We are at war and in hybrid fifth-generation warfare (5GW) that is replete with distorted narratives and perceptions being waged on our minds. It is imperative during this dystopian era to engender the idiom “a mind is a terrible thing to waste” in all aspects of your life amid the reality of current geopolitical and domestic affairs. Resorting to a “head in the sand” mentality with hope that it all goes away and our world can return to whatever normal used to be is an exercise in futility. For investment professionals and passive investors alike, it is necessary to increase vigilance and apply risk management in executing all financial matters accordingly. If you fail to implement a rigorous due diligence attitude, it will likely result in personal strife and needless monetary losses because of self-imposed obliviousness.
“Our country right now, is not at the precipice looking over the edge of the cliff, we’re in the valley of the shadow of death… a takeover through the various institutions within our country.” – General Flynn, Jul. 2023
Virginia Songwriter’s Working-Class Anthem ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ Soars to Top of Charts… “‘Just to be clear: ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ refers to Washington DC politicians. This is in no way a knock against people from up North,’ Mr. Anthony wrote in a comment on his YouTube channel, where on Aug. 1, he posted a teaser version of the song… The full version was posted on the RadioWV channel on Aug. 8, where at the time of reporting had already amassed 4.4 million views.” – Epoch Times, Aug. 12
Oliver Anthony: Rich Men North of Richmond – RadioWV (Oliver’s Channel)
Today’s topic is reminiscent of my “Telling the Peasants It’s All in Your Heads and Misinformation” series Parts 1,2, 3, and 4. This year and last year have certainly been dominated by whistleblowers and debunked government narratives on innumerable issues. What’s appalling is how the U.S. population continues to be denied God-given inalienable rights such as our First Amendment that government institutions are blatantly ignoring.
Despite the public outcry following a “Hearing on the Weaponization of the Federal Government” in early March, the censorship-industrial complex continues to evade justice while politicos proclaim that nobody is above the law. Recall that esteemed journo Matt Taibbi (opening statement) provided live testimony (full video) at that hearing as his home was simultaneously visited by IRS agents. Also of note, ranking Democrat Rep. Plaskett from the Virgin Islands accused Taibbi of endangering social media employees by exposing censorship with no evidence. The irony and hypocrisy surrounding that situation is beyond incredible because the evidence was publicly available for several weeks before Taibbi stepped foot into Capitol Hill. Before refreshing our memory on the First Amendment and my point for this article, consider the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause:
“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.” – Article VI, Clause 2
“No legislative act, therefore, contrary to the Constitution, can be valid. To deny this, would be to affirm, that the deputy is greater than his principal; that the servant is above his master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people themselves; that men acting by virtue of powers, may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid.” – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Papers
“The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference. It prohibits any laws that establish a national religion, impede the free exercise of religion, abridge the freedom of speech, infringe upon the freedom of the press, interfere with the right to peaceably assemble, or prohibit citizens from petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. It was adopted into the Bill of Rights in 1791. The Supreme Court interprets the extent of the protection afforded to these rights. The First Amendment has been interpreted by the Court as applying to the entire federal government even though it is only expressly applicable to Congress. Furthermore, the Court has interpreted the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as protecting the rights in the First Amendment from interference by state governments. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. – Cornell Law School
The news item that prompted my rant today took place last Friday in the small Kansas town of Marion, which has a population of about 1,900. The local police department is facing a flood of criticism for a raid on the town’s Marion County Record newspaper office and the home of its owner and publisher. The city’s entire five-officer police force and two sheriff’s deputies seized computers, cellphones, hardcopy records, and the publisher stated they carelessly “stressed beyond her limits” his 98-year-old mother so much that it caused her death.

Marion County Record Newspaper Office
Eric Meyer, the owner and publisher of the newspaper, said that police were acting on a confidential source who apparently leaked sensitive information to the newspaper. He said the message was made clear: “Mind your own business or we’re going to step on you… they took everything we had… it’s going to have a chilling effect on people giving us information and for the newspaper tackling issues.” Meyer had never heard of police raiding a newspaper office during his 20 years at the Milwaukee Journal or 26 years as a journalism professor at the University of Illinois.
Publisher of small Kansas newspaper calls police raid “Gestapo tactic” but police insist it was justified… “Several press freedom watchdogs condemned the Marion Police Department’s actions as a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution’s protection for a free press.” – CBS News, Aug. 14
Emily Bradbury is the executive director of the Kansas Press Association, and she described the raid as “unprecedented in Kansas. An attack on a newspaper office through an illegal search is not just an infringement on the rights of journalists but an assault on the very foundation of democracy and the public’s right to know. This cannot be allowed to stand.” The search warrant wielded during the search was signed by a Marion County District Court Magistrate and probably violates federal law, which provides protection against the search and seizure of property from journalists. Instead, the law requires the subpoena of materials from a journalist or newsroom.
The background to this story is hinged upon a dispute with restaurant owner Kari Newell, who kicked newspaper staff out of a public forum and subsequently made hostile comments on Facebook. She accuses the Marion Country Record of invading her privacy by having access to information about her driving record. Newell said she felt targeted after she tossed Meyer and a reporter out of her restaurant during the public event. The real story is that a confidential source contacted the newspaper and provided evidence that Newell had been convicted of drunk driving (DWI) but continued to drive her car without a driver’s license out of necessity. The revelation of her DWI might have jeopardized the restaurant’s effort to obtain a liquor license for her catering business.
Meyer suspected the confidential source was Newell’s husband who filed for a divorce, decided not to publish the information, and then notified the police. The police notified Newell and she complained at a city council meeting that the newspaper illegally obtained the documents, which was not true. The situation left the newspaper with no choice but to publish an article and set the record straight to protect its reputation in the small community.
Police stage ‘chilling’ raid on Marion County newspaper… “Meyer, whose father worked at the newspaper from 1948 until he retired, bought the Marion County Record in 1998, preventing a sale to a corporate newspaper chain. As a journalism professor in Illinois, Meyer said, he had graduate students from Egypt who talked about how people would come into the newspaper office and seize everything so they couldn’t publish. Those students presented a scholarly paper at a conference in Toronto about what it has done to journalism there. ‘That’s basically what they’re trying to do here,’ Meyer said. ‘The intervention is just like that repressive government of Egypt. I didn’t think it could happen in America.’” – Kake.com, Aug. 12
The anti-press rhetoric is so pervasive today that it is becoming dangerous for good journalists to do their jobs. The legacy media’s collusion with the government in censoring the truth is responsible for this mess. What happens if reporting about the bankrupt U.S. and financial markets is deemed a thought crime? Welcome to the Orwellian New World Order, which feels like a slimy road into the abyss where woke apparatchiks have no clue what our Constitution says, means, or the consequences of it disappearing. Prepare accordingly, and read the twisted story about Gonzalo Lira, an American journo sitting in a Ukrainian prison.
- Truthophobia: How the Boomers Broke Journalism, with Graham Majin – Howard Kunstler (audio podcast), Aug. 11
General Mike Flynn Explains 5GW – Epoch Times, Nov. 2022 (Full Version)
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Headline Image via BlogOdyssey from “Nazi victim discovers a Gestapo informant.”