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Day one of former President Donald Trump’s so-called “hush-money” trial concluded early on Monday after Judge Juan Merchan said that an alternate juror can visit a dentist appointment (despite previously telling Trump he would have attend every day without fail - missing his son's graduation - or face jail).

Judge Merchan had previously planned to adjourn the trial at 2 p.m. ET due to the Passover holiday. But he said Monday that it would adjourn at 12:30 p.m.

He previously said he would end at 2 p.m. on Tuesday for the holiday.

Jack Phillips reports, via The Epoch Times, that the early adjournment came after prosecutors and defense lawyers make their respective cases for why the former president should be convicted or acquitted. In the case, President Trump is accused of falsifying business payments during the 2016 campaign by allegedly paying a former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to bury negative stories.

At issue were claims from an adult film performer, Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, that she was engaged in a relationship with the former president. President Trump has denied her claims and has pled not guilty.

‘Use Your Common Sense’

An attorney for the former president spoke to the jury, asking them to “use your common sense” when they assess the case.

“We’re New Yorkers. It’s why we’re here,” Todd Blanche said.

“There will be a very swift not guilty verdict” if they decide based on the evidence involved, he said.

“You told all of us, you told the court, you told me, you will put aside whatever views you have of President Trump,” Mr. Blanche told the jury as he wrapped up his arguments.

“The 34 counts, ladies and gentlemen, are really just pieces of paper,” Mr. Blanche said of the indictment. “None of this was a crime.”

Mr. Blanche was critical of Ms. Clifford, saying that she has earned income and fame from her allegations about an alleged affair that occurred in 2006.

“She also wrote a book. She was paid for a documentary,” Mr. Blanche says of Ms. Clifford, adding that courts have sided with President Trump’s legal disputes with Ms. Clifford.

As for Mr. Cohen, Mr. Blanche accused him of profiting off his criticism of President Trump.

“His entire financial livelihood depends on President Trump’s destruction,” he said of Mr. Cohen.

“You cannot make a serious decision about President Trump relying on the words of Michael Cohen.”

“He has a goal, an obsession with getting President Trump,” Mr. Blanche said of Mr. Cohen, who is expected to be a witness. “I submit to you that he cannot be trusted.”

But prosecutors claimed on April 22 that the case wasn’t just about the payments to Mr. Cohen. They argued that it constituted election fraud.

‘Orchestrated a Criminal Scheme’

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo, in a bid to reframe the narrative, said that President Trump, Mr. Cohen, and former National Enquirer boss David Pecker “formed a conspiracy ... to influence the presidential election.”

“The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election,” he alleged.

“Then he covered up that criminal conspiracy by lying in his New York business records over and over and over again.”

Calling it “election fraud,” he provided several instances when the three allegedly conspired to block negative press about President Trump from becoming public before the 2016 contest.

The plan was  allegedly hatched at Trump Tower shortly after the then-presidential candidate had announced his candidacy in what Mr. Colangelo is referring to as the “Trump Tower conspiracy.”

During that meeting, prosecutors say, Mr. Pecker agreed to “help the defendant’s campaign by working as the eyes and the ears of the campaign.”

Mr. Colangelo, senior counsel to the district attorney, told jurors that although the payments to Mr. Cohen, then Trump’s personal lawyer, were labeled as legal fees pursuant to a retainer agreement, there was no retainer and there were no legal services.

“The defendant was paying him back for an illegal payment to Stormy Daniels on the eve of the election. The defendant falsified those business records because he wanted to conceal his and others’ criminal conduct,” he said.

'Peacefully Protest'

In a Truth Social post before he left for the courthouse on Monday morning, President Trump wrote that he wonders why pro-Palestinian demonstrators are allowed to “roam the Cities, scream, shout, sit, block traffic, enter buildings, not get permits, and basically do whatever they want” while pro-Trump backers are “rudely and systematically shut down and ushered off to far away ‘holding areas,’ essentially denying them their Constitutional Rights.”

“America Loving Protesters should be allowed to protest at the front steps of Courthouses, all over the Country,” the former president wrote on social media, making reference to demonstrators who have appeared in front of the Manhattan courthouse where his trial is being held.

Those protests are “allowed for those who are destroying our Country on the Radical Left, a two tiered system of justice,” he added. “Free Speech and Assembly has been ‘CHILLED’ for USA SUPPORTERS.”

