Jeremiah Babe, 5/28/26
"The Next Big Crash Is Lurking
And It's Going To Get Nasty"
Comments here:
So, we rise from the rubble...
StatCounter
Thursday, May 28, 2026
Musical Interlude: Il Divo, "Wicked Game" ("Melanconia")
Full screen recommended.
Il Divo, "Wicked Game" ("Melanconia")
(Live In London 2011)
Il Divo, "Wicked Game" ("Melanconia")
English lyrics:
"The world was on fire and no one could save me but you,
It's strange what desire will make foolish people do.
I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you,
I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you.
No, I don't want to fall in love,
[This world is only gonna break your heart.]
No, I don't want to fall in love,
[This world is only gonna break your heart.]
With you,
With you.
What a wicked game to play,
To make me feel this way.
What a wicked thing to do
To let me dream of you.
What a wicked thing to say,
You never felt this way.
What a wicked thing to do
To make me dream of you!
And I don't want to fall in love,
[This world is only gonna break your heart.]
No I don't want to fall in love,
[This world is only gonna break your heart.]
With you.
The world was on fire and no one could save me but you.
It's strange what desire will make foolish people do.
I never dreamed that I'd love somebody like you,
I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you.
No I don't want to fall in love,
[This world is only gonna break your heart.]
No I don't want to fall in love,
[This world is only gonna break your heart.]
With you,
With you.
Nobody loves no one..."
"A Look to the Heavens"
Full screen recommended.
"Deep Field, The Impossible Magnitude Of Our Universe"
"Eric Whitacre's "Deep Field: The Impossible Magnitude of our Universe" is a unique film and musical experience inspired by one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time: the Hubble Telescope's Deep Field image."
o
"Gerald Celente, Iran War Spreading Economic Misery Across the Globe"
Strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, 5/28/26
"Iran War Spreading Economic
Misery Across the Globe"
"In this Trends in the News broadcast, Gerald Celente breaks down the escalating Iran War and the devastating economic fallout spreading across the globe. From surging energy costs and market volatility to collapsing currencies and rising inflation, the consequences are rippling through every sector. The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present Facts and Truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for What's Next in these increasingly turbulent times."
Comments here:
"Moscow Metro: The Best Metro Line in the World"
Incredible what a sane, civilized society can achieve....
Full screen recommended.
Travelling with Russell,
"Moscow Metro:
The Best Metro Line in the World"
Let's discover what the Moscow Metro looks like. Having just opened 3 brand new stations days ago. The new line consists of 7 new stations opened within the last 4 months. Discover with amazement just how complex the Moscow Metro really is.
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Window to Nightlife
"I Went Down to the Moscow Metro
At Night And This Is What I Saw! Real Russia!"
Big Circle Metro Line was opened in Moscow, Russia. BKL (Big Circle Metro) became the longest circular metro line in the world! Experience the beauty of the Moscow Metro at night in this video! Explore the top 9 Moscow Metro stations and see the stunning architecture and history of this iconic underground system in Russia.
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Window to Moscow,
"What Skyscrapers Look Like
In Moscow, Russia!"
In this video I will show you 8 skyscrapers +
Palace of Soviets in Moscow, Russia.
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Travelling with Russell,
"Moscow Metro:
Travelling From Moscow City to Vnukovo Airport"
Just like where you live, right, Good Citizen?
I'm absolutely astonished, speechless...Comments?
Travelling with Russell,
"Moscow Metro:
Travelling From Moscow City to Vnukovo Airport"
The first airport in Russia with a Metro Station opened recently connecting Moscow City with Vnukovo Airport. Concidered Impossible, the Kalininsko-Solntsevskaya line of the Moscow Metro is the first Metro line in Russia to take you directly to Vnukovo Airport.
Comments here:
- https://www.youtube.com/Just like where you live, right, Good Citizen?
I'm absolutely astonished, speechless...Comments?
"15 Minutes Of What’s Coming To America And Why It’s Getting Worse"
Full screen recommended.
Epic Economist, 5/28/26
"15 Minutes Of What’s Coming To
America And Why It’s Getting Worse"
"Gas prices, grocery bills, hygiene products, and credit card statements are pushing everyday Americans to the edge, and you're about to hear them vent about it in their own words. This compilation pulls together TikTok creators reacting to the rising cost of filling up a tank, the shock of a $73 basic grocery run, the absurdity of $12 soap, and the quiet panic of looking at a bank account and wondering where it all went. If your wallet feels lighter every week, you're not alone.If this hit close to home, hit subscribe and drop a comment about the one item that shocked you most at the register this month. Share the video with a friend who keeps texting you screenshots of their gas pump total. New compilations on the cost of living drop every week, so turn on notifications. This video covers rising gas prices, grocery inflation, Costco hauls, credit card debt, budgeting struggles, the cost of hygiene products, and how American families are reacting to the price of everything in 2026 and beyond."
Comments here:
"Nobody Is Ready For What Happens When Gas Hits $12 This Summer"
Full screen recommended.
Finance Economist, 5/28/26
"Nobody Is Ready For What Happens
When Gas Hits $12 This Summer"
"A trucker’s pump hit $999.99 and shut off before his tank was full. He’s now losing money on every mile. Chicago diesel hit a record $6.30 five days ago. School districts need $1.8 billion they don’t have to keep buses running. 1,862 bus routes didn’t run in one Louisiana parish in a single month. Louisiana’s shrimpers fear a summer collapse. Fire departments are rationing diesel. And the EIA says global inventories are falling by 8.5 million barrels per day. At $12 gas, your groceries double, your pharmacy thins, your school bus stops, and 40% of Americans can’t afford to drive to work. You have 30 days."
Comments here:
o
"Here We Are..."
"Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment.
There is no why."
- Kurt Vonnegut
○
But perhaps there's something that transcends "no why..."
"If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering. The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity - even under the most difficult circumstances - to add a deeper meaning to his life. It may remain brave, dignified and unselfish. Or in the bitter fight for self-preservation he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal. Here lies the chance for a man either to make use of or to forgo the opportunities of attaining the moral values that a difficult situation may afford him. And this decides whether he is worthy of his sufferings or not."
- Viktor Frankl
Native Elder, "Truths About Loneliness Nobody Talks About"
Full screen recommended.
Native Elder,
"Truths About Loneliness Nobody Talks About"
Delta Blues Brother, "Borrowed Time"
Delta Blues Brother, "Borrowed Time"
"Most people live like tomorrow belongs to them. Like there’ll always be more time. More chances. More years. Then one day life reminds you: none of this was ever permanent. “Borrowed Time” is a cinematic Delta blues meditation about mortality, gratitude, aging, and the strange peace that comes from finally understanding how temporary everything truly is. The resonator guitar drifts slow and smoky through the song like headlights crossing an empty highway after midnight. The harmonica sighs softly between verses like an old soul making peace with time itself. The groove stays patient, reflective, deeply human… like somebody finally learning how precious ordinary moments really are. This ain’t blues about fear of death. It’s blues about finally noticing life."
The Poet: e. e. cummings, "Humanity I Love You"
"Humanity i love you because when you’re hard
up you pawn your intelligence to buy a drink..."
"Humanity I Love You"
"Humanity i love you
because you would rather black the boots of
success than enquire whose soul dangles from his
watch-chain which would be embarrassing for both
parties and because you
unflinchingly applaud all
songs containing the words country home and
mother when sung at the old howard
Humanity i love you because
when you’re hard up you pawn your
intelligence to buy a drink and when
you’re flush pride keeps
you from the pawn shop and
because you are continually committing
nuisances but more
especially in your own house
Humanity i love you because you
are perpetually putting the secret of
life in your pants and forgetting
it’s there and sitting down on it
and because you are
forever making poems in the lap
of death
Humanity, i hate you"
- e. e. cummings
Bill Bonner, "A New Range War"
"A New Range War"
by Bill Bonner
Gualfin, Argentina - “How could we only get three calves from 30 cows” was the lead question. “Who stole our calves” was the follow-up. We left the relative calm and comfort of our house in San Martin, along the river, to visit the ranch up in the mountains. The two properties are contiguous, but it takes an hour and a half on a windy dirt road to get from one to another.
While the ranch is the more majestic and perhaps more romantic place, suitable for a Zane Grey western, we spend little time there. Over the twenty years since we bought the place, much has changed - including us. The ranch house is at 9,000 feet elevation with spectacular views out across the Gualfin Valley. This was no problem when we were in our 50s...and even in our 60s...but in our 70s, we no longer take oxygen for granted. During the day, we breathe hard and get along. But at night, without an oxygen tank, we gasp and stay awake.
It is late autumn at the ranch. The nights are clear and cold. Days are warm and sunlit. The alamos (cottonwood) trees have already lost their leaves, making the views even more starkly impressive.
Yesterday, we saddled up and rode over to meet the new school headmaster. It is a public school set up on the ranch, bare, charmless and unheated. Many of the students live so far up in the mountains that they have to stay all week in the school and go home on weekends. The teachers live in the school too and usually only last a year or two before they go mad from the solitude and frustration. It is not an easy place to teach. The new headmaster, a handsome man in his 40s, gave us the low-down.
“I never imagined it would be so hard. The children come from such rough backgrounds; they are just not accustomed to sit still. They have TV at home now...but no books. And the Spanish they speak is barely recognizable. They tell me what is going on at home...which is often shocking.
You may know this already but there is a kind of range war going on. Three families have accused each other of rustling cattle. One man [we recognized the name as one of the ‘Originario’ trouble makers] punched a young man from another branch of the same family...and threatened to kill him. And then Ivan was accused of threatening to kill someone in a different family. [Ivan is the man who was arrested after his infant son was found dead outside his house; giving him the benefit of the doubt, our lawyer helped get him released for lack of evidence.] It was all a terrible mess. The police came up, but couldn’t do anything. And the children stopped coming to school, because the families were at war with each other.
