Friday, July 14, 2023

Greg Hunter, Weekly News Wrap-Up

"Weekly News Wrap-Up, 7/14/23"
FBI Banana Republic, War Coming, Dollar Crashing
by Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

"A whistleblower exposing treasonous bribes against President Joe Biden was arrested and charged with 8 criminal counts. This is what banana republics do at the end of the line when they want to stay in power after extreme corruption is exposed. Meanwhile, the Head of the FBI Christopher Wray testified on Capitol Hill and was grilled by Congress on a variety of issues. It appears he was caught in lies concerning censoring Americans through social media, and saying there was not FBI undercover presence at J6 in Washington D.C. The crimes are now out in the open, and the lies to try to cover them up are too. The FBI is now helping foster a banana republic government.

The U.S. is wanting to send cluster bombs to Ukraine. It is a war crime to use them, but the Ukrainians are losing badly to the Russians. More than 26,000 soldiers died in the recent so-called counter-offensive. It was an unmitigated disaster and a total cremation of NATO by Russia. The Russians are wanting a peaceful end to the conflict while the Biden Administration is calling up troops and sending F-16’s capable of delivering tactical nukes. Biden and company want war at all costs, and it looks like we are all going to get it.

The U.S. dollar had a very bad week. It lost 4.5% in six days. There is, once again, talk of cutting interest rates as inflation has cooled, but with a crashing dollar, can that happen? What would happen to inflation if the U.S. dollar sinks further spurred by cutting interest rates." There is much more in the 45-minute newscast.

Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he talks about 
these stories and more in the Weekly News Wrap-Up for 7/14/23:

"Here’s Why the Sudden “Rebellion” in Russia was a NothingBurger… And What it Really Means"

"Here’s Why the Sudden “Rebellion” in Russia
 was a NothingBurger… And What it Really Means"
by Chris MacIntosh

"Ok, the big news of the last few weeks. The imminent collapse of Russia. The sudden rebellion by Wagner troops followed by the equally sudden, non-rebellion had the MSM in a tizzy. Most interesting and hilarious was watching the MSM go from “Wagner mercenaries are murdering Ukrainians” to “Wagner mercenaries are going to free us from Putin’s tyranny.” And, of course, now… silence. To be fair, it’s probably best they just shut up. I am simply stunned that anyone continues to listen to these shills who either spout propaganda or simply have no earthly idea what is going on but feel the need to say… well, something. Surely, it must be getting humiliating at this point?

In any event, here are some thoughts and questions I have after having digested some of what appears to have taken place. I watched the MSM come out with multiple (I counted 7 and then stopped counting) reports out on the Saturday morning. The fact we had this deluge of reports in such a rapid timeframe seemed odd to me. I mean the “mutiny” had literally only begun taking place hours prior. Hours!

Then we heard that the intelligence agencies briefed Congress earlier in the week about an expected uprising. Earlier in the week? So the spooks at the CIA and Congress knew about this ahead of time. Which means corporate media knew ahead of time. Which explains how they manage to have literally dozens of articles out within hours. They wrote the Russian Civil War narrative beforehand!

Which brings up the question. How did the security services know this was going to go down… before it happened if they weren’t playing a hand in the affair? An attempted Maidan coup 2.0? If that’s true, then you know what that means? It means that the US has directly attacked Russia. That is an act of war.

Those conclusions, true or not, lead one to consider that maybe, just maybe we have the CIA involved in a foreign country attempting to overthrow its leadership. Shocking, I know. And if so, this was an act of war committed by the US against Russia. But I’m sure it’s not. I’m sure it’s true that the Wagner group is so upset with Putin they tried to remove him from power, and I’m equally sure that upon advancing and finding NO resistance Wagner had a change of mind and instead decided to divert to Belarus to have a beer with Lukashenko. It totally makes sense. I mean, I looked it up and do you know what the temperature was on that weekend over there? 26°C. Now, you may be thinking to yourself, that’s not particularly hot, but I challenge you to throw on all that military fighting gear and walk a few hours in the sun and then tell me with a straight face that you would turn down a cold beer. So that’s what happened, and the coup is now over. In a weekend, no less. Now if money DID change hands between the CIA and Wagner, that’d have been long enough for it to, you know… be settled. Just sayin’.

Think about a hypothetical situation where the CIA did offer some of the billions being laundered through Ukraine in order to foment a “color revolution.” Now, imagine you’re one of those Russkies, a guy like, say, Prigozhin. You have, as I see it, three options:

Accept it and actually risk your neck trying to take down Putin along with the Russian army (Wagner is about 20% of the fighting force of the Russian army)

Decline it and tell your enemies to kick sand, which means they keep the money and you keep fighting.

Or you tell your enemy, sure, and take their money, run a psyops program for a weekend, and ultimately keep fighting. This way you get the best of both worlds.

So what’s it gonna be? I’ll let you decide the most probable scenario. What I do think is evident to all but most intellectually incurious is that what we are being told surely isn’t accurate. Here’s something else to consider. You’d think that if a coup were taking place the capital flight out of Russia would be extreme, and you’d immediately see it in the currency market.
So it’s odd that the ruble has continued to strengthen against both the dollar, the euro, and the British pound. I guess those Russkies are just dumb."
o
London Real, 7/14/23
Douglas Macgregor, "Ukraine Cannot Win This War: 
It's Time To Negotiate With Putin"
Comments here:

The Daily "Near You?"

Johns Island, South Carolina, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"There Comes A Time..."

“Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' Vanity asks the question, 'Is it popular?' But, conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one's conscience tells one that it is right.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.

