"Summer Is Nearly Over, The Fall Is Almost Here, And Winter Is Coming…"

"Summer Is Nearly Over, The Fall Is Almost Here, 

And Winter Is Coming…"

by Michael Snyder

"I have been hearing from so many people that have a really bad feeling about what the months ahead will bring. Global events are starting to spiral out of control, and it has become exceedingly clear that we are rapidly moving into extremely challenging times. In the past, we would always talk about famine, war and pestilence in hypothetical terms, but now they have become clear and present dangers. For weeks, I have been warning that the period of relative stability that we have been enjoying this summer would soon be over. The fall is almost here, and winter is coming. Of course the difficulties that we will be facing as 2022 rolls into 2023 will just be the beginning of our problems. The years in front of us aren’t going to look anything like the years that we have just been through, and many will be absolutely shocked by how fast conditions change.

Today, I went to the grocery store and I was horrified by how much prices have risen. But these prices will look like bargains six months from now. As I have carefully been documenting, we are in the beginning stages of the worst global food crisis that any of us have ever seen. Right now, crops are being devastated by endless drought all over the globe. China is currently experiencing the worst drought that it has witnessed in recorded history, the western half of the U.S. is in the midst of the worst multi-year megadrought in 1,200 years, and Europe is enduring the worst drought that it has been through in at least 500 years.

Agricultural production is going to be way down all over Europe in 2022, and now the energy crisis is threatening crops that have actually been grown successfully. That is because putting harvested vegetables in cold storage is no longer profitable because of how insanely high energy prices have become.

For example, Norwegian vegetable farmer Per Odd Gjestvang is leaving tons of leeks in the field to die because it simply costs too much to store them as he normally does…"Around 29 tonnes of leeks are lost. It has a gross value of around 700,000. “This is madness. This is food that should have been harvested and taken care of,” says Gjestvang. On the farm, the family grows around 3,000 tonnes of vegetables each growing season. The leeks had normally been taken to cold storage, so that they would be found in Norwegian vegetable counters this winter. But the calculation simply does not add up for the farmer.

With today’s electricity prices, Gjestvang does not see it as financially sound to spend money on storing the vegetables. In that case, it will be a purely loss-making project, he believes. So tons and tons of good vegetables will rot instead of showing up in the stores in the months ahead."

Gjestvang knows that this is a tremendous waste, but he just can’t afford to pay 16 times as much for cooling than he did last year…"In the high season, Gjestvang uses around 80,000 kilowatt-hours a month for cooling. Previously, Gjestvang paid around [NOK] 24,000 for electricity per month. Now the price is almost 16 times as high. The way the market is now, with a cautiously high electricity price of NOK five [the country’s base currency], it will be NOK 400,000. It is not possible to achieve, he says."

This is happening all over Europe. If Europeans think that vegetable prices are high now, just wait until we get into early 2023.

Meanwhile, crops are failing here in the United States on a widespread basis. The following comes from the Washington Post…"It was a bad year for corn. And for tomatoes. And for many other American crops. Farmers, agricultural economists and others taking stock of this summer’s growing season say drought conditions and extreme weather have wreaked havoc on many row crops, fruits and vegetables, with the American Farm Bureau Federation suggesting yields could be down by as much as a third compared with last year."

If yields really are down “by as much as a third” what do you think that will do to food prices? It doesn’t take a genius to answer that question.

A global food crisis is here, and there is no short-term hope on the horizon. In fact, one UN official is now projecting that total global grain production could be down another 40 percent in 2023 due to elevated fertilizer prices…"More than six months into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the global fertilizer crunch threatens to starve a planet as prices are too high for some farmers ahead of the next planting season. That’s the view of Maximo Torero, chief economist from the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), who told Bloomberg TV that elevated fertilizer prices could decrease global grain production by upwards of 40% in the next planting season." If that actually happened, it would be catastrophic.

The one thing that would really help is if the war in Ukraine ended. That would definitely stabilize global energy prices and give us a chance to start digging our way out of this mess. Unfortunately, that isn’t going to happen. Instead of trying to find a way to achieve peace with Russia, the Biden administration continues to escalate matters…"The Biden administration is arming Ukraine with weapons that can do serious damage to Russian forces, and, unlike early in the war, U.S. officials don’t appear worried about Moscow’s reaction.

In the past several months, Washington has detailed tranches of new drones, harder-hitting missiles and deadly rocket systems as part of billions of dollars pledged to the former Soviet country. The clear support is a far cry from the early days of the war, when the U.S. government seemed hesitant to list exactly what was being sent into Ukraine so as not to tip off or draw the ire of Moscow. All of this assistance is starting to really help on the battlefield." (That's not true, Michael, due to rampant theft and corruption. - CP)

In recent days, a counter-offensive in the Kharkiv area has had great success. (I'm sorry, Michael, but that simply is not true. - CP) Apparently a very large number of foreign fighters under the umbrella of “the international legion of Ukraine” are involved in this counter-offensive. But the Russians suspect that a lot of these foreign fighters are actually special operations personnel from the United States, the UK and other NATO countries. If that is true, the war in Ukraine has now gone to an entirely new and dangerous level.

Of course the Russians continue to escalate matters as well. Cutting off the flow of gas to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was a very aggressive move, and now Europe is facing a winter in which large segments of the economy literally shut down for the foreseeable future…"In addition, energy prices have reached a level that threatens the existence of many companies. Just this week, German toilet paper company Hakle filed for bankruptcy, with the owners citing unsustainable energy and material costs as the primary factor. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that Europe’s steel industry, which requires massive amounts of cheap natural gas to run, is slashing production and facing severe financial headwinds. Other sectors, such as chemical production, agriculture, and automating are all facing unprecedented hurdles as the energy crisis continues to grip Europe.

Cries for help from the once booming German economy are now coming from business leaders, associations, and consumers, with the Federation of German Industries (BDI) also warning of a wave of bankruptcies due to energy cost inflation. A new analysis by the BDI states that this is a major challenge for 58 percent of companies, and 34 percent believe the current crisis represents a matter of survival. Germany is no exception either, with warning from the United Kingdom showing that six in ten manufacturing companies face the risk of closure due to the energy crisis."

The fall of the European economy has arrived, and the winter that follows is going to be extraordinarily painful. Of course the U.S. economy is headed for major league problems as well. We are facing a massive global food crisis, a massive global energy crisis, a massive global inflation crisis and a war with Russia all at the same time.

And to be honest, what we have been through so far is just the very small tip of a very large iceberg. Decades of incredibly bad decisions have brought us to this point, and our leaders continue to make even more incredibly bad decisions. So buckle up, because the ride ahead is going to be extremely unpleasant."

- https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/

"How Are Things Going, Joe?"