Later, he urged his supporters to “GO OUT AND PEACEFULLY PROTEST. RALLY BEHIND MAGA. SAVE OUR COUNTRY!”

When entering the courthouse on Monday, President Trump again criticized the case during a brief interview with reporters.

“I’m here instead of being able to be in Pennsylvania and Georgia and lots of other places campaigning and it’s very unfair,” he said.

A small group of anti-Trump protesters was seen outside the courthouse ahead of opening statements, chanting, “No one is above the law,” while members of the media and public lined up to get inside, according to reporters on the scene. It’s unclear if any pro-Trump demonstrators heeded the former president’s call on social media.

By Jesse Colombo of BullionStar

Since early-March, precious metals have launched one of their sharpest rallies in decades. Gold surged by 16% and silver by 26%, which are significant moves for safe-haven assets — especially considering that it played out over such a short time period. During this rally, gold has received the lion’s share of the attention because it has been hitting all-time highs, while silver has yet to exceed its 2021 high of $30.13 — let alone its all-time high of $49.81 that was reached all the way back in 2011. Though silver has been languishing for the past several years, there are numerous reasons why it may be on the verge of one of its most powerful bull markets in history.

Silver Demand is Growing Rapidly

Though silver is most known for its use in jewelry, silverware, coinage, and bullion products, the largest source of silver demand is actually industrial in nature. Thanks to its unique physical, chemical, and electrical properties, silver is used in electronics, solar panels, automobiles, photography, medicine, the chemical industry, and much more.

Sources of silver demand. Source: GFMS Definitive, Metals Focus, The Silver Institute, UBS

The growing number of uses for silver combined with ongoing global economic growth is causing a substantial increase in industrial demand for silver. According to the latest report from the Silver Institute, industrial demand for silver grew by a solid 11% to a record of 654.4 million ounces in 2023, which came on the heels of a record year in 2022. Silver used for photovoltaic (PV) applications skyrocketed by 64%, which caused electrical & electronics demand to increase by 20% in turn. As the push for so-called “green" energy continues, photovoltaic silver demand should keep growing at a rapid rate. The Silver Institute predicts a 9% increase in industrial demand for silver in 2024.

The steady increase of industrial demand over the past decade is driving overall silver demand higher:

There is a Structural Silver Deficit

Since 2021, there has been a deficit of silver due to demand exceeding supply — a condition that has helped to boost prices and should continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Strong demand combined with tepid supply increases led to a deficit of 184.3 million ounces in 2023 and are expected to lead to an even worse deficit of 215.3 million troy ounces in 2024.

The chart below shows how the silver deficit has grown significantly over the past few years:

While silver demand has grown at a healthy clip over the past four years, the overall supply of silver has been flat for more than a decade:

Global mine production of silver has actually been declining for the past decade:

(Read our recent report about the structural silver deficit and why it is likely to persist and even intensify.)

Above-Ground Supplies Are Dwindling

The silver deficit of the past few years is causing the above-ground supply of silver to dwindle at a rapid rate:

The total London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) silver inventory decreased by 30% from its peak in 2021:

The total COMEX silver inventory (a measure of U.S. silver inventories) fell by 27% since 2021:

The total silver inventory on China’s Shanghai Gold Exchange fell by an incredible 73%:

The total silver inventory on China’s other main silver trading venue, the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), also fell precipitously:

The Technical Picture

For the past year, silver had been chopping up and down aimlessly until its sudden surge that came practically out of nowhere:

A look at the five-year chart shows that there is a major resistance zone overhead from $28 to $30, which is what silver struggled to surpass during the last bull run in 2020 and 2021. If silver can close above that zone in a convincing manner with heavy volume, that would signal that another bull run is likely imminent.

The long-term silver chart going back to the year 2000 shows something very interesting: a triangle pattern has been forming for over a decade as uptrend lines and downtrend lines converge together. Patterns like this often result in very powerful moves when the asset finally breaks out from it. Amazingly, silver has recently broken out from its long-term triangle, which means that a powerful bull market is likely ahead that could take silver to its prior 2011 highs of approximately $50 and even higher after that!

