Monday, July 15, 2024

Bill Bonner, "The Resistance"

"The Resistance"
Nations, clubs, tribes - almost all forms of human associations - need their 
unifying myths. None are absolutely true. But some are more un-true than others.
by Bill Bonner

Poitou, France - "Victors write history. And they give themselves leading roles in it. Then, with only their own lies for reference, they turn into numbskulls.

Immediately after WWII, US officers interviewed captured German soldiers as well as the civilian population. They were amazed to find almost none said they were Nazis. Within weeks after their surrender, the Nazis had vanished from German history. Most people said they were always against them... and only put on uniforms, or otherwise supported the war effort, because they had to.

Likewise, in France, after a short period of score settling and collaborator-shaming, visitors discovered that almost everyone had been a member of the French resistance - apparently, the whole population had been bravely fighting the German usurpers. And so it was that yesterday, France’s national holiday, the flags unfurled and the ‘anciens combattants’ assembled in our little village to honor the local heroes of the resistance, 1940-1945.
Source: Bill Bonner
The old soldiers - there couldn’t have been more than a dozen of them - were appropriately bedecked with campaign ribbons. There were veterans of the Indo-China wars (in which the French fought to avoid Vietnamese independence)... and there were veterans of the Algerian war (in which France tried to keep the Algerians on the leash). The last WWII veteran from the village must have already bit the dust; none were present.

Still on hand, however, was a doughty WWII-era Jeep. There was no marching band to head up the procession; instead, the Jeep led the way, with a speaker mounted on the back. As another reminder of America’s lost industrial might, two GMC trucks, also of WWII vintage, joined the promenade.
Source: Bill Bonner
At precisely 11:15, someone turned on the music and the parade began. Flags waving, the mayors, prefects, gendarmes, and local big-wigs... all set out down the little lane towards the center of town, trailed by a solemn crowd of gawkers and patriots. Arriving at the town square, the officials lined up according to rank... the goodest and greatest in the front... the lesser grades behind them... and the hoi polloi, including your editor, on the fringes.

There must be some law that requires public officials to speak at events such as these but forbids them from saying anything meaningful. We heard from politicians, military leaders, and local busybodies. All had the same message; that if it had not been for the courage and determination of the “maquis” (resistance fighters with their headquarters hidden in the woods, whom the Germans saw as ‘terrorists’) France would not be the free country it is today... and we’d be listening to speeches in German, drinking beer rather than wine, and paying our bills on time.

But WWII, like WWI, was won by manpower and firepower. The resistance fighters had very little of either. As for becoming more like the Germans, the French lost the Franco-Prussian War in 1870; after the surrender, no attempt was made to change the language, drinking preferences, or credit scores. France boomed, quickly paying its war debts – in gold.

But nations, clubs, tribes - almost all forms of human associations - need their unifying myths. None are absolutely true. But some are more un-true than others. Surveys show both Americans and Brits, by large majorities, believe that it was their own soldiers who defeated Hitler. But it is not even close to the truth. The Soviet Union pulled off a remarkable ‘double envelopment’ at Stalingrad and wiped out 800,000 German, Italian, Hungarian and Romanian troops. After that, German forces were fighting a losing battle... with an incompetent fantasist as their commander-in-chief.

Back in France, a majority of the population supported the Vichy government and its peaceful settlement with the Germans. Many people hoped the Germans would win the war against the Soviets, whom they regarded as a worse menace. And among the ‘maquis,’ confusion, violence, and claptrap ran wild. In the countryside around here, the WWII era was a dark episode... and all the cats were gray.

“It really was not much like they pretend it was,” says an 87-year-old friend. “The best organized of the resistance groups were the communists. They didn’t take their orders from de Gaulle in London, but from Stalin in Moscow. And they hated anyone they regarded as ‘bourgeois.’ There were also groups of thieves... and some far-right militia. So, when armed men came to your house, you didn’t know who they were or what they would do. Sometimes they would just steal your car... saying they were commandeering it for the resistance. But sometimes it was much worse.

They rounded up a group of people from [the neighboring town] and executed them. For a long time, we didn’t know what had happened to them, but then their bodies were found in the river. Nobody seemed to know who had done it, or why. And my neighbors up the road... they would never talk about it, but the maquis came and apparently did unspeakable things. The daughter, who was a teenager at the time, was never quite right after that.” Stay tuned..."

