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G7 Closer To Giving $300BN In Seized Russian Assets To Ukraine After Orban Blocked EU Funds

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G7 Closer To Giving $300BN In Seized Russian Assets To Ukraine After Orban Blocked EU Funds

Group of Seven member states are moving closer to approving a controversial plan that would funnel some $300 billion of Russia’s seized central bank and other sovereign assets (such as some oligarchs’ superyachts) which have been “immobilized” in Europe to give to Ukraine.

“G7 members and other specially affected states could seize Russian sovereign assets as a countermeasure to induce Russia to end its aggression,” a US policy paper being considered by the G7 states.

The Financial Times aptly described the proposal as constituting “a radical step that would open a new chapter in the west’s financial warfare against Moscow” – also as certainly Moscow would see it as brazen theft.

Getty Images

While neither the White House nor US Treasury has openly affirmed that this is the US stance, the FT noted US officials are actively engaging G7 countries to see it through.

“A US official said Washington was engaged in active conversations on the use of Russian sovereign assets and believed there was a short timeline to make a decision,” FT details. “They suggested it could be discussed at a possible G7 leaders’ meeting to coincide with the second anniversary in February of Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine.”

It seems war fatigue and a sudden slowdown in funding for Kiev has prompted Washington and G7 partners to “get creative”. Two things happened this past week, which was certainly a “bitter week of disappointment” for Zelensky…

  • Republicans in Congress have blocked Biden’s efforts to get an over one hundred billion foreign defense aid package pass.
  • Hungary’s Viktor Orbán blocked an EU funding package for Ukraine worth €50bn ($54bn), which came the same day Hungary abstained from a vote on starting formal EU membership talks for Ukraine.

Orban had written on social media: “Summary of the nightshift: veto for the extra money to Ukraine.” He had for weeks promised to also block the start of EU accession talks, so it seems blocking the funds was an effort to show his supporters he didn’t back down (completely).

Putin meanwhile on Thursday had mocked the whole situation, telling Ukraine that its Western “freebies” were running out.

Meanwhile, further quid pro quo might eventually serve to unblock the EU funds for Ukraine…

Ukraine reportedly needs to EU funds in order to keep basic state services afloat, including paying teachers, civic workers, and maintaining pensions – among other things.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/18/2023 – 05:45

Marc Crispin Miller Exposes The “Rolling Thunder Global Propaganda” Campaign

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Marc Crispin Miller Exposes The “Rolling Thunder Global Propaganda” Campaign

Via Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com,

New York University (NYU) Professor Mark Crispin Miller (MCM) is an expert in propaganda.

Dr. Miller says from infection to injection, Covid 19 was a global “propaganda masterpiece.”

Propaganda on this level has never happened before in human history. Dr. Miller explains,

“The media has been crucial to this entire operation, and I would take that a little further. I would say since the beginning of 2020, we have been subjected to a ‘Rolling Thunder of Propaganda’ drives one after another. 

First, there was the (CV19) virus panic.

Then, there was the George Floyd moment. Now, there is a new documentary that shows George Floyd was not actually murdered… It’s called ‘The Fall of Minneapolis.’…

There was the 2020 Election. There was the so-called ‘insurrection.’ That was a wave of crackpot hysteria… because it was not an insurrection…or coup attempt.

Then, there was Ukraine, and the entire back story of Russia’s invasion was completely missing from all the coverage…

This is all the result of the media doing the opposite of what it is supposed to do. The ‘Framers’ (of the Constitution) realized the absolute necessity of having a free press…

This was before the corporate media cartels, which is what we have now… The Framers knew… to offer a counterforce to federal power, we absolutely had to have a free press…

The reason why the press has First Amendment protections is it… tells truths the federal authorities does not want us to know.

To say the press has failed abysmally is actually giving them too much credit.

They have been instrumental throughout this nightmare, whose aim is radical depopulation and destruction of democracy… if you just tell the other side of the story, you are public enemy #1.”

With more than 700 million mRNA CV19 bioweapon injections in the US alone and more than 13 billion CV19 injections globally, the implications of this depopulation agenda is the biggest story ever short of a global thermal nuclear exchange.

This, too, was part of the “Rolling Thunder Global Propaganda” campaign.

