"A Look to the Heavens"

“Namibia has some of the darkest nights visible from any continent. It is therefore home to some of the more spectacular skyscapes, a few of which have been captured in the below time-lapse video. We recommend watching this video at FULL SCREEN (1080p), with audio on. The night sky of Namibia is one of the best in the world, about the same quality of the deserts of Chile and Australia.

Full screen recommended. 

Visible at the movie start are unusual quiver trees perched before a deep starfield highlighted by the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. This bright band of stars and gas appears to pivot around the celestial south pole as our Earth rotates. The remains of camel thorn trees are then seen against a sky that includes a fuzzy patch on the far right that is the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy to the Milky Way. A bright sunlight-reflecting satellite passes quickly overhead. Quiver trees appear again, now showing their unusual trunks, while the Small Magellanic Cloud becomes clearly visible in the background. Artificial lights illuminate a mist that surround camel thorn trees in Deadvlei. In the final sequence, natural Namibian stone arches are captured against the advancing shadows of the setting moon. This video incorporates over 16,000 images shot over two years, and won top honors among the 2012 Travel Photographer of the Year awards.”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130204.html

"Butterflies..."

"We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it's forever."

- Carl Sagan

"Decline of Empire: Parallels Between the U.S. and Rome, Part III"

"Decline of Empire: 

Parallels Between the U.S. and Rome, Part III"

by Doug Casey

See here for Part II

"Wars made Rome. Wars expanded the country’s borders and brought it wealth, but they also sowed the seeds of its destruction, especially the three big wars against Carthage, 264-146 BCE.

Rome began as a republic of yeoman farmers, each with his own plot of land. You had to be a landowner to join the Roman army; it was a great honor, and it wouldn’t take the riffraff. When the Republic was threatened—and wars were constant and uninterrupted from the beginning—a legionary might be gone for five, ten, or more years. His wife and children back on the farm might have to borrow money to keep things going and then perhaps default, so soldiers’ farms would go back to bush or get taken over by creditors. And, if he survived the wars, an ex-legionary might be hard to keep down on the farm after years of looting, plundering, and enslaving the enemy. On top of that, tidal waves of slaves became available to work freshly confiscated properties. So, like America, Rome became more urban and less agrarian. Like America, there were fewer family farmers but more industrial-scale latifundia.

War turned the whole Mediterranean into a Roman lake. With the Punic wars, Spain and North Africa became provinces. Pompey the Great (106-48 BCE) conquered the Near East. Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE) conquered Gaul 20 years later. Then Augustus took Egypt.

The interesting thing is that in the early days, war was actually quite profitable. You conquered a place and stole all the gold, cattle, and other movable property and enslaved the people. That was a lot of wealth you could bring home—and then you could milk the area for many years with taxes. But the wars helped destroy Rome’s social fabric by wiping out the country’s agrarian, republican roots and by corrupting everyone with a constant influx of cheap slave labor and free imported food. War created longer, faraway borders that then needed to be defended. And in the end, hostile contact with "barbarians" actually wound up drawing them in as invaders.

Rome’s wars radically changed society, just as America’s have. It’s estimated that at times 80-90% of the population of the city of Rome was foreign born. It sometimes seems that way in many U.S. cities. I always look at the bright side, however: after every foreign misadventure, the U.S. gets an influx of new restaurants with exotic cuisines.

The stream of new wealth to steal ended with the conquest of Dacia in 107. The advance in the east stopped with the Persians, a comparable military power. Across the Rhine and Danube, the Germans—living in swamps and forests with only tiny villages—were not worth conquering. To the south there was only the Sahara. At this point, there was nothing new to steal, but there were continuing costs of administration and border defense. It was inconvenient—and not perhaps just coincidental—that the barbarians started becoming really problematic just about when Christianity started becoming popular, in the 3rd century. Unlike today, in its early days Christianity encouraged pacifism… not the best thing when you’re faced with barbarian invasions.

Remember, the army started out as a militia of citizen soldiers who provided their own arms. It eventually would accept anyone and morphed into a completely mercenary force staffed and led largely by foreigners. This is pretty much how the U.S. armed forces have evolved. For all the "Support Our Troops" propaganda, the U.S. armed forces are now more representative of the barrios, ghettos, and trailer parks than of the country as a whole. And they’re isolated from it, a class unto themselves, like the late Roman army.

Even though the Roman army was at its greatest size and cost in the Dominate period, it was increasingly a paper tiger. After its rout at the Battle of Adrianople in 378, the Western empire went into a death spiral. The U.S. armed forces may now be in an analogous posture, comparable to Soviet forces in the 1980s.

Although the U.S. has won many engagements and some sport wars, it hasn’t won a real war since 1945. The cost of its wars, however, has escalated hugely. My guess is that if it gets into another major war, it won’t win, even if the enemy’s body count is massive.

Recall Osama bin Laden’s plan to win by bankrupting the U.S. He was very astute. Most U.S. equipment is good only for fighting a replay of WW II—things like the $2 billion B-2 bomber, the $350 million F-22, and the $110 million V-22 Osprey are high-priced dinosaurs. The Army lost 5,000 helicopters in Vietnam. How many Blackhawks can the U.S. afford to lose in the next war at $25 million each? World War II cost the U.S. $288 billion, in 1940 dollars. The pointless adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan are guesstimated at $4 trillion, a roughly comparable amount in real terms.

