Posted originally on the conservative tree house on February 9, 2022 | Sundance | 153 Comments
Last week the White House did a weird proactive talking point seminar on Monday, preparing the media for official unemployment data which would follow four days later. {Go Deep} Everything about the new econ talking points, added to the press briefing book, indicates the White House knows it’s the economic policy that is the most politically damaging for them.
Today, the same proactive approach to head off negative economic consequences is evident, this time regarding inflation. Tomorrow, the official Bureau of Labor and Statistics inflation numbers will be released for January and for 2021 in total. The White House has been again tipped-off.
Watch how Jen Psaki attempts to proactively establish the talking point about the month-over-month rate of inflation change as the important element to focus on. If you’ve read the previous post, you can clearly see what they are doing now. Also, this is entirely scripted and coordinated with the press pool to ask a very specific question. WATCH, prompted:
You only need to watch for a minute or two to see the strings on the marionettes.
It’s also worth noting, the people behind Joe Biden were meeting with energy executives today to work out the terms and conditions for their bribes from the White House to trigger the Green New Deal. The energy company bribe amounts, known as direct subsidies in the talking points, were being negotiated as Psaki was talking to the press pool.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on February 9, 2022 | Sundance | 152 Comments
Whenever we discuss inflation, it is absolutely critical for people to understand that inflation itself is the measure of the percentage increase in a price over a period of time.
It is entirely possible, I would say absolutely guaranteed, that prices will increase even more this year as inflation begins to drop. This will be the economic story on the backside of the inflation hurricane as the Fed starts to increase interest rates. Example:
♦ 2021: A loaf of bread increases in price 50¢ from $1.00 to $1.50, a rate of inflation of 50%.
♦ 2022: That same loaf of bread increases in price by 60¢, from $1.50 to $2.10, a rate of inflation at 40%.
The price of the bread increased more in 2022 than 2021, but the rate of inflation dropped from 50% to 40%.
The White House and Federal Reserve state, correctly, that inflation is likely to drop. However, the actual prices of the products are rising at a greater rate. This is the critical component of the inflation story that will remain with us throughout 2022. Inflation is not measuring the increase in the price of an item. Inflation is measuring the rate of the price increase as a percentage.
This is the context for the Federal Reserve to state today, they “hope” inflation slows down, because they are going to raise interest rates regardless of what is happening with the price of goods and services:
WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – The U.S. economy may be nearing a turn lower in inflation, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said on Wednesday, though he added he is still leaning towards a slightly faster pace of interest rate increases this year.
“I am very hopeful we are going to start to see that decline … There is some evidence we are on the cusp of that,” Bostic said in an interview with CNBC.
While Bostic still expects three quarter-percentage-point rate increases will be appropriate this year, he said: “I am leaning a little towards four. We are going to have to see how the economy responds as we take our first steps,” with an initial rate increase expected in March. (read more)
Energy prices rose approximately 40% throughout 2021, with gasoline increasing around 60%. It is likely that prices will increase even higher in 2022 than they did in 2021; however, the rate of price increase will be lower (the inflationary measure). This is why the backside of the inflation hurricane is actually stronger and more damaging to the middle class than the original front side impact.
Highly consumable goods like food, fuel and energy, will have even higher price jumps in 2022, but the rate of inflation may drop.
Last point. Remember, the Biden economic agenda (and the energy, trade, monetary, fiscal policy behind it) is what the Obama economic team always wanted to do; however, they were limited in execution, because they did not want Obama to suffer the political damage. With the disposable Joe Biden in office, their previous restraints are removed.
The economic team behind all of these policies do not know the scale of what damage will happen, but they do know the damage will be severe. The economic outcome is not as important to them as the underlying ideology they are chasing.
They justify the damage, amid themselves internally, by saying the ends (Green New Deal) justify the means (economic collapse), and that approach inherently makes Build Back Better a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The ongoing controversy over ivermectin continues. In Alabama, a retired Marine Corps veteran Dale Pufahi’s 87-year-old father in law had been diagnosed with Covid-19 and all other treatments had failed. A doctor prescribed ivermectin for the ailing octogenarian but when Pufahi went to the pharmacy to pick up the medication the pharmacist asked Dale why his father-in-law needed the drug. Pufahi said it was because his father-in-law had COVID-19. The pharmacist, Deborah Collette, then refused to fill the prescription saying the medication was no longer in stock. Dale reminded Collette that they had spoken about an hour prior and that she confirmed that they in fact did have ivermectin at this Kroger pharmacy. Finally, the pharmacist admitted the drug was in stock but still refused to fill the prescription. When Dale asked why, the response was because the pharmacist’s mother had a bad reaction to ivermectin. But did this pharmacist have the right to withhold the prescription due to her own personal experience with this drug? After several attempts and refusals by the druggist, Pufahi left and a few days later found another pharmacy to fill the prescription. But during the time it took to finally secure the prescription filled, Dale’s father-in-law’s condition worsened and has now deceased.
