Saturday, January 2, 2021

"Housing Crash Is Coming! US Housing Enters 2021 In A Massive Bubble"

"Housing Crash Is Coming! 
US Housing Enters 2021 In A Massive Bubble"
by Epic Economist

"Record-high housing prices might be fueling homeowners and real estate investors hopes for brighter days in 2021, but experts are alerting that some dark clouds are ahead for the U.S. housing market. The unprecedented demand is being prompted by the growing work-from-home professional landscape and the inability to travel, which have resonated in record-high property sales, and in a significant pricing bubble that is already being registered in several major cities across the nation. 

However, the unsustainable price increase could lead to a more dramatic decline when the housing market crash happens. And in this video, we're going to show you by the charts how the U.S. housing market has entered the most splendid bubble in history, and when it bursts it could make 2021 the most devastating year to buy homes in America. 

According to the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, nationwide the prices of single-family houses climbed 8.4%, the biggest year-over-year increase since March 2014. The index is based on the “sales pairs” method, which compares the price of a property that was sold in the current month to the price of the same property when it was sold previously, going back decades. As compared to the National Association of Realtors’ house price index, which is as a function of “median prices,” prices jumped 15%. 

Amongst the main drivers for this considerable spike in prices is the reduced housing supply and the record-high demand, as well as the extension of mortgage deferral periods. By contrast, related to all the previously mentioned, high unemployment rates may reverse both elevated prices and supply shortages. At this stage of the crisis, the bleak economic outlook for the forecasted 20 million out of work Americans might force unemployed owners to sell their homes, increasing supply and keeping demand for housing down. 

But one factor that has been keeping the market afloat is the record-low interest rates since borrowing has never been so inexpensive, which of course, fuels the demand for housing by making mortgages more affordable. The Fed has been constantly handing trillions of dollars to the markets to keep rates down, ignoring the massive bubble the market has entered and the consequences of it on the debasement of the dollar's purchasing power. 

Moreover, the shift to working from home arrangements and the popular preference for homes over apartments or condo towers, as well as a dose of panic-buying have also contributed to keeping the housing market heated. As Wolf Richter reported in Wolf Street, several major U.S. cities are registering skyrocketing prices, with Los Angeles having the most splendid housing bubble of them all.

The report also highlighted that in Portland, Boston, Tampa, Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Dallas price surges in the range of 1 percent in October from September and in a 7 percent average year-over-year were also registered. In essence, as Ritcher explained in his report, the Case-Shiller index tracks the number of dollars it takes to buy the same house over time, thereby, it measured the purchasing power of the dollar in relation to houses. That's why it is considered as a form of measuring “house-price inflation". And what all of those charts have shown us is that the dollar has lost its purchasing power with regards to houses at the fastest pace ever.

But as prices keep soaring, fewer people can afford to buy a home, as a record of 34% of young Americans are now living with their parents, even with household formations on the rise. Consequently, that forces younger workers to rent, but as many of them are returning to their family's homes, that has pushed the rental vacancy rate to all time lows, especially since other age cohorts have been leaving cities by the millions and preferring to risk buying a house, leading the homeownership rate considerably up.

So, between the Fed's record-low interest rates, Congress' fiscal stimulus package, a huge debt-fueled demand, and record-low supply the housing market is now much hotter than it was during the apex of the 2006/7 housing bubble. And it goes without saying that this also means it is now set for a much larger crash. This is the world's biggest asset bubble that we're talking about. And Powell's statements show that the Fed doesn't have any plans to properly address the unsustainability of the housing market, which has been proven in each and every one of these charts, which leave us wondering what will effectively happen to our economy when the collective bursting of both the biggest stock market and housing bubble occurs at the same time. It seems that we're headed to a major financial catastrophe, and at this point, and by the size of the damage already done - there's no more escape."

Musical Interlude: Gnomusy (David Caballero), "Footprints on the Sea"

Gnomusy (David Caballero), "Footprints on the Sea"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"In the center of this serene stellar swirl is likely a harrowing black-hole beast. The surrounding swirl sweeps around billions of stars which are highlighted by the brightest and bluest. The breadth and beauty of the display give the swirl the designation of a grand design spiral galaxy. 
The central beast shows evidence that it is a supermassive black hole about 10 million times the mass of our Sun. This ferocious creature devours stars and gas and is surrounded by a spinning moat of hot plasma that emits blasts of X-rays. The central violent activity gives it the designation of a Seyfert galaxy. Together, this beauty and beast are cataloged as NGC 6814 and have been appearing together toward the constellation of the Eagle (Aquila) for roughly the past billion years."

"The Brutal Truth About Violence When The SHTF"

"The Brutal Truth About Violence When The SHTF"
Selco interviewed by Daisy Luther

"Are you prepared for the extreme violence that is likely to come your way if the SHTF? No matter what your plan is, it’s entirely probable that at some point, you’ll be the victim of violence or have to perpetrate violence to survive. As always, Selco is our go-to guy on SHTF reality checks and this thought-provoking interview will shake you to your core.

