Monday, October 3, 2022

"People Will Go Completely Insane When Energy Prices Triple From Current Levels"

Full screen recommended.
"People Will Go Completely Insane When 
Energy Prices Triple From Current Levels"
by Epic Economist

"Brace yourselves because as the seasons turn, U.S. households are set to see their energy bills get extraordinarily expensive. For the first time in nearly five decades, the entire western world is preparing for widespread and rolling energy shortages during the winter, and things are getting particularly alarming in the U.S., where energy reserves dropped to the lowest levels since 1984. In face of the steep collapse of the nation’s energy supplies, the only certainty around the ongoing energy price shock is that it’s likely to get worse in the coming months as demand explodes all over the country. Some households may be facing an over 60% spike in their utility bills before the end of the year, while businesses are already doing everything they can to cut costs to be able to survive another dark winter. 

The situation is being described as “frightening” and “shocking” by the people who work in the energy industry. And what will happen next is going to send shivers up the spine of millions of Americans. According to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve has declined to its lowest level in 38 years. “The nation’s emergency crude stockpile dropped to 434.05 million barrels. It hasn’t been that low since early November 1984, when the national strategic reserve hovered at around 436 million barrels,” the organization noted. Since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out, the White House introduced the 1-million-barrels-a-day oil release plan using the country’s emergency reserves. Bloomberg researchers reported that the federal government had planned to restock the national energy reserve after the price of crude oil fell below $80 per barrel. But market experts suggest that oil prices will remain well above that margin for the rest of the year. That’s to say, not only the U.S. failed in providing effective help for its allies, but it also left its population vulnerable to power shortages and brutal price increases at a time they need a reliable supply of energy the most. 

With prices of oil and natural gas facing a steady rise, U.S. consumers are going to be economically eviscerated by the soaring costs and stuck with fewer energy supply alternatives. Oil makes up about half the price of a gallon of gasoline, and diesel fuel for vehicles like trucks and heating oil for homes are distilled from oil. If current trends continue, Americans should get ready to pay 17.2% more on energy this month, on top of the increases recorded in previous months, according to estimates released by the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. Home heating is expected to reach a staggering $1,202, the highest price in more than a decade. To make things worse, the National Grid said last week it will increase electricity rates by 64% starting November 1 and for the next six months. 

 That’s going to have a devastating impact on the finances of low-income families. Bank of America analysts wrote in a new note to clients that “nationwide, a sizeable share of Americans could come under pressure to make cuts in their other spending in order to keep the lights on." This nightmarish energy crisis is gaining proportions that would be completely unimaginable just a few months ago. Now, more than ever, it is time to stock up on batteries, candles, solar-powered devices, and non-perishables because the threat of blackouts and extended energy supply shortages are about to become our new reality. We’re going to experience some exceedingly painful months, and many other unpleasant surprises may be headed our way this winter."

Canadian Prepper, "China's Moving Nukes..."

Canadian Prepper, 10/3/22:
"China's Moving Nukes..."
"Yep, everything's just fine and dandy."
Comments here:
Related follow-up:
Canadian Prepper, 10/3/22:
"Breaking: US Nuclear Forces on High Alert"
"US Looking Glass plane is airborne, DEFCON elevated."
Comments here:

“Sorry, Cash Only! Why Is Your Money In The Bank? Risk Of A Major Crash Rising”

Full screen recommended.
Jeremiah Babe, 10/3/22:
“Sorry, Cash Only! Why Is Your Money In The Bank? 
Risk Of A Major Crash Rising”
Comments here:

"When Will They Learn?"

"When Will They Learn?"
by Jeff Thomas

"Dependency upon government is a disease. Once it has been caught, it becomes chronic and does not reverse itself in a population until the system collapses under its own weight.For many years, frustrated colleagues of mine who are either conservative or libertarian have posed the rhetorical question, "When will those liberals learn?" Surely, at some point (they reason), liberals will recognise that bailouts, entitlements, and a "planned" society simply do not work. It’s not even a question of whether liberalism is a laudable concept. The problem is that it just… doesn’t… work.

Of course, my colleagues are correct in their appraisal of the liberal concept. Unfortunately, they are gravely mistaken in their belief that there comes a point at which the liberal "bubble" pops and suddenly all liberals wake up and smell the coffee.

Truth be told, as long as governments can benefit from maintaining a strong liberal consciousness in their citizenry, and as long as they can count on the media to maintain that consciousness, it will always be possible to convince liberal thinkers that, whatever negative events have taken place in a given country, they are the fault of the "enemy"—the non-liberal contingent.

But, surely, when there is clear-cut evidence that liberal policies have failed, liberals must accept that liberalism is an economic and social dead end. No, I’m afraid not. Let’s look at how just three examples are likely to play out - not as we’d like to see them play out, but how they will play out in reality.

When the bailouts end, the economy will collapse. Liberals will then grasp that bailouts do not work. Not so, I’m afraid. Although endless QE is as implausible as perpetual motion, when it is finally halted, the economy will inevitably crash, and crash badly - made worse by QE. Will liberals then realize the failure of QE? No, they will only argue that the only problem was that it was halted - that, had it continued, it would eventually have saved the day.

No liberal will hazard a guess as to what amount of QE or length of time would have created salvation; however, the blame for the crash will be placed squarely at the feet of the greedy One Percent, whom the liberals will say "engineered the end of QE in order to impoverish and enslave the middle class." Liberals will be more committed than ever to government spending as a solution.