Dr. Miller has dedicated his Substack to reveal mounting and massive deaths and injuries one person at a time. Many doctors are revealing data and sources proving the CV19 vax did not help a single person.

The NYU Profesor calls the CV19 so-called vaccine “the perfect crime.”

Dr. Miller explains,

It’s the perfect crime because there is a long delay between the pulling of the trigger and the collapse due to the bullet. You see what I mean? Sometimes it can take people two years to succumb to the consequences of taking the shot. It’s the perfect crime. I also liken it to the infamous mass murders of mid-century…

This had much more sophistication than those mass murders. It’s not just the bigger numbers, but they got people to take this willingly. Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot were all coercive…

This is the first mass murder that is the result of getting people to clamor for it. The panic over the Corona virus was so successful that people were craving vaccination—craving it.

The good news from Dr. Miller is that it appears people are waking up at a fast pace.

He points to the low uptake of more CV19 boosters in a range of only 3%. Dr. Miller is dedicated to waking people up to the mass propaganda psyop that has led people in a disastrous direction. Dr. Miller says,

“People can subscribe to my Substack, and you can do it for free. I am doing this for the public good. I am always grateful for paid subscribers because I am on disability now as a professor at NYU, but I am not doing it for that reason.

I am doing it because something really, really evil is going on, and people have to snap out of it. People have to wake up. I do believe people can wake up, and there are indications that people are waking up.”

There is much more in the 59-minute interview.

Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with NYU Media Studies Professor and propaganda expert Dr. Mark Crispin Miller for 12.16.23.

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To Donate to USAWatchdog.com Click Here

There is lots of free information on Dr. Miller’s Substack, including his popular “Died Suddenly” reports. The data is collected every week from the U.S. and more than two dozen countries around the world. You can support Dr. Miller by becoming a subscriber to his Substack.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/18/2023 – 05:00

Visualizing America’s One-Sided Love Of European Wine

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Visualizing America’s One-Sided Love Of European Wine

When the United States and the European Union finally buried the hatchet in a long-simmering dispute over government subsidies to Boeing and Airbus in June 2021, wine lovers in the U.S. may well have opened a bottle of Bordeaux to celebrate.

While that may sound strange, after all what does wine have to do with airline subsidies, it actually makes perfect sense.

Wine was one of the products caught in the middle of a tit-for-tat tariff fight that saw the Trump administration put a 25-percent levy on certain European food and drink items, including wines from Germany, Spain, France and the UK.

Those tariffs were suspended half a year later in a broader bid to improve transatlantic relations which had cooled notably during Trump’s time in office.

As Statista’s Felix Richter shows in the following chart, America’s love of wines from Southern Europe, with France and Italy especially coming to mind, is a one-sided affair.

Infographic: America's One-Sided Love of European Wine | Statista

You will find more infographics at Statista

According to Eurostat data, the U.S. imported more than 5 million hectoliters from France and Italy between August 1, 2022 and July 31, 2023 – worth roughly $4.5 billion.

While Italy was by far the biggest exporter to the U.S. in terms of volume, France is leading in monetary terms thanks to its more pricey grapes.

Meanwhile, Europe’s five largest wine producers imported little more than 300,000 hectoliters of wine from the U.S., choosing instead to get high on their own supply, to borrow a quote from the movie Scarface.

Germany is the notable example among Europe’s major wine producers, as it is the only country among the top 5 to import more wine from the U.S. than it ships back across the Atlantic.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/18/2023 – 04:15

UK Vicar Under Investigation For Calling Trans Archdeacon “A Bloke”

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UK Vicar Under Investigation For Calling Trans Archdeacon “A Bloke”

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

A vicar is in trouble for expressing criticism of the Church of England’s decision to appoint a transgender archdeacon, after he noted that the person is “biologically, a bloke.”

Reverend Brett Murphy is being investigated after he recently posted a video slamming the CofE for putting “a radical rainbow activist” in a “position of high authority in a diocese”.

Murphy resigned his position earlier this year, but now faces an official rebuke, according to The Telegraph.

In the video he stated “You may roll your eyes, if you are a complementarian, that another feminist is getting a prominent high-ranking position in the CofE, but this is worse than that.”

