Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 9/2/23
"I Almost Died. Now I'm Getting Ready"
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So, we rise from the rubble...
Saturday, September 2, 2023
Musical Interlude: 2002, "Cycle of Time"; "Challenge From Heaven"
Full screen recommended.
2002, "Cycle of Time"
o
Full screen recommended.
2002, "Challenge From Heaven"
Beautiful...
"A Look to the Heavens"
"In the lower left corner, surrounded by blue spiral arms, is spiral galaxy M81. In the upper right corner, marked by red gas and dust clouds, is irregular galaxy M82. This stunning vista shows these two mammoth galaxies locked in gravitational combat, as they have been for the past billion years. The gravity from each galaxy dramatically affects the other during each hundred million-year pass.
Last go-round, M82's gravity likely raised density waves rippling around M81, resulting in the richness of M81's spiral arms. But M81 left M82 with violent star forming regions and colliding gas clouds so energetic the galaxy glows in X-rays. This big battle is seen from Earth through the faint glow of an Integrated Flux Nebula, a little studied complex of diffuse gas and dust clouds in our Milky Way Galaxy. In a few billion years only one galaxy will remain."
o
"When observing the stars, you should see them in another perspective. Take into account what they really are: the mothers of the atoms from which we are constituted, the atoms that constitute the mortal and thinking species that admire the sun as a god, a father or a nuclear power station. The particles that were composed at the beginning of the Universe, the atoms that were forged in the stars, the molecules that were constituted on Earth or in another place… all that is also inside us."
- Michel Cassé, French astro-physicist, "Desafio do Século XXI"
The Poet: J.R.R. Tolkien, "I Sit And Think"
"I Sit And Think"
“I sit beside the fire and think
Of all that I have seen,
Of meadow flowers and butterflies
In summers that have been.
Of yellow leaves and gossamer
In autumns that there were,
With morning mist and silver sun
And wind upon my hair.
I sit beside the fire and think
Of how the world will be
When winter comes without a spring
That I shall ever see.
For still there are so many things
That I have never seen,
In every wood, in every spring,
There is a different green.
I sit beside the fire and think
Of people long ago,
And people that will see a world
That I shall never know.
But all the while I sit and think
Of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
And voices at the door.”
- J.R.R. Tolkien
"The Long Dark"
"The Long Dark"
by Chris Floyd
"We are in the Long Dark now. Both hope and despair are the enemies of our survival. We must live in the awareness that we might not see the light come back, without ceasing to work - with empathy, anger and knowledge - for its return.
We must be here, in the moment, experiencing its fullness (whatever its horrors or joys), yet be elsewhere, removed from the madness pouring in from every side, the avalanche of degradation. We must be here, now, but also in a future we can’t see or even imagine.
We must see that we are lost, with no clear way forward, no sureties or verities to cling to, no roots to anchor us, no structures within or without that will always keep their coalescence in the chaotic, surging flow.
We must live in discrete moments of illumination and connection, pearls hung on an almost invisible string winding through the darkness. Striving, always striving, but not expecting; striving without hope, without despair, without any certainty at all as to the outcome, good or bad.
These are the conditions of the Long Dark, this is what we have to work with, this is where we find ourselves in the brief time we have in this vast, indifferent, astounding universe. As I once wrote long ago, quoting the old hymn: “Work, for the night is coming.”
So do we counsel fatalism, a dark, defeated surrender, a retreat into bitter, curdled quietude? Not a whit. We advocate action, positive action, unstinting action, doing the only thing that human beings can do, ever: Try this, try that, try something else again; discard those approaches that don't work, that wreak havoc, that breed death and cruelty; fight against everything that would draw us down again into our own mud; expect no quarter, no lasting comfort, no true security; offer no last word, no eternal truth, but just keep stumbling, falling, careening, backsliding, crawling toward the broken light.
And what is this "broken light"? Nothing more than a metaphor for the patches of understanding – awareness, attention, knowledge, connection – that break through our darkness and stupidity for a moment now and then. A light always fractured, under threat, shifting, found then lost again, always lost. For we are creatures steeped in imperfection, in breakage and mutation, tossed up – very briefly – from the boiling, chaotic crucible of Being, itself a ragged work in progress toward unknown ends, or rather, toward no particular end at all. Why should there be an "answer" in such a reality?
What matters is what works – what pulls us from our own darkness as far as possible, for as long as possible. Yet the truth remains that "what works" is always and forever only provisional – what works now, here, might not work there, then. What saves our soul today might make us sick tomorrow.
Thus all we can do is to keep looking, working, trying to clear a little more space for the light, to let it shine on our passions and our confusions, our anger and our hopes, informing and refining them, so that we can see each other better, for a moment – until death shutters all seeing forever."
'In Ordinary Times..."
"In ordinary times we get along surprisingly well, on the whole, without ever discovering what our faith really is. If, now and again, this remote and academic problem is so unmannerly as to thrust its way into our minds, there are plenty of things we can do to drive the intruder away. We can get the car out or go to a party or to the cinema or read a detective story or have a row with a district council or write a letter to the papers about the habits of the nightjar or Shakespeare's use of nautical metaphor. Thus we build up a defense mechanism against self-questioning because, to tell the truth, we are very much afraid of ourselves."
