Musk Goes Full Galt, Challenges Woke Activists Who Pressure Corporations with Sunlight


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 3, 2022 | Sundance 

CTH has been watching carefully for several weeks; looking, reading and observing the expressed priorities of Elon Musk in an effort to evaluate his free speech intents and purposes.  After careful and cautious consideration, I can now say Elon Musk is the closest thing to John Galt in our lifetime.

Today, Mr. Musk drew attention to one of the central cancers. Musk is highlighting the strategy leftists use to target corporations, demand they withdraw advertising dollars, and force them into compliance against any unapproved platform designated by the woke mob.

[CNN Story Here – MMfA Letter Here – Elon Musk Tweet Link Here]

David Brock’s Media Matters for America (MMFA) has organized an activist campaign against companies who advertise on Twitter. [SEE LETTER HERE]  Their intent is to assemble all of the radical activist groups, directly target any company who would advertise on Twitter and by extension force woke compliance by the social media platform Musk is purchasing.

The letter urges advertisers to make their next ad deals with Twitter contingent on changes to platform policy under Mr Musk.  However, Musk is pushing back against the effort by asking, “who funds these organizations that want to control your access to information? Let’s investigate.” He then goes on to tweet, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”

(CNN) – Some of the nation’s biggest brands including Coca-Cola (CCEP), Disney (DIS) and Kraft (KHC) are facing calls to boycott Twitter if the company’s soon-to-be owner, billionaire Elon Musk, rolls back content moderation policies limiting hate speech and election misinformation.

In a letter sent to brands Tuesday ahead of the 2022 NewFronts digital advertising conference, more than two dozen civil society groups said marketers should secure commitments from Twitter to retain its most critical policies, including on civic integrity and hateful conduct, and threaten to withdraw funding if Twitter does not comply.

“As top advertisers on Twitter (TWTR), your brand risks association with a platform amplifying hate, extremism, health misinformation, and conspiracy theorists,” the letter said, adding: “Your ad dollars can either fund Musk’s vanity project or hold him to account.” (read more)

Musk has advocated for increased transparency on the mechanisms and algorithms within the Twitter platform, in order to gain public trust.  Everyone knows that Twitter management manipulates the platform based on ideology.  Even the original creator of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, has admitted the political preferences within the company are directly connected to the control mechanisms that have been built within it.

One of the key tell-tale sentences in the MMFA led letter is this:

“Consider the implications of full-scale public visibility into Twitter’s algorithm”..

The left-wing organizations and activist groups are worried about what public disclosure of the Twitter censorship and control mechanisms might mean. As a result of their fear, their strategy is to ask advertising corporations to pressure Elon Musk into keeping the background engineering hidden from review.  There is no incentive for Musk to do that as a private company, except this type of blackmail effort.

The need for control is a reaction to fear.  MMfA and their allies fear a free, open and uncontrolled information platform; and they fear that people will discover just how much has been done to tilt the discussion in their favor by controlling and silencing their opposition.

I can appreciate that Musk is taking the issues of free communication seriously. He is dealing with challenges of incredible consequence, he yet he carries on that battle with a light spirit and does not take himself seriously.  That is a remarkably valuable skillset.

If the full purchase deal can be finalized, Musk will take the company private. However, Musk has also reportedly shared that after a few years of private ownership, he would be willing to make the company a public offering again. Per the Wall Street Journal, “Mr. Musk said he plans to stage an initial public offering of Twitter in as little as three years of buying it, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal is expected to close later this year, subject to conditions including the approval of Twitter shareholders and regulators, the company has said.

[READ THE LETTER HERE]

Solid Take from Glenn Greenwald on Elon Musk Motives and Purchase of Twitter


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on April 26, 2022 

Fox News’ Tucker Carlson previewed a discussion with Glenn Greenwald that will appear in full tomorrow on Fox Nation.  In this segment {Direct Rumble Link Here} Greenwald gives his perspective on the motives of Elon Musk purchasing Twitter.

Greenwald does a good job encapsulating the essential support most feel for the Musk effort.  There are many people still uncertain about how this will all roll out, and Musk has been favorable to Big Govt in his two most famous endeavors, Tesla and SpaceX.   Elon Musk’s phase of pushing back against speech and internet control is more recent, and as a result has left many people wondering about it.