The latest thing is that several people accused Ivan of mutilating their horses...cutting their mouths so they couldn’t take a bit. They said he mutilated one of your bulls, too. They say, too, that he was the one who tore up your water pipes and burned down your cabins. But, again, there is no way to prove anything. And since the families are at war, you don’t know what to believe. “I just feel sorry for the children.”
In the dusty courtyard, two children sat idly. While most of the them had gone home, these two remained. It turned out that they were Ivan’s children. “Hello,” we went over and greeted them. The little boy’s face was blank. But the little girl scowled. “She’s probably been taught that she shouldn’t be nice to white people...and certainly not to the ranch owners,” the teacher explained.
Leaving him with assurances that in the fight against ignorance and barbarism we stood shoulder to shoulder with the church, the state, the police, the other landowners and God Himself, we took our leave and headed up the river.
This time of year, there is still a little trickle in the ‘rio’ but most of the water has been shunted into one of our irrigation canals to water the remaining hay. It won’t be long before that water too shrinks to a drip. Then, the cows will eat what grass is left.
“How long do you think that will last,” we asked the foreman...a strong, middle-aged man who speaks in the local idiom, almost unintelligible to outsiders. “Until about August,” we made out. “Then, we’ll bring the round bales up from the valley to keep the cows alive until the rains come in November or December.” One year, we recalled, the rains didn’t come. The situation grew desperate. We had to drive the cattle over a mountain on a rugged trail to another property. Several, weak from hunger, died along the way.
We followed the river bed on horseback, enjoying the views and the leisurely pace. We were mounted on Bayo, a horse that has grown old along with us in the 20 years we’ve been coming here. We give him a happy pat when we see him. “Hi there, ol’ pard,” we say, quoting something we imagine is in Zane Grey’s novels...and summoning a spirit of complicity, if not solidarity, between man and beast. But we know what Bayo must be thinking: “If we’re such ‘pards,’ how come you’re always on top?” Bayo knows us well; we know him. We have a tacit deal. Neither rider nor horse pushes too hard. Bayo plods along, reliably and steadily; we don’t complain.
We had been headed upriver for about an hour when we spotted a herd of goats. Frequent, but not acceptable. The riverbed grass is reserved for the cows. These goats were trespassing. The goatherd appeared a few minutes later. He is the brother of the woman we were going to see. Marchela lives in an adobe shack on a promontory overlooking the river. She takes care of her mother, said to be over 100 years old. The brother was just visiting.
We explained that the goats were meant to stay on the high ground. “But your fence has fallen down,” he protested. We didn’t doubt it. Instead, we were surprised that there was a fence. This was mostly open range. The fences - stone and/or wire - were relics of an earlier era, long before we came. That any were still standing was almost miraculous. And today, the rule - as we understand it - is that the goatherd is supposed to keep his goats out of the riverbed.
The custom is to punish the goatherd for trespassing by taking one of his kid goats for a stew. Since the family has far more goats than they need, or probably want, this is not much of a penalty. But it is usually not imposed anyway.
After straightening out the goatherd we proceeded to the goats’ owner - the aforementioned Marchela. We rode along the river bank and then up a narrow trail to a collection of adobe shacks with plastic covering their roofs. Out of a doorway, with an old door of cactus wood, held together by cowhide strips, came a rather non-descript woman in the middle of her life. Plump, but not fat. Swarthy, not black. Friendly, but not really warm, she greeted us with a wary smile. We made introductions (though we had met years ago) and chatted awhile. Then, we got down to business. She sells goat cheese and her own bread. We paid her 14,000 pesos - about $10 - for two sacks, one of cheese, the other of bread. “Prices have gone up,” said our son-in-law, a regular customer.
We took a different trail on the way back. It led along the main irrigation ditch. Lombardy poplars had been planted by the ditch, again, long before we arrived. In other parts of the farm - notably where we have vineyards - we now use plastic pipes to deliver water. The irrigation ditches have been left to dry out, with the unfortunate consequence that the trees that once drew life-giving water from them are now dying.
“One of the things that bothered me about this place when we first got here,” Elizabeth remarked, “was that the landscape was always changing. Rocks fall off the mountainsides. After ever major rain, sand and dirt gets wash down these rivers. In the summer it’s green and almost lush. But in winter it’s bone dry, withered up, and looks like it couldn’t support a single plant, let alone human life.” But the lombardy poplars, molles, arkas, and algorrobas here were healthy. The ‘acequia’ (the irrigation ditch) was still in use.
As we were riding along, a quail darted across the path. Ramona, a small terrier that had been in the saddle with our daughter, suddenly jumped down and gave chase. She ran under the sagebrush...jumped the gullies...and switched back on the switch backs until she was out of breath. But the quail got away. Ramona scampered back to our daughter’s horse...whimpering, until she was picked up again."
"What Will Happen If The American Empire Collapses?"
Full screen recommended.
Finance Economist, 5/28/26
"What Will Happen If The American Empire Collapses?"
"Project Syndicate: “American hegemony is collapsing before our eyes.” Financial Times: “The era of US dominance is over.” The Guardian compared the Iran war to the moment that killed the British Empire. When Britain’s empire ended, the pound was devalued, prices surged, and an entire generation experienced downward mobility. When the Soviet empire ended, male life expectancy dropped 7 years and the middle class was erased overnight. This video is about what happens to YOUR mortgage, YOUR groceries, YOUR gas, YOUR salary, and YOUR kids’ future when the American Empire ends. And what to do about it before it’s too late."
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"You Have No Idea How Many Americans Have Already Tapped Out"
Full screen recommended.
Across The States, 5/28/26
"You Have No Idea How Many
Americans Have Already Tapped Out"
"Millions of Americans are quietly checking out in 2026 - not just from jobs, but from the future itself. This video breaks down the hidden collapse happening beneath the surface of the economy: discouraged workers, rising burnout, isolation, debt, political distrust, and the growing feeling that hard work no longer leads anywhere. What most people don’t realize is the official numbers only tell part of the story. While unemployment looks stable, millions have stopped searching entirely. Workers are exhausted, young people are disconnecting, and entire communities are fading without anyone openly talking about it. We also explore why trust in institutions is collapsing, why so many people feel financially trapped despite working harder than ever, and how loneliness, stress, and economic pressure are becoming deeply connected. If life lately has felt heavier, uncertain, or harder to believe in - this conversation will probably feel very familiar."
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Adventures With Danno, "Kroger Sales Not Impressive"
Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 5/28/26
"Kroger Sales Not Impressive"
Comments here:
Dan, I Allegedly, "Banks Are Literally Giving Away Money"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, 5/28/26
"Banks Are Literally Giving Away Money"
"Banks across America are suddenly paying people hundreds - even thousands - of dollars just to open a checking or savings account. In this video, I break down the biggest bank bonuses available right now from Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank, US Bank, Capital One, SoFi, PNC and more. Some banks are offering up to $3,000 cash bonuses simply for moving money, setting up direct deposit, or opening new accounts. The big question is: why are banks suddenly so desperate for deposits and new customers? We also cover the hidden catches nobody talks about - including IRS tax rules, 1099 forms, direct deposit requirements, minimum balances, and how banks are making money off consumers behind the scenes. This is a real look at the banking system, consumer debt, personal finance, interest rates, economic pressure, and why financial institutions are suddenly acting like they’re in survival mode. If you want to save money, make extra cash, understand banking incentives, and stay ahead of the economy in 2026, this video is for you."
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"99 Percent Of CEOs Are Planning AI Job Cuts, And The Gap Between The Rich And The Poor Just Continues To Explode"
by Michael Snyder
"Our economy is being transformed at a faster pace than we have ever experienced before. Thanks to giant leaps in the field of artificial intelligence, human labor is not as valuable as it once was. All over the world, millions of human workers are being replaced and that trend is only going to accelerate. For those that have already retired or are on the verge of retirement, this isn’t that big of a deal. But for younger workers, this is absolutely terrifying. There is no loyalty in corporate America today. The moment that AI can do your job more efficiently than you can, you could be out the door. This is already happening at some of the biggest companies in the entire country. Good paying jobs are evaporating all around us, and as a result the gap between the wealthy and the rest of us is absolutely exploding.
I knew that the employment marketplace was changing really fast, but the results of a brand new survey that was just released still completely shocked me. According to that survey, 99 percent of corporate executives are planning AI-related job cuts within the next 2 years…
"A new study from consulting firm Mercer finds that virtually every employer is planning to cut jobs due to the technology (2). The 2026 Global Talent Trends report spoke with 825 C-suite leaders, along with 1,650 HR leaders, and a jaw-dropping 99% of the executives surveyed said they expect AI to lead to at least some headcount reduction in the next two years. Nearly as many (98%) said they are also planning organization design changes in that same time period.
Meanwhile, just 32% of the CEOs surveyed said they believed the workforce can combine both human and machine worker capabilities in an optimal manner, despite just under two-thirds saying they felt that redesigning work to incorporate automation will drive the greatest return on investment."
If your job does not require much thinking or creativity, your job is potentially in danger. Just look at what is happening at Meta. 1,400 highly paid workers in Washington state are about to get the axe…"Meta’s artificial intelligence overhaul is now hitting one of the country’s largest tech corridors, with the Facebook parent company preparing to cut nearly 1,400 workers across Washington state.
New filings submitted to Washington state officials show Meta will begin terminating employees in Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond and remote positions starting July 22 as the company restructures operations around AI initiatives. The filings provide one of the clearest looks yet at how Meta’s broader workforce overhaul is affecting employees on the ground after the company announced plans last week to eliminate roughly 10% of its workforce while shifting thousands of workers into AI-focused roles."
Sadly, it isn’t just workers in Washington state that will be affected by the “artificial intelligence overhaul” that they have planned. Overall, Meta is letting approximately 8,000 workers go in this latest round of layoffs…"Welcome to another day of corporate America hemorrhaging engineers and other white-collar workers with insurmountable student debt as AI adoption accelerates. This era will likely be remembered in history as the great “white-collar purge,” and the response will be continued hatred of data centers.
We’ve been covering for weeks that today is D-Day for Meta Platforms employees, who have finally learned their employment fate at the company that owns Facebook and Instagram. Bloomberg reports that the new round of layoffs affects roughly 8,000 roles globally, with engineering and product teams expected to be at the center of the cuts as CEO Mark Zuckerberg reduces labor in favor of GPUs."
In this environment, it doesn’t matter how hard you work or how much you have sacrificed for the company. If those at the top think that they can make more money by squeezing you out, you will be gone.
PayPal is making plenty of money, but they are apparently looking at cutting one-fifth of their entire workforce…"PayPal is reportedly weighing cuts of up to 20% of its workforce as the payments giant ramps up cost-cutting efforts under new leadership. The potential layoffs come as PayPal faces mounting pressure on profitability despite continued revenue growth."
Who is going to step up to replace the six figure jobs that are being lost? Needless to say, the truth is that most of the good jobs that are disappearing are never going to be replaced, and that is just going to make the gap between the rich and the poor even worse. Today we are living in a K-shaped economy, and even the Federal Reserve is admitting that this has resulted in “a remarkable increase in food insecurity”…
"The so-called K-shaped economy is now linked to “a remarkable increase in food insecurity,” according to a new blog post by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Large segments of the population are facing high levels of financial strain, according to a post published on Wednesday, based on data from the Survey of Consumer Expectations.
Among this group, lower- and middle-income households have been hardest hit by prolonged inflation. A greater share of their spending is allocated to goods that have seen prices soar since the pandemic, such as housing, food and utilities, causing them to cut back on groceries, the researchers found. In this environment, tens of millions of Americans are skipping meals on a regular basis because they simply do not have enough money for groceries."
So if you always have plenty of food to eat, you should count your blessings. In general, those over the age of 45 are doing fairly well. But those that are age 45 or younger control just 11 percent of the nation’s wealth…To paraphrase the late jazzman Mose Allison, young Americans ain’t got nothing in the world these days. Americans ages 45 and under control only 11% of the nation’s wealth, according to household data from the Federal Reserve. In other words, nine-tenths of America’s assets belong to the older half of America. People ages 45 and over make up about 42% of the nation’s population, and about 54% of the adults.
I was stunned when I saw those numbers. There is a reason why Americans have never felt as bad about the U.S. economy as they do right now. Mass layoffs are being conducted all over the country and the cost of virtually everything just keeps going up.
Thanks to the crisis in the Middle East, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States has now reached $4.46…Now, gasoline prices are also dragging down the lower prong of the K. The national average gasoline price reached $4.46 a gallon as of Wednesday, up about 40% from a year ago, according to AAA. If the crisis in the Middle East is not resolved soon, things will get a lot worse.
And that is really bad news for people like 57-year-old Kris Massey that are barely scraping by each month…Kris Massey stood at a jeweler’s counter last month, hoping to sell a couple of her grandmother’s gifted pieces to possibly cover some bills. Even though Massey, a 57-year-old nurse practitioner, makes six figures a year, her financial situation has grown untenable. Years of fast-rising prices and a recent monthslong bout of unemployment had taken their toll. She worked two jobs from 2012 to 2023, but a second job is not an option after an extensive back surgery. Her retirement was drained when she was out of work. “I’m just trying to hang on,” she told CNN.
Can you imagine selling off your prize possessions just so that you can make it through another month? This is the reality that we live in now.
For 51-year-old Bill Brantner, any extra spending at all has become a thing of the past… For Brantner, there’s absolutely no wiggle room now. There’s no discretionary spending – no movies, no restaurants, no driving around town, no new clothes, no new shoes; his coffee is whatever’s available in the breakroom; his bumper is strapped on with Gorilla Tape. “If I sign a lease again, and they raise my rent again, I can’t do it; if they raise my insurance premiums again, I can’t do it,” Brantner said. “They have squeezed every drop of blood that there is to be squeezed out of this stone.” Come next May, if his rent is hiked for a fifth consecutive year, he might have to resort to living in his car outside of Colorado Springs city limits, where sleeping in a vehicle isn’t illegal.
The U.S. economy has been in a state of decline for decades. For a long time, our leaders tried to hide what was happening, but now the truth is becoming apparent to everyone. Those at the very top of the economic pyramid are still thriving, but virtually everyone else is really struggling. The middle class is being systematically dismantled and the ranks of the poor are rapidly growing. I have been warning about all of this since the early days of the Obama administration, and now a time of reckoning is at hand."
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"There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize. There is a failure here that topples all our success."
“And the great owners, who must lose their land in an upheaval, the great owners with access to history, with eyes to read history and to know the great fact: when property accumulates in too few hands it is taken away. And that companion fact: when a majority of the people are hungry and cold they will take by force what they need. And the little screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed. The great owners ignored the three cries of history. The land fell into fewer hands, the number of the dispossessed increased, and every effort of the great owners was directed at repression. The money was spent for arms, for gas to protect the great holdings, and spies were sent to catch the murmuring of revolt so that it might be stamped out. The changing economy was ignored, plans for the change ignored; and only means to destroy revolt were considered, while the causes of revolt went on.”
“...and in the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.”
