Canadian Prepper, 4/18/25
"Alert! Russian Nuclear Frequency Going Crazy!
Israel May Declare War In 24 Hours!"
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So, we rise from the rubble...
StatCounter
Friday, April 18, 2025
"Years Of Confusion, Now People Are Starting To See Reality But It May Be Too Late"
Jeremiah Babe, 4/18/25
"Years Of Confusion, Now People Are Starting
To See Reality But It May Be Too Late"
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"A Look to the Heavens"
"A gorgeous spiral galaxy some 100 million light-years distant, NGC 1309 lies on the banks of the constellation of the River (Eridanus). NGC 1309 spans about 30,000 light-years, making it about one third the size of our larger Milky Way galaxy. Bluish clusters of young stars and dust lanes are seen to trace out NGC 1309's spiral arms as they wind around an older yellowish star population at its core.
Not just another pretty face-on spiral galaxy, observations of NGC 1309's recent supernova and Cepheid variable stars contribute to the calibration of the expansion of the Universe. Still, after you get over this beautiful galaxy's grand design, check out the array of more distant background galaxies also recorded in this sharp, reprocessed, Hubble Space Telescope view.”
Judge Napolitano, "INTEL Roundtable w/Johnson & McGovern, Weekly Wrap"
Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 4/18/25
"INTEL Roundtable w/Johnson & McGovern, Weekly Wrap"
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Dialogue Works, 4/18/25
"Mohammad Marandi, Larry Wilkerson & Chas Freeman:
Talks or Total War? Clock Ticks for Iran and U.S."
Comments here:
"Drugged Into Oblivion: More Than 60 Percent Of U.S. Adults Admit That They Are Taking Pharmaceutical Drugs"
"Drugged Into Oblivion: More Than 60 Percent Of U.S.
Adults Admit That They Are Taking Pharmaceutical Drugs"
by Michael Snyder
"Americans watch more television than anyone else in the world, and as we watch television we are constantly being bombarded by commercials from pharmaceutical companies. As I discussed in a previous article, pharmaceutical companies spend more than 15 billion dollars on television advertising each year. The reason they do this is because it works. We are the most drugged nation in the history of the world, and the pharmaceutical companies are absolutely swimming in cash.
According to polling that was conducted by KFF, a whopping 61 percent of all U.S. adults admit that they are currently taking at least one pharmaceutical drug. That is a solid majority of the population. And once they have you on one drug, they are much more likely to be able to get you on another.
The KFF survey found that 13 percent of U.S. adults are taking one pharmaceutical drug. The KFF survey found that 11 percent of U.S. adults are taking two pharmaceutical drugs. The KFF survey found that 10 percent of U.S. adults are taking three pharmaceutical drugs. And most shocking of all, the KFF survey found that 27 percent of U.S. adults are taking at least four pharmaceutical drugs.
That means that more than a quarter of the adult population is currently on at least four prescription medications. That is insane! But this is where we are at as a society.
Elderly Americans are the biggest victims. One study found “that an estimated 89 percent of older adults” took at least one prescription medication within the past 12 months. Even if you aren’t sick, the system is designed to find a reason why you should become a customer of the big pharmaceutical companies.
For example, the percentage of Americans that have been diagnosed with depression has more than tripled since 2005…"Today, new CDC data showed that nearly 18 percent of Americans had depression in 2023, an all-time high. In 2005, when Cruise’s controversial interview aired, that figure was about 5.4 percent." At this stage, it is so easy to be diagnosed with depression. Just act a little bit sad, and they will gladly start giving you pills.
This is particularly true for women. According to Google AI, women in the United States are using antidepressants at a rate that is more than twice as high as men…"According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted in 2015-2018, approximately 17.7% of women aged 18 and older reported using antidepressants in the past 30 days. This is significantly higher than the rate for men, which was 8.4%."
If you have been on antidepressants, you already know how they can mess with your head. I have seen it happen to people that I know personally. So what is going to happen to the millions of Americans that are highly dependent on these drugs if they suddenly can’t get them anymore?
Today, we import approximately 75 percent of our essential medicines, and most of those essential medicines come from either China or India…"According to Exiger, the U.S. currently imports 75% of its essential medicines, with most of them coming from China and India. While India produces about half of the generic drugs the U.S. imports, it relies heavily on China for 80% of its active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). More than 500 generic drugs rely on one country’s APIs, including treatments for diabetes and heart conditions as well as antibiotics.
Another factor putting Americans at risk is the use of forced labor in the production of pharmaceuticals. Exiger found that multiple suppliers, including Sinopharm, Zhejiang Shindai Chemical Group and Zhejiang Chemicals Export Corp., relied on Uyghur forced labor in Xinjiang. Customs and Border Patrol is supposed to block goods made with forced labor; however, some still get through."
