By Grace Sharkey of Freightwaves

Freight fraud has become an all-too-familiar term in the transportation and logistics sectors in recent years. Although fraud has long been a challenge in the field, industry experts observe that these criminals have evolved alongside FreightTech, leaving supply chain participants uncertain about who will bear the burden of finding solutions.

Recently, FreightWaves has received numerous reports of sophisticated freight fraud schemes. 

There is the classic double-brokering scheme, in which a carrier who accepted a load from a broker re-brokers it to another carrier without the original broker’s consent, leading to payment disputes, delays and liability issues.

Double brokering can also help fraudulent carriers or brokers steal loads of freight, leaving shippers and logistics providers high and dry when insurance claims are denied.

Retailers are plagued by organized crime rings throughout their supply chains as well.

In the 2023 National Retail Federation Retail Theft study, the group found that retail shrink, or loss of inventory, totaled over $112 billion in 2022, with theft making up two-thirds of that. Seventy-eight percent of retailers in the survey also noted that solving organized retail crime was more of a priority for them than it was a year earlier.

To pull off organized freight crimes, fraudsters have become more adept at identity theft, stealing business information by using phishing emails and taking over load board accounts or even creating new ones to plot and manage these criminal acts.

Most recently, FreightWaves has received reports from multiple carriers showcasing ways scammers are attempting to steal Department of Transportation PINs. This has surfaced in new carrier onboarding tools of fraudulent brokers and a fake New Entrant Safety Audit email purportedly from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

“These scams are designed for you to click the link in the email and provide personal information in which the scammer steals info like the DOT PIN and is able to change company information on file with the FMCSA,” said Adam Wingfield, founder of Innovative Logistics Group.

Fraud is not new, but it has evolved

While freight fraud has gained a high level of attention in the media and elsewhere recently, it is not even close to being a new industry phenomenon.

A seasoned freight professional, who asked to remain anonymous for business reasons, told FreightWaves he has been dealing with many of today’s common freight schemes for decades.

The professional entered the industry in the mid-1980s and has held various leadership roles, including as a dispatch manager, operations manager and brokerage manager working at container terminals, tanker divisions, and refrigerated and dry van operations.

He explained that even in the ’80s, double brokering was a major problem even for the load board operations that were posted at individual truck stops.

Christopher McLoughlin, director of compliance at Uber Freight, explained a similar concept.
“We have seen double brokering in different ways,” said McLoughlin, who has decades of risk and operations experience at C.H. Robinson and American Backhaulers. “Sometimes they were doing it to just keep the funds that the broker would pay them and not pay the carrier that actually delivered the load. Sometimes they would double broker just to augment their capacity to fulfill a commitment they can’t live up to. Now we are seeing that same schematic, but not only are they stealing the money on the load but they are now stealing the load itself.”

The anonymous professional and McLoughlin agreed that the current digital environment has created a lack of transparency, enabling fraudulent behavior.

“There is no transparency on who you are engaging with, and there are also high-volume transactions happening and people want to do everything super fast and super quick with no general awareness of who you are engaging with,” McLoughlin explained. 

Added the anonymous freight professional, “We have evolved to the point where they can commit fraud easily online, create a fake insurance company, fake certificates that pass off as real, and now the poor legit broker is liable for the lost cargo and the double freight payment.”

Can it be solved?

Over the past few years, a number of identity and validation technologies have come out, receiving large investments for their promise of helping to mitigate these crimes. Companies like Highway, Carrier Assure, Verified Carrier and FreightValidate offer different strategies to help shippers and brokers make educated decisions and bring the transparency that McLoughlin and the freight veteran both mention.

Most individuals FreightWaves spoke to have found that while these technologies can help, they are not solving the problem.

Don Everhart, chief technology officer at FreightVana and a past tech leader at Knight-Swift Transportation, explained that his current company has adopted an approach of using everything at his disposal to de-risk against fraud and other cybersecurity issues.

“Adoption of a zero-trust framework has helped bridge that gap as we work to verify identity authorization on every interaction,” Everhart told FreightWaves. “We use several platforms in the space that have their specific strengths and weaknesses. In my personal network, I can’t think of a single company only utilizing one fraud prevention or vetting platform.”

Is the government helping?

While the technology is working toward providing the industry relief, leaders have been looking to regulators for answers.

The FMCSA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation, oversees double-brokering schemes. Through the 2012 Motor Carrier Protection Act, also known as MAP-21, it gained the authority to assess civil penalties of up to $10,000 per incident.

But a court decision in 2019 has made the situation more complicated.

Known as the Riojas decision, a case centered around violations by a motor carrier company raised questions about appropriate enforcement and prosecution authority. The FMCSA typically handled regulatory compliance and civil enforcement, but the nature of the violations in this case necessitated criminal prosecution.

The court’s interpretation emphasized that the FMCSA, while capable of imposing civil penalties, did not have the legal infrastructure to handle criminal cases. The DOJ, with its legal expertise and resources, was deemed the appropriate authority for such matters.

“Without statutory authority to assess civil penalties administratively for violations of FMCSA’s commercial regulations, the FMCSA’s ability to effectively enforce these regulations is significantly limited,” said the agency in its recent “Unlawful Brokerage Activities Report.” “Unless a regulated entity that violates FMCSA’s commercial regulations voluntarily resolves its noncompliance, FMCSA must refer cases to the [Department of Justice] for enforcement of those regulations. The need to refer cases to the DOJ complicates and hampers the ability of FMCSA to enforce the Agency’s commercial regulations, including those regarding unauthorized brokerage.”

The FMCSA did note that even with its limited authority, it reviewed 35 household goods brokers in four states in 2023, finding 166 violations, closed over 540 complaints and issued 17 letters of probable violations.

Until its ability to assess civil penalties was curtailed, it did issue 20 notices and penalties between 2014 to 2019.

FreightWaves reached out to both the FMCSA and the DOJ to learn more about how these notices are shared with the public and how both entities plan to increase public outreach on fraud-related issues. Neither responded prior to publication.

