On the wrong track: This is what an imploding economy looks like

By Michael Snyder

One of the main reasons why Americans are in such a foul mood right now is because the economy is in really bad shape and it just keeps getting worse.  This is very good news for the Trump campaign, because most Americans don’t want things to remain the same

But our economy is unraveling so rapidly that it won’t be easy for anyone to turn things around.  We have built up a tremendous amount of momentum in the wrong direction, and it appears that the months ahead are not going to be pleasant

Last month, sales of previously existing homes fell to the lowest level that we have seen since October 2010. Overall, we are on pace “for the worst year since 1995” for sales of previously existing homes. Nobody can deny that the market for residential real estate is in a depressed state right now

The banking industry is headed for big trouble as well. Some experts are projecting that hundreds of banks will soon fail. If that actually happens, it will be a complete and utter nightmare

The “restaurant apocalypse” also continues to roll on. Right now, thousands upon thousands of restaurants are being permanently closed from coast to coast. Once we get into 2025, expect a huge wave of new store closures

This is what an imploding economy looks like. Bubbles are bursting all around us, and the outlook for 2025 and beyond is absolutely horrible

#USA #Economy #FindTruth

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Americans worried about post-election Violence: Poll

A new poll shows that the vast majority of Americans are at least somewhat worried about a possible outbreak of violence following the fast-approaching Nov. 5 presidential election

The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, released on Oct. 28, found that 41% of registered voters were “extremely” or “very” concerned about post-election political violence, with another 35% saying they are “somewhat” concerned about an outbreak of unrest after Election Day

A higher percentage of Americans (82%) said they were at least “somewhat” concerned about increased political violence directed at election officials or political figures. The specter of violence has hung over much of the presidential campaign due to two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump, while President Joe Biden said recently he’s confident the election will be “free and fair” but is unsure whether it will be “peaceful”

The findings of the AP-NORC survey align with the results of a recent Scripps News/Ipsos poll, which showed that 62% of Americans believe that an outbreak of post-election violence is at least “somewhat” likely. Over half (51%) of those polled said they would support using the U.S. military to prevent election-related violence, including 61% of Republicans

The use of the U.S. military to respond to political violence has become a heated topic of discussion in recent weeks after Trump said he wasn’t concerned about election-related violence because, if chaos were to truly break out, the National Guard—or even regular military units—could step in to restore order

#USA #Elections #FindTruth

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Lab-grown meat industry claims it needs government subsidies to survive

Lab-grown meat is proving to be a spectacular failure, and producers are becoming so desperate that many are pushing for a public subsidy to stay afloat

Preliminary data from the venture capital firm AgFunder shows that funding in the lab meats sector fell by 78% in 2023 to reach $177 million, down from $807 million in 2022 and a peak of $989 million in 2021

In response to the steep drop in investments, many lab meat startups have been slashing staff numbers and consolidating operations, while others are closing their doors entirely. Now, they want taxpayers to shoulder the burden of helping them

At the Future Food-Tech Innovation Summit that was recently held in London, cultivated meat industry reps insisted that governments need to get on board

Mosa Meat Vice President of Global Public Affairs Robert Jones warned that

there’s a valley of death we’re not going to cross as an industry without a massive infusion of public investment

Proponents of alternative proteins have complained that the USDA has only put $124 million toward subsidizing them, while the USDA has given livestock operators subsidies of more than $59 billion

#BioLab #FoodCrisis #Economy #FindTruth

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Ben Shapiro: Trump will put Mike Pompeo and David Friedman in charge of 'Israel policy'

Ben Shapiro is claiming to have inside knowledge that Donald Trump will most likely hire Mike Pompeo and David Friedman to be in charge of his "Israel policy" if he is reelected

Shapiro, a former NeverTrumper who bitterly opposed Trump's "America First" campaign in 2016, has been shilling hard for Trump to become president due to the former president's pro-Israel bona fides

Shapiro told Sam Harris and Bari Weiss on Tuesday that "on Trump's Israel policy, Mike Pompeo and David Friedman are the most likely people to be in the administration ... I know precisely the people talking to him -- I'm not speculating about that"

