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Welcome To The Lowest-Common-Denominator Society
zerohedge43d ago

Welcome To The Lowest-Common-Denominator Society

Welcome To The Lowest-Common-Denominator Society Authored by James Hickman via SchiffSovereign.com,For decades, Germany operated its rail system on an honor model. There were no turnstiles, no barriers. Passengers bought tickets, boarded trains, and conductors performed random spot checks to make sure everyone had paid.It was a system built on trust— and for a long time, it worked, because Germany was a fundamentally law-abiding society.That system has been fraying over the last several years as Germany aggressively imported millions of migrants who don’t respect the law.The most egregious example took place earlier this month, when a train conductor asked a passenger— a 26-year old migrant— for his ticket.Not only did the passenger not have a ticket, but he beat the conductor so severely that the man died of his injuries the next morning.The government’s response is extraordinary.Rather than establish law and order and rain holy hell upon the criminals, Deutsche Bahn— which is owned by the German government— has told conductors to NOT approach passengers who present a “high risk of escalation.”In short, the new policy is— if someone looks dangerous, don’t bother checking their ticket.Meanwhile, ordinary passengers— the ones who actually follow the rules— will continue to be checked (and punished) if they’re caught without valid fare.The same logic already governs retail theft across much of Germany.Shoplifting hit record levels in 2024— roughly €3 billion in losses— and according to industry data, 98% of retail theft goes unreported to police. Retailers have largely given up because prosecutors rarely pursue the cases.Moreover, employees who do try to intervene face increasingly aggressive and violent offenders... which is why retail stores have instructed staff to not intervene.We’ve seen the same type of policy in the US.Last August in Charlotte, North Carolina, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee named Iryna Zarutska was sitting on a light rail train when a man behind her pulled out a knife and stabbed her to death.The killer— DeCarlos Brown Jr.— had 14 prior arrests including armed robbery and had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. His own mother had tried to have him involuntarily committed. Seven months earlier, a magistrate “judge” named Teresa Stokes released him without bond— on nothing more than a written promise to appear.I put “judge” in quotes because Ms. Stokes had never graduated from law school, nor passed the bar in any state. She wasn’t qualified to adjudicate a traffic ticket, let alone violent crime.At least there was outrage in America over Zarutska’s violent slaying.But in Germany, the response to a train conductor being beaten to death was to tell other train conductors to stop doing their jobs.And this isn’t some isolated lapse in judgment. It’s a pattern that runs through practically every layer of German governance.Start with free speech.The Alternative for Germany party (the AfD) won 20.8% of the vote in last year’s federal election, and current polls put them at 25-27%— neck and neck with the governing party.The AfD’s surge in popularity is literally BECAUSE of the lawlessness and criminality that’s rampaging across the country.But rather than admit their policies have been catastrophic failures... and reverse course... the German establishment’s response was to classify the entire AfD as a “confirmed right-wing extremist endeavor”. They even authorized the domestic intelligence agency to wiretap and spy on AfD members.Politicians have also filed hundreds of criminal complaints against citizens who criticized them online. Robert Habeck, the former deputy chancellor from the Green Party, personally filed 805 complaints. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock filed 513.The government frequently conducts early-morning raids on citizens’ homes over social media posts— they literally call them “Action Days Against Hate.” Ironically, one man received a suspended prison sentence for posting a meme that said a politician “hates freedom of speech.” You can’t make this stuff up.A 2024 study by The Future of Free Speech found that 99.7% of content deleted on Facebook under Germany’s censorship law was perfectly legal speech.Rather than asking why millions of Germans are angry— the economy in its longest downturn since reunification, 120,000 manufacturing jobs lost in a single year, rising violent crime— the government’s answer is to label them extremists, censor their speech, and try to ban the party they vote for.Then there’s German energy policy.Remember, this is the same government that lectured the entire world on climate change while shutting down all 17 of its nuclear power plants— the last three in April 2023, during an energy crisis.Before Russia invaded Ukraine, Germany imported 55-65% of its natural gas from Russia.When Russia cut the gas in 2022, Germany frantically restarted more than 20 coal-fired power plants and imported 42 million tonnes of coal, including a 278% surge from southern Africa.They bulldozed an entire village called Lutzerath (in South Africa) to expand a coal mine, dragging 6,000 protesters away.The country that wagged its finger at the West over carbon emissions ended up with a dirtier power grid than China’s.And having shut down its own perfectly clean nuclear plants, Germany became a net electricity importer for the first time, buying power from France’s nuclear grid.Under German law, if a bartender overserves a customer who then causes a fatal car crash, the bartender can be prosecuted for negligent homicide. Courts have ruled that by serving the alcohol, the bartender becomes legally responsible for the danger they created.But a government that shuts down its own energy supply, censors its own citizens, and tells law enforcement to look the other way when criminals get aggressive? Apparently no such accountability applies.And the same goes for the US, where if there was any justice, Teresa Stokes would be in prison for the negligent homicide of Iryna Zarutska.It’s worth paying close attention, because Germany may be one of the worst offenders, but it isn’t the only Western nation making these choices.That’s how you build a lowest-common-denominator society— by catering every policy to benefit the worst people in it. Tyler DurdenSat, 02/21/2026 - 14:00

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15 Best AI Marketing Agencies Transforming Growth in 2026 (And How to Choose the Right One)
techbullion43d ago

15 Best AI Marketing Agencies Transforming Growth in 2026 (And How to Choose the Right One)

Artificial intelligence isn’t the future of marketing anymore — it’s the present. From predictive analytics and automated content generation to advanced personalization and AI-driven search optimization, brands that leverage AI are scaling faster, converting better, and spending smarter. But here’s the challenge: with hundreds of agencies claiming AI expertise, how do you actually find the [...]The post 15 Best AI Marketing Agencies Transforming Growth in 2026 (And How to Choose the Right One) appeared first on TechBullion.

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thedailystar43d ago

Gold gains over 1% on soft US data

Gold prices rose more than 1 percent on Friday, supported by weaker‐than‐expected US GDP data, while investors digested President Donald Trump’s announcement of fresh global tariffs following the US Supreme Court’s tariffs ruling.

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Judge gives UPS green light for $150,000 buyouts to drivers
freightwaves43d ago

Judge gives UPS green light for $150,000 buyouts to drivers

A U.S. district court in Boston has rejected a Teamsters union motion to stop UPS from buying out package car drivers in an effort to reduce excess capacity. The post Judge gives UPS green light for $150,000 buyouts to drivers appeared first on FreightWaves.

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B.C. premier defends red-ink 2026 budget, urges to be 'judged on the outcomes'
dailyhive43d ago

B.C. premier defends red-ink 2026 budget, urges to be 'judged on the outcomes'

