Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Chet Raymo, "Know Thyself"

"Know Thyself"
by Chet Raymo

"The ancient Greek aphorism, attributed to Socrates and others. Good advice, I'm sure. If only we knew what it means. Is it the same as the "examination of conscience" we were asked to perform as young Catholics? "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned." Well, yes, it is good to ask ourselves if we have lived up to our highest moral aspirations. But surely "Know thyself" means more than that.

Does it mean to be aware of our self-awareness? That is to say, not to act impulsively, but reflectively. Thoreau's "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

Or perhaps it means to apply the method of scientia to the problem of consciousness, treat the mind like a fish that can be dissected at the lab bench, watch the brain flickering on the display of a scanning machine as the subject is stimulated with love, sex, fear, music, pain. Neuroscience. Daniel Dennet's book audaciously titled "Consciousness Explained." There is a line from a poem by Jane Hirshfield, in which she questions herself: "A knife cannot cut itself open/ yet you ask me both to be you and to know you."

Is it hopeless then? Is there an essential absurdity in a thing knowing itself? Does knowing necessarily imply a knower more complex than the thing known? Is it possible that we might fully understand, say, the neurology of the sea slug Aplysia, that favorite subject of experimental neurobiologists with only 20,000 central nerve cells, big nerve cells, ten times bigger than human neurons, but not the workings of the human brain, with its 100 billion nerve cells, each one connected to thousands of others?

Hirshfield's poem is titled "Instant Glimpsable Only For An Instant." Perhaps that is the best we can do. To know ourselves in those fleeting moments of recognition than come now and then, often unbidden, sometimes as the result of a chance encounter with beauty or with ugliness, sometimes bidden out of the silence and solitude of meditation - a flash upon one's inward eye that is, perhaps, all the ancients were asking for when they asked us to "know ourselves."
"Instant Glimpsable Only For An Instant"

"Moment. Moment. Moment.
- equal inside you, moment,
the velocitous mountains and cities rising and falling,
songs of children, iridescence even of beetles.
It is not you the locust can strip of all leaf.
Untouchable green at the center,
the wolf too lopes past you and through you as he eats.
Insult to mourn you, you who mourn no one, unable.
Without transformation,
yours the role of the chorus, to whom nothing happens.
The living step forward: choosing to enter, to lose.
I, who am made of you only,
speak these words against your unmasterable instruction -
A knife cannot cut itself open,
yet you ask me both to be you and to know you."

~ Jane Hirshfield

“Life, Explained To You”

“Life, Explained To You”
Author Unknown

“On the first day God created the dog. God said, “Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. I will give you a life span of twenty years.” The dog said, “That’s too long to be barking. Give me ten years and I’ll give you back the other ten.” So God agreed. 

On the second day God created the monkey. God said, “Entertain people, do monkey tricks and make them laugh. I’ll give you a twenty-year life span.” The monkey said, “Monkey tricks for twenty years? I don’t think so. Dog gave you back ten, so that’s what I’ll do too, okay?” And God agreed. 

On the third day God created the cow. “You must go to the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves, and give milk to support the farmer. I will give you a life span of sixty years.” The cow said, “That’s kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. Let me have twenty and I’ll give back the other forty.” And God agreed again. 

On the fourth day God created man. God said, “Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. I’ll give you twenty years.” Man said, “What? Only twenty years? Tell you what, I’ll take my twenty, and the forty the cow gave back, and the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back, that makes eighty, okay?” “Okay,” said God, “You’ve got a deal.” 

So that is why the first twenty years we eat, sleep, play, and enjoy ourselves; the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family; the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren; and the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.”
“Life has now been explained to you.”

"Sometimes..."

 

"The Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Sabotage" (Excerpt)

"The Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Sabotage"
by Monkeywerx

Excerpt: "As I sit here with my head on a swivel after the initial SITREP broadcast discussing the findings around this issue, I am thankful that the sea of “Monkey Nation” supporters run deep around the world and that we have so many “trackers” with the ability to do what I do that I know should something happen to me, there are tens of thousands that can continue on with this effort. As it is said, “give a man a fish feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, feed him for life.” I have indeed taught so many enthusiasts around the world how to watch the skies over the past 2 years from YouTube that they could never stop the effort. Thank God for that. Plus, the tools to track just keep getting better and easier - eg SkyGlass.