As Greenwald notes, there really isn’t a downside for people who are trying to break the totalitarian and monopoly control systems on the internet.  The upside benefits to on-line freedom, debate, discussion and the first real effort to stop internet censorship are well worth supporting.  Greenwald eloquently puts an appropriate context to the battle.  WATCH:

U.S. Media Reacting to Elon Musk Purchasing Twitter


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on April 26, 2022 

Many of the media responses to Elon Musk purchasing the Twitter social media platform are epic.  However, a couple from yesterday stand out insofar as they are incredibly revealing about the current state of the leftists in media.

Every intellectually honest American admits the Big Tech social media platforms were supporting Joe Biden in the 2020 election.  Uncontested empirical examples include, but are not limited to: (1) Facebook and Instagram owner Mark Zuckerberg spent $500 million to support ballot harvesting efforts; (2) Twitter and Facebook banned and blocked any discussion of the Hunter Biden laptop story; and (3) Google executives openly admitted using their search engine ranking system to promote the Biden campaign over Trump.  Those are just three uncontested references -amid a sea of many more- that showcase a small part of their 2020 bias.

With that in mind, consider this from MSNBC. {Direct Rumble Link}  WATCH:

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CNN’s media pundit Brian Stelter also had a rather humorous take showcasing the bubble of isolation that must encompass his own life.

In this soundbite {Direct Rumble Link}, Brian Stelter admits he has never been invited to a party where ordinary people gather to enjoy each other in the spirit of fellowship without any rules, regulations and boundaries.  WATCH:

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Abbott Sends Illegal Migrants to DC


Armstrong Economics Blog/North America Re-Posted Apr 26, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Governor Greg Abbott of Texas has sent at least 10 buses of migrants to the nation’s capital. Abbott has long criticized President Biden for failing to secure the border. “By busing migrants to Washington, D.C., the Biden Administration will be able to more immediately meet the needs of the people they are allowing to cross our border,” Abbott said. “Texas should not have to bear the burden of the Biden Administration’s failure to secure our border.”

A growing number of Republican lawmakers are urging Abbott to declare an “invasion” of Texas as border security and law enforcement simply cannot manage the inflow of illegal aliens. Texas could declare an invasion by invoking Article IV, Section 4, and Article I, Section 10, of the Constitution. National troops and Department of Public Safety officers would be sent to immediately secure the US border.

Since the Biden Administration is openly allowing migrants to cross the border, declining to provide bordering states with assistance, other heads of state such as Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona and DeSantis of Florida have threatened to declare invasions as well. Both Abbott and Governor DeSantis have threatened to send migrants back to Biden’s home state of Delaware. No one knows how to handle the large influx of undocumented people.

Abbott worries federal prosecutors will hunt down state law enforcement if an invasion is formally declared. Additionally, many already have some form of documentation to enter America. “These are people who already have papers to roam freely into the United States,” Abbott said. “As soon as we drop them off across the border, they would just come right back across the border. And so all we would be doing is creating a revolving door.” Biden’s desperate attempt to gain Democratic votes by allowing illegal immigrants into the country is creating a crisis.

Find a way into America, vote for me, and I will allow you to stay!

Musk v Gates


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

Elon Musk destroyed Bill Gates over the weekend after texts between the two were leaked to the press. This may be the first time someone has put Bill Gates in his place and publicly shamed him for his hypocrisy. Per usual, Gates had his hand out looking to “discuss philanthropy possibilities” with a fellow billionaire. “Cool.” Musk replied. “Do you still have a half billion dollar short position against Tesla?”

Gates said he simply forgot to close his position out, and then mentioned “philanthropy possibilities” again. Musk told him to kick rocks. “Sorry, but I cannot take your philanthropy on climate change seriously when you have a massive, short position against Tesla, the company doing the most to solve climate change.”

Doubling down on his anger toward Gates for a multitude of reasons, Musk began tweeting comedic representations of untouchable Bill. An unapologetic Musk compared an image of the Microsoft founder with the new Apple emoji of a pregnant man. The insult was a subtle nod to the insanity of woke culture that Gates is supporting through funding. From the vaccines to unexplainable meetings with Jeffrey Epstein followed by an immediate divorce, Bill Gates is rapidly losing his good-guy image.

Answering Your Questions


Armstrong Economics Blog/Q&A Re-Posted Apr 26, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong. I am confused because you have stated many times that we are approaching the end of globalization, while at the same time saying the Great Reset, which is full globalization, is coming. Please explain. Thanks for your blog.

