Report: Parkinson’s Doctor Visited Biden White House 8 Times in 8 Months

Ken Silva
-
0
Report: Parkinson’s Doctor Visited Biden White House 8 Times in 8 Months

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The bad news keeps coming for the embattled Biden administration.

The most recent nail in the Biden campaign coffin came Monday afternoon in the form of a New York Times article, which revealed that an expert on Parkinson’s disease from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center visited the White House eight times in eight months from last summer through this spring.

At least one of those visits was for a meeting with Biden’s personal physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, according to the Times, which cited White House visitor logs.

“The expert, Dr. Kevin Cannard, is a neurologist who specializes in movement disorders and recently published a paper on Parkinson’s,” the Times reported.

“The logs, released by the White House in response to a request from The New York Times, document visits from July 2023 through March of this year. More recent visits, if there have been any, would not be released until later under the White House’s voluntary disclosure policy,” the newspaper said.

Dr. Cannard’s Jan. 17 meeting with Dr. O’Connor reportedly happened a month before Mr. Biden underwent his most recent annual physical checkup at Walter Reed on Feb. 28.

“In a six-page letter released after that checkup, Dr. O’Connor said the president’s medical team had conducted ‘an extremely detailed neurologic exam’ that had yielded ‘no findings which would be consistent with’ Parkinson’s, stroke or other central neurological disorders,” the Times reported.

“Dr. O’Connor did not say whether the examination contained common tests for assessing cognitive decline or detecting signs of dementia that are often recommended for older adults.”

Dr. Cannard reportedly didn’t respond to media inquire about the matter. The White House reportedly told the Times that “a wide variety of specialists from the Walter Reed system visit the White House complex to treat the thousands of military personnel who work on the grounds.”

Meanwhile, the House Oversight committee is investigating Dr. O’Connor over his financial relationships with the Biden family, as well as his rosy health reports about the deteriorating president.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

Keep Your Mouth Shut and Keep Your Gold Secure!

Money Metals News Service
-
0
Keep Your Mouth Shut and Keep Your Gold Secure!

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) How do you safely and securely move billions of dollars worth of gold? Very quietly.

De Nederlandsche Bank (the Dutch central bank) did just that, moving over 220 tons of gold coins and bars over 45 miles of public highway.

Officials spent four weeks shuttling gold and cash from a vault in Haarlem to the new Cash Centre in Zeist.

According to NOS, the value of the gold and banknotes totaled more than $15 billion.

Transporting that much gold over public roads posed a logistical and security nightmare. It required careful coordination between bank officials and military police, supported by local law enforcement and defense forces.

So, how did the Dutch central bank secretly move so much gold and cash, and ensure as few people knew about it as possible?

“Very simple. Just keep your mouth shut,” Royal Military Police Captain Stan Verberkt told NOS.

Another officer said the operation wasn’t “secret” in the strict sense of the word, but the move wasn’t made public until after the fact and they “deliberately kept a low profile.”

A convoy of four armored vehicles escorted by police certainly caught people’s attention along the roadway, but as Verberkt pointed out, they had no idea what was passing by.

Verberkt said police and security forces were prepared for any scenario.

“A lot of thought has gone into the scenarios you could end up in. Everyone is 100 percent alert and also extremely well trained and equipped.”

This was the second time the Dutch central bank’s gold reserves were moved. In 2020, officials transported the gold from Amsterdam to the temporary vault in Haarlem. Officials say there are no plans to move the gold again in the foreseeable future. 

De Nederlandsche Bank’s divisional director told NOS that the gold’s new home “may well be the most heavily secured building in the Netherlands.” 

He also noted that gold provides security for the Dutch financial system.

“The gold is the ultimate reserve if the entire financial system were to get into trouble and nothing would be of value anymore. Then the gold is still worth a lot of money. We can start over with that.”

“Keep your mouth shut” is an important security measure if you store gold or silver in your home. Talking about your gold stash or posting about it on social media does nothing but paint a target on your back.