Okay, let’s dig into what we know about the subject. First and foremost, everything I have shown and discovered is open source - meaning it is available to anyone around the world. I just happen to know where to look and have the tools that give me the opportunity to find the data.

That said, the Russians also have this data and it certainly didn’t help our case that Biden told them we would take the pipeline out should the Russians invade Ukraine. We have seen Biden “slip up” on many occasions so this isn’t a surprise. You would think that the bobbleheads would have at least put someone in the game that would have the cognitive ability to at a minimum play the game, but that clearly isn’t the case.

Here are a few facts about the sabotage:
1. Biden said we were going to do it.
2. It happened “overnight” on the 26th of September.
3. We have a US Navy P8 fly from the United States to a refueling rendezvous point over GrudziÄ…dz Poland at 0210 hrs GMT.
4. The two aircraft, Callsign N/A, and BART12 sync up at 26,400 ft for an extended 1:20 minute refueling, disconnecting at 0328 hrs GMT.
5. The BART12 air refueler RTB’d to Spangdahlem Air Base Germany and one should note the flight record has been wiped.
6. The Navy P8 then continues onto the Nord Stream Pipeline location and descends to an altitude of <10,000 ft at 0345 hrs GMT.
7. The Navy P8 exits the area just prior to 0700 hrs and is the only aircraft over the area the entire time.
8. At 0709 hrs GMT the Navy P8 returns back to the United States. Note: the US Navy P8 HexCode is AE6851 and is NOT listed in the aircraft database. Furthermore, the aircraft flew as “masked” meaning it did not want to be tracked.
9. Datapoint, there were recorded 2.3 magnitude shakes in the area at that same time.

The following morning NATO Forces announce that overnight the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline has been sabotaged. A Poland Ministry Official posts a tweet thanking the United States for taking out the Pipeline.

On September 29th in front of the UN Security Council a Russian Federation spokesperson presents the known facts and asks the United States representative directly in a yes or no requested response, “did the United States take out the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline” in which the US representative did not confirm nor deny it and didn’t answer the question, but instead took an offensive posture."
Full article is here:

"Economic Market Snapshot 10/4/22"

"Economic Market Snapshot 10/4/22"
Market Data Center, Live Updates:
Down the rabbit hole of psychopathic greed and insanity...
Only the consequences are real - to you!
Latest Market Analysis, Updated 10/4/22
A comprehensive, essential daily read.
Financial Stress Index

"The OFR Financial Stress Index (OFR FSI) is a daily market-based snapshot of stress in global financial markets. It is constructed from 33 financial market variables, such as yield spreads, valuation measures, and interest rates. The OFR FSI is positive when stress levels are above average, and negative when stress levels are below average. The OFR FSI incorporates five categories of indicators: creditequity valuationfunding, safe assets and volatility. The FSI shows stress contributions by three regions: United Statesother advanced economies, and emerging markets."
Job cuts and much more.
Commentary, highly recommended:
"The more I see of the monied classes,
the better I understand the guillotine."
- George Bernard Shaw
Oh yeah... beyond words. Any I know anyway...
And now... The End Game...

The Daily "Near You?"

Machias, Maine, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

The Poet: Langston Hughes, "Life is Fine "

"Life is Fine"

"I went down to the river,
I set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn't,
So I jumped in and sank.
I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn't a-been so cold
I might've sunk and died.
But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!

I took the elevator
Sixteen floors above the ground.
I thought about my baby,
And thought I would jump down.
I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!
If it hadn't a-been so high
I might've jumped and died.
But it was High up there! It was high!

So since I'm still here livin',
I guess I will live on.
I could've died for love -
But for livin' I was born.
Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry -
I'll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.

Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!"

- Langston Hughes

"For This Is What We Do..."

