Saturday, December 23, 2023

“Why Albert Einstein Thought We Were All Insane”

“Why Albert Einstein Thought We Were All Insane”
by Simon Black

“In the early summer of 1914, Albert Einstein was about to start a prestigious new job as Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics. The position was a big deal for the 35-year old Einstein – confirmation that he was one of the leading scientific minds in the world. And he was excited about what he would be able to achieve there. But within weeks of Einstein’s arrival, the German government canceled plans for the Institute; World War I had broken out, and all of Europe was gearing up for one of the bloodiest conflicts in human history.

The impact of the Great War was immeasurable. It cost the lives of 20 million people. It bankrupted entire nations. The war ripped two major European powers off the map – the Austro Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire – and deposited them in the garbage can of history. Austria-Hungary in particular boasted the second largest land mass in Europe, the third highest population, and one of the biggest economies. Plus it was a leading manufacturer of high-tech machinery. Yet by the end of the war it would no longer exist.

World War I also played a major role in the emergence of communism in Russia through the 1917 Bolshevik revolution. Plus it was also a critical factor in the astonishing rise of the Nazi party in Germany. Without the Great War, Adolf Hitler would have been an obscure Austrian vagabond, and our world would be an entirely different place.

One of the most bizarre things about World War I was how predictable it was. Tensions had been building in Europe for years, and the threat of war was deemed so likely that most major governments invested heavily in detailed war plans. The most famous was Germany’s “Schlieffen Plan”, a military offensive strategy named after its architect, Count Alfred von Schlieffen. To describe the Schlieffen Plan as “comprehensive” is a massive understatement.

As AJP describes in his book "War by Timetable", the Schlieffen Plan called for rapidly moving hundreds of thousands of soldiers to the front lines, plus food, equipment, horses, munitions, and other critical supplies, all in a matter of DAYS. Tens of thousands of trains were criss-crossing Europe during the mobilization, and as you can imagine, all the trains had to run precisely on time. A train that was even a minute early or a minute late would cause a chain reaction to the rest of the plan, affecting the time tables of other trains and other troop movements. In short, there was no room for error.

In many respects the Schlieffen Plan is still with us to this day – not with regards to war, but for monetary policy. Like the German General Staff more than a century ago, modern central bankers concoct the most complicated, elaborate plans to engineer economic victory. Their success depends on being able to precisely control the [sometimes irrational] behavior of hundreds of millions of consumers, millions of businesses, dozens of foreign nations, and trillions of dollars of capital. And just like the obtusely complex war plans from 1914, central bank policy requires that all the trains run on time. There is no room for error.

This is nuts. Economies are comprised of billions of moving pieces that are beyond anyone’s control and often have competing interests. A government that’s $33 trillion in debt requires cheap money (i.e. low interest rates) to stay afloat. Yet low interest rates are severely punishing for savers, retirees, and pension funds (including Social Security) because they’re unable to generate a sufficient rate of return to meet their needs.

Low interest rates are great for capital intensive businesses that need to borrow money. But they also create dangerous asset bubbles and can eventually cause a painful rise in inflation. Raise interest rates too high, however, and it could bankrupt debtors and throw the economy into a tailspin. Like I said, there’s no room for error – they have to find the perfect balance between growth and inflation.

Several years ago hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio summed it up perfectly when he said, “It becomes more and more difficult to balance those things as time goes on. It may not be a problem in the next year or two, but the risk of not getting it right increases with time. The risk of them getting it wrong is clearly growing. I truly hope they don’t get it wrong. But if they ever do, people may finally look back and wonder how we could have been so foolish to hand total control of our economy over to an unelected committee of bureaucrats with a mediocre track record… and then expect them to get it right forever. It’s pretty insane when you think about it."

As Einstein quipped at the height of World War I in 1917, “What a pity we don’t live on Mars so that we could observe the futile activities of human beings only through a telescope…”
"It is common to assume that human progress affects everyone - that even the dullest man, in these bright days, knows more than any man of, say, the Eighteenth Century, and is far more civilized. This assumption is quite erroneous. The great masses of men, even in this inspired republic, are precisely where the mob was at the dawn of history. They are ignorant, they are dishonest, they are cowardly, they are ignoble. They know little if anything that is worth knowing, and there is not the slightest sign of a natural desire among them to increase their knowledge."
- H. L. Mencken, 1929
Freely download "Ideas And Opinions", by Albert Einstein, here:

The Poet: Wendell Berry, "A Warning To My Readers”

"A Warning To My Readers”

“Do not think me gentle
because I speak in praise
of gentleness, or elegant
because I honor the grace
that keeps this world. I am
a man crude as any,
gross of speech, intolerant,
stubborn, angry, full
of fits and furies. That I
may have spoken well
at times, is not natural.
A wonder is what it is.”

- Wendell Berry

Scott Ritter, "Israel Has Forfeited The Right Of Existence"

Full screen recommended.
Scott Ritter, 12/23/23
"Israel Has Forfeited The Right Of Existence"
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"How It Really Is"

 

Canadian Prepper, "Alert! Nationwide System Outage! Abandoned Grocery Carts; Houthis 48 Hour Threat To US; Russian Warning"

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 10/23/23
"Alert! Nationwide System Outage! Abandoned Grocery Carts;
 Houthis 48 Hour Threat To US; Russian Warning"
Comments here:

"Outrageous Price Increases At Aldi! This Is Ridiculous! What's Next!?"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, AM 12/23/23
"Outrageous Price Increases At Aldi! 
This Is Ridiculous! What's Next!?"
"In today's vlog, we are at Aldi and are seeing some outrageous price increases on groceries! This is starting to get overwhelming as some of our cheapest supermarkets are starting to get very expensive!"
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"Has A 'Silent Depression' Already Started In The United States?"

"Has A 'Silent Depression' 
Already Started In The United States?"
by Michael Snyder

"The Biden administration and the corporate media are telling us over and over that the economy is just fine, but the term “silent depression” has been going viral on TikTok. Housing, vehicles, food and just about everything else that we spend money on is far more unaffordable today than it was during the Great Depression of the 1930s. A realtor in Florida named Freddie Smith posted a video on TikTok with some absolutely startling numbers about the cost of living in the United States today, and that is what started the “silent depression” trend.

TikTok user Freddie Smith, a realtor based in Orlando, posted a video in September claiming that the U.S. economy is in what he calls a “Silent Depression.” In the video, which has amassed nearly 800,000 likes, Smith compares the average 2023 salary and basic costs to those of the Great Depression to highlight the growing cost-of-living crisis in the country.

“If you look back to the Great Depression, the house was only three times the average salary. Now, it is eight times the average salary,” Smith said. “The car was 46% of the salary, the car today is 85% of the salary. And here’s the craziest part, the rent was 16% of the average salary, it is now 42% of the average salary.”
"Controversial ‘Silent Depression’ Trend 
Has Gone Viral Reveals True Economy"

Of course he is right on target. There is a reason why 62 percent of the country is currently living paycheck to paycheck. The cost of living has become incredibly oppressive for most Americans, and nobody can deny that reality.

Many Americans are working as hard as they can, but they just keep falling farther and farther behind. But we aren’t supposed to talk about what is happening. We are just supposed to pretend that everything is just wonderful. And now the corporate media has been putting out lots of articles attempting to debunk Smith’s videos. Here is just one example…"But economists strongly disagree. “Any notion from TikTok that life was better in 1923 than it is now is divorced from reality,” said Columbia Business School economics professor Brett House."

So what is the truth? Are we in a “silent depression” or not? Let’s take a look at three key areas. If honest numbers were being used, they would show that GDP growth has been negative for almost the entire time that Joe Biden has been in the White House. That would indicate that we are at least experiencing a recession. And if honest numbers were being used, they would show that the unemployment rate in this country is sitting at about 25 percent right now.

Needless to say, that is absolutely horrible. And if the rate of inflation was still calculated the way that it was back in 1980, it would still be in double digit territory even though it has come down a bit. The official numbers that the government gives us are designed to make us feel good about things.

But at this point things are so bad that the charade is falling apart. It certainly feels like a “silent depression” if you just got laid off from your job. And it certainly feels like a “silent depression” if you cannot pay your bills

Millions of Americans strapped with student loan debt are still not paying their bills after a three-year payment hiatus ended this fall. Federal student loan payments restarted at the beginning of October after President Biden declined to extend the pandemic-era pause that first began in March 2020 under his predecessor, former President Donald Trump. However, 40% of the 22 million borrowers who had bills due failed to make a payment as of mid-November, according to a new report published by the Department of Education. That means about 9 million Americans who have payments due are not making them.

And it certainly feels like a “silent depression” if you cannot sell your home…"Home sales in California plunged to the lowest level in 15 years in November, according to the latest data shared by the California Association of Realtors (CAR). According to a report released on Tuesday, existing single-family home sales were down 7.4 percent last month compared to October and down 5.8 percent from November 2022, totaling 223,940. It was the biggest monthly decline in the past year, which plunged existing home sales in California to the lowest level since the Great Recession of 2008-2009."

And it certainly feels like a “silent depression” if you are living in the streets…"Homelessness shot up by more than 12% this year, reaching 653,104 people. The numbers represent the sharpest increase and largest unhoused population since the federal government began tallying totals in 2007, the U.S. Department of Urban Planning and Development said Friday.

If the economy is in “good shape” why are Americans becoming homeless at the fastest pace ever recorded? That doesn’t make any sense at all. But those at the top of the economic food chain simply do not understand what all the fuss is about. Today, Americans age 70 and older now hold more than 30 percent of the nation’s wealth. For the moment, life is good for the elite, and they think that the rest of us just need to work harder. Of course they shouldn’t be looking down their noses at the rest of us, because hard times are coming for them as well. The “silent depression” that has already started is hitting those at the bottom of the economic food chain the hardest, but those at the very top will soon be feeling it too."

Friday, December 22, 2023

Jeremiah Babe, "Corporate America Is Gouging Prices While You Lose Your Job"

Full screen recommended.
Jeremiah Babe, 12/22/23
"Corporate America Is Gouging Prices 
While You Lose Your Job"
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"15 Fast Food Chains That Are In Deep, Deep Trouble"

Full screen recommended.
Epic Economist, 12/22/23
"15 Fast Food Chains That Are In Deep, Deep Trouble"
"Delving into the significant challenges faced by 15 iconic American fast food chains in the wake of the pandemic and the current US financial crisis. As the economic landscape shifts and consumer behaviour changes, well-established franchises such as Subway, KFC, Burger King, and Papa John’s contend with closures, declining sales, and bankruptcy."
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Musical Interlude: Liquid Mind, "Laguna Indigo"

Full screen recommended.
Liquid Mind, "Laguna Indigo"

Musical Interlude: Moby, "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad"

Full screen recommended.
Moby, "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad" (Ben-E.dit)

"A Look to the Heavens"

"Do you see the bat? It haunts this cosmic close-up of the eastern Veil Nebula. The Veil Nebula itself is a large supernova remnant, the expanding debris cloud from the death explosion of a massive star. While the Veil is roughly circular in shape and covers nearly 3 degrees on the sky toward the constellation of the Swan (Cygnus), NGC 6995, known informally as the Bat Nebula, spans only 1/2 degree, about the apparent size of the Moon. That translates to 12 light-years at the Veil's estimated distance, a reassuring 1,400 light-years from planet Earth.
In the composite of image data recorded through narrow band filters, emission from hydrogen atoms in the remnant is shown in red with strong emission from oxygen atoms shown in hues of blue. Of course, in the western part of the Veil lies another seasonal apparition: the Witch's Broom Nebula."

"We Can Learn To Fly!"

"Who is more responsible than a gull who finds and follows meaning, a higher purpose for life? For a thousand years we have scrabbled after fish heads, but now we have a reason to live - to learn, to discover, to be free! How much more there is now to living! Instead of our drab slogging forth and back to the fishing boats, there’s reason to life! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!"

"What he had once hoped for the Flock, he now gained for himself alone;
he learned to fly, and was not sorry for the price that he had paid...”
- Richard Bach, 
“Jonathan Livingston Seagull”

Freely download “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”, by Richard Bach, here:

The Poet: Carl Sandburg, “From the Shore"

“From the Shore"

“A lone gray bird,
Dim-dipping, far-flying,
Alone in the shadows and grandeurs and tumults
Of night and the sea
And the stars and storms.

Out over the darkness it wavers and hovers,
Out into the gloom it swings and batters,
Out into the wind and the rain and the vast,
Out into the pit of a great black world,
Where fogs are at battle, sky-driven, sea-blown,
Love of mist and rapture of flight,
Glories of chance and hazards of death
On its eager and palpitant wings.

Out into the deep of the great dark world,
Beyond the long borders where foam and drift
Of the sundering waves are lost and gone
On the tides that plunge and rear and crumble.”

- Carl Sandburg 

"Mass Psychosis - How an Entire Population Becomes Mentally Ill"

Full screen recommended.
"Mass Psychosis - 
How an Entire Population Becomes Mentally Ill"
"In this video we are going to explore the most dangerous of all psychic epidemics, the mass psychosis. A mass psychosis is an epidemic of madness and it occurs when a large portion of a society loses touch with reality and descends into delusions. Such a phenomenon is not a thing of fiction. Two examples of mass psychoses are the American and European witch hunts 16th and 17th centuries and the rise of totalitarianism in the 20th century.

This video will aim to answer questions surrounding mass psychosis: What is it? How does is start? Has it happened before? Are we experiencing one right now? And if so, how can the stages of a mass psychosis be reversed?"
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The Daily "Near You?"

Hawkins, Texas, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Acceptance..."

"Acceptance is a crucial step forward for those who prefer the idea of living this life over simply existing within it. Accept all that you've said and what you've done, because you cannot change your past. Accept the idea of the unknown, because the future is the unknown waiting patiently to reveal itself. Accept the person you have become thus far in your journey, because you are the only person who will be there with you when you finish it. Do all of this so that you may never find yourself having to accept regret that haunts you at two a.m., leaving you sweaty and broken hearted. All you have is this minute; not this hour, or this day, or this year. Live in this minute so that you won't get stuck simply existing with your guilty past, or with nothing but anxiety for the future."
- Margaret E. Rise

"World War III Prelude: Geopolitical Round Table"

Full screen recommended.
Tech Show, 12/22/23
"Yemen Attack US Base On The Border Of Israel!"
"In this in-depth video, we look at the recent shocking incident in which Yemen conducted a daring attack on a US military base on Israel's border, reportedly in support of Palestine. We'll look at the Middle East's complicated geopolitical landscape, the motivations behind this bold act, and the potential ramifications for the region and world politics.

Yemen, a long-running problem in the Arabian Peninsula, is a key emphasis. We'll talk about the current civil conflict, the Houthi rebels, and their allegiance to Iran. We'll also look at how Yemen sees the US's position in the Saudi-led coalition and how it affects the Yemeni people. Another critical component of this topic is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We'll look at the conflict's historical roots, rival land claims, and the continuing difficulties concerning territory, Jerusalem, refugees, and settlements.

The US position in the Israeli-Palestinian issue will be addressed, including its military and political support for Israel, as well as its role in mediating peace talks. We'll also look at how some people perceive the US to be biassed towards Israel, which hinders diplomatic attempts.

We'll go over the specifics of the attack on the US base, as well as the message of sympathy with Palestine and its consequences for the Middle East. Given the existing tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, this act of aggression has far-reaching regional implications, aggravating an already volatile region. The worldwide response to the incident, including condemnations from the United governments, the European Union, and individual governments, will be discussed. We'll also talk about Israel's concerns and its need for international assistance.

Diplomatic attempts to defuse tensions and find a peaceful solution to the problem will be emphasized. We will emphasize the importance of taking a comprehensive strategy to addressing interrelated conflicts, as well as the role of non-state actors in the region. In addition, in the middle of these geopolitical issues, we will emphasize the relevance of humanitarian concerns. Millions of innocent people are suffering in Yemen and Palestine, and their voices should not be silenced by politics."
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Full screen recommended.
Hindustan Times, 12/22/23
"'Want Direct War With U.S.': Houthi Chief's Big 
Declaration Against America Amid Red Sea Tensions"
"A Houthi Leader has threatened the U.S. and said that the militant group will directly attack American warships. Abdul Malik Al-Houthi said they would strike "American interests" and "American maritime traffic". The group has also demanded a "direct confrontation" with the United States. This comes after the U.S. formulated a multinational task force to deter Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea."
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Full screen recommended.
Scott Ritter, "Geopolitical Round Table"
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Full screen recommended.
Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 12/22/23
"Intel Roundtable: 
2023: A Year of Intelligence Failures"
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"How It Really Is"

Dan, I Allegedly, "Crazy 2024 Economic Predictions"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly AM 12/22/23
"Crazy 2024 Economic Predictions"
We’ve got some crazy economic predictions for 2024. Plus, we’re going to cover the latest cyber attack. Now one of the largest insurance companies in the world gets hit.
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Jim Kunstler, "Whatever It Takes Won’t Be Enough"

"Whatever It Takes Won’t Be Enough"
By Jim Kunstler

“Like many people, I assumed every impeachment, every indictment, every criminal count would be the end of him.” -  Robert B. Reich, celebrated Trump hunter, career summation.

"And just like that - snap ! - the news about the Colorado Supreme Court’s droll action against candidate DJ Trump vanished from the front page (or top screens) of The New York Times. Do you know why? I’ll tell you: Because the political Left has finally managed to embarrass itself with a “lawfare” gambit so nakedly fatuous that it exposes the faction’s drive to destroy the election process, and with it our country.

This is what you get from a regime that faked its way to power and now must strain to cover up its long train of crimes, abuses, and effronteries to common sense, while running out of tricks to keep fooling even its own deranged followers. Somehow, the act of kicking a leading candidate off the ballot has finally registered as inconsistent with “defending our democracy.”

Of course, the reckless abuse of law - “lawfare” - proceeds from the Left’s disrespect for boundaries and limits, which is exactly what law in principle concerns itself with. And from there it’s a quick leap into totalizing bad faith, the operating system for government under an imposter president, “Joe Biden.” Suddenly, mere days before Christmas, when the people want to be preoccupied with things other than politics, events merge explosively to shape the fate of the nation.

In a sane world, the US Supreme Court would not just summarily strike down the Colorado ruling, but would issue a career-ending rebuke to the brain-damaged state justices who managed to not learn a basic principle of due process: innocent until proven guilty - that to brand someone a criminal, there must be a record of indictment and conviction for a particular crime, and that, in the case of Mr. Trump, a politically-motived fairy tale about an “insurrection” doesn’t cut it.

Also, in a sane world interested in truth and justice, the Republican-majority Congress would have months ago convened new hearings about the Jan 6/21 Capitol riot to undo the manifold perfidious frauds instigated by the previous Democrat-majority committee under Chairman Bennie Thompson. By now, testimony should have been compelled from Nancy Pelosi, the then Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, and former Defense Secretary Chris Miller about Ms. Pelosi’s refusal to call in national guard troops to reinforce security around the building, and to answer for the odd behavior of the Capitol Police, such as opening doors for the mob and then serving as ushers to show off the place. It seems obvious that many elected Republicans also have an interest in supporting the Jan 6/21 “insurrection” fairy tale. Do you still wonder why the evil entity infesting Washington is called “the blob?”

The Substack blogger who styles himself as El Gato Malo offers the alluring theory that a SCOTUS ruling on whether the 14th Amendment clauses applies to the presidency in the Colorado case, could enable Special Counsel Jack Smith to slip-in a superseding indictment (replacing the original indictment) in his DC Jan 6 case against Mr. Trump with new insurrection / rebellion charges, thus setting-up a fortified argument for states to chuck Mr. Trump off any ballot. More “lawfare,” you see. Whatever it takes...!

More curiously even, we learn today, that an amicus brief has been filed in the SCOTUS by former Attorney General Ed Meese (under Ronald Reagan), and two constitutional law professors, Steven Calabresi and Gary S. Lawson challenging the legality altogether of Jack Smith’s appointment as special counsel for prosecuting Mr. Trump. The amicus is filed in the matter of Jack Smith’s certiorari petition to the court to schedule Mr. Trump’s DC trial the same day as the Super Tuesday primary  - against the defendant’s objections. The amicus presents compelling arguments that Attorney General Merrick Garland acted illegally in appointing Mr. Smith, and if SCOTUS chucks him out of the special counsel job, the whole mendaciously constructed scaffold of the Jan 6 prosecution goes out the window, along with the Mar-a-Lago documents case.

Those of you with a deep interest in blob lawfare treachery may also be interested in the courtroom win, this week, by Brandon Straka, who launched the 2018 “Walk Away” movement to persuade gays to leave the Democratic Party. He was present on the US Capitol grounds the day of the Jan 6/21 riot, and was later sued by eight “black and brown” Capitol Police officers, with the help of a Soros-funded nonprofit law firm, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Straka was accused of causing the officers’ injuries (pepper spray and “exhaustion”) and of conspiring to deprive them of their civil rights (under the KKK Act of 1871). It came out in the course of testimony that seven of the officers were on the other side of the enormous Capitol building from Mr. Straka’s position the entire time alleged, and that one of the officers was not even present at the Capitol or even in the District of Columbia at the time. Such are the sordid dreams of lawfare warriors and their useful idiots...

Next up, as we turn the corner into a fateful 2024 - and lately eclipsed by all these lawfare election interference shenanigans - will be the perhaps even more consequential hearings on the Biden family’s extensive international bribery operations, which may shed some light on how come we suffer a president and a party bent on destroying our country."
Oh yeah, the full title of Kunstler's website really does say it all...

Adventures With Danno, "Be Ready For This! They Are Listening!"

Adventures With Danno, AM 12/22/23
"Be Ready For This! They Are Listening!"
"We discuss how we have to be mindful of what's going on and be cautious of everything we talk about that you don't want others to know. The "smart" devices are listening."
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"Global Supply Chains Deteriorate As Malaysia Blocks All Israeli Vessels And Cargo From Using Its Ports"

"Global Supply Chains Deteriorate As Malaysia Blocks 
All Israeli Vessels And Cargo From Using Its Ports"
By Mike Adams

"Let's talk about the news out of Malaysia. So of course, you know, the situation with Israel and Gaza, and Israel continues its outrageously illegal, and anti-human bombing campaign of Gaza, killing tens of thousands of civilians who are not Hamas. While Israel claims that this is self defense, defending themselves by dropping 50,000 tons of bombs on apartment buildings and hospitals and refugee camps and so on. And this continues to this day, it's unbelievable. I mean, this is straight up ethnic cleansing. Some people call it genocide, and it's hard to argue with that.

Malaysia has now not only banned Israeli flagged ships from docking at any of its ports, but also, it won't allow any ship to dock if it has any cargo that is going to or from Israel. In other words, Israel can no longer ship any cargo on any ocean vessel that expects to have to dock in any of the ports of Malaysia. And because those are really important shipping waters around Malaysia and Singapore, and you know, the whole peninsula there, this is another big deal.

Note also that, of course, six of the largest ocean transport carriers have now banned their ships from going through the Red Sea which is on route to the Suez Canal to get to the Mediterranean. That's because of the Yemeni rebels, the Houthis, as they're called, that are firing short range rockets and using drones to attack some of the cargo vessels there. As we've covered recently, the insurance companies pulled their insurance for these vessels. And then these shipping giants said, Well, without insurance, we can't run ships through the Red Sea. So these giant cargo ships are having to divert around the southern tip of the continent of Africa, going into some very rough waters, by the way, with a lot more treacherous conditions there, with all this cargo on board being subjected to more temperature variations and humidity variations, and also rough seas. I mean, it's tearing up the cargo. And it takes an extra two to three weeks to do that.

Global supply chain rapidly deteriorating: So now the supply chain, globally, is taking a big hit. Not only because of the Houthis, but now also because of Malaysia. And here's the question, you know, Malaysia is almost two thirds Muslim, I believe. Wonderful people in Malaysia, by the way, beautiful people. The time that I was in Malaysia, I had a fantastic visit. I was in Kuala Lumpur, KL, which I'm pretty sure that's the capital of Malaysia. And I loved visiting Malaysia, great people. But again, about two thirds Muslim, and they don't want to just sit there and watch Israel just commit genocide against the Palestinian people who are mostly Muslim. There are plenty of Christian Palestinians as well and Christian Gazans and there are Catholics there and so on.

So there's been a lot of pressure from the Malaysian people to force the Malaysian government to target Israel's shipping lanes, or shipping infrastructure. And that's exactly what just happened. So the Prime Minister of Malaysia, and this is quoted in Al Jazeera says that Israel's actions violate international law through the ongoing massacre and brutality against Palestinians. So the prime minister Anwar Ibrahim announces this decision, is going to impose a maritime ban on all Israel affiliated vessels, specifically targeting Zim, which is the largest shipping firm out of Israel, and ships on their way to Israel will also be barred from loading cargo at any port in Malaysia, effective immediately.

Now, there's also rumor that Indonesia may join this action, and also ban Israeli vessels because Indonesia is also of course, primarily a Muslim populated country. And in case you're not recalling the geography of the region, Malaysia, and Indonesia, they sit at the gateway between Southeast Asia, you know, China, Vietnam, and all the way to Taiwan and Japan and so on, including the Philippines, the gateway between those countries, to the Indian Ocean, and the Middle East. So the ships that are transporting goods from Asia exporting things, let's say from from China, or from Vietnam, or South Korea or Taiwan or wherever those ships traverse through the waters getting to Malaysia and Indonesia and they often stop there.

They load and unload containers. Because sometimes, you know, containers are only going to Malaysia, and then Thailand is right there and Cambodia and of course, Singapore, they're at the tip of the southern tip of, or just south of Malaysia. So, and this is going to have a huge impact actually, on trade between the Middle East, including Israel, and Southeast Asia, it's going to cause another disruption on top of the disruption of the Red Sea, which is already in place because of the Houthies attacking the ships there.

So the question is then what kind of extra steps and extra costs do these ships have to go through now to traverse the waters that are becoming increasingly dangerous, and now fewer ports are available to them, which matters not only for logistics, and refueling and so on, but also in cases of storms. You know, if a storm is approaching in a certain direction, or if there's some kind of ocean event, you might need to anchor off a port near Malaysia, you might need to traverse a certain area. And as Israel continues its bombing campaign of civilians in Gaza, you can imagine that these Muslim dominated countries are just going to become more and more assertive in blocking off anything associated with Israel, which is really quite understandable. Because Israel is carrying out these horrific crimes against humanity.

If you're a country that has a lot of Muslims, why on earth would you want to support Israel? A nation that is murdering your brothers and sisters, so to speak, in Gaza? And I know I'm not saying all Muslims are brothers and sisters in so many different religions and different ways of practicing Islam and so on. But there's still a general idea of sharing fate. And when Muslim countries see the horrific actions being taken by Israel are, in particular, the Zionist globalists that are currently in charge of Israel. But modern day present day Malaysia doesn't want to help enable Israel to support its economy or to support its trade, which would ultimately support its war on Gaza. So that's where this is coming from.

Israeli real estate company already trying to sell beach front real estate in the middle of bombed-out Gaza: By the way, the the horrors of what's going on in Israel really came to light here in a story that was on common dreams.org. The title: Cashing in on genocide, Israeli firm pitches beachfront real estate in leveled Gaza. So they're actually advertising property development on the beach front of Gaza. And they say a house on the beach is not a dream. This is an advertisement from a company that builds in the occupied West Bank, according to this article. Palestine defenders this week condemned a proposal by an Israeli real estate developer specializing in the construction of illegal settlements to build beachfront homes for Jewish colonists over the bombed out ruins of Gaza. I'm reading from the article.

Now, you know, obviously, some of that language is from the point of view of Palestine. A house on the beach is not a dream. It drew international attention. Following last week's practical preparation for Gaza settlement conference in Tel Aviv, is an ad that depicts an artist's rendering of luxury homes superimposed over an actual photograph of a Gaza neighborhood destroyed by Israeli bombs, which have killed nearly 20,000 people. So I want to show you this photo, which has been called ethnic cleansing, and this is this is some sick profiteering right on top of the graves of bombed out women and children in Gaza.
So you see that they've sketched these like luxury beachfront apartments like right on top of all the bombed out Gaza buildings. I mean, if you ever wondered why Israel was carpet bombing Gaza and using bulldozers to clear it out, it's because they want the real estate. And also they want the real estate because they want the energy that is associated with Gaza right off shore, and they probably want to build that Ben Gurion canal so that they don't depend on the Suez Canal. This is some sick stuff. I mean, they probably still haven't even found all the dead children. Yet. It's probably children buried under the rubble in this photo. And Israeli real estate developers sitting there saying, oh, yeah, you can, you can have luxury beachfront apartments. As soon as we scrape off all of the Palestinian dead bodies, you can build this way, isn't that wonderful? Because that's the way a lot of Israelis think about Palestinians that you should just bomb them and kill them and replace them and build your place and boom, and now it's Israel, Greater Israel. I mean, this is some sick, twisted anti-human stuff going on here.

So there's a group out there called Jewish Voice for Peace that tweeted about this. It says, quote, just as the Israeli government was crystal clear in its plans to commit genocide, the Israeli government's post genocide colonization strategy is explicit, and blatant, and a war crime. We can stop this, don't look away, all eyes on Palestine..."
o
o
Stipendium peccati mors est, Israel...

Thursday, December 21, 2023

Canadian Prepper, "Alert! Hackers Warning: 'It's Worse Than People Can Imagine'"

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 12/21/23
"Alert! Hackers Warning: 'It's Worse Than People
 Can Imagine'; Nationwide Cyberattack"
Comments here:

Scott Ritter, "The US Would Lose A War With Iran And Yemen"

Full screen recommended.
Redacted, 12/21/23
Scott Ritter, "The US Would Lose A War With Iran And Yemen"
Comments here:

"Food Shortage Report and Grocery Items Going Up In Price!"

Adventures With Danno, PM 12/21/23
"Food Shortage Report and
 Grocery Items Going Up In Price!"
"Food shortage report for winter and grocery items that are set to skyrocket in early 2024! Get your notepad ready, and this seems to be getting worse each week!"
Comments here:

"Gerald Celente, Trends In The News, 12/21/23"

Strong Language Alert!
"Gerald Celente, Trends In The News, 12/21/23"
"The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present Facts and Truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for What’s Next in these increasingly turbulent times."
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Musical Interlude: Deuter, "Au Fil de L'eau"

Full screen recommended.
Deuter, "Au Fil de L'eau"

"A Look to the Heavens"

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

The Poet: Matthew Schwartz, "Ex Obscurum, Adagio for Strings, Op. 11"

Full screen recommended.
"Ex Obscurum, Adagio for Strings, Op. 11"
"From emotional turmoil, hatred, and addiction the miracle of recovery begins in this Spadecaller Video entitled "Ex Obscurum" (From Darkness). Featuring original poetry narrated by the author and visual artist, Matthew Schwartz. Composer Samuel Barber's powerful musical score, adopted for the movie "Platoon", (Adagio for Strings) sets the background for this spiritual exodus "From Darkness."

The Daily "Near You?"

Woodbine, Maryland, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"The True Dream..."

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

“I Can’t Wait For the Day When Life Finally Makes Sense”

“I Can’t Wait For the Day 
When Life Finally Makes Sense”
by Rania Naim

“I can’t wait for the day when life finally makes sense, when we find the silver lining in every tragedy, when we learn the lesson from each mistake and when we understand why our hearts needed to get broken a few times to let love in.

I can’t wait for the day that we understand why we met the right people at the wrong time or the wrong people at the right time and why our lives didn’t align to bring us together. I wonder if it’s because they’re the wrong ones for us or because we still have a lot of growing up to do and we’re meant to be with someone who understand who we’re becoming not who we were.

I can’t wait for the day that we understand the lesson behind every struggle. Why we struggled to be successful, why we struggled to find love, why we struggled to reach our dreams and why we lost people who meant the world to us. I wonder if we needed these lessons to learn how to appreciate life and feel the pain of others or we just needed to learn that there is no living without suffering.

I can’t wait for the day that we understand why we had to hate ourselves to love ourselves, why we had to destroy ourselves to build ourselves up again and why we had to start over just before we got to the finish line. I wonder who saved us or who inspired us to save ourselves.

I wonder if we are meant to be reborn a few times so we can learn how to truly live. I want to know what triggered us to change and how we can no longer recognize who we used to be.

I can’t wait for the day that we understand why we keep falling for the wrong ones over and over again, why we can’t forget those who hurt us and why we sometimes can still forgive them and take them back. I want to understand how our hearts operate, how they function, how they move us to do things we would never do and lead us to places that we know we shouldn’t go to. I’m curious to know why we listen to it, why we follow it blindly like it never got us lost before, why we trust it even though it left us broken and why do we always go back to it for questions when it keeps giving us the wrong answers. I wonder if there will come a day when we stop listening to it and if we’ll ever be truly alive without it.

They say everything happens for a reason and I truly believe that, but I also want to know what this reason is and why it chose us. Why some reasons keep recurring and why some reasons leave us even more perplexed. I want to understand why we go through certain things, what’s the message behind it and what if we never respond to this message, what if we just ignore it and keep living, what will happen then? Will our lives get lost in translation?

I can’t wait for the day that life makes sense – some days I understand why certain things happened and others I’m not so sure, but all I know is that somehow we’ll connect the dots and someday we’ll complete the puzzle, until then, we have to learn how to live our lives without trying to understand it and we have to learn how to be comfortable with the irony and uncertainty of life; otherwise we’ll lose our common sense trying to make sense of the life we’re living.”

Dan, I Allegedly, "Your Credit Cards Are About To Close"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly AM 12/21/23
"Your Credit Cards Are About To Close"
"With the latest legislation from the consumer financial protection bureau, you’re about to see millions of people lose their credit cards in the coming months. Plus did you know that Rite Aid was watching us via face recognition?"
Comments here:

"How It Really Is"

"It's A Mess, Ain't It?"

Deputy Wendell: "It's a mess, ain't it, sheriff?"
Sheriff Bell: "If it ain't, it'll do till the mess gets here."
- "No Country For Old Men"

Oh, the mess is here alright. Look around, everywhere...
Full screen recommended.
"Network", "Mad As Hell"