Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

The number of asylum applications in Austria dropped sharply in the first quarter of 2025, marking a significant decline of 33 percent compared to the same period last year.

From January through March, a total of 4,644 applications were submitted. With 1,329 applications, March saw the fewest monthly asylum requests since July 2020.

As reported by Heute, only around one in three asylum requests are new, with the remainder typically involving requests for an upgrade in status, such as moving from subsidiary protection to full asylum, as well as applications for children born in Austria or those related to family reunification.

This pattern is particularly evident among Afghan nationals. Of the 504 Afghan applications submitted in the first quarter, just 93 were first-time filings. One contributing factor is the continuing effect of a European Court of Justice decision, which states that Afghan women do not require individual hearings in certain cases. As a result, individuals previously granted subsidiary protection are increasingly applying for full asylum status.

Syrians show a similar trend, with 268 follow-up applications compared to only 58 new ones. The Austrian government continues to accept asylum applications from Syrians, but generally does not process them while the political future of Syria remains uncertain following the Islamist coup in Damascus and the fall of the deposed former president Bashar al-Assad.

As of now, there are 12,918 pending asylum cases involving Syrians, followed by 4,112 involving Afghans. In total, Austria is handling just under 15,300 asylum cases a year. During the first quarter, asylum status was granted in 2,120 cases, while subsidiary protection was approved 451 times and humanitarian residence in 299 cases.

Afghans were the most likely group to receive asylum or residence, with almost 1,500 individuals granted asylum titles alone. In contrast, only 77 Syrians were granted asylum during the same period.

The new coalition government in Vienna is expected to introduce new legislation to suspend family reunification for at least a year, which is expected to further halt the flow of asylum applications in the country.

Austria’s new government announced it will “temporarily” suspend family reunification for migrants.

The right-wing FPÖ says it’s all smoke and mirrors.

“The quota is supposed to be zero for only half a year, then more people will be reunited.” said FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl. pic.twitter.com/7n807KB4vm

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) March 13, 2025

A poll published last month found that more than 80 percent of respondents in Austria back tighter asylum regulations.

A general decline in asylum applications was also observed across the wider European Union, with 210,641 applications filed by the end of March, representing a 19 percent drop. However, some countries, including Poland, Croatia, Luxembourg, and Belgium, have seen increases in applications.

When population is taken into account, Austria now ranks tenth among European countries in terms of asylum application rates.

Despite the drop in new applications, Austria’s basic support infrastructure remains under pressure. As of early April, more than 65,000 individuals were receiving basic care services, although this number has decreased by nearly 3,000 since the beginning of the year.

These services were particularly affected by the influx of Ukrainian refugees over the past few years, with 55 percent of those receiving support coming from the war-torn country.

Read more here…

Authored by Stephen Xia and Sean Tseng via The Epoch Times,

More than a century ago, Nikola Tesla proposed an invention that he said could “abolish war” as we know it, the New York Herald headlined in a Nov. 8, 1898, article. The newspaper reported that Tesla was a “great magician of science” who claimed remote-controlled weaponry could neutralize even the mightiest naval forces.

Tesla envisioned a single operator using electricity to direct ships, balloons, or land vehicles from shore, including torpedo-laden vessels poised to strike enemy ships above or below the surface.

“War will cease to be possible,” he declared, “when all the world knows tomorrow that the most feeble of nations can supply itself immediately with a weapon which will render its coast secure and its ports impregnable,” according to the article.

His system relied on line-of-sight wireless control, a limitation of his era. Tesla couldn’t have imagined today’s satellite communication, sensors, and navigation systems. These modern tools enable the precise, worldwide operation of unmanned platforms, surpassing the possibilities of Tesla’s time.

Fast forward to today, Ukraine’s unmanned surface vessels (USVs) are bringing Tesla’s vision to life amid war with Russia. 

Leading the charge is the Katran, unveiled by Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, the drone program chief, on March 25.

Also nicknamed “Shark,” this advanced USV is designed for attack and reconnaissance. It can travel more than 900 miles at speeds up to 80 miles per hour—formidable in the Black Sea, the maritime battleground for Ukraine and Russia.

Built-in artificial intelligence (AI) allows it to operate under radio silence, essential in areas filled with electronic waves. Meanwhile, its electronic countermeasures can neutralize Russia’s anti-USV drones.

Katran adds to the capabilities of Ukraine’s existing USV fleet.

With at least 15 different types, from basic jet-ski drones to sophisticated attack platforms like the Magura V5 and Sea Baby, Ukraine’s drone fleet has already damaged Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, military ports, and the Crimean Bridge.

