The first airport in Russia with a Metro Station opened recently connecting Moscow City with Vnukovo Airport. Concidered Impossible, the Kalininsko-Solntsevskaya line of the Moscow Metro is the first Metro line in Russia to take you directly to Vnukovo Airport.
Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies – or else? The chain reaction of evil – hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars – must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
”I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.”
"In today's vlog, we are at Sam's Club and are noticing massive price increases! We are here to check out skyrocketing prices and a lot of empty shelves! It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting products!"
"Credit Unions are buying banks. We are seeing the banking crisis expanding. The financial landscape is shifting, and it's crucial to understand why. New regulatory changes now allow nonprofit credit unions to buy for-profit banks. But is this really a good thing? With the FDIC reporting $517 billion in unrealized losses and 62 banks failing stress tests, we're staring at a potential banking collapse and bank runs. Stay informed, protect your assets, and know what's really going on behind the scenes."
"A mere seven hundred light years from Earth, toward the constellation Aquarius, a sun-like star is dying. Its last few thousand years have produced the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293), a well studied and nearby example of a Planetary Nebula, typical of this final phase of stellar evolution. A total of 90 hours of exposure time have gone in to creating this expansive view of the nebula.
Combining narrow band image data from emission lines of hydrogen atoms in red and oxygen atoms in blue-green hues, it shows remarkable details of the Helix's brighter inner region about 3 light-years across. The white dot at the Helix's center is this Planetary Nebula's hot, central star. A simple looking nebula at first glance, the Helix is now understood to have a surprisingly complex geometry."
"30 Non-Food Items To Stockpile Before The Collapse"
"A new crisis can emerge unexpectedly and dismantle the status quo. That's why, in today's world, the importance of prepping and stocking up on essentials cannot be overstated. With the increasing frequency of geopolitical conflicts and the ongoing impacts of climate change, supply chain disruptions and shortages have become a reality that we must prepare for.
Emergencies, whether they be natural disasters, power outages, or even economic crises, often strike without warning, leaving those who are unprepared in a precarious situation. By taking proactive steps to build a well-rounded emergency stockpile, we can ensure that we have the necessary resources to weather any storm. Prepping is not about paranoia, it's about being practical and forward-thinking. When we consider the potential for sudden interruptions in the flow of goods across the US and the globe, the importance of having a diverse range of non-food items on hand becomes clear.
While food is undoubtedly a critical component of any emergency stockpile, non-food items can be just as crucial for survival and comfort during a crisis. These items can help us maintain hygiene, provide medical care, ensure communication, and offer practical solutions to everyday challenges that arise when normal services are disrupted. The summer months, in particular, can bring their own unique set of challenges. Heatwaves, wildfires, hurricanes, and other weather-related events are more common, and being prepared for these specific scenarios is essential.
By stockpiling a thoughtful selection of non-food items, we can mitigate the risks associated with these events and ensure that we and our families remain safe, healthy, and comfortable. Here are 30 non-food items that you should stock up on before everyone starts looking for them over the summer."
"A solemn silence turned collective gasp in the District of Columbia Woke Circuit courtroom as two bailiffs entered the door beside the jury box with the small cream-colored bear suspended between them, his stumpy hind legs wheeling fruitlessly to seek purchase in the unavailing air. The Queen of Hearts, presiding, banged her gavel as the little bear was seated at the table for the defense beside another rather small, darkish, furtive figure.
The Queen of Hearts peered over her half-glasses at the defendant and snarled, “State your full name and residence.”
“Winnie-the-Pooh,” the defendant said. “From the Hundred Acre Wood.”
“What is your personal pronoun?”
The bear looked perplexed. “Oh, bother,” he said. “Nobody I know has such a thing?”
“Of course they do,” the Queen said.
“Perhaps it’s ‘the’,” the bear said.
“That is a definite article, not a pronoun!” the Queen barked. “Are you an imbecile?"
“I’m not sure. Maybe it’s ‘dear'”—
“That’s enough out of you!” the Queen said. “And let’s have no more impertinence! Do you have counsel?"
“Why, yes,” the bear said. “Mr. Kafka, who is seated beside me.”
“You are mistaken,” the Queen said. “That is a cockroach seated beside you, and the court is displeased to see it. Bailiff, please remove that disgusting cockroach from my court.” Mr. Kafka, gesticulating in protest with all six arms and legs, had to be dragged out.
“First witness!” the Queen screeched. “Counsel for the prosecution….”
"Calling Uncle Remus,” said the prosecutor, Andrew Weissmann, famous for his exploits in the Enron case and with The Mueller Team in the old Russia collusion days. An elderly gentleman-of-color with white beard and a kindly face limped forward and took the witness stand.
“Do you know this bear?” Weissmann asked.
“I knows a Brer B’ar,” Uncle Remus said. “But he a black b’ar. Dishyere one a white b’ar.”
“Exactly!” Weissmann said. “Dismissed.”
“Dat all?” Uncle Remus asked.
“It’s plenty,” Weissmann retorted and smirked at the jury, composed of members from the United Federation of Teachers, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Antifa, who all nodded amongst themselves. “A white bear!” Weissmann repeated for emphasis, shaking his head. “And not a polar bear, either. A white bear. From England. Think about it…!” The jurors emitted growls of opprobrium.
“Next witness,” the Queen cried.
“Calling N-Word Jim,” Weissmann said.
A strapping middle-aged gentleman-of-color, dressed in ragged clothes, strode to the witness chair.
“You reside in libraries all over the world, is that correct?” the attorney asked.
“Yassuh, dat is so. But I’se originally fum Hannibal, Missouri.”
“Are you acquainted with the defendant?”
“I done seen him on many a shelf ‘round de worl’.”
“How much shelf space does he occupy compared to you?”
“Well, fur as I knows, ‘bout double.”
“Does that seem fair to you?”
“Way I sees it, he in mebbe twice as minny books as me and Huck.”
“Huck! Who is this Huck?”
“White boy I done made a journey down de ribber wif one time.”
“What is your experience with white folks, Jim?”
“Well, dey runs mos’ everything, I ‘spect. Leas’ as fur as I kin see.”
“Exactly!” Weissmann argued. “Is it not white privilege to — as you say — run everything?” he added, shaking his head gravely. “Hegemonizing and colonizing literature everywhere you look.”
“Say, what…?” the witness rejoined and pulled his chin.
“You can go back to your raft, Jim,” Weissmann said. “Dismissed. Calling Mr. Christopher Robin.”
A very old man, bent and trembling, shuffled forward to the stand, leaning on his brass-headed cane.
“You’ve been acquainted with the defendant for how many years?”
“I see,” Weissmann sneered. “And this ‘touching’ started when you were, what? About five years old?”
“I suppose. Yes. It was a very long time ago.”
“Do you recall an incident involving the defendant, a person named Piglet, and a broken balloon?”
“Yes… yes, I do!”
“That was not really a balloon, was it, Mr. Robin?”
“At the time, I thought…”
“You thought!” Weissmann barked. “We all think, don’t we? Sometimes maybe a little too much! I’ll tell you what I think: I think the jury can see exactly what was going on between you and the defendant, this very privileged bear. And if they think the way I do — that is, as a normal person with healthy morals — they’ll think that this was depraved behavior on the part of this bear, routinely abusing a five-year-old boy, year after year after year!”
The jury members all nodded avidly and buzzed between themselves.
Christopher Robin looked up at the bench.
“Balloon, indeed!” the Queen snorted, wagging her finger at both the bear and Christopher Robin. “I think we’ve heard enough.”
“No! I have one other witness,” Weissmann said. “Calling Peter Pan….” A figure wearing a leaf-green tunic and tights, and a feathered cap, flew across the room and landed in the witness seat.
“You’ve had occasion to work at the Disney Studios with the defendant, have you not?”
“I would see him around the lot on lunch breaks,” Pan said. “But we weren’t on the same pictures — except one time for a TV Christmas special where we all did cameos.”
“And what was your impression of this bear?”
“He made a crack about not believing in fairies. I didn’t know if he was kidding or not.”
“Were you hurt by that remark?”
“Not personally, but I saw what it did to my sidekick, Tinkerbelle. Her light almost went out.”
“Your honor, ladies, gentlemen, and non-binaries of the jury, we have definitely heard enough.”
“The defense rests!” the Queen of Hearts screeched. “Mr. Pooh, you have led a life of disgusting racism, colonialism, hate-ism, white supremacy, and depravity. I am directing the jury to find you guilty as charged and sentence you to be cancelled.” She pounded the bench with her gavel.
“Oh, bother,” Winnie the Pooh said, still perplexed and bewildered.
“Take him out, burn all those wicked books of his, and put him on top of the fire.”
“Lawks a’mercy,” Uncle Remus cried from the back of the room.
“See you up in sweet Beulah-land, Pooh, honey,” N-Word Jim said.
“Next case!” the Red Queen yelled above the commotion. “The people versus Robin Hood and his so-called Merry Men.”
"Most people in the West are familiar with the biblical story of Moses. In this tale, a spiritual leader, chosen by God, leads his people out of Egypt to the promised land. The Israelites are saved. God provides Moses with a list of commandments that they are to live by – pretty basic stuff: Don’t kill people, don’t steal or lie, don’t cheat on your spouse, etc. But interestingly, the second commandment exhorts the Israelites not to create false gods, nor to bow down to nor serve them.
Unfortunately, when Moses was away, the Israelites did create a false god. They couldn’t resist the very human urge to have a visible deity that would hopefully provide them with good times, as long as they were willing to prostrate themselves before it.
And past eras are filled with such stories – naïve pagans sacrificing animals and humans to the deities in the hopes that they would provide rain, a good crop, healthy babies, freedom from inter-tribal aggression, etc. We can look upon otherwise-advanced cultures such as the Egyptians, the Romans, the Aztecs, etc., and shake our heads at their naivete. All of them created great ceremonies that involved blood sacrifices, in order to appease the deities. So, how are we doing? Have we banished paganism from the modern world?
Well, unfortunately, no. We may live in a more technological age, yet human nature remains the same. Those who are not highly focused within themselves have the perennial tendency to want to put their faith in some magical entity out there who will smile upon them and make all the bad things go away. But even more astonishing is the fact that, just as in days of yore, a majority of people are quite prepared to suspend logic in order to believe in such pagan deities.
A quick peek at the current religion of Climate Change reminds us of this. It began as "Global Cooling" but fell flat since a solar warm spell happened to occur just when the concept was introduced. It took the Global Cooling scammers over a decade to decide that they were on the wrong track, but when they did, they changed the name of the conceptual deity to "Global Warming," to match the existing weather conditions. But unfortunately, a cyclical solar cooling period was due to arrive and Global Warming failed to match the new weather conditions.
Time to give up and admit that a false deity had been imagined? Not at all. A further new name was given to the deity – Climate Change – that would encompass literally anything that happened in the weather. From that day forward, the prophets attributed every earthquake, every typhoon, every drought to the Climate Change deity. Every meteorological event therefore provided "proof" of man-made Climate Change.
And like the Pharisees of old, the Climate Change prophets proclaimed that the natural disasters were due to the sins of the population – that they were being punished by the deity… for driving SUVs and relying on coal for heating. And people bought it, as they always do. "The end of the world is nigh" has sold well for millennia. Paganism works every time.
And as any Climate Change activist will proclaim, "We must make sacrifices." The gods must be appeased and the prophets will always assure the tribe that a sacrificial offering is necessary to accomplish this. Thankfully, in this particular case, all that’s required to appease the god is to pay a carbon tax. It’s not clear how this will end Climate Change, but… have faith and pay. But Climate Change is a mere carnival sideshow in comparison to the main event.
Mankind has always had amongst its number those individuals (roughly four percent, according to studies) who are sociopathic, who are obsessive in their desire to control others, whilst having little or no emotional capacity to be concerned about the genuine welfare of the populace. In tribes, these individuals strive to rise to the top. In larger communities, they tend to form groups to provide leadership, and as any community grows large enough, sociopaths rise in prominence, to form and expand governments to rule their minions.
In every case, the larger a population becomes, the greater the opportunity to have power over them, since they can be taxed in order to fund the government. The greater their numbers, the greater the tax revenue. The greater the revenue, the greater the power of leaders to dominate the lesser mortals.
But along the way, some members of the hoi polloi may at times say, "Hang on a minute – why should we let the leaders dictate to us whilst they live off the fruits of our labor?" And invariably, neo-paganism is trotted out to fill its perennial role. The populace is reminded that, without obeisance on their part, there would be chaos and all would suffer. Therefore, all must sacrifice for the sake of "the common good."
The reader might recall Hillary Clinton commenting in 2004, "We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." Mrs. Clinton was very up-front about the intention of the State, echoing predecessors such as Karl Marx, Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and a host of Caesars.
Most all political leaders have the same intent, although they’re generally a bit more subtle in their language. (A veiled intent attracts a greater number of willing followers.) The result is also perennial: The tribe accepts a condition of increased taxation and regulation and thereby becomes increasingly enslaved and subservient to the leaders. After all – to refuse obeisance would be to endanger the common good – to invite chaos.
But how are we to know when we’ve reached this point of subjugation? At what point do we go beyond "willing contributors" and degenerate into "servants of the rulers?" Thomas Jefferson made this distinction, circa 1800. He said, "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." When he and his cohorts formed the United States, their primary goal was to do away with obeisance to any government. At the close of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked by a delegate, "What have we got?" Mister Franklin replied, "A republic… if you can keep it." But the republic, as anticipated, devolved into a mere democracy, which then further eroded into a plutocracy/bureaucracy – rule by the very rich in the form of a central banking cartel, enforced through non-elected officialdom.
Obeisance to any "greater being" is regressive, whether that greater being is a deity or a government. Liberty is, by definition, the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s behavior, views, or way of life."
"Restaurant Apocalypse - The Unstoppable Collapse"
"Restaurants are going down at the record pace. We explore how the economic downturn is devastating the restaurant industry across America. We’ll uncover the broader implications of this crisis for the economy, affecting millions, from restaurant owners to local communities and suppliers."
“It’s almost as if the principals (prosecutors and judge) were performing for their political audience - with a wink, a nod and a stage whisper (“watch this!”) as they ignore yet another fundamental element of American due process.” - Jack DeVine on “X”
"The ninnies of Bidenworld seem to not understand that by subjecting Mr. Trump to a kangaroo court they’ve made him the kind of outlaw that Americans revere above every other archetypal hero. He’s the new American Robin Hood, the people’s outlaw - with “Joe Biden” relegated as the wicked Sir Guy of Gisbourne, master of foul play and servant of the evil regent Prince John (Barack Obama). The galvanizing moment in this melodrama was not the verdict in Judge Juan Merchan’s kangaroo corral of a court, but the next day in the White House when “Joe Biden” was asked to comment on it as he shuffled away from the podium, halted, turned, and smirked silently at the cameras, a gesture that is sure to live in infamy.
The fun should really kick off when the judge gets to sentence Trump-the-Outlaw July 11, a few days before the Republican convention. Life in some New York state pen? A year on Rikers Island? House arrest? Who knows. But you can bet that just like Robin-of-Locksley, Donald-of-Mar-a-Lago will manage to slip out of his captors’ clutches and cleverly vanquish them. In a sane world, of course, the US Supreme Court would be entreated to adjudicate this gross insult to due process as spelled out in Section 1 of the 14th Amendment:
"No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
But you might have noticed that this is not a sane world, at least not these days, and not a few supposedly sober analysts, such as Jonathan Turley of George Washington University, claim that a SCOTUS review is a long-shot - which only confirms the reigning insanity since it’s hard to imagine a more compelling moment for the SCOTUS to carry out its fundamental duty: to elucidate the meaning of our Constitution and resolve disputes arising therefrom.
Now, it looks like what we’re seeing after a few days for the shock to wear off, is a mighty righteous rage arising among the faction designated as “Red” - that is, the anti-Woke, anti-Globalist, anti-neoMarxist, anti-Deep State blob, anti-Lawfare, anti-Democratic Party chunk of the adult US population. It amounts to a recognition that we are already in some kind of civil war, and that the tactics of “Joe Biden’s” party must and will be opposed by all means. The SCOTUS is the last resort of legal means for redress in this matter, and they would punt this duty at great peril to the country.
To clarify just what this matter is: “Joe Biden’s” White House and Department of Justice conspired with New York County (Manhattan) authorities to maliciously construct and execute a court case made of patently false charges against their principal political adversary, and with a cavalier disrespect to both state and federal law.
As such, the “Stormy Daniels Payoff Case,” as it’s known, is just the latest ploy in a long train of lawless gambits starting with RussiaGate in 2016 (the “Steele Dossier” and all) that have left hundreds of high appointed officials in the federal bureaucracy (plus many retired from it) liable to severe criminal charges ranging as far as sedition and treason. RussiaGate may have started its life as a typical campaign prank by doofuses in the Hillary Clinton organization, but it turned seriously sinister when it was adopted by the FBI and the CIA to execute a plan to harass and defenestrate the elected president, Mr. Trump.
With each subsequent prank, to distract from and cover-up their crimes, the same group of officials has committed more crimes, to the point that the federal government now behaves like a gigantic mafia, dedicated to nothing but crime of one kind or another. The Democratic Party has become this mob’s protective order; the old mainstream media its mouthpiece; and the people of this country increasingly its victims. Naturally, these criminals are now desperate to avoid having to account for their crimes, which is exactly and explicitly what Mr. Trump promises to do.
So, there it is: a criminal regime versus the people defended by their outlaw hero. Does the SCOTUS want to aid and abet this gang of criminals - led by the way, and just so you know, by Barack Obama and his Kalorama coterie, John Brennan, Mary McCord and her Lawfare coterie, Hillary and Bill Clinton and their henchmen, and scores of additional DC lawyers, fixers, and judges - or, will the SCOTUS avert an epic crisis of legitimacy by stepping in to quash the ridiculously fake New York case just concluded?
If they demur in some cowardly blur of excuses, then it’s onto the next truly nation-ending stage of this game. The “Joe Biden” regime would like nothing more than an outbreak of civil violence they can blame on “right-wing extremists.” In fact, they could and probably will gin that up themselves, just as they transformed the Jan-6-21 mass protest against widespread ballot fraud into a “MAGA insurrection.” You are also certainly aware of the sinister millions, mainly young men from faraway lands, who “Joe Biden” imported across the border the past three years. And you might imagine how they could be put to use against American citizens, along with the Democratic Party shock troops known as BLM and Antifa. Summer’s here and the time is right for fighting in the streets. And, of course, even if the SCOTUS puts an end to this latest bit of Lawfare fuckery, the “Joe Biden” crew can always opt to just up and kill its opponent. Nothing is beneath them now. But when that happens, we’ll be in a very different kind of movie."
The verdict didn’t matter. The case itself was just more evidence
of a decline. The trial of Donald J. Trump was no renewal;
it marked a further slide towards corruption, dysfunction and chaos.
by Bill Bonner
"Show me the man; I’ll show you the crime."
- Lavrenti Beria, chief of Stalin’s secret police.
Dublin, Ireland - "No one had to show New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg the man. Everyone knew Donald Trump was the target. He had challenged the Establishment (albeit in a clownish, and ineffective way). If the voters elected him to the White House again... democracy would be doomed. Or so they said. The elites were out to get him... to derail his campaign. If they could just keep him out of the White House for a few more years, he would soon be too old to cause more problems. Or, so they reasoned.
Bragg found the crime…a complex of New York state laws that - if you put them together - might make it illegal to do what Mr. Trump had done. He had plenty to choose from. By our estimate, there are about a half a million federal laws and regulations. And countless state and local restrictions too, many of them difficult to understand. Ignorance of the law may not be the best legal defense, but it is probably the most honest one.
We felt sorry for the jury. They had to go back to the judge, asking for clarification. ‘Where was the body?’ they seemed to want to know. ‘Where was the stolen loot?’ ‘What, exactly, had Mr. Trump done wrong?’ Curt Mills: "The most disquieting facet of this case is that it did not pertain to: anything Trump did as President, nor anything Trump did during his current run for office, nor anything Trump did in the macabre transition process four years ago. It involved his actions nearly 10 years ago, in relation to the concealment of an alleged crime for which other prosecutors declined to ever charge the former President."
The crime, ‘falsifying business records,’ did not seem like enough. Not for a courtroom drama that was watched by much of the entire world. “Which way do you think it will go,” a cab driver in Dublin asked us. “Maybe it doesn’t matter. Now we all know what a sleazy guy that Trump is. And that fixer of his... Cohen... who wants a lawyer like that?”
The verdict didn’t really matter. The case itself was just more evidence of a decline. The trial of Donald J. Trump was no renewal; it marked a further slide towards corruption, dysfunction and chaos. And now the verdict is in; the two sides face off outside the courtroom. Democrats say ‘justice has been done,’ congratulating themselves. Alvin Bragg is a hero.
Republicans say the verdict merely proves that Trump has been right all along. The system is rigged. The courts have been weaponized. And money flows into Donald Trump’s campaign from outraged MAGA supporters all across the country. In our judgment, both sides are right... though not necessarily as they hoped.
BFD: Yes, the verdict shows that when you have too many laws, you might as well have none at all. Your society becomes ruled - not by the laws themselves - but by the fixers, donors, and grifters who decide how to apply them. In this case, it is hard to imagine so many judicial resources put to work on such a complex case that was likely to go the other way.
This was not low-hanging fruit. Who cares if Trump paid Stormy Daniels to shut up? Who didn’t know he lies? So what if the payment should have been properly disclosed as a campaign expense? BFD. It was the payoff —- stopping Trump - that must have seemed irresistible.
And yes, the Republicans are right too. The system is rigged. It has been corrupted by too much power and too much money. We have too many laws, too many regulations, too much spending, too much debt, and too many ways that lawmakers can interfere with our happiness and productivity. Debt goes up. GDP growth goes down. More and more of the economy is “fictitious.” And a credit crisis is on the way.
And who’s to blame? Democrats... and Republicans. Year after year, they collaborated to give more and more authority to district attorneys, the FBI, Homeland Security, the NSA... and the rest of their enforcers - more crimes to investigate... more threats and punishments to deal out... more money to spend keeping their opponents in line. And now, no one is above the law. Instead, we are all beneath it... and in danger of being crushed at any time."
"The OFR Financial Stress Index (OFR FSI)is a daily market-based snapshot of stress in global financial markets. It is constructed from 33 financial market variables, such as yield spreads, valuation measures, and interest rates. The OFR FSI is positive when stress levels are above average, and negative when stress levels are below average. The OFR FSI incorporates five categories of indicators: credit, equity valuation, funding,safe assets and volatility. The FSI shows stress contributions by three regions: United States, other advanced economies, and emerging markets."
"In this video, we look at the huge geopolitical upheaval as Turkey withdraws from NATO due to the organization's perceived passivity in response to Israel's new strikes on Rafah. This decision represents a watershed event in international affairs, calling into question NATO's future and the Middle East's power balance."
"Braided and serpentine filaments of glowing gas suggest this nebula's popular name, The Medusa Nebula. Also known as Abell 21, this Medusa is an old planetary nebula some 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Gemini. Like its mythological namesake, the nebula is associated with a dramatic transformation. The planetary nebula phase represents a final stage in the evolution of low mass stars like the sun as they transform themselves from red giants to hot white dwarf stars and in the process shrug off their outer layers. Ultraviolet radiation from the hot star powers the nebular glow.
The Medusa's transforming star is the faint one near the center of the overall bright crescent shape. In this deep telescopic view, fainter filaments clearly extend above and right of the bright crescent region. The Medusa Nebula is estimated to be over 4 light-years across."
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