- Dorothy L. Sayers
"US Real Estate Market"
"US Real Estate Market"
by Martin Armstrong
"The traditional forecast on real estate is always one-dimensional. Homeownership has historically been in the top 5 of surveys about what Americans most want in life. Property values have been rising despite rising high prices combined with higher mortgage rates. There is little sign on the horizon before the ECM peaks in May 2024. Analysts have been confused and caught up in this economic conundrum of the continued economic growth that has defied all their recession predictions.
Normally, housing has been one of the sectors that has been the most sensitive to interest rates. Over the past two years, mortgage rates have risen from less than 3% to more than 7%. That means that the median family today faces mortgage payments that have doubled from roughly 14% of monthly household income in 2020 to nearly 29% by mid-2023. This is the strongest rise since the economic turn on our ECM when it bottomed in 1985.65.
Nevertheless, the conundrum that has baffled traditional analysts has not led to a decline in house prices as they expected. They paused during the COVID-19 lockdowns and fell in the Blue States, which had the most draconian COVID-19 measures. Currently, housing prices during the second quarter of this year rose at an annualized pace of 15% according to the S&P Case-Shiller index.
There is a tight supply in the South, where much of the migration has taken place. I get, on average three calls a week asking if I want to sell my house here in Florida. The annual sales of property nationally have been around $2 trillion. Smart institutional investors have been shifting from public unsecured debt to private mortgages. The average person does not look at CPI numbers or GDP numbers. They look at the cost of this rising, and the confidence in the Biden Administration has been collapsing. When people no longer trust the government, they shift to the private sector. So add to that the great migration from Democratic states to the southern red states, and you will see collapsing real estate values in places like San Francisco and Chicago in comparison to even Wall Street, have been quietly moving to the Miami region. There are still buyers in the market and a shortage of supply in the Red States like Florida. Thus, sales have declined, but this appears to be more the result of the decline in supply.
Additionally, the rising inflation in materials means that the replacement cost of homes is often higher than the prices being paid, not to mention the waiting time for construction. The sheer replacement costs of housing have skyrocketed. Even pain was in short supply thanks to the COVID-19 lockdowns. This has impacted the market, and traditional analysis simply never considered that the replacement costs on preexisting houses, in many cases, are 40% to 100% higher. Add to that the shortage in labor. It was very hard to find a contractor in Florida who even was available. Most contractors I talked to were booked beyond 2024.
Newly built homes account for about one-third of active listings in 2023. This was up from an average of 13% over the two decades before pre-COVID-19. Add to all of this is the influx of foreign money looking at US property as a hedge against future wars and destabilization of the monetary system. Then we have had funds like Blackrock buying property and renting them out."
Hat tip to The Burning Platform for this material.
"There Comes A Time..."
"I make no bones about being partisan for my country. I also feel no shame whatever because of it. I absolutely disagree that "great thinkers don't let that affect the thoughts". I would say exactly the opposite: someone who refuses to let love-of-country affect their thoughts is a moral cripple irrespective of their intellectual prowess. I can look dispassionately at the situation, and I have done so repeatedly. But I will never forget which nation I love and support.
We Americans have a saying: “It’s more important what you stand for than who you stand with.” I do not rely upon peer opinion to decide what is right and what is wrong. I make those decisions for myself, and even if I discover that every other human alive chose differently, that doesn’t mean I was wrong.
There comes a time in every man’s life when he has to choose sides. I have chosen my side. I am comfortable with my decision. I do not think everyone on my side is a saint, but I know that those on the other side are much, much worse.
Sometimes a man with too broad a perspective reveals himself as having no real perspective at all. A man who tries too hard to see every side may be a man who is trying to avoid choosing any side. A man who tries too hard to seek a deeper truth may be trying to hide from the truth he already knows. That is not a sign of intellectual sophistication and “great thinking”. It is a demonstration of moral degeneracy and cowardice.”
- Steven Den Beste
○
“Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and unexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may.”
- Mark Twain
"Adventures With Danno, 9/2/23"
Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 9/2/23
"Stock Up On These Holiday Sales At Kroger!
Prices Will Rise Again Soon!"
In today's vlog, we are at Kroger and are encouraging everyone to stock up on these holiday sales before the next wave of price increases on groceries!
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o
"8 Food Shortages That Will Make
People Panic In The Coming Months"
Full screen recommended.
by Finance Daily, 9/2/23
"In today's world, the foundation of our sustenance faces increasing challenges. Golden fields and lush pastures that once represented abundance now hint at potential scarcities due to political upheavals, climatic changes, and deteriorating infrastructures. As we navigate this uncertain landscape, it's essential to be informed and vigilant about potential shortages of certain essential foods. Without delving into the specifics, there are eight significant foods that might become scarce in the near future, impacting our daily lives and broader socio-economic landscapes. These aren't just about flavors and culinary experiences but have deep-rooted cultural, historical, and economic significance. To understand the details of these endangered essentials and the reasons behind their potential scarcity, we encourage you to watch the full video."
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"There Is No Escape..."