If you don’t know Selco, he’s from Bosnia and he lived through a year in a city that was blockaded with no utilities, no deliveries of supplies, and no services. In his interviews, he shares what the scenarios the rest of us theorize about were REALLY like. He mentioned to me recently that most folks aren’t prepared for the violence that is part and parcel of a collapse, which brings us to today’s interview.

How prevalent was violence when the SHTF in Bosnia? It was wartime and chaos, from all conflicts in those years in the Balkan region Bosnian conflict was most brutal because of multiple reasons, historical, political and other. To simplify the explanation why violence was common and very brutal, you need to picture a situation where you are “bombarded” with huge amount of information (propaganda) which instills in you very strong feelings of fear and hate. Out of fear and hate, violence grows easy and fast, and over the very short period of time you see how people around you (including you) do things that you could not imagine before.

I can say that violence was almost an everyday thing in the whole spectrum of different activities because it was a fight for survival. Again, whenever (and wherever) you put people in a region without enough resources, you can expect violence.

We were living a normal life, and then suddenly we were thrown in a way of living where if you could not “negotiate” something with someone, you solve the problem by launching a rocket from an RPG through the window of his living room. Hate stripped down the layers of humanity and suddenly it was “normal” to level an apartment building with people inside with shells from a tank or form private prisons with imprisoned civilians for slave work or sex slaves.

Nothing that I saw or read before could have prepared me for the level of violence and blindness to it, for the lives of kids, elders, civilians, and the innocent. Again, the thing that is important for readers is that we were a modern society one day, and then in few weeks it turned into carnage. Do not make the mistake of saying “it cannot happen here” because I made that mistake too. Do not underestimate power of propaganda, fear, hate, and the lowest human instincts, no matter how modern and good your society is right now and how deeply you believe that “it can not happen here”.

I’ve mentioned warlords and gangs in several of my articles. Were they responsible for the majority of the violence or was it hungry families? Fighting of the armies through the whole period of war brings violence in terms of constant shelling from a distance from different kind of weapons. For example a few multiple rocket launchers (VBR) could bring in 30 seconds the destruction in an area of 3-4 apartment buildings, and being there in that moment and surviving it gives you a completely new view on life. Snipers were a constant threat and over time you simply grow a way of living that you constant scan area in front of you where your next steps gonna be. Are you gonna be visible and from where? Etc.

Most brutal violence was actually lawlessness and complete lack of order between different factions and militias, so in some periods there were militias or gangs who simply ruled the cities or part of the city where they were absolutely masters of everything in terms of deciding of taking someone’s life. In lawlessness, you as one person could be really small and not interesting, or join some bigger group of people to be stronger, some family or militia or gang.

An example of a gang would be group of people of some 300 or 500 people who “officially” were a unit or militia and operate for some faction, but in reality they operate mostly for themselves. That included owning part of the black market, having prison (for forced labor or ransom), attacking people and houses for resources, smuggling people from dangerous areas. Violence from those kinds of group was the most immediate violence, the most visible in terms of SHTF talking. If those people came on your door you could obey, fight, or negotiate, but mostly you could not not ask for help from any kind of authority, because there was no real authority.

In any society, no matter where you are living, there are a great number of people who are waiting for the SHTF to go out and do violent things. Small time criminals or simply violent persons who are not openly violent because system is there to punish them for that. It is like that. Some gang leaders that I knew were actually completely sick people with a strange type of charisma that makes people follow them, weird situations that can happen only in a real collapse. They are people who just waited for their time to rise. Those kinds of people together with criminal organization that are already there in any city in the world will be the backbone of SHTF gangs.

Who were the most likely victims? A very simple answer would be that the most likely victims were people who had interesting things without enough defense. But it was not always that simple. For example one of the first houses that got raided in my neighborhood, right at the beginning of collapse while there was still some kind of order, was a rich family’s home. They had a nice house with bars on the windows, a pretty good setup for defense, and they had enough people inside so they could give pretty good resistance to the mob. But they got raided simply because they were known that they are rich, so they were attacked with enough force to be overwhelmed.

It was not only about how much manpower you had and how well-organized defense of your home was, it was also about how juicy a target you were. If you are faced with 150 angry people attacking your home because they are sure you have good stuff inside your chances are low, no matter how good and tough you are. People who were alone were a pretty easy target and old people without support of family or friends.

It was not always about killing someone or violence. For example, if you were alone and without resources but you had something else valuable like some kind of skill or knowledge you could easily be “recruited” for some faction or group, not by your will of course.

