It has been 15 days since Russia invaded Ukraine and energy prices have risen sharply over the last few weeks. Are there other economic ramifications to come? In this article, economist Dr. Mark Hendrickson examines the situation and highlights the expected global economic fallout.

Let's talk about Texas . . . . 

Vladimir Putin’s war today is not designed to win the hearts and minds of the Ukrainian people. His objective is to force people to flee or be bottled up in built up areas. Once bottled up, cities could be razed on top of the people. Putin acted so in Syria in order to break resistance. Either way – no people, no resistance. But Putin’s best-laid plans might easily unravel in the face of a popular Ukrainian insurgency. The resilient Ukrainians have done so before. Putin will face a long, bloody insurgency that could spread across multiple borders.

The Mob knew how to get things done.  It seems that wimpy Senator Lindsay Graham thinks so, at least.  He has called for assassination to supplement our foreign policy.  Maybe he knows a guy.

It is 2022 and we are living in a Fun House - a lot of wavy mirrors, a lot of weird lighting and strange sounds.  It's a carnaval atmosphere and nothing is what it seems.  We can turn the place upside down and not find so much as a moth that will be willing to hear that the conflict that is raging in Ukraine is not 100% black and white.  Putin is the black hat, Zelenskyy is the snow-white hat.  He's a comic book hero, the newest member of The Avengers.  He dashes about "saving his country" from the Bad Guys.  From where I see it, he's just another bad guy and we should not do anything to extend his tenure or prop him up.  He's got George Soros and Klaus Schwab to do that for him already.  I have heard only two voices anywhere near the main stream who have not bee scattering rose petals for Zelenskyy to walk on (I take that back!  I guess Tucker Carlson is also a skeptic) - Col. Douglas Macgregor, who was interviewed by Stuart Varney on FOX, and the abrasive and hard-to-take Joy Behar of the View.  Things must be really getting crazy and really, really bad because I find I'm on her side for once.  It probably won't ever happen again, but that is just how ridiculous this story has become.

“FAITH IN PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS MAY FINALLY ERODE!” 

                  EXCLAIMS SOCIOLOGICAL EXCAVATOR

The risk of earth warming to very high temperatures is increasingly unlikely thanks to slowing population growth and abundant natural gas. Horizontal drilling, Hydraulic Fracturing, and Clean Coal technologies of the 21^st century have insured an ample supply of clean fossil fuel to keep us comfortable during then coming “Cold Era”. 

For the unconvinced among readers of this Part II, Mr. Casey’s book, “Dark Winter” (© 2014) is highly recommended. The reader can then personally decide if spending up to $10 Trillion to combat so-called “Climate Change” is preferrable to the solutions of Part I. The alternative is to continue fighting each other like pre-school children that government has not brainwashed… yet.

Now more than ever it is important for us to stand up for the right of the people to be heard. And I have a confession to make. While I’ve always believed in this fundamental tenet of the founding documents, I have not always been the most vigilant to act on it. I have let my own bias and opinion get in the way.  

With what’s been happening in North Dakota politics, I feel compelled to speak out…My battle cry?  

Let the people Speak. 

The world is becoming more savage than ever.  The so-called "civilized" community of nations is now backing a war criminal.  Since when is it okay with all these self-righteous western "democracies" to behave like Genghis Khan?  Because that is what we are countenancing now in the Ukraine.  At the same time its president is seeking to join up with the European Union, while he is not solilciting but demanding the support of our western arms and ammunition, while he is posing for the camera - Zelenskyy just put out two announcements:  1) that any Russian soldier who defected and put down his gun would receive $40,000; and 2) a day later, that the Ukrainians would take no prisoners - all would be shot.    That ought to make it an easy decision for the Russian soldiers, don't you think?  How many will surrender?  And we just watched the President* of the United States end his incoherent State of the Union Speech with a directive to "Go get him" - apparently the "him" being Putin.  And everyone in Congress decked out in the team colors of Ukraine.  There is a really bad smell here.  

On Tuesday, 2/22/22, Tucker Carlson offered an opinion piece on Fox News. The topic was the Ukraine, the US, and our national interest. As a contrarian, Carlson easily grabs his listeners’ attention using scorn, irony, and most of all, hyperbole. Those who have never learned hyperbole are destined to be sucked in by it. It may startle those who seldom “think outside the box.” His lampoon targeted foolish policymakers and leftist media. I confess. I’m prejudiced left and biased right.

Carlson’s thesis: “…Democrats in Washington have told you it's your patriotic duty to hate Vladimir Putin… Hating Putin has become the central purpose of America's foreign policy…Very soon, that hatred of Vladimir Putin could bring the United States into a conflict in Eastern Europe.

