So Cheezy

 

Comer: The 'Walls Are Caving In' On Tim Walz

House Oversight Chairman James Comer declared this week, “The walls are caving in on Tim Walz,” as a federal probe into Minnesota's sprawling fraud scandal intensifies. Whistleblowers, mayors, and lawmakers now enter the fray, spotlighting waste in social programs that hammer everyday residents. 

The fraud Comer described reaches far beyond accounting errors. Minnesota taxpayers now must endure cuts to basic services because billions of dollars earmarked for social programs vanished due to fraudulent schemes, most of which are tied to the state's Somali community. The scale of the fraud has forced state officials to slash budgets and shift costs to local governments, leaving mayors across Minnesota scrambling to maintain essential services like police protection, infrastructure maintenance, and emergency response without bankrupting residents through property tax hikes.

The House Oversight Committee is coordinating with federal agencies and preparing subpoenas for records and testimony to trace the money and identify the culprits. 

Comer stopped short of demanding Walz resign but made it clear that the governor cannot escape accountability. "He deserves due process, and we're going to give him due process," Comer said.

Walz, of course, isn’t happy about the federal investigations and insists he can 

“This [was] on my watch,” Walz said last week. “I am accountable for this, and more importantly, I am the one that will fix it.”

Walz added, “Unlike the president, I’m governor now [and] whether these programs happen before we got here or afterwards, it doesn’t matter. We’re here now. We’re the ones fixing it. You have my guarantee on this, that I certainly will have this thing fixed.”

A Walz spokesperson dismissed the congressional probe as partisan theater designed to muzzle a vocal Trump critic. "This is clearly a coordinated political attack to try to silence one of the President's most effective critics," the spokesperson stated. "The Governor takes fraud seriously and wishes they would too.”

Comer, however, dismissed Walz's suggestion that the Oversight Committee should step aside and let him investigate the fraud. "No one in America believes that. We are going to investigate this,” Comer said.

The scandal traces back to at least 2020 and involves fraudulent billing across numerous government programs, concentrated heavily but not exclusively within the Somali population. Federal prosecutors revealed that the Feeding Our Future case alone, which already resulted in charges against nearly 80 people, involved roughly $250 million in bogus claims for pandemic nutrition aid. Last week, prosecutors revealed the total fraud across Minnesota's social services system could reach $9 billion or more.

London Metal Mafia?

 

Nothing Like A Good Run, Eh?

 

Intensifying Shortage: This Is What A Run On The London Silver Market Looks Like

Authored by David Jensen via Substack,

Dutch trading specialist Karel Mercx posted the following commentary where the opposite (multiply by -1) of the silver swap rate minus US interest rates can be used as a proxy for the implied silver lease rate to determine physical shortage in the London silver market.:

“The 1-year silver swap minus the US interest rate is now –7.18%.

That distortion explains why the silver rally is not over.

Only at the red line do supply and demand normalize.”

A further six days ago Mercx posted the following commentary:

“ The 1-year silver swap minus the US interest rate is now almost –7%! That distortion is the key reason the silver rally is not over.

That spread should be positive, since silver needed in one year comes with storage, insurance, and financing costs.

Extra explanation.

The silver swap rate is a crucial part of the global precious-metals trade. It exists because major players such as banks, producers, industrial users, and investors constantly exchange silver for dollars without physically moving metal from vault to vault. This mechanism keeps the London physical market tightly connected to the New York financial market.

But that system is now under strain. Physical silver today is almost 7% more expensive than silver for delivery one year from now. Swaps were designed to avoid shipping metal around the world, yet today silver is being moved because buyers are demanding delivery.

Holding physical silver isn’t easy or cheap.

A $1 million position weighs several hundred kilograms, spread across dozens of heavy bars that require vault space, insurance, and security…

…That question is now being priced in. As long as the 1-year silver swap minus US rates remains below the red line, silver’s upside pressure continues. No one knows where supply and demand will reconnect. … ”

I’ve added a trend arrow to the chart that Mercx posted:

Figure 1 - One Year Silver Swaps Minus One Year One Year US Interest Rates at Dec 23, 2025; source: Karel Mercx x.com

Note that the distance from the red line normalization is increasing as the London silver shortage intensifies. The London silver market is devolving, not stabilizing.

