Death Of Europe's Industrial Base: VW CEO Set To Announce 50,000 Job Cuts

Europe's industrial demise has become impossible to ignore. The continent's automotive manufacturing base is being hollowed out by high energy costs, regulatory pressure, and a flood of cheap Chinese electric vehicles, with Germany, once Europe's industrial powerhouse, emerging as the epicenter of this terrible decline.

Germany's largest manufacturer by revenue is Volkswagen Group, whose CEO, Oliver Blume, is warning employees that the coming weeks will be critical as Europe's largest automaker prepares to detail the most extensive restructuring in its history.

"The next few weeks will be crucial: everyone must pull together," he told local outlet Bild am Sonntag. "We have drawn up the largest transformation plan in the history of the Volkswagen Group."

The upcoming meetings, scheduled for next week, are expected to provide employees and union representatives with new details about the plan to shed 50,000 jobs.

"The next few years will be decisive in determining who stays in the race and who comes out on top," Blume said, pointing to massive pressure to slash costs, fundamental shifts in the market, and global turmoil.

Blume warned, "The global car industry is in the midst of a massive crisis. And the Volkswagen Group is right in the thick of it. Geopolitics, trade barriers, regulation, weak markets and fierce competition are all taking their toll."

Christiane Benner, deputy chairwoman of VW's supervisory board and head of Germany's IG Metall union, told local outlet Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that Blume's plan to cut 50,000 jobs is a "hard provocation," adding that trust in management is severely "strained."

Meanwhile, Volkswagen is holding "concrete negotiations" with Chinese automakers about assembling their vehicles at German factories, Benner said. Such deals could help protect domestic jobs and improve plant utilization, though she cautioned that they would represent only a "complementary measure" rather than a comprehensive solution.

Talks aimed at securing the future of VW's Osnabrück plant are also progressing, according to Benner, who added that Qatar blocked a potential agreement involving Israeli defense contractor Rafael to convert a civilian production line to military production.

Whether the issue is the death of a industrial base, the Third World invasion of Europe, or disastrous green and energy policies that have sent energy prices through the roof, Brussels' terrible decisions are, as Nomura analyst Andrzej Szczepaniak described, "seeding political change" that will push the continent "toward more populism."

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/23/2026 - 09:55

Alfalfa Sprouts Linked To Bacterial Infections In 15 US States

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

A total of 55 people have been infected with E. coli and Salmonella across 15 states in an outbreak linked to alfalfa sprouts, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Fresh homegrown Alfalfa or Lucerne Medicago sativa sprouts in white bowl. Courtesy of the CDC

Of those 55 people, 46 were infected with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, or STEC, seven with Salmonella, and two with both pathogens, according to the FDA's Aug. 21 update. Four people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.

Minnesota accounted for the largest number of infections, with 21 cases, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Wisconsin followed with 17 cases. Florida, North Carolina, North Dakota, and New York each reported two cases. Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Washington each reported one.

According to the CDC, illnesses began on May 31, with the most recent case beginning on Aug. 8.

State and local health officials have been interviewing sick people about the foods they ate during the week before becoming ill. Of the 37 people interviewed, 26 reported eating alfalfa sprouts.

Traceback investigations at grocery stores and restaurants identified alfalfa sprouts distributed by Minnesota-based Everything Sprouts LLC as a source of illnesses, according to the FDA.

On Wednesday, the FDA began an inspection at the company and collected product samples. Investigators are working to determine the source of contamination and whether other products or companies are connected to the outbreak.

Everything Sprouts said in an Aug. 21 statement that it was coordinating with the FDA and CDC to recall certain lots of alfalfa sprouts because of potential contamination with STEC and Salmonella.

The recall covers Everything Sprouts Alfalfa sprouts sold in 5-ounce plastic containers with lids and distributed from May 27 through Aug. 21. The products were shipped to retail grocery stores in Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as certain third-party distributors.

The company said federal and state agencies had notified it of reported illnesses. It also said it had tested its products daily during the outbreak and had not received a positive laboratory result.

