The European Central Bank raised interest rates a quarter of a percent claiming the effort will reduce energy prices. However, the primary cause of higher energy costs is energy policy not monetary policy.
As you can see, Europe is blaming the Iran conflict, and by extension blaming President Trump for inflicting higher oil and gas prices. Yet in reality, it was the European decision to cut themselves off of Russian oil and gas that led to their massive price increases.
In essence, if you ask yourself how far the EU collective is willing to go in order to combat the fictitious threat represented by Russia’s conflict with non-EU state Ukraine, it appears there is no upper limit. Rather than assist in a resolution of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, they are willing to keep fueling the war and diminishing their own economy in the process.
From the perspective of the welfare of the average European, none of this makes sense. This is bureaucratic ideology running amok.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank raised interest rates Thursday to cool inflation that is being fed by high oil prices from the Iran war. The decision was supported by a stronger-than-expected economy that suggests businesses can weather the higher borrowing costs.
The central bank for the 21 EU member countries that use the euro currency raised its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.50% at a meeting held in Berlin, away from the bank’s Frankfurt headquarters.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio continues to impress; however, his response to the Wall Street Journalist narrative engineer is absolutely brilliant.
Following visits to Colombia and Ecuador, Secretary Rubio is in Peru today to discuss the “Shield of The Americas”; a joint collaboration and intensely strategic partnership between the United States and Latin American countries to eliminate corruption, arrest narcotraffickers and remove all corrupt elements.
During a news conference with Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori, Secretary Rubio addressed the Peruvian people in both English and Spanish as he explained the specifics of the Shield and what the partnership entails. During the Q&A session of the press conference, a Wall Street Journal narrative engineer asked a question about sovereignty and the U.S. acting unilaterally if Peru didn’t agree to address the threat.
Essentially, Rubio responded by telling the journalist to stop working for the ‘Bureau of Imaginary Problems’. I have prompted the video at the point of the question and then provided the transcript from that moment to the end. The overall English audio-dub is not bad, so the entire presser is well worth watching:
[Transcript] – QUESTION: Vera Bergengruen with The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Secretary, you have stressed that the members of the Shield of the Americas are sovereign partners. But if one of these governments refuses to act against one of these groups that Washington deems a terrorist threat, does the U.S. reserve the right to act unilaterally, including here in Peru?
And President Fujimori: (Via interpreter) The question wanted more information about the partner of the Shield of the Americas. This will include to collaborate with the United States here in the country.
SECRETARY RUBIO: I’ll answer that question in English and Spanish. I don’t know if you guys heard it. Basically, the gist of the question is, if you’re a member of the Shield and refuse to act, does the United States – will the United States act unilaterally?
Well, if we were going to act unilaterally, why would we need the Shield? We’re not – if we were interested in acting unilaterally, we have the capacity to act unilaterally. The reason why we’re not doing it is because we want to do it with our partners. It’s the most effective way to do it. For us to confront transnational criminal groups, we need to do it inside the sovereign territory of countries, and we want to partner with those countries. It’s in their interest to do it. That is why we have the Shield. That is why the Shield exists.
People make up these problems that don’t exist. They’re getting ahead of themselves with these – these ridiculous sort of things that no one’s even contemplating. The bottom line is the reason why we have a Shield is because we choose to act in partnership with our partners. So it’s very simple. This is not very complicated; let me explain this to you. It’s a very, very simple equation. We have a country that says we want to defeat these criminals, these terrorists, these evil, despicable human beings; we want to defeat them. We want to work with America to defeat them. And so we say, of course we want to work – what should we say to them? No, we don’t want to work with you? No, we’d like you not to do anything about these groups?
Joseph diGenova confirmed to NBC, “it was an honor and a privilege to serve the president and the department.” He declined to elaborate on the reason he’s out. “I’m moving on,” diGenova said.
diGenova’s technical job description was “Counselor to the Attorney General.”
I would frame the matter in this context, ABC previously reported that Joseph diGenova abruptly quit the investigative taskforce following pressure from Main Justice to achieve actionable results and not endless process. In part because diGenova was aligned with the Special Government Employee John Solomon approach to investigative activity; which is to say, living a life inside the process as if the investigation itself was the ends, not the means.