"The precept: "Judge not, that ye be not judged" is an abdication of moral responsibility: it is a moral blank check one gives to others in exchange for a moral blank check one expects for oneself. There is no escape from the fact that men have to make choices; so long as men have to make choices, there is no escape from moral values; so long as moral values are at stake, no moral neutrality is possible. To abstain from condemning a torturer is to become an accessory to the torture and murder of his victims.The moral principle to adopt in this issue, is: "Judge, and be prepared to be judged."
- Ayn Rand
Greg Hunter, "Weekly News Wrap-Up"
"Weekly News Wrap-Up"
Election Rigging 2024, Lahaina Cover-Up, Deflation Destroys
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
"All the trouble Donald Trump is facing comes down to one simple thing that scares the heck out of the “Deep State” globalists. Trump could win, and win big in 2024 - period, the end. A second Trump presidency could destroy everything the so-called “Uni-party” holds dear. They are trying to stop him anyway they can. He has 91 pending felony charges spanning four separate legal cases. The “Deep State” must feel that is not a sure thing as they are bringing back masks, CV19 injections, lockdowns and mail-in ballots because they worked so well last time. Donald Trump comes out this week and calls the new Covid variants “fear mongering” and a “lunatic” ploy to rig the 2024 election. I am counting on big resistance to more Covid lies that destroyed life and liberty the last time.
What happened with the deadly Lahaina wildfires in Hawaii? That is a good question, and nobody seems to know or will allow anyone to find out. We know there are thousands unaccounted for, and many of those are children. We know police are shutting down drone traffic attempting to take video or pictures. The police are not allowing anyone to enter the burned-out town of Lahaina. We know that there is a black fabric wall 10-feet high around the perimeter of the town so nobody can see what is going on. We know the Lying Legacy Media (LLM) is silent about this, which is a lie by omission. We know we don’t know much, and we also know information is being kept from the public. The question is why?
Oil inventories are crashing, and oil prices are rising. Are we going to have a new round of inflation in the form of higher gasoline prices? Many say yes, but are we also going to have a new round of deflation at the same time? The answer is also yes, as office buildings are now selling for a fraction of the original price. Yes, prices, for what used to be top office space in destination cities like San Francisco, are imploding. What does this mean? Big trouble is already here, and there is no stopping it this time. Deflation is a financial destructive force like no other. There is much more in the 43-minute newscast."
Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he talks about these
stories and more in the Weekly News Wrap-Up for 9/1/23.
"Russia Puts Its Longest Range Nuke-Capable Missile On Combat Duty, Nicknamed 'Satan II'"
"Russia Puts Its Longest Range Nuke-Capable Missile
On Combat Duty, Nicknamed 'Satan II'"
By Tyler Durden
"Russia has on Friday announced its Sarmat ICBMs are on "combat duty". RIA has quoted the head of the country's space agency Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, to confirm: "the Sarmat strategic complex has been put on combat duty." The nuclear-capable Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile system was previously touted by President Putin as being capable hitting "any target on Earth" - and is widely believed to be by far the longest-range missile in Russia's arsenal (or in the world for that matter). It's been nicknamed by NATO the "Satan II".
The Sarmat, which is in a "superheavy" class of missiles, has a short initial boost phase which gives it better ability to elude all conventional anti-missile defense systems, given this results in a much smaller window of time to track it. By design, its super long-range gives it the ability to reach targets thousands of missiles away in the United States or Europe.
According to its specifications, it's by far the heaviest missile Russia possesses - at over 200 tons - and heavier than all foreign competitors: This allows it to carry around 15 warheads, up to 750kt. (The bomb US dropped on Hiroshima was 15kt.) This would be enough to wipe out a country the size of France. It can also carry hypersonic missiles, rendering most missile defense systems ineffective.
It has reportedly been in development since 2009, and has been in testing phase for several years, some test flights of which may have failed. The Sarmat has been touted as being able to reach speeds of nearly 16,000 mph. Last year, after a successful test, Putin described: "The new complex has the highest tactical and technical characteristics and is capable of overcoming all modern means of anti-missile defense. It has no analogues in the world and won’t have for a long time to come."
"This truly unique weapon will strengthen the combat potential of our armed forces, reliably ensure Russia’s security from external threats and provide food for thought for those who, in the heat of frenzied aggressive rhetoric, try to threaten our country," Putin added at the time. Without doubt, the timing of Friday's announcement is also meant to spook Western leaders, as nuclear rhetoric related to the Ukraine war continues to rise, particularly in the context of Moscow having recently positioned tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory."
o
"Meanwhile, the Russians have developed a new intercontinental ballistic missile that is the most advanced in the world by a wide margin. It is called “the Sarmat”, and it is absolutely frightening…"The Sarmat is a three-stage, silo-based, liquid-fuel, heavy ICBM with a reported range of 18,000 kilometers. Dubbed “Satan II” by NATO, the missile is a Russian-built replacement of the Soviet-era SS-18 “Satan” ICBM, which is reaching the end of its life cycle. The Sarmat reportedly can carry a 10-ton payload consisting of 10-plus multiple independent reentry vehicles along with penetration aids used to evade missile defenses. Moscow says the new missile can also carry several Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles. A single Sarmat can carry enough firepower to destroy an area the size of Texas."
o
RS-28 Sarmat
o
Full screen recommended.
