Category: Inflation

Trump Was Right: Joe Biden Destroyed the Stock Market

BY MATT MARGOLIS

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2022/12/31/trump-was-right-joe-biden-destroyed-the-stock-market-n1657546;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

You probably don’t need me or anyone else to tell you that 2022 was a brutal year for your stock portfolio. If you were planning to retire in 2023, you may want to put it off, as it may be a while before your retirement fund recovers. It turns out that 2022 was the worst year for the stock market since 2008. You remember the financial collapse in 2008, right?

In 2022, the S&P 500 lost 19.44%, the DOW lost 8.78%, and the NASDAQ lost 33.10%.

Let’s go Brandon!

Last year, Joe Biden was quick to take credit for any positive economic news (which was really the result of the economy reopening after the COVID shutdowns), including the stock market’s rise.

“[The stock market] has hit record after record after record on my watch, while making things more equitable for working-class people,” Biden said back in January 2022.

Related: Alibi Biden Didn’t Inherit a Bad Economy, He Created One

Will he take credit for the current state of the stock market?

It’s worth noting here that Donald Trump predicted the stock market would crash under Biden. Once again, he was right.

SOUTH DAKOTA GOVERNOR Kristi Noem Rips President Biden In Major Speech: ‘Families Are Struggling To Make Ends Meet’

Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) gives her 2022 budget speech and blames President Biden for inflation and difficult times for families.

Kristi Noem: This is the reality of Biden's policies

'Not My First Rodeo':  SD Gov. Kristi Noem Reflects on Life Lessons from the Heartland

Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

Prepper must-haves: 9 Items to stock up on as you prepare for hyperinflation

BY ZOEY SKY

SEE: https://www.naturalnews.com/2022-11-18-9-items-stockpile-prepare-for-hyperinflation.html;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

(Natural News) Many countries across the globe are dealing with inflation right now and preppers are getting ready to deal with the looming threat of hyperinflation in the United States.

Hyperinflation has happened before, and it can happen again. Countries like Argentina, Germany, and Zimbabwe have experienced some historical instances of hyperinflation that devastated local economies.

Unfortunately, it looks like the U.S. is headed in that direction now. But you still have time to stock up on survival essentials like canned goods and fuel before prices skyrocket. (h/t to AskAPrepper.com)

Alcohol and tobacco

If you’re preparing for a potential economic collapse, it would be wise to break any addictions or unhealthy habits that you may have to substances like tobacco or alcohol.

And if you don’t use alcohol or tobacco, these items still deserve a place in your stockpile because you can use them for bartering after SHTF, especially if you intend on trading supplies with other people you know have vices.

Ammo

When SHTF, you will need firearms and ammo to protect your property, yourself, and your loved ones. Stock up on ammo now because when hyperinflation hits, the cost of ammo is going to go through the roof.

However, resources like ammo also get used up if you want to practice so you can use your firearms safely and effectively when disaster strikes and you have to defend yourself. If you have the means to do so, reload your ammo and stock up on reloading supplies if you want to save on ammo for your firearms.

Dry goods and canned food

When dealing with a long-term survival scenario, you will need a lot of food and supplies to feed your family.

If you already have a survival stockpile at home, make sure you regularly rotate your supplies to prevent spoilage. Replenish all items you consume so you also have what you need when SHTF.

Hyperinflation will make many of the items in your stockpile rather expensive, so stock up now while prices are still somewhat affordable.

If you have a tight budget, buy one or two cans of extra food every time you buy groceries. This might not seem like much, but all items will add up eventually in your stockpile.

With food prices skyrocketing, there is no sign of prices going down anytime soon. If you still don’t have a stockpile set up in your home now, start today before it’s too late.

Fuel

Even without inflation, fuel prices continue to increase and take a chunk out of your hard-earned money. Amid world crises like pandemics and wars, oil companies will take any excuse to increase the cost of all fuels, with hyperinflation as one of those convenient excuses.

It’s not practical for everyone to store large quantities of fuel but if you have space in your garage, you can benefit from storing several jerry cans of fuel for your car or generator. When storing fuel for your stockpile, make sure you stabilize the fuel before storing it to extend its life span.

Like the food in your stockpile, you also need to rotate your fuel storage by emptying the next jerry can into your car’s gas tank and refilling the jerry can with fresh gas. Try to stock up on fuel on days when you know the price is the lowest. (Related: Things people need to have before hyperinflation hits.)

Gold and silver

If you want to have a significant advantage during hyperinflation, try to stock up on valuable metals like gold and silver.

Because gold, silver, and other precious metals are not linked to fiat currencies, they are immune to the failure of currencies like dollars.

Stock up on some gold coins as a hedge against inflation. Silver is better for smaller day-to-day transactions you would be making after an economic collapse caused by runaway inflation.

To date, silver is hovering around $20 while gold is around $1,750. It would be difficult to buy food with gold when SHTF, but you can use silver since it would be closer in value.

Meat

The cost of meat, like other items at the grocery store, continues to skyrocket due to regular inflation. Imagine how much meat can cost after hyperinflation.

Deal with this by stocking up on meat when prices are low, like during sales or store promotions. You can also take advantage of store coupons to save some money while buying meat in bulk.

Once you get meat at a good price, make your supply last by vacuum-sealing the meat for long-term storage in the freezer. Alternatively, you can use meat to make pemmican or beef jerky to help preserve it for a long time.

If you can hunt, use your skills to hunt for meat and fill your freezer before SHTF.

Medical supplies

If you or other family members take regular medication to treat chronic conditions and if you don’t have good insurance, these costs will add up more as inflation gets out of control.

Before disaster strikes, try to get a three or six-month stockpile of all prescription medications that you need.

If your budget allows, you can also stock up on some over-the-counter (OTC) medication for your family. This can also help if the supply of OTC pain medication becomes scarce after SHTF or if hyperinflation affects prices.

Paper products

During the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, people who didn’t have a survival stockpile struggled to buy supplies since many others often stripped store shelves of the most unexpected items, like toilet paper and paper towels.

Before prices go up, get paper products like toilet paper and paper towels for your survival stockpile.

Seeds

Before SHTF, starting a home garden and growing fruits, vegetables, herbs, and medicinal plants is one of the best ways to deal with rising food costs. However, this can be rather challenging if you don’t have high-quality heirloom seeds for your garden.

If you don’t have a garden yet, start preparing now and buy seeds ahead of possible hyperinflation that may affect your area after a full-scale economic collapse. Seeds are also a great barter item.

Here are some seeds to stock up on before SHTF:

While you can’t avoid hyperinflation, you can prep ahead so you have supplies in your stockpile. Set some money aside and start buying supplies like ammo, fuel, and food now so you can get supplies for your family before prices skyrocket.

Visit Preparedness.news for more tips on how to prepare for economic disasters.

Watch the video below for food preservation and storage tips that can help you prepare for a food crisis.

BANK OF AMERICA & BANK OF ENGLAND: GLOBAL COLLAPSE IMMINENT!~Things Are About To Get CRAZY!~The Great Reset Agenda Inbox

Josh Sigurdson reports on the controlled collapse of the global banking system as Bank of America governor Bailey tells people they have three days to sell everything! Of course, this is leading to cratering markets and massive panic, but that was all part of the plan, wasn't it?

They need the economy to collapse to bring us into the New World Order. The Great Reset. The Fourth Industrial Revolution.

In this video, we don't only go into the collapse of currencies worldwide and the massive inflation rate people are struggling with and are being impoverished with, but also the collapse of the energy grid worldwide and how it correlates with the economic woes.

Brain Freeze: Biden Says Economy ‘Strong as Hell’ During Ice Cream Stop

BY MATT MARGOLIS

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2022/10/16/brain-freeze-biden-says-economy-strong-as-hell-during-ice-cream-stop-n1637517;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

During a campaign stop at a Baskin-Robbins in Portland, Ore., on Saturday, Joe Biden declared the economy to be “strong as hell” under his administration.

“Our economy is strong as hell,” Biden claimed while going to town on his ice cream, before adding, “the internals of it.”

What internals is he talking about? Historic inflation? Record gas prices? The weakening dollar? Economic contraction?

“I’m not concerned about the strength of the dollar. I’m concerned about the rest of the world. Does that make sense?” he said, before blaming other countries for America’s economic woes.

“The problem is the lack of economic growth and sound policy in other countries, not so much ours,” he insisted. “And that’s having, it’s worldwide inflation, and it’s consequential.”

Well, it’s appropriate he was in a Baskin-Robbins because that’s 31 flavors of stupid right there.

Food inflation hits 40% as CPI explodes; inflation reaches catastrophic 40-year high as Biden puts America on the path of Sri Lanka

BY MIKE ADAMS

SEE: https://www.naturalnews.com/2022-10-13-food-inflation-hits-40-as-cpi-explodes-inflation.html;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

(Natural News) Food inflation is exploding as much as 40% year over year (for fresh and dried vegetables) while today’s CPI number is deemed a catastrophe for the Biden administration and its disastrous economic failures. On Wednesday, the PPI (Producer Price Index) rose 0.4% for the month, twice the expected amount, and today’s CPI print reveals a shocking 8.2% year-over-year inflation rate, the highest in 40 years.

The highest price increases are being seen in food, airfare, natural gas, health insurance, and public transportation. Butter is up 32.2% and eggs are up 30.5%. A Breitbart news story reveals more shocking numbers: (note the nearly 16% increase in vegetable prices in just one month…)

– Fresh and dried vegetables: up 15.7 percent for the month and 40.2 percent for the year.
– Grains: up 10.7 percent for the month and 30.4 percent for the year.
– Fresh eggs: up 16.7 percent for the month and 97.3 percent for the year.
– Bakery products: up 0.8 percent for the month and 14.0 percent for the year.
– Pasta: up 1.1 percent for the month and 34.1 percent for the year.

This is, of course, exactly what happens when a tyrannical, economically illiterate government wages war on food, farmers, and fertilizer while engaging in insane levels of money printing that accelerate the collapse of the value of the dollar.

Understand that “inflation” isn’t even the right word for this. It should rightly be called central bank theft from the people because that’s largely where this phenomenon comes from. Except, in this case, there are also fundamental food shortages at play which have been engineered into the system to cause scarcity and famine.

Brighteon.TV

So we really have a combination of a central bank financial cartel looting everybody’s currency and a criminal, illegitimate government that’s actively destroying the energy infrastructure that’s necessary for fertilizer and farming.

The end result is, of course, entirely predictable: Widespread starvation and an eventual mass uprising across America as people can no longer afford to eat.

Perhaps that’s why White House Director of National Council Brian Deese just said that things are, “moving in the right direction.” Seriously, this is what he just said:

Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment Will be 8.7 Percent

BY RICK MORAN

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2022/10/13/social-security-announces-cost-of-living-adjustment-for-2023-n1636721;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

The Social Security Administration announced on Thursday that the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for 2023 will be 8.7%, the biggest increase in 40 years.

Seniors will begin seeing the increase in January. The average increase in benefits will be $140, according to SSA.

The 8.7% tops the 5.9% increase in 2022. At the time, that raise was the highest in 40 years as well.

It’s not enough. The government announced today a much higher-than-expected inflation rate for September. Prices rose 0.4% in September from the previous month. Prices climbed 8.2% on an annual basis.

This guarantees further painful interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve as the central bank continues to battle the inflation let loose by Joe Biden and the Democrats.

“The COLAs really are about people treading water; they’re not increases in benefits,” Dan Adcock, director of government relations and policy at the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, told CNBC.

“They’re more trying to provide inflation protection so that people can maintain their standard of living,” Adcock said.

But starting in December, you may be able to see notices online from the Social Security Administration that state just how much your checks will be next year.

Two factors — Medicare Part B premiums and taxes — may influence the size of your benefit checks.

The standard Medicare Part B premium will be $5.20 lower next year — to $164.90, down from $170.10. Those payments are often deducted directly from Social Security benefit checks.

“That will mean that beneficiaries will be able to keep pretty much all or most of their COLA increase,” Mary Johnson, Social Security and Medicare policy analyst at The Senior Citizens League, told CNBC.com this week.

That 8.7% COLA increase won’t come close to covering price increases for food, fuel, or rent. Food prices alone are up 11.4% over last year and with inflation showing no signs of slowing down, those retirees who live on Social Security alone or on a fixed income will be in a world of hurt by mid-year.

Democrats are already trying to demagogue the issue.

Social Security isn’t funded by the “wealthy.” It’s funded by workers paying Social Security taxes out of their paychecks. And that includes convenience store clerks and Fortune 500 CEOs.

No doubt the COLA will be welcome. But once seniors realize the increase they’re receiving comes up short of helping them make ends meet, any gratitude they feel to Elizabeth Warren and the Democrats will be short-lived.

Angry Joe Biden Yells at End of Speech~Steve Moore: Middle class America is getting crushed by Biden’s energy policies

PRE-MIDTERMS PROPAGANDA TO ASSUAGE THE UNDECIDED IGNORANT MASSES:

Angry Joe Biden Yells at End of Speech:

‘There’s Nothing, Nothing We’ve Ever Set Our Mind To, We’ve Not Been Able to Do’

Committee to Unleash Prosperity founder Steve Moore and former Trump White House chief of staff Reince Priebus highlight Biden's refusal to expand U.S. oil and gas production on 'Hannity.'

U.S. National Debt Tops $31 Trillion

U.S. National Debt Tops $31 Trillion

BY DAVID KELLY

SEE: https://thenewamerican.com/u-s-national-debt-tops-31-trillion/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

President Biden’s poor fiscal management of government spending was exposed this week with the release of the Treasury Department’s data pegging the gross national debt of the United States at over $31 trillion for the first time ever in our nation’s history.

In May, Biden claimed his administration was reducing the national debt by $1.5 trillion this fiscal year. At the time, he characterized his administration as “spending hawks,” touting sizable reductions in the federal deficit this fiscal year as a key departure from the “rampant spending” by his Republican predecessor.

Instead, the debt grew rapidly under Biden’s leadership, and sat at $31.123 trillion as of Oct. 3. The new record comes just nine months after the last milestone of $30 trillion, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), and only five years after reaching $20 trillion. All of this has been brought forth by unprecedented government borrowing and spending with no regard for the shaky ground of our nation’s fiscal situation.

“This is a new record no one should be proud of,” Maya MacGuineas, president of the CRFB, said in a statement. “In the past 18 months, we’ve witnessed inflation rise to a 40-year high, interest rates climbing in part to combat this inflation, and several budget-busting pieces of legislation and executive actions.”

“Just in 2022, Congress and the President have approved a combined $1.9 trillion in new borrowing, and President Biden has approved $4.9 trillion in new deficits since taking office. We are addicted to debt,” MacGuineas said.

Breitbart reported, “The United States has borrowed more in the last decade than at any other time. When former President Barack Obama took office in 2009, the public debt stood at $10.6 trillion. It was $19.9 trillion when former President Trump took office in 2017 and grew to almost $28 trillion when Biden took office four years later, according to the Treasury Department.”

The ramifications of the rising federal debt include greater interest costs for the government, making it harder to spend on basic needs such as national security and infrastructure. Greater spending on interest payments also raises the debt and additional borrowing costs, contributing to a debt spiral.

