Friday, March 19, 2021

"The 'Great Reset' - Animal Farm Version"

"The 'Great Reset' - Animal Farm Version"
by Brad Lena

"Currently, transnational globalists are pushing for a "Great Reset." It helps to understand what's coming at us if you remember that the globalist's mindset is akin to a zookeeper's. Currently, the zookeepers have their animals safely confined, but there remains a modicum of hope that the animals can liberate themselves.

First some context. History is replete with ideologies that seek to save people either from themselves or a foreign contagion. Until recently, this impulse, as the 20th century shows, has taken the form of political ideologies.

For those espousing Marxism, the ideology sought to cleanse a people from the errors and machinations of the past. When the new ideas prevailed, even if only briefly, the alleged salvation from historical, social, and economic maladies required a reset of just about everything. More often than not, the reset was accompanied by a sea of blood and violence. The objects of salvation (the people) often died or ended up in the same circumstances or were worse off. I'm referring to communism, fascism, and National Socialism.

Some will say, what about capitalism? Whatever the ills of capitalism, it behooves one to consider the alternatives offered during the 20th century. Some have said history is just one damn thing after another. Others say history is the same damn thing after another.

In any case, the intellectuals of modernity (see Thomas Sowell's "Intellectuals and Society") decided that people left to their own devices will get in the way of humanity's salvation. Their solution is global governance that will closely manage all human activity. Saving humanity is yesterday's solution. Saving Planet Earth from humanity is the ticket. Enter the zookeeper.

In a zoo, the animals are confined. Their diet, reproduction, interaction with other species, consumption of resources, etc. are carefully managed, depending on the zookeeper's management goals. When the kept animals' illness, infirmity, or age becomes a liability, they are eliminated.

In the 21st century, COVID has given the intellectuals and their political and media lackeys the ability to turn modern life into a giant zoo. Whatever the coronavirus's root cause, the ruling elite have passionately embraced its usefulness as a tool to reorder societies and economies across the globe.
I may be wrong, but I do not recall a time when the world's governments acted in such remarkable uniformity. The virus-instigated collapse of the extant infrastructure (i.e., jobs, income, mobility, access, distribution, manufacturing, agriculture, etc.) has been blindingly swift. The obvious question - "When will things return to normal?" - is regularly answered by the authorities: they won't.

The ruling class intends to give the "new normal," AKA "the reset," its best shot. The future the ruling class contemplates is one in which "rights" and privileges will be granted only to those people who comply. Global mobility has plummeted, enforced confinement is mandated, jobs have vanished, goods are becoming scarcer, surveillance is omnipresent, and noncompliance is punished. We will be told that this is all for the greater good. The elite have turned the world into a zoo, with themselves as keepers and the rest of us as the animals that must be trained or destroyed.

The power to command and control human activity is off the charts. The impulse toward totalitarian rule is as old as dirt. Those with the power to attempt it have always done whatever it takes. The good news is that the animals in this new zoo are the most innovative, creative, adaptive, and resilient creatures on the planet. There's still a chance they can bust out of the joint."
Do you understand? All of this was planned in advance...
Let that sink in...
Cue horrified cognitive dissonanace.

"500 Years of Interest Rates: The Lesson"

"500 Years of Interest Rates: The Lesson"
by Brian Maher

"Wednesday we hauled forth evidence that long-term interest rates have trended persistently downward 500 years running. And the Himalayan rates of the mid-to-late 20th century? These may be history’s great exception, a brief but violent spasm… like a fleeting burst of blood pressure… or a volley of cannons. Here again, the graphic evidence:
Harvard economics professor Paul Schmelzing, in summary: "Despite temporary stabilizations such as the periods 1550–1640, 1820–1850 or in fact 1950–1980 -- global real rates have shown a persistent downward trend over the past five centuries… since the major monetary upheavals of the late middle ages, a trend decline between 0.6–1.6 basis points per annum has prevailed… Against their long-term context, currently depressed sovereign real rates are in fact converging ‘back to historical trend’..."

Furthermore: Rates have held this downward course “irrespective of particular monetary and fiscal responses.” That is, despite the monkeyings of governments and their central banks. Can you therefore expect the downward journey of interest rates to maintain present headings?

We have further ransacked the historical data… rooted around for clues… and plucked out worrisome findings. Worrisome, that is, if you track your time in years and decades — not centuries. Details to follow. Let us first examine another historical oddity, worrisome in its own way — the present stock market...

Tech Trounced: Markets are sensing inflationary pressures, and the Federal Reserve’s willingness to let them build. Technology shares led the U.S. stock market lower on Friday as a spike in bond yields fueled concern about equity valuations and prompted investors to sell growth-focused high flyers. But let us resume our study of time… and money. For light, we once again resort to the good Professor Schmelzing. The arc of interest rates bends lower with time, he has established. But as he has also established: "No line bends true across five centuries." Even the long downturning arc has its squiggles and twists, its crooks and its kinks, each bent by the great forges of history. To these, we now turn…

“Real Rate Depression Cycles”: Across seven centuries, Schmelzing identifies nine “real rate depression cycles.” These cycles feature a secular decline of real interest rates, followed by reversals — often sudden and violent reversals. The first eight rate depression cycles tell scintillating and often murderous tales…These cycles rotated upon such high dramas as the Black Death of the mid-14th century… the Thirty Years’ War of the 17th century… and the Second World War of the 20th century. The world is presently ensnared within history’s ninth real rate depression cycle. This cycle began in the mid-1980s. 

Schmelzing’s researches reveal the real rate for the entire 700-year span runs to an average 4.78%. The real rate for the past 200 years - meantime - averages 2.6%. It is here where our tale gathers pace… and acquires point…

A Thing of Historic Grandeur: Schmelzing’s research shovels up this revelation: This present cycle is a thing of historical grandeur - in endurance - and intensity. Of the 700 years, only one cycle experienced a greater endurance. That cycle was in the 15th century. And only one previous cycle - also in that age - exceeded the current cycle’s intensity. By almost any measure… today’s rate depression cycle is stupendous, a thing for the ages. The sharp plunge to the right gives the flavor of it:
Beware “Reversion to Mean”: “Relative to both historical benchmarks,” concludes this fellow, “the current market environment thus remains severely depressed.” That is, real rates remain severely depressed relative to historical benchmarks. If the term “reversion to mean” has anything in it - we believe it does - the world is in for a hard jolt when the mean reverts. When rates do regain their bounce… history shows... they bounce high.

Schmelzing: "The evidence from eight previous “real rate depressions” is that turnarounds from such environments, when they occur, have typically been both quick and sizeable… Most reversals... have been rapid, nonlinear and took place on average after 26 years…

Within 24 months after hitting their troughs in the rate depression cycle, rates gained on average 315 basis points [3.15%], with two reversals showing real rate appreciations of more than 600 basis points [6%] within two years."

If the magnitude of the bounceback approximates the magnitude of the cycle it ends… we can expect a fantastic trampolining of rates. We must consider that rate appreciations of 6% are within reason. The present rate depression cycle runs nigh on 40 years. We must conclude - therefore - that the present rate cycle depression goes on loaned time. What happens once the loan is called in?

Crushing Debt: The stock market and the economic “recovery” presently underway hinge upon ultra-low interest rates. And so we recoil, horrified, at the prospect of a “rapid, nonlinear” rate reversal. Consider alone its impact on America’s ability to finance its skyshooting debt… A drastic rate increase means debt service becomes an impossible burden. The virus has dynamited mighty holes in America’s finances. The nation has taken on $7 trillion of fresh debt within the past year alone.

How would America service a $28 trillion debt - a $28 trillion debt jumping by second, by minute, by hour, by day, by week, by month, by year? Indeed… by decade? Debt service already represents the fastest-growing government outlay. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (no laughter!) estimates interest payments on this debt will total $300 billion this year.

Horrifying Arithmetic: But as the Committee further informs us, at present debt levels: "Each 1% rate increase inflates debt service by roughly $225 billion." Should rates rise 1%… interest payments would balloon to $525 billion… exceeding all Medicaid costs.

What if rates jump 2% or - heaven forfend - higher? The Committee: If rates were 2% higher, interest costs would total $750 billion, which is more than the federal governments spends on defense or Medicare. And at 3% higher, interest costs would total $975 billion - almost as much as is spent on Social Security benefits.

We do not expect such a violent lurch in rates within the year. But assume the present rate depression cycle reverses spin next year or the year following. Assume further that real rates leap to 6% within two years of the reversal. Recall, rates streaked to 6% or higher after two previous rate reversals.

Debt levels - meantime - could well exceed $30 trillion within the next two years. What is the cost to service a $30 trillion debt… at 6% the year? We haven’t the stomach to run the arithmetic. But we hazard the figure is plenty handsome. Debt service would nearly swamp the entire budget. But what might bring down the curtain on the current cycle?

The Mischievous Gods: Most previous rate depression cycles swung with death, destruction, howls, shrieks and sobs. Examples, again, include the Black Plague, the Thirty Years War and World War II. Perhaps a similar calamity will reverse the present cycle. Or some other unforeseen blow. The mischievous gods hold many tricks up their shirtsleeves.

Of course, we can find no reason in law or equity why the second-longest, second-most intense rate depression cycle in history… cannot become the longest, most intense real rate depression cycle in history. The cycle could run years yet, we must allow. It could also reverse Sunday morning. The Lord only knows - and He is silent."

Gregory Mannarino, PM 3/19/21: "Saudi Oil Facility HIT! Powell Says: "The Fed. Is ALL-IN." Watch For BIG MOVE In Oil"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 3/19/21:
"Saudi Oil Facility HIT! Powell Says: 
"The Fed. Is ALL-IN." Watch For BIG MOVE In Oil"

"I Believe..."

"I believe order is better than chaos, creation better than destruction. I prefer gentleness to violence, forgiveness to vendetta. On the whole I think that knowledge is preferable to ignorance, and I am sure that human sympathy is more valuable than ideology. I believe that in spite of the recent triumphs of science, men haven't changed much in the last two thousand years; and in consequence we must try to learn from history. History is ourselves. I believe in courtesy, the ritual by which we avoid hurting other people's feelings by satisfying our own egos. And I think we should remember that we are all part of a great whole, which for convenience we call nature. All living things are our brothers and sisters."
- Kenneth Clark, "Civilization"

Musical Interlude: Two Steps From Hell, "Evergreen, Extended"

Full screen for effect.
Two Steps From Hell, "Evergreen, Extended"
Close your eyes and let your imagination play with the music.
What images does it conjure? Enjoy...

"Upbeat Study Music - Deep Focus for Complex Tasks"

Jason Lewis - Mind Amend,
"Upbeat Study Music - Deep Focus for Complex Tasks"

"What is this? This is a high-intensity audio brainwave entrainment session which produces deep focus for complex tasks. This upbeat study music mix uses isochronic tones, with beta wave tones to help you reach and maintain a high focus mental state. Use when working on advanced and complicated topics like mathematics, scientific formulas, financial analysis or any complex mental activity. Isochronic tones produce a stronger and more powerful brainwave entrainment effect, compared to binaural beats study music tracks or standard music.

How is this session constructed? The session starts off beating at 10Hz and ramps up to 18Hz by the 6-minute mark. It stays at 18Hz until the final 5 minutes where it ramps back down again.

How to use it? Listen to this track with your eyes open while doing the task/activity you want to focus on.

Headphones are NOT required: Although headphones are not required you may find they produce a more intense effect, because they help to block out distracting external sounds." 

The Daily "Near You?"

Waynesville, North Carolina, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Fools And Knaves..."

“In the mass of mankind, I fear, there is too great a majority of
fools and knaves; who, singly from their number, must to a certain
degree be respected, though they are by no means respectable.”
- Philip Stanhope

“There are more fools than knaves in the world,
else the knaves would not have enough to live upon.”
- Samuel Butler

"What Kind of Show Is This?"

"What Kind of Show Is This?"
By Bill Bonner

YOUGHAL, IRELAND – "Yesterday, Sen. Rand Paul and Dr. Fauci went head-to-head, again. Paul wanted to know why people who have had the virus… or the vaccination… should wear masks, when there is almost zero chance of either getting the virus or spreading it. Fauci replied that there were “variants” that we needed to watch out for, implying that we will have to wear masks forever. It is “just theatre,” Paul shot back. Today, we wonder – and not for the first time – what kind of show we’re talking about.

Inflate or Die: But first, an update on the markets. In a nutshell, Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell spoke on Wednesday. Bond prices (which move inversely to yields) fell. And Bloomberg has the story: "Treasury Yields Top 1.75% After Powell Spurs Bets on Inflation." "Treasury yields breached more key levels as bond traders boosted bets that the Federal Reserve will allow inflation to overshoot as the U.S. economy recovers.

Yields on the benchmark 10-year note climbed as much as 11 basis points to 1.75% – the highest since January 2020, while the 30-year breached 2.5% for the first time since August 2019. Market measures of inflation expectations are now trading near multi-year highs, with traders paring back bets the Fed would start tightening as soon as late next year. The dollar rebounded against its major peers.

The moves came after Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated he wasn’t concerned over the recent surge in long-term yields – with his focus still on whether financial conditions remained accommodative. Rates have surged this year on expectations that stimulus spending and vaccine rollouts will fuel a sharper economic recovery and a pick up in inflation."

The bond bull market – which began 41 years ago – seems to have come to an end last August. If this is so, watch out. It’s “Inflate or Die,” remember. And what’s going to die first are investments that depend on bonds and all forms of fixed income streams – including mortgages, pensions, rents that can’t be raised, and so forth. But let’s leave that for Monday… Today… What to make of the last 12 months? What kind of spectacle was it?

Shutdowns and Fearmongering: Not wishing to keep you in suspense, here’s our advice to policymakers: It’s time to bring down the curtain. At the beginning of March a year ago, the State of Washington confirmed the second coronavirus death in the nation. A year later, some 539,000 have died reportedly from the disease in the U.S. Most of those still living – and many of those who are already dead (depending on their last tax return) – are now getting thousands of dollars’ worth of stimmy checks, unemployment comp, and tax credits to help them through these trying times.

Altogether, the cost of Dr. Fauci’s masks, shutdowns, and fear-mongering (with widespread support from the public and blue-state governors) has risen to about $800 billion (or a bit more than 3% of GDP)…plus five remedial boondoggles – the Families First Act, CARES Act, Payroll Protection Program, Response and Relief Act, and the last one, the American Rescue Plan – at a cost of $5 trillion, bringing the total to nearly $6 trillion.

Big Mistake: Also in March of last year, it was obvious that this – like the War on Terror and the Wall Street Bailout – was another big mistake. The first reports from Italy showed that the coronavirus was not an indiscriminate killer. Instead, it, like many other diseases, took down the old and the weak… and even as to them, it was not especially frightful.

Which leads us to our first insight: We’re all going to die. And since death cannot be put off forever, the question is “when.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that, in the first half of 2020, Americans’ life expectancies had dropped by a “full year” to 77.8 years – blaming COVID-19. This was reported with a straight face by both The New York Times and The Washington Post. And yet, as near as we’ve been able to determine, the average age of a person dying from COVID-19 is… are you ready for this?… 78. In other words, the typical person is better off dying from the coronavirus than from other causes.

Homicidal Instinct: Meanwhile, the only statistics we trust… and then only somewhat… are the death counts. We want to see the bodies laid out… cold and stiff. Everything else is inferred… contrived… modeled… or subject to interpretation. And what does the body count tell us?

Well, here’s our second insight: The COVID-19 was not so bad after all. The plague that struck Athens in 430 BC killed Pericles (Athens’ leader) and a quarter of the population. The Great Plague of 1348 killed half the population of Paris. By contrast, the Plague of 2020 seemed to lack the homicidal instinct. In a year when the killer was on the loose all over the world, the global population actually grew – by 81 million people.

Vestigial Responsibility: What else did we learn? Public health measures are a vestigial responsibility of state and local governments, and some were more eager to join the panic than others. This, of course, was the whole idea of “federalism,” wherein each state would compete with the others to create a more perfect democracy.

In the COVID year, the states put in place a rather haphazard and sloppy set of prophylactic measures. Though by no means a perfect laboratory test, it still gives us a chance to compare the different strategies for fighting the coronavirus. In short, some states fought the bug vigorously and aggressively. Others shirked… claimed heel spurs… or otherwise failed to join the fight. And now, with declining caseloads… and a full year of statistical evidence… we are able to draw some tentative conclusions.

Tentative Conclusions: As of March 8, Hawaii had the fewest deaths – just 32 per 100,000. New Jersey had the most, 270. So, our third insight: If you want to avoid dying from an infectious disease, it is best to live on an island. Between New Jersey and Hawaii is a whole continent with a whole range of death statistics. And here’s our next takeaway: In the end, it didn’t seem to matter what the states did.

In this regard, Florida is worth looking at more closely, which is just what The New York Times did last week. We’ll let the “Old Grey Lady” provide the takeaway: The lockdowns didn’t work…

Florida reopened months before much of the rest of the nation, which only in recent days has begun to emerge from the better part of a year under lockdown… The unemployment rate is 5.1%, compared to 9.3% in California, 8.7% in New York and 6.9% in Texas. That debate about opening schools? It came and went months ago. Children have been in classrooms since the fall…

Yet Florida’s death rate is no worse than the national average, and better than that of some other states that imposed more restrictions, despite its large numbers of retirees, young partyers and tourists. Caseloads and hospitalizations across most of the state are down.

The Times cannot bring itself to admit that it was partly to blame for whipping up the hysteria. Instead, as if it had failed to understand its own insight, it adds: "The tens of thousands of people who died were in some ways the result of an unspoken grand bargain - the price paid for keeping as many people as possible employed, educated and, some Floridians would argue, sane." But that was just the point. The death rates – which are all over the place – show no such bargain.

Which is our final insight: The show turned out to be a surprising farce. Whether you locked down tightly or not at all seemed to make no statistical difference...And the heroes (such as New York governor Andrew Cuomo) turned into villains… while the buffoon (Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida) turned out to be not such an idiot after all."
Related, highly recommended:

"So We All Ran Around..."

“So we all ran around in mad, mindless, meaningless circles, as if we were in a cotton-candy eating contest where the grand prize was getting kicked in the face. We were oblivious to everything around us that no truly sane person would ever tolerate. And we needed someone else to tell us to stop it.”
- Edward M. Wolfe

"V. Putin Ain’t No Corn Pop"

"V. Putin Ain’t No Corn Pop"
by Jim Kunstler

"I wasn’t being a wise guy. I was alone with him in his office, that’s how it came about,” Biden continued. “It was when President Bush had said, ‘I’ve looked in his eyes and saw his soul.’ I said, ‘I looked in your eyes, and I don’t think you have a soul.’ He looked back and he said, ‘We understand each other.’ ”
-  ABC News, Joe Biden with George Stephanopoulos on V. Putin of Russia

"Somehow, I don’t think Joe Biden understood what he thought Vladimir Putin understood about what they mutually understood. If I had to guess, I’d say that Mr. Putin understood Joe Biden to be the most pathetic blustering schlemiel he’d ever encountered on the international scene. But that must have been before Mr. B was installed in the White House by powers and persons unseen because it’s evident now that his handlers do not allow him to talk to foreign leaders, not even on the phone. Ms. Harris does that.

The alleged president went on to tell Mr. Stephanopoulos that Mr. Putin was “a killer” who would “soon pay a price” for interfering in the 2020 election. In turn, Mr. Putin promptly called the Russian ambassador back home “for consultations,” which is generally what happens when one country makes warlike noises to another country.

Mr. Putin added a tantalizing taunt days later, saying. “I’ve just thought of this now,” he said. “I want to propose to President Biden to continue our discussion, but on the condition that we do it basically live, as it’s called. Without any delays and directly in an open, direct discussion. It seems to me that would be interesting for the people of Russia and for the people of the United States. I don’t want to put this off for long. I want to go the taiga this weekend to relax a little,” Mr. Putin went on. “So, we could do it tomorrow or Monday. We are ready at any time convenient for the American side.”

Do you suppose Vladimir Putin is having some sport with Mr. Biden, this lightweight even among US politicians, with brain-rot to boot? Pretty soon, the president’s handlers will have to forbid him to open his pie-hole in public altogether. No more one-on-one interviews even with slow-pitch party shills like Mr. Stephanopoulos. They’ll just wheel him into the rose garden periodically like a cigar store Indian for proof-of-life demonstrations and leave the management of the nation… to others.

And how’s that going after a couple of months? Apparently, economic collapse is not enough for the party in charge of things now. They’re strangely compelled to seek every possible opportunity to insult the public’s intelligence while destroying what’s left of American culture. Case in point out of Nancy Pelosi’s Congress: HR1, the so-called “For the People Act,” institutionalizing ballot fraud in US elections. The law would make permanent the Covid-19 emergency mail-in voting system, over-riding whatever each state’s election law says - which makes the act appear patently unconstitutional - plus permitting same-day motor-voter registration of any live body, citizen or not, plus removing all voter ID requirements, and much more to ensure the country is never again threatened by a fair election.

Next up: HR5, the so-called “Equality Act,” institutionalizing the notion that categories of “male” and “female” are mere cultural constructs and must in no way be allowed to order any cultural activity from school to work to leisure. The bill was initially conceived to harden into law President Obama’s EO expanding the Department of Education’s Title IX rules on school sports - which eventuated in “trans women” disrupting girls’ sports. Now, men pretending to be women (and vice-versa) will be allowed to disrupt everything else in American life, especially the civil courts, with frivolous lawsuits.

Also in the pipeline: HR6, the so-called “American Dream and Promise Act” and its Senate companion, S264, the plain “Dream Act, that will grant permanent residency and then citizenship to currently “undocumented” people who snuck into the USA as children. The dreams and promises have already been delivered, even before the final passage of any new act, with an unprecedented flood of unaccompanied migrant children crashing the border, as well as a surge of adults fleeing Mexico and Central America. Apparently, the thinking in Washington these days is that we don’t have enough poor people in America, that their lives are not difficult enough. The message couldn’t be clearer to millions outside the United States: by all means, cross the border and we will do nothing about it. And so, with the border reduced to just another cultural construct, Mr. Biden himself took the extraordinary action of telling them on TV, “Don’t Come!” I guess that’ll do the trick.

Do you have any idea how pissed-off a clear majority of the American public will be after a few more months of this?"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 3/19/21: “Important Updates: Feed The Beast; The Banks Win, You Lose”

Gregory Mannarino, AM 3/19/21:
“Important Updates: Feed The Beast; The Banks Win, You Lose”

"How It Really Is"


Covid-19: "Basic Arithmetic For Leftist Losers"

"Basic Arithmetic For Leftist Losers"
by Joe Martin

"From the very beginning of this Sino-Lung-Rot nightmare we have been told we have to listen to the science. This has included being told emphatically that we must wear masks. Now this particular piece of propaganda has been increased to wearing two masks.

I can't see being the only one who is reaching their Howard Beale breaking point. So before anyone starts throwing open windows and banging on pots I thought maybe it was time for some basic ammunition for conservatives and simple arithmetic that even idiot leftists might understand. (Don't hold your breath on that.) So here we go.

Numerous published sources have stated that the diameter of the covid virus is 125 microns. The diameter of the openings in your standard surgical mask is 75 microns. The linear ratio between these two numbers is 600 to 1. But we're not talking about linear ratios. We need to look at this in terms of cross-sectional areas.

We were all taught at a very young age that the area of a circle is determined by a very simple formula. A= Ï€×r2.

For the virus...
0.125÷2= .0625
.0625×.0625= .00390625
.00390625×Ï€= .0122718463 square microns.

For the mask openings...
75÷2= 37.5
37.5×37.5= 1406.25
1406.25×Ï€= 4417.8646691 square microns.

So now when we divide the cross sectional area of the mask openings by the cross sectional area of the virus we get...
4417.8646691÷.0122718463= 360,000.00009
A ratio of 360,000 to 1!!!

To put it in language even a leftist troll might, and I say only might, understand... This is not the equivalent of expecting to stop a mosquito with a chain link fence, it's expecting to stop a dust mote! If you think this massive ratio is going to be reduced by wearing two or three or twelve masks I doubt even a remedial class in arithmetic is going to help."
Related:


Greg Hunter, "Weekly News Wrap-Up 3/19/21"

"Weekly News Wrap-Up 3/19/21"
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

Vice President Biden (stealing an election does not make you a legitimate President) is being disrespected globally. They know Biden has dementia, and surely they all know he was cheated in by the Deep State globalists (this includes Republicans like Mitch McConnell). Vladimir Putin has challenged VP Biden to a debate. Of course, Biden, I mean his handlers, declined. Kim Jong Un of North Korea will not accept a phone call from VP Biden, and the President of Mexico is the one who is going to crack down on the illegal immigrants on the southern U.S. border that is facing a meltdown. There are consequences for fraud, and the entire world knows Joe and his crew are illegitimate and incompetent.

We are being told to take the CV19 vaccine by virtually all top politicians, but we are not being told much else. Nobody admits or talks about all the CV vaccines being totally “experimental.” That is a fact. Even President Trump is telling people to get the vaccine. Mr. President, can’t we have a debate about this “Warp Speed” project, which some experts in vaccines say has some big downside risks? The answer is NO. Debates are not allowed. You are only allowed to submit and keep quiet or you will be removed from all social media. Drug companies and politicians have no idea what the long term effects of CV vaccines will be. There are also lots of reports of problems, including death in some cases that go unreported or under-reported. This is nothing short of the biggest live drug trial the world has ever seen. We are told that the multiple CV19 vaccines are safe, but many doctors say they have NOT been proven safe. Some doctors also adamantly say to not take any CV19 vaccines. Instead, take HCQ, Ivermectin and other treatments early on, and you will be cured. All this to say you will not hear any debate on CV19 vaccines or alternatives to treat this virus. As I said, debate is not allowed. You are supposed to roll up your sleeve and agree to be a Guinea pig in the biggest global experimental drug trial in history.

The economy is still sucking, and a fresh 770,000 new unemployment claims this week proves it. Some areas are doing better such as construction, but many other areas are far from back to normal and may never get there. All this while the Fed and our politicians continue to spend money on a pace never seen before in human history. What could go wrong? Are we about to find out?"

Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he talks about these
 stories and more in the Weekly News Wrap-Up for 3/19/2021.

Thursday, March 18, 2021

"America’s Upside Down Economy Just Took Another Bizarre Turn"

"America’s Upside Down Economy Just Took Another Bizarre Turn"
by Michael Snyder

"Is this a good economy or a bad economy? Well, that all depends on who you are talking to. For most Americans, economic conditions have been absolutely horrible ever since the COVID pandemic first arrived. More than 100,000 businesses have permanently shut down, approximately 10 million Americans are in danger of being evicted from their homes, and weekly unemployment claims have been above the old record set in the early 1980s every single week for nearly an entire year. Meanwhile, the absolutely insane polices that the Federal Reserve and our politicians in Washington have been pursuing have made the wealthy far wealthier than ever before. In early 2020, M1 was sitting at about 4 trillion dollars, and now it is up to 18 trillion dollars. Much of that money has ended up in the pockets of the ultra-wealthy, and now they are spending it is some pretty odd ways.

For example, NFT art is one of the latest crazes. You can’t hang NFT art on your wall, but that isn’t stopping people from paying ridiculous amounts of money for it. In fact, things have gotten so crazy that one film director has decided to sell audio clips of himself farting as NFTs… "A Brooklyn-based film director is simultaneously mocking and attempting to profit off the cryptocurrency craze for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) by selling a year’s worth of fart audio clips recorded in quarantine. “If people are selling digital art and GIFs, why not sell farts?” Alex Ramírez-Mallis, 36, told The Post of his dank addition to the blockchain-based NFT market.

You would have to be absolutely nuts to purchase such a thing, but apparently someone has already purchased one clip for 85 dollars… "Individual fart recordings are also available for 0.05 Ethereum, or about $85 a pop. The gassy group has so far sold one, to an anonymous buyer. “If the value increases, they could have an extremely valuable fart on their hands,” he said."

Pizza Hut has decided that they want to get in on the NFT craze as well. In Canada, the company originally listed an NFT of a pizza slice for 18 cents, but it ended up selling for $8,824… "Pizza Hut Canada has announced it is releasing “1 Byte Favorites,” aka digital images of pizza, as non-fungible tokens. “Pizza Hut believes no world should exist without pizza, especially their pan pizza. That’s why they wanted to make sure it was enshrined in the digital universe,” they said in a release. Each week the company will release a new image of a pizza slice, each of a different recipe, for purchase on Rarible. The first-ever “slice” was listed for $0.0001 ETH (a cryptocurrency the equivalent of 18 cents), but wound up being sold for $8,824."

This is madness, and it is also a grave insult to all of those that are deeply suffering out there. Could it be possible that we are rapidly approaching our own “let them eat cake” moment?

As the ultra-wealthy continue to throw their money around in absurd ways, most people are just struggling to get by from month to month. On Thursday, we learned that another 770,000 Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week… "Figures released Thursday by the Labor Department show that 770,000 Americans filed first-time jobless claims in the week ended March 13, higher than the 700,000 forecast by Refinitiv economists."

Weekly jobless claims have remained stubbornly high for months, hovering around four times the typical pre-crisis level, although it’s well below the peak of almost 7 million that was reached when stay-at-home orders were first issued a year ago in March. After all this time, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits each week is still about four times higher than pre-pandemic levels.

And we just learned that retail sales fell pretty dramatically during the month of February…"Americans shopped less in February, leading retail sales to fall 3% on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. It was a much steeper drop than the 0.5% decline economists had predicted, according to Refinitiv." Bad weather across many states were part of the reason sales declined last month. When things go badly, they love to blame the weather.

Of course the new stimulus checks that Americans are now receiving should help to boost retail sales temporarily. But at this point there are no plans to cut checks every month, and any short-term assistance will only briefly alleviate the long-term suffering that so many Americans are enduring.

We are currently in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and a lot more pain is on the horizon. Even though I write about this stuff on a daily basis, I was surprised to learn that the results of a recent survey show that finances have now become the number one source of stress for the American people

"WalletHub’s new Coronavirus Money Survey also reveals that the nation’s focus is now shifting from the virus to finances. The survey of over 750 Americans in March 2021 finds money is now the biggest stressor around the country. Three in 10 respondents say money is their greatest concern this year, a 15-percent increase over last year. COVID-19 is still the top stressor for 28 percent of Americans. As coronavirus safety measures fade however, researchers find people are getting back to worrying about how to make ends meet."

If you don’t know how you are going to pay the bills this month, that can be a source of stress that never leaves you day or night. Those that have gone through this sort of emotional torment know exactly what I am talking about. So when the ultra-wealthy throw their money away on “farting art” or “Pizza Hut art”, that is like rubbing dirt in the faces of tens of millions of Americans that are desperately trying to figure out some way to survive from month to month.

The ultra-wealthy can continue to flaunt their wealth, but already we are seeing the rise of the “Robinhood mentality” that so many have warned about. When things get bad enough, the poor will start venturing into rich neighborhoods, and they won’t be there for a social visit. We still have relative stability for this brief moment, but it won’t last very long at all."

Must Watch! “It’s Worse Than You Think; Jobless Claims Jump Again; Economy On Life Support; Dollar Stores Surge”

Jeremiah Babe,
It’s Worse Than You Think; Jobless Claims Jump Again;
Economy On Life Support; Dollar Stores Surge”

Musical Interlude: 2002, "Remember Now"

2002, "Remember Now"

"In The Only Time You Are Alive..."

“You think you will never forget any of this, you will remember it always just the way it was. But you can’t remember it the way it was. To know it, you have to be living in the presence of it right as it is happening. It can return only by surprise. Speaking of these things tells you that there are no words for them that are equal to them or that can restore them to your mind. And so you have a life that you are living only now, now and now and now, gone before you can speak of it, and you must be thankful for living day by day, moment by moment, in this presence. But you have a life too that you remember. It stays with you. You have lived a life in the breath and pulse and living light of the present, and your memories of it, remember now, are of a different life in a different world and time. When you remember the past, you are not remembering it as it was. You are remembering it as it is. It is a vision or a dream, present with you in the present, alive with you in the only time you are alive.”
~ Wendell Berry

"No, I’m Not Open Minded"

"No, I’m Not Open Minded"
by Freed Radical

"So you are having a discussion with a liberal. You present facts, and they present feelings. You discuss history, about which they are obviously blank. The conversation is becoming a waste of your time because all they do is parrot talking points from CNN, with no factual content. With every fact you present, their eyes glaze over, and you realize you are casting your pearls before swine. Then your sparring partner throws out a standard chunk of liberal tripe, “I think we can compromise here. You have an open mind, don’t you?”

No one wants to admit that their mind is closed, because, well because, uh, that kind of person is just not as… or I mean that such a person can’t… or uh, well you know what I mean. Everybody wants to be liked, and to be liked we have to agree with others, and not be critical, and not be negative, and get along, and well everybody wants to be liked.

In this article, I aim to ease your stressed mind about being closed to garbage. You and I know they are only employing a manipulation tactic, tempting you to entertaining an idea that is patently idiotic, just to be liked. They won’t accept the proper response, “Of course I have an open mind, but…” They have just tied having an open mind to agreeing with their position on the benefits of socialism, destroying the entire economy over a flu bug, or killing their own children in abortion clinics.

Here’s how I respond to this bait. “Well, no, I don’t have an open mind. My mind is not like a public toilet, wide open to receive whatever intellectual hairball you picked up at a party last night. On the contrary, my mind has a price of admission. You had better be presenting me with an idea of value. It might be intellectual, comedic, wry, empathetic, patriotic, satirical, scientific, witty, tragic, literary, musical, or poetic. It might even be an idea that is off target, but presented in an attitude receptive to correction.

“In no way will I entertain an idea touting an historically failed human experiment, for example that socialism has faltered in the past but only because it has not been run by the right people. That’s sheer stupidity, and my mind, having seen a lot of 20th and 21st century capitalism, conservatism, liberalism, communism, and socialism, knows what works and what doesn’t. I’ll be happy to learn new and correct things from you, but if you are telling me that good is evil and evil is good, my mind is closed not just to your ideas, but also to you. Have a nice day.”

I know that >99.84% of TBP readers think and act like this already (which is coincidentally the US Covid-19 survival rate, according to the fake numbers from the CDC web site). You don’t put up with foolishness in any form. When a liberal asks, “You have an open mind, don’t you?”, you are more likely to just walk away than debate a moron.

Let me encourage you to hang in there for one more exchange, and respond as I have outlined, above. It won’t change the liberal’s mind, but there are others listening who may, just may, be influenced by this new idea. That new idea is that our minds are not and should not be open sewers. For some, that’s all the prompt they need to start thinking for themselves.

We should teach others by example that it is perfectly acceptable to close one’s mind to idiotic garbage spewing from the human oral cavity. That’s part of the responsibility of freedom. Certainly you understand that that by closing your mind to stupidity, you sacrifice being liked. But you knew that already. Some young people have never considered that they should filter the information entering their heads, or not value so much being liked. Until you bring that new idea to their attention, that is.

You will be doing someone else a big favor because once a person opens his mind to just anything (and I know people like this), it becomes a boiling cauldron of conflicting stupidity, with facts and opinions carrying the same weight, and feelings trumping them all. That person becomes a total liberal burden to the rest of us in free society, and is useless to everyone except government as a compliant sheep. Baaaaaa.

I had a teacher in school who famously said, “You can’t have opinions about facts.” A fact is a fact, regardless what you think or feel about it. Deal with it and structure your life to make the best of it. Or change that fact if you can, legitimately, with hard work and tenacity. Liberals, however, see facts as malleable, covering them with the lukewarm putty of their feelings, twisting them with lies and insinuation. You and I know that does not change the facts.

For a refreshing exercise, let’s review some facts. Every year of my life some liberal has said that we only have 10 years left, whether from nuclear war, pollution, global warming, the population explosion, or whatever. Fact is, we’re still here. It took me some years to realize that I had outlived the apocalypse numerous times and I needed to reject that fear mongering bilge.

Fact is, the coronavirus is less than a thousand atoms wide, and goes right through all common masks to a greater or lesser extent.

Fact is, everyone, and I mean everyone, has been exposed to the coronavirus. If you have not gotten sick, then that means your healthy body has fought it off.

Fact is, the coronavirus is being used to engender submission in the open minded population. And submit they have!

Fact is, the best defense against the coronavirus is to stay healthy. There are supplements that assist your body in doing so. Look it up.

Fact is, the coronavirus death rate is so close to zero that you’d have a hard time slipping a rolling paper in the gap. The coronavirus was to have killed millions by now, but it didn’t happen. The CDC admits now that only 6% of deaths attributed to coronavirus are due to only coronavirus. That figure brings the US covid survival rate up to 99.99%.

Fact is, socialism killed north of a hundred million people in the 20th century, and counting abortion and Chinese genocide it’s having an even better 21st century. Coronavirus be pure envy. If only we could buy stock in death (NYSE: DEATH?).

Fact is, at this point fossil fuels are by far the best energy source for planet Earth. There may be nuclear fusion in our future, but not the near future, so we need to make the best of the source we have.

Fact is, wind power stops working when the wind stops blowing, or the turbines freeze or burst into flames.

Fact is, solar power stops working well in less than full sun, and when it’s dark, you know, at night, requiring expensive energy storage facilities (batteries, pumped hydroelectric).

Fact is, the purpose of government on Earth, every government at this point, is to grow government. You as a citizen are only a means to that end, and if you resist, they will simply kill you. For proof, investigate the open mind of government by not paying your property taxes for a couple years.

Fact is, >99.84% of politicians are corrupt. And >99.84% of citizens know it. (Why does this number keep popping up?) The rest died in New York nursing homes. Ok, that last bit was not a fact, but it sure makes good copy.

Fact is, most of the fact checkers on the Internet are liberal hacks seeking to deceive people into full blown socialism. They cannot respond to real facts, so they lie about them!

Add your own facts here.

I had a friend whose email tag line was this: “People may not remember what you told them, but they will remember how you made them feel.” Every time I read that, it made me feel bad. Why, I wondered? Because, we live in a shallow society of emotionally frail people. They have few beliefs, and what they have are poured into their daily feed bag by media. Feelings are paramount, and subservient to facts. No wonder our society is failing spectacularly.

My brother or sister in truth, be a champion of the truth. Our place is not to stomp on frail people, but to do what public education has abandoned as their mission, present the truth and stand on it, expecting others to do the same. Some of these liberals are beyond hope, so don’t cast your pearls before swine. But some are salvageable, and you know who’s worth the effort, particularly the younger ones. Do not ever sacrifice the truth, and the facts, to someone else’s feelings. Be a champion of the truth!

Here’s a warning. We both know champions of the truth who are total jerks. That’s not constructive. Being a champion of the truth with dignity and decency is a great virtue. There are men and women in my past whom I knew would not put up with any foul thinking coming out of my young mind or mouth, and I was careful to consider my thoughts before speaking. Not that they would jump down my throat, but they certainly did kindly pull me up short on any such bad thinking. I respect those people to this day, and credit them for helping me think properly. If you treat people, even liberals, with respect while you present the truth, you will end your life with many thankful converts on your side.

I’m counting on readers to add a load of other plain facts in the comments. Many of the commenters on TBP are champions of the truth without being jerks. That’s a rare thing in conservative Internet circles. Unfortunately, not too many liberals are benefiting from their wisdom. Get out of your little circle of right thinking people and put that powerfully closed mind to work!"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 3/18/21: "Freakshow: Calls Already Getting Louder For The Fed. To Do More"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 3/18/21:
"Freakshow: Calls Already Getting Louder For The Fed. To Do More"

Gerald Celente, "Trends Journal", "More Lockdowns = Economic Meltdown"

Gerald Celente, "Trends Journal", 
"More Lockdowns = Economic Meltdown"
"The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present Facts and Truth over hype and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for What’s Next in the increasingly turbulent times ahead."

Musical Interlude: Yanni, "A Love for Life"

Full screen recommended.
Yanni, "A Love for Life"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"One of the brightest galaxies in planet Earth's sky is similar in size to our Milky Way Galaxy: big, beautiful Messier 81. Also known as NGC 3031 or Bode's galaxy for its 18th century discoverer, this grand spiral can be found toward the northern constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear. 
The sharp, detailed telescopic view reveals M81's bright yellow nucleus, blue spiral arms, pinkish starforming regions, and sweeping cosmic dust lanes. Some dust lanes actually run through the galactic disk (left of center), contrary to other prominent spiral features though. The errant dust lanes may be the lingering result of a close encounter between M81 and the nearby galaxy M82 lurking outside of this frame. M81's faint, dwarf irregular satellite galaxy, Holmberg IX, can be seen just below the large spiral. Scrutiny of variable stars in M81 has yielded a well-determined distance for an external galaxy -- 11.8 million light-years."

The Poet: Charles Bukowski, "The Mind, Go All The Way"

- Charles Bukowski, "The Mind, Go All The Way"
"The Life And Philosophy of Charles Bukowski"

"Nothing New Under the Sun"

"Nothing New Under the Sun"

"Yes, the times change with the tides; yet the tales, like the surf, sound on in familiar perpetuity and with steady repetition. In the modern era, during the great clash of civilizations currently underway, there will be no new, great and ghastly crusades. Only resistance or surrender. In America, just as her tide recedes from the world, in the end it may become Man overboard, and every man for himself. The sun rises. The sun sets.

As sand through an hour-glass, or waves rolling over every shore, so too, do our journeys mark passageways through time; and, in the end, our navigation may, indeed, depend upon guidance, like stars, shining down from heaven upon what we know, over the decisions we make; on the destinies we choose. And, of course, there will be losses incurred during the storms.

So, we raise our sails and pray for the prosperous winds of Providence to guide our ways and guard our lives through uncharted seas. Perhaps it's true that fortune finds and favors the faithful above all. Even still, those who believe, and those who doubt, and those who sleep, all do drift and blow by the same breeze. The winds of change are on us. They've always been here, steadfast and old as time itself. Like the earth. Nothing new under the sun."
- Doug "Uncola" Lynn,

"Hopi Elders' Prophecy"

"We Are The Ones We've Been Waiting For"

"You have been telling people that this is the Eleventh Hour,
 now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour.
 And there are things to be considered…
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.

It is time to speak your truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for your leader.

“This could be a good time!
 There is a river flowing now very fast.
 It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
 They will try to hold on to the shore. 
They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly. 
Know the river has its destination. 
The elders say we must let go of the shore, 
push off into the middle of the river, 
keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.

And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate.
 At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves.
 For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over! 
Gather yourselves! 
Banish the word ’struggle’ from your attitude and your vocabulary. 
All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for."

- "Hopi Elders' Prophecy" 
"Now we must look upon each other as brothers and sisters. Only by joining together in a Spiritual Peace with love in our hearts for the Great Spirit and Mother Earth shall we be saved. If you have a way to spread the truth tell what you know to be true. Should we succeed, we will realize our mistakes of the past and return to the true path, living in harmony as brothers and sisters, sharing our Mother, the Earth, with all living creatures. In this way we could bring about a new world. A world which would be led by the Great Spirit and our Mother will provide plenty and happiness for all."
- Chief Dan Evehema of the Hopi Nation

The Daily "Near You?"

Granbury, Texas, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"An Insufficiency Of Data..."

“Experience is a poor guide to man, and is seldom followed. A man really learns little by it, for it is narrowly limited in range. What does a faithful husband know of women, or a faithful wife of men? The generalizations of such persons are always inaccurate. What really teaches man is not experiences, but observation. It is observation that enables him to make use of the vastly greater experience of other men, of men taken in the mass. He learns by noting what happens to them. Confined to what happens to himself, he labors eternally under an insufficiency of data.”
- H.L. Mencken

"Dead Men Don’t Spend"

"Dead Men Don’t Spend"
by Bill Bonner

YOUGHAL, IRELAND – "The checks went forth yesterday. And all the peoples rejoiced. Bloomberg reports: "As the economy reopens, consumer spending over the next two quarters is likely to be the strongest such period in at least 70 years with a rebound in services leading the way, according to economists at Wells Fargo & Co."

This is La Bubble Epoch… a joyous time for all… full of farce and foolishness. Tesla is going to the moon. Bitcoin is headed for Mars. It makes us all giddy with excitement – 5G, 6G, 7G, 98G… million-dollar non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of cindered artworks and Michael Jackson “lactating”… negative real interest rates… Joe Biden… a free-range chicken in every pot and a stimmy check in every bank account…All things are thought to be possible… even those that are physically, mathematically, and theoretically impossible.

And there is no longer any career risk or shame associated with saying or doing astonishingly stupid things. Men can have babies, too – yes, we can! Farmers can plow backward to fool the crows. But, OMG… You’re using the third-person singular masculine pronoun rather than the all-purpose, politically correct (though grammatically idiotic) “they.” Horrors! But that’s just a feature of the era. Things that don’t matter do matter. And things that do matter… well, fuhgeddaboutem.

Cockamamie Rip-Off: Our problem with this glorious age is that many things that don’t seem to matter right away – like a whiff of smoke on a dry California hillside… or a $3.3 trillion federal deficit – may become big deals later. Here’s one… the biggest heist in history. We refer to the $200 billion stolen from the “bailout” money. Here’s Yahoo Money on the story: "More than $200 billion in unemployment aid may have gone to fraudsters in the pandemic."

A significant chunk of the government support reserved for unemployed Americans went to fraudsters instead during the pandemic, according to new estimates. More than $200 billion of unemployment benefits distributed in the pandemic may have been pocketed by thieves, according to ID.me, a computer security service that 19 states - accounting for 75% of the national population - use to verify worker identities. That's more than triple the official government estimate of $63 billion based on the 10% pre-pandemic fraud rate. Up to 30% of claims under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), the program that provides benefits to self-employed and contractors, are fraudulent, according to data by ID.me.

What’s $200 billion? Peanuts. But people follow leaders. And when leaders impose a cockamamie rip-off as the law of the land… it doesn’t take the public long before getting in the spirit of dishonesty behind it. Then, the whole society falls apart.

It’s Complicated: But don’t worry, Dear Reader. The Biden Administration is ready to fight corruption - overseas! Politico: "Going after the ‘Achilles’ heel’: Biden charges into global anti-corruption fight." "Earlier this month, amid a blizzard of news both domestic and foreign, Secretary of State Antony Blinken took the time to ban a powerful Ukrainian oligarch from setting foot in the United States.

That’s right. We won’t tolerate corruption – in the Ukraine. Here in the U.S.? Well… It’s complicated. We are not so much concerned by the facts… as by the theory. Sure, apparently many people – millions? – lied to get the stimmy money. But when the money goes, everything goes. Money is what determines our place in line. Those with the most money go to the head of the line and get the most stuff. Those at the end get what’s left. And when the feds begin handing out money willy-nilly, the right and the wrong of it are hard to figure out. It’s not surprising that people begin cutting in line.

Raise the Dead: First, the stimmy money itself… Was it earned by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi? Did it belong to Joe Biden? Was it saved by Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell? No. Was it taken from any human being’s bank account? No again…Then, how could it be stolen? From whom? Nobody.

Prosecutors would be at a loss. Because nobody is ever going to get standing in court to challenge the somebodies who made off with it. Besides, who had a “right” to the money? The young woman who fit the eligibility requirements, as determined by Congress? But where in the U.S. Constitution do the feds get the power to create money and give it to some people and not to others? You can check it yourself. Congress has no such right.

Maybe the thieves had as much of a right to the money as anyone else. It was up for grabs. They grabbed it. And better they than some others.

According to the H&R Block website, even corpses are eligible for the stimmy money:
Q. I received a stimulus check for a deceased relative. What do I do?
A. It depends when your loved one passed. Individuals who died in 2020 are eligible for the second stimulus check while anyone who died before 2020 is not.

This deepens our curiosity. Do the feds think they can raise the dead? If not, why give them money?

Federal Spend-a-Thon: Surely, a dead man needs the money less than a living one – no matter when he kicked the bucket. Even a fraudster would seem a better bag man than a corpse for the stimmy giveaways. And maybe, it is “life-ist”… a kind of “live privilege”… to think that the shades are somehow unable to do their part in the great spend-a-thon that the feds are trying to incite.

Shame on us. We would be peddling a “negative stereotype” if we were to observe that dead men are not big spenders, are not stimulated very easily, and that even $1,400 is unlikely to do the trick.

And perhaps, since the impossible is now possible, fake money is real money… and the frontier between right and wrong, true and false, ridiculous and sublime is no longer clearly marked…perhaps it is no longer permissible to make distinctions? Maybe the quick and the dead… sinners and saints… all have the same rights to the money that none of them earned?

So, in keeping with the Bubble Epoch zeitgeist, we will await the Dawn of the Dead… when the cadavers rise from their graves… shuffle into our malls… and, drawing on their stimmy checks, leave with Hermès scarves…thus distracting the clerks so the crooks can make off with the big-screen TVs. Yes… that ought to get the economy moving in the right direction!