Tucker Carlson sits down for a sobering discussion with Col Douglas Macgregor about the war in Ukraine and the current status of the conflict. {Direct Rumble Link}

As Carlson outlines the looming possibility that NATO is going to have to enter the war because the Ukraine military is slowing being degraded, Macgregor outlines the technical and strategic issues the U.S/NATO forces would have with a war in eastern Europe.

After outlining the strategic flaws and problems the U.S. would face in a direct confrontation with Russia, the discussion then shifts to ask the obvious question: What comes now? What are the goals and objectives for Russia, now? WATCH:

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I swear this guy has people looking over my research shoulder.  Tucker Carlson travels to Hungary, home of PM Viktor Orban, for an interview with the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić.  Carlson then shares a preview of the upcoming conversation {Direct Rumble Link}.

We have discussed Hungary quite a bit, because Viktor Orban has been a very public thorn in the side of Joe Biden, the CIA and USAID (same/same), along with the US State Dept. It makes sense that Orban, via Budapest, would be a safe host for a discussion between Tucker Carlson and Aleksandar Vucic. WATCH:

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I wouldn’t normally write a post like this, but WE ARE NOT going to find this level of ground reporting anywhere in U.S. media.   As you might be aware, I have been doing extensive research on the Russian economy specifically with the outcome of western sanctions.

In his video a Youtuber I follow visited a local supermarket, similar to a WalMart Super Center to share information for his USA followers.

Dima Dear, a remarkably nice young man, lives in St Petersburg, Russia (formerly Leningrad), and he shares various experiences with his audience at their request.  There is a lot of U.S interest as people following his story are starting to realize life in Russia is not what western media portray.

If you are familiar with USA grocery prices, what Dima shares in this ground report is stunning from a U.S. perspective.  If you watch this livestream, keep in mind that 100 rubles equals $1.00.  350 rubles is $3.50.  Additionally for weighted products 1kg equals 2.2 lbs.   So generally speaking, if something is 100 rubles/kg it is $1 for two pounds.

Example from the video:

•Lean ground beef at 329 rubles/kg is less than $1.65/lb.
•Bacon at 250 rubles/kg is less than $1.25/lb.
•20 eggs are 139 rubles or $1.39.
•Boneless skinless chicken breast $4 for 4lbs.
•Typical Bagged salad mixes .79¢ each. etc.

The wild part is that in Russia they are getting worried these prices are too high.  👀

The average rent for a nicely furnished 2-bedroom modern apartment in St Pete Russia is around $500/month.  Something akin to downtown Manhattan. Including rent, utilities, food, transportation, personal items and purchases, a Russian citizen can live very comfortably, remarkably comfortably, on an income of around $1,200 to $1,500/month.  In downtown St Pete which is considered a more expensive place to live.

Put that into a USA middle-class perspective and evaluate the impact of western sanctions against the average Russian cost of living.

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Some economic data released by the land of the rising sun points to a larger global weakness in manufacturing demand.   Within the data year-over-year exports from Japan fell in July by 0.3%, which is the first time since 2021 the contraction was noted.

Digging a little deeper, the weakness in Japanese exports is driven primarily by a decline in exports to China of 14.3% in July, which follows a 10.9% decline in June.  Japan is a component supplier to China, which would indicate the demand for Chinese products globally is substantially less than Beijing has previously admitted.

That said, Japan’s direct export of finished goods to the U.S. actually increased 13.5%, mostly driven by the export of electric vehicles.

However, 13.5% is identical to the overall decrease in Japanese imports.

Essentially, component parts to China are down, but completed finished goods to the U.S. are up.  Overall, the results from Japan point to a soft overall global economic status, the result of continued contraction of Western economic activity.

TOKYO, Aug 17 (Reuters) – Japan’s exports fell in July for the first time in nearly 2-1/2 years, dragged down by faltering demand for light oil and chip-making equipment, underlining concerns about a global recession as demand in key markets such as China weaken.

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Using the X platform, formerly called Twitter, Tucker Carlson interviews Robert Kennedy Jr about his campaign, U.S. foreign policy, Ukraine, Russia, NATO, Bio-Labs and who killed his uncle. {Direct Rumble Link}

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Several people have made queries about the current state of our national economic condition against the backdrop of disconnected data points that seemingly conflict. Here’s my review.

July and August are key months to gauge the prior six months of U.S consumer positioning.

Why?

Because all advance purchase orders for the U.S. holiday season are made in May, June and July for inventory builds and delivery schedules for September.  The decisions made by purchasing officers in late spring and early summer, reflect their predictive analysis for the holiday season.

Inventories are evaluated, critical financial discussions are held, and orders are placed for September arrival and distribution.  This predictive activity is what we see in the July and August data that flows from the global, multinational and shipping corporations who facilitate the transfer of the goods.  Check what is happening in distribution, and you can see what eventually creates the boxcar effect in the supply chain that ultimately leads to shuttered manufacturing.

