Category U. S. DC Uni-party

May 20 2022

Watch the Other Hand – Twitter Tells Employees Musk Sale is Going Ahead as Scheduled, Then Company Executives Announce Internal Ministry of Truth to Control Information


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 19, 2022 | Sundance

Despite the request from prospective purchaser Elon Musk to verify the number of fraudulent accounts supported within the Twitter social media platform, company executives told employees the purchase is going forward regardless of Musk requested verification.

(Bloomberg) – Twitter Inc. executives told employees on Thursday that the $44 billion deal to sell the company to billionaire Elon Musk is moving forward as planned, and that it won’t renegotiate the agreed-upon price of $54.20 per share.

Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s top lawyer and head of policy, also told workers at an all-hands meeting that there is “no such thing as a deal being on hold,” according to people who attended the meeting. She was pushing back on claims from Musk over the past week that he is pausing the deal while he learns more about the number of bots and spam accounts on the social-media service. (read more)

Immediately after the executive meeting with employees, and perhaps in a proactive effort to control any content changes to the platform, the executives then announced a new internal “crisis misinformation” team {LINK}.  Essentially new rules that will give Twitter censors new tools and justifications to block and control content.

[TWITTER] – […]  During moments of crisis, establishing whether something is true or false can be exceptionally challenging. To determine whether claims are misleading, we require verification from multiple credible, publicly available sources, including evidence from conflict monitoring groups, humanitarian organizations, open-source investigators, journalists, and more. 

Conversation moves quickly during periods of crisis, and content from accounts with wide reach are most likely to rack up views and engagement. To reduce potential harm, as soon as we have evidence that a claim may be misleading, we won’t amplify or recommend content that is covered by this policy across Twitter – including in the Home timeline, Search, and Explore. In addition, we will prioritize adding warning notices to highly visible Tweets and Tweets from high profile accounts, such as state-affiliated media accounts, verified, official government accounts.

[…] People on Twitter will be required to click through the warning notice to view the Tweet, and the content won’t be amplified or recommended across the service. In addition, Likes, Retweets, and Shares will be disabled.

[…] Content moderation is more than just leaving up or taking down content, and we’ve expanded the range of actions we may take to ensure they’re proportionate to the severity of the potential harm. We’ve found that not amplifying or recommending certain content, adding context through labels, and in severe cases, disabling engagement with the Tweets, are effective ways to mitigate harm. (read more)

This new approach toward information control at Twitter comes a day after the Dept of Homeland Security (DHS) said they were pausing the “DHS Disinformation Governance Bureau,” and appears to be a private sector effort by the social media platform to maintain the same purpose.

Put together the two actions by the company appear to be: (1) force Elon Musk into a position of purchasing the company at the previously agreed price regardless of the fraud that may be represented in the company financials; and (2) in case Musk goes ahead anyway, put systems in place to block any attempt to restructure the platform.

While this is only one company amid several; this is a battle inside the social media sphere that highlights just how extreme the control mechanisms are, and the entrenched position of Big Tech to avoid any challenge to their stranglehold on information content.

The ideological war continues.  We have two generals putting their wealth into the game and leading the fight, Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

May 20 2022

Senate Passes $40 Billion Ukraine Aid Package Expected to Last Five Months, Vote 86-11


Posted originally on the conservative tree house May 19, 2022 | Sundance

The $40 billion UniParty aid package for Ukraine pass the senate this afternoon in a vote of 86-11 (vote tally below).

The Biden administration had originally requested $33 billion, but congress did not feel he was spending enough. The House added an additional $7 billion and passed the $40 billion legislation last week.  Today the Senate voted 86-11 to approve the package which is targeted to last 5 months and includes U.S. taxpayers funding the salaries and pension benefits for officials in the Ukraine government.

11 republican senators voted against the massive money laundering operation. They were Senators Blackburn (R-TN), Boozman (R-AR), Braun (R-IN), Crapo (R-ID), Hagerty (R-TN), Hawley (R-MO), Lee (R-UT), Lummis (R-WY), Marshall (R-KS), Paul (R-KY), Tuberville (R-AL).

May 19 2022

What Did Mothers do Before Baby Formula?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Civilization Re-Posted May 19, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: Hi Martin! Thank you for all you do. I was discussing the baby formula shortage with my 94-year-old Italian grandmother, and it opened my eyes to how resourceful people can be when left with no alternatives.