The comment in FMCSA’s report that confused most leaders FreightWaves spoke to, though, was this:

“FMCSA is still assessing the relationship between motor carrier safety and incidence of unlawful brokerage. While the Agency has received multiple expressions of concern from stakeholders regarding fraud related to ‘double brokering,’ it lacks data to quantify or confirm a safety impact.”

“I disagree completely with the statement,” said Everhart. “The industry is happy to provide data; the challenge to the agency is what recourse do they have?”

Said McLoughlin: “We’ve been working with the [Transportation Intermediaries Association], and when we have double-brokering incidents, we are reporting them through the clearinghouse. … We’re willing to work with [FMSCA] if there’s specific data points that they need to know that we’re not providing. We’d love to have feedback. The TIA has fed tens of thousands of these reports into that clearinghouse, and we have yet to see action on a single one. So if we’re continuing to put these reports in and we’re not providing the right information, I’d love to have that conversation of what information is necessary to gain that transparency.”

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association told FreightWaves it found the response comical, stating FMCSA plays a role in creating the problem.

“It’s infuriating but also kind of the way it is. When the industry was deregulated, they opened the doors to everyone – good and not so good,” said Todd Spencer, president of OOIDA. “The ball is missed by not doing more upfront scrutiny of those you grant authority to do business.”

Is it the perfect crime?

With a lack of technology to find these bad actors and policing agencies pointing the finger at each other’s jurisdictions, has freight fraud become the perfect crime?

FreightWaves discussed the evolution of freight crimes with another technology leader and expert in the industry who wished to stay anonymous for fear of retaliation.

“Unfortunately, in many cases it is viewed as a victimless crime because it is B2B, jurisdiction is rarely clear, and no specific entity is handling all the caseload,” the source explained. “Depending on the fraud vector and specific crime, it may be handled by local law enforcement, a sheriff’s department or the FBI. Another challenge is that many times it gets grouped with cybercrime because of the nature of the attacks, which has an overwhelming case volume and limited resources.”

Even McLoughlin shared that Uber Freight has a little over 50 people who focus on deterring these crimes. While FreightWaves was not able to verify the number of representatives at the FMCSA or the DOJ working to fight freight crime, McLoughlin and co-worker Bill McDermott, a freight investigator for Uber Freight with 20 years of experience with the FBI, agreed it would take more resources than the policing authorities are currently using.

“It’d be a great opportunity for a public-private partnership. But like everything I’ve ever worked on in the federal government, it’s about whose name is going to be at the top of that letterhead. At this point in the game, it shouldn’t matter. If one group can come out and try to coordinate this and get that plan sprinkled across the different agencies, we would have a better result in the end,” he said.

Spencer also noted that OOIDA is doing its best to push House Bill HR 8505, which would expand the authority of the FMCSA to assess penalties again.

“These are important issues that won’t be solved without government intervention. Our challenge here at OOIDA is to find the ways to inform and motivate truckers to be politically engaged on these issues. Make the phone calls, send the emails, be persistent,” said Spencer.

Addressing these problems today

If local law enforcement, federal agencies and FreightTech entrepreneurs are of limited help, how do stakeholders prevent freight fraud today?

Everyone FreightWaves spoke to came to the same conclusion: collaboration and transparency at all costs.

McDermott explained that this might mean fessing up when something goes wrong.

“People get embarrassed and don’t want to say, ‘Hey, I’m a victim,’” he said. “Here we take our victories but we take our lumps as well and we try to learn from each scenario. I fall back on the training, experience and connections I made within the bureau and other federal agencies to say, ‘This is what we saw. This was their source and their methods, and this is how they perpetrated the scam. Where have you seen this before?’ From there we can narrow our focus and establish our own internal trip wires.”

The anonymous industry professional explained he would love to see load board providers take a better approach toward verifying users and more quickly removing those who draw complaints. He also said taking an extra step to educate shippers could help prevent a lot of fraud.

“Your shippers need to help verify the carrier that is supposed to be there for pickup. A lot of shippers are also in a hurry to turn loads out. You have to build a relationship with the shipper and explain to them the importance of verifying that it is the correct carrier and the documents and certificates that you shared with them match what the driver has on hand. You want to have another layer of verification in person,” he said.

Nonetheless, the technology expert believes until the crime becomes unappealing to fraudsters, not much will change.

“The way to prevent freight fraud is simple. As an industry, we must make it less economically attractive to the bad actors. As long as the reward outweighs the risk, it will remain attractive,” he said.

Authored by Felicity Bradstock via OilPrice.com,

•  Zambia’s copper reserves, boosted by AI-driven exploration, are set to play a crucial role in meeting the surging global demand for electric vehicles and renewable energy.

• The country has the potential to become a major supplier of copper, reducing reliance on other nations and contributing significantly to its economy.

• To maximize the benefits of this mining boom, Zambia needs to invest in downstream industries and improve its investment climate to attract further foreign investment.

Zambia is attracting the attention of the world’s energy and mining companies as it shows significant potential for critical mineral extraction. Innovative technologies have helped uncover massive deposits of copper in Zambia, which could help massively expand the country’s mining industry over the next decade. This discovery could help provide the resources needed for the massive clean tech pipeline and make Zambia a critical minerals hub for years to come. 

The digital exploration company KoBold Metals has spent several years developing complex artificial intelligence (AI) technology to enhance mineral exploration activities around the globe. This month, KoBold announced it had likely made the largest copper discovery in over a decade thanks to this technology. The find in Zambia could contribute to the production of 300,000 tonnes of copper annually, worth billions of dollars. When developed, two decades of production in KoBold’s discovery region could provide enough copper to manufacture around 100 million electric vehicles (EVs). A third-party company corroborated KoBold’s claims, agreeing there is significant potential for using AI technology for exploration activities. KoBold hopes to develop a $2.3 billion copper mine in Zambia to commence production by the early 2030s. 

