The 44-hour collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is having some reverberations amid the tech sector as companies who carried unsecured deposits with the bank are facing an uncertain future.

Tech company Roku streaming services holds $487 million in cash reserves at SVB representing 26% of their liquid holdings. Those unsecured funds are now tenuous, depending on what steps are taken next.  Additionally, Etsy an online brokering retailer for mostly independent sellers, has also run into a snag with processing disbursement payments to those same sellers.  Etsy used SVB as a depository and payment transfer provider to the merchant accounts.

According to Axios, “Circle’s usd coin (USDC), the second largest stablecoin in the world” is also in a tough position “because a portion of its cash reserves were held at SVB, which the U.S. government took control of on Friday.”  These and other ancillary issues are now part of a larger conversation about whether SVB is representative of a weakness that may impact other banks.   However, current consensus is that a contagion effect is not expected.

SVB was exclusively a tech sector bank.  Small to mid-size tech companies who relied on SVB may have some immediate issues; but the larger banking sector seems much more solid and less exposed to the long-term treasuries that SVB was holding. “People are used to having zero interest rates and easy money, and it’s gone. And there are people who will manage that well and people who will not,” former Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Holtz-Eakin said during an interview on “Cavuto Coast-to-Coast” Friday. {link}

Meanwhile, congress is meeting with treasury and FDIC officials to discuss if taxpayer intervention is needed.  {insert eyeroll here}:

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Having planted the seed for color revolution in Hungary, a European country that doesn’t want expanded war with Russia – therefore the U.S. needs to change the democracy, now Samantha Power moves to another European country for the same reason.  This time it’s Georgia.

Georgia legislature recently passed a bill saying all funding for foreign intervention in the country’s politics, via Non-Governmental Agencies (NGO’s), needs to be made public and the funding registered as foreign agent lobbying.  Essentially, the proposed Georgia law would mirror the U.S. Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA).

However, because the U.S. is the funding mechanism for the anti-government agencies that operate within the country, the United States is against the effort.  To make sure the U.S. can continue to covertly manipulate the political outcomes, the groups supported by Samantha Power attacked Parliament. [Power Tweet]

To highlight what Power is celebrating…. “Georgian protesters in their tens of thousands have gathered in the capital, smashing the windows of the Parliamentary headquarters and fighting local enforcement officers as the country erupts into chaos. The nation’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, rushed through its first reading of a “Kremlin-inspired” bill on Tuesday two days before the debate was scheduled to take place, causing carnage in Tbilisi as citizens fear their government is severing links to the West at a time of increased tensions with Russia.” (more)

So why is Samantha Power targeting Georgia now?   Well, like Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili does not want expanded war with Russia. Therefore, just like Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Georgia must now be removed and replaced with a pro-war leader.

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SVB is Silicon Valley Bank, the almost exclusive banking network for Venture Capitalists (VC), tech sector start-ups and tech industry holding accounts.  48 hours ago, SVB was a “grade A” Moodys rating. As of tonight, they are insolvent.

“All told, customers withdrew a staggering $42 billion of deposits by the end of Thursday, according to a California regulatory filing. […] “The precipitous deposit withdrawal has caused the Bank to be incapable of paying its obligations as they come due,” the California financial regulator stated. “The bank is now insolvent.” (link)

Now, as ridiculous as this sounds outside Silicon Valley, the powers that be are concerned about a ‘contagion‘ effect, and openly discussing the need for a taxpayer funded bailout.  Blood-boiling doesn’t even begin to describe the sensation.

Let the Silicon Valley companies who started with the funds from the bank sell some of their capitalization on the market and finance the bailout themselves.  After all, this is one interconnected system of lenders, borrowers and investors.  This is not a crisis for the guy making their catered lunches, mowing their lawns, or washing their clothes.

♦The system.  A tech guy/gal has an idea or product.  Venture Capitalists (VC) organize the funding for the idea/product and go to SVB for money to start the company.  The bank funds the startup and takes an equity position in the company.  The VC brokers the deal, takes payment and also takes an equity position.  The company launches and if successful builds a multi-billion enterprise.  If they IPO (most do) then shares of the company are sold and the value of the company rises with the increased stock purchasing.

The shares of the company are capital. The shares can be sold to create funds that can support SVB.  If SVB needs funds, let the networked companies sell some of their capital and fund the bank that generated their venture.  They do not need outside ‘bailouts’.   That’s just the way I look at it.

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Drawing attention to the testimony of FBI Director Christopher Wray in his responses to Representative Darin LaHood.

Representative LaHood is leading an internal congressional review of the FISA “702” reauthorization.  During the testimony, LaHood waxes philosophically about the importance of FISA-702 targeting as a tool for the FBI while simultaneously outlining how the FBI is weaponizing the tool.  At 06:24 of the video below, LaHood goes on to outline the details of the NSA noncompliance report showing how the FBI intentionally targeted him, likely because he is leading the 702 reauthorization group.

The irony here is thick.  The FBI illegally uses 702 search queries, and in the example of LaHood, it is demonstrable targeting because the search query was only for his name, so there can be no claim of “inadvertent” search result.  Simultaneously, FBI Director Chris Wray states the number of illegal FBI searches of the database is 84% improved year-over-year. In essence, the FBI is saying they are breaking the law 84% fewer times.  WATCH:

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The question of Ron DeSantis entering the race for the 2024 GOP nomination is an issue of ‘when’ not ‘if’.  Anyone who is still holding the opinion that nothing is certain until everything is certain are simply being obtuse in the extreme.

Before getting to the current status of the Florida governor appearing in Iowa, the context for the appearance needs some background.

With former Cruz Crew leader Ken Cuccinelli coordinating the latest Political Action Committee (PAC) “Never Back Down”, the motives clarify when you consider the need to transfer the excess DeSantis 2022 campaign money into a federal race.  The best mechanism to accomplish the transfer legally is through a PAC that is prepositioned to defer initial campaign expenses and launch the effort.

The campaign doesn’t need to coordinate closely with the PAC, because the larger goals are unified. This is where Cuccinelli’s disposition as a political grifter makes him the perfectly corrupt insider vessel to use the opportunity.  Transferring approximately $100 million from the governor state account into the PAC is a lucrative incentive for a character like Cuccinelli.

The second PAC, a SuperPAC called “Ready for Ron,” has been positioned as a data mining operation, registering names, phone numbers, etc. in a preposition status for the 2024 launch.   A nonprofit called “And to the Republic,” run by Republican operative Tori Sachs, has been picking up the expenses for DeSantis’ cross country tour under the auspices of a Rupert Murdoch funded book launch (Harper Collins).  All of this activity is being managed by the same team that launched after the 5 days in the bunker in early August 2022.

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After his review of the Twitter Files, Michael Shellenberger is beginning to take a big picture approach to each of the discoveries.  {Direct Rumble Link}

Shellenberger, appears on Tucker Carlson tonight to discuss how in the big picture the U.S. government is conducting psychological warfare against domestic citizens through the auspices of Twitter and likely other social media platforms. He’s not wrong, we’ve been calling it out in real time.  WATCH:

Semi-related.  You might remember for several months CTH has been outlining the state of the issues between the United States and Mexico regarding energy policy.  Within the dynamic I have said repeatedly to “watch Mexico” through the prism of: what would the USIC, specifically in this instance the CIA, do to turn American sentiment against Mexico?

Remember me repeatedly saying that?  Within those questions, and from that baseline, you will discover why I have not been writing about a Mexican cartel kidnapping four American hostages, killing two.

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I did not get to watch the House Judiciary Subcommittee testimony in real time because, well, life interrupts.  However, I am catching up this evening.  I find myself needing to draw attention to a particular brand of familiar bullsh*t from former DOJ Lawyer and current New York Freshman Representative Daniel Goldman.

In the exchange below, prompted to 10:55, notice how weasel Goldman posits the Mueller/Weissmann Special Counsel Russian indictments as some form of evidence that Russia (a) interfered in the election, and that Russia (b) hacked and dumped the DNC emails in 2016; neither of which is factually accurate….. but he blathers on.

Unfortunately, Taibbi and Shellenberger were not deep enough in the weeds back in 2018 to appropriately skewer Dan Goldman with the verbal takedown he deserved.  What Goldman is saying is ridiculous, and he counts on people not knowing the details of the Mueller/Weissmann schemes.

Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein held two big press conferences announcing indictments of Russian actors in 2018.  One in February and one in July, both at critical moments for the fraudulent cover operation being done by Mueller. [Citation Here – And HERE – And Here]

These are the “indictments” Goldman cites. However, the indictments were sealed within the DOJ-National Security Division, specifically so that no one could deconstruct them.  Goldman is asking Taibbi to read indictments that are not even possible to see. They never were.  The only thing the public saw were Weissmann and team’s descriptions of the claims within the indictments we were never permitted to review…. because, well, national security.  WATCH:

Insert the familiar and hilarious case of the Russian Concord Catering Company that was indicted.  Yes, Mueller/Weissmann actually indicted a place that makes ham sandwiches.   The correct “Concord” company eventually took the DOJ case to court and made fun of the stupid Amerikans so much the DOJ ended up dropping the case while claiming they would have to put national security at risk (sources and methods) if they took the case to trial.

In February 2018, they needed a big presser to get away from the Senator Warner texts with Adam Waldman (Oleg Deripaska, Dan Jones, Chris Steele et al), while simultaneously trying to run an operation to deflect attention from the FBI discovery of SSCI Security Director James Wolfe and his leaking of the FISA application.  The February Russian indictments were intended to: (a) suck oxygen, (b) deflect from a collapsing Trump-Russia narrative (Nunes Memo), and (c) prop up the Mueller probe.

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Journalist Matt Taibbi released another Twitter File review today [#18 Available Here] showcasing how the opinion of government interests was pushed toward content censorship regardless of the truth within it.

File #18 release is a walk through all of government interests from COVID-19, Vaccination Compliance and maintenance of the Trump-Russia narrative.

I strongly suggest everyone to review the citations Taibbi presents from the documents contained within Twitter’s internal communication.  SEE HERE.

One aspect that draws particular interest to those who spent years deconstructing the false Trump-Russia narrative, appears in the section beginning in Tweet #34 where Taibbi again visits the influence of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI).

At the epicenter of the SSCI effort we have always found then Vice-Chair Mark Warner manipulating events. Taibbi pulls this thread a little further with his review of how the SSCI contracted with outside government agencies to maintain the false premise of Russian interference in the 2016 election. A name that might be familiar to those who read the SSCI report on “Russian Active Measures and Disinformation in the 2016 Campaign” might be familiar to you.  Taibbi notes:

Profiles portray [Renee] DiResta as a warrior against Russian bots and misinformation, but reporters never inquire about work with DARPA, GEC, and other agencies. In the video below from @MikeBenzCyber, Stamos introduces [Renee DiResta] as having “worked for the CIA.”

DiResta has become the public face of the Censorship-Industrial Complex, a name promoted everywhere as an unquestioned authority on truth, fact, and Internet hygiene, even though her former firm, New Knowledge, has been embroiled in two major disinformation scandals.

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In 2016, Virginia’s Ken Cuccinelli was one of the lead voices behind the never-Trump pro-Cruz effort.  Cuccinelli was the main floor voice trying to lead a revolt against Donald Trump at the 2016 GOP nomination convention.

After President Trump won the nomination, Cuccinelli became a fake MAGA supporter in order to retain influence in Republican politics; however, he was always of a never-Trump disposition despite President Trump letting bygones be bygones for the Cruz folks.

Now we enter 2024 and Ken Cuccinelli, a political grifter of the most extreme variant, goes back into never-Trump mode in support of Ron DeSantis and launches a Political Action Committee to support the Florida Governor. [LINK]

[Twitter Link]

…[…] The Trump campaign isn’t alone in preparing for a delegate fight. Other prominent Republicans, including Ken Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general and a top delegate expert, have been discussing amendments to the delegate rules, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mr. Cuccinelli declined to comment, saying only that he was not publicly committed to a candidate. (March 4, 2023)

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…. “and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who have trespassed against us”…

(Via Fox News) –  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, is hospitalized in Washington, D.C., after he fell Wednesday night.

McConnell was attending a private dinner at a hotel in the nation’s capitol when he tripped, Spokesman David Popp confirmed to Fox News Digital.

He was taken to an area hospital to be treated. The extent of his injuries, if any, were not immediately known.  The full statement from McConnell’s camp read as follows:

“This evening, Leader McConnell tripped at a local hotel during a private dinner. He has been admitted to the hospital where he is receiving treatment.” (link)

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