Amherst, Virginia, USA. Thanks for stopping by!
So, we rise from the rubble...
Saturday, April 29, 2023
"Life, Eh?"
"We said together, wistfully, 'Life, eh?' It says everything without having to say anything: that we all experience moments of joyful or painful reflection, sometimes alone, sometimes sharing laughs and tears with others; that we all know and appreciate that however wonderful and precious life is, it can equally be a terribly confusing and mysterious beast. 'Life, eh?"
- Miranda Hart
"So, You Look Around..."
So, you look around in horrified astonishment at how totally insane it all really is, how the never ending bad news is everywhere you look, how truly hopeless it really is, and know there's nothing at all you can do about any of it, can't save anyone, can't even save yourself. So you remember what they said and how you need to be, and carry on...
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority,
but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”
- Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
“That millions of people share the same forms of
mental pathology does not make these people sane.”
- Erich Fromm, "The Sane Society"
“Laugh whenever you can. Keeps you from killing
yourself when things are bad. That and vodka.”
- Jim Butcher, "Changes"
And yet, sometimes, at the end of another long day,
your defenses are just worn out and it feels like you're losing your mind,
and you lose control and it feels like this...
Until tomorrow, when you do it all over again...
And so it is, lol...
"We've Hit An Iceberg"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly 4/29/23
"We've Hit An Iceberg"
"The global economy is definitely taking on water. The ship is sinking. We’ve hit an iceberg. A governor from the Bank of England told us that people in England need to get used to being poor. What a degenerate."
Comments here:
And Yet, Sometimes..."
So, you look around in horrified astonishment at how totally insane it all really is, how the never ending bad news is everywhere you look, how truly hopeless it really is, and know there's nothing at all you can do about it, can't save anyone, can't even save yourself. So you remember what they said and how you need to be, and carry on...
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority,
but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”
- Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
“That millions of people share the same forms of
mental pathology does not make these people sane.”
- Erich Fromm, "The Sane Society"
“Laugh whenever you can. Keeps you from killing
yourself when things are bad. That and vodka.”
- Jim Butcher, "Changes"
And yet, sometimes, at the end of another long day,
your defenses are just worn out and it feels like you're losing your mind,
and you lose control and feel like this...
Full screen recommended.
The Trashmen, "Surfin Bird - Bird is the Word," 1963
Until tomorrow, when you do it all over again...
And so it is, lol...
Greg Hunter, "Weekly News Wrap-Up, 4/28/23"
"Weekly News Wrap-Up, 4/28/23"
by Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
"Media icon Tucker Carlson was fired from FOX this week, and it looks like we can all see what FOX has turned into. Tucker didn’t so much get fired for what he said, but for what he might say in the future. Tucker was the number one show on FOX, and he did nothing wrong except tell as much truth as his overlords would allow. The country should be eternally grateful for him having the balls to air the video of the so-called J6 insurrection that proved it was another frame job by the FBI and totally false. It was a protest about a stolen election, and you can’t talk about any of it if you have a job on the Lying Legacy Media (LLM).
It is sure looking like another big bank failure is coming. First Republic Bank is in deep trouble and is trying to stop the hemorrhaging of cash withdrawals. The bank stock plunged more than 60% in a few days and is looking for help, but none is showing up. Is the FDIC going to step in again after the second and third largest bank defaults in America’s history that happened just a few weeks ago? Are more bank runs coming? In short, yes.
Vice President Biden has promised South Korea that if North Korea attacks, Nukes from the U.S. arsenal will be used. The Biden Administration is promising a so-called “nuclear umbrella” to protect the Korean peninsula. Are they going to promise they can stop the nuclear fallout too? This is new and dangerous." There is much more in the 46-minute newscast.
Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he talks about these
stories and more in the Weekly News Wrap-Up for 4/28/23:
"Zelensky Is Finished And Biden Knows It"
Redacted, 4/29/23
"Zelensky Is Finished And Biden Knows It"
"President Biden is preparing for the eventuality that Ukraine’s “spring counteroffensive” is not the victory they’ve sold to the American people. This was the plan to re-take land that is now part of Russia, namely Crimea and the Donbass region. The President has been telling the American people that continued financial support in Ukraine is necessary for Ukraine to “win” but recently leaked documents show that the administration knows that this is all smoke. They are lying about the extent of U.S. involvement and they are selling us a failed storybook ending, according to Politico. Will this help or hurt his re-election ambitions? We look at how Libya was not the quick win that Hillary Clinton had hoped it would be for her 2016 election."
Comments here:
"Outrageous Prices At Kroger! This Is Terrible! What Now?"
Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 4/29/23
"Outrageous Prices At Kroger!
This Is Terrible! What Now?"
"In today's vlog we are Kroger, and are noticing grocery prices are starting to skyrocket! We travel around to try and find whatever deals we can, but even the sales are getting expensive!"
Comments here:
Friday, April 28, 2023
"Food Shortage Update! Be Prepared! This Is Not Good!"
Adventures With Danno, PM 4/28/23
"Food Shortage Update!
Be Prepared! This Is Not Good!"
"We are starting to notice more and more food shortages across the country, and around the world. We go over many missing grocery items in stores, and answer questions that our viewers have been talking about in the comment section."
