In the final days of the Obama and Biden administration, in mid-January of 2017, Joe Biden visited Ukraine and the people in/around the government were perplexed about the actual intent of the visit.   Why was it important for Joe Biden to visit Ukraine in the last week of the Obama administration? [Source]

Keep in mind that CNN receives information from the State Department.  The Dept of State and CNN have a collaborative relationship; so, when CNN receives “exclusive information” from “exclusive sources”, and the issues generally pertain to foreign affairs, we can be generally confident the information comes from the State Dept.

Apparently, according to CNN sources, the classified documents that Joe Biden took with him from the Obama administration, pertain to U.S. government affairs related to Ukraine, Iran and the United Kingdom.

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The Washington Post speaks for the CIA, IC and DNI.  The New York Times and Politico speak for the FBI, DOJ-NSD and DHS concerns, while CNN is the representative voice of the U.S. State Dept.   These are the constants in the ever-changing world of narrative engineering.  Never forget them.

As a direct result of the concerns expressed within a New York Times article, it’s abundantly clear the FBI and DOJ-NSD are worried about the new House Subcommittee on Federal Weaponization of Government.  Specifically, the concern of the DOJ/FBI is the potential for the committee to start looking behind the curtain at the activity and intents of the special counsel operation.

(New York Times) – […] The resolution appears to give him authority to subpoena the Justice Department for information about the special counsel inquiry into Mr. Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents, along with other politically charged matters like an open tax investigation into President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.

The text of the resolution would also grant Mr. Jordan’s panel the power to receive the same highly classified information that intelligence agencies make available to their oversight committee, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

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If 2022 was not the apex year for the era of great pretending, then we remain sitting in a handbasket – destination, full speed ahead.

When asked for the topic of a ‘big picture‘ podcast this 2022-year ending, the obvious answer from me was We Need to Quit Pretending.

For the past two years I can only encapsulate the entire social, political and socioeconomic dynamic that surrounds us by saying we are living in an era of great pretending.  Why?  Because nothing else adequately explains it.

A recession is no longer two negative quarters of economic growth.  Elections are no longer defined by votes cast, but by ballots counted.  Meanwhile, women are claimed to have penises and people will argue -strenuously and with commitment- that men can give birth to babies.

Simultaneously, vaccines are no longer about medicines to avoid viruses, and Americans have some moral obligation to fund the administrative salaries, pensions and expense accounts for a nation of European politicians, in a country that few taxpayers could find on a map.

We must pretend the occupant of the oval office is not a dementia patient, at the same time we must pretend the Dept of Homeland Security and FBI is not telling online speech platforms that identifying the dementia patient, as a dementia patient, means you are a domestic violent extremist.  The absurdity of the pretenses are off-the-charts.

However, on the upside, we now see even blissfully ignorant people starting to realize something is wrong when their electricity and heating bills quadruple, while the same system of governmental caretakers are telling us to embrace a new earth friendly normal of $12 dollar eggs.  We been knew, but more are now knowing – thank God.

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This is interesting.  It would appear the Attorney General for the U.S. Virgin Islands, Denise N. George, has a strategic map to target those institutions and entities associated with Jeffrey Epstein.  AG George appears to be following the money, building her cases, and sequentially targeting the system that enabled Epstein.

Earlier this month USVI AG Denise George announced a $105 million settlement with the estate of Jeffrey Epstein [link].  The USVI case against Epstein was based on anti-criminal enterprise, sex trafficking, child exploitation and fraud laws of the Virgin Islands.  We can assume AG George gained a lot of information in the discovery phase deep inside the Epstein finances that ultimately led to the settlement.

Following the settlement with the estate of Epstein, Attorney General George now announces a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase for “knowingly” enabling the sex trafficking operation of Jeffrey Epstein.  AG George is specifically saying JPMorgan Chase was fully aware of what Epstein was doing.

NEW YORK – The U.S. Virgin Islands on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against banking giant JPMorgan Chase, accusing the Wall Street corporation of turning a “blind eye” toward the conduct of the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George said in a complaint filed in a Manhattan District Court that JPMorgan Chase facilitated the trafficking of minors for sexual abuse at the hands of Epstein.

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Oh, now this is just the proverbial cherry on the fishy cake in Arizona.   The results of a mandatory recount in Pinal County, Arizona, are set to be released today, December 29th, showing “significant discrepancies” from the original vote.  Results favoring the republican candidates [Details Here].

Then there’s this very interesting development….

“The results of the statutorily required recount in 3 races were expected to be released on December 22nd however, inexplicably, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs petitioned the courts to have the results go directly to her office and asked to postpone the release until December 29th.”

Apparently, in her role as Secretary of State Katie Hobbs filed a motion with the court to seal the final recount result until after the lawsuit filed in Maricopa County against her was concluded.  That means the Lake team did not have the results of three recounts to use in court as evidence that something sketchy in Arizona had taken place.

It appears Mrs. Hobbs intentionally did not want the recount information coming out until her lawsuit to become governor was completed.

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Arizona Judge Peter Thompson has ruled that Mrs. Kari Lake must pay witness costs associated with her civil election lawsuit against Maricopa County officials.  However, the judge denied hundreds-of-thousands in defense lawyer fees for Marc Elias and did not issue financial sanctions against Lake.

PHOENIX — A judge has ordered Kari Lake, the Republican who lost the Arizona governor’s race, to pay $33,000 in fees for witnesses who helped defend election officials against Lake’s failed challenge of her defeat to Democrat Katie Hobbs, but rejected a request for hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees for the attorneys who defended the officials.

In an order Tuesday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson declined to impose sanctions against Lake and her lawyers, saying Lake’s failure to prove her case doesn’t “equate to a finding that her claims were, or were not, groundless and presented in bad faith.”

Thompson, who was appointed by former Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, pointed to a statistical analysis by a pollster who had testified on behalf of Lake. The witness, who conducts public-opinion polls and is not an election worker, claimed technical problems at polling places on Election Day had disenfranchised enough voters that it would have changed the outcome of the race in Lake’s favor. (read more)

Mrs Lake appeared on the Steve Bannon Warroom podcast earlier today to talk about her intent to file an appeal to the decision. {Direct Rumble Link}

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Kari Lake dared to bring a lawsuit against Arizona officials for manipulating the outcome of the 2022 gubernatorial election.  Last Saturday, despite affirming the numerous issues in the election, a Maricopa judge ruled Ms. Lake failed to prove malicious intent for the failed electronic voting systems and broken chain of custody issues.

Without an admission of intent, and without evidence to prove to a demonstrable certainty the errors, mistakes and broken election procedures were intended to influence the election outcome, Judge Peter Thompson ruled against the challenge and asked the defense team to provide him with a list of sanctions against the Lake campaign.

Today, the team of Katie Hobbs asked the court for $25,050 in fines against Kari Lake and other penalties and fines the court may deem necessary to punish the plaintiff for challenging a duly certified election result.  [Today Court Filing Here]

(Via NBC) – […] Hobbs and the county asked for sanctions against Lake and her legal team after an Arizona judge denied Lake’s bid to reverse the results of the November election in a two-day trial. Lake, a prominent election denier and Trump ally, was allowed to go to trial last week with two of her 10 claims, which alleged misconduct with ballot printers and problems with ballot chain of custody.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson denied Lake’s challenge after the trial in a 10-page ruling Saturday. He said the court did not find clear and convincing evidence of misconduct that would have changed the election results. Thompson also noted that the defendants had stated their intention to seek sanctions against Lake and ordered them to file a motion for sanctions by Monday morning.

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President Trump released a video statement today about the Democrats in the Congressional Ways and Means Committee releasing his private tax returns. {Direct Rumble link}. 

As outlined by President Trump, the tax returns show ordinary, albeit financially complex, income and losses as customary for any large business.  However, now that the precedent has been set by Congress, Donald Trump asks the same committee to release the same tax filings of the Biden family so that a comparative dive into the financial holdings of Joe Biden can be conducted.  WATCH: 

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FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried waived an extradition fight and U.S. Marshals flew him from the Bahamas to New York late Wednesday night.  Appearing in a Manhattan court today, the judge set bail at $250 million and permits SBF to remain under house arrest at his parent’s California home until trial begins.

Additionally, it was revealed that Carolyn Ellison, 28, the former chief executive of Bankman-Fried’s trading firm, Alameda Research, and Gary Wang, 29, who co-founded FTX, pleaded guilty to charges including wire fraud, securities fraud and commodities fraud.  Both are cooperating witnesses with the prosecution against the FTX founder.

New York – The cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried can post $250 million bond and live in his parents’ home in California while he awaits trial on charges that he swindled investors and looted customer deposits on his FTX trading platform, a judge said Thursday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos said in U.S. District Court in Manhattan that Bankman-Fried, 30, “perpetrated a fraud of epic proportions.” Roos proposed strict bail terms, including a $250 million bond and house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California.

An important reason for allowing bail was that Bankman-Fried agreed to waive extradition, Roos said.

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The price for a dozen eggs continues climbing as explanations turn toward blaming bird flu.  However, the avian influenza may explain a recent spike, but the longer duration of escalating food price commodities is much deeper than momentary fluctuations.  These are energy dependent products.

As CTH noted last year, watch egg prices as a general gauge for overall food inflation (eggs hit almost every process in the supply chain), and watch potato availability to gauge overall row crop stability (staple commodity on every plate, venue).

Additionally, as previously noted, as energy prices continue rising pay attention to the prices on ‘organic’ products.  Rising energy prices drive up costs for large commercially processed food supplies at a much higher rate than smaller organic production.  People are starting to notice the ‘organic’ option is almost at price parity.

Wall Street Journal – […] Wholesale prices of Midwest large eggs hit a record $5.36 a dozen in December, according to the research firm Urner Barry. Retail egg prices have increased more than any other supermarket item so far this year, climbing more than 30% from January to early December compared with the same period a year earlier, and outpacing overall food and beverage prices, according to the data firm Information Resources Inc.

For supermarkets, eggs are a staple product that most consumers pick up on trips to the grocery store, similar to milk and butter. To maintain store traffic, grocers said they have been sacrificing some profits on eggs to keep prices for consumers competitive. Some suppliers are projecting potential relief in price by February or March, but cold weather could hamper production in the near term, executives said.

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