Posted originally on Nov 22, 2024 by Martin Armstrong
The skies are darkening over Europe’s economy and politics, all thanks to their determination to wage war against Russia. The euro is plummeting to its lowest level in two years. Will the Euro stop at 85 cents in the year ahead? European leaders know that the Eurozone is crumbling, and instead of reform, they have chosen war and to use that as the excuse for the collapse of the Euro in the years ahead. In Putin’s address to the Russian people, he stated that
“Russian military facilities in the Bryansk and Kursk regions were attacked by Western missiles.” According to him, “the conflict in Ukraine has taken on global elements.”
The European press is either stupid or is cheering war on as aversion to the collapse of Europe from the nonsense of climate change & Wokeness that infected Europe as well. But the number one rule is never to admit a mistake – point the finger at someone else.
This is the very propaganda that destroys Europe. Neither Putin nor the Russian people would support taking Europe. But keep this onslaught of attacking Russia, and then they will annihilate Europe, which our computer warns they will lose for a third time. I can confirm that even war game simulations suggest that Britain will lose all its aircraft carriers. Any press that refers to Putin as a “dictator” instantly knows this is being fed by the NEOCON propaganda machine. They will not tell the truth that Putin was elected and the people supported him BECAUSE the alternative is a Russian NEOCON and a return to the USSR. UrsulavonderLeyen is the dictator, for she did not stand for election and was part of the World Economic Forum vo in only by political heads of state that are all preaching the same agenda – WAR – WAR -WAR.
Europeans discovered what the Chinese did years ago: They used Bitcoin as an asset class to move money. While the propaganda about Bitcoin that it would replace the dollar as the reserve currency is absurd, it remains an asset class like everything else. You cannot have a fixed quantity of money; it MUST be elastic because the economy has a business cycle. That is why Bretton Woods collapsed. Fixing gold at $35 did constrict the number of dollars created primarily for the NEOCONS and war. In 1960, there was a gold panic because President Kennedy said that the decline in the dollar was due to the maintenance of all the military bases around the world at American expense. The Swiss/Euro peg broke, the Pound/ERM Crisis that made Soros rich, and the 1997 Asian currency crisis when the pegs broke. NOBODY has ever been able to fix the value of any currency. Do not confuse using gold coinage as a gold standard, for its value always rose and fell, as did even the ratio between silver and gold.
Russia used this new ICBM non-nuclear weapon for the first time, and in the future, it would warn civilians to evacuate before a launch. The real curious aspect here is that there has been no reaction yet from the UK, France, or Germany. They apparently did not know what to say as they pushed Ukraine to sacrifice its entire nation and its people for a war that was not winable.
Let us not forget that the Minsk Agreement was supposed to let the Donbas vote on their own separation, as it took place with the break up of Yugoslavia according to ethnic lines. These NEOCONS do not care about our country or the people. To them, this is like a football game, and they have to destroy Russia no matter what the cost. I have spoken directly to some, and they are logical, and I cannot explain their reasoning. It just seems to be delusional if not insane.
Many of our sources throughout the former Yugoslavia states are turning toward Russia than the West. Scandals, corruption, and constant broken promises are part of the shift toward the nationalistic view we see also rising in Germany. Most of the surrounding nations around Ukraine see them as an unethical group of people who are untrustworthy and the most corrupt in the world. they are baffled that the West is supporting Ukraine, and that is also contributing to the shift toward Russia.
Markets also raised their expectations of European Central Bank rate cuts and see a more than 50% chance of a larger-than-usual 50 bp rate cut in December. The euro has weakened against the dollar as Europe and NATO vow to keep the war going after Donald Trump’s victory. Recent escalations in fighting between Russia and Ukraine and political uncertainty in Germany, the Eurozone’s biggest economy, have further weighed on the Euro in recent weeks. Our model still shows that the Eurozone will break apart as all centralized dictatorial forms of government inevitably fall. The same fate will shared by the USA.
