Energy
Europe is capping fuel prices to contain the current crisis, and pumps are running dry — the same result as earlier controls that have been used in the past. Diocletian’s price edict, Nixon’s 1973 freeze and the long Soviet bread cap all produced shortages. Hungary’s 2021 cap, later scrapped, emptied a reported quarter of MOL stations before diesel rose 46 percent the next morning. In the present round, France’s energy minister denied a shortage risk on September 15, and six days later the economy minister said 17 percent of stations — about 2,500, including 91 percent of Total’s network — lacked at least one fuel. Total’s €1.99 cap, which the company says it will keep as long as the war lasts, has cost an estimated €250–300 million. Italy’s Eni, IP, and Q8 capped prices last week after a government invitation, and Florence stations ran out on day one. Poland has set daily ceilings of about €1.54 for petrol and €1.80 for diesel through New Year, Hungary has capped fuel again for domestic plates only, and Britain has contingency plans for purchase limits and a 50 mph speed cap.
Price caps aren’t the only type of intervention. The World Bank said Asian emerging economies have drawn down foreign-exchange reserves to fund energy subsidies after a supply crunch that the bank linked to the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran. Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam saw dollar reserves fall 15 to 40 percent since the war began, according to the bank.
Separately, Karl W. Miller’s October 3 outlook describes Gulf energy damage as reconstruction lasting years, with modeled costs ranging from nearly $0.5 trillion to $2.53 trillion. Weighted by cost, the rebuild averages almost five years, according to the outlook. August Gulf diesel net exports were just over a quarter of prewar levels. The outlook’s severe case assumes at least 3 million barrels a day of diesel and jet shortfall for five years. Europe consumes about 5 million barrels of diesel daily and imports about 580,000 barrels extra-EU. Britain imports more than half its diesel, with the United States supplying more than half of Europe’s extra-EU imports since March. However, Reuters reported that Gulf oil flows excluding Iran reached more than 80 percent of pre-war levels in September.
Meanwhile, Venezuela’s 310,000-barrel-a-day Cardon refinery halted after a fire. People familiar with the matter told Reuters a gas line to its diesel hydrotreater exploded. The EIA has said the Paraguana complex has operated at a fraction of capacity for a decade due to lack of maintenance. Venezuela’s state oil company said the fire was controlled immediately with no injuries or major damage and that the national refining system has sufficient inventories.
Geopolitics
Lithuania’s Seimas voted 106 to 18 with six abstentions to lift the constitutional ban on nuclear weapons and foreign bases. A second vote is set for January 12 and requires 94 of 141 votes. The Kremlin warned that the move could lead to a new round of escalation in the region.
Meanwhile, two commercial ships were hit by aerial and sea drones in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone. Prime Minister Rumen Radev called it the first such attack in a NATO member’s EEZ. The Togo-flagged Alfa Watan sank, and its crew remains missing. The Palau-flagged Able’s 18 crew were rescued, two of them injured. Authorities have not named a source. A day earlier, the Turkish cargo Royad Mammadov was sunk after leaving Izmail, with two dead. Ukraine’s Zelensky blamed Russia, although Bulgaria’s defense minister said there was no evidence to confirm whether the drones were Russian or Ukrainian.
In other news, Germany’s former federal intelligence chief, August Hanning, was arrested on charges including treasonous espionage and attempted treason. German media have widely named Israel in reports on the case. A search in the Christina Block child-abduction case found classified files at his home two decades after he left office. His former chief of staff, identified as Manfred D., was arrested for allegedly handing over secrets for payment through March 2026. German media described the matter as the century’s biggest espionage scandal. Prosecutors have not publicly identified the foreign intelligence services involved.
Health
Following reports of a potential plague outbreak in Russia, it has been reported that more than 21 plague-vaccine candidates are already in active development across mRNA, self-amplifying RNA, viral-vector, and subunit platforms. The U.S. Defense Department is fully funding rF1V-1018 through Phase 2 for pre-exposure protection of military personnel against aerosol pneumonic plague. Oxford conducted a 2021 Phase 1 trial. China advanced an F1+rV candidate through Phase 2. Russia authorized a single-dose vaccine in April 2024. That said, existing antibiotics such as doxycycline reportedly remain effective treatments for plague.
Education
Jonathan Turley recently cited Gallup data showing only 32 percent of adults completely or somewhat satisfied with K-12 education, the lowest in 27 years. A UC San Diego report found a nearly 30-fold rise since 2020 in incoming students performing below high school math. Chicago’s Frederick Douglass Academy High School has 27 students at a cost of $55,000 each. The nation’s two largest teachers’ unions, the NEA and AFT, spent $669 million on federal campaigns since 2015.
Meanwhile, Nickelodeon’s parent hub hosts guides on countering racism and anti-Blackness, countering islamophobia, celebrating LGBTQ families, gun violence, and the Capitol attack. The materials state that “no one is ever too young to learn how to be an ally.” Past programming has included Pride songs for young viewers and a 2020 blackout of eight minutes and 46 seconds.
In other news, the Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group found that Merrick Garland’s October 4, 2021 school-board memo originated from White House pressure and a National School Boards Association letter requesting that protests be treated as possible domestic terrorism. The FBI opened 25 Guardian assessments on parents. Internal messages described the effort as partisan and difficult to reconcile with the First Amendment. Most files are closed, and the department said it will apologize where it finds violations.
Economy
Nikkei Asia reported that Asian gold producers are retaining more metal domestically through refining, export taxes and central-bank purchases. Laos launched a bullion bank, Indonesia set a 2026 export tax of up to 15 percent, and China restricts gold exports. The dollar’s share of FX reserves fell to 57 percent in 2025. Goldman Sachs maintained a $5,400 end-2027 forecast based on central-bank demand, with gold near $4,110 on September 28 after the Fed rate hike.
US Politics
Think Tank Welcoming America received $553,134 for a 2024-2026 project examining cooperatives, the solidarity economy, and property redistribution for immigrant families in rural America. An earlier guide described programs that help immigrants purchase distressed homes. The Economic Innovation Group has promoted a Heartland Visa of at least 100,000 a year for about 1,700 counties, with permanent residency conditioned on residence in a participating community.
Canadian Politics
Quebec’s Parti Québécois won a minority with about 28 percent of the vote and 59 of 127 seats, the lowest winning share recorded in provincial history. Paul St-Pierre Plamondon promised a sovereignty referendum after Donald Trump leaves office. Polls put independence support near 30 percent. The Coalition Avenir Québec won no seats. However, political watchers said a referendum is unlikely under a minority government.
Sources
From Diocletian to Macron: Europe’s Fuel Caps Repeat History’s Shortages
When the price rises, it does the rationing. Cap the price and something else does it… the queue, the early riser, whoever lives nearest the depot, or whoever knows a guy that knows a guy.
Source | Submitted by snowdrifter
A Ceasefire Won’t Rebuild Refineries: The Five-Year Fuel Crisis Ahead
A ceasefire can reopen a shipping lane overnight. It cannot manufacture a compressor, mobilize commissioning engineers, or pay a contractor.
Source | Submitted by JustanotherHerpaDerp
Lithuania Votes to Lift Constitutional Ban on Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Bases
Lithuania’s Seimas (parliament) has voted to lift a ban on the deployment of nuclear weapons in the country.
Venezuela’s Cardon Refinery Offline After Explosion and Fire
More bad news for the global refining market broke late Tuesday when Venezuela’s second-largest refinery halted operations after a fire erupted at the facility.
Biden DOJ Targeted School Board Parents, Report Confirms
The report describes how DOJ officials under President Joe Biden looked for ways to bring federal cases against parents and protesters who addressed school boards and school officials during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Quebec Separatists Win Minority on Record-Low Vote, Vow Independence Referendum
The courageous battle of Francophones to protect their language and culture will succeed when they have their own country
Nickelodeon’s Parent Hub Pushes Woke Activism as Kids’ Bedtime Reading
The network that once sold slime and SpongeBob is running a parent portal that treats political activism as bedtime reading.
The Education Cartel: Blue-State Unions Over Kids
Families and students have become largely irrelevant to an education cartel, a self-sustaining, self-perpetuating political alliance of unions and politicians.
Ex-German Spy Chief Arrested in Century’s Biggest Espionage Scandal, Israel Named
German media is widely describing the espionage case as the “biggest espionage scandal of the century.”
Asia’s Gold Producers Hoard Metal as Dollar Faith Erodes
In other words, the world’s gold producers have noticed the same thing the world’s central banks noticed in 2022: gold is the one reserve asset nobody else can freeze, and they are sitting on top of it.
Drones Hit Ships in Bulgaria’s EEZ, Sinking One as Crew Goes Missing
This is an unacceptable attack in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone. It is a blatant violation of international law and maritime law.
Think Tank Studies Property Redistribution to Settle Immigrants in Rural America
Boiling down how the scheme would operate, tax money generated by heritage Americans would be used to speed up their replacement with thirdworlders.
World Bank: Asia Exhausting Reserves on Energy Crisis Response
World Bank Warns Asia Is Running Out of Money to Fight Energy Shock
Why Were Militaries Funding 21+ Plague Vaccines Before the Hysteria?
Why were governments and military biodefense programs already investing so heavily in plague vaccines before the current plague hysteria erupted?
In addition to sources submitted by community members, the following were also used in the creation of this report: Reuters, PDVSA, World Bank, BBC News, Dimitar Stoyanov, National Post, Economic Innovation Group, and CDC.
by rodster 