What were some ways to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of violence? How do you recommend that people prepare themselves for the possibility of violence? It can be done in steps, or in layers:

Do not be interesting (or attract attention) when the SHTF. This means a lot of things, for this article I can give a few examples with shortened explanations because it is a huge topic:

Do not look like a prepper (before or after SHTF). There is no sense in announcing that you are prepping for EMP, civil collapse, apocalypse, or whatever. With that you are risking the probability that when the SHTF, people will remember that you have interesting things in your home. Your home should look ordinary. For example, if you are living in the city on a street where all houses look similar, there is not much sense in making your home look like a fortress. You’ll just attract attention.

Your defense should be based on more subtle means. Some examples are having means to reinforce doors and windows quickly when you need it, or to reinforce them from inside. Make changes in your yard to funnel possible attackers where you want them to be (trees, fence, bush…). You can make your home look abandoned or already looted.

Think about what survival is! Survival is about staying alive, it is not about being comfortable at the expense of losing your life. I have seen many times people lose their lives simply because they were too attached to their belongings (house, car, land, goods…) so they simply did not want to leave something and run in a particular moment.

Everything can be earned and bought again except life. Forget about statements like “I will defend it with my life” or “over my dead body” or similar because the real SHTF is usually not heroic or noble. It is hard and brutal. When you are gone you are gone and there might be nobody to take care of your family just because you have been stubborn or trusted in movies when it came to violence. To rephrase it: Be ready to leave your home in a split second if that means you and your family will survive, no matter how many good things you have stored there.

Be mentally ready for violence: In a way, it is impossible to be ready for violence, especially widespread violence when the SHTF, but you can minimize shock when that happens with some things. If you are not familiar with what violence is, you can try to get yourself close” to it today (in normal times). It can be done, for example, by doing some voluntary work for example in a local hospital, ER or similar… or simply by working with homeless people. Sounds maybe strange but activities like this can get you a bit of a feeling of what it is all about, not to mention that you can learn some practical and useful skills for SHTF.

Have means and skills (physically) to defend – or to do violence: No matter how old or young you are, your gender or religion I assure you that you are capable of doing violence. It is only a matter of the situation and how far you are going to be pushed. It is not just “some people are capable of violence.” Everybody is capable. Not everybody enjoys doing it or is willing to do it so easily.

In today (normal times) you can learn some violence skills and you should do it, again no matter if you are a woman or old or young. You should own a weapon and know how to use it. You should practice with it, or have at least some basic knowledge about hand-to-hand combat. The worst case scenario is to have a weapon that you try for the first time when SHTF. Be familiar with your means for defense, let your family members know what they need to do in case of attack of your home, have plan, and go through it. Only through practice will you minimize chances for mistakes.

Use common sense: I know lot of survivalists almost dream about how they are going to use weapons against bad guys when SHTF, and that they will be something like super heroes from movies, saving innocents and killing villains. Truth is that in a real collapse, a lot of things are kind of blurred and you are not sure who the bad guys are. Good guys turn out to be lunatic gang members who want to bring food to their kids. There are no super heroes when SHTF, and if some of them show up they end up dead quickly.

There is only you and your skills and mindset and what you prepared. Use violence as a last resort because of the simple fact that by using violence you are risking of getting killed or hurt. Remember when SHTF there is maybe no doctor or hospital to take care of your wound. It is a time when even a small cut can eventually kill you through infection and lack of proper care.

Reader questions:
"I’m a single mom with a household full of girls. In an SHTF situation, what would our best strategies be to remain safe?" Just like I have mentioned before, strategy is always same for any part of survival, and shooting from the rifle is pretty similar no matter are you man or woman. Being single mom with household full of girls on first look make you as a ideal target in some situations, but we are talking here in prepper terms so there is no reason not to be perfectly well prepared as a single mom with girls.

But yes I admit it is not perfect situation, even if you are prepared well, some things are sure, you need to connect with other people even more. House with couple of girls will always look like easy prey for some people. It is like that.

"Were people in the city safer than people in the country? Can you tell us more about rural living during this time?" In my case definitely no. In the essence it always come to the resources and people. City meant more people less resources, country (rural) meant less people more resources, and because that level of violence simply was lower. That was most important reason.

There are few more reasons why it was much better in the country. People in the country (rural settings) were much more “connected to ground” they were more tough if you like, they grew their own food, had cattle, lived more simple life prior SHTF and when everything collapsed they had less problems getting use to it. Yes they also did not have electricity and phones, running water or connection to other places but they adapted easier to the new life because they had more useful skills then people in the city. Life was harder for them too than prior to the collapse, but they had means to get resources: land, woods, river…

Another thing is that people in small rural communities “in the country” were more connected to each other, people knew their neighborhood and some things were easier to organize, like community security watch, help in case of diseases and similar.

"What types of weapons did people have for self-defense?" It was different political system prior the collapse where it was not so usual to own a weapon legally. And to own one illegally could mean a lot of troubles. Right prior to SHTF, it became possible to buy different weapons on the black market but still, a majority of people did not own weapons. When it all collapsed, it was possible to get a weapon through trade.

Because of the military doctrine here prior to the collapse, we used “East Bloc” weapons. A favorite was AK-47 in all different kind of editions, or older weapons like M-48 rifle, SKS rifle, 22 and similar. People used what they had, so in one period you would be lucky if you had any kind of pistol and knife. Later through the different channels weapon become more available so people had them more. A lot of that was actually junk that some warlords somehow “imported”. Weapons 50-60 years old without proper ammunition, or not in operating condition. A lot of people simply did not have a clue how to use any kind of weapon so a lot of accidental deaths happened.

I remember people storming abandoned army barracks that was mostly looted, but they found in one building a lot of RPGs while other part of the same building was burning. Two guys were trying to figure out a single-use RPG, and while they were messing with it clearly not knowing how that thing worked, they accidentally armed it and launched a rocket that flew through the crowd, not hurting anyone and exploding in wall 100 meters from where they stood. They were smiling, clearly happy because they thought they figured out how that thing worked.

"What weapons do you suggest to have for SHTF?" It is a never-ending discussion and a favorite prepper topic, and I must say that whole discussion is overrated. I have used them in a real situation, and tried and tested lot of different kind of weapons and what works for me may simply not work for you. For example, here for me good choice is AK-47 rifle, maybe for you wherever you are it is very bad choice.

Good advice is: you need to have a weapon that most people have around you because of multiple reasons: spare parts, repairing, ammunition availability, possibility that you can pick that rifle from other people and you know how to use it. What caliber and similar is a matter of discussion again. I am talking from the point of owning a rifle. Another thing is that you need to know how that weapon works. Luckily, most of my readers live in an area where gun laws are great comparing to region where I am. You have much more choices when it comes to owning a weapon and practicing with it. Use that.

And do not forget that using a weapon in a real life situation is not like shooting at beer bottles with your friends after a barbecue. In real life you might be in a situation to use a weapon while you are tired, dirty, and hungry and while someone is screaming next to you. It is going to be maybe when you are not ready to do that, maybe in pitch dark, maybe after you have been awake for 48 hours. At least think about that.

"When should you use violence?" Contrary to some popular beliefs in the prepper community, the point is to use violence only as a last solution. The reason is as I mentioned already, the risk that you can be hurt or killed too, but also once you do violence you change your own rules, or push it more forward, and it is easy to get lost in violence. There are consequences to that, and you are not going to be the same person ever again.

Violence is a tool, not a toy. You need to know how to use it as best as possible, but also to avoid using it when it is not necessary. It is a good idea to set up a clear set of rules (mentally too) when you are gonna use violence and to try to stick to it. For example you will use weapon if someone tries to break your home and attack you, and you need to be ready to do that without hesitation.

"What else should we know about post-collapse violence?" Think with your head and research. One thing that is absolutely important when it comes to understanding how violent it is going to be and what can you expect in your own case of SHTF, is to understand how much media can influence people in making their decisions about violence.

In my case, the media built up situation where people feared so much from other people that they actually hated them. They hated them so much that they actually strip them down from humanity. In a real-life example, it works in a way that people killed other people, including kids and women, because they hated them so much because media told them.

It may look ridiculous and not possible to you, and you might again think “that can not happen here” but please trust your own resources, look for independent information, not mainstream media, in order to get the right information about what is really happening in the beginning of collapse. Do not be pulled into “popular opinion” just because the “man from TV” (whoever he might be) told you so. It is easier today. Because of the internet, you have much more choices for correct information than in my time. But still be careful, you might find yourself rioting together with 500 people just because you trusted some media."

"More information about Selco: Selco survived the Balkan war of the 90s in a city under siege, without electricity, running water, or food distribution. In his online works, he gives an inside view of the reality of survival under the harshest conditions. He reviews what works and what doesn’t, tells you the hard lessons he learned, and shares how he prepares today. He never stopped learning about survival and preparedness since the war. Regardless what happens, chances are you will never experience extreme situations like Selco did. But you have the chance to learn from him and how he faced death for months. Real survival is not romantic or idealistic. It is brutal, hard and unfair. Let Selco take you into that world."
Read more of Selco’s articles here: 

"Reality Avoidance"

"Reality Avoidance"
by Morris Berman

"It’s quite amazing how the news is endlessly about race, or gender, or very little that has anything to do with reality, which the Mainstream Media and the American people avoid like the plague. What then is real?

1. The empire is in decline; every day, life here gets a little bit worse; all our institutions are corrupt to varying degrees; and there is no turning this situation around.

2. A crucial factor in this decline and irreversibility is the low level of intelligence of the American people. Americans are not only dumb; they are positively antagonistic toward the life of the mind.

3. Relations of power and money determine practically everything. The 3 wealthiest Americans own as much as the bottom 50% of the population, and this tendency will get worse over time.

4. The value system of the country, and its citizens, is fundamentally wrong-headed. It amounts to little more than hustling, selfishness, narcissism, and a blatant disregard for anyone but oneself. There is a kind of cruelty, or violence, deep in the American soul; many foreign observers and writers have commented on this. Americans are bitter, depressed, and angry, and the country offers very little by way of community or empathy.

5. Along with this is the support of meaningless wars and imperial adventures on the part of most of the population. That we drone-murder unarmed civilians on a weekly basis is barely on the radar screen of the American mind. In essence, the nation has evolved into a genocidal war machine run by a plutocracy and cheered on by mindless millions.

Most Americans hide from these depressing, even horrific, realities by what passes for ‘the news’, but also by means of alcohol, opioids, TV, cellphones, suicide, prescription drugs, workaholism, and spectator sports, to name but a few. This stuffing of the Void is probably our primary activity. In a word, we are eating ourselves alive, and only a tiny fraction of the population recognizes this."

The Poet: Arthur O’Shaughnessy"Music and Moonlight"

"Music and Moonlight"

"We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone seabreakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world forever, it seems…
We, in the ages lying
In the buried past of the earth,
Built Ninevah with our sighing,
And Babel itself in our mirth;
And o’erthrew them with prophesying
To the old of the new world’s worth;
For each age is a dream that is dying,
Or one that is coming to birth."

- Arthur O’Shaughnessy

The Daily "Near You?"

El Tejo, Cantabria, Spain. Thanks for stopping by!

“Sigmund Wollman’s Reality Test”

“Sigmund Wollman’s Reality Test”
by 
Robert Fulghum
  
“In the summer of 1959, at the Feather River Inn near the town of Blairsden in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of northern California. A resort environment. And I, just out of college, have a job that combines being the night desk clerk in the lodge and helping out with the horse-wrangling at the stables. The owner/manager is Italian-Swiss, with European notions about conditions of employment. He and I do not get along. I think he’s a fascist who wants pleasant employees who know their place, and he thinks I’m a good example of how democracy can be carried too far. I’m twenty-two and pretty free with my opinions, and he’s fifty-two and has a few opinions of his own. One week the employees had been served the same thing for lunch every single day. Two wieners, a mound of sauerkraut, and stale rolls. To compound insult with injury, the cost of meals was deducted from our check. I was outraged.

 On Friday night of that awful week, I was at my desk job around 11:00 P.M., and the night auditor had just come on duty. I went into the kitchen to get a bite to eat and saw notes to the chef to the effect that wieners and sauerkraut are on the employee menu for two more days.

That tears it. I quit! For lack of a better audience, I unloaded on the night auditor, Sigmund Wollman.

I declared that I have had it up to here; that I am going to get a plate of wieners and sauerkraut and go and wake up the owner and throw it on him.

I am sick and tired of this crap and insulted and nobody is going to make me eat wieners and sauerkraut for a whole week and make me pay for it and who does he think he is anyhow and how can life be sustained on wieners and sauerkraut and this is un-American and I don’t like wieners and sauerkraut enough to eat it one day for God’s sake and the whole hotel stinks anyhow and the horses are all nags and the guests are all idiots and I’m packing my bags and heading for Montana where they never even heard of wieners and sauerkraut and wouldn’t feed that stuff to the pigs. Something like that. I’m still mad about it.

I raved on this way for twenty minutes, and needn’t repeat it all here. You get the drift. My monologue was delivered at the top of my lungs, punctuated by blows on the front desk with a fly-swatter, the kicking of chairs, and much profanity. A call to arms, freedom, unions, uprisings, and the breaking of chains for the working masses.

As I pitched my fit, Sigmund Wollman, the night auditor, sat quietly on his stool, smoking a cigarette, watching me with sorrowful eyes. Put a bloodhound in a suit and tie and you have Sigmund Wollman. He’s got good reason to look sorrowful. Survivor of Auschwitz. Three years. German Jew. Thin, coughed a lot. He liked being alone at the night job – gave him intellectual space, gave him peace and quiet, and, even more, he could go into the kitchen and have a snack whenever he wanted to – all the wieners and sauerkraut he wanted. To him, a feast. More than that, there’s nobody around at night to tell him what to do. In Auschwitz he dreamed of such a time. The only person he sees at work is me, the nightly disturber of his dream. Our shifts overlap for an hour. And here I am again. A one-man war party at full cry.

“Fulchum, are you finished?”

“No. Why?”

"Lissen, Fulchum. Lissen me, lissen me. You know what’s wrong with you? It’s not wieners and kraut and it’s not the boss and it’s not the chef and it’s not this job.”

“So what’s wrong with me?”

“Fulchum, you think you know everything, but you don’t know the difference between an inconvenience and a problem. If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire – then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience. Life is inconvenient. Life is lumpy. Learn to separate the inconveniences from the real problems. You will live longer. And will not annoy people like me so much. Good night.” In a gesture combining dismissal and blessing, he waved me off to bed.