We have got a real mess on our hands. Many pharmaceutical drugs will soon become much more expensive, and in other cases we could witness extreme shortages. Millions of U.S. adults are about to experience a very rude awakening.
Of course it isn’t just adults that are being drugged into oblivion. Today, millions of American boys are being given drugs for ADHD…"More than 21% of 14-year-old boys in this country now supposedly suffer from this condition. The number goes up to 23% for 17-year-old boys. As a result, prescriptions for drugs like Ritalin and Adderall have skyrocketed. From 2012 to 2022, the total number of prescriptions for stimulants to treat ADHD increased dramatically by nearly 60%. Boys between the ages of 10 to 14 were the demographic that saw the highest increase in these prescriptions."
What we are witnessing is a national tragedy. Most of the boys that are taking these drugs simply do not need them. As Glenn Back has accurately pointed out, our “feminized education system” tends to punish normal male behavior…“The truth is we’ve been told not that a feminized education system has increasingly punished normal male behavior it doesn’t understand; it’s not that schools have lost their capacity to educate male students; it’s not that smartphone use and electronics in general have become distractions teachers have been unable to control. Instead, we’re led to believe that boys have suddenly become afflicted with a severe psychological disorder,” Glenn reads from the Daily Wire piece.
He agrees that what’s being done to boys in education is a travesty. “Everything is just push the girls, push the girls, push the girls - ‘you can be anything.’ ‘Shut up, sit down, have some Ritalin’ to the boys,” he condemns. The boys who are being written off as distractible and out of control are really just being typical boys. He is right. We have been trained to think that typical male behavior is abnormal when it most certainly is not.
Sadly, an increasing percentage of U.S. adults now believe that children are such a “burden” that they don’t want to be parents at all…"A new study shows the number of U.S. adults who do not want to have children has doubled in 20 years. “We found that the percentage of non-parents who don’t want any children rose from 14% in 2002 to 29% in 2023,” Jennifer Watling Neal, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at Michigan State University (MSU), said. “During the same period, the percentage of non-parents who plan to have children in the future fell from 79% to 59%,” she added."
The relentless propaganda that they have been feeding us is working. More U.S. adults than ever before are completely rejecting parenthood. Needless to say, this is a recipe for societal suicide. If we do not reproduce ourselves, we can’t expect to have any sort of a positive future. Sadly, millions of Americans simply do not care about the future at this point because they have already been drugged into oblivion."
"If We Have No Idea..."
“If we have no idea what we believe in, we’ll go along with anything. Truth takes courage. Courage to stand up for what we believe in. Not necessarily in a confrontational way, but in a gentle yet firm way. Like an oak tree, able to sway gently in the wind, but strongly rooted to the ground.”
- A.C. Ping
"Don’t Fear The Reaper"
"Don’t Fear The Reaper"
by John Wilder
“No. Not like this. I haven't faced death. I've cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing.”
- James T. Kirk, "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan"
“Death is the only wise advisor that we have. Whenever you feel, as you always do, that everything is going wrong and you're about to be annihilated, turn to your death and ask if that is so. Your death will tell you that you're wrong; that nothing really matters outside its touch. Your death will tell you, 'I haven't touched you yet.'”
- Carlos Castaneda, "Journey to Ixtlan"
"When The Soon To Be Mrs. and I were just dating, I was cooking something or other. I think it was eggs. I like eggs sunny side up, and don’t particularly care if they’re cooked all the way.
The Soon To Be Mrs.: “Aren’t you worried about salmonella?”
John Wilder: (Laughs in full Chad manifestation.)
The Soon To Be Mrs.: (Swoons.)
Seriously, she swooned. I’ve never seen it before in my life, but in that moment I think that was what sealed the deal, the moment in time that The Soon To Be Mrs. realized that this one is different. He’s not like the others. Here is a man who has zero fear of The Current Thing, and knows that salmonella won’t be the thing that punches his ticket out of having a functioning circulatory system.
No. I’m not afraid of salmonella. I would spit in its tiny little eyes or flagellum or tentacles and say, “Not today, my bacterium friend! My Danish-Scots-Germanic blood is far too strong for the likes of you!” And then I would attack Poland. Oh, wait, that’s been done.
I know I’m not going to die like Hemingway, and I’m not going to die like the comedy greats Belushi, Twain, or Nietzsche did. Nope. I think I’m gonna go out like Elvis. On a toilet after having eaten a fried peanut butter, jelly and bacon sandwich covered in cheddar cheese and mayo. Nope, I’m gonna die on a toilet. I mean, after all, a king should spend his last moments on the throne, right?
