Posted originally on the conservative tree House on February 3, 2022 | Sundance | 328 Comments
Senator Ray Lujan from New Mexico suffered a stroke recently. Thankfully, despite the seriousness of his medical situation, he is expected to make a recovery. However, he will likely miss all U.S. Senate work for at least a month. Lujan’s absence creates a significant issue for Senate Democrats in an upper chamber with a 50/50 split.
Lujan suffered the stroke last Thursday, on the same day Joe Biden announced the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. The news of Senator Lujan’s major medical condition has been essentially quiet.
With Joe Biden expecting to nominate a Supreme Court justice very soon, the senator’s absence could be problematic.
However, not to worry, creepy Joe’s recent praise of Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham will likely assist.
WASHINGTON DC – […] While the 49-year-old New Mexico Democrat is expected to make a full recovery, no one knew when he would return to the evenly divided Senate, or what it means for the immediate agenda.
Luján’s unexpected medical condition comes at a moment when Senate Democrats simply don’t have any votes to spare to pass party priorities, including reviving their social spending bill and now confirming a Supreme Court justice. The latest news could leave Democrats reliant on Republican votes to move forward on nominees and other priorities.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday evening that Democrats are “grateful” that Luján will make a “full recovery” and that he looks forward to his return to the Senate. He predicted that “the Senate will be able to carry forward with its business.”
Carlos Sanchez, Luján’s chief of staff, said that the senator checked himself into a hospital Thursday afternoon in Santa Fe after experiencing dizziness and fatigue. The senator later learned he had suffered a stroke and had to undergo decompressive surgery. (read more)
President Biden: "Mitch [McConnell], I don't want to hurt your reputation, but we really are friends, and that is not an epiphany we're having here at the moment. You've always done exactly what you've said, you're a man of your word. and you're a man of honor." pic.twitter.com/w9J0tDBO05
If you watch anything today, this is it. AP Journalist Matt Lee has been around for a long time. He’s the consistent person in the State Department briefing room who understands the deep state institutional games, and he knows how to spot narrative engineering.
Earlier today State Department Spokesman Ned Price said, “The United States has information that Russia is planning to stage fabricated attacks by Ukrainian military or intelligence forces as a pretext for a further invasion of Ukraine.”
Journalist Matt Lee then asked Ned Price what the declassified evidence was that the state dept was referring to. Price responded that he just gave it to the audience; meaning his word was the evidence. Matt Lee calls bullshit on Price, and things got really interesting. WATCH:
Folks, the intelligence state, the Fourth Branch of Government, is making it all up. Everything about this Russian looming attack narrative has been manufactured out of whole cloth by the Intelligence Community and Biden administration.
The statements and position by Ned Price are transparently absurd. Ridiculously so. Matt Lee calling the bluff on the U.S. State Department, and comparing them to Alex Jones conspiracy theorists, is peak insanity. No one trusts the U.S. government institutions any longer. Everyone knows the “intelligence state” makes stuff up to steer and control events. It’s a joke.
Russia is likely not doing anything, likely doesn’t even have a threatening posture, but yet, inside the DC bubble we are on the precipice of a thermonuclear war. We have passed through the looking glass, and now we are in bizarro world.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on February 3, 2022 | Sundance | 133 Comments
According to the White House, 50 special forces operators attacked the leadership compound of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, the ISIS replacement head for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who was killed in 2019. According to the White House occupant, after a lengthy engagement with U.S. forces, al-Qurayshi killed himself the same way al-Baghdadi did, by exploding a bomb. There were no U.S. casualties.
(Via ABC) First responders reported that 13 people had been killed, including six children and four women. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said U.S. officials believe al-Qurayshi’s explosive killed himself, his wife, and three children. She added that U.S. officials were conducting an assessment to determine whether American action resulted in any civilian deaths. (more)
The White House background briefing on the strike IS HERE. The remarks by Joe Biden ARE HERE.
Sending 50 special operators for one building engagement is a little heavy; however, obviously the White House was petrified that something would go wrong, and the last thing Ron Klain wants would be another boondoggle to add to the pile of disasters this administration has created.
That said, rather than debate the mission, I would draw attention to the location and bigger picture. Northern Syria is part of the Muslim Brotherhood territory under the influence of Turkish President Recep Erdogan. ISIS, al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, and all extremist Islamic factions therein are all just various shades of authentic Islam as promoted by The Muslim Brotherhood.
Turkey is a member of NATO. Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi and all of the various offshoots of ISIS could not operate in Northern Syria without the assistance of Turkey. But we are not allowed to talk about that. Notice how none of the media ask the White House or Pentagon if we discussed the attack with Turkey in advance?
Background – Circa 2018
The announcement of The United States drawing down troop deployment from Northern Syria, with the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia sending in replacements to bolster the region, highlights a much larger backstory.
President Obama’s February ’09 Cairo speech began a sequence of events that led to what was called the “Arab Spring” – factually an extremist uprising. Bolstered by the resulting chaos, the Muslim Brotherhood rose to power in Egypt behind Mohammed Morsi.
However, a majority of the Egyptian people rejected President Morsi’s Sharia governance, and asked a well respected General Fattah al-Sisi to step in.
Accepting the request of a desperate people, Sisi removed Morsi, disbanded the Muslim Brotherhood and went on to win a landslide election in 2014.
The leadership of the Brotherhood fled to Qatar.
President Obama and his policy team were not happy with this outcome. Obama supported Morsi, not al-Sisi. Another person who was not happy was Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who also supported Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Undeterred, and understanding the need for urgency, Egyptian President al-Sisi then began a long process of confronting extremism. Sisi destroyed the Hamas terror tunnels on the border between Egypt and Israel; and, despite the anxiety expressed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Sisi brokered an interim peace agreement between the Palestinian Authority and Israelis.
Destroying the Hamas tunnels removed the physical terror influence of Iran. President al-Sisi then returned his focus back to Qatar and their support for the exiled leadership of the Brotherhood.
President al-Sisi formed a coalition against Qatar. This coalition included the UAE and Saudi Arabia who withdrew their ambassadors and isolated Qatar in the region. This was the beginning of what we now call, more broadly, the Arab coalition. The coalition initiated sanctions against Qatar until they stopped financing and harboring terror. Remember, this is late in 2014 and a lot is happening really fast.
Against growing pressure from Arab states, including the Gulf Cooperation Council, Qatar agreed to expel seven leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Again, reflecting his alignment with the Brotherhood, and with much more grand ambitions of a new Ottoman empire as his unspoken motive, Recep Erdogan provided the terror leaders a home in Turkey.
It is important to note timing (’13, ’14, ’15,) and the political alignments:
President Obama, Turkey (Erdogan), Qatar, the Palestinian Authority, and Iran, were aligned with favorable outlook toward the Muslim Brotherhood.
Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, UAE and the Gulf Arab states were not favorable toward the Muslim Brotherhood.
In the background of this ideological conflict, Syria was in a state of civil war as a result of U.S. Obama policy carried out by Secretary Clinton/Leon Panetta and Secretary Kerry/John Brennan. Obama was aligned with Turkey, again Erdogan, who wants greater influence and has a vision of his new Ottoman empire.
As gatekeeper between Europe and the Middle East, Erdogan knows the value of his geography and the influence it provides him.
Erdogan also wants to absorb Northern Syria and is willing to enlist his Muslim Brotherhood allies toward his goals. However, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE (team anti-Brotherhood) are against the expansion of Turkish influence.
Despite President Obama’s ongoing opposition, Egyptian President al-Sisi faced down Turkey over a U.N. Security Council seat and quietly defeated them. [In a secret ballot, Erdogan lost.] At the same time this was happening, expansive energy reserves via natural gas, were discovered to be much larger than initially thought off the coast of Israel.
♦Fast forward to the 2016 presidential election and outcome of a Donald Trump victory. With President Trump, the power dynamic shifts.
Hillary Clinton, recognizing the value of the financial benefit from Qatar, would have supported the Muslim Brotherhood; Donald Trump did not.
The Anti-Brotherhood, anti-extremism team now have an ally. The key voices are Egyptian President Fattah al-Sisi, Saudi Arabia King Salman, and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
President Trump supported the disposition and view of the Arab coalition (Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, GCC and ultimately Israel); President Trump was not supportive of the Pro-Brotherhood more extremist team (Turkey, Qatar, Palestinian Authority), and that becomes brutally obvious during the historic U.S-Gulf Arab Summit, when President Trump tells the audience to “drive out” the extremist voices.
