Tag Archives: Illegal Migration

Feb 10 2022

US Loses $1 Trillion Annually on Opiate Crisis


Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption Re-Posted Feb 10, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Big Pharma kills more people in America every year than firearms and car accidents; legal pill pushers have claimed more lives than COVID. The number of overdose deaths in the US has reached its highest level since 1979. Since 1999, and the big push for opiates, over one million Americans have died from legal drug overdoses. Around 274 people die each day in America from drug overdoses or one person every five minutes.

The Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking found that opiates were responsible for two in three overdoses in the first six months of 2021, marking a 30% increase from the year prior. “In terms of loss of life and damage to the economy, illicit synthetic opioids have the effect of a slow-motion weapon of mass destruction in pill form,” the report noted. Recent estimates state the US has lost $1 trillion annually for overdose deaths. “In 2018, according to the White House Council of Economic Advisers, the cost of overdose fatalities was $696 billion, despite being roughly two-thirds of annual overdose deaths today,” the report stated as reported by CNBC. That number is on the rise.

Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, McKesson, and Johnson & Johnson were ordered to pay $26 billion in July 2021 for fueling the nation’s opiate crisis. “This was a person-made crisis,” Pennsylvania attorney general Josh Shapiro stated. “This epidemic was manufactured by an army of pharmaceutical executives.” In addition, Perdue Pharma reached an $8.3 billion settlement for promoting the sale of its highly addictive drug OxyContin. Perdue simultaneously filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a last-ditch effort to protect some of the Sackler family’s (owners of Perdue Pharma) assets.

The opiate crisis is more severe than the coronavirus pandemic at this time, but it is overlooked. The pharmaceutical companies themselves had a PR overhaul due to this pandemic where people are praising them for creating an ineffective vaccine for profit. They are not sharing the patents with others because they do not want to lose profits. The vaccine being free is a myth as it has been funded with government taxpayer money. These are not the good guys. No one talks about the damage Big Pharma has done to the world at large with the opiate crisis but continues to push their new products without fully understanding the repercussions.

Feb 10 2022

Lightfoot Believes Remote Education Led to Increased Crime


Armstrong Economics Blog/Crime Re-Posted Feb 10, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Crime has been sweeping the nation since Biden announced his light on crime stance. Chicago, an urban warzone, has seen a sharp uptick in criminal activity so rampant that police cannot keep up. Murders reached a 25-year high last year, and Neighborhood Scout reported that 1 in 103 people in Chicago is at risk of becoming the victim of a violent crime. One out of every 39 people in the city risk becoming the victim of a property crime in Chicago as well, and the numbers worsen by the day. It is no wonder that people are fleeing the state of Illinois, with more people leaving the state in 2021 than any other time period on record. Chicago has continued to lag behind the national average for economic recovery and has not shown strong signs of improvement.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has done nothing to solve the crime wave crisis. However, she is now blaming her own policies for the increase in carjackings. Lightfoot said that “pure boredom” from remote learning led kids with no prior involvement in the criminal justice system to turn to…carjacking. At least half of those arrested for recent carjackings have been minors under-18.

The Chicago Teachers Union is outraged with Lightfoot’s comments. It is demanding an apology for claiming “with zero evidence that there was a correlation between remote learning in 2020 and an increase in carjackings.” What she should actually apologize for are her forced remote learning policies that, in her words, led to increased crime among the youth. The Chicago teacher’s union also pushed for remote learning, with 73% approving the measure just last month.

Carjackings went up by 68% on an annual basis from March 2019 (88) to March 2020 (148). Chicago Police Supt. David Brown has stated that this year’s number is already at 177. Teachers are not babysitters, and there is a deeper issue at play in Chicago that surpasses the conversation of economics. However, those responsible for making policies concerning children must take responsibility, especially if the parents will not.

Feb 10 2022

Will Trudeau Fall?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Canada Re-Posted Feb 10, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Marty, you said Socrates projected that 2022 would be a Panic Cycle in politics. You also said that would be global and impact Canada as well. If I am not mistaken, I think 2022 was the 3 wave of your ECM in Canada. You were the first to say that COVID was organized and you were the first to point to this as a plot from the WEF and Schwab. Do you think this bold initiative of Schwab will collapse sooner rather than later?

ANSWER: Yes, 2022 was not only our Panic Cycle in politics, but in Canada, it was the culmination of the 3rd wave from the Confederation of Canada in 1867. The politics began to change in 2018 but Trudeau was taking orders from Schwab as has been in the case in Australia. I have actually shaken hands with Schwab. I doubt many people talking about him understand the real nature of his agenda. Listen to this video. Here you have the head of Australia imposing harsh lockdowns to destroy the economy on the orders of Schwab to impose his “stakeholder” economics by sheer force, climate change, and the end of mining. These elected people do NOT represent the people. NOBODY has run on this agenda. They lie to get into office and then take their orders from the World Economic Forum. All the countries that have oppressed their people the worst are directed by Schwab!

For those unfamiliar with Canadian history, there was an outright secessionist movement in Canada’s English-speaking area that emerged in Nova Scotia shortly after the Confederation’s response in 1867 to form Canada to economic grievances. Following the Confederation of three British colonies (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada) to form the Dominion of Canada in 1867, opponents of the Confederation emerged in Nova Scotia and began promoting the withdrawal of that province from the new Confederation. The AntiConfederation Party won 18 of the 19 Nova Scotia seats in the new House of Commons of Canada in the 1867 general election and 36 of the 38 seats in the Nova Scotia legislature.

Still, the move to separate failed in achieving independence for Nova Scotia. Even as late as 1990, just before the Meech Lake Accord’s failure, then-premier John Buchanan predicted Nova Scotia and the rest of Atlantic Canada would have to join the United States if the accord failed. Ironically, following the American Revolution, those who were pro-England fled to Nova Scotia.

What Schwab has done is try desperately to force his economic theories upon the world. He is taking deliberate action much more directly than Karl Marx, Schwab wants to end corporate governance and to usurp all corporations in the world to act as subdivisions of a communistic type of government with central planning.

I have warned that his idea was floated in 1932 that corporations should engage in socialism and not be concerned about their shareholders. At least when this was first proposed in 1932, there were no social programs. That was made obsolete when Roosevelt came to power with Socialism.

What people must understand is that the scheme is already in play to direct pension funds to pour money into losing projects to try to further Schwabd Agenda 2030. Australian pension funds are to shift money to help a collapsing Europe and ignore their own people. Of course, they put a different spin on it, but there is no reason to invest in Europe when it is in serious trouble. Joseph Dear, CIO at CalPERS, called green a “noble way to lose money.” CALPERS, California pension system for state employees, was directed to invest in “green” projects for political reasons and lost. They have been trying to cover-up their politically correct investment decisions. We get requests from pension funds asking if we can select “green” investments that they at least will break even on so they can comply with the political directive to be investing in green.

The Truckers have timing on their side. They need to break the grip that Schwab has around the throat of Canada. This protest has expanded and they need to bring the government to its knees. Trudeau’s support is minimal and even his own party is starting to crack. Trudeau is weak and he is a fool. He has listened to Schwab who could care less about his future. All that matters to Schwab is to force his economic theories upon the entire world.

This is NOT merely a battle against Trudeau. He takes his orders from the WEF as does Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. This is a battle for the freedom of the people. Those who support people like Biden and Trudeau are clueless for they are the sheep who refuse to open their eyes to the fact that this is a serious international plot to FORCE by undemocratic means, the economic philosophy of one very sick man with visions of Marxist grandeur. This is no conspiracy theory. Just listen to the words coming from Schwab and his WEF organization. This is the best-organized plot to take over the world far beyond anything ever played out in a James Bond movie.

This is the very same strategy that was used to create the Euro. Helmut Kohl knew the people would never vote for joining the Euro. Germans have been reluctant ever since the hyperinflation of 1923. The collapse of the Euro is inevitable probably by 2026/2027. This is precisely the same strategy that these world leaders are trying to impose Schwab’s 2030 agenda without EVER allowing the people to vote or understand even that there is such an agenda. They call it a conspiracy theory so people remain blind to this very design and strategy they used to create the Euro.

Any journalist that claims this is a conspiracy theory, is really a closet Marxist. They have no respect for our future, human rights, or anything that makes life worth living. We were born with inalienable rights, not to be economic slaves to a central power. Such journalists are traitors to even the Constitution of the United States that was to secure our freedom and the pursuit of happiness, not enslavement. LIBERTY cannot coexist with material equality. There are direct opposites of each other. My family has fought in every war since the American Revolution for LIBERTY. This is a plot to enslave us to the deranged economic theories of a man who has been exceptionally clever to indoctrinate the world. I have looked into the eyes of Schwab face to face. That is not what most of these commentators can say.

Feb 10 2022

Suicide is now the Second Leading Cause of Death for Ages 10-35


Armstrong Economics Blog/Disease Re-Posted Feb 10, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

People read stories about how a father kills his family and then commits suicide. They will typically dismiss the event, claiming he was just crazy. The real story is something people rarely understand. The pain of staying is far greater than leaving. But they often feel guilty about leaving their family behind. Will they suffer the same pains that drive them to want to leave? This is what results in someone murdering their family and then committing suicide. They feel guilty about leaving their family behind.

These COVID restrictions have resulted in a wave of suicides as people have lost everything. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), suicide came in as the tenth leading cause of death overall in the U.S., claiming the lives of more than 47,500 people. However, for people between the ages of 35 and 44, suicide was the fourth leading cause of death; for those between the ages of 10 to 35, it was second right behind unintentional injury.

I have reported that I was walking the beach and a man asked me how long I was here in Florida. His two teenage sons were surfing at the time. He said he moved here because his boys were becoming suicidal up north from being locked down, no school, and their vision of the future turned very dark. His boys were unable to play sports and their dreams were all lost.

It was becoming commonplace to see people jumping to their death during the Great Depression. When people lose everything, their future comes crashing down. Our politicians have such a callous view of us, the Great Unwashed. They have no problem partying behind closed doors as they destroy the lives of people they see as the scum beneath them.

Hopefully, the truckers will bring down the real leader of the Free World. No, it is not Trudeau or Biden — Klaus Schwab is pulling all the strings.

Feb 10 2022

Freedom Convoy Border Blockades Expand, Justin Trudeau Cries for Help


February 9, 2022 | Sundance | 538 Comments

The Freedom Convoy trucker protest has now expanded and is starting to hit more U.S-Canada border crossings, while the main trucker convoy remains in downtown Ottawa. The Coutts border crossing, between Alberta and Montana, is shut down as truckers have closed every lane.

However, after 12 days of pressure – and a typical Alinsky response from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – things are beginning to escalate. Now, in Windsor, Ontario, the Ambassador Bridge to Detroit – the busiest land crossing on the U.S-Canada border, has been effectively blocked.

The government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is starting to panic.  “They’re essentially putting their foot on the throat of all Canadians,” Bill Blair, Canada’s minister of emergency preparedness, said Wednesday. “It can’t be allowed to persist.”  Yet, the Trudeau government is quickly discovering their biggest Achillies’ heal in this issue.  There is no logistical way to stop truckers from blocking the roads and bridges.

The logistics of trying to forcibly remove the big rigs with tow trucks is a nightmare.  Additionally, the tow truck companies are not willing to support the government in a fight against their own profession.  Slowly, the uber elite who think they are the rulers are starting to realize just how little power they have when the “workers of the world” really do “unite”.   Trudeau really is starting to panic:

CANADA – Canada’s usually sleepy capital is under a state of emergency. It’s been nearly two weeks since the self-styled “Freedom Convoy” reduced its key arteries to a parking lot. Two crossings on the U.S.-Canada border, including the busiest, have been partially blockaded, and demonstrators were attempting to block a highway to a third.

[…] Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security is warning that U.S. truckers are potentially planning to block roads in major metropolitan areas in protest of vaccine mandates, and that the protest activity could impact the Super Bowl in Los Angeles this Sunday as well as President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address March 1, according to a copy of the bulletin obtained by The Washington Post.

Canadian officials continued to condemn the “illegal” blockades – which have been boosted by far-right and anti-vaccine groups around the world and inspired copycat demonstrations from Europe to Australia – and detailed their deleterious effects on national security and the economy. But there were few indications of how or when authorities will bring them to an end.

Officials in some cities said they needed more police officers. Others said tow-truck operators were refusing to help. The federal government said it had set up a group of federal, provincial and local officials to respond – but the government of Ontario, the most populous province, and home to Ottawa, the capital, hadn’t sent a representative.

In Windsor, Ontario, the Ambassador Bridge to Detroit – the busiest land crossing on the U.S.-Canada border and a vital corridor for the auto industries on both sides – was blockaded by up to 100 people and 75 vehicles, police said Wednesday.

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens appealed for more law enforcement resources. He said officials feared the use of force could “inflame” the conflict and there was a “need to plan for a protracted protest.” (read more)

Trudeau has really painted himself into a corner by first calling the truckers racist hate-filled bigots and saying he would never meet with them.  Now, as their ranks and support grow, the majority of Canadians want him to do exactly that, meet the truckers and remove the covid mandates.

The Freedom Convoy truckers have all the leverage in this dynamic.  The true irony is the socialist left constantly claiming the “workers of the world unite” mantra as part of their boutique leftism, yet here are the truckers doing exactly that – and the same liberals are decrying the audacity of the ruffians.   You really cannot make this up.

Younger generations are watching these masks drop.  The only thing we need to do is point out the hypocrisy, and the opposition falls silent.

For a really good review of the background dynamics and party politics, this interview with Mark Steyn is well worth the 15 minutes.  Video begin at 26:54 prompted. WATCH:

Feb 10 2022

Canadian Liberals Deeply Worried They Might Lose COVID and Be Forced to Return to Normal


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on February 9, 2022 | Sundance | 353 Comments

According to Canadian media, the Liberal party is deeply worried the Pandemic might end, and they will be forced to return to normal.

Anxiety over losing COVID-19 as a justification for their fear and worried state is creating even greater feelings of nervousness and trepidation.

Liberals are not yet ready to accept the loss of their pandemic sense, and the reality of having to live normally is a burden too great to contemplate.

CANADA – […] Psychology experts expect stress and anxiety to run high among those who remain wary of letting their guards down. It will take time for many to adjust, they say, but the quick approach some provinces are taking could make the transition more jarring.

[…] After two years of being told to avoid the virus, it will be hard for some people to switch their mindset, Joordens said.  Limited PCR testing, which previously helped indicate how much COVID-19 was circulating, adds another complicated wrinkle by removing some of the information people used to weigh their own risk. (read more)

The leftists are desperately hoping their Justin can protect them from having to experience a life without fear of a virus.  It is a very unsettling time for a Canadian Liberal, as the larger Canadian public are so easily willing to let go of the pandemic fear.  Greater compassion is demanded.

The Liberal members of Canadian politics are demanding more time, more time to prepare their delicate sensibilities, as the government will have less rules and regulations for them to follow.  Returning to life as an arbitrary endeavor, fraught with all its natural risks, is like forcing Canadian Liberals to fry bacon naked in the kitchen.

Fear is at the core of modern liberalism, and love/trust is at the core of conservatism. Modern liberalism, most commonly evolved to leftism, is about control. Conservatism is about self-empowerment.

Control is a reaction to fear. Think in terms or politics and society – the fear behind liberalism is the fear that someone might withhold things (opportunities, money, whatever) from me, fear that if you live your life in a way I dislike that it might affect my life, fear that if you get that job, there will be nothing left for me. Fear that if you make tons of money, it’s means there’s less money out there for me. So people who believe in leftist ideologies seek control as a means of trying to create guarantees and safeguards against those circumstances they fear.

Modern “liberals”, leftists, try to control the world and people to enable their comfort and happiness. Which, as we know, is an endless quest. Trying to control others does nothing in the way of making oneself happy. By extension, voting in this mindset, so that government can try to control others, will also – shocking – not lead to a happier, more comfortable life.

The leftist believes the system must be perfected in order to enable success. Therefore, disappointment is channeled as anger and blame at the system. Voids are left to be filled by faith in the govt, which they surely then want to come in and “fix” things.

And therein lies the roots of love and fear respectively. For the conservative, when life presents great struggles, he knows he has the power to surmount them. Happiness stems from internal strength and perseverance. For the modern leftist, when life presents great struggles, the system failed, therefore they were at the mercy of a faulty system, and they believe that only when the system is fixed can their life improve. Happiness is built on systemic contingencies, which they will then seek to control or expect someone else to.

One blames himself. The other blames anyone and everyone but himself.

And there it is. There’s where the meanness comes from. The leftist ideology causes that person to cast anger at the world when things go wrong or appear “unfair.” He constantly chooses only to see the “injustices” – and that makes for a very miserable, mean, blame-casting existence.

The need for COVID is a mental disorder.

(TWEET SOURCE)

Feb 10 2022

RCMP Again Threaten Enforcement Action at Alberta, Coutts Crossing Trucker Blockade


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on February 9, 2022 | Sundance | 363 Comments

With the U.S. White House announcing their intent to get involved in the Canadian Freedom Protest, the RCMB now announces their intent to begin an enforcement action at the Alberta truck blockade in/around the border crossing between Coutts, Alberta (CA) and Sweet Grass, Montana (USA).

Last night Alberta Premier Jason Kenney gave a weak sauce speech claiming he would begin to remove COVID mandates.  However, a closer review of the proposal showed it was a head fake.  The truckers then moved back into position to close the roads and the Coutts border crossing was blocked.

It is not yet known how the Canadian federal police (RCMP) plan to remove the blockade as the big rig towing companies have previously refused to participate.

CANADA – Enforcement will begin Wednesday afternoon to reopen traffic to the Canada-U.S. border at Coutts which is being blocked by an ongoing protest, according to RCMP.

The blockade has been ongoing for more than a week, in solidarity with the trucker protests in Ottawa and other parts of the country.

Lanes have been open in each direction, however traffic was shut down once again about 8 p.m. Tuesday, soon after Premier Jason Kenney announced the province was ending the Restrictions Exemption Program and lifting mask mandates for schools and children age 12 and under.

[…] RCMP are asking protesters at the Highway 501 site to move to an area north of Milk River, off the highway to allow traffic to flow, otherwise face enforcement, said Supt. Roberta McKale.

“Really it’s going to be up to them,” she told reporters. “Up until this point it’s been us asking them and this afternoon we don’t have an option, we’re going to have to use our enforcement options to have that happen.” (read more)

Workers of North America are united in the demand for FREEDOM.

Feb 10 2022

They Did It Again, White House Jen Psaki Proactively Frames Media for Tomorrow Inflation Data


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on February 9, 2022 | Sundance | 153 Comments

Last week the White House did a weird proactive talking point seminar on Monday, preparing the media for official unemployment data which would follow four days later. {Go Deep} Everything about the new econ talking points, added to the press briefing book, indicates the White House knows it’s the economic policy that is the most politically damaging for them.

Today, the same proactive approach to head off negative economic consequences is evident, this time regarding inflation.  Tomorrow, the official Bureau of Labor and Statistics inflation numbers will be released for January and for 2021 in total.  The White House has been again tipped-off.

Watch how Jen Psaki attempts to proactively establish the talking point about the month-over-month rate of inflation change as the important element to focus on.  If you’ve read the previous post, you can clearly see what they are doing now.  Also, this is entirely scripted and coordinated with the press pool to ask a very specific question.  WATCH, prompted:

You only need to watch for a minute or two to see the strings on the marionettes.

It’s also worth noting, the people behind Joe Biden were meeting with energy executives today to work out the terms and conditions for their bribes from the White House to trigger the Green New Deal.  The energy company bribe amounts, known as direct subsidies in the talking points, were being negotiated as Psaki was talking to the press pool.

Feb 10 2022

Fed Hopes Inflation Moderates As Interest Rate Hikes Are Triggered


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on February 9, 2022 | Sundance | 152 Comments

Whenever we discuss inflation, it is absolutely critical for people to understand that inflation itself is the measure of the percentage increase in a price over a period of time.

It is entirely possible, I would say absolutely guaranteed, that prices will increase even more this year as inflation begins to drop. This will be the economic story on the backside of the inflation hurricane as the Fed starts to increase interest rates. Example:

♦ 2021: A loaf of bread increases in price 50¢ from $1.00 to $1.50, a rate of inflation of 50%.

♦ 2022: That same loaf of bread increases in price by 60¢, from $1.50 to $2.10, a rate of inflation at 40%.

The price of the bread increased more in 2022 than 2021, but the rate of inflation dropped from 50% to 40%.

The White House and Federal Reserve state, correctly, that inflation is likely to drop.  However, the actual prices of the products are rising at a greater rate. This is the critical component of the inflation story that will remain with us throughout 2022.  Inflation is not measuring the increase in the price of an item.  Inflation is measuring the rate of the price increase as a percentage.

This is the context for the Federal Reserve to state today, they “hope” inflation slows down, because they are going to raise interest rates regardless of what is happening with the price of goods and services:

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – The U.S. economy may be nearing a turn lower in inflation, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said on Wednesday, though he added he is still leaning towards a slightly faster pace of interest rate increases this year.

“I am very hopeful we are going to start to see that decline … There is some evidence we are on the cusp of that,” Bostic said in an interview with CNBC.

While Bostic still expects three quarter-percentage-point rate increases will be appropriate this year, he said: “I am leaning a little towards four. We are going to have to see how the economy responds as we take our first steps,” with an initial rate increase expected in March. (read more)

Energy prices rose approximately 40% throughout 2021, with gasoline increasing around 60%.   It is likely that prices will increase even higher in 2022 than they did in 2021; however, the rate of price increase will be lower (the inflationary measure).  This is why the backside of the inflation hurricane is actually stronger and more damaging to the middle class than the original front side impact.

Highly consumable goods like food, fuel and energy, will have even higher price jumps in 2022, but the rate of inflation may drop.

Last point.  Remember, the Biden economic agenda (and the energy, trade, monetary, fiscal policy behind it) is what the Obama economic team always wanted to do; however, they were limited in execution, because they did not want Obama to suffer the political damage.  With the disposable Joe Biden in office, their previous restraints are removed.

The economic team behind all of these policies do not know the scale of what damage will happen, but they do know the damage will be severe.  The economic outcome is not as important to them as the underlying ideology they are chasing.

They justify the damage, amid themselves internally, by saying the ends (Green New Deal) justify the means (economic collapse), and that approach inherently makes Build Back Better a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Feb 10 2022

Viral Video, Freedom Will Win if Canadians Stand Together


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on February 9, 2022 | Sundance | 437 Comments

The message here is right over the target. {Direct Rumble Link} Make it viral.

Every institution and agency are aligned against freedom, but they are the few – we are THE MANY.

They may control and twist the legacy and corporate media, but we are no longer reliant upon them to see what is happening, and what is happening is beautiful.   WATCH:

“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things.

The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse.

The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.”

~ John Stuart Mill