The demand for copper and other critical minerals has been rapidly growing in recent years, a trend that shows no sign of slowing as countries around the globe increase their renewable energy capacity and roll out clean technologies. In 2023, the total copper mine production was estimated at around 22 million metric tonnes, marking a significant increase from 16 million metric tonnes in 2010. Production is expected to increase to around 30 million metric tonnes a year by 2036 as the global demand grows. However, there are fears that this increase in supply will not be enough to meet the rapidly rising demand for the critical mineral.  

In addition to renewable energy development, the demand for copper is expected to increase significantly with the rollout of new technologies, such as AI. Data centres will require vast amounts of copper and other critical minerals in the coming years. This is expected to boost the value of copper substantially. According to Bank of America, supply shortages and the growth in demand could increase the price of copper by 11 percent, to $5.44 per pound by 2026. This is bad news for renewable energy producers but great news for countries with untapped copper deposits, just as Zambia.

New exploration technologies are helping mining companies improve their prospects, advancing exploration practices that have remained relatively unchanged over the last century. In addition, as the U.S. is concerned about its heavy reliance on China for critical minerals, new technologies could help American companies boost their mining capacity and ensure the country’s energy security. Connie Chan, a partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, stated, “The more you realize how dependent we are on these technologies, the more you ask: How the hell were we so slow to the fact that we needed vast amounts of raw material to make it all possible?” 

Recent estimates suggest that Zambia was the world’s 10th largest copper producer in 2023, producing around 4 percent of the world’s copper and increasing its output by 4 percent between 2022 and 2023. Production in the southern African country increased at a CAGR of 2.68 percent between 2017 and 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2 percent between 2023 and 2027. Chile, Peru, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and China are currently the world’s biggest copper producers, but there is major potential for Zambia to further develop its resources. First Quantum Minerals, Barrick Gold and Glencore are among the major producers operating in Zambia. 

Copper exports contribute over $6 billion of Zambia’s annual revenue. However, there is great potential for growth according to a recent report from the London School of Economics’ International Growth Centre (IGC). The industry mainly centres around extraction and early-stage refinement at present, but greater value could be added through the development of Zambia’s downstream activities. Most of Zambia’s copper comes from 10 mines in its Copperbelt province, with new discoveries slowly expanding production to other areas of the country. The IGC suggests that Zambia could attract higher levels of foreign investment in its minerals industry by improving its tax regime, which is currently unstable, and has deterred investors in the past. The IGC report also encourages Zambia to deepen ties with neighbouring DRC to establish a special economic zone (SEZ) to attract investment and create a manufacturing sector to add greater value. 

Zambia’s copper mining industry is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, following several successful production years. New technologies, like the AI tech being used by KoBold, could help enhance exploration activities in Zambia to boost production as the global demand for copper rises. In addition, there is significant potential to add value to the sector through the development of its downstream activities and greater collaboration with neighbouring producers the DRC.

Via ReMix News,

The globalist left is increasingly unscrupulous in its disregard for the voters’ choice.

The third-strongest faction, the Patriots for Europe, will not have a single official in the European Parliament. It won’t happen, because the globalist-Jacobin majority —which, for the sake of simplicity, is mostly called “the left” — is violating all written rules and customary law and ignoring the will of the people and has now prevented it. The Ursulas announced that, in their opinion, the sovereigntist faction — largely created by Viktor Orbán— is far-right and, as such, anti-Europe, anti-progress and anti-humanity, and therefore should be quarantined, isolated and suffocated. 

There is no talk of their deportation yet, but based on the dynamics of events, this may even happen in a few years.

Germany’s Manfred Weber, of the group of the European People’s Party listens during a press briefing at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

So the Patriots get nothing, let alone positions — perhaps even eventually a few bullets, like Fico and Trump. This is how people’s representation “works” for the champions of democracy in Brussels.

In fact, one of the pillars of Ursula von der Leyen’s forthcoming five-year EU commission presidency will be to break down resistance to the imperialism of the EU, to remove the veto of small states, especially the meddling Hungary. If there is no veto, everyone will do what the big ones want. In other words: “Shut up!”

Now, imagine for a moment that in the Hungarian parliament, opposition parties could not nominate vice-presidents to head the House, could not have committee chairs and vice-chairs. Obviously, the problem is with the Hungarian conception of democracy, but in this country such a thing has not even been thought of — neither during the period of left-wing nor right-wing governments did anyone think of such a despicable act, such disregard for the will of the electorate. But Brussels has done so without scruples. They take part in this disgusting act and in the meantime, act as if nothing had happened, as they continue lecturing us about democracy, the rule of law, checks and balances.

Where is the respect for the will of the voters? The rule of the people? The principle of popular sovereignty? Of course, we Hungarians have a dictatorship on the rampage, where even with a two-thirds majority from Fidesz, there is always an opposition leader (this time Zoltán Sas, a Jobbik member of the National Security Committee), not to mention the opposition deputy speakers of the National Assembly and many other officials.

So goes the trampling of voters by the European People’s Party (EPP). In order to give the globalists a majority, Manfred Weber, with the spine of a snail, has teamed up with the Bolsheviks — as if he had just been ordered to do so by text message. He lured the more naive right-wingers to his side with blatant lies and nationalist promises, only to be swept away by the left’s agenda.

Even though his voters are fed up with illegal migrants, Weber and his crew do not care — with their approval they will continue to fly and ship millions of Africans and Asians into the continent because the population replacement must continue. Weber is like a hijacker: He has hijacked the right-wing vote. If I say that this figure is a fraud, a scoundrel traitor, a moral lunatic, I am certainly putting it too mildly.

But it’s not just the will of the voters that globalists ignore. A few years ago, during one of the hearings of the show trials against Hungary, the European Parliament failed to get the necessary number of votes for the next “yes” vote, so the vote was repeated the next day, citing “technical reasons.” So it was done. Ursula can roll her dice all she wants at home until she gets the position she wants, it’s a private matter. But the Union is not a flea circus, and we didn’t join it to be the playthings of evil villains who wipe their muddy boots on us every day.