Back to Syria. The Brotherhood is the political branch of multiple extremist groups. The bottom line is the Brotherhood supports radical Sunni extremism regardless of faction or fighting force. President Recep Erdogan of Turkey also favors the Brotherhood; and unfortunately, he leverages his position inside NATO with that favorability in mind.
Recep Erdogan wanted Northern Syria, and he wanted to eliminate any resistance toward his gaining Northern Syria – specifically, the Kurdish resistance.
Concerns over this key point was what drove a wedge between government policy advisers. Differences of opinion over this key point are what was driving opposition to Trump’s withdrawal position from Syria.
The Arab coalition, and Israel, oppose Erdogan. President Trump was undergoing a transition period for quite some time. Trump’s plan was essentially to draw down U.S. troops in Syria, and replace them with regional Arab coalition allies to bolster the Kurds. Many U.S. voices were concerned that Turkey (Erdogan) would attack this coalition and the Kurds, without the presence of U.S. troops.
Ultimately, this is where President Trump’s unique strategy became important.
President Trump was aware of the duplicitous and untrustworthy nature of President Erdogan; simultaneously Erdogan is in the NATO alliance. President Trump would obviously not allow fear of a NATO ally to drive U.S. policy, and he was right.
If you think about it, either: (A) Turkey needs to comply with group regional security and stability measures; or (B) Turkey needs to be kicked out of NATO, confronted and crushed.
Which option do you think President Trump was working on?
December 23, 2018:
December 24, 2018:
Knowing the economic approach that President Trump brought to solving these challenges, it was obvious Trump was positioning for option “A”, but in the background hoping for the opportunity to use option “B”, which would really get to the root of the problem.
This geopolitical dynamic also provided a clearer understanding of what motives Erdogan held when he was so aggressively antagonizing over the Kashoggi matter and trying to create a fracture in the relationship between President Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MbS).
[…] We know that Jamal Khashoggi was never a journalist—at least, not in the usual sense of the word; he was a highly-partisan operative who worked with a handler to publish propaganda at the behest of the Emirate of Qatar. He was, in other words, an agent of influence. (read more)
Yes, that’s correct. Even the New York Times admitted Jamal Khashoggi was actually receiving his articles from the Qatar government explicitly to push an agenda favorable to their pro-Muslim Brotherhood views.
Now think about this. In the U.S. we know The Washington Post is essentially the print propaganda for the U.S. intelligence apparatus, and more specifically the CIA. Khashoggi was working at the Washington Post to write stories, approved by Qatar, favorable to the Muslim Brotherhood. The CIA Director was John Brennan – the former head of U.S. CIA Saudi office.
Notice how the pro-Brotherhood ideological gang is all connected around Khashoggi? Turkey, Qatar, CIA (Obama, Brennan) etc.
Oh, and one last thing. Remember that 2014/2015 massive natural gas reserve discovery off the coast of Israel?
Remember that?
Well, there was a 2018 development:
JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said that Israel, Greece and Cyprus will sign an agreement early next year to build a pipeline to carry natural gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe, while the United States pledged its support for the ambitious project.
The $7 billion project, expected to take six or seven years to complete, promises to reshape the region as an energy provider and dent Russia’s dominance over the European energy market. It also could curtail Iranian ambitions to use Syria as a gateway to the eastern Mediterranean.
Speaking at a summit with the Greek and Cypriot leaders in southern Israel, Netanyahu said the three nations reaffirmed their commitment to the pipeline and discussed “important aspects” of the project. Italy is also a partner in the pipeline’s planning. Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said the project is waiting for a green light from the European Union to move forward.
“We’re going to sign formally, officially, this agreement in a few months,” he said.
In another boost for the project, U.S. Ambassador David Friedman hailed the pipeline as integral to the “stability and prosperity of the Middle East and Europe,” and urged all countries in the region to ensure its success.
Washington is eyeing the east Mediterranean with renewed interest. In a meeting with the Greek foreign minister earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the region “an important strategic frontier” for Washington, which is working to strengthen its relations with “democratic allies there like Greece and Cyprus and Israel.” (read more)
Do you know who was the original energy policy consultant; the person who constructed the obscure -at the time- policy paper plan to avoid an EU pipeline through Turkey; and who put all of these regional heads together that ultimately ended with this announced deal?
That would be the little known, generally invisible young energy adviser, who would eventually become the central figure in the “spygate” targeting, George Papadopoulos.
Yes, for those following the granules as they expose… that energy extraction strategy alone would have put Papadopoulos in opposition to the interests of President Obama, candidate Clinton, Turkey, Qatar and ultimately Iran and Russia.
Huh… Funny that.
It’s almost as if….. I digress.
FAST FORWARD TO 2019
December 16, 2019, the White House released a letter sent by President Trump to President Erdogan, of Turkey, dated October 9th.
The letter was sent two days after President Trump made the decision to pull 28 members of the U.S. military out of harm’s way; two days before President Trump outlined the sanctions against Turkey; and five days before President Trump initiated those sanctions through Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The warning was clear. President Trump was clear-eyed about the motives and intentions of the Turkish president, and Erdogan’s ideological alignment with political Islam via The Muslim Brotherhood.
One of the reasons this strategy is better than any military action, is simply because Turkey is a unique NATO ally, and the NATO alliance within Europe is insufferably incapable and unwilling to take action to defend their interests.
European NATO members wanted the benefits of a perpetual U.S. military presence. That EU outlook was simply beyond the limits of what President Trump was willing to do.
President Trump wanted to bring our troops home.
President Trump made it clear that any action by Turkey into Syria was unilateral. There will be no assistance by the U.S. on any aspect – including if Turkey was counter-attacked by Russia/Syria or organized Kurdish forces.
Essentially, Trump left Erdogan naked to a myriad of his enemies.
The U.S. part of the NATO shield is removed. The Europeans will not evoke the NATO defense treaty without the U.S. Heck, the EU is essentially spineless without the power of the U.S. military. Additionally, President Trump is calling out the duplicity of the entire situation by calling all of their bluffs. President Trump is calling out: NATO, weak EU ‘allies’ and Turkey.
In essence, the Trump White House approach was a major Gordian knot being cut. It is unlikely President Erdogan expected to have this framework made so public.
With Europe refusing to stand up to defend their own interests, President Trump removed U.S. forces from the untenable position of guarding all the big cat cages, ad infinitum, to keep the zoo status intact.
Instead, President Trump supported the Arab coalition and the GCC that has been assembling a military coalition to protect itself from the Muslim Brotherhood.
That, along with the strategic need to keep global oil prices low to offset any influence by Iran and Russia, is why President Trump was willing to support Saudi Arabia with more troops – while simultaneously withdrawing from Syria where the U.S. was having to stand alone to protect the interests of Europeans who will not protect themselves.
In one regional area, the U.S. would support and defend Israel, Egypt and Jordan. In the Southern region the U.S. will support the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Bahrain and Qatar).
Will political Islam likely have a resurgence in the region, and will Recep Erdogan rise as the head of the Ottoman Empire once again? The former is likely, the latter is unknown.
President Trump was correctly withdrawing U.S. troops from a position of adversarialism against a NATO member. Why should the U.S. protect the interests of allies who will not be standing up to protect themselves?
President Trump was correct.
President Trump used economic weapons against Turkey. And, in keeping with the economic doctrine, Europe was also in the crosshairs.
President Trump would use economic weapons, a new U.S-EU trade deal, against the EU for creating this mess and refusing to defend themselves.
President Trump would only use military weapons to protect allies that were: (A) willing to protect themselves, and (B) willing to pay for the support of the U.S. military protection.
It really was a commonsense doctrine. Help those who help themselves.
This was one of those weird “be careful what you wish for” scenarios for Turkish President Erdogan, because in his lust to recreate the Ottoman Empire ,he just might get removed. By isolating Erdogan on these issues, President Trump effectively left him naked to an alliance of his enemies
After President Trump talked to Kurdish General Mazloum Kobani Abdi, the commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, President Trump then discussed the options available to President Erdogan. As a result of that conversation, Erdogan requested the U.S. mediate negotiations.
Erdogan’s request and acceptance happened immediately after President Trump signed an executive order [See Here] triggering the sanction authority of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin as leverage against Turkey.
That’s how President Donald Trump was able to finally remove U.S. troops from Syria and get us out of the quagmire created by Washington DC foreign policy.
The Canadian Freedom Convoy may not have moved Trudeau. Trudeau takes his orders as a good graduate of the World Economic Forum’s young leader program to infiltrate the world to push Schwab’s Marxist agenda. Nevertheless, it has led the way for the world. We now see these COVID political restrictions collapsing in England, Denmark, Finland, South Africa, and even Spain has announced it is degrading COVID to the flu.
Canada has been inspirational to the world, and this was a great idea. We are likely to see this unfold in other countries where the World Economic Forum has been running the show.
Schwab’s star pupil in his young leader’s infiltration of government has seen her polls collapse to just a 35% approval rating on par with Joe Biden, who may not be a WEF graduate, but he is a WEF supporter along with John Kerry. Trudeau’s approval rating is also well below 50%.
Putin’s approval rating in Russia stands at 65% and rising. His approval rating is nearly twice that of Biden, yet the Western press, wearing their propaganda hat, keep bashing Putin. The press is so desperately trying to portray him as evil when in fact all they are doing is keeping the old Iron Curtain up insofar as propaganda is concerned. The US and NATO have refused to compromise on anything which is deeply disturbing for it backs Putin into a corner where he looks weak to his people or he invades, which appears to be the distraction the West now desires.
We have the worst crop of world leaders in the West than at any point in history, and they have all been conditioned to follow Schwab’s dream of forcing his Great Reset upon the entire world, which has been his dream of reorganizing how society should function according to the ideas from the deep crevasses of his very dark mind. He even has Fauci and the head of New Zealand appear in his videos promoting his Marxist agenda, claiming equality is the number one problem. We are in a battle for our freedom and that of the future of our children that Schwab and his World Economic Forum are out to destroy. Is it any wonder why the one world leader with the highest approval rating in their own country is now Putin who is standing up to Schwab and his agenda?
It has been Schwab promoting the COVID lockdowns to undermine the global economy so he can BUILD BACK BETTER, which implies you first must destroy it.
Between January 2013 and February 2022, Jeff Zuckerberg has been running CNN. He has now at last resigned after a disastrous job performance. Zuckerberg turned his personal hatred of Donald Trump into a vendetta. Fox News made history in January 2022 as it became the first cable news network to top the charts for 20 years in a row. That score was in terms of both total average viewers and in the key 25-54 age demographic. CNN network’s overall drop in year-over-year ratings was greater than its competitors.
MSNBC was down 60% in total viewers and 75% in the demographics for daytime programming compared to 2021. During the prime time slot, the MSNBC network was down 56% in total viewers and 73% in the demographics.
CNN meanwhile came in down 74% in total viewers and 81% in the demographics. During the daytime viewers, it was down 77% in total viewers and 82% down in the demographics during prime time.
The real word on the street is Zuckerberg’s leadership has taken CNN from #1 to dead last. Before Zuckerberg, CNN had branded itself around reporting resources and its global reach. CNN turned its back on in-depth story packages and live event coverage. PEW research found that overall the networks began using cheaper, more provocative debate forums or interviews to grab ratings. No longer was reporting the news the real objective, Zuckerberg turned CNN into yellow journalism and just launched an opinion-oriented service abandoning independent news.
Zuckerberg has successfully taken CNN from the #1 slot to dead last. His departure over the internal sex affair, where she remains but he leaves, is the cover story for his failure in running CNN and destroying it’s the once-famous tagline: “The Most Trusted Name in News.”
CNN was founded in 1980 and as it heads into its 43 years cyclical low (5 x 8.6) due in 2023, perhaps we will see a turnaround getting back to independent news or just close up shop altogether.
Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson has more Democrats tuning into his show than CNN or MSNBC. Just maybe, most Democrats are middle of the road and do not support these crazy policies of defunding the police and the WOKE movement. They do not support people like George Soros trying to pour money into the Defund Police Movement that has created total chaos in California, Chicago, and New York City. This is not the vision of America they want to leave their children where it is no longer safe to walk into a store or down the street.
In an act of solidarity with their northern neighbors, US truckers are amassing to form the Convoy to DC. The Facebook page, which is currently inaccessible at the time of this writing, hosted over 131,000 followers. The dates have not been set yet, but the group is aiming to start a convoy that will begin in California and end in front of Washington, DC. The group is urging everyone, regardless of occupation, to join them in an act of civil disobedience.
“We’re done with the mandates, we’re done with the government telling us what to do, we will continue, and we will follow just like the rest of the world on these trucker protests, and they will be 100 percent legal, they will abide by the law,” Brian Von D, a trucker a group organizer, said. “The government overreach is coming to an end, and this is how we do it.” Facebook may be censoring the group for now, but if people feel passionate about the cause then they will find a way to organize effectively.