Everything Sprouts said it was continuing to work with public-health officials to investigate the potential problem and would provide updates as more information became available.

The company also said that, as of its statement, it had received no direct reports of illnesses involving the recalled products.

According to Everything Sprouts, STEC and Salmonella infections can cause serious health problems. STEC infection can lead to acute diarrheal illness within several days of ingesting the bacteria.

Most people recover within about a week, according to the company, but people with weakened immune systems can experience more severe or prolonged illness and may develop complications requiring medical attention.

Salmonella infections can become especially serious in frail people, older adults, young children, and those with weakened immune systems.

Symptoms can include fever, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, which can sometimes be bloody. In rare cases, Salmonella can enter the bloodstream and cause more serious complications, according to the company.

In addition to Everything Sprouts-brand alfalfa sprouts, the CDC linked the illnesses to the company's Calco-branded sprouts in an Aug. 21 food-safety alert.

The CDC advised people who bought the affected products not to eat them and instead throw them away or return them to the place of purchase. It also recommended cleaning items and surfaces that may have contacted the sprouts with a dishwasher or hot, soapy water.

The CDC advised people to contact a health care provider promptly if they develop warning signs including diarrhea accompanied by a fever above 102 degrees Fahrenheit, bloody diarrhea, vomiting severe enough that liquids cannot be kept down, diarrhea lasting more than two days without improvement, or signs of dehydration.

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/23/2026 - 09:20

Taiwan Tech Insiders Warn Beijing's Germanium Squeeze Is Hitting Production

Nikkei Asia reports that China is restricting or delaying exports of germanium- and quartz-based materials to Taiwan, creating "painful supply-chain bottlenecks" across the island's key aerospace, semiconductor, and optical companies.

The supply disruptions reinforce the urgent need for the US and its allies to accelerate supply-chain decoupling and secure alternative sources of critical materials. Beijing's ability to weaponize shipments could prove devastating during a military conflict or allow China to slow Western semiconductor and AI infrastructure buildouts while its domestic AI companies and infrastructure projects close the gap.

"It's an industrywide issue. Many of my peers have encountered the same problem, and it could significantly extend lead times across our business," one executive in the optical industry told the Japanese outlet, requesting anonymity for fear of retaliation from Beijing.

For context, germanium's most critical uses are in defense optics and communications infrastructure, and it plays a significant, though largely indirect, role in the AI buildout through fiber networks, photonics, and data-center connectivity rather than the GPUs used in chip stacks.

Taiwanese manufacturers warned that prolonged customs reviews for germanium- and quartz-based materials began last year and that lead times continue to worsen, causing some suppliers to miss customer delivery schedules. Sources said one chip equipment manufacturer had to delay production on one chip line for months due to the supply squeeze and noted that sourcing materials outside China is extraordinarily difficult.

"The quality and precision for quartz is very strict for the chip industry, and currently we don't have an alternative source from China," one Taiwanese executive told the outlet.

"We have been told that some of our Chinese suppliers have been summoned by the authorities and questioned about their customers and shipments," said one of the sources. "We have already lost some orders because longer lead times for certain materials mean we can't meet our customers' delivery schedules."

Aerospace suppliers are also reporting disruptions involving Chinese magnets.

"We have found that key permanent magnets essential for making motors have faced some disruptions because of Chinese export controls, and it's not that easy to find cost-effective alternatives in other places," an executive with an aerospace supplier told the outlet.

China's weaponization of critical-material supply chains amid heightened tensions with Taiwan suggests that the supply-chain decoupling theme will only accelerate from here.

Last week, Piper Sandler initiated coverage of LightPath Technologies with an "Overweight" rating and a 12-month price target of $15, citing the defense supplier's proprietary BlackDiamond infrared glass, which completely "circumvents" the need for germanium amid "significant cost increases and scarcity stemming from recent Chinese export controls."

