Posted originally on Jan 14, 2025 by Martin Armstrong
The TikTok ban is a complete disregard for the rights and freedoms of the American people. The ban is NOT about national security, but rather, the final attempt to prevent the people from connecting on an uncensored platform without backdoor government censorship. The law in question goes beyond TikTok as the government will only permit social platforms based in the US, therefore controlling the narrative and information the people can receive.
It is not about privacy from the Chinese government. TikTok is not even available in mainland China as their version is heavily censored. TikTok is a subsidiary of ByteDance, a private company that is not owned by the Chinese government. About 60% of the company is owned by institutional investors, 20% is owned by the founder, and the other 20% is owned by employees. ByteDance has five board members and three of them are American. Their headquarters are in Singapore and Los Angeles, and they have 7,000 employees in the US.
Congress has been unable to comprehend that TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is Singaporean and not a member of the Chinese Communist Party or even Chinese. Unbelievable.
Over 170 million Americans currently use TikTok. TikTok contributed $24.3 billion to the US economy in 2023, with 2024 estimates coming in higher. The majority of that money comes from 6 MILLION SMALL BUSINESSES that rely on TikTok to generate sales. Those 7 million businesses compose 20% of ALL BUSINESSES IN THE US.
Media outlets claim the Supreme Court is strongly siding with Congress, but that is simply not the case. The Supreme Court questioned whether this new law would infringe on the First Amendment. Government claims it is about national security and data. Yet, Chinese-owned online stores are allowed to operate in the US, for example, and they compile user data. Certain stores like SHEIN collect user’s social media data as well. Lawyers for TikTok believe they are being singled out because the people are posting content on the app, therefore, exercising their 1A rights.Video
(RFK discussed the potential ban back in 2023. EVERY LIBERTY WE SURRENDER IS IN THE NAME OF NATIONAL SECURITY)
Government claims that the Chinese could influence the content to influence the American people. In that case, the concern is truly the content creation and not the data collection.
It is OK when the US government collects your data without warning. Mark Zuckerberg has been lobbying to ban TikTok for years. He permitted the establishment to use META/Facebook as a massive propaganda tool to influence politics and the overall narrative. The government was permitted to use his app to silence the people instantaneously.
It is of no coincidence that the ban will take place one day before Donald Trump takes office. Trump had asked the Supreme Court to hold off on the ruling until he had time to sort things out. Simply put, you cannot take away the circus before the people can afford bread. People cannot afford basic living essentials, and the government is prioritizing taking away one of the last forms of free entertainment and education that the people have left. Countless readers of this blog have sent me videos over the years of on-the-ground footage of events that the media fails to cover. People may speak freely on TikTok and that threatens the establishment.
We are not so different from North Korea. Our government is taking extreme measures to censor our ability to connect with others and share information. The government tells us what is real and false. “Misinformation” is the information that goes against the current narrative. We are not to question our leaders. The US market is only a fraction of TikTok’s international audience and it may not be in their best interest to sell. It also seems as if the current CEO would rather have his platform go dark for US users than allow Washington to use his platform as yet another propaganda tool.
Posted originally on the CTH on January 14, 2025 | Sundance
Nothing in DC is a coincidence when it happens at this level.
Doug Collins, Doug Burgum and Pete Hegseth were all scheduled for committee confirmation hearings today (January 14). However, as noted in the statements and activity by Democrats in opposition, including Senator Chuck Schumer, they wanted to focus on targeting Hegseth first.
Well, what coincidentally happens? The FBI reports on Collins and Burgum are coincidentally delayed, and as a result there will only be one confirmation hearing today… and that will be for Pete Hegseth. Huh, imagine that?
WASHINGTON DC – The Senate confirmation hearing slated for Tuesday for President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the Department of Veterans Affairs, former Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), has been postponed to Jan. 21 — the latest snag for one of Trump’s selections.
Senate Veterans’ Affairs Chair Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said in a statement Monday that Collins has submitted necessary paperwork in a “timely manner” and has been “transparent and forthcoming” with the panel. However, he added, the FBI has not finished its background check of the nominee, who was supposed to have his confirmation hearing on Tuesday morning.
It’s the second Trump selection in a single day to see their hearing delayed due to paperwork delays. Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick to run the Interior Department, was the first: He had been slated for a hearing Tuesday, too, but it was bumped to Thursday. (read more)
As noted by Politico: “The treatment of Hegseth — the most high-profile of Trump’s nominees to face senators — will also set the tone for how the rest of the picks will fare. This includes how hard Democrats are willing to push the nominees, and whether Republicans will come to their defense or let them squirm.”