Comments here:
"Harley-Davidson Repo Crisis; Full Blown Demolition Of US Economy"
Jeremiah Babe, 4/28/23
"Harley-Davidson Repo Crisis;
Full Blown Demolition Of US Economy"
Comments here:
"15 Biggest Chains In America That Will Disappear In The Months Ahead"
Full screen recommended.
"15 Biggest Chains In America That
Will Disappear In The Months Ahead"
by Epic Economist
"If you have a favorite store, you should probably visit it soon since some of the biggest, most popular retail chains in the U.S. are rapidly decaying, and many locations are being shuttered in this very moment. According to UBS, over 50,000 stores are on retailers' chopping block, and that could completely change America's economic landscape. Never before in history, conditions have been so turbulent for companies, and even big names like Rite Aid, Amazon Fresh and Big Lots! are taking extreme measures to try to keep their business alive. However, retail experts seriously doubt the ability of some of these chains to survive the imminent retail collapse.
For example, Best Buy has been hanging by a thread over the past few years and quietly closing more stores each year. Since 2019, over 80 Best Buy locations have disappeared from sight. And earlier this year, the chain announced plans "to close a higher number of stores." The company did not reveal the total number of closings. Media reports suggest that at least 600 locations are in financial distress. That is over half of the retailer’s footprint in the U.S. In a BizJournals.com article, Best Buy CEO Corie Barry predicted that supply chain issues, rising labor costs, and continued economic challenges could lead to a major manufacturing slowdown that could ripple through the markets, she said. Best Buy executives said they expected business to continue to taper. Right now, they’re putting their best strategies forward in an attempt to keep the business alive, or at least, part of it.
Similarly, Dollar General is rapidly disappearing from U.S. cities. The discount retailer recently confirmed that it is closing several locations in California, Colorado, Indiana, and Ohio. And the reason may also be the catalyst that drives the entire chain into bankruptcy. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Dollar General continues to expose workers to unsafe conditions. The U.S. Department inspected a large number of locations and cataloged many serious health safety violations Dollar General has refused to correct. Since 2017, OSHA has issued more than $15 million in fines and cited Dollar General in more than 180 inspections nationwide for numerous “willful, repeat and alarming workplace safety violations related to unsafe conditions”: “Exposing employees and others to these hazards can be dangerous, especially in an emergency,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer in Atlanta. “Dollar General is well aware of federal requirements, but they continue to ignore their legal responsibilities to protect their employees at stores throughout the nation.” The struggling company is now facing another millionaire lawsuit – one that can literally push it over the edge.
At this point, retailers must prove their worth to U.S. customers and show why they deserve a spot in this increasingly competitive industry. Only the best-positioned brands will be able to navigate through the crisis that is developing across the sector, and many will likely die out before the year ends. The stakes are incredibly high, and no one knows what may happen next in the industry, so take the opportunity to go to your favorite store before a black swan event occurs, drastically changing the scenario from bad to completely disastrous. That's why in today's video, we compiled a series of retail stores that are at risk of going dark for good in the coming weeks and months, and some that are already liquidating all of their assets and saying farewell for their customers."
Comments here:
"Putin Warns Nato: 'We Haven't Even Started Yet'"
Full screen recommended.
Redacted, 4/28/23
"Putin Warns Nato: 'We Haven't Even Started Yet'"
"Ukraine launched massive attacks in the Donbass region this weekend. The mainstream media doesn't seem to care. Meanwhile Ukraine has changed its goals from "survival" to "victory." What does victory mean? More money and weapons from the west. President Putin says that if Ukraine wants to escalate on the battlefield, Russia is ready."
Comments here:
Musical Interlude: 2002, "Return To Freedom"
Full screen recommended.
2002, "Return To Freedom"
Beautiful...
"A Look to the Heavens"
“NGC 253 is not only one of the brightest spiral galaxies visible, it is also one of the dustiest. Discovered in 1783 by Caroline Herschel in the constellation of Sculptor, NGC 253 lies only about ten million light-years distant.
NGC 253 is the largest member of the Sculptor Group of Galaxies, the nearest group to our own Local Group of Galaxies. The dense dark dust accompanies a high star formation rate, giving NGC 253 the designation of starburst galaxy. Visible in the above photograph is the active central nucleus, also known to be a bright source of X-rays and gamma rays.”
"Only One Question..."
"There's only one question that matters, and it's the one you never get around to asking. People are capable of varying degrees of truth. The majority spend their entire lives fabricating an elaborate skein of lies, immersing themselves in the faith of bad faith, doing whatever it takes to feel safe. The person who truly lives has precious few moments of safety, learns to thrive in any kind of storm. It's the truth you can stare down stone-cold that makes you what you are. Weak or strong. Live or die. Prove yourself. How much truth can you take?"
- Karen Marie Moning
Paulo Coelho, "Killing Our Dreams"
"Killing Our Dreams"
by Paulo Coelho
"The first symptom of the process of our killing our dreams is the lack of time. The busiest people I have known in my life always have time enough to do everything. Those who do nothing are always tired and pay no attention to the little amount of work they are required to do. They complain constantly that the day is too short. The truth is, they are afraid to fight the Good Fight.