The Katran builds on that threat, doubling as both a kamikaze drone and a multi-role strike vessel.

Katran carries an impressive arsenal: machine guns, surface-to-air missiles, and torpedoes, enabling it to strike land, air, and underwater targets. This kind of firepower poses a serious challenge to conventional defenses, such as helicopters and close-range naval guns, which Russia uses to neutralize USVs.

Last December, a Ukrainian USV armed with anti-aircraft missiles downed a Russian helicopter—a testament to their versatility.

Moreover, the recent supply of advanced torpedoes from Sweden—likely Torpedo 47s or Saab lightweight torpedoes (SLWTs)—could further expand the USVs’ attack range, allowing strikes on warships over 12 miles away.

The Katran’s AI-driven autonomy and electronic warfare suite go far beyond Tesla’s rudimentary remote control. It can complete missions with minimal human oversight, reacting to threats in real time—an evolution that Tesla could only have imagined.

The rise of USVs marks a seismic shift in naval strategy, challenging the very existence of large, crewed warships. Ukraine’s success with low-cost, agile drones in undermining Russia’s naval dominance suggests that the days of massive battleships and carriers may be numbered.

With the ability to gather intelligence and launch precise strikes autonomously, the Katran already exceeds Tesla’s 1898 concept, echoing his prophecy that advanced weapons could level the playing field for any nation, regardless of its size.

With stronger weapons, longer ranges, and smarter AI on the horizon, expensive manned platforms—such as warships, aircraft, and tanks—risk becoming obsolete. The Katran and its successors could make, in Tesla’s words, the “mightiest armorclads” become “scrap iron” in the face of innovation.

In a candid call with analysts on Tuesday, Elon Musk announced that he will begin scaling back his involvement with the federal government starting in May, signaling a shift in priorities back toward Tesla. As a result, Tesla shares were up 5% late in the after hours session.

“I think starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” Musk said. 

Musk has been a central figure in the effort to streamline the federal government under the Trump administration through an initiative he dubbed the “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE. That effort has involved an aggressive reduction of federal workforce levels, targeting DEI programs, and a broad reorganization of agency resources.

Despite growing protests against Tesla and Musk’s role in Washington, he remains unapologetic. “The work with DOGE is critical,” he stated, while dismissing the backlash as “organized and paid for.”

Although the billionaire entrepreneur holds the title of “special government employee”—a designation that legally limits him to 130 days of federal work per year—his presence in the capital has been nothing short of influential.

Musk indicated that the heavy lifting to establish DOGE is “mostly done,” allowing him to reallocate his schedule. “I will spend ‘a day or two’ per week on government matters if President Trump wants me to,” he said, but emphasized that more of his attention will now return to Tesla.

Despite his pullback from the capital, Musk said he will “continue to advocate for lower tariffs, rather than higher tariffs,” noting that this is the extent of his ongoing engagement on trade policy.

Tesla remains the only publicly traded firm among Musk’s sprawling portfolio, which includes SpaceX, Neuralink, XAI, and The Boring Company. As such, it has absorbed much of the public response—both praise and criticism—related to Musk’s deepening political ties.

Yet, the CEO expressed confidence in Tesla’s direction. “I remain extremely optimistic about Tesla’s future,” he said, pointing to the company’s ambitions in autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots.

He reiterated his forecast that Tesla will become the most valuable company in the world, noting that robotaxis are expected to deliver a meaningful financial impact by mid-2026. He also revealed that Tesla aims to have thousands of its Optimus humanoid robots operational in factories by the end of the year, with plans to scale to one million units annually within five years—a pace he described as faster than any product in the company’s history.

Closing the call with idealism, Musk said, “I like this phrase sustainable abundance for all,” and affirmed his commitment to continue leading Tesla through its next phase of innovation and expansion.

Tesla reported earnings after the market closed that were worse than analyst expectations. The stock, with most of the bad news seemingly already priced in, held its ground in after hours trading. The results were:

• Revenues $19.34BN, big miss to estimates of $21.37BN
• EPS 27c, missing estimates of 43c
• Gross margin 16.3% (down from 17.4% y/y), and beating estimates of 16.1%
• Automotive gross margin ex reg credits 12.5%, beating estimates of 11.9%
• Operating income $399 million, -66% y/y, missing estimates of $1.13 billion
• Free cash flow $664 million (vs. negative $2.53 billion y/y) missing  estimate $1.08 billion
• Capital expenditure $1.49 billion (down -46% vs $2.77Bn y/y and down 47% vs $2.78BN Q/Q), missing estimates of $2.49 billion

Of note, Tesla eked out positive free cash flow number by slashing capex almost in half compared with the prior quarter and a year ago. Absent that, it would have burned cash. 

