Sunday, May 26, 2024

"America In 2024: Fast Food Is A 'Luxury', 11 Million Children Live In Poverty, And 1000s Of Stores Are Closing"

"America In 2024: Fast Food Is A 'Luxury', 
11 Million Children Live In Poverty, And 1000s Of Stores Are Closing"
By Michael Snyder

"Little by little, our standard of living has been eroding. A couple decades ago, we had the largest and most prosperous middle class in the history of the world, but now most of the country is struggling. At this point, fast food is considered to be a “luxury”, 11 million children are living in poverty, and thousands of stores are permanently shutting down all over the United States because consumers have so little discretionary income these days. We are in the midst of a historic cost of living crisis, and those at the bottom of the economic food chain are being hit the hardest. The ultra-wealthy don’t really care that food costs have been soaring, but for those that are barely scraping by from month to month it makes an enormous difference.

Once upon a time, fast food restaurants were where those that were struggling went to eat. But now fast food is considered to be a “luxury” in 2024, and that is because fast food prices have gone absolutely haywire…"A Big Mac sandwich at McDonald’s, for example, cost $3.99 in 2019. Now, that price has more than doubled to $8.29, according to Fast Food Menu Prices, an online tracker.

Gone, too, are the days of the $5 Footlong at Subway. A BLT Footlong that cost $5.50 in 2019 now costs customers $8.49 in 2024, though prices can vary by location. Additionally, Chipotle’s beloved chicken burrito that cost $6.50 in 2019 now runs customers $10.70."

Fast-food executives have pointed to rising wages and increased costs for ingredients as factors driving up the prices on their menus. I am sitting here looking at those numbers and I still can’t wrap my head around them. I never imagined that I would see the day when it took more than 8 dollars to buy a Big Mac. That is insane!

A different survey that was recently conducted by Lending Tree discovered that almost 80 percent of all Americans believe that fast food is a “luxury item” now…"Nearly 80 percent of Americans now consider fast food to be a “luxury item” as families feel the squeeze from the Biden regime’s failing economy. According to a survey from Lending Tree of around 2,000 adults, what was once considered an affordable option for low-income workers is fast becoming the opposite."

Meanwhile, the number of American children living in poverty continues to increase with each passing day. If you can believe it, we are being told that over 11 million U.S. children are now living in poverty…"More than 11 million children were estimated to be living in poverty in 2021, according to U.S. Census Bureau data published by the Children’s Defense Fund. That equates to around one in seven children in the U.S., or 15.3 percent. It’s a high toll, and one even higher than the adult population, which was 10.5 percent for 19-64 year olds that year and 10.3 percent for adults aged 65+.

According to an analysis by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, this difference is due to factors such as the “cost of caregiving and its responsibilities, transitions to a single parenthood household, unemployment of parents, and disabilities of family members.”

Today, approximately 40 percent of the entire country is considered to be either living in poverty or among the ranks of “the working poor”, and 42 million Americans are on food stamps. We now have an absolutely gigantic “underclass” that is largely made up of people that were once solidly middle class. The rapidly rising cost of living is just shredding families from coast to coast.

In Montana, one senior is incredibly frustrated because his property taxes have increased by 790 percent over the past several years…"A senior from Montana has delivered a viral speech about the sorry state of property taxes in the Treasure State. “I’m on Social Security, I’m 68-years-old and working just to pay my taxes,” says Kurt, in a clip shared on TikTok by Ryan Busse, who is running to be the next governor of Montana.

Kurt claims that over the last couple of years, his annual property taxes have soared from $895 to almost $8,000 - an increase of around 790% - which he says is like paying almost “$700 a month rent to the state to live in our own house.” The state has an Elderly Homeowner/Renter Tax Credit, and the maximum credit is $1,150. His property taxes have skyrocketed because property values have skyrocketed. And property values have skyrocketed because our leaders flooded the system with way too much money.

