The Death of Free Speech Is the Beginning


Armstron Economics Blog/Freedom of Speech RE-Posted Jul 21, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Tunisia is actually criminalizing free speech under the claim that it is spreading “fake news” to end free speech in the country. The problem is this is the trend in the aftermath of COVID. Anything disagreeing with the government narrative is increasingly moving toward criminalization. This was the very same trend that the LEFT took under Marxism. I find it ironic that all we hear is that China is this horrible communist government that suppresses free speech when the United States is doing the same. I went behind the Berlin Wall before it fell with a friend to visit his family trapped there. If anyone was close to us, the rhetoric of how wonderful the government was became the speech. Then came the truth when we were alone. This is where we are headed.

The number of people censored and de-platformed under COVID was the launch pad for the termination of the First Amendment in the United States once and for all. The government has been directing private platforms to censor and remove people and then claim that the First Amendment only applies to the government – not to private companies. Robert F Kennedy, Jr. came out and also told the Democrats that they were weaponizing the government. Yet even the military has come out and confirmed that the COVID vaccines were causing serious side effects in the military. They hate RFK as much as Trump, for he, too, threatens their authoritarian style of government. Meanwhile, Congressman Jordan has put Pfizer on Tight Timeline to produce all evidence of Collusion with the Executive Branch and Social Media. This is going to be VERY interesting.

The Biden Administration taking its orders from the Neocons, has sent a letter advising Trump he is now a target in the January 6th nonsense, calling it sedition so they can bar him from ever holding any political office under the 14th Amendment. This outright interferes with the 2024 election, but nobody can indict the Department of Justice.  Meanwhile, Edward Snowden is in Russia because they would prosecute him for treason for telling the people that the government is violating the Constitution. We have lost the Rule of Law, which is one of the last straws before the decline and fall of any nation. Senator Chuck Grassley released the FD-1023 form, alleging that Mykola Zlochevsky, Burisma’s founder, paid a $5,000,000 bribe each to Vice President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden to have Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin fired.

I seriously doubt we will hear this story on CNN, MSNBC, Washington Post, New York Times, other than perhaps claiming it is a conspiracy theory. The media is now AGAINST the people and have formally crossed over into the camp of totalitarianism, refusing to report the truth about anything from election fraud to the war in Ukraine. The days of honest independent journalism are over. FOX fired Tucker for this very reason – they were given their marching orders.

It is confirmed that the FBI has circumvented the Constitution and violated the civil rights of everyone in this country by colluding with social media to censor citizens, which the First Amendment states that they cannot do under the rule of law. When the FBI raided my office and home, they NEVER produced any inventory. Things were missing I have never located ever since, and the lawyers will tell you you “cannot accuse the FBI of theft,” plain and simple. They then can claim they found whatever they want on a raid when they do not make an inventory. A former VP of the NY Post told me personally that the government calls the press or a journalist and starts they have a “favor” to ask. If you refuse, they send the IRS after you and tear your personal life apart. The government dictates even Wikipedia. That is why universities now tell students Wikipedia is NOT to be used as a source. It is not trustworthy. NOTHING is safe anymore. Even the pretend Fact-Checkers are not independent and are just part of the whole scheme.

Freedom of speech is only free when it applies to everyone.  I must defend the right of free speech even when disagreeing. True freedom of speech is incredibly dangerous for those in power when they have abused that power and are desperate to retain that power. This is what we face going into 2032. Those in power are losing their grip. I warned that our computer was projecting a rise in civil unrest and international war post-2014 at our 2011 World Economic Conference. That is now becoming obvious to many, including those in power.

It was Free Speech that was under attack in England. Remember the English Civil War between Royalists and Parliamentarians raged from 1642 to 1651. The Puritans won, beheaded the King, and imposed their religious beliefs upon everyone. It became a felony to kiss your wife in public. They outlawed all sports and Christmas and authorized spies to look in people’s windows to ensure they were not celebrating Christmas. Against this backdrop, in 1668, William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, was imprisoned in the Tower of London for writing pamphlets Truth Exalted: To Princes, Priests, and People and The Sandy Foundation Shaken. This was all about protesting religion. The Bishop of London ordered that Penn be held indefinitely in prison without bail until he publicly recanted his written statements. I know how that goes also for Free Speech.

