StatCounter

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Gregory Mannarino, "US Economy Dead; Consumer Weak; Inflation Surging"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 5/25/22:
"US Economy Dead; Consumer Weak; Inflation Surging"

The Daily "Near You?"

Argyle, Texas, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"The Level Of Evil In Our Society Is Off The Charts"

"The Level Of Evil In Our Society Is Off The Charts"
by Michael Snyder

"What in the world has happened to our society? Every day I scour dozens of news websites as I do research for my articles and upcoming books, and every day I am horrified by all of the evil that I encounter. We are a deeply, deeply sick society, and more symptoms emerge with each passing day. For example, what would cause an 18-year-old to walk into an elementary school and start gunning down young children? When I was growing up, I never once imagined something like that could possibly ever happen in any of the public schools that I attended. But now this sort of thing is becoming a regular occurrence in America, and the great tragedy that we witnessed on Tuesday quickly made headlines all over the nation

A gunman opened fire at an elementary school in Uvalde on Tuesday, killing 19 students and one teacher, Gov. Greg Abbott said. The gunman, identified by law enforcement as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, was also killed, Abbott said. Ramos was reportedly a student at Uvalde High School or was a former student, Abbott said. Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo said it appears that Ramos acted alone. It was not immediately clear how many people, in addition to the dead, were wounded, but Arredondo said there were “several injuries.” It is also being reported that Ramos actually shot his own grandmother before going over to the school…"The suspect also allegedly shot his grandmother before entering the school and again opening fire, Abbott said. He did not say anything further about her condition."

Decades ago, this sort of incident would have been talked about for years. But most Americans will forget all about this shooting a few days from now, and that is because school shootings have become incredibly common in our day and time. In fact, this was the 27th school shooting in the United States so far this year. How many of them can you name?

Our schools are not safe anymore, and this is one of the big reasons why so many parents are turning to homeschooling. Of course it isn’t just our schools that have become danger zones. At this point, major urban areas all over the country are rapidly being transformed into war zones. According to the CDC, the number of firearm homicides jumped almost 35 percent just from 2019 to 2020…"The United States suffered 19,350 firearm homicides in 2020, up nearly 35 percent compared to 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its latest data."

Sadly, getting shot and killed is not the only thing our kids have to be concerned about these days. There is also the possibility that they could be abducted and forced into sex slavery. This actually happened to one extremely unfortunate 15-year-old girl that attended a Dallas Mavericks game a few weeks ago…"A 15-year-old Texas girl was rescued by police 10 days after she was kidnapped at a basketball game while using the bathroom, then trafficked by pedophiles. The unidentified teenager’s father raised the alarm shortly after she left to use the restroom and didn’t return to her seat at a Dallas Maverick game in the American Airline Center on April 8." She was one of the lucky ones. There are countless others that are never rescued.

But at least our kids should be safe in church, right? Wrong. There are sexual predators there too, and sometimes they are even in the pulpit. On Sunday, a woman named Bobi Gephart that had her virginity taken by a pastor when she was just 16 years old confronted him in front of the entire congregation…"Turning to Lowe, she continued: ‘I was just 16 when you took my virginity on your office floor. Do you remember that? I know you do. You did things to to my teenage body that should have never been done. If you can’t admit the truth, you have to answer to God. You are not the victim here.’

I can’t even begin to describe how evil this is. And her husband stated that this abuse lasted for a total of nine years…"Bobi’s husband Nate then added: ‘This is a lie. This is not just adultery. It’s another level. It happened for nine years. When she was 15, 16, the grooming started.’

I wish that this was an isolated incident, but it isn’t. In fact, a new report has revealed widespread sexual misconduct in one of the largest Christian denominations in the entire nation…"Leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention publicly apologized to victims of sexual abuse within the denomination and vowed to make public a private database of offenders in response to an explosive report detailing allegations of sexual misconduct and cover-up.

On Tuesday, SBC leaders gathered to discuss a historic investigation report from Guidepost Solutions that found that the denomination’s leadership mishandled widespread sexual abuse allegations, ignored and silenced victims and engaged in an abusive pattern of intimidation largely to avoid liability." This shouldn’t be happening. People go to church to find God, but in way too many instances they are encountering predators instead.

We have become a deeply, deeply wicked country, and it is getting worse with each passing year. It is in this sort of environment that exceedingly wicked leaders can emerge. In fact, the guy currently in the White House has been telling mammoth lie after mammoth lie for decades…

Stumbled across this montage from the doomed Biden ‘88 campaign and I’m crying at the McLaughlin Group reactions at the end. pic.twitter.com/A9etqn8J4H 
- Jimmy (@JimmyPrinceton) May 23, 2022

If we lived in a just society filled with decent people, such a man could never have a career in politics. Of course the entire world is headed in the same direction, and that has enabled someone like Klaus Schwab to become one of the most important leaders on the entire planet…

Not concerning at all the guy who wants to take over the world has a bust of Lenin on his bookshelf. pic.twitter.com/krmtSrfKiW
- Jesse Kelly Show (@JesseKellyShow) May 24, 2022

This week, Schwab boldly told the elite gathered at Davos that “the future is being built by us”…

NEW – Klaus Schwab tells attendees at his World Economic Forum in Davos that "the future is being built by us." pic.twitter.com/yIqB4jclNd
- Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) May 23, 2022

Sadly, to a very large degree he is correct. They are trying to construct their version of “utopia”, but their plans are starting to crumble as a “perfect storm” of war, economic troubles, food shortages, energy problems and major pestilences hammers their efforts from all sides.

As I have tried to explain for many years, ultimately they will fail. They have destroyed everything that our forefathers worked so hard to build, and in the end their efforts will be destroyed as well. But right now just about every form of evil that you can possibly imagine is flourishing in our society, and that should deeply sicken all of us."

"I'm Rightly Tired..."

“I'm rightly tired of the pain I hear and feel, boss. I'm tired of bein' on the road, lonely as a robin in the rain. Not never havin' no buddy to go on with or tell me where we's comin' from or goin' to or why. I'm tired of people bein' ugly to each other. It feels like pieces of glass in my head. I'm tired of all the times I've wanted to help and couldn't. I'm tired of bein' in the dark. Mostly it's the pain. There's too much. If I could end it, I would. But I can't.”
- Stephen King, "The Green Mile"

"Running on Empty" (Excerpt)

"Running on Empty," Part I (Excerpt)
by Contemplations On the Tree Of Woe

Excerpt: "The Russo-Ukraine War has at this point been ongoing for several months. Even if the war were to end tomorrow (which it won’t), it has already had a massive effect on the globe, with food crises, mass migrations, and enormous expenditure of blood and treasure. The biggest effect of the war, though, is only beginning. America’s global hegemony is based on the petrodollar system and the Russo-Ukraine war is rapidly bringing that system to an end. The end of the petrodollar will be the end of the world order as we have known it since 1945.

Though the U.S. petrodollar system is perhaps the most important economic structure in the world, it is almost never discussed in mainstream sources. Therefore, before I write about the future, I’m going to write first about the past and present. Part I of this series will explain what the petrodollar system is and what its financial effects have been. In Part II, I’ll explain its implications for foreign policy and how that led to the Russo-Ukraine War. In Part III, I’ll explain how the system is breaking down and what might happen next."
Please view this complete article here:

Bill Bonner, "Rules for Thee"

"Rules for Thee"
"What if the Feds are NOT as incompetent as they appear...
 if this is all part of the plan?"
by Bill Bonner

Paris, France - "Norwegian finance CEO Kjerstin Braathen spoke to the World Economic Forum this week. She was rehearsing a consistent elite theme – the need to move to a greener economy: “We need to accept that there will be SOME PAIN in the process… shortages on energy, inflationary pressures… that pain is actually worth it because if we don’t…there’s no economy, there’s no welfare…”

Is it true? Without carbon emission controls will we have no economy? No producing? No buying and selling? No trade? No income? No bussing, schlepping and toting? Of course, it’s nonsense. Economies work… even on hot days. But every tornado and heat wave is taken as a foretaste of catastrophe – like the whiff of a gas leak before an explosion.

Commoner Disregard: We don’t know how the world’s weather will evolve… nor exactly what it will mean for life on earth. Nor do we know whether temperatures could be controlled by eliminating carbon emissions… nor whether it would be worth trying. Nobody does. But there are plenty of climate modelers to spread alarm. And what they have in common is a common disregard for the common man.

Ms. Braathen did not mention it, but Norway is uncommonly rich, with a huge nationally-owned wealth fund. Where did the money come from? Selling North Sea oil. And now, with so much money made in the fossil fueled economy, Ms. Braathen and the Establishment can look forward to a post-fossil fuel world. They need not worry about a marginal increase in the price of gasoline… or the pain that may be inflicted by shortages or inflation. The nomenklatura can afford to spend a little more for gasoline… and enjoy their hot summers in Aspen or on Cape Cod.

Bloomberg: "A Hot, Deadly Summer Is Coming With Frequent Blackouts." There won’t be enough energy supplies to go around as sweltering heat boosts power demand in the months ahead, putting lives at risk.

As you know, dear reader, here at Bonner Private Research, our hearts bleed for the poor, the oppressed, the downtrodden, the half-wit and half-smart masses… the underdogs and diehards, who are over-taxed, over-bossed and over burdened. The suits have their vanities and fantasies; the working classes pay for them. They fight the wars. They pay the taxes. They stand in line, fill out forms, and wait for orders. And now, they are being set up for another rip-off.

Fox News: "The national average gas price is up 35% since President Biden touted his "major effort" to bring down the costs of fuel. On November 24, 2021, Biden announced his administration’s launch of "a major effort to reduce the price of gas at your corner gas station" as prices across America were ticking up. "We’re launching a major effort to moderate the price of oil," the president said in a speech. "An effort that will span the globe in its reach, and ultimately reach your corner gas station, God willing."

Was God unwilling? Or was the ‘major effort’ just another major fraud? Inflation is an opportunity for the elite… and a scourge of the common man. It forces him to tighten his belt, to do without, to downsize and downgrade. At the margin – where nearly a billion of the planet’s poorest people live – it is worse than a nuisance. Almost all their money goes to pay for vittles; higher priced food means less to eat.

A Ruse by Any Other Name: But what if the feds’ major efforts to bring inflation under control were phony? The Fed says it will raise its key rate by 100 more basis points this year – or 1%. Does anyone really think that will be enough to stop 9% inflation? But maybe the Fed is not as incompetent as it appears. What if the real agenda were to let inflation rip? Maybe it would be ‘actually worth it?’ The proletariat will burn less fuel. The masses will eat less food. And they will take up less space on the ferry to Nantucket.

And what if Ms. Braathen and the whole crème de la crème de la crème – meeting in Davos, Switzerland… or perhaps in Nice, France, where Ms. Braathen went to school… or the Upper East Side of Manhattan… or Chelsea…what if they would actually feel good about it, because… well… wouldn’t ‘de-growth’ be good for the planet?

And maybe the deplorables could be persuaded that ‘saving the planet’ was a worthy, even urgent, goal? Then, they would accept their poverty gracefully – as they now bear airport screening and Covid rules…in the mistaken belief that it is for a good cause."

"Massive Price Increases At Walmart! This Is Getting Crazy! What's Coming?"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures with Danno, 5/25/22:
"Massive Price Increases At Walmart! 
This Is Getting Crazy! What's Coming?"
"In today's vlog we are at Walmart and are noticing massive price increases! We are here to check out skyrocketing prices, and a lot of empty shelves! It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting products!"
Related:
“You know, I've been around the ruling class all my life, and I've been 
quite aware of their total contempt for the people of the country.” 
- Gore Vidal

And how are you doing, Good Citizen?

"Markets are Imploding - More Pain Ahead"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, iAllegedly 5/25/22:
"Markets are Imploding - More Pain Ahead"
"The Feds action has completely destroyed the markets. Entire industries are suffering right now. We are seeing the real estate market finally turn with April being a horrible month for sales across the country. Prices for real estate continue to go up and show the interest rates."

Gregory Mannarino, "The Coming Debt Market Meltdown; US Economy Is Done"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 5/25/22:
"The Coming Debt Market Meltdown; US Economy Is Done"

"How It Really, Tragically, Is"

 
Oh, please God, help us...

Samuel Barber, "Adagio For Strings"

“But I couldn't respond. My culture had taught me all the wrong things well. So I lay completely still, and gave no reaction at all. But the soul has no culture. The soul has no nations. The soul has no color or accent or way of life. The soul is forever. The soul is one. And when the heart has its moment of truth and sorrow, the soul can't be stilled. I clenched my teeth against the stars. I closed my eyes. I surrendered to sleep. One of the reasons why we crave love, and seek it so desperately, is that love is the only cure for loneliness, and shame, and sorrow. But some feelings sink so deep into the heart that only loneliness can help you find them again. Some truths about yourself are so painful that only shame can help you live with them. And some things are just so sad that only your soul can do the crying for you.”
- Gregory David Roberts, "Shantaram"

Greg Hunter, "CV19 Virus & Vax About Control Not Health – Dr. Michael Yeadon"

"CV19 Virus & Vax About Control Not Health – Dr. Michael Yeadon"
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

"Dr. Michael Yeadon was a chief scientist in drug discovery research and also a VP at Pfizer for 20 years. He has been sounding the alarm about the Covid “lies” being told and warning the so-called vaccines for CV19 are “neither safe or effective.” Yeadon contends the entire Covid plandemic is just a piece of the puzzle in a much wider plan by “evil” globalists. Yeadon contends, “Governments all around the world have lied to their people in the same set of absurd ways simultaneously. So, it’s not a mistake. It’s not copycat because it’s so obviously stupid that if a neighboring country did it and you weren’t in on it, you would say I don’t want to do that, it’s literally absurd, and yet every country except Sweden did it. Pretty much all the countries of the world did the same absurd things at the same time. The reason why I have said this repeatedly is you will not get stronger evidence of ‘Super-National’ evidence behind the scenes. There ain’t no way this happens by telepathy. They must have agreed to do this.”

When will the medical tyranny be over? Dr. Yeadon says, “It’s never going to be over. Why would they do this? I think it’s to end the model of free humanity. It’s literally going to do that. It’s going to smash the currency, and that will bring an end to the economic system that has taken 300 or 400 years to build, and we don’t have a suitable replacement. Let’s say the currency does not buy anything. What will governments do? Let them starve or ration the food that is remaining? I think they will do the latter, and then they will need an ID system to make sure you don’t get two rations. You see where this is going? I think this was designed to end the world we just came out of. The objective is control. It’s not about money. It’s not about to make a bit more loot out of our hides. I am not saying some people have not made money. Yes, they have, but is it the driving underlying motive? I don’t think it is in any way, shape or form. It’s control. How would they get control? I think ultimately by marking you with a vaccine, and you don’t need a vaccine.”

On the mRNA first-of-a-kind gene therapy vaccines, Dr. Yeadon, who was chief Pfizer scientist in drug discovery research, warns, “We have no mass market so-called gene-based vaccines. They use DNA and messenger RNA to encode a piece of the virus, and then it hijacks your cells to become factories for a bit of the virus. There is no precedent for that whatsoever. It’s a hideous, dangerous thing. Why? I describe it like a little go-cart or racing cart. The engine is running, and someone puts a big house brick on the throttle and then lets it go. That’s like these gene-based vaccines. There is no off switch! Some people will make lots and lots of whatever it’s coding, which is the virus or spike protein. They will make loads of it for ages. None of the manufacturers were required to study how long their material would stay in the body. So, when people rolled up their sleeve, my word, they were trusting. I read the packages, and I said I am not going to have this stuff. When they say the CV19 vax is safe, I say you have no idea if it is safe. You have literally not done the experiments.”

Dr. Yeadon also talks about Monkey Pox, more lies on future vaccines, mass murder and the fight we face, which Dr. Yeadon describes as, “It’s evil what has gone on, and I do think this is a diabolical push.” There is much more in the in-depth 1 hour and 18 minute interview."

Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he talks to Dr. Michael Yeadon, former 20-year Pfizer VP, as he explains why the so-called CV19 vax is “dangerous,” “not effective” and is “being used for control,” not your health."
Related:
"The Vaccine Death Report"
by David John Sorenson and Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, MD

"Purpose: The purpose of this report is to document how all over the world millions of people have died, and hundreds of millions of serious adverse events have occurred, after injections with the experimental mRNA gene therapy. We also reveal the real risk of an unprecedented genocide.

Facts: We aim to only present scientific facts and stay away from unfounded claims. The data is clear and verifiable. Over one hundred references can be found for all presented information, which is provided as a starting point for further investigation.

Complicity: The data suggests that we may currently be witnessing the greatest organized mass murder in the history of our world. The severity of this situation compels us to ask this critical question: will we rise to the defense of billions of innocent people? Or will we permit personal profit over justice, and be complicit? Networks of lawyers all over the world are preparing class-action lawsuits to prosecute all who are serving this criminal agenda. To all who have been complicit so far, we say: There is still time to turn and choose the side of truth. Please make the right choice."
Freely download "The Vaccine Death Report" here:

Must Watch! "State of Emergency: Everything is Imploding"

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 5/24/22:
"State of Emergency: Everything is Imploding"
"Hungary has declared a state of emergency, China and Russia hold joint military exercises with bombers near Japan. China threatens wholesale retaliation if US intervenes in Taiwans quest for independence, George Soros warns about WW3 and Nuclear armageddon, Germany to restart Coal plants, the Kremlin plots their next move as they await the influx of billions in weapons and aid to Kyiv, Famine and civil unrest in impacted countries is mere months away."

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Musical Interlude: The Moody Blues, “Blue World”

Full screen recommended.
The Moody Blues, “Blue World”

"A Look to the Heavens"

"Why does this galaxy have such a long tail? In this stunning vista, based on image data from the Hubble Legacy Archive, distant galaxies form a dramatic backdrop for disrupted spiral galaxy Arp 188, the Tadpole Galaxy. The cosmic tadpole is a mere 420 million light-years distant toward the northern constellation of the Dragon (Draco). Its eye-catching tail is about 280 thousand light-years long and features massive, bright blue star clusters.
One story goes that a more compact intruder galaxy crossed in front of Arp 188 - from right to left in this view - and was slung around behind the Tadpole by their gravitational attraction. During the close encounter, tidal forces drew out the spiral galaxy's stars, gas, and dust forming the spectacular tail. The intruder galaxy itself, estimated to lie about 300 thousand light-years behind the Tadpole, can be seen through foreground spiral arms at the upper right. Following its terrestrial namesake, the Tadpole Galaxy will likely lose its tail as it grows older, the tail's star clusters forming smaller satellites of the large spiral galaxy."

'Knowing..."

“Knowing can be a curse on a person’s life. I’d traded in a pack of lies for a pack of truth, and I didn’t know which one was heavier. Which one took the most strength to carry around? It was a ridiculous question, though, because once you know the truth, you can’t ever go back and pick up your suitcase of lies. Heavier or not, the truth is yours now.”
- Sue Monk Kidd

"I Find It Shocking And Absurd..."

 

Gerald Celente, "You Want A War? Fight It Out! Leave Us Out Of It"

Full screen recommended.
Very strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, 5/24/22:
"You Want A War? Fight It Out! Leave Us Out Of It"

"America, how low can you go? How stupid can you be?"
- Gerald Celente

"The Apocalyptic Global Food Crisis That We Were Told To Prepare For Has Already Started In 2022"

Full screen recommended.
"The Apocalyptic Global Food Crisis That We Were 
Told To Prepare For Has Already Started In 2022"
by Epic Economist

"We have been warned that a devastating food crisis would hit the entire planet sooner rather than later. But most of us didn’t imagine things would actually escalate so quickly. The global food crisis we were told to prepare for is already upon us, and it is reaching apocalyptic proportions as problems continue to pile up. Millions of people that are already facing hunger will be pushed to the brink of starvation in the coming months. Even those who have been insulated from such problems up until this point are likely to experience food insecurity this year as shortages become far more extensive than anticipated. Farmers, industry executives, and global authorities are saying that there isn’t going to be enough food for everyone in 2022. And if all of that seems too hard to believe, hopefully, you’ll change your mind and start preparing after your watch this video.

The food crisis that is now unfolding all over the world is developing so rapidly that global leaders are getting extremely fearful about the short-term future of humanity. In recent weeks, a number of authorities, industry executives, and farmers came forward to warn about the severity of the situation. On Saturday, the CEO of Gro Intelligence told the UN Security Council that the world will enter a critical phase in less than three months as food supplies continue to get tighter and tighter. Sara Menker alerted that the planet only has 10 weeks’ worth of wheat left to deal with the crisis before it reaches catastrophic levels.

We are all going to be affected by this tragedy, but we have to remind ourselves that we were already heading towards a historic global food crisis way before the conflict in Ukraine erupted, and one of the main factors fueling this disaster is the fact that fertilizers are in short supply everywhere in the world, and prices are surging to unprecedented highs.

Massive fertilizer shortages are leaving farmers, fertilizer companies, and governments around the globe scrambling to avert a seemingly inevitable tumble in crop yields. And while some farmers in the western world can still afford to pay the higher prices, in poorer nations, millions of farmers are being forced to cut back on fertilizer, and in some cases, abandon their crops altogether. Consequently, food production will be way down this year.

Sadly, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The real problem will be the food that is not grown and not harvested this year. Soon, winter wheat will be harvested in the U.S., and according to Bloomberg data, thanks to the historic drought in the western half of the country it is being projected that the total amount harvested will be the smallest in almost 60 years.

“Some farmers already are writing off losses from parched grains. The US Department of Agriculture expects lower yields in Kansas, the top-growing state for hard red winter wheat, a staple relied on for bread flour. The shortfall is seen by USDA as pushing national production to the smallest since 1963,” Bloomberg reported. We have to consider that in 1963, the population of the United States was 189 million. Today, the population of the United States is 329 million. This crisis is so serious that the vast majority of us have absolutely no frame of reference for what is about to happen. A “perfect storm” is already upon us, and the most worrying part of it all is that most of us remain completely and utterly unprepared for it."
View comments here:

"Don't Buy A House Or Car Now, It's Time To Prepare; Markets Should Have Crashed Today; Tech Destroyed"

Full screen recommended.
Jeremiah Babe, PM 5/24/22:
"Don't Buy A House Or Car Now, It's Time To Prepare;
 Markets Should Have Crashed Today; Tech Destroyed"

Gregory Mannarino, "The Market Is 100% Fake And The FED Is Buying It"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 5/24/22:
"The Market Is 100% Fake And The FED Is Buying It"

The Daily "Near You?"

Bloomfield, Kentucky, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"World War 3: The Stage Is Being Set For The United States To Go To War With China And Russia Simultaneously"

"World War 3: The Stage Is Being Set For The United States
 To Go To War With China And Russia Simultaneously"
by Michael Snyder

"You would have to be out of your mind to fight wars with China and Russia simultaneously. Unfortunately, the guy in the White House actually fits that description. Joe Biden has been a hothead throughout his career in politics, but now he is a hothead that is in an advanced state of mental decline. And as I have warned for more than a year, he is surrounded by the worst foreign policy team in U.S. history, and that is really saying something. Biden and his team just keep making one colossal mistake after another, and now we are on a path that could soon have us fighting major wars with both China and Russia at the same time.

If there was ever a time to invoke the 25th Amendment, it is now. If we start shooting at the Chinese and the Russians, the unthinkable will actually become reality. There will be no “do overs”, and there will be no going back to the way that life was before. During a press conference in Japan, Biden was asked if he would use the U.S. military to defend Taiwan if China invades. This is how he responded… “Very quickly, you didn’t want to get involved in the Ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons. Are you willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if it comes to that?” a reporter asked the president during a news conference in Japan. “Yes,” Biden replied.n“You are?” the reporter pressed.n“That’s the commitment we made,” the president said.

As he made those remarks, Biden seemed dazed and confused, as if he was in some sort of a mental fog at the time.

NEW – Biden says the US would defend #Taiwan militarily against an invasion by China. pic.twitter.com/xxXEj1o2PJ
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) May 23, 2022

Immediately after Biden’s press conference, administration officials attempted to walk back his remarks. They said that he had “misspoke” and that there had been no change in policy.

But the damage had already been done, and the Chinese were furious. In fact, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry responded by stating that “there is no room for compromise” when it comes to Taiwan… ‘On issues concerning China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and other core interests, there is no room for compromise,’ said Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. ‘We urged the US side to earnestly follow the One China principle … be cautious in words and deeds on the Taiwan issue, and not send any wrong signal to pro-Taiwan independence and separatist forces — so it won’t cause serious damage to the situation across the Taiwan Strait and China-US relations.’

China has always considered Taiwan to be Chinese territory, and in recent weeks there have been all sorts of rumblings that the Chinese are getting ready to invade. Let me share just one example with you… "Officials from the Chinese finance ministry and central bank on April 22 met with representatives of dozens of banks, including HSBC, to discuss what Beijing could do in the event of the imposition of severe sanctions on China. The finance ministry noted, in the words of the Financial Times, that “all large foreign and domestic banks operating in China” were present.

Participants concluded Beijing could not protect foreign assets, but the holding of the “emergency meeting” is nonetheless ominous. Chinese officials have seen the effect of sanctions imposed on Russia after it launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine in February, and they are planning to weather any such measures applied to their own country."

Why would the Chinese hold such an emergency meeting? Of course the answer is obvious. The only reason why the U.S. would impose the same sort of sanctions on China as it has on Russia would be if China decided to invade Taiwan. As I have detailed in previous articles, the Chinese have been sending military aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone on a constant basis for months. And there have been all sorts of reports and rumors that the Chinese military is actively making preparations for an invasion.

So that is why Biden is being asked about a potential invasion. Everyone realizes that such a scenario is a distinct possibility. And once China invades, the U.S. and China will immediately be in a state of war.

In fact, an article that was recently posted on Fox News is suggesting that the Chinese may actually launch a “first strike” against U.S. military assets if it decides to launch an invasion of Taiwan…"For China to seize Taiwan, it must first gain air superiority and then knock out Taiwan’s navy. And unlike Russia’s invasion of non-NATO ally Ukraine, China must assume from the start that America and Japan will swiftly come to Taiwan’s aid, meaning that China will launch a first strike on American and Japanese naval and air assets. Thus, unless successfully deterred, a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is likely to be a high-intensity affair from the first hour, with American ships, submarines, and air bases targeted by hundreds of Chinese missiles—regardless of whether America formally returns to strategic ambiguity or even abandons Taiwan as some suggest."

Personally, I don’t think that the Chinese would risk such an attack. Instead, I think that they would hit Taiwan with overwhelming force and hope that Biden would just respond with sanctions. But I could be wrong.

Switching gears, both sides continue to escalate the war in Ukraine. On Sunday, we learned that the U.S. is actually considering sending troops into Ukraine to guard the U.S. embassy in Kiev… "Plans to send U.S. forces back into Ukraine to guard the recently reopened American Embassy in Kyiv are “underway at a relatively low level,” Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday. The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that officials are mulling plans to send special forces to Kyiv to guard the U.S. Embassy. The effort is a delicate one, as it requires balancing the safety of American diplomats while avoiding what Russia could see as an escalation."

That is not a good idea, but rational people are not running our foreign policy at this point. If rational people were making these decisions in Washington, we would not have already committed 54 billion dollars to this conflict. That is an amount that is nine times larger than what Ukraine normally spends on their entire military for an entire year.

The U.S. has committed more than $54 billion in aid to Ukraine during the Russian invasion. Here are four ways to put that figure in context. t.co/k8K8m3Aw1m
- The New York Times (@nytimes) May 21, 2022

In the war in Ukraine, it is the U.S. that is spending most of the money, it is the U.S. that is providing most of the equipment, it is the U.S. that is providing most of the intelligence, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has admitted that we are even flying members of the Ukrainian military into the United States to train them.

This has already become a full-blown proxy war between the United States and Russia, and we are dangerously close to it becoming an actual shooting war between our two nations. And that is a scenario that we should be trying to avoid at all costs.

This week is is also being reported that Vladimir Putin “survived an assassination attempt” shortly after the war in Ukraine began…"Vladimir Putin survived an assassination attempt not long after starting his war in Ukraine, the country’s intelligence chief has claimed. Kyrylo Budanov said Putin was ‘attacked.. by representatives of the Caucasus’ – a region that includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and parts of southern Russia – around two months ago. ‘[It was an] Absolutely unsuccessful attempt, but it really happened… It was about 2 months ago,’ Budanov said. ‘I repeat, this attempt was unsuccessful. There was no publicity about this event, but it took place.’"

If this happened, I severely doubt that it was “representatives of the Caucasus” that were ultimately behind it. To me, it is far more likely that western intelligence was involved. And this could explain why I saw Vladimir Putin in danger just before the Russians launched their special military operation. In that experience I saw that Putin had been knocked down, but he had not been killed.

However, as I went on to explain, I had another experience that led me to believe that he will ultimately end up dead. Interestingly, it is being rumored that Putin underwent cancer surgery just last week… "Vladimir Putin underwent ‘successful’ cancer surgery last week and is recovering, it has been claimed in just the latest rumour about the Russian leader’s health. The 69-year-old underwent an unknown procedure late last Monday following advice from medics that treatment was ‘essential’, according to Telegram channel General SVR which claims to be getting information from inside the Kremlin."

Some in the western media are cheering for Putin’s death, but I believe that whoever replaces him will be even more antagonistic toward the west. My hope is that a way can be found to have peace, but at this moment U.S. officials do not seem inclined to pursue peace with Russia.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has decided to allow the U.S. military to participate in “an Israeli drill simulating a massive attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities”…"As if an intense proxy war with nuclear powerhouse Russia isn’t bringing enough heat, the Biden White House has now given the greenlight for unprecedented U.S. participation in an Israeli drill simulating a massive attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. According to The Times of Israel, “The U.S. Air Force will serve as a complementary force, with refueling planes drilling with Israeli fighter jets as they simulate entering Iranian territory and carrying out repeated strikes.” The mock attack on Iran will happen this month, as part of a broader Israeli military exercise called “Chariots of Fire.”

This is another future war that I have been warning about, and I believe that it could erupt at any time in the months ahead. And when the missiles start flying back and forth, the entire globe will be shocked by the carnage and devastation.

This is a time of wars and rumors of wars, and I believe that World War 3 has already started. But for now the major powers are still not shooting at one another, and we should be very thankful for that. Unfortunately, the Biden administration continues to make one glaring error after another, and at some point our good fortune will run out."
Related:

"Alas..."

"Alas, regardless of their doom,
The little victims play!
No sense have they of ills to come,
Nor care beyond to-day..."
- Thomas Gray

The Poet: Thomas Gray, "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College"

"Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College"

"Ye distant spires, ye antique tow'rs,
That crown the wat'ry glade,
Where grateful Science still adores
Her Henry's holy Shade;
And ye, that from the stately brow
Of Windsor's heights th' expanse below
Of grove, of lawn, of mead survey,
Whose turf, whose shade, whose flowr's among
Wanders the hoary Thames along
His silver-winding way.

Ah, happy hills, ah, pleasing shade,
Ah, fields belov'd in vain,
Where once my careless childhood stray'd,
A stranger yet to pain!
I feel the gales, that from ye blow,
A momentary bliss bestow,
As waving fresh their gladsome wing,
My weary soul they seem to soothe,
And, redolent of joy and youth,
To breathe a second spring.

Say, Father Thames, for thou hast seen
Full many a sprightly race
Disporting on thy margent green
The paths of pleasure trace,
Who foremost now delight to cleave
With pliant arm thy glassy wave?
The captive linnet which enthrall?
What idle progeny succeed
To chase the rolling circle's speed,
Or urge the flying ball?

While some on earnest business bent
Their murm'ring labors ply
'Gainst graver hours, that bring constraint
To sweeten liberty:
Some bold adventurers disdain
The limits of their little reign,
And unknown regions dare descry:
Still as they run they look behind,
They hear a voice in ev'ry wind,
And snatch a fearful joy.

Gay hope is theirs by fancy fed,
Less pleasing when possest;
The tear forgot as soon as shed,
The sunshine of the breast:
Theirs buxom health of rosy hue,
Wild wit, invention ever-new,
And lively cheer of vigor born;
The thoughtless day, the easy night,
The spirits pure, the slumbers light,
That fly th' approach of morn.

Alas, regardless of their doom,
The little victims play!
No sense have they of ills to come,
Nor care beyond to-day:
Yet see how all around 'em wait
The ministers of human fate,
And black Misfortune's baleful train!
Ah, show them where in ambush stand
To seize their prey the murth'rous band!
Ah, tell them they are men!

These shall the fury Passions tear,
The vultures of the mind
Disdainful Anger, pallid Fear,
And Shame that skulks behind;
Or pining Love shall waste their youth,
Or Jealousy with rankling tooth,
That inly gnaws the secret heart,
And Envy wan, and faded Care,
Grim-visag'd comfortless Despair,
And Sorrow's piercing dart.

Ambition this shall tempt to rise,
Then whirl the wretch from high,
To bitter Scorn a sacrifice,
And grinning Infamy.
The stings of Falsehood those shall try,
And hard Unkindness' alter'd eye,
That mocks the tear it forc'd to flow;
And keen Remorse with blood defil'd,
And moody Madness laughing wild
Amid severest woe.

Lo, in the vale of years beneath
A griesly troop are seen,
The painful family of Death,
More hideous than their Queen:
This racks the joints, this fires the veins,
That ev'ry laboring sinew strains,
Those in the deeper vitals rage:
Lo, Poverty, to fill the band,
That numbs the soul with icy hand,
And slow-consuming Age.

To each his suff'rings: all are men,
Condemn'd alike to groan,
The tender for another's pain;
Th' unfeeling for his own.
Yet ah! why should they know their fate?
Since sorrow never comes too late,
And happiness too swiftly flies.
Thought would destroy their paradise.
No more; where ignorance is bliss,
'Tis folly to be wise."

- By Thomas Gray

Bill Bonner, "Cheated, Deleted and Mistreated"

"Cheated, Deleted and Mistreated"
by Bill Bonner

Paris, France - "What’s Paris like now? Poor Mr. Macron – Chief of the French tribe – is one of the bright stars of the new rising generation of shameless technocrats. His administration was advertised as the standard bearer for equality, justice and net-negative carbon emissions. But now two of his cabinet ministers have been accused of rape. “Sexual violence,” is the charge, which probably eases the burden of proof for the accuser.

Meanwhile, Covid restrictions have been lifted. No more masks… no more ‘sanitary pass’ – life is returning to normal in the French capital. Everything ever written about Paris is true. We don’t need to add to it. It is a beautiful city, especially in May. The sun shines on the sidewalk cafes. Luxury brands gleam from the shop windows. And tourists are once again blocking our way on the sidewalks.

A Class Apart? Prices are rising, too. And the elite class – the leftish techno-snobs who run the country – are getting bolder. Their program: make life more and more miserable for the common man as they pursue their own jackass goals. “The citoyen will have to get used to living with less,” we quote no one in particular, “and following orders; so we can reduce our carbon output.” “It’s time for de-growth,” they add. “And if the costs fall disproportionately on the common man, well, too bad.”

The educated, enlightened, well-off Parisian believes the world would be a better place if the uneducated, unenlightened, struggling yokels were kept in their place. Specifically, he wants them to use less energy, to stay at home, turn down the heat and not to make a fuss about rising prices. In France, as in America, the deciders are a class apart. They have their agenda… their hopes… their schemes and fantasies. And they don’t want ‘the people’ to get in the way.

In the US last week came evidence that ‘the people’ are stumbling. The big retailers – Costco, Walmart and Target – were hit hard. Earnings were disappointing, leading to the steepest stock market falls since Black Monday of 1987. As Dan reported on Friday, Target had its worst day in 35 years.

Counting Costs: Adding to their costs is a big increase in fuel prices. These companies spend hundreds of millions on energy. As the price of energy – especially diesel fuel – goes up, their margins are squeezed.

And the available evidence shows the customer – the salt of the earth – is less and less able to afford to live in the manner to which he recently became accustomed. The gimmie/stimmies are running out. Wages are supposed to be rising at a 5% rate. But consumer prices are rising even faster. Gasoline, for example, is up over 30% in the last 12 months. Basic expenses – food, shelter, and fuel – are going up so fast, households have less and less left over for “discretionary” spending, which leaves the big box retailers with a lot of unsold product in the box.

And today we feel their pain – the misery… desolation… and anguish of the working classes, both at home and abroad. These are the guys and gals with chainsaws and workbelts… with 18 wheelers to edge into a tight spot… with a night shift to complete without falling asleep… with croissants to bake or laundry to wash. These are the people who made the world what it is. They fell on the Normandy beaches… built the Brooklyn Bridge… put down the hardtop roads… baked the cookies… and delivered the mail.

And now they are still the people who add the most real value to our lives. Not the hedge fund managers, influencers, or policymakers… but autoworkers, farmers, UPS drivers, cooks, baristas and waiters… carpenters, plumbers and masons.

And here’s the gist of our story: the masses have been cheated, deleted and mistreated. And it’s going to get worse. In a nutshell… while the wealth of the crème de la crème was teased up by the feds… the working class – which is most of us – got nothing. The top 1% added $36 trillion in wealth since 1999 – or about $3 million per person. The bottom 50% added wealth too, but only about $13,000 each. Each person at the tiny top got 230 times more money than those at the broad bottom.

But all that froth came at a cost. The feds had no extra money, so they pushed down interest rates, borrowed… and printed money to cover the extra costs. The result was $50 trillion worth of debt added to the US economy since 1999. Who will pay for it? We ‘the people,’ of course. That is what the ‘inflation tax’ is all about. More to come…"
"The more I see of the monied classes,
the better I understand the guillotine."
- George Bernard Shaw
The "monied classes" better remember where this comes from...

"How It Really Is"

 

"What It Means That 'Hillary Clinton Did It'"

"Jeremy Grantham: Today’s Stock Market Bubble Is Worse Than 2000"

Full screen recommended.
The Atlantis Report, "Jeremy Grantham: 
Today’s Stock Market Bubble Is Worse Than 2000"
"Let The Wild Rumpus Begin:

Approaching the End of The First U.S. Bubble Extravaganza:

Housing, Equities, Bonds, and Commodities"


"In a bubble, no one wants to hear the bear case. It is the worst kind of party-pooping. For bubbles, especially superbubbles where we are now, are often the most exhilarating financial experiences of a lifetime. I participated in a wonderful micro-cap fireworks display from 1968 to 1969, in which I made a small fortune (7 times the then full cost of a year at business school). My main stock, American Raceways, tripled while I was on vacation – $7 to $21 – then went to $100 by Christmas, only to lose it all even quicker by the following June, as almost all the fireworks exploded and crashed. This taught me a lesson, and it helped make me cautious. The experience also makes it easy for me to sympathize with the view that bearish advice in bubbles always comes from old fogeys who “just don’t get it,” because I received that old fogey advice back then and just didn’t listen. I doubt speculators in the current bubble will listen to me now; but giving this advice is my job and possibly the right thing to do. So, once more unto the breach, dear friends.


Today in the U.S. we are in the fourth superbubble of the last hundred years. Previous equity superbubbles had a series of distinct features that individually are rare and collectively are unique to these events. In each case, these shared characteristics have already occurred in this cycle. The checklist for a superbubble running through its phases is now complete and the wild rumpus can begin at any time."

Freely download "Let The Wild Rumpus Begin", 
by Jeremy Grantham, here:

"Global Economic Storm - Massive Wheat Shortage Coming"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, iAllegedly 5/24/22:
"Global Economic Storm - Massive Wheat Shortage Coming"
"The global calamity continues to grow. Now we are here: we only have a little over 70 days of supply. Wait is running out. The economy is being destroyed around the world and there really is no end in sight."
Related:

Gregory Mannarino, "F.E.A.R Monkeypox! "The New Crisis" - What's Next? Be Ready For Anything"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 5/24/22:
"F.E.A.R Monkeypox! "The New Crisis" - 
What's Next? Be Ready For Anything"
And here it comes...

"Massive Price Increases At Dollar General! What's Next?"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures with Danno, 5/24/22:
"Massive Price Increases At Dollar General! What's Next?"
"In today's vlog we are at Dollar General and are noticing massive price increases! We are here to check out skyrocketing prices, and a massive baby formula shortage! It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting products!"