"Record High Diesel Prices Threaten Domino Effect To Other Goods"

"Record High Diesel Prices Threaten Domino Effect To Other Goods"

by Casey Harper

"Record high diesel fuel prices are yet another driver of rising costs for Americans, and those costs could get even higher this year. Diesel gas prices hit another record high last Thursday at $5.79 per gallon, according to AAA. That is a spike from $5.57 a month ago and much higher than the average of $3.22 the same time last year.

Diesel gas prices have continued to hit new records this week even as regular gas has leveled out, at least the last couple of days. Those higher prices are one of several factors raising costs for businesses, costs that are often passed down to consumers.

President Joe “Biden’s attack on the fossil fuel industry can be felt across every sector of the economy because everything needs energy,” said Daniel Turner, executive director of the energy workers advocacy group, Power the Future. “So it’s not just gas prices. It is also consumer goods, food, and all services. The diesel prices are particularly alarming because of what machinery uses diesel: agriculture, trucks, railroad. All cargo shipping is diesel powered. So the price of all food that is planted, irrigated, fertilized, harvested, processed, packaged, and transported is being made more expensive at every step of the process. All those costs are passed on to consumers.”

Food prices have soared in recent months. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 10.1% increase in the food index in the previous twelve months, “the first increase of 10 percent or more since the period ending March 1981.” Food prices have been hit hard by Russian President Valdimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine since Ukraine is a major exporter for food and chemicals used in fertilizer, but several other factors have played a part, including inflation. BLS' producer price index rose 10.8% in the past 12 months, and consumer prices are rising at the fastest pace in four decades.

Many of the food production costs that are hitting farmers now will not be felt by consumers until the crops are harvested and sent to market later on. “We have not yet begun to see the cost of Biden’s war on energy, on food prices because we have not yet harvested,” Turner said. “It’s only late spring, and we are still eating last year’s wheat. Wait until late summer and early fall and we will see painfully high prices across the board, and we are woefully unprepared. Making energy expensive makes life expensive, and as we spend more money to fill up our cars and buy basic groceries, we will be spending less on entertainment, travel, dining, shopping, etc.” 

Diesel, though, is used to transport all kinds of goods, not just food. Right now, businesses are paying more than ever to transport via diesel trucks while the market also deals with a truck driver shortage. Those higher costs are one more supply chain issue facing the U.S. economy right now as prices on all kinds of goods rise.

Experts say higher energy costs will only make that worse if they remain elevated for an extended period of time. “By the economics textbook, higher costs work themselves up through the supply side of the market and raise prices,” said Roger Cryan, chief economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation, as previously reported by The Center Square. “The prices are especially high right now because of the sudden lack of access to Black Sea grain, but if these energy prices stay high in the long run then they will entirely work their way into food prices.”

Biden has taken heavy criticism for his energy policies from detractors who point to his policies that held back oil leases and pipeline development. Biden has tried to deflect those critiques, pointing to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which disrupted global oil markets. “Biden has got a case that there is a Russia shock, but the other side has also got a case that if the United States were producing more, the Russia shock wouldn’t be such a big deal,” said Desmond Lachman, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute.

“The Biden case is pretty weak when he tries to make it sound like inflation is all Putin’s fault because of the oil and food prices because the truth of the matter was inflation was far too high before February 24 when Russia invaded Ukraine,” he added."

- https://justthenews.com/

"Choosing Your Immigrants"

"Choosing Your Immigrants"

by Jeff Thomas

"In the 18th century, America was made up primarily of people who, of necessity, had had to work hard. Had they not taken full responsibility for their own welfare, there was no one else to do it for them and they would have starved. As this was the case, anyone who did arrive on American shores who was unwilling to work and wanted others to provide for him, could expect to find no sympathy and might well starve.

In the 19th century, the former colonies had become the United States. Expansion was underway and the young people of the 18th century became the entrepreneurs of the 19th century. In order to continue to get the menial tasks accomplished, millions of immigrants were needed. Those who were welcomed were those who were prepared to start at the bottom, often live in poor conditions, receive no entitlements and compete for even menial jobs. If they accepted these terms, they received the opportunity to immigrate and work. Also, in the 19th century, the US expanded to the West coast, covered the nation with railroads and created the industrial revolution – the greatest period of expansion in US history.

In the 20th century, income tax was implemented, the Federal Reserve took over the dollar and the "New Deal" Introduced the concept of entitlement. It was a mixed century of wealth generated by the industrial revolution, fighting against the new concept of entitlement.

In the 21st century, immigrants in large numbers were again encouraged to come in. However, unlike in the 19th century, they were not encouraged on the basis of starting at the bottom, often living in poor conditions, receiving no entitlements and competing for even menial jobs. Quite the contrary. They not only were guaranteed welfare, schooling and housing, they would not be required to work at all and, if they committed crimes, they were likely to be released without prosecution. They, in fact, were afforded privileges above that of American citizens.

Today, American conservatives are stating that immigration must be curtailed, as immigrants are inherently usurious. Conversely, liberals are stating that America was built on immigration and the way forward is to open the doors to all who wish to enter. Both these assumptions are incorrect. It’s the most effective means of replacing those at the lower positions, as the existing workers move into higher positions. This has been the tradition since the formulation of the US. The debate should instead be over which people are chosen to immigrate.

In every country, in every era, there are always some people who understand work ethic and responsibility. They are the producers. There are also always some who have no desire to work or otherwise take responsibility for themselves. They are the parasites.