"Vast Hordes Of Americans Are Being Forced Out Into The Streets As The Middle Class Disintegrates"

"Vast Hordes Of Americans Are Being Forced Out
 Into The Streets As The Middle Class Disintegrates"
By Michael Snyder

"How many people will be sleeping in homeless shelters, on the streets or in their vehicles where you live tonight? That is the sort of question that not a lot of us like to think about. But the truth is that homelessness is growing at a very rapid pace all over the country right now. But if you have lots of money, life probably seems pretty good to you at the moment. You may eat at a different restaurant every night, and you may be one of the approximately 10 million Americans that currently own a second home. Our leaders made the wealthy even wealthier by pumping trillions of dollars into the system in recent years, but as the cost of living has soared the poor have gotten even poorer and the middle class has steadily disintegrated. So now the gap between the wealthy and the rest of the nation is larger than ever, and that is creating a tremendous amount of tension in our society.

In California, vast hordes of homeless people sleep in the shadows of multi-million dollar homes every single night. And even though California has spent a whopping 17.5 billion dollars on homelessness during the last four years, the homeless population in the state has just continued to grow…"California has spent a stunning $17.5 billion trying to combat homelessness over just four years. But, in the same time frame, from 2018 to 2022, the state’s homeless population actually grew. Half of all Americans living outside on the streets, federal data shows, live in California."

Across the country, homelessness is on the rise. But California is adding more homeless people every year than any other state. More than 170,000 unhoused people now live here. Just think about that number for a moment. There are 170,000 homeless people in just one state. And those are the ones that they can actually count. They are many more that haven’t been found yet or that don’t want to be counted.

We have also just learned that family homelessness in the United States is surging…"Family homelessness in the US is on the rise in an alarming sign of how the increasing cost of goods, the ever-tightening housing supply and the end of most pandemic-era benefits are putting pressure on Americans. Some 72,700 people in families with children were experiencing homelessness in 20 of the largest cities in the nation as of January, a 37.6% jump from a year before, according to an analysis of data provided by jurisdictions. In New York, that figure shot up by two thirds, while Chicago, the District of Columbia and Fort Worth, Texas, also saw outsize increases."

I thought that Joe Biden was “fixing” the economy. So why has that number gone up by 37.6 percent in just one year? Something is not adding up.

A 28-year-old single mother in Washington D.C. named Mercedez Millings doesn’t have a home for herself and her four children. Since she is so close to the White House, perhaps Biden and his family would be willing to take her in…"Among those homeless in the nation’s capital is Mercedez Millings, a 28-year-old single mother of four. She delivered packages and worked at a pizza shop during the pandemic, but experienced homelessness during that time and bounced between living in her car and staying with family.

She and her children have been living in a Salvation Army transitional housing program with some 25 other families for most of this year - and Millings is taking personal finance and workforce development classes. But one big obstacle is stopping her from getting a job: She gave birth to her youngest at her mother’s home during the pandemic and never received an official birth certificate. Without it, she’s unable to sign her daughter up for child care."

There are countless others just like her. They would love to have homes, but housing costs have simply become way too high. As I mentioned yesterday, an unused space next to a laundry room that has been converted into an “apartment” in one building in New York City will run you $2,300 a month. And actually purchasing a home is now out of reach for tens of millions of Americans. The Fed has made certain of that by hiking interest rates so dramatically.

Earlier today, I came across a tweet that shared some mortgage math that is just stunning… "New mortgage math is brutal. Say you buy a $1m house with $200k down at a 7% rate ($800k mortgage). Over the first three years you pay $193k ($5,322/mo.) After those $193k of payments your $800k mortgage is now at $774.5k. You paid $166k in interest, $25.5k in principle."

Ouch. Of course housing costs are not the only thing that is going up. According to Zero Hedge, auto insurance rates are going up by double digit percentages all over the nation…"The Wall Street Journal found Allstate has jacked up car insurance premiums by 40% in Georgia, Nationwide Mutual Insurance has increased insurance rates by 32% in California, and State Farm has bumped rates in New York by 11%. The reason is that many of these insurers have experienced significant losses over the last several years, an indication premiums will continue to rise well into 2024."

If you are still making the same amount of money that you did two or three years ago, you are rapidly falling behind. The cost of living is not going to slow down for any of us, and if you can’t keep up that is too bad for you.

In such an environment, many middle class Americans find themselves falling into poverty, and many poor Americans are finding themselves out in the streets. All over America, giant homeless encampments are sprouting like mushrooms. Here is just one example…"One of California’s famous wine regions has a government-sanctioned homeless encampment set up near the local courthouse, Fox News Digital has learned.

Photos taken on Sonoma County’s administrative campus in Santa Rosa show blue tents lining a parking lot where up to 100 homeless individuals can live. Leaders in Sonoma County, located in northern California’s famed wine region, approved the taxpayer-funded homeless camp this year after a “shelter crisis” declaration. The administrative complex is home to various offices such as Sonoma County Human Resources, the county registrar, Superior Court of California and district attorney’s office."

If you still have plenty of money, you may not care what is happening to everyone else. For now, those with lots of cash are living the high life. But that won’t last for long. A day of reckoning is coming for the wealthy, and they will deeply mourn as their tremendous wealth is wiped out. During the early stages of this economic crisis, it will be the poor that are hit particularly hard, but great pain is eventually coming for those at the top of the food chain too."
o
"I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids - and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass.  When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination - indeed, everything and anything except me."
- Ralph Ellison, "Prologue to Invisible Man"

And the brutal truth is that unless if affects them directly, nobody gives a damn. All fun and games and grabass, right? Well Good Citizen, this nightmare's only beginning. Oh, they will carevery, very soon... 