A lot of people worry about dying. I suppose I did, in my 20s, when I was worried about carrying out my responsibilities as a dad. Those are serious responsibilities – because those kids are going to be the legacy that I leave on Earth. That and my writing, collection of PEZ® dispensers and velvet Elvis paintings.
Again, a lot of people worry about dying. I’m not sure why. Of things that are more-or-less predetermined, that’s the big one. We’re all going to die. All of us. And I’m not sure I care.
Oh, sure, I want to live. I have no particular desire to die. If given the preference, I suppose I’m in favor of my continued heartbeat. But I don’t fear death. I don’t go to sleep at night wondering if this pain or that pain or that thing might be the symptom I look up on WebMD® that seals the deal that Wilder is going up to irritate Jesus in Heaven with bad puns.
I don’t worry about some future point when I’m going to enjoy life. I’ve achieved nearly every goal I’ve ever set for my life. End. Full stop. It’s like when a baseball game goes into extra innings, “Hey, free baseball.” And me? Free life. I’ve done nearly everything I’ve ever wanted to do.
What do you give a man who has everything? I mean, besides another bottle of wine. You give that man: Today. I’ve got Today. The only moment I live in is right now. And right now isn’t all that bad. I’m sitting in the sitting room (question: is any room I sit in, by definition, a sitting room? Discuss.) with the cool night air blowing in the window, some songs I love playing on the laptop, a cold beer by the keyboard, and the knowledge that at this moment, everything is fine.
Literally, in my life, Every Single Thing Is Fine. I could go into details, but you already know how awesome I am. So, I live for today? Hell no.
That’s YOLO. The idea that “You Only Live Once” is a free pass to act in any fashion has corroded society. It’s really at the root of many of the problems we have today. It is, in many ways, the absolute inverse of the philosophy I’m trying to describe. YOLO seeks to elevate hedonism and the passions of the moment as the highest good. YOLO is Tinder® times Planned Parenthood© times SnapFaceGramInstaChat® times Rwanda®.
t’s the inversion of beauty: it consists of being positive about, well, any old thing that feels good. I could list these “pleasures”, but you know the list as well as I do. We see it every day, with vice being paraded as virtue, and the continual demand going out for people to celebrate it, because, “Can’t you see? This horrid abomination that no healthy society or people in the entire history of the world has tolerated, iS BeAuTIfUL!” No, I think living a life built on YOLO is one doomed to fail – inevitably it will fail based on two reasons: it is materialism or a faith based on the nihilism of the material world writ large, and it is based on needs, like youth, wealth, sensation, or, yes, even life. So, not YOLO.
One thing I’ve tried to preach is outcome independence. Indeed, since the final outcome of life on Earth is fixed, all the intermediate steps lead there. Instead, I try to focus on virtue and faith. I write not because of YOLO, and not because it’s easy. Some nights it’s hard as hell to get the post to “close” and feel right. There are dozens of posts where, even after 1600 words, I still didn’t say exactly what I meant to say. That’s okay, it’s on me. I’m learning, and if I were perfect at this, I wouldn’t have more work to do.
For me, it’s the work. It’s getting better. It’s finding ways to add value to those people around me. There are those who pull their weight in the world, and those that don’t. I want to be one that pulls his weight, who has contributed as much as I can to helping my family and the wider world.
I don’t always do it. And I’m not always right, either. I’ve produced some stuff in my life that was really, really good, but not perfect. Thankfully, that’s not my mark, either, since just like immortality here on Earth, searching for perfection is a lonely and silly pastime. I want to make the world a better place with my family (first) and my work (now second) guided by God. And I want people to laugh hard while learning and thinking about the things I write.
The beauty of this is to win, all I have to do is the best that I can do every day. To win? All I have to do is be the best person I can be every day. See? Each night, I go to bed and sleep soundly if I know, in that day, that I gave it my all. Do I take time for me? Sure. But that’s not the goal – I serve a higher purpose.
So, what do I fear? Not death. It’s coming whether I like it or not, and, honestly, I’d rather not return my body in factory-fresh condition – I’d like all the parts to fail at once. On the toilet. I think Elvis would have wanted it that way. Oh, wait... I wonder if Elvis ate eggs sunny-side-up? Hang on, I’m sure he did. Elvis ate everything."
Blue Oyster Cult, "Don't Fear The Reaper"
Musical Interlude: Alan Parsons Project, "Lucifer"
Alan Parsons Project, "Lucifer"
Revelation 12:7-9, King James Version:
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
I've always wondered, why does God need an army?
And what if God's army lost? What then?
Hey! Just asking, don't burn me at the stake!
