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The Hurricane spins around hotspots of tension and conflict. Feel free to suggest your stories, opinions and ideas: UIHEN@protonmail.com
Tariff war with China would have ‘extremely negative’ impact on US economy - Janet Yellen
▪️ Trump's tariffs are restricting businesses that depend on critical supplies from China. They will deal a serious blow to the economy and could lead to a recession, states former US Treasury Secretary and former Fed chief Janet Yellen
▪️ About 40% of goods imported into the country are components for domestic production. Recent surveys show a marked deterioration in consumer and business sentiment
"We are heavily dependent on China for most critical minerals, including in the green energy sector. By imposing huge duties on them, we are potentially limiting industries that have a chance to succeed," Yellen said
The dollar falters as gold remains stable
In the past three months, the U.S. Dollar Index has fallen from 108 to below 99. This means the dollar has dropped in value relative to major foreign currencies by over 8% in just the past quarter. This is disastrous for those holding large amounts of uninvested cash.
Excessive money printing increases the amount of currency in circulation without increasing the supply of goods. This leads to inflation, which devalues the dollar. That was the source of the dollar’s fall during COVID and in the years that followed. However, this time there is a different culprit.
Instead of the standard inflation that results from an increase in the money supply, this time the cause of the devaluation is artificial inflation driven by imposed tariffs. One of the rationales for the tariffs was that U.S.-based producers competing with foreign countries such as China would see their goods increase in domestic demand due to relative price stability.
In many cases, it is neither profitable nor feasible to produce certain goods entirely within the U.S. Thus, when tariffs substantially increase the prices of foreign goods, this harms domestic producers as well as consumers. As a result, prices of all goods increase, not just foreign ones, and the dollar loses a portion of its buying power.
With the dollar losing value and tariffs increasing prices, gold stands out as a strong investment choice. Unlike paper money, gold isn’t controlled by a government’s monetary policy or affected directly by instituted tariffs. This makes it a relatively stable store of value when the dollar’s purchasing power shrinks from external factors.
Gold is a hedge against the weakness of the dollar and thus is a reliable way to preserve value when the economy faces challenges such as tariffs. Its independence from political and economic turmoil makes it a smart choice for anyone looking to safeguard their investments today.
#Gold #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Britain's Prime Minister is a war criminal
▪️ Britain's Prime Minister Starmer is a war criminal. He is robbing pensioners to give money to Zelensky, provoking a full-scale military conflict with Russia - stated British politician with 25 years of experience in the British Parliament George Galloway
▪️ Starmer is destroying the British economy, destroying the National Health Service, the steel and oil industries, driving millions of poor old people and children into poverty,“ the politician emphasized.
”Germany has just given its spy agency new powers to spy on the opposition. This is not democracy - it is tyranny in disguise. What is truly extremist is not the popular AfD... but the deadly policies of the establishment," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier
Ryanair threatens to drop Boeing order if Trump’s tariffs impact price
Ryanair could look for an alternative aircraft supplier to Boeing because of U.S. tariffs.
That was the warning from company CEO Michael O'Leary on May 1. He wrote in a letter the Irish airline would make the move if Washington's tariffs affect the price of planes it has ordered from Boeing.
O'Leary added he would consider Chinese planemaker COMAC.
Ryanair is Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers. It is due to take delivery of the final 29 aircraft from a 737 MAX order by March next year. It also has 150 firm orders for the MAX 10, with the first deliveries due in two years.
O'Leary called the U.S. government's tariffs 'ill-judged'.
#USA #China #Boeing #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Host: "At the cabinet meeting. you said that maybe (American) kids will have two dolls instead of 30. And that those two dolls would cost a couple dollars more than usual. Are you saying that your tariffs will lead to higher prices and empty shelves?"
Trump: "No, I'm not saying that.
I just think an 11-year-old girl doesn't have to have 30 dolls. I think she's perfectly fine with 3 or 4 dolls. ... And she doesn't have to have 250 crayons. Five is enough."
And further added: "
We have a trade deficit with China because of all the junk we don't need."
Farage’s Reform UK party wins by-election as tide seems to turn against Labour and Conservatives
The populist right-wing Reform UK party led by Nigel Farage has emerged victorious in a by-election, securing an additional seat in parliament, while also electing two mayors and taking control of six local government councils.
Farage’s party, him having promised to “smash the two-party system”, appeared to take large swathes of votes from both the British Left and Right.