Gregory Mannarino, "Trump's Now Lock On The Presidency Presents Massive Opportunity"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 7/15/24
"Trump's Now Lock On The Presidency Presents
 Massive Opportunity. Complete Outline"
Comments here:

"Economic Market Snapshot 7/15/24"

"Economic Market Snapshot 7/15/24"
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

"Larry C. Johnson & former FBI HRT Sniper Chris Whitcomb on the Failed Assassination of Donald Trump"

Dialogue Works 7/14/24
"Larry C. Johnson & former FBI HRT Sniper Chris Whitcomb 
on the Failed Assassination of Donald Trump"
Comments here:
o
Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 7/15/24
"Judge/Johnson/McGovern: 
Assassination Attempt of Donald Trump"
Comments here:

Jim Kunstler, "Shocks to the System"

"Shocks to the System"
by Jim Kunstler

“Trump is brushing off assassin’s bullets like dirt off his shoulder, racking up a mile long rap sheet of the fakest & gayest felonies known to man, chased through civil court by crazy-eyed harridans deranged by how horny he makes them. Joe Biden has jello for supper at 4pm.”
 - Aimee Terese on “X”

"Dear Hitler,' “Joe Biden” wrote his personal note of condolence Saturday night. 'So sorry to hear that you were inconvenienced by loud noises in PA, where I grew up in the black church. Chris Wray tells me that fine people may be behind it. Will keep you in the loop. Get well soon!"

Here’s some more consolation: The New York Times reports this morning that the FBI is looking into the attempt on Mr. Trump’s life as “possible domestic terrorism.” One must ask: are they trying to shed new light on this event, or just blowing more smoke up America’s ass - because that has been the FBI’s specialty for at least the past eight years. We’ll know if they take the definitive step of labeling the act a “hate crime.”
The weakness of narrative-tweaking is beginning to show. The amazing part is that only the elite thinking class of Americans fell for it, exactly the demographic that hangs on every word in The New York Times. The Deplorables out there in Flyoverland delivering Froot Loops to the Piggly-Wiggly and driving fork-lifts around the Amazon warehouse apparently never bought the narrative bullshit generated by the Media-Blob Industrial Complex. You’d hate to suppose that thinking is overrated. Or is it just a certain kind of thinking?

Try as you might to locate some malign, overweening, scheming cabal behind all the trips laid on our country, the truth is probably much simpler: set out on a journey defined by one lie, and then tell a lie to cover the first lie, and then another, and pretty soon you’re lying all over the place about everything until reality gets obliterated. This is exactly what started in 2016 when Hillary Clinton sought to cover up her email and private server scandal with the Russia collusion hoax.

Have you forgotten how entrenched the FBI, CIA, and other agencies dug themselves in on that? It began as dumb-ass insinuation that Donald Trump was a Russian agent, but the FBI turned itself into fantasy factory when they ran with story. They manufactured one sub-plot after another, most of it comically absurd, like the entrapment of General Flynn for having a conversation with the Russian ambassador — as if foreign countries send ambassadors here for some other purpose than communicating with our government officials. Tell me, you Harvard grads who devour The New York Times every morning with your turmeric and wheat-grass detox smoothies: should an incoming White House National Security Advisor not speak with envoys from other lands?

So, following the election of 2016, scores of government officials from Barack Obama and Joe Biden on down set out to wreck Mr. Trump’s turn in office, and ran one hoax after another to disable and dislodge him, and each hoax was a battery of lies begetting more lies. The style of thinking behind all that is called unprincipled. Many of these lies entailed crimes, some of them gigantic frauds perpetrated on the citizenry such as the ballot-stuffing operation that jammed “Joe Biden” into office - and which you were not permitted to speak of on penalty of cancellation and prosecution.

By 2020, “Joe Biden” had racked up enough bribes from foreign lands that he was susceptible to blackmail and thus to manipulation. That his mind was failing through his entire term only made that easier. Both “Joe Biden” and the Neocon gang at State and the CIA were implicated in a web of crimes in Ukraine, and war there was one way to cover all of it up, so they made sure that war happened. The lies and hoaxes continued to multiply, accompanied by huge, destructive pranks - the George Floyd riots, the drag queens in the kiddie classrooms, the wide-open border, the FBI-instigated J-6 riot - and the Democratic Party was embroidered in that whole tapestry of degenerate politics along with the Deep State blob.

In short, the Democratic Party appears to be guilty of programmatic treason against the people of the United States. They know that a reckoning awaits if Mr. Trump manages to return to office. They’ve known it for years. But two recent Supreme Court decisions really amped up their fears: 1) Trump v. the United States establishes presidential immunity from prosecution for acts involving his core constitutional duties; and 2) Loper Bright v. Raimondo establishes that the federal bureaucracy can no longer rule over citizens unchecked by the courts. Both of these would make it much easier for a President Trump to disassemble the Deep State. And of course, that may lead to the investigation and prosecution of Deep State personae who abused their positions - possibly even prison. . . a discomfiting prospect.

The Democratic Party’s cover got blown on June 27th when Joe Biden had to go live in a debate and displayed his mental incompetency for all to see. That shock to the system forced a scramble to replace “JB” pretty late in the election cycle, since now just enough voters may be indisposed to re-electing an obvious human wreck. But the switcheroo effort seems to have lost traction. And the party may have muffed its blackmail leverage over “Joe Biden.” After all, his briberies are all well-cataloged by the House Oversight Committee, including the vast bank records of the many shell companies set up to receive the bribe money.

Is it possible, though, that “Joe Biden” holds blackmail material over his party confederates? After all, he’s still president. He has access to things you’d never dream of and, demented as he is, he has plenty of help close at hand from Hunter, Dr. Jill, and the Lawfare posse for sorting it out. He probably knows a thing or two about his old pard Barack Obama, too, that would make some folks uncomfortable. So, looks like “JB” is fixing to hang in there as his party’s nominee, and whoever doesn’t like it can go suck an egg.

After the stunning events of Saturday evening, it also looks like candidate “Joe Biden” would go down in flames against Donald Trump on November 5, stuffed drop-boxes and all. Not a few Democratic Party bigshots have already made noises about leaving the country if that happens, possibly to nations lacking extradition treaties with the USA. Many others must be gobbling Xanax like Tic Tacs now that Donald Trump has survived the ultimate affront to his existence. You know the old nugget of wisdom: if you come at the king, you better not miss. Ooops."
o
Omar, "The Wire"

Sunday, July 14, 2024

Canadian Prepper, "WARNING: Cancel Your Plans. 100 Days of Chaos Ahead. What Happens Next..."

Canadian Prepper, 7/14/24
"WARNING: Cancel Your Plans. 
100 Days of Chaos Ahead. What Happens Next..."
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Musical Interlude: Gnomusy, "Dolmen Ridge"

Gnomusy, "Dolmen Ridge"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"Close to the Great Bear (Ursa Major) and surrounded by the stars of the Hunting Dogs (Canes Venatici), this celestial wonder was discovered in 1781 by the metric French astronomer Pierre Mechain. Later, it was added to the catalog of his friend and colleague Charles Messier as M106. Modern deep telescopic views reveal it to be an island universe - a spiral galaxy around 30 thousand light-years across located only about 21 million light-years beyond the stars of the Milky Way. Along with a bright central core, this stunning galaxy portrait, a composite of image data from amateur and professional telescopes, highlights youthful blue star clusters and reddish stellar nurseries tracing the galaxy's spiral arms.
It also shows off remarkable reddish jets of glowing hydrogen gas. In addition to small companion galaxy NGC 4248 at bottom right, background galaxies can be found scattered throughout the frame. M106, also known as NGC 4258, is a nearby example of the Seyfert class of active galaxies, seen across the spectrum from radio to X-rays. Active galaxies are powered by matter falling into a massive central black hole."

"We've All Heard..."

“The early bird catches the worm. A stitch in time saves nine. He who hesitates is lost. We can’t pretend we haven’t been told. We’ve all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to seize the day. Still, sometimes, we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today’s possibility under tomorrow’s rug, until we can’t anymore, until we finally understand for ourselves what Benjamin Franklin meant: That knowing is better than wondering. That waking is better than sleeping. And that even the biggest failure, even the worst, most intractable mistake, beats the hell out of never trying.”
- “Meredith”, “Grey’s Anatomy”

"15 Signs American Families Are Flat Broke"

Full screen recommended.
Epic Economist, 7/14/24
"15 Signs American Families Are Flat Broke"

"As darkness shadows the American dream, more and more families are grappling with the harsh reality of financial distress. In 2024, an unprecedented number of Americans consider themselves "broke," reflecting a widespread economic struggle. From the relentless surge in inflation to the crippling burden of debt, the signs of instability are everywhere. Now, optimism has vanished, giving way to a pervasive sense of despair that is forcing many households to make heartbreaking sacrifices just to stay afloat.