When cities such as Bradford in the UK or Detroit in the US reach fiscal collapse, liberals will realize that ever-increasing entitlements are simply not sustainable, that such tax-based benefit programs drive out thriving industries, leaving the poor behind, in a dying metropolis. Again, this will not happen. Instead of learning the obvious lesson, liberals will redouble their belief in collectivism. They will reason that the government had successfully protected inner city workers through benefit programs. However, big business, wanting to create slaves of workers, sent jobs overseas, to countries where enslavement by the rich is still possible.

By doing so, they removed tax dollars from the system, causing the impoverishment of inner-city dwellers, destroying their lives. Rather than abandon social programs as ineffective, liberals will set about creating massive relocation programs, such as moving the disenfranchised inner-city people to areas where there is sufficient local business for taxation to continue supporting those on public assistance. In so doing, those areas that were previously economically viable will also be bled to the point of fiscal failure, spreading the disease. However, the liberal conclusion will remain the same: "The problem is the greedy rich."

When the government has fully morphed into a dictatorial police state, liberals will realize that governmental overreach has destroyed their liberty. Again, this will not be the liberal view when the time comes. Instead, they will conclude, as they do now, that freedom is a small price to pay for safety. They will, therefore, not only accept, but encourage the government to redouble its Gestapo approach every time a lone gunman fires into a classroom. And any single such incident will be cause for a nationwide ramping-up of policing. (If no lone gunman appears on the scene just prior to a planned ramping-up, a suitable incident can always be created by the government.) In each of the above cases, nothing is learned by liberals, except that they were right all along: "Don’t trust the conservatives. They are evil and will destroy all good in society."

These three examples should be sufficient to demonstrate that there will be no magic day when liberals figure out the failings of collectivism. In fact, quite the opposite will be true. Just as any government benefits from its own expansion of power, so governments and the media propaganda systems will ensure good that the EU and US will only become more liberal over time.

Throughout history, a basic truism has been evident: Dependency upon government is a disease. Once it has been caught, it becomes chronic and does not reverse itself in a population until the system collapses under its own weight.

A good example of this is East Germany in the early 1990’s. In 1987, US President Reagan famously delivered the words in Berlin, "Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall." His words were heard so loudly that Mister Gorbachev did, indeed, tear down the wall. Almost immediately, West Berliners, thrilled to be reunited with their brothers to the East, created thousands of job opportunities for East Germans. East Germans were equally thrilled, anticipating that they might now have larger apartments, higher pay, and possibly own televisions and cars. However, East Germans did not respond well to the standards of the West, feeling that employers were too harsh in their requirements and the benefits were not what they had been used to. East and west re-unified, but the transition was not a smooth one.

But, before we place all the criticism on liberals, it is well to note that, in both the EU and US, conservatives often tend to be just as dogmatic in their assessments. Whilst conservatives arguably may have a better grasp than liberals as to fiscal realities, they, too, are continuously programmed to adhere to a fixed group of perceptions.

Conservatives and liberals are both programmed to maintain ongoing opposition to each other. Conservatives are perceived as greedy and evil by liberals; liberals are perceived as naïve and stupid by conservatives. The more they can be polarized from each other, the more governments may make use of the polarity as a distraction from their own actions. The more conservatives and liberals place the blame on each other, the more governments may present themselves as the referee, whist, in fact, they do all they can to expand the mutual animosity.

When people are angry, they do not think straight. The angrier they become, the more reason goes out the window. Consequently, the more a government can stir up its minions to attack each other, the more power the government has to impose ever-greater controls on the population. In a conservative administration, a government will institute greater social controls. In the following liberal administration, the government will institute greater economic controls. And the police state will be increased under both administrations.

The net effect is overall increased dominance by government. Under the two-party system, this dominance is not only tolerated by the populace, but encouraged. The day never comes when a people convince their government to "lighten up." Relief only comes when an overly-powerful governmental system collapses under its own weight."

Musical Interlude: Gnomusy (David Caballero), "Footprints On The Sea"

Gnomusy (David Caballero), "Footprints On The Sea"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"Orion always seems to come up sideways on northern winter evenings. Those familiar stars of the constellation of the Hunter are caught above the trees in this colorful night skyscape.
Not a star at all but still visible to eye, the Great Nebula of Orion shines below the Hunter's belt stars. The camera's exposure reveals the stellar nursery's faint pinkish glow. Betelgeuse, giant star at Orion's shoulder, has the color of warm and cozy terrestrial lighting, but so does another familiar stellar giant, Aldebaran. Alpha star of the constellation Taurus the Bull, Aldebaran anchors the recognizable V-shape traced by the Hyades Cluster toward the top of the starry frame."

"No Room For Cowards..."

“Life has no victims. There are no victims in this life. No one has the right to point fingers at his/her past and blame it for what he/she is today. We do not have the right to point our finger at someone else and blame that person for how we treat others, today. Don’t hide in the corner, pointing fingers at your past. Don’t sit under the table, talking about someone who has hurt you. Instead, stand up and face your past! Face your fears! Face your pain! And stomach it all! You may have to do so kicking and screaming and throwing fits and crying – but by all means – face it! This life makes no room for cowards.”
- C. Joybell C.

"Expect 'A Nightmare Winter'"

"Expect 'A Nightmare Winter'"
by The Wiggin Sessions
"Mark Rossano of C6 Capital Holdings on the looming energy crisis. With last week’s alleged sabotage on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in Europe, the geopolitics around liquid natural gas (LNG) are getting evermore hairy. Mr Rossano breaks down the LNG production process from production to your cooking stove at home… Plus the danger of “A Nightmare Winter” if supply chain disruptions continue to throw the global energy markets into chaos."