If you’re worried about keeping your gold and silver secure, you can always opt for third-party vaulting. If you go this route, choose a trusted company.

Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for MoneyMetals.com with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.

Have We Been in Recession for Years?

Money Metals News Service
-
0
Have We Been in Recession for Years?

(Peter St. Onge, Money Metals News Service) Have we already entered a recession? Worse, have we been in a recession for years now?

Recently I joined Jeff Tucker of the Brownstone Institute on an article about the Herculean task of trying to figure out what’s actually happening in the economy.

Which is a challenge given every official economic number out there is broken.

Nonfarm Payrolls in thousands, Seasonally Adjusted (chart)

I’ve covered some of these in recent videos, including failing to count homeless people as unemployed, calling welfare spending economic growth, and undercounting inflation — perhaps by a lot.

The thing is, if the official numbers are wrong, it could mean we’re already in recession, masked by rising asset prices courtesy of the Fed.

Inflation: the Key to Recession

To give a flavor, the official inflation rate since COVID-19 has been around 21%. But fast food menu prices – a go-to indicator for Foreign exchange investors – are up between 35% and 50%. People posting grocery receipts online say it’s actually more than 50%.

The problem is if inflation was actually, say, 35% it means GDP hasn’t gone up at all since pre-Covid. It means it actually went down. Implying we’ve been in recession for nearly 5 years.

Official and Estimated CPI using pre-1983 Housing Methods including Personal Interest Payments (1972-2023)

This is because official growth numbers are discounted by inflation. If growth was 3% but inflation was 2%, we grew. If inflation was actually 4%, we shrank.

That means that if inflation was actually worse than 35% — if, say, it was the 50% that grocery receipts say — that would put us near Depression levels with a 13% drop in real GDP since pre-Covid.

Are We in a Hidden Depression?

The idea seems absurd — it shocked me. But, historically, inflationary depressions are hard to see for the simple reason that asset prices pump before consumer prices do. The affluent keep spending since their stocks soared and their house prices soared – sound familiar?

In Germany’s Weimar hyperinflation, for example, early on people weren’t complaining about prices, they were popping champagne over how much money they were making on their stocks. The hunger came later.

The 4-year depression theory explains a lot of otherwise mysterious data. My colleague EJ Antoni found that manufacturing orders have been flat for at least 3 years, while consumer spending has actually been negative for those 3 years. We get data points like Americans seeing McDonald’s as a luxury item, buying groceries on credit cards, selling off second cars, and downsizing to smaller homes – all hallmarks of a recession.

Advance Retail Sales in millions, Seasonally Adjusted (chart)Fred: University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment (chart)

Even that grandaddy of statistics, GDP, may be an illusion. Because GDP counts government spending as production.

Which, of course, it is not: it’s spending, not building. So our current $2 trillion deficit is, on paper, automagically boosting GDP by nearly 7%. But the spending isn’t making us richer – it’s making us poorer as physical resources get squandered.

It’s the 1970s All Over Again, but Worse

When the official numbers are lies, we’re left with data points and anecdotes like record credit card debt, financial distress among the middle class, and shrinking quality of life.

New Orders for all Manufactured Goods in millions (chart)

My base case has been that we’re repeating the 1970s disaster driven by out-of-control government spending and out-of-control Fed money printing. The official numbers are matching that almost to a tee.

But if, in fact, the real numbers are much worse – perhaps even as bad as voters and consumer surveys report – then we could be headed towards a proper Depression.

Peter St. Onge writes articles about Economics and Freedom. He’s an economist at the Heritage Foundation, a Fellow at the Mises Institute, and a former professor at Taiwan’s Feng Chia University. His website is www.ProfStOnge.com.

Precious Metals Outperforming Stocks Despite ‘Magnificent Seven’ Hype

Money Metals News Service
-
0
Precious Metals Outperforming Stocks Despite ‘Magnificent Seven’ Hype

(Clint Siegner, Money Metals News Service) If you ask average investors what the best-performing asset class is year-to-date, the vast majority of them would get it wrong. The correct answer isn’t stocks, but rather precious metals (led by silver).

