Wednesday, May 3, 2023

"For Whom the Polls Bell"

"For Whom the Polls Bell"
RFK, Jr. shakes up the Republican and Democrat elites...
by Bill Bonner and Joel Bowman

Dublin, Ireland - Here’s a headline from Slate: "What to Take Away From Those Alarming RFK Jr. Polls." What is ‘alarming’ about the polls is that they show a rising…and surprising…support for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. It’s alarming to Slate – and the Liberal Elite – because they regard RFK,Jr. as a “kook,” a “fringe figure,” an “eccentric” and, OMG, a “conspiracy theorist.” As we’ve seen, RFK,Jr. has turned away from the orthodox views of both Republican and Democratic elite. He aims to take America out of its $1.5 trillion/year Empire business.

Here at Bonner Private Research, we’re not the kind of faux ‘conservative’ you see on TV. No, we’re the old-fashioned, finger-waving, ‘we told you so’ kind of conservative. And what we’re telling you today is what we’re going to wag a finger about tomorrow: RFK,Jr. is right…sometime in the future, thinking Americans, if there are any left, will regret their Empire and wish they’d gotten out sooner.

Empire Regret Syndrome: You’ll recall that the empire is expensive. It supports thousands of grifters in the military and out of it…in think tanks, Congress, universities, ‘defense’ suppliers, the World Bank…and many other squirrely sinecures. It is so costly that the government needs to borrow…and print…money to support it. As in the Vietnam War, the money in circulation goes up…followed by consumer prices. You get what you pay for. We get ships and missiles. We don’t get houses, cars, carrots and the other things people want to buy. Again, consumer prices go up.

RFK, Jr. is the first candidate who proposes to put a stop to it. But, empires have a logic…and a trajectory…of their own. Fish gotta swim. Birds gotta fly. Empires gotta be empires.

Military enterprises can be profitable – but only so long as you are winning, bringing back booty, selling captured slaves and collecting tribute. Even then, the easy money and slaves eventually undermine your home economy…and then you need to use violence not on foreigners, but on your own citizens, to keep them in line.

Yes, what goes around, comes around. A nation that celebrates its ‘shoot ‘em ups’ abroad eventually gets shoot ‘em ups at home. That is perhaps the meaning of this strange news at OpenTheBooks on Substack: "Since 2006, 103 rank-and-file agencies outside of the Department of Defense (DOD) spent $3.7 billion on guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment (inflation adjusted to CPI). 27 of those agencies are traditional law enforcement under the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

However, 76 agencies are pencil-pushing, regulatory agencies, i.e. Environment Protection Agency (EPA), Social Security Administration (SSA), Veterans Affairs (VA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and many others.

Headcounts: There are now more federal agents with arrest and firearm authority (200,000) than U.S. Marines (186,000).

Fraud, Farce and Failure: If you favor gun control, you might want to start there. A ‘police state’ is not something anyone ‘wants.’ But it is part of the empire’s life cycle. You pass a Patriot Act, giving your elite more power to fight ‘terrorists’ abroad…and then, mirabile dictu, you find terrorists at home!

This insight is important to us, because it gives us a hint about which way the fight against inflation might go. In a nutshell, we expect the empire to keep doing what empires do – fighting, fleecing, and fudging the facts. We expect the Fed to put on a show too – dancing around the ring, jabbing at its opponent…and then taking a dive. Between them, look for at least a decade of financial and political fraud, farce and failure.

But let’s stick with today’s theme – why empires cannot push away from the table before their arteries get blocked. In short, there are too many people with spoons in their hands and pudding in the bowls before them. Here’s Senator Tommy Tuberville: "Experts have known for more than a decade that the military is top heavy. We do not suffer from a lack of generals," Tuberville said. "When my dad served in World War II, we had one general for every 6,000 troops. Think about that: one for every 6,000. Now, we have one general for every 1,400 enlisted service members." The brass lives high on the hog at the Pentagon. Then, it moves even higher on the hog.

Uncivilizing America: In another book, now entitled “Uncivilizing America” and scheduled for release in two weeks [now available on Amazon…note that it is an updated version of “Win -Win or Lose” which was never distributed outside of our own channels] we highlight the case of General Keith Alexander, USA retired. The greatest danger he ever faced came from the dessert counter at the Officers’ Mess…and paper cuts at his desk. But Mr. Alexander is emblematic of the trend in the empire’s Praetorian Guard towards bureaucracy…expense… incompetence…and mendacity. Alexander told Congress that his outfit did not collect information on Americans…even while he was putting together the most extensive database in history…recording every conversation that Americans ever had. Alexander: “I believe it is in the nation’s best interest to put all the phone records into a lockbox that we could search.”

Who can search it? The people with all those guns, of course. And now, he’s moved on, but no….he’s not retiring gracefully to the family farm as Dwight Eisenhower did in 1961. Now he’s selling his secrets to foreigners. Here’s the Washington Post: "Retired Army Gen. Keith Alexander, who led the National Security Agency under Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, secured $2 million in consulting deals with foreign governments after leaving office, including a $700,000 contract to advise Saudi Arabia on cybersecurity after the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, newly released records show.

Alexander’s consulting firm also won a $1.3 million contract from the government of Japan to provide advice on cyber issues, according to additional documents obtained by The Washington Post as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit."

Lies and Murder: If we were going to sell our soul to the Saudis, we’d want a little more money. But Alexander knows what his soul is worth. And he’s not the only one. More from the Washington Post: "Retired military officials are finding high-paying jobs with the Saudi government and can make up to 7-figure salaries working for other foreign governments:

A new investigation by The Washington Post found that more than 500 retired military personnel have taken jobs with foreign governments since 2015, and a majority of the positions were located in North Africa or the Middle East, including consulting jobs for Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defense.

Australia's government, for example, offered former senior US Navy officials more than $10 million for consulting deals. In Azerbaijan, one retired US Air Force general was offered a consulting job with a pay of $5,000 a day."

From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, the contracts keep coming. Among the Empire’s many tricks – to keep the money coming its way – is its willingness not only to lie but to murder. The Church Committee found as many as 638 schemes to assassinate Fidel Castro, for example. In one of them, the CIA recruited the Mafia to poison Castro’s food.

Which is why criticizing the US military/industrial/spook complex is not necessarily a good strategy for getting ahead in life…or getting elected to the White House. While those responsible for wasting $20 trillion – and the deaths of a million people – get even more money…those who ‘blow the whistle’ go to jail. Or worse. We’d advise Mr. Kennedy to get a food taster."
o
Joel’s Note: As if promising to reign in the empire’s military and tighten her fiscal belt wasn’t enough, RFK, Jr. recently set the cat amongst the elitist pigeons by daring to come out on the side of (gulp)… free speech! Here was the senator, dropping some truth bombs of his own on Twitter yesterday (May 2, 2023)…"Instead of championing free speech, the U.S. actively persecutes journalists and whistleblowers. I’ll pardon brave truth-tellers like Julian Assange and investigate the corruption and crimes they exposed. This isn’t the Soviet Union. The America I love doesn’t imprison dissidents.

Other brave truth-tellers include John Kiriakou, Chelsea Manning, Reality Winner, Daniel Hale, Thomas Drake, Jeffrey Sterling, and Edward Snowden. They were trying to return America to its democratic and humanitarian ideals.

Since the passage of the euphemistically-named “Patriot Act,” the United States Government has been committed to transparency… your transparency, that is. In addition to massive spook and spy programs of its own (as uncovered by some of the above whistleblowers), it has actively encouraged citizens to turn against one another by fostering an “If you see something, say something” environment of snitching and Stasi-style paranoia.

But in a classic case of “rules for thee, not for we,” the state is all about keeping its own sordid affairs away from the disinfecting light of public scrutiny, regularly jailing dissidents in a manner most unbecoming of country that calls itself the “Land of the Free, Home of the Brave.”

Over the past few months, journalists Matt Taibbi, Barri Weiss and Michael Shellenberger brought to light the Twitter Files, which demonstrated explicit collusion between US federal agencies and Big Tech, in which information of critical public interest (see the Hunter Biden laptop story) was suppressed in the lead-up to the 2020 election.

Did the journalists receive any thanks for their investigative reporting? Any applause from the media or members of Congress for rooting out collusion and corruption? Any ovation for “speaking truth to power” or “afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted?”

Hardly. After being lectured by congress, the award-winning journalists were smeared by their (no doubt jealous) coevals in the mainstream press, if their story was covered at all. As for Mr. Taibbi, probably the lead journalist of the trio, he was rewarded with a visit from the IRS while he was giving testimony to congress. Pure coincidence, we’re sure."

It is sometimes said that “democracy dies in darkness.” The obvious corollary: “authoritarianism thrives in the shadows.” Let there be light."

"Real Life in Russia Under Sanctions! Russian Supermarket!"

Full screen recommended.
Irina From Russia, 5/2/23
"Real Life in Russia Under Sanctions! 
Russian Supermarket!"
"My name is Irina. I live in Russia In Siberia city Novosibirsk. I am blogger and I show my life in Russia. I post videos daily about Prices In supermarket, shopping malls, grocery stores and beautiful places In my city. I hope you will like my Vlogs from Russia."
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So tell me, Good Citizen, how's YOUR supermarket?
We all know, don't we? Yeah...

"How It Really Is"

 

"Kremlin Attacked, WW3 Just Entered A New Phase"

Canadian Prepper, 5/3/23
"Kremlin Attacked, WW3 Just Entered A New Phase"
"East vs West conflict is now a certainty. Get ready."
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Must view analysis!
Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom 5/3/23
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"Going, Going, Gone…"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly 5/3/23
"Going, Going, Gone…"
"The global economy grew for centuries. Now, for the first time,  we are seeing what was once growing, growing to be gone. The recession is all around us."
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"What Happened Yesterday… and Why Regional Banks Are in Trouble"

"What Happened Yesterday… 
and Why Regional Banks Are in Trouble"
By Graham Summers, MSA

"Thus far in 2023, there have been three major bank failures. And I do mean MAJOR: all told the three banks had $532 billion in assets. That amount is actually greater in size that the combined assets of the 25 banks that failed in 2008. What is going on here? What is going on is that the Fed created this mess… and bad risk management at the banks has exacerbated it. Let me explain.