“You go up to a man, and you say, “How are things going, Joe?” and he says, “Oh fine, fine… couldn’t be better.” And you look into his eyes, and you see things really couldn’t be much worse. When you get right down to it, everybody’s having a perfectly lousy time of it, and I mean everybody. And the hell of it is, nothing seems to help much.”

- Kurt Vonnegut

"Ron Paul: Middle Class Is Already Wiped Out - They Just Don't Know It Yet"

Full screen recommended.

The Atlantis Report, 9/10/22:

"Ron Paul: Middle Class Is Already Wiped Out - 

They Just Don't Know It Yet"

"Inevitable economic collapse, dollar crash, middle class wipe out, inflation crisis. This is what is waiting for us in 2022-23. Prepare now." Ron Paul an American author, activist, physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985.

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Future Historians May Call This The ‘Crisis of the 21st Century’"

"Future Historians May Call This The ‘Crisis of the 21st Century’"

by Simon Black

"In the year 210 AD, after two decades of constant warfare, Roman Emperor Septimius Severus was finally satisfied: he had conquered nearly the entire known western world. This was the year that the Roman Empire reached its maximum territory – approximately 5 million square kilometers, stretching from Morocco to Georgia, from southern Scotland to western Iran. Plus Rome controlled absolutely everything in and around the Mediterranean. They controlled the Black Sea. They controlled the Nile and Danube Rivers. They controlled the Silk Road.

In short, Rome controlled virtually every known trade route in the world, and this gave them extraordinary economic power. But it came at great cost: It’s expensive to wage war. It’s even more expensive to maintain a huge empire. And in order to pay for it all, Septimius Severus resorted to heavily debasing the Roman currency. The purity of the denarius silver coin plunged from 83.5% down to just 55% during his rule.

Severus died the following year in 211, at which point his son Caracalla became emperor after murdering his own brother. Caracalla was legendary for his cruelty, brutality, and poor decisions. He executed many of Rome’s most productive citizens, doubled tax rates, and debased the currency even further. Caracalla was eventually slain by one of his own soldiers. But Rome’s string of bloodthirsty, maniacal emperors was just getting started.

By 218 AD, for example, the new Emperor Elagabalus completely ignored the duties of his office because he was so obsessed with his own sexuality. Elagabalus reportedly offered to give away half of the Roman Empire as payment to any surgeon who could turn him into a woman, and he used to regularly prostitute himself at local brothels around Rome. He too, was assassinated.

In fact political assassinations were becoming so commonplace in Rome that it was almost remarkable when an emperor died of natural causes. In 238 AD, for example, Rome had SIX different emperors in a single year, with each plotting the murder of his predecessor. Throughout the entire third century, in fact, Rome had a total of 35 different emperors. Only one is certain to have died of natural causes. Most were murdered by rivals.

By mid-century, Rome was in full-blown crisis. In fact historians today actually call this period the “Crisis of the Third Century”. The political turmoil caused deep distrust in institutions; the Emperors themselves were typically corrupt, depraved, incompetent, or all of the above, and Romans lost all confidence in their government. Moreover, the currency had been debased so severely that inflation was rampant across the empire.

The government was routinely failing to secure its borders, and various foreign tribes began flooding into Roman territory, causing severe disruptions to trade and agricultural production. Rising powers in the region – namely the Kingdom of Alemannia – even began conducting raids in the Empire and directly engaging the Roman military. Rome suffered a number of embarrassing military defeats, shattering its reputation as a strong, invincible superpower.

Oh, and there was also a massive pandemic in the year 249. (Stop me when this all sounds familiar). It was known as the Plague of Cyprian, and it caused even more widespread economic devastation. In particular, the pandemic caused major labor shortages, and nearly every industry struggled to find enough workers. So naturally the imperial government stepped in and started forcing people into government service. They needed more soldiers to enforce their ridiculous edicts, and more tax collectors to steal people’s money. And this made the labor shortages even worse.

Rome was essentially in a period of nasty stagflation. The currency was constantly losing value, prices were rising, and the economy was shrinking. Trust was at an all-time low, social divisions were extreme, civil war was commonplace, corruption reigned, and people felt like the situation was hopeless.

It was around this time that the Empire literally began to split apart. By 270, in fact, what used to be known as the Roman Empire had actually divided into three distinct regional empires. And it appeared that the once-dominant superpower was no more.

But that’s also when a former soldier named Lucius Domitius Aurelianus became emperor of the new, smaller, regional Roman Empire. He is known to history as Aurelian, and his top priority upon assuming power was reunifying the Empire. His military victories were nothing short of astonishing; within just a few years, Aurelian had reconquered nearly all of the Roman territory that had been lost during the Crisis of the Third Century. He also took steps to reform the currency, heal social divisions, eliminate corruption, and slash the government budget.

Aurelian only ruled for about five years (before he, too, was murdered by rivals). But his actions were so successful in helping to end the crisis that he was given the title Restitutor Orbis – Restorer of the World. Rome eventually did fall. But without Aurelian, it would have all probably ended in 270 AD. In just five years he managed to implement enough reforms to keep the western empire going for another two centuries.

Centuries from now, future historians may look back on this time as America’s “Crisis of the 21st century”. When you think about it, so far this century the US has endured the 9/11 attacks, the War on Terror, the Global Financial Crisis, a complete breakdown of trust, extreme social divisions, chaos at the border, cancel culture, Big Tech censorship, the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of China, humiliation in Afghanistan, war in Europe, record high debts and deficits, inflation, stagflation, and much more.

It looks eerily similar to Rome’s Crisis of the Third Century. And I know for many people it seems hopeless. But it’s not. The 1970s was another extremely dark period in the United States which included stagflation, crime, political corruption, energy crisis, hostages in Iran, and the constant threat of war with the Soviet Union. It was a horrible time. But nothing unifies voters and focuses their minds on the right priorities like shared suffering.

And so in 1980, voters threw all the bums out and brought in a new government that, within a few years, tamed inflation, cut taxes, reduced the size of government, strengthened the military, and set much better conditions for economic prosperity. (I’d actually encourage you to watch Ronald Reagan’s brief remarks during his very first press conference in 1981, summarizing his administration’s mission.)

If we’re being intellectually honest, government bears the bulk of the responsibility for most of the problems we’re facing today. So theoretically, a better, more responsible government has the power to arrest the decline and move things in the right direction once again. And there is substantial historical precedent for this turnaround thesis; Aurelian is just one example.

But it would be a major affront to our basic human dignity to capitulate all responsibility for our lives to politicians. And frankly I think this is a huge problem. Too often people believe that they don’t have control over their own lives, and that things will only start to improve once the ‘right’ people have been elected.

Sure, it’s possible that a better, reform-minded government may emerge from this Crisis of the 21st Century. But the reality is that no one needs to wait for an election, or for some politician to ride to the rescue. Most of us as individuals lack the authority or resources to fix national problems on a grand scale. But we absolutely have the power, and a multitude of tools at our disposal, to set ourselves up for success.