It could well be that there are no "good guys" in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.  My granny used to advise us to be careful of whom we associate with, and somehow I hear her voice in this one.  We should step back from the drama for just a moment and take note of whom we are throwing in with here.  It is easy to fear or distrust Putin.  He's not a "good guy".  But we know little to nothing of Volodmyr Zelenskyy aside from the flukish rise from comedian to president.  Yet the more we see of him, the more we do learn about him, the less we should feel confident in following him.  Our real interests lie elsewhere.  This is like a magician's technique - "Watch this hand!"  Who is on Russia's team?  Mainly just Xi Jinping, whom we know we can't trust (Biden just found this out).  Not good.  But who is backing Zelenskyy?  George Soros.  The E.U.  Klaus Schwab.  Perhaps this is an indication that 1) there are no good guys and 2) we should stay far away from this conflict and wait for a more important issue while we try to restore our own military and energy supply and recover our flagging economy.  We have no business in the Russia-Ukraine fight.

China will not allow you to own your conscience or your soul.  

The City of Grand Forks, together with the blessing of North Dakota's Governor Doug Burgum, is about to embark on a very risky game with China.  Although the people have been told that the Fufeng Group, an agribusiness enterprise based in China, is like any other big business and it would be a feather in the cap of Grand Forks to nail this deal for a many-multi-million-dollar investment, the people are not convinced.  That has made little difference in other decisions by the council, but one thing to keep in mind is that there is no such thing as a business in China that is not controlled by the CCP government.  In case you want evidence, the project is billed as part of China's "Belt and Road Initiative" (formerly known as "One Belt One Road"), which is part of China's long-range, over-arching strategy for its intended world domination.  Nations that have partnered through this program have rued the decision.  China has the ability through its strategic use of "economic development" throughout the world to steal our soul.

Dubbed the JR-15, the AFP relates that it’s “marketed by maker WEE1 Tactical as ‘the first in a line of shooting platforms that will safely help adults introduce children to the shooting sports.’” Clearly aghast, the news organ further reports that the “company’s website says the rifle ‘also looks, feels, and operates just like Mom and Dad's gun.’”

Unsurprisingly, the AFP reminds people in its commentary masquerading as hard news that the AR-15 “has been used in multiple mass killings in the United States…” while quoting only anti-Second Amendment activists in its piece. Yet is mixing kids and guns really anything to fear? Let’s examine the matter.

Like the prophets of old, Sobran had nothing new to offer. He was not an innovator. He could see no “root causes” as understood by the secular experts, at least none ameliorable by their generic prescriptions. The society that spawned the teen killers was a negative residue: it’s “what’s left when you subtract Christianity” from civilization.

Sobran’s cultural and historical memory informed him that the permanent things are never finally won or forever lost. The battle continues, and those who reject the miserable truce are entitled to a warrior’s exuberance. Nothing said here will resuscitate this great talent from the general amnesia. But those happy few who read Joe Sobran will be better armed against the armies of dissolution.

His point? You can’t fiddle with freedom by allowing a little here and a little there while retaining your favorite restrictions. Likewise, you can’t fiddle with the free market skipping the costs while reaping the benefits.

In the end, “The free market is ugly and stupid, like going to the mall;…” but under Marxism, Communism, and Socialism “…[the] unfree market is just as ugly and just as stupid, except there’s nothing in the mall and if you don’t go there they shoot you.”

O’Rourke holds the dubious distinction as the most quoted man in “The Penguin Dictionary of Modern Humorous Quotations.” (“Giving power and money to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” “You can’t get rid of poverty by giving people money.” “When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators.”)

Happy Birthday Mr. Washington and Mr. Lincoln. I have a confession to make. I never liked the birthday gifts we made for you in elementary school.

I would have rather been taught something true and important that carried a message of your contribution to the political process or to the Presidency.  Something that may of helped us do what Mr. Franklin alluded to when he answered the question after the Second Continental Congress adjourned,

“What have you got for us??” to which he quickly replied, “a Republic, if you can keep it.”

Correction!

There are different ways to identify an enemy within, but one is quite simple. Anybody who’d cancel George Washington should be considered a fifth-column member fit only for scorn and ostracism.

We’ve seen attacks upon Washington take many forms, with San Francisco’s 2021 decision to rename a school bearing our first president’s name a prime example. It’s a red flag because it reflects hatred of America’s very foundation, of everything she truly represents.

George Washington is unlike any other American figure. His arch rival, King George III, knew this well. Responding to news that with the Revolutionary War’s conclusion, Washington would relinquish power and return to his farm, the monarch exclaimed, "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world."

An article titled “I’m a Liberal Professor, and My Liberal Students Terrify Me,” authored by Edward Schlosser, perfectly captures our current situation. Redefining truth through the politics of personal testimony and identity, through critical race theory, and through cancel culture has unleashed a monster. Even the professors that have propagated the errant philosophy of “be your own truth” are now petrified of the practical realities. Students are turning on their mentors. Their students, based on classroom material, are formally charging them, claiming “grievous harm” at their own institutions. Their professorial campaign to radically change America is coming around to bite them in their own ivory towers. The monster is devouring its own.

The monster is no match for absolute truth. This truth reflects actuality and is tethered to reality. God is the source and author of truth. This truth is absolute, singular, objective, authoritative, and unchanging. Honesty and truth-telling are ultimately grounded in the character of God. The truth stands independent of feelings, preferences, emotions, biases, human knowledge, and wisdom or experience. A fundamental expectation and the glue which has kept a semblance of order and trust in our lives is people speaking the truth. When truth and honesty are removed from daily genuine interactions, there is turmoil, resulting in individual and societal chaos. All authentic communication and sincere respect for one another begins with truth-telling. Truth-telling is essential for a thriving society. All human experience depends on your yea being yea and your nay being nay.

A psychopath can be engaging, charming, charismatic. He can appear easy-going, casual in attitude. But a psychopath is very controlling and arrogant beneath the veneer. Manipulative. Dishonest, exhibiting total disregard for the safety or rights of others, could care less about what is right or true.

Our leaders in the West, especially those of the formerly free Anglophone world, are psychopaths. There is no other way to describe them. They – Dan Andrews of Australia, Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand, Justin Trudeau of Canada, Boris Johnson of Britain and Joe Biden of the United States, are displaying all of the attributes of a psychopath. I looked it up. Here is what we should look for:

socially irresponsible behavior

• disregarding or violating the rights of others

• inability to distinguish between right and wrong

• difficulty with showing remorse or empathy

• tendency to lie often

• manipulating and hurting others

• recurring problems with the law

• general disregard towards safety and responsibility

Other behaviors that may be signs of ASPD include a tendency to take risks, reckless behavior, and they are abusive, remorseless and sometimes violent. In the case of Dan Andrews and Justin Trudeau, they are vicariously violent at least

You be the judge. When you look at the behavior of late in these leaders, the description fits. No one is safe when our leaders are psychopaths.

History has recorded countless episodes of repression and violence against helpless people by armed thugs.  We had the assault on peaceful protesters in Moscow which ushered in the beginning of the end of the Romanov Empire.  We had Tienanmen Square.  We have seen a lot of ugly tyrants attempting to cut down the people they pretend to serve throughout history.  Our era is obviously no exception.  We had January 6 last year in Washington, where an unarmed patriot was brutally killed in cold blood, and her attacker is still defended by "conservatives" such as Kevin Cramer.  No doubt he would approve of Trudeau's response to a massive, nation-wide people's protest - that is, with violence and oppression.  Canadians are known for their manners and their peaceful behavior.  They have shown this attribute now for three weeks as the "law enforcement" people have vandalized their costly equipment, beaten old men and grandmothers, threatened parents with abduction of their children and euthanasia of their beloved companion pets.  They have remained peaceful, never raising a hand, when their fuel was stolen.  In Alberta, the RCMP broke into trucks and stole winter survival gear and then destroyed valuable excavators.  For a year now they have been persecuting pastors and owners of local coffee shops.  Tonight they have crossed a line.  How many people will remain with the cops now?  None that have a soul, a conscience or a scrap of decency will be able to remain.  

“Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.” – Frederick Douglass

Justin Trudeau, in an act of combined arrogance and desperation, proposed to seize absolute power this week, including the power to freeze and seize personal bank accounts, compile financial and other private information on Canadian citizens, commandeer their equipment and services to effect his will, effectively shut down free speech and freedom of movement, revoke peoples drivers' licenses, both commercial and private, and further restrict their freedom - this after two years of unprecedented tyranny.  As some provinces began to drop their restrictions and mandates, Trudeau, refusing to even talk with demonstrators - millions of them - decided to double down, undoubtedly egged on by his kindred spirit south of the border in the US - Joe Biden.  This bodes ill for Americans as well as Canadians.  Let us hope that Parliament humiliates this would-be strongman and sends him back to his bunker in shame.  As for the rest of us, eternal vigilance, as Jefferson noted, is the price of freedom.

Time marches on and getting old is a fickle fact of life. A person can accept that fact. But one does not have to give in prematurely to the ravages of Old Man Time. I am not talking about physical aches and pains, bumps and strains. I am distinguishing between the physical brain versus one’s mind, i.e., attitude and mental state.

Many my age have taken the advice offered by Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Harvard Medical School, and other professional groups on staving off the effects of aging on the brain. Active brains seem to be the key. Reading, solving puzzles, learning a language all exercise the gray matter. For me, math was never my forte. I was an average math student. Yet, I am still fascinated by the beauty, the precision, and the symmetry of math. Today I still dip into math books and logic in my library.

My recent brain workout focuses on blockchains, bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies – how they are constructed, why they work, and when they will become true stores of value and a fully accepted medium of exchange. Seeking answers to these questions keep the synapses firing in my brain.

It has been 40 years since the year over year inflation rate has been this high—currently 7.5 percent. What produced the explosion in prices? In this article, economist Dr. Mark Hendrickson identifies the causes and offers two important lessons. He writes, “The culprits are obvious: Uncle Sam and the Fed.”

For quite some years now, the term “narrative” has been common in political circles. It generally has a negative connotation as it’s used to reference a story line — an often largely fictional one — advanced by some ideologically driven entity for political gain.

This is why I saw a red flag Friday when, while writing an article on how leftist indoctrination permeates even conservative states’ schools, I read a line about what a common modern pedagogy dictates was necessary to be a “culturally responsive educator” (read: an educator responsible for cultural revolution). Two prerequisites for it, related the Federalist, are “the rejection of colorblindness and replacing instruction about facts with narrative stories.”

In an address he gave in Fargo, North Dakota in 1962 Reagan said this:  “This war was started 50 years ago when Karl Marx made the statement that capitalism and communism can’t exist side by side.”  Reagan was quick to point out the USSR as an evil force that denied the very existence of God.  Reagan made no distinction between socialism and communism.  

By definition, a socialist democracy cannot exist.

Reagan often quoted the following:

“A nation no longer under God is a nation “gone under.””  There was no confusion about the socialist/communist agenda with him.

When we think we have seen everything, we turn a corner and are shocked to see something new.  It seems that there is no end to the victims of this "pandemic".  Not only our businesses and economy, our kids' education, our freedom and our health have been affected, but now our most cherished institutions are falling victim to this insanity.  Our medical establishment will likely never recover in our lifetimes.  Our doctors and medical staff have earned a reputation as abusers - kidnappers, murderers and people now avoid seeking medical treatment at all costs, not wanting to go anywhere near these purveyors of death.  Meanwhile, the police, whom many proudly support with their little blue porch lights and find themselves indignant at "defund the police" efforts in our cities, are now finding that these people they once enshrined, are no better than mafiosi.  The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been an institution for a couple of hundred years.  They ride in their horse shows, they dress in colorful costumes, they have inherited a storied, legendary history.  Today they are more aptly described as the Royal Canadian Mafia Police.  But they’re not your grandad’s Mounties - not Sergeant York, nor your dad’s - Benton Frasier.  Now their daily duties involve vandalism and assault.  Destruction of property, ruining people's livelihoods.  Sometimes it is necessary to take swift and brutal action to punish such people.  Lawfully, of course, but brutally.  We need to start at the bottom and inflict such punishment as will deter others from "just following orders".  We establsihed this after the Nazi horror.  We cannot spare these underlings - they must go first, because if we let them off the hook we are doomed.  They must know that they are the captains of their souls, no one else.

For a couple of weeks now the world has watched the truckers of Canada finally taking up the cause of their freedom with their oppressive government.  While Trudeau has poked his head out from his cover to call these people names and try to label them "terrorists", the mayor and chief of police of the capital city and epicenter of the peaceful demonstration, Ottawa, have embarked on a career of crime, stealing fuel, assaulting people, now attempting to sabotage and destroy millions of dollars of private property.  Today our disgusting president* has given Trudeau orders to put a stop to the peaceful protests throughout Canada.  This is the guy who is buying drug addicts new crack pipes.  The same one who has opened the border to permit anything and everything to flood our country.  This is the same president* that is currently doing all in his power to violate our Bill of Rights.  CNN has a commentator who is calling on Trudeau to slash their tires.  Our "leaders" have called upon the rogue "crowd-funding" agency, GoFundMe, to steal money sent to support these truckers and "redistribute" it to groups that Trudeau likes and President* Biden likes - such as BLM, Antifa, maybe eventually the Southern Poverty Law Center.  Anyone but who it was intended for.  (As this is written, the alternative, "GiveSendGo" has crowd-funded over $9 million and counting.)

There is a problem here.

Spend-aholic insanity is a lot like alcoholism. There is no question the US is financially bankrupt with a debt of trillions of dollars. We’re just not ready to admit it. To ease the pain we lapse into denial. A dose of reality would shatter that denial. The risk is not default on our national debt. Default would only occur if Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen chose not to pay the interest to creditors holding our debt. We barely have the monthly tax revenue to pay that interest. Besides, the US could always print more money – or raise taxes even more.

The real risk is the downgrading of the US’s financial rating by Moody’s and by Standard & Poor’s, the major credit rating agencies. If the US’s debt ceiling continues to increase but Congress and the president do not show a willingness to restrain the skyrocketing spending, the US’s credit worthiness becomes worthless. Downgrading the US’s AAA rating would ruin our financial standing around the world and the dollar would no longer serve as the world’s reserve currency. Decline in this status would take years to regain, if ever.