, CPI rose 0.6% from July and 6.3% from the same month in 2021.
Economists had been expecting headline inflation to fall 0.1% and core to increase 0.3%, according to Dow Jones estimates. The respective year-over-year forecasts were for 8% and 6% gains.
Energy prices fell 5% for the month, led by a 10.6% slide in the gasoline index. However, those declines were offset by increases elsewhere.
The food index increased 0.8% in August and shelter costs, which make up about one-third of the weighting in the CPI, jumped 0.7% and are up 6.2% from a year ago. (read more)
For readers who do advanced preparation to offset prices. THINK BEEF right now, you will thank me four months from now. If you see a deal now, buy it and freeze it now. Anticipate retail ground beef costs be somewhere around $10 to $15/lb by spring to mid 2023 perhaps even higher. Also remember, processed foods will increase in price at twice the rate of the fresh food sector. Both fresh and processed food prices will rise, but the increased costs associated with the food processing will double the price.
As in late times, as rulers come and go, the currency changes to reflect the change of power. In ancient Rome, for example, they would announce the coming of a new emperor on the coinage. The Romans used the reverse of their coinage as newspapers announcing victory, great building projects as the opening of the Colosseum, or political events such as the destruction of tax records by Emperor Hadrian recording one of the earliest tax amnesty events. Pictured here is the famous “Eid Mar” denarius of Brutus (85-42 BC), announcing he killed Caesar on the Ides of March in 44 BC.
Queen Elizabeth’s death will also cause numerous changes in currency. “Current banknotes featuring the image of Her Majesty The Queen will continue to be legal tender,” the Bank of England said shortly after her passing. The Royal Mint is continuing to “strike coins as usual” and has not announced when they plan to replace her image with the newly appointed Kings Charles III. The currency was updated five times during her rule to reflect the natural aging process. There are currently 4.7 billion UK banknotes in circulation worth an estimated 82 billion pounds ($95 billion). These bills will circulate for years to come as it takes an extensive amount of time to swap out currency.
The United Kingdom is not the only one who now must change its currency. Queen Elizabeth II broke the Guinness Book of World Records for being the longest reigning monarch after sitting on the throne for over 70 years. She also made history by appearing on more currencies than any other living monarch. At least 33 countries feature currency with the late queen’s image. Some countries removed the queen’s image decades ago after gaining independence. Jamaica replaced her image in 1966 with Marcus Garvey, while Bermuda changed its banknotes to feature native animals. Trinidad and Tobago also replaced her image with a coat of arms.
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Belize, and many others will need to update some of their currency. While the UK is refraining from making a statement until after the 10-day mourning period, other nations have explained their plans. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand, for example, said, “All coin stock for a denomination showing the Queen will be issued before new stock goes out with her successor’s image. This is a few years away.” The central bank said that it would be “wasteful” to shorten the lifespan of the existing currency in circulation, but they do plan to transition to currency featuring the new king in “several years.” The bank is also concerned that a rapid transition could affect its liquidity due to supply chain disruptions or sudden demand.
All existing currency with the queen’s image is valid and legal tender. It takes years for the currency to change, as it is an expensive and gradual process.
India is the largest rice exporter in the world. The nation saw the highest volume of rice exported last year at 18.75 million metric tons. In contrast, the second-largest exporter, Vietnam, sold about 6.5 million metric tons of rice that same year. Rice is the main staple in diets throughout the world. In the midst of food shortages, the Indian government decided to impose a 20% export duty on rice.
Importers are not too keen on the new export levy, and the plan has backfired. One million tons of grain now stand idle at Indian ports as buyers are refusing to pay the additional 20%. BV Krishna Rao, President of the All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA), has stated that India has stopped loading all vessels with rice shipments. Another problem is that many buyers already paid for their orders but are now expected to pay an additional 20%. The margin for rice is small, and most buyers are not willing to cut into profits.
Perhaps the Indian government would like the world to see it has a stronghold over the world’s rice supply. India currently sells to over 150 countries and now has leverage, considering the ongoing food shortages.