For example, we know Social Security’s major trust funds will run out of money in about 10 years, causing the program to make drastic cuts to its benefits. But we also have a number of tools available to fix this problem for ourselves – like setting up a robust retirement structure and channeling side-income into tax-advantaged investments. We know taxes are on the rise and likely to rise more. But we also have completely legal ways to reduce them.

We may be facing certain domestic risks at home. But there are nearly 200 other countries in the world where we can set up our own personal safe havens. We can certainly hope the Crisis of the 21st Century ends with voters coming together and electing a responsible government. But in the meantime, there are countless steps that anyone can take to improve their own lives which don’t require any politician to save the day. Rather, all that’s needed is a little bit of education, and the will to take action."

- https://www.sovereignman.com/

- https://www.theburningplatform.com/

"Another Market Miracle Today As Economy Collapses; Household Wealth Crashing; Bankruptcies Explode"

Jeremiah Babe, 9/9/22:

"Another Market Miracle Today As Economy Collapses; 

Household Wealth Crashing; Bankruptcies Explode"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical Interlude: Ludovico Einaudi, "Experience" & "Divenire"; "The Royal Albert Hall Concert"

Full screen recommended.

Ludovico Einaudi, 

"Experience" & "Divenire" (Live A Fip 2015)"

Magnificently beautiful...

○

Full screen recommended.

Ludovico Einaudi,

 "The Royal Albert Hall Concert" ( 2010 )

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Close to the Great Bear (Ursa Major) and surrounded by the stars of the Hunting Dogs (Canes Venatici), this celestial wonder was discovered in 1781 by the metric French astronomer Pierre Mechain. Later, it was added to the catalog of his friend and colleague Charles Messier as M106. Modern deep telescopic views reveal it to be an island universe - a spiral galaxy around 30 thousand light-years across located only about 21 million light-years beyond the stars of the Milky Way. 

Along with a bright central core, this stunning galaxy portrait, a composite of image data from amateur and professional telescopes, highlights youthful blue star clusters and reddish stellar nurseries tracing the galaxy's spiral arms. It also shows off remarkable reddish jets of glowing hydrogen gas. In addition to small companion galaxy NGC 4248 at bottom right, background galaxies can be found scattered throughout the frame. M106, also known as NGC 4258, is a nearby example of the Seyfert class of active galaxies, seen across the spectrum from radio to X-rays. Active galaxies are powered by matter falling into a massive central black hole.”

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

Chet Raymo, "Lessons"

"Lessons"

by Chet Raymo

"There is a four-line poem by Yeats, called "Gratitude to the Unknown Instructors":

"What they undertook to do
They brought to pass;
All things hang like a drop of dew
Upon a blade of grass."

Like so many of the short poems of Yeats, it is hard to know what the poet had in mind, who exactly were the unknown instructors, and if unknown how could they instruct. But as I opened my volume of "The Poems" this morning, at random, as in the old days people opened the Bible and pointed a finger at a random passage seeking advice or instruction, this is the poem that presented itself. Unsuperstitious person that I am, it seemed somehow apropos, since outside the window, in a thick Irish mist, every blade of grass has its hanging drop.

Those pendant drops, the bejeweled porches of the spider webs, the rose petals cupping their glistening dew - all of that seems terribly important here, now, in the silent mist. There is not much good to say about getting old, but certainly one advantage of the gathering years is the falling away of ego and ambition, the felt need to be always busy, the exhausting practice of accumulation. Who were the instructors who tried to teach me the practice of simplicity when I was young - the poets and the saints, the buddhas who were content to sit beneath the bo tree while the rest of us scurried here and there? I scurried, and I'm not sorry I did, but I must have tucked their lessons into the back of my mind, a cache of wisdom to be opened at my leisure.

Whatever it was they sought to teach has come to pass. All things hang like a drop of dew upon a blade of grass."

- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/

"In Ordinary Times..."

"In ordinary times we get along surprisingly well, on the whole, without ever discovering what our faith really is. If, now and again, this remote and academic problem is so unmannerly as to thrust its way into our minds, there are plenty of things we can do to drive the intruder away. We can get the car out or go to a party or to the cinema or read a detective story or have a row with a district council or write a letter to the papers about the habits of the nightjar or Shakespeare's use of nautical metaphor. Thus we build up a defense mechanism against self-questioning because, to tell the truth, we are very much afraid of ourselves."

- Dorothy L. Sayers

"This Is How Working Families Are Being Destroyed By This Economy"

Full screen recommended.

"This Is How Working Families Are 

Being Destroyed By This Economy"

by Epic Economist

"How can we live the American Dream when the deck is stacked against us? For decades, our politicians stood idly by as millions of good-paying jobs were shipped overseas, our economic infrastructure was completely dismantled and multitudes of businesses were choked to death, leaving our population mostly with low-paid positions, a shrinking purchasing power, and rising living expenses. Today, we are definitely reaping the consequences. According to a new survey, almost 1 in 2 Americans are struggling financially right now, which means that about half the country is flat broke, and things are set to get even more precarious for working families as we enter the last few months of the year.

Working families in America are being destroyed by this crazy economy. Households are getting squeezed by a giant pile of expensive bills that only get higher and higher, and wages are not keeping pace with rising prices. People are seeing the value of their money go down while the cost of living continues to go up. That is why the levels of economic suffering are simply off the charts at this point, with almost 1 in 2 Americans saying that they’re having major difficulties making ends meet financially amid soaring food and gas bills, new research from Monmouth University shows.

More than 42% of the nation’s workers admitted they are under financial pressure, pointing to inflation as their biggest concern, the survey found. The figure is the highest recorded by the university since it started polling people five years ago. At the same time, over half of the nation – or 51 percent of all American workers - make less than $30,000 a year. With so many expenses adding up and so little money, most people don’t have a financial safety net to rely on. In fact, a new YouGov survey says that 49 percent of all Americans could not afford an unexpected $400 emergency expense without borrowing the money from somewhere or selling something.

Considering all of these factors, there’s no wonder why so many hard-working families are facing such great financial hardship. Despite working harder than ever, Americans’ sense of financial security is diminishing. Given that we have to spend a larger share of our salaries each month, it is getting harder to save money and build a financial cushion to fall back on. Having emergency savings is key to avoiding taking on more debt. But unfortunately, roughly 40% of consumers cannot put any money at all into savings, according to a recent analysis of household financial health and readiness by the American Consumer Credit Counseling, while about 19% said they had to reduce their savings rate.

Sadly, this is about as good as things are going to get. A new economic downturn is on our doorsteps, and layoff announcements at major firms are running 24 percent higher this year than they were last year. The America that most of us grew up in is dying, and what we have seen so far is just the beginning of its collapse. Our leaders will continue with business as usual. They will just keep doing the same things over and over again, and foolishly expecting different results. Whatever they are doing to “fix” things is not going to work, and that’s crystal clear to everyone by now.

