May 31 2023

South Africa Offers Putin Diplomatic Immunity Ahead of BRICS Summit


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted May 31, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, Iran, China, South Africa) alliance is stronger than ever. The 15th annual meeting will be hosted in Cape Town, South Africa, and government leaders are urging all to attend. However, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has an outstanding warrant for the arrest of Vladimir Putin and South Africa is a member state.

President Cyril Ramaphosa understands the importance of the BRICS alliance and considered abandoning the ICC entirely before backtracking on his stance. Instead of leaving the ICC, South Africa now declares that it will grant diplomatic immunity to Putin to permit him to attend. “It is hereby published for general information that the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, in terms of section 6(2) of the Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges Act 2001, has recognised (the meetings),” the department said. The terms in the United Nations Convention should prevent the ICC from arresting Putin, who is considered a war criminal for the invasion of Ukraine.

Specifically, the ICC charged Putin “for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute).” Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, is also wanted by the ICC for the same charges. The Kremlin has denied that the deportations were forced and said that they were attempting to save Russian children living in Ukraine. Ukraine only entered the ICC in March of 2022, but numerous countries, including China and the United States, do not recognize “the court of last resort.” Lvova-Belova told news outlets that she was proud of her work in removing children from an active war zone. “It’s great that the international community has appreciated the work to help the children of our country, that we do not leave them in the war zones, that we take them out, that we create good conditions for them, that we surround them with loving, caring people,” she stated.

So, will Putin take the risk? On the one hand, his presence would signal that he is unafraid of international law. On the other hand, the Neocons would delight in an opportunity to arrest the Russian president to begin WW3. A country would need to be extremely careful to arrest the head of a country with nuclear capabilities in the middle of a war.

May 31 2023

Mexico’s President v Ron DeSantis


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted May 31, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) of Mexico is asking people to vote for a candidate who turns a blind eye to the US-Mexico border crisis. It is out of character for a world leader to dictate to his constituents how to vote in a foreign election, but migrants will be voting in the upcoming election whether we like it or not.

AMLO previously had a cordial relationship with former President Trump. However, he is accusing the GOP of being “very hypocritical” for condemning illegal immigration. “[T]hose who persecute migrants, for those who don’t respect migrants, because a migrant – as it says in the Bible – deserves respect,” Mexico’s president stated. More specifically, he does not want people to vote for Ron DeSantis. DeSantis has promised to deliver on Trump’s promise to build a border wall, stating he will declare a national emergency on his first day in office if elected. “I hope that Florida Hispanics wake up and don’t give him a single vote,” said the Mexican president.

Cartels are bringing fentanyl into America, but AMLO insists they are not using the Mexican border as their Silk Road. “(DeSantis) also came out with the same thing, about fentanyl, thinking that he’d get votes with it,” AMLO declared. “Let him start to see, because fentanyl is arriving via Florida (which does not border on Mexico) and we have to be informing people so that they don’t offend Mexico, so that they learn to respect us.” Wishing for a deadly drug to plague your neighbor does not sound like something we would see in the Bible either.

Former President Vicente Fox famously told reporters, “I’m not going to pay for that f—ing wall!” and it seems AMLO agrees. Florida currently has one of the strictest laws in the US to prevent illegal immigration under S.B. 1718, which many call the “anti-immigration bill.” Yet there is a distinctive difference between legal immigration and breaking federal laws by illegally entering a foreign land.

May 31 2023

DeSantis 106 – The Thoughts of Others


Posted originally on May 30, 2023 | Sundance 

One of the key aspects to noticing a controlled candidate is the speech, cadence and distinct linguistics used during prepared remarks.

When a candidate is authentic in delivery of advocacy points, their speech is a natural flow of thoughts and ideas they create in verbal delivery.  However, when a politician is delivering a speech constructed for them, using the thoughts of others, you will notice a cadence constructed around a series of soundbites that are strung together.

Ron DeSantis kicked-off his official Iowa campaign today literally reading prepared remarks that did not come from his own thought processes.  When delivering a speech from the thoughts of others, there is an emphasis on the reading of it; in the example we highlight today with DeSantis the reading is extreme.  You can see below.

This is not to say that speech writers are not useful, they are. Almost all politicians use speech writers to assist them in putting their thoughts into words to assist communication.  The key is to use the candidates’ thoughts. However, when the thoughts themselves are not from the candidate, there is a very different outcome in delivery.

This is what becomes very visible with Ron DeSantis.

As candidates, Dr. Ben Carson and Newt Gingrich wrote most of their speech scripts and delivered their own thoughts on points of policy and advocacy.  President Trump also communicates his own thoughts through speeches written from them.  When the thoughts are from the candidate, you will notice a tone of authenticity in the delivery. Speeches delivered by people like Tucker Carlson and Jordan Peterson also communicate with authenticity because the thoughts conveyed are their own.

