"If The Streets Of America Are This Chaotic Now, What Will They Be Like When Things Really Start Hitting The Fan?"

"If The Streets Of America Are This Chaotic Now, 

What Will They Be Like When Things Really Start Hitting The Fan?"

by Michael Snyder

"If you are not alarmed by what is happening to our largest cities, you should check to see if you still have a pulse. Once upon a time, the beautiful new cities that our forefathers constructed were the envy of the entire planet, but now many of them have degenerated into crime-infested hellholes that are absolutely teeming with violent predators. Shoplifting has essentially become a national pastime, open air drug markets operate freely right under the noses of indifferent authorities, and addicts pull down their pants and take a dump whenever and wherever they feel like doing so. Thanks to record levels of illegal immigration, gang membership is absolutely exploding, and human trafficking has reached truly frightening levels. Of course our steadily thinning police forces are overwhelmed at this point. In fact, police in Seattle are stretched so thin that they often are not able “to take reports from rape victims”. And if you are the victim of a non-violent crime in Seattle, good luck ever getting a police officer to pay attention to your case. From coast to coast, communities are descending into a state of utter lawlessness. So if things are this bad already, what will conditions be like when things really start hitting the fan?

Continuing a trend that we have seen for the last couple of years, crime rates all over the nation just keep going higher and higher. For example, auto theft, grand larceny and transit crime are all up by more than 50 percent in New York City so far this year…"Data released by the New York City Police Department showed Grand Larceny Auto increased by 51.1% with 5,420 incidents as of June 5 compared to just 3,587 incidents by the same time in 2021. That category had one of the largest upticks during the most recent crime statistic report covering May 30 to June 5. Grand larceny incidents spiked by 50.1% from 20,659 incidents reported to NYPD as of June 5, compared to the 13,713 reported during the same period last year."

Meanwhile, overall transit crime surged by 53.6% so far this year. I thought that the new mayor was elected to end the crime wave. Instead, it appears that it has been supersized.

One way to hide the rapid rise in crime is to decriminalize things that used to be major offenses. In Portland, voters decided to decriminalize hard drugs, but that just turned the city into an “open air drug market”…"The streets of Portland resemble an ‘open air drug market’ after state officials’ scheme to decriminalize hard drugs led to a surge in overdose deaths, critics claim. Law enforcement agents say that the streets of Portland are full of homeless addicts openly buying and selling drugs and that signs of drug addiction are actually increasing statewide, Fox News reported. Photos show the desperate situation in the liberal Pacific Northwest city, where people can be seen shooting up drugs or passed out in broad daylight." At one time, Portland was one of the most magnificent cities in the entire world. Now it is a horror show.

On top of all the ordinary crime that is going on, now we are witnessing a very alarming rise in politically-motivated violence. The Supreme Court decision that will overturn Roe v. Wade is expected to be released this month, and a group known as “Jane’s Revenge” has announced that it is “open season” on those with pro-life views…"The pro-abortion group Jane’s Revenge is declaring it “open season” on pro-life groups and crisis pregnancy centers. The group has a history of damaging property during their protests, and they took credit for the vandalization of a pregnancy resource center in Des Moines, Iowa earlier this month. In a message posted to social media, the group said they broke windows and left graffiti political messages all over the clinic. “It was easy and fun,” the message read."

Sadly, even though the official Supreme Court decision has not even been released yet, there has already been quite a bit of violence. In fact, it is being reported that there have been more than three dozen attacks on pro-life groups, churches and crisis pregnancy centers in recent weeks…"An armed would-be assassin’s alleged attempt on the life of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh last week is part of a wave of violence, arson, vandalism, and intimidation targeting pro-life groups and government officials since the leak last month of a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade."

There have been more than three dozen such incidents directed at crisis pregnancy centers and churches in at least 20 states and Washington, D.C., according to a tally maintained by LifeNews.com, an anti-abortion site.

The thin veneer of civilization that we all take for granted on a daily basis is rapidly dissipating, and our streets are becoming more uncivilized with each passing day. If this is happening while economic conditions are still relatively stable, what will happen once things start getting really crazy out there?

In some parts of the world, the food crisis has already reached critical levels. For example, the government of Sri Lanka has actually shortened the work week so that workers will have more time to grow their own food…"Sri Lanka’s federal government on Monday approved a proposal that would shorten the work week of most public sector staff to four days so that workers will have time to farm their own crops, Reuters reported Tuesday, noting the measure aims to combat Sri Lanka’s worsening food shortages caused by a recent economic crisis. “Sri Lanka’s Cabinet late on Monday approved a proposal for public sector workers to be given leave every Friday for the next three months, partly because the fuel shortage made commuting difficult and also to encourage them to farm,” Reuters reported on June 14."

Over in Africa, the United Nations has stopped feeding approximately 1.7 million citizens of South Sudan because they simply do not have enough funding to feed the rapidly growing throngs of desperately hungry people…"The World Food Program has been forced to stop providing food aid to around 1.7 million people in South Sudan, because of a lack of funding. The UN-run organization will still reach 4.5 million people, but many will miss out on vital resources. According to BBC News, over half the population of South Sudan is currently facing hunger due to floods, localized drought, continuing conflict, and rising food prices. Marwa Awad is from the World Food Program and is in the northern town of Bentiu in South Sudan, where she has been talking to people about the effects the cuts to aid are having.

All of the experts are telling us that the global food crisis is going to get a lot worse as the months roll along. If the UN has already reached the limit of what they are able to do, who is going to help the millions upon millions of hungry people that will soon need help in order to survive?

Here in the U.S., food production has been affected by a bizarre series of disasters, and we are being warned that much less will be produced this year than originally anticipated. I think that one expert summed up the current situation very well when he warned that “we are teetering on the edge right now”…"Pennsylvania farmers are being “crushed” by the record cost of diesel – so much so, that questions about a food crisis are starting to loom, the Morning Call reported. One farmer in Lehigh County is quoted as saying: “I’ve got a tractor hooked up to my corn planter out here, no diesel fuel, and I can’t afford to get any.”

