In the old days, we gathered in the town square…


Posted on Rumble by Tulsi Gabbard  originally Published on April 13, 2022 

Social media platforms serve as our virtual town squares. But if they deny us our right to free speech, our democratic republic cannot survive. John Adams said, “A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty once lost is lost forever.”

German Inflation 22.6% – The End is in Sight


Armstrong Economics Blog/European Union Re-Posted Apr 13, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

The wholesale prices in Germany rose at a record pace in March. Compared to the same month the previous year, wholesale prices jumped by 22.6%, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Tuesday in Wiesbaden. This is the highest increase since calculations ever began in 1962. In February, the rate was already high at 16.2%, which has been surpassed here in March. Month-on-month, wholesale prices rose 6.9%, which is yet another record increase.

Our models are pointing to serious trouble ahead for Germany and this poking Russia is all intended as a diversion from the collapse of the European economy that is underway. The negative interest rates since 2014 have wiped out the pension funds and proven that the central bank can no longer control the economy. Add to that, the braindead COVID restrictions which have dealt a serious blow through the heart of the supply chain, and we have a recipe for total economic disaster which is being reflected in the inflation rates which then leads to civil unrest.

I have stated many times, we have the WORST possible crop of world leaders I have ever witnessed in my lifetime. There is not a single character that I would be able to sit down and have an intelligent conversation with. Germany appointing Jenifer Morgan in charge of their environmental policies and the intent was to make her their Secretary of State is just astonishing. What is her role? Tell Putin to turn off his tanks because they create CO2?

These climate zealots have managed to destroy the world economy in just two years. Never in the history of humanity has there EVER been such stupidity from those in power. They should admire their heads in the mirror every day, for if history repeats, they will be dragged from their palaces and their heads might be adorning spikes with cheers of vindication.

It is well known that the first casualty of war is the truth, and nothing sorts out the lies more than troops crossing political borders. Hence, they also say that history is written by the victors. Ever since COVID, we have witnessed a rising trend of civil unrest politicians have been working hard to deliberately create war with Russia all cloaked in their real objective of controlling the planet. Ever since this intended war to poke the Russian Bear, there’s been an acceleration of every conflicting agenda on the world stage. This has crashed the world economy, ended Globalization, and divided the world into US v THEM with the only resolution being armed conflict. Our World Leaders need a war with Russia and then will turn on China as they think threatening China with sanctions will prevent them from joining Russia against the West. This will fail – China is not that stupid. Blaming the other guy is always the way to war. They need to demonize the enemy to inspire hatred that they use to manipulate war.

Biden Calls Russia Military Operation in Ukraine “Genocide”, Commits Additional $800 Million in Weapons Today


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on April 13, 2022 | Sundance

Yesterday in Iowa, Joe Biden called the Russian military operation in Ukraine a “genocide,” which has a very specific set of legal definitions to it.

When asked if he had seen enough evidence to support that statement Biden responded:

“Yes, I called it genocide.  It has become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being — being able to be Ukrainian.  And the amount — the evidence is mounting.  It’s different than it was last week.  The — more evidence is coming out of the — literally, the horrible things that the Russians have done in Ukraine.  And we’re going to only learn more and more about the devastation. And we’ll let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies, but it sure seems that way to me.”  (link)

Several ground reports from European journalists indicate the U.S. military is running all of the combat operations inside Ukraine. A French reporter said on Euro News, “I thought I was with the international brigades, and instead I was facing the Pentagon.”  Now today, Joe Biden announces he is arbitrarily sending U.S. combat helicopters into the conflict.

[Tweet Link]

(WHITE HOUSE) – I just spoke with President Zelenskyy and shared with him that my Administration is authorizing an additional $800 million in weapons, ammunition, and other security assistance to Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military has used the weapons we are providing to devastating effect. As Russia prepares to intensify its attack in the Donbas region, the United States will continue to provide Ukraine with the capabilities to defend itself.

This new package of assistance will contain many of the highly effective weapons systems we have already provided and new capabilities tailored to the wider assault we expect Russia to launch in eastern Ukraine. These new capabilities include artillery systems, artillery rounds, and armored personnel carriers. I have also approved the transfer of additional helicopters. In addition, we continue to facilitate the transfer of significant capabilities from our Allies and partners around the world. 
 