Tesla offered a measured outlook during its earnings report, signaling that it will revisit its 2025 guidance in the Q2 update, while notably omitting any concrete forecast for a return to growth. The company emphasized that its rate of growth will hinge on a range of variables, including global trade policy, which it admitted is difficult to quantify in terms of impact.

Tariffs, in particular, are expected to weigh more heavily on the company’s energy unit than its automotive business, with Tesla cautioning that the broader tariff landscape could have a larger effect on demand and operational strategy. Nevertheless, the company maintained that actions are being taken to stabilize performance over the medium to long term, and it expressed confidence in having sufficient liquidity to fund its product roadmap.

Tesla confirmed that plans for new, more affordable vehicle models remain on track for production in the first half of 2025, though it acknowledged that these models may lead to less dramatic cost reductions than previously expected. Even with trade headwinds, the company reiterated a growing need for energy storage solutions across markets.

Read our full earnings wrap up here. 

Authored by Frank Miele via RealClearPolitics,

Joe Biden was resurrected – for at least one night – when he delivered a paid speech last week to a conference of Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled in Chicago.

While passing up the opportunity to make a tasteless “blind leading the blind” joke, I do think it is necessary to at least question the wisdom of putting the former president, with his now publicly acknowledged mental shortcomings, in the limelight to lead a rear-facing assault on the current administration.

Let’s face it. In the wake of a slew of books and articles detailing Biden’s cognitive decline, it’s hard to take seriously his “analysis” of any major issue without being told up front who wrote his speech.

Still, Biden mostly stayed on script as he attacked President Trump and accused him, without evidence, of trying to gut Social Security. Yes, Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency announced that 7,000 jobs would be lost in the agency out of 57,000 total. But there is no proof that those jobs were necessary, and if you asked the average American if they think government agencies are bloated and inefficient, you would get little argument.

But Democrats know that Americans are also sensitive about protecting Social Security in order to ensure that the program’s benefits will be available to them when they reach retirement age. So the loss of jobs is a perfect target of opportunity for politicians (and former presidents and their handlers) who want to demagogue the issue.

“In fewer than 100 days, this new administration has made so much damage and so much destruction,” Biden said. “They’ve taken a hatchet to the Social Security Administration.” He added:

Ask yourself, “Why is this happening? Why are these guys taking aim at Social Security now?” Well, they’re following that old line of tech startups. The quote is, “Move fast, break things.” They’re certainly breaking things. They’re shooting first and aiming later. As a result, there’s always a lot of needless pain and sleepless nights.

The octogenarian Biden probably doesn’t know much about tech startups, but he does know a lot about breaking things. Consider his ruinous border policy which invited millions of illegal aliens into the country and twisted U.S. laws to allow them to stay indefinitely. When he claimed he needed a new law to fix the problems he created, many believed him, but Trump closed the border within days of taking office – by following existing law.

Instead of talking about how Trump is breaking things, Democrats should be looking at the disastrous Biden administration and asking themselves how they can get out from under its burdensome notoriety. But the American people won’t let that happen. They have one simple question: Who allowed the cognitively challenged Biden to take office in the first place, and who stood him up for years to deteriorate in public and hide in private? Because Democrats enabled Biden to stay in office despite his obvious disability, they “bought” both him and his “broken” legacy.

It’s no surprise that CNN and MSNBC barely acknowledged the resurfacing of President Biden in his Chicago speech. Only Fox News covered the event live, since any reminder of Biden is good news for conservatives.

Democrats are sure to demand that Biden return to his basement strategy that worked so well in 2020. Just stay out of the way and hope no one catches on that you are just a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

This quote from an anonymous Democratic operative says it all:

It takes a special level of chutzpah as the man most responsible for reelecting Donald Trump to decide it’s your voice that is missing in this moment. The country would be better served if he rode off into the sunset.

And if Biden does continue to make speeches, it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that it was Republicans who were footing the bill.

Frank Miele, the retired editor of the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Mont., is a columnist for RealClearPolitics. His book “The Media Matrix: What If Everything You Know Is Fake” is available from his Amazon author page. Visit him at HeartlandDiaryUSA.com or follow him on Facebook @HeartlandDiaryUSA and on X/Gettr @HeartlandDiary.

Via The Libertarian Institute

The Israeli military has increasingly opted to deploy an unmanned version of Caterpillar’s D9 bulldozers to a number of battlefields. The remotely operated systems allows the IDF to flatten areas without risking additional troops.