Seldom in my life have I been hit between the eyes with a truth so hard. Years later I heard a Japanese Zen Buddhist priest describe what the moment of enlightenment was like and I knew exactly what he meant. There in that late-night darkness of the Feather River Inn, Sigmund Wollman simultaneously kicked my butt and opened a window in my mind.

For thirty years now, in times of stress and strain, when something has me backed against the wall and I’m ready to do something really stupid with my anger, a sorrowful face appears in my mind and asks: “Fulchum. Problem or inconvenience?” I think of this as the Wollman Test of Reality. Life is lumpy. And a lump in the oatmeal, a lump in the throat, and a lump in the breast are not the same lump. One should learn the difference. Good night, Sig.”

"How It Really Is"

 

"Covid-19 Pandemic Updates 1/2/21"

"Covid-19 Pandemic Updates 1/2/21"
 Jan. 2 2021 12:09 AM ET: 
The coronavirus pandemic has sickened more than 83,948,500 
people, according to official counts, including 20,173,382 Americans.
At least 1,826,600 have died.

"The COVID Tracking Project"
Every day, our volunteers compile the latest numbers on tests, cases, 
hospitalizations, and patient outcomes from every US state and territory.
https://covidtracking.com/

"Helpless People"

“The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident 
which everybody had decided not to see." 
~ Ayn Rand

“Almost all Americans have had an intense school experience which occupied their entire youth, an experience during which they were drilled thoroughly in the culture and economy of the well-schooled greater society, in which individuals have been rendered helpless to do much of anything except watch television or punch buttons on a keypad.

Before you begin to blame the childish for being that way and join the chorus of those defending the general imprisonment of adults and the schooling by force of children because there isn’t any other way to handle the mob, you want to at least consider the possibility that we’ve been trained in childishness and helplessness for a reason. And that reason is that helpless people are easy to manage.

Helpless people can be counted upon to act as their own jailers because they are so inadequate to complex reality they are afraid of new experience. They’re like animals whose spirits have been broken. Helpless people take orders well, they don’t have minds of their own, they are predictable, they won’t surprise corporations or governments with resistance to the newest product craze, the newest genetic patent - or by armed revolution. Helpless people can be counted on to despise independent citizens and hence they act as a fifth column in opposition to social change in the direction of personal sovereignty.”
- John Taylor Gatto,
Related, highly recommended:
Big Brother & The Holding Company, 
"Heartache People"

Friday, January 1, 2021

Must Watch! “My Eye Opening First Day Of 2021; Take Advantage Of Your Time; Americans Can't Stop Spending Money”

Jeremiah Babe,
My Eye Opening First Day Of 2021;
 Take Advantage Of Your Time; Americans Can't Stop Spending Money
Full screen highly recommended, in absolute contempt and disgust.

"The End Game: Prepare For Economic Collapse 2021 Apocalyptic Market Crash!"

"The End Game: Prepare For 
Economic Collapse 2021 Apocalyptic Market Crash!"
by Epic Economist

"Today, we are leaving a year of economic collapse events. We are about to witness the downfall of society as we know it and the rise of a new reality. The collapse of the United States economy will have several more chapters and we'll be here reporting every one of them. In today's video, we decided to bring economic experts' insights on how the end game will be played. So be ready for the next apocalyptic stock market crash and the collapse of America. 

In a recent publishing, the award-winning global macro asset management firm Crescat posted a letter to investors written by the founder and CIO Kevin C. Smith, and partner and portfolio manager Tavi Costa describing how markets are expected to perform over the next phases of the collapse and outlining how policymakers have set our economy for its greatest demise. The strategists point out that markets are cyclical, and currently, while stocks trade at record high valuations commodities are historically undervalued. That's the set up for a major change in the performance of both asset classes. As they presented in this chart, similar conditions were seen during the 1972 Nifty Fifty and 2000 Dotcom bubbles. 

As capital tends to move towards the highest growth and lowest valuation opportunities, investors are expected to rotate or completely move away their assets from expensive deflation-era growth equities and fixed income securities and head towards cheap hard assets, ultimately reversing the 30-year downward trend of money velocity. Our current system based on Modern Monetary Theory and its two-fold and monetary stimulus is colliding head to head with an accumulation of years of reduced investments in the basic industries such as materials, energy, and agriculture. That's why, according to their analysis, the "end game" for both of the Fed's asset bubbles in stocks is inflation. And it has already arrived on the commodity front. 

For that reason, Smith and Costa advise that investors should turn to hard assets such as gold and silver to protect their wealth. The monetary metals are amongst the most scarce resources on the planet, however, they have been facing a fresh surge of investor demand. By scrutinizing the supply conditions, the precious metals have been in the disinflationary zone since the precious metals mining industry’s latest peak in 2011, when gold and silver miners started to be criticized by investors as being capital destroyers. As a consequence, the industry's spending patterns have completely changed over the past decade. Major companies have purposely underinvested in replacing their reserves to create a supply cliff for the industry while also significantly boosting free cash flow.