QUESTION: I’m a subscriber and I read you every day. Your weekend article 9/10/22 that a gold standard will not work as gold fluctuates just as Fiat currencies do. Then what in your opinion is the proper currency model, or can we just simply keep printing dollars endlessly because for now, we’re the least dirty of all the dirty shirts? If you’ve done an article or book on this please guide me to it. Thanks and keep up the great work with such accurate insights.
CG
ANSWER: Don’t mix the problem of the quantity of money with what is actually money. They are two separate issues. The theory that inflation is tied to the quantity of money truly extends back to when metal was the money supply. The sudden discovery of America led to a huge wave of inflation in Europe. The FISCAL MISMANAGEMENT of Spain led to its total collapse. They were borrowing against the next shipload of gold coming in from the New World. They would not wait even to get it in, and they were so excited to spend it before it arrived.
Spain became the richest nation in Europe thanks to the wanderings of Columbus. Nonetheless, the amazing Decline and Fall of Spain is perhaps the greatest lesson if someone wishes to write “How NOT to Manage Government For Dummies.” The Spanish became both the richest nation and the greatest debtor, not that dissimilar from the United States, and succeeded in ending up as the poorest.
Spain became a serial defaulter beginning in 1557, followed by 1570, 1575, 1596, 1607, and 1647 ending in a 3rd world status without hyperinflation. Their economic model was one of conquest and plunder rather than developing domestic industry and a viable economy. The lesson to be learned from Spain is precisely what Adam Smith wrote in his 1776, “Wealth of Nations.”
The first such default that is definitively recorded took place at least in the 4th century BC when ten out of thirteen Greek municipalities in the Attic Maritime Association defaulted on loans from the Delos Temple of Apollo.
The endless increase in the supply of dollars is not the problem. That is like blaming the gun for killing someone rather than the person with the gun. The issue has ALWAYS been the fiscal mismanagement of those in power.
This is an entirely SEPARATE QUESTION from what is money!
Our problem is NOT that money is paper. The problem is those in charge of the government. In China, cowrie shells were once money. In Rome, the earliest form of money was cattle. When bronze began to replace cattle, you see this Roman Aes Signatum with the image of a cow that was the symbol of money. The Egyptians had paper money, but they were receipts for grain storage which would change hands. There was no fiscal mismanagement.
To trade with the outside world, the Egyptians did not have their own coinage. They produced silver imitations of the Athenian Owl — Tetradrachms.
There have been many two-tier monetary systems throughout history. Even South Africa had the Financial Rand for international use and the Rand, which was restricted to domestic. Russia, after 1991, had some shares that traded as ADRs on foreign markets, which were 10 to 20x that of the shares traded on the Russian exchange, which were restricted to Russian investment. That is what the foreigners were abusing setting up shop in Moscow and then buying local shared and lobbying companies like Gazprom to adopt Western accounting standards to make a 30-fold profit while claiming they were some white knight concerned about corruption — all total propaganda.
Even going back further to the Minoans who created the Bronze Age, the ingots used in trade were made in the form of sheepskin, which had been money in the ancient Greek world.
Gold was reserved for the pharaohs, so naturally, others wanted it. The Bible refers to the weighing of the silver in Genesis 23:16: “Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, commercial standard.” Even a “Deutsche Mark” referred to a “mark of silver,” which was a weight. The same in Britain. The British “Pound” was one pound of silver .925.
Our entire weight system remains that which was established in ancient Rome, with an ounce being 28.34 grams and a troy ounce being 31.0 grams. The Romans started with even a coin that was called the “uncia” during the Republic period.
Therefore, the problem with a “gold standard” is the goldbugs keep suggesting that gold would be “fixed” in value. They will only blow up in everyone’s face. There have been many crises.