From experience dealing with these folks, a Trumpian level of frustration is warranted. Remember, the generally accepted DC rule is that no investigative outcome that touches on political considerations will be released within 90-days of an election. diGenova was on a clock, the clock ran out, diGenova quit. It’s as simple as that. All very unfortunate.
[VIA ABC] – A Trump loyalist who had been tapped to oversee a sprawling and controversial DOJ conspiracy investigation targeting political foes of President Donald Trump abruptly resigned Thursday, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Joe diGenova submitted his resignation to Attorney General Todd Blanche amid what sources described as growing frustrations from Trump and senior DOJ officials regarding his work on the so-called “grand conspiracy” investigation based out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida.
Sources said diGenova had pitched himself to the president as someone who could potentially ramp up the conspiracy investigation, which thus far has resulted in no criminal prosecutions despite dozens of subpoenas issued over the past year to various officials involved in past investigations of Trump.
It is obvious now why former Ukraine Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, 35, has launched a weapons manufacturing business. On September 1, Fedorov together with Palantir CEO Alex Karp announced, “plans to directly develop combat robots, low-cost high-speed interception drones, and AI-based low-cost missiles through the new company.” {source}
Today, while signing a 100-year pact between Canada and Ukraine [SEE HERE], Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a $1 billion worth of investment and support for Ukraine, including the building of drones and weapons for Ukraine and Canadian defenses. [SEE HERE]
Canada will use the funds given to Ukraine and also used in collaboration for their own defense systems, in the accounting ledger to bring them into compliance with NATO military defense requirements. However, beyond the accounting gimmicks and tricks, there are reconstruction funds obligated by Carney to Zelenskyy that will be handled by former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland in her new position inside Ukraine.
Zelenskyy and Carney signed the 100-year pact during a ceremony earlier this afternoon. Carney is also helping Zelenskyy establish a more westernized information control system aligning Ukraine media operations in the same format as Canadian government control of media.
Approximately $350 million to deliver critical air defence interceptors through the United States’ Joint Ukraine Multinational Program – Services, Training and Articles Rapid Timeline (JUMPSTART). This mechanism leverages financial donations from Allies to aid Ukraine in addressing its evolving defence needs, including procuring critical equipment.
Nearly $23 million in funding to bolster the capabilities of Ukraine’s security architecture – helping detect, prevent, and respond to hybrid threats to civilian safety. This includes both support for Ukraine’s police, national guard, military, and frontline communities affected by Russia’s aggression, as well as funding to combat threats and disinformation.
Providing nearly $435 million in new loan guarantees to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Developmentto support energy security, including winter gas purchases and secondary energy generators to produce electricity during shortages.
Allocating $200 million in concessional loans through Export Development Canada to support Ukraine’s reconstruction. It will help Ukraine repair critical infrastructure by enabling Canadian companies to support critical projects.
Providing an additional $10 million to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, for a total of $100 million, to support Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, including the procurement and delivery of critical energy equipment to improve the resilience of Ukrainians to energy shocks.
Providing $2 million to the International Energy Agency (IEA) Joint Work Programme to support Ukraine’s Energy Resource Development. This funding will strengthen Ukraine’s energy resilience, provide regulatory support, and advance clean energy projects. {source}
I’m going to stick this to the top of the page while I continue sharing today’s significant news.
Today is Day #2 at the GOP midterm convention in Dallas, Texas. President Trump will deliver the keynote address later tonight. Livestream links are below:
Yesterday you might have seen explosive headlines around the world proclaiming the airplane carrying Volodymyr Zelenskyy from Moldova was hit or almost hit by a drone strike. It never happened. It was entirely FAKE NEWS.
This is, once again, why we continue to refer to this conflict as ‘World War Reddit’. Almost every report about the Russia-Ukraine conflict is fake, fabricated, made up out of nothing. The drone strike story was entirely manufactured. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre made it up.
The reality is the drone in question was detected inside Ukraine over 160km from where Zelenskyy was in Chisinau International Airport. Zelenskyy and/or Moldova itself was never under any threat.
“After 5:20 p.m. (local time, 4:20 p.m. Paris time), authorities confirmed that the drone had fallen and exploded about 160 km from Chisinau International Airport. Flight restrictions were then lifted and the Ukrainian president’s plane took off later than planned,” he added. A source in the Ukrainian presidency told AFP that Zelensky was at the slightest risk was “exaggerated”. {SOURCE}
To give you an idea where the drone was, see the map below.