Various Canadian provinces have begun repealing their ridiculous mandates. The protest in Canada has been effective.
The agenda must be clear in order for the protest to be effective — repeal all mandates! The protestors would like to have a peaceful ride to DC but should be wary of false flags and people infiltrating their protest (see: Ray Epps). Resistance is not futile.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on February 2, 2022 | Sundance | 22 Comments
President Donald Trump sits down for an extensive interview with Rob Schmitt from Newsmax. The conversation covers a variety of current topics from foreign policy, Ukraine, Russia to the state of the U.S. economy, oil prices and the border crisis.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on February 2, 2022 | Sundance | 227 Comments
The business and financial wires are melting down today as ADP Payrolls, the nation’s largest private sector payroll providing service, releases data from January showing a drop of 301,000 jobs. [ADP Raw Data Here]
The financial, economic and business pundits are completely caught off guard and using the words “shocked”, “unexpected” and “surprised,” within their analysis. These employment numbers just don’t align with an economy growing at 6.9%, as measured by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). However, for CTH readers who have carefully scrutinized the economic claims and looked at the bigger picture through the prism of kitchen table checkbook economics, these results are not a surprise.
Every sector of the employment picture on Main Street USA is hit. The pundits, following the narrative first seeded by the White House on Monday, are pointing to Omicron as the justification inside their review. That’s nonsense. For the better part of seven months these same pundits first claimed Delta, then shifted to Omicron as a way to explain the structurally weak economy. All of that is nonsense.
What we are witnessing are the outcomes of massive inflation now hitting the labor market. A drop in demand, and a subsequent drop in the employment of goods and services, is an unavoidable outcome of inflationary pressure on wages.
Let me say it again, on a macro level, natural consumer DEMAND has dropped – we are only now starting to see it surfacing in the statistical measures.
This is why White House spokesperson Jen Psaki made that weird statement on Monday.
Given the nature of how heavily manipulated the government institutions are, there’s a strong likelihood the Bureau of Labor and Statistics have been surprised by their January employment polling results. That internal tremor, a concern amid the political tribe, is then conveyed to someone, who then relays the warning to the White House economic team…. and that’s how Jennifer Psaki received the briefing material last Monday.
The real dynamic inside the economy has been hidden by federal spending, bailouts and payroll support. However, that spending has contributed to the inflation that is creating the need for federal subsidies. We are in a circular economic argument created by White House economic policy.
(Reuters) […] Economic growth slowed in January, with an Institute for Supply Management survey on Tuesday showing its measure of national factory activity falling to a 14-month low.
The economy grew at a 6.9% annualized rate in the fourth quarter, helping to boost overall growth in 2021 to 5.7%, the strongest performance since 1984. Growth estimates for the first quarter are mostly below a 2.0% rate.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey published in mid-January, 8.8 million people reported not being at work because of coronavirus-related reasons between Dec. 29 and Jan. 10. This has left some economists bracing for a decline on Friday in the nonfarm payrolls count for January.
According to a Reuters survey of economists, nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 150,000 jobs last month. Estimates range from a decrease of 400,000 to an increase of 385,000. The economy created 199,000 jobs in December, the fewest in a year.
The White House has been frantically trying to prepare the nation for a disappointing payrolls number, with several officials offering a preview of the report. (read more)
The employment situation has absolutely nothing to do with Omicron. However, Omicron provides a plausible cover story so long as people believe the propaganda pushed by financial media trying to protect the white house.
The economy doesn’t go from 6.9% growth in December to ZERO growth a few days later without something substantive happening in the background. My guess is the inventory buildup, cited by the Bureau of Economic Analysis in December, was the result of a massive drop in demand that took place in the three previous months.
The inventory and inflation driven inventory evaluation that helped inflate the metric of the Gross Domestic Product, was not the result of the supply chain coming back to normal. I will bet a donut the inventory buildup was specifically because demand collapsed.
My view of that situation is supported by the historic drop in productivity that was noted in the last half of 2021. The federal spending, and the federal subsidies for businesses and corporations to retain employees, ran past the period where payrolls would have naturally contracted due to the drop in demand.