Posted originally on Nov 21, 2024 by Martin Armstrong
Donald Trump believes tariffs could offset taxes, but tariffs will be a tax in itself to the American consumer. Trump is proposing to raise taxes from 60% to 100% on Chinese goods. He would also like to implement a universal tariff from 10% to 20% on all international imports. Ultimately, the consumer will end up paying the bill to offset these increase.
“If we get tariffs, we will pass those tariff costs back to the consumer,” AutoZone CEO Philip Daniele said, adding that the company will protect itself by raising prices before the tariffs take effect. Countless companies have come out to say that they will absolutely pass on the added cost to their consumers. It is not as simple as moving manufacturing out of China or to America.
Lowe’s expressed similar concerns. “Roughly 40% of our cost of goods sold are sourced outside of the US, and that includes both direct imports and national brands through our vendor partners,” said CFO Brandon Sink. “And as we look at potential impact, certainly would add product costs, but timing and details remain uncertain at this point.”
The National Retail Federation (NRF) conducted a study that revealed Trump’s proposed tariffs could cost US consumers between $46 billion and $78 billion annually, with the average household paying between $362 to $624 more on goods per year. The NRF called these proposed tariffs a “tax on all Americans,” and noted that lower-income Americans, who often purchase cheaper goods produced in China, will be disproportionately affected. The federation believes apparel costs will rise from $13.9 billion to $24 billion, footwear will rise to $10.7 billion from $6.4 billion, travel goods will increase to $3.9 billion from $2.2 billion, furniture will average $13.1 billion more compared to the current $8.5 billion, and household appliances will increase to $10.9 billion from $6.4 billion.
“A tariff is a tax paid by the U.S. importer, not a foreign country or the exporter. This tax ultimately comes out of consumers’ pockets through higher prices,” Jonathan Gold, NRF VP of Supply Chain and Customs Policy, stated.
Trump believes that these tariffs will bring manufacturing back to America and force companies to hire American. While the US desperately needs to boost its manufacturing sector, these tariffs are simply not the solution. Companies may seek to reduce their own reliance on US goods. China in particular will retaliate and they do so with precision as we have seen with their previous targets on agriculture products that the US relies on like pork and soybeans.
Imposing high tariffs can disrupt global supply chains and negatively impact international trade relationships. I disagree with the mercantilism approach that focuses on maximizing exports while minimizing the need for imports through tariffs and other barriers. Not only is US manufacturing not set up for this model at this time, but it is also absolutely counterproductive to global trade. Not to mention that China’s middle class is set to outpace America’s. They have a far larger population and America may no longer be the primary country that other nations line up to sell to.
Tariffs never promote peace. Rome lasted over 1,000 years because it had FREE TRADE. Rome was not corrupt everyone benefitted. As long as the PEOPLE are trading back and forth, they provide check and balance against government to create peace.
Posted originally on Nov 21, 2024 by Martin Armstrong
The incoming Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy is tackling a serious problem – the complex tax code. Donald Trump has also expressed a keen interest on simplifying the process and fixing our “broken tax code.”
The Internal Revenue Service was multiplied and armed with weapons under Biden-Harris. The administration desperately needed funding for its continuous spending and aid packages, and the American people were an easy target. One can hope that the incoming Trump Administration will help to dismantle the IRS that creates criminals out of everyday citizens who spend weeks if not months trying to determine how much they owe. The government doesn’t seem to know how much they need to extort from citizens, but rest assured, they will hunt you down if you under or overpay.
The code is deliberately confusing. “In 1955, there were less than 1.5 million words in the U.S. Tax Code. Today, there are more than 16 million words. Because of this complexity, Americans collectively spend 6.5 billion hours preparing and filing their taxes each year. This must be simplified,” DOGE wrote on its new X account.
DOGE has proposed creating an app for Americans to pay their taxes. That is all good and well but until the code is drastically simplified, I do not see how filing on your phone could streamline the process. Still, TurboTax shares fell 5.1% after the rumors broke as did H&R Block by 8.2%.
I sent Congress an extensive proposal on tax reform in 1996, which you mayread here.