- John Steinbeck, "The Grapes Of Wrath"
Freely Download "The Grapes Of Wrath", by John Steinbeck, here:
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
"Government Spies On You, No Balance Between Security And Libery"
Celente And The Judge, 5/27/26
"Government Spies On You,
No Balance Between Security And Libery"
"Gerald Celente and Judge Andrew Napolitano break down how government spying is expanding, why the balance between security and liberty is collapsing - and what it means for your future. They also dive into the escalating wars in Ukraine and Iran, revealing the geopolitical and economic fallout driving global instability. The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present Facts and Truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for What's Next in these increasingly turbulent times."
Comments here:
"A Look to the Heavens"
“What powers are being wielded in the Wizard Nebula? Gravitation strong enough to form stars, and stellar winds and radiations powerful enough to create and dissolve towers of gas. Located only 8,000 light years away, the Wizard nebula, pictured below, surrounds developing open star cluster NGC 7380. Visually, the interplay of stars, gas, and dust has created a shape that appears to some like a fictional medieval sorcerer.
The active star forming region spans 100 about light years, making it appear larger than the angular extent of the Moon. The Wizard Nebula can be located with a small telescope toward the constellation of the King of Aethiopia (Cepheus) Although the nebula may last only a few million years, some of the stars being formed may outlive our Sun.”
"We Owe That To Ourselves..."
“In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile - and the rest of us are f****d until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. We owe that to ourselves and our crippled self-image as something better than a nation of panicked sheep.”
- Hunter S. Thompson, “The Great Shark Hunt”
"The Permanent War Government: Who’s Really Calling the Shots in Washington?"
"The Permanent War Government:
Who’s Really Calling the Shots in Washington?"
By John & Nisha Whitehead
“You want to defend the United States of America, then defend it with the tools it supplies you with - its Constitution. You ask for a mandate, General, from a ballot box. You don’t steal it after midnight, when the country has it's back turned.” - "Seven Days in May" (1964)
"Who is actually running the government? That is no longer a rhetorical question. As America’s war with Iran lurches from escalation to ceasefire to renewed threats of military force, Americans are being asked to trust that someone, somewhere, knows what they are doing. But who? The president who boasts one moment of imminent peace and threatens the next to “finish the job”? The Pentagon officials who insist the war is going according to plan? The vice president who has reportedly questioned whether the Defense Department is giving the president the full picture? The intelligence agencies, defense contractors, war planners, foreign allies, billionaire donors, political handlers and unelected power brokers who operate behind the curtain?
This is the constitutional crisis hiding in plain sight. The question is not merely whether Donald Trump is fit to lead. The question is whether any president still leads in any meaningful constitutional sense once the permanent war government gets moving.
That war government - the military industrial complex, the intelligence apparatus, the surveillance state, the federal police bureaucracy, the defense contractors, the private-sector profiteers and the unelected functionaries who keep the machinery running - does not need tanks in the streets to take over. It already has the budgets, the weapons, the secrecy, the technology, the classified briefings, the emergency powers, the corporate partners and the political class in its pocket. All it needs is for the American people to keep believing the fiction that elections alone are enough to keep tyranny in check. They are not.
The Constitution was supposed to keep power on a short leash. Congress was supposed to declare war, control the purse strings, restrain the executive and answer to the people. The president was supposed to execute the laws, not rule by decree, wage undeclared wars, or serve as front man for an empire. The courts were supposed to serve as a check against government abuse, not rubber-stamp the national security state’s worst excesses. Instead, we have inherited a government of permanent war, permanent surveillance, permanent emergency, permanent secrecy and permanent power. Call it the Deep State. Call it the Police State. Call it the Military Industrial Complex. Call it the Techno-Corporate State. Call it the Surveillance State.
Whatever name you give it, the result is the same: a government that keeps expanding no matter who occupies the White House, no matter which party controls Congress, and no matter what the people actually want.
This is bigger than Trump. Trump may be reckless, transactional, vindictive, distracted, authoritarian in impulse and dangerously unfit for the powers he wields. But the machinery now surrounding him did not begin with him and will not end with him. Every modern president has inherited the same war powers, the same secret agencies, the same emergency apparatus, the same surveillance systems, the same defense contractors, the same militarized police forces, and the same bipartisan addiction to power without accountability.
Trump didn’t create the permanent war government. He inherited it, fed it, enlarged it, weaponized it and, like every president before him, became its salesman. The Iran war is merely the latest test case.
We are told the president is in command. We are told the Pentagon has the situation under control. We are told American weapons stockpiles are strong, the strategy is working, victory is near, diplomacy is proceeding, and the next escalation - if it comes - will be necessary. Yet the reporting suggests something far more troubling: confusion, competing narratives, disputed assessments, growing concerns about depleted missile stockpiles, and possible gaps between what military officials are saying publicly and what political leaders privately fear.
According to Reuters, Trump insists that the U.S. is still not satisfied with the terms of a possible Iran deal and is not considering easing sanctions. He also reportedly threatened to blow up Oman if they did not cooperate over the Strait of Hormuz.