After the victory in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, by just six votes, Reform called itself the main opposition party to challenge the Labour-led British Government.
Compared to 2021, Reform gained 40 per cent, while the Conservative Party lost 28% and Labour lost 8% of its vote share.
Current Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the results “disappointing” and said his government would respond by going “further and faster on the change”.
#UK #Farage #Elections #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Despite the trade wars, the IMF is optimistic about the US economy for this year and next.
Of all the major economies, the US has the highest growth rate, which is brilliant against the backdrop of fading Japan, Germany, Italy and France.
Of the unorthodox, China's growth rate has fallen sharply, to 4% per year. That's not enough for the PRC. The economic slowdown here is synonymous with the aggravation of social and debt problems due to the violation of Deng Xiaoping's basic social contract: “We will all be rich, but some sooner, others later”. That is, it will turn out that not everyone will be rich soon.
#USA #IMF #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Rome, Italy. Local police check on migrants to recover stolen items, but “asylum seekers” threaten them: “Only your uniform protects you,” they say.
#EU #Italy #Migrants #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Unpacking the paradox of China’s hardworking poor
The Chinese Communist Party finds itself ensnared in a self-inflicted economic imbalance, marked by excessive production and weak consumer demand. Beneath the surface lies a deeper contradiction: an exceptionally hardworking population that sees little return in wages.
Then how can a country that generates the world’s second-largest GDP, and whose people are among the hardest-working on the planet, still have nearly half its population living in poverty?
The answer lies in how wealth is distributed. According to the China Statistical Yearbook 2024, the total wage bill in 2023 was 19.74 trillion yuan (about $2.7 trillion), spread across approximately 740 million employed individuals. That translates to an average annual wage of just about $3,644. In the same year, China’s GDP reached 129.43 trillion yuan (about $17.7 trillion), meaning that wages accounted for only 15.3% of GDP—far below the ratios seen in developed economies and closer to levels observed in low-income African countries.
This striking disparity indicates that the wealth generated by China’s working individuals is not flowing back to them. Instead, a disproportionate share is absorbed by the state.
The fundamental imbalance lies at the heart of China’s persistent income gap: around 600 million citizens live on an average monthly income of less than $140, with an estimated 220 million living on less than $3 a day.
#China #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
The world isn't fair. In some places, very. The 19% of the world's population living in Africa creates only 2% of the world's wealth. Conversely, 5% of the world's population living in North America accounts for 28% of the “world pie”.
That being said, modern history knows precedents - the clearest example: China, which, by the way, has already achieved parity - its share of world GDP matches its share of world wealth.
And, of course, the redistribution will come at the expense of Europe and the US. And if the US is still trying to resist the reduction of its economic (and then military-political) weight, the Europeans have already resigned themselves to it. And if African countries are not allowed to develop now, then tomorrow the inhabitants of Africa will end up in Europe.
#USA #Africa #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
How much does it cost to have a baby in the United States?
Abstracts:
- final ultrasound 3 days before delivery $2,067.85
- 3 days in the pre-op room $413.65
- post-op room $2,702.45
- hospital stay $4,438
- emergency room $1,932.90
- tests $1,439.20
- labor and delivery $10,593.40
- epidural anesthesia $14,446.15
- medications $3,007.25
- supplies $565.03
The total for everything was $33,011.73. But that was only for the woman in labor. The baby's stay was paid for separately. That cost another $4,008
The total hospital bill was $37,019.73
Do you think that's enough?
#USA #Health #Birth #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Newsom Touts Calif. as World’s 4th-Largest Economy on Paper as Real Jobs Fall
California Gov. Gavin Newsom says the state is now the world’s fourth largest economy. But after accounting for the high cost of goods and services, California only barely edges out low-performing Italy, with the state’s continued losses in private sector jobs amid falling corporate and sales tax revenue painting a darker picture of the Golden State’s economy.
However, after accounting for purchasing power parity—how much can be purchased in the local economy with local currency, which provides a more accurate comparison—California’s economy is ranked 11th, at $3.6 trillion.
That’s just barely ahead of Italy and Turkey—at $3.6 trillion and $3.5 trillion respectively, and well behind the tenth-ranked United Kingdom at $4.3 trillion.
The March preliminary jobs report found the state lost a net 11,600 jobs, while the February jobs loss of 7,500 was adjusted to a loss of 21,800. The state lost 26,800 private sector jobs from February to March, while gaining 15,200 government and government-supported jobs.