Traditionally, banks make money as follows:
1) You deposit your money at the bank.
2) The bank pays you a low interest rate on this deposit.
3) The bank turns around and loans out $5, $7, even $10 in loans for every $1 you deposited. The bank charges a much higher rate of interest on these loans than the interest rate it pays you on your deposit.
4) Alternatively, the bank buys $5, $7, or even $10 in long-duration assets (Treasuries, or other long-term bonds) for every $1 you deposited.
5) The bank pockets the spread between the interest it earns on its loans/ bonds and the interest rate is pays you on your deposits.

This situation works well provided the Fed keeps interest rates low. Unfortunately for the banks, the Fed unleashed inflation by printing ~$5 TRILLION between 2020 and 2022. Bond yields trade based on many things… including inflation. And once inflation entered the financial system, Treasury yields ripped higher. When Treasury yields rise, bond prices FALL. And who was sitting on trillions of dollars’ worth of long-term Treasuries and loans that traded based on long-term Treasuries? You guessed it… the regional banks. Courtesy of the Fed’s idiocy, the banks were destined to be sitting on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of losses on these assets. But it gets worse.

Once the Fed finally decided to get off its rear and do something about inflation, it embarked on its most aggressive rate hike cycle in history, raising rates from 0.25% to 5% in the span of a single year. Why does this matter?

Remember how banks pay you a low interest rate on your deposit? Well who is going to want to keep his or her money in a bank that pays 0.3% at best… when he or she can earn 4% or even 5% in a money market fund or short-term Treasury bond, courtesy of the Fed raising rates so high so fast ? And so, depositors began pulling their money from banks… and not by a little: 2022 was the first year since 1945 in which money on a NET BASIS left the banking system in the U.S.

But hang on… remember how the bank loaned out or bought $5, $7, or even $10 worth of loans or long-term assets based on every $1 you deposited in the bank? Well when you pull your money out of the bank, the bank has to unload all that stuff to maintain its capital requirements. And so, the Fed delivered the ultimate 1-2 punch to the U.S. regional banking system.

The first punch was it ignored inflation to the point that the banks were sitting on hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of losses. However, the KO punch was the Fed raised rates aggressively, which resulted in depositors pulling money out of the banks in search of higher returns on their cash.

Now, don’t get me wrong. The banks are partially to blame for the fact that didn’t act once the Fed announced it would be raising rates to end inflation. With proper risk management (bond hedges for instance) these banks would have been better prepared for the bond market massacre of 2022. However, even careful risk management would have done nothing to help these banks once depositors started pulling their money out. And no bank could raise its deposit rates to 4% or 5% to compete with money market funds or short-term Treasuries while staying in business.

And so we get this: a situation in which MAJOR regional banks are going bust and the regional bank ETF has lost a third of its value in the span of six weeks. This situation is nowhere near over. According to some analysis, HALF of the U.S.’s banks are currently insolvent. The clock is ticking here. Ignore trader games, something BAD is coming to the markets."

Greg Hunter, "CV19 Bioweapon Caused a Pandemic of the Vaccinated"

"CV19 Bioweapon Caused a Pandemic of the Vaccinated"
by Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

"Ed Dowd was a money manager on Wall Street and is still a skillful number cruncher. He worked for Black Rock and made billions of dollars in profits by being right on the data. Now, Dowd has turned his skills toward the numbers of deaths and serious injuries surrounding the CV19 bioweapon vax. He sees a very dark and disturbing future taking shape. Dowd explains, “We did our vaccine damage report after months and months of collecting data. There are three buckets. There are the dead, disabled and injured. The dead is easy enough to find, it’s excess mortality. In 2021 and 2022, it’s over 300,000 deaths, and that’s probably on the low side. There are 1.36 million disabled from the vax, and that is a conservative number. Finally, 26.6 million people are injured. 

Antidotally, it is all making sense. Everyone is reporting coworkers that are chronically ill and sick. The worktime data is really the smoking gun. It went 13 standard deviations above the 20-year trendline in 2022. It went up in 2020, and then it went up again in 2021, but it exploded in 2022 well after the virus and well into the CV19 vaccine program. It is a stunning a 13 standard deviation event. It is a ‘Black Swan’ event. This affects 10 percent of the total population, but 30% of the labor force. There is about 100 million to 110 million in the labor force. With the injured, disabled and the dead, it’s about 28.9 million. That’s about 30% of the labor force that has died, been disabled or is chronically sick. This is going to have huge implications on productivity going forward.”

On the U.S. dollar, Dowd says it’s not going down in the near term. Dowd contends, “We are predicting deflation, which will be good for the dollar. It’s pretty much bad for every other asset class.”