If I am correct, the employment situation was artificially influenced, because interventionist COVID spending/bailouts allowed payrolls to be covered, and employees to remain on the payroll register, during a time when they should have been dropped if natural sales/profits were responsible for filling the payroll accounts of companies. This would explain the macro drop in productivity while macro employment was retained.
The natural outcome of that viewpoint is…. When the federal deposits into the private sector payroll accounts dry up, employers eventually drop employees.
That rather dramatic scenario is enough to trigger the BLS to freak out when they did the payroll polling.
The good news is… if domestic demand continues naturally contracting, due to unsustainable inflation, eventually prices will have to stabilize. It seems counterintuitive, but a strong cash position is valuable despite inflation right now.
Inflation will continue hitting wages hard, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. If you have prepared to ride out this storm of inflation, we should see things start to turn around in about six months. Unfortunately, between now and then, there will be significant job losses as inventories continue to build and sales get stagnant.
Prices on fast turn consumable goods like food, fuel, energy etc. will never return to their pre-inflationary price. The high prices on highly consumable products are here to stay and will never decline. Unfortunately, there are several indicators that those prices will go even higher throughout the next six months until they plateau mid-summer.
However, on the backside of this inflationary hurricane, the prices on long-term durable goods will start dropping sooner as consumer demand continues to focus on prioritization of spending and employment becomes more tenuous.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on February 2, 2022 | Sundance | 455 Comments
Jeff Zucker abruptly resigned from CNN releasing a statement: “As part of the investigation into Chris Cuomo’s tenure at CNN, I was asked about a consensual relationship with my closest colleague, someone I have worked with for more than 20 years,” Mr. Zucker wrote. “I acknowledged the relationship evolved in recent years. I was required to disclose it when it began but I didn’t. I was wrong.”
Apparently, Jeff Zucker has been involved in a long-term relationship with a woman named Allison Gollust as she worked her way through the ranks at CNN throughout her career.
Ms. Gollust is currently CNN’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, positioning her as one of the highest-ranking leaders within the network, closely involved in major business and communications decisions.
Ms. Gollust said in another statement Wednesday she was remaining in her role at CNN: “Jeff and I have been close friends and professional partners for over 20 years,” she wrote. “Recently, our relationship changed during Covid. I regret that we didn’t disclose it at the right time. I’m incredibly proud of my time at CNN and look forward to continuing the great work we do every day.”
Essentially, what appears to have taken place is then married Jeff Zucker and then married Allison Gollust beginning a relationship many years ago, and Zucker advancing Gollust throughout her career, even to the point of her physical location living above him. Both of them eventually divorced from their respective spouses, and yet the network, or at least the board of directors, was “unaware” of their relationship.
Interestingly, RadarOnline wrote about Gollust and Zucker a month ago as it pertains to the firing of Chris Cuomo and the fight over a subsequent exit package of compensation {Read Here}. The RadarOnline article tells the story of the real dynamic, and in hindsight, their suspicions are almost certainly accurate now:
[…] “The talk in the corridors of CNN about Jeff and Allison’s purported relationship complicates the sticky decision to fire Chris,” said one highly placed source. “Have they sullied the network’s reputation? One could argue they have; it just hasn’t been made public yet.”
It also calls into question the hypocrisy of Zucker and Gollust who initially stood by Cuomo when it emerged he rushed to the aid of his embattled brother, the former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Gollust, a veteran public relations expert, once worked as the Democratic lawmaker’s communications director, and rumor mongers inside CNN HQ told Radar that her past job with Cuomo and claims of a romantic relationship raise questions about why Zucker initially protected the embattled brothers.
The alleged affair is said to have begun while the pair were both married: Zucker to wife Caryn and Gollust to husband Billy. Five years after Gollust joined CNN, Zucker announced he and his wife had split after 21 years of marriage. It was said they had simply “grown apart” and the marriage had been dead for 10 years. (read more)
It’s all an internecine mess but explains the situation.
Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, a media personality very familiar with sexual relationships as a technique to advance in positions of broadcast power and network influence, notes the scale of what Zucker did to keep Gollust around will likely shock CNN followers. It appears Ms. Kelly has some details of her own; after all, she was heavily recruited by CNN after Kelly announced her departure from Fox.
Zucker’s relationship with Gollust went on for years, and what he did to keep her near him (as he kept advancing her up the line) will be even more stunning to the CNN news room. https://t.co/STe578EX3W
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
Centinel2012 