The second symptom of the death of our dreams lies in our certainties. Because we don’t want to see life as a grand adventure, we begin to think of ourselves as wise and fair and correct in asking so little of life. We look beyond the walls of our day-to-day existence, and we hear the sound of lances breaking, we smell the dust and the sweat, and we see the great defeats and the fire in the eyes of the warriors. But we never see the delight, the immense delight in the hearts of those who are engaged in the battle. For them, neither victory nor defeat is important; what’s important is only that they are fighting the Good Fight.
And, finally, the third symptom of the passing of our dreams is peace. Life becomes a Sunday afternoon; we ask for nothing grand, and we cease to demand anything more than we are willing to give. In that state, we think of ourselves as being mature; we put aside the fantasies of our youth, and we seek personal and professional achievement. We are surprised when people our age say that they still want this or that out of life. But really, deep in our hearts, we know that what has happened is that we have renounced the battle for our dreams – we have refused to fight the Good Fight.
When we renounce our dreams and find peace, we go through a short period of tranquility. But the dead dreams begin to rot within us and to infect our entire being. We become cruel to those around us, and then we begin to direct this cruelty against ourselves. That’s when illnesses and psychoses arise. What we sought to avoid in combat – disappointment and defeat – come upon us because of our cowardice. And one day, the dead, spoiled dreams make it difficult to breathe, and we actually seek death. It’s death that frees us from our certainties, from our work, and from that terrible peace of our Sunday afternoons."
The Poet: Mary Oliver, "One"
"One"
"The mosquito is so small
it takes almost nothing to ruin it.
Each leaf, the same.
And the black ant, hurrying.
So many lives, so many fortunes!
Every morning, I walk softly and with forward glances
down to the ponds and through the pinewoods.
Mushrooms, even, have but a brief hour
before the slug creeps to the feast,
before the pine needles hustle down
under the bundles of harsh, beneficent rain.
How many, how many, how many
make up a world!
And then I think of that old idea: the singular
and the eternal.
One cup, in which everything is swirled
back to the color of the sea and sky.
Imagine it!
A shining cup, surely!
In the moment in which there is no wind
over your shoulder,
you stare down into it,
and there you are,
your own darling face, your own eyes.
And then the wind, not thinking of you, just passes by,
touching the ant, the mosquito, the leaf,
and you know what else!
How blue is the sea, how blue is the sky,
how blue and tiny and redeemable everything is, even you,
even your eyes, even your imagination."
~ Mary Oliver
"All Of The Available Data..."
“All of the available data show that the typical American citizen has about
as much interest in the life of the mind as does your average armadillo.”
- Morris Berman
Apologies to armadillos for the comparison...
"I Rescued A Human Today..."
"I Rescued A Human Today..."
"Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels. I felt her need instantly and knew I had to help her. I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn’t be afraid. As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage. I didn’t want her to know that I hadn’t been walked today. Sometimes the overworked shelter keepers get too busy and I didn’t want her to think poorly of them.
As she read my kennel card I hoped that she wouldn’t feel sad about my past. I only have the future to look forward to and want to make a difference in someone’s life.
She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me. I shoved my shoulder and side of my head up against the bars to comfort her. Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for companionship. A tear fell down her cheek and I raised my paw to assure her that all would be well. Soon my kennel door opened and her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms.
I would promise to keep her safe. I would promise to always be by her side. I would promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes.
I was so fortunate that she came down my corridor. So many more are out there who haven’t walked the corridors. So many more to be saved. At least I could save one. I rescued a human today.”
The Universe
"Believe me, I know all about it. I know the stress. I know the frustration. I know the temptations of time and space. We worked this out ahead of time. They're part of the plan. We knew this stuff might happen. Actually, you insisted they be triggered whenever you were ready to begin thinking thoughts you've never thought before. New thinking is always the answer.”
“Good on you,”
The Universe
“Thoughts become things... choose the good ones!”
"A Strange Honey..."
"Bad things will happen and good things too. Your life will be full of surprises. Miracles happen only where there has been suffering. So taste your grief to the fullest. Don't try and press it down. Don't hide from it. Don't escape. It is life too. It is truth. But it will pass and time will put a strange honey in the bitterness. That's the way life goes."
- Ben Okri
"They Are Going to Shut You Off"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, 4/28/23
"They Are Going to Shut You Off"
"You need to get yourself ready for the insurance industry shut down. You are going to see commercial insurance companies completely stop writing policies. They are also going to deny claims if they feel that you misrepresented the use of a truck or van."
Comments here:
Bill Bonner, "Conceits and Illusions"
"Conceits and Illusions"
The geriatric jackasses turning America's
exceptional past into a tawdry future...
by Bill Bonner
"How unbelievably stupid most of the debates you see on
television are. They're completely irrelevant. They mean nothing."
~ Tucker Carlson
Dublin, Ireland - "We follow neither politics nor the media, here at Bonner Private Research. But in the last few days two things happened in those sectors – and both may affect the sector we do cover, money. Tucker Carlson was fired from his top spot at Fox News. And Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., announced his campaign for president. Today and Monday, we look at what they have in common.
But first, on the money front, Bloomberg reports: "US in ‘Worst of Both Worlds’ With High Inflation, GDP Slowdown." "Gross domestic product rose an annualized 1.1% in the first quarter, notably less than the median forecast for 1.9% in Bloomberg’s survey, Bureau of Economic Analysis data showed Thursday. Frustratingly for the Fed, the central bank’s preferred core gauge of prices, which excludes food and energy, picked up to 4.9% in the January-through-March period, the quickest pace in a year."
Slower growth. Higher prices. What do you call that? Stag…something. Stag hunting? Stag party? No…stagflation! Thanks.
Too “Un-American?” And as to the ‘stag’ part, our old friend Richard Russell used to say that you can tell when a recession is really here when ‘the transports go down.’ When the trucks stop rolling, you know, the orders are drying up. Here’s the latest from the Wall Street Journal: "Sliding Diesel Prices Signal Warning for U.S. Economy." "A nationwide freight slowdown has helped cut U.S. diesel prices by half from last year’s record, raising concerns that parts of the world’s largest economy have begun to slow.
Wholesale diesel recently fell to $2.65 a gallon in New York Harbor, down from $5.34 last May, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent commodity markets haywire and turned prices advertised at gas stations into street-level reminders of inflation’s 40-year highs. Record diesel costs made it more expensive to operate excavators at construction sites, run machinery on farms, and haul goods from ports, rail yards or factory floors."
But let us leave that – like a whiff of diesel fuel on our hands after filling up the car – and get back in the driver’s seat. At least one of our readers abandoned us. We were “too un-American,” he said. Several have complained (especially during the reign of Donald Trump) that we spent too much time overseas and had lost touch with our roots. But our roots were never far away. We appreciate the native American oak as much as anyone. It’s the parasites up in the branches and the rotten wood in the center that we have never been fond of.
We’re speaking specifically about the ‘deciders’ and how they decided that they should make the decisions for the whole world. We are the ‘indispensable nation,’ as Madeleine Albright put it; they can’t live without us.
Geriatric Jackasses: The problem, to put it succinctly, is that America can no longer afford its conceits and illusions. With prices rising, we can no longer just ‘print’ money to pay for them. Finally, people are saying so.
There was a time when the tree was vigorous – exceptionally open, exceptionally free, and exceptionally prosperous. It was not perfect, by any means…but it was different from other nations. At least you could laugh at it in public; and even The New York Times would protect its sources and challenge the politicians. No more. America is still exceptionally amusing, but no longer free or prosperous…and The New York Times turns whistleblowers over to the FBI!
The geriatric jackasses – Biden, Pelosi, McConnell, Feinstein…Republican and Democrat – have made a mess of things. Their fiscal and monetary policies have been delusional failures. Trillions of dollars’ worth of ‘stimulus’ spending have slowed GDP growth, cut real wages, saddled the country with $93 trillion in debt, rewarded the rich with higher asset prices, made the poor dependent on handouts and brought consumer price inflation to everyone.
But none of this was what Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., had in mind when he announced his candidacy for president of the USA. Instead, he took aim at another grandiose failure: the American empire.
RFK, Jr: "As President, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will start the process of unwinding the empire. We will bring the troops home. We will stop racking up unpayable debt to fight one war after another. The military will return to its proper role of defending our country. We will end the proxy wars, bombing campaigns, covert operations, coups, paramilitaries, and everything else that has become so normal most people don’t know it’s happening. But it is happening, a constant drain on our strength. It’s time to come home and restore this country."
"When a warlike imperial nation disarms of its own accord, it sets a template for peace everywhere. It is not too late for us to voluntarily let go of empire and serve peace instead, as a strong and healthy nation."
A Phalanx of Phony: As far as we know, Mr. Kennedy is the first and only candidate to openly recognize that the US ain’t the indispensable nation it used to be…and to call for an end to the grotesque thing it has become. But the candidate understates the cost. In his campaign announcement, he referred to the Pentagon’s $800 billion budget. But the cost of maintaining the empire is far higher. Winslow Wheeler included all the obvious costs – the Pentagon budget, 800 US military bases around the world…planes, tanks, diversity training and other paraphernalia…and also added in the indirect costs…such as foreign aid, embassies, caring for veterans, etc. It was he who came to the $1.5 trillion figure. And this money has little to do with “defense” or “protecting the country.” America may have been exceptional, in the early days. Americans never were. Like all others, they are prey to the weaknesses to which flesh is heir – pride, sloth, lust, greed – and vanity. They could no more resist the lure of empire than a dipsomaniac could resist a vodka tonic.
As we were flying back to Ireland a couple of weeks ago, for example, there was Air Force One on the asphalt. Joe Biden was visiting. But there was Air Force Two too…just as big. And a whole phalanx of black vans, military and spook personnel, and an entourage that must have numbered in the hundreds. The trip – which was of no apparent benefit to the US – was just part of the posturing, politicking and pontificating that goes on all the time.
NPR reported that the trip was “deeply personal.” Then, why didn’t he just fly United, like the rest of us? More to come…"
Jim Kunstler, "On War and Wars"
"On War and Wars"
By Jim Kunstler
“When we see the few truth-tellers who are the stars of their organizations jettisoned - Tucker Carlson from Fox News, Matt Taibbi from Rolling Stone, Glenn Greenwald from The Intercept, James O’Keefe from Project Veritas… we must face the fact that there is an organized conspiracy to suppress truth.” - Paul Craig Roberts
"The weird part the news media isn’t telling you about World War Three is that America’s main enemy in this struggle is the US Government itself. America is looking like that crazy person on the street, punching himself in the head. How else do you explain this epic act of national self-destruction?