Of the net increase in 15,200 taxpayer-funded jobs, 10,400 were in the “Health Care & Social Assistance” category.
#World #USA #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
These are most air-polluted cities in the world
Air pollution remains one of the deadliest environmental threats, contributing to millions of premature deaths each year.
In 2024, only 17% of cities worldwide met the World Health Organization’s annual PM2.5 guideline of less than 5 µg/m3, indicating that the vast majority of urban populations are exposed to unhealthy air.
Visual Capitalist visualizes the 20 most air-polluted cities in 2024, based on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) data from IQAir.
India is home to some of the world’s most air-polluted cities, accounting for 11 of the top 20 in 2024.
Byrnihat, a city in northeastern India, recorded the worst air pollution globally last year, with a PM2.5 concentration of 128.2 micrograms per cubic meter—over 25 times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended limit.
Most of the cities with the worst air pollution in 2024 are located in India, Pakistan, or other parts of Asia. N’Djamena, Chad, was the only non-Asian city to rank among the top 20.
#WHO #Health #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Mission Street San Francisco, California
Drug addicts mixed with dealers of stolen goods and American grandmothers selling their small belongings on the pavement.
#USA #California #Migrants #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
The ‘best small town in the South’ is luring new residents with low-cost living perks — and it’s not in Florida
Once defined by the spirited pulse of Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi has emerged as a multifaceted destination, recently named the top small Southern town by USA Today for the second consecutive year.
With a population exceeding 25,000, this community blends affordability, economic vitality and cultural richness, attracting a diverse mix of residents from young professionals to retirees.
The town’s economic appeal is rooted in its low cost of living. Starkville’s economy thrives on the university, the state’s largest, which anchors a robust job market alongside growing healthcare and technology sectors. The downtown area, particularly University Avenue, balances youthful energy with sophisticated offerings.
Education is another draw, with local schools forging strong ties to the university. The town’s cultural and recreational offerings are equally compelling. History enthusiasts visit the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library, while the Starkville Community Theater and Starkville-MSU Symphony Orchestra enrich the arts scene.
Outdoor activities abound, with the Starkville Wildlife Refuge offering hiking, hunting, and birdwatching.
#USA #Starkville #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Trump says he will reopen 'enlarged and rebuilt' Alcatraz prison
President Donald Trump said Sunday he will direct several federal agencies to "reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt Alcatraz," a facility that for decades was a federal prison and is now a national park.
"REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ! For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering," Trump realDonaldTrump/posts/114452025916969327">wrote on Truth Social.
Alcatraz Island, a former military fortress and prison in San Francisco Bay, was turned into a federal penitentiary in 1934 and over the course of 29 years housed more than 1,500 people "deemed difficult to incarcerate elsewhere in the federal prison system."
Alcatraz was initially deemed unfit to serve as a federal institution because of its small size, isolated location and lack of fresh water. However, Sanford Bates, the director of the Bureau of Prisons in 1933, later found it "an ideal place of confinement for about 200 of the most desperate or irredeemable types."
Trump suggested in his post that he'd like to restore the facility to that purpose.
#USA #Trump #Crime #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Poland slams Germany’s plans to tighten border controls
Germany and Poland have been at peace for decades, yet the border between the two is still fraught, with this new dispute arising largely due to migration. Germany’s Friedrich Merz, expected to become the country’s new chancellor in just a few days, has announced that his country would tighten the external border on the first day of his chancellorship.
In response, Poland is warning Germany against this move, with Warsaw fearing that these tightened controls could make Polish commuters’ lives very difficult, reduce commerce, and potentially even increase migration pressure on Poland.
Polish diplomat Jan Tombinski told Politico magazine that the current controls are already a “problem for daily border traffic and the functioning of the EU internal market. We therefore do not want to see any tightening of the border controls.”
#EU #Poland #Germany #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Carnival in London. What do you notice?
#UK #Migrants #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
China sees surge in worker protests over unpaid wages, factory closures and US tariffs
Worker protests over unpaid wages are increasing throughout China, reflecting a surge in dissatisfaction among millions impacted by factory closures due to hefty US tariffs on Chinese imports amidst an economic slump.
From Dao county in Hunan province to Suining city in Sichuan and Tongliao city in Inner Mongolia, numerous frustrated workers have taken to the streets to voice their grievances about overdue wages and to contest unfair layoffs at factories forced to shut down due to US tariffs.