Gregory Mannarino, "So It Begins! Central Banks Buying Huge Amounts Of Debt!"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 10/3/22:
"So It Begins! Central Banks Buying Huge Amounts Of Debt!"
Comments here:

"So Many People are Cheating and Stealing"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, iAllegedly 10/3/22:
"So Many People are Cheating and Stealing"
"It has become commonplace to see people cheat and steal in our society lately. First it was a fishing tournament where two men were caught adding weights to fish. People are cheating in poker and even at chess. People are stealing so much from the self-checkout that some stores are closing self-checkout."
Comments here:

Musical Interlude: Jason Mraz, "I Won't Give Up"

Full screen recommended.
Jason Mraz, "I Won't Give Up"

The Daily "Near You?"

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands. Thanks for stopping by!

Bill Bonner, "A Jolly Mess"

"A Jolly Mess"
Sabotaged pipelines, sinking stocks, savage storms 
and other tales from the new abnormal...
by Bill Bonner

Baltimore, MD - "Last week was a jolly mess. Someone blew up the world’s most important gas pipeline. The Dow closed out the worst September in 20 years. The bank of England looked normalcy in the face – and panicked. Inflation rose. And a storm swamped much of Florida. ‘Get used to it,’ said the climate alarmists; it’s the new normal. But Floridians were already used to it; hurricanes in Florida are the old normal, not new normal. There was nothing especially ferocious about Ian. But it had been a long time since a hurricane like the Okeechobee Storm of 1928, which killed 2,500 people, had struck the Ft. Myers area.

Meanwhile, just when the winds of inflation were supposed to be flagging comes news from Barron’s: "Fed’s Preferred Inflation Gauge Rises in August. Price Gains Still Running Hot." "The core personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric, picked up in August, after cooling off in July."

And this from Breitbart: "The prices of food purchased by American consumers in August saw the most inflation since 1979, government data showed Friday. The personal consumption expenditures index for food was up 12.4 percent compared with a year ago, indicating that food prices were up the most year-over-year since February 1979." 12%? Yep. And for a lot of people, a 12% increase in food costs is a big deal. It forces them to make tough decisions.

‘The People’s’ Money: It should be forcing the feds to make tough decisions too. After all, inflation is federal policy. The feds spent more than they raised in taxes, and filled the gap with printing press money. Shouldn’t it cut back… and spend less of ‘the people’s’ money… so that inflation will go down?

Nah… instead, also last week, President Biden announced a plan to eliminate hunger by 2030. This will be done by spending more money, not less. No mention was made of the last great fight against hunger. That came in 1969, when Richard Nixon pledged to banish it forever. Apparently, that effort fell short… or there would be no need for a new one.

So, you see, everything happened more or less as could be expected. The president did what he does, such as it is. Central bankers did what they do. Terrorists did what they do. And hurricanes stuck to the familiar script too, along with those who want the feds to ‘do something’ about them. And here at Bonner Private Research we will do what we do too – marveling at how terrifying ‘normal’ can be… especially, when you’ve been enjoying abnormal for such a long time.

Years ago, an old friend, whose tractor was stuck in deep mud explained what had happened: “I forgot that it could rain.” Abnormal is a time when the sun shines every day… and you can borrow money for less than it is really worth. Naturally, you leave your umbrella at home. You think ‘abnormal’ is the new normal. And then, it rains. And interest rates go up.

More Bang for their Bucks: Interest rates famously “discount” things that could go wrong in the future. And when the Age of Everlasting Sunshine came to an end, suddenly interest rates had a lot more to discount. Inflation, for example.

In a country with 10% inflation, a 5% yield on a 30-year bond is more ‘normal’ than a zero yield. But while the BoE was as calm as a corpse at 0%... at 5% it was in a panic. It thought it was approaching its Lehman Bros. moment… and decided not to take a chance. Markets are great, say the deciders, but not when they tell you what you don’t want to hear.

What markets were about to say, of course, is that Britain’s ‘lower for longer’ interest rates had turned even the most conservative money manager in London into a wild-eyed gambler. Fund managers were supposed to make sure pensioners got their money – 10, 20, 30 years out. And with such low rates, managers had to move their money from ‘risk-free’ gilts to ‘risk-ee’ bets on stocks. And then, to get even more bang for their bucks, they borrowed to gain leverage.

Everybody did it. And it all went well, until… it rained. And the winds picked up. People loaded up on toilet paper. And then, Britain’s central bank made its pivot. They had to do it,” you see in the financial press. “The BoE had no choice,” say the explainers. Otherwise, “it would have been a disaster.” Meanwhile, in another town far, far away… another central banker stays the course. Yes, Jay Powell is not for turning. Not yet. Not until things get too normal."

"A Kind Of Stubborn, Unrecognized Courage..."

"For many great deeds are accomplished in times of squalid struggle. There is a kind of stubborn, unrecognized courage which in the lowest depths tenaciously resists the pressures of necessity and ill-doing; there are noble and obscure triumphs observed by no one, unacclaimed by any fanfare. Hardship, loneliness, and penury are a battlefield which has its own heroes, sometimes greater than those lauded in history. Strong and rare characters are thus created; poverty nearly always a foster-mother, may become a true mother, distress may be the nursemaid of pride, and misfortune the milk that nourishes great spirits."
- Victor Hugo

"The Novorossiya Play" (Excerpt)

"The Novorossiya Play" (Excerpt)
by Good Citizen

Excerpt: "As you know, referendums have been held in the Donetsk and Lugansk and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. The ballots have been counted and Russia has announced the results. The Russian Federal Assembly will support the constitutional laws on the accession to Russia and the establishment of four new regions, new constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

For eight long years, people in Donbass were subjected to genocide, shelling, and blockades; in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, a criminal policy was pursued to cultivate hatred for Russia, for everything Russian. During the referendums, the Kiev regime threatened school teachers and women who worked in election commissions with reprisals and death. Kiev threatened millions of people who came to express their will with repression.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, the West decided that the world would permanently accede to its dictates. In 1991, the West thought that Russia would never rise after such a collapse and would fall to pieces on its own. Russia suffered greatly during the years after the Soviet Union collapsed. The people recall the horrible 1990s, the hunger, cold, and hopelessness. But Russia remained standing, came alive, grew stronger, and occupied its rightful place in the world.