Silver has been rising in sympathy with gold after it broke above its critical $2,000 to $2,100 resistance zone that acted as a price ceiling from 2020 until recently. Gold’s breakout signifies that a new bull market has begun, which should help bring silver along for the ride. (There are many parallels between gold’s resistance zone and silver’s current $28 to $30 resistance zone, and silver should really shine once it finally breaks through.)

Mainstream Investors & Journalists Missed Silver’s Rally

What is also worth noting is how gold and silver’s surprising recent rally has received very little mainstream attention by a press that is much more enamored with hot AI stocks as well as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that have recently benefited from the U.S. government’s approval of a number of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which has resulted in tremendous inflows from institutional investors and retail investors alike.

As the chart below shows, investors have pulled a significant amount of funds from silver ETFs in order to re-invest in Bitcoin ETFs, which is ironic considering its timing shortly before silver’s liftoff (and is confirmation of contrarian investing principles). The continuation of silver’s bull market will likely lead to funds flowing back into silver ETFs, providing additional fuel for the rally.

Silver is Inexpensive by Historical Standards

Precious metals analysts keep an eye on the gold-to-silver price ratio to get a sense of whether silver is undervalued or overvalued relative to gold. Silver is approximately 17.5 times more common than gold in earth’s crust, which is one of the reasons why silver has been cheaper than gold throughout history. During the Roman empire, the gold-to-silver price ratio was set at 12 to 1 by government decree. In much of Europe throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the gold-to-silver  price ratio was set at similar levels. In 1792, the newly formed U.S. government set the ratio at 15:1.

When the gold-to-silver ratio differs greatly from its long-term historical average, there are reasons to believe that something is amiss and that the ratio will eventually revert back to its historical average. In recent decades, the gold-to-silver price ratio has ranged from approximately 50 to 100, which is much higher than its historical average.

The current gold-to-silver ratio is a lofty 84.3, which means that silver is extremely undervalued relative to gold based on historical standards. If the ratio were to revert to its average since 1915 of 52.8 (without any price increase in gold), that would result in silver being priced at a respectable $45 an ounce. If the ratio were to revert to 15:1, as it was in the U.S. in 1792, that would result in silver trading at $158.87 an ounce — an incredible 464% increase from the current price! For this reason, many investors expect silver to perform even better than gold during the coming precious metals bull market and revaluation that they expect to occur when our unsustainable global paper money system collapses (as I discussed in a recent piece). Any price increases in gold would amplify price increases in silver, if the gold-to-silver ratio reverts.

Adjusting silver’s price for inflation also shows that the precious metal is quite cheap by historical standards. At the peak of the Hunt brothers-induced silver spike in 1980, silver hit an inflation-adjusted price of $143.54. At the peak of the quantitative easing-driven bull market in 2011, silver hit an inflation-adjusted price of $67.50. At the time of writing, silver is trading at a mere $28.30, which means that it has much further to run if it is going to catch up with prior inflation-adjusted prices.

Another way to determine whether silver is undervalued or overvalued is to compare it to various money supply measures. The chart below shows the ratio of silver’s price to the United States M2 money supply, which is helpful for seeing if silver is keeping up with money supply growth, outpacing it, or lagging it. The M2 money supply is a measure of all notes and coins that are in circulation, checking accounts, travelers’ checks, savings deposits, time deposits under $100,000, and shares in retail money market mutual funds.

If silver’s price greatly outpaces money supply growth, there is a heightened chance of a strong correction. If silver’s price lags money supply growth, however, there is a good chance that silver will soon experience of period of strength. Since the mid-2010s, silver has slightly lagged M2 money supply growth, which could set it up for a period of strength due to the other factors discussed in this piece.

Silver is Rising Despite the Strong Dollar & Interest Rates

What is particularly impressive about the recent rally in silver and gold is the fact that it occurred even while the U.S. dollar was strengthening against other major currencies. Precious metals and the U.S. dollar have a long-established inverse relationship, which means that strength in the dollar typically causes weakness in precious metals, while dollar weakness typically causes precious metals prices to rise.