In the future—unless it completely changes its foreign and military policies—the U.S. will likely be confronting scores of independent, nonstate actors, rather than other nation-states. We won’t really know who they are, but they’ll be very effective at attacking hugely expensive infrastructure at near-zero cost, by hacking computers. They won’t need a B-2 when a stolen Pakistani nuke can be delivered by freighter. They can take out a $5 million M-1 tank with an essentially zero-cost improvised incendiary device. While the U.S. bankrupts itself with defense contractors whose weapons have 20-year development times, enemies will use open-source warfare, entrepreneurially developing low-cost, unconventional weapons with off-the-shelf components.

This is actually analogous to what Rome confronted with invading nomads. Let me relate an anecdote offered by Priscus, a Roman ambassador to the court of Atilla in about 450 AD. While there he met a Greek who had joined the barbarians. This will give you a flavor of the story he tells Priscus. I’ve put some words in bold because they’re especially relevant to other aspects of our story.

After war the Scythians live in inactivity, enjoying what they have gained, harassed very little or not at all. The Romans, on the other hand, are very liable to perish in war, as they have to rest their hopes of safety on others, and are not allowed, on account of their tyrants, to use arms. And those who use them are injured by the cowardice of their generals, who cannot support the conduct of war. But the condition of the subjects in time of peace is far more grievous than the evils of war, for the exaction of the taxes is very severe, and unprincipled men inflict injuries on others, because the laws are practically not valid against all classes.

Wars destroyed Rome, just as they’ll destroy the U.S. But what about the barbarian invasions that Gibbon perhaps correctly pointed out were the direct cause of Rome’s downfall? Do we have a present-day analogue? The answer is at least a qualified "yes." It’s true that the U.S. will bankrupt itself by fighting the ridiculous and chimerical "War on Terror," maintaining hundreds of military bases and operations around the world and perhaps getting into a major war. But from a cultural point of view, it’s possible that the southern border will present an equally serious problem.

The U.S.-Mexican border is a classic borderland situation, no more stable and just as permeable as the Rhine-Danube dividing line was for the Romans. The problem now isn’t invading hordes, but a population that has no cultural allegiance to the idea of America. A surprising number of the Mexicans who cross over to the U.S. talk seriously about a Reconquista, in reference to the fact the Americans stole the land in question from people they presume to be their ancestors.

In many parts of the Southwest, the Mexicans form a majority and choose not to learn English—and they don’t need to, which is a new thing for immigrants to the U.S. Most are "illegal," as you might say the Goths, the Vandals, and the Huns were in Rome’s final days. My guess is that in the near future, there will be a lot of young Hispanic males who actively resent paying half of what they make in income, Social Security, and Obamacare taxes in order to subsidize old white women in the Northeast. I wouldn’t be surprised to see parts of the Southwest turn into "no go" zones for many government agencies over the next several decades.

Could the U.S. break up the way the Roman Empire did? Absolutely; the colors of the map on the wall aren’t part of the cosmic firmament. And it needn’t have anything to do with military conquest. Despite the presence of Walmarts, McDonald’s, and Chevrolet dealerships across a country whose roads are as impressive as the nearly 50,000 miles of highway laid down by the Romans, there’s evidence the country is disintegrating culturally. Although what is occurring in the Mexican borderland area is the most significant thing, there are growing cultural and political differences between the so-called "red" and "blue" states. Semi-serious secession movements are at work in northern Colorado, western Maryland, and western Kansas. This is a new phenomenon, at least since the War Between the States of 1861-65.

To be continued next week…"

- internationalman.com

"Behold, Davos Man!"

"Behold, Davos Man!"

Breaking markets, forcing fragmentation and 

causing price tsunamis wherever he goes!

By Bill Bonner and Joel Bowman

Normandy, France - "‘Davos Man’ is on display this week. With the Alps in the background, he offers his opinions on lazy TV channels. Our guess: he does more harm than good. But there they are...almost non-stop – the great and the good, the Establishment, the elite of the elite; they are today’s ‘global leaders.’ They get together in their fortress retreat at Davos, Switzerland – guarded by 5,000 Swiss troops – to gum about what’s wrong with the world and how to improve it. “We’re going to need to fix our broken supply chains,” says one earnest corporate honcho. “We’re doing all we can to develop a sustainable system of energy inputs,’ says another.

“Witing Off” Klaus Schwab, founder of the sponsor, World Economic Forum, with his heavy Teutonic accent, cannot say the ‘r’ sound. So, he says we will have to “wite off the huge costs” of what he thinks will be difficult year of ‘transformation.’ Of course, the world is always witing off its past...its old technologies...its hula-hoops and failed cryptos. It is always transforming itself. As we discussed yesterday, things become their opposites...bull markets turn into bear markets...young, dynamic countries become old and degenerate... white shoes yearn for mud.

Mr. Klaus, mind you, is not just an observer of ‘transformation.’ He is an activist. His goal is not to follow, but to lead. And therein lies a tale. For how does he know where the world should go? The baker in Berlin...the hod carrier in Karaloon...the lumpenproletariat of Las Vegas – each has his own destination. No matter. Davos Man knows best.

Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, meanwhile, has a delightful Bulgarian accent. She came from the World Bank and replaced Christine Lagarde at the IMF, who replaced Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was disgraced after he allegedly exposed himself to a cleaning woman in a New York hotel. (The affair looked like a set-up...the charges were dismissed, but not before Strauss-Kahn, who had been a leading candidate to become president of France, was ruined.) Ms. Lagarde went on to head up the European Central bank.

At Davos, Ms. Georgieva picked up the ‘transformation’ theme: "2023 will be a difficult year for the world. The silver lining is we can use it to transform economies & accelerate change that’s good for our climate, good for growth. At the IMF, we recognize our responsibility to be a force for good." We’re not going to sit back and see what direction the world takes, she says; we’re going to give it a shove!

Un-Free World Order: The major challenge facing the planet, says she, is ‘fragmentation.’ By that she means that the global order – which Davos Men (and women) helped create – is cracking up. She did not mention the main culprit – the US government; it has abandoned free trade in favor of un-free trade. Its sanctions, restrictions, and tariffs are now fragmenting markets and reducing the prosperity of the whole world.

And so, Ms. Georgieva came to Davos to deliver a report, prepared by the diligent number crunchers at the IMF, showing that if they ‘manage’ the world economy carefully the cost of this ‘fragmentation’ would be only 0.2% of global output. Not 0.3%. Not 0.1%. Those researchers must have been punching the numbers so hard, it’s surprising the ref didn’t stop the fight. But they just kept delivering the rabbit punches, putting the growth of the world economy at 2.7% in the year ahead.

Their calculation are ridiculous. Imagine trying to determine the effect of unknown events on an uncertain future in a largely-unmapped $90 trillion world economy? To a 10th of a percent! But what do you expect? The biggest financial event of 2022 was the dramatic rise in inflation – to the highest levels in 40 years. It is what forced the Fed to reverse its monetary policy...and cost the world asset markets an estimated $20 to $30 trillion in losses. (Estimates vary!)

Price Tsunami: By spring of 2021, the tsunami of price increases was visible on the horizon. Anyone who bothered to look could see it coming. The feds had cut off supplies of goods and services (with their Covid Hysteria lockdowns)...and they had greatly increased the supply of money (with their stimmie checks, unemployment toppers, and PPP loans). Consult any Dummies’ Guide to Inflation; you will see that the result is bound to be higher prices. But the economists at the IMF are neither dummies, nor realists; they are fantasists. Here is a CNNBusiness summary of their view, as of April 2021: "The IMF credited continued government stimulus and vaccine rollouts for stronger growth projections. It said that consumer prices could be volatile, but it does not expect high levels of inflation to take root because of weak wage growth and unemployment."

Good thinking! What a wonderful bunch of mental defectives and pompous poseurs. We speak of the whole Davos crowd...as well as their pet economists. It must be delightful – in a childish way, of course – to think you can not only foretell the future...but actually improve it before it happens.

Not content to run their own businesses, governments and non-profit organizations, they think they can ‘transform’ the entirety of human life on planet earth...and wite off anything that gets in the way."

o

Joel’s Note: For dear readers who remain unconvinced about the sheer determination of Davos Man to “save the planet,” consider the modest words of US Climate Envoy Czar John Kerry, speaking to a roomful of fellow extraterrestrials(?) at this year’s globalist gabfest...

“If you stop and think, about it, it’s pretty extraordinary that we, a select group of human beings, because of whatever touched us at some point in our lives, are able to sit in a room and come together and actually talk about saving the planet. I mean, it’s so, almost extraterrestrial to think about quote ‘saving the planet.’ If you said that to most people, most people they think you’re just a crazy, tree-hugging, leftie, liberal... you know, do-gooder, whatever...and there’s no relationship. But really, that’s where we are.”

Now, far be it from us mere “most people,” down here on the flatlands of ignorance, to know the mind of a man as brave and humble as Mr. Kerry, but hearing his words we were reminded of the findings from a Washington Free Beacon analysis, released last year...

The Free Beacon reviewed 75 of Kerry's official travel announcements from March 2021 to July 2022, which show Kerry has flown roughly 180,100 miles - the equivalent of traveling around the world more than seven times - to discuss climate change with various world leaders. Planes on average produce 53.3 pounds of carbon dioxide per mile traveled, according to carbon emissions modeling website BlueSkyModel, meaning Kerry's flights have produced 9.54 million pounds, or 4,772 tons, of carbon - roughly 300 times the average American's carbon footprint for an entire year. From May 13, 2021, to May 19, 2021, for example, Kerry traveled to Rome, London, and Berlin before returning stateside. Those flights total roughly 10,100 miles and 538,000 pounds of carbon.

And that‘s just official travel. From the time Czar Kerry, who has referred to climate change as an “existential crisis,” was appointed by president Biden and the publication of the Free Beacon analysis (July 2022), our dedicated climate activist had also taken the family Gulfstream GIV-SP private jet (est $4.5 million) for a few spins, too. Make that 48 spins, “emitting more than 715,000 pounds of carbon in the process.”

To be fair, Czar Kerry is a very busy man...committed to tackling climate change one carbon-spewing flight at a time. And as we all know, being busy is something average people just couldn’t comprehend. But don’t worry, Czar Kerry has enough dirty dough to buy himself a clean conscience.

