The Poet: Anne Sexton, "Courage"

"Courage"

"It is in the small things we see it.

The child's first step,

as awesome as an earthquake.

The first time you rode a bike,

wallowing up the sidewalk.

The first spanking when your heart

went on a journey all alone.

When they called you crybaby

or poor or fatty or crazy

and made you into an alien,

you drank their acid

and concealed it.

Later,

if you faced the death of bombs and bullets

you did not do it with a banner,

you did it with only a hat to

cover your heart.

You did not fondle the weakness inside you

though it was there.

Your courage was a small coal

that you kept swallowing.

If your buddy saved you

and died himself in so doing,

then his courage was not courage,

it was love; love as simple as shaving soap.

Later,

if you have endured a great despair,

then you did it alone,

getting a transfusion from the fire,

picking the scabs off your heart,

then wringing it out like a sock.

Next, my kinsman, you powdered your sorrow,

you gave it a back rub

and then you covered it with a blanket

and after it had slept a while

it woke to the wings of the roses

and was transformed.

Later,

when you face old age and its natural conclusion

your courage will still be shown in the little ways,

each spring will be a sword you'll sharpen,

those you love will live in a fever of love,

and you'll bargain with the calendar

and at the last moment

when death opens the back door

you'll put on your carpet slippers

and stride out."

~ Anne Sexton

"Animals"

"Animals"

"I think I could turn and live with animals, they

are so placid and self contain’d;

I stand and look at them long and long,

They do not sweat and whine about their condition;

They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins;

They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God;

Not one is dissatisfied - not one is demented with

the mania of owning things;

Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that

lived thousands of years ago;

Not one is respectable or industrious over the whole earth."

- Walt Whitman

"Where Your Gaze Lingers..."

“Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn’t something that has nothing to do with you, this storm is you. Something inside you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn’t get in, and walk through it, step by step. There’s no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up the sky like pulverized bones.

You have to look! That’s another one of the rules. Closing your eyes isn’t going to change anything. Nothing’s going to disappear just because you can’t see what going on. In fact, things will be even worse the next time you open your eyes. That’s the kind of world we live in. Keep your eyes wide open. Only a coward closes his eyes. Closing your eyes and plugging up your ears won’t make time stand still.”

- Haruki Murakami

“Closing your eyes won’t make the awfulness go away. It may be that nothing will. But dwelling on it, dreading the evil, playing out the misery in your head – doesn’t this feed the monster? You can’t close your eyes to life, but you can choose where your gaze lingers.”

- Richelle E. Goodrich

The Daily "Near You?"

Urbana, Illinois, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Breaking: Putin's Next Move Will Be Devastating, And NATO Is Out Of Options"

Full screen recommended.

Redacted News, 12/14/22:

"Breaking: Putin's Next Move Will Be Devastating, 

And NATO Is Out Of Options"

"The U.S. is sending Patriot missiles to Ukraine in a last ditch PR move. Colonel Douglas MacGregor joins Natali and Clayton Morris to talk about Putin's massive oncoming offensive which will have three main goals. JK Rowling upsets the internet by trying to protect biological women. Member of Parliament Andrew Bridgen is calling for the complete suspension of mRNA jabs in the U.K."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Mother Of All Economic Crises Will Lead To 'Social Unrest & Violence'”

"Mother Of All Economic Crises 

Will Lead To 'Social Unrest & Violence'”

by Ron Paul

"Nouriel Roubini, a former advisor to the International Monetary Fund and member of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors, was one of the few “mainstream” economists to predict the collapse of the housing bubble. Now Roubini is warning that the staggering amounts of debt held by individuals, businesses, and the government will soon lead to the “mother of all economic crises.”

Roubini properly blames the creation of a debt-based economy on the near-or-at-zero interest rate and quantitative easing policies pursued by the Federal Reserve and other central banks. The inevitable result of the zero-interest and quantitative easing policies is price inflation wreaking havoc on the American people.

The Fed has been trying to eliminate price inflation with a series of interest rate increases. So far, these rate increases have not significantly reduced price inflation. This is because rates remain at historic lows. Yet the rate increases have had negative economic effects, including a decline in the demand for new homes. Increasing interest rates make it impossible for many middle- and working-class Americans to afford a monthly mortgage payment for even a relatively inexpensive home.

The main reason the Fed cannot raise rates to anywhere near what they would be in a free market is the effect it would have on the federal government’s ability to manage its debt. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), interest on the national debt is already on track to consume 40 percent of the federal budget by 2052 and will surpass defense spending by 2029! A small interest rate increase can raise yearly federal debt interest rate payments by many billions of dollars, increasing the amount of the federal budget devoted solely to servicing the debt.

The federal government’s fiscal picture is made worse by the fact that the Social Security “Trust Fund” will begin to run deficits by 2035 while the Medicare Trust Fund will run deficits by 2028. The looming bankruptcy of the two major entitlement programs, combined with the unwillingness of most in Congress to reduce either welfare or warfare spending, puts the Fed in a bind. If it raises rates to the levels needed to really combat price inflation, the increase in interest payments will impose hardships on individuals and businesses, as well as raise federal interest payments to unsustainable levels. This will cause a major economic crisis including a government default on its debt causing a rejection of the dollar’s world reserve currency status. Also, if the Fed continues to facilitate federal deficits by monetizing the debt, the result will be an economic crisis caused by a collapse in the dollar’s value and rejection of the dollar’s world reserve status.

The crisis will lead to social unrest and violence, as well as increased popularity of authoritarian movements on both the left and the right. This will lead to government crackdowns on civil liberties and increased government control of our economy. The only bright spot is this crisis will also fuel interest in the ideas of liberty and could even help bring about a return to limited, constitutional government, free markets, individual liberty, and a foreign policy of peaceful trade with all. Those of us who know the truth have two responsibilities. The first is to make the necessary plans to ensure our families can survive the forthcoming turmoil. The second is to do all we can to introduce as many people as possible to the ideas of liberty."

- https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/

"What a Mess! Who Knew?"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, iAllegedly 12/14/22:

"What a Mess! Who Knew?"

"The FTX scandal is just starting to unfold. This is complete insanity. Who knew that this thing was such a complete scam? Plus, I go out to the shopping malls and show you more retail insanity."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"It's The Way..."

"It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it."

- Lena Horne

"Strange Prices At Sam's Club! Stock Up Now! - What's Next?"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures with Danno, 12/14/22

"Strange Prices At Sam's Club! 

Stock Up Now! - What's Next?"

"In today's vlog we are at Sam's Club, and are noticing massive price increases! We are here to check out skyrocketing prices, and a lot of empty shelves! It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting products!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Inflation Nation"

"Inflation Nation"

Spending money the Feds don't have, 

causing problems you don't need...

By Bill Bonner

Baltimore, Maryland -  "Whence cometh inflation? Today, we turn to a Nobel Laureate economist for answers. And then, appalled, we figure it out for ourselves. First, from the The Wall Street Journal comes news that the feds are spending even more money that they don’t have: "Federal Deficit widened to a record $249 billion last month." At that rate, the annual deficit would grow to nearly $3 trillion. The economy does not save that much money, so to finance the deficit, the Fed would have to print money. But wait, revenues for the month were only $252 billion. So, the federal government is borrowing almost as much as it receives in taxes. Does that cause inflation? Of course, it does.

QE to QT: Meanwhile, the Fed has switched from printing money (QE) to un-printing it (QT…in which it retires existing debt, thereby reducing the quantity of money). And it’s raising rates to keep inflation down. CBS News: "The Consumer Price Index rose 7.1% over the last 12 months, the Labor Department said, lower than the 7.3% increase economists had expected and the slowest rate of inflation since December of 2021. Falling prices for energy, commodities and used cars offset increases in food and shelter."

The CPI is a little lower than the month before. But it’s still more than 300 basis points above the Fed’s key rate target. Does that cause inflation? Yes, again. Anytime the real interest rate is negative (below inflation) people are encouraged to borrow rather than save. The banks – including the Fed – create new money to lend out. The result? Higher prices.

But wait. Here’s an economist with a Ph.D.,a Nobel prize, and a contrary opinion. We’re talking about Joseph Stiglitz. The Intercept: "The Pandemic and War - Not, Government Spending - Caused Inflation, According to Nobel Prize Winner." A new paper by Ira Regmi and Joseph Stiglitz…suggests that we can use the tools of the government to make life better for almost everyone. If they’re wrong, perhaps that’s impossible - because the Immutable Laws of Economics simply don’t allow it - and if we try to make our lives better, we will be punished for our hubris.

Money for Nuthin’: The journalist goes on to explain why he thinks Stiglitz is right; apparently, he believes that there are no immutable laws of economics. There are just opportunities for bold economists to pick up hammer and chisel and go to work. Referring to the post-WWII period he says: “As the Polish economist Michal Kalecki wrote at the time, we had discovered we could create a more or less permanent “synthetic boom”: high wages, high worker power, and low unemployment. But we have to choose to do so. We can still make that choice, but only if we understand the reality in front of us.”

There are so many idiotic ideas in this pensée, we can’t begin to contradict them. If government really could ‘choose’ to make life better for almost everyone, surely one government – eager for re-election – would have done it. But none has. So, let’s start from scratch.

People create wealth by providing each other with goods and services. There are no public policy ‘choices’ involved. People do the best they can. Their goods and services are measured in ‘money.’ If more money is put into the system, above and beyond the measure of the goods and services that the system produces, the result is inflation.

No Free Lunch: Adding more money creates the sensation of a boom. But it is a ‘synthetic’ boom. That is, it is a fake. There are no goods and services to support the cash provided by the manipulators. So, prices rise. In today’s inflation, the feds fiddled both sides of the equation. They increased the supply of money while also decreasing (by lockdowns, sanctions and mandates) supplies of goods and services. The consumer was caught in a vise, squeezed on both sides.

That didn’t happen after WWII for a very obvious reason: government spending went down, not up. In other words, the Feds didn’t create a ‘synthetic’ boom at all. Instead, they stood back. Federal spending hit 40% of GDP in 1945. Three years later, it was only 10%. It was that big boost – from letting people go about their business – that created a real boom. They built houses, launched businesses, started careers and began their families – greatly increasing the goods and services available to each other, while the feds put relatively less money into the economy.

The post-war boom carried the US up to the 1970s. It was then that the Johnson Administration decided to ‘use the tools of government to make life better for everyone.’ Including the Vietnamese. Johnson’s ‘guns and butter’ spending – war in Vietnam, war on poverty – both flopped. But inflation rose to over 13%.

Government controls the money. The more it spends…the more it meddles in the economy or goes to war…the more it borrows and prints – the higher prices go. Immutable laws? We don’t know. But pretend they don’t exist… and good luck to you."

- https://bonnerprivateresearch.substack.com/

Gregory Mannarino, "It's A Set Up! Central Banks Pushing The World Into An Economic Meltdown"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 12/14/22:

"It's A Set Up! Central Banks Pushing 

The World Into An Economic Meltdown"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"We Like To Think..."

"We like to think that we are rational beings; humane, conscientious, civilized, thoughtful. But when things fall apart, even just a little, it becomes clear we are not better than animals. We have opposable thumbs, we think, we walk erect, we speak, we dream, but deep down we are still routing around in the primordial ooze; biting, clawing, scratching out an existence in the cold, dark world like the rest of the tree-toads and sloths."

- "Grey's Anatomy"

Judge Napolitano, "Russia Targets Kyiv with More Drones - Scott Ritter"

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 12/14/22:

"Russia Targets Kyiv with More Drones - Scott Ritter"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Urgent News: No Fly Zone and WW3! Pope Issues Warning! Putin in Bunker?!"

Full screen recommended.

Canadian Prepper, 12/13/22:

"Urgent News: No Fly Zone and WW3! 

Pope Issues Warning! Putin in Bunker?!"

"The USA is essentially preparing to implement a no fly zone in Ukraine, that means one step closer to WW3. This is crazy... The pope was issued another warning, Putin is mysteriously absent, Belarusian troop movements have NATO on high alert."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

ͦ

"Russia War Update Live: Putin Worries As US Prepares 

Plan To Send Patriot Defense System To Ukraine"

"Russia War Update: The US is poised to approve sending a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, finally agreeing to an urgent request from Ukrainian leaders desperate for more robust weapons to shoot down incoming Russian missiles, US officials said."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"When People Get Hungry They Eat Rats"

Jeremiah Babe, 12/13/22:

"When People Get Hungry They Eat Rats"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"How It Really Is, Always Was, And Always Will Be"

 

"15 Essential Items To Buy Now Before They Sold Out At Grocery Stores"

Full screen recommended.

"15 Essential Items To Buy Now Before 

They Sold Out At Grocery Stores"

by Epic Economist

"Winter is just a week away, and colder weather is known for bringing some chaos to grocery stores. Deliveries are slower, supplies get tighter, product stockouts become more widespread, and consumer demand accelerates, pushing prices even higher. It's actually during wintertime that stores see the biggest waves of hoarding and panic buying. Any unexpected disaster can trigger a rush to purchase a certain item, and after that first disruption, others start happening more frequently. Declining food manufacturing will also add more pressure on retailers in the weeks ahead. This was a year of major floods, hurricanes, extreme heat, drought, and unusually large bouts of rainfall that have destroyed crops, decimated harvests, and impacted meat and poultry production. Limited supplies are leaving grocers in a tough spot while consumers scramble to find their favorite items.

For example, Giant food marker Hershey announced in October that it was bracing for a shortage of chocolate and candy in the months ahead. The iconic candy manufacturer said that global disruptions made raw ingredients such as edible oil and cocoa harder to come by, and at the same time, a shortage of sugar is rapidly worsening in the U.S. On top of that, higher consumer demand over the holidays is likely to keep shelves empty for longer given that the company is focusing on the production of seasonal products and decreasing the production of other consumer favorites.

Similarly, with beef slaughter is up by up to 30 percent in some states, all that meat entering the food supply chain right now will not be a good thing for consumers in the months ahead. The cows being slaughtered would normally end up producing calves in the near future. They're being culled now because there isn't enough food for them to eat —and that will result in less beef down the line. "There isn't enough grass to eat and it's become too expensive to buy feed. We've had a large amount of culling this year because of drought," David Anderson, a livestock specialist at Texas A&M University, exposed during an interview with USA Today. "There's going to be a shortage of beef and prices are probably going to go up," the expert warned. So if you're thinking about stocking up on meat, some seasoned ground beef is a great option to freeze for the longer term. But you should probably start soon because prices are set to rise 40 to 50 percent in 2023, according to various reports.

The best strategy to keep your home stocked with all the goods you and your family need during the winter is to purchase your essentials before everyone starts having the same idea. People tend to leave things for the last minute or after some major disaster or emergency occurs. That causes a spike in demand and, consequently, a spike in prices as well. Therefore, getting ahead of these stockouts and price swings is also a way to save money and invest in your short-term future. With all that said, you may not be able to find some staples in the months ahead, and others will become way too pricey for us to afford. For that reason, today we decided to list some key products to buy now before supplies run out at the stores and prices shoot up."

- https://www.epiceconomist.com/

Musical Interlude: Ludovico Einaudi, “Life”

Full screen recommended.

Ludovico Einaudi, “Life”

ͦ

"What is life?

It is the flash of a firefly in the night.

It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.

It is the little shadow which runs 

across the grass and loses itself in the sunset."

- Crowfoot, Blackfoot Warrior and Orator

"A Look to the Heavens"

“What will become of these galaxies? Spiral galaxies NGC 5426 and NGC 5427 are passing dangerously close to each other, but each is likely to survive this collision. Typically when galaxies collide, a large galaxy eats a much smaller galaxy. In this case, however, the two galaxies are quite similar, each being a sprawling spiral with expansive arms and a compact core. As the galaxies advance over the next tens of millions of years, their component stars are unlikely to collide, although new stars will form in the bunching of gas caused by gravitational tides.

Close inspection of the above image taken by the 8-meter Gemini-South Telescope in Chile shows a bridge of material momentarily connecting the two giants. Known collectively as Arp 271, the interacting pair spans about 130,000 light years and lies about 90 million light-years away toward the constellation of Virgo. Recent predictions hold that our Milky Way Galaxy will undergo a similar collision with the neighboring Andromeda Galaxy in a few billion years."

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130825.html

"The Trick..."

“The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable,

 or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same.”

- Carlos Castaneda

Chet Raymo, “Try To Remember…”

“Try To Remember…”

by Chet Raymo

“In a sleepless hour of the night, I was trying to remember the last name of a person I have known well for more than forty years. When my spouse stirred in her sleep, I asked her. She couldn't remember either. One again I started mentally through the alphabet. "I think it starts with B," I said. Ten minutes later she rolled over and said, "The next letter is R." Bingo! The name popped into my head. Or I should say, "popped out of my head." Because it was in there somewhere, recorded in a tangle of neurons as materially as if it were written on a piece of paper.

There was a time, back when I was a young man, when some scientists thought memory might be molecular - stored as proteins or RNA molecules that have somehow been modified by experience. The molecule theory of memory rested on experiments with worms (I remember the cover illustration on Scientific American). The worms were taught to navigate a simple maze. Then they were ground up and fed to untrained worms, which seemed to navigate the maze without training. Only molecules, it was thought, could have survived the transfer. Those experiments have been discredited. Scientists now overwhelmingly believe that memories are stored as webs of connections between spider-shaped brain cells called neurons. Each neuron is connected through electrochemical connections to thousands of others. According to the current view, experience fine-tunes the connections, strengthening some, weakening others, creating a different "trace" of interconnected cells for each memory.

But truth be told, memory is still deeply mysterious. How exactly are a lifetime of memories stored and retrieved at will? We know how it works for computers, but how for the human brain? What is self-consciousness? What are dreams? This is the primary scientific agenda for the 21st century. In the middle of the night I go fishing, in that sea of potentiated synapses that are the human soul, for a name that becomes ever more difficult to extract as I get older. I troll the alphabet: A, B, C, D… The name is in there, along with a face and more that forty years of interactions. The Nobel Prizes are waiting.”

- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/

•

Graphic: Salvador Dali, "The Persistence of Memory"

"Not Much Mental Distance..."

“A man who has blown all his options can't afford the luxury of changing his ways. He has to capitalize on whatever he has left, and he can't afford to admit - no matter how often he's reminded of it - that every day of his life takes him farther and farther down a blind alley. Very few toads in this world are Prince Charmings in disguise. Most are simply toads, and they are going to stay that way. Toads don't make laws or change any basic structures, but one or two rooty insights can work powerful changes in the way they get through life. A toad who believes he got a raw deal before he even knew who was dealing will usually be sympathetic to the mean, vindictive ignorance that colors the Hell's Angels' view of humanity. There is not much mental distance between a feeling of having been screwed and the ethic of total retaliation, or at least the random revenge that comes with outraging the public decency.”

- Hunter S. Thompson

The Realty 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

"What Really Drives the World"

"What Really Drives the World"

by Brian Maher

"O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;

It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock

The meat it feeds on; that cuckold lives in bliss

Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger;

But, O, what damned minutes tells he o’er..."

Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves!"

- Iago speaks to Othello, William Shakespeare, "Othello

"The world in not driven by greed. It’s driven by envy.” Here is the sage conclusion of Mr. Charles Munger, aged 98 years. Mr. Munger is of course the partner of Warren Buffett and legendary vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. What human vice ranks fourth among the seven lethal sins? That is correct - envy. Today we evaluate the acid emotion of envy. We further document how envy can wreck a man’s wealth… as easily it can wreck his soul.

“Hate the Man Who Is Better off Than You Are”: “The whole gospel of Karl Marx can be summed up in a single sentence,” argued economics journalist Henry Hazlitt long ago: “Hate the man who is better off than you are.” Continued Hazlitt: "Never under any circumstances admit that his success may be due to his own efforts, to the productive contribution he has made to the whole community. Always attribute his success to the exploitation, the cheating, the more or less open robbery of others. Never under any circumstances admit that your own failure may be owing to your own weakness, or that the failure of anyone else may be due to his own defects - his laziness, incompetence, improvidence or stupidity."

The History Pages Are Filled With Hatred: “Hate the man who is better off than you are…” History is a detailed diary of this very hatred.

Jealousy: The average man is not jealous of the champion golfer who once shot 60… but the fellow duffer in his weekend foursome who once broke 80. He is not jealous of the Hollywood movie actor who hauls in the unparalleled and unattainable beauty. He is jealous instead of his acquaintance who hauls in the pretty-enough gal he himself set his cap for - the seven out of 10 gal. Is the average man jealous of a Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk with their billions and billions? He is not. Yet he is jealous of the insurance salesman down the street who takes in $10,000 more than himself.

The Sage of Baltimore - H.L. Mencken - once defined a wealthy man as “a fellow who earns $100 more than his wife’s sister’s husband.” Be assured, the wife’s sister… and her husband… feel that $100 keenly.

Envy Is Never Contented: Envy sees only what it lacks. Not what it has. Today’s average fellow lives royally compared with actual royalty of yesteryear. Next to them he wallows in a sort of oriental luxury. Yet the envious man of today does not rank himself against the royalty of yesterday. He ranks himself against the royalty of today, though it wears no crown on its head. Envy gives him a mighty itch he is forever scratching. It is never soothed.

The Never-ending Chase: That is why a man’s eye is forever glued to the next rung of the ladder… the prettier plum just out of reach… the grass on the other side of the fence that is greener. A poor man may tell himself he’d settle for the middle class. But once he finds himself lodged therein, discontentment soon bubbles within him. He lights out for the upper classes. If by grace he attains it, he at once takes notice of the floor above him. And he begins another merry chase up the ladder. There is always another.

Such is man. He focuses not on what he has… but on what he lacks. He is forever chasing rainbows.

It’s Not Always Negative: Here we do not criticize. We merely observe. And your editor, by his own admission, offers no exception. Be assured he has his sights on a thing - or three - beyond his outstretched grasp. Besides, it is this ceaseless striving that accounts for all material progress. A contented civilization does not erect skyscrapers, amass empires or rocket into space. Yet beware of envy’s tempting snares. They surround you on all sides - particularly in the forms of television and social media.The French Revolution. Russia’s Bolshevik Revolution. China’s Cultural Revolution. Perhaps even America’s unfolding cultural revolution of its own.

We cite but some examples. They all set out to fix wrongs. They mostly ended up wrecking rights. The right to life itself was often among them.

Jealousy Isn’t Envy: Yet let us distinguish jealousy from envy. The two are siblings - yet they are not twins. It is said a man is jealous of his betters. Yet it is only partly true. The average man harbors no jealousy for the great man. He is not jealous of the Alexanders… the Caesars… the Napoleons of this world. These are men stamped from a finer metal. And the average man inwardly acknowledges it is not his metal. The sparrow understands its place is not among the soaring eagles. No. The subject of the average man’s jealousy is his peer - the average man.

Envy Poisons Your Investment Decisions" Here you see various “stars” and “influencers” soaring on wings of leisure… rocketing from one good time to the next… enjoying the high life. They appear to have life by the snout. And it may arouse your envy.

Yet this very envy may poison your investments. Mr. Marcelo Perez of Alhambra Investments: "In a day and age where… keeping up with the Joneses (or the Kardashians, or the Windsors) is no longer a silent, Sisyphian struggle but a top-rated TV series or Netflix special, it is only natural for this poison to seep into the investing world…"

YouTube stars dole out “investment strategies” left and right, extolling the benefits of the newest and coolest moneymaking venture, as per views, of course. Message boards are full of posts containing stock and option trades that yielded percent returns in the hundreds and thousands, over the course of no more [than a] few days. Virtually riskless, they say…:And even if we are skeptical, we become befuddled with amazement, consumed by “Why not me?” We are driven by envy as much as we are by greed. We see that our neighbor is excelling, or so we think, so we change our own course, or regret that we didn’t take the plunge."

The Siren Call of Envy: You must instead resist envy’s siren cries. As Odysseus of old, you must chain yourself to the mainmast so that you cannot yield to the false temptations… and crash your vessel against the punishing rocks. As Mr Perez notes: Premier celebrities such as Matt Damon, Kim Kardashian and Tom Brady all promoted cryptocurrencies. Many followed because they yearned “to be covered in that heavenly glitter ourselves and open an account at FTX.”

Mr. Perez: "In investing (and in life), we need to stop constantly peering into the lives of others who appear to have what we want. We must try to avoid the siren song of high returns without taking risk into account. We must try to avoid the fool’s gold and the snake oil that cures all…" Avoiding envy, and its associated pitfalls, is one of the simple secrets to a successful investment portfolio, and life.

The Wisdom of the Ancients: Can you do it? It is not easy. The sirens are extremely enchanting. Yet maybe, perhaps on some distant tomorrow… men will learn to take ease in their own inn, however modest… and wherever they happen to find it. It seems they will find peace nowhere else. We all might recall the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus: “Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.”

- dailyreckoning.com

The Poet, :Galway Kinnell, "Another Night in the Ruins"

"Another Night in the Ruins"

"How many nights must it take
one such as me to learn
that we aren't, after all, made
from that bird that flies out of its ashes,
that for us
as we go up in flames,
our one work is
to open ourselves,
 to be the flames?"

~ Galway Kinnell

The Daily "Near You?"

La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Massive Russian Offensives On Three Axis Storm Ukraine"

Straight Calls with Douglas Macgregor, 12/13/22:

"Massive Russian Offensives On Three Axis Storm Ukraine"

"Straight Calls with Douglas Macgregor. Your home for analysis of breaking news and in-depth discussion of current geopolitical events in the United states and the world. Geopolitics. No ego descriptions. No small talk. Straight to the point. Calls with the relevant analysis only. On the other side of the line is Andrew Napolitano."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

ͦ

Full screen recommended.

Redacted, 12/12/22:

"NATO Escalates Full Blown War With Russia, 

Putin Warns Retaliation"

"Is the U.S. at war with Russia? The U.S. says that it cannot prevent Ukraine from escalating the war or firing inside of Russia but is this causing retaliation inside U.S. borders? Who is behind all of those power outages that have been happening for the last 8-9 months? And what is Russia's end game?"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

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"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar."

- Julius Caesar

"Never Forget..."

"Take risks! That is really what life is about. We must pursue our own happiness. Nobody has ever lived our lives; there are no guidelines. Trust your instincts. Accept nothing but the best. But then also look for it carefully. Don't allow it to slip between your fingers. Sometimes, good things come to us in a such a quiet fashion. And nothing comes complete. It is what we make of whatever we encounter that determines the outcome. What we choose to see, what we choose to save. And what we choose to remember. Never forget that all the love in your life is there, inside you, always."

- Linda Olsson

"Kirstie Alley's Passing Unleashed The Left's Dark Side"

"Kirstie Alley's Passing Unleashed The Left's Dark Side"

by Christine Flowers

"I turned 61 last week. I don’t plan on joining the celestial choir any time soon, but birthdays make me think of the opposite end of the life cycle. Every birthday morning, I have a somewhat ghoulish tradition of writing a mental obituary, composing my own epitaph since I don’t trust others to pen it for me. We all should prepare our own “homegoings,” as my friends in the African American community call it, because there’s been a troubling trend toward speaking ill of the dead. If you can get your story out before the haters have their say, you’ve won the eternal battle.

This was brought home to me when I read the cruel things that were written about Kirstie Alley, who died last week from late-diagnosed cancer. While she most recently sported blonde hair, most of us will remember her as the breathtakingly beautiful woman with the raven locks who replaced Diane in Sam’s affections on “Cheers.”

The character of Rebecca was the opposite of Shelly Long’s annoying and cerebral dilettante, filled with fire and fury and fun. She was a perfect replacement for Diane, even though the dynamic between her and Sam was completely different. And while Long’s sort of humor was more along the lines of a sophisticated-but-neurotic Myrna Loy, Alley was the reincarnation of Lucille Ball with her physicality and willingness to look silly. Alley appeared in many other roles, but she’ll always be remembered as Rebecca.

She was also a high-profile Scientologist. Up until recently, that was the only controversial aspect of this beloved comedian. Then came Twitter, and Alley began to express political views that shocked the sort of fan who thought she walked in lockstep with their progressive outlook. More importantly, she didn’t seem to hate Donald Trump. In fact, in some tweets, she endorsed his policies.

The Scientology thing was OK, even though it made some people squeamish because of the rather strange beliefs on psychotherapy (evil!) and ex-Scientologists (evil!). Kirstie’s public battles with her weight were also endearing, because who doesn’t love someone who is honest about their personal struggles? But when it became clear that Kirstie was a conservative, and possibly a Trumper, the dogs of war were unleashed.

I would follow her Twitter feed and see people write the most amazingly cruel things, acting as if she’d just declared her loyalty to ISIS. People started showing, with pride, screenshots of being blocked by the actress as proof that she was a MAGA crazy who couldn’t take criticism. When you delved a little more deeply, you understood why she’d canceled these folks: they were absolutely horrible in their attacks. In some bizarre turn of events, the progressives felt betrayed by their beloved. The breakup was ugly. But the worst part came after her death was announced.

Mixed in with the many expressions of sympathy and sorrow were a large number of sarcastic digs about how Scientologists don’t think they can get cancer, and now isn’t she surprised? They also dismissed her as a “Donald Trump Apologist” with her Wikipedia page immediately edited by some low-life hacker to read “Conspiracy Theorist Nut Job.” This was only moments after her death had been announced by her grieving children.

I have to admit that I’m particularly outraged because I’ve seen the cruelty of the left much more often than I care to remember. In my own life, people I love have been targeted as proxies, and my inbox has filled with the most disgusting vitriol over the years. I’m a very, very, very minor media figure. Most people have no idea who I am beyond “that crazy lady in Philadelphia who sort of looks like Sarah Palin.” I can only imagine the things real celebrities like the aforesaid Palin are subjected to.

But this isn’t about left or right, to be honest. This is about human decency. When a person dies, unless they’ve left a truly toxic mark on society, their passing should be either noted with respect or ignored. Hatred has no place in epitaphs.

I am sure that some on the right are as guilty of this vice as the legions on the left. I wrote about the phenomenon when John McCain passed away and condemned the partisan attacks from right-wing extremists. It is a shared inhuman flaw. The point is that when someone ascends to whatever Heaven awaits, or descends to whatever depths he deserves, we should note that passing with grace, kindness, and a factotum of regret. And if we cannot, we need to shut up and hide the demons consuming us from within."

- https://www.cagle.com/

"Peak Focus for Complex Tasks, With Beta Isochronic Tones"

Full screen recommended.

"Peak Focus for Complex Tasks, 

 With Beta Isochronic Tones"

by Jason Lewis - Mind Amend

"This is a high-intensity audio brainwave entrainment session, using isochronic tones. Listen to this when you need a strong burst of intense focus to concentrate and study things like advanced mathematics, scientific formulas, financial analysis or any other complex mental activity. Listen to this track with your eyes open while doing the task/activity you want to focus on. Use this session in the morning, afternoon or early evening, to train your brain for better cognition, focus and thought processing. You can either sit somewhere quiet and comfortable with your eyes closed and give your brain a nice workout, or you can also listen to this while doing an activity that requires a boost in concentration.

Headphones are NOT REQUIRED for this video.

Although headphones are not required you may find they produce a more intense effect, because they help to block out distracting external sounds.

Isochronic tones are a fast and effective audio-based way to stimulate your brain. Among many of the benefits, they can help improve focus, relaxation, energy levels, sleep and more, without taking drugs or needing any special equipment. What isochronic tones essentially do is guide your dominant brainwave activity to a different frequency while you are listening to them, allowing you to influence and change your mental state and how you feel."

I strongly suggest you read Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

○

"Isochronic Tones –

How They Work, the Benefits and the Research"

This is a brainwave entrainment audio session using isochronic tones combined with music. The isochronic tones are the repetitive beats you can hear on top of the music throughout the track. If you are new to this type of audio brainwave entrainment, find out how isochronic tones work and how they compare to binaural beats here: 

- https://www.mindamend.com

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Listen folks, we're out of time! Whether you want to know it or not we're literally in the fight of our lives, for our lives right now, and it's going to get much, much worse. Some of you reading this will not survive, and I may not either, so I'll take any edge I can get, and you should too... This works for me. Prepare yourself, brace for impact...

- CP

"How It Really Is"

 

"Stick a Fork in It! We're Done"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, iAllegedly 12/13/22:

"Stick a Fork in It! We're Done"

"You can believe what you want. But it is clear that the pundants do not have it right when it comes to the economy. Does anybody ever get it right? Do you believe that inflation is reversing?"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Stock Up Now At Meijer! Massive Holiday Sale! Don't Miss This!"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures with Danno, 12/13/22:

"Stock Up Now At Meijer! 

Massive Holiday Sale! Don't Miss This!"

"In today's vlog we are at Meijer, and are noticing that they are having a huge sale on holiday baking items this month! We are stocking up, and showing the best deals as we take you shopping with us. It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting products!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Alert! Inflation Continues To Rise! US Dollar Craters, 10 Year Yield Plunges"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 12/13/22:

"Alert! Inflation Continues To Rise! 

US Dollar Craters, 10 Year Yield Plunges"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

13th Warrior, "Prayers Before Final Battle"

Full screen recommended.

13th Warrior, "Prayers Before Final Battle"

"In the movie "The 13th Warrior" Antonio Banderas' character, an Arab Muslim, delivered a prayer just before an epic battle that has stuck with me every since. Some of the words in that prayer are words that have inspired me to say and do and think some of the things that I have ever since I walked out of the theater on the night that I saw that movie. This prayer, although delivered by a Muslim rather than Christian character has become part of me. The words are beautiful and simple and eloquent:

"Merciful Father.... I have squandered my days with plans of many things. This was not among them. But at this moment, I beg only to live the next few minutes well. For all we ought to have thought and have not thought, all we ought to have said and have not said, all we ought to have done and have not done, I pray thee, God, for forgiveness."

Of course if you think about it this prayer also spawns thoughts to the inverse of the lines used; i.e. Father forgive me for the things that I/we have thought that I ought not have thought, for the things I have said, that I ought not have said, for things I have done that I ought not have done.

Then brave Buliwyf begins to pray, also, to his many pagan gods and to his ancestors, and is joined by all the members of his band:

Buliwyf: "Lo, there do I see my father."

Herger: "Lo, there do I see My mother, and my sisters, and my brothers. Lo, there do I see The line of my people..."

Edgtho: "Back to the beginning."

Weath: "Lo, they do call to me."

Fahdlan: "They bid me take my place among them."

Buliwyf: "In the halls of Valhalla..."

Fahdlan: "Where the brave..."

Herger: "May live..."

Ahmed: "...forever."

- https://thewonderreflex.blogspot.com/

"This Confirms What We All Know is Coming..."

Canadian Prepper, 12/12/22:

"This Confirms What We All Know is Coming..."

"A new poll reveals something interesting,

 In some western countries the number is insanely high. Buckle Up"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"It's Going To Get Much Worse Very Soon; People And Businesses Can't Pay Their Bills"

Jeremiah Babe, 12/12/22:

"It's Going To Get Much Worse Very Soon; 

People And Businesses Can't Pay Their Bills"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"People Will Be Furious As Kroger Doubles Or Triples Food Prices"

Full screen recommended.

"People Will Be Furious As Kroger 

Doubles Or Triples Food Prices"

by Epic Economist

If you noticed that your monthly grocery bills from Kroger have been more expensive than usual, it’s not just you. According to Cheapism blog, some products have gone up by 90% so far, and the company said it will continue to pass on higher costs to consumers through the end of the year. In fact, higher prices may become the new normal for the grocer, retail experts say. In recent months, customers have been reporting price hikes on several items at Kroger stores, for that reason, we decided to analyze what’s truly driving those increases – and what we discovered may come as a shock for many people out there.

A report published by retail and grocery news blog Cheapism compared current prices on 35 Kroger items with prices obtained on the very same products one year ago, and it found that only two items saw price drops, nine items remained unchanged, and the other 24 items had some eye-popping price increases. On Twitter, thousands of Kroger customers have been venting their frustration with the rising prices. One of them asked: “Why are groceries so expensive at Kroger right now ?” To what another responded “Kroger profits are at record highs. Its stock is up 36% in a year. Its CEO got a 45% raise to $22 million. Meanwhile, 75% of its workers are food insecure. 63% can't pay their bills. Many are on food stamps,” he wrote attaching a link to an exposé released earlier this year by The New York Times.

On December 2, Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip said Kroger was passing along higher costs to the consumer in several categories, “where it makes sense to do so," he said. The executive also noted that Kroger is paying more to its suppliers due to challenges that have been affecting the whole industry. But while consumers are forced to spend more at its stores, the company keeps recording extraordinary profits. In fact, over the past quarter, Kroger’s net income rose to $566 million just after hiking prices on consumers. Kroger’s Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen said the company enjoyed “record performance” in the past couple of years. Meanwhile, the grocery chain spent a staggering $2.2 billion on shareholder handouts last year after it previously admitted it was letting customers absorb higher supply costs.

Essentially, Kroger did have to spend more money to ensure supplies, but while they are raising prices under the guise of increasing supplier costs, they’re also adding a little extra on top of that. Believe it or not – Kroger’s and Albertsons’ CEOs have explicitly admitted that they expect to benefit from rising prices.

“Our business operates the best when inflation is higher” Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen said during an earnings call with analysts. “A little bit of inflation is always good in our business.” “Kroger would have its customers believe they marked up prices just to keep up with outside costs – but the half billion in net income last quarter and whopping $2.2 billion worth of shareholder rewards the grocery giant doled out last year alone suggests otherwise,” wrote Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US. “The sooner corporations stop using this as an excuse to demand more from consumers while their profits soar, the sooner we’ll see costs stabilize for working families,” he emphasized.

The prices you’re seeing right now at Kroger stores are probably as low as they will ever be. The era of affordable food prices is over, and from now on, we will probably be forced to get used to some painful grocery bills."

- https://www.epiceconomist.com/

"Martin Armstrong: Davos & the Plot to Seize Russia"

"Martin Armstrong: Davos & the Plot to Seize Russia"

The Wiggins Sessions, 12/12/22:

"Dissecting the complex geopolitics of what Martin Armstrong calls “The Climate Change War”– or the War in Ukraine over resources and economic “domination.” “Overthrowing Putin will only make things worse,” Armstrong claims, and the simple solution seems to go out the window. In fact, many of the solutions brought forth by President Biden and his cabinet are in fact undermining the world economy. That’s the reason Western financiers are nervous every time the United States threatens sanctions, or worse, nuclear warfare. “They just look at what’s in front of their nose… not the whole picture,” he continues.

Armstrong leads the World Economic Conference– a gathering the polemic Nigel Farage calls “the antidote to Davos.” The principal aim of the meeting: To fight back against the “control freak” Klaus Schwab and reinstate the ideals of laissez faire government and economics. To Armstrong and his crowd, Modern Monetary Theory is nothing but a set of antiquated ideals from the 19th century. They claim the collapse of globalist, Keynesian politics is coming to fruition. “The War in Ukraine is just a skirmish in the bigger picture,” he claims."

You can watch the full Episode 86 with Martin Armstrong here:

Martin A. Armstrong, the founder of Socrates and Armstrong Economics, is an internationally recognized economist and former hedge fund manager with over 40 years of experience monitoring and forecasting market behavior.

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Well my friends, the US and all of Europe will be enormous pools of molten radioactive glass before the Russians ever allow that...