"How It Really Is"

 

Bill Bonner, "Carrots and Sticks"

"Carrots and Sticks"
Pushy politicos, "kooky" moderates 
and boondoggles out the wazoo...
by Bill Bonner

Poitou, France - "Gina Raimondo is a Washington hack. She was identified years ago, by the New York Times as a “rising star’ in the firmament of democratic politics. In 2016, she went to the World Economic Forum, where she no doubt picked up the game plan. And now she is US commerce secretary…even though she knows diddly-squat about the real world of business.

Ignorance is a job qualification. Otherwise, she wouldn’t say things like this: "I want the United States to be the only country in the world where every company capable of producing leading-edge chips will have a significant R&D and high-volume manufacturing presence…It is America’s obligation to lead. We must push like no time before."

Ms. Raimondo believes that her desires, regarding what kind of business people do in the US, have some importance. She thinks she must not only guide the $24 trillion US economy…but ‘push’ it. Pushing sounds like work; you could work up a sweat. But how tough could it be to spend other people’s money from the comfort of an air-conditioned office? Or whack businesses with more laws and regulations that punish them for not doing as they are told? After all, there are only two ‘push’ possibilities – the carrot or the stick.

Kooky” Moderates: In the 1950s, President Dwight Eisenhower and Sen. Robert Taft played golf and enjoyed each other’s company. They didn’t always agree. But they were the leading lights of the Republican party, and on the important points, they were of like mind: go easy on the carrots and the sticks. Budgets should be balanced. Foreign wars should be avoided. And The People should be left alone to seek happiness however they could. In other words, don’t be too pushy. Taft died in 1953. Eisenhower retired in 1961.

John F. Kennedy replaced Eisenhower in the White House. More of an activist on social issues, Kennedy was nevertheless not far from Eisenhower on fiscal and foreign matters. He was in the process of reining in the military/industrial…and CIA…complex – about which Eisenhower had warned him - when he was murdered in 1963.

Since then, both Democrat and Republican parties have been taken over by a new breed of politician. In public, the two parties rage against each other. But, on the important matters— carrots and sticks – they are more solidly united than ever. As to both, they want more. And the moderate views of the Eisenhower-Kennedy Era are now labeled as “far right.” Or, in the case of RFK, Jr., “kooky.”

The two parties used to be predictable and reliably balanced. Republicans thought Big Government was a monster at home…but an angel overseas, where it could correct the mistakes to which foreigners were prone. Democrats saw US power as devilish abroad…but it sprouted wings at home, where it could raise up the poor and downtrodden.

Out of Carrots: Today, both parties believe the federal government is an archangel everywhere, and that the solution to all problems – domestic and overseas – is more carrots and sticks. Alas, the feds are running out of carrots. KPBS: "The federal deficit nearly tripled, raising concern about the country's finances. The Treasury Department said Thursday that the budget gap from October through June was nearly $1.4 trillion - a 170% increase from the same period a year earlier. The federal government operates under a fiscal year that begins October 1. The deficit ballooned both because of a sharp increase in government spending and a significant drop in tax revenues.

Said Maya Macguineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. "How can anyone possibly think this trend is sustainable?" You have to wonder. How can the feds spend $150 billion on a war in the Ukraine…another $52 billion at home, in Ms. Raimondo’s chip industry boondoggle…and yet another $50 billion bailing out regional banks? How can it even think of ‘reparations’…or the trillions it could spend on the Green Agenda?

A “Grotesque Act”: Or, backing up 3 years, to the Time of Trump…how could our leaders – Republican and Democrat alike – ever imagine that they could shut down almost the entire economy (where in the Constitution did it give them the right?)…at a cost of $16 trillion…handing out money so recklessly that former US budget director (under Ronald Reagan) David Stockman called it “the most grotesque act of fiscal malfeasance in American history.”

So far this century, the federales have dispensed $27 trillion worth of carrots…that they didn’t have (as measured by the increase in the national debt). Eisenhower, Taft, Kennedy would all be appalled. Where were the conservatives? The Republicans? Where was anyone at all who was not completely brain dead? They have been purged from both parties. Spending runs wild. The peaceniks are gone too. More about them…and the declining marginal utility of sticks…tomorrow."

"No One Is Buying This"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly 7/14/23
"No One Is Buying This"
"EV cars are stacking up inside the dealerships. No one is buying them. The Fed is determined to ruin things at all costs. They will raise interest rates to try to slow down inflation. So far it’s not working."
Comments here:

Jim Kunstler, "A Fun Day"

"A Fun Day"
By Jim Kunstler

“NATO has lost this war. Biden has lost this war. The lunatic Democrats have lost this war. The uni-party warmongers have lost this war. The EU has lost this war. Ukraine and Zelensky have lost this war.” - Kim Dotcom

"Somebody in the “Joe Biden” White House apparently thinks that the operations already underway are not enough to destroy our country fast enough, so a little extra push, such as nuclear annihilation, might get’er done.

By operations underway I mean things like mRNA vaccines stealthily deleting kin, friends, and public figures from the scene…decriminalizing crime…undermining the oil industry by a thousand cuts…liquidating small business…making little children insane over sex…flooding the land with illegal immigrants…devaluing the currency…queering elections - all of these things done on purpose, by the way. And if you complain about any of it, here comes the FBI or the IRS knocking on your door.

