Prior to Elon Musk taking control of Twitter, the social media company entered a consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission putting a neutral arbiter from Ernst & Young in an oversight position for the company’s privacy, data collection and information security protocols.  Given what we know about DHS and FBI control and influence over Twitter content, there is a certain irony in the prior position of the FTC regarding user privacy.

That said, Twitter’s new parent company X Corp filed a court motion Thursday [PDF HERE] asking a federal court overseeing the settlement to either throw out the consent decree entirely, or put it on hold until the FTC turns over documents to Twitter showing historic bias against the company. Twitter is also seeking to bar the FTC from deposing CEO Elon Musk over issues that preceded his arrival.

Within the filing, Twitter presents some alarming information as shared by Ernst and Young about the FTC pressure applied to them.

[SOURCE LINK]

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan questioned FTC Chair Lina Khan about this issue today during a congressional hearing.

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This is not good. Apparently, the 20,000 additional troops sent to Europe last year bringing the total to 100,000 are not enough.

Earlier today Joe Biden signed an order activating 3,000 reserve troops to be ready for deployment as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve.  [White House Announcement]

WHITE HOUSE – “By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 121 and 12304 of title 10, United States Code, I hereby determine that it is necessary to augment the active Armed Forces of the United States for the effective conduct of Operation Atlantic Resolve in and around the United States European Command’s area of responsibility.  

In furtherance of this operation, under the stated authority, I hereby authorize the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, under their respective jurisdictions, to order to active duty any units, and any individual members not assigned to a unit organized to serve as a unit of the Selected Reserve, or any member in the Individual Ready Reserve mobilization category and designated as essential under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned, not to exceed 3,000 total members at any one time, of whom not more than 450 may be members of the Individual Ready Reserve, as they deem necessary, and to terminate the service of those units and members ordered to active duty.” (link) 

Politico has further information from the Pentagon:

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I don’t know what’s funnier, that Team DeSantis is now providing discounts for people to meet him, or that Rupert Murdoch is the one telling everybody.

Next up, coupons.

However, I qualify this article sharing by saying the Big Club doesn’t put $250+ million into a political construct and give up this easily.  Until Casey DeSantis publicly renounces her quest for a bigger tiara, Super PAC operators Ken Cuccinelli and Jeff Roe will never concede.  Reference Cindy McCain in Arizona for comparable context.

[NEW YORK POST] – When it comes to campaign fundraisers, Ron DeSantis has been relegated to the “discount section” as his chances of winning the White House continue to fade, sources told On The Money.

The cost to attend the Florida governor’s July 20 fundraiser in the Hamptons has dropped to $3,300 per person — less than three weeks after the Republican hopeful on June 29 charged $6,600 a plate at the Yale Club in Manhattan, according to invitations reviewed by On The Money.

“DeSantis is now in the discount section,” one source close to the campaign told On The Money.

“He seems to have lowered the entry fee to meet him, which is often a sign that he has already milked most of the ‘big money’ from New York.” (read more)

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Some things, not all, but some, might seem a little oddly presented as Team CTH tests the new AI reconnaissance Spiders recently launched by the surveillance mothership.

In the background, the latest CTH Pancake recipe is being absorbed for the seismic shift it represents.

Potentially, I may be a pro-bono plaintiff in a process to gain insightful discovery. We have long said that if you follow either side of the illusion of choice you end up arriving at the same corporate destination. The spiders may have inadvertently paved the path for sunlight upon the Vanguard/Blackrock launch process. Stay tuned.

In related matters, the billionaires who fund both sides of the two private corporations known as the DNC and RNC are nervous about underwhelming results for one of their preferred options.

CNBC – […] Despite those big fundraising numbers and his entry into the race on a wave of hype, DeSantis is lagging well behind frontrunner Donald Trump in polls. The Murdoch family, led by conservative Fox Corp. and News Corp. mogul Rupert Murdoch, reportedly is souring on DeSantis. And as concerns for DeSantis mount across the board, several donors have told fundraisers about their worries, according to people familiar with the matter.

Some donors are worried the polls indicate DeSantis has to climb a potentially insurmountable hill to overtake Trump, these people said. They’re also worried that Trump has a huge lead over DeSantis when it comes to Republican congressional endorsements. DeSantis represented Florida in the House before he won the governor’s office.

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the JoeBama Administration and Presidency.

“This is no small thing, to restore a republic after it has fallen into corruption. I have studied history for years and I cannot recall it ever happening. It may be that our task is impossible. Yet, if we do not try then how will we know it can’t be done? And if we do not try, it most certainly won’t be done. The Founders’ Republic, and the larger war for western civilization, will be lost.”

“But I tell you this: We will not go gently into that bloody collectivist good night. Indeed, we will make with our defiance such a sound as ALL history from that day forward will be forced to note, even if they despise us in the writing of it.”

~ Mike Vanderboegh

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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During congressional testimony today, Representative Thomas Massie questions FBI Director Chris Wray about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the J6 pipe bombs and the inability of the FBI to identify a suspect.

Massie plays CCTV video of a mysterious person who *found* the pipe bomb located near the DC headquarters of the DNC and then informed stationed police units nearby.  The inability of the FBI to identify the suspect despite the area being surrounded by CCTV systems has always been odd.  Additionally, the cell phone ping-data from the area where the pipe bombs were discovered was also mysteriously corrupted and rendered of no value. WATCH:

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The sanctions levied against Russia by the collective West have essentially failed.  There is inconvenience within Russia amid ordinary citizens for global and economic transactions, but most of the govt transactions have continued.

On the opposite side of the consequence coin, absent the ability to purchase consumer goods on the global market, Russian domestic consumer independence has grown dramatically.  There is more stuff being made and created inside Russia, for Russians to purchase, than ever before.

I cannot see how the Russian GDP doesn’t benefit from this in the long-term.

Then again, I don’t buy the official Western narrative about the “horrible” life inside Russia, because I talk to ordinary middle class Russians who seem to have found a way to organize life without too much disturbance.

Russia is actually a case study in the elimination of imports and the economic outcomes therein.

It doesn’t suck to be a consumer; average Russians are doing fine, and it seems to get better over time.  Ironically, give them a few more years of Western sanctions, and Russia could be a manufacturing powerhouse.  Russia is a big country with a lot of raw material resources.

UNITED NATIONS, July 12 (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has proposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he extend a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of grain from Ukraine in return for connecting a subsidiary of Russia’s agricultural bank to the SWIFT international payment system, sources told Reuters.

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Something is suspicious about this in the presentation, the timing and even the wording.

Ray Epps was a guy who attended the events in/around Washington DC on January 5th and January 6th, 2021.  There is a lot of video footage of Ray Epps instructing people to go to the Capitol building.  Despite a rather voluminous amount of evidence, Ray Epps was never charged with any conduct related to the events of January 6th.

According to a lawsuit Epps filed against Tucker Carlson and Fox News claiming the outlet targeted and defamed him, Ray Epps states, “in May 2023, the Department of Justice notified Epps that it would seek to charge him criminally for events on January 6, 2021—two-and-a-half years later.”  [lawsuit citation – pg 41]

[Source Citation]

First, since when does the DOJ inform a suspect in advance they are seeking to charge him?  Second, timing.  It is now mid-July; where’s the indictment?  Third, the wording is suspicious – the DOJ would “seek to charge him criminally.”   Meaning, the Dept of Justice told Epps they were going to make efforts to arrest him?

Considering the lawsuit itself if dependent on a very specific narrative; and considering the lawsuit itself if dependent on a sympathy construct within that narrative; and considering the media narrative has been about wrongly targeted Epps by right-wing disinformation white nationalists, something is not passing the sniff test.

Suspicious Cat remains, well, suspicious.

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Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) expresses a great deal of contempt for FBI Director Chris Wray during questioning today.

From the topic of FBI conduct in the Hunter Biden investigation to the FBI surveillance of American citizens through unauthorized and illegal database searches, Matt Gaetz goes full wolverine on the FBI director.  WATCH: 

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