In a statement today from the White House, Joe Biden has pledged “to continue providing Ukraine with the support needed to defend itself, including advanced air defense systems.” [link]  The statement comes as a result of a phone call between Biden and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Two days ago, a bridge between Russia and Crimea was bombed by Ukraine causing a section of the bridge to collapse.  Yesterday, Vladimir Putin retaliated with missile strikes against several cities in Ukraine and key infrastructure for energy.

The U.S. State Dept and CIA are continuing to lead and coordinate the Ukraine war effort with U.S. personnel in place to organize operations. [link]

Like the bombing of the Nordstream pipeline, it is highly likely the Kerch Strait bridge targeting was planned by Ukraine and the United States.  However, we are not permitted to speak about these coordinated efforts. The bottom line is the U.S. Biden administration going further toward direct engagement with Russia via the proxy state of Ukraine.

KYIV, Ukraine — President Vladimir V. Putin unleashed a far-reaching series of missile strikes against cities across Ukraine on Monday, hitting the heart of Kyiv and other areas far from the front line, in the broadest assault against civilians since the early days of Russia’s invasion.

Mr. Putin said the strikes on almost a dozen cities were retaliation for a blast that destroyed sections of a bridge linking Russia to the Crimean Peninsula, though they also seemed intended to appease hard-liners in Russia who had been openly critical over the prosecution of the war.

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The economic data coming in the past week is in alignment with prior forecasts.  Bottom line, energy driven inflation has collapsed consumer spending, inventories climbing, vendors are cancelling orders, and this is peak season for transpacific shipping- which has now recorded the most rapid drop in history.

A single transpacific container shipment cost $19,000 in 2021, then $14,500 in 2022 as the intentional slowdown began.  Now it’s only $3,900 as entire fleets of cargo shipments are cancelled due to lack of demand by U.S. purchasers.

Folks, get ready…. because it’s not going to get better.  Prior farm costs, an outcome of energy price increases, are now reaching the supply chain. Food costs will continue increasing throughout the holiday season.

(Wall Street Journal) […] Trans-Pacific shipping rates have plummeted roughly 75% from year-ago levels. The transportation industry is grappling with weaker demand as big retailers cancel orders with vendors and step up efforts to cut inventories. FedEx Corp. recently said it would cancel flights and park cargo planes because of a sharp drop in shipping volumes. On Thursday, Nike Inc. said it was sitting on 65% more inventory in North America than a year earlier and would resort to markdowns.

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Tucker Carlson accurately outlined the most likely suspect of the sabotage against Russia’s Nord Stream I and II pipeline today.  When you consider the media blitz by Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, last weekend (ABC, CNN, NBC and CBS); specifically pointing out the U.S. position against Russia; it is almost a certainty that U.S. action was behind the underwater detonation of explosives to take out Nord Stream pipeline system.  WATCH:

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Tucker Carlson used his opening monologue tonight to discuss the era of The Great Pretending, the disconnect between the ideology driven goals of the politicians and the people they are supposed to represent.

Using Giorgia Meloni as an example of a person who refused to play the pretending game, Carlson notes how Meloni won an easy victory by speaking plain truth to the Italian electorate.  WATCH:

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The National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA) is estimating it will cost Wisconsin residents more than $1,200 to heat an average home this winter, an increase of more than 17% compared to last winter.  [Data Link Here]

Roughly 50% of Wisconsin residents use natural gas for home heating.  Natural Gas heating costs are increasing 34% this year (vs last winter, 2021). That’s also a 66.1% increase over the winter of 2020.

[Source Here]

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Many people believe the people who are in charge of the economic policies destroying the middle-class have no idea how the Main Street economy actually works.  I disagree, I believe they know exactly what they are doing and why they are doing it.

From one perspective, inflation is a statistic that comes from a bureaucratic system quantifying prices.  They have no concept of how policy-driven price increases hurt consumers or working-class families.  Everything in their sphere is academic and esoteric.

However, that said, those who have designed policy know there are benefits to inflation, like lowering economic activity that supports their lowered energy production policies. Inflation also helps them pay their way out of the spending they create that drives the inflation. Make money worth less and debt is lessened, or so the theory is told.

