Full screen recommended.
Steve Cutts, "Happiness"
“All the money you make will never buy back your soul. ”
- Bob Dylan
So, we rise from the rubble...
Friday, October 20, 2023
Paul Rosenberg, "You’ve Been Robbed"
"You’ve Been Robbed"
by Paul Rosenberg
"You work long, hard days, but you never have enough to be secure. Your husband or wife probably works too, and yet you still never get ahead. Now think about this: Your great-grandparents worked hard, and they did get ahead. You work just as hard, but you don’t make the same progress.
Was great-grandpa really that much better than you? Not likely. So, how was it that he could get ahead on one income, but you can’t? Take a good look at this graph:
The top line shows how many years of living expenses your great-grandfather would have accumulated as a hard-working young man. The bottom line shows what you can save. After working for five years, great-gramps had seven years of living expenses in the bank. Doing the same things, you’d have less than two. You’ve probably avoided this comparison because it makes you feel bad. If so, that was your big mistake, because it was never your fault.
When great-gramps worked hard, he kept the money. There was no income tax and no sales tax. (The government survived anyway.) There was no Social Security tax either, and the streets weren’t full of starving old people. Families were able to take care of their own.
In your great-grandparents’ day, it was very common for mechanics, carpenters, and shop-owners to make private business loans. Now you shuffle into banks with piles of the most personal documents and beg for loans. (As the banks create your loan money with a keystroke.)
You’ve Not Only Been Robbed, You’ve Been Demoralized: Why did this happen? Because Westerners accepted a lie: that they were bad people. Think this through: Your money is taken from you before it can accumulate (“payroll deductions”), leaving you with barely enough to live a reasonable life. You have nothing left to help those who suffer unjustly – not because you don’t work, but because your surplus is skimmed away to Capital City. Then, those same politicians have the audacity to call you a bad person for not wanting to help the poor. They make it almost impossible for you to give, then insult you for it.
Your great-grandparents were proud to help their friends and neighbors. They felt good about themselves and were proud to make the world a better place. Being robbed of this heritage is the worst crime of all.
So…? This is the point where people ask, “What do we do about this?” And the answer is simple: Stop playing their game! The system is rigged and the abusers make the rules. More or less everything big is in on the game. People have been trying to reform this thing for a long time, and have accomplished next to nothing. The only sensible choice is to withdraw from the game and to start building something better.
** The graph was generated as follows: $725 per year is the income in about 1903, based upon discussions with hard-working men who lived through the time. A figure of $325 per year for living expenses is taken from a New York Times article, dated September 29, 1907. Assets were presumed to appreciate at 10% per year. For 2008 {the year the graph was generated} the annual income was $45,000 and monthly expenses were $2,000. This young man pays 30% income taxes and investment return is calculated at a reduced rate of 8.5% because of taxes upon interest. The young man of 1905 is investing $400/year after living expenses of $325. His modern descendant is investing $7500/year after living expenses of $24,000."
Jim Kunstler, "Step It Up and Go"
"Step It Up and Go"
by Jim Kunstler
“Like it or not, Republicans have the law in their favor, to put this point another way. Democrats are left with subterfuge and media manipulation. The latter present Americans with the greater danger.” - Patrick Lawrence, Consortium News
"Things are going a little sideways now, wouldn’t you agree? The world is not coming to an end, exactly, but our arrangements in it are breaking up all at once, threatening to wreck everyday life for a whole lot more people than just the poor mutts on the margins. The endless insults to common decency and common sense by the vicious governing blob that runs things don’t help, either. The main question du jour: when things break really badly, will they break against that vicious blob hard enough to make it stop?
This blob - a weird cabal alien to our heritage - is composed of people with names and duties, and institutions too. They have already lost their credibility, their authority, and their legitimacy. The problem is that they haven’t lost their power to wreck our country. Exposed and disgraced as they are, they still occupy the seats of command, still twiddle the dials on the control console, still enjoy a foolish illusion of invulnerability.
I’m in favor of wholesale impeachment of these top people as the best way to go, first, to pry their hands off the levers of power, and second, use the process of impeachment to move public sentiment to a firmly anti-blob position. When you read of “Joe Biden’s” 37 percent favorable rating in some poll, do you wonder how it can be that high? Hard evidence of his high crimes of bribery has been plain to see for many months. We await a brisk House inquiry to put all that evidence in order, in a simple bill that even The New York Times won’t be able to ignore. Let Mr. Schumer’s tiny Senate majority try to decline an impeachment trial. Between that and “Joe Biden’s obvious incapacity, he’ll have to resign. And then let the Party of Chaos try to pretend that Kamala Harris can be in charge of anything. We’ll see soon enough who’s pulling the strings in the White House.
The House should simultaneously form committees to impeach the faithless and incompetent agency heads below “JB” starting with Merrick Garland, specifically for criminally violating the rights of the many J-6 defendants falsely charged, denied speedy trials, and abused in the federal jails while awaiting those unjustly delayed trials. Also, tack on multiple counts of perjury for the many times he lied under oath before Congress.
Next, Alejandro Mayorkas, for allowing a virtual invasion of our country and his gross, willful failure to enforce the laws that regulate entry across our borders. As with Mr. Garland, include counts of perjury, lying to Congress. After him, Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Service, for presiding over the vaccination debacle and all the lying about it perpetrated under his supervision by the CDC, the FDA, and many other public health agencies. FBI Director Christopher Wray is not subject to impeachment, so the House should defund the agency until he and the rest of the seventh floor C-suite gang, led by Deputy AG Lisa Monaco, resign.
That would be good start for breaking up the blob so that the public does not have to wait for a 2024 election that shows no signs of being cleaned up procedurally to ensure fair and truthful results — though momentous impeachment moves against the figures truly responsible for wrecking the country might prompt some states to take action to get rid of the Covid-era mail-in ballot trickery that the blob cooked up to keep itself in power.
All of the blob’s projects are coming to grief now in the worst way possible. Ukraine was a foolish venture starting in 2014 when the US tried to shanghai it into NATO over a red line explicitly declared by Russia. We didn’t believe they meant it, apparently. What part of sphere of influence don’t we understand? How did the CIA do sizing that up? Or sussing out the October 7 Hamas massacre in Israel? Do they have no assets in Gaza? How’s America’s prestige in the world doing, and the dollar that represents it, vis-à-vis the new BRIC alliance that was allowed to come together largely because of the “Joe Biden” regime’s foreign policy blunders scaring so many previously neutral nations?
How are the blob’s domestic projects doing? It’s managed to destroy the credibility of medicine, the honor of higher education, and the authority of the news media - with plenty of help from the blobistas embedded in all those institutions. How is possible that the majority of doctors still don’t know that Covid vaccines are unsafe and ineffective, and that they have been systematically lied to by the CDC from the get-go on this? How is it possible that presidents of the most distinguished universities go along with the suppression of free inquiry and speech, as if these were not the foundation of learning? How is possible that the editors of The New York Times and The Washington Post lie continually and knowingly about events and persons, unless they are getting paid by, and have become defacto arms of, the blob itself, to cover-up the discovery of its crimes?
How’s the blob’s campaign to sow gender confusion and race hatred going? Resistance has formed to the first hustle, most visibly against the local school boards by parents rightfully disturbed over not just sexualizing little children, but egging them into mental illness over it. You might have also noticed that the policy for decriminalizing crime has the interesting effect of collapsing the social contract, especially in cities. Thus, wholesale car-jacking, armed robbery, flash-mob looting, and murder. Want more of that? Think it works in favor of the brotherhood of man?
Don’t you suppose some kind of effective opposition is required to contend with all this? One might expect, at this turn in history, for the Republican Party to become a righteous and effective antipode to the epic malign ineptitude of the Democrat’s Party of Chaos and Death. The only venue for this to opposition to function in at the moment is the US House of Representatives. It’s either that or something harsh, bloody, and awful lies ahead for us."
Yeah, the full title of Kunstler's blog really does say it all...
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Blind Boy Fuller, "Step It Up And Go"
"Blind Boy Fuller (Fulton Allen b.1907 d.1941) Played & sang in the Piedmont style associated with the southeast. Beginning in 1935 Fuller recorded 127 sides. He died in 1941 at the young age of 33. Step It Up And Go is from 1940."
Dan, I Allegedly, "This is What is Wrong with the World "
Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly AM 10/20/23
"This is What is Wrong with the World -
Legal Participation Trophies"
"Could you imagine a world with Legal Participation Trophies. This is what is wrong with the world. The state of California is thinking about getting rid of the bar exam. This is something I know a tremendous amount about. It is outrageous to think that we will not have a minimum qualification for people to practice law."
Comments here:
"12 Major Retailers Are In Big Trouble As Bankruptcies Skyrocket"
Full screen recommended.
The Atlantis Report, 10/20/23
"12 Major Retailers Are In
Big Trouble As Bankruptcies Skyrocket"
"The retail landscape is undergoing a massive transformation, with a staggering 61 percent increase in bankruptcies and a 77 percent surge in United States store closures over the past year, as revealed by recent data. A collaborative report from Retail Dive and Credit Risk Monitor highlights the impending risk of liquidation for several retailers, as some have already initiated Chapter 11 filings and confront the prospect of permanent closures. As we approach the end of 2023, dark storefronts and product shortages cast a shadow over the holiday season, intensifying a trend where prominent brands shutdown locations leaving a lasting impact on the retail industry. In this video, we'll uncover the 12 major retail stores which are set to cease operations in 2023."
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Adventures With Danno, "Food Shortage Reports, This Is A Complete Mess!"
Adventures With Danno, 10/20/23
"Food Shortage Reports, This Is A Complete Mess!"
"These are the food shortage reports for October 2023, and it is not good. We discuss many different parts of the world that are dealing with these shortages and what we need to do to prepare!"
Comments here:
Greg Hunter, "Weekly News Wrap-Up 10/20/23"
"Weekly News Wrap-Up 10/20/23"
Middle East Headed for War, Economy Headed for Total Collapse
by Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
"Everywhere you look in the Middle East, you see signs of a brewing war. The world is divided over the Hamas and Israel fighting. It is the most violent division in the world that has not been seen for a very long time. The U.S. Navy has aircraft carriers off the cost of Israel, and Russia is threatening to sink them with hypersonic missiles. Now, the terror looks like it is coming to America with it’s wide-open Southern border. FBI Director Chris Wray is warning a terror attack could likely happen in America in the not-so-distant future. I guess the FBI is not going to go after Catholics and Trump supporters and focus on real terrorists for a change.