The steady supply of weapons the United States and its Allies and partners have provided to Ukraine has been critical in sustaining its fight against the Russian invasion. It has helped ensure that Putin failed in his initial war aims to conquer and control Ukraine. We cannot rest now. As I assured President Zelenskyy, the American people will continue to stand with the brave Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom. (link)

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki was asked about this escalation earlier today:

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The Biden administration is all-in for this Ukraine proxy war, taking all actions to highlight a zero-sum position.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller Predicts We Have Reached Peak Inflation, Here Is What they Will Not Say


Posted originally on the conservative three house on April 13, 2022 | Sundance

Fed Governor Christopher Waller appeared on CNBC to announce we have reached peak inflation, and things will moderate from here.  All of these fed moves are political moves, not monetary policy-based moves. Here’s the thing they will never admit to the non-institutional investor.

The fed has been painfully slow to raise interest rates on purpose.  They did not make a mistake.  The reason for their delay is they needed to wait for the beginning of the first 2021 inflation wave to cycle through before they raised interest rates.  It’s a game of mirrors that almost no one sees.  WATCH:

The rate of inflation will drop once the statistical year-over-year comparisons reach the same moment in the prior year.  The fed will raise interest rates in May and then use the June inflation rate decline as a false talking point to highlight how their policy is working.  They wait for May, because they need to wait for the calendar, nothing else.  Inflation is measured as the percentage of change from the prior year.  By waiting until the inflation is measured against the first wave of rising prices, it will give the illusion of a decline in inflation.

So that’s why they waited.  But here’s the worse part….

All of these U.S. Fed monetary policymakers are in full ideological alignment with the global and central bankers.  They are all following the same Build Back Better agenda and policy instructions.

All of bankers know the shift from ‘dirty energy’, coal, oil, natural gas, will create inflation.  All of the bankers know there is no economic bridge within the plan to shift from oil to their unicorn dust.  All of the bankers know that shutting down oil exploration as a matter of western unified policy will, as a factual matter, destroy the economic systems that rely on energy….. which is to say everything.

All of these bankers know the severity of the inflation crisis this energy shift creates.   None of them do not know.

Everything they are doing is coordinated to assist the climate change agenda.

That’s what this is all about.

Everything is politically motivated.

CDC Announces 15 Day Extension to Federal Transportation Mask Mandate


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on April 13, 2022 | Sundance

The CDC announced today {SEE HERE} they are extending the federal emergency order requiring masks on planes, trains and public transportation for a period of 15 days, ending May 3rd.

The mask mandate was set to expire April 18. However, the Biden administration will keep the requirement in place for another 15 days under the justification of a rise in COVID-19 cases driven by the new BA.2 sublineage of the Omicron variant.

(Press Release) – […] The CDC Mask Order remains in effect while CDC assesses the potential impact of the rise of cases on severe disease, including hospitalizations and deaths, and healthcare system capacity. TSA will extend the security directive and emergency amendment for 15 days, through May 3, 2022. (link)

There are contradicting claims on the benefits and/or futility of wearing masks to avoid spreading the COVID-19 virus.  Several scientific studies have found no significant benefit; however, the theatrics of mask wearing is now a litmus test for global virtue.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has recently announced a new indoor mask mandate for their extended metropolitan area.  Fauci soundbite below.

Ukraine v Russian Empire


Armstrong Economics Blog/Ukraine Re-Posted Apr 13, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: We elected Zelensky who promised to end the civil war. It looks like the West is telling him not to compromise and let the Russian section go.

DH (from Ukraine)

ANSWER: On Sunday, CBS News program “60 Minutes” aired an interview with Zelensky. I believe Zelensky is still claiming evidence of Russian war crimes, saying: “We are defending the ability of a person to live in the modern world.” Despite what the press says, this is a Proxy War against Russia and the US, along with the EU and Britain. They are quite happy to use the Ukrainian people as cannon fodder. There is no possible way all of these countries would allow Zelensky to address their own people UNLESS this was a Proxy War.

The Dnieper River which runs 1,423 miles and today is the border between Belarus and Russia, was also the border of Ukraine with Russia during the Tsarist Empire at the time of Mikhail I (1613-1645) of the Romanov Dynasty. Zelensky’s claims that Putin has invaded a sovereign nation are debatable. Eastern Ukraine today was assigned to it for administrative purposes during the USSR. It was never Ukrainian territory. It is very hard to see why it is worth killing your own people for a territory that has been occupied by Russians for centuries.

