President Donald Trump released a statement via Truth Social:

“Melania and I are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Together with our family and fellow Americans, we send our sincere condolences to the Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom during this time of great sorrow and grief. Queen Elizabeth’s historic and remarkable reign left a tremendous legacy of peace and prosperity for Great Britain.

Her leadership and enduring diplomacy secured and advanced alliances with the United States and countries around the world. However, she will always be remembered for her faithfulness to her country and her unwavering devotion to her fellow countrymen and women. Melania and I will always cherish our time together with the Queen, and never forget Her Majesty’s generous friendship, great wisdom, and wonderful sense of humor. What a grand and beautiful lady she was—there was nobody like her!

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Following an Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2022 Gubernatorial Candidate Forum, where GOP candidate Kari Lake and Democrat Marxist Katie Hobbs, answered Arizonans’ questions, only one candidate was willing to talk to the media after the event and take direct questions.

MAGA Republican Kari Lake is strong, formidable and skilled in her approach toward the media.  Lake’s use of the atomic sledgehammer of truth is almost unparalleled.  In this brief soundbite she is questioned about becoming President Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate.  Here is how she responded. WATCH:

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The video of the full candidate forum is below.

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Energy inflation continues to pummel all western nations as they chase the climate change agenda. Today, the European Central Bank has raised interest rates to support the goal of lowered economic activity.   Lowering economic activity lowers energy use.

Absent of any desire to raise energy supply and/or energy production, monetary policy can support the goal of lowering energy use by driving down all economic activity.

In the big transition picture, the economies within the western alliance must be reduced until they match the energy output of windmills and solar farms.

FRANKFURT—The European Central Bank raised interest rates by the largest amount since the early days of Europe’s currency union, moving aggressively to combat record inflation even as an energy crisis puts Europe on the brink of recession.

The bank said in a statement that it would increase its key rate to 0.75% from zero—its second hike this year following a 50-basis-point rise in July—and signaled that further rises were likely over the coming months.

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Queen Elizabeth II has died at the age 96.  She was the longest living monarch in history.  At 6.30pm her death was confirmed. A Buckingham Palace spokesman said:

‘The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow’.

The Daily Mail has details.

Her son Charles, the former Prince of Wales, is now King. He will address the shocked nation imminently, as the world grieves Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.

Queen Elizabeth’s children, and Prince William and Prince Harry, had rushed to her bedside at Balmoral after doctors became ‘concerned’ for her health. Hours later she died, surrounded by her family.

The Queen’s death will see Britain and her Commonwealth realms enter into a ten-day period of mourning as millions of her subjects in the UK and abroad come to terms with her passing. And as her son accedes to the throne, there will also be a celebration of her historic 70-year reign that saw her reach her Platinum Jubilee this year – a landmark unlikely to be reached again by a British monarch.

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the JoeBama Administration and Presidency.

“This is no small thing, to restore a republic after it has fallen into corruption. I have studied history for years and I cannot recall it ever happening. It may be that our task is impossible. Yet, if we do not try then how will we know it can’t be done? And if we do not try, it most certainly won’t be done. The Founders’ Republic, and the larger war for western civilization, will be lost.”

“But I tell you this: We will not go gently into that bloody collectivist good night. Indeed, we will make with our defiance such a sound as ALL history from that day forward will be forced to note, even if they despise us in the writing of it.”

~ Mike Vanderboegh

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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According to the U.S. Energy Information Association (IEA), U.S. storage of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) is 12% below the five-year average (LINK).  Additionally, the IEA is expecting the U.S. to export 11.7 billion cubic feet of LNG per day during the fourth quarter of 2022 — up 17% from the third quarter. The destination of that export is Europe.

Consider that 43% of U.S. households use LNG for home heating, and power suppliers use LNG to create electricity.  With the massive 2022 exports of LNG to Europe (+17% in fourth quarter alone), that means lower domestic supplies and increased prices here in the United States for electricity and home heating.  We are seeing and feeling these massive price increases right now. As a result, consider this reality….

Not only are U.S. taxpayers directly paying for the majority of costs in Ukraine, but we are also subsidizing the European Union by exporting LNG and driving up the price here at home.

We are directly paying Ukraine, and indirectly paying Europe to maintain gas sanctions against Russia.  This is the reality of the current situation as created by the Biden administration.

