Category A Life of Pretending

May 15 2023

Oxford’s Protests Against 15-Minute Cities


Armstrong Economics Blog/WEF re-Posted May 15, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Those who see what is coming are beginning to resist the Great Reset. Ultimately, their plan to create a one-world government will fail but it will take firm resistance. As one reader mentioned, English residents of Oxford began protesting the 15-minute city concept in March. Thousands of people took to the streets to protest what they deemed a “Stalinist-style, closed city.”

Media agencies such as Politico are calling protestors far-right extremists. Yet thousands have joined the “Not Our Future” group to tell the global elite that they will not willingly surrender. Oxford’s city council agreed to implement these cities within the next 20 years. Reporter Mark Dolan said the “dystopian” city planning would create “”a surveillance culture that would make Pyongyang envious.” Tory MP Nick Fletcher called them an “international socialist concept” intended to “take away personal freedoms.”

Bloomberg News condemned the protestors as well, calling them “a case study in conspiracy paranoia.” They also called lockdowns a conspiracy before they happened. The plans for these cities are out in the open. Schwab clearly states his plan for the Great Reset in interviews, books, online writings, and conferences. He boasts about infiltrating cabinets across the globe. Every politician in recent years has had a big “BUILD BACK BETTER” logo on their podium. Everyone is suddenly pushing for the same non-existent issues such as creating legislation against naturally occurring weather patterns. It is in our faces, people. This is public information that the masses choose to ignore because it is upsetting.

As a reminder, here are some of the projections from the WEF for Agenda 2030:

  • All products will have become services
  • There is a global price on carbon
  • US dominance is over. We now have a handful of global powers
  • Virtual health assistants will replace human doctors
  • You will eat less meat
  • Refugees will be CEOs
  • The values that built the West will have been tested to the breaking point
  • Digital tech will close the gender and wealth gap
  • A global family of fun and functional cities
  • Technology in space underpins security on earth
  • You will own nothing and be happy

Again, this is all public information that can be found on the World Economic Forum’s website.

May 15 2023

A Stunned Maria Bartiromo Discovers the Chaff and Countermeasures Committee


May 14, 2023 | Sundance 

Mrs. Maria Bartiromo is good at pretending, very good. However, CTH has never pretended or played the game of pretending and we can spot a pretender a mile away.

The game of pretending is needed in order to retain the illusion of the Potemkin Village of DC.  A construct manufactured by the power structure that exists behind the puppet show, with the full intention to distract us.  Pretending is what gives rise to a Florida governor on a ‘book tour’ run for 2024. Pretending is what kicks the can of accountability away until it can be buried.

Pretending is needed in order to say Republicans will make a difference, or the black eye doesn’t hurt, and look he bought me flowers.  Perhaps some reminders and clarifications of the real game inside DC politics are needed.  After all, I am this close > < to going back into that mess to destroy some silos.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, hereafter called the House Oversight Committee or HOC, has a very specific function in DC circles that too few understand.  Once again, let us be clear while trying to explain decades of false information founded upon arcane legislative outlooks.

Understanding the DC game of Chaff and Countermeasures…. A “Countermeasure” is a measure or action taken to counter or offset a preceding one.

Politically speaking, the deployment of countermeasures is a well-used tactic by professional politicians in Washington DC to counter incoming public inquiry and protect themselves from anger expressed by the electorate.  The Republican leadership are very skilled in the management of “chaff” (outrage), and “countermeasures” (the distraction).

Within Washington DC, the HOC has a very specific and unique function.  What Fox News is to corporate conservative punditry, so too is the HOC to the same DC system of pretending.  The House Oversight Committee is the “Chaff and Countermeasures” committee.  The HOC operates for both parties with the same mission.

The House Oversight Committee was/is created by the House legislative leadership to make money for the party in control of the Chair.  When the House Speaker is notified of a DC corruption issue, inside his/her office they will often be heard saying, “give it to oversight.”  The intent of that instruction is to give the issue to the HOC, so they can hold hearings, create soundbites and fundraise from the issue.

Making money for the party in control of the Chair is the primary function of the House Oversight Committee.  The HOC does not exist to create accountability or oversight; the HOC exists to exploit the issue for fundraising and satiate the base voters of the party in control of the Chair.

The HOC presents the illusion of accountability by constructing soundbites and member performances which are then broadcast on television for appearances to the voting audience.  It is essentially theater.

The HOC is a “general oversight’ committee, not a committee of “specific jurisdiction.”  Thus, the HOC is the vehicle where Democrats and Republicans publicly display their political initiatives, frame their narratives and then broadcast them on MSNBC, CNN (Democrats) or FOX NEWS (Republicans).

Depending on the issues at hand, the HOC committee members are generally those performance actors best known to the audience of both parties.  This is not accidental; this is by design.  Again, for emphasis, I am only talking about the HOC, a “generalized oversight” committee. Only this specific committee has this specific mission.

A hot button topic enters the committee ecosphere. Specifically trained staffers and performance artists, uniquely qualified to put on theatrical productions (both parties), are then deployed to assist the representatives in creating the soundbites that hopefully will go viral and assist them with fundraising and opportunities to say, “here’s what we are doing.”   Outlining this construct is not an exhibition in cynicism; this is the reality of what the HOC is designed and created to do.

When you see the HOC performing at their best, you will see lots of soundbites created.

The Chair of the HOC is always part of the House Speaker’s close inner circle.  From that association you will discover by training, by habit, and by consequence, the HOC framework is developed to sustain the process itself as an end result.   The questioning is the sum total of all accountabilities.  The performance is the interview; the conversation is the point; the smoke is the fire.

Oversight, in the HOC framework of narrative creation, has evolved into reveling in the endless process (a fundraising proposition) and, as a consequence, it completely ignores the end point, misses the bottom line, doesn’t actually SEE the subject matter, and never actually applies accountability toward what might be discovered.  This is why you end up with high blood pressure, frustrated with the questions not asked, and throwing bricks at the screen or monitors when viewing.

The point of HOC hearings is to create what are now described as “viral moments” that can be used to generate money.   The second, and lesser objective, is to give the illusion of accountability while not actually ever holding anyone or anything accountable.  See prior HOC reference points like Fast and Furious, IRS targeting, Benghazi, the Twitter File review or the current Joe/Hunter Biden crime syndicate investigation.

If you watch the HOC through the prism of expecting some form of accountability for the violations of law, you will be frustrated and disappointed.   However, if you watch the HOC through the prism of how well the members will do at raising money from their performances, then you can evaluate the effectiveness – the proverbial winning and losing.

The HOC is designed by House leadership to perform the same basic function for both Democrats and Republicans.  The HOC committee assignments are selected based on the theatrical skills of each representative.  This is not to say the motives of the members are sullied or impure, it is simply to point out the motive of the committee itself is to generate fundraising from the skillsets of the members on the committee.

Once you fully grasp what the intent of the House Oversight Committee is about, and once you drop the expectation that any accountability in oversight is the intent, then you can watch the performances through the entertainment prism of partisan politics and genuinely enjoy them – or hate them.

The HOC is called the “Chaff and Countermeasures” Committee, because that’s essentially what the committee does.  It gives the appearance of targeting, steering the target to a controlled destination, and then distracting the audience from the outcome of accountability.

If sunlight is achieved, meaning the Mainstream Media cannot ignore the issue as presented and questioned, and if the general public become more familiar with the controversial subject matter or topic at hand, and if the party of the Chair can fundraise from the issue, then the committee has succeeded.  However, if you are looking for something to change as an outcome of any HOC investigation or hearing, you will be perpetually disappointed.

There seems to be a willful blindness on the part of the American people, a chosen refusal to acknowledge the implications of the unAmerican and unConstititional behaviors, actions and outcomes we are being served on a daily basis.

It can no longer be presumed to be a matter of “I can’t see what’s happening”, because a whole lot of normal Americans really are clean and articulate.

“I can’t see it” just doesn’t cut it.

NONSENSE!  Most people can see it.  Most are just choosing to reconcile the irreconcilable because it is more comforting to ignore the truth of it.  Just be honest, for many people avoidance has become a survival mechanism.

It’s more along the lines of “I see what’s happening, but it’s scary and complicated and confusing, and if I admit that I see it, I will become responsible in a way that I am not if I keep pretending I can’t see it or hear it or maybe I don’t understand it.”

McCarthy’s Lucy has unlimited footballs.

Admit it or keep pretending.

The choices are ours.

Personally, I will not pretend.

If we all stop pretending, eventually the DC house of cards collapses.

I think we need to change things…

… more later!

May 15 2023

Sunday Talks, James Comer Says 9 out of 10 Biden Crime Witnesses are in Jail, Court or Missing


May 14, 2023 | Sundance 

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer reappears with Maria Bartiromo today to update on the status of the Biden crime family investigation. {Direct Rumble Link Here}

During the interview Chairman Comer informs Ms Bartiromo that nine out of ten people that would be considered material witnesses for the intent of the committee investigation are either in jail, in court, or missing.  Additionally, Comer states those who do have information are intimidated and fear for their lives. WATCH:

James Comer: 9 of the 10 Biden corruption witnesses are in court, in jail, or missing.

May 15 2023

As They Attempt to Deny Their Trespass, Let Us NEVER FORGET – “The Unvaccinated Are Scum”, Compilation Video


May 14, 2023 | Sundance 

As the politicians and their pretorian guard media attempt desperately to rewrite COVID-19 history (more coming on this issue) it is worth remembering exactly what the situation was in the prior two years.

This excellent compilation video from Tom Elliot reminds us who they were, and how significant the hatred was.  WATCH and share:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=tpuo4IYG0uA%3Ffeature%3Doembed

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May 13 2023

Disney Shareholder Dumpster Fire, Bud Light Disaster Spreads | MEitM #403


By Midnight’s Edge Posted ordinally on Rumble on May 12, 2023

May 11 2023

Rubio on the Collapse of American Society


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted May 11, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

May 7 2023

California Turned Paradise into Hell


Armstrong Economics Blog/Gov’t Incompetence Re-Posted May 7, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

May 6 2023

Follow Up – Answering Questions


Posted originally on the CTH on May 5, 2023 | Sundance 

A follow-up to answer some of the popular questions about my experience with the corrupt administrative state, what I prefer to call the Fourth Branch of Government that operates behind the visible Potemkin Village.

♦Why did you wait a year to outline what took place?  Common question. Lots of reasons, some obvious, some obscure and strategically granular.  First, I know the people who are not in alignment with the principles of freedom also watch our discussion.  If I am engaged with them in conflict, I do not want them to see my path.  Second, I did not want them to shut down our conversation using ‘national security’ as the blanket often deployed.  Third, I wanted to watch and assemble data quietly.

♦Why tell the story now?  AG Garland just quantified publicly what the DOJ was doing.  They just put details on the scope of their unconstitutional activity.  Keep in mind, AG Garland is the Robert Mueller of the DOJ. Garland has no better understanding of what is going on inside that heavily siloed institution of Main Justice than Joe Biden understands what is going on inside his (White House).  The true manager of the apparatus is Lisa Monaco, Obama’s eyes and ears into Main Justice operations.   The Lawfare operatives ultimately report to Monaco, not chairman emeritus Garland.

♦Who benefits from the current information?  If you take the time to fully absorb what is evident, traceable and provable to a demonstrable certainty, the representatives of any target who was/is also facing evidence gained by similar construct benefit.  The source information is all there, free for the taking; following it leads to the same outcome – it is what it is.  Whether it is beneficial or not is unique to the individual, or their rep.  Beyond that, hopefully the general public will take pause and think about the ramifications.  When you change the way you look at something, what you look at changes.   The truth has no agenda.

♦What ramifications does this mean for the Twitter Files?   Not sure.  Essentially, the research team that Musk allowed to send requests and “key word searches” to the Twitter administrators/lawyers, who then transferred those search terms into the database requests and relayed the outcomes, already know the majority of this stuff.  What the research team, Twitter Files journalists with approval to make requests, do not know is what terms to ask for.  Really, that’s their biggest weakness – they don’t know what to look for.

Hopefully, this information now provides them material, at least stimulates their inquiry in another direction, and they can then turn their new knowledge into internal search requests.  This outlook assumes the lawyers at Twitter doing the searches will allow the results to be turned over to the journalists. That’s a big assumption with all potential class-action litigation considered.

♦Did you have to defend yourself against this?  Yes, and yes, it’s not cheap.  There are only a handful of lawyers within driving distance to DC who would even contemplate taking on a client who is going against the system with unlimited resources.  Those that do should be praised. Think about how much it would cost you to take a lawyer from outside the beltway to travel for a single overnight stay in DC to assist.  This is not feasible for anyone.  Thankfully, I had experience in knowing the system, and with guidance/advice could represent myself.

♦How did you know what approach to take?  Well, when you understand the issue, and understand there was absolutely ZERO merit to the probable cause, it opens a door to turn the tables on the inquisitors.   I studied the legal approach used by Eric Dubelier.  I studied several of his cases and reviewed all of his court filings.

I consider Eric ‘Dubes’ Dubelier the Yoda of the light forces aligned against the evil empire of DC.  If you are not familiar with Dubelier check out the Concord Mgt case against Robert Mueller and Andrew Weissman.  Dubes wins his cases in the discovery phase, making the sunlight uncomfortable for the crooks.

The Concord case was/is an excellent resource in how to turn the tables.  I found myself with many parallels.  Weissmann/Mueller dropped the Concord case, saying Dubes was forcing them to reveal the source provenance of the claims against his client, and that was a national security risk.  It was a little funny, but ultimately Dubes won in discovery.

Random stuff – Yes, Matt Taibbi is now aware of my encounter with this system.  The subpoena is just as crazy to him as it sounds to all of us.  I have said before, in my opinion Taibbi is a good guy who, almost identical to Tucker Carlson, changed the way he looked, and the thing he looked at changed.  Both Tucker and Taibbi have a fulsome perspective on the scale of corruption and manipulation that is everywhere.

Hopefully this also explains why CTH 2.0 took the path of creating a proprietary commenting system when we relaunched.  As you can tell, the platforms are monitored through back door arrangements with people, institutions and systems that ultimately may not have good intentions.  There is no backdoor into CTH and the privacy of people who comment here is a top priority.  This is a conversational place where we can all be comfortable, obviously grandma’s rules apply.

Bottom Line – We will win this battle and eventually this war.  We are on the right side of every issue, and we cherish freedom.  Our opposition is built upon a foundation of fraud and lies.  They are corrupt and their arguments collapse when challenged.  That’s why they need the rules and referees slanted in their favor.  That’s why they need censorship, deplatforming and control.

I know it can be overwhelming at times to find optimism against all of this corruption, but the choice of joy is ours.

Every time you enjoy your day, you are winning.  Every time to do not let them steal your peace of mind, you defeat them.  Every time you embrace the simple joys of the sun on your face or the breeze upon you, and you do it with gratitude and genuine thankfulness for this blessed life we are able to live, you defeat every element of darkness that would whisper on your shoulder.

Ultimately, this is what living your best life is about.  Life is about choices.  Choose to be happy, make a conscious effort to cherish and appreciate the people around you. Give that starter smile; if you have the time – give up your place in line to someone who doesn’t; open the door, help your neighbor, do something random and useful and good, and do it as much as you can.

Find a way to generate and express grace, even in the face of hate and bitterness.  Be wise, perhaps cynical and be strategic.  Be cautious and yet do not allow coarseness to become your center of gravity.  In the face of all adversity and disenchantment, keep peace within yourself.  Live with the joy our loving God provides and fearlessly live your best life.

I will share more as time permits and try to answer any questions that might surface.

May 5 2023

How Corrupt Is Our Current Situation? It’s Worse Than Most Can Fathom…


Posted originally on the CTH on May 4, 2023 | Sundance 

The football spiking by AG Merrick Garland today deserves some context, and I am going to take you through a story that will highlight just how bad the situation really is.

Everything that preceded the 2020 federal election was a complex system of control by a network of ideologues, federal agencies, allies in the private sector, financial stakeholders and corrupt interests all working toward a common goal.  There’s no need to go through the background of how the election was manipulated and how the government and private sector, specifically social media, worked to influence the 2020 outcome because you have all seen it.

Whether it was local election officials working to control outcomes, federal agencies working to support them (CISA, FBI, DHS), financial interests working to fund them (Zuckerberg et al), or social media platforms controlling the visible content and discussion (Twitter Files, Google, Facebook etc.), the objective was all the same.  It was a massive one-sided operation against the freewill of the American voter.

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, those same system operators, govt officials, corporate media, private sector groups and social media platforms then circled the wagons to scatter the evidence of their conduct.  If you questioned anything you were a threat.  That’s the context to the dynamic that unfolded.

Lawfare operatives joined forces with Democrat staffers, and allies in social media platforms all worked in concert to target the voices of anyone who would rise in opposition to the corruption that was stunningly clear in the outcome of the election process.  Corporate media then labeled, isolated, ridiculed and marginalized anyone who dared to point out the obvious.

When AG Merrick Garland says this of January 6, 2021: […] “the Justice Department has conducted one of the largest, most complex, and most resource-intensive investigations in our history. We have worked to analyze massive amounts of physical and digital data. We have recovered devices, decrypted electronic messages, triangulated phones, and pored through tens of thousands of hours of video. We have also benefited from tens of thousands of tips we received from the public. Following these digital and physical footprints, we were able to identify hundreds of people.” {link} The targeting operation needs context.

Do you remember on April 27th when DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz recently said, “more than 3.4 million search queries into the NSA database took place between Dec. 1st, 2020 and Nov. 30th, 2021, by government officials and/or contractors working on behalf of the federal government.”  The result was “more than 1 million searches of private documents and communication of Americans that were illegal and non-compliant,” and over “10,000 federal employees have access to that database.” {OIG Testimony}.

Put the statement from Garland together with the statement from Horowitz, and you get an understanding of what was done.

Hundreds of stakeholders in the Lawfare network joined forces with hundreds of people who became staff researchers for a weaponized Congress.  Hundreds more social media background agents then poured thousands of hours into feeding private information to the DOJ, FBI, J6 Committee and all of their hired staff working on the project.

How do I know?

I was one of their targets.

Before telling the rest of the story, some background is needed.

I am well versed in the ways of the administrative state and the corrupt systems, institutions and silos that make up our weaponized government. I can (a) see them; (b) predict their activity; and (c) know where their traps and operations are located.

Traveling the deep investigative weeds of the administrative state eventually gives you a set of skills.  When people ask how the outlines on this website can seem so far ahead of the sunlight that eventually falls upon the outlined corruption, this is essentially why.  When you take these skills on the road, you learn to be a free-range scout, and after a long while you learn how to track the activity.

When I was outlining how the Fourth Branch of Government works and/or Jack’s Magic Coffee Shop and the DHS system operating inside it, I wasn’t shooting from the hip. However, people will always seek to dismiss the uncomfortable truth.

Sometimes you just have to wait for the evidence you know exists to surface, or for a situation to unfold that is driven by a self-fulfilling prophecy. The bizarre CTH predictions turn out to be the truth of the issue because they are based on the factual evidence of the issue.

That level of how the system works came in very handy when I received this subpoena from Chairman Bennie Thompson and the J6 Committee.  Warning, things are about to get very uncomfortable if you don’t accept the scale of corruption that exists.

Pay attention to the red box on the page shown. This is essentially the probable cause that justifies the subpoena itself.  I have redacted a name in the box for reasons you will see that follow.

I was never in Washington DC on January 6, 2021, nor did I work with or communicate with anyone who was involved in any of the activities that are subject to the J6 committee investigative authority.

I’m going to skip a lot of background noise, irrelevant legal stuff, jurisdictional issues, discoveries from discussions with lawyers and the experience gained in association with this ridiculous subpoena.  I am going to focus on the biggest story within it.

Sticking to the information in the Red Box above, notice how the J6 committee has evidence, “public-source information and documents on file”, showing my participation, communication, and contact with people and technology that are material interests to the committee.

Here’s the kicker…. I had no clue what the hell they were talking about.  There’s not a single aspect of their outline that I had any knowledge or connection of.

I had no idea what Zello was. I had no idea who 1% watchdog might be. I had never heard of “Stop the Steal J6” or associated “channel.”  I had never heard of the person redacted, and I had never communicated with any Oath Keeper, any communication system, or platform, or anyone or anything – nothing – that is outlined in that subpoena.

Those points of evidence outlined in the subpoena had no connection to me at all.

The subpoena might as well have been asking me to appear in Michigan because my Red Ferrari was involved in a hit and run accident, during my trip to Detroit.  I don’t own a Ferrari; I have never been to Michigan; I certainly never had an accident; I wasn’t on a trip and have never visited Detroit.  The entire construct of their probable cause for the subpoena was silly. Complete and utter nonsense.

That said, how could there be “public records” and “documentary” evidence of something that never happened?

At first, I thought this was some silly case of mistaken identity and they just sent a subpoena to the wrong person.  However, the investigators were adamant the evidence existed, and the need for testimony was required.

After taking advice from several smart people, and after discovering the costs associated with just the reply to the committee and/or representation therein; suddenly I realized there might be more value for me in this subpoena than the committee.  After all, how can there be public-records and documents that I own a red Ferrari and went to Michigan when I don’t and never did.

After several back and forths I discovered, through their admissions of their own research, and through documents they extracted as an outcome of their tasks to prove the merit of their claims, that someone *inside* Twitter had created a fictitious identity of me associated with the networks and communications as the investigators described them.

Think about what was discovered here.

Someone inside the Twitter platform, an employee of Twitter, had made a decision to target me. As a result: (a) they had been doing this for a long time with a specific goal in mind; and (b) they created an elaborate trail of background activity and identity that was entirely fabricated.

Eventually, my assigned investigative unit admitted this.

Once, the federal investigators realized what took place they wanted to get rid of me -and my snark filled curiosity- with great urgency.

They also had an ‘oh shit’ moment, when they contemplated everything, including what they had revealed to me from the outset of my contact, now several months prior.

What I discovered in this experience was that DHS, and by extension DOJ/FBI and the January 6 investigators, had direct administrative level backdoors into all social media platforms.

Overlay the Twitter files now, and then expand your thinking….

In their quest to prove that I owned a Red Ferrari, traveled to Michigan and had a hit-and-run accident, these investigators outlined to me how the United States Government, through their DHS authority, has employees, agents and contractors with open portals into all social media platforms.

Yes, the federal government is inside the mechanics of the systems (Twitter, Facebook, Meta, Instagram, Google, YouTube, WhatsApp, Zello, etc) and they have administrative access in real time to monitor, review, extract and evaluate everything, soup-to-nuts.

It was only because the investigators and forensic data knuckleheads have these portals, that they were able to locate the source of the fabricated evidence they were originally attributing to me.  This was an investigative process and research discovery being conducted in the data processing systems of Twitter in real time as they questioned me.

Once they realized what had taken place, and as soon as I started asking how they were making these admissions (now carrying an apologetic certainty), suddenly the investigators wanted no further contact or communication with me.  You’re good, whoopsie daisy, our bad, sorry.

Now, take some time to fully digest and absorb what I have just shared.

The U.S. government is worried about TikTok, because U.S. citizen data might be extracted?

Meanwhile, the U.S. government, at a fully unrestricted administrative level, is inside Twitter, Facebook, Meta, Insta, YouTube etc., running amok and extracting anything – including private messages… and they’re somehow worried about protecting us from TikTok data collection.  Think about it.

Provide your thoughts in the comments and I will try to fill in any blanks or questions you might carry.  In the interim, live your best life.

Ears of an elephant, eyes of a mouse.