The same was done when the Sargentini report was adopted: Abstentions were not taken into account, in violation of the EU treaties and the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, because that was the only way to force through the opening of Article 7 proceedings against our country. Of course, the European Court of Justice later legalized this breach of the law, but there is nothing surprising in that. The law is just a front for them; they are in fact the people’s commissioners of the open society. See their latest gigantic penalty against Hungary in the quota case.

The Ursulas are just puppets, doing whatever the Democratic puppet masters in Washington want them to do. It is therefore theoretically impossible for them to carry out what the majority of European voters want and what they are supposed to have been entrusted with. They are not interested in, and are even irritated by, the fact that the majority of Europeans do not want population replacement, multiculturalism, war, sanctions and war inflation.

In the autumn of 2022, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock summed up perfectly the Western elite’s view of democracy: “But if I promise the people of Ukraine that we will be on their side for as long as they need us, I intend to deliver. No matter what my German voters think.” Really, what do the voters’ opinions matter, right? The will of the people. The people are stupid, but the clever Baerbocks will do it for them. And if all these “smart” Baerbocks happen to start a world conflagration (apparently that’s their goal), so be it. We would have liked to have launched these half-wits into space in time.

Even in the supposed home of democracy, the United States, much is made of the opinion of the electorate, respecting the will of the people. For months, for years, people have been saying how healthy, how fresh and fresh in spirit President (Biden) is. Their soapboxes have been slamming the table, repeating that Biden is not lost in his own backyard, that he is not dozing off during a meeting, that it is all a lie of right-wing propaganda.

My favorite is the “fact-finding” by the Soros group Lakmusz, in which they proved, even in the moments before the fall, that footage of the president wandering around was manipulated.

Then Biden was pushed back from the presidential nomination like a draft. But the operators of the Biden remote control are betting big that millions of Americans put their faith in this old man in the Democratic primaries this spring after all. And when he was put in the Democratic seat, they knew exactly what a desperate state he was in: He was no less stammering and rambling then than he is now. So they had to have it, and the will of the people should be respected. By the way, if Biden is as unfit to run for president as he is now said to be — and as he was in 2020, by the way, but his caretakers denied it then — is he not unfit to run for president for the remaining six months?

It is getting more and more hypocritical, more and more shabby, both over there and here in Brussels. The way they blather on about democracy, the rule of law, diversity and solidarity.

The way they try to make you believe that they are democrats, while if you dare to say anything different from them, they threaten you, blackmail you, take your money and send you to Kyiv. Lately they’ve been talking about expelling us.

Elina Valtonen, the Finnish foreign minister, recently predicted that “Hungary should think about whether it is right for it to be a member of the EU, given its different values.”

OK, we will think about it.

There can be only one thing of value: what they have.

Only one opinion: theirs.

And only one party: the socialist-green-communist-democratic-rainbow coalition.

The future Party.

Everyone else is a Nazi. The cheeky people too, because despite the brainwashing they no longer applaud enthusiastically enough.

The last two years have seen a handful of regional Middle East countries reestablish official relations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, after launching a decade-long proxy war against him. For example, in May 2023 he was welcomed to Saudi Arabia on an official visit for the first time since the war started, and given the red carpet treatment by the Saudi kingdom. And the UAE is among those which have reopened an embassy in Damascus after nearly 13 years of severed ties.

But the West, led by the US and UK, have still waged a maximum pressure campaign against the Syrian state after Assad emerged victorious in the war which sought to topple him. This has included greatly ratcheted sanctions, especially on energy imports, which has decimated the economy and unleashed runaway inflation. 

Washington has meanwhile under multiple administrations tried to lobby foreign allies to stay the course in isolating Damascus and keeping up the sanctions, despite an occasional Iranian oil tanker offloading to Syria’s Mediterranean ports.

But the tide appears to be turning as a number of European countries, many in the EU and NATO, are increasingly acknowledging that Assad is ‘here to stay’ and thus they must work with Syria instead of warring against it.

A fresh report in Israel’s YNet News says “Foreign ministers from Italy, Cyprus, Slovenia, Slovakia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece and Croatia have drafted a position paper calling for a change in the European Union’s approach to Syria, namely lifting sanctions and renewing diplomatic ties with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.”

“Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and his counterparts argue that the EU’s humanitarian aid policy has failed,” the report underscores.

According to some key lines of the document submitted to EU High Representative Josep Borrell:

“After 13 years of war and EU aid, 90% of Syria’s population lives below the poverty line, and seven out of ten residents need humanitarian assistance.”

“Humanitarian aid alone is not enough. The EU must lift some sanctions against President Assad’s regime and engage in diplomatic relations with him. Over the past two years, this issue has been overshadowed by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, but we must return to it.”

Longtime critics of the West’s drive for regime change have pointed out the years-long contradiction in policy: the EU allowed arms and ammo to be shipped into Syria (into the hands of anti-Assad jihadist insurgents), all while hand-wringing about the humanitarian and migrant crisis that resulted.

But increasingly these same powers are admitting that sanctions have only served to starve and compound the suffering for the common populace, and have in no way actually weakened the government’s grip on the country.

8 EU countries call for renewed ties with Assad regime to stem Syrian refugee tide

“EU’s policy has failed.”

“We must create a reality where residents have the will and interest to stay in Syria and return to it.”

“The EU must lift some sanctions against President Assad’s…

— Joshua Landis (@joshua_landis) July 25, 2024

In the oil and gas rich northeast of Syria, a US military occupation has persisted, which former President Trump has admitted was all about ‘stealing the oil.’ But the Biden administration has consistently said it has no plans to pull troops. Perhaps a future Trump administration might finally get the US out of Syria?

Authored by Andrew Korybko via substack,

Georgia’s State Security Service (SSS) informed the public that they’re investigating a criminal group linked to the former government which plotted to assassinate the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party. According to RT, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze claimed that these are the same forces that were behind the attempted assassinations of his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico and former US President Donald Trump, while Politico cited local media to report that the Georgian Legion is under suspicion.

It was explained in early May why “The Georgian State Security Service & The Georgian Legion Are On The Brink Of War”, namely because that pro-US armed group can play a crucial role in catalyzing a spree of urban terrorism ahead of, during, or right after fall’s parliamentary elections. The preceding analysis followed the failed attempt by rioters to storm the parliament over a week prior in protest of their country’s FARA-inspired foreign agents legislation, which readers can learn more about here.

In brief, although the ruling conservative-nationalist party aspires to join the EU and NATO, it doesn’t want to surrender the country’s sovereignty to the West in exchange and that’s why it’s been targeted for regime change over the past year and a half. The replacement of Georgian Dream with Western puppets would lead to “NGO”-propagated liberal–globalist values destroying their traditional society, hence the need for the foreign agents law, but there are also geopolitical consequences too.

The authorities warned last year that the prior attempt to overthrow them was aimed at opening up a second front against Russia, while there’s also the chance that a puppet regime would allow Georgia to be used by NATO to send more armed aid to Armenia in preparation of another war against Azerbaijan. Georgian Dream wants to stay out of all regional conflicts, so much so that it hasn’t even sanctioned Russia, which is yet another argument against their continued rule from the West’s perspective.

Speaking of Russia, its foreign intelligence service released a statement in early July warning that the West is preparing to exploit fall’s parliamentary elections as the pretext for another regime change attempt, and it’s possible that they shared information about this with their Georgian counterparts. That could explain why the local media cited by Politico said that some Georgian Legion members have been detained for questioning, while their leader claimed that 300 others have been added to the wanted list.

Although comparatively small in number, this pro-US armed group could play a similar role in Tbilisi later this year as the Azov Battalion did in Kiev a little more than a decade ago during “EuroMaidan”, which was explained in the earlier hyperlinked analysis about why they’re on the brink of war with the SSS. The most effective “Democratic Security” policy that Georgian Dream can promulgate right now is banning the Georgian Legion as a terrorist group if the ongoing investigation ties them to the assassination plot.

Allowing them to continue operating inside the country with impunity would constitute an enormous risk to Georgia’s national model of democracy considering the likelihood that they’ll catalyze a spree of urban terrorism ahead of, during, or right after the upcoming elections at the US’ regime change behest. Cracking down on this group ahead of the vote would greatly neutralize their ability to disrupt the democratic process and make associated Hybrid War threats much more manageable for the authorities.

Aware that the window of opportunity for destabilizing their country might soon close, the Georgian Legion might desperately try to carry out a high-profile assassination attempt in the near future, even if it isn’t against the ruling party’s founder but someone else like the Prime Minister and they use a patsy instead of their own members. Everyone should therefore keep a very close eye on Georgia since it’s still a major New Cold War battleground given its geostrategic significance in the broader region’s dynamics.

Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

For the past six months I’ve been writing about the clear uptick in civil war rhetoric within the establishment media in the US, and we all know that the coming presidential election is the reason for it. The bottom line is that no matter who ends up in the White House in 2025 there will be mass violence, but most of this violence will be reserved for the possibility of Donald Trump’s return.

Set aside the recent attempted assassination (and how the Secret Service made it possible) for a moment and let’s consider the common leftist response to it – Around 30% of Democrats believe the attack was “staged” (virtually impossible given the circumstances and evidence). The rest are enraged that the shooter missed. No event has exposed the political left for what they truly are more than the near-murder of Donald Trump. We are dealing with bloodthirsty mental deficients that will do anything to win.

The “false left/right paradigm” is dead, at least when it comes to average American citizens. The political left is not just an innocent subset of the population being led astray by false leadership – They are a big part of the problem. They are willing participants in the destruction of the west. Globalists would get nowhere on economic centralization, the DEI agenda, the trans agenda, carbon taxation, anti-2A legislation, open borders, etc. without help from a large portion of leftists.

I have long cautioned that the political left is slowly but surely becoming a happy cannon fodder army in service to globalism. And sadly, leftists tend to engage in warfare while conservatives tend to engage in politics. Leftists use any means necessary and feel thoroughly justified. Conservatives color within the lines for fear of being accused of “fascism.” We don’t have to abandon our moral compass, but the sooner we realize that war is being waged on us the sooner we can defend ourselves against it.

As we have seen in Europe (in France the past month), any perceived shift towards conservative influence in government will undoubtedly result in riots and chicanery from socialists. The media has so infected the minds of progressives that they truly believe they are the “good guys” and that conservatives intend to “end democracy.” Thus, in their view all violence or sabotage against conservatives (and independents) is justified.

In the long run the left’s violence and hysteria is only inspiring conservatives to respond with aggression in kind. This is where the potential for civil conflict arises. Leftists argue that only they are virtuous enough to be allowed to dictate policy and law. Yet, their ideology also embraces moral relativism, so you can see where this thing is headed…

They will continue to press for the erosion of western heritage and principles and, eventually, regular people are going to fight back; they have no choice. Leftists and globalists expect resistance, to a point. I believe part of their strategy is a classic communist provocation; for patriots to react with violence thereby giving the establishment fuel for a demonization campaign (much like January 6th). It’s not going to go the way they think it will next time and the response will be far larger and more swift than they anticipate.

Meanwhile, if Trump enters office again the rioting America dealt with in 2020 will be a cakewalk compared to 2025.

Progressives claim they are “protecting democracy” but you will see very quickly that as soon as democracy doesn’t go their way they will abandon it in a heartbeat and seek to prevail using other methods.

This means a campaign of “monkey wrenching” followed by riots, looting and disruptions in major cities.

One rising trend that should have all business owners and preppers on alert is the use of social media apps to coordinate seemingly spontaneous riots. These events can be organized within hours, encouraging some of the worst people to congregate and strike a business block without ever meeting each other before. What I worry about is that these methods will expand beyond business districts and local government buildings.

Travel routes will come under threat, freight could be targeted and we may even see looters and rioters move into residential areas further away from the city center. Supply chain issues will surely arise. At the very least there will be concerns among freight drivers that they are taking a risk carrying truckloads of goods into places where they could be surrounded by an angry mob and hijacked (or worse).

