President Donald Trump Participates in Arrival Ceremony with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem.

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The Saudi people and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are very proud of what they were able to accomplish during this historic visit by President Donald Trump to the summit of a united Arab coalition. (Summit Production Video):

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The entire region should be proud.

Despite the popular western dismissive media narrative, the summit was a resounding success. Beyond the royal pageantry, we can only imagine the internal anxiety if our beloved America was defined by the abhorrent behavior of the Westboro Baptist Church.

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In January of 2015 Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi began a journey of peace by asking the holiest and most influential Islamic Scholars in the Arab world to join him in stepping away from the noise of extremist voices and engaging in long-term introspective review of their Islamic faith.  President al-Sisi called for a religious revolution to focus Islam toward a future of peace.  The engaged Dar al-Iftaa scholarly audience erupted in applause.

President al-Sisi stood up, resolute, spoke of large truths with bold leadership, and took great risk upon himself.  After the speech a coalition of like-minded voices began to grow in number and consequence.   That moment became the pebble dropped in the shoe of the Arab leadership of consequence – the emphasis shifted toward peace.

That influential speech, and more importantly the leadership of all joining member states, including the praise of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia before his untimely death, paved the way forward toward this upcoming weekend.   King Abdullah’s successor, his brother King Salman, is now positioned to put his own footprint in history.

All of the necessary elements, many of them taking years to organize, are aligned in common purpose for this specific moment in time.

More than a dozen heads of state from Arab and Islamic nations have been invited by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to attend the conference with President Trump including: Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (Egypt), King Abdullah III (Jordan), Muhammad Fuad Masum (Iraq), Mamnoon Hussain (Pakistan) and all six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE).  All are expected to be in attendance.

We are living in one of those rare moments when we are fortunate enough to see the building blocks of historic enterprise being erected while we watch.  The results of these next several days will shape how our children view the landscape of the middle east in all the years to come.

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One of the reasons CTH writes about economic matters because constructing economic prediction theories based around political policy is a hobby of mine.  Within obscure data, raw and unfiltered up-stream activity, it is entirely possible to see over the horizon.

But newly engaged people also think I’m nuts; so therefore it is also fun conversation at parties to stand above the esoteric academic fray, smile and outline actual forecasts –very specific forecasts– that most would never consider possible from a linear perspective.

People pay a boat-load of money for proprietary ownership of very accurate forecasts.  However, CTH would rather do it open source and break the historic grip of the financial control class.

If you’ll permit me a little Funday indulgence; the other reason to share predictable consequences is so patriotic readers can take a pro-active and empowering position in their own decision-making.  That motive was one of the reasons for previously sharing:

[…]  Until the two economies gain parity – any fed activity, taken as a consequence to their familiar traditional measurements (interest rates etc.), will have minimal to negligible impact on Main Street.

• Regional areas which benefited from high yield and high rates of return from Wall Street, ie. investment benefactors, will begin economic contraction. The downstream effect on state finances, and the retail and high-end service industry will also be negatively impacted.

• However, industrial areas/middle-class areas, with affordable housing and reasonable infrastructure, which have suffered in the past 20+ years, will see home values increasing as the local economy expands.

National policy (Trump Policy) which benefits Main Street also benefits local economics which are founded in manufacturing, production, and ancillary services.  In essence, the Middle-Class.

Those who benefited from high-yield international investment income will see less income.  Those who live on savings will see a moderate benefit.  However, those living day-to-day and week-to-week on their paychecks will see much more income.  Believe it. (link)

Now check out this headline from AP today discussing Connecticut:

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Perhaps it’s because the complexity is difficult to distill; maybe it’s because some just can’t give President Trump any credit; or perhaps it’s because the scope is too challenging to comprehend against the constant belittlement meme du jour.  Regardless of reason, President Trump is fundamentally realigning international geo-political alliances and almost no-one is connecting the dots.

President Trump obviously held a long-ball strategy with the Chinese; he’s described the approach in his books and lived the approach in his business life:

At the outset, position yourself at the furthest oppositional point when it costs you nothing; then leverage inward toward your opponent as they expend their resources to meet your stance.

Almost no-one is noting the scope of what President Trump has accomplished simply by positioning himself at the furthest extreme from the best interests of China, and then working his leverage back toward dual-interests as the Chinese expend capital to meet the point of mutual benefit.

President Trump has expended nothing other than his sheer will, and yet he has leveraged gains that are jaw-droppingly consequential.

♦ What’s the goal of identifying China as a currency manipulator?  To stop China from manipulating currency, right?  Well, arm-chair opposition says President Trump has reversed his position simply by ‘not doing something’.   However, that opposition doesn’t seem to acknowledge the end-goal of the labeling has been achieved without expending an effort.   The doing is unnecessary when merely the threat of the doing changes the behavior of the doer.

In two days, April 6th and April 7th, President Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.  What actions has President Trump taken, other than ‘not’ doing something, and what actions has President Xi Jinping taken? (more…)

We have watched the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS target Egypt ever since secular President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi brought stability back to the country.  Now with the clear outlines of the al-Sisi “freedom alliance” in place, ISIS strikes back in an attempt to destabilize the country.

Today, Palm Sunday, ISIS targeted two Christian communities in Egypt with suicide bombings.  The first bombing, targeted Tanta, a Nile Delta city about 100 km (60 miles) north of Cairo.  The terrorists attacked St. George Church during its Palm Sunday service, killing at least 27 people and injuring at least 78, the Ministry of Health said.

The second bombing was just a few hours later in Alexandria.  The terrorists targeted a more consequential Christian venue, Saint Mark’s Cathedral; the historic seat of the Coptic Pope.  This is where President al-Sisi previously attended Christmas Mass in a visible display of historic secular solidarity toward the Christian ministry in Egypt.

During the St. Mark’s mass attack today the terrorists killed 17 people, including three police officers, and injuring 48, according to the Coptic the ministry. Coptic Pope Tawadros was leading the mass and thankfully, according to the ministry, he was not injured.

ISIS is trying again to create chaos and destabilize Egypt through religious extremism and terrorism.    President al-Sisi has initiated an immediate nation-wide state of emergency, calling upon the Egyptian military to protect the civilian population.  (more…)

When we first saw the news reports that Defense Secretary Mattis was considering former Obama appointee Anne Patterson for undersecretary of policy we thought it was simply fake news.  However, apparently it is not.
Anne Patterson is a severely toxic entity and was considered the epicenter of dangerous political policy because she gave legitimacy to the extremists within the Muslim Brotherhood.  Specifically due to her role in supporting the Brotherhood’s former candidate turned President, Mohammed Morsi in Egypt, Anne Patterson should forever be dispatched into the waste-bin of failed mid-east policy.

No single appointment could bring more political and diplomatic damage to President Trump”s policy and diplomatic agenda around Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Saudi-Arabia, Libya and Syria than putting Anne Patterson into a leadership and policy role in the current defense department.   Good grief, what the heck is Mattis thinking?

(Via Washington Free Beacon) Opposition is mounting on Capitol Hill and in conservative foreign policy circles over Defense Secretary James Mattis’s efforts to hire a former Obama administration official who lobbied in favor of engagement with the Muslim Brotherhood and spearheaded efforts to criticize Israeli counter-terrorism efforts, according to multiple sources close to the Trump administration.

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The level of absurdity from the official media channel of the U.S. Department of State, CNN, is reaching new levels of Tokyo Rose disinformation and propaganda.

♦ ‘President Trump’s temporary pause and reassessment of visa approvals, combined with the implementation of “extreme vetting” will make our mid-east allies unhappy’… they say.

♦ ‘President Trump’s request for a reevaluation of our relationship and structure with NATO will make our European allies unhappy’…. they say.

Let’s think about this factually and logically.  Who are these “mid-east allies” who would be upset?  Seriously, think about it.
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For a select group of dedicated people today marks a moment on a specific timeline over seven years long.

2008 and 2009 were tough years for advocates of small government and constitutional freedom.  The Auto-bailout, TARP, Omnibus and a trillion dollar “stimulus” signaled fiscal irresponsibility toward many; but a small group understood the larger issues which would tear apart a constitutional republic.  We connected, and more importantly, we assembled.
After another defeat at 1:38am on December 23rd 2009, we knew our heels were over the precipice of the abyss.  Act, or be acted upon.
Within four days the urgent message was transmitted though every possible resource that we could muster.
Meeting at the old mill, we rode that night, December 27th 2009, with urgency.  Our destination was Wrentham Massachusetts.
Three intense weeks and thousands of like-minded supporter notifications later, we finally had a win.  Ted Kennedy’s people’s seat was secured at least temporarily.  This was battlefield triage; everyone, every-darned-person was clear-eyed that Scott Brown was only buying us time to catch our breath….. Again, unfortunately, we were right. (more…)

According to an updated statement from the 41st president’s office that spokesman Jim McGrath posted on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon, Bush was admitted to the intensive care unit at the hospital “to address an acute respiratory problem stemming from pneumonia.”
The statement also said that Barbara Bush, 91, was admitted to the same hospital Wednesday morning “as a precaution after experiencing fatigue and coughing.”
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