Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Monday, November 27, 2023

Canadian Prepper, "Alert! Emergency Shutdown, Huge Cyberattack!"

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 11/27/23
"Alert! Emergency Shutdown, Huge Cyberattack; 
NATO/Finland Preparing Insane Blockade Of Russia!"
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Scott Ritter, "Lebanon Will Enter If Israel Doesn't Listen!"

Full screen recommended.
Scott Ritter, 11/27/23
"Lebanon Will Enter If Israel Doesn't Listen! 
Palestine Has Played The Right Cards"
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Jeremiah Babe, "Talking To A Zombie While Shopping At Ross; People Hate Their Job; New Home Prices Collapse"

Jeremiah Babe, 11/27/23
"Talking To A Zombie While Shopping At Ross;
 People Hate Their Job; New Home Prices Collapse"
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Musical Interlude: Walter Murphy, "A Fifth of Beethoven"

Walter Murphy, "A Fifth of Beethoven"

"Peak Focus Soft House Study Music with Beta Isochronic Tones"

Full screen recommended
"Peak Focus Soft House Study Music 
with Beta Isochronic Tones"
by Jason Lewis

Headphones Are Not Required
"What does this track do? A soft house upbeat study music mix with beta wave isochronic tones. Part of my peak focus for complex tasks series.Designed to produce a deep focus mental state while studying or working. This session stimulates Beta, SMR and Alpha, alternating in 2 minute increments to help keep the user relaxed and engaged. Note: SMR (sensorimotor rhythm) relates to the frequency range between 12 – 15Hz. It’s associated with sensory processing and motor control. Stimulating this can result in relaxed focus and improved attention. This session is meant to speed up the brain while keeping the left hemisphere dominant (good for attention, concentration and reducing emotional response and hyperactivity). ADD and similar disorders are often characterized by “slow-wave” EEG patterns, particularly in the left frontal region. As such, this session stimulates the left brain hemisphere with Beta frequencies and the right with SMR.

Can it be used to help with studying and if so, when should you listen to it? Yes, it can be helpful to use while studying, and if you read through the many comments about this track, you’ll see that many people have successfully used it for studying. You can either listen to it while you are studying, to get your brain into a good mental state when you need it. Or if you are someone that gets a bit distracted by music while studying, listen to it just before you begin.

How Loud Should The Volume Be? There is varying advice and opinions on the impact of volume with brainwave entrainment, with some saying the louder it is the more impact it has. From my own experience, my advice is to play it at a volume level you feel comfortable with. The main thing to consider is that it should be loud enough to hear the repetitive isochronic tones, so you don’t want it so quiet you can hardly hear them. But you also don’t want it so loud that its uncomfortable for you. Somewhere in the middle is my recommendation.

Use this session in the morning or afternoon, to train your brain for better cognition, such as clearer and faster thinking. You can either sit somewhere quiet and comfortable with your eyes closed and give your brain a nice workout, or you can also listen to this while doing an activity that requires a boost in concentration, like studying.

How long should you listen for to get a good effect? It takes around 6 minutes for your brainwaves to fall in step with the tones and become entrained. It then takes time to be guided along the frequency range used in the track. Listening to about half way through is the minimum in my opinion, but 30 minutes is the optimum and preferred length to listen for.

IMPORTANT RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Drink some water – Make sure you are well hydrated before listening to brainwave entrainment.
WHY? Your brain is made up of around 75% water, so it needs plenty of water to function well. When you stimulate your brain in this way, you’re increasing electrical activity and blood flow in the brain and giving your brain a good workout, so it can be a good idea to drink before listening, so that your brain can fire on all cylinders.

• It is not recommended to listen to this while driving or operating machinery.
WHY? Brainwave entrainment involves a process of stimulating your brainwaves and changing your mental state. While this is safe to do and use in normal situations, it can sometimes zone you out during the track, as you focus in on the sound of the tones. This could result in you being distracted temporarily, which is not a good thing while you’re driving or operating machinery. Some people also experience tingling and other sensations from the stimulation. While that might feel quite nice sitting in a comfortable chair at home, it could cause you to be distracted while driving and result in an accident.

• It is not recommended to listen to this while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or any mind altering substance.
WHY? When your brain is under the influence of drugs or alcohol it’s not operating to it’s full capacity, and you react differently to stimulation and situations, compared to when you are sober. So as a precaution and because I don’t know how you will react in that situation, I recommend you do not use it in that situation.

• Who should NOT listen to this audio? Those who should not listen to this video/audio include: Those who are prone to or have had seizures, epilepsy, pregnant or wear a pacemaker should NOT listen to this video/audio.
WHY? There is insufficient research data in this area, so as a precaution, if you are among the categories listed above, I would recommend you consult a doctor or medical professional before listening to this video/audio.”
Whether you want to know it or not we're all in the fight of our lives, for our lives. Some of you reading this will not survive, and I may not either, so I for one will take any edge I can get, and so should you. This works, I suggest you use it.
- CP

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Sharpless 115 stands just north and west of Deneb, the alpha star of Cygnus the Swan in planet Earth's skies. Noted in the 1959 catalog by astronomer Stewart Sharpless (as Sh2-115) the faint but lovely emission nebula lies along the edge of one of the outer Milky Way's giant molecular clouds, about 7,500 light-years away. 
 Click image for larger size.
Shining with the light of ionized atoms of hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen in this Hubble palette color composite image, the nebular glow is powered by hot stars in star cluster Berkeley 90. The cluster stars are likely only 100 million years old or so and are still embedded in Sharpless 115. But the stars' strong winds and radiation have cleared away much of their dusty, natal cloud. At the emission nebula's estimated distance, this cosmic close-up spans just under 100 light-years.”

Paulo Coelho, "Heaven and Hell"

"Heaven and Hell"
by Paulo Coelho

"A man, his horse and his dog were traveling down a road. When they were passing by a gigantic tree, a bolt of lightning struck and they all fell dead on the spot. But the man did not realize that he had already left this world, so he went on walking with his two animals; sometimes the dead take time to understand their new condition…

The journey was very long, uphill, the sun was strong and they were covered in sweat and very thirsty. They were desperately in need of water. At a bend in the road they spotted a magnificent gateway, all in marble, which led to a square paved with blocks of gold and with a fountain in the center that spouted forth crystalline water. The traveler went up to the man guarding the gate.

“Good morning. What is this beautiful place?” “This is heaven.” “How good to have reached heaven, we’re ever so thirsty.” “You can come in and drink all you want.” “My horse and my dog are thirsty too.” “So sorry, but animals aren’t allowed in here.”

The man was very disappointed because his thirst was great, but he could not drink alone; he thanked the man and went on his way. After traveling a lot, they arrived exhausted at a farm whose entrance was marked with an old doorway that opened onto a tree-lined dirt road.

A man was lying down in the shadow of one of the trees, his head covered with a hat, perhaps asleep. “Good morning,” said the traveler. “We are very thirsty – me, my horse and my dog.” “There is a spring over in those stones,” said the man, pointing to the spot. “Drink as much as you like.” The man, the horse and the dog went to the spring and quenched their thirst. Then the traveler went back to thank the man.

“By the way, what’s this place called?” “Heaven.” “Heaven? But the guard at the marble gate back there said that was heaven!” “That’s not heaven, that’s hell.” The traveler was puzzled. “You’ve got to stop this! All this false information must cause enormous confusion!” The man smiled: “Not at all. As a matter of fact they do us a great favor. Because over there stay all those who are even capable of abandoning their best friends…”

The Poet: William Stafford, "The Gift"

"The Gift"

"Time wants to show you a different country. It's the one
that your life conceals, the one waiting outside
when curtains are drawn, the one Grandmother hinted at
in her crochet design, the one almost found
over at the edge of the music, after the sermon.

It's the way life is, and you have it, a few years given.
You get killed now and then, violated
in various ways. (And sometimes it's turn about.)
You get tired of that. Long-suffering, you wait
and pray, and maybe good things come - maybe
the hurt slackens and you hardly feel it any more.
You have a breath without pain. It is called happiness.

It's a balance, the taking and passing along,
the composting of where you've been and how people
and weather treated you. It's a country where
you already are, bringing where you have been.
Time offers this gift in its millions of ways,
turning the world, moving the air, calling,
every morning, "Here, take it, it's yours."

- William Stafford

The Daily "Near You?"

Kingston, Jamaica. Thanks for stopping by!

"World War III Prelude: Update 11/27/23"

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 11/27/23
"Alastair Crooke (fmr British Diplomat):
 Is Israel Losing the War?"
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 11/27/23
Col. Douglas Macgregor, 
"Examining the Ethical Gray Areas in Modern Warfare"
"On October 7th, a major mishap occurred that can arguably be traced back to an over-dependence on technology. Rather than relying on traditional military presence and old-fashioned human reliance, the incident saw an overuse of surveillance techniques. This shift towards a reliance on technology in warfare brings into focus the potential perils associated with it.

One of the most poignant parts of our discussion focused on the Israeli conflict with Hamas. The controversy surrounding the strategic choices Israel faces emphasizes the complexities inherent in ethical warfare. Balancing potential gains against potential losses, the conversation spotlights the consequences of various strategies, including some incredibly contentious ones. 

Interestingly, the discourse is not just confined to contemporary events. We delved into history, examining the standoff between Teddy Roosevelt and John D. Rockefeller over oil fields in the Middle East. This historical episode underscores the moral lines that ought not to be crossed, irrespective of perceived necessity. Rockefeller’s ruthless plan to seize oil fields and Roosevelt's subsequent refusal presents a moral lesson for all times. Roosevelt’s stance is a stark reminder that vengeance, however tempting, is not the answer to conflicts. 

Drawing parallels between historical and current events, the podcast emphasizes the need for Israelis, and indeed everyone, to recognize the moral lines that should not be crossed, even in times of conflict and warfare. The case of Teddy Roosevelt and John D. Rockefeller serves as a mirror, reflecting back the ethical questions we must all ask ourselves as we navigate this era of technological warfare.

To conclude, the episode does not merely dwell on the dilemmas but also calls for introspection and action. It is a wake-up call for us to re-evaluate our reliance on technology in warfare, urging us to reassess the ethical implications of our choices. The podcast episode underscores that in the quest for victory, we must not lose sight of our humanity. It urges us to remember that while technology can give us an edge in warfare, it should not be allowed to blur the ethical boundaries that underpin our moral compass."
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o
Full screen recommended.
Scott Ritter, 11/27/23
"IDF Are Panicked Conscripts, They Suck, 
They Can't Fight A Real Military Like Hamas"
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o
Full screen recommended.
Scott Ritter, 11/27/23
"100,000 Hezbollah Missiles Will Blow Up Israel's 
Iron Dome If Gaza Conflict Escalates"
Comments here:

"How It Really Is, And Will Be"

 

"It Will Happen Suddenly"

"It Will Happen Suddenly"
by Jeff Thomas

"As the Great Unravelling progresses, we shall be seeing many negative developments, some of them unprecedented. Only a year ago, the average person was still hanging on to the belief that the world is in a state of recovery, that, however tentative, the economy was on the mend. And this is understandable. After all, the media have been doing a bang-up job of explaining the situation in a way that treats recovery as a general assumption. The only point of discussion is the method applied to achieve the recovery, but the recovery itself is treated as a given.

However, as thorough a distraction as the media (and the governments of the world) have provided, the average person has begun to recognize that something is fundamentally wrong. He now has a gut feeling that, even if he is not well-versed enough to describe in economic terms what is incorrect in the endless chatter he sees on his television, he now senses that the situation will not end well.

I tend to liken his situation to someone who suddenly finds all the lights off in his house. He stumbles around in the dark, trying to feel his way. Although he can picture in his mind what the layout of his house is, he is having trouble navigating, often bumping into things. This is similar to the attempt to see through the media and government smokescreens during normal times.

But soon, as his government undergoes collapse, he will be getting some bigger surprises. He will find that the furniture has inexplicably been moved around. Objects are not where they are supposed to be, and it is no longer possible to reason his way through the problem of navigating in the dark. Many of those who observe the daily news reports are beginning to figure out that they are being fed misinformation. Many are beginning to recognize that neither political party truly represents them or, for that matter, is even concerned for their welfare. These folks are now navigating in the dark.

But the bigger surprises have not yet occurred. There will be a certain amount of lead-up, plus a great deal of confusion, but the actual occurrences will be sudden. No one will be able to predict the dates on which they occur, except those very few people who control the triggers to these events.

Crashes in the Markets: Major bull markets rarely end with a whimper. They end with a major upside spike. And, unfortunately, brokers and investors alike tend to think that, if the market has been up for the last week, the last month, or the last year, it can be expected to be up again tomorrow. This makes them prime pickings for governments who may choose to falsely inflate a given market, creating an upside spike to encourage investors to toss their last few coins into the pot, just before the bottom drops out.

In previous eras, it could take time for people to sell, and even in panic times, the bloodletting was not instantaneous. However, with the Internet, all that is necessary is a major sell-off by one entity—one that goes through the stops of a large number of investors, and in a flash, the market goes though the floor. (Editor’s note: Stops are orders placed with a broker to sell a security when it reaches a certain price.) The average investor wakes in the morning to find that he has been wiped out.

Commitments by Governments: Should there be a currency crash, as is expected in many countries, promises made by governments will be abandoned suddenly, as though they had never existed. Whilst millions of people will find themselves lost, unable to function without their entitlements, governments will evade their guilt through finger-pointing. Tories will blame Labour; Labour will blame the Tories. (The equivalent will take place in other countries.) The net result will be the disappearance of entitlements, either in part or in total. The public will take out its anger through increased hatred of whichever party it is that they already consider to be the evil one. They will fail to understand that collapse was unavoidable.

Assumed National Strengths Will Vanish: International alliances will fall away. Former allies will suddenly not be at the side of the failing nation. Former friends will sign alliances with the other side. Trade agreements will suddenly cease. Wealth, initiative, and favor will flow to the new foremost country and its allies.

All of the above will happen incrementally - not by any means on the same day - but in each case, the actual occurrence will be sudden. Just as Julius Caesar was at his peak of power when his fellow members of the Senate drew their knives, a powerful nation is coddled right until the time of its fall. In this regard, the US will see the greatest abandonment of loyalties that any nation will experience. (The greater the empire, the greater the pretense of loyalty to it. And the greater the abandonment when the fall comes.)

When an empire collapses, it dies slowly. Unless it comes to an end through conquest, it deteriorates in a series of sudden jolts. Its leaders grasp at anything that might cause a delay, even if this means a worse outcome in the end. The process may take years and even decades. However, it is in the first few years that the major events occur - the events that create the most significant damage.

This occurs for two reasons. The first is that the leaders of the country, believing in their own power, believe that they can maintain control of their trade, their overseas control, their military, etc. and find that, when the crashes come, the rats desert the ship in every area. The second reason is that any empire builds its strength upon lies and exaggeration as much as it builds on its true attributes. After a crash, these lies and exaggerations fall away, and in a short time, it becomes clear that the empire was, in its latter stages, a house of cards.

The warning signs are already taking place but are not heavily publicized. The stage is set, and we are approaching the first major events. The victims in this play are, unfortunately, the average people, who simply hope to have a decent life. They will be caught unawares and unable to even understand what has occurred, let alone take action to save themselves. Those who have not spent the previous years educating themselves and preparing an alternative life will suffer most greatly.

All who live in a country that is undergoing collapse will be negatively affected. Some will do better than others, but to live on this slim hope is much like being fortunate enough to live on the outskirts of Hiroshima in 1945. There is little comfort in being one of the least injured. Better to have been in another country altogether - both during the actual event and during the terrible time that is sure to follow."

"The Worst Part..."

"Our world is not safe. It is a toxic swamp populated by predators and parasites. The odds are stacked against us from the moment of conception. We survive only because we fight the elements, hunger, disease, each other. And, although civilization promises us safe harbor, that promise is a fairy tale. Only the storm is real. It comes for each of us. And we cannot win. We can only choose how we will suffer our defeat. We can meekly take our beatings, and die like lemmings, finding solace in the belief that we shall one day inherit the earth. Or, we can plunge into the chaos with eyes wide open, taking comfort instead from the bruises, scars, and broken bones which prove that we fought to live and die as gods."
 - J.K. Franko, "Life for Life"
"The worst part is wondering how you'll find the strength tomorrow to go on doing what you did today and have been doing for much too long, where you'll find the strength for all that stupid running around, those projects that come to nothing, those attempts to escape from crushing necessity, which always founder and serve only to convince you one more time that destiny is implacable, that every night will find you down and out, crushed by the dread of more and more sordid and insecure tomorrows. And maybe it's treacherous old age coming on, threatening the worst. Not much music left inside us for life to dance to. Our youth has gone to the ends of the earth to die in the silence of the truth. And where, I ask you, can a man escape to, when he hasn't enough madness left inside him? The truth is an endless death agony. The truth is death. You have to choose: death or lies. I've never been able to kill myself."
- Louis-Ferdinand Celineo

"You’re Gonna Have To Serve Somebody"

"You’re Gonna Have To Serve Somebody"
by Addison Wiggin

“Might like to wear cotton, might like to wear silk,
Might like to drink whiskey, might like to drink milk,
Might like to eat caviar, you might like to eat bread,
May be sleeping on the floor, or sleepin' in a king-size bed...”
-Bob Dylan

“Who’s Bob Dylan?” my 17-year old daughter’s friends asked. The day after Thanksgiving her friends were having a party, but she wouldn’t be there. She was attending Dylan’s performance at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Who is Bob Dylan? “Just some ‘oldhead’,” another friend answered.

Lizzie knew who Robert Zimmerman was/is because she’d just taken a class on 1960s literature. We’re aware Dylan is better described to their generation as the “Taylor Swift for Boomers” than the free-wheelin’ polemic who wrote “Knockin’ on Heavens Door,” “The Times They Are A-Changin’” or “All Along the Watchtower”.

We suppose every generation needs a minstrel, a bard. We could leave a blank space here, you could write the name. Dylan at the symphony is a fair distance from the Newport Folk Festival, where he first plugged in his electric guitar in 1965. We had to lock up our phones in a pouch so the show wouldn’t be recorded. On this “Rough and Rowdy” tour, Dylan returned to his roots. Deep and soulful grooves, tight band… more rhythm and roots than jazz, rock or pop. And he sang, we think. He made noises with his mouth that sounded like the resigned moan of Americana.

My mother scoffs when she hears Dylan’s name. More than just his voice, she just doesn’t like the guy. He’s rumored to be cranky with his roadies, rude to hotel employees. No one can really figure out his politics. During the show, my middle son was lulled to sleep in the nosebleed seats where we sat.

Like his personality Bob Dylan’s music is divisive, often subversive. You either like it or you don’t. But it’s hard to ignore he’s been on the road in one way or another since before JFK was assassinated. He was and is still, somehow, a pioneer in the sound copied - and parodied - by a couple generations of distinctly American song-writers. The last time we saw him was at a stadium show he headlined with Tom Petty and the Grateful Dead at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, New York over a 4th of July weekend in the mid-1980s.

For all that time, Dylan was loosely associated with the 1960s counter-culture. “Mention the Counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s,” our friend Charles Hugh Smith wrote last month, “and the memory stored in popular culture is of drug-dazed, half-naked hippies dancing to rock music. There was a slice of that, to be sure, but there was much more that's largely been forgotten.” He continues: "The Counterculture was primarily a response to the meaningless debt-dependent consumerism that had already taken hold of our society and economy. The core values of the Counterculture Everyone Forgot were: 1. Learning how to make and repair things oneself; 2. Frugality; 3. Rejection of debt.”

Dylan’s lyrics carry more of the latter sentiment. For his lyrics, Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016, the only singer-songwriter to have done so. In iconic form he didn’t show up to receive the award in person, and refused to give the acceptance speech. And it was rumored he turned down the loot that goes along with the prize. A little bit of research proves all of those details to be false. He accepted the prize and the money, privately. He recorded a speech for posterity, but didn’t give it publicly.

On Friday in Baltimore, Dylan played mostly new songs from his 29th studio album, his latest. The band was tight. Then without any fanfare, Dylan began to moan the lyrics of “You Gotta Serve Somebody,” the only classic “hit” he performed that night. Some people say “you gotta serve” is pessimistic; a defeatist statement about the inevitability of servitude. John Lennon famously criticized the song, writing a parody titled “Serve Yourself”. “It may be the Devil or it may be the Lord,” Dylan reminds everyone. “But you’re gonna have to serve somebody!”

We prefer to think the song is a call to action. A plea to choose your allegiances carefully. We’ve been writing a lot about political divisiveness as we approach the election year 2024. We’d all do well to heed a little Dylan and not get swept up in nonsensical social movements.

Ah well, we’ll get into the markets and politics this week, no worry… Just thought you’d get a kick out of one of America’s more enigmatic artists to get the week started. More to come…Dylan’s refrain rings. Can’t you hear it? You gotta serve somebody..."

P.S. Dylan is 82 years old - a year older than my wife’s mother. They have the same shuffling gait when they walk. During the show he mostly sat and crooned from a grand piano bench. But when he stood to give directions to the band, you’d think the earth itself had moved; the mostly sedate audience clapped and cheered more than during any of his songs. He began the Rough And Rowdy Ways Tour in 2021 at the tail end of pandemic hysteria. Regardless of what you think of him, his endurance and grit are a small evidence there remains gems, wisdom, in the lives of our elders.
Bob Dylan, "Gotta Serve Somebody"

Bill Bonner, "The Revolt of the Masses"

"The Revolt of the Masses"
Pandemonium in Dublin, a city in flames, 
and the immigrants at the center of it all...
by Bill Bonner

"From the very opening-out of the world and life for the average man, 
his soul has been shut up within him. It is in this obliteration of
the average soul that the rebellion of the masses consists…"
~ Jose Ortega y Gasset

Dublin, Ireland - “Hooligans,” was the judgment of our neighbors. “Resentment,” was the guess of a friend at church. “Thuggery,” was the justice minister’s opinion. Dublin was the scene of inhabitual pandemonium last Thursday. Normally, it is a safe city. A calm city. People are polite. It is not like Baltimore or Paris – where social disturbances are more common. “We’re like the rest of Europe now,” said a friend cheerfully.

We happened to be in town when all Hell broke loose. Souls, shut up for too long, suddenly broke down the door and ran wild in central Dublin. Every policeman in the area was summoned to the downtown. Police helicopters were in the air. Sirens sounded all over town. ‘What was the hubbub all about?’

Running Wild: We turned on the television to discover the city center in flames. Children had been stabbed. Rioters looted dozens of stores and set fire to at least one city bus. What was the cause of the riot? This is where it gets interesting: nobody wanted to say. The police chief announced that there were ‘rumors’ running wild on the internet…and that we should pay them no mind. He went on to say that the ‘person of interest’ (in the stabbing incident) was in custody…and that they were looking for no one else.

A viewer might have been puzzled. It took a local to explain it…almost in whispers. “Oh…there was a long fuse on that one. Dublin has gotten so expensive. It’s hard to find an affordable place to live. And it doesn’t help that there are so many immigrants and refugees coming in. The attacker…according to the internet…but you can’t believe anything on the internet…they say he was an illegal immigrant. People had had enough. We had an incident not long ago when a young woman was killed by an immigrant from Africa. The man got the maximum sentence. But in Ireland, the maximum is only 20 years. People didn’t think that was satisfactory. Nobody wants to say so, but this is about immigrants.”

But if one immigrant was the villain, another was the hero. Caio Benicio, a Brazilian Deliveroo driver, apparently stopped the assault by taking off his helmet and using it to bash the assailant in the head.

What Goes Around: Ireland was once a leading source of immigrants – into England, North America, Australia and much of the rest of the world. They were widely resented as “lawless,” “hard-drinking” and “uncivilized.” “No Irish Need Apply,” was a regular feature in the want ads. But they assimilated well. At least 20 US presidents have had Irish roots. And now, what went around comes around…the Irish no longer suffer as immigrants in foreign countries…now, they suffer immigrants in their own.

And all immigrants are not created equal. The Normans conquered England. Within a few generations they were indistinguishable from the native Anglo-Saxons. But the Moors invaded Spain in the 7th century. They never merged into the local population and were expelled 700 years later. And American Blacks, too, even after hundreds of years, still keep their distance and hold their own culture somewhat apart.

But anger against immigrants is rising. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports: "Far-right party stuns with win in Netherlands." "[People in one] of Europe's most socially liberal countries, woke up to a drastically changed political landscape Thursday after a far-right party swept national elections in a result that has reverberated throughout Europe.

Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom, which advocates banning the Quran, closing Islamic schools and entirely halting the acceptance of asylum-seekers, won 37 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, making it by far the biggest party, in a clear rebuke of the country's political establishment. "All of Europe wants a political turnaround," said Alice Weidel, the leader of German far-right party AfD, or Alternative for Germany, as she congratulated Wilders on his win."

Urban Mobs: Immigrants are an easy target. They take up space. They compete for housing…jobs… in many countries, they are a burden on the taxpayer. Latinos in the US…North Africans in France…Palestinians, Ukrainians, Syrians, Yemenis – the greater the numbers…and the larger the ‘cultural gap’ with the natives…the greater the trouble.

The resentment builds. Eventually, it finds an outlet. Sometimes it is the natives who protest. Sometimes the immigrants themselves. And not everyone expresses his discontent by writing a letter to the editor. Some prefer to firebomb police cars. But is that all there is to it? Urban mobs letting off steam? Probably not. Stay tuned…more on the Revolt of the Masses…tomorrow."

"A Modern Flâneur in... The Paris of the South"

"A Modern Flâneur in... The Paris of the South"
by Joel Bowman

Buenos Aires, Argentina - "We woke to the horrifying news last week: “1 Billion Argentinians Already Dead After Libertarian Elected.” The (satirical and terminally hilarious) outlet, The Babylon Bee, went on to describe the scenes here on the capital streets in the wake of the recent presidential election…

"BUENOS AIRES -  A catastrophic tragedy has befallen the former socialist utopia of Argentina as 1 billion citizens have already died due to Libertarian candidate Javier Milei being elected president. "These deaths occurred just as we had predicted," said smart socialist Juan Taburito while piling corpses into an old-timey corpse cart. "I blame the president-elect for making people think they deserved things like money and rights. Look what it's done!"

As your “man on the ground” down here at the end of the world, we steeled our nerves and headed boldly into the breach, determined to bring you the scenes, however gruesome they may appear. The video above (viewed here) shows the carnage, the despair, the unfettered anarchy, loosed upon the populace…

As dear readers of these pages well know, libertarianism is the radical notion that human beings are not the property of the State… that they are born, dare we utter the word… free. (The word “anarchy” itself derivers from the Greek “an”- without, and “arkhia” - ruler. Without ruler… not, we hasten to add, without rules.)

Long Live Freedom: For nigh on three-quarters of a century, the long-suffering Argentines have labored under the weight of their leviathan government, dragged asunder as it twisted and twirled, winded and coiled. With 40% of the population reduced to poverty and inflation burning at a white hot 200%, it appears the voters have finally had enough of their “socialist utopia.” Today, they rise to stand on their own two feet, to look the world and each other in the eye and say, in the words of their new anarcho-capitalist president: 'Viva la libertad, carajo!' (Long live freedom, goddammit!)

It was the great Argentine author, often quoted in these pages, Sr. Jorge Luis Borges, who once remarked, “I believe that in time we will have reached the point where we will deserve to be free of government.” Almost forty years have passed since that incomparable man of letters graced this earth…but his words are on the minds of millions of his countrymen as they rise to reclaim their liberty at long last.

Saludos!"

Gregory Mannarino, "Nations Are Dumping US Debt, So Who's Buying It? The FED Is Buying It All!"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 11/27/23
"Nations Are Dumping US Debt, So Who's Buying It?
 The FED Is Buying It All!"
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Dan, I Allegedly, "A New Scam You Won’t Believe"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly 11/27/23
"A New Scam You Won’t Believe"
"The scammers are getting more brazen as the economy gets worse. We are seeing these people impersonate people and we’re seeing them steal money directly out of peoples bank accounts."
Comments here:

"Economic Market Snapshot 11/27/23"

"Economic Market Snapshot 11/27/23"
o
Market Data Center, Live Updates:
Down the rabbit hole of psychopathic greed and insanity...
Only the consequences are real - to you!
"It's a Big Club, and you ain't in it. 
You and I are not in the Big Club."
- George Carlin
A comprehensive, essential daily read.
Financial Stress Index

"The OFR Financial Stress Index (OFR FSI) is a daily market-based snapshot of stress in global financial markets. It is constructed from 33 financial market variables, such as yield spreads, valuation measures, and interest rates. The OFR FSI is positive when stress levels are above average, and negative when stress levels are below average. The OFR FSI incorporates five categories of indicators: creditequity valuationfunding, safe assets and volatility. The FSI shows stress contributions by three regions: United Statesother advanced economies, and emerging markets."
Job cuts and much more.
Commentary, highly recommended:
"The more I see of the monied classes,
the better I understand the guillotine."
- George Bernard Shaw
Oh yeah... beyond words. Any I know anyway...
And now... The End Game...
o

Sunday, November 26, 2023

"Alert! Explosions At Iranian Nuke Facility; Massive Attack On Moscow; US Enters Gulf; Yemen Attack"

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 11/26/23
"Alert! Explosions At Iranian Nuke Facility;
 Massive Attack On Moscow; US Enters Gulf; Yemen Attack"
Comments here:

Adventures With Danno, "This Is Getting Very Stressful! Angry Shoppers Everywhere!"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 11/26/23
"This Is Getting Very Stressful! 
Angry Shoppers Everywhere!"
"We are dealing with some very stressful times as prices on everything
 seem to keep going up due to inflation and many other factors!"
Comments here:

Musical Interlude: 2002, "When I See You Again"

Full screen recommended.
2002, "When I See You Again"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Can you see them? This famous Messier object M89, a seemingly simple elliptical galaxy, is surrounded by faint shells and plumes. The cause of the shells is currently unknown, but possibly tidal tails related to debris left over from absorbing numerous small galaxies in the past billion years. Alternatively the shells may be like ripples in a pond, where a recent collision with another large galaxy created density waves that ripple through this galactic giant.
Click image for larger size.
Regardless of the actual cause, the featured image highlights the increasing consensus that at least some elliptical galaxies have formed in the recent past, and that the outer halos of most large galaxies are not really smooth but have complexities induced by frequent interactions with - and accretions of - smaller nearby galaxies. The halo of our own Milky Way Galaxy is one example of such unexpected complexity. M89 is a member of the nearby Virgo cluster of galaxies which lies about 50 million light years distant.”

The Poet: James Kavanaugh, "Searchers"

"Searchers"

"Some people do not have to search -
they find their niche early in life and rest there,
seemingly contented and resigned.
They do not seem to ask much of life,
sometimes they do not seem to take it seriously.
At times I envy them,
but usually I do not understand them -
seldom do they understand me.

I am one of the searchers.
There are, I believe, millions of us.
We are not unhappy, but neither are we really content.
We continue to explore life,
hoping to uncover its ultimate secret.
We continue to explore ourselves,
hoping to understand.

We like to walk along the beach -
we are drawn by the ocean,
taken by its power, its unceasing motion,
its mystery and unspeakable beauty.
We like forests and mountains, deserts and hidden rivers,
and the lonely cities as well.

Our sadness is as much a part of our lives as is our laughter.
To share our sadness with the one we love 
is perhaps as great a joy as we can know -
unless it is to share our laughter.

We searchers are ambitious only for life itself,
for everything beautiful it can provide.
Most of all we want to love and be loved.
We want to live in a relationship that will not impede
our wandering, nor prevent our search, nor lock us in prison walls.

We do not want to prove ourselves to another or compete for love.
We are wanderers, dreamers and lovers,
lonely souls who dare ask of life everything good and beautiful."

- James Kavanaugh

Chet Raymo, "The Dark Night"

"The Dark Night"
by Chet Raymo

“I first read Soren Kierkegaard's “Fear and Trembling” at about the same age as Kierkegaard was when he wrote it - thirty. The young philosopher was wrestling with his dark demons, including the death of his father, a sternly religious man who demanded absolute obedience from his son. He was torn between the opposing demands of faith and reason, certainity and doubt. In the opening pages of the book, he takes us with Abraham and Isaac on that terrible journey to Mount Moriah where God puts Abraham to a terrifying test of his faith.

What gives meaning to a life? Kierkegaard opted for belief. He wrote: “If there were no eternal consciousness in a man, if at the foundation of all there lay only a wildly seething power which writhing with obscure passions produced everything that is great and everything that is insignificant, if a bottomless void never satiated lay hidden beneath all - what then would life be but despair?”

This is the fear that caused Abraham to raise the knife over his beloved son. This is the valley of shadow that drove Kierkegaard to choose heaven over earth, the unseen over the seen. This is the dread of a mindless oblivion that causes so many to choose faith over reason, certainity over doubt.

In “Fear and Trembling,” Kierkegaard says that "faith begins where thinking leaves off." At the same age, Kierkegaard's almost exact contemporary, another solitary philosopher with a fierce moral sensitivity, Henry David Thoreau, wrote in his journal: “I have just heard the flicker among the oaks on the hillside ushering in a new dynasty...Eternity could not begin with more security and momentousness than the spring. The summer's eternity is reestablished by this note. All sights and sounds are seen and heard both in time and eternity. And when the eternity of any sight or sound strikes the eye or ear, they are intoxicated with delight.”

Some of us live our lives with our attention fixed on the hereafter. Others listen for the flicker's note in the distant oaks. No less than traditional theists, religious naturalists need to believe that we are not poised above a bottomless void. If we are lucky, we understand that love and loyalty are blessings that well up out of the dark night in mysterious ways. We feel no need to make the terrible journey to Mount Moriah when every element of creation, great and small, here and now, is filled with redeeming grace.”