In the 19th century, this simple principle was understood, and every single immigrant recognized that, if he wasn’t prepared to work and take responsibility for himself, he might well starve. That being the case, those who left their home countries to migrate to America were, of course, producers. (The parasites never even got on the boat.)

But in the 21st century, the US government supports the collectivist concept that potential immigrants must be offered more entitlements than they ever had at home, even to the point that they’ll have rights that Americans don’t have. Of course, the people who come will not be the producers. They will be the parasites. So, let’s do a comparison:

Producers:

• Prepared to start at the bottom.

• Prepared to work hard enough to better themselves.

• Prepared to take responsibility for their own well-being.

• Prepared to respect the laws of the host country.

• Prepared to have gratitude for the opportunity to better themselves.

Parasites:

• Reluctant to accept low-level jobs.

• Not prepared to work to better themselves.

• Expect others (the host government) to take responsibility for their well-being.

• Not prepared to respect the laws of the host country.

• Expect to never be satisfied, no matter what level of privilege they’re afforded.

Once the above is put in perspective, the reader must then accept that his government is not only not doing what’s good for his country, he’s doing the exact opposite of what’s good for his country. And, then, of course, he must ask, "Why?"

There are two possible answers. It may be that the political leaders of the US are quite delusional – to the point that, whilst they may be patriotic, they fail to understand the simple equation of worker mentality. Or it may be that the political leaders thoroughly understand that the mass immigration of parasites is destructive for their country, but also realize that such immigration increases their power level.

In Europe, this question is more easily answered. The same trend is taking place there, and the people of literally every country in the EU are calling loudly to stop the mass wave of parasite immigration, yet the EU itself is stubbornly insisting that the immigration not only continue, but expand.

Brussels knows full well that, if enough parasites enter the system and eventually receive the right to vote, they will always vote in favor of a central government that provides them with entitlements. Once their numbers substantially exceed 50% of all voters, the collectivist oligarchy in Brussels will become autonomous. Elections will become meaningless and power will remain with the Brussels elite permanently.

In America, of course, the veil has not fallen away from the government’s objective, to the degree that it has in Europe. Roughly half of Americans see the government program of parasite immigration as a moral imperative. And, of course, both the government and the media are doing all they can to enforce this propaganda. They present parasite immigration supporters as "good people" and objectors as "bad people."

History is rife with examples of populations that were hoodwinked into believing that they were "good people" because they supported an idiotic precept that was, in fact, only intended to increase their government’s power over the people. In all cases, this has ended badly and there can be little doubt that, when this one hits the history books, it will also be looked back on as a grave error in judgement."

- internationalman.com

"How It Really Is"

"He who despairs of the human condition is a coward,

but he who has hope for it is a fool."

- Albert Camus

"First Pictures Of Uvalde Shooting Emerge As City Hires Lawyers To Block Evidence"

"First Pictures Of Uvalde Shooting Emerge 

As City Hires Lawyers To Block Evidence"

by Tyler Durden

"The first images from inside the Uvalde school shooting have emerged, revealing that police were heavily armed with rifles and a ballistic shield, yet still waited another 58 minutes while gunman Salvador Ramos continued his rampage - leaving 19 students and two teachers dead. (So, for at least 58 minutes, these 19 cowards could have heard the shots killing babies being fired, and did nothing. God damn them to Hell! - CP)

The photo, obtained by the Austin American Statesman and KVUE on Monday, casts an even more damning shadow on the Uvalde police department's response to the May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. Despite entering the school just nine minutes after Ramos, officers waited nearly an hour to advance despite their superior firepower and training. Eventually, at 12:50 p.m. a Border Patrol BORTAC agent ignored police orders and burst into the classroom, shooting and killing Ramos.

"There were 19 officers in there," said Col. Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, at a media briefing days after the shooting (per the NY Post), "In fact, there were plenty of officers to do whatever needed to be done, with one exception - the incident commander inside believed they needed more equipment and more officers to do a tactical breach at that point."

The pictures are undoubtedly one of the reasons the City of Uvalde and the police department hired a private law firm to prevent the release of basically all records pertaining to the mass shooting. According to VICE, Uvalde wants to suppress body camera footage, photos, 911 calls, emails, text messages, criminal records, and more.

"The City has not voluntarily released any information to a member of the public," said city's new lawyer, Cynthia Trevino, of the law firm Denton Navarro Rocha Bernal & Zech, in a letter to Texas AG Ken Paxton seeking a determination about what information they were required to release to the public. Paxton's office will eventually rule which of the city's arguments have merit and will determine which, if any, public records it is required to release.

The letter makes clear, however, that the city and its police department want to be exempted from releasing a wide variety of records in part because it is being sued, in part because some of the records could include “highly embarrassing information,” in part because some of the information is “not of legitimate concern to the public,” in part because the information could reveal “methods, techniques, and strategies for preventing and predicting crime,” in part because some of the information may cause or may "regard emotional/mental distress," and in part because its response to the shooting is being investigated by the Texas Rangers, the FBI, and the Uvalde County District Attorney. -VICE

According to the report, Uvalde has received 148 separate public records requests (including several from VICE), and has lumped them all together in order to make a legal argument as to why it shouldn't have to respond to many of them.

Earlier last week, the Texas Department of Public Safety asked Paxton if they could suppress body-camera footage because it could expose "weaknesses" in their training that criminals could exploit. Uvalde and the police department have argued that they should also be exempt from releasing "police officer training guides, policy and procedure manuals, shift change schedules, security details, and blueprints of secured facilities," since they could be used to decipher "methods, techniques, and strategies for preventing and predicting crime." The letter also argues that bodycam footage could be "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision."