We must start valuing working families again, and that means giving them opportunities to improve their financial situations and encouraging the creation of good-paying jobs. Unfortunately, we have already entered the early stages of the next great economic crisis, and so things are going to get a whole lot worse for the working class before there is any chance of them getting better."

- https://www.epiceconomist.com/

Gregory Mannarino, "Biggest Drop On Record! US Household Wealth Evaporates"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 9/9/22:

"Biggest Drop On Record! 

US Household Wealth Evaporates"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Food Banks All Over The U.S. Are “Overwhelmed” As The Cost Of Living Pushes More People Into Poverty"

"Food Banks All Over The U.S. Are “Overwhelmed” 

As The Cost Of Living Pushes More People Into Poverty"

by Michael Snyder

""The food lines are back, and they are starting to get really long. But this wasn’t supposed to happen. We are being told that unemployment is very low, even though that is not actually true. And we are also being told that the inflation rate is still only in the single digits, and of course that is not exactly true either. All over the country, middle class Americans are watching their lifestyles be absolutely eviscerated by the cost of living crisis, and an increasing number of them are turning to food banks. So we are seeing very long lines at food banks in major cities from coast to coast, and we are also seeing very long lines in rural locations such as northwest Montana…"Across the Flathead, food pantries are facing emptier shelves and scarcer donations as demand for their services grows. “Our numbers have definitely been increasing,” Ann Bohmer, co-manager of the Columbia Falls Food Bank, said. “[There’s been an] influx of people and a shortage of supplies.”

The Columbia Falls Food Bank is now “overwhelmed” by the level of demand that it is experiencing, and unfortunately the same thing can be said for countless other food banks across the nation…"The problem of overwhelmed and understocked food banks is not unique to northwest Montana. Food and gas prices are skyrocketing across the country, forcing Americans to pinch pennies and limit purchases. As of last month, grocery store prices were up 10.8% from the same time last year. While supermarket tabs are getting higher, lines at food pantries are getting longer, as Americans struggle to put meals on the table."

You should never, ever look down on those that need to use local food banks. Because the truth is that with a few bad breaks you could soon need to use one yourself.

Prior to this new economic crisis, a woman in the Phoenix area named Tomasina John had never visited a food bank before, but now her local food bank is an indispensable lifeline for her family…"Tomasina John was among hundreds of families lined up in several lanes of cars that went around the block one recent day outside St. Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix. John said her family had never visited a food bank before because her husband had easily supported her and their four children with his construction work. “But it’s really impossible to get by now without some help,” said John, who traveled with a neighbor to share gas costs as they idled under a scorching desert sun. “The prices are way too high.”

Sadly, economic conditions have forced dozens of food banks all over the country to either shut down or reduce services at a time when they are needed more than ever. Elsewhere in the United States, rising prices have forced dozens of charitable nonprofits to shutter, temporarily close, or reduce services. This spring, Nashville’s Little Pantry closed down after five years of operation. New Jersey’s Angels Community Outreach announced a temporary closure due to supply shortages. And Utah’s Tooele Food Pantry canceled an important food drive because of staffing and logistical issues. Among the food banks that remain open, some are putting limitations on how often people can visit and how much food they can get.

If our food banks are under this much financial stress already, what will things be like a year from now? That is something to think about.

Across the Atlantic, they are dealing with similar problems in the UK…"Food banks are running out of supplies amid an “overwhelming” surge of new people falling into hardship during the cost of living crisis, with some charities forced to turn away families in need."

As I discussed yesterday, an unprecedented energy crisis has much of Europe on the verge of a full-blown economic collapse. Energy bills have soared to unprecedented heights, and the cost of living has become extremely oppressive. As a result, many in the UK are now skipping meals on a regular basis…"Four out of 10 Universal Credit claimants have admitted to missing meals over the summer in order to keep up with rising costs, research shows. Some 41% of people on benefits admitted to skipping meals over the past three months, with a further 38% claiming to have had just one meal or gone a whole day without eating because they couldn’t afford to buy enough food. The research was conducted by The Trussell Trust, Britain’s biggest food bank charity, which surveyed 1,846 UK adults claiming benefits between August 10 and 31 via YouGov."

Unfortunately, this is just the beginning. We are being repeatedly warned that the food shortages in Europe will soon get far worse. But this nightmare won’t just be isolated to Europe. There will be widespread food shortages all over the globe in 2023, and the head of the UN says that it is likely that there will be “multiple famines” next year.

So why aren’t more people getting prepared? Top government officials all over the planet are openly telling us that there will be food shortages in 2023, but the vast majority of the people out there seem to assume that everything is going to work out just fine somehow. Just because we have always had plenty of food in the past does not mean that we will have enough food in the future.

According to the World Food Program, 828 million people all over the world go to bed hungry each night, vast numbers of people in Europe are already being forced to skip meals because of rising food costs, and children are literally starving to death in Africa right now. But here in the United States we will be immune from the global food crisis because we are so special, right? If you want to stick your head in the sand and pretend that everything is just fine, go ahead and do so. Meanwhile, the food lines are getting longer and longer, and crops are failing all over the planet."

- https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/

The Daily "Near You?"

Wichita Falls, Texas, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"What In The World Is Wrong With This Country?"

"What In The World Is Wrong With This Country?"

by Michael Snyder

"Just when it seems like we can’t possibly go any lower, we always manage to top ourselves. In the old days, every once in a while I would come across a story that would make me shake my head in disbelief because it was just so absurd. Now it is happening on a daily basis. In this article I am going to share some examples with you. I realize that some of these things are difficult to believe, but all of them are true. Our country really is coming apart at the seams right in front of our eyes, and the pace of our national decline only seems to be accelerating. If we are not able to turn our cultural decay around, eventually we will not have a country at all.

Let me start with a new law which will go into effect in Illinois on January 1st. From that point forward, those guilty of second-degree murder, kidnapping, burglary and arson will always be released without having to post any bail at all…"When a new Illinois law takes effect next year, it will do away with the cash bail system in the state, meaning suspects charged with felonies, including second-degree murder, aggravated battery, and arson, will be released without bail.

The Counter Signal reports the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act, also called the SAFE-T Act, would end cash bail and includes 12 non-detainable offenses, second-degree murder, aggravated battery, and arson without bail, as well as drug-induced homicide, kidnapping, burglary, robbery, intimidation, aggravated DUI, aggravated fleeing and eluding, drug offenses and threatening a public official." When the law takes effect on Jan. 1, 2023, criminals charged with the crimes mentioned above will be released without bail.