This is what Free Speach Was All About. Allowing the censorship of social media is outrageous. This is merely a sign that 2032 will be the collapse of governments. They know they have abused their power, and this is really the time for the Neocons. They care nothing about the country, or your future, only their insane hatred and cheer on the destruction of Western Society without ever considering what if they lose as they have consistently done since the 1960s.

The wisdom of those who rose to create a new way of government against monarchy is no longer revered. They tore down Jefferson’s statue until they claimed he was a slave owner. He inherited the slaves through his wife. Jefferson was the one who was against slavery and wrote the Declaration of Independence that stated all men were equal. But to free the slaves in 1776 would have been a death sentence. There was no employment at your local Starbucks. How would they survive? Those who judge others in the past by standards today are the greatest fools of all. Yet they preach hatred rather than bother to understand the core issues of freedom.

In 2013 a reporter asked Justin Trudeau which country he most admired. “There is a level of admiration I actually have for China because their basic dictatorship is allowing them to turn their economy around on a dime,” Trudeau smiled and stated with seriousness. He went on to say how he admired (i.e., envied) how dictators could implement laws on a whim without the people’s consent and added a nod to climate change policies, as the left does not see that as a problem yet. Trudeau is a graduate of Klaus Schwab’s authoritarian school and has strived to infiltrate the entire world and impose his social-economic doctrine to circumvent democracy and our personal freedom, all because we are too stupid to understand how the world should function according to what he believes everyone should bow down to him and gobble at his feet – herr führer (my leader).

The next 8-years going into 2032 will be the most difficult. History warns us that society will shed its skin like a snake. We will embark on a Great Reset, but many believe Schwab is using our model and trying to force this to go in his direction of totalitarianism. Democracy suddenly became Populism when Trump won in 2016. They will no longer tolerate our right to vote because we are not intelligent enough to understand that they are in power so shut up and sit down.

That Trump victory upset everyone at DAVOS. Suddenly they feared that they might be voted out of power. Thus, democracy became evil populism, and now Freedom of Speech also threatens their designs of indefinitely retaining power.

This UNELECTED Climate Tzar is also against democracy. He is using climate change for absolute control. They will attempt to use this to lock us down when things start to go against them. They are delusional to think that they can retain power but abuse and authoritarianism. History warns that NO GOVERNMENT has ever survived indefinitely. They all fall because of precisely what is taking place. The more they feel that power slipping between their fingers, the worse they will become.

Our computer warns that we are rapidly approaching 2032, when we just will have to turn out the lights on this failed political experiment. We have to start thinking about what type of government we will need to create and a monetary system since this is a global crisis that we are approaching where our republican forms of government will fall by their own weight of corruption just as monarchy did in the 18th century. It begins with the ending of free speech, as William Penn discovered, coupled with the collapse of the rule of law.

Edward Gibbon wrote of Emperor Commodus (177-192AD), with who historians agree began the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, that his abuse of the legal system denied any ability to obtain Due Process of Law. In the end, the ONLY recourse was a revolution because they simply assassinated him, which he then cast the Roman Empire into civil war.

distinction of every kind soon became criminal. The possession of wealth stimulated the diligence of the informers; rigid virtue implied a tacit censure of the irregularities of Commodus; important services implied a dangerous superiority of merit; and the friendship of the father always insured the aversion of the son. Suspicion was equivalent to proof; trial to condemnation. The execution of a considerable senator was attended with the death of all who might lament or revenge his fate; and when Commodus had once tasted human blood, he became incapable of pity or remorse

Silos Destroyed in Kiev – False Flag Comes to Fruition


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Jul 21, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

I reported in June that the Ukrainians would claim Russia had targeted their wheat silos, and it all comes back to the Ukraine Reconstruction fund by JPMorgan Chase and BlackRock. BlackRock had a tape leaked of a recruiter discussing Russia blowing up Ukrainian wheat silos, causing wheat prices to skyrocket due to shortages. The employee said that Ukraine is great business for BlackRock. As I mentioned earlier:“Our war cycle indicates tensions will pick up in 2024 – hold on tight. Expect false flags of Russia targeting wheat silos and soaring food prices. Everything is aligned with the Great Reset; this is the branch that is aiming to financially alter the world while others are working on destroying society from within. Ukraine must be destroyed to BUILD BACK BETTER the global financial system.”

