Category One Nation Under Blackmail

Jan 16 2023

Roman Gods & Religion Was Not as it Might Seem


Armstrong Blog/Ancient History Re-Posted Jan 16, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: You mentioned that Rome actually believed in the freedom of religion. I am correct then that the multitude of gods was the result of that? And you are saying they were not pagans in the sense that the Christians portrayed?

GH

ANSWER: Yes. They allowed all their conquered states to worship whoever they believed. Yet the fascinating thing is that these were more like Christians envisioned saints insofar as each was in charge of something. The Romans believed in an afterlife, but they did not believe that all these “gods” were actually those who created them. For example, you would go to Posiden if you were Greek to plead for a safe voyage and if you were Roman you would go to Neptune. Neptune is the Roman sea and freshwater god, while Poseidon is the Greek god of the sea. So there were subtle differences where Neptune was in charge of even lakes while the Greek Poseidon looked over the sea exclusively.

Here is a rare coin of Philip I (244-249AD) struck in Phrygia. The Reverse shows the story of Noah with his wife emerging from the famous Ark. This coin was sold at auction by Leu Numismatik AG in Winterthur, Switzerland for 240,000 Swiss francs. Even the story of Jesus was not so strange for Zeus was said to have sent his son to earth to help mankind. His name was Hercules.

The Christians called everyone else pagans. But these various “gods” were never seen as the person who created the earth and humans.  Athena was merely the “goddess” who was the protector of Athens. She did not create the world or humans. So the definition of what was a “pagan” is not exactly as the early Christians presented. This is also why so many then converted to Christianity for those to whom they prayed were never seen as the “almighty” for created everything.

Jan 6 2023

Bidenomics – Amazon Announces 18,000 Layoffs, and They Are Not Alone – Imports and Exports Drop


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

That slow grinding creak you hear in the background; that’s the U.S. economic engine running without oil and beginning that slowdown phase just before it stutters and stalls completely.  Alas, the pretending continues…

As noted by the Wall Street Journal, an economic gaslighting institution with a central mission to maintain pretenses, “business surveys show U.S. factory activity declined in December, the Institute for Supply Management and S&P Global both said this week. Separately, S&P Global said Thursday that U.S. services-sector businesses reported a decline in output for the third month running in December.” This comes as “U.S. imports dropped more, by 6.4% on the month, as Americans cut back on holiday-related purchases, including items from other countries such as computers and autos.”

Keep in mind, November retail sales—which included consumer spending at stores, online and at restaurants—fell 0.6% from the prior month for their biggest decline of 2022, according to the Commerce Department. Manufacturing output declined in November as well, the Fed reported, while U.S. home sales fell for a record 10th straight month.

Into this mix of economic metrics, driven by a collapse in disposable consumer income and high energy prices, now we begin to see the number one business expense being curtailed.

(Market Watch) […] Amazon.com Inc layoffs will affect more than 18,000 employees, the highest reduction tally revealed in the past year at a major technology company as the industry pares back amid economic uncertainty.

The Seattle-based company in November said that it was beginning layoffs among its corporate workforce, with cuts concentrated on its devices business, recruiting and retail operations. At the time, The Wall Street Journal reported the cuts would total about 10,000 people. Thousands of those cuts began last year. (more)

Amazon is not alone, “Vimeo said Wednesday that it will cut its workforce by 11% as part of a broader effort to reduce costs, citing deteriorating economic conditions” (link).  Additionally, Salesforce Inc. is laying off 10% of its workforce and reducing its office space in certain markets, extending a brutal period for tech job cuts into the new year.”

We can anticipate more reports like this from Reuters, “Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s quarterly profit will likely plunge 58% to its lowest in six years as a global economic downturn saps demand for electronic devices and clouds the outlook for the memory chip industry.  With consumers and businesses reducing spending and investment in the face of high inflation and climbing interest rates, smartphone makers and other clients held back memory chip orders, while smartphones sold for less as demand suffered, analysts said.”