How many hardened criminals do you think will actually show up for their trials? I am sure that there will be a few. Of course many of our “woke judges” are doing their very best to make sure that many violent criminals never pay the price for their crimes even if they do stand trial. In California, a judge recently granted a mistrial to one defendant just because he didn’t get a good night of sleep the night before…"A California judge, who hails from a powerful Democrat family who endorsed LA DA George Gascon, granted a mistrial for a man facing life in prison because he was sleepy. The alleged criminal apparently did not get a good night’s rest before the trial after spending the night in a cell without a bed or blanket."

Seriously? So now this violent criminal is back on the streets even though he pointed a gun in the face of a female fast food worker and threatened to blow her brains out…"Vamazae Elgin Banks, 24, appeared in court after threatening a McDonald’s worker with a gun before stealing less than $100. Court records accused Banks of telling the cashier at the fast food joint that he would kill her if she didn’t produce the cash quickly enough, allegedly telling her ‘hurry up or I’ll blow your brains out!’"

Our system of justice is systematically being destroyed. But many Americans simply don’t care because they are drugged out of their minds. The United States has the biggest problem with legal drugs on the entire planet, and it also has the biggest problem with illegal drugs on the entire planet. When I saw the following story, I thought that it perfectly summed up where we are as a nation today…"A speeding woman is accused of driving under the influence of cocaine and alcohol when she crashed into another car, killing its driver who was under the influence of methamphetamine, police said. Summer Butler, 37, faces charges of DUI resulting in death, reckless driving and being in possession of a controlled substance in connection with the fatal crash in January, court documents obtained by the 8 News Now I-Team said."

At this point, it seems like almost everyone is an addict, and that includes many of our government officials. Here is just one example…"A Louisiana state official was arrested for allegedly buying drugs from a drug dealer outside of a fast food chain on Tuesday. Bridgette Hull, 37, serves as the executive secretary for the Louisiana State Board of Private Security Examiners. She was purchasing drugs from dealer Steven McCarthy, who was under surveillance, when a Louisiana Attorney General Office employee recognized him at a Livingston Parish restaurant. Hull was arrested onsite, but McCarthy fled the scene after back up was called – resulting in a pursuit. He later crashed into another car and was arrested."

If we would secure our borders, we could at least reduce the flow of illegal drugs into this country. But the Biden administration refuses to do that. And so the worst drug crisis in all of U.S. history will continue to escalate, and substances that are laced with fentanyl will continue to kill countless numbers of our young people…

"San Diego and Imperial County comprise the epicenter of fentanyl drug trafficking in the United States, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ), which reported that seizures of fentanyl in San Diego were up 323% in FY2019-FY2021 and that fentanyl overdose deaths increased 2,375% in San Diego County between 2016 and 2021. “A decade ago, we didn’t even know about fentanyl, and now it’s a national crisis,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Randy Grossman. “The amount of fentanyl we are seizing at the border is staggering. The number of fentanyl seizures and fentanyl-related deaths in our district are unprecedented.”

If you are waiting for our national leaders to fix our growing problems, you are going to be waiting for a really, really long time. Every major decision they make seems to make things even worse, and the Biden administration keeps appointing extremely alarming individuals to top positions of power. In fact, Biden just appointed a “doctor” that is absolutely obsessed with pentagrams to be the National Monkeypox Response Deputy Coordinator.

Meet Demetre Daskalakis: Demetre was just appointed by Joe Biden to be the official White House National Monkeypox Response Deputy Coordinator. Demetre proudly wears the official symbol of the Church of Satan: The Pentagram.

Joe Biden appointed a Satanist to the White House. 

pic.twitter.com/TiMPY29AtC

- Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 8, 2022

Not cherry picking here. The Pentagram is proudly displayed in his *promotional* photos for a CDC appointment. It’s ubiquitous on his social media. Demetre has Pentagram tattoos. So it’s a fair question: Did Joe Biden appoint a Satanist? 

pic.twitter.com/471Fp3uKss

- Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 8, 2022

So far, only a very small handful of conservatives are objecting to his appointment to such an important position.

What in the world is wrong with this country? Have we gone completely and totally nuts? Perhaps we have. At this point, close to one-fourth of all Democratic voters actually believe that men can get pregnant…"A poll conducted by WPA Intelligence has found that almost one quarter of Democratic voters believe that “some men can become pregnant.” Twenty-two percent of Democrats overall agreed with the statement. The poll also found that more women agreed with the statement, and an incredible 36 percent of white, college-educated female Democrats agreed."

We aren’t just in a state of decline. The truth is that we are in a very advanced state of decline and the clock is ticking. If you love this nation, what has happened to us should deeply sadden you. We were once the greatest country on the entire planet, but now we are rapidly being destroyed from within. Please wake up America, because time to do anything about all of this is quickly running out."

- https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/

○

"Almost 1 In 4 Democrats Believe Men 

Can Get Pregnant; New Poll Finds"

○

"We are in the process of creating, in sum, what deserves to be called the idiot culture. Not an idiot sub-culture, which every society has bubbling beneath the surface and which can provide harmless fun; but the culture itself. For the first time in our history the weird and the stupid and the coarse are becoming our cultural norm, even our cultural ideal."

- Carl Bernstein

○

And nobody gives a damn, nobody cares...

Yeah...well guess what...

Bill Bonner, "Lights Out!"

"Lights Out!"

by Bill Bonner

Paris, France - "Europe is in a tight spot. It put itself there. It shut down its economy in the Covid Panic. It kept its interest rates way too low, for way too long. It aims to rid itself of fossil fuel, upon which its economy and its living standards depend. And now, in its misbegotten proxy war with Russia, it faces General Winter – Russia’s traditional ally.

We are here in Paris… enjoying a short holiday… and just finishing a $110 breakfast. Consumer prices are almost all, to some measure, dependent on energy. And Europe’s most important source of energy is Russia. Now that the Russians have cut off, indefinitely, gas coming from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, prices are on the rise. Consumer prices in England, for example, are expected to rise over 20%. Here’s Bloomberg: "Soaring energy bills are threatening to put six in 10 British manufacturers out of business, according to a survey that lays bare the extent of the crisis facing the next prime minister. “The current crisis is leaving businesses facing a stark choice,” the report said. “Cut production or shut up shop altogether if help does not come soon.”

And this from The Sun: "SEVEN in ten pubs could shut for good this winter because of rising energy costs, a survey reveals. Thousands of landlords already rocked by repeated lockdowns are teetering on the brink following a doubling in gas and electricity prices."

Another Curve to “Flatten”: Germany is shutting down its factories too. Its citizens are urged to turn off the lights, turn down the thermostat, and bathe in cold water. The French, meanwhile, are planning to ration electricity… but they’re also applauding this opportunity to shift to ‘green energy,’ as if it were possible to quickly replace Russian gas with windmills and solar panels.

Even level-headed Sweden, which resisted much of the Covid madness, has succumbed to anti-Russian propaganda. Aljazeera: "Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson warned that Sweden was facing the prospect of a “war winter” because of Europe’s energy crunch… Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Andersson said [financial] guarantees were aimed at giving energy groups “the breathing room that is needed.”