Clarke Jeffries, vice president and senior equity research analyst at Piper Sandler, specializes in industrial software and defense technology. In a note titled "BlackDiamonds Are Forever," Jeffries outlined the core value proposition underpinning LightPath's investment thesis:

Central to LightPath's value proposition is the exclusive license to BlackDiamond, a synthetic glass that circumvents significant cost increases & scarcity from recent Chinese export controls on germanium.

With an exclusive license, and now competing at cost parity (or below) to Germanium, we believe LightPath is poised to capture meaningful share in of IR and Multi-Spectral optics market as the technical advantages of the BlackDiamond technology scale to large diameter optics and have the opportunity to be designed into large upcoming defense programs.

Beijing's tightening grip on germanium, tungsten, and other critical-material export flows merely confirms that the supply-chain decoupling investment theme will remain intact for many years.

The US and its allies must secure alternative sources before China further weaponizes export controls, which could soon create operational bottlenecks across the defense, semiconductor, and AI-focused industries.

That is why our decoupling theme is moving further upstream. On Wednesday, we examined Almonty Industries as a potential alternative supplier of tungsten (read report).

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/23/2026 - 08:50

Today July 19 2013 Here is the news conference by Governor Rick Snyder and emergency manager Kevyn Orr explaining why they claimed bankruptcy.

http://www.whec.com/news/stories/S310...
Rochester, N.Y. -- She says she had no warning that someone was going to search her car after she left to catch her flight. So the woman contacted News10NBC.

We found out it happened to her because she valet parked her car. Those are the only cars that get inspected.

So if security feels it is necessary to search some cars in the name of safety, why not search all of them?

Laurie Iacuzza walked to her waiting car at the Greater Rochester International Airport after returning from a trip and that's when she found it -- a notice saying her car was inspected after she left for her flight. She said, “I was furious. They never mentioned it to me when I booked the valet or when I picked up the car or when I dropped it off.”

Henry Kissinger actually publicly stated that those who oppose the New World Order are "terrorists".

Henry Kissinger in a speech given in Istanbul, Turkey on May 31, 2007, while the Bilderberg conference was simultaneously underway, just a few miles down the road.

"In the Middle East, we live in a different world. The nations do not represent historic entities in the same sense that European nations did. Turkey of course does, and Iran in a considerable extent does. But in the region in between, the borders were drawn by the victors of World War I on the basis largely of what would facilitate their influence. So therefore, the identities of these countries, and of their borders, can be challenged more easily."

"What we in America call terrorists are really groups of people that reject the international system, and they're trying to regroup it to a radical Islamic fundamentalists kind."

Detroit has become the largest city in Unites States history to file for bankruptcy after decades of decline and mismanagement rendered the city insolvent. Michigan's governor, Rick Snyder, said on Thursday that there was no other option to tackle the city's $18.5bn of debts. Al Jazeera's Caroline Malone reports.

Detroit has become the largest city in Unites States history to file for bankruptcy after decades of decline and mismanagement rendered the city insolvent.William Black, a professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri, talks to Al Jazeera about Detroit filing bankruptcy.

7/18/13 - Anti-government activist Adam Kokesh, who is currently jailed on drug charges and is facing a firearms charge in D.C., says he will someday run for President on a platform of abolishing the federal government. Since July 9th, 31-year old Adam Kokesh has been incarcerated in a cell in the Fairfax County jail which measures seven by seven-and-a-half feet.

On Independence Day, Kokesh had a colleague record a video of the pro-gun activist loading a shotgun on D.C.'s Freedom Plaza. The District has strict gun control laws that generally forbid the carrying of firearms. U.S. Park Police and D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department opened an investigation.

Several days later, U.S. Park Police used a flash grenade when their SWAT team served a search warrant at Kokesh's home in Herndon, Va. Kokesh was arrested when officers said they found hallucinogenic mushrooms at the house.

