Important Takeaways:
- North Korea fired at least 10 apparent short-range ballistic missiles toward the waters off its eastern coast on Thursday, Seoul said, days after its attempt to put another spy satellite launch into orbit ended in a ball of fire.
- South Korean officials said the short-range weapons had been fired from the Sunan area of Pyongyang, traveling around 350 kilometers (215 miles) before splashing down into the Sea of Japan.
- Speaking at a news conference later Thursday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said more “provocations” by Pyongyang were likely in store.
- “We believe that North Korea may continue to launch various types of missiles and other provocations in the future,” Hayashi said. “The government will continue to work closely with the United States and South Korea to collect and analyze necessary information and do its utmost to monitor the situation.”
- While the North has in the past launched multiple missiles in a single volley — apparently training for conducting so-called saturation strikes that overwhelm enemy defenses — the sheer number Thursday was unusual.
- Decker Eveleth, an analyst with the CNA research group, said these types of saturation drills could become a new normal for the North.
- “We will likely see more big salvo launches out of DPRK going forward”
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- I suppose that congratulations are in order. It is no small feat to pile up a debt of $315,000,000,000,000, and we will never see a mountain of debt of this magnitude ever again after it comes crashing down.
- Unfortunately, conditions won’t be relatively stable for long. Global events have started to accelerate significantly, and that is really going to shake things up in the months ahead.
- According to a report that was just released by the Institute of International Finance, the total amount of debt in the world has reached a grand total of 315 trillion dollars…
- The world is mired in $315 trillion of debt, according to a report from the Institute of International Finance.
- This global debt wave has been the biggest, fastest and most wide-ranging rise in debt since World War II, coinciding with the Covid-19 pandemic.
- “This increase marks the second consecutive quarterly rise and was primarily driven by emerging markets, where debt surged to an unprecedented high of over $105 trillion—$55 trillion more than a decade ago,” the IIF said in its quarterly Global Debt Monitor report released in May.
- …business debt is at a level we have never seen before
- Business debt, which corporations use to finance their operations and growth, stood at $164.5 trillion, with the financial sector alone making up $70.4 trillion of that amount. Public debt made up the rest at $91.4 trillion.
- [So what could cause the financial market to collapse?]
- …during a recent interview with Greg Hunter, Chris Martenson suggested that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could trigger a sudden meltdown of the bond market…
- Meanwhile, both sides just continue to escalate matters in Ukraine.
- It is being reported that French forces will soon be heading to Ukraine to help “train” Ukrainian troops, and that is a very ominous development…
- The third major war that will greatly shake the entire planet is the war that has erupted in the Middle East.
- Israeli forces keep going even deeper into Rafah, and the IDF and Hezbollah continue to exchange fire along the northern front.
- In addition to military conflict, major pestilences are also a factor that could turn the global financial system upside down.
- Earlier today, we learned that over 4 million chickens at just one farm in Iowa will have to be destroyed because of a bird flu outbreak there…
- Please keep in mind that the figure that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is quoting is just for the United States.
- Overall, hundreds of millions of birds have been killed around the globe since the beginning of this pandemic.
- It is also being reported that a hemorrhagic fever that can cause “Ebola-like bleeding” is rapidly spreading among rodents in northern Europe…
- On top of everything else, I believe that we should brace ourselves for unexpected natural disasters in the months ahead.
- For example, our sun has been exceedingly active lately, and we are being warned that more coronal mass ejections may soon be heading our way…
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- It seems urgent for the long-term survival of the United States and the Free World – where people enjoy unprecedented freedom of speech, property rights, economic opportunity, religious freedom and other civil liberties – not to accept assaults on these hard-won achievements either at home or abroad.
- Adversaries have become increasingly empowered, and allies may well be losing confidence in the West’s leadership. This week it was announced that three countries in Europe, Ireland, Norway and Spain – all of which have long, unfortunate histories of antisemitism – plan to recognize a Palestinian State that will be terrorist.
- US President Joe Biden assured Russia in 2022 that a “minor incursion” into Ukraine would be all right. Predators do not “do” minor.
- The Biden administration handed over Afghanistan to a terrorist group, the Taliban; now it looks as if the Biden administration and these three racist countries in Europe are determined to hand Gaza to another terrorist group, Iran’s proxy, Hamas, which openly says it is more committed than ever to destroying its free, democratic neighbor, Israel.
- Israel is trying to protect its citizens and maintain its sovereignty in the face of relentless aggression, while battling not only Hamas but also two illegitimate antisemitic courts (the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice), the antisemitic United Nations, antisemitic European countries, well-funded antisemitic demonstrations in the West, and the Biden administration… [which] for years has been trying to force out Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
- The US would doubtless prefer an Israeli prime minister who would allow Hamas to remain in control of Gaza and reconstitute its military capabilities; who would allow the creation of a terrorist Palestinian state bordering Israel, and who would stand aside as genocidal Iran obtains nuclear weapons.
