Category U. S. Google, Apple, Twitter, Face Book, Instagram, Microsoft,

Jul 22 2022

China Banking Crisis & the Unsuspecting World


Armstrong Economics Blog/Interest Rates Re-Posted Jul 22, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

While authorities have accused a private financial group of misleading members of the public with promises of high-return wealth management products, what is not being said publicly is the fact that the rise in the dollar is a significant factor undermining emerging markets in which China participated. The Chinese government warned the provinces and private companies NOT to borrow dollars. Despite the fact that the Chinese government is portrayed as COMMUNIST still in the West, there would be no banking crisis if they were.

Many operations borrowed in dollars made the same fatal mistake I have witnessed since the 1980s. They sell these loans in a foreign currency with the expectation of saving money on interest. But the FX can be 20% to 40% within a 2-year period and there is NEVER any foreign exchange consideration. In addition to this FX crisis, the inexperience of people who think it is easy to be a money manager has discovered the reality of being inexperienced. This is why you find the standard clause in the West – past performance is no guarantee of future success.

Japan is once again the largest holder of US debt. This is NOT because they have been buying more, it is because China is selling off debt gradually because the dollar is high and the risk of war with the United States is rising by the day. Biden has already destroyed the world economy. It is now impossible to repair even if you vote for all Republicans 100%. The destruction of SWIFT has divided the world and has terminated Globalism. China is liquidating US debt gradually and rightly so. Beware of 2023 ahead. The people writing the scripts for Biden are ONLY concerned with climate change and have ZERO experience in geopolitics.

Henry Kissinger has been a critic of Biden on his war effort against Russia and China, or should I say the real president who is writing the scripts. EVERY President since Nixon has invited Henry to the White House EXCEPT Biden. Henry is the best geopolitical analyst I know of. I myself was called by my local Congressman asking me to fly to a meeting. I declined. But I asked why was I being called? I was told there is a serious lack of experience in Washington. I was stunned, to say the least. I have no desire to step into what has become a hateful confrontation in Washington that resembles a high school food fight in the cafeteria.

If you do not have eyes in the back of your head, you better learn how to use a rear-view mirror. The purpose of this blog is to help you to see that we are all connected. The old saying about Chaos Theory was that the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in Thailand can alter the weather cycle in Europe. The slightest alteration can produce a starkly different outcome. This is why I am often a critic with a different view when it comes to governments. Those at the helm are often LINEAR thinkers who see only one cause and effect that produces the future.

It is people like Klaus Schwab who think they are so intelligent that they can actually alter and shape the future. His entire premise of the 4th Industrial Revolution is that he can direct it and control it when creativity cannot be controlled or put on some schedule. A good trader learns from his mistakes. If he never made a mistake, then he will end up in a real crisis for he will assume he is always right and then lose it all.

Life is a learning process. We advance only as we learn and the mother of all invention is our mistakes. Learn well from them, if you wish to survive and stop blaming other people. That is the #1 problem with the goldbugs. They do not seek to understand, but just blame the bankers for why gold has not reached $10,000. They cannot advance because they look at the market objectively. That is a critical factor we learn in this journey we call life.

Jul 9 2022

Elon Musk Terminates Twitter Purchase Deal, Citing Material Breach of Agreement by Company Refusing to Provide Access to Data


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on July 8, 2022 | sundance

Elon Musk has notified Twitter and the SEC [SEE LETTER HERE] that he is exercising his “right to terminate the merger agreement and abandon the transaction contemplated” due to the social media company not providing transparent access to background data that would allow authentication of “monetized daily active users” (mDAUs).

It appears that Twitter Inc did not want to reveal how Jack’s Magic Coffee Shop was able to sustain operations, at an extremely high cost, without making money.   That’s the essential source of the issue.

The social media company did not want anyone looking at the data stream inside the communication platform.   Musk was not allowed to authenticate the number of real users and identify the number of ‘spam’ or ‘bot’ accounts within the platform.

From the SEC Letter: […] ” Specifically, in the Merger Agreement, Twitter represented that no documents that Twitter filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission since January 1, 2022, included any “untrue statement of a material fact” (Section 4.6(a)). Twitter has repeatedly made statements in such filings regarding the portion of its mDAUs that are false or spam, including statements that: “We have performed an internal review of a sample of accounts and estimate that the average of false or spam accounts during the first quarter of 2022 represented fewer than 5% of our mDAU during the quarter,” and “After we determine an account is spam, malicious automation, or fake, we stop counting it in our mDAU, or other related metrics.”

Mr. Musk relied on this representation in the Merger Agreement (and Twitter’s numerous public statements regarding false and spam accounts in its publicly filed SEC documents) when agreeing to enter into the Merger Agreement. Mr. Musk has the right to seek rescission of the Merger Agreement in the event these material representations are determined to be false.

Although Twitter has not yet provided complete information to Mr. Musk that would enable him to do a complete and comprehensive review of spam and fake accounts on Twitter’s platform, he has been able to partially and preliminarily analyze the accuracy of Twitter’s disclosure regarding its mDAU. While this analysis remains ongoing, all indications suggest that several of Twitter’s public disclosures regarding its mDAUs are either false or materially misleading. 

First, although Twitter has consistently represented in securities filings that “fewer than 5%” of its mDAU are false or spam accounts, based on the information provided by Twitter to date, it appears that Twitter is dramatically understating the proportion of spam and false accounts represented in its mDAU count. Preliminary analysis by Mr. Musk’s advisors of the information provided by Twitter to date causes Mr. Musk to strongly believe that the proportion of false and spam accounts included in the reported mDAU count is wildly higher than 5%. 

Second, Twitter’s disclosure that it ceases to count fake or spam users in its mDAU when it determines that those users are fake appears to be false. Instead, we understand, based on Twitter’s representations during a June 30, 2022 call with us, that Twitter includes accounts that have been suspended—and thus are known to be fake or spam—in its quarterly mDAU count even when it is aware that the suspended accounts were included in mDAU for that quarter.

Last, Twitter has represented that it is “continually seeking to improve our ability to estimate the total number of spam accounts and eliminate them from the calculation of our mDAU…” But, Twitter’s process for calculating its mDAU, and the percentage of mDAU comprised of non-monetizable spam accounts, appears to be arbitrary and ad hoc. Disclosing that Twitter has a reasoned process for calculating mDAU when the opposite is true would be false and misleading. (more)

In April of this year the social media company Twitter said revenue for the first quarter totaled $1.2 billion (+16%). However, costs and expenses totaled $1.33 billion (+35%), resulting in an operating loss of $128 million (link).  Another unsustainable financial result for a company that doesn’t make a dime in profit, yet it continues to operate.

The metaphorical Jack had a great idea, open a coffee shop where the beverages were free and use internal advertising as the income subsidy to operate the business.  Crowds came for the free coffee, comfy couches, fellowship, conversation and enjoyment.

It didn’t matter where Jack got the coffee, how he paid for it, or didn’t, or what product advertising the customers would be exposed to while there.  Few people thought about such things.  Curiously, it didn’t matter what size the crowd was; in the backroom of Jack’s Coffee Shop, they were able to generate massive amounts of never-ending free coffee at extreme scales.

Over time, using the justification of parking lot capacity and township regulations, not everyone would be able to park and enter.  Guards were placed at the entrance to pre-screen customers. A debate began.

Alternative coffee shops opened around town.  It was entirely possible to duplicate Jacks Coffee Shop, yet no one could duplicate the business model for the free coffee.  Indeed, there was something very unique about Jack’s Coffee Shop.  Thus, some underlying suspicions were raised:

The only way Twitter, with 217 million users, could exist as a viable platform is if they had access to tech systems of incredible scale and performance, and those systems were essentially free or very cheap.  The only entity that could possibly provide that level of capacity and scale is the United States Government – combined with a bottomless bank account.  A public-private partnership.

If my hunch is correct, Elon Musk is poised to expose the well-kept secret that most social media platforms are operating on U.S. government tech infrastructure and indirect subsidy.  Let that sink in.

The U.S. technology system, the assembled massive system of connected databases and server networks, is the operating infrastructure that offsets the cost of Twitter to run their own servers and database.  The backbone of Twitter is the United States government.

FREE COFFEE:

♦ June 2013: […] “Cloud computing is one of the core components of the strategy to help the IC discover, access and share critical information in an era of seemingly infinite data.” … “A test scenario described by GAO in its June 2013 bid protest opinion suggests the CIA sought to compare how the solutions presented by IBM and Amazon Web Services (AWS) could crunch massive data sets, commonly referred to as big data.” … “Solutions had to provide a “hosting environment for applications which process vast amounts of information in parallel on large clusters (thousands of nodes) of commodity hardware” using a platform called MapReduce. Through MapReduce, clusters were provisioned for computation and segmentation. Test runs assumed clusters were large enough to process 100 terabytes of raw input data. AWS’ solution received superior marks from CIA procurement officials”… (MORE)

♦ November 2013: […] “Twitter closed its first day of trading on Nov. 7, 2013, at $44.90 a share. In the years since then, it briefly traded above $70, but more recently, it has struggled.”

Jack’s Magic Coffee Shot has been for sale, but there’s no viable business model in the private sector.  No one has wanted to purchase Twitter – it is simply unsustainable; the data processing costs, specifically the server data processing demand for simultaneous active users, exceeds the capacity of the platform to generate revenue – until now….

And suddenly, the people who work in the backroom of Jack’s Magic Coffee Shop did not want Jack to sell.

Twitter is not making a decision to decline the generous offer by Elon Musk because of stewardship or fiduciary responsibility to shareholders.  The financials of Twitter as a non-viable business model highlight the issue of money being irrelevant.  Twitter does not and cannot make money.  Growing Twitter only means growing an expense. Growing Twitter does not grow revenue enough to offset the increase in expense.

There is only one way for Twitter to exist as a viable entity, people are now starting to realize this.

What matters to the people behind Twitter, the people who are subsidizing the ability of Twitter to exist, is control over the global conversation.

Control of the conversation is priceless to the people who provide the backbone for Twitter.

Once people realize who is subsidizing Twitter, everything changes.

That’s the fight. (more)

♦ 2021, Public-Private Partnership – The modern Fourth Branch of Government is only possible because of a Public-Private partnership with the intelligence apparatus. You do not have to take my word for it, the partnership is so brazen they have made public admissions.

The biggest names in Big Tech announced in June their partnership with the Five Eyes intelligence network, ultimately controlled by the NSA, to: (1) monitor all activity in their platforms; (2) identify extremist content; (3) look for expressions of Domestic Violent Extremism (DVE); and then, (4) put the content details into a database where the Five Eyes intelligence agencies (U.K., U.S., Australia, Canada, New Zealand) can access it.

Facebook, Twitter, Google and Microsoft are all partnering with the intelligence apparatus. It might be difficult to fathom how openly they admit this, but they do. Look at this sentence in the press release (emphasis mine):

[…] “The Group will use lists from intelligence-sharing group Five Eyes adding URLs and PDFs from more groups, including the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters and neo-Nazis.”

Think about that sentence structure very carefully. They are “adding to” the preexisting list…. admitting the group (aka Big Tech) already have access to the the intelligence-sharing database… and also admitting there is a preexisting list created by the Five Eyes consortium.

Obviously, who and what is defined as “extremist content” will be determined by the Big Tech insiders themselves. This provides a gateway, another plausible deniability aspect, to cover the Intelligence Branch from any oversight.

When the Intelligence Branch within government wants to conduct surveillance and monitor American citizens, they run up against problems due to the Constitution of the United States. They get around those legal limitations by sub-contracting the intelligence gathering, the actual data-mining, and allowing outside parties (contractors) to have access to the central database.

The government cannot conduct electronic searches (4th amendment issue) without a warrant; however, private individuals can search and report back as long as they have access. What is being admitted is exactly that preexisting partnership. The difference is that Big Tech will flag the content from within their platforms, and now a secondary database filled with the extracted information will be provided openly for the Intelligence Branch to exploit.

The volume of metadata captured by the NSA has always been a problem because of the filters needed to make the targeting useful. There is a lot of noise in collecting all data that makes the parts you really want to identify more difficult to capture. This new admission puts a new massive filtration system in the metadata that circumvents any privacy protections for individuals.

Previously, the Intelligence Branch worked around the constitutional and unlawful search issue by using resources that were not in the United States. A domestic U.S. agency, working on behalf of the U.S. government, cannot listen on your calls without a warrant. However, if the U.S. agency sub-contracts to say a Canadian group, or foreign ally, the privacy invasion is no longer legally restricted by U.S. law.

What was announced in June 2021 is an alarming admission of a prior relationship along with open intent to define their domestic political opposition as extremists.

July 26, 2021, (Reuters) – A counterterrorism organization formed by some of the biggest U.S. tech companies including Facebook (FB.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) is significantly expanding the types of extremist content shared between firms in a key database, aiming to crack down on material from white supremacists and far-right militias, the group told Reuters.

Until now, the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism’s (GIFCT) database has focused on videos and images from terrorist groups on a United Nations list and so has largely consisted of content from Islamist extremist organizations such as Islamic State, al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Over the next few months, the group will add attacker manifestos – often shared by sympathizers after white supremacist violence – and other publications and links flagged by U.N. initiative Tech Against Terrorism. It will use lists from intelligence-sharing group Five Eyes, adding URLs and PDFs from more groups, including the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters and neo-Nazis.

The firms, which include Twitter (TWTR.N) and Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) YouTube, share “hashes,” unique numerical representations of original pieces of content that have been removed from their services. Other platforms use these to identify the same content on their own sites in order to review or remove it. (read more)

The influence of the Intelligence Branch now reaches into our lives, our personal lives. In the decades before 9/11/01 the intelligence apparatus intersected with government, influenced government, and undoubtedly controlled many institutions with it. The legislative oversight function was weak and growing weaker, but it still existed and could have been used to keep the IC in check. However, after the events of 9/11/01, the short-sighted legislative reactions opened the door to allow the surveillance state to weaponize.

