"Debt to the Penny"

"Debt to the Penny"

"Total debt of the U.S. government reported daily. Contains information on intragovernmental holdings and debt held by the public. The Debt to the Penny dataset provides information about the total outstanding public debt and is reported each day. Debt to the Penny is made up of intragovernmental holdings and debt held by the public, including securities issued by the U.S. Treasury. Total public debt outstanding is composed of Treasury Bills, Notes, Bonds, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), Floating Rate Notes (FRNs), and Federal Financing Bank (FFB) securities, as well as Domestic Series, Foreign Series, State and Local Government Series (SLGS), U.S. Savings Securities, and Government Account Series (GAS) securities. Debt to the Penny is updated at 3:00 PM EST each business day with data from the previous business day."

- https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/

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Related:

"US Debt Clock"

"The Engineered Stagflationary Collapse Has Arrived – Here's What Happens Next" (Excerpt)

"The Engineered Stagflationary Collapse Has Arrived –

 Here's What Happens Next"

by Brandon Smith

Excerpt: "As we all now know, the Fed waited until their balance sheet was far larger and until the economy was MUCH weaker than it was in 2012 to unleash tightening measures. They KNEW the whole time exactly what was going to happen.

It is no coincidence that the culmination of the Fed’s stimulus bonanza has arrived right after the incredible damage done to the economy and the global supply chain by the covid lockdowns. It is no coincidence that these two events work together to create the perfect stagflationary scenario. And, it’s no coincidence that the only people who benefit from these conditions are proponents of the “Great Reset” ideology at the World Economic Forum and other globalist institutions. This is an engineered collapse that has been in the works for many years.

The goal is to “reset” the world, to erase what’s left of free market systems, and to establish what they call the “Shared Economy” system. This system is one in which the people who survive the crash will be made utterly dependent on government through Universal Basic Income and one that will restrict all resource usage in the name of “carbon reduction.” According to the WEF, you will own nothing and you will like it.

The collapse is engineered to create crisis conditions so frightening that they expect the majority of the public to submit to a collectivist hive mind lifestyle with greatly reduced standards. This would be accomplished through UBI, digital currency models, carbon taxation, population reduction, rationing of all commodities and a social credit system. The goal, in other words, is complete control through technocratic authoritarianism.

All of this is dependent on the exploitation of crisis events to create fear in the population. Now that economic destabilization has arrived, what happens next? Here are my predictions…"

Please view this complete article here:

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

- https://alt-market.us/

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Related:

"The Great Reset: Turning Back The Clock On Civilization"

"15 Facts About Depression In America That Will Absolutely Shock You"

Full screen recommended.

"15 Facts About Depression In America That Will Absolutely Shock You"

by Epic Economist

"Americans have never been so depressed. Over the past 24 months, depression rates almost quadrupled among adults in the United States. Young Americans haven't been immune. In fact, new studies show that about a quarter of children and teens in the country suffer from some type of mental illness. So many things happened in recent years that we can easily understand why so many people have been feeling overwhelmed. The fact that many of us had to remain isolated during lockdowns, while others faced the loss of a loved one, suffered a job loss, or dealt with eviction, financial problems, and food insecurity has taken a toll on our mental health. Right now, antidepressant use is skyrocketing, and yet most people facing depression, anxiety, or other mental health disorder do not have access to the treatment they need. At this point, virtually every new survey that comes out shows that we are extremely unhappy about the economy, our living standards, our working conditions, and our future.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, every year the number of Americans experiencing mental illnesses goes up. “Typically, we would expect depression to peak following the traumatic event and then lower over time. Instead, we found that 12 months into the pandemic, levels of depression remained high,” noted study senior author Sandro Galean. Major depressive disorder is the most common mental disability in the U.S., which is quite worrying considering that people with depressive disorder or symptoms have a 64 percent greater risk of developing coronary artery disease.

For a nation that supposedly “has it all”, how can we possibly be so dissatisfied with everything? Everywhere we look, we can see people that look like they have had their life completely sucked out of them. Maybe things aren't as great as they are portrayed, and even though we "have it all," not everyone has enough to get by. In today's video, we compiled some gloomy stats that show how much Americans have been anxious, depressed, and hopeless in recent years.

Perhaps none of these numbers will be too surprising. Given everything we've been through over the past few years, it's understandable why so many of us are feeling miserable. According to a Marist College poll from December 2021, only 49% of Americans were more optimistic than pessimistic about how things were going to go in the country in 2022. This was the first time since Marist started asking the question in 2009 that the optimistic percentage fell below 50%. When 2021 started, and all that talk about an "economic recovery" was still going on, 56% of Americans had been more optimistic than pessimistic, suggesting that despite the pandemic, some Americans had hope for 2021. By the end of the year, that hope was dashed.

Now that it has become clear that we're actually entering another downturn, most Americans say that the country is going in the wrong direction. Clearly, something has gone very wrong. Hopefully, we can get back to a better normal. Because right now, these numbers are just downright depressing."

- https://www.epiceconomist.com/

Chuck Barone, "The Coming Recession"

Chuck Barone, 6/17/22:

"The Coming Recession"

Gregory Mannarino, "Expect Inflation To Skyrocket Beyond Your Wildest Nightmares"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 6/17/22:
"Expect Inflation To Skyrocket Beyond Your Wildest Nightmares"
- https://traderschoice.net/

"Russia’s New Rules"

"Russia’s New Rules"

by Tom Luongo

"Russia is done with the West. The divorce is nearly complete. In the past few days we’ve heard from all major Russian leaders the same thing, “The West will play by our rules now.” You can decide for yourselves whether Russia is writing checks they can’t cash, but in the words of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov telling the BBC bluntly, “We do not care about the eyes of the West.” Lavrov has always been the soul of politeness and discretion when dealing with European media.

His open hostility towards his BBC interviewer was not only palpable, it was hard to argue with. He followed that up with: “I don’t think there’s even room for maneuver left anymore,” Lavrov replied. “Because both [Prime Minister Boris] Johnson and [Foreign Secretary Liz] Truss say publicly: ’We must defeat Russia, we must bring Russia to its knees. Go on, then, do it.”

Russia’s leadership never talks in such openly blunt terms. It’s almost like Lavrov was channeling comedian Dennis Miller who used to say, “Feeling froggy, take that leap.” See where it gets you.

Russia knows it has the West on the ropes. We need what they produce and now they are determined to set the rules on who gets them and for what price. It knows that European leaders are puppets with Klaus Schwab’s hand up their asses. And it knows Davos has zero leverage over Russia’s actions from here on out.

Which brings me to the statements linked above by Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, speaking at a panel at the St. Petersburg Economic Investment Forum (SPEIF) who just put the situation in the starkest terms there is. “The game of nominal value of money is over, as this system does not allow to control the supply of resources. Our product, our rules. We don’t play by the rules we didn’t create.” Miller’s statement should be thought of as a statement of principle across all theaters of operation for Russia. This doesn’t just apply to natural gas or oil. This is everything, all of Russia’s dealings with the West from here on out will be on its terms not the West’s.

This is clearly the biggest geopolitical middle finger in the post WWII period. Miller is clearly laying out the rules for a new, commodity-centric monetary system, one based on what Credit Suisse’s Zoltan Poszar called ‘outside money’ - commodities, gold, even bitcoin - rather than the West’s egregious use of ‘inside money’ - debt-based fiat and credit - to perpetuate old colonialist behavior well past its use-by date. I laid out the basic problem in an article from March after Russia soft-pegged the ruble to gold.

Today’s “Inside Money” standard, known colloquially as the Dollar Reserve standard, is actually what I like to call “Milton Friedman’s Nightmare.” It is nothing more than a system of competitively devalued and inflated debt-based scrips running around drinking each other’s milkshakes until everyone’s glass is empty.

Miller is definitely a glass full kinda guy now. These comments came after Gazprom began cutting gas flows to Europe through the Nordstream 1 pipeline using the cover story of repaired gas turbines trapped in fascist Canada which couldn’t be shipped back to Siemens because of sanctions. Now Germany and Canada are trying to figure out how to circumvent the sanctions to get these turbines back.

At the same time Miller pledged more gas to China (up 67% yoy through May) because Russia is interested in energy stability for its friends, while its enemies can starve. Reuters is reporting that “Russia’s Gazprom increased gas supplies to China by 67% in the first five months of this year, the company’s CEO Alexei Miller said on Thursday.”

It was also on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their second phone call since the Ukraine war began. Xi told Putin that China is “willing to continue to offer mutual support (to Russia) on issues concerning core interests and major concerns such as sovereignty and security,” as quoted in state broadcaster CCTV.

The arrogance of EU commissars never ceases to amaze me. These people all but declare war on Russia and then act shocked (Shocked, I say!) that Russia then treats them like that. On the same day that four members of the EU Commission - France, Italy, Germany and Romania - approve fast-tracking Ukraine’s membership application, France’s Emmanuel Macron urges Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to go to the bargaining table with Russia. Even if Zelenskyy were to make those overtures to Russia, given his public statements on what his terms are, there would be absolutely zero chance that Russia would agree to show up for talks.

At this point I see nothing more than Russia continuing to grind out the Ukrainian army, taking what territory they want and then shepherding through local elections by the conquered territory to either become independent states or part of Russia. It’s likely the latter at this point since Russia is now issuing Russian passports in regions they’ve taken from Ukraine, which the EU, of course, will refuse to honor until no one cares what they think anymore.

The rules are changing rapidly. Looking ahead there is a real danger that what Russia has set in motion leads to something no one wants to contemplate. Of course the West helped create this situation by forcing Putin’s hand to invade Ukraine, so who’s to blame about where this all leads to may, ultimately, be an irrelevant point.

Let’s hope the noises coming from the West about the sanctions having gone too far and the chest-beating of the worst US and British neocons is no longer being taken seriously by anyone with their fingers anywhere near the launch codes. If that’s the case than these new rules will be grudgingly accepted only after a lot of borders have been redrawn, new alliances formed and a different world order established.

This morning President Putin declared the old world order dead. He finished his speech where he detailed how the West was committing suicide to suit the wishes of The Davos Crowd with the following definitive statement: “Russia is entering the coming era as a powerful sovereign country. We will definitely use the enormous new opportunities that time opens up for us. And we will become even stronger.”

Putin is correct here. Russia is getting stronger by the day. The West took their best shot at destroying Russia and missed the mark. He clearly identified the real culprits for Europe’s and the US’s problems, subservience to an oligarch class who feel entitled to rule the world.

When the war started I wrote about what I thought Putin’s intentions were. Then it was speculation: Russia held all the cards in the negotiations over Ukraine and we recklessly pursued a policy of insults and amateurish propaganda, refusing to believe Russia wouldn’t make her final stand. By putting boots on the ground, planes in the air and missiles up the ass of every Ukrainian military installation across the country, Russia turned the ‘might makes right’ argument of the US and Europe on its head.