The chart below compares silver (the top chart) to the U.S. Dollar Index (the bottom chart) and shows how action in the dollar often causes an opposite trend in silver. Silver’s surge in the face of the strengthening dollar is a sign of strength and staying power. (I need to clarify, however, that the U.S. dollar’s exchange rate is strengthening against other fiat currencies; this does not mean that the dollar is getting stronger in terms of purchasing power or against sound money like gold and silver. All fiat currencies are being debased as a function

On a similar note, silver and gold are also rallying even though global interest rates have been rising at the same time due to inflation proving to be stubborn, and even at risk of increasing again. Rising interest rates are typically bearish for precious metals because they don’t pay any yield, but silver and gold appear to be unfazed this time, which is an additional sign of strength and staying power. of time but they still fluctuate against each other in the global foreign exchange market.)

How Inflation is Contributing to Silver’s Recent Rise

Another important factor driving the recent precious metals rally is stubbornly high inflation that is not easing as quickly as economists and investors had expected and may actually be worsening instead. Gold and silver are inflation hedges and are very sensitive to changing inflation expectations. U.S. year-over-year inflation — as measured by Consumer Price Index (CPI) — increased at a 3.5% rate in March, which immediately caused traders to scale back their expectations for Federal Funds Rate cuts this year. March’s inflation rate represents an acceleration from February’s 3.2% increase.

The sharp increase in commodities prices over the past few months is further confirmation that inflation may be accelerating:

Crude oil has rallied over the past few weeks:

U.S. wholesale gasoline prices have increased by an alarming 30% in the past two months and are one of the most psychologically important and visible indicators of inflation in the minds of consumers:

China’s Economic Crisis is Helping Precious Metals

Though most non-Chinese are unaware, China is experiencing a serious economic crisis as well as a property and stock market crash after at least two decades of almost non-stop boom times. Unfortunately, that economic boom was actually an unsustainable bubble that was enabled by

and reckless speculation, and the chickens are now coming home to roost. China’s imploding property and stock market bubbles have resulted in at least hundreds of billions of dollars worth of losses — including

alone from the country’s property tycoons.

As Chinese investors lost faith in the property and stock market, they have shifted their attention to gold, which has earned a stellar reputation in China over thousands of years. When modern financial markets and investments sour, Chinese people seek refuge in gold bullion, which is tried-and-true. Chinese investors have clamored into the gold market with such intensity that they have pushed the price of locally-traded gold to a premium against the international price of gold.

In addition, Chinese investors recently piled into a domestic gold stock fund causing its premium to surge 30% until trading was halted to calm the frenzy and protect investors. Around the same time, the Shanghai Gold Exchange raised silver margin requirement from 10% to 12% after silver futures spiked. Though everyday Chinese investors tend to focus more on gold rather than silver, their heavy buying has helped to buoy the price of gold, which has boosted silver in turn. China’s massive economic bubble formed over decades and its collapse is only in the early stages — a fact that should propel precious metals prices higher for years to come.

Precious Metals Are Benefiting From Political Uncertainty

On top of their roles as inflation hedges, gold and silver are also hedges against economic and political uncertainty, and there is a great amount of political uncertainty this year as more than 60 countries — including the United States, Mexico, India and Indonesia — are set to hold national elections. In the United States, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are expected to go head-to-head again as they did in 2020.

Economic issues, including inflation, have soared to the top of the list of concerns for Americans who are growing increasingly frustrated with so-called “Bidenomics" as the cost of living continues to rise at an uncomfortable pace while middle class life becomes further out of reach for a large portion of the population. The Biden administration’s heavy spending and willingness to rack up the national debt have exacerbated the country’s inflation problem, which is why it is catching flak from Americans on both sides of the aisle. In theory, a Biden win should prove beneficial for precious metals prices.

Geopolitical Risks Are Helping Gold & Silver

In addition to the other factors mentioned so far, precious metals are also benefiting from mounting geopolitical risks related to the Israel-Hamas war and the Russia-Ukraine war. The Israel-Hamas war has now been going on for six months and is heating up, unfortunately. On April 13th 2024, Iran fired hundreds of drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles at Israel, which is Iran’s first direct attack on Israel since the conflict started and the first ever attack on Israel directly from Iranian soil (in the past, Iranian proxies were used to attack Israel). Though 99% of Iran’s drones and missiles were intercepted by Israel’s sophisticated Iron Dome air defense system, the attack sent a powerful message and represents a new phase of the war that is playing out across the Middle East.