“As of August 2022, it costs $677.6 billion to maintain the debt, which is 12.66% of the total federal spending,” reported the Treasury Department. “Interest expenses during [the last ten years] have remained fairly stable due to low-interest rates and investors’ judgement that the U.S. Government has a very low risk of default. However, recent increases in interest rates and inflation are now resulting in an increase in interest expense.”

CRFB president MacGuineas added to the urgency of reducing the nation’s debt: “Even more troubling than where the debt stands now is where it’s going. Our nation faces significant fiscal challenges in the near term. Medicare is only six years from insolvency, and Social Security insolvency is only 12 years away. Yet policymakers have put forth no plan to put either program on strong fiscal footing.”

The current statutory debt ceiling is around $31.4 trillion, which is an artificial cap that Congress placed on the U.S. government’s ability to borrow. A potential lame-duck Congress voting in December could very well kick the can down the road to further fiscal duress with a continuing resolution (CR). Lawmakers could use that CR for more time to pass Fiscal Year 2023 funding bills (including annual defense appropriations legislation), or they could finally stop the overspending and right the ship with firm legislation that reduces spending. 

“It is time to remind policymakers that whether to grow the national debt further is within their control. At the very least, they should commit to no further borrowing in 2022 — it cannot be too much to ask that they practice paying for their priorities by abstaining from any new borrowing for just three months. The $31 trillion in debt is a staggering number that should keep them up at night,” stated MacGuineas

As the nation’s debt accumulates, will Biden and Congress take it on and treat it as a true threat to our nation’s security and sovereignty, as they do with their woke policies such as the supposed climate crisis and social justice?

They should, as our bankrupt nation can’t hang on much longer without a drastic reversal of our government’s current spending paradigm.

Buckle Up: Gas Prices Likely to Rise Even More as OPEC+ Discusses ‘Historic’ Cut in Production

BY CHRIS QUEEN

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/chris-queen/2022/10/03/buckle-up-gas-prices-likely-to-rise-even-more-as-opec-discusses-historic-cut-in-production-n1634026;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

After more than a year of rising gas prices, it was nice to see them go down a bit over the summer. It wasn’t enough, but every little bit helped. All the while, the Biden administration crowed about gas prices as though a slight drop after sharp rises was all part of the plan.

Many of us believed that prices would trend back upward eventually and recent weeks have proven that notion correct, as oil companies started preparing for the switch to winter gas formulas and Hurricane Ian bore down on Florida.

And now it looks like even higher gas prices are in the works. OPEC+, the coalition of the traditional OPEC nations and other oil-producing nations, is meeting in Vienna this week to discuss production policy. CNBC reports that these oil producers are “reportedly considering their largest output cut since the start of the coronavirus pandemic this week, a historic move that energy analysts say could push oil prices back toward triple digits.”

It’s the first meeting of OPEC+ since 2020, so experts believe that this summit is intended to lead to big moves like a cut in supply.

“The OPEC ministers are not going to come to Austria for the first time in two years to do nothing. So there’s going to be a cut of some historic kind,” Dan Pickering, CIO of Pickering Energy Partners, told CNBC.

This move could mean a production cut of a million barrels per day, although Pickering expects the cut to be around half a million. And since the U.S. is no longer a net energy exporter thanks to the Biden administration, that can only mean that prices at the pump will rise.

Related: Biden Washes His Hands of Gas Prices Now That They’re Going Back Up

Because the OPEC+ countries are having trouble reaching their production targets as it is, some analysts think that the potential cuts in output are necessary and won’t affect prices all that much.

“It is probably also the reason why they are meeting face-to-face this week in Vienna because it is potentially a highly controversial decision that they may take. But I think the impact is probably going to be less than what the market is looking for,” Ole Hansen of Saxo Bank told CNBC.

However, other factors could push gas prices up.

“We’re going to see more support from the supply side if sanctions kick in from Europe towards the end of the year [and] as the U.S. [Strategic Petroleum Reserve] begins to shut down its deliveries in November,” Pickering told CNBC.

Regardless of what OPEC+ decides to do, Pickering believes that we’ll be seeing gas prices go up in the coming weeks and months.

“OPEC is no particular friend of oil price softness, gasoline prices going down … despite what people will say, we’re gonna see some pretty sticky energy inflation as we move forward over the next couple of years,” he said.

Of course, we know how the Biden administration will respond to rising gas prices. We’ll hear more flippant calls that the solution to everything is to buy expensive electric vehicles. The White House will double down on the green, anti-fossil fuel rhetoric. All the while, the pinch of higher gas prices will hurt Americans, especially those in rural or lower-income areas.

If there’s an upside to rising gas prices, it’s that they could come back to haunt the Democrats for years to come.

Biden Washes His Hands of Gas Prices Now That They’re Going Back Up

BY MATT MARGOLIS

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2022/10/02/biden-washes-his-hands-of-gas-prices-now-that-theyre-going-back-up-n1633907;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Over this summer, gas prices experienced a prolonged decline, and the White House wanted the country to believe it was because of Joe Biden’s policies.

But it is now clear that gas prices are trending up again.

Of course, after months of taking credit for gas prices going down, Biden sure isn’t planning to take the blame for them going back up. Last week, he preemptively blamed Big Oil for gas prices going forward by claiming, without any evidence, that gas company executives might engage in price gouging because of Hurricane Ian.

“I want to add one more warning … to the oil and gas industry executives. Do not — let me repeat, do not — use this as an excuse to raise gasoline prices or gouge the American people,” Biden said.

Phil Flynn, a FOX Business contributor and senior market analyst at The Price Futures Group, told FOX News Digital that Biden is playing politics with gas prices.

“The president’s playing politics, and there is no doubt that when a storm comes in it can impact gasoline prices — but not necessarily because the oil companies are playing with the prices,” he said, pointing out that the demand for gas skyrockets just before a major storm because people plan to leave their homes.

“Once again, here’s the Biden administration falsely accusing the U.S. energy companies of profiteering, which is in their playbook,” Flynn added. “It shows that they have either a total misunderstanding or a total disrespect for the industry.”

Another point that must be noted is that gas prices had been trending upward before Hurricane Ian, so Biden is clearly using the hurricane as a cover to distance himself from the rising cost of gas.

‘Fundamentally Transforming’ America Into a Communist Hellhole

You first have to tear the country down completely.

BY D.W. WILBER

SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fundamentally-transforming-america-into-a-communist-hellhole/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Let’s cut to the chase. In order to “fundamentally transform” America from a vibrant and free capitalist society into just another communist hellhole, you first have to tear it down completely, following the Marxist mantra of “the ends justify the means.”

In order to achieve that, it would include uncontrolled spending to create massive debt that the country simply cannot sustain, thereby crashing the economy. People see their savings and bank accounts dwindle to nothing as a result of ever-increasing inflation. Eventually finding themselves dependent on government handouts for their very survival.

In addition, open the borders and flood the country with illegal immigration, overwhelming the social welfare system that is put in place to provide help and support to Americans. Instead pass those resources onto those who illegally entered the country, justifying it all as a humanitarian gesture.

Create a ‘climate emergency’ and turn it into a clarion call for groups of people who are easily manipulated. Make energy independence a thing of the past, and Americans become more susceptible to the whims of other countries in providing the energy necessary to drive our country’s economy and allow people to go to work, and stay warm in the winter. Rolling power outages become the norm as electric services are purposefully disrupted, and people look to the government to solve the problems.

Normalize and ‘mainstream’ deviant behaviors and attack anyone or any group that supports traditional morality and traditional gender roles. Expose children and youths to the same deviancy, and take the teaching of morality out of the hands of parents. Also, attack traditional religion, and infiltrate and change organized religions from within by corrupting traditional doctrine into something accepting, even applauding what was once considered sin.

