Category U. S. DC Uni-party

Aug 31 2020

Storming the Reichstag – Another False Flag by the Government?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Germany

Re-Posted Aug 31, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Hi Mr. Armstrong,
I followed the Berlin protest and was so happy that people are finally waking up, however, today, the whole mainstream media narrative in Germany is….
“Anger after (whatever group) tried to storm the Reichstag building!”
And that is all they bring on every news channel. I never watch mainstream media, but even radio, every 30 minutes they have to talk about a the people who tried to storm the Reichstag.
Are people that stupid?
If the mainstream media wanted to smear mother Teresa, they would plant someone to push her, harass or threaten or whatever and with cameras ready, film her angry or scared reaction and push the narrative that she is a monster. Without a doubt it would work.
They are focussing on one aspect of the demonstrations in Berlin and painting everyone with the same brush. Right wing nuts who want to take over the government.
Like they did in March when it was more known what Bill Gates is up to.
The media here in Germany had a smear campaign and laughed about how absurd it was…the tactic was to say, in a condescending way, “yes these crazy conspiracy theorist somehow believe that …
1. Bill Gates wants to depopulate the planet
2. Was banned for experiments in India
3. Wants us all chipped (the above 3 are true)
4. And THEY believe he is a reptile (which is so stupid no one would believe it)!
AND with that they smear 3 facts with an outrageous bogus statement and it automatically takes away the any validity of the 3 truthful facts.
The press and mainstream media truly are the enemy of the people.
It is so annoying to see and so many people are so easily fooled.
Is it really that easy to fool the masses? We will be herded and chipped and digital money will happen. I lose so much faith when I see what they pump out on mainstream propaganda channels worldwide.
Do people not think for themselves anymore? The lies seem and misinformation seem so obvious and almost expected!

R

ANSWER: The few people that stormed the Reichstag were most likely hired to do so in order to discredit the entire movement. It was less than 100 people out of hundreds of thousands. This is a standard operating procedure. The government creates that story and then they are on the phone to the press who only report that to discourage others from ever joining a march. The press is in on this and they are doing everything in their power to subjugate the people. This type of movement ends only in bloodshed.

Let us not forget that what happened in Germany on February 27, 1933, was another attempt by the government to justify suppressing the people. They argued that a sizeable portion of the parliamentary building in Berlin, the Reichstag, went up in flames from an arson attack by Communists. This justified the entire Nazi movement. It was staged as this one smells exactly the same. There were so few people involved in this incident that they were probably hired.

In the United States, pallets of bricks were being bought and delivered around cities by Acme Brick Company, which was bought in 2000 by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway. Perhaps that is a coincidence and many blamed Buffet because he is in league with Gates and was part of his secret meeting to reduce the population of the world. Perhaps Buffet wishes he were an Egyptian Pharoh who when he died, everyone else in his court was killed to assist him in the journey for the afterlife. Perhaps he wants to reduce the population sho he too has some company given he is now 90 years old. But there is no question the bricks came from Buffets’ company.

The fact that someone was buying all these bricks to assist rioting and looting is clear evidence that someone is funding these riots and they are not simply people on the street. Nobody will dare investigate because the source is obviously political. Snopes, the pretend left-wing fact-checker, claimed this was “mostly false” because “It is possible that protesters themselves could have strategically placed bricks in easily accessible spots to facilitate causing property damage, though no evidence proved that was indeed occurring.” Who is paying for all these bricks? It seems this would have been a very easy thing to investigate – subpoena their sales records at Acme. Instead, they only denied that Buffet or Gates instructed them to deliver the bricks.

“Acme Brick Company is in the business of building, not destroying,” the group said, adding that it “has not done, and will not do, anything to intentionally promote violence.”

“Neither Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, nor anyone else at Berkshire Hathaway directed us to position brick for an unlawful purpose,” Acme added.

Notice what they are doing for they only denied Buffets or Gates while protecting the buyer. The press calls everyone accusing Acme are conspiracy nuts. Nevertheless, they avoided just answering the question. Who paid for the bricks? It is highly doubtful that anything would trace to Buffett or Gates. They are not that stupid to allow a trail. So who paid for the bricks?

If we ever really had honest investigations, we will find out that this storming of the Reichstag and the buying of these bricks will all trace to those seeking to gain political power.

Aug 31 2020

FOX News Is Starting to Get It?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Disease

Re-Posted Aug 31, 2020 by Martin Armstrong
Aug 31 2020

Fundamentals & Confidence – Which is More Important in Markets?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Basic Concepts

Re-Posted Aug 30, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong, You have said that fundamentals really mean nothing because the market runs on confidence. What about the fundamentals during the 2008 crash? Didn’t the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers send the market down and then it was supported by TARP and the central banks?

Thank you;

GD

ANSWER: The entire economy is built upon CONFIDENCE and then that moves in ANTICIPATION of events which often may never even take place. Here is a chart of the Crash of 2008. You can easily see that the bankruptcy of Lehman was not really that devastating. Then you look at when the government passed TARP on October 3rd, 2008. The Dow fell from over 10,000 to mid 7000 levels in 5 days after TARP.  It consolidated briefly but continued lower into the week 0of March 2nd, 2009. Obviously, the market continued to collapse as CONFIDENCE declined and there was NO INDICATION that the government intervention ever worked including the monetization by the Fed.

I have made it very clear that LOWERING interest rates has NEVER saved the day. The $700 billion they handed banks saved the banks, but they NEVER lent the money out. They lacked the CONFIDENCE that the crisis would end soon so they would not lend money and simultaneously people are NOT going to borrow to “stimulate” the economy when they too fear the future is just unknown. These theories are made up by academics who have NEVER traded in their lives. It is impossible to understand these concepts without hands-on experience.

This is what Socrates writes for each day during the crash. You have to approach this objectively. There are more than 70 independent models correlating together to produce these results. Then everything must be looked at also from an international perspective. Internationally, Lehman had more of a bearish impact whereas TARP was seen as more positive internationally. What a difference currency makes.

Friday October 3, 2008

The Dow Jones Industrials made a new low penetrating the previous session’s low and then closed below that level plunging significantly again by 4.75% which strongly suggests we are entering a potential crash mode position. A break of today’s low of 1031025 during the next trading session will warn of a potentially serious decline ahead especially if it closes below today’s low again. The last important high was formed on Monday August 11th at trading days ago. Our projected support for tomorrow lies at 1018098 and a break of that level can set in motion a panic to the downside. Hence, pay close attention at this time.