According to The Times of Israel, Tel Aviv has deployed the unmanned D9 – or RobDozer – to Gaza and Lebanon since October 7, 2023, and Israeli officials say the IDF is ramping up its use of the system. One source told AFP Israel has used “robotic tools for over a decade, but in very small numbers. Now it is being used in large-scale warfare.”

The RobDozer was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), which claims the platform is the “ultimate combat bulldozer.” IAI’s website explains that “The RobDozer’s integration into military engineering units significantly boosts their capability to rapidly alter landscapes to favor defensive or offensive operations.”

While the RobDozer can be remotely controlled, IAI claims it can even operate autonomously. As the Jerusalem Post reported last month, IAI “says it can operate on several levels of autonomous independence, ‘allowing it to dig trenches in the field, clear a route in difficult or otherwise impassable areas, and move large or suspicious obstacles.'”

While the company stresses that the platform ensures the safety of Israeli soldiers who no longer have to drive combat bulldozers in dangerous situations, it does not mention if the RobDozer can identify and avoid civilians during autonomous operation.

The Israeli state arms maker is also in the process of developing an unmanned M113 armored personnel carrier.

Israeli military D9 armored bulldozers are plowing through the Nur Shams Camp in the Northern West Bank. pic.twitter.com/qCaaaAx4wo

— 🇺🇸ProudArmyBrat (@leslibless) October 19, 2023

Combat bulldozers have played a major role in Israel’s military operations in Gaza, where large swaths of territory have been flattened by Israeli bombs. As the rubble is littered with unexploded munitions and potential Hamas-planted explosives, the IDF has used a large number of D9s to clear regions that were once cities in Gaza.

Tel Aviv has declared a buffer zone along the borders of Gaza, and Defense Minister Israel Katz recently expanded that zone to include the entire southern city of Rafah. Israeli forces have destroyed most structures in those areas and kill any Palestinians who try to approach.

Katz said that “Gaza will become smaller and more isolated, and more and more of its residents will be forced to evacuate from the fighting zones.”

At first glance, there is nothing odd about a bulldozer turning up soil at a test site in Israel, but as it approaches, it’s clear: the driver’s seat is eerily empty.

Army engineers and military experts say the Robdozer is the future of automated combat.https://t.co/PFXseRO15D pic.twitter.com/fTwwaLV2DB

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) April 20, 2025

Additionally, the IDF has built corridors that bisect the Strip, flattening the infrastructure in those areas as well. Israel now controls over 50% of Gaza.

One day after it was reported that World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab, 88, resigned after Chairman after 55 years, the WSJ reports that Schwab is under investigation by the organization he created after a whistleblower alleged financial and ethical misconduct by Mr. “eat the bugs” and his wife.

In an anonymous letter from sent to the board of directors by ‘current and former Forum employees,’ Schwab and his wife are accused of commingling their personal affairs with WEF resources without proper oversight, and much more…

Among the most serious allegations:

• Schwab asked junior employees to withdraw thousands of dollars from ATMs on his behalf and used Forum funds to pay for private, in-room massages at hotels.

• His wife Hilde, a former Forum employee, scheduled “token” Forum-funded meetings in order to justify luxury holiday travel at the organization’s expense.

• The letter also raises concerns about how Klaus Schwab treated female employees and how his leadership over decades allegedly allowed instances of sexual harassment and other discriminatory behavior to go unchecked in the workplace

Other allegations include the Schwab family’s use of Villa Mundi – a luxury property bought before the pandemic by the Forum located next to the organization’s Geneva headquarters, which the whistleblower letter maintains that Hilde Schwab maintains tight control over, and which the forum paid $30 million to purchase and another $20 million to renovate – also overseen by Hilde.

In recent days Schwab is said to have railed against an investigation – telling board members that he denied the allegations and would challenge them in a lawsuit, according to the report. 

Instead, the board launched a probe during an emergency meeting on Easter Sunday. In response, Schwab resigned immediately as chairman vs. staying on for an extended transition period as previously planned.

A spokesman for the Schwabs told the Journal that they deny every allegation in the whistleblower complaint, and that Klaus will file a lawsuit against whoever’s behind it – and “anybody who spreads these mistruths.”

Furthermore, Scwab says he paid the WEF back for said ‘in-room massages’, and denied the allegations about luxury travel and withdrawing funds.

According to the WEF, its board unanimously supported the decision to launch an independent investigation “following a whistleblower letter containing allegations against former Chairman Klaus Schwab. This decision was made after consultation with external legal counsel.”