- In addition, the Communist Chinese regime, seeing the Biden administration reward aggression, past, present, and presumably future, is encircling the Philippines and Taiwan and sending tens of thousands of young men of military age in packs across America’s southern border, and more than 5,000 over its northern one.
- One can only wonder which of the likely leaders of the Free World will permit — or put a stop to — these staggering negative trends of geopolitical deterioration in the future.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Israel says tent camp blaze that killed 45 Palestinians and sparked international outcry could have been caused by exploding Hamas weapons cache – as IDF tanks roll into the center of Rafah
- …the Israeli military claimed on Tuesday that the munitions it dropped near the camp were not enough to cause the large fires, instead suggesting an exploding weapons cache may have caused the inferno to spread.
- IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters that the strike was conducted against a ‘closed structure… away from the tent camp’ and claimed several Hamas officials were sheltering inside.
- He said the IDF dropped two munitions with 35lb warheads. ‘These are the smallest bombs we have. Our munitions alone could not have ignited a fire of this size.’
- As international pressure mounts on Israel over the horrific scenes emerging from Rafah – and as calls grow for its war in Gaza to cease – Israeli tanks reportedly reached the center of the beleaguered city on Tuesday.
- The Gaza Government Media Office claimed that Israel dropped seven 2,000lb (900kg) bombs as well as missiles on the camp in Tal as-Sultan, as reported by Al Jazeera.
- The UN Security Council is set to convene for an emergency meeting today to discuss the strike as the UN human rights chief Volker Turk expressed his ‘horror at the further loss of civilian life in Gaza’.
- Yet the Israeli Prime Minister’s resolve appears unwavering, as he declared in parliament: ‘I don’t intend to end the war before every goal has been achieved.’
- The Israeli military’s top legal official said authorities were examining the strikes and that the military regrets the loss of civilian life.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Turkey’s Erdogan Calls On ‘Islamic World’ To Take Action Over Gaza
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called on the “Islamic world” to take united action following the latest Israeli strikes on Gaza.
- “I have some words to say to the Islamic world: what are you waiting for to take a common decision?” Erdogan told lawmakers from his AKP party, adding that “Israel is not just a threat to Gaza but to all of humanity.”
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- IAEA: Iran’s Enriched Uranium Stockpile Is 30x Bigger than Obama Nuclear Deal Allows
- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued a confidential report on Monday that discovered that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium reached 30 times the limit Tehran accepted in former President Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal.
- The IAEA document, which has not been released to the public but was reviewed by Associated Press (AP) reporters, said Iran now has 6,201 kilograms of enriched uranium in its inventory — a dramatic increase of 675.8 pounds from the last IAEA report in February.
- The IAEA report also complained that Iran is still interfering with its operations by preventing its most experienced inspectors from monitoring nuclear facilities.
- “The present state is completely unsatisfactory for me. We are almost at an impasse and this needs to be changed,” Grossi said upon returning to Vienna from Tehran.
- Grossi said in January that Iran now has enough enriched uranium to build “several nuclear weapons.” By this, he meant Iran had stockpiled enough near-weapons-grade material — enriched far beyond any rational civilian need — to refine the uranium a bit further and create simple atomic weapons.
- Grossi and other IAEA officials have taken Iran’s swelling uranium stockpile as a reason for caution, clearly nervous that pushing the Iranians too hard might make them cooperate even less. Iran’s involvement in the Gaza war and its growing relationship with Russia have also been cited as reasons for treading carefully.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Victor Davis Hanson points out Western culture shouldn’t be so nonchalant about nuclear threats from autocratic nuclear nations. The Idea of “It can’t happen here” can prove fatal
- After a recent summit between new partners China and Russia, General Secretary Xi Jinping and Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin issued an odd one-sentence communique: “There can be no winners in a nuclear war and it should never be fought.”
- No one would disagree, even though several officials of both hypocritical governments have previously threatened their neighbors with nuclear attacks.
- But still, why did the two feel the need to issue such a terse statement — and why now?
- [In particular China, and Russia] both believe that the only impediment to their victories would be an intervention from the U.S. and the NATO alliance, a conflict that could descend into mutual threats to resort to nuclear weapons.
- Thus, the recent warnings of Xi and Putin.
- Almost monthly, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un continues his weary threats to use his nuclear arsenal to destroy South Korea or Japan.
- A similarly monotonous, pro-Hamas Turkish President Recep Erdogan…
- Iran’s theocrats simultaneously claim they are about ready to produce nuclear weapons. And, of course, since 1979, Iran has periodically promised to wipe Israel off the map and half the world’s Jews with it.
- Oddly, the global reaction to the promise of Armageddon remains one of nonchalance. Most feel that such strongmen rant wildly but would never unleash weapons of civilizational destruction
- Only Israel has an effective anti-ballistic missile dome. And the more the conventional power of the West declines, the more in extremis it will have to rely on a nuclear deterrent — at a time when it has no effective missile defense of its homelands.
- In a just-released book, “The End of Everything,” I wrote about four examples of annihilation — the classical city-state of Thebes, ancient Carthage, Byzantine Constantinople and Aztec Tenochtitlan — in which the unimaginable became all too real.
- In all these erasures, the targeted, naïve states believed that their illustrious pasts, rather than a realistic appraisal of their present inadequate defenses, would ensure their survival.
- If the past is any guide to the present, we should take heed that what almost never happens in war can certainly still occur.
- When killers issue wild, even lunatic, threats, we should nonetheless take them seriously.
- We should not count on friends or neutrals to save our civilization. Instead, Americans should build defense systems over the skies of our homeland, secure our borders, ensure our military operates on meritocracy, cease wild deficit spending and borrowing, and rebuild both our conventional and nuclear forces.
- Otherwise, we will naïvely — and fatally — believe that we are magically exempt when the inconceivable becomes all too real.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Miami Faces Surge in Dengue Fever That’s Roiling Latin America
- Miami’s role as the gateway to Latin America has also made it the US epicenter of dengue fever.
- Cases of the mosquito-borne illness in Florida have more than doubled this year compared with the same period in 2023, as unsuspecting travelers have carried the virus back from the Caribbean and Southern Hemisphere. Now, authorities are working to keep the disease from infecting the local mosquito population before this summer’s heavy rains turbocharge the risks.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Many Americans consider fast food to be a ‘luxury’ good since prices have skyrocketed
- Fast food is beloved in America because it is cheap and convenient.
- At least it used to be.
- The recent inflation report for April showed that since President Biden took office, the cost of eating out at restaurants is up nearly 22%. However, fast food has been hit particularly hard, with prices dramatically rising at the most popular restaurant chains beginning even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Gone, too, are the days of the $5 Footlong at Subway. A BLT Footlong that cost $5.50 in 2019 now costs customers $8.49 in 2024, though prices can vary by location. Additionally, Chipotle’s beloved chicken burrito that cost $6.50 in 2019 now runs customers $10.70.
- Fast-food executives have pointed to rising wages and increased costs for ingredients as factors driving up the prices on their menus.
- Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows that fast-food prices have actually increased faster than the average hourly earnings of most employees at fast-food restaurants. Fast-food prices have also outpaced inflation, rising 41% from 2017, while the consumer price index has increased by 35.9%.
- A recent survey conducted by LendingTree found 78% of consumers now consider fast food to be a “luxury” purchase due to how expensive the meals have become.
- The financial strain means fewer people are visiting the drive-thru. The findings show three out of four Americans typically eat fast-food once a week, but 62% of respondents said they are eating it less frequently due to the cost.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- World War III Watch: Eastern Europe NATO Allies Readying to Foil Russian Hybrid Attacks
- Wars and rumors of wars are having an impact on military preparedness right across Eastern Europe. NATO member Poland on Monday became the latest state to announce a boost, presenting a plan to strengthen its anti-drone surveillance and on-ground military capabilities in the face of continued Russian threats.
- The effort follows Finland, Norway, and Baltic states drawing up similar proposals to deter Moscow’s aggression.
- AP reports a system of fortifications and barriers along about 430 miles of Poland’s eastern border with Russia and Russian ally Belarus are part of the planning.
- The government says Poland, which supports neighboring Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s aggression, is being targeted by hostile actions by Russia and Belarus.
- They include cyberattacks, attempted arson and migrants being pushed illegally across the border, which officials describe as intended to destabilize the European Union, of which Poland is a member, the AP report notes
- Meanwhile the Baltic states announced plans alongside Norway, Finland and Poland to construct a “drone wall” along their shared borders with Russia on Sunday, Newsweek reports.
- Estonian Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets said the technology is capable of both detecting and repelling drones, adding his country plans to install the barrier along its entire eastern border as well as around its major cities.
- The announcement comes days after Russia said it plans to change its maritime borders in the Baltic Sea. Lithuania’s foreign minister responded last week, calling it an “obvious escalation” that must be met with an “appropriately firm response.”
Read the original article by clicking here.