Taxation is indeed a much broader issue than merely federal. State and local governments have been raising taxes at an unseen pace. The cost of government as measured by total revenues as a percent of the total of GDP is a key factor in determining our quality of life, and as we have seen, our quality of life has been drastically reduced as government spending rises. The people cannot possibly be expected to foot this endless bill. The Founding Fathers of the United States specifically prohibited direct taxation, such as any form of an income tax.
One of the primary things is that the tax rate should be cast in stone and it should not change for every election. No one, on a personal level, would go sign a lease on an apartment where the lease said the landlord can change your rent at any time he wants if he spent too much money for himself. . A contract is a contract and you’re not going to have stability until you have something set in stone. A lot of countries have attracted capital by doing precisely this. If you go there and set up a plant, they guarantee not to increase taxes for 20, 30, 40 years. If you’re going to do a business plan then you need to know what your costs are. It can’t be maybe $1 mill this year and next year it’s 25% more. Business plans don’t work like that. The politicians need to just cast it in stone and that’s it; take it off the table. Stop the rhetoric. They’re not going to create jobs without that. Why should anyone build a plant in the U.S. if the government can change everything in 6 months? That’s not the way to build an economy.
Every government that has adopted a form of direct taxation has always, and without exception, evolved with intrusive regulation that has ultimately led to a loss of freedom and liberty. To pursue liberty, the very basic requirement demands that economic freedom is paramount.
Posted originally on Nov 20, 2024 by Martin Armstrong
Not one European leader represents their country or their population. They are all chanting war. The Finnish minister warns NATO may invoke Article 5 over cable sabotage of the telecommunications cable. Europe wants war, and NATO is brainwashing everyone that Putin wants to conquer Europe, so let’s conquer Russia first. NATO is the retirement home for Neocons. Fearing Trump, they are going all out to create war by December. Europeans had better move money out of Europe, for they would impose capital controls.
What NATO is doing is no different than punching you in the face first, insisting it was in self-defense because he knew you wanted to punch him first. This is NATO’s version of Self-Defense. The Neocons got Biden to let Ukraine use US weapons, and they did immediately. The Neocons are pushing every button to create war by December. This is their moment. This is what they have been dreaming of their entire lives.
Moscow signaled to the West that it was ready for a nuclear confrontation after Ukraine was permitted to attack Russian territory on the same day. Kiev takes its orders from the Neocons. Ukrainians I talk to regard Zelensky as a traitor, and they are not allowed to seek peace or decide the fate of their own country. Ukraine has been converted into the West’s version of Hezbolla, exploiting them as Iran does to Lebanon.
Zelensky appeared to waste little time after reportedly being given the go-ahead by Washington on Sunday to use U.S.-made ATACMS missiles against specific targets. Ukrainian news outlets reported early Tuesday that the missiles had been used to attack a Russian military facility in the Bryansk border region.
Putin has been there since the end of 1999. He has had plenty of time to invade Europe and has not. That is the BS of the communist days led by Khrushchev, who even the Russians overthrew for his aggressive antics that included putting missiles into Cuba.
Not a single European leader gives two shits about their people or their country. Not a single one will dare to even try to negotiate. They will be the destruction of Europe this time – as they say
Posted originally on Nov 20, 2024 by Martin Armstrong
Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnsonreemerges from the shadows whenever he hears word that a war may be winding down. He played an instrumental role in persuading Zelensky not to negotiate a peace treaty with Russia, and now he is proposing immediate NATO membership for Ukraine, which is the official onset of World War III.
A chip off the old block, Boris takes after his father, Stanley Johnson, who is from the same club as Bill Gates’ father and a eugenicist. Stanley worked for the Rockefeller Foundation in New York. Johnson and Rockefeller have the same population reduction goals as Gates. They somehow justify the need for a reduction of 70 million people from the population in Britain to 10 million to enhance economic growth. Stanley was also a proponent of climate change before it really gained traction in the mainstream community.