Premier David Eby faced a highly skeptical business audience Friday morning as he defended the BC NDP-led provincial government’s controversial 2026 budget, telling the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade (GVBOT) that British Columbia must grow its economy to stabilize the provincial finances — even as the provincial government confronts a projected $13-billion deficit and sharply rising taxpayer-supported debt approaching a quarter trillion dollars before the end of this decade.He placed B.C.’s fiscal challenges in a broader context, telling business leaders that provincial governments across Canada — and governments in the U.K., U.S., and European Union — are all grappling with declining revenues, rising costs, and growing deficits in a slowing global economy. You might also like:- B.C. government's budget deficit to soar to new all-time historic high of $13.3 billion- B.C. government to slow pace of building new housing and infrastructure projects, including Burnaby Hospital redevelopment- B.C. government to cut 15,000 jobs over three years, including executive positions- B.C. government hikes school property tax, changes property tax deferment rules- B.C. government increases speculation and vacancy tax rate for the second consecutive year- B.C. personal income tax increased for first $50,363 earned starting in 2026- B.C.’s PST will be expanded to more areas of the economy in 2026, especially for real estate- 'Deeply worrying': B.C. budget response is overwhelmingly negative to say the leastHe also highlighted the emerging uncertainty and instability in Alberta, with Premier Danielle Smith announcing this week her province will hold a public referendum in Fall 2026 on a wide range of constitutional and federal matters, including immigration.“We can hold ourselves to a higher standard and we will. But I think that the only way to demonstrate to this room, to the Board of Trade, to others is through success and I think when we deliver tens of billions of dollars of direct investment into British Columbia that will be the answer,” said the Premier.“If you are looking at a stable jurisdiction that is growing, that is hiring, that is training, that supports immigration, that supports skilled workers coming in and building a life here still, then British Columbia is the place. And, you know, if the PST on the accounting bill is sufficient to move you to another province, I don’t know what to say about that, except to say that it may not be, in the long term, in terms of Alberta’s current trajectory, necessarily one that’s going to support the long-term success of business.”Against that backdrop, Eby said the budget is built around three priorities: growing the economy, stabilizing provincial finances, and protecting services.With an aging population arriving at hospitals “sicker, and needing more time in hospital,” he argued that cuts alone will not solve the problem, with healthcare costs being the single largest operating cost by a wide margin and the largest cost escalator.“We have to grow the economy in order to be able to meet that demand. It’s as simple as that.”OPERATING DEBT VS. INFRASTRUCTURE DEBTFollowing the budget announcement earlier this week, GVBOT provided the provincial government with a D grade for its 2026/2027 budget.“D was a very hard mark. In previous years, the lowest mark we had given was a C-, and we have been doing the report card for over 20 years, maybe 25 years, looking at some in the group who would know that,” said GVBOT president and CEO Bridgitte Anderson during the event on Friday morning.“So I didn’t take that lightly and neither did the team as we were giving that grade, but we simply, looking at previous budgets, could not give it a C-.”When further pressed by Anderson about the staggering annual operating deficits for the foreseeable future adding to debt, Eby tried to reframe the debt conversation.He argued much of the borrowed money is going into infrastructure that businesses can see and are participating in, such as new hospitals, schools, bridges, and roads. He called it infrastructure that was “long neglected” [and] “announced many times that it would be built, never funded,” asserting, “We inherited a massive infrastructure debt.”“I think we can agree that that kind of debt that’s tied to infrastructure is positive in that it drives growth. It has to be paid for in advance. It gets paid back over time. It’s an investment in the province,” said Eby, before emphasizing that the provincial government is trying to reduce and eliminate debt that is based on operating budget deficits, which is currently extraordinary. “That is not positive debt.”“WE’RE NOT LOOKING AT BRINGING IN THE HST IN BRITISH COLUMBIA”One of the most contentious measures remains the expansion of the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) to a wider range of professional services, especially in the real estate and building development sector, to generate more revenue.Anderson highlighted that the application of the PST to more areas of the economy, particularly in that sector, will add to the cost of struggling housing projects and major projects, as well as many small businesses. She says this achieves the opposite of reducing red tape and cutting the cost of doing business in B.C.Eby defended the PST measure by bringing up the elimination of the provincial government’s consumer carbon tax since April 2025, which he says was a $2 billion hit to revenues.“I know that’s not a popular decision in the room and it’s not one that we take lightly but it is a reflection as well of the changing nature of the economy of British Columbia. It’s an economy that historically has been entirely dependent on resource development. And while that will continue to be and I hope to be a more significant part of the economy going forward, service delivery is a growing and important sector in our province as well,” he said.“We do require a tax base in order to support the services that your employees count on.”Anderson floated the idea of bringing back the 12 per cent Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) of combining the seven per cent PST and five per cent federal Goods and Sales Tax (GST), which is commonly seen as a way to stimulate investment and increase productivity.HST was briefly put in place in BC a decade and a half ago, but the public backlash and resulting public referendum result led to its quick removal and the return of the PST, and it greatly contributed to the political downfall of Premier Gordon Campbell.“We’re not looking at bringing in the HST in British Columbia,” said Eby. “If that’s a campaign that business community wants to take on, I’d be happy to hear the public discussion about it. I don’t hear a lot of appetite for it.”“It would add additional sources of revenue for the province because it taxes things that we don’t currently tax, which was the big reason why people in the province voted against it last time. So I think that issue would have to be addressed. But ensuring reduction of paperwork and duplication between federal and provincial tax regimes is, I think, an admirable goal. But there is a significant hurdle in terms of what people are willing to tolerate right now.”GROWING CONCERNS OVER FIRST NATIONS HURDLESEby also pushed back against growing concerns in the business community and among other critics that agreements and partnerships with First Nations are a major economic drag and a burden to the collective good of British Columbians.“There is not one of those major projects, not one of those multi-billion dollar investments not one of those investments that will employ literally thousands of British Columbians that doesn’t have strong First Nations partnership. And that wouldn’t be extremely worried about proceeding to Final Investment Decision if they didn’t have those partnerships,” he said.“By talking with First Nations, by entering into partnerships with them, we do things like deliver major mines like the Eskay Creek project, like LNG Canada Phase 2. So, Ksi Lisims’ LNG is actually an Indigenous-led energy project. In fact, the suggestion that by terminating our relationship with First Nations or treating First Nations with hostility or ignoring their rights is the path to certainty for our economy is completely wrong.”At the same time, he acknowledged business concerns about certainty with regards to fee-simple title private property ownership, especially in the backdrop of the last year’s Cowichan Tribes’ court decision that granted Aboriginal title to both public and private properties in southeast Richmond.Federal, provincial, and municipal governments, along with other First Nations and private property owners, are challenging the decision in an effort to have it overturned and to avoid setting a concerning precedent province-wide — and potentially elsewhere in Canada.He recognizes that if people are unsure if they actually own property, it will be a barrier to the investment climate.“Private property, clarity of title, understanding what you own is a cornerstone, is the foundation of our economy. If you don’t know that you own a piece of property, then you can’t invest, you can’t make decisions and whether you’re talking about a family or a business, the result is the same, which is instability and uncertainty,” said the Premier.He promised the provincial government would defend that property ownership principle in court, and insisted the intent of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) must be implemented by elected officials, not judges, to ensure predictability.So far this year, he has repeatedly committed to amending DRIPA to address the concerns raised, while the Conservative Party of British Columbia and other critics have called for an immediate repeal to eliminate its effects on all B.C. laws and legislation to provide a great degree of certainty and clarity.“I look forward to British Columbia being the economic engine of the country, which we will be because of geography, people, resources, and what we’re offering right now, which is what the world needs,” said Eby.“And at the end of the day, I think that I would ask to be judged on the outcomes and we’re going to get there.” You might also like:- B.C. government's budget deficit to soar to new all-time historic high of $13.3 billion- B.C. government to slow pace of building new housing and infrastructure projects, including Burnaby Hospital redevelopment- B.C. government to cut 15,000 jobs over three years, including executive positions- B.C. government hikes school property tax, changes property tax deferment rules- B.C. government increases speculation and vacancy tax rate for the second consecutive year- B.C. personal income tax increased for first $50,363 earned starting in 2026- B.C.’s PST will be expanded to more areas of the economy in 2026, especially for real estate- 'Deeply worrying': B.C. budget response is overwhelmingly negative to say the least

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Criminals Hack Hundreds of US ATMs, Force Machines To Spew $20,000,000 In One Year: FBI
dailyhodl43d ago

Criminals Hack Hundreds of US ATMs, Force Machines To Spew $20,000,000 In One Year: FBI

The FBI is warning financial institutions and the public about a sharp rise in attacks that compromise ATMs, forcing them to dispense cash. In a flash alert, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center says there have been more than 1,900 so-called “jackpotting” incidents since 2020. Over 700 of the attacks happened in 2025 alone, causing [...]The post Criminals Hack Hundreds of US ATMs, Force Machines To Spew $20,000,000 In One Year: FBI appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

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