In an exclusive jailhouse interview, Adam Kokesh denies any connection to the drugs. Here is part of the transcript of that interview with Kokesh: "If they found a stash of magic mushrooms in my house, they were not mine. ANY IDEA WHOSE THEY WERE, OR WHY THEY WERE IN YOUR HOUSE? I'm pretty confident that, whether or not they found anything, the full paper bags that [U.S. Park Police] brought into my house would insure that they had charges to bring against me. ARE YOU IMPLYING THAT THOSE DRUGS WERE PLANTED? Yes."

Kokesh, who has been arrested several times before by U.S. Park Police, says that agency has a "vendetta" against him, but he believes the evidence in the drug case is weak.

Federal officers have now filed a weapons charge against Kokesh for wielding the shotgun in D.C. on the Fourth of July. Here's more of the interview: "WAS IT A REAL SHOTGUN AND WERE THEY REAL SHELLS GOING INTO IT? Yes. ON THE VIDEO YOU POSTED? Yes. YOU DID KNOW THAT WAS ILLEGAL IN D.C.? It's called civil disobedience."

Adam Kokesh believes the Second Amendment to the Constitution will provide him a successful defense against the D.C. gun charge.

The former U.S. Marine who served in Iraq plans to someday bring his anti-government views before voters. "ARE YOU RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT? Yes sir, in 2020 on the platform of: orderly dissolution of the United States government. WHY IS THAT A GOOD IDEA? Why is having a federal government a good idea at this point?"

Adam Kokesh believes the U.S. military is more harmful than helpful to American security, and the government -- as a whole -- has burdened its citizenry with debt.

Adam Kokesh is 70% disabled from his term of military service. He says he lives only on that money.

His supporters, through their website, adamvstheman.com, are asking supporters to send money for bail and send money so a private attorney can be hired. Kokesh is currently being represented by a public defender.

Kokesh remains in custody in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, and, if he is freed on bond, he faces extradition to D.C. to face the gun charge.

July 18, 2013 - Bill O'Reilly Interviews Donald Trump on Economy, China, and Obamacare



Trump would be a hell of a lot better president then Obama, at least he is willing to do what needs to be done instead of creating some BS healthcare system .He's a businessman, he knows how to make deals, he will get tough on China (even if he has ties made in China in which I don't think he knew or maybe he thought we're a screwed country so why not just sell them to stupid people who will only buy them anyway), I don't believe what they say about his net worth (in which they say isn't worth much). Trump has a big fat heart inside I believe it.

Here it comes Detroit about to be largest Bankrupt City .The city of Detroit files for Chapter 9 federal bankruptcy protection, making the automobile capital and onetime music powerhouse the country's largest-ever municipal bankruptcy case. WSJ Global Autos Editor Joe White reports.


This news really ruined Obama's golf game today ... ya America is crumbling apart , but we have 15,000 Russian soldiers to help fix it I hear!!

Steve Keen Exposes Financial Fallacies and Debates the Mortgage Debt Jubilee!


"I don't understand gold." Yes, that's what our beloved Fed Chairman actually told Congress today. Maybe that's why Germany wants 300 tonnes of it back. That would be gold the Fed is holding on its behalf. We have just one word for you Finance Minister Schaeuble: tungsten. But don't worry, Chairman Bernanke assured the S&P 500 -- now at all time highs -- that the monetary QE stimulus will continue until the economy can stand on its own feet. Such anthropomorphization is quite quaint for an econometrician, isn't it? We debunk the likes of Bernanke and talk about the mortgage jubilee with economist Steve Keen.

And, Jamie Dimon can't seem to find a chair that isn't the hot seat. JP Morgan is about to shell out a few hundred million in a settlement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. That would be for allegedly manipulating energy markets in California, Enron style. Barclays already settled for $435 million. And a similar settlement for JP Morgan would amount to -- well just one sixtieth -- of its $26 billion in revenues reported last Friday. No word yet on how much it actually profited from allegedly bilking Americans.