Back on June 3, 2020, I announced that I would not support Boris Johnson and that I saw him as a threat to Britain. I had my reasons behind the curtain, which I was unprepared to express fully. However, as they say, the apple does not fall far from the tree. Here, we have Boris following his father’s depopulation ideas, as is the case with Bill Gates following his father. Quite honestly, I do not understand that.
Johnson is the man who made that emergency trip to Ukraine when Zelensky was considering a peace deal with Russia, urging him to continue the endless war. All the neocons are in a mad rush to arm and fund Ukraine before Trump returns in January. Now, Johnson wants to give $500 billion in a “loan” and force NATO to enact Article V. At the same time, Zelensky is telling the press that he is willing to keep the war alive after 1,000 days of death and destruction. It’s past the point that Zelensky could even stop the war if tried. He sold out Ukraine and it is too late.
And here we have Boris resurfacing from the swamp once again to urge NATO to permit Ukraine to join. “That means we must have the courage and logic to give the Ukrainians the security guarantee that they need and announce a date in the near future by which Ukraine will join NATO,” Johnson said, also adding that Ukraine needs another $500 BILLION–$500 BILLION. For what reason? He believes it can come in the form of a lend-lease obligation, but how can they expect Ukraine to pay off all of its debt without conquering Russia and amassing its fortune? That is what these neocons believe is possible – a Russian takeover.
Posted originally on Nov 18, 2024 by Martin Armstrong
The elite gathered at the UN’s COP29 in Azerbaijan to discuss how to extort the people to fund their climate change agenda. Numerous nations believe that cryptocurrencies and plastics must be levied from developed nations who are deemed the highest polluting economies.
The “expert’s” assumption is that $5.2 billion could be generated by taxing cryptocurrencies due to “the high energy demand of crypto mining,” that releases those dreaded emissions. A separate report stated that a crypto tax could rake in tens of billions per year – hence why I call crypto a bureaucrat’s dream as they can easily track where funds are coming and going.
The Global Solidarity Leviestask force launched in November of last year at COP28 with the primary goal of forcing the world to implement levies to fight climate change. The task force is co-chaired by Kenya, Barbados, and France presently. The European Commission is on board, as is the United Nations, World Bank, OECD, G20, African Union, Coalition of Finance Ministers, and the International Monetary Fund. They are exploring widespread taxation on aviation, fossil fuels, plastics, cryptocurrencies, maritime shipping, and now cryptos. Concrete proposals will be launched in November 2025.
They believe that hundreds of billions in additional taxes should be redistributed to poor nations who are disproportionately affected by climate change. How will they change the naturally occurring cycle of nature? They have no idea but they know they need your money to do so.
I recently reported how the World Bank cannot account for $41 BILLION in funds designated for climate change. Oxfam had to blow the whistle after conducting a private audit. The World Bank controls 52% of the total flow of climate funding from all multilateral banks combined. This is outright fraud. That amount could not possibly go “missing” due to an oversight or miscalculation.
Similar to these proxy wars, absolutely no one knows where or how these funds are being spent. Yet, it is our responsibility to fund these initiatives when it is becoming increasingly clear that the entire climate agenda is a SCAM. They are coming for everything they perceive produces emissions. Could agriculture be next? Will we have a set allotment of breaths we may take per day? The climate scheme will continue to spread so long as governments see they are able to extort the people with no repercussions.
Posted originally on Sep 5, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
The Bank of Canada voted to cut rates by 25 bps to 4.25%, marking the third consecutive rate cut. Inflation has allegedly slowed to 2.5% as of July, and Governor Tiff Macklem said that was reason enough to drop rates to attract investment.
“If inflation continues to ease broadly in line with our July forecast, it is reasonable to expect further cuts in our policy rate,” Governor Tiff Macklem said in a prepared opening statement. Canada’s GDP grew at a faster rate than anticipated during Q2 after growing 2.1% vs the 1.8% forecast. Unemployment remains high at around 6.4%.
The bank acknowledges that these cuts will not impact the housing market. “With the share of CPI components growing above 3% now around its historical norm, there is little evidence of broad-based price pressures. But shelter price inflation is still too high. It remains the biggest contributor to overall inflation, despite some early signs of easing.”