"In the chilling broadcast the presenter also showed how the Kremlin's latest world-ending Satan 2 nuclear missile could also annihilate Britain. The warning comes as the Kremlin raised the prospect of devastating military strikes on Britain. Pro-Putin TV pundits previously threatend the use of the world ending RS-28 Sarmat missile – spouting its ability to wipe England from the map. And now raising further plans for all-out war, host Dmitry Kiselyov heralded Russia’s second option to “plunge Britain into the depths of the sea" with its “underwater robotic drone Poseidon”. In a chilling graphic he warned the missile would raise a giant tsunami wave up to 1,640ft high."
The 1,640 foot high tidal wave from a single Poseidon would destroy the entire East Coast of the United States from Maine to Florida inland as far as West Virginia. There is no possible defense against this or the missile. Do we really want to do this?
Dan, I Allegedly, "This Is A Full Blown Crisis"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly 9/2/23
"This Is A Full Blown Crisis"
We just got the latest job numbers. We lost 670,000 jobs in two months. People are not getting full-time work. We just hired 1 million part-time workers. The economy is in deep trouble.
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Friday, September 1, 2023
Canadian Prepper, "Nuclear Forces Put On High Alert, Poland Enters Belarus"
Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 9/1/23
"Nuclear Forces Put On High Alert,
Poland Enters Belarus"
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o
maxwell insight, 9/2/23
"Douglas Macgregor:
A Massive Offensive Destroys The Lines Of Defense"
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o
"Make Peace, You Fools!"
America’s proxy war with Russia has
transformed Ukraine into a graveyard.
by Douglas Macgregor
"Incrementalism—the tendency to inch forward rather than to take bold steps—is usually preferred by political and military leaders in warfare, because the introduction of a few forces into action puts fewer personnel at risk, and, in theory, promises a series of improvements over time, often through attrition.
In 1950, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, led by the then-chairman General J. Lawton Collins, recommended short envelopments along the Korean coastline that were designed to gradually increase the size of the U.S. and Allied enclave known as the Pusan Perimeter. The idea was to buy time to assemble enough forces to launch a breakout on the Normandy model. But General of the Army Douglas MacArthur disagreed. He argued for a daring, deep envelopment that promised to cut off the North Korean Forces south of the 38th Parallel that were encircling Pusan.
As it turned out, MacArthur was right. Today, we know that the short envelopments were exactly what the North Korean command was prepared to defeat. In retrospect, it is certain that along with their Chinese allies, the North Koreans were familiar with the operational employment of U.S. and Allied forces during WWII. Eisenhower’s insistence on a broad front strategy that moved millions of troops in multiple armies in parallel across France and Germany to Central Europe conformed to the low-risk formula.
In light of this history, it was reasonable for the North Koreans to believe that MacArthur would never split his forces and launch an amphibious assault far behind North Korean lines. It was simply too risky. And the operational concept for Inchon was also inconsistent with the way U.S. forces were employed during the Civil War and World War I—wars won through attrition, not maneuver.
In February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin opted for incrementalism in his approach to the “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine. Putin committed fewer than 100,000 Russian troops to a shallow penetration attack on a broad front into a country the size of Texas. Having failed over a period of nearly 15 years to persuade Washington and the collective West of Moscow’s opposition to NATO’s advance to the east, Putin seems to have concluded that Washington and its NATO allies would prefer immediate negotiations to a destructive regional war with unknowable potential for escalation to the nuclear level.
Putin was wrong. He made a false assumption based on rational choice theory. Rational choice theory attempts to predict human behavior based on the assumption that individuals habitually make choices in economics, politics, and daily life that align with their personal best interest.
The problem with the theory is that human beings are not rational. In fact, the human mind is like a black box. It is possible to observe what goes into the black box and the decisions that come out of it, but the actual decision-making process that unfolds inside the black box is opaque.
In international relations and war, the defining features of human identity—history, geography, culture, religion, language, race, or ethnicity—must also figure prominently in any strategic assessment. For reasons of culture, experience, and innate character, MacArthur was a risk-taker. As Peter Drucker reminds his readers, culture is the foundation for human capital. These realities routinely defeat the unrealistic expectations that rational choice theory creates.
Instead of approaching the negotiating table, Washington discarded the caution, given Russia’s nuclear arsenal, that had guided previous American dealings with Moscow. Washington’s political class, with no real understanding of Russia or Eastern Europe, subscribed to the late Senator John McCain’s notion that Russia was a “gas station with nuclear weapons.”
Putin is not a risk-taker. But he abandoned incrementalism, and rapidly reoriented Russian forces to the strategic defense, an economy of force measure designed to minimize Russian losses while maximizing Ukrainian losses until Russian Forces could return to offensive operations. The Russian change in strategy has worked. Despite the unprecedented infusion of modern weaponry, cash, foreign fighters, and critical intelligence to Ukrainian forces, Washington’s proxy is shattered. Ukraine’s hospitals are brimming with broken human beings and Ukrainian dead litter the battlefield. Kiev is a heart patient on life support.
Russia’s attrition strategy has achieved remarkable success, but the success is making the conflict currently more dangerous than at any point since it began in February 2022. Why? Defensive operations do not win wars, and Washington continues to believe Ukraine can win.
