Despite Temporarily Lower Gasoline Prices, August Inflation Skyrockets with Biggest Jump in Food Prices Since 1979


Posted Originally on the conservative tree house on September 13, 2022 | Sundance

We are in an abusive relationship with our own government. If you want a real-time example of how governmental bureaucracy fits into this statement, look no further than the footnote at the bottom of this article ¹cited from the BLS report today.

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) has released the August inflation data today [DATA HERE] with a top line at 8.3 percent year over year.  Unfortunately, things are unfolding exactly as we previously shared.  [Modified Table 1 at left]

Despite the temporary drop in gasoline prices (-12%), the costs of food (+13.5%), electricity (+15.8%) and housing (+6.7%) are crushing U.S. consumers.  The stock market is responding accordingly.  We can only imagine the inflation data if the heavily weighted gasoline factor was not pushing overall toplines down.  Estimation of inflation would be well over double digits.

Keep in mind, as you read this review the price of the current harvest (prior field costs) is only right now coming into the food supply chain.

Food inflation is running at its highest rate since 1979 (+11.4%) and it will go higher as the third wave in this sector hits.

To give you an example, margarine increased in price 7% in August alone, that’s an annualized rate of 94% [Table 2 details].  Flour is also on pace for another 22.8% increase right as the holiday baking season begins.

We cannot eat gold, silver or durable goods.  Electricity, home heating (natural gas), food and housing costs are priorities right now.  Main Street USA is being crushed by Joe Biden overall economic and energy policies.  It’s bad now, and going to get worse – much worse, as the third wave of food inflation has only just begun.

¹Before sharing a MSM perspective I want to draw your attention to the BLS notation for 2023.  This innocuous footnote tells us just how manipulative the governmental bureaucracies are:

In order to give the statistical appearance of things being better than they are, the BLS is going to reset their weighting for the CPI to only compare against 2021.  This is being done with purpose to give the illusion next year that things are not as bad.  2021 was when Joe Biden’s inflation policies first surfaced. By comparing consumer prices to the timing when those prices first increased, the scale of future price increases will be statistically diminished.  We are in an abusive relationship with our government.

.

(CNBC) – Inflation rose more than expected in August as rising shelter and food costs offset a drop in gas prices, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday.

The consumer price index, which tracks a broad swath of goods and services, increased 0.1% for the month and 8.3% over the past year. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, CPI rose 0.6% from July and 6.3% from the same month in 2021.

Economists had been expecting headline inflation to fall 0.1% and core to increase 0.3%, according to Dow Jones estimates. The respective year-over-year forecasts were for 8% and 6% gains.

Energy prices fell 5% for the month, led by a 10.6% slide in the gasoline index. However, those declines were offset by increases elsewhere.

The food index increased 0.8% in August and shelter costs, which make up about one-third of the weighting in the CPI, jumped 0.7% and are up 6.2% from a year ago. (read more)

For readers who do advanced preparation to offset prices.  THINK BEEF right now, you will thank me four months from now.  If you see a deal now, buy it and freeze it now. Anticipate retail ground beef costs be somewhere around $10 to $15/lb by spring to mid 2023 perhaps even higher.  Also remember, processed foods will increase in price at twice the rate of the fresh food sector.  Both fresh and processed food prices will rise, but the increased costs associated with the food processing will double the price.

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]

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…

Tucker Carlson Outlines Reasons Latino Community Aligns with Trump and MAGA Movement


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

This is good to see and a little funny at the same time.  Since 2015 CTH has been outlining how the MAGA working-class movement is in direct alignment with the values and priorities of Latinos and Hispanics.

More Latinos support President Trump than supported any republican modern in history.  In the bigger picture, Latino voters support President Trump for the same reasons the Amish voters support President Trump, the absence of political correctness. WATCH:

.

Professor Alan Dershowitz Recommends a Retired Federal Judge Should Hold Special Master Appointment in Mar-a-Lago Raid Document Review


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 9, 2022

September 9, 2022 | Sundance | 1 Comment

The deadline for both the Trump Team and DOJ-NSD Team to submit their recommendations for a special master to review the Mar-a-Lago documents is tonight at midnight.

During an interview presented by Newsmax, Harvard Professor Emeritus and legal scholar Alan Dershowitz gives his impression on the appointment itself as well as the background issues surrounding the documents at the heart of the conflict.

Mr. Dershowitz recommends that a former federal judge would be the best candidate for the role of special master and supports the opinion with his viewpoint. WATCH:

.

Is the US Sacrificing Europe to Maintain Global Dominance?


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Sep 8, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Vladimir Putin believes that Washington is sacrificing Europe to maintain global dominance. The United States has always been the world police, and the top country that others turn to in times of crisis. America’s post-World War II status left it as the financial capital of the world, and the dollar has remained the world’s reserve currency. Nothing has topped the dollar.

Europe attempted to create the European Union in an effort to prevent European conflicts, but it also created the euro to compete against the dollar. I explained various times how their attempts have failed. However, the euro is now beneath the dollar and on the decline. Nations maintain diplomatic relations, but only Schwab wants a one-world government as everyone is competing for global dominance.