Riots against bankers have been very common, especially when international lending has led to economic chaos. When Edward II (1307-1327) of England was captured, riots broke out in London. The mobs attacked the Italian bankers who had extracted huge interest payments from England. The famous Italian bankers at the time were the Bardi family. The English mob attacked their London office in 1326, illustrating the age of nationalism and protectionism that was festering during the 14th century. As much as things appear to change, they remain very much the same at the root core
Those who think the gold standard brings stability must also believe in the Tooth Fairy. There was a huge CONTAGION that became widespread because of debasements during the 14th century. The silver to gold ratio was disrupted everywhere in Europe thanks to French debasements. The ratio stood at 13.1 in Florence compared to 12:1 in France during 1316 and was trying, like the Silver Democrats of the 19th US Century, to overvalue the price of silver. By driving the price of silver even higher relative to gold, they forced the ratio in France down to 5:1 in 1343, setting off riots in Florence. Silver was being drained from the local economy flowing to France, where it was over-valued, and this created a sharp recession in Florence with the shortage of money (silver) for domestic use.
Why? For you see, wages and local commerce were conducted in silver. Gold was used only for international trade. Driving the price of silver higher raised the cost of production, which simultaneously reduced the value of trade and even outstanding loans made to individuals and sovereigns alike. This caused a drop in production and rising unemployment. Hence, the first riot came in 1343, whereby the French debasement had contributed to the impatience of the population. Switzerland did the same thing pegging the franc to the euro because the franc was rising, and manufacturers threatened to leave. Hence, Switzerland has imported massive inflation, raising the cost of living and doing business there to TWICE that of the United States.
The Political-Economic Revolt of 1343 in Florence may have had its roots in a corrupt government, as we are also seeing in Europe and Ukraine, but it was set in motion by the economic events driven by over-valuing silver. There was an uprising of workers that erupted on September 24, 1343. The people stormed the palaces of the rich merchant-banking families located in the Oltrarno quarter of the city that was on the left bank of the Arno River. This was where the palaces of the Bardi, Frescobaldi, Rossie, Nerli, Mannelli, and many others were located. The rioters barricaded the bridges, and on the 25, they captured the palaces of the Rossi and Frescobaldi. They also stormed the Bardi palace forcing the members of that family to abandon their fortress and flee for their lives. The mob then sacked the Bardi Palace and set it on fire. Contemporary accounts tell us that the Bardi lost that day 60,000 florins in the destruction that took place in Florence – truly a vast amount of money that would be in the tens of millions of dollars today.
The Florence monetary system was a two-tier system whereby gold was used ONLY for settling international trade, and silver was used for domestic commerce. Those who simply think because coins were precious metals and thus were not “fiat,” yielding some land of Utopia where the value of money was constant while assets rose and fell, cannot grasp the simple concept that assets rise and fall ONLY in terms of purchasing power of the currency. This is true regardless of what you use for the money, be it gold or St Patrick’s discovery of slave girls that were the unit of account for money in Ireland.
No matter what is money, it CAN NOT be fixed in value. It must be allowed to float, for there are always trends that shift back and forth. Therefore, the relentless creation of money is not because they are paper dollars. As I said, you are blaming the gun rather than the shooter. This is fiscal mismanagement created by Marxism, where the politicians no longer know how to run for office without bribing the people for their votes. This is the system that is completely doomed, the very same as communism fell. It’s just our turn.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 12, 2022 | Sundance
Mid-August CTH noted, “amid all of the headline warnings about inflation and prices of essential products, CTH notes that if we are to continue waiting about six months, we would see a massive backlog of unsold goods and as a consequence the prices of non-essential durable goods would begin a rapid decline. That exact scenario is about to unfold.” {link}
Today the world’s second largest appliance manufacturer, Electrolux, announced a collapse of corporate earnings -the result of the western alliance economic contraction- leading to major cost cutting and future incentive programs. [Announcement Link, emphasis mine]
(Electrolux) – […] Market demand for core appliances in Europe and the US so far in the third quarter is estimated to have decreased at a significantly accelerated pace compared with the second quarter, driven by the impact of high inflation on consumer durables purchases and low consumer confidence. High retailer inventory levels have amplified the impact of the slowdown in consumer demand.