Meanwhile, the West continues looking for another chance to destroy Russia, to weaken and break up Russia, which they have always dreamed about, to divide the state and set the peoples against each other, and condemn them to poverty and extinction. They cannot rest easy knowing that there is such a vast country with a huge territory in the world, with its natural wealth, resources, and people who cannot and will not do someone else’s bidding.

The West is ready to cross every line to preserve the neo-colonial system which allows it to live off the world, plunder it thanks to the domination of the dollar and technology, collect a tribute from humanity, extract its primary source of unearned prosperity, the rent paid to the hegemon. The preservation of this annuity is their main, real, and absolutely self-serving motivation. This is why total de-sovereignisation is in their interest. This explains their aggression towards independent states, traditional values, and authentic cultures, their attempts to undermine international and integration processes, new global currencies, and technological development centers that they cannot control. It is critically important for them to force all countries to surrender their sovereignty to the United States.

In certain countries across the west, the ruling elites voluntarily agree to do this, voluntarily agree to become vassals; others are bribed or intimidated. And if this does not work, they destroy entire states, leaving behind humanitarian disasters, devastation, ruins, millions of wrecked and mangled human lives, terrorist enclaves, social disaster zones, protectorates, colonies, and semi-colonies. They don't care. All they care about is their own benefit.

Their insatiability and determination to preserve their unfettered dominance are the real causes of the hybrid war that the collective West is waging against Russia. They do not want Russia to be free. They want Russia to be a colony. They do not want equal cooperation, they want to loot. They do not want to see Russia as a free society but as a mass of soulless slaves.

They see Russia’s ideas, values, and philosophy as a direct threat. That is why they target Russian philosophers for assassination. Russia’s culture and art present a danger to them, so they are trying to ban them. Its development and prosperity are also a threat to them because competition is growing.

The West is counting on impunity, on being able to get away with anything. As a matter of fact, this was actually the case until recently. Strategic security agreements have been trashed; agreements reached at the highest political level have been declared tall tales; firm promises not to expand NATO to the east gave way to dirty deception as soon as Russia’s former leaders bought into them; missile defense, intermediate-range and shorter-range missile treaties have been unilaterally dismantled under far-fetched pretexts.

And all we hear is, the West is insisting on a rules-based order. Where did that come from anyway? Who has ever seen these rules? Who agreed or approved them? This is just a lot of nonsense, utter deceit, double standards. They must think Russians are stupid.

It was the so-called West that trampled on the principle of the inviolability of borders, and now it is deciding, at its own discretion, who has the right to self-determination and who does not, who is unworthy of it. It is unclear what their decisions are based on or who gave them the right to decide in the first place. They just assumed it.

That is why the choice of the people in Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson makes them so furiously angry. The West does not have any moral right to weigh in, or even utter a word about freedom or democracy. It does not and it never did."
Full article is here:

Jim Kunstler, "Developing Developments"

"Developing Developments"
“Joe Biden” screws the pooch on Western Civ. 
He can’t help himself. His helpers can’t help him. 
Who will help us?
by Jim Kunstler

"Message found in fortune cookie from Panda Take-out reminds us: “The dildo of consequence is seldom lubricated.” Please apply this ancient wisdom to “Joe Biden’s” sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 natgas pipelines. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spun the deed as a “tremendous opportunity” to reduce fuel use in Euroland, and shift its prior dependence on affordable Russian energy to ruinously-priced American liquid natural gas (LNG) - a supposed boon to US producers. Lucky us and them!

Let’s get a few technical matters straight about natgas. Gas pipelines allow for cheap gas, without costly intervening shipping procedures. Flows are continuous from producer to customer. LNG requires compression of the gas at super-cold temperatures and costly-to-build LNG tanker ships to keep that gas cold and compressed in transit. Each tanker can carry only so-much gas and the flow is not continuous. At each end of the energy-losing journey there is a costly LNG terminal to load and unload the gas. Bottom line: Euroland customers can’t afford US LNG, though for now they’ll be getting it good and hard to struggle through the first winter of a permanent depression that will feel more like the forecourt of a new dark age. Also bear in mind that American shale gas is a finite resource; that we need plenty of it ourselves; and that the earliest-developed US shale gas fields are crapping out one-by-one.

Secretary Blinken pretends that Europe’s deadly predicament will segue crisply into a new “green renewable” disposition of things as well as a stable-and-balanced new cold war between US-led NATO and Russia, like the 1950s. Secretary Blinken is, of course, completely insane. Germany’s industry will now collapse, the Euro currency will collapse with it, and the exchange rate with the dollars Euroland needs to buy in order to purchase US LNG will bankrupt them further. It will also probably blow up the European Union, which is chiefly a trade scaffold. With industrial production sinking, trade sinks too, and the flimsy cooperative arrangements between nations turn into a desperate competition as each nation of Euroland struggles to stay alive.