That farmer was airing his gripes to Kyle Kotzmoyer, a legislative affairs specialist for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. Kotzmoyer then turned around and testified to state lawmakers: “We have reached that point to where it is very close to being a sinking ship. We are teetering on the edge right now.”

If we eventually get to a point where food prices spiral completely out of control and there are widespread shortages, do you think that those living in our core urban areas will respond with grace and patience? Of course not. Instead, people will go absolutely nuts.

We got a small preview of what is to come during the Arab Spring of 2011. There were serious food shortages around the world that year, and that resulted in tremendous civil unrest. Here in the United States, most people do not have large amounts of food stored up, and that is especially true in our largest cities. So we better hope that the rapidly growing global food crisis does not affect us too severely, because the truth is that we are definitely not equipped to handle such a scenario."

- https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/

"What The Herd Hates The Most..."

 

"Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth, more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man."

- Bertrand Russell

"If you're going to tell people the truth make them laugh, or they'll kill you."

- Oscar Wilde

"The Grand Chessboard"

"The Grand Chessboard"

by Chris MacIntosh

"In 1997, geopolitical advisor to David Rockefeller, Zbigniew Brzezinski, wrote a book, called "The Grand Chessboard." The book is particularly interesting as it shows the thinking of the Rockefeller empire in regards to Eurasia. Consider the following, which provides some insight into their view of Eurasia and how to control it (actually the very idea of controlling it provides insight into their lust for power):

"For America, the chief geopolitical prize is Eurasia." "Ever since the continents started interacting politically, some five hundred years ago, Eurasia has been the center of world power." Given this viewpoint it’s no surprise that the US have employed the doctrine of keeping both the European and Asian powers from forming any sort of economic and hence political power that could test US hegemony. This excerpt is revealing.

"… But in the meantime, it is imperative that no Eurasian challenger emerges, capable of dominating Eurasia and thus of also challenging America. The formulation of a comprehensive and integrated Eurasian geostrategy is therefore the purpose of this book."

All empires have at some point realized and deployed similar geo-political strategies. Namely, prevent collusion, maintain security dependence among vassals, which will keep these tributaries compliant, forment occasional wars in order to bring in more tributaries seeking protection (witness Sweden and Norway seeking NATO membership), and then for those barbarians that are not under the empire’s control, ensure they never come together to form a collective resistance. These barbarians are the Russians, Indians, Chinese, and Arabs.

It follows that America’s primary interest is to help ensure that no single power comes to control this geopolitical space and that the global community has unhindered financial and economic access to it. When viewed through the lens of history and the desires of powerful men throughout the ages, the Ukraine conflict makes perfect sense.

The idea that Putin, after 20 years of continued economic growth, increased stability, and enjoying a high popularity, suddenly rolled out of bed and said, "Meh, fukit. I’m risking it all and invading another country for shits and giggles," is one of the most absurd and idiotic narratives the MSM has ever produced. And the peasants actually believe it.

Here we are again, and though we’re certainly not apologists for Russia or Putin (he’s a thug, along with the rest of them), failing to view the situation with at least some level of a filter flies in the face of history, not to mention recent history, isn’t wise.

Continuing on with the American/Rockefeller view so that we may be able to better understand probabilities: "America is now the only global superpower, and Eurasia is the globe’s central arena. Hence, what happens to the distribution of power on the Eurasian continent will be of decisive importance to America’s global primacy and to America’s historical legacy. Without sustained and directed American involvement, before long the forces of global disorder could come to dominate the world scene. With warning signs on the horizon across Europe and Asia, any successful American policy must focus on Eurasia as a whole and be guided by a Geostrategic design."

You will now understand why the US has always backed both sides of wars in the Middle East and in Eurasia. "That puts a premium on maneuver and manipulation in order to preempt the emergence of a hostile coalition that could eventually seek to challenge America’s primacy…"

Now consider this excerpt: "The most immediate task is to make certain that no state or combination of states gains the capacity to expel the United States from Eurasia or even to diminish significantly its decisive arbitration role.

Potentially, the most dangerous scenario would be a grand coalition of China, Russia, and perhaps Iran, an "anti-hegemonic" coalition united not by ideology but by complementary grievances. It would be reminiscent in scale and scope of the challenge once posed by the Sino-Soviet bloc, though this time China would likely be the leader and Russia the follower. Averting this contingency, however remote it may be, will require a display of U.S. geostrategic skill on the western, eastern, and southern perimeters of Eurasia simultaneously."

This war is a war between the West, led by the US, and the "barbarians," who are still out of the hegemonic fold currently fronted by Russia while including China, the Mid East and India. I fear countries will be forced to pick sides during this decade.

Ask yourself this. If you were a pointy shoe sitting in a Rockefeller seat, how would you go about both maintaining dominance and increasing it? Based on their thinking, alluded to here, I’d say you’d start a war involving these powers. China, Iran, Russia, and possibly India. You’d pit them against each other, if possible.

We know the Saudis and Iran are longtime foes, and we know that both Russia and China have been forging strong relationships between both countries. Neither want a war and are likely to be the diplomats here while the West will seek to exploit and fuel conflict. Sounds crazy and contrary to the narratives you hear on MSM? Sure, but go read those excerpts again, then look at the dolly birds on the idiot box and the men with shiny teeth and tell me what’s really happening. Now, I don’t know for sure but the recent ramp up of angst here is oddly timed. But something to watch, I'd say."

- internationalman.com

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Freely download "The Grand Chessboard", by Zbigniew Brzezinski, here:

- https://www.cia.gov/library/

Interesting... you'll note that this download comes from the official CIA website...

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Related:

"Russia Believes False Flag Will Lead to US Entry"

"This Is Your Life..."

“This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time.

Every breath is a choice.

Every minute is a choice.

To be or not to be.