The April 13th attack was retaliation after Israel struck numerous Iran-backed targets in Syria. Israel now vows to retaliate against Iran for its April 13th attack, which would further perpetuate the tit for tat cycle. As geopolitical analyst Max Abrahms said, “Iran and Israel are now at war. A real, direct war." Economist and best-selling author James Rickards is now warning about the rising risk of a nuclear war and saying that gold’s rally “is just getting started" due to that risk.

2024 Iranian strikes in Israel. Mehr News Agency.

The Russia-Ukraine war has also taken a turn for the worse recently after Russia shot down 53 Ukrainian drones and the Kremlin warned that Russia and NATO are now in “direct confrontation.” Ukraine took credit for destroying at least six Russian fighter jets, damaging eight more, and killing or injuring 20 service personnel. The BBC has estimated that over 50,000 Russian military personnel have been killed so far in the war against Ukraine, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that 31,000 Ukrainian military personnel have been killed — a figure that is likely understated.

The Potential For a #SilverSqueeze

In early-2021, investors and traders affiliated with the r/WallStreetBets (WSB) subreddit began promoting a theory, movement, and hashtag called #SilverSqueeze with the intention of piling into physical silver en masse in order to create a short squeeze that forces big banks and other institutions to buy back their short positions (i.e., bets against the price of silver) that are used to suppress the price of silver. If successfully pulled off, the theory went, the price of silver would skyrocket to all-time highs, which would simultaneously generate significant profits for #SilverSqueeze participants while punishing the institutions that were suppressing the price of silver.

In 2021, BullionStar agreed with and supported the #SilverSqueeze movement and still does — even though it may have been ahead of its time. We still believe that a #SilverSqueeze is likely to occur in the not-too-distant future when the manipulating institutions finally lose control of the physical silver market. We have also written extensively (here, here and here) about the manipulation and suppression of the physical gold and silver markets.

The proliferation of “paper" silver products (ETFs, futures, and other derivatives) dwarfs the supply of actual physical silver by a multiple of at least 100 to 1. The sheer volume of outstanding paper silver has had the effect of absorbing demand that would normally have flowed into and benefited the physical silver market. Furthermore, the glut of ersatz silver has suppressed the price of physical silver and has prevented true and fair price discovery.

In the coming #SilverSqueeze, we believe that investors will be forced to reckon with the fact that there is just a fraction of the physical silver in existence that they believed, which will lead to a scramble for physical silver while paper silver products sink in value. Silver’s recent breakout, if it can be sustained, has a strong potential of evolving into a #SilverSqueeze as the bull market gains momentum.

Tesla shares tumbled nearly 6% on Monday morning, on pace for the seventh straight down session, as the EV-maker once again slashed vehicle prices across major markets—China, Germany, and the US—amid the worsening EV price war. 

In China, Tesla dropped Model 3, Y, S, and X vehicle prices by 14,000 yuan, or $1,933, according to Bloomberg. US prices for Model Y, S, and X vehicles were reduced by $2,000. The Model 3 saw no reduction in price in the US. 

A base-level Model Y in China now starts at around 250,000 Yuan, or $35,000. In the US, base models of Tesla Y, S, and X begin at $43,000, $73,000, and $78,000, respectively. 

Following the price cuts, Evercore's Chris McNally told clients that Tesla's China business "may now be breakeven or even negative" based on earnings before interest and taxes. This isn't good for the company operating in the world's largest EV market. 

The continued and worsening EV price war led Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Li Auto to cut prices by 6% to 7% across its vehicle lineup. The L7 sport utility vehicle now starts at around 301,800 yuan. 

On Sunday, Musk wrote on X, ​​"Tesla prices must change frequently in order to match production with demand." 

Other cars change prices constantly and often by wide margins via dealer markups and manufacturer/dealer incentives. Only a fool thinks the “MSRP” is the real price.

Tesla prices must change frequently in order to match production with demand.

Wall Street soured on the latest round of price cuts, with shares down a little more than 4% around lunchtime.

"The volatility of prices has, however, impacted the appetite of professional buyers such as leasing and rental companies – Sixt and Hertz have elected to reduce their Tesla fleets due, in part, to uncertain used pricing," HSBC analyst Pushkar Tendolkar told clients. 

The stock has plunged 43% this year, making it one of the worst performers in the S&P500.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Tesla was preparing to cut 10% of its global workforce, approximately 14,000 employees. Then, on Monday, Bloomberg reported that the company's newly formed marketing team was laid off. 