JS

ANSWER: Schwab’s Great Reset is the ATTEMPT to create a one-world government. Nonetheless, this will fail. These idiots actually thought that they could force regime change in both Russia and China and then they would open their arms and embrace this one-world government dream of Schwab.

The reality is that capital investing internationally is now at risk from both illegal assets seizures as the West has done to people who are just Russian as well as currency fluctuations due to geopolitical posturing. What the West has done to Russians has crossed the line. Now any other country that simply disagrees with a country can point to this precedent and seize all the assets of private citizens. On top of that, SWIFT abandoned its integrity and has shown the world it is simply a political tool. This has set China in full steam ahead mode to replace SWIFT thereby ENDING the Globalization of the world financial markets.

QUESTION: Marty, your forecast for the collapse of the British pound is looking more and more on target. I cannot believe that Johnson has sent special forces into Ukraine and even threatened to use nuclear weapons against Russia as a rogue state outside of NATO. Putin’s response that London will be the first to go in a nuclear war is actually understandable since Johnson has committed British special forces to war in Ukraine. What’s the timing on the fate of the UK?

SG

ANSWER: Nothing indicates that London will be nuked in the near term. Johnson has totally lost his mind. Russia would now be completely justified in assuming Britain has just declared war on Russia and as such seize all British assets in Russia. The failure of the FTSE to exceed the 2018 high warns that the decline is in motion but the low may not be until 2032. There is clearly a rise in volatility and a Directional Change next year. As far as the pound is concerned, this year was a Directional change and it has broken last year’s low. A break of the par level opens the dollar to a collapse down to the mid 80 cent level. This most likely reflects the prospect of a European war.

QUESTION: Dear Martin,
as the disaster in Europe is unfolding I would like to ask what Socrates is predicting for Switzerland and the Swiss Franc.
Could Switzerland be a place to hide? And could the Swiss Franc serve as a hedge against the fall of the Euro?
Could you please share your insights with us? We the normal people in Germany are really desperate for help! And time is running out!
Best
LL

ANSWER: Here is a chart of the Swiss franc long-term. The dollar is pushing higher and it will rise to test the 12300 level. Exceed that area will also war which is confirming we are looking at a European war. The Swiss will NOT be the hedge it once was. The New York Times just reported: “Switzerland, a favorite destination for Russian oligarchs and their money, announced on Monday that it would freeze Russian financial assets in the country, setting aside a deeply rooted tradition of neutrality to join the European Union and a growing number of nations seeking to penalize Russia for the invasion of Ukraine.”

It is just amazing to me that no matter what country we look at, we have the absolute most braindead leaders ever to claim office in human history. I know people hate the dollar, but we will see the dollar RISE initially in this confrontation. Eventually, the collapse in world currencies and the rise in the dollar will be the catalyst to seize all capital and force it into a digital currency.

When we look at the currencies around the globe, they are all confirming that war lies on the horizon. I hate this forecast, but this is not my personal opinion. This is when we need Will Smith to bitch-slap all the leaders. Honestly, there is not a single one who is competent. They are all just carrying out the advice of those behind the curtain who simply want war.

QUESTION: Marty,

Have you by chance retrospectively looked back at all the currency changes that have been made concerning the acceptance of other currencies in place of the dollar from the ECM turning point? All the deals that have been cut……

If I am not mistaken there are quite a few significant changes that have been made in the past month+ to circumvent the dollar’s hegemony in global trade….and If my memory serves, there was a BIG event that day or 1 day before or after that started the ball rolling

Can you by chance put together a list? It would be very helpful to see it in date order in black and white.

I think this was the MAJOR TURNING POINT that Socrates picked up…and will become more noticeable with each passing month

RW

ANSWER: There was a major shift in the trend for the dollar despite the fact that people thought it would crash based on shifts in trade to the Yuan. When we look at most, we see this shift in trend took place the week of the ECM turning point of March 14th. The Euro bounced and that was the highest weekly closing because it turned back down.

When we turn to the Yuan, despite the rhetoric, the dollar has risen even with the deals surrounding the yuan being priced in oil and some central banks adding it to their reserves. One would expect the dollar to decline, not rally. However, the markets are showing something else ios at foot.

Now if you really want your mind twisted, here is the chart of the Russian Ruble. The week of March 14th saw a reversal in trend, but it was not the crash of the Ruble, but the dollar.