And here we have it, folks. Kiev announced that Russia has destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain in Odesa. The grain was allegedly set aside for imports, so it will not be Ukraine’s fault when food inflation spikes. “The grain infrastructure of international and Ukrainian traders and carriers such as [Ukrainian] Kernel, [Canadian] Viterra and the [French] CMA CGM Group suffered the most,” the ministry said. “The world’s food security is once again in danger,” it added.

Now Zelensky is saying the Russians deliberately targeted the grain. Yet, those funding Ukraine are relying on wheat prices rising and this benefits Ukraine greatly. Food prices will rise and everyone will blame Russia. Meanwhile, those funding the war are sitting back and laughing at the entire world for they knew the plot all along.

US Border Wall Opponents Strongly Favor Aid to Ukraine


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Jul 21, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Remember when former President Donald Trump requested $4 billion in funding to build a wall to protect the US at the southern border? That amount seems like a pocket change now compared to the tens of billions the nation has provided Zelensky to protect the Ukrainian border. As predicted, there has been a mass influx of illegal aliens into the US and all of this was completely preventable. In fact, the nation spends more on maintaining the population of illegal migrants than it would have spent on building a border wall.

Congress decided to stop working and throw a fit over Trump’s wall at the beginning of 2019 when he requested $5.7 billion. Congress refused to work for 35 days before Trump agreed for a significantly lower budget. Then on February 15, Trump declared a national emergency over the mass influx of migrants and invoked the powers provided by the 1976 National Emergencies Act. Congress continually voted to override this ruling following a number of vetos by Trump. No one would permit the United States to protect its border.

Even members of the Republican Party mocked “Trump’s wall” as an outlandish pipe dream. It just so happens that the same Republicans who denied Trump’s wall also strongly defend the war in Ukraine. Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) said called the $5.7 billion proposal “massive, wasteful spending.” Amash argued that Trump should be impeached for his phone call with Ukraine in support of the Russian collusion hoax. “His actions reflect precisely the type of conduct the framers of the Constitution intended to remedy through the power of impeachment, and it is our duty to impeach him,” Amash stated.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was against funding Trump’s wall. “If you’re going to spend that kind of money, you’re going to have to show me where you’re going to get that money,” said Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a key swing vote who has already broken with Trump over his nominee for secretary of education. Yet, she traveled to Ukraine to meet with Zelesnky to ensure he would have a safe border. “Despite the incredible hardships the Ukrainian people are enduring, they continue to show there are few things more powerful than a democracy fueled by unity and hope. As I return home, I’m more thankful than ever for the blessings of our American democracy and more committed than ever to ensuring that Congress provides the assistance that Ukraine needs,” she said.

Sen. Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, said that Trump’s wall was not in the budget. “We have got a huge fiscal problem right now – $20.355 trillion in debt projected to add $9.7 trillion over the next 10 years. And I’m concerned that when I left the retreat last week, there are so many things that people were talking about spending money on and at the same time, lowering the amount of revenue. And it’s a recipe for disaster,” Corker stated. Yet going as far back as 2014, Corker supported funding Ukraine against Russia and even introduced “the Corker legislation” to increase aid to Ukraine and sanction Russia.

The list of examples are endless. Neocons are on both sides of the aisle. They do not care about America or national security. They did everything in their power to undermine Trump’s attempt to secure the border, and now the US is overrun with too many illegals to track.

Senator Chuck Grassley Releases FBI FD-1023 Document Outlining Statement by Witness of Biden Bribery and Corruption


Posted originally on the CTH on July 20, 2023 | Sundance 

This afternoon U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley released the FBI witness statement known as the FD-1023 [Document pdf Here] that lies at the heart of the Biden bribery and corruption scandal.