Electronics, cars, furniture, durable goods of all types and varieties are plummeting in sales.  Consumers are being squeezed by inflation, housing, energy and food costs, and spending priorities are being reevaluated yet again.  Compare the impact on ‘real wages’ -vs- the 2007/2008 economic crisis.

From a purely fraudulent accounting perspective, however, the drop in U.S. imports will help boost calculations of U.S. economic growth in the fourth quarter because trade deficits subtract from overall output, or gross domestic product.

U.S. consumers not purchasing imported goods makes the health of the U.S. economy look less bad; but it’s an illusion akin to smiles in the bread lines.

In other economic news, I did some real estate analysis over the past several days and it’s safe to say there is a steep downward trajectory in the data I use.   Again, home values are nuanced on a regional level, but my model is pretty close in averaging.

If buyers do not absorb the seller’s loss in equity (which no one should ever do), in my SWFL area a $450k home listing is going to sell around $380k at the high side (actual value based on economic indicators and buyer ability).   That rough estimate, while slightly offset due to general inflation, should trend nationally over the next 12 to 18 months.   That means macro home prices dropping around 15 to 20% nationally over the next 12 months.

If you are a home buyer, put your offers around 15 to 20% below current asking price without any emotional attachment to it.  Don’t flinch, remain ambivalent and walk away if refused.   The recovery to current price will take around a decade.  If you are a seller and get an offer within -10% of asking, consider yourself lucky and jump on it.

Jan 3 2023

USVI Attorney General Who Filed Lawsuit Against JPMorgan Chase Over Epstein Crimes Has Been Terminated


Posted originally on the CTH on January 2, 2023 | Sundance 

After successfully settling a $105 million lawsuit against the estate of Jeffrey Epstein in early December, U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise N. George then filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase saying the “bank knowingly provided and pulled the levers through which recruiters and victims were paid.”   

Attorney General Denise N George has just been fired.

(US Virgin Islands) – Attorney General Denise George was terminated on Saturday after serving four years with the Bryan administration, the Consortium can confirm.

The decision by Governor Albert Bryan to fire the A.G. came just days after Bloomberg News revealed that Ms. George in her capacity as V.I. attorney general had filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase — the largest bank in the United States and the world’s largest bank by market capitalization — without first informing Governor Bryan of such a major action, said a person with knowledge of the matter.

The lawsuit claims JPMorgan Chase facilitated convicted felon Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of women and girls, alleging that the bank should have known about Epstein’s illegal activity and as part of its anti-money laundering procedures, should have reported their client to authorities.

George accused the bank of turning a blind eye to the sex trafficking operations that went on on Epstein’s private island in the USVI, Little St. James. (read more)

AG George is fired from her position as USVI AG after filing a lawsuit against JPMorgan.  Where did Joe Biden go on vacation?  The U.S. Virgin Islands.

BACKSTORY:  It would appear the Attorney General for the U.S. Virgin Islands, Denise N. George, has a strategic map to target those institutions and entities associated with Jeffrey Epstein.  AG George appears to be following the money, building her cases, and sequentially targeting the system that enabled Epstein.

Earlier this month USVI AG Denise George announced a $105 million settlement with the estate of Jeffrey Epstein [link].  The USVI case against Epstein was based on anti-criminal enterprise, sex trafficking, child exploitation and fraud laws of the Virgin Islands.  We can assume AG George gained a lot of information in the discovery phase deep inside the Epstein finances that ultimately led to the settlement.

Following the settlement with the estate of Epstein, Attorney General George now announces a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase for “knowingly” enabling the sex trafficking operation of Jeffrey Epstein.  AG George is specifically saying JPMorgan Chase was fully aware of what Epstein was doing.

NEW YORK – The U.S. Virgin Islands on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against banking giant JPMorgan Chase, accusing the Wall Street corporation of turning a “blind eye” toward the conduct of the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George said in a complaint filed in a Manhattan District Court that JPMorgan Chase facilitated the trafficking of minors for sexual abuse at the hands of Epstein.

The bank knowingly “provided and pulled the levers through which recruiters and victims were paid,” George wrote.