The Associated Press reports that a new analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies warns the U.S. could need years to replenish key advanced weapons stockpiles depleted by the Iran war, including Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot and THAAD interceptors. And The Atlantic reported that Vice President J.D. Vance has repeatedly questioned the Defense Department’s depiction of the Iran war and whether the Pentagon has understated the depletion of U.S. missile stockpiles.
Read between the lines. If the president is not getting the full picture from his own Pentagon, then who is really making the decisions? If the Pentagon is shaping the narrative to tell the president what he wants to hear, then what remains of civilian control? If the war machine keeps moving even when the public cannot tell who is steering it, then what remains of constitutional government?
This is the nightmare Rod Serling warned about in "Seven Days in May." Released in 1964, "Seven Days in May" imagined a dramatic military coup: generals plotting in secret to overthrow an unpopular president because they believed they knew better than the American people what was best for the nation.
The premise is straightforward enough: With the Cold War at its height, President Jordan Lyman signs a nuclear disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union. General James Mattoon Scott, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, believes the treaty leaves the United States vulnerable. Convinced that the president is weak and the people are blind, Scott plots a military takeover of the government. The coup is eventually foiled. The republic is saved. The Constitution survives. At least on screen.
In the real world, the plot has thickened and spread out over decades. The old fear was that the military might seize power from the civilian government. The modern reality is that the permanent government does not need to seize power. It already has it.
The coup no longer requires generals in smoke-filled rooms plotting to overthrow the president at midnight. It does not require tanks on Pennsylvania Avenue or soldiers storming the Capitol. It does not even require an official suspension of the Constitution. All it requires is secrecy, fear, endless war, executive power, emergency declarations, classified intelligence, compliant courts, cowardly legislators, corporate profiteers, militarized police, and a public too distracted, exhausted or frightened to resist.
That coup has been underway for decades. It is the coup that occurs when Congress surrenders its war powers to the president. It is the coup that occurs when presidents of both parties wage war without meaningful constitutional authorization. It is the coup that occurs when intelligence agencies spy on the American people and then hide behind national security.
It is the coup that occurs when federal agencies arm themselves like military units. It is the coup that occurs when local police are transformed into extensions of the military. It is the coup that occurs when whistleblowers are punished, dissenters are surveilled, protesters are treated like enemies, and the public is told to trust whatever version of events the government chooses to release. It is the coup that occurs when unelected bureaucrats, contractors, data brokers, intelligence analysts, defense executives and crisis managers exercise more practical control over government policy than the voters do. This is how freedom disappears: not all at once, not in one dramatic seizure of power, but incrementally, bureaucratically, profitably and in the name of national security.
Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about this in 1961. A five-star general who understood war better than most modern politicians ever will, Eisenhower cautioned Americans to “guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex.” The danger, he warned, was that “misplaced power” would endanger liberty and democratic processes. He was right.
The military industrial complex has become one of the most powerful governing forces in America. It consumes trillions of dollars. It shapes foreign policy. It drives domestic policing. It fuels surveillance. It manufactures enemies. It feeds off fear. It rewards failure. It profits from war whether the wars are won, lost or simply kept going forever. War is no longer merely a policy choice. It is an economy. It is a governing philosophy. It is a way of life.
The permanent war government needs enemies the way a furnace needs fuel. If there are no enemies abroad, it finds them at home. If there is no declared war, it invents undeclared conflicts. If the public grows weary of one threat, it introduces another.
Terrorists. Extremists. Immigrants. Protesters. Hackers. Drug dealers. Foreign powers. Domestic radicals. Enemies of the people. Threats to democracy. Threats to order. Threats to national security. The names change. The machinery remains the same. Once the government convinces the public that it is surrounded by enemies, almost anything can be justified: surveillance, censorship, raids, checkpoints, databases, militarized policing, secret courts, indefinite detention, asset forfeiture, no-knock warrants, drone warfare, emergency powers and more war.
This is how a constitutional republic gets converted into a battlefield. The battlefield is not just Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Ukraine or whatever foreign conflict is next on the docket. The battlefield is also Main Street. It is the protest zone. The airport. The school. The public square. The church. The campus. The internet. The courthouse. The traffic stop. The home.
The war comes home because the war machine must keep moving. That is why local police now look like occupying armies. That is why federal agents are armed to the teeth. That is why surveillance cameras, drones, license plate readers, fusion centers, biometric databases, AI tracking systems and predictive policing programs have become routine features of American life.
The government has spent decades training Americans to accept the architecture of martial law as the price of safety. First, it sells the public on the threat. Then it sells the public on the solution. Then it makes the solution permanent.
This is not a left-right problem. Both parties built this. Republicans and Democrats alike have funded the wars, renewed the surveillance powers, armed the police, expanded executive authority, protected intelligence agencies, rewarded defense contractors, and treated the Constitution as an inconvenience whenever fear could be used to silence dissent.
One president abuses power. The next one inherits it. The next one expands it. The next one normalizes it. The next one weaponizes it. This is how emergency powers become everyday powers. This is how temporary measures become permanent law. This is how the president becomes a king in all but name. And this is how the people become spectators in their own government.
The genius of "Seven Days in May" was that it understood the temptation of power. General Scott believed he was saving the country. He believed the people were too weak, too foolish or too uninformed to govern themselves. He believed the Constitution was expendable if national security demanded it.
That is always the excuse. The tyrant always claims to be saving the country. The general always claims to be protecting the people. The bureaucrat always claims to be following procedure. The president always claims to be acting in the national interest.The police state always claims to be keeping us safe.
But the Constitution does not exist for easy times. It exists for moments of crisis, fear, panic, uncertainty and war. It exists precisely because government officials cannot be trusted to restrain themselves when power is on the line.
That is why the founders divided power. That is why Congress was given the power to declare war. That is why the Fourth Amendment restrains searches and seizures. That is why the First Amendment protects speech, dissent, assembly and the press. That is why due process exists. That is why civilian control of the military matters.
That is why secret government is incompatible with self-government. A people cannot remain free if they do not know what is being done in their name. A people cannot control a government they are not allowed to see. A people cannot restrain a war machine whose decisions are hidden behind classified briefings, private contracts, executive privilege and national security claims. A people cannot be sovereign if the most consequential decisions - war, peace, surveillance, policing, spending and the use of force - are made by unelected power centers beyond their reach.
That is not a republic. That is managed democracy with a military chain of command. The Founders did not trust standing armies. They did not trust concentrated power. They did not trust executives who could wage war without the consent of the people’s representatives. They understood that liberty cannot survive when the machinery of force is allowed to operate without meaningful restraint.
Yet that is exactly where we are. We have allowed the government to wage war without declarations of war. We have allowed intelligence agencies to operate behind walls of secrecy. We have allowed presidents to rule by executive order. We have allowed Congress to become a spectator. We have allowed the courts to defer to national security. We have allowed police to become soldiers. We have allowed corporations to profit from fear.
We have allowed unelected officials to make decisions that alter the course of the nation. And then we act surprised when no one seems to know who is actually in charge. The answer is as obvious as it is disturbing. The permanent war government is in charge. The machinery is in charge. The system is in charge.
The president may bark orders, give speeches, post threats, stage photo ops, hold rallies, sign directives and claim victory. But behind him stands an entrenched apparatus of power that survives every election, outlasts every scandal, feeds off every crisis and answers to no one in any meaningful way.
This is the coup that does not end. It is the coup that hides in budgets, briefings, contracts, classified memos, emergency powers, fusion centers, surveillance systems and military deployments. It is the coup that does not need to overthrow the president because it can manage him, flatter him, manipulate him, brief him selectively, feed him talking points, and keep the machinery moving while he performs leadership for the cameras.
It is the coup that does not need to abolish Congress because Congress has already surrendered. It is the coup that does not need to silence the courts because too many judges have already been trained to defer. It is the coup that does not need to repeal the Constitution because the government has learned how to work around it.
This is the lesson of our age: the greatest threat to freedom is not always a madman seizing power in a single moment of crisis. Sometimes it is a bureaucracy that never sleeps, a war machine that never stops, a security state that never shrinks, and a political class that never says no.
So what do we do? We stop pretending that elections alone will save us. We stop confusing partisan victory with constitutional restoration. We stop trusting presidents to police themselves. We stop allowing Congress to hide behind fear, party loyalty and national security. We stop accepting secret government as normal. We stop treating war as inevitable. We stop allowing the government to turn every crisis into a blank check for more power.
And we start insisting, relentlessly, that those who claim to defend the United States must defend it with the tools the Constitution supplies. Not drones. Not secret memos. Not emergency decrees. Not militarized police. Not classified wars. Not surveillance dragnets. Not executive fiat. Not corporate profiteering. Not propaganda. The Constitution. If the government wants war, make Congress vote on it. If the government wants surveillance, make it get a warrant. If the government wants to police dissent, make it answer to the First Amendment.
If the government wants to spend trillions on war, make it explain why the American people are being robbed blind to enrich defense contractors. If the government wants emergency powers, make it prove the emergency and surrender the powers when the crisis passes. If the Pentagon wants to run foreign policy, remind it that in a constitutional republic, the military answers to civilian authority, and civilian authority answers to the people.
The hour is late. As "Seven Days in May" warned, you don’t steal a mandate after midnight when the country has its back turned. Unfortunately, it is long past midnight.
The question now is whether the American people will finally turn around and see what has been done in their name, with their money, against their freedoms, and under the cover of national security. The permanent war government has had its turn. It has given us endless wars, bankrupting debt, militarized police, mass surveillance, constitutional erosion, fear-driven politics, and a republic that increasingly resembles an occupied territory.
Enough. If we are to remain free, the war machine must be brought back under constitutional control. The generals, bureaucrats, contractors, intelligence agencies, police forces and presidents must all be reminded of the same truth: They do not own this country. As I make clear in my book "Battlefield America: The War on the American People" and in its fictional counterpart "The Erik Blair Diaries," they do not rule us. They work for us. And if they cannot defend America with the Constitution, then they are not defending America at all."
o
"Seven Days In May." Full free movie.
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