Every time you don't throw yourself down the stairs, that's a choice.

Every time you don't crash your car, you re-enlist.

If death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume

and come back as a new character...Would you slow down? Or speed up?"

- Chuck Palahniuk

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"If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make,

who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?"

- Stephen Levine

"Streets of Philadelphia, June 17, 2022"

Full screen recommended.

"Streets of Philadelphia, June 17, 2022"

"Violent crime and drug abuse in Philadelphia as a whole is a major problem. The city’s violent crime rate is higher than the national average and other similarly sized metropolitan areas. Also alarming is Philadelphia’s drug overdose rate. The number of drug overdose deaths in the city increased by 50% from 2013 to 2015, with more than twice as many deaths from drug overdoses as deaths from homicides in 2015. A big part of Philadelphia’s problems stem from the crime rate and drug abuse in Kensington.

Because of the high number of drugs in Kensington, the neighborhood has a drug crime rate of 3.57, the third-highest rate by neighborhood in Philadelphia. Like a lot of the country, a big part of this issue is a result of the opioid epidemic. Opioid abuse has skyrocketed over the last two decades in the United States and Philadelphia is no exception. Along with having a high rate of drug overdose deaths, 80% percent of Philadelphia’s overdose deaths involved opioids and Kensington is a big contributor to this number. This Philly neighborhood is purportedly the largest open-air narcotics market for heroin on the East Coast with many neighboring residents flocking to the area for heroin and other opioids. With such a high number of drugs in Kensington, many state and local officials have zoned in on this area to try and tackle Philadelphia’s problem."

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Full screen recommended.

Bruce Springsteen, "Streets of Philadelphia"

"How It Really Is"

"As Gasoline Prices Spike, Demand Destruction Spreads, 

with Long-Term Implications"

Jim Kunstler, "How Low Can You Go?"

"How Low Can You Go?"

by Jim Kunstler

"Remember the limbo? It was a dance fad kind of like the Olympic high jump in reverse: instead of leaping over a horizontal bar, you duck-walked under it to calypso music, with the crowd squealing, “How low can you go?” As it happens, in the culture of Western Civ, Limbo is also the name of a place on the edge of Hell. Either way, you have an apt metaphor for the spot that the USA is in as we enter the summer of double-deuce.

Lots of things are going south all at once: the stock markets and bond prices, Bitcoin is doing a vanishing act. The Colorado River reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, are so low that, by September, both water and electricity may run out for a vast region that includes Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Southern California. The housing market is tanking (suburbia’s business model is broken). Whole herds of beef cattle roll over and die out on the range. Fertilizer is scarce. Food processing plants get torched by the dozen. Shortages loom.

The oil-and-gas industry is getting killed four ways: 1) our stupid Russia sanctions queered longstanding global distribution arrangements; 2) the industry is starved for capital; 3) depletion is seriously kicking in; and 4) “Joe Biden” and the knuckleheads running the EU countries are trying to kill it so as to usher in a Green New Deal that just doesn’t pencil-out.

The car dealers have no new cars on their lots, and pretty soon they’ll run out of decent used cars - which, these days, are often priced higher than the non-existent new cars. How’s that for a business model? Plus, the financially beaten-up middle-class can’t afford cars in either case, and increasingly can’t qualify for car loans.

The airline industry reels with a sucking chest wound due to a pilot shortage (thanks to vaxx mandates) and the high cost of jet fuel. The trucking industry’s business model is also broken with diesel fuel over six dollars a gallon - the cost of delivery exceeds the value of the cargo. America runs on trucks and if they stop running, so does everything else. Replacement parts are growing scarce for every mechanical device in the land. It’s getting harder to fix anything that’s broken.

“Joe Biden’s” proxy war against Russia in Ukraine isn’t working out. It was flamboyantly stupid from the get-go. We deliberately broke the Minsk agreements for a cease-fire in the Donbas to goad the Russians into action. NATO didn’t have the troops or the political mojo to back up its US-inspired bluster. Our financial warfare blew back in our faces and actually benefited the Russian economy and its currency, the ruble. The billions of dollars in weapons we’re sending into the war are easily interdicted in transport, or else are getting loose in a world of non-state maniacs ranging from the Taliban to al Qaeda to drug cartels.

Meanwhile, Russia steadfastly grinds out a victory on-the-ground that will leave it in control of the Black Sea and will reveal the USA’s lost capacity to impose its will around the world. In other words, our Ukraine project “to weaken Russia” brought on an epochal shift in the balance of power to our enormous disadvantage. This is on top of more than twenty years of US military fiascos from Afghanistan, to Iraq, to North Africa, to Syria which demonstrated our reckless disregard for human life and a gross inability to carry out a mission. This aggregate failure and display of weakness leaves us vulnerable to Chinese aggression in the Pacific. There is even spooky chatter now about China venturing to invade Australia, Japan, and the USA mainland. Yes, really.

With all this to be concerned about, half the American public, and the “Joe Biden” regime they insist they elected, remain in thrall to the Covid-19 horror movie and at the mercy of the deadly mRNA pharmaceutical products that were magically waiting in-advance of the outbreak to profit on it. But now, all the cover stories are falling apart. It’s getting harder to conceal the deaths and injuries caused by the vaccines, including a striking drop in fertility and the permanent damage to millions of people’s immune systems that will lay them low with cancer, neurological illness, and cardiovascular disease in the months ahead.

The CDC/FDA/Pharma cabal’s strategy-for-now: keep bluffing and quintupling down on their cover up - they just sweepingly approved mRNA shots for babies. Why? To extend the emergency use authorization that shields Pfizer and Moderna from liability. It won’t work long, of course, because under settled law fraud vacates that kind of protection, and the public health officials with their Pharma cronies have orchestrated the deadliest fraud in human history.

If there is an American nation left in a year or so, with a functioning legal system, the players in this cabal are going to land in witness chairs to explain why they killed so many people. (“We were following The Science,” they’ll say. Uh-huh…) By then, no one will believe their bullshit and it will be off to the American limbo known as Palookaville for the likes of Fauci, Collins, Gates, Bourla, Bancel, Walensky and the gang.

