Monday, May 8, 2023

Jim Kunstler, "The Next Big Thing"

"The Next Big Thing"
by Jim Kunstler

“Psychopaths and narcissists aren’t ‘mentally ill,’ they’re just horrible people, and they get worse with age, not better.”– Aimee Terese on Twitter

"Now that the charm has worn off the transsexual craze - the idea that a person’s emotional distress can be cured by identifying as the opposite sex - we await the next ploy out of the Woke Transhumanist game-plan to destabilize the human project on earth. People-of-color, brown, indigenous, Pacific Islander, gay, lesbian, plus-size, differently-abled, all women (of course), have taken their turn in the batting order of intersectional oppressed minority groups, and each has walked off with a participation trophy. Who’s left now?

The dead! Their needs have not received sufficient attention. Inclusion has not come to them… yet. They are systematically kept out of all current activities and ceremonies. They are segregated in ghettos of grass and granite. The legal system stigmatizes them. Numerically, through human history, they are by far the largest demographic. Yet, they are routinely ignored, overlooked, disrespected. If anyone deserves to be Woked-up from the sleep of oppression, it’s them.

Don’t despair, a great grooming is underway. The next new thing will be for most of us to transition into the dead. Do you think it’s an accident that Hollywood has churned out zombie movies by morgue-full in recent years? Obviously, more and more Americans have come to identify as the walking dead. (And, judging by the behavior in our land, a lot of people’s brains have been eaten.) Even our businesses and banks have a walking dead kind of look to them.

Our project in Ukraine has been a tremendous grooming aid in preparing people to become dead. But that experiment is nearly complete now. Hence, we must seek a much bigger global project for transitioning humanity into the satisfactions of being dead. A war with China would be the ideal grooming opportunity. They outnumber us about ten to one. They’ve developed hypersonic missiles that can deliver nuclear payloads anywhere in our country, with the potential of transitioning millions of Americans at a time. And when they’re done with that, they can send an army over here to work the luckless survivors to death out in the soybean fields and the corn rows.

Perhaps in anticipation of this, America elected (so they say) a president in mid-transition to being dead. “Joe Biden” is celebrated for staying mostly out-of-sight, underground, for speaking a dead language that resembles 20th century American vernacular English, for lurching one way and another, zombie-like, on his way off-stage in fleeting public appearances, and for taking large sums of money from Chinese officials who support America’s transitioning program. Best of all, the president personally empathizes and identifies with the dead, encourages more Americans to become dead, offers cash incentives to hospitals that expedite death, and makes pharmaceuticals available - both legal and illegal - for inducing efficient transitions to the bliss of non-being.

In fact, there seems to be a rush now to transition, with the pace being set by professional athletes in their twenties and thirties who keel over in mid-play on the football pitches, by movie actors who undergo conversion as the cameras roll, TV news-readers who drop away from the mic with eyes rolling down like window shades in full view of multitudes, and other celebrities who surprise their loved ones by simply waking up dead in the morning. These are the edgy avatars of the next big thing. So hallowed are their transitions from living to dead, that the process is spoken of only in whispers, as in a church or a sepulcher. Doctors who come upon the scene are mesmerized to the point of silence, too much in awe to speak of what brought on the fateful transition - certainly nothing they did.

As the people go, so goes the nation. The USA is transitioning from a dynamic system of economic liberty, endeavor, and law to an entropic dystopia of chaos, corruption, and inertia. As suits a country of the walking dead, nothing works: telephone calls go dead, the bank won’t give you any money, your duties on-the-job have been eliminated, your food store has closed down, there are no parts available for your broken things, your flights are cancelled, your Facebook archive has been erased, your opinion is not wanted, your vote is meaningless, your children no longer need your permission to do anything, and, final insult, a martini now costs fifteen dollars.

Death is everywhere in America now, hovering over everything we do. Don’t fight it - celebrate it! Foster it wherever you go, among all you consort with! Welcome it as you slough off all the annoyances of being here and rise to your blessed platform in the perfect gnostic Elysium promised by the theurgists of Wokery. Become the dead you long to be!"

"Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 5/8/23"

Full screen recommended.
Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 5/8/23
"Ray McGovern: Zelenskyy Vows To Defeat Putin; 
JFK Assassination Update"
"Hard hitting legal/political news from a man who knows and respects the Constitution and the importance of defending individual freedoms. Judge Andrew P. Napolitano. As Fox News’ Senior Judicial Analyst from 1997 to 2021, Judge Napolitano gave 14,500 broadcasts nationwide on the Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. He is nationally known for watching and reporting on the government as it takes liberty and property. The Judge is the author of nine books on the U.S. Constitution, two of which have been New York Times Best Sellers. His most recent book, "Suicide Pact: The Radical Expansion of Presidential Powers and the Assault on Civil Liberties."
Comments here:

"Banks Will Be Shut Off"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly 5/8/23
"Banks Will Be Shut Off"
"Experts are talking about how the banking crisis is going to escalate out of control very quickly. They are going to limit the withdrawals from banks."
Comments here:

"Shop With Me At Target! These Prices Are Crazy! What's Next?"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 5/8/23
"Shop With Me At Target! 
These Prices Are Crazy! What's Next?"
In today's vlog, we are at Target and seeing some expensive prices on groceries. With inflation at an all-time high, we are searching for items where we can all save some money! We also go over a lot of items that our viewers have been asking about."
Comments here:

Sunday, May 7, 2023

"Humiliating Russia and Making Terrible Mistakes"

Col. Douglas Macgregor, 5/7/23
"Humiliating Russia and Making Terrible Mistakes"
Comments here:

"Ranchers Report Biggest Cattle Supply Drop In 40 Years As Shortages Hit Grocery Stores"

Full screen recommended.
"Ranchers Report Biggest Cattle Supply Drop 
In 40 Years As Shortages Hit Grocery Stores"
by Epic Economist

"Tens of thousands of ranchers are reporting the largest beef supply drop since 1962 as herds continue to shrink all across the country. The meat shortages we have been warned about for months are now hitting all major grocery stores, and consumers are seeing prices soar to levels last seen during the inflation peak of June 2022. However, livestock economists say that a price spike will likely be seen in the months ahead, with summer demand further squeezing inventories at supermarkets. A new report reveals that many Americans have already begun stockpiling meat to get ready for the shortages that are rapidly emerging, but millions who didn’t prepare will have to be forced to consume less or eat cheaper cuts as shelves go empty and costs spiral. That’s what we’re going to expose in today’s video.

As 2023 unfolds, demand for cattle is expected to keep strong and producers are going retain heifers again — leading to a hole in beef production that could go even deeper, says Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University livestock marketing specialist. “The real spike in prices will come when we start the rebuilding process and ranchers start retaining heifers. That's what squeezes slaughter in the short run, and we're not sure when that's going to happen. It will certainly start this year, and then we will get some painful price hikes,” Brown notes.

Mom-and-pop ranchers will increasingly struggle with profitability given that they were forced to send their animals to slaughter much earlier than normal, making far less money than they predicted they would. At the same time, big corporations are reporting billionaire profits. Recently, some of these companies have been under fire for racking up prices even as inflation levels go down, adding to families’ cost of living.

Over the past three years, dozens of meat processing plants have been closed by some big players in the industry who are transforming scarcity into higher cash flow. The closings are putting the entire meat industry on the brink of collapse. That’s why independent livestock producers are raising the alarm for burdensome regulations that need to go. We are under legislation that bans thousands of mom-and-pop meat processing plants to supply restaurants, schools, hotels, and the like. Yes, you read that right. The American people are dependent on four big businesses that enjoy great advantages thanks to regulation.

And ever since Tyson Foods, one of the largest meat packers in the world said that the supply chain was “breaking,” it is clear that America can’t afford to ignore the warnings of small cattle producers. This food supply issue is critical to public health and the economy. They know what they are talking about when they warn that massive-scale shortages and price increases are coming.

For some families, securing their supply of meat is crucial, and many have been buying in bulk to save money, according to a new report by The Washington Post. In contrast, for the millions of Americans that didn’t have the chance to prepare in advance, the outlook is cloudy. Reports estimate that on average, U.S. consumers will eat 6% less beef this year due to shortages and soaring prices.

It’s safe to say that actions will only be taken when it is too late and supply shortages reach crisis levels. If you can, stock up on your favorite cuts while you can still find and buy them at local stores because, in a few short months, the situation will be vastly different."
Comments here:

"My Warning To You: Get Ready Now, They Are Hiding The Truth From You, Don't Be Fooled"

Full screen recommended.
Jeremiah Babe, 5/7/23
"My Warning To You: Get Ready Now, 
They Are Hiding The Truth From You, Don't Be Fooled"
Comments here:

Musical Interlude: 2002, "Stillpoint"

Full screen recommended.
2002, "Stillpoint"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"The Horsehead Nebula is one of the most famous nebulae on the sky. It is visible as the dark indentation to the orange emission nebula at the far right of the featured picture. The horse-head feature is dark because it is really an opaque dust cloud that lies in front of the bright emission nebula. Like clouds in Earth's atmosphere, this cosmic cloud has assumed a recognizable shape by chance. After many thousands of years, the internal motions of the cloud will surely alter its appearance. 
The emission nebula's orange color is caused by electrons recombining with protons to form hydrogen atoms. Toward the lower left of the image is the Flame Nebula, an orange-tinged nebula that also contains intricate filaments of dark dust. Two prominent reflection nebulas are visible: round IC 432 on the far left, and blue NGC 2023 just to the lower left of the Horsehead nebula. Each glows primarily by reflecting the light of their central star."

Chet Raymo, “Try To Remember…”

“Try To Remember…”
by Chet Raymo

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

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

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

"My Task..."

“My task, which I am trying to achieve, is by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel; it is, before all, to make you see. That and no more, and it is everything. If I succeed, you shall find there, according to your deserts, encouragement, consolation, fear, charm, all you demand – and, perhaps, also that glimpse of truth for which you have forgotten to ask.”
- Joseph Conrad

"Hope In a Time of Hopelessness"

"Hope In a Time of Hopelessness" 
by Washingtons Blog

"Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage;
anger at the way things are, and courage 
to see that they do not remain the way they are."
- Augustine of Hippo

"Several long-time activists have told me recently they are overwhelmed, worried, and think that we may be losing the struggle. One very smart friend asked me if there is any basis for hope.

Hope is an act of will, not a passive mood. Admittedly, things are easier when circumstances bring hope to us, and we can just receive the hopeful and inspiring news. But if we care about winning, we have to be able to decide to have hope even when outer circumstances aren't so positive.

I have children who are counting on me to leave them with a reasonably safe and sane planet. As I've said elsewhere, I care too much about my kids and my freedom to be afraid. I care enough about them that it gets my heart beating, connects me to something bigger than myself, and that gives me courage, even when the chips are down. 

If I allowed myself to lose hope about exposing falsehoods, about protecting our freedom and building a hopeful future, I would be dropping the ball for my kids. I would be condemning them to a potentially very grey world where bigger and worse things may happen, where their liberties and joys are wholly stripped away, where every ounce of vitality is beholden to joyless and useless tasks.

Many of us may be motivated by other things besides kids, and only you can know what that is. But we each must dig down deep, and connect with our most powerful motivations to win the struggle for freedom and truth.

I don't know about you, but I don't have the luxury of giving up hope. When I get depressed, overwhelmed or exhausted by the stunning acts of savagery, treason, and disinformation carried out by the imperialists, or the willful ignorance of far too many Americans, I will myself into finding some reason to have hope. Because the struggle for life and liberty is too important for me to give up." 

Greg Hunter, "Doom Loop Will Cause Total Societal Meltdown"

"Doom Loop Will Cause Total Societal Meltdown"
by Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 

"Journalist and popular author Michael Snyder says his new book “End Times” is revealing just what he predicted. The bad news is it’s going to get worse, much worse. Let’s begin with the banking crisis that is really just getting started. Snyder reminds us what Jesus warned about End Times in Matthew 24:21 when He said, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

Michael explains, “We are talking about this in terms of a banking crisis, but I believe we are very close to literally a banking apocalypse where we could see dozens and, ultimately, hundreds of banks fail here in the United States. Basically, at this point, we’ve got hundreds of banks that are essentially insolvent. They are walking zombies. One recent study said there are about 186 banks on the verge of failure. So, we are going to see a lot more banks fail. If you look at the banks that have already failed in 2023, (SVB, Signature and First Republic) it is greater than all 25 banks that failed in 2008 combined. So, already, the banking crisis of 2023 is worse than the banking crisis in 2008. But, here’s the kicker, we’re only one third of the way through the year.”