This is obviously a Proxy War, and despite whatever the press says, the West is using the Ukrainian people as the Vanguard in this battle against Russia. They cannot declare war on Russia legally, so they have used Ukraine. Zelensky seems happy to accommodate, blaming civilian deaths on Putin when he shared responsibility for this war.

In Crimea, the population is predominantly Russian and Tatars where there is a population of about 250,000, accounting for about 10% of the total.

Stop Blaming Putin for Inflation


Armstrong Economics Blog/Inflation Re-Posted Apr 13, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

The Consumer Price Index soared 8.5% in March year-on-year, according to the report released by the Labor Department on Tuesday. Prices have not been this inflated since Reagan was in power in December 1981.

Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke set the target level of inflation at 2% back in 2012. Once the Federal Reserve began pursuing a 2% level of inflation in 2012, that standard was soon set as the target for numerous central banks across the world. This all changed when the world collectively agreed to stop spinning for the coronavirus. As you can see, median inflation in the US was declining prior to 2020.

The 2% level remained in place for some time until they realized that inflation was not “transitory” and artificially low rates had diminished the central bank’s ability to control the situation. Guidelines and restrictions were lifted chaotically. The US government continued to spiral into debt by adopting new socialistic spending programs. Unemployment levels are just now recovering three years later, but the damage from COVID cannot be ignored. While wages are increasing, inflation has reached such an unsustainable level that everyone’s buying power has decreased.

By August of 2020, the Federal Reserve carefully changed its language:

“Notably, the Fed changed its language on inflation, replacing its 2 percent inflation target commitment, and instead said it will “[seek] to achieve inflation that averages 2 percent over time.”

Inflation made a notable uptick in April 2021 (4.2%) at a pace not seen since the Great Recession. By the end of Q4 2021, Chairman Powell admitted inflation was not “transitory,” and underplayed the situation that would unfold. We are now in the midst of a supply chain crisis, energy crisis, and wage-price spiral. Every variable of this situation contributes to inflation on top of a government that does not take measures to address any crisis.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tried to do damage control a day before the report was released. “We expect March CPI headline inflation to be extraordinarily elevated due to Putin’s price hike,” Psaki said. The numbers do not lie. Inflation was on the rise well before Putin engaged with Ukraine. Government and central bank mismanagement have caused the current situation. Powell admitted they should have moved a bit quicker, but Biden remains wholly unaware of the problem and continues to worsen matters with his policies that are intended to destroy America before Build[ing] Back Better.

Inflation Rate Jumps to 8.5 Percent as Energy, Food and Gasoline Prices Skyrocket


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on April 12, 2022 | Sundance 

This is not going to be news to CTH readers and intellectually honest analysts.  The Bureau of Labor and Statistics has released the March consumer pricing data [DATA HERE] showing the recent surge in energy, gasoline and food costs that we have all felt.

The monthly increase of 1.3% brings the annual rate of inflation to 8.5 percent year-over-year.  However, the details tell the exact story we have been outlining for well over six months.   This is the second wave of inflation being recorded.  Grocery store prices (food at home), energy prices, and gasoline prices are all driving the inflation rate. [BLS Table 1]

Again, I modified Table-1 to take out the noise.  The data shows what we have felt for the past two months.  Working class families are feeling the pinch as their wages cannot keep pace with the increase in prices on products that are a priority.  Food, housing, gasoline, energy.

If we were using the old CPI method for analysis, current inflation would be well above 20%.

That said, there are issues also inherent and visible in the data for the non-food and energy segments, what I would call the durable goods side.  First, we are seeing the beginning of the durable good contraction getting quantified as we have previously discussed.   The prices for used vehicles, electronics, appliances and other non-critical durable goods are now flatlining, or even dropping in price.

Every indication within the economy indicates this is being caused by a demand contraction.  People are not purchasing durable goods because their disposable income is gone.  This lack of demand also shows up in wage rate suppression.  Despite high employment, wages are not rising – in part because there is excess productivity in the durable good economy.

You will note from Table-2 [available here] that food away from home, restaurant food, is not climbing as high as food at the grocery store (0.3% -vs- 1.5%).   Restaurants are trying to keep prices down and their profit margins are being eroded.  They are in a tough place, because if restaurants raise prices, they may lose customers who are already feeling pain in their checkbooks.  However, they cannot hold out much longer before raising prices, because the price increases are permanent.