In combination with supply chain imbalances resulting in significant production inefficiencies and increased costs, the third quarter earnings for the Group are expected to decline significantly compared to the second quarter 2022 also excluding the one-time cost to exit the Russia market. This has been driven mainly by Europe and North America. Business Area North America is expected to report an operating loss in the third quarter exceeding the loss in the second quarter.
Since market demand for 2023 is expected to continue to be weak in both regions, the Board has today decided to initiate a Group-wide cost reduction program addressing both variable and structural costs. The program, which starts immediately, will focus on reducing variable costs, with special attention to eliminating cost inefficiencies in our supply chain and production. The structural cost reductions will primarily take place in Europe and North America. (more)
Keep in mind, this is not necessarily a collapse of total global economic activity; what we are seeing is a collapse of western nation economic activity that is impacting the rest of the world. A great economic fracturing is taking place as the western nations intentionally shrink their economy. The supplier nations are feeling the consequences.
Keep in mind, South Korean factory output is now negative (electronics etc). European factory output is now negative (industrial equipment). Japanese factory output has dropped dramatically, and U.S. factory output has stalled. All of these issues overlay the statements by Maersk that shipping is not needed.
The western economies are contracting in response to the collective energy policies of the Build Back Better climate change agenda, and the high cost of energy that comes from stopping energy production.
Energy production in western nations has been slowed or stopped (Build Back Better). Western nation inflation is being driven by higher energy costs as a result of less energy products being produced, oil, coal, gas. Western banking groups have raised interest rates to slow down the economic engines to meet the drop in energy production.
All of this is being done with intent, purpose and control. This is a managed decline.
As the European Central Bank (ECB) finally begins to raise rates, Greece is rushing to repay its outstanding debt. The failure to consolidate eurozone debt hurt the southern nation, whose debt spiked due to simple currency conversion. Greece remains the most indebted country in the EU. The country received its third bailout in 2018 and has been struggling to pay off its debt, relying mostly on bonds.
Greece is making its next payout ahead of schedule, as it knows that the amount owed will only rise. Greece is set to repay 2.7 billion euros, according to the finance ministry. However, this is a small piece of what they owe as debts have more than tripled since the start of the year.
As the eurozone is facing an inevitable recession, Brussels is sure to hunt down its debts. Greece has been put in a lose-lose situation as its initial debt spiked after the drachma was converted to the euro. Greece’s debt to GDP has soared since joining the euro. The ratio is expected to reach 186.1% by the end of the year, which is slightly better than 2020 (206.3%) and 2021 (193.3%).
The entire EU Crisis began precisely on schedule on the political pi turning point from the major high in 2007. Precisely on the day of the ECM turning point, April 16, 2010 (2010.29), Greece notified the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it was on the verge of bankruptcy. The eurozone and IMF provided Greece with a 260 billion euro loan – a small price to pay to prevent the European economy from crashing. Greece repaid the IMF 28 billion between 2010 and 2014. More money was requested a few years later. Fast forward to 2022, and Greece needed an additional 7 billion euros through bond sales. They are simply trying to stay afloat.
Well, the Goldbugs are out in force claiming that Putin is creating a Moscow World Standard for gold. These people will never learn that their dream of some fixed gold standard has always collapsed throughout history. They have never played in the big leagues and consequently, they do not even understand the rules of the game. It’s like standing on the street corner and seeing a guy drive by in a black limo and lament life is not fair for they should be like him without ever knowing what he is really all about.
Yes, gold coins existed since the 8th century BC. However, it was NEVER a gold standard for if that was even attempted, it would have collapsed as did Bretton Woods, the 19997 Asian Currency Crisis, the Swiss-Euro Peg, or the collapse of the British pound in the ERM Crisis that made Soros a fortune. NEVER throughout all the recorded financial history of the world was there EVER a “gold standard” as they keep telling people. Gold floating up and down with the economy the same as the dollar does today – it was always a floating exchange rate monetary system.
