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The moment you realize you're heading nowhere in the desert is not when there is nothing in front, it is when you look back and the only thing you see are your tracks. That's when a compass and a sense of direction come handy.
Although this is exactly what our modern society has jettisoned: its moral sense of direction. When a war criminal gives a peace nomination to a clown, not only is the palace a circus, it is a sad circus which the rest of the world wants to have nothing to do with.
I was watching Alex Jones crying yesterday. Most people will dismiss that as theater. I don't think it was. Alex Jones and the whole MAGA crowd have utterly been betrayed by Donald Trump. They were hoping against the odds that this time would be different. This was not to be the case. Elon Musk was the first to leave the sinking boat of the Trump administration. He won't be the last one.
Sooner or later Japan will be facing a major crisis. The charade has been going on for years now so why can't it last a little longer?
Well, because all is not well under the rising sun! Japan is getting poor and while crisis upon crisis have ravaged the land with deflation, especially for salaries, the country is now locally ravaged by inflation and more specifically the price of rice. Or to make a weather analogy: Flood following drought.
And we're not talking about small scale inflation either. While inflation is officially said to be rising gently at slightly above 2%, the price of rice has doubled in less than a year. Since rice is so important in Japan, this has focused the attention on the exact meaning of "inflation" and its less and less relevant calculation.
This may have two immediate consequences: 1 - The fall of the Japanese Government this Summer. But this doesn't really matters since they really don't govern that much. The "Deep State" which in other countries is often hypothetical is very much alive and kicking in Japan. I used to know these civil servants when I was working in finance. These people, especially at the Okurasho (Ministry of Finance) are in charge and always have been. 2 - Long term interest rates will not only keep rising but may actually accelerate. And that is a huge problem when your debt is standing at 270% of GDP. It means you are staring at bankruptcy in the face. This will of course not happen in a day. After all, the BoJ (Bank of Japan) is already buying back most of the JGB (Japanese Government Bond), Why not buy ALL of them?
You can, for a while, but it is a very dangerous game. Especially with Trump menacing with his tariffs and inflation raging. At some stage, something very wrong could happen and suddenly the leaky vessel will start sinking. Japan is not that important for the world economy any more but since the other countries, especially in the West are all on shaky ground, this may be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back. And we're not talking about 2027 here. We're talking about the end of this year!
A little over a month ago, we first (and the Economist about a month later), summarized the plight of Japan's soaring inflation and contracting economy with one word: rice.... well, technically it was a few more words. This is what we said:
What
is ironic, is that Japan does not actually have high core inflation; it
does however have soaring rice prices which have skewed inflation
expectations across the population as rice is a huge component of the
overall CPI basket. Meanwhile the BOJ is scrambling to contain
inflation - which has tumbled ex food with real wages near record lows -
and is tightening conditions by raising rates even though it has zero
control over food inflation. However, as a by product of its monetary
policies and strong yen, the bond market is crashing every day now, and
soon this bond crash will spread to Japan's banks and global markets,
sparking a global crisis.
TL/DR: Japan will unleash the next financial crash because the Japanese are now poor farmers.
Fast
forward to today when, with just two weeks until a critical election in
Japan, attention is finally turning to this most important commodity
for Japan... and perhaps the world. And it starts with Japan's Nikkei profiling what we said was ground zero of Japan's inflation crisis: rice farmers.
On
a lush green plain bordered by mountains in northern Japan's Yamagata
prefecture, Nobuhiko Kurosawa does what 20 generations of his family
have done before him: He grows rice. There is, however, a problem.
Tending
to seedlings under a piercing June sun, Kurosawa finds himself in
territory unfamiliar to his predecessors. A shortage of the commodity
kickstarted by an extreme 2023 heat wave and compounded by an inability
of the zombified, extremely heavily-subsidized local rice industry to
quickly adapt to changing conditions, has sent rice prices skyrocketing,
doubling within a year.
That shortage has brought rationing of sales in big-city supermarkets and made
the humble staple of the Japanese diet the focus of a fierce
cost-of-living debate in a campaign for an election to the upper house
of parliament on July 20. Were the ruling Liberal Democratic
Party (LDP) to lose its existing majority in the upper house, Prime
Minister Shigeru Ishiba's position could be at risk, sparking a
political crisis in Japan that could have profound consequences for both
fiscal and monetary policy, not only in Japan but across the globe.