Washington discounts Ukrainian losses and exaggerates Russian losses. Officers present at meetings in the Pentagon tell me that minor Ukrainian battlefield successes (that are almost instantly reversed) loom large in the discussions held in four-star headquarters, the White House, and Foggy Bottom. These reports are treated as incontrovertible evidence of inevitable Ukrainian victory. In this climate, staff officers are reluctant to highlight effective Russian military performance or the impact of Russia’s expanding military power.
The Western media reinforce these attitudes, arguing that the Russian generals and their forces are dysfunctional, mired in corruption and sloth, and that Ukraine can win if it gets more support. As a result, it is a good bet that Washington and its allies will continue to provide equipment and ammunition, though probably not in the quantities and of the quality they did in the recent past.
Warsaw, whose leadership of NATO’s anti-Russian crusade is prized in Washington, finds comfort in the Beltway’s belief in Russian military weakness. So much so, that Warsaw seems willing to risk direct confrontation with Moscow. According to French sources in Warsaw, if Ukrainian forces are driven back, “the Poles may introduce the first division this year, which will include the Poles, the Balts, and a certain number of Ukrainians.”
"20 Grocery Products To Stock Up On Before Supplies Run Out At Stores"
Full screen recommended.
"20 Grocery Products To Stock Up On
Before Supplies Run Out At Stores"
by Epic Economist
"We are heading to the busiest shopping season of the year, and gifts will not be the only thing in high demand. Many Americans are already starting to stock up on groceries to prepare for the months ahead. As temperatures fall, getting out of our homes and taking a trip to the store may not be something we will be able to do as often. That's why replenishing our pantries during the fall will not only protect us against seasonal shortages but also help us save a lot of money down the line. Even though shoppers are likely to spend more, production levels are down for many popular items. That means you may have trouble finding Halloween pumpkins, candies like KitKat and Toblerone, Lunchables, and even breakfast staples, such as bacon.
The Wall Street Journal reports that a sugar shortage, import restrictions, and international competition all have "confectioners and food markers questioning whether they have enough supply for Halloween 2023 and the upcoming holiday season overall". Candy producers and cane sugar farmers are warning about sizable price increases. The tighter supply can be partially attributed to El Niño, a climatological phenomenon that periodically affects weather patterns. This shortage couldn’t come at a worse time, of course, since we are the most sugar-packed holidays of the year are right ahead. The USDA reported in June that U.S. raw cane sugar prices increased to 42.56 cents a pound, the highest price since January 2011. Meanwhile, Midwestern refined beet sugar, another type of sugar crop often used in confectionery, was up to 62 cents a pound. Major candy makers like Hershey and Mondelez, which produce sweets like Reese’s, Kit Kat, Toblerone, and Sour Patch Kids, acknowledged that the rising price of sugar will lead to price hikes in the next few months, while stocks will be reduced.
Since January, domestic chocolate prices rose by 14%. Major producers will continue to raise prices in the final months of 2023 due to a particularly weak year for cocoa production. "Compared to the 2021/22 cocoa year, the 2022/23 cocoa season is heading towards a supply deficit due to a reduction in production," according to the International Cocoa Organization. The price of wholesale cocoa beans hit its highest level in 13 years last month as farmers in Ghana, Nigeria, and the Ivory Coast reported troubling signs of black pod disease, an infection that causes cocoa pods to turn black and rot. Just in the Ivory Coast alone, known as the world's biggest cocoa producer, cocoa output shrunk by close to a full fifth this year. Similarly, below-average cocoa yields are predicted out of Ghana. "For most players, the impact of the very steep cocoa future price increases will only kick in from the second half of 2023," Lindt's Chief Financial Officer Martin Hug told analysts during an earnings call in June. Many big brands already hiked prices, a trend that is going to intensify right ahead of Halloween.
Today, we decided to compile a list of items that will be in short supply over the next few months so you can add them to your shopping cart the next time you go to the store. Our domestic supply chains are still under stress, and several disruptions in food production will contribute to a rise in the number of out-of-stock products at your local supermarket this fall. We hope this list serves as a guide for you to plan your autumn and winter purchases in the coming weeks and months. Many other essential items can also disappear from store shelves this year, and we will keep track of the coming shortages for you, so stay tuned with our channel!"
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"Economic Hell Slams Americans; Financial End Game As People Can't Pay Their Bills; Prices Soaring"
Jeremiah Babe, 9/1/23
"Economic Hell Slams Americans; Financial End Game
As People Can't Pay Their Bills; Prices Soaring"
Comments here:
"A Look to the Heavens"
"A star cluster around 2 million years young surrounded by natal clouds of dust and glowing gas, M16 is also known as The Eagle Nebula. This beautifully detailed image of the region adopts the colorful Hubble palette and includes cosmic sculptures made famous in Hubble Space Telescope close-ups of the starforming complex.
Described as elephant trunks or Pillars of Creation, dense, dusty columns rising near the center are light-years in length but are gravitationally contracting to form stars. Energetic radiation from the cluster stars erodes material near the tips, eventually exposing the embedded new stars. Extending from the ridge of bright emission left of center is another dusty starforming column known as the Fairy of Eagle Nebula. M16 lies about 7,000 light-years away, an easy target for binoculars or small telescopes in a nebula rich part of the sky toward the split constellation Serpens Cauda (the tail of the snake)."
