There is really only one question that matters at the heart of the U.S. position toward Ukraine and NATO.  It was asked halfway through the press conference with Jennifer Psaki today.

“Considering that NATO allies have not held up their own agreement to spend 2 percent of their own GDP on their military preparedness … if Europeans are not willing to expend their own blood and treasure on their own self-defense why should Americans be expected to do so?” 

Spoiler Alert… The White House could not answer the question.  Jen Psaki hemmed, hawed, and attempted to use verbal linguistics to assemble previously over-used soundbites, but she could not -and did not- answer that question.  WATCH:

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‘Nuf said.

The honest answer would be…  We, in the Biden and Obama administration, are doing all this stuff in Ukraine, for Ukraine and under the auspices of protecting Ukraine, because a whole bunch of us from both political parties in/around the DC beltway – along with our families – receive massive amounts of personal financial wealth from the DC money laundering operation of foreign aid money in/around Ukraine.

That’s the real answer, and the reason Psaki cannot reconcile the easiest question publicly.   The NATO members also know that American politicians enrich themselves and their families through the laundry of foreign aid to their own bank accounts.

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For those who think the conflict is not being orchestrated by the Obama-Biden administration, consider this.  European countries and our NATO allies are not as worried about Russia entering Ukraine.

The people closest to the situation including France and Germany, are not asking for the U.S. to get involved.  Indeed, you can make the argument based on their public statements, that European NATO countries are not that concerned.  Even Chuck Todd (NBC) sees this.

It is the Obama-Biden foreign policy team that is creating anxiety over the potential for Russia to enter Ukraine, not our NATO allies. If we end up in a conflict in Ukraine, it will be because the professional political class in Washington DC want us to be in a conflict in Ukraine, not the American people.

Russian President Vladimir Putin can easily see this dynamic.

(Via ABC) – The State Department ordered diplomats’ families Sunday afternoon to depart the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, amid heightened fears of a Russian attack on the country.  The embassy has also authorized non-emergency employees to depart, according to an internal cable obtained by ABC News.

In an updated travel advisory issued later Sunday, the State Department confirmed the drawdown and urged U.S. citizens in Ukraine to consider departing the country now using commercial flights.

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Ukraine is a hot mess and has been ever since the Obama administration stuck their fingers into the internal affairs of the country.  In recent days, the DC administrative state and their corporate stenographers in media have been promoting a position that the U.S. needs to go to war with Russia in defense of Ukraine.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson asks why.  Why does the DC beltway and the crew behind Joe Biden want to create a war with Russia over a nation state that really doesn’t impact U.S. interests?  WATCH:

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When Joe Biden took to the microphones in October to announce, “a series of public and private commitments to move more goods faster, and strengthen the resiliency of our supply chains, by moving towards 24/7 operations at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach,” the supply chain objective was to increase the productivity of the ports.  However, data released for November [SEE HERE] and now December, show exactly the opposite.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited both ports recently.  Both ports, along with Oakland, also made the arriving ships remain further offshore than when the October announcement was made.  They are hiding the ships.

For some unknown reason the Port of Los Angeles (POLA) has delayed reporting of December; but the Port of Long Beach (POLB) just released their data {LINK}.  What the statistics show is that less cargo is being handled now, than it was when the 24/7 port operations announcement was made:

The purpose of telling the ships to await their port time in a queue farther offshore is transparent.  The Biden administration wants to give the illusion they eliminated the bottleneck of container ships.   Out of sight is out of mind.

Operation ‘Hide the Ships’ allows the administration to make claims about port efficiencies and increased productivity that are abjectly false.  The data from the two months after the announcement shows less container offloading and onloading happened in November and December than happened in the prior month of October when the new initiatives were announced.

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As noted by the Washington media, “The FBI reversed its position late Sunday on the Texas synagogue hostage-taker, acknowledging it was a case of terrorism after first improbably insisting the suspect’s motives were unclear.”

It wasn’t just a happenstance reversal, and it wasn’t a reversal based on evidence discovered that caused them to adopt new conclusions.   Immediately preceding the FBI reversal in position was a public statement by Joe Biden in Philadelphia:

[11:58 A.M. EST, SUNDAY] …”Hey, folks.  With regard to Texas and the synagogue, I spoke this morning with the Attorney General and — to get a rundown.  He said there’s overwhelming cooperation with the local authorities and the FBI, and they did one hell of a job. 

This was an act of terror.  This was an act of terror.  And it not only was related to someone who had been arrested, I might add, 15 years ago and been in jail for 10 years — the idea that it was something new.  And they did just a great job. “…   ~ Joe Biden

The reason this aspect is important is to highlight the motives of the FBI and DOJ.  The actions of the institutions are driven by political defenses of the leftist regime.

If President Donald Trump was to have said “This was an act of terror“, the same institutions would have castigated him by saying, there’s still not enough information to make that legal distinction.  The media would then inflate the issue and spend the next two media cycles ridiculing him.  This is not supposition, this example, is a reference point that actually played out several times during the Trump administration.

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Three down, seven to go.  New York Representative John Katko was one of the ten House Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump.  Today he announces he will not seek reelection.

“After 32 years of public service, I have decided not to seek re-election to Congress, so that I can enjoy my family and life in a fuller and more present way,” Katko, 59, said in a statement. (link)

John Katko joins Adam Kinzinger and Anthony Gonzalez as three of the DeceptiCons who will exit after detonating their political suicide vests.  The next co-host of The View will be joining them after Wyoming ditches her in the primary.

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the December inflation data today [DATA HERE] for December.  Readers on these pages are not surprised to discover that inflation in the U.S. economy has now reached a forty year high at 7 percent.  {Go Deep}

Unfortunately, the 7% in June of 1982 was when inflation was on the way down from Jimmy Carter’s failed economic policy.  This time our 7% milestone has been achieved while inflation is on the climb thanks to Joe Biden’s failed economic policies.

Carter’s mess was created by regulation, policies and oil prices.  Biden’s mess is created by the same and much more.

Yes, it will be getting worse.

That weird picture with the Bidens and the Carters comes to mind.  The scale within the picture is appropriate when considering inflation and what is to come.  Biden’s inflation is much larger than Carter’s.

As you know, the top line number of 7% is a false premise.  We are feeling much, much higher overall prices in our lives with gasoline, home heating fuel, electricity costs, housing and the astronomical prices at the grocery store.  The BLS data is backward looking, meaning it was compiled in early December 2021 for comparison to December 2020.  Where we are CURRENTLY is much worse than where we were in early December.

We are feeling the front side of the inflation hurricane right now. The consumer prices at end of January and through February are now reflecting new purchase order prices and contract prices to wholesalers, buyers and retailers.  The higher energy costs, fuel costs, warehousing costs, transportation costs and delivery costs are cumulative. As a result, the December report is simply the precursor to what will be much more damaging inflation data in Feb (showing this month) and March (showing Feb).

Additionally, the BLS data captured gas prices at their slight drop from oil prices in late November and early December.  The price of oil has now gone even higher, and the price of gasoline is once again on the rise.  We have not yet seen the worst of this folks.  Hopefully most are prepared.

I modified BLS Table-1, taking out some of the noise, to give the snapshot of how the bureau is compiling data:

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Earlier today, Senator Ted Cruz attempted to regain his J6 credibility with questions to the DOJ and FBI about the day’s events.

The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing provided the backdrop for an urgently needed modification to the marionette strings.  Capitalizing on the opportunity, Senator Ted Cruz (U-DC) asked Jill Sanborn, Executive Assistant Director, National Security Branch at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, about any law enforcement participation in the events of Jan. 6.

Questions were asked, grand protestations were proclaimed, theater lights dimmed to provide the dramatic context, and Ms. Sanborn noted she could not answer the questions.  Curiously (or not) there was no follow-up as to “why the FBI was unable to answer”. WATCH: 

The Cruz campaign staff quickly copied the performance and uploaded it to the Senator’s accounts for immediate distribution.  Many teeth began gnashing, and grand proclamations were made about the possibilities and ramifications.

Shiney things began making a lot of noise all around the social media sphere, and there is now a strong possibility the situation may escalate.  Some observers even noted that strongly worded letters might be sent… and tomorrow is Wednesday.

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The snowball effect of cumulative inflation is going to be on display tomorrow when the BLS inflation data from December is released.  We have previously discussed the unavoidable price increases as noted within the November data Here, and within the producer price data Here.

While the data being released tomorrow is backward looking, we are in the eye of the inflation storm right now.  The consumer prices at end of January and through February are all reflecting new purchase order prices and contract prices to wholesalers, buyers and retailers.   As a result, the December reports will be the precursor to what will be much more damaging data in Feb and March.

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki began trying to get ahead of the consumer price release with a short briefing to the traveling press pool earlier today.  A short audio-only soundbite reflects the political problem the White House knows they will soon be dealing with. LISTEN:

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Project Veritas has obtained military documents hidden on a classified system [HERE – and HERE – and HERE] showing how EcoHealth Alliance approached DARPA in March 2018, seeking funding to conduct gain of function research of bat borne coronaviruses.

The proposal, named Project Defuse, was rejected by DARPA over safety concerns and the notion that it violated the gain of function research moratorium.  However, according to the documents, NIAID, under the direction of Dr. Fauci, went ahead with the research in Wuhan, China and at several sites across the U.S.

[WASHINGTON, D.C. – Jan. 10, 2022] Project Veritas has obtained startling never-before-seen documents regarding the origins of COVID-19, gain of function research, vaccines, potential treatments which have been suppressed, and the government’s effort to conceal all of this.

The documents in question stem from a report at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, better known as DARPA, which were hidden in a top-secret shared drive.

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