Let’s not forget the reason that “Joe Biden” blew up the Nord Streams: to foreclose any chance of Germany wriggling out of US sanctions against Russia. Just prior to the Nord Stream strike, protests were rising in several German cities, the common folk already chaffing under the Russian gas delivery shut-down and soaring price of desperately-needed gas. If the US stood by while Germany made a separate peace with Russia, how would that affect the NATO countries’ commitment to the US-provoked conflict between Ukraine and Russia? How much cash support would Euroland continue to dish out to Mr. Zelenskyy’s sketchy money-laundering operation?

What no government official can acknowledge - even among the Euroland victim nations of this awesome stupidity - is that the US demolition of the Nord Streams was an act-of-war against our own allies. By the way, the blogger who styles himself as “Monkey Werx,” notable for tracking the world-wide military flight movements, presents a comprehensive play-by-play of just exactly how the mission was accomplished. I’ll summarize but you can read his full report (click here) for yourself.

MW reports that overnight on the 26th of September, a Navy P8 Poseidon submarine-hunter jet flew out of the US to the Baltic. It did not land in the UK to refuel - thus avoiding any tracking complications - but rather rendezvoused over Grudziadz, Poland, with a US Bart-12 mid-air refueling plane, which it hooked up with for more than an hour. The P8 was equipped with Mk54 air-launched torpedoes. After un-docking from the Bart-12 refueler, the P8 followed a route west along the Nord Stream pipelines, descended to bomb-run altitude, and dropped its weapons. Kaboom. Then, fully refueled, the P8 flew directly back to the USA. Days later, when confronted at the UN by Russia with a yes-or-no question as to US responsibility for the Nord Stream caper, the US representatives refused to answer one way or another. Cute.

So, the questions loom: How many more days before Germany and the rest of Euroland begin to apprehend how they have been played by America into an economic collapse scenario? (How many days before a team of competent professionals hunts down Klaus Schwab and his colleagues somewhere in Switzerland?) When will the Eurofolk turn on their idiot government leaders and flush them out of office? When will all (except for psychotic Poland) bail out of the USA’s Ukraine crusade? I will tell you: this will all begin pretty darn soon. And if so, that will be the end of the NATO alliance.

Meanwhile, the US-led propaganda campaign has Russia utterly on-the-ropes against a raging and triumphant Ukraine army. Nothing could be further from the truth. Russia made a few tactical retreats the past month in preparation for a final systematic and methodical mopping-up of the remaining Ukraine army. Russia is bringing in Iskander hypersonic missiles, not necessarily nuclear-armed, and will assemble Russian army regulars to replace the mash-up of Donbas militia volunteers who have borne the brunt on the thinly defended line leading to the much talked-about tactical retreat around Kharkov-Izium-Lyman region. The Russian negotiation table is open for business. Failing to report to it, Ukraine will have to decide what sort of rump state it will become - a merely half-assed agricultural backwater or a fully ass-blown-off failed state.

Meanwhile, Western Europe descends into the cold and dark, with the USA not far behind. What’s up next here in Homeyland? Try a trucking fuel crisis. Kerosene is becoming scarce - there’s none, for instance, at the Hudson Valley’s Albany storage facility. The winter trucking fuel mix is 70-percent diesel and 30-percent kerosene, which is added to lighten the fuel and keep it flowing under freezing weather conditions. This shortage suggests a supply-line collapse for just about everything, but especially food. Doesn’t sound too peachy for Christmastime. “Joe Biden” and Company are destroying the USA at just about every level. Thirty-five days to the midterm election. So, let’s send a few more billion dollars to the sucking chest wound that is Ukraine."
Related:

Gregory Mannarino, "October Stock Market Crash?"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 10/3/22:
"October Stock Market Crash?"
Comments here:

"Shopping At Dollar Tree! Shrinkflation, And Some Empty Shelves!"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures with Danno, 10/3/22:
"Shopping At Dollar Tree! 
Shrinkflation, And Some Empty Shelves!"
"In today's vlog we are Dollar Tree, and are noticing massive food products that have shrunk in size! We are also noticing a lot of empty shelves! It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting products!"
Comments here:

"How It Really Will Be"

 

"Super EMPs: How Russia Might Win WW3"

Full screen recommended.
Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, "How Russia Might Win WW3"
Super EMPs: 
Begin at 30:20 to see how all of N. America 
and Europe get instantly returned to the Stone Age.
Do view the entire video.
Related:
Freely download "Russia: EMP Threat: The Russian Federation’s Military 
Doctrine, Plans, and Capabilities for Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack", 
by Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, here:

"A Deep Attentiveness..."

“When the pain of leaving behind what we know outweighs the pain of embracing it, or when the power we face is overwhelming and neither flight nor fight will save us, there may be salvation in sitting still. And if salvation is impossible, then at least before perishing we may gain a clearer vision of where we are. By sitting still I do not mean the paralysis of dread, like that of a rabbit frozen beneath the dive of a hawk. I mean something like reverence, a respectful waiting, a deep attentiveness to forces much greater than our own.”
- Scott Russell Sanders

Folks, I fear our time for such reverence is rapidly approaching.
God help us, God help us all...

"Choices..."

"The precept: "Judge not, that ye be not judged" is an abdication of moral responsibility: it is a moral blank check one gives to others in exchange for a moral blank check one expects for oneself. There is no escape from the fact that men have to make choices; so long as men have to make choices, there is no escape from moral values; so long as moral values are at stake, no moral neutrality is possible. To abstain from condemning a torturer, is to become an accessory to the torture and murder of his victims.The moral principle to adopt in this issue, is: "Judge, and be prepared to be judged."
- Ayn Rand

"China’s Incoming Collapse Is Worse Than You Think"

Full screen recommended.
"China’s Incoming Collapse Is Worse Than You Think"
by Epic Economist

"The alarm bells are ringing louder and louder as China's economic crisis enters a defining phase. China's economic collapse is being fueled by the Mortgage crisis engulfing the housing market. But there are a lot of other factors causing this economic collapse.

The country's total public debt now exceeds 300 percent of GDP - 60 percent higher than the average across other countries. The debt-to-GDP ratio is growing at 11 percent per year. China's GDP though has grown far less than 11 percent annually during the past decade, so the debt is comfortably outpacing growth. To top it all off, China is fighting an unwinnable fight against the pandemic. All these issues and their impact on the global economy is explained here.

Debt: China's total public debt now exceeds 300 percent of GDP - 60 percent higher than the average across other countries. This debt-to-GDP ratio is growing at 11 percent per year. China’s GDP though has grown far less than 11 percent annually during the past decade, so the debt is comfortably outpacing growth.

The Housing Bubble: Ever since the 2008 recession, the Chinese stock market has remained stagnant so real estate has been the preferred investment sector for most Chinese people. Right now about 70 percent of household wealth is tied up with real estate. Evergrande is at the center of the crisis that is hurting China. The real estate giant owns 1300 projects in 280 Chinese Cities. But as Beijing started clamping down on borrowing, Evergrande lost access to Capital and most of its projects were stalled. The company started defaulting on its 300 billion dollar debt making it the most indebted company in the world.

China's collapse is hardly a cause for celebration for western powers. Back in 2008, it was China that bailed out the world economy with a 586 Billion dollar stimulus. But now we are in 2022 and the whole world, not just China, is at risk. China’s economy accounts for one-fifth of global GDP, and many countries thrive off trade with China.

2008 was a crisis of Mortgage, it was the crash of housing. But this is the Crash of Everything. There's a gas shock in Europe, interest rate hikes in the U.S, and a housing market crisis exacerbated by never-ending lockdowns in China. A combined effect of it all is a giant cloud of a global recession. The threat is big enough for a consensus that a cold winter is coming for consumers everywhere. China might be at the forefront but no one is safe."

"The International Monetary System Is on the Verge of Collapse… Here’s What Comes Next" (Excerpt)

"The International Monetary System Is on 
the Verge of Collapse… Here’s What Comes Next"
by Nick Giambruno

Excerpt: “It’s possible to have more than one reserve currency.” These are the recent words of Jerome Powell, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. It was a stunning admission from the one person with the most control over the US dollar - the world’s reserve currency. Reading between the lines, Powell’s remarks are a strong hint that the current international monetary system based on the US dollar is on its way out… and soon. Even the elites running this 50+ year old system can’t go along with the farce of maintaining it anymore.

That conclusion is not surprising; it’s the logical outcome once you put the pieces together to see the Big Picture. However, what is notable is the change in tone. For the first time, the financial establishment is now talking like this out in the open. That tells me a big change could be imminent. Although the elites would prefer to continue milking the current system, they realize it’s failing and the need to bridge the gap to a new system they hope to control.

Nobody knows what the next international monetary system will look like - not even the elites. However, they know what they want it to look like and are working hard to shape that outcome. Here’s the bottom line. The current monetary paradigm is ending, and we will enter a new one as the elites attempt to “reset” the system. We could see…

 A digital currency replace the US dollar.
 The end of paper currency.
• The birth of an Orwellian surveillance system that monitors and controls every penny you earn, save, and spend.

This is the elites’ desired outcome. Unfortunately, the pieces of such a system are already being put into place. The idea is to get it ready, so they can try to implement it when the current monetary system collapses - which could happen much sooner than most realize."
Full article is here:

"The Thinnest Veneer Of Civilization Remains"

"The Thinnest Veneer Of Civilization Remains"
Civilization is fragile. It hinges on ensuring the stuff of life...
by Victor Davis Hanson

"To be able to eat, to move about, to have shelter, to be free from state or tribal coercion, to be secure abroad, and safe at home - only that allows cultures to be freed from the daily drudgery of mere survival. Civilization alone permits humans to pursue sophisticated scientific research, the arts, and the finer aspects of culture. So, the great achievement of Western civilization - consensual government, individual freedom, rationalism in partnership with religious belief, free market economics, and constant self-critique and audit - was to liberate people from daily worry over state violence, random crime, famine, and an often-unforgiving nature.

But so often the resulting leisure and affluence instead deluded arrogant Western societies into thinking that modern man no longer needed to worry about the fruits of civilization he took to be his elemental birthright. As a result, the once prosperous Greek city-state, Roman Empire, Renaissance republics, and European democracies of the 1930s imploded - as civilization went headlong in reverse. We in the modern Western world are now facing just such a crisis.

We talk grandly about the globalized Great Reset. We blindly accept the faddish New Green Deal. We virtue signal about defunding the police. We merely shrug at open borders. And we brag about banning fertilizers and pesticides, outlawing the internal combustion engine, and discounting Armageddon in the nuclear age - as if on autopilot we have already reached utopia. But meanwhile Westerners are systematically destroying the very elements of our civilization that permitted such fantasies in the first place.

Take fuel. Europeans arrogantly lectured the world that they no longer need traditional fuels. So, they shut down nuclear power plants. They stopped drilling for oil and gas. And they banned coal. What followed was a dystopian nightmare. Europeans will burn dirty wood this winter as their civilization reverts from postmodern abundance to premodern survival.

The Biden administration ossified oil fields. It canceled new federal oil and gas leases. It stopped pipeline construction and hectored investors to shun fossil fuels. When scarcity naturally followed, fuel prices soared.

