Gold Vs. S&P 500: Which Has Grown More Over Five Years?

Gold is considered a unique asset due to its enduring value, historical significance, and application in various technologies like computers, spacecraft, and communications equipment.

Commonly regarded as a “safe haven asset”, gold is something investors typically buy to protect themselves during periods of global uncertainty and economic decline.

It is for this reason that gold has performed rather strongly in recent years, and especially in 2024. Persistent inflation combined with multiple wars has driven up demand for gold, helping it set a new all-time high of over $2,400 per ounce.

To put this into perspective, Visual Capitalist's Marcus Lu visualized the performance of gold alongside the S&P 500.

See the table below for performance figures as of April 12, 2024.

Over the five-year period, gold has climbed an impressive 81.65%, outpacing even the S&P 500.

Get Your Gold at Costco

Perhaps a sign of how high the demand for gold is becoming, wholesale giant Costco is reportedly selling up to $200 million worth of gold bars every month in the United States. The year prior, sales only amounted to $100 million per quarter.

Consumers aren’t the only ones buying gold, either. Central banks around the world have been accumulating gold in very large quantities, likely as a hedge against inflation.

According to the World Gold Council, these institutions bought 1,136 metric tons in 2022, marking the highest level since 1950. Figures for 2023 came in at 1,037 metric tons.

If you’re fascinated by gold, be sure to check out more Visual Capitalist content including 200 Years of Global Gold Production, by Country or Ranked: The Largest Gold Reserves by Country.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/18/2024 - 05:45

The European Commission Is Preparing To Sue Germany Over Its Gas Tariffs

Authored by Charles Kennedy via OilPrice.com,

Unnamed Reuters sources said on Wednesday that the European Commission is preparing to sue Germany over its fees for purchasing gas from German storage in contravention of the European Union’s single market rules. 

In a matter of days, the European Commission is expected to file its infringement procedure lawsuit against the German tariff, Reuters reports, citing two unnamed sources, though a spokesman for the Commission told Reuters that talks were ongoing. 

The tariff, according to an EU energy regulator who spoke with Reuters, is creating higher gas prices in some EU countries. 

Germany’s tariff on purchases of stored gas is a relatively new development that arose out of the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine when the EU banned imports of piped Russian gas, and in the wake of the shut-down of the Nord Stream pipeline, connecting Russia and Germany. 

Germany is accused of using its neighbors to fill in a fiscal gap created by the need for Germany to fill its storage with more expensive, non-Russian gas.

That fee has tripled–at a minimum–since its implementation in October 2022, according to Reuters. 

According to some members of the EU, the bloc’s single market rules do not allow for trade tariffs among its members. 

"We remain in touch with the German authorities on this matter, including at political level...we do not speculate on the possible opening of infringement procedures," a spokesperson for the Commission told Reuters, while an Economy Ministry spokesperson claimed the tariff was in the spirit of “European security” by enabling Germany to fill its storage. 

On Tuesday, the Austrian Vice President of the European Parliament, Othmar Karas, and Austrian Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler challenged Germany’s gas transit tariffs before the European Commission, alleging that the higher fees made it more difficult for some of the bloc’s eastern members to give up Russian gas. 

The end result, according to Austrian authorities, is that Austrians and other members of the bloc–mostly Eastern European–are footing the bill for the billions of cubic meters of gas Germany purchased when prices were high.

That gas must now be sold at a lower price, Euractiv reports.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/18/2024 - 05:00

Russia Restoring Oil Refining Capacity After Ukrainian Suicide Drone Strikes

With Western sanctions widely failing against Russia, as well as Ukraine's depleted air force unable to patrol its skies, Western leaders have said General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets would be game-changing in the war (these are the same leaders that said the M1 Abrams tanks would be game-changing). But with M1 Abrams busted and F-16s unlikely to hit the highly contested airspace of the Eastern European country anytime soon, desperate Kyiv made a bold effort in recent months to target Moscow's crude refineries (how the war is funded) with wave after wave of stealthy suicide drones. 

For months, Ukraine and the Western leaders (and the CIA) cheered (either publicly in NATO-friendly corporate press or behind the scenes) about bombing Russia's refineries deep within the country with suicide drones, sending crude refining capacity-idled in the country to nearly 14%.

However, the short-lived celebrations are winding down. Reuters estimates that capacity idled at refineries in Russia fell from 14% to 10% at the end of March, primarily because the refineries are being repaired quickly. 

Reuters noted several damaged Russian refinery plants that were hit by Ukrainian drone attacks have been fixed in recent weeks. Also, other refineries with planned maintenance have come back online. 

That includes the Rosneft-owned Ryazan plant, which put back the CDU-4 and main CDU-6 primary oil refining units into operation, as well as Kuibyshev refinery repairing CDU-4 and Syzran's CDU-5 and previously idled for maintenance CDU-6.-Reuters

According to Reuters estimates, Russian oil refining capacity idled by drones plunged to 90,500 metric tons per day (660,000 barrels per day) from around 123,800 tons per day (907,000 bpd) previously. 

The last major Ukrainian drone attack on a large Russian refinery facility occurred on April 2 at the Taneco refinery in Nizhnekamsk, Russia, the third-largest refinery in the country. 

Reuters pointed out that Russia's total primary oil refining capacity was shut down due to outages, and maintenance was around 4.4 million tons in April, up from 4.1 million tons in March. 

Since April 2, there have been no new reports of successful drone attacks on large Russian refineries. 

We wonder why? Well, it's pretty easy to figure this one out. 

Last week, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Ukraine that drone and missile attacks should not be focused on energy infrastructure but instead on military targets because of the risk of sending Brent crude prices over $100 per barrel. 

And recall this note from last month, ""Terrified" Joe Biden Demands Ukraine Halt Strikes On Russian Refiners As It Is Sending Oil Prices Surging."

Ukraine only attacking Russian refineries with drones instead of sinking Russian tankers as that would send oil soaring and would cripple Biden re-election odds.

Once Trump wins, Ukraine will go scorched earth on Russian oil infra/tankers.

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 17, 2024

The main goal of the refinery drone attacks by Ukraine is to crush Moscow's funding of the war through crude product (such as diesel) exports. The quick repair work and resilience of the Russian economy from repeated Ukranian attacks and Western sanctions shows how elites in Washington and Brussels are failing in a world dangerously spiraling into a multi-polar state. 

If Biden's foreign policy is basically to keep Brent prices sub $100/bbl before the presidential elections in November. Well, they're going to have a whole lot of trouble if Israel uses Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth jets to bomb critical oil/gas infrastructure in Iran. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/18/2024 - 04:15

Desperation Behind European Politicians' Latest Russiagate Hoax

Authored by Peter Sourek, Cecile Jilkova, and Michael Shellenberg via Public Substack,

The success of right-wing German political party AfD led European politicians to abuse their powers, perhaps illegally...

European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová (left) Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Petr Fiala (center); President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen (right)

European politicians claimed late last month that Russia bribed European politicians to spread disinformation and interfere in the upcoming June elections. “Russian influence scandal rocks EU,” screamed a March 30 Politico headline.

Russia “is using dodgy outlets pretending to be media [and] using money to buy covert influence,” claimed European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová.

The BBC agreed: “Russian network that 'paid European politicians' busted, authorities claim.”

Heads of state hyped the alleged scandal.

“We uncovered a pro-Russian network,” claimed Petr Fiala, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, “that was developing an operation to spread Russian influence and undermine security across Europe.”

Poland's intelligence agency said it had conducted searches in the Warsaw and Tychy regions and seized €48,500 (£41,500) and $36,000 (£28,500).

However, following an investigation by Public, the head of the Czech Intelligence Agency (BIS), Michal Koudelka on Monday admitted that his agency has no information about any bribery scheme.

"I cannot confirm anything,” he said.

It’s true that Russia's media influence in Europe intensified considerably during the Covid-19 pandemic. At that time, a number of marginalized voices found space on the German broadcasts of the Kremlin's propaganda television, Russia Today, which the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, promptly shut down in 2022.  

But von der Leyen has conceded that there is no proof of a Russian bribery network. 

“They have carried [Putin’s] propaganda into our societies,” she said. “Whether they have taken bribes for it or not.”

Public asked von der Leyen what evidence she has for her allegations. What was the misconduct or illegal activity if there were no bribes?

...

After two weeks of hysteria, the German media are now backing away from the claim that right-wing nationalist politicians with the Alternative for Democracy (AfD) party in Germany took money from the Russians.

The mainstream German media are now claiming, like von der Leyen, that it doesn't matter if the politicians took any Russian money since they do what the Russians want.

...

All of this raises questions about the motivations behind Europe’s latest Russiagate disinformation campaign.

Why are European leaders so desperate to smear their political enemies as Russian puppets that they were willing to potentially break the law by weaponizing intelligence agencies and interfering in elections?

...

The European Russiagate hoax is but a two-week window of cheap spy tales per country. Desperate incumbents try to make the most of this one-in-campaign opportunity.

The Belgian Prime Minister is right (tongue in cheek): We must be vigilant! It is important that truly independent media do not let politicians abuse their power and run this bleak hoax any higher.

Public subscribers can read the full details of this shocking story here...

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/18/2024 - 03:30

UN Security Council To Hold Contentious Vote On Palestinian Statehood

Friday will witness another Gaza-related showdown in a very divided United Nations Security Council, as council member Algeria has prepared a draft resolution for the body recognize a Palestinian state.

It would require nine votes and no vetoes on the part of the US, Britain, France, Russia or China in order to pass - which means it won't happen, given the US as a close ally of Israel is expected to surely block it. The plan ultimately seeks to bestow on Palestine full UN membership status.

Getty Images

Looking ahead to the vote, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Wednesday: "We do not see that doing a resolution in the Security Council will necessarily get us to a place where we can find ... a two-state solution moving forward."

The US position has long been that a Palestinian state must be born out direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, and not accomplished superficially within an external forum like the UN.

Israel has clearly rejected that it will allow for a Palestinian state so long as Hamas still exists, and PM Netanyahu has even linked the more secular-leaning Palestinian Authority in the West Bank to 'terrorism'. He has also rejected a prior US call to allow the PA to take over and administer the Gaza Strip. The reality is that the current Gaza war makes the prospect of achieving a Palestinian state more distant than ever.

According to some background via Reuters:

The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the 193-member UN General Assembly in 2012. But an application to become a full UN member needs to be approved by the Security Council and then at least two-thirds of the General Assembly.

The UN Security Council has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognized borders. Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, all territory captured by Israel in 1967.

The UK too has long said it will not recognize Palestine outside of a broader deal for a two-state solution that involves Israeli assent.

Spain was the most recent country to unilaterally recognize Palestine as a state, which was announced earlier this month. Those EU states to have previously done so include Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Ireland and Malta have also recently said they are on board and plan to do so.

Leaked Cables Show White House Opposes Palestinian Statehood https://t.co/tzVB9Y20f2 by @kenklippenstein, @DRBoguslaw https://t.co/tzVB9Y20f2

— The Intercept (@theintercept) April 17, 2024

The current war in Gaza and soaring civilian death toll among Palestinians as Israel continues its operation seeking to eradicate Hamas and free the hostages has given extra impetus to those officials in Europe who have wanted to see Palestinian recognition. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/18/2024 - 02:45

The Polish President Revealed That Foreign Companies Own Most Of Ukraine's Industrial Agriculture

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

The Oakland Institute published a detailed report in February 2023 titled “War and Theft: The Takeover of Ukraine’s Agricultural Land”, which exposed how foreign firms have clandestinely taken control of a significant share of Ukrainian farmland by exploiting a liberal law in collusion with local oligarchs. Their findings made waves around the world at the time but eventually receded from the public’s attention over half a year later once Western outlets like the USA Today misleadingly “fact-checked” it.

They took advantage of social media users conflating indirect ownership through stakes with direct control to discredit the institution’s report, after which it largely faded from the general discourse. Few could have expected that it would be none other than Polish President Andrzej Duda who just breathed new life into it during his interview with Lithuanian National Radio and Television. He was explaining Poland’s problem with Ukrainian agricultural imports when he dropped the following bombshell:

“I would like to draw particular attention to industrial agriculture, which is not really run by Ukrainians, it is run by big companies from Western Europe, from the USA. If we look today at the owners of most of the land, they are not Ukrainian companies. This is a paradoxical situation, and no wonder that farmers are defending themselves, because they have invested in their farms in Poland […] and cheap agricultural produce coming from Ukraine is dramatically destructive to them.”

Duda represents what’s widely considered to be one of the most pro-American and anti-Russian governments at any time in history so he can’t credibly be accused of “pushing Kremlin propaganda”.

He therefore wouldn’t have confirmed the dramatic claim of majority-foreign ownership of Ukraine’s industrial agriculture, albeit indirectly through stakes in national companies that exploit a liberal law in collusion with local oligarchs, if he didn’t have the facts provided to him by Polish experts to back it up.

This development should prompt a resurgence of interest in prior reports on this subject such as USAID’s about how “Private Sector on the Frontlines of Land Reform to Unlock Ukraine’s Investment Potential”. Thomas Fazi’s detailed report for UnHeard back in July 2023 about how “The capitalists are circling over Ukraine: The war is creating massive profit opportunities” is also insightful. Most relevant, however, is what Zelensky told the World Economic Forum in Davos in May 2022. In his words:

“We offer a special - historically significant - model of reconstruction. When each of the partner countries or partner cities or partner companies will have the opportunity - historical one - to take patronage over a particular region of Ukraine, city, community or industry. Britain, Denmark, the European Union and other leading international actors have already chosen a specific direction for patronage in reconstruction.”

One year later, he hosted BlackRock’s management in Kiev, during which time they discussed the creation of an investment and reconstruction fund. According to Zelensky, “Today is a historic moment because, since the very first days of independence, we have not had such huge investment cases in Ukraine. We are proud that we can initiate such a process…We will be able to offer interesting projects to invest in energy, security, agriculture, logistics, infrastructure, medicine, IT, and many other areas.”

Putting the pieces together, the Ukrainian leader made good on his May 2022 Davos proposal by offering companies “patronage” over Ukraine’s industrial agriculture, which was already in the process of unfolding prior to then but was greatly accelerated by last May’s meeting with BlackRock’s management. This took the tangible form of these indirectly foreign-controlled farms outcompeting Poland’s by far, thus leading to the Polish farmers’ protests across the country and the latest troubles in bilateral ties.

The sequence of events detailed thus far places into context mid-February’s report about the G7’s alleged plans to appoint an envoy to Ukraine, who’d obviously be tasked with implementing the Davos agenda if this comes to pass, particularly entrenching foreign control over Ukrainian farmland. It also suggests that Ukraine’s informal focus on ramping up agricultural exports to the EU isn’t just opportunistic, but partially driven by these foreign firms’ preference for speedy and reliable profits.

Ukraine had hitherto been an agricultural powerhouse in the Global South but ceded its market share to Russia on the false pretext that Moscow was blockading the Black Sea, which in turn prompted the EU to temporarily eliminate prior trade barriers for the official purpose of facilitating exports via its territory. In reality, Russia never blockaded the Black Sea, and almost all of the Ukrainian grain that entered the EU remained there instead of traveling through the bloc en route to Kiev’s traditional Global South markets.

It's much quicker for Ukraine to sell its agricultural products in the neighboring EU than to wait however long it takes to export them to Africa, not to mention more reliable as well since it’s unimaginable that these developed economies would ever have the same possible payment problems as developing ones. These self-evident calculations work against Poland’s interests, ergo how much of a struggle it’ll be for that country to defend its domestic market from this influx considering the powerful forces at play.

It's not just the Ukrainian agricultural lobby that wants tariff-free access for these products into the EU market, but also the lobbies of those foreign firms that indirectly control its industrial agriculture. The latter will likely fight tooth and nail to prevent any compromise being reached on Ukraine’s hoped-for EU membership whereby that former Soviet Republic’s agricultural sector would be excluded from any deal. Poland therefore has every reason to continue drawing global attention to these shadowy relationships.

It's only by raising maximum awareness of the fact that “most of the land” within Ukraine’s industrial agriculture sector “is run by big companies from Western Europe, from the USA” that Poland stands any chance of the aforesaid compromise entering into force. That’ll make the country some very powerful enemies who could then meddle in Polish domestic affairs out of vengeance, but Duda’s latest interview suggests that he’s prepared to face their wrath in order to protect Poland’s objective national interests.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/18/2024 - 02:00

Food Is Now An Investment – Here's Why Inflation Isn't Going Away Anytime Soon

Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

One of the more difficult aspects of working in economic analysis is the problem of rampant disinformation that you have to dig through in order to get to the truth of any particular issue.  In this regard, economics is very similar to politics.  The propaganda is endless and debunking it sometimes feels like moving a mountain with a teaspoon.

Establishment media sources lie incessantly about our financial conditions, and when they are finally cornered and forced to admit how bad things are, they then lie about the causes.  That said, I find that these lies are usually designed to do one of two things:  Over-complicate the problem so that people give up thinking about it, or, distract from the problem so that people blame a scapegoat.

As for inflation, here is the bottom line:

Central Banks And The Fiat Flood

Rising prices are caused by two main drivers.  The first is money creation, or too many dollars chasing too few goods.  Central banks around the world have been FLOODING the system with fiat currency ever since the debt crisis of 2008 and the Federal Reserve within the US is the worst violator by far.  We are talking about tens of trillions (or more) in money creation, all supposedly as a means to stall or prevent a deflationary crash.

By the time the pandemic lockdowns were initiated and the Fed dropped $8 trillion+ onto the economy through stimulus measures like covid checks and PPP loans, the total US money supply was already at destructive levels.  The covid stimulus was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back.  So, if you want to know who is directly to blame for your daily expenses rising 30% or more in the span of three years, the first set of criminals are the central bankers.