The “Joe Biden” regime is “standing up for our democracy” by trying to silence all and any public speech about what it does in the world and how it treats its own citizens. Meanwhile, the entire scaffold of American life crumbles and you are supposed to not notice it’s happening. The funny part is that the Democratic Party thinks this is an election strategy. The funniest part of the funny part is that we bother holding elections at all.
You understand, “Joe Biden” is only pretending to run for president again, in the same way that he only pretended to be president the past two years. Are we to believe, for instance, that the old zombie has become a fervent Maoist? Or that he follows any known structured political philosophy at all, other than cashing checks that favor-seekers from all nations send his way? “Joe Biden” is pretending to run - no matter how preposterous it seems - because his handlers know that only a titanic pretense of political strength can stave off the reveal of his family’s awesome criminality and the fall of everyone hitched to that wagon.
So much for the funny stuff. Things are getting to the point where we stop laughing. It’s only a question now of how the calamity rolls out. There are so many more parts to it and they are all out-of-hand in the most disastrous way. The Ukraine project is a big part. It was prodigiously stupid to provoke a war there and the side we backed, the Nazi-ish Zelensky regime, has already lost. You just don’t know it because the American news business is a joke on the American public. It reports nothing honestly.
Ukraine is the last in a string of hapless military adventures that has exhausted America’s credibility in the world, especially as regards our military superiority. (Think: Russia’s Kinzhal hypersonic missile.) There will be many unexpected consequences of that failure. One will be the crack-up of NATO, which has only been a false front for American military power. Germany couldn’t fight its way out of a duffle bag with what it’s got, and it is supposedly Europe’s leading economic power. The sad truth is that it will stop being any kind of power without the cheap Russian Natgas it was running on, and later this year Germany will be in a panic to try and restore its horribly damaged trade relations with Russia to get that natgas. Since NATO’s essential mission is to oppose Russia on everything, that will be the end of NATO. Europe will return to what it has always been: a region of squabbling national interests. Let’s hope Europe does not become again the slaughterhouse it was in the last century.
The failure of the Ukraine project could easily stimulate a collapse in Europe’s banking system, which would instantly spread to America’s banking system as obligations dissolve and payments stop. The net effect of all that will be the vanishing of a whole lot of capital, including the money in bank accounts, the money invested in stocks and bonds, the money lodged in pension plans, and the money controlled by insurance companies. As I’ve mentioned before - it’s worth repeating - you can go broke two ways: you can have no money, or you can have money that’s worthless. We’ve been steadily following the latter path through the “Joe Biden” years, but we’re close to simply not having money at all. Being broke will get Americans’ attention. And the first place they’ll look is the party in power.
Multiple scandals have finally caught up to “Joe Biden” and are escaping the formidable suppression apparatus erected by the Deep State’s legal department. Attorney General Merrick Garland himself is now directly implicated in obstruction of justice by an IRS whistleblower. The allegation is that Mr. Garland interfered in the case against Hunter Biden in the Delaware US attorney’s office and lied about it to Congress. On top of that comes a new allegation, with hard documentary evidence (testimony by former Acting CIA Director Mike Morell), that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan arranged, as “Biden” campaign officials in 2020, for fifty-one intel officers, including five retired CIA directors, to sign a phony letter denouncing the Hunter laptop as a Russian disinfo project, knowing it to be untrue. A case can be made for that amounting to election interference.
All that is fairly fresh news. For many months, it’s been known that Rep. James Comer (R-KY), Chair of the House Oversight Committee, has possession of bank records that show more than a hundred instances of the decanting of millions of dollars from foreign lands into various Biden family accounts. Doesn’t look good. Looks impeachable.
On top of all that, observers are reporting that more than ten thousand illegal immigrants a day will be crossing into the USA from Mexico in the weeks ahead. Alejandro Mayorkas’s Dept. of Homeland Security and Mr. Blinken’s State Department have made arrangements with international NGOs working through the UN, to systematically conduct these immigrants across the border, furnishing them with pre-cooked phony asylum documents. This week, Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) introduced legislation to allow unrestricted immigration to any person claiming to be LBGTQ. Co-sponsors of the bill include Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. How is any of this a re-election strategy?It’s not. If these matters are not adjudicated, it will be a civil war strategy."
Gregory Mannarino, "The Stock Market Black Hole Just Got Worse!"
You and I are not in the Big Club."
- George Carlin
Your guide:
Gregory Mannarino, 4/28/23
"The Stock Market Black Hole Just Got Worse!
FED Admits Inflation Is Still Rising!"
Comments here:
o
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"Strange Prices At Costco! Stock Up Before It's Gone! What's Coming?"
Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 4/28/23
"Strange Prices At Costco!
Stock Up Before It's Gone! What's Coming?"
"In today's vlog we are at Costco, and are noticing price increases on many different items. With prices going up all around the world, we continue our mission to find the best deals on groceries, to help save everyone money. We do try some new products from Costco today that we highly recommend!"
Comments here:
"‘I Cry Quietly’: A Soldier Describes the Toll of Russia’s War"
Full screen recommended.
"‘I Cry Quietly’:
A Soldier Describes the Toll of Russia’s War"
"For Valentyn, a Ukrainian soldier in the Donetsk region, the war’s death toll is more than a statistic. He is tasked with moving wounded troops - and dead bodies - away from the front lines, often under Russian fire."
"Under Russian Fire,
A Ukrainian Soldier Evacuates the Wounded"
By Yousur Al-Hlou and Masha Froliak
Near Kremmina, Ukraine - "The sound of artillery launching and landing along the front line punctures the stillness of the forest just a few miles away, where combat medics are waiting to receive the wounded. On the horizon, a military vehicle moves along a dusty road and screeches to a halt when it reaches the trees. A soldier named Valentyn parks it there for natural camouflage from Russian drones scouting for Ukrainian military positions.
A group of soldiers, visibly shaken, quickly unloads three bodies that have just been recovered from the front line, placing each one into a plastic body bag and zipping it closed. Their position was shelled and then attacked by a drone, they say. “They’re shooting at you from all sides. You turn, you run, they hit you, and it’s impossible to get away,” said Maksym, who survived the attack. “This is a big tragedy for us.” “One more body is left behind with the Russian soldiers,” he added.
While much of the world’s attention has fixated on the bloody urban battle taking place in Bakhmut, Russia’s campaign in eastern Ukraine is also raging in forests and fields about 50 miles north of the city, near Kreminna. Here, soldiers take positions in trenches surrounded by tall, slim trees, crouching to avoid the direct line of sight of their Russian enemies. “People say it’s harsh in Bakhmut,” said Valentyn, who joined the army seven months ago. “But it’s harsh here, too.”
For the past month, Valentyn has been stationed at this evacuation point, traveling back and forth to the front line almost daily to rescue wounded soldiers and recover the dead. His job requires him to drive directly toward Russian forces, and he has come under fire at times. “There is nothing good about it,” Valentyn said. “What is this war for?”
Ukrainian and Russian military officials have been reluctant to release data on casualties within their ranks, though the U.S. government and military experts estimate that both sides have suffered significant losses in the tens or hundreds of thousands.
For Valentyn, the work of responding to the casualties has been both grim and relentless. “There is blood everywhere,” he said, while cleaning it from his vehicle. “It has a smell. Especially fresh blood.” Bright red liquid trickled through his fingers as he rinsed out a bloodied cloth. He drained the cloth and used it again to wipe off the back seat. “It’s difficult to see young boys die,” Valentyn said. “Sometimes I cry quietly.”
In calmer moments when there is no one to evacuate, Valentyn travels deep into the forest to transport soldiers to and from the contact line, where Ukrainian and Russian soldiers are sometimes positioned just hundreds of meters apart. He said at least one group of soldiers couldn’t make it to their position because Russian troops had already taken it over.
“Every day is scary here,” said Viktor, a soldier who returned with Valentyn. “I feel constant anxiety, for our country and our lives.” His stoic face reflected the fear and horror known only to those who had witnessed the fight in the forest. “Those who haven’t been there will never understand.”
Don't you dare look away! You, and me and all of us have paid at least $200 billion for this nightmare! The blood he's cleaning up is on all our hands, too...
Thursday, April 27, 2023
"Putin Assassination Attempt In Moscow; Troops Deployed Atop Nuclear Reactors"
Canadian Prepper 4/27/23
"Putin Assassination Attempt In Moscow;
Troops Deployed Atop Nuclear Reactors"
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o
Scott Ritter, 4/27/23
"Leaked Documents Reveal Ukraine
Planned An Attack on Moscow"
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"The Crash Of A Lifetime Is Unstoppable, We Got Massive Trouble"
Jeremiah Babe, 4/27/23
"The Crash Of A Lifetime Is Unstoppable, We Got Massive Trouble"
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"Walmart Is Falling Apart Before Our Eyes As Multiple Store Closings Begin"
Full screen recommended.
"Walmart Is Falling Apart Before Our Eyes
As Multiple Store Closings Begin"
by Epic Economist
"As it turns out, Walmart is facing challenges bigger than anyone thought. A second round of store closings was just announced, and the company is saying that half of its stores in one major U.S. city will be permanently shut down because they are losing tens of millions of dollars every year. Many locations are underperforming right now as shoppers complain about double-digit price increases at Walmart and turn to other retailers for “greater” value. The big-box retail chain is also in a complicated financial condition, missing investors’ earnings expectations and reporting growing cash flow problems. The situation has become so alarming that one industry CEO is warning about a flood of bankruptcies in the sector in 2023 as America’s biggest retailers cope with an increasing amount of distress.
Shoppers are noticing that prices at the big-box retailer have continued to rise in 2023 despite inflation numbers cooling down. For several quarters now, Walmart is losing sales and losing shoppers. As previously reported by GOBankingRates, a study from the value investing site ValueWalk found that Walmart grocery prices climbed by 21.5% over the past 12 months.
According to Walmart CFO John David Rainey, shoppers will have to prepare themselves for another year of price increases. In an interview with Reuters, the executive said the world’s biggest retailer might still have to raise prices to deal with higher costs. “We’re assuming that this year is going to be somewhat anomalous… [We’re] still feeling the effects of higher prices,” Rainey said.
However, this may further squeeze the company’s bottom line as more and more customers turn to discount stores. The outlook for Walmart in 2023 has suffered a drastic shift. In January, executives seemed to believe in the retailer’s ability to recoup its 2022 losses and report strong sales growth this year. But those views were shaken, and this week, the big-box store chain just announced another round of closings, citing poor financial performance at several locations.
The stores affected this time are located in DC, Georgia, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. The retailer confirmed it will lay off thousands of store employees and hundreds of hundreds of workers at five fulfillment centers across the US.
More worryingly, Walmart is permanently shuttering half of its stores in the city of Chicago. “The simplest explanation is that collectively our Chicago stores have not been profitable since we opened the first one nearly 17 years ago – these stores lose tens of millions of dollars a year, and their annual losses nearly doubled in just the last five years,” it revealed.
Walmart’s troubles should alarm everyone in the industry. According to CNBC, due to its massive size and substantial market share, Walmart is considered a barometer for the nation's economy as a whole. So any trends we're seeing in Walmart will likely be reflected in your local grocery store as well.
Everything is falling apart faster than anyone predicted, and even the biggest chains are struggling to survive in such a difficult environment. If the biggest retailer in the world is coping with this many challenges, smaller companies will likely experience even more serious problems this year. The retail apocalypse spares no one, and the next chapters of this crisis will chill many people to the core."
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Gerald Celente, "GDP Number Weak; Prepare: Worst Is Yet To Come"
Strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, 4/27/23
"GDP Number Weak; Prepare: Worst Is Yet To Come"
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"The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current
events forming future trends. Find out more here: - https://trendsjournal.com
"A Look to the Heavens"
"Some spiral galaxies are seen nearly sideways. Most bright stars in spiral galaxies swirl around the center in a disk, and seen from the side, this disk can appear quite thin. Some spiral galaxies appear even thinner than NGC 3717, which is actually seen tilted just a bit. Spiral galaxies form disks because the original gas collided with itself and cooled as it fell inward. Planets may orbit in disks for similar reasons.
The featured image by the Hubble Space Telescope shows a light-colored central bulge composed of older stars beyond filaments of orbiting dark brown dust. NGC 3717 spans about 100,000 light years and lies about 60 million light years away toward the constellation of the Water Snake (Hydra)."
Chet Raymo, "Know Thyself"
"Know Thyself"
by Chet Raymo
"The ancient Greek aphorism, attributed to Socrates and others. Good advice, I'm sure. If only we knew what it means. Is it the same as the "examination of conscience" we were asked to perform as young Catholics? "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned." Well, yes, it is good to ask ourselves if we have lived up to our highest moral aspirations. But surely "Know thyself" means more than that.
Does it mean to be aware of our self-awareness? That is to say, not to act impulsively, but reflectively. Thoreau's "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."
Or perhaps it means to apply the method of scientia to the problem of consciousness, treat the mind like a fish that can be dissected at the lab bench, watch the brain flickering on the display of a scanning machine as the subject is stimulated with love, sex, fear, music, pain. Neuroscience. Daniel Dennet's book audaciously titled "Consciousness Explained." There is a line from a poem by Jane Hirshfield, in which she questions herself: "A knife cannot cut itself open/ yet you ask me both to be you and to know you."
Is it hopeless then? Is there an essential absurdity in a thing knowing itself? Does knowing necessarily imply a knower more complex than the thing known? Is it possible that we might fully understand, say, the neurology of the sea slug Aplysia, that favorite subject of experimental neurobiologists with only 20,000 central nerve cells, big nerve cells, ten times bigger than human neurons, but not the workings of the human brain, with its 100 billion nerve cells, each one connected to thousands of others?
Hirshfield's poem is titled "Instant Glimpsable Only For An Instant." Perhaps that is the best we can do. To know ourselves in those fleeting moments of recognition than come now and then, often unbidden, sometimes as the result of a chance encounter with beauty or with ugliness, sometimes bidden out of the silence and solitude of meditation - a flash upon one's inward eye that is, perhaps, all the ancients were asking for when they asked us to "know ourselves."
○
"Instant Glimpsable Only For An Instant"
"Moment. Moment. Moment.
- equal inside you, moment,
the velocitous mountains and cities rising and falling,
songs of children, iridescence even of beetles.
It is not you the locust can strip of all leaf.
Untouchable green at the center,
the wolf too lopes past you and through you as he eats.
Insult to mourn you, you who mourn no one, unable.
Without transformation,
yours the role of the chorus, to whom nothing happens.
The living step forward: choosing to enter, to lose.
I, who am made of you only,
speak these words against your unmasterable instruction -
A knife cannot cut itself open,
yet you ask me both to be you and to know you."
~ Jane Hirshfield
“Life, Explained To You”
“Life, Explained To You”
Author Unknown
“On the first day God created the dog. God said, “Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. I will give you a life span of twenty years.” The dog said, “That’s too long to be barking. Give me ten years and I’ll give you back the other ten.” So God agreed.
On the second day God created the monkey. God said, “Entertain people, do monkey tricks and make them laugh. I’ll give you a twenty-year life span.” The monkey said, “Monkey tricks for twenty years? I don’t think so. Dog gave you back ten, so that’s what I’ll do too, okay?” And God agreed.
On the third day God created the cow. “You must go to the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves, and give milk to support the farmer. I will give you a life span of sixty years.” The cow said, “That’s kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. Let me have twenty and I’ll give back the other forty.” And God agreed again.
On the fourth day God created man. God said, “Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. I’ll give you twenty years.” Man said, “What? Only twenty years? Tell you what, I’ll take my twenty, and the forty the cow gave back, and the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back, that makes eighty, okay?” “Okay,” said God, “You’ve got a deal.”
So that is why the first twenty years we eat, sleep, play, and enjoy ourselves; the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family; the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren; and the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.”
“Life has now been explained to you.”
"Here We Are..."
"Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why."
- Kurt Vonnegut
o
But perhaps there's something that transcends "no why..."
"If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering. The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity - even under the most difficult circumstances - to add a deeper meaning to his life. It may remain brave, dignified and unselfish. Or in the bitter fight for self-preservation he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal. Here lies the chance for a man either to make use of or to forgo the opportunities of attaining the moral values that a difficult situation may afford him. And this decides whether he is worthy of his sufferings or not."
- Viktor Frankl
"15 Signs That Amazon Stores Are In Deep, Deep Trouble"
"15 Signs That Amazon Stores Are In Deep, Deep Trouble"
By Epic Economist
"When even one of the most powerful and better-established retailers in the whole world is scrambling to navigate through the storm that is hitting the retail sector right now, then you know for sure that something really scary is happening. Amazon, the largest online retailer and tech powerhouse in the globe, is coping with a series of challenges that range from billionaire losses, crashing stock value, mass store closings, layoffs, negative profits, and a chilling outlook for 2023 and beyond. At this moment, we are watching one of the biggest players in the market being absolutely crushed in the brick-and-mortar sector as high inflation and soaring interest rates affect businesses and consumers alike.
For example, Amazon is shuttering dozens of Whole Foods stores all over the U.S. as cash-strapped consumers turn to big-box and discount retailers to stretch their dollars as far as they possibly can. A source familiar with the matter told Insider that many more locations may soon be on the chopping block given that the organic grocery chain is struggling with declining profits for several quarters now. Even CEO Andy Jassy has admitted that Amazon is postponing new store openings and canceling plans for new locations until they figure out how to differentiate themselves from other established competitors in the market.
Since Amazon bought the organic supermarket chain in 2017, very little has been done to boost the growth of the business, says Lesley Hansell of Riverbend Consulting, a retail consultancy firm. Amazon is failing to adapt to the food sector’s wafer-thin profit margins. And the company is losing the competition against other major grocery retailers who already have consumers in their pocket. Retail consultant Richard Hyman said that Amazon decided to enter a highly competitive industry without fully considering where it fits in this market, and it is going up against food retailers that have had decades to master a complicated trade. “Being big on its own is nowhere near enough to be good,” he told Insider. “Amazon is not a retailer, it’s a tech company, and their absolute core competence is in tech, where they should’ve stayed.”
While Walmart, the largest grocer in the U.S., has over 25% of the grocery market share, according to Euromonitor, Kroger has just over 8%, and Albertsons has roughly 5%, Amazon commands just 1.2% of sales in the grocery market. If anything, Amazon seems lost when it comes to opening a viable grocery chain, says retail consultant Brittain Ladd, who formerly worked as a strategist for the company’s grocery business. “Unfortunately, Amazon right now does not have any strategy for physical grocery stores, just a bunch of ideas,” Ladd highlighted. “
This is the carnage we’ve been warned about, and the worst is yet to come! Many factors will continue to impact Amazon’s brick-and-mortar business, especially if the company doesn’t make the necessary changes to restructure its operations and understand consumer behavior in the physical retail environment. Many more doors could be shuttered for good in the months ahead, hundreds of thousands of jobs are on the line, and the potential of a financial and economic downturn just makes the situation increasingly threatening. The retail sector is facing the most drastic shift we have ever seen in our lifetime, and not even the biggest names in the industry will be able to escape from it! Today, we decided to compile several facts that reveal why Amazon’s retail stores are being financially eviscerated and why they are doomed to fail."
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"In All Seriousness..."
"Thomas Edison said in all seriousness: "There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the labor of thinking"- if we bother with facts at all, we hunt like bird dogs after the facts that bolster up what we already think- and ignore all the others! We want only the facts that justify our acts- the facts that fit in conveniently with our wishful thinking and justify our preconceived prejudices. As Andre Maurois put it: "Everything that is in agreement with our personal desires seems true. Everything that is not puts us into a rage." Is it any wonder, then, that we find it so hard to get at the answers to our problems? Wouldn't we have the same trouble trying to solve a second-grade arithmetic problem, if we went ahead on the assumption that two plus two equals five? Yet there are a lot of people in this world who make life a hell for themselves and others by insisting that two plus two equals five- or maybe five hundred!"
- Dale Carnegie
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