Because of the frustration of the incident, Pufahi wrote a letter to the Alabama Board of Pharmacy and filed a complaint which triggered an investigation. The board response letter, authored by the Director of Compliance Cristal Anderson, Pharm D, declared there were “no regulatory violations that could be determined during the course of the investigation”. The board also said they appreciated Pufahi’s position but had to adhere to Alabama law. Yet the letter, included herein as an attachment, failed to disclose the true matter according to Mr. Pufahi. They completely ignored the facts upsetting Mr. Pufahi who approached the TrialSite. Why would the Director of Compliance completely ignore the nature of the complaint in her investigation? Did Pufahi, a U.S. armed services veteran not deserve an honest and straightforward response?
The American Pharmacist’s Association (APhA) maintains “pharmacists have the right to refuse to fill medications—especially ivermectin-containing products—if they believe that it is not being used for a legitimate medical purpose, even if the dosing is appropriate for another FDA-approved indication.” The pharmacist’s association also warns against “misinformation”.
Dale Pufahi’s case is not unusual. At one time earlier in the pandemic, physician-prescribed ivermectin was easy to find in pharmacies and many front-line physicians are certain that this has saved thousands of lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. But since prescriptions for the drug skyrocketed with a growing awareness that the generally low-cost antiparasitic drug may help treat COVID-19, the drug has suddenly become “unavailable” in many pharmacies. Apparently, pressure has come from the Biden administration, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and at least certain players in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) not to fill prescriptions for the medication. In fact, TrialSite reported in “Feds Coming After Doctors & Pharmacies that Market Ivermectin as Effective & Safe for COVID-19” that the federal government was warning national pharmacy and physician board associations to pressure members not to prescribe or fill ivermectin prescriptions.
Subscribe to the Trialsitenews “Ivermectin” Channel
No spam – we promise
This was on the basis that the FDA only recommends the drug for clinical trials. But what about a physician’s right to prescribe an approved drug off-label? Apparently, those rights have been usurped by the federal government during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now pharmacies merely claim the drug is not “approved.” TrialSite conducted a pharmacy survey back in October revealing access to the therapy was severely diminished.
TrialSite’s founder Daniel O’Connor reports that “We now have multiple examples of evidence where even when doctors are prescribing ivermectin for bad cases of scabies they are rejected by insurance companies who are monitoring for ivermectin use.”
Several state legislatures have moved forward with bills to allow ivermectin to be prescribed as treatment for COVID-19. In one case, in Kansas, a state senator proposing the change in the law is a doctor who prescribed the controversial drug for a patient. There is a paradox here. In many cases when the prescription for ivermectin is filled it’s paid for by a health insurance company. A recent study by the University of Michigan found insurance companies had paid at least $130 million in ivermectin prescriptions as reported by TrialSite.
Despite government and pharmacists’ objections to ivermectin, the so-called “horse de-wormer” is still being prescribed and the controversy over the drug continues.
In the meantime, Mr. Pufahi is both furious and saddened at the same time, telling TrialSite’s Daniel O’Connor “It’s time to vote politicians out that don’t have the patient’s interests in mind.” Pufahi shared with TrialSite he has never seen anything like this in America—it’s like an evil cloud has blown over the country, he suggested. Pufahi was prescribed an approved drug by a licensed physician, yet because of a confluence of political, economic, and healthcare agendas, the Kroger pharmacist, undoubtedly under pressure from above, rejected his legitimate prescription. The Alabama Board of Pharmacy could have at least dealt with Pufahi in a straightforward manner, addressing his real complaint. Rather they completely bypassed his grievance.
Shrinkflation is here to stay now that inflation has reached a 39-year high. It will be impossible for the Fed to tame the monster politicians have unleashed by COVID restrictions, not artificially lowering rates that have been in place for over a decade. Political governments could take immediate action to help the current supply chain crisis which they created, but they lack any competence to understand even what they have done. Shrinkflation, by the way, occurs when products remain the same price or rise, while the product size decreases.
“Portion sizes are shrinking. Prices are going up. It’s just insane what’s happening in the restaurant industry,” former McDonald’s USA CEO Ed Rensi told Fox News. “It’s also true of every other small business. They’re all suffering terribly from this federal inflation.” Yet, McDonald’s saw 7.5% growth in Q4 2021. Regardless, the fast-food giant is recommending that franchises raise their costs between 6% to 6.5% next year.
