Monday, May 20, 2024

"An Empire Self-Destructs"

"An Empire Self-Destructs"
by Jeff Thomas

"Empires are built through the creation or acquisition of wealth. The Roman Empire came about through the productivity of its people and its subsequent acquisition of wealth from those that it invaded. The Spanish Empire began with productivity and expanded through the use of its large armada of ships, looting the New World of its gold. The British Empire began through localized productivity and grew through its creation of colonies worldwide—colonies that it exploited, bringing the wealth back to England to make it the wealthiest country in the world.

In the Victorian Age, we Brits were proud to say, "There will always be an England," and "The sun never sets on the British Empire." So, where did we go wrong? Why are we no longer the world’s foremost empire? Why have we lost not only the majority of our colonies, but also the majority of our wealth?

Well, first, let’s take a peek back at the other aforementioned empires and see how they fared. Rome was arguably the greatest empire the world has ever seen. Industrious Romans organized large armies that went to other parts of the world, subjugating them and seizing the wealth that they had built up over generations. And as long as there were further conquerable lands just over the next hill, this approach was very effective. However, once Rome faced diminishing returns on new lands to conquer, it became evident that those lands it had conquered had to be maintained and defended, even though there was little further wealth that could be confiscated.

The conquered lands needed costly militaries and bureaucracies in place to keep them subjugated but were no longer paying for themselves. The "colonies" were running at a loss. Meanwhile, Rome itself had become very spoiled. Its politicians kept promising more in the way of "bread and circuses" to the voters, in order to maintain their political office. So, the coffers were being drained by both the colonies and at home. Finally, in a bid to keep from losing their power, Roman leaders entered into highly expensive wars. This was the final economic crippler and the empire self-destructed.

Spain was a highly productive nation that attacked its neighbours successfully and built up its wealth, then became far wealthier when it sailed west, raiding the Americas of the silver and gold that they had spent hundreds of years accumulating. The sudden addition of this wealth allowed the Spanish kings to be lavish to the people and, as in Rome, the Spanish became very spoiled indeed. But once the gold and silver that was coming out of the New World was down to a trickle, the funding for maintaining the empire began to dry up. Worse, old enemies from Europe were knocking at the door, hoping to even old scores. In a bid to retain the empire, the king entered into extensive warfare in Europe, rapidly draining the royal purse and, like Rome, the Spanish Empire self-destructed.

In the Victorian era, the British Empire was unmatched in the world. It entered the industrial revolution and was highly productive. In addition, it was pulling wealth from its colonies in the form of mining, farming and industry. But, like other countries in Europe, it dove into World War I quickly and, since warfare always diminishes productivity at home whilst it demands major expense abroad, the British Empire was knocked down to one knee by the end of the war.

Then, in 1939, the game was afoot again and Britain was drawn into a second world war. By the end of the war, it could still be said that there would always be an England, but its wealth had been drained off and, one by one, its colonies jumped ship. The days of empire were gone.

Into the breach stepped the US. At the beginning of World War I, the US took no part in the fighting, but, as it had experienced its own industrial revolution, it supplied goods, food, and armaments to Britain and her allies. Because the pound and other European currencies could not be trusted not to inflate, payment was made in gold and silver. So the US was expanding its productivity into a guaranteed market, selling at top dollar, using the profits to create larger, more efficient factories, and getting paid in gold.

Then, in 1939, it all happened again. Although the US eventually joined both wars, they did so much later than Britain and her allies. At the end of World War II, the US had a lively young workforce, as they had lost fewer men to the war. They also had modern factories, which had been paid for by other nations, that could now be used to produce peacetime goods for themselves and the rest of the world more efficiently than anyone else.

And (and this is a very big "and") by 1945 they owned or controlled three quarters of the world’s gold, as they’d drained it away from the warring nations in the early days of the war. This allowed the US to invite the post-war leaders to Bretton Woods to explain that, as the holders of the world’s wealth, they’d dictate what the world’s default currency would be: the dollar.

But this was all threatened by the fact that, when the now-poorer nations of the world sold their goods to the US, they, too, beginning with the French, wished to be paid in gold. And so, in the subsequent years, the gold in Fort Knox was beginning to travel back to the east, from whence it had come in previous years. In 1971, this flow was shut off, as the US, still the foremost empire, had the power to simply remove all intrinsic value from the dollar and turn it into a fiat currency. Payment in gold ended.

