"Why do we laugh at such terrible things? Because comedy
is often the sarcastic realization of inescapable tragedy."
- Bryant H. McGill
So, we rise from the rubble...
Wednesday, November 4, 2020
"Market Fantasy Updates 11/4/20"
"Market Fantasy Updates 11/4/20"
Down the rabbit hole of psychopathic greed and insanity...
Only the consequences are real - to you!
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"The more I see of the monied classes,
the better I understand the guillotine."
- George Bernard Shaw
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Gregory Mannarino,
AM 11/4/20:
"Markets: NO LANDSLIDE VICTORY FOR ANYONE.
Keep Your Eyes On The Debt Market!"
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Updated live.
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Daily Update (Nov. 4th to 5th)
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Insanity...
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And now... The End Game...
"Covid-19 Pandemic Updates 11/4/20"
by David Leonhardt
Nov. 4, 2020 2:47 AM ET:
The coronavirus pandemic has sickened more than 47,546,500
people, according to official counts, including 9,468,772 Americans.
Nov. 4, 2020 2:47 AM ET:
Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count◆
NOV 4, 2020 10:57 AM: "Global COVID-19 Cases Decline As German Spread Slows; UK Braces For More Restrictions: Live Updates"
NOV 4, 2020 3:30 AM: "Sweden: A Beacon Of Light Against A World Gone Mad"
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Updated 11/4/20, 5:24 AM ET
Click image for larger size.
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A "Must Read":
"Restaurant Apocalypse Getting Worse: 40 Percent Of US Restaurants Could Close By The End Of The Year"
"Restaurant Apocalypse Getting Worse: 40 Percent Of US
Restaurants Could Close By The End Of The Year"
by Epic Economist
"A new wave of government-mandated lockdown restrictions is decimating the restaurant sector - by far the most affected by the current economic meltdown. The new constraints are either limiting their functioning or pushing those that have been struggling to stay afloat straight into bankruptcy. changing the landscape of the American hospitality industry for good, which has been registering record-high permanent closures and prompted a massive wave of lay-offs, with far more to come as the winter approaches.
In this video, we discuss how the recent mandatory restrains are fueling the U.S. restaurant apocalypse, and profoundly damaging the labor market. Bars and restaurants are having to face yet another obstacle with the new wave of operational restrictions. Those that haven’t closed have been doing curbside service only, or have drastically altered their layout to make their spaces safer.
The restaurant sector, which is the second-largest private-sector employer in the U.S., is experiencing losses estimated at $240 billion by the end of the year. It was the first industry to close and we will be the last to recover from the current economic collapse.
More than 25,000 restaurant closures were already registered, which over 15,000 restaurants were permanently gone. Projections point that an additional 60,000 permanent closures in the independent restaurant sector alone could be seen by the end of the year, and by 2021 over 10% of restaurants might be erased from the industry.
A survey found that 40 percent of operators aren't sure they'll make it six more months. That means one in six restaurants, which represents nearly 100,000 locations, will be closed either permanently or long-term, while almost 3 million restaurant employees are still out of work.
The sector recorded the highest rates of closures, even surpassing retail shutdowns. Restaurants are losing money every month, and they continue to struggle to serve their communities and support their employees. Nearly 64 percent of urban residents revealed to have witnessed permanent closures in their hometowns, in suburban areas 56 percent of the respondents noted local restaurant closings. Even in rural areas, the number of interviewees who have seen a change in the local restaurant landscape was high, marking 44 percent.
As fall and winter approach, restaurants that are still open will face even greater challenges as customer traffic declines. The foodservice industry has pumped more than $2 trillion into the economy right up until its sudden shutdown, but ever since the government-mandated shutdowns took place, the foodservice industry forfeited $165 billion in revenue.
Meanwhile, another surge in cases has led some states to reinforce tighter restrictions on dining. Indoor dining is once again banned at Chicago restaurants. According to the new rules, all bar service should end at 11:00 p.m, all bar patrons should be seated at tables outside; ordering, seating, or congregating at a bar is no longer allowed and bar stools should be removed; all tables should be 6 feet apart and people cannot stand together indoors or outdoors while waiting for a table or exiting. Customers are prohibited to even dance or stand indoors.
While loans given to restaurant owners through the PPP have run out, their laid-off employees have been left waiting for further federal assistance, and September’s unemployment rate of 7.9% shows that many consumers don’t have a dime to spare for dining out.
Many restaurants that have relied on patio dining are about to face extra hardships as the cold weather season is right at the corner. But even in states known for their cozy temperatures, due to the lack of enhanced stimulus relief, many restaurants are still expected to go down.
Considering the hospitality industry is not only one of the foundations of the American economy, as it has a major impact on the global economic scenery, such a substantial spike in restaurant closures will be felt for years in our economy."
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
"Election Disaster: Half the Nation Mourns And the Whole Nation Loses"
"Election Disaster: Half the Nation Mourns And the Whole Nation Loses"
Chris Martenson, Peak Prosperity
"It’s War!"
"It’s War!"
by Brian Maher
“We don’t pay much attention to politics… or presidents,” our fearless leader Addison Wiggin likes to write. “In fact,” continues Addison, “this is the time of year we urge readers not to vote at all. ‘Why encourage the bastards?’ the saying goes.” Indeed, why “encourage the bastards?”
Today of course is Election Day. We are told this is the most critical election since the election of 1860. The very future of the republic dangles in the balance… by a fraying thread. One opinion poll yields the following information: 55% of Americans believe today will be “the most stress-filled day of their lives.” As we have written before: It appears some critical hinge, somewhere deep within the national psyche, has abruptly given way…
Never has the electorate been so starkly divided, we are further told. On the right hand we have red state America. On the left hand, blue state America. These two Americas stand not shoulder to shoulder - but face to face. Blood fills every eye… and hatred every heart.
The president’s foes seethe in a state of unconquerable rage, a white-hot hatred. A modern Nero, they insist he is at once the fuel and the fire torching American democracy. He was, is and will forever be unfit for the high office he somehow holds (the Russians!). Bankrupt in character, bankrupt in speech, bankrupt in policy… the nation cannot endure another four years under his atrocities. The national nightmare must end today - and all traces of “Trumpism” with it. When you extinguish a fire, after all, can you allow a single smouldering ember behind? Here we have the one America.
In the other America we find the president’s loyal armies… To them President Trump holds the last trenchline of American civilization. Should he lose, should the line collapse, the enemy’s flags will soon be waving above the capital, their victory complete. The Democratic Party has trussed up Joe Biden and wheeled him out before the American people as a safe and moderate alternative - a Trojan horse to deceive the electorate. That is, the president’s boosters insist Mr. Biden is a mere place-holder, a seat-warmer who will soon make way.
His diminished intellectual capacities will prevent him from completing his term. Once safely behind the city gates, Ms. Kamala Harris and a herd of radicals and berserkers will come bursting forth from the Trojan contraption. Cultural, political and economic vandals, they would wage ferocious and ceaseless warfare upon America as it has existed. They would rewrite its history books, dynamite Mt. Rushmore, rename the Washington and Jefferson monuments…
They would pack the Supreme Court to wash away the present balance (6-3, “conservative”). They would confer statehood upon Washington, DC and the territory of Puerto Rico… thus adding four reliable Democratic senators to Congress. They will shutter the Electoral College - in effect closing out the possibility of a future Republican president. That is, they would have the nation safely under lock and key.
Economically, they would tear through the nation’s finances as a bull tears through china. They would shoulder through Congress a Green New Deal, for example. And green it would be. Its drummers would spend $10 trillion per year on it —- roughly half of 2019 GDP. They would likewise have a go at Medicare for All, “free” college education, a $15 minimum wage… and other rich sweets. They would further throw open the nation’s borders to the world’s teeming and desperate hordes.
Gone would be the American Republic. In its place would stand a Tower of Babel; multicultural, polyglot, hopelessly fractured. This is America’s future should Joe Biden win this evening’s election, we are warned.
Thus we find blue state America and red state America at each other’s throats. Who will win? Who will lose? Will either accept the outcome of a contested election? We have no answers, of course. As a true-blue, red-blooded American patriot, we certainly hope for the best possible outcome. Who would you like to see win - the incumbent or the challenger? And why? Let us know: feedback@dailyreckoning.com
Regardless of the victor, of this we are confident: Under both parties the nation’s finances will run to seed. Deficits will mount. Debt will snowball. Growth will stagnate. We concede, the two parties are different. They are not “both the same.” One party will drive the nation over a cliff doing 90. The other will drive it over the cliff doing 70. Now please, please, get out and vote. Your vote matters!"
"The Coming Economic Storm 2021; Financial Super Bubble; Main St. Destroyed By Wall St."
Jeremiah Babe,
"The Coming Economic Storm 2021; Financial Super Bubble;
Main St. Destroyed By Wall St."
"The Most Beautiful Lies..."
"Memories and feelings of nostalgia are nothing more than cruelties; they are the most beautiful lies we will ever convince ourselves to believe. We chase the false hope so fiercely that we nearly push ourselves past the edges of our sanity, longing for that which can never be in our possession again. These edges are blurred by our regrets and desperation all throughout the darkest hours of the night, until finally we are set free from the illusions and the ghosts of our past with the rising of the sun... and we are changed in some small, yet permanent way."
- Margaret E. Rise
"Our Imperial Presidency"
"Our Imperial Presidency"
by Charles Hugh Smith
"While elections and party politics generate the emotions and headlines, the truly consequential change in American governance has been the ascendancy of the Imperial Presidency over the past 75 years, since the end of World War II.
As commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the Constitution grants the President extraordinary but temporary powers in wartime. With the power to declare war granted solely to Congress, this dangerous (in the Founders' view) expansion of Executive power was tolerated because it was temporary and necessary in the fast-moving emergency of war. Congress has declared war a total of five times, while U.S. armed forces have been deployed in conflicts 300 times. So in 295 conflicts out of 300, the president had sole discretion. Various stamps of Congressional approval of these wartime powers have been given over the decades, but these are more for show than actual limits on presidential powers.
The extraordinary powers granted to President Roosevelt in World War II did not expire at the end of the war. Rather, the powers of the presidency expanded along with the National Security agencies which rose to unprecedented power in the Cold War era of 1945 - 1991. The entire alphabet soup of the National Security State - CIA, NSA, DIA, etc. - serve the president, not Congress, which has been relegated the role of toothless oversight.
Historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.'s 1973 book, "The Imperial Presidency", introduced the term Imperial Presidency into the American lexicon. While historians have documented the rise of Executive power at the expense of the legislative branch and pundits have wrung their hands over this concentration of vast, often secret power in the presidency, nobody within the status quo has addressed the core reason behind the rise of the Imperial Presidency: America's Empire requires a CEO/Emperor as a simple operational reality.
You can't run a global military/commercial/diplomatic empire with a slow-moving legislative body; you need a dynamic CEO (chief executive officer) with essentially unlimited powers to do whatever it takes to run the empire. Empires need an emperor, and this is the history of post-WW2 America. As the victor, the U.S. emerged with a global reach and power that can only be described as imperial. While the USSR soon gained military parity with nuclear weapons and vast tank armies aimed at Western Europe, the commercial empire was solely American.
While some cheered America's global empire and others shouldered it as a necessary Cold war burden, the status quo relished the immense expansion of centralized bureaucratic and executive powers.
An Imperial President requires the Imperial machinery of global hegemony, and so the National Security State replaced the elected government as the real power. For a peek behind the curtain of the Imperial Presidency's powers, please read "The Enemies Briefcase: Secret Powers and the Presidency." (via Cheryl A.)
The last time the U.S. Congress pushed back against the Imperial Presidency and Security Agencies was 45 years ago, in 1975. In response to the domestic over-reach of the ImperialPresidency (Watergate) and the security agencies (COINTELPRO, etc.), the Church Committee undertook the first comprehensive review of the presidency's expansive secret powers and the secret powers wielded by the National Security State.
The domestic abuses of power by the FBI and CIA included the blatantly illegal COINTELPRO programs aimed at destroying the anti-war / civil rights movements in the 1960s and early 1970s. We know from the Church Committee reports that the FBI and CIA broke numerous federal laws and violated every constitutional limit on their powers as a matter of daily policy. The abuses of power were not the work of rogue agents or even rogue agencies; the abuses were SOP (standard operating procedures) for the Imperial machinery of the presidency and the security agencies that served the essentially unlimited power of the Imperial presidency.
For more on COINTELPRO, please read "War at Home: Covert Action Against U.S. activists And What We Can Do About It" and/or "Cointelpro: The FBI's Secret War on Political Freedom."
Empires arise, evolve and collapse just like nations. Edward Luttwak's insightful book "The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire: From the First Century CE to the Third" outlines the three stages of Empire. Luttwak describes the first stage of expansion thusly:
"With brutal simplicity, it might be said that with the first system the Romans of the republic conquered much to serve the interests of the few, those living in the city - and in fact still fewer, those best placed to control policy."
The second stage spread the benefits of Empire much more broadly: "During the first century A.D., Roman ideas evolved toward a much broader and altogether more benevolent conception of empire... men born in lands far from Rome could call themselves Roman and have their claim fully allowed, and the frontiers were efficiently defended to defend the growing prosperity of all, and not merely the privileged."
The third stage is one of rising inequality: "In the wake of the great crisis of the third century, the provision of security became an increasingly heavy charge on society, a charge unevenly distributed, which could enrich the wealthy and ruin the poor. The machinery of empire now became increasingly self-serving, with its tax collectors, administrators and soldiers of much greater use to one another than to society at large."
That line describes the American state and central bank (the Federal Reserve) perfectly. As the Imperial Presidency's powers have expanded to the top of the S-Curve, so too has self-serving greed supported by everyday abuses of power reached new heights.
Who's benefited mightily from Imperial over-reach? As the chart below indicates, the top 1% of America's power elite has benefited to a degree that's unmatched around the world. The military-industrial sector has prospered (see chart below) as have the agencies of the National Security State. As for the bottom 99%: suck it up, debt-serfs and tax donkeys: yours is not to make a reply or reason why, yours is to do and die.
Click images for larger size.
Regardless of who holds the office, America's Imperial Project and its Imperial Presidency are due for a grand reckoning. Empires require an emperor, and perhaps America will finally tire of its self-serving Empire and its Imperial Presidency."
"LIVE - Multi-Cam Election Day 'Peaceful Protest' Feed"
"LIVE - Multi-Cam Election Day 'Peaceful Protest' Feed"
by IWB
Full screen mode recommended.
"77% Of Americans Think Violence Will Break Out After The Election"
"77% Of Americans Think Violence Will Break Out After The Election"
by Paul Joseph Watson
"A final poll of American voters has found that no less than 77% think violence will break out after today’s presidential election. According to the Yahoo News/YouGov survey, 51% of voters think Trump will refuse to concede if he loses the election while 77% “worry that violence will break out in the coming days.”
Both sides are almost even when it comes to judging the reaction to either candidate winning. 59% of Trump supporters believe that if Trump loses it will be because “Democrats rigged the election,” while 58% of Biden supporters believe if the former Vice President loses it will be because “Republicans stole the election.” With that kind of sentiment being so dominant, it’s almost impossible that there won’t be some form of disorder in the days following the vote. Meanwhile, just 22% of registered voters expect to know the result on election night while only 28% believe the election will be “free and fair”.
As we highlighted yesterday, stores, restaurants and banks in major cities across the country are being boarded up in anticipation of major unrest. However, should Trump lose and accept defeat, it won’t be Trump supporters rioting given what has unfolded over the last 5 months.
Gun stores across the country are also being cleaned out by new buyers who are afraid of major social dislocation, while Walmart has also removed firearms and ammunition from its shelves entirely."
"From Coast To Coast, Cities All Across America Are Bracing For Complete And Utter Chaos"
"From Coast To Coast, Cities All Across America
Are Bracing For Complete And Utter Chaos"
by Michael Snyder
"What we are experiencing at this moment is being referred to as “the calm before the storm”. All over the country, businesses are temporarily shutting down, stores are being boarded up and National Guard troops are being deployed. There has never been a presidential election like this in modern American history, and most Americans are anticipating some sort of nightmare scenario. In fact, the final Yahoo News/YouGov poll of the 2020 campaign found that a whopping 77 percent of all voters expect that “violence will break out” after the election… "Yet most voters (51 percent) also expect Trump to refuse to concede if he loses the election - and more than three-quarters (77 percent) worry that violence will break out in the coming days."
How did it come to this? When I was growing up, I never even considered the possibility that there would be violence after an election. That was the sort of thing that happened in uncivilized areas of the world, and it was inconceivable that there would be rioting, looting and widespread chaos after one of our peaceful elections. But now look at how far we have fallen. Everyone knows that violence is probably coming, and preparations are being made for it from coast to coast.
In Washington D.C., authorities are expecting vast numbers of protesters, and a “no climb” fence will be put up around the entire White House complex: "With Election Day preparations in full swing across the country, the White House will have a “no climb” fence installed this week around the entire complex, a law enforcement source told Fox News on Monday."
In other major cities, entire city blocks are being boarded up with plywood in anticipation of widespread violence: "Businesses across America are boarding up their windows ahead of potential chaos following tomorrow’s election as special police units prepare to tackle looters and rioters and foreign governments warn people not to visit the US for fear of civil unrest.
In cities all over the country on Monday, retailers, offices and art galleries were putting plywood on their windows to protect their inventory ahead of tomorrow night’s election and the mayhem it might spark, no matter which candidate wins. Some of the retail chains that have announced that they are boarding up stores include Tiffany, Saks Fifth Avenue, CVS, Target and Macy’s."
There are still some retailers that have chosen not to board up their stores, and that is a huge mistake. During past riots, looters have largely bypassed the stores that were boarded up and hit those that were unprotected instead. And once looters start rampaging through a store, the losses can be catastrophic. Just check out what looters did to one Walmart in Philadelphia a few days ago.
Yes, it can cost a lot of money to board up a store. According to one expert, the price tag can run as high as $31,000: Tom Buiocchi, CEO of ServiceChannel, an online platform that connects retailers with local contractors, said 750 stores have requested orders on the platform to board up their windows around the country since October 27, with the most in California, New York and Illinois. The cost to board up stores has ranged from $124 to $31,000, depending on the size, according to Buiocchi."
So it is not normally something that you would want to do, but these are not normal times. And it is interesting that Buiocchi says that the most requests are coming from “California, New York and Illinois”. Needless to say, stores in those states are not boarding up their windows because they are afraid of Trump voters. If the results of the presidential election are contested, or if Trump ends up winning, many believe that we could witness a temper tantrum on the left that would be absolutely unprecedented.
We all remember the riots that erupted in the aftermath of the tragic death of George Floyd earlier this year, and now law enforcement authorities all over the nation are bracing for another round. For example, we are being told that the NYPD’s elite Strategic Response Group is preparing “for the worst”: "Despite Mayor Bill de Blasio claiming on Monday morning that there was no specific threat, the NYPD’s elite Strategic Response Group – which consists of a group of 600 cops on bikes – is preparing ‘for the worst’. “We’re hoping for the best this week but we’re prepared for the worst. People have gotten emboldened out there.” There have been rumors that Trump Tower could potentially be a target, and so hopefully officials in New York are aware of this threat and are ready to respond rapidly.
Elsewhere, thousands of National Guard troops have already been deployed all over the United States. In fact, the Army Times is reporting that at least 3,671 troops have been deployed so far: "At least 3,671 Guard troops have been committed to the effort. The size of the authorized deployments ranges from 1,000 in Texas and Massachusetts to a single soldier in Wyoming. Some states are yet to determine how many troops will be activated, and many states have merely alerted selected units in anticipation of possible post-election unrest. All of the troops currently activated are on state orders and are under the control of their respective governors."
Sadly, I expect that number to grow much higher in the coming days. Unless a Biden victory is declared on election night, there will be violence. And the longer we have to wait for a winner to be finally declared, the worse the violence will become. In the end, if Trump is ultimately declared to be the winner, many on the left will be absolutely convinced that the election was stolen from them and we could potentially see months of violence.
I wish that this wasn’t true. I wish that all Americans could understand that violence is not going to accomplish anything. But we have already seen horrific rioting, looting and violence all over the country throughout 2020, and everyone knows that this election could possibly be the spark that takes things to an entirely new level. In just a matter of hours, what we are potentially facing should become a lot clearer. Let us hope for the best, but let us also prepare for the worst."
Gregory Mannarino AM 11/3/20: "Stocks Set For Sharply Higher Open, Updates"
Gregory Mannarino,
AM 11/3/20: "Stocks Set For Sharply Higher Open, Updates"
Monday, November 2, 2020
The Poet: Charles Dickens, “Things That Never Die”
“Things That Never Die”
“The pure, the bright, the beautiful
that stirred our hearts in youth,
The impulses to wordless prayer,
The streams of love and truth,
The longing after something lost,
The spirit’s longing cry,
The striving after better hopes -
These things can never die.
The timid hand stretched forth to aid
A brother in his need;
A kindly word in grief’s dark hour
That proves a friend indeed;
The plea for mercy softly breathed,
When justice threatens high,
The sorrow of a contrite heart -
These things shall never die.
Let nothing pass, for every hand
Must find some work to do,
Lose not a chance to waken love -
Be firm and just and true.
So shall a light that cannot fade
Beam on thee from on high,
And angel voices say to thee -
‘These things shall never die.’”
- Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
"Reflect On What Happens..."
“Reflect on what happens when a terrible winter blizzard strikes. You hear the weather warning but probably fail to act on it. The sky darkens. Then the storm hits with full fury, and the air is a howling whiteness. One by one, your links to the machine age break down. Electricity flickers out, cutting off the TV. Batteries fade, cutting off the radio. Phones go dead. Roads become impassible, and cars get stuck. Food supplies dwindle. Day to day vestiges of modern civilization – bank machines, mutual funds, mass retailers, computers, satellites, airplanes, governments – all recede into irrelevance.
Picture yourself and your loved ones in the midst of a howling blizzard that lasts several years. Think about what you would need, who could help you, and why your fate might matter to anybody other than yourself. That is how to plan for a saecular winter. Don’t think you can escape the Fourth Turning. History warns that a Crisis will reshape the basic social and economic environment that you now take for granted.”
– Strauss & Howe, “The Fourth Turning”
"What To Remember While Holding Your Breath"
"What To Remember While Holding Your Breath"
by Paul Rosenberg
"Much of the world is holding its breath, waiting for the outcome of tomorrow’s US election. And even though I see politics as the sad relic of the Bronze Age, this election may have some serious consequences, and so I think it’s worth a few brief comments.
My first concern is simply that all my readers stay safe. In all likelihood there will be violence following this one. If Mr. Trump wins, the street troops of the left will do what they’ve been doing this year, and perhaps more so. They are, after all, facing a dead end. If their perennial strongholds (NY, NJ, IL, CA and others) aren’t massively bailed out, and fast, their political machines will collapse.
I don’t expect very much violence immediately following a Biden win. Granted, there could be some (there are always a few actual crazies around, and I do tend to be optimistic), but I’ve never known disappointed conservatives to riot, and the militia guys tend to head to a sheriff’s department, seeking to be deputized. The threat of violence from the right would be if the Blues are seen to steal the election. If that happens clearly enough, all bets are off. (My preference, of course, would be for good people to drop out of the status quo, and to use their energies building something better and less corruptible.) All that said, caution is warranted.
The People Who Really Matter: Now, with that note behind us, I’d like you to remember that the people who have the ultimate say in what happens in the world are the productives… the people who build, grow, repair and invent everything. The political class merely takes what they produce, lives high off of it, and plays at being powerful with it.
The producers of the world have been frightened, seduced, deceived and bullied into compliance with the political class, but it needn’t be that way and if fact will not always be that way. Furthermore, these organizations aren’t nearly as omnipotent as people believe. The current propaganda stream, interestingly enough, features the elites of the European Union bandying about plans for a Great Reset and a Fourth Industrial Revolution. By doing this, they are admitting that their existing system will not last. Otherwise they wouldn’t need to sell people on something new.
Whatever comes out of this election, our goal is to make the producers of the world understand that they don’t need the political class. We can arrange our own affairs just fine without their glorious wisdom (cough, cough). We can also toughen up emotionally and cease being terrified by every imaginary fear that comes down the road.
What To Remember: That’s really about all I have to say today. I’ll conclude with a quote from Buckminster Fuller. Please try to keep this passage in mind as the breathless election results come in, followed by highly-emotional commentary. This is how things really are: "If you take all the machinery in the world and dump it in the ocean, within months more than half of all humanity will die and within another six months they’d almost all be gone; if you took all the politicians in the world, put them in a rocket, and sent them to the moon, everyone would get along fine."
Stay safe and remember that politics is all about subverting you emotionally and then reaping your production. The rest are details."
"Watch: National Guard Troops Arrive In Multiple US Cities Ahead Of Election Night Chaos"
"Watch: National Guard Troops Arrive In
Multiple US Cities Ahead Of Election Night Chaos"
by Tyler Durden
"In preparation for any emergencies, including widespread social unrest following election results on Tuesday night, the National Guard has been deployed in several states. Fears of election night chaos have gripped state governments for the last month, forcing Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts on Monday to "activate" 1,000 Massachusetts National Guard members. And in Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown, for the second time in two months, declared a state of emergency for the Portland metro area, citing potential social unrest surrounding the election.
Governors have also mobilized Guard forces in Texas, Alabama, and Arizona to major cities in their respective states in anticipation of violence. Last week, the Pennsylvania National Guard was deployed to the Philadelphia metro area amid a couple of nights of social unrest following the police killing of a black man. Guard troops have been since positioned to handle potential unrest come Tuesday night.
According to NBC sources, at the White House, beginning tomorrow, a "non-scalable" fence will be erected around the complex with 250 Guard troops on standby. As of Monday afternoon, Guard troops have been spotted in several cities, preparing for Tuesday night."
Full article is here:
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Related:
"A New World Monetary Order Is Coming! Be Ready For Global Currency Reset"
"A New World Monetary Order Is Coming!
Be Ready For Global Currency Reset"
by Epic Economist
"Digital dollars are coming, and financial strategists are highlighting this could be the opportunity central banks needed to generate a new world monetary order and finally trigger the global currency Reset. In this video, we expose how the Fed’s alleged good intentions may be masking a huge spike in inflation that will not only collapse the paper dollar as it will severely damage the American standard of living.
The exponential rise of debt, the increasing dependency on the government, and the expansion of central bank interventions into markets and the economy are some of the most problematic tendencies that were boosted in the current economic collapse. Now central bankers seem to be ready for their greatest power move ever. The Federal Reserve is about to launch Central Bank Digital Currency, as the International Monetary Fund has called out for a new “Bretton Woods Moment”.
Throughout the current crisis, the Fed got rid of its regulatory dual mandate of full employment and steady prices and given itself unrestricted powers to inject stimulus and bailout cash whenever it's convenient. The Fed has been openly engaging in an inflation-raising campaign aiming to generate 2% annual inflation for an undefined period. The next step is the creation of a central bank digital currency, dubbed as “FedCoin”.
Even though authorities endorsement of the digital dollars might seem to be driven by generous intentions, whenever bankers and politicians give grand statements about a controversial matter, especially one that could supposedly provide so many solutions for current issues, they usually hide the fact that some freedoms might be at stake.
In simple terms, CBDCs can simply enforce negative interest rates for everyone. The Fed would be able to deduct interest from your digital wallet. And due to its ability to make direct payments, CBDCs would allow central banks to bypass the entire banking system, making it obsolete which, consequently, could spark a major banking crisis and exacerbate financial chaos in the markets.
CBDCs are the perfect cue to fully implement modern monetary theory. As a result, the central bank would become a tax collector and funder of all government operations, circumventing your local fiscal system and taking money directly from your wallet. The appeal of CBDCs is mainly linked to the introduction of Universal basic income (UBI), which is part of a government program that would provide free money to every adult on a regular basis.
But, of course, all of this generosity wouldn't come without a catch. UBI is a synonym for more money printing, and therefore, to huge rates of inflation. And since inflation is a hidden tax, people wouldn't be aware of the deterioration of their purchasing power and standard of living until it was too late.
On top of that, if the debasement of the paper currency through the inflation tax isn't enough to hit the Fed's inflation target of 2%, the central bank could also create an additional tax to dollar-holders in the form of negative interest rates.
Since people will only be able to spend the CBDCs using the digital app on their phones. This means the government will monitor, track, and record every single transaction you make. Through the CBDC, central banks would have the power to approve or deny any of your transactions.
Taking into account that all dollars in circulation are issued by the Fed, and their ulterior motive regarding the creation of a digital dollar is interconnected with the complete obliteration of paper money, the "FedCoin" will not be backed up by real dollars, which means it will not be seen as a stable, reliable currency in the markets.
All of these factors play an essential role in the “global currency reset”. Don't be mistaken, the Fed's digital dollars represent a warning sign that the current fiat system is going to be crashing down soon and the new norm will be digital money, digital socializing, complete public tracking with total ostracism of those who don’t comply."
Gregory Mannarino, "Pre-Election Market Report: A Stock Market On The Edge"
Gregory Mannarino,
"Pre-Election Market Report: A Stock Market On The Edge"
"A Bigger Story Than the Election Itself"
"A Bigger Story Than the Election Itself"
by Jim Rickards
"Tomorrow’s the big election we’ve been anticipating for months. It’s not an exaggeration to say that this is the most important presidential election since the 1860 election that put Abraham Lincoln in office, leading to the Civil War.
So, who’s going to win? Those paying attention to the pre-election frenzy know the polls are all over the place. As recently as this past weekend, a New York Times poll showed Trump behind Biden by 6 points in Pennsylvania, while the Trafalgar Poll showed Trump ahead by 1 point in the same state.
Whom should you believe? You can start by asking yourself who got things right in 2016 and 2018. The answer is that Trafalgar has proved highly accurate, even in difficult elections like 2016 ( Trafalgar also called Florida and numerous Senate races correctly in 2018). The New York Times was wrong in 2016 and 2018 and has an awful track record. These two polls are conducted quite differently. In particular, Trafalgar goes to great lengths to assure respondents that their anonymity will be protected, which allows respondents to be more honest in their answers.
Trafalgar also uses fewer questions, which allows everyday Americans to participate, whereas the New York Times polls often take 40 minutes to complete, which limits participation to higher-educated geeks who tend to be more liberal in orientation. All things considered, Trafalgar polling is far more accurate than its competitors. So, what is Trafalgar saying in their most recent polls? Trafalgar shows Trump leading Biden in Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Michigan. Trump won all of those states in 2016 and needs them again to win in 2020. Biden has to flip one of them, perhaps two depending on what happens elsewhere in order to win.
Polls are snapshots, not movies, and they tell you where you've been, not necessarily where you're going. That said, the trends favor a Trump reelection, and the pollster with the best record over the past five years has provided further evidence that Trump is the likely winner tomorrow (go here to see my shocking election prediction and what it could mean for your wealth).
Wall Street’s All in for Biden - Which Is Good for Trump: But even as certain reliable polls show positive momentum for Donald Trump, there are pockets of society that see a Biden victory coming. One of those pro-Biden pockets is Wall Street. Right now, Wall Street is betting on Biden in more ways than one. First, they put their money where their mouth is. Contributions to Biden's campaign from employees at firms like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan far exceed contributions to the Trump campaign. The big banks are like a private finance arm for Biden.
The second skew is that Wall Street is betting on a Biden victory by bidding up stocks that will benefit from Biden administration policies. These stocks include solar panel manufacturers, wind generator companies, and companies with profitable operations in China based on the view that Biden will pursue pro-China policies, including outsourcing and helping China to steal U.S. intellectual property.
If Wall Street is all-in for Biden both financially and in asset allocation, why is that good news for Trump? The answer is that Wall Street is almost always wrong about politics. Remember 2012, when hedge fund giants like Paul Singer were sure Mitt Romney would win? Remember 2016, when Goldman Sachs was sure Hillary Clinton would win?
Wall Street did not see the 2008 panic coming. Wall Street did not see the 2020 pandemic and stock panic coming. The fact is, Wall Street has a poor record when it comes to political handicapping. And, when they base their stock picks on political outcomes that will never happen, those stock picks crash and burn just like their failed candidates.
Again, my forecast is that Trump will win. That means there's still an opportunity to buy put options on solar panel companies and other Wall Street favorites that are likely to go down sharply once the votes are finally counted, and a Trump victory is declared. Now, having said that, I’m not guaranteeing a Trump victory. My models project that Trump will win, but I'd be the first to admit that the uncertainty factor is high, and a Biden victory is certainly possible. Too many variables are involved this year to draw a decisive conclusion. I was more confident of a Trump win in 2016 than in this election.
The One Certainty: Riots and Looting: One thing that is certain is that riots and looting will break out in many American cities on election night and continue for days afterward, regardless of who wins or who's ahead in the case of an uncertain outcome.
If Trump wins, the BLM and Antifa movements will riot to protest his victory. If Trump declares victory before all of the votes are counted, the rioters will claim that Trump is trying to steal the election. If Biden appears to win, the riots will commence based on a narrative that Trump will refuse to vacate the office when his time is up, and he will have to be forcibly removed from the White House.
These narratives are nonsense. If Trump wins, he should declare victory. If Biden wins, Trump will leave office on January 20, 2021, without any resistance. If mail-in ballots are not counted on Election Day (they won't be) and if that affects the outcome (highly likely), then both sides will wait calmly while the votes are counted.
None of this matters to the rioters. They are organized, ready to go and don't care what excuse they use to commence the burning and looting. Store owners, police chiefs and citizens in the line of fire can all see this coming. The cities most vulnerable to organized violence are Portland, Seattle, New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia and Chicago, but many other cities could be drawn into the vortex.
Store owners in those cities have already been subjected to rioting and looting since last May, so they know what to expect. They are boarding up their windows, hiring armed security guards, reducing inventories and even closing for business entirely on November 4. Universities are advising their students to stock up on water, canned food, paper products and other essentials in case they have to remain in their dorms for days on end. The potential victims of these riots are prepared. You should be too.
An Antifa Manual for Mayhem: There’s actually a 39-page manual for urban terrorists under the banner of Antifa on how to organize and conduct riots and looting. You can think of this as the playbook for what will happen beginning tomorrow night shortly after the election polls close and vote totals begin to be announced. This terror manual offers many insights into the minds and tactics of Antifa leaders. This manual says, "We want to be clear that this guide is a living document. As we gather more information, it will grow and change. We want to work with people and communities, so the more we find out, the more this document will grow."
Antifa is highly decentralized. This does not mean that Antifa does not exist as an organization. It does. It means that the organization has no single leader and no uniform approach to violence. Instead, it encourages local leadership and adaptation of tactics to local conditions. Rioters use scouts (often on bicycles) to look for police activity and also for areas where police are not present as soft spots for looting.
Antifa uses encrypted apps like Signal (similar to texting or WhatsApp, but with better encryption) to coordinate their actions. They also use walkie-talkies with pre-selected channels to give orders and surge their forces. Antifa is nothing if not flexible.
Riots May Be Bigger Story Than the Actual Election: When you see riots breakout tomorrow night, you should understand that these are not spontaneous outbursts, let alone peaceful protests. They are well-planned, tightly coordinated and highly adaptive revolutionary actions. The area of 16th Street in Washington DC just north of Lafayette Park near the White House has already been designated as the gathering place for groups intent upon surrounding the White House, shutting down traffic in DC and conducting looting and arson. Similar launch pads exist in other major cities. In too many cases, the mayors of the target cities are on the side of the rioters rather than the side of law and order.
We may find out on election night that the big story is not the election but the revolution that's going on in the streets. Wall Street is definitely not ready for that. You should get ready by reducing equity exposure, increasing cash allocations and above all taking whatever prudent measures may be needed to ensure your personal safety. Good luck out there."
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Freely download "Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook" here:
"What Tomorrow’s Vote Will Change"
"What Tomorrow’s Vote Will Change"
By Bill Bonner
"Dying all the time
You lose your dreams
And you will lose your mind
Ain’t life unkind?"
– "Ruby Tuesday", by The Rolling Stones
SAN MARTIN, ARGENTINA – "Tomorrow is the big day. Election day. The day set aside for Americans to exercise their solemn right to do as they are told. The ruling elite tells them to choose between two embarrassments. They stand in line and do their duty.
The Washington Post (voice of the elite) describes them as heroes: "Those who have voted have lost jobs or loved ones to the pandemic or have battled the coronavirus themselves. They have withstood rain and heat and lines that lasted from morning until dark to register their electoral choices, risked exposure to the virus and navigated dizzying rule changes about signature requirements and drop boxes and ballot envelopes. “Everyone should vote to bring a change at the White House…” adds Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris."
But does voting really bring change? Well, yes. And no. The winner gets to kill people overseas… and boss people around at home. He takes from some and gives to others, picking winners and losers as he likes. But no matter who wins the election, the basic course of the nation will not change.
Obvious Solution: A frequent complaint from dear readers: “You are so cynical. All you do is complain and criticize… You never offer any solutions.” But it is not true. We do not merely complain and criticize. We also mock, ridicule, belittle, insult, satirize, whine, and grouse. But solutions? That’s asking a bit much from a free e-letter…
Besides, the “solution” is obvious. If Americans wanted to Make America Great Again, they could simply go back to the things that made it great in the first place – honest money, smallish government, and a free-ish economy.
Stop printing fake money. Cut government spending. Balance the budget. Fire Anthony Fauci. Fire Jerome Powell. Fire the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Cut off the funding and the meddling… and The Swamp dries up.
Cut off the fake money… and people will need to earn real money – by providing real goods and services to each other.
Cut out the artificially low interest rates… and people will save again, create new jobs, and invest in real output.
Take away the Federal Reserve’s backstop… and stocks and bonds will fall, erasing much of the “inequality” between rich and poor.
Stop the bailouts… and the zombie companies will go out of business, making way for new, healthy enterprises.
Talk about stimulus! It’s not giving away free money that stimulates an economy. It’s taking it away!
Blinded by the Light: The formula is not complicated. And it is no secret. So why not do it? Here’s why: In the news over the weekend was this gem from Business Insider: "More than 1,000 economists have now signed letter urging voters to reject “reckless and selfish” Trump on Election Day."
Finally, you might think, economists are coming forward to condemn Trump for spending (and printing) too much money. Since he took office, the federal deficit has risen 435%. Federal spending has more than doubled. Two million businesses have closed. And real wages are flat… while billionaires are 55% richer.
The august economists – including at least one Nobel Prize winner – might have mentioned, too, that if this sh*thole country system continues – and it will, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office next year – the nation is headed for a real crisis. Not a word of it. Instead, they think Joe Biden (who’s promising even more spending) will “actually generate faster growth in both employment and real GDP. ” How come even economists – who should at least know how an economy works… and must be able to see the economic disaster coming – are blind to it? But the prostitute who believes in chastity is rare. So is the bankrupt who believes in saving. And if an economist is going to guide a nation to disaster, he must first gouge out his eyes.
Live for Today: Part of nature’s devious plan includes changing attitudes and ideas. That is, people always come to think what they need to think when they need to think it. So, if America were really on the downswing, destined for social, policial, and economic catastrophe, what would its people have to think now?
They’d have to think they can get free stuff from the government… that the Federal Reserve can “stimulate” the economy with phony money… that they can all live at each other’s expense… that what really matters are transgender rights, diversity, racism, climate change, and the coronavirus…and that they can make things better by electing Joe Biden. Or Donald Trump.
One Day More: People who grow up in hard times know there’s no such thing as a free lunch. But those who grow up in soft times imagine that the all-you-can-eat buffet is open 24/7… And the people who wanted free love in the 1960s now want free hip replacements. They don’t want to “la la la, live for today…” It’s tomorrow they hope to live for now… And they don’t mind locking up the whole nation if it gives them a single day more.
Natural Solution: Solution? What is the solution to old age? What is the solution to the end of summer? The Earth orbits the sun and, tilted on its axis, inevitably the northern hemisphere gets colder and darker in winter. What can be done about it? What could we do to prevent losing our dreams and our youth? Mother Nature has her cycles… her plans… her patterns. She doesn’t reveal them all to us. But we have a strong hunch that She is not about to let tomorrow’s vote interfere with them."
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The Rolling Stones, "Ruby Tuesday"
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