So, to make sure that a collapse of the USA comes on-schedule, there is the useful fracas created by our government geniuses over in Ukraine that creeps day-by-day toward a quick American assisted suicide. Just to remind you, here’s how that started: In 2014, the US fomented a coup against Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. In short order, the Russian language was banned (despite the fact that most Ukrainians speak Russian). A piqued Russia re-po’d the Crimean Peninsula. When ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine (the Donbas provinces) tried to go their own way, Ukraine shelled and rocketed them for eight years. That was the setup, killing 14,000 people.

All of the above was absolutely unnecessary, you understand. Ukraine had been going about its business the best it could since 1991 as a shlub nation with an aged-out Soviet infrastructure, some US-sponsored bioweapons labs, and no energy resources. It had been collecting royalties for allowing Russia to run oil pipelines across its fruited plain - of which, a lot of gas was siphoned off in transit by bandits. Ukraine attempted to compensate for its disadvantages by being an international money laundromat, though that only benefited its oligarch class (and the extended “Joe Biden” family).

After “Joe Biden” got “elected” in 2020, and news of his family’s sketchy business activities in Ukraine and elsewhere finally dribbled out, Ukraine was turned into a giant grenade and “JB” (or persons acting on his behalf) pulled the pin. NATO was dragooned into the quarrel as backup against its better judgment. If the objective was to weaken Russia, as stated by one of our strategic geniuses, SecDef Lloyd Austin, it didn’t work out. Rather, it exposed the USA as a reckless global psychopath bent on wrecking every country it pretends to help - including the major countries in NATO.

Two-thirds of the world’s other nations then started backpedaling away from the US and its protective services to form an economic and security coalition around the BRICs group, as led by Russia and China. The Ukraine campaign itself was a loser from the get-go, relying utterly, as it did, on US and NATO support. This week’s NATO meet-up in Vilnius, Lithuania, showed how that’s going now: Not too well. The Ukraine army is shredded. It’s out of munitions. The US is also out of those very artillery shells most in demand. What to do?

The answer to that, as “Joe Biden” returns from Europe to a White House haunted by a cocaine-snorting ghost, is to send three-thousand fresh reserve troops to Europe and promise a bunch of F-16 fighter planes. Said planes, which were introduced in the early 1970s, will come out of our country’s “high-mileage” inventory. These F-16s will require a suite of highly technical ground support infrastructure. They will not come with the latest avionics upgrades and will be no match for Russian air defenses. Good luck with that, President Z!

It’s all fakery, of course. What do we aim to do with those three-thousand US reservists? Send them into battle in Priyutnoye? I’m sure…At this point, we can only pretend to prolong this stupid and unnecessary conflict with such lame gestures. Germany and France know this is a lost cause. The United Kingdom (so called) is such a mess that it literally doesn’t know what it’s doing in far off and irrelevant (to it) Ukraine. Without those countries, there is no NATO, really. So, the whole vaudeville this week was a sham - led by a US President who was too puny to attend the opening night banquet with fellow NATO leaders, and too incoherent to make a point on departure.

Anyway, “Joe Biden’s” entire act is unspooling. He is a prank that the Democratic Party played on the American people. Sometime before Halloween he will have to exit the scene in disgrace, gruesome as the prospect might seem, with Kamala Harris anxiously draining vodka bottles as she awaits history’s call at the old Naval Observatory. That will be a fun day in the USA, all righty."

"Concerning Price Increases At Aldi! This Is Crazy!"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 7/14/23
"Concerning Price Increases At Aldi! This Is Crazy!"
"In today's vlog, we are at Aldi and are seeing some concerning price increases! We are seeing a lot of the cheaper food items start to skyrocket in price. This is a bit concerning as many families are already struggling to put food on the table!"
- Comments here:
o

Thursday, July 13, 2023

"Russian Nuclear Base Attacked; US Sent 3.000 Troops; Historic Fires Rage In Canada!"

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 7/13/23
"Russian Nuclear Base Attacked; US Sent 3.000 Troops;
 Historic Fires Rage In Canada!"
Comments here:
o
Col. Douglas Macgregor, 7/13/23
 "Striking The Salient Target of Ukraine"
Comments here:

"We're In Big Trouble, The Economy Has Been Destroyed; Stock Market Melts Up As People Lose It All"

Jeremiah Babe, 7/13/23
"We're In Big Trouble, The Economy Has Been Destroyed;
 Stock Market Melts Up As People Lose It All"
Comments here:

Musical Interlude: Leonard Cohen, "Anthem"

Full screen recommended.
Leonard Cohen, "Anthem"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Why is the sky near Antares and Rho Ophiuchi so colorful? The colors result from a mixture of objects and processes. Fine dust illuminated from the front by starlight produces blue reflection nebulae. Gaseous clouds whose atoms are excited by ultraviolet starlight produce reddish emission nebulae. Backlit dust clouds block starlight and so appear dark.
Antares, a red supergiant and one of the brighter stars in the night sky, lights up the yellow-red clouds on the lower center. Rho Ophiuchi lies at the center of the blue nebula near the top. The distant globular cluster M4 is visible just to the right of Antares, and to the lower left of the red cloud engulfing Sigma Scorpii. These star clouds are even more colorful than humans can see, emitting light across the electromagnetic spectrum.”

"There Are Times..."

"The image that comes to mind is a boxing ring. There are times when you just want that bell to ring, but you're the one who's losing. The one who's winning doesn't have that feeling. Do you have the energy and strength to face life? Life can ask more of you than you are willing to give. And then you say, 'Life is not something that should have been. I'm not going to play the game. I'm going to meditate. I'm going to call "out". There are three positions possible. One is the up-to-it, and facing the game and playing through. The second is saying, "Absolutely not. I don't want to stay in this dogfight." That's the absolute out. The third position is the one that says, "This is mixed of good and evil. I'm on the side of the good. I accept the world with corrections. And may the world be the way I like it. And it's good for me and my friends." There are the only three positions."
- Joseph Campbell

"People Will Freak Out When Home Prices Collapse 50% In The Coming Months"

Full screen recommended.
"People Will Freak Out When Home Prices 
Collapse 50% In The Coming Months"
By Epic Economist

"The housing market nightmare is getting worse all over America. The downturn that started in the summer of 2022 just triggered the biggest decline in home prices in eleven years! Mortgage companies are now engaging in mass layoffs, real estate economists are warning about a housing recession, and the National Association of Realtors believes that home prices still have much further to fall. In fact, in overvalued markets, homeowners may see the value of their properties drop by half before we enter 2024, according to experts’ estimates. This can translate into a six-digit loss in home equity in just one year. Conditions are getting eerily similar to the ones that led to the 2008 financial crisis, a famous Big Short investor says. In other words, now we all must keep a close eye the on the reg flags that indicate we’re heading into another disaster.

At this point, approximately 37 of the 50 largest markets in the country have already reported double-digit price drops, with homes in some markets falling by up to 25% from their 2022 peak, according to NAR chief economist, Lawrence Yun. During an interview with Insider, the expert revealed that home prices will fall by half in overvalued markets, and that’s especially true for metros in the West, where he is forecasting 0% home-price growth in 2023.

Goldman Sachs analysts wrote that "overheated housing markets in the Southwest and Pacific coast, such as San Jose MSA, Austin MSA, Phoenix MSA, and San Diego MSA will likely grapple with another decline of over 25 percent, presenting a localized risk of higher delinquencies for mortgages originated in 2022 or late 2021."

A notorious Big Short investor says that once again conditions are pointing to a financial nightmare. Dave Burt, CEO of investment research firm DeltaTerra Capital which helps clients manage risks, was one of the few experts who recognized the housing market was falling apart in 2007.

“I’m always on the lookout for big systemic issues and there are a few reasons for that,” Burt told CNBC. The correction that is already in motion will be “very, very damaging within those exposed communities,” Burt warned. Concerns over a housing crash are also panicking investors like Jeff Greene, who made a lot of his wealth during the 2008 recession and is warning about a destructive period across the entire real estate market.

Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina, said in a statement that the current Fed outlook is reminiscent of 2007 before the housing market crashed. "This current environment could be eerily similar to early 2007 when the Fed held a tightening bias on rates as they believed the housing market was stabilizing, the economy would continue to expand, and inflation risks remained," Roach said. "Clearly, those expectations were not met since we know what happened in later quarters. Investors should anticipate some volatility during these months where the economic outlook remains cloudy."

Sadly, even though the drop in prices may be good news for aspiring homebuyers hoping to catch a break, the crash could ultimately wipe out $100,000 of the value of the average home, NAR estimates. This would leave many families with negative home equity, and a mortgage crisis could break out, plunging us into the worst financial crisis in modern times. The red flags are many, and we all should stay alert and carefully watch the new developments of this crisis."
Comments here:

"Gerald Celente, Trends Journal 7/13/23"

Gerald Celente, Trends Journal 7/13/23
"Is Inflation Cooling Down? War Is Heating Up!"
"In this weeks Trends in the News Gerald Celente breaks down the latest global developments from inflation to cruise missiles. The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present facts and truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for what’s next in these increasingly turbulent times."
Comments here:

The Daily "Near You?"

Bellflower, California, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"The Grand Chessboard"

"The Grand Chessboard"
by Chris MacIntosh

"In 1997, geopolitical advisor to David Rockefeller, Zbigniew Brzezinski, wrote a book, called "The Grand Chessboard." The book is particularly interesting as it shows the thinking of the Rockefeller empire in regards to Eurasia. Consider the following, which provides some insight into their view of Eurasia and how to control it (actually the very idea of controlling it provides insight into their lust for power):

"For America, the chief geopolitical prize is Eurasia." "Ever since the continents started interacting politically, some five hundred years ago, Eurasia has been the center of world power." Given this viewpoint it’s no surprise that the US have employed the doctrine of keeping both the European and Asian powers from forming any sort of economic and hence political power that could test US hegemony. This excerpt is revealing.

"… But in the meantime, it is imperative that no Eurasian challenger emerges, capable of dominating Eurasia and thus of also challenging America. The formulation of a comprehensive and integrated Eurasian geostrategy is therefore the purpose of this book."

All empires have at some point realized and deployed similar geo-political strategies. Namely, prevent collusion, maintain security dependence among vassals, which will keep these tributaries compliant, forment occasional wars in order to bring in more tributaries seeking protection (witness Sweden and Norway seeking NATO membership), and then for those barbarians that are not under the empire’s control, ensure they never come together to form a collective resistance. These barbarians are the Russians, Indians, Chinese, and Arabs.

It follows that America’s primary interest is to help ensure that no single power comes to control this geopolitical space and that the global community has unhindered financial and economic access to it. When viewed through the lens of history and the desires of powerful men throughout the ages, the Ukraine conflict makes perfect sense.
The idea that Putin, after 20 years of continued economic growth, increased stability, and enjoying a high popularity, suddenly rolled out of bed and said, "Meh, fukit. I’m risking it all and invading another country for shits and giggles," is one of the most absurd and idiotic narratives the MSM has ever produced. And the peasants actually believe it.

Here we are again, and though we’re certainly not apologists for Russia or Putin (he’s a thug, along with the rest of them), failing to view the situation with at least some level of a filter flies in the face of history, not to mention recent history, isn’t wise.