"Whatever Your Fate Is..."
“Whatever your fate is, whatever the hell happens, you say, “This is what I need.” It may look like a wreck, but go at it as though it were an opportunity, a challenge. If you bring love to that moment - not discouragement - you will find the strength there. Any disaster you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life. What a privilege! This is when the spontaneity of your own nature will have a chance to flow. Then, when looking back at your life, you will see that the moments which seemed to be great failures, followed by wreckage, were the incidents that shaped the life you have now. You’ll see this is really true. Nothing can happen to you that is not positive. Even though it looks and feels at the moment like a negative crisis, it is not. The crisis throws you back, and when you are required to exhibit strength, it comes.”
~ Joseph Campbell
"The 'Titanic' Analogy You Haven't Heard: Passively Accepting Oblivion"
"The 'Titanic' Analogy You Haven't Heard:
Passively Accepting Oblivion"
by Charles Hugh Smith
You've undoubtedly heard rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic as an analogy for the futility of approving policy tweaks to address systemic crises. I've used the Titanic as an anology to explain the fragility of our financial system and the "glancing blow" of the pandemic:
"Why Our Financial System Is Like the Titanic" (March 15, 2015)
"Coronavirus and the "Unsinkable" Titanic Analogy" (January 29, 2020)
But there's a powerful analogy you haven't heard before. To understand the analogy, we first need to recap the tragedy's basic set-up.
On April 14, 1912, the liner Titanic, considered unsinkable due to its watertight compartments, struck a glancing blow against a massive iceberg on that moonless, weirdly calm night. In the early hours of April 15, the great ship broke in half and sank, ending the lives of the majority of its passengers and crew. Of the 2,208 passengers and crew onboard, 1,503 perished and 705 survived. The lifeboats had a maximum capacity of 1,178, so some 475 people died unnecessarily. Passengers of the Titanic (Wikipedia)
The initial complacency of the passengers and crew after the collision is another source of analogies relating to humanity's near-infinite capacity for denial. The class structure of the era was enforced by the authorities - the ship's officers. As the situation grew visibly threatening, the First Class passengers were herded into the remaining lifeboats while the steerage/Third Class passengers - many of them immigrants - were mostly kept below decks. Officers were instructed to enforce this class hierarchy with their revolvers.
Two-thirds of all passengers died, but the losses were not evenly distributed: 39% of First Class passengers perished, 58% of Second Class passengers lost their lives and 76% of Third Class passengers did not survive.
Rudimentary calculations by the ship's designer, who was on board to oversee the maiden voyage, revealed the truth to the officers: the ship would sink and there was no way to stop it. The ship was designed to survive four watertight compartments being compromised, and could likely stay afloat if five were opened to the sea, but not if six compartments were flooded. Water would inevitably spill over into adjacent compartments in a domino-like fashion until the ship sank.
What did the authorities do with this knowledge? Stripped of niceties, they passively accepted oblivion as the outcome and devoted their resources to enforcing the class hierarchy and the era's gender chivalry: 80% of male passengers perished, 25% of female passengers lost their lives. The loading of passengers into lifeboats was so poorly managed that only 60% of the lifeboat capacity was filled.
What if the officers had boldly accepted the inevitability of the ship sinking early on and devised a plan to minimize the loss of life? It would not have takes any extraordinary leap of creativity to organize the crew and passenger volunteers to strip the ship of everything that floated - wooden deck chairs, etc. - and lash them together into rafts. Given the calm seas that night and the freezing water, just keeping people above water would have been enough.
Rather than promote the absurd charade that the ship was fine, just fine, when time was of the essence, the authorities could have rounded up the women and children and filled every seat on lifeboats. Of the 1,030 people who could not be placed in a lifeboat, 890 were crew members, including about 25 women. The crew members were almost all in the prime of life. If anyone could survive several hours on a partially-submerged raft, it would have been the crew. (The first rescue ship arrived about two hours after the Titanic sank.)
Would this hurried effort to save everyone on board have succeeded? At a minimum, it would have saved an additional 475 souls via a careful loading of the lifeboats to capacity, and if the makeshift rafts had offered any meaningful flotation at all, many more lives would have been saved. Rather than devote resources to maintaining the pretense of safety and order, what if the ship's leaders had focused their response around answering a simple question: what was needed for people to survive a freezing night once the lifeboats were filled and the ship sank?
I think you see the analogy to the present. Our leadership, such as it is, is devoting resources to maintaining the absurd pretense that everything will magically re-set to September 2019 if we just print enough money and bail out the financial Aristocracy.
Whether we realize it or not, we're responding with passive acceptance of oblivion. The economy and social order were precariously fragile before the pandemic, and now the fragilities are unraveling. We need to start thinking beyond pretense and PR."
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Full screen recommended.
"Inflation Is Coming Back, So Are Food Shortages, Here's What Comes Next"
Full screen recommended.