The economy is going to collapse, and that is a mathematical certainty according to financial writer Bill Holter. Debt is off-the-charts at record levels, interest rates have doubled and then some, big banks are losing money by the billions of dollars and there is no way to stop the inevitable fall. Meanwhile, people are ignoring the red flashing warning signs and are all in on risky stock investments. The only way this ends–is badly. Today we have a 5% 10-year Treasury which was below 1% in 2020. What could go wrong with 4-fold increase in interest rates? I think plenty, and what’s coming can wipe your family out financially for a generation. The coming war in the Middle East is only going to make things much worse, much faster. There is much more in the 37-minute newscast."
Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he talks about these
stories and more in the Weekly News Wrap-Up for 10/20/23:
Thursday, October 19, 2023
Canadian Prepper, "Red Alert! He Just Admitted it! This Is The Big One, WW3, Prepare Immediately!"
Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper,10/19/23
"Red Alert! He Just Admitted it!
This Is The Big One, WW3, Prepare Immediately!"
Comments here:
Jeremiah Babe, "Warning! More Ominous Signs Of A Dying Economy"
Jeremiah Babe, 10/19/23
"Warning! More Ominous Signs Of A Dying Economy"
Comments here:
"So, You’ve Been Made Superfluous…"
"So, You’ve Been Made Superfluous…"
by Paul Rosenberg
"In the US, something like 100 million people have “dropped out of the workforce,” and the situation is often worse in Europe. The ruling systems of the West have made these people superfluous. If you’re one of them, I’m sorry. It’s a horrible thing. But if you think this is your fault, you’re wrong. You are willing and capable of productive work, but the system has its own needs, and they no longer involve you. So, please be clear on this: The system doesn’t care about you for anything but voting.
"Give me a job, give me security,
Give me a chance to survive.
I’m just a poor soul in the unemployment line,
My God, I’m hardly alive.
My mother and father, my wife and my friends,
You see them laugh in my face.
But I’ve got the power and I’ve got the will,
I’m not a charity case."
My message to you is this: You do have the power, and you do have the will. But the system has no place for you; if you want more than that, you’ll have to make it yourself. Read on and I’ll explain how that’s done.
The Will and the Power: We’ve all been seduced into discounting our own will. We’ve been trained to abandon it to the system. And so long as that pattern holds, the only hope you have is that the system will reform itself to suit you… and that almost never happens. How many times do we play the sucker before we stop believing political promises?
Let’s make this clear: Your government has no idea what to do with you, aside from keeping you permanently distracted and giving you just enough handouts to survive. So, if you want things to get better, you’ll have to exercise your own will.
Yes, I know you’ve been taught never to hold your own thoughts supreme. And being taught that repetitively, you did what everyone else did: You demoted your own mind and obeyed Teacher. But once you reclaim your will – once you start to act on your own judgment – you will have power.
Words Are Impotent: Please understand that changing your situation requires action, not words. You can play with words forever to no effect. And that’s just what the system wants. Write letters to your congressman, support one of the talking faces presented to you, and so on, without end. But when you get up and act, not only does the world change, you change.
The Usual Problem: The fear of acting is a lot like the fear of public speaking; it can be debilitating. Nonetheless, we have to do it. And please understand that I’m talking about acting on your own will. Acting on someone else’s very fine plan squeezes your will out of the equation. Below are some suggestions. But I’m only listing them to give you initial ideas. Do not misconstrue this as a plan. You must choose, and you must act. You must accept responsibility.
• Start using Bitcoin. Teach your friends how to use it.
• Start building mesh networks and private internet systems.
• Start teaching cryptography.
• Start using other distributed technologies.
• Start homeschooling your children or tutoring others.
• Start growing and trading your own food.
• Turn off the TV and start reading books.
• Turn off political radio and start listening to lectures and audio books.
• Start building mesh networks and private internet systems.
• Start teaching cryptography.
• Start using other distributed technologies.
• Start homeschooling your children or tutoring others.
• Start growing and trading your own food.
• Turn off the TV and start reading books.
• Turn off political radio and start listening to lectures and audio books.
The other option is to do what the system expects of superfluous people: Watch TV, adopt the narratives it promotes, maintain your Facebook addiction, and die young. Please choose something better."
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Styx, "Blue Collar Man"
"A Look to the Heavens"
"The small, northern constellation Triangulum harbors this magnificent face-on spiral galaxy, M33. Its popular names include the Pinwheel Galaxy or just the Triangulum Galaxy. M33 is over 50,000 light-years in diameter, third largest in the Local Group of galaxies after the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), and our own Milky Way. About 3 million light-years from the Milky Way, M33 is itself thought to be a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy and astronomers in these two galaxies would likely have spectacular views of each other's grand spiral star systems.
As for the view from planet Earth, this sharp image shows off M33's blue star clusters and pinkish star forming regions along the galaxy's loosely wound spiral arms. In fact, the cavernous NGC 604 is the brightest star forming region, seen here at about the 4 o'clock position from the galaxy center. Like M31, M33's population of well-measured variable stars have helped make this nearby spiral a cosmic yardstick for establishing the distance scale of the Universe."
The Poet: John Jefferson, “Wounded But Not Slain”
“Wounded But Not Slain”
“I am wounded but I am not slain.
I’m bruised and faint they say…
I shall lay me down and bleed a while,
then I shall rise and fight again.
Just let me lie and bleed awhile;
I’ll not be long this way.
My Spirit’s low and my eyes flow.
My heart is sad and sore;
But when my pen’ent tears are gone,
I’ll stand and fight some more.
I’ll bind these wounds; I’ll dry these tears;
I’ll close this bleeding vein;
I’ll not lie here and weep and die:
I’ll rise and fight again.
‘Twas yesterday I bowed so low,
Was weak from tears and pain;
Today I’m strong; my fears are gone;
Today I fight again.”
- John Jefferson
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“You cannot kill me here. Bring your soldiers, your death, your disease, your collapsed economy because it doesn’t matter, I have nothing left to lose and you cannot kill me here. Bring the tears of orphans and the wails of a mother’s loss, bring your God damn air force and Jesus on a cross, bring your hate and bitterness and long working hours, bring your empty wallets and love long since gone but you cannot kill me here. Bring your sneers, your snide remarks and friendships never felt, your letters never sent, your kisses never kissed, cigarettes smoked to the bone and cancer killing fears but you cannot kill me here. For I may fall and I may fail but I will stand again each time and you will find no satisfaction. Because you cannot kill me here.”
- Iain S. Thomas
"Retirement Crisis Triggers Biggest Homelessness Spike Ever As People Struggle Financially"
Full screen recommended.
Epic Economist, 10/19/23
"Retirement Crisis Triggers Biggest Homelessness
Spike Ever As People Struggle Financially"
"More elderly Americans are facing homelessness than ever before as the retirement crisis and rising rents leave millions struggling financially. Now, increasingly more baby boomers are waking up to the reality that working for your entire adult life is not a guarantee you’ll be able to afford housing during your senior years. This group has faced a series of recessions throughout their lifetime and has also witnessed the explosive growth of home prices over the five past decades. On the other hand, their incomes haven’t risen at the same pace, and many haven’t had the opportunity to save enough to retire comfortably.
According to a new report by the Wall Street Journal based on data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, in 2023, older adults are the fastest-growing segment of the country’s homeless population. “The fact that we are seeing elderly homelessness is something that we have not seen since the Great Depression,” stressed Dennis Culhane, the social policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Today, the over-50 demographic represents 50% of the homeless single adults in the U.S., meaning that baby boomers (those aged 57 to 75) are particularly vulnerable. From 2013 to 2023, the percentage of people 50 and older in homeless shelters increased from 16% to 23%. The National Health Care for the Homeless Council also found that the percentage of baby boomer patients whom it serviced in 2022 was 36% — up from 25% 15 years earlier.
At the same time, the number of affordable nursing homes and assisted living centers has shrunk, partly due to labor shortages, inflation, and reduced funding. For instance, in Florida, the state with the highest rate of US citizens 65 or older, more than 600 nursing homes have been shuttered since 2017.
Between 2020 and 2023, rents faced the fastest increase in nearly a century. In many areas, rent prices are completely out of the reach of average Americans. Moreover, an analysis by the U.S. Government Accountability Office indicated that only 1 in 10 low-income workers between the ages of 51 and 64 had any funds put away for retirement last year, compared with 1 in 5 in 2007 prior to the Great Recession. Those workers have median earnings of about $19,000 annually, noted the study, which examined data from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances and other sources.
Yet, the problem may not only be with people’s ability to save money for their future but the way the U.S. system is designed. On Tuesday, the new Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index was released, and it exposed that this year, the U.S. ranks behind 30 other countries in the 38-member bloc, which collectively has an average poverty rate of 13.1%. Analysts gave the nation’s retirement system a C+, putting the United States on par with countries like Kazakhstan, Colombia, and Croatia.
Our retirement approach is so flawed that about two-thirds of working Americans over 50 said they intend to delay retirement or are unsure if they will be able to retire when they want, an Axios-Ipsos poll found.
In a country as wealthy as the United States, homelessness for anyone — but particularly older adults — should not be acceptable. Instead of helping U.S. citizens to retire comfortably, our leaders continue to transfer their responsibility to our shoulders, forcing workers to continue to support this rigged economic system even after a lifetime of hard work."
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Gerald Celente, "Prepare: Markets And Middle East Melting Down"
Strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, Trends Journal 10/19/23
"Prepare: Markets And Middle East Melting Down"
"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:
"16 Harsh Truths That Make Us Stronger "
"16 Harsh Truths That Make Us Stronger "
by Marc Chernoff
"1. Life is not easy. Hard work makes people lucky, it's the stuff that brings dreams to reality. So start every morning ready to run farther than you did yesterday and fight harder than you ever have before.
2. You will fail sometimes. The faster you accept this, the faster you can get on with being brilliant. You'll never be 100% sure it will work, but you can always be 100% sure doing nothing won't work. So get out there and do something! Either you succeed or you learn a vital lesson. Win, Win.
3. Right now, there's a lot you don't know. The day you stop learning is the day you stop living. Embrace new information, think about it and use it to advance yourself.
4. There may not be a tomorrow. Not for everyone. Right now, someone on Earth is planning something for tomorrow without realizing they're going to die today. This is sad but true. So spend your time wisely today and pause long enough to appreciate it.
5. There's a lot you can't control. Wasting your time, talent and emotional energy on things that are beyond your control is a recipe for frustration, misery and stagnation. Invest your energy in the things you can control.
6. Information is not true knowledge. Knowledge comes from experience. You can discuss a task a hundred times, but these discussions will only give you a philosophical understanding. You must experience a task firsthand to truly know it.
7. You can't be successful without providing value. Don't waste your time trying to be successful, spend your time creating value. When you're valuable to the world around you, you will be successful.
8. Someone else will always have more than you. Whether it's money, friends or magic beans that you're collecting, there will always be someone who has more than you. But remember, it's not how many you have, it's how passionate you are about collecting them. It's all about the journey.
9. You can't change the past. As Maria Robinson once said, "Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. " You can't change what happened, but you can change how you react to it.
10. The only person who can make you happy is you. The root of your happiness comes from your relationship with yourself. Sure external entities can have fleeting effects on your mood, but in the long run nothing matters more than how you feel about who you are on the inside.
11. There will always be people who don't like you. You can't be everything to everyone. No matter what you do, there will always be someone who thinks differently. So concentrate on doing what you know in your heart is right. What others think and say about you isn't all that important. What is important is how you feel about yourself.
12. You won't always get what you want. As Mick Jagger once said, "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you might find you get what you need. " Look around. Appreciate the things you have right now. Many people aren't so lucky.
13. In life, you get what you put in. If you want love, give love. If you want friends, be friendly. If you want money, provide value. It really is this simple.
14. Good friends will come and go. Most of your high school friends won't be a part of your college life. Most of your college friends won't be a part of your 20-something professional life. Most of your 20-something friends won't be there when your spouse and you bring your second child into the world. But some friends will stick. And it's these friends, the ones who transcend time with you, who matter.
15. Doing the same exact thing every day hinders self growth. If you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting. Growth happens when you change things, when you try new things, when you stretch beyond your comfort zone.
16. You will never feel 100% ready for something new. Nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means you won't feel totally comfortable or ready for it.
And remember, trying to be someone else is a waste of the person you are. Strength comes from being comfortable in your own skin. "
"Decline of Empire: Parallels Between the U.S. and Rome, Part I"
"Decline of Empire:
Parallels Between the U.S. and Rome, Part I"
by Doug Casey
Excerpt: "As some of you know, I’m an aficionado of ancient history. I thought it might be worthwhile to discuss what happened to Rome and based on that, what’s likely to happen to the U.S. Spoiler alert: There are some similarities between the U.S. and Rome. But before continuing, please seat yourself comfortably. This article will necessarily cover exactly those things you’re never supposed to talk about - religion and politics - and do what you’re never supposed to do, namely, bad-mouth the military.
There are good reasons for looking to Rome rather than any other civilization when trying to see where the U.S. is headed. Everyone knows Rome declined, but few people understand why. And, I think, even fewer realize that the U.S. is now well along the same path for pretty much the same reasons, which I’ll explore shortly.
Rome reached its peak of military power around the year 107, when Trajan completed the conquest of Dacia (the territory of modern Romania). With Dacia, the empire peaked in size, but I’d argue it was already past its peak by almost every other measure.
The U.S. reached its peak relative to the world, and in some ways its absolute peak, as early as the 1950s. In 1950 this country produced 50% of the world’s GNP and 80% of its vehicles. Now it’s about 21% of world GNP and 5% of its vehicles. It owned two-thirds of the world’s gold reserves; now it holds one-fourth. It was, by a huge margin, the world’s biggest creditor, whereas now it’s the biggest debtor by a huge margin. The income of the average American was by far the highest in the world; today it ranks about eighth, and it’s slipping.
But it’s not just the U.S. - it’s Western civilization that’s in decline. In 1910 Europe controlled almost the whole world - politically, financially, and militarily. Now it’s becoming a Disneyland with real buildings and a petting zoo for the Chinese. It’s even further down the slippery slope than the U.S."
Full part I of this article is here:
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Full part II of this article is here:
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Full part III of this article is here:
"A Realistic Attitude...
"It was the essence of life to disbelieve in death for one's self, to act as if life would continue forever. And life had to act also as if little issues were big ones. To take a realistic attitude toward life and death meant that one lapsed into unreality. Into insanity. It was ironic that the only way to keep one's sanity was to ignore that one was in an insane world or to act as if the world were sane."
- Philip José Farmer
"World War III Update, 10/19/23"
Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 10/19/23
"Col. Douglas Macgregor,
The Israeli Conflict: Can The US Support Two Wars?"
Comments here:
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Colonel Douglas Macgregor Straight Calls, 10/19/23
"Russia - Ukraine War: This Is A Magnificent Tactic"
"Analysis of breaking news and in-depth discussion of current
geopolitical events in the United States of America and the world."
Comments here:
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Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 10/19/23
"Col. Douglas Macgregor,
"Avoiding Armageddon"
"Judge Napolitano: How can we the United States and the West avoid Armageddon?
Col. Douglas Macgregor: Well, that’s the that’s the question it should be on everyone's mind in Washington and sadly it seldom comes up I think the greatest challenge for Americans. Even more than for the Israelis is to understand just how profoundly the world we live in has changed since the last major war that the Israelis were compelled to fight and that was in 1973.
Some of your Observers and audience may remember in 1973 Israel was attacked by the Syrians In the east in the north and at the same time attacked from the south and the west by Egypt. The problem was that Egypt had very limited goals. The Egyptian president was not interested in destroying or eradicating Israel. He simply wanted to regain control of the territory that had been lost in 1967. So, he moved across the canal, set up a defense and that was as far as he went The Syrians of course did try to break through and that was somewhat desperate for a period of time But the Israelis were able to meet that threat first before turning their entire attention to Egypt.
This time the situation is very different! First of all the weapons have changed. The arsenal of rockets and missiles in the region is enormous. People are quoting numbers in the realm of a hundred and thirty thousand rockets and missiles from Hezbollah alone. We don’t even need to mention others in the region that kind of arsenal is enough in and of itself to destroy much of Israel. Then you have a problem with Hamas and Hezbollah and the rest of the region and that is the rest of the region is a sick of Israel as much of the world and Europe is sick of us and what I mean by that is that we are on the threshold of total war.
That's what no one seems to understand if the Israelis march into Gaza, which I think would be a very unrewarding exercise for them, but nevertheless, they seem determined to do it, and if they do they will not only lose soldiers they will fail to root out the thousands of Hamas fighters that are there. They'll get some but they won't get them all. They will not improve their position at all with the people of Hamas or the people living on the so -called West Bank. And the rest of the region is prepared to go to war too.
Stop and think about it. It’s not just Iran. In fact, Iran has militias that can attack us, and anyone who works with this in Iraq and Syria. That’s one part of the problem. The Iranians are not going to try to lob theater ballistic missiles at Israel because the Israelis have said they would use a nuclear weapon, but Turkey is different. And the Turks have an unhappy record with the Israelis. Just a few years ago, they tried to deliver humanitarian ai to Gaza. The Israelis boarded their ship, killed some of their citizens and turned back the aid. This kind of thing did not cultivate support and friendliness in Turkey. And remember, Mr. Erdogan is the de facto leading military power in the Sunni Muslim world.
Finally, you have the Pakistanis who are very close to the Turks and have made it abundantly clear that the Turks will receive nuclear warheads and other capabilities from them if they need them in order to deter the Israelis from using a nuclear weapon. And finally, the Turks have the largest air forces and armies in the region. The Turks can put two million men in the field in the space of a little over a month. And the Turks are ferocious fighters. Now, all of this spells doom for the Israelis if they launch this attack on Gaza. What I just described is an unwinnable fight. Even the air power from the United States that we could commit is not going to be enough. And we all know we don’t have the troops on the ground. We simply don’t have very many soldiers or Marines at this point."
Truer words were never spoken...
"There are a multitude of fuses affixed to dozens of powder-kegs and little kids with matches are on the loose. I don’t know which of the fuses will be lit and which powder-keg will blow, but someone is bound to do something stupid, and then all hell will break loose. It could happen at any time. One military miscue. One assassination. One violent act that stirs the world. And the dominoes will topple, setting off fireworks not seen on this planet since 1939 – 1945. I can see it all very clearly."
- Jim Quinn
Peter Schiff, "The 'Unsinkable' American Consumer Is Drowning In Debt"
"The 'Unsinkable' American Consumer Is Drowning In Debt"
by Schiffgold
"Every time retail sales come in higher than expected, the mainstream media breathlessly reports this as proof that the American consumer is strong and resilient. In his podcast, Peter Schiff explained that these retail sales numbers aren’t a sign of a strong economy. They just reflect Americans paying more for less. And what’s worse, they’re burying themselves in debt to do it.
Retail sales were indeed stronger than expected in September, increasing by 0.7%. The expectation was for a 0.3% gain. Year-over-year, retail sales are up 3.8%. The media hyped the report. CNN said it was a sign that consumers “aren’t tapping out just yet.” But the report was not actually good news. First, it’s important to remember that retail sales data is not inflation-adjusted. Everything costs more. Everything you buy is a lot more expensive. So, assuming that you don’t buy less, and of course, some people are buying less, but if you just buy the same stuff and everything costs a lot more, well of course, retail sales are going to go up.”
But this doesn’t indicate that the economy is thriving, and it doesn’t mean Americans are on a spending spree buying more stuff. In many cases, they’re buying a lot less. They’re just paying more. And they’re buying fewer of the things that they want because they’re paying more to buy the things that they need.” If you adjust the annual retail sales increase of 3.8% by the CPI, it drops to 0.1%. In other words, almost the entirety of the retail sales increase was due to rising prices. Nevertheless, the raw retail sales data creates the impression that Americans are happily spending money. Peter said you can’t necessarily draw that conclusion.
"Americans aren’t happy that their grocery bill went up, and they’re probably not eating more or eating better. In fact, they’re probably trading down into lower-quality stuff. They’re just paying more.”
For instance, restaurant sales were up big. But if you’ve eaten out recently, you know the cost of everything on the menu has gone up dramatically. Even if you eat out less, you’re still spending more. Peter emphasized that none of this is a sign of a strong economy. It is a sign of inflation. And that’s all this retail sales number is reflecting — inflation. It’s not about a strong economy, but about rising inflation.” And we all know that actual prices are rising even faster than the CPI numbers indicate because the formula intentionally understates price inflation.
Obviously, if the government is underreporting how much prices are going up, then the retail sales are actually capturing the real increase in prices because it’s what the consumers are actually paying. It’s not what the government is pretending they’re actually paying, but what they are, in fact, paying. So, these retail sales numbers are probably a better reflection of inflation than the CPI.”
We shouldn’t celebrate this. It’s bad news. But the media keeps talking about the “unsinkable American consumer.” He’s not unsinkable. He’s downing in debt! And the only reason he’s still floating is because he’s got two or three jobs. This is not a report card on the success of the American economy, but on the failure. Because what it’s really measuring is the cost of living. People have to spend a lot more money to buy the same amount of stuff that they bought in the past.”
And as Peter noted, they’re buying a lot of this stuff on credit. Revolving credit – primarily credit card debt – surged by 13.9% in August. Americans now owe $1.28 trillion in revolving credit. According to MarketWatch, “Americans appear to be relying more on debt to pay for their purchases. They are also using more ‘buy now and pay later’ plans.”
Peter pointed out that breaking down retail sales reveals the strain felt by consumers. "Categories like food are up. But electronics sales are down. [Americans] are spending more on shelter. They’re spending more on energy. They’re spending more on food. They’re spending more on insurance. They’re spending more on healthcare. They’ve got to make these expenditures. They have no choice. And the problem is when they finish buying all the things they need, they don’t have much left over for the things that they want.”
The consumer credit data reveals the same thing. While credit card spending surged in August, non-revolving credit tanked. That represents borrowing for big-ticket items. So, Americans are using credit cards to pay for the basics like food and gas, and they’re not making bigger purchases at all. Peter goes on to explain why an economy built on consumer spending isn’t something to brag about."
"Gregory Mannarino, AM/PM 10/19/23"
Gregory Mannarino, AM 10/19/23
"Final Warning! Get Your Cash Out Of The Banks,
The Debt Market Is Melting Down!"
Comments here:
o
Gregory Mannarino, PM 10/19/23
"Banks And The Entire System
Is Much Worse Off Than We Think"
Comments here:
Dan, I Allegedly, "The Economic Carnage You're Not Seeing"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, 10/19/23
"The Economic Carnage You're Not Seeing"
"Witness the repercussions of the economic downturn as it unfolds - from the housing market's soaring interest rates to the skyrocketing prices brought about by inflation. Be part of our journey as we navigate through these turbulent times, exploring topics like #HomeBuilders, #GM, #NAR, #TheFed, and more. You can believe whatever you would like. But, the economy is in real trouble and we’re getting more and more warning signs that tell us how bad things are. Get yourself ready for more news."
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Adventures With Danno, "AM/PM Food Prices"
Full screen recommended,
Adventures With Danno, AM 10/19/23
"Stocking Up At Kroger! Finding The Best Deals!"
"In today's vlog, we are at Kroger and stocking up on all the best deals on groceries! We are taking advantage of some of the sales as prices continue to skyrocket all around the country!"
Comments here:
o
Adventures with Danno, PM 10/19/23
"10 Items In Grocery Stores That Are
Skyrocketing In Price In Fall 2023!"
"These are 10 items in grocery stores we are seeing skyrocket in price! We go over why these items are important as this is just the beginning of what's to come and why we need to prepare accordingly!"
Comments here:
Wednesday, October 18, 2023
"Emergency Alert! Russian Nuke Forces Activated; Global Civil Unrest; Street Battles, Iran's Nuclear Plan"
Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper 10/18/23
"Emergency Alert! Russian Nuke Forces Activated;
Global Civil Unrest; Street Battles, Iran's Nuclear Plan"
Comments here:
Redacted, "Scott Ritter: War With Iran Would Be Suicide And The U.S. Will Lose"
Full screen recommended.
Redacted, 10/18/23
"Scott Ritter: War With Iran Would
Be Suicide And The U.S. Will Lose"
"Former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter lays out how a U.S. backed war against Iran would bring devastation to both the United States and Israel. Ritter says Israel would be destroyed if it tries to face off against Hezbollah and Hamas simultaneously."
Comments here:
"Bikinis, Garbage Loans, And Fishy Finance"
"Bikinis, Garbage Loans, And Fishy Finance"
by John Wilder
"The Big Solution to the Great Recession was printing lots of money. I would have (back then) thought that it would have hit the economy all at once. In reality, what the Federal Reserve® and the Treasury did was send all that money they printed off to the banks. The banks didn’t lend it. They kept it on the books, and in fact many of them redeposited their free money with the Fed™. In reality, the Fed© was scared about was the entire system locking up. It was pretty bad in 2009 – basic chemicals that were necessary (say, sulfuric acid) for a basic, functioning economy just stopped production.
No one knew who had money, or who would have money. As one friend of mine noted at the time, “When the tide goes out, you finally see who isn’t wearing swimming trunks.”
The inflation stayed “within target” for the Fed™, flipping up and down around 2% during the decade following. Again, with all of the money printed, I expected it to be more, and I still don’t trust the official government figures on inflation since that would be like trusting a used-car salesman on that gently used 1995 Ford Taurus© with only 350,000 miles on it.
COVID was the final straw, though. People produced less stuff, so there was a lower supply. The government printed a lot more money and then gave it to everyone, who most definitely didn’t save it, and in fact bid prices up on everything. Making nothing and buying everything? Inflation. Or my ex-wife.
Inflation finally triggered interest rates to go up. That posed a problem for the banks. Let’s take me: I have a small mortgage left on Stately Wilder Manor. I’m in no hurry to pay it off because I can get a CD for 5.5%, but my mortgage is only 4%. My mortgage is worth less to the banks now than I owe on it – if I were another bank, they’d sell it to me for less than I owe. That’s a problem for banks that have exposure to mortgages and didn’t sell them off or hedge them.
It’s not just mortgages – Silicon Valley Bank® decided to invest in lots of long-term bonds and such because inflation had been so low. Buy a corporate bond yielding 4%, pay depositors 1%, and profit! But when interest rates started heading upward, the same sort of math as with the bank that owns my mortgage applies – what used to be worth $100 is now only worth, say, $80. Oops. When the people who put hundreds of millions of dollars into the bank, money that wasn’t insured, find out. Bank funs. Er, bank runs.
How bad was it? Of the $172 billion deposited at the bank, only 11% was covered by deposit insurance. I imagine that there were quite a few tense billionaires like Oprah worried that she’d have to get a job at the McDonald’s® drive through, and how could she resist those perfectly salty fries? Since billionaires were in danger, the FDIC immediately said, “Rules? Who needs those. All money is safe in Bartertown!”
My initial expectation is that we’d see more bank failures right around now as interest rates increased and the piles of garbage on the balance sheets of the banks started to rot. Instead? Banks are still (I believe) happily lending money borrowed by the Fed™.
How do they do it? They manage to do it by having the Fed© allow them to mark their assets to what they paid for them, not what they’re worth. So, they’re lying. I’m fairly certain the Fed™ is buying this stuff to get it off the balance sheets of the banks and lending them more money whenever they don’t have enough caviar.
The rot, though, is still there – it’s only a matter of who pays for the rot. Debt always gets paid, the old saying goes, either by the borrower or by the lender. I do know of two local businesses that are going bankrupt. Their debt is what drove the bankruptcy. My guess is that, combined, they have a debt of a million and a half dollars (or so). Who will pay it? In the end, the lender will.
I think that might be at least part of the big jump in debt that the United States owes. As interest rates go up, Uncle Sam is acting like a raccoon and jumping straight into the trash can to eat the garbage loans and bonds that the banks had to throw out because they were stinking up the fridge. Here’s proof:
Eventually, printing lots and lots of money is like a magic trick the magician does one too many times and everyone sees how it works. Will it work this time? Unrelated, frequent commenter Ray notes this Give Send Go. I'll let him explain more. GiveSendGo - "Loco Needs Divorce from Prostate: The Leader in Freedom Fundraising."
"Jeremiah Babe, 10/18/23"
Jeremiah Babe, 10/18/23
"Real Estate Market About To Be Destroyed;
Do Not Buy A House; Mortgage Rates Hit 8% And Going Higher"
Comments here:
"A Look to the Heavens"
“The southern Milky Way appears spectacular in this composite image taken from Mangaia, the most southerly of the Cook Islands. Few sources of light pollution exist here, home to only 500 people.
The two bright stars at the Milky Way’s center are Alpha (left) and Beta Centauri. They point to Crux the Southern Cross. Near the horizon, two of the satellite galaxies of our Milky Way, the Small (left) and Large Magellanic Clouds are easy to spot.”
"The Molten Pit Of Human Reality..."
"Friedrich Nietzsche in ‘Beyond Good and Evil’ holds that only a few people have the fortitude to look in times of distress into what he calls the molten pit of human reality. Most, studiously, ignore the pit. Artists and philosophers, for Nietzsche, are consumed however by an insatiable curiosity, a quest for truth and a desire for meaning. They venture down into the bowels of the molten pit. They get as close as they can before the flames and heat drive them back. This intellectual and moral honesty, Nietzsche wrote, comes with a cost. Those singed by the fire of reality become ‘burnt children’ he wrote, eternal orphans in empires of illusion."
- Chris Hedges
○
"We work in the dark. We do what we can to battle the evil that would otherwise destroy us. But if a man's character is his fate, it's not a choice but a calling. Sometimes the weight of this burden causes us to falter from the fragile fortress of our mind, allowing the monster without to turn within. We are left alone staring into the abyss, into the laughing face of madness."
- Fox Mulder, "X-Files"
○
q○
Freely download "Beyond Good And Evil", by Friedrich Nietzsche, here:
The Poet: Charles Bukowski, "Darkness Falls"
"Darkness Falls"
"Darkness falls upon Humanity
and faces become terrible things
that wanted more than there was.
All our days are marked with
unexpected affronts -
some disastrous, others less so,
but the process is
wearing and continuous.
Attrition rules.
Most give way,
leaving empty spaces
where people should be.
And now,
as we ready to self-destruct,
there is very little left to kill,
which makes the tragedy
less and more,
much, much more. "
- Charles Bukowski
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