"In many ways, our past experiences have conditioned us to believe that we are less capable than we are. All too often we let the rejections of our past dictate every move we make. We literally do not know ourselves to be any better than what some opinionated person or narrow circumstance once told us was true. Of course, an old rejection doesn't mean we aren't good enough; it just means some person or circumstance from our past failed to align with what we had to offer at the time. But somehow we don't see it that way - we hit a mental barricade that stops us in our tracks.
This is one of the most common and damaging thought patterns we as human beings succumb to. Even though we intellectually know that we're gradually growing stronger than we were in the past, our subconscious mind often forgets that our capabilities have grown. Let me give you a quick metaphorical example.
Zookeepers typically strap a thin metal chain to a grown elephants leg and then attach the other end to a small wooden peg that's hammered into the ground. The 10-foot tall, 10,000-pound elephant could easily snap the chain, uproot the wooden peg and escape to freedom with minimal effort. But it doesn't. In fact the elephant never even tries. The worlds most powerful land animal, which can uproot a big tree as easily as you could break a toothpick, remains defeated by a small wooden peg and a flimsy chain.
Why? Because when the elephant was a baby, its trainers used the exact same methods to domesticate it. A thin chain was strapped around its leg and the other end of the chain was tied to a wooden peg in the ground. At the time, the chain and peg were strong enough to restrain the baby elephant. When it tried to break away, the metal chain would pull it back. Sometimes, tempted by the world it could see in the distance, the elephant would pull harder. But the chain would not budge, and soon the baby elephant realized trying to escape was not possible. So it stopped trying.
And now that the elephant is all grown up, it sees the chain and the peg and it remembers what it learned as a baby - the chain and peg are impossible to escape. Of course this is no longer true, but it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that the 200-pound baby is now a 10,000-pound powerhouse. The elephants self-limiting thoughts and beliefs prevail.
If you think about it, we are all like elephants. We all have incredible power inside us. And certainly, we have our own chains and pegs - the self-limiting thoughts and beliefs that hold us back. Sometimes it's a childhood experience or an old failure. Sometimes it's something we were told when we were a little younger. The key thing to realize here is this: We need to learn from the past, but be ready to update what we learned based on how our circumstances have changed (as they constantly do)."
“Said a philosopher to a street sweeper, “I pity you. Yours is a hard and dirty task.” And the street sweeper said, “Thank you, sir. But tell me, what is your task?” And the philosopher answered saying, “I study man’s mind, his deeds and his desires.” Then the street sweeper went on with his sweeping and said with a smile, “I pity you, too.”
“The fact that the foolish person is often stubborn must not blind us to the fact that he is not independent. In conversation with him, one virtually feels that one is dealing not at all with him as a person, but with slogans, catchwords, and the like that have taken possession of him. He is under a spell, blinded, misused, and abused in his very being. Having thus become a mindless tool, the foolish person will also be capable of any evil and at the same time incapable of seeing that it is evil. This is where the danger of diabolical misuse lurks, for it is this that can once and for all destroy human beings. “
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Feb. 4, 1906 - April 9, 1945) was a Protestant Lutheran Pastor, theologian, and active in the German resistance to the policies of Hitler and Nazism. Due to his opposition to the Nazi regime, Bonhoeffer was arrested and executed at the Flossian concentration camp, during the last month of the war.
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Letters and Papers From Prison”
Freely download “Letters and Papers From Prison”, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
Dublin, Ireland - "We are enjoying the elegant symmetry of real life. “Dollar soars to 20-year high as investors bet on Fed moves,” says the headline on page 7 of today’s Financial Times. Meanwhile, on page 11 comes this news: “Yen slides to 20-year low as BoJ rejects higher rates.” As ye sow, so do ye reap. What goes up must come down. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. That kind of thing.
We are also basking in the rare glow of being proven right. Inflation has arrived. And the beginning of a recession. And as we saw earlier in the week, the techy hi-fliers that did ride so high... doth dismount.
Yes… dear reader. It doesn’t happen very often. We warned for years that spending money you don’t have will bring inflation… and that inflation will bring recession. But it’s like being nice to your grandparents. It takes a lifetime – until you become a grandparent yourself – before you appreciate the importance of it.
Painful Contractions: On Wednesday, the US reported that the economy is now going backwards. Business Insider with details: "The US economy contracted for the first time since the early days of the pandemic as historic inflation crashed into the otherwise strong recovery.
The country's gross domestic product shrank at an annualized rate of 1.4% through the first quarter of the year, the Commerce Department said Thursday morning. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg held a median estimate of 1.1% growth over the period. The print shows the recovery slowing massively from the 6.9% rate seen through the fourth quarter."
Naturally, the Biden Team didn’t see the downturn coming. They hadn’t seen inflation coming either. It’s amazing that they can cross Pennsylvania Avenue without getting run over; they see nothing coming. But they keep a bag of fraudulent explanations at the ready, just in case. Bloomberg:
President Joe Biden blamed the first contraction of the U.S. economy since 2020 on “technical factors,” saying that employment, consumer spending and investment all remain strong. “The American economy – powered by working families – continues to be resilient in the face of historic challenges,” Biden said in a statement. “While last quarter’s growth estimate was affected by technical factors, the United States confronts the challenges of COVID-19 around the world, Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and global inflation from a position of strength.”
The contraction came as a surprise, as economic forecasts projected growth of roughly 1%, presenting a fresh challenge for Biden and Democrats heading into the November midterm elections. There was nothing ‘technical’ about it. People have less money to spend (the gimmie/stimmies are running out). And wages are rising about 3 percentage points behind inflation – leaving people with less purchasing power. When people have less to spend, they spend less. And since spending is 70% of GDP, when spending goes down you should expect the economy to contract.
Nor was there anything surprising about it. Economists at several leading banks – along with former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers – have all said a recession is inevitable. It’s not magic. It’s not luck. It’s just symmetry. The Fed jazzed up the economy. Now, it’s turning down the music.
On the Obverse: Meanwhile, instead of dialing back inflation, the Japanese are turning up the knob – to 11. CNBC elaborates: "The Bank of Japan said on Wednesday it has decided to offer to buy an unlimited amount of 10-year Japanese government bonds (JGB) at 0.25%, in its third move to defend its yield target since February. The rise in yields comes as the yen weakens sharply to two-decade lows against the U.S. dollar, forcing markets to test the central bank’s commitment to its super easy yield-curve-control policy."
What a marvelous experiment! What a learning opportunity! It’s ‘inflate or die’ for central banks all over the world. The Japanese, bless their hearts, are going with ‘inflate.’ The yen rises as they signal that they’ll let the yen die rather than give up their goofy bond-buying program.
The Fed, for now at least, is taking the opposite side of the bet. It says it will take away the punchbowl; the party will die. Already, the Dow is off 8% for the year. The Nasdaq – where the hi-flying techs are – is down 20%. These indices disguise the real damage. The average meat-and-potatoes stock is down some 40%. But the dollar – anticipating higher interest rates – is rising. Bloomberg:
The ascendant U.S. dollar headed for its best month in a decade, as renewed yen selling cemented the greenback’s strength against major peers. A Bloomberg gauge of the greenback climbed to its highest level in nearly two years and has risen 4.5% this month, set for its best performance since May 2012. The dollar extended gains versus the yen, hitting a two-decade high, after the Bank of Japan kept interest rates at rock-bottom levels and defended its easy monetary policy. That contrasts with a Federal Reserve that has signaled aggressive rate hikes to combat inflation.
What will happen next? Who will be the winner? Who will flinch first? The Bank of Japan or the Fed? Will the Fed be able to stick to its ‘tightening’ program? Or will the Bank of Japan be forced to commit hari kari, a kind of central bank ritual suicide, in which it atones for 30 years of jackass manipulation? Tune in on Monday..."
"UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has backed Liz Truss’ view that Russian forces must be pushed out of “the whole of Ukraine” – and suggested this should include Crimea. Even the Guardian has accused Liz Truss’ position is “recklessly inflaming Ukraine’s war to serve her own ambition.” Meanwhile, in Russia, this is playing out on TV endorsing World War III. The Russian is of Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, is that the war in Ukraine is a war in which is the West openly seeking the destruction of Russia. Moscow has come to the realization that this is already World War III, and the comment emerging from London is that Britain will not back down until they achieve the complete victory over Moscow. Boris Johnson apparently told Zelensky not to accept any deal with Putin. There are no peacemakers among them only warmongers.
Socrates (Armstrongs forecasting computer program - CP) has NEVER been wrong on such geopolitical forecasts. These people at the helm of the West are totally insane. They seem to think they can actually destroy Russia, overthrow Putin, and somehow the Russian people will welcome their liberation. For years, I have warned that post-2032, we are staring into the eyes of the collapse of the West. The financial capital of the world will shift to China. I put out those forecasts years ago.
There is simply a cycle to everything. The rise and fall of nations also follow a cyclical beat. I have put out those forecasts long before these events. "How Empires Die" illustrates that there is a cycle to the rise and fall of empires, nations, and city-states. If that statement were not true, we should all still be speaking Babylonian.
Nobody wishes these forecasts would be wrong more so than I. This is not something in which I take pleasure in pounding my chest and screaming I told you so! I have grandchildren who will never know the freedom or peace in which I grew up. All I can do is try to scream loud enough that maybe we can not prevent the outcome, but reduce the volatility during this transition."
"In today's vlog we are noticing massive price increases! We are here to explain skyrocketing prices, and a lot of empty shelves! It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting products!"
"From every corner of the planet yeah they are nothing but problems with the economy. Our gross domestic product has declined over the last quarter 1.4%. The economies around the world are suffering. People in Australia cannot even afford to pay rent to live inside."
“'This is this,' DiNiro’s character “Michael” famously told Cazale’s “Stan” in "The Deer Hunter," explaining the metaphysics of the bullet in his hand, and pretty much everyone watching the movie got the drift of that cryptic utterance. Likewise, Elon Musk’s character “Elon Musk” explained to America’s Maoist managerial legions: “Free speech is free speech” - as if, a week after Twitter’s surrender to Elon, there was some part of the formulation that the Left didn’t understand. (Apparently, all of it.)
What a concept! Free speech is free speech. It has bowled over the - what? - maybe twenty-three percent of the country that considers free speech “a threat to democracy.” This is what comes of inverting and subverting language itself for the purpose of mind-raping the nation like Jeffrey Epstein on a 15-year-old. The Left has exercised a Macumba voodoo death grip on free speech for years now. The deeper the Left’s crimes against the constitution and common decency, the harder they strangled the flow of news, information, and opinion until the mental life of the USA turned into a gibber of shamefully obvious unreality.
It’s one thing to lose your dignity as citizens, and another to just lose your country altogether, and that is the circle of hell that the Left has dragged everyone else into since even before Hillary Clinton booted the 2016 election. This tyrannical Maoist managerial mob, grown paradoxically rich beyond precedent, became a tool of the state itself working around the inconvenient first amendment to hog-tie public debate. Will the US government allow Mr. Musk to get away with liberating the new “public square?”
It looks like the DOJ, the SEC, and perhaps other nefarious actors of degenerate officialdom are fixing to go after the rogue Tesla mogul who had the effrontery to oppose totalitarian control of the narratives driving public life. It’s rumored that money-losing Twitter could not exist without the government footing the bill for the vast, backstage server arrays that enable all Twitter’s messaging. In an odd twist, though, the shareholders were not necessarily benefitting from that symbiotic relationship as Twitter’s stock fell from $71 a share in July ’21 to $32 in March ’22. But the C-suite of Twitter’s executives were already too massively rich to care about anything but punishing their political enemies - which they did with sadistic zeal - when Mr. Musk surprisingly stepped onto the scene.
The government’s first counter-move, under the vividly deliquescing “Joe Biden” - whose treasonous corruption became Twitter’s job-one to conceal - was to concoct a brand-new agency under Homeland Security called the Disinformation Governance Board, to be run by one Nina Jankowicz, “internationally-recognized expert on disinformation and democratization,” who also happened to be a RussiaGate shill and publicist for the fifty national security officials who labeled the Hunter Biden laptop story “Russian disinformation” (turned out: not). In other words, America now has a “truth” kommissar who is a soldier in the War on Truth.
Such a desperately stupid maneuver could only come from a regime close to collapse - just as the feculent particulars on Hunter Biden’s laptop are being revealed by many in possession of copies of the laptop’s hard-drive, and while, concurrently, the US attorney in Delaware, David Weiss, leads an investigation into Hunter B’s business dealings. Those include large-ish payments from nations hostile to American interests for opaque services rendered. So, you have a chief executive (“JB”) compromised mentally and legally, and installed via a janky primary and a dubious election, and, some young cookie fresh out of the Princeton fellowship matrix is going to defend him like Wonder Woman wielding her Magic Lasso of Aphrodite?
Homey don’t think so. Homey think the whole wretched episode of orchestrated national mindf**kery is about to come a’tumblin’ down, along with the miserable ghoul in the Oval Office. And that will be followed by the fun of seeing them try to eject Kamala Harris from the scene and replacing her with the likes of Barack or Michele Obama. (Don’t believe it? Just watch.) Of course, all that will be small potatoes to the reveal of cosmic ineptitude or gross criminality (perhaps both!) that is bound to come as Twitter opens up to discussion of our government’s role in the Covid-19 fiasco - which I aimed to help kick off with my first Tweet in long long time, viz:
"Don’t expect the war between Russia and Ukraine to be over anytime soon. VP Biden is asking for another $33 billion in military aid for Ukraine. The plan is to drag out the war and turn it into a quagmire to weaken Russia. This goofy and reckless path was recently admitted to by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. What on earth could go wrong, especially with the southern border of the U.S. wide open for any enemy to cross over?
Inflation is here to stay, and it is getting worse. In the first leg up, energy led the charge for higher prices at the pump. Now, food inflation is growing with shortages on the horizon, according to Bob Unanue, CEO of Goya foods. He said on FOX Business “the world has weaponized food.”
Surprise! The first quarter was a negative 1.4%, and the Biden Administration policies are to blame. Now, the Fed is so worried about inflation it has said it is going to raise interest rates, but instead of fighting inflation, it looks like it will kill the economy altogether. Inflation, shortages and coming unemployment for a skidding economy will add more pain that is already baked into the financial cake. Look for a big revaluing of the U.S. dollar sooner than later, and expect more chaos and not less."
"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."
"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"
“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."
"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?"
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!
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..."
"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."
"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.
"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."