There were periods when the gold coinage of Byzantium was debased especially during the Great Monetary Crisis of 1092. The coins that were once gold, we debased to the point they became silver.
Even the ratio of silver to gold was never constant. There were times when new discoveries of silver poured from the mines leading to the decline in purchasing power of the silver. Likewise, there were times when gold became more common than silver. Even during the California Gold Rush of 1849, the purchasing power of gold declined sharply because there was too much of it coming around.
So why do their relentless theories of a return to a gold standard fail and only end up with people losing their shirts, pants, their home, and sometimes their wives? The answer is SIMPLE, yet they cannot escape their own beliefs that have turned gold into a religion. There can NEVER be any FIX EXCHANGE RATE regardless of whether it is gold, silver, bronze, paper dollars, or sea shells – yes they too were money along with cattle and slave girls.
For you see, there is such a thing as a BUSINESS CYCLE. They simply refuse to understand the basic monetary theory or the history of money, which had been many things for over 6,000 years. It does not matter what the money might be at any point in time, it will decline in value as assets rise which we call inflation, and as people need cash and assets decline, we call that a recession. That has ALWAYS taken place regardless of the century, what was money at the time, or the culture. This is WHY there can NEVER be a “gold standard” that will ever survive for that is COMMUNISM where you prevent a recession by eliminating freedom. For you see, Marx tried to stop this business cycle so he confiscated all private assets and even that failed to prevent the business cycle from winning.
Even Fed Chairman during the collapse of Bretton Woods explained its epitaph. The business cycle ALWAYS wins! That simply means gold will rise and fall in value BECAUSE of the business cycle. It is not some scheme to manipulate it. That is part of the natural cycle.
Gold has been around for a long time. In Egypt, they had the first paper money. There were warehouse receipts for the grain you would deposit. Gold was seen as the tears of the god Ra, the sun god. The only person who was worthy to touch it was the Pharaoh. The Celts used gold in ring form, not coins. But throughout the entire history of gold, it rose and fell and had no such FIXED value.
So, as the goldbugs are pushing the latest that Russia is now establishing a gold standard, they do not understand what is really going on. Russia has been turning from Europe and America toward Asia expanding its markets and its economic power even to include India and Iran. Putin has persuaded Middle Eastern oil and gas producers to turn to Asia. Some have accused me of advising Putin in his latest speech everything he said and what he is doing is coming from our models. I do not advise Putin personally. Of course, we have many readers in Russia as well. I was even called by RT about how our model predicted Ukraine would be the hot spot one year in advance.
Biden has destroyed the world economy. I believe that even Bill Browder may be just a front for the CIA pushing this agenda that is actually undermining the West – not Russia. The world economy has been divided in two and it will NEVER return to normal. Putin is very smart. Probably far smarter than any other world leader at this time. Both Russia and China see the world in cycles. In Europe and America, we see the world as linear and that is our downfall.
Lady Margaret Thacher spoke at our World Economic Conference in 1996. She understood about cycles. As she told me that Tony Blair would win well before there were any polls, she said it was “just time.” The downfall of the West is that we do not see the world in cycles. It is Just Time, for the rein of the United States to come to an end.
Even Bill Clinton told Yeltsin after meeting Putin, “He’s a very smart man.” Putin sees the rising power of Asia in what is their Industrial Revolution. Biden’s insane sanctions against Russia have strengthened the bond with China, opposite of what Nixon did. Thanks to Biden’s sanctions, Russia is forging an alternative world order to that of the World Economic Form and its directive to Western leaders. Putin’s move to create a Moscow gold exchange is simply because he cannot sell gold anymore in the West. Putin, hopefully, will not be that stupid and try to fix a value of gold that would only ensure the collapse of Asia and Russia. Gold must be free to rise and fall as it has done for thousands of years.