The Schengen Agreement led to the creation of Europe’s borderless Schengen Area. The treaty was signed on June 14, 1985 by five of the ten member states of the European Economic Community near the town of Schengen in Luxembourg, but was not implemented (partially) until 1995. It proposed the gradual abolition of border checks at the signatories’ common borders. Measures proposed included: reduced speed vehicle checks that allowed vehicles to cross borders without stopping, allowed residents in border areas the freedom to cross borders away from fixed checkpoints, and the harmonization of visa policies.
Germany and others are implementing the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) in May. Those wishing to travel to nations with ETIAS requirements must receive electronic pre-approval. Anyone traveling from a visa-free nation will be required to apply. This includes a background check, submitting biometric data, and answering questions in relation to health and criminal history. ETIAS will remain valid for three years or until an individual’s passport expires. It can take up to 96 hours to process according to estimates.
Italy will begin requesting Type D visa holders to undergo fingerprinting at consulates. France, Poland, and Portugal are implementing similar measures. Spain introduced CEHAT (Confederación Española de Hoteles y Alojamientos Turísticos) last month that reshaped the hospitality sector by requiring hotels, campgrounds, resorts, apartments, and short-term rentals to submit extensive traveler info. Travelers must provide a thorough 31-data point survey and hand over their personal information. Additionally, travelers must demonstrate financial independence by proving they have €100 per day of their stay.
One may believe that these restrictions are simply targeted at non-Europeans. However, countless nations have already begun to implement border security and become wary of their neighbor as they do not want their migrants passing through their borders. Brussels remains in a state of denial and tries to force the EU upon everyone while denying any democratic process in order to save the jobs of the Eurocrats. We saw nations like Hungary and Poland fight Brussels on its open border protocols.
Europe has witnessed their population alter entirely in recent years under open border policies that are completely destroying each nation’s traditions and culture, not to mention budgets as there is no way any nation can provide full government assistance to endless newcomers. The Schengen Agreement will fail, for it is an invitation that will bankrupt the governments, for they cannot afford to expand their welfare systems.
Posted originally on the CTH on January 13, 2025 | Sundance
As the Senate begins the confirmation process….. A POINT:
“If I understand this correctly, the Senate Intel Committee will only approve Trump’s nominee for ODNI if she agrees to support an un-Constitutional provision that permits the government that none of us trust to illegally surveille American citizens without a warrant…but a provision that also makes an exception for members of Congress or their staff, who presumably value their privacy and don’t want to be illegally surveilled.
Meanwhile, President Biden is preparing to issue a blanket pardon of all the bad actors who illegally surveilled, wiretapped, sued, imprisoned and tried to assassinate his political enemies, so that no one can legally surveille, wiretap, sue or imprison them…and they get off scott-free.
Yes, you have that encapsulation correct. Additionally, the discussion of Joe Biden pardons -both metered and predicted- outlines the ideological mindset behind those who believe they rule over us.
If you pull back from the granular debate and think about it, none of the FISA justifications align with reality.
The FISA system is a designated secret court system that is said to only pertain to “foreign nationals.”
Ok, so if we accept the premise. Foreign nationals do not have U.S. constitutional protection. So why does the surveillance and intercept of them require secret U.S. courts?
In reality, the Secret Courts are needed because it’s not foreign nationals that need to be navigated in the surveillance system; it’s the American citizenry engagement within that surveillance that requires a different legal approach.
Why should an American citizen suddenly have their constitutional protections switched from U.S. Federal Court to U.S. Federal FISA courts (secret), simply because their contact -perhaps inadvertent- skims up against a foreign national?
The constitutional protection (4th amendment) should not be arbitrary, depending on your contact. A regular federal court judge can decide on the issue of a Title-1 warrant, that can be filed under seal if the exploration of the contact is a genuine concern.
There is no need for a secret court for either foreign nationals or U.S citizens. The former do not have constitutional protection, and the latter should not lose it under arbitrary determinations of U.S govt officials.
That’s the entire predicate that underpins the 4th amendment.
All of that said…. I’ll tell you why this issue is so important, and it has to do with the future, not the past.
The justification for the FISA-702 warrantless searching of American metadata, is a cornerstone for the enlargement of a surveillance state. The flawed precept behind 702 specifically, is the gateway needed to expand the system.
Real ID, Digital ID, AI used in facial recognition systems, and the larger issue of track and trace capability of U.S. citizen data (connecting your physical identity to a digital fingerprint), requires some legal justification to create a surveillance network DESPITE the 4th amendment.
FISA-702 is the proverbial camel’s nose under the tent of privacy.
IF we were to abolish FISA-702, which we should, then what legal justification would exist to continue unsecuring the American people from “their private papers and effects.”
The build out of the surveillance state becomes more legally tenuous, perhaps impossible, if privacy protections of the 4th amendment are firm.
Finding a way to surveil Americans, while working around the constitutional protection in place to stop it, is why the FISA-702 issue has become more important for those who are building the surveillance system under the guise of national security.
Challenge the legal justification for FISA-702, and you throw a massive wrench in the machinery of a growing surveillance state.
If you are secure in your papers and effects, you cannot be forced to “show your papers.”
Right now, the monitoring system designed is being done so they can get the answers to your identity, without having to ask you to show your papers, which is unconstitutional.
You drive through the metaphorical checkpoint, because the system automatically recognizes your identity. This is said to be a legal workaround.
However, what happens at the checkpoint (bank, atm machine, employment verification, port of entry or even voting booth) when government identifies you (for whatever arbitrary reason they construct) as a “politically exposed person.”
Don’t think congress is stupid about this, they know exactly what is going on. They understand just how dangerous this is; that’s why in the last FISA-702 reauthorization, congress literally wrote into the renewal that federal representatives cannot be subject to the FISA-702 rules.
All members of congress must be notified in advance, if their private metadata is going to be reviewed by the FBI, DOJ or any entity with access to the NSA full spectrum database library. They exempted themselves and secured their 4th amendment protections exclusively for themselves.
That’s the “change” in the law they all agreed to during the debate of the renewal. However, We The People are not granted this same notification or protection from weaponized access.
Expanding the point. In essence Congress made themselves “grey walkers.” Individuals that can go through the checkpoints with a database return result that permits them unimpeded travel. A special designation.
Now, do you see how a surveillance state creates a tiered hierarchy of disparate power and constitutional protection.
If AI converges with this total identity state, which it will, then the automation will have designations for people of special privilege.
It’s brutally easy to see how this system would be weaponized. My goal is to awaken people to it.
This is my hill!
Peter Thiel is the man building the tool (AI surveillance weapon) for the IC to deploy against American Citizens. Thiel writes an op-ed saying the privacy protections of Americans are important because the govt to whom he is giving the weapon is demonstrably weaponized and corrupt.
[…] “Darker questions still emerge in these dusky final weeks of our interregnum. Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen recently suggested on Joe Rogan’s podcast that the Biden administration debanked crypto entrepreneurs. How closely does our financial system resemble a social credit system? Were an IRS contractor’s illegal leaks of Trump’s tax records anomalous, or should Americans assume their right to financial privacy hinges on their politics? And can one speak of a right to privacy at all when Congress conserves Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, under which the FBI conducts tens of thousands of warrantless searches of Americans’ communications?”
Posted originally on the CTH on January 12, 2025 | Sundance
In this segment of Glenn Greenwald’s monologue, he outlines the background of the IC opposition to Tulsi Gabbard and how that pressure forced Gabbard to change her position on FISA-702 authorization. {Background}
Tulsi has been a prior critic of the warrantless surveillance of Americans through the FISA-702 process. However, in order to get confirmed to President Trump’s cabinet as the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard has been forced to reverse her opposition to FISA-702. This is how the DC Deep State operates.
Without getting a single Democrat vote, Gabbard would rely upon the Republican senators supporting her. The republican senators will not support her unless she agrees to continue the surveillance state as it is currently utilized. Gabbard is an example of what We The People are up against in this confrontation with DC politicians who support a weaponized surveillance state. WATCH:
To be fair, an argument can be made that Mrs. Gabbard is saying that she is going to keep FISA but have a stricter threshold for its use, and that would still be a change for the better in protecting citizens from its widespread use to surveil us at whim. Keeping FISA doesn’t necessarily mean she can’t affect a lack of it’s use domestically. However, that is somewhat hopeium and wish-casting.
Given the extreme nature of how the 702 processes have been used, and combined with the new AI tools being constructed to exploit the metadata capture of all American citizens to expedite the surveillance results, it is critical to find actionable control mechanisms before the next reauthorization comes up again.
One approach might be to trigger immediate consequences for the unlawful use of the NSA database. The revocation of security clearances in combination with criminal accountability for misuse could easily be written into law. However, once again that relies on the willingness of the supporting lawmakers to agree to some accountability measure. As of right now, there is no such consequence.
Office of Inspector General Michael Horowitz testified April 27, 2023, that more than 3.4 million search queries into the NSA database took place between Dec. 1st, 2020, and Nov. 30th, 2021, by government officials and/or contractors working on behalf of the federal government. These search queries were based on authorizations related to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Approximately 30% of those 3.4 million search queries were outside the rules and regulations that govern warrantless searches, what the politically correct government calls “non-compliant searches.” That means more than 1 million searches of private documents and communication of Americans were illegal and outside the rules.
Additionally, IG Horowitz also admitted that somewhere north of 10,000 federal employees have access to conduct these searches of the NSA database; a database which contains the electronic data of every single American, including emails, text messages, social media posts, instant messages, direct messages, phone calls, geolocation identifiers, purchases by electronic funds, banking records and any keystroke any American person puts into any electronic device for any reason.
If we were in a functioning system of government everything would be stopped right now, and no conversation would be taking place that was not about this issue. This is the total and complete surveillance state being talked about as if we were discussing what’s for dinner.
If you ask me why in hindsight, I now take the position that FISA-702 is the gateway to the massive surveillance system currently being put into place using Real ID and the AI facial recognition software provided by Palantir (CIA exploit). In essence, the gateway that allows the full-scale surveillance state, is opened by the prior authorization of FISA-702 that negates any 4th amendment protection.
This is beyond jaw-dropping.
Context: In 2018 CTH revealed through research of their own documents that FBI and DOJ/FBI contractors had done more than 1,000 illegal searches using the NSA database, targeting Republican primary candidates from November 2015 through May 2016. These stunning admissions were from the DOJ’s own reporting to the FISA court.
Few were paying attention.
Although the number of the illegal search queries were redacted, we know the number is four digits from the size of the redacted text. More than 1,000 and less than 9,999.
FAST FORWARD TO 2023 – April 27, 2023, IG Horowitz outlined that more than 1.1 millionillegal searches of this database were conducted in 2021 during the first year of the Joe Biden administration.
Additionally, and perhaps more consequentially, to give scope to how the process of total domestic surveillance has expanded, Horowitz now admits in 2021 the number of federal government employees with access to this total metadata collection system now exceeds 10,000 people. STOP THE PRESSES!
Yes, congress is talking about this ‘as if’ there is some level of importance. However, the basic questions are not being asked or have perhaps just become so accepted that legislators have become oblivious to the insanity of it. Beyond the blood boiling questions about searching the NSA database, questions like:
In order for these search queries to take place, there has to be a housing facility to capture it.
Where is all of this electronic data being stored?
Why is all of this electronic data being stored?
Who is in control of this all-encompassing electronic data collection?
Forget the searches for a moment, what act of congress authorized the capture of this private data collection? Essentially electronic intercepts of communication systems that flow throughout our life.
The background context here is congress debating the renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the power of the DOJ and FBI to intercept American citizen communication and electronic data via the “702” authorizations, that permit the NSA database to be searched and queried.
If the inspector general is now admitting the FISA laws have been so comprehensively corrupted such that 3.4 million searches by more than 10,000 federal employees and government contractors now have access, there is no way that any reasonably intelligent person should support such reauthorization. Even contemplating this request is absurd, beyond absurd.
The United States government is admitting to the public that a total and comprehensive surveillance state is currently in place, and 10,000 federal government agents have the authorization to monitor everything we do. This is the admitted and current status of RIGHT NOW.
In eight days, President Donald J Trump is scheduled to be sworn in as President of the United States. In my non-pretending world, this is likely to be the last time in our lifetime to drag the conversation of how we define liberty into the American psyche. All of my research in the past two decades indicates this likelihood is not hyperbole. We have one shot at this, and our time is now.
Liberty, the fundamental decision to retain it or lose it, is the context for all other contexts that have preceded it. The principles of liberty that we have defined for generations cannot exist in an American surveillance state. Thus, the secretive courts, the unlawful usurpation of the 4th Amendment, the short-sighted ramifications of the Patriot Act, the weaponization of our federal law enforcement and police agencies, all of it, must be reviewed through this fundamental core issue, Liberty.
Posted originally on Jan 12, 2025 by Martin Armstrong
QUESTION: Why will people not listen to you? You warned that we were turning not to global warming but to cooling and that the reduction of supply of energy would lead to hardship, disease, and war. Here is Britain, the gas company informed us that they are running out of fuel because it has been so cold. You offer historical data to provide the answer. Others provide nothing but wild opinions based on gossip. I am not sure what keeps you going. I supposed if I was ignored, I would say stuff it, you are on your own.
MV
ANSWER: I cannot disagree. It does get frustrating. It reminds me of my favorite cartoon. I moved to Florida (1) with no state income tax and (2) to get closer to real global warming. My father’s law partner had told me to get out of New Jersey and, if I died there, tell my family to drag my body across the river before they told anyone. The politics of Democratic states has destroyed those societies and this will most likely lead to serious civil uprisings, as you will also see in Britain and Europe.
This nonsense of global warming reminds me of Stanley Milgram’s experiments. When he put a a few people on the street and they just stared upward into the sky, a crown would form trying to see what they were looking at. Just one people people would walk by. They were looking for nothing, and that is what has taken place. Gee – it was warmer today than when I was a kid, so we MUST be causing that to happen with fossil fuels. No evidence has EVER been supported. Even Cicero wrote about the pollution in Rome; when you burn wood, you release CO2. The first Clean Water Actwas by Justinian I in Constantinople in 535AD.
It is beyond my power to prevent anything –
I am here hopefully to point the way out of the Crash & Burn
Civilization rises during warm periods and collapses during cold periods. These people are beyond idiots or morons. No word describes their absolute stupidity. My dogs are more intelligent than these people who push this nonsense. We will go through a significant correction in civilization post-2032, like the fall of Rome. These are the assholes that are here to ensure that happens.
Central Bank Digital Currencies are being pushed worldwide by the Bank of International Settlements and governments. Are we witnessing the natural evolution of money into a fully digital form or a pervasive system of social control masquerading as money?
This movie is an in-depth inquiry into CBDCs, digital IDs, the origins of Bitcoin, and the tokenization of all people, objects, and assets worldwide.
Posted originally on the CTH on January 11, 2025 | Sundance
There is nothing reconcilable about American Liberty when contrast with a looming surveillance state. There is no facet of American values, the essential core of what we define as Americanism, that can exist without true liberty.
While the Declaration of Independence is long regarded as the greatest written declaration of purpose, the latter created Bill of Rights, the first Ten original amendments to the U.S. Constitution, is just as important. The first declared our intent; the second defined how our founders intended to retain the intent during our collective assembly. Together they outline what set the course to make America great.
We have allowed the foundational intent of both sets of documents to be compromised, because, well, simply we were lazy and complacent. Now we are engaged in a time of great consequence that will determine whether or not the purpose of our assembly can continue.
We are, in factual reality, now deep inside a debate carried out in the world of politics. The stakes have never been higher.
In nine days, President Donald J Trump is scheduled to be sworn in as President of the United States. In my non-pretending world, this is likely to be the last time in our lifetime to drag the conversation of how we define liberty into the American psyche. All of my research in the past two decades indicates this likelihood is not hyperbole. We have one shot at this, and our time is now.
Liberty, the fundamental decision to retain it or lose it, is the context for all other contexts that have preceded it. The principles of liberty that we have defined for generations cannot exist in an American surveillance state. Thus, the secretive courts, the unlawful usurpation of the 4th Amendment, the short-sighted ramifications of the Patriot Act, the weaponization of our federal law enforcement and police agencies, all of it, must be reviewed through this fundamental core issue, Liberty.
I have traveled throughout the East and West to gain perspective on what makes us different, and what I can assert with clarity is that if we lose the Liberty argument, then the ideological representatives behind Barack Obama will have succeeded, the fundamental transformation will be irreversible.
This frames the cornerstone of my viewpoints on all of the characters in politics. It is not a matter of debate that on these core issues of Liberty and the stopping of the Surveillance State, everything else is a downstream consequence. The tiered system of constitutional protections for particular categories of personage must be rebuked. On this matter there cannot be compromise, because every outcome that impedes our way of life is a derivative of this value.
I will oppose all interests who refuse to confront the Surveillance State. I will draw bold attention to those who are willingly creating it, and I promise you I will call out every operational interest that is willfully blind to its creation.
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 