Friday, March 1, 2024

Musical Interlude: Ludovico Einaudi, "Lady Labyrinth & Nightbook"

Full screen recommended.
Ludovico Einaudi, 
"Lady Labyrinth & Nightbook"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“The constellation of Orion is much more than three stars in a row. It is a direction in space that is rich with impressive nebulas. To better appreciate this well-known swath of sky, an extremely long exposure was taken over many clear nights in 2013 and 2014. After 212 hours of camera time and an additional year of processing, the featured 1400-exposure collage spanning over 40 times the angular diameter of the Moon emerged.
Of the many interesting details that have become visible, one that particularly draws the eye is Barnard’s Loop, the bright red circular filament arcing down from the middle. The Rosette Nebula is not the giant red nebula near the top of the image- that is a larger but lesser known nebula known as Lambda Orionis. The Rosette Nebula is visible, though: it is the red and white nebula on the upper left. The bright orange star just above the frame center is Betelgeuse, while the bright blue star on the lower right is Rigel. Other famous nebulas visible include the Witch Head Nebula, the Flame Nebula, the Fox Fur Nebula, and, if you know just where to look, the comparatively small Horsehead Nebula. About those famous three stars that cross the belt of Orion the Hunter- in this busy frame they can be hard to locate, but a discerning eye will find them just below and to the right of the image.”

“Incidit In Scyllam Cupiens Vitare Charybdim”

“Incidit In Scyllam Cupiens Vitare Charybdim”
by Steve Candidus

“One of the great things about ancient Greek Mythology is that the stories all teach a lesson. They don’t end with – and the moral of the story is – though. They leave it to the reader to figure them out. So in addition to being just plain fun to read they are wonderful teachers about life. Perhaps the best thing about this one is that we still use the expression it contains exactly the same way that the ancient Greeks intended it almost 3,000 years ago. That almost never happens. Language is fluid and the meanings of words and expressions changes from one generation to another, but this one is an exception. The everyday expression it contains is one that we often refer to without really knowing where it came from.

This is one of the tales of Odysseus who was the heroic king of Ithaca and of whose ten-year journey back to Greece after the Trojan War was immortalized in Homer’s ‘Odyssey’. There was a point in his journey when his ship had to enter a narrow straight. It was a passage so narrow that it could only be made under special conditions. They had to have both the wind at their backs and the current in their direction. However, once committed it was impossible to turn back.

Unknown to the sailors the straight was guarded by two deadly perils. On the one side, it was guarded by Scylla. Scylla was a six-headed monster that disguised itself as a rock. On the other side, it was guarded by Charybdis, a terrible deadly whirlpool born of the sea god Poseidon.

In olden times, it was common to refer to any place that a ship came to rest on land as being in a hard place. It didn’t matter if it was blown on shore by a storm, grounded on a reef or brought up intentionally for repair. If it was on shore, it was on a hard place as opposed to the soft place – water.

It also applied to a ship that had foundered. A ship that sinks will eventually rest on the bottom. The land at the bottom of the ocean is therefore called a hard place. It used to be a common term, but it has since pretty much fallen out of practice in common language today. A deadly whirlpool such as Charybdis could take a ship and send it straight to the bottom – a hard place.

So, now as we return to the story of Odysseus we see that their ship had entered a narrow straight and that straight was guarded by two evil perils with hardly enough room for a ship to pass between them. They were forced to choose between the six headed monster ‘Scylla’ disguised as a rock or the dreaded whirlpool ‘Charybdis’ that would surely send them to a hard place and they could not turn back.

There is a Latin proverb from this story, “Incidit in Scyllam cupiens vitare Charybdim” which translates to, “He runs on Scylla, wishing to avoid Charybdis.” In modern day English, we simply say, “They were between a rock and a hard place”. And now you know…”

Chet Raymo, “The Ring of Truth”

“The Ring of Truth”
by Chet Raymo

“In Salley Vickers’ novel, “Where Three Roads Meet,” the shade of Tiresias, the blind seer of the Oedipus myth, visits Sigmund Freud in London during the psychoanalyst’s final terrible illness. In a series of conversations, Tiresias retells the story of Oedipus- he who was fated to kill his father and sleep with his mother – a story at the heart of Freud’s own theory of the human psyche. At one point in the conversations, as Tiresias and Freud discuss the extent to which our lives are fated, the question of immortality arises. Freud says of Oedipus that “he made his story into an immortal one, so far as any story is.” And Tiresias replies, “But, Dr. Freud, stories are all we humans have to make us immortal.”

Oedipus lives on, whether he lived or not in actuality. Sophocles lives in our consciousness as vigorously as ever he did in life. They live because their stories touch something resonant and unchanging in human nature. Vickers suggests that what makes the Oedipal story immortal is not any necessary tendency of humans to act out the Oedipal myth, a la Freud, but rather Oedipus’s rage to know the truth- or become conscious of a truth he has known all along and suppressed – even though the truth will be his undoing.

The poet Muriel Rukesyser got it exactly right when she said: “The universe is made of stories, not atoms.” Even atoms are stories we tell about the world, having first paid close attention to how the world works. The plays of Sophocles and the other Greek dramatists live on not because their authors were immortal, but because nature endures and their stories tell us something that rings true about enduring nature. And, like Oedipus, we have a rage to know, even if knowledge will unseat some of our more comfortable illusions.”

"I Know Why You Did It..."

"There are of course those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the government. They promised you order, they promised you peace, they promised you health, and all they demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent."
- "V For Vendetta", slightly modified.

5 Painfully Obvious Truths We Tend to Forget in Hard Times”

“5 Painfully Obvious Truths
We Tend to Forget in Hard Times”
by Angel Chernoff

“This is going to have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
We are going to get through this, I promise,
and we’re going to get through it together. “
- Dr. Jon LaPook

“You know how you can read or hear something dozens of times in dozens of different ways before it finally sinks in? The little truths listed below fall firmly into that category – timeless life lessons that many of us likely learned years ago, and have been reminded of ever since, yet for whatever reason we tend to forget in the heat of the moment. This, my friends, is my attempt at helping all of us, myself included, “get it” and “remember it” once and for all, especially as we collectively cope with the evolving reality of economic and life circumstances caused by COVID-19…

1. Life is short, and nothing is guaranteed. We know deep down that life is short, and that death will happen to all of us eventually, and yet we are infinitely surprised when it happens to someone we know. It’s like walking up a flight of stairs with a distracted mind, and misjudging the final step. You expected there to be one more stair than there is, and so you find yourself off balance for a moment, before your mind shifts back to the present moment and how the world really is.

LIVE your life TODAY! Don’t ignore death – or the imminent dangers now becoming obvious – but don’t be afraid of life either. Be afraid of a life you never lived because you were too afraid to take positive action today. Death is not the greatest loss in life, neither is illness. The greatest loss is what dies inside you while you’re still alive and well. Even in these difficult times, be bold, be courageous, be a scared to death, and then take the next step anyway. Just change the way you do it.

Invest your heart and soul into whatever you have right in front of you. Bring passion into otherwise ordinary moments. You don’t have to be surrounded by lots of people. You don’t have to be going anyplace new. You can distance yourself and still passionately engage in each moment.

2. Everything will change again soon. Embrace change and realize in many ways it’s necessary. It won’t always be obvious at first, but in the end most forms of change are worthwhile because they force us to grow. So keep yourself in check right now.

What you have today may become what you had by tomorrow. You never know. Things change, often spontaneously. People and circumstances come and go. Life doesn’t stop for anybody. It moves rapidly and rushes from calm to chaos in a matter of seconds, and happens like this to people every day. It’s likely happening to someone nearby right now.

Sometimes the shortest split second in time changes the direction of our lives. A seemingly innocuous decision rattles our whole world like a meteorite striking Earth. Entire lives have been swiveled and flipped upside down, for better or worse, on the strength of an unpredictable event. And these events are always happening – as they are right now.

So just remember, however good or bad a situation is now, it will change. That’s the one thing you can count on. Accept it. Breathe. Be where you are. You’re where you need to be right now. There’s a time and place for everything, and every hard step is necessary. Just keep doing your best, and don’t force what’s not yet supposed to fit into your life. When it’s meant to be, it will be.

3. Changing your response is what puts you back in control. Have patience with everything that remains unresolved in your head and heart. And realize that patience is not about waiting, but the ability to keep a good attitude while working hard to stay true to your intuition and values. This is your life, and it is governed by your choices. May your actions speak louder than your words. May your daily choices preach louder than your lips. May your inner sense of satisfaction be your noise in the end.

And if your present life only teaches you one thing, let it be that taking a passionate leap is always worth it. Even if you have no idea where you’re going to land – even when there are so many unknowns – be brave enough to stand up and listen to your heart. Remember that the most powerful moments in life happen when you find the courage to let go of what can’t be changed. Because when you are no longer able to change a situation, you are challenged to change yourself – to grow beyond the unchangeable. And that changes everything! (Marc and I discuss this in more detail in the “Passion and Growth” chapter of 1,000 Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently.“)

4. Life’s storms can be a great source of strength. Hard times are like strong storms that blow against you. And it’s not just that these storms hold you back from places you might otherwise go. They also tear away from you all but the essential parts of your ego that cannot be torn, so that afterward you see yourself as you really are, and not merely as you might like to be.

Ultimately, you realize you are here to endure these storms, to sacrifice your time and risk your heart. You are here to be bruised by life. And when it happens that you are hurt, or betrayed, or rejected, let yourself sit quietly with your eyes closed and remember all the good times you had, and all the sweetness you tasted, and everything you learned. Tell yourself how amazing it was to live, and then open your eyes and live some more.

Because to never struggle would be to never grow. You must let go of who you were so you can become who you are. Again, it is within the depths of the strongest and darkest storms that you discover within you an inextinguishable light, and it is this light that illuminates the path forward.

5. You don’t need all the answers right now. Accept the feeling of not knowing exactly where you are going, and train yourself to love and appreciate this sensation of freedom. Because it is only when you are suspended in the air, with no destination in sight, that you force your wings to open fully so you can fly. And as you soar around you still may not know where you’re traveling to. But that’s not what’s important. What’s important is the opening of your wings. You may not know where you’re going, but you know that so long as your wings are spread, the winds will carry you forward.

Truth be told, some of the greatest outcomes that transpire in your life will be the ones you never even knew you wanted. As long as you keep your mind open to new perspectives and yourself moving forward, there really are no wrong turns in life, only paths you didn’t know you were meant to travel. And you never can be certain what’s around the corner. It could be everything, or it could be nothing. You keep gliding steadily forward, and then one day you realize you’ve come a long way from where you started.

All details aside, someday all the pieces will come together. Unimaginably good outcomes will likely transpire in your life, even if everything doesn’t turn out exactly the way you had anticipated. And you will look back at the hard times that have passed, smile, and ask yourself… “How in the world did I get through all of that?”

The Daily "Near You?"

Big Sandy, Texas, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"This Is Your Life..."

“This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time.
Every breath is a choice.
Every minute is a choice.
To be or not to be.
Every time you don't throw yourself down the stairs, that's a choice.
Every time you don't crash your car, you re-enlist.
If death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume
and come back as a new character...Would you slow down? Or speed up?"
- Chuck Palahniuk
"If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make,
who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?"
- Stephen Levine

The Poet: Rolf Jacobsen, "When They Sleep"

"When They Sleep"

"All people are children when they sleep.
There's no war in them then.
They open their hands and breathe
in that quiet rhythm heaven has given them.
They pucker their lips like small children
and open their hands halfway,
soldiers and statesmen, servants and masters.
The stars stand guard
and a haze veils the sky,
a few hours when no one will do anybody harm.
If only we could speak to one another then
when our hearts are half-open flowers.
Words like golden bees
would drift in.
God, teach me the language of sleep."

- Rolf Jacobsen,
"The Roads Have Come to an End Now"

"We Owe that To Ourselves..."

“In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile - and the rest of us are f****d until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. We owe that to ourselves and our crippled self-image as something better than a nation of panicked sheep.”
- Hunter S. Thompson, “The Great Shark Hunt”

"Gerald Celente, Judge Napolitano, 3/1/24"

Gerald Celente, 3/1/24
"Colonel Douglas MacGregor, 
Democracy Is a Sham, Our Republic Is In Ruins"
"The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present Facts and Truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for What’s Next in these increasingly turbulent times."
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 3/1/24
"Col. Lawrence Wilkerson: Who Will Use Nukes First?"
Comments here:

"Life Comes at You Fast, So You Better Be Ready"

"Life Comes at You Fast, So You Better Be Ready"
by Ryan Holiday

"In 1880, Theodore Roosevelt wrote to his brother, “My happiness is so great that it makes me almost afraid.” In October of that year, life got even better. As he wrote in his diary the night of his wedding to Alice Hathaway Lee, “Our intense happiness is too sacred to be written about.” He would consider it to be one of the best years of his life: he got married, wrote a book, attended law school, and won his first election for public office.

The streak continued. In 1883, he wrote “I can imagine nothing more happy in life than an evening spent in the cozy little sitting room, before a bright fire of soft coal, my books all around me, and playing backgammon with my own dainty mistress.” And that’s how he and Alice spent that cold winter as it crawled into the new year. He wrote in late January that he felt he was fully coming into his own. “I feel now as though I have the reins in my hand.” On February 12th, 1884 his first daughter was born.

Two days later, his wife would be dead of Bright’s disease (now known as kidney failure). His mother had died only hours earlier in the same house, of typhoid fever. Roosevelt marked the day in his diary with a large “X.” Next to it, he wrote, “The light has gone out of my life.”

As they say, life comes at you fast. Has the stock market not been an example of that? In December, 2019 the Dow was at 28,701.66. Things were good enough that people were complaining about the “war on Christmas” and debating the skin color of Santa Claus. In January, the Dow was at 29,348.10 and people were outraged about the recent Oscar nominations. In February, when the Dow reached a staggering 29,568.57, Delta Airlines stock fell nearly 25% in less than a week, as people argued intensely over a message from Delta’s CEO about passengers reclining their seats. Even in early March, there were news stories about Wendy’s entering the “breakfast wars” and a free stock-trading app outage that caused people to miss a big market rally.

And that was just in the news. Think about what you busied yourself with at home during that same period. Maybe you and your wife were looking at plans to remodel your kitchen. Maybe you were finally going to pull the trigger on that Tesla Model S for yourself - the $150,000 one, with the ludicrous speed package. Maybe you were fuming that Amazon took an extra day to deliver a package. Maybe you were frustrated that your kid’s room was a mess.

And now? How quaint and stupid does that all seem? Depending on the day you look, years of market gains can now be taken back. 47 million people are projected to be added to the unemployment rolls in the US. The US death count from what was dismissed as a mere respiratory flu and the left’s latest hoax is now inching towards 1,000,000 and there are millions more confirmed cases worldwide. There have been runs on supplies. Store shelves are empty while prices skyrocket. The global economy has essentially ground to a halt.

Life comes at us fast, don’t it?  It can change in an instant. Everything you built, everyone you hold dear, can be taken from you. For absolutely no reason. Just as easily, you can be taken from them. This is why the Stoics say we need to be prepared, constantly, for the twists and turns of Fortune. It’s why Seneca said that nothing happens to the wise man contrary to his expectation, because the wise man has considered every possibility - even the cruel and heartbreaking ones.

And yet even Seneca was blindsided by a health scare in his early twenties that forced him to spend nearly a decade in Egypt to recover. He lost his father less than a year before he lost his first-born son, and twenty days after burying his son he was exiled by the emperor Caligula. He lived through the destruction of one city by a fire and another by an earthquake, before being exiled two more times.

One needs only to read his letters and essays, written on a rock off the coast of Italy, to get a sense that even a philosopher can get knocked on their ass and feel sorry for themselves from time to time.

What do we do? Well, first, knowing that life comes at us fast, we should be always prepared. Seneca wrote that the fighter who has “seen his own blood, who has felt his teeth rattle beneath his opponent’s fist… who has been downed in body but not in spirit…” - only they can go into the ring confident of their chances of winning. They know they can take getting bloodied and bruised. They know what the darkness before the proverbial dawn feels like. They have a true and accurate sense for the rhythms of a fight and what winning requires. That sense only comes from getting knocked around. That sense is only possible because of their training.

In his own life, Seneca bloodied and bruised himself through a practice called premeditatio malorum (“the premeditation of evils”). Rehearsing his plans, say to take a trip, he would go over the things that could go wrong or prevent the trip from happening - a storm could spring up, the captain could fall ill, the ship could be attacked by pirates, he could be banished to the island of Corsica the morning of the trip. By doing what he called a premeditatio malorum, Seneca was always prepared for disruption and always working that disruption into his plans. He was fitted for defeat or victory. He stepped into the ring confident he could take any blow. Nothing happened contrary to his expectations.

Second, we should always be careful not to tempt fate. In 2016 General Michael Flynn stood on the stage at the Republican National Convention and led some 20,000 people (and a good many more at home) in an impromptu chant of “Lock Her Up! Lock Her Up!” about his enemy Hillary Clinton. When Trump won, he was swept into office in a whirlwind of success and power. Then, just 24 days into his new job, Flynn was fired for lying to the Vice President about conversations he’d had with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States. He would be brought up on charges and convicted of lying to the FBI.

Life comes at us fast… but that doesn’t mean we should be stupid. We also shouldn’t be arrogant.

Third, we have to hang on. Remember, that in the depths of both of Seneca’s darkest moments, he was unexpectedly saved. From exile, he was suddenly recalled to be the emperor’s tutor. In the words of the historian Richard M. Gummere, “Fortune, whom Seneca as a Stoic often ridicules, came to his rescue.” But Churchill, as always, put it better: “Sometimes when Fortune scowls most spitefully, she is preparing her most dazzling gifts.”

Life is like this. It gives us bad breaks - heartbreakingly bad breaks - and it also gives us incredible lucky breaks. Sometimes the ball that should have gone in, bounces out. Sometimes the ball that had no business going in surprises both the athlete and the crowd when it eventually, after several bounces, somehow manages to pass through the net.

When we’re going through a bad break, we should never forget Fortune’s power to redeem us. When we’re walking through the roses, we should never forget how easily the thorns can tear us upon, how quickly we can be humbled. Sometimes life goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t.

This is what Theodore Roosevelt learned, too. Despite what he wrote in his diary that day in 1884, the light did not completely go out of Roosevelt’s life. Sure, it flickered. It looked like the flame might have been cruelly extinguished. But with time and incredible energy and force of will, he came back from those tragedies. He became a great father, a great husband, and a great leader. He came back and the world was better for it. He was better for it.

Life comes at us fast. Today. Tomorrow. When we least expect it. Be ready. Be strong. Don’t let your light be snuffed out."

"How It Really Is"

Gary Jules, "Mad World"

Dan, I Allegedly, "Your DMV Data Sold for Pennies"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, AM 3/1/24
"Your DMV Data Sold for Pennies"
"I am always amazed when I get story sent to me like this. In Florida it’s legal for them to take your DMV information and sell it for pennies to different groups. This includes your name your address phone numbers drivers license number. This is insanity."
Comments here:

Adventures With Danno, "Dollar Tree 2024!"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, AM 3/1/24
"Dollar Tree 2024!"
"In today's vlog, I am at Dollar Tree and showing many grocery items that everyone should be buying in March of 2024! With a massive amount of food items going up in price around the country, we are seeking out more budget friendly options!"
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Gregory Mannarino, "US Striking New Targets In The Middle East, Crude Oil Prices Surge

Gregory Mannarino, AM 3/1/24
"US Striking New Targets In The Middle East, 
Crude Oil Prices Surge; This Is What's Next!"
Comments here:

Canadian Prepper, "Alert! Canada Sending Troops To Ukraine! Sec. Austin, "Russia NATO War Coming"; Leaked 4 Part Plan"

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 3/1/24
"Alert! Canada Sending Troops To Ukraine! 
Sec. Austin, "Russia NATO War Coming"; Leaked 4 Part Plan"
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Vera Lynn, "We'll Meet Again"

Jim Kunstler, "The Blob Quivers"

"The Blob Quivers"
by Jim Kunstler

“Russian meddling will eventually outstrip ‘Saw X’ 
as America’s most exhaustively-mined sequel series.” 
- Matt Taibbi

"Did the Blob get vaxxed and boosted? Does that explain the severe neurological damage it displays now as its hologram of lies about Ukraine and Russia Russia Russia flickers out in the blinding daylight of reality. First, there was the gigantic New York Times article published last Sunday blowing open the decade-long secret shadow war by the CIA in a sprawling network of underground bunkers on and around the Russian border.

The story was a direct feed from Blob Central in Langley, VA, to Times errand boys Adam Entous and Michael Schwirtz, longtime RussiaGate hoaxers, and obviously intended to get ahead of the real news that the neo-con project to turn Ukraine into a NATO forward base against Russia has collapsed. Read closely, the Times story appears to be an effort by current CIA chief William Burns to hang-out-to-dry his predecessors John Brennan, Mike Pompeo, and Gina Haspel for the failed eight-year-long operation. Why? Because it looks like Russia is fixing to shut down the war ASAP, before its March 15 presidential election.

As it happened, Russian diplomats and Ukraine President Zelensky took turns visiting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in Saudi Arabia this week, sparking rumors that these were peace talks with MBS playing mediator. The situation is delicate for all concerned. Ukraine itself verges on collapse with its army decimated, its ammo used up, and its coffers empty, awaiting the $60-plus-billion aid package that is stalled in Congress, meaning no salaries for Ukraine govt employees and no pensions.

It’s delicate for the US because “Joe Biden” has declared our country won’t negotiate over Ukraine, despite the fact that there is nothing else to do now, or the end of the war will be negotiated without us. And remember, not many days ago Mr. Putin told Tucker Carlson that he was ready to talk to anybody. What this will demonstrate is that America has neither the ability to continue its proxy war nor the will or sense to engage in peace talks — all due to “Joe Biden’s” abject intransigence, and not a good look for someone pretending to run for re-election.

It’s delicate for Russia because such a humiliating loss for America could provoke “JB” and his NATO allies to some reckless and foolish act, say, sending NATO members’ ground troops directly into battle or a missile strike on Russian territory, setting off nuclear war. At the very least, the situation has already prompted the US government propaganda machine to kick-start Russia Russia Russia 3.0, the threadbare narrative that has been the accelerant of Democratic Party hallucinations about Russia interfering in US elections since 2016 - when it has actually been US spooks collaborating with a motley assortment of Ukrainian stooges, plus Marc Elias’s lawfare corps, plus the Intel Blob coercing social media to work its will. The majority of the voters don’t seem receptive to a replay of this scam but the US government is at war with those voters, so anything goes in the struggle to retain power.

While we await news out of those peace talks, a political firestorm rages around illegal immigrants from all over the world swarming across the US border. Nothing about that seems even remotely comprehensible, let alone defensible, anymore, as women fall prey to rape and murder by mutts released on-purpose into the US population, and cities groan under the financial burden of housing and supporting them. And so, it looks like the person directly responsible, Alejandro Mayorkas, might be riding his House impeachment bill into a senate trial - another bad look for the Democratic Party (of Chaos) going into the heart of election season.

Speaking of bad looks, did you happen to read the transcript of Hunter Biden’s testimony to the conjoined House Committees yesterday on the matter of the Biden family’s global bribery business? It’s available at this link, all 229 pages of the hours-long session. I read over 120 pages of the dang thing in the wee hours overnight and it’s really a fabulous soap opera of First Son Hunter Biden copping a plea over his various addiction problems (boo-hoo), and repeating endlessly, against a blizzard of incriminating documentary evidence, that his “dad” had no knowledge of his business deals with Ukrainian, Chinese, Russian, Kazakh, and Romanian parties, and did not receive any money filtered through the network of Hunter’s many fake companies (multiple Rosemont Senecas and Hudson Wests) that had no other business except routing payments into Biden family bank accounts.

The DOJ arm of the Blob has worked double-overtime, of course, to keep the mighty paws of the law from mauling poor, addiction-victim Hunter, most recently last month trotting out veteran “trusted” FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, arrested as “a liar” for having purveyed info about multi-million dollar bribes to the Biden family from the Ukrainian Burisma natgas company where Hunter was a board member (at roughly a million dollars a year), supposedly to get then Veep Dad to grease the exit ramp for Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, who was famously investigating the company and its oligarch owner Mykola Zlochevsky.

One conclusion you can draw from all these matters is that they are not going away. Rather, they are leading to a set of gruesome showdowns not just for the ever more pathetic looking “Joe Biden,” but for his Party of Chaos heading toward a possible extinction event in November. The big question really is, will that party blow up the United States of America in the process?"

Greg Hunter, "Weekly News Wrap-Up 3/1/24

"Weekly News Wrap-Up 3/1/24
Putin Nuke Warning, CV19 Vax Inflation, Tanking Economy
by Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 

"Russian President Putin warned NATO that sending troops to fight in Ukraine could cause a nuclear war. Putin pointed out that Russian nukes travel at hypersonic speeds, and the weapons of the west are no match. Putin also signaled that he was ready to talk about a peace deal to end the fighting. With 500,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed in action and even more dead civilians in this war, isn’t this a good time to stop the killing?

The CV19 vax is not only causing a growing number of victims to “die suddenly,” but it is also making a lot of people very sick? Turbo cancers, autoimmune diseases, blood clots and heart attacks are just a few of the CV19 health problems the vaxed are dealing with. Now, everyone must start dealing with CV19 inflation in the form of exploding healthcare insurance. My insurance sources are warning healthcare costs are going higher - much higher, and it is because of the bioweapon injections. Martin Armstrong says the peak in sick people will happen in 2026. We have a long way to go.

Everywhere you look the economy is tanking. Dozens of companies have laid off thousands of workers in the first two months of 2024. Companies are unloading commercial real estate for $1 in New York City. Home sales have tanked in January while inflation spiked. The only bright spots are gold is rising again while Bitcoin went up $13,000 this past week in just three days. It’s now around $60,000 per unit. What’s going on?" There is much more in the 56-minute newscast.

Join Greg Hunter on Rumble for these stories 
and more in the Weekly News Wrap-Up for 3/1/24:

"What Do You Do?"

What do you do with a ferociously vicious, 
uncontrollable mad dog?
Full screen recommended.
Hindustan Times, 3/1/24
"Israel Blamed For 112 Deaths In Gaza Aid 'Massacre,'
 But Netanyahu Adamant; 'War Won't End...'"
"Despite the horrific incident in Gaza on Feb 29, where at least 112 Palestinians were killed, Benjamin Netanyahu remain adamant on continuing the war. Netanyahu said he won't cave in to global pressure and lashed out at Hamas for its 'delusional demands' over the release of hostages. Netanyahu also said he will pave the way for conscripting Ultra-Orthodox amid war. Hamas has blamed Israeli forces for opening fire and killing the aid seekers in Gaza yesterday, but Israeli Army has claimed that the casualties took place due to stampede."
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Thursday, February 29, 2024

"Chilling Videos of Gaza 'Massacre' That Killed Over 100 Palestinians Standing in Line for Food"

Horrifying full screen recommended.
Times Of India, 2/29/24
"Chilling Video of Gaza 'Massacre' That Killed 
Over 100 Palestinians Standing in Line for Food"
"In a devastating turn of events, at least 104 Palestinians seeking food aid were ruthlessly killed, and 760 others suffered injuries in a barrage of gunfire unleashed by Israeli forces in Gaza. The grim scene continued to unfold as Israeli troops, according to Palestinian media reports, targeted civilians awaiting humanitarian aid. See this. Medical teams at al-Shifa Hospital struggled to cope with the overwhelming volume and severity of injuries from dozens of wounded people who arrived amid the chaos. The Israeli military initially denied any knowledge of shelling at the location, but later admitted that a significant number of people were injured due to pushing and trampling when aid trucks arrived in northern Gaza. This shocking incident has raised international concerns about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the escalating violence in the region."
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o
"Israel is Evil personified, Israel is Evil embodied."
- Scott Ritter
o
Full screen recommended.
The Young Turks, 3/1/24
"100+ Dead After Israeli Troops Open Fire 
On Desperate Palestinians In Food Lines"
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Hindustan Times, 3/1/24
"Gaza Aid Horror: NATO & Muslim Nations 
Come Down Heavily On Israel"
"For the first time since the Gaza war began in October last year, the world has united to condemn Israel. On Feb 29, at least 112 Palestinians, waiting for food, died when aid trucks arrived at the site in Gaza. Hamas claims Israeli forces opened indiscriminate fire at the civilians while Israel maintains that the casualties were a result of a stampede. Israel military said its troops did open fire but only at those Gazans who endangered soldiers. Widespread condemnation of Israel is taking place since. The UN, EU, Amnesty, NATO nations France, Spain, Italy and Turkey, Muslim nations like Qatar and Oman, Columbia have called on Israel to immediately stop its war and secure civilians. The U.S., on the other hand, called it a tragic incident but said that it stood with Israel while it launched an investigation."
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o
Hell is not hot enough, 
and eternity is not long enough for these monsters...

Jeremiah Babe, "Organized Crime Wave Hitting My Neighborhood, Prepare For The Unexpected"

Full screen recommended.
Jeremiah Babe, 2/29/24
"Organized Crime Wave Hitting My Neighborhood, 
Prepare For The Unexpected"
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Gerald Celente, "Danger Ahead! We're Being Attacked For Peace!"

Strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, 2/29/24
"Danger Ahead! We're Being Attacked For Peace!"
"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, "Endless Horizon"

Deuter, "Endless Horizon"
About Deutur

"A Look to the Heavens"

"Sprawling emission nebulae IC 1396 and Sh2-129 mix glowing interstellar gas and dark dust clouds in this 10 degree wide field of view toward the northern constellation Cepheus the King. Energized by its bluish central star IC 1396 (left) is hundreds of light-years across and some 3,000 light-years distant. 
The nebula's intriguing dark shapes include a winding dark cloud popularly known as the Elephant's Trunk below and right of center. Tens of light-years long, it holds the raw raw material for star formation and is known to hide protostars within. Located a similar distance from planet Earth, the bright knots and swept back ridges of emission of Sh2-129 on the right suggest its popular name, the Flying Bat Nebula. Within the Flying Bat, the most recently recognized addition to this royal cosmic zoo is the faint bluish emission from Ou4, the Giant Squid nebula."

The Poet: William Stafford, ”Today”

”Today”

“The ordinary miracles begin. Somewhere
a signal arrives: “Now,” and the rays
come down. A tomorrow has come. Open
your hands, lift them: morning rings
all the doorbells; porches are cells for prayer.
Religion has touched your throat. Not the same now,
you could close your eyes and go on full of light.
And it is already begun, the chord
that will shiver glass, the song full of time
bending above us. Outside, a sign:
a bird intervenes; the wings tell the air,
“Be warm.” No one is out there, but a giant
has passed through town, widening streets, touching
the ground, shouldering away the stars.”

- William Stafford

"All Alone..."

“We are all alone, born alone, die alone, and – in spite of True Romance magazines – we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way. I do not say lonely – at least, not all the time – but essentially, and finally, alone. This is what makes your self-respect so important, and I don’t see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness.”
- Hunter S. Thompson,
“The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman”

"We May Know..."

“We may know that the work we continue to put off doing will be bad. Worse, however, is the work we never do. A work that’s finished is at least finished. It may be poor, but it exists, like the miserable plant in the lone flowerpot of my neighbor who’s crippled. That plant is her happiness, and sometimes it’s even mine. What I write, bad as it is, may provide some hurt or sad soul a few moments of distraction from something worse. That’s enough for me, or it isn’t enough, but it serves some purpose, and so it is with all of life.”
- Fernando Pessoa

Judge Napolitano, "Col. Douglas Macgregor: How Close Is WW III?"

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 2/29/24
"Col. Douglas Macgregor: How Close Is WW III?"
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The Daily "Near You?"

Sand Springs, Oklahoma, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

Judge Napolitano, "Max Blumenthal: Evils Of the IDF"

Judge Napolitano, - Judging Freedom, 2/29/24
"Max Blumenthal: Evils Of the IDF"
Comments here:
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"Israel is the personification of Evil, 
Israel is the embodiment of Evil..."
- Scott Ritter
o
Full screen recommended.
Times Of India, 2/29/24
"Israel War Minister's Shocking Confession: 
'Destroying Hamas' Mission Backfired in Gaza"
"In a startling revelation, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant unveils the staggering casualties suffered by the regime's forces since the initiation of the genocidal war on Gaza. Gallant conceded a grim toll in a televised address on Wednesday. This disclosure comes amidst reports of progress on a potential hostage deal, signaling a significant shift in Israel's military dynamics. The Israeli military has proposed amendments to the army draft law, preparing for an extended conflict in the Gaza Strip. Plans include extending mandatory service, intensifying the duration for male and female soldiers engaged in combat and specialized roles. Currently, men serve for two years and eight months, while women serve for two years only."
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o
Full screen recommended.
Times Of India, 2/29/24
"150 Killed in Gaza by Israeli Forces,
 Furious Hamas' Big Warning To Israel After Death Reports"
"In a harrowing turn of events, reports suggest that Israeli troops reportedly attacked civilians waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza City. Hamas claims that the IDF ground offensive resulted in the killing of 150 people within 24 hours. If these reports prove true, it would mark one of the biggest killings by Israel in a single day. Following this shocking Israeli attack, Hamas issued a grave warning to Prime Minister Netanyahu, threatening to completely withdraw from the ongoing hostage deal talks. While the Israeli military staunchly denied any ground operation in Gaza's northern part, the IDF later admitted that a substantial number of people sustained injuries during a chaotic surge when Gazans pushed and trampled each other as aid trucks arrived."
o
Full screen recommended.
USS Global. 2/29/24
"Israel Just Got Terrible News! Russia And Iran 
Prepare To Intercept Israeli Jets In The Golan!"
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Stipendium peccati mors est, Israel...

"How, Then..."

"How, then, shall we face the future? When the sailor is out on the ocean, when everything is changing all around him, when the waves are born and die, he does not stare down into the waves, because they are changing. He looks up at the stars. Why? Because they are faithful..." 
- Soren Kierkegaard
Procol Harum, "A Salty Dog"

Dan, I Allegedly, "It’s All About Who You Know"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, AM 2/29/24
"It’s All About Who You Know"
"How unfair is this? You have a governor who has passed a law that that raises the minimum wage to $20 per hour. Now we find out that there is a local restaurant that is going to be exempt from this because they are friends with the governor. This is outrageous. The governor also got a donation from this person. "
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"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

"How It Really Is"