Another key driver for the upsurge in gold prices in terms of demand is the falling real interest rates, which, according to the experts, are a combined reflection of central bank interest rate suppression tactics and investors’ rising inflation expectations. The lastest plunge lower in real yields, which is being shown inverted in the chart, was different from the price of gold - a clear signal of a strong imminent upward trend for the metal once again.

Overall, the outlook for gold is connected with the major imbalances we are seeing in the U.S. economy right now. The Federal Reserve's ability to prevent inflation is severely impaired at this point. Instead, it has actually become the main funding mechanism to it through its monumental purchases of US Treasuries, allowing the US government to run a large fiscal deficit. In reality, the Fed has no independence in the matter whatsoever. It has to keep funding the government’s fiscal stimulus programs as the lender of last resort. And as we learned with the repo crisis, liquidity can also be necessary in the short-run to avoid the collapse of the equity and corporate bond markets, but only to a certain extent - not at all as a firehose inside the markets as we are witnessing right now, because, in turn, it pushes commodity prices up and unleashes a massive real-world inflation. That's the direct byproduct of the newly printed money, and it is the killer of record overvalued financial assets. In other words, even if everything else fails to spark an apocalyptic stock market crash - which seems highly unlikely since our economy is already shaking to the core - inflation most definitely will. And that's, my dear viewers, is how the game ends with a major economic collapse and a new one era begins."

Musical Interlude: Herb Ernst, "Awakening Stars"

Herb Ernst, "Awakening Stars"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"Braided, serpentine filaments of glowing gas suggest this nebula's popular name, The Medusa Nebula. Also known as Abell 21, this Medusa is an old planetary nebula some 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Gemini. Like its mythological namesake, the nebula is associated with a dramatic transformation.


The planetary nebula phase represents a final stage in the evolution of low mass stars like the sun, as they transform themselves from red giants to hot white dwarf stars and in the process shrug off their outer layers. Ultraviolet radiation from the hot star powers the nebular glow. The Medusa's transforming star is near the center of the overall bright crescent shape. In this deep telescopic view, fainter filaments clearly extend below and to the left of the bright crescent region. The Medusa Nebula is estimated to be over 4 light-years across.”

The Poet: Mary Oliver, "One"

"One"

"The mosquito is so small
it takes almost nothing to ruin it.
Each leaf, the same.
And the black ant, hurrying.
So many lives, so many fortunes!
Every morning, I walk softly and with forward glances
down to the ponds and through the pinewoods.
Mushrooms, even, have but a brief hour
before the slug creeps to the feast,
before the pine needles hustle down
under the bundles of harsh, beneficent rain.

How many, how many, how many
make up a world!
And then I think of that old idea: the singular
and the eternal.
One cup, in which everything is swirled
back to the color of the sea and sky.
Imagine it!

A shining cup, surely!
In the moment in which there is no wind
over your shoulder,
you stare down into it,
and there you are,
your own darling face, your own eyes.
And then the wind, not thinking of you, just passes by,
touching the ant, the mosquito, the leaf,
and you know what else!
How blue is the sea, how blue is the sky,
how blue and tiny and redeemable everything is, even you,
even your eyes, even your imagination."

~ Mary Oliver

"Today Is The Day..."

"We are fast moving into something, we are fast flung into something like asteroids cast into space by the death of a planet, we the people of earth are cast into space like burning asteroids and if we wish not to disintegrate into nothingness we must begin to now hold onto only the things that matter while letting go of all that doesn't. For when all of our dust and ice deteriorates into the cosmos we will be left only with ourselves and nothing else. So if you want to be there in the end, today is the day to start holding onto your children, holding onto your loved ones; onto those who share your soul. Harbor and anchor into your heart justice, truth, courage, bravery, belief, a firm vision, a steadfast and sound mind. Be the person of meaningful and valuable thoughts. Don't look to the left, don't look to the right; we simply don't have the time. Never be afraid of fear."
- C. JoyBell C.

The Daily "Near You?"

Northwood, Ohio, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"No Special Hurry..."

“The world breaks everyone, and afterward many are strong in the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too, but there will be no special hurry.”
- Ernest Hemingway, “A Farewell To Arms”

"Maybe..."

“Maybe we’re not supposed to be happy. Maybe gratitude has nothing to do with joy. Maybe being grateful means recognizing what you have for what it is. Appreciating small victories. Admiring the struggle it takes to simply be a human. Maybe, we’re thankful for the familiar things we know. And maybe, we’re thankful for the things we’ll never know. At the end of the day, the fact that we have the courage to still be standing is reason enough to celebrate.”
- “Grey’s Anatomy”

Greg Hunter, "Weekly News Wrap-Up 1/1/21"

"Weekly News Wrap-Up 1/1/21"
by Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

"More this week on the 2020 election fraud, this time in Georgia, and, yes, there was more proof and lots of it.  We find that Georgia voting machines were sending information to China, ballots were being shredded and people were caught on camera running the same stacks of  ballots through the counting machines three and four times. If that’s not election fraud, I don’t know what is. As more and more fraud is exposed, the cover-up grows more and more desperate.  More than just voter fraud is being revealed, and it looks like treason and sedition.