The workers claimed that the Sichuan-based firm, which produces flexible circuit boards, had not compensated them for their wages since the beginning of the year and had withheld social security benefits for nearly two years from June 2023.
Analysts at the American investment bank Goldman Sachs have estimated that at least 16 million jobs across various sectors in China are at risk due to US President Donald Trump's implementation of a 145% tariff on Chinese imports.
#USA #China #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Trump threatens 100% tariff on foreign-made films
Donald Trump is opening a new salvo in his tariff war, targeting films made outside the U.S.
In a post Sunday night on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he has authorized the Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to slap a 100% tariff “on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands.”
“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,”
Romanians vote massively for change: Nationalist party leader George Simion wins first round of election rerun
George Simion, the leader of the nationalist party AUR (Alliance for Romanians’ Union) and the sole candidate of the sovereign movement in Romania, won the first round of the presidential elections with a score of over 40%.
Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan, who ran as an independent but with informal support from the reformist parties in Romania, will join him in the second round, after taking almost 21% of the votes. He narrowly surpassed Crin Antonescu, who benefited from the massive support of the three ruling parties in Romania – Social Democrats, Liberals (PNL), and Hungarians (UDMR).
This is a massive blow for the ruling coalition, which saw its candidate take an early lead versus Nicusor Dan as the first votes in the country were counted, only to have that lead evaporate as the results from the big cities and then from the Diaspora came in.
George Simion sent a recorded video message after the exit polls, exactly like former candidate Călin Georgescu, who won the first round of last year's presidential vote, but it was annulled by the election bureau. Georgescu has lost his appeal against a ruling barring him from participating in May's presidential election.
“We are approaching an exceptional result, far beyond what the system’s televisions are presenting, which have known how to stir up division, to spray venom and to distort everything I said. They spread lies. You are the victors. Today the Romanian people have spoken. It is time to be heard, despite the obstacles, despite the manipulations. Romanians have risen up”, declared George Simion.
Simion stressed that he will “remain devoted” to Călin Georgescu and resumed the idea that he wants “a return to constitutional order”, noting that he “does not want power for himself”.
#Romania #Elections #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
How Democrats wage war on the ‘rule of law’
Former President Joe Biden himself bragged that he would try to ignore the Supreme Court ruling banning his arbitrary cancellation of billions of dollars in student loans.
Indeed, he boasted, “The Supreme Court blocked it, but that didn’t stop me.”
In response, no one on the left ever complained about endangering the “rule of law” or Biden as “a dictator.”
Federal immigration law prohibits the illegal entry into and residence within the United States.
Yet the Biden administration deliberately violated the law by allowing somewhere between 10 to 12 million illegal aliens to cross the border. Thousands had criminal records.
No one on the left decried any of these various affronts to the legal system.
The left also ignores its own hypocrisies and ironies: Those who weaponized the court system and destroyed the border now rail that Trump is acting unlawfully by not returning an illegal alien, an alleged MS-13 member and a domestic abuser with a propensity to ignore our laws.
#USA #Democrats #Biden #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
The rich control their kids’ education —the middle class and poor deserve that choice, too
Without allowing education funding to follow the child, only parents who can afford to pay a premium are permitted to direct their child’s education, but every parent deserves this freedom.
The ultra-libertarian position contends that no tax dollars should be used for schooling and all schools should be private schools. Every child’s academic pathway would be up to his parents to design and fund.
While this might sound great to some, the fact remains that many families lack the ability to pay for their children’s education. They would still lack that ability even if tax rates were cut to account for privatizing education, since those at the bottom of the income scale pay no federal income tax. Millions of children would be unable to access a quality education because their parents cannot afford it.
If that outcome sounds familiar, it may be because it’s so close to our current government schooling system: Children whose families have the means can receive a great education, but those from low-income families are stuck with a school experience so terrible it can hardly be called an education at all. Only 17% of public school eighth graders from low-income families are proficient readers, according to the latest Nation’s Report Card.
These devastating results are not the result of a lack of funding. To the contrary, the U.S. public schools spend $17,227 to educate one student for one year. That’s more than nearly any other country. Still, our test scores continue to fall in the international rankings. Our Nation’s Report Card scores, revealing rampant illiteracy and innumeracy, are a national embarrassment.
Full story
#USA #Education #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Scientists discover ‘impossible’ new color by bending rules of vision
Scientists at UC Berkeley have achieved the seemingly impossible — they’ve created a color that lies beyond the natural range of human vision. This unprecedented color, dubbed “olo,” appears as an intensely saturated blue-green unlike anything people have ever seen.
