"USA Targeting of Moskva Ship is Russia's "Pearl Harbor", Retaliation is Next"

"USA Targeting of Moskva Ship is Russia's "Pearl Harbor"...

 Retaliation is Next"

by Mike Adams

"To understand the sinking of the Moskva and Putin’s impending retaliation against the United States, you first have to realize that any national leader wanting to make bold military moves first needs the support of his own people. In 1941, Pearl Harbor was allowed to happen (the US government knew all about it and even provoked it) in order to create the emotional support for the US to enter the Pacific theater of war.

The attack on Pearl Harbor was, essentially, the 9/11 of World War II. And just as with 9/11, the US government knew all about it and allowed it to take place in order to produce the casualties and emotional reaction that would see the American people demanding retaliation against Japan.

It has now been revealed that the US military ran the entire operation to sink the Moskva, including running the tracking of the ship via a P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft, which then handed off fire solutions to the Ukrainians who were all trained by the US military as well. Thus, the United States provided the weapons, the training, the tracking and the fire solution to sink the Moskva. All Ukraine did was press the “fire” button, essentially. This is so widely known now that it’s even being reported by the UK Daily Mail. It reports: "REVEALED: US maritime surveillance plane was over Black Sea minutes before Russian flagship Moskva was ‘hit by Ukrainian missiles’.

A P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft was patrolling the coast before the attack The high-tech jet can spot ships on radar at ranges of more than 100 miles… The US Navy used its new marine surveillance aircraft to provide accurate targeting data to Ukrainian forces to sink the Russian Black Sea flag ship Moskva on April 13."

By sinking the Moskva, the US just handed Putin something akin to “Russia’s Pearl Harbor moment,” in which Putin can claim to his people that the USA initiated an attack on the Russian Navy, sinking one of their ships and killing hundreds of their people. This news has, of course, been paraded all across Russian media, driving domestic support for Putin even higher than before.

Just like with Pearl Harbor in the United States, the people of Russia are now demanding “payback” from the aggressors, whom they see as the United States. In effect, the USA just handed Putin the final piece of the puzzle that he needs to launch retaliatory nuclear strikes against the West.

Russia unveils the unstoppable RS-28 Sarmat (Satan 2) ICBM carrying up to 15 MIRV warheads: It is no coincidence that Russia has just unveiled a test launch of its RS-28 Sarmat (Satan 2) ICBM which carries up to 15 MIRV warheads. These are independent re-entry vehicles, each one carrying a nuclear warhead hundreds of times larger than the atomic bombs used on Japan in World War II.

The RS-28 also carries Hypersonic Glide Vehicles (HGV) which glide at extreme speeds while maneuvering to their targets, utterly evading every defensive system owned by the United States. Put another way, the USA is utterly defenseless to stop Russia’s nuclear weapons from striking US-based targets.

It takes roughly 30 minutes for one of these ICBMs to fly from Moscow to New York City. Should Putin launch one, the people of New York would have no warning whatsoever, since the traitorous, occupying US government almost certainly wouldn’t bother to warn anyone if they only have a few minutes remaining to evacuate.

Thus, at any given moment, millions of Americans are just 30 minutes away from total annihilation. Russia could even, theoretically, launch a missile featuring high-altitude EMP detonation, plunging the United States into a 19th-century Dark Ages existence in which roughly 90% of the population would die within a year or so due to mass starvation, collapse, violence, disease and so on.

From InsiderPaper.com: "The RS-28 Sarmat is capable of carrying about 10 tons of payload for either up to 10 heavy, or 15 light, MIRV warheads, as well as an unspecified number of Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) or a combination of warheads. It also carries several countermeasures against anti-ballistic missile systems. The Russian ministry of Defense said that the missile is Russia’s response to the U.S. Prompt Global Strike system."

While the Pentagon has been focused on creating gay helicopter crews and transgender soldiers, Russia has been engineering highly effective, high-tech weapon delivery systems such as hypersonic missiles and advanced ICBMs.

While America’s traitorous leaders are dismantling America’s energy infrastructure and transportation system (see the recent clobbering of Union Pacific railway deliveries), Russia is raking in record profits from energy sales while convincing many top nations around the world to buy energy in Rubles rather than dollars.

The US empire, steeped in corruption, pedophilia, criminality and insanity, is finished. Now it’s only a matter of time to watch the self-immolation of the United States of America accelerate by the day.

Mark my words: Before the end of this year, America’s cities will be in flames from the food riots. Government tyranny will be out of control, and we will be witnessing the early chapters of either a mass uprising or a civil war (or perhaps elements of both). Mass starvation is coming to the West, and it was the insanely stupid economic sanctions against Russia that initiated the entire catastrophic chain reaction that will lead to the fall of America as we know it.

A very sad day, indeed. Then again, with America’s abortion fanatics going all-out insane on mass murdering babies, it begs the question of whether a “reboot” might be the only way to restore the Christian values upon which America was originally founded. As Michael Snyder writes, “The End Of Civilization As We Know It Is Coming – And That Is Actually Really Good News.” "Is he correct? Only time will tell.

- https://www.naturalnews.com/

Get more details on all this in today’s Situation Update podcast:

- Brighteon.com/457460a6-9dd3-4da3-9563-18652592320c

○

Related:

“'World War Three' Is About To Escalate 

To A Dangerous New Level"

"Oh S#!%... "SATAN" Nuclear Missile is Being Prepared"

"What It Might Mean..."

"Democracy doesn't require a whole lot of work of its citizens, but it requires some: It requires taking a good look outside once in a while, and considering the bad news and what it might mean, and making the occasional tough choice, and soberly taking stock of what your real interests are."

- Matt Taibbi

The Daily "Near You?"

Welches, Oregon, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"The American Dream is Dead - Home Prices Hit $1 Million"

Dan, iAllegedly 4/21/22:

"The American Dream is Dead - Home Prices Hit $1 Million"

"Housing has become so unaffordable for the average American. Here in Southern, California we just saw the average home price hit $1 million in Orange County, California. Refinances and mortgage demand have been cut in half in the last 60 days. The house ATM is finished. The Bubble will pop soon."

Gregory Mannarino, "Business Activity Unexpectedly Falls, Manufacturing Slows, And Stocks Poised For More Gains"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 4/21/22:

"Business Activity Unexpectedly Falls, 

Manufacturing Slows, And Stocks Poised For More Gains!"

- https://traderschoice.net/

"Stockman Exposes The 'Inflationary Hell' That's About To Break Loose" (Excerpt)

"Stockman Exposes The 'Inflationary Hell' 

That's About To Break Loose"

by International Man

Excerpt: "It is only a matter of time before Kiev surrenders to the Russians, with or without their clown-car president signing the armistice. But that deal will be so onerous from Washington’s perspective that it will not mark the end of the sanctions war, but will be an excuse for its actual intensification and indefinite prolongation. When that becomes the reality, however, inflationary hell will break out all over the place. And the Fed’s decades-long experiment in egregious, inflationary money-pumping will splatter ignominiously all over the Eccles Building (Fed headquarters)."

Please view this complete article here:

- https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/

○

Related:

"The Biden Inflation Scorecard! House Price Growth UP 69%, Food UP 58%, Gasoline UP 72%, Diesel Fuel UP 154%, Fed Bal Sheet UP 21%, Mortgage Rates UP 83.3%"

by confoundedinterest17

"Under President Biden’s Reign of Error, inflation is the highest in 40 years. But Powell and The Fed are still overstimulating the economy, and Congress is contributing to the inflation disaster with short-sighted political policies and spending (flooding the economy with stimulus spending helping to drive up prices). Even Democrat US Senator Elizabeth Warren gets it.

Click image for larger size.

Here is Biden’s inflation scorecard in one chart. Under Inflation Joe, foodstuffs are up 58%, gasoline is up 72%, diesel fuel is up 154%, and green energy element Lithium is up 645% (no wonder electric car manufacturer Telsa is raising their prices 10%). Of course, The Federal Reserve keeps on expanding its balance sheet, UP 50.3% under Inflation Joe.

Click image for larger size.

House price growth is up 69% and the 30-year mortgage rate is UP 83.3% and currently is at 5.28%. The orange line is the growth path.

Yes, prices have risen even more after Russia Invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. But most of the inflation was baked-in prior to the Russian invasion. Sorry Jen Psaki, but you are wrong about inflation being all Putin’s fault."

- https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/

"So Not Even A Fly Can Escape": Putin Declares Mariupol 'Liberated' - Orders Besieged Steel Plant Sealed Off"

"So Not Even A Fly Can Escape": Putin Declares Mariupol 'Liberated' - 

Orders Besieged Steel Plant Sealed Off"

by Tyler Durden

"Weeks ago Russian forces had already captured and besieged much of the southeast Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which began a process of the majority of civilians emptying out - though there could still be tens of thousands remaining. Within the past days an estimated couple thousand Azov fighters have been surrounded and holed up at the large, cavernous Azovstal steel plant, reportedly including some civilians, resulting in a standoff situation where those inside are fast running out of supplies.

Previously it was thought that Russian troops were preparing to storm the sprawling complex, but instead on Thursday President Vladimir Putin indicated to his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu that this course of action must be scrapped and instead the plant should be completely sealed off.

Full screen recommended.

Putin further declared Mariupol, which prior to the invasion had a population of about 450,000, is now "liberated" - and congratulated the defense chief on the military "success" - at a moment Russia has launched a broader major offensive to take the whole of Donbas. The Russian leader gave the words in response to Shoigu's own briefing to his commander-in-chief, which was aired on state TV: "Mariupol has been liberated," Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin in a televised meeting. "The remaining nationalist formations took refuge in the industrial zone of the Azovstal plant."

As for the plant, Putin said it should be sealed off with those inside "so that not even a fly can escape"... “We should always think, in this case especially, about saving the lives and health of our soldiers and officers. There is no need to climb into these catacombs,” Putin said. "Block off this industrial area so that not even a fly can escape," he continued. Those trapped in the plant will be offered a chance to surrender, and they can keep their lives and receive a "dignified treatment," Putin said.

Putin is hailing Russia's "liberation" of Mariupol after his forces completely destroyed it during a two-month siege. Previously a Ukrainian official in the region gave those still inside Azovstal "days or hours" to holdout - given they are not only cut off from all escape routes but that essential supplies like food, water, and likely ammo are running out.

One retired military official, Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis, explained to CNN that Putin's strategy is a rational one from a strategic point of view: “There’s no point in just ratcheting out and going in for each individual person in that very labyrinth complex. There’s no reason to do that. All they have to do is just keep that last piece cordoned off and virtually the city is already theirs.” Davis said further, "Even though the Russians don’t go after them [the Ukrainian troops inside the plant], because they have them surrounded, they can’t get even food or water, much less ammunition."

"The risk to those soldiers is that they would slowly die if they don’t get some help. I think in probably the coming hours or days you’re going to hear that those troops are finally negotiated out," he added. Starting Tuesday the remaining civilians began exiting the plant. Russian forces established a 'humanitarian corridor' and some 120 were safely evacuated. RT aired footage of the Ukrainian civilians being escorted out of the area later that day.

Russian forces have been blaring on speakers their demand for Azov fighters to lay down their arms and exit the complex 'or else'... "Russia is using a Tigr vehicle with a loud speaker to get Ukrainian soldiers to surrender at the Azovstal plant." 

https://t.co/oqgo1xcK7H  pic.twitter.com/5RqtbA7lhr

— Rob Lee (@RALee85) April 21, 2022

Russian forces have seen the Black Sea port city as crucial in completing a land bridge which links up territories already under its control stretching to Crimea."

- https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/

"Prices Are Getting Crazy At Kroger! This Is Ridiculous!"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures with Danno, 4/21/22:

"Prices Are Getting Crazy At Kroger! This Is Ridiculous!"

"In today's vlog we are at Kroger and are noticing massive price increases! We are here to check out skyrocketing prices, and a lot of empty shelves! It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting products!"

○

Related:

"Americans Are Spending More, Getting Less, 

& Borrowing More To Pay For It"

by  Schiffgold

"American consumers are spending more, getting less, and borrowing more to fund this involuntary spending spree. Retail sales in March were 7% higher than they were in the stimulus-fueled March of 2021, but thanks to inflation, they didn’t get as much bang for their buck.

Seasonally adjusted, retail sales were up 0.5% month-on-month in March at $677 billion. As WolfStreet put it, “Stimulus Miracle March 2021 was a very tough month to beat. But Americans did blow by it. What they didn’t do is blow by the now raging inflation.”

Unsurprisingly, higher gasoline prices accounted for the bulk of that increase in retail sales as consumers pulled back in other areas. Online sales fell for the second straight month. It was the first back-to-back decline in online sales in over a year.

Increasing retail sales is usually viewed as a good sign for the economy. It signals that consumers are confident and able to spend money. Reuters reported that the pickup in consumer spending is “helping to underpin the economy.” This is just wishful thinking. Paying more and getting less does not “underpin” an economy.

In a high inflation environment, surging retail sales tell a different story. Consumers spend more because they have to. This is an involuntary spending spree. American consumers are spending hand-over-fist in an effort to keep up with surging prices. Since retail sales are expressed in dollar amounts, they reflect both units sold and rising prices. That means there are two ways retail sales can go up:

• Consumers buy a larger quantity of stuff.

• The price of the stuff they’re buying goes up.

In other words, just because dollar widget sales increase doesn’t mean people bought more widgets. It could be that they bought fewer widgets but paid more for them. This is exactly what’s happening in many retail sales segments.

You can see clearly see the pain from rising prices when you look at individual categories in the Consumer Price Index Data. The CPI for durable goods was up 17.4% year-on-year in March, even with a month-on-month drop of 0.9% thanks to a sharp drop in used vehicle prices after a massive spike. The CPI for nondurable goods was up a blistering 3.8% in March and up 13.1% year-over-year.

When up put a 7% increase in retail sales in the context of these rapidly rising prices, it doesn’t look so good. Americans are spending a lot more money and they’re getting a lot less for it. And in order to keep up with surging prices, Americans are turning to plastic. Revolving credit, primarily credit card debt, rose by a whopping 20.7% in February. That helped fund a 0.8% increase in February retail sales – revised up in the latest data from 0.3%.

This raises an important question: how much longer can over-indebted consumers keep paying these upward-spiraling prices? Especially given the fact that the Fed is now raising borrowing costs? They can’t. Savings are running dry and credit cards have limits. They’re going to have to start cutting back on many buying a lot of stuff just to keep up with the rising cost of necessities. This does not bode well for the economic future."

- https://www.zerohedge.com/

"Colonel MacGregor Says That When It Is Obvious That the Media Was Lying About the Ukraine, US Might Freak Out"

"Colonel MacGregor Says That When It Is Obvious 

That the Media Was Lying About the Ukraine, US Might Freak Out"

by Andrew Anglin

"In Colonel Douglas MacGregor’s latest interview, he debunked the moronic claims that Russia is “committing a genocide” or “doing war crimes,” and also the stupid claim that Russia is planning to nuke the Ukraine. He then explained, as we’ve explained in detail, that we are at the final phase of this conflict, with between 40 and 60 thousand troops left in the Ukrainian military, who are getting cut off by the Russians. They will either get slaughtered or surrender.

He said that when it becomes undeniable that all of these retarded claims made by the US government and media with regards to how Russia was losing the war have been proved to be retarded, that the US government/media may start saying “we have to do something!” in order to cover up just how badly they lied about all of this. “The worries me,” MacGregor said.

We are already hearing increasing talk of “boots on the ground” in the Ukraine from the people in Washington. Sen. Chris Coons, the Biden conduit who holds his former seat in Delaware, has actively begun floating the deployment of US troops to Ukraine: "Putin will only stop when we" - the US - "stop him," Coons warns pic.twitter.com/ABydvBPuO0

- Michael Tracey (@mtracey) April 17, 2022

Of course, if they were only dealing with the Americans, the government and media could just drop the Ukraine topic entirely, and move back to coronavirus, or some other gigantic hoax. They’ve already demonstrated that they can do this with ease – just totally switch the entire public conversation in the course of a few hours, and get the population to go along with it.

But it’s not just the Americans – America has told the entire world that the Ukraine was going to win a war with Russia. This is going to look even dumber than when they said that the Kabul government would stand for at least six months. These people are so mired in their own lies that they need to compile lies on top of lies in order to justify previous lies.

However, it is clear that the Pentagon is telling everyone in Washington that a war with Russia is not feasible. However, they also told them that they could turn the Ukraine into a boondoggle for Russia, and cause the Russian government to collapse because of it. These people are not known for accurate statements. So maybe the politicians will say “the Pentagon has been wrong about everything – maybe they’re also wrong that we can’t win a ground war against Russia in the Ukraine?”

Only 10% of Russia’s military is in the Ukraine, and it’s likely that they held back because they thought it possible that the US/NATO could invade. At that point, they could flood the country with forces. Then, you’d basically have a nuclear war."

- https://www.unz.com/

"How It Really Is"

 

"Excellence..."

"Ain't no man can avoid being born average,

but there ain't no man got to be common."

- Satchell Paige

"The Prophet: On Good and Evil "

"The Prophet: On Good and Evil"

 "Of the good in you I can speak, but not of the evil.

For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst?

Verily when good is hungry it seeks food even in dark caves,

and when it thirsts it drinks even of dead waters.

You are good when you are one with yourself.

Yet when you are not one with yourself you are not evil.

For a divided house is not a den of thieves; it is only a divided house.

And a ship without rudder may wander aimlessly among

perilous isles yet sink not to the bottom.

You are good when you strive to give of yourself.

Yet you are not evil when you seek gain for yourself.

For when you strive for gain you are but a root

that clings to the earth and sucks at her breast.

Surely the fruit cannot say to the root,

 Be like me, ripe and full and ever giving of your abundance.

For to the fruit giving is a need, as receiving is a need to the root.

You are good when you are fully awake in your speech,

Yet you are not evil when you sleep

while your tongue staggers without purpose.

And even stumbling speech may strengthen a weak tongue.

You are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps.

Yet you are not evil when you go thither limping.

Even those who limp go not backward.

But you who are strong and swift,

see that you do not limp before the lame, deeming it kindness.

You are good in countless ways,

and you are not evil when you are not good,

You are only loitering and sluggard.

Pity that the stags cannot teach swiftness to the turtles.

In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness:

and that longing is in all of you.

But in some of you that longing is a torrent rushing with might to the sea,

carrying the secrets of the hillsides and the songs of the forest.

And in others it is a flat stream that loses itself in angles and

bends and lingers before it reaches the shore.

But let not him who longs much say to him who longs little,

 Wherefore are you slow and halting?

For the truly good ask not the naked,

 Where is your garment?

nor the houseless, What has befallen your house?"

- Kahlil Gibran

○

Freely download a PDF version of  "The Prophet" here:

- http://www.brainybetty.com/

"Relax; You Cannot Kill Me Here..."

"Relax. They're not going to kill us. They're going to

TRY and kill us. And that is a very different thing."

 - Steve Voake, "The Dreamwalker's Child"

○

"You cannot kill me here. Bring your soldiers, your death, your disease, your collapsed economy because it doesn't matter, I have nothing left to lose and you cannot kill me here. Bring the tears of orphans and the wails of a mother's loss, bring your Jesus on a cross, bring your hate and bitterness and long working hours, bring your empty wallets and love long since gone but you cannot kill me here. Bring your sneers, your snide remarks and friendships never felt, your letters never sent, your kisses never kissed, cigarettes smoked to the bone and cancer killing fears but you cannot kill me here. For I may fall and I may fail but I will stand again each time and you will find no satisfaction. Because you cannot kill me here."

- Iain S. Thomas

The Poet: David Whyte, "In the Beginning"

"In the Beginning"

"Sometimes simplicity rises

like a blossom of fire

from the white silk of your own skin.

You were there in the beginning

you heard the story, you heard the merciless

and tender words telling you where you had to go.

Exile is never easy and the journey

itself leaves a bitter taste. But then,

when you heard that voice, you had to go.

You couldn't sit by the fire, you couldn't live

so close to the live flame of that compassion

you had to go out in the world and make it your own

so you could come back with

that flame in your voice, saying listen...

this warmth, this unbearable light, this fearful love...

It is all here, it is all here."

~ David Whyte

"A Perpetual Illusion..."

"Human life is thus only a perpetual illusion; men deceive and flatter each other. No one speaks of us in our presence as he does of us in our absence. Human society is founded on mutual deceit; few friendships would endure if each knew what his friend said of him in his absence, although he then spoke in sincerity and without passion. Man is then only disguise, falsehood, and hypocrisy, both in himself and in regard to others. He does not wish any one to tell him the truth; he avoids telling it to others, and all these dispositions, so removed from justice and reason, have a natural root in his heart."

- Blaise Pascal

Tucker Carlson, "Biden Has Not Been Able To Think Clearly For Years Now"

Full screen recommended.

Tucker Carlson, 4/20/22:

"Biden Has Not Been Able To Think Clearly For Years Now"

○

25th Amendment:

The 25th Amendment, proposed by Congress and ratified by the states in the aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, provides the procedures for replacing the president or vice president in the event of death, removal, resignation, or incapacitation. The Watergate scandal of the 1970s saw the application of these procedures, first when Gerald Ford replaced Spiro Agnew as vice president, then when he replaced Richard Nixon as president, and then when Nelson Rockefeller filled the resulting vacancy to become the vice president. Read more from the Congressional Research Service here....

Amendment XXV

Section 1.

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

Section 2.

Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

Section 3.

Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

Section 4.

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

- https://www.law.cornell.edu/

○

And then, President Kamala Harris...

"We're so freakin' doomed!"

- The Mogambo Guru

"Unreal!!! Stock Up on Gas NOW. They Just Did It"

Canadian Prepper, 4/20/22:

"Unreal!!! Stock Up on Gas NOW. They Just Did It"

"JP Morgan put a terrifying prediction for fuel prices."

○

"The second one is that oil could get to $185 a barrel. Inflation and supply

 chain problems are destroying the world economy right before our eyes.

 Gasoline could easily hit $15 a gallon."

"Alert! They Are Ready To Impose Full Embargo On Russian Oil That Will Send Price Above $185"

Full screen recommended.

"Alert! They Are Ready To Impose Full Embargo On 

Russian Oil That Will Send Price Above $185"

by Epic Economist

"Global markets are in total chaos as Europe has threatened to impose an immediate ban on Russian oil starting next week amid the worsening crisis in Ukraine. The move will likely push oil prices to explode, further impacting the price of commodities and triggering even more supply chain disruptions as shipping costs skyrocket. The consequences of this next round of sanctions can affect the entire world, and plunge the global economy into a deep recession. Even JP Morgan analysts are extremely alarmed about the potential consequences of the ban – and consumers are going to be hit the hardest by widespread price hikes.

The impact of the conflict is already having far-reaching repercussions on international trade, sparking extensive shortages of commodities and raising prices all across the board. From wheat to fuel – when resources are limited, prices can only go up. And the costs are absorbed like a chain reaction.

That’s why Europe’s plan to impose an embargo on Russian oil is triggering so much alarm. This week, the European Union has started to draft the sixth package of sanctions against Russia, and it warned that it is ready to impose a full immediate ban on Russian oil after next week’s French elections. If the bloc follows through on its threat to expand sanctions to all Russian oil, the effects on prices can be devastating, according to JPMorgan.

But according to JPMorgan’s Commodity Strategist Natasha Kaneva,"any immediate embargo measure taken by the European Commission will have a severe impact on the global oil market with risks to price entirely to the upside in the short-term,” she warned. In an interview with Bloomberg, Kaneva said that Brent Crude prices could soar by 65 percent to as much as $185 per barrel in the coming months.

Even worse, a full and immediate embargo is likely to hurt global consumers more than Russian producers in the near term, the strategist said, adding that the ban would cut over 4 million barrels per day of Russian supply from the global market.

At this point, businesses and consumers are already feeling the pinch of the rally in commodity prices of everything from crude oil to grains and metals. The year’s highly volatile commodity markets are compromising global economic growth prospects, and shoppers are already witnessing sharp increases in grocery prices.

Oil price spikes almost immediately lead to higher prices at the pump. “For every $42 rise in the price of a barrel of crude oil, the average household will spend an extra $500 annually on gasoline,” JP Morgan’s Managing Director and Head Economist for Commercial Banking Jim Glassman said.

Furthermore, given that the sea carries more than 80 percent of the world’s traded goods, and that oil price hikes have a major effect on shipping costs, inflation is going to soar all around the world this year. When freight rates double, inflation picks up by about 0.7 percentage points, and the effects are quite persistent, peaking after a year and lasting up to 18 months. This means that the increase in shipping costs observed in 2021 could increase inflation by about 1.5 percentage points in 2022.

The consequences brought on by higher energy, food, and shipping costs could weigh on the global economy and plunge the entire world into a major recession. The Global supply chain currently stands on the brink of a complete disaster, and the coming price shocks threaten to push it over the edge."

- https://www.epiceconomist.com/

Celente and the Judge, "Ukraine War: The Health of the State, The Graveyard of Liberty"

Full screen recommended.

Celente and the Judge, 4/20/22:

"Ukraine War: The Health of the State, The Graveyard of Liberty"

"The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present Facts and Truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for What’s Next in these increasingly turbulent times."

- https://trendsresearch.com/

Gregory Mannarino, "Alert! The Federal Reserve Just Guaranteed More/Higher And Sustained Inflation! JPM Warns On Crude"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 4/20/22:

"Alert! The Federal Reserve Just Guaranteed More/Higher

 And Sustained Inflation! JPM Warns On Crude"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Musical Interlude: Mike and the Mechanics, “Silent Running”

Mike and the Mechanics, “Silent Running”

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Will our Sun look like this one day? The Helix Nebula is one of brightest and closest examples of a planetary nebula, a gas cloud created at the end of the life of a Sun-like star. The outer gasses of the star expelled into space appear from our vantage point as if we are looking down a helix. The remnant central stellar core, destined to become a white dwarf star, glows in light so energetic it causes the previously expelled gas to fluoresce.

The Helix Nebula, given a technical designation of NGC 7293, lies about 700 light-years away towards the constellation of the Water Bearer (Aquarius) and spans about 2.5 light-years. The above picture was taken three colors on infrared light by the 4.1-meter Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. A close-up of the inner edge of the Helix Nebula shows complex gas knots of unknown origin.”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120131.html

"Can't You See..."

"Can't you see that the courage to risk, to dare, to toss that gold coin up in the air over and over again, win or lose, is what makes humans human? They are fragile, doomed creatures, blinder than worms yet braver than the gods."

- Jennifer Donnelly, "Stepsister"

"Every Time You Wake Up..."

"Every time you wake up ask yourself what good

things am I going to do today? Remember that when the

sun goes down at sunset it will take a part of your life with it."

- Native American Saying

"How We Stumbled to the Edge of the Cliff"

"How We Stumbled to the Edge of the Cliff"

by Charles Hugh Smith

"Now that we're teetering on the edge of the cliff, it might be a good idea to retrace how we stumbled down to this crumbling, precarious ledge. As I've discussed for the past 15 years, there are a handful of systemic forces that have taken us to the point of no return.

1. Demographics have reversed from tailwinds to headwinds. All sorts of extravagant promises could be made back when there were 10 workers paying taxes to support each retiree/state dependent. Now that we're down to less than 2 full-time workers for each retiree/state dependent, the promises are impossible to keep, with the one exception of printing the trillions of dollars that were anticipated to be paid in taxes - that is, creating near-infinite sums of funny-money out of thin air and hoping the rest of the world will continue to accept it. History doesn't have any examples of that working, but hey, we're special and this time it's different.  Oh, right... (Links are active, Blogger's being uncooperative..."

"The Narrative Of Inflation Amid Depopulation"

"Just Charts of Demographics" (Econimica)

2. The fuel of postwar prosperity, oil, is no longer cheap enough or abundant enough. A great many people are delighted to put their faith in renewables (actually replaceables, as Nate Hagens has described) but as Tim Morgan has explained, the era's secular stagnation that so puzzled conventional economists can be traced back to the decline in cheap energy available per capita: "Mapping the economy:" "The cost element is known here as ECoE (the Energy Cost of Energy), which has been rising relentlessly over an extended period. Whilst ECoE remained low, its omission mattered much less than it does now. This is why conventional, money-based economic modelling appeared to work pretty well, until ECoE became big enough to introduce progressive invalidation into economic models. This process can be traced to the 1990s, when conventional interpretation noticed – but could not explain – a phenomenon then labelled 'secular stagnation'."

I addressed the relationship between hydrocarbons and stagnation in "Oil and Debt: Why Our Financial System Is Unsustainable." (2/25/21)

3. The balance between labor and capital has collapsed. $50 trillion in earnings has been transferred to the Financial Aristocracy from the bottom 90% of American households over the past 45 years. This is the reality that must be obscured by any means available, but alas, there's data and facts: "Trends in Income From 1975 to 2018."

The status quo response to stagnation was to push financialization and globalization, both of which reward those who own capital and control the market forces (heh) of rigged "markets." Given the incentive structures of financialization and globalization, the best way to maximize profits by any means available has been to offshore production (costly, risky, low profit in a world of excess capacity, get rid of it) and generate obscene profits by financial speculation (clean, easy and guaranteed because The Fed has our back).

This is how the nation has been hollowed out, financially and morally.

4. The nation's leadership elite no longer trusts the citizenry. The entire purpose of what passes for leadership now in the U.S. is to bamboozle, lie, prevaricate and obscure how the nation's resources are being squandered globally and domestically. The nation's leadership elite continues to assume that the resources and money available are essentially limitless, and so there's no Endless War (tm) that can't be extended indefinitely, no corporate welfare that can't be increased, and now that the populace is restive, no limit on how many trillions (pocket money, we're America! We can do anything!) can be distributed in bread and circuses to increase the voters' dependence on The Savior State. (Be a good little debt-serf or tax donkey and everything will be just fine.)

When it gets serious, you have to lie, and now it's serious every single second of every day.

5. The central bank's magic does not work forever. If you look at the fine print on the bottom of the Federal Reserve's magic lamp, it warns that lowering interest rates stops working when the rate is zero, and that creating trillions out of thin air and giving it to banks, cartels and super-wealthy financiers only works to inflate speculative asset bubbles for 20 years. So let's see, 2000 plus 20 equals 2020... oops. Looks like the Fed's magic (and our luck) have finally run out.

Just a thought, but removing the blindfold might be a good idea here. The edge is crumbling and the bottom is a long way down."

- https://www.oftwominds.com/

"The Most Daring Liars..."

“The men the American people admire most extravagantly

are the most daring liars; the men they detest most

violently are those who try to tell them the truth.”

- H.L. Mencken

"Doug Casey on Food Riots and 'Inflation Lockdowns'"

"Doug Casey on Food Riots and 'Inflation Lockdowns'"

by International Man

"International Man: Recently, we've seen people riot over rising prices—especially food prices—in Sri Lanka, Peru, and other countries. What is going on here?

Doug Casey: Commodity prices have generally gone up close to 100% in the last year. Soybeans ($17), wheat ($11), and corn ($8) are all at or near all-time highs - and they're not coming down. Why not? Mainly because of the trillions of currency units printed by central banks in the last year or so. Their prices are now at a new equilibrium level. But there are other reasons besides money printing.

Wheat, soybeans, and corn are basic for feeding people and animals around the world - certainly in the Western world. They've become much more expensive to produce. In today's era of industrial agriculture, fertilizer is of critical importance. All of the main fertilizers - nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium compounds - have tripled or more.

It's unlikely that they're going to come down anytime soon because Russia and the Ukraine are two of the world's largest fertilizer producers. Even if the Ukraine war ends soon, there will still be import/export restrictions on Russia. Availability from Ukraine will be limited because of war-related difficulties producing and shipping fertilizer abroad - on top of the fact actual grain production has collapsed. The world seems to have forgotten that from the 20s to the 80s, there was consistent and widespread hunger in Ukraine and Russia. Since then, they've transformed into two of the world's biggest exporters - but that can change overnight.

And it's not just fertilizer, planting, and transport. Fuel is critical for running tractors and processing everything. Oil is over $100 a barrel right now - also about double recent levels. I think it's going to stay there and probably go higher because of the Green mania gripping the world. Large oil companies like Shell and BP, run by PC suits, intend to get out of the oil business. Their boards have been infiltrated with ESG types, and their hiring practices bow to diversity and inclusion. We're looking at a situation where actual oil production is headed down at the same time that costs have gone up.

When the price of food and fuel go up radically, the planet's poor are disproportionately affected. They're going to riot. They don't know who's at fault. But since they've been taught their governments are cornucopias, they'll blame the rich.

We'll soon see financial chaos, which will lead to economic chaos, political chaos, and social chaos. What we're hearing about in Sri Lanka and Peru is just the beginning. The US won't be immune. Americans who drive everywhere in giant SUVs and pickups will also feel the pinch, especially with their food bills up 30%.

International Man: How has the response to the ongoing Covid hysteria affected the situation?

Doug Casey: I've said many times in the past that COVID should have been considered as no more than a bad flu season. People forget that the annual seasonal flu typically kills 30,000-50,000 Americans. The media, the "health" establishment, and governments turned COVID into a hysteria, verging on mass psychosis. The facts are that no one other than the obese, the sick, and the elderly were in any real danger. Those people should have used precautions. Instead, the whole world was locked down like a prison.

The hysteria surrounding COVID shut down a good part of the world's production, made transportation nationally and internationally much slower and more expensive - the cost of shipping a container from China to the West Coast went from $3000 to $25,000. The public was encouraged to run around as if their hair was on fire. It wasn't COVID itself but the insanity surrounding it that greatly compounded the situation.

What I'm afraid of is that there's going to be a COVID 2.0, and then COVID 3.0, and then something else. That augurs poorly for price stability and social stability in the future. Before it's over, I don't doubt that the hoi polloi will clamor for a "Great Reset" like that the World Economic Forum is promising them.

International Man: The food riots seem to be occurring in Third World countries. Could they spread to North America and Europe? What do you think that would look like?

Doug Casey: Yes, they could. In the case of Americans, it's said that half of the country has no savings at all. Instead, they have loads of mortgage, credit card, auto, and student loan debt. So, if they need to lay their hands on even an extra $500 or $1,000, half of the people in the country couldn't do it.

Americans are basically living paycheck to paycheck, and worse than that, they're maintaining their standard of living with second mortgages and their credit cards. With interest rates headed up from today's all-time lows, they're going to be squeezed. The low-interest rates of the last decade have disguised the fall in the standard of living by making it possible to borrow more.

The same people who can't buy a car without seven-year financing or afford the $6 gas it takes to run it are generally the ones who don't own but rent a place to live. Rents have gone up 30% in the last year or two as well. It's not just Third Worlders - our natives are going to get restless too.

International Man: Thanks to the Covid madness, governments have normalized the use of lockdowns. It's a new tool in their toolbox. For example, there have been whispers about governments implementing lockdowns to address so-called climate change. Could we see governments impose "inflation lockdowns" as prices soar?

Doug Casey: It's critical to remember that the prime directive of all living things, whether we're talking about an amoeba, an individual, a corporation, or a government, is to survive. That's rule number one.

Let's look at governments, which actually produce nothing and serve little useful purpose. Their main gifts to humanity are wars, pogroms, persecutions, proscriptions, inflation, taxes, and regulations. It's as if the whole planet suffers from Stockholm Syndrome. I promise you governments will do whatever they think necessary to survive. Their citizens - subjects is a more honest word - are really just means to their ends. Governments believe they should manage their populations, viewing them as cattle in a feedlot. Of course, they'd prefer the cattle to be healthy and even happy. But that's not the prime directive. It's that the government itself survives.

A perfect example of this is what's going on in Shanghai now. It's actually unbelievable - but true - that the Chinese government has a city of 25 million people locked in their apartments. They can't even leave to get food. Rotten vegetables are dispensed to them like prisoners or captive animals. Hundreds of thousands more have been placed in gruesome facilities, packed in like cattle if they're suspected of having COVID. In many cases, people's pets are being slaughtered. It's criminally insane.

But what's even more insane is that 25 million people are accepting this just because they're told to. Why don't the Shanghaiese grab meat cleavers, swarm out into the streets, and take care of business, pursuing the chain of command as far as it will go? The answer is that they know the CCP would send in the Red Army. I suppose it's understandable that they'd rather cringe on their knees like slaves because that offers at least a chance of survival, no matter how degraded. Americans would likely bow to their government the same way. So, yes, I think we're going to see lots more of that type of thing in the world.

International Man: What are the personal freedom implications of all this?

Doug Casey: I hate to use the hackneyed phrase "a perfect storm." For the rest of this decade, we're looking at a perfect storm because of all the things we've talked about so far. It's important to remember that Americans in 2020 elected the most economically, politically, and socially radical regime in all our history - by a long margin. Some say the election was stolen. I wouldn't doubt it. But Americans also elected and re-elected Obama - and the country has gone a lot further left since then.

The Bidenistas are going to be in office for at least the next three years. They'll do everything in their power to cement themselves in office. Every idea they have is intended to change the very character of the US. Their roots and basic philosophy are identical to those of the Jacobins in France in 1789 or the Bolsheviks in Russia in 1917. As a result, during this decade, the US is likely to have the most serious set of crises since the country's founding. Hold onto your hat."

- internationalman.com

"Bad Things Have Happened... Please Don't Make This Mistake"

Canadian Prepper, 4/20/22:

"Bad Things Have Happened... Please Don't Make This Mistake"

"Something has happened that is very concerning and the implications are quite scary. We are on the brink of World War III."

○

"It is dangerous to be right in matters on which 

the established authorities are wrong"

- Voltaire

○

The referenced video...

Gonzalo Lira, Coach Red Pill,

"My Trip From Kiev to Kharkiv Last Night"

○

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete 

when everything the American public believes is false." 

- William J. Casey, CIA Director

The Daily "Near You?"

Pierrefonds, Quebec, Canada. Thanks for stopping by!

Bill Bonner, "Enough Rope"

"Enough Rope"

by Bill Bonner

San Martin, Argentina - "Bloomberg reports: “White House tightens Russian sanctions.” What, exactly, does the US hope to get from the sanctions war? What evidence is there that it will work? Meanwhile, Canada, which is rapidly getting a reputation for being an even bigger dope than the US, is sanctioning Russia’s top banker. Bloomberg again: "Canada sanctioned Russian central bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina and 13 other “close associates of the Russian regime” in a fresh round of penalties related to the war in Ukraine."

It marks one of the first instances where Nabiullina has shown up on a country’s sanctions list since Russia’s invasion of its neighbor in February. Australia previously sanctioned her and the central bank itself has been sanctioned. Not that we have any interest in the war… or the sanctions. But today, we puzzle over what people think they know that ain’t so.

Little or Nothing: Americans, in general, know little or nothing about the long and complicated history of the Eurasian steppe. Yet they believe they know exactly where the border between Russia and the Ukraine should be. And they’re willing to fight to the last drop of Ukrainian blood to keep it where Stalin put it.

Do Canadians think Ms. Nabiullina has done something wrong? What is the charge? Where is the evidence? Where is the judge and jury? What then is the basis for punishing her? They must think that it will somehow force Mr. Putin to change course. In effect, she has been taken hostage… now, they vow to cut off her fingers until the Kremlin complies with Ottawa’s demand.

Do the Canuck feds or their American counterparts know what Russia is doing and why; are they really such evildoers? And how about the Ukraine? Is it really a valiant defender of liberty and democracy… or a bunch of neo-Nazi thugs eagerly egged on by the west’s warmongers? How do the feds know which side is right? Is either side right?

And how about sanctions themselves? Do they actually achieve the intended results? Good? Bad? How do they know? By our reckoning, the sanctions are backfiring on the US. They raise US consumer prices (by cutting off supplies of Russian energy and grains.) The global commodities index (Bloomberg) is up 33% so far this year. Oil is up 42%. Wheat and corn are up 43% and 32% respectively.

Higher prices reduce purchasing power, leading to a recession. Russians may get poorer, but Americans get poorer too. And using the US-dominated financial system as a weapon is forcing Russia, China, India and others – the most populous countries in the world – to speed up their search for alternatives. The US has enjoyed an “exorbitant privilege” since WWII. At almost no cost, it gets to ‘print’ a currency that the rest of the world accepts as real money.

But now, the sanctions signal to everyone that the US dollar comes with conditions attached; you have to do as the Yankees tell you. Already, the dollar is in decline in international transactions. China is the world’s leading exporter, not the US. And Russia is the largest single exporter of energy. It won’t be long before they find a way to bypass the dollar completely. But maybe the feds know something that we don’t?

The Pretense of Knowledge: One of the most remarkable phenomena of the 21st century is the growth of fake or useless knowledge. We know more and more… but the quality of what we know declines. The common citizen may get the “420” weed joke, for example, (made famous by Elon Musk’s buyout offer for Twitter), but have no idea how to shuck an oyster or gut a deer.

During our lifetimes, we have watched the evolution of our own automobiles from something mechanical, that we could more-or-less see and understand, to something that is beyond our ken. In the 1960s, young men could take off the carburetor… clean it, change the points, adjust the float, and make it work better. Now, there’s no point in opening the hood. We have no idea how the ‘electronics’ work. But turn the key; they start up. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t buy them. The people who design and build them know what they are doing. The automakers have to give real value to get real profits. If they don’t, they will go out of business – along with the bad chef, the tone-deaf singer and the accident-prone electrician.

But what about public policies? Where is the market discipline? Turn the key on sanctions; what happens? So far this century, major public policies have failed to start.

War on Terror – big mistake – $8 trillion down the drain

Bailout Wall Street – terrible policy – another $8 trillion.

Covid Panic – unnecessary – $5 trillion more, gone with the wind.

Sanctions? Have they finally gotten a major policy decision right? What are the odds?"

- bonnerprivateresearch@substack.com

○

"Dare..."