"How It Really Is"

"Thomas Edison said in all seriousness: "There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the labor of thinking"- if we bother with facts at all, we hunt like bird dogs after the facts that bolster up what we already think - and ignore all the others! We want only the facts that justify our acts - the facts that fit in conveniently with our wishful thinking and justify our preconceived prejudices. As Andre Maurois put it: "Everything that is in agreement with our personal desires seems true. Everything that is not puts us into a rage." Is it any wonder, then, that we find it so hard to get at the answers to our problems? Wouldn't we have the same trouble trying to solve a second-grade arithmetic problem, if we went ahead on the assumption that two plus two equals five? Yet there are a lot of people in this world who make life a hell for themselves and others by insisting that two plus two equals five - or maybe five hundred!"

- Dale Carnegie

Dan, I Allegedly, "No Police, No Help, No Money! What’s Happening?!"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly, 5/2/26

"No Police, No Help, 

No Money! What’s Happening?!"

"California’s emergency system is facing a breaking point. In this video, I break down how the 911 infrastructure - built decades ago - is now failing at scale, with tens of thousands of hours of outages every single month. Despite tens of millions already spent, the system still isn’t reliable. What does this mean for everyday people? It means when you call for help… no one may answer. This raises serious questions about government spending, infrastructure priorities, and public safety across the state.It gets worse. The Los Angeles Police Chief has now admitted there aren’t enough officers - or funding - to safely handle the 2028 Olympics. Combine that with rising crime stories, economic instability, and warnings about inflation and supply shortages, and you have a perfect storm. In this video, we also cover shocking fraud cases, retail theft, and what you should be doing right now to prepare financially and protect yourself. "

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Millions of Americans Are Doing Everything Right… And Still Falling Apart"

Full screen recommended.

Across The States, 5/2/26

"Millions of Americans Are Doing Everything Right…

And Still Falling Apart"

"Why Americans are dying younger is no longer a mystery - and it’s not just healthcare. This video breaks down the deeper economic crisis affecting life expectancy in the U.S. Here’s the thing: something started going wrong years before anyone noticed. Even as headlines claimed growth, everyday life got harder - higher costs, more stress, and less stability. That disconnect isn’t random. It’s a signal that the system people rely on isn’t working the way it used to. What most people miss is how this shows up in the body. Rising anxiety, burnout, and long-term health issues aren’t separate problems - they’re tied to financial pressure, job insecurity, and the cost of simply staying afloat. When survival gets harder, health follows. The reality is, this goes beyond hospitals or medicine. It’s about wages, housing, debt, and how much control people actually have over their lives. Even younger generations are feeling it earlier, and the long-term effects are already showing."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Millions of Americans Are Tapping Out - The Cost of Living Is Breaking Them"

Full screen recommended.

Global Discovery, 5/2/26

"Millions of Americans Are Tapping Out - 

The Cost of Living Is Breaking Them"

"Millions of people across the country are facing growing financial pressure as the cost of living crisis continues affecting households, workers, and retirees. In this educational documentary, we examine why more Americans struggling with rising rent, food prices, healthcare costs, and debt are reconsidering what life in America looks like in 2026. This video explores how changes in the U.S. economy, wage growth, and inflation may be contributing to the ongoing middle class crisis. From housing affordability to shrinking savings, the documentary analyzes how Inflation in America and the housing crisis USA are impacting everyday American families and reshaping working class America. We also discuss the growing concerns surrounding American economy decline, poverty in America, and broader economic struggles USA affecting communities nationwide. Through data, personal experiences, and historical comparisons, this documentary examines the challenges of Living in the U.S. and the reality of survival in America during uncertain economic times."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"A Flashing Red Warning Signal: In California, Gasoline Is 6 Now Dollars A Gallon And Diesel Is Now 7 Dollars A Gallon"

by Michael Snyder

"You have probably noticed that gasoline is starting to become extremely expensive. That is really bad news for all of us, because our entire way of life depends on cheap energy. We can’t make stuff without energy. We can’t move stuff without energy. That is why the cost of energy directly affects the cost of everything else. In fact, energy is literally the foundation of our entire economy. If we have cheap energy we will have a high standard of living. If we do not have cheap energy we will not have a high standard of living. It really is that simple.

Prior to the war with Iran, energy prices were quite low, but now everything has changed. Oil production in the Persian Gulf has dropped by 57 percent from pre-war levels, and hardly any oil and natural gas have been getting through the Strait of Hormuz over the past couple of months. As a result, energy prices are soaring all over the world.

Here in the United States, the average price of a gallon of gasoline just hit $4.30…Gasoline prices nationwide surged 27 cents over the past week as oil prices spiked. Drivers paid $4.30 per gallon on average across the U.S. Thursday, compared to $4.03 a week ago. In late February, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States was less than 3 dollars a gallon. At this point, U.S. consumers are paying $1.32 more per gallon than they did just prior to the war. If the conflict with Iran is not resolved quickly, things will get a lot worse.

In order to get an idea of where things could be headed, just look at what is going on in California. The average price of a gallon of gasoline in California just reached $6.01…California gasoline prices hit $6 per gallon on Thursday, a 30% increase since the U.S. and Israel launched the war against Iran in late February. Drivers in California are paying the most in the nation at $6.01 per gallon on average, according to data from AAA.

A 30 percent increase in two months is crazy. But this is the reality that we are living in now. Before the war began, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in California was just $4.64. This just shows how rapidly conditions can change.

Needless to say, the price of diesel has been going up even faster. In California, it is up a whopping 47 percent since the beginning of the war…. Diesel, meanwhile, cost about $7.50 per gallon on average in California on Thursday, a 47% increasse since the war broke out on Feb. 28. Diesel is essential for the economy because the fuel is used by trucks and trains to deliver all the goods that consumers buy.

If prices for gasoline and diesel remain at these elevated levels, it will be very painful, but we can survive this. But what will happen if oil prices continue to skyrocket? On Thursday, the price of Brent crude actually hit $126 a barrel before falling back… Oil prices surged to a wartime high Thursday, with Brent crude, the international benchmark, topping $126 a barrel as concerns grew that the Iran war will drag on, tightening global energy supplies.

We are being warned that the price of oil could easily reach 150 dollars a barrel if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened quickly. Unfortunately, it does not appear that is going to happen any time soon. So I am encouraging everyone to prepare for an extended crisis. Literally just about everything is going to become more expensive.

And that is really bad news, because a survey that was conducted before the war ever began discovered that more than half of all Americans were struggling to pay their bills on time each month…A separate survey of 5,000 Americans, conducted by Talker Research for Current in December 2025, adds context to how raw the financial picture looks. In that study, 87% of respondents said the country is in a crisis because of how unaffordable life has become. More than half (52%) said they struggle to pay their bills on time each month, and 50% said they’ve had difficulty affording groceries.

Please read that paragraph again. That was where we were at prior to the war with Iran. Needless to say, substantially elevated energy prices will make our affordability crisis a great deal worse.

Of course it isn’t just U.S. consumers that are being affected by this. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is warning that “the whole of humanity is paying the price” and that we are now facing the “specter of global recession”…The head of the United Nations warned Thursday of the “specter of global recession” if the U.S.-Iran war doesn’t end soon, imploring both sides to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and “let the global economy breathe again.”

Speaking to journalists in New York, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that despite the “fragile ceasefire” between the U.S. and Iran, the consequences of their ongoing standoff in the Strait of Hormuz “grow dramatically worse with each passing hour.” “As with every conflict, the whole of humanity is paying the price,” he said. “The pain will be felt for a long time to come.”

I normally do not agree with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about anything. But in this case, he is right on target. If the Strait of Hormuz does not reopen soon, there is no way that we are going to avoid a major global economic downturn.

Guterres is also claiming that 45 million people living on this planet could soon fall into “extreme hunger”… If the constraint on shipping through the strait “drags on through midyear,” he said 32 million people would fall into poverty and 45 million “into extreme hunger,” he said. According to the UN, the number of people experiencing acute hunger was already at an all-time record high even before the war with Iran started.

Now we are facing the worst fertilizer crisis in history. If you have not read the breakdown that I published about this earlier in the week, please go back and read it now. There are so few prominent voices that are telling the truth about this. The spring planting season in the northern hemisphere is going to be a disaster, and six to nine months from now global food shortages are going to hit us like a freight train. Food prices will rise to shocking levels in wealthy nations, and there will be widespread famines in impoverished nations. We desperately need the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened immediately, because we really are heading into an unprecedented nightmare."

- https://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/

"A Prayer For Struggling Americans From Iran"

Full screen recommended.

"A Prayer For Struggling Americans From Iran"

Brick Beat Battalion, "We Share the Same Pain"

Full screen recommended.

Brick Beat Battalion, "We Share the Same Pain"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Canadian Prepper, "Alert! WTF! Trump Cancels Congress, War To Restart!"

Full screen recommended.

Canadian Prepper, 5/1/26

"Alert! WTF! Trump Cancels Congress,

 War To Restart!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Adventures With Danno, "Prepare For Massive Price Hikes, It's About To Get Ugly"

Adventures With Danno, 5/1/26

"Prepare For Massive Price Hikes,

 It's About To Get Ugly"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Something Is Wrong With American Food - And People Are Getting Angry"

Full screen recommended.

Epic Economist, 5/1/26

"Something Is Wrong With American Food - 

And People Are Getting Angry"

"Ninety-three percent of Americans are metabolically unhealthy. Thirty-eight percent of kids under twelve are pre-diabetic. American white bread is classified as a plastic in forty-three countries. The food in the United States is not the same food the rest of the world is eating - and a wave of Americans coming back from trips abroad are saying the same thing: "I ate whatever I wanted in Italy, France, Jamaica, the DR - and felt fine. The moment I came home, my body started reacting again." This video pulls together the clips going viral right now from the people noticing it first."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical Interlude: Ludovico Einaudi, "Oltremare"

Ludovico Einaudi, "Oltremare"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Close to the Great Bear (Ursa Major) and surrounded by the stars of the Hunting Dogs (Canes Venatici), this celestial wonder was discovered in 1781 by the metric French astronomer Pierre Mechain. Later, it was added to the catalog of his friend and colleague Charles Messier as M106. Modern deep telescopic views reveal it to be an island universe - a spiral galaxy around 30 thousand light-years across located only about 21 million light-years beyond the stars of the Milky Way. 

Along with a bright central core, this stunning galaxy portrait, a composite of image data from amateur and professional telescopes, highlights youthful blue star clusters and reddish stellar nurseries tracing the galaxy's spiral arms. It also shows off remarkable reddish jets of glowing hydrogen gas. In addition to small companion galaxy NGC 4248 at bottom right, background galaxies can be found scattered throughout the frame. M106, also known as NGC 4258, is a nearby example of the Seyfert class of active galaxies, seen across the spectrum from radio to X-rays. Active galaxies are powered by matter falling into a massive central black hole.”

- https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

"The Prophet: On Good and Evil "

"The Prophet: On Good and Evil"

 "Of the good in you I can speak, but not of the evil.

For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst?

Verily when good is hungry it seeks food even in dark caves,

and when it thirsts it drinks even of dead waters.

You are good when you are one with yourself.

Yet when you are not one with yourself you are not evil.

For a divided house is not a den of thieves; it is only a divided house.

And a ship without rudder may wander aimlessly among

perilous isles yet sink not to the bottom.

You are good when you strive to give of yourself.

Yet you are not evil when you seek gain for yourself.

For when you strive for gain you are but a root

that clings to the earth and sucks at her breast.

Surely the fruit cannot say to the root,

 Be like me, ripe and full and ever giving of your abundance.

For to the fruit giving is a need, as receiving is a need to the root.

You are good when you are fully awake in your speech,

Yet you are not evil when you sleep

while your tongue staggers without purpose.

And even stumbling speech may strengthen a weak tongue.

You are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps.

Yet you are not evil when you go thither limping.

Even those who limp go not backward.

But you who are strong and swift,

see that you do not limp before the lame, deeming it kindness.

You are good in countless ways,

and you are not evil when you are not good,

You are only loitering and sluggard.

Pity that the stags cannot teach swiftness to the turtles.

In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness:

and that longing is in all of you.

But in some of you that longing is a torrent rushing with might to the sea,

carrying the secrets of the hillsides and the songs of the forest.

And in others it is a flat stream that loses itself in angles and

bends and lingers before it reaches the shore.

But let not him who longs much say to him who longs little,

 Wherefore are you slow and halting?

For the truly good ask not the naked,

 Where is your garment?

nor the houseless, What has befallen your house?"

- Kahlil Gibran

○

Freely download a PDF version of  "The Prophet" here:

- https://www.kahlilgibran.com/

John Wilder, "What Do You Value?"

"What Do You Value?"

by John Wilder

“I have been in the service of the Vorlons for centuries, looking for you. Diogenes, with his lamp, looking for an honest man, willing to die for all the wrong reasons. At last, my job is finished. Yours is just beginning. When the darkness comes, know this; you are the right people, in the right place, at the right time.” – "Babylon 5"

"What is the most common question asked by philosophers nowadays? “Do you want fries with that?” Diogenes is dead. When he was up and kicking around, he lived in a wine barrel at the end of town, and often was caught on the streets stark naked. Sometimes he was, um, enjoying himself. Oddly, he was also thought of as a respected philosopher. When I try to emulate him, though, all I get is a restraining order and some embarrassing YouTube® videos.

The reason we remember Diogenes is for two reasons: First, he invented the chicken nugget, but sadly was unable to invent any tasty dipping sauces. Second, he walked around making pithy little statements like this: “We sell things of great value for things of very little, and vice versa." It’s a very short, and very wickedly to the point piece of advice. Frankly, it points out many of the problems we are facing as a society today.

Let’s take consooming for today’s topic. Billions of dollars are spent attempting to convince people to purchase one product or another. These advertisements are hard to avoid – and they have one thing in common – a desire to get the consoomer to spend money. In some cases, the ads provide the ability to match a need with a product. If I’m cutting down trees using axes and handsaws, knowing that a thing called a chainsaw exists is providing me a real value. So, ads inform.

But ads also are used to create desire in customers, playing on emotions to drive purchase decisions for things that aren’t needs, but frivolities. I have plenty of those! I’m a sucker for some things in particular. In the sitting room (where I’m typing this now) I look around and see a map I bought as artwork a few years ago. It shows all the undersea telegraph cables in around 1871. So very cool! I walked into the store, saw it, and bought it. I consoomed. I can’t cut down a tree with it. I can’t drive it to work. It’s just... there, stuck to my wall.

Is the map of great value? No. It’s a print. It doesn’t make me better, more complete, important, or accomplished. We can look in terms of multiple ways to value things. Dollars are only one. In this case, the picture cost about what I made in about an hour or two. Was it worth an hour of my life to own that map? Yeah, I guess so. But when I start to value objects that I own, and look at how much of my life I traded for them, my equation starts to change.

If I didn’t spend that hour at work, what could I have spent that hour on? How could I have changed my life? Could I have spent more time brushing my teeth, so they were 2.3% brighter? Should I have spent that time waxing my dog? What did I overlook or not spend time on? And which of those things might have been more valuable?

I understand that money is important – those who say that money isn’t important haven’t gone without it. But money isn’t the goal, it’s what can be done with it that’s important. The true currency of our lives isn’t gold, silver, or even PEZ™. It’s time. Each of us on this planet have a finite number of hours left on this rock, and that number goes down by one each hour that we spend. It goes down by one if I spend it at a job I don’t like. It goes down if I spend it writing the best post I’ve ever written. It goes down by one if I’m sleeping. It goes down by one every hour.

Yes, I know, exercising and other positive things might extend that life, but I’m still going to die. In the endless summer of a life when I was, say, 12, I didn’t think much about time and how I spent it. Even then, though, I didn’t try to just “pass the time” since there was so much to do and see and learn in the world. Now as I’m on the back side of life, I can see that those hours I have left cannot be wasted.

They’re all I have. And learning is great, but now it has to have purpose. Will it help me write? Will it help me crack a puzzle that I can share? Will it help me with some project I’m working on? Can it help me change the world?

Again, as I get older, it ceases to be about me. It’s now about what I can do to help others, how I can help make the world a better place. Thankfully, during my career I’ve been able to do work on things that matter, and have made the world a slightly better place. If I’m trading my life for my work, I’m glad that it’s work that matters.

Diogenes? He’s still dead, but he changed the world, just a little bit. And I can, too. And so can you. Time is still all we have, but it’s up to us to make the most of it, each and every day, just like Diogenes showed us. But, I don’t recommend you do it naked. Now, I wonder how Diogenes dealt with the restraining orders?"

- https://wilderwealthywise.com/

"There Was A Tale..."

“There was a tale he had read once, long ago, as a small boy: the story of a traveler who had slipped down a cliff, with man-eating tigers above him and a lethal fall below him, who managed to stop his fall halfway down the side of the cliff, holding on for dear life. There was a clump of strawberries beside him, and certain death above him and below. What should he do? went the question. And the reply was, Eat the strawberries. The story had never made sense to him as a boy. It did now.”

- Neil Gaiman

Judge Napolitano, "INTEL Roundtable w/Johnson & McGovern - Weekly Wrap 1 May"

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 5/1/26

"INTEL Roundtable w/Johnson & McGovern -

 Weekly Wrap 1 May"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Half The Nation Struggles To Pay it's Bills, Americans Are Feeling Intense Pressure"

Jeremiah Babe, 5/1/26

"Half The Nation Struggles To Pay it's Bills,

 Americans Are Feeling Intense Pressure"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

The Unfolded States, 5/1/26

"Millions of Americans Are

 Living in Third World Conditions"

"Millions of Americans are working harder than ever, yet falling further behind. Rising housing costs, expensive groceries, and unpredictable healthcare bills are changing what everyday life looks like across the country. What used to feel stable is becoming harder to maintain. This video breaks down what is really happening behind the cost of living crisis USA is facing today. From record homelessness to shrinking financial margins, these trends are not isolated. They are part of a broader shift affecting a growing portion of the population and accelerating the American middle class decline. If you have noticed things feeling tighter, more expensive, or harder to manage, you are not alone. The bigger question is where these trends are heading next, and what that means for the future."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

The Economic Ninja, 5/1/26

'Here's What Happens When Over 

600 Convenience Stores Close"

"Economic Ninja here. Today, we're looking at the widespread "retail collapse" impacting major chains across the nation. With numerous "closed stores" from 7-Eleven to GameStop, it's clear we're witnessing a significant "retail crisis." This "retail apocalypse" and the resulting "business closures" are strong indicators of an "economic slowdown" affecting the entire "us economy." This video dives into the wave of retail shutdowns, including over 600 7-Eleven locations closing, along with major chains like GameStop and Foot Locker. When consumer behavior shifts this dramatically, it often signals growing strain on everyday household finances."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

The Daily "Near You?"

Keaau, Hawaii, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"We All Do What We Can..."

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

○

Joe South, “Walk A Mile In My Shoes”

○

"Every Normal Man..."

"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on 

his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats."

 - H. L. Mencken

“Why Albert Einstein Thought We Were All Insane”

“Why Albert Einstein Thought We Were All Insane”

by Simon Black

“In the early summer of 1914, Albert Einstein was about to start a prestigious new job as Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics. The position was a big deal for the 35-year old Einstein – confirmation that he was one of the leading scientific minds in the world. And he was excited about what he would be able to achieve there. But within weeks of Einstein’s arrival, the German government canceled plans for the Institute; World War I had broken out, and all of Europe was gearing up for one of the bloodiest conflicts in human history.

The impact of the Great War was immeasurable. It cost the lives of 20 million people. It bankrupted entire nations. The war ripped two major European powers off the map – the Austro Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire – and deposited them in the garbage can of history. Austria-Hungary in particular boasted the second largest land mass in Europe, the third highest population, and one of the biggest economies. Plus it was a leading manufacturer of high-tech machinery. Yet by the end of the war it would no longer exist.

World War I also played a major role in the emergence of communism in Russia through the 1917 Bolshevik revolution. Plus it was also a critical factor in the astonishing rise of the Nazi party in Germany. Without the Great War, Adolf Hitler would have been an obscure Austrian vagabond, and our world would be an entirely different place.

One of the most bizarre things about World War I was how predictable it was. Tensions had been building in Europe for years, and the threat of war was deemed so likely that most major governments invested heavily in detailed war plans. The most famous was Germany’s “Schlieffen Plan”, a military offensive strategy named after its architect, Count Alfred von Schlieffen. To describe the Schlieffen Plan as “comprehensive” is a massive understatement.

As AJP describes in his book "War by Timetable", the Schlieffen Plan called for rapidly moving hundreds of thousands of soldiers to the front lines, plus food, equipment, horses, munitions, and other critical supplies, all in a matter of DAYS. Tens of thousands of trains were criss-crossing Europe during the mobilization, and as you can imagine, all the trains had to run precisely on time. A train that was even a minute early or a minute late would cause a chain reaction to the rest of the plan, affecting the time tables of other trains and other troop movements. In short, there was no room for error.

In many respects the Schlieffen Plan is still with us to this day – not with regards to war, but for monetary policy. Like the German General Staff more than a century ago, modern central bankers concoct the most complicated, elaborate plans to engineer economic victory. Their success depends on being able to precisely control the [sometimes irrational] behavior of hundreds of millions of consumers, millions of businesses, dozens of foreign nations, and trillions of dollars of capital. And just like the obtusely complex war plans from 1914, central bank policy requires that all the trains run on time. There is no room for error.

This is nuts. Economies are comprised of billions of moving pieces that are beyond anyone’s control and often have competing interests. A government that’s $39 trillion in debt requires cheap money (i.e. low interest rates) to stay afloat. Yet low interest rates are severely punishing for savers, retirees, and pension funds (including Social Security) because they’re unable to generate a sufficient rate of return to meet their needs.

Low interest rates are great for capital intensive businesses that need to borrow money. But they also create dangerous asset bubbles and can eventually cause a painful rise in inflation. Raise interest rates too high, however, and it could bankrupt debtors and throw the economy into a tailspin. Like I said, there’s no room for error – they have to find the perfect balance between growth and inflation.

Several years ago hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio summed it up perfectly when he said, “It becomes more and more difficult to balance those things as time goes on. It may not be a problem in the next year or two, but the risk of not getting it right increases with time. The risk of them getting it wrong is clearly growing. I truly hope they don’t get it wrong. But if they ever do, people may finally look back and wonder how we could have been so foolish to hand total control of our economy over to an unelected committee of bureaucrats with a mediocre track record… and then expect them to get it right forever. It’s pretty insane when you think about it."

As Einstein quipped at the height of World War I in 1917, “What a pity we don’t live on Mars so that we could observe the futile activities of human beings only through a telescope…”

- https://www.zerohedge.com/

○

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

- H. L. Mencken, 1929

○

Freely download "Ideas And Opinions", by Albert Einstein, here:

-  https://namnews.files.wordpress.com/

"Iran Has Nuclear Weapons - America Cannot Strike, Israel Faces Annihilation"

Full screen recommended.

Prof. Jiang Xueqin, 5/1/26

"Iran Has Nuclear Weapons - 

America Cannot Strike, Israel Faces Annihilation"

"Iran has just done what no one dared to believe - revealed nuclear weapons to the world. Now America is frozen. Israel is terrified. And Trump's "5-Day Ultimatum" is not what it seems. Prof. Jiang Xueqin breaks down the most consequential geopolitical shift of the decade - Iran's secret nuclear program, the hidden Iran-North Korea deal, and Trump's calculated 5-day trap designed to destroy Iran while the world watches the "negotiation."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Col. Douglas Macgregor, 5/1/26

"Iran Receives 500 Chinese DF-21D Missiles, 

Israel's Navy Erased, US Carriers Dare Not Return"

"For the first time in modern military history, China transferred 500 DF-21D carrier-killer missiles to Iran - and within hours, Israel's entire naval task force was erased from the Eastern Mediterranean. Four corvettes, two submarines, eleven support vessels - gone in a single night. American carriers that were supposed to respond? They never came. This is the unfiltered analysis of the strategic earthquake that just restructured the entire Middle East power balance - told from the perspective of someone who spent three decades inside the machine that just failed. The mainstream narrative is hiding what actually happened. We are not."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Larry Johnson & Col. Wilkerson, 5/1/26 

"It’s Over: Iran Just Wiped Out Trump’s Blockade - 

War Imminent"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

How It Really Is"

''As Americans, we must ask ourselves: Are we really so different? Must we stereotype those who disagree with us? Do we truly believe that ALL red-state residents are ignorant racist fascist knuckle-dragging NASCAR-obsessed cousin-marrying roadkill-eating tobacco juice-dribbling gun-fondling religious fanatic rednecks; or that ALL blue-state residents are godless unpatriotic pierced-nose Volvo-driving France-loving left-wing communist latte-sucking tofu-chomping holistic-wacko neurotic vegan weenie perverts?''

- Dave Barry

Of course we must! And always will...

Jim Kunstler, "Indictment-O-Rama"

Former FBI Director James Comey and the 

“cool shell formation” he says he found.

"Indictment-O-Rama"

by Jim Kunstler

“Pam Bondi’s era  - which paved the way by restructuring the DOJ and

 navigating the Epstein disclosures - is over. We’re in the Blanche era now.”

- Jeff Childers

"You might be pleased to know that today’s May Day street actions - rallies, marches, teach-ins, walkouts, demonstrations, and a broad economic blackout (”No Work, No School, No Shopping”) - planned and coordinated by hundreds of activist orgs, is styling itself as “Workers Over Billionaires.”

How do they figure that, exactly, considering the Lefty-left Resistance movement is entirely funded by... billionaires? You know... George and Alex Soros (the Open Society Foundations), Neville Roy Singham (the People’s Forum, Code Pink), Hansjörg Wyss (the Wyss Foundation), Reid Hoffman (Forward Majority Action, Crowdpac), Sir Chris Hohn (the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation), Alan Parker (Arabella Advisors, Environmental Law Institute)...

Some 3,000-plus actions are planned today in cities all over the country. Last week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries framed the Lefty-left’s strategy as “maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time.” Will the party’s foot soldiers do his bidding and get frisky out on the streets today... a little lootin’ perhaps... a fire here and there? Is May Day, as promised by its sponsors, the gateway into another Summer of Love (mostly peaceful riots)?

We’ll have an idea by day’s end. Meanwhile, the Lefty-left’s business-class lounge, the Democratic Party, has suddenly caught a case of the jim-jams over this week’s 6-3 SCOTUS ruling on the racial gerrymandering of Congressional districts, which is: no more snake-shaped districts through the bayous, cotton fields, pine Islands, palmetto scrubs, and Cypress hammocks of deepest Dixieland for the purpose of creating majority-black seats. Observers forecast the loss of up to nineteen Democratic House members going into the 2028 election. It’s not clear how the Party’s billionaires might be able to fix this.

Also, this week, interesting developments in the Lefty-left’s retirement clubhouse. The law (the DOJ’s Eastern District of North Carolina) finally caught up with Jim Comey’s prank of one year ago when he posted on Instagram a curious arrangement of seashells on a Carolina beach saying “86 47.” The cryptic message - “cool shell formation,” Mr. Comey said in the caption - was universally understood to mean get rid of the forty-seventh POTUS, Donald Trump. Because the former FBI Director was well-versed in mob lingo from prosecuting gangsters, it appears he knew exactly what the code stands for: the instruction to go whack somebody. Hence, the question: was Mr. Comey issuing such an instruction to the Lefty-left rank and file?

Mr. Comey suddenly finds himself in a sort of brand-new crossfire hurricane. Turns out, an investigation (said to be at the “pre grand jury stage”) was launched lately in the DOJ’s Eastern District of Virginia concerning Mr. Comey’s use of a “cut-out” messenger, Columbia U professor and BFF Daniel Richman, for leaking a confidential conversation with President Trump to reporter Michael Schmidt of The New York Times back in 2017. This was Mr. Comey’s notorious disclosure in a Trump Tower consultation with the new president that a video existed of Russian whores peeing on a bed in the Moscow Ritz-Carlton hotel for Mr. Trump’s amusement. It was, of course, a kick-off for the FBI’s totally fake RussiaGate campaign.

It’s also widely expected that the former FBI Director will be one of the many former officials fingered in the DOJ’s RICO case out of the Southern District of Florida. The grand jury is already seated and hearing the evidence in a Fort Pierce federal courthouse. That case is predicated on the chain of legal attacks against Mr. Trump, running back a decade, amounting to an ongoing coup, a comprehensive campaign of legalistic chicanery disguised as legality designed to overthrow the chief executive.

Observers have started trying to pre-bunk the seashell case, saying there are six ways to Sunday that Mr. Comey can explain it away. Don’t be so sure about that. Mainly, what the DOJ has to demonstrate is Mr. Comey’s mens rea (Latin for “guilty mind”), a fundamental concept in criminal law that refers to the mental state or intention a person must have when committing a nefarious act, in order to be held criminally liable. Expect to see bales of written evidence on that.

The beauty of the seashell case is this: It’s quite straightforward and uncomplicated. There might be little room for Mr. Comey’s lawyers to create procedural delays, such as dragging out discovery issues. Which means that in this case Mr. Comey will get exactly the speedy trial that the US Constitution calls for... meaning, the courtroom showdown could take place before the midterm election.

On Tuesday, David M. Morens, a former senior adviser to Anthony Fauci at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), was indicted in Maryland for his role in the Covid-19 operation, including conspiracy against the United States, destruction/alteration/ falsification of records in federal investigations, concealment/removal/mutilation of records, and aiding and abetting - all in the effort to evade and obfuscate the true origin of the virus as subbed out clandestinely by NIAID to the Wuhan Virology Lab. Two unindicted co-conspirators were named: 1) Peter Daszak, president and CEO of EcoHealth Alliance, the New York nonprofit that received the NIH bat coronavirus grant and sub-awarded work to the Wuhan lab; and 2) Gerald Keusch, a physician, scientist, and professor affiliated with the Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, described as participating in the back-channel communications and related efforts to confound the public about Covid’s origins.

Do not suppose that these indictments are anywhere near the end of what will be rolled out as a vast panorama of seditious perfidy by scores of former public officials. Yet to come are matters such as 2020 rigged election shenanigans...  the fake Adam Schiff/Norm Eisen/Eric Ciaramella/Mary McCord impeachment #1... the fed-provoked J-6 fake Capitol “insurrection"... the House fake J-6 investigation (and destruction of evidence)... the fake special counsel Jack Smith monkey business...and the occult doings of the Clintons and their fabulous ka-ching machine, the Clinton Foundation.

Yeah, Iran....yet lurking in the background. Obviously, it’s come down to a waiting game. It’s liable to be a pretty short wait. So, wait for it."

- https://www.kunstler.com/

"Gas Prices Explode Overnight, This Is Getting Out Of Control"

Full screen recommended.

Snyder Reports, 5/1/26

"Gas Prices Explode Overnight,

 This Is Getting Out Of Control"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Dan, I Allegedly, "$6 Gas Is Here - And It’s About to Get Much Worse"

A Must View!

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly, 5/1/26

"$6 Gas Is Here - 

And It’s About to Get Much Worse"

"Gas prices have officially surged past $6 per gallon in California, and the economic consequences are already rippling across the country. In this video, we break down how rising fuel costs are impacting everyday Americans, from skyrocketing grocery bills to increased travel expenses. With diesel prices approaching record highs, the trucking industry is facing a wave of bankruptcies, threatening supply chains and pushing inflation even higher. As energy costs climb and businesses struggle to survive, the middle class is being squeezed like never before. We cover the latest developments affecting fuel prices, the economy, and what this means for your financial future. If you’re concerned about inflation, the cost of living, and where the economy is headed next, this is a must-watch update."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Adventures With Danno, "Massive Sale At Meijer! Stock Up Now!"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures With Danno, 5/1/26

"Massive Sale At Meijer! Stock Up Now!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Americans Are Quietly Preparing For The Worst And It's Scary - Here's Why"

Full screen recommended.

Epic Economist, 4/30/26

"Americans Are Quietly Preparing

 For The Worst And It's Scary - Here's Why"

"Americans are quietly preparing for something - and these clips reveal exactly what it is. From underground shelters to long-term food storage, from EMP threats to two-week grid-down survival plans, real Americans are stocking up and sharing what they're afraid of. They're not influencers. They're moms, retirees, truckers, and working folks. And what they're saying might surprise you."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Gerald Celente, "Artificial Market Highs, Global Economy Lows, Escalating Wars"

Strong language alert!

Gerald Celente, 4/30/26

"Artificial Market Highs, 

Global Economy Lows, Escalating Wars"

"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."

- https://trendsjournal.com/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical Interlude: Medwyn Goodall, “Eyes of Heaven”

Full screen recommended.

Medwyn Goodall, “Eyes of Heaven”

"A Look to the Heavens, Under The Namibian Sky"

“Namibia has some of the darkest nights visible from any continent. It is therefore home to some of the more spectacular skyscapes, a few of which have been captured in the below time-lapse video. We recommend watching this video at FULL SCREEN (1080p), with audio on. The night sky of Namibia is one of the best in the world, about the same quality of the deserts of Chile and Australia.

Visible at the movie start are unusual quiver trees perched before a deep starfield highlighted by the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. This bright band of stars and gas appears to pivot around the celestial south pole as our Earth rotates. The remains of camel thorn trees are then seen against a sky that includes a fuzzy patch on the far right that is the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy to the Milky Way. A bright sunlight-reflecting satellite passes quickly overhead. Quiver trees appear again, now showing their unusual trunks, while the Small Magellanic Cloud becomes clearly visible in the background. Artificial lights illuminate a mist that surround camel thorn trees in Deadvlei. In the final sequence, natural Namibian stone arches are captured against the advancing shadows of the setting moon. This video incorporates over 16,000 images shot over two years, and won top honors among the 2012 Travel Photographer of the Year awards.”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130204.html

Chet Raymo, “Mortal Soul: The Great Silence”

“Mortal Soul: The Great Silence”

by Chet Raymo

“If there is one word that should not be uttered, it is the name of – no, I will not say it. Any name diminishes. In the face of whatever it is that is most mysterious, most holy, we are properly silent. It is appropriate, I think, to praise the creation, to make a joyful noise of thanksgiving for the sensate world. But praising the Creator is another thing altogether. When we make a big racket on His behalf we are more than likely addressing an idol in our own image. What was it that Pico Iyer said? “Silence is the tribute that we pay to holiness; we slip off words when we enter a sacred place, just as we slip off shoes.” The God of the mystics whispers sweet nothings, as lovers do.

In a diary entry for “M.”, near the end of his too-short life, Thomas Merton wrote: “I cannot have enough of the hours of silence when nothing happens. When the clouds go by. When the trees say nothing. When the birds sing. I am completely addicted to the realization that just being there is enough.” The natural world was for Merton the primary revelation. He listened. He felt a presence in his heart, an awareness of the ineffable Mystery that permeates creation. It was this that drew him to the mystical tradition of Christianity, especially to the Celtic tradition of creation spirituality. It was this that attracted him to Zen.

There come now and then, perhaps more frequently in late life than previously, those moments of being (as Virginia Woolf called them) when creation grabs us by the shoulders and gives us such a shake that it rattles our teeth, when love for the world simply knocks us flat. At those moments everything we have learned about the world – the invaluable and reliable knowledge of science- seems a pale intimation of what is. In Virginia Woolf’s novel “The Waves”, the elderly Bernard says: “How tired I am of stories, how tired I am of phrases that come down beautifully with all their feet on the ground! Also, how I distrust neat designs of life that are drawn upon half sheets of notepaper. I begin to long for some little language such as lovers use, broken words, inarticulate words, like the shuffling of feet on the pavement.”

In moments of soul-stirring epiphany, it is reassuring to feel beneath our feet a floor of reliable knowledge, the safe and sure edifice of empirical learning so painstakingly constructed by the likes of Aristarchus, Galileo, Darwin and Schrodinger. But at the same time we are humbled by our ignorance, and more ready than ever to say “I don’t know,” to enter at last the great silence. Erwin Chargaff, who contributed mightily to our understanding of DNA, wrote: “It is the sense of mystery that, in my opinion, drives the true scientist; the same blind force, blindly seeing, deafly hearing, unconsciously remembering, that drives the larva into the butterfly. If the scientist has not experienced, at least a few times in his life, this cold shudder down his spine, this confrontation with an immense invisible face whose breath moves him to tears, he is not a scientist.”

The whole thrust of the mystical tradition, the whole thrust of science, is toward the great silence- an awareness of our ignorance and a willingness to say “I don’t know.” A lifetime of learning brings one at last to the face of mystery. We live in a universe of more than 2 trillion galaxies. Perhaps the number of galaxies is infinite. And the universe is silent. Achingly, terrifyingly silent. Or, rather, the universe speaks a little language such as lovers use, broken words, inarticulate words, like the shuffling of feet on the pavement.”

- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/