After the Patriot Act was triggered, not coincidentally only six weeks after 9/11, a slow and dangerous fuse was lit that ends with the intelligence apparatus being granted a massive amount of power. The problem with assembled power is always what happens when a Machiavellian network takes control over that power and begins the process to weaponize the tools for their own malicious benefit. That is exactly what the installation of Barack Obama was all about.

The Obama network took pre-assembled intelligence weapons we should never have allowed to be created, and turned those weapons into tools for his radical and fundamental change. The target was the essential fabric of our nation. Ultimately, this corrupt political process gave power to create the Fourth Branch of Government, the Intelligence Branch. From that perspective the fundamental change was successful.

…It’s all Connected Folks, SEE HERE

[…] “The vision was first outlined in the Intelligence Community Information Technology Enterprise plan championed by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and IC Chief Information Officer Al Tarasiuk almost three years ago.” … “It is difficult to underestimate the cloud contract’s importance. In a recent public appearance, CIA Chief Information Officer Douglas Wolfe called it “one of the most important technology procurements in recent history,” with ramifications far outside the realm of technology.” (READ MORE)

One job…. “take the preexisting system and retool it so the weapons of government only targeted one side of the political continuum.”

Say cheers for subsidized data processing through the cloud.  The only thing we ask in advance is for operational nodes to monitor and extract data that is within computing systems.

“Cheers”… 

Jun 9 2022

Twitter Reverses Position, Will Allow Elon Musk Access to Background Data


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on June 8, 2022 | Sundance

I think most people agree, the request from Elon Musk to see the background data from Twitter, used to evaluate bots and fake accounts, was entirely reasonable.

Twitter’s prior position that they would not permit Musk’s team to see the data stream was in ordinary violation of the terms of purchase.  It would seem to be commonsense that Musk has every right to inspect the data and evaluate Twitter’s prior assertions.

WASHINGTON POST – After a weeks-long impasse, Twitter’s board plans to comply with Elon Musk’s demands for internal data by offering access to its full “firehose,” the massive stream of data comprising more than 500 million tweets posted each day, according to a person familiar with the company’s thinking, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the state of negotiations.

The move aims to end a standoff with the billionaire, who has threatened to pull out of his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter unless the company provides access to data he says is necessary to evaluate the number of fake users on the platform.

The firehose could be provided as soon as this week, the person said. Currently some two dozen companies pay for access to the trove, which comprises not only a real-time record of tweets but the devices they tweet from, as well as information about the accounts that tweet.

[…] Twitter’s leaders are skeptical of Musk’s ability to use the fire hose to find previously undetected information: The data stream has been available for years to some two dozen companies, which pay Twitter for the ability to analyze it to find patterns and insights in the daily conversation. They, along with some analysts and Silicon Valley insiders, say that Musk is using the data requests as a pretext to wiggle out of the deal or to negotiate a lower price. (read more)

Jun 8 2022

Interesting Video, A Walk Through a Russian Supermarket


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on June 7, 2022 | Sundance

I found this 8-minute video to be quite interesting.  As we consider the scale of food price increase in the United States, this video of a Russian supermarket yesterday is fascinating.

Considering the sanctions levied upon Russia by the western alliance, it would appear that they are coping quite nicely.  The guy who uploaded the video shares, “I took my camera with me on a quick Beer run to give you folks an idea of what a small local supermarket in a village South of Saint Petersburg, Russia looks like. How do the prices compare to where you live?”  WATCH:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=6bq8MfAlNPY%3Ffeature%3Doembed

.

This is the kind of real information the U.S. media would never mention.

May 29 2022

Russia Takes Control of Key Railway Hub in Lyman, Solidifying Gains in Eastern Ukraine


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 28, 2022 | Sundance 

If you were to read the play-by-play of information in the U.K. Telegraph [SEE HERE], you could get whiplash from the diametrically opposed narratives coming from both sides in the propaganda war.

On one hand the western narrative is that Russia is losing, getting weaker, running out of money and weapons.  On the other hand, France and Germany are asking Russian President Vladimir Putin to release all of the captured soldiers he is gathering, while western media claim all the Ukraine retreats are “strategic”.  It would appear the Monty Python knight has lost all his appendages and is yelling, “come back coward, I’ll bite your kneecaps.”

(Via Telegraph) – Russia said its forces were in full control of the Ukrainian town of Lyman, a railway hub in the Donetsk region, on Saturday in a gain that would help set the stage for the next phase of the Kremlin’s offensive in the eastern Donbas.

Ukrainian and Russian forces had been fighting for Lyman for several days. The town lies 40 km (30 miles) west of Severodonetsk, the largest Donbas city still held by Ukraine but now under heavy assault from Russian forces.  The governor of Luhansk region, which along with Donetsk makes up the Donbas, said on Friday that Russian troops had entered Severodonetsk.

The Russian gains indicate a shift in momentum in the war. (read more)

Meanwhile the U.S. State Department, the actual combatant command center for the U.S. proxy war, along with internationally aligned diplomatic corps and the U.S. intelligence apparatus, are continuing to push the propaganda as if we cannot see how clearly staged it is.

Indeed, with the Pentagon preferring a ceasefire and peaceful negotiations while the State Dept demands more war, these are very remarkable times on the other side of the looking glass.

In the narrative tweet below….. If you ignore the new and clean uniform, to include the fresh out of the package gloves and helmet; and if you ignore the clean, groomed and well presented appearance of the “soldier”; carefully chosen for the youthful connection needed with the targeted audience; then it’s possible to admire the cinematography as well contextualized and constructed for social media delivery.  The background music is a generally good selection, and has the ‘feels’ as they say.

However, the Ukraine narrative engineers consistently run in to a problem when people start looking at the marketing aspect.  World War Reddit, becomes transparent.

May 27 2022

The Incredible Transition


Armstrong Economics Blog/Energy Re-Posted May 27, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

According to politicians around the world, the Great Unwashed plebians should be grateful for the energy crisis. President Joe Biden recently declared that America is undergoing an “incredible transition” and we must suffer in order to reap the benefits. “Here’s the situation. And when it comes to the gas prices, we’re going through an incredible transition that is taking place that, God willing, when it’s over, we’ll be stronger and the world will be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels when this is over,” Biden said.

I have explained that the Biden Administration deliberately ruined America’s ability to be energy independent. Biden sparked the energy crisis on his first day in office when he canceled the Keystone XL pipeline and removed various gas permits. The keyword in Biden’s statement is “when,” as no one knows when this transition will take place as there are NO viable large-scale alternatives to oil.

“It’s Incredible for you!” Senator Ted Cruz clarified, “You fly a damn 747 where the taxpayers pay for your jet fuel. What Joe Biden is saying is, if you at home, if you drive a pickup truck, ‘to hell with you; you can’t drive your pickup truck. If you have a Suburban, you’ve got to get rid of that. We’re all getting Toyota Priuses.’”

Biden had the audacity to claim he kept the energy crisis “from getting worse – and it’s bad.” This comes as the nationwide gas average reaches $4.59, but it has surpassed $8.00 in many locations. You will own nothing, not even an electric vehicle, and be happy. Realize that the “pain at the pump” is a deliberate attempt to push the Great Reset and climate change agendas.

May 26 2022

The Ukrainian Solution: Money, Weapons, and Embargo


Armstrong Economics Blog/Uncategorized Re-Posted May 26, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

The Kremlin has made it known that they will not evacuate troops from Ukraine until their victory is declared. “We are sure that everything will be fine, and we are sure that we will win, we will achieve all the goals,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Russia has already downgraded “unfriendly states” to “hostile states” as Western countries are now directly involved. “Sometimes it seems that the very existence of Russia is a significant irritant for the collective West, and they are ready to do anything to prevent us from developing and living the way we want,” Peskov stated.

Kissinger suggested that Ukraine surrender some of its territories to Russia, as it is land that is composed of mostly Russian-speaking individuals who have not been allowed to vote on whether they’d like to remain under Ukrainian rule. “Negotiations need to begin in the next two months before it creates upheavals and tensions that will not be easily overcome. Ideally, the dividing line should be a return to the status quo ante,” Kissinger said, ““pursuing the war beyond that point would not be about the freedom of Ukraine … but a new war against Russia itself.” Furthermore, Kissinger is concerned that the West’s hostility will cause Russia to form a closer alliance with China.

Kissinger’s suggestion could end the war. Russia would feel as if they achieved the objective, and Ukraine would remain an independent country. Western nations would not need to spend billions of taxpayer funds on war while teetering on their own recessions. The food shortages due to the lack of wheat coming from Russia and Ukraine would end. Most importantly, the threat of the next world war would dissipate.

Zelensky’s advisor adamantly rejected the peace offer. “The shortest way to end the war – weapons, money, embargo,” Mykhailo Podolyak declared on Twitter. That may be the easiest solution for those in power, but it comes at the expense of the people. Ukraine and its Western allies will continue throwing money and fuel on the problem until the global economy crumbles so that they can reset it to their liking.

May 26 2022

Twitter Agrees to Pay $150 Million FTC Fine for Using Two Factor Authentication as Ruse to Sell Targeted User Data to Advertisers


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 25, 2022 | Sundance

Two-Factor authentication has always been a platform ruse for gathering data on platform users.  Twitter was just one company amid a large number of on-line platforms who pushed “two factor authentication” as a security measure.  The real motive of TFA was to gain the user cell phone number in order to gain more specific information about the user.

Today multiple media outlets are reporting the FTC and Twitter have agreed to a settlement where Twitter will pay a $150 million settlement for violating user privacy and selling user data.  Twitter collected cell phone and email account information for users under the auspices of user security.  However, Twitter actually planned to use the cell phone and email data to sell a more comprehensive package of user identification to advertisers.

(Reuters) – […] The company will pay $150 million as part of the settlement announced by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In addition to the monetary settlement, the agreement requires Twitter to improve its compliance practices.

The complaint said that the misrepresentations violated the FTC Act and a 2011 settlement with the agency.

“Specifically, while Twitter represented to users that it collected their telephone numbers and email addresses to secure their accounts, Twitter failed to disclose that it also used user contact information to aid advertisers in reaching their preferred audiences,” the complaint said.

[…]  “Twitter obtained data from users on the pretext of harnessing it for security purposes but then ended up also using the data to target users with ads,” said FTC Chair Lina Khan in a statement. “This practice affected more than 140 million Twitter users, while boosting Twitter’s primary source of revenue.”

The complaint also alleges that Twitter falsely said it complied with the European Union-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks, which bar companies from using data in ways that consumers do not authorize.

Twitter’s settlement follows years of fallout over the privacy practices of tech companies.

Revelations in 2018 that Facebook, the world’s biggest social network, was using phone numbers provided for two-factor authentication to serve ads enraged privacy advocates.

Facebook, now called Meta (FB.O), similarly settled with the FTC over the issue as part of a $5 billion agreement reached in 2019. (read more)

Two Factor Authentication (TfA) and the 5G telecommunications network work hand in glove.

By connecting the registered user id to their cell phone number, advertisers can target platform users with far more granular detail.  3G networks tracked user history to build the user portfolio.  5G networks bridge the space between user identity, cell phone, and geolocation services and apps on cell phones.

Cell phones are registered to people.  The TfA purpose was to identify the actual people behind the registered accounts and then monitor them for enhanced targeting.  The data of the user is monetized and your unique identity is sold to advertisers.

This is one of the reasons CTH does not track anyone, or ask for any data on any user.  We do not monetize users at The Conservative Treehouse, and all of our engagement systems, including the comment system, are built around the principle that user privacy is our number one priority.

Any engagement platform that asks you to enter your cell phone as part of the registration process is going to have the ability to sell your data and user identity to a third party.  It really is that simple.

May 25 2022

Monkeypox – Old Virus, New Vaccine


Armstrong Economics Blog/Disease Re-Posted May 25, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

The US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is already developing a vaccine for monkeypox. Although the disease may seem novel, the first reported outbreak in monkeys occurred in 1958, and the first human infection was reported in the 1970s in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). According to the Centers for Diseases and Prevention (CDC), the virus is transmitted to humans through direct animal-to-human or human-to-human contact. Before they change the transmission guidelines, I will report what they stated on their website:

“Transmission of monkeypox virus occurs when a person comes into contact with the virus from an animal, human, or materials contaminated with the virus. The virus enters the body through broken skin (even if not visible), respiratory tract, or the mucous membranes (eyes, nose, or mouth). Animal-to-human transmission may occur by bite or scratch, bush meat preparation, direct contact with body fluids or lesion material, or indirect contact with lesion material, such as through contaminated bedding. Human-to-human transmission is thought to occur primarily through large respiratory droplets. Respiratory droplets generally cannot travel more than a few feet, so prolonged face-to-face contact is required. Other human-to-human methods of transmission include direct contact with body fluids or lesion material, and indirect contact with lesion material, such as through contaminated clothing or linens.”

The disease can reportedly occur through sexual encounters as well. This is NOT an airborne virus – masks and lockdowns would be useless. Cases of the virus are appearing throughout the world, but again, this virus was never limited to one continent. In 2003, 47 cases of monkeypox were reported in the US after pet prairie dogs became infected after being housed with small animals imported from Ghana.

BARDA plans to release JYNNEOS, a smallpox vaccine, to treat monkeypox cases by 2023. The company has already produced almost 13 million freeze-dried doses of the vaccine that are expected to be manufactured in 2024 and 2025.

President and CEO of Bavarian Nordic Paul Chaplin said, “We are pleased to announce the exercise of the first options under our contract with the US government to deliver a freeze-dried version of the smallpox vaccine with an improved shelf-life, which will be manufactured at our new fill and finish facility. This marks a significant milestone in our long-standing partnership with the US government to ensure availability of life-saving vaccines for the entire population.”

The European Medicines Agency approved the medication to treat monkeypox in 2013, and the FDA quietly approved its usage in 2019. Since this seems to be a rare illness, why are they planning to manufacture millions of doses to save “the entire population?” The media has only just begun reporting cases of the virus, and it would not be surprising if they pushed yet another unnecessary vaccine on the global population for profit and control.

May 25 2022

Most Don’t Know it Was Andrew Weissmann Who Publicly Released the Carter Page FISA Application, Even Fewer Know Why


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 24, 2022 | Sundance

This has been one of the odd aspects to the special counsel investigation deployed under the nameplate of Robert Mueller.   However, with the trial of Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann bringing more curious minds to the backstories, here is one that few people understand.

You will remember the massive media debate in early 2018 about the FISA application deployed against former short-time Trump campaign aide Carter Page.  The DOJ, at the time under the control of the Mueller special counsel for all things Trump-Russia related, wouldn’t let congress see the FISA application. Devin Nunes complained to House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Eventually a deal was struck and two members from the House Intelligence committee (democrats and republicans) and two members from the House Judiciary Committee, were allowed to go to Main Justice and read the FISA application, but not copy it.  Four congressmen were allowed to go read and take notes. Trey Gowdy and John Ratcliffe represented the two republicans, and their notes formed the basis for what later was called “The Nunes Memo.”

The Democrats were not happy with the claims in the Nunes memo, and subsequently HPSCI ranking member Adam Schiff wrote the democrat version.

Both of those sets of memos then needed to be declassified, more delays, before they could be made public.  For weeks and weeks, the Nunes -vs- Schiff memos were debated by both sides, with each saying their version was the truth and the other party’s version was spin and/or false.   All of this was happening in January, February and March 2018.

Then, later in the summer, something really weird happened.  Main Justice completely reversed position on keeping the FISA application secret, and for the first time in U.S. history a top secret classified Title-1 FISA application was released to the public (with redactions).

People were so filled with curiosity about the Carter Page FISA application that few, heck, almost no one, stopped to ask why it was released?  Why the sudden secrecy reversal by the DOJ?

The FISA application was made public under the auspices of a Freedom of Information Act request from the media.   However, if you were intellectually honest and curious that justification never made any sense.  If there was ever a document easy to keep hidden from the public, a Title-1 top secret, classified, FISA application was that document.  No FOIA lawsuit was ever going to penetrate that firewall, it was simply too easy for the government to keep hidden.

The FISA application was released over the weekend on July 21st and 22nd, 2018, a Saturday and Sunday.

Everyone quickly rushed to read the national security search warrant. Heck, no one in the public had ever seen one before.  The FISA application confirmed the details of a Trump campaign official under a year of extensive surveillance and search authority; but again, few stood back and asked why it was being released.   Here’s the background.

Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosensten gave testimony to the Senate in June of 2020 {LINK}.  Within Rosenstein’s election year and little covered testimony, he revealed that Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his main deputy Andrew Weissmann were completely in charge of Main Justice at the DOJ during the time the special counsel investigation was happening.  Attorney General Jeff Sessions was recused, and DAG Rosenstein was in charge of how much power and authority Mueller and Weissmann’s team held in the DOJ.

Rosenstein testified the special counsel had full control over everything and anything related to Trump-Russia, including the Carter Page FISA application the special counsel had re-submitted for the third renewal on June 29, 2017.

Anything that remotely touched the Trump-Russia investigation was completely and unilaterally controlled by Mueller and Weissmann, including any ancillary investigation that would come as an outcome from anything to do with Trump-Russia (the SSCI leak by James Wolfe is one example).

Rosenstein also testified he deferred everything to Mueller/Weissmann and never challenged any of their requests for expanded investigative scope or authority.  Rosenstein felt the special counsel was in charge, and anything they wanted – they got.  As Deputy AG Rosenstein said all the special counsel operations were part of their investigative authority, and he felt he had no place in questioning, challenging or refusing anything related to their investigative authority.

Mueller/Weissmann had full control.

That June 2020 testimony was the final piece of the puzzle as to who authorized the release of the Carter Page FISA application to the public.  It was Andrew Weissmann; but why?

In the background of June and July 2018, unbeknownst to the public at the time, Inspector General Michael Horowitz had just discovered that FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith fabricated an email, which was used as part of the FISA application.  The CIA told Clinesmith that Carter Page was working for them.  Clinesmith doctored the email and told the FBI and DOJ that Carter Page was NOT working for the CIA.  The exact opposite of the CIA statement to him.  If the truth was known about Page working for the CIA, the DOJ would never have been able to get the second renewal of the FISA application in April 2017.

The INSD office of the Inspector General discovered the Clinesmith material lie, but at the time in June 2018 no one else knew.  However, internally the Weissmann special counsel knew exactly what IG Horowitz discovered.  Now they had a problem.  The special counsel had renewed the application using the Clinesmith lie in June 2017.

If the search warrant application was based on fraud, the search warrant could be invalidated by the same court that authorized it.  That would be a problem because the legal cases against Paul Manafort, and Michael Flynn, along with the investigations of Michael Flynn Jr., George Papadopoulos and Walid Phares were all based on evidence obtained by the fraudulently constructed search warrant.

The Weissmann special counsel had a fruit of the poisonous tree problem on their hands.  When the FISA court (FISC) finds out about the results of the IG report, which will include the fabrication by Kevin Clinesmith, the FISC could revoke and invalidate the authority of the Title-1 search warrant.  If the FISC did that, all of the evidence against Manafort and Flynn would disappear, and they would have to drop any investigative path that came from the exploitation of an unlawful warrant.

The search warrant was already getting massive scrutiny from congress and the public.  People quickly discovered the FBI had used the Steele Dossier as the ‘Woods file’ underpinning the application.  People were finding out the Steele Dossier was based on fictitious and debunked information the FBI knew about in January and February of 2017, even before the second and third renewals.

On July 12th, 2018, the Weissmann special counsel jumped into action and drafted a letter to the FISC saying despite recent information from congressional investigations, the predicate for probable cause still existed (see below). This letter was written to the FISC, filed quietly, and never shared with DAG Rosenstein or congress.  It was a very big lie from the Weissmann special counsel.  [NOTE, only the FISA court knew this letter existed until 2020.]

[NOTE, only the FISC knew this letter existed until 2020.  When the FISC saw the IG report and the details about Kevin Clinesmith the FISC demanded the DOJ send a copy of that July 2018 letter to congress for oversight and accountability – SEE HERE]  Weissmann lied to the FISC to protect his criminal cases which were at a very important stage in mid 2018.  By the time the FISC found out about the Clinesmith fabrications in late 2019 it was too late.  The fraudulent search warrant had been made public, the cases that used the warrant authority were over and the special counsel had concluded.  The FISC demanded that congress be notified, and Bill Barr did as the FISC requested… he told congress.  Congress did nothing.

However, going back to that critical time in 2018, there was also another issue surrounding the FISA application that also surfaced mid-summer providing a second reason to make the FISA application public.

An indictment of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) Security Director James Wolfe was unsealed in the DC court {June 7, 2018, LINK}.  James Wolfe was busted for leaking information to journalists from the Senate Intelligence Committee, one of those leaks was the Carter Page FISA application, which Wolfe leaked to Ali Watkins on March 17, 2017, a year earlier.

Wolfe was going to face a criminal trial for charges related to the leaking of that FISA application.  Again, this was problematic for the special counsel because that leak was part of the reason why the special counsel was appointed.

On March 17, 2017, SSCI Vice-Chairman Mark Warner wanted a special counsel appointed.  There was a debate about whether President Trump was under an investigation of any sort.  Senator Warner’s motive for the special counsel was exactly because he knew the DC machinery needed to throw a bag over all of the corrupt targeting of Donald Trump; a special counsel could do that, and be weaponized to continue the attacks.

Senator Mark Warner told SSCI Security Director James Wolfe to leak the FISA application on March 17, 2017.  Three days later, March 20, 2017, FBI Director James Comey first admitted publicly, while testifying to congress, that President Trump was under investigation since July of the previous year (2016).  The timing of the two events was not accidental.  Warner and Comey both wanted a special counsel investigation put into place for the same reason.  Both needed a cover-up operation.

Fast forward to the end of December 2017 and James Wolfe is busted for the FISA application leak.   The investigative evidence against Wolfe had to flow through the special counsel, before it could be given to a grand jury, because the special counsel had control over anything that touched Trump-Russia and that included their FISA application.

Between January and late April, the Special Counsel went to work diffusing the damage within the Wolfe evidence files (but that’s for another story).  In May the now diminished evidence file was given back to the DC U.S. Attorney and a grand jury was seated May 3, 2018.   The indictment was unsealed June 7th.

After lying to the FISA court about a justified predicate still existing, July 12,2018, FISA Andrew Weissmann made the FISA application public on the weekend of July 22, 2018, for two reasons:

(1) To protect the predicate of his search warrant authority; and by extension preserve the cases he created using it; and by extension avoid the fruit of the poisonous tree issue by diluting the need or the FISC to invalidate the Title-1 search warrant.

(2) To render moot and remove the most explosive element of the criminal case against James Wolfe.

It was the special counsel, specifically Andrew Weissmann, who released the FISA application to the public.

Few people knew that.

Even fewer knew why.

Now you do.

The gateway to expose the corrupt DOJ and FBI officials does not lie at the end of the path where you find Hillary Clinton, Perkins Coie, Fusion-GPS or any of their cohorts and corrupt political/media allies.  Following that trail leads to obfuscation, ‘mistakes were made’ justification and institutional preservation.

Instead, the gateway to expose the corrupt DOJ and FBI officials, lies at the end of the path walked by the Mueller Weissmann special counsel.

Follow that trail and you walk right in the front doors of Main Justice and the Washington DC FBI offices.