Then you undermine civil authorities. Neuter and demoralize the police so that crime runs rampant on America’s streets. People become fearful in their own homes and venture out only as a last resort. Once crime is out of control people become more willing to accept a strong government crackdown, including the loss of what were once considered sacrosanct Constitutional rights.

Also focus efforts on disarming the population so that they have no means of protecting themselves, or resisting government oppression. An unarmed society is much easier to control than a society where people can defend themselves against crime, and government overreach.

Make endless accusations against and demonize your political enemies, and cover up your own questionable and illegal activities. Accuse your opposition of racism and every kind of ‘phobia’ you can think of, with the help of a compliant news media that is under your complete control.

Weaken the military with arbitrary and meaningless social justice experiments, and spend less time training in actual warfighting capabilities. A demoralized military will experience retention problems of their most qualified and best leaders.

What’s going on is a multi-step process and has been well underway for decades now, but it kicked into high gear with the election of a barely concealed Marxist in 2008. The current administration is nothing more than a front, a convenient collection of useful idiots and Marxist allies for the one elected back in 2008.

So how do we stop it? Well, to use the left’s own words against them, we stop it “by any means necessary”. First off never ever give up your guns. The Second Amendment is the one thing that keeps the communist wolves at bat. Secondly, take back our education system. Time to stop the communist indoctrination of our children. Run for school boards so that you have a say in what textbooks your children learn from, and who teaches your children.  Thirdly, insist on fairness, and unbiased news media. If they refuse, hit them in the pocketbook by letting their advertisers know how you feel, and where you’ll be spending your money.

And finally, protect the integrity of the vote. ‘Election Day’ should be the only election day.  Too many opportunities for fraud to occur. Absentee ballots for people out of the country should be the only ‘mail-in voting’. Proper, government-issued identification only for verified American citizens should be acceptable proof that one is qualified to vote in any election. Registration to vote should be restricted to no less than one month prior to the date of the election.  No more drive up, register, and vote the same day.

Voting is a right for American citizens, but it also comes with responsibility. If exercising their vote is important enough to people, then people will follow whatever rules are put in place to protect the integrity of their vote.

We need to be prepared to do whatever is necessary to fight back and prevent the “fundamental transformation” of our country, America as a free nation is at risk. If that means raising the stakes on them first then so be it.  If we don’t, they’re going to do it to us.

We outnumber them by a large margin. We need to get better organized, and more committed. We can prevent the greatest nation on Earth from becoming just another communist hellhole.

 

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WHY It's Going to Be WORSE Than You Think: Inflation, Reset, and Global Order

Giant homeless encampments set to explode across US; Organized Retail Criminals (ORCs) unleash coordinated mass thefts and violence

Image: Giant homeless encampments set to explode across US; Organized Retail Criminals (ORCs) unleash coordinated mass thefts and violence

BY MIKE ADAMS

SEE: https://www.naturalnews.com/2022-09-19-giant-homeless-encampments-set-to-explode-across-us.html;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

(Natural News) Worsening inflation (stemming from endless fiat currency money printing) is causing food, energy, and housing to become unaffordable for millions of Americans, putting them on a trajectory of homelessness and destitution.

Right now, homeless encampments are expanding in cities like Los Angeles, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Oakland. The situation is bound to get far worse as inflation accelerates and people find themselves jobless due to plummeting economic activity while manufacturers downsize operations.

All across America right now, people are moving out of (unaffordable) apartments and rental homes, and moving into RVs or campers. Many of these people have jobs yet still can’t afford to save enough money for a down payment on a home. As economic conditions deteriorate, many of these people will move from RVs to cars or trucks… and then eventually to tents on the street. There, they are largely forgotten by the very same bureaucrats who promised them jobs and government assistance. Those are also the same bureaucrats who created the very problems that cause homelessness in the first place, such as worsening inflation by handing out stimulus money… or forcing small businesses to shut down over “covid” claims.

The controlled demolition of America is well underway.

While most homeless people are non-violent individuals who are merely trying to survive in a collapsing civilization, problems such as drug addiction, mental illness, public health violations, and violence continue to plague homeless encampments. These tent cities are almost always filthy, rodent-ridden, feces-festering shantytown fixtures that reek of trash and desperation. As they grow in size and numbers, they are going to pose a significant challenge to the operations of entire cities, especially given that these encampments have their own rules, leadership, and underground economies. They do not abide by mainstream society’s rules, and except in rare cases, local police and city council members pretend these homeless encampments don’t exist. They are, in effect, “no-go zones” for police and first responders, except on the rare occasions when city leaders decide to “clean out” all the tents and trash, thrusting the homeless individuals who lived there into even more desperate circumstances.

Take a tour into the homeless camps in Oakland, California, via this Brighteon.com video:

Many homeless turn to retail theft to survive

With the US economy collapsing, homelessness is going to become a way of life for millions more Americans. In order to survive, many of these individuals turn to retail theft, shoplifting all sorts of goods (including food) from local retail establishments.

The Epoch Times reports on, “The growing threat of organized retail crime,” citing so-called “ORC rings” (Organized Retail Crime = ORC) that are growing more numerous and powerful in cities across America:

The massive wave of retail thefts in the United States over the past two years has become a major challenge for both the retail industry and law enforcement.

The number of increasingly professional organized retail crime (ORC) rings and their frequent attacks have reached a crisis scale, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF) in a Sept. 14 report.

That article cites NRF vice president Mark Meadows, explaining, “These highly sophisticated criminal rings jeopardize employee and customer safety and disrupt store operations. Retailers are bolstering security efforts to counteract these increasingly dangerous and aggressive criminal activities.”

Epoch Times adds:

Items under CRAVED include apparel, health and beauty, electronics/appliances, accessories, food and beverage, footwear, home furnishings, housewares, home improvement, eyewear, office supplies, infant care, and toys.

“We are seeing more and more, particularly, organized retail crime,” said Corrie Barry, Best Buy’s CEO, in late 2021 to the NY Post.

“You can see that pressure in our financials. And more importantly, frankly, you can see that pressure with our associates. It’s traumatizing,” she said. 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce demanded earlier this year that Congress take action to address the rise of ORC crimes, calling them a “national emergency.”

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva blamed radical Democrats and prosecutors, saying that they “live in this ‘woke palace’ where they’re not affected by the policies, but the average person IS impacted by them.”

In other words, America is beginning to see the rise of organized retail theft rings that are increasingly terrorizing brick-and-mortar stores, traumatizing their employees, and looting their merchandise.

It doesn’t take a genius to realize most of these retail stores are going to cease operations in these areas, leaving locals with a barren landscape of abandoned retail buildings.

Democrats in Illinois have legalized squatting and trespassing… police will no longer remove anyone from your private property

The bureaucratic geniuses in Illinois — who favor criminals and punish the law-abiding — recently passed and signed into law the “SAFE-T Act” which would eliminate bail for second-degree murder, arson, kidnapping, violent assaults, and many other series crimes. In essence, the act allows police to arrest a murderer, hand him a ticket to appear in court next year, then release him right back onto the streets to murder again.

State Senator Donald DeWitte is desperately trying to repeal this dangerous, lawless act that was pushed by Democrats. From Senator DeWitte’s website:

“I can’t walk down the street without being stopped by someone who asks how the SAFE-T Act can be stopped,” said Sen. DeWitte. “Constituents are particularly worried about criminal offenses that will, as of January 1, be considered ‘non-detainable.’ People have legitimate concerns, and we need to pump the breaks on implementation so the long list of unintended consequences tied to the Act can be addressed.”

DeWitte continued, “According to state’s attorneys across the state, the Act will make it extremely difficult for them to hold violent criminals pre-trial, including crimes as serious as murder if the accused person no longer poses a significant threat to a specifically identifiable person. General risk is no longer good enough, and that heightened standard will cause some very dangerous individuals to be released within hours of their arrest.”

Those same state’s attorneys have said offenses like second-degree murder, arson, aggravated battery, kidnapping, burglary, robbery, intimidation, aggravated DUI, aggravating fleeing & eluding drug offenses, threatening a public official, and drug-induced homicide could no longer meet the standard for pre-trial detention.

What many people don’t yet realize is that trespassing is no longer a crime that law enforcement can prevent. They can’t arrest and remove squatters, for example, who decide to move into your shed, garage, RV, or home.

As ABC7 Chicago reports:

Grundy County Sheriff Ken Briley is raising concerns because the law will ban arrest for people accused of certain misdemeanors. He cited trespassing as an example.

“Today, I can arrest him if you sign a complaint for trespassing,” Briley said. “January 1st, I’m not going to be able to do that. The law says I have to write him a ticket and leave.”

In other words, the homeless masses will soon be able to move into any home they choose, and police will not remove them, even if they are trespassing.

This means private property owners in Illinois have no legal means by which to remove individuals — including drug addicts, prostitutes and violent criminals — who invade their property. If you leave your home for a weekend and a homeless person breaks in and takes over your home, you have no legal means to remove them.

This means you are on your own, and you have to decide how to handle potentially large groups of people who are now living in your garage or home. If the police do nothing, do you have the right to be your own police? What level of force can a private citizen exert in order to convince a trespasser to leave?

In Democrat-run cities and counties, it’s obvious that private property owners who threaten trespassers using guns or knives will, themselves, be arrested and prosecuted by radical left-wing District Attorneys. In other words, if you find squatters in your home, crapping on the carpet and spraying graffiti on the walls, and you call the police to remove them, the police will tell you there’s nothing they can do. If you pull a gun and try to force the squatters to leave, the police will arrest you, and while you’re in jail, those squatters will rip your home to shreds and probably set it on fire.

This is Illinois under Democrat control, and it’s a feature of civilization collapse that’s coming to every “blue” city and county across America, where criminals are protected and the law-abiding are punished. A similar situation already exists in Oregon, for example, where some property owners are quite literally listing homes for sale that already have squatters who refuse to leave. These property listings, as you might imagine, are heavily discounted, and buyers are not allowed to tour the homes or see inside them before making offers. That’s because somebody probably already crapped on the carpet and set the wallpaper on fire.

If you currently own property in the state of Illinois, your property value is about to get crushed

A sensible question arises from all this: What is the value of private property in a state where the security of such property cannot be enforced? The answer is zero.

No home is worth anything if a flash mob of homeless looters can rampage through your home at any time, with the full approval of the state’s left-leaning lawmakers, while police are unwilling to do anything to stop it (because they are bound by the new law).

If you own real estate in Illinois, sell it before January 1.

If you don’t sell your property and leave Illinois, you are bonkers.

If you live in the state of Illinois, leave before January 1 or get to a rural, conservative community where you have a chance of finding law enforcement, judges, and juries that still recognize common sense and the right to defend your own home against looters and squatters.

Because remember: As homelessness explodes across America, millions of destitute, desperate people will take over private homes and buildings, rendering the very idea of private property null and void. Now it’s the mob’s property, and mob rule is exactly what Democrats are striving for, which is why they deliberately wrote and passed this law to nullify private property and unleash violent criminals onto the streets of Illinois.

Chaos is coming to the blue cities… all by design.

You will witness a wave of American refugees fleeing the collapsing blue cities

Illinois, California, Oregon, Washington, New York, New Jersey, and other democrat-dominates states are about to be plunged into a hellish, Mad Max-like scenario, where police are powerless, criminal gangs run rampant across society, and law-abiding citizens either flee or get raped and murdered. It looks like Democrats are finally getting the society they voted for, and as this accelerates, we are going to see a wave of refugees fleeing the cities and seeking sanity in red states / rural America, where secure borders will be quickly erected to halt the influx of democrats who ruined their own home states and now want to cause the same destruction everywhere else.

Those who stay behind will find themselves fighting zombies and orcs, like something out of a mishmash of Lord of the Rings meets The Walking Dead. The good news is that with collapsing consumer demand, ammunition is about to become a lot more affordable. (It’s true. Firearms and ammo sales are plummeting right now, and you should expect to see ammunition on sale soon.) Once you understand the wave of violence, lawlessness and insanity that’s rapidly approaching, you’ll quickly realize you can never have too much ammo.

Get yourself some ballistic armor while you’re at it: www.HopliteArmor.com gives you 10% off using discount code “ranger.” It’s all made in the USA using advanced polymers and materials. (Hopelite Armor is a Brighteon sponsor.)

If you need swords and knives, my top choice is DawsonKnives.com, which also offers a 10% discount for those using the code “ranger” (good through Sep 30). Given that this whole scenario may go full Book of Eli (a reference to the Denzel Washington movie), acquiring fully functional fighting swords and knives no longer seems like an outlandish idea. Swords, after all, don’t need ammo.

Listen to my full Situation Update podcast to hear more details about all this, including how to survive it:

Brighteon.com/1fac957c-8fef-4359-9716-663631f2adfa

Biden Brags About Mythical ‘Progress’ on Inflation

BY RICK MORAN

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2022/09/14/biden-brags-about-mythical-progress-on-inflation-while-food-costs-skyrocket-n1629453;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Smoke, mirrors, and outright lies: that’s been Joe Biden’s strategy to fight the inflation that’s emptying the American people’s wallets and eating away at Americans’ standard of living.

Biden’s excuses for inflation have evolved over the last few months. Remember when fuel inflation was the fault of the oil companies? Now that the price is dropping — largely because of an increased supply due to weaker economic activity — we haven’t heard many attempts to demonize the evil oil companies.

And whatever happened to inflation being the fault of retailers? I can also remember when Putin was the number one culprit for inflation. And big business too.

And remember when the reason your food bill was so high was because of greedy food processing companies? We don’t hear Biden grousing much about that anymore. Perhaps he realized that his blaming others for problems he created wasn’t working politically as well as he had hoped.

Biden’s new strategy is to pretend inflation is getting better. He issued a statement patting himself on the back for doing such a great job bringing down prices.

Today’s data show more progress in bringing global inflation down in the US economy. Overall, prices have been essentially flat in our country these last two months: that is welcome news for American families, with more work still to do. Gas prices are down an average of $1.30 a gallon since the beginning of the summer. This month, we saw some price increases slow from the month before at the grocery store. And real wages went up again for a second month in a row, giving hard-working families a little breathing room.

It will take more time and resolve to bring inflation down, which is why we passed the Inflation Reduction Act to lower the cost of healthcare, prescription drugs and energy. And my economic plan is showing that, as we bring prices down, we are creating good paying jobs and bringing manufacturing back to America.

Yes, fuel prices are down, but they’re still $1.30 higher than when Biden took office. And all indications point to gas prices going up again before the end of the year.

But it’s food prices that are the biggest worry. And the White House doesn’t appear to have a clue about how to bring them down.

Politico:

“The majority of those federal programs and funds [in the IRA] are targeted at conservation, you know, potentially increasing conservation efforts around the country,” said Glynn Tonsor, an agricultural economics professor at Kansas State University. “That’s not the same as increasing production, and that’s relevant for the food price discussion because I haven’t seen anything that’s really about increasing production volume. [And] that would be one mechanism, obviously, to reduce food prices if we increased the volume produced.”

Tonsor added that efforts to break up market consolidation could lower prices, but only “if things get nudged towards more competitive behavior without losing supply-side economies of scale … [and] I think that’s far from certain in most categories.”

Biden isn’t interested in reforming anything. It’s all smoke and mirrors and bald-faced lies, as I mentioned.

New York Post:

The White House report also repeatedly, and breathlessly, takes credit for an economic recovery that resulted overwhelmingly from the pandemic receding rather than any presidential policy. The “key accomplishment” of creating 9.7 million jobs stems mostly from the economy reopening following the pandemic. The “decline of more than $1.20 in gas prices this summer” of course fails to mention the $2.61 price rise that had occurred earlier under Biden.

In what is certainly news to Republicans, as well as America’s governors, mayors and public health officials, the report claims that “The Biden-Harris Administration also took decisive action to open America’s schools safely.”

There seem to be few positive developments in America for which the president will not demand full credit.

The Federal Reserve isn’t at all sure that raising interest rates will tame inflation. In the early 1980s when Fed chair Paul Volker began to jack up interest rates to a nearly unbearable level, only a huge cut in federal spending drove prices down as quickly as they dropped.

Biden and the Democrats are still spending like drunken sailors, adding $4.8 trillion in spending just since Biden took office with the promise of more on the way. The Fed can’t do this alone. Raising rates will only take us so far. Congress has to restrain federal spending as well.

If they don’t, the Fed will simply jack up interest rates to 1980 levels (21%) and bring about a brutal economic downturn. No one wants that. Least of all a president running for re-election in 2024.

FORCE MAJEURE: Massive global shutdowns are now under way for METALS SMELTING operations covering iron, copper, nickel, aluminum, zinc and STEEL

BY MIKE ADAMS

SEE: https://www.naturalnews.com/2022-09-07-force-majeure-massive-global-shutdowns-are-now-under-way-for-metals-smelting-operations.html;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

(Natural News) Without metals and industrial elements — steel, copper, aluminum, iron ore, nickel, zinc, titanium, etc. — human civilization cannot exist. Nearly all manufacturing is dependent on metals for industrial processes. Even plastics cannot be made without metals for injection molding, and aluminum and copper are required for all electrical systems, both commercial and residential.

Yet right now, aluminum, copper, and steel plants are shutting down worldwide. We’ve compiled a list (see below) of just some of the shutdowns so far this year.

Some shutdowns are happening under “force majeure” declarations. Others cite sky-high energy prices, and yet others say there’s not enough demand as the global economy implodes (by design).

In today’s podcast (below), I cover the global shutdowns of metal smelting and fabrication operations, revealing the shocking global trend of the dismantling of infrastructure that keeps humanity alive. Note that this is happening in parallel with global shutdowns of:

  • Food, fertilizer, and agriculture
  • Energy
  • Manufacturing
  • Housing

Thus, billions of human beings are being thrust into a scenario where they face unemployment, bankruptcy, starvation, and freezing temperatures, even as their own (western) governments plot against them to maximize suffering and death.

Below, find the full list of metals and steel plants that have so far shut down around the world. But first, here’s the Situation Update podcast that gets into this (and much more), covering the day’s explosive news items with analysis and commentary:

Brighteon.com/15c11091-2f58-4789-add5-8929c032c412

Metals and steel plant closures so far in 2022

Jan 02, 2022, Montenegro

UNIPROM KAP
Aluminum smelter
Shutdown

Montenegro’s Uniprom has shut down the country’s sole aluminium smelter, KAP, with the procedure being completed by December 30, after it failed to reach an agreement on a new electricity price with power company EPCG, public broadcaster RTCG reported.

Uniprom warned earlier that it would close KAP as rising electricity prices make its production uneconomic. Uniprom’s owner, local businessman VeselinPejovic, accused EPCG of being responsible for the decision, while EPCG asked the businessman to hold another round of talks to find a solution.

By the end of 2021, KAP was paying €45 per MWh plus VAT, while on international markets the electricity price is now around €250 per MWh.

https://www.intellinews.com/montenegro-s-biggest-industrial-producer-kap-shuts-down-after-energy-price-hike-230581/

 

Feb 07, 2022, Peru

MMG LTD LAS BAMBAS
Copper Mine
Offline

MMG Ltd (1208.HK) said on Monday that production at its Las Bambas copper mine in Peru may stop by Feb. 20 after a local community blocked again a road used by the miner, causing the company to curtail operations.

The Chinese-owned mine has been a flashpoint of protests and road blockades since it started functioning in 2016, with operations last suspended in December due to a similar blockade.

https://www.reuters.com/business/mmg-may-halt-peru-las-bambas-mine-operations-by-feb-20-after-latest-blockade-2022-02-07/

 

Mar 03,2022, Ukraine

ARCELORMITTAL SA
Steel Plant
Closure

A giant Ukrainian steel mill owned by ArcelorMittal SA closed on Thursday, shutting one of the country’s largest pieces of industry after days of holding out as other foreign companies retreated in the face of Russia’s onslaught.

Ukrainian industry has been hit hard by the Russian invasion, with car-part manufacturers, breweries, an alumina refinery, and other foreign companies halting production.

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/russia-ukraine-latest-news-2022-03-03/card/arcelormittal-to-close-giant-ukrainian-steel-plant-as-war-worsens-NM0kDzPRORwGuerKVELG

Mar 04, 2022, Spain

MEGASA SIDERÚRGICA NARÓN
Steel Plant
Stop production

According to Europa Press, on March 4 Megasa halted production at its 700,000 mt/yrNaron steel plant near La Coruna, having already shifted much of its production to night shifts to avoid peak prices.

The company did not reply to messages seeking confirmation.

https://eurometal.net/spanish-steel-plants-suspending-operations-amid-record-energy-unesid/

 

Mar 10, 2022, United Kingdom

LIBERTY STEEL
Steel Plant
Stop production

Elsewhere in Europe, Liberty Steel’s mill at Rotherham in the U.K. has been forced to stop production due to soaring power costs, according to a person familiar with the matter. Liberty declined to comment.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-09/european-industry-starts-shutting-down-as-energy-prices-soar?sref=jB82HHlm

Mar 10, 2022, Germany

SALZGITTER AG
Steel Producer
Reduced production

In Germany, Salzgitter reduced its melting operations at its Peine plant on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the company said.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-09/spanish-steel-production-curbed-as-power-costs-soar-to-a-record?sref=jB82HHlm

 

Mar 10, 2022, Spain

ARCELORMITTAL SA’S SESTAO
Steel Plant
Extended shutdown

ArcelorMittal SA’s Sestao plant in Spain will not resume working as previously planned on March 13 due to high electricity costs, a spokesman told Bloomberg News in response to questions.

Its facility in Olaberria stopped Tuesday and restarted on Wednesday, operating intermittently.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-09/spanish-steel-production-curbed-as-power-costs-soar-to-a-record?sref=jB82HHlm

Mar 10, 2022, Spain

CELSA GROUP
Steel Producer
Reduced production

Privately held producer Celsa, whose Barcelona mill has an annual capacity of 2.5 million tons, also cut output, citing unbearable energy costs.

“We are meeting the demands of our customers but our furnaces are operating at different hours to adapt to electricity prices,” a Celsa spokesperson said.

https://www.reuters.com/business/acerinox-arcelormittal-celsa-cut-steel-output-spain-due-high-electricity-prices-2022-03-10/

 

Mar 11, 2022, Spain

ACERINOX
Steel Plant
Offline

Acerinox became the latest steel producer to halt operations in Spain on Thursday due to surging energy prices caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

A union source at the Spanish stainless steel maker told AFP the firm had halted production at its plant in Cadiz in the southern Andalucia region due to soaring electricity prices.

https://www.thedailystar.net/business/global-economy/news/spain-steel-plants-close-over-soaring-energy-prices-2980366

Mar 14, 2022, Peru

SOUTHERN COPPER CORP (SCCO.N)’S CUAJONE MINE
Copper Mine
Offline

Southern Copper Corp (SCCO.N)’s Cuajone mine in Peru has suspended operations since Feb. 28 due to a protest by local communities who cut the company’s water access and blocked a key railroad, Peru’s mining chamber SNMPE said on Monday.

Southern Copper is one of the country’s top copper producer and Cuajone is the company’s second-largest mine in the country.

The company has denounced violence by the protesters while the government has denounced violence on both sides.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/southern-coppers-cuajone-mine-peru-suspended-production-due-protest-snmpe-2022-03-14/

 

Apr 02, 2022, USA

RIO TINTO
Copper Cathode
Force Majeure

Rio Tinto has declared force majeure on shipments of copper cathode from its Kennecott operation in Utah after an earthquake in March.

The declaration was made as the Utah facility continues to reopen after being hit by a 5.7 magnitude earthquake on 18 March.

The facility’s mine, concentrator, and tailings have resumed operations.

Kennecott accounts for approximately 11pc of copper production in the US, according to Rio Tinto.

https://www.argusmedia.com/en/news/2093220-force-majeure-declared-at-kennecott-mine

 

Apr 12, 2022, Honduras

AURA MINERALS (TSX: ORA)
Gold
Reduced production

Aura Minerals (TSX: ORA) said today that the company achieved total quarterly production of 61,041 gold equivalent ounces (“GEO”), which is 9% lower compared to Q1 2021 (66,782 GEO).

However, the company noted that its Q1 2022 production was in line with management’s expectations, with another strong quarter at the company’s Aranzazu mine and lower production at the company’s EPP and San Andres mines due mine sequencing and preparation for higher production in the next quarters.

https://www.kitco.com/news/2022-04-12/Aura-Minerals-reports-lower-Q1-2022-gold-equivalent-production-on-track-to-achieve-guidance.html

Apr 21, 2022, Australia

BHP GROUP (BHP.AX)
Iron Ore
Reduced production

BHP Group (BHP.AX) on Thursday fell short of estimates for iron ore production for the March quarter, as a pandemic-related labour crunch weighed on the miner’s efforts to boost production in the mineral-rich Pilbara region of Western Australia.

The world’s largest listed miner warned June-quarter production of the steel-making commodity is also expected to be impacted by lingering worker absenteeism, but said it remained on track to meet fiscal 2022 costs and volume forecast.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/bhp-reports-flat-third-quarter-iron-ore-production-2022-04-20/

 

Apr 21,2022, South Africa
Cameroon
Brazil
Australia

ANGLO AMERICAN PLC
copper, nickel, PGM, iron ore, coal and manganese ore
Reduced production 

Anglo American announced today that its copper production decreased by 13% year-over-year to 140 ktonnes in Q1 2022 primarily due to planned lower grades.

Metal in concentrate production from the company’s platinum group metals operations decreased by 6%, primarily due to high rainfall at Mogalakwena, with full-year guidance revised to 3.9–4.3 million ounces (previously 4.1-4.5 million ounces).

Iron ore production decreased by 19% to 13.2 Mt as high rainfall and plant issues affected both Kumba and Minas-Rio, with full-year guidance revised to 60-64 million tonnes (previously 63-67 million tonnes).

Metallurgical coal production decreased by 32% to 2.2 Mt due to the delayed longwall move at Moranbah and the end of production from Grasstree.

https://www.kitco.com/news/2022-04-21/Anglo-American-reports-lower-production-of-copper-nickel-PGM-iron-ore-coal-and-manganese-ore-in-Q1-2022.html

 

Apr 21, 2022, Chile

ANTOFAGASTA (LSE: ANTO)
Copper
Reduced production

Chile-focused miner Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO), the world’s top-10 copper producer, said today that its copper production in Q1 2022 was 138.8 ktonnes, down 24% compared to Q1 2021 (183 ktonnes) and in line with guidance. 

The company explained that lower copper production was mainly due to the expected temporary reduction in throughput at Los Pelambres because of the drought and lower grades at Centinela Concentrates.

https://www.kitco.com/news/2022-04-21/Antofagasta-says-drought-impacted-its-copper-production-in-Chile-in-Q1-hopes-to-launch-desalination-plant-in-H2-2022.html

 

Apr 27, 2022, Canada

FIRST QUANTUM MINERALS
Copper
Reduced production

Global copper miner First Quantum Minerals has revised down its 2022 production guidance and lifted cost expectations after a soft start to the year while the company’s share price has eased lower.

Total copper production guidance for the year now stands at 790,000-855,000 tonnes, which is down from 810,000-880,000 tonnes.

The revision followed first-quarter production falling 10% from Q4 2021 to 182,210 tonnes.

https://www.mining-journal.com/copper-news/news/1430970/first-quantums-2022-expectations-worsen 

May 04,2022, Malaysia

FORTRESS MINERALS LTD
Iron ore
Reduced production

4Q22 results were below expectations. Revenue and PATMI were at 12%/6% of our FY22e forecasts.

4Q22 sales volume decreased 72.2% YoY due to lower operating capacity caused by the spread of the Omicron variant among workers and unfavorable weather conditions.

https://www.stocksbnb.com/reports/fortress-minerals-ltd-lower-ore-production-but-outlook-turning-positive/

 

Jun 18, 2022, Chile

CODELCO’S VENTANAS
Copper Smelter
Closure

The leading body of Chilean state-possessed Codelco, the world’s biggest copper maker, settled on Friday to begin a cycle to close its disturbed Ventanas smelter, the organization said in a proclamation.

Laborers at Codelco had taken steps to make a move, including a strike, on the off chance that the board didn’t contribute to overhauling the office following an ecological occurrence that nauseated many individuals. 

The mining organization halted the smelter to finish upkeep and functional changes requested by the ecological controller after many individuals became sick with side effects of inebriation in the space where the smelter and different ventures work.

https://www.bolnews.com/business/2022/06/chiles-codelco-has-announced-the-closure-of-its-ventanas-smelter/

 

Jul 20,2022, Brazil

VALE SA
Iron ore and copper
Reduced production

Brazilian mining giant Vale has trimmed its 2022 iron ore and copper production guidance by about 4% and 19% at the mid-points in a move that sees the company implementing its “value over volume” strategy for the former while shutdowns and poor plant performance weighed on the latter.

https://www.mining-journal.com/bulks/news/1436225/vale-cuts-2022-iron-ore-copper-production-outlook#:~:text=Brazilian%20mining%20giant%20Vale%20has%20trimmed%20its%202022,and%20poor%20plant%20performance%20weighed%20on%20the%20latter

 

Jul 25, 2022, Australia

OZ MINERALS

Copper
Reduced production

Oz Minerals has adjusted its full-year copper production expectations to account for a softer start to the year.

Copper production expectations have been lowered from the previous estimate of between 127 000 t and 149 000 t, to between 120 000 t and 135 000 t, reflecting the impact of wet weather conditions and Covid-related absenteeism on operations during the second quarter ended June, as well as materials handling system belt damage at the Carrapateena operation.

In the June quarter, copper production reached 27 423 t, down from the 30 322 t delivered in the previous quarter, while gold production increased from 48 773 oz to 51 184 oz in the same period.

https://www.miningweekly.com/article/oz-minerals-lowers-production-targets-2022-07-25

 

Jul 29, 2022

Bulgaria
Namibia

DUNDEE PRECIOUS METALS (TSX: DPM)
Gold, Copper
Reduced production

Dundee Precious Metals (TSX: DPM) reported Thursday that in Q2 2022, its gold production was 72,904 ounces, 14% lower than the corresponding period in 2021.

The company said that the decline in gold production was due primarily to lower expected gold grades at Ada Tepeas a result of mining in lower gold grade zones, partially offset by improved gold recoveries at Chelopech.

Moreover, the company’s copper production in the second quarter of 2022 decreased by 12% to 8.8 million pounds due primarily to lower copper grades and recoveries.

https://www.kitco.com/news/2022-07-29/Dundee-reports-lower-gold-and-copper-production-in-Q2-posts-net-earnings-of-33-5-million.html

 

Aug 01, 2022, Italy

ACCIAIERIE D’ITALIA
Steel Mills
Shutdown

The plant with a capacity of 4 million tons of steel per year left only one blast furnace in operation due to weak demand and high production costs

The Italian steel company Acciaieried’Italia has shut down its second blast furnace since August 1, 2022. This was reported by Yeih.corp.

The company has only one blast furnace in operation. The shutdown was caused by low cash flow, weak market demand and high production costs.

https://gmk.center/en/news/acciaierie-ditalia-stopped-the-work-of-two-blast-furnaces/

Aug 28, 2022, Kazakhstan

GLENCORE PLC
Copper, Cobalt, Zinc
Reduced Production

Glencore PLC on Thursday cut 2022 production guidance for copper, cobalt and zinc, and raised it for nickel and ferrochrome.

The commodity mining and trading giant reduced copper guidance to around 1.11 million metric tons from 1.15 million tons, and cobalt to 45,000 tons from 48,000 tons, reflecting first-quarter performance.

In addition, because of a slower-than-expected ramp-up at the Zhairem project in Kazakhstan, the 2022 outlook for zinc production is cut by 9% to 1.01 million tons, the company said.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/GLENCORE-PLC-8017494/news/Glencore-Cuts-2022-Guidance-for-Copper-Cobalt-Zinc-40178786

 

Aug 17, 2022, Slovakia

NORSK HYDRO (NHY.OL)
Aluminum Smelter
Shutdown

Europe’s energy crisis has claimed another victim in the power-hungry metals industry, with Norsk Hydro ASA planning to shutter an aluminum smelter in Slovakia at the end of next month.

Aluminum is one of the most energy-intensive metals to produce, and the closure of the Slovalco facility adds to growing signs of stress in Europe’s industrial economy as power prices surge to record highs. The region had already lost about half of its zinc and aluminum smelting capacity during the past year, mainly as producers dialed back output. Hydro and others are now moving to shut down plants entirely.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-17/norsk-hydro-shuts-aluminum-plant-as-europe-s-power-woes-deepen?sref=jB82HHlm

 

Aug 23, 2022, Garpenberg, Sweden

BOLIDEN (BOL.ST)
Zinc
Force Majeure

Swedish miner Boliden (BOL.ST) has declared force majeure on zinc deliveries to Europe due to a strike among Norwegian electrochemical industry workers, although some production is still running, a company spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The strike, which started on Monday, is targeting several electrochemical plants, including Boliden’s zinc smelter in Odda and Glencore’s (GLEN.L) nickel refinery in Kristiansand as well as aluminium output at Norsk Hydro (NHY.OL) and Alcoa (AA.N).

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/boliden-declares-force-majeure-european-zinc-deliveries-amid-norway-strike-2022-08-23/

Aug 25, 2022, Oregon, USA

COLUMBIA STEEL CASTING CO.
Steel Plant
Shutdown

Columbia Steel Casting Co., a Portland metal casting company that dates back more than a century, told state regulators Wednesday it plans to shut down operations at its North Portland foundry and lay off most of its workforce.

The company said 225 employees, many represented by two different unions, would be laid off beginning in October. The filing indicated the closure would be permanent. A letter to employees indicated that the company had sought a buyer to take over the foundry and maintain operations, but those efforts had failed so far.

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2022/08/portland-foundry-columbia-steel-to-close-after-121-years-lay-off-workers.html

 

Aug 25, 2022, Slovenia

Talum TLBR.LJ
Aluminum smelter
Reduced production

Slovenia’s Talum TLBR.LJ has cut production of primary aluminium to around 20% of its smelter capacity, a spokesperson said, joining other European firms forced to reduce output by sky-high energy costs.

Smelting aluminium is extremely energy intensive and power prices in Europe have increased up to tenfold since the start of 2021, making production at some sites unviable. TRDEBMc1, TRFRBMc1, FVBMc1

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/slovenias-talum-cuts-primary-aluminium-output-to-20-of-capacity

 

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Finger-Pointing Federal Reserve Admits They Can’t Tame Inflation, Blames Congress

BY STEPHEN GREEN

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2022/09/01/finger-pointing-federal-reserve-admits-they-cant-tame-inflation-blames-congress-n1625965;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

The Federal Reserve has some not-so-comforting inflation news for Americans: They can’t tame it, and it isn’t their fault.

The current “increase in inflation,” says a new report published by the Kansas City Federal Reserve, “could not have been averted by simply tightening monetary policy.”

The Fed was established in 1913 to promote economic stability by protecting the value of the dollar.

If they can’t do it, who can?

That’s where things get complicated, as you’ll see.

Skip this next excerpt if you like, because I’ll have a TL;DR version for you just below it.

The report, written by Leonardo Melosi of the Chicago Fed and John Hopkins economist Francesco Bianchi goes on to say:

Trend inflation is fully controlled by the monetary authority only when public debt can be successfully stabilized by credible future fiscal plans. When the fiscal authority is not perceived as fully responsible for covering the existing fiscal imbalances, the private sector expects that inflation will rise to ensure sustainability of national debt. As a result, a large fiscal imbalance combined with a weakening fiscal credibility may lead trend inflation to drift away from the long-run target chosen by the monetary authority.

Here’s the TL;DR: Inflation is raging because Congress is spending money we don’t have, is producing trillion-dollar deficits with no end in sight, and has no intention (much less an actual plan) of reining it in.

Michael Maharrey adds:

Make no mistake, the US government is spending far beyond its means. Although the budget deficit is shrinking as emergency pandemic spending programs wind down, the Biden administration continues to spend about half-a-trillion dollars every single month, piling onto the ever-ballooning deficit.

The current “plan” is that Congress will spend nearly 50% more than it will take in, month after month, year after year, and pretend that’s sustainable.

Meanwhile, our idiot POTUS puppet conjured up perhaps as much as another trillion dollars in transfer payments from the poorest Americans to the richest, cloaked as “college loan debt relief.”

Can he do that? Well, who’s there to stop him?

But back to inflation — and let’s forget about interest rates.

Here’s what that Federal Reserve paper doesn’t say: If Congress is the husband who’s drunk on spending, then the Fed is the codependent wife driving him safely home from the bar each night.

Congress could never get away with multi-trillion dollar deficits if they weren’t enabled by the mad money minters at the Federal Reserve.

Recommended: California Warns: Here Come the Blackouts, Don’t Charge Your Car

When Congress wanted to provide “relief” from the totally unnecessary COVID-19 lockdowns, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari went on 60 Minutes to assure people that the Fed has basically an “infinite amount of cash.”

Two years later, you can still feel the “assurance” every time you buy groceries.

The point is, every time Congress wanted to spend a couple trillion dollars we didn’t have, there was the Fed to monetize it — IE, roll the digital printing presses 24/7.

Here’s the Fed’s balance sheet since 2000:

Federal Reserve Balance Sheet

When the Fed owns assets — the bank’s balance sheet — it’s because they bought it. Where does the Fed get the money to buy things?

They print it. Convenient for them, no?

Since March of 2020, the Fed has bought $5,000,000,000,000 worth of assets using funny money. They just injected craploads of new dollars into circulation, in no small part to cover Congress’ largess.

Cut. It. Out.

So long as the Fed can print money at will, there’s absolutely nothing to stop Congress from spending money we don’t have.

The fate of the world’s largest economy is in the hands of a codependent couple. One has no interest in the welfare of the country as a whole, and the other apparently has no interest in taking responsibility for its part in letting that happen.

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