Baby formula was not an option in Sicily when her children were born. In fact, she did not learn about baby formula or disposable diapers until she immigrated to America. Disposable diapers were still not an option for poor immigrants and she cleaned each diaper by hand. As for formula, as most mothers know, occasionally it is not possible to produce enough milk for the day. Cow’s milk was never an option as they thought it would harm the baby.

My grandmother explained how she would put a piece of bread in a pot of boiling water, remove the bread, and use the water to feed her baby. Everyone in the town knew one another, and if a woman was having trouble producing milk, she simply would bring her baby to another woman in the town. I asked her if the women charged for their milk and she looked at me as if I were crazy. They did it from the goodness of their heart. There was such a strong sense of community that everyone in the town worked together. I cannot see that happening in today’s society.

REPLY: Times certainly have changed. German chemist Justus von Liebig invented baby formula in 1865 but it was not widely marketed or trusted for decades. Formula was taboo before companies like Nestle launched global marketing campaigns to push mothers to choose formula over breastmilk.

Wet nurses have existed throughout history. Lactating women were often hired by aristocrats or wealthier individuals to feed their babies. It was not uncommon for poor women who were unable to breastfeed to temporarily give up their baby and become a wet nurse for a different family, hoping to earn enough money essentially to buy her child back. Slaves throughout history were also forced to act as wet nurses for the families they served.

In ancient Rome, they had the columna lactarian (milk column) where mothers could bring their babies and receive milk from a wet nurse. More troubling, the site also became a notorious location for mothers to abandon their unwanted children.

The profession of wet nursing still exists, although you will not find listings on job application sites. The concept of having another women breastfeed a baby is still taboo in modern society and largely unregulated. According to numerous sources, women in the United States will pay a minimum of $1,000 per week to hire a wet nurse, making the option still only feasible for the wealthy. We may see a resurgence of the profession as alternative options no longer exist and people are desperate for additional sources of income.

May 19 2022

Biden’s Disinformation Governance Board Suspended


Armstrong Economics Blog/Censorship Re-Posted May 19, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Freedom of speech won this Wednesday after the Biden Administration suspended its controversial Disinformation Board. Former disinformation tzar Nina Jankowicz announced her departure today, citing an uncertain future, and, of course, disinformation. “It is deeply disappointing that mischaracterizations of the Board became a distraction from the Department’s vital work, and indeed, along with recent events globally and nationally, embodies why it is necessary. “I maintain my commitment to building awareness of disinformation’s threats and trust the Department will do the same,“ Jankowicz said.

Jankowicz has a long history of spreading false news and gaslighting the public to believe that the Bidens are not a completely corrupt family. She firmly denied the existence of Hunter’s laptop, and perhaps it is no coincidence that the contents of that laptop are slowly being leaked to the public.

Although this Orwellian plan has been temporarily suspended, censorship will continue discreetly.

May 19 2022

Twitter Bots Exposed


Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption Re-Posted May 19, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Elon Musk’s potential Twitter takeover has brought to light the alarming amount of fake internet accounts on the platform that has been used to push the liberal political agenda. Musk has threatened to abandon the deal if the company cannot account for fake accounts or bots. Twitter later admitted when filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that around 5% of its 300 million users are in fact fake accounts. Twitter initially did not want to explain how they determined the 5% figure until it was revealed that their sample size was just 100 accounts out of 300 million. Musk exposed their slanted study, and Twitter reported him for violating their NDA.

Twitter quietly began to crack down on bots last month, and some of the most followed accounts saw a significant drop in followers. Former President Obama once held the record for being the most followed man on Twitter with 131.7 million followers. After the algorithm changed, Obama lost 300,000 followers instantly. Pop singer Katy Perry, the third-most-followed account and an outspoken Democrat, lost 200,000 of her 108.8 million followers.

A recent audit found that half of President Joe Biden’s 22.2 million followers are fake accounts. Based on the 2020 US Presidential Election, Biden should be the most popular president in history after securing more votes than any other president. “My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization. I don’t care about the economics at all,” Musk said in April.

Some believe Musk is using the bot excuse to lower the purchase cost. However, there is clearly something awry at Twitter. The massive platform was known to be a left-leaning tool for propaganda, but no one realized how deep the corruption was until recently. I expect more will be exposed shortly.

May 19 2022

Day Two of Sussmann Trial Tells us More About Defense Than Prosecution


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 19, 2022 | sundance

The second day of witness testimony in the trial of Michael Sussmann for lying to the FBI was completed on Wednesday.  For a good recap of the granular aspects Techno Fog has a play-by-play SUMMARY HERE.

For CTH readers I want to focus on a point that is visible in the defense argument and challenging, insofar as it has not yet been revealed, in the prosecution position.   The issue surrounds why Rodney Joffe gave the Alfa-bank fraudulent information to Michael Sussmann instead of just giving it to the FBI himself.  {A Question Margot Cleveland posits here}

In the cross examination of the first set of prosecution witnesses the defense lawyers keep contending that Sussmann did not lie about the fraudulently created origin of the Alfa-Bank material and there was no reason for him not to tell the FBI he was a courier for the Clinton campaign.  The defense is essentially that Sussmann and the FBI knew he was working for the Clinton campaign when he delivered the fraudulent material.  Sussmann wasn’t trying to hide anything, ergo he didn’t lie.

Sussmann’s defensive point is essentially true.  The DOJ, FBI and everyone associated with the information knew they were receiving opposition research from the Clinton campaign.  However, the FBI had to pretend they didn’t know in order to use it to start an investigation.

Margot Cleveland notes at the time in 2016 when these events took place, Rodney Joffe was actually a confidential informant for the FBI.

At the same time Joffe was a CI, he was creating false evidence for the Clinton campaign to bolster their politically motivated Trump-Russia collusion nonsense; the “October Surprise.”

Joffe was dropped as a confidential informant (CI) in 2021 “for cause,” meaning he did something that eventually violated the FBI rules for CI’s to be operating.  It’s possible the John Durham investigation had something to do with that decision.

The question for the 2016 events is why Joffe didn’t just give the material to the FBI instead of giving it to Sussmann to give to the FBI?

The answer is really quite simple.  The priority of the “October Surprise” was to get the media to write the Trump-Russia collusion stories before the election, hoping the cloud of suspicion would help Hillary Clinton defeat Donald Trump.

It was the media that was important, not just the FBI.

As a confidential informant Rodney Joffe could not take the information to his FBI handler and simultaneously give that information to the media.  That would be a violation of the CI rules.   If Joffe gave the material to the FBI and then the same FBI saw articles written about the material, they would know: (a) that Joffe violated the rules; and (b) the information was transparently political and thereby useless to them.

However, Michael Sussmann could give the material to the FBI and simultaneously give it to the media in a ‘wrap up smear’ move.

The media were told the FBI had the Alfa-Bank material under investigation, that gave the illusion of credibility. The media then asked the FBI if they did have an investigation of the material and wrote their articles accordingly.

The media articles carried additional weight because the suspicions existing connected to actual material within an FBI investigation gave the suspicions more credibility.

This is the exact same reason why several months later, March 2017, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), Vice-Chairman Mark Warner, told the SSCI security director James Wolfe to leak Carter Page FISA application to journalist Ali Watkins.  Same approach as Sussmann.

In 2016 Michael Sussmann wanted media articles verifying Donald Trump as an investigative target of the FBI to help Hillary Clinton.

In 2017 Mark Warner wanted media articles verifying Donald Trump’s campaign officials as investigative targets of the FBI to get a special counsel appointed.

In both examples the primary motive was to use the media to get an outcome.

Michael Sussmann was the delivery agent to the FBI so that the Perkins Coie law firm to lean on their media allies to spread the Trump-Russia collusion conspiracy.   Sussmann had a pre-existing relationship with FBI Counsel Jim Baker that would be useful for that purpose.  Hence, the origin of the case that is now being argued in court.

It was the media angle that was more important, the FBI angle was only to bolster the credibility of the accusation.

Hope that helps.

May 19 2022

Elon Musk Announces Publicly He Can No Longer Support Democrats, Will Vote Republican


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 18, 2022 | sundance

Elon Musk has publicly announced today he can no longer vote for Democrat candidates and will instead vote for Republican candidates. [Tweet Link Here] This is a rather bold move for a man who is now putting himself in the forefront of the modern Democrat hate furnace.