“We feel compelled to share a comprehensive account of systemic governance failures and abuses of power that have taken place over many years under the unchecked authority of Klaus Schwab,” reads the letter, which states it was from current and former Forum employees.

The organizer of the annual Davos conference has been shaking up its leadership in recent weeks in response to a previous board probe into its workplace culture. In a recent memo, Børge Brende, the Forum’s CEO, said the Forum would take steps to address leadership issues identified by the prior probe and that the investigation didn’t substantiate the allegations against its founder.

A few weeks ago, Schwab, 87, said he’d step down as nonexecutive chairman of the Forum’s board, and the Forum said the succession process would be completed by January 2027. The whistleblower letter blew up that timeline.

Behind the scenes, a high-stakes boardroom drama unfolded pitting Schwab against the global powerplayers on the Forum’s board. The board includes celebrities like cellist Yo-Yo Ma and politicians like Al Gore. It also has business leaders like AXA Group CEO Thomas Buberl and Accenture CEO Julie Sweet. -WSJ

As such, it’s no surprise that Schwab’s relationship with the board had been deteriorating over the past year, according to the report.

Authored by Samantha Flom via The Epoch Times,

Members of the South Carolina Senate voted on April 21 to remove the state’s embattled treasurer for “willful neglect” of his duties, sending the matter to the state House for consideration.

The 33–8 vote followed an hours-long hearing of the full Senate, during which state Sens. Larry Grooms and Stephen Goldfinch, both Republicans, pushed for state Treasurer Curtis Loftis’s removal over a $1.8 billion accounting error.

South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis prepares for a hearing in the state Senate, in Columbia, South Carolina, on April 21, 2025. Jeffrey Collins/AP Photo

“The big secret of Treasurer Loftis, the one that he’s kept hidden away, is that there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars in errors in the Treasury books today, and he doesn’t know how to fix them,” Grooms said in opening the hearing.

A state Senate Finance subcommittee report released last month said Loftis, a Republican, “failed to maintain the integrity” of South Carolina’s banking and investment records after state officials were alerted to an unexplained $1.8 billion in funds under his office’s exclusive control.

An outside forensic audit determined that most of the funds in question were not real cash but the result of bookkeeping errors that followed the state’s transition to a new accounting system in the 2010s.

Loftis, now in his fourth term, was first elected treasurer in 2010 and has held the office since.

While two other public officials have resigned in connection with the state’s accounting issues, Loftis, Grooms said, “remains defiant and refuses to take responsibility for his failures.”

Loftis, defending his record, likened himself to President Donald Trump, who vociferously denounced various investigations related to his affairs.

“I’m inspired by President Trump, and I, too, will not back down,” Loftis said.

During prior Senate testimony, the treasurer indicated that the inexplicable funds not only existed but had been invested and were generating returns. After the audit, however, he claimed the report “validated what we’ve known all along,” a statement that Goldfinch derided as “a lie.”

The senator accused Loftis of attempting to cover up a serious error that he knew would damage his reputation.

Loftis’s attorneys downplayed the discrepancy as “an on-paper accounting error” and “an honest mistake.”

“AlixPartners reviewed more than 1 million documents and did not find a single piece of evidence suggesting wrongdoing by the treasurer,” noted Shawn Eubanks, an attorney in the treasurer’s office, referencing the firm that conducted the forensic audit.

Eubanks further held that the audit report provided “good news for the state” in that it found no missing or stolen funds.

“The treasurer’s books reconcile to the bank,” he said.

Loftis’s lawyers also criticized the Legislature’s efforts to oust him as a violation of both his due process rights and the will of the voters who elected him.

“Treasurer Loftis is the most popular statewide official in the history of South Carolina. This is a man who received 80 percent of the vote in the last election, a man who received overwhelming bipartisan support,” attorney Debbie Barbier said.

Decrying the proceedings as “drastic” and unprecedented, Barbier said lawmakers had stripped Loftis of his right to call and confront witnesses by using the state’s removal on address procedure rather than impeachment.

“They’re asking you to make this decision not based on a trial, not with witnesses, not with exhibits and documents and expert testimony and authentication of documents, not with rules of evidence, but based upon a one-and-a-half-hour presentation with video clips,” she said. “There is not one shred of proof and absolutely no evidence to support the removal of Treasurer Loftis.”

The more common impeachment process gives lawmakers the power to impeach and convict a statewide officer for “serious crimes or serious misconduct in office.” The South Carolina Constitution also provides an avenue to removal for “willful neglect of duty” or another “reasonable cause” deemed insufficient for impeachment. That process requires the governor to remove an officer “on the address of two-thirds of each house of the General Assembly” after a hearing.

