Saturday, September 30, 2023

"Mars Rover: Stunning Video Footage of Mars"

"Mars Rover Captured a New 4k 
Stunning Video Footage of Mars"
With all that's happening right here on Earth there's no time to engage in pointless speculation but what these videos, credited to nasa.gov, appear to show is astonishingly incredible if genuine, and they appear to be. This is a close-up ground shot like so many of Rover's transmissions. The object is small, and obviously not a natural phenomenon. What is it? Created by who, or what?
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New Rover Video Footage of Mars, Sept. 18, 2023
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
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New Rover Video Footage of Mars, Sept. 24, 2023
Rover Perseverance Video Footage of Mars
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
Mars 2020 Mission Overview
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New Rover Video Footage of Mars, Sept. 20, 2023
Rover Perseverance Video Footage of Mars
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
Mars 2020 Mission Overview
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New Rover Video Footage of Mars, Sept. 1, 2023
Rover Perseverance Video Footage of Mars
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
Mars 2020 Mission Overview
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If genuine, consider the implications... What else haven't we been shown? And please, if anyone has additional information about this please share it in the Comments below.
- CP

"A Look to the Heavens"

"Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 1055 is a dominant member of a small galaxy group a mere 60 million light-years away toward the aquatically intimidating constellation Cetus. Seen edge-on, the island universe spans over 100,000 light-years, a little larger than our own Milky Way galaxy. The colorful, spiky stars decorating this cosmic portrait of NGC 1055 are in the foreground, well within the Milky Way. But the telltale pinkish star forming regions are scattered through winding dust lanes along the distant galaxy's thin disk.
Click image for larger size.
With a smattering of even more distant background galaxies, the deep image also reveals a boxy halo that extends far above and below the central bulge and disk of NGC 1055. The halo itself is laced with faint, narrow structures, and could represent the mixed and spread out debris from a satellite galaxy disrupted by the larger spiral some 10 billion years ago."

"What In The World Has Happened To Our Society?"

"What In The World Has Happened To Our Society?"
By Michael Snyder

"Things weren’t always this horrible. Once upon a time, America’s shiny new cities were the envy of the entire world. Our citizens dressed sharply, they treated one another with respect, and they worked incredibly hard. But now our country is teeming with extremely slothful degenerates that want everything handed to them on a silver platter. Rampant greed is everywhere that you look, crime is completely out of control, we are facing the worst drug crisis in the entire history of our nation, millions of our fellow citizens are absolutely seething with hatred for one another, and those that attempt to stand up for what is right are considered to be the problem. We should be deeply grieved by what has happened to our society, because it truly is a great tragedy.

Let me give you an example of what I am talking about. Matt Walsh published an excerpt from a letter that an infantryman sent to his family during the Civil War…"If you want to see how much the English language has deteriorated in modern times, go read the letters that random infantrymen wrote home to their families during the Civil War. These were young men often without much formal schooling who wrote naturally like poets. One example:"
Can you write like that? I certainly can’t. Those of us in this generation like to think of ourselves as the pinnacle of human history, but the truth is that we can’t even compare to those that have come before us.

Let me give you another example. More than a century ago, the streets of New York City were filled with extremely civilized people that dressed incredibly well when it was time to go out into the public arena…
Full screen recommended.
But now New York City is a crime-ridden, drug-infested hellhole. At this point, drug overdoses account for 80 to 85 percent of all accidental deaths in the Big Apple…
New York Times:
Is this “progress”? I don’t think so.

In Portland, conditions have gotten so bad that more than 2,600 businesses have left the downtown area over the past few years…"Business owners are fleeing Portland in droves amid a pronounced rise in crime and homelessness, officials in the Democratic stronghold have revealed. Public data shows that since the pandemic, more than 2,600 downtown businesses have filed changes of address with the U.S. Postal Service to leave their downtown ZIP codes. Several big-name employers, from Unitus Community Credit Union to Umpqua Bank, have been among the mass exodus, carried out by owners who have taken issue with the rising crime levels and homelessness – and the city’s failure to address it."

Apparently officials want even more businesses to leave, because now a bill that would give homeless individuals $1,000 a month “in no-strings-attached cash” is being seriously considered…"Oregon is considering giving its vast homeless and low-income population $1,000 in no-strings-attached cash. The bill was proposed by woke State Senator Wlnsvey Campos – who was among those calling to abolish the police in the summer of 2020 when the city of Portland was besieged by protesters – and Rep. Khanh Pham." If they actually do this, most of that money will go straight to the drug dealers.

Down in San Francisco, drug addicts are fueling a crime spree that is worse than anything that the city has ever experienced. When one woman recently went into the city for a yoga class, she was told that the building “had been broken into six times in two months”…"Yesterday I went to a yoga class in San Francisco for the first time in years. They had the front door locked (had to be buzzed in), a sign on it that said “no cash on premises,” and the woman at the front desk said they had been broken into six times in two months."

Over in Los Angeles, violent crime has become such a problem that extremely expensive “executive protection dogs” have become a very hot commodity…"The elite animals - typically German shepherds, Belgian Malinois, Dobermans, cane corsos or a mix of those breeds - are marketed under names such as “personal canine bodyguards” and “executive protection dogs.” Amid a spate of high-profile crimes in upscale parts of Los Angeles, they have become highly sought after among the rich, many of whom worry about being targeted.

Protection dogs, they say, provide an immediate layer of front-line defense, unlike security cameras (which merely show an intruder on the property, and only if the devices happen to be pointed in the right direction) and home alarm systems (which can be bypassed or ignored). Even if police are summoned, they can be slow to respond, if at all. So homeowners who can afford it are being more proactive."

This is the world that we live in now. But most Americans don’t seem to care. We are literally living in an “idiocracy” in which people are dropping dead all around us, but most Americans are so far gone that they can’t even understand what is happening.

Of course it isn’t just the United States that is facing such problems. Up in Canada, crime rates are absolutely exploding thanks to the reckless policies of the Trudeau regime…"The Toronto Police Service data portal shows that Toronto experienced a 17.2 per cent spike in overall major crimes in 2022, including a 9.8 per cent increase in assaults, a 44.2 per cent spike in auto thefts, 6.5 per cent growth in break and enters, a 28.5 per cent jump in robbery, an 11.3 per cent increase in sexual violence, and a 35.8 per cent gain in theft over cases."

And in many areas of South America crime has risen to levels that we have never seen before…"Countries across Latin America and the Caribbean continued to experience high murder rates in 2022, as cocaine production reached new heights, the fragmentation of gangs continued, and the flow of weapons across the region grew more acute.

For Ecuador, the situation was downright catastrophic. Historic amounts of cocaine entering the country fueled violence, with murders skyrocketing as gangs targeted judicial officials and killed police officers at record rates. That cocaine came largely from Colombia, where recently inaugurated President Gustavo Petro has promised to shift away from the war on drugs in favor of efforts to achieve a “Total Peace” with the country’s rebel and criminal groups."

Our entire world is deeply sick. We have turned our backs on what is good, and we continue to run after evil as rapidly as we can. As a result, our society is a complete and total mess. We truly are living during one of the most critical times in all of human history, and we desperately need to change course. Unfortunately, most people seem to think that everything is just fine, and so they see no need for a new direction."

Stipendium peccati mors est...

"Looking for a Reason to Believe: The Benefit of the Doubt Is Cracking"

"Looking for a Reason to Believe: 
The Benefit of the Doubt Is Cracking"
by Paul Rosenberg

"Those of us who pursue positive change are very often frustrated. We see the necessity of change all too clearly, and we can explain how it should come about, but it never seems to happen. The truth, however, is that change does come; it just comes more slowly than we’d like, and in ways that differ from those we imagined.

One real change I like to point out is the passing of blind trust in politicians. In the 1950s and ‘60s, most people spoke of politicians with respect and even with reverence. Now it’s almost standard for people to agree that they’re liars and thieves. That’s a very significant change, even if it did take several decades to unfold. So, a significant change has occurred in our time, and over a very broad base. Still, most people are hanging on, and often desperately, to old ways that should really be abandoned.

The Automatic Benefit of the Doubt: It’s a bit troubling to see how blindly, and for how long, people give the benefit of the doubt to hierarchy and its operators. They can know that a system is abusing them, and they can complain about it at length, but still they grasp at reasons to keep believing in it.

Here’s what I mean: During the bad spots of the Middle Ages, people would be abused by the clergy but say, “If only His Holiness knew!” During the reign of the USSR, people in the Gulag would often say, “If only Stalin knew!” In our time, people hold Political Party A or Political Party B as grave evils, while pretending that the combination of A + B is good and noble.

Still, such blind biases do eventually break. Stalin, after all, is gone, along with his USSR. The Protestant reformation broke the domination of the Church. And the delusions of our time will die as well.

“Still, I look to Find a Reason to Believe”: If there were such a competition, I’d nominate Rod Stewart’s song, "Reason To Believe," as the Anthem of the Age. Regardless of how badly they are abused, people have a very hard time letting go of their hierarchies; they’ve taken emotional refuge in them, after all. Even when sharp pain forces them to examine the hierarchy that constantly tells them, “Obey or we’ll hurt you,” the impulse to maintain belief erupts. Here’s how the song expresses it:

"If I listened long enough to you,
I’d find a way to believe that it’s all true.
Knowing that you lied,
straight-faced while I cried.
Still I look to find a reason to believe."

Humans have a real problem with that last line: looking for reasons to believe. It flies in the face of both logic and honesty, but people not only do it, but vigorously defend it. As for specific reasons to believe, they’re endless. Seldom are humans quicker and cleverer than when justifying their previous actions.

Why This Is a Good Sign: When people are desperately grasping for reasons to believe, it’s because the benefit of the doubt is cracking beneath them. Otherwise, why would they fight so wildly? The circumstances of our modern world are propelling people toward this break. Every time a ruling system tells gigantic lies, censors the public square, surveils their own people and frightens the masses for their own benefit, belief in their system cracks a little.