The game has changed because the rules have changed. It’s no longer a game of rhetorical chicken and virtue signaling. Today it is fact. When Putin made his move on Ukraine the ultimate goal was the end of Russia treating the West as an equal and leading the Global South out of what he has called “vassalage.” The reason Putin is hated is because he realizes there are two types of countries, “sovereigns” and “vassals.”

It’s been his life’s work to make Russia into a ‘sovereign’ state free from the West. From Russia’s perspective their military operation in Ukraine was their Declaration of Independence from the old ‘rules-based order’ of the post-WWII era. Justified or not, we are now in a new age. The question is now, how many will survive into it."

- https://tomluongo.me/

"The State of the Economy with the Economic Ninja"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, iAllegedly 6/17/22:

"The State of the Economy with the Economic Ninja"

"Today we have a special guest for this the video. We are joined by the one and only economic ninja. We’re going to cover every aspect of the Economy in the current news."

Musical Interlude: Disturbed, "The Sound Of Silence"

Full screen recommended.

Disturbed "The Sound Of Silence"

Singer David Draiman

131,494,991 views

I've listened to this song 100 times, and it still makes me cry.

There's "something" here, and if there are words for it I don't know them...

"A Look to the Heavens"

"Distorted galaxy NGC 2442 can be found in the southern constellation of the flying fish, (Piscis) Volans. Located about 50 million light-years away, the galaxy's two spiral arms extending from a pronounced central bar give it a hook-shaped appearance. This deep color image also shows the arms' obscuring dust lanes, young blue star clusters and reddish star forming regions surrounding a core of yellowish light from an older population of stars.

But the star forming regions seem more concentrated along the drawn-out (right side) spiral arm. The distorted structure is likely the result of an ancient close encounter with the smaller galaxy seen near the top left of this field of view. The two interacting galaxies are separated by about 150,000 light-years at the estimated distance of NGC 2442."

- http://www.antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090228.html
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"Why Do We Look to the Stars?"

"The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us — there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation of a distant memory, as if we were falling from a great height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.

For as long as there has been humans we have searched for our place in the cosmos. Where are we? Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a hum-drum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people. This perspective is a courageous continuation of our penchant for constructing and testing mental models of the skies; the Sun as a red-hot stone, the stars as a celestial flame, the Galaxy as the backbone of night.

The size and age of the Cosmos are beyond ordinary human understanding. Lost somewhere between immensity and eternity is our tiny planetary home. In a cosmic perspective, most human concerns seem insignificant, even petty. And yet our species is young and curious and brave and shows much promise. In the last few millennia we have made the most astonishing and unexpected discoveries about the Cosmos and our place within it, explorations that are exhilarating to consider. They remind us that humans have evolved to wonder, that understanding is a joy, that knowledge is prerequisite to survival. I believe our future depends powerfully on how well we understand this Cosmos in which we float like a mote of dust in the morning sky. Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere."

- Carl Sagan

Chet Raymo, “The Spark of Life”

“The Spark of Life”

by Chet Raymo

"In a previous post I quoted Teilhard de Chardin referring to the discovery of electromagnetic waves as a "prodigious biological event." A biological event? What could he mean? The universe was awash with electromagnetic waves long before life appeared on Earth, or anywhere else in the universe. The cosmic microwave background radiation- the residue of the big bang- is electromagnetic. Starlight is an electromagnetic wave. You can "discover" electromagnetic waves by opening your eyes.

Of course, what Teilhard referred to was the conscious control of electromagnetic radiation by sentient biological creatures. Electromagnetic waves were predicted theoretically by the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell in 1864, as he played with equations describing electric and magnetic fields. Then, twenty-two years later, electromagnetic waves were experimentally demonstrated by Heinrich Hertz, who in effect made the first radio broadcast and reception. At Hertz's transmitter a spark jumped back and forth between two metal spheres 50 million times a second. Across the room a similar spark was instantly produced at the receiver. Invisible electrical energy had passed through space at the speed of light.

A spark dancing between two spheres- an unpretentious beginning for the age of radio, television, mobile phones and wireless internet. That first transmitter and receiver had a basement-workshop simplicity about them. Hertz demonstrated the nature of electromagnetic waves with constructions of wood, brass and sealing wax.

Wood, brass, sealing wax and conscious intelligence. Here on Earth- perhaps throughout the universe- stardust gave rise to living slime. The slime complexified, became conscious. Invented mathematics, experimental science. Caused sparks to jump between metal spheres. Sent the signature of biological activity across a room. Across a planet. Across the universe."

"Prodigious!”

- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/

The Poet: Margaret Atwood, "The Moment"

"The Moment"

"The moment when, after many years

of hard work and a long voyage

you stand in the centre of your room,

house, half-acre, square mile, island, country,

knowing at last how you got there,

and say, I own this,

is the same moment when the trees unloose

their soft arms from around you,

the birds take back their language,

the cliffs fissure and collapse,

the air moves back from you like a wave

and you can't breathe.

No, they whisper. You own nothing.

You were a visitor, time after time

climbing the hill, planting the flag, proclaiming.

We never belonged to you.

You never found us.

It was always the other way round."

- Margaret Atwood

"Morning in the Burned House"

"A Point Of No Return..."

”There is a point of no return, unremarked at the time, in most lives.”

- Graham Greene

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“When swimming into a dark tunnel, there arrives a point of no 

return when you no longer have enough breath to double back. 

Your only choice is to swim forward into the unknown… and pray for an exit.”

- Dan Brown

"Time To Move On..."

“How do the geese know when to fly to the sun? Who tells them the seasons? How do we, humans, know when it is time to move on? As with the migrant birds, so surely with us; there is a voice within, if only we would listen to it, that tells us so certainly when to go forth into the unknown.”

- Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

“5 Painfully Obvious Truths We Tend to Forget in Hard Times”

“5 Painfully Obvious Truths

We Tend to Forget in Hard Times”

by Angel Chernoff

“This is going to have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

We are going to get through this, I promise,

and we’re going to get through it together. “

- Dr. Jon LaPook

“You know how you can read or hear something dozens of times in dozens of different ways before it finally sinks in? The little truths listed below fall firmly into that category – timeless life lessons that many of us likely learned years ago, and have been reminded of ever since, yet for whatever reason we tend to forget in the heat of the moment. This, my friends, is my attempt at helping all of us, myself included, “get it” and “remember it” once and for all, especially as we collectively cope with the evolving reality of economic and life circumstances. 

1. Life is short, and nothing is guaranteed. We know deep down that life is short, and that death will happen to all of us eventually, and yet we are infinitely surprised when it happens to someone we know. It’s like walking up a flight of stairs with a distracted mind, and misjudging the final step. You expected there to be one more stair than there is, and so you find yourself off balance for a moment, before your mind shifts back to the present moment and how the world really is.

LIVE your life TODAY! Don’t ignore death – or the imminent dangers now becoming obvious – but don’t be afraid of life either. Be afraid of a life you never lived because you were too afraid to take positive action today. Death is not the greatest loss in life, neither is illness. The greatest loss is what dies inside you while you’re still alive and well. Even in these difficult times, be bold, be courageous, be a scared to death, and then take the next step anyway. Just change the way you do it.

Invest your heart and soul into whatever you have right in front of you. Bring passion into otherwise ordinary moments. You don’t have to be surrounded by lots of people. You don’t have to be going anyplace new. You can distance yourself and still passionately engage in each moment.

2. Everything will change again soon. Embrace change and realize in many ways it’s necessary. It won’t always be obvious at first, but in the end most forms of change are worthwhile because they force us to grow. So keep yourself in check right now.

What you have today may become what you had by tomorrow. You never know. Things change, often spontaneously. People and circumstances come and go. Life doesn’t stop for anybody. It moves rapidly and rushes from calm to chaos in a matter of seconds, and happens like this to people every day. It’s likely happening to someone nearby right now.

Sometimes the shortest split second in time changes the direction of our lives. A seemingly innocuous decision rattles our whole world like a meteorite striking Earth. Entire lives have been swiveled and flipped upside down, for better or worse, on the strength of an unpredictable event. And these events are always happening – as they are right now.

So just remember, however good or bad a situation is now, it will change. That’s the one thing you can count on. Accept it. Breathe. Be where you are. You’re where you need to be right now. There’s a time and place for everything, and every hard step is necessary. Just keep doing your best, and don’t force what’s not yet supposed to fit into your life. When it’s meant to be, it will be.

3. Changing your response is what puts you back in control. Have patience with everything that remains unresolved in your head and heart. And realize that patience is not about waiting, but the ability to keep a good attitude while working hard to stay true to your intuition and values. This is your life, and it is governed by your choices. May your actions speak louder than your words. May your daily choices preach louder than your lips. May your inner sense of satisfaction be your noise in the end.

And if your present life only teaches you one thing, let it be that taking a passionate leap is always worth it. Even if you have no idea where you’re going to land – even when there are so many unknowns – be brave enough to stand up and listen to your heart. Remember that the most powerful moments in life happen when you find the courage to let go of what can’t be changed. Because when you are no longer able to change a situation, you are challenged to change yourself – to grow beyond the unchangeable. And that changes everything! (Marc and I discuss this in more detail in the “Passion and Growth” chapter of “1,000 Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently.“)

4. Life’s storms can be a great source of strength. Hard times are like strong storms that blow against you. And it’s not just that these storms hold you back from places you might otherwise go. They also tear away from you all but the essential parts of your ego that cannot be torn, so that afterward you see yourself as you really are, and not merely as you might like to be.

Ultimately, you realize you are here to endure these storms, to sacrifice your time and risk your heart. You are here to be bruised by life. And when it happens that you are hurt, or betrayed, or rejected, let yourself sit quietly with your eyes closed and remember all the good times you had, and all the sweetness you tasted, and everything you learned. Tell yourself how amazing it was to live, and then open your eyes and live some more.

Because to never struggle would be to never grow. You must let go of who you were so you can become who you are. Again, it is within the depths of the strongest and darkest storms that you discover within you an inextinguishable light, and it is this light that illuminates the path forward.

5. You don’t need all the answers right now. Accept the feeling of not knowing exactly where you are going, and train yourself to love and appreciate this sensation of freedom. Because it is only when you are suspended in the air, with no destination in sight, that you force your wings to open fully so you can fly. And as you soar around you still may not know where you’re traveling to. But that’s not what’s important. What’s important is the opening of your wings. You may not know where you’re going, but you know that so long as your wings are spread, the winds will carry you forward.

Truth be told, some of the greatest outcomes that transpire in your life will be the ones you never even knew you wanted. As long as you keep your mind open to new perspectives and yourself moving forward, there really are no wrong turns in life, only paths you didn’t know you were meant to travel. And you never can be certain what’s around the corner. It could be everything, or it could be nothing. You keep gliding steadily forward, and then one day you realize you’ve come a long way from where you started.

All details aside, someday all the pieces will come together. Unimaginably good outcomes will likely transpire in your life, even if everything doesn’t turn out exactly the way you had anticipated. And you will look back at the hard times that have passed, smile, and ask yourself… “How in the world did I get through all of that?”

- https://www.marcandangel.com/ 

The Daily "Near You?"

Argyle, Texas, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

“'The Economy Is Going To Collapse' – Here Are 18 Signs That The Economic Meltdown We Have Been Waiting For Has Already Begun" (Excerpt)

“'The Economy Is Going To Collapse' – Here Are 18 Signs That

 The Economic Meltdown We Have Been Waiting For Has Already Begun"

by Michael Snyder

Excerpt: "In all my years of writing, I have never seen more economic pessimism than I am seeing right now. Over the past couple of months there has been a monumental shift in public sentiment, and now just about everyone realizes that we are heading into very troubled economic times. Of course there were still a few economic optimists that were searching for a ray of hope, but the Federal Reserve left no room for optimism when it announced the largest interest rate hike in 28 years on Wednesday. When the Fed aggressively raised rates in the early 1980s, it resulted in one of the most painful recessions in American history. Unfortunately, many believe that what is ahead of us is going to be even worse.

For example, legendary Wall Street investor Michael Novogratz is openly warning that “the economy is going to collapse.” “The economy is going to collapse,” he told MarketWatch. “We are going to go into a really fast recession, and you can see that in lots of ways,” he added. “Housing is starting to roll over,” he said. “Inventories have exploded. There are layoffs in multiple industries, and the Fed is stuck with a position of having to hike interest rates until inflation rolls over.”

Novogratz is correct, but I think that it would be more accurate to say that “the economy is already starting to collapse”. The following are 18 signs that the economic meltdown we have been waiting for has already begun…"

Please view this complete article here:

- https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/

"If The Streets Of America Are This Chaotic Now, What Will They Be Like When Things Really Start Hitting The Fan?"

"If The Streets Of America Are This Chaotic Now, 

What Will They Be Like When Things Really Start Hitting The Fan?"

by Michael Snyder

"If you are not alarmed by what is happening to our largest cities, you should check to see if you still have a pulse. Once upon a time, the beautiful new cities that our forefathers constructed were the envy of the entire planet, but now many of them have degenerated into crime-infested hellholes that are absolutely teeming with violent predators. Shoplifting has essentially become a national pastime, open air drug markets operate freely right under the noses of indifferent authorities, and addicts pull down their pants and take a dump whenever and wherever they feel like doing so. Thanks to record levels of illegal immigration, gang membership is absolutely exploding, and human trafficking has reached truly frightening levels. Of course our steadily thinning police forces are overwhelmed at this point. In fact, police in Seattle are stretched so thin that they often are not able “to take reports from rape victims”. And if you are the victim of a non-violent crime in Seattle, good luck ever getting a police officer to pay attention to your case. From coast to coast, communities are descending into a state of utter lawlessness. So if things are this bad already, what will conditions be like when things really start hitting the fan?

Continuing a trend that we have seen for the last couple of years, crime rates all over the nation just keep going higher and higher. For example, auto theft, grand larceny and transit crime are all up by more than 50 percent in New York City so far this year…"Data released by the New York City Police Department showed Grand Larceny Auto increased by 51.1% with 5,420 incidents as of June 5 compared to just 3,587 incidents by the same time in 2021. That category had one of the largest upticks during the most recent crime statistic report covering May 30 to June 5. Grand larceny incidents spiked by 50.1% from 20,659 incidents reported to NYPD as of June 5, compared to the 13,713 reported during the same period last year."

Meanwhile, overall transit crime surged by 53.6% so far this year. I thought that the new mayor was elected to end the crime wave. Instead, it appears that it has been supersized.

One way to hide the rapid rise in crime is to decriminalize things that used to be major offenses. In Portland, voters decided to decriminalize hard drugs, but that just turned the city into an “open air drug market”…"The streets of Portland resemble an ‘open air drug market’ after state officials’ scheme to decriminalize hard drugs led to a surge in overdose deaths, critics claim. Law enforcement agents say that the streets of Portland are full of homeless addicts openly buying and selling drugs and that signs of drug addiction are actually increasing statewide, Fox News reported. Photos show the desperate situation in the liberal Pacific Northwest city, where people can be seen shooting up drugs or passed out in broad daylight." At one time, Portland was one of the most magnificent cities in the entire world. Now it is a horror show.

On top of all the ordinary crime that is going on, now we are witnessing a very alarming rise in politically-motivated violence. The Supreme Court decision that will overturn Roe v. Wade is expected to be released this month, and a group known as “Jane’s Revenge” has announced that it is “open season” on those with pro-life views…"The pro-abortion group Jane’s Revenge is declaring it “open season” on pro-life groups and crisis pregnancy centers. The group has a history of damaging property during their protests, and they took credit for the vandalization of a pregnancy resource center in Des Moines, Iowa earlier this month. In a message posted to social media, the group said they broke windows and left graffiti political messages all over the clinic. “It was easy and fun,” the message read."

Sadly, even though the official Supreme Court decision has not even been released yet, there has already been quite a bit of violence. In fact, it is being reported that there have been more than three dozen attacks on pro-life groups, churches and crisis pregnancy centers in recent weeks…"An armed would-be assassin’s alleged attempt on the life of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh last week is part of a wave of violence, arson, vandalism, and intimidation targeting pro-life groups and government officials since the leak last month of a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade."

There have been more than three dozen such incidents directed at crisis pregnancy centers and churches in at least 20 states and Washington, D.C., according to a tally maintained by LifeNews.com, an anti-abortion site.

The thin veneer of civilization that we all take for granted on a daily basis is rapidly dissipating, and our streets are becoming more uncivilized with each passing day. If this is happening while economic conditions are still relatively stable, what will happen once things start getting really crazy out there?

In some parts of the world, the food crisis has already reached critical levels. For example, the government of Sri Lanka has actually shortened the work week so that workers will have more time to grow their own food…"Sri Lanka’s federal government on Monday approved a proposal that would shorten the work week of most public sector staff to four days so that workers will have time to farm their own crops, Reuters reported Tuesday, noting the measure aims to combat Sri Lanka’s worsening food shortages caused by a recent economic crisis. “Sri Lanka’s Cabinet late on Monday approved a proposal for public sector workers to be given leave every Friday for the next three months, partly because the fuel shortage made commuting difficult and also to encourage them to farm,” Reuters reported on June 14."

Over in Africa, the United Nations has stopped feeding approximately 1.7 million citizens of South Sudan because they simply do not have enough funding to feed the rapidly growing throngs of desperately hungry people…"The World Food Program has been forced to stop providing food aid to around 1.7 million people in South Sudan, because of a lack of funding. The UN-run organization will still reach 4.5 million people, but many will miss out on vital resources. According to BBC News, over half the population of South Sudan is currently facing hunger due to floods, localized drought, continuing conflict, and rising food prices. Marwa Awad is from the World Food Program and is in the northern town of Bentiu in South Sudan, where she has been talking to people about the effects the cuts to aid are having.

All of the experts are telling us that the global food crisis is going to get a lot worse as the months roll along. If the UN has already reached the limit of what they are able to do, who is going to help the millions upon millions of hungry people that will soon need help in order to survive?

Here in the U.S., food production has been affected by a bizarre series of disasters, and we are being warned that much less will be produced this year than originally anticipated. I think that one expert summed up the current situation very well when he warned that “we are teetering on the edge right now”…"Pennsylvania farmers are being “crushed” by the record cost of diesel – so much so, that questions about a food crisis are starting to loom, the Morning Call reported. One farmer in Lehigh County is quoted as saying: “I’ve got a tractor hooked up to my corn planter out here, no diesel fuel, and I can’t afford to get any.”

That farmer was airing his gripes to Kyle Kotzmoyer, a legislative affairs specialist for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. Kotzmoyer then turned around and testified to state lawmakers: “We have reached that point to where it is very close to being a sinking ship. We are teetering on the edge right now.”

If we eventually get to a point where food prices spiral completely out of control and there are widespread shortages, do you think that those living in our core urban areas will respond with grace and patience? Of course not. Instead, people will go absolutely nuts.

We got a small preview of what is to come during the Arab Spring of 2011. There were serious food shortages around the world that year, and that resulted in tremendous civil unrest. Here in the United States, most people do not have large amounts of food stored up, and that is especially true in our largest cities. So we better hope that the rapidly growing global food crisis does not affect us too severely, because the truth is that we are definitely not equipped to handle such a scenario."

- https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/

"What The Herd Hates The Most..."

 

"Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth, more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man."

- Bertrand Russell

"If you're going to tell people the truth make them laugh, or they'll kill you."

- Oscar Wilde

"The Grand Chessboard"

"The Grand Chessboard"

by Chris MacIntosh

"In 1997, geopolitical advisor to David Rockefeller, Zbigniew Brzezinski, wrote a book, called "The Grand Chessboard." The book is particularly interesting as it shows the thinking of the Rockefeller empire in regards to Eurasia. Consider the following, which provides some insight into their view of Eurasia and how to control it (actually the very idea of controlling it provides insight into their lust for power):

"For America, the chief geopolitical prize is Eurasia." "Ever since the continents started interacting politically, some five hundred years ago, Eurasia has been the center of world power." Given this viewpoint it’s no surprise that the US have employed the doctrine of keeping both the European and Asian powers from forming any sort of economic and hence political power that could test US hegemony. This excerpt is revealing.

"… But in the meantime, it is imperative that no Eurasian challenger emerges, capable of dominating Eurasia and thus of also challenging America. The formulation of a comprehensive and integrated Eurasian geostrategy is therefore the purpose of this book."

All empires have at some point realized and deployed similar geo-political strategies. Namely, prevent collusion, maintain security dependence among vassals, which will keep these tributaries compliant, forment occasional wars in order to bring in more tributaries seeking protection (witness Sweden and Norway seeking NATO membership), and then for those barbarians that are not under the empire’s control, ensure they never come together to form a collective resistance. These barbarians are the Russians, Indians, Chinese, and Arabs.

It follows that America’s primary interest is to help ensure that no single power comes to control this geopolitical space and that the global community has unhindered financial and economic access to it. When viewed through the lens of history and the desires of powerful men throughout the ages, the Ukraine conflict makes perfect sense.

The idea that Putin, after 20 years of continued economic growth, increased stability, and enjoying a high popularity, suddenly rolled out of bed and said, "Meh, fukit. I’m risking it all and invading another country for shits and giggles," is one of the most absurd and idiotic narratives the MSM has ever produced. And the peasants actually believe it.

Here we are again, and though we’re certainly not apologists for Russia or Putin (he’s a thug, along with the rest of them), failing to view the situation with at least some level of a filter flies in the face of history, not to mention recent history, isn’t wise.

Continuing on with the American/Rockefeller view so that we may be able to better understand probabilities: "America is now the only global superpower, and Eurasia is the globe’s central arena. Hence, what happens to the distribution of power on the Eurasian continent will be of decisive importance to America’s global primacy and to America’s historical legacy. Without sustained and directed American involvement, before long the forces of global disorder could come to dominate the world scene. With warning signs on the horizon across Europe and Asia, any successful American policy must focus on Eurasia as a whole and be guided by a Geostrategic design."

You will now understand why the US has always backed both sides of wars in the Middle East and in Eurasia. "That puts a premium on maneuver and manipulation in order to preempt the emergence of a hostile coalition that could eventually seek to challenge America’s primacy…"

Now consider this excerpt: "The most immediate task is to make certain that no state or combination of states gains the capacity to expel the United States from Eurasia or even to diminish significantly its decisive arbitration role.

Potentially, the most dangerous scenario would be a grand coalition of China, Russia, and perhaps Iran, an "anti-hegemonic" coalition united not by ideology but by complementary grievances. It would be reminiscent in scale and scope of the challenge once posed by the Sino-Soviet bloc, though this time China would likely be the leader and Russia the follower. Averting this contingency, however remote it may be, will require a display of U.S. geostrategic skill on the western, eastern, and southern perimeters of Eurasia simultaneously."

This war is a war between the West, led by the US, and the "barbarians," who are still out of the hegemonic fold currently fronted by Russia while including China, the Mid East and India. I fear countries will be forced to pick sides during this decade.

Ask yourself this. If you were a pointy shoe sitting in a Rockefeller seat, how would you go about both maintaining dominance and increasing it? Based on their thinking, alluded to here, I’d say you’d start a war involving these powers. China, Iran, Russia, and possibly India. You’d pit them against each other, if possible.

We know the Saudis and Iran are longtime foes, and we know that both Russia and China have been forging strong relationships between both countries. Neither want a war and are likely to be the diplomats here while the West will seek to exploit and fuel conflict. Sounds crazy and contrary to the narratives you hear on MSM? Sure, but go read those excerpts again, then look at the dolly birds on the idiot box and the men with shiny teeth and tell me what’s really happening. Now, I don’t know for sure but the recent ramp up of angst here is oddly timed. But something to watch, I'd say."

- internationalman.com

○

Freely download "The Grand Chessboard", by Zbigniew Brzezinski, here:

- https://www.cia.gov/library/

Interesting... you'll note that this download comes from the official CIA website...

○

Related:

"Russia Believes False Flag Will Lead to US Entry"

"This Is Your Life..."

“This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time.

Every breath is a choice.

Every minute is a choice.

To be or not to be.

Every time you don't throw yourself down the stairs, that's a choice.

Every time you don't crash your car, you re-enlist.

If death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume

and come back as a new character...Would you slow down? Or speed up?"

- Chuck Palahniuk

○

"If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make,

who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?"

- Stephen Levine

"Streets of Philadelphia, June 17, 2022"

Full screen recommended.

"Streets of Philadelphia, June 17, 2022"

"Violent crime and drug abuse in Philadelphia as a whole is a major problem. The city’s violent crime rate is higher than the national average and other similarly sized metropolitan areas. Also alarming is Philadelphia’s drug overdose rate. The number of drug overdose deaths in the city increased by 50% from 2013 to 2015, with more than twice as many deaths from drug overdoses as deaths from homicides in 2015. A big part of Philadelphia’s problems stem from the crime rate and drug abuse in Kensington.

Because of the high number of drugs in Kensington, the neighborhood has a drug crime rate of 3.57, the third-highest rate by neighborhood in Philadelphia. Like a lot of the country, a big part of this issue is a result of the opioid epidemic. Opioid abuse has skyrocketed over the last two decades in the United States and Philadelphia is no exception. Along with having a high rate of drug overdose deaths, 80% percent of Philadelphia’s overdose deaths involved opioids and Kensington is a big contributor to this number. This Philly neighborhood is purportedly the largest open-air narcotics market for heroin on the East Coast with many neighboring residents flocking to the area for heroin and other opioids. With such a high number of drugs in Kensington, many state and local officials have zoned in on this area to try and tackle Philadelphia’s problem."

○

Full screen recommended.

Bruce Springsteen, "Streets of Philadelphia"

"How It Really Is"

"As Gasoline Prices Spike, Demand Destruction Spreads, 

with Long-Term Implications"

Jim Kunstler, "How Low Can You Go?"

"How Low Can You Go?"

by Jim Kunstler

"Remember the limbo? It was a dance fad kind of like the Olympic high jump in reverse: instead of leaping over a horizontal bar, you duck-walked under it to calypso music, with the crowd squealing, “How low can you go?” As it happens, in the culture of Western Civ, Limbo is also the name of a place on the edge of Hell. Either way, you have an apt metaphor for the spot that the USA is in as we enter the summer of double-deuce.

Lots of things are going south all at once: the stock markets and bond prices, Bitcoin is doing a vanishing act. The Colorado River reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, are so low that, by September, both water and electricity may run out for a vast region that includes Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Southern California. The housing market is tanking (suburbia’s business model is broken). Whole herds of beef cattle roll over and die out on the range. Fertilizer is scarce. Food processing plants get torched by the dozen. Shortages loom.

The oil-and-gas industry is getting killed four ways: 1) our stupid Russia sanctions queered longstanding global distribution arrangements; 2) the industry is starved for capital; 3) depletion is seriously kicking in; and 4) “Joe Biden” and the knuckleheads running the EU countries are trying to kill it so as to usher in a Green New Deal that just doesn’t pencil-out.

The car dealers have no new cars on their lots, and pretty soon they’ll run out of decent used cars - which, these days, are often priced higher than the non-existent new cars. How’s that for a business model? Plus, the financially beaten-up middle-class can’t afford cars in either case, and increasingly can’t qualify for car loans.

The airline industry reels with a sucking chest wound due to a pilot shortage (thanks to vaxx mandates) and the high cost of jet fuel. The trucking industry’s business model is also broken with diesel fuel over six dollars a gallon - the cost of delivery exceeds the value of the cargo. America runs on trucks and if they stop running, so does everything else. Replacement parts are growing scarce for every mechanical device in the land. It’s getting harder to fix anything that’s broken.

“Joe Biden’s” proxy war against Russia in Ukraine isn’t working out. It was flamboyantly stupid from the get-go. We deliberately broke the Minsk agreements for a cease-fire in the Donbas to goad the Russians into action. NATO didn’t have the troops or the political mojo to back up its US-inspired bluster. Our financial warfare blew back in our faces and actually benefited the Russian economy and its currency, the ruble. The billions of dollars in weapons we’re sending into the war are easily interdicted in transport, or else are getting loose in a world of non-state maniacs ranging from the Taliban to al Qaeda to drug cartels.

Meanwhile, Russia steadfastly grinds out a victory on-the-ground that will leave it in control of the Black Sea and will reveal the USA’s lost capacity to impose its will around the world. In other words, our Ukraine project “to weaken Russia” brought on an epochal shift in the balance of power to our enormous disadvantage. This is on top of more than twenty years of US military fiascos from Afghanistan, to Iraq, to North Africa, to Syria which demonstrated our reckless disregard for human life and a gross inability to carry out a mission. This aggregate failure and display of weakness leaves us vulnerable to Chinese aggression in the Pacific. There is even spooky chatter now about China venturing to invade Australia, Japan, and the USA mainland. Yes, really.

With all this to be concerned about, half the American public, and the “Joe Biden” regime they insist they elected, remain in thrall to the Covid-19 horror movie and at the mercy of the deadly mRNA pharmaceutical products that were magically waiting in-advance of the outbreak to profit on it. But now, all the cover stories are falling apart. It’s getting harder to conceal the deaths and injuries caused by the vaccines, including a striking drop in fertility and the permanent damage to millions of people’s immune systems that will lay them low with cancer, neurological illness, and cardiovascular disease in the months ahead.

The CDC/FDA/Pharma cabal’s strategy-for-now: keep bluffing and quintupling down on their cover up - they just sweepingly approved mRNA shots for babies. Why? To extend the emergency use authorization that shields Pfizer and Moderna from liability. It won’t work long, of course, because under settled law fraud vacates that kind of protection, and the public health officials with their Pharma cronies have orchestrated the deadliest fraud in human history.

If there is an American nation left in a year or so, with a functioning legal system, the players in this cabal are going to land in witness chairs to explain why they killed so many people. (“We were following The Science,” they’ll say. Uh-huh…) By then, no one will believe their bullshit and it will be off to the American limbo known as Palookaville for the likes of Fauci, Collins, Gates, Bourla, Bancel, Walensky and the gang.

To try to head-off anything like that, the “Joe Biden” regime just announced a second attempt to control the news-flow with a White House Disinformation Task Force, to replace the ludicrous Homeland Security Disinformation Governance Board that flopped so miserably in May when its appointed chief, Ms. Jankowicz, turned out to be a prime purveyor of disinformation. The new Disinfo Task Force, led by Veep Kamala Harris - who performed so well in her previous assignment as Border Czar - is pretending to be all about online sexual harassment and gender bigotry. I’m sure…

It won’t work. “Joe Biden” is running on empty. His regime staggers on in a delirium and an odium, like one of those groaning, brain-leaking zombies on cable-TV. The voters are poised to unload two barrels of buckshot to this monster’s head in September, if we are not prevented from holding elections by yet another bogus “emergency.” Until then, we’re in a race to see just how the Party of Chaos completes the destruction of the economy, which is the prelude to the people of the USA destroying the Party of Chaos."

- https://kunstler.com/

Gregory Mannarino, "The FED And ECB Are Now Fully Engaged In More Debt Market Manipulation"

Your guide...

Gregory Mannarino, AM 6/17/22:

"The FED And ECB Are Now Fully Engaged

 In More Debt Market Manipulation"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Link To The MMRI (Mannarino Market Risk Indicator),

FREE Downloads And More!

○

Live Market Updates:

- https://www.marketwatch.com/market-data

"Empty Shelves Update: Inflation & Shrinkflation - What's Coming!?"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures with Danno, 6/17/22:

"Empty Shelves Update: Inflation & Shrinkflation - What's Coming!?"

"In today's vlog we are giving an Empty Shelves Update, that is affecting the entire country! We are also noticing ridiculous price increases, and a major food shortage! It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting products!"

○

Related:

"More Major Disasters Hit U.S. Food Production –

Are You Prepared For What Comes Next?"

Canadian Prepper, "This is Very Bad and No One is Talking About It"

Full screen recommended.

Canadian Prepper, 6/16/22:

"This is Very Bad and No One is Talking About It"

"No one has connected the dots, this means

 that things are much worse than we realize." 

"Stock Market Crushed Today; Housing Market Crippled; Consumer Is Out Of Money"

Jeremiah Babe, 6/16/22:

"Stock Market Crushed Today; Housing Market Crippled; 

Consumer Is Out Of Money"

Gerald Celente, "Calamity Hit The Street: Prepare! Worst Is Yet To Come"

Strong language alert!

Gerald Celente, Trends Journal, 6/16/22:

"Calamity Hit The Street: Prepare! Worst Is Yet To Come"

- https://trendsresearch.com/