All the markets we look at are lining up for what appears to be a war on the horizon. Look at gold. Here too we see the week of March 14th marked the shift in trend to the downside.

The markets are defying those who keep preaching the dollars down. It seems no matter what they say, they just end up being wrong again. The only possible way to see the trend is through the global eyes of Socrates without personal biases and assumed economic relationships.

Jen Psaki asked if White House Feels any Responsibility for Border Death of National Guardsman Bishop Evans, Responds Well, He Wasn’t Working for us


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on April 25, 2022

The Biden administration has created a crisis at the U.S-Mexico border by enticing migrants, removing the remain in Mexico policy, and doing nothing to stop the massive influx of illegal aliens.

When asked if the White House feels any responsibility for the death of National Guardsman Bishop Evans, who drowned while attempting to rescue two drug smugglers, a callous, cold and dismissive Jen Psaki says:

...”I would note that the National Guard worked for the states, and so he is an employee of the Tex- — Texas National Guard, and his efforts and his operation were directed by there, not by the federal government, in this — in this effort, in this apparatus.”

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The level of callousness in this response is sickening.  Bishop Evans would never have been in that situation if it wasn’t for the specific ideological policies creating unlawfully open borders by the Biden administration.

Elon Musk Successful Deal to Purchase Twitter for $44 Billion Likely to be Announced After Stock Market Close at 4pm Today


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on April 25, 2022

According to multiple media sources Twitter has reached a deal with the representatives of Elon Musk for the tech billionaire to purchase the social media company.  According to the Wall Street Journal, over the weekend the outlines of the deal were agreed and last night the final assembly of the purchase came together.

Keep in mind that Twitter is slated to report first-quarter earnings this Thursday, and originally the board was going to wait until after that earnings announcement to respond to the bid.

Something changed.

My suspicion is the financials of the Q1 earnings report will not support the $54.20 high end evaluation offer originally proposed by Musk.

If the low Q1 earnings rumors are accurate; and if Twitter had declined or fought the offer; the board would have been in the position of declining a deal that was substantially higher than the company market value, a tenuous position legally.   Thus, a deal was made.

(Wall Street Journal, update) – “Twitter is in advanced discussions to sell itself to Elon Musk and could finalize a deal Monday, people familiar with the matter said, days after the billionaire unveiled his $43 billion bid for the company.

The two sides worked through the night to hash out a deal that would be valued at $54.20 a share, or $44 billion, the people said. Assuming there isn’t a last-minute snag, the deal is expected to be announced after the market closes Monday, if not sooner.

It’s not clear why the total value of the deal has increased slightly from prior expectations, but it could be related to an updated share count.” (link)

Elon Musk responded to the rumors of the finalized deal with a tweet earlier this afternoon: “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”

Meanwhile, the professional political leftists who use the platform are having a complete mental breakdown.  Thousands of them are promising to leave Twitter and find a safe place if the deal goes through.

As CTH has continued to evaluate this entire scenario, the internal tech architecture is the aspect that is the most interesting.   As this develops there is a great deal of interest into not just the controlled speech system that Twitter background operators have assembled, but also what underlying tech systems on the platform are connected to the public-private partnership.

We know there is a connection between the U.S. government and Twitter….  the question is, how is all of that being operated?

Rhode Island Lawmakers Propose Doubling Taxes for Parents of Unvaccinated Children


Armstrong Economics Blog/Uncategorized Re-Posted Apr 25, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Democrats in Rhode Island have prepared legislation that could double taxes for parents of unvaccinated children. Senator Sam Bell, who is championing the bill, claims that there is a need for a universal mandate. Under the proposed law, unvaccinated residents would face a $50 monthly fine for noncompliance. Employers would also be required to mandate vaccines for all employees or face a $5,000 fine per violation. The biggest burden – “Any person who violates this chapter shall be required to pay a monthly civil penalty of fifty dollars ($50.00) and shall owe TWICE THE AMOUNT OF PERSONAL INCOME TAXES.”

To receive an exemption for a minor, three separate doctors must confirm that the child is “not fit for immunization.” Then the state would need to investigate each claim and determine whether or not the parents should be financially ruined. So even if three different doctors say that a child should not be vaccinated, the state may override them.

Biden lost his bid to implement a federal vaccine for employers last year, but the battle is not over. State lawmakers still have the capabilities to force compliance through any means possible. Bell wants to make the state of Rhode Island unlivable for the unvaccinated. While this is unlikely to pass, the fact that they are still attempting to force vaccinations in April 2022 shows that the war on medical freedom has not ceased.

Israel Added Yuan to Reserve Currency Portfolio


Armstrong Economics Blog/China Re-Posted Apr 25, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Israel has now moved to add the Chinese yuan to its reserve currency portfolio, which will create a natural hedge against the risk of insanity pushing for war by the United States and Europe. Adding the yuan to the reserve portfolio will automatically reduce the exposure to the dollar and especially to the euro, thereby creating a natural hedge, whereas a decline in the dollar and euro would imply a rise in the yuan and even the ruble.

The Middle East is divided and Zelensky pretends to be the Jewish hero, yet before the war, at the United Nations, Zelensky maintained a firm anti-Israel position. In 2020 alone, he voted for Ukraine affirming UN resolutions condemning the Israeli “occupation” of Judea and Samaria. He also opposed the Israeli “occupation” of Jerusalem and the Israeli “occupation” of “the occupied Syrian Golan.” After the war began, he suddenly became Jewish, asking for money and equating the Russian invasion to the Holocaust. Then Zelensky has the audacity to criticize Israel for not sending more money to his personal piggy bank. He tells everyone that World War III has already begun so, therefore, send all your money to him in Ukraine – no refunds accepted.

Zelensky is a fraud, and he was as corrupt as the rest of the lot in Ukraine. Corruption in Ukraine is certainly in the top 5 in the world. I was told that you MUST pay bribes and if you do not pay them to the right people, they will still retaliate against you. NEVER send money to Ukraine. It is as bad as all the fraud from Africa with people claiming they have millions and nobody to leave it to. He knows how to act always appearing in an army T-shirt and unshaven to pretend he is roughing it.

Zelensky had stashed $15 million in offshore accounts and that was before the war (See Gravitas). The rumor is his target is to stash at least $100 million now demanding $7 billion per month from the West. He has NO incentive to end the conflict and will not seek peace and as long as he is filling his pockets. What Zelensky has actually done is putting Israel at risk, for now, even Egypt has turned to Russia and is holding joint military exercises. The old Arab states that were against Israel in previous wars are now aligning with Russia as the US appears to be using Zelensky as its proxy to start a war with Russia. This is now turning up the heat for World War III to also engulf the Middle East.

It is curious that the United States’ closest ally in the Middle East, Israel, which pours dollars into the finances of the Jewish state on an annual basis, has realized that there is a risk to having only dollars and euros. Economically, Israel appears to have been awakened to the reality that the Neocons have divided the world economy and the sanctions on Russia will NEVER be removed, resulting in the total destruction of the world economy and the end of globalization. Including the yuan in their reserve currency portfolio is an acknowledgment that the Biden Administration has in fact destroyed the world economy as we have known it.

The Chinese yuan in Israel’s reserves at the central bank is just the beginning of a major change in the monetary distribution of its reserves since the collapse of Bretton Woods. Israel added the Chinese yuan, along with other currencies creating a natural hedge. Their reserves include the US dollar, the euro, and the British pound but will also include the Canadian and Australian dollars, the Japanese yen, and the Chinese yuan.

The Israel Monetary Commission has added the pound and yen, which will represent 5%, and the currencies of Canada and Australia will have 3.5% each. The yuan will be set at 2% of the portfolio. This shift has resulted in the decline of the euro’s share falling to 20%, declining from 30%+, while the dollar is declining to 61% from 66.5%. While the headlines talk about the dollar declining, they generally do not reporting the most drastic decline was in the euro which was over 33%. The British pound weight, on the other hand, almost doubled to 5%, returning to the level it last saw in 2011.

Likewise, Saudi Arabia agreed to price oil also in yuan as it is in a Petroleum Alliance with China-Russia. It should be noted that the change coincided with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Western sanctions on Russia. They have come to realize that the Biden Administration has singlehandedly destroyed the world economy rendering SWIFT to be just a political tool undermining its integrity. This has led China to push its alternative system that our model warns will eventually supersede SWIFT post-2032. Obviously, Israel has seen the handwriting on the wall and is attempting to gradually become independent of the SWIFT system itself.

The International Monetary Fund has also warned that the sanctions on Russia are undermining the dollar’s share of total world foreign exchange reserves which is rapidly falling to its lowest point in two decades as we are witnessing the rise of the Chinese yuan.