UPDATE: GiveSendGo Responds:

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford has gone to court to freeze all of the GiveSendGo crowdfunding donations raised for the Freedom Convoy truckers.  The current GiveSendGo fundraiser sits at $8.4 million US.

There is a lot of legal complexity here, and it is not clear the Ontario court has any jurisdiction let alone a feasible way to determine or enforce how and where the funds are distributed.   However, in the bigger picture the government is trying to block the funding of the Freedom Convoy.

Premier Doug Ford is the leader of the “progressive conservative party,” the Canadian version of the DeceptiCons.

Apparently, the premier coordinated with Ontario Attorney General to file a restraint order under 490.8 of the Criminal Code, identifying the funds as “offense related property.”

CANADA – The Superior Court of Justice has granted a request from the Ontario government to freeze access to millions of dollars donated through online fundraising platform GiveSendGo to the truckers convoy protesting COVID-19 restrictions in Ottawa and at several border crossings.

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When the Biden administration loses MSNBC, you know the White House is realizing this is going to crush them.

In an unusual MSNBC discussion, the regime stenography panel admits that not only is inflation bad now, but it is likely to get much, much worse.  Just watch the first three minutes to recognize the scale of how the economic situation in the U.S. is being accepted by the water-carrying media.

“The problem we have here is a series of events that have led to higher prices,” says Liesman. “I am afraid this number is bad and could get worse.”

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Keep in mind, most Americans have no idea what 15% inflation and rising interest rates looks like.  The Gen-x generation saw everything as it was growing, and the millennial generation has no reference point for thrift prioritization, actual rationing and sustainability on a level where you have to make your own durable goods and foodstuffs. How many know how to cook, let alone sustain themselves financially.

Yes, things are bad now, but almost every person in the progressive, leftist, occupy, Antifa side of the political divide have no concept of what is about to happen.  It is going to be really interesting to watch how the 20- to 40-year-old age groups respond to a new era of economic scarcity and home gardening.

The ideological Obama crew have really pushed Joe Biden into the furnace.

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The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) released the January inflation data [DATA HERE] along with the yearly data from 2021.   The “first round” of retail grocery price increases starts to surface; but this is only the first round.  January inflation was actually much worse than the bad data inside the BLS analysis.

Additionally, the BLS readjusted the weighting for relative price importance, putting added weight to urban economic priorities (ie. food at restaurants), which indicates their intent to downplay the scale of inflation overall.  The topline statistic of 7.5% annual inflation (year over year) is bad; however, because of weighting that figure belies the bigger issue, it’s actually much worse.  In January alone inflation jumped 0.8% (unadjusted), primarily driven by the first-round of 2022 consumer inflation that preexisted since early December 2021.

To give an idea of how much prices have increased, we modified BLS Table 1 to take out some noise.  Look at the single month of January (red box).

Look at January “electricity” price increases.  A jump of 4.5% in one month alone, and keep in mind the BLS puts far less importance on electricity than “food away from home”.

In fact, the weighting for economic importance of restaurants is 5 times greater than the electricity to power your house.

Always keep in mind inflation data is backward looking.  So it is a capture of the price increase at a former moment. In this example the pricing survey was early January.

The timing part is important because gasoline has jumped again since this survey was completed.  The BLS data only has gas increasing at 0.1% in January; in reality it increased much more.

You can see the statistical smoothing to present the softest inflation data by looking at Food at Home, Meats, Poultry and Fish.  The actual rate of inflation in that category is 40%+ at retail.  The BLS deemphasizes the price increase by putting less economic importance on the category and they come up with a 12.2% increase, one third of the actual price we are feeling.

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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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The Freedom Convoy trucker protest has now expanded and is starting to hit more U.S-Canada border crossings, while the main trucker convoy remains in downtown Ottawa. The Coutts border crossing, between Alberta and Montana, is shut down as truckers have closed every lane.

However, after 12 days of pressure – and a typical Alinsky response from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – things are beginning to escalate. Now, in Windsor, Ontario, the Ambassador Bridge to Detroit – the busiest land crossing on the U.S-Canada border, has been effectively blocked.

The government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is starting to panic.  “They’re essentially putting their foot on the throat of all Canadians,” Bill Blair, Canada’s minister of emergency preparedness, said Wednesday. “It can’t be allowed to persist.”  Yet, the Trudeau government is quickly discovering their biggest Achillies’ heal in this issue.  There is no logistical way to stop truckers from blocking the roads and bridges.

The logistics of trying to forcibly remove the big rigs with tow trucks is a nightmare.  Additionally, the tow truck companies are not willing to support the government in a fight against their own profession.  Slowly, the uber elite who think they are the rulers are starting to realize just how little power they have when the “workers of the world” really do “unite”.   Trudeau really is starting to panic:

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According to Canadian media, the Liberal party is deeply worried the Pandemic might end, and they will be forced to return to normal.

Anxiety over losing COVID-19 as a justification for their fear and worried state is creating even greater feelings of nervousness and trepidation.

Liberals are not yet ready to accept the loss of their pandemic sense, and the reality of having to live normally is a burden too great to contemplate.

CANADA – […] Psychology experts expect stress and anxiety to run high among those who remain wary of letting their guards down. It will take time for many to adjust, they say, but the quick approach some provinces are taking could make the transition more jarring.

[…] After two years of being told to avoid the virus, it will be hard for some people to switch their mindset, Joordens said.  Limited PCR testing, which previously helped indicate how much COVID-19 was circulating, adds another complicated wrinkle by removing some of the information people used to weigh their own risk. (read more)

The leftists are desperately hoping their Justin can protect them from having to experience a life without fear of a virus.  It is a very unsettling time for a Canadian Liberal, as the larger Canadian public are so easily willing to let go of the pandemic fear.  Greater compassion is demanded.

The Liberal members of Canadian politics are demanding more time, more time to prepare their delicate sensibilities, as the government will have less rules and regulations for them to follow.  Returning to life as an arbitrary endeavor, fraught with all its natural risks, is like forcing Canadian Liberals to fry bacon naked in the kitchen.

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With the U.S. White House announcing their intent to get involved in the Canadian Freedom Protest, the RCMB now announces their intent to begin an enforcement action at the Alberta truck blockade in/around the border crossing between Coutts, Alberta (CA) and Sweet Grass, Montana (USA).

Last night Alberta Premier Jason Kenney gave a weak sauce speech claiming he would begin to remove COVID mandates.  However, a closer review of the proposal showed it was a head fake.  The truckers then moved back into position to close the roads and the Coutts border crossing was blocked.

It is not yet known how the Canadian federal police (RCMP) plan to remove the blockade as the big rig towing companies have previously refused to participate.

CANADA – Enforcement will begin Wednesday afternoon to reopen traffic to the Canada-U.S. border at Coutts which is being blocked by an ongoing protest, according to RCMP.

The blockade has been ongoing for more than a week, in solidarity with the trucker protests in Ottawa and other parts of the country.

Lanes have been open in each direction, however traffic was shut down once again about 8 p.m. Tuesday, soon after Premier Jason Kenney announced the province was ending the Restrictions Exemption Program and lifting mask mandates for schools and children age 12 and under.

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Last week the White House did a weird proactive talking point seminar on Monday, preparing the media for official unemployment data which would follow four days later. {Go Deep} Everything about the new econ talking points, added to the press briefing book, indicates the White House knows it’s the economic policy that is the most politically damaging for them.

Today, the same proactive approach to head off negative economic consequences is evident, this time regarding inflation.  Tomorrow, the official Bureau of Labor and Statistics inflation numbers will be released for January and for 2021 in total.  The White House has been again tipped-off.

Watch how Jen Psaki attempts to proactively establish the talking point about the month-over-month rate of inflation change as the important element to focus on.  If you’ve read the previous post, you can clearly see what they are doing now.  Also, this is entirely scripted and coordinated with the press pool to ask a very specific question.  WATCH, prompted:

You only need to watch for a minute or two to see the strings on the marionettes.

It’s also worth noting, the people behind Joe Biden were meeting with energy executives today to work out the terms and conditions for their bribes from the White House to trigger the Green New Deal.  The energy company bribe amounts, known as direct subsidies in the talking points, were being negotiated as Psaki was talking to the press pool.

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Whenever we discuss inflation, it is absolutely critical for people to understand that inflation itself is the measure of the percentage increase in a price over a period of time.

It is entirely possible, I would say absolutely guaranteed, that prices will increase even more this year as inflation begins to drop. This will be the economic story on the backside of the inflation hurricane as the Fed starts to increase interest rates. Example:

♦ 2021: A loaf of bread increases in price 50¢ from $1.00 to $1.50, a rate of inflation of 50%.

♦ 2022: That same loaf of bread increases in price by 60¢, from $1.50 to $2.10, a rate of inflation at 40%.

The price of the bread increased more in 2022 than 2021, but the rate of inflation dropped from 50% to 40%.

The White House and Federal Reserve state, correctly, that inflation is likely to drop.  However, the actual prices of the products are rising at a greater rate. This is the critical component of the inflation story that will remain with us throughout 2022.  Inflation is not measuring the increase in the price of an item.  Inflation is measuring the rate of the price increase as a percentage.

This is the context for the Federal Reserve to state today, they “hope” inflation slows down, because they are going to raise interest rates regardless of what is happening with the price of goods and services:

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