The Fed Does Not Back Down


Armstrong Economics Blog/Interest Rates Re-Posted Mar 22, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: Marty, it’s refreshing to have Socrates that is totally unbiased. It projected continued rising rates into next year and the Fed just proved its point. It is not backing down.

Thank you. Socrates is very enlightening.

GS

ANSWER: I know there were a lot of talks that surely the Fed had to lower rates and start QE all over again. Most of those sorts of comments have no real experience in markets. They just mouth a lot of hot air. Perhaps instead of putting masks on cows, we should do that on the shills. The Federal Reserve had no choice but to raise interest rates although it was just by a quarter point. Not to do so and the Fed would lose all credibility and the market would then not take them seriously.

You MUST understand that this crisis has unfolded because too many banks were wrapped up in WOKE culture and hired people who were UNQUALIFIED to run risk management. Some were more excited about cross-dressing as a woman and winning the Rainbow award in banking than actually protecting the bank from the risk of rising interest rates.

In a statement released at the conclusion of the meeting, Fed officials acknowledged that recent financial market turmoil is weighing on inflation and the economy, though they expressed confidence in the overall system. “The US banking system is sound and resilient.” They had no choice but to make this statement.

“Recent developments are likely to result in tighter credit conditions for households and businesses and to weigh on economic activity, hiring and inflation. The extent of these effects is uncertain.”

The Fed is saying that their rise in rates will in fact reduce inflation and economic activity. The banks have this yield curve risk and that is different from the 2007-2009 crisis where the debt was based on fraud. Here, the debt is US Treasuries so they are not going bankrupt from that aspect, but it is a liquidity crisis.

If these people who scream loudly but know nothing really about finance keep up the nonsense, they will only add to the uncertainly. This inflation is accelerating thanks to the war.

Bombshell 2018 Letter From Cohen Attorney to FEC *SHOULD* Collapse Pretext of Alvin Bragg Nonsense Case Against Donald Trump


Posted originally on the CTH on March 22, 2023 | Sundance

A letter from lawyers representing Michael Cohen to the Federal Election Commission in 2018 should end the case being attempted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.  However, given the highly political nature of the DA bringing the case, it is possible the ideologically driven witch hunt will continue.

The 2018 letter states that Michael Cohen made a payment to Stormy Daniels without any consultation with Donald Trump.  This undermines the cornerstone of the prosecution’s case.

(Via Daily Mail) The bombshell document, exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com, could throw a wrench in the works of prosecutors pursuing criminal charges against Trump over the payments. Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and the star witness in the case over which Trump reportedly faces imminent arrest, claims that Trump got him to pay $130,000 to Daniels to keep her quiet about her alleged affair with the real estate mogul, just days before the 2016 presidential election.

[…] But in a February 8, 2018 letter to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Cohen’s attorney Stephen Ryan wrote: ‘Mr. Cohen used his own personal funds’, and that ‘Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed Mr. Cohen for the payment directly or indirectly.’

The letter was written in response to an FEC probe launched after complaints of campaign finance violations, lodged by Paul Ryan and the organization Common Cause.

‘In a private transaction in 2016, before the U.S. presidential election, Mr. Cohen used his own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford,’ Cohen’s lawyer, who worked at McDermott Will & Emery, wrote.

‘Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed Mr. Cohen for the payment directly or indirectly.

‘Contrary to the allegations in the complaint, which are entirely speculative, neither Mr. Cohen nor Essential Consultants LLC made any in-kind contributions to Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., or any other presidential campaign committee. (more)

President Trump responded to the letter surfacing, via Truth Social:

The Banking & Debt Crisis Continues


Armstrong Economics Blog/Banking Crisis Re-Posted Mar 22, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The banking crisis continues and it is impacting funds that have been buying bonds. Allianz, a subsidiary of Pimco, is writing off countless millions with Credit Suisse bonds. The banking crisis has been the result of artificially low-interest rates for far too long and banks were used to free money and buy long-term bonds all because they were making their money on the spread. Now that rates are rising, their risk management was effectively nonexistent, and thus the losses and widespread.

The Allianz subsidiary Pimco is one of the largest asset managers in the world. They have to now write off a loss in Credit Suisse bonds and it’s ain’t over yet as we head into April 10th.