The Atlantis Report, 9/1/23
"Inflation Is Coming Back, So Are Food Shortages,
Here's What Comes Next"
The economy last year was severe for food shortages, with products like eggs and infant formula particularly heavily impacted. Unfortunately, 2023 could see some food shortages of its own. Here we are commemorating the failure of the inflation reduction Act one year ago"
Comments here:
Must View! "Dr. David Martin: Don't Fear the Coming New Covid Lockdowns"
London Real, 9/1/23
"Dr. David Martin: Don't Fear
the Coming New Covid Lockdowns"
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"1930s USA - Fascinating Street Scenes of Vintage America [Colorized]"
Full screen recommended.
"1930s USA -
Fascinating Street Scenes of Vintage America [Colorized]"
"Step back in time with us as we unveil a mesmerizing journey through 1930s America like you've never seen before! While the Dustbowl was heating up in the southwest, the country as a whole was fighting through the Great Depression. All the while, Americans were living their day-to-day lives, and getting on as best as they could.
In this captivating video, we've meticulously colorized a collection of stunning photographs that capture the essence of a tumultuous yet resilient period in American history. From bustling cityscapes to serene countryside vistas, witness the contrast between hardship and hope that defined an entire generation.
Discover the intricate details of everyday life as we explore the highways and byways of the past, complete with corner gas stations, storefronts, and bustling city streets. Journey through snapshots of the stunning architecture that emerged during this era, from Art Deco skyscrapers to quaint suburban homes. Each frame is a window into a world where innovation and creativity thrived despite adversity.
Join us on this mesmerizing visual journey, as we honor the legacy of the past and celebrate the indomitable spirit of the American people. Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to experience the 1930s in an entirely new light. Whether you are a history enthusiast, a lover of vintage aesthetics, or simply curious about the past, this video offers an immersive visual experience that will evoke a sense of nostalgia and leave you with a renewed appreciation for the beauty of the human experience."
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"Here's Why the Collapse of Rome is Foretelling the Decline of the US Empire"
"Here's Why the Collapse of Rome is
Foretelling the Decline of the US Empire"
by Chris MacIntosh
"Ancient Rome was the world’s most powerful empire for 500 years. At its height, Rome boasted of roads, public baths, and much else that was close to miraculous for the rest of the planet. Then came the Great Fall, and what happened has lessons for the world today.
In his book "The City In History" (1961), Lewis Mumford explains how Rome went from "Megalopolis to Necropolis."
This great city set up its own demise in two ways: Panem et circenses (or "bread and circuses"). Mumford says, "Success underwrote a sickening parasitic failure."
As ancient Rome became prosperous, it became an unsustainable welfare state. Mumford writes that "indiscriminate public largesse" became common. A large portion of the population "took on the parasitic role for a whole lifetime." More than 200,000 citizens of Rome regularly received handouts of bread from "public storehouses."
Lewis Mumford also wrote the desire to lead an industrious productive life had severely "weakened." So what did people spend their time on? Distractions, which meant circuses.
The Roman people, not working for their livelihood but living off of the prosperity of their city, became numb.Mumford writes, "To recover the bare sensation of being alive, the Roman populace, high and low, governors, and governed, flocked to the great arenas" for games and distractions.
The entertainment in Rome included "chariot races, spectacular naval battles set in an artificial lake, theatrical pantomimes in which lewder sexual acts were performed." Today it is social media and porn. Out of 365 days, more than 200 were public holidays and 93 were "devoted to games at the public expense."
Consuming entertainment became the primary priority of Roman citizens in Rome’s decadent phase. As Lewis Mumford writes, "Not to be present at the show was to be deprived of life, liberty, and happiness." Consuming entertainment became the primary priority of Roman citizens in Rome’s decadent phase. As Lewis Mumford writes, "Not to be present at the show was to be deprived of life, liberty, and happiness." Concrete concerns of life became "subordinate, accessory, almost meaningless."
Ancient Rome could put half of its total population "in its circuses and theatres" at the same time. A new public holiday was declared to celebrate every military victory. But the number of holidays kept rising even when Rome’s military prowess began to fail…
Mumford writes that no empire had such an "abundance of idle time to fill with idiotic occupations." Even the Roman emperors who privately despised the games had to pretend they enjoyed them for "fear of hostile public response." Bottom line: The very power and prosperity of ancient Rome set the stage for its collapse.
As welfare states expand around the world today and entertainment options get ever more immersive, we are forced to ask a question: Is this Post-Industrial Civilization Rome, Part II?
Edward Gibbon, the author of "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", says: "The decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the causes of destruction multiplied with conquest; and, as soon as time or accident had removed the artificial supports, the fabric yielded."
All advanced civilizations become "complex systems," and then rot sets in."
Hat tip to International Man for this material.
"It's Human Nature..."
“We’ve all heard the warnings and we’ve ignored them. We push our luck. We roll the dice. It’s human nature. When we’re told not to touch something we usually do even if we know better. Maybe because deep down, we’re just asking for trouble.”
- “Meredith Grey”, “Gray’s Anatomy”
If so, we've certainly gotten all we want...
Bill Bonner, "Who's Sorry Now?"
"Who's Sorry Now?"
With $50 trillion bound for monetary heaven,
who's shedding a tear at this funeral?
by Bill Bonner
"Who's sorry now?
Who's sorry now?
