**Bumped, 8/23/22 8:30pm ET**

My jaw came near the floor when I opened July’s electricity bill to find a notification of a 28% increase in electricity rates, effective immediately.  An increase of 28%…. just like that. This month, August, even higher with less use.

After the initial shock wore off, I started thinking about what this means to the working-class people in my community.

Already struggling with a doubling of gas prices, massive food price increases at the grocery store and the pain of all costs for goods far outpacing any rate of wage increase, this type of uncontrollable increase in price of electricity is going to hit hard.

In the past we have used CTH threads to spotlight the smart thinking and resourcefulness of Treepers from all walks of life.  A discussion thread where people can share tips, things that can actually be done, to help offset the financial pressures during severe economic times.  I think we may all benefit from starting a series of post like that again.

Let us share our wisdom and experience again.  There are many thousand who will benefit, as I have always done, from reading your smart tips and suggestions.

What ideas, tips and suggestions do you have to help people save money on ordinary life and living expenses?

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The background story behind Jack’s Magic Coffee Shop takes an interesting twist today, as a whistleblower deep inside the Twitter technology side of the platform begins to outline what CNN calls, “a threat to its own users’ personal information, to company shareholders, to national security, and to democracy.”

This discussion is where it becomes critical to remember the nature of stakeholders in media.

CNN is the national media firm protecting the interests of the U.S. State Dept.  The Washington Post is the national media firm protecting the interests of the U.S. intelligence apparatus.  The latest Twitter whistleblower information originates in,.. wait for it… “an explosive whistleblower disclosure obtained exclusively by CNN and The Washington Post.”

The whistleblower is a former technology expert who came from within the research farm of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.  Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, is a well-known cybersecurity expert who left government work, entered the public world, and eventually became the head of Twitter security, reporting directly to the CEO.

Peiter “Mudge” Zatko is now saying the background technology of Twitter is vulnerable to manipulation.  I’m not going to go into the granules of what Mudge is outlining, instead I prefer to focus on the bigger picture, a scenario we have been outlining for quite a while that could, emphasize *could*, become very explosive, especially considering the legal challenges between the social media platform and Elon Musk.

The nub of the bigger story is essentially that the database of Twitter, and likely other social media platforms, is integrated with the U.S. intelligence system.  The database of Twitter is not necessarily vulnerable to hacking by outside entities, although that is the framework used by media reporting this whistleblower issue.

The bigger risk to the surveillance state is discovery that Twitter and the U.S. intelligence community are in a public-private partnership. The Dept of Homeland Security has access by design, not flaw.  How the stakeholder media are reporting on the issue shows the nature of the risk, (emphasis mine):

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Tonight, is primary election night in Florida and New York.  There is also a runoff contest in Oklahoma.

Most of the interest tonight will be on the Democrat side of the primaries within the Florida governor race, Charlie Crist -vs- Nikki Fried, and the New York race in CD-12 between Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney.

New York Times – Election Results Here

CNN – Election Results Here

Politico – Election Results Here

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Video obtained by TMZ shows House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, failing a field sobriety test in California following a serious car accident.

The police dash-cam video shows Paul Pelosi wanted to perform a field sobriety test as long as it meant he didn’t have to take a breathalyzer test.  WATCH:

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Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously took control over all broadcast media discontinuing any media that was not under government control.  Taking the anti-democracy movement another step further, Zelenskyy then banned any political opposition party and confiscated the funds of his political opposition.

These totalitarian actions were taken while the U.S. State Department was simultaneously claiming defense of Ukraine as vital to democracy.  Meanwhile, U.S. taxpayers are being forced by congress to send $60 billion in aid into the corrupt country in order to cover the wages, salaries and benefits of Ukraine government officials. Apparently, a strange and twisted definition of democracy exists in the dictionary of Washington DC.

The latest anti-democracy revelation is even more stark.  The U.S. State Dept funded a govt/NGO Ukraine conference on ‘disinformation’.

(UKRAINE) – Representatives of public authorities, NGOs, the media and international experts took part in a round table on countering disinformation. The participants discussed the methods used in Ukraine and abroad, as well as the legal framework and features of interaction between civil society and government agencies to counter fakes and disinformation in the context of cybersecurity.