Small businesses are being monkey-hammered by inflation as well. In fact, one recent survey found that 86 percent of all U.S. small businesses say that they are being hurt by inflation…"An overwhelming majority of small business owners say they are being hurt by rising prices. The new survey released Wednesday by small business network Alignable shows 86% reporting being hurt by high costs with only 6% saying they are thriving and not struggling. Alignable surveyed more than 3,000 business owners from mid-April to mid-May and found that they overwhelmingly lament the burden of inflation."

Dollar stores in particular are being hit really hard by rising costs. For example, 99 Cents Only has decided to close all of their stores because conditions have changed so dramatically…"For years, dollar stores were a fixture in nearly every strip mall in California, offering cheap household goods, bread and produce, and even toys and gifts. But if it seems like your favorite dollar store is heading for the exit, you’re not wrong. 2024 may be their swan song.

In April, California-based 99 Cents Only announced it was closing all 371 locations after decades in business. The retailer blamed economic factors, including rising levels of “shrink,” inflation, and shifting consumer demand that has presented “significant and lasting challenges.”

Not to be outdone, Dollar Tree has announced that it will be closing about 1,000 stores…"Dollar Tree, which owns Family Dollar, recently said it will close nearly 1,000 stores. That’s after Dollar Tree raised prices in the past couple of years for the first time in decades."

Overall, so far in 2024 retailers have already announced that they will be closing nearly 3,200 stores, and we haven’t even reached the mid-point of the year yet…"The retail industry is going through a tough time as it copes with inflation-weary consumers and a rash of bankruptcies, prompting chains to announce the closures of almost 3,200 brick-and-mortar stores so far in 2024, according to a new analysis. That’s a 24% increase from a year ago, according to a report from retail data provider CoreSight, which tracks store closures and openings across the U.S."

The final countdown for the U.S. economy has begun, but most Americans do not even realize what is happening.

Most Americans just assume that our leaders can fix things by printing even more money and that conditions will “return to normal” eventually. But the truth is that there isn’t going to be a “return to normal”, because this is about as “normal” as things are going to get. It has taken decades of horrendous decisions to get us to this point, and now we are steamrolling toward economic oblivion. If you think that our leaders in Washington will be able to turn this ship around, you are just being delusional."

The Daily "Near You?"

Jersey, Jersey. Thanks for stopping by!

"The Cattle Crisis Will Trigger A Massive Price Increase For Meat This Summer As Production Collapses"

Full screen recommended.
Epic Economist, 5/26/24
"The Cattle Crisis Will Trigger A Massive Price Increase
 For Meat This Summer As Production Collapses"

"Ranchers are warning that our food systems are in great danger right now. Cattle production has plummeted to the lowest point in decades, and new diseases are rapidly spreading across U.S. beef cow herds, which is threatening our entire food supply chain. This is the sign for you to start stocking up on basic staples before things get any worse because cattle farmers are extremely concerned about the fate of our national beef industry. They believe more price hikes are coming for consumers, and shortages of meat and dairy are about to become more widespread in many regions of the country over the summer.

America is currently running low on cows, according to new numbers released earlier this month by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The figures show that nationwide beef cattle inventory dropped by 1 billion pounds to just 28.2 million cows this year – the lowest level since the 1970s. Even worse, total U.S. cattle and calf inventory plunged to its lowest point since 1951. Agricultural economists say drought over the last three years, along with higher input costs and persistent inflation, are adding a lot of pressure on both farmers and grocery retailers, and conditions will get much more complicated over the next three to six months. The end consumer will be the hardest hit, of course.

Meat and dairy prices, which already rose by 21% and 17%, respectively, since 2021, are going to face another spike right as the summer grilling season begins. Supplies will become harder to find too, according to ranchers. While demand for beef remains strong, they have serious doubt whether there's enough inventory to go around this year. Heatwaves, feed and water scarcity had a drastic impact on livestock farming in 2023, and the aftermath will be seen in the months ahead."
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The Poet: Czeslaw Milosz, "Hope"

"Hope"

"Hope is with you when you believe
The earth is not a dream but living flesh,
That sight, touch, and hearing do not lie,
That all things you have ever seen here
Are like a garden looked at from a gate.
You cannot enter. But you're sure it's there.
Could we but look more clearly and wisely
We might discover somewhere in the garden
A strange new flower and an unnamed star.