"Permanent Adolescence: The Epidemic That Will Destroy America"
"Permanent Adolescence:
The Epidemic That Will Destroy America"
by Dr. Paul Kindlon
"As a Humanities professor I have had the opportunity to teach psychology and social psychology for more than 25 years. Occasionally the knowledge obtained in these areas allows me to analyze and understand social behavior and certain cultural trends. This is one those occasions.
If one is able to observe American society in an objective manner (granted no easy task) it becomes clear that the country is suffering from an epidemic of arrested emotional development (AED). This particular illness is characterized by some combination of: addiction, greed, immaturity, fear, blame, shame, resentments, anger, confusion and suffering. What it means is that the vast majority of Americans are stuck in adolescence exhibiting behavior like lying, negative attitudes, disobedience and disrespect, drug and alcohol abuse, depression, and issues of sexuality.
One has only to watch American movies or television shows to get a snapshot of juvenile, puerile, and base comedy characteristic of adolescent humor. It’s no accident that 48 year old Jimmy Fallon is essentially the “eternal teenager” performing comedy that mostly includes bathroom humor and gags that are based on and appeal to a silly sense of immaturity. The other darling of late-night shows in America is Stephen Colbert, age 58, who specializes in insulting public figues in an overtly adolescent display of negative attitude and disrespect.
Another hallmark of AED is to evade responsibility and blame others for failure. One had only to observe the millions of Hillary supporters to understand this phenomenon. Also common for AED sufferers is to show disrespect in sophomoric ways usually by damaging property as we see with monuments being defaced and destroyed.
Teenagers, of course, tend to have identity issues often involving sexuality which is another phenomenon all too apparent in contemporary America. It’s almost uncool not to be LGBT or confused about your gender nowadays. Soon there will be as many genders as ice-cream flavors for it’s all just a matter of taste!
In terms of cognitive activity AED is characterized by exaggeration and over-simplification. If you are angry with one of your parents you might refer to them as a Nazi or Fascist.
This negative attitude now is extended to anyone who disagrees with you and can be seen in slogans such as “No Trump, No KKK, No Fascist USA”. Adults are an endangered species. The cognitive effect of exaggeration and over-simplification leads to irrationality and confusion. Witness the millions of people who think they are being anti-racist by opposing “White Supremacy”. No anthropologist on earth would claim that “White” is a race (although a Neo-Nazi would) It’s not even a primary color. The Irish were discriminated against for more than a hundred years in America due to Anglo-Saxon racism yet the Irish are considered “white”. There are millions of Americans of German, Polish, and Scandinavian extraction who have been working-class and lower for a very long time. Are these “white people” guilty of supremacy? Against whom? Themselves?
Of course, what the protestors should be focusing on is class and not race which is really an arbitrary term. Unfortunately. the progressive movement in America has gone from “Occupy Wall street” to “occupy the public bathroom”. Lenin would be turning over in his grave – if he had one. With regard to alcohol and drug addiction in America, the statistics are startling. Opiod addiction alone is becoming a national health issue as is depression. Alcohol abuse, of course, is also quite high. Lying is also becoming commonplace. It used to be just politicians and lawyers who were known to “play with the truth”. Nowadays the mainstream media is widely seen as a mainstream of lies with CNN now wearing the title of FAKE NEWS.
The teenage attempt to rebel and show disobedience is often manifested through the use of profanity intended to shock the older generation. Gratuitous profanity is pervasive in American culture and has replaced the imagination as a form of creativity. It is not an accident that Pussy Riot – a group of “performance artists” using profanity in a Cathedral considered sacred to “shock” the Russian public and “disobey” authorities – has found a home in the United States and been befriended by Madonna, another symbol of eternal adolescence. Her AED was on full display when she publicly offered all men fellatio if they voted for Hillary Clinton. And as any rebellious teenager attempting to shock the “older generation” she had to announce that she “swallows”. Stay classy, Madonna. Keep in mind we’re talking about a 63 year old mother of six.
You see…if everyone is a teenager there is no adult supervision. That is the problem. After an autopsy is conducted years from now to ascertain how and why the American Empire expired, the obituary will include multiple causes of death and AED will be listed prominently. Perhaps a precocious teenager will be allowed to write the epitaph that will read…”When extended, the bridge between adolescence and adulthood can take a heavy toll”.
○
“Most people don’t grow up. It’s too damn difficult. What happens is most people get older. That’s the truth of it. They honor their credit cards, they find parking spaces, they marry, they have the nerve to have children, but they don’t grow up. Not really. They get older. But to grow up costs the earth, the earth. It means you take responsibility for the time you take up, for the space you occupy. It’s serious business. And you find out what it costs us to love and to lose, to dare and to fail. And maybe even more, to succeed."
- Maya Angelou
"Making Your Best Guess"
"Making Your Best Guess"
by Arthur Silber
"We are not gods, and we are not omniscient. We cannot foretell the future with certainty. Most often, cultural and political changes are terribly complex. It can be notoriously difficult to predict exactly where a trend will take us, and we can be mistaken. We do the best we can: if we wish to address certain issues seriously, we study history, and we read everything that might shed light on our concerns. We consult what the best thinkers of our time and of earlier times have said and written. We challenge everyone's assumptions, including most especially our own. That last is often very difficult. If we care enough, we do our best to disprove our own case. In that way, we find out how strong our case is, and where its weaknesses may lie.
Barring extraordinary circumstances, we cannot be certain that a particular development represents a critical turning point at the time it occurs. If we dare to say, "This is the moment the battle was lost," only future events will prove whether we were correct. We do the best we can, based on our understanding of how similar events have unfolded in the past, and in light of our understanding of the underlying principles in play. We can be wrong. "
"The Point..."
"What is the point? We assume that every time we do anything we know what the consequences will be, i.e., more or less what we intend them to be. This is not only not always correct. It is wildly, crazily, stupidly, cross-eyed-blithering-insectly wrong!"
- Douglas Adams, “The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide”
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.”
Dan, I Allegedly, "Why You Can’t Afford Burgers - A New Luxury"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, AM 4/18/25
"Why You Can’t Afford Burgers - A New Luxury"
"Real estate deals aren’t always what they seem! In this video, I’m sharing some shocking stories that reveal the dark side of real estate transactions, from deceptive sellers to unexpected legal nightmares. Whether it’s a dream home turning into a disaster, bizarre escrow cancellations, or challenges with insurance and credit cards, things are getting crazier in the market. Plus, with rising tariffs and economic uncertainty, I’ll break down how this impacts homebuilders, buyers, and everyone in between."
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John Wilder, "Misplaced Empathy: It’s Killing Us"
"Misplaced Empathy: It’s Killing Us"
by John Wilder
"Empathy. I first heard that word when I was five. I asked Grandma McWilder what empathy was, and was told that “Empathy is what bleeding heart GloboLeftist women do while their men do the dishes. Now get to work resizing that brass – this ammunition won’t reload itself.”
That’s supposed to be good, right? We’re supposed to feel good about ourselves when we care about others enough to mentally put ourselves in the position of another to share what they’re feeling. Empathy really is part of what makes us human. Empathy allows us to model other humans and understand how they’re feeling. And, in some cases, anticipate how they’re going to feel. Like asleep. Or perspiring. Or sticky. You know, emotions. Empathy is important.
But the problem starts to occur when empathy becomes our sole guide for how we conduct our world. One example are the transgender people. I still recall when the blonde gentleman with longish hair who was larping as a woman in a store back in 2019. He got famously irate because a flustered clerk couldn’t process that Macho Ma’am Trandy Savage was pretending to be a woman.
Because he was in this very weird place, his brain short circuited. He had been taught at a very young age that it was polite to call an older man sir. Confronted with the cognitive dissonance of what was obviously a man in makeup, his synapses fried by adrenaline, he did what he had learned as a babe. He called the dude, “sir.”
While demanding empathy, the dude showed none himself. Empathy on the part of this brittle freakshow would have solved the situation, but the reason that it felt itself privileged enough with his lipstick and five o’clock shadow is because society has shown far too much empathy for people like him for far too long. Misplaced empathy has turned him into a sociopath. You want to play pretend? Fine. Keep away from children, and don’t expect me to participate in the charade. And don’t yell at some minimum wage clerk who is really just trying to help.
We also show empathy for the wrong things. Who was the worst person in the movie Titanic? Rose. She was the villain. She’s married, but cheats on her fiancé with a random Chad urchin and then spends the next 84 years pining for Chad, all while being married to someone she didn’t love nearly as much and then drops a necklace worth (according to the Internets – it’s fictional) $3.5 million dollars into the ocean. This could have been a life-changing inheritance for her great-grandchildren. But no. Everything is about her. The audience is supposed to feel empathy for her? Hell, she could have jumped in and let Chad live, or died with him. No. She’s awful. But she’s not alone. Hollywood loves trying to make people feel empathy for the bad guy.
And don’t get me started on "Dead Poets Society" where the teacher played by Robin Williams (who is the walking, talking essence of the French Revolution) removes all the value systems from his students while giving them nothing to take their place. The real bad guy in this movie is the teacher. But you’re supposed to feel bad for him because he got fired, but not bad because his removal of a belief systems without replacement caused a kid to commit suicide. Because the teacher convinced the kid to throw everything away and become an actor.
