The Russians are having a little fun at Joe Biden’s expense, now that the deadline for invasion has expired without invasion.

Yesterday, the Russians reminded the Ukraine government to set their alarm clocks so they did not miss the invasion.  Today the Russian government asks the Biden administration for the invasion dates, they plan to use this year, so that Moscow can coordinate the vacation plans of key military and government officials.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova asked for the invasion schedule on Telegram: “I’d like to request US and British disinformation: Bloomberg, The New York Times and The Sun media outlets to publish the schedule for our upcoming invasions for the year. I’d like to plan my vacation,” the Russian diplomat said on her Telegram channel Wednesday.

However, on a serious note, the U.S. drumbeat over the invasion of Ukraine has seriously hurt their economy.  The Russian State News Agency, TASS reports:

[…] “This steady disinformation blitz by the Western media has already resulted in a sharp deterioration of Kiev’s economic situation, with investments and businesses fleeing Ukraine, while the energy prices in Europe are growing. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these statements as an “empty and groundless” escalation of tensions, emphasizing that Russia posed no threat to anyone.”

It’s almost as if the U.S. government wants to hurt the Ukraine economy so that the U.S. has stronger influence and can manipulate the internal politics of Ukraine… with 10% for the ‘big guy‘ of course.

Comrade Suspicious Cat remains, well, suspicious.

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has triggered domestic travel restrictions against Canadian citizens in an effort to stop protests against his authoritarian government.

In a handout today, by Ottawa officials, it is noted that any travel deemed destined for “any regulated specified area” is now under federal control.  Specifically, anyone coming into Ottawa to protest against the government is now “breaking the law.”

At the same time, Justin Trudeau’s Covid Compliance Minister, Marco Mendicino, said today that any Canadians joining convoy protests in Ottawa or traveling to the area for support of the ongoing protests, risk being defined as domestic extremists connected to “dangerous criminal activity.”

According to the ministers carrying out the Emergency War Measures Act, any Canadian citizen who travels into a restricted zone, as defined by the Canadian government, will face a fine of up to $500 on summary conviction, or imprisonment for six months for their noncompliance. An indictment against a dissident subversive comes with a $5,000 fine and up to five years in jail.

Additionally, the Canadian federal government has announced they will seize the children of any citizen who travels with a minor child for the purposes of entering one of the federally defined no-go zones.  Reunification will be dependent on re-education at one of the jails, compounds or institutions of incarceration.

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Kraft-Heinz has announced the next wave of anticipated inflationary prices for their products.  The announcement, and the timeline they provide for the price increases, is exactly in line with our prior estimations.

Prior CTH outlines on the path of inflation for this specific company are HERE (Dec) and HERE (Jan).  Keep in mind, depending on the size of the buyer or wholesaler, and depending on the terms of the contracts for purchase, generally speaking, terms are net payment in 30, 60 or 90 days based on 180 day contracted price agreements which include rebates to retailers.

(Reuters) […] “The company expects inflation to be in the low-teens percentage range for 2022, with higher levels in the first half than in the second, said Chief Financial Officer Paulo Basilio.” (link)

Both Proctor & Gamble and Kraft-Heinz provide the best data points to predict future retail grocery inflation.  Based on their previous notifications, we can now see that Kraft is anticipating the March – July rates of increase to remain approximately where they have been (20 to 30%) and then stabilize in the last half of the year bringing the yearly average into the “low teens.”  This timeline is what we predicted back in October.

The prices we will see at the grocery stores will rise again in the spring (this is the backside of the inflationary cycle), continue through mid-summer, and then price increases should likely level off at the end of summer this year.  Between the price today and the price at the point of leveling is approximately a 20% increase.

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Earlier today Conservative Party opposition leader Candice Bergen asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when he planned to bring his declaration of the Emergency Act before parliament for authorization.  The Canadian Prime Minister refused to answer the question.  WATCH:

Consider this prior position from Justin Trudeau circa 2012:  “When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent, is when it’s rapidly losing its moral authority to govern,” most Canadians would agree.

(LINK – To Put Him on Blast)

Neil Oliver gives his review of the stunning shift in Canadian politics, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduces government totalitarianism through his invocation of the Emergency Act.

Oliver notes the similarity between Justin Trudeau, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron in their reactions to people demanding freedom from COVID mandates.  Good Discussion.  WATCH:

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Representative Kathleen Rice holds New York’s 04 congressional district.  She announced today she will not be seeking reelection in 2022.  Rice becomes the 30th House Democrat to announce they will not seek reelection. [Casualty List Here] Her district was not being touched by the NY redistricting.  The Democrat Communists know a massive backlash is coming their way.

(New York) –  Rep. Kathleen Rice (N.Y.) said Tuesday that she would not seek reelection, becoming the 30th House Democrat to announce a planned exit from the chamber ahead of what could be bruising midterm elections for their party in November.

“As I turn to the next chapter of my own personal and professional story, I do so with profound thanks to the community leaders, colleagues and staff who have lived our shared commitment to service with courage and humility,” Rice, who has represented New York’s 4th Congressional District since 2015, said in a statement.

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The New York Times is reporting, “Tow-truck operators, who have been reluctant to cooperate with the police, will also now be compelled to work with law enforcement agencies to clear Ottawa’s streets and the border crossings at Coutts, Alberta. If they don’t cooperate, they could face arrest.” (link)

Meanwhile, the pontificating pustule of sanctimonious pomposity, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, is doubling down on his position that in order to save democracy in Canada his administration must first destroy it:

(link)

Additionally, the Ottawa Police Chief, Peter Sloly, has resigned amid severe criticism from the far-left communists in Canada, because he did not crack down hard enough on the people demanding freedom from oppressive COVID mandates.

[…] Peter Sloly’s resignation as Ottawa police chief, which was confirmed by the minister of public safety, came after Mr. Trudeau took the rare step of declaring a national public order emergency aimed at stopping protests that have roiled Canada for weeks. (link)

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Here we go folks. Jumpin’ ju-ju-bones, the first wave of producer driven inflation has just been quantified.  The economic analysts are shocked, stunned, flabbergasted and surprised, because the January single month wholesale inflation of 1.0% is double what they expected.

The “producer price index” is essentially the tracking of wholesale prices at three stages: Origination (commodity), Intermediate (processing), and then Final (to wholesale). Today, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) released January price data [Available Here] showing a dramatic 9.7% increase year-over-year in Final Demand products at the wholesale level.

Check out the single month wholesale price increases in these categories [Table 2]: Beef jumped 6.5% in January (43.9% for year). Gasoline jumped 1.9% in January, (53.9% for year).  Diesel fuel jumped 9.4% in January (56.5% for year). Cooking oil 4.7% in January (36.4% for year).  Home heating oil jumped 7.3% in January (47.4% for year).  Pasta jumped 3.0% in January (16.2% for year). Tires jumped 4.6% in January (9.0% for year). Wholesale cleaning supplies jumped 3.8% in January (34.9% for year).

Unfortunately, there is nothing upstream in the supply chain and manufacturing pipeline to suggest that higher prices at the retail level are not coming.  The price of raw materials, and the wholesale energy costs to process those materials into finished goods, are still rising.

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Fox News Host Tucker Carlson used his opening monologue to outline the recent court documents highlighting how government contractors aligned with the Hillary Clinton campaign were permitted to conduct electronic surveillance of Donald Trump as a candidate and a President.

The electronic data was extracted by Neustar, a federal contractor.  The head of the organization, Rodney Joffe, then used cyber tech resources from Georgia Tech to assemble the data and deliver a false report to the Clinton campaign of Trump-Russia connections.

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In a major exhibition of raw power of the federal police state, the Canadian government announced today they have instructed banks, insurance companies and financial institutions to seize the accounts of any individual, group or business who are associated with political protest.

Using the Emergency War Measures Act, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has just declared war against his own people.  You cannot protest against government and still retain a bank account in Canada.  I suspect a great number of Canadians will quickly move their assets into foreign banks including in the United States.

The announcement came after a meeting of the cabinet according to Trudeau and the financial measures were outlined in detail by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Corporate, business and individual bank accounts will be frozen and locked, this extends to crowdfunding sites and even cryptocurrencies.  To support these measures the government has created federal protection from civil liability to all financial institutions, including insurance companies.

Banks will begin freezing and seizing the account assets of any person, group or organization they may arbitrarily suspect of being aligned with, active with, or supporting the freedom protest.  The government has specifically crafted the financial mechanisms so financial institution can use their discretion on who should be targeted.  There are no structured rules for the banks to follow.

Additionally, the insurance policies associated with any individual, trucker, group, business or corporation who is identified or suspected of participating in a protest against the Canadian government will be nullified at the discretion of the insurance carrier.  Again, civil liability protection provided against recourse from the targeted entity.

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