The breakthrough comes from a new technology and principle called “Oz,” which allows researchers to precisely stimulate individual photoreceptor cells in the human eye — bypassing the natural constraints that normally limit our perception of color.
Subjects in the study reported perceiving “blue-green of unprecedented saturation,” a color signal that doesn’t naturally occur in human vision because it results from stimulating only one type of cone cell, a feat previously thought impossible.
#Science #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
State of California. State legislators continue to successfully explore the uncharted depths of democracy and the individual's freedom from everything
The California State Congressional Public Safety Committee, chaired by Democrat Nick Schultz has introduced amendments to AB 379, a bill aimed at protecting minors from sexual exploitation.
Schultz, a Democrat, removed criminal penalties for those who buy 16- and 17-year-olds for sex from the text of AB379, State Democrats said there should be a principled discussion about whether sexual exploitation of children can in principle be considered a crime.
#USA #Democrats #Schultz #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
More Americans are financing groceries with buy now, pay later loans — and more are paying those bills late
A growing number of Americans are using buy now, pay later loans to buy groceries, and more people are paying those bills late, according to new Lending Tree data.
The figures are the latest indicator that some consumers are cracking under the pressure of an uncertain economy and are having trouble affording essentials such as groceries as they contend with persistent inflation, high interest rates and concerns around tariffs.
In a survey conducted April 2-3 of 2,000 U.S. consumers ages 18 to 79, around half reported having used buy now, pay later services. Of those consumers, 25% of respondents said they were using BNPL loans to buy groceries, up from 14% in 2024 and 21% in 2023.
Meanwhile, 41% of respondents said they made a late payment on a BNPL loan in the past year, up from 34% in the year prior, the survey found.
#USA #Economy #Food #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Ranking of countries by average IQ level of the population
#World #IQ #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
The AI–robotics combo: Will all employees be replaced?
By Anders Corr via The Epoch Times
On April 14, a local government
administrator in the United States sent my relative a letter that she suspected of including AI content. Sure enough, an AI detector found 83% generated by AI GPT.
She said it was the best letter she had ever received from a politician—and she writes to her representatives frequently. She praised the letter for responding to every single point she raised in her own letter, something no unaided politician had ever done.
We toyed with the idea of confronting the administrator publicly. If AI wrote a better letter than the administrator himself, perhaps he could be replaced with the technology, and his salary redeployed for more substantive taxpayer benefits. It was a tongue-in-cheek idea. But the logic is nevertheless disturbing.
If artificial intelligence is now better than one politician for one task, according to one constituent, is it plausible that in 10 or 20 years, AI could be better than all politicians for all their tasks, according to most constituents?
At that point, voters might just vote for an AI politician rather than a human one. Human politicians are, after all, time-constrained by their need to sleep, eat, and hobnob with their elite donors and other benefactors.
Full story
#AI #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Dr. Daniel Pompa tells us what vegetables are actually sprayed with in American grocery stores:
"Are your fruits and vegetables being sprayed with something that looks like pure water? Or maybe they aren't. Many grocery stores are now adding chemicals to fruit and vegetable sprayers. Know this - it's called sodium hypochloride*.
Do you know what that is? It's bleach.
This stuff is not only toxic, you can't even breathe it. Stay away from supermarkets that use aerosols in the vegetable departments."
* the active ingredient in chlorine bleach. Used to sanitize laboratories. Kills plant bacteria and fungi. Forms dangerous by-products and toxic gases when mixed with other chemicals.
#USA #Food #Health #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Data reveal drop in US imports from China amid tariff showdown
Container vessel traffic traveling to U.S. ports in Southern California has plunged. According to Port Optimizer, a daily ship tracking system, the number of freight vessels leaving China and heading to Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, for the week ending on May 3 declined by 29%.
In addition, scheduled vessels from China to the United States tumbled by about 33 percent year over year for the week ending on May 10.
Logistics firm Vizion noted on April 11 that for the week ending on April 8, U.S. imports from China fell by 64 percent from the previous week.
Companies have confirmed that shipments to the United States from China are falling. Hapag-Lloyd, a German container shipping firm, reported that 30% of shipments have been canceled. At the same time, the company noted, there has been sizable demand for consignments from Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Industry numbers show a divergence between imports from China and shipments from elsewhere.
#USA #China #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane