Thursday, May 20, 2021

"A Nation of Sheep, Ruled By Wolves, Owned By Pigs: Americans Have Tamely Surrendered Their Liberties"

"A Nation of Sheep, Ruled By Wolves, Owned By Pigs: 
Americans Have Tamely Surrendered Their Liberties"
by Gen Z Conservative

"Americans, by and large, have not kept themselves informed, and adhered to the limits the Constitution imposes upon our government, which has resulted in more than half the problems we face today as a country, a nation of sheep. And, because the voters themselves do not know, or care, what the Constitution says, they elect candidates who have no intention, or desire, to support and defend it — believing in “the end justifies the means”. It is a vicious cycle that repeats itself every election cycle and won’t stop until the people take the time to learn what the drafters of the Constitution intended when they wrote it.

So, as Lysander Spooner so aptly said, “But whether the Constitution really be one thing or another, this much is certain – that it has either authorizes such a government as we have had or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist.” I could almost stop right there, saying that is how I feel about our system of government and the document that established it…but I won’t.

Even though the Constitution outlined a fundamentally sound system of government, in theory, the problem is that it was the creation of a group of men who held differing views on what government should look like and what powers it should hold.

Ben Franklin explained it best when he said: “For when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men, all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to hear that our councils are confounded like those of the Builders of Babel; and that our States are on the point of separation, only to meet hereafter for the purpose of cutting one another’s throats. Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure, that it is not the best. The opinions I have had of its errors, I sacrifice to the public good. I have never whispered a syllable of them abroad. Within these walls they were born, and here they shall die. If every one of us in returning to our Constituents were to report the objections he has had to it, and endeavor to gain partizans in support of them, we might prevent its being generally received …” (Source: Franklin’s Final Address to the Constitutional Convention.

There were many concerns expressed by these patriots who opposed the Constitution, but the underlying theme that can be found in most of their writings is that the Constitution created a consolidation of the States into a Union under a strong centralized government.

In a more perfect union, a more perfect Republic, our sovereign and independent states would reassert the 9th and 10th Amendments more forcefully, since they have been abrogated out of existence by federal laws and judicial activism; the states should unite themselves together by a perpetual confederacy, without ceasing to be, each individually, a perfect state. They will together constitute a federal republic: their joint deliberations will not impair the sovereignty of each member, though they may, in certain respects, put some restraint on the exercise of it, in virtue of voluntary engagements. A person does not cease to be free and independent when he is obliged to fulfill engagements which he has voluntarily contracted.

One of the primary concerns of the anti-Federalists was: Did the Constitution do away with the status quo and create a consolidation of the States into a single, indivisible Union; or Republic, or did the States still retain all powers which were not expressly given; allowing the government to intrude into and interfere with the lives and liberties of the people.

On June 5, 1788, in a speech opposing ratification of the Constitution, Patrick Henry expressed those exact sentiments as follows: “I rose yesterday to ask a question which arose in my own mind. When I asked that question, I thought the meaning of my interrogation was obvious: The fate of this question and of America may depend on this: Have they said, we, the States? Have they made a proposal of a compact between states? If they had, this would be a confederation: It is otherwise most clearly a consolidated government. The question turns, Sir, on that poor little thing-the expression, We, the people, instead of the States, of America.“

It should be obvious, that the people had already established republics by their having created their own State Legislatures, so they actually had no need to create another Republic for the purpose of governing them all. The purpose for which the delegates were sent to Philadelphia was to arrive at suggestions for amendments, in order to make the existing Confederation Government adequate for the needs of the country; not to toss the existing form of government in the trash heap and replace it with one of their creation.

If the powers given to this new form of government were to be exercised primarily upon the States, then why did the drafters of the Constitution demand that it be ratified by the voice of the people; as it was the States whose authority would be further restricted, or usurped, by the creation of this new form of government. However, if this new system of government was, in fact, a consolidation and a diminishing of the sovereignty of the States, then it would make sense that the people must give their consent to it.

Yet, in Federalist 45 James Madison attempted to ensure the people that the States would retain their authority over the lives and liberties of the people by saying: “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will, for the most part, be connected.

The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State.”

Most Americans believe the Bill of Rights protects certain rights against governmental interference. That is only partially true since the Bill of Rights are amendments to the Constitution which created our federal government; not the constitutions which framed the various State governments. Therefore, technically they only apply to the federal government. However, an argument can also be made that, since the Constitution itself is the Supreme Law of the land, any amendment to it could be implied to apply to the States as well.

Keeping things simple, let’s just say that the Bill of Rights only applies to the federal government. How is it then that the government can dictate what kind of guns private citizens may own; how is it that the Supreme Court — which is PART of the federal government — decides whether a State may display the Ten Commandments, or that children be prohibited from praying in school; how is it that the federal government can violate the 4th Amendment by spying upon the private conversations of every man, woman, and child in this country, just to keep us safe from terrorism?

There exists a whole list of things the federal government has done which are not among the powers listed in Article 1, Section 8 as those powers are given to Congress; which in case you have forgotten, is the lawmaking body of our government; not the President as so many seem to think.

This has all been done because of the concept of implied powers; something introduced while George Washington was President. That occurred because the Constitution itself did not provide specific enough limitations upon the powers it was granting government; leaving loopholes by which government has expanded its power well beyond those originally intended. So, if that is true, then the Constitution itself failed the people as it did not provide sufficient means for the people to resist the encroaching powers of government and to ward off tyranny and oppression.

Not one individual can provide me with the Article and Clause that grants any of us the authority to arrest and charge any of our elected officials, for the crime of violating the Constitution, because such a clause simply does not exist. And, it is this oversight that has resulted in the Constitution’s failure, by not providing the means to oppose a government that no longer adheres to any kind of limits upon their power and authority.

I only care whether the party that is in control adheres to the Constitutional limitations imposed upon them and seeks to protect and defend my rights…that and nothing more, and both parties have failed miserably in this duty. If the government does not do this, then I revoke my consent to being governed by it.

Why do Americans still support a government that no longer resembles or represents the ideas and beliefs which led our Founders to seek their independence from a tyrant? Why do they so meekly submit to tyranny and oppression today? Is there not a drop of patriotic blood left in their bodies?

One certainly must wonder what has kept Americans from marching on D.C, with rifles in hand and sixteen feet lengths of rope, so criminals like Obama, Biden, Hillary Clinton, Loretta Lynch, James Comey, John Brennan, Samantha Power, Andrew McCabe, Robert Mueller, John Kerry, Susan Rice, Alexander Vindman and so many others can be hung from the highest tree or the balcony of the Capitol Building; especially in light of the current double standard of “law” applied in America.

All I see is a nation of sheep who meekly obey the commands of their masters. What has become of the land of the free and the home of the brave?

I seek and work to restore America - along with any and all like-minded Americans - to Her Founding Principles and more of an Originalist approach towards the implementation of the U.S. Constitution, which has been bastardized far and away from anything ever intended by the Founding Fathers.

If Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, and Thomas Jefferson were alive today they would either have fled the country, or they would be serving time in Guantanamo Bay as domestic terrorists, because our government has become a soul-sucking, liberty killing monster and the bulk of the people of this country no longer seem to truly care about limited government or individual liberty, seeking only comfort and security, whether it’s the Democrats or Republicans providing it.

And it makes me sick to death to watch."

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

"Breaking! Fourth Stimulus Check Update Today 2021: Monthly Huge 4th Stimulus Checks Bill Vote Soon!"

EVENINGS LALATE, PM 5/19/21:
"Breaking! Fourth Stimulus Check Update Today 2021:
Monthly Huge 4th Stimulus Checks Bill Vote Soon!"

"It Just Happened... $2000 4th Stimulus Check Update Today + Unemployment Benefits"

Ron Yates, PM 5/19/21:
"It Just Happened... 
$2000 4th Stimulus Check Update Today + Unemployment Benefits"

"In this video, we will cover the new dates $1400 third Stimulus Check Update today 2021 as well as the latest details of the stimulus package update and developments on the stimulus check 3 update, student loan forgiveness and related daily news as well as rent assistance programs and mortgage assistance. 4th stimulus check update today. Today I’ve got much more to cover in this video, like: the $200 monthly increase in social security raise, SSI, SSDI, VA, survivor benefit, and railroad benefit. I’ll be updating you on where we stand today on the social security $200 per month boost for ssi raise, ssdi, and really good news regarding COLA today in this video! We will discuss mortgage forbearance, relief and mortgage forgiveness. $2500 student financial aid."

"There Is A Shortage Of Everything And Global Supply Chains Are In A State Of Complete & Utter Chaos"

Full screen recommended.
"There Is A Shortage Of Everything And Global 
Supply Chains Are In A State Of Complete & Utter Chaos"
by Epic Economist

"It wasn't that long ago that our economy was running like a clockwork. Wherever you went, you could find what you needed, and whatever you wanted to order, you knew it would arrive in time. Prices were low and global supply chains were perfectly functional, and everyone expected things to continue that way for the foreseeable future. Then, the health crisis hit. And alongside with it, it came chaos. The media alarmed the population as if the apocalypse was here. Led by fear, people started wiping out grocery shelves in multiple waves of panic buying. Shortages became a common thing. At that time, we thought that they were only going to be temporary. Now, we are not so sure about that anymore. Meanwhile, our leaders keep telling us that this is a "recovering" economy, but how can that be true if economic conditions continue to get worse and shortages are spreading across more and more industries with each passing day?

If this is a recovery, does it mean that shortages and explosive prices are the new normal? At this point of 2021, we're experiencing a level of scarcity of products far worse than anything that we experienced in 2020. Now, even those who rely on prescription medication to survive have been struggling to find dozens of important medicines, given that pharmaceutical companies are facing major supply chain problems. According to the FDA, there are currently about 120 medicines listed as having a shortage in the United States.

At first, although shortages hit essential items and food staples, it was possible to live without them. But now, it has evolved into a life-threatening situation for millions of people who can't find the critical medicine needed to ensure their survival. This wasn’t supposed to happen. And supply shortfalls are being registered in pretty much every sector of the economy. For instance, the home building industry is coming to a halt due to the lack of materials and skyrocketing prices. “Builders are delaying starting new construction because of the marked increase in costs for lumber and other inputs,” explained Mike Fratantoni, senior vice president and chief economist with the Mortgage Bankers Association. He also mentioned that "supply shortages for appliances are also putting a damper on new home building activity".

When asked about these shortages, Sue Wastell, home building executive and president of Wastell Home, stressed that “it’s getting worse and worse every day. Literally every day, we’re finding out something else is not arriving when it was scheduled to. We’ve never seen anything like this". According to the president of Homex Development, Matt McCurrach, “the whole supply chain is out of whack." And what has been concerning experts the most is the ongoing global semiconductor shortage, because just about every industry that you can name is highly dependent on equipment that requires computer chips.

However, recent CNN reports are telling us that "a growing number of manufacturers around the world are having trouble securing supplies of semiconductors," which has been delaying the production and delivery of goods and threatening to hike the prices paid by consumers even further. "The shortage is going from bad to worse, spreading from cars to consumer electronics," says the report. And with most part of chip production concentrated in a small group of suppliers, analysts are warning that the crunch will persist for a long time. Automakers have been in total despair as the chip shortage is forcing the shutdown of many of their plants. Ford Motor, which is one of the automakers feeling the shortage most acutely, has announced that production in the second quarter will decline by about 50 percent.

According to Bloomberg, the world economy is suddenly running low on everything. The main difference between the 2021 supply chain crisis and past disruptions is the magnitude of it and the fact that there isn't a clear end in sight. Big or small, few businesses are immune to the crunch. On top of that, transport costs have been more volatile than ever and shipping problems won’t lighten up until demand does.

Many Americans have never witnessed such widespread shortages in their entire lives. If this is the "recovery" our economy will get, we seem to be doomed to a perpetual state of recession, especially considering that several other crises are erupting all over the country. It is just hard to believe our leaders when they say that "everything is going to be just fine". Well, you can believe them if you want, but in case you don't want to wake up to a crumbling nation and find yourself extremely disappointed, you should start getting ready for the most brutal paradigm shift in the history of America right now."

“Big Trouble Is Coming; Crypto Collapse? Run To Cash”

Jeremiah Babe,
“Big Trouble Is Coming; Crypto Collapse? Run To Cash”

Musical Interlude: Liquid Mind, “My Orchid Spirit (Extragalactic)”

Full screen recommended.
Liquid Mind, “My Orchid Spirit (Extragalactic)”

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 is truly a majestic island universe some 200,000 light-years across. Located a mere 60 million light-years away toward the chemical constellation Fornax, NGC 1365 is a dominant member of the well-studied Fornax galaxy cluster.
This sharp color image shows intense star forming regions at the ends of the bar and along the spiral arms, and details of dust lanes cutting across the galaxy's bright core. At the core lies a supermassive black hole. Astronomers think NGC 1365's prominent bar plays a crucial role in the galaxy's evolution, drawing gas and dust into a star-forming maelstrom and ultimately feeding material into the central black hole. The position of a bright supernova is indicated in NGC 1365. Cataloged as SN2012fr, the type Ia supernova is the explosion of a white dwarf star.”

"And Never, Never..."

"To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget."
- Arundhati Roy

Paulo Coelho, "Be Like a River"

"Be Like a River"
by Paulo Coelho

“A river never passes the same place twice,” says a philosopher. “Life is like a river,” says another philosopher, and we draw the conclusion that this is the metaphor that comes closest to the meaning of life. Consequently, it is always good to remember during all the year to come:

A] We are always doing things for the first time. While we move between our source (birth) to our destination (death), the landscape will always be new. We should face these novelties with joy, not with fear – because it is useless to fear what cannot be avoided. A river never stops running.

B] In a valley we walk slower. When everything around us becomes easier, the waters grow calm, we become more open, fuller and more generous.

C] Our banks are always fertile. Vegetation only grows where there is water. Whoever comes into contact with us needs to understand that we are there to give the thirsty something to drink.

D] Stones should be avoided. It is obvious that water is stronger than granite, but it takes time for this to happen. It is no good letting yourself be overcome by stronger obstacles, or trying to fight against them – that is a useless waste of energy. It is best to understand where the way out is, and then move forward.

E] Hollows call for patience. All of a sudden the river enters a sort of hole and stops running as joyfully as before. At such moments the only way out is to count on the help of time. When the right moment comes the hollow fills up and the water can flow ahead. In the place of the ugly, lifeless hole there now stands a lake that others can contemplate with joy.

F] We are one. We were born in a place that was meant for us, which will always keep us supplied with enough water so that when confronted with obstacles or depression we have the necessary patience or strength to move forward. We begin our course in a soft and fragile manner, where even a simple leaf can stop us. Nevertheless, as we respect the mystery of the source that gave us life, and trust in eternal wisdom, little by little we gain all that we need to pursue our path.

G] Although we are one, soon we shall be many. As we travel on, the waters of other springs come closer, because that is the best path to follow. Then we are no longer just one, but many – and there comes a moment when we feel lost. However, “all rivers flow to the sea.” It is impossible to remain in our solitude, no matter how romantic that may seem. When we accept the inevitable encounter with other springs, we eventually understand that this makes us much stronger, we get around obstacles or fill in the hollows in far less time and with greater ease.

H] We are a means of transportation. Of leaves, boats, ideas. May our waters always be generous, may be always be able to carry ahead everything or everyone that needs our help.

I] We are a source of inspiration. And so, let us leave the final words to the Brazilian poet, Manuel Bandeira:

“To be like a river that flows
silent through the night,
not fearing the darkness and
reflecting any stars high in the sky.
And if the sky is filled with clouds,
the clouds are water like the river, so
without remorse reflect them too.”

Chet Raymo, “Asperges Me, Domine”

“Asperges Me, Domine” *
by Chet Raymo

“Greystone Books publishes a series of "Literary Companions" to natural environments- mountains, rivers and lakes, deserts, gardens, and the sea, so far. Now they come to my environment- night- and have been kind enough to include a chapter from “The Soul of the Night”, the chapter called "The Shape of Night." I am in lovely company, admired companions of several generations- Diane Ackerman, Timothy Ferris, Annie Dillard, Henry Beston, Loren Eiseley, Louise Erdrich, Pico Iyer, and Gretel Ehrlich, to name but a few - all connoisseurs of darkness.

Our earliest mammalian ancestors were presumably nocturnal- to escape the predations of dinosaurs- but for most of human history we have been afraid of the dark, huddling in caves around stuttering fires, curled together in darkness like mice in a burrow. Night belonged to animals with big, dark-adapted eyes and sharp teeth, to footpads and graverobbers, to werewolves and vampires. Ironically, it was with the coming of electric illumination that it became reasonably safe to go out and about at night, even as the illumination erased the best reason to do so.

William Blake called day Earth's "blue mundane shell... a hard coating of matter that separates us from Eternity." At night we peer into infinity, awash in a myriad of stars. We creep to the door of the cave and look up into the Milky Way and catch a glimpse of divinity - everlasting, all-embracing, utterly unknowable. Night - that cone of shadow, that wizard's cap of spells and omens- is the chink in Earth's shell through which we court Ultimate Mystery the way Pyramus courted Thisbe.

Which is why, I suppose, that whenever I think of "the porch" of people who visit here, I imagine Carolina rockers on a southern summer verandah, far from city lights, Vega, Deneb and Altair swimming in the Milky Way, fireflies flickering on the lawn. At some point the conversation ceases and we simply sit, rock, and listen to the sounds of the night - the whippoorwill, the bullfrog, the cricket and the owl- and let starlight fall upon our heads like a sprinkling of holy water.”
* “Wash me, Lord. Sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be clean.”
- The Catholic Mass

The Daily "Near You?"

Acerra, Campania, Italy. Thanks for stopping by!

"COVID and the Noble Lie"

"COVID and the Noble Lie"
by Brian Maher

“Unethical”... “dystopian”... “totalitarian”... These are the words of the British government’s primary scientific advisory bunch — the "Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviour," by title. These scientific advisors presently droop their heads in shame. For these are the very words they employ to describe their own conduct. They concede: Last March their wicked counsel encouraged government officials to wildly inflate the true viral threat. Only a pitiless torturing of facts — argued these men and women of science — could terrify the public into locking themselves in, locking themselves up, locking themselves down.

The London Telegraph: "In March [2020] the Government was very worried about compliance and they thought people wouldn’t want to be locked down. There were discussions about fear being needed to encourage compliance, and decisions were made about how to ramp up the fear." Fear came ladling out by the ton. Millions and millions would perish in agonies scarcely describable, they howled. The hospitals would overflow into the streets, they screeched. Only the near-cessation of all public life could cage the menace. The halfway men, the men counseling a measured response… were drummed out of court.

“Using Fear Smacks of Totalitarianism”: Group psychologist Gavin Morgan, confessing his atrocities: "Clearly, using fear as a means of control is not ethical. Using fear smacks of totalitarianism. It’s not an ethical stance for any modern government. By nature I am an optimistic person, but all this has given me a more pessimistic view of people."

A pity, it is, that this fellow is not a Daily Reckoning reader. We would have squeezed the optimism from him long ago… and pumped in an implacable pessimism. It would have spared him an awful letting-down, a massacre of his innocent delusions.

Here another (unnamed) scientific advisor enters the confession booth: "The way we have used fear is dystopian. The use of fear has definitely been ethically questionable. It’s been like a weird experiment. Ultimately, it backfired because people became too scared." Another member was “stunned by the weaponisation of behavioural psychology.”

Yet another head-shrinker likens his witchcraft to mind control: "You could call psychology ‘mind control.’ That’s what we do…” Might we suggest another term for what they do? Might that term be… ‘propaganda?’

Propaganda: Let us consult Mr. Webster and his famous thesaurus. He defines propaganda this way: "Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view… ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause."

We will assume the Telegraph’s reporting in this instance is authentic. If true... has not the British government… purposefully broadcast propaganda? We are compelled to conclude it has. And since the United States government let out similar shrieks, can we conclude it too has broadcast propaganda — and for identical reasons? ‘Maybe it did,’ you argue. ‘But the government needed to exaggerate the threat, else too few people would take it seriously. More people would have died. They did what they needed to do.’

That is, you give a wink and nod towards what Plato labeled “the noble lie.” It may be a lie, you allow. But it is a lie conscripted in the service of a higher good. Perhaps your argument has juice in it. But is not a noble lie… nonetheless a lie? And should democratic governments lie to We the People, however nobly? As well heave the civics books into the hell box.

Noble Lies: The men gathered at Philadelphia in 1787 lacked authorization to draft a Constitution. Their mandate was to sand down the rougher edges of the Articles of Confederation, to rub on some polish, to give a slight renovation. They instead dynamited the thing to bits and pieces. The public was denied all knowledge of their mischiefs, denied all voice in the outcome. It represented — in essence — a coup, a treason against the United States. Yet it glows in history as the Miracle at Philadelphia. We label the plotters “Founding Fathers.” And they mounted Olympus rather than the gallows.

The Good Guys Don’t Always Sport White Hats: Mr. Lincoln was no more determined to banish slavery than a bought policeman is determined to banish the narcotics trade. He would look away from Southern evil so long as he could count his tariffs at the ports of Charleston, Savannah and New Orleans.

What does the noble lie mistell us? That Old Abe was monomaniacal against the scourge of chattel slavery… and that “every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword.”

Here is another noble lie: The Kaiser’s soldaten bayoneted Belgian babies during the First World War. In August 1914, the British scissored the undersea German communications cables running west to American shores. All trans-Atlantic flows would therefore issue from the British Foreign Office… the same British Foreign Office that sweated mightily to enlist the United States in its cause. Hence the dreaded Hun’s skewering of poor Belgian infants and similar atrocities. Come now to Dec. 8, 1941…

Dastardly, Yes. But Unprovoked? Roosevelt — Franklin Delano — raged against Japan’s dastardly and unprovoked attack the morning prior. Yet was it entirely unprovoked? In July 1941, the United States government froze all Japanese assets in its possession. In August 1941, the United States government embargoed oil and gasoline exports to Japan. Over 80% of Japan’s supply shipped in from the United States. Officials knew well that Japan might take a desperate armed lunge in response. These men believed war was all but assured. But it was critical that Japan deliver the initial blow… to incense the American public.

United States War Secretary Henry Stimson, on the wrecks of Pearl Harbor: “My first feeling was of relief ... that a crisis had come in a way which would unite all our people.”

Picking Fights With Germans: Prior to Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy had also been initiating jousts against German U-boats along the Atlantic convoy routes. Was the United States a neutral power prior to December 1941? And did razzing German U-boats constitute a breach of this neutrality?

Many historians will tell you Mr. Roosevelt was attempting to lure the Germans into another Lusitania trap. But Herr Hitler saw the worm wriggling upon Roosevelt’s hook. He ordered his men to avoid all tangles with vessels flying the neutral flag of the United States. He laced into any U-boat man who gobbled the American bait — even in strictest defense.

Not Defending Japan or Germany: Let it go immediately into the record: We do not throw in with the Japanese Empire… or with the Austrian corporal’s National Socialist German Workers’ Party. In our residence, Victory in Europe Day and Victory Over Japan Day are events of high revelry. They are third only to Independence Day and Flag Day.

Once, under the heavy instigation of liquor, we even hung Herr Hitler in effigy — and set his mannequin aflame. We additionally made a voodoo doll of Tojo… and gave his ghost a frightful jabbing. We merely wish to illustrate that truth is war’s first battlefield fatality. The lie may or may not be noble. But a lie it often is. Examples multiply and multiply.

The Noble Lie of Climate Alarmism: The noble lie lives yet… as the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviour demonstrates. In recent years, the noble lie has also covered the planet itself — climate change. Alarmists insist we perch perilously upon the devil’s shovel. If man continues coughing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, Earth will catch a raging fever. Thus the world no longer confronts “climate change.” It confronts a “climate crisis.”

The noble lie writes the warrant for the mass merchandising of alarm. Stanford climate scientist Stephen Schneider: "On the one hand, as scientists we are ethically bound to the scientific method... On the other hand, we are not just scientists but human beings as well. To do that we need to get some broad based support, to capture the public’s imagination. That, of course, means getting loads of media coverage. So we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we might have. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest." There, in a walnut shell, you have the noble lie.

Crying Wolf: The noble liars have yelled wolf so often, so loudly, they have cashed in their credibility. Here is the danger: One day the wolf may truly snarl at the door. An authentic plague or environmental cataclysm may menace us. But they have already squandered their credit. They will shout wolf and shout wolf and shout wolf again… telling a noble truth... Only this time… no one will heed them."

"Doug Casey on the Labor Shortage and Other Disturbing Distortions in the Economy"

"Doug Casey on the Labor Shortage and 
Other Disturbing Distortions in the Economy"
by International Man

"International Man: According to the recent Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) jobs report, only 266,000 new jobs were created in April - well below the one million new jobs that was expected. At the same time, American businesses are desperately seeking to fill job openings which they can’t fill. A survey by the National Federation of Independent Business found that 44% of small businesses had jobs they couldn’t fill, which is a record high. What’s going on with these seemingly contradictory trends?

Doug Casey: First of all, I don’t trust the government’s statistics. Some are surely better than others, but especially when we’re looking at monetary and economic numbers, it’s increasingly apparent that the US government’s statistics are only marginally more reliable than those of the Argentine government at this point. As the US is increasingly politicized, they’ll deteriorate further, fudged and adjusted for propaganda purposes. Eventually, they’ll approach the inaccuracy of those in the old Soviet Union. It’s understandable, I suppose, because people believe in, and love to quote, that old saw of Franklin Roosevelt’s: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." It’s nonsense, of course; you can ignore reality, but you can’t ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.

The government likes to publish happy, optimistic numbers for lots of reasons. A belief that economic health is based on psychological smiley faces is prominent among them. Unfortunately, optimism can blow away as easily as a pile of feathers in a hurricane. That said, there are huge distortions that have been cranked into the economy because of the ongoing COVID hysteria, compounded by the government’s reaction to it. It appears there are over 16 million workers collecting unemployment bennies, while there are about 8.5 million job openings, 13% more than in the before times. How is that possible? Lots of fast-food chains are paying $15 an hour, plus recruiting bonuses—and that’s for unskilled labor. There are loads of highly-paid manufacturing and construction jobs going begging. Anyone who wants a job can have one.

There are several reasons for this. One is that COVID hysteria is slacking off somewhat but still in high gear. A high proportion of the population wear masks when driving alone, walking alone, or even participating in a Zoom call (presumably to virtue signal). Needless to say, these types are afraid to go to work or be among other people. They want to self-isolate out of fear. They won’t work, or will work less, from hypochondria. Those that will work have to be induced with hazard pay.

Meanwhile, a combination of state unemployment benefits, $300 Federal unemployment, and Federal stimmy checks means that a lot of them can take home more not working than working. It’s easier to stay home, get up late, binge-watch Netflix, and collect tax-free money than commute to work. After a year, it can turn into an ingrained bad habit.

International Man: Since the beginning of the pandemic, the US government has been sending stimulus checks to Americans - mostly to those who experienced no reduction in their income or job loss. This flurry of free money has led to people choosing not to work. What’s your take on this?

Doug Casey: You get what you pay for. And if you pay people to stay at home, they'll do that. People are consuming more than ever. Retail sales are way up because of all the funny money the government is practically helicopter dumping, while a lot less people are producing. This is a guaranteed formula for economic disaster. And it's not just an economic failure but a moral failure. They’re being told it’s all right to take free money and not produce anything in exchange. In the long run, the moral failure is even more serious than the economic consequences. The public is being induced to act like children - or even criminals.

There is, however, one favorable consequence to all of this. Some of the smarter people collecting their stimmy and unemployment checks can see there’s high demand for labor. I’ll bet lots of Americans are working off the books - unofficially, for cash - so that they don’t compromise their unemployment and stimmy checks. Is it illegal, and arguably immoral? Perhaps. But it’s demonstrating what a massive lie government bailout programs are to millions of people. On the other hand, maybe I’m just a perpetual optimist, always looking on the bright side.

The development of a large informal economy, an untaxed shadow economy, is almost inevitable when billions in extra cash, lots of government regulations, and a generally declining standard of living come together in a witch’s brew. It causes huge distortions in the marketplace - and in the way people think the world works. Whole new classes of people will use the government as a milk cow, as well as a predator. This is the way it works in corrupt Third World countries, which the US is increasingly emulating. We no longer have an implicit social contract of fair play; it’s become a war of all against all.

This trend is another reason why the government wants to eliminate cash. When everything goes digital - as it already has in China and Sweden - it will be much harder to work off the books. They’ll know about everything you make, everything you spend, everything you own, because it’s all computerized. Let’s hope Americans will resist the trend. But, based upon their bovine acceptance of orders during the COVID hysteria, I doubt it.

International Man: It’s clear that the government response to COVID decimated many small businesses. What do you think the government’s further actions will do to the small businesses that survived the pandemic?

Doug Casey: It’s part of the phenomenon of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. A big government prefers dealing with big businesses, for lots of reasons. Big government helps big businesses like Amazon, Facebook and Google get much bigger. Little businesses don't have the capital, the lobbying power, and the bribing power to compete. Government, and the type of people who work for it, are naturally antagonistic to entrepreneurs. They want to see everyone as a regimented employee.




I've long been of the opinion that 80% of this COVID disaster is a scam. It’s the best means of controlling the masses since the invention of central banking and the income tax. Better, actually, since everybody cares about their health, but not everybody cares about money.

That may sound like a conspiracy theory, though I’m not partial to conspiracy theories for a number of reasons. But the fact that this hysteria took over the world so quickly, exclusively benefiting the people in charge, makes me very suspicious. Scared people are much more prone to look for leadership promising to solve a problem. Even if it’s an artificial one they created.

The slavish psychology of the average human is a real problem. The capite censi believe they live in a democracy where legislators represent their interests. So they do what they’re told by the representatives of our phony democracy. These busybodies and power grubbers get together to pass new laws. The new laws don’t enshrine wisdom. They simply tell people what they must do and must not do.

Every day the legislature is in session further limits the freedom of its subjects. And increases costs - because every new law requires paid enforcers. People who look to legislators to solve their problems are complicit in their own throats being cut. In our recent book Assassin, John Hunt and I highlight the way this works. No government department wants to lose its funding. They have an interest in manufacturing problems simply in order to justify their existence. COVID may turn out to be a classic example of that.

International Man: Is Universal Basic Income (UBI) already here to stay for good in the US? What are the investment and other implications?

Doug Casey: I believe it is. And it’s going to cement in place the distortions that we were talking about earlier. It's going to encourage whole new groups of people to do nothing and expect free stuff from the State as their moral right. Americans will increasingly resemble Cargo Cult natives in the South Pacific.

The near-term consequence of the trillions of dollars of funny money showered on America is probably going to be a crack-up boom. It’s a paradoxical situation where - in the midst of a declining standard of living - there’s a mad flurry of economic activity. So much new money being pumped into the economy encourages everybody to go out and buy stuff. They have lots of depreciating currency and want to spend it ASAP. But fewer and fewer people are producing, even while more are consuming. It’s called living out of capital.

The UBI, free money just for existing, is going to be very hard to take away. Everybody is encouraged to consume promiscuously because that will stimulate the economy. It’s idiotically said to be patriotic to consume. But nobody has to produce.

One big question is what will happen to millions of renters now in "forbearance." They're not paying the rent, and several million homeowners are also in forbearance. The landlords are going to be looking for back rent, and the banks are going to be looking for mortgage arrears. Are millions going to be kicked out of their apartments and houses? Does this mean we're going to have a new wave of homeless people? Or will the State just take over their obligations, so we have overtly socialized housing? The small landlords, in particular, will be hurt worst. I’m not sure what the way out is. The country has been painted into a corner.

I'm shocked that I don't see any of this being discussed anywhere. The country is sleepwalking into a living nightmare, and we’re just scratching the surface of all the problems that will have to be confronted in the years to come."

"The Only Time..."

“Go without a coat when it’s cold; find out what cold is. Go hungry; keep your existence lean. Wear away the fat, get down to the lean tissue and see what it’s all about. The only time you define your character is when you go without. In times of hardship, you find out what you’re made of and what you’re capable of. If you’re never tested, you’ll never define your character.”
- Henry Rollins

"How It Very Really Is"



"Economic Market Snapshot 5/19/21"

"Economic Market Snapshot 5/19/21"
"Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will
do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone."
- John Maynard Keynes
"Down the rabbit hole of psychopathic greed and insanity...
Only the consequences are real - to you!
Your guide:
Gregory Mannarino, AM 5/19/21:
"Alert! PAN Sell-off"
Dan, I Allegedly, "This Country is Going to the Dogs"
"The more I see of the monied classes,
the better I understand the guillotine."
- George Bernard Shaw
MarketWatch Market Summary, Live Updates

CNN Market Data:

CNN Fear And Greed Index:
A comprehensive, essential daily read.
May 18th to May 20th, Updated Daily
Financial Stress Index
"The OFR Financial Stress Index (OFR FSI) is a daily market-based snapshot of stress in global financial markets. It is constructed from 33 financial market variables, such as yield spreads, valuation measures, and interest rates. The OFR FSI is positive when stress levels are above average, and negative when stress levels are below average. The OFR FSI incorporates five categories of indicators: credit, equity valuation, funding, safe assets and volatility. The FSI shows stress contributions by three regions: United States, other advanced economies, and emerging markets."
Daily Job Cuts
Commentary, highly recommended:
And now, the End Game...
Oh yeah...

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Gerald Celente, "Trends Journal: Unvaxxed Lives Matter"

Gerald Celente,
"Trends Journal: Unvaxxed Lives Matter"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 5/18/21: "Goldman Sachs Warning; Dollar Falls"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 5/18/21:
"Goldman Sachs Warning; Dollar Falls"

Musical Interlude: 2002, “Where The Stars And Moon Play”

Full screen recommended.
2002, “Where The Stars And Moon Play”

“Pamela and Randy Copus are the duo known as 2002. Randy Copus plays piano, electric cello, guitar, bass and keyboards. Pamela Copus plays flutes, harp, keyboards and a wind instrument called a WX5. Both musicians also provide all of the vocals on their albums, recording their voices many, many times and layering them to create a "virtual choir" with a celestial, angelic quality.”

"A Look to the Heavens"

“This colorful skyscape features the dusty, reddish glow of Sharpless catalog emission region Sh2-155, the Cave Nebula. About 2,400 light-years away, the scene lies along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward the royal northern constellation of Cepheus.

Astronomical explorations of the region reveal that it has formed at the boundary of the massive Cepheus B molecular cloud and the hot, young, blue stars of the Cepheus OB 3 association. The bright rim of ionized hydrogen gas is energized by the radiation from the hot stars, dominated by the bright blue O-type star above picture center. Radiation driven ionization fronts are likely triggering collapsing cores and new star formation within. Appropriately sized for a stellar nursery, the cosmic cave is over 10 light-years across.”

The Poet: Arthur O’Shaughnessy, "Music and Moonlight"

"Music and Moonlight"

"We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone seabreakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world forever, it seems…
We, in the ages lying
In the buried past of the earth,
Built Ninevah with our sighing,
And Babel itself in our mirth;
And o’erthrew them with prophesying
To the old of the new world’s worth;
For each age is a dream that is dying,
Or one that is coming to birth."

- Arthur O’Shaughnessy
"The Dreamers Of Dreams..."
"The division of one day from the next must be one of the most profound peculiarities of life on this planet. We are not condemned to sustained flights of being, but are constantly refreshed by little holidays from ourselves. We are intermittent creatures, always falling to little ends and rising to new beginnings. Our soon-tired consciousness is meted out in chapters, and that the world will look quite different tomorrow is, both for our comfort and our discomfort, usually true. How marvelously too night matches sleep, sweet image of it, so nearly apportioned to our need. Angels must wonder at these beings who fall so regularly out of awareness into a fantasm-infested dark. How our frail identities survive these chasms no philosopher has ever been able to explain."
- Iris Murdoch

The Daily "Near You?"

Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom.
Thanks for stopping by!

"Only One..."

"There is only one basic human right, 
the right to do as you damn well please.
And with it comes the only basic human duty, 
the duty to take the consequences."
- P. J. O'Rourke

"Be The Person..."

"We are fast moving into something, we are fast flung into something like asteroids cast into space by the death of a planet, we the people of earth are cast into space like burning asteroids and if we wish not to disintegrate into nothingness we must begin to now hold onto only the things that matter while letting go of all that doesn't. For when all of our dust and ice deteriorates into the cosmos we will be left only with ourselves and nothing else. So if you want to be there in the end, today is the day to start holding onto your children, holding onto your loved ones; onto those who share your soul. Harbor and anchor into your heart justice, truth, courage, bravery, belief, a firm vision, a steadfast and sound mind. Be the person of meaningful and valuable thoughts. Don't look to the left, don't look to the right; we simply don't have the time. Never be afraid of fear."
- C. JoyBell C.

"What Just Happened Off The California Coast Can’t Be Explained! 2021"

Full screen recommended,
"What Just Happened Off The California 
Coast Can’t Be Explained! 2021"

"How ‘Woke’ May Be Leading Us to Civil War"

"A statue of Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola in Ferrara, Italy, on Sept. 25, 2018. Savonarola enforced a 1497 version of cancel culture on Florence, Italy, according to Roger L. Simon. (Gianni Careddu via Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0)"

"How ‘Woke’ May Be Leading Us to Civil War"
by Roger L. Simon

"The other day, I wrote that “woke” was the new conformism. It is, of course, but I undersold it. It’s much more than that and more dangerous. As Tal Bachman notes at Steynonline, it’s now our state religion, a state religion in a country that - constitutionally and for good reason - isn’t supposed to have one.

But “Wokism” is yet more than that, too. It’s a mass psychosis similar to many that have arisen throughout history when the masses followed leaders who, in their zeal or self-interest, took them to disastrous ends. A good example was when the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola - in a 1497 version of “cancel culture” - swept up everything secular in Florence from some of the most extraordinary paintings and sculpture of all time to the works of Boccaccio and burned them in the so-called Bonfire of the Vanities.

Being Jewish, I am also reminded of the bizarre tale of Sabbatai Zevi, the 17th-century Sephardic rabbi who proclaimed himself the long-awaited true messiah of the Jews, garnered thousands of followers, and then ended up leaving them completely in the lurch when he converted to Islam. (Interestingly, Bachman writes that “wokism” resembles Islam structurally.)

Closer to our time, the great Italian director Federico Fellini, in his film “La Dolce Vita” (1960), shows us what seems like hundreds of people rushing about, tears streaming, trampling each other, believing reports that the Madonna has been sighted. As the scene progresses, the crowd grows, with more and more people convinced of the sighting. Of course, what Fellini documents is more or less harmless - not so “woke.” This psychosis has a political dimension and the capability of changing a society, which it has already done.

Face Excommunication: “Woke” gains adherents much in the manner of “est” - the cult-like Erhard Seminars Training - that I attended in the 1970s at the behest of a movie producer interested in making a film about it. (It never happened.) If you’re too in, you’re out. For est, several hundred people sat in a large conference room listening to the “training” for hours under instructions not to get up, even to go to the bathroom, until they raised their hands signaling they “got it” (i.e., effectively joined the cult). Nature’s calling being what it is, most eventually did.

Although operationally similar, “woke” is exponentially more perilous than the now-defunct est training. Our position in society, our livelihoods, and our children’s educations and futures are being held over our heads, not our mere use of a restroom. An iron-fisted, ideologically extreme minority has our country under its thumb - play along or face ex-communication. This is stronger than anything in our history and almost identical to what we see and have seen in totalitarian countries.

It’s a psychosis approaching mass hallucination. In Franco’s Spain, they shouted, “Viva la muerte!” (“Long live death!”) Here we are asked to proclaim just as loudly “Black Lives Matter,” to display signs saying as much on our lawns, although we never thought otherwise and always thought (naively, we are told) that all lives mattered.

All key aspects, most parts of them anyway, of our society “get it” as they did in est (i.e., now believe in ”woke”) or, yet more ominously, cynically say they do - the media, the corporations (“Better woke than broke!”), the government bureaucracy, the Democratic Party, the Department of Justice, the FBI, the military (yikes!), entertainment, the university system, the K–12 system, the medical community, the scientific community (incredibly), the religious community (sadly), and on and on.

All, to one extent or another, believe in “woke” except - the people. Most of the people anyway. Most of what used to be called the common men (or women) in the street roll their eyes at “woke” - including even some silent, but browbeaten, Democrats - and do their best to move on, although many realize that “woke” and its sister “social justice” are in essence euphemisms for an ideology far more totalitarian than any ever in control of this country, communism.

Rebellion Brewing: How long can this gaping dichotomy continue? How long before they stop rolling their eyes? A rebellion against “woke” is brewing, particularly in red states, some of which are banning or have already banned critical race theory in their schools, among other pushbacks. (Kudos to Rep. Mark Green, Republican of Tennessee and Iraq War veteran, for introducing legislation to block critical race theory training at U.S. military academies.)

But will that be enough against a federal government that lives and breathes this evil ideology and that is essentially governed by a homegrown politburo - the thought that Biden acts by himself is ludicrous - determined to impose it? As this imposition increases, the “contradictions,” as the Marxists would say, are heightened. What the extremist ideology of “woke” actually provokes is talk of - and not just talk - secession and even civil war.

Few of us have heard anything like that in our lifetimes. But now it’s real. We have been driven apart as never before. We have been awakened indeed. Anything can happen and some of us, who would never have considered anything like secession and civil war, suddenly do - highly disturbing to us as those thoughts may be.

So why do we even tolerate “woke”? Bachman gives us a quotation from Austrian philosopher Karl Popper that is remarkably apposite for our times: “Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them.”

From Antifa to BLM (whose leader apparently identifies with the mass murderer Chairman Mao) to the willfully blind talking heads of left-wing cable TV, no one is as intolerant as the ”woke” folks. They break all domestic records in that regard. Time to stop tolerating them."

Musical Interlude: The Who, "Tommy"

The Who, "Overture" from "Tommy"
The Who, "Tommy", "See Me, Feel Me/Listening to You"
The Who, "Tommy", Full Album 1969

"How It Really Is"

 

Gregory Mannarino, AM 5/18/21: "Market Updates; Gold And Silver- What You Must Know Now"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 5/18/21:
"Market Updates; Gold And Silver- What You Must Know Now"

"Eternal Springtime"

"Eternal Springtime"
by Bill Bonner

YOUGHAL, IRELAND – “Transitory” or not? Economists are studying the numbers. Is inflation heating up… or cooling off? Should they be looking at the Consumer Price Index (CPI)? The CPI-U (for urban customers)? With or without food and energy? The Personal Consumption Expenditure price index (PCE)? ShadowStats? They watch the thermometer and check the skies. In the following few words, we explain why we think they are wasting their time.

You can tell it’s getting warmer by looking at data points. Check the thermometer every day and you may begin to see a trend. But if you are planting a crop or planning a vacation… you might also check the calendar. Yes, there are bigger patterns… longer… more durable… more predictable. Temperatures go up and down. You may see the temperature going down every day for a week. But come the month of May, the flowers come out anyway.

Sunny Forecast: Politico gives us the forecast: The very firm conventional wisdom around the financial industry is that the recent spike in inflation – which just hit the highest level in a decade – will be entirely transitory. Janet, Joe, and Jerome are telling us not to get too excited about the latest inflation numbers. Put away the umbrellas and raincoats, they say. Sunshine ahead. They believe there is too much “spare capacity” in the economy. It will need to be taken up, they say, before business or labor have any real pricing power.

And those higher prices we are seeing? Don’t pay any attention to them, they add; they’ll be gone as soon as the problems in the supply chain are removed. Then, too, they say that price levels were so low a year ago – caused by the COVID-19 scare – that the latest measurement of inflation is cockeyed. What we are looking at is a statistical aberration, they say, not real inflation.

Irrelevant Argument: On the other side, the inflation alarmists believe the “spare capacity” argument is poppycock. They see storm clouds building. This inflation is “intentional, deliberate, and disastrous,” writes colleague Simone Wapler. It is structural, not cyclical. So the “spare capacity” is irrelevant.

Venezuela, for example, has idle factories, idle land, and idle labor aplenty. But it also had inflation two years ago at 10,000,000%. And in America, businesses can’t find people to take up jobs. They are forced to raise wages. But it’s not because there aren’t plenty of idle hands available. More likely, it is because the feds were too promiscuous with their stimmy money. In many cases, people got more money from being unemployed than they used to get on the job.

And then, too, 30 years of stimmy – with ultra-low interest rates and Fed-backed asset markets – has created a “financialized” economy… where the big money is no longer made by honest labor or investment – producing goods and services (real wealth) for others – but by borrowing and speculating.

Never Better: Naturally, the rich – and the elite – have never had it better. They own the assets the Federal Reserve has been pumping up. Can you blame the not-so-rich for wanting to join them? As we reported here, one of the latest fad cryptos went up 1,700% in just a week earlier this month. And the whole crypto sector came from nothing just over a decade ago to be now worth more than $2 trillion. That’s “wealth” that didn’t exist a few years ago. And it’s enough to make a whole generation believe it is more profitable to trade cryptos than to work. Again, it was the inflation that caused the “spare capacity,” not the other way around.

As for the “low base” argument, you can look through the freakish Plague Year figures by “stacking” the inflation readings up in two-year increments. What you see is the same rising trend line, but at a gentler angle.

Perpetual Springtime: Here at the Diary, we are sometimes right, sometimes wrong… and always in doubt. Will the April numbers mark the decisive turning point – when inflation turns definitively and dramatically upwards? Or will they turn out to be more like an exploratory mission by UFOs… before the full invasion force takes over the planet, making pets of the few humans who survive? We’ll know in a few months. In the meantime, we reach for a deeper insight.

Consumer price inflation comes as a result of monetary inflation; that is all we know for sure. Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) tells us that government is the source of money (which the MMTers believe is the same as wealth). It’s government printing and spending that make the money world turn, they say. They add that the feds can print and spend as much as they want – “investing” to create a safer, more prosperous, and more perfect union – until consumer price inflation rises.

When that day comes, they promise, they will “pivot” to inflation-fighting policies. But lo! That day came last Wednesday. And what’s this? Quelle surprise! Their eyes still on the thermometer… they tell us why the recent readings are not to be trusted. “No need to pivot just yet,” they say.

We live in a world of perpetual springtime; they’re convinced of it. Stocks always push up, like jonquils in April. The warm rain of deficits and money-printing eternally stirs the dull roots of the economy. And any datapoint outside the springtime range must be a fluke.

Too Late: They would do better to go back to the calendar. It’s not government printing and spending that create real wealth; instead, as sure as June follows May, they create real inflation. And if you wait for the Bureau of Labor Statistics to confirm the trend, it may be too late to plant your radishes."