Snyder is predicting credit drying up, and after that, the economy will dry up too. When the economy fails, the jobs will be cut, and layoffs will begin in a big way. The layoffs have already started, and Snyder points out, “Less people show up to retailers, less people show up at your business and there is less money to buy stuff. That ultimately means recession. This is not going to happen overnight, but this is a process and a cycle. This is a doom loop we have entered in which credit conditions are going to get tighter and tighter and tighter. In the first three months of this year, the number of layoffs were much higher than for the same period last year. We have seen tremendous layoffs, and it has accelerated in the month of April.”

Snyder says the economy is going to next fall into depression and then society will start failing. Snyder predicts, “There are suicidal decisions our leaders are making, and we are looking at the end of America in hundreds of different ways. This is insane and lunacy. Joe Biden is the worst President that we have ever had. Short term, we are going into a recession and a credit crunch, and there is going to be more civil unrest. Those are short term things. Mid-term, we are going to have an economic depression in America and around the world. We are going to have famine and pestilences. Long term, we have a total global meltdown as all these elements of End Times come together in a perfect storm. We have war and not just war, but nuclear war. Ultimately, where we are heading is a total societal meltdown.”

In closing, Snyder says, “I believe this is going to be the worst of times, but also the best of times. When the darkness is the greatest, the light is needed the most. The best time for the people of God and people who love the truth is ahead of us. We are going to be able to do so much good and point people to the truth. We are going to point people back to God, and we are going to see this great awakening.” There is much more in the 40-minute interview.

Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he goes One-on-One
 with Michael Snyder, author of the recent book “End Times.”

The Daily "Near You?"

Bullhead City, Arizona, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"The Cruelest Joke Of All..."

"The smallest decisions made had such profound repercussions. One ten-minute wait could save a life or end it. One wrong turn down the right street or one seemingly unimportant conversation, and everything was changed. It wasn't right that each lifetime was defined, ruined, ended, and made by such seemingly innocuous details. A major life-threatening event should come with a flashing warning sign that either said ABANDON ALL HOPE or SAFETY AHEAD. It was the cruelest joke of all that no one could see the most vicious curves until they were over the edge, falling into the abyss below."
- Sherrilyn Kenyon

The Poet: Stephen Levine, "Half Life"

"Half Life"

 "We walk through half our life
as if it were a fever dream,
barely touching the ground,
our eyes half open,
our heart half closed.
Not half knowing who we are,
we watch the ghost of us drift
from room to room,
through friends and lovers
never quite as real as advertised.
Not saying half we mean
or meaning half we say,
we dream ourselves
from birth to birth
seeking some true self.
Until the fever breaks
and the heart can not abide
a moment longer
as the rest of us awakens,
summoned from the dream,
not half caring for anything but love."

~ Stephen Levine

"Facing the Dark Side of Humanity"

Full screen recommended.
Sofo Archon, 
"Facing the Dark Side of Humanity"
Comments here:

"How It Really Is"

 

"Russia Is Now Only One Step Away From Victory"

Col. Douglas Macgregor, Straight Calls 5/7/23
"Russia Is Now Only One Step Away From Victory"
"Analysis of breaking news and in-depth discussion of current 
geopolitical events in the United States of America and the world."
Comments here:
o
Meanwhile...
Our enemies tremble ...

But, speaking of parades, as we weren't...
America, 2022:
Full screen recommended.

Russia, 2022:
Full screen recommended.

Any questions?
- CP, Veteran, USMC

"This Is Going To Get Ugly"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, 5/7/23
"This Is Going To Get Ugly"
"We are hearing from experts talk about how about commercial real estate is going to be. We are hearing from economist that think that we have not seen anything remotely close to the end of this."
Comments here:

"Walmart Prices Are Skyrocketing! This Is Unbelievable! What Now?"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 5/7/23
"Walmart Prices Are Skyrocketing! 
This Is Unbelievable! What Now?"
"In today's vlog we are at Walmart and are noticing massive price increases! 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:

Saturday, May 6, 2023

Musical Interlude: 2002, "Spirit Moves"

Full screen recommended.
2002, "Spirit Moves"

Musical Interlude: Deuter, "Music of the Night: East of The Full Moon"

Deuter, 
"Music of the Night: East of The Full Moon"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“These three bright nebulae are often featured in telescopic tours of the constellation Sagittarius and the crowded starfields of the central Milky Way. In fact, 18th century cosmic tourist Charles Messier cataloged two of them; M8, the large nebula left of center, and colorful M20 on the right. The third, NGC 6559, is above M8, separated from the larger nebula by a dark dust lane. All three are stellar nurseries about five thousand light-years or so distant.
The expansive M8, over a hundred light-years across, is also known as the Lagoon Nebula. M20's popular moniker is the Trifid. Glowing hydrogen gas creates the dominant red color of the emission nebulae, with contrasting blue hues, most striking in the Trifid, due to dust reflected starlight. The colorful skyscape recorded with telescope and digital camera also includes one of Messier's open star clusters, M21, just above the Trifid.”
"When I heard the learn’d astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged
in columns before me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams,
to add, divide, and measure them,
When I sitting heard the astronomer where
he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars."
- Walt Whitman

"One Summer Night..."

"One summer night, out on a flat headland, all but surrounded by the waters of the bay, the horizons were remote and distant rims on the edge of space. Millions of stars blazed in darkness, and on the far shore a few lights burned in cottages. Otherwise there was no reminder of human life. My companion and I were alone with the stars: the misty river of the Milky Way flowing across the sky, the patterns of the constellations standing out bright and clear, a blazing planet low on the horizon. It occurred to me that if this were a sight that could be seen only once in a century, this little headland would be thronged with spectators. But it can be seen many scores of nights in any year, and so the lights burned in the cottages and the inhabitants probably gave not a thought to the beauty overhead; and because they could see it almost any night, perhaps they never will."
- Rachel Carson

"A Real Church Sign"

 

"The Gods Laugh At Your Plans: Chekhov, Jaspers, And Life-changing Moments"

"The Gods Laugh At Your Plans: 
Chekhov, Jaspers, And Life-changing Moments"
The most momentous and significant events in our lives 
are the ones we do not see coming. Life is defined by the unforeseen.
by Jonny Thomson

"You’re in the shower one day, and you feel a lump that wasn’t there before. You’re having lunch when your phone rings with an unknown number: there’s been a crash. You come home and your husband is holding a suitcase. “I’m leaving,” he says.

Life is inevitably punctuated by sudden changes. At one moment, we might have everything laid out before us, and then an invisible wall stops us in our tracks. It might be an illness, a bereavement, an accident or some bad news, but life has a habit of mocking those who make plans. We can have our eyes on some distant shore, some faraway horizon, only to find everything come crashing down by the most unseen of events. As the Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote, “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men. Gang aft agley” (often go wrong).

In Anton Chekhov’s remarkable play, "The Seagull," we meet a cast of characters who are all, in some way, in love with something. The young, idealistic artist Konstantin is in love with the idea of pure art. Arkadin, his mother, is in love with her fans and her celebrity. Konstantin’s girlfriend, Nina, is in love with becoming rich and famous. Everyone in the play has some kind of ambition and plan, or they live in regret over the life they chose. They rail against how misguided or mistaken their life has been, while longing for something else.

They are each like a seagull, flying over the sea or a great lake, and aiming purposefully for the shore. The view up there is wonderful. But the longer the seagull flies, the more oblivious they are to how they tire or weaken. They’re so fixated on some distant horizon that they’re at the mercy to life’s sudden changes. They’re blinkered and distracted, and the gods love nothing more than the hopeful hubris of mankind.

At one point in the play, Chekov has the character Trigorin recount a short story about a gull flying over a lake who’s, “happy and free.” But in the next moment, “a man sees her who happens to come that way, and he destroys her out of idleness.” The seagull is killed, its flight and plans annihilated, in one instant of random thoughtlessness.

Boundary Situations: While so much of our lives are spent in planning and preparation, the most transformative and significant moments are those which come at us out of the blue. These are what the psychiatrist Karl Jaspers called “boundary situations” - the ones we cannot initiate, plan, or avoid. We can only “encounter” them. These are not the mundane, everyday parts of our life - what Jaspers calls “situation being” - but rather they are things which thunder down to shake the foundations of our being. They change who we are. Although these “boundary situations” (sometimes called “limit situations”) change a bit in Jaspers’ works, he broadly sorted them into four categories:

Death: Death is the source of all our fear. We fear our loved ones dying, and we fear the moment and fact of our own death. When we know grief and despair, or when we reflect on mortality, we are transformed. We always know about death, but when it’s a boundary situation, it comes crashing into our lives like some grim scythe; an unforeseen curtain call. The awareness and subjective encounter with death transforms us.

Struggle: Life is a struggle. We work for food, compete for resources, and vie with each other for power, prestige, and status in almost every context there is. As such, there are moments when we are inevitably overcome and defeated, but also when we are victorious and champion. The final outcomes of struggle are often sudden and great, and they make us who we are.

Guilt: Hopefully, there comes a moment for each of us when we finally accept responsibility for things. For many, it comes with adulthood, but for others it comes much later still. It’s the awareness that our actions impact all around us, and our decisions echo into the world. It’s seeing the damage or tears we’ve caused. It’s to recognize that, however small or big, we’ve hurt and upset someone. It’s a profound pull of the heart that changes how we live, and it often comes on unexpectedly.

Chance: No matter how neat and ordered we might want our world to be, there will always be a messy, chaotic, and unpredictable exception. We can hope for the best, and make the plans we want, but we can never take a steering handle on the facts that will affect our existence. According to Jaspers, we each prefer, “assembling functional and explanatory structures… whose central axis lies in sufficient reason” and yet, “despite this, it is not possible for man to control and explain everything. In fact, day by day he faces events that he cannot call anything else other than coincidences or hazards.” We want order, and regularity. What we get is the mercurial and capricious throes of chance.

The best laid plans: What Chekhov’s Seagull and Jaspers’ “boundary situations” get right is that we are each much more vulnerable than we might want to allow. A wedding, three years and a fortune to plan, is ruined by a stomach bug. An hour-long journey home for Christmas winds up getting you stuck in the traffic of a freak snowstorm. A lifetime achievement is overshadowed by a national disaster. Our lives are defined by the unforeseen. We have our dreams, hopes and are flying to some faraway shore. Yet life doesn’t care. Around every corner, at every flap of our wings, everything can change."
If you caught a glimpse of your own death,
would that knowledge change the way you live the rest of your life?"
- Paco Ahlgren, "Discipline"

"We Are All Born Mad..."

The Poet: Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Ulysses”

 

“Ulysses"

"There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:
There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me -
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads - you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honor and his toil;
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson
o
Procol Harum, "A Salty Dog"

"I Hope I End Up..."

"I don't want to pass through life like a smooth plane ride. All you do is get to breathe and copulate and finally die. I don't want to go with the smooth skin and the calm brow. I hope I end up a blithering idiot cursing the sun - hallucinating, screaming, giving obscene and inane lectures on street corners and public parks. (Or blog! lol - CP) People will walk by and say, 'Look at that drooling idiot. What a basket case.' I will turn and say to them, It is you who are the basket case! For every moment you hated your job, cursed your wife and sold yourself to a dream that you didn't even conceive. For the times your soul screamed yes and you said no. For all of that. For your self-torture, I see the glowing eyes of the sun! The air talks to me! I am at all times! And maybe, the passers-by will drop a coin into my cup."
- Henry Rollins

The Daily "Near You?"

Padova, Italy. Thanks for stopping by!

"A Point Of No Return..."

"When swimming into a dark tunnel, there arrives a point of
no return when you no longer have enough breath to double back.
Your only choice is to swim forward into the unknown and pray for an exit."
- Dan Brown

"This Will Unwind Very Fast"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly 5/6/23
"This Will Unwind Very Fast"
"We are going to see our teetering economy finally fall off a cliff. We are being told that employment is doing well as our banks collapse, and businesses close all around us."
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"When One Cannot Be Sure..."

"When one cannot be sure that there are many days left, each single day becomes as important as a year, and one does not waste an hour in wishing that that hour were longer, but simply fills it, like a smaller cup, as high as it will go without spilling over."
- Natalie Kusz

"How It Really Is"

 

"Hundreds of Thousands of Russian Troops Are Sweeping Everything Before Them"

Col. Douglas Macgregor, Straight Calls 5/6/23
"Hundreds of Thousands of Russian Troops 
Are Sweeping Everything Before Them"
"Analysis of breaking news and in-depth discussion of current geopolitical events in the United States of America and the world. Interview with Dan Ball."
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Hindustan Times, 5/6/23
"Russian Air Force Can Destroy Ukraine':
 Putin's Aerial Superiority Worries United States"
"The U.S. is in panic mode over fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin might use his colossal air force against Ukraine in the coming days. According to a Newsweek report, the Pentagon is nervous that Russia's overwhelmingly superior air force could wreak havoc in Ukraine. U.S. military experts told Newsweek that Ukraine's air defense is rapidly depleting and needs upgrading in order to counter Russia's air attacks. The Russian Air Force is the world's second-largest air force after the United States. U.S. military experts say that Russian air power could decimate Ukraine's much-anticipated counteroffensive and also change the course of the war."
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"Food Shortages At Kroger! This Is Not Good! Be Prepared!"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 5/6/23
"Food Shortages At Kroger! 
This Is Not Good! Be Prepared!"
"In today's vlog we are at Kroger with shortages everywhere! We are here to check out food shortages, and the empty shelves situation! It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting products!"
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o
Meanwhile...
Full screen recommended.
Travelling with Russell, 5/6/23
"Russian Typical Supermarket Tour:
 What are Prices Like in 2023?"
"What are prices like in a Russian typical supermarket in 2023. Take a walk inside Globus Supermarket in Moscow, Russia and find out together."
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(1 ruble = 0.013 US dollars.)

Comments, Good Citizen?

Greg Hunter, "Weekly News Wrap-Up 5/5/23"

"Weekly News Wrap-Up 5/5/23"
by Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

"The banking bummer Jamie Dimon said was over is far from over. More banks are going down, and more banks are finding themselves in deep financial trouble. The banking collapse of 2023 is already far greater than the banking collapse that touched off the so-called “Great Recession” in 2008. Did I say it was far from over? In a new Gallup poll, almost half of all Americans are “worried” about their deposits in the bank. That’s reassuring!!

To make matters worse, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is warning that if the debt ceiling is not raised by congressional legislation by June 1st, the USA could default on it’s debt. Yikes!! That has never happened before. This sounds almost unreal, and yet it is from the mouth of our Treasury Secretary. The sailing is not going to be smooth, even though a bill raising the debt ceiling has already passed the House. In the Senate, at least two Democrats are going to side with the Republicans to whittle down the price tag. This should be interesting and dangerous at the same time.

People in large numbers are becoming disabled and dying from the CV19 bioweapon/vax, and yet folks in power ignore it and act as if nothing is wrong. Money manager and number cruncher Ed Dowd said on USAW that 30% of the workforce is either dead, disabled or chronically ill from the injections – so far. The trend is not turning down, and this has huge implications for the economy and the readiness of our military. Keep in mind the demonic powers running our country have war in Ukraine and probably one coming in China, too, in the not-too-distant future." There is much more in the 50-minute newscast.

Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he talks about these
stories and more in the Weekly News Wrap-Up for 5/5/23:

Friday, May 5, 2023

"'It Could Start In Hours' - Russian Official; Evacuation Underway; Nuclear Plant Incident Likely"

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper 5/5/23
"'It Could Start In Hours' - Russian Official; 
Evacuation Underway; Nuclear Plant Incident Likely"
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"20 Big Box Retailers Closing Down Stores Right Now"

Full screen recommended.
"20 Big Box Retailers Closing Down Stores Right Now"
by Epic Economist

"Your favorite store may be gone before the year ends. Big-box retailers, grocery stores, apparel chains, home goods companies, and even some very big names like Burger King, GameStop, and Sephora are announcing mass store closings in 2023 due to a series of economic threats emerging everywhere all at once.

Similarly, Kroger is not done closing stores in the U.S. The grocery chain is getting rid of hundreds of locations that have been reporting poor performance and profitability in recent years. Lori Raya, president of Kroger's Mid-Atlantic Division, said in a statement that the company “could not continue to operate stores that have been losing money for a sustained period of time.” But according to retail analysts, a much bigger wave of shutdowns may be ahead. Kroger’s merger with Albertsons means that about 500 branches will be chopped so that the companies meet legal requirements. Unfortunately, this also means that thousands of jobs are going to be lost during that process.

Meanwhile, a fourth round of store closings has begun for Macy’s. After shuttering 125 of “its least productive stores” in 2021 and 2022, another 45 locations are now on the retailer’s chopping block. Previously, Macy’s announced that it would slash a fifth of stores and lay off 2,000 employees to allegedly improve productivity. Last month, CEO Jeff Gennette explained in a statement that the decision came after the company analyzed its sales growth outlook and revenue forecasts for 2023. “Based on current macro-economic indicators and our proprietary credit card data, we believe the consumer will continue to be pressured in 2023, particularly in the first half, and we have planned to adjust our accordingly, ” he said.

Target is now conducting a series of store closings citing declining foot traffic, rising shoplifting cases, and collapsing profits as the reason for the decision, according to a recent report. The first round of shutdowns will hit dozens of grocery stores in Maryland, as well as Virginia, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania. Executives said the locations haven’t been able to improve performance over the past twelve months, and the retailer’s worsening financial woes are behind the tough decision.

With so many major brands seeing operations crumble in such a short period of time, we can certainly comprehend why retail experts call this crisis an "apocalypse." Our economic scenario is being ravaged by so many losses. Consumers and U.S. communities are losing stores that served them for years and will definitely be missed. Struggling stores don't stand a chance in this unforgiving environment, and it is safe to say that many other chains will follow the same move in the coming months.

The situation is so dire that analysts estimate that by the end of 2023, the national brick-and-mortar footprint may be reduced by up to 20% - the biggest annual decline since the onset of the U.S. retail apocalypse in 2017. We may actually surpass the number of closures seen during the pandemic when thousands of businesses collapsed pretty much overnight. This is certainly an unprecedented crisis, and in today's video, we decided to expose which major chains are shrinking their store bases this year so you can have the chance to visit some of these beloved retailers one last time."
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"Prepare For A Mad Max World; Everything Is Being Propped Up"

Jeremiah Babe, 5/5/23
"Prepare For A Mad Max World; 
Everything Is Being Propped Up"
Comments here:

Musical Interlude: Deuter, "Loving Touch"

Full screen recommended.
Deuter, "Loving Touch"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Like delicate cosmic petals, these clouds of interstellar dust and gas have blossomed 1,300 light-years away in the fertile star fields of the constellation Cepheus. Sometimes called the Iris Nebula and dutifully cataloged as NGC 7023 this is not the only nebula in the sky to evoke the imagery of flowers. Still, this remarkable image shows off the Iris Nebula's range of colors and symmetries in impressive detail. Within the Iris, dusty nebular material surrounds a hot, young star.
The dominant color of the brighter reflection nebula is blue, characteristic of dust grains reflecting starlight. Central filaments of the dusty clouds glow with a faint reddish photoluminesence as some dust grains effectively convert the star's invisible ultraviolet radiation to visible red light. Infrared observations indicate that this nebula may contain complex carbon molecules known as PAHs. The bright blue portion of the Iris Nebula is about six light-years across.”

"And The Hell Of It Is..."

“You go up to a man, and you say, “How are things going, Joe?” and he says, “Oh fine, fine... couldn’t be better.” And you look into his eyes, and you see things really couldn’t be much worse. When you get right down to it, everybody’s having a perfectly lousy time of it, and I mean everybody. And the hell of it is, nothing seems to help much.”
- Kurt Vonnegut

"People are sad. People are broke. People are worried about money, people are worried that they're not enough and not amounting to anything and they don't feel good about themselves. People have rough times, and everybody's pretending it's not true, and we need to break that veneer." - Eve Ensler