We did close above the previous session’s Intraday Crash Mode technical support indicator which was 997310 settling at 1048285. The current crash mode support for this session was 999652 which we still closed above implying the market is holding for now. The Intraday Crash indicator for the next session will be 1002412. Now we have been holding above this indicator in the current trading session, and it resides lower for the next session. If the market opens above this number and holds above it intraday, then we are consolidating. Prevailing above this session’s low will be important to indicate the market is in fact holding. The Secondary Intraday Crash Mode technical support lies at 943412 which we are trading above at this time. A breach of this level with a closing below will signal a sharp decline is possible.

Intraday Projected Crash Mode Points

Today……            999652

Previous…          997310

Tomorrow…       1002412

This market has declined for 2 trading days which has been a sharp decline of 5.25%. However, we have not elected any bearish Reversals to date from the high of Wed. 1st.

The Uptrend Line from the last low created at 1036545 tied to the secondary low made on 10/02 remains as resistance standing at 1046421. Only getting above this level on a sustained closing basis will signal a rally to the upside.

Currently, the market remains quite bearish below all our system support indicators with resistance starting at 1037142. The broader cyclical system indicators are also in a bearish position while the long-term trend and cyclical strength are bearish. This market has technically been trading beneath our projected envelope of support at 1050088 warning this decline has been rather reasonable down 10% from the high made 09/19. We have elected all four Bearish Reversals from that high showing weakness.

 

Monday October 6, 2008

The Dow Jones Industrials made a new low penetrating the previous session’s low and then closed below that level collapsing substantially again by 11% warning this market is entering a Panic Sell-Off. Penetrating today’s low 952532 and closing beneath it will tend to confirm that warning. The projected support for the next session lies at 907292. Penetrating this level intraday would warn of a panic to the downside becomes possible which strongly suggests we are entering a potential crash mode position. A break of today’s low of 952532 during the next trading session will warn of a potentially serious decline ahead especially if it closes below today’s low again. The last important high was formed on Monday August 11th at trading days ago.

Our projected support for tomorrow lies at 935730 and a break of that level can set in motion a panic to the downside. Hence, pay close attention at this time.

We did close above the previous session’s Intraday Crash Mode technical support indicator which was 999652 settling at 1032538. The current crash mode support for this session was 1002412 which we penetrated intraday and closed below warning this market is in a panic type sell-off. The Intraday Crash indicator for the next session will be 907292. Normally, when you open back above this pivot number or closed back above it then the sell-off is subsiding. So, watch this number which is dynamic for it changes with each session.

Intraday Projected Crash Mode Points

Today……            1002412

Previous…          999652

Tomorrow…       907292

This market has declined for 3 trading days which has been a sharp decline of 12%. However, the overall decline has been more pronounced falling for 11 trading days. In the process, we have elected all four Daily Bearish Reversals from the high of 09/19.

Our projected pivot point remains as resistance standing at 1029645. Only getting above this level on a sustained closing basis will signal a rally to the upside.

As of now, the market remains quite bearish below all our system support indicators with resistance starting at 1036545. The broader cyclical system indicators are also in a bearish position while the long-term trend and cyclical strength are bearish. This market has technically been trading beneath our projected envelope of support at 1045207 warning this decline has been rather a spectacular crash down where emotions run high 17% from the high made 09/19. We have elected all four Bearish Reversals from that high showing weakness.

 

Tuesday October 7, 2008

The Dow Jones Industrials made a new low penetrating the previous session’s low and then closed below that level plunging significantly again by 8.58% which strongly suggests we are entering a potential crash mode position. A break of today’s low of 943667 during the next trading session will warn of a potentially serious decline ahead especially if it closes below today’s low again. The last important high was formed on Monday August 11th at 1186711 which was 41 trading days ago. Our projected support for tomorrow lies at 928188 and a break of that level can set in motion a continued panic to the downside where extreme support lies at 907521. Hence, pay close attention at this time.

We did close below the previous session’s Intraday Crash Mode technical support indicator at 1002412 settling at 995550 which alerted us to a further decline was likely going into the instant session. The immediate crash mode support for this current session was 907292 which we have now closed back above suggesting the crash is subsiding. The Intraday Crash indicator for the next session will be 907521. Now since we closed back above this indicator in the current trading session, then holding above this indicator for the next session will imply the decline is subsiding. The Secondary Intraday Crash Mode technical support lies at 906159 which we are trading above at this time. A breach of this level with a closing below will signal a sharp decline is possible.

Intraday Projected Crash Mode Points

Today……            907292

Previous…          1002412

Tomorrow…       907521

 

This market has declined for 4 trading days since the last high established at 1088252 from which we have witnessed a decline of 13%. However, the overall decline has been more pronounced falling for 12 trading days which has been a decline of 17%.

Granted, this decline has penetrated the previous key cycle low established at 1045944 and it is sharply lower by 18% from the last high made 09/19. Most importantly, this market entered Crash Mode 3 days ago. This type of pattern warns we are in the throes of a near-term correction which is rather serious at this moment.

Interestingly, this market has fallen down for 5 days from highest close closed below the previous low warning that the market is still vulnerable. The next projected target support lies at 990658 and we have already broken below two extreme projected technical support levels. Naturally, any short position should include a protective intraday stop above the previous high for now.

 

Wednesday October 8, 2008

The Dow Jones Industrials made a new low penetrating the previous session’s low and then closed below that level plunging significantly in panic mode for the fifth consecutive time by 9.17%. This does warn that this market is in crash mode position right now. A break of today’s low of 919478 during the next trading session will warn of a potentially serious decline ahead especially if it closes below today’s low again. The last important high was formed on Monday August 11th at 1186711 which was 42 trading days ago. Our projected support for tomorrow lies at 902755 and a break of that level can set in motion a continued panic to the downside where extreme support lies at 885724. Hence, pay close attention at this time.

We did close above the previous session’s Intraday Crash Mode technical support indicator which was 907292 settling at 944711. The current Crash Mode support for this session was 907521 which we closed above at this time. The Intraday Crash indicator for the next session will be 885724. Up to now, the market has been holding above this Crash Mode indicator in the current trading session, but it is still declining sharply. Granted, it is also moving lower for the next session. A consolidation would only be suggested by opening above this target, and holding this session’s low of 919478 intraday. However, a break of this session’s low followed by a closing below this level as well will warn that a continued sharp decline is still in motion.

Intraday Projected Crash Mode Points

Today……            907521

Previous…          907292

Tomorrow…       885724

This market has declined for 5 trading days since the last high established at 1088252 from which we have witnessed a decline of 15% qualifying this as a correction. However, the overall decline has been more pronounced falling for 13 trading days which has been a decline of 19%.

Granted, this decline has penetrated the previous key cycle low established at 1045944 and it is sharply lower by 20% from the last high made 09/19. Most importantly, this market entered Crash Mode 4 days ago. This type of pattern warns we are in the throes of a near-term correction which is rather serious at this moment.

Interestingly, this market has fallen down for 6 days from highest close closed below the previous low warning that the market is still vulnerable. The next projected target support lies at 966672 and we have already broken below one extreme projected technical support level. Naturally, any short position should include a protective intraday stop above the previous high for now.

Factually, the market remains quite bearish below all our system support indicators with resistance starting at 1031025. The broader cyclical system indicators are also in a bearish position while the long-term trend and cyclical strength are bearish. This market is also trading mostly below the bank of eight moving average indicators suggesting it remains in a mixed posture for now.

This market has technically been trading beneath our projected envelope of support at 1017578 warning this decline has been rather a spectacular crash down where emotions run high 19% from the high made 09/19. We have elected all four Bearish Reversals from that high showing weakness.

 

Thursday October 9, 2008

The Dow Jones Industrials made a new low penetrating the previous session’s low and then closed below that level collapsing substantially for the sixth consecutive time by 10% warning this market remains in a Panic Sell-Off. Penetrating today’s low 857919 and closing beneath it will tend to confirm that warning. Our extreme projected underlying support for tomorrow lies at 799800. This market has immediately declined for 6 trading days. This does warn that this market is in crash mode position right now. A break of today’s low of 857919 during the next trading session will warn of a potentially serious decline ahead especially if it closes below today’s low again. The last important high was formed on Monday August 11th at 1186711 which was 43 trading days ago.

Our projected support for tomorrow lies at 835591 and a break of that level can set in motion a continued panic to the downside where extreme support lies at 819531. Hence, pay close attention at this time.

We did close above the previous session’s Intraday Crash Mode technical support indicator which was 907521 settling at 925810. The current Crash Mode support for this session was 885724 which we penetrated intraday and closed below warning this market is in a panic type sell-off. The Intraday Crash indicator for the next session will be 819531. Normally, when you open back above this pivot number or closed back above it then the sell-off is subsiding. So, watch this number which is dynamic for it changes with each session.

Intraday Projected Crash Mode Points

Today……            885724

Previous…          907521

Tomorrow…       819531

This market has declined for 6 trading days since the last high established at 1088252 from which we have witnessed a decline of 21% qualifying this as a correction. However, the overall decline has been more pronounced falling for 14 trading days which has been a decline of 25%.

Granted, this decline has penetrated the previous key cycle low established at 1045944 and it is sharply lower by 26% from the last high made 09/19. This type of pattern warns we are in the throes of a near-term correction which is rather serious at this moment.

Interestingly, this market has dropped for several days and closed below the previous low warning that the market is still vulnerable. The projected extreme target support for tomorrow lies at 799800 which needs to hold on a closing basis to imply a bounce can form thereafter.

Up to now, the market remains quite bearish below all our system support indicators with resistance starting at 952532. The broader cyclical system indicators are also in a bearish position while the long-term trend and cyclical strength are bearish. This market is also trading mostly below the bank of eight moving average indicators suggesting it remains in a mixed posture for now.

This market has technically been trading beneath our projected envelope of support at 999397 warning this decline has been rather a spectacular crash down where emotions run high 25% from the high made 09/19. We have elected all four Bearish Reversals from that high showing weakness.

 

Friday October 10, 2008

The Dow Jones Industrials made a new low penetrating the previous session’s low after opening below it and then closed below that level collapsing substantially for the seventh consecutive time by 27% warning this market has been in a Panic Sell-Off after 7 days down. It is possible that we may have a temporary low forming. The extreme projected underlying support for today was 799800 which today’s action did penetrate intraday but we closed above that at the end of the session. Our extreme projected underlying support for tomorrow lies at 713534.

Indeed, this market has declined sharply bringing to bear the full scope of emotions in such declines. We need a higher open and a break above today’s high of 890128 while holding today’s low of 788251 to suggest a bounce is in order.

The Projected Breakout Resistance indicator resides at 865254 which we are already exceeded intraday but the market closed below it as of this session’s closing at 845119 Still, this typically implies that this market will rally to test overhead resistance if we exceed that level again intraday.

Intraday Projected Breakout Resistance

Today……            923667

Previous…          941209

Tomorrow…       865254

Clearly, this market has been in crash mode position up to now. A break of today’s low of 788251 during the next trading session will warn of a potentially serious decline ahead especially if it closes below today’s low again. The last important high was formed on Monday August 11th at 1186711 which was 44 trading days ago.

Our projected support for tomorrow lies at 760663 and a break of that level can set in motion a continued panic to the downside where extreme support lies at 745394. Hence, pay close attention at this time.

We did close below the previous session’s Intraday Crash Mode technical support indicator at 885724 settling at 857919 which alerted us to a further decline was likely going into the instant session. The immediate Crash Mode support for this current session was 819531 which we have now closed back above suggesting the crash is subsiding. The Intraday Crash indicator for the next session will be 745394. Now since we closed back above this indicator in the current trading session, then holding above this indicator for the next session will imply the decline is subsiding.

Intraday Projected Crash Mode Points

Today……            819531

Previous…          885724

Tomorrow…       745394

 

This market has declined for 7 trading days since the last high established at 1088252 from which we have witnessed a decline of 27% qualifying this as a correction. However, the overall decline has been more pronounced falling for 15 trading days which has been a decline of 31%.

Granted, this decline has penetrated the previous key cycle low established at 1045944 and it is sharply lower by 32% from the last high made 09/19. This type of pattern warns we are in the throes of a near-term correction which is rather serious at this moment.

Interestingly, this market has dropped for several days and closed below the previous low warning that the market is still vulnerable. The projected extreme target support for tomorrow lies at 713534 which needs to hold on a closing basis to imply a bounce can form thereafter.

Presently, the market remains quite bearish below all our system support indicators with resistance starting at 943667. The broader cyclical system indicators are also in a bearish position while the long-term trend and cyclical strength are bearish. This market is also trading mostly below the bank of eight moving average indicators suggesting it remains in a mixed posture for now.

This market has technically been trading beneath our projected envelope of support at 981467 warning this decline has been rather a spectacular crash down 31% from the high made 09/19. We have elected all four Bearish Reversals from that high showing weakness. We have not elected any Bullish Reversals from this low today.

Aug 30 2020

RNC Convention Part 2


The Republican convention was much better than the strange, masked, virtual show the Democrats put on. Even some analysts on CNN admitted it. Trump should also get a larger bounce than what Biden received.

The wrap up day began with a Democrat. Kamala Harris decided to stage a ‘prebuttal’ to Trump’s speech later in the evening. Why Sleepy Joe didn’t do it is anyone’s guess. My guess is the Democrats want him talking as little as possible. Even Pelosi doesn’t want him debating Trump.

Trump broke precedent and made his speech at the White House. The Democrats wondered if he broke the law. Look for Pelosi to begin another round of impeachment hearings over it. It was unusual for Trump to use the White House as the background, but this has been a very unusual year with Bolshevik traitors trying to remove him from office, so I say we should give him a pass.

The president’s speech was easily twice as long as Biden’s and it was also more effective. Many of us conservatives want to know he’s still committed to draining the swamp as well as keeping America as his primary focus. Nationalism is needed to balance out his opponent’s globalism. We needed to hear that someone cares about our rights—especially our First and Second Amendment ones. He cares about all races and wants us to prosper and have jobs. Trump remains our last, best hope to maintain our Republic.

During the convention, some NBA players decided to stage a boycott. That’s their right of course, but it further damages the NBA, which has already been politicized by the left. What should be entertainment and a welcome distraction from the virus and violent protests is gone. I stopped watching the NBA after they genuflected to communist China. If the players are upset about a black man getting shot, they should play and donate their capacious salaries to the family.

We’ve already lost baseball (this season was a joke) and we’ll probably lose the NFL, too. Good riddance to all professional sports if they all want to take knees to our flag while turning their venues into political fields for protest.

Trump wants to return to the America I knew when I was younger. He may be the last hope against a rapidly unfolding dystopian future.

—Ben Garrison

 

Aug 30 2020

Victor Davis Hanson | Trump, China and Black Lives Matter


Victor Davis Hanson is an American classicist, military historian, columnist, and farmer. He has been a commentator on contemporary politics for the National Review and The Washington Times and is currently the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He and John analyse the current culture war and the effect it is having on our geopolitical strategy especially in relation to China, in light of the current pandemic.

Aug 30 2020

The Hard Facts on Covid-19 Science Denial


Re-Posted from the Just The Facts daily By Anna Lynn and James Agresti August 24, 2020

Overview

In a Washington Post op-ed titled “More Republican Casualties From Trump’s Coronavirus Denial,” columnist Jennifer Rubin claims that “red states”—specifically Texas, Arizona, and Arkansas—are “paying the price” for their “arrogant and reckless disregard of expert advice.”

In concert with Rubin, multitudes of reporters and commentators have declared that Republican governors have worsened the effects of Covid-19 by “denying science” and reopening “too early.” Meanwhile, they have praised Democratic governors, like Andrew Cuomo of NY and Phil Murphy of NJ, for their handling of the pandemic.

By misusing anecdotes and stripping data of vital context, these media figures have woven a narrative that is at stark odds with reality. As documented below with credible primary sources, the hard facts show that:

  • the C-19 death rates in Republican states regularly condemned by media outlets remain far lower than in NY and NJ after more than four months of doomsday projections for Republican states.
  • Republican governors ridiculed by the media have acted in accord with the facts of science.
  • Democratic governors cheered by the media have enacted policies that flout some of the most important scientific facts about Covid-19. 

The Bottom Line is Deaths, Not Cases

On a near-continual basis since the outset of the pandemic, Rubin and many of her media colleagues have cited rising numbers of C-19 cases to castigate Republican governors for mishandling the pandemic. A small sampling of their rhetoric includes statements like these:

  • “In Arkansas (home to Trump sycophant Sen. Tom Cotton), a debacle is unfolding.”
    – Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post
  • “Americans didn’t fail the Covid-19 test; Republicans did….”
    – Paul Krugman of the New York Times
  • Republicans “continue to peddle denial for political reasons.”
    – Fabiola Santiago of the Miami Herald
  • If “coronavirus has revealed anything, it’s that proud ignorance and do-nothing dangerousness is largely a Republican problem.”
    – Jill Filipovic writing at CNN
  • The “president and his Republican allies had urged people to return to normal” in TX, FL and AZ, and are therefore to blame for rising case numbers.
    – Michael Shear and Maggie Haberman of the New York Times
  • Because Republican governors like Florida’s Ron DeSantis “largely ignored” the “road map to safety,” cases are now “exploding.”
    – Joanne Kenen of Politico

Yet, more than a month after the accusations above were leveled, the C-19 death rate—or the portion of the population killed by the disease—in the state of:

  • New York is 2.7 times greater than in Arizona, 3.8 times greater than in Florida, 4.8 times greater than in Texas, and 8.4 times greater than in Arkansas.
  • New Jersey is 2.8 times greater than in Arizona, 4.0 times greater than in Florida, 5.1 times greater than in Texas, and 8.9 times greater than in Arkansas.

Of course, death rates could rise in the future, but there is a lag of about 15 days between C-19 symptom onset and death—and after more than 120 days of persistent media alarmism—there is no indication that Florida or any other Republican state is in danger of reaching the level of carnage in NY and NJ.

On their own, death rates don’t prove that Republicans have done a better job of handling C-19 than Democrats. This is because association does not prove causation, and numerous other factors are at play. However, preventing deaths is the ultimate goal of C-19 policies, and death rates undercut much of the media hysteria over rising cases in Republican states.

One key fact revealed by death rates is that there is not a fixed relationship between the number of C-19 cases and deaths. For example, the people currently contracting C-19 in Florida are relatively young, and thus, they are far less likely to die from it. During Florida’s first infection peak in April, about 25% of reported C-19 cases were among people aged 65 and older, but this figure plunged to 13% by August 5.

Death rates can also cut through the noise caused by changes in testing capacity. This is important because the vast majority of C-19 cases are mild or asymptomatic, and greater testing rates can detect such cases and distort trends. Between April 1 and July 13, the number of tests per day in Florida increased by 6.5 times. This can create an illusion of “exploding” cases when, in fact, Florida’s tame death rate suggests that a sizeable portion of the rise in cases is from more testing, which is a positive development.