Will these rate cuts cause any major changes in Canada’s economy? Absolutely not. In 2016 under the Liberal government, the total private debt of the Canadian public exceeded the total national GDP for the first time in history after reaching 100.7%. Canada’s national debt spiked to $1.501 billion USD in March of 2024, a $1.423.3 billion USD increase from March 2023. Gross debt was 117.2% of GDP in 2021, above pre-pandemic levels at 105.6^ in 2019. Half of Canada’s debt comes from the federal government while the other half is from provinces and local governments who have been given the green light to continue spending.
Canada is deeply indebted and now ranks the third-highest nation in terms of household debt in the world. I reported in July how household debt exceeded 100% of GDP with no signs of slowing under the Trudeau Administration that recklessly spends with no end in sight. Switzerland and Australia are the only nations exceeding Canada’s debt levels. Government debt has SOARED in recent years, now exceeding C$1,139.98. This figure was only C$721.36 billion in 2020 before Trudeau used the pandemic as an excuse to bulk up social programs.
The population of Canada has exploded to the highest level in history thanks to open border policies. Canada, like all the other Build Back Better nations, has the funds to support every foreign interest and war while placing their citizens last. Rate cuts can do absolutely nothing when the government is borrowing against future generations.
Posted originally on May 22, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
There is something really wrong at the International Criminal Court. It has been taken over by the Neocons and is violating international law and its own jurisdiction. I had dinner with the ICC, and they were appalled at what was done to me. They expressed how they “wished” they could have charged the judges and prosecutors as well as politicians involved and viewed me as a whistleblower against the bankers and Neocons. I had that dinner, I believe, back in 2012. They said they LACKED THE JURISDICTION to bring charges against NON-MEMBERS.
Here is a list of their members. The United States refused to sign because it did not want it to be charged in a court it did not control. Look closely; you will see that NEITHER Russia nor Israel are members of the ICC. They have NO jurisdiction whatsoever with regard to crimes of aggression, and for that, both states must be members. That is why the prosecution of Putin was clearly a fraud and obviously orchestrated by the Neocons. The charge against Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova was really a stretch, alleging he was responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and the unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute). This was to take children out of the war zone, and they turned that into a war crime of aggression that did not require membership. This was really politically motivated, showing the ICC is a joke. When none of the nations tied to the crimes are ICC Treaty signatories, then the task of contracting the ICC to investigate falls to the United Nations Security Council.
Now, the ICC is acting under political pressure again. Palestine became a special member, so here, there is jurisdiction over only one country. These arrest warrants are for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. They have also issued warrants for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, political chief Ismail Haniyah, and Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, the leader of Hamas’ armed wing, also known as Mohammed Deif. The pressure was that ICC is controlled by the West and is irrelevant. This idea that they can use JUSTICE to stop wars is really absurd. You can have a law against murder, but in the heat of passion, nobody calculates if I do this, I can be charged – the act without thinking about the consequences.
The charges, in this case, are different from non-members. They would face a sentence of up to 30 years in prison and possibly life. Being a member state, they would be under a legal obligation to arrest any of those charged if they traveled to any of those 124 countries, which means Europe. That obligation to arrest them demonstrates how internationally the ICC actually threatens world war by preventing any diplomatic conferences. For example, Putin canceled his plans to attend the BRICS summit in South Africa in the apparent light of Pretoria’s obligation to arrest him.
The ICC’s charges here should not be confused with another similar case pending against the state of Israel, namely the charge of genocide leveled against it by several nations. Among others, South Africa has spearheaded a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) based on the high number of casualties in Gaza.
Since Palestine is a member, they should immediately arrest Hamas leaders Sinwar and Deif, who are in Gaza, but Haniyah resides in Qatar, which is a non-member. Will Palestine comply? Israel is not a member and does not have to comply. If the ICC charged Macron in France, is the country then obligated to arrest its own president contrary to its own laws? This introduces the paradox of the ICC questioning if it is even valid under international law. It acts as the supreme authority as if it were a one-world government, which has always been the aspiration and dream of the United Nations.
