"A Look to the Heavens"

“Point your telescope toward the high flying constellation Pegasus and you can find this expanse of Milky Way stars and distant galaxies. Centered on NGC 7814, the pretty field of view would almost be covered by a full moon. NGC 7814 is sometimes called the Little Sombrero for its resemblance to the brighter more famous M104, the Sombrero Galaxy.  

 Click image for larger size.

Both Sombrero and Little Sombrero are spiral galaxies seen edge-on, and both have extensive central bulges cut by a thinner disk with dust lanes in silhouette. In fact, NGC 7814 is some 40 million light-years away and an estimated 60,000 light-years across. That actually makes the Little Sombrero about the same physical size as its better known namesake, appearing to be smaller and fainter only because it is farther away. A very faint dwarf galaxy, potentially a satellite of NGC 7814, is revealed in the deep exposure just below the Little Sombrero.”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131025.html

"Mark Strand on Dreams: A Lyrical Love Letter to Where We Go When We Go to Sleep"

"Mark Strand on Dreams: 

A Lyrical Love Letter to Where We Go When We Go to Sleep"

“Something nameless hums us into sleep… 

We feel dreamed by someone else, a sleeping counterpart…”

by Maria Popova

"The mystery of dreams has always bewitched humanity, tickling art and science in equal measure. Freud was besotted with it when he laid the foundation for the study of the subject, as was his eccentric niece Tom when she illustrated that gem of a vintage children’s book about dreams. Dostoyevsky found the meaning of life in a dream, and so did Margaret Mead. Leonard Bernstein sought the solution to his sexual identity confusion and the key to the creative process in his dreams.

However detached from the reality of life dreams may seem, they affect our every waking moment and even help us regulate our negative moods. And yet, try as we might to control our dreams, we still know so very little about where we go when we slip into that nocturnal wonderland. For all the advances science has made, it still seems best left to the poets - and the best of poets only.

In one of the many masterpieces in his "Collected Poems" (public library), Pulitzer-winning poet and MacArthur “genius” Mark Strand (April 11, 1934–November 29, 2014) explores the delicate and disorienting world of dreams with unparalleled elegance. The poem is a supreme testament to Strand’s belief that it is the artist’s task to bear witness to the universe, within and without."

"Dreams"

"Trying to recall the plot

And characters we dreamed,

     What life was like

Before the morning came,

We are seldom satisfied,

     And even then

There is no way of knowing

If what we know is true.

     Something nameless

Hums us into sleep,

Withdraws, and leaves us in

     A place that seems

Always vaguely familiar.

Perhaps it is because

     We take the props

And fixtures of our days

With us into the dark,

     Assuring ourselves

We are still alive. And yet

Nothing here is certain;

     Landscapes merge

With one another, houses

Are never where they should be,

     Doors and windows

Sometimes open out

To other doors and windows,

     Even the person

Who seems most like ourselves

Cannot be counted on,

     For there have been

Too many times when he,

Like everything else, has done

     The unexpected.

And as the night wears on,

The dim allegory of ourselves

     Unfolds, and we

Feel dreamed by someone else,

A sleeping counterpart,

     Who gathers in

The darkness of his person

Shades of the real world.

     Nothing is clear;

We are not ever sure

If the life we live there

     Belongs to us.

Each night it is the same;

Just when we’re on the verge

     Of catching on,

A sense of our remoteness

Closes in, and the world

     So lately seen

Gradually fades from sight.

We wake to find the sleeper

     Is ourselves

And the dreamt-of is someone who did

Something we can’t quite put

     Our finger on,

But which involved a life

We are always, we feel,

     About to discover."

Complement the immeasurably rewarding "Collected Poems" with Strand on the heartbeat of creative work and his lyrical love letter to clouds.”

- https://www.brainpickings.org/

Chet Raymo, "Asperges Me, Domine "

"Asperges Me, Domine"

by Chet Raymo

"Our earliest mammalian ancestors were presumably nocturnal - to escape the predations of dinosaurs - but for most of human history we have been afraid of the dark, huddling in caves around stuttering fires, curled together in darkness like mice in a burrow. Night belonged to animals with big, dark-adapted eyes and sharp teeth, to footpads and graverobbers, to werewolves and vampires. Ironically, it was with the coming of electric illumination that it became reasonably safe to go out and about at night, even as the illumination erased the best reason to do so.

William Blake called day Earth's "blue mundane shell... a hard coating of matter that separates us from Eternity." At night we peer into infinity, awash in a myriad of stars. We creep to the door of the cave and look up into the Milky Way and catch a glimpse of divinity - everlasting, all-embracing, utterly unknowable. Night - that cone of shadow, that wizard's cap of spells and omens - is the chink in Earth's shell through which we court Ultimate Mystery the way Pyramus courted Thisbe.

Which is why, I suppose, that whenever I think of "the porch" of people who visit here, I imagine Carolina rockers on a southern summer verandah, far from city lights, Vega, Deneb and Altair swimming in the Milky Way, fireflies flickering on the lawn. At some point the conversation ceases and we simply sit, rock, and listen to the sounds of the night- the whippoorwill, the bullfrog, the cricket and the owl - and let starlight fall upon our heads like a sprinkling of holy water."

- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/

"Asperges Me, Domine"

"Wash me, Lord. Sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be clean."

- The Catholic Mass

The Daily "Near You?"

Sherman, Texas, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"The Life Of Man..."

"The life of Man is a long march through the night, surrounded by invisible foes, tortured by weariness and pain, towards a goal that few can hope to reach, and where none may tarry long. One by one, as they march, our comrades vanish from our sight, seized by the silent orders of omnipotent Death. Very brief is the time in which we can help them, in which their happiness or misery is decided. Be it ours to shed sunshine on their path, to lighten their sorrows by the balm of sympathy, to give them the pure joy of a never-tiring affection, to strengthen failing courage, to instill faith in times of despair."

- Bertrand Russell

"Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 5/19/23"

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 5/19/23

"F-16s to Ukraine/ More Aid to Ukraine?/ 

Zelenskyy at G7 - Tony Shaffer"

Video and comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

"US Preparing For Ukraine War To Become A 'Frozen Conflict'"

"Communism for the Rich"

"Communism for the Rich"

by Charles Hugh Smith

"My critics sometimes accuse me of being a communist, of all things. I must say, the irony of being accused of being a communist by many of these people is incredibly rich. That’s because the policies I advocate in my writings are far, far more “free market” than any of theirs. I find my critics hide behind the slogan of free market capitalism, while practicing something entirely different - crony capitalism.

What does it mean to be a crony capitalist? It means you don’t rely upon the free and competitive market to earn your profits. You depend instead upon government support in one form or another. Big Pharma and Big Defense are probably the most prominent examples of crony capitalism most people are familiar with. And just look at their profits over the past couple of years. How would they make out on the free and fair market without working hand-in-glove with government?

Meanwhile, the policies I advocate depend upon free people making free decisions. Mankind’s history shows that this is the way to a better tomorrow.

My Critics Doth Protest Too Much: But when I point out that "free market capitalism" in America is neither a real market nor real capitalism, those who equate any criticism of "capitalism" as proof of communist leanings are triggered. The irony is that I've spent 17 years tirelessly critiquing centralized wealth and power - the acme of communism - as the source of our moral, social and economic decay.

Another irony is that communism is absolutely thriving in America in broad daylight: The monopolies, quasi-monopolies and cartels that dominate the American economy and governance are Communism for the Rich.

The core goals and functions of communism and monopolies/cartels are identical: Snuff out unfettered markets (competition, transparent price information for all participants, etc.) and take control of all market functions…Restricting supply and controlling all regulation with the sole goals of further concentrating centralized power and maximizing steady profits (i.e. maximum greed) to benefit those who own/control the concentrated wealth and power. And of course both pump out an endless spew of propaganda about the wonderfulness of the system that benefits the few at the expense of the many.

A Private-Public Politburo: This centralized power to benefit the few at the expense of the many characterizes both communism and monopolies/cartels. There is no difference between the two other than the structures of control that eliminate competitors, regulate supply and keep prices high enough to further enrich the already-rich.

Those operating monopolies and cartels in America are in effect a private-public Politburo, a concentration of wealth that buys whatever political power is needed to increase profits and protect the monopoly from threats. What's unfettered in America is Communism for the Rich and the normalization of corruption that results from the auctioning of political power to protect monopolies and cartels. "Markets" and "capitalism" only exist on the fringes of the economy.

But the myth that America is the home of "unfettered capitalism" is extremely useful cover for the actual system, which is Communism for the Rich. And you can’t really talk about Communism for the Rich without addressing the key role central banks like the Fed play. They help make it possible, but they’d like you to think it’s “just the normal way things work.”

The Central Bank Cult: The ideal cult convinces its followers that it isn't a cult, it's simply the natural order of things. In current terms, this normalizes insane behaviors and beliefs. Sacrificing youth to appease the gods isn't a cult; it's simply the natural order of things. If we don't sacrifice youth, bad things will happen, so we have to follow the natural order of things.

Despite the lofty claims made by our rational mind, we want to hear and obey the voices of the gods. This nonrational desire is the root of cults and episodes of mass hysteria, i.e., the madness of crowds.

Humanity is in the grip of the secular cult of central banking. The cult's seers and prophets periodically emerge with arcane signs and readings, offering divinations to guide the followers. The motivation to believe the cult is the natural order of things is powerful: greed. Those who heed the oracles of the cult enrich themselves, unbelievers impoverish themselves.

Rationalists outside the cult discern the structure of the cult and its core beliefs. The cult creates credit and "money" out of thin air and distributes it to the few extremely wealthy to further expand their wealth. These few do not improve productivity or the well-being of the many; they use the cult's gifts to exploit the cult's rigged casino of speculation to maximize their private gains.

The Cult’s Core Beliefs: In other words, the cult benefits the few at the expense of the many - Communism for the Rich - while proclaiming it benefits everyone. This is of course insane. The cult's core beliefs are:

1) enriching the already-rich magically trickles down benefits to the masses, and 

2) this vast enrichment of the already-wealthy is cost-free. The economy prospers with no downside or consequences other than the glorious expansion of wealth at the top and the trickle-down of sweet goodness to the masses.

This is of course insane. The costs are borne by the masses and by the socioeconomic system, which is now in thrall to a cult that has made the economy dependent on an ever-expanding credit bubble that feeds an ever-expanding asset bubble, which then enables a further expansion of credit, which then fuels ever-higher assets prices. And so on, forever, because the cult and its ever-expanding bubble are the natural order of things. If we don't sacrifice the many to benefit the few, the sun will stop rising and the Earth will be cast into endless shadow.

This is of course insane, but greed is a powerful motivation to be an ardent believer in the central banking cult. Expanding credit based on the expanding collateral of asset bubbles, each feeding the other, is held up not as insane but as a financial perpetual-motion machine, overseen and managed by the seers and prophets of the central bank cult.

Followers heeding the cult's oracles become rich, nonbelievers and skeptics become impoverished. Alas, cults and bubbles both come to an inglorious end. What seemed self-evidently true for the ages is revealed as a brief moment of self-serving delusion, supported by the immense powers of greed and the madness of crowds.

Do you hear the voices of the gods? Yes, yes, oh yes."

- https://dailyreckoning.com/

o

Very strong language alert!

"It's a Big Club and you ain't in it. You and I are not in the Big Club." "It's called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it."

- George Carlin

"How It Really Is"

Oh no we haven't, not even close. 

This is just beginning, and you ain't seen nuthin' yet, but you will...

"California Dreamin’"

"California Dreamin’"

Reparations, America's hard-working families and

 the politicians stoking division and distrust between us all...

by Bill Bonner and Joel Bowman

Youghal, Ireland - Larry Elder’s smile sparkled with mischief. The black talk-show host was being interviewed. ‘What did he think of reparations?’ was the question. Elder laughed. “Kamala Harris is half black. Her father says his ancestor – a white man – owned slaves. So what are they going to do? Is she going to pay reparations? Or get a check? “And how about Colin Kaepernick? He was raised by a white family. Are his parents, the people who raised him, supposed to send him a check?”

We thought of our granddaughter. Should she get a check to compensate for the hurt she never felt from alleged hurters who never hurt her? She is part black. But she is also part Philippina. Surely, she should get an even bigger check for the hurt inflicted by the US army when it put down the ‘Tagalog Insurgency’ (as many as 1 million died) in 1899. And how about some reparations from the English? They sold her Scottish great-grandfather into indentured slavery (in Maryland!) in the 18th century. And they murdered and starved her Irish great-grandparents in the 17th century.

Righting the wrongs of the distant past can get messy! Where do you stop? Should American Jews get reparations from Iraq for the Babylonian Captivity?

America’s Hard-Working Families: But every day we give thanks. What luck! To be alive today, when all the wrongs are behind us. Today, we no longer do bad things. We only do good things. And since we no longer do bad things ourselves, we can focus on correcting the bad things others do – TikTok, Putin, White Supremacists, people who drive autos with internal combustion engines, and even our remote ancestors.

Yesterday, we highlighted how Ms. Yellen is eager to do a good thing – to raise the debt ceiling. It is in anticipation of the 81st ‘debt deal,’ say commentators this morning, that stocks are rising. According to their own estimates, the feds will spend roughly $60 trillion over the next 10 years. But they will only receive $40 trillion in tax revenue. That leaves a gap of $2 trillion per year, or $20 trillion total. Raising the debt ceiling will allow them to borrow the money so they can continue to do more good things for “America’s hard-working families (AHWF).”

Once again AHWF are the beneficiaries of Washington’s bounty. Every program is designed to help them in some way. If we are bombing people overseas it is a good thing - to make AHWF safer. If we are handing out free money to poor people, either at home or abroad, it is to keep the ragged ones from making trouble for AHWF. And if we are loading $20 trillion more in federal debt on their backs, that must be a good thing too; maybe it will improve their posture.

But among the many good things that our politicians propose, the promise of ‘reparations’ stands out. It is alarming to the prospective payors – AHWF – and almost grotesquely cruel to the prospective payees.

Free for Some: To set the stage… it’s a ‘white thing.’ California’s lawmakers committed the ultimate race crime; they set up their black brethren to