Prime Minister Mark Carney really is a globalist piece of work. As Ukraine Prime Minister Volodymr Zelenskyy arrives in Alberta, Canada, to coordinate with the latest European leader Mark Carney, the remarks said in this brief greeting and introduction video are stunning in a geopolitical context.
It is obvious that Prime Minister Carney is trying to position himself as a decisionmaker in the outcome of the Russia-Ukraine conflict by pushing Zelenskyy even deeper into intransigent positions that will only lead to greater conflict.
Carney positions Canada squarely on the side of Ukraine and in violent opposition to Russia. Not coincidentally, this is the exact opposite ¹position of the United States, and that is a feature not a flaw.
Carney really does view himself as European first and foremost. He even remarks that Canada in general, and he as the Prime Minister specifically, will ensure that Ukraine advances to become a European member state. How, exactly, does he as a North American leader expect to make this happen?
Worse still, Prime Minister Carney injects himself into the Ukraine-Russia negotiations by stating his intention to ensure that Ukraine becomes a member of NATO. Ukraine not becoming a NATO member state is a hardline for Russia, and that aspect is deeply enmeshed in the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. led discussions with Russia and Ukraine.
Carney is putting his nation and himself into direct conflict with President Trump and the goals/objectives of peace.
No one outside of Canada gives a tinkers’ damn about Canada giving more money to Ukraine; however, when Carney directly aligns his military with Ukraine and pledges to support Zelenskyy with military hardware, NORAD defense missiles, things change. Do the Canadian people really want to get pulled into this quagmire as an outcome of Mark Carney’s grand aspirations to become a protectorate of the European Union?
Carney is playing a very dangerous game, and I hope the Canadian people can see just how far over his skis he is putting them.
Watch these remarks carefully and contemplate just how much Carney is positioning Canada to be a direct enemy of the United States. This will not end well. SEE BELOW:
In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.
This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †
This is one spectacular impromptu presser by Secretary of State Marco Rubio following discussions with Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa at Carondelet Palace. All of it is direct, deliberate, targeted and without any reserved remarks held back due to regional sensibilities.
Secretary Rubio emphatically outlined how the United States is going to work with Latin-America officials to remove narco-terrorism in all its forms from the region like “cutting out a cancer.” Rubio walks through the issues and the importance of direct confrontation, including the use of the U.S. military, the U.S. intelligence agencies and every element of power at our disposal to help leaders like President Daniel Noboa fight the corrupt gangs and domestic terrorist networks within the region. Rubio’s strength of statements is exceptional.
These remarks come on the heels of the State Dept today designating corrupt Ecuadorian officials as facilitators of Foreign Terrorist Organizations [SEE HERE]. He also praised the government of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa as being “the most involved and aggressive partner” the US has had in its work dismantling criminal networks and “bringing people to justice that have never been brought to justice before”. Rubio outlined all of it, soup to nuts. This is a must watch presser:
STATE DEPT – […] Pablo Ramírez Erazo, former director of Ecuador’s Prison Authority; Wilman Terán Carillo, former judge on Ecuador’s National Court of Justice; and Ronaldo Xavier Guerrero Cruz, former criminal judge on Ecuador’s Judicial Council, each significantly abused their former government positions by accepting bribes from gangs linked to narco-terrorist organizations. In exchange for bribes, these officials interfered with judicial, electoral, or public processes on behalf of Ecuadorian gangs linked to designated FTOs Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Los Choneros, and Los Lobos.
Pablo Bolívar Muentes Alarcón, former member of the Ecuadorian National Assembly; María Fabiola Gallardo Ramia, former President of the Guayas Provincial Court; Johann Marfetán Medina, former criminal judge of the Guayas Provincial Court; and Mayra Carolina Salazar Merchán, former public relations officer of the Guayas Provincial Court, each abused their former public positions by accepting bribes in exchange for interfering with judicial processes to benefit narco-terrorist organizations like Los Choneros and the Sinaloa Cartel, and their criminal facilitators. (SOURCE)
As you can see, Europe is blaming the Iran conflict, and by extension blaming President Trump for inflicting higher oil and gas prices. Yet in reality, it was the European decision to cut themselves off of Russian oil and gas that led to their massive price increases.