If Loftis is removed, he would become the first state official in South Carolina’s 235-year history to be ousted under the provision.

It will now be up to the state House, also under GOP control, to decide whether to hold a hearing on the matter.

To begin the week, we highlighted a potential breaking point emerging in the global economy due to the escalating tariff war: Chinese plastics manufacturers—heavily reliant on U.S. petrochemicals—now face production halts as shipments are increasingly being diverted from the world’s second-largest economy. 

Bloomberg cites new ship-tracking data showing that a very large gas carrier hauling U.S. propane has diverted from its initial destination in China to a new port of call in Japan. 

The data showed that BW Gemini is hauling 46,000 tons of propane from the U.S. The gas tanker left Phillips 66 Freeport LPG Export Terminal in late March and was initially headed for Yantai, China. However, in recent days, while traversing the Pacific Ocean, the port of call was changed to Imari, Japan. 

There was no explanation for BW Gemini’s sudden port calling switch from China to Japan, but in recent weeks, Beijing slapped 125% tariffs on all liquefied petroleum gas. 

The tanker laden with U.S. propane brings the conversation full circle to our note on Monday (read: here), which warned that the global plastics industry could soon be thrown into turmoil:

Chinese plastics factories that depend on a gas they mainly import from the U.S. are contending with the prospect of widespread shutdowns as the world’s two largest economies bunker down for a prolonged trade war

The note titled “Chinese Plastics Factories Face Mass Closure As US Ethane Supply Evaporates” focused on ethane, a petrochemical feedstock to produce ethylene, one of the most critical building blocks in modern manufacturing. 

Ethylene is the foundation for a wide range of downstream products, including:

Polyethylene (PE):

• Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE): Plastic bags, films, food wraps

• High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE): Bottles, containers, pipes

• Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA): Shoe soles, foam products, adhesives

Industrial Chemicals:

• Ethylene oxide: Used to produce ethylene glycol, the base for antifreeze and polyester

• Styrene: For polystyrene plastics (packaging, insulation)

• Vinyl chloride (via EDC): Used to make PVC for pipes, window frames, cables

• Alpha-olefins: For synthetic lubricants and specialty polymers

Polyethylene is indeed one of the core inputs of the modern plastic economy. However, the deepening trade war is disrupting petrochemical shipments to China. If these disruptions persist over a prolonged period, China could face manufacturing slowdowns, potentially triggering ripple effects across the global economy. The IMF already issued this warning earlier…

Authored by Lawrence Wilson via The Epoch Times,

“It’s not food. It’s food-like substances.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described the many manufactured food products offered that are high in calories but low in nutritional value.

“So, strawberry flavoring in food, but there’s no nutrients. It’s sugar.” Kennedy said. “Your body is craving that, but it doesn’t get filled up. It doesn’t give you nutrition, but you want to eat more.”

Kennedy, a longtime health advocate, has championed President Donald Trump’s call for “fresh thinking on nutrition” as part of the Make America Healthy Again initiative. The secretary spoke in Indianapolis on April 15 in support of Gov. Mike Braun’s announcement of nine health-related executive orders.

Kennedy has urged states to prohibit the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds to purchase certain foods with high sugar content but little nutritional value.

SNAP, colloquially known as food stamps, is a federal program administered by the states that helps nearly 42 million low-income Americans pay for food.

To change the list of foods eligible for purchase with SNAP funds, states must request a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). A handful of states, including Indiana, are doing that.

Advocates call this a commonsense way to promote better food choices.

Some critics say the initiative amounts to virtue signaling, a symbolic action unlikely to produce any positive effect.

Kennedy hopes it will fuel a movement toward healthier food consumption that will reverse the growing prevalence of obesity among Americans.

Junk Food Origins

Kennedy and others have blamed the glut of tasty but vacuous foods on big tobacco companies, which entered the food industry more than 60 years ago.

In the 1960s, R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris, then the largest tobacco brands, began developing children’s beverages including Hawaiian Punch, Kool-Aid, Capri Sun, and Tang, according to a report from The BMJ, formerly the British Medical Journal.

“Tobacco executives transferred their knowledge of marketing to young people and expanded product lines using colours, flavours, and marketing strategies originally designed to market cigarettes,” a team of researchers reported.

Vuse e-cigarette packages are displayed at Cigar N Vape in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Oct. 13, 2021. The Food and Drug Administration authorized the sale of R.J. Reynolds’ Vuse Solo e-cigarette and its tobacco-flavored cartridges the prior day, saying data show the product may reduce smokers’ exposure to harmful chemicals found in traditional cigarettes. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

In May 1962, R.J. Reynolds’ director of research reported the status of product development in an internal memo.

The director described the result of taste tests for flavored drinks conducted with children in the same report detailing the addition of artificial flavoring to chewing tobacco and cane sugar to cigarettes.

R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris eventually went deeper into the food business, owning major brands Kraft, General Foods, and Nabisco for several years starting in the 1980s. There, they applied some of the same strategies to manufacturing other foods people find irresistible.

Researchers at the University of Kansas found that food companies owned by tobacco companies were much more likely than others to market “hyper-palatable” food products.

Hyper-palatable foods contain more of the things that make food taste good, such as fat, sugar, sodium, or carbohydrates, according to Tera Fazzino, an author of the Kansas study and associate director of the university’s Cofrin Logan Center for Addiction Research and Treatment.

These foods also have fewer of the nutrients that make us feel satisfied, Fazzino said in a 2023 interview. “As a result, hyper-palatable foods can be difficult to stop eating, even when we physically feel full.”

The researchers concluded, “Tobacco companies appear to have selectively disseminated hyper-palatable foods into the U.S. food system between 1988 and 2001.”

That triggered an industry wide shift, the researchers said. By 2018, foods high in fat, sodium, and carbohydrates had long been widely marketed regardless of whether or not the producers were previously owned by a tobacco company.

The result, according to Kennedy, is an obesity crisis that threatens the health and safety of all Americans.

Boxes of sugary cereal fill a store’s shelves in Miami on April 16, 2025. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that many manufactured food products are high in calories but low in nutritional value. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

“We have people who are obese who are at the same time malnourished, because the food that we’re eating is not nutrient-dense anymore,” Kennedy said. “It is threatening our national security: 74 percent of our kids cannot qualify for military service.”

Nearly 70 percent of American adults are either overweight or obese, according to a 2023 report by the federal government. Obesity rates have tripled over the last 60 years, while severe obesity has increased by a factor of 10.

Americans are not alone in this. More than 60 percent of Europeans are either obese or overweight, according to data reported by the National Institutes of Health. Worldwide, the prevalence of obesity has risen for decades.

States Respond

Indiana and Arkansas became the first states to submit waiver requests to the USDA, asking to exclude soda and candy from SNAP purchases. Both sent their requests on April 15.

Several other states have announced their intention to seek a waiver, and some are considering legislation to that effect.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen sent a letter to the Department of Agriculture on April 7 saying that the state intends to request a waiver on soda and energy drinks.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed a law on April 15 requiring the director of the state Department of Health and Welfare to request a waiver on soda and candy.

State representatives in Tennessee passed a similar bill on March 11, and the Iowa House passed one on March 26. Neither state’s senate has yet acted on the legislation.

Other states have failed to pass or have rejected legislation that mandates a waiver request.

Cans of Monster Beverage Corporation energy drinks fill a store’s shelves in Miami on April 16, 2025. Sweetened beverages—including energy drinks, juices, and powder mixes—account for about 9 percent of SNAP food stamps spending. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A West Virginia bill has been stalled in a House committee since Feb. 19. A Missouri bill failed in the state’s House of Representatives on April 8. A Montana bill passed in the state Senate but was shelved by the House Committee on Human Resources on April 9.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on April 15 vetoed a bill directing her state’s Department of Economic Security to request a waiver. However, Hobbs signed a bill prohibiting “ultra-processed” foods in school lunches.

Support, Skepticism

Advocates of a SNAP ban on soda and candy, including some health professionals, see the policy as reasonable, even obvious.

“I think it just makes wise nutritional sense, business sense, common sense,” Christy Hope, an Indiana social worker, told The Epoch Times. 

Hope has worked in an outpatient pediatric clinic as well as in a Medicaid office conducting eligibility screening.

“The benefits are intended to cover nutritional items,” she said.

SNAP benefits already exclude foods served hot at the point of sale, alcoholic beverages, vitamins, food supplements, cleaning supplies, cosmetics, and personal hygiene products.

Nutrition and policy experts broadly agree that limiting consumption of high-calorie, low-nutrition foods is a worthy goal.

“I can see the hope to shift [people] away from foods that are … ultra-processed, empty calories toward healthier options,” Bisakha Sen, a professor of health policy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, told The Epoch Times. “I think there’s actually some unity on both sides of the political aisle on this.”

Yet she and others doubt the practical value of excluding soda and candy from SNAP purchases, especially when many already struggle to find low-cost food options.

“If we start making a list of [foods] which are good for people and which are not, it will be a huge list,” Nikhil V. Dhurandhar, chair of nutritional sciences at Texas Tech University, told The Epoch Times. “It is not practical.”

Dhurandher likened a grocery store to a vast buffet. “If you remove one [sugary] food, there is some other food that’s going to take its place. I call that digging a hole in water.”

Richard Kahn, an adjunct professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina Medical School, says the SNAP exclusions amount to a “cheap, easy way to blame the other guy.”

According to Kahn, the idea that taxpayers will no longer subsidize the purchase of sugary foods is mistaken. “They’re [still] paying for sugar-sweetened beverages because we subsidize the agriculture industry,” he said.

A sign alerting customers about SNAP food stamps benefits is displayed in a grocery store in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Dec. 5, 2019. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has urged states to ban the use of SNAP funds for foods with high sugar content but little nutritional value, in efforts to promote healthier food consumption and reverse rising obesity rates among Americans. Scott Heins/Getty Images

Alternatives

Many nutrition and policy experts favor a holistic, all-of-society approach rather than one that targets behavior in just one group of people.

Some have suggested a tax on soda to discourage consumption. Others mentioned improving the nutritional value of school lunches. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has suggested banning television ads for unhealthful foods targeting children.

Nana Gletsu Miller, an associate professor at the Indiana University School of Public Health, favors education over behavioral mandates.

“Based on the evidence for the effectiveness of nutrition education and the lack of evidence for the effectiveness of restriction of food choice, I suggest the former would be a better approach,” Gletsu Miller told The Epoch Times.

A deeper problem is the lack of affordable, nutritious food, according to Dr. Tamara S. Hannon, a professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine and director of its clinical diabetes program.

“It is the sale of health-harming products at a very low price without affordable and convenient options that is problematic. This policy does not address this issue,” Hannon told The Epoch Times.

Kennedy acknowledges that the broader health care landscape can work against healthy outcomes, yet he believes that can change.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a news conference at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington on April 16, 2025. Alex Wong/Getty Images

“We can realign medical choices, both individual and institutional medical choices, with public health,” Kennedy told The Epoch Times at the Indianapolis press conference, adding that right now, “it’s totally misaligned.”

Achieving that will require a concerted effort at the federal, state, and local levels, Kennedy said.

“We can’t do this alone, but we’re getting tremendous help from the governors, from the grassroots,” Kennedy said.

“What’s happening here [in Indiana] is driving this movement, and it’s going to drive cultural change.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) has threatened nations that, in his words, “enabled authoritarianism in our country,” warning that Democrats will not view foreign leaders favorably when his party regains power.

Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, referenced El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele’s support for former President Donald Trump’s deportation policies. 

“If and when we come back to power – and we will – we are not gonna look kindly upon people who facilitated authoritarianism in our country,” Raskin said on Pod Save America with host Tommy Vietor, according to the New York Post. Vietor, a former spokesman for President Barack Obama, shared that a Latin American policy researcher advised Democrats to “threaten action against any foreign government complicit in the extraordinary rendition of American citizens.”

“The whole idea that Bukele doesn’t have any power to return an American prisoner who was sent to him under an agreement where he’s getting paid $6 million by America is ridiculous,” Raskin said. “He’s our legal agent in this dubious arrangement they created. Of course, he’s got the power to return them.”

Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport illegal alien gang members to El Salvador. Some of these individuals have been detained in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison.

The Trump administration deported Carlos Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran who illegally entered the U.S. in 2011, to El Salvador, initially calling it an “error,” though officials later justified the action, alleging MS-13 ties—a claim his attorneys reject, the New York Post said. 

Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 has faced legal hurdles. 

In March, Judge James Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order to block the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act for deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador without due process, citing violations of judicial orders. Facing administration defiance, he initiated contempt proceedings, alleging bad faith in rushing deportations, including that of Carlos Abrego Garcia, despite a 2019 court protection.

Bukele, during a recent White House meeting with former President Donald Trump, addressed the deportation of Carlos Abrego Garcia, saying he lacks the authority to return him to the U.S. and dismissing such requests as “preposterous.”

“Donald Trump is a convicted criminal. Could he be sent off to a foreign prison?,” Raskin said at another point in his discussion with Vietor.

“We’ve got to become the leaders of a nationwide popular movement to arrest the descent into fascism in America,” the House Democrat added. “These people really believe that democracy is defunct. They say we live in a constitutional America.”