He appears very aware of the level of opposition he will now face as a result of calling the Democrat party the “party of division and hate,” despite the bold truth expressed.   In an earlier tweet he stated, “political attacks on me will escalate dramatically in coming months;” and when Musk says “on me” he likely understands that means on all he represents, including his businesses.

Elon Musk looks more and more like John Galt every day.

Despite all the challenges, and perhaps because the righteous battle is always fought on the right side of history, we are alive in very remarkable times.  This decision by Mr. Musk will embolden many more to join us…..  Happy warriors.

May 19 2022

Expert Witness During House Judiciary Committee, Encapsulates Abortion Position of Modern Democrats


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 18, 2022 | sundance 

In Washington, D.C. today, the House Judiciary Committee held a four-hour hearing about the need for abortion [full video here].  Within the hearing one of the congressional witnesses, Ms. Aimee Arrambide, Executive Director of Avow Texas, was asked about her position.  Her response encapsulates the mindset of current democrats in office.  WATCH (20 seconds):

Comrade Dissidents, if these people think their views are commonly understood, even fathomable, by the majority of commonsense thinking Americans, I seriously doubt they have any concept of what common sense actually implies.   This is just flat-out weird.

May 19 2022

Biden Administration Invoke Defense Production Act, HHS Will Now Control Means of Production for Baby Formula and Ensure Distribution Equity


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 18, 2022 | sundance

Do you know what it’s technically called when “government takes control of the means of production?”  Yeah, that.

This afternoon Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA) giving Health and Human Services (HHS) the legal authority to control the supplies needed for the creation of baby formula (how it is made), and the authority to determine distribution equity (who gets it).  Emphasis mine:

White House [DPA Sec. 2] – “[T]he authority of the President conferred by section 101 of the Act to require performance of contracts or orders … is delegated to the Secretary of Health and Human Services with respect to all health resources, including the ingredients necessary to manufacture infant formula.”

“(b)  The Secretary of Health and Human Services may use the authority under section 101 of the Act to determine, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and the heads of other executive departments and agencies as appropriate, the proper nationwide priorities and allocation of all ingredients necessary to manufacture infant formula, including controlling the distribution of such materials (including applicable services) in the civilian market, for responding to the shortage of infant formula within the United States.” (read more)

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, an über-leftist who ironically self-describes as an abortion absolutist, is now in charge of infant formula manufacture and distribution. You do not need to be a conspiracy theorist to predict which “at risk” group will get priority distribution of limited resources.

May 19 2022

Core Retail Financials Now Showing Results of Inflation Squeeze, Wal Mart and Target Stocks Hit Hard


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 18, 2022 | sundance 

May 18, 2022 | sundance | 221 Comments

The stock market is dropping, Wall Street analysts are flummoxed, but it just isn’t rocket science folks.  It’s Main Street economics 101.

The price to produce, manufacture and transport goods has skyrocketed, that’s the Producer Price Index (PPI).  Arriving goods at retail are significantly higher in price.  Simultaneously, consumer spending is being squeezed by unavoidable inflation in housing, energy, food and gasoline; so consumer spending is tight, that’s the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Higher costs to retail that cannot be passed on as higher prices to customers, means lower profit margins for the sellers.  That’s it.  That’s the majority of it.  Major retail companies like Target and Wal Mart are reporting the impacts from the squeeze in higher costs that cannot be passed to consumers in higher retail prices.   Checkbook economics.

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Businesses are seeing higher costs in the unavoidable goods they need to sell, the fixed price of goods.  What comes next?  Businesses, knowing they cannot raise prices too much, look at lowering the costs of operations in an effort to remain competitive, stay profitable, and stay in business.

How do businesses lower operational costs?  Increase expectations of employee productivity and/or lower employment costs.  That leads to layoffs.

I guarantee you…. YOU know more about the basic principles of Main Street economics than a room full of these Wall Street analysts.   I like El-Erian, but sheesh, talk about pretending not to know things.

Look at the companies.   The companies most exposed to wholesale inflation, those who deal in highly consumable goods like food, are the companies that will see their profit margins shrink fastest.

Highly consumable goods rise in price from origination (field) to destination (fork) the fastest.

The next phase covers the same results in durable goods.  That’s when things get really ugly.