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Thursday, December 4, 2025

The Daily "Near You?"

Scottsboro, Alabama. USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"We May Know..."

“We may know that the work we continue to put off doing will be bad. Worse, however, is the work we never do. A work that’s finished is at least finished. It may be poor, but it exists, like the miserable plant in the lone flowerpot of my neighbor who’s crippled. That plant is her happiness, and sometimes it’s even mine. What I write, bad as it is, may provide some hurt or sad soul a few moments of distraction from something worse. That’s enough for me, or it isn’t enough, but it serves some purpose, and so it is with all of life.”
- Fernando Pessoa

The Poet: e. e. cummings, "Humanity I Love You"

"Humanity I Love You"

"Humanity i love you
because you would rather black the boots of
success than enquire whose soul dangles from his
watch-chain which would be embarrassing for both
parties and because you
unflinchingly applaud all
songs containing the words country home and
mother when sung at the old howard.

Humanity i love you because
when you’re hard up you pawn your
intelligence to buy a drink and when
you’re flush pride keeps
you from the pawn shop and
because you are continually committing
nuisances but more
especially in your own house.

Humanity i love you because you
are perpetually putting the secret of
life in your pants and forgetting
it’s there and sitting down on it
and because you are
forever making poems in the lap
of death. 

Humanity, i hate you"

- e. e. cummings

"Dr. Steven Greer: A Solar Flare Just Fired a Plasma Bomb at Earth"

Full screen recommended.
3I Atlas Verse, 12/4/25
"Dr. Steven Greer: A Solar Flare 
Just Fired a Plasma Bomb at Earth"

"The Sun has just released one of the most powerful events of this solar cycle - a massive solar flare followed by the launch of a high-energy plasma cloud that may be heading toward Earth. In this video, we break down what happened, why it matters, and what scientists are urgently analyzing right now.

This episode serves as an immersive warm-up into real-time space weather science. Using data from NASA, NOAA, and ground-based observatories, we explore how a newly emerged sunspot went from invisible to explosive in less than 48 hours. As the solar flare erupted, shock waves rippled through the Sun’s corona, indicating a possible coronal mass ejection now under investigation.

To help viewers understand these complex events clearly, the video includes short immersive interactive warm-up segments that simplify concepts like magnetic reconnection, shock fronts, and CME trajectories. These brief interactive warm-up exercises prepare you to follow the fast-changing developments as scientists study whether this plasma eruption is moving toward Earth.
We also explain how agencies use immersive interactive tools and real-time modeling to track solar activity, along with why predicting solar flares remains one of space science’s greatest challenges. As new data arrives from coronagraph satellites, we walk you through how experts decode speed, direction, and potential impact windows.

The goal is to offer an educational, science-based perspective on how solar radiation affects communication systems, satellites, GPS accuracy, aviation routes, and even auroras that may appear far beyond their usual latitudes. This video is designed to be a complete interactive warm-up into understanding the Sun’s behavior and its effects on our planet, especially during periods of intense activity. Stay tuned as we continue to monitor updates and explain what the next 48 hours could mean for Earth."
Comments here:
o
Food for thought...
Full screen recommended.
"Knowing",  "John Discovers the 
Devastating Truth About the Solar Flare"

"3I/ATLAS Mystery: 33 Billion Tons Gone in a Single Day"

Dr. Avi Loeb, 12/4/25
"3I/ATLAS Mystery: 
33 Billion Tons Gone in a Single Day"

"In this video, we investigate surprising reports claiming that 3I/ATLAS may have lost an estimated 33 billion tons of material in a single day - an extraordinary figure that has drawn intense interest from the astrophysics community. While these loss rates remain preliminary, they could indicate extreme outgassing events, fragmentation processes, or observation-model mismatches that challenge earlier assumptions about the physical structure of 3I/ATLAS. We examine how such mass-loss scenarios are calculated and what the latest measurements actually support.

Drawing on analytical principles frequently highlighted by Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, we explore how sudden mass variations in interstellar objects can arise from volatile release, solar heating, or non-gravitational forces. By comparing new 3I/ATLAS data with known cometary physics, we evaluate whether the reported mass deficit is plausible, overstated, or a consequence of limited early observations. Using the evidence-based approach often emphasized by Avi Loeb, this video separates confirmed observational features from assumptions and reviews how researchers interpret dramatic mass-loss claims while maintaining scientific rigor."
Comments here:

"How It Really Is"

 

"Do You Agree That It Takes A Minimum Of $136,500 A Year For A Family Of Four To Afford The Basics In America Today?"

"Do You Agree That It Takes A Minimum Of $136,500 A 
Year For A Family Of Four To Afford The Basics In America Today?"
by Michael Snyder

"If your household is struggling to pay the bills right now, you are far from alone. The cost of just about everything that Americans regularly spend money on has been soaring, and as a result our standard of living has been steadily declining. Over the past couple of decades, our politicians borrowed and spent trillions of dollars that we did not have, the Federal Reserve shoveled giant mountains of money that were created out of thin air into the financial system, and our leaders treated the reserve currency of the world like toilet paper. So now the value of the U.S. dollar has gone way down, our paychecks don’t stretch as far as they once did, and most of the country is barely scraping by from month to month.

This week, an excellent article that was authored by Michael Green is getting a ton of attention. In that article, he calculates that a “basic needs budget” for a typical family of four in the United States would come to a grand total of $136,500 a year…"I wanted to see what would happen if I ignored the official stats and simply calculated the cost of existing. I built a Basic Needs budget for a family of four (two earners, two kids). No vacations, no Netflix, no luxury. Just the “Participation Tickets” required to hold a job and raise kids in 2024. Using conservative, national-average data:

• Childcare: $32,773
• Housing: $23,267
• Food: $14,717
• Transportation: $14,828
• Healthcare: $10,567
• Other essentials: $21,857
• Required net income: $118,009
• Add federal, state, and FICA taxes of roughly $18,500, and you arrive at a required gross income of $136,500.

Do you agree with these figures? I very much appreciate the effort that he put into his analysis, but I certainly do not agree with some of these numbers. The national average for child care for a single child is about $975 per month. So for two children for an entire year the total should be less than $24,000. So we can eliminate more than $8,000 from his budget right there. And if your kids are old enough, you may not need to spend anything on child care at all.

On the other hand, I think that his figure for housing is too low. The average home price in the U.S. now exceeds $500,000. Taking out a $500,000 mortgage at 6.2 percent would result in a mortgage payment of $3,047.41 a month. So Green’s budget completely rules out owning a typical home in many areas of the country. Instead, it would allow for renting a two bedroom apartment which averages about $1,800 a month right now.

And I think that Green’s figure for health care is also too low. The average monthly health insurance premium for a family of four in the U.S. now exceeds $2,000. Yes, a hypothetical family of four could save money by going without health insurance or by living in a van, but that is not the point. It is time for everyone to admit that a middle class lifestyle has become out of reach for a majority of American households.

Green’s analysis may not be entirely accurate, but others have come up with similar results. For example, the Economic Policy Institute has determined that it takes approximately $123,000 a year for a family of four to live a middle class lifestyle in Essex County, New Jersey…"The Economic Policy Institute offers a Family Budget Calculator. It says a family of four would need about $123,000 a year to attain “a modest yet adequate standard of living” in Essex County, New Jersey."

And Investopedia has determined that it now takes approximately 5 million dollars to live the American Dream over the course of a lifetime…"Investopedia, the financial journalism site, uses similar calculations to estimate how much emergency savings a family should hold (about $35,000, on average) and the lifetime costs of fulfilling the American dream (roughly $5 million)."

Needless to say, most Americans don’t have a prayer of making 5 million dollars during their lifetimes. And the cost of just about everything is only going to go even higher. Right now, our rapidly rising power bills are making a lot of headlines…"The numbers are as stark as a slate-grey November sky. Household spending on electricity for heating is expected to rise 10% this winter to more than $1,200. Utilities requested a $29 billion rate increase in the first half of 2025, double last year’s rate rise. Residential electricity rates rose 6.6% year-on-year as of June 2025, according to Utility Dive, after already rising nearly 30% between 2021 and 2024."

Meanwhile, the job market just continues to get even tighter. On Wednesday, ADP reported that the U.S. economy lost 32,000 jobs last month…"The U.S. labor market slowdown intensified in November as private companies cut 32,000 workers, with small businesses hit the hardest, payrolls processing firm ADP reported Wednesday. Larger businesses, entailing companies with 50 or more employees, actually reported a net gain of 90,000 workers. However, establishments with fewer than 50 saw a decline of 120,000. The ADP report is the last monthly jobs picture the Federal Reserve gets before it meets Dec. 9-10."

Most experts were expecting that the ADP report would show that the U.S. economy actually added jobs last month. So this is really bad news. The three month average has now plunged into negative territory. This is the very first time that has happened since August 2020. Back then, we had a pandemic to blame for our problems. What is our excuse this time around?

It is easy to say that unemployed people should just go out and “get a job”, but the truth is that even the mainstream media is admitting that “job hunting feels impossible right now”…You’re not imagining it. Job hunting feels impossible right now because it actually is. You’ve polished your resume, customized cover letters and applied for hundreds of roles only to hear nothing back. I know that many of you can identify with that. Month after month, a lot of unemployed workers have been unable to find anything no matter how hard they have tried. It can be absolutely soul crushing when you are in that position.

There is speculation that the latest ADP report may make it more likely that the Fed will give us another interest rate cut…"But Kenwell said the latest report should help push America’s central bank to cut interest rates for the third time in 2025. The Fed, currently led by chair Jerome Powell, has a dual mandate to lower inflation and increase job growth through the government’s borrowing rates."

Rates are used as a blunt tool, swinging higher when prices climb, and plunging when unemployment accelerates.jHopefully the Fed will do the right thing. But a quarter point rate cut is not going to significantly alter our current economic trajectory. We aren’t just heading into another recession. We are heading into a full-blown meltdown. When you total up all forms of debt in this country, we are more than 104 trillion dollars in the red. It is the greatest mountain of debt in the history of the world, and now a time of reckoning is here. So please try to enjoy these “bad times” while we still have them, because it won’t be too long before things get a whole lot worse."

"Insane Clown Pentagon"

"Insane Clown Pentagon"
by Matt Taibbi

"This time, it’s not fake news. Donald Trump, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, Admiral Frank Mitchell Bradley, and soldiers involved with the September 2nd boat-bombing operation that allegedly involved firing a second time on survivors really do face serious legal exposure, with Trump and Hegseth even handing enemies potential grounds for impeachment through their own statements.

The administration’s behavior since Monday has been a master class in political dysfunction. Trump, Karoline Leavitt, and especially Hegseth created major political problems both by clumsily throwing troops under the bus at the first sign of scandal, and also by inadvertently giving evidence against themselves at the exact moment they’re facing a destabilizing challenge from Senators like Mark Kelly. How bad is it? Law professors and military analysts struggled to find words.

“F*cking shameful, and I voted for these guys,” says a former Army officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“It’s the kind of thing that makes military lawyers’ heads explode,” said Eugene Fiddell, who teaches military justice at Yale.

“Totally crazy,” added Michel Paradis, an author and human rights lawyer known for representing Guantanamo Bay detainees. “Even if I could come up with some sort of legal theory for why we can start bombing drug boats indiscriminately, you can’t shoot survivors.”

“It’s pretty remarkable that the United States has decided that at the - I’m not going to use the word whim - that at the discretion of the president, he can designate any criminal organization as a terrorist organization and start killing people as a measure of first resort,” said Geoffrey Corn, professor of law and a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel.

Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson described talking to service members who are struggling with these orders, adding that these missions also cross a line for him in a big way. “We’ve sort of enshrined under the banner of fighting terrorism this concept of extrajudicial killings,” he said. “Well, we’re now the goddamn Salvador death squads. It’s outrageous.”
o
Dated, but oh so true...
“We have become a Nazi monster in the eyes of the whole world - a nation of bullies and bastards who would rather kill than live peacefully. We are not just whores for power and oil, but killer whores with hate and fear in our hearts. We are human scum, and that is how history will judge us... No redeeming social value. Just whores. Get out of our way, or we’ll kill you.

Well, shit on that dumbness. George W. Bush does not speak for me or my son or my mother or my friends or the people I respect in this world. We didn’t vote for these cheap, greedy little killers who speak for America today - and we will not vote for them again in 2002. Or 2004. Or ever.

Who does vote for these dishonest shitheads? Who among us can be happy and proud of having all this innocent blood on our hands? Who are these swine? These flag-sucking half-wits who get fleeced and fooled by stupid little rich kids like George Bush? They are the same ones who wanted to have Muhammad Ali locked up for refusing to kill gooks. They speak for all that is cruel and stupid and vicious in the American character. They are the racists and hate mongers among us - they are the Ku Klux Klan. I piss down the throats of these Nazis. And I am too old to worry about whether they like it or not. F*ck them.”
- Hunter S. Thompson

"We Watch The News"

"We Watch The News"
by Bill Bonner
Baltimore, Maryland - "We watch the news. Suddenly, a grim chill...like a winter cold...grabs ahold of us: are we the bad guys, now? And what is the connection between bad behavior and bad money?

There are probably plenty of reasons...and, as always, much more to the story...but this is a financial service, so we stick close to the money. The real reason behind America’s debt-drenched, indentured middle class, we believe, is the change in the money system. That 1971 switcheroo gradually distorted not just finance and economics, but politics, habits, culture...and our thoughts too.

You can see the hinge-point clearly in the chart Dan presented yesterday (see below). After decades of stability, in the early ‘70s the trend line of price inflation broke to the upside. Our guess is that now, all are aligned - politics and finance. The politicians need more inflation and debt to hold onto power. Wall Street,too, gets richer as debt and inflation increase. And households now depend on more debt and inflation just to make ends meet.

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (CPI) in the US since 1950

And we have seen how so many other things changed. Since 1971 America transitioned from a nation of proud, mostly honest, savers and asset owning capitalists...to a sad race, deep in debt, and depending on the kindness of strange lenders for their cars, their houses, their retirements, their healthcare...even their food. Pew Research:

The numbers vary from month to month. But in May 2025, the most recent month with available figures, 41.7 million people in 22.4 million households received SNAP benefits. That works out to nearly 1 in every 8 people in the country.

Where do these nice people - the ones in the government and lending institutions - get their money? Do they get it honestly, taking in deposits from willing savers and paying respectable interest? Not at all. That’s the curious thing about it. They simply conjure it up, out of thin air. And declare it ‘money.’ Then, when the Fed gives out this make-believe credit, the financial and political elite (politicians, insiders, banks, mortgage lenders, finance companies, Wall Street) are the first snouts in the trough.

The federal government and Wall Street get credit at wholesale rates - often far below the true cost of borrowing real savings. Following the mortgage finance crisis of 2008, for example, the Fed’s lending rate was actually below the level of inflation for most of the next 15 years. Then, the finance industry makes money by lending it out at retail rates. Between the Fed’s 4%...and the average credit card APR this week, 27%...is a substantial profit margin.

Naturally, the new money caused prices to rise. The cost of ‘participation’ in modern American society rose to about $140,000 of household income per year, which Michael Green believes to be the real poverty line. But three out of every four households earn less than that, creating an atmosphere of frustration and discontent. This is what led to the surprise success of people who would have previously been unelectable kooks - notably, Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani.

The unifying theme of these two clowns is that our troubles are not the fault of our own laws, regulations, ruling elites...and certainly, they have nothing to do with our credit money system. Un uh. No connection. Instead, they are the fault of others. The MAGA crowd blames foreigners and woke liberals. The enemy are ‘rich’ capitalists for the Mamdanistas. Both groups insist, too, that the problems can be overcome by more forceful leadership...with even more giveaways, laws, regulations, and interference with the vernacular economy.

Between childcare, healthcare, autos, houses, internet services and college tuition, more Americans have a hard row to hoe. We don’t know why it works this way, but with widespread discontent comes a wider acceptance of scuzzy behavior.

The administration, for example, has become a ‘sickening moral slum,’ says George Will. Officials, from POTUS on down offer to smite our enemies...but seem disinclined to do so in a dignified, or even legal, way. Civilians are murdered, with no due process of law - even those who survived a first strike and cling, helpless, to flotsam and jetsam, are shown no mercy.

The first ‘tap’ was probably criminal. The second was undoubtedly despicable. The Constitution was suspended. Habeas corpus was ignored. Due process was given the heave-ho. What heinous crime had they committed to deserve such treatment? Nobody knows. Maybe none at all.

Meanwhile...for some, mercy floweth like water under a leaky roof, rotting the framework of the republic, the Washington Post: Ex-Honduras president, convicted of drug trafficking, freed on Trump pardon. USA Today: "NY man pardoned by Trump for tax fraud... A former nursing home executive from Rockland County was spared most of a three-year prison sentence in November after President Trump pardoned him for a $39 million tax fraud conviction."

The New York Times: "Trump Frees Fraudster Just Days Into Seven-Year Prison Sentence." David Gentile had been found guilty for his role in what prosecutors described as a $1.6 billion scheme that defrauded thousands of investors.

Corruption. Cheating. Violence. During the Eisenhower years, that behavior would have disqualified you for any position of public trust. You couldn’t even get a job as a registrar of wills in a podunk county. But now it’s expectable...even acceptable. More to come..."
o
The U.S. Debt Clock (in real time) illustrates our soaring debt by the second. As 
sobering as it is, it can serve as a springboard into multiple personal finance topics.

"Wars And Rumors Of Wars: The Middle East"

Full screen recommended.
The CJ Werleman Show, 12/4/25
"Mutiny in Israeli Defense Force Destroys Israel, Forever!"
Comments here:
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John Mearsheimer, 12/4/25
"Israel Is About to Face a Serious Shock"
"I never thought I would stand before you and say that Israel - one of the countries regarded as having the strongest military capabilities, technology, and backing in the world - is heading straight into a strategic shock that very few people in Washington dare to acknowledge. But that moment has arrived. I have examined hundreds of pages of economic data, credit ratings, security reports, and political analyses, and the picture that emerges is not a “difficult phase” as the media describes it.

It is the dangerous convergence of five major crises, all happening at once, all intertwined in a way that no country - not even Israel - can afford to ignore. These are not isolated shocks. Not an internal argument followed by a credit downgrade, then a day of fighting in Gaza. What is unfolding is a tightening power structure: paralyzed politics, sliding finances, an unfinished war with Iran, growing international isolation, and Gaza just waiting for a spark to explode again."
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, 12/4/25
"Israel Threatens Iran as 
U.S. Scrambles for Last-Minute Deal!"
"A reasonable peace agreement with Iran is entirely achievable, and President Trump himself does not want a war. So why does Washington continuously seem to be on a path of confrontation? In this profound interview, Professor Jeffrey Sachs reveals the powerful forces operating behind the scenes: the American "Deep State" or "War Machine." This is a security apparatus worth over a trillion dollars a year, comprised of the Pentagon, the CIA, defense contractors, and the immensely powerful Israel lobby, all of whom profit from conflict."
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"No More IRS? Tariffs Could Replace Taxes? Not Everybody is Happy"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, 12/4/25
"No More IRS? Tariffs Could Replace Taxes? 
Not Everybody is Happy"
"Costco is in the headlines, and they’re NOT happy! In today’s video, I dive into Costco’s lawsuit over millions of dollars lost due to tariffs imposed under the War Powers Act of 1977. They’re taking this fight to the Court of International Trade, demanding a refund for tariffs paid to countries like China, Mexico, and Canada. But what does this mean for businesses, consumers, and even government policies? Let’s explore the impact on prices, taxes, and whether tariffs could actually replace the IRS (imagine that!)."
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Adventures With Danno, "Multiple Items At Kroger You Should Be Buying"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 12/4/25
"Multiple Items At Kroger You Should Be Buying"
Comments here:

"Its Over. Get Guns. Get Gold. Have a Plan"

Full screen recommended.
Prepper News, 12/3/25
"Its Over. Get Guns. Get Gold. Have a Plan"
Comments here:

"This Is Getting Really Weird, 3I/ATLAS and the Interstellar Seed Hypothesis"

Full screen recommended.
Stefan Burns, 12/3/25
"This Is Getting Really Weird, 
3I/ATLAS and the Interstellar Seed Hypothesis"
"Evidence suggests that once 3I/ATLAS reached ~2.5 AU, it experienced a surge of cryovolcanism across its entire surface, which perhaps helped it to produce an intrinsic magnetic field, all the building blocks required for life, and perhaps even life itself. New data from the Osiris-REx Asteroid Sample Mission for asteroid Bennu combined with our observations of 3I/ATLAS provide a tantalizing glimpse into the true nature of how life spreads across the universe. HUGE Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS update by Geophysicist Stefan Burns."
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Wednesday, December 3, 2025

"Paper Millionaires Are Going To Get Wiped Out, Japan's Debt Bomb Could Trigger Economic Disaster"

Jeremiah Babe, 12/3/25
"Paper Millionaires Are Going To Get Wiped Out,
 Japan's Debt Bomb Could Trigger Economic Disaster"
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"30 Minutes Of Terrrifying Credit Card Debt Stories"

Full screen recommended.
Epic Economist, 12/3/25
"30 Minutes Of Terrifying Credit Card Debt Stories"
"Credit card debt in America has reached insane levels and the mindset behind it is even crazier. From people saying they'd rather be in debt than miss out on fun, to couples filing bankruptcy and immediately racking up $90,000 more, to 22-year-olds treating Chapter 7 like a fresh start with zero consequences. In this video, we look at real TikToks from people sharing their debt stories, some owing $25,000, others over $200,000 and the spending habits that got them there. We also break down the dangerous advice circulating online, from "put everything on credit cards" to "just file bankruptcy." If you've ever wondered how people end up drowning in debt, this one's for you."
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"U.S. Businesses Are Going Bankrupt At An Absolutely Blistering Pace"

"U.S. Businesses Are Going Bankrupt 
At An Absolutely Blistering Pace"
by Michael Snyder

"Why is the number of business bankruptcies in the United States rising so rapidly? It isn’t because the economy is doing well. Every day there are more news stories about businesses that have failed, and this is clearly reflected in the numbers that I am about to share with you. We haven’t seen anything like this since the Great Recession, and if our economic troubles continue to accelerate during the months ahead 2026 is going to be a very messy year.

Earlier today I came across an article which explained that the number of small businesses that are filing for Subchapter V bankruptcy has set a brand new record high in 2025…"A six-year-old federal program designed to help the smallest American businesses cut debt and get a fresh start has set a record for the number of cases filed, court data show. More than 2,200 people and small firms filed bankruptcy this year under the so-called Subchapter V rules, which make it cheaper and faster to win relief from creditors, according to data provider Epiq Bankruptcy Analytics. “Creditors are just breathing down their necks,” said Carol Fox, a court-approved trustee who oversees more than two dozen cases filed in Southern Florida."

This is really bad news. Small businesses are traditionally the primary engine for job growth in this country. So the fact that so many of them are going belly up is not a good sign at all. Meanwhile, large businesses are going bankrupt at a very alarming pace as well.

In fact, through the first seven months of this year the number of corporate bankruptcies in the United States was at the highest level that we have seen since the early days of the pandemic…"The U.S. saw a sharp increase in corporate bankruptcy filings in July, according to a recent report, reaching a post-COVID peak and placing 2025 on track to surpass last year’s total. S&P Global Market Intelligence, the research and data arm of the credit-rating agency, found that filings by large public and private companies rose to 71 last month from 66 in June, marking the highest monthly tally since July 2020. So far in 2025, meanwhile, the total of 446 bankruptcy filings is the highest for this seven-month stretch since 2010." When large numbers of businesses fail, hiring slows down and we typically see large scale layoffs all over the nation. And that is precisely what is happening.

During a recent interview with Fox News, Nikki Haley’s son admitted that not a single one of his friends that recently graduated from college has been able to get a job…“My friend group all graduated with great degrees in great schools, and not one of them has a job – not one. So it’s frustrating because they did everything that they were supposed to do. They put in the time, the effort, the money to get educated, and they don’t have a job to show for it. They have to compete with foreign workers who are willing to work for half their salary and AI, which is a supercomputer, so how can we compete with that?“

I was stunned when I read that. I knew that things were bad for our recent college graduates, but I didn’t realize that they were this bad. The job market is freezing up, and this is especially true for entry-level workers.

At this stage, AI is already doing much of the work that vast numbers of entry-level workers once did. And a recent MIT study concluded that current AI technology could potentially replace 20 million more American workers…"In the midst of a soggy job market, there’s been a lengthy debate over whether contemporary AI is actually replacing workers — or just providing bosses with an excuse to lay off certain employees and offload their responsibilities onto the ones who remain.

The answer isn’t clear, but a new study out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is sure to add fuel to the fire. Analyzing 151 million American workers, the researchers calculated that today’s AI systems are already mature enough to automate the tasks of more than 20 million American workers, or 11.7 percent of the entire labor force, if they were fully deployed across the country."

So what is going to happen when AI and robots can do almost everything more efficiently than human workers can? What will we be needed for then? Our society is changing at a pace that is difficult to comprehend. One tech worker that got laid off by Meta earlier this year still has not been able to find work nine months later…"When I got hired at Meta in 2020, it was life-changing for me as a single mom. It represented safety and stability - a place to work hard at and retire from. So, when I was let go in February in a round of layoffs aimed at “low-performers,” it felt like a punch in the gut. Nine months later, my severance and savings have run dry, I’m struggling to find a tech job, and I feel that the low-performer “label” is part of the reason. I’m no longer the same happy-go-lucky person I used to be, applying for jobs with excitement."

A few years ago, it was pretty easy to find a good paying job. But now things have completely flipped around. And even many of those that are employed are not making enough to be able to afford a decent lifestyle…"An American retail worker earns 51.6 percent less than the amount required to afford a typical rental apartment, real estate brokerage Redfin said in a statement released on Nov. 26. “The typical retail worker in America earns $34,436 per year,” the company said. “A renter would need to earn $71,172 to afford the typical apartment, which costs $1,779 per month.”

If you don’t make enough money to be able to pay rent on an apartment, what are your options? I suppose that you could move in with your parents or live in a van down by the river. By the way, there are millions of young Americans that are living in cars, vans and RVs today. This is something that I have discussed extensively in previous articles.

Our standard of living is being eviscerated. Meanwhile, those at the very top of the economic pyramid have more money than they know what to do with… "The top 1% have seen their wealth increase by $4 trillion over the past year, an increase of 7%. Their wealth hit a record $52 trillion in the second quarter. The top 0.1% saw their wealth grow by 10% over the past year. Since the pandemic, the top 0.1%, or those with a net worth of at least $46 million, have seen their total wealth nearly double to over $23 trillion."

I keep trying to warn everyone that this is not going to end well. There are millions upon millions of Americans that cannot make a decent living no matter how hard they try. And the same thing is happening in countless other nations all over the globe. I have never seen so much economic frustration among young adults as I am seeing right now. Their anger is percolating just under the surface, and it won’t be too long before it explodes."

Adventures With Danno, "Massive Recall Affecting Walmart, Aldi & Many Other Grocery Stores!"

Adventures With Danno, 12/3/25
"Massive Recall Affecting Walmart, 
Aldi & Many Other Grocery Stores!"
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"Nietzsche’s Eternal Return - The Mindset That Forces Radical Clarity In Life"

"Nietzsche’s Eternal Return - 
The Mindset That Forces Radical Clarity In Life"
by Postanly Weekly

"Friedrich Nietzsche, the controversial philosopher, proposes a thought experiment to design your ideal life. He called it the eternal recurrence.” If you had to relive your entire life, every joy and sorrow, every triumph and defeat, for eternity? Would you still choose the path you’re on? Nietzsche thought it was the path to meaning, fulfilment and life satisfaction. It got me thinking about my life trajectory. I’ve been using it to derail autopilot living. Nietzsche asks: “If, in all that you do, you begin by asking yourself: am I certain that I would wish to do this an infinite number of times? This should be for you the most solid centre of gravity.” He argues that this principle should come from identifying what truly brings you joy and fulfilment  -  the activities you wouldn’t hesitate to repeat for all eternity.

Nietzsche explains: “If, in all that you wish to do, you begin by asking yourself: am I certain that I would wish to do this an infinite number of times? This should be for you the most solid centre of gravity . . . My doctrine says, the task is to live your life in such a way that you must wish to live it again — for you will anyway! If striving gives you the highest feeling, then strive! If rest gives you the highest feeling, then rest! If fitting in, following and obeying give you the highest feeling, then obey! Only make sure you come to know what gives you the highest feeling, and then spare no means.”

If your life were stretched infinitely before you as an endless loop of your choices, actions, and experiences, would you be content now, looking back at it? That is the essence of Friedrich Nietzsche’s disturbing question: “Am I certain that I would wish to do this an infinite number of times?” His question cuts through the noise and forces us to ponder what we are doing with our lives. After all, what you do is how you live. The infinite loop metaphor is a powerful tool for self-reflection. Think about the long-term consequences of your choices.

Nietzsche illustrates eternal recurrence as a thought experiment in his final book, "Ecce Homo: How One Becomes What One Is": “What if some day or night a demon were to steal into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: “This life as you now live and have lived it you will have to live once again and innumerable times again; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything unspeakably small or great in your life must return to you, all in the same succession and sequence  -  even this spider and this moonlight between the trees, and even this moment and I myself…”

Would a life filled with fleeting pleasures but devoid of meaning hold up under the weight of eternity? Would a path of autopilot living be fulfilling, or would it leave you exhausted and yearning for something more?

“I myself belong to the causes of eternal recurrence. I come again, with this sun, with this earth, with this eagle, with this serpent  -  not to a new life or a better life or a similar life:  -  I eternally come again to this identical and selfsame life, in the greatest and even in the smallest, so that I again teach the eternal recurrence of all things.” — "Thus Spoke Zarathustra"

The infinite loop principle isn’t just about the future; it can also inform how you view your past. Examining past choices through the lens of “Would I do this again?” means gathering wisdom from the past to inform your future decisions. Did a particular path lead you closer to your “highest feeling”, or did it leave you feeling miserable? Retrospective analysis helps refine your internal values and guide your path to your ideal life.

Nietzsche’s quote challenges us to find our own “highest feeling,” the core value that drives our actions and brings us the deepest sense of satisfaction. Is it the thrill of constant striving, losing yourself in a book, life work, the peace of quiet contemplation, or the comfort of belonging?

So, how does this translate into building a great life? Here’s where Nietzsche’s philosophy gets interesting. Identify activities, tasks and experiences that make you feel truly alive. What activities do you lose yourself in, forgetting time and the world around you? He doesn’t prescribe a one-size-fits-all path. There’s no right or wrong answer  -  the best life is the one that aligns with your deepest values.

“If striving gives you the highest feeling, then strive!” he writes. Are you wired for self-challenge and growth? Embrace that drive! “If rest gives you the highest feeling, then make time for rest!” Do you find peace and clarity in slowing down? Indulge in it! If pursuing your present goal brings out the worst in you, it might be time to re-evaluate whether it truly sparks your “highest feeling.” The key is discovering what truly matters to you: everything contributing to your self-becoming. “Become who you are!” Nietzsche said.

If we consciously choose activities that align with our core values and reflect the life we want, we wouldn’t mind if they’re stuck on repeat because they guarantee flow (the merging of action and consciousness). Intentional living becomes your “solid centre of gravity,” a guiding principle that keeps you grounded despite an infinite loop.

“I want to learn more and more to see as beautiful what is necessary in things; then I shall be one of those who make things beautiful. Amor fati [love of fate]: let that be my love henceforth! I do not want to wage war against what is ugly. I do not want to accuse; I do not even want to accuse those who accuse. Looking away shall be my only negation. And all in all and on the whole: someday I wish to be only a Yes-sayer.” -  Friedrich Nietzsche

Striving for activities you’d be happy to repeat eternally means shifting your focus to deliberate, personal actions that align with your ideal present and future. The point isn’t to achieve a goal but to relish the experience or activity itself.

Key takeaway? Life, in its raw experience, is a one-shot deal. We don’t get do-overs. Every choice and every action has a ripple effect that shapes our reality. An infinite replay helps us focus on what truly matters  -  building a life that resonates with our deepest selves. Find your “highest feeling” through an “experience” or “activity” experiment. Explore different paths. And build a life that resonates with your real self, a life you wouldn’t hesitate to live again, eternally.

“No one can construct for you the bridge upon which precisely you must cross the stream of life, no one but you yourself alone,” says Nietzsche. Reevaluate all the actions, habits, activities, and experiences that have become the engine of your life. Ask yourself, “Am I certain I would wish to do this an infinite number of times?” Subtract what doesn’t spark joy and keep doing more of what makes life meaningful. It’s how you live with little or no regrets."
Moody Blues, "Eternity Road"

Musical Interlude: Leonard Cohen, "Hallelujah"

Full screen recommended.
Leonard Cohen, "Hallelujah"

"I did my best, it wasn't much,
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch.
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you.
And even though it all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah..."

"A Look to the Heavens"

"Is our Milky Way Galaxy this thin? Magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 4565 is viewed edge-on from planet Earth. Also known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile, bright NGC 4565 is a stop on many telescopic tours of the northern sky, in the faint but well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. This sharp, colorful image reveals the spiral galaxy's boxy, bulging central core cut by obscuring dust lanes that lace NGC 4565's thin galactic plane. 

An assortment of other background galaxies is included in the pretty field of view. Thought similar in shape to our own Milky Way Galaxy, NGC 4565 lies about 40 million light-years distant and spans some 100,000 light-years. Easily spotted with small telescopes, sky enthusiasts consider NGC 4565 to be a prominent celestial masterpiece Messier missed."

"3I/ATLAS Transmits 1420 MHz Signal, Decoding the Secret Message Hidden Inside"

"3I/ATLAS Transmits 1420 MHz Signal, 
Decoding the Secret Message Hidden Inside"
"This video follows theoretical physicist Michio Kaku as he recounts the shocking discovery of 3i/Atlas - an interstellar object transmitting a 1420MHz hydrogen-line signal. Through Kaku’s first-person narrative, we witness the decoding of a cosmic map, a catastrophic warning, and a final equation hinting at multiversal instability. As the probe escapes the Solar System, Kaku reveals its ultimate purpose: a last message from a vanished civilization, urging humanity to prepare for what’s coming."

Disclaimer: "This is a speculative sci-fi scenario created purely for entertainment and thought-provoking purposes. It is not based on real NASA data or any official scientific announcement. This channel is independently produced and is not affiliated with Michio Kaku or any organization connected to him. The content is inspired by Dr. Kaku’s public lectures, interviews, and writings, and is created solely to educate and inspire. The narration uses a synthetic voice (not Michio Kaku’s actual voice).

Our mission is to make complex cosmic ideas accessible, engaging, and inclusive for everyone. All videos include professional subtitles and transcripts so viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing can enjoy the content. This channel honors Dr. Kaku’s contributions to science by sharing ideas respectfully and creatively - never with the intention to mislead."
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Fascinating...

"The Land Of Dreams..."

“Father, O father! What do we here
In this land of unbelief and fear?
The Land of Dreams is better far,
Above the light of the morning star.”
- William Blake, 
“The Land of Dreams”

The Poet: Neil Gaiman, "What You Need To Be Warm "

"What You Need To Be Warm" 
by Neil Gaiman

 "A baked potato of a winters night to wrap
your hands around or burn your mouth.
A blanket knitted by your mother's cunning fingers. 
Or your grandmother's.

A smile, a touch, trust, as you walk in from the snow
or return to it, the tips of your ears pricked pink and frozen.
The tink tink tink of iron radiators waking in an old house.

To surface from dreams in a bed, 
burrowed beneath blankets and comforters,
the change of state from cold to warm is all that matters, and you think
just one more minute snuggled here before you face the chill. Just one.

Places we slept as children: they warm us in the memory.
We travel to an inside from the outside. 
To the orange flames of the fireplace
or the wood burning in the stove. 

Breath-ice on the inside of windows,
to be scratched off with a fingernail, melted with a whole hand.
Frost on the ground that stays in the shadows, waiting for us.

Wear a scarf. Wear a coat. Wear a sweater. 
Wear socks. Wear thick gloves.

An infant as she sleeps between us. A tumble of dogs,
a kindle of cats and kittens. 
Come inside. You're safe now.
A kettle boiling at the stove. Your family or friends are there. 
They smile.
Cocoa or chocolate, tea or coffee, 
soup or toddy, what you know you need.
A heat exchange, they give it to you, you take the mug
and start to thaw.

While outside, for some of us, the journey began
as we walked away from our grandparentshouses
away from the places we knew as children: 
changes of state and state and state,
to stumble across a stony desert, or to brave the deep waters,
while food and friends, home, a bed, even a blanket become just memories.

Sometimes it only takes a stranger, in a dark place,
to hold out a 
badly-knitted scarf, to offer a kind word, to say
we have the right to be here, 
to make us warm in the coldest season.
You have the right to be here. "

- Neil Gaiman

"Look How Moscow Russia Celebrates Christmas!"

Meanwhile, in a sane, civilized society...
Full screen recommended.
Englishman In Russia, 12/3/25
"Look How Moscow Russia Celebrates Christmas!"
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The Daily "Near You?"

South Pittsburg, Tennessee, USA. Thanks for  stopping by!

"One Can Fight Evil..."

Boobus Americanus, champion of willful ignorance.
They don't know because they don't want to know...
'One can fight evil but against stupidity one is helpless.'
- Henry Miller
 "Alas, regardless of their doom,
The little victims play!
No sense have they of ills to come,
Nor care beyond to-day..."
Oh, we so deserve what we get...