From
his 30 hectares of paddies, Kurosawa supplies rice far and wide, from a
nearby rice ball shop to businesses across Japan and overseas.
"We
received inquiries from new customers, but we were unable to sell to
them because we already had contracts with existing customers," he told
Nikkei Asia. "Our company also experienced a shortage of rice, and last
year we had no choice but to narrow down our business partners before
the summer."
Meanwhile,
Prime Minister Ishiba leads his conservative LDP toward the upper house
elections with moribund approval ratings hovering in the mid-30% range,
and inflation identified as the biggest issue of concern among survey
respondents, according to a Nikkei/TV Tokyo poll. Just like in the US
before Trump crushed Kamala Harris in every battleground state.
Having
lost its majority in lower house elections under Ishiba's stewardship
last year, the LDP, the dominant force in Japanese politics for much of
the last 70 years, needs to hold on to the slim majority it holds in the
upper house, with a coalition partner, or face daunting challenges in
pursuing a policy program as a minority administration in both houses.
If the LDP performs poorly, Ishiba's premiership will be in doubt, the
Nikkei warns.
He faces a
daunting uphill climb: the outrage around the soaring price of rice -
hitting its highest this year for 30 years - has coursed through
mainstream and social media debate in Japan for months. Recently even
Donald Trump weighed in, criticizing Japan for not agreeing in
increasingly tough trade talks to tackle the crisis by importing more
U.S. rice, a move that would be viewed in a dim light by Japan's farming
lobby, a key LDP electoral base. It would, however, send the price of
rice plunging, demonstrating once again just why government subsidies
are always a two-edged sword.
"The rice shortage that began in the
summer of 2024 was due to a shortage of rice produced in 2023,"
according to Masayoshi Honma, distinguished professor at the Asian
Growth Research Institute. "To compensate for this, advance purchases of
2024 crop rice have also occurred, driving up prices."
Last year,
demand for rice also surged due to the growing number of foreign
visitors to Japan - a record 37 million - thanks to the plunging yen
(which in turn sparked a burst of non-rice inflation higher) as well as a
growing appetite for dining out and the relative affordability of rice
compared to bread and noodles, said Kunio Nishikawa, a professor at
Ibaraki University specializing in agricultural economics. Overall,
Nishikawa calculates, "a supply-demand gap" of approximately 440,000
tons developed, an amount he estimates to be the equivalent of 1.8
months' rice sales volume at supermarkets nationwide in Japan.
Since then, Japanese
television news and talk shows have been filled with daily reports on
people waiting in lines to buy rice, how to cook old rice so that it
still tastes good and politicians' statements about rice. In
May a furor engulfed the then-agriculture minister after he said he had
never bought rice himself as it was always presented to him as a gift by
supporters.
Former prime ministerial aspirant Shinjiro Koizumi, a
rising star in the LDP and son of a former premier, was swiftly
appointed agriculture minister with a brief to get a grip on the rice
crisis. Koizumi immediately pledged to halve rice prices to 2,000 yen
($14) per 5 kilograms, releasing government-stockpiled supplies in late May. Emergency stockpile sales, however, were promptly halted just
hours later, after retailers snapped up all they could buy in apparent
rationing amid soaring demand Still, shelves in the capital Tokyo are
frequently empty as of early July as stores sell out, often rationing
sales to one bag per family per day.
Which goes back to what we
said almost two months ago: because the Japanese have become poor rice
farmers, a global financial may be imminent. Some more background.
While
many in Japan seek out rice for daily consumption, as the world's
fourth-biggest economy has developed (not to mention aged), so too have
tastes for fancier and foreign foods. Demand for rice as a staple has
dropped over recent decades to levels well below those seen in
developing economies - to 73.5 kilograms per capita in 2022, according
to World Population Review, equal to a third of Vietnam's consumption.
As
production of staple rice for Japanese consumers has fallen broadly in
line with the demand decline in recent decades, production of rice for
other uses - including animal feedstock and a small amount of exports -
has begun to take off.
Shunsuke Orikasa, chief researcher at the
Distribution Economics Institute of Japan, points out that as a result
of a prolonged surplus of rice before 2023, "The price of rice had
fallen to the point where producers would incur losses if they continued
to grow rice as usual. For farmers, it was more profitable to switch to
producing rice for non-staple use as instructed by the government and
receive subsidies for it, so they moved toward reducing the amount of
rice produced for the table."