Governments and certain corporate partners are also to blame, but the central banks are the root mechanism for all inflationary movements.  It’s my belief (according to the evidence) that central banks have deliberately triggered a stagflationary crisis with the intent to forcefully replace cash based economies with a new digital and cashless global economy.  However, that’s a discussion for another article…

Shortages And Core Resources

The other primary cause of rising prices is shortages or disruptions in key resources including oil and energy.  Keep in mind that the war in Ukraine has led to the west being cut off from large portions of the resource rich Russian market.  And, the war in Gaza has led to groups in the Middle East like the Houthis denying a multitude of cargo ships and oil tankers from traversing the Red Sea.

By themselves, each one of these events seems like a small threat to the global supply chain, but when they pile up together the effects become detrimental.  For now, the biggest factor is rising energy prices because this is the key resource that allows all agriculture and manufacturing to function.  Every time oil prices rise you’re going to see prices in everything else rise.

This is the exact reason why the Biden Administration continued to dump the US Strategic Oil Reserves on the market for the past couple years.  This was their way of manipulating oil prices down in order to mitigate or hide the greater effects of inflation.  Now that they’re being pressured to refill those reserves and start buying (at a much higher price) global oil prices and US prices in particular are spiking again.

Media Disinformation And Crushing Food Costs

Food costs have risen by 30% or more depending on the product since the beginning of 2020, and even though CPI reports several months ago showed a “slowdown” in overall inflation, this does not mean prices are going to go down anytime soon.  In fact, they will only keep rising with each passing year.

CPI is a tool for measuring the AVERAGE price increases of over 80,000 products and services across a wide spectrum.  Many of these items are not necessities and so they dilute the actual inflation we are seeing in everyday expenditures.  If we were to look at an average of daily necessities like housing, energy, food, etc. then CPI would read far higher.

When the media touts a lower CPI print as a sign that the economy is improving, what they usually don’t mention is that the stat only represents how much higher prices are going to go.  A lower CPI does not mean costs on the shelf are going to go down.  Inflation is cumulative.

Meaning, that 30%+ increase in food that Americans have been dealing with – That’s not going away, it’s just not climbing as fast as it was.  And, as we’ve seen in the past couple months, inflation has the ability to return just as quickly to add even more gasoline to the fire.

Not long ago I was reading through an article from CBS that claimed they could explain why there’s been no respite in food prices lately.  In reality the entire piece was disinformation, blaming every possible scapegoat while ignoring the real causes.

Their main explanation is “Greedflation,” or the claim that companies are overcharging on food items.  In other words, blame businesses, don’t blame the Federal Reserve and don’t blame the government.  They’re “innocent” in all of this.

So far there’s no concrete evidence to support the Greedflation theory.  Every business has unique expenses, unique overhead, unique industrial costs, unique quality control and unique resource costs.  One cookie company’s bottom line will be different from another cookie company’s bottom line.  That said, there are universal costs that directly correlate to higher prices regardless of the company, and that includes energy, labor, and core commodities.

For those that track the markets it’s obvious that commodities are climbing.  The Industrial Commodity Index is far higher today than it was in 2020, along with oil and gas prices.  Every base resource that companies use to make products is increasing in value and thus it costs them more to manufacture.  Agriculture in particular is heavily affected by oil prices as well as prices in fertilizer and farming equipment, not to mention higher costs in labor.

From 2020 to 2023 the total costs paid by farmers to raise crops and care for livestock increased by more than $100 billion, or 28%, to an all-time high of $460 billion in 2023.  Funny how that number tracks very close to the 30% increase in overall food prices since 2020. 

The establishment media wants you to believe that high food prices are going to go away soon, and in order to trick you they need to convince you that the cause is something that can be “controlled” or “regulated”.

There is no indication that agricultural costs are going to stop increasing in the near future, so, that means each year food is going to cost you more than the year before. 

It might even cost you MUCH more than the year before.

In conclusion, this is why people need to start looking at food as an investment similar to the way they might look at their 401K or any retirement plan.  If you want to mitigate costs in the future in terms of food you will need to purchase foods with a long shelf life now.  If you think that inflation is a passing phase and that things will go back to the way they were before 2020 then you probably won’t take this concern seriously.  But, consider this:

Well before 2020 I was warning regularly about an impending stagflation crisis.  The food storage I bought in 2020 now costs at least 30%-50% more to buy in 2024.  Meanwhile, some of the top mainstream economists in the country were denying such a thing would ever happen.  When it did happen, they claimed it was “transitory.”  This was also proven false.  Now they claim food will drop after companies are forced through regulation to cut prices.

Whether government intervenes or the market continues to react to poor fiscal policies, it is quickly becoming a necessity to invest in food security as soon as possible.  Government enforced price controls have never actually proven effective in stopping inflation.  Once you remove all profit incentives many businesses will close up shop.  This causes the supply of goods to go down and prices then spike anyway due to shortages.

Do you want to bet your future on establishment economists being right for once, or, do you want to just store some food today in the knowledge that prices are only going exponentially higher?

*  *  *

One survival food company, Prepper All-Naturals, has proactively dropped prices to allow Americans to stock up ahead of projected hikes in beef prices. Their 25-year shelf life steaks currently come at a 25% discount with promo code “invest25”.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/18/2024 - 00:00

The Top 10 Most Cost-Effective Countries To Get A High-Priced Higher Education

A new study by Online Gaming Groups has evaluated over 30 countries to determine the most cost-effective higher education systems, focusing on the percentage of average annual income spent on educational expenses.

This analysis included countries with the highest university fees, and additional costs such as living and rent were considered to accurately assess the full financial commitment needed for education.

By examining the ratio of costs to salary, the study ranked these nations. Belgium emerged as the leader, offering the most cost-effective higher education. In contrast, Israel was noted for having the highest educational expenses on the list, despite having the fewest universities and the lowest quality of higher education.

Belgium tops the list of countries offering the most cost-effective higher education, with annual expenses, including tuition fees, averaging $28,574. The average annual salary in Belgium is $53,890, with 53.02% of this salary spent on living and university expenses. This balance between earning and learning costs underscores the country's commitment to making education accessible.

Switzerland ranks second, with average annual expenses of $51,013 and an average salary of $95,490, dedicating 53.42% of salary to education and living costs. Despite having the highest living costs in the ranking, Switzerland's substantial average salary helps mitigate these expenses, making its education system remarkably cost-effective.

In third place, South Korea presents a contrast with more affordable living conditions and a lower average salary of $36,190. Here, 61.01% of the salary goes towards education and living expenses, with the country having the highest education costs among the top three.

The Netherlands, fourth on the list, has annual expenses of $37,697 against an average salary of $60,230, spending 62.59% of it on education and living costs. The country ensures broad accessibility to higher education with relatively moderate educational costs.

France is fifth, balancing university and living costs against an average yearly salary of $45,290. With 63.50% of the salary allocated to these costs, France maintains a balance between accessible education and high educational quality.

Ireland follows as the sixth most cost-effective country for higher education, with average expenses of $55,129 and a salary of $79,730, dedicating 69.14% of it to education and living. Despite not having the highest costs, the cumulative annual expenses are considerable.

Japan ranks seventh, where 70.14% of the average annual salary of $42,440 is spent on higher education, indicating a premium level of education, as evidenced by the high number of universities and education costs.

Italy, eighth, spends 70.51% of an average salary of $38,200 on education, reflecting the country's rich educational heritage and the high quality of its education system, ranked 14th worldwide.

Australia is ninth, requiring families and students to invest significantly in education, with 72.97% of the $60,840 average salary going toward educational and living expenses, indicative of the country's high standards of living and educational quality.

Lastly, Israel, despite having the highest education costs on the list and ranking lowest in the number of universities and education quality, spends 78.97% of the average salary of $55,140 on education, rounding off the list of the top ten countries with cost-effective higher education.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/17/2024 - 23:20

The Teachers' Unions Are More Political than Ever

Authored by Larry Sand via American Greatness,

In the past, teachers’ unions concentrated on fighting to keep all teachers employed—competent or otherwise—laying off teachers by seniority when necessary and soaking taxpayers every chance they could. While those activities are still part of their mission, they have, over time, increasingly delved into the political/social realm, promoting Black Lives Matter, Critical Race Theory, DEI, class warfare, gender-bending, etc. And their current level of engagement is staggering.

Americans for Fair Treatment, a national nonprofit organization that educates public employees about their rights in a unionized workplace, recently released a report detailing the National Education Association’s (NEA) financial filings from Sept. 1, 2022, through Aug. 31, 2023.

The NEA declared that its political spending totaled $50.1 million during the fiscal year, though the true number is much higher. During the most recent reporting period, the union disclosed that it spent “$126.3 million on ‘contributions, gifts, and grants,’ which is where most unions detail their charitable giving.”

However, a closer look at the union’s “contributions, gifts, and grants” shows that the NEA is directing more money towards political causes than it reports. For example, the union contributed $4.1 million to the State Engagement Fund, a progressive advocacy group, and $3.5 million to For Our Future, a Democratic super PAC. Another $500,000 was donated to the Color of Change Education Fund, which has ties to progressive billionaire George Soros.

The disclosure also reveals that the union spent $10 million more on politics and lobbying than it did representing its members. While NEA’s representational spending increased by about $2 million compared to the previous reporting period, spending on politics and lobbying increased by $8.5 million.

It’s worth noting that as a 501(c)(5), the NEA and, in fact, all unions have a special tax-exempt status with the IRS, which is accorded to “Labor, Agricultural, and Horticultural Organizations.”

Local teachers’ unions are also involved in political spending. In Chicago, where just 15% of Chicago’s 8th-grade students are proficient in math and 21% are proficient in reading, the Chicago Teachers Union is focused on other things. As the Illinois Policy Institute documents, the union spent nearly three times more on politics in 2023 than the year before, and just 17% of its spending was on representing teachers.

A 142-page leaked document contains hundreds of Chicago Teachers Union contract demands, including 100% abortion coverage to pay for surrogates and housing students in old schools.

The CTU is also demanding a 100% electric bus fleet and fuel-efficient drivers’ education vehicles, installation of solar panels and other facility upgrades, compensation, and medical benefits for absences related to “verbal assault,” etc.

In preparing for CTU’s collective bargaining talks with the city, the union’s president, Stacy Davis Gates, asserted the new contract would cost taxpayers $50 billion.

Importantly, the teachers’ unions’ political involvement does not stop with spending. They now routinely make policy statements and demands, most notably on the recent strife in the Middle East.

In November, the United Educators of San Francisco contended that Israel’s military campaign violated the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights but made no mention of the brutal Oct. 7 attacks or the captivity of over 200 hostages.

In December, a pro-Palestinian “teach-in” was organized by the Oakland Education Association, and members developed special lesson plans in defiance of the local school board. The same month, Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, demanded a permanent truce in the Middle East on Twitter—a position that was later reaffirmed by the organization’s board of directors.

In late January, the American Federation of Teachers officially called for a cessation of hostilities.

Additionally, Heritage Foundation scholar Jay Greene reports that a measure adopted by the NEA-affiliated Massachusetts Teachers Association board in December declared, “The MTA president and vice president will urge the president of the NEA to pressure President Biden to stop funding and sending weapons in support of the Netanyahu government’s genocidal war on the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

Greene also notes that the executive committee of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers passed a resolution condemning “the system of Israeli occupation and apartheid.” However, backlash from teachers and the community led the union to issue an apology.

What can be done about the onslaught of union political activity?

The big-picture solution is for teachers’ unions to be banned. Period.

“All government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management.”

Progressive icon Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued the above caveat about government unions. Additionally, George Meany, president of the AFL-CIO for 24 years, once stated, “It is impossible to bargain collectively with the government.”

Both men understood that the very nature of government makes it wrong for its leaders to negotiate with any union. When government unions bargain, they often sit across the table from people they helped put in office with generous campaign contributions. And when these unions go on strike, they walk out on the taxpayer.

However, getting rid of these established unions is highly unlikely, primarily because political spending by government unions inevitably favors union-friendly candidates.

Prohibiting collective bargaining would reduce union power, but only five states currently prohibit that activity for public employees: Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

Ultimately, teachers hold the key. If they stopped paying dues, the unions would cease to exist. Legally, they can now do so courtesy of the Supreme Court’s 2018 Janus decision, which asserted that no teacher or any public employee has to pay a penny to a union as a condition of employment.

The good news is that since the SCOTUS ruling, 20% of workers in non-right-to-work states have dropped out of their unions, according to a report from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. The bad news is that 70% of teachers nationwide still willingly pay union dues.

As a teacher, if your politics are on the right, centrist, or maybe you are apolitical, do you really want hundreds of your dues dollars going to the leftist causes that the state and national unions regularly support?

It is with no sense of irony that NEA boss Becky Pringle asserts that politics’ “creeping influence” in classrooms threatens education. “All of the politicians and pundits who are trying to politicize our school demonize teachers, which is new, who are not focused on what our kids need or what our parents say they want for their kids.”

Pringle has it backward. Clearly, the number one educational “influence creeps” are the teachers’ unions.

*  *  *

Larry Sand, a retired 28-year classroom teacher, is the president of the non-profit California Teachers Empowerment Network – a non-partisan, non-political group dedicated to providing teachers and the general public with reliable and balanced information about professional affiliations and positions on educational issues. The views presented here are strictly his own.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/17/2024 - 23:00

Forget Cocoa, Coffee. There's A "Squeeze Risk" Building In The Tin Market

Tin prices on the London Metal Exchange have surged 27% this year, landing on the radars of some institutional desks. Other commodities closely monitored by hedge funds include cocoa, coffee, Brent crude, copper, and gold.

Bloomberg notes that LME data for the tin market shows the aggregate net-long position held by financial investors surged to the highest level ever, with data going back to 2018. 

These bullish bets have pushed tin prices well into the $32,000 handle in recent trading sessions. 

Bloomberg notes that the "big bull" positioning by institutional investors comes as major supply disruptions hit top producers across Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Also, the metal, a critical component of modern technology and used primarily as solder to connect electrical components and semiconductor chips, is the latest AI trade investors have been piling into. 

"Every data byte and every electron travels through hundreds of solder joints that connect it all together," Jeremy Pearce, head of market intelligence and communications at the International Tin Association, said in an email interview with the media outlet. He pointed out that tin's trade thesis is that demand will rise in tandem with AI computing demand at data centers. Recall our note, "The Next AI Trade." 

Like Nickel and other commodities, tin is prone to mega short squeezes. Traders discovered this in 2022 after a once-in-a-generation squeeze broke the nickel trading on LME. 

"Some market participants feel there could be a risk of a squeeze," Ding Wenqiang, senior analyst at one of China's largest metal researchers, Mysteel.com, told Bloomberg. He added, "They are paying close attention to the movements of the big bull in the May contract."

Tightening supplies come as tin inventories plunged 47% so far this year to 4,045 tons. The metal's spot price trades at a premium versus the three-month futures contract, producing a structure known as backwardation. 

Nickel prices are rising as commodity prices have likely based and entered a 'weak bull' market, according to new research from HSBC Bank.

Rising commodity prices are more bad news for Fed chair Powell's fight against the inflation monster.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/17/2024 - 22:40

It's Not Rate Hikes That Are "Sparking An Economic Boom", It's The Fiscal Stimulus

By Michael Every of Rabobank

The Polybius Crisis

Take a step back (in time), and see that our neoliberal, debt-addled, was-lower-for-longer global system is not just in a Polycrisis but a Polybius Crisis - referring to the ancient Greek historian.

Polybius

Methodology: Polybius was first to argue ‘consider your source’: today, media and markets still spout and swallow propaganda. He argues we can’t look at history in just one area, as what happens everywhere effects what is going on everywhere else: but modern markets have monomanias for one asset class, geography, and ideology: markets-first neoliberalism.

Yet while 2024 opened with talk of 7 Fed cuts, then 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2, it just saw calls that US rate cuts are needed to lower inflation (because of the slump in housing supply that recent US data won’t help); chatter of 2 rate hikes; and now Bloomberg asks, ‘What if the Fed’s Hikes Are Actually Sparking an Economic Boom?’ Is neoliberalism in crisis, or is this a new copium given Fed Chair Powell just said he’s prepared to keep rates steady “as long as needed”?

Bloomberg notes that high rates = stimulus is an MMT heresy, but huge budget deficits mean high rates put more cash into people’s pockets (as they take it from others’). Yet it’s fiscal deficits, not rate hikes, that do that trick, another neoliberal shibboleth. (And an MMT one: Stephanie Kelton argues rate hikes contribute to the deficit, so cutting them would lower it… as if supply-side inflation and speculation with new liquidity aren’t connected to rates.)

Meanwhile, trade and FX are next. Perhaps-future US Treasury Secretary Lighthizer mocks the argument the US saves too little because Americans are profligate; (correctly) says low savings / large US trade deficits are caused by foreign industrial policy; forcing the trade deficit to narrow means savings would rise; and wants low corporate taxes, low regulation, subsidies, tariffs, and a “sensible” trade policy to fight mercantilism. If you don’t understand that throws global markets into a tailspin, like the economists Lighthizer mocks, you don’t understand that system.

On security: Polybius would not be surprised that today we have a failing global security architecture because US National Security Advisor Sullivan doesn’t say ‘Si vis pacem, para bellum’, but ‘Quaeso, sume prandium meum argentum!’ (“Please, take my lunch money!”) That approach was always going to lead to a Ukraine-Russia war, or similar; an Israel-Iran clash; and, in parallel and conflating with both, Taiwan-China tensions.

There is now frenetic activity to try to moderate any Israeli counterstrike on Iran to prevent a regional conflagration; Daniela Gabor tweets from the IMF/World Bank spring meeting, “geopolitical conflict is paralyzing everything… including on climate finance.”; and ECB President Lagarde says rate cuts are coming provided there are no inflation shocks(!) As I asked yesterday, ‘who leads and who is led?’ It’s no longer central banks.

On politics: Polybius argues societies start as ochlocracy (mob rule); a strong leader starts monarchy (rule by one: the ‘spare’ gets a Netflix deal); power turns this to tyranny (‘democracy’, says the Ivy League); an elite revolution sets up aristocracy (rule by the best); they also lose virtue, and we get oligarchy (‘neoliberalism’ to everyone but economists); they get overthrown by the people for democracy (rule by the majority: ‘tyranny’ says the Ivy League); but people lack virtue, so this turns to ochlocracy; and the cycle restarts. Polybius argues it’s best to combine monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy.

However, as we loom closer to the EU and US elections, and what populism may emerge, he’d probably repeat: “…enticing and corrupting the common people in every possible way… they have made the populace ready and greedy to receive bribes, the virtue of democracy is destroyed, and it is transformed into a government of violence and the strong hand. For the mob, habituated to feed at the expense of others, and to have its hopes of a livelihood in the property of its neighbours, as soon as it has got a leader sufficiently ambitious and daring… produces a reign of mere violence. Then come tumultuous assemblies, massacres, banishments, redivisions of land; until, after losing all trace of civilisation, it has once more found a master and a despot.” (Or ‘decolonisation’ as they call it at US Ivy League schools and on social media.)

On Great Power struggles: Polybius notes in less than a lifetime Rome went from city-state to the master of the world by winning the Punic Wars vs. Carthage. History can sometimes move fast:

• He speaks of the importance of fate – big things can ‘just happen’: today, we price out term premia from yield curves, and think they won’t.
• Rome defeated Carthage after humiliating defeats to Hannibal due to its strategic depth and the superiority of the Roman constitution.
• Its checks and balances prevented any one part of the state from dominating others; and “when we see good customs and good laws prevailing among certain people, we confidently assume that, in consequence of them, the men and their civil constitution will be good also, so when we see private life full of covetousness, and public policy of injustice, plainly we have reason for asserting their laws, particular customs, and general constitution to be bad.”
• In Carthage, “nothing is disgraceful that makes for gain”; in Rome, “nothing is more disgraceful than to receive bribes and to make profit by improper means… The Carthaginians obtain office by open bribery, but among the Romans the penalty for it is death.”
• “The most important difference for the better which the Roman commonwealth appears to me to display is in their religious beliefs.”
• Carthage employed foreign mercenaries; the Romans didn’t (at first). “The result is that even if the Romans have suffered a defeat at first, they renew the war with undiminished forces, which the Carthaginians cannot do. For, as the Romans are fighting for country and children, it is impossible for them to relax the fury of their struggle; but they persist with obstinate resolution until they have overcome their enemies.”
• Rome’s focus on “Carthago delenda est” (Carthage must be destroyed) proved the rallying point for their society in the end.
• Polybius argues Carthage’s constitution couldn’t overcome that “There is in every body, or polity, or business a natural stage of growth, zenith, and decay… so far as the strength and prosperity of Carthage preceded that of Rome in point of time, by so much was Carthage then past its prime, while Rome was exactly at its zenith, as far as its political constitution was concerned. In Carthage therefore the influence of the people in the policy of the state had already risen to be supreme, while at Rome the Senate was at the height of its power: and so, as in the one measures were deliberated upon by the many, in the other by the best men, the policy of the Romans in all public undertakings proved the stronger; on which account, though they met with capital disasters, by force of prudent counsels they finally conquered the Carthaginians in the war.”

A glance at Polybius underlines our Western neoliberal crisis. Consider his comments on good laws and customs in an election year where the leading US presidential candidate is in a New York courtroom charged with a crime some legal experts say is a misdemeanour, but with a stack of serious cases elsewhere, as allegations of double standards are thrown; and as Belgium tried to ban a political meeting involving former UK PM Truss and Nigel Farage for being dangerously ‘far right’: dangerously far out, maybe. Or look to Polybius’s views on corruption, as it spreads; religion, as religiosity falls; and on mercenaries, as the West’s willingness to fight for their own country evaporates, according to survey data, just as the need to fight grows more urgent.

Yet while Rome and the US both rose to power within a lifetime, the former went on for a great many more, becoming an empire that took more than 650 years to fall in the West, and another millennium in the East. Time may be on the West’s side yet. Could Western checks and balances help it find a new rallying cry like “something construenda est”? And as importantly, what is ‘Team Carthage’ doing? There are two sides to every Great Power struggle.

To summarize, however, reading biased reports not objective analysis; monomaniacal reports not broader thinking; ignoring the Classical world’s lessons on realpolitik; that how we run societies has been an issue for thousands of years, not since 2016; and that Great Power struggles are always with us, ensures you will swept away in a Polybius Crisis. Ancient wisdom isn’t perfect; but it’s arguably a lot better than relying on a contemporary world’s decided lack of wisdom.

“NEOLIBERALISM DELENDA EST”

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/17/2024 - 22:20

Alleged Illegal Immigrant Who Couldn't Speak English Caught Trying To Rob Bank Using A Translator App

You'd figure if you're in the country illegally, you'd at least have the courtesy to learn the language before trying to hold up a bank...

But basic human decency is dead these days, as was exemplified by a Venezuelan-born man named Yeixon Brito-Gonzalez, who was caught trying to rob a bank in Sandusky, Ohio last week, according to PJ Media. 

The police were able to apprehend him because he couldn't speak English and resorted to using a translation app to communicate his demands to the bank tellers. When the tellers - probably wondering if they were being "Punk'd" - did not comply, Brito-Gonzalez, evidently embarrassed, simply left the scene, the report says.

The perp failed to prepare even basic English phrases like "give me the money" or bring an accomplice who could speak the language, the report says.

Upon locating Brito-Gonzalez, the police brought along a Spanish-speaking officer to interrogate him but he tried to play dumb. The report says it was later revealed that he told the teller he needed "money in a bag".

Don't we all...

Sandusky Police Chief Jared Oliver said: 

"I have been in law enforcement for over 20 years and this is the first time I encountered something like this, someone using a translator app to try and rob a bank. First time our officers have dealt with it too."

It's has not been confirmed whether Brito-Gonzalez is in the U.S. illegally, though his lack of ID at arrest implies this might be the case.

Nevertheless, while federal authorities will likely question him, there are doubts about enforcement under the current administration, suggesting he may not face stringent consequences (as has been the running theme across the U.S. since Joe Biden has been in office). 

Sandusky is a small city nestled along the shores of Lake Erie. Known primarily for its role as a major hub for rail and water transport, Sandusky has been a vital part of Ohio's economy since its establishment in 1818. 

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/17/2024 - 22:00

Bidenomics - Inflation Persists And Jobs Decay: Gingrich

Authored by Newt Gingrich via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Last week brought bad news for the American people and President Joe Biden. Inflation persists and jobs are decaying.

President Joe Biden speaks about Bidenomics at CS Wind, in Pueblo, Colo., on Nov. 29, 2023. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

On inflation, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported prices rose 3.5 percent between March 2023 and March 2024. This bad number is far higher than the U.S. Federal Reserve’s goal of 2 percent inflation—and it follows three years of price increases.

Inflation continues to build even after the Federal Reserve pushed interest rates to their highest point in 23 years.

Much to the Fed’s dismay, its restrictive private sector policies are being more than offset by the Biden administration’s massive deficits. While the Fed is trying to take liquidity out of the system and force a slowdown to lower inflation, the Biden administration keeps pumping borrowed money into the economy.

The contradiction between the Fed and the Biden White House increases the scale of government and shrinks the private sector. Furthermore, since the federal government is the world’s largest debtor, high interest rates translate into an even bigger federal deficit.

So, the long run consequences of Bidenomics on inflation is staggering. Measured from the time President Joe Biden took office, the prices Americans are paying have skyrocketed. In just three-and-a-half years, the price of eggs is up 49.3 percent, gasoline is up 47.5 percent, peanut butter is up 40 percent, butter and margarine are up 32 percent, electricity is up 28.3 percent, air fare is up 32.7 percent, used cars are up 20.9 percent—and the list continues.

The American people feel these price increases, and they are unhappy. Most Americans rate the economy as poor, while only 38 percent consider the economy is in good shape. (Under President Donald Trump, 65 percent rated the economy as good.)

As the Wall Street Journal editorialized:

“[I]f voters are downbeat about the economy, persistent inflation is a good reason. Price increases across the Biden Presidency are unlike anything Americans have seen in recent decades. They have been a particular shock for low-income and younger workers who haven’t accumulated a wealth cushion in the stock market or housing values.

“Mr. Biden is the main architect of his inflation problem—and ours.”

Mark Halperin with his usual insight asserted: “The story of who will win this election might just be that voters demand a change from the mind-boggling high cost of almost everything. The prices are just too damn high.”

As if inflation was not a big enough problem there is a an even bigger problem growing with the employment news.

As Matt Weidinger outlined in AEI Ideas:

“[I]n the past 12 months, employment among US natives is down by 651,000. Those declines were focused on men, a group President Biden already has increasing difficulties winning over.”

“In contrast, employment among foreign-born individuals grew by 1,266,000 in the past year, driven by the rapidly growing population of foreign-born individuals ages 16 and over in the US, which rose by almost 2.6 million during the past year. “

“The gap between US native and foreign-born employment is even starker since last summer. Since its peak in July 2023, employment of US natives has fallen by over 2.0 million, while employment of the foreign-born has risen by almost 1.4 million. “

From President Biden’s standpoint, Weidinger highlights a deadly detail:

“Friday’s jobs report reveals that unemployment among Black or African American individuals rose in March for the third consecutive month, to over 1.4 million, the highest level since January 2022. That group’s unemployment rate has risen from 5.1 percent to 6.4 percent in the past year.”

The jobs numbers contain even more problems for President Biden because part-time jobs are increasing much faster than full-time jobs. More and more Americans are finding themselves working two or three jobs—often with little or no benefits—just to make ends meet in an economy of constantly rising prices.

So, Bidenomics means rising prices, fewer jobs, more part-time employment, and a desperate sense that things are just not working.

Still, the propaganda media is trying hard to paint a pretty picture. CNN, for example, called the latest monthly jobs report a “blowout.”

But everyday Americans know when they go to the grocery store, pay monthly bills, or fill up their cars that life has gotten harder under President Biden.

The trademark of Bidenomics may be the steady shrinking of products. Take a Trump era candy bar or box of cereal and place it next to the same product today. In most cases, the price increased, and the unit size has shrunk.

Simply put: Bidenomics means you get less for more.

If this economic failure persists for another seven months—and it almost certainly will—then Bidenomics may be Biden’s downfall.

From Gingrich360.com

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/17/2024 - 21:40

Why Does A Woke Maryland Private School Want To Know The Gender Identity Of Young Students, And If They Had "Oral Sex"?

The parents of an elite Baltimore County, Maryland, private school, where tuition ranges from $32,000 for lower school to as high as $38,000 for upper school per year, are beyond frustrated. Many can't voice their concerns about the woke mind virus infecting the school's administration because contracts signed during the Covid era silence them from speaking out. 

The St. Paul's School in the Greenspring area, just above imploding Baltimore City, and nestled in steeplechase horse country, continues to have a weird fetish about asking young, vulnerable students about their "gender" and "sexuality."

In January, parents went bonkers when an "identity inventory" was handed out to young boys. The questionnaire asked them if they were "Cisgender" or "Transgender" or "Gender Non-Conforming" or "Agender." 

After the school hushed up several parents, making an example out of at least one, where the parent's kids were suspended then reinstated after the parent spoke out on social media about wokenism being injected into the curriculum, the school could not help itself by going down the woke rabbit hole - once again. 

Yet more parents have contacted us about another survey given to young girls at the school. This time, it's called the "Independent School Health Check," and it was administered by the Indiana University Center For Survey Research. 

Parents are particularly livid with these two questions (and the answers): 

1. "Do you currently identify your gender as being the same or different from your sex assigned at birth?"
2. "How do you describe yourself?"

One parent told us this is a "grooming mechanism ..." 

One very concerned parent asked why their kids are data mined by the school like Google does for internet search browsers.

Another parent voiced concerns that other private schools in the area have "gone full woke," while public schools in the state are imploding. 

The lesson learned is parents need to heavily vet schools and or get involved to ensure their children are not being brainwashed by dangerous wokeism. 

As for the concerned parents, now is the best time to homeschool - or how about - starting a non-woke school that actually focuses on learning instead of toxic gender nonsense.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/17/2024 - 21:20

Tucker Carlson: Congress Is Lying To You About FISA

Authored by Tucker Carlson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)

The U.S. House is expected to vote Friday on a two-year extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, commonly known as FISA. This transcript has been edited for length and reprinted with permission from Tucker Carlson.

A few years ago, we learned conclusively that, in fact, the FBI and the federal intel agencies—the dozen or more federal intel agencies we have, for some reason—had been working secretly against Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

The Justice Department building on a foggy morning in Washington, on Dec. 9, 2019. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Trump had whispered about this, then shouted about it, was roundly denounced as a conspiracy nut, a lunatic. But in the end, he was vindicated. It was true.

These agencies spied on Trump, and they leaked some of what they learned to the media, which used it against Trump. Then these agencies concocted false stories about Trump. They tried to crush Trump completely in 2016 and then for the entire course of his presidency. Then they did the same thing in 2020 during the presidential election.

And they’re doing it still. They’re trying to put him in prison for the rest of his life. So if we take three steps back, what you have here is what we’re seeing now.

For the third time in three consecutive cycles, secretive federal agencies are trying to rig our presidential election. This is what the Democrats refer to as democracy, and they’re trying to defend it. But of course, it’s the opposite of democracy. It’s, in fact, the end of democracy in any semblance of a constitutional republic we ever had.

If you have a secret police force threatening people, spying on them, and working secretly the levers of political power, then you don’t have a democracy. You have no control over really anything as a voter.

So if there’s one thing the Republican Party, the opposition party, should be doing in response to this, right now, it’s fighting back against this descent into totalitarianism. They should be working to return freedom and democracy to the country. They should defend the Constitution. They should rein in these agencies, Washington secret police.

But you will not be surprised to learn they’ve been busy doing just the opposite. So if you’re wondering why no one is going to prison for any of this, now that we know what actually happened, well, the reason is in part a law called FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, has been around a long time.

Sen. Teddy Kennedy first proposed it, by the way, back in the mid-1970s. And that law allows the federal government to spy without a warrant on foreigners outside the borders of the country. The idea is bad people are doing bad things against us. We need to know what they are, and we can’t bother to go to a court to get a warrant every time we want to know, but it will never be used against American citizens. Well, of course, now we know it has been at scale.

That law, FISA, has made it possible. So that law is now up for reauthorization in the House of Representatives. And amazingly, the new speaker of the House, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, has spent the last couple of weeks doing all he can to get that law reauthorized.

In other words, to allow the federal agencies to continue to spy upon and punish people who disagree with them. In other words, Mike Johnson’s own party. Republicans, Trump voters. Mike Johnson has been working to do that, and that effort failed [Wednesday] because members of Congress heard from their constituents or came to their senses, saw the truth in a dream.

Whatever happened, they stopped Mike Johnson from doing that for the moment. So that’s a good thing. And you ought to be celebrating. And even if you didn’t know it was happening—and a lot of people didn’t because it got very little media coverage. But of course, this is a temporary victory. Like all bad things, like that Chlamydia you got in a hot tub in Cabo in college, it will come back.

This attempt to spy on you, an American citizen, without a warrant because you’ve been politically disobedient. Why will it come back? Because it’s what they really care about. And so, before it does come back, it’s worth just a very quick autopsy.

What just happened? What do we just see so we can learn a couple of important lessons?

Ep. 92 The FISA bill is dead but, like herpes, it’ll be back. It’s important to punish the people that pushed it. pic.twitter.com/QFRh16SsRL

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 10, 2024

The first lesson we’re going to learn is that a lot of powerful people in the Congress are liars. They lie without shame, in fact, with pride. And they do so at the behest of or because of blackmail instituted by the intel agencies. And at the head of that list would be the chairman of the House Intel Committee, Mike Turner of Ohio.

We’re going to play a clip from Mike Turner of Ohio saying exactly the opposite of what is true here. Is Mike Turner reassuring you that face, it would never, under the face of law, the U.S. government would never be allowed to spy on you without a warrant, because that’s unconstitutional. It never happened. It never will happen. And if you think otherwise, you’re probably one of those UFO-believing nutjobs who want to stop doing ayahuasca.

Here’s House Intel Committee, pawn of the intel agencies, Mike Turner of Ohio:

“They are—we are not surveilling foreigners in the United States. We’re not surveilling Americans, United States. Those individuals who say that is a warrantless search of Americans’ data are just not telling the truth. These are foreigners abroad. They’re a select group of individuals who are a national security threat. If you’re an American and you’re corresponding with ISIS, yes. If we’re, if we’re spying on ISIS, your communications are going to be captured. And you would want us to do that. All Americans would want us to try to make certain that we keep ourselves safe from these terrorist, outside terrorist groups, organizations. We are not spying on Americans. This is not a warrantless surveillance program. This is foreigners who are abroad only.”

Every word of that is a lie. And we don’t need to guess. And I hate to use that pronoun, but I specifically don’t need to guess, because that actually happened to me.

The [National Security Agency] broke into my text messages, read them, passed them to news organizations in order to discredit me, and then admitted that they did that. They spied on me and they did it under FISA because I was daring to text with a foreigner outside our borders.

So Mike Turner knows that, he’s the chairman of the intel committee. He knows he’s lying, but he’s doing it anyway because it’s that important to preserve that core power.

If you have the power to spy on someone and then to leak the information that you gather or manipulated and then leak it in order to control that person, that’s a major power. In fact, that’s a bigger power than any voter in this country has. And so he’s acting on their behalf when he lies to you. And so it shouldn’t surprise you that they want to keep that power.

