Thursday, April 28, 2022

"24 Stats To Crush Anyone Who Thinks America Has A Bright Economic Future"

Full screen recommended.
"24 Stats To Crush Anyone Who Thinks 
America Has A Bright Economic Future"
by Epic Economist

"Many economic indicators are signaling that the U.S. is marching towards another recession, but we're still being told that we're in the middle of an economic recovery. Maybe this alleged recovery only includes rich bureaucrats and corporate CEOs because conditions are getting steadily worse for the average American. Wealth is becoming increasingly concentrated at the very top even as the overall economic pie in America continues to get smaller. We're, in fact, in the middle of the most crushing cost of living crisis in modern times. Ordinary families are having to spend thousands of dollars more for the same products and services they typically consume, but our incomes are not rising at the same pace as the price of everyday goods. That's why we have been taking on debt like there's no tomorrow. All of the long-term economic numbers are progressively getting worse, our living standards are collapsing and our purchasing power is in a free fall.

The U.S. economy is short on millions of middle-class jobs. Big corporations have been systematically shipping them overseas over the past five decades, and our politicians haven’t done anything to prevent that. In fact, our leaders have made it legal for big corporations to send millions of jobs to countries where they have access to cheap labor and where the tax burden is much lighter, and regulations are significantly less strict. Now, our economic infrastructure is falling apart right in front of our eyes. As a result of our imprudent economic policies, our trade balances are absolutely exploding.

As opposed to what we're being told, we are definitely not entering an era of prosperity and financial stability. Don't let yourself fall into a bubble of false hope. Right now, there is a lot of talk about how the U.S. economy is improving, but that's far from the truth. Over the past decades, the number of good jobs in America has dropped drastically. At the same time, tens of thousands of businesses, millions of jobs, and trillions of dollars of our national wealth have been shipped out of the country. Our national debt is dozens of times larger than it was 30 years ago, and year after year the rate of inflation goes up faster than our incomes do.

At this point, the working class is completely devastated, the middle class is shrinking at a breathtaking pace, and labor conditions aren't improving at all. Anyone who believes that things will come back to where they were a decade ago and that America still has a bright economic future is delusional. Until the long-term trends that are destroying the U.S. economy are reversed, any talk of an economic recovery is absolute nonsense. For that reason, today, we decided to gather some telling stats that dismiss the idea that America is now experiencing some sort of economic boom."

"Real Estate Will Crash As Economy Craters; Forecloses Surge 181%; Wells Fargo Layoffs"

Full screen recommended.
Jeremiah Babe, 4/28/22:
"Real Estate Will Crash As Economy Craters;
 Forecloses Surge 181%; Wells Fargo Layoffs"

Gerald Celente, "Trends in the News 4/28/22"

 Full screen recommended.
Strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, "Trends in the News 4/28/22"
"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 time"

Musical Interlude: Jefferson Airplane, "White Rabbit"

 
Jefferson Airplane, "White Rabbit"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“The Pelican Nebula is changing. The entire nebula, officially designated IC 5070, is divided from the larger North America Nebula by a molecular cloud filled with dark dust. The Pelican, however, is particularly interesting because it is an unusually active mix of star formation and evolving gas clouds.

The featured picture was processed to bring out two main colors, red and blue, with the red dominated by light emitted by interstellar hydrogen. Ultraviolet light emitted by young energetic stars is slowly transforming cold gas in the nebula to hot gas, with the advancing boundary between the two, known as an ionization front, visible in bright red across the image center. Particularly dense tentacles of cold gas remain. Millions of years from now this nebula might no longer be known as the Pelican, as the balance and placement of stars and gas will surely leave something that appears completely different.”
"In a universe devoid of life, any life at all would be immensely meaningful. We ARE that meaning. "And what we see, "says the poet Mary Oliver, "is the world that cannot cherish us, but which we cherish." As though life itself is the great, universal, unrequited love of all time. But there is even more to this. Deep mystery. We are the universe aware of itself. We let the miracle get lost in distractions. On a planet so rich with living companions, much of humanity sentences itself to solitary confinement. Late at night, I used to lie in my boat listening to radio calls from ships to families ashore. There was only one conversation, and it boils down to, "I love you and I miss you: come home safe." Connections make us individuals. Ironic, isn't it? The more connected, the more unique our life becomes."
- Carl Safina

"There Are None So Blind..."

"There are none so blind as those who will not see. The most deluded
people are those who choose to ignore what they already know.”
- John Heywood, 1546

The Poet: Theodore Roethke, “The Waking”

“The Waking”

“I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.”

- Theodore Roethke

"We’re All Ukrainians Now"

"We’re All Ukrainians Now"
by Brian Maher

"Ukraine’s suffering is under every eye...Russia’s desecration of Ukraine appalls all right-thinking men. Yet many of these men insist you know of their appallment. We believe the term is “virtue signaling.” They appear daily on the television, wringing their hands, rending their cloths… and gnashing their teeth. They yell about the march of evil. The murder of innocents. The fading of freedom, the suspension of civilization and the death of democracy.

How much more suffering, they lament, must the people of Ukraine endure before the United States mounts its white horse? What could go wrong? Nothing… of course.

Where Is Ukraine Again? Meantime, the flag of Ukraine is a very common sight. Even our local town hall is illuminated nightly in the Ukrainian colors. We are unaware of any local Ukrainian presence. Yet the city of Annapolis wishes us to know it stands with poor, beleaguered Ukraine. The Ukrainian flag likewise festoons “social media” postings… as Black Lives Matter symbols festooned social media postings in the year 2020.

Could these sympathists identify Ukraine’s flag before Mr. Putin’s barbarities? We hazard many could not… much less fix Ukraine’s position upon the Eurasian landmass. Yet we are all Ukrainians now.

A Morality Tale: Many social media concerns have deep financial interests in China. If China were to invade democratic Taiwan… would these outfits moan about China as they presently moan about Russia? We are not convinced they would.

Mr. Putin is of course the high villain in this morality tale - and justly so. His hands are red with the blood of many, many thousands. He can never rinse it away. And we would remind the Russian autocrat: As all men, he will one day stand before St. Peter. His deeds will judge him, regardless of his earthly station. We do not expect Peter to stamp the fellow’s passport.

Yet we would caution the United States government against moralistic self-patting of the back. It sobs openly for Ukraine, it is true. Yet in critical respects it sheds the crocodile’s tears. That is, the United States government cares less about minimizing Ukraine’s agonies… than it cares about maximizing Russia’s agonies.

“Let’s You and Him Fight”: The longer the war, the weaker the Russia. If more Ukrainians must perish in extended warfare, well, that is of course unfortunate. Unfortunate - but tolerable. It is perhaps even necessary. As the late Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said of the deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children due to United States sanctions: “We think the price is worth it.”

No one asked the Iraqi youths. Nor is anyone asking the Ukrainians. “Let’s you and him fight,” says the United States government. The United States will defend Ukraine to the very last platelet of Ukrainian blood.

This week Defense Secretary Austin has confirmed our suspicions: “We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine.” Should Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin come to terms tomorrow… and call it all off… the United States government would yell about “appeasing Russian aggression,” “letting aggression stand” and “betraying our democratic values.” Washington would recall Mr. Zelenskyy to his duties as the leader of a free nation: “What would Winston Churchill think of you? He refused to negotiate with Hitler and here you are settling with today’s Hitler. Shame on you. Fight for your freedom!”

$33 Billion for Ukraine: It is no surprise, then, that the administration would hand over another $33 billion to fortify Ukraine. Portions of the funding would: "Counter Russian disinformation and propaganda narratives, promote accountability for Russian human rights violation, and support activists, journalists, and independent media to defend freedom of expression."

Did you catch it? To "support… independent media to defend freedom of expression”? Please do not laugh. Tweets Journalist Michael Tracey: "White House fact-sheet says part of the mammoth $33 billion spending package it's requesting for Ukraine will be to "support independent media." Because nothing screams "independent" like being directly funded by the US Government as part of its "information warfare" initiative."

The “information warfare” - propaganda, if you rather - is already in swing…

Ukraine Must Be Invincible: Thus we discover that only Russia sustains combat losses of men and equipment. Each day we are treated to clips of exploding Russian tanks and crashing Russian aircraft. We have yet to witness one item of wrecked Ukrainian materiel. We must conclude Ukrainian equipment is indestructible - even though it is often the identical equipment of Russia’s.

Likewise, we are informed that Russian military deaths and woundings approach 50,000. More than 15,000 of the 50,000 are presently dead and in hell. How many casualties has Ukraine’s military endured? The media outlets rarely hazard a figure - to our awareness at least. Yet they report eagerly Ukraine’s civilian fatalities, presently estimated near 2,500… and rising.

Video clips of suffering humanity naturally accompany these reports. We do not question the suffering - merely the reliability of those doing the reporting. Credible reports implicate Ukrainian forces in a certain number of atrocities against civilians. You will not find them on nightly television of course. Yet they exist.

Good Luck Finding Balance: We simply do not know what to believe. We have no doubt that Russia has undertaken some very serious roughhouse. We do not absolve it in the least. Yet is Ukraine fully innocent? What if it is a balanced perspective you seek?

You will find it only with difficulty. Journalist Glenn Greenwald: "If one wishes to be exposed to news, information or perspective that contravenes the prevailing U.S./NATO view on the war in Ukraine, a rigorous search is required. And there is no guarantee that search will succeed. That is because the state/corporate censorship regime that has been imposed in the West with regard to this war is stunningly aggressive, rapid and comprehensive…"

So prolific and fast-moving is this censorship regime that it is virtually impossible to count how many platforms, agencies and individuals have been banished for the crime of expressing views deemed "pro-Russian”... "Note that this censorship regime is completely one-sided and, as usual, entirely aligned with U.S. foreign policy. Western news outlets and social media platforms have been flooded with pro-Ukrainian propaganda and outright lies from the start of the war…The censorship goes only in one direction: to silence any voices deemed “pro-Russian,” regardless of whether they spread disinformation."

And yet - and yet - the United States government purports to "support… independent media to defend freedom of expression.” “The point of modern propaganda,” argues Gary Kasparov, “isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.” And what, again, is the initial casualty of war?"
Related:
Full screen recommended.
War Update 4/28/22! Putin Says "The decision has been made, and the response could be nuclear." And "Lightning fast" according to Putin.  Also it appears Ukrainian aircraft have been taking off from bases in Romania! 

And $33 Billion for Ukraine!
We're begging for a nuclear war, and may just get it...

The Daily "Near You?"

Excelsior, Minnesota, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

Bill Bonner, "Bums at the Fed"

"Bums at the Fed"
by Bill Bonner

Amsterdam, The Netherlands - "In the airport… we were shocked to see dozens of Chinese people in full hazmat gear. White suits with hoods and booties… double masks… face screens. Young people. What were they so afraid of? Do they intend to go through their whole lives like that…? Didn’t they get the message? The Covid is only a danger to sick or old people. To everyone else, it is just a nuisance. And trying to stop it completely is a losing proposition. But who knows? The Chinese are entitled to their fantasies and claptrap. Just as we are.

So… let’s turn to ours. Like stealing from the cash register… or taking antidepressants… once you begin inflating the money supply to cover your expenses, it’s hard to stop. Over a 10-year period, after the crisis of 2008-2009, the Fed juiced the economy with ultra-low interest rates. People got used to living in a fantasy world… where they could refinance their homes and take a little cash out each time. Businesses could borrow – often below the rate of consumer price inflation – and use the money to buy back their own stocks… make acquisitions… and pay dividends and bonuses.

And enlightened economists urged the government to ‘take advantage of the low rates” to borrow trillions of dollars for projects Americans couldn’t afford and (mostly) didn’t want. And then it got worse…

The New Abnormal: Michael Burry points out that in the last 18 months, the feds have given out some $850 billion in gimmie/stimmie checks… more than $1 trillion in non-repayable loans (of which as much as half was fraudulent)…. and another $4 trillion in indirect support. And households were also able to walk away with $400 billion in cash-out refinancing, thanks to the Fed’s super-low rates.

It was the ‘new normal’ – with trillions of dollars that didn’t exist before… that nobody ever earned or saved. It was this new money that consumers spent when they went to the grocery store or bought a new big screen TV. It was the money that businesses used to pay salaries… and investors used to bid up the stock market. All of that money is what made the economy the pathetic credit junkie it is. Funny money. And once you go down that road…it’s very hard to go back. Fantasy land can be hard to leave.

But now what? The Fed is no longer adding money to the system. It’s letting its portfolio of bonds expire… at the rate of nearly $1 trillion per year. It is not buying more. This is QT… quantitative tightening… not QE, quantitative easing. Shouldn’t you expect the ‘tightening’ to have an equal and opposite effect as the ‘easing’?

And the Fed is threatening to raise interest rates, too… and keep raising them… until the inflation rate goes back to 2% which, by some voodoo, it believes is the perfect rate of price increases.

Add money to an economy and you give it a temporary, and illusory, boost. Take it away, and what happens? Doesn’t it go back whence it came? Don’t stocks retreat? Don’t consumers feel the pinch of inflation and lower income? And doesn’t the federal government have to retrench too? What the Fed giveth, the Fed taketh away.

Bums at the Fed:  And now the old timer’s expression – “Don’t fight the Fed” – takes on new meaning. It’s when you rediscover nature’s magisterial symmetry. When there is hell to pay. And when you are better off as a seller than as a buyer. Consumers have less to spend. Businesses make fewer sales. People earn less… stocks fall with earnings and expectations.

In short, once you replace (or even just augment) real earnings with inflationary money printing, it puts you in a better mood. But now you’re hooked. Any attempt to get clean will slow the economy and push it towards a recession.

One of the first things to go is consumer confidence. When the mood-enhancing drugs stop coming… and people realize that they have less money to spend, or that the money they have is losing value, they become sour and surly… threatening to ‘throw the bums out’ in the next election. Breitbart: "U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly fell in April as views on current conditions turned a bit grimmer amid signs that inflation continues to surge."

Alas… when consumers become less confident, they spend less money. So the downswing of the economic cycle intensifies. And the bums who control the Fed? Maybe they don’t want to get thrown out. What do they do? Stay tuned..."

"Shortages Today Will Grow into the Summer Destroying Entire Industries"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, iAllegedly 4/28/22:
"Shortages Today Will Grow into the 
Summer Destroying Entire Industries"
"There is a Supply Problem right before our eyes. The shortages that plague us are only going to get worse by the end of summer. You’re going to see mass shortages which will affect so many businesses and different industries. These companies will get destroyed."

"I Don't Pretend..."

“I don't pretend we have all the answers.
But the questions are certainly worth thinking about.”
- Arthur C. Clarke

Essential Repost: "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.

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

"The Real Threat in the Ukraine Conflict"

Full screen recommended.
"The Real Threat in the Ukraine Conflict"
by Paul Craig Roberts

"I still have forebodings about the manner in which the Kremlin is conducting the Ukrainian operation. There is no doubt that the Russians had to come to the defense of the Donbass republics. Having done little other than to provide the republics with some weapons and intelligence, for eight years the Kremlin allowed the Ukrainian shelling of Donbass and the occupation of large areas of the Donbass by Nazi militias, while the US and NATO trained and equipped a large Ukrainian army to subdue the republics. As the year 2022 opened, the republics were faced with an invasion by 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers. The atrocities committed on the population by the Nazi militias would have been severe. The internal sense of shame in Russia could have eroded the ability of Putin’s government to govern effectively.

As the Kremlin had tolerated so much for eight years with no response other than a fruitless and pointless Minsk Agreement, it is possible that Washington was relying on Putin bringing about his own downfall by accepting yet another provocation, this time a highly shameful one. It seems that Putin himself understood this as he has said repeatedly that he had no alternative but to intervene to prevent the Ukrainian invasion of the Donbass republics.

That Donbass was the only target of the limited military operation is clear from the fact that Donbass is where the Russian forces and fighting are. The Ukrainian army and Nazi militias have been surrounded in Donbass. There are no Russian troops operating in Western Ukraine.

Despite Kremlin warnings that countries that hindered its limited military operation would be treated as combatants, the Russians have taken no steps against the NATO countries that have hindered its operation by imposing sanctions and sending weapons to Ukraine. According to some reports, there are even US and NATO military officers and intelligence services helping the Ukrainian forces. The inflows of weapons have forced Russia to widen its limited military operation to Western Ukraine where Russia has used precision weapons to destroy the weapon stockpiles and the means of transporting them. Thus, by sending weapons to Western Ukraine, NATO has forced Russia to expand its operations, thus widening the war.

The Western weapons come into Ukraine mainly from Poland, and Poland has been in the forefront of those demanding harsher measures, even military intervention, against Russia. Yet Russia has continued to deliver gas to Poland and her other NATO enemies and only cuts them off if they refuse to pay in rubles. Far from treating Poland as a combatant, the Kremlin treats Poland and the rest of her enemies as allies and business partners. It is the confused message that Russia sends, threatening one thing, but doing another, that is rife with peril.

Such a confused message, like acceptance of provocations, creates opportunity for miscalculation. My concern remains that Russia’s limited, weak or non-existent responses to provocations invites more and worst provocations until a red line is crossed that results in nuclear war. Apparently, the Russians have never read Machiavelli. They had rather be loved than feared.

The long drawn-out process of flushing out and destroying the Ukrainian forces in Donbass has created the opportunity for mounting provocations of Russia, supported by Western populations under the influence of war propaganda. These provocations can easily result in a widening of the conflict, resulting in more forceful actions against Russia until the situation explodes.

To prevent a drawn-out process rife with opportunities to pile provocation on provocation is the reason I have thought that Russia needed to act decisively and quickly bring the conflict to an end. It is this failure that is the real threat in the Ukraine conflict. By trying to save a few Ukrainian lives, Russia might be endangering the lives of hundreds of millions."
"A nuclear world war is now a "real" danger and Britain and Nato would be a "legitimate" target, Russia's foreign minister has warned. In a chilling message, Sergei Lavrov said the risk of World War Three is now "considerable" and must not be "underestimated".

Lavrov accused Nato forces of "pouring oil on the fire" by supplying arms to Ukrainian troops - and claimed Russia wanted to prevent a nuclear war at all costs. In an interview with Russian news agencies, he said: "This is our key position on which we base everything. The risks now are considerable. I would not want to elevate those risks artificially. Many would like that. The danger is serious, real, And we must not underestimate it."

He said Britain and other Nato countries "would be a legitimate target" after "pumping weapons into Ukraine". Lavrov said: "Nato, in essence, is engaged in a war with Russia through a proxy and is arming that proxy. War means war." The foreign minister also criticized Kyiv's approach to peace talks with Moscow. He said: "Goodwill has its limits. But if it isn't reciprocal, that doesn't help the negotiation process." Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described Lavrov's comments as a sign of Russia's weakness."

"In Five Years (a Short Story)"

"In Five Years (a Short Story)"
by Margaret Anna Alice

"In five years, no one will remember natural immunity existed. They will call you an anti-vaxxer for whispering such a term while they stand in line for their 187th booster.

In five years, no one will remember where one person’s body ends and the body politic begins. They will call you selfish for thinking you have a right to decide how your body is handled and what transgresses the perimeters of your flesh.

In five years, no one will remember there was such a thing as privacy. They will call you a criminal for suggesting people should be permitted a quiet space away from the eyes of Big Mother, Big Tech, and your surveilling cohabitants.

In five years, no one will remember the concept of independence. They will call you antisocial for wishing to carve out your own destiny rather than relying on the beneficence of OneState.

In five years, no one will remember they have the right to say, “No.” They will call you an insurrectionist for questioning the commands spilling out of the telescreen.

In five years, no one will remember natural birth ever occurred. They will call you primitive for thinking embryos were once fertilized and grown inside the body rather than in a laboratory.

In five years, no one will remember parents once cared for their own children. They will call you anti-child if you wish to live with your progeny instead of surrendering your newborns to the State so you can resume your lives of lazy, submissive convenience.

In five years, no one will remember heart attacks, strokes, and blot clots were previously uncommon among children, teens, and young adults. They will call you anti-medicine for saying the young were predominantly healthy with rare exceptions.

In five years, no one will remember diversity of opinion once existed. They will call you a heretic for choosing to think your own thoughts instead of zealously professing the beliefs issued by OneState.

In five years, no one will remember what responsibility was. They will call you ungrateful if you want to unplug from the Metaverse and seize control of your own life and will.

In five years, no one will remember what freedom means. They will call you a conspiracy theorist for claiming people once had the ability to do what they liked, go where they liked, and think what they liked.

In five years, no one will remember what love was. They will call you intolerant for wishing to bond with a single beloved instead of offering your body to whosoever demands it.

In five years, no one will remember death once happened naturally. They will call you a science-denier if you express a longing to remain alive beyond the term allotted by OneState."

"What do you think no one will remember in five years?"
"The corrupt establishment will do anything to suppress sites like the Burning Platform from revealing the truth. The corporate media does this by demonetizing sites like mine by blackballing the site from advertising revenue. If you get value from this site, please keep it running with a donation. [Burning Platform LLC - PO Box 1520 Kulpsville, PA 19443] or Paypal on the website."

"How It Really Is"

 

"Massive Price Increases At Kroger! What Now!? - This Is Crazy!"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures with Danno, 4/28/22:
"Massive Price Increases At Kroger! 
What Now!? - This Is Crazy!"
"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!"

Gregory Mannarino, "The US Economy 'Unexpectedly' Shrinks! Global Currencies Are Cratering!"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 4/28/22:
"The US Economy 'Unexpectedly' Shrinks! 
Global Currencies Are Cratering!"

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

"Your Life is About to Change..."

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, "Your Life is About to Change..."

Bill Bonner, "Robbery and Gender Violence"

Photo of a river in Salta, Argentina.
"Robbery and Gender Violence"
by Bill Bonner

Buenos Aires, Argentina -  "We’re on our way back to Ireland… for a grandson’s first birthday. It was probably a good time to leave. “A police report has been filed against you,” our lawyer told us last night. “You’ve been charged with robbery and gender violence.” "Huh?”

“Yes… well… I filed a complaint against Carlos’ widow, Janina. And against the municipality (the local government). And then I asked the farmhands to take away the building supplies they had delivered to the house. So, we just moved them to another part of the farm. But she charged us both with robbery. I already went to the prosecutor and explained. He was angry because he said we should have asked permission before moving anything. But we know we can’t leave them there. Because by the time we get an order allowing us to move them, they’d already have finished the house… and they’d be living it in. And then we’d never get them out.”

The strange Originario War goes on. In the courts. Out in the mountains. So far, there has been arson, property damage, and a pushing match between one of our cowboys and the originarios… but no serious violence. And until now, the tiny valley where we grow grapes has been spared any trouble. There are no families there… and no originarios, except Janina. And as long as Carlos was alive, Janina was kept in check. But he was found drowned in our reservoir two months ago.

“But what about ‘gender violence’?” we asked. Our lawyer laughed. “It’s the latest thing. They just throw it into everything. It means whatever they want it to mean. Of course, there was no real violence. You were there. Elizabeth was there too. We were very polite.”

We had tried to reason with Janina. She came into our little office at the ranch. We exchanged kisses on the cheek. Very friendly. We explained that we need the house for someone else, who would take Carlos’ place at the vineyard. We offered to rent a house for her in town… and to give her money every month. She cried. “That house is where my children were born,” she whimpered. “I just want to stay there for another year.”

Enter, Big Brother: It is hard to judge people from a different culture. You never quite know what to make of them. But we sensed something was not exactly what it seemed. She wrung her hands. She looked down. Tears filled her eyes. And then, when she was contradicted, she looked up fiercely… as if she were about to attack. “You’ll have to carry me out of there,” she challenged us.

“But Janina,” countered our lawyer. “It’s not your house. It’s part of the farm. We want to help you, but we still need to operate the farm. We’re willing to give you money. We can help you find another place. You just can’t live there, because that’s a place we need for the vineyard caretaker.”

It didn’t make sense for her to stay there. Or to want to. She would be all alone, far from anyone else. Her children need to go to school. The school is a long way from the vineyard. Carlos used to drive them, but she doesn’t drive. And it takes two hours on horseback. “I’ll stay near the school during the week and just go to the vineyard on the weekends,” she proposed.

“But there will be another family there. You certainly can visit… but someone else will have to live in the house,” we explained. “It’s a house that is for an employee. Always has been. That’s why you were there. Because someone has to live next to the vineyard to take care of the watering and everything. Now that Carlos is no longer with us, sadly, someone else will have to do it.”

We didn’t mention it. But the person who is supposed to live in the house now… and take Carlos’s place in the vineyard… is his brother. Omar is a big man, with a handsome smile. He had been ‘married’ to Janina’s sister. When that didn’t work out, he took up with the daughter of one of our employees, a pretty woman named Lucretia. But Lucretia had a daughter by a previous paramour; the girl is now a teenager. Omar says he gave the girl a gentle slap to put her in her place. Lucretia called the police and Omar is now forbidden to see his family.

“You’ve got to get her out of there,” Omar said to us, referring to his twice sister-in-law. “She is a wicked person. She’s trying to take my grandmother’s property. I can’t work with her around.” The whole family hates Janina and suspects that she is responsible for Carlos’ death. Earlier in the day, we visited Carlos’ grandmother, Eleena.

Eleena is a wiry woman, her face deeply crevassed by wrinkles and slightly bent from age. She lived her whole life up in the mountains at a ‘puesto.’ You get there on horseback, following the river up the valley. After a while, you see a patch of green off to the left. Then, you find a path leading up the side of a hill to the flat top above. It is a beautiful spot, with fruit trees, ancient grape vines and stunning views of Indian ruins on both sides. The stone pre-Incan terraces are still there. But the earth has long since been washed or blown away. Protected by steep hills on three sides, the spot must have been inhabited for a long time. It has ‘morteros’ – holes made for grinding corn and other grains – in the large rock next to Eleena’s mud hut.

The Inca conquered this area less than 100 years before the Spanish arrived. But the Inca were smart. They took a few hostages, demanded regular tribute, and otherwise left the locals alone. The Conquistadors were harder to please. It took them at least a 100 years to subdue the many tribes of the area. Then, they cleaned out the valley – sending some to work on large farms… and others were exiled to far-away regions where they would cause no more trouble. Today, there are no people here who are ‘indigenous’ to the area. All are immigrants. Your editor is merely the most recent arrival.

Eleena would still be in her mountain fastness, but her family insisted she move in with her daughter in town. At 80 years old, it was too risky for her to stay on her own, hours away from our farmhouse. “She was never nice to me,” said Eleena of her grandson’s spouse. “She wanted me to sign something saying I was leaving my farm to her… but I refused. And then she stole things from my kitchen… like my cheese and knives.”

Valley of Death: One of the curiosities of the valley is that you don’t know who actually ‘owns’ what. Eleena spoke of ‘her farm.’ But her farm is actually part of our farm. She has the right to stay there, legally, only because we allow it. But ‘legally’ doesn’t get you very far here.

We own things. But we can’t control them. The police don’t help. You have to negotiate, bribe, threaten – whatever you can do to keep a bad situation from getting out of hand. Which is why it is so important to keep Janina away from the vineyard. Her brother is an originario activist. If she were allowed to stay, it wouldn’t be long before others were there too. Then, under protection of the ‘originario’ law (if a person claims to be ‘originario’ he cannot be expelled from your property) the group could not be dislodged. Soon after, the valley – where there haven’t been any real Indians for at least 400 years – would be proclaimed “tribal land.”

“This is a good thing,” our lawyer concluded. What’s a good thing?” we wanted to know. We’ve never been accused of robbery before. It didn’t feel particularly good, but maybe we’ll get used to it. ‘Gender violence’ wouldn’t look so good on our resume either. Perhaps the neighbors would be warned if we moved in nearby.

“I mean, that they went to the prosecutor, rather than burning down another of our houses… or breaking our gates. I’d much rather fight it out in the courts, than on the ground. “It’s already been a week since we moved her building supplies,” he continued, sounding a little like Caesar to the Soothsayer. “And we haven’t had any more problems.” “Yet,” we added."

"Stocks Are Cratering As Investors Worry About The Perfect Storm That Is Erupting All Over The Globe"

Full screen recommended.
"Stocks Are Cratering As Investors Worry About
 The Perfect Storm That Is Erupting All Over The Globe"
by Epic Economist

"A stock market crash and bubble burst is on the horizon. Stocks are cratering as investors worry about the perfect storm that is erupting all over the globe. Indexes are plummeting, with big-name stocks dropping 50 percent or more as the bear market cycle begins. Hundreds of billions of dollars are being wiped out, and many market insiders are warning that the worst is still yet to come. Some of the factors spooking out investors recently are tied to the state of the global economy. In China, virus outbreaks and lockdowns are paralyzing production and aggravating supply chain issues. Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, a top Russian official said the threat of nuclear aggression is real. On top of that, soaring inflation in the U.S. is denting consumer demand for a wide range of goods, and rising interest rates are compromising the economy’s growth outlook.

All of this spells trouble for stocks, and with the tech sector falling apart, a broader market bubble burst seems to be coming next. Anxiety over new supply chain disruptions has impacted U.S. markets and caused the Chinese stock market to fall sharply as widespread outbreaks have bought entire cities to a standstill and hobbled manufacturing and shipping hubs throughout the country. Given that we have become extremely dependent on exports from China, the new restrictions halting the country’s economic activity have enormous implications for the western world.

Moreover, the Russia and Ukraine crisis is also frightening investors as it continues to escalate, sparking catastrophic consequences in and out of both nations. On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that the rest of the world should not rule out the possibility that a third global conflict could break out. The third factor weighing on the markets is inflation. On Tuesday, we learned that U.S. home prices rose 19.8% in February year over year, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index. That is the third-highest reading in the index’s 35-year history.

Investors who have been banking on peaking inflation and strong earnings growth, are about to get bitterly disappointed, as explained Lisa Shalett, the chief investment officer of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. “In our view, the bear market is not over," she said. Morgan Stanley’s strategists are the latest ones warning investors of more pain ahead. Shalett's bearish call underscores a growing pessimism on Wall Street. On a separate note, strategists at the investment bank led by Michael J. Wilson highlighted that the downfall of the S&P 500 has only just begun. “The S&P 500 appears ready to join the ongoing bear market,” wrote the equities strategy team in a recent note.

The bank is telling its clients that the ride is about to get even bumpier. On Monday, Wilson noted that “investors have very few places to hide in markets right now, with even defensive stocks succumbing to the pressure in recent days,” adding that "the market has been so picked over at this point, it's not clear where the next rotation lies”. "In our experience, when that happens, it usually means the overall index is about to fall sharply with almost all stocks falling in unison," he cautioned.

All signs of a perfect storm are here, and conditions will only get worse from this point on. What we have witnessed so far is just the tip of the iceberg, and as the economy falls apart, Wall Street braces for a historic meltdown. The consequences of blowing so many asset bubbles are finally catching up with us. The coming stock market crash will throw our financial markets into disarray, and it is safe to say that the result will not be pretty."

"Housing Market Game Over, Adjustable Rate Mortgages Are Back; Market Wants To Crash - Get Ready"

Full screen recommended.
Jeremiah Babe, 4/27/22:
"Housing Market Game Over, Adjustable Rate Mortgages Are Back; 
Market Wants To Crash - Get Ready"

Musical Interlude: Liquid Mind, "Velvet Morning"

Full screen recommended.
Liquid Mind, "Velvet Morning"
Liquid Mind ® is the name used by Los Angeles composer and producer
Chuck Wild of the best-selling Liquid Mind relaxation music albums.

"A Look to the Heavens"

"No, hamburgers are not this big. What is pictured is a sharp telescopic view of a magnificent edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 3628, a puffy galactic disk divided by dark dust lanes. Of course, this deep galactic portrait puts some astronomers in mind of its popular moniker, The Hamburger Galaxy.
The tantalizing island universe is about 100,000 light-years across and 35 million light-years away in the northern springtime constellation Leo. NGC 3628 shares its neighborhood in the local Universe with two other large spirals M65 and M66 in a grouping otherwise known as the Leo Triplet. Gravitational interactions with its cosmic neighbors are likely responsible for the extended flare and warp of this spiral's disk.”

Chet Raymo, "Starlight"

"Starlight"
by Chet Raymo

"Poor Calvin is overwhelmed with the vastness of the cosmos and no small dose of existential angst. He is not the first, of course. Most famously the 17th-century French philosopher Blaise Pascal wailed his own despair: "I feel engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces whereof I know nothing and which know nothing of me. I am terrified...The eternal silence of these infinite spaces alarms me."

And he didn't know the half of it. Not so long ago we imagined ourselves to be the be-all and end-all of creation, at the center of a cosmos made expressly for us and at the pinnacle of the material Great Chain of Being. Then it turned out that the Earth was not the center of the cosmos. Nor the Sun. Nor the Galaxy. The astronomers Sebastian von Hoerner and Carl Sagan raised this experience to the level of a principle - the Principle of Mediocrity - which can be stated something like this: The view from here is about the same as the view from anywhere else. Or to put it another way: Our star, our planet, the life on it, and even our own intelligence, are completely mediocre.

Moon rocks are just like Earth rocks. Photographs of the surface of Mars made by the landers and rovers could as well have been made in Nevada. Meteorites contain some of the same organic compounds that are the basis for terrestrial life. Gas clouds in the space between the stars are composed of precisely the same atoms and molecules that we find in our own backyard. The most distant galaxies betray in their spectra the presence of familiar elements.

And yet, and yet, for all we know, our brains are the most complex things in the universe. Are we then living, breathing refutations of the Principle of Mediocrity? I doubt it. For the time being, Calvin will just have to get used to living in the infinite abyss and eternal silence. He has Hobbes. We have each other. And science. And poetry. And love."

"Every Human Decision..."

"Except for totally impulsive or psychotic behavior, every human
decision comes down to the choice between two alternatives."
- Jeff Duntemann

"That's Where It All Begins..."

"That's where it all begins. That's where we all get screwed big time as we grow up. They tell us to think, but they don't really mean it. They only want us to think within the boundaries they define. The moment you start thinking for yourself - really thinking - so many things stop making any sense. And if you keep thinking, the whole world just falls apart. Nothing makes sense anymore. All rules, traditions, expectations - they all start looking so fake, so made up. You want to just get rid of all this stuff and make things right. But the moment you say it, they tell you to shut up and be respectful. And eventually you understand that nobody wants you to really think for yourself."
- Ray N. Kuili, "Awakening"

"The Biggest Financial Scam in History is Happening NOW!"

ThisisJohnWilliams, 
"The Biggest Financial Scam in History is Happening NOW!"

"Celente & The Judge: Disney Vs. Florida: DeSantis Locks Horns With Mickey Mouse"

Full screen recommended.
"Celente & The Judge: Disney Vs. Florida: 
DeSantis Locks Horns With Mickey Mouse"
"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."

"Predator Nation"

"Over the last thirty years, the United States has been taken over by an amoral financial oligarchy, and the American dream of opportunity, education, and upward mobility is now largely confined to the top few percent of the population. Federal policy is increasingly dictated by the wealthy, by the financial sector, and by powerful industries such as telecommunications, health care, automobiles, and energy. These policies are implemented and praised by these groups’ willing servants, namely the increasingly bought-and-paid-for leadership of America’s political parties, academia, and lobbying industry.

If allowed to continue, this process will turn the United States into a declining, unfair society with an impoverished, angry, uneducated population under the control of a small, ultrawealthy elite. Such a society would be not only immoral but also eventually unstable, dangerously ripe for religious and political extremism."
- Charles Ferguson, "Predator Nation", June 2012
"Charles Ferguson: 
"Wall Street Has Turned US Into a 'Predatory Nation'"
May 29, 2012: "Two years after directing the Academy Award-winning documentary, "Inside Job," filmmaker Charles Ferguson returns with a new book, "Predator Nation: Corporate Criminals, Political Corruption, and the Hijacking of America." Ferguson explores why no top financial executives have been jailed for their role in the nation's worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. We also discuss Larry Summers and the revolving door between academia and Wall Street as well as the key role Democrats have played in deregulating the financial industry. According to Ferguson a "predatory elite" has "taken over significant portions of economic policy and the political system and also, unfortunately, major portions of the economics discipline."