The Marxists on the Left would like you to think the election is over and everybody will just have to choke down the massive fraud. After all, the Deep State globalist Democrats cheated Joe and others in fair and square - right? The fight is far from over, and each revelation of more fraud and crime destroys the myth that Joe Biden actually won. Keep your faith because this fight is far from over. Biden lost in a landslide, the massive fraud just covered it up.

Gold and silver are up for the year, and Bitcoin is way up. What is going on? Is this the year the dollar falls and falls big time because of all the money printing and election chaos? The U.S. dollar is already off more than 5% since Election Day. Will the plunge intensify in 2021?

Have a Happy New Year, and please continue to “Fear Not.” They want you to be afraid - Don’t Be!!"

Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com as he 
talks about the year ahead in the Weekly News Wrap-Up.

"How It Really Is"

 

"2021 Can't Be Any Worse, Can It?"

"2021 Can't Be Any Worse, Can It?"
by Michael Reagan

"What a difference a terrible year makes. Last year at this time, my wife, Colleen the travel agent, and I were getting ready to take 40 of her clients on a 15-day cruise out of Dubai to India and back. This year, thanks to the COVID-19 virus and the strict lockdowns imposed to fight it, the world's travel industry barely exists and Colleen and I will be spending January under house arrest.

Unfortunately, house arrest has become the new normal for 40 million Californians. We've been locked down, masked up and ordered to stay in our basements for so long by Gov. Gavin Newsom that many of us have forgotten what freedom feels like or what it's like to simply eat in a restaurant.

The news is filled with stories of people and businesses leaving this state in droves because it has become so unlivable in so many ways. Californians who can afford it are moving to red states like Arizona, Texas and Florida, where taxes are lower, homes are cheaper and governors are not nannies and wannabe dictators. Life in Los Angeles is especially unpleasant, which is why I've rented an escape house for my family two hours away in the sleepy Santa Ynez Valley.

Most of L.A's 10 million people are not so lucky. They're stuck living 24/7 in a locked down city with tens of thousands of homeless people and drug addicts living under overpasses and on the sidewalks. But many well-to-do citizens are buying second homes outside the city in places like Palm Springs, Desert Springs and up here in the Santa Ynez Valley.

My friends here in Santa Ynez tell me the local real estate market is on fire. Houses sell in a day. One real estate guy predicts home prices will double in two years. Ditto for homes in Palm Springs and other places close enough to L.A. for people to commute to but far enough away to escape the slow-motion destruction of a great city. Life has gotten so depressing in L.A. that a friend of mine flew five hours to Miami just so he could eat dinner inside a restaurant.

That's the kind of madness that 2020 has brought us. Some folks are saying that the COVID-19 vaccines will let people go back to normal in 2021. But based on what our future pessimist-in-chief Joe Biden has been saying, I don't think that's going to happen. Listening to his dark speeches about the sad state of the union, how it's only going to get worse and what dumb things he plans to do about it is like listening to Jimmy Carter squared. Carter had his problems in the late 1970s with a high Misery Index, which was a way to gauge the economic conditions of the average American based on the inflation rate plus the unemployment rate.

But the future Biden is talking about will be Total Misery for all Americans. He's saying we won't get the vaccines to enough people, and even if we do, we're still going to be living in a masked and locked down country that resembles 2020 California, not 2019 California.

Pessimism like that from a U.S. president is not normal - or healthy for the country. You may hate President Trump for a lot of reasons, but you can never fault him for not being optimistic and upbeat. Other presidents - most recently my father, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama - looked on the bright and hopeful side of things. Biden is the opposite. He looks on the dark side, the Jimmy Carter side. He and the liberal media sing the same grim tune - that things are bad and they're going to be bad in the future, maybe forever.

On Jan. 20 we're going to lose the only guy in Washington who was consistently optimistic in 2020, one of the most horrible years in our history. I'm an optimist and I used to think 2021 couldn't be any worse than 2020. But with Biden and his crew about to take charge of our lives, now I'm not so sure."

"Covid-19 Pandemic Updates 1/1/21"

"Covid-19 Pandemic Updates 1/1/21"
 Jan. 1, 2021 2:07 PM ET: 
The coronavirus pandemic has sickened more than 83,755,900 
people, according to official counts, including 20,116,278 Americans.
At least 1,823,000 have died.

"The COVID Tracking Project"
Every day, our volunteers compile the latest numbers on tests, cases, 
hospitalizations, and patient outcomes from every US state and territory.
https://covidtracking.com/