They want to keep it so badly that over the last week, U.S. government officials did something that may not have precedent in Washington. They lobbied members of Congress directly. They, in the words they used in Washington, they whipped the bill.

Officials from the Department of Justice called, among others, [Rep.] Chip Roy of Texas to demand that he vote for FISA reauthorization.

Imagine that—DOJ, Department of Justice, the federal law enforcement agency, called Chip Roy and said, “You got to do this.” Think about that.

Is there any group in this country more powerful than the Department of Justice? They can put you in jail, and they’ve shown a willingness to do that. They could put kiddy porn on your computer. They’ve probably done that too. And everybody who serves in Congress knows that, and everybody’s afraid of them—along with the CIA and NSA and a bunch of other, three other agencies.

Members of Congress are afraid of them because they know the consequences of disobedience. And so for them to call directly a member of Congress would be like the FBI coming to your House on Election Day and demanding that you vote for their designated candidate. And then having access to the record of who you actually voted for, as they do in the Congress.

Can you imagine? You’d be highly motivated to vote for their candidate, wouldn’t you? Yes, you would. So they’re willing to do anything to get this enshrined in law, because it gives them legal cover to subvert democracy, which is their program, of course.

Read the full transcript at TuckerCarlson.com. Reprinted by permission from The Daily Signal, a publication of The Heritage Foundation.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/17/2024 - 21:00

Sanctuary Cities Set Migrant Sex Offenders Free Instead Of Handing Them Over To ICE

Long painted as safe havens of humanitarianism by the establishment media, sanctuary cities are slowly being exposed for the underlying hypocrisy that motivates their policies.  Red states such as Texas and Florida have been very effective in pulling back the curtain, using the busing of illegals to sanctuary cities as a tool to force Democrats to stand by their own open borders principles (or abandon them out of convenience). 

As we witnessed when Ron DeSantis flew a few dozen illegals to the elitist neighborhoods of Martha's Vineyard, wealthy leftists were quick to buy cheap take-out food for the migrants and pose with them for the news cameras.  Then, when the media was done with their propaganda segments the residents kicked those same migrants out of town within 48 hours and shipped them to the nearest military base.  One of the richest enclaves in the entire US and they refused to stand by their supposed convictions for more than two days; not one migrant was allowed to stay or work in Martha's Vineyard.

Democrats were so embarrassed by the incident that they tried to have DeSantis sued and charged with "human trafficking."  The Martha's Vineyard incident marked the beginning of a surge in migrant buses to cities like New York and Washington DC.  All it took was ten thousand to fifteen thousand illegals to overwhelm city welfare programs and subsidies.  Mayors in both metro areas have called for a declaration of emergency and federal aid, including National Guard troops.  In the meantime, the media blames conservative states for the disaster even though it is the sanctuary status of these cities that makes the crisis possible.   

The message being sent is that the political left needs media cover for their policies because their policies constantly fail (or succeed in being destructive, depending on how you look at it).  They simply never intended for the surge of illegals to land on their doorstep.  One area that is consistently damaging to the progressive image is the catch and release of numerous illegal migrant criminals who go on to harm innocent American citizens.  The growing list of incidents surrounding migrant crime is creating a PR nightmare for Democrats. 

People are starting to ask - If Democrats knowingly release dangerous migrant offenders onto the streets, are Democrats then accountable for the people those migrants go on to harm?  For example, Haitian migrant Cory Alvarez, who was arrested for raping a 15 year old girl with disabilities in Massachusetts, entered the United States using the Biden administration’s CHNV parole program.

This program allows Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans to fly into the U.S. after they’ve supposedly been vetted and have a sponsor in the U.S.  Clearly the vetting process is non-existent and the flights are designed to allow illegals to bypass any existing border protections and claim "asylum", thus making them semantically "legal."  CHNV frequently transports migrants to sanctuary cities where they can avoid scrutiny by ICE.  But the problem goes further...

A Colombian child sex offender in the US illegally was released onto the streets by California authorities rather than sent for deportation, due to sanctuary state laws.  The criminal, who’s identity has not been revealed publicly, was convicted of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and sentenced to four years in prison in December 2022, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  Fifteen months later he was freed by San Bernardino County and a request from ICE to be notified of his release was not honored.

The migrant traveled across the country to Boston, MA where he was finally apprehended by ICE agents.  Agents are frequently forced to work around sanctuary laws in Boston as well, recovering multiple migrant sex offenders daily and deporting them without the help of the city. 

In the span of only two weeks in February 2024, ICE apprehended at least 275 illegals with sex offense convictions during a nationwide operation.  Imagine how many are still living within our borders because of sanctuary status.

Sanctuary cities are run by local governments that have vowed to refuse to work with federal immigration authorities in any capacity, and some have even set out to obstruct or sabotage ICE agents in the apprehension of dangerous suspects.  But what can be learned from the trend of blue cities catching and then releasing the very worst kinds of criminals on the planet simply because they are migrants?

It's interesting that Democrats are usually so rabid about federal government control and intervention in most areas of American society, but when it comes to securing the border and vetting foreign immigrants, one of the few jobs that the feds should be doing today, leftists suddenly oppose federal presence.  The lesson here is that progressives are not willing to negotiate their open border agenda in the slightest, even to prevent child victimization.  This forces us to ask an important question:  If they aren't willing to compromise to protect the most vulnerable of American citizens, why should conservatives compromise with them on overall immigration?       

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/17/2024 - 20:40

Excused Juror Reveals Selection Process For Trump’s 'Hush-Money' Trial: 'All Have Prior Opinions'

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A juror who was excused from serving on the Manhattan trial of former President Donald Trump provided details about the questions potential jurors were asked.

Kara McGee an excused juror, speaks to the media outside Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on April 16, 2024, during the second day of the trial against former President Donald Trump for allegedly covering up hush money payments linked to extramarital affairs. (Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images)

Kara McGee told media outlets outside the courtroom on Tuesday that she was dismissed but said she believes she could be impartial, adding still that it would be “very difficult for anyone really in this country to not come to this without prior opinions.”

“We all have prior opinions on the defendant, unless you’ve been living in a cardbox,” she said, adding that she was excused because of her job in the cybersecurity sector.

Regarding her personal feelings on President Trump, the woman said, “I’m not a fan.” The main reason why, she said, is because of how she believed he handled the COVID-19 pandemic response.

But Ms. McGee provided some insight on the questions that were asked of the jurors.

“One of which is: Do you have opinions about the ability for a former sitting president to be tried in a court of law? Which I think the way people answered that showed how they felt about case,” she said. “The other one was: Do you have any opinions about legal limits for campaign finance donation amounts? Which I believe was another one that was kinda meant to gauge feelings about the particular case,” she added.

As of Wednesday morning, seven jurors have been selected with five more slots remaining. The judge has indicated that he will choose about six extra jurors to serve as backups.

This is one of the prospective jurors who assured us she could be unbiased in the Trump trial.

She was dismissed due to scheduling conflicts. But she said this, while also assuring the court that she could have remained objective and unbiased. pic.twitter.com/2D4cp2WdBc

— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) April 17, 2024

Responding to the jury-selection process, President Trump wrote on Wednesday: “I thought STRIKES were supposed to be ‘unlimited’ when we were picking our jury? I was then told we only had 10, not nearly enough when we were purposely given the 2nd Worst Venue in the Country. Don’t worry, we have the First Worst also, as the Witch Hunt continues!”

The former president is on trial for allegedly falsifying payments that were made during the 2016 campaign meant to bury potentially negative stories about him. Prosecutors say that he delivered $130,000 to former lawyer Michael Cohen to deal with a story about an alleged affair with adult actress Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, which the former president has denied.

In court papers, President Trump’s lawyers have argued that the payments were legitimate expenses. He’s pleaded not guilty to the charges, which are felonies, and said it’s an attempt to denigrate his 2024 presidential chances.

Before entering the court on Tuesday, President Trump described the judge, Juan Merchan, as a “Trump-hating” official who “shouldn’t be on this case.” Earlier, he said that the judge is “conflicted” because his daughter works as a consultant for the Democratic Party and has had high-profile clients including Vice President Kamala Harris.

“It’s a trial that is being looked upon and looked at all over the world ... they’re looking at, analyzing it. Every legal pundit, every legal scholar said this trial is a disgrace,” the former president added.

The judge has refused to recuse himself in the case. On Monday, Judge Merchan again said he wouldn’t recuse himself and added that the matter will not be considered again until an appeals court renders a decision.

Also Monday, Judge Merchan told President Trump that he has to show up in court every day it’s in session, adding that “there will be an arrest” if he doesn’t. It means that the former president will not be able to hold many campaign events, including in many key battleground states, for the next several weeks.

Former president Donald Trump visits a bodega store in upper Manhattan where a worker was assaulted by a man in 2022 and ended up killing him in an ensuing fight in New York on April 16, 2024. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The former president visited a New York City bodega where a man was stabbed to death, with the aides saying he chose the store because it has been the site of a violent attack on an employee, a case that resulted in public criticism for the Democratic district attorney, Alvin Bragg, now prosecuting him.