More and more people are conceding that it’s not just “one bad actor” here or there, but that Joe Stalin really is evil, that the clergy really is corrupt, and that hierarchies are abusive by nature. The whirlwind of distractions and slogans arrayed against moral clarity are losing their effectiveness. Little by little, humanity’s blind devotion to authority is cracking. Someday, it will break."
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Rod Stewart, "Reason To Believe"

The Daily "Near You?"

Saco, Maine, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"The Reality Of Life..."

"Despite my firm convictions, I have been always a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an open mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of intelligent search for truth."
- Malcolm X

"Time..."

“Space I can recover. Time, never.” 
-  Napoleon Bonaparte
“Lands can be reconquered, indeed in the course of a battle, a hill or a certain plain might trade hands several times. But missed opportunities? These can never be regained. Moments in time, in culture? They can never be re-made. One can never go back in time to prepare for what they should have prepared for, no one can ever get back critical seconds that were wasted out of fear or ego. Napoleon was brilliant at trading space for time: Sure, you can make these moves, provided you are giving me the time I need to drill my troops, or move them to where I want them to be. Yet in life, most of us are terrible at this. We trade an hour of our life here or afternoon there like it can be bought back with the few dollars we were paid for it. And it is only much, much later, as they are on their deathbeds or when they are looking back on what might have been, that many people realize the awful truth of this quote. Don’t do that. Embrace it now.”
- Ryan Holiday
Full screen recommended.
Hans Zimmer, "Time"

"Hope In a Time of Hopelessness"

"Hope In a Time of Hopelessness" 
by Washingtons Blog

"Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage;
anger at the way things are, and courage 
to see that they do not remain the way they are."
- Augustine of Hippo

"Several long-time activists have told me recently they are overwhelmed, worried, and think that we may be losing the struggle. One very smart friend asked me if there is any basis for hope.

Hope is an act of will, not a passive mood. Admittedly, things are easier when circumstances bring hope to us, and we can just receive the hopeful and inspiring news. But if we care about winning, we have to be able to decide to have hope even when outer circumstances aren't so positive.

I have children who are counting on me to leave them with a reasonably safe and sane planet. As I've said elsewhere, I care too much about my kids and my freedom to be afraid. I care enough about them that it gets my heart beating, connects me to something bigger than myself, and that gives me courage, even when the chips are down. 

If I allowed myself to lose hope about exposing falsehoods, about protecting our freedom and building a hopeful future, I would be dropping the ball for my kids. I would be condemning them to a potentially very grey world where bigger and worse things may happen, where their liberties and joys are wholly stripped away, where every ounce of vitality is beholden to joyless and useless tasks.

Many of us may be motivated by other things besides kids, and only you can know what that is. But we each must dig down deep, and connect with our most powerful motivations to win the struggle for freedom and truth.

I don't know about you, but I don't have the luxury of giving up hope. When I get depressed, overwhelmed or exhausted by the stunning acts of savagery, treason, and disinformation carried out by the imperialists, or the willful ignorance of far too many Americans, I will myself into finding some reason to have hope. Because the struggle for life and liberty is too important for me to give up." 

"World War 3 Update 9/30/23"

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 9/29/23
"Here We Go! Tanks Amass On Border! 
Shutdown In 24 Hours; Romania On Alert; Nationwide Nuclear Drill"
This is going to be a very eventful week.
Comments here:
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Full screen recommended.
Hindustan Times, 9/30/23
"On Cam: Dramatic Surrender Of Ukrainian Troops; 
Zelensky's Men Drop Arms, Switch To Russian Side"
Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are opting to surrender to the Russian Army. These surrenders were seen even through a newly established Russian radio frequency. Clayton Morris, an American journalist, expressed his astonishment and said, "This is a story the Western media does not want you to see. Russian Army officials claim around 10,000 Ukrainian fighters have dropped their arms."
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"Ukrainian soldiers are surrendering by the thousands in Ukraine since the beginning of summer. 10,000 have reportedly turned themselves over to Russian forces rather than being turned into hamburger. 400,000 to 500,000 Ukraine military have been killed in action during the nearly 2-year war. 80,000 reportedly have been killed during the failed so-called “counter-offensive” that started in early June. The Russians are winning big, and the Lying Legacy Media have been lying to America the entire time. Ukraine is a NATO disaster, and it should stop ASAP. There is much more in the 48-minute newscast."
o
Full screen recommended.
Hindustan Times, 9/27/23
"Russia's Shoigu Confirms Army 'Wiped Out' 
17,000 Ukrainian Troops This Month"
"Russia's defense minister has claimed that the Army killed 17,000 Ukrainian soldiers this month in the course of the war. Sergei Shoigu was chairing a board meeting at the defense ministry. He added that over 2,700 pieces of military equipment including U.S-made Bradley Infantry Vehicles, German-made Leopard and UK-made Challenger tanks have been destroyed. Shoigu trained guns at Ukraine and its allies for "throwing untrained soldiers into senseless assaults."
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Dan, I Allegedly, "No Time for Bystanders"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly 9/30/23
"No Time for Bystanders"
"The CEO of Citibank just announced a major restructuring of the company. It starts by getting rid of the weakest links in the company. There is no time for bystanders. Plus, we go to the Huntington Beach airshow."
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"Grocery Price Increases And Some Empty Shelves At Kroger! What's Next?"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 9/30/23
"Grocery Price Increases And Some Empty 
Shelves At Kroger! What's Next?"
"In today's vlog, we are at Kroger and are noticing more price increases on groceries and are finding some empty shelves as some products are getting harder to get in due to a multitude of reasons! It's getting rough out here as most grocery items continue to skyrocket in price!"
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Friday, September 29, 2023

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Far beyond the local group of galaxies lies NGC 3621, some 22 million light-years away. Found in the multi-headed southern constellation Hydra, the winding spiral arms of this gorgeous island universe are loaded with luminous young star clusters and dark dust lanes. Still, for earthbound astronomers NGC 3621 is not just another pretty face-on spiral galaxy. Some of its brighter stars have been used as standard candles to establish important estimates of extragalactic distances and the scale of the Universe.
This beautiful image of NGC 3621 traces the loose spiral arms far from the galaxy's brighter central regions that span some 100,000 light-years. Spiky foreground stars in our own Milky Way Galaxy and even more distant background galaxies are scattered across the colorful skyscape.”

"Fast Food Is Your New Career; California Evictions Are Exploding"

Jeremiah Babe, 9/29/23:
"Fast Food Is Your New Career; 
California Evictions Are Exploding"
Comments here:

"15 Foods That Will Disappear First As Difficult Times Approach"

Full screen recommended.
Epic Economist 9/29/23
"15 Foods That Will Disappear First
 As Difficult Times Approach"

"Food scarcity is becoming a major concern in many areas of the globe right now. Several food staples are already facing tight supplies and shortages, worsening the growing hunger crisis that is spreading across the planet.

Supply chains are still struggling to recover, and in the event of a new pandemic, economic or financial meltdown, as well as any disaster that may hit our system, all of the improvement seen since 2021 may be rapidly reversed, leaving the country in a chaotic state and causing products to disappear from store shelves.

We all know by now that the next big global meltdown can erupt at any moment. Economies are falling apart. Financial markets are wobbly. The climate crisis is decimating crops and making it harder for agricultural producers to maintain a stable food supply. It's only a matter of time before something bursts. And when that happens, desperate people will start taking some desperate measures. Today, we compiled several staples that are either already facing shortages or at high risk of experiencing supply chain disruptions or being hit by a panic buying wave after things go south.

For example, fresh and perishable produce such as fruits and vegetables are among the first to vanish when a crisis is announced. Given that these foods have a limited shelf life and rely on a stable supply chain to be delivered at stores, they are typically the first to go. When maritime or road transportation systems are interrupted, perishables become vulnerable to spoilage before reaching the market. To make things worse, consumers tend to stock up on these items early on, rapidly depleting food retailers' inventories. One option that could help you preserve your produce for longer is canning. Some fruits and veggies can also be frozen without significant alterations to their nutrients and texture. But the truth is that the only way to have a reliable supply of fruits and veggies during hard times is to start your own garden and grow your own fresh produce, just as our great-grandparents did during the Great Depression.

Similarly, dairy products, including milk, cheese, and yogurt, are another category vulnerable to widespread shortages during difficult periods. They require an intricate network that includes specialized transportation and storage, otherwise, they can spoil before hitting the stores. Unexpected problems in production can suddenly impact availability. In fact, stable dairy production is only achieved when there are regular farm and labor operations to process and conserve the products. Any restriction on movement, as it happened during the pandemic, can result in work stoppages and, consequently, mass shortages and price hikes. Additionally, considering that these items must be refrigerated, power outages and rolling blackouts could prevent us from consuming dairy altogether.

Any item that you buy at your local grocery store needs a complex web of services and procedures before it gets there. A worldwide or nationwide crisis can throw our food systems in disarray and cause serious inventory problems for food retailers. That's why understanding which foods tend to disappear first during such situations can help us make more informed decisions and focus on preparedness measures to survive the challenges we may face. Even though it is impossible to predict when and which will be the next major crisis, we can get ready for potential adversities and mitigate the impact of such disruptions in our lives."
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"The Universe"

“Believe me, I know all about it. I know the stress. I know the frustration. I know the temptations of time and space. We worked this out ahead of time. They're part of the plan. We knew this stuff might happen. Actually, you insisted they be triggered whenever you were ready to begin thinking thoughts you've never thought before. New thinking is always the answer.”
“Good on you,”
The Universe

“Thoughts become things... choose the good ones!”

"Reality..."

“Reality is what we take to be true.
What we take to be true is what we believe.
What we believe is based upon our perceptions.
What we perceive depends upon what we look for.
What we look for depends upon what we think.
What we think depends upon what we perceive.
What we perceive determines what we believe.
What we believe determines what we take to be true.
What we take to be true is our reality.”
- Gary Zukav

The Daily "Near You?"

Havre de Grace, Maryland, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"It Is Common To Assume..."

"It is common to assume that human progress affects everyone - that even the dullest man, in these bright days, knows more than any man of, say, the Eighteenth Century, and is far more civilized. This assumption is quite erroneous. The great masses of men, even in this inspired republic, are precisely where the mob was at the dawn of history. They are ignorant, they are dishonest, they are cowardly, they are ignoble. They know little if anything that is worth knowing, and there is not the slightest sign of a natural desire among them to increase their knowledge."
- H. L. Mencken
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Greg Hunter, "Weekly News Wrap-Up 9/29/23"

"Weekly News Wrap-Up 9/29/23"
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 

"President Trump won the Republican debate this week without showing up. This is according to a Daily Mail poll after the GOP debate that Trump stayed away from. Meanwhile, Trump’s business license has been revoked in New York by a judge to punish him for fraud BEFORE a case being brought by the NY Attorney General Letitia James. Trump is appealing that ruling and going to court in New York on the NY fraud case on October 2nd.

Joe Biden is facing impeachment in the House of Representatives. The Democrat talking point: “There is no evidence.” Of course, just the opposite is true. There is plenty of evidence that Biden and many in his family took secret money from foreign sources. In other words, Joe Biden and family took bribes according to the Republicans on the impeachment committee. They are also calling what Biden and his family did was treason. We will see if there will be a conviction and removal from office when this hits the Senate.

Ukrainian soldiers are surrendering by the thousands in Ukraine since the beginning of summer. 10,000 have reportedly turned themselves over to Russian forces rather than being turned into hamburger. 400,000 to 500,000 Ukraine military have been killed in action during the nearly 2-year war. 80,000 reportedly have been killed during the failed so-called “counter-offensive” that started in early June. The Russians are winning big, and the Lying Legacy Media have been lying to America the entire time. Ukraine is a NATO disaster, and it should stop ASAP. There is much more in the 48-minute newscast."

Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he talks about these 
stories and more in the Weekly News Wrap-Up for 9/29/23.

"12 Major Retailers Shutting Down Multiple Stores In The Fall Of 2023"

Full screen recommended.
The Atlantis Report, 9/29/23
"12 Major Retailers Shutting Down
 Multiple Stores In The Fall Of 2023"

"The U.S. economy has an ominous atmosphere looming this fall. Amidst this backdrop, gloomy clouds are casting their shadow over major retail giants, and are taking drastic steps to navigate the uncertain terrain ahead. Some are proactively shedding underperforming stores to safeguard their financial stability, while others are plunging into liquidation as they face insurmountable challenges.

Take the case of Bed Bath & Beyond, a household name that filed for bankruptcy back in April. Despite efforts to revive its business, the outlook remained bleak. In a revised bankruptcy plan, the company delivered grim tidings to its shareholders. Those holding specific interests or claims tied to Bed Bath & Beyond were left empty-handed, as compensation or benefits were eliminated. Even Overstock's $21 million acquisition of the brand's intellectual property couldn't offset the company's crushing debt. On September 12, the final blow landed as Bed Bath & Beyond confirmed the closure of all 360 of its remaining stores scattered across 40 states.

Similarly, JoAnn Fabrics is bracing for mass store closures and staff layoffs in 2023. The retailer revealed plans to shut more stores and trim its corporate office workforce. Amanda Hayes, a spokesperson for Joann, cited the need to realign the company's structure and expenses with its business requirements. The exact count of layoffs and store closures remains undisclosed, but the financial picture is unsettling, with a mere $19.1 million in cash against a towering $1 billion debt. Quarterly losses have surged to $73 million, up from $56.9 million in the previous quarter. The specter of being delisted looms large, making it challenging to secure much-needed capital. JoAnn's stock has plummeted by 68% compared to a year ago and an astounding 95% from its 2021 peak, earning it a spot on Moody's bankruptcy watchlist.

These store closures are just one part of a larger narrative of economic turbulence. Alongside these closures, hundreds of thousands of retail workers are losing their jobs as companies battle for survival or concede defeat. The repercussions are reverberating through key economic indicators, including the nation's gross domestic product. Yet, for countless hardworking Americans, the retail crisis is causing their lives to unravel. While it's too early to gauge the full extent of this downturn, one thing is crystal clear: the American retail landscape will undergo a profound transformation in early 2024. In this video, we delve into the strategies popular brands are employing to weather the ongoing recession, shedding light on the evolving retail landscape."
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Bill Bonner, "When the West Marched East"

"When the West Marched East"
NATO's expansion, Russia's "scorched earth" 
and the historical rift in between...
by Bill Bonner

Poitou, France - "Headline report at Bloomberg: "If the US Exits Niger, the Terrorists and Russians Win." "Emmanuel Macron, announced on television that he will pull out the roughly 1,500 French troops stationed in Niger, as well as the French ambassador. France, as the region’s former colonial power, has long played the lead for Team West in the Sahel, with the US in the unaccustomed role of understudy."

Dear readers may be wondering: what do we care? But they may be the key to understanding our future. US foreign policy is controlled by a cabal of arms producers, glory seekers and useful idiots. It costs…all in…about $1.5 trillion per year to support them. That’s about a quarter of all federal spending. And $1 trillion of that cost could easily be cut – with no loss to US security.

