Boy, is there ever a loaded dump truck of potential discussion points in this subject area.

First, Google via YouTube is reversing its position and allowing content that challenges the results of the 2020 election.

[Per Axios] “In a reversal of its election integrity policy, YouTube will leave up content that says fraud, errors or glitches occurred in the 2020 presidential election and other U.S. elections, the company confirmed to Axios Friday.”

After removing “tens of thousands of videos” (their admission) previously containing content that challenged the 2020 election results, suddenly that conversation is permitted.

“Two years, tens of thousands of video removals, and one election cycle later, we recognized it was time to reevaluate the effects of this policy in today’s changed landscape,” YouTube said in a statement.

So, according to the script, the “threat to democracy” has suddenly diminished as the 2024 election cycle starts to become a topic of increased discussion? Yeah, right.

I read this Google change two ways: (1) This reads like a “mission accomplished and we don’t need this anymore” kind of policy switch; and (2) There’s that probability of Donald Trump winning the 2024 election and they need to be able to question election results again.

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There is a strong divergence within the May jobs report as released by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) [DATA HERE].  Payrolls increased 339,000 in May from April and previous months were revised up by 93,000. That is good news.  However, the household survey, from which the unemployment rate is derived, showed employment down 310,000 jobs and the unemployment rate increased to 3.7%.

One of the aspects driving higher payroll starts are the number of people taking on additional part-time jobs.  This aspect is noted in a decline for the number of hours in the average workweek. As more PT jobs are added, the number of hours in a workweek declines. As noted in the BLS data, “the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour to 34.3 hours in May.”

There were 161.0 million people working in April.  There are 160.7 million people working in May.

There were 5.7 million people unemployed in April.  There are 6.1 million unemployed people in May.

The unemployment rate increased from 3.4% to 3.7%.

There are 310,000 fewer people working in May than were working in April.  However, payrolls increased by 339,000 over the same timeframe. See graph above for where those jobs were gained.

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Twitter CEO Elon Musk has provided some convincing commentary about his willingness to forgo revenue in order to retain “free speech.” However, more recently he has qualified that outlook by saying, “Freedom of speech is not the same as freedom of reach.”  Musk noting Twitter will block, remove, censor, shadow ban, deboost, downrank and stop content from amplifying based on the determination of those in charge of Twitter content.

This controlled “freedom of reach” perspective, which is really shadow-banning in practice, is generally accepted and now admitted.  Against this backdrop, it becomes important to understand the priorities of the platform to understand the guidelines of the platform.  Within this context the financials are key to understanding what elements are included within “approved content.” {GO DEEP}

Twitter is now a private company, therefore understanding the financials of Twitter is a little more challenging than when they were required to post their financial statements publicly.  However, Elon Musk gave an interview with the Babylon Bee yesterday and revealed some of the internal financial challenges. [VIDEO HERE]  I am going to summarize the status of the Twitter financial position according to what Musk himself revealed.

♦ Twitter was initially purchased by Musk and his investors for around $44 billion.  The company now estimates its value around $20 billion.  Musk overpaid.

♦ Musk put roughly $30 billions of his own net worth into the purchase and financed the rest.

♦ Current outstanding debt on the financing for the purchase is around $12.5 billion. Per Musk statement.

♦ Current debt service, interest on the loans (from investors), is roughly $1.5 billion/yr.  $120.5 million per month for debt service.  Per Musk statement.

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An interesting series of updates to the FBI whistleblower case of Joe Biden taking a $5 million bribe payment which now looks to have originated in Ukraine.

The background claim is pretty basic. A whistleblower approached congress stating the FBI had a report, an unclassified FD-1023, detailing a conversation with a ‘confidential human source’ (CHS) that outlined Vice President Joe Biden taking a $5 million payment from a foreign national to affect a U.S. policy decision.  The FBI agent responsible for investigating the CHS claim was FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Brian Auten, a sketchy character from the Trump-Russia probe.

The investigative events took place in June and July 2020 during the presidential election year.  The claim is that FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Auten reportedly buried the CHS allegation saying it could not be corroborated, and then wrote an assessment that it was Russian disinformation.  However, the FBI investigative team didn’t see any effort by any FBI member to substantiate it.  Hence a whistleblower, with specific knowledge of the details in the allegation, surfaces and tells congress the FBI is hiding the FD-1023 that outlines the confidential human source allegation of bribery.

Congress requested the FD-1023, the FBI refused to provide it.  House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer then set a compliance deadline while he coordinated with Senator Chuck Grassley.  The FBI still refused to turn it over, saying they would neither confirm nor deny the FD-1023 existence, and said releasing any information like that would potentially compromise Confidential Human Sources (CHS’s).  The proverbial sources and methods excuse.

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Last night I participated in a conversation. This article is written as an outcome of that conversation, as requested by those who participated.

Essentially, the framework of the conversation, as I initially listened, is best described as a series of questions amid a group of smart intellectual types who are very understanding of the nature of our current situation.

In various forms they were asking each other the same question.  What happened in the last several years that caused Democrats, leftists and the traditional political left to switch positions on their advocacy?

Liberalism literally went from railing against Big Govt, to embracing corrupt Big Govt. Why and how did this happen?

In short, it was the same line of questioning I have seen asked by Tucker Carlson, Glenn Greenwald, Tulsi Gabbard and various traditionally liberal people as well as people on the right side of the continuum.

Why and how did traditional liberalism so suddenly flip from being, big picture – ‘anti-government’, to suddenly embracing corrupt government enterprise, and supporting the intelligence apparatus, federal govt (writ large), institutional oppressive law enforcement and FBI etc.?  What happened?

After listening to this conversation quietly, as I am prone to do, my remarks -with citations and examples- silenced the room.

At the conclusion of my remarks, everyone asked me if I had ever written about this, and if not – why not?   I did not have an answer, so consider this a promise fulfilled.  Perhaps you might find value.

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As the geography narrows before us, it is important to remember the stakes and avoid the distractions.  As a consequence, the baseline must be reaffirmed. It is critical to understand that both the DNC and RNC are private corporations with no affiliation to government.

It is a difficult shift in thinking, but the party system in U.S. politics revolves around two distinct private corporations – two clubs that feed from the same corporate trough and position for influence and affluence within a political dynamic they control.

The priority for both clubs, Republican and Democrat, is NOT politically or culturally ideological.  In the modern era, the corporate priority first begins with a battle over who controls each corporation.

As long as there is no challenge, the clubs operate without issue.  However, when there is a battle for control of the corporation, a battle that will ultimately determine the financial outcome, the internal battle becomes the priority.

2024 is going to be the election season when we see this corporate battle explode inside in the Republican group.  Decades of entrenched power are at stake, and there has been four years of counter positioning and backroom discussion leading up to this moment.

As a consequence, and I know this might sound odd to many people – but winning and/or losing elections becomes a secondary issue.  The RNC is not focused on winning elections. The RNC corporation is focused on retaining control.

The RNC want to give the illusion of support for MAGA conservatism because they need the base voter, and they need to maintain the illusion of choice. However, every move they make on an operational level is exactly in line with their previous outlook toward cocktail class republicanism.  The MAGA base of support cannot trust this corporate group, and we must not be blind or unguarded about the Machiavellian schemes they construct.

When you hear the influence group saying the two priorities for control of the Republican Club involve, (1) eliminating populism in the ranks; and (2) realigning with multinational corporate objectives (vis a vis Wall Street), what they are publicly expressing is their RNC corporate need to get rid of the America First economic agenda – to get rid of the MAGA influence.

How has this historically surfaced?

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According to Florida lobbyists, they have been contacted by state employees with instructions to send payments to the campaign of Ron DeSantis.  The ethical problems within this effort are numerous and could potentially be legally liable for DeSantis government officials participating.

At best, the issue is extreme swamp behavior, where DeSantis officials are pressuring lobbyists in Florida to donate to the DeSantis 2024 election campaign or their advocacy may be disregarded in state budget considerations.

When state employees use their offices to solicit payments to political entities, the legal issues become very murky.  Then again, this is swamp behavior – and when you hire the swamp to push your agenda, these are the types of outcomes that surface.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Officials who work for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration — not his campaign — have been sending text messages to Florida lobbyists soliciting political contributions for DeSantis’ presidential bid, a breach of traditional norms that has raised ethical and legal questions and left many here in the state capital shocked.

NBC News reviewed text messages from four DeSantis administration officials, including those directly in the governor’s office and with leadership positions in state agencies. They requested the recipient of the message contribute to the governor’s campaign through a specific link that appeared to track who is giving as part of a “bundle” program.

“The bottom line is that the administration appears to be keeping tabs on who is giving, and are doing it using state staff,” a longtime Florida lobbyist said. “You are in a prisoner’s dilemma. They are going to remain in power. We all understand that.”

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On Monday night Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, of Chesterfield, Missouri, attempted to crash a U-Haul truck through the security perimeter of the White House.  He was arrested while saying he was attempting to kill and kidnap Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Oddly, during the event the Capitol Police never called the bomb squad, never moved the crowd or media back away from the truck, and simply opened the vehicle and started placing the contents -including a swastika flag- on the ground for the media to photograph.  The entire event, including the way the authorities handled the truck, was seriously sketchy.

Kandula was then federally charged with threatening to kill, kidnap or inflict harm on a president, vice president or family member, assault with a dangerous weapon, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, destruction of federal property, and trespassing, according to U.S. Park Police.  However, yesterday the DOJ dropped all the charges except depredation of federal property.

Considering that J6 attendees have been charged and locked up for simply parading around the Capitol Hill building, the contrast of the way the authorities are handling Sai Varshith Kandula is rather stark.

CNN — The man accused of crashing a U-Haul truck into a security barrier near the White House Monday night praised Adolf Hitler to investigators after his arrest and said that he aimed to “kill the President” if necessary to overthrow the government and install himself in power, according to court documents.

Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, of Chesterfield, Missouri, is in custody and has been charged in federal court with one count of depredation of property of the United States in excess of $1,000. US Park Police originally arrested Kandula on several charges, including threatening to kill or harm a president, vice president or family member. 

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I openly predicted last year, when Ron DeSantis announced his candidacy, we would have the most fun in a presidential primary in history.  The last 24 hours have been absolutely hilarious.  If you are not having fun at the expense of the DeSantis billionaire funders, you are doing it wrong.

Candidate Ron DeSantis cannot even hold a public event in the state of Florida, because the only people who support him are the isolated group immediately around him and the Selfie-My-Lunch crowd who are disconnected from the average life of a Floridian.

Have you ever heard of a presidential candidate launching a campaign and NOT holding a public event in his/her home state to do it?   Most people are overlooking the obvious.  His handlers could not run the risk of a public event for their principal.  What does that tell you about the candidate?

Everything, and I do mean everything, about Ron DeSantis is manufactured, fake and phony – especially the claimed support that you see pushed by national media and the right-wing alt-media that are placing their bets to be paid by the massive financial mechanism behind the DeSantis management team.  Floridians can see through it, and the handlers are hoping the sunlight doesn’t spread to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

In the state of Florida, support for Ron DeSantis 2024 is maybe in the 15 to 20% range (I’m being generous).  Beyond that, he is not liked at all.  I travel the state talking to blue collar ordinary people all the time; there is no grassroots support for the fraud that DeSantis has perpetrated on the state.  This announcement has left him naked to the realization of his character as a raw political opportunist.

Once you realize all of this hype is manufactured and phony, you can have buckets of fun with it.  All of the DeSantis Republican supporters are predictable – like the Cruz Crew was in 2016.  Their arguments and policy points are as shallow, false and fake as their candidate.  Call them out.

Look at DeSantis’ history.  He was the lockdown beach closer during COVID-19, and he had people arrested for opening their businesses.  In 2021, long after President Trump was out of office, Ron DeSantis suspended the liquor licenses of non-compliant bars and restaurants.  Don’t let the Ukraine management team (Pushaw Inc.) attempt to rewrite it.

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Within the letter from congress [pdf HERE] you might note this line, “One former FBI assistant director observed, “[i]t just doesn’t add up . . . [t]here’s just too much to work with to not know who this guy is.”

What they are talking about is the J6 “pipe bomber,” the person who planted the phony pipe bombs in Washington DC, presumably to enhance a domestic terrorism narrative.

The scenario is clearly one of the more transparent points highlighting how a political FBI doesn’t want to know things that run against the interests of the highly political FBI. The investigators previously tracked the bomber to a ‘MetroRail SmartTrip’ Card, and then to an identified vehicle via CCTV monitoring. However, for some curiously odd reason, the FBI still has not arrested the individual.

Jim Jordan and Andy Biggs are asking the FBI what’s going on?  [LETTER LINK]

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