Joe Biden made remarks today that “inflation” as he looks at it, is defined as the amount of money in a paycheck.  WATCH:

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The bizarre part, from the perspective of normal democracy, is the open admission by EU Commissar Ursula von der Leyen that she intends to punish the Italian people if they elect the wrong political leadership to run their country.  Yes, she literally threatened to punish Italy if the voters elect an Italy-first candidate tomorrow.

Having previously sanctioned Hungary and Poland for electing heads of state that are nationalist minded, Ursula von der Leyen warned the Italian people she will take the same action if Italians defy the will of the European Union collective. When asked about EU citizens demanding their elected leaders listen to their specific and unique economic needs, the EU President Stated {Direct Rumble Link}:

“We will see the result of the vote in Italy. If things go in a difficult direction — and I’ve spoken about Hungary and Poland — we have the tools.”

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The remarks come from Commissar von der Leyen because a rising nationalist star in Italy named Giorgia Meloni is anticipated to win victory.  Meloni is an unapologetic nationalist who believes in Italy-first.  As a result, the EU media consider Meloni an ultra-far-right-wing politician.   However, the scale of public support for Meloni has positioned her to become Italy’s first female prime minister in the election tomorrow.

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This is epic. This is like listening to Grandpa rail against the Federal Reserve and central banks without realizing the motive behind what the Federal Reserve and central banks are doing.   This is the best example to date of the misconception behind ‘The Great Pretending.’

U of Penn, Wharton Business School professor of finance, Jeremy Siegel, rails against Jerome Powell and the central bankers for raising interest rates into a collapsing western global economy.  Everything, everything he outlines, is essentially accurate about the damage being done to western economies. …. Except the biggest realization and acceptance is missing…. It’s being done by design.  The people he outlines are not making a mistake, they are doing it on purpose.  First, WATCH:

The U.S, EU, CA, AU and western economic central bankers did not respond sooner to the inflation crisis (2021) because the central banks were waiting for the politicians in their systems to establish the energy policy that their pre-planned action was intended to support.  [<- Reread that if needed].

Once the collective Build Back Better/Climate Change energy policy was established (2021), and after the resulting inflation created the justification for the central bank action, then -and only then- did the central bankers trigger the next phase of raising interest rates (2022) to reduce western economic activity and support the Build Back Better agenda.

All of this was by design.  None of this was by mistake.  The process, strategy and timing were all part of the Build Back Better agenda.  Purposefully created inflation, the result of the energy policy, was planned and used by the central banks to justify the rate increases.  It was a self-fulfilling prophecy built into the Build Back Better roadmap.

Now these ‘bankers’ are trying to collapse the economy to meet the reduction in energy production.  The bankers are supporting the political motives of the politicians.  This is all intentional.  Jeremy Siegel misses this core and fundamental aspect.   However, some of the lesser ideological western leaders (politicians) are starting to get ‘cold feet.’

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Finally, a finance and economic discussion that touches on the critical component to inflation that no one dare say, or else they suffer political backlash.  Although Mick Mulvaney, Austin Goolsbee and to a lesser extent, Rick Santelli, had to maintain the acceptable ‘pretending’ approach, parsing words carefully, at least this is one of the first times where the supply side (energy driven) issue of global inflation was discussed.

As the group collectively admitted there is no other option other than a “hard landing” that collapses the economy from the current Fed approach; additionally, Rick Santelli, blasts the relationship between the political central banks and the global leaders who have pressured this dynamic.  WATCH:

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Still pretending, but lessened a little.  Hey, progress.

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National Grid and Eversource are the two major electricity providers for Massachusetts. Both companies have notified the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) that rates for electricity are about to skyrocket.

National Grid has announced a 64% increase in electricity rates effective November 1st. While Eversource is on a different schedule, they too have announced an increase in natural gas rates of 38% on November 1st and the January 1, 2023, electricity rate will be announced in the next few weeks. Eversource is anticipated to announce a similar rate increase to National Grid. WATCH:

Both major power companies rely on natural gas to create electricity.  Thanks to Joe Biden’s energy policies, which includes the massive export of natural gas in LNG form, domestic prices for natural gas have skyrocketed and will continue increasing as production is further shut down by regulation.

We are helping the EU survive their sanction driven energy crisis by sending them natural gas (LNG format), while simultaneously forcing Americans to pay more in order to maintain the EU export.   Everything about the process is FUBAR.

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