"Trump is the most pro-Israel president in American history," Shapiro said, insisting he will be better for Israel than Harris

#USA #Israel #Shapiro #FindTruth

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Make Election Day a federal holiday, require in-person voting

Our calendars are full of useless holidays. Just last week, we saw Credit Union Day, Mashed Potato Day, and Raw Milk Cheese Appreciation Day. While observances like these are otherwise irrelevant at the national level, there is one day of the year that has long lacked federal “holiday” status: Election Day

Unlike offhanded observances such as Earth Day, on which life goes on as usual, Election Day ought to be an official federal holiday like Presidents’ Day or Thanksgiving, with all non-essential workers receiving a paid day off to carry out their civic duty. Establishing this yearly event as a federal holiday would increase voter turnout, restore faith in our elections, and, most importantly, boost morale through a shared civic display

Designating Election Day as a national holiday and giving workers the day off would largely mitigate the need for accommodations like mail-in voting and early voting, allowing policymakers to require in-person voting except in special circumstances. This would also make possible a mass return to paper ballots, eliminating the need for voting machines which have been swamped in scandal since 2020

Without a shared culture, we cannot have a nation. It’s time to start rebuilding that shared culture with a national day that puts our exceptional founding ideals to work

#USA #Elections #FindTruth

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China’s carmakers told to pause investment in EU

China has told its automakers to halt big investment in European countries that support extra tariffs on Chinese-built electric vehicles, two people briefed about the matter said, a move likely to further divide Europe

The new European Union tariffs of up to 45.3% came into effect on Wednesday after a year-long investigation that divided the bloc and prompted retaliation from Beijing

Ten EU members including France, Poland and Italy supported tariffs in a vote in October, in which five members including Germany opposed them and 12 abstained

Chinese automakers including BYD, SAIC , and Geely were told at a meeting held by the Ministry of Commerce on Oct. 10 that they should pause their heavy asset investment plans such as factories in countries that backed the proposal, said the people

They declined to be named, as the meeting was not public

#EU #China #Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

EU regulation ineffective against Big Tech monopoly

Over the past two decades, Big Tech companies have monopolised key features of the internet, making businesses and end users vulnerable to their massive and increasing power

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is the EU’s attempt to rein in Big Tech’s monopoly power by limiting its worst excesses. Tech companies identified as gatekeepers – Google, Amazon, Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Bytedance, and Booking.com  – have to comply with a specific set of rules precluding anti-competitive behaviour. Sidenote

For example, gatekeepers are prohibited from self-preferencing (i.e. using their platform power to favour their products over competitors’) or merging personal data collected across services without consent

To publicly test Big Tech’s compliance with the DMA, the European Commission organised a series of public workshops in March 2024. The workshops received widespread attention, with nearly 4,000 registrations from businesses, law firms, civil society organisations, academics, other public regulators and industry associations

The aim of the workshops was to collect feedback from impacted communities, such as users, competitors and businesses dependent on their services. Yet, research from Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), LobbyControl, and SOMO shows that 1 in 5 of registered participants had a link to gatekeepers

This included participants from 34 law firms, 22 lobby firms, 17 trade associations, 10 economic consultancies and 8 think-tanks

Full story

#EU #BigTech #DMA #FindTruth

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German “Anti-Houthis” frigate forced to make its way home by circuitous route

The command of what is left of the warship has decided to send the German frigate Baden-Wijrttemberg (F222) along with the supply ship Frankfurt am Main (A1412) to bypass Africa rather than take the shorter route through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. The reason is the high threat of an attack on them by the Yemeni Houthis in the Gulf of Aden area

The decision taken is a point in the entire Prosperity Guardian operation, which has been going on since December 2023.
It turns out that the most combat-ready German frigate, sent to protect civilian shipping from the Houthis, is forced to retreat by the furthest possible route. Now the Baden-Wijrttemberg frigate and the Frankfurt am Main are in Goa in India