Some argue that this prosecutor had no choice because Palestine is a member of the ICC and the criticism has been that they are the puppet of the West after the Putin nonsense. So he has charged Netanyahu to politically vindicate the ICC. However, what he has unleashed is breaking the European ties and support for Israel. ICC arrest warrants against Israeli officials he can cleverly use to interfere in the entire backing for Israel. Israel’s European allies could be forced to terminate their relationship with Israel or risk being indicted in the ICC for aiding criminals.
If Palestine now refuses to turn off Hamas leaders in Gaza, then they too would be in a conspiracy, and Europeans who support Palestine could be forced to cut all ties. This illustrates that this idea of the ICC was clearly never well thought out, that they would never prevent war with justice but could promote war with arrest warrants that prevented diplomatic negotiations. For example, Putin can no longer even attend G20 meetings. When you cut off all diplomatic communications, then the ONLY alternative is war. The ICC should be terminated. Like NATO, which exists ONLY for war, the ICC dangerously breaks down the possibility of peace with its political interference in international relations.
For political propaganda purposes, the European countries supported the ICC arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for purported transporting children, not atrocities in Ukraine. I have videos captured by Ukrainians showing the crucifying of Russian soldiers and setting them on fire. Accounts from French volunteer soldiers who left Ukraine witnessed Ukrainians shooting the heads of Russian prisoners of war for fun. The ICC has refused to charge anyone on the Ukrainian side for war crimes. They never charged the British or Americans for war crimes in Iraq.
Karim Khan is the Chief Prosecutor at the ICC since 2021. He is a British lawyer whose father was born in Mardan, Pakistan. Issuing an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel when Israel is not a member is outrageous on the pretense that Palestine is a member. But he got away with it and issued the political arrest for Putin, ensuring there could be no diplomatic meetings, and everyone cheered. If Putin flew to America for a White House meeting and flew over France, do they have the right to send up jets to intercept Putin’s flight and shoot it down if they refuse to land?
This is what I have warned about precedent. He got away with Putin and will obviously abuse his power against non-members, and the ramifications can be dramatic from a political perspective; sure, Israel will not cooperate, and neither will the United States. Will Palestine really arrest and hand over Hamas’s leadership? But what will the members in Europe do now? If they send any support to Israel or Palestine, if they do not comply, they can be charged under the conspiracy theories. The ICC can easily hurl the world into international war over their pretend authority that nobody ever thought through the true consequences of this one-world government approach.
A new film, War and Justice, is about the ICC. It also highlights the jurisdictional issues.
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The ICC has abused its power and should now be disbanded.
Enough is enough!
About the Film:
The International Criminal Court (ICC) seeks arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, for war and crimes against humanity.
The award-winning documentary WAR AND JUSTICE by directors Marcus Vetter and Michele Gentile about the ICC in The Hague couldn’t be more spot on. It will have its German theatrical release on June 6, 2024. The film will be shown in the presence of Luis Moreno Ocampo, the first Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, and Herta Däubler Gmelin (former German Minister of Justice), followed by a live Q&A in Tübingen. Due to the events in Israel/Palestine, the directors continued filming after the world premiere at the Munich Film Festival and edited an the final version that sheds light on the role of the ICC in the current Gaza war.
WAR AND JUSTICE is a fascinating documentary that tells the 25-year history of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its mission to end the most serious crimes against humanity. In recent years, the ICC has made a name for itself by issuing an arrest warrant against President Putin. On October 7, 2023, Hamas carries out a horrific massacre of Israeli civilians. Israel responds with the largest offensive on the Gaza Strip to date. ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan travels to the Middle East and announces that he will prosecute any kind of war crimes on both sides.
WAR AND JUSTICE focuses on Karim Khan, the current Chief Prosecutor, and Argentine lawyer Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who was appointed the ICC’s first Chief Prosecutor in 2003 and whose case against the junta in his country was the subject of the Oscar-nominated feature film “ARGENTINA: 1985“.
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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
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