Conversely, in traditional politics there are candidates who do not convey their own thoughts and end up reading speeches that are disjointed with emphasis misplaced, syllables in wrong context, and carrying an odd syntax and cadence.  The more disconnected from the thoughts of the reader, the odder the delivery.

The worst examples of reading other people’s thoughts to assist their own communication, come from Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg.  Governor Nikki Haley also struggles with this, and to a lesser extent so does Mike Pence and other well-known republicans.

Three of the more noticeable political figures, somewhere in the middle of the extremes was Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush and George ‘Dubya’ Bush.  The best orator to transfer the thoughts of others into his own linguistic delivery was probably Barack Obama. One of the reasons for Obama’s success was due to his team all having the same ideological outlooks.  Obama delivered convincing words because his thoughts and the thoughts of his speech writers were in synergy.

The bottom line is that when a political operation is poll-testing, highly managed and heavily scripted, there is a noticeable lack of authenticity in the speeches of the candidate.  The reason is quite simple; the speeches are assembled from disconnected ‘talking points’ or ‘soundbites’ and then an effort is put toward sequencing them for candidate communication.

Once you notice the issue of reading the ‘thoughts of others‘ it is almost impossible not to see it when you watch the speech being delivered.  This issue is very clear today in the remarks from Ron DeSantis in Iowa.  Unbeknownst to most casual political observers, DeSantis has always been heavily influenced and managed by others throughout his career.  However, now it is starting to become more noticeable.

The venue is a mega-church in Des Moines.  Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds introduces Ron DeSantis to the church audience, and immediately the Florida governor starts reading the script.  Watch how much time he spends literally reading the words. WATCH for a minute and you will see:

.

May 31 2023

Byron Donalds and Chip Roy Are Furious About McCarthy Debt Ceiling Deal – House Freedom Caucus Says “NO”!


Posted originally on the CTH on May 30, 2023 | Sundance 

As details begin to emerge, many of the House Republicans are furious at Kevin McCarthy for the deal to lift the debt ceiling he has brokered with Joe Biden.

Suddenly, the prior battle and construct of the House Rules Committee is becoming important.   While Kevin McCarthy may have the 218 votes on the floor of the House to pass the deal, he first has to get it out of the House Rules Committee (HRC).  If three Republicans oppose it in the HRC, McCarthy cannot get it to the floor.  Chip Roy and Ralph Norman are on the HRC and oppose the bill.   Thomas Massie is also on the HRC but appears to be supporting Kevin McCarthy (lol, because muh principles).

Byron Donalds also delivered a strong rebuke of the McCarthy deal, as outlined below:

WASHINGTON DC – […] The powerful House Rules Committee will spend Tuesday afternoon debating and — ultimately working to pass — the bipartisan debt deal, requiring a simple majority of at least seven votes on the panel to come to the floor. But some conservatives, including Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a committee member, have signaled they may use their power on that panel to block the debt plan from receiving a full House vote.

“I’m going to do what’s in the best interest and this bill is not in the best interest of the country. That is why Democrats are voting for it,” said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), another conservative who sits on the Rules panel and has suggested he will oppose the bill during the panel’s meeting.

[…] Under the panel’s current makeup, Rules Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) can lose two GOP votes — along with all four Democratic votes — and still advance the bill.

Senior Republicans believe that’s exactly what’s going to happen, according to three people familiar with the discussions. Norman and Roy haven’t explicitly said they will oppose, though Massie is expected to vote in support of the measure going to the floor.

GOP Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) said that he is “confident” that the bill will hit the floor on Wednesday, noting that Rules would be considering amendments. Members submitted more than 55 amendments to the debt deal, most of them from Republicans but some from Democrats as well. (read more)

Rep Dan Bishop: The bill is bad

May 31 2023

Porkulous – Ernst Rides with Ron


Posted originally on the CTH on May 30, 2023 | Sundance 

In the annals of Freudian graphic design, this apropos logo is one for the history books.

As one of the qualified Diversity Equity and Inclusion spokepeople for Mitch McConnell’s DeceptiCon group, Joni Ernst has always had a very specific role to play.  Today she announces Ron DeSantis is joining the porkulous parade, an apropos name for a pork-filled United States budgetary process that has replaced regular order since fiscal year 2008.

That is correct folks.  All of these debt ceiling arguments, continuing resolutions, stop-gap spending bills, and generally corrupt UniParty spending outcomes, are the result of congress dropping the budget process after fiscal year 2008.  For the past fifteen years in a row, specifically as part of the Obama ‘fundamental change’ process, the budgetary order in the U.S. government has been eliminated.

[SOURCE]

Everything associated with federal spending is a corrupt and arguably unconstitutional system of base-line budget growth, continuing resolutions, no budget constraints and debt ceiling increases.  The media like to play the budget narrative game without ever mentioning the source of the issue.

Can you think of a more apropos logo to represent the interests of Washington DC and the right-wing of the UniParty agenda?

Quite a remarkable and Freudian optic.

We are in an abusive relationship with our government.

I digress…

May 31 2023

Sea Island


Posted originally on the CTH on May 30, 2023 | Sundance 

Sea Island, GA, is a go-to place for those who operate in the background of U.S. politics. Similar in purpose to Jackson Hole, WY.  Sea Island serves as an East Coast meeting place where the globalists strategize and the paid for performance politicians are given instructions.

We do not have details. However, even for the exclusive Sea Island high security protocols, this notice is unusual. 

Given the timing, watch for news that follows.

May 30 2023

Berkshire Hathaway: CEI Score 0


Armstrong Economics Blog/WOKE re-Posted May 30, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Berkshire Hathaway managed to score a total of zero imaginary woke points on the Corporate Equality Index. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) investigates how woke a business has become, solely on LGBTQ+ policies, and assigns it a woke credit core (CEI). I mentioned in another post how this score has become increasingly harder to obtain, with the organization making obscene demands regarding employer-funded healthcare and practices. So is Warren Buffett secretly homophobic to receive the lowest possible CEI score? No.

Buffett simply declined to report Berkshire Hathaway’s business to the Human Rights Campaign. The company did not suffer as a result. No one is forced to report their company’s policies to this agency, and yet nearly all Fortune 500 companies do. The HRC states it has over “1,200 participants,” meaning companies are choosing to pander to the woke agenda.

The HRC has been cracking down on businesses for over 20 years and the requirements have become completely ridiculous. “We get surveys all the time … on all kinds of things, and we basically don’t answer them,” explained Buffett in a 2014 interview, and added it’s Berkshire’s practice not to respond to surveys. Furthermore, Buffett does not dictate policies for the companies under Berkshire.

So yes, it really is that simple. Companies need to come together and agree to refrain from reporting to the HRC and giving any credit to this social score. The HRC, backed by Soros, has turned human rights into a culture war that is destroying companies (see: Anheuser Busch). It has taken numerous failed marketing campaigns for companies to realize that the woke agenda is bad for business. I know a gay man who said he detests “rainbow marketing” and finds it offensive. These businesses try to appease the HRC but should focus on their clients. I disagree with Buffett on many topics, but this is one case where I believe he is correct.

May 30 2023

Illegal Residents Permitted to Vote in Texas


Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption Re-Posted May 30, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The Democrats defeated a proposed bill that would require voters in Texas to be citizens of the United States. I could not simply enter a country where I do not have citizenship and vote in their elections. Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) brought Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 35 to the Senate floor where it passed in a 29 to 1 vote. However, House Democrats found a way to kill the proposal.

SJR 35 would have prohibited “persons who are not citizens of the United States” from voting under the Texas Constitution. This is  a massive issue since tens of thousands of undocumented persons have entered the US from the Texas-Mexico border. No one technically voted against the bill, as that would make the scheme too obvious. Instead, 54 Democrats registered “present, not voting” in order to prevent the measure from receiving the 100 votes needed to pass.

Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler) condemned these actions by saying, “An open border is the long-term strategy.” This is why they do not want people to provide identification to vote. You cannot even rent a book from the library without identification. The plan is overtly obvious and shows that one side of the political aisle has absolutely no respect for the US election process.

May 30 2023

Biden on Gay Marriage (2006)


Armstrong Economics Blog/WOKE Re-Posted May 30, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Politicians echo the popular opinion of the time to gain votes. They act in their own self-interest and do not care about the people. Joe Biden now prides himself of being the wokest president in American history, but those views are not his own. Biden in 2006 is a completely different person from Biden in 2023, highlighting his steep mental decline in recent years that prevents him from speaking clearly. “I can’t believe the American people can’t see through this,” Biden said in 2006.

Biden repeatedly states in this video that he firmly believes “marriage is between a man and a woman.” People can love who they want and society has progressed since this video. However, the current definition of progress has taken the gay agenda so far that it threatens basic rights for those in the gay community. We went from gay marriage to discussing childhood castration for kids who “feel” they are a different gender. There was gay and straight, man or women, and now we have 107 different gender identities. The website linked italicizes currently as there will be more than 107 in the years to come as people completely lose touch with reality. In comparison, there were only 72 genders to choose from last year.

There are endless issues facing our nation and the only reason they harp on the woke agenda and promote the CEI score is to create a cultural divide in America that has now become a cultural war. “We already have a law, the Defense of Marriage Act,” a clear-headed Biden said. “We’ve all voted — not, where I’ve voted, and others have said, look, marriage is between a man and a woman and states must respect that. Nobody’s violated that law, there’s been no challenge to that law. Why do we need a constitutional amendment? Marriage is between a man and a woman.” Biden admitted that no one was challenging anyone’s way of life and it was a misuse of Congress’ time to harp over such issues. Yet now something about LGBTQ comes up during every White House press briefing (Joe Biden never attends or addresses the people), and the nation is experiencing a mass mental health and identity crisis.