Most investors would have no idea that silver is up 32% year to date because they don’t own any, and the mainstream financial media doesn’t report on it.

Their financial advisors probably aren’t aware either. If they are, they probably don’t want to talk about it (even as they, themselves, are usually invested in the monetary metals).

Precious metals remain the red-headed stepchildren among investment assets – at least in the U.S. and Europe.

That is probably good news for gold and silver bugs who are still accumulating. It means metal prices aren’t in a bubble and there is room for them to go much higher… if they can garner attention from the greater herd.

Those multitudes are still blissfully chasing the equity markets higher, apparently comforted by assurances that if the U.S. gets a recession at all, it will be mild. The S&P 500, like gold, is making all-time highs. Only it gets a lot more attention for doing it.

Equity prices are arguably in a bubble. The price-to-earnings ratio for the S&P 500 index is 28.93, just about double the long-term median of 15.

Virtually all investors own U.S. equities. Many of them probably don’t realize just how bubbly the equity markets have become.

Lately, just seven of the 500 companies in the index have been driving a huge portion of the gains. These “magnificent 7” stocks, which include Apple and Nvidia, are responsible for the majority of the index’s 25% gain over the past year.

The performance of the S&P 500 is anything but a testament to broad strength in the U.S. economy. The mania in just a handful of stocks is driving the entire index.

Don’t ask questions, though! Buy stocks for the long term and forget “relics” like gold or silver, says Wall Street.

Speaking of the long term, it’s worth pointing out that metals haven’t been getting all that much attention from investors for decades, not just the past several months.

The S&P 500 was priced at 1,422 on January 1, 2000. Gold was priced at $283/oz and silver was at $5.30/oz.

Based on last Friday’s close, stocks are 3.91 times higher than they were 24 1/2 years ago. Gold is 8.49 times higher, and silver has risen 5.93 times.

Perhaps metals will finally get their due after another two decades of outperformance. Absent any changes in monetary or fiscal policy, another 20 years of solid gains looks like a pretty good bet.

Clint Siegner is a Director at Money Metals Exchange, the national precious metals company named 2015 “Dealer of the Year” in the United States by an independent global ratings group. A graduate of Linfield College in Oregon, Siegner puts his experience in business management along with his passion for personal liberty, limited government, and honest money into the development of Money Metals’ brand and reach. This includes writing extensively on the bullion markets and their intersection with policy and world affairs.

Gold-Silver Ratio Could Indicate the Early Stages of a Silver Breakout

Money Metals News Service
-
0
Gold-Silver Ratio Could Indicate the Early Stages of a Silver Breakout

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) Two months ago, the gold-silver ratio broke an important support level, indicating the white metal could be in the early stages of closing its gap with gold.

The gold-silver ratio indicates how many ounces of silver it takes to buy one ounce of gold given the spot price of both metals. In other words, it tells you the price of gold in ounces of silver.

The current gold-silver ratio is hovering just about 76-1. That means it takes 76 ounces of silver to buy one ounce of gold.

The ratio remains historically high, meaning that silver is underpriced compared to gold, but there is some indication the trend is in the early stages of reversing.

In the modern era, the gold-silver ratio has averaged between 40-1 and 60-1. When the gold-silver ratio gets far above the high end of that historical average, it tends to return to the mean with a vengeance. 

For instance, in 2020, the gold-silver ratio set a record of 123-1 as Covid hysteria gripped the world and then plunged to around 60-1 as central banks around the world cranked up the money creation machine to cope with governments shutting down economies. 

In another example of this snap-back, the gold-silver ratio fell to 30-1 in 2011 after rising to over 80-1 during the money creation of the Great Recession in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. 

Three months ago, the gold-silver ratio climbed as high as 87-1. Two months ago, the ratio fell to around 73-1, below the 13-year support level. It briefly rallied, climbing back to 80-1, but it failed to regain 13-year support before dipping over the last five days to the current level.

