Social Media Weaponized for Political Propaganda


Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption Re-Posted Sep 12, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

It is no coincidence that every social media data leak seems to target conservatives. Snap (formerly Snapchat), an app known for short videos, recently admitted that they leaked Republican voter data to the Democrats. In turn, Snap showed these mostly young voters a barrage of ads in an attempt to change their political stance prior to the midterms.

These ads quickly appear in between videos, and many users may not notice the subconscious level of propaganda they’ve received. The groups TargetSmart and i360 both used the leaked data to their advantage. Ads from the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams’ gubernatorial campaign were sent to Republican users of the platform, as first reported by Axios. Snap claims that this was a glitch in the system, but that seems utterly impossible.

“Unfortunately, due to an internal mistake, we didn’t follow this usual process — which resulted in these two companies’ services being used by advertisers outside of the process, impacting a small number of ads,” a Snap spokesperson told Axios. Both i360 and TargetSmart deny any involvement as well.

If Republicans did this to the Democrats, they would declare it a national emergency and an attack on democracy. YouTube consistently removes any video that goes against the Democrat’s agenda, and Twitter has no problem banning accounts. Facebook’s Zuckerberg admitted that the FBI tipped them off and asked them to hide the Hunter Biden laptop leak before the 2020 US Presidential Election. All of the main social media platforms are now far-left propaganda tools, and freedom of speech does not exist on the main social networks.

De-Energization Plans in California – Lights Out


Armstrong Economics Blog/USA Current Events Re-Posted Sep 12, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

California sent out an emergency public notification to warn residents that the power grid was under a strain. Since people are likely unwilling to turn off their power during the summer heat, California is concocting “de-energization” plans. Simply put, California plans to temporarily turn off the power grid in the name of public safety.

This is the same state that plans to eliminate gas-powered cars yet does not have the capability to maintain the current electrical grid. Companies are already creating advice for residents to “get ready for a PSPS” (Public Safety Power Shutoff). PG&E warned that some residents may be without power for “several days.” Their advice seems quite dystopian. Those who will DIE without power due to medical conditions may receive an exemption to power their medical devices.

Several days without electricity will cripple small businesses, and large businesses will also suffer. Those who may need but do not qualify for an exemption could die. They are recommending that people use camping stoves and outdoor charcoal grills to cook, but that is not an option for many. The elderly are especially vulnerable without power. Those without power banks will be unable to charge their phones and will be isolated from the world. Kids will be unable to attend school. They are asking people to power their EVs, but you can only go so far on one charge. It will come as no surprise if they shut off electricity for the poorest areas first.

Perhaps we could have funded this project instead of sending over $120 billion to Ukraine. California is still pushing to end the use of fossil fuels but look at the situation they are in currently.

Sunday Talks, Senator Mark Warner Says “People Will Die” if Trump Mar-a-Lago Documents Become Public


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 11, 2022 | Sundance

Now you are going to see why it was necessary to write the previous article about the Trump -v- Clinton lawsuit.

We must stop pretending. Everyone, including everyone who reads here and specifically SSCI Chairman Mark Warner, already knows what is in those documents from Mar-a-Lago.  Those documents contain the evidence of the collective government effort to target candidate Trump and then effectively remove President Trump.  THAT effort included the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.  Stop pretending.

Senator Mark Warner was at the heart of the legislative branch effort in the aftermath of the failed attempt to stop candidate Trump from winning the 2016 election.  Senator Warner specifically instructed Senate Security Director James Wolfe to leak the Carter Page FISA application, with an intent to further the effort to install a special counsel to help cover-up the pre-election activity.  Warner is enmeshed in the corruption created by the false Trump-Russia collusion conspiracy nonsense.

With Warner’s instructions to Wolfe in mind, there is a specific statement in this ridiculous effort at narrative construction called an interview, that is just exponentially hubris, [@6:16] “The record of our intelligence committee of keeping secrets secret, that’s why the Intelligence Committee shares information with us,” Warner claims.

No, the direct ideological alignment between the corrupt intelligence apparatus and the SSCI that is why the Intelligence Committee coordinates with the Senate.  WATCH:

[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: For a closer look now at the evolving threats to the homeland, we begin this morning with the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner of Virginia. Good morning to you, Senator.

SEN. MARK WARNER: Good morning, Margaret.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You know, 9/11 introduced to many Americans for the very first time, this sense of vulnerability at home, and it launched the global war on terror. I wonder how vulnerable you think America is now, are we paying enough attention to the Middle East and to Afghanistan?

SEN. WARNER: Well, Margaret, I remember, as most Americans do, where they were on 9/11. I was in the middle of a political campaign and suddenly, the differences with my opponent seem very small in comparison and our country came together. And in many ways, we defeated the terrorists because of the resilience of the American public because of our intelligence community, and we are safer, better prepared. The stunning thing to me is here we are 20 years later, and the attack on the symbol of our democracy was not coming from terrorists, but it came from literally insurgents attacking the Capitol on January 6th. So I believe we are stronger. I believe our intelligence community has performed remarkably. I think the threat of terror has diminished. I think we still have new challenges in terms of nation-state challenges, Russia in longer-term, a technology competition with China. But I do worry about some of the activity in this country where the election deniers, the insurgency that took place on January 6th, that is something I hope we could see that same kind of unity of spirit.

MARGARET BRENNAN: As you’re pointing out, America came together after 9/11, and we are incredibly divided right now. One thing that is potentially quite explosive is this ongoing investigation of the justice- by the Justice Department of the former president and his handling of classified information. You’ve asked for a briefing from the intelligence community. Given how sensitive this is, why should anything be shared with Congress, given that this is an ongoing investigation?

SEN. WARNER: Because as the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and I’m very proud of our committee, or the last functioning, bipartisan committee. I believe in- in the whole Congress. The Vice Chairman and I have asked for a briefing of the damages that could have arisen from mishandling of this information, and I believe it’s our congressional duty to have that oversight. Remember, what’s at stake here is the fact that if some of these documents involve human intelligence, and that information got out, people’s- will die–

MARGARET BRENNAN: We don’t know that yet.

SEN. WARNER: If there were penetration of signals intelligence, literally years of work could be destroyed. We talk about the enormous advances our intelligence community has made helping our Ukrainian friends, that comes about because we share intelligence. If there’s intelligence that has been shared with us by allies, and that is mishandled, all of that could be in jeopardy. Now, we don’t know what’s in those documents. But I think it is incumbent, as soon as we get approval, let me be clear, soon as we get approval, my understanding is there is some question because of the Special Master appointment by the judge in- in Florida, whether they can brief at this point, we need clarification on that from that judge as quickly as possible, because it is essential that the intelligence committee leadership at least gets a briefing of the damage assessment.

MARGARET BRENNAN: The damage assessment, it has been paused, as has the classification review, and it will take some time. So, A, I am assuming in your answer there, you’re saying there have been no promises of a briefing to be scheduled. Is that right?

SEN. WARNER: I believe we will get a briefing as soon as there is clarification whether this can be performed or not–

MARGARET BRENNAN: But why should that–

SEN. WARNER: In light of the- of the judge in Florida.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Why should that happen? Because I- I want to get to something you said which was the ‘last bipartisan committee,’ you and Marco Rubio, your partner in- in this request for a briefing put forth this letter, asking for the damage assessment. But lately, your colleague’s been making some comments that don’t sound quite as bipartisan. He’s compared the Justice Department to corrupt regimes in Latin America when it comes to this investigation. He’s accused DOJ of leaking sensitive details, and he said the only reason to leak it is to create a narrative for political purpose. When information gets shared with Congress, as you know, the accusation is it will get leaked. So, A, it looks like you’re losing that bipartisan- bipartisanship. And B, if you brief Congress, isn’t it going to leak further and worse than–

SEN. WARNER: The record of our intelligence committee of keeping secrets secret, that’s why the Intelligence Committee shares information with us. Remember this was the committee, bipartisan, that did the Russia investigation.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Because you know that your oversight capability, many would argue, including former heads of counterintelligence, FBI, that the line is drawn when it’s an active investigation. They don’t owe you a briefing.

SEN. WARNER: We- we don’t- I do not want any kind of insight into an active investigation by the Justice Department. I do want the damage assessment of what would happen to our ability to protect the nation. And here we are 21 years after 9/11, if classified secrets, top secret secrets are somehow mishandled, I pointed out earlier, people could die, sources of intelligence could disappear. The willingness of our allies to share intelligence could be undermined. And I think we need that assessment to make sure if on–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Which you will get–

SEN. WARNER: I think we need it sooner rather than later.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But to that point, because it’s so sensitive, because the country is so divided, because you already have in many ways a target being put on the back of law enforcement, isn’t it more important to get it right, to be deliberate and not to be fast here? I want the details just as much as you do.