That…and relatively minor adjustments to America’s runaway ‘transfer’ payments…could bring the federal budget into balance and prevent a catastrophic debacle of inflation, bankruptcy and banana republic-ism. In preview…we don’t think it is going to happen. But today…we explore further; maybe we’ll see something we missed.

More Question Marks: In the Bloomberg piece above, we are urged to ‘do something’ lest we ‘lose Niger.’ Since Niger is neither something ‘we’ ever had…nor something ‘we’ ever wanted, losing it does not seem like a pressing problem…nor do we expect to spend a lot of time looking for it. So, let us reach into our bag of question marks: why not let the Russians have it?

Talk about dogsh*t countries! Niger has a GDP of about 1/1000th the size of the US. In purchasing power parity, the typical citizen earns about $100 per month. And the government’s budget is about half made up of foreign aid (typically, much of that ends up supporting sellers of top end Swiss watches and German autos).

Let’s take out another question mark. What possible advantage would be bestowed on the US by throwing its money around in Niger? Of course, the same question mark could be used elsewhere. Why does the US have military bases in Germany? The Germans can take care of themselves. Why in Japan? And why send billions to the Ukraine (much of that slips into Swiss bank accounts and Mercedes dealers too!)?

At one level, the question marks are unnecessary. We know the story. After the Iraq/Afghanistan misadventures wound down, America’s war industry needed a new enemy. Over a period of years, it goaded Russia into playing the part. This was not an easy thing to do. Russia has always had an uneasy relationship with Europe…sometimes admirer and imitator…sometimes fighting for its life against ‘the West.’ A little history might help clarify.

From Russia With Love: At the end of the 17th century, Peter, Tsar of Russia, later to be known as “the Great,” arrived in England. He came with four chamberlains (assistants), three interpreters, two clock makers, a cook, a priest, 70 soldiers, four dwarfs and a monkey.

Peter wanted to learn all he could about England and Europe (he stopped in Germany on his way home) so that he could apply the lessons in Russia. It is said that Peter wanted his mission to be secret so that he wouldn’t be bothered by diplomatic niceties. But it is hard for us to imagine how he – who was 6’ 8” tall – and his curious entourage could have remained very long in London without being noticed. This was the beginning of Russia’s efforts to westernize itself, which continued off and on for the next 300 years.

During this time, the Russians’ affection for things European was interrupted thrice – each time by the Europeans themselves. Hardly had Peter returned to Moscow when Charles XII of Sweden fell upon the Baltic coast, marched through Poland and invaded Russia in 1708. Blocked by Peter’s army, the Swedes were unable to advance on Moscow, so they turned towards the Ukraine. Again, Peter was able to out-maneuver them, and beat Charles XII decisively at the battle of Poltava in 1709.

The winning tactic was to withdraw in the face of the more powerful enemy and to destroy everything and anything that he might be able to use. “Scorched earth,” it is called. It is not very popular with local populations, but was effective against the Swedes, and later against the French in 1812, and the Germans in 1941.

From the historical record, invaders come to Russia from ‘the West,’ about once every hundred years. And since the last invasion happened 82 years ago, it might make sense for the Russians to take precautions. This was, arguably, the motivation for Vladimir Putin’s insistence that ‘the West’ take seriously his security concerns.

Instead, NATO did a ‘drang nach osten’ of its own…bringing the immense firepower of ‘the West’ closer and closer to Russia’s front door. In 2014, the US helped a coup d’etat in Kyiv, which replaced an elected Russian-friendly president with one more in tune with the western agenda.

Bullies and Busybodies: This must have been a big disappointment to Putin. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, with assurances from western leaders that NATO would not advance a single inch towards Mother Russia, the Kremlin leadership had once-again wanted to join Europe, not to fight it. European countries were far richer and more technologically advanced than Russia. The Russians hoped to emulate them, not to make war on them. Former NATO chief, George Robertson even says that Putin asked to join NATO. The Guardian reports:

"George Robertson, a former Labour defense secretary who led Nato between 1999 and 2003, said Putin made it clear at their first meeting that he wanted Russia to be part of western Europe. “They wanted to be part of that secure, stable, prosperous west that Russia was out of at the time,” he said. The Labour peer recalled an early meeting with Putin, who became Russian president in 2000. “Putin said: ‘When are you going to invite us to join Nato?’ Russia was never allowed to join. Instead, ‘the West’ marched east. Every warning issued by Putin…and every attempt to find a non-violent solution…was rebuffed by the US.

Finally, the Russian speaking regions east of the Dnieper sought independence from Ukraine (where their language had been outlawed)…and Russia felt it had to act. More to come…"

Jim Kunstler, "Two-Punch"

"Two-Punch"
by Jim Kunstler

“The statement that “Joe Biden wasn’t involved in Hunter Biden’s business,” is absurd in its face. Joe Biden was Hunter Biden’s business.” - Margot Cleveland

"Understand: no amount of political blustering will bring this gaslit nation into daylight when there is no more money and no more credit and no feasible way to feed the blob that ate our government. The equation is simple. Our country can’t handle normal interest rates; and the value of the dollar can’t withstand more ultra-low interest rates. Someone, please, ask Congress to stop screwing that pooch over there!

Oh, and that “can” we’ve been kicking down the road turns out to be a rusty old 50-gallon drum. Somebody has stuffed America into it and is fixing to drop us overboard beyond the continental shelf off the Jersey Shore. Can that be stopped, too?

So, here at week’s end we see these two rather momentous issues juxtaposed: the battle over how to finance that blob-infested monster in DC; and the battle to expose the crimes of a real-life Manchurian Candidate president. Neither battle is going all that well for the minority of citizens who want to live in a pro-reality society. If we follow the fiscal trend, all the tax revenue we can grudge up will barely cover the annual interest on our $30+trillion debt. If we can’t boot out the brain-dead cat’s paw in the White House, then say goodbye to the rule of law and liberty with it.

The people we elect to Congress don’t want to be accountable for specifically authorizing spending on the blob’s multitudinous pet projects. So, they depend on multi-thousand-page omnibus bills nobody can ever scrutinize, and continuing resolution dodges to postpone any necessarily painful action on a budget. Therefore, a dissenting coterie in the House proposes to play hard-ball over de-funding the blob, that is, a government shutdown of unknown duration, until gaslight is replaced by sunlight. The blob itself sends out a frantic S.O.S. Don’t let these white supremacist, “far-right” MAGA nut-jobs drag us out of the comfortable warm, moist darkness we thrive in - perfect conditions for continued blob growth!

After all, these Congresspersons have their lobbyist-donors to answer to, and they’d better come up with the right answer - or else their chance of eventually retiring as multi-millionaires, like Nancy Pelosi did, might slip away. Of course, the joke would be on them (and the rest of us) if it eventually costs a million dollars for a slice of pizza when they try to cash-out. Or is there some dirty secret involved here - for instance, that the blob has also taken over whatever remained of the US economy, too. So that defunding the blob also blows a hole in that putative economy? Or maybe not. Maybe the regular economy can breathe a little again with the blob’s boot off its neck. Let’s go ahead and shut off the flow for a week or two, see what happens.

I imagine some of you took in the opening of House Oversight’s impeachment inquiry, or at least enjoyed a few choice tidbits on Web video. Chairman Comer (R-KY) tried to proceed gingerly, so as to not appear vicious, and called onstage three witnesses to establish an upright basis for the exercise. Alas, they were led by the earnest but equivocating GWU law professor Jonathan Turley, straining so hard to be above reproach that he seemed to levitate out of his seat. The Democrat minority were allowed to invite their own shill, one Michael J. Gerhardt, a law prof from North Carolina, who was there to make the gaslight flicker, and sho’nuff did.

Ranking (minority) Member Jamie Raskin immediately tried to distract the proceeding with a call to subpoena Rudy Giuliani - supposedly to impugn the process. The majority briskly tabled Raskin’s motion. The old trouper has been worked over pretty severely by a lawless DOJ the past three years, had his client correspondence stolen by the FBI, his law license suspended by a malign New York Bar Association… but don’t forget he is an experienced and resourceful federal prosecutor himself. He spent many months beating the thickets of corruption in Ukraine for then-President Trump, and certainly knows more about what went on in that grubby money laundry than practically anyone. Bring him on. I’d like to see ol’ Rudy joust with the likes of Cori Bush (D-CA) , AOC (D-NY), and Kweisi Mfume (D-MD).

The New York Times pushed the leitmotif of their narrative this morning: there’s no evidence that “Joe Biden” committed any impeachable offenses.
That wasn’t the point of Mr. Comer’s opening exercise, which did not include what are called “fact witnesses” - exactly what The New York Times pretended to not understand. The point was to open this ugly business delicately, with some decorum. It will be interesting to see how long the news media can keep pretending there’s nothing to see in the Biden family’s global business doings when a firehouse of evidence is turned on them. You can be sure the committee is sitting on some items we have not heard about.

There’s reason to be discouraged that the people we elect can bring the two great issues of the moment - the blob’s budget and the impeachment of “Joe Biden” - to satisfactory conclusions. They are arguably pseudopods of that very blob, whose very existence is being threatened now, and they have to worry about their shots at becoming multi-millionaires, too. The weeks ahead will inform us if there’s anything that can be salvaged of our federal government or whether we must make other arrangements."

The full title of his website says it all, doesn't it?

Dan, I Allegedly, "Watch It All Melt Down"

Dan, I Allegedly AM 9/29/23
"Watch It All Melt Down"
"We are getting a warning about Bank of America and it’s stability right now. We are hearing that it was the worst month for real estate sales in years. So much is happening with the stock market and the potential government shut down. Everything is melting down right now."
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"The Entire Financial System Is Cracking! At Least One Major Bank Is Going Down"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 9/29/23
"The Entire Financial System Is Cracking! 
At Least One Major Bank Is Going Down"
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"Outrageous Prices At Walmart! This Is Ridiculous! What's Next? What's Coming?"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 9/29/23
"Outrageous Prices At Walmart! This Is Ridiculous! 
What's Next? What's Coming?"
"In today's vlog, we are at Walmart and are noticing some outrageous price increases on groceries! This is not good as grocery prices have already reached an all-time high! It's getting rough out here as more and more families struggle to put food on the table!"
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Thursday, September 28, 2023

"Nationwide Nuclear Exercise In Russia Oct.3; USA Gov't Shutdown Oct. 1st; Emergency Broadcast Oct. 4th"

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 9/28/23
"Nationwide Nuclear Exercise In Russia Oct.3; 
USA Gov't Shutdown Oct. 1; Emergency Broadcast Oct. 4"
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"A Look to the Heavens"

“Point your telescope toward the high flying constellation Pegasus and you can find this expanse of Milky Way stars and distant galaxies. Centered on NGC 7814, the pretty field of view would almost be covered by a full moon. NGC 7814 is sometimes called the Little Sombrero for its resemblance to the brighter more famous M104, the Sombrero Galaxy.
Both Sombrero and Little Sombrero are spiral galaxies seen edge-on, and both have extensive central bulges cut by a thinner disk with dust lanes in silhouette. In fact, NGC 7814 is some 40 million light-years away and an estimated 60,000 light-years across. That actually makes the Little Sombrero about the same physical size as its better known namesake, appearing to be smaller and fainter only because it is farther away. A very faint dwarf galaxy, potentially a satellite of NGC 7814, is revealed in the deep exposure just below the Little Sombrero.”

"A Long March..."

"The life of Man is a long march through the night, surrounded by invisible foes, tortured by weariness and pain, towards a goal that few can hope to reach, and where none may tarry long. One by one, as they march, our comrades vanish from our sight, seized by the silent orders of omnipotent Death. Very brief is the time in which we can help them, in which their happiness or misery is decided. Be it ours to shed sunshine on their path, to lighten their sorrows by the balm of sympathy, to give them the pure joy of a never-tiring affection, to strengthen failing courage, to instill faith in times of despair."
- Bertrand Russell

"All Sins..."

"All sins, of course, deserve to be treated with mercy: we all do what we can, and life is too hard and too cruel for us to condemn anyone for failing in this area. Does anyone know what he himself would do if faced with the worst, and how much truth could he bear under such circumstances?"
- Andre Comte-Sponville
Joe South, "Walk A Mile In My Shoes"

Gerald Celente, "It's All Falling Apart"

Strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, Trends Journal 9/28/23
"It's All Falling Apart"
"In this week's TITN broadcast Gerald Celente delves into the economy on housing, trade, debt and the consequences to come. The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present facts and truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for what’s next in these increasingly turbulent times."
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"Target Is Closing Down Stores Right Now As America's Largest Chains Prepare For Trouble This Fall"

Full screen recommended.
Epic Economist, 9/28/23
"Target Is Closing Down Stores Right Now As 
America's Largest Chains Prepare For Trouble This Fall"

"They say that if you go woke, you’ll go broke – and, unfortunately, that seems to be the case with Target. The company is one of the biggest department store chains in the U.S. today after more than 60 years of building its brand to finally become a household name. But now, even its shareholders are saying that the retailer appears to be on its last legs. After facing serious criticism for releasing controversial products and selling them close to children’s items, many consumers have boycotted Target’s stores, and sales have started to collapse at record-breaking speed. Some call it “Bud Light 2.0,” referring to the rapid downfall of the beer brand following a catastrophic campaign released earlier this year that pushed the stock of parent company Anheuser Busch to drop by 45%, and sales to decline by over $400 million since June.

Target is seriously struggling right now. This week, the retailer announced that it will conduct another round of store closings in October, eliminating several locations in major U.S. cities. Starting on October 21, Target will shut down stores in New York, San Francisco, Oakland, Portland, and Seattle. The company cited concerns over rising shoplifting rates and poor financial results at the stores. In a note released on its website, Target noted that rampant retail theft in multiple markets contributed to an "unsustainable business performance." "Despite our efforts, unfortunately, we continue to face fundamental challenges to operating these stores safely and successfully," executives wrote in the release.

After losing more than $14 billion in market capitalization so far in 2023, Target can not afford any more losses, so it is using its last resort to try to save its business. Of course, the rise in retail theft only tells us half of the story. Target’s overall financial results have been sharply deteriorating since last year, and this month, the chain added to investors’ concerns after reporting its first double-digit sales decline in the digital category, and the biggest drop in comparable sales at physical stores in at least four years.

Target stock has crashed by more than 20% year-to-date. Just before the pride clothing controversy broke into the mainstream, Target traded at $160.69 per share. By June 1, it had fallen to $131.16 per share. At the end of the second quarter, it dipped to $125.08. And now, it bottomed out at around $112. Analysts are now predicting that revenue will fall another 5% in Q3, but there are many signs the decline could be much worse. According to Bloomberg Second Measure, which tracks anonymous credit and debit card transactions, Target sales recorded an 8.7% drop in August, and conditions in September aren’t looking any better.

Executives are trying everything to stop the bleeding. But when a brand loses the consumer confidence built over the course of decades, it loses its own foundation. Target must fight for survival in an industry where department store chains continue to go under. If management fails to restore what has been broken, Target may face a slow and painful death just like many other big retailers."
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