Continuing on with the American/Rockefeller view so that we may be able to better understand probabilities: "America is now the only global superpower, and Eurasia is the globe’s central arena. Hence, what happens to the distribution of power on the Eurasian continent will be of decisive importance to America’s global primacy and to America’s historical legacy. Without sustained and directed American involvement, before long the forces of global disorder could come to dominate the world scene. With warning signs on the horizon across Europe and Asia, any successful American policy must focus on Eurasia as a whole and be guided by a Geostrategic design."

You will now understand why the US has always backed both sides of wars in the Middle East and in Eurasia. "That puts a premium on maneuver and manipulation in order to preempt the emergence of a hostile coalition that could eventually seek to challenge America’s primacy…"

Now consider this excerpt: "The most immediate task is to make certain that no state or combination of states gains the capacity to expel the United States from Eurasia or even to diminish significantly its decisive arbitration role.

Potentially, the most dangerous scenario would be a grand coalition of China, Russia, and perhaps Iran, an "anti-hegemonic" coalition united not by ideology but by complementary grievances. It would be reminiscent in scale and scope of the challenge once posed by the Sino-Soviet bloc, though this time China would likely be the leader and Russia the follower. Averting this contingency, however remote it may be, will require a display of U.S. geostrategic skill on the western, eastern, and southern perimeters of Eurasia simultaneously."

This war is a war between the West, led by the US, and the "barbarians," who are still out of the hegemonic fold currently fronted by Russia while including China, the Mid East and India. I fear countries will be forced to pick sides during this decade.

Ask yourself this. If you were a pointy shoe sitting in a Rockefeller seat, how would you go about both maintaining dominance and increasing it? Based on their thinking, alluded to here, I’d say you’d start a war involving these powers. China, Iran, Russia, and possibly India. You’d pit them against each other, if possible.

We know the Saudis and Iran are longtime foes, and we know that both Russia and China have been forging strong relationships between both countries. Neither want a war and are likely to be the diplomats here while the West will seek to exploit and fuel conflict. Sounds crazy and contrary to the narratives you hear on MSM? Sure, but go read those excerpts again, then look at the dolly birds on the idiot box and the men with shiny teeth and tell me what’s really happening. Now, I don’t know for sure but the recent ramp up of angst here is oddly timed. But something to watch, I'd say."
Freely download "The Grand Chessboard", by Zbigniew Brzezinski, here:
Interesting... you'll note that this download comes from the official CIA website...

"What The Herd Hates The Most..."

"Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth, more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man."
- Bertrand Russell

"If you're going to tell people the truth make them laugh, or they'll kill you."
- Oscar Wilde

Gerald Celente, "Predicting the Impending Doom"

Full screen recommended.
Strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, 7/13/23
"Predicting the Impending Doom"
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"How It Really Is"

"10 Big Restaurant Chains That Have Filed For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy"

Full screen recommended.
The Atlantis Report, 7/13/23
"10 Big Restaurant Chains That Have 
Filed For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy"

"Picture this: You're driving down the street, and you notice the familiar glow of your favorite restaurant's sign has gone dark. It's a sight that's becoming all too common these days. Welcome, my friends, to the harsh reality of the restaurant industry in 2023.

In the wake of the pandemic, even the giants of the industry are toppling. Big names, the ones we thought were untouchable, are filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It's a domino effect that's shaking the very foundations of the food world. We're diving deep into the stories of 10 big restaurant chains that have filed for bankruptcy. We'll explore the reasons behind their downfall, the impact on employees and communities, and what this means for the future of the restaurant industry.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy, often referred to as a reorganization bankruptcy, is like a lifeline thrown to companies drowning in a sea of debt. It's a form of bankruptcy that allows a business to stay afloat while it restructures its obligations. When a restaurant chain files for Chapter 11, it's not a death sentence. Instead, it's more like a timeout in the game of commerce. It's a chance for the company to catch its breath, reorganize its playbook, and come up with a new strategy to tackle its debts. The process is complex and can be lengthy.

During this time, the debtor, often referred to as a 'debtor in possession', continues to run the business as usual. However, certain decisions, such as selling assets or entering contracts, must be approved by the courts. The end goal of a Chapter 11 filing is to emerge leaner, stronger, and ready to compete again. This could involve downsizing operations, renegotiating debts, or in some cases, liquidating assets to repay creditors."
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"Colonel Douglas Macgregor, Straight Calls, 7/13/23"

Colonel Douglas Macgregor, Straight Calls, 7/13/23
"Ukraine Is On Its Last Legs" 
"Ukraine Has Lost 300,000 To 350,000 Killed"
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o
Full screen recommended.
Hindustan Times, 7/13/23
"'Nuclear Threat In Ukraine': 
Russia's Clear Warning To West After NATO Summit"
"Russia has slammed NATO nations for pledging F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow will view F-16s jets as a 'nuclear threat' if they are supplied to Ukraine. Lavrov cited F16 fighter jets' ability to carry atomic arms to warn the Western nations."
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o

Gregory Mannarino, "Incredible! Debts And Deficits Continue To Hyper-Balloon; Dollar Falls Even Faster"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 7/13/23
"Incredible! Debts And Deficits Continue 
To Hyper-Balloon; Dollar Falls Even Faster"
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Bill Bonner, "Mega Minsky Moment"

"Mega Minsky Moment"
After long periods of calm and tranquility...
 comes the real market meltdown.
by Bill Bonner

Poitou, France -  "I don't think there's ever been a moment when the trajectory looks nearly as ominous as it does now." ~ Larry Summers

Summers was speaking about federal finances. The feds have gotten into the habit of spending money they don’t have and never will get. As we saw earlier this week, the Biden Team added $1 trillion to US debt in just 5 weeks. And the Trump Team before them did more fiscal damage than any administration theretofore.

All government spending is merely redistributing wealth. Those transfer payments – taken from some, given to others – were running at an annual rate below $3 trillion before Trump took over. When he left, the money was changing hands at an $8 trillion annual rate – the biggest, most reckless giveaway in world history. And now, both parties are looking for ways to spend more money. What better reason than ‘national security?’ The CHIPs act provided a $53 billion boondoggle for silicon chip makers. How long will it be before the money flows to ship makers?

From Chips to Ships: Thedrive.com warns: "Alarming Navy Intel Slide Warns Of China’s 200 Times Greater Shipbuilding Capacity." "The data compiled by the Office of Naval Intelligence says that a growing gap in fleet sizes is helped by China's shipbuilders being more than 200 times more capable of producing surface warships and submarines. This underscores longstanding concerns about the U.S. Navy's ability to challenge Chinese fleets, as well as sustain its forces afloat, in any future high-end conflict.

The slide also includes projected sizes for the U.S. Navy and PLAN "battle forces" – defined as the total number of "combatant ships, submarines, mine warfare ships, major amphibious ships, [and] large combat support auxiliary ships" – for every five years between 2020 and 2035. It says that as of 2020, the PLAN had 355 battle force ships and the U.S. Navy had 296. By 2035, the gap between the figures for China (475) and the United States (305 to 317) widens substantially."

All right. Remind us. What gave the North the edge in the War Between the States? The yankees’ fighting spirit. Its great generals? Or the fact that it could make a lot more ships, guns and shoes than the South?

And what about WWI? Was French commander Joseph Joffre’s ‘Plan XVII’ better than Helmut von Moltke’s ‘Schlieffen Plan’? Or did the allies simply have the world’s biggest economy – the USA – on their side? And in WWII, was American military genius triumphant…or the fact that the US could turn out three times as many fighter planes as Germany? Shipbuilding in Germany came to a near halt in WWII, while America built nearly 6,000 vessels.

And now, what to do? ‘Spend more money – on ships…and chips!’ So say the loose lips in Congress.

Deluge Incoming: A word of caution: nations win modern wars by spending on bombs and guns. But the economy that can produce an abundance of guns and bombs is most often the one that didn’t waste its money on those things when it didn’t really need them. What? Huh? It’s a ‘slow-burn Minsky moment,” writes James Montier.

Hyman Minsky was an economist who noticed that periods of volatility seem to follow periods of stability. The reason for this is pretty obvious. The longer it doesn’t rain, the fewer people fix their roofs. Then, when the water comes down, it drenches everything.

The future casts its shadow back over the present. If property prices go up steadily, year after year, people begin to expect them to go up forever. Then, lenders lower interest rates, because they think the value of their collateral is increasing. Sellers raise prices; they think they are giving up future gains. Buyers, looking ahead to higher house prices, are willing to pay more for an appreciating asset.

This causes prices to rise…and soon to reach levels that are unrealistic and unsustainable. The average person can no longer afford an average house. Sales slow. Prices sag…and then fall. Families, whose mortgages are higher than their home values, leave the keys in the door and move on.

In any complex system, there are always pressures, mistakes, and contradictions. If they aren’t corrected, they build up. Then, the correction can be catastrophic.

Uncivilization Ahead: The phenomenon happens across the whole range of human activity. Stability begets chaos. We tried to explain the yin and yang of it in our classic “Uncivilizing America.” There are only two ways to get what you want (here, we’re talking about the material aspects of life). You make it…and trade. Or you take it by force or fraud. The deals are either win-win. Or they are win-lose. They are either peaceful, free-market transactions…or they are political transactions.

We bring it up because ‘politics’ appears to be on the rise. And ‘politics’ are always volatile...chaotic…and, in the end, destructive. They also have a logic of their own. As hinted above, the nation that practices ‘politics’ most enthusiastically (North Korea?) is the one least likely to afford the latest weapons…and least likely to prevail in the ultimate political struggle – war.

Yes, there are Minsky Moments in megapolitics, too, when the stability of one era tips over into the volatility and violence of another. At some points in history, for reasons that have never been clear to us, the “zeitgeist” shifts…from favoring freedom and markets…to getting into a lather for war, sanctions, funny money and central planning. Civilization leads to peace and prosperity (and the ability to build ships and guns). Then come the deficits, the subsidies, the industrial plans, the sanctions…the barbarians…and the defeat."

"We Are Out Of Cash"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly 7/13/23
"We Are Out Of Cash"
"Several experts of step forward and said that the economy is about to run out of gas. Jeremy, Siegel, Michael Burry, and others have stepped forward to say that things do not look good moving forward."
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"Getting Some Great Deals At Kroger And Showing Our Very Small Grocery Haul!"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 7/13/23
"Getting Some Great Deals At Kroger 
And Showing Our Very Small Grocery Haul!"
In today's vlog, we are at Kroger and showing everything we bought! We found some great deals today, and we are showing how you can take advantage of some of these good sales!"
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Wednesday, July 12, 2023

Col. Douglas Macgregor, "Ukraine is Being Annihilated"

Col. Douglas Macgregor, 7/12/23
"Ukraine is Being Annihilated"
"Colonel Douglas Macgregor shares intel on the Russia Ukraine war with Stephen Gardner. Ukraine is losing and NATO knows it. Yet NATO won't let Ukraine into NATO or it will trigger article 5 and start world war 3. We are the closest we've ever been to world war 3 at this moment with the UK and NATO offering long rang missiles to Ukraine. An attack on Moscow would be met with an immediate and strong show of force."
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"Warning! Failed Background Check; Consumers Now Financing Groceries; Fake Inflation Numbers"

Jeremiah Babe, 7/12/23
"Warning! Failed Background Check;
 Consumers Now Financing Groceries; Fake Inflation Numbers"
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"Alarming News! (I'm Actually Scared), Russian Minister's New F-16 Warning; 100,000 Troops To Poland"

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 7/12/23
"Alarming News! (I'm Actually Scared), 
Russian Minister's New F-16 Warning; 100,000 Troops To Poland"
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"Car Prices Face Biggest Drop On Record As Auto Market Apocalypse Begins"

Full screen recommended.
"Car Prices Face Biggest Drop On Record 
As Auto Market Apocalypse Begins"
by Epic Economist

"A car market crash of epic proportions is already in motion, according to new data released by Manheim Market Insights and Cox Automotive. In June, car prices faced a record drop, marking the end of two years of hefty increases. Used vehicles saw the biggest monthly declines since the pandemic boom, while new cars are about to plummet in value due to an oversupply crisis that is shaking the US auto market. Still, higher interest rates are making monthly car payments far more expensive than they were just a year ago, and many Americans who bought a vehicle in the past couple of years, and are now seeing its cost fall off a cliff, are already underwater on their loans, which indicates that a wave of financial turmoil is right ahead.

From May to June, wholesale used vehicle prices declined by a record 4.2 percent, according to Manheim Market Insights. More notably, the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, a closely watched measure of prices, plunged 10.3 percent year-over-year in June. Compared to one year ago, prices for pickups and vans went down by 6.6 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively. Sports cars were the worst off, falling 14.8 percent in prices compared to last year, while compact cars and midsize cars each dropped by more than 12 percent from June 2022.

Looking ahead, the three strongest predictors of used car prices – new vehicle inventories, new vehicle incentives, and the new-versus-used price differential – all point to a significant crash, the firm notes. In fact, Goldman Sachs analysts lowered their user car inflation forecast by 4 percent to -11 percent, which means that the bank is assuming that used car prices are going to face a 14 percent downside from current levels by the end of the third quarter. That would result in an almost 25 percent crash in a span of just six months, and an oversupply crisis in the new car market could bring the price of used cars even lower before the end of the year.

Right now, the market for new cars is in a strange state. UBS analysts argue that a price war is on the horizon with dealers duking it out by dropping new car prices. In May, new-vehicle inventory reached its highest level in two years, with a notable increase from the previous month. Charlie Chesbrough, Cox Automotive's senior economist. says that the new car market will continue to see weakening demand due to worsening economic indicators, and the increase in supply will force many dealerships and automakers to start offering discounts.

At the same time, the share of new auto loans with monthly payments exceeding $1,000 has hit a new record as borrowing costs continue to rise. Consumers are taking on too much auto debt, which could have catastrophic consequences during the recession. The latest number available on the average negative equity value of auto trade-ins was $5,341 in Q4 2022, a 29 percent jump from the previous year. The number of vehicle sales that involved a trade-in with negative equity also climbed by 17 percent over the same period. The negative equity trend could accelerate even further as vehicle prices continue to drop. In other words, conditions for borrowers will become even tougher before the market stabilizes. Car prices still have a lot of room to fall, and during that process, countless Americans may find themselves buried in negative equity."
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Musical Interlude: 2002, "Falling Through Time"

Full screen recommended.
2002, "Falling Through Time"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Over 400,000 light years across NGC 6872 is an enormous spiral galaxy, at least 4 times the size of our own very large Milky Way. About 200 million light-years distant, toward the southern constellation Pavo, the Peacock, the remarkable galaxy’s stretched out shape is due to its ongoing gravitational interaction, likely leading to an eventual merger, with the nearby smaller galaxy IC 4970. IC 4970 is seen just below and right of the giant galaxy’s core in this cosmic color portrait from the 8 meter Gemini South telescope in Chile.
The idea to image this titanic galaxy collision comes from a winning contest essay submitted last year to the Gemini Observatory by the Sydney Girls High School Astronomy Club. In addition to inspirational aspects and aesthetics, club members argued that a color image would be more than just a pretty picture. In their winning essay they noted that “If enough color data is obtained in the image it may reveal easily accessible information about the different populations of stars, star formation, relative rate of star formation due to the interaction, and the extent of dust and gas present in these galaxies.”

Chet Raymo, “The Uses of Enchantment”

“The Uses of Enchantment”
by Chet Raymo

“There was a time when every wood, every tree, was thought to be inhabited by spirits called dryads, every pool and stream by naiads. Even not so long ago, our road here in Ireland was called “the fairies’ road.” The world, we say, was enchanted- every stone and plant infused with an animate spirit. Science put paid to all that, chased the spirits from their woods and pools, drove the fairies from their hills. Disenchanted the landscape. Well, maybe not. It depends on how you define enchantment.

Remember those spider webs I wrote about the other day, made visible by dew? Once the sun burned away the mist and the dew evaporated, the webs became invisible. But of course they are still there, a thousand silken snares, each with its resident spider. As I walked down the drive today I sensed their presence—the field alive with invisible spirits, a thousand arachnoid dryads crouching in their bowers.

The key to enchantment is to be aware of what can’t be seen. The spiders in their webs. The spinnerets extruding gossamer. The DNA zipping and unzipping in each cell of the spiders’ bodies, the amino acids, A and T, G and C, grasping hands in their dervish dance. The atoms in their resonant vibrations.

“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well,” wrote Antoine De Saint-Exupery. The key to enchantment is to never stop thinking about the well.”