“The biggest single problem we’ve got is the…truckers shortage and a disruption of imports coming into this country,” Rensi added. “This truckers’ situation is enormous and is having a big impact.” So while the jobs situation is improving, with the US boasting a 4% unemployment rate, the mandates have devoured the supply chain.
As for other examples of shrinkflation, Chobani decreased its flip yogurt by 15% in size. Crest decreased its whitening toothpaste from 4.1 oz to 3.8 oz, while Gain decreased its laundry detergent from 165 FL OZ to 154 FL OZ. Inflation is so severe that products are increasing in price while shrinking in many instances. Barilla pasta formerly sold its spaghetti for under a dollar at 454 g, yet decreased the package to 410 9 and increased the price by nearly 100%. This level of inflation is completely unsustainable and consumers are suffering the consequences.
As former CEO Rensi said in his insightful interview, “Let’s lighten up a little bit, let our bodies handle it, instead of government handling it.” End the mandates to help boost the suffering supply chain that is contributing to inflation. This is one variable that the government has instant control over.
QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong, Out of my utmost respect, you do stand-alone where all these analysts are calling for the collapse of debt and equity because of fiat currency. They may claim to have been there for the dot.com and 2008 bubbles, but you have been there for all of them. The blame they lay on the federal reserve and the creation of money and without that the stock market would not have risen. My question is that since you have the longest track record of anyone and you have forecasted every boom and bust, I would just like to hear the full explanation that sets you apart from all of these analysts.
With my deepest respect
PZ
ANSWER: First of all, the world economy has changed. It evolves like a child and it is nothing like it was when Gresham made his observations of the value of money as representing England in the Amsterdam market during the reign of Henry VIII. Because of this, the entire foundation of Austrian Economics has been rendered irrelevant – a throwback to a monetary system that no longer exists. What you MUST understand is that coming out of the Dark Ages, there really was no currency that represented the reserve currency of the world for there were not even central banks.
The value of a currency was solely the metal content. There was no premium to a currency based upon the economic and military power of one country compared to another. That is what distinguished not just Rome, but the currency of Alexander the Great as well as that of Athens. All of their currencies were imitated by other states BECAUSE they carried a premium over the metal content. This is an example of an Indian Immitation of a Roman aureus of Septimus Severus where it actually contained more gold than the official currency.
Here we have Egypt, which never issued coins until it was conquered by Alexander the Great, issued imitation of Athenian Owls with the same silver content just to be able to deal in international trade. There are plenty of examples where a currency was worth more than its metal content. This clearly establishes an exception to Gresham’s Law and Austrian Economics.
The question which arises from studying ancient coinage, is why was the coinage of Athens imitated but not in places like Aegina, Corinth, or Thebes? The answer lies in the military and economic power of Athens and then later by Macedonia.
Here is an imitation by the Helvetii (Swiss) tribes of Philip II gold stater – the father of Alexander the Great. As Macedonia rose to issue gold coins, which Athens did not issue except during its fall to Sparta, once more we see that there was recognition and value attached to the coins of a central power over and above the metal content.
This disputes the entire theory of any currency being fiat. The value of a currency is NOT any backing by gold, silver, oil, or diamonds no less its land because of agriculture. The true WEALTH OF A NATION is its people!. When Adam Smith wrote his Wealth of Nations, here was arguing against the Physiocrats who claimed that the only wealth was agriculture and this led to the days of empire building. The more land you occupied that was supposed to be the wealth of a nation. Smith argued that a blacksmith making a saddle in England selling it to a Frenchman still returned with gold as would a farmer. Hence, all produce was the wealth of a nation. This still contributed to the idea that money was to be backed by gold or silver.
China, Japan, and Germany all rose from the economic ashes of war to become major economies while they lacked gold reserves. Russia has all the reserves that should have made it the #1 currency in the world – gold, silver, platinum, diamonds, and oil. Nevertheless, Russia could not get off the ground because of its political-economic philosophy. Without freedom, no economy will ever prosper regardless of its landmass or resources without the freedom that allows economic innovation from the private sector – not the government.
That is what the entire 1959 Kitchen Debate was all about. The Soviets lived in squalor. Capitalistic freedom allowed people to dream and innovate. Hence, it was the free society that created all the innovations from a washing machine for clothes and then dishes to refrigerators. The only innovation that ever came from communism was nuclear weapons.
So I look at all of history – not just a narrow patch when there was no currency that ruled for power. They all traded in Amsterdam based solely on their metal content. Those days are long gone. The world moved from there to agriculture was wealth that produced the age of imperialism and empire-building. Today, we have seen the US dollar as the reserve currency. It is hoard overseas where 70% of the paper money circulates.
Yes, we are in a debt crisis. The debt bubble will collapse. But that is NOT because of quantitative easing or central banks. Central banks have NO control over the fiscal side of the creation of money. The QE is even debatable if that creates inflation. They are buying in debt and replacing it with cash – that is true. But that theory is also ancient history when you could not borrow against government debt before 1971. Now you trade futures and you post collateral using T-Bills. Borrowing is no longer less inflation than printing for there is no distinction between the two other than the bonds are cash that pays interest.
The wheel of history has returned full circle. When paper money was introduced during the Civil War, it paid interest according to how long it remained in circulation. Hence, it truth, money was effectively circulated bearer bonds.
The abandonment of currency that paid interest is what led to the term “greenback” meaning that there was no interest table on the back – only green ink.
Thus, once more debt is acceptable as collateral and is used by the banks as their reserve at the central bank. Thus, the theory of fiat and assuming money must be back by some commodity are long gone. The value of a currency is the total productivity of its people. Hence, China will become the new financial capital of the world based upon productivity as the climate change agenda seeks to crush our Western Economics and the value of the productivity of our people exactly as was the case in the Soviet Union.
COMMENT: I have three friends, that had a heart attack after the second shot and were in hospital…but recovered.
I have two colleagues from my old company (Pharma) that died of a heart attack. Docs said it had nothing to do with the vaccine they had taken weeks before. They were 42 and 56…. My boyfriend was too afraid telling me about his heart pains after the second shot….as he knew I was against taking the shot…he only told me months after.
REPLY: Our greatest problem has been that the vaccines were used for control by the government. Indeed, they may not have realized that there were risks. Now the crisis is that politicians cannot ever bring themselves to admit they made a mistake. I have friends who got the vaccine so they could travel developed the blood clots and now they are afraid to fly.
Of course, when we have the leader of the ONCE free world making a comment that reveals they knew there was a problem involving heart attacks, people just ignore it. The real question becomes as this continues to unfold, the government will be blamed and if politicians never keep their promises, why do people ever trust anything they say with regard to vaccines?
Little by little the truth is beginning to surface. I had previously written how Moderna bragged that they created the vaccine in two days. YouTube has been doing everything possible to remove any content that offers any opposition to vaccines whatsoever. I posted a video of Dr. Peter McCullough, a top cardiologist in his field, who has warned that myocarditis due to the vaccine is “way more serious”than myocarditis contracted from the virus itself. Myocarditis, or heart muscle inflammation, is a side effect of both COVID and the mRNA vaccine. YouTube removed it and has been part of this conspiracy against the people to further BigPharma profits and our politicians. Honestly, I believe YouTube can be sued over this issue for removing videos that warned people which has now proved to be fact. They do not have the immunity of BigPharm.
Worse still. the UK government has now actually admitted that these vaccines have damaged the natural immune system of those who have been double-vaccinated. Page 23 of their report states that “recent observations from UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) surveillance data that N antibody levels appear to be lower in individuals who acquire infection following 2 doses of vaccination. “
originally,thestudy of the in vitroreactions of immunesera,e.g.,precipitin,agglutination,andcomplementfixationreactions.Currently,theterm is used to refer to theuse of suchreactions to measureserumantibodytiters in infectiousdisease (serologictests), to theclinicalcorrelations of theantibodytiter(theserology of a disease),
and to theuse of serologicreactions to detectantigens(such as hlaantigens).
Most people in the hospital with COVID were in fact overwhelmingly vaccinated. Out of 162 patients, only 12 were not vaccinated. The vaccines have NOT prevented even serious hospitalizations. It has simply been a giant lie.
There have been no specific guidelines for even how to use messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines or contraindications to mRNA vaccines. There have also been NO large trials of any mRNA vaccine completed yet. Why would government subject its entire population to a vaccine for a virus that has less than a 1% death rate? This makes no sense. Some claim those vaccinated will be dead within two years and they will then be able to indoctrinate the children to be green economic slaves who have no memory of freedom. Interesting theory, but that is something more in line with the character of Bill Gates or Schwab. It is hard to believe politicians would knowingly sign up for that agenda.
My fear is that the politicians were bought and paid for with an endless supply of money, and we can assume who has been funding things behind the curtain. Slowly as we turn, little by little emerges. It turns out Google was funding the very research on viruses in Wuhan through its charity. I don’t know that they even knew what they were funding. There are even motions flying around in Washington to fire Fauci. Others have been calling for his resignation, and the fact that he does not shows he is connected. Of course, the Democrats will refuse because they would have to admit they trusted the wrong guy. Even in Germany, the former health minister was calling for an investigation of Merkel. Meanwhile, there are rumors that Merkel is seriously sick after taking a vaccine herself.