And then prices exploded.
Back
in Yamagata, farmer Kurosawa said the delicate staple rice
supply-demand balance has been upended. "Japan has been producing just
enough to meet demand, so the extreme heat of the year before last was
too much to handle," he said.
On the other end of the supply
chain, consumers are also concerned about the long term. A 26-year-old
man living in Tokyo told Nikkei Asia he used to eat rice every day, but
has changed habits due to the rise in rice prices since last summer.
"I've
started eating pasta and udon noodles instead of rice, and I buy rice
less often," he said. While he welcomed lower prices since Agriculture
Minister Koizumi was appointed, "I can't say I approve of him
because I don't know what will happen to rice prices in the long term,
and I don't plan to go to vote."
A 54-year-old woman
living in Kanagawa Prefecture to the west of Tokyo said she also now
shops differently. "The branded rice I used to buy online became too
expensive, so I stopped buying it," she said. "However, since rice is
something I eat every day, I now buy rice sold at a nearby cheap
supermarket."
She welcomed Koizumi's intervention, saying, "If he
had not been in power, we would have had to buy rice at a higher price,
so I'm grateful." But she added, "I don't want the LDP to become a
one-party system, so I won't vote for them."
There is some good
news: according to Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, the average price of
rice at supermarkets dropped 3.0% in the week to June 22, the latest
date for which numbers are available, versus the previous week. But the
news is mostly bad: at 3,801 yen per 5kg bag, the price was still up 71% year-on-year, although granted the price had been twice as high as the same period last year until recently.
Japan's
image as a global giant in rice is rooted in history: According to U.N.
Food and Agriculture Organization data, it was the world's
fifth-biggest producer in 1970, but by 2020 it was in 11th position, one
rank behind the U.S.
That decline began when Japan's government
implemented a policy of reducing staple rice production to maintain
prices, starting around 1970, in part to retain the support of the
farming lobby for the LDP, which has been in power for all but a few
years since the mid-1950s. Although the policy was abolished in 2018,
production adjustments continued through the system, such as subsidies
for converting to other crops such as feed rice.
Yoshihisa
Godo, professor at Meiji Gakuin University, said that what Japan is now
dealing with is not a "rice shortage," but a "shortage of staple rice."
The conversion of staple rice paddies to other crops has progressed,
and the area of non-staple rice paddies has increased to more than 10%
of total rice cultivation, according to Godo.
Amid the change in
the rice business, the role of Japan Agriculture (JA), the national
cooperative organization through which many farmers do business, is
changing. Kazuhiro Koutsusa, a former JA employee and agricultural
management consultant, said the percentage of rice sold through
agricultural co-ops has declined significantly compared to several
decades ago. Farmers can now communicate with buyers while working in
the fields, finding customers themselves thanks to the spread of mobile
phones, social media and the internet.
While the current staple
rice price is roughly double that of last year, it remains at the same
level as 30 years ago. In fact, Shigeru Someya, a rice farmer in Chiba
Prefecture near Tokyo, said, "The rice prices of just a few years ago
were less than half of what they were 30 years ago."
Over the past
few decades, the cost of machinery, materials, and fertilizers used in
rice farming has risen, Someya said. At the time, the selling price of
rice not only failed to increase but actually declined. Along with
industrialization in adjacent areas offering new job prospects, that
contributed to many abandoning rice farming. Someya currently cultivates
rice on approximately 155 hectares of paddies, but the
expansion of his operation was made possible by the fact that around 350
to 400 farming households that used to operate around his farm ceased
rice production.
* * *
The government's efforts to
tackle rice price rises have been met with skepticism from the rice
industry, with farmers and experts dismissing them as merely
election-year measures that don't address structural problems.
"Everything Koizumi is doing is election strategy; he is not talking about fundamental reform," said
Asian Growth Research Institute professor Honma, and he is right: what
Koizumi is doing is literally identical to what Joe Biden did when he
drained half of the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve to keep gas prices
low in 2022 and 2023.
For the Distribution Economics Institute of
Japan's chief researcher Orikasa, the issue has wider implications.
"From a broader perspective, the government's attempt to control the
price of a specific commodity in a free market economy is a challenge to
capitalism," he said.
Farmer Someya, meanwhile, expressed concern
about Koizumi's introduction of a standard price of 2,000 yen per 5kg
bag. "While the government might say, 'It's 2,000 yen because it's
stockpiled rice,' consumers might come to see 2,000 yen as the standard
price even for new rice," Someya said.
In the meantime, Japanese consumers are showing greater interest in imported rice than ever before,
indicating a potential solution at least for buyers. Imports of staple
food rice, subject to high tariffs, exceeded 10,000 metric tons for the
first time in May, an increase of 126 times from the monthly average
last year, according to data from the Ministry of Finance.
Aeon,
Japan's largest retailer, began selling blends of Japanese and American
rice in April. In early June, it started selling California-grown
Calrose rice, which it says is "selling better than expected."
Reflecting at the end of a long day in his Yamagata paddies, farmer Kurosawa didn't hide his concern for the future.
"The
Japanese government has already released most of its rice reserves, so
if this summer turns out to be as hot as the year before last, it could
be disastrous," he said. "If we have no reserves left and the
quality of the rice has deteriorated due to the extreme heat, Japan may
have to import a considerable amount. The food problem is not [just] a
problem for farmers, but a problem for everyone who eats."
At that
time, Japan's rice inflation - which also happens to be a component of
the country's core CPI - will explode and spark total chaos at the BOJ
which will be scrambling to hike rates just because Japan's farmers are
unable to feed the country's giant appetite for rice; in the process
they will spark an economic depression.
Turning to the political dimension of the rice crisis, Bloomberg chimes in
and writes that "a shortage of rice in Japan has caused the price of
the household staple to surge, exacerbating the country’s cost of living
challenges and fueling resentment among the population."
As
of June, a 5-kilogram bag of rice cost on average ¥4223 ($29.15) —
almost double what it did a year ago. In some cases schools have cut
back on the days they serve rice for lunch. Shops and restaurants have
hiked the prices of their rice dishes.
With
people angry over the record high prices, the issue has the potential
to inflict damage on Ishiba and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in
elections this July.
The problem for Japan is that the outrage
against Ishiba comes at a crucial time for Japan (the world's most
indebted nation by far): when it is facing a domestic fiscal crisis,
coupled with trade war with the US.
In a note published today by SocGen's Jin Kanzaki (available to pro subscribers),
the strategist reminds us that the Upper House election is scheduled
for 20 July, and writes that following the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly
election held on 22 June, the LDP is no longer the largest party there.
However, both the cabinet's and the ruling party’s (LDP and Komeito)
approval ratings in early June rose by 6.0 and 4.7%, respectively, from
May. This rise is thought to be due to a degree of appreciation for
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Koizumi's efforts to lower
rice prices, namely dumping emergency stockpiled rice at low prices (in
the process assuring much higher prices in the long-term). However, a
survey conducted at the end of June showed that approval ratings for the
cabinet and the ruling party had again fallen by 5.0 and 4.0%,
respectively, from early June.
The election will test the
performance of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s minority government and
the opposition parties. Key issues include inflation
countermeasures—such as consumption tax cuts and cash handouts—and
social security reform. A total of 522 candidates are expected to run
for 125 contested seats, with the ruling coalition aiming to secure a
majority when combined with its 75 non-contested seats. Opposition
parties seek to prevent the ruling bloc from winning a majority of the
contested seats. The outcome of tariff negotiations with the US,
government efforts to lower rice prices, and the results in 32
single-member districts (where vote splitting among opposition
candidates could benefit the ruling party) are expected to influence the
election
As the ruling LDP has 75 seats that are not up for
re-election this time, it can secure a majority with just 50 seats.
Assuming that Komeito wins 10 seats and that the LDP wins a record low
of 12 seats under the proportional representation system and one seat in
each of the 13 multi-seat districts, the number of seats the LDP must win in single-seat districts to avoid losing its majority will be 15 seats.
But given that the opposition parties are split among themselves while
there are only 32 single-seat districts and the cabinet’s and ruling
party’s approval ratings are declining again, at this stage SocGen only sees a 50-50 chance of the ruling party being able to maintain its majority.
There's
much more in the full note (see here), but here is SocGen's conclusion
on the four most likely scenarios following the Upper House election:
Scenario 1 (50%): the ruling party maintains its majority
The
ruling party maintains its majority and Prime Minister Ishiba continues
in office. In this case, cash payments will be implemented as part of
the autumn economic measures, fiscal concerns will subside, and
long-term interest rates will remain stable.
Scenario 2 (20%): the ruling party loses its majority and the next PM is Koizumi or Hayashi
The
ruling party loses its majority and Prime Minister Ishiba resigns.
However, the ruling party will continue to form the government with a
minority in both houses of the Diet as the opposition parties will
refuse to join the coalition government. Either Minister of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi or Chief Cabinet Secretary
Yoshimasa Hayashi are likely to be selected as the next prime minister.
In this case, as part of the autumn economic measures, the
consumption tax rate on food will be lowered to 5% and the provisional
tax rate on gasoline abolished. Meanwhile, long-term interest rates will rise initially, but eventually return to the level of Scenario 1.
Scenario 3 (20%): the ruling party loses its majority and the next PM is Takaichi
The
ruling party loses a majority, and Prime Minister Ishiba resigns.
However, the ruling party will continue to form the government with a
minority in both houses of the Diet while the opposition parties will
not join the coalition government. Former Minister of Economic Security
Takaichi will be selected as the next prime minister. Under this
scenario, as part of the autumn economic measures, the consumption tax
rate on food will be lowered to 0%, while long-term interest
rates will rise from the beginning of the government’s term and remain
high. In addition, the view that the BoJ will postpone rate hikes will
become stronger, so the yield curve will steepen.
Scenario 4 (10%): a coalition government centred on the opposition parties is formed
The
ruling party loses its majority, and Prime Minister Ishiba resigns. As a
result, a coalition government centred on the opposition parties
(opposition parties + ruling party or opposition alliance) will be
formed. Under this scenario, as part of the autumn economic measures,
the consumption tax rate on food will be lowered to 0% and the
provisional tax rate on gasoline abolished, so long-term interest rates will rise significantly from the beginning of the government’s term and remain high.
Bottom line: according
to the French bank, there is a 50% chance that the outcome of the
Japanese election in two weeks leads to a government crisis, which sends
bonds yields in Japan soaring. And since global rates - especially at
the long-end - are painfully interconnected in this day and age of
soaring budget deficits, a bond market crash in Japan would also
immediately result in a bond crisis around the globe.
Finally,
what does all this mean for the yen? For one answer, we go to UBS Japan
Execution Sales trader Sara Onozato who writes that "USDJPY is showing
more signs of stagnation, with limited movement due to a lack of strong
buying incentives for the yen and ongoing dollar selling driven by
expectations of US interest rate cuts."
As of June 30, the yen was
trading around 144, with minimal monthly depreciation compared to more
pronounced shifts in April and May. This stagnation is attributed to
simultaneous weakness in both currencies. The dollar index has fallen to
its lowest level since February 2022, while the yen has also weakened
against European currencies, reaching 170 in EURJPY and 182 in CHFJPY.
In
the futures market, net short positions in the dollar against major
currencies have reached their largest levels in nearly two years. This
trend is driven by expectations that the Federal Reserve Borad (FRB) is
leaning toward a more dovish stance, favoring interest rate cuts. Market
participants have fully priced in two rate cuts in the second half of
the year and anticipate further declines in interest rates and a weaker
dollar. Speculative net long positions in the yen are still high,
limiting further upside.
The outcome of tariff negotiations
between Japan and the United States is seen as a key factor, with the
July 9 deadline approaching. The US administration has maintained a firm
stance on imposing a 25% tariff on Japanese automobiles and criticized
Japan for not importing US rice. The BoJ’s Tankan survey released on
July 1 showed an unexpected improvement in business sentiment among
large manufacturers. If tariff uncertainty clears, the BoJ could raise
rates as early as September, potentially pushing the yen to 140 against
the US. Conversely, stalled tariff negotiations could lead to further yen depreciation. The House of Councillors election on July 20 adds
another layer of political uncertainty, especially after the ruling
coalition lost seats in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election.
UBS
concludes that while most expect USDJPY to remain rangebound between
142 and 146, several key developments could push the pair beyond this
range. A move toward 140 could occur if uncertainty around US-Japan auto
tariffs is resolved and broader sentiment improves, especially
following the BoJ’s recent Tankan survey, which showed an unexpected
uptick in business confidence. This, on top of expectations for a BoJ
rate hike, could create conditions that support yen strength. In
contrast, USDJPY could climb toward 150 if tariff negotiations
stall, triggering yen selling—particularly as many companies are
expecting a smooth resolution. Political uncertainty from the upcoming
House of Councillors election could further weigh on the yen.