Now, consider this.  The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen held a press conference in Brussels today, announcing five initiatives to contain the expensive EU energy crisis: “The goal is clear. We must cut the revenues of Russia that Putin uses to finance this atrocious war against Ukraine. And now our work is paying off. At the start of the war, gas from Russian pipelines accounted for 40% of all imported gas. Today it has dropped to only 9% of our gas imports. These are tough times. But I am convinced that Europeans have the economic strength, the political will and the unity to maintain the upper hand,” she said.  The United States and Norway are the primary suppliers of gas to the EU to fill the void.

Commissar von der Leyden’s five initiatives include:

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German Minister of Economics Robert Habeck is under fire after his comments during an interview with an ARD broadcaster on Tuesday evening.

The conversation surrounded the astronomical rise in the price of energy taking all the income away from people who would purchase other goods and services. As Germans no longer can afford purchases, the stores and businesses can no longer operate.  Minister Habeck was asked if that means a wave of bankruptcies and business closures are forecast.

Mr. Habeck responded that businesses can stop operating, but that doesn’t mean they will go insolvent.  Just because the business loses most or all of their revenue, doesn’t mean they will go bankrupt.  That doesn’t make sense, Minister Habeck was pressed to apply commonsense. If businesses close to save money, workers are not employed. If workers are not employed people do not earn income.  If people do not earn income, the economy worsens.

Habeck had no response other than an economically detached “Green Party” perspective that businesses will not go bankrupt just because they are not operating. However, his facial expressions reflect that he knows what comes next, total economic collapse. WATCH: 

https://youtu.be/x8bGPxZfIdQ

(Reuters) – German Economy Minister Robert Habeck faced a backlash on Wednesday for saying he could imagine parts of the economy stopping production due to rising energy prices that German firms say are threatening their existence.

Asked whether he expected a wave of insolvencies at the end of this winter due to companies’ rising energy bills, Habeck said “No, I don’t. I can imagine that certain industries will simply stop producing for the time being.”

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Good grief, the sanctimonious puss spewing by the DC media chattering class exhibiting their alignment with big government is insufferable. The inability of any media outlet to present the reality of the DC interests with levelheaded discussion is frustrating.

The issue of compartmented (siloed) information, specifically as a tool and technique of the aloof DC system to retain control and influence, is a matter we have discussed on these pages for several years. Quite literally anything can be classified as a ‘national security interest’ in the deep state effort to retain the illusion of power over the proles, ie us. It is the exact reason why congress exempts themselves from laws and regulations written for everyone else.

That said, in this interview from this morning, Senator Marco Rubio does a good job framing the context of the recent Administrative State leaks to media (DOJ-NSD, FBI) to advance a particular narrative. Yes, it’s an election year, and Rubio returns to his roots pushing back against some of the nonsense. As noted by the Vice-Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), if the Mar-a-Lago document issues were so vital why was the Gang of Eight never briefed? WATCH:

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The Washington Post goes back to the prior narrative surrounding the Mar-a-Lago documents saying, “a document describing a foreign government’s military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities was found by FBI agents who searched former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and private club last month.”…. with Devlin Barrett adding the usual, “according to people familiar with the matter” sourcing.

Keeping in mind the traditional relationship that exists between specific media outlets and their deep state sources, the most obvious source for Devlin Barrett is the DOJ National Security Division (DOJ-NSD), FBI Counterintelligence division, or larger intelligence community (IC).  However, what is also obvious from the way the documents are described is a narrative framework to make the innocuous seem looming.

PICTURED: Chairman Kim Jong-Un reads a letter from President Donald J Trump

I would be willing to bet the “document” in question is a letter from North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-Un to President Trump about the status of the DPRK military intent and weapons.  You might remember Chairman Kim and President Trump developed a good relationship and exchanged letters related to matters of national security between North Korea and the United States.

The Intelligence Community in combination with the U.S. military industrial complex and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, did not like that level of direct diplomatic contact and discussion between President Trump and Chairman Kim.  Direct communication between the two leaders subverted the IC’s ability to shape the DPRK messaging to support an interventionist and hostile U.S. geopolitical outlook.

The professional bureaucrats in charge of guiding and shaping all United States foreign engagements do not like being cut out of the geopolitical equations.  As the former head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chuck Schumer famously said, “the intelligence community has six ways to Sunday to get back at you” if the President does not adhere and acquiesce to their power and authorities.

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