The visit was President Trump’s first campaign appearance since his criminal hush money trial began, making the presumptive GOP nominee the first former president in U.S. history to stand criminal trial.

“They want law and order ... every week they’re being robbed,” the former president said of businesses in New York, as he tried to compare his prosecution with what happens on New York streets. “You know where the crime is? It’s in the bodegas.”

“Papito Trump is coming. Yeah!” said one passerby ahead of the former president’s arrival. Another woman who spoke to The Associated Press said that the former president “speaks the truth,” making reference to illegal immigration. “I think that he will make a difference,” she added.

“I love this city,” the former president told reporters after emerging from the store. “We’re going to straighten New York out.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/17/2024 - 20:20

Iran Navy Escorting Iranian Commercial Ships To Red Sea To Prevent Reprisal

Iran has newly declared that its military will begin a mission to escort Iranian commercial ships to the Red Sea, protecting them from any potential hostile attacks or intercepts from the West or Israel, which comes as Washington and the European Union are readying expanded sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

"The Navy is carrying out a mission to escort Iranian commercial ships to the Red Sea and our Jamaran frigate is present in the Gulf of Aden in this view," announced Naval Commander Shahram Irani, as cited in state media.

Getty Images

Ironically Iran's allies the Houthis are currently blocking global commercial shipping in the Red Sea, having up to this point launched dozens or possibly hundreds of attacks on Western and international vessels. The Houthis have said they will allow safe passage for Chinese and Russian vessels, and of course it goes without saying that Iranian ships will be protected.

This fresh Iranian navy announcement also comes in the context of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) having seized the Portuguese-flagged container ship MSC Aries on April 13 near the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranians say it is an Israeli-linked ship. 

Iran now appears to be preparing to protect against retaliation for this ship seizure, such as the possibility of the US Navy intercepting Iranian oil tankers, also against tense backdrop of Israel mulling a direct attack on Iran following the Saturday overnight Iranian drone and missile attack on the Jewish state.

CNBC says that all of this is likely only the beginning: 

Before this weekend’s tanker seizure, the last vessel Iran hijacked was the St. Nikolas on January 1. According to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, that brought the total number of vessels being held to five, and over 90 crew members hostage. Previous to that, the Iranian-backed Houthis hijacked The Galaxy Leader on November 19.

The latest development has shipping and energy experts bracing for a long-term timeline of uncertainty.

"Iran is in this for the long haul," said Samir Madani, co-founder of Tankertrackers.com, an independent online service that tracks and reports crude oil shipments in several geographical and geopolitical points of interest.

Tehran has also recently reiterated long-running threats that it could close the vital Strait of Hormuz which its forces regularly patrol and is just off the Islamic Republic's coast. 

Iran's military has also of late been threatening to attack US military bases across the Middle East, especially in Western Iraq and Eastern Syria. Western diplomats are currently seeking to push Prime Minister Netanyahu to stand down and not escalate further, but it seems Tel Aviv is indeed planning something imminent.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/17/2024 - 20:00

2020: The Year The System Showed Its Real Face

Authored by Paul Rosenberg via FreemansPerspective.com,

(Originally published September 28, 2020.)

As we grew up, nearly all of us were inundated with stories of our glorious national fathers, our beautiful democracies, and so on.

And being young, we for the most part believed them. The system gave us our prosperity, our comfort, our medicine, our sense of importance.

Soon enough we learned that the system was also stupid and perverse, but we found a way around that contradiction by blaming one segment of the system or another: The Blues or the Greens or the Reds were the problem; it could not, must not, be that the system itself is the problem.

Then came 2020, and the system revealed its true face.

I suppose I should be fair and add that the system wasn’t always as rotten as it is now, but regardless, it wasn’t able to prevent the rot that overtook it.

2020, In A Nasty Little Nutshell

The system would like everything except the daily outrages (one for the Blues, one for the Reds) to go down the Memory Hole. So I think it’s important to recap the revelations of 2020:

The system decreed who could work and who couldn’t. This was not done democratically; it was done by edict. “Democracy” did nothing to stop it.

People were arrested for going to church or synagogue. This was the real disgrace of the police forces. Are there any orders from their paymasters they won’t enforce upon us?

Political gangs roam the streets, beating, threatening and burning. Make no mistake, these are covertly authorized political gangs, serving political ends. This vile tactic goes back to ancient Rome at least, where gangs of thugs beat opponents in the streets.

“Science” said one thing then the opposite, supporting whatever power wanted. Not every scientist, but more or less the entire grant-seeking, position-seeking complex showed themselves to be without integrity; they said and did whatever power wanted them to do.

Mass media was as a fear delivery system. They were devoted to capturing eyeballs with fear and monetizing outrage. Journalistic integrity was a joke at best.

Social media silenced thousands of dissenters, purely at the behest of political power. This was no less that the mass suppression of speech. (If you want to profit from becoming the public square, you have to act like a public square.) Free services have always been parasites, but these have shown themselves to be sycophantic to the point of fascism.

The mandatory school system, around which millions of families had arranged their lives, was ripped away in an instant.

Hate was legitimated. Political loud-mouths and televised faces have treated hate as the voice of justice, instead of the disease it is. Millions have joined in the barbarity, pretending that hate is actually duty, honor, and truth.

More could be added, but this is quite enough to make my point: The system is not what we were taught it was, and 2020 has revealed that quite well.

The System Doesn’t Deserve Us

By referring to “the system” and “us,” I’m dividing the world into two parts, and so I should be clear on what those parts are:

Us refers to producers: the people who grow food, transport it, process it, build machines, provide medical care, and so on. Everyone from the construction worker to the small business owner to the cleaning lady is a producer, and deserve great respect for what they do. We owe all the comforts of our lives, and frequently our lives altogether, to these people.

The system refers to the entire governmental complex that takes our money and couldn’t survive without it. It also includes everything that couldn’t be what they are without them: Central banks, government school systems, businesses that live on government connections, television networks, social media behemoths, and more or less everything high and mighty.

What I’d like is for the producers of the world to become clear on the fact that we don’t need them. Everything they “do for us” is done with our money, which they take from us by force and fraud.

So let’s be honest about this: The system is a violent, corrupt and control-obsessed entity. Millions of us would choose other arrangements if we could, but the system forbids them. Forcibly.

We should also understand that this has happened before. Here, to illustrate, is a passage from historian C. Delisle Burns on the real reason Rome collapsed:

Great numbers of men and women were unwilling to make make the effort required for the maintenance of the old order, not because they were not good enough to fulfill their civic duties, but because they were too good to be satisfied with a system from which so few derived benefit.

The system is not worthy of our labor and treasure. Whether or not it once was (and if so, when) no longer matters.

2020 has made this much clear. It’s time to drop our child-training and look at the world like the adults we’ve become.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/17/2024 - 19:40

"Central Bank Observers Take Note": HSBC Warns "Weak Bull" Commodity Run Has Begun

Commodity prices provide a real-time snapshot of the global economy through spot prices, which are essentially high-frequency data about the current supply and demand environment. These prices are key components in measuring inflation, which has shown signs of easing over the past year. However, a recent surge in the Bloomberg Commodity Index and signs of a reacceleration in US inflation data are troubling for Fed chair Powell. 

HSBC's Paul Bloxham and Jamie Culling asked clients in a note: "Have commodity prices past the trough?" 

Their answer, very simply, "It seems likely."

"Global commodity prices have picked up in recent weeks and could be past the trough," the analysts said, noting an emerging "weak" upward global industrial cycle has materialized. They continued: 

On the demand side, 'green shoots' in the global industrial cycle are becoming more apparent. On the supply-side, geopolitical factors are playing an increasingly disruptive role in the ongoing 'super-squeeze.' 

At a deeper level, real commodity prices have already fallen back to their long-run average – that is, the relative prices of commodities to other goods and services are now not unusually high. 

So, even if commodity prices only rise in line with other prices from here, they would be passed their trough. 

The analysts warned their new machine learning commodity cycle tool is forecasting a "Weak Bull" run, indicating, "If the trough has passed, the recent disinflationary force from falling commodity prices may be done. Central bank observers should take note." 

The timing of HSBC's "Weak Bull" commodity run comes as inflation is reaccelerating in the US. Last week's March CPI data dump showed a stronger-than-expected 3.5% YoY print, an uptick from the 3.2% YoY rise in February. 

Summing up the latest inflation report... 

The hot inflation print has pushed rate traders to price in the first 25bps of cuts between September and November. Initially, rate traders were pricing in March cuts.  

Hotter-than-expected inflation puts upward pressure on rates and borrowing costs with higher risks of derailing Biden's reelection odds as Bidenomics fails. 

The reacceleration of inflation has Larry MacDonald of The Bear Traps Report warning, "We're only one event away from a 1970-style stagflation explosion." 

Could the return of the mid-70s inflation storm result from an escalation of the Israel-Iran war where Brent crude soars past $100bbl? 

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/17/2024 - 19:20