The 10 living members of an often-unsung unit in the U.S. Army have been awarded with Congress’ highest recognition for their role on Europe’s battlefields during World War II, roles that relied on deception to save lives. About 50 people gathered at Morselife Home Care in West Palm Beach Saturday to recognize one of them — veteran Manny Frockt, 98, who was a member of the sonic deception unit of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, known as the Ghost Army. President Joe Biden signed the Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act into law in February to recognize the soldiers for “their unique and highly distinguished service in conducting deception operations” during the war in Europe, the law says. The tactics of the Ghost Army included hundreds of inflatable tanks, “advanced engineered soundtracks” and radio tricks to deceive German units, according to the new law. Many of the soldiers were recruited from art schools and other creative or technical backgrounds. “‘Rarely, if ever, has there been a group of such a few men which had so great an influence on the outcome of a major military campaign,’” an Army analysis after the war said, according to the law. Through its cunning and ingenuity, the unit of about 1,100 men was able to make it seem as if there were as many as 30,000 troops in its operations, according to the nonprofit Ghost Army Legacy Project, whose president, Rick Beyer, spoke at Saturday’s event. Beyer said the Ghost Army carried out 22 different battlefield deceptions. “He was one of those guys who played sounds from giant loud speakers mounted on half-tracks to fool the enemy about American forces and where they were,” Beyer said. Frockt participated in Operation Viersen in March 1945, their final mission, to trick Germans about where Americans would cross the Rhine River. It was “the biggest and most successful operation,” Beyer said, that likely saved

$265 Billion In Added Value To Evaporate From Germany Economy Amid Energy Crisis, Study Warns A new report published by the Employment Research (IAB) on Tuesday outlines how Germany’s economy will lose a whopping 260 billion euros ($265 billion) in added value by the end of the decade due to high energy prices sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which will have severe ramifications on the labor market, according to Reuters.  IAB said Germany’s price-adjusted GDP could be 1.7% lower in 2023, with approximately 240,000 job losses, adding labor market turmoil could last through 2026. It expects the labor market will begin rehealing by 2030 with 60,000 job additions. The report pointed out the hospitality industry will be one of the biggest losers in the coming downturn that the coronavirus pandemic has already hit. Consumers who have seen their purchasing power collapse due to negative real wage growth as the highest inflation in decades runs rampant through the economy will reduce spending.  IAB said energy-intensive industries, such as chemical and metal industries, will be significantly affected by soaring power prices.  In one scenario, IAB said if energy prices, already up 160%, were to double again, Germany’s economic output would crater by nearly 4% than it would have without energy supply disruptions from Russia. Under this assumption, 660,000 fewer people would be employed after three years and still 60,000 fewer in 2030.  This week alone, German power prices hit record highs as a heat wave increased demand, putting pressure on energy supplies ahead of winter.  Rising power costs are putting German households in economic misery as economic sentiment across the euro-area economy tumbled to a new record low. What happens in Germany tends to spread to the rest of the EU.  There are concerns that a sharp weakening of growth in Germany could trigger

Europe’s Energy Crisis Spills Over Into Food By Irina Slav of OilPrice.com, Excessively high energy prices in Europe are pushing up the prices of everything that energy is used for, including food—a trend that will likely feed further inflation. In a report on the topic, Bloomberg noted that the inflation in the UK is seen topping 13 percent this year, with a third of households having to spend over 10 percent of their income on energy. In continental Europe, things are not much different as gas prices break record after record. “Whether it’s roasting coffee or making sugar from beets, companies are so far only talking about the increase in raw materials,” Kona Haque, head of research for commodities firm ED&F Man, told Bloomberg. “I think the worst is still to come as energy prices rise. This winter will be a game changer and processing costs will likely go up.” “We are now beyond the limits of affordability for many industrial users, and we might see recession alarms going off soon,” Rystad Energy senior analyst Kaushal Ramesh told the FT two weeks ago in comments on the latest price surge in natural gas after Russia reduced flows via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to 20 percent. Indeed, the Bloomberg report notes that excessive energy prices are forcing some vegetable oil producers to relocate their production outside Europe in search of lower energy costs. It could get worse for food prices, too, if Europe has to resort to energy rationing in case of a shortage of natural gas and electricity in the winter. According to the Bloomberg report, some food factories may have to be shut down as governments prioritize household energy security. The food price crunch could be especially painful for Britons, who were this month told by water utilities to