Some people say we should not trust our eyes,
That there is nothing, just a seeming,
These are the ones who have no hope.
They think that the moment we turn away,
The world, behind our backs, ceases to exist,
As if snatched up by the hands of thieves."

- Czeslaw Milosz,
"Hope", from "The World"

"How It Really Is"

“My own view is that this planet is used as a penal colony, lunatic asylum and dumping ground by a superior civilization, to get rid of the undesirable and unfit. I can't prove it, but you can't disprove it either. It happens to be my view, but it doesn't challenge any of the findings of Darwin or Huxley or Einstein or Hawking.” - Christopher Hitchens

"Knowing..."

“Knowing can be a curse on a person’s life. I’d traded in a pack of lies for a pack of truth, and I didn’t know which one was heavier. Which one took the most strength to carry around? It was a ridiculous question, though, because once you know the truth, you can’t ever go back and pick up your suitcase of lies. Heavier or not, the truth is yours now.”
- Sue Monk Kidd

“To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.”
- Arundhati Roy, "The Cost of Living"

"All We Really Need..."

"Causes do matter. And the world is changed by people who care deeply about causes,about things that matter. We don't have to be particularly smart or talented. We don't need a lot of money or education. All we really need is to be passionate about something important; something bigger than ourselves. And it's that commitment to a worthwhile cause that changes the world." - Steve Goodier

"Find the things that matter, and hold on to them,
and fight for them, and refuse to let them go."
- Lauren Oliver
"Beware the irrational, however seductive. Shun the 'transcendent' and all who invite you to subordinate or annihilate yourself. Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don't be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish. Picture all experts as if they were mammals. Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence. Suspect your own motives, and all excuses. Do not live for others any more than you would expect others to live for you."
- Christopher Hitchens

"This Can't Be America!"

Full screen recommended.
Homeless In America, 5/26/24
"This Can't Be America! Out Of Control! 
Homeless People Everywhere!"
Comments here:
o
Full screen if you can stomach it.
Drones R Eagles, 5/26/24
"Kensington Ave, Phila., Fentanyl Takeover,
 Too Many Lives Lost"
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Our 50 States, 5/26/24
"Homelessness in New York State: 
Growing Homeless Crisis in 2024"
Comments here:
o
So while the American economy and society disintegrates before our eyes into total collapse, give Ukraine another $60 billion so they can add to their already killed 600,000 soldiers. And of course give the goddamned psychopathically degenerate murderous monsters of Israel another $16 billion to add to the 36,000 Palestinians they've already killed, including 15,000 CHILDREN! WTF is wrong with us?! Eternal shame and disgrace on America! - CP
Here's what you paid for!
Full screen recommended.
Mahmood, 5/26/24
"Another Massacre! 
Israel Strikes Refugee Tents With Multiple Missiles"
Comments here:

Greg Hunter, "Next 6 Months Completely Insane"

"Next 6 Months Completely Insane"
by Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

"Back in August of 2023, precious metals expert and financial writer Bill Holter predicted there was a long list of financial trouble coming to America. A short list of problems is the commercial real estate implosion, CV19 vax injuries and deaths, deposits leaving the banking system and war all coming to a head between now and the 2024 Election. Holter starts with the CV19 bioweapon vax, “It turns out it was a kill shot. I guess you can say it adds to the timeline where they have to kick the table over because they are going to have to hide that. That has to become back burner. Once you get a majority that is awake to that, you are going to have people pissed off all over the world. This is an election year, and I think the next six months are going to be completely insane. The deaths are increasing, and the knowledge that the (CV19) vaccine is the cause is spreading. They are going to have to bring something up to put that on the back burner, and that is probably WWIII.”

Holter goes on to add, “We have an election coming up, and I still believe there is less than a 40% chance that we even have an election. From a financial standpoint, you have commercial real estate that is imploding. You have bank deposits that have fled the banking system. You have the financial system really on the rocks. Somebody had better start cutting rates because just in the past six months, China’s debt growth has turned negative, and so has their money supply. That is a recipe for complete disaster in an over-leveraged system. It’s not just China, it’s the whole world. The whole system is over-levered. Somebody had better cut rates to inflate; otherwise, Richard Russell’s ‘Inflate or Die’ comes into play.”

It seems the Fed is freaking out over interest rates. The Fed is not talking about cutting, it’s talking about raising rates in its last meeting. What’s going on with the Fed? Holter says, “They are fearful of a fiat collapse. They will more than likely cut rates, and then $15 a gallon gasoline and $25 for a cup of coffee is going to become a reality. In the intermediate to long term, interest rates are going to explode. Interest rates need to be much higher to support fiat currency.”

Holter also predicts that gold and silver have already broken out to the upside and will be going much higher in price. Holter is especially bullish on silver after it broke through $30 an ounce, which it has not done for a decade. Holter says, “I think silver is more important than gold because silver is the fuse for gold. Silver is a tiny market compared to gold. The gold market is 10 times bigger. They are losing control of silver. If they want to keep gold under control, they better keep silver under control. The Achillies heel to all fiat currencies is gold. Again, if they want to keep gold under control they damn well better keep silver under control because silver is the fuse to the gold market.” Holter thinks both gold and silver are going much higher in 2024 and beyond, and this is the breakout year for both. There is much more in the 44-minute interview."

Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he goes One-on-One 
with financial writer and precious metals expert Bill Holter.

Saturday, May 25, 2024

Jeremiah Babe, "Burglar Breaks Into My Friends Home, It's Getting Real;

Jeremiah Babe, 5/25/24
"Burglar Breaks Into My Friends Home, It's Getting Real; 
1,200 Tiny Homes In California Are Missing"
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Musical Interlude: Deuter, "Endless Horizon"

Full screen recommended.
Deuter, "Endless Horizon"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“These three bright nebulae are often featured in telescopic tours of the constellation Sagittarius and the crowded starfields of the central Milky Way. In fact, 18th century cosmic tourist Charles Messier cataloged two of them; M8, the large nebula left of center, and colorful M20 on the right. The third, NGC 6559, is above M8, separated from the larger nebula by a dark dust lane. All three are stellar nurseries about five thousand light-years or so distant.
The expansive M8, over a hundred light-years across, is also known as the Lagoon Nebula. M20's popular moniker is the Trifid. Glowing hydrogen gas creates the dominant red color of the emission nebulae, with contrasting blue hues, most striking in the Trifid, due to dust reflected starlight. The colorful skyscape recorded with telescope and digital camera also includes one of Messier's open star clusters, M21, just above the Trifid.”
"When I heard the learn’d astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged
in columns before me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams,
to add, divide, and measure them,
When I sitting heard the astronomer where
he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars."

- Walt Whitman

The Poet: Wendell Berry, "The Circles Of Our Lives"

"The Circles Of Our Lives" 

"Within the circles of our lives
we dance the circles of the years,
the circles of the seasons
within the circles of the years,
the cycles of the moon,
within the circles of the seasons,
the circles of our reasons
within the cycles of the moon.

Again, again we come and go,
changed, changing. Hands
join, unjoin in love and fear,
grief and joy. The circles turn,
each giving into each, into all.
Only music keeps us here,
each by all the others held.

In the hold of hands and eyes
we turn in pairs, that joining
joining each to all again.
And then we turn aside, alone,
out of the sunlight gone
into the darker circles of return,
Within the circles of our lives."

- Wendell Berry

Chet Raymo, “Singing Beside Me In The Wilderness”

“Singing Beside Me In The Wilderness”
by Chet Raymo

“In one of those infuriating lapses that go with being a certain age, we could not remember the other evening the name of the poet who wrote "A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou..." After scraping the tip of my tongue for a few minutes, I turned to the computer (Google is my browser's home page) and by typing "jug thou" brought Omar Khayyam back into consciousness. (Another click and I could have had the entire Rubaiyat.) (Freely download the entire "Rubaiyat" at that link. - CP)

And so it is that the Googlized internet arrives just in time to compensate for our withering brain cells. Everything I ever remembered is there to be Googled, plus everything I never remembered. Ten billions pages. The searchable memory of the human race. With more yet to come.

My great-great-grandchildren will no doubt have tiny video cameras implanted in the middle of their foreheads, like Hindu beauty marks, recording everything that passes before their eyes 24-7, with a sound track too. All of which will be stored digitally, ready for instant playback, and searchable by date, time, GPS coordinates, or keywords- the whole of a life, not only available to the subjects themselves in their memory-lapsed dotage, but to future generations. "Here's great-great-grandpa on his ninety-first birthday, back in 2027. Look how he dribbles soup on his shirt. Ha, ha."

I think nature knew what it was doing when it allows our memory to fade with age. It is particularly notable that the more unpleasant memories go first, so that every summer past was golden with sunshine, and every child was a model of respectful propriety. And no one, not even grandpa himself, remembers the time he... “

The Daily "Near You?"

Delaware, Ohio, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

The Universe

“There are no accidents. If it's appeared on your life radar, this is why: to teach you that dreams come true; to reveal that you have the power to fix what's broken and heal what hurts; to catapult you beyond seeing with just your physical senses; and to lift the veils that have kept you from seeing that you're already the person you dreamed you'd become. There are no accidents. And believe me, that was one heck of a dream.”
“Tallyho,”
The Universe

“Thoughts become things... choose the good ones!”

Bill Bonner, "Wicked Words"

(Statue of Giordano Bruno in the Campo de Fiori, Rome,
as snapped by Dan Denning, 2018.)
"Wicked Words"
A disturbing message from the alleged center of the universe...
by Bill Bonner

Youghal, Ireland - "But the earth still turns," Galileo Galilei, recanting his recantation. Giordano Bruno might have thought it funny. Or maybe not. He was hanging upside down, stark naked, in the Campo de Fiori in Rome. It was February 17, 1600. A crowd had gathered to watch. He could not call out to them… nor even beg for mercy. Because his ‘tongue was imprisoned because of his wicked words.’ Those wicked words had been judged heretical by the elite of the 16th century. He held opinions ‘contrary to the Catholic faith,’ they said. He doubted that the bread and wine received in communion really were the body and blood of Christ, for example. He questioned the virginity of Mary and the idea of the Trinity. And he maintained that planets circled the sun, not the other way around.

But the church could not tolerate dissent or doubt. Its grip had been loosened by both. Henry VIII of England had broken with Rome. Martin Luther had led a ‘reformation’ movement in the German-speaking world. And Galileo was already at the University of Padua carefully watching the heavens. Later, threatened with the same fate as Bruno, Galileo denied his heresy and confirmed the earth as the center of the universe.

A Little Threat: Poor Bruno. He was too early. Too outspoken. Too inflexible. In England, he allegedly spied on ‘Catholic conspirators,’ using the alias ‘Henry Fagot’ for a pseudonym. Did he find it at all amusing that he was to be roasted over a pile of burning faggots? Or would he find it gratifying that – partly because of his martyrdom – future generations generally came to believe that it was better to listen to dissenters than to fry them? After all, Bruno was right about the heavens. Maybe he was right about other things, too.

Today, the church elite poses little threat. You can take it or leave it. But the profane elite – those who rule us – cannot be ignored. And they’re gathering tinder. The ruling caste promises miracles – abolishing poverty… eliminating terrorism… making everyone richer and more ‘equal’… controlling the earth’s temperature. But, so far, their programs have all flopped. Their wars have not made the world safer. Their ‘science’ is far from ‘settled.’ Their rigged lending rates resulted in $315 billion in debt, worldwide.

The whole world is now trapped. It cannot go back to ‘normal;’ normal interest rates would collapse the entire global economy. It can only go forward… living with an ‘inflation tax’ that lifts prices for essential food, shelter and energy… and threatens millions with chaos, revolution and starvation. But more and more, ‘the people’ – like Giordano Bruno – are beginning to notice the failures of public policy. And more and more, the elite want to shut them up.