And now, from the Covid Panic Playbook, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, says the EU will propose a "mandatory target for reducing electricity use at peak hours" in order to "flatten the curve."

We’ve enjoyed using power, on-demand, when we wanted it, all our lives. Forcing us to stop is like downsizing packages or printing money – another subtle form of impoverishment. But it’s for a good cause, right? The feds say that lower output of carbon dioxide will mean lower surface temperatures on Planet Earth; ‘it will be worth it,’ they say. But we don’t yet know what the price will be (wearing sweaters in the winter… or 100 million dead?)

Goldman Sachs put out a report this week, guessing about what cutting off Russian gas will do to Europe’s consumers: "In our view, the market continues to underestimate the depth, the breadth and the structural repercussions of the crisis – we believe these will be even deeper than the 1970s oil crisis. At current forward prices, we estimate that energy bills will peak early next year at c.€500/month for a typical European family, implying a c.200% increase vs. 2021. For Europe as a whole, this implies a c.€2 [trillion] surge in bills, or c.15% of GDP."

Earnest Planet Savers: While cutting off fossil fuel supplies to Europe will purge some carbon dioxide from the air, we don’t know if any particular act of purgery will make any difference at all. If we trade in our old F150 Ford truck for an electric model, will it reduce the heat of a Maryland summer by 1/100th of a degree? Or not at all? Or will we just sit in a long line waiting for a charge… like the Poles now sleeping in their cars at coal mines waiting for a sack of the dirty, old-fashioned fuel? And will our power plants end up running on coal, too, because the windmills can’t keep up?

Nor do we know what will happen if all goes ‘according to plan?’ Let’s say we all go along with Janet Yellen and rid the world of dependence on fossil fuel. And let’s say we pay the price – whatever it is… perhaps doubling the real price of food and energy… perhaps 100 million early deaths from cold or malnutrition (in areas of the world where people are already living on the edge)… and then, what a shame it would be if arriving at the water's edge… like the thousands of innocents in the ‘Children’s Crusade’ in 1212… the seas fail to part! What a shame if … despite all our sacrifices and suffering… the climate keeps changing anyway. What a pity if Planet Earth doesn’t really care what we think or what we do.

But the ‘we’ and the ‘our’ hide a great many distinctions and flimflam. Like so many Great Campaigns in history, the costs are likely to fall primarily on the poor, the weak… and the children. The price of energy could double; but the ‘deciders’ won’t have to explain to their children why they can’t afford heat. Janet Yellen… Ursula von der Leyen… Hillary Clinton – how many of the earnest Planet Savers will be forced to choose between feeding children or paying rent? Will any of them wait in long lines to recharge their electric cars… or buy a gallon of gasoline? Will their private jets be grounded? Will their café lattes become unaffordable?

And then… when the campaign to alter the world’s temperatures fails… will they own up? Will they gush tears, like Robert McNamara, finally admitting that ‘we’ had killed a million people in Vietnam for nothing? Will they admit that they didn’t know what the hell they were doing?"

- https://bonnerprivateresearch.substack.com/

Related:

“We will not supply gas, oil, coal, heating oil 

- we will not supply anything,” Putin said.

"Putin Threatens to Let Europe ‘Freeze’ Over Winter, 

Raising Risk of Energy Rationing"

by Holly Ellyatt

"Europe was already facing a difficult and unpredictable winter when it came to its energy supplies as it looks to phase out all Russian imports. But Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday again threatened to completely stop all supplies, a move which he hinted would leave Europe to “freeze.”

Russia has already halted gas supplies to the region citing technical issues on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, leaving the region vulnerable as it tries to replenish energy storage ahead of the colder months.

Responding to EU proposals to implement price caps on Russian energy imports, Putin told business leaders in Vladivostok that Russia could yet decide to rip up existing supply contracts. “Will there be any political decisions that contradict the contracts? Yes, we just won’t fulfill them. We will not supply anything at all if it contradicts our interests,” Putin said at the Eastern Economic Forum in Russia’s far east. “We will not supply gas, oil, coal, heating oil - we will not supply anything,” Putin said. “We would only have one thing left to do: as in the famous Russian fairy tale, we would let the wolf’s tail freeze,” he said.

Russian newspaper Pravda describes the tale as involving a cunning fox who made a stupid wolf catch fish in the frozen river by putting his tail into an ice hole. “The fox would hop around the desperate and hungry wolf saying “freeze, freeze, the wolf’s tail” until the ice hole froze trapping the wolf in the ice. Men from the village then came and beat the wolf for all the bad things that he had done to them in summer. The wolf struggled and escaped, but his tail was left in the frozen ice hole,” Pravda said.

Energy rationing: Putin’s threat to halt all supplies raises the risk of energy rationing in Europe this winter. The EU has already called upon its members to voluntarily reduce their gas consumption by 15% in the fall and winter but that might not be enough to allay the need for restrictions on gas use.

A number of European governments have announced measures to protect citizens from rocketing energy bills. In the meantime, Western nations are trying to put pressure on Russia’s energy revenues, which they say are funding the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, by proposing price caps on Russian oil and gas.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday described the situation facing Europe as “extraordinary, because Russia is an unreliable supplier and is manipulating our energy markets.” She said the Commission would put forward immediate measures to help consumers, including a mandatory target for reducing electricity use at peak hours, a cap on revenues of companies producing electricity with low costs, and other plans to share the burden of energy price rises.

“Low carbon energy sources are making unexpected revenues, which do not reflect their production costs. It is now time for consumers to benefit from the low costs of low carbon energy sources, like renewables,” von der Leyen said in a statement, saying fossil fuel companies should also contribute to easing pressures on consumers. “Oil and gas companies have also made massive profits. We will therefore propose a solidarity contribution for fossil fuel companies. Because all energy sources must help address this crisis.”

Von der Leyen said energy utility companies must be supported to cope with the volatility of the markets and proposed a cap on Russian gas. “The objective here is very clear. We must cut Russia’s revenues which Putin uses to finance this atrocious war against Ukraine.” At the beginning of the war, she noted that the EU imported around 40% of its gas from Russia. It had reduced that level down to 9% of its gas imports, she said. EU energy ministers are set to meet on Friday to discuss the proposals outlined by the Commission."

- https://www.cnbc.com/

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"We've Lost Nothing" - Putin Warns Western Elites' 

"Sanctions Fever" Will See European People "Freeze"

Jim Kunstler, "Here It Comes"

"Here It Comes"

The frolics of summer are done, the day shortens, 

the sky darkens, the suspense deepens…

by Jim Kunstler

"Labor Day is in the rearview mirror and the long, sickening slide into we-know-not-what (but it can’t-be-good) commences! Well, there are a few things we know, but only in the shaggy outlines because the folks who are supposed to inform us - the news media, the public health gang - like to keep the real action behind a scrim of unicorns cavorting through a rainbow-lit candyland. Of course, we are not all the idiots they want us to be.