Given that the scenario still looks bullish for gold with the likelihood of a rate hike this fall increasing, silver could be set up for a significant bull run.

Keep in mind that silver historically outperforms gold in a gold bull market. For instance, gold charted a gain of around 40 percent during the pandemic. Meanwhile, silver was up a whopping 141 percent!

The recent breakdown of the support level in the gold-silver ratio takes on more significance given the fundamentals. Demand for the metal is at record levels while supply has flatlined.

Silver demand is expected to hit 1.2 billion ounces this year. That would rank as the second-highest annual silver demand on record. Given the supply outlook, this level of demand would create a structural market deficit of 176 million ounces. That would be the fourth consecutive year of demand outstripping supply, cutting further into global silver reserves.

The structural deficit in 2023 came in at 184.3 million ounces.

Demand will likely increase in the years ahead due to the solar energy market. Not only is the demand for silver panels growing, but the amount of silver used in each panel is also increasing.

According to a research paper by scientists at the University of New South Wales, solar manufacturers will likely require over 20 percent of the current annual silver supply by 2027. By 2050, solar panel production will use approximately 85–98 percent of the current global silver reserves.

Given both the supply and demand fundamentals and the technical breakdown in the gold-silver ratio, this may be an outstanding time to buy silver in the early stages of a bull run. 

Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for MoneyMetals.com with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.

Afghanistan 2.0? Pentagon Leaving Equipment Behind as it Withdraws Troops from Niger

Ken Silva
-
0
Afghanistan 2.0? Pentagon Leaving Equipment Behind as it Withdraws Troops from Niger

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Defense Department has reportedly finished withdrawing troops from Air Base 101 in Niger, but about 500 of them will remain at the Pentagon’s six-year-old, $110 million U.S. air base that’s used for drone warfare.

Additionally, Air Force Maj. Gen. Kenneth Ekman said Friday that a number of small teams of 10-20 U.S. troops, including special operations forces, have moved to other countries in West Africa. But the bulk of the forces will go to Europe, at least initially.

Unlike the withdrawal from Afghanistan, Ekman insisted that the U.S. is not leaving useful equipment behind.

Ekman said that while portable buildings and vehicles that are no longer useful will be left behind when U.S. troops leave Niger, a lot of larger equipment will be pulled out. For example, he said 18 4,000-pound generators worth more than $1 million each will be taken out of Agadez.

However, Ekman also said that the U.S. isn’t destroying the infrastructure it built.

“Our goal in the execution is, leave things in as good a state as possible,” he said. “If we went out and left it a wreck or we went out spitefully, or if we destroyed things as we went, we’d be foreclosing options” for future security relations.

The Pentagon has a Sept. 15 deadline to complete its withdrawl. Under its agreement with Niger, two-thirds of U.S. troops and equipment must be out of the country by July 26.

The rupture in U.S.-Niger military cooperation followed last July’s ouster of the country’s democratically elected president by mutinous soldiers.

After that, the Biden State Department’s top official for African affairs, Molly Phee, allegedly threatened the new government from doing business with Iran and Russia—which didn’t sit well with the new prime minister, Lamine Zeine.

“When she finished, I said, ‘Madame, I am going to summarize in two points what you have said,’” Zeine said in a recent interview. “First, you have come here to threaten us in our country. That is unacceptable. And you have come here to tell us with whom we can have relationships, which is also unacceptable. And you have done it all with a condescending tone and a lack of respect.”

In March, Zeine’s government declared that the U.S. military presence there is “illegal.”

From there, conditions for U.S. troops began to deteriorate rapidly.

In a letter published last month by the Washington Post, an Army whistleblower accused Biden of endangering the troops’ lives by leaving them there against the wishes of the country’s new government.

The Pentagon has also said the U.S. will relocate most of the approximately 100 forces it has deployed in neighboring Chad for now. But talks are expected to resume next month about revising an agreement that allows U.S. troops to be based in Chad.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

Biden’s Doctor Accused of Role w/ Family’s Shady Business Deals

Ken Silva
-
0
Biden’s Doctor Accused of Role w/ Family’s Shady Business Deals

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., wrote a letter to President Joe Biden’s doctor on Sunday, asking him to appear for a transcribed interview about his medical assessments of the president and his private endeavors with the Biden family’s business schemes.

In his letter, Comer accused Dr. Kevin O’Connor of participating in shady Biden business deals, suggesting that could have motivated the physician to sugarcoat his health assessment of the president.

“The [committee] is investigating circumstances surrounding your assessment in February of this year that ‘President Biden is a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old-male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency …’  Recently, it was reported that you have ‘never recommended that [President] Biden take a cognitive test,’” Comer told O’Connor.

“The Oversight Committee is concerned your medical assessments have been influenced by your private business endeavors with the Biden family.”

Specifically, Comer accused Dr. O’Connor of being involved in securing a $600,000 loan from Americore Health a now-bankrupt healthcare company. James received that loan because the bankrupt company thought the President’s brother could attract investments from the Middle East, according to Comer’s investigation.

“James Biden, the President’s brother, used funds from Americore to pay Joe Biden $200,000 as the company was facing financial distress,” Comer said in his letter.

“James Biden received payments for $400,000 and $200,000, characterized as loans, from the company that were wired directly to his bank account ‘based upon representations that his last name, “Biden,” could “open doors” and that he could obtain a large investment from the Middle East based on his political connections,’”

Comer cited interview testimony from Joe’s brother, James Biden, who said Dr. O’Connor provided him counsel in connection with the alleged work he was performing for Americore.

Comer asked Dr. O’Connor to contact his staff by July 14. Comer also seeks all documents and communications in your possession regarding Americore and James Biden.

Comer’s letter comes amidst mixed messages from the White House about Biden’s healthcare visits this year.

As Comer noted, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated she spoke with Dr. O’Connor and that President Biden has not been evaluated since February of this year. Yet on a phone call with Democratic governors the same day, President Biden “told the assembled governors he was checked out by a doctor and that everything was fine.”

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

NYC Lux Hotels Pocket $1B to House Illegals at Taxpayers’ Expense

Luis Cornelio
-
0
NYC Lux Hotels Pocket $1B to House Illegals at Taxpayers’ Expense

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Taxpayers are footing a hefty bill for New York City’s hotel industry, which has received over $1 billion to house illegal aliens in former luxury hotels, reported the New York Post on Saturday. 

A staggering $1.98 billion in tax dollars has been allocated toward housing, including hotels across the city’s five boroughs. The total expenditure on services for illegal aliens has reached $4.88 billion.

Currently, the city is using 193 shelters for illegal aliens. Out of that total, 153 are hotels, motels or inns, according to internal documents from the Office of Management and Budget. 

This immense cost is a direct result of President Joe Biden’s open border policies, whistleblowers have revealed. 

House Republicans accuse the Biden administration of exploiting a parole system that effectively allows illegal aliens to remain in the U.S. for extended periods. 

New York City has seen an unprecedented influx of illegal aliens, significantly impacting the city’s resources. 

On average, households in New York City are paying $352 daily to house illegal aliens. 

Some contracts with the hotels award multi-million dollars each month.  

For example, the city granted a $5.13 million monthly contract between the city’s Health + Hospitals agency and the Row NYC Hotel, which closed its doors to exclusively house illegal aliens. The Crowne Plaza JFK received a $2 million a month contract for 335 hotel rooms. 

The negative consequences are evident, as these hotel rooms were originally meant for customers who would use nearby restaurants and bars.  

“Our taxes are being used to pay for the migrants, and where are we supposed to make revenue?” asked William Shandler, a manager at Iron Bar, located in front of the Row Hotel. “How as a business could we function?” 

Carlos Arellano, a former Row employee, said the hotel has turned into a “free for all” for drugs, sex and violence. 

According to online real estate company CoStar, over 16,000 hotel rooms have been taken off the market, effectively harming the economy. 

Councilwoman Joann Ariola, R-Queens, highlighted the negative consequences, saying, “These locations were meant to boost the economy of this city, but instead they’ve become a net drain and are costing us enormously.” 

Host Fired Over White House-Prepped Biden Questions

Luis Cornelio
-
0
Host Fired Over White House-Prepped Biden Questions

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) WURD Radio has fired a host who disclosed receiving pre-drafted questions from the White House for a post-debate interview with Joe Biden, according to a company press release. 

Confirming the dismissal on Sunday, WURD stated that Andrea Lawful-Sanders is no longer associated with the station after publicly acknowledging on CNN that she used questions provided by the White House during Biden’s interview following the contentious debate. 

Lawful-Sanders revealed that the White House provided her with eight questions, of which she used four during the interview. 

In response to the controversy, Sara Lomax, WURD’s president and CEO, expressed dismay over the back-door deal between the host and the White House. 

“The interview featured pre-determined questions provided by the White House, which violates our practice of remaining an independent media outlet accountable to our listeners,” Lomax wrote in a press statement. “As a result, Ms. Lawful-Sanders and WURD Radio have mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately.” 

Lomax also defended WURD Radio’s reputation as a so-called “independent” outlet. 

“WURD Radio remains an independent voice that our audience can trust will hold elected officials accountable,” she claimed. “As Pennsylvania’s only independent Black-owned talk radio station, WURD Radio has cultivated that trust with our audience over our 20-year history.” 

Lawful-Sanders was not the sole radio host to admit receiving pre-approved questions from the White House. 

CivicMedia host Earl Ingram similarly disclosed that he had been provided with questions for Biden. “Yes, I was given some questions for Biden,” he disclosed to ABC News. 

These revelations come amid mounting pressure for Biden to step down as the presumptive Democratic nominee due to concerns over his ability to defend his record coherently, ongoing health issues and former President Donald Trump’s growing popularity. 

Vance Criticizes Left’s Overreaction to Trump’s Special Prosecutor Pledge

Luis Cornelio
-
0
Vance Criticizes Left’s Overreaction to Trump’s Special Prosecutor Pledge

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, swiftly shut down a leftist reporter’s questioning regarding former President Donald Trump’s proposal to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate growing accusations of criminality within the Biden family. 

On Sunday, NBC News anchor Kristen Welker attempted (albeit unsuccessfully) to challenge Vance over Trump’s comments, which have sparked cynical outrage among Democrats despite the Biden administration’s appointment of a special prosecutor to go after Trump. 

Vance sugged that the hypocrisy and double standards were striking. 

“I find it interesting how much the media and the Democrats have lost their mind over this particular quote,” Vance responded to Welker after she played audio of Trump calling for a special prosecutor. 

Explaining Trump’s rationale, Vance added, “Donald Trump is talking about appointing a pointing a special prosecutor to investigate Joe Biden for wrongdoing.” 

Continuing, he stated, “Joe Biden has done exactly that for the last few years and has done far more in addition to engage in political opposition.” 

Vance referenced several reports from House Republicans uncovering alleged instances of criminality involving shell companies in an alleged illegal influence-peddling scheme. 

 Welker, doing the left’s bidding, interjected, asserting, “Just to be clear. Joe Biden didn’t appoint a special prosecutor. The attorney general did that. Trump was indicted by grand juries and was found guilty by a jury of his peers in New York.” 

Vance corrected Welker regarding Attorney General Merrick Garland’s accountability. 

He said, “Joe Biden appointed the attorney general, Merrick Garland, who of course, answers to Joe Biden, can be fired by Joe Biden. So the idea that the Biden administration has nothing to do with the appointment of the special prosecutor, I think, completely betrays an understanding — misunderstanding of how the system work.” 

1...1,2011,2021,203...3,857Page 1,202 of 3,857