[ZH: the spread between SHFE and COMEX silver futures is extreme to say the least - incentivizing the flow from London to Shanghai]...

This is what a run on the London ‘physical’ silver market looks like where holders of unallocated promissory notes for silver ownership and delivery, at the margins, start to demand physical metal delivery.

The enormous leverage of London paper (vapor) claims vs physical silver available for delivery gives the potential for a very quick unwind of London.

Sporty

 

Trump's Gunboat Diplomacy Intensifies Against Darkest Corner Of Oil Fleet Propping Up Venezuela

President Trump's reposturing of the U.S. military forces toward the Western Hemisphere - effectively Monroe Doctrine 2.0 - reinforced this week by the deployment of additional special-operations aircraft, troops, and equipment into the Caribbean, as U.S. forces apply gunboat diplomacy against Venezuela to disrupt crude oil flows routed through Cuba and onward to China, a campaign that, if successful, could spark regime instability in Caracas, and amplify economic and political stress in Cuba as well.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that a "large number of special-operations aircraft, troops, and equipment" arrived in the Caribbean region early this week - a movement of military assets and personnel confirmed by U.S. officials and flight-tracking data.

According to the WSJ:

At least 10 CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, which are used by special-operations forces, flew into the region Monday night from Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico, according to an official. C-17 cargo aircraft from Fort Stewart and Fort Campbell Army bases arrived Monday in Puerto Rico, according to flight-tracking data. A different U.S. official confirmed that military personnel and equipment were transported on planes.

It isn’t clear what types of troops and equipment the aircraft were transporting. Cannon is home to the 27th Special Operations Wing, while the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, an elite U.S. special operations unit, and the 101st Airborne Division are based at Fort Campbell. The first battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment is based at Hunter Army Airfield, at Fort Stewart.

The 27th Special Operations Wing and 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment are trained to support high-risk infiltration and extraction missions and provide close air and combat support. Army Rangers are trained to seize airfields and provide security for specialized forces, such as SEAL Team Six or Delta Force, during a precise kill or capture mission.

In a separate report, defense and security media outlet Army Recognition, citing open-source intelligence accounts on X, indicated that the U.S. military is ramping up deployments of F-35A stealth fighter jets, intelligence aircraft, and electronic warfare platforms across the Caribbean.

David Deptula, a retired Air Force lieutenant general and dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, an aerospace think tank, told WSJ that the "prepositioning forces" in the region are "to take action." He said the movement of such assets indicates that the administration has already decided on a course of action.

"The question that remains is to accomplish what?" Deptula said.

Trump's gunboat diplomacy - seizing two sanctioned tankers and targeting a third earlier this week - should be viewed as a pressure campaign to disrupt Venezuela-Cuba-China oil flows. It's always about following the money, and in this case, that oil money props up the Maduro regime.

Jorge Piñón, a Cuban exile who tracks the island's energy ties to Venezuela at the University of Texas at Austin, told WSJ earlier this week that once crude oil flows are cut, this would act as a domino effect and create regime instability in Caracas, warning that "it would be the collapse of the Cuban economy, no question about it."

According to analytics firm Kpler, Caracas has shipped nearly 900,000 barrels per day this year and relies on 400 dark-fleet tankers to transport the crude, much of which is bound for China.

The Quiet Part

 

Vance Warns European Nukes Could Fall Into Hands Of Islamist Extremists Within 15 Years

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

Vice President JD Vance has issued a stark warning that unchecked mass migration from Muslim-majority countries into Europe risks placing nuclear arsenals under the influence of Islamist politicians, posing a severe danger to American interests.

In an interview with Unherd, Vance urged that open borders policies are eroding Europe’s cultural foundations, potentially leading to catastrophic national security fallout for the U.S. and its allies.

Vance emphasized America’s deep-rooted connections to Europe, stating, “We have much greater cultural, religious, and economic ties with Europe than we do with anywhere else in the world. That is just the nature of things.”