Tesla also slashed the price of its Full Self-Driving software from $12,000 to $8,000 in the US. This followed the most recent halving of the FSD subscription from $200 to $100 per month. 

Source: 

On Tuesday, Tesla is expected to report first-quarter earnings. LSEG data shows that the world's most valuable automaker is likely to post its first revenue drop and lowest gross margin in nearly four years. This comes after the company reported a slide in vehicle deliveries for the first quarter earlier this month. 

Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance

The title to this post comes from one of my favorite NOFX songs, Dinosaurs Will Die.

While I’m sure the band in absolutely no way agrees with most, if not all, of my political leanings, the critiques they raise about the music industry in the song could serve just as well as many of the questions I want to ask of legacy mainstream media and politicians from both sides of the aisle in our government.

Leading those questions, for me, is this one: Doesn’t it elicit a hopeless feeling sometimes that we always have to learn the hard way in this country?

Few things are surer than taxes and death, but one of them is that our powers that be will make up any excuses necessary, scapegoat anything possible, and generally exercise every single possible wrong decision before reluctantly realizing that a consequential, uncomfortable yet important, proactive adult decision needs to be made and/or communicated to the American public.

Nobody ever wants to fess up to doing something wrong and nobody has a tolerance for even an ounce of discomfort, even when it accompanies an obvious decision that is in the best interest of our nation.

There have been too many examples in recent memory to name, but one of the latest bouts of us acting like a scared 6 year old with an aversion to reality was the farce of the Fed and Biden administration constantly telling the nation that inflation was transitory, when that has turned out to be the polar opposite of the truth.

Janet Yellen, unable to ascertain a clue in the real world, looking for one in the virtual world.

Zooming out from the inflation farce, monetary policy in general is another example of our inability to digest even subatomic amounts of bad news. We would rather pile on larger and larger tranches of quantitative easing, flying blind and ignorant of the potential consequences of our novel virus of a monetary policy experiment, than deal with the reality—or even the thought—of a recession.

Captain O’Connell said it best in Armed and Dangerous:

“The world is a sh*thole, full of sh*tty little scumbags, who are scared sh*tless.”

Yes, we have chickenshit cowards, whose fragility won’t physically allow their bodies to utter the truth, on both sides of the political aisle. It is a toxic brew of being spineless and an incessant need to be reelected.

Donald Trump lied to us over and over about Covid, saying we had 15 cases that were going to zero. Ben Bernanke told us that subprime housing was contained in the very moments leading up to the 2008 financial crisis. Joe Biden is blaming today’s inflation, very obviously the result of the massive money printing that took place during Covid, on Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, corporate greed and pretty much any person or inanimate object his feeble brain can conceptualize. Elected leaders support violent protests until they show up on their front lawn. They have no problem telling us that we need to stay home and isolate while they go out to expensive dinners and make trips to the salon. One presidential candidate rails on the other for corruption while engaging in the very same practices they decry.

Out of the hundreds of representatives in Congress, I could probably count the people of integrity from both sides of the aisle using one hand — to say we have lost our way would be a vast understatement. While I thought Bob Moriarty did a great job outlining the end of the empire on my last podcast with him, this weekend provided us an even clearer example of just how profoundly lost we have become.

It’s already bad enough that the nation is in such a precarious debt-to-GDP situation that more than 90% of countries in history that have followed the same fiscal path have wound up defaulting. And it’s similarly disturbing that, despite these obvious realities and the Federal Reserve being stuck between a rock and a hard place, we have thrown our hands up in the air and decided to YOLO the economy by spending as much as humanly possible before the inevitable default.

Honestly, I’m not trying to be hyperbolic, but monetarily and fiscally there seems to be no other way to describe our government’s actions other than willingly and excitedly driving the country full speed ahead towards the death of the dollar.

As if this situation wasn’t insulting enough, over the weekend the United States House of Representatives approved more foreign aid, totaling nearly $100 billion and including $60 billion to Ukraine, without similarly funding to secure our own nation’s southern border.

Putting aside the very real argument that we simply don’t have the money to spend—I’ve given up on trying to reason with anybody about that argument — how could we then still put foreign nations' security above our own? This weekend was a glaring example of how truly futile an exercise it is to hope for reason and common sense in Congress.

Passing this foreign aid not only shows that our leaders can’t “read the room”, it goes to show they simply don’t know the difference between being nice to other nations versus extending so much help that it becomes counterintuitive to our own country. Not only that, prioritizing the security of other nations over our own is, at its core, a slap in the face to U.S. taxpayers on both sides of the aisle. And after the bill passed overwhelmingly in the House this weekend, representatives tarred and feathered those still-red-from-being-slapped faces by waving Ukrainian flags on the House floor.

Look, playing Devil’s advocate, I know what politicians are thinking (if you can call it that): we are in the midst of defending democracy and Western values by supporting Ukraine and Israel.

They are thinking we have always had an excess of room to spend, and it has never led to meaningful consequences for the country, so why not shovel another $100 billion of taxpayer cash that will be spent without an audit overseas?

They’re thinking the border crisis will be an election issue and that both sides will secretly be happy that an agreement hasn’t been reached so that it can play out as a key issue leading up to November. In addition to thinking these things, they’re thinking generally that they are doing the right thing.

It’s the same type of naïve logic that people reason to themselves when helping out a friend or family member who is an addict. They continue to lend them the 20 bucks a day that they ask for, hoping that eventually they will find a long-term solution to their addiction while staving off short-term withdrawals by buying more drugs, booze or lottery tickets.

They do it so the person stops asking for the day and many times they do it because they think it’s the right thing to do. And, as is almost always the case, it isn’t, and the “helper”, who has actually become an “enabler”, winds up as one of the key figures in an intervention where they have to eventually threaten to withhold all of the “help” they’ve been giving and try to put the addict to a decision to break out of the devastating grip of the addiction pattern they’re in.

I’m not trying to liken Ukraine or Israel to addicts—I can see the benefit to helping both nations and certainly I can see the benefit of trying to defend Western values on a global scale. But it’s when it comes at the expense of our nation that it becomes the wrong decision. And right now, we simply don’t have the resources to offer help and—most alarmingly—we are a nation that needs to help itself first.

I don’t know what it’s going to take for us to reach the point where we realize we need an intervention, but sadly our history of cowardice approaching uncomfortable problems and making tough decisions leads me to believe it’ll come only at a point after it is far too late.

Looking back from that point, it’ll be so obvious how we failed to do the right thing for our country at these crucial moments. We will deal with the consequences then because we will be forced to. Eventually, no matter how catastrophic the issue, we will figure out a path to rebuild—not unlike other nations and empires that have fallen or defaulted—and we will carry on. This I’ve come to accept.

But don’t be surprised if the shame and humiliation of slapping the US taxpayer in the face like we’ve done this weekend isn’t quite as easy to process, get over and rebuild from.

My only hope is that our misguided decision-making at some point serves as a learning experience for future generations. But for us now, sadly, the die has already been cast, and my prediction is the coming years and decades will be bumpy ones.

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Israel’s top military intelligence official has announced his resignation in a shock development for the country while it's still at war, citing his failure to anticipate the Oct.7 Hamas terror attack. Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, chief of the Israel Defense Forces Military Intelligence Directorate, is expected to vacate the position as soon as his replacement is appointed. 

This makes Haliva the first senior officer to resign over Oct.7, and comes as large Israeli protests have persisted in reaction to the Netanyahu government's failure to achieve the safe return of the remaining hostages being held by Hamas.

Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, chief of IDF Military Intelligence Directorate

A military announcement confirmed the resignation has been approved by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. According to a statement in Israeli media, "Alongside Haliva, other top defense officials have said they bear responsibility for the deadly invasion carried out by Hamas on October 7, including the head of the Shin Bet security agency and the IDF chief of staff."

As for these additional officials, "None of them has announced plans to resign as of yet, though many are expected to do so once the security situation stabilizes," Times of Israel reports.

There's been widespread questioning as to how Hamas and other Palestinian militants were able to breach Israel's southern borders with ease on Oct.7 - even overrunning IDF border outposts, amid the deadly attack on the Nova music festival. Israel has some of the most sophisticated and advance surveillance systems in the world.

Over 1,160 people were killed, mostly civilians, and more than 240 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage, but many of the captives have since died. The security failures of Oct.7 are still under investigation and are likely to be scrutinized for years to come.

But Al Jazeera observes that Gen. Haliva's resignation from the top military intelligence post is also political and relates to PM Netanyahu's handling of the crisis and ongoing war in Gaza:

Akiva Eldar, an Israeli author and former columnist with Haaretz newspaper, says Major-General Halavi quit likely because Netanyahu isn’t going to end the war on Gaza anytime soon.

Eldar added another reason is that the prime minister “is not interested in bringing the captives back to Israel”.

“Netanyahu is the highest authority and he never took responsibility [for the Hamas attack] so Haliva wanted to send a personal message to tell him, ‘If I can do it, you can do it,’” he said.

As for the Israeli military's own internal investigation into Oct.7 security and intel failures, it is expected to look the way back to 2018 in terms of scope.

The following areas will focus of a deep investigation: "The main subjects being investigated by the General Staff are: the development of the IDF’s perception of Gaza, with an emphasis on the border, starting in 2018; the IDF’s intelligence assessments of Hamas from 2018 until the outbreak of the war; the intelligence and decision-making process on the eve of October 7, as well as the days leading up to it; and the command and control, formations, and orders given during battles between October 7 and 10, when troops restored control over all communities and army bases in southern Israel that had been invaded by Hamas," according to Times of Israel.

Authored by Irina Slav via OilPrice.com,

Inflation, interest rates, and wars may well delay the energy transition by quite a long time, JP Morgan has warned in a call for “a reality check” on its shift from hydrocarbons to alternatives.

“While the target to net zero is still some time away, we have to face up to the reality that the variables have changed,” the bank’s head of global energy strategy, Christyan Malek, told the Financial Times.

Malek was the lead author of a new report by JP Morgan focusing on energy.

The report noted higher interest rates, inflation, and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East were all factors acting as setbacks for the transition.

The report—and Malek’s FT interview—coincided with another report, by Reuters, quoting Rystad Energy analysts as warning about the negative effects of higher interest rates on wind and solar energy developers.

"Owing to the capital-intensive (Capex) nature of renewable energy...they are inherently more susceptible to high-interest rates," Rystad Energy’s head of renewables and power, Vegard Wiik Vollset, said.

Wood Mackenzie has also warned that higher rates are having a negative effect on the economics of wind and solar, as a 2% rate increase can push the levelized cost of electricity for these two sources as much as 20% higher.

“Interest rates are much higher,” JP Morgan’s Malek also said, speaking to the Financial Times.

“Government debt is significantly greater and the geopolitical landscape is structurally different. The $3tn to $4tn it will cost each year come in a different macro environment.”

Because of these challenges, Malek forecasts that governments will dial down the push to transition from oil and gas to wind and solar as their financial resources dwindle.

The FT noted as an example the Scottish parliament’s recent decision to abandon a 75% emission reduction target by 2030 admitting it could not be achieved.

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

The US is considering increasing its small military presence in Ukraine by sending up to 60 additional military advisers, POLITICO reported on Saturday, the same day the House approved $61 billion in spending for the proxy war.

Four unnamed US officials told POLITICO that the additional troops would "support logistics and oversight efforts for the weapons the US is sending Ukraine."

Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine, just prior to the Feb. 2022 Russian invasion.

Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said the potential deployment would augment US personnel based at the US Embassy in Kyiv.

"Throughout this conflict, the DOD has reviewed and adjusted our presence in-country as security conditions have evolved. Currently, we are considering sending several additional advisers to augment the Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) at the Embassy," Ryder said.

Back in October 2022, the Pentagon announced that ODC and defense attaché personnel were back in Ukraine after being absent for the first few months of Russia’s invasion.

The Pentagon said at the time that the personnel were conducting "onsite" inspections of US-provided weapons.

Ryder said the ODC "performs a variety of advisory and support missions (non-combat), and while it is staffed exclusively by DOD personnel, it is embedded within the US Embassy, under Chief of Mission authority like the rest of the Embassy."

Ryder said the advisers would serve in a non-combat role, but the deployment would still mark an escalation of US involvement in the war and reflect the US’s long-term plans for the conflict. The US has sought to emphasize that they will not participate in battles.

Besides the ODC and defense attaché, the US also has a small number of special operations forces in Ukraine. The Discord leaks revealed last year that as of March 2023, 14 US special operations troops were in Ukraine.