The Scientific Approach

In addition to ignoring death rates, Rubin and others have smeared Republican governors by calling them “science deniers” who defied “expert advice.” In reality, these governors have acted in accord with science, which is not the claims of cherry-picked “experts” but the “systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation” (Webster’s College Dictionary).

States like Florida and Texas managed C-19 by focusing on the vulnerable and giving healthy people more flexibility to live their lives. This strategy is rooted in the following scientific facts:

  • Younger people are far less likely to die from C-19 than the common hazards of life for which governments don’t lock them down:
    • Since the outset of the pandemic on March 11 through July 25, merely 1.0% of all deaths of U.S. children aged 5–14 years have involved C-19. Among 15–24 year olds, this figure is only 1.7%, and among 25–34 year olds, it is just 3.9%.
    • People under age 49 who catch C-19 and show symptoms are about 26 times less likely to die of it than those aged 65 and older.
  • Because C-19 is highly contagious, it will ultimately spread if lockdowns are relaxed in the absence of vaccines or herd immunity, regardless of whether states open “early” or not:
    • Even the Imperial College, which provided the impetus for mass lockdowns, admitted that the “more successful a strategy is at temporary suppression, the larger the later epidemic is predicted to be in the absence of vaccination, due to lesser build-up of herd immunity.”
    • The explicit goal of lockdowns was to “flatten the curve” and “slow the spread” of the virus so that cases would “stretch out across a longer period of time” and not “overwhelm” hospitals. This is illustrated by the widely cited “flatten the curve” charts, which show that lockdowns don’t reduce the number of people who catch the virus but extend the timeframe over which they catch it.
  • Second waves of infections are not limited to Republican states that opened “early” but have occurred in places like California (a heavily Democratic state that has barely loosened its lockdown), Spain, France, Israel, and Australia.
  • Absent a vaccine, the only way for people to become immune to C-19 is to catch the virus and recover. A 2012 paper in the journal PLoS One about “Immunity in Society” explains that once a high enough percentage of the population has become immune, an “immune firewall” is created, preventing further transmission to those who are vulnerable.
  • Lockdowns cause enormous suffering and death via consequences like unemployment, social isolation, delayed medical care, depression, and anxiety:
    • The United Nations reported that C-19 lockdowns are creating lethal mental health problems through an array of mechanisms like separating people “from loved ones” and “vast numbers” of lost livelihoods.
    • A 2011 meta-analysis in the journal Social Science & Medicine found that “unemployment is associated with a substantially increased risk of death among broad segments of the population.”
  • Government-mandated and personal decisions to delay medical care because of C-19 have postponed tumor removals, cancer screenings, heart surgeries, and treatments for other ailments that can lead to early death if not addressed in a timely manner.
  • To quantify just one element of the death tradeoff for lockdowns, Just Facts conducted a rigorous study that found anxiety related to C-19 will destroy at least seven times more years of life than can possibly be saved by lockdowns. After reviewing this study, the accomplished psychiatrist Joseph P. Damore, Jr. concluded that it “thoroughly answers the question about the cure being worse than the disease.”

Republican states that crafted their C-19 policies around the scientific facts above have drastically lower death rates than the oft-praised states of New York and New Jersey. Again, this association does not prove that Republican governors managed the virus better than their Democratic counterparts. However, it is flagrantly deceitful to report that Republican states “peddle denial,” put “the economy over health,” or failed “the Covid-19 test,” when in fact, their death rates are extremely low, and their actions align with crucial scientific facts.

The Real Science Deniers

In the same piece in which she vilifies “science-denying Republican leaders,” Rubin accuses them of having “blood on their hands” because they made “premature, rash and uninformed” decisions that led to “unnecessary deaths.” Yet, this description actually applies to the decisions of prominent Democrats, namely Phil Murphy and Andrew Cuomo (who Rubin lauds).

Both Murphy and Cuomo forced nursing homes to admit and readmit people who were infected with C-19. This mandate was at direct odds with two essential scientific facts that were widely known since the outset of the pandemic:

  1. Elderly people and those with chronic ailments—who are the very definition of nursing home residents—are extremely vulnerable to the virus.
  2. The virus is highly transmissible, and thus, it can easily sweep through large groups of sickly and/or aged people who live together.

Including an estimated 18 days between infection and death, over 5,900 nursing home patients in NY and 3,400 in NJ were lost by the time Cuomo and Murphy rescinded their policies.

Furthermore, the NY nursing home death toll is greatly understated because Cuomo’s Department of Health excludes residents who catch the disease in a nursing home but die “outside of the facility.” Thus, the official figure may undercount the actual number by thousands of deaths.

While rejecting calls for an independent investigation, Cuomo has repeatedly blamed others for the nursing home carnage in his state, but none of his explanations hold water:

  • Cuomo first faulted nursing homes, stating that they were only required to readmit C-19 patients “if they have the ability to provide the adequate level of care.” However, Cuomo’s executive order:
    • unequivocally states in underlined text, “No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the NH [nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19.”
    • often made it impossible for homes to know if they could provide appropriate care by banning them from “requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission.”
    • never mentioned or implied that it is illegal under NY State law for nursing homes to accept someone they cannot care for properly.
  • Cuomo then claimed that his order “followed President Trump’s CDC guidance,” but the truth is that this guidance:
    • doesn’t recommend putting C-19 patients into nursing homes.
    • states that C-19 patients “should go to a facility with adequate personal protective equipment supplies and an ability to adhere to infection prevention….”
  • Cuomo’s top aide, Melissa DeRosa later said that his policy was “in-line directly” with directives from the Trump administration’s Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), but to the contrary:
    • 12 days before Cuomo’s order, CMS warned that homes must be “vigilant in identifying any possible infected individuals” and “follow CDC guidance.”
    • CMS administrator Seema Verma directly responded to DeRosa’s claims, stating that the CMS was “clear and unmistakable” in stating that nursing homes should reject people that they cannot care for, and “any insinuation to the contrary is woefully mistaken at best and dishonest at worst.”
  • After that, Cuomo claimed that NY “had more people die” because the Trump administration “missed the boat and never told us that this virus was coming from Europe and not from China.” In reality, the Trump administration issued a near-total ban on travel from Europe on the same day that the World Health Organization declared C-19 a pandemic (March 11). Yet, Cuomo did not announce a stay-at-home order until more than a week later on March 20.
  • Finally, Cuomo’s Department of Health published a report that returned to blaming nursing homes while claiming that his policy was not a “significant factor” in fatalities. However, the report:
    • misinterprets association as causation by arguing that a “link between the timing of staff infection and nursing home fatalities” proves the nursing home staff transmitted the virus to residents.
    • uses a false measure of timing based on the number of homes with an infected staff member instead of the actual number of infected staff members.
    • uses grossly incomplete data that excludes residents who caught the virus in nursing homes but died “outside of the facility,” a figure that could number in the thousands.