Here’s one thing we sort of know: you-all vaxx-happy Wokesters are about to have a new BA-5 bivalent booster laid on you. The Darwin Award season has been extended at least another six months! You’ll be glad to hear it’s been tested in a trial involving eight lab mice, and quickly approved by our FDA. The bad news is that all eight mice got Covid. The worse news is that the booster was wildly inconsistent in producing antibodies among the eight identical mice, meaning the ultimate effect on their immune systems is a crap-shoot - but, hey, they’re only mice.

Thus, some more good news: humans were so far spared any testing for this new miracle treatment. Pfizer and Moderna didn’t hurt anyone in any cobb-job trials, like they did the first time around (hiding the results). The not-so-good news is: nobody, especially no one in the FDA, has any idea what effect the new booster will have on humans. The best news is that our beneficent government will only make the new vax available to people who are already vaxxed. You have to be “eligible,” in the club, so to speak. Aren’t you special! I never joined that club, so it works for me.

I’d suppose, though, that a lot of people who originally joined the vaxx club will demur from pharma’s latest offering. Actually, most of them. Perhaps they’ve heard that each shot drains more mojo from your immune system. Perhaps they’ve heard about friends and relatives who developed sudden vicious cancers, neurological difficulties, vascular disasters, or lingering, unshakable Covid symptoms. Suppression of news has been epic, of course, but surely you’re aware that Justin Bieber lost the use of half his face six months ago. No world tour for Justin.

Another thing we know (this one for certain): a new leading cause of death throughout Western Civ in people under 60 is “Cause Unknown.” At least that’s the official designation because the officials running public health and the medical establishment don’t want to know what’s killing people. Or, more precisely, they don’t want you to know, so they pretend not to know.

If they suddenly felt the itch of curiosity, they might discover that the mRNA shots were behind the spread of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) - the interchangeable and equally ambiguous tag for this mystifying phenomenon. That might suggest to a Nancy Drew level medical sleuth that mRNA vaccines are not good for you, not “safe and effective,” that is, meaning that the entire two-plus-years of vaxxing up roughly 260,000,000 Americans has been a fraud, which would vacate Moderna’s and Pfizer’s liability shield for these products. Cue, every lawyer born after 1940.

Another thing we know for sure now is that people who are vaccinated are far more likely to catch Covid and also more likely to be hospitalized for it. One in fourteen Brits are currently infected with it, mainly the vaxxed-and-boosted. The media propaganda is full of people bragging that their bout of Covid, or several bouts of Covid - from which they were supposedly immune - “could have been much worse.” Actually, for many of the vaccinated, it is much worse. They don’t hear about it because the news media won’t tell them, and the news media executives do what their commissars in government and pharma tell them to do. “Jump!” (“How high?”)

A federal judge this week ordered the White House, Anthony, Fauci, Secretaries Becerra and Mayorkas, and a slew of other US officials to surrender their email correspondence with social and news media companies in the matter of government working to suppress the first amendment and, in the censoring, de-platforming, and defaming of many individual citizens who attempted to present views of the Covid melodrama contrary to the official narratives. This was in a suit brought by state Attorneys General Eric Schmidt (MO) and Jeff Landry (LA). From it, a million more lawsuits for personal injury may bloom. Mark Zuckerberg let the cat out of the bag days ago as to how the FBI leaned right on him.

Prepare for an avalanche of unwelcome news evading the censors as we slide out of summer into the cold-and-flu season, as it’s called. Hundreds of millions throughout the highly-vaxxed nations will be walking around with crippled immune systems. The life insurance companies may require a bail-out, from all those “unknown causes” that killed people. But so will every other institution in Western Civ.

Alas, the money for that is fated to go up in a vapor later this fall as history’s greatest margin call gets underway. Let’s face it, Europe and North America are sloughing off their industrial economies and the financialization racketeering underneath all that doesn’t produce anything of value. Seventy percent of the pubs in the UK are shuttering because they can’t pay the electric bill. Germany is just flat-out hanging itself in the basement. The Euro is going to trash.

A little birdie told me to expect a last gasp stock market rally the next ten days, with the Dow nearing 35,000. What a set-up. Markets are truly diabolical the way they prey on human wishes. God help the suckers watching CNBC.

Following his Mouth-of-Hell speech last week, declaring war on half the country, “Joe Biden’s” prospects are dimming along with sclerotic circuits in his brainpan. The Party of Chaos is desperate to survive the midterm election. Therefore, look for them to grudge up an excuse to make them not happen. They need a “national emergency” and they’ll manufacture one if necessary. Wait for it.

A postscript: the seemingly everlasting presence of Queen Elizabeth has peacefully departed this plane of existence. The old girl had a mighty good run, perhaps the best that will ever be, temporally at least, for any sovereign outside the sci-fi movies. This leaves Britain and its chattel domains with a king, Charles III. I’ve long identified, in a half-assed way, with this quirky fellow. We were born only a month apart, and I’ve witnessed all of his agonizing endless wait for the electric moment when he would rise to the crown and scepter.

Charles was very active in mid-life in the New Urbanist movement, as I was. I gave some talks in those years to the Prince’s Foundation, though I never met the guy. He did some really nice work, notably building the walkable town of Poundbury, Dorset, which he sponsored as a demonstration project to show that England would benefit from quitting its mode of suburban sprawl - which it most surely must do now with all its oil-and-gas problems.

There is chatter that King Charles has lately become a tool of der Hoch Schwabenklaus and his World Economic Forum, with its Satanic program for revising the human project into a nanobot horror show. I hope that is not so. The world needs a lot of help right now, and not from that gang. Here’s wishing Charles an upright and valiant go at the kingship thing, at least lending some honest moral support to his floundering country."

- https://kunstler.com/

"I Can't Believe They Are Doing This"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, iAllegedly 9/9/22:

"I Can't Believe They Are Doing This"

"Living through a time that has some tradition. Everything is lost in every aspect of our lives. We cannot help but realize that interest rates are going to go sky high and the real estate market is going to drop and affect everything around us."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Gregory Mannarino, "Banks To Get Another Bailout! It Starts With The ECB"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 9/9/22:

"Banks To Get Another Bailout! It Starts With The ECB"

https://traderschoice.net/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"How It Really Is"

Greg Hunter, "Weekly News Wrap-Up 9/9/22"

"Weekly News Wrap-Up 9/9/22"

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

"You are not seeing this in the reporting, but Europe is imploding in every way possible. The only thing that will stop this unfolding crash is to stop the Ukraine war–and stop it now. There are no signs this is going to happen. There are plenty of signs that Europe’s coming monstrous crash will drag the globe into the Greatest Depression in history. Inflation is skyrocketing, and the European Central Bank is coming to the rescue by raising interest rates .75%!!! Talk about throwing a drowning man a boat anchor, that’s what raising interest rates is.

The pro-Biden psyop is in full swing, and it needs to be because the real numbers of his approval rating are around 12%. I said the real numbers, not the fake polling that shows Biden surging as inflation continues to roar. It makes no sense that Biden’s official approval rating, according to the propaganda media, was 42% last month, and now, he’s beating Trump in a 2024 matchup by 6 points. 48% for Biden and only 42% for Trump. August 21, 2022, NBC News slipped up and showed a poll where 74% of Americans said the “country was on the wrong track.” Fake news and fake polls abound in the pro-Biden psyop. The real approval number, according to Martin Armstrong, is 12%. Let that sink in, and that will explain a lot.

We are just getting started with the deadly and debilitating effects of the CV19 bioweapon injections. We have children getting heart disease and people dropping dead because of the experimental shots. Now, more and more people are experience long blood clots being pulled from their veins. An Ohio junior in high school was the latest victim to have a 6-foot blood clot pulled from his leg. His football career is over, but will his life be cut short too? Doctors say they are “baffled,” but are they just covering up to keep their jobs? This is too stupid to be stupid. When are doctors going to stand up and say stop the shots. It’s killing and maiming people in very large numbers. It’s going to get much worse, and that is the science and not the political science or the science fiction surrounding the Big LIE of the CV19 “vaccines.” There is much more in the 50-min. newscast."

- https://usawatchdog.com/

Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he talks about these 

stories and more in the Weekly News Wrap-Up for 9/9/22:

- https://rumble.com/

Canadian Prepper, "2023 Just Got Cancelled"

Canadian Prepper, 9/8/22:

"2023 Just Got Cancelled"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"15 Brutally Honest Reasons Why The Middle Class Will Never Get To Retire"

Full screen recommended.

"15 Brutally Honest Reasons Why The 

Middle Class Will Never Get To Retire"

by Epic Economist

"Some people love their jobs so much they want to work forever. But truth be told – the vast majority of us would like to hang up our work hats at some point and be able to relax next to the people we love. Life is short and we don’t want to be working until we draw our last breath. Unfortunately, there’s some bad news: You might never be able to retire. In fact, millions of middle-class Americans will never get that chance, and in today’s video, we brought you several reasons that show you why.

A recent exposé published by The Guardian highlights that that’s the grim reality of a growing number of Americans, who are forced to work into their senior years because they can’t afford not to have a job. Estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that over the next decade, the number of workers ages 75 and older is expected to increase in the US by 96.5%, with their labor force participation rate projected to rise from 8.9% in 2020 to 11.7% by 2030, a rate that has steadily increased from 4.7% in 1996. By 2040, the US population of adults ages 65 and older is expected to skyrocket to 80.8 million from 54.1 million in 2019. As the aging US population grows, participation in retirement plans has continues to decline. “Nearly half of all families in the US have no retirement savings at all and inequality among Americans based on retirement savings is greater than income inequality. Over 15 million adults ages 65 and older are economically insecure, with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty line,” the report reveals.

“I have no savings, no assets, I don’t even own the home I’ve been renting for 15 years,” said Dr. Lisa Natale, 65, who still works as a chiropractor in Hawaii. “There’s no way I could afford to retire.”Similarly, Ted Newman of Columbus, Ohio, is a retired state government employee, but still needs to work full-time to be able to make ends meet.“I have been working full-time for the last 8 years since retiring, and my wife also. Her yearly salary went almost completely to pay student debt and I worked to have extras for the home,” said Newman.

Our population is growing old but their debt isn’t going anywhere. Over 9 million Americans ages 50 and older still have student debt, and the amount owed by this group is growing faster than any other age group. The report outlines that before the pandemic, 40,000 Americans had their social security retirement benefits garnished for student loans. Jane Switchenko, 63, of Massachusetts, says she and her 68-year-old husband cannot afford to retire, because of the debt they took out for their children to attend college.

“My husband and I must work until we die. Parent plus loans take over $1,000 a month, every month, for a decade now and we continue to see a rising balance,” said Switchenko. “Not only can we not retire, we cannot afford to fix our old house – we are desperate for new windows, have a leaking chimney, and need new electrical work done.” She added: “We work hard. We are frugal, but we’re getting up there and have nothing to look forward to because of these loans. We have five grandchildren and don’t know what we’ll be able to buy for Christmas.”

This has become the sad reality of what used the be the most prosperous economic group in America. They once could afford not only to live but thrive and dream of a better future. But now, they're trapped in a nightmare of collapsing living standards, rising prices, and giant piles of debt."

- https://www.epiceconomist.com/

"You Can't Afford Groceries And It's About To Get Worse"

Jeremiah Babe, 9/8/22:

"You Can't Afford Groceries And It's About To Get Worse"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Gerald Celente, "Trends In The News"

Strong language alert!

Gerald Celente, 9/8/22:

"Trends In The News"

"The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present Facts and Truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for What’s Next in these increasingly turbulent times."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Western Europe Now Facing 'Total Financial Collapse'"

by Mike Adams

"Western Europe is facing "total collapse" from catastrophic scarcity and price hikes surrounding food, fertilizer, energy and industry, warns David Dubyne, featured in today's Situation Update podcast. Silver guru David Morgan, also featured in today's podcast, adds that European banks are facing the possibility of systemic failures (and "bail-ins") due to exposure to energy markets and the desire of Western European governments to keep printing money.

Today's death of Queen Elizabeth II couldn't be more timely, as the death of Western Europe likely won't be far behind. The Queen has died, but so has common sense, rationality, financial sanity and agricultural integrity. No civilization can survive without food, energy and money, and the leaders of Western Europe are determined to destroy all three.

Today's podcast is the most important I've published this year. Take the time to listen to both interviews and the full analysis. See the article and podcast here.":

- https://naturalnews.com/

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Related:

"Germany’s Energy Suicide: An Autopsy"

Musical Interlude: 2002, "Breathing Light"

Full screen recommended.

2002, "Breathing Light"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"This fantastic skyscape lies near the edge of NGC 2174 a star forming region about 6,400 light-years away in the nebula-rich constellation of Orion. It follows mountainous clouds of gas and dust carved by winds and radiation from the region's newborn stars, now found scattered in open star clusters embedded around the center of NGC 2174, off the top of the frame.

Though star formation continues within these dusty cosmic clouds they will likely be dispersed by the energetic newborn stars within a few million years. Recorded at infrared wavelengths by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2014, the interstellar scene spans about 6 light-years. Scheduled for launch in 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope is optimized for exploring the Universe at infrared wavelengths."

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

"As Far As We Can Discern..."

"As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human

existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being."

- Carl Jung