Posted originally on the conservative Tree house on February 9, 2022 | sundance | 45 Comments
Former House Intelligence Committee lead staff, and former Trump administration official in the DoD, Kash Patel sits down for an extensive interview with President Donald Trump. {Direct Rumble Link}
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on February 8, 2022 | sundance | 169 Comments
Alberta provincial head Jason Kenney held a press briefing today attempting to give the impression that state vaccine mandates would be lifted. However, the truckers were smartly not hoodwinked by the highly political move and instead moved back into a hardened position to blockade the Coutts border crossing.
Holding a press conference to make his announcement [Full Video Here], premier Kenney said, “We cannot remain at a heightened state of emergency forever. We have to begin to heal, and so Alberta will move on. But we’ll do so carefully, we’ll do so prudently, we will do so only if it does not threaten the capacity of our healthcare system.” Kenney then outlined some softening to the covid restrictions.
Provincial rules that require students to wear masks in Alberta schools will end on Monday, and children under 12 won’t have to wear masks anywhere starting then.
Kenney stated a provincial work-from-home order will expire on March 1, along with the provincial mask mandate. At the same time, the limits on social gatherings and students being permitted to be in non-socially distanced proximity with other students in schools will be removed.
However, while Premier Kenny said the vaccine passports called ‘Restriction Exemption Program’ (REP) would be eliminated at midnight tonight, the QR codes check-in gates would continue; vaccine requirements will remain; vaccine discrimination can continue by private businesses with government support; govt healthcare workers must still be vaccinated or get fired; entertainment venues would be allowed to sell food & drinks again (but customers must be seated); and rules on closing times, alcohol service times, table capacity in restaurants, and social distancing would remain in place.
Most importantly, the trucker vaccine mandate is a federal mandate, and that will still apply to cross-border truckers. Put simply, a majority of the mandates would still continue through to March 1st, then even after March 1st, a lot of the mandates will remain.
After quietly and patiently listening to the entire statement from Jason Kenney until he was finished, the Alberta truck drivers responded immediately:
Brilliant!
The Alberta farmers moved their tractors back into front line status to position against any effort by RCMP to engage. The truckers moved the convoy back into full blockade position, and the Coutts border crossing was completely shut down.
The blockade will continue until the mandates are removed. To quote a famous saying:
Posted originally on the Conservative tree house on February 8, 2022 | sundance | 230 Comments
It’s not the apex of institutional hypocrisy, rather it’s the unmasking of political ideology. The ACLU is filing a lawsuit today in Virginia demanding that mask mandates against parents and student civil liberties be reinstated.
The ACLU wants the Virginia mask mandate reinstituted. The ACLU does not want parents and students to have a choice on whether to wear a mask.
The Washington Post headline is akin to folding the universe upon itself and looking back through the mirror: “ACLU challenges Youngkin order mandating choice on school masks.”
The civil liberties organization is arguing against allowing civil liberties.
(Washington Post) – […] The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Charlottesville on Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia; the ACLU is involved in similar cases in Iowa and South Carolina. The plaintiffs represent 11 students with conditions that include cancer, cystic fibrosis, asthma, Down syndrome and diabetes that make covid-19 more dangerous.
“Universal mask use may be necessary to protect some children,” the plaintiffs write. “For many of these children, Governor Youngkin has effectively barred the schoolhouse door.”
Eden Heilman, legal director for the ACLU of Virginia, said parents from across the state reached out to the group. “Some are keeping their kids out of school if they are able to,” she said. “Some work and there is no virtual option, and they simply have no choice but send the kid with a mask and hope that their kid doesn’t contract it and suffer really dire health consequences.” (read more)
No one is stopping the plaintiffs from wearing a mask. The plaintiffs are demanding that everyone else must wear them.
This lawsuit is akin to the FAA dropping their mask mandate for air travel, and yet the ACLU suing the airlines to keep every airline traveler in masks because immunocompromised people need to fly.
If it seems bizarro world the American Civil Liberties Union would be suing to keep civil liberties and choice away from people, it would be; except that the ACLU does not exist to promote civil liberties, the ACLU exists to advance political ideology under the guise of civil liberties.
The mask dropping from institutions continues (no pun intended).
Meanwhile, teacher union boss Randi Weingarten argues the way people “feel,” not science, should drive mask mandates on kids in school. WATCH:
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
Centinel2012 