So in the face of proven scientific facts and crystal clear guidance from the CDC and CMS, these Democrat governors forced C-19 carriers into the vicinity of the people who are most vulnerable to it. Yet, Rubin, cheers Cuomo for taking “responsibility,” his “remarkable success” in battling C-19, and his “effective takedown” of President Trump’s science “denial.”

Implications

The impact of the media’s misinformation stretches well beyond politics and can have deadly consequences for American citizens. For a prime example, NJ Advance Media published an article by reporter Steve Politi titled, “‘I Hate Florida!’ How the Coronavirus Convinced One NJ Snowbird to Fly Back Home.” Politi writes:

  • “Let’s face it, who among us hasn’t shaken our heads in disgust at Florida during this pandemic?”
  • “The partying spring-breakers. The slow-to-act governor. The science deniers.”
  • “The hashtag #FloridaMorons was trending on Twitter over the weekend when—days after the state recorded its highest death toll—thousands of people flocked to the just-reopened beaches.”

Politi then applauds a NJ native’s rant against Florida and her decision to move back to NJ, thus implying that Jersey is much safer than Florida. Yet, Politi fails to mention that the C-19 death rate was 15.3 times higher in New Jersey than in Florida when he wrote this article.

Despite Florida’s large elderly population, who are at a much higher risk to die of C-19, the state’s death rate is still 4.0 times lower than New Jersey. This is nearly five months since the Miami Herald editorial board lectured Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to “act like you give a damn” about C-19 and “quickly” seek guidance from the governors of NY, CT, and CA. Since the time that the Herald gave this advice on March 22, Covid-19 deaths rates have progressed as follows:

Conclusion

Rather than painting an accurate picture of reality, Rubin and many other people in the media have spread a counter-factual narrative that Republican states, like FL and TX, have mishandled C-19 while Democratic states like NY and NJ and done wonderfully. Masses of Americans make crucial life decisions based on what the media reports, and twisting facts is the worst possible way to ensure their health and safety.

Aug 30 2020

Beware of the “Fact Checkers”


Re-Posted from Just The Facts Daily By James D. Agresti August 27, 2020

We live in an age in which information is far more accessible than ever before. However, so is misinformation. How can we sort out one from other?

Well, some people who call themselves “fact checkers” claim to have the answer. They say, “Trust us.” But all-too-often, they fail to get even basic facts correct. Let’s look at three prime examples. See if you notice a common thread between them.

Snopes

Late during the Supreme Court nomination hearings for Brett Kavanaugh, several women accused him of sexual assault, and the media began publishing many “facts” about such crimes. These supposedly showed that only a tiny portion of sexual assault allegations are false, giving the clear message that Kavanaugh’s accusers are probably telling the truth.

That’s when a “fact checker” called Snopes stepped in and reported that “the most recent and credible research on this topic suggests that around 5% of rape or sexual assault allegations are false.” Snopes writer Alex Kasprak based this claim mainly on a meta-analysis of seven studies.

However, the meta-analysis doesn’t say this. Instead, it states that “at least 5%” of such accusation are “confirmed false reports” and “potentially many more false report cases” exist. In fact, the meta-analysis lists four different studies of “suspected” false allegations and “found false reporting rates above 40%.”

Surely, Snopes knows that the words “at least 5% and potentially many more” don’t mean “around 5%.”

If that wasn’t enough, the same Snopes article slanders Mississippi state senator Chris McDaniel by claiming that he said “99% of rape allegations from women are false.” McDaniel didn’t say that. He was speaking about accusations dredged up by the “American left” at politically opportune times many years after the alleged incidents occurred. He was not talking about all sex assault cases, and no competent, honest journalist could twist his words in the manner that Snopes did.

PolitiFact

Let’s examine another enlightening example.

In the final presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, Clinton said that “half of all” illegal immigrants in the U.S. “actually pay federal income tax.”

A Pulitzer Prize-winning fact check organization named PolitiFact looked into Clinton’s claim and reported: “While there is no official figure, experts estimate that about half of all undocumented workers pay federal income taxes, if not more.”

In reality, the polar opposite is true. Data from the IRS, the Social Security Administration, and the Congressional Budget Office show that roughly half of illegal immigrants file federal tax returns, but virtually none of them pay federal income taxes. Instead, they file these returns to claim refundable child tax credits, which give them cash welfare payments for every child they have.

Are we supposed to believe that PolitiFact doesn’t understand that “paying income taxes” is not the same as “filing tax returns to get welfare”?

Washington Post

Now let’s examine a fact checking operation embedded in a media outlet.

Well after Obamacare was signed into law, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that it would reduce the size of the U.S. workforce by about 2.3 million full-time workers. This was roughly three times larger than the previous estimate.

As this negative news spread, the Washington Post’s head fact checker, Glenn Kessler, put a positive spin on it by claiming that this decline in workers “initially would lead to higher wages as employers competed to hire people.”

In direct contradiction this, the same Congressional Budget Office report that Kessler cited says that the Affordable Care Act will cause “reductions in wages or other compensation.” Moreover, it explains that these wage reductions are among the main reasons why Obamacare will cause the workforce to decline. Since Obamacare cuts the money that people earn from working, less people will be willing to work.

Even a child can read a report that say “wages will decline” and know that it doesn’t mean “wages will rise.” Why can’t the Washington Post’s head fact checker or his editor do that?

This is same media outlet that ran a Super Bowl ad praising journalists for empowering the public, helping us make good decisions, and keeping us free.

Conclusion

These cases are all clear as a bell and inexcusable under basic standards of honesty. Worse still, when I brought these blatant falsehoods to the attention of these so-called fact checkers, not one of them made a correction.

So what’s the common thread here? They all mislead in ways that support progressive political agendas. This is not a coincidence. I’ve examined countless fact checks that are rife with deceit, and in nearly every case, it’s the same story: They mangle the truth in ways that advance leftist narratives.

Why would they do this? I can’t read their minds, but this can only boil down to two factors: incompetence and/or dishonesty.

Aug 30 2020

British View of US Elections


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

Re-Posted Aug 30, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT #1: Hello Marty; I hope all is well. Shame you are not here to see how barmy [crazy]  London has become. Just wanted to say, your forecast on BREXIT was correct against all the polls here which said it would fail. I think your computer will be correct again with Trump. We really need him to defend the entire world against this Gates coup. I wish I could vote for this election is really a world referendum on Gates.

KL (from London)

COMMENT #2: Have the liberal democrats shot themselves in the face?

Hi Marty

This might be a strange subject heading, however, I believe it to be very true. The extreme left of the party, which now seems to be the party, are so inextricably tangled in their own hate of Trump, that they see nothing else. They are clearly not taking a few steps back and taking a look at the bigger picture.

I believe they decided long ago that making the country ungovernable was a good gamble and would play into their hands. The powers that be decided to open Pandora`s box, assuming the chaos and anarchy they released they could control. More so I believe they thought that if they lost control, it would blow back on Trump and not them. They assumed/ hoped in cities like Seattle and Portland, that they could get a fatal reaction from Trump – the USA version of Tiananmen Square, where they could say, gotcha, and milk it and others, through to election day. I would posit that quite the opposite has occurred, the law of unintended consequences has bitten them hard.

They have been baiting Trump but largely he has not moved. Quite cleverly he has made this the problem it is – a democrat controlled city/ state problem. For nearly 90 days democrats from Mayors, to Governors, to Senators and their left wing media mouth pieces, have all relentlessly called for defunding the police, openly encouraged rioting and looting and refused to prosecute looters. At best they have just said nothing. The public are not as stupid as they think and they realise they are complicit. It is very telling that CNN came out and stated Biden must say something – and the next day he did, what about the previous 88 days? Is it coincidental that even in biased polls, that in the 3 weeks since VP Harris was announced amid escalating violence that Biden has plunged 10pts in the polls. I get the feeling the Democrat leaders are in a panic, they can feel and see this election and any slim chance they had of winning evaporating in front of them, hence their more and more desperate attacks and ploys.

Official polls now show that at least 12% of republican voters actually blatantly lie about their intentions. Who can blame them, these days wearing a MAGA cap could get you in ICU, or fired from your job. A question, how many certified democrat voters are also lying. Take these points and the ridiculous oversampling these polls do to try and get the required results, that the ‘people’ want to see. It is quite plausible that the REAL figure could have as much as a 25 point swing and that in reality Trump has a massive lead. Are the Dems making the 2016 Hillary mistake all over again and believing their own BS.

People talk about the silent majority being pro-Trump. Combine that with the noisy minority of liberal Dems and you have polls which the Dem leadership should actually be terrified of and I believe they are.

If things are allowed to proceed relatively normally, I would suggest that this will be one of the largest landslide wins for Trump, in presidential history. If the Dems even get remotely close, then the cheating they will have pulled off will be truly biblical in scale.

I am not even an American and will not be voting. However, what I see every day and what is happening on a global scale as the far left continues with their great reset coup – I believe Trump is the last chance the world has to prevent our descent into a zero freedom world of anarchy and death.

Kind Regards

PD (from UK)

REPLY: It is very interesting all the pro-Trump comments I am getting from around the world. It certainly seems as though externally people see what is at stake on a grand global scale. I do think we are witnessing the same problem with the polls pre-BREXIT in Britain as we are seeing here with Biden v Trump. The hostility of calling those in favor of BREXIT “racists” is certainly the same hostile tactic here in America. In Britain, most of the Indian community voted for BREXIT on the grounds that they needed skills and language to gain entry to Britain. In discussions with friends there in the Indian community, they saw this as an insult to them to suddenly allow people in from the Middle East with no skills or language. Trump won the Spanish vote in 2016 for the very same reason. They came here legally and saw it as unfair to just allow illegal entries into the United States that ruined their reputation.

The assumption that one can call someone who votes for Trump or BREXIT a racist and the assumption that all Spanish support wholesale illegals crossing the border is absurd. This is incredible stereotyping which seems to be racist in and of itself.

With respect to the Democrats seemingly supporting the Black Lives Matter, aside from the fact that Schumer is not wearing a mask and Pelosi has her’s down, all this nonsense about defunding the police is really questionable if the Democrats are not deliberately trying to send the country into anarchy. Insofar as the very issue behind Black Lives Matter is that police have no respect for Blacks because they are immune from prosecution, that is something the Democrats could fix in 15 minutes. The immunity was created by the Supreme Court and it is clearly unconstitutional for it simply means that government employees are ABOVE the law which is a denial of Equal Protection. The Democrats can simply legislate a bill that removes immunity for police and prosecutors – but they do not. They are instead exploiting the black community.

Trump is very popular among blacks for he is the first president to start to address the abuse of the legal system.  About 3,100 inmates have been released from federal prisons across the country because of a change in how their good-behavior time calculation. The blacks in prison were full of hope when Obama became preside4nt. They thought he would address their unfair treatment. He did nothing for them and he actually deported more Mexicans than any other president by far more than 10x.

The Democrats are exploiting the Black Lives Matter and could change the laws so that blacks, who sold crack, got far more time than anyone selling just cocaine – a favorite in Washington and Wall Street (oh sorry, I’m not supposed to say that). About 1,691 people convicted of crack cocaine offenses also have received sentence reductions. Trump is the only President who has been trying to reform the justice system.

Aug 30 2020

Patenting Viruses Can Only Be Done if They Are Created in a Lab


Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption

Re-Posted Aug 30, 2020 by Martin Armstrong
There is a very serious question with regard to patents. How is it possible to patent a virus? Legally, you should only be able to patent something you invent. You cannot patent nature. That would be like filing for a patent on water. This video goes into some of the backgrounds behind this question. There is a serious question that COVID-19 may have been created, shipped to Wuhan, and someone bribed to release it. It is not really that lethal. Simply washing your hands kills this virus.

The death rate of 175,000 Americans out of 328 million is only 0.0005335%. Yet CNN constantly terrorizes people every day reporting how many cases and deaths. Yet about 647,000 Americans die from heart disease each year—that’s 1 in every 4 deaths according to the CDC.  They do not report that every single day. According to the Association for Safe International Road Travel, about 1.35 million people die in road crashes each year, on average 3,700 people lose their lives every day on the roads. An additional 20-50 million suffer non-fatal injuries, often resulting in long-term disabilities. The U.S. traffic fatality rate is 12.4 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.

CNN and others refuse to represent the people and prefer trying to indoctrinate them to be mindless drones. Nobody will dare look at these patents and how could Fauci even dare to try to patent any virus? There is no reporting on this very serious question.