Fast-forward to the post-millennium era and we see that America, like the previous empires, ended its acquisition of gold after World War II, yet its people became spoiled by political leaders who promised ever-increasing bread and circuses. The productivity that led to its initial strength was dying off, and it was spending more than it was bringing in. Finally, it sought to maintain its hegemony through warfare, thereby creating a dramatic drain to its wealth.

Like other empires before it, the US is now on the verge of relinquishing the crown of empire. If there’s any difference this time around, it’s that its collapse will very likely be far more spectacular than that of previous empires. However, just as in previous collapses, those who least understand that the collapse is around the corner are those who are closest to its centre. Clearly, the majority of Americans are worried about their future yet cannot conceive of their country as a second-rate power. And those who hold the reins of that power tend to be the most deluded, delving ever-deeper into debt at an ever-faster rate, whilst expanding welfare and warfare without any concept of how it might all be paid for. It’s understandable, therefore, that those of us who are on the outside looking in find it easier to observe objectively from afar and see the coming self-destruction of yet another empire.

As stated in the first line of this essay, "empires are built through the creation or acquisition of wealth." They tend to end through the gradual elimination of the free-market system, the metamorphosis to a welfare state, and, finally, through the destruction of wealth through costly warfare.

Does this indicate the "end of the world"? Not at all. The world did not end with the fall of Rome, Spain, England, or any one of the many other empires. The productive people simply moved to a different geographical location—one that encourages free-market opportunity. The wealth moved with them, then grew, as the free market allowed productive people to make it grow. Freedom and opportunity still exist and indeed flourish. All that’s changing is the locations where they are to be found."

Dan, I Allegedly, "No One Has Our Best Interest At Heart"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, 5/20/24
"No One Has Our Best Interest At Heart"
"We just heard from the Fed president Rafael Bostick. He said inflation is going away. We all know it’s not. Plus, Wells Fargo was just implicated in a Ponzi scheme where they allowed a business to set up 31 bank accounts and pay people using their accounts."
Comments here:

"How It Really Is"

 

Canadian Prepper, "Emergency WW3 Alert! Iranian President Is Dead! Russia, China and Iran On Highest Alert!"

Canadian Prepper, 5/20/24
"Emergency WW3 Update: Iranian President Is Dead! 
Russia, China and Iran On Highest Alert!"
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
"President Ebrahim Raisi Declared Dead: 
What's Next For Iran's Leadership"
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Times Of India, 5/20/24
"Israel Assassinated Raisi? Stunning Theories 
Surround Crash Of Iran President's Chopper"
Comments here:

Adventures With Danno, "New Products At Sam's Club, You Won't Believe What I Found!"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 5/20/24
"New Products At Sam's Club, 
You Won't Believe What I Found!"
Comments here:

Bill Bonner, "GDP Stinks"

"GDP Stinks"
What is happening in the US? GDP figures tell us the economy is working well.
 Unemployment is near record lows. And the stock market is at record highs.
by Bill Bonner

"There was a young man from the city,
Who saw what he thought was a kitty
He bent down to pet it
And boy did he get it,
They buried his clothes without pity."

Dublin, Ireland - "How come ‘the West,’ with a 30-to-1 advantage over Russians... can’t win the war? And how come the richest, most dynamic, most virtuous and most honorable economy the world has ever seen - yes, we are talking about our own USA - still can’t keep current with its bills? How come it passes them along - $35 trillion worth, so far - to its children and grandchildren?

And how come the economy - the greatest ever, or so everyone says - can produce ‘full employment’... and still not give workers a raise in half a century? How come it is more expensive for them today... in terms of their own working hours... to buy a house or a car today than it was 50 years ago? In short, the US economy may have a white stripe running down its back.

Houses and cars are the bedrock ‘assets’ of America’s middle class. Most people get them by exchanging their time (wages) for them. Logically, as it takes more and more time to buy them, people have less time left over. They are poorer in what matters most – time. Of course, houses and cars are supposed to be higher quality than they were in the 1970s. Some economists believe that these ‘hedonic’ improvements justify the higher prices. But if they are better, it is because of technological advances. An auto, for example, has more electronic components than it used to. It is said to be safer, faster and more economical. Why are things more expensive?

Of course, the factories became more advanced too. Competition always drives producers to make things better…and cheaper. Parts became better made and more easily assembled. Many functions that used to require manual labor are now done robotically. So, the technology that made autos better should have made them cheaper, too, not more expensive.

Likewise, we are told that houses are bigger and better than ever. They are more expensive, supposedly, because they are worth more. But just the opposite may be true. New houses are often made of flimsy composite materials that are easy to work with, but lack the beauty and solidity of genuine heartwood of oak or pine. Besides, even houses built in 1970 or before are still expensive - and often more expensive than those of more recent vintage.

So how come the average person has to work twice as long just for a roof over his head and a set of wheels? Is it because ‘the system’ has been corrupted? It now delivers public policies that serve specific groups of people - normally, those with a good lobbying team in Washington and a lot of money to spread around the Capitol - at the expense of the public.

In past episodes of this journal, we’ve seen that sometimes GDP has little to do with real wealth. The clearest illustrations for this were provided by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. In the latter, ordinary working people got poorer - by design. The economy was organized and controlled by the elite. Industries were told what to produce and how much they could charge for it.

The Soviet system produced a lot of products, but few that people actually wanted. And yet, as recently as the 1980s, there were still economists in ‘the West’ who were impressed by the numbers alone.

Paul Samuelson, for example, ‘wrote the book’ on economics that was widely used as a textbook throughout the US. His "Economics: An Introductory Analysis" told students that the Soviet Union had achieved ‘rapid growth’ and industrialization thanks to its central planning. He wasn’t completely wrong. The GDP numbers showed the Soviet Union bursting with ‘growth.’ But counting the number of Lutherans in the Gestapo…or the bars of soap in a POW camp probably didn’t tell you much. .

In the Soviet Union the soap left such a sickly smell everybody stank of it. But since the central planners disdained competition and consumer choice, everyone had to use it. Visitors reported that in a matter of days after the Berlin Wall fell, the smell disappeared.

The GDP numbers misled economists. You can’t eat fighter planes. The Nazi economy was, like the US, a ‘capitalist’ economy with pervasive government influence. And what the Nazis guided the economy toward was war. At first, the numbers looked good. Orders for tanks and planes and uniforms kept factories busy. GDP went up.

Foreign observers reported that “Hitler made the trains run on time;” they said they had never seen so much energy. At one point, unemployment dipped deep below zero (if that were possible). With so many men in uniform, Germany ran out of workers. So, the Nazi central planners brought in slave labor from the conquered countries.

Again, the GDP numbers told a tall tale. People couldn’t eat Messerschmitt fighter planes. And with so much labor and capital invested in the firepower industry, there was little left for things that really mattered. Food, for example. At one point, the government’s own health officials warned that German women were not getting enough to eat and may be unable to bear children. The economy ran hot; people got poorer.

So, what is happening in the US? GDP figures tell us the economy is working well. Unemployment is near record lows. And the stock market is at record highs. But there is something stinky about it. What is really going on? If an economy doesn’t make ordinary people better off... what is the point of it? More to come..."

Oh, it's all just so fugazy and totally FUBAR. 
Yeah, it all stinks, but you just keep dropping that soap like they like...

Jim Kunstler, "Fugazy Land"

"Fugazy Land"
by Jim Kunstler

“The crisis of meaning only becomes a problem when society becomes resigned to it, accepts a condition of meaninglessness, and seeks to dispossess humanity from the insights and truths it learned through the ages.” - Frank Furedi

"Really, you must agree: just about anything can happen now, and probably will, and possibly all at the same time - war, sickness, a disordered economy, chaos in money and finance, savages pouring across the open borders, assassination, mayhem in the streets, systems failure, mental illness everywhere you look. You have a sinister, blob-infested government acting like a desperate, cornered animal, fronted by a venal phantasm trailing a personal history of crime. What could go wrong? All of it.

The doings in Judge Merchan’s Manhattan present the rectified essence of America’s authority problem. You will stipulate that judges are authorities in a pretty pure sense of the word. Their role is to determine what is right and what is wrong, or, at least guide the proceedings that would result in such a fair determination. And, of course, the officers of this court, the District Attorney and his prosecutors, are also entrusted with bringing comprehensible cases that follow the facts fairly, and the laws pertaining to those facts.

This maliciously misguided prosecution has only accomplished one thing so far: to demonstrate to the American public that the authority of our law has been contorted to become a sick joke. That is a ruinous lesson for the country. The free-for-all of our national life has required reliable adjudication of all the quarrels and inequities that arose out of it. For a long time, the rule of law was America’s great draw. If that goes out the window, all you’re left with is the free-for-all which pretty soon devolves into Thomas Hobbes’s nightmare existence in the state of nature where life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

The current Trump trial in Manhattan will likely resolve this week, one way or another, though there is no way that the candidate will land in jail, even if he is convicted and sentenced to go there. That will only be another quandary for the foundering rule of law, and a dreadful challenge. Altogether this trial has alerted even the deranged news channels that the nation is still capable of feeling grossly insulted by its own rulers, and insults will be answered.

Tribulation may be the only answer that will avail to correct America’s tragic capture by blobs foreign and domestic. And you must understand that our nation’s bad choices have brought these tribulations upon ourselves. Fugazy finance is finally hitting the wall it has been seeking. Wealth based on pretense eventually runs out of hallucinatory mojo. Zooming gold and silver prices signal that the US dollar is in distress. The eagle is flying upside down.

A system based on credit is one thing, when credit can plausibly be paid back. But that system is gone. Finally, you must learn what truth or consequences really means, and the truth is that our debts are unpayable and everybody knows it. The consequences await. Any way you slice that - bond market blow-up, raging inflation, bank failures, stocks cratering, a “great taking” of collateral (your property) - the effect is the same: a crashing standard of living. That will get everybody’s attention in a way that Pride Month marches won’t. If “Joe Biden” thinks he will put over a central bank digital currency to cover for all this failure, he and the blob he rode in on will be in for a rude surprise.

Fugazy war isn’t working either. When did Ukraine become a problem for Western Civ? When Victoria Nuland & Company in the US State Department decided to make it a problem in 2014. Before that, going back into the mists of history, Ukraine was not a problem. It was a rather poor frontier province of Russia, and for a while was badly mistreated by Stalin, but it was not a problem outside of Ukraine and, frankly, it was none of our business. And in a matter of months, as Russia rolls up on the Zelensky regime, it will cease to be a problem for anyone.

The notion that the USA and NATO can reverse this now is insane. The nations of Western Civ won’t draft troops to battle on the ground there. There’s no will to fight in Ukraine among the young people of Europe and America. And we have no more guns or ammo to give. The war will end in humiliation for all concerned in the West, especially the “Joe Biden” regime, which has been recklessly flirting with nuclear aggression - as if this would accomplish anything but turning Western Civ into an ashtray.

Fugazy pandemic sponsored by a Globalist pharmaceutical cabal has shot its wad. It has already accomplished a great deal in the way of bringing death and injury to millions. Dim as the people have become in their fog of TikTok mind-f*ckery, they have started to notice the dead and dying around them. And the people who stupidly or maliciously caused it to happen - Deborah Birx, Robert Redfield, all the treasonous news-readers like Chris Cuomo and Andy Cooper - have commenced their modified-limited-hangouts to try to escape culpability. They won’t, of course. There’s a fair chance that they will hang, and many others with them. But don’t expect the public to line up in the parking lots for more shots. And in the event of another bioweapon outbreak, the doctors may even remember their Hippocratic oaths and actually treat people with existing anti-virals. But do expect the public to get extremely pissed-off, if it happens again.

What has the blob (or blobs foreign and domestic) got left after those biggies? They can gin-up their Antifa mobs again. This time, though, they might be met by a million Kyle Rittenhouses. They can stuff every ballot box in land, and surely will try with all their might and all their wiles. But I wouldn’t want to be a blobist the week after a fugazy election. They can signal their beloved “newcomers” to blow up bridges and power stations and shoot up a stadium or a mall here and there, but it won’t save their blobish necks. A lot of bad things are likely to happen over the year ahead, but it looks like America will finally refuse to become Fugazy Land."
o
“Fugazy” is an American slang term that means something is fake, phony, or broken beyond repair. For example, you might describe an update that quits halfway through installation as “fugazy” your iPhone. “Fugazy” can also be used as a verb to mean “mess up”. 

Of course, fugazy normally results in FUBAR...
"FUBAR is an acronym that originated in the military, which stands for a situation that is so damaged or out of control that it is "f*cked up beyond all recognition," or alternatively, "f*cked up beyond all repair." https://www.menshealth.com/

"Economic Market Snapshot 5/20/24"

"Economic Market Snapshot 5/20/24"
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
o
Market Data Center, Live Updates:
Comprehensive, essential truth.
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, May 19, 2024

"Evil Personified..."

Scott Ritter said, "Israel is Evil personified. Israel is Evil embodied." I've commented that they're psychopathically degenerate blood thirsty genocidal monsters. Look at the slaughter in Gaza, blocking food to starving people, unimaginable murder of innocent civilians, including 15,000 CHILDREN, and you tell me. Watch these videos, see and hear from their own mouths what they are... then tell me...
o
Full screen recommended.
"Israeli TV: Palestinians Must Suffer 'Agonizing' Deaths, 
Because They Went To The Beach"
This is a case study in genocidal mania.
 o
Full screen recommended.
"'Annihilate Everyone':
Israeli TV Promotes Genocidal Song"

And the children sing...
o
Full screen recommended.
"One of Israel's Sickest Lies Torn Apart"

How could anyone possibly support this horror? 
This is who and what they are and always were!
Hang your heads in eternal shame and disgrace, America...

Jeremiah Babe, "Debt Collectors Are Coming For Your Home; Beware Of Zombie Mortgages"

Jeremiah Babe, 5/19/24
"Debt Collectors Are Coming For Your Home; 
Beware Of Zombie Mortgages"
Comments here:

"15 Facts That Prove Average Americans Are Being Pulverized By This Economy"

Full screen recommended.
Epic Economist, 5/19/24
"15 Facts That Prove Average Americans 
Are Being Pulverized By This Economy"

"Average Americans are feeling more anxious about money than ever before. After enduring one financial disruption after another, it's hard to feel positive when you don’t know what's around the corner. Experts called it "financial shock fatigue," – a phenomenon that helps to explain why so many people are worried about their financial security right now. U.S. workers have seen their purchasing power sharply decline in recent years while the cost of everything has ballooned. Many of them are barely staying afloat at the end of each month.

Unfortunately, deteriorating economic conditions will only aggravate people's problems in the months ahead. Several statistics are proof that average Americans are being pulverized by this economy, and today, we brought you the most important data you need to know about this matter. Without further ado, let's check out this list!"
Comments here:

Musical Interlude: Moody Blues, "Land of Make-Believe"

Full screen recommended.
Moody Blues, "Land of Make-Believe"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"These two mighty galaxies are pulling each other apart. Known as the "Mice" because they have such long tails, each spiral galaxy has likely already passed through the other. The long tails are created by the relative difference between gravitational pulls on the near and far parts of each galaxy. Because the distances are so large, the cosmic interaction takes place in slow motion - over hundreds of millions of years. 
NGC 4676 lies about 300 million light-years away toward the constellation of Bernice's Hair (Coma Berenices) and are likely members of the Coma Cluster of Galaxies. The featured picture was taken with the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys in 2002. These galactic mice will probably collide again and again over the next billion years so that, instead of continuing to pull each other apart, they coalesce to form a single galaxy."

"Just Remember..."

“I know the world seems terrifying right now and the future seems bleak. Just remember human beings have always managed to find the greatest strength within themselves during the darkest hours. When faced with the worst horrors the world has to offer, a person either cracks and succumbs to ugliness, or they salvage the inner core of who they are and fight to right wrongs. Never let hatred, fear, and ignorance get the best of you. Keep bettering yourself so you can make the world around you better, for nothing can improve without the brightest, bravest, kindest, and most imaginative individuals rising above the chaos.”
- Cat Winters

"Peak Focus for Complex Tasks With Beta Isochronic Tones"

Full screen recommended.
"Peak Focus for Complex Tasks 
 With Beta Isochronic Tones"
by Jason Lewis - Mind Amend

"This is a high-intensity audio brainwave entrainment session, using isochronic tones. Listen to this when you need a strong burst of intense focus to concentrate and study things like advanced mathematics, scientific formulas, financial analysis or any other complex mental activity. Listen to this track with your eyes open while doing the task/activity you want to focus on. Use this session in the morning, afternoon or early evening, to train your brain for better cognition, focus and thought processing. 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.

Headphones are NOT REQUIRED for this video. Although headphones are not required you may find they produce a more intense effect, because they help to block out distracting external sounds.
o
"Isochronic tones are a fast and effective audio-based way to stimulate your brain. Among many of the benefits, they can help improve focus, relaxation, energy levels, sleep and more, without taking drugs or needing any special equipment. What isochronic tones essentially do is guide your dominant brainwave activity to a different frequency while you are listening to them, allowing you to influence and change your mental state and how you feel."
I strongly suggest you read Comments here:
"Isochronic Tones –
How They Work, the Benefits and the Research"
This is a brainwave entrainment audio session using isochronic tones combined with music. The isochronic tones are the repetitive beats you can hear on top of the music throughout the track. If you are new to this type of audio brainwave entrainment, find out how isochronic tones work and how they compare to binaural beats here: 
Listen folks, we're out of time! Whether you want to know it or not we're literally in the fight of our lives, for our lives, right now, and it's going to get much, much worse. Some of you reading this will not survive, and I may not either, so I'll take any edge I can get, and you should too... This works for me. Prepare yourself, brace for impact...
- CP

"The Great and the Good"

"The Great and the Good"
Examining a crucial historical pivot in recent American history...
By Bill Bonner

"Sagest in the council was he, kindest in the hall.
Sure we never won a battle – ‘twas Owen won them all.
Had he lived – had he lived – our dear country had been free;
But he’s dead, but he’s dead, and ‘tis slaves we’ll ever be…"
"Lament for the Death of Owen Roe O’Neill", By Thomas Davis

Youghal, Ireland - On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was shot. He died soon after. Much of the world went into mourning. Never before or since has Washington seen such a gathering of dignitaries…nor so many common folk…all who came to pay their respects.

Jack Kennedy had made many friends. His New Frontier was widely applauded. At home, he lowered the top marginal tax rate from 91% to 65%. Abroad, he sought peace. He explained in a speech at American University that his kind of peace was “not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. 

And yet, after his death, American weapons were soon at work…creating a world, not at peace, but almost constantly at war. Before his assassination, JFK had sent out an order, bringing US troops back from Vietnam. That order was quickly forgotten. The new president, LBJ, had another program, much more to the liking of the ‘military industrial complex.’ Over the next 11 years, 2.7 million American soldiers would go to fight a war that Johnson had promised would be a war for the Vietnamese to fight. By the time the last US helicopter escaped from the US embassy roof in 1975, 58,000 Americans had died and a trillion dollars had been spent. More importantly, the good had given way to the great.

An Historical Pivot: We are reviewing a ‘pivot’ in recent American history. It was the moment when the military/industrial/spook/Congressional complex – the most powerful industry in the world – took control of US politics...and the empire took on a life of its own.

Specifically, we are recalling the history of the 1960s – aided by the recollections and research of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. – and our own personal history. Bob Dylan, the Doors, Aretha Franklin…marijuana…the Rolling stones…bell bottoms – and the hope of a better world – it is all coming back into focus. We were not born cynical, dear reader; it took many fads, rascals, bear markets and political campaigns to make us what we are today.

One clear memory…It was a summer evening in 1967. We had gone with a friend to the banks of the Chesapeake. Percy Sledge’s great hit – ‘When a man loves a woman’ – was on the radio. We were back from college, regaling each other with our adventures. But Tommy had dropped out. He set his sights on a different life – simpler, more local. He had read Faulkner and Hemingway. His goal was success at home…not abroad. It was success as a person he wanted, not as captain of industry nor of infantry. “Aren’t you worried about getting drafted?” “No…I’m going to sign up. Get it over with.” “Aren’t you worried about getting killed? And what’s the point, anyway? The war seems like a waste.” “Yeah…but otherwise, I’ll have to listen to my mother complaining about me dropping out of college.” That was the last time we saw Tommy. .

Life is full of casualties. Some are more tragic and pointless than others. Tommy was one of them.

America the Great? What the Kennedys seemed to be aiming for was a government that practiced restraint and reduced the casualties. A good nation does not tax too heavily, does not spend too much, treats people with respect (even those with whom it doesn’t agree) and only fights when it has to. But after Kennedy was assassinated, the US took a different course. Lyndon Johnson promised action…activism…empire. Bombs and bamboozles. Attila was great. Alexander was great. Caesar was great. Napoleon was great. Why not Lyndon? Why not Ronald…Donald…or Joe?

“The People” took the cue. The masses always come to think what they must think when they must think it. Americans were no different. Flattered by the best military money could buy, they came to believe that they were an exceptional race. Madeleine Albright, then Secretary of State, must have reached some apotheosis of conceit when she proclaimed that “if we use force, it is because we are America. We stand tall….we see further into the future.”

We have argued that there are patterns to markets (the Primary Trend)…and patterns to history. A normal man is held in check by his friends, his wife, and his children. When he makes a jackass of himself, they are quick to let him know. So too is a humble nation held in check by its neighbors, its resources and its own people. It may be good or bad. But sometimes – with the wind at its back – the lust for greatness takes over. A nation seeks not just to get along, but to dominate…and control; it becomes an empire. But the Kennedys stood in the way.

Concrete Boots: First, Robert Kennedy took on the mobsters. Appointed Attorney General by his brother, RFK had a ‘Manichean approach’ to law enforcement. There were good guys and bad guys. He wanted to put the bad ones in jail.

At the time, the mafia was gaining power…and corrupting the US justice system (suborning witnesses, bribing judges…). He aimed to put them out of business. In Senate hearings, he brought in Anthony “Tony Ducks” Corallo; Joe “Little Caesar” DiVarco; Carlos “The Little Man” Marcello…and dozens of other colorful mobsters. In his first three years as Attorney General, RFK filed 673 indictments against organized crime figures.

The mafiosos didn’t forget. And didn’t forgive. What’s more, they felt betrayed. They believed that the Kennedys would protect them, not prosecute them. There are several competing stories to explain it. One tells us that Joe Kennedy had made a deal with the mob; if they helped deliver the votes in Chicago… he would tell his sons to lay off them. Another story is that the Kennedy boys were connected to the mob on their own. Their sister, Pat, was married to Peter Lawford, one the famous “Rat Pack,” along with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Sinatra installed a heliport at his residence in Palm Springs so the president could come to visit. Jack Kennedy may even have shared a mistress – Judith Campbell Exner – with Sinatra’s mafia pal, Sam Giancana.

Whatever the origins of the story, the mob felt betrayed when Bobby Kennedy went after them with a vigor they had never seen before. “Livarsi na petra di la scarpa,” said Carlos Marcello in 1962. The old Sicilian curse has an English variant, said to have been invoked by Henry II: “Will no one rid me of that turbulent priest?” In another documented exchange, mobster Santo Trafficante assured Cuban exile leader Jose Aleman that he needn’t worry about President Kennedy: “No, Jose, he is going to be hit.”

An Empire Unchallenged: Another group that didn’t like the Kennedys was the aforementioned War Industry. Their business, too, was being severely hampered by the Kennedys’ desire to give peace a chance…and their general distrust of both the military and the spies. By this time, the CIA and the mobsters were working together. Their target was supposed to be Fidel Castro. The mafia had its connections in Cuba. The CIA’s mission was to assassinate Fidel, at which, it failed.

The assassination of JFK, however…like the murder of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1170… was a shocking success. Who did it? Did the CIA aim for Castro and hit Kennedy? Did the mafia settle its score with the Kennedy family? Or was it a ‘lone gunman,’ as the Warren Commission concluded? We don’t know. But since then, no president has ever seriously challenged the empire’s agenda."

"The Daily "Near You?

La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"There Comes A Time..."

"I make no bones about being partisan for my country. I also feel no shame whatever because of it. I absolutely disagree that "great thinkers don't let that affect the thoughts". I would say exactly the opposite: someone who refuses to let love-of-country affect their thoughts is a moral cripple irrespective of their intellectual prowess. I can look dispassionately at the situation, and I have done so repeatedly. But I will never forget which nation I love and support.

We Americans have a saying: “It’s more important what you stand for than who you stand with.” I do not rely upon peer opinion to decide what is right and what is wrong. I make those decisions for myself, and even if I discover that every other human alive chose differently, that doesn’t mean I was wrong.

There comes a time in every man’s life when he has to choose sides. I have chosen my side. I am comfortable with my decision. I do not think everyone on my side is a saint, but I know that those on the other side are much, much worse.

Sometimes a man with too broad a perspective reveals himself as having no real perspective at all. A man who tries too hard to see every side may be a man who is trying to avoid choosing any side. A man who tries too hard to seek a deeper truth may be trying to hide from the truth he already knows. That is not a sign of intellectual sophistication and “great thinking”. It is a demonstration of moral degeneracy and cowardice.”
- Steven Den Beste
“Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and unexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may.”
- Mark Twain

"Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, Iran, and Syria Crush IDF"

Danny Haiphong, 5/19/24
Richard Medhurst, 
"Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, Iran, and Syria Crush IDF"
"Journalist Richard Medhurst exposes Israel's vulnerable position as the IDF faces six fronts of war which together far outpace its military capabilities. It's game over for the Netanyahu regime, the only question is: when? This video breaks it down."
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"Why Has The Vatican Chosen This Precise Moment To Drop Bombshells About UFOs, Aliens And “Apparitions”?

"Why Has The Vatican Chosen This Precise Moment
To Drop Bombshells About UFOs, Aliens And “Apparitions”?
by Michael Snyder

"For centuries, the Vatican has been carefully guarding their most precious secrets. In recent years, that has been especially true regarding what they know about UFOs, aliens and the mysteries of the universe. So why have they chosen this exact moment in history to publicly talk about these things? The press conference at the Vatican on Thursday was the very first time that the Vatican has held a press conference about UFOs, aliens and “apparitions” since 1978. So this is a really big deal. It is being reported that the Vatican has decided to issue new guidelines “on aliens and how it will deal with potential encounters in the future”…and  will feature three prominent Vatican members.

Being held to “present the new provisions of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith for discerning between apparitions and other supernatural phenomena,” it will be led by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandex, Messenger Armando Matteo and Daniela Del Gaudio.

If the Vatican feels a need to issue guidelines about how to “deal with potential encounters in the future”, that seems to imply that they believe that there will be “potential encounters in the future”. What do they know that they aren’t telling us? Probably a lot.

The last time that the Vatican did something like this was all the way back in February 1978… The last time the Vatican’s doctrinal office issued norms for evaluating alleged apparitions and reports of supernatural events was in February 1978. At the time, the prefect, Cardinal Franjo Seper, said the norms were necessary given how news of alleged apparitions spreads rapidly thanks to the mass media.

What has changed between then and now? One thing that has changed is that the current pope seems to be quite interested in the topic of aliens. In comments that he made near the end of 2023, Pope Francis seemed to suggest that aliens could actually be baptized…

However, Pope Francis did touch on aliens at the end of last year, when he was talking about how early Christians discussed associating with “Jews and Gentiles” – which, for some reason, he compared to aliens. He said: “That was unthinkable. If, for example, tomorrow an expedition of Martians came, and some of them came to us, here…Martians, right? Green, with that long nose and big ears, just like children paint them…And one says, ‘But I want to be baptized!’ What would happen?”

He didn’t answer his own question, but added: “It was never the ministry of the closed door, never,” So he plans to have an “open door” for the aliens? What would that look like?

The producer of a new documentary entitled “God Versus Aliens” seems to believe that the Vatican wants to prepare us for the day when humanity finally makes contact with such beings… "The documentary ‘God Versus Aliens’ is to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and reveal the Vatican’s secrets about UFOs. The award-winning filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee says that the Vatican publishing new guidance on apparitions means that the full disclosure about the UFO phenomena is getting closer.

He said: “The Vatican has been studying UFOs for decades and even has its own Cardinal appointed to deal with first contact. From my research I believe that this new guidance on apparitions is proof that they know that UFOs are more than just physical crafts from other worlds and that they have a paranormal side to them.”

What most people don’t realize is that the Vatican has been on the cutting edge of the search for extraterrestrial life for a long time.

The Vatican Observatory in Rome is very well funded, and the Vatican also has a “research group” that uses the very high-powered equipment at the University of Arizona in Tucson…"Many people are surprised to learn that the Vatican even has an observatory. The history of the Vatican Observatory goes back two and a half centuries. During its history, there has been some turmoil and several moves to escape the light and other hindrances that large cities, such as Rome, pose to doing astronomy. Therefore, more than a half-century ago the Vatican Observatory established a research group at the Steward Observatory of the University of Arizona in Tucson, while the Vatican Observatory’s headquarters remained in Italy."

Needless to say, the Vatican isn’t going to tell us everything that they know right now. But a couple of things have become quite clear. Number one, the Vatican believes that extraterrestrial life exists. Number two, the Vatican plans to develop a positive relationship with any “aliens” that do make contact with humanity. Could all of this be setting us up for a great deception of absolutely epic proportions?

The late author Tom Horn made the following observation…"Why the Vatican has taken this carefully designed and deliberate course over the last few years is the greater mystery, but implies knowledge on their part of facts yet hidden to most of the world that may hold far-reaching and historic implications. It also illustrates how Rome has wittingly or unwittingly set itself up to become the agent of mass end-times deception regarding “salvation from above.” That’s because, historically, there exists a clear pattern wherein man’s psychological need of a savior is displayed during times of distress - a time like today - when people look skyward for divine intervention."

It is true. When things get bad enough, the world is going to be looking for a savior. And if a “superior race” appears on the scene that seems to have all the answers, many people out there will fully embrace them.

For decades, books, movies and television shows have conditioned us to expect that someday we will interact with “aliens” from another planet. 100 years ago, everyone would have dismissed such talk as nonsense, but now we have been well prepared for the great deception that is eventually coming. Sadly, the Vatican seems to be quite ready to welcome “aliens” as their new best friends, and that is extremely unfortunate."

"How It Really Is"

Oh no we haven't, not even close. 
This is just beginning, and you ain't seen nuthin' yet, but you will...

Dan, I Allegedly, "The Economics Don’t Add Up"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, 5/19/24
"The Economics Don’t Add Up"
"We are getting some warning in regards to EV cars and how completely unaffordable they are. Plus, we’re getting warnings from Home Depot that people are putting off large purchases."
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Gregory Mannarino, "Markets, A Look Ahead"

"It's a Big Club, and you ain't in it. 
You and I are not in the Big Club."
- George Carlin
Your guide...
Gregory Mannarino, 5/19/24
"Markets, A Look Ahead:
Critical Updates, Banks, Stock Market, Gold, Silver, More!"
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