SEN. WARNER: I do not think we should have as- as the Intelligence Committee, a briefing on the ongoing investigation. What our responsibility is, is to assess whether there has been damage done to our intelligence collection and maintenance of secrets capacity. That is a damage assessment, that frankly, even the judge in Florida has said, can continue.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Before November?

SEN. WARNER: This- once we get clarification from the judge in Florida, and again, I don’t think we can cherry pick what part of the legal system we like or dislike, I have trust in our legal system. I may not agree with the decision of the judge in Florida, but I respect our Department of Justice. I respect the FBI. I think they are trying under extraordinarily difficult circumstances to get it right and we owe them the benefit of the doubt.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator, thank you for coming on. And I know we’re going to continue to track this, and any potential impact to national security.

SEN. WARNER: Thank you, Margaret.

[Transcript Link]

The legislative oversight group known as the “Gang of Eight” want to see the documents confiscated by the DOJ National Security Division from the FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.  The reason and motives are simple.

If Donald Trump has evidence of the corruption in the Trump-Russia collusion fabrication and targeting effort, there would be evidence of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) participating in joint-effort with the DOJ and FBI.  When the FBI launched their 2016 targeting operation against candidate Donald Trump, it was the SSCI who coordinated with them.

When the Trump targeting operation began in 2015/2016, Dianne Feinstein was the Vice Chair of the SSCI, and her lead staffer was Dan Jones.  You might remember that Jones left the committee to coordinate anti-Trump efforts outside government and work as a liaison back to the committee.  The Chair of the SSCI was Richar Burr.

After Trump’s surprising 2016 victory, Feinstein stepped down to allow Senator Mark Warner to become Vice-Chair, thereby putting Warner on the Gang-of-Eight in January of 2017.

Senator Warner was then responsible for: (a) continuing the attacks and investigation of Trump; (b) covering up the prior work done by the SSCI to target Trump; and (c) working to appoint a special counsel in order to mitigate the risk, while throwing a bag over the prior activity.

When the FBI came under scrutiny (ex. FISA warrant), the corrupt actors within the DOJ and FBI collaborated *ONLY* with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI).  The same DOJ and FBI stonewalled the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) which was then led by Chairman Devin Nunes.

The corrupt entities in the DOJ/FBI would only work with the SSCI not the HPSCI, because it was the SSCI who was working hand in glove with them on the targeting operation.  That’s why the SSCI, Mark Warner Vice-Chair with Security Director James Wolfe, was given a copy of the Carter Page FISA application on March 17, 2017.  At the exact same time the DOJ and FBI were blocking the House intelligence committee from seeing it.

Senator Mark Warner wanted the FISA application as a tool to leak to the media as part of the effort to help the DOJ get Andrew Weissmann and Robert Mueller installed as the special counsel.  Weissmann/Mueller would be the cover-up and continued targeting group.

Mark Warner and James Wolfe received the FISA on March 17, 2017, from the FBI (carried by agent Brian Dugan).  Shortly after 4:00pm on March 17th, Warner and Wolfe then leaked the FISA application to the media (Ali Watkins). Two days later FBI Director James Comey testified before the House committee (March 20) publicly admitting for the first time that President Trump was under investigation.

These days in March 2017 became the narrative opening for the leaked FISA to support the installation of a special counsel a few weeks later. All of it carefully coordinated.

The background collusion and assist motive was also why SSCI vice-chair Mark Warner was covertly in contact with Adam Waldman (2017), the lawyer for Chris Steele, while continuing to operate the parallel Trump targeting and DOJ/FBI cover-up operation from the SSCI.  Warner’s skill at this process is why Feinstein abdicated her chair to him at the beginning of Trump’s term.

If the Gang of Eight is currently trying to see what documents President Trump held in Mar-a-Lago, what they are really trying to see is what evidence President Trump has against them.

Watch carefully now….

Watch how the DOJ-NSD and FBI respond to the Gang of Eight.  If they follow the pattern, then Main Justice will likely support legislative oversight only through the SSCI.

[Support CTH Research Here]

9/11


We must never forget

This is a book I produced in the months after 9/11, some of the images are very disturbing so don’t download it if that might brother you.

For Those Who Do Not Remember 9/11


Armstrong Economics Blog/North America Re-Posted Sep 11, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Those in college do not recall 9/11/01. College freshmen were only three or four years old at the time of the attack. They do not recall the ongoing search for Osama bin Laden or the frequent briefings from former President George W. Bush. Even young adults beyond college do not recall life before the Patriot Act and the abandonment of our privacy. They have always seen TSA at airports and terrorism warnings. The Patriot Act changed everything, and all Americans were forced to surrender their freedom to the government under the guise of “national security.” National security has been used to justify government surveillance ever since that tragic morning.

This may be why they are comfortable handing over power to government, and tend to vote blue, as they do not know of a life with fewer government restrictions. It is hard to explain how that event shaped the trajectory of America. It was used as a convenient excuse to begin a war that became one of the longest in America’s history. In addition to the 2,996 people who were killed on 9/11, countless soldiers have lost their lives. First responders are still facing the repercussions of the asbestos and debris that caused an array of health issues. Before the attack, America felt it was invincible. Yes, there was Pearl Harbor, but again that event was too far back to remember and was directed at a military base. An attack on American soil at the Twin Towers that signified capitalism in all its glory was completely unfathomable.

For those who do not remember 9/11 – America was a different place once upon a time. I encourage you to dig deeper as the true events that occurred on that day are NOT what they teach in school.

Massive Increases in U.S Natural Gas Exports are Driving Up U.S. Energy Prices


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 10, 2022

It is good to see at least one energy finance analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, speaking commonsense.  In an article by Clark Williams-Derry for Barron Magazine [SEE HERE], the author accurately outlines how significant U.S. Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) exports are driving up prices for American consumers.

The author accurately refutes the notion that exports do not drive-up domestic prices, by walking through the example of how natural gas prices dropped for U.S. consumers when the liquefied natural gas plant in Quintana, Texas [Freeport LNG] was temporarily shut down, blocking a portion of the export capacity.  However, that facility is about to come back on-line and with increased exports from other facilities domestic U.S. prices have already doubled.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Association (IEA), U.S. storage of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) is 12% below the five-year average (LINK).  Additionally, the IEA is expecting the U.S. to export 11.7 billion cubic feet of LNG per day during the fourth quarter of 2022 — up 17% from the third quarter. The destination of that export is Europe.

Consider that 43% of U.S. households use LNG for home heating, and power suppliers use LNG to create electricity.  With the massive 2022 exports of LNG to Europe (+17% in fourth quarter alone), that means lower domestic supplies and increased prices here in the United States for electricity and home heating.  We are seeing and feeling these massive price increases right now.

Barrons – […]  If you need more evidence of the impact of natural gas exports on prices, just compare supply and demand fundamentals for the year leading up to February 2020 (the last pre-pandemic month) versus the year leading up to this May (the most recent month with full federal data). Annualized production rose over the period, while domestic consumption remained roughly flat. Yet LNG exports almost doubled—a surge that tightened U.S. gas markets and doubled the price that U.S. consumers pay for the fuel. 

The growth of global demand for U.S. LNG can be tied to many market forces, including the shortfalls in Europe due to Russia’s manipulation of European Union gas markets. Sustained high demand in wealthy Asian nations has contributed to export growth as well. And so has the U.S. gas industry’s dogged determination to ship its wares to the highest bidder, foreign or domestic. 

Russia’s role has been particularly critical in the rise of global LNG demand. As Russia choked off gas shipments to Europe, EU buyers have turned to global LNG markets to make up the shortfall. Global LNG prices rose in response, and U.S. LNG companies ramped up output, shipping more cargoes to Europe. But Russia responded by further clamping down on gas supplies to the EU—a vicious circle that has hurt Europe’s economy even more severely than it has harmed America’s.

There’s little sign that U.S. gas prices will ease in the coming years. Freeport’s demand will be back online soon enough, and there are three other massive LNG export projects under construction, with more than a dozen of others waiting for financing.

[…] Curiously, federal regulators have consistently found that the gas export projects are in the public interest—meaning they were in the economic interest of LNG companies and gas drillers. But now, exports are creating sky-high costs for U.S. consumers, and drillers are reluctant to boost gas output lest prices fall back to earth. So, it’s high time to consider whether soaring U.S. LNG exports are actually in America’s interest—or if, instead, runaway LNG exports are fueling energy inflation and undermining the nation’s economic competitiveness. (read more)

Not only are U.S. taxpayers directly paying for the majority of costs in Ukraine, but we are also subsidizing the European Union by exporting LNG and driving up the price for energy here at home.

We the taxpayers are directly paying Ukraine, and indirectly paying Europe to maintain gas sanctions against Russia.  As a result, we the taxpayers are also paying higher prices here at home.  This is the reality of the current exfiltration of wealth as created by the Biden administration.

FUBAR

Why Liberals Hate The Queen (Ep. 1848) – The Dan Bongino Show


The Dan Bongino Show Published originally on Rumble on September 9, 2022

Dan always has a good story

Things Might be WORSE than You Think!


Awaken With JP Published originally on Rumble on September 8, 2022 10,189

It might be worse than you think…

When a Clown Moves into a Palace


Armstrong Economics Blog/Uncategorized Re-Posted Sep 10, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

-Record-high inflation

-Proxy war with Russia

-Open borders

-Loss of energy independence

-Looming recession

-Reckless spending

-Woke agenda

-Increase in violent crimes

-Polarized nation

-Compromised elections

-America now seen as vulnerable to enemies

The list goes on and on…

President Trump and DOJ Present Their Selections for Special Master Appointment


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 10, 2022 | Sundance

Lawyers representing the DOJ National Security Division (DOJ-NSD) and lawyers representing President Trump have presented their list of candidates for Special Master to review documents seized from Mar-a-Lago. [8-page pdf Here]

The DOJ-NSD has listed their candidates including:

♦ The Honorable Barbara S. Jones (ret.) – retired judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, partner in Bracewell LLP, and special master in In re: in the Matter of Search Warrants Executed on April 28, 2021 and In the Matter of Search Warrants Executed on April 9, 2018.

♦ The Honorable Thomas B. Griffith (ret.) – retired Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, special counsel in Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, and Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School.

President Trump lawyers have listed their candidates including:

♦ The Honorable Raymond J. Dearie (ret.) – former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, formerly the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

♦ Paul Huck, Jr.—founder, The Huck Law Firm, former Jones Day partner, former General Counsel to the Governor, former Deputy Attorney General for the State of Florida.

The majority of the remaining filing lists the agreements of both the DOJ-NSD and Trump lawyers, as well as points of disagreement for how the special master process should continue.   The position of the DOJ-NSD is the special master should not review any documents they deem classified or vital to national security, regardless of whether they contain markings or not.   The DOJ just doesn’t want anyone to review what they are calling “classified documents.”

President Trump’s lawyers contend the special master should review all of the documents, regardless of DOJ-NSD definitions, and make an independent determination as to the validity of the DOJ-NSD claims, as well as consideration for ‘executive privilege.’

Plaintiff believes the Government’s objection to the Special Master reviewing documents they deem classified is misplaced. First, the Government’s position incorrectly presumes the outcome — that their separation of these documents is inviolable. Second, their stance wrongly assumes that if a document has a classification marking, it remains classified in perpetuity. Third, the Government continues to ignore the significance of the Presidential Records Act (“PRA”). If any seized document is a Presidential record, Plaintiff has an absolute right of access to it while access by others, including those in the executive branch, has specified limitations. Thus, President Trump (and/or his designee) cannot be denied access to those documents, which in this matter gives legal authorization to the Special Master to engage in first-hand review.  (filing source)

At the heart of the matter, we find ourselves back in the original place we were in 2017, when we first began discussing the relationship between the DOJ-NSD and the FISA Court surrounding the issue of the Carter Page FISA application.

The DOJ-NSD is an agency within the DOJ that views themselves as beyond any apparatus that would conduct oversight.  This is the entire reason why the DOJ National Security Division refused to accept any inspector general oversight from formation until 2020.  In essence, the DOJ-NSD quantifies everything they do as vital to the interests of national security, and therefore beyond the reach of any outside entity to review or audit their work.

Using the national security angle, just as the FISA court is a star chamber within the judicial branch seemingly omnipotent and without a counterbalancing check on their power, so too is the DOJ-NSD a star chamber within the executive branch.  The DOJ-NSD makes determinations and then says, as in the example of the Trump documents, these things are what we say they are – and you have no standing to question us.

Both the FISA court and the DOJ-NSD operate in the realm of omnipotent power and internal definitions, and the legislative branch doesn’t do anything about it; worse yet, the legislative branch defers to the arbitrary determinations of both.

Within this corrupted and bastardized system, you find the FISC and DOJ-NSD are two of the four pillars that construct the unspoken Fourth Branch of Government. The other two are the Dept of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.  Few people have yet to grasp what takes place, and fewer still will admit it exists.  Yet, the outlines of the political operations that take place within this fourth branch surface frequently.

[Understand the Fourth Branch