Whose heart is aching for breaking each vow?
Who's sad and blue? Who's crying too?"
~ Snyder, Kalmar, Ruby
Poitou, France - "News flash: Inflation ain’t licked yet. Breitbart: "Bidenflation Keeps Going: Inflation Edged Higher in July." "The personal consumption price expenditures (PCE) price index rose 3.3 percent in July compared with 12 months earlier, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Thursday. This was the first acceleration in PCE inflation since April and follows the three percent reading in June."
And the Daily Mail: "Inflation gauge preferred by the Fed rises to 4.2% as housing and healthcare costs increase. The key question for us all is: what next? Will inflation pick up? Will it decline? There is $95 trillion in outstanding debt in the US, of which about $50 trillion is ‘excess’ – debt that probably can’t survive a complete interest rate cycle. One way or another, much of that $50 trillion will die – either from inflation or deflation."
In anticipation, today, we look ahead…that is, we put on a dark suit and gather at the gravesite. We want to see who’s there...and who’s heart is breaking.
Weeping at the Grave: We’ve already seen that excess debt is a mistake from the past. (The Fed left its key rate too low for too long…resulting in way too much debt.) But trying to fix it with inflation undermines the future. Unstable prices damage the whole economy. Real wages can’t keep up. Investment in long-term wealth-building industries disappears. Growth rates go down. The middle class shrinks. People get poorer. But we also know that letting the debt bubble die (deflation) hits the rich and powerful especially hard. They’re the ones who own financial assets. When prices go down, they lose wealth.
One way or another, there’s about $50 trillion that is headed for money heaven. It can go quickly, in a bust. Or it can go slowly…in an inflationary frazzle. So, who will be there, mourning…a handkerchief quietly mopping the tears…with the smell of lilies wafting through the air? Is that an Italian suit…a Chanel handbag? Or an outfit from Target, a get-up last worn 20 years ago…when mother died?
Who are these people weeping at the grave? Who’s sorry now? If we had our druthers, they’d be the rich men north of Richmond. They were the ones who gained the most from the Fed’s ‘mistake.’ Those to whom much has been given can damned well give it back.
According to Statista, the two richest areas in the US, by household income, are…wouldn’t you know it…just north of Richmond. Maryland – home of so many federal employees – has household income of $97,000. Washington, DC, is just behind with $90,000 per household.
In 1971, taken altogether, household, business and government debt toted to less than $2 trillion. And they were red-blooded, reliable, gold-backed, cigarette-smoking bucks back then. But then, the feds ‘transitioned’ the dollar. The next we knew it was a strange, unnatural thing; we hardly knew what to make of it.
The Great Divide: Soon, there were more and more of these funny-money dollars than ever before. And you can guess where they went. Here are the remarkable figures, from former White House budget director, David Stockman:
In 1989 the collective net worth of the top 1% of households weighed in at $4.8 trillion, which was 6.2X the $775 billion net worth of the bottom 50% of households. By Q1 2022, however, those figures were $45 trillion versus $3.7 trillion, meaning that the wealth differential was now 12.2X.
In round numbers, therefore, the top 1% gained $40 trillion of wealth over that 33-year period compared to the mere $3 trillion gain of the bottom 50%. Stated differently, there are currently 65 million households in the bottom 50%, which have an average net worth of just $56,000. This compares to the 1.2 million households in the top 1% which currently sport an average net worth of $38,000,000."
If the Fed were to let the credit bubble ‘die’…much of this $38 million per rich guy would go away. Write downs, defaults, bear markets and bankruptcies…the rich would take the losses they deserve.
They measured their wealth not in the real output of the Mainstreet economy, but in the inflated currency of Wall Street. If Paul Volcker were still at the helm of the Fed, he might have something to say about it. In the early ‘80s, he took the air out of the whole system – with a 20% Fed Funds rate – and restored faith in the dollar. Before he was finished, inflation was beaten and stocks were at their lowest prices ever. A similar move today would separate the rich from much of their ill-gotten gains. Each of the 1% might end up with only $20 million or so. Sniff. Sniff.
“At least they (dead asset values) didn’t suffer for too long,” the grieving relatives would say to each other. “When the end came…it came quickly.” By 1983, the inflation rate in the US had dropped to 3.2% – lower than it is today. It was quick work. And successful. The US economy boomed for the next two decades. But we are dreaming, aren’t we?
Death by Policy: Inflation? Deflation? These are largely (though not completely) policy decisions. And policy decisions are made by the rich men north of Richmond. And our guess is that it won’t be they whom we will find gathered in the cemetery. It won’t be their money that dies. Instead, they will choose the first option…the tried and true panacea of mismanaged governments through the ages – inflation. And then, try to picture the mourners.
No Italian suits. No Chanel handbags. No Mercedes in the parking lot. No fulsome stock portfolios…no huge capital gains. We are talking about Middle America, not the 1%. They will pay more for milk and cheese…and houses…and autos. They, the people whose savings got ripped off by the Fed’s low interest rates…whose wages went nowhere for half a century…whose jobs were shipped to China…whose bedrock values were mocked by the elites…their heads hung low…their wallets empty…they will pay higher consumer prices to keep the elites’ asset bubble inflated."
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