Structural
factors - such as Japan’s persistent trade deficit and the BoJ’s
distance from rate hikes -may also limit yen appreciation, even amid
broader dollar weakness. Overall, July could bring renewed volatility,
with USDJPY direction hinging on how these economic and political events
unfold.
In order for a government to betray, maybe irremediably, it's MAGA base, what's hiding behind the scandal must be big.
I would now tend to agree with Virginia Giuffre: Epstein is NOT dead! There is one minute of video missing. This is enough to exfiltrate someone from the jail but not enough for strangling Epstein. As for suicide, it was impossible according to his former jail mate.
So what's next? Trump is a player. He will up the ante. Expect outrageous statements in the coming weeks. By early August, the world will be in such a mess that Epstein will be the last of our worries. Cracking sounds can already be heard from long term bonds...
I
literally feel sick right now. After waiting for years for the truth
about Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operation to come out, and after
months of being promised that stunning new information would be
released soon, now we are being told to forget the entire thing. The
people that were brought in to run the Justice Department and the FBI
were supposed to restore faith in the system, but instead they are
destroying it. Nobody that can think rationally is buying the lies that
we are being fed.
Apparently we are supposed to believe that Jeffrey Epstein didn’t have a client list, he never blackmailed anyone, and he was solely responsible for his own death…
A
Justice Department and FBI review of the investigation related to
disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein found that there was no “client
list” or evidence that he blackmailed prominent figures, according to a
memo detailing the findings.
The review also concluded that
Epstein died by suicide while in custody at a Manhattan correctional
facility in August 2019. Epstein was facing federal sex trafficking
charges, and his death was subsequently investigated by the Justice
Department’s internal watchdog and the FBI.
The Justice Department
and FBI said in their memo that video footage reviewed by bureau
investigators — and made available to the public — confirmed that
Epstein was locked in his cell and nobody entered tiers of the unit
where he was housed at the time of his death.
The
Justice Department and the FBI are now facing an unprecedented
credibility problem, because millions of us simply do not believe them.
After
everything that has happened, the American people deserve some answers.
The following are 12 important questions that all Americans should be
asking about the shameful attempt to cover up the truth about Jeffrey
Epstein.
#1 Why were Jeffery Epstein and
Ghislaine Maxwell arrested and charged with operating an enormous sex
trafficking ring that supposedly involved thousands of clients if no
such clients ever existed? As Robby Starbuck has pointed out,
apparently we are supposed to believe that all of the powerful men that
visited Epstein’s island were “just there to catch some waves and
relax”…
#2 Why did U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi tell Fox News in February that Epstein’s client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review” if no such client list ever existed?…
U.S.
Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday said the Jeffrey Epstein client
list is “sitting on my desk right now” and she is reviewing the JFK and
MLK files as well after President Donald Trump’s earlier directives.
“It’s
sitting on my desk right now to review,” Bondi told ‘America Reports’
host John Roberts on Friday. “That’s been a directive by President
Trump.”
#3 What was in the “thousands of documents” related to the Epstein case that were suddenly discovered in February?…
Attorney
General Pam Bondi has been made aware of “thousands of documents”
related to the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein that were previously
not disclosed to her office, she said in a letter on Thursday.
#4 When Bondi claimed that the Epstein flight logs would “make you sick” in March, what did she mean by that?…
Attorney
general Pam Bondi released hundreds of pages of information connected
to Epstein in March, promising it would disclose “a lot of names” and
flight logs that would “make you sick”.
#5 In May, Bondi confessed that there were “tens of thousands of videos” related to the Epstein investigation. What was in those videos?…
She
said in May that the FBI was reviewing “tens of thousands of videos” of
Epstein “with children or child porn.” Bondi’s comments and the delay
in releasing the next batch of documents have tapped into suspicions
that damaging details about Epstein or other prominent figures remain
hidden.
#6 Other than Jeffery
Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, why hasn’t anyone else that was involved
in the sex trafficking operation ever been arrested?…
#7 The memo that was released on Sunday night says that there will be “no further disclosure” in this case. Does this mean that the Trump administration’s search for the truth ends here?…
In
a memo published by Axios Sunday night, the DOJ and FBI jointly stated
that the Epstein files did not include a client list, or evidence of
additional perpetrators — and that there will be “no further disclosure”
of information on the case.
“This systematic review revealed no
incriminating ‘client list,’” The memo said. “There was also no credible
evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part
of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an
investigation against uncharged third parties.”
#8 The memo also states that
there is no “evidence that could predicate an investigation against
uncharged third parties”. Does this mean that none of the men that were
having sex with underage girls will ever be brought to justice?…
Investigators
found “no incriminating ‘client list’ ” of Epstein’s, “no credible
evidence … that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals,” and no
“evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third
parties,” the memo adds.
The jail had been told Epstein should have a cellmate, and that a guard must check on him every 30 minutes.
But on the night he died, his cellmate was transferred and not replaced and he was not checked on as often as required.
Two guards fell asleep at their desks – and later falsified their records.
Meanwhile, two cameras in front of Epstein’s cell malfunctioned that night – while another’s footage was “unusable”.
#10 Hours
of video footage from outside Epstein’s cell on the night that he died
has been released. Did they think that we wouldn’t notice that a full minute has been cut out of that video footage?…
But now we can confirm that an entire minute was cut from the DOJ video that was released last night. Why? What are they hiding?
If you follow the full video you can see for yourself that the video is cut off at 11:59:00.
The video feed then restarts exactly at 12:00:00.
Where is the missing video?
#11 During
the time that Elon Musk had unprecedented access to the government’s
computer systems, did he learn some startling truths about the Epstein
investigation? If so, will he reveal what he knows now that he has
started his own political party?
#12 Why was this
memo about the Epstein case released to the public late on Sunday night
on the 4th of July weekend? Were they hoping that it would make as
little news as possible?
I am so upset.
The victims of Epstein’s sex trafficking operation are never going to get any justice.
And all of the very sick men that committed unspeakable crimes are never going to be held accountable.
A line has been crossed that will never be able to be uncrossed.
How are we supposed to have faith in our federal law enforcement agencies after this?
They are lying to our faces and they are convinced that they are totally getting away with it.
There are some moments in history that are so horrifying that they will never be forgotten.
As usual a majestic overview of the current world by Col Douglas Macgregor. (The good thing is that since the election of Trump, YouTube is not cancelling his videos within a week as they used to do before!)
Two interesting predictions: 1-Russia will now accelerate the war in Ukraine due to rising tensions in the Caucasus. 2-BRICS construction is also accelerating and trade outside the US dollar may rise sharply.
I agree with these two points. What I do not understand is the strategy of China. They are doing their very best not to raise a fuss while at the same time not bending to the whims of Washington.
And then there are the "allies", especially Japan and Korea which are not discussed in this video but are about to be hammered very hard during the Summer. Into submission or in the case of Japan into a possible financial meltdown? (See next article to be posted soon!)
Spain’s leading energy companies - Iberdrola, Endesa, and EDP - remain stunned. After the nationwide blackout that
cut power across Spain on April 28, the government has yet to provide a
clear explanation or take technical responsibility...
The
companies, represented by the employers’ association Aelec, have
denounced “surprising omissions” in the official investigation.
They demand that the extreme voltage spikes recorded in the days
leading up to the collapse be included in the analysis. They have
criticized the preliminary report from ENTSO-E—the European network of
electricity operators—for claiming that “the system was operating
normally” just seconds before the failure. Meanwhile, severe voltage
swings were recorded, going beyond safety limits and triggering
automatic shutdowns of high-voltage substations and key refineries.
This
episode is far more than an isolated incident. It is a metaphor for the
erratic direction taken by the European Union’s energy policy. In the
name of climate change, Brussels has embarked on a radical overhaul of
its energy model driven not by technical or economic realities, but by
an ideological agenda imposed by political and bureaucratic elites. What
was marketed as a smooth transition toward renewable energy has turned
into a forced green agenda, with no viable alternatives and little
regard for its impact on competitiveness, system stability, or citizens’
well-being.
At the root of this drift lies the REPowerEU plan, launched after the start of the war in Ukraine with the stated aim of “fully decoupling” Europe from Russian energy. What
initially appeared to be a justified geostrategic measure quickly
became, in the hands of the European Commission, a pretext to push
through renewable energies at any cost. This led to a rushed and uneven
transition, with citizens and businesses footing the bill.
