Tuesday, June 13, 2023

"15 Things That Became Priceless For The Average American Families, with Clayton Morris"

Full screen recommended.
Investing Future, 6/13/23
"15 Things That Became Priceless For The 
Average American Families, with Clayton Morris"

"Once upon a time, the average U.S. household could afford more than the bare minimum. But as the inflation monster was unleashed, pushing the value of our dollars downhill, the sole goal of most of our society became surviving month by month. As the things that made life a little more livable became way too expensive for us to have, it is actually insane to think how much the cost of living has gone up in just a few years. We went from on the path to prosperity to on the verge of a cliff alarmingly fast. Today, most people have little to no money left to spend after they pay all their bills, and no matter how much we work, it seems that it's never enough to achieve a comfortable living.

In today's video, we've decided to gather some goods and services whose prices are soaring well above what most of us can pay. Before moving on, we kindly ask you to support our work with a thumbs up, and don't forget to subscribe to our channel. Without further ado, let's check this list.

1. Computers and electronics, including cameras, smartphones, TVs, video doorbells, and even electric toothbrushes, need semiconductor chips to function. But the shortage of microchips is still plaguing the industry and driving the price of all products that depend on these tiny devices to soar. Over the past two years, the electronics category has seen overall prices rise by 30 percent, with some large TVs more than doubling in price since 2021. Experts predict that the chip shortage will last for another year or two, especially because severe storms caused a slowdown in production in Taiwan, which produces 65 percent of the semiconductors we use. In other words, expensive prices for electronics are going to stay with us for quite some time.

2. Rental cars: If you are planning to take a road trip this year, you may have to reevaluate your plans because the average cost to rent a car in 2023 is 73.5 percent higher than a year ago. This massive surge was largely caused by the sudden drop in demand during the pandemic when no one was traveling. Rental car companies reported declining revenues, and many of them were forced to sell off large chunks of their fleets to stay afloat. The stunning increase in car prices that followed over the next two years made it difficult for them to purchase new vehicles to rebuild their inventories. So, demand for rental cars continues to outstrip the available supply, making them a less viable alternative for those who are looking to save some money.

3. Gas: Even after falling almost one dollar fifty after its five-dollar peak in June 2022, gas prices are still 42.7 percent higher than they were in 2019. This led 56 percent of Americans to drive less in December compared to the same time a year prior. Our domestic production of gasoline remains below historical levels, and in many parts of the country, supplies are already dwindling. Extreme weather events also shut down nine refineries, which are just now resuming operations, and we're seeing this being reflected at the pump. In recent days, just a week ago, the national average was 3.27 cents per gallon. Today, it reached 3.48 per gallon, which is an increase of 21 cents in just seven days. Also, refinery maintenance season will soon be in full force, putting upward pressure on prices. On average, gasoline prices rise between 35 and 85 cents per gallon between March and Memorial Day.

4. Clothing: Even as major retailers mark down prices to get rid of excess inventory, apparel prices rose by almost a percent in January and were 5.2 percent higher than in January 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Demand has stayed strong, with Walmart reporting a 6.5 percent increase in apparel sales in the last quarter."

Continued in video.
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"15 Grocery Shortages That Will Make Americans Freak Out This Summer"

Full screen recommended.
"15 Grocery Shortages That Will Make 
Americans Freak Out This Summer"
by Epic Economist

"Whenever people start noticing that a major shortage is unfolding or may be ahead, they rush to the stores to hoard their favorite items before they completely disappear. And in 2023, things will be no different. 2022 was a very complicated year for food production, and now we're seeing how this is affecting the availability of certain products at our local supermarkets. Getting ready in advance is key. Now is the time to check out your pantry and list what's missing so that next time you go grocery shopping, you know exactly what to get to and which shortages to expect.

For instance, if you’re long waiting to eat some corn with your barbecue this summer, you should probably go to the stores and buy some while it’s still available because supplies are getting tight. Everything started when the world lost one of the leading providers of corn, Ukraine, which hasn’t been exporting grain since the conflict with Russia broke out in February 2022. On top of that, other major corn producers like Mexico and Brazil have been reporting lower corn yields, and the countries are deciding to keep most of their supplies on hand instead of sending them to US markets. American corn producers have also dealt with their fair share of challenges in recent years, especially as extreme weather devastated millions of acres of crops, and many farmers faced issues getting enough fertilizer to grow the grain. These factors are likely to contribute to major shortages at stores, not only of corn itself, but a series of corn-based products, like oils, syrups, and snacks. Certainly, prices won’t be the same as they were last summer, so if that’s a staple in your household, don’t forget to stock up your pantry before shelves get barer.

This is the season for some ice-cold beer while we gather with our friends and family and watch our favorite sports game. But for a third consecutive year, a global shortage of carbon dioxide is reducing the supply of this beloved beverage at grocery stores. The bubbling agent is also harder to obtain than it was a few years ago. According to Axios, carbon dioxide is a solid form of dry ice, which was heavily utilized for the shipping of COVID-19 vaccines. Already stymied, the carbon dioxide supply chain suffered more damage when a major production facility in Mississippi became contaminated by a nearby volcano in September of 2022.

Consumers are noticing that Diet Coke has been harder to find this year. Just as for beer, the production of the soda has been rocked by a double whammy of shortages in aluminum - used to make cans - and carbon dioxide. Last year Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey said the industry had experienced an 'earthquake'.And it seems unlikely shortages will soon ease. The drink has a very low-calorie count.,and it is very popular in the United States in the world. Diet Coke uses ingredients, such as aspartame and acesulfame potassium instead of sugar. This gives it a sweet taste without adding extra calories. But these artificial sweeteners are also facing supply shortfalls, that’s why we can still see the traditional version of Coke on store shelves, while the sugar-free beverage continues to disappear.

But what we've seen so far is just the begininng. Seasonal demand is about to squeeze grocery supplies even further during the summer months, and we should start preparing for the chaos at stores in the best way we can. Many more products can vanish from our local supermarkets before year's end, and you can keep tuned with our channel to know what shortages are coming next and how to prepare for the challenges that are ahead of us. For that reason, today, we listed several foods that will likely be in short supply in the coming weeks and months so you can stock up before shelves are wiped clean."
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"Buying Preps At Costco; FED Has Defeated Inflation? Malls Are Defaulting, Investors Get Screwed"

Full screen recommended.
Jeremiah Babe, 6/13/23
"Buying Preps At Costco; FED Has Defeated Inflation? 
Malls Are Defaulting, Investors Get Screwed"
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Gerald Celente, "Only Believe Zelensky"

Strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, 6/13/23
"Only Believe Zelensky"
"Gerald Celente, renowned trend forecaster, is back with an in-depth analysis of today's trends in the news. Get a sneak peek into the new Trends Journal issue, learn how to discern valuable information in a sea of irrelevant headlines, and understand why Gerald says, "Thinking for yourself is the best trend to follow." The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Find out more here: https://trendsjournal.com
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Musical Interlude: David Gates, "Suite: Clouds and Rain"

David Gates, "Suite: Clouds and Rain"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“What strange world is this? Earth. In the foreground of the featured image are the Pinnacles, unusual rock spires in Nambung National Park in Western Australia. Made of ancient sea shells (limestone), how these human-sized picturesque spires formed remains unknown. In the background, just past the end of the central Pinnacle, is a bright crescent Moon. The eerie glow around the Moon is mostly zodiacal light, sunlight reflected by dust grains orbiting between the planets in the Solar System.
Click image for larger size.
Arching across the top is the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. Many famous stars and nebulas are also visible in the background night sky. The featured 29-panel panorama was taken and composed in 2015 September after detailed planning that involved the Moon, the rock spires, and their corresponding shadows. Even so, the strong zodiacal light was a pleasant surprise.”

Chet Raymo,"Seeing"

"Seeing"
by Chet Raymo

"There was a moment yesterday evening when the elements conspired to evoke these few lines, spoken by Macbeth:
"Light thickens,
And the crow makes wing to the rooky woods,
Good things of day begin to droop and drowse."
The fading light. The crows gliding down the fields to the trees in Ballybeg:
"Light thickens,
And the crow makes wing to the rooky woods,
Good things of day begin to droop and drowse."

It's all there, in those few lines - the mysterious power of poetry to infuse the world with meaning, to anoint the world with a transforming grace. One could spend an hour picking those lines apart, syntax and sound, sense and alliteration. The t's of light thickening, tongue against the teeth. The alar w's making wing. The owl eyes of the double o's. The d's nodding into slumber - day, droop, drowse.

The poet Howard Nemerov says of poetry that it "works on the very surface of the eye, that thin, unyielding wall of liquid between mind and world, where somehow, mysteriously, the patterns formed by electrical storms assaulting the retina become things and the thought of things and the names of things and the relations supposed between thing." It works too in the mouth, in the physical act of speech - tongue, teeth, those d's gliding deeper into the darkness of the throat.

I stand in the gloaming garden and the black birds glide, down, down to Ballybeg, and I marvel that with so few syllables Shakespeare can - across the centuries - teach me how to see."

The Poet: Joy Harjo, "Remember "

"Remember"

 "Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the stars stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is. I met her
in a bar once in Iowa City.
Remember the suns birth at dawn, that is the
strongest point of time. Remember sundown
and the giving away to night.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of
her life, and her mother's, and hers.
Remember your father. He is your life also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are:
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their
tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,
listen to them. They are alive poems.
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the
origin of this universe. I heard her singing Kiowa war
dance songs at the corner of Fourth and Central once.
Remember that you are all people and that all people are you.
Remember that you are this universe and that this universe is you.
Remember that all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember that language comes from this.
Remember the dance that language is, that life is.
Remember."

- Joy Harjo

"Bonhoeffer‘s Theory of Stupidity":

Full screen recommended.
"Bonhoeffer‘s Theory of Stupidity":  
"Dietrich Bonhoeffer argued that stupid people are more dangerous than evil ones. This is because while we can protest against or fight evil people, against stupid ones we are defenseless - reasons fall on deaf ears. Bonhoeffer's famous text, which we slightly edited for this video, serves any free society as a warning of what can happen when certain people gain too much power."
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"And, If We're Lucky..."

“Maybe we accept the dream has become a nightmare. We tell ourselves that reality is better. We convince ourselves it’s better that we never dream at all. But, the strongest of us, the most determined of us, holds on to the dream or we find ourselves faced with a fresh dream we never considered. We wake to find ourselves, against all odds, feeling hopeful. And, if we’re lucky, we realize in the face of everything, in the face of life the true dream is being able to dream at all.”
- Dr. Meredith Grey, "Grey's Anatomy"

The Daily "Near You?"

East Dubuque, Illinois, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"The Stock Market Has Gone Full-On Completely Insane! Nothing Matters Anymore"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 6/13/23
"The Stock Market Has Gone Full-On Completely Insane! 
Nothing Matters Anymore"
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o
“All the money you make will never buy back your soul. ”
- Bob Dylan

"Better Take A Closer Look..."

 
"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous
by letting the government take care of him,
better take a closer look at the American Indian."
- Henry Ford

"11 Signs That Our Economic Problems Are Accelerating A Lot Faster Than Most People Were Anticipating"

"11 Signs That Our Economic Problems Are Accelerating 
A Lot Faster Than Most People Were Anticipating"
By Michael Snyder

"A lot of the “experts” have been telling us that economic conditions are likely to really start deteriorating later in the year, but here we are in June and the economy is beginning to unravel a lot quicker than most of them had anticipated. The housing bubble is imploding, existing home sales are plunging all over the nation, foreclosures are surging, manufacturing numbers have fallen into contraction territory and jobless claims are rising. We are building up a tremendous amount of momentum in the wrong direction, and just about everyone agrees that the outlook for the remainder of 2023 is not promising. So if things are this bad now, what will they look like in six months?

For a long time, the U.S. economy was “remarkably resilient”, but now things have started to change in a major way. The following are 11 signs that our economic problems are accelerating a lot faster than most people were anticipating…

#1 We just learned that foreclosure-related filings were up 14 percent last month compared to the same period a year ago…"As the cost of living in the U.S. continues to climb, foreclosures are also on the rise. May foreclosure-related filings, which include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, were up 7% from April and up 14% from a year ago, to 35,196 properties, according to the real estate data group ATTOM."

#2 We are being warned that foreclosure filings are on an “upward trajectory” which suggests “heightened activity” in the months ahead…“The recent increase in foreclosure filings nationwide indicates a trend that has been observed throughout the year, and what we have expected to occur,” Rob Barber, ATTOM’s CEO, said in a statement. “This upward trajectory suggests the possibility of continued heightened activity, and with foreclosure completions seeing the largest monthly increase this year, we will continue to monitor the potential impacts this may have on the housing market.”

#3 As the housing bubble bursts, sales of existing homes are falling all over the nation. For example, sales of existing homes in central Indiana have now declined for 16 months in a row…Sales of existing homes in central Indiana dropped 14.8% in May - the 16th straight month that sales have decreased on a year-over-year basis. Closed sales of existing homes in the 16-county area in May totaled 2,901, down from 3,406 in the same month of 2022, according to the latest monthly data from the MIBOR Realtor Association.

#4 One recent study found that a whopping 8 million Americans currently live in a household that is behind on paying rent. Many are just barely surviving from month to month like this single mother that was recently profiled in the Los Angeles Times…"Evelyn Arceo holds down a full-time job as a baker at Universal Studios Hollywood, earning $19 an hour. But even when she gets a few hours of overtime at the theme park, the single mother of four can barely afford the rent of her one-bedroom apartment in Panorama City. On her salary, buying a home is out of the question. Already, her monthly rent of $1,300 is “just too expensive at this point,” Arceo said, with late fees of $40 to $50 compounding her financial plight. “I don’t think I’ve ever been on time on my rent.”

#5 The most epic commercial real estate crisis in U.S. history has begun, and we are being warned that the two massive defaults in San Francisco that recently made headlines all over the world could just be the tip of the iceberg…"News of Park Hotels & Resorts’ plan to surrender ownership of two of San Francisco’s largest hotels is the beginning of what could potentially become a mass exodus of hotels from the city as 30 additional properties are facing massive loans due over the next two years. The company behind the hotels announced Monday it had stopped making payments on its $725million loan that is due in November for the Hilton San Francisco Union Square and Parc 55 hotels."

#6 Major corporate bankruptcies are happening at the fastest pace that we have seen since 2010…"US corporate bankruptcies crept higher in May over the prior month as higher interest rates and a slowing economy are pushing many companies over the edge. S&P Global Market Intelligence recorded 54 corporate bankruptcy filings during May, a slight rise from 52 April. In the first five months of the year, 2023 has recorded more filings than any comparable period since 2010."

#7 Initial jobless claims just rose to their highest level in almost two years…"Initial jobless claims surged last week to 261k (up from 233k prior and well above the 235k exp) – its highest since Oct 2021."

#8 According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, during the first five months of this year the number of announced job cuts was up 315 percent compared to the same five months last year.

#9 U.S. manufacturing has now fallen into contraction territory…"S&P Global data showed that the US manufacturing sector fell into contraction territory in May. A similar survey released by the Institute for Supply Management showed the industry contracted for the seventh consecutive month in May, at a faster pace than in the prior month."

#10 European manufacturing has also dropped into contraction territory…"Among manufacturers in the Eurozone, production, new orders and backlogs all fell in May as the sector contracted at a faster pace that month, according to S&P Global figures. The 20-nation currency area’s industrial production fell sharply in March, mostly due to a plunge in Ireland. The indicator measures the output of manufacturers, miners, and utility companies."

#11 It is being reported that new numbers show that the EU “entered a recession in the first quarter of this year”… The Eurozone entered a recession in the first quarter of this year, and economists are not optimistic for the coming months. The 20-member bloc reported gross domestic product of -0.1% for the first quarter, according to revised estimates from the region’s statistics office, Eurostat, released Thursday.

What I have just shared with you is certainly quite a bit of bad news. But if I am correct, conditions will continue to deteriorate throughout the rest of this year and into 2024. We live at such a critical moment in human history, and those that have been waiting for life to “return to normal” can stop waiting. The pace of change is picking up speed with each passing month, and most of us are simply not prepared for the craziness that is ahead."

"How It Really Is"

 


Bill Bonner, "American Values, Revisited"

"American Values, Revisited"
A trip back to the ‘50s and ‘60s…and to a different world.
By Bill Bonner

"Honey Fitz can talk you blind
on any subject you can find,
Fish and fishing, motor boats,
Railroads, streetcars, getting votes."
~ Popular ditty in Boston, circa 1912

Youghal, Ireland - "We are reliving the Kennedy years. RFK, Jr. sent us his book – ‘American Values.’ It takes us back to the ‘50s and ‘60s…and to a different world. Today, we recall that era only dimly. But the thing we remember about it, reminded by Mr. Kennedy, is that it was a time of remarkable optimism…and naivete, bordering on delusion. In 1963, “a record 85% of Americans trusted that government by the people could be made to work for the people.”

“Ask not what your country can do for you,” said John Kennedy in his inaugural address. “Ask what you can do for your country.” Nobody snickered. We look back on those words and wonder: could anyone take them seriously? And what did they mean? Wasn’t the government meant to serve ‘The People.’ Not the other way around? How did the feds – who were supposed to be ‘public servants’ become their masters?

The Best and Brightest: Those heady, glory years were a time of great hope and faith. The federal government had won WWII and demonstrated the atomic bomb; it could do almost anything, even put a man on the moon. The best and brightest of America’s young people longed for ‘public service.’ Today, we realize that the feds can do much less than we thought. They could put a man on the moon…but when they tried to stop communists in Vietnam, or drug dealers at home, they failed miserably. Nor could they boost the economy with their new, post-1971, gold-free money.

As time went by, the failures mounted up. Laws were written by lobbyists and passed by Congress to benefit special groups, not ‘the people.’ GDP growth went down, not up – despite the biggest tech breakthroughs in decades. Inflation rose in the ‘70s. From 1975 to 2023, real wages were nearly stagnant. Vietnam was a failure. Iraq was a failure. Afghanistan was a failure. The war on poverty was a failure. Cars still don’t fly. Cancer still kills. We’re $32 trillion in debt (about 100 times more than when JFK was killed)…adding more at the rate of over $2 trillion per year. And our life expectancies are falling.

Frequently, in these pages, we lament the lack of cynicism among the voters. Where have they been for the last half century? Didn’t they notice the unkept promises…the fraud…the corruption…the failures? They still seem ready to believe the most outlandish things. Who would ever believe that you can stimulate an economy with fake money and fake interest rates? Or get rich by going into debt? Can we really put Americans back in high-wage jobs by prohibiting Mexicans from working for low wages? Can we really control the planet’s climate? The borders of the Ukraine?

Greater than Good? Of course, the Kennedy brothers – Jack and Bobby – wanted to win elections. They had a line of talk designed to get them where they wanted to go. They learned it from their grandfather, ‘Honey Fitz’ Fitzpatrick, the smooth-talking mayor of Boston and member of Congress. They learned political calculation too…perhaps from their other grandfather, Joe Kennedy. But there was something more. Rich, privileged, smart, handsome (and Jack was a war hero!) – did they aim higher, towards the good rather than the great?

Typically, world improvers are clever people. They are good salesmen, good at selling themselves and getting other people to do what they want them to do. Hitler practiced his gestures in front of a mirror. Napoleon let his actions – at the front of an army – speak for him, proving to the French that they were unstoppable as long as the Corsican was in charge. The two great men, separated by 130 years, were each able to unite Europe, by force…and re-model society, for a while. Bonaparte remained at the top for 10 years. The Third Reich lasted 12. But the Kennedys had a different idea. While Bobby took on the mafia, Jack set up the Peace Corps in 1961. The Special Olympics was founded by sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 1968.

Back Channel Diplomacy: Several of our friends joined the Peace Corps in the ‘60s and ‘70s. They lived in mud huts in Africa…or or rusty tin shacks in South America. Whether they did any good or not, we don’t know. But they believed they could do good.

But not everyone liked touch football, and not everyone wanted to play ball with the Kennedys. Jack and Bobby soon came to see America’s military/industrial/spook/Congressional complex in a new light. It was not helping to spread the real virtue of the American experiment, but to twist it into vice. Assassinating foreign leaders…instigating revolutions and coups d’etat – the war mongers were taking the US farther and farther away from the honest democracy America was meant to be.

In the Cuban Missile crisis, Kennedy ignored his military advisors (except Robert MacNamara). Instead of making a ‘first strike,’ with nuclear weapons against the Kremlin, he opened a back channel directly with Nikita Khrushev. The Russian president had his own hardliners, trying to push him into military action too. But somehow, Kennedy and Khrushev worked out a deal that was honorable for them both. The Russians removed their missiles; the Americans vowed not to invade the island. (Note that this was very much the mirror image of the proposal by Vladimir Putin on the eve of his invasion of the Ukraine. The Ukrainians, backed by their American advisors, rejected the deal.)

A Kind of Peace: Later, Kennedy worked out a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. In a famous speech, delivered 60 years ago this past Saturday, Kennedy explained what he was trying to do: “What kind of peace do we seek?” he asked.

“Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children - not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women - not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.”

“I speak of peace as the necessary, rational end of rational men. I realize that the pursuit of peace is not as dramatic as the pursuit of war - and frequently the words of the pursuer fall on deaf ears. But we have no more urgent task.”

“On October 11, 1963,” writes Robert Kennedy, Jr., “five weeks before his death, JFK bypassed his own National Security Council and issued National Security Action Memorandum 263, making official the withdrawal from Vietnam of ‘1,000 US military personnel by the end of 1963’; and the ‘bulk of US personnel by the end of 1965.’” But the desire for peace put the Kennedys at war with the most powerful industry in America, the one Dwight Eisenhower warned about in 1961, the aforementioned “military, industrial complex.” It turned out as a cynic might imagine. ‘Camelot’ came to a sudden end. More to come…"

"This Is Hard To Look At"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly 6/13/23
"This Is Hard To Look At"
"Everything is right in front of us. People don’t want to look at the fact that the economy is getting worse. I am in Los Angeles today and the retail apocalypse is unbelievable. To say that it’s getting worse is the understatement of the year."
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Major Price Increases At Meijer! What Now? Not Good!"

Full screen recommended,
Adventures With Danno, 6/13/23
"Major Price Increases At Meijer! What Now? Not Good!"
"In today's vlog, we are at Meijer and are noticing massive price increases on groceries! This has become a complete nightmare as we are seeing yet another wave of price increases around the country and around the world."
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Monday, June 12, 2023

"Alert! WW3 May Start This Week! USA Plans To Evacuate 80,000 From Taiwan; NATO Preps For No-Fly Zone"

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 6/12/23
"Alert! WW3 May Start This Week! USA Plans To 
Evacuate 80,000 From Taiwan; NATO Preps For No-Fly Zone"
Comments here:

Incomprehensibly insane. God help us...

"Looking Forward"

"Looking Forward"
by Jeff Thomas

"Since its inception, International Man has offered prognostications about what the future will bring – economically, politically and socially. The principle writers of the publication have been at this for decades. Each one began by studying world economics and politics in order to make the best choices as to where to live, where to invest, where to store wealth, etc. Over the years, each one got better at researching, better at reading the signs and, ultimately, better at predicting future events.

But, today, we’re approaching a worldwide crisis point and the study that we undertook decades ago has become important for literally hundreds of millions of people who, whether they realize it or not, will soon be impacted by events in a major way.

The foremost concern for readers of this publication is that the world’s leading governments have become decidedly fascist and are rapidly heading in a totalitarian direction. There are a number of facets to this development, all of them disturbing: The elimination of personal privacy, the creation of capital controls, confiscation of wealth, the conversion to electronic banking as the sole form of currency, international taxation standards and the creation of a police state. (There are many, many more facets, but these few tend to be at the core of concern.)

We can expect to see all of these concerns come closer to reality in the near future. The events that bring them about will increase in both frequency and magnitude as we get closer. (Historically, this is always the case, as governments that are in trouble race to get controls in place, as their continued ability to control events unravels.)

In these pages, we do our best to provide projections as to “where it’s all headed” and how it will affect the reader. In doing so, we generally discuss events that we believe will occur sometime soon (within a year or two). Often, we delay discussing events that we’ve anticipated many years previously, because they’d appear to most people as being so unlikely that their prediction would seem absurd.

However, we’re getting much closer to the crisis and, consequently, much of what once might have seemed absurd may now look quite possible to more people. But, even now, we tend to confine our prognostications to the international crisis itself. We rarely discuss what the world will look like after the market crashes have occurred, after the currencies have failed, after the governmental systems have broken down.

So, let’s have a snapshot look at what the overall landscape might look like after the dust has begun to settle. What will some of the greatest powers in the world look like in, say, five to ten years’ time?

To begin, we’ll assume that the more catastrophic events of economic collapse have taken place in the world and we’ll be observing the subsequent knock-on effects – the deterioration that would occur thereafter. Historically, any government that’s leading up to a collapse invariably tightens controls to the max, as it’s aware that, following a collapse, it will lose control, either entirely or in part.

Once markets have collapsed, we can expect a deflationary trend that governments will respond to by creating massive inflation, very possibly leading to hyperinflation. At some point, we can expect to see a collapse in currencies, as a result of the unsustainable debt load – the heroin that has kept them going for decades. This is particularly important with regard to the US, as the US presently possesses the world’s default currency. A collapse in the dollar will send other currencies into a tailspin.

Following a currency collapse, it will no longer be possible for governments to continue to expand their debt loads, as there will no longer be any takers. In addition, government income streams will be diminished. As businesses decline, the tax revenue will be greatly diminished. Whether they like it or not, for the first time in their careers, political leaders will be forced to cut costs, and cut them dramatically.

So, where will they cut? In the US, Social Security represents 15% of recurrent expenditure; Medicare and Medicaid represent another 15%; poverty entitlements are another 10% and a further 15% goes to “defense,” or more accurately, “foreign aggression.” Together, that’s 55%, yet, to diminish any of these (with the possible exception of foreign aggression) would make the blood of Americans boil.

Interest on national debt represents another 9%, but that would quickly be defaulted on. Next to be cut would be the “non-essentials” – the departments of Agriculture, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, Immigration, plus prisons, drug control, conservation and national parks. Cuts in each of these would cause less civil unrest than diminishing the “big four” that make up 55% of the budget.

They would likely keep funding for Homeland Security, the IRS, and the Capitol Police and, in fact, would be likely to increase funding for all three. (Bear in mind that the Capitol Police is unlike any other police force; it is a virtual army, designed to protect legislators within the beltway from what will soon be classified as “domestic terrorism.”)

Along the way, those states that are net receivers of largesse from the federal government will find their allowances cut dramatically. This will mean that, for state and city governments, roads, garbage collection and departments such as Fire and Motor Vehicles, will all receive cuts, along with state and city police departments. This latter move will not only result in increased lawlessness, but will result in police themselves becoming more lawless, or a law unto themselves, sometimes acting in sympathy with the public against the central government, sometimes acting with aggression towards the public.

But these cuts will only be the beginning, as they will be insufficient to address the shortfall. Confiscations of bank accounts will take place, but they too will be insufficient. Cuts in Medicare and Medicaid will eventually be put into effect, along with cuts in Social Security (primarily through inflation). For the over 50% of people who are presently recipients of these mainstays of collectivism, the cuts will quickly create anger, unrest, then riots.

As stated above, veterans (some 10% of the population) will be unceremoniously dumped. They will react by joining those who protest the cuts. Those still employed in the armed forces and Homeland Security will be torn as to whom to side with. (Remember, the invasion of ancient Rome by the barbarians was made possible when the mercenary Roman soldiers simply walked away.)

In total, what we’re looking at is a government that will no longer have the level of control to operate an effective tax collection service, capital controls, or outbound migration, let alone to continue to aggress against other nations. The U.S., more than any other nation, is therefore most greatly at risk of holding itself together following a collapse. As stated in The Art of War, by Sun Tzu in the fifth century BC, “Those who are waging war should get rid of all the domestic troubles before proceeding to attack the external foe.” Essential advice today, as it was then.

It’s clear there are some ominous social, political, cultural, and economic trends playing out right now. Many of which seem to point to an unfortunate decline of the West. As space here is limited, we can only offer a thumbnail sketch of these events; however, it’s not essential that we labor over the fine details of conditions that will exist after the collapses have taken place. A sketch suffices to allow us to plan our own agenda – to locate ourselves geographically away from the hot spots and shift our investments into those things that might be likely to be more depression-proof. And we can move whatever wealth we might have to jurisdictions where its safety is most assured. Those concerns are more urgent than ever and the time remaining is decidedly uncertain."

Musical Interlude: The Moody Blues, "The Voice"

The Moody Blues, "The Voice"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"No, hamburgers are not this big. What is pictured is a sharp telescopic view of a magnificent edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 3628, a puffy galactic disk divided by dark dust lanes. Of course, this deep galactic portrait puts some astronomers in mind of its popular moniker, The Hamburger Galaxy.
The tantalizing island universe is about 100,000 light-years across and 35 million light-years away in the northern springtime constellation Leo. NGC 3628 shares its neighborhood in the local Universe with two other large spirals M65 and M66 in a grouping otherwise known as the Leo Triplet. Gravitational interactions with its cosmic neighbors are likely responsible for the extended flare and warp of this spiral's disk.”

The Poet: David Wagoner, "Getting There"

"Getting There"

"You take a final step and, look, suddenly
You're there. You've arrived.
At the one place all your drudgery was aimed for:
This common ground
Where you stretch out, pressing your cheek to sandstone.

What did you want to be? 
You'll remember soon.
You feel like tinder under a burning glass,
A luminous point of change.

The sky is pulsing against the cracked horizon,
Holding it firm till the arrival of stars
In time with your heartbeats.
Like wind etching rock, you've made a lasting impression
On the self you were,
By having come all this way through all this welter
Under your own power,
Though your traces on a map would make an unpromising
Meandering lifeline.

What have you learned so far? You'll find out later,
Telling it haltingly like a dream,
That lost traveler's dream under the last hill
Where through the night you'll take your time out of mind
To unburden yourself
Of elements along elementary paths
By the break of morning.

You've earned this worn-down, hard, incredible sight
Called Here and Now.
Now, what you make of it means everything,
Means starting over:
The life in your hands is neither here nor there
But getting there,
So you're standing again and breathing, beginning another
Journey without regret
Forever, being your own unpeaceable kingdom,
The end of endings."

~ David Wagoner

"This Is The Motive..."

Full screen recommended.
"All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves."
- Blaise Pascal

"Millions Can't Pay Rent; You're Living In Fantasyland; People Are Going To Get Wiped Out"

Jeremiah Babe, 6/12/23
"Millions Can't Pay Rent; You're Living In Fantasyland; 
People Are Going To Get Wiped Out"
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The Daily "Near You?"

Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"They Are Never Going To See It Coming, And So They Won't Be Prepared..."

"They Are Never Going To See It Coming, 
And So They Won't Be Prepared..."
There is nothing wrong with being optimistic, 
but blind optimism can be a very dangerous thing.
By Michael Snyder

"The reason why so many of the “experts” were shocked by the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009 is because they didn’t want to believe that such a thing could happen. Unfortunately, we are witnessing a similar pattern now. Even though we are absolutely drowning in debt, inflation is wildly out of control, our currency is being transformed into toilet paper, the housing market has started to crash and mass layoffs are being conducted all over the nation, a lot of the “experts” continue to insist that everything is going to be just fine. For example, the following comes from a CNN article entitled “The case for a 2023 US recession is crumbling”

"Many CEOs, investors and economists had penciled in 2023 as the year when a recession would hit the American economy. The thinking was that the US economy would grind to a halt because the Federal Reserve was effectively slamming the brakes to squash inflation. Businesses would lay off workers and inflation-weary Americans would slash spending."

Umm, I hate to interrupt CNN’s wishful thinking, but the reality is that businesses really are laying off workers. In fact, the number of job cuts that have been announced through the first five months of this year is 315 percent higher than the number of job cuts that were announced through the first five months of last year. And more workers are being laid off with each passing day. Earlier today, I was saddened to learn that Spotify has just decided that yet another round of layoffs has become necessary…

"Just a few months after announcing a significant wave of layoffs, Spotify plans to conduct another round of layoffs. This time, the job cuts will affect the podcast division as part of a corporate reorganization. In particular, the company plans to merge Parcast and Gimlet Studios. In an internal memo, Sahar Elhabashi, Spotify’s head of the podcast division, announced that the company was making changes that would lead to a workforce reduction of 2%. This change will affect around 200 jobs and those who are impacted have already received an invitation to talk with someone from the HR department."

Just like in 2008 and 2009, a lot of people that are losing their jobs are falling out of the middle class because they don’t have any sort of a cushion to fall back on. The ranks of the hungry and the homeless are rapidly growing, and this has created an unprecedented crisis in many of our largest cities. The homeless that are truly destitute tend to live in tents, but those that have at least a little bit of money often live in RVs. At this point, it is being estimated that over 11,000 homeless people are living in RVs in Los Angeles County alone…

"There are, by the latest count, more than 11,000 people living in RVs across Los Angeles County. And that number has been rising. The Covid-19 pandemic forced more people into poverty. Some of the RV dwellers have jobs but either don’t want to pay apartment rent, or can’t afford to pay it, in a city where the average one-bedroom apartment costs around $2,500 a month."

Of course wherever there is a homelessness crisis there is almost always a drug crisis. Open air drug markets now operate freely in communities all over the country, and there are some cities where drug abuse is so bad that authorities have completely given up on trying to control it. One of those cities is San Francisco, and as a result real estate prices are falling there much faster than the national average…

"The value of residential real estate in crime-ridden San Francisco has dropped significantly in recent years, with prices dropping by around 16.7%. This contrasts with a more moderate decline of 3.3% in the rest of the country, resulting in a difference of about 13.4 percentage points.

The decline in the housing market in San Francisco has resulted in an additional loss of approximately $260 billion in the value of residential real estate compared to what would have occurred if the city had followed the pattern shown nationally, according to the research center Hoover Institution. Zillow, a real-estate marketplace company, projected that the value of San Francisco’s housing stock was close to $2 trillion before the price drop."

Needless to say, many addicts must steal stuff in order to fund their addictions, and so we have seen crime rates soar over the past several years.

In Chicago, things have gotten so bad that one Walgreens store has actually decided to put almost all of their merchandise “behind staffed counters”…"A Walgreens store in Chicago reportedly has been redesigned to allow customers to browse only two aisles of products – after they pass through anti-theft detectors. The changes at the store on 2 E. Roosevelt Road in the South Loop area put most of the merchandise in aisles behind staffed counters, which customers can shop digitally through kiosks, according to Block Club Chicago."

Many other retailers are shutting down stores in cities such as Chicago, San Francisco and Portland permanently. Our society is melting down right in front of our eyes, but don’t worry. CNN says that everything is going to be just fine. You believe them, don’t you?

The Chinese certainly aren’t buying it. In recent months they have been stockpiling enormous amounts of gold… "China added to its gold reserves for a sixth straight month, extending a flurry of purchases as central banks around the world expand their holdings of bullion amid escalating geopolitical and economic risks. China raised its gold holdings by about 8.09 tons in April, according to data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Sunday. Total stockpiles now sit at about 2,076 tons, after the nation increased reserves by about 120 tons in the five months through March."

Central banks have purchased large amounts of gold in the past year to diversify assets, as well as to protect reserves from the impact of a weakening dollar and rampant inflation. The reason why the Chinese are stockpiling gold is because they can see that a global economic crisis is coming. And everyone else should be able to see it too.

Conditions in the short-term are going to steadily get worse, and in the long-term they are going to get really bad. But most Americans are just going to continue to trust our politicians and the “experts” on television that are assuring them that we are going to be able to avoid a major meltdown somehow. So they aren’t going to do anything to get prepared, and in the end they will be absolutely blindsided by an economic tsunami that they were absolutely convinced would never come."

"Life, eh?"

"We said together, wistfully, 'Life, eh?' It says everything without having to say anything: that we all experience moments of joyful or painful reflection, sometimes alone, sometimes sharing laughs and tears with others; that we all know and appreciate that however wonderful and precious life is, it can equally be a terribly confusing and mysterious beast. 'Life, eh?'"
- Miranda Hart

"Geography Is Destiny"

"Geography Is Destiny"
by Brian Maher

"If you seek understanding of a nation’s foreign policy - and its political orientation - please consult a map. That is because the map - nine times of 10 - will yield you your answer. The map makes a mockery of theory. See the map and the scales will then go falling from your eyes. The map clarifies.

Why did Germany pick two mighty fights last century? Why is neighboring Switzerland so docile? Why is Russia so given to paranoia? Why did liberty sink root in the fertile political soil of Great Britain and its New World castoffs? Again, the map supplies the answers. Let us first consider the aforesaid Germany…

Naked Upon the North European Plain: Germany inhabits the North European Plain. This plain is a defenseless and nearly infinite expanse stretching from the English Channel in the West clear through to Russia’s Ural Mountains in the East. The geography is a massively extended pancake. Its flatness affords Germany little natural defense. Thus Germany stands exposed, naked upon the North European Plain.

To her southwest lies formidable France. To her east snarls the menacing Russian bear. Hence she is squeezed between the French and Russian vise, squeezed between two rivals. A conundrum!

Germany’s 1871 unification - with its vast military and industrial potential - alarmed both France and Russia. Sandwiched between them both, this French and Russian alarm in turn alarmed Germany. What if they leagued together… and besieged her from two sides? It is no exaggeration to argue that The Great War and its 1939 sequel represented German efforts to solve the riddle - to escape the vise grip. Historians decry the Kaiser and the moustached Austrian corporal for initiating both conflagrations. They might first blame the German geography.

Geography and Liberty: What about neighboring Switzerland? Why does she lack the bloodlusting aggression of her Teutonic neighbor? Again, geography holds the answer. Switzerland is heavily alpine, and famously so. And mountains are murder on marauders. These Alps form very high walls, behind which the Swiss can shelter. Switzerland has been trespassed by foreign armies, it is true. Yet the geographical explanation for her listless nonaggression remains valid. Is it any wonder then that liberty flourished so beautifully in Switzerland?

Unlike exposed-on-two sides Germany… vulnerable upon the North European Plain… Switzerland’s alpine defenses largely relieve it of invasion fears. In that geography liberty can plant itself. A people situated therein enjoys the luxury of peaceful pursuits under liberty’s reign. Liberty is unlikely to plant itself in a land perpetually subject to invasion. This land’s residents cannot afford the luxury of liberty. They must be forever on watch. They must adopt a more collective orientation. Again, geography forms a heavy influence. Shall we consider the Russian example?

The Mongols, the French, the Germans, Oh My: Like Germany, Russia sits on the open North European Plain. This of course exposes her to western invasion. Messieurs Bonaparte and Hitler exploited fully this vulnerability - the former in 1812 - the latter in 1941.

And to the east? Russia’s nearly infinite steppes stretch clear through to Mongolia. For what is Mongolia best known? Genghis Khan and the Golden Horde of marauding horsemen who terrorized Eurasia. Crossing these grassy seas, Mongol invaders besieged and conquered Russia. Thus Russia stands vulnerable to invasion from both east and west alike. History has demonstrated this fact to high effect.

Is it any wonder then why Russia appears so paranoid of territorial transgression? Is it any wonder why Russia is so jealous of its influence over Ukraine - and why the prospect of Ukrainian absorption into a western military alliance freezes Russia’s blood? We hazard it is no wonder whatsoever. This paranoia springs from Russian history. And Russian history has been written largely by geography. Let us now take up a geographical consideration of the United States…

God Smiles Upon the United States: God filled two oceans - Atlantic to the right, Pacific to the left - to moat it off from marauders. Russia may have its “General Winter,” it is true. The abovesaid Bonaparte and Hitler can attest to his superior generalship. Yet Russia’s General Winter is nothing against Admirals Atlantic and Pacific of the United States Navy. They keep any invader at length.

Meantime, God emplaced two geopolitical blanks against American land borders, two punchless bantams. One squats to the north, Canada. One sits to the south, Mexico. Imagine a cat bordered north and south by mice. That is the American position - a cat bordered by two mice.

God furthermore blessed the United States with vast tracts of fertile, bountiful land… an extended capillary system of internal waterways… natural harbors from which to send things out… and to take things in. What other nation has enjoyed such natural, God-granted riches? None can approach it. “God has a special providence for fools, drunkards and the United States of America,” concluded Germany’s Otto von Bismarck.

All available evidence indicates it is true. And of these God-blessed categories, we conclude God has most blessed the United States of America. She has absorbed more divine favor than the most foolish fool or the drunkest drunkard.

God’s Sense of Humor: Has God given the United States a Baltimore… a Detroit… a Cleveland? Has He populated its capital with rogues, rascals, cadges, chiselers, grifters and swindlers, with fools and drunkards? Well, friends, maybe He has. We must conclude that He has a mischievous, even puckish sense of humor, this God. He delights in pulling noses. Yet the central fact remains: He has nonetheless showered America with such immense natural extravagance.

In quiet moments, often in the small hours of night, we often marvel…Why are we so fortunate as to reside in this Eden, this El Dorado, this Elysium? Countless others in the world’s various hells are infinitely more deserving. But to proceed…

Much like Switzerland, the American geography sprouts people free to focus on freedom. Of course these people are free to make jackasses of themselves. They often do. But let it go for now. America’s liberty-leaning she shares with her mother, Great Britain. And again, here geography offers us insight.

English Liberty Because of the English Channel: The English Channel has proven an excellent moat. When was England last invaded? 1066? It is no surprise then that Great Britain gave us the Magna Carta. Its geography affords a freedom against invasion - and like Switzerland, an orientation toward political liberality.

Geography likewise blesses the Commonwealth it hatched. New Zealand is an island nation and Australia is a continent. Neither faces foreign harassment. And both like to talk about liberty (whether they mean it or not. Their COVID-era raids upon liberty were among the most extravagant on Earth). Would Great Britain or any of its offshoots soak themselves in liberty if their geographies were different? We hazard they would not. Imagine any of them sharing the German geography or the Russian geography. Their orientations would be more German or Russian than English, American, New Zealander or Australian.

We must conclude that a map will teach you far more about this world than a groaning bookcase of encyclopedias will teach you about this world. Is demographics destiny? Well then, geography is destiny. Close the book, we say - and open a map."

"How It Really Is"

 

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 6/12/23

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 6/12/23
"What Could Russia Demand To End Ukraine War? 
Larry Johnson, for CIA"
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o
Full screen recommended.
Hindustan Times, 6/12/23
"Russia Blows Up Ukrainian S-300 Radar Station; 
Zelensky's Men Claim Success In Four Villages"
"Russia's small weapon, the Lancet drone, has become a big headache for Ukraine. Russia is using these drones to hunt down and destroy Kyiv's weapons, like the Leopard main battle tanks. According to reports, all the German Leopard tanks were bombed using Lancet drones. Not just the "mighty" Leopards, but U.S.-supplied Bradley fighting vehicles and French AMX-10RC units were wiped out on the battlefield with Russian Lancet drones. This intensification in drone usage marks a shift in the Russian Army's tactics. Russia's focus has been shifted to the neutralisation of Kyiv's modern armoured units. The Russians are hunting and destroying these western weapons due to their advanced capabilities. The destruction of these advanced western weapons proves that Kyiv is ill-prepared while Russia's wargame under Vladimir Putin is unmatched at the moment."
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o
Full screen recommended.
Hindustan Times, 6/12/23
"Russia Bombed 'Mighty' Leopards Using This Weapon - 
All About Putin’s 'Game-Changer' Drone"
"Russia's small weapon, the Lancet drone, has become a big headache for Ukraine. Russia is using these drones to hunt down and destroy Kyiv's weapons, like the Leopard main battle tanks. According to reports, all the German Leopard tanks were bombed using Lancet drones. Not just the "mighty" Leopards, but U.S.-supplied Bradley fighting vehicles and French AMX-10RC units were wiped out on the battlefield with Russian Lancet drones. This intensification in drone usage marks a shift in the Russian Army's tactics. Russia's focus has been shifted to the neutralization of Kyiv's modern armored units. The Russians are hunting and destroying these western weapons due to their advanced capabilities. The destruction of these advanced western weapons proves that Kyiv is ill-prepared."
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