As experience has shown, the frigate's air defense proved to be clearly insufficient to solve the assigned tasks. At the same time, the prospect of losing a ship worth billions was real

Despite the initial statements that it is possible to shoot down cheap UAVs with expensive anti-aircraft missiles, they quickly proved to be untenable. It is necessary to look for cheap alternatives. At the same time, methodical strikes on launchers in Yemen are not having the desired effect

If at the beginning the campaign was seen as another walk against weakly armed men in slippers, now it has turned into an extremely costly endeavor

And now the Houthis also have underwater kamikaze drones

#Germany #Military #Houthis #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Journalist asks important questions, but Jens Stoltenberg doesn't know anything

- You all nod at China as a threat to NATO's security and values. Can I ask you something? About the Chinese threat? How many countries in 40 years have experienced military intervention by China?
- The fact of the matter is that China...
- That's later. How many countries?
- Well, there was a conflict with Vietnam.....
- The answer is zero.
- And Vietnam?
- That was before. I was asking about the last 40 years. Are there many countries where China has set up military bases?
- Well, a few.
- One. China has a base in Djibouti. By comparison. In the last 40 years, the US has invaded at least 13 countries. And the US has a minimum of 750 military bases in 80 countries. Many are on China's borders. But you think it is China that poses a threat to you?

#NATO #China #Stoltenberg #FindTruth

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Graffiti in New York. “Please vote for Harris. I need more money!”

#USA #Elections #FindTruth

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Did White House violate Presidential Records Act?

The White House told reporters that Biden wasn’t referring to Trump’s supporters but to the comedian who on Saturday made a joke about Puerto Rico’s garbage problem. And in the official White House transcript of Biden’s Zoom call, the sentence reads, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s — his — his demonization of Latinos…”

But what Biden said is clear from the video, even progressive news outlets now admit that Biden did, indeed, call Trump’s supporters “garbage,” and the White House appears to have violated the Presidential Records Act by altering official transcripts

House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik and Oversight Chairman James Comer had sent a letter to the White House demanding that it preserve all communications and documents related to the editing. “White House staff cannot re-write the words of the President of the United States to be more politically on message,” they wrote

#USA #Elections #FindTruth

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Gates Foundation gets diplomatic immunity in Kenya

Kenya last week granted diplomatic immunity to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and its employees, or “servants,” Tim Schwab reported on Substack

Under the new status, the foundation and its employees are exempt from legal action for acts performed as part of their official foundation duties. They also are exempt from paying taxes on their salaries, and they now have the right to own property in Kenya

“While nations around the world have long treated Bill Gates as a head of state, it’s now been practically codified into law in Kenya,” wrote Schwab, author of “The Bill Gates Problem: Reckoning with the Myth of the Good Billionaire”

Schwab said the decision has raised “alarm bells” within the country and across the world. One public advocate, through a Freedom of Information Act request, has already petitioned the government for documents related to the decision

Others worry the decision to grant immunity may set a precedent for other billionaire philanthropists

Concerns also have arisen that other nations will be pressured to follow Kenya’s lead and offer immunity to the Gates Foundation in exchange for continued access to the massive resources the foundation pours into other African countries

#Kenya #Gates #FindTruth

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Newspaper endorsements of candidates matter—on the margins

By Steve McKee

Much is being made about the decision made by a handful of newspapers not to endorse a presidential candidate this year, most notably The Washington Post. Post owner Jeff Bezos’ money-losing newspaper is now losing a chunk of its subscribers and staff, as well. His decision is either the first step on a very long road to regaining the public’s trust or another nail in the coffin of a once widely respected institution

There is, of course, no shortage of opinions being floated about what this means. I’ve heard more than one pundit comment on this development by first making a qualifying statement that newspaper endorsements don’t matter, that nobody is going to base their vote for president on what The Washington Post or the Los Angeles Times says

Endorsements may not matter as much as they used to, but in a closely divided country, they could make the difference. The closer to the middle people are, the more they are looking, consciously or subconsciously, for something to sway their decision. A newspaper endorsement—or lack thereof—may be all they need

