Protest..

 

Last September, Italians in Rome, Milan and Naples burned their energy bills in a coordinated protest against soaring prices. 

In October, thousands took to French streets to decry government inaction over the high cost of living. And in November, Spanish workers rallied for higher wages, chanting “salary or conflict.” 

Researchers have defined an unprecedented global wave of more than 12,500 protests across 148 countries over food, fuel and cost of living increases in 2022. And the largest were in Western Europe.

Prices of food and especially energy were pushed up first by the war in Ukraine and enhanced it by additional USA sanctions on Russia's Energy.

Point..

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that a landmark deal allowing Ukraine to export grain safely through the Black Sea amid the war won’t be restored until the West meets Moscow’s demands on its own agricultural exports.
Russia refused to extend the deal in July, complaining that a parallel agreement promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer hadn’t been honored. 
It said restrictions on shipping and insurance , sanctions by USA,  hampered its agricultural trade.

Earlier:

President Joe Biden said that the world will experience food shortages.
 The price of the sanctions is not just imposed upon Russia. 

Gravy..

 

President of Ukraine is finding his latest visit to Washington a much tougher occasion. 

Zelenskiy was given a standing ovation  addressing a joint sitting of Congress in December. 

This time, he addressed the Senate in a closed session, but House Republicans turned down a request to address both chambers again. They are also reported to have turned down an administration briefing on Ukraine. (The USA is 150 Billion Dollars shorter by now)

Zelenskiy arrived on Capitol Hill in the midst of a bitter spending battle that could trigger a government shutdown, and he faced difficult conversations when he met congressional leaders behind closed doors. 

The (deep) gravy train is drying out.

Spend..

 

Yuan..

 

A recent House Financial Services subcommittee hearing on the dollar focused primarily on how Washington uses it to enact sanctions on countries like Russia, as well as the risks of emerging economies moving away from the dollar.

CPA believes that industrial dominance is what gives America its geopolitical might and that an over-valued dollar makes us weaker.

 There is no near-term risk of the dollar losing its so-called “reserve” status in the short or medium term so long as the U.S. economy was seen as strong, Debt is reduced, and inflation is under control.

The process of de dollarization by mainly the BRICS, even partially, will impact the price of the Dollar, cause Inflation, limit the power of economical sanctions, and eventually the US geopolitical power. 

Fun..

 

Hunter Biden sued the Internal Revenue Service, alleging its agents illegally released his tax information and that the agency failed to protect his private records.

Specifically, Hunter Biden’s attorneys point to details Gary Shapley (IRS agent) shared in an interview with CBS News that aired in June. 

During the interview, Shapley alleged that Biden took certain personal expenses as business expenses, including “prostitutes, sex club memberships, hotel rooms for purported drug dealers,” and that Biden owed $2.2 million in unpaid taxes, the lawsuit alleges.

Shapley’s attorneys called the lawsuit a “frivolous smear” and said the agents only discussed information allowed under the statute. Ziegler’s attorney said the lawsuit is an effort to “distract from the ever-growing evidence that supports the testimony of the two IRS whistleblowers.

Chance..

 

Win..

 
Five Americans detained for years in Iran walked off a plane and into freedom Monday, most arm-in-arm, as part of a politically risky deal that saw President Joe Biden agree to the release of nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets owed by a third country, South Korea.

The successful negotiations for the Americans’ freedom brought Biden profuse thanks from their families but heat from Republican presidential rivals and other opponents for the monetary arrangement with one of America’s top adversaries.

“Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home,” Biden said in a statement released as the plane carrying the group from Tehran landed in Doha, Qatar. A plane carrying the Americans home to the United States was due to land Monday night.

What took so long? The money is Iranian money so what caused the delay? Just a thought.

Musk Rat..

 

Looming..