During the discussion, Acting Head of the Center for Countering Disinformation Andriy Shapovalov insisted that persons who deliberately spread disinformation are information terrorists. He noted that in order to protect the information space, it is necessary to amend the legislation.

“Information terrorists need to know that they will have to answer to the law as war criminals,” he said.

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I have been requested to advise on South Dakota John Thune against the backdrop of the upper chamber priorities nearing the election.  It’s a good topic for review.

One of the more challenging facets to awakening the general public on the scale of corruption within Washington DC is the need for people to drop party designations.

This is never truer than within the U.S. Senate where the mistaken “us -vs- them” perspective remains a pesky hurdle.

The blue team and red team are mirror images of themselves.  They are not opposites, they are mirrored – a big difference.

The policy objective is the same, the business model within DC (K Street) benefits the upper chamber the most.

Within this dynamic Mitch McConnell is the mirror image of Harry Reid.  Mitch has been grooming his replacement for a long time; that replacement is John Thune. Senator Thune is in a position that demands stealth.  Ideologically, think of John Thune as the mirror image of Gavin Newsom.  They are not opposites, they are mirrored – a big difference.

The system of affluence and influence has been created to self-sustain regardless of party affiliation. The Senate is one club with one ideological perspective. Within that club rule #1 dominates: none of the members will ever expose another member. So, when there is corrupt activity within the Senate no-one from within the institution will expose another. This is the code of Omerta within the upper chamber.  This is the way of the “my good friend” Senate and how it operates.

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Acceptance is the first step.

• If we accept or acknowledge the RNC and DNC are private corporations, existing like all other corporations to the fulfilment of their for-profit charter, to make money; and
• If we accept or acknowledge their business model is structured around people and businesses giving them money; and
• If we accept or acknowledge that in the process of raising money their interests may or may not align with the goal of those contributing to the business; and
• If we accept the history that Mitch McConnell and the RNC worked purposefully to remove the influence of the Tea Party; then
• This factually accurate statement from Steve Deace takes on a new meaning:
• (LINK)

[…] “the GOP (club) would rather lose to Democrats than lose control of the [club] to it’s base.”  Electability boils down to the right kind of approved candidate.

That is an accurate context for this midterm election cycle. Factually, the income stream for the RNC improves if they have the ability to campaign against the opposition club.  The larger the outrage, the more substantial the fundraising.  The corporation makes more money in defeat, or in the minority, than it does when it wins or holds majorities.

As a result, there is a disconnect between the financial incentive of the corporation and the expressed intent of the corporation. When the RNC club wins, they have a more difficult time raising money, because people who previously contributed are now looking for results.

Combine that business model reality, with the accurate statement from Steve Deace about the club perspective of MAGA, and you begin to see the weird dynamic that surfaced in Georgia in the first week of January 2021.  Did the club want to win the two senate races?  Or was the club content to let deflated Trump voters see a lackluster club response to the 2020 election issues in Georgia, a frustration which led to wins by the opposition?

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The all too familiar David Laufman says it out loud, but few will pay attention. “That’s what this is. It- just because [the DOJ-NSD justification for the raid on Trump] implicates classified information to me, doesn’t seem to give a platform for the House Intelligence Committee to intrude at this time,” Laufman says.

In the aftermath of 9-11 the U.S. government created the Dept of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct surveillance of “domestic threats,” the American people. When Barack Obama and Eric Holder stepped in a few years later, they created the DOJ National Security Division (DOJ-NSD). This division specializes in weaponizing surveillance against their political enemies.  The DOJ-NSD had no inspector general oversight and operates within Main Justice, but above the law. Essentially, they use the justification of ‘national security‘ to defend the Fourth Branch of Government, the permanent surveillance state. {Go Deep}

David Laufman was the former head of the DOJ-NSD and he specialized in the targeting process.  Laufman was a primary player in the defense of Hillary Clinton against accusations of ‘national security violations’ as a result of her classified personal email use.  Laufman sat in on, guided and shaped the FBI interview Hillary Clinton.  Additionally, David Laufman is one of Christine Blasey-Ford’s Rehoboth “beach friends,” as outlined in the Judge Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings.

When Blasey-Ford said she wrote the letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein accusing Brett Kavanaugh of college rape, she was with a bunch of “beach friends” including former FBI public information officer Monica McLean who actually wrote the letter.  When investigators began digging into the background of the letter construct, McLean came under legal scrutiny. McLean hired beach friend David Laufman to shield her from legal trouble and represent her legal interests. David Laufman then worked together with another former DOJ lawyer, Michael Bromwich, who represented Christine Blasey-Ford.  That’s the network.

Fast forward to 2022.  All network indications reflect that David Laufman, similar in effort to former DOJ-NSD head Mary McCord (Schiff congressional impeachment team), is one of the primary Lawfare agents currently guiding, mapping and counseling the use of the DOJ-NSD to continue the targeting of Donald Trump.  Laufman provides the legal strategies for the people within the current DOJ-NSD to follow.  In addition to being a familiar face on MSNBC, we should consider David Laufman the outside agent providing guidance to Main Justice intent.

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Giddy up…  In the next series of posts CTH is going to outline the 2022 midterm election roadmap for both wings of the DC political club.  Unfortunately, once you see the strings on the UniParty club marionettes, you can never return to that moment in time when you did not see them.

Long before President Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago was raided, both political clubs in DC appear to have developed a map to stop the voters from interfering in the DC business model.  Always remember, the color of the flag atop the dome matters not, the provided indulgences underneath the dome do not change.  Destroying the populist movement known currently as the MAGA base, formerly the Tea Party, is as much a goal for the red club as it is the blue club.

Shortly before August 8, 2022, club agreements were made, prior strategies within the DNC and RNC wings were triggered, and events began unfolding according to the script. In the aftermath of the raid the club’s narrative engineers now begin to finish setting the stage.  “Democracy is at risk” because of this populist uprising.  WATCH:

The cited polling is AVAILABLE HERE

… But it’s not the polling per se’ that people should be paying attention to. Instead, it’s the overarching national midterm election narrative being created.  There’s a vulgarian hoard out there creating all of this angst and trepidation you are feeling. Voters are going to have to decide if they want instability (an election outcome against the interests of Washington DC), or stability (an election outcome congruent with the interest of Washington DC).

This is how the abuser system works.  If you leave, you have no idea what might happen next; however, if you stay, you have the benefit of familiarity.  Even though the abuse is painful (‘we’re on the wrong track), at least it is consistent and predictable.  Skilled abusers leverage psychological resignation.

You might scoff at the metaphor, but on a larger national dynamic that’s our reality.  The club knows how to leverage this anxiety, and the club narrative engineers in media know exactly how to support it.  In the red wing of the club, CTH calls it ‘battered conservative syndrome.’  In the blue wing of the club, it’s ‘group think‘ by peer pressure.  The intents of both approaches are the same, keep the abused voter from exiting the cycle.

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Mike Turner replaced congressman Devin Nunes as the ranking member on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI).  During this interview with CBS and Ed O’Keefe, Turner discusses his perspective on the DOJ/FBI raid on President Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago and the issue of publicly releasing the DOJ affidavit used to gain a search warrant.  [Transcript Here]

Ed O’Keefe carries the baton of narrative engineering on behalf of the regime, using leading questions in an effort to indict President Trump in the court of public opinion, while Mike Turner plays the customary role of a high-minded republican who is aghast, shocked and horrified by the unprofessional conduct of the former president and the institutions targeting him based on political motive.

Toward the end of the interview, O’Keefe does the familiar partisan shift in asking what Turner would do as Chairman of the HPSCI if republicans take the House.  Here Turner pledges to reverse the current committee use by Adam Schiff, vows not weaponize the committee for political purposes, and return the HPSCI back to the more important business of investigating Chinese espionage etc.  WATCH:

[Transcript] – ED O’KEEFE: Welcome back to FACE THE NATION. I’m Ed O’Keefe in this morning for Margaret Brennan. We turn now to the FBI search at former President Trump’s Florida resort. Ohio Congressman Mike Turner is the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee and he joins us this morning from Dayton, Ohio. Congressman, great to have you with us.

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