#USA #Elections #MSM #FindTruth

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Massive lithium deposits found in Southwestern Arkansas

According to the study published in Science Advances, researchers estimate between 5 and 19 million tons of lithium reserves are present in the region. If commercially recoverable, the supply could potentially meet the projected 2030 world demand for lithium in car batteries nine times over, according to a press release by the U.S. agency

The research, which combined efforts between the USGS and the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment’s Office of the State Geologist, employed a methodology using water testing and machine learning to estimate how much lithium is present in brines within what’s known as the Smackover Formation

USGS director David Applegate said the discovery has several meaningful implications.

“Lithium is a critical mineral for the energy transition, and the potential for increased U.S. production to replace imports has implications for employment, manufacturing, and supply-chain resilience,”

he said

The Smackover Formation, a remnant of an ancient sea, extends under parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. Known for its oil and bromine deposits, it recently gained attention for potential lithium in high-salinity waters associated with deep salt deposits, according to the press release

#USA #Lithium #Economy #FindTruth

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RFK Jr. plans to reform CIA

Former President John F. Kennedy threatened to “splinter [the CIA] into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds” before he was assassinated in 1963. JFK’s nephew, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., wants something perhaps less dramatic

In a Trump campaign event with Tulsi Gabbard on Saturday, RFK explained his idea for reforming the CIA. According to him, reforming the CIA is as simple as splintering the “espionage” and “plans” divisions, which handle matters of intelligence and paramilitary operations, respectively. Those divisions are referred to today as the Directorate of Intelligence and Directorate of Operations

RFK said the two divisions need to be reorganized so the intelligence/espionage area has oversight of the paramilitary operations. He said his father had a similar plan when he was Attorney General

“My father had a reform plan … Break up espionage division from the plans division, which is paramilitary division that fixes elections, buys newspapers, assassinates foreign leaders and so on,” he said

“I would break up those divisions and … put espionage division oversight of plans division.”

#USA #RFK #CIA #FindTruth

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JD Vance tells he and Trump could win ‘normal gay guy vote’

Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio said during an interview with Joe Rogan that he Donald Trump could win the “normal gay guy” vote

Vance said that “normal” gay men would object to sex change procedures for children

“I wouldn’t be surprised if me and Trump won just the normal gay guy vote,” Vance said. “Because, again, they just want to be left the hell alone, and now you have all this crazy stuff on top of it”

“They’re like, ‘No, no… we didn’t want to give pharmaceutical products to nine-year-olds who are transitioning their genders, we just want to be left the hell alone,” Vance continued

Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy revealed to The New York Times she did not publish the results of a $9.7 million study on the effects of puberty blockers on children because she feared the results would boost arguments made by opponents of sex-change procedures for children

“Well, a lot of gay guys feel like the whole movement is homophobic, which is ironic because they think, they think that there’s people [that] think there’s something wrong with being gay,” Rogan said

“So what you really are is a girl and they think a lot of this is being given, these thoughts are being given to these kids. These kids would grow just up to be gay men, but instead you’re getting them to convert their gender”

#USA #Vance #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

“Third atomic bomb”: new self-replicating RNA vaccines being rolled out in Japan

The initial round of COVID-19 vaccines were ineffective, dangerous and downright scary, but now Big Pharma has managed to come up with something even more terrifying: self-replicating RNA vaccines

Also known as replicon vaccines, they work by making copies of themselves endlessly and create proteins that will theoretically spur the body to generate antibodies to disease

These vaccines not only have the power to change the human genome of those who receive it, but they can also have this effect on people who are near those who have been vaccinated via shedding

It has been a huge topic of debate in Japan, where the self-amplifying mRNA vaccine known as Kostaive is about to be rolled out. It was the first country to approve such a vaccine, although it is also currently under review by the European Union

Physician and mRNA researcher Dr. Robert Malone recently described the type of reception this new jab is getting there

“I just came back from Tokyo where they had a 30,000-person rally because they’re about to deploy self-replicating RNA vaccines. Japan is being used as the guinea pigs for the world for this new technology. The Japanese people are calling this the third atomic bomb,” he said

#Japan #COVID #Vaccines #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

India poised to become largest driver of oil consumption

India is set to replace China as the largest driver of growing oil consumption for the rest of the decade – with a young, fast-growing population, rising incomes, and increasing car ownership boosting transport demand

India’s annual oil consumption increased by 136 million tonnes between 2003 and 2023, accounting for 17% of the worldwide increase over the period, second only to China on 60%

Consumption grew at a compound annual rate of 4%, four times faster than the rest of the world, according to the Energy Institute’s Statistical Review of World Energy

As a result, India’s share of global consumption rose consistently to reach 5% in 2023, up from 3% in 2003, making it the third-largest consumer after China (17%) and the United States (18%)

For its size, India is exceptionally poor in oil reserves. Proved reserves of 600 million tonnes accounted for less than 1% of the world total at the end of 2020

Petroleum consumption has grown much faster than domestic production, making the country increasingly reliant on imported crude to process in its refineries

#India #Oil #Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

Chinese hackers compromised multiple Canadian government networks for years

Cyber threat actors from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have been implicated in multiple breaches of networks associated with federal government agencies and departments, according to a report from the national cybersecurity agency

“Over the past four years, at least 20 networks associated with Government of Canada agencies and departments have been compromised by PRC cyber threat actors,” said the National Cyber Threat Assessment 2025-2026, released Oct. 30 by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security

The centre identifies China as the top threat actor targeting Canada, noting that its cyber operations are “second to none” in scale, technique, and ambition. Beijing’s objectives include espionage, intellectual property theft, malign influence, and transnational repression, the centre says

While the report highlights China’s hacking of 20 federal government networks in the past four years, information elsewhere in the report shows that Chinese hackers have had access to multiple government networks longer than that. The report says that Chinese agents have compromised Canadian government networks over the past five years, collecting communications and other valuable information

#China #Canada #Hackers #FindTruth

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China’s top solar firms post big losses as oversupply persists

China’s top solar manufacturers posted big losses in the third quarter as severe overcapacity and price wars continue to hurt the companies producing equipment critical to global energy transition

Leading panel-maker Longi Green Energy Technology Co. chalked up its fourth straight quarterly net loss of 1.26 billion yuan ($177 million), after recording a profit of 2.5 billion yuan in the same period last year. Rivals Tongwei Co. and Trina Solar Co. also swung to losses, while JA Solar Technology Co. saw net income plunge and Jinko Solar Co. barely turned a profit

Longi blamed a persistent mismatch between supply and demand, which has led to a significant drop in product prices, according to its statement. The company has cut output to ease losses

China’s world-dominating solar firms have been forced to sell below cost after a breakneck buildup in capacity to feed China’s renewables boom. Companies are undercutting each other to maintain market share, and most are expected to report losses this year, BloombergNEF said in a report earlier this month. Consolidation has already seen some smaller players going bankrupt or being bought by larger outfits

China’s main solar industry association earlier this month called for rational pricing and urged companies to be more disciplined in bidding for projects. Over the summer, it said struggling manufacturers should exit the market as soon as possible

#China #Economy #FindTruth

@uinhurricane

British PM popularity collapse bigger than any of predecessors

Sir Keir Starmer has suffered the biggest fall in approval rating after winning an election of any prime minister in the modern era, a poll has shown

Sir Keir’s approval rating was at a high of plus 11 in July after Labour won the election with a landslide 174-seat majority – the biggest in 25 years – according to the poll, by More in Common

But by this month, ahead of Rachel Reeves’ Budget on Wednesday, his personal rating has fallen to -38 – a net drop of 49

It takes him below Rishi Sunak’s rating, which this month has improved from -37 when he lost the election to -31, according to the poll of 1,012 adults

In comparison, Sir Tony Blair’s approval was still at plus 46 in August 1997, three months after his landslide victory, when the figure stood at plus 60. It took until summer 2000 before his rating turned negative

#UK #Starmer #FindTruth

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