"Life is painful and messed up. It gets complicated at the worst of times, and sometimes you have no idea where to go or what to do. Lots of times people just let themselves get lost, dropping into a wide open, huge abyss. But that's why we have to keep trying. We have to push through all that hurts us, work past all our memories that are haunting us. Sometimes the things that hurt us are the things that make us strongest. A life without experience, in my opinion, is no life at all. And that's why I tell everyone that, even when it hurts, never stop yourself from living."
- Alysha Speer

"The joke was thinking you were ever really in charge of your life. You pressed your oar down into the water to direct the canoe, but it was the current that shot you through the rapids. You just hung on and hoped not to hit a rock or a whirlpool."
- Scott Turow

"What keeps you going isn't some fine destination but just the road you're on, and the fact that you know how to drive. You keep your eyes open, you see this damned-to-hell world you got born into, and you ask yourself, 'What life can I live that will let me breathe in and out and love somebody or something and not run off screaming into the woods?'"
- Barbara Kingsolver

“For this is what we do. Put one foot forward and then the other. Lift our eyes to the snarl and smile of the world once more. Think. Act. Feel. Add our little consequence to the tides of good and evil that flood and drain the world. Drag our shadowed crosses into the hope of another night. Push our brave hearts into the promise of a new day. With love: the passionate search for truth other than our own. With longing: the pure, ineffable yearning to be saved. For so long as fate keeps waiting, we live on. God help us. God forgive us. We live on.”
- Gregory David Roberts, “Shantaram”

Bill Bonner, "U-Turn Ahead?"

"U-Turn Ahead?"
by Bill Bonner

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed…"
~ William Butler Yeats

Baltimore, Maryland - "U-turn… no, you turn. We’ll all turn.Yesterday morning, Liz Truss called off Britain’s proposed tax cut. Someone must have reminded her that the cut would inevitably lead to higher deficits… which would inevitably lead to more inflation… which would inevitably lead to un-happiness in merry ol’ England. The Guardian: "The humiliating U-turn forced on the government will have economic as well as political consequences. A week of turmoil in the financial markets showed just how badly his mini-budget had gone down with international investors. The pound fell, the cost of government borrowing rose, mortgage products were pulled."

Meanwhile, the Australians turned the wheel too… raising rates less than expected. And as the US economy weakens, investors bet heavily on a U-turn by the Fed. Bloomberg: "Bulls Storm Into Stocks, Bonds Amid Peak-Rate Bets: Markets Wrap." "A bullish start to the fourth quarter deepened in global markets, lifting US index futures and Treasuries, as investors wagered the end of monetary tightening is mere months away. The dollar slid for a second day.

Investors see weaker-than-estimated US manufacturing data supporting a dovish tilt at the Federal Reserve after 3 percentage points of hikes began to tell on the economy. Money markets now see the Fed Funds Rate peaking below 4.5% by March. Speculation is growing that the global wave of disruptive monetary tightening is nearing its end…"

Return to Reckless? “Disruptive monetary policy?” That’s what the Bloomberg team calls the Fed’s attempt to get back to normal. The elite were having such a good time pumping fake money and credit into the system. And then… someone comes along to ‘disrupt’ the party. They don’t like it. But this party is coming to an end, whether they like it or not. And not just because central banks are raising rates. The whole post-war era is petering out. Things are falling apart. Throughout the West, the elite are failing, flailing, and falling down.

In Italy, voters (26% of them) chose a woman who talks like a conservative, of sorts. She is for motherhood. For Christianity. She wants men to be men… and women to be women. And she doesn’t like immigrants. “Fascist!” Western opinion mongers were fast to tag her. But, like Trump, Meloni seems little threat to the elite’s important programs; she will stick with them all – NATO, sanctions against Russia, welfare… deficits… the euro. The parts of the EU system that stick in her craw the most are those that would keep her from doing even more damage – that is, the restrictions on spending and debt.

In England itself, no one is quite sure where Ms. Truss came from. As near as we can tell, she was chosen because she was such a nonentity that no one hated her.

In Germany and France, the elite are facing another crisis of their own making. The falling leaves may soon be followed by a ‘winter of discontent’ – made cold and dangerous by their own hostility to their number one provider of energy, Russia. And now terrorists – presumably from the US – took out the pipeline that could have brought them some relief.

Tip o’ the Hand: Anthony Blinken, US Secretary of State, revealed the gambit when he declared that the sabotage was a ‘tremendous opportunity’ for Europe to wean itself off cheap Russian fuel… by turning to expensive American fuel.

Why would Europe want to do such a thing to itself? The average German has no interest in punishing Russia for whatever crime he believes it has committed… but, for now, he goes meekly along with the elite program, however foggy its goals and dubious its means.

As the price of gas goes up… and the weather turns cold… people will cut back and make do, as best they can. Wood-burning stoves and firewood are said to be in short supply. Thermostats are being turned down. Street lights are turned off. Even the Eiffel Tower has gone dark. Big factories do not cut back little by little. They throw the switch. Already, some of Germany’s fertilizer and chemical output capacity is either closing down… or making plans to do so. This will have a huge effect on next year’s agricultural output.

The Netherlands already has the distinction of being one of the world’s smallest by landmass, but greatest by export, vegetable producers. It does so by growing its legumes in vast greenhouses which you see when you fly into Amsterdam. These farmers face staggering energy bills. Some 40% of them are said to be in ‘financial distress.’ How many will go out of business? How many will close up? We don’t know, but the price of kale and cabbage may soon shoot up too.

The shutdowns of the Covid Panic caused huge losses. So will the shutdowns from a lack of gas. Here’s Thomas Fazi at “Unherd:” "In the UK, 45 million people are forecast to face fuel poverty by January 2023; as a result, “millions of children’s development will be blighted” with lung damage, toxic stress and deepening educational inequalities, as children struggle to keep up with school work in freezing homes. Lives will be lost, experts warn. Meanwhile, in Germany’s Rheingau-Taunus district, the authorities have carried out a simulation of what such a blackout would mean for them, and the results are shocking: more than 400 people would die in the first 96 hours. And this in a district of just 190,000 inhabitants."

Like the Fed… the Bank of England… and the Truss government… ‘the People’ have their limits. They may be long-suffering… and, like all beasts of burden, slow to anger. But their patience is not unlimited. How far can the elite go? How much incompetence and corruption will the deplorables tolerate? How much can the economy stand? We may soon find out."
Joel’s Note: There’s been plenty of finger-pointing and scuttlebutt surrounding the Nord Stream 2 pipeline sabotage… and in all likelihood, we mere mortals may never find out what really went down. Should we take Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland, at her word, for example, when she made this not-so-veiled threat back in January 27, 2022: “With regards to Nord Stream Two, we continue to have very strong and clear conversations with our German allies and I want to be clear with you today. If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.”

Of course, Mrs. Nuland is just an undersecretary, something of a diplomatic foot soldier. Perhaps she was merely speaking above her pay grade, rattling sabers and whatnot. Let’s see what the “Big Guy” had to say, not two weeks later. Here’s ABC News, from February 7, 2022…

Pres. Biden: “If Russia invades...then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it.”
Reporter: “But how will you do that, exactly, since...the project is in Germany's control?”
Biden: “I promise you, we will be able to do that.”

Whether President Biden kept his promise… or someone else “brought an end” to the pipeline… we couldn’t say. And yet, we can be relatively sure those who did the deed – and, perhaps more importantly, those who did not – know where each of the respective geopolitical players stands.

If, as some contend, Russia decided to take out its own infrastructure (rather than, say, simply keep the taps off…) that would be one helluva “false flag” moment. To what end? Not de-escalation, surely… But if Russia didn’t do it (and therefore, presumably, knows as much), it means they understand it to be an act of Western/NATO aggression, as they have indeed alleged.

Either way, we mere citizens being given the mushroom treatment (kept in the dark and fed… “fertilizer”) should probably expect things to heat up from here, just not in the way that keeps a continent nice and cozy over the long, cold winter ahead."

"Banks are Putting Holds on Cash Deposits"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, iAllegedly 10/4/22:
"Banks are Putting Holds on Cash Deposits"
"Just when you thought it would be done and there would be no more banking is everything has changed. Banks are now putting holes on cash deposits."
Comments here:

"How It Really Is"

Gregory Mannarino, "Global Bond Yields Crater! The Stage Is Set And Central Banks are Buying It All"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 10/4/22:
"Global Bond Yields Crater! 
The Stage Is Set And Central Banks are Buying It All"
Comments here:
And why are they so desperately, frantically doing this? It's inflate or die, literally, if they can't maintain the present values a margin call tsunami of incomprehensible dimensions results in a total global collapse of corporate, banking, and governmental defaults and bankruptcies. They will fail, inevitably. See the following article below... 

"Shopping At Meijer! Massive Sales This Week!"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures with Danno, 10/4/22:
"Shopping At Meijer! Massive Sales This Week!"
"In today's vlog we are at Meijer, and are noticing some massive sales this week! We do find some higher prices, and some empty shelves! It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting in products!"
Comments here:

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: