Posted Originally on the conservative tree house on December 29, 2021 | Sundance | 133 Comments
This is an interesting angle to elections having consequences. Apparently, the ultra-wealthy and affluent in Beverly Hills are rushing to purchase firearms at a jaw-dropping rate as they no longer feel safe. It’s worth reading the whole article.
[Beverly Hills] – In Beverly Hills, even the purchase of a firearm comes with certain…expectations. The city’s only gun store, Beverly Hills Guns, is a “concierge service” by appointment only, for a largely affluent clientele. And business is booming.
Since opening in July 2020, the store has seen upscale residents from Santa Monica to the Hollywood Hills increasingly in a panic following several high-profile smash-and-grab and violent home invasion robberies. The apparent siege has brought in a daily stream of anxious business owners and prominent actors, real estate moguls and film execs, says owner Russell Stuart. Most are arming themselves for the first time.
“This morning I sold six shotguns in about an hour to people that say, ‘I want a home defense shotgun,’” says Stuart, whose store is discreetly located in a Beverly Hills office building, with no sign on the doors, down the hall from a diamond dealer. “Everyone has a general sense of constant fear, which is very sad. We’re used to this being like Mayberry.” (read more)
Funny how that happens…
Keep in mind, this is the epicenter of the West Coast donor base for the DNC.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on December 29, 2021 | Sundance | 320 Comments
Jeffrey Epstein’s predatory enabler, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been found guilty on five of six counts related to her participation in sexual assaults of minors. Four women testified that Maxwell was the facilitator of their abuse, essentially grooming them to be raped by Epstein.
Maxwell was found guilty of conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts; conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity; transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity; sex trafficking conspiracy; sex trafficking of a minor. The lone count on which Maxwell was acquitted, enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, applied only to one Jane Doe victim.
NEW YORK (AP) — The British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted Wednesday of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by the American millionaire Jeffrey Epstein.
The verdict capped a monthlong trial featuring sordid accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14, told by four women who described being abused as teens in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein’s palatial homes in Florida, New York and New Mexico.
Jurors deliberated for five full days before finding Maxwell guilty of five of six counts. As the verdict was read, Maxwell appeared to show little reaction behind a black mask. She stood with her hands folded as the jury filed out, and glanced at her siblings as she herself was led from the courtroom, but was otherwise stoic.
She faces the likelihood of years in prison — an outcome long sought by women who spent years fighting in civil courts to hold Maxwell accountable for her role in recruiting and grooming Epstein’s teenage victims and sometimes joining in the sexual abuse.
The defense had insisted Maxwell was a victim of a vindictive prosecution devised to deliver justice to women deprived of their main villain when Epstein killed himself while awaiting trial in 2019.
During the trial, prosecutors called 24 witnesses to give jurors a picture of life inside Epstein’s homes — a subject of public fascination and speculation ever since his 2006 arrest in Florida in a child sex case. (read more)
In what looks to be a calculated legal maneuver by the outgoing New York City mayor, a hearing is set for December 29th over a lawsuit by a New York Police Detective’s effort to stop Bill de Blasio’s vaccine mandate for municipal workers. The initial filing of the lawsuit was in the New York County Supreme Court, but lawyers for the de Blasio administration had the case moved to federal court. What’s unusual here is that it is standard practice to change court venues before a ruling. However, after NY County Supreme Court Judge Frank Nervo issued a restraining order against de Blasio’s vaccine mandate, lawyers for NY City immediately requested the case be moved to federal court.
As reported in the NY Post, the case involves Detective Anthony Marciano’s claim that New York City officials don’t have the “legal authority” to enact a vaccine mandate since the mayoral decree wasn’t approved by the State. Marciano claims he has natural immunity to covid. The article in the Post says a NY City lawyer claimed the restraining order was “misinterpreted” by Marciano’s attorney and, in fact, is not valid. But the city then moved to have the case heard in federal court.
TrialSiteNews reported the detective’s lawsuit could be the beginning of several against New York City regarding the mayor’s mandates. However, the city’s legal maneuvering could be a sign New York is looking for federal backup. The federal judge slated to hear the case is Jed Rakoff who, as reported in The New York Times, has a history of ordering vaccinations. In a ruling, Rakoff wrote the unvaccinated pose a danger “given their enhanced risk of infecting other people.” Regarding the Marciano lawsuit, Rakoff could invoke the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP), which is an emergency declaration utilizing “countermeasures to diseases, threats, and conditions.” The PREP Act cannot be challenged in court.
Marciano’s attorney, Patricia Finn, claims New York City’s legal move to get the case to federal court “looks like blatant forum-shopping intended to get around Judge Nervo’s TRO (temporary restraining order).” Given this is Bill de Blasio’s last week in office it’s likely the soon-to-be-former mayor’s mandates will be taken up by the incoming Adams administration. Eric Adams is a former New York City police officer.
Big Pharma’s reach is more extensive than most understand. The video above shows some of Pfizer’s many sponsorships, a subtle nod to the billions of dollars the pharmaceutical companies spend every year to convince you to buy their products. The government has made Big Pharma’s job easier than ever by forcing citizens to take vaccines that are only offered through a handful of approved companies. Pfizer was able to gain traction on the marketing curve as its vaccine was the first to receive FDA approval, which means they have free reign to advertise.
People visiting from other countries are often shocked that American commercials are flooded with advertisements for prescription pills ending in “talk to your doctor about this medicine” before a voice reads out the side effects at a mile a minute. Drug representatives deliver free samples and other items to doctors’ offices and there are often incentives for prescribing whatever drug they are pushing at the time. One can only wonder how much these companies spend to lobby politicians. Pfizer lists some of their trade associate membership dues on their website, but it is safe to assume it spans much further.
Americans spent around $535.3 billion on prescription drugs last year. To put into perspective how much Pfizer alone has profited off of the COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer earned $41.9 billion in 2020 and is estimated to earn another $36 billion by the end of the year. There is a lot of money at play for these vaccines; a lot of money that powerful people do not intend to lose.
High demand and a low supply is causing home prices in the US to soar. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index found that all 20 major cities experienced double-digit gains in October, with the overall index posting an 18.4% increase from a year prior. Housing prices increased at a slower pace than September’s 19.1% increase, but many are taking advantage of the low rates while they last.
Phoenix saw homes soar by 32.3%. Unsurprisingly, two major cities in Florida saw notable gains in Tampa (28.1%) and Miami (25.7%). Minneapolis and Chicago saw the least significant increases at 11.5%.
Mortgages declined to 3.05% for 30-year mortgages last week, while the 15-year fixed-rate loan fell to 2.66%. Mortgage rates sat beneath 3% at the beginning of the year, slightly rising in a zig-zag pattern throughout the year. Real estate experts have a high expectation that rates will rise in 2022.
The US government has found a new way to turn regular citizens into criminals to fill overcrowded for-profit prisons. Forging a vaccination card is now a federal offense that could carry a lengthy prison sentence. The government is ready to pile on charges in addition to the original charge of falsifying the vaccine card. People are also facing charges for fraudulently using the seal of a US department, a crime that carries five years in prison. Manufacturing and distributing the cards could carry a sentence of 10 years.
In fact, a 53-year-old nurse from South Carolina, Tammy McDonald, was recently indicted for forging and replicating vaccination cards and lying to federal investigators. She now faces 15 years imprisonment for every card she produced, in addition to an extra five years for lying to investigators.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Truth in Vaccination law that makes tampering with vaccine records a felony, carrying a sentence of one year. Therefore, unvaccinated newly deemed criminals will be subject to state and federal punishments.
Businesses could face lawsuits for failing to validate employees’ vaccine cards. There are hotlines in place for people to call to turn in anyone they suspect has possession of a fake card. I suppose lawyers are going to have a new niche to enter. Forbes reported on an Axios/Ipsos poll that discovered 6% of Americans knew someone who had a counterfeit vaccination card. The report found an equal number of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents hosting fake vaccination cards, showing that this is certainly not a political issue. Respondents aged 18-29, 30-49, and 50-64 were all equally as likely to know someone with a fake card. Resistance to vaccine mandates spans across political beliefs and age, but that is not reported in the mainstream media.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house December 28, 2021 | Sundance | 57 Comments
Hopefully everyone has done their preparatory diligence and are well situated to assist their family, because prices on fast turn consumable goods (groceries) are now less than 30 days from entering exponential increase phase. CTH has been counting down the days to impact as the contract terms of 30, 60 and 90 days have begun expiring.
The Wall Street Journal has seen the first pricing notification memo from Kraft-Heinz food group to the buying offices of major U.S. retailers. Here’s how the WSJ presents it: “Kraft Heinz Co. told retailer customers that it would raise prices across many of its products including Jell-O pudding and Grey Poupon mustard, with some items going up as much as 20%, according to a memo viewed by The Wall Street Journal.” VIDEO:
Keep in mind a few points:
(1) The outlined price increases noted are against current price terms and contracts. Meaning these are price increases from right now to the next fulfillment. These are not inflation price increases which are compared to a year ago. These are 5% to 20% increases from the current price right now.
(2) The price increases are not the final price increase. This is the price of a contract today from the field to the distribution center. The retailer also has additional price increases (transportation, energy, labor, etc) which they need to add to the wholesale price before you see the final price at retail (grocery store).
The final field to fork price is not yet known but will be higher than noted above. We are only seeing the notifications from field, through processing and into warehousing and distribution.
Additionally, the more an item needs to be processed the higher the price increase will be. Food items that require multiple raw materials, ingredients and bases for processing (ex. condiments), when combined with increased packaging costs (oil, energy) will be much higher than foods with less processing, handling and packaging.
This has always been the nature of this specific supply chain.
Example: Many products, food, drinks and even cleaning products, contain citrus bases, additives, flavorings and distillation. Those products will be much higher in price due to the price increases in raw materials, combined with higher energy and petroleum costs. It is an issue of cumulative price increases in the production of the product from beginning to end.
CTH has recommended preparing for these massive increases in 2022 prices by thinking about the base products you use to make meals at home and holding an extra supply of shelf stable products, so you won’t hit the grocery store and face those massive increases. Another example will be coffee. Keep in mind Kraft Foods is Maxwell House.
(Wall Street Journal) – […] The Labor Department said the consumer-price index rose 6.8% in November from a year ago, the fastest pace since 1982. The food-at-home index, which includes purchase from grocery stores, rose 6.4% over the past 12 months, with meats, poultry, fish and eggs increasing 12.8%.
Coming price increases in 2022 range from as low as 2% to 20%, hitting all sections of the grocery store including produce and packaged goods. Potatoes, celery and other heavier vegetables will have higher price tags next year in part because of higher freight costs, supermarket executives said. Wine, beer and liquor are also likely to get more expensive, they said, especially those that are imported.
Pantry staples such as mayonnaise and frozen meals are expected to be more pricey partly because of higher labor, logistics and packaging costs, some executives said. (read more)
A working-class family who typically spends $200 to $300 a week on groceries is already getting hammered at the gas pumps and grocery store. Another $50 bucks on top of the grocery bill each week can be very stressful.
Even if you don’t have kids at home, perhaps your adult children have kids. Your proactive position can help them, perhaps your neighbors and others, at times of greatest need. Pride can often stop people from asking for help, so look behind the eyes of those who hesitate to accept it.
The price increases will not only hit retail grocers hard, but they will also hit restaurant and industrial food supply companies like Sysco. Food away from home will increase in price because the food suppliers are all experiencing the same price increases.
Food, fuel and energy price increases will continue to be the most impactful problem into 2022. The problem will compound because buying offices of the large multinational corporations enter this phase of consumer and commodity squeeze by looking to leverage their size for competitive advantage.
Large multinationals will make advance order purchases today at higher prices. Advanced purchasing becomes a competitive advantage, and they leverage that in the supply chain. The downstream consequence is a material shortage because the commodity is wiped out, which drives up the price and then those same multinationals execute distribution to a higher profit.
This gaming of inventory for profit, or inventory evaluation/capitalization, is a less discussed outcome of rapid inflation. Multinationals have deep pockets, and they can maximize profits by executing advanced purchase orders to lock-in commodity prices. Unfortunately, the little guys have a tough time competing against them when the inventories dry up.
While the examples above all relate to fast-turn consumable goods, the same purchasing leverage is used by large corporations on durable goods. Retailers, large and small, then begin competing to secure inventories while supplies are limited; this too drives up prices. It’s a hot mess of competition that squeezes the consumer even harder.
The only thing that stops this process is the inevitable collapse in demand, but that outcome sucks also. In the interim I hope and pray to have provided y’all with enough advanced notification so that all of us can ride this inflation storm out just a teensy bit better than if we didn’t know it was coming.
All of this was completely avoidable…. THAT makes me angry!
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on December 28, 2021 | Sundance | 101 Comments
The CDC changed guidance on quarantine times yesterday, highlighting their motive as always driven by politics and money, not public health {Go Deep}. Many people immediately recognized this, but the visible intent of the change is problematic for the government institutions.
To defend the administrative state, the media -incapable of admitting what is transparently obvious- now need to reconcile the CDC quarantine changes through the false prism of public health.
The result is 100 percent demonstrable gaslighting. Look at this spin:
(Philly Inquirer) – “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidelines this week for what people should do if they’re exposed to or contract COVID-19, following new research that shows most transmission occurs early in the course of illness.
The update comes as people return home from holiday gatherings with friends and family, and schools prepare to reopen — as the highly contagious omicron strain continues to spread. The new guidelines, which reduce the amount of time asymptomatic people must quarantine at home after exposure, are an attempt to reduce the risk of transmission while minimizing the disruption to people’s daily routines.” (read more)
Everything about that claimed justification for the quarantine changes is demonstrably and provably false.
Last night Dr. Anthony Fauci openly admitted the only reason the CDC changed the quarantine times was because they needed to help corporate employers reduce sick time, or time “out” of work.
Actually, this is false. Fauci admitted last night to Jim Acosta on CNN the intent of the CDC change was to keep people from calling out sick from work for 10 days, and reduce the "out" time to 5.
Understanding the justification for changing the CDC rules so drastically might sound like a debate in semantics, however, it isn’t. The motive behind the change is very important, because it shows just how political the rules and mandates are. This will be an issue for the Supreme Court in a week, and the motive for this change should be a key argument in the case against the vaccine mandate.
The change has nothing to do with public health. As noted at the very beginning of the Fauci segment above, the rule change was driven exclusively for economic reasons. Employers could not continue maintaining operations if sick or exposed workers were recommended to remain in quarantine for ten days.
The issues which triggered the CDC change are: (1) sick time, (2) sick pay, and (3) time away from work.
The issue was NOT public health. The issue is a matter of economics, or the financial health of the corporations.
Example:
As you can see, despite the media gaslighting, the truth of the issue is not “public health” or “preventing the transmission of the disease“. The true issue is the financial health of the corporations and employers that may have their operations disrupted.
Less than a week after Delta sent this letter to the CDC, the guidance was changed. Corporatism is driving COVID-19 policy.
Corporatism has always been driving COVID-19 policy. That’s why WalMart, Target and Big Box corporate retailers, those who have massive lobbying resources, were permitted to remain open during the 2020 economic lockdowns, while Mom-n-Pop small independent businesses were shut down.
If the lawyers do not point this out during their Supreme Court arguments, they are deficient in their duty.
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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
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