Free Republic

Chinese price manipulation has taken its toll on the U.S. economy Rare earth metals are an increasingly integral part of everything from automobiles to television sets.  But the precious metals are tightly controlled by China, with an excess of 95 percent of current suplly coming from Chinese-owned mines and refineries.  The degree of control has allowed China to manipulate prices, cutting back on demand to sell less material for the same amount of profit, any businessperson's dream. I. New Private-Public Partnership Sets Aim on Chinese Mineral Hegemony The problem is that it takes several years or more to bring rare...

Homeland security has gone about apprehending suspects living in luxury homes (Hollywood Hills and Burbank), some of whom are in america illegally. Journalistic report, including news footage and commentary on current events.

China has halted exports of seven critical rare earth elements to the United States, a move that threatens to disrupt supply chains across key American industries, including automotive, semiconductor, and aerospace sectors. China’s Ministry of Commerce recently added seven rare earth elements—including dysprosium, terbium, and lutetium—to its restricted export list. These elements are essential for manufacturing high-performance magnets used in electric vehicles, advanced weaponry, and consumer electronics. NY Times reported:

President Donald Trump on Saturday signed two executive orders that call for immediately expanding American lumber production and addressing lumber imports' threat to national security. The orders aim to update guidance on production, streamline permitting, and assess possible risks that imports pose to national security. A White House official told Fox News the president identified a crisis in both supply and demand in an industry the U.S. should be entirely self-sufficient in. The executive order notes that the production of timber, lumber, paper, bioenergy, and other wood products is crucial for Americans in construction and energy production. Recent disasters, the...

In the world of cheap drones, Skydio was the great American hope. Its autonomous flying machines gave the U.S. defense and police agencies an alternative to Chinese manufacturers, free from the security concerns tied to dependence on Chinese supply chains. But Skydio’s vulnerabilities came into sharp focus days before the U.S. presidential election, when Chinese authorities imposed sanctions and severed the company’s access to essential battery supplies. Overnight, the San Mateo, Calif.-based Skydio, the largest American maker of drones, scrambled to find new suppliers. The move slowed Skydio’s deliveries to its customers, which include the U.S. military. “This is an...

This story originally was published by Real Clear Wire By W. Caffey Norman Real Clear Wire Concerning new reports reveal that the drug shortage in the U.S. has reached its highest level since the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists began tracking data. In total, 323 medicines are now in short supply. However, the problem is about to get worse because of government regulations on an entirely different issue. Counterintuitive measures from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are set to effectively ban the domestic production of chemicals that are used in the process of manufacturing vital prescription drugs and vaccines. Shortly...

On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Your World,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) stated that while he thinks there are some positives from the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration is “dispersing more out and rewarding areas where we are still dependent on unreliable supply chains.” Manchin stated, [relevant remarks begin around 3:05] “The IRA bill was the only one that was done in a partisan way, because of the laws that we have here and the rules of how we conduct ourselves. But I can assure you, writing that energy portion, I was concerned about energy security. We’re...

The United States has had a strange run of bad luck when it comes to dozens of food processing plants suspiciously catching fire over the past few years. In 2022, we had several meat packing plants suffer fires that brought production to a halt. Remarkably, no one was present at the time of most of the fires. The Eco Health Alliance whistleblower, a bioterrorism expert, military veteran, and scientist Dr. Andrew Huff has a possible explanation for the food supply fires. Huff has access to government information about simulating a food supply attack. The information comes from the U.S. Department...

Sabotage of infrastructure that serves human communities is always wrong. When two power substations in North Carolina were reportedly taken down by gunfire in an apparent “criminal act,” the establishment media went to work condemning that act. The gunfire caused “damage that could take days to repair and leaving tens of thousands of people without electricity,” reported the Associated Press, and most establishment media outlets echoed the sentiment. Yet the Associated Press had no condemnation for Joe Biden shutting down oil pipelines and drilling permits that ultimately provide energy resources for hundreds of millions of Americans. Similarly, there is no...

You should keep a close eye on barges. You probably do not spend much time thinking about barges. This is something that you ought to change. The barge industry is quite important. It’s crucial for moving aluminum, petroleum, fertilizer and coal, particularly on the Mississippi River and its tributaries. About 60% of the grain and 54% of the soybeans for U.S. export are moved via the noble barge. Barges touch more than a third of our exported coal as well. Right now the barge industry — and all of us who depend on its wares — is mired in a...

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, the executive vice president of UPS asserted that “regionalization” of the supply chain is critical to economic stability in a world where geopolitical conflicts continue expanding. The word “regionalization” is basically another way to describe decentralization, a concept which the UPS representative obviously did not want to dive into. Almost every trade expert and industry insider admits that supply chain problems are going to persist into the foreseeable future, and some are starting to also admit (in a roundabout way) that localized production and trade models are the key to economic survival. Think globally,...

Hundreds of small-business truckers who use CoreFund Capital to factor their accounts receivable are struggling to stay afloat after the Weatherford, Texas-based company abruptly closed its doors 10 days ago and fired its entire staff over a legal spat between two brothers. However, late Thursday, Parker County, Texas, District Judge Graham Quisenberry appointed a receiver on behalf of CoreFund, which may help truckers gain access to funds more quickly. Attorneys, rival factoring companies and brokerages have received numerous calls from some of CoreFund’s approximately 350 trucking clients, including many owner-operators, who are desperate for answers and may be forced to...

Senegalese Minister of Economy Amadou Hott has urged the global food industry not to boycott the trade of Russian and Ukrainian food products as the food crisis rages on in vulnerable countries. Hott said at the Group of 20 meeting of financial leaders in Bali last week that without immediate resolution, the crisis — which involves both a food shortage and high prices — would kill more people “than during Covid times.” The war has seen many countries such as the U.S. and those in the European Union sanction the use or trade of Russian goods. But while staples like...

he price of oil may rise to a “stratospheric” $380 per barrel if US and European sanctions lead Russia to reduce its crude supply in retaliation. This was disclosed by JPMorgan analysts endorsed by Natasha Kaneva in a note to clients seen by Bloomberg. Back story The Group of Seven (G7) leaders recently discussed a plan to cap the price of Russian oil in order to put pressure on Moscow, which is benefiting from rising energy prices, and cut off its sources of funding for the invasion of Ukraine, which prompted the note. A price exception could work through a...

The head of the United Nations just warned that we are heading into an “unprecedented global hunger crisis”, and people are already dropping dead of starvation in Africa. For months I have been documenting the signs that severe food shortages were on the way, and now they have begun. Of course, there are many reasons why we are facing such a dire situation. Weather patterns have gone completely haywire all over the planet, the COVID pandemic has played havoc with global supply chains, and the war in Ukraine is greatly restricting the flow of agricultural resources out of one of...

It's nationwide knowledge that in early May the Colonial Pipeline company suffered a severe cyberattack that shut down its pipeline connecting Texas to the East Coast. On June 1, JBS Foods suffered another crippling cyberattack. According to industry estimates, JBS controls 20 percent of the slaughtering capacity for American cattle and hogs. The JBS attack also generated headlines. The FBI and security officials believe two criminal organizations conducted the attacks. Their names sound a bit like those of the sinister super gangs found in James Bond novels. However, these gangs aren't fiction nor are their crimes. A crime group called...

The United States of America is about to be plunged into a civil war. It will be ignited by the imminent Roe vs. Wade nullification decision by the US Supreme Court, which also just rendered a landmark decision affirming the universal right to carry a personal firearm for self-defense (striking down the New York law that radically restricted the right to bear arms). That pro-2A decision is already seeing heads explode across the anti-American, anti-liberty Left, with rabid left-wing commentator Keith Olbermann even calling for an open insurrection to demolish the US Supreme Court and seize total control over the...

This morning the CPI (Consumer Price Index) report came out and was higher than expected (Inflation stayed red-hot in May as CPI spiked 8.6% — highest since 1981). (Article by Stan Szymanski republished from EncouragingAngels.org) It is kind of like telling someone who is buried on the beach up to their neck in sand that the tide is coming in but not as fast as you think it is. Most of the food prices I see are up at least 15-33% from what I was used to paying. I know that the standard government numbers say that food inflation is...

The economy has gone from the ICU to the morgue. It was inevitable. There has been no shelling, no EMP, no invading army, no nuclear attack. Everything is more or less the same, but everything has changed so drastically. You feel like you are living in a parallel universe. Decadence is all around, and it came faster than people could imagine. Businesses, fabrics, commerce, and entertainment – everything is working. Stuff is being produced, sold, and serviced. Just not as before. The streets are dim, dirty – lacking conservation and maintenance. It’s a lot more unsafe to walk around, especially...

The United States and the European Union (EU) have been ineffective in their trade war against Russia and are currently working on their sixth package of sanctions. These sanctions have caused price hikes and food shortages, severely harming innocent people all around the world. As the West struggles to constrain Russia’s military mission in Ukraine, European gas importers have already surrendered to Russia. European gas importers have quietly violated the EU’s own sanctions and have begun buying gas in Rubles, capitulating to Russia’s new rules. As the West’s economic warfare scheme backfires, EU leaders are beginning to crack even further....