The good news is the March data appears to quantify the apex of the second wave rate of inflation.  The rate of increase in food, fuel and energy will now start to moderate and slow down.  The prices may, likely will, keep going up, but they will go up less dramatically than they have in the past six months.  This price plateau will hopefully remain in place until late summer, that’s when the next harvest food costs will hit in Wave-3.

On the durable goods, what we will see now is a typical demand side issue.  Price increases for durable goods will quickly, if they are not already, be less connected to material costs and more connected to demand.   Obviously, the cost to manufacture, create, produce, transport and deliver durable goods is still experiencing upward pressure due to raw materials.  However, the demand variable will now enter more dominantly.

With wage growth meek and prices still rising on essentials like food, housing, energy and gasoline, demand for non-essential durable goods will drop. The demand decline should naturally put downward price pressure on appliances, electronics, used vehicles, etc.  Unfortunately, this also contracts the overall economy, creates unemployment, and indicates “stagflation.”

(MSM) – […] The consumer price index leaped 8.5% annually, the fastest pace since December 1981, the Labor Department said on Tuesday, likely cementing Federal Reserve plans for an unusually large half-point interest rate hike early next month. That increase is up from 7.9% in February and inflation now has notched new 40-year highs for five straight months. (more)

We will need to watch the service side closely now to see if consumers start to lessen travel, entertainment, and other service side expenses.

Protect your family.  Be frugal, wise and smart with expenses.  However, do not trouble yourself with dark imaginings.

If you are like most here, you have prepared yourself with commonsense actions and you are a doer who fixes problems, not a naysayer who sits around mulling over them.  Your family, kids and/or grandkids as well as your community can benefit from wise, albeit sometimes stern, counsel.  Stand strong, stand firm and stand resolute.

All of these challenges are simply that, challenges.  Work any problem as it arises, including for the kids.  And also remember, God is in charge, not you. So, listen to his instructions.  Listen to that instinct he buried within you.  Draw upon the strength that a loving God constantly provides.

Be a vessel for those who need hope.  Be a guiding light for those who feel distressed. Be cheerfully strong among everyone around you, and thankful for all the kindness you experience.  If you get stuck, start giving….

Ultimately, everything is a choice.  So, be the lighthouse, not the rocks.

P

True the Vote, Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips, Outline Details of 2020 Ballot Harvesting Process


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

Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips from ‘True the Vote’, sat down with Charlie Kirk for a lengthy interview and discussion about the 2020 ballot harvesting process that took place in multiple states.  {Direct Rumble Link Here}

True the Vote worked through a painstakingly massive data file (2 petabytes) of cell phone use to identify “ballot mules,” people who were paid by political activist groups to gather massive numbers of mail-in ballots, take them to a central facility and then drop them off in various ballot collection boxes in specific states, specific counties and approximately 71 specific precincts.  The trackable cell phone data was then matched with CCTV records to identify and document the ballot harvesting activity that took place.

The results of the data were shared with various public officers, state and federal law enforcement in an effort to document the potentially unlawful activity.  Unfortunately, the political clubs (RNC and DNC) have largely ignored the story and avoided participating in any process that would use the information to bolster security efforts for the 2022 election.  It’s a lengthy discussion with detail, but well worth the time.  WATCH:

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Take out your cell phone. Go to where you would make a call.  Type in *#06# and watch what happens.  That’s the individual cell phone data, the tracking information, that was purchased and utilized by True the Vote to create the mapping of activity.  A fascinating interview.

Another interesting aspect within the interview is the strong likelihood that after the 2020 election, federal law enforcement went through the work of obtaining cell phone tracking data of Trump supporters, then set up an electronic perimeter, a real time surveillance and monitoring system for the January 6th DC protest.  Any pre-selected cell phone that tripped the created electronic fence, would then ping the feds.  The cell phone would be matched to the physical identity of the owner, and that explains the speed of the feds to identify their J6 targets.

Reports of Finland and Sweden Likely to Join NATO Highlight Global Financial Cleaving Underway


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

The Financial Times is reporting {link here, paywall} that Finland and Sweden are likely to join the NATO alliance.  According to the reporting {also in Reuters} the application from Finland is expected in June and Sweden shortly thereafter.

Adding Sweden and Finland would be a major escalation in both the western conflict and provocations against Russia, obviously, justified by western leaders as a consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  However, in the big analysis, the global financial system appears to be the larger issue.

From the outset of the Russian military operation into Ukraine, it was obvious the western alliance was intent on an almost ‘all or nothing‘ confrontation with Russia. The only limits to what the alliance was willing to do was trigger a nuclear showdown through direct military action against Russia to protect the non-NATO country of Ukraine.