On the ongoing banking crisis, Dowd says, “The regional bank stocks are getting slaughtered. When you raise interest rates 500 basis points or 5% in a little over 12 months after a 14-year 0% interest rate regime, you are going to leave tremendous skid marks, and the skid marks are the regional banks, unfortunately, because they have a lot of commercial real estate. This is not the end of the crisis, it is the beginning.”

Dowd see’s a “deep recession” coming soon. He also says it is going to be at least as bad as the savings and loan crisis in the early 1990s, but he says all bets are off if the Fed loses control of the economy. That, too, is a good possibility.

Dowd says one really “disturbing” thing is how everyone in power is ignoring the CV19 bioweapon/vax unfolding disaster. Dowd is surprised there are “no investigations or hearings in Congress” and is also surprised no one is asking for his stunning CV19 vax data. Dowd says, “They all want to hope it’s going to go away, but it’s not going to go away because the numbers are so big. My book “Cause Unknown” was written for loved ones who think everything is hunky-dory. When you look at the numbers, you have to ask yourself why aren’t we talking about this? We have pandemic numbers now. It’s way more in the 2020 time frame. We have a pandemic. It’s the pandemic of the vaccinated. I think if we don’t do something soon, the country is gone. No one is taking action.” There is much more in the 39-min. interview.

Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he goes One-on-One with money manager and investment expert Ed Dowd, author of the book called “Cause Unknown: The Epidemic of Sudden Deaths in 2021 and 2022" for 5/3/23.

God have mercy on you if you've taken this horror...

Gregory Mannarino, "Be Ready! Expect To See One Or Two Major Banks Fail!

Gregory Mannarino, 5/3/23
"Be Ready! Expect To See One Or Two Major Banks Fail!
This Thing Is Just Getting Started"
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Tuesday, May 2, 2023

"Plan For Big Trouble, The Empire Is Broke"

Full screen recommended.
Jeremiah Babe, 5/2/23
"Plan For Big Trouble, The Empire Is Broke"
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"Middle Class Families Can No Longer Afford Car Payments As Tough Times Ahead"

Full screen recommended.
"Middle Class Families Can No Longer Afford 
Car Payments As Tough Times Ahead"
by Epic Economist

"The car market is in crisis, and so is America’s middle class. Even amid a scenario of crashing used car prices, the cost of a vehicle is still out of the reach of most middle-income households, a new study shows. In the past, new cars were a symbol of middle-class strength, but now only affluent Americans can afford to purchase a new vehicle at current prices -- especially considering that interest rates are adding almost $7,000 to the average car loan. Since 2017, while the price of a new car jumped by a whopping $14,000, median wages grew by a mere $1,000. According to some big names in the auto industry, including executives at major companies such as Toyota and Nissan, although some vehicle prices may drop, from now on, cars will remain expensive for middle-class families and prices will never come back to where they were in 2020. In today’s video, we will expose the reason why owning a car is becoming a distant dream for millions of U.S. workers.

Today, the average monthly payment for a new car is at a record $777, nearly doubling since 2019, while used models have climbed to $544 a month on average, according to Kelley Blue Book owner Cox Automotive. A monthly payment of $777 corresponds to almost a sixth of the after-tax income for middle-income U.S. households.

No wonder why many people are borrowing more, for longer periods of time, to finance a car purchase. Experian Automotive said that in the first quarter of this year, the proportion of new cars bought with the help of financing skyrocketed to more than 86%, and the average loan amount topped a staggering $41,000, which is the highest since the firm began tracking the data. The average term for a new-car loan is now 72 months or six years, but longer-term loans carry more risks.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warns that borrowers who take out long-term loans end up paying more for the car overall, and also run a greater risk of being “upside down” on the loans, meaning owing more than the car is worth.

The price typical used car now stands at roughly $27,000, Cox reports. But an average monthly payment of $544 is still too much for middle-income earners. For over a decade, the average new car payment in the U.S. bumped along at around $400 a month and $300 for used cars. That’s about as much as the typical American household can shell out and still meet other major expenses, said Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at Cox. But since it crossed that mark in November 2019, it only got higher and higher.

For those looking for a new car at a budget price, the options are extremely limited. Domestic automakers stopped building compact cars in the U.S. because they couldn’t make money on them. At the root of the problem is automakers’ pricing strategy: Keep inventory lean to keep price tags fat. They are now giving preference to more luxurious cars that can generate a higher revenue than cheaper popular models, which have significantly lower profit margins.

Add historically high-interest rates to the mix, and cars — just like home ownership and college education — are fast becoming the domain of the rich. At the end of the day, the car market crisis is a societal crisis, too. It is a clear demonstration that most hard-working Americans cannot afford to live in America anymore."
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Musical Interlude: Liquid Mind, "Laguna Indigo"

Full screen mode recommended.
Liquid Mind, "Laguna Indigo"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“The beautiful Trifid Nebula, also known as Messier 20, is easy to find with a small telescope in the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. About 5,000 light-years away, the colorful study in cosmic contrasts shares this well-composed, nearly 1 degree wide field with open star cluster Messier 21 (top right).
Trisected by dust lanes the Trifid itself is about 40 light-years across and a mere 300,000 years old. That makes it one of the youngest star forming regions in our sky, with newborn and embryonic stars embedded in its natal dust and gas clouds. Estimates of the distance to open star cluster M21 are similar to M20's, but though they share this gorgeous telescopic skyscape there is no apparent connection between the two. In fact, M21's stars are much older, about 8 million years old.”

"Reality..."

“Reality is what we take to be true.
What we take to be true is what we believe.
What we believe is based upon our perceptions.
What we perceive depends upon what we look for.
What we look for depends upon what we think.
What we think depends upon what we perceive.
What we perceive determines what we believe.
What we believe determines what we take to be true.
What we take to be true is our reality.”
- Gary Zukav

Chet Raymo, “We Are Such Stuff...”

“We Are Such Stuff...”
by Chet Raymo

“Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometimes voices,
That, if I then had wak'd after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again.”

"Caliban is talking to Stephano and Trinculo in Shakespeare's “Tempest”, telling them not to be "afeard" of the mysterious place they find themselves, an island seemingly beset with magic, strangeness, ineffable presences. And you and I, and, yes, all of us, find ourselves inexplicably thrown up on this island that is the world, and we too, if we are attentive, hear the strange music, the sounds and sweet airs, that seems to come from nowhere and everywhere

No, I'm not talking about the usual ubiquitous clamor, the roar of internal combustion, the blare of the television, the beeping of mobile phones. I'm not talking about the Limbaughs and the Becks, the televangelists, the blathering politicians, the twitterers and bloggers (including this one). I'm not even talking about the exquisite music of Mozart, the poetry of Wordsworth, the theories of Einstein.

I'm talking about the sounds we hear in utter silence, in moments of repose, in the heart of darkness, when we are a little bit afraid, disoriented, off kilter. A strange music that comes from beyond our knowing, a felt meaning. You've heard it. I've heard it. You'd have to be deaf not to have heard it.

Where we differ is how we describe it. Mostly, we give its source a name. Angels. Fairies. Gods or demons. Yahweh. Allah. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Nixies, E.T.s, shades and shadows. Naiads, dryads, Ariel and Puck. A host of invisible creatures who are, in one way or another, images of ourselves. And, in naming, we are a little less afraid.

And some of us are just content to listen, to take delight. Having woken to the inexplicable mystery of the world- the sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not- we let the music lull us back into a sweet slumber, a kind of dreamless dream, a reverie. Does reverie share a deep root with reverence? I don't know.”

A Timely Repost: “Neuroscience Says Listening to This Song Reduces Anxiety by Up to 65 Percent”

Full screen highly recommended.
“Neuroscience Says Listening to This Song
Reduces Anxiety by Up to 65 Percent”
By Melanie Curtin

“Everyone knows they need to manage their stress. When things get difficult at work, school, or in your personal life, you can use as many tips, tricks, and techniques as you can get to calm your nerves. So here’s a science-backed one: make a playlist of the 10 songs found to be the most relaxing on earth. Sound therapies have long been popular as a way of relaxing and restoring one’s health. For centuries, indigenous cultures have used music to enhance well-being and improve health conditions.

Now, neuroscientists out of the UK have specified which tunes give you the most bang for your musical buck. The study was conducted on participants who attempted to solve difficult puzzles as quickly as possible while connected to sensors. The puzzles induced a certain level of stress, and participants listened to different songs while researchers measured brain activity as well as physiological states that included heart rate, blood pressure, and rate of breathing.

According to Dr. David Lewis-Hodgson of Mindlab International, which conducted the research, the top song produced a greater state of relaxation than any other music tested to date. In fact, listening to that one song- “Weightless”- resulted in a striking 65 percent reduction in participants’ overall anxiety, and a 35 percent reduction in their usual physiological resting rates. That is remarkable.

Equally remarkable is the fact the song was actually constructed to do so. The group that created “Weightless”, Marconi Union, did so in collaboration with sound therapists. Its carefully arranged harmonies, rhythms, and bass lines help slow a listener’s heart rate, reduce blood pressure and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

When it comes to lowering anxiety, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Stress either exacerbates or increases the risk of health issues like heart disease, obesity, depression, gastrointestinal problems, asthma, and more. More troubling still, a recent paper out of Harvard and Stanford found health issues from job stress alone cause more deaths than diabetes, Alzheimer’s, or influenza.

In this age of constant bombardment, the science is clear: if you want your mind and body to last, you’ve got to prioritize giving them a rest. Music is an easy way to take some of the pressure off of all the pings, dings, apps, tags, texts, emails, appointments, meetings, and deadlines that can easily spike your stress level and leave you feeling drained and anxious.

Of the top track, Dr. David Lewis-Hodgson said, “‘Weightless’ was so effective, many women became drowsy and I would advise against driving while listening to the song because it could be dangerous.” So don’t drive while listening to these, but do take advantage of them:

10. “We Can Fly,” by Rue du Soleil (Café Del Mar)
7. “Pure Shores, by All Saints
6. “Please Don’t Go, by Barcelona
4. “Watermark,” by Enya
2. “Electra,” by Airstream
1. “Weightless, by Marconi Union

I made a public playlist of all of them on Spotify that runs about 50 minutes (it’s also downloadable).”

Gregory Mannarino, "Regional Banks Nosedive! Banking Crisis Worsening!"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 5/2/23
"Regional Banks Nosedive! Banking Crisis Worsening!"
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The Daily "Near You?"

Maxwell, California, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Peak Flim-Flam"

"Peak Flim-Flam"
How the world's largest – and most indebted – 
empire got so outta hand...
by Bill Bonner and Joel Bowman

"Churches gotta have bell towers. Rats gotta have tails.
And empires gotta do empire things…until they can’t do them anymore."
~ Bill Bonner

Dublin, Ireland - You may wonder, dear reader, why we continue (did we hear you say “harp”?) on the inflation story. “Don’t you know,” you might ask, “inflation is going down?” Not so fast! Prices may go up. They may go down. But inflation won’t go away anytime soon. Yes, it was triggered by the feds’ stimmie checks in 2020. But there was a lot of inflation waiting to happen. Because, inflation is not a thing unto itself. Instead, it’s part of a bigger picture – that includes federal deficits, trade deficits, transfer payments, a declining middle class, an ‘extractive’ elite, rising real interest rates, and the cost of maintaining a huge, worldwide empire.

A real “cluster,” as the kids say. Today, we’ll look at one of the biggest pieces of it, the empire itself.

Shorter, Blinder: In this, as in so many other things, America is a victim of its own flim-flam. The peak of it (the flim-flam, not the empire) probably came when Madeleine Albright, the US Secretary of State, announced that the US was ‘indispensable’…and that ‘we stand taller…and see farther’ than other people.

Since then, we’ve gotten shorter…by almost every measure. Even life expectancy. The rest of the ‘western,’ fully developed nations in the G7 have an average lifespan of 83 years. In America, we live to 76…and life expectancies are falling, along with wages, productivity, GDP growth, trust in government, innovation, happiness and just about everything else.

As we pointed out in our 2006 book, “Empire of Debt,” the American economy became the world’s biggest at the end of the 19th century. By then, the country had plenty of experience taking land from others – the Indian tribes and the Spanish. Then, when it straddled the continent, sea to shining sea, it looked abroad. And by the early 20th century, it was master of islands in the Pacific (including Hawaii) and the Caribbean, as well the Philippines.

But rather than follow the tried-and-true empire model – conquer, steal, tax – the US imagined that it was doing the world a favor; it is a ‘good empire,’ handing out democracy and LBQT rights like free weed at a rock concert.

The net loss due to its imperial wars is said to be around $8 trillion so far this century. But the total cost of its empire is much higher – including foreign aid, veterans’ benefits, diplomatic missions, support for the World Bank and other international agencies, whose main purpose is to expand the influence of the US beyond its own borders. This year alone, the total cost is said to be around $1.5 trillion, or at least $20 trillion all-in since 1999. And since they have never had a lot of extra money lying around, the federales had to borrow and print it…which is now embedded, like a recurring nightmare, in America’s $33 trillion of government debt.

Yes, this is a new kind of ‘empire’…muddled in claptrap thinking and mired in debt. Yes, the US conquered. And yes, it killed – with as many as a million people dead this century alone. But it forgot to send a bill!

The White Man’s Burden: Inflation and empire go hand in hand. It is widely assumed – though never debated in Congress, or even whispered in the popular press – that the empire is a necessary or inevitable thing. We did not choose to be an empire – at least, not in a deliberate or conscious way. Instead, we believe that greatness was thrust upon us…like a crown upon the head of Claudius; we, Americans, had to take up the White Man’s Burden whether we liked it or not.

But the burden is fundamentally a hustle…a scam. Spend, borrow, print…bomb, sanction…put the coup in the coup d’etat. And give the money to favored elite groups. The ‘Green’ Lobby, for example. Fox News: "Biden energy secretary doubles down on electrifying US military's vehicle fleet by 2030: 'We can get there'. Last April, Biden said his administration is working to make 'every vehicle' in the U.S. military 'climate-friendly'. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Wednesday that she supports efforts from the Biden administration to require the U.S. military to implement an all-electric vehicle fleet by 2030, telling lawmakers that she believes "we can get there."

Yes, we can get ‘there,’ but ‘there’ has nothing to do with protecting the country…or national defense. That could be done with as little as, maybe 25% of the existing empire budget. Maybe a good deal less. After all, the US has no enemies the empire didn’t create for itself.

In other words, why not renounce the empire, as presidential RFK,Jr. proposes? The US deficit could be eliminated…and the main driver of inflation removed. Switzerland has no troops stationed around the world. Sweden has no empire budget. Ireland spends only 0.3% of GDP on its military (compared to America’s Empire Budget of 6% of GDP…20 times as much). As far as we can tell, the people of Ireland and Switzerland are no less happy and no less prosperous than those of the USA.

So, why not give peace a chance? Russia renounced its disastrous Soviet Union. France withdrew from Vietnam and gave up Algeria. Britain turned India over to the Indians. And every one of these nations was better off. And the US? Why not become a regular, decent nation, minding our own business and balancing our own budget? Stay tuned..."

Joel’s Note: Economically, America's days as a world dominating trade empire are already entering what you might call the “sunset phase.” At the end of WWII, the United States accounted for roughly 50% of global GDP and held some 80% of the world’s hard currency reserves. By 1960, the country’s share of global GDP had dipped to 40%. And by 1980, it had fallen to 25%. Today, it’s down to 15%… and is projected to fall for the rest of the decade.

China, meanwhile, has tracked the opposite course. Back in 1980, the Middle Kingdom’s share of global GDP stood at a paltry 2.6%. By 2000, the year before China entered the World Trade Organization, it had tripled… but was still a fairly modest 7.3%. Ten years later, it had roughly doubled again, to 13.6%. In 2023, China’s share of global GDP stands at 18.9%. It is projected to hit 20% by the end of the decade.

China is also the top trading partner to no fewer than 120 countries around the world. As the Wilson Center notes: "China is the largest trading partner to Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Taiwan. Given their proximity, those countries are hardly a surprise. But it is also the top trader with Russia—and Ukraine. In Africa, China is the top partner for countries like South Africa and Kenya. In South America, for places like Brazil; in the Middle East, places like Saudi Arabia. And China is the largest external trading partner of the European Union."

How, then, does the United States, with a shrinking share of the world’s trade, expect to maintain its empire around the world? Take a look at this graph, from April of this year, compiled by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation:
According to the Peter G. Peterson Institute, defense spending in the US accounts for around 12% of all federal spending and nearly half of discretionary spending. The US maintains something like 750 foreign military bases (nobody knows the exact number) in over 80 countries around the world. (Britain, France and Russia, by contrast, have about 30 foreign bases… combined.)

Hmm… shrinking economic dominance and an enormous military, just sitting around waiting for something to do...One recalls the famous line, attributed to French philosopher, Frédéric Bastiat: “When goods do not cross borders, soldiers will.”
o
In real time...
Full screen recommended.

"We Are On Shaky Ground"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly 5/2/23
"We Are On Shaky Ground"
"Everything is sinking beneath us. Do you believe any of this? 
Jamie Dimon wants to buy it all. The economy is on shaky ground."
Comments here:

"How It Really Better Be"

 
There is no hell hot enough for these pedophile monsters...
and eternity's not long enough.

Gerald Celente, "The Crash That Will Change A Generation"

Very strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, 5/2/23
"The Crash That Will Change A Generation"
"In this video, Gerald Celente discusses the state of the country and the endless war that America has been engaged in for the last 75 years. He criticizes the military-industrial complex and politicians who continue to escalate conflicts while neglecting infrastructure like roads and train systems. Celente also takes aim at the mainstream media, which he views as propagandists who sell war to the public. Celente also comments on the recent announcement of Joe Biden's run for president, arguing that people are tired of both him and Trump. Finally, he addresses the commercial real estate bust and floating loans, warning of the negative effects that rising interest rates could have on the economy."
Comments here:

"Shopping At Meijer, Massive Recall On Gold Medal Flour!"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 5/2/23
"Shopping At Meijer, Massive Recall On Gold Medal Flour!"
"In today's vlog we are at Meijer, and are noticing that there has been a massive recall on Gold Medal Flour! We are also here to check out some of the major price increases that have been hitting a lot of grocery stores across the United States, and around the world!"
Comments here:

Gregory Mannarino, "Unsound: The Banking System Is Much Worse Off Than We Think"

Gregory Mannarino, 5/2/23
"Unsound: The Banking System 
Is Much Worse Off Than We Think"
Comments here:
"It's a Big Club, and you ain't in it. 
You and I are not in the Big Club."
- George Carlin

Monday, May 1, 2023

"Banks Are Sitting On A Powder Keg Of Bad Loans; People Will Take Big Hits; System Is Broke"

Jeremiah Babe, 5/1/23
"Banks Are Sitting On A Powder Keg Of Bad Loans;
People Will Take Big Hits; System Is Broke"
Comments here:

"Costco Face Massive Shortages And Now Basic Food Items Are 100% More Expensive"

Full screen recommended.
"Costco Face Massive Shortages And Now 
Basic Food Items Are 100% More Expensive"
by Epic Economist

"Costco is facing a lot of pressure right now. Shoppers are reporting extreme price increases, while food and product shortages are forcing the company to discontinue a long list of items and reintroduce purchasing limits at its warehouses. Several reports reveal that the wholesaler’s supply chain is eroding, and that is leading the company to close some locations across the country and consider shutting down all of its famous food courts. But the retailer’s problems don’t end quite there. Bloomberg just reported that Costco registered its worse sales levels since the onset of the pandemic, and markets reacted by sending its stock right to the ground. Given all the turmoil the warehouse chain is facing, analysts are starting to question whether Costco is going to get through the crisis in retail intact or suffer some distressing consequences.

Something strange seems to be happening at Costco warehouses right now. The chain famously known for its cost-saving deals and fair prices is now dealing with increasing backlash for its eye-popping price increases. Consumers are reporting price hikes of almost 100% on basic items, while others note that their weekly purchases at Costco have gone up by $100 in a short few months. The revelations are quite shocking, with some people arguing that the company may be price gouging its customers.

“Chicken pot pies went from $16 to $30. Not buying those anymore,” commented one shopper. “I SWEAR the Bone Sipping Broth was 10.99 just 2 years ago. Now it’s 19.99,” marking an almost 100% surge, according to the shopper. “Our $400 trips have turned into $500 trips seemingly overnight,” shared another person on Reddit.

An April post shows a picture of smaller toilet paper packages and higher costs. “Costco shrunk their toilet paper and increased the price,” the caption read. According to CNN, toilet paper shortages are back again at the wholesaler’s warehouses, and scarce supplies led the company to reintroduce purchasing limits for the item in many areas of the country. Some regions may also see limits on some popular products such as paper towels, detergents, and other cleaning supplies.

The reason is that not only demand is higher, but the chain is also having a hard time with its supply chain. Problems with suppliers and shortages of key ingredients and materials are leaving shelves barer. While some stockouts may be fixed soon, a long list of products may never make their way back to Costco warehouses. Due to the challenges the wholesale retailer is facing to source some foods and products, it decided to discontinue a series of items starting this month.

The drastic changes in its product range are coming as a surprise for many consumers. They might also be surprised to find out that over a dozen warehouse closings have been announced for 2023, with Florida alone losing 8 stores this year. The news came just after one current Costco employee shared online that they were informed by management in January that the company is considering phasing out all food courts at US locations due to dwindling profits.

In March, Costco missed first-quarter earnings expectations, according to Bloomberg, registering the slowest sales since May 2020 as shoppers turned frugal on discretionary spending amid persistently high inflation. That has triggered an unpleasant response in the stock markets, with shares sinking 5% in just two days. The wholesaler’s troubles are sending shockwaves through the industry, with many analysts predicting that more closings and further financial losses are on the way for Costco."
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Musical Interlude: 2002, “A Year And A Day”

Full screen recommended.
2002, “A Year And A Day”

"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.”

Chet Raymo, “Universal Constants, Universal Consensus”

“Universal Constants, Universal Consensus”
by Chet Raymo

“I once received a book in the mail, as I sometimes do, for potential review on this blog, James Stein's “Cosmic Numbers: The Numbers That Define Our Universe”. I often write here about books I read, but I don't review. I did glance at Stein's book, however. It has an audience, but it's not for me; been there, done that. The subtitle is provocative, however. The idea that a dozen or so numbers "define the universe." That's a mind-blowing concept.

The gravitational constant. The speed of light. Absolute zero. Planck's constant. The Hubble constant. And so on. Familiar to every introductory physics student. Built into the very structure of the Earth. And every other earth in the universe.

Look again at the Hubble Ultra Deep Field photograph above. Those myriad of galaxies. Those yawning light-years. That infinitude of worlds. And, as far as we know, the fundamental constants are the same everywhere,

The human mind has thrown a net across the cosmos. And as we have brought the galaxies into our ken, so have we come to realize that we too are part and parcel of the fabric of cosmic space and time. Exceptional clarity. Impenetrable mystery.

So what do we make of the news so breathlessly reported in the media of neutrinos moving faster than the speed of light? This is surely a bit of heroic physics, pitting what we believe to be true against the refining fire of experience, but I wouldn't make too much of it yet. Tom suggested that perhaps the researchers unwittingly measured the distance from CERN in Switzerland to Gran Sasso in Italy with greater accuracy. That's the kind of whimsy the result calls for now. The real story - for the time being - is as an illustration of the way the engine of scientific knowing grinds inexorably toward consensus.”

"I Realized..."

"Life's impermanence, I realized, is what makes every
single day so precious. It's what shapes our time here.
It's what makes it so important that not a single moment be wasted."
- Wes Moore

The Daily "Near You?"

Berlin, Germany. Thanks for stopping by!

"Get Your Stuff Together..."

“We all got problems. But there’s a great book out called “Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart.” Did you see that? That book says the statute of limitations has expired on all childhood traumas. Get your stuff together and get on with your life, man. Stop whinin’ about what’s wrong, because everybody’s had a rough time, in one way or another.”
- Quincy Jones

"4 Ways That Joe Biden Could Get America Into A Nuclear War" (Excerpt)

"4 Ways That Joe Biden Could
Get America Into A Nuclear War"
By Michael Snyder

Excerpt: "Have you ever looked at Joe Biden and wondered if this guy is going to get us all killed? If so, you are definitely not alone. Biden is an ill-tempered lunatic that is not all there mentally, and his foreign policy team includes well-known warmongers such as Jake Sullivan, Antony Blinken and Victoria Nuland. Over the past two years they have been provoking our enemies every chance they get, and that has pushed us to the brink of war with several of them. They keep telling us that they know exactly what they are doing, but if they get this wrong we are not going to get a “do over”. Once the missiles start flying, there will be no going back. The following are 4 ways that Joe Biden and his minions could get America into a nuclear war…"
Full article is here:
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"How It Really Is"