Saturday, July 4, 2020

Is America Heading For Civil War?

In last week's article I discussed the issue of American “balkanization” and the rapid migration of conservatives and moderates from large population centers and states that are becoming militant in their progressive ideology. In my home state of Montana there has been a surge of people trying to escape the chaos and oppression of leftist states. Some are here because of the pandemic and the harsh restrictions they had to endure during the first lockdowns. Others are here because they can't stand the hostility of identity politics, cancel culture and race riots. Either way, they are fleeing places with decidedly leftist influences.
Uprooting and moving to an entirely new place is not an easy thing to do, especially in the middle of a pandemic. For many people, such an idea would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. Believe me, moving to a place like the Rocky Mountain Redoubt is not an easy transition for most. Hopefully these people understand that they will have to make extensive preparations for the rough winter and be ready to work hard in the spring and summer months to survive. Maybe they don't realize yet how tough it is here; maybe they know and don't care.
That's how bad the situation has become – Rational and reasonable people are willing to leave behind their old life and risk it all to keep a margin of freedom.
In my view it is clear that the political left has gone so far off the rails into its own cultism that there is no coming back. There can be no reconciliation between the two sides, so we must separate, or we must fight. I advocate for separation first for a number of reasons:
  • First and foremost, conservatives are the primary producers within American culture. If we leave the leftists to their own devices there is a chance they will simply implode in on themselves and eat each other because they have no idea how to fill the production void. The recent developments in the defunct CHAZ/CHOP autonomous zone are a perfect example. Those people don't have the slightest clue what they are doing and it shows.
  • Second, if conservatives separate it provides a buffer that helps defuse future random conflicts. When you force the two sides into a box together eventually they will find a reason to try to kill each other. Putting some distance between them and us reduces the angst.
  • Third, if the leftists decide they don't like that we have separated and are thriving on our own, and they attempt to antagonize or attack us where we live, then we hold the clear moral high ground when we smash them to pieces in response.
I fully realize that the third outcome is the most likely. War is probably inevitable. Why? Because collectivists and narcissists are never satisfied. They desire unlimited control over the lives of others and they will use any means to get that control no matter how destructive. Separating from them is only a stop-gap that allows us to take the superior position. Through peaceful migration, we set the pace of the conflict. Eventually they will come after us, and there will be no doubt about our response then. There will be no way to spin the result in their favor, no way for them to play the victims.
Some people might question if we are actually to the point of open conflict; they might accuse me of “doom mongering”. Others may argue that conservatives are acting “passive” and that we will never take any action. These assumptions are common right now because such people do not understand how history progresses and how group psychology evolves.
Domestic war is not something pursued lightly, or haphazardly. The average person knows at least subconsciously that it is better to seek resolution or to remain patient as events unfold. Conservatives aren't stupid; we know that before any civil war there is first a culture war. And, we know that the cards are stacked against us and that if we act rashly in any way we will lose position in that culture war.
So, we let the leftists spit and rage like madmen for a little while. Each day people who were on the fence when it comes to the culture war are witnessing this and come over to our side because we're the only side that is sane. The drawback is, there comes a point in which calm professionalism might be wrongly perceived as weakness. And when people sense weakness among conservatives, they might run into the arms of the extreme left thinking that it's safer to join the “winning team”.
I think conservatives have not been sucked into a reactionary stance yet because they are thinking logically and refusing to play the game for now. In some ways it is how we enter the fight that is more important than the fight itself.  To understand why, we have to look at the bigger picture beyond the left/right conflict.
As I noted last week, the political left is a tool for a greater agenda. They are being used as a weapon of chaos by globalist interests. This is not “conspiracy theory”, this is conspiracy fact. Millions of dollar have poured into Antifa and BLM related groups through elitist donors like George Soros and his Open Society Foundation as well as the Ford Foundation. Globalist institutions like these have been influencing the extreme left and promoting identity politics for DECADES. This is openly admitted. What we are witnessing in 2020 is simply the culmination of a half-century long propaganda campaign that created the modern feminist movement, victim group status, entitlement culture, etc.
The reason for the agenda should be obvious: Chaos creates fear. Fear creates division and crisis. And, crisis creates opportunity (as globalist Rahm Emanuel once bragged). Meaning, the extreme left is going to start a war because that's exactly what the global elites created them for.
Now, some might suggest that this places conservatives in a Catch-22 position; if we don't fight back then we will look weak. We will be culturally isolated and eventually overrun and wiped from the history books. If we do fight back we will be giving the globalists what they want – A civil war that will tear America apart.
The suggestion by certain special interests will be that there is only one way out; use government power to turn the tide to our advantage. In other words, institute martial law. I don't really see it that way.
Once we understand that a fight is coming regardless, our task is to position ourselves with the most advantage possible while keeping our culture and our principles intact. This includes our belief in constitutionalism, civil liberties and opposition to tyranny in ANY form. Winning the fight is important, but maintaining our principles in the process is more important. Becoming a monster to fight the monster is the same as losing.
When the left comes for us (and they will), the fight has to be won by us, not government. We cannot hand even more power to government in the name of security. We cannot become the fascists the leftists accuse us of being.
I am often asked these days about my view of the 2020 election and how it will turn out. I did predict Trump's election win in the summer of 2016 based on the idea that Trump's presence in the White House would drive the left insane, as well as give the globalists a perfect “conservative” scapegoat for the economic collapse they had been engineering since at least 2008.
Trump's cabinet of global elitists suggests his complacency in this plan.  We still live under a one party system pretending as if it is a two party paradigm.
Furthermore, I am not convinced there will even be an election in November. With pandemic lockdowns surely returning as infections spike once again, the US economy will be in ruins by winter. Voting in a traditional fashion will be difficult or restricted in some states. And, mail-in or digital ballots will not be accepted by most conservatives because of their history of being used to rig election outcomes.
Look at it this way: If Trump “wins”, or delays the election, the left will riot and a civil war will be triggered. Conservatives will have to deal with the violence of the left while also dealing with the potential for martial law (which we cannot tolerate or support either). If Biden “wins”, it will be perceived by many conservatives who still think elections matter as a stolen presidency engineered through fraudulent ballot practices.
To summarize, if Trump is still in the White House in 2021, get ready to fight back against leftist mobs as well as martial law measures. If you believe in freedom, realize that fake conservatives that support government tyranny will be as much a problem as Marxist lefties. If Biden enters the White House, expect him to immediately implement unconstitutional policies including medical tyranny, gun confiscation and martial law. Either way, it ends in war.
It's also the classic false choice narrative:  You can choose Marxism and communism, or you can choose fascism.  Communism being the elevation of the weak and the oppression of the strong in the name of arbitrary "equality", and fascism being the elimination of the weak or less fortunate in the name of making more room for the strong.  Both sides rely on totalitarian government to assert dominance, and both sides benefit the elitist establishment.  The great con is that there is no third option, when there is; the non-aggression principle, citizen defense, voluntarism and freedom.
Frankly, I almost prefer a scenario in which Biden and the left are perceived as stealing the election. At least then conservatives will be fully united once again and ready to fight, instead of passively relying on a Pied Piper like Trump to save them.
The truth is, in 2020-2021 we stand at a massive nexus point in human history. We are spiraling into a decade and a fight that will decide the fate liberty for the next century or more. On one side stands the global elites and the useful idiots on the hard left. They will push for a collectivist system that erases all memory of the Constitutional Republic we once new, and they will get help from fake conservatives that value power over principle. On the other side stands the people that just want to be left alone; the free minds, the people that don't need or desire to have power over anybody.
If humanity is to have a future at all, the second group must continue to exist and prosper. They are the wellspring that feeds us, that gives us something to hope for. If the elites and the social justice mob take control, there can be no future for our species. They desire what they cannot and should not have. They value only what they can take from others. They have a hunger that can never be satiated. They will devour the world until there is nothing left while claiming they stand for the “greater good”. War cannot be avoided with such people; the only question is, will liberty minded people stay the course and stick by their principles or will they fall to their darker impulses to ensure victory?

