Tag Archives: centinel2012

Jul 25 2019

President Trump Remarks During Oval Office Swearing-In Ceremony – Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper…


RE-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on July 23, 2019 by 

This evening President Trump delivered remarks during the swearing-in ceremony for newly appointed Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper.  [Video and Transcript]  The Senate voted 90-to-8 easily confirming Secretary Esper.

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much everybody. We have a very important moment in our country’s history, actually. And we had a lot of our great Republican senators in the White House, and I invited them over and many of them wanted to be here. And as you probably heard, the vote just took place, and it was 90 to 8. That’s a vote that we’re not accustomed to, Mark, I have to say that. So congratulations, that’s great.

But I’m honored to be here today for the swearing-in of our new Secretary of Defense, Mark T. Esper. I especially want to thank Justice Samuel Alito — highly respected and a great gentleman, a great man — for joining us to administer the Oath of Office. Thank you very much. Thank you, Sam.

We’re also delighted to welcome several of Secretary Esper’s family members and friends to the White House today, including his mother, Polly. Hi, Polly. (Laughter.) Boy, are you proud of him, Polly? You better believe it. Yeah. (Laughter.) His wife, Leah. Thank you, Leah, very much. And his three children — Luke, John, and Kathryn. Thank you very much. Congratulations, too, most importantly. Congratulations. That’s an incredible thing.

There is no one more qualified to lead the Department of Defense than Mark Esper. A West Point graduate — great student, actually — Secretary Esper served our military for 21 years, including in the Gulf War. He also advanced U.S. national security in government and in private sector, most recently as Secretary of the Army, where he played a critical role training and equipping our armed forces. That’s where I got to know Mark. And there was nobody that did a better job than Mark and there’s nobody that loves it more than Mark. And thank you very much.

He is a recipient of the Bronze Star and Combat Infantryman Badge. He holds a doctorate in public policy from George Washington University and a master of public administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

I am confident that he will be an outstanding Secretary of Defense. I have absolutely no doubt about it. He is outstanding in every way. And we’re honored to have you aboard. And I would ask Justice Alito, please, to administer the Oath of Office. Thank you. Thank you, Judge.

(The oath is administered.) (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Would you like to say something?

SECRETARY ESPER: Yes, sir, if I may.

THE PRESIDENT: Please.

SECRETARY ESPER: Well, thank you, Mr. President, for your kind words, for your confidence in me, and for this incredible opportunity. And thank you, Justice Alito, for administering the Oath of Office. I really appreciate you being here this afternoon.

I’d also like to Senate — to thank the Senate Armed Services Committee for its quick action on my nomination and for the strong bipartisan support that I received today from the entire United States Senate.

It is an honor of a lifetime to be appointed Secretary of Defense and to lead the greatest military in history. And I will do so with that same energy and commitment to duty, honor, and country that I have for nearly four decades since my early days at West Point.

Mr. President, it is a privilege for me and for my family to be here with you today. Thank you for your leadership and for your commitment to a strong national defense and to all of our service members. Our military has made tremendous gains in recent years thanks to your leadership and we stand ready today to take on any challenge.

And while our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines stand guard each and every day, we will ensure their families are well taken care of.

On a personal note, I would like to thank my wife, Leah, who has been by my side now for 30 years as a military spouse herself; my children, Luke, John, and Kate; my mother, Polly; my in-laws, Tom and Von; and my sisters who join me here today. And everybody else who has been a steadfast supporter of me over the years.

Again, thank you, Mr. President, for allowing me to serve our great country once again, as Secretary of Defense. Thank you, sir. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mark. Congratulations.

SECRETARY ESPER: Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Fantastic. Proud of you. Come on over here.

SECRETARY ESPER: Okay. Leah?

(A certificate is presented.)

THE PRESIDENT: He’s going to be a great one. Thank you very much.

END 5:50 P.M. EDT

Jul 25 2019

The Real Adam Smith: Ideas That Changed The World – Full Video


Published on Mar 28, 2016

The Real Adam Smith: A Personal Exploration by Johan Norberg, takes an intriguing, two-part look at Smith and the evolution and relevance of his ideas today, both economic and ethical. It’s difficult to imagine that a man who lived with horse drawn carriages and sailing ships would foresee our massive 21st century global market exchange, much less the relationship between markets and morality. But Adam Smith was no ordinary 18th century figure. Considered the “father of modern economics,” Smith was first and foremost a moral philosopher. The revolutionary ideas he penned in The Wealth of Nations and The Theory of Moral Sentiments, changed the world. Norberg explores Smith’s insights regarding free trade and the nature of wealth to the present, where they are thriving and driving the world’s economy. In the second hour, Ideas That Changed The World, Norberg traces Smith’s insights regarding the benefits of free trade and the nature of wealth to the present, where they are currently in operation. He talks with some of the most distinguished Adam Smith scholars, as well as leaders of some of the world’s most admired companies to discover how Smith’s ideas continue to be relevant and drive the global economy today.
Jul 24 2019

Milton Friedman Speaks – Myths That Conceal Reality


Published on Jul 31, 2012

Five myths cloud our perception of both the past and the present. (1) The “robber baron” myth, which holds that in late nineteenth-century America there were powerful men who became rich at the expense of the poor. The reality is that they became wealthy by being productive, and that there is no other period in history which saw such a rapid and widespread improvement in the well-being of the average individual; (2) The myth that the Great Depression was caused by a failure of business, when it was, in fact, produced by a failure of government and specifically by the Federal Reserve System; (3) The myth that government in the economy has expanded in response to public demand, when, actually, the public has had to be sold “hard” for politicians to enact every major social program; (4) The “free lunch” myth, which forces the individual to pay more, no matter how the government raises money – by taxing individuals, by taxing businesses, or by printing more money; and (5) The myth that government, like Robin Hood, transfers wealth from the rich to the poor, when the reality is that the government usually transfers wealth and income from both the very rich and the very poor to those in the middle. Check out our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/FreeToChoose…
Jul 23 2019

Europe Bans Natural Gas in New Homes


Armstrong Economics Blog/Climate

Re-Posted Jul 23, 2019 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: Regarding: California Economy Declining Significantly
In the Netherlands (Europe) the same. Gas not allowed for new homes. Now new homes are more than €50000 more expensive (not the same climate as California). Existing homes will also be forced from gas to alternatives by 2030 which the government will try to enforce with sneaky planned laws ( which the common people not have noticed yet )

KP

REPLY: Natural gas is the cleanest fuel and it is cheap. It is really amazing how these environmentalists want to force people into electricity, and then come up with a way to block that somehow. This is all about stopping population growth. What’s next? Are they going to support wars to create genocide to save the planet

Jul 23 2019

California Economy Declining Significantly


Armstrong Economics Blog/Economics

Re-Posted Jul 22, 2019 by Martin Armstrong

California is the center of the far left which takes the position that even undocumented aliens can hold a position in government, they support sanctuary cities, and of course, they are the major movement in the New Green Deal initiative. Berkeley, California banned natural gas which is a clean fuel requiring homes to be powered by solar and electricity, that is normally twice the cost of natural gas. Then they hired a guy to enforce it and gave him a salary of  $273,341 annually to start – plus pensions.

The state is mandating that beginning next year, every new home must be fitted with solar panels, raising the cost of a new home by at least $10,000. Higher home prices, higher electric bills, fewer choices are hoped to reduce population growth. The claimed logic behind the Berkeley ban maintains that they can help the planet and reduce carbon emissions by eliminating natural gas and switching to electric heating and cooking. This is erroneous since the electric grid is powered predominantly by fossil fuels. The state prides itself on having very little coal use, but it imports electricity from neighboring states like Utah and Arizona where it is generated by coal. The scam is to buy electricity from other states displacing the emissions from California and pretending they are a “Green” state, provided you do not look too close.

The environmentalists are now pushing 50 other cities to follow the lead of Berkley.  It’s no wonder families are fleeing the state, and that California is led only by New York in out-of-state-migration. The worst of all is who can migrate. During the Panic of 1893, President Grover Cleveland made a critical observation. Raising taxes hurts the average person for the “rich” can leave and export their wealth. The average wage-earner cannot export their labor. All the studies show that people who earn more than $1 million a year are much more likely to migrate than any other class. Even the Governor of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has made the same observation and warned that raising taxes on the rich only results in their migration from the state.

California’s economy looks like that of France or Germany whereby the peak in economic growth was 2000. We can also see that the last peak was 2015 perfectly in line with the Economic Confidence Model. The long-term projections for California are actually lining up with the European Union and this seems to imply that the adoption of such socialistic policies that ignore economics is detrimental long-term. Even CALPERS, California pension system for state employees, was directed to invest in “green” projects for political reasons and lost. They have been trying to cover-up their politically correct investment decisions.

 

Jul 23 2019

Why Hedge Funds Have Missed the Moves


Armstrong Economics Blog/Dow Jones

Re-Posted Jul 23, 2019 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: Well, Ray Dalio was short the market, missed the rally, and lost almost 5% for the first half of the year. Obviously, they don’t use Socrates – lol.

LB

REPLY: I do not advise Bridgewater and I have no idea if they even subscribe to Socrates. But what you have to realize is that a lot of these hedge funds form their strategy based upon opinion for the broader view. When you have a portfolio of that size, you cannot simply trade it back and forth for each move. The question becomes critical as to where to draw the line to realize your broadview strategy is wrong.

I have stated many times that the trend does NOT begin to shift until you reach the Monthly Level. We saw that in Gold when it finally got through 1362.50 after nearly four years of bouncing off that number. In the case of the Dow Jones Industrials, our hedging models for institutions were long one month from the low and has remained in that position. This is just a hedging model which is either long or short. It at least tends to keep institutions on the right side of the trend for long periods of time.

Aside from the Reversal System, the Energy Model is extremely helpful in identifying the position of the market and if there is a risk of a crash or a rally. The Energy Model turned negative, demonstrating that there was no possibility of a crash as most analysts were forecasting from a gut perspective. A crash would have been possible ONLY if the Energy Model was at a peak. When it is testing the lows or a negative, it is warning that the energy in the market has already dissipated.

We are simply headed into a Monetary Crisis Cycle where the majority of people will never be able to forecast what will unfold from a personal gut perspective. This is not a time for lucky calls. We need objective time-tested analysis that is not clouded by human bias. This is when we need the global approach to let Socrates simply correlate the world to enable us to see the real trends that are in motion. The worst thing you can do is ASSUME you have missed something, as that is typically the kiss of death for investors where they inevitably buy the high or sell the low.

Jul 20 2019

The Worst Heatwave was the 1930s


Armstrong Economics Blog/Climate

Re-Posted Jul 20, 2019 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Marty, wasn’t the Dust Bowl the worst heatwave in history?

DL

ANSWER: Yes, you are correct. Despite the hype this weekend, the heatwave is nowhere near historical records. The peak was the 1930s which created the Dust Bowl. The agenda is clear and these people will use every heatwave to end civilization as we know it. We even have AOC claiming we will all die in 12 years unless we surrender all cars and airplanes and stay home and just read books because even the TV and internet require power generation.

These people have put out a warning using this weekend’s heatwave.

We must act decisively to cut
heat-trapping emissions to defend
ourselves against a gravely hot future.

Their Report: killer-heat-analysis-full-report.pdf

Jul 20 2019

Flashback: Former Secretary of State John Kerry Admits Giving Hostile Instructions to Iran to Undermine U.S. Interests…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on July 19, 2019 by 

With Iran now openly engaged in hostile efforts against western maritime navigation, and hijacking western oil tankers, I find it remarkable -albeit predictable- how U.S. media refuse to reference Former Secretary of State John Kerry’s instructions to Iran just a few short months ago. [Reference Article late 2018] [Reference article early 2018]

Reminder of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s anger:

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There is a direct line, a direct connection, between former President Obama and former Secretary Kerry’s engagement with Iran -and the advice presented therein- only a few months ago, and the current hostile conflict Iran is attempting. Yet despite the connection, U.S. media are silent on the association.