George further alleged in the complaint that the banking giant ignored red flags for years as it provided banking services to Epstein and his affiliated companies and entities, often benefiting from deposits into accounts.

The attorney general said JPMorgan Chase was “indispensable to the operation and concealment of the Epstein trafficking enterprise.”

“Upon information and belief, JP Morgan turned a blind eye to evidence of human trafficking over more than a decade because of Epstein’s own financial footprint,” George alleged, “and because of the deals and clients that Epstein brought and promised to bring to the bank.”

The attorney general’s office filed three counts against the banking firm, including a charge of participating in sex trafficking, and is asking for a jury trial. (read more)

Very interesting approach being taken….  Following the money.

AG Denise George also seems uniquely qualified:

...”Attorney George served as an Assistant Attorney General and trial attorney in the criminal, civil, family, juvenile, White Collar and public corruption divisions of the Virgin Islands Department of Justice for a period of over 18 years.  During her tenure, she successfully prosecuted a full spectrum of violent crimes, including murder, manslaughter, rape, domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse.  As a member of the Child Abuse Task Force, she co-authored the Virgin Islands’ first criminal child abuse and neglect statute.  In the Civil Division, she represented the V.I. government in civil lawsuits filed against and on behalf of the government.

Attorney George also served for several years as the Director of the White Collar Crime and Public Corruption Division.  During that time, she managed the division and successfully prosecuted complex white collar crimes of embezzlement, forgery, fraud, racketeering and public corruption.” (more)

… And, they fired her !

Dec 28 2022

Exposing This State’s Secret Enemies List (Pt. 2) | Harmeet Dhillon | POLITICS | Rubin Report


The Rubin Report Published originally on Rumble on December 28, 2022

Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” talks to candidate for RNC Chair Harmeet Dhillon about how the Twitter files have confirmed the suspicions of the Center for American Liberty’s lawsuit against Twitter; how she exposed the state of California’s secret enemies list; why she is representing Rogan O’Handley (aka DC Draino) in his fight against big tech censorship; how Republicans dropped the ball in dealing with big tech regulation; how section 230 of the communications decency act needs to be reformed; and why we need a social media bill of rights.

Dec 27 2022

Sen. Cruz: “deeply disturbing” special counsel aiming to indict Trump


One America News Network Published originally on Rumble on December 26, 2022

Texas Senator Ted Cruz warns Attorney General Merrick Garland’s handpicked special counsel to probe former President Trump, Jack Smith, has a history of targeting Tea Party activists. One America’s John Hines has more from Capitol Hill.

Dec 27 2022

The Government Unconstitutional Manipulation of News


Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption Re-Posted Dec 27, 2022 by Martin Armstron

Perhaps you will recall when Edward Snowden exposed the truth that the government was spying on American citizens, they called him a traitor and want to imprison him for life or even execute him for revealing that the government no longer complies with the Constitution.

Absolutely NOTHING came out of that and the government claimed it was Snowden who was risking national security. Now with everything coming out from Twitter, the same thing is taking place at YouTube, Google, Microsoft, you name it. That little backdoor that Microsoft uses with these endless updates to see what you are searching supposedly for target advertising, you can bet your life that also includes the very same scheme.

And these are the people pushing us into World War and they are desperate to misrepresent absolutely everything. Zelensky is destroying his own country and he will live comfortably with a golden deal with the USA when the final collapse unfolds in Ukraine. These people have no regard for human rights no less our constitutional rights. They think they will rule the world, but our computer shows they will destroy everything and they will not retain power. But naturally, they do not want to hear that.

Dec 26 2022

There is No Defense to Hypersonic Missiles & Russia’s Plans to Expand


Armstrong Economics Blog/Economics Re-Posted Dec 26, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Russia announced yesterday that it will increase its military strength from 1 million to 1.5 million. The Western Press keeps putting out the propaganda that that this is all because Russia has lost momentum and many soldiers in Ukraine. I reported before that sources from Ukraine, not Russia, put the death toll at over 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers. That was also in the draft speech of the head of the EU, but it was removed to keep up the image that Ukraine is winning.

What is not being said here is that Poland has been instructed by the US to increase its military from 100,000 to 250,000 making it the largest force in NATO. It is only a 14-hour drive from Warsaw to Moscow. This in addition to NATO’s plans to incorporate Finland and Sweden, has also played a role in this decision.

The Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu declared that the country needs a force of 1.5 million “to guarantee the fulfillment of tasks to ensure Russia’s security.” China has about 2 million and the USA has about 1.4 million. North Korea has 1,280,000 active with another 600,000 in reserve. Belarus has an army of only 62,000 with 344,750 in reserve.

Currently in Russia, the regular draft, calls up 120,000 to 140,000 men twice a year for a one-year tour of compulsory service. What is becoming very obvious is that the West wants war. There is no desire for peace whatsoever. This has changed the game. The Western Press keeps just putting out propaganda about Ukraine winning, while it is ignoring the mobilization of NATO which is clearly anticipating war. This is not going to be just about Ukraine as we head into 2023. You have to be blind not to see that the West is clearly preparing for war. This is what Russia is now responding to. With Poland raising its army to 250,000, that presents a serious threat to Russia for the exceeds the active personnel in Belarus.

On top of all of this, Putin has wisely instructed that they should be studying how the weapons the US has been handing Ukraine and to regard these as valuable lessons to be learned during the fighting to modernize the armed forces. Thus, Ukraine has been an experiment to study the weapons systems of one’s opponent on both sides.

Putin also made it clear that Russia will start to deploy more hypersonic weapons, noting that the first warship equipped with state-of-the-art Zircon hypersonic missiles will be commissioned by the navy next month. There is no question that defense against Russia’s hypersonic weapons is not something that may be possible. Russia has been using some hypersonic missiles in Ukraine. It is believed among our sources that this may have been more to intimidate NATO and the United States. Obviously, the conventional wisdom has been that there is just no effective defense against hypersonic weapons. Hence, their use has been to intimidate the USA and NATO, but this does not seem to have succeeded.

The USA is exploring how to defend itself against hypersonic missiles. One theory is the exploration of “boundary layer phenomenology,” which is the idea that disrupting the airflow surrounding a hypersonic projectile may throw it off course. Disrupting the airflow may send it off course, but it will still hit something. The other hope is to deploy lower-flying networked satellites in an effort to establish a continuous targeting track of an approaching hypersonic weapon.

The reason there is no defense is that a hypersonic projectile will travel much too fast to track them because it will move from one radar aperture to another, making it virtually impossible to establish a consistent targeting track or lock.

Meanwhile, our brilliant world leaders are playing with everyone’s life all because they prefer war rather than reform whereby they might lose power.

Dec 24 2022

The Crumbling of the United States


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Dec 23, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: I just want to say that Socrates was the only correct forecast for the elections. It said the Republicans would take the House but not the Senate and there would be no red wave. I appreciate the nonbiased views that are refreshing.

Keep up the good work

Pat

REPLY: If we put aside personal desires and the fact that people tend to judge others by themselves, just looking at the numbers will always reveal the truth. What is taking place is propaganda and the further division of the country. Just look at these charts which are the total number of seats on Capitol Hill occupied by each party as a percentage of the total. You can see that the Democrats are well below the Downtrend Line and the Republicans just edged ever so slightly above their 50.65% against 50.57%.

When I have warned that Socrates is forecasting this is the fall of socialism, this is not my personal opinion. The Democrats have been losing ground. Holding a majority and ramrodding through their agenda with less than a 51% holding is seriously destroying the country and it is creating such a deep fissure that there will be no choice but to watch the United States crumble. There are plenty of unheard separatist movements in the United States. There is a big one in California to break up the state, but there was also a movement that wanted to separate from the United States if Trump was reelected. Then since 2014, there has been a growing movement to separate New York City that wants nothing to do with New York City. Even going back to 2012, there were petitions involving 36 states where people wanted to secede from the United States. All of these tensions will increase dramatically starting in 2023 into the capitulation by 2032.