“The Rev Rachel Mann is in fact, biologically, a bloke, who identifies and lives as a woman,” Murphy added.

He went on to ponder whether the CofE is “positioning” the Rev Mann to become the first ever transgender bishop, noting that some would view such an appointment as “complete rebellion against God’s word”.

Here is the video:

Commenting on the disciplinary action, which could lead to a permanent mark on his clergy file, and barring from employment in the CofE forever, Murphy stated “As a Christian minister it is my duty to proclaim the gospel whenever I can. I make no apology for that.”

“The decisions by the CofE to investigate and pursue me for stating biological truth has reinforced and vindicated all the concerns that I raised in the original vlog,” he continued.

Murphy added that “The re-opening of the complaint especially exposes the drive within the CofE to censor and banish any dissenting voice that does not agree or celebrate extreme LGBT ideology.”

As we have previously highlighted, The CofE has become so infested with wokery to the point that it has considered dropping the phrase “our Father” from the start of the Lord’s Prayer, and instructing clergy to refrain from using male pronouns when talking about God.

Some churches have gone as far as erasing references to the nativity and Jesus in a Christmas carol and replacing them with a celebration of “queer” people.

In July last year, the Church of England refused to define what a woman was, saying they had no definition of it on their books, despite still ostensibly opposing same sex marriage.

In 2021, the CofE announced it was introducing quotas for black and ethnic clergy to pave the way for ‘anti-racism training’ in the Church, as well as ‘contextualising church statues that may cause offence.”

Earlier this year the CofE also established a £100 million fund to “address past wrongs of slavery,” even as some church buildings are literally falling apart.

* * *

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Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/18/2023 – 03:30

The Swiss Are The World’s Greatest Savers

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The Swiss Are The World’s Greatest Savers

The Swiss are by far the largest savers among OECD countries.

As Statista’s Anna Fleck reports, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the average savings rate for Swiss households is around 19 percent (data from 2022).

This is well above the European Union’s average of around 6 percent.

As shown in this chart, France and Germany are also above the EU average, with a household savings rate of around 11 percent, while Italy and the United Kingdom fall below it, at around 2 percent.

Infographic: Where Do People Save the Most Money? | Statista

You will find more infographics at Statista

The household savings rate indicated in the study represents the total amount of savings as a percentage of net disposable income, meaning the net salary plus received social benefits and minus paid taxes.

It provides an overview of the average portion of income saved by households, contributing each year to the growth of their financial wealth.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/18/2023 – 02:45

When Did Governments Become So Ridiculous?

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When Did Governments Become So Ridiculous?

Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,

The world media breathlessly reported last week on what they say was huge and important news.

Two hundred people who claim to speak for billions of others, because they happen to have a title associated with a government post and are involved with the United Nations, say that the planet needs to transition away from fossil fuels, meaning oil, gas, and coal.

Oh, sure. If this happens, and the world truly does go dark as we revert back hundreds of years in progress, there will be hell to pay. These big shots who agreed to this will be long gone, their bank accounts stuffed with payoffs of various sorts. No one will take responsibility at all. It’s not just a plot against progress; it’s a plot against the world’s poorest in all nations.

More likely, this is more public relations blather.

Not that it won’t be damaging, but 2023 is not 2013, when people were more naïve about this whole topic.

Now we are very aware of the utter impossibility of preserving anything approaching civilization without what they say we are to transition away from using.

This whole scene is so ridiculous that it is hard to fathom. Central planning has never worked on any level of government. It certainly has not worked for global governments working together. And it has never been attempted on a whole sector like this, much less the single most important sector, namely that which provides us with energy that powers civilization itself.

How do these birds imagine that they know for sure how best to power the planet? In their fevered imaginations, they conjure up a world run by breezes and sunbeams rather than the ready energy given to us by earth itself. They know their plans are better because they claim that oil, gas, and coal are causing catastrophic climate change, even though many of the world’s great scientists say that this claim is utter bollocks.

Of course, they habitually ignore all dissent. And the world press breathed not a word about the many critics out there. We are just supposed to pretend that the “science is settled” and not to question any of it.

But we’ve been here before, most recently with COVID-19.

The United Nations, and the World Health Organization, and every government in the world but a few, all told us that the only way to defeat some invisible pathogen out there was to give government total control of our lives.

That meant mandatory loneliness and the end of religious and educational freedom, plus preposterous antics like standing six feet from everyone else.

This was another brilliant government strategy. It flopped and caused massive damage. Then they said we should all get this inoculation that they conjured up with taxpayer money while indemnifying the vaccine-makers from any liability. It turned out that the shot didn’t actually stop infection, despite promises, and did not stop spread, despite promises. They maintained their mandates anyway. Millions lost their jobs.

The stocks of the main shot companies are now in the tank, with collapsed demand around the world. The entire episode is one of the most disgraceful in pharmacological history, even to the point of discrediting vaccines themselves.

This is our most recent experience with “government science.” Now they really expect us to believe them when they say that they will control the global climate by controlling how we consume energy? It’s so arrogant, so rotten, so utterly lacking in all credibility.

And yet they just roll forward with these grand statements. None of the signatories will be held responsible if anything goes wrong. They will be long out of office.

Notice, too, how they are targeting the main way that we get electricity, which is coal. The elites have been working hard to force us all away from gas-powered cars to electric cars on grounds that they are better for the environment. That’s in dispute, to say the least. What’s not in dispute is that coal is also on the list of minerals to stop processing.

I have more or less ignored the whole issue of global warming, changed later to the indisputable climate-change, for decades. I truly believed that it was a scientific question and that I was not qualified to comment because I have no training in climatology. That’s precisely what they want you and me to believe.

The COVID-19 experience exposed the racket for me. It’s the same model: Conjure up some impending disaster and buy out a gaggle of intellectuals and scientists at universities who are dependent on their government and foundation grants. Make it clear that all the money goes to one side, and make an example out of dissidents and drive them out of the profession. Then get the media on board with the prevailing line.

There’s one more step: Embed a bunch of government-connected employees at social media companies to de-boost the skeptics and promote the propaganda. This way, those who disagree are marginalized professionally and socially. They are also tarred with all sorts of ideological labels, like right-wing and deplorable and worse.

It’s an elaborate scheme, seemingly hard to pull off. If you had told me about the plot a few years ago, I would have said that there were too many moving pieces and it surely couldn’t work this way. But watching how the COVID-19 caper unfolded, I’m now a believer that it is possible for the ruling class to at least attempt all this.

Reading Klaus Schwab’s book “The Great Reset” clued me in to what is really going on. The whole scheme to phase out “fossil fuels” (I put this in quotes because it’s not even obvious that this is what petroleum products are) is really just a big ploy for a new class of capitalists to make money from a big industrial transition. Down with the old ruling class and up with the new one.

All these people are now heavily invested in solar panels and wind turbines, which they hope will all be pushed with government “infrastructure investment.”

In other words, it’s an industrial racket, not really a plan to save the planet. Once you see that, the rest becomes very obvious. These government officials who signed up with the great declaration of an energy transition are hoping to be on the right side of a new gravy train. It’s nothing more or less than that.

I like to believe we are all less naïve than we used to be. What we can do to stop this is another matter. The mechanisms we have in place right now are things like lobbying and voting, but those seem more broken than ever. That said, it is just not believable that a global ruling class can get away with this grand scheme if most of the world’s population do not trust their governments and do not believe that propaganda. That seems to be the case.

In other words, these officials speak for themselves and the industrial interests they represent, but not really for anyone else. Will they get away with this? I suspect not. The reputation of most governments in the world is utterly shot, probably for a generation or two.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/18/2023 – 02:00

US Military Faces ‘Mutiny’ Of Enlisted Gen-Zers As TikTok Virus Spreads

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US Military Faces ‘Mutiny’ Of Enlisted Gen-Zers As TikTok Virus Spreads

Gen-Zers in the civilian world have already taken to the Chinese social media platform ‘TikTok’ to blast Washington and the military-industrial complex that they will not fight America’s endless wars. Even enlisted Gen-Zers are bashing the military amid a worsening recruitment crisis while neocon warmongers in the White House drag the world closer to World War III. 

A new report from DailyMail shows a number of enlisted TikTokers, with millions of followers, are bashing the military as a morale crisis spreads like a virus across the ranks. 

Military influencer Anthony Laster posted a video that emphasized the Army life is now for him: “Privacy, The Pay Sucks, Sh***y Food, Disrespectful Leadership, NO SLEEP!” The video was viewed more than 600,000 times. 

Laster has more than a million followers on TikTok. His negative press on military life leaves a terrible impression on recruits. 

“Politicians from both sides have concerns about the platform’s links with China and accuse it of pushing subversive anti-US propaganda,” DailyMail pointed out. 

Another TikToker told thousands of followers not to join the military. 

Here’s another TikToker. 

And another… 

DailyMail spoke with a defense official who said: 

“DoD Components are required to review and approve non-official mobile applications for use on government-issued devices.

“The DoD never authorized the use of TikTok, and several organizations have already banned its download onto its mobile devices. Users are required to sign a user agreement when the device is issued. 

“The agreement informs them of the proper device use requirements and their responsibilities for the appropriate use and download of unmanaged applications. Additionally, all DoD personnel are required to take the Annual Cyber Awareness Challenge which has modules specific to mobile devices, social media, and geolocation capabilities.” 

The official added:

“DoD Mobile Application policy requires DOD Components to review and prohibit the use of applications that pose potential risk. DoD is currently updating its mobile application security policy to establish a process for prohibiting the installation of any application that DoD believes is inappropriate to be downloaded to a government device as well.” 

In some cases, warfare has shifted from destroying men and military machinery to paralyzing and controlling the mind. 

According to the military publication Defstrat, the sixth domain of warfare is cognitive warfare. The Chinese understand cognitive warfare exceptionally well with the TikTok virus spreading through America’s military, which comes amid a worsening recruitment crisis. Meanwhile, radical neocons in the White House are gunning for World War III. 

Tyler Durden
Sun, 12/17/2023 – 23:55

Nobel Prize Winner Seeking to Cure Cancer With mRNA Technology

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Nobel Prize Winner Seeking to Cure Cancer With mRNA Technology

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Nobel Prize winner Dr. Drew Weissman talked recently about using mRNA technology to prevent the development of cancers among vulnerable people.

Japan Prize 2022 Laureates Hungarian-American biochemist Katalin Kariko (L) and American physician-scientist Drew Weissman pose with their trophy during the Japan Prize presentation ceremony in Tokyo on April 13, 2022. (Eugene Hoshiko /Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Dr. Weissman suggested using mRNA vaccines to prevent cancers during his Nobel Prize lecture on Dec. 7. “The idea here is that you treat people before they develop cancer,” he said. Dr. Weissman won the Nobel Prize for medicine this year along with Dr. Katalin Karikó for developing a method to prevent the immune system from launching inflammatory attacks when lab-made mRNA is injected into the body, thus enabling the therapeutic use of the medical technology.

This allowed for the rapid development of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Dr. Weissman and his team at the University of Pennsylvania are now focusing on using mRNA technology to treat cancer.

A vaccine under development by the team teaches the body to identify and fight tumor cells. The vaccine is aimed at people who have a genetic mutation which raises their risk of cancer.

For instance, BRCA is a gene that contributes to breast cancer risk. Out of the more than 18 million cancers identified globally every year, around five to 10 percent stem from genetic mutations.

The Nobel Prize winner and his team investigated methods to use mRNA to trigger an immune response in the body that would kill cancer cells.

In experiments with mice, the researchers injected mRNA that taught the body to produce a protein called IL-12. This protein directs the body to produce immune cells called effector T-cells that can remove cancer.

We know that it’s five or 10 years that cancer cells first start to appear before you’ve got full-fledged large tumors that impair function,” Dr. Weissman said during his lecture.

“If we treat these people, maybe every 5 years, with a vaccine that only makes effector T-cells, [it] will clean out, clear away, kill all of the transformed cells and maybe completely prevent cancer from ever appearing in these patients.”

mRNA Treatments

Many pharma companies are already researching the use of mRNA for cancer therapy. This month, Moderna and Merck & Co. announced that they have begun a late-stage trial of their experimental personalized mRNA treatment for patients with a type of lung cancer.

The therapy, called v940, will be tailored for each patient individually to trigger T-cells. It will be offered in combination with the drug Keytruda. In July, the two companies kicked off a late-stage study of the combination therapy in patients with melanoma, a skin cancer.

Earlier this year, BioNTech, the company that partnered with Pfizer to make the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, said that it had signed a deal with the UK government for personalized cancer therapies.

According to the deal, up to 10,000 patients will be enrolled in clinical trials by the end of 2030. The cancer therapies will use mRNA technology in their treatments.

In addition to cancer, mRNA technology is being investigated for use in the treatment of allergies, genetic diseases, heart attack, stroke, heart failure, neurodevelopmental disorders, HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis.

Developing mRNA to vaccinate against other diseases when the existing technology has considerable flaws brings up several safety questions.

Researchers in a landmark new study have discovered a sequence within the Pfizer mRNA COVID vaccine that produces an “unintended immune response” in the body, which experts are calling a massive “developmental and regulatory failure.”

Synthetic Messenger Ribonucleic Acid (mRNA), such as that used in Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, enables the body to create a specific spike protein mimicking SARS-CoV-2. The body reacts to the foreign protein and generates protective immunity, which theoretically neutralizes the real virus when it enters the body.

Researchers from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Toxicology Unit have discovered that the cellular machinery that ‘reads’ mRNAs ‘slips’ when confronted with repeats of a chemical modification commonly found in mRNA therapeutics. In addition to the target protein, these slips lead to the production of ‘off-target’ proteins triggering an unintended immune response,” said a press release for the study published in Nature on Dec. 6.

Last week, Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo demanded that federal health officials provide more info on the discovery of DNA fragments in Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines “hitchhiking into human cells.”

In a letter to officials at the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), he pointed out that the presence of Simian Virus 40 (SV40) promoter/enhancer DNA in the vaccines poses a “heightened risk of DNA integration into host cells.”

DNA integration could theoretically impact a human’s oncogenes—the genes which can transform a healthy cell into a cancerous cell,” he warned.

There is also research showing that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines can reduce a beneficial gut bacteria called Bifidobacteria, the presence of which is associated with higher immunity against pathogens and cancer.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 12/17/2023 – 23:20

Which Cars Have The Best Resale Value?

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Which Cars Have The Best Resale Value?

For three years now, the used-car market has been booming, after the pandemic disrupted new car supply chains, sending secondhand vehicle prices skyrocketing.

But which cars have the best resale value?

In the graphic below, Visual Capitalist’s Marcu Lu and Pallavi Rao show the top 10 vehicles with the lowest depreciation rates over five years, based on data from iSeeCars.

They analyzed over 1.1 million used cars from model year 2018, sold between November 2022 to October 2023. Models no longer in production as of the 2022 model year were excluded.

Porsche is Still (Almost) Perfect After Five Years

Heading the list, Porsche has two models with the best resale value after half a decade.

After five years, the 911 (Coupe) only loses 9% of its retail value in the used-car market on average. Porsche’s flagship costs anywhere between $90,000–$294,000 based on the horsepower (ranging from 200–700), along with other model specifications.

At second place, the Porsche 718 Cayman loses about one-fifth of its value. Two other Porsches – the Boxster, and the 911 convertible – also feature in ranks, at 12th and 15th respectively, both losing around 25% of their retail price tag.

Here’s a look at the full list of slowest depreciating cars in the United States:

Rank Model Average 5-Yr
Depreciation
Average Difference
from MSRP
1 Porsche 911
(Coupe)
9% $18,094
2 Porsche 718
Cayman
18% $13,372
3 Toyota Tacoma 20% $8,359
4 Jeep Wrangler 21% $8,951
5 Honda Civic 22% $5,817
6 Subaru BRZ 23% $8,114
7 Chevrolet Camaro 24% $10,161
8 Toyota C-HR 24% $6,692
9 Subaru Crosstrek 25% $7,214
10 Toyota Corolla 25% $5,800
11 Ford Mustang 25% $10,035
12 Porsche 718
Boxster
25% $20,216
13 Toyota Tundra 25% $12,588
14 Kia Rio 5-Door 26% $5,006
15 Porsche 911
(Convertible)
26% $42,227
16 Honda HR-V 26% $7,318
17 Subaru Impreza
(Wagon)
26% $6,927
18 Kia Rio 26% $4,959
19 Chevrolet Spark 27% $4,784
20 Toyota RAV4 27% $8,858
21 Hyundai Accent 27% $5,353
22 Toyota 4Runner 27% $13,147
23 Chevrolet Corvette 28% $22,712
24 Nissan Kicks 28% $6,560
25 Subaru Impreza
(Sedan)
28% $7,158

Note: MSRP stands for Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price, the price recommended by a product’s producer to retailers. Furthermore, MSRPs from 2018 were inflation-adjusted to 2023 dollars.

The Toyota Tacoma, America’s fifth best-selling truck, comes in third, losing 20%.

The Jeep Wrangler (-21%) and the Honda Civic (-22%) round out the top five cars with the best resale value.

Two more sports cars (the Subaru BRZ and Chevrolet Camaro) feature in the top 10, indicating that these “fun” designer cars are valued for their status as well as functionality.

Aside from the sports category, Americans seem to rate Japanese automakers highly. Put together, Toyota, Subaru, Honda, and Nissan account for half of the cars with the best resale value.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 12/17/2023 – 22:45

Goodbye, Scout Snipers … For Now

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Goodbye, Scout Snipers … For Now

Authored by John J. Waters via RealClear Wire,

Scout Snipers have a mantra.

I learned that mantra years ago when I was assigned to lead a platoon of these Marines. My chief scout in the platoon, a title held by the most experienced Scout Sniper, was Damon.

When we met in 2012 on Camp Lejeune, Damon was in his late twenties. His guys were at-home in the woods and with a load on their backs; they rarely complained about being dirty, tired or uncomfortable. I learned quickly that Scout Snipers were the best in the battalion, regular infantrymen who had started out carrying an assault rifle or lobbing mortars but aspired to something sleeker, freer and more elite. Before graduating the arduous Scout Sniper Basic Course to earn his new, coveted title, Damon himself had carried a machine gun on a deployment to Anbar province. I remember the front of his uniform was covered in ribbons and medals earned on combat tours. On his back were the words “Scout Sniper.” They were branded into his skin.

Similar to most competitive people, Damon didn’t like following rules, including the rule that required him to buckle the chinstrap on his Kevlar helmet. Like a kid who refuses to put on a helmet before riding his bicycle, I couldn’t get him to listen. Whenever we went to the field for training, I’d see that nylon strap dangling off his sideburns. “I know, sir,” Damon would say. Until the next time it happened, and the time after that. If only he hadn’t been so good-natured (and good at his job), I might have been more insistent that he fall in line.

But I wasn’t.

Recently, the Marine Corps decided its infantry battalions no longer need Scout Snipers. The final class graduates today from the Scout Sniper Basic Course. Soon, Scout Sniper platoons will disband and transform into so-called “scout platoons.” They will observe the enemy, but not shoot him. Some argue the loss of formally-trained precision marksmen will make infantry battalions less lethal. Others, including military brass, say the cuts will help build a lighter, more “commando-style” infantry.

Either way, they had this coming.

After two decades of continuous deployments in the War on Terror, Scout Snipers had grown arrogant and independent-minded. They flouted the strict uniform and grooming standards demanded of other Marines. They stubbornly insisted there was a difference between “field Marines” and “garrison Marines,” that their skill in the bush more than compensated for their unwillingness to conform to standards of appearance or behavior when back at headquarters. And, as the rules of engagement in Afghanistan became increasingly convoluted, Scout Snipers confronted risk-averse officers and argued for greater authority to identify targets and fire their weapons—to protect their brothers-in-arms.

In short, Scout Snipers mistakenly believed they were independent. 

And so, after today’s graduation ceremony, for the first time in decades, school-trained Scout Snipers will find themselves without platoons to call home. They have at least two options to bide their time, while they wait for our country and Marine Corps to once again call upon young men with the spark and spirit to embark alone on dangerous missions: blend back into regular infantry platoons, or continue their pursuit of new challenges in reconnaissance or special operations units.

Regardless, and while they wait, Scout Snipers would do well to follow the mantra I first saw printed onto the back of a T-shirt Damon wore underneath his camouflage utilities, which read:

“Suffer Patiently; Patiently Suffer.”

John J. Waters is the author of the postwar novel River City One. He lives in Nebraska, where he was born. 

Tyler Durden
Sun, 12/17/2023 – 22:10