Olena Zelenska, wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, traveled to Paris France for a three-day visit December 12-14.  As reported by Le Monde, “Members of the Ukrainian government will also come, including Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, and several ministers in charge of reconstruction, including Yulia Svyrydenko (economy), Oleksandr Kubrakov (infrastructure) and German Galushchenko (energy).”

However, social media has erupted today after a “reliable store clerk” working on the ritzy Avenue Montaigne, has reported that Olena Zelenska went on a Christmas shopping spree spending €40,000 euros in an hour. (citation) Previously President Zelenskyy’s wife was received by French first lady Bridget Macron.

If the reporting is accurate, the spending spree comes at a bad time optically, as Mrs. Zelenska’s husband Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is simultaneously asking the European Union to provide more financial support for the embattled country.

Additionally, the Biden administration is trying to push congress to pass another $38 billion spending package for Ukraine to bring the total spent well over $100 billion.

Mrs. Zelenskyy Christmas shopping in glitzy Paris stores and dropping €40,000 while her husband bangs his tin cup isn’t exactly a good look.

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House Democrats have returned to their old ‘deem as passed’ playbook to provide a vehicle for the Senate to construct another stopgap omnibus spending bill despite the legally required non-origination from the House.

WASHINGTON DC – The House is expected to pass a stopgap spending bill Wednesday night that would give negotiators an extra week to finish a $1.7 trillion year-end spending package, setting up an all-out legislative sprint before lawmakers leave for the holidays. (more)

Texas Representative Chip Roy explains exactly what the House is doing.  WATCH:

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Yup, it’s Deja vu all over again.

Did you know the last regular order congressional budget was passed in September of 2007 for fiscal year 2008.  That’s it.  Every single year from 2008 to now has been a series of baseline budgeting, continuous resolutions and omnibus spending bills.

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The political branding and campaign team behind Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have structured a “Win with Ron 2024” strategy constructed around the politicization of the COVID-19 vaccine.  Yesterday, the team launched the effort through the governor’s office [Details Here].

The polarizing federal vaccine and mask mandates continue to create an opportunity for exploitation by political interests.  The WWR ’24 team see the opportunity within the republican base for Ron DeSantis to create a 2024 lane by presenting himself in alignment with medical autonomy in a similar vein that a candidate might create with strong support for the second amendment.

To accomplish this brand strategy, the people around DeSantis need to pretend the Florida Governor did not advocate for lockdowns and vaccines in 2020 and 2021; even going so far as to threaten the liquor licenses for non-compliant bars and restaurants.  Through a series of continuous and carefully organized drumbeats surrounding the later held position on medical freedom and autonomy, the WWR24 team attempt to rewrite history in advance of his 2024 GOP nomination announcement.

The branding and image strategy for Ron DeSantis has been carefully mapped since early 2022 and includes the coy game of pretending to be above the national political fray while simultaneously dropping into national political issues at carefully constructed moments.

COVID-19 has been poll-tested amid the base of the republican party and positions have been established based on surveyed responses.  That’s the background for a rollout that took place yesterday in Florida complete with the creation of a Florida Public Health Integrity Committee.  The Florida governor grabs headlines by asking for a state grand jury to “hold the federal government and Big Pharma accountable.”

The ‘medical freedom‘ rollout yesterday included a simultaneously timed 2024 election primary poll showing DeSantis with the highest favorability rating.

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The logic within the research outline is silly.  Unvaccinated people have a 72% higher rate of severe vehicle accidents than vaccinated drivers according to the study.

Could it be the difference between rural vs metropolitan populations; one drives frequently, for longer durations and distances, while the other does not?

Apparently, that type of commonsense possibility did not make it into the analysis.  However, the authors of the study do suggest insurance companies should start considering insurance risk hikes based on vaccination status.

(Via Yahoo) – If you passed on getting the COVID vaccine, you might be a lot more likely to get into a car crash.

Or at least those are the findings of a new study published this month in The American Journal of Medicine. During the summer of 2021, Canadian researchers examined the encrypted government-held records of more than 11 million adults, 16% of whom hadn’t received the COVID vaccine.

They found that the unvaccinated people were 72% more likely to be involved in a severe traffic crash—in which at least one person was transported to the hospital—than those who were vaccinated. That’s similar to the increased risk of car crashes for people with sleep apnea, though only about half that of people who abuse alcohol, researchers found.

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Mike Lindell appears with Steve Bannon to talk about his progress so far contacting RNC members who will vote for the next chairmanship position in January. {Direct Rumble Link} Currently, Ronna McDaniel, Harmeet Dhillon and Mike Lindell are the top three candidates seeking to take control of the RNC chair position.

Ronna McDaniel is the current chair akin to Mitch McConnell (Tim Scott ’24), Harmeet Dhillon represents party interests in alignment with Kevin McCarthy (Ron DeSantis ’24), and Mike Lindell is the outsider voice in the MAGA lane.   WATCH:

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President Trump has announced on Truth Social that he will be making an announcement about something tomorrow.  Perhaps President Trump is planning an endorsement for the RNC chair in this race.

Given the nature of the 2024 contest as it is being carried out by the schemes, plans and strategies of the background participants, I would love to see President Trump endorse Mr. Lindell and force the RNC into a position that would create a bigger potential for a second party to break through.

Let the club reject Lindell, sooner or later the Republican party needs to be fractured.  Continuing to work on reforming a party that connives for its own interest and hates the voting base is not sustainable.

The DNC wants power. The RNC wants money. The DNC uses money to get power. The RNC uses power to get money. The ideology of the DNC drives their donor activity. The donor activity of the RNC drives their ideology. This is the only current difference between the two clubs, two wings of the same vulture.

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As we have often discussed on these pages, inflation would ultimately moderate and plateau not because prices were dropping but rather because of the calendar cycle.

As the economy cycles through a year of large price increases, the current inflation rate cycles through to the period when prices first increased.  This calendar cycle means continued price increases are lower as a percentage and thus the inflation rate appears to modify despite prices continuing to rise. [BLS Report]

This scenario, prices remaining high and continuing to climb – yet lower as a percentage, now provides the justification for the federal reserve to state inflation is moderating.

(Via NBC) – Amid signs that price growth in the U.S. economy is rapidly cooling, the Federal Reserve announced Wednesday it was slowing the pace of its rate-hiking program designed to tackle inflation — but that more hikes were still on the table.

The Federal Open Market Committee said it was increasing its key federal funds rate by 0.5%, after announcing four-straight 0.75% hikes at its most recent meetings. In its Wednesday statement, the Fed said it continues to target an inflation rate of 2% over the long term and would continue to increase the federal funds rate to do so.

“Inflation remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher food and energy prices, and broader price pressures,” the committee said.

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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 profound thoughts of great consequence can only flow from the consequential minds of the most profound.

Once again Kamala Harris delivers an oration that leaves the audience speechless in conclusion. “The ability To See What Can Be, Unburdened By What Has Been” 40 seconds, WATCH:

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Tucker Carlson hits the bullseye in a late show segment discussing the framework of the Twitter social media company.   Stunningly, Carlson is the first person to ask the question that we have outlined for years, it is the essence of how Jack’s Magic Coffee Shop evolved. {Direct Rumble Link}

“It’s all pretty weird. Could it be that while the rest of us imagined that Twitter was a social media site … could it be that Twitter was actually, maybe primarily, a propaganda tool and intelligence gathering apparatus for a variety of intel agencies?”  ~ Tucker Carlson

Yes. Exactly this. Yes.  It’s not that DHS had a factual portal into Twitter, now confirmed.  It’s the likelihood that DHS took over the operation of Twitter and controlled every element of it.  That would explain why profits and losses were never part of the viability equation.  DHS controlling background Twitter operations is the essential baseline for Jack’s Magic Coffee Shop.   Well done Tucker Carlson. WATCH:

Once you change your reference point and review the Twitter File release from a different perspective, things make sense.  DHS doesn’t operate on the backbone of Twitter, in this scenario Twitter is operating on the backbone of DHS.  The information and content on Twitter exist, or not, by the permission and authority of the national security state, DHS.

Influencing public opinion takes on the priority. Created narratives, established by media partners, can be enhanced or throttled (think Russiagate). Public perceptions can be uplifted or deemphasized.  Political candidates can be boosted or dismissed.

Control over the public conversation is not simply in the hands of the Twitter ‘safety council’ executives, the platform content is shaped by the guiding hand of the controlling interest – the government.  Under this scenario the defining of disinformation, misinformation or malinformation by DHS/CISA takes on a new level of influence.

So why did they permit it to be sold?  Again, control.

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