The Ukrainian army is at least one-third larger than it was last year and some claim it has doubled in size. They have been concentrating their effort, not on the Donbas, but on Ukraine’s Kharkov region. The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed that Russia has withdrawn its troops from multiple locations across Ukraine’s Kharkov region pulling back to the Donbas in the face of a major Ukrainian offensive in the area. The Ministry has actually stated: “In order to achieve the goals of the special military operation, a decision was made to regroup troops in the areas of Balakleya and Izyum in order to build up efforts in the Donetsk direction.”
The troops that were stationed in the Kharkov area have been “re-deployed” over the past three days pulling back to the Donetsk People’s Republic. It also stated that during its withdrawal, the military had performed a “number of distracting and demonstration activities imitating the real action of troops.” It did not elaborate. It was attacking the Ukrainians to allow the withdrawal with artillery, missile, and aircraft attacks to provide cover. They claimed that they destroyed over 100 armor pieces and artillery and eliminated “more than 2,000 Ukrainian and foreign fighters” in the past three days. The Ukrainian offensive was launched in the Kharkov Region on Thursday, but they were not as successful.
The real problem will emerge with the coming winter and is likely to be a very tough winter. While NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg keeps urging Ukraine to continue fighting against Russia, it puts out this urging saying that otherwise, the country may “cease to exist” as an independent nation. From the outset, Putin did not seek to conquer all of Ukraine. One must wonder if the West is not propagating this war claiming Ukraine will cease to exist unless it fights Russia. That certainly eliminates any settlement or a peace treaty. NATO needs war with Russia and Putin by now has to understand that his real enemy is NATO and the USA. The propaganda fueling this agenda can be seen in the words of Stoltenberg who told the AP:
“If President [Vladimir] Putin and Russia stop fighting, then we will have peace. If Ukraine stops fighting, then Ukraine will cease to exist as an independent nation.”
Stoltenberg admitted that there has been “no sign” that Putin or Moscow is giving up its objectives in Ukraine. He keeps insisting that Russia’s ultimate goal in the conflict is “taking control of Ukraine.” He knows that is not true and perhaps is begging Putin to adopt that goal. If that were true, Putin should do as the USA did in Iraq – (1) take down the power grid, (2) take down the communications, (3) attack the water supply, and (4) attack the food supply.
“Winter’s coming” as they warned in Game of Thrones. Reuters has reported that the flows of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine were stable at the start of the week. Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia to Germany “remained shut and eastbound gas flows via the Yamal-Europe pipeline to Poland from Germany continued at low levels.”
Beware of the feigned-retreat is a military tactic, whereby a military force pretends to withdraw to lure an enemy into a position of vulnerability. Ukraine is now concentrating its forces in Kharkov region. Putin cannot be stupid and with the approach of winter, he should cut off all the gas through Ukraine to Europe and do as Stoltenberg keeps saying. There are two options. Use Tactical nuclear weapons, also called nonstrategic nuclear weapons, are generally designed for battlefield use and have a shorter range than strategic, or long-range, nuclear weapons, which are designed to directly attack an adversary’s homeland.
Herodotus reported that the Ancient Spartans used the feigned-retreat tactic at the Battle of Thermopylae (480BC) to defeat a force of Persian Immortals. Socrates debated a general who said it was cowardly to retreat. Even during the Battle of Agrigentum, in Sicily (262BC) during the First Punic War. Then the Carthaginian general Hanno, son of Hannibal, sent in his cavalry to attack the Roman cavalry and then pulled a feign-retreat drawing the Romans right into the arms of the main Carthaginian army waiting patiently.
Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements that were to provide the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state and to vote on their own separation since they were ethnically Russians. That agreement was brokered by Germany and France and was first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko then admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.” That is precisely what was done.
The problem now is that this appears to be an all-out war that the West keeps saying Russia is losing. I fear if that were true, then we will be looking at tactical nuclear weapons being used in Ukraine calling the bluff of Europe- Who will be next? Beware of next April and this coming January does not look very quiet on the Western front. The Pi Target from the fall of the USSR comes on April 6th, 2023. The West keeps telling the Ukrainians that Russia is losing and that the overthrow of Putin will bring peace. I fear this is just total propaganda dor the people behind Putin are far worse and think he has been too soft on Ukraine.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 10, 2022 | Sundance
War is an outcome of ideology and economics, and the latter is perhaps the most powerful weapon. As the harsh reality of Europe’s insufferable decades-long efforts to embrace the virtues of climate change begin to settle in, the reasonable adults in the conversation are able to see how their weakness is being exploited by their adversary.
On Sept 7, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen held a press conference in Brussels, 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.” {Go Deep}
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin made it very clear that any further efforts to weaken his economy, via western sanctions and interventionist efforts against his economy, would be met with retaliation in the form of cutting off all oil and gas supplies to Europe. It appears the Europeans now understand the nature of their vulnerability.
(Via Reuters) – The EU has dropped plans to cap the price it pays for Russian gas.
Energy ministers from the bloc met Friday (September 9) in Brussels. They scrapped plans for the cap after the idea failed to win broad support.
Member states in central and eastern Europe who still get gas from Russia feared retaliation by Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin had said he would cut off supplies altogether if a cap was imposed.
However, ministers did agree to claw back revenues from some power producers and will use the money to curb consumer bills. European energy prices are typically set by gas plants. That leaves generators using nuclear, wind or coal raking in revenue, as their running costs haven’t risen as much or at all.
On Friday, some EU nations also argued in favor of a general cap on all gas imports. However, European energy commissioner Kadri Simson said any such move would be risky:
“The general price cap, including LNG imports, could present a security of supply challenge, because the LNG market is a global market. We are not among the three biggest LNG-importing regions or countries, and there is very strong competition in the LNG market and right now it is very important that we can replace the decreasing Russian volumes with alternative suppliers.”
The EU windfall plan will now be fleshed out in the coming days, with another meeting of energy ministers seen possible later in the month. (read more)
President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen previously announced 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 included:
(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.
Number five is now scrapped.
Not a single word about increasing the supply of any traditional energy resource. These EU ideologues -bureaucrats within a system that is not representative of democracy- are so committed to the cult of climate change and renewable energy, they are willing to destroy the EU economy in order to lower demand to the level of their windmills and solar farms. However, it looks like alternate, perhaps even sensible people within the EU, are starting to realize the ‘climate change’ ideologues are the real and present danger.
Yet another head of the financial system is coming out and warning that a recession is inevitable. Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing echoed the words of BoE’s Governor Andrew Bailey and blamed the coming recession on the war in Ukraine. “We will no longer be able to avert a recession in Germany. Yet we believe that our economy is resilient enough to cope well with this recession — provided the central banks act quickly and decisively now,” Sewing said.
Going a step further, Sewing blamed China along with Russia. “When it comes to dependencies, we also have to face the awkward question of how to deal with China. Its increasing isolation and growing tensions, especially between China and the United States, pose a considerable risk for Germany,” he warned. Around 12% of German imports and 8% of exports come and go from China. Sewing would like to see a declining dependency on China rather than strengthening their relationship.
Neither China nor Russia are to blame for Germany’s situation. Russia was simply a diversion to draw attention away from the collapse of the European economy. Negative interest rates beginning in 2014 wiped out pension funds and proved that the central bank was not thinking long-term. COVID restrictions killed the supply chain, and Germany’s insistance in backing Ukraine eliminated what could have been a lucrative pipeline. Had the pipeline gone through, Europe would not have an energy crisis! Ever since COVID, we have witnessed a rising trend of civil unrest. Politicians have been working hard to create war with Russia deliberately, all cloaked in their real objective of controlling the planet.
When the energy crisis is unavoidable for the average person and the standard of living declines, the politicians will point to Russia and China. The decline began long before Russia lined the border of Ukraine, and China is demonized for simply existing. They would never blame their fiscal mismanagement or detrimental policies for the undoable damage they have created. If Germany falls, all of Europe will follow.
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
Centinel2012 