The Poet: Henry Austin Dobson, “The Paradox Of Time”

“The Paradox Of Time”

“Time goes, you say? Ah no! 

Alas, Time stays, we go; 

Or else, were this not so, 

What need to chain the hours, 

For Youth were always ours? 

Time goes, you say? – ah no! 

Ours is the eyes’ deceit 

Of men whose flying feet 

Lead through some landscape low; 

We pass, and think we see 

The earth’s fixed surface flee - 

Alas, Time stays, – we go! 

Once in the days of old, 

Your locks were curling gold, 

And mine had shamed the crow. 

Now, in the self-same stage, 

We’ve reached the silver age; 

Time goes, you say? – ah no! 

Once, when my voice was strong, 

I filled the woods with song 

To praise your ‘rose’ and ‘snow’; 

My bird, that sang, is dead; 

Where are your roses fled? 

Alas, Time stays, – we go! 

See, in what traversed ways, 

What backward Fate delays 

The hopes we used to know; 

Where are our old desires? 

Ah, where those vanished fires? 

Time goes, you say? – ah no! 

How far, how far, O Sweet, 

The past behind our feet 

Lies in the even-glow! 

Now, on the forward way, 

Let us fold hands, and pray; 

Alas, Time stays, – we go!”

- Henry Austin Dobson

○

“Time passes in moments. Moments which, rushing past, define the path of a life, just as surely as they lead towards its end. How rarely do we stop to examine that path, to see the reasons why all things happen? To consider whether the path we take in life is our own making, or simply one into which we drift with eyes closed? But what if we could stop, pause to take stock of each precious moment before it passes? Might we then see the endless forks in the road that have shaped a life? And, seeing those choices, choose another path?”

- Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully, “The X-Files”

"Here's A Question..."

“Here’s a question every angry man and woman needs to consider: How long are you going to allow people you don’t even like – people who are no longer in your life, maybe even people who aren’t even alive anymore – to control your life? How long?”

- Andy Stanley

“That goes for old wounds, too, you know. I really wish we’d had the chance to talk before this,” he says, cracking the window so the smoke can escape. “There’s a Longfellow quote I have stuck on my bulletin board at the church office – ‘There is no grief like the grief that does not speak’ – and it’s true. I’ve found that keeping pain inside doesn’t give it a chance to heal, but bringing it out into the light, holding it right there in your hands and trusting that you’re strong enough to make it through, not hating the pain, not loving it, just seeing it for what it really is can change how you go on from there. Time alone doesn’t heal emotional wounds, and you don’t want to live the rest of your life bottled up with anger and guilt and bitterness. That’s how people self-destruct.”

- Laura Wiess

"You Think..."

"That's why crazy people are so dangerous.

You think they're nice until they're chaining you up in the garage."

- Michael Buckley

"You’re Not Being Told The Truth About Inflation, Prepare Your Families"

Full screen recommended.

The Atlantis Report, 11/24/23

"You’re Not Being Told The Truth About Inflation, 

Prepare Your Families"

"Despite the recent Consumer Price Index report suggesting a decline in inflation, the reality paints a far more alarming picture. Many do not realize that the reported decrease in inflation is masking the harsh reality of our economic situation. The rising prices of essential goods are making it increasingly difficult for people to manage their day to day lives. Although the Consumer Price Index is widely accepted, it deliberately hides the real impact of increasing costs, especially in critical areas like housing, healthcare, and education. These fundamental aspects, not considered in the official statistics, are actually rising at an alarming rate. Families are feeling the strain, and the relief that's supposed to come with the reported decrease is nowhere in sight. To understand the situation, we’ll have to look beyond the numbers and question what's really going on. Inflation is hitting us where it hurts the most, so brace yourselves as the challenges we're facing are far from being resolved."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Epic Economist, "More Problems With The Banks"

Full screen recommended.

Epic Economist, 11/24/23

"More Problems With The Banks: Wells Fargo, 

Bank of America Have All Had Their Ratings Downgraded"

"This has been a rough year for American Banks. Back in March, we saw the collapse of three US banks within a week. That was the biggest banking failure to hit the US since the 2008 financial crisis. By the time the fallout from the Great Recession was over, 600 banks had failed. But what if I tell you that we are staring at the same fate now?

On study on the fragility of the U.S. banking system found that 186 more banks are at risk of failure even if only half of their uninsured depositors decide to withdraw their funds. As we see banks mired in problems all around us, the taxpayers are losing faith in this country’s financial institutions. And there's a solid justification behind this sentiment.

However, this drop in confidence may lay the foundations for even bigger problems. You see, when banks fail, trust in institutions is a far greater loss than any temporary monetary loss. When the public sees that the Federal Reserve is taking the same pre-recession measures that it took in 2008, they have no choice but to hold on to what they have.

However, the common citizen is unfortunately playing a losing game. Because when financial institutions get into trouble, they immediately transfer that trouble to the consumer. The first sign of this switch is a Credit Crunch that you may have noticed in recent weeks.

America's Banks are in a spot of bother and it matters immensely to the welfare of the general public. We often hear that banks are the beating heart of the economy and when they suffer, the whole country feels the pain. What's shocking is that the mainstream media continues to ignore the signs and shows no urgency to report the plight of millions who are just scraping by."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

The Daily "Near You?"

Berlin, Germany. Thanks for stopping by!

"A Virgilian Thanksgiving"

Autumn sunset over the Tuscan hills.

"A Virgilian Thanksgiving"

The great Roman poet on love and loss,

 life and death, man and nature...

by Joel Bowman

"Perhaps even these things, one day, will be pleasing to remember.”

~ Virgil

“A happy life consists in tranquility of mind.”

~ Cicero

“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon 

the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest 

satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing.”

~ Seneca

Buenos Aires, Argentina - "With the holidays nigh upon us, we count the tasks outstanding against the year’s twilight hours and discover, without surprise, that the former far outnumber the latter. There are deadlines to meet... invitations to send... victuals to prepare... libations to sup... and of course, friends and family to gather near (such as geography and busy schedules permit). No doubt you’ve plenty on your own proverbial plate, too. Allow us, therefore, to relieve one item from your brimming to-do list. Or at least, to offer up a humble suggestion, on behalf of one of our favorite poets...

Publius Vergilius Maro, known more commonly as Virgil, was born in 70 BC in what the Romans knew as Cisalpine Gaul, today’s northern, alpine Italy. Before he passed into the realm of the shades, just half a century later, Virgil had composed three of the most important poems in Latin literature: the "Eclogues" (or "Bucolics"), the "Georgics," and of course the foundational epic, the "Aeneid."

In this second work, which follows the tensions of the seasons and man’s struggle with, and eventual triumph over, the havoc and danger of the natural world, Virgil presents a masterpiece at turns didactic, elegiac, epic and even (as in the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice) epyllion. Loosely modeled on (the Greek poet) Hesiod’s famous Works and Days (composed around 700-650 BC), Virgil’s own poem muses on the classic, universal dichotomies of myth and reality, power and politics, cause and effect, heaven and earth, love and loss, life and death...

Under a Tuscan Sun: Many modern moons ago, having once again taken to wandering the world as a homeless peripatetic, your flâneuring correspondent found himself holed up in the ancient township of Città di Cortona, in Tuscany.

Tuscan room with a view. Cortona

The fortified hamlet sits atop a picturesque Italian hillside, which overlooks the same fertile plains as once viewed by the Etruscans... the Romans... perhaps even Virgil himself (who would have traveled south to Rome and onto the port city of Brundisium, modern day Brindisi, where he eventually gave up the ghost).

Perched on a fine little Juliette balcony, we lazed one afternoon under a late Tuscan sun, Sangiovese (literally: “blood of Jove”) within easy reach. Through the wrought iron we scanned the plains below, plowed through the ages by man and beast, tiny clumps and copses scattered between the fields, green and fallow. Virgil’s work lay open in our lap, Book I...

“Wait… where exactly did I leave Jupiter’s blood, again?”

It is from the first book of the Georgics, in part a supplication to the Gods (as well as Augustus himself), that we recite our yearly Thanksgiving toast, remembering always those who went before us... as well as the halcyon days in Virgil’s birth country... and the longed-for future, when we will venture there once more. Please enjoy the immortal poet’s words, below…"

"A Thanksgiving Toast, from Virgil’s Georgics, Book I"

What makes a plenteous Harvest, when to turn

The fruitful Soil, and when to sowe the Corn;

The Care of Sheep, of Oxen, and of Kine;

And how to raise on Elms the teeming Vine:

The Birth and Genius of the frugal Bee,

I sing, Mecaenas, and I sing to thee.

Ye Deities! who Fields and Plains protect,

Who rule the Seasons, and the Year direct;

Bacchus and fost'ring Ceres, Pow'rs Divine,

Who gave us Corn for Mast, for Water Wine.

Ye Fawns, propitious to the Rural Swains,

Ye Nymphs that haunt the Mountains and the Plains,

Join in my Work, and to my Numbers bring

Your needful Succour, for your Gifts I sing.

(As translated by the English poet, John Dryden, 1631-1700)

"The Crash Will Be Spectacular"

"The Crash Will Be Spectacular"

by Jim Quinn

“Interest on the federal debt is now so immense that it’s consuming 40% of all personal income taxes… If federal finances continue on their current path, we are only a few years from the entirety of income taxes being needed to finance the debt…”

The government collects $2.6 trillion of individual taxes at the point of a gun and threat of prison. Meanwhile they still operate at an annual deficit of $2 trillion. And this is before interest on the national debt starts to really skyrocket. Our Troll Secretary of the Treasury Yellen had the opportunity to lock in trillions of our national debt for 30 years at 2% rates, but purposely kept rolling it on a short-term basis.

Interest on the debt will surpass $1 trillion annually within the next year, and, as you can see, will be approaching $2 trillion per year in a few more years. The government already spends every dime of the taxes they collect. That means they are already printing more fiat and borrowing from the rest of the world in order to pay the interest on the debt they already have.

Foreign countries, in particular China and India, are not only not buying any new US Treasuries, but unloading the Treasuries they already have. With the BRICS purposefully moving away from the USD for their trade, it’s only a matter of time until our mountain of debt crashes down in an epic avalanche upon the unsuspecting American public. The writing is on the wall, and if you refuse to read it, you will be shocked and devastated when you see your supposed paper wealth evaporate.

Now you know why Biden and his handlers are attempting to provoke wars across the globe against those countries who they realize are engineering the demise of the USD as the basis for world domination and control. We have evil men ruling our nation and they would rather burn it all to the ground than lose their wealth, power and control."

- https://www.theburningplatform.com/

"Black Friday Is Dead Friday"

Full screen recommended.

Metal Leo, 11/24/23

"Black Friday Is Dead Friday"

"Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving, it marks the start of the Christmas shopping season . Many stores offer highly promoted sales at discounted prices. Black Friday has been the busiest shopping day of the year but in recent years it’s popularity is fading away to the point of no relevance in most states, as online shopping took over in 2020. In this video I'm going very early in the morning to see the foot traffic inside the mall, department stores and electronics stores, and it’s NOT looking good for the retailers."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"How It Really Is"

"World War III Prelude, Middle East Crisis 11/24/23"

Note: This video has been very deliberately 

implanted with a video game from 15:50 to the end.

Full screen recommended.

"Col. Douglas Macgregor: Israel Has Crossed 

The Muslim Red Line, The Whole Middle East Will Eliminate Them"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Tech Show, 11/24/23

"Hezbollah, Taliban & Yemen Officially Attack Israel!"

"We go into the unexpected developments in the Middle East, where Hezbollah, the Taliban, and Yemen have officially initiated attacks on Israel in sympathy with Gaza Palestine, in this in-depth examination. This unexpected coalition has captured the world's interest, and we investigate the motivations and ramifications of their cooperation in depth.

The Israeli-Palestinian issue, a long-standing source of stress in the area, has resurfaced. Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group located in Lebanon, has a long history of hostility towards Israel. Their engagement highlights Iran's expanding influence in the Middle East, as Hezbollah is backed by Iran and shares religious links with Yemen's Houthi rebels.

The unexpected involvement of the Taliban in the Gaza conflict is a significant event. The Islamist organisation has moved its focus from Afghanistan to the Palestinian cause. As the Taliban seeks increased recognition and legitimacy on the world stage, this action might have far-reaching ramifications for the region and international relations.

Yemen's involvement in the crisis, via Houthi rebels backed by Iran, adds another degree of complication. Their participation is motivated by ideological as well as strategic factors, such as putting pressure on Saudi Arabia, a regional adversary that has historically supported Israel.

In this video, we look at the possibility of additional escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the repercussions for regional dynamics, and the problems the international community will have in responding to this unexpected coalition. We also examine the significance of addressing core problems, fostering diplomacy, and rebuilding trust in the Middle East in order to achieve long-term peace."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Jim Kunstler, "The Suicide Cult"

"The Suicide Cult"

By Jim Kunstler

“… this is not confined to the Right — popular sentiment in

 Israel is shifting from liberal-secular, to biblical-eschatological.” 

- Alastair Crooke

"If we can agree on nothing else, you must grant that Western Civ needs to have its head examined. The war of Israel upon Gaza springs from the vast limbic netherworld where all the phantoms, myths, gods, and devils abide. What’s going on in the Bible lands now is a demonstration that the wrath of Yahweh is a match for the wrath of Allah. The West appears to abhor this battle, as it derives from the deepest and darkest sector of the West’s own psychology - a place the West fears to go. Having spurned the Judeo-Christian God lo these many decades, the West is horrified to see that dreadful figure step back onstage hurling lightning bolts and roaring.

Western Civ is like a Sarah Lawrence grad with a nose-ring, trained up to despise her own history and culture, trafficking with the incubi of barbarism - the romance of “edginess” - while playing with razor blades in anticipation of her own glorious suicidal psychodrama. There, I have explained The New York Times and The New Yorker Magazine to you, and thus exactly what is wrong with them trying to explain the world to you.

There is, of course, endless and seemingly irreconcilable misunderstanding between Western Civ and its adversaries, but the salient point of the current world mess is a failure to comprehend the meaning of Never Again. And among the many ironies of recent years is that the state-of-mind calling itself Progressive Globalism is obsessed with eradicating boundaries while the two crisis points of the present moment broke out precisely because boundaries were violated.

Whatever you think of Mr. Putin - and I refuse to join the stupid ritual chorus of his supposed “thuggery” - he couldn’t have made it clearer to the USA and its Euroland sisters that Russia would not accept Ukraine as a NATO member, right up against its border - meaning that NATO would be able to base missiles, bombers, and troops there. You may have lost count of how many times Russia has been invaded across the vast plain of Ukraine, but the Russians have not forgotten and their attitude about it is synonymous with the phrase Never Again. What part of that did the USA, Germany, France, and the rest not understand?

Yet they undertook this deranged project to arm poor Ukraine to the teeth - a people who have shown no aptitude for war, historically trampled over, with deeply schizoid allegiances to whomever dominates them from one century to the next - and sent it on a suicide mission that is now nearly complete. You understand that the sacrificial suicide of Ukraine for no good reason is just an enactment of Western Civ’s own apparent suicidal wish fulfillment. Like I said: this is a dark and deep psychodrama.

Accordingly, the West affects to be chagrined by Israel’s refusal to join the West’s new gnostic suicide cult. Here, too, is a failure to comprehend the phrase Never Again. We know where that succinct slogan comes from - the West’s previous suicide attempt, 1939 to 1945, in the course of which the annihilation of Europe’s Jews was a featured set-piece. And when Western Civ finally woke from this nightmare war, all the contesting nations were mortified by what had happened, including especially Germany, the nation that perpetrated that particular enormity.

And so, the new supposedly world-saving organization, the United Nations, that cohered after that cataclysm - led, of course by the victors of the Second World War - felt obliged to create a State of Israel in the Bible lands where so long ago, past memory for many in the modern world, there was a place called Israel where the Jews once dwelt. That was Zion, Jerusalem and its precincts, and it was the long-held wish of the Jews scattered about the world to return to Zion, and that is all that the term Zionist means - despite the attempts of the many other Semitic tribes in the region, and their demented allies in the Ivy League - to color it as some sort of demonic host out to swindle the world.

Western Civ, driven by the Progressive Globalist suicide cult, wishes to dissociate itself from Israel now while jihadis seek mayhem and murder in the streets of Berlin, Paris, London, Milan, Amsterdam and even the little towns of the provinces. And in the USA, too. The governments of Western Civ refuse to stop the flood of migrants pouring out of North Africa, the Middle East, and myriad stans of the greater Asian Stans-land. The USA, too, with its long borders being violated at a fantastic scale with the consent of “Joe Biden” & Co. It’s as though they are intent on allowing Western Civ to be overrun and defeated.

Israel, being part of Western Civ, in some ways the beating heart of its heritage, is also deeply conflicted in its own politics. But Mr. Netanyahu refuses to join the suicide cult, to the great consternation of so many inside and outside Israel. He could not be more alone among all the other elected heads of Western Civ nations. Even “Joe Biden” is ragging on him. But hark, as it is said in Western Civ - especially this Christmas season - as in something momentous approacheth. Just in one week past, Argentina elected an anti-Globalist, Javier Milei, by a huge margin, and the Netherlands elected (surprise) a party led by Geert Wilders quite vocally disenchanted with Jihad in his country. Something is up. Mark my words: Germany is next. Western Civ is going to get its mind right after all.

America’s psychodrama has been equally deep and dreadful as Europe’s, but we are heading toward our own political reckoning, and many here have had enough of a life without boundaries in every sense of the word. “Joe Biden” has been the perfect embodiment of no boundaries. And his party is in the process of being destroyed by that before they can complete the destruction of our country. The battle is here, too. And it is joined. Stand back and watch."

- https://kunstler.com/

Adventures With Danno, "Outrageous Price Increases At Sam's Club! What Now?"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures With Danno, 11/24/23

"Outrageous Price Increases At Sam's Club! What Now?"

"In today's vlog, we are at Sam's Club and are noticing some outrageous price increases on some different grocery products! It has become a real struggle to buy groceries these days as prices continue to rise beyond belief!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Black Friday, Cindy Crawford in a Swimsuit, and Karen"

"Black Friday, Cindy Crawford in a Swimsuit, and Karen"

By John Wilder

"Thanksgiving morning I was in bed, in that half-slumber that I slip into when there’s no danger that I have to go to work. The Mrs. stirred next to me. When’s the turkey going to be done?” 

John Wilder: “Yeah, babe, when is the turkey going to be done?”

The Mrs.: No, I mean it. I have some other things I need to cook. When will the turkey be done?”

John Wilder: “Ohhhhh, I haven’t put it in the oven yet. I thought, as much as you were making six other dishes, that you were gonna do the turkey, too.”

This was, of course, a stupid idea. I have cooked the turkey every year, ever, since we’ve been married. Everything else (except pumpkin pies) has been The Mrs. Why would I assume that The Mrs. was going to cook the turkey? I have no idea. But I did.

We Wilders are night owls, when allowed to go feral unconstrained by the tyranny of work, so having a dinner at supper time (or a supper at dinner time) would just be fine. Since we bought everything we’d need for dinner yesterday, I knew we’d be fine: no last-minute trips to stores for us, and that was good.

Because I hate going to the store, especially anytime between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I hate it so much, that when I was (much) younger, I’d do all of my shopping for presents during a two-hour period on Christmas Eve. But yet, there are people who look forward to Black Friday, which to me is the sort of hell I imagine that H.P. Lovecraft reserved for Beto O’Rourke, except Beto’s hair would be on fire and he would have surgically attached flippers instead of arms.

Black Friday is a day that some people look forward to. While I don’t share in their enthusiasm, I can understand it. There is something about shopping that makes people feel good, unlike the turkey tartare I tried to serve the family on Thanksgiving. Who knew you had to thaw the turkey before sticking it in the oven?

Shopping is of vital importance to businesses they want to capture as much of your money as possible. They study ways to arrange merchandise so it is most attractive, to create advertisements that engage with your psychology to drive you to purchase, and purchase from them. If you look at shopping as a science, shopping has been studied by economists, business majors, and psychologists more thoroughly than I studied Cindy Crawford’s, umm, charm, in my younger days.

Remember, actresses are different than models – actresses can read. 

 Also, I don’t know if I can fit an actress in the basement freezer.

Again, I don’t begrudge people who are on a tight or fixed budget that are attempting to get a good deal - that would be heartless. But yet, isn’t Black Friday based at least in part in... greed? The idea of getting a 65-inch 4K Philips ® television for $78 when it normally retails for $448 is the essence of Black Friday. $10 Crock© pots with a $10 mail-in rebate are Black Friday.

Why do we get such satisfaction over buying things?

• It is wired into us - once upon a time, we were hunter/gatherers. This is similar – shopping is gathering. Hunting is still hunting, which is good. Work? Work is where men go to avoid gathering and think about hunting.

• Shopping distracts us from our problems. If we’re worried or sad? Retail therapy can be cheap if you have inexpensive tastes. But when the shopping is done – if you have a real problem like having surgically attached flipper arms, they’re still there.

• In today’s world, there are a lot of people that live lives that are marked by a nearly complete lack of control. They’re controlled by spouses at home, bosses at work, and the number of choices that the own are small. Shopping gives them a sense of control.

There was a hurricane this year named Karen.

 Managers everywhere quaked with fear.

• Instant satisfaction is built into shopping. Why wait for later, when you can have it now (or in 36 hours with Amazon© Prime? Rather than wait for what your goal is, you can have some smaller thing now. And it’s certain. Who cares if it derails your longer term plans?

• Shopping for neat things floods your brain with serotonin like an autistic clown with a firehose. Serotonin stabilizes mood, so if you’re depressed, shopping can make you feel better, and you don’t need a prescription for Xanax ®.

• Shopping resolves boredom. Kids doing well in school, job going well, no financial problems and relationship with spouse is fine? So boring. Hey, let’s spice life up by shopping for things we don’t need!

When we lived in Alaska, we would go to auctions because it was fun. Every so often some family would say, “that’s it!” and decide to move to the Lower 48. Thus? I bid $70 on a table saw that I could have bought for (drumroll) $70 yes, it was a pretty crappy saw. Why? Scarcity. People were bidding, and, well, I won. And scarcity is the true key to Black Friday. Only seven fruitcake-toasters at $92 off the retail price of $292? I must have one!

Most vices, when kept in check, aren’t a problem. But Black Friday seems like a drug that’s designed to take advantage of the various satisfactions listed in the bullet points above. Thankfully, there are other cures.

We live in a society where most of the basic needs are easily met for most people, at least for now. Yes, you might not have a 65” LED television that doubles as a tanning bed. But nearly everyone has food. Nearly everyone has power, heat, and access to a library. How else could people spend those same hours and minutes that would otherwise be spent in a WWE®-level fight over an inexpensive radium-powered popcorn popper and a coal-powered flashlight?

They could write. They could visit a sick family member. They could face digestive difficulties because Dad put the frozen turkey in the oven. They could play cards or board games and have family fun. Oh, wait: that describes the Wilder family. I really should have realized that putting a turkey filled with ice into the oven wasn’t my best idea...Axis and Allies ®, anyone? I have Pepto ®."

- https://wilderwealthywise.com/

"World War III Prelude, 11/23/23"

Full screen recommended.

Canadian Prepper, 11/23/23

"Alert! NATO Executes 'Shengen'; N. Korea Moves To Border; 

Panic Over AGI; US Nuclear Sub; Iran"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Scott Ritter, 11/23/23

"What If Egypt And Jordan Joined Gaza War?"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Hindustan Times, 11/23/23

"Iran's Big Declaration On Israel-Hamas War

 In Gaza Ahead Of Truce; 'Palestinian Victory...'"

"The Iranian President has declared Palestinians as the 'winners' of the ongoing war in gaza. Ebrahim Raisi claimed that Israel fell short of its goals & 'failed' to secure victory over Hamas. Raisi said the IDF failed to meet the objectives of occupying Gaza by eradicating Hamas. The Iranian President's statement came ahead of the expected four-day truce in the Gaza strip. Raisi further praised Hamas, saying it demonstrated a 'golden scene of resistance' in the war."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Hindustan Times, 11/23/23

"Hamas' Abu Obaida's Big Claim &

Warning For Israel Ahead Of Gaza Truce" 

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

MrLboyd Reacts, 11/23/23

"Iran's Secret Weapon Revealed, 

Can Launch 100,000 Ballistic Missiles In Minutes"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Hezbollah alone has 200,000 missiles and 150,000 battle-hardened, 

extremely well armed and supplied professional soldiers.

Draw your own conclusions...

Jeremiah Babe, "Dumb People Keep Doing Dumb Things; We Are Not Going Back To Normal Times; Holiday Debt Surges"

Jeremiah Babe, 11/23/23

"Dumb People Keep Doing Dumb Things; 

We Are Not Going Back To Normal Times; Holiday Debt Surges"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical Interlude: 2002, "Stillpoint"

Full screen recommended.

2002, "Stillpoint"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"Why doesn't the nearby galaxy create a gravitational lensing effect on the background galaxy? It does, but since both galaxies are so nearby, the angular shift is much smaller than the angular sizes of the galaxies themselves. The featured Hubble image of NGC 3314 shows two large spiral galaxies which happen to line up exactly. The foreground spiral NGC 3314a appears nearly face-on with its pinwheel shape defined by young bright star clusters. Against the glow of the background galaxy NGC 3314b, though, dark swirling lanes of interstellar dust can also be seen tracing the nearer spiral's structure. Both galaxies appear on the edge of the Hydra Cluster of Galaxies, a cluster that is about 200 million light years away.

Gravitational lens distortions are much easier to see when the lensing galaxy is smaller and further away. Then, the background galaxy may even be distorted into a ring around the nearer. Fast gravitational lens flashes due to stars in the foreground galaxy momentarily magnifying the light from stars in the background galaxy might one day be visible in future observing campaigns with high-resolution telescopes."

- https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

"Live All You Can..."

"Live all you can; it's a mistake not to. It doesn't so much

matter what you do in particular, so long as you have your life.

If you haven't had that, what have you had?"

- Henry James

The Poet: David Whyte, "The Opening of Eyes"

"The Opening of Eyes"

"That day I saw beneath dark clouds

The passing light over the water,

And I heard the voice of the world speak out.

I knew then as I have before,

Life is no passing memory of what has been,

Nor the remaining pages of a great book

Waiting to be read.

It is the opening of eyes long closed.

It is the vision of far off things,

Seen for the silence they hold.

It is the heart after years of secret conversing

Speaking out loud in the clear air.

It is Moses in the desert fallen to his knees

Before the lit bush.

It is the man throwing away his shoes

As if to enter heaven and finding himself astonished,

Opened at last,

Fallen in love

With Solid Ground."

~ David Whyte

"Are People Really Stupid?"

“All of the available data show that the typical American citizen has about

as much interest in the life of the mind as does your average armadillo.”

- Morris Berman

"Are People Really Stupid?"

by Fred Russell

"On the face of things, judging from the general level of knowledge and understanding, not to mention the intellectual pursuits, of most of the human race one is tempted to say that the overwhelming majority of mankind lacks the intellectual capacity, the intelligence, to contribute to human progress. And it is in fact a very small elite that has carried us beyond Neanderthal Man, without whom, if the truth be told, we might still be living in caves. It is, in a word, appalling to contemplate the level at which ordinary people use their minds, what they read, if at all, what they watch on TV, the movies they go out and see, and the ease with which they are seduced and manipulated by the technicians of the psyche, namely, politicians and advertisers.

The impression one gets when contemplating these tens and hundreds of millions of people glued to their TV screens for the reality shows and sitcoms or fiddling with their smartphones from morning till night is of complete empty-headedness. This is not to say that such people cannot be shrewd, resourceful, or, for that matter, simply decent. It is to say that at the average level of intelligence displayed by the human race, the great intellectual achievements of mankind seem to be beyond the scope of the vast majority of men and women. But are people really stupid? And if they aren't, who or what has held them back?

Now one may be inclined to place all the blame for our ignorance on the television producers and gadget makers, but the truth is that by the time they get to us the damage has already been done. All they really succeed in doing is dragging us down a little further. The problem starts in childhood. It starts in the schools with all those empty cells waiting to be filled and no one, not entire educational systems, really knowing how to fill them. In fact, the opposite result is achieved. By the time the child finishes elementary school, unless he is destined to join the intellectual or scientific or economic or political elite and is self-motivated, as the saying goes, he will have developed an aversion to the learning process that will persist for the rest of his life.

It is not hard to understand why. School bores him, and oppresses him. Its premise, fostered in the West by the Church the virtually exclusive supplier of teachers until fairly recent times, historically speaking is that as a consequence of Original Sin all men are born evil and must therefore be coerced into doing what is good. The result has been rigidly structured frameworks where teachers hammer away at the captive child until his head is ready to explode. Within just a few years, the public school system thus destroys the natural curiosity of the child and dooms him to a life of total ignorance, dependent, for whatever sense of the world he does have, on second rate journalists, who themselves lack the knowledge, understanding, discipline and integrity to be historians or even novelists and therefore shape his perception like the ignorant clerics of the Middle Ages, raining down on his head a disjointed and superficial body of information presented largely to produce effects, and even this is beyond his capacity to retain.

The man in the street may thus be said to have a great many opinions but very little knowledge, mindlessly repeating the half-truths of experts and analysts who reflect his own biases and constructing out of them a credo of dogmatic views that remain embedded in his mind for an entire lifetime like bricks in a brick wall.

Does it matter? After all, we have all the scholars and scientists we need, and besides, a world where everyone became one would be a dull place indeed. It can even be argued that it is better for the race if progress is opposed, since, judging from its products, it mostly expresses itself materially and economically in an unholy alliance of greed and technology. However, progress of this kind cannot be fought if all that people have on their minds is to wire themselves into this technology, and that is what they will be doing until their minds are engaged in less frivolous pursuits. They are thus doubly victimized, first by the schools, whose methods are not attuned to the temperament and capacity of the average child, and then by the economic elites who control the technologies and consequently the flow of information and whose only interest in the man in the street is as a consumer of their products.

Unfortunately, there is very little hope that any of this will change. The wrong people control human society and will continue to do so, because they created the model and are the only ones who know how to operate it. The sad truth is that today's man in the street is neither wiser nor more knowledgeable than a medieval peasant. Calling ourselves Homo sapiens, or even Homo sapiens sapiens, seemed like a good idea once but very few of us have lived up to the billing."

- https://www.counterpunch.org/

Apologies to armadillos for this comparison.

The Daily "Near You?"

Alexander City, Alabama, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Perhaps It's Just As Well..."

“It’s extraordinary how we go through life with eyes half shut, with dull ears, with dormant thoughts. Perhaps it’s just as well; and it may be that it is this very dullness that makes life to the incalculable majority so supportable and so welcome.”

– Joseph Conrad, “Lord Jim”

Judge Napolitano, "Thanksgiving Special Edition"

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 11/23/23

"Thanksgiving Special Edition, Part 1"

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Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 11/23/23

"Thanksgiving Special Edition, Part 2"

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How It Really Is

 

"A Curmudgeon’s Thanksgiving Prayer"

"A Curmudgeon’s Thanksgiving Prayer"

A balanced view…giving equal time to pros and cons…gratitude and grumps.

by Bill Bonner

Dublin, Ireland - "We are celebrating Thanksgiving with two of our sons, our wives, and grandchildren. We will sit down to dinner of turkey, onions, stuffing, beets, pumpkin pie…and who-knows-what-else, prepared by the women of the household. Before tucking in, your editor will rise to say grace. As the oldest member of the family, it falls to him to offer up a prayer suitable to the occasion. But unlike so many others, he will not put a sugar glaze – such as you might find on the sweet potatoes – over the facts. After tapping his glass, and rising to his feet, he will give it to them, like the Jameson whiskey aperitif, straight:

"Dear Lord (or whatever power, higher or lower, might be held responsible), we have so much to be grateful for, we scarcely know where to start. So, let’s begin in the beginning.

We are thankful to be alive. Our hearts still beat. We breathe in and out and enjoy each sunrise, happily counted among the quick, rather than the dead. But many are not so lucky. The average lifespan of American males is falling rapidly. On the rise are what are called ‘deaths of despair,’ where people are so forlorn they take drugs or do themselves in. We are grateful not to be among them.

We give thanks, too, because we are not at war. Instead, we pay the Ukrainians and Israelis to do the killing, and/or dying.

Trillions (with a Capital T): Job openings are plentiful, too; that’s something to be grateful for…even though many of these jobs are not the good-paying, ‘breadwinner’ jobs our fathers had. More and more, we’re forced to take low-paying employment in the service sector in order to keep up with our credit card payments. And more than ever, people don’t work at all. Retired, disabled, worn out, witless…or just lazy…we don’t know, but they’re millions of them and they all must be supported by those of us who still get up in the morning, put our pants on and go to the jobsite.

Thank God, too, that we have plenty to eat. We’re not like those poor people in Gaza that we’re helping to starve. Here in America, we have so much food that 7 out of 10 of us are overweight. And doctors have come up with a whole new maladie – diabesity – to describe an epidemic now sweeping the country.

And we’re not broke….yet. Our Thanksgiving dinner will cost 25% more than it did 4 years ago…but a bit less than last year. And we can put the whole thing on our credit cards, and pay 21% interest on it – forever.

Yes, that is really what makes America great…it’s what we have to be especially thankful for – credit. What other country can run up $33.7 TRILLION [we will emphasize the TRILLION as if it were a demon from Hell for the benefit of the 2-year-old at the table]…and keep on borrowing?

This week’s Treasury auction (at which the federal government raises money to pay for projects it doesn’t need with money it doesn’t have) went surprisingly well. Lenders were willing to give the US government – which must be run by some of the most irresponsible numbskulls on the planet – their money in exchange for a promise to pay just 4.408% interest (on 10-year Treasuries)."

[At this point, the turkey is getting cold…and the family is looking at the wall sockets for a plug that they can pull…]

Slaves to Interest: "But wait…there’s more! There’s the latest news [we raise our right arm for dramatic effect…and take a crumpled news item from our jacket pocket]

Here’s another thing we have to be thankful for. This is America, dammit. [We’re actually in Ireland…but they will get the point]. And in America, we’re free. Sort of. Here’s an update, from Fox Business. "American taxpayers are now slaves to interest payments. Interest on the federal debt is now so immense that it’s consuming 40% of all personal income taxes. The largest source of revenue for the federal government is increasingly being devoted to just servicing the debt, not even paying it down." The problem is getting worse daily and will eventually result in even more pain for taxpayers.

The recent monthly Treasury statement from the Fiscal Service showed that the Treasury Department paid $88.9 billion in October on interest for the federal debt. That’s almost double what it paid in October of the previous year. Worse, the Treasury is projecting interest payments for the fiscal year to exceed $1 trillion. Every month that goes by, the Treasury increases that forecast as the outlook worsens.

Yes, dear…dear…family. We are now prisoners…forced to slave away to pay for things we didn’t want, didn’t get…and never will have. Like Jacob Marley, we drag the heavy chains of past perfidy…recklessness…and corruption.

A total interest of $1 trillion/year…divided among, say, 100 million families …each American family pays $10,000 per year for interest on federal debt. What exactly does it get for the money? The answer: nothing! The services and products were delivered, often so long ago that we don’t remember what they were for. A war against Iraq? Salary increases for members of Congress and federal employees? Subsidies…pay-offs…aid…agencies – where did it all go? We don’t know. All we know is that it is gone… Our generation [we will point a finger towards our own chest] spent it. And now, you, my poor, dear…dear…family…you’ll be paying for it – and much more! – all your lives. Amen."

- https://www.bonnerprivateresearch.com/

"We All Get Plucked in the End"

"We All Get Plucked in the End"

by Bill Bonner

Paris, France – "As our friend Nassim Taleb reminds us, there’s a downside to being a turkey. It’s called Thanksgiving. Every day for 1,000 days, it gets its food. The turkey gets used to it. It feels pretty good about things. Around the feed trough, it is common knowledge that the food “always” comes. And there is no turkey alive who can contradict it.

The more intellectual turkeys spin out theories to explain their good fortune. One says it’s because of turkey exceptionalism: “The food always comes because we’re turkeys, not starlings or pigeons. We are special. We don’t have to peck around on the ground trying to find crumbs or scratch in the dirt to find worms. We’re a superior bird; we have access to unlimited food.”

Another has a different hypothesis – better leadership: “We always get fed because our president has figured out how to make the farmers feed us. He’s the best turkey president ever. If the farmer is a little late, he knows how to make turkey life great again. Didn’t you notice? He takes three steps backward and makes a loud gobbling noise. That usually does it. If it doesn’t, he just keeps gobbling until the food comes. Always works. Always.”

And yet another pipes up: “Oh, enough with your fancy theories. We always get fed because that’s just the way it is. It’s nature.” “No, it’s not nature,” offers another. “It’s because the fix is in. The farmer has to feed us, or he’ll be charged with animal abuse. He has to keep the food coming; he has no choice.”

Bad Feather Day: But then, as the fourth Thursday of November approaches, the theories are put to the test. All are proved incorrect. The food doesn’t come. Instead, the turkeys are ushered into a special part of the farm complex where they’ve never been before. There is something disquieting about it. The turkeys begin to whisper among themselves. One says he hears cries coming from the next room. All of them notice the sounds of machinery… heavy machinery… and a few soft feathers floating through the air. “What’s going on…?” they wonder, one to another. And then, they begin to panic, running helter-skelter, hoping to escape.

Up until that day, the food came every day. Day after day… the sun shone… and along came the farmer with more grain. And then, without warning, everything changed for the turkey. Worse than a bad feather day… it was the final scene. The curtain fell. The court adjourned. We see the turkey’s life from the farmer’s perspective. It is not all gravy and sweet potatoes. But it is very predictable, with a definite beginning and a certain end. And a purpose. Have a nice Thanksgiving."

- www.rogueeconomics.com

Adventures With Danno, "Thanksgiving Day Coffee Rant With Jess And Danno!"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures With Danno, 11/23/23

"Thanksgiving Day Coffee Rant With Jess And Danno!"

"In today's coffee rant, it is Thanksgiving, and we are going over many questions we always get from our fans. We also go over our favorite foods and activities we do on Thanksgiving and getting our subscribers involved as we ask for your response as well!"

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Travelling with Russell, "Walking in Red Square & GUM Shopping Mall in Winter"

Full screen recommended.

Travelling with Russell, 11/23/23

"Walking in Red Square & GUM Shopping Mall in Winter"

"Take a walk with me in Moscow Russia and discover Red Square, GUM Shopping Mall along with other points of interest like Alexander Garden and the Eternal Flame. What does it look like in Moscow on a snowy day? How does the mood feel like as the weather gets colder."

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you a safe and Happy Thanksgiving, folks!

Thanks for stopping by!

"The Housing Collapse Will Wipe Out Millions Of Americans This Winter"

Full screen recommended.

Epic Economist, 11/22/23

"The Housing Collapse Will Wipe Out 

Millions Of Americans This Winter"

"There was a time when the American dream included home ownership, but that dream has now become a nightmare for many. That’s because millions of Americans are going to see their home equity being wiped out by the imminent housing collapse. A report from credit analytics firm TransUnion found that the average U.S. household is struggling to keep up with near 8% mortgage rates, and many are already losing their properties as they get underwater on their mortgage loans. On top of that, with buyers priced out and more sellers slashing their prices to sell properties before the end of 2023, many major cities are already seeing double-digit quarterly declines, such as San Francisco, where home prices came down by as much as 15% in the third quarter, as well as Seattle, and Austin, which reported a respective drop of 12% and 11% drop during the same period.

The red flags of a housing crash are becoming more apparent. If you’re new to our channel, thank you for joining us. Today, we will break down the latest data on the real estate market meltdown. And if you’re a regular here, thank you for your support. We have a lot to cover today, so we hope you’re prepared to hear this.

Over the past couple of weeks, major signs of distress emerged in the U.S. housing market, leading experts to worry about where we’re headed. Fortune said that the market is starting to “crack,” while Wells Fargo economists predicted a real estate recession due to rising mortgage rates.

To put it simply, between the high cost of the home and the elevated interest payments, many Americans simply can’t afford to purchase a new home anymore. As a result, sellers are slashing their listing prices right now. Redfin’s most recent housing market update indicates that approximately 1 in 15 U.S. homes on the market decreased in price in the past quarter. Compared to the same period in prior years, this is an alarmingly high rate.

To make things even worse, more than one in 10 homes bought in the past year are worth less than what owners owe on their mortgage. That’s what the new report released by real estate data firm Black Knight shows. About 11% of people who borrowed to buy homes in 2022 now owe more than the properties are worth, a figure that has steadily climbed since the start of 2023.

Moreover, more than one out of every four buyers who purchased a home in the 11 months of 2023 have properties worth less than the loans on them, meaning that they are already underwater on their mortgages and at risk of being foreclosed. That’s a very worrying development. Rising delinquency rates are an indication that conditions will get even more chaotic because once a mortgage payment is more than 90 days overdue, the threat of foreclosure becomes imminent. It is feared hundreds of thousands of Americans could be impacted by foreclosure in December.

The credit crisis can also play a major role as more expensive borrowing costs could further reduce the affordability of homes. When access to credit becomes more restricted, it can impact the number of potential buyers, and slow down property sales. In addition, global economic events, such as ongoing geopolitical conflicts, China’s economic downturn, and global food shortages can spill over into local property markets, affecting investor sentiment and confidence.

Ultimately, the coming housing crash will destroy the wealth many hard-working families took decades to build. And that’s the saddest part of this crisis because we can already see the slow-motion train wreck happening before our eyes. But the Federal Reserve and the federal government are still going to let it happen. It’s only by taking the equity of the bottom 90% of Americans that they will be able to stop the bleeding caused by the trillions of printed dollars that they pumped into the economy since 2020.

Don’t be mistaken. This is a man-made disaster. They want you to lose everything you worked for so that they can bring inflation down again."

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Jeremiah Babe, "Cars Blowing Up On Bridges Just A Normal Day?"

Jeremiah Babe, 11/22/23

"Cars Blowing Up On Bridges Just A Normal Day? 

Black Friday Madness Is History; Losing Your Job"

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Musical Interlude: Spirit Tribe Awakening, "Raise Positive Vibrations"

Spirit Tribe Awakening, "Raise Positive Vibrations" 

528Hz Positive Energy, Self Healing with 417Hz Solfeggio frequency. Peaceful, empowering and soothing music and nature to nurture your mind, body, and soul. Supporting and empowering you on your life journey."

I can't praise this visually beautiful, and very effective, video enough. In these incredibly  stressful times, please be kind to yourself and take the time to savor this exquisite work in full screen mode. Headphones suggested but not necessary. It works, as simple as that...

"A Look to the Heavens"

"Colorful NGC 1579 resembles the better known Trifid Nebula, but lies much farther north in planet Earth's sky, in the heroic constellation Perseus. About 2,100 light-years away and 3 light-years across, NGC 1579 is, like the Trifid, a study in contrasting blue and red colors, with dark dust lanes prominent in the nebula's central regions.

In both, dust reflects starlight to produce beautiful blue reflection nebulae. But unlike the Trifid, in NGC 1579 the reddish glow is not emission from clouds of glowing hydrogen gas excited by ultraviolet light from a nearby hot star. Instead, the dust in NGC 1579 drastically diminishes, reddens, and scatters the light from an embedded, extremely young, massive star, itself a strong emitter of the characteristic red hydrogen alpha light."

- http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090130.html