The NATO and western government response was a fast system of financial sanctions intended to cripple the Russian economy.  However, Russia responded to those actions with countermoves on the trade front, beginning to establish the first ever non-Euro and non-dollar-based trade system.  In essence, a financial trading system created by the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

Therefore, if we think about the current status of geopolitics and international finance, the NATO response now involves a priority of controlling and protecting the previously established financial structures of global trade.  A NATO effort to avoid the cleaving is now underway as an outcome of the sanctions against Russia.

As one person put it, “This is a fight for the dollar as reserve currency. Imagine trying to maintain our debt when nobody wants treasury notes. If BRICS succeed, US collapses as an economic power. On the other hand, if we win, Klaus Schwab’s nutty world wins.”  I tend to agree with this outlook because it parallels something we see domestically in the U.S.

In the United States, the people behind Biden and the extreme leftists are rapidly advancing their ideological quest toward the “Green New Deal.”

Coal, oil, and gas exploration/development have been slowed, stymied and halted as the administration chases clean renewable energy goals.

However, the current problem is there’s no intermediate system of energy production to support their push.  This is driving energy costs through the roof, and that problem is magnifying inflation created by prior spending.

During their collective pandemic response, western governments all followed the blueprint laid out by the World Economic Forum (WEF), which was, in essence, to shut down human activities, lock down economies and then spend massively to fill the void.  Almost all western leaders followed this exact advice and spent tens-of-trillions in direct subsidies to people and businesses during their lockdowns and COVID mitigation efforts.

At the end of this interventionist rainbow, the collective was instructed to “build back better,” where the economies they destroyed would be rebuilt through the priority prism of ‘climate change.’  However, just like the absence of any U.S. energy transition, the WEF program also did not have a mechanism to bridge the change from ‘dirty’ to ‘clean’ energy.

All of the western government spending during their COVID plan has created two big issues (crisis):

♦ First, massive inflation in every nation who followed the government spending approach. Not coincidentally, the national rate of inflation in every nation directly correlates to the scale of their spending in relationship to their GDP.   Global inflation is raging amid the nations that locked down and then subsidized the missing economic activity with government spending.

♦ The second crisis is simple.  All of that unsustainable spending has created massive government debt, that has to be paid back.  The debt level within the western nations has skyrocketed.

However, if you take the outlook that WEF instructions were based on forethought this inflation and debt was going to be a natural consequence, a crisis created by following the plan, then it’s also likely the way out of the debt was going to be a global digital currency.  How else could the World Economic Forum members possibly expect to pay for their: (a) current spend level, and (b) grand “build back better” agenda?

That global banking system and multinational financial outlook puts a very important context to how the west would look at the BRICS financial trade mechanisms as a threat.

Additionally, if this financial and banking issue is the true motive of western government, then suddenly a lot of our internal conservative political pro-Ukraine anti-Putin commentary starts to make sense.

People have wondered why folks like Mark Levin, Ben Shapiro and other conservative voices have been pounding the table demanding U.S. military involvement and more punitive actions against Vladimir Putin.  In the U.S., people have wondered why suddenly a major section of the Republican establishment have aligned with the position of the WEF, UN, NATO, World Bank, George Soros, Hillary Clinton, etc.

If you accept the global banking system and international financial system is at risk, due to the strategies of Russia to avoid the sanctions, then suddenly the severe position of those voices makes sense.  Follow the money.

Arguably, this global economic problem (debt and inflation) was directly caused by the collective western government response to COVID.  However, now there’s another aspect that makes the debt and inflation seem small by comparison.  If there was an alternative to currencies deliberately devalued by the collective western approach to government spending, wouldn’t you want to own that?

If the financial systems, central banks, and global financial mechanisms are fractured by an entirely new system to pay for trade, i.e. the BRICS approach, we end up with two distinctly different currencies (still undetermined) to pay for trade.

This outlook puts Sweden and Finland essentially in a position of choosing banking sides.  NATO supporting the maintenance of Euros and Dollars, and the BRICS group, representing almost two thirds of the world population, fighting to go in another direction.

That is the bigger conflict.

WEF -vs- BRICS over trade currency….

…. is also NATO -vs- Russia

…. is also Climate Change -vs- Oil use.

…. is also Globalism -vs- Nationalism

…. is also Feudalism -vs- Freedom