You don’t hate Hollywood enough, but let’s move to hospital beds. And don’t get me started on the misplaced empathy in health care, where literal titanic efforts (no necklace) and tons of treasure go into the last, miserable year of the lives of most people.
We also have addled ourselves with empathy via the Internet. There are those that share so much online, that I honestly believe that they cease to exist if they’re not posting. Who cares what other people think of your lunch? Who cares what other people that you’ve never met think about you?
This weird, parasitical empathy where people feel good about themselves only because others think well of them is the sympathy of a society where values and laws are being replaced by the feels. Look at the way the GloboLeft work to keep a criminal illegal in this country, and whine and cry to keep him from being returned to his own country. It’s misplaced empathy.
This also has implications with race. People felt badly for black people, having empathy for discrimination. Now? Black entitlement is so strong that they feel that a killer is the actual victim, rather than the person he stabbed, and expect people to feel their pain.
This is at least in part because of the way misplaced empathy has let blacks act in violent fashion and subsidized their lifestyle through welfare. Misplaced empathy tells people they don’t have to conform to societal norms. The GloboLeft can’t wait to knit them sweaters and sacrifice their children to them.
Enough is enough. Empathy is not a blank check. The good news is that people are finally waking up, and realizing that it is far past the time when we as a society need to end our misplaced empathy. That’s good. After all, that ammunition won’t reload itself."
Gregory Mannarino, "US Economy In Rapid Freefall - Mass Layoffs, Manufacturing Shutdowns, A Dead Dollar"
Gregory Mannarino, 4/17/25
"US Economy In Rapid Freefall -
Mass Layoffs, Manufacturing Shutdowns, A Dead Dollar"
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Market Gains, 4/18/25
"IRS Just Fired 42,000 People Today as Economy Crashes"
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Market Gains, 4/18/25
"Almost 50,000 Workers Have Been Fired
From UPS as Recession Hits Hard"
Comments here:
Bill Bonner, "A Very Dumb Idea"
"A Very Dumb Idea"
by Bill Bonner
Youghal, Ireland - “Why Trump Unleashed Tariff Chaos” is still a popular headline at Bloomberg. Search for ‘Trump tariffs’ on Google and you will get “about 357,000” results.
The Wall Street Journal can be counted on to be fairly reliable on economic issues. It recognizes that the government is generally incompetent and malevolent - at home. But when it goes abroad, somehow it becomes an angel…doing good by forcing the foreigners to bend to its will. On ‘Trump Tariffs’ the WSJ might have gone either way. As an economic policy, tariffs are clearly foolish. But as a foreign policy tool, they can be used to bludgeon friends and adversaries alike.
As it turned out, the WSJ has come up with a remarkably sensible view. Phil Gramm and Donald Boudreaux write: "Trump’s Tariffs Are as Bad as Bidenomics." "Both models of state-directed capitalism misallocate resources and make the nation poorer. Not since Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff has a president chosen to disregard a larger body of informed opinion than President Trump did when he instituted his protectionist trade policy. Based on a series of verifiably false grievances - wages haven’t grown in 50 years, manufacturing has been hollowed out by imports, countries with trade surpluses are “ripping us off” - Mr. Trump used constitutionally questionable powers to abrogate Congressionally approved trade agreements and undermine the world’s trading system.
Here at Bonner Private Research we just look for patterns - historical, political, economic. Many people think you just have to keep your focus on the incoming ‘data.’ Even the Fed claims to be ‘data-driven.’ But the data is mostly noise and nonsense…without melody or rhythm. It’s like the background hum on an airplane…everything from A flat to E sharp is there. You hear what you want.
(Our aged mother thought once she heard English hymns on Air France. She was so sure of it, she asked a stewardess where they got the soundtrack. The young lady humored her…thinking she must be crazy. After all, France is a secular state!)
Eventually, the incoming ‘data’ will tell you something. But only when it is too late. And now if Trump’s tariffs are implemented, we will wait for the data to tell us what we knew all along - tariffs are a very dumb idea.
The Journal explains that tariffs never have worked…and that each job created by tariffs since 1950 has cost Americans more than $800,000. What’s more, there are plenty of jobs in manufacturing available today - but there are no workers willing to take them. The WSJ: "Forty-three percent of U.S. manufacturers in the recent National Federation of Independent Businesses questionnaire said that they couldn’t find employees to fill existing jobs."
Bare is the cupboard supplied only by its owner. Instead, we eat vegetables grown by Californians and drive cars built by the Japanese while wearing shoes made by North African immigrants in Italy. People who specialize can make things better and cheaper than people who don’t. If we worked at it long enough, we could probably make a pair of shoes. But you wouldn’t want to wear them!
The fact pattern is consistent…and the logic is airtight. Adam Smith explained how trade makes us better off. When it comes to growing pineapples, people in Hawaii have a big ‘comparative advantage’ over people in Greenland. Adam Smith: "If a foreign country can supply us with a commodity cheaper than we ourselves can make it, better buy it off them."
Is that not true? WSJ: “The administration has presented no evidence showing how the U.S. or any other nation has benefited economically from broad-based protectionist policies.” Still…the Trump Team seems to hear tunes that everyone else knows aren’t there.
An 80-year-old may have the moon in his eyes and Dean Martin’s ‘That’s Amore’ ringing in his ears. He may hope to relive his youth…to learn to ride a two-wheeler…to laugh like a hyena watching reruns of The Three Stooges…and be thrilled at the discovery of sex. But that is not the usual pattern. Nor, in the history of tariffs, is there any cause for geriatric optimism. It is economic death that awaits us, not a second childhood. Trade makes us all richer. Any interference with the exchange of goods and services necessarily makes us poorer.
One of the most recent failures was just recalled to us by Counter Offensive. After liberation from the Soviet Union, foreign autos became available in the Ukraine…"To support domestic producers, Ukraine introduced a 25 percent tariff on imported cars in 1991. ZAZ [the local car manufacturer] itself lobbied for the idea of import duties.
However, this import policy did not prove to be a long-term solution… Domestic manufacturers struggled to deliver the necessary quality and technological standards to compete with foreign brands. Even after introducing protective tariffs, the Ukrainian automotive industry could not regain its position in the market. As Ukraine began to increase imports of safer and more efficient foreign cars, people began to find the Ukrainian Tavria and Slavuta expensive and outdated."
And in the US, industrial production increased during the first two years of the last Trump administration. Then, in the third year, Trump’s tariffs began to bite. Industrial output fell by 2%.
The WSJ with the last word: "The continuation of current trade policies will likely produce a worldwide recession, and even if Mr. Trump’s policies succeed in bringing back manufacturing jobs, the U.S. economy will be less efficient, economic growth will be stunted, and most Americans will be worse off." Amen."
Dean Martin, "That's Amore"
Jim Kunstler, "Kilmar for President!"
"Kilmar for President!"
by Jim Kunstler
“Autistic people contribute every day to our nation’s greatness.”
- Senator Elizabeth Warren
"So, you wonder why Democrats are so anxious to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the USA. Is it to lead the national ticket in 2028? Who else have they got? Pete Buttigieg doesn’t have half of Kilmar’s charisma. AOC is just pretending to be Sandy-from-the-block - and everybody knows it. Who else best represents the party’s newest constituency: the undocumented (people unfairly deprived of documents by a cruel and careless bureaucracy)? Who best represents the Democratic Party’s number one policy goal: diversity fosterization! Kilmar, of course! Viva Kilmar!
It’s also pretty obvious by his recent actions, that Judge “Jeb” Boasberg is angling to be Kilmar’s running mate in ‘28. Perfect! He could fulfil the traditional role of vice-president by doing nothing for four years, which is exactly what people of non-color should do in the Democratic Party’s new national order. (Haven’t they already done enough?) Boasberg could set an example for the rest of America’s dwindling color-deficient population: quit hogging all the action, stop collecting all those dividends and annuities, step aside and give the other a chance at the American Dream!
Did you happen to notice how enterprising Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been since he boldly breached the border in 2011, fleeing persecution from the vicious gangs of his native El Salvador? Running a one-man jobs program, he crossed the country countless times indefatigably from Maryland to California in his mobile office - the legendary KAG SUV - seeking employment opportunities for young women of color otherwise condemned to clean hotel rooms and labor in senior care facilities filled with abusive people of non-color clinging pointlessly to life only to oppress their caretakers with never-ending demands for medication and extra portions of Jello.
Kilmar’s gritty organization, Mara Salvatrucha-13, has been among the Democratic Party’s most effective NGOs in a greater galaxy of justice-seeking ventures marshaled under the USAID umbrella - recently vandalized by Elon Musk’s DOGE band of pillaging oligarchs. MS-13, for short, was beloved among the undocumented for its fund-raising abilities, its networking expertise, and its relentless search for the missing documents the undocumented have been searching for lo these many decades - rumored to be concealed in a vast underground complex in the Catoctin Mountains of Frederick County, MD. (More white peoples’ mischief!)
Thus, it came to pass that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Maryland Dad-of-the-Year, was cruelly snatched from an MS-13 board meeting last month and transported without benefit of due process to the Salvadorean hell-hole known as CECOT (Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo).
And so, his Senator, Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) traveled this week to Central America on his one-man rescue mission. The Senator claimed he was detained miles from the gate of CECOT, and yet we have this photograph of Mr. Van Hollen meeting with Kilmar (and an unidentified aide) over Margaritas and pupusas at a cantina in the nearby town of Tecoluca. Asked to comment on the photo, El Savador’s Presidente, Nayib Bukele, declared: “Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the ‘death camp’ & ‘torture!’ Now that he’s been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody,” Mr. Bukele added.
Oh, so you say Señor Presidente! But not if “Jeb” Boasberg can help it. The dauntless super-judge has ordered Kilmar to be returned the USA pronto expressimo, or else he, the judge, is laying criminal contempt charges on the entire West Wing staff of Donald Trump’s White House. They will go to jail just like Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, two capos regime of Trump’s MAGA gang, did last year for the insolence of refusing to testify in Congress. Only, they will get life-without-parole! Lessons to be learned, ye miserable color-deficient, oppressors!
Alas, the DC federal district court is a bit short of enforcement officers, so Judge “Jeb” has enlisted the Harvard rowing crew to bring Kilmar back home. Kilmar will take the coxswain’s place in the racing shell as the crew rows up the Pacific Coast to their planned landing spot at Las Olas, CA, just south of San Diego. Joy will reign in Wokeville.
Having displayed such pluck at diplomacy, unnamed sources say Senator Van Hollen is under consideration for Secretary of State when Kilmar wins the 2028 election. Up until now, we’d been hoping for Senator Adam Schiff to fill that spot, but he has his hands full fighting the influence of the Soviet Union on the Trump cabinet. Looking forward, though, to the bold prosecutor, New York AG Letitia ‘Tish” James, moving into the top spot at DOJ, if her term for mortgage fraud ends before Jan-20, 2029. The Democratic Party - such bright prospects! Forward together, with Kilmar and company! Documents for all, at long last!"
Adventures With Danno, "Aldi Saver Deals Everywhere, Amazing Prices!"
Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, AM 4/18/25
"Aldi Saver Deals Everywhere, Amazing Prices!"
Comments here:
"Shock! Time Travel Is Real And Here's How It Works, Government Hiding It"
Full screen recommended.
Redacted, 4/17/25
"Shock! Time Travel Is Real And Here's How It Works,
Government Hiding It"
Comments here:
Thursday, April 17, 2025
"This Is Bad, People Selling Gold to Buy Time, Save The House"
Jeremiah Babe, 4/17/25
"This Is Bad, People Selling Gold to Buy Time,
Save The House"
Comments here:
Gerald Celente, "Bust For Tech, Boost For Gold"
Strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, 4/17/25
"Bust For Tech, Boost For Gold"
"The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present facts and truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for what’s next in these increasingly turbulent times."
Comments here:
Oh, Gerald's in fine form today! lol
"A Look to the Heavens"
"Colorful NGC 1579 resembles the better known Trifid Nebula, but lies much farther north in planet Earth's sky, in the heroic constellation Perseus. About 2,100 light-years away and 3 light-years across, NGC 1579 is, like the Trifid, a study in contrasting blue and red colors, with dark dust lanes prominent in the nebula's central regions.
In both, dust reflects starlight to produce beautiful blue reflection nebulae. But unlike the Trifid, in NGC 1579 the reddish glow is not emission from clouds of glowing hydrogen gas excited by ultraviolet light from a nearby hot star. Instead, the dust in NGC 1579 drastically diminishes, reddens, and scatters the light from an embedded, extremely young, massive star, itself a strong emitter of the characteristic red hydrogen alpha light."
Chet Raymo, "Starlight"
"Starlight"
by Chet Raymo
"Poor Calvin is overwhelmed with the vastness of the cosmos and no small dose of existential angst. He is not the first, of course. Most famously the 17th-century French philosopher Blaise Pascal wailed his own despair: "I feel engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces whereof I know nothing and which know nothing of me. I am terrified...The eternal silence of these infinite spaces alarms me."
The Poet: Dylan Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”
“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
- Dylan Thomas
"I Have Accepted The Fact..."
“One can fight evil but against stupidity one is helpless… I have accepted the fact, hard as it may be, that human beings are inclined to behave in ways that would make animals blush. The ironic, the tragic thing is that we often behave in ignoble fashion from what we consider the highest motives. The animal makes no excuse for killing his prey; the human animal, on the other hand, can invoke God’s blessing when massacring his fellow men. He forgets that God is not on his side but at his side.”
“There is no salvation in becoming adapted to a world which is crazy.”
- Henry Miller
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