Putin claims that the West rushed to place sanctions on Russia. There was indeed a rush to place sanctions on Russia despite Joe Biden himself coming out and admitting sanctions never work. Peace talks were never an option. Returning land or promising to curtail NATO was never an option. Sanctions and threats were immediately imposed. Why?

“The pandemic has been replaced by new challenges of a global nature, carrying a threat to the whole world, I’m talking about the sanctions rush in the West and the West’s blatantly aggressive attempts to impose their modus vivendi on other countries, to take away their sovereignty, to submit them to their will,” Putin told delegates at Russia’s Eastern Economic Forum in the port city of Vladivostok on Russia’s Pacific coast, as reported by CNBC.

It is true that Europe is facing the brunt of these sanctions as they sacrificed their main supplier of energy to save a nation with a GDP of roughly only $200 billion. Europe did not want to allow Ukraine to join the euro, and they had no interest in the country prior to this conflict. The hatred for Russia runs deep in Europe, especially in Germany after Russia took hold of the east after the last World War. The politicians are certainly old enough to remember when Germany was split in two until 1989. There is a reason Russia’s integral support for the axis powers during World War II is diminished in Western history books.

Putin went on to say that the standard of living in Europe and overall social and economic stability was “being thrown onto the fire of sanctions.” The United States has been eager to sanction Russia since the war in Syria began. Obama tried but failed to kick Russia out of the SWIFT system in 2014, with Christine Lagarde offering her support. Zelensky, who rand the NYSE bell this week remotely, admitted that he needed America to place harsh sanctions on Russia to accelerate the war.

“So far, I think that the United States of America is the accelerator of the sanction policies and I think they do more than any other country. And this is the way it should be because they are the most powerful country right now. I see the same support with respect to sanctions from the United Kingdom,” Zelensky told reporters at Fox in May.

The dollar remains strong and is the last safe haven. The war in Ukraine has only promoted capital to rush into the dollar. So is Europe “being sacrificed in the name of preserving the US dictatorship in global affairs,” as Putin claims? Europe will suffer more than the United States due to these sanctions. In fact, had Biden not eliminated domestic oil production, the US would not be facing an energy crisis at all. One thing is clear – the support to Ukraine is not an act of kindness. The invisible hand is at play.

Marco Rubio Opines on Mar-a-Lago Raid Through Election Year Prism


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 7, 2022 | Sundance

Good grief, the sanctimonious puss spewing by the DC media chattering class exhibiting their alignment with big government is insufferable. The inability of any media outlet to present the reality of the DC interests with levelheaded discussion is frustrating.

The issue of compartmented (siloed) information, specifically as a tool and technique of the aloof DC system to retain control and influence, is a matter we have discussed on these pages for several years. Quite literally anything can be classified as a ‘national security interest’ in the deep state effort to retain the illusion of power over the proles, ie us. It is the exact reason why congress exempts themselves from laws and regulations written for everyone else.

That said, in this interview from this morning, Senator Marco Rubio does a good job framing the context of the recent Administrative State leaks to media (DOJ-NSD, FBI) to advance a particular narrative. Yes, it’s an election year, and Rubio returns to his roots pushing back against some of the nonsense. As noted by the Vice-Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), if the Mar-a-Lago document issues were so vital why was the Gang of Eight never briefed? WATCH:

.

JACKSON HINKLE JOINS TUCKER CARLSON ON FOX NEWS


The Dive With Jackson Hinkle Published originally on Rumple on September 6, 2022 

The Deep State now controls Congress, the White House and who every controls Brandon.

Washington Post Jumps Back onto the Foreign Nation Nuclear Secrets Angle to Mar-a-Lago Documents


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 7, 2022 | Sundance 

The Washington Post goes back to the prior narrative surrounding the Mar-a-Lago documents saying, “a document describing a foreign government’s military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities was found by FBI agents who searched former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and private club last month.”…. with Devlin Barrett adding the usual, “according to people familiar with the matter” sourcing.

Keeping in mind the traditional relationship that exists between specific media outlets and their deep state sources, the most obvious source for Devlin Barrett is the DOJ National Security Division (DOJ-NSD), FBI Counterintelligence division, or larger intelligence community (IC).  However, what is also obvious from the way the documents are described is a narrative framework to make the innocuous seem looming.

PICTURED: Chairman Kim Jong-Un reads a letter from President Donald J Trump

I would be willing to bet the “document” in question is a letter from North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-Un to President Trump about the status of the DPRK military intent and weapons.  You might remember Chairman Kim and President Trump developed a good relationship and exchanged letters related to matters of national security between North Korea and the United States.

The Intelligence Community in combination with the U.S. military industrial complex and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, did not like that level of direct diplomatic contact and discussion between President Trump and Chairman Kim.  Direct communication between the two leaders subverted the IC’s ability to shape the DPRK messaging to support an interventionist and hostile U.S. geopolitical outlook.

The professional bureaucrats in charge of guiding and shaping all United States foreign engagements do not like being cut out of the geopolitical equations.  As the former head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chuck Schumer famously said, “the intelligence community has six ways to Sunday to get back at you” if the President does not adhere and acquiesce to their power and authorities.

(more…)