To try to head-off anything like that, the “Joe Biden” regime just announced a second attempt to control the news-flow with a White House Disinformation Task Force, to replace the ludicrous Homeland Security Disinformation Governance Board that flopped so miserably in May when its appointed chief, Ms. Jankowicz, turned out to be a prime purveyor of disinformation. The new Disinfo Task Force, led by Veep Kamala Harris - who performed so well in her previous assignment as Border Czar - is pretending to be all about online sexual harassment and gender bigotry. I’m sure…

It won’t work. “Joe Biden” is running on empty. His regime staggers on in a delirium and an odium, like one of those groaning, brain-leaking zombies on cable-TV. The voters are poised to unload two barrels of buckshot to this monster’s head in September, if we are not prevented from holding elections by yet another bogus “emergency.” Until then, we’re in a race to see just how the Party of Chaos completes the destruction of the economy, which is the prelude to the people of the USA destroying the Party of Chaos."

- https://kunstler.com/

Gregory Mannarino, "The FED And ECB Are Now Fully Engaged In More Debt Market Manipulation"

Your guide...

Gregory Mannarino, AM 6/17/22:

"The FED And ECB Are Now Fully Engaged

 In More Debt Market Manipulation"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Link To The MMRI (Mannarino Market Risk Indicator),

FREE Downloads And More!

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Live Market Updates:

- https://www.marketwatch.com/market-data

"Empty Shelves Update: Inflation & Shrinkflation - What's Coming!?"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures with Danno, 6/17/22:

"Empty Shelves Update: Inflation & Shrinkflation - What's Coming!?"

"In today's vlog we are giving an Empty Shelves Update, that is affecting the entire country! We are also noticing ridiculous price increases, and a major food shortage! It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting products!"

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Related:

"More Major Disasters Hit U.S. Food Production –

Are You Prepared For What Comes Next?"

Canadian Prepper, "This is Very Bad and No One is Talking About It"

Full screen recommended.

Canadian Prepper, 6/16/22:

"This is Very Bad and No One is Talking About It"

"No one has connected the dots, this means

 that things are much worse than we realize." 

"Stock Market Crushed Today; Housing Market Crippled; Consumer Is Out Of Money"

Jeremiah Babe, 6/16/22:

"Stock Market Crushed Today; Housing Market Crippled; 

Consumer Is Out Of Money"

Gerald Celente, "Calamity Hit The Street: Prepare! Worst Is Yet To Come"

Strong language alert!

Gerald Celente, Trends Journal, 6/16/22:

"Calamity Hit The Street: Prepare! Worst Is Yet To Come"

- https://trendsresearch.com/

"Rats, Public Defecation And Open Drug Use: Major Western Cities Are Becoming Uninhabitable Hellholes"

Full screen recommended.

"Rats, Public Defecation And Open Drug Use: 

Major Western Cities Are Becoming Uninhabitable Hellholes"

by Epic Economist

"Virtually everyone that comes to visit one of our major cities in the West gets shocked to see the rapid degradation of our urban spaces. Those who live in these cities often learn to ignore the signs of decay that are spread everywhere. But those who are just passing by can’t believe what their eyes are seeing: massive piles of trash, public defecation, rat infestations, and substance abuse all happening in broad daylight. Our western cities used to make our country proud and set an example for the rest of the world. Now, they serve as examples of America’s accelerating downfall.

The worst areas of our major western cities look like post-apocalyptic wastelands, and the lack of public sanitation leaves hordes of homeless people living in the dirt. The ironic thing is that many of these cities aren’t poor at all. In fact, some of them are amongst the wealthiest cities in the U.S. That leaves us wondering if conditions are decaying so dramatically right now, how bad will things get when the economy starts to falter again?

The rat problem in Los Angeles is widespread and rampant, particularly in trash-congested areas near the city's downtown. Due to poor public sanitation, the population of rats continues to grow. According to Orkin’s survey of America’s most rat-infected cities, LA now ranks No. 2. In 2018, the rat problem has become so out of control that it resulted in a typhus outbreak. Typhus is typically spread by fleas who've been infected by diseased rats and other critters.

There have always been homeless encampments and tent cities in America. But in recent years, the number of such spots has exploded. It is estimated that 750,000 Americans are homeless, and as housing becomes less affordable, that number continues to go up. In San Francisco, one of the nation’s wealthiest cities, with an annual household income that's nearly double the national median household income, the number of homeless people rose by 20% since 2010.

As the city became wealthier, it also became more unequal. A mind-blowing report published in November 2020 revealed that San Francisco experienced a massive increase in incidents of human feces found on public streets over the past decade. In 2010, around 5,000 reports of public defecation were registered by the San Francisco Department of Public Works. In 2020, the number increased to more than 30,000. Of course, the actual amount of feces on San Francisco's streets is likely even higher than the data suggests.

On top of all that, San Francisco has the highest rate of carjackings in the country. Since last year, the number of car break-ins has spiked nearly 200%. On average, 74 car break-ins happen in San Francisco every day. However, the District Attorney’s Office says that officers only make arrests in less than two percent of car break-in cases.It has been said that “as goes California, so goes the country”, so if this is where the rest of the nation is headed, this means we are in deep, deep trouble. If only America’s founders could see us now. They would be incredibly disgusted. Our major cities are gradually becoming uninhabitable hellholes where problems like these are considered “normal”. America is in an advanced state of decay, and conditions continue to deteriorate with each passing year."

- https://www.epiceconomist.com/

Chuck Barone, "Oh No! The Fed!"

Chuck Barone, June 16th, 2022:

"Oh No! The Fed!"

Gregory Mannarino, "Full-On Crisis! Central Banks Are Attempting To Stabilize The Debt Market - Will It Work?"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 6/16/22:

"Full-On Crisis! Central Banks Are Attempting 

To Stabilize The Debt Market - Will It Work?"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Live Market Updates:

- https://www.marketwatch.com/market-data

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"The Fed Rate Hikes Have Finally Killed the Banks - Real Estate is Crashing"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, iAllegedly 6/16/22:

"The Fed Rate Hikes Have Finally Killed the Banks -

 Real Estate is Crashing"

"The Fed has raised interest rates with the largest single increase in over 28 years. This is absolutely huge for so many reasons. The Fed thinks that they’re going to curb inflation with this increase. In January they said that they intended to bring inflation down and have basically done nothing but watch it go up and raise interest rates a couple of times."

Musical Interlude: 2002, "River Of Stars"

Full screen recommended.

2002, "River Of Stars"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Riding high in the constellation of Auriga, beautiful, blue vdB 31 is the 31st object in Sidney van den Bergh's 1966 catalog of reflection nebulae. It shares this well-composed celestial still life with dark, obscuring clouds recorded in Edward E. Barnard's 1919 catalog of dark markings in the sky. All are interstellar dust clouds, blocking the light from background stars in the case of Barnard's dark nebulae. For vdB 31, the dust preferentially reflects the bluish starlight from embedded, hot, variable star AB Aurigae.

Exploring the environs of AB Aurigae with the Hubble Space Telescope has revealed the several million year young star is itself surrounded by flattened dusty disk with evidence for the ongoing formation of a planetary system. AB Aurigae is about 470 light-years away. At that distance this cosmic canvas would span about four light-years.”

- https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html 

"The Cruelest Joke Of All..."

"The smallest decisions made had such profound repercussions. One ten-minute wait could save a life or end it. One wrong turn down the right street or one seemingly unimportant conversation, and everything was changed. It wasn't right that each lifetime was defined, ruined, ended, and made by such seemingly innocuous details. A major life-threatening event should come with a flashing warning sign that either said ABANDON ALL HOPE or SAFETY AHEAD. It was the cruelest joke of all that no one could see the most vicious curves until they were over the edge, falling into the abyss below."

- Sherrilyn Kenyon

"It Is Our Fate..."

"Well, it is our fate to live in a time of crisis. To live in a time when all forms and values are being challenged. In other and more easy times, it was not, perhaps, necessary for the individual to confront himself with a clear question: What is it that you really believe? What is it that you really cherish? What is it for which you might, actually, in a showdown, be willing to die? I say, with all the reticence which such large, pathetic words evoke, that one cannot exist today as a person – one cannot exist in full consciousness – without having to have a showdown with one’s self, without having to define what it is that one lives by, without being clear in one’s mind what matters and what does not matter.”

- Dorothy Thompson

Free Download: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, “The Little Prince"

by Kirstie Pursey

“‘The Little Prince’, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, is a children’s story with some very profound meanings and some quotes that will really make you think. I have to admit that I never read the ‘Little Prince’ as a child. I think I wouldn’t have known what to make of it if I did. Even reading it as an adult I didn’t know what to make of it!

However, it is clear that “The Little Prince” touches on some very deep themes about the nature of life, love, friendship and more. The following Little Prince quotes show just how many philosophical themes are discussed in this small, but profound work.

The story tells of a pilot who crashes into the Sahara desert. He is attempting to fix his damaged plane when a little boy appears as if from nowhere and demands that he draws him a sheep. Thus begins a strange, enigmatic friendship that is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. The Little Prince, it turns out, comes from a small asteroid where he is the only living being apart from a rather demanding rose bush. The Little Prince decides to leave his home and visit other planets to find knowledge. The story tells of these encounters with rulers of strange worlds and de Saint-Exupéry has opportunities to demonstrate some philosophical themes that will make readers think.

On earth, as well as meeting the pilot, The Little price meets a Fox and Snake. The fox helps him to truly understand the rose and the snake offers him a way to return to his home planet. But his return journey comes at a high price. The book’s bittersweet ending is both thought-provoking and emotional. I would definitely recommend that you read “The Little Prince” if you haven’t already.

It is one of the most beautiful and profound children’s books there are. If you have older children, then you might like to read it with them as it can be a little overwhelming for them to read alone. In the meantime, here are some of the best and most thought-provoking Little Prince quotes:

• “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

• “A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.”

• “All grown-ups were once children… but only a few of them remember it.”

• “Well, I must endure the presence of a few caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies.”

• “Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.”

• “The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.”

• “It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then you are indeed a man of true wisdom.”

• “It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”

• “I am who I am and I have the need to be.”

• “No one is ever satisfied where he is.”

• “One day, I watched the sun setting forty-four times… You know…when one is so terribly sad, one loves sunsets.”

• “People where you live, the little prince said, grow five thousand roses in one garden… Yet they don’t find what they’re looking for… And yet what they’re looking for could be found in a single rose.”

• “But the conceited man did not hear him. Conceited people never hear anything but praise.”

• “What matters most are the simple pleasures so abundant that we can all enjoy them…Happiness doesn’t lie in the objects we gather around us. To find it, all we need to do is open our eyes.”

• “Where are the people?” resumed the little prince at last. “It’s a little lonely in the desert…” “It is lonely when you’re among people, too,” said the snake.”

• “What makes the desert beautiful,’ said the little prince, ‘is that somewhere it hides a well…”

• “For me, you are only a little boy just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you have no need of me, either. For you, I’m only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, we’ll need each other. You’ll be the only boy in the world for me and I’ll be the only fox in the world for you.”

• “To forget a friend is sad. Not everyone has had a friend.”

• “Only the children know what they are looking for.”

• “Sometimes, there is no harm in putting off a piece of work until another day.”

• “I should have judged her according to her actions, not her words.”

• “Nevertheless he is the only one of them all who does not seem to me ridiculous. Perhaps that is because he is thinking of something else besides himself.”

• “The one thing I love in life is to sleep.”

• “The machine does not isolate man from the great problems of nature but plunges him more deeply into them.”

• “And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me.”

“Closing thoughts: I hope you have enjoyed these ‘Little Prince’ quotes. Admittedly, they are sometimes difficult to fathom at first. However, like many things in life, the more you think about them, the more they begin to make sense. This is not an easy book to read and the bittersweet ending may leave you feeling a little heartbroken. However, the book offers so many insights into the human condition that it is well worth the time spent thinking about the philosophical ideas contained between the covers.”

 - https://www.learning-mind.com/

Freely download “The Little Prince”, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, here:

- https://freeditorial.com/en/books/the-little-prince

The Poet: James Kavanaugh, “Searchers”

“Searchers”

“Some people do not have to search -

they find their niche early in life and rest there,

seemingly contented and resigned.

They do not seem to ask much of life,

sometimes they do not seem to take it seriously.

At times I envy them,

but usually I do not understand them -

seldom do they understand me.

I am one of the searchers.

There are, I believe, millions of us.

We are not unhappy, but neither are we really content.

We continue to explore life,

hoping to uncover its ultimate secret.

We continue to explore ourselves,

hoping to understand.

We like to walk along the beach -

we are drawn by the ocean,

taken by its power, its unceasing motion,

its mystery and unspeakable beauty.

We like forests and mountains, deserts and hidden rivers,

and the lonely cities as well.

Our sadness is as much a part of our lives as is our laughter.

To share our sadness with the one we love is

perhaps as great a joy as we can know -

unless it is to share our laughter.

We searchers are ambitious only for life itself,

for everything beautiful it can provide.

Most of all we want to love and be loved.

We want to live in a relationship that will not impede

our wandering, nor prevent our search, nor lock us in prison walls.

We do not want to prove ourselves to another or compete for love.

We are wanderers, dreamers and lovers,

lonely souls who dare ask of life everything good and beautiful.”

- James Kavanaugh

"Surely, You Did Something…’”

"Surely, You Did Something…’”

“It’s 3:23 A.M.

And I’m awake because my great great grandchildren won’t let me sleep.

They ask me in dreams,

‘What did you do while the planet was plundered?

What did you do when the earth was unraveling?

Surely you did something when the seasons started flailing?

As the mammals, reptiles and birds were all dying?

Did you fill the streets with protest?

When democracy was stolen, what did you do once you knew?

Surely, you did something…’”

- Drew Dellinger

The Daily "Near You?"

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

Bill Bonner, "The Fed's Fight"

"The Fed's Fight"

Old, flabby and unprepared, 

the Fed steps up for the match of it's life...

by Bill Bonner

"Look what he’s done. Look what Joe Frazier has done!"

~ Howard Cosell

Youghal, Ireland - "Yesterday was a big day for the Fed. The cameras rolled. The reporters leaned in. Inquiring minds wanted to know: “Which way will it go? What are you fellows going to do?” In the old Soviet Union no one was sure of anything until it was officially denied. And yesterday, we got our official denial. From Ben Bernanke, probably the least conscious central banker in US history, came this: "…history teaches us… inflation will not become self-perpetuating, with price increases leading to wage increases leading to price increases, if people are confident that the Fed will take the necessary measures to bring inflation down over time."

The Fed’s greater policy independence, its willingness to take responsibility for inflation and its record of keeping inflation low for nearly four decades after the Great Inflation, make today’s Fed much more credible on inflation than its counterpart in the ’60s and ’70s. The Fed’s credibility will help ensure that the Great Inflation will not be repeated, and Mr. Powell and his colleagues will put a high priority on keeping that credibility intact. Yep. It’s official. The Fed is going to win this fight, says the old humbug.

Out of Shape: Is it? While we’re trying to keep an open mind, a Fed victory seems less and less likely. Yes, Fed governors are out of rehab and back in the gym. They promise to stay off the drugs and booze. ‘Early to bed and early to rise,’ says Chairman Powell. The papers reported not only that the Fed raised rates by 75 basis points… but that it intends another big increase next month. The Wall Street Journal: "The supersized rate rise put in place by the Federal Reserve Wednesday may not be the last one, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday.

Speaking about the Fed's rate rise, Mr. Powell said, "Clearly, today’s 75-basis-point increase is an unusually large one and I do not expect moves of this size to be common. From the perspective of today, either a 50-basis-point or a 75-basis-point increase seems most likely at our next meeting.” Not since 1994 – 28 years ago – has the Fed acted with such resolve. But the Fed is facing the fight of its life. And it is old, ‘out of shape’ and unprepared.

Economists describe America’s central bank as ‘way behind the curve.’ They are talking about the inflation/Fed Funds curve. A ‘normal’ or ‘neutral’ interest rate for the Fed is about 2%. As inflation rises, so should the Fed’s key rate. But that’s 2% in real terms. That’s 2% ABOVE the inflation rate. So, at today’s CPI, the current Fed Funds rate should be over 10%... not today’s 1.5%. That would mean a rate increase of not 75 basis points… but 900 points. And that would be the biggest shock to the markets ever seen in the USA. Even if Fed governors were the grittiest, dirtiest, toughest fighters in the ring, they still wouldn’t dare throw a punch like that. Which is why you hear commentators say the Fed has “lost control” of inflation. It can’t do what it needs to do.

Sucker Punched: In 2018, the Fed was raising rates, trying to catch up with soaring stock market prices. That was the time for a 1% increase… followed by another 1% increase… and another one. That would have gotten the Fed where it needed to be – ahead of the curve. But as the hot summer came to an end, and investors drove home from their vacation houses, they looked in their rear-view mirrors and saw the Fed gaining on them. Fearing a bear market, they began to offload their overpriced stocks in September. By the end of the year, the S&P was down 17%.

This caused Janet Yellen, then the Fed jefe, to make what will probably be regarded as one of the worst mistakes in central banking history. Instead of continuing the fight to get back to a normal position, she took a dive. The Fed ‘paused’ its rate increases… and then collapsed the Fed Funds rate down to zero, where it remained until this year.

And while the Fed lay as lifeless as a comatose heavyweight, consumer prices rose… to the point where they are now going up approximately 9 times faster than the Fed’s key rate. Even with rate increases of .75% a quarter, it will take 4 years to catch up. And that is only if the CPI stays still. Which is very unlikely.

Just look at the Producer Prices Index. It is rising at more than 10% per year. Those are the costs that will work their way into finished, consumer prices later. Mortgage rates are rising too. They’ve approximately doubled this year. On a $350,000 house, for example, the monthly payment has gone up from about $1,500 to $2,100. Still very low. But the pool of people who can afford to spend $2,100 a month is vastly smaller than the pool of those who can afford to spend $1,500. So sales go down. And so do prices.

The Jig Is Up: You’ll recall from Monday, too, that wage increases have in no ways kept up with these price increases. The average family struggles to keep up with the basics – food, fuel, and shelter – leaving it with less and less money to spend on other things.

Over in the corporate world, the situation is not much different. Businesses – including many ‘zombie’ companies that lose money rather than make it – stayed alive by refinancing their debt at lower and lower interest rates. That jig is up too. While the average junk bond yield (what bad corporations pay to refinance their debt) is still below the inflation rate, it is now twice what it was last December.

That’s why we’re seeing such a bloodbath in the zombie sector. Yesterday, we looked at MicroStrategy… a money-losing company that pinned its hopes on bitcoin. But when the cryptos went down…. down went Microstrategy, losing 90% of its peak value. Stocks are falling. Bonds are falling. Houses are falling. Inflation is rising. And a recession has probably already begun.

Nobody knows how this fight will end. But if the Fed can get up off the mat and land a knockout punch, it will be one for the history books… as if Howard Cosell had decked Joe Frazier with a baseball bat."

- bonnerprivateresearch@substack.com

"When The Whole World Goes Mad..."

"When the world goes mad, one must accept madness as sanity;

 since sanity is, in the last analysis, nothing but the

 madness on which the whole world happens to agree."

   - George Bernard Shaw

"Dow Dumps Back Below 30,000; Lowest Since Dec 2020"

"Dow Dumps Back Below 30,000; Lowest Since Dec 2020"

by Tyler Durden

Thursday, June 16, 2022 - 06:53 AM: "For the first time since January 2021, The Dow Industrials just broke back below 30,000, erasing all of yesterday's post-Powell gains and then some. This is the lowest level for The Dow since December 2020. The Dow is now just 1% above pre-COVID highs. All the US Majors are now underwater from Tuesday, erasing all of yesterday's gains with Small Caps leading the charge lower. Bonds are also getting hammered this morning with the long-end underperforming more. The dollar and gold are also lower this morning. Small Caps are now trading lower than pre-COVID levels. So, $5 trillion in QE was wasted?"

- https://www.zerohedge.com/

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Live Market updates:

- https://www.marketwatch.com/market-data

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"So, $5 trillion in QE was wasted?" Seems so, Good Citizen,

 and just who do you think will have to repay it? YOU of course...

"You Finally Find What You're After..."

"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."

- "Grays Anatomy"

Gregory Mannarino, "Alert! Emergency Tools To Prevent Debt Market 'Fragmentation'; Critical Updates"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 6/16/22:

"Alert! Emergency Tools To Prevent Debt 

Market 'Fragmentation'; Critical Updates"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Link To The MMRI (Mannarino Market Risk Indicator)

"How It Really Is"

"Another Cataclysmic Error Threatens To Plunge The U.S. Economy Into A Bottomless Abyss Of Pain And Suffering"

"Another Cataclysmic Error Threatens To Plunge 

The U.S. Economy Into A Bottomless Abyss Of Pain And Suffering"

by Michael Snyder

"I can’t believe that they actually did it. Even though it is painfully obvious that the U.S. economy is slowing down dramatically and that we are heading into an excruciating repeat of the housing crash of 2008, the Federal Reserve decided to go ahead with the largest interest rate hike in 28 years anyway. History has shown us that raising rates just as an economy is entering a recession is an exceedingly foolish move, and many of us have been pleading with the Fed not to do it. But of course if the Fed actually listened to people like us, we would not be facing such a dire crisis in the first place.

Essentially, the Fed just killed any hopes of avoiding a recession. The rate hike that was announced on Wednesday was the largest that we have seen since 1994…"The Fed raised its key short-term interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point Wednesday – its largest hike since 1994 – to a range of 1.5% to 1.75. It also downgraded its economic forecast. And it signaled that more big moves may be coming. Fed officials forecast the federal funds rate will end 2022 at a range of 3.25% to 3.5% and next year at close to 4%, according to their median estimate.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell insists that substantially raising rates will tame inflation. That worked in the early 1980s, but I am skeptical that the same playbook will work again for a couple of reasons.

First of all, in the early 1980s the U.S. was one trillion dollars in debt. Today, we are 30 trillion dollars in debt. Our politicians have been on the greatest borrowing and spending binge in the history of the world during the last couple of years, and hiking interest rates cannot erase the trillions upon trillions of new dollars that have entered the economy. In addition, the Federal Reserve has pumped trillions of dollars that they created out of thin air into the system in recent years. Hiking interest rates is not a “magic bullet” that can erase that colossal mistake either.

But the Fed feels like it has been forced to do something to address the current crisis, because prices continue to spiral out of control. For example, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States hit a new record high for the 18th day in a row on Wednesday…"Gas prices on Wednesday reached a record high for the eighteenth consecutive day. The national average price of gas reached $5.039, according to GasBuddy. On Tuesday, gas prices were around $5.02 per gallon."

And survey after survey has shown that the American people are rapidly losing faith in the Federal Reserve…"Even more concerning are new signs that families have lost faith in the Fed’s policies. Consumer sentiment in June sank to a low not seen since the 1980 recession, according to a University of Michigan survey. Similarly, a poll by The Washington Post and George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government found that most Americans expect inflation to worsen and are adjusting their spending habits, a mind-set that can make the surge in prices even worse."

So I can understand why Powell and his minions felt a need to raise rates. But you simply can’t raise rates as the economy enters a recession. That is suicidal.

At this point, even the Fed’s own numbers show that the economy is really slowing down…"After a week of rampant jawboning to adjust the market’s expectation for The Fed’s actions later today (after last Friday’s unexpected resurgence in CPI), the continued erosion in economic data (most notably retail sales this morning) has prompted The Atlanta Fed to slash its forecast for Q2 GDP growth from +0.9% to 0.0%, meaning the US is now right on the verge of a technical recession (after Q1’s contraction)."

If U.S. GDP goes negative again in the second quarter, then we are already officially in a recession right now. And what the Fed just did is going to make it much worse, because it is about to become a lot more expensive to borrow money…"Every time the Fed raises rates, it becomes more expensive to borrow. That means higher interest costs for mortgages, home equity lines of credit, credit cards, student debt and car loans. Business loans will also get pricier, for businesses large and small."

The most tangible way this is playing out is with mortgages, where rate hikes have already driven up rates and slowed down sales activity. In particular, higher rates are going to absolutely eviscerate the housing market. In fact, yesterday I discussed the fact that another housing crash has already begun. Right now there is a tremendous amount of panic out there as those that work in the industry come to grips with what is now taking place.

"Mortgage broker here. These rates are insane and making a HUGE impact on people’s ability to buy. Even well-qualified borrowers are getting priced out before eyes. $800/month higher than avg on 1/1 based on $450K loan amount."

- Morgan Faricy (@MorganFaricy) June 14, 2022

A year ago, the housing market in the U.S. was red hot, but now the environment has completely changed. Compared to the same period a year ago, total mortgage application volume was down a whopping 52.7 percent last week…"Total mortgage application volume was 52.7% lower last week than the same week one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Sharply rising interest rates are decimating refinance volume, and those rates, along with sky-high home prices and a shortage of houses for sale, are hitting demand from potential buyers."

In 2008, the Federal Reserve played a major role in bursting the most epic housing bubble in the history of our country. Now it is happening again, only this time the housing bubble is even larger than the one that imploded over a decade ago.

Most Americans may not realize it, but this is truly a very sad day for the United States. An immensely painful economic crisis has essentially been guaranteed, and beyond that we are going to see things happen that once would have been unthinkable. But things didn’t have to turn out this way. If we would have made better decisions, we could have had much different results. Unfortunately, the Fed has come up with an endless series of colossal errors in recent years, and this latest error is one of the biggest of them all."

- http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/

"Major Price Increases At Kroger! Trying To Find Deals!"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures with Danno, 6/16/22:

"Major Price Increases At Kroger! Trying To Find Deals!"

"In today's vlog we are at Kroger, and are noticing massive price increases! We are here to check out skyrocketing prices, and a lot of empty shelves! It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting products! "

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Related:

"'We're Barely Making It': Furious Farmer Goes Viral 

Explaining Why Food Prices 'Are Going To Go Up'"

"'We Are Teetering On The Edge': Food Shortage 

Worries Mount As PA Farms 'Crushed' By Record Diesel Prices"

"A Time for Reckoning" (Excerpt)

"A Time for Reckoning"

by Antony Davies

Excerpt: "Consumer prices are up almost nine percent from where they were a year ago. For the median U.S. household, that’s equivalent to an almost $6,000 pay cut. Politicians have blamed corporate greed, the Ukraine war, and the supply chain because they are keen to get voters to latch on to any explanation as long as it isn’t the correct explanation. The correct explanation implicates the entire political class.

For four decades, economists have warned, and warned, and warned again that the federal government should not spend money it doesn’t have. But during each of a string of crises, politicians insisted that a “temporary” bout of deficit spending was necessary to get us through to the other side. Deficit spending was needed, politicians said, to deal with the Soviet threat in the 1980s, then the Savings and Loan crisis in the 1990s, then 9/11 in the 2000s, then the housing crisis in the 2010s, then COVID in the 2020s. If they have their way, next up will be more deficit spending in the 2030s to deal with the looming Social Security insolvency crisis. In today’s dollars, politicians added $3 trillion to the debt in the 1980s and again in the 1990s. They added $6 trillion in the 2000s, then almost $10 trillion in the 2010s. According to the Congressional Budget Office, we can expect politicians to add more than $17 trillion in the 2020s. Each generation of voters has complained about the debt, and each generation of politicians has kicked the can down the road, despite knowing that future generations would have to deal with the consequences.

We are that future generation and the inflation we’re seeing today is just one of the consequences.

Today, the federal government collects, from all taxes combined, around $4 trillion per year. But it owes $30 trillion, and has committed to paying another $100 trillion to $250 trillion (beyond what it collects in future payroll taxes) to future Social Security and Medicare recipients. For perspective, that’s like a household with a $60,000 income being $450,000 in debt, and then promising to pay for 18 kids to attend four-year private colleges. If that sounds unsustainable, you’re beginning to understand economists’ concerns over the past forty years.

...

The cure for inflation is to contract the money supply, but contracting the money supply raises interest rates. That’s good news for lenders and bad news for borrowers – and the single largest borrower on the planet is the federal government. At $30 trillion, just a one-percentage point increase in interest rates would cost the federal government an additional $300 billion annually. A two-percentage point increase in interest rates would cost the federal government almost as much as the entire Department of Defense – every year.

The growth in the federal debt has painted the Federal Reserve into a corner. The Fed must now choose between preserving the purchasing power of the dollar and preserving the financial stability of the federal government. If the Fed contracts the money supply, it keeps inflation down but interest rates go up. If the Fed expands the money supply, it keeps interest rates down but inflation goes up."

Please view this complete, highly informative article here:

- https://www.aier.org/article/a-time-for-reckoning/