Those who are involved in the business of shipping goods are signaling the flares around the state of the consumer economy and what will happen.  At the same time, the wording is almost hilarious in this era of great pretending.  Instead of saying ordinary words like “poor sales results for durable goods,” the parseltongue calls sales, “destocking.”  Example:  “CEO Vincent Clerc said he saw no sign that the destocking which has curbed global trade activity would end this year.”

Global shipping company Maersk is warning that shipping volume is low because warehouse inventories are high.  The goods are unsold.

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What do Pakistan’s Imran Khan, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, USA’s Donald Trump, Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Mexico’s Lopez-Obrador all have in common?

First, they are all strong nationalists. Second, the U.S. government has either influenced the removal and judicial incarceration or is currently seeking the removal and judicial incarceration of each of them.

As the U.S. State Dept. (Tony Blinken), USAID (Samantha Power) and CIA (Director Burns) conduct influence operations around the world to advance the interests of the multinationals; newly released diplomatic cables from inside Pakistan reveal the U.S. influence effort to remove former Pakistan President Imran Khan.

It sucks to wake up every day and accept the USA are the bad guys.

THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT encouraged the Pakistani government in a March 7, 2022, meeting to remove Imran Khan as prime minister over his neutrality on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to a classified Pakistani government document obtained by The Intercept.

The meeting, between the Pakistani ambassador to the United States and two State Department officials, has been the subject of intense scrutiny, controversy, and speculation in Pakistan over the past year and a half, as supporters of Khan and his military and civilian opponents jockeyed for power.

The political struggle escalated on August 5 when Khan was sentenced to three years in prison on corruption charges and taken into custody for the second time since his ouster. Khan’s defenders dismiss the charges as baseless. The sentence also blocks Khan, Pakistan’s most popular politician, from contesting elections expected in Pakistan later this year.

One month after the meeting with U.S. officials documented in the leaked Pakistani government document, a no-confidence vote was held in Parliament, leading to Khan’s removal from power. The vote is believed to have been organized with the backing of Pakistan’s powerful military. Since that time, Khan and his supporters have been engaged in a struggle with the military and its civilian allies, whom Khan claims engineered his removal from power at the request of the U.S.

The text of the Pakistani cable, produced from the meeting by the ambassador and transmitted to Pakistan, has not previously been published. The cable, known internally as a “cypher,” reveals both the carrots and the sticks that the State Department deployed in its push against Khan, promising warmer relations if Khan was removed, and isolation if he was not. (read more, including cable)

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Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni sounds slightly less nationalist and slightly more globalist in this interview as she discusses the current challenges for Italy within the European Union.  With a large focus on the African continent, mostly driven by root cause illegal immigration, Prime Minister Meloni outlines how supporting the African economic needs are a pragmatic solution to the outflow of migrants. {Direct Rumble Link} – WATCH:

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National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan represents the UniParty outlook from Washington DC.

From the position of influence and affluence, both Republican and Democrat policy makers are aligned in a unified outlook toward foreign policy and geopolitical affairs. Washington DC does not have two competing political parties on these issues; there is complete alignment and unidirectional focus.  Never forget that.

Before getting to the Sullivan points, I’m going to shift the discussion slightly, back to the core and explain something that might help provide context for issues from China to Russia and beyond.

Everyone in Washington DC agrees with the agencies and institutions that create the national security state.  The intelligence apparatus and the national security agencies frame the “interests of the U.S. government.” The politicians never push back against those agencies and the strategic policies they present as a solution.  This is important to accept as you contemplate the continued push only in one interventionist direction, regardless of American public opinion.

The only countervailing force that has ever entered the modern system against this dynamic was President Donald Trump. That is why the “system”, consisting of both Republicans and Democrats, together with every institution the system controls, was/is/are unified to repel Trump.

This hive mindset is critical to understand, because the central conflict, the perspective that Trump represents a threat, originates from whether the combined institutional administrative state is correct in their assessments or not.

The “system,” an assembly of career ideologues who define themselves by their sense of self-importance, never believe they are wrong about anything; therefore, every means is justified in their mind.  Any person who opposes their worldview is a threat.  Every threat then becomes a target.

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This is not good. Apparently, the 20,000 additional troops sent to Europe last year bringing the total to 100,000 are not enough.

Earlier today Joe Biden signed an order activating 3,000 reserve troops to be ready for deployment as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve.  [White House Announcement]

WHITE HOUSE – “By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 121 and 12304 of title 10, United States Code, I hereby determine that it is necessary to augment the active Armed Forces of the United States for the effective conduct of Operation Atlantic Resolve in and around the United States European Command’s area of responsibility.  

In furtherance of this operation, under the stated authority, I hereby authorize the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, under their respective jurisdictions, to order to active duty any units, and any individual members not assigned to a unit organized to serve as a unit of the Selected Reserve, or any member in the Individual Ready Reserve mobilization category and designated as essential under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned, not to exceed 3,000 total members at any one time, of whom not more than 450 may be members of the Individual Ready Reserve, as they deem necessary, and to terminate the service of those units and members ordered to active duty.” (link) 

Politico has further information from the Pentagon:

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