Finally, subprime is back. The Consumer Financial Protection Board just strengthened mortgage underwriting standards. But if you don't fall under the new rules, don't worry. Because the guy who helped write the rules at the CFPB just went private -- and started a company that will service the very market his old regulatory body now excludes. And, yes, they're even providing interest-only financing -- because that worked so well in 2008. You can't make this stuff up! Perianne breaks down the boom-bust cycle.

Unorthodox ufologist Norio Hayakawa presented his views and research on UFOs, clandestine government activities, and the mysterious Dulce, New Mexico area, rumored to house an underground base. The state of New Mexico itself has been a hotbed of paranormal and UFO activity going back to 1947, he reported. Starting with the Roswell Incident, "the year 1947 was the beginning of a conditioning of belief systems...carefully orchestrated for future events," he commented.

He believes the Roswell crash was staged "by an unknown intelligence" in collusion with an elite part of the US government. UFOs are neither flying nor objects, but rather part of an intelligence that co-exists with us and has the ability to materialize, he explained.

Hayakawa was one of the first to bring Project Bluebeam to public attention in his 1995 documentary video Secrets of Dreamland, which suggested that a covert government would have sufficient technology to artificially simulate a UFO threat in order to bring about a forced global unity.

Regarding Dulce, he has not found direct physical evidence for an underground base there, yet, there have been many strange reports and sightings in the area which encompasses the Jicarilla Apache Reservation. "I think there's a reality on another level that we may not be able to see with our physical eyes" and a base could exist at Dulce in a non-physical realm, he shared.

Biography:

Norio Hayakawa calls himself an unorthodox ufologist and activist. He has spent almost 10 years specifically investigating Area 51 in Nevada. He says that there is much more to Area 51 than just superficial facts made public about this well-known base. In 1990 he also began to investigate the strange goings-on at Dulce, New Mexico. After more than 45 years of researching the UFO phenomenon, he says that a conditioning of belief systems have been orchestrated since 1947 by a manipulative force that is preparing mankind for a near future mysterious scenario. The ingrained and "altered" realities behind both Area 51 and Dulce will play a role in that scenario. In March of 2009 he organized the first-ever Underground Base conference in Dulce, New Mexico.

Wikipedia
The term shadow government (also cryptocracy) besides its party political meaning can also refer to what is sometimes called "the secret government" or "the invisible government," an idea based on the notion that real and actual political power does not reside with publicly elected representatives (for example the United States Congress (or the Cabinet of the United Kingdom) but with private individuals who are exercising power behind the scenes beyond the scrutiny of democratic institutions. According to this belief the official elected government is in reality subservient to the shadow government who are the true executive power.

Conspiracy-oriented literature postulates the existence of a secret government who are the true power behind the apparent government. Examples of such literature include works by Dan Smoot, William Guy Carr, Jim Marrs, Carroll Quigley, Gary Allen, Des Griffin, David Icke, Michael A. Hoffman II and John Coleman. Some of these authors believe members of the secret government may represent or be agents for groups such as the Council on Foreign Relations, The Royal Institute for International Affairs, The Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg Group, CIA and MI6 in co-operation with international banks and financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Bank for International Settlements. Also popularizing the idea was the hit US television show, The X-Files.

In his novel Coningsby, Benjamin Disraeli stated that "The world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes". One definition of a shadow government is a "secret government within the government". This secret government is the "real" government that controls the legitimate and visible government's agenda. The network of people constituting this secret government are bound by some common agenda known only to each other and/or the people they represent. The agenda may be that of a secret society who have infiltrated the government (examples include Freemasons, Skull and Bones men or Illuminatists). In this case the agenda of the network is known only to those members who are bound by an oath of secrecy.

The shadow government is also considered by popular authors[who?] to be behind black budget projects and covert operations.

One of the most popular conspiracy theories about a shadow government is the notion of a "Zionist Occupation Government

Travelers on their way to Britain might want to leave their phones at home after it was revealed they could be seized and browsed through by police. And amazingly it's totally legal, as Tesa Arcilla reports.


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