BACKGROUND: Initially, the FBI refused to hand over the unclassified FD-1023 stating there is an ongoing investigation using the confidential human source who made allegations outlined in the document.  Remember, the allegations and the statement record were created in July of 2020, over three years ago.  The FBI refused to say the 6-page unclassified document existed.  After House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer told FBI Director Chris Wray, he had already seen the unclassified document via a whistleblower, then Wray admitted the FBI indeed had it.  On June 1st, the FBI refused to release the document, stating it was captive as part of an “ongoing investigation.”   Today, Chuck Grassley released it.

[SOURCE]

Grassley – “For the better part of a year, I’ve been pushing the Justice Department and FBI to provide details on its handling of very significant allegations from a trusted FBI informant implicating then-Vice President Biden in a criminal bribery scheme. While the FBI sought to obfuscate and redact, the American people can now read this document for themselves, without the filter of politicians or bureaucrats, thanks to brave and heroic whistleblowers. What did the Justice Department and FBI do with the detailed information in the document? And why have they tried to conceal it from Congress and the American people for so long? The Justice Department and FBI have failed to come clean, but Chairman Comer and I intend to find out,” Grassley said.

“The FBI’s Biden Bribery Record tracks closely with the evidence uncovered by the Oversight Committee’s Biden family influence peddling investigation. In the FBI’s record, the Burisma executive claims that he didn’t pay the ‘big guy’ directly but that he used several bank accounts to conceal the money. That sounds an awful lot like how the Bidens conduct business: using multiple bank accounts to hide the source and total amount of the money,” House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer said. 

“At our hearing with IRS whistleblowers, they testified that they had never seen or heard of this record during the Biden criminal investigation, despite having potentially corroborating evidence. Given the misconduct and politicization at the Department of Justice, the American people must be able to read this record for themselves. I thank Senator Grassley for providing much needed transparency to the American people. We must hold the Department of Justice accountable for seeking to bury this record to protect the Bidens.”

Grassley first disclosed the FBI’s possession of significant and voluminous evidence of potential criminality involving the Biden family last year. He has since worked to unearth the FBI record, eventually partnering with Comer on a subpoena to compel its public disclosure. After delays, the FBI provided a highly redacted version of the document to select members of the House of Representatives, but it remained shielded from the public and omitted key details, including references to recordings. Following the FBI’s failure to fully comply with the congressional subpoena, Grassley received the legally protected disclosure with limited redactions to protect a trusted FBI source, handling agents, department whistleblowers and identifiers related to other ongoing investigations. (more)

Murdoch Outlet Promotes Corporate Chair Ronna McDaniel Warning Trump Not to Avoid Murdoch Outlet Debate


Posted originally on the CTH on July 19, 2023 | Sundance 

The transparency of the puppeteers continues.  The latest example is the New York Post (Murdoch outlet) promoting a story of the RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, appearing on Fox News (Murdoch outlet) to warn President Trump not to avoid the RNC debate hosted by Fox News, the Murdoch outlet.

The private corporation (RNC) has a vested interest in Trump delivering credibility to the organization.  The Fox News corporation has a vested interest in Trump delivering credibility and ratings to the organization.  Whether President Trump decides to attend or not, the desperation expressed by the two corporations is a little funny.

The Freudian slip in this soundbite “20 million dollars” is also funny.  WATCH: 

[NEW YORK POST] – Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has cautioned that it would be a mistake for GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump to skip the party’s primary debates.

“I think he should be on the stage. I want everybody on the stage that qualifies, obviously,” she told Fox News Wednesday. “It’s a mistake not to do the debates, but that’s going to be up to him and his campaign.”

McDaniel cited two main reasons why she feels it’s in Trump’s best interest to jump into the upcoming verbal slugfest despite holding a massive polling lead over his rivals. “One, short-term, you want to win the nomination, you got to get in front of the whole primary voters,” she said. (read more)

There’s only one thing these three corporations care about, money!

House Oversight Committee Interviews Two IRS Whistleblowers on Biden Bribery Scheme – 1:00pm ET Livestream


Posted originally on the CTH on July 19, 2023 | Sundance 

Today at 1:00pm ET the House Oversight Committee will accept testimony from two IRS investigators who are whistleblowers with allegations the DOJ and FBI intentionally interfered with their investigation of Hunter and Joe Biden in an effort to politically protect the Biden family.

The statements by the whistleblowers have been corroborated recently by an FBI supervisory special agent.  The hearing is scheduled to begin at 1:00pm ET, with livestream link below.  [HOUSE LIVESTREAM LINK]

.

A Devastating Video for the Career of Tucker Carlson


Posted originally on the CTH on July 19, 2023 | Sundance 

If you did not watch the two-hour+ video of Tucker Carlson and Andrew Tate [Rumble Link Here], you might not have the correct perspective for just how devastating this video is for the career of Tucker Carlson.

However, that said, this video is very useful in explaining something about Tucker Carlson that has been discussed, debated and argued on these pages for quite a while.  First, watch the video. [6 minutesWATCH:

.

Tucker flew all the way to Romania to interview Andrew Tate and present him as the victim of a horrible prosecution.  Tucker went out on a limb to portray Tate as wrongly accused.  When your entire brand is based on judgement and opinion, you cannot be as wrong as Tucker Carlson was in that portrayal of Tate.  You just can’t.

Here’s the bigger issue….

This video shows something very important.  Tucker Carlson is above average intelligence, above average communication skills, above average vocabulary, but Carlson also has ordinary and average judgement.

When your brand is established only on your judgement, and insightful opinion based on that judgement – and make no mistake the entire Carlson brand is completely organized around those two characteristics, you cannot afford to be this wrong.

With the evidence of that lacking judgement so clear, it then serves as a very specific and clear data point to reconciling other issues, like Tucker Carlson using the Twitter platform to showcase his Tucker Carlson Tonight broadcasts.

Readers here have long known my opinion of Twitter, and that analysis has equally applied to the current disposition of Elon Musk.  Twitter CEO Elon Musk is teetering on the precipice of financial ruin as a result of the extremely unstable financial position of the social media enterprise.  Twitter is a bottomless pit of costs, with almost no possibility of financial recovery without some major change in the business model.

The financial position of Twitter is the only prism that matters in the review of decisions that Elon Must is making about the platform.  Free speech, liberty, safe opinion, the public square, all of it is less than the financial viability of the company.  Every large or seemingly consequential decision on the platform is centered around the finances therein.  Despite what might be the front face or intent of Mr Elon Musk, nothing else is more important, influential or determinative of his action.

Carlson’s lack of judgement in the Andrew Tate interview, extends toward and explains his relationship with Twitter and Musk; it’s just bad judgement.

Keep this reference point in mind as you weight the opinion and analysis provided by Tucker Carlson.

Tucker Carlson on Twitter- Ep. 9 – 7/11/23 – The Andrew Tate interview

.

Tucker Carlson Kills Mike Pence’s Presidential Dreams         


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Jul 18, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Some may have seen the viral clip of Tucker Carlson’s interview with Mike Pence. This interview will be remembered as the nail in the coffin for Pence, who could not hide his Neocon agenda. “Every city in the United States have become much worse in the past three years. Drive around – there is not ONE city that has gotten better — it is very visible.” Carlson said to an utterly apathetic Pence. Carlson passionately reminded the former vice president that the country has degraded entirely, our economy is failing, and crime is on the rise. He even pointed out that suicide rates are sharply increasing because the people feel completely helpless with no hope for the future. We desperately need help at home, and at minimum, a leader who has a pinch of empathy for America. Again, Pence showed no emotion and actually seemed angry that Carlson dared to question his stance on Ukraine.

So why then, Mike, are you concerned about America not doing enough for Ukraine? We already sent them tens of billions in funding (hundreds of billions actually) and no one even knows where the money went. Carlson correctly commented that most Americans cannot even point out Ukraine on the map. “Where is your concern for the United States in all of that?” Carlson asked. It was not a trick question. How did Pence respond? “That is not my concern,” Pence honestly stated.

Yes, a man who wants to run to become the leader of the formerly free world said the hardships faced by Americans are simply NOT his concern. At least he was honest. It makes it easier when politicians state their true motives out loud. Some are calling this Pence’s “Bud Light moment” because there is no coming back from such a comment.

Neocons like Mike Pence genuinely do not have empathy for “their people” because “their people” are not the commoners like us but the Neocons and the military-industrial complex that profit big on endless wars. So he expects the people to vote him in as the Republican candidate when he said screw the US, the economy, and the hardships faced by all Americans? He was unable to quell his anger and pride after Tucker Carlson put him on the spot, so he said exactly what he was thinking. American politicians are not concerned about America, and that is why we are failing as a nation.

High Energy Steve Bannon at Turning Point Action Conference – The Big Ugly !


Posted originally on the CTH on July 16, 2023 | Sundance 

Steve Bannon rages against the regime at the Turning Point Action conference in West Palm Beach. {Direct Rumble Link}

New study shows that neither global warming nor CO2 radiative forcing were a cause of mass extinctions


Browse:Home/2023/July/10/New Study: Neither Global Warming Or CO2 Radiative Forcing Were A Cause Of Past Mass Extinctions

New Study: Neither Global Warming Or CO2 Radiative Forcing Were A Cause Of Past Mass Extinctions

By Kenneth Richard on 10. July 2023

Over the last 210 million years [Myr], (a) CO2 falls as temperatures rise (negative correlation, r = -0.76), (b) mass extinctions occur 4.08 Myr after CO2 peaks, and (c) global warming/CO2 radiative forcing “did not cause extinction of biodiversity.”

A new study has been published in Earth’s Future journal that supplements a 2017 analysis of hundreds of millions of years of CO2 and temperature variations.

Davis (2017) argued that for 97.44% of the last 425 Myr there was either a negative correlation (CO2 falls, temperatures rise or CO2 rises as temperatures fall) or no correlation at all between variations in global temperatures and radiative forcing by atmospheric CO2. In other words, the IPCC-proposed link between the rise in atmospheric CO2 as the causal mechanism and global warming could only explain 2.56% of the variance in the long-term paleoclimate record.

Image Source: Davis, 2017

A positive correlation between high CO2 and extinctions

But now a new study by the same author looks at the timing of mass extinctions and their correspondence with atmospheric CO2 concentrations over the last 210 Mya. There were reportedly 12 mass extinction events that occurred when CO2 was rising to peak levels (~1,000 ppm) during this period, whereas 6 occurred as CO2 was falling. This is considered a weakly positive correlation.

Interestingly, though, the timing for the mass extinctions was, on average, 4.08 Myr after the CO2 levels had reached their apex. This leads one to question why it would be thought the effect (mass extinctions) should lag the triggering cause (peak CO2) by millions of years. Especially since species extinctions can occur in time spans of decades to centuries.

A negative correlation between global warming and atmospheric CO2

As he did in his previous paper, Davis (2023) documents an overall negative correlation between global temperatures and atmospheric CO2 concentrations over the last 210 Mya. Specifically, multiple degrees of increases in global temperatures occurred as CO2 levels fell (for example, from 772 ppmv to 291 ppmv).

“The correlation between atmospheric CO2 concentration and interpolated global temperature proxies is discernible and negative (r = −0.76, n = 8, p = 0.01).”

Since the correlation between CO2 and global temperature is more often negative than positive, the positive link between high CO2 levels and extinctions Davis addresses in his study could be explained as a better correlation with high CO2 and global cooling than with high CO2 and global warming.

Image Source: Davis, 2023

Neither global warming or CO2 radiative forcing caused past mass extinctions

Over the last 210 Myr, the correlation between global warming periods and mass extinctions is “not discernibly different from zero” (r = 0.03), and the correlation between atmospheric CO2 radiative forcing (RF) is also “not discernibly different from zero” (r = -0.001). Without correlation, there can be no causal relationship between either global warming or CO2 radiative forcing and the record of mass extinctions.

“These results collectively require rejection of the hypothesis that long-term (Myr timescale) global temperature change caused extinction of biodiversity across the most highly resolved portion of the fossil record, the last 210 Myr.”

“This study therefore excludes long-term temperature (climate) change as a possible cause of past mass extinctions.”

“If long-term global warming was the cause of past extinctions, then long-term temperature and marginal RF by atmospheric CO2 should both be correlated positively with biodiversity loss. As shown here, however, biodiversity loss is not correlated discernibly with marginal RF by atmospheric CO2…that is, changes in RF by atmospheric CO2 did not cause past collapses in biodiversity and are not a plausible kill mechanism of mass extinctions.”