This
leap into the void has destabilized key sectors such as agriculture,
transport, and industry, forcing them to absorb rising costs without
receiving real technological upgrades. Countries like Germany, which
shut down their nuclear plants out of political conviction, have now had
to reopen coal-fired stations in a contradictory reversal. Meanwhile,
state propaganda continues to promote green energy self-sufficiency,
while households face record electricity bills and companies lose
competitiveness.
The structural failures of the European power grid are becoming increasingly evident. The
continental grid was designed for stable and predictable hydro, gas,
and nuclear sources. The mass introduction of intermittent sources like
wind and solar makes imbalances difficult to manage: without wind or
sun, generation collapses; with too much, the grid becomes dangerously
overloaded.
On April 28th, the Iberian Peninsula experienced those
consequences firsthand. Abnormal voltage levels were detected in
several substations throughout the morning. To grasp the gravity: a
“voltage oscillation” involves a sudden and significant fluctuation in
the grid’s voltage, which can damage equipment, trigger automatic
disconnections, or, in extreme cases, cause a total blackout. At the Lancha substation,
voltage reached nearly 250 kV on a line rated for 220. Another line,
rated at 400 kV, surpassed 470 kV just before the collapse. According to
Aelec, these anomalies began as early as 10:00 a.m. While a sudden drop
of 2,200 MW in generation has been cited as the trigger, the system is
theoretically built to withstand a loss of up to 3,000 MW without
shutting down. This was not a coincidental failure—it was a built-in
weakness.
Beyond technical and political issues, the forced energy
transition takes a human toll. European households are paying more for
electricity, hitting middle- and lower-income families especially hard.
Electrification of transport, promoted without adequate foresight, is
raising the cost of mobility due to a lack of reliable charging
infrastructure. Farmers and truckers, already squeezed by unmanageable
climate regulations, face growing expenses while being pressured to make
investments they cannot afford.
Moreover, blackouts are no minor issue:
their impact ranges from multimillion-euro industrial losses to the
paralysis of hospitals, schools, and transport networks. In Spain, the
outage even cost five people their lives. An energy model that cannot
ensure a steady supply threatens the economy and public safety.
European
industry, particularly in the central and southern parts of the
continent, is already bearing the brunt. Unable to compete with American
or Asian energy prices, many companies are relocating production or
shutting down. Paradoxically, even sectors the green agenda promotes,
such as electric vehicles, are faltering. Once-dominant car industries
in Germany and France are struggling to stay afloat in an increasingly competitive global market. While Europe imposes ideological standards, China manufactures more,
better, and cheaper. Deindustrialization is no longer a threat—it’s a
fact. Notably, some factions on the Left even embrace
“degrowth”—deliberate economic decline—as a desirable path.
Worse
still, despite all these sacrifices, Europe continues to import Russian
energy—now via third countries—and remains vulnerable to geopolitical
pressure. The promise of energy independence often rings hollow.
The
Green Deal has morphed from a promise of modernization into a political
myth: a story no longer grounded in reality, propped up by propaganda
that refuses to confront its contradictions. The public, increasingly
aware of the real costs, is beginning to push back. The farmers’
resistance in the Netherlands gave rise to a political party now part of
the ruling coalition. In other countries, protests and citizen
discontent are multiplying. And this is only the beginning. This very
week, farmers returned to Brussels to protest the suffocating policies they face.
An
energy transition is not inherently harmful, but cannot be imposed
dogmatically. It requires realism, technological pluralism, gradual
implementation, and a willingness to adopt what works. Nuclear, hydro,
and natural gas must be part of the energy mix while green technologies
mature. Sustainability will not be achieved by denying physics or
punishing citizens, but by integrating every available tool with a
long-term vision.
What happened in Spain is a symptom, not an accident.
Europe’s
current energy model is not equipped to operate under the conditions
imposed by Brussels. There is an urgent need to rethink energy
policy—not through ideology, but through engineering, economics, and
common sense. If the energy transition is to be our path forward, let it
be pursued with caution, technological plurality, and respect for the
system’s real limitations.
Europe cannot afford to stumble in the dark in the name of a green light; it still does not know how to switch on.