He directly tied moral and cultural decay to security risks, noting, “I think there are ways in which the moral conversation does absolutely bleed into America’s national-security interests.”

Highlighting the nuclear dimension, Vance pointed out, “France and the United Kingdom have nuclear weapons. If they allow themselves to be overwhelmed with very destructive moral ideas, then you allow nuclear weapons to fall in the hands of people who can actually cause very, very serious harm to the United States.”

He spotlighted existing gains by radical elements, saying, “I think there are, for example, Islamists-aligned or Islamist-adjacent people who hold office in European countries right now. Right now, maybe at an extremely low level, right? They’re winning mayoral elections, or they’re winning municipal elections.”

Vance projected a grim timeline, warning, “It’s not inconceivable to imagine a scenario where a person with Islamist-adjacent views could have very significant influence in a European nuclear power. In the next five years? No. But 15 years from now? Absolutely. And that is very much a very direct threat to the United States of America.”

Criticizing Europe’s current trajectory, he slammed their policies: “Their immigration policies have caused a significant backlash from the native population. I think that Europe doesn’t have a very good sense of itself right now, and you see that reflected in various measures of economic and cultural stagnation.”

Vance called for a revitalized Europe, declaring, “We’re not trying to destroy the European Alliance, we’re not trying to divide Europeans against one another. What we’re actually trying to do vis-à-vis Europe is to encourage them to be a little bit more self-sustaining. I think their economic policies have produced very broad-based continental stagnation.”

He added, “America sprang out of European civilization. We are fundamentally descended from a lot of European ideas. . . . That’s why we want a stronger Europe. We don’t want a weaker Europe.”

Envisioning a shared future, Vance said, “I just think that we want Europe to be strong and vibrant. I want Europe to be a place where Americans can go and visit, where there’s cultural sharing; Europeans are coming to American universities; Americans are going to European universities; where our militaries are fighting together, training together. That is impossible without some sense of a cultural foundation. The United States and Europe have that, but there’s a risk of losing it over the long term.”

This comes amid Vance’s broader push against globalist agendas undermining Western values. In the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy, Europe was flagged for facing “civilizational erasure” through censorship and mass migration.

Can't You Hear The Thunder?

 

Aussie Leaders Crush Online Free Speech To Prop Up Failing Multiculturalism

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

As radical Islamist threats continue to plague Australia, politicians are pivoting to policing speech and tightening gun laws on law-abiding citizens—now openly admitting curbs on free expression are needed to shield their multicultural agenda.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has unveiled a sweeping plan to combat what she calls rising anti-Semitism, but the measures conveniently sidestep the core issue of unchecked radical Islamism behind recent attacks, focusing instead on doxxing anonymous social media users and reviewing gun laws.

In a joint news conference, Allan announced legislation that would force social media platforms to reveal identities behind anonymous accounts accused of spreading ‘hate’. “Under Victoria’s civil anti-vilification scheme which starts in 2026, the speaker of a vilifying statement generally needs to be identifiable and held accountable,” she stated.

?BREAKING: Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan will push to legislate stronger hate speech laws by compelling social media platforms to identify people behind anonymous accounts used to ridicule another person or group, with a specially appointed jurist to make it legally possible. pic.twitter.com/EaeIwSM0TY

— Australians vs. The Agenda (@ausvstheagenda) December 22, 2025

She continued, “We recognise that this could protect cowards who hide behind anonymous profiles to spread hate and stoke fear.” emphasising, “That is why Victoria will spearhead new laws to hold social media companies and anonymous users to account and will appoint a respected jurist to unlock the legislative path forward.”

The move comes in the wake of the horrific Bondi Beach attack, where Pakistani radicals with ISIS ties slaughtered 16 people, including Jews celebrating Hanukkah. Yet, rather than addressing the importation of radical ideologies through porous borders, Allan’s response echoes the deflection seen from federal leaders.

Allan also announced a review of Victoria’s gun laws, appointing former police chief commissioner Ken Lay to examine ways to “toughen” them further. This aligns with a national push for stricter controls, even as Australia’s existing laws are among the world’s toughest—proving once again that disarming citizens does little to stop determined terrorists.

Allan’s government is also granting police new powers to ban protests in the aftermath of terror incidents, following New South Wales’ lead. While framed as a response to anti-Semitism, the timing—right after an Islamist massacre—highlights a pattern of Aussie politicians avoiding direct confrontation with radical Islam.

Instead, figures like Allan and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese repeatedly spotlight “right-wing extremists” and “neo-Nazis” as the supposed primary threats. In the days following Bondi, Albanese warned of the “rise of right-wing extremists,” despite the attackers’ clear Islamist motivations.

This unwillingness to name radical Islamism head-on persists. Clips from recent press conferences show leaders dodging questions on Islamist radicalization, pivoting to vague warnings about “extremism” from all sides—but with a heavy emphasis on the far-right. For instance, in a Sky News appearance, Albanese reiterated concerns over “neo-Nazis” infiltrating protests, even as intelligence agencies thwart Islamist plots weekly.

Reporter: “Is radical Islam the greatest domestic security threat Australia faces?”

Albanese: “Neo-Nazis” pic.twitter.com/qFWcJqNPVG

— chris mate ? (@ChrisLXXXVI) December 19, 2025

As we detailed previously, Albanese doubled down on the “diversity is our strength” mantra while cops smashed yet another Islamist terror cell en route to Sydney. That incident saw seven suspects from Victoria—Allan’s own state—rammed off the road, underscoring the real dangers festering under lax migration policies.

Dusting The Broom

 

Cocaine Dogs & 'Safe Space Ambassadors': Rand Paul Airs The Festivus (Budget) Grievances

Via BattleSwarmblog.com,

Happy Festivus to those who celebrate! In keeping with the spirit of the season, Sen. Rand Paul has graced us once again with his traditional airing of grievances.

Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.) released a report Tuesday detailing $1.6 trillion in government waste, in keeping with his annual “Festivus” tradition of airing grievances against wasteful federal spending.

A whopping $1.2 trillion of that wasteful spending is interest payments on the ballooning national debt, according to the report, which contains numerous examples of government programs Paul considers to be useless and fiscally irresponsible.

“Last Festivus, we clamored over the national debt reaching over an astronomical $36 trillion. Shockingly, in one short year, the career politicians and bureaucrats in Washington have managed to reach nearly $40 trillion in debt, without so much as a second thought. When asked who’s to blame for our crushing level of debt, the answer is ‘Everyone.’ This year, Congress voted to raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, the most we ever have,” Paul’s report reads.

“Congress keeps shoveling money toward pet projects and special interests while hardworking Americans pay the price through inflation and crushing interest rates – even after President Trump took action to end most foreign aid programs.”

A staunch fiscal conservative, Paul releases the “Festivus” report every year to playfully draw attention to the U.S. national debt and excessive federal spending.

His grievances are directed towards the Trump and Biden administrations, especially on welfare spending, Covid-19 policy and foreign policy.

“I have no grievances with @POTUS, zero, none, nada, zilch. Mr. President, I wish you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and a successful third term,” Paul joked on social media.

“…ok, do you think he stopped reading yet? Cause I do have one or two grievances, and I think we have to be fair and list them against both sides,” Paul added.

Festivus origins snipped, because everyone’s familiar, or they can click that first link.

Paul’s report cites numerous examples of bizarre experiments and training programs the U.S. taxpayer is funding.

For instance, the National Institutes of Health spent $5 million to give dogs cocaine.

I bet Hunter Biden would have carried out that research on a “cost plus” basis.

Similarly, NIH spent $13.8 million on beagle experiments pioneered by former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The Department of Health and Human Services is spotlighted several times in Paul’s “Festivus” report.

HHS spent $1.5 million to combat drug use in “latinx” communities through influencer marketing campaigns and $1.9 million on a mobile phone intervention meant to help reduce obesity among latino families in the Los Angeles area.

Another L.A.-focused HHS program was a $936,000 marketing campaign towards certain LGBT subcultures to inform them about STD testing and treatment.

HHS had another drug-oriented project in New York City, where the agency spent $2.1 million to collect saliva and conduct surveys at EDM clubs and festivals.

Additionally, HHS gave $3.3 million to Northwestern University to create “scientific neighborhoods,” hire “safe space ambassadors” and form committees with the purpose of dismantling “systemic racism.”

Military Milk

In the fertile plains around Clovis, New Mexico, just south of Cannon Air Force Base, a quiet but serious environmental crisis has unfolded over the past decade: the spread of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) into local groundwater. PFAS are a group of man-made “forever chemicals” historically used in firefighting foams for their ability to rapidly suppress fuel fires — including at military bases. At Cannon, repeated use and improper disposal of these foams have created a toxic plume stretching miles into the Ogallala Aquifer, the primary source of water for farms, homes, and dairies in the region. Officials have documented PFAS in off-base wells used for irrigation and livestock, sometimes far exceeding health advisory levels set by regulators. env.nm.gov+1

Perhaps the most heartbreaking chapter of this contamination has played out on local dairy farms. One major operation, Highland Dairy, found PFAS in its water and in cow’s milk at levels that federal food safety authorities deemed unsafe for human consumption. The contamination was so severe that the entire herd — 3,665 cows — had to be humanely euthanized, and their milk withheld from the market to protect public health. The financial and emotional toll on the farm’s owners and employees was devastating, and the loss of such a large dairy underscores how deeply PFAS can disrupt both agriculture and community livelihoods. env.nm.gov

The broader implications for New Mexico’s dairy products remain a source of concern and ongoing investigation. Because PFAS accumulate in water, soil, and living organisms, there is a risk that milk and other dairy products from farms relying on contaminated groundwater could carry trace levels of these chemicals, potentially posing health risks to consumers over long-term exposure. While regulators continue testing and have shut down products from visibly contaminated farms, not all dairies have been sampled with the same intensity or frequency, and there currently are no comprehensive nationwide standards for PFAS in food, making it difficult to fully gauge the safety of all milk products in the region. env.nm.gov+1

Meanwhile, state authorities and community members are pushing for more aggressive remediation and regulatory action. New Mexico has taken legal steps to classify PFAS as hazardous under state law and sued the Air Force to compel cleanup and protect groundwater used by people and livestock alike. The goal is not just to contain the existing plume but also to prevent future contamination and ensure that food products — from milk to cheese — are safe for consumers. However, because PFAS are persistent and slow to break down, the effects of past contamination may linger for years, leaving communities wary and regulators vigilant. stateimpactcenter.org

A Tight Little Market

 

Pentagon Partners With xAI Service For Military's Growing Artificial Intelligence Toolset

Authored by Ryan Morgan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The U.S. military is set to expand its artificial intelligence (AI) toolset in a new partnership with Elon Musk’s xAI service.

The xAI and Grok logos are seen in an illustration photo on Feb. 16, 2025. Dado Ruvic/Reuters

Musk’s xAI service owns the Grok family of generative AI chatbots, which are available on the X social media platform. Those Grok-based models are now set to join the military’s GenAI.mil platform of artificial intelligence tools, which the Pentagon launched earlier this month.

The xAI models will integrate with GenAI.mil in early 2026, according to a Dec. 22 Pentagon press statement.

The Pentagon said xAI’s models will allow both uniformed and civilian personnel within the Department of War to securely handle so-called controlled unclassified information in their daily workflows. The term “controlled unclassified information” describes materials that are not considered classified, but which are not marked for public release.

“Users will also gain access to real‑time global insights from the X platform, providing War Department personnel with a decisive information advantage,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

On Dec. 9, the Pentagon announced the launch of GenAI.mil as the central platform for onboarding different artificial intelligence models and capabilities into the military’s various workflows. This artificial intelligence platform launched with Google’s Gemini for Government AI service, but the Pentagon said from the start that it planned for “several frontier AI capabilities to be housed on GenAI.mil.”

At launch, GenAI.mil was made available for desktops used at the Pentagon and across military installations around the world.

“The War Department will continue scaling an AI ecosystem built for speed, security, and decision superiority,” the Pentagon said Monday.

Artificial intelligence was one of six critical technologies identified by the Pentagon last month, alongside quantum computing, biomanufacturing, directed energy weapons, hypersonic weapons, and innovations for conducting logistical operations in contested spaces.