Friday, July 3, 2020

New Intel: Communist China providing automatic weapons to Antifa, Black Lives Matter… some stored in democrat-run government buildings including East End Complex Capitol building in Sacramento – Block 174

Image: New Intel: Communist China providing automatic weapons to Antifa, Black Lives Matter… some stored in democrat-run government buildings including East End Complex Capitol building in Sacramento – Block 174


(Natural News) We have bombshell new intel to share with you today that connects some recent dots on the emerging violence (and civil war attempt) from Black Lives Matter, the militant terrorism wing of the Democrat party.
Summary of what you’ll find in this article:
  • Communist China is supplying full auto AR-15 “mods” to Black Lives Matter militants in America, and a shipment was recently interdicted by Customer and Border Protection (CBP).
  • California Gov. Newsom is involved in a trillion-dollar money laundering operation with communist China to keep him in power. He’s funneling taxpayer money to China, and they are laundering it and funneling money back to him. (See Los Angeles Times link below.)
  • Using the laundered money, Gov. Newsom is stockpiling automatic weapons, ammunition and gold in the underground storage complex at 1616 Capitol Ave. in Sacramento, the East End Complex building – block 174. (Sourced from a former employee who worked there.)
  • Gov. Newsom is plotting with China to have communist troops invade America (via California and other states) and to overrun and occupy the United States, turning it over to communist Chinese rule.
  • China’s EMP weapons, developed using technology stolen from the USA, are planned to be the first wave “Pearl Harbor” event that sets it all off. (Official report to the White House, see link below, or visit https://emptaskforce.us ).
  • Obama helped set up a civilian military force using Operation Fast and Furious gun smuggling to arm the narcos. (Full timeline link below.)
  • Those same narcos are now trained by communist Chinese military instructors and are prepared to invade America with the aid of heavy weapons. (DHS sources via Hodges, link below.)
  • The civil war America is facing won’t be lightly-armed “soy boys,” but rather heavily armed, full-auto wielding Black Lives Matter militants, Mexican narco gangs and communist Chinese troops operating under the protection of Gov. Newsom.
  • Hundreds of companies across corporate America are now directly funding or overtly supporting Black Lives Matter terrorists as part of this civil war effort to destroy America. See the full list of 269 companies here.
We begin with the recent news that China was caught attempting to smuggle “10,800 assault weapons parts” into Louisville, Kentucky. This news was announced by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on June 26, 2020:
At the Express Consignment Operations hubs in Louisville U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized a shipment from China that contained over 10,000 Assault Weapons parts being smuggled into the country.
The shipment was seized on May 22. Officers inspected the item, which was arriving from Shenzhen, China, destined for a residence in Melbourne, Florida. The parcel was manifested as containing 100 Steel Pin Samples. This is a common practice of smugglers manifesting the contraband as a harmless or a legitimate commodity in hopes of eluding further examination.
The official CBP announcement did not offer any specifics on what exactly the “assault weapons parts” were, but we have since learned from another source that the parts were drop-in full-auto mods for AR-15 rifles.
Full auto drop-in parts are very simple but highly illegal parts which turn a semi-auto AR-15 into a full-auto AR-15, which is illegal for civilians to own. Such parts replace a small number of existing parts in the AR-15 trigger mechanism and safety selector. Because the parts are very small, a high number of them — such as 10,800 — can be hidden in shipments that claim to be other things such as machinery parts or samples.
This means China was sending 10,800 full-auto rifle mods to Melbourne, Florida, which no doubt serves as a distribution hub for moving those pieces nationwide.
You might reasonably wonder, then, why China would be sending full-auto rifle mods to the USA. The answer is that China supports the civil war attempt by Black Lives Matter, and China is coordinating with BLM terrorists to arm up their militant troops across the country, upgrading their legally-acquired AR-15 weapons to “full auto” status, which makes them far more formidable in a kinetic assault.
Melbourne, Florida, is known as a human trafficking, drug trafficking and weapons trafficking mecca, with smuggling routes that are well established across both land and water. With easy access to both Orlando and Miami airports, contraband that comes into Melbourne is easy to distribute across the USA within days. The human trafficking is so bad in Melbourne that every law enforcement officer working the area has had contact with human trafficking operations there.
We now believe that some of these full-auto weapons mods end up under the control of Democrat governors like Newsom, the California Governor who actively seeks to see America destroyed.

Weapons, ammo and gold storage: East End Complex – Block 174 – Capitol building, Sacramento, California

Several weeks ago, we learned from a source in California that the East End Complex – Block 174 – of the Capitol building in Sacramento, California, has a vast underground storage complex that consists of multiple floors, much like a giant underground parking garage. The construction alone cost a quarter of a billion dollars:
From JohnsonFain.com, the firm that designed the facility:
…this project is an ambitious multi-block mixed-use development to consolidate the headquarters operations of three major departments of California State government. 6,400 employees of the Departments of Health Services, Education and General Services are housed in the five-building, 1.5 million square foot development, along with 1,500 parking spaces…
The Department of Health Services and General Services are housed in the second portion of the Capitol Area East End Complex, known as Blocks 171-174. This design-build team is made up of Clark Construction and Gruen Architects who completed this $225.6 million complex.
And here’s a satellite map of its location:
Our source, who served as an employee inside the building complex for several years, tells us that the underground storage facility in this building houses “vehicles, firearms, ammunition and gold bullion.” You’ll hear more from this source below…

Governor Newsom send half a billion dollars to China for completely fabricated “covid-19 mask” deal

Governor Newsom is fully aware of this operation and has been bought off by China, which is covertly providing loans to Newsom to keep him in power and prevent California from defaulting in an epic financial collapse. As Paul Preston reported on Agenda21Radio.news:
(Washington DC)-Sources in Washington DC speaking under condition of anonymity have revealed to AENN that California Governor Gavin Newsom has entered into discussions with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to loan the state of California $1 trillion dollars by way of a collateralized loan.
Newsom is making “payments” on the loans from China by funneling money to China through other corrupt means, such as this recent bombshell that finds Newsom helping communist China receive $1 billion in coronavirus aid. Via WesternJournal.com:
California announced a $1,000,000,000 outlay to purchase N95 respirator masks… “The governor’s advisors have so far declined requests for information about the agreement with BYD, the Chinese electric car manufacturer hired to produce the masks, though the state has already wired the company the first installment of $495 million,” the Times reported.
“Newsom, who has been praised for his efforts to slow the spread of the disease, bristled on Saturday at suggestions that his administration has been too slow to explain a deal that will cost California taxpayers 30% more than his January budget would spend on infectious disease prevention for an entire fiscal year.”
Furthermore, he hasn’t bothered to brief the California Legislature on what, exactly, he agreed to.
That’s because this isn’t a billion dollars for “masks.” It’s part of a massive money laundering operation to funnel money to China, so that China can funnel money and weapons back to Newsom in preparation for the civil war that they’re launching. (Nobody believes Gov. Newsom is spending a billion dollars on N95 masks… it’s absurd. Just a cover story.)
Even the Los Angeles Times was shocked by Gov. Newsom agreeing to send a billion dollars to China for N95 masks. As reported by the LA Times:
Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s decision to spend almost $1 billion in taxpayer funds to buy protective masks drew national attention as an aggressive move by California to solve one of the most nagging problems of the coronavirus crisis.
But almost two weeks after he announced the deal during a cable TV interview, very few details have been disclosed. The governor’s advisors have so far declined requests for information about the agreement with BYD, the Chinese electric car manufacturer hired to produce the masks, though the state has already wired the company the first installment of $495 million.
Seriously? An electric car company in China? Folks, this is as corrupt and dirty as it gets. But it’s all part of the money laundering operation that sends money to China, so that Chine can send “clean” money back to Newsom, which he diverts and uses to buy weapons, ammunition and gold.

Gov. Newsom is stockpiling weapons, ammunition and gold at the Capitol building in Sacramento

Back to the Easy End Complex in Sacramento, our source says they personally witnessed “insane amounts” of ammunition — pallets at a time — being delivered and stored there, harkening back to the DOJ purchases of 2 billion rounds of ammunition under President Barack Obama, who also said that he wanted to build a civilian army that was just as powerful as the U.S. military, by the way. Obama called this his, “Civilian National Security Force,” as AmericanThinker.com explains, Barack Obama said:
We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set… We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.
One pallet of 5.56 ammo is well over 50,000 rounds, by the way. So the ammo stockpiling by Gov. Newsom is off the charts, and it appears he got ammo from the DOJ under Obama as well as new ammo funded by communist China. Essentially, Gov. Newsom has been stockpiling weapons and ammo in preparation for a civil war that he’s been helping to make reality.
Back to Obama, how do you create a civilian military force? You stockpile weapons in Democrat-controlled cities like Sacramento. You work with communist China to import full-auto weapon mod parts to upgrade your civilian forces to military-grade automatic weapons. And you put more weapons into the hands of your loyalists through legalized gun-running operations like Operation Fast and Furious.
Listen to this bombshell interview between Dave Hodges and Bob Griswold, start playing at 17:15
Griswold: If you look closely at CHAZ, they were passing out AR-15s, where did they get those AR-15s from? They were in a closed area… where did all these AR-15s just miraculously appear from?
Hodges: Well I can tell you what my intelligence sources tell me: Pre-stashed weaponry… suspected courtesy of communist Chinese money and backing.
Griswold: Of course! We’ve mentioned this many times, that Long Beach, California was the Chinese way of bringing it into the country, the Southern border was [also] the way of bringing it in, and they funded these people… I was wondering why the FBI and the ATF didn’t go in when they were passing out AR-15s to minors [in CHAZ].

Obama’s “Fast and Furious” gun-running operation

Barack Obama, a “sleeper cell” president who had been meticulously plotting to see American overthrown and destroyed, launched Operation Fast and Furious in 2009, under the control of DOJ AG Eric Holder, a treasonous criminal who continues to work to undermine America today. Under operation Fast and Furious, the ATF was ordered to allow Mexican drug gangs to purchase high-caliber weapons from U.S. gun dealers in Arizona. These guns, Obama and Holder knew, would later be used in gun crimes in the United States, allowing President Obama to decry “gun violence” and call for new restrictions on the Second Amendment.
In essence, this operation was a way for Barack Obama to put heavy weapons into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. We have since learned that the narcos are being trained by communist Chinese military instructors, completing the circle of anti-America warfare tactics that involve both China and Mexico.
Remember that China has, for many years, been engaged in chemical warfare against the United States of America through the manufacture and distribution of fentanyl, a highly toxic drug that is right now killing over 60,000 Americans a year (that’s more than all the U.S. casualties of the Vietnam War combined). But how is fentanyl brought into the United States? Mexican drug cartels and smuggling routes which are protected by Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Gavin Newsom as part of their “open borders” policies. (The narcos pay tens of millions of dollars each year to California Democrats to maintain the open borders policy for drug smuggling and human trafficking.)
Importantly, these same routes will be used by the communist Chinese to invade the United States of America once the civil war achieves sufficient destabilization. That’s why China is dumping full-auto weapon mods into the continental United States — because it’s a destabilizing vector that will lead to mass chaos, death and blood in the streets. This will set the stage for Chinese-trained narcos to invade Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, aided by the guns they acquired via Obama’s Operation Fast and Furious.
At the same time, Democrat-controlled areas like Sacramento will activate their stored weapons and ammunition, handing out guns and ammo to left-wing loyalists like Antifa and Black Lives Matter, urging them to kill conservatives, Christians, Whites and Trump supporters.

The multi-faceted attack that’s about to hit the United States while 99% of Americans are totally oblivious to reality

Dave Hodges at TheCommonsenseShow.com has extensively documented the interactions between Mexican drug cartels and Chinese military troops. See some of his analysis in stories like, “Mexican Oil Official Says UN-Mexican Cartels and Chinese Are Provoking a Border War” or, “Leaked Document Shows Chinese Intent to Commit Mass American Genocide Followed the Occupation of America.”
In effect, America is about to be hit with a multi-faceted attack that has been largely funded by communist China, consisting of:
  • A domestic civil war uprising of Black Lives Matter militants who have been heavily armed with automatic weapons and are intent on killing Whites, Christians, conservatives and Trump supporters. In addition, Black Lives Matter is already receiving enormous funding through U.S. corporations such as McDonald’s, Netflix, Google and others who have pledged almost half a billion dollars so far.
  • A border invasion consisting of armed Mexican narcos who have been trained by Chinese military instructions and given heavy weapons paid for by China.
  • The release of financial weapons against America, including China selling off U.S. Treasury debt and announcing its own gold-backed currency.
  • The unleashing of emotionally charged, drooling left-wing “zombies” who have been whipped up into a frenzy by the treasonous left-wing media pushing deliberately fake news such as claiming that America is a “racist” nation or that Trump himself is racist.
  • The continued chemical warfare against America via fentanyl, heroin and other drugs that are devastating America’s young males who might otherwise be capable of serving in a military draft, if not for the fact that they are now trembling drug addicts.
  • The likely deployment of EMP weapons against America, using stolen technology, unleashing a “Pearl Harbor” attack that could kill 90% of the American population. This was the subject of a recent bombshell authored by Dr. Peter Vincent Pry and filed under the EMP Task Force on National and Homeland Security. You can read my coverage of this at this link on NationalSecurity.news. See the official website of this task force at https://emptaskforce.us – from that article:
The EMP weapons that China is perfecting would destroy the power grid, collapsing the United States of America into mass starvation, chaos and economic collapse. Although this seems to be exactly what Democrats want for America, it’s obviously a very dangerous scenario. This achieves China’s goal of eliminating the American people without destroying the natural resources and farmland through the use of nuclear weapons, which contaminate soils for three centuries with radioisotopes.
As Pry explains in the report, “a highly computerized open society like the United States is extremely vulnerable to electronic attacks from all sides. This is because the U.S. economy, from banks to telephone systems and from power plants to iron and steel works, relies entirely on computer network.”
Once the American people begin to die off in large numbers, China will stage a military invasion to occupy America and kill any remaining resistance. At that point, China will claim America for itself and begin a mass migration effort to colonize America with communist Chinese.
All this has been meticulously documented by people like J.R. Nyquist (JYquist.blog) and Dave Hodges (TheCommonsenseShow.com), both of whom I have interviewed about these critical issues:
And here’s a recent interview with Hodges about the coming invasion of America by Chinese troops:
I’ve also just posted an interview with “Scout” from BrushBeater, who warns of the coming civil war and makes specific recommendations about communications gear, night vision, training protocols and much more. If you have any desire at all to survive the civil war that has already begun, you need to listen to this interview:
Now you know why this website is blacklisted by Facebook, Google, YouTube and Twitter: Because Big Tech is in on the plan to destroy America, and they are all working with communist China to achieve this end game.
That’s why you need to immediately move to alternative platforms such as Parler.com, Spreely.com, Gab.com, Brighteon.com, etc., where you can share critical stories without censorship.
Also, subscribe to our email newsletter at this link to be alerted via email to breaking stories.
My channel on Brighteon.com is:
https://www.brighteon.com/channels/hrreport
Share this important story everywhere you can, and get geared up for the coming war, because you will literally be fighting for your own survival.

Thursday, July 2, 2020

National Coin Shortage Shines Light On Worthless Penny

A shortage of coins is appearing across America due to the covid‐19 pandemic significantly disrupting the supply chain and normal circulation patterns for U.S. coins. The U.S. Mint halted production due to covid-19 which has caused Fed Chair Powell to admit to lawmakers the Fed will be rationing coins until the problem is resolved. Powell said; "What's happened is that with the partial closure of the economy, the flow of coins through the economy ... it's kind of stopped." He went on to say the shortage which is expected to be temporary is due to the business closures that prevented people from spending their coins, as well as a lack of places that are open where people can trade coins for paper bills.
We can only hope that this will cause more people to question the usefulness of the penny which is a blemish on the face of America. It is costly to produce, no friend to the environment and it wastes America’s resources while sapping our productivity. It cost our country billions of dollars, year after year. According to the “citizens to retire the penny” it cost the Country one hundred million dollars a year to produce the penny, and more then $15 billion dollars annually is wasted just in handling it. Coins are designed by the government to be a simple and efficient medium for the exchange of goods and services. For many years there have been discussions about discontinuing the penny which has become obsolete because of its minuscule purchasing value. The penny is a perfect example of our government's inefficiency and waste, and the cost is a burden carried by business. If an employee is paid $12.00 an hour they receive twenty cents per minute. Businesses simply cannot afford to pay an employee to handle and count pennies, the cost of the labor exceeds their value.
Pennies Make A Great Bathroom Floor
In March of 2012 Canada made the decision to do away with its puny penny coin, loved by some but an annoyance to many, it was withdrawn from circulation because it costs too much to make and had become a pecuniary pest. Ottawa said the penny retained only one-twentieth of its original purchasing power. Because it costs 1.6 cents to produce each one-cent coin stamped out, discontinuing the penny was expected to save around $11 million a year.
"It was just one of those no-brainer slam dunks. It's a place where we can save money," said legislator Pat Martin, who has long campaigned for the penny to be abolished. In the middle of 2014 the Toronto Sun reported that since circulation of the penny was discontinued on Feb. 4, 2013, more than four billion of the copper coins had been recovered, equivalent to a face value of approximately $40 million. The Royal Canadian Mint at the time estimated that approximately 6 billion pennies were in circulation when production of the coin ceased in 2012. I suspect the number has dropped substantially since then and its use has become non-existent. Once the distribution of the coin ceased vendors were no longer expected to return pennies as change for cash purchases and were encouraged to round purchases to the nearest five cents.
As for the issue of the American penny, simply put, the American penny doesn't make sense! Let it be decreed that the penny when weighed and measured is found lacking. Other nations have either ceased to produce or have removed low denomination coins the list includes Australia, Brazil, Finland, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Britain, and as stated above Canada. By the time it was discontinued many Canadians considered the penny more of a nuisance than a useful coin. They often stored them in jars, threw them away in water fountains, or refuse them as change. Financial institutions faced increasing costs for handling, storing, and transporting pennies, and over time the penny had become a burden to the economy.
The Penny No Longer Makes Sense
To many people the penny is simply a horrible little thing with no redeeming value that destroys vacuum cleaners when they accidentally suck one up.  Still, we find that not only does the government continue making the penny but over the years it has even made new versions of the penny. Voters need to remind Washington that it is not the job of the well-paid employees of the treasury to create collectibles or to pander to small segments of the population by designing coins commemorating or recognizing minor events.
The debate against continuing the penny is overwhelming, anyone still supporting it most likely has not given the subject much thought or is simply resistant to change, “the penny doesn't make sense".  From an environmental standpoint, the penny is also a disaster when you consider all the energy used to make, transport, and distribute this useless coin. Currently, it costs the U.S. Mint 1.66 cents to make each one-cent coin, meaning that taxpayers are losing 0.66 of a cent for each one of the 9.1 billion pennies the Mint produces each year. That is a loss of $60,181,440 to produce pennies in 2016. The U.S. Mint makes an average of  21 million pennies per day which adds up to around nine billion pennies annually. If we just get rid of the penny, the U.S. Mint would cut its work in half. This figure does not include the time, fuel, expense, and hassle of carting all of those pennies around to the banks, merchants, etc.
If we stop making pennies we would also save all this cost associated with it. Remember the penny coin, has almost no purchasing power today and the cost of making the pennies is higher than face value. The melt value of pennies ranges from more than two cents for the pre-1982 copper pennies, to nearly a full cent for the zinc pennies. Logically, sooner or later the penny is destined to the dustbin of history. Ditching the penny would cost literally nothing and with a flourish of the executive pen create huge annual savings for business but such a move remains fiercely opposed by metal alloy industries and Coinstar, which makes millions each year by helping people get rid of their unwanted change.
According to the folks at RetireThePenny.org, the average American wastes 2.4 hours a year handling pennies or waiting for people who handle them. This statistic is the result of compiling several penny-handling related events. These events include the ubiquitous 30 second period we sometimes spend waiting for someone who has to dig through their pockets or purse to find that last cent so they can pay for something with exact change. They probably do this, so they don't get stuck with any more pennies. Still, we should not expect the government to take action anytime soon in our country so focused on pandering to those who fear change. It seems we may need some kind of push to bring about the penny’s final demise, because if we wait for those in charge of such things to do the logical thing we may be waiting until the end of time. Small things matter, if our politicians can’t get this right how can they ever deal with the more important issues facing our nation?

Stunning Surge In New CMBS Delinquencies Heralds Commercial Real Estate Disaster

From Zero Hedge:

Two months ago, we thought that the unprecedented implosion in US commercial real estate in the month of April following the near-uniform economic shutdown following the coronavius pandemic, manifesting in the surge in newly delinquent CMBS loans would be one for the ages, even though as we predicted May would likely be worse as a result of the spike in specially services loans. 
And indeed while April was ugly, May was even worse. But both pale in comparison to what the latest June remittance data.
First, the good news: as Trepp writes in its latest monthly CMBS remittance report, at one point in June, it appeared that a new all-time high for CMBS delinquencies would be reached. However, when the final numbers were posted, the 2012 high of 10.34%, a fraction higher than the current level, remains the peak for the time being.
Next, the not so good news: the latest, June, Trepp CMBS Delinquency Rate was 10.32%, a jump of 317 basis points over the May number. About 5% of that number represents loans in the 30 days delinquent bucket while another 3.2% are now 60 days delinquent. And while the 2012 high remains the record for now, it won't be for long, as the numbers are headed still higher in July.
That’s because 4.1% of loans by balance missed the June payment but remained less than 30 days delinquent.  That percentage of loans in or beyond grace period (the A/B loans) has fallen from 8.1% in April and 7.6% in May.
An optimistic take on the data is that perhaps we have reached terminal delinquency velocity – meaning most of the borrowers that felt the need for debt service relief have requested it. (Put another way, if a borrower didn’t need relief in April, May, or June there is a good chance the borrower won’t be needing it), although maturity defaults could still be an issue.) If that is the case, the expectation would be that the increases in the delinquency rate going forward should be smaller than what we saw in May and June. Alternatively, if the fiscal cliff hits at the end of July without a replacement stimulus, expect a second wave - if not of virus infections - then certainly of new commercial real estate delinquencies.

Some other overall statistics:
The percentage of loans with the special servicer grew from 6.07% in May to 8.28% in June. According to June servicer data, 20.5% of all lodging loans were in special servicing, up from 16.2% in May, which is why some have suggested that the next Big Short in CRE will be the CMBX Series 9 which is especially heavy on hotel loans.
2020-06-27
In addition, 14.3% of retail loans are with the special servicer, up from 9.3%.
The Overall Numbers
  • The overall US CMBS delinquency rate climbed 317 basis points in June to10.32%. (The all-time high on this basis was 10.34% registered in July 2012.)
  • The % ofA/B loans (i.e. loans in grace period or beyond grace period) was 4.1% in June.
  • Year over year, the overall US CMBS delinquency rate is up 748 basis points.
  • The percentage of loans that are seriously delinquent (60+ days delinquent, in foreclosure, REO, or non-performing balloons) is now 6.25%, up 408basis points for the month.
  • If defeased loans were taken out of the equation, the overall 30-day delinquency rate would be 10.88%, up 332 basis points from May.
  • One year ago, the US CMBS delinquency rate was 2.84%.
  • Six months ago, the US CMBS delinquency rate was 2.34%.
The CMBS 2.0+ Numbers
  • The CMBS 2.0+ delinquency rate jumped 317 basis points to 9.36% in June. The rate is up 840 basis points year over year.
  • The percentage of CMBS 2.0+ loans that are seriously delinquent is now 5.27%, which is up 417 basis points from May.
  • If defeased loans were taken out of the equation, the overall CMBS 2.0+ delinquency rate would be 9.85%, up 331 basis points for the month.

Overall Property Type Analysis (CMBS 1.0 and 2.0+)
  • The industrial delinquency rate fell 25 basis points to 1.57%.
  • The amount of industrial loans categorized as A/B in June: 1.55%.
  • The lodging delinquency rate jumped 517 basis points to 24.3%.
  • The amount of lodging loans categorized as A/B in June: 7.91%.
  • The multifamily delinquency rate rose four basis points to 3.29%.
  • The amount of multifamily loans categorized as A/B in June: 1.45%.
  • The office delinquency rate moved up 26 basis points to 2.66%.
  • The amount of office loans categorized as A/B in June: 1.92 %
  • The retail delinquency rate spiked 793 basis points to 18.07%.
  • The amount of retail loans categorized as A/B in June: 5.42%.
Property Type Analysis CMBS 2.0+:
  • Industrial delinquency rate: 0.67% (down 24 basis points month over month)
  • Lodging delinquency rate: 24.11% (up 522 basis points)
  • Multifamily delinquency rate: 3.24% (up 14 basis points)
  • Office delinquency rate: 1.29% (up 16 basis points)
  • Retail delinquency rate: 16.07% (up 788 basis points)
Property Type Analysis CMBS 1.0:
  • Industrial delinquency rate: 43.35% (up 29 basis points month over month)
  • Lodging delinquency rate: 40.76% (up 31 basis points)
  • Multifamily delinquency rate: 11.71% (down 678 basis points)
  • Office delinquency rate: 38.56% (up 328 basis points)
  • Retail delinquency rate: 78.02% (up 1179 basis points)