As the cost of living continues to rise far faster than people's paychecks, new data reveals that a staggering number of U.S. workers are coping with profound hardship. Today, we compiled the most important stats you need to know about this growing crisis that weakening Americans’ personal finances. Before moving on, please support our work with a thumbs up on this video, and don’t forget to subscribe to our channel to stay current with the latest news. Without further ado, let's dive into today's discussion."
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"That's Why..."

o
Full screen recommended.
Steppenwolf, "Monster"
"This great song from Steppenwolf never gained the popularity it should have - probably because it's so long. I just had fun playing along with it and decided to make this video. I hope it will reach a few people so they can see what a great message John Kay had back then - and that it's (unfortunately) very - if not more so - relevant today. I included some of the fantastic artwork from David Dees." Listen to the words...As absolutely true, even more so, in 2024 as it was when released in 1970.  
                                                        "We're so freakin' doomed!" - The Mogambo Guru

The Daily "Near You?"

Lawton, Oklahoma, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"American Eschaton Part III"

"American Eschaton Part III"
It's Coming Faster than Ever
by Contemplations on the Tree of Woe

"On Friday, I said I’d do a Substack post on Sunday. Then, on Saturday, a gunman attempted to assassinate President Trump on live TV. He failed, but it was a horrible and historic moment, the sort we will all remember for years to come. I don’t have any new information to offer that isn’t already circulating in our circles, nor do I see much value in speculating about the event when others with more qualifications than I have already done so. So let me just say that I’m grateful to God that President Trump survived the attempt on his life, and awed by the courage and resolve he showed in his response. I am also deeply saddened by the casualties suffered by the innocent bystanders, for whom a GoFundMe has been established.

Given yesterday’s events, it does seem reasonable today to review the imminent American Eschaton and update my predictions in light of an assassination attempt occurring. The American Eschaton is a term I coined to describe the end of America as we know it, and back in September 27, 2023 I predicted it was 16 months away.

"Sixteen months from now (472 days, to be exact), on January 25 2025, the next President of the United States will be sworn into office. In an ordinary year in an ordinary decade in an ordinary nation, the next President would be obvious. It would be Donald Trump…But this is not an ordinary year, or an ordinary decade, or an ordinary nation, and so it’s not going to play out like that…

I predict an American Eschaton: The end of America as we know it. It will be a Fourth Turning, but it will be a Fourth Turning that goes against us. The exact manner in which our eschaton will occur is much harder to predict. The end of America as we know it doesn’t necessarily mean nuclear apocalypse, government collapse, or secession. It could simply mean a transformation of America into something Unamerican. (The Russian Revolution of 1918 was the end of Russia as the Russian of the time knew it, for instance.)

How will my prophesied End of America as We Know It come about? I predicted several possibilities might occur:

• Managerial Triumph;
• Managerial Collapse;
• Peaceful National Divorce;
• Civil War (Violent National Divorce); or
• Global War

And here is how I saw it playing out when I wrote the article 11 months ago:

Managerial triumph is likely to occur if: Either Trump is removed from the ballot by legislation, incarceration, or assassination; or election fraud is used to prevent him from fairly competing; or a pretext is found to cancel elections altogether; and Either the Right does not react to this outcome by some form of direct action; or the Right does react, but ineffectively and stupidly, and collapses back into passivity thereafter; and The managerial elite manage to stave off systemic collapse from other causes.

Managerial collapse will occur if: Either Trump is removed from the ballot by legislation, incarceration, or assassination; or election fraud is used to prevent him from fairly competing; or a pretext is found to cancel elections altogether; and Either the Right does not react to this outcome by some form of direct action; or the Right does react, but ineffectively and stupidly, and collapses back into passivity thereafter; and The managerial elite fail to stave off systemic collapse from other causes.

The right-wing could trigger a national divorce if: Either Trump is removed from the ballot by legislation, incarceration, or assassination; or election fraud is used to prevent him from fairly competing; or a pretext is found to cancel elections altogether; and In response, one or more red states secede from the Union, refuse to recognize the Washington D.C. government, or otherwise provoke a national divorce; and The Federal government, perhaps under international pressure or weakened by the collapse of the petrodollar, permits this secession or at least does not oppose it.

The left-wing could trigger a national divorce if: Trump is elected back to the Presidency to execute his “Dark MAGA” platform; and In response, one or more blue states secede from the Union, refuse to recognize the Trump presidency, or otherwise provoke a national divorce; and The Federal government, perhaps under international pressure or weakened by the collapse of the petrodollar, permits this secession or at least does not oppose it.

The United States might slip into civil war if: Whichever faction loses the 2024 election (Left or Right) attempts a peaceful secession; and The Federal government responds with military action and is met by counter-military force by the state(s).

The United States might also fall into civil war if: Either Trump is removed from the ballot by legislation, incarceration, or assassination; or election fraud is used to prevent him from fairly competing; or a pretext is found to cancel elections altogether; and The Right responds violently and the government fails to quickly frighten or pacify the insurgency by police or military action.

Alternatively: Trump is elected back to the Presidency to execute his “Dark MAGA” platform; and The Left responds violently and the government fails to quickly frighten or pacify the insurgency by police or military action.

There are essentially two ways in which global war might begin: China and/or Russia starts the war because their leaders believe that the United States is badly led, broke, disunited, and therefore likely to lose; or

The United States starts the war because our leaders believe that the system is heading for either collapse or Trump victory and decide that large-scale global conflict is better than relinquishing power. Given that Biden has proven himself senile and incapable of holding office; given that Trump was already ahead in the polls; given that Trump was nearly martyred, but instead rose to truly heroic status in his fist-pumping response; given all that, it seems to me that Trump is now, essentially, unstoppable in any legitimate election.

Yet none of the circumstances that made an American Eschaton likely 16 months seem to have changed, because it was obvious to any observer that Trump would win any legitimate election 16 months ago!

So where are we now? Well, as predicted, the Left has attempted to remove Trump from the ballot; as predicted, the Left has attempted to incarcerate Trump; and now, as predicted, the Left (or at least a lone gunman affiliated with the Left) has attempted to assassinate Trump.

The next gambit on the list above is the use of election fraud to prevent Trump from fairly completing. That election fraud could come in the form of mail-in ballot harvesting, fake ballots, voting machine manipulation, and/or voting by illegal immigrants.

But Trump is now so far ahead in the polls that it will be hard for anything short of utterly blatant fraud, or even complete cancellation of the elections, to keep the Left in power. Given the Right’s simmering resentment over the 2020 election, repeating than fraudulent antics of 2020 in an even more egregious manner, when Trump is so far ahead now, seems much more likely to lead to national divorce or civil war from the Right than was the case 11 months ago.

On the other hand, if that level of election fraud is not pursued (and he is not killed in a second attempt) Trump will almost certainly win, and then we have to imagine national divorce or civil war being possible from the Left.

Is there a peaceful path for Trump to take power and implement his agenda? In my original article, I didn’t see one because I didn’t see any circumstance under which the Left would simply capitulate. But I do see such a possibility now.

Imagine, if you will, that the smartest members of the ruling class have concluded that Trump is very likely to win; imagine, further that they believe economic calamity is unavoidable or global war is inevitable or necessary. If so, then it would make sense to allow Trump to be elected and then “accelerate” progress towards these events. Why?

If there is an economic collapse under Trump’s administration (perhaps due to de-dollarization), he will be blamed in the same way that Herbert Hoover was blamed for the Great Depression; and just as Hoover’s economic policies were utterly discredited for generations, so too will Trump’s. Moreover, the resulting economic conditions might pave the way for a new Roosevelt on the Left with the usual socialist promises to make things better.

On the other hand, if there is a global war, then having Trump in office is virtually the only means by which young white men - the core of our fighting force - are likely to be persuaded to accept a draft or go to war. Not many men would die for Biden or globohomo, but if Trump issues the call and the cause seems patriotic, many (not all, but enough) will respond.

How such a war might break out; I’ve already discussed. Trump does not seem likely to escalate against Russia, but it seems entirely possible he might support Israel if its war breaks out into a wider war, perhaps triggering a cascade into global war; alternatively, there remains the possibility of Chinese action against Taiwan. Regardless, as I’ve previously explained, we’ll likely lose the war for lack of industrial capacity, positioning Trump as the fall guy for our military failure.

The future is uncertain. But yesterday’s assassination attempt should be a wake-up call for normies and muggles who continue to believe that “nothing ever happens.” Things are happening, and the worst is yet to come. Whether the future holds a national divorce, a civil war, an economic calamity, or a global war, I cannot say. Sadly, the one thing I least expect is peaceful transfer of power to the next President."

Jeremiah Babe, "You Missed Bitch"

Jeremiah Babe, 7/14/24
"You Missed Bitch; 
Another Crash Will Happen And It Can Happen To You"
Comments here:

"Larry C. Johnson Updating his Analysis on How Trump Survived Assassination"

Dialogue Works, 7/14/24
"Larry C. Johnson Updating his Analysis 
on How Trump Survived Assassination"
Comments here:
o
Dialogue Works, 7/14/24
"Larry C. Johnson & Former FBI HRT Sniper 
Chris Whitcomb on the Failed Assassination of Donald Trump"
Comments here:

Dan, I Allegedly, "Everything Changed Yesterday"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, 7/14/24
"Everything Changed Yesterday"
"We need to bring back civility. With what we all witnessed 
yesterday this is absolutely tragic. Let me know what you think."
Comments here:

"How It Really Is"

 

Dan, I Allegedly, "Prices Keep Going Up - What’s Next?"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, 7/14/24
"Prices Keep Going Up - What’s Next?"
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Gregory Mannarino, "It's A Lock, Trump Will Be The Next President"

Gregory Mannarino, 7/14/24
"It's A Lock, Trump Will Be The Next President
And This Is What You Need To Do Now"
Comments here:

"We Haven’t Seen A 'Historic Surge' Of Corporate Bankruptcies Like This Since The Great Recession"

"We Haven’t Seen A 'Historic Surge' Of Corporate
Bankruptcies Like This Since The Great Recession"
by Michael Snyder

"We continue to get numbers that indicate that the U.S. economy is steamrolling in the wrong direction as we approach the most chaotic election season in our history. Needless to say, the performance of the economy is going to play a major role in the outcome of the election, because millions upon millions of Americans are really suffering right now. Homelessness has been growing at the fastest pace ever recorded, hunger and poverty are exploding, and we are in the midst of a cost of living crisis that doesn’t seem to have any end in sight. Unfortunately, there are signs that things will soon get even worse. For example, we experienced a “historic surge” of corporate bankruptcies during the first half of this year that was worse than anything we have witnessed since the first half of 2010

There is a “historic surge” of corporate bankruptcies underway in the U.S., as debt-saddled companies struggle to adjust to the new era of high interest rates. New figures published by S&P Global Intelligence show that 75 companies filed for bankruptcy in June, the highest number recorded in a single month since early 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. That pushed this year’s total number of bankruptcies so far to 346, which is notably higher than comparable levels seen in the past 13 years.

Before this, the highest half-year figure recorded was in 2010, with 437 companies filing for bankruptcy from January through June. During the first half of 2010, we were just coming out of the Great Recession. Do you remember how painful things were in those days? Sadly, I believe that what is ahead of us will be even more painful. The unprecedented measures that our leaders took to prop up the economy worked for a while, but now cracks are starting to show all over the place. And a lot more big businesses will go belly up during the months ahead.

Earlier today, I was quite saddened to learn that Big Lots is on the verge of bankruptcy…"Discount retail chain Big Lots said it will close up to 40 stores this year and may declare bankruptcy. The Columbus, Ohio-based company wrote in a quarterly Securities and Exchange Commission filing it expected further operating losses and has “substantial doubt” it can continue as a functioning business. Big Lots last month reported a net loss of $205 million in the quarter ending May 4, 2024."

When I lived in Virginia many years ago, I would shop at Big Lots quite a bit. And it always seemed to be doing fairly well. But now times have changed. Today, most Americans have very little discretionary income. In fact, surveys have shown that the vast majority of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck at this point…"A 2023 survey conducted by Payroll.org highlighted that 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, a 6% increase from the previous year. In other words, more than three-quarters of Americans struggle to save or invest after paying for their monthly expenses.

Similarly, a 2023 Forbes Advisor survey revealed that nearly 70% of respondents either identified as living paycheck to paycheck (40%) or - even more concerning - reported that their income doesn’t even cover their standard expenses (29%)."

There is no way to spin those numbers in a positive manner. Any way that you look at them, they are absolutely horrible. The middle class is being ripped to shreds, and those that are running the system seem to be all out of answers.

Young adults in particular are having a very difficult time in this environment. According to a survey that was recently conducted by Bank of America, almost half of all adult members of Generation Z “are relying on financial help from their parents and family members”…"A new survey by Bank of America finds that nearly half of adult members of Gen Z are relying on financial help from their parents and family members to get by. The survey for Bank of America’s Better Money Habits team found that 46% of Gen Z are receiving financial assistance from their parents or other family members, a figure that declines to 30% for Gen Z non-students."

Have you noticed that so many young adults seem to be very bitter and very angry these days? This is one of the big reasons why they are in such a foul mood. Many of them were promised that life would be good if the studied hard, went to college, and did all the right things. But now many of them are discovering that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow was just an illusion.

Of course there is a small sliver of society that is still doing exceptionally well. Flooding the system with trillions upon trillions of dollars has been very good for the financial markets, and those with lots of money in the financial markets have been living the high life.

In Jackson Hole, Wyoming, millionaires are complaining that the town is being ruined by all of the billionaires that are now moving in…"Millionaires once accused of ruining a gorgeous town in Wyoming now complain they are being driven out of the area by billionaires. Jackson Hole has long been a popular vacation spot for celebrities including Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes and Matthew McConaughey. An influx of wealthy people sent house prices sky-rocketing and forced ordinary workers to live on the other side of the mountain on the Idaho-Wyoming border."

There are more billionaires in America today than ever before. That is the good news. The bad news is that there are more homeless people in America today than ever before, the ranks of the poor are growing very rapidly, and more Americans are falling out of the middle class with each passing day.

The wealthy may think that all of the wealth that they have piled up will insulate them from the unprecedented chaos that is approaching, but the truth is that a day of reckoning is coming for them too. In the end, the entire system is going to completely and utterly fail, and those that believed that the party would last forever will be bitterly, bitterly disappointed."

Saturday, July 13, 2024

Canadian Prepper, "Alert! Civil War; Ammo Selling Out; WW3 Desperation Begins"

Canadian Prepper, 7/13/24
"Alert! Civil War; Ammo Selling Out; 
WW3 Desperation Begins"
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"Clear Focus Ambient Space Music for Concentration - Isochronic Tones"

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Jason Lewis - Mind Amend,
"Clear Focus Ambient Space Music for Concentration - 
Isochronic Tones"
Ambient electronic space music with low-intensity 
beta and alpha wave tones for clear focus.

Headphones Are Not Required

How does it work? This is a brainwave entrainment music track using isochronic tones combined with music. The music has also been embedded with amplitude entrainment effects, where the music is subtly distorted and vibrates in unison with the same frequency of the isochronic tones.  This helps to add further strength to the entrainment effect.

What does this track do? A soft house upbeat study music mix with beta wave isochronic tones. Designed to produce a deep focus mental state while studying or working. This session stimulates Beta, SMR and Alpha, alternating in 2 minute increments to help keep the user relaxed and engaged. Note: SMR (sensorimotor rhythm) relates to the frequency range between 12 – 15Hz. It’s associated with sensory processing and motor control. Stimulating this can result in relaxed focus and improved attention. This session is meant to speed up the brain while keeping the left hemisphere dominant (good for attention, concentration and reducing emotional response and hyperactivity). ADD and similar disorders are often characterized by “slow-wave” EEG patterns, particularly in the left frontal region. As such, this session stimulates the left brain hemisphere with Beta frequencies and the right with SMR.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"A Look to the Heavens"

"What created this unusual planetary nebula? NGC 7027 is one of the smallest, brightest, and most unusually shaped planetary nebulas known. Given its expansion rate, NGC 7027 first started expanding, as visible from Earth, about 600 years ago. For much of its history, the planetary nebula has been expelling shells, as seen in blue in the featured image. In modern times, though, for reasons unknown, it began ejecting gas and dust (seen in red) in specific directions that created a new pattern that seems to have four corners. These shells and patterns have been mapped in impressive detail by recent images from the Wide Field Camera 3 onboard the Hubble Space Telescope.
What lies at the nebula's center is unknown, with one hypothesis holding it to be a close binary star system where one star sheds gas onto an erratic disk orbiting the other star. NGC 7027, about 3,000 light years away, was first discovered in 1878 and can be seen with a standard backyard telescope toward the constellation of the Swan (Cygnus).”

"Has Our Luck Finally Run Out?"

"Has Our Luck Finally Run Out?"
by Charles Hugh-Smith

"Long-term cycles escape our notice because they play out over many years or even decades; few noticed the decreasing rainfall in the Mediterranean region in 150 A.D. but this gradual decline in rainfall slowly but surely reduced the grain harvests of the Roman Empire, which coupled with rising populations resulted in a reduced caloric intake for many people. This weakened their immune systems in subtle ways, leaving them more vulnerable to the Antonine Plague of 165 AD.

The decline of temperatures in Northern Europe in the early 1300s led to “years without summer” and failed grain harvests which reduced the caloric intake of most people, leaving them weakened and more vulnerable to the Black Plague which swept Europe in 1347.

I’ve mentioned the book "The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire" a number of times as a source for understanding the impact of natural cycles on human civilization. It’s important to note that the natural cycles and pandemics of 200 AD didn’t just cripple the Roman Empire; this same era saw the collapse of the mighty Parthian Empire of Persia, the kingdoms of India and the Han Dynasty in China.

In addition to natural cycles, there are human socio-economic cycles of debt and decay of civic values and the social contract: a proliferation of parasitic elites, a weakening of state finances and a decline in the purchasing power of wages/labor. The rising dependence on debt and its eventual collapse is a cycle noted by Kondratieff and others, and Peter Turchin listed these three dynamics as the key drivers of decisive discord of the kind that brings down empires and nations. All three are playing out globally in the present.

In this context, the election of Donald Trump in 2016 was a political expression of long-brewing discontent with precisely these issues: the rise of self-serving parasitic elites, the decay/corruption of the social contract and state finances and the decades-long decline in the purchasing power of wages/labor.

Which brings us to karma, a topic of some confusion in Western cultures more familiar with Divine Retribution than with actions having consequences even without Divine Intervention, which is the essence of karma. Broadly speaking, the U.S. squandered the opportunities presented by the end of the Cold War 30 years ago on hubristic Exceptionalism, wars of choice, parasitic elites and an unprecedented waste of resources on unproductive consumption.

Now the plan–for lack of any real plan–is to borrow trillions of dollars to fund an even more spectacular orgy of unproductive consumption, on the bizarre belief that “money” can be conjured out of thin air in essentially infinite quantities and squandered, and there will magically be no consequences of this trickery in the real world.

Actions have consequences, and after 30 years of waste, fraud and corruption being normalized by the parasitic elites while the purchasing power of labor decayed, the karmic consequences can no longer be delayed by doing more of what’s hollowed out the economy and society.

Which brings us to luck. As a general rule, historians seek explanations which leave luck out of the equation. This gives us a false confidence in the predictability and power of human will and action and cycles. Yes, cycles and human action influence outcomes, but we do a great disservice by shunting luck into the shadows as a non-factor.

If Emperor Pius had chosen someone other than Marcus Aurelius as his successor, someone weak, vain and self-absorbed like so many of Rome’s late-stage emperors, then Rome would have fallen by 170 AD as the Antonine Plague crippled finances and the army, and the invading hordes would have swept the empire into the dustbin of history. It can be argued that only Marcus Aurelius had the experience and character to sell off the Imperial treasure to raise the money needed to pay the soldiers and spend virtually his entire term in power in the front lines of battle, preserving Rome from complete collapse. That was good judgement by Pius but also good luck.

As we ponder luck, consider the estimate that had the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago struck the Earth 30 minutes earlier or later, it would not have generated the Nuclear Winter that destroyed the dinosaurs. (A direct hit in deep water would have spawned a monstrous tsunami, but no dust cloud. A direct hit on land would have raised a dust cloud but without the water vapor/steam generated by the vaporization of millions of gallons of sea water, the cloud wouldn’t have risen high enough to encircle the planet.) That was bad luck for the dinosaurs, and good luck for the mammals who replaced them.

The global economy has been extraordinarily lucky for 75 years. Food and energy have been cheap and abundant. (If you think food and energy are expensive now, think about prices doubling or tripling, and then doubling again.)

In our complacency and hubris, we attribute this to our wonderful technologies, which we assume guarantee us permanent surpluses of energy and food. The idea that technology has reached hard limits or that it could fail doesn’t occur to us. We’ve taken good luck to be our birthright because it’s all we’ve known. We attribute this good fortune to things within our control–technology, wise investments and policies, etc. The possibility that all these powers that we consider so godlike are insignificant doesn’t occur to us because we’ve enjoyed the favorable winds of luck without even being aware of it.

We are woefully unprepared for a long run of bad luck. My sense is the cycles have turned and the good luck has drained from the hour-glass. Energy and food will no longer be cheap and abundant, our luck in leadership will vanish, and our vaunted technologies will fail to maintain an abundance so vast that we can squander the finite wealth of soil, water, resources and energy on mindless consumption.

I’m reminded of a line from an Albert King song, "Born Under a Bad Sign" (composed by Booker T. Jones and William Bell): “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all.” The next few years might have us singing this line with feeling."

Jeremiah Babe, "Trump Survives Assassination Attempt, This Is Spiritual Warfare, God Help America"

Jeremiah Babe, 7/13/24
"Trump Survives Assassination Attempt, 
This Is Spiritual Warfare, God Help America"
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Full screen recommended.
CNN, 7/13/24
"Shooter At Trump Rally Killed By Secret Service"
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"Breaking! President Trump Shot In Assassination Attempt!"

Redacted, Clayton Morris, 7/13/24
"Breaking! President Trump Shot In Assassination Attempt!"
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The Daily "Near You?"

Scottsboro, Alabama. USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"The Trouble Is..."