Much like the Catholic Church’s system of “indulgences” in the Middle Ages, whereby a sinner could hope to have his peccadilloes mitigated or even absolved in the afterlife by making a “fixed monetary payment” to the church, Czar Kerry offsets his carbon-based transgressions with dollar-based credits. “If you offset your carbon, it's the only choice for somebody like me, who is traveling the world to win this battle."

Nor is Extraterrestrial Czar Kerry alone. The WEF itself even encourages “plane pooling” as a way to combat the deleterious effects of its own meeting (simply not having the meeting, or having it by Zoom being, of course, unthinkable). “We also ask that they share planes if they have to use them,” the organization said in a statement back in 2019, “something that has been gaining popularity in recent years.”

And yet, according to a Greenpeace report released last Friday, the emissions generated from the luxury jets flying in and out of airports serving Davos last year were equivalent to those produced by about 350,000 average cars for a week. Another 1,000+ private jets shuttled this year’s saviors to the mountaintop...and still, we are scolded, the emergency is worse than ever, and there’s plenty more for you to do.

“I’m convinced we will get to a low-carbon, no-carbon economy — we’re going to get there because we have to,” Kerry lectured at this year’s event. “I am not convinced we’re going to get there in time to do what the scientists said, which is avoid the worst consequences of the crisis. So how do we get there? ... Money, money, money, money, money, money, money.”

- https://bonnerprivateresearch.substack.com/

The Daily "Near You?"

Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"We Are Out of Money Again"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, iAllegedly 1/18/23:

"We Are Out of Money Again"

"The Debt Ceiling nightmare is back. Our government is out of money again. What are they going to do? Raise the credit line and spending limit again. Elvis’s daughter passed away."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Gregory Mannarino, "Economic Freefall Worsens; Retail Sales Crater; Produces Prices Rise 6.2% YOY"

Gregory Mannarino, 1/18/23:

"Economic Freefall Worsens; 

Retail Sales Crater; Produces Prices Rise 6.2% YOY"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"The Last Time Always Happens Now"

"The Last Time Always Happens Now"

by David Cain

"William Irvine, an author and philosophy professor I’m a big fan of, often tries to point people towards a little-discussed fact of human life: "You always know when you’re doing something for the first time, and you almost never know when you’re doing something for the last time."

There was, or will be, a last time for everything you do, from climbing a tree to changing a diaper, and living with a practiced awareness of that fact can make even the most routine day feel like it’s bursting with blessings. Of all the lasting takeaways from my periodic dives into Stoicism, this is the one that has enhanced my life the most. I’ve touched on it before in my Stoicism experiment log and in a Patreon post, and I intend to write about it many more times in the future (but who can say?)

To explain why someone might want to start thinking seriously about last times, Bill Irvine asks us to imagine a rare but relatable event: going to your favorite restaurant one last time, knowing it’s about to close up for good.

Predictably, dining on this last-ever night makes for a much richer experience than almost all the other times you’ve eaten at that restaurant, but it’s not because the food, decor, or service is any different than usual. It’s better because you know it’s the last time, so you’re apt to savor everything you can about it, right down to the worn menus and tacky napkin rings. You’re unlikely to let any mistakes or imperfections bother you, and in fact you might find them endearing.

It becomes clearer than ever, in other words, how great it was while it lasted, and how little the petty stuff mattered. On that last dinner, you can set aside minor issues with ease, and appreciate even the most mundane details. Anything else would seem foolish, because you’re here now, and this is it. It might even occur to you that there’s no reason you couldn’t have enjoyed it this much every time you dined here – except that all the other times, you knew there would be more times, so you didn’t have to be so intentional about appreciating it.

That’s an exceptionally rare situation though. Almost always, we do things for the last time without knowing it’s the last time. There was a last time – on an actual calendar date – when you drew a picture with crayons purely for your own pleasure. A last time you excitedly popped a Blockbuster rental into your VCR. A last time you played fetch with a certain dog. Whenever the last time happened, it was “now” at the time.

You’ve certainly heard the heart-wrenching insight that there’s always a last time a parent picks up their child. By a certain age the child is too big, which means there’s always an ordinary day when the parent picks up and puts down their child as they have a thousand times before, with no awareness that it was the last time they would do it.

Ultimately there will be as many last times as there were first times. There will be last time you do laundry. A last time you eat pie. A last time you visit a favorite neighborhood, city, or country. For every single friend you’ve ever had, there will be a last time you talk, or maybe there already has been.

For ninety-nine percent of these last times, you will have no idea that that’s what it is. It will seem like another of the many middle times, with a lot more to come. If you knew it was the last-ever time you spoke to a certain person or did a certain activity, you’d probably make a point of appreciating it, like a planned last visit to Salvatore’s Pizzeria. You wouldn’t spend it thinking about something else, or let minor annoyances spoil it.

Many last times are still a long way in the future, of course. The trouble is you don’t know which ones. The solution, Irvine suggests, is to frequently imagine that this is the last time, even when it’s probably not. A few times a day, whatever you’re doing, you assume you’re doing that thing for the last time. There will be a last time you sip coffee, like you’re doing now. What if this sip was it? There will be a last time you walk into the office and say hi to Sally. If this was it, you might be a little more genuine, a little more present.

The point isn’t to make life into a series of desperate goodbyes. You can go ahead and do the thing more or less normally. You might find, though, that when you frame it as a potential last time, you pay more attention to it, and you appreciate it for what it is in a way you normally don’t. It turns out that ordinary days are full of experiences you expect will keep happening forever, and of course none of them will.

It doesn’t matter if the activity is something you particularly love doing. Walking into a 7-11 or weeding the garden is just as worthy of last-time practice as hugging a loved one. Even stapling the corner of some pages together can generate a sense of appreciation, if you saw it as your final act of stapling in a life that’s contained a surprising amount of stapling.

Irvine uses mowing the lawn as an example, a task he doesn’t love doing. If you imagine that this is the last time you’ll mow the lawn, rather than consider it a good riddance, you might realize that there will be a time when you’ve mown your last lawn, and that there were a lot of great things about living in your lawn-mowing, bungalow-maintaining heyday. A few seconds later, it dawns on you that you still are.

You can get very specific with the experiences you do this with. The last time you roll cookie dough between your palms. The last time you get rained on. The last time you sidestep down a crowded cinema aisle. The last time your jeans smell like campfire smoke. The last time your daughter says “swannich” instead of “sandwich.” Virtually everything is a worthy candidate for this reflection.

It always brings perspective to your life as it is now, and it never gets old. It’s an immensely rewarding exercise, but it not a laborious one. It takes only two or three seconds - allowing yourself “a flickering thought,” as Irvine put it - to notice what you’re doing right now, and consider the possibility that this is indeed the last escalator ride at Fairfield Mall, the last time you put on a Beatles record, the last time you encounter a squirrel, or the last time you parallel park in front of Aunt Rita’s building."

- https://www.raptitude.com/

o

"If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say?  And why are you waiting?"

~ Stephen Levine

o

 

Rolling Stones, "The Last Time"

"Our Task..."

“We have not overcome our condition, and yet we know it better. We know that we live in contradiction, but we also know that we must refuse this contradiction and do what is needed to reduce it. Our task as humans is to find the few principles that will calm the infinite anguish of free souls. We must mend what has been torn apart, make justice imaginable again in a world so obviously unjust, give happiness a meaning once more to peoples poisoned by the misery of the century. Naturally, it is a superhuman task. But superhuman is the term for tasks we take a long time to accomplish, that’s all.

Let us know our aims then, holding fast to the mind, even if force puts on a thoughtful or a comfortable face in order to seduce us. The first thing is not to despair. Let us not listen too much to those who proclaim that the world is at an end. Civilizations do not die so easily, and even if our world were to collapse, it would not have been the first. It is indeed true that we live in tragic times. But too many people confuse tragedy with despair. “Tragedy,” D.H. Lawrence said, “ought to be a great kick at misery.” This is a healthy and immediately applicable thought. There are many things today deserving such a kick.”

- Albert Camus

"How It Really Will Be..."

And here's how and why...

"Biden Bucks and Gas Stoves"

"Is The War In Ukraine About To Go To An Entirely New Level?"

"Is The War In Ukraine About 

To Go To An Entirely New Level?"

by Michael Snyder

"If Russia intends to make a major move to win the war in Ukraine, it needs to do it very soon. As you will see below, representatives from over 50 different nations will gather this week for a historic meeting in Ramstein, Germany. The goal of that meeting will be to implement a plan to absolutely flood Ukraine with tanks and missile systems in an attempt to turn the tide of the war. At the moment, the Russians have regained the initiative and the Ukrainians are steadily losing territory in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainians are hoping to buy enough time for the next massive influx of military aid to arrive, because it could potentially change everything.

Most of you have probably not heard about the meeting that will be held in Ramstein, Germany on Friday. The following originally comes from the Wall Street Journal…"Representatives of more than 50 countries supporting Ukraine are set to gather in Ramstein, Germany, to discuss provisions for Kyiv and pledge fresh supplies later this month. The U.S.-led assembly, known as the contact group, includes all countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and allies, including Japan, South Korea and Australia, offering lethal and nonlethal aid.

Ukraine is expected to receive Patriot missile systems, which Ukrainian officials say would hobble Russia’s missile attacks that have wreaked havoc on Ukraine’s civilian and critical infrastructure. Some Western officials also said that the first-ever shipment of Western-made main battle tanks could also be announced at the Friday meeting in Ramstein."

The only way that the Russians will be able to stop all of this equipment from getting to Ukraine would be to launch an enormous new invasion from the north that completely cuts off the flow of aid from the western powers. Russia has been moving troops and equipment into Belarus for months, and many believe that such an offensive will soon happen.

And it is interesting to note that Russia and Belarus just initiated “a series of air-force exercises” on Monday…"Russia and its ally Belarus launched a series of air-force exercises Monday along the border with Ukraine in an effort to boost cooperation ahead of what Ukrainian officials and military analysts believe could be a fresh effort by Moscow in the coming months to retake battlefield momentum."

Throughout history, military exercises have often been used as a cover for major military operations. But that doesn’t mean that the Russians will pull the trigger in this case. Perhaps the Russians are just bluffing and are simply trying to hold a large number of Ukrainian forces along the northern border as the main push happens in the east. At this point we just don’t know.

But many analysts in the western world do believe that the Russians will launch some kind of new offensive in the coming months…“The Kremlin is likely preparing to conduct a decisive strategic action in the next six months intended to regain the initiative,” said a note from the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank that publishes daily reports on the war in Ukraine."

Actually, I think that if the Russians are going to make a move it will happen soon. When the mud returns in the spring, it will be much more challenging for Russian tanks to move around efficiently. So if a major offensive is going to take place, it will almost certainly be conducted within the next several weeks.

Meanwhile, Russian television continues to be filled with talk of nuclear war…"One of Vladimir Putin’s allies has claimed World War Three has already started as he called for Russia to launch a nuclear missile strike on Britain, France and Poland. TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyov told Russians that Moscow should target the West to disrupt NATO countries from sending supplies to Ukraine."

You don’t hear this sort of talk on television here in the United States. In fact, at this point most Americans still believe that the risk of nuclear war is extremely low. But they see things very, very differently inside Russia.

These remarks by Solovyov were in response to reports that NATO powers are getting ready to ship large numbers of tanks and armored vehicles to Ukraine…"It comes as Britain is poised to supply Challenger II main battle tanks to Kyiv, in the first such move of the war. France is shipping French AMX-10 reconnaissance vehicles, Germany is sending 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, and the US is promising 50 M2 Bradley fighting vehicles."

Both sides just continue to escalate matters, and that has brought us dangerously close to nuclear conflict. Earlier this month, Dmitry Medvedev made headlines all over the globe when he “threatened the United States of America with hypersonic cruise missiles”…"Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev threatened the United States of America with hypersonic cruise missiles and compared the American government’s policies to that of Nazis in a Thursday Telegram post in response to a US embassy appeal to Russian citizens for peace.

“The main gift of the New Year was the arsenal of Zircon missiles that went yesterday to the shores of NATO countries,” said Medvedev, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who currently serves as Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council. The nuclear warhead-capable Zircon missiles were reported by Reuters Wednesday to have been placed on the frigate Admiral Gorshkov to be deployed to the Indian and Atlantic oceans. By the way, we have absolutely no way to defend against those hypersonic cruise missiles. If the Russians launch them, they will hit their targets.

If our leaders were sane, they would be trying to find a peaceful way out of this mess while there is still an opportunity to do so. Sadly, that window is rapidly closing. If the Russians launch another massive invasion of Ukraine from the north, there will be no going back. Both sides will just keep escalating the conflict until someone crosses a line that will never be able to be uncrossed.

On Russian television, they are already talking about the inevitability of a nuclear conflict. Unfortunately, most Americans don’t even realize that our leaders have us on the brink of the unthinkable. Hopefully people will start to wake up before it is too late, because the clock is ticking."

- http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/

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"Putin: Victory In Ukraine Is 'Unavoidable' &

 Invasion Was Effort To 'Stop This War' In Donbas"

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Related, highest recommendation:

"A Time of Unimaginable Sorrow is Upon Us"

o

Full screen recommended.

Scott Ritter, 1/18/23:

"Ukrainian Army Has Lost Large Scale Weapons, 

You Must Know What's Happening In Ukraine"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Well, Good Citizen, YOU and me and all of us have already tossed $121 BILLION on this bonfire, but in a few weeks it won't matter, except to the families of the 150,000 Ukrainian soldiers and  20,000 Russian troops already killed. It'll be over...

"In Retrospect..."

“In retrospect, the spark might seem as ominous as a financial crash, as ordinary as a national election, or as trivial as a Tea Party. The catalyst will unfold according to a basic Crisis dynamic that underlies all of these scenarios: An initial spark will trigger a chain reaction of unyielding responses and further emergencies. The core elements of these scenarios (debt, civic decay, global disorder) will matter more than the details, which the catalyst will juxtapose and connect in some unknowable way. If foreign societies are also entering a Fourth Turning, this could accelerate the chain reaction. At home and abroad, these events will reflect the tearing of the civic fabric at points of extreme vulnerability – problem areas where America will have neglected, denied, or delayed needed action.” 

– "The Fourth Turning", Strauss & Howe

"Price Increases And Some Empty Shelves At Sam's Club!"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures With Danno, 1/18/23:

"Price Increases And Some Empty Shelves At Sam's Club!"

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

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Meanwhile, no empty shelves here...

Full screen recommended.

Traveling With Russell, 1/18/23:

"I Visited the Largest Beer Shop in the World"

"I visited the largest beer shop in the world which is located in Moscow, Russia. Beru Vykhodnoy has a collection over 3000 canned and bottled beers and over 200 tap beers. How does it look inside, what beer did we choose. How does it work to purchase beer in the store?"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Canadian Prepper, "Warning! I Hope You're Sitting Down - This Is Huge!"

Full screen recommended.

Canadian Prepper, 1/17/23:

"Warning! I Hope You're Sitting Down - This Is Huge!"

"Today we talk about the biggest risks of 2023 according to Klaus and friends. NATO is going all in, every indicator points to stagflation which is WORSE than hyperinflation."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Putin Just Issued a Shocking Warning of What's Coming in Ukraine"

Full screen recommended.

Redacted, 1/17/23:

"Putin Just Issued a Shocking Warning 

of What's Coming in Ukraine"

"Russia just issued a warning of a major false flag operation that is set to hit Ukraine's grain infrastructure. Ukraine is now walking back claims about the destruction of an apartment complex that killed dozens of civilians."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Your Number 1 Asset Is Think For Yourself; Beware Of The Financial Illusion"

Jeremiah Babe, 1/17/23:

"Your Number 1 Asset Is Think For Yourself; 

Beware Of The Financial Illusion"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Biden Bucks and Gas Stoves"

"Biden Bucks and Gas Stoves"

By Jim Rickards

"I’ve been warning my readers about Biden Bucks coming soon as a threat to your physical cash and your freedoms. I’ve also written frequently about the false science of climate change and the extreme climate alarmism embraced by global elites and their flunky pseudo-scientist collaborators. They’re meeting right now in Davos, by the way, figuring out new ways to try to run your life.

The Biden administration itself has a long history of using this alarmism to try to control your life. Their most recent offense might just be their worst…They’re considering a nationwide ban on gas stoves - citing the harmful pollutants released by the appliances, according to a recent report. The report claims that gas stoves are linked to an increased risk of respiratory illness, including asthma in children.

Groups including the American Chemical Society and New York University Law School’s Institute for Policy Integrity found that gas stoves - which are used in about 40% of U.S. homes - emit pollutants like nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and fine matter at levels deemed unsafe by the Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization. “This is a hidden hazard,” Consumer Product Safety Commission Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr., told the outlet. “Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.”

In addition to 40% of homes, 76% of restaurants use gas stoves. That’s a lot of gas stoves to ban!

Just Another Attack on Fossil Fuels? Incidentally, or not, the research was led by RMI, an organization that pushes for carbon-free buildings and that “works to transform global energy systems across the real economy.” So there’s an agenda there. That itself doesn’t necessarily disqualify the research, but it should give you pause.

Critics maintain that the studies are flawed, and that the pollutants cited are the byproducts of cooking itself, whatever the energy source. In other words, the studies falsely isolate gas stoves when in reality, it’s cooking itself that releases the contaminants. It’s just another attack on fossil fuels to promote the green agenda. Regardless, the CPSC is mulling the action after these studies showed emissions from the devices can cause health and respiratory problems, Bloomberg reported.

Biden has claimed that he’s not in favor of a ban. But he is allowing the unelected bureaucrats at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to tell you how to live your life.

It CAN Happen Here: Now you might say that they can never get away with it. There’s simply too much public opposition. All I can say is think again. These regulators are unbelievably powerful. They have every intention of carrying out their wishes and are enjoying every minute of it. They don’t answer to Congress and scoff at your protests. They believe they alone are in charge and you have nothing to say about it.

What’s to stop them from banning sales of new gas stoves, while mandating that all existing gas stoves be replaced within the next decade? Some states and cities are already going after gas stoves. New York City is banning natural gas lines in new buildings shorter than seven stories. The ban will take effect later this year. They’re also launching a ban on natural gas lines in buildings taller than seven stories, which is scheduled to take effect in 2027. So don’t think it can’t happen. It can.

Think of all the things they’ve already wrecked. Look around at your household appliances. Energy use and water restrictions have degraded washing machines, refrigerators, dishwashers, showers, toilets, clothes dryers, steamers and irons, dishwashers, freezers and so much more. So what makes you think your stove is exempt?

Biden Bucks: The bottom line is the Biden administration and the unelected bureaucrats they enable are out of control. I’ve already told you how they want to control your life using Biden Bucks. That’s the term I use in reference to the coming digital dollar - the central bank digital currency. The administration is moving forward with Biden Bucks, their government-backed digital currency.

I fear Biden Bucks will become the basis of a new system of full citizen control through the financial system, something akin to China’s social credit system that controls the entire population based on political loyalty. China is already using its CBDC to deny travel and educational opportunities to political dissidents. Canada seized the bank accounts and crypto accounts of nonviolent trucker protesters last winter. These kinds of “social credit” systems and political suppression will be easy to conduct when “Biden Bucks” are completely rolled out in the U.S.

Biden Bucks and Gas Stoves: This new currency will allow for total control of all American citizens. Because every “digital dollar” will be programmed by the government. That means they will be able to “turn on or off” your money at will. In a country of Biden Bucks, the government will know every purchase you make, every transaction you conduct and even your physical whereabouts at the point of purchase.

It’s a short step from there to negative interest rates, account freezes, tax withholding from your account and even putting you under FBI investigation if you vote for the wrong candidate or give donations to the wrong political party. The purely digital dollar could potentially limit you to purchasing certain things that are in line with their progressive/green agenda. Taking away your ability to cook with a gas stove is just another way for them to control you. But what might gas stoves specifically have to do with “Biden Bucks”?

At first, the answer would seem to be nothing. They have nothing to do with each other. But with Biden Bucks, you can only spend your money on socially approved or politically approved purchases. And if you don’t spend your money on politically approved purchases, you can expect retribution. “Hey citizen, I see you’re still using a gas stove. But we’ve determined that gas stoves are unsafe. You didn’t listen. Well, guess what? We just lowered your social credit score. Good luck getting that loan you wanted. And you can forget about that new job you just applied for.”

A Recipe for Unlimited State Power: That's how these things can play out under Biden Bucks, and how they can relate to something so seemingly disconnected as gas stoves. Under Biden Bucks, there’s really no limit to the state’s interference in your life. Even The Economist has announced the rise of government-backed digital currencies, warning they will “shift power from individuals to the state.” The Economist isn’t known for engaging in conspiracy theories.

Thankfully, people are fighting back, including elected officials. As Rep. Gary Palmer argues: "Unelected bureaucrats should not have the type of power to even consider such an action. It is time to rein in the Biden administration and their continual desire to control Americans’ lives and decisions." The CPSC backed off the idea of banning gas stoves following swift criticism like this. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll give up. They’ll just go about it more quietly. Be prepared."

- https://dailyreckoning.com/

"The Price is Not Right"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, iAllegedly 1/17/23:

"The Price is Not Right"

"We are seeing so many different stores have problems, where they are overcharging consumers at the scanner. Dollar general is having a major issue. Canadians are so sick of the price of food. They would rather steal it and feed feel justified in doing so."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Philadelphia: Kensington Streets, You Can't Believe This Exists in U.S.A"

Full screen recommended.

Beach Fanatic, 1/8/23:

"Philadelphia: Kensington Streets, 

You Can't Believe This Exists in U.S.A"

"The streets of Kensington, Philadelphia have been hugely affected by drugs and homelessness, it's been overcrowded with filthiness and all kind of littered trash. There's no sense of guidance and direction. Its only getting worse each day as it gets by."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Must View! "Look At The Extreme Social Insanity That Is Spreading All Over America"

Full screen recommended.

"Look At The Extreme Social Insanity 

That Is Spreading All Over America"

by Epic Economist

"If you want to know how extreme is the social decline that is spreading all over the United States, all you need to do is walk the streets of our biggest cities. You don’t even have to go to the “bad areas” to see the absurdities that are eating away our communities and destroying them from within. As we will show you in this video, even in the best parts of Washington D.C., filth, squalor, and disease are everywhere. New images show that only a couple of blocks away from the White House, countless needles can be seen on the ground, homeless encampments are taking over national parks, and the rate of delinquencies has spiked to the highest levels in history. The same is true for many other areas that used to be prosperous and economically and socially stable. Unfortunately, their decay is happening at a frightening pace and will only continue to accelerate as economic conditions go from worse to catastrophic in 2023.

Exactly one block behind the White House, dozens of homeless encampments were scattered throughout city streets and even into national parks. Severe sanitation issues, including human waste, used needles, and trash piling up everywhere left Johnson in disbelief. At D.C. Sparkle street, glass from smashed car windows posed a threat to everyday citizens walking by. Even in front of St. Johns Cathedral, garbage dominated the landscape.

Until 2017, Johnson said he didn’t see a single tent near public buildings. As he interviewed local residents, it became clear that people don’t feel safe and they say that new problems emerge on a daily basis. “Disease, decay, and people that don’t care about this nation running things, and running them directly to the ground. This is an apt metaphor for a country in decline” Johnson stressed. On the West Coast, things are no different. In recent years, Portland, once considered one of the finest cities in America, has become something short of a dystopia, where shop owners sleep with self-defense tools behind their pillows, and citizens must act as law enforcement agents.

This crisis is unfolding at a pace that is just breathtaking. According to Joel Kotkin, the Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University and executive director of the Urban Reform Institute, the social decay that is rotting the foundations of U.S. cities is systemic and getting worse over time.

“The old saying that “the city air makes one free” all too often means freedom to be poor, to experience endemic homelessness, collapsing public infrastructure and rising neglect,” Kotkin says. “As cities slowly fall to pieces, they are increasingly becoming no-go zones for investors and business. Barely ten percent of US companies are interested in investing in large urban areas,” the expert reveals.

Sadly, it appears that our leaders are not too worried about restoring the economic and social balance this country needs to start thriving again. Year after year, our social decline intensifies, and our major cities continue to collapse all around us. If you love America, you should be completely disgusted by what is happening to our country. What do you think our founders would say if they could see what our cities have become? They would certainly be deeply ashamed of us. And we should be deeply ashamed of ourselves too because we should have never allowed our beloved country to sink so low."

- https://www.epiceconomist.com/

Gerald Celente, "Trends Journal 1/17/23"

Full screen recommended.

Strong language alert!

Gerald Celente, 1/17/23:

"Trends Journal: Biden Going Down; 

When All Else Fails They Take You To War"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical Interlude: Medwyn Goodall, “Eyes of Heaven”

Full screen recommended.

Medwyn Goodall, “Eyes of Heaven”

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Separated by about 14 degrees (28 Full Moons) in planet Earth's sky, spiral galaxies M31 at left, and M33 are both large members of the Local Group, along with our own Milky Way galaxy. This narrow- and wide-angle, multi-camera composite finds details of spiral structure in both, while the massive neighboring galaxies seem to be balanced in starry fields either side of bright Mirach, beta star in the constellation Andromeda. Mirach is just 200 light-years from the Sun. But M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, is really 2.5 million light-years distant and M33, the Triangulum Galaxy, is also about 3 million light years away. 

Although they look far apart, M31 and M33 are engaged in a gravitational struggle. In fact, radio astronomers have found indications of a bridge of neutral hydrogen gas that could connect the two, evidence of a closer encounter in the past. Based on measurements, gravitational simulations currently predict that the Milky Way, M31, and M33 will all undergo mutual close encounters and potentially mergers, billions of years in the future.”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150926.html

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"Everything passes away- suffering, pain, blood, hunger, pestilence. The sword will pass away too, but the stars will still remain when the shadows of our presence and our deeds have vanished from the earth. There is no man who does not know that. Why, then, will we not turn our eyes towards the stars? Why?"

- Mikhail Bulgakov, "The White Guard"