“They Make Us Sick”: “It’s too bad,” began a thoughtful comment from a thoughtful wife. “They seem to have gotten exactly the wrong idea.” She was talking about the people who filled the luxury restaurants of Davos, Switzerland… and are still bellying up to bars in Washington DC and state capitals all across the nation.

She might also have had in mind all the influencers, deciders, policy makers… today’s equivalent of the Catholic hierarchy in 1600… and all those who care what the New York Times has to say. “All of human progress has come out of conflict, competition, debate,” she continued. “Even our bodies… we competed with animals… and fended off tiny bacteria and viruses. We are rarely attacked by wild beasts anymore. But we are routinely set upon by bugs. They make us sick, but we come away with a strengthened immune system.

Our material progress comes from competition between enterprises – each trying to find better ways to please the customer and make more money. Technological progress too comes from opposition, not obedience. Inventors and innovators try to come up with something better. Something different. Autos competed with horse drawn carriages…iPhones competed with the pony express… central heating had to prove itself in competition with open fires.

Our intellectual progress comes from people with different ideas challenging one another’s arguments. Nobody has the complete and final truth. And our moral progress comes as bad ideas - like burning witches and heretics, slavery, hatred, the ubermensch and all – are confronted and rejected.

Our political progress is painfully slow. But if there had been no alternative, I suppose we’d all be worshiping pharaohs and pulling giant rocks across the Mojave desert to build pyramids in Los Angeles.”

Wicked Words: Elizabeth was regretting the movement to prohibit ideas that make us uncomfortable. Civilization advances by confronting unpopular ideas, not by prohibiting them, she pointed out. And yet, today, scholars are fired. Speeches are canceled. Websites are de-platformed. Commentators are censored. Contrary opinions are blocked as ‘misinformation.’ The idea is to create a consensus, not by free discussion, but by blocking alternative views. Those who don’t go along are branded as ‘white supremacists’ or ‘Russian assets’… or ’science deniers’… or simply ‘deplorable.’

“Today’s elite,” Elizabeth concluded, “is a lot like the Catholic Church during the Inquisition. It believes it has the full and final truth… that science has been ‘settled’… and that any contrary views must not be allowed in public. But at least they’re not burning dissenters – like Bruno – at the stake. At least not yet.”

"Happily Men Don't Realize..."

“When we’re headed toward an outcome that’s too horrible to face, that’s when we go looking for a second opinion. And sometimes, the answer we get just confirms our worst fears. But sometimes, it can shed new light on the problem, make you see it in a whole new way. After all the opinions have been heard and every point of view has been considered, you finally find what you’re after - the truth. But the truth isn’t where it ends, that’s just where you begin again with a whole new set of questions.”
- Dr. Meredith Grey, “Grey’s Anatomy”

“The closer you look, the more complicated it gets…
and the more you realize you don’t know.”
- Bill Bonner

“It takes considerable knowledge just to
realize the extent of your own ignorance.”
- Thomas Sowell

"Happily men don't realize how stupid they are, or half the world would commit suicide. Knowledge is a will-of-the-wisp, fluttering ever out of the traveller's reach; and a weary journey must be endured before it is even seen. It is only when a man knows a good deal that he discovers how unfathomable is his ignorance. The man who knows nothing is satisfied that there is nothing to know, consequently that he knows everything; and you may more easily persuade him that the moon is made of green cheese than that he is not omniscient."
- W. Somerset Maugham

“The Immutable Laws of Nature, and Murphy’s Other 15 Laws”

“The Immutable Laws of Nature, and Murphy’s Other 15 Laws”
by Peter McKenzie-Brown

“The Immutable Laws of Nature”

• Law of Mechanical Repair: After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you’ll have to pee.
• Law of Gravity: Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible place.
• Law of Probability: The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.
• Law of Random Numbers: If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal; someone always answers.
• Law of Variable Motion: If you change traffic lanes or checkout queues, the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now.
• Law of the Bath: When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone will ring.
• Law of Close Encounters: The probability of meeting someone you know increases exponentially when you are alongside someone you don’t want to be seen with.
• Law of the Damned Thing: When you try to prove to someone that a machine or device won’t work, it will.
• Law of Biomechanics: The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.
• Law of the Spectator: At any theatrical, musical or sporting event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle always arrive last. They are the ones who will leave their seats several times to go for food, for beer, or to the toilet and who leave before the end of the performance or game. Those who occupy the aisle seats come early, never move once, have long gangly legs or big bellies and stay seated beyond the end of the performance. The aisle people also are very surly folk.
• Law of Coffee: As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your partner will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.
• Murphy’s Law of Lockers: When only 2 people are in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.
• Law of Plane Surfaces: The chance that a slice of marmalade toast will land face down on a floor is directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet or rug.
• Law of Logical Argument: Anything is possible when you don’t know what you are talking about.
• Law of Physical Appearance: If clothes fit, they’re ugly.
• Law of Public Speaking: A closed mouth gathers no feet
• Law of Commercial Marketing: As soon as you find a product that you really like, it will cease production or the store will stop selling it.
• Law of Psychosomatic Medicine: If you don’t feel well, make an appointment to see to the doctor and by  the time you get there, you’ll feel better. If you don’t make an appointment you’ll stay sick.

“Murphy’s Other 15 Laws”

1. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
2. A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.
3. He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
4. A day without sunshine is like, well, night.
5. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
6. Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don’t.
7. Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.
8. The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there’s a 90% probability you’ll get it wrong.
9. It is said that if you line up all the cars in the world end-to-end, someone would be stupid enough to try to pass them.
10. If the shoe fits, get another one just like it.
11. The things that come to those who wait, may be the things left by those who got there first.
12. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day drinking beer.
13. Flashlight: A case for holding dead batteries.
14. God gave you toes as a device for finding furniture in the dark.
15. When you go into court, you are putting yourself in the hands of twelve people who weren’t smart enough to get out of jury duty.”

"How It Really Is"

"I fear the day technology will surpass human interaction.
The world will have a generation of idiots."
- Albert Einstein
Several generations actually...

"You can never underestimate the stupidity of the general public”
- Scott Adams

Dan, I Allegedly, "Real Trouble for Real Estate"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, 5/25/24
"Real Trouble for Real Estate"
Today’s video is a deep dive into the real estate crisis, specifically how HOAs are out of control! If you’ve been feeling like your HOA is overstepping, you’re not alone. From insane fines to outrageous foreclosures, these unregulated homeowners associations are wreaking havoc on people's lives.
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"Ireland, Spain And Norway Recognize Palestinian State"

"Ireland, Spain And Norway Recognize Palestinian State"
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Owen Jones, 5/25/24
"Has Israel's Impunity Been Destroyed By ICJ And ICC? 
Prof. Heidi Matthews Gives Masterclass"
"As the International Court of Justice orders Israel to cease it's Rafah assault - and the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor requests arrests warrants for Israel's leaders - is time really up for Israel's genocidal campaign? Joined by the brilliant legal scholar Prof. Heidi Matthews who explains all."
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"Alert! Military And Government Officials Secretly Preparing, Eites Make Nuclear Exit Plans!"

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 5/24/24
"Alert! Military And Government Officials Secretly Preparing,
 Eites Make Nuclear Exit Plans!"
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Friday, May 24, 2024

Judge Napolitano, "INTEL Round Table: Johnson & McGovern - Weekly Wrap Up"

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 5/24/24
"INTEL Round Table: 
Johnson & McGovern - Weekly Wrap Up"
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"McDonald's Is Hazardous To Your Health; New Cars Piling Up At Dealers, No Buyers"

Jeremiah Babe, 5/24/24
"McDonald's Is Hazardous To Your Health; 
New Cars Piling Up At Dealers, No Buyers"
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Musical Interlude: 2002, "Believe"

Full screen recommended.
2002, "Believe"

"A Look to the Heavens, With Chet Raymo"

“Like Rubies Ringed With Gold”
by Chet Raymo

“Here’s a Hubble Space Telescope composite photograph of two colliding galaxies in the constellation Corvus.
Each of the three books of Dante’s “Divine Comedy” ends with the same words: “the stars.” The Inferno concludes with distant stars glimpsed through the narrow exit of hell. “We emerged,” says the poet, “and saw the stars.” The poet’s journey through Purgatory ends on Earth’s highest mountain, with the heavens seemingly not so far away. He is “ready to ascend to the stars.” Finally, Dante looks down upon the stars from above, from the luminous realm of Paradise. He has experienced “the Love that moves the sun and the other stars.” The beauty of that final destination, the Empyrean Sphere that encloses the created universe in divine brilliance, taxes the poet’s powers of description:

“I saw light in the shape of a river
Flashing golden between two banks
Tinted in colors of marvelous spring.
Out of the stream came living sparks
Which settled on the flowers on every side
Like rubies ringed with gold…”

Nothing in Dante’s experience could have prepared him for the splendors of the heavens as revealed by the Hubble. The photograph of colliding galaxies in Corvus is a work of genius in the tradition of the “Divine Comedy” – imagination in service to humankind’s loftiest aspirations and longings.

In Dante’s time, astronomy was one of the seven liberal arts – with grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, and music – required of every student who aspired to a university degree. Of all the secular sciences, astronomy was deemed most likely to lead one to the contemplation of things divine. Yesterday’s Hubble pic made the hair stand up on the back of my neck, which is about as close to the divine as I ever get. Dante’s “Divine Comedy” is based on the medieval astronomical conception of the world – a system of concentric spheres centered on the Earth and bounded just up there by the Empyrean.

In the Hubble photograph of colliding galaxies we see something akin to Dante’s paradisal vision, but it is not a cosmos centered on the Earth. Here are other Suns and other Earths being born, in prodigious numbers, massive stars destined to die soon as supernovas, and other less massive stars that will live long lives, perhaps evolving life or consciousness on their planets. We see in the Hubble photograph a universe of a fullness and dimension that makes Dante’s human-centered cosmos of concentric spheres seem like a dust mote in an immense cathedral.

Astronomy is no longer a required course of study in our universities, and it’s something of a shame. Who can look at the photograph of colliding galaxies and not be moved to rapture? An understanding of the size, age, and prodigality of the universe should be part of every liberal arts graduate’s intellectual furniture.”
Freely download “The Divine Comedy” by Dante Alighieri, here:
Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy – Inferno”

Gerald Celente, "Genocide Joe Stealing Our Dough And Keeping The War Going"

Strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, 5/24/24
"Genocide Joe Stealing Our Dough 
And Keeping The War Going"
"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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"10 Items That Will Become Impossible To Find At Costco Stores"

Full screen recommended.
Epic Economist, 5/24/24
"10 Items That Will Become 
Impossible To Find At Costco Stores"

"Thousands of customers are reporting that their favorite products are disappearing from Costco shelves, and never coming back. If you’re a loyal Costco shopper, you’ve probably experienced a similar situation at least once in your life. You find an exciting new item, maybe a new snack or frozen meal, and take home a Costco-sized supply.

Before you realize it, you’re hooked on this new product – maybe even changing up your daily routine around it – only to discover that on your next shopping trip, it’s nowhere to be found. Now, you have to try to find a substitute that won't be nearly as good, or even worse, buy it at big-box stores for regular retail prices.

That's what's happening to many consumers in 2024. Even though the warehouse club is known for cycling products in and out at astonishing rates, – always keeping unexpecting members on their toes, – this year, it seems that the company is discontinuing multiple items without any notice, giving superfans no chance to stock up on their new obsessions before it stops selling these items at its locations.

Last winter saw its fair share of product layoffs in the grocery department and, apparently, spring cleaning time has begun at Costco. So far, the chain has discontinued over 30 items across the aisles, including household essentials and pantry desserts.

Today, we compiled some of the products shoppers are now mourning at the wholesale store, and we are going to explain why there’s even more bad news coming for Costco fans. So stay tuned until the end of the video."
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The Daily "Near You?"

Stockholm, Sweden. Thanks for stopping by!

The Poet: Paul Laurence Dunbar, “We Wear The Mask”

“We Wear The Mask”

“We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,-
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be overwise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!”

- Paul Laurence Dunbar