White House Neocon Spokesman Admits – They Do Not Want Peace in Ukraine


Armstrong Economics Blog/Ukraine Re-Posted Mar 22, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

I have had two employees from Ukraine – Kiev and Donetsk. The one from Kiev just mouths the standard Ukrainian propaganda. If they give up the Donbas, they will then want all of Ukraine. The UK is deeply involved walking hand and hand with Biden into world war III. They have clearly crossed the Rubicon here and for no justification. Had they simply honored the Minsk Agreement and let the Donbas, which is ethnically Russian, separate from a regime that hates their guts the war would be over in 5 minutes.

Instead, Britain appears to have been planning to give Ukraine nuclear weapons with depleted Uranium. Putin has come out and warned the UK that “the delivery and use of depleted uranium missiles by the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be perceived as an attack against Russia with a weapon that has a ‘nuclear component’.” Putin elaborated:

“Today it became known that the United Kingdom, through the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Defense of the country, announced the supply of not only tanks to Ukraine but also shells with depleted uranium. It seems that the West really decided to fight Russia in the last Ukrainian not with words, but with deeds Russia will be forced to react once the collective West starts using weapons with a nuclear component.”

There are some who believe that Ukraine should just be nuked. Give the people 2 weeks to flee to Poland or Germany, and then nuke the region and make it unlivable. That is basically the legion that Rome certainly razed the city entirely, but there are no contemporary sources stating that the Romans salted the land to prevent the city of Carthage from rising a fourth time. The Greek writer from the 1st century BC, Diodorus Siculus, informs us that the city had been razed and Carthaginians destroyed. Horace informs us that after the city was destroyed, the land was symbolically plowed. Polybius in his “The Histories” makes no mention of the land being salted just that the city was completely destroyed. Appian of Alexandria does record that Carthage was reconstructed by the first Emperor Augustus (27BC-14AD) and to avoid the evil spells that were cast on the ground, Carthage was rebuilt in a different location.

Surely, if Russia nuked Ukraine that would kill the European breadbasket and it would guarantee Ukraine’s neutrality. Is that the only way to terminate this Neocon Proxy Way and save the world?

The three Punic Wars (264 BC–146 BC) between Rome and Carthage were a turning point in the history of the Mediterranean world and, more than any other conflict, the Second Punic War (218 BC–201 BC) appears to have been a defining time in Roman history. We also see the debasement in that coinage of Carthage as they waged war to defeat Rome. You can see the early silver coinage debased as the war unfolded.

As Hannibal marched through Spain and invaded Italy from the North, Rome issued its first gold coinage more as a symbol of wealth to the other Italian city-states that they should standby Rome and not join Hannibal.

On the Roman side, we also see the consequence of the war with the debasement of the silver quadrigatus, which was the Greek denomination of the didrachm they complied with for trade with the Greek world. Here too, we can see the cost of war is not just the lives lost, but also the inflation and the monetary debasement.

Hannibal’s war also forced Rome to establish the denarius, which was the weight reduction from the Greek standard of the Didrachm 6.5 grams to 4.0 grams in 211BC. Even though Rome won,  the lesson here is that sometimes wars result in the complete collapse of a monetary standard and the rebirth of a new currency. This is what we face. The Neocons care nothing about the economics, nor about the lives of the people they send to die for their arrogance. They are the worst of humanity and should be driven from governments on a global scale.

Indeed, King Louis XIV (1643-1715) was on his deathbed when he lamented.

“I have been too fond of war.”

Meanwhile, the arrogance of the Neocons trying to dictate to the world and ordering China not to help Russia, Xi’s trip to Russia had no other outcome but to support Russia as he called Putin a ‘dear friend’ as China now pushes back against U.S. power knowing full well the real agenda here is to weaken Russia and then for NATO to invade on any pretense to destroy Russia once and for all. This is the Neocon’s dream and they could care less about the Ukrainian people. I have warned that the Ukrainian people are there to be slaughtered for the glory of the Neocons.

Intentional Provocations – Tucker Carlson Outlines the Latest Expectations on the Trump Arrest and 1,000+ Pending Indictments Against J6 Protesters


Posted originally on the CTH on March 22, 2023 | Sundance | 115 Comments

At a certain point you have to wonder if the scale of the “dual justice” visibility is not intended to provoke a political crisis.  If this is the motive, we are heading to a very dark place.

During his opening monologue last night, Tucker Carlson outlines the latest expectations in the arrest of President Trump and the pending criminal indictments of more than a thousand people related to the events of January 6, 2021.  WATCH:

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The Decline & Fall of the United States


Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption re-Posted Mar 20, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: Hi Marty,

Seems to me the Democrats are following the time honored practice South American governments have resorted to in recent years when one party displaces another in a national election. In Brasil, the current president, Lula, spent 3 years in jail for charges of corruption. His successor was later removed from office. Now Bolsonaro has fled the country and is living in South Florida. In Ecuador, a past president, Moreno ,is under indictment and it appears he too will end up being arrested on trumped up corruption charges. In Bolivia, two term ex-president Evo Morales, after trying to run for an unprecedented third term, fled the country in 2019 when it appeared opposition to his run would potentially result in his being jailed. He fled to Argentina, then later got asylum in Mexico. The woman who replaced him was subsequently arrested on trumped up charges of conspiracy. IN Peru, which has gone through more presidents in recent years than most countries have experienced in a half century, has arrested the past 5 presidents. In Chile, the last president who served in office was run out of office for using the military to suppress protests. This was back in 2019.  The revolution that led to the country abandoning their old constitution has put the country in chaos.. The current president is extremely unpopular and one can imagine he won’t last another year in office. In Colombia, the country now is run by a communist/socialist who is now flirting with an ambitious spending program designed to buy time and slow down the opposition building against him. In Argentina, the former president, Christina Fernandez Kirchner, is dodging charges of corruption(and just avoided being assassinated by a lone gunman) after presiding over another series of IMF sponsored funding that has left the country in a perpetual state of default. The socialist in office today, Fernandez, is one of a long line of failed presidents who is destined to be pulled under by the corruption so deeply embedded in this country.

Now the Democrats appear to have imported South America’s tradition of imprisoning opposition leaders.It’s hard to imagine a party as corrupt as that of the Democrats. But nothing happens in a vacuum. With Republican support in Congress during Trump’s term when they opposed him and did everything they could to undermine him, the uni-party now operates without even the slightest effort to disguise their true intentions. An outsider like Trump is anathema to both parties. It reminds me of the PRI in Mexico. which put forth its candidate every year pretending people there actually had a choice, It took AMLO to break this tradition. Only because the drug cartels today are so powerful, the central government is virtually impotent to extend its reach outside of the capital.

We are watching the dying days of this republic. Biden’s “election” has assured that no serious challenger can ever emerge.Locking up your opponent now has become part of their playbook.  This is the tradition of the Sandinistas, the Peronists in Argentina, and now the Biden dictatorship.

MS

REPLY: People do not realize that Zelensky wants to imprison the former president indefinitely pending a rigged trial for corruption. This is the one man who could probably run against Zelensky and beat him with his high heel shoes. Zelinsky is so perverse and a disgrace to Ukraine when in fact it has been clearly established there is NO accountability for any money handed to Zelensky and any American politician who votes for this money for Ukraine should be removed from office for they are probably tainted as well.

It has been established that Zelensky has been stashing money offshore. When the last Ukrainian fall on the battlefield, the US will have him airlifted in style and he will flee to his mansion in Miami after destroying his own country. Zelensky has been caught. Who will prosecute him? Not the Biden Administration which owed him the Midterm elections for being the 2nd largest donor under the money laundering scheme of FTX which will also be swept under the rug to protect the corruption that has consumed governments.

The United States is NO LONGER the beacon of liberty to the world. We have descended to the lowest possible level of absolute duplicity and corruption. People are bearish about the dollar because of the quantity of money? Get real! The collapse in the dollar will not be because of such petty nonsense. it will collapse because these people are destroying the very foundation of confidence and respect the United States once had.

The Silence of the Shams – Pay Attention to The Specific Silence, and What They Are Waiting For


Posted originally on the CTH on March 19, 2023 | Sundance

It is good that people are starting to realize the deception in the world of politics, specifically Republican politics, by watching what is not done, who does not speak, and what is not being said in the aftermath of a visible effort to indict President Trump by a politically motivated New York district attorney.

The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence; however, the silence tells you something very specific when it comes to politics.  The corrupt and manipulative political system is designed to test opinion, that is what most professional politicians do before they take a position.  In essence, the ones who wait are the ones who manipulate.

The politicians who wait to express opinions on substantive issues, are the ones who are comfortable operating in the world where manipulation is the tool, and authenticity is something they do not carry.   In the biggest of big political pictures, this approach is what supports the maintenance of the professional political system.

Without manipulation as the primary agenda of focus, politicians do not need consultants, polling, managers or branding groups.  However, when the creation of an artificial premise, the manipulation itself, is the baseline for the character of the principal – all of these systems are needed.  This video by Vivek Ramaswamy has gained a lot of attention, because at the core of it – he is correct.  WATCH:

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However, the issue extends well beyond individual politicians; the issue goes all the way through the political apparatus into the systems and institutions itself.   This is one of the reasons why, when you fine tune your discernment, you can predict “what systems” are carrying “what motives.”

Remember, CTH outlining the Republican Governors Association (RGA) as one of the manipulative political institutions that was different this time around, for the 2024 race? {Go Deep}  It’s not just Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis that you should notice.  Pay attention to the specific silence, positioning and wind testing that is taking place from within that entire network of the Republican Governors Association.   There’s the *tell* that indicates I was correct.

The good news is that President Trump can also see it.  [LINK]

Why they wait….

The professional Republicans follow the instructions of the professional Republican control agents.  Those control officers are waiting to see if the predictions do come true, and if President Trump is actually indicted.   They want the opportunity for the dates to pass without action so they can use the absence of an indictment as a political tool to advance their narrative against Trump.

The publicity of the statements by Trump and the Mainstream Media, may actually influence the decision by Alvin Bragg and the New York City DA’s office.   However, for the purposes of the RGA and the characters intent on controlling the 2024 GOP nomination, that aspect will be ignored in favor of driving a bigger wedge between Ron DeSantis and President Trump in the absence of an indictment.

DeSantis branding is all about these types of consultant advisors.   This is why I said do not look for a statement from him.  It’s the same reason why the DeSantis managers kept him in a bunker for five days after the Mar-a-Lago raid.   This approach is all about manipulation and narrative creation.

World War Reddit and Ron DeSantis have something identical in common.  It’s the same playbook, the creation of an illusion.

Once you see how much planning goes into these types of operations, then you begin to realize the scope of the financial interests that are involved.  There are trillions at stake.

President Trump Releases Agenda-47 Policy Statement on Ukraine and America First Foreign Policy


Posted originally on the CTH on March 16, 2023 | Sundance 

In a new Agenda47 video released today {Direct Rumble Link Here}, President Donald J. Trump explains the difference between the globalist establishment class, and those who are truly committed to stopping the Ukraine war and dismantling the entire neo-con nation-building industrial complex in Washington, D.C.  WATCH:

[Transcript] – “We have never been closer to World War III than we are today under Joe Biden. A global conflict between nuclear-armed powers would mean death and destruction on a scale unmatched in human history. It would be nuclear Armageddon. NOTHING is more important than avoiding that nightmare. We will avoid it. But we need new leadership.

Every day this proxy battle in Ukraine continues, we risk global war. We must be absolutely clear that our objective is to IMMEDIATELY have a total cessation of hostilities. All shooting has to stop. This is the central issue. We need PEACE without delay.

In addition, there must also be a complete commitment to dismantling the entire globalist neo-con establishment that is perpetually dragging us into endless wars, pretending to fight for freedom and democracy abroad, while they turn us into a third-world country and a third-world dictatorship right here at home. The State Department, the defense bureaucracy, the intelligence services, and all the rest need to be completely overhauled and reconstituted to fire the Deep Staters and put America First. We have to put America First.

Finally, we have to finish the process we began under my Administration of fundamentally reevaluating NATO’s purpose and NATO’s mission. Our foreign policy establishment keeps trying to pull the world into conflict with a nuclear-armed Russia based on the lie that Russia represents our greatest threat.

But the greatest threat to Western Civilization today is not Russia. It’s probably, more than anything else, ourselves and some of the horrible, U.S.A. hating people that represent us. It’s the abolition of our national borders. It’s the failure to police our own cities. It’s the destruction of the rule of law from within. It’s the collapse of the nuclear family and fertility rates, like nobody can believe is happening. It’s the Marxists who would have us become a Godless nation worshipping at the altar of race, and gender, and environment. And it’s the globalist class that has made us totally dependent on China and other foreign countries that basically hate us.

These globalists want to squander all of America’s strength, blood and treasure, chasing monsters and phantoms overseas—while keeping us distracted from the havoc they’re creating right here at home. These forces are doing more damage to America than Russia and China could ever have dreamed.

Evicting the sick and corrupt establishment is the monumental task for the next president. And I’m the only one who can do it. I’m the only one that can get the job done. I know exactly what has to be done.” [LINK]

Congressman Michael McCaul Says Pence “Avoided a Constitutional Crisis” on January 6, 2021


Posted originally on the CTH on March 12, 2023 | Sundance

During an interview with Margaret Brennan today, Congressman Michael McCaul -another GOPe weasel – said he stands with Vice President Mike Pence in saying “they avoided a constitutional crisis” on January 6, 2021, when Congress declared an emergency session and refused to entertain any challenges to the 2020 election certification.  WATCH:

[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Texas Republican Congressman Michael McCaul.

Good morning to you, Chairman McCaul.

REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-Texas): Good Morning, Margaret.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I have got a lot to get to with you today.

But I want to start where I just left off with those very strong remarks from Mike Pence last night. Do you want to associate yourself with what he said?

REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL MCCAUL: Let me just say Vice President Pence exercised moral clarity and judgment that day by doing his constitutional responsibility, authenticating the votes and counting them.

He avoided a major constitutional crisis that day. As you know, I voted for certification. That is our constitutional role not to overturn state- certified ballots. So, I agree. I mean, look, it was a dark — dark day. And I think people will be — history will judge everyone by what they did that day.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

It was a pretty strong condemnation of Donald Trump, who he hasn’t directly taken on like that before. But it’s also back in the news very much, Chairman, because it was the speaker of the House who gave those 41,000 hours of surveillance video access to FOX News, which then has used a recasting of the events, trying to sanitize it, trying to whitewash history.

Do you think it was a mistake for Republican leadership to strike this deal with Tucker Carlson? That is who Mike Pence was talking about.

REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL MCCAUL: Well, I know Kevin McCarthy has turned all the videotape over to FOX News.

He has given me assurance he’s going to turn it over to the entire media. I think — I believe in the fourth estate, freedom of press, and I think the American people deserve to see all the footage from that day, and all the footage is not going to be tourism at the Capitol. It’s going to show a very dark, tragic day that I witnessed firsthand that included our Capitol Police being assaulted, 140 of them injured, two pipe bombs, one — one Capitol police officer killed, and a protester killed.

That’s not — that’s not a good day. And I think it should have been prevented had we had good intelligence that day beforehand. And, look, I support law enforcement. Like this D.C. crime bill we were passing, I support law enforcement everywhere, especially at the United States Capitol.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you on the other side of an upcoming commercial break about the hearing you just held on Afghanistan.

But, before I do that, I want to quickly ask you about what we’ve been talking about, with the Treasury Secretary saying no government bailout for this Silicon Valley Bank, but they are trying to take some action.

She didn’t give a lot of detail there. I know Austin is a start-up hub in your home state of Texas. How concerned are you about spillover here?

REPRESENTATIVE REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL MCCAUL: Yes, we do have South by Southwest this weekend, a lot of tech.

Yes, I am concerned, I hope it’s more of an isolated event, because the assets were very — it was all just technology sector and it wasn’t diversified, also, as the secretary mentioned these low interest bonds. And I think part of the problem, Margaret, is, in this inflationary time, the Reserve, Federal Reserve, now is raising interest rates, and that, I think, is part of the problem as well.