Aug 30 2020

How The CIA Used The Media to Ensnare Michael Flynn


Posted originally on The Conservative Tree House on August 29, 2020 by 

A GUEST CONTRIBUTION: Authored By Jack Cashill

If Vladimir Putin was willing to help President Barack Obama seal the misbegotten Iranian nuclear deal, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, then chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA),was not. His resistance made him a target, especially once he started advising candidate Donald Trump. As to who launched the disinformation campaign against Flynn, the jury is still out. Best evidence, however, suggests forces within the CIA working in tandem with its friends in the media.

The co-conspirators started publicly setting the trap with a February 2016 Reuters article teasingly titled, “Trump being advised by ex-U.S. Lieutenant General who favors closer Russia ties.” https://reut.rs/2EwzoEL This was a bold gambit. As recently as July 2015 Obama was telling Tom Friedman of the New York Times, “We would have not achieved this [Iran nuclear] agreement had it not been for Russia’s willingness to stick with us and the other P5-Plus members in insisting on a strong deal.” https://nyti.ms/3jaDTnz 

Obama praised Putin a year after Putin annexed the Crimea. That invasion was so much water under the bridge for Obama but apparently not for Flynn. Just months later, it was considered newsworthy that Flynn would advise Trump to “work more closely with Russia to resolve global security issues.”

“Flynn raised eyebrows among some U.S. foreign policy veterans,” wrote Steve Holland and Mark Hosenball of Reuters, “when he was pictured sitting at the head table with Putin at a banquet in Moscow late last year celebrating Russia Today, an international broadcasting network funded by the Russian government.” The reporters’ “three sources,” all said to be “former foreign policy officials,” failed to mention that Flynn had been briefed by the DIA before the dinner and debriefed afterwards.

What made me suspicious about this article was the Mark Hosenball byline. Hosenball appears to have been carrying water for the intelligence community (IC) for at least twenty years, maybe twice that long. To say the least, he has a curious background.

Hosenball moved to England when he was 17 to attend school. After spending a year in England and three in Ireland, he moved back to England to become a reporter. This information comes from a 1977 British appeals court document explaining why the United Kingdom chose to deport the 25-year-old Hosenball “in the interests of national security.”

“The Secretary of State believes that Mr. Hosenball is a danger to this country. So much so that his presence here is unwelcome and he can no longer be permitted to stay,” reads the document. Reportedly, Hosenball was one of a group of people who were “trying to obtain information of a very sensitive character about our security arrangements.” The document does not identify on whose behalf Hosenball was allegedly spying, but it affirms the government’s decision to deport him nonetheless.

The American intelligence community did not appear troubled by Hosenball’s actions. As the New York Times reported at the time, “A United States Embassy spokesman said that he knew of no United States pressure on Britain to discipline Mr. Hosenball.” https://nyti.ms/3jeLgdO Nor did the deportation seem to hurt Hosenball’s career. By 1993, he was working for Newsweek. By 1997, he was using Newsweek to spread CIA disinformation.

In 2003, I met Hosenball at the Newsweek office. At the time, I was promoting First Strike, a book I co-authored with James Sanders on TWA Flight 800, the 747 that mysteriously exploded off the coast of Long Island on July 17, 1996.

In that pivotal election year, surely with a nod from the Clinton White House, the CIA quietly masterminded the disinformation campaign that followed TWA 800’s destruction. After sixteen months of behind-the-scenes chicanery, the CIA assured America that what the eyewitnesses actually saw was not a missile streaking toward the 747, but the fuselage of the burning, climbing 747 rocketing upwards some three-thousand-plus feet after its fuel tank had blown up spontaneously. As would happen again in 2016, the FBI publicly fronted for the CIA. In a presidential election year, the media, of course, played along.

At the time, no reporter endorsed the CIA’s fraudulent scenario more enthusiastically than did Hosenball. His Newsweek article on the subject began with a dig at “conspiracy theories” and went nowhere positive from there. https://bit.ly/3lk50OM CIA analysts had convinced Hosenball that “infrared images captured by spy satellites” proved its theory of the plane’s demise. This revelation came as news to the FBI. Its comprehensive summary issued just a week before Hosenball’s November 1997 article did not once mention the word “satellite.”

The NTSB’s final report made only vague mention of “infrared sensor information from a U.S. satellite” and that in reference to the CIA’s video recreation. The New York Times avoided the subject altogether. Yet here was Hosenball saying that the CIA had “spy satellites designed to monitor unfriendly foreign countries pointed at the Eastern Seaboard.”

This was bunk. If the satellites showed what Hosenball claimed, federal officials would not have needed the CIA’s trumped up zoom climb animation. Surely, too, the FBI and NTSB would have used the data to buttress their shaky, inconclusive summaries. In a letter to then congressman John Kasich two months after the press conference, the CIA quietly buried the subject: “No satellite imagery of the disaster exists.” This translates, “No satellite imagery exists that would help us make our case.”

Hosenball uncritically embraced the CIA video. Under his byline, Newsweek ran a fully affirmative, nine-frame, full-color recreation captioned with the unlikely boast, “CIA Photos.” For Hosenball, the video provided a necessary rebuttal to “speculation about a mystery missile.” As he told the story, “some” of the “244” FBI witnesses claimed to have seen a streak of light arcing across the sky. In reality, 258 of the 736 official FBI witnesses claimed to have seen a missile or missiles attacking the plane, several of whom were pilots.

Had Hosenball been sporting a CIA nametag he could not have done more to legitimize the agency’s crude rewrite of history. As it happens, his Newsweek writing partner at the time was Michael Isikoff. I met with both of them. Neither had any interest in seeing the information Sanders and I had gathered.

Oh, yes, that was the same Michael Isikoff who in September 2016 first revealed that intelligence officials were investigating Trump adviser Carter Page’s “private communications with senior Russian officials.” Christopher Steele was Isikoff’s direct source. A few weeks after the article’s publication in Yahoo News, the DOJ and the FBI packaged the Isikoff article along with the Steele dossier in their application to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), specifically to monitor Carter Page.

Renegade Rolling Stone reporter Matt Taibbi was the only journalist on his side of the barricades to say what should have been obvious to everyone in the media: “Being on any team is a bad look for the press, but the press being on team FBI/CIA is an atrocity, Trump or no Trump.”

To check out Jack Cashill’s new book, Unmasking Obama, or his previous book, TWA 800: The Crash, The Cover-up, The Conspiracy, please see cashill.com.