Large scale crime in general is bad for the economy. As we’ve witnessed in cities like Chicago and San Francisco, unchecked crime forces companies to move out of a region and leave those places barren. They call it a “food desert” – A place where tens of thousands of people have no close access to groceries or retail goods. Looting and rioting are an accelerating catalyst for this scenario. Once stores are looted or burned, they may never try to rebuild.

What I am describing is a much larger number of incidents with a longer duration than 2020. I’m talking about prolonged civil unrest and I predict this will become the norm going into next year. Don’t count on the government to provide sufficient aid. Don’t count on FEMA rations or a national guard response that does anything other than exacerbate the problem. Don’t rely on outside help – You’ll regret it.

There are different levels of civil unrest. Sometimes it starts as a less malicious redress of grievances, but often it becomes a vehicle for random destruction. The best way to counter indiscriminate violence is with directed and focused self defense, along with the proper supplies to keep you going until things calm down.

Also, don’t think just because you live in the suburbs or a rural town that these threats don’t concern you. In Argentina during their economic collapse in 2001, gangs of looters stalked rural areas with impunity while cities ground to a standstill. Once the cities are hollowed out, where do you think the worst people will go next?

In the US we have similar circumstances to Argentina in which economic crisis has the ability to feed directly into preexisting divisions. Politically motivated bad actors could be inspired to sabotage normal services in the face of limited law enforcement opposition. There are people who will do anything to get their way.

Organize accordingly and keep your own supplies ready. There are plenty of people out there that think they are owed something. They think they are owed a political win, or social power, or maybe they just think they’re owed access to other people’s stuff.

Right now the US is a powderkeg waiting to go off and the coming election period will be the fuse.

* * *

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In 1983, one-in-five American adults (20%) were in a union. By 2023, only one-in-ten (10%) were in a union, a record low for the country. However, there are still some industries that see rates of union membership that are on the higher end of the spectrum.

This chart, via Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao, shows the rate of union membership of those employed per industry in America.

Data for this graphic is sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for 2023.

Government Workers are Often in Unions

Two out of five local government employees are in a union, the highest rate across American industries, as classified by the BLS.

A significant portion of these employees are police officers, as protective services have some of the highest union rates (32%) by occupation.

*Excluding the internet. Figures rounded.

Meanwhile, the utilities sector (energy, water supply, sewage removal) has the highest union membership in the private sector (20%) though this works out to about 200,000 members.

About 16% of the transport and warehousing industry—one million strong—belongs to a union. Since 2022, workers at Amazon warehouses in particular have organized into the Amazon Labor Union to protest unsafe working conditions.

Across the top 10 sectors by union membership rate, union employees out-earn non-union employees in eight of them. The wage difference is most noticeable in film & sound jobs, where a union employee makes nearly $1,000 dollars more per week.

*Excluding the internet. Figures rounded. Wage data available here.

On the other end of the scale, professional jobs—accounting, legal, tech, and finance—have the lowest rates of union membership (1%). And in them, non-union members out-earn their union peers.

If you liked this article, check out Visualizing the American Workforce as 100 People for quick insight into the most common jobs people work at.

Authored by Brett Wilkins via Common Dreams,

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir endorsed former U.S. President Donald Trump—the 2024 Republican nominee—for the White House in an interview published Wednesday in which he accused the Biden administration of preventing Israel from winning its war in Gaza.

“I believe that with Trump, Israel will receive the backing to act against Iran,” Ben-Gvir, who heads the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, told Bloomberg. “With Trump, it will be clearer that enemies must be defeated.”

“A cabinet minister is supposed to maintain neutrality,” the 48-year-old minister conceded, “but that’s impossible to do after [U.S. President Joe] Biden.”

“The U.S. has always stood behind Israel in terms of armaments and weapons, yet this time the sense was that we were being reckoned with—that we were trying to be prevented from winning. That happened on Biden’s watch and fed Hamas with lots of energy,” added Ben-Gvir, who was convicted in 2007 of incitement to racism after he advocated the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

While Biden, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and other administration officials have decried Israel’s often indiscriminate bombing of Gaza and high civilian casualties—at least 140,000 Palestinians killed, injured, or missing, according to local and international agencies—the U.S. has approved billions of dollars in new military aid and more than 100 arms sales to Israel since October.

During his White House tenure, Trump—who boasted that he “fought for Israel like no president ever before”—moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and brokered the Abraham Accords between Israel and Arab nations Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates.

Trump has said that Israel should “get the job done” in Gaza, while criticizing the Israel Defense Forces for posting videos showing its obliteration of the embattled Palestinian enclave.

“I don’t know why they released wartime shots like that. I guess it makes them look tough. But to me, it doesn’t make them look tough,” Trump said in April. “They’re losing the PR war. They’re losing it big. But they’ve got to finish what they started, and they’ve got to finish it fast, and we have to get on with life.”

While Trump says he wants a deal with Iran to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, as president he unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—also known as the Iran nuclear deal—and oversaw a “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran featuring deadly economic sanctions.

On the advice of Iran hawks in his administration including then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Trump also ordered the January 2020 assassination of Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Gen. Qasem Soleimani in Iraq.

Ben-Gvir’s interview was published as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to address a joint meeting of U.S. Congress Wednesday in Washington, D.C. A growing number of Democratic lawmakers have called for not only a cease-fire in Gaza but also a suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel, whose conduct in the war is on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice.

“She’s running away from Israel. She refuses to go to -Bibi Netanyahu is in Washington. She refuses to do that. Even if you’re against Israel or you’re against the Jewish people show up and listen to the concept. But she’s totally against Jewish people”

– Trump on Kamala Harris pic.twitter.com/uUjjCXy3Fg

— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) July 25, 2024

Dozens of Democratic lawmakers and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont skipped Netanyahu’s Wednesday’s speech. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is also the Senate president, did not preside over Wednesday’s session. Harris, who is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee in the wake of Biden’s withdrawal from the race on Sunday, said she will meet privately with Netanyahu on Thursday.

Echoing calls from groups including CodePink and the Council on American Islamic Relations, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said this week that the prime minister should be arrested for war crimes and genocide.

Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court prosecutor, has applied for arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes including extermination committed on and after October 7.

Authored by Brian Maher via DailyReckoning.com,

Why does government lie so repeatedly — and so atrociously?

Why does it fear truth as the vampire fears garlic?

The answer, we hazard, reduces to its desperate quest for prestige.

Government equals authority. And an authority is an authority.

Its word must be the final word. Its word must be the ultimate word.

A supreme authority cannot withstand rivals — else its authority falls into question.

It cannot endure mockery, ridicule or derision.

And if its undeniable incompetence is exposed, its back goes up… and its dukes go up.

Consider for example Monday’s congressional testimony of a certain Kimberly Cheatle…

The Greatest Sin Against Government

Ms. Cheatle directed the United States Secret Service when an aspiring assassin made a mockery of the lady’s organization.

How can a murderous fellow scale a low rooftop with a rifle — some 140 yards from a former and potentially future United States president — and let eight projectiles loose — before being scotched?

Here he was… placing his thumbs in his ears… wiggling his fingers… and putting out his tongue at Ms. Cheatle and the organization she bosses.

And in the private opinion of Ms. Cheatle, that is the highest sin. It is not act itself.

Is greater professional incompetence scarcely conceivable? We do not believe it is.

“It’s an Ongoing Investigation”

Yet the lady donned her armor, barricaded herself within fortress walls and deflected all questions concerning her agency’s abominations.

She could not answer this question or that question because it is an “ongoing investigation.”

“Was July 13 a Saturday, madam?”

“It’s an ongoing investigation.”

“What time did the attempted assassination take place? What was the local temperature?”

“It’s an ongoing investigation.”

“What color blazer was the former president Trump sporting?”

“It’s an ongoing investigation.”

“In which hemisphere of Earth did the incident occur?”

“It’s an ongoing investigation.”

“What color is the sky?”

“It’s an ongoing investigation.”

Governing Means Never Saying You’re Sorry

Could the lady openly and candidly concede her organization’s botchwork? What government functionary ever does?

Imagine her arguing, for example, that her sniper may have failed to shoot first because his scope was trained not on the rooftop — but on the fetching young lady in the third row with the cropped top and the shortest shorts.

Imagine her arguing that the 5’4” female agent lacked the height to cover adequately her 6’3” protectee.

Furthermore, that the identical female agent was admitted to the United States Secret Service on a sliding scale — that she did not satisfy the physical standards required of men.

Imagine her conceding that her personnel were snoozing on the job.

Have you imagined these potentialities? Then you have imagined impossibilities.

Ms. Cheatle would never concede any of them even if true.

That is because she fears for her (former) agency’s prestige.

The Bigger the Organization, the Bigger the Lies

“Why are you stating the obvious?” comes your retort.

“Every organization, from the smallest business concern to the largest business concern, from any local government to the federal government, fears for its prestige.

“No organization wants to be publicly embarrassed.”

You are of course correct.

Yet the larger the organization, the larger its scope. Thus the greater number of lies — and scale of lies — it must tell to cling to its prestige.

Imagine you are the proprietor of a local business concern.

You quake in fear of the competition. And you are hot to scotch it.

Imagine the lengths to which you proceed… the fibs you tell… to defend and expand your localized little empire.

What misdemeanor — indeed, what felony — wouldn’t you execute if it advantaged you?

Yet your enterprise maintains a very constricted reach. It represents a nearly absolute insignificance to the world beyond.

Who cares if you claim to be the most superior plumber in Springfield when you manifestly are not?

A Local Government Can Manage Its Lies

Next imagine that you are not a business concern. You are instead a local government concern.

You are its mayor.

You must tell your lies to glitter before your captives, your residents.

The business may be difficult at times — yet it is manageable.

You must lie about the efficiency of the Motor Vehicle Department or the Highway Department, for example.

You must lie about the bribes you have accepted. You may therefore maintain your prestige.

Yet the scope of your lies is contained with your narrow borders.

A nation — a normal nation — must likewise tell its lies to hold up its prestige.

It may be difficult at times. Yet if the nation is reasonably sized and has little ambition, it is, again, possible.

In highest contrast stands the government of the United States…

The Burden of Maintaining Global Prestige

This is an empire that exerts dominion over each individual, over each local municipality, over each state municipality within these shores — from oceans Atlantic and Pacific, from the border with Mexico to the border with Canada.

Imagine the impossibility of managing such a vast space.

The United States government manages the job very poorly.

Yet by its nature it must maintain its prestige among the American people. It must therefore inform you that it performs the job very well.

It will stare you in the eyes… and lie to you… even if it knows that you know it is lying to you.

Yet the United States is the world’s reigning kingpin, its dominant power.

Its wingspan therefore covers the entirety of planet Earth. Does a single sparrow fall outside its awareness?

Imagine — then — the lies it must tell to maintain its prestige among all the nations of Earth…

Lies of Commission and Omission

Who detonated the Nord Stream pipeline transmitting natural gas from the Russian Federation to the German republic?

The answers reduce to the United States itself, one of its European allies or the nation of Ukraine.

Do you believe the United States government is unaware of the answer?

Yet imagine the catastrophic damage to its reputation if it revealed the answer.

It would concede that the United States itself executed the largest act of environmental sabotage in all of history — and heavily wrecked the economy of its central NATO ally — or that another NATO ally did the deed.

Or that the nation it stands impassionedly behind, Ukraine, did the deed.

It must therefore shrug its shoulders in befuddlement or inform you that Russia blew holes in its own pipeline.

It is a lie of omission or a lie of commission.

We’re the Good Guys Here

Imagine if the United States government conceded that Russia’s unprovoked aggression was very much provoked?

And that it was the saboteur of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine that would have ceased the bloodletting one month after it commenced.

Public support for the Ukrainian cause — in the United States and abroad — would collapse in a heap.

United States government prestige would absorb a fatal blow.

It must therefore babble lies.

It must tell you that Mr. Putin’s aggression was not provoked. It must inform you that he will be at the English Channel within no time if he is not heaved out of Ukraine.

It must inform you that it is battling on behalf of democracy.

From the Middle East to East Asia, from South America to Africa, the identical dynamic obtains.

If the Antarctic continent were sufficiently populated, it would extend there too.

Empire of Lies

Our co-founders Bill Bonner and Addison Wiggin once labeled the United States an empire of debt.

It is an empire of debt, yes. It is certainly an empire in debt.

Yet in the more fundamental sense it is an empire of lies.

The emperor in charge of it is presently being exposed — he is well and truly nude before a gaping world.

Yet this emperor will never concede his nudity…

Authored by Autumn Spredemann via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The term “day zero water” has become synonymous with a worst-case scenario for public water resources. It refers to a moment in which a city or region’s water supply is almost depleted and officials cut tap supply to communities.

This crisis was narrowly averted in 2018 in Cape Town, South Africa, which approached the threshold of a day zero event after rationing was almost not enough.

Subsequently, environmental researchers and resource insiders have voiced concern over the possibility of water running out in U.S. cities after years of drought have reduced groundwater in places such as the Great Plains and the Southwest.

In a recent study published in Nature, researchers noted “rapid groundwater-level declines” globally in the 21st century of more than 0.5 meters (20 inches) per year across 170,000 monitoring wells and 1,693 aquifer systems.

This includes water resources in the United States.

The study authors further observed groundwater declines have accelerated over the past four decades, highlighting an “urgent need for more effective measures to address groundwater depletion.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also expressed concerns over national water assets.

The agency highlights on its website a Government Accountability Office report from 2014 that stated that 40 out of 50 state water managers “expected shortages in some portion of their states under average conditions in the next 10 years.”

Groups such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) attribute much of the groundwater loss to climate change.

“The conditions in the American West, which we’re seeing around the Colorado River basin, have been so dry for more than 20 years that we’re no longer speaking of a drought,” Lis Mullin Bernhardt said in a statement in May.

Ms. Bernhardt, an ecosystems expert at the UNEP, called it “aridification” and a “new very dry normal.”

However, some experts say poor water management and aging pipe infrastructure also play a significant role in depleting groundwater reserves.

“Given current consumption patterns and the increasing strain on water resources due to factors like climate change and population growth, a Day Zero water crisis is certainly a possibility for some U.S. cities,” Natalya Holm told The Epoch Times in an email.

Ms. Holm is a U.S. senior project manager for the Climate Risk & Water Stewardship Services Lead at Antea Group, an international environmental consulting firm.

She explained the cities most at risk include a combination of high population density, limited water sources, and inadequate infrastructure to manage supply challenges.

“For instance, cities like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Miami face significant water stress due to their geographical location, reliance on limited local water sources, and high water demand caused by urbanization,” she said.

The Israel-based company Watergen, which makes water from the air, also identified Los Angeles and Miami—along with Atlanta, Phoenix, and El Paso—as urban centers at risk of a Day Zero event due to drought and saltwater contamination.

“Water supply sustainability and security can present a risk to communities if they are not proactively addressing these risks,” Barbara Martin, director of engineering and technical services at the American Water Works Association, told The Epoch Times via email.

Ms. Martin said that communities face risks over water sustainability and security if officials aren’t proactive with infrastructure planning, asset management, and emergency preparedness.

She said that while nothing can eliminate the risk of a Day Zero water crisis, public educational resources will help, as well as water asset managers bolstering their resilience planning.

Down the Drain

Water pipe infrastructure in the United States is in desperate need of repair.

Moreover, the agency expects necessary replacements to cost $500 billion.

In a May press release, the Biden administration announced a $3 billion initiative to replace toxic lead pipes in U.S. waterworks.

The funding is part of a more than $50 billion spending package already approved to upgrade American water infrastructure.

The White House statement called the initiative “the largest investment in clean and safe water in American history.”

However, the number falls drastically short of the EPA’s estimated need for shoring up water loss due to leakage.

“Among the 2.2 million miles of pipe that comprise our drinking water infrastructure … the EPA estimates that 240,000 water main breaks occur in the U.S. each year,” Ms. Martin pointed out.

She stressed that it’s critical to ensure utilities have strong programs for asset management, capital improvement planning, condition assessment, and water loss control in addition to “supporting effective and timely infrastructure renewal and replacement.”

Ms. Martin emphasized that continued investment in U.S. water infrastructure is needed to address this challenge.

Ms. Holm called the U.S. water pipe network “unique” in its high number of water systems per capita. She says this creates distinctive challenges.

“What that means is, especially in rural areas, there are a lot of very small water systems serving a very small population … it leads to fragmentation and inefficiencies in water management, preventing coordinated efforts for sustainable water use and infrastructure upkeep.”

This fragmentation complicates regulatory oversight and equitable access to safe and reliable water, according to Ms. Holm.

Ongoing water loss through pipe leakage is also a money hemorrhage for those working in resource management, according to Ms. Holm.

She said that some systems have reported water losses exceeding 60 percent. That kind of loss to pipe leakage is referred to as “non-revenue water.”

“The utility [company] brought it up from the ground or pulled it from a river, treated it, pumped it out into the system, used the energy to bring it out to the system, and got no revenue back from it.

“Nobody used it, and the water supplier lost out on 60 percent of the revenue, which means less money going into their infrastructure repair, improvement, and expansion funds,” she said.
In its latest infrastructure report card, the American Society of Civil Engineers observed a water main break in the United States every two minutes, resulting in an estimated loss of 6 billion gallons of treated water every day.

“Addressing this issue requires substantial investment in infrastructure renewal and maintenance,” Ms. Holm said.

“This includes adopting modern technologies for leak detection and repair, prioritizing infrastructure upgrades in vulnerable areas, and enhancing coordination between federal, state, and local agencies to ensure effective management of water distribution networks.”

Read more here…