We want to make sure this is — this is an isolated event, and not a systemic event that could impact things like in 2008…

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.

REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL MCCAUL: … when we did bailout the financial sector.

MARGARET BRENNAN: All right, I have got to take that break now.

And we’ll come back and continue our conversation in a moment.

(ANNOUNCEMENTS)

MARGARET BRENNAN: If you can’t watch Face the Nation live, you can set your DVR. We’re also available through our CBS and Paramount+ apps.

And we’re replayed on our CBS News Streaming Network.

(ANNOUNCEMENTS)

MARGARET BRENNAN: We will be right back with a lot more Face the Nation.

(ANNOUNCEMENTS)

MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to FACE THE NATION.

We want to return now to our conversation with House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul.

Now, Chairman, I mentioned that you held this hearing on Afghanistan this past week, and it was pretty emotional.

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX): Yes.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You’re really examining the chaotic withdrawal from that country. And you had a Marines Corps sergeant, injured in the suicide bombing, who testified that he was an eyewitness and he actually saw the suicide bomber before the attack. He testified he has never been interviewed as part of the U.S. investigation.

How was this overlooked?

REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL MCCAUL: I think it’s very — well, first of all, very powerful testimony. Very emotional. But very devastating and damaging to the administration. These – these snipers and troops were put at HKIA, surrounded by the Taliban.

MARGARET BRENNAN: The airport in Kabul.

REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL MCCAUL: They put the Taliban in — in Kabul. That’s the HKIA airport. And surrounded by the Taliban who were put in charge. And that was the first mistake in the chaos that we heard that happened that day and the State Department virtually non-existent.

I think the most dramatic thing, Margaret, was the fact that this sniper had the suicide bomber in his sights and an intelligence bulletin went out, you know, describing him. He said, this is — this meets the description, meets with the team, PSYOPS, psychological operations get together, they run this up the chain of command and the commanding officer says, I don’t have the authority. And then they said, who does have the authority for permission to engage, and the commanding officer says, I don’t know, and he never got back to them.

The point is, they could have taken out this threat. But then, when the suicide bomber went off, not only did Marine Sergeant Vargas Andrews have his leg blown off and his arm, but we had 140 Afghans killed, 13 service men and women killed.

I talked to the mother of one of the Marine sergeants.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.

REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL MCCAUL: I gave her just a hug. She was so devastated. In addition to 50 injured, including Marine Sergeant Vargas Andrews.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.

REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL MCCAUL: And it could have been avoided.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, to the point of how it could be avoided. You know, you – you hear it, there were intelligence failures. Events just got ahead of planning.

The State Department argues that they’ve briefed Congress more than 150 times since the withdrawal. What information do you need that you don’t have yet?

REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL MCCAUL: Well, I think the compelling testimony we got from the sniper. We’ve never heard this before. In fact, Margaret, this is the first open hearing we’ve had on Afghanistan since the fall of Afghanistan. And I intend to move forward with this investigation. And I what to know what the commanding officer was thinking when he denied permission to take out the threat and how — what levels did it go to within the United States government? I think those are all very important questions.

And the State Department has not been compliant with our document requests. I met with the secretary. We had a very cordial conversation. Cooperation is always key. But they’re not cooperating. If he fails to cooperate with my document production request by, you know, the time he testifies on March 23rd, I am prepared to issue a subpoena.

MARGARET BRENNAN: And issue — issue a subpoena for Antony Blinken to come testify before your committee. What exactly do you think he’s withholding? What’s the documents?

REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL MCCAUL: No, he is – he — he will be testifying, but we have an outstanding document production request that the lawyers are very combative. I think the secretary, in good faith, has told me he wants to cooperate with this investigation, be transparent to the American people, but we’re not seeing that with the lawyers handling this on the ground. So, we need these documents because a lot of this stuff, to your point, Margaret, has never been brought out to the public.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes. This is the dissent cable specifically that you are requesting, that is people within the State Department disagreeing with the policy that was the administration’s planning?

REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL MCCAUL: It’s a dissent cable. The extraordinary measure to have 23 members of the State Department at the embassy dissenting with the policy.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.

REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL MCCAUL: The after action report from the ambassador. But also the plan of evacuation. Just a simple plan of evacuation. What was your plan? They have failed to deliver that to Congress. Those are three key, you know, areas that we want to see compliance with.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.

All right, Congressman, we will be watching that. I know there are a number of other issues we’ll talk to you about sometime soon, including China, but I’ve got to leave it there for today. [Transcript End]

Chairman Xi Plans Moscow Visit, Putin Suspends START Treaty, Maersk Exits Russia, Biden Talks Moldova, Planets Aligning for War


Posted originally on the CTH on February 21, 2023 | Sundance 

First things first, history may not always repeat, but it always rhymes.  Secondly, history tells us that only two things have ever pulled what we now call “western nations” out of a collective economic depression; (1) war, and (2) housing starts.

If you accept the WEF climate control agenda of a ‘managed transition‘, where economies are reduced in size to match lowered energy production, as generally speaking akin to a western economic depression.… then, you begin to ask the logical question.  How do the managers avoid the consequences?

If global (non BRICS) economic contraction is akin to a western economic depression, I would argue the consequences are identical.  Then, when major economies are in a state of shrinking and the citizens are feeling the horrible effects, something large is needed to change the economic equation.

With central banks raising interest rates to achieve the policy supporting contraction, the option for ‘housing starts’ to change the dynamic is removed.  That leaves, ‘war’.

President Putin and Chairman Xi are not stupid men.  They are big picture strategists.

DATA POINT – Russian President Vladimir Putin’s move to suspend his country’s involvement in the last remaining arms control treaty with the U.S. came as a disturbing surprise to multiple former officials who negotiated the pact and nonproliferation experts committed to ending the expansion of nuclear forces. (read more)

Can you blame him?  The Western Alliance has already blamed Putin for the global food crisis they created by the World Economic Forum energy policy shift.  The Western Alliance accepts no responsibility for advancing hostility -through NATO expansion- on to Russia’s doorstep.  The Western Alliance has attempted to sanction Russia out of the global economy.  With the same Western Alliance now positioning for war, why would Putin adhere to their limitations?

♦DATA POINT – Chinese leader Xi Jinping is preparing to visit Moscow for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the coming months, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the plan. (read more)

Can you blame them?  Pay no attention to the Reuters narrative woven inside the article about China wanting to negotiate peace.  To accept that narrative is to believe there is no dragon behind the panda mask.  We are too far into the geopolitical awakening to say the dragon doesn’t exist and simultaneously hold its own interests (belt & road, and/or Taiwan) within the context. Ignoring the dragon behind the mask is really quite silly.  BRICS exists as an economic alliance of like-minded nations for exactly this geopolitical dynamic.

♦DATA POINT – Shipping and logistics group A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) has agreed to sell its two logistics sites in Russia to IG Finance Development Limited, it said on Monday, nearly marking the end of its business activities in the country. […] After that, Maersk will not have any business in Russia. (read more)

The major multinationals always position themselves to avoid the consequences of war.  Additionally, Moller-Maersk is already going to feel a major financial impact from the shrinking of the Western economies they generally service with their cargo transportation.  Smaller economies = less cargo = less ships = less revenue.  Moller-Maersk has to pick a side; they are aligned with the Western Alliance.  Hence their exit from Russia.  China/India will eventually fill the void. Again, BRICS.

These are data points just in the last 12 hours.  In addition to these data points from today, the saber rattling from the DC foreign policy and war machine financial system is on display in the Biden policy as transmitted from Warsaw. Again, just today.

Like us, I’m pretty sure from watching his statements and eventual policies over the past several years, President Donald Trump views foreign policy through the prism of economics.   If “economic security is national security,” then what is it when economic insecurity is an intentional design policy?

All of the economic data points have aligned toward direct military conflict between the Western Alliance and Russia that expands beyond the proxy war in Ukraine.

If the path is continued, this process eventually ends up with World War III.  Which, not coincidentally, boils down to the Western Economic Alliance -vs- BRICS, with a few remaining neutral and the middle east as the unknown variable.

Sound familiar?

Look below, you might find a familiar visual reference:

Yep, history rhymes.

Any questions?