In other words - the cops didn't follow their training, and through cowardice or bad orders, failed to stop a deadly mass shooting while restraining parents from rushing in and saving their own children."

- https://www.zerohedge.com/

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"Officers were armed with rifles and at least one ballistic shield 

within 19 minutes of the gunman's arrival on campus, a report found.”

Video here: https://rumble.com/

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Hat tip to ZeroHedge for this material.

- https://www.zerohedge.com/

"Strange Prices At Menards! This Is Crazy!"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures with Danno, 6/21/22:

"Strange Prices At Menards! This Is Crazy!"

"In today's vlog we are at Menards, 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!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Gregory Mannarino, "Systemic Breakdown: Expect Food & Energy Shortages And Surging Prices"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 6/21/22:

"Systemic Breakdown: 

Expect Food & Energy Shortages And Surging Prices"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Link To The MMRI (Mannarino Market Risk Indicator)

Canadian Prepper, "Not Good... Europe is About to Explode"

Full screen recommended.

Canadian Prepper, 6/20/22

"Not Good... Europe is About to Explode"

"3 events in the last 48 hrs that don't bode well for Europe."

"20 Facts About This Supply Chain Collapse That Will Take Your Breath Away"

Full screen recommended.

"20 Facts About This Supply Chain Collapse 

That Will Take Your Breath Away"

by Epic Economist

"Experts are warning that the global supply chain crisis is going trigger a record number of disruptions as we enter the second half of 2022. Things were supposed to be getting better by now. Instead, every new survey, study, analysis, or forecast about global supply chains suggests that we are headed to the most chaotic peak shipping season ever recorded. Companies continue to suffer from a myriad of problems caused by product shortages, delivery delays, and persistent supply chain bottlenecks, often leading them to collectively lose billions of dollars each year. Meanwhile, the vast majority of U.S. consumers are still facing empty shelves, soaring prices, and poor customer experience. New data shows that Americans are getting increasingly frustrated with the rising number of out-of-stock products, price hikes and higher costs for shipping.

Every sector of the industry is being burdened by a series of problems caused by broken supply chains. A new study published by the Small Business Association of Michigan noted that 59% of U.S. small businesses have been facing persistent complications in logistics and transport which led 87% of them to face higher costs than before the pandemic, with almost half – 43% - reporting price increases of 20% and more. Due to these obstacles, 20% of U.S. small businesses said they’re still feeling pessimistic about the long-term survival of their operations.

The system has been broken so many times over the past two years that industry executives don't see an end for supply chain problems coming about anytime soon. In fact, many issues are likely to worsen this year, as roughly 40% of workers in the transport sector are threatening to quit their jobs. Truckers collect and distribute over 70% of the goods arriving at U.S. ports around the nation. Such a shortfall of workers could paralyze domestic supply chains indefinately. Road transport operators are warning about a “perfect storm” for the trucking industry in 2022. As the backbone of global supply chains, road transport operators are calling on governments for support to avoid bankruptcies and to stabilize the transport system as a whole. “Right now, driver shortages and drastic fuel price increases have created a “perfect storm” that can further aggravate supply chain disruptions this summer,” said Bob Costello, chief economist for the American Trucking Associations.

On top of all that, global container capacity has been dramatically reduced in the past few months, and millions of containers are still stuck outside ports worldwide as congestion escalates. The outlook for the next six months is grim - we're about to witness the cumulative impact of almost 24 months of continued interruptions.

The stress we've felt as a result of supply chain problems over the past two years was nothing compared to what we will experience in the coming months. Geopolitical conflicts, extreme weather, slower manufacturing, higher fuel costs, and global inflation will continue to wreak havoc on supply chains - and more importantly, we will continue to feel the impact of all of these problems in our monthly budgets. We can only advise you to stock up while you still can because the chaos ahead will be devastating. And in today's video, we compiled several facts that reveal the extent of the problems we've already faced and the challenges that will continue to aggravate the supply chain crisis as we enter the second half of the year."

- https://www.epiceconomist.com/

"Everyone Leveraged Will Be Destroyed; Tough People Will Make Tough Decisions; Home Listings Explode"

Full screen recommended.

Jeremiah Babe, 6/20/22:

"Everyone Leveraged Will Be Destroyed; Tough People 

Will Make Tough Decisions; Home Listings Explode"

"Britain Head of Military Tells Prepare for WW III" (Excerpt)

"Britain Head of Military Tells Prepare for WW III"

by Martin Armstrong

Excerpt: "Britain’s Military Chief of the General Staff had just taken that position and he has already told the army they need to prepare for war against Russia in Europe. He has told every soldier to prepare to fight Russia in a potential World War Three. He has pledged to forge an Army that can beat Russia in battle and said that we must now prepare “to fight in Europe once again.” He added on his fourth day on the job: “There is now a burning imperative to forge an Army capable of fighting alongside our allies and defeating Russia in battle.”

This entire Ukrainian War was deliberately instigated. The West NEEDS war because the entire financial system is collapsing. All the pensions promised have been wiped out in Europe thanks to NEGATIVE interest rates since 2014.

Zelensky is an actor. He is playing his role in this Great Reset which is to destroy Western civilization as we know it so they get to create their One-World Government and the United Nations will then appear to be the GREAT PEACEMAKER. On February 20th, 2022, VP Harris blurted out that Ukraine should join NATO which was a direct violation of the Belgrade Agreement where Ukraine, the 3rd largest nuclear power at the time, gave up its nuclear weapons and NATO promised not to invade as did Russia provided Ukraine was to remain NEUTRAL. Then 3 days later, Zelensky announced that he would pursue nuclear weapons to defend against Russia. The next day, Putin invaded to protect the Donbas on February 24th.

There are a number of world leaders who are starting to wake up and see that this entire Ukrainian War has been a hoax. This was intentionally created for the Great Reset because Europe NEEDS to default on all the debt they can no longer sustain. But that will wipe out all the pensions and millions of people will be storming the parliaments. The only escape for those in government is to create a war to hide the collapse. Now even Pope Francis is starting to see through this facade as he has told a group of European Jesuit news editors that “perhaps somehow either provoked or not prevented,” and he cautioned against oversimplifying the conflict.

Zelensky is a hateful, vindictive, and pathological liar and demonizes Russians every chance he gets. The US has absolutely NO ability to even verify where all the weapons go that they send to Ukraine. There are reports of foreign soldiers who had volunteered to fight for Ukraine and then left because the weapons were being stolen and sold on the black market and will as always, end up on the streets in America."

Please view this complete article here:

- https://www.theburningplatform.com/

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Related:

Col. Douglas MacGregor, "This war was lost a long time ago."

Musical Interlude: Leonard Cohen, "Hallelujah"

Full screen recommended.

Leonard Cohen, "Hallelujah"

"I did my best, it wasn't much,

I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch.

I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you.

And even though it all went wrong,

I'll stand before the Lord of song

With nothing, nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah..."

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Two stars within our own Milky Way galaxy anchor the foreground of this cosmic snapshot. Beyond them lie the galaxies of the Hydra Cluster. In fact, while the spiky foreground stars are hundreds of light-years distant, the Hydra Cluster galaxies are over 100 million light-years away.

Three large galaxies near the cluster center, two yellow ellipticals (NGC 3311, NGC 3309) and one prominent blue spiral (NGC 3312), are the dominant galaxies, each about 150,000 light-years in diameter. An intriguing overlapping galaxy pair cataloged as NGC 3314 is just above and left of NGC 3312. Also known as Abell 1060, the Hydra galaxy cluster is one of three large galaxy clusters within 200 million light-years of the Milky Way. In the nearby universe, galaxies are gravitationally bound into clusters which themselves are loosely bound into superclusters that in turn are seen to align over even larger scales. At a distance of 100 million light-years this picture would be about 1.3 million light-years across.”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ 

The Poet: Maya Angelou, “Alone”

“Alone”

“Lying, thinking

Last night

How to find my soul a home,

Where water is not thirsty

And bread loaf is not stone.

I came up with one thing

And I don’t believe I’m wrong,

That nobody,

But nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone,

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone.

There are some millionaires

With money they can’t use,

Their wives run round like banshees,

Their children sing the blues.

They’ve got expensive doctors

To cure their hearts of stone,

But nobody,

No, nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone,

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Now if you listen closely

I’ll tell you what I know…

Storm clouds are gathering,

The wind is gonna blow.

The race of man is suffering,

And I can hear the moan,

‘Cause nobody,

But nobody,

Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone,

Nobody, but nobody,

Can make it out here alone.”

- Maya Angelou

"In Three Words..."

 

"Justifying Evil"

"Justifying Evil"

"Obviously the present crisis throughout the world is exceptional, without precedent. There have been crises of varying types at different periods throughout history - social, national, political. Crises come and go; economic recessions, depressions, come, get modified, and continue in a different form. We know that; we are familiar with that process. Surely the present crisis is different, is it not? It is different first because we are dealing not with money nor with tangible things but with ideas. The crisis is exceptional because it is in the field of ideation. We are quarreling with ideas, we are justifying murder; everywhere in the world we are justifying murder as a means to a righteous end, which in itself is unprecedented. 

Before, evil was recognized to be evil, murder was recognized to be murder, but now murder is a means to achieve a noble result. Murder, whether of one person or of a group of people, is justified, because the murderer, or the group that the murderer represent, justifies it as a means of achieving a result that will be beneficial to man. That is, we sacrifice the present for the future, and it does not matter what means we employ as long as our declared purpose is to produce a result that we say will be beneficial to man. Therefore, the implication is that a wrong means will produce a right end and you justify the wrong means through ideation. We have a magnificent structure of ideas to justify evil and surely that is unprecedented. Evil is evil; it cannot bring about good. War is not a means to peace."

 - J. Krishnamurti, "The Book of Life"

"The Green Frog Skin"

"The Green Frog Skin"

by John (Fire) Lame Deer

"The Green Frog Skin – that’s what I call the dollar bill. In our attitude towards it lies the biggest difference between the Indians and the whites. My grandparents grew up in an Indian world without money. Just before the Custer battle the white soldiers had received their pay. Their pockets were full of green paper and they had no place to spend it. What were their last thoughts as an Indian bullet or arrow hit them? I guess they were thinking of all that money going to waste, of not having had a chance to enjoy it, of a bunch of dumb savages getting their paws on that hard-earned pay. That must have hurt them more than the arrow between their ribs.

The close hand-to-hand fighting, with a thousand horses gally-hooting all over the place, had covered the battlefield with an enormous cloud of dust, and in it the green frog skins of the soldiers were whirling around like snowflakes in a blizzard. Now, what did the Indians do with all that money? They gave it to their children to play with, to fold those strange bits of colored paper into all kinds of shapes, making into toy buffalo and horses. Somebody was enjoying that money after all.

The books tell of one soldier who survived. He got away, but he went crazy and some women watched him from a distance as he killed himself. The writers always say that he must have been afraid of being captured and tortured, but that’s all wrong. Can’t you see it? There he is, bellied down in a gully, watching what is going on. He sees the kids playing with the money, tearing it up, the women using it to fire up some dried buffalo chips to cook on, the men lighting their pipes with green frog skins, but mostly all those beautiful dollar bills floating away with the dust and the wind. It’s this sight that drove the poor soldier crazy. He’s clutching his head, hollering, ‘Goddam, Jesus Christ Almighty, look at them dumb, stupid, red sons of bitches wasting all that dough!’ He watches till he can’t stand it any longer, and then he blows his brains out with a six-shooter. It would make a great scene in a movie, but it would take an Indian mind to get the point."

- John (Fire) Lame Deer, "Seeker of Visions"

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Brulé, "Stomp Dance"

The Daily "Near You?"

Somerville, Massachusetts, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

Bill Bonner, "Out of Time"

 "Out of Time"

Behind the curve and out of control, 

the Fed braces for imminent recession...

by Bill Bonner

"You don't know what's going on,

You've been away for far too long.

Baby, baby, baby, you’re out of time…

~ The Rolling Stones

Youghal, Ireland - "What’s happening now? What’s going on? Stocks wobbled on Friday, up… down… but ended the day with the Dow below 30,000. What will happen today? Tomorrow? We don’t know. But all over the world – with the exception of Japan – major central banks are raising rates. Suddenly, it’s a New Era… a new economy. Homeowners can no longer refinance their houses at lower rates; now they’re facing much higher monthly payments. Businesses can no longer roll over their debt by issuing bonds at lower and lower coupon yields; soon they will default… and go into liquidation. And even the US federal government is feeling the pinch. A year ago, the feds could borrow at 1.5% (the 10-year Treasury yield). Today, they pay twice as much.

It’s a whole new ballgame. But this is just the early innings. Keeping with the sporty metaphor, a headline at Bloomberg tells us that the “Fed may be planning a game changer,” for its next meeting.

Debt Junkies: Yes, dear reader, for more than 10 years central bankers attended cocktail parties… ran claptrap ‘models’ with their Ph.D. economists… developed jackass theories – and left their key rates at paltry levels (zero!). Thanks to the Fed’s ultra-cheap money, stock and bond markets became gambling halls, debt ballooned up by $30 trillion, households, businesses and the government were turned into debt junkies, and the inflation cat got out of the bag.

Over the weekend, the hostess-with-the-mostest when the booze was flowing – Janet Yellen, now Secretary of the Treasury – claimed that her policies had nothing to do with high gas prices. It was not she who failed, she protested. It was the oil companies: “I think that producers were partly caught unaware by the strength of the recovery in the economy and weren't ready to meet the needs of the economy.

Meanwhile, back at the Fed, Jerome Powell and his fellow fantasists say they’ll whip inflation now. For sure. Flabby and out-of-shape… unused to physical or intellectual exertion… with soft flesh and withered backbones… slow to anger… but even slower to insight, central bankers prepare for the battle of their lives. They’re in the gym at 7am. Running laps. Lifting weights. Drinking protein shakes. But the gist of our rumination today is that Mr. Market is way ahead of them. As we saw yesterday, the Fed is “behind the curve.” It has “lost control” of inflation.

A brief explanation: The idea of counter-cyclical monetary policy (what the Fed is supposed to be doing) is to offset the swings of the business cycle by ‘taking the punchbowl away’ when the party gets hot… and bringing the hard stuff back when things go quiet. But in the great Everything Bubble, March 2009 to January 2022, asset prices, debt, inequality, speculation and financial nuttiness – all soared. Except for a brush with sobriety between 2015 and 2018, the Fed had a bottle in its hands the whole time And now, the Fed is completely out of shape, out of tune… out of time… and out of sync – trying desperately to get back to trim as it faces the highest inflation in 40 years.

Mr. Market Takes Control: The Atlanta Fed is already forecasting a recession. The first quarter of this year showed a drop in output. The second quarter, most likely, will too. According to the Keynesian “best practices” handbook, the Fed should be loosening up. Yet, instead of adding a little gin to the punch, the Fed is raising rates. During the Bubble Epoch, the Fed offered drinks to a financial world that was already falling down drunk. Now, it is ‘tightening’ even while the economy is going into a downtrend – once again, the very opposite of what it’s supposed to be doing. And yet, it has no choice. It has ‘lost control.’ Now, it must fight the inflation it caused; the economy be damned.

But if the Fed is not in control, who is? Mr. Market. One of the curious things about an episode of runaway inflation is that it often begins with runaway deflation. In the classic configuration, a credit-driven boom leads to a debt be-drenched economy. Debtors then need cash to pay their debts, which leads to deflation. Cash goes up; prices go down. Mr. Fed inflates. Mr. Market deflates. The Fed giveth. Mr. Market taketh away. (Mr. Market doesn’t like things to get too far out-of-whack.)

Mr. Market is in charge now. He’s crashing assets – trashing stocks, bonds, real estate, cryptos, NFTs, junk bonds and other goofy assets. Prices for gasoline and consumer items, on the other hand, are rising – the very opposite of the Fed’s agenda. And the Fed is out of step completely… stumbling… bumbling…and spilling coffee in our laps."

- bonnerprivateresearch@substack.com

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The Rolling Stones, "Out Of Time"

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Bonus:

Rolling Stones, "If I Was A Dancer"

In Philly "attitude" is pronounced at-tee-tood...

if ya got it, strut it!

"We Haven’t Seen Carnage Like This Since 2008"

"We Haven’t Seen Carnage Like This Since 2008"

by Michael Snyder

"Trillions of dollars in market wealth has already been wiped out, and investors are bracing for a chaotic second half of 2022. We truly haven’t seen anything like this since the financial crisis of 2008. The early months of 2020 were volatile due to the eruption of the COVID pandemic, but the Federal Reserve quickly rushed to the rescue. The Fed poured trillions of dollars into the system, and that spurred a rally that was absolutely breathtaking. But this time around the Fed isn’t going to be riding to the rescue any time soon. The Fed is committed to raising interest rates in a desperate attempt to get inflation under control, and the size of the Fed balance sheet is now being reduced. So there will be no artificial life support for the financial markets for the foreseeable future, and that is really bad news for those that are seeing their portfolios get absolutely monkey-hammered.

Things have been particularly brutal for crypto investors. Last November, the total global market cap for all cryptocurrencies peaked out at about 3.1 trillion dollars. Over the weekend, the total global market cap for all cryptocurrencies actually dipped below 850 billion dollars…"The crypto market suffered one of its most dramatic selloffs in years this week as the prices of top cryptocurrencies declined as much as 35% week-over-week as fears of a broad economic recession intensified."

On Saturday, the total global market cap of cryptocurrencies sank below $850 billion as top tokens tumbled. Poof. More than two-thirds of all “crypto wealth” is already gone.

CNBC is using the word “carnage” to describe what we have been witnessing in the crypto industry, and I think that fits the nightmare that is currently unfolding quite well…"Carnage in the crypto market won’t let up, as token prices plummet, companies lay off employees in waves, and some of the most popular names in the industry go belly up. The chaos has spooked investors, erasing more than $2 trillion in value in a matter of months - and wiping out the life savings of retail traders who bet big on crypto projects billed as safe investments."

It has been estimated that 16 percent of all U.S. adults either own or have owned a cryptocurrency. So a whole lot of people out there are really hurting right now. Last November, the price of Bitcoin peaked at $68,789.63. As I write this article, it is sitting at $20,170.10. Last November, the price of Ethereum peaked at $4,891.70. As I write this article, it is sitting at $1,093.40. I feel really sorry for those that decided to pour their money into cryptos near the peak.

Stock investors are also getting pummeled these days. In fact, U.S. retirement accounts have already declined in value by almost three trillion dollars thanks to rapidly falling stock prices…"The U.S. stock market rout that has put U.S. equities in a bear market isn’t just reducing the net worth of billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. It’s also taking a toll on Americans’ retirement savings, wiping out trillions of dollars in value.

The selloff has erased nearly $3 trillion from U.S. retirement accounts, according to Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. By her calculations, 401(k) plan participants have lost about $1.4 trillion from their accounts since the end of 2021. People with IRAs - most of which are 401(k) rollovers - have lost $2 trillion this year."

Stocks have just kept falling and falling and falling. In fact, the S&P 500 has fallen for 10 of the last 11 weeks…"The S&P 500 posted its 10th down week in the last 11, and is now well into a bear market. On Thursday, all 11 of its sectors closed more than 10% below their recent highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell below 30,000 for the first time since January 2021 this past week.

Cryptos have already collapsed, but stocks theoretically still have a ton of room to keep falling. There are some that are speculating about what will happen if the Dow drops all the way to 20,000, and that would definitely be a crash of historic proportions. Of course the housing market is much larger than the stock market, and that is starting to implode too.

If you can believe it, the total value of the U.S. housing market was valued at 43.4 trillion dollars earlier this year. Unfortunately, mortgage rates are absolutely skyrocketing and that is going to change everything. According to Redfin, home sellers are already dropping their prices at a rate that we have never seen before… "The highest share of sellers on record dropped their list price during the four weeks ending June 12 as mortgage rates shot up to levels not seen since 2008, dwindling the pool of home shoppers. It is being reported that in some areas of the country home prices have already been reduced by as much as 20 percent."

And this implosion is likely to accelerate as the Federal Reserve just pushes interest rates higher and higher and higher. How long will it be before millions upon millions of U.S. homeowners are underwater on their mortgages just like we saw in 2008?

As I warned last week, those that do not learn from history are likely to end up repeating it. The U.S. economy was almost certainly heading into a recession anyway, but now a crypto crash, a stock market crash and a housing crash all at the same time will accelerate matters greatly.

According to one recent survey, 60 percent of corporate executives expect a recession to begin “in the next 12 to 18 months”…"More than 60% of executives expect a recession in the next 12 to 18 months, according to a survey of CEOs and other C-suite executives conducted by the Conference Board, a business research firm. That’s a stunning increase from the end of 2021, when just 22% of executives forecast a recession."

Sadly, we aren’t going to have to wait that long. As I detailed last week, there are lots of numbers that indicate that a major economic downturn is already here. It is time to batten down the hatches, because a “perfect storm” has arrived. Global events are accelerating at a frightening pace, and the months ahead are not going to be pleasant."

- https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/

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Related:

"Winter Is Coming 2! Mortgage Rates Hit 6%, Gasoline Prices Hit $5, Inflation

 Continues To Rage (Taylor Rule Implies 22.10% Target Rate, Only At 1.75%)"

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Full screen recommended.

The Good Ship "World Economy," 2022

"The Trouble With Most People..."

"Kaufman thought his public health students at the Kennesaw State University might know more than high schoolers. During the same week, he conducted an ad hoc survey in class, “How many of you believe the American dream is dead?” He asked his class of about 25 students. “Ninety percent raised their hands,” said Kaufman. “I was just blown away.”

He asked his college students what the American dream was. Not getting an answer, he defined it for them, “The American dream is, in this country, if you work hard, you sacrifice, and you never quit, you will find some type of success in your life.” After giving the students his definition, he tried again, “How many of you still believe the American dream is dead?” Still, 90 percent raised their hands.

“If you believe the American dream is dead in this country, why are you sitting in a college classroom?” he asked. The class was silent. Students looked shocked, and one said he hadn’t thought about that."

- https://www.zerohedge.com/

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"Back when I taught at UCLA, I was constantly amazed at how little so many students knew. Finally, I could no longer restrain myself from asking a student the question that had long puzzled me: ''What were you doing for the last 12 years before you got here?''

- Thomas Sowell

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"The problem isn't that Johnny can't read. 

The problem isn't even that Johnny can't think.

The problem is that Johnny doesn't know what thinking is; 

he confuses it with feeling."

- Thomas Sowell

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"The trouble with most people is that they think with their

hopes or fears or wishes rather than with their minds."

- Will Durant

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"It takes considerable knowledge just to 

realize the extent of your own ignorance."

- Thomas Sowell

Gregory Mannarino, "Alert! Markets, A Look Ahead: Debt/Credit Market Issues Worse Than Expected"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 6/20/22:

"Alert! Markets, A Look Ahead: 

Debt/Credit Market Issues Worse Than Expected"

"The World Economy is Crashing and Warren Buffet Sells Lunch for $19 Million"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, iAllegedly 6/20/22:

"The World Economy is Crashing and 

Warren Buffet Sells Lunch for $19 Million"

"The global economy is affected by higher interest rates. You’re going to see everything from credit card, car loans and mortgages go up in price. People don’t realize that higher interest-rate‘s also cause people to lose their jobs and companies to close."

"Empty Shelves Everywhere At Meijer! This Is Ridiculous!"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures with Danno, 6/20/22:

"Empty Shelves Everywhere At Meijer! This Is Ridiculous!"

"In today's vlog we are at Meijer, and are noticing Empty Shelves Everywhere! 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!"

"The Unraveling"

"The Unraveling"

by John Wilder

"The unraveling continues. In one sense, what’s happening is predictable. Looking back in history, while not everything happens in the same way, things very much rhyme. That’s why certain aspects of the current financial collapse are very, very familiar.

The Fed® still has enough influence that it can stop a snowball. Can the Fed® stop an avalanche? Not so much. They may have some tricks to push the day of reckoning down the line if it isn’t off the rails. Again, like a presidential election, it’s a short-term solution to a long-term problem. If it were merely financial a financial problem, the actions might be enough. But it’s not just financial.

Other problems include extreme societal decadence. Decadence is a strong word. When I was a kid, it was applied to places like the late Roman Empire, or Willy Wonka’s® Chocolate Factory where those Umpa-Loompas wore those scanty tight outfits.

But when people take kids – elementary-age kids – to Pride®© parades that contain actual nudity and sex acts between adults, and then suggest putting hormones into five-year-olds because they pretended to cook in a pretend kitchen one day, you know that this is the point where God told Noah, “Get the boat,” and told Lot, “Tell everyone to wear sunglasses – I don’t care if it’s night.”

Whatever fetish sex act that any individual wants to do “because it’s Thursday” now seems to take the place of virtue. Replacing the idea of actual virtues with temporary individual passions is exactly what every single functioning society in history has avoided to in order to remain functioning. When people follow passions that are productive, like building rockets, they add to society. When people act on passions counter to virtue? Those passions consume and destroy society. Period.

We don’t live in a world where “if it feels good, do it” can ever be a policy that lead to a productive society. At some point, we must be guided by virtue, we have to have a shared vision for a future, and a shared desire to build. Can you imagine a single event that would bring us all together again? I can’t. We have to have that shared vision – if nothing else, to survive. Do we have it?

We do not. We are divided. The idea of a selfless devotion to duty seems to have (in many places) evaporated. Cops are supposed to put themselves into danger to save the innocent – that’s the only reason we put up with the rest of the nonsense that they get up to. If they have changed their motto from “Protect and Serve” to “Hide Until We Can and Give Traffic Tickets to People That Don’t Scare Us” then they’re not much use.

Globalism is likewise something that sounds good, but isn’t. I can understand the need for some places like, say, deserts to import grain and Alaska to import medicine and export oil and good vibes. But can someone tell me that we’re in a better and safer position as a country now that we depend on far-flung nations for things. When I talked to The Boy about careers, the advice I gave him was simple – don’t do anything that someone can do over the Internet. If you do, you’re competing with a job with millions or billions of people.

We have reached the stage of cultural collapse. I’m in favor of capitalism – but amoral capitalism is different. When capitalism is allowed to meet any need, the result isn’t good. Like any system, it needs boundaries. As John Adams said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Freedom needs boundaries. Freedom needs responsibility. Liberty, real liberty, requires obligation for stability. Otherwise? It descends into chaos. So, we’ve established that we’re in a difficult place. The things that we depended upon are slowly slipping away. The economy is in a very precarious place, culturally we’re shattered to the point that not even another 9-11 would bring us together. The difficulties that we see from here on out won’t serve to bring us together, they will bring us apart. How about the economic difficulties related to just high fuel prices alone?

The Lefties love it, even as it destroys our economy. Heck destruction of the economy might even be the point. But stresses have consequences. If I drop an orange, it will fall. If we destroy an economy, it will fail. Some parts of it will be predictable: interest rates going up will make housing prices go down. Simple. We can talk about other correlations on Wednesday (feel free to bring up more below).

The one thing that I can tell you, is what comes next won’t be like what came before. The problems that we have rhyme with the problems of the past, but they’re not the same. During the Great Depression, we were at least (mostly) homogeneous as a country. Now, not so much.

The end state is tied to the initial conditions. And the initial conditions of the Great Depression were greatly different than they are today, so there’s no way that we’ll see the same results. And things will never go back to “normal” because we simply cannot go back in time, and there isn’t any such thing as “normal” nor any time period which is “normal”. They will be different. What we have, though, is the rhyme. It won’t allow us to predict perfectly. But it will allow us to see, dimly."

- https://wilderwealthywise.com/the-unraveling/

"How It Really Is"

 

"Did Europe's Latest (& Little Noticed) Anti-Russia Move Just Push The World Closer To WW3?"

"Did Europe's Latest (& Little Noticed) Anti-Russia 

Move Just Push The World Closer To WW3?"

by Tyler Durden

"Quite possibly the biggest Russia-West provocation of the entire four-month long war in Ukraine has occurred this weekend, but few in the media establishment seem to be taking notice of the singular event which has the potential to quickly spiral toward a WW3 scenario.

Baltic EU/NATO member Lithuania has implemented a ban on all rail transit goods going to Russia's far-western exclave of Kaliningrad, after transport authorities initially announced the provocative measure on Friday. "The EU sanctions list notably includes coal, metals, construction materials and advanced technology, and Alikhanov said the ban would cover around 50% of the items that Kaliningrad imports," Reuters wrote.

This has given way to fears of panic buying breaking out in Kaliningrad Oblast, which is Russian sovereign territory on the Baltic Sea, but which is sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland, and is thus reliant on overland shipping for passage via its EU neighbors.

Anton Alikhanov, the governor of the Russian oblast which has a total population of some one million people (with Kaliningrad city including almost 450,000 - and 800,000 total if outlying suburbs are counted) is urging calm: "Urging citizens not to resort to panic buying, Alikhanov said two vessels were already ferrying goods between Kaliningrad and Saint Petersburg, and seven more would be in service by the end of the year. "Our ferries will handle all the cargo", he said on Saturday."

Russian officials and media have long warned against what they dubbed Western aims to "blockade" Kaliningrad. Crucially, the EU enforcement measure being implemented from Vilnius marks a complete break in a three decade long treaty that's been in effect...

RUSSIAN-LITHUANIAN TREATY REGARDING KALININGRAD, 1993https://t.co/4LatUKPN6J pic.twitter.com/ahwCYWMt8c

- The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) June 19, 2022

Ahead of the new Lithuanian transit ban taking effect, the state railways service was reportedly awaiting final word from the European Commission on enforcing it: "The cargo unit of Lithuania's state railways service set out details of the ban in a letter to clients following "clarification" from the European Commission on the mechanism for applying the sanctions. Previously, Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomenas said the ministry was waiting for "clarification from the European Commission on applying European sanctions to Kaliningrad cargo transit." Brussels then ruled that "sanctioned goods and cargo should still be prohibited even if they travel from one part of Russia to another but through EU territory," according to Rueters/Rferl."

In Moscow's eyes, this is tantamount to laying economic siege to part of Russia's sovereign territory and one million of its citizens. When the EU first proposed the blockage of goods as part of the last major sanctions package in early April, Kremlin officials warned of war given Moscow would have to "break the blockade" for the sake if its citizens.

One escalation step closer to WW3 today. The West by de facto putting Kaliningrad under seige is goading Russia to roll into the Baltics. https://t.co/Q6wIGz6xFb

- Mark Sleboda (@MarkSleboda1) June 18, 2022

According to an April 6th statement in Russia's TASS by a state Duma official: "Statements from the West about a possible blockade of Kaliningrad is testing the waters, but Russia can ‘break the blockade’ in case these threats become a reality, it has an experience, Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the Federation Council upper house’s Committee for International affairs, said on Wednesday.

"I think that for now, this is a game, testing the waters <…>. In case of a blockade, as they are saying, the Soviet Union knows how to break the blockades, we (Russia as the successor of the Soviet Union - TASS) have vast experience," the senator said. "If they want to go to the length of making us break this blockade to save the lives of our people, who live there, we can do this," Dzhabarov said in a video interview at the press center of Parlamentskaya Gazeta (Parliamentary Newspaper). He expressed hope, however, that the West "will have enough brains to opt against this".

Kaliningrad's governor Alikhanov has already called on Russian federal authorities to prepare tit-for-tat measures against Lithuania in wake of the transit ban. The blockade of the Kaliningrad🇷🇺region may become a reason for the outbreak of war B/T Russia & NATO. 🇪🇺has published a PR on the fifth package of sanctions against🇷🇺. The document,in particular, prohibits transit of goods by 🇷🇺&🇧🇾 transport operators through the territory of 🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/M7k2XAxP0S

- Marialvw (@arktinentuuli) April 8, 2022

"These steps are illegal and may entail far-reaching implications for Lithuania and the European Union. In particular, I would like to quote a few paragraphs from the Joint Statement on EU Enlargement, with references to international agreements, the documents which both the European community and the Russian Federation acceded to," Alikhanov said Saturday.

Additionally he cited a key condition that was part of Lithuania’s 2004 accession to the EU. He quoted the prior agreement saying that the Baltic state "will apply in practice the principle of freedom of transit of goods, including energy, between the Kaliningrad Region and the rest of Russian territory." "In particular, we confirm that there shall be freedom of such transit, and that the goods in such transit shall not be subject to unnecessary delays or restrictions and shall be exempt from customs duties and transit duties or other charges related to transit," Alikhanov quoted the Joint Statement further as saying."

- https://www.zerohedge.com/