A Big Parking Lot

 

A Christmas Gift To The War Machine

Authored by Ron Paul

Late last week, Congress passed and President Trump signed the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill marks the first time the US military budget officially passed the one trillion dollar mark. Of course, when you add in other military-related spending such as interest on the debt, veterans’ affairs, and military components of other government agencies, the true number is at least one and a half times that amount.

To paraphrase the famous 1953 President Eisenhower speech, "The Chance for Peace," each of these dollars spent on military offense and the maintenance of the US global empire rather than on defense of our own nation is taken from the mouths of the hungry and off the backs of hardworking American families.

Congress is so addicted to military spending that they appropriated even more money than President Trump requested, including an unconscionable $800 million for thoroughly corrupt Ukraine. Will Washington ever be called to answer for why Americans, who are seeing their standard of living eaten away by inflation and a declining economy, should continue to subsidize a criminal regime overseas whose ruling class enjoys the comfort of golden toilets?

The Ukraine money also undermines President Trump’s claim to be a neutral mediator in the conflict. How can you be a peacemaker when you are sending nearly a billion dollars in weapons to one side to help kill the other side? It makes no sense.

Congress even included measures in the bill that would prevent President Trump from bringing any US troops home from real “forever wars” in Korea and Europe. For how many more decades must the American worker continue to subsidize a US military presence in countries completely unrelated to our own security? World War II ended 80 years ago and the Korean war some ten years later. Yet the American military empire remains, at an incalculable cost to Americans.

Some fellow critics will say this is all about welfare for rich countries overseas, and that’s partly right. But more than that, it is welfare for the politically-connected US military-industrial complex at home. Imagine how many retired US military officers and former US officials-turned-lobbyists might be financially inconvenienced if we finally "just marched home"?

This week Western Christians will celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace, with the Orthodox celebrating a few days later. It is disheartening that so many Americans who call themselves Christians also hold fast to a view that we must bankrupt our country and impoverish our people by playing policeman to the world and arbiter of whose regime must be changed by Washington.

Christians are among the biggest victims in these overseas operations, including in

R.I.P. Chris Rea

 Thanks for all the great music Chris

Boogie Nights

 

US Moves Special Operations Aircraft Near Venezuela: 'Prepositioning For Action'

"They are prepositioning forces to take action," David Deptula, a retired Air Force lieutenant general and dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday of the ongoing US forces build-up in the southern Caribbean. 

The WSJ commentary further assessed that "The movement of such assets indicates that the administration already has decided on a course of action" - though with President Trump it's currently anyone's guess as to precisely what that course of action will be.

Illustrative Air Force file image.

The report unveils that a fresh and large number of special-operations aircraft, troops and equipment have surged into the Caribbean this week, over and above the significant amount of assets - including warships and a nuclear powered aircraft carrier - which have already been in place for months.

The additional groups deployed included special forces, described in the following:

At least 10 CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, which are used by special-operations forces, flew into the region Monday night from Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico, according to an official. C-17 cargo aircraft from Fort Stewart and Fort Campbell Army bases arrived Monday in Puerto Rico, according to flight-tracking data. A different U.S. official confirmed that military personnel and equipment were transported on planes.

It isn’t clear what types of troops and equipment the aircraft were transporting. Cannon is home to the 27th Special Operations Wing, while the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, an elite U.S. special operations unit, and the 101st Airborne Division are based at Fort Campbell. The first battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment is based at Hunter Army Airfield, at Fort Stewart.

An official statement from the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) negated to give specifics on the new units reportedly moving closer to Venezuela, but downplayed the movements as routine and standard.

"It is standard practice to routinely rotate equipment and personnel to any military installation," said a SOUTHCOM spokesperson to WSJ. "And as a standard practice, due to operational security concerns, we do not disclose details or comment on U.S. assets or personnel operational movements and activities, nor disclose details of specific operations or routes."

Currently there's a lot of signaling from Washington, and the purpose of such stories as WSJ's may be to continue instilling fear in Venezuela's President Maduro. Of course, the White House is not going to push back at this moment on anything which touts the real threat facing Caracas. The US wants the government to feel the heat and pressure.

Meanwhile...

Eat Your Corn

 

Obesity Economics: How Subsidies Distort The American Diet

Authored by Laura Williams via TheDailyEconomy.org,

"Was the government to prescribe to us our medicine and diet, our bodies would be in such keeping as our souls are now.”

-Thomas Jefferson

Let me introduce you to Sam. Sam has obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. His diet consists mostly of refined grains and trans fats. He’s got cabinets full of dirt-cheap junk food and sky-high healthcare costs to address its effects. He takes home $27,000 a year, but spends $36,000. He’s in debt up to his jaundiced eyeballs, and he wants his niece to foot the bill for weight-loss medication.

As a real-life niece of my Uncle Sam, I’m concerned about his diet. Some 56.2 percent of the daily calories consumed by US adults come from federally subsidized food commodities: corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, sorghum, dairy, and livestock. While these calorie-dense foods once made sense for a government preparing for famine or total war, in recent decades they’ve instead helped make us fatter and sicker. 

Obesity is a top driver of healthcare costs. One study compared the health of people who eat mostly foods the federal government subsidizes to those who eat fewer. Those who follow the revealed preferences of what the government subsidizes (rather than the diet it consciously recommends) are almost 40 percent more likely to be obese and face significant diet-related health issues. Those with the highest consumption of federally subsidized foods also have significantly higher rates of belly fat, abnormal cholesterol, high levels of blood sugar, and more markers of chronic inflammation. All these are increasing contributors to the most common causes of death in the developed world.

The negative impact of subsidized crop consumption on health — while it can’t be called causal — persists even after controlling for age, sex, and socioeconomic factors. But life does not control for those factors.

The Great Grain Giveaway

The federal government recommends one diet to Americans, and subsidizes another. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans from the USDA and HHS promote eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, protein, and moderate dairy, while limiting saturated fats, sugars, salt, and refined grains. According to data compiled for Meatonomics, American agribusiness receives about $38 billion annually in federal funding, with only 0.4 percent ($17 million) going to fruits and vegetables. Just three percent of cropland is devoted to fruits and vegetables, despite USDA guidelines’ insistence that they should cover half of your dinner plate. Just 10 percent of Americans consume the recommended amount of fresh produce, and the poor consume the least. (Fruit and vegetable producers’ exclusion from the federal direct payments program provides a valuable example of a food industry thriving without significant subsidies. They do, however, rely heavily on migrant labor to lower costs.)

Instead, the US spends tens of billions annually to subsidize seven major commodities. The three largest farm subsidy programs contribute 70 percent of funds to producers of just three crops — corn, soybeans, and wheat. Approximately 30-40 percent of US corn, over half of soybeans, and nearly all sorghum feed livestock, heavily discounting high-fat, lower-nutrition meat and dairy (especially compared to grass-fed options). The prevalence of grain-fed livestock generates demand for commodities used to feed them, completing the circle. 

Subsidies also contribute to our consumption of refined grains, sugary drinks, and processed foods. About five percent of corn becomes artificially cheap high-fructose corn syrup (which allows it to compete with tariffed natural sugars), and half of soybeans are processed into oils, which also contribute to obesity.

$75

 

Price Controls?

 

Will The CME Raid The Silver Party?

Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

Silver’s parabolic rise has been remarkable. Its price has more than doubled this year and is nearly three times higher than in 2023. The current surge closely mirrors two previous price jumps shown below. 

In this article, we examine the two similar price surges shown below to provide context for what may be occurring today and, importantly, for what might cause this bubble to pop tomorrow.

The Post Financial Crisis Silver Surge

As the turmoil of the Financial Crisis of 2008 began to ease in 2009, the price of silver embarked on a 500% rally, rising from $8.50 to $50.00 over two years. The Fed’s excessive monetary responses to the crisis, alongside heavy speculation, created a perfect storm for silver.

During the crisis, the Fed cut interest rates to zero, introduced QE, and implemented a host of monetary bailouts. As a result, real interest rates (adjusted for inflation) collapsed into negative territory. The graph below shows that 2-year UST real yields fell sharply in 2009 and continued lower until mid-2011. The increase in silver prices coincided with the decline in real yields.  Such distortions in monetary policy, as evidenced by real yields, benefit silver as it is considered a high-beta monetary hedge against extreme monetary policy actions.  

Are We Still Having Fun?

 

Silver Just Called The COMEX's Bluff

Authored by Matthew Piepenburg via VonGreyerz.gold,

December means many things: A year coming to an end, a time for reflection, a time for looking ahead. A time for family and friends, and of course, a time for holiday belly-expansion.

However, what many may have missed this December is that it was the month the paper markets in silver had yet another near-death experience.

Hiding in Plain Site

As usual, this critical turning point in metals, as well as its neon-flashing signal of a globally debt-sick financial and currency system, went largely unnoticed.

In financial markets, the daily buzz remained forever focused on the usual suspects, from BTC’s massive falls, MicroStrategy’s losing gambit (-59% YTD) and an over-stretched stock market to crude oil’s annual loss or the never-ending deflation/inflation or strong vs. weak DXY debates.

These are, of course, important debates and topics. Most investors understand them, and thus most investors, bull or bear, have an opinion about them. That is why they fill headlines.

Hiding in Intentional Complexity

But often, in fact nearly always, the real and more nuanced signals, as well as market warnings, are deliberately omitted from the Zeitgeist.

This is not only because such signals are a threat to the so-called “experts” behind these failing and corrupted systems, but because, as such, they are made deliberately too complex for Joe Sixpack to see and hence critique.

I’ve written about such intentional obfuscation through intentional complexity before.

And nowhere is this tactic put to better use than in trying to hide the legalized price-fixing masquerading as “hedging” at that oh-so complex beast otherwise known as the COMEX exchange.

For this reason, I’ve tried (as well as warned) for years to make simple sense out of the otherwise senseless COMEX mechanizations used to manipulate the paper price of gold and silver.

If needed, these “simplifications” of the “complex” can be chronologically revisited here, here and here for a re-fresher course.

Making the Complex Simple

For now, however, let’s continue to derive the simple from the complex.

Toward this end, the core theme is very simple and worth repeating: Sovereign nations guilty of unprecedented debt addiction—and hence the currency debasement needed to monetize that addiction—are absolutely terrified of rising gold and silver prices.

This is because rising precious metals are an open middle finger to governments who have grossly and negligently mismanaged the national currencies by which most citizens measure their wealth.

Precious metals naturally rise when paper money, inflated to reduce debt burdens, unnaturally falls in purchasing power.

And when a currency loses its purchasing power, the natives get restless, and the government, fully to blame for the same, gets both nervous and dishonest.

Making the COMEX Simple

That is why the COMEX, in 1974, added futures contracts to allow massive levels of leverage in the hands of a small cabal of bullion banks to conduct equally massive shorts on the gold and silver price each and every day since. This keeps the prices forced down.

The COMEX, in short, was designed for no other reason than to manipulate gold and silver, for gold and silver, promised by the U.S. Constitution as real money, had been taken away from the people in August of 1971.

The cabal responsible for this crime didn’t want this stolen “real money” to outshine the fake paper money that replaced it.

Since 1971, the fall of fiat money’s purchasing power when measured against gold has been greater than 99%.

That was embarrassing, of course, but it was a slow frog boil which the media and even most citizens ignored for decades.

By December of 2025, however, the narrative of a robust USD had lost its credibility for so many reasons detailed elsewhere, but made most obvious by an astronomical, 2025 gold and silver price appreciation driven by global demand which openly preferred real money over the USD and USTs as the new strategic reserve asset.

Today, global central banks hold more physical gold than USTs.

In short, the world has caught on that precious metals preserve their purchasing power infinitely better than credit-based and openly melting paper dollars.

The Greenback, since it was weaponized in 2022, has simply lost its prior hegemony.

Or stated even more simply: Uncle Sam was losing, and hence the COMEX was desperate to save face and buy time for his discredited dollar by attempting to kneecap the precious metals.

But as we’ve warned all year, the COMEX was running out of the needed gold and silver to continue its legalized charades.