The middle class has now mortgaged its upward mobility to ensure that they might afford gasoline, heating oil, and skyrocketing electricity.

The duty of the Pentagon is to keep America safe by deterring enemies, reassuring allies, and winning over neutrals. It is not to hector soldiers based on their race. It is not to indoctrinate recruits in the woke agenda. It is not to become a partisan political force. The result of those suicidal Pentagon detours is the fiasco in Afghanistan, the aggression of Vladimir Putin’s Russia, the new bellicosity of China, and the loud threats of rogue regimes like Iran.

At home, the Biden administration inexplicably destroyed the southern border, as if civilized nations of the past never needed such boundaries. Utter chaos followed. Three million migrants have poured into the United States. While some cross over clandestinely, others clear border stations without an adequate audit, and largely without skills, high-school diplomas, or capital.

The streets of our cities are anarchical - and by intent. Defunding the police, emptying the jails, and destroying the criminal justice system unleashed a wave of criminals. It is now open season on the weak and innocent. America is racing backwards into the 19th-century Wild West. Predators maim, kill, and rob with impunity. Felons correctly conclude that bankrupt postmodern “critical legal theory” will ensure them exemption from punishment.

Few Americans know anything about agriculture, except to expect limitless supplies of inexpensive, safe, and nutritious food at their beck and call. But that entitlement for 330 million hungry mouths requires massive water projects, and new dams and reservoirs. Farmers rely on steady supplies of fertilizer, fuels, and chemicals. Take away that support - as green nihilists are attempting - and millions will soon go hungry, as they have since the dawn of civilization.

Perhaps nearly a million homeless now live on the streets of America. Our major cities have turned medieval with their open sewers, garbage-strewn sidewalks, and violent vagrants.

So, we are in a great experiment in which regressive progressivism discounts all the institutions, and the methodologies of the past that have guaranteed a safe, affluent, well-fed, and sheltered America. Instead, we arrogantly are reverting to a new feudalism as the wealthy elite - terrified of what they have wrought - selfishly retreat to their private keeps.

But the rest who suffer the consequences of elite flirtations with nihilism cannot even afford food, shelter, and fuel. And they now feel unsafe, both as individuals and as Americans. As we suffer self-inflicted mass looting, random street violence, hyperinflation, a nonexistent border, unaffordable fuel, and a collapsing military, Americans will come to appreciate just how thin is the veneer of their civilization. When stripped away, we are relearning that what lies just beneath is utterly terrifying."

Sunday, October 2, 2022

Canadian Prepper, "Russian Plan Revealed: War With NATO Is Coming!"

Canadian Prepper, 10/2/22:
"Russian Plan Revealed: War With NATO Is Coming!"
"This is what the Russians are planning and it's 
likely going to lead to a full scale war with NATO."
Comments here:
Related:
Very highest recommended must-reads:
We're really gonna do this, aren't we?

Musical Interlude: Peder B. Helland, "Early In The Morning"

Full screen recommended.
Peder B. Helland, "Early In The Morning"
Enjoy calm piano and guitar music 
with birds singing in the background.

Relax...

Musical Interlude: Yanni, “To the One Who Knows”

Full screen recommended.
Yanni, “To the One Who Knows”

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Follow the handle of the Big Dipper away from the dipper's bowl, until you get to the handle's last bright star. Then, just slide your telescope a little south and west and you might find this stunning pair of interacting galaxies, the 51st entry in Charles Messier's famous catalog. 
Perhaps the original spiral nebula, the large galaxy with well defined spiral structure is also cataloged as NGC 5194. Its spiral arms and dust lanes clearly sweep in front of its companion galaxy (left), NGC 5195. The pair are about 31 million light-years distant and officially lie within the angular boundaries of the small constellation Canes Venatici. Though M51 looks faint and fuzzy to the human eye, the above long-exposure, deep-field image taken earlier this year shows much of the faint complexity that actually surrounds the smaller galaxy. Thousands of the faint dots in background of the featured image are actually galaxies far across the universe.”

Chet Raymo, Starlight"

"Starlight"
by Chet Raymo

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

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

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

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

"No Smooth Road..."

"Life has no smooth road for any of us; and in the bracing atmosphere
of a high aim the very roughness stimulates the climber to steadier steps,
till the legend, over steep ways to the stars, fulfills itself."
- W. C. Doane

"We Are That Meaning..."

"In a universe devoid of life, any life at all would be immensely meaningful. We ARE that meaning. "And what we see," says the poet Mary Oliver, "is the world that cannot cherish us, but which we cherish." As though life itself is the great, universal, unrequited love of all time. But there is even more to this. Deep mystery. We are the universe aware of itself. We let the miracle get lost in distractions. On a planet so rich with living companions, much of humanity sentences itself to solitary confinement. Late at night, I used to lie in my boat listening to radio calls from ships to families ashore. There was only one conversation, and it boils down to, "I love you and I miss you: come home safe." Connections make us individuals. Ironic, isn't it? The more connected, the more unique our life becomes…"
- Carl Safina

"Anything Can Be..."


"The Reality Of Life..."

"Despite my firm convictions, I have been always a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an open mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of intelligent search for truth."
- Malcolm X

"Banks are Clamping Down Worldwide"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, iAllegedly 10/2/22:
"Banks are Clamping Down Worldwide"
"This is not just happening to you. Regardless of where you live in the world banks are cutting off credit lines and limiting the cash that we can take out. Get ready for explosive increases and energy cost for your home between now and the end of the year."
Comments here:

The Daily "Near You?"

