Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA. Thanks for stopping by!
So, we rise from the rubble...
Thursday, June 6, 2024
Jeremiah Babe, "Buyers Can No Longer Afford Overpriced Trucks And Cars, Car Market Crash"
Full screen recommended.
Jeremiah Babe, 6/6/24
"Buyers Can No Longer Afford Overpriced
Trucks And Cars, Car Market Crash"
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"That's Where It All Begins..."
"That's where it all begins. That's where we all get screwed big time as we grow up. They tell us to think, but they don't really mean it. They only want us to think within the boundaries they define. The moment you start thinking for yourself - really thinking - so many things stop making any sense. And if you keep thinking, the whole world just falls apart. Nothing makes sense anymore. All rules, traditions, expectations - they all start looking so fake, so made up. You want to just get rid of all this stuff and make things right. But the moment you say it, they tell you to shut up and be respectful. And eventually you understand that nobody wants you to really think for yourself.”
- Ray N. Kuili, “Awakening"
"A New Type Of Dementia Plagues America"
"A New Type Of Dementia Plagues America"
by John Mac Ghlionn
"In the United States, it's estimated that at least 7 million people over the age of 65 have dementia. If current trends continue, by the end of the decade, more than 9 million Americans are expected to suffer from this loss of cognitive functioning - that's equivalent to the population of New York City.
Memory impairment isn't just affecting the elderly. By 2050, the number of U.S. adults over the age of 40 living with dementia is expected to more than double, from 5.2 million to 10.5 million. To compound matters, there’s a new type of dementia plaguing Americans, one that’s affecting people much younger than 40. It’s called digital dementia, and millions of unsuspecting, young Americans are at risk.
A major health epidemic, digital dementia occurs when one part of the brain is overstimulated and another part of the brain is understimulated. When we mindlessly use digital devices, the frontal lobe, which is responsible for higher-level executive functions, gets little, if any, use. Meanwhile, the occipital lobe, the visual processor located at the back of the brain, gets bombarded with sensory input. Slouched over and spaced out, people, both young and old, are abusing their brains, day in and day out. Preteens and teens are particularly at risk for two reasons:An American 8 to 12-year-old spends an average of 4.7 hours a day scrolling their lives away. That’s around 70 days in a given year. The prefrontal cortex (PFC), the brain region responsible for planning and decision-making, doesn’t fully develop until the age of 25.
Digital dementia impedes both short-term and long-term memory. Moreover, as research shows, excessive screen time during brain development increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, in adulthood. Not surprisingly, excessive screen time is intimately associated with digital addiction. This, in turn, fuels digital dementia, which results in the shrinking of the brain’s gray matter. White matter facilitates communication between gray matter areas. But without gray matter, which plays a critical role in emotions, memories, and movements, there’s really nothing to communicate. White matter helps the traffic get from A to B. Grey matter, on the other hand, is the traffic.
It gets worse. As Gurwinder Bhogal, an excellent British-Indian writer, recently noted, not only is “gray matter shrinkage in smartphone-addicted individuals” a growing problem, the Western average IQ is declining - rapidly, he added.
This has been the case for decades. The decline of brain power has been particularly notable in America. Lead exposure, and, more recently, the effects of draconian lockdowns, have had deleterious effects on Americans’ IQs. As technology continues to rise, IQ continues to decline. Is there an association? The answer appears to be yes.
What we're witnessing is the Flynn effect in reverse. Named after James R. Flynn, the renowned intelligence researcher who passed away in 2020, the Flynn effect refers to a steady upward shift in IQ test scores across generations. In recent times, however, that steady upward shift has transformed into a spiraling nosedive. This isn't surprising. In fact, as our lives become more intertwined with technology, and as we outsource more of our thinking and doing to search engines and ChatGPT-like systems, we should expect this nosedive to increase in velocity.
As Mr. Bhogal noted, common sense suggests that the decline in IQ is “at least partly the result of technology making the attainment of satisfaction increasingly effortless, so that we spend ever more of our time in a passive, vegetative state.” “If you don’t use it," he added, “you lose it.” Indeed. By "it," of course, he means your brain. But brain function isn't the only thing being lost.
The rise of digital dementia, digital addiction, and lower IQ scores is a reflection of a much broader problem. The United States isn’t just struggling with demographic decline; it’s also wrestling with the unholy trinity of spiritual, psychological, and intellectual decline. The country is becoming fatter, sicker, older, and dumber. The movie "Idiocracy" wasn’t a parody; it was a prophecy.
As intelligence levels continue to plummet and test scores continue to fall in the likes of math and reading, the United States risks becoming a society of brainless, aimless individuals, a nation consisting of millions of obese zombies. Contrary to popular belief, societal collapse doesn’t occur overnight; it occurs in increments, a death by a thousand cuts. The biggest threat to the United States isn't necessarily external; it's posed by the numerous digital devices in our hands and homes. Technology has consumed both our minds and our souls; are we going to get either of them back?"
o
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"We're so freakin' doomed!"
- The Mogambo Guru
"One Of Two Things..."
“When we walk to the edge of all the light we have and take a step into
the darkness of unknown, we must believe one of two things will happen.
There will be something solid to stand on, or we will be taught how to fly.”
- Patrick Overton
Gregory Mannarino, "'Cascading Crisis: The Set Up Is Clear"
Gregory Mannarino, AM 6/6/24
"'Cascading Crisis': The Set Up Is Clear,
And The Time For You To Take Action Is Now!"
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Dan, I Allegedly, "Nightmare on Main Street - Economic Horror"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, 6/6/24
"Nightmare on Main Street - Economic Horror"
We are seeing major lending institutions that are backed by the government now offer second mortgages. This will put people in debt forever. Brace yourself for an eye-opening deep dive into "Nightmare on Main Street: The Collapse No One Saw Coming." Our economy is teetering on the brink, and we're unraveling the horrors lurking beneath the surface. From the shocking rise in government-backed mortgages to impending home foreclosures, this economic downturn is shaping up to be a true nightmare.
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Bill Bonner, "Restaurant Apocalypse"
"Restaurant Apocalypse"
The huge cash infusion of the Covid years has mostly played itself out.
The stimulus did not produce higher output or greater wealth.
It just increased prices - particularly real estate prices.
by Bill Bonner
Dublin, Ireland - "First a happy note from Fox: "Many elections are marked by reports of dead people voting, but a dead person being elected is far less common. Yet that’s exactly what happened on Tuesday when Rep. Donald Payne Jr. won a primary in New Jersey’s 10th congressional district. The beloved congressman and member of the Congressional Black Caucus suffered a fatal heart attack on April 24th, according to the NY Post. The filing deadline for primary campaigns in New Jersey was in March. Congressman Payne Jr. was the only candidate to register."
We wish the candidate well in the general election. He would certainly get our vote. He would be the least corruptible member of Congress - by far. The most reliable and steadfast, too... unwilling to go along with the latest scams and boondoggles. Alas, he would be in a very small minority. Most members of Congress are still above ground... and a threat to us all.
But now, back to our regularly scheduled programming: Why can’t we win a war... even with a 30-to-1 advantage (measured in GDP)? If we’re so rich, why can’t we pay our own way... rather than passing the bill for current programs onto future generations? Why does it seem to average citizens that things are getting worse... while politicians insist that we are better off than ever?
On this last point... Business Insider: "A survey conducted by financial services firm Primerica found that 67% of middle-class respondents said their income was falling behind the cost of living over the first quarter. Among those people, 74% said they were pulling back on discretionary purchases, such as eating out. More broadly, it has been widely reported that millennials will be the first generation in American history to earn less than their parents."
What gives? Donald Trump claimed that he presided over the “greatest economy ever.” Now, Joe Biden claims the same thing for himself. Why then did they need to borrow so much money? In 2016, the US had $20 trillion in debt. Together, over the next eight years, they added $15 trillion - more than any dynamic duo in the history of the country.
But even with these record deficits behind us... and estimated deficits of $1.5-$2 trillion per year going forward, US GDP growth rates are slumpy and consumer price increases make it hard for people to keep up. As a result, Americans are forced to give up one of their simple pleasures - eating out.
In this month’s edition of his marvelous Gloom, Boom and Doom Report, our old friend Mark Faber takes a look at the status of the chain restaurant business. In a word: bad. The huge cash infusion of the Covid years has mostly played itself out. The stimulus did not produce higher output or greater wealth. It just increased prices - particularly real estate prices.
Shelter is the biggest single item in most family budgets. So, this leaves families a little short of cash. The ‘casual dining’ sector seems to be feeling the pain most sharply. Labor and food bills have increased dramatically for the restaurants, especially in California, where fast-food workers get a minimum wage of $20 per hour. Restaurants have been forced to raise prices. Prices at McDonalds, for example, have more than doubled since 2014.
Faber reports that about two in five restaurants didn’t make a profit last year. Red Lobster is said to be considering bankruptcy. TGIF is in ‘distress.’ Appleby’s is closing restaurants. Boston Market is going bankrupt. Cracker Barrel reports “weaker than expected traffic.” He continues, listing a few notable bankruptcies:
"The New York–area Sticky Fingers Joint (in part due to “unprecedented” chicken and potato price increases), Tijuana Flats (a casual Mexican restaurant chain located in Florida), and Rubio’s Coastal Grill (a chain of 150 restaurants throughout Arizona, Nevada, and California). According to Bloomberg: Prices are rising more slowly at the supermarket, meaning families can still stretch a paycheck further buying staples rather than ordering prepared foods..."
Across the board, you have higher labor and food input costs and hesitant consumers,” said Mark Levin, a co-founder of advisory firm Asterisk Capital. “Some people will trade down from mid-priced to lower-priced restaurants, but a lot of lower-priced customers will just stay at home."
A ‘Restaurant Apocalypse’ is said to be sweeping across America, according to Michael Snyder. Why? Because “consumers simply have a lot less discretionary income now.” Less discretionary income? What happened to that $15 trillion of new credit that the feds pumped into the market? Distributed evenly, that should have put another $150,000 per family into consumer pockets. Where is it?
Tomorrow, we return to French economist Emmanuel Todd and his idea that much of US wealth is ‘fictitious.’ Whether it is the prices of stocks or bonds…or property…or the wealth of Wall Street or Main Street’s US GDP - much of it is a fantasy. More to come... "
Canadian Prepper, "Alert! New Bird Flu w/100% Kill Rate, Mysterious Origin; Lebanon War Begins; Putin Checkmates US"
Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 6/5/24
"Alert! New Bird Flu w/100% Kill Rate, Mysterious Origin;
Lebanon War Begins; Putin Checkmates US"
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Wednesday, June 5, 2024
"A Look to the Heavens"
“The constellation of Orion holds much more than three stars in a row. A deep exposure shows everything from dark nebula to star clusters, all embedded in an extended patch of gaseous wisps in the greater Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. The brightest three stars on the far left are indeed the famous three stars that make up the belt of Orion. Just below Alnitak, the lowest of the three belt stars, is the Flame Nebula, glowing with excited hydrogen gas and immersed in filaments of dark brown dust.
Below the frame center and just to the right of Alnitak lies the Horsehead Nebula, a dark indentation of dense dust that has perhaps the most recognized nebular shapes on the sky. On the upper right lies M42, the Orion Nebula, an energetic caldron of tumultuous gas, visible to the unaided eye, that is giving birth to a new open cluster of stars. Immediately to the left of M42 is a prominent bluish reflection nebula sometimes called the Running Man that houses many bright blue stars. The above image, a digitally stitched composite taken over several nights, covers an area with objects that are roughly 1,500 light years away and spans about 75 light years.”
○
"Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in
heaven where the love of our lost ones pours
through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy."
~ Eskimo saying
Chet Raymo, “To Sleep, Perchance To Dream”
“To Sleep, Perchance To Dream”
by Chet Raymo
“What is more gentle than a wind in summer?
What is more soothing than a pretty hummer
That stays one moment in an open flower,
And buzzes cheerily from bower to bower?
What is more tranquil than a musk-rose blowing
In a green island, far from all men's knowing?
More healthful than the leafiness of dales?
More secret than a nest of nightingales?”
What indeed? The poet Keats answers his own questions: Sleep. Soft closer of our eyes. I've reached an age when I find myself occasionally nodding off in the middle of the day, an open book flopped on my chest. Also, more lying awake in the dark hours of the night, re-running the tapes of the day. And, in the fragile moments of nighttime unconsciousness, dreaming dreams that reach all the way back to my childhood.
I've read the books about sleep and dreaming. There has been lots of research, but not much consensus about why we sleep or dream. Sleep seems to be pretty universal among animals. Who knows whether animals dream. Do we sleep to restore the soma? To knit the raveled sleeve of care? Process memories? Find safety from predators? After 50 years of work, the sleep researcher William Dement opined: "As far as I know, the only reason we need to sleep that is really, really solid is because we get sleepy."
The Latin poet Martial supposed that sleep "makes darkness brief," a worry-free way to get through the scary hours of the night when wolves howl at the mouth of the cave (and goblins stir under the bed). That hardly explains my dropping off after lunch into a dreamless stupor that I neither desire nor welcome.
“Low murmurer of tender lullabies!
Light hoverer around our happy pillows!
Wreather of poppy buds, and weeping willows!”
Not quite! There are the nightmares too. The tossing and turning. The hoo-has. But enough of this idle speculation. I'm getting sleepy...”
Jeremiah Babe, "America Is The Real Mad Max"
Jeremiah Babe, 6/5/24
"America Is The Real Mad Max;
Regional Banks Cut Off Lending; Economic Slowdown Is Accelerating"
"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."
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Gerald Celente, "Judge Napolitano: Evilness Masked Behind Political Covers"
Gerald Celente, 6/5/24
"Judge Napolitano:
Evilness Masked Behind Political Covers"
"The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present facts and truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for what’s next in these increasingly turbulent times."
Comments here:
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Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 6/5/24
"Larry Johnson: Russia Is Flashing Red,
the West Better Pay Attention"
Unlike many Western politicians, Russian diplomats say what they mean. They are not ones to make idle, empty threats. Joe Biden and the NATO lackeys better pay attention to recent statements by two of Russia's leading diplomats. "I have zero hope in Biden and America both. Very embarrassed and ashamed to be an American veteran. This is NOT the America I served. What the hell happened?!"
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"Retailers Report Massive Price Cuts As They Can't Sell Their Products"
Full screen recommended.
Epic Economist, 6/5/24
"Retailers Report Massive Price Cuts
As They Can't Sell Their Products"
"The same retailers that have helped to push consumer prices up by 20% over the past four years are getting desperate as shoppers aggressively tighten their spending to cope with stubborn inflation. Some of the biggest retail chains in America are on a price-cutting spree to gain back their customers now that sales are declining faster than expected and financial results have started to disappoint. They are finally feeling the consequences of the substantial price hikes they have passed on to consumers since 2020. That's why some companies are reporting discounts of up to 30% to lure people back into their stores.
Big name-retailers like Target, Walmart, Aldi, Best Buy, Home Depot, and more, are introducing a shift in sales strategy to prevent facing even bigger financial losses over the coming quarters, according to multiple reports. Executives are saying that American consumers have become too “price-conscious” and “choosy” after years of persistent price increases.
At this point, not only those at the bottom of the economic ladder are curbing their spending. Chad Lusk, consumer and retail group managing director for consultancy firm Alvarez & Marshal, noted that upper-income households are also changing their consumption patterns due to lower affordability. “The 'budget conscious consumer' is no longer just low- or middle-income earners," he told CNN. "By far the starkest decrease in intent to spend is coming from the higher-income groups, and those that were previously the most immune to an economic downturn are now tightening their belts."
The rapid change in consumer behavior is prompting swift action by retailers, who cannot afford to lose any more customers. Last week, Target executive vice president and chief food, essentials, and beauty officer, Rick Gomez revealed that more than 1,500 items faced price cuts in the past month alone, including staples like frozen chicken breast, cheese, butter, and baby supplies, like diapers and cleansing wipes."
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Bill Bonner, "A Night at the Opera"
"A Night at the Opera"
The 12th Duke of Devonshire owns the castle at nearby Lismore -
where we went on Saturday night. It was the Blackwater
Opera Festival, the highlight of the social season in the area.
by Bill Bonner
Dublin, Ireland - "In our first visit, almost 30 years ago, Dublin was still a grim city on the Liffey. And it took three hours to drive... on little, winding roads... to get down to our office in Waterford. Eating out was not an easy matter back then; there were few good restaurants. And bars were still of the “old Ireland” vintage.
In one, we recall standing on a bed of sawdust and talking to an Irishman, both of us holding big tankards of Guinness. In the course of the conversation, our companion got drunker and drunker. And then, he fell down... not once, but three times. Remarkably - and perhaps as proof of his Old Ireland pedigree - he didn’t spill a drop of his beer.
But that charm has all been swept away by wealth and progress. Today, a modern highway system spreads out from Dublin. In just an hour and a half, you can zip along to Waterford. And the old pubs? Some are still there. Many have been turned into Italian... or Thai... or French restaurants. Even the Irish themselves have changed. “We think of ourselves as European,” explains a neighbor.
Like Europe, Ireland has become risk averse and law abiding. No more drinking at the pub until late at night. Now, dads share childcare... and put on helmets before riding a bicycle. Still, we ran into a little of the Old Ireland at home in Youghal over the weekend.
The Old Ireland: Colm is a man in his 40s. The weather was cool and breezy, but he was dressed only in jeans and a T-shirt, shod in a heavy pair of rubber boots. He came over with two chainsaws and offered to cut down some trees in exchange for the firewood. He had a youngish face, a bit like Michael J. Fox... with straight dark hair, gray on the edges, that bristled out like a toilet brush. After a few words of introduction, Colm lit a cigarette and bent to put gasoline in his chainsaws. Your editor stepped back. But Colm knew what he was doing. After cutting for a while, he came over to talk.
“I was down on the river yesterday,” he said, the cigarette still between his teeth. “When I’m not milking cows or cutting trees, I like to fish. I use the weir right down there.” Colm pointed down to a salmon weir on the river. It is a simple thing... a stockade made of ash sticks driven into the mud. The salmon, swimming upriver, get trapped in it. “I thought you weren’t allowed to fish in the river. The Duke of Devonshire has the fishing rights... hasn’t he had them since the 17th century... something like that?”
The 12th Duke of Devonshire owns the castle at nearby Lismore - where we went on Saturday night. It was the Blackwater Opera Festival, the highlight of the social season in the area. You dress up. You explore the extensive gardens, a glass of champagne in hand. Then you sit for a meal under a big tent and say hello to your friends.
Finally, a bell clangs to tell you it’s time for the opera to begin. Julius Caesar, by Handel, was on stage. And it was dreadful. Painfully boring. The arias were unbelievably repetitive. The music was uninspired, even dull. And the characters dressed and acted in ways that made little sense. Caesar was played by a woman. What message were they trying to convey? It wasn’t clear. Tolomeo, Cleopatra’s scheming brother (who had Pompey killed and sent the head as a gift to Caesar) was portrayed as a foolish, fat, gay man with a taste for gaudy outfits. Only Cleopatra was plausible.
Our mind wandered. How many people have died watching this opera, we wondered? It’s been around for hundreds of years. Yet, the show is so tedious, it must result in a substantial death toll. And for each one whose heart stopped, there must have been hundreds of others whose will to live was stretched to the breaking point.
As a point of American interest, Kathleen Kennedy, sister of JFK, once figured in the history of the castle. Despite the objections of her mother, Rose, she married a protestant, William Cavendish, (aka Billy Hartington) who was in line to become the 10th Duke of Devonshire. Unfortunately, he was killed in WWII only four months after their marriage. The title, and the fishing rights in the Blackwater River, went to his brother.
After a few years of widowhood, Kathleen, known as “Kick Kennedy,” took up with another British aristocrat, the 8th Earl Fitzwilliam. This time her mother threatened to disown her; her new squeeze was divorced. Kick flew to France, in 1948, to plead her case with her father and died in a plane crash.
“Aren’t you afraid of getting caught?” we asked Colm. “The Duke doesn’t have to know I’m out there. And I don’t take many fish; he won’t miss them. “And I did get caught. Once. I got home and there were two gardai (policemen) waiting for me. “But they didn’t know anything about the fishing rights. I told them I have a special license that gave me the right to fish out in the ocean or in the river. It was not exactly true... but who really wants to look out for the Duke of Devonshire’s fish? I invited them in. We had a drink. Then, they left. That’s how you settle problems in Ireland." (The Hutchs and the Kinahans should have thought of that.)
“But now, with your new neighbor [billionaire James Dyson bought the property next door], everything has changed. He has a security team. They drive around and keep everybody out. I can still come up the river, but I can’t come the way I used to... from the river bank. And over there (Colm pointed to the old abbey that has been in ruins since the ninth century), he even tried to prevent people from going to look at it. But that is sacred here in Ireland. No Englishman is going to come in here now and keep us from going there. Even if it is on his land.
They had closed the gates and told everyone they couldn’t come in. But then the security team got a visit from some old IRA guys. I guess they made it clear that if Dyson didn’t want his new house burned down, he would open up the gates. They were opened the next day.” Stay tuned."
Gregory Mannarino, "It Has Begun! And The Effect Of This Is Going To Be Widespread And Dramatic"
"It's a Big Club, and you ain't in it.
You and I are not in the Big Club."
- George Carlin
Your guide:
Gregory Mannarino, 6/5/24
"It Has Begun! And The Effect Of This Is
Going To Be Widespread And Dramatic"
Comments here:
"Little By Little, The Economy Has Declined To A Point Where Almost Everyone Is Struggling"
"Little By Little, The Economy Has Declined
To A Point Where Almost Everyone Is Struggling"
by Michael Snyder
"It happened so gradually that a lot of people didn’t even realize what was happening. The cost of living just kept rising faster than paychecks were, and little by little our standard of living just kept going down. Now we have reached a stage where the ultra-wealthy are thriving but almost everyone else is struggling. For most people, it is a real fight just to pay the bills from month to month. The majority of the population is deep in debt, and meanwhile the cost of just about everything is going up and up. Millions of Americans feel like they are drowning financially, and there is no easy way out. Sadly, many of them don’t even realize that the game was designed to get them on to a hamster wheel and keep them running for as long as possible.
When I was a kid, the United States had a very large and very prosperous middle class. Life certainly wasn’t perfect in those days, but just about everyone that I knew could afford to live a comfortable middle class lifestyle. Sadly, now everything has changed.
According to a survey that was just conducted by Seven Letter Insight, 65 percent of Americans “who earn more than 200% of the federal poverty level” admit that they are struggling financially…"In the large poll of 2,500 adults, 65% of people who earn more than 200% of the federal poverty level - that’s at least $60,000 for a family of four, often considered middle class - said they are struggling financially.
If 65 percent of those that “earn more than 200% of the federal poverty level” are struggling, what about those that earn less than that? Needless to say, almost all of them are struggling.
That same survey discovered that 46 percent of Americans don’t even have 500 dollars saved up…"About 40% of respondents were unable to plan beyond their next paycheck, and 46% didn’t have $500 saved. The February poll found that more than half said it’s at least somewhat difficult to manage current levels of debt."
Over the past couple of years, the stock market has been “booming” and the ultra-wealthy have been getting richer and richer. But things have been getting worse for virtually all the rest of us. According to Zillow, over the past four years “the monthly mortgage payment on a typical U.S. home has nearly doubled”…"The real estate firm Zillow reports that since January 2020, the monthly mortgage payment on a typical U.S. home has nearly doubled. It’s up 96% in just four years. According to Zillow, a typical buyer will now pay nearly $2,200 a month, with a 10% down payment. Meaning, homeownership now costs well above the 30% of median income that was once thought to equate to “affordable” housing cost in America."
Has your income doubled over the past four years? If not, you are falling behind. The American people absolutely hate what is being done to their standard of living. In fact, during a recent interview Neel Kashkari astutely observed that Americans “really, viscerally hate high inflation”…"Neel Kashkari, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, says one of the things he has learned in the past few years is that consumers would rather see the economy fall into a recession than to continue to suffer the pain of soaring prices."
“The American people – and maybe people in Europe, equally – really hate high inflation,” Kashkari told the Financial Times podcast “The Economics Show with Soumaya Keynes” last week. “I mean, really, viscerally hate high inflation.”
He is right. I really detest inflation. I am sure that you do too. But what he didn’t mention is that the Federal Reserve and our politicians in Washington are responsible for creating the epic cost of living crisis that we are currently facing. They caused this mess, and now they don’t seem to have any solutions for cleaning it up. Meanwhile, economic activity just continues to slow down.
On Tuesday, we learned that the number of job openings in the U.S. has fallen to the lowest level in more than 3 years…"Job openings fell more than forecast in April, signaling a potential weakening in the labor market that could provide the Federal Reserve with more impetus to start lowering interest rates. The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey released Tuesday showed that the level of employment vacancies slipped to 8.06 million for the month, down by nearly 300,000 from March and close to 19% lower than a year ago."
Moreover, the total marked the lowest since February 2021. And more workers are being dumped into the streets with each passing day. For example, Rubio’s Coastal Grill just announced that it will be permanently closing 48 locations in the state of California…"California’s $20-an-hour fast food minimum wage has its first casualty. Mexican chain Rubio’s Coastal Grill is shuttering 48 restaurants in the state – because of the ‘rising cost of doing business in California’. ‘While painful, the store closures are a necessary step in our strategic long-term plan to position Rubio’s for success for years to come,’ a Rubio’s spokesperson added."
As this year rolls along, we will see a lot more stories like this. For a long time, our leaders were able to keep the party going by flooding the system with money. But now inflation is out of control and we have reached the terminal phase of the “greatest credit bubble in human history”…"Mark Spitznagel, chief investment officer of Universa Investments, is known for being a “permabear” when it comes to the stock market outlook. Spitznagel told Bloomberg in an earlier interview that we’re witnessing the “greatest credit bubble in human history.” “Credit bubbles end. They pop. There’s no way to stop them from popping,” he said, adding that the Fed has brought the economy to a place “where there’s no turning back.”
Spitznagel is right on target. There really is no turning back now. Our leaders have wrecked the greatest economic machine in the history of the world. What is ahead of us is a tremendous amount of pain. So if you think that things are bad now, just wait until you see what is coming next. For years, little by little our standard of living has been collapsing. But now we are entering a time when our economic slide will become an economic avalanche. Decades of absolutely disastrous decisions have brought us to this point, and now we shall truly reap what we have sown."
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"Are You Prepared for the 2024 Economic Collapse?"
Full screen recommended.
Clayton Morris, 6/5/24
"Are You Prepared for the 2024 Economic Collapse?"
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Canadian Prepper, "Alert! US Deploying 300K Troops To Europe! Russia's Nuclear Line Crossed; Attacks On Russia Begin"
Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 6/5/24
"Alert! US Deploying 300K Troops To Europe!
Russia's Nuclear Line Crossed; Attacks On Russia Begin"
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"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..."
Dan, I Allegedly, "It’s Going to be a Cool Summer - Economic Freeze"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, AM 6/5/24
"It’s Going to be a Cool Summer - Economic Freeze"
"Experts agree. The economy is slowing down. it’s going to be a cool summer. The Bureau of Economic Analysis is seeing a slowdown in the U.S. economy, with inflation wreaking havoc on families. People are cutting back on expenses, and the ripple effects are visible everywhere—from empty tourist spots to plummeting housing markets."
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Adventures With Danno, "Food Items At Dollar Tree Everyone Should Have!"
Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 6/5/24
"Food Items At Dollar Tree Everyone Should Have!"
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Full screen recommended.
Travelling with Russell, 6/5/24
"Russian Typical Luxury Supermarket:
Would You Shop Here?"
"Take a tour with me of a Russian Luxury Supermarket in Moscow, Russia. Azbuka Vkusa has more than 150 stores in Russia. All of which sell luxury, imported and locally made products. Would you shops in Azbuka vkusa based the quality or the price."
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Travelling with Russell, "I Went to Russia's Largest Shopping Mall: AviaPark"
Full screen recommended.
Travelling with Russell, 4/23/23
"I Went to Russia's Largest Shopping Mall: AviaPark"
"Take a walk inside Russia's largest shopping mall. Aviapark Shopping Centre has over 500 shops spread over 4 levels. What does Aviapark look like in Moscow, Russia? How does it feel inside, what is the mood like on a spring afternoon in Moscow?"
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And how's the mall near you, Good Citizen?
Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Judge Napolitano, "Scott Ritter: On My Way to Russia I Met Big Brother"
Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 6/4/24
"Scott Ritter: On My Way to Russia I Met Big Brother"
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Gerald Celente, "Bullshit Biden's Rafah Red Line Is A Red Carpet For Netanyahu"
Strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, 6/4/24
"Bullshit Biden's Rafah Red Line
Is A Red Carpet For Netanyahu"
"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."
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"Richard Dawkins on the Luckiness of Death"
"Richard Dawkins on the Luckiness of Death"
by Maria Popova
"We are born into the certitude of our eventual death. Every once in a while, something - perhaps an encounter with a robin’s egg, perhaps a poem - staggers us with the awful, awe-filled wonder of aliveness, the sheer luck of it against the overwhelming cosmic odds of nonexistence. But alloyed with the awe is always the half-conscious grief that one day the light of consciousness will be extinguished. It is a heavy gift to hold, this doomed delirium of aliveness. It is also a buoyant gladness, if we are limber enough to stretch into the cosmic perspective that does not come naturally to us small, Earth-bound bipeds corticed with tender self-importance.
Consider this. For each of us, one thing is true: Had any one variable been ever so subtly different - had your parents mated on a different day or at a different altitude, had the early universe cooled a fraction of a second faster after the Big Bang, you would not exist as the particular constellation of atoms configuring the particular consciousness that makes you you. Because chance plays such dice with the universe, and because the die dictates that the vast majority of energy and matter never had the luck of cohering into this doomed delirium of aliveness, it is, in some profound and practical sense, a staggering privilege to die - one that betokens the privilege of having lived. To lament death, then, is to lament our luck, for any negation of the possibility of death is a negation of the improbable miracle of life, a wish for there to be nothing to do the dying - nothing to have partaken of the beautiful, bittersweet temporality of aliveness.
It is easier to bend the intuitive mind into this correct but counterintuitive perspective while walking in a cemetery at the height of summer. Doing this very thing while thinking these very thoughts, I was reminded of a passage from one of the most lucid and lens-clearing books written this side of Darwin - "Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder" (public library) by the visionary and often controversial (which is the social fate of every visionary) British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.
A civilization after Marcus Aurelius celebrated mortality as the key to living fully, half a millennium after Montaigne observed that “to lament that we shall not be alive a hundred years hence, is the same folly as to be sorry we were not alive a hundred years ago,” and a scientific epoch after Darwin contemplated the meaning of mortality in the wake of his beloved daughter’s death, Dawkins writes:
"We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Arabia. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here. We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds, how dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state from which the vast majority have never stirred?"
Complement with astronomer and poet Rebecca Elson’s exquisite “Antidotes to Fear of Death,” Nick Cave on grief as a portal to aliveness, and Christopher Hitchens on how to live with our mortality, then revisit the science of how alive you really are, examined through the curious lens of trees and Alan Turing."
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