Richmond Hill, Georgia, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

Canadian Prepper, "World War III: Things Just Went INSANE... Buckle Up!"

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 10/2/22:
"World War III: Things Just Went INSANE... Buckle Up!"
"North Korea launches largest mobile ICBM EVER; Saudis oil is destroyed- oil price to skyrocket; Biden gaff about sending troops; Russian launches mysterious satellite; some absolutely insane nuclear threats from the Kremlin; NATO draws a red line; Russia diverts attention, changes strategy; Russian generals are missing? Biden mulls first strike; WHAT?!"
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Related:

"A Chilling Warning: Economic Hell Coming To America; Don't Laugh, You Might Be Homeless"

Jeremiah Babe, 10/2/22:
"A Chilling Warning: Economic Hell Coming To America; 
Don't Laugh, You Might Be Homeless"
Comments here:

"On The Meridian Of Time..."

“On the meridian of time there is no injustice: there is only the poetry of motion creating the illusion of truth and drama. If at any moment anywhere one comes face to face with the absolute, that great sympathy which makes men like Gautama and Jesus seem divine freezes away; the monstrous thing is not that men have created roses out of this dung heap, but that, for some reason or other, they should want roses. For some reason or other man looks for the miracle, and to accomplish it he will wade through blood. He will debauch himself with ideas, he will reduce himself to a shadow if for only one second of his life he can close his eyes to the hideousness of reality. Everything is endured – disgrace, humiliation, poverty, war, crime, ennui – in the belief that overnight something will occur, a miracle, which will render life tolerable.”
- Henry Miller

Gregory Mannarino, “Markets, A Look Ahead: Global Currency Collapse Will Get Much Worse"

Gregory Mannarino, 10/2/22:
“Markets, A Look Ahead: 
Global Currency Collapse Will Get Much Worse"
Comments here:

Greg Hunter, "Massive Central Bank Ponzi Creates Permanent Distortion"

"Massive Central Bank Ponzi Creates Permanent Distortion"
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

"Three-time, best-selling book author Nomi Prins says the reason why there is so much uncertainty and chaos in the global economy comes down to one simple theme, and that is a couple of decades of central bank money printing has created the biggest Ponzi scheme the world has ever seen. Prins explains, “The Fed and other central banks have created basically this idea, and put it into practice, whenever there is real crisis, however they deem it, they are going to print money, and a lot of money, and pushing this envelope forward on the back of a very artificial fabrication of money. That is the Ponzi scheme here. The Ponzi scheme is actually the money that is sloshing around and is somehow owed more to reality. That it is owed to actual profits, actual production, actual growth in the economy, which it isn’t. 

Look at the way money gets printed as we saw and everybody woke up from the pandemic. Look at all the closures in the economy, and the economy still has not gotten back to where it was. It is still not stable. People are still facing economic angst, but the Fed created four and a half trillion dollars of money basically overnight. That’s a Ponzi scheme. That is something that is going to keep going whenever there is a crisis, and that is going to paper over the fact we are not actually healthy. That’s the definition of a Ponzi scheme when you always have new money coming in, and in this case, it’s new money being created by the central banks. It will replace any cracks, any faults, any problems that are emerging along the way. The Fed doubled its balance sheet and did not double the economy. That’s a Ponzi.”

Prins goes on to say, “We are not retiring $30 trillion in U.S. debt. We are not retiring $287 trillion in debt around the world. That is not happening. Yes, there are indications we could have a massive crash, but to me I think there is a treadmill that is spinning here that is going to keep spinning instead of completely crashing. That’s why I think there is going to be a lot of mini crashes, followed by mini rallies along the way. I don’t think we are in a period, which is why I call this a permanent distortion, where there is going to be a backing off of all the money that is being created. I don’t see one massive crash. I see massive turbulence, which is this permanent distortion. I don’t see an end point unless there is an external factor. There are things that are coupled with the instability we have in the markets relative to this money being printed, and if they come at the same time, yes, we could have a massive crash, we absolutely could.”

Meanwhile, in the real economy, the struggles for common people will continue to get worse. Prins says, “Right now, about 20 million families in the United States are behind by one or more payments on their electric bill because they cannot afford them at these levels relative to rent and food and all these other things that are going up. 20% of Americans are using their credit cards now to pay their utility bills, and they are starting to get behind on those credit cards for which rates have gone up. So, we are in this situation where all these problems are happening at the same time for most real people in the real economy. Raising interest rates so quickly is hurting people way more than people leveraged in the markets.”

Prins’ advice for common people is to stay away from debt, buy gold, silver and other metals, and hold on to some cash. Prins says, “I do think the dollar will weaken from its high levels, but I think it is going to strengthen first. When we get to the Fed three-part pivot (smaller rate increases, followed by neutral policy and then more money printing), we are going to see a weakening of the dollar.” There is much more in the 55-minute interview.

Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he goes One-on-One with three-time, best-selling author Nomi Prins to talk about her upcoming book called “Permanent Distortion,” as she explains why there is no going back to the way things were.

"How It Really Is"

"The government is good at one thing. It knows how to 
break your legs, and then hand you a crutch and say, 
'See, if it weren't for the government, you wouldn't be able to walk.'"
- Harry Browne
And of course we get what we deserve...
Any questions?

"Empty Shelves At Big Lots! This Is Crazy! What's Happening?"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures with Danno, 10/2/22:
"Empty Shelves At Big Lots! 
This Is Crazy! What's Happening?"
"In today's vlog we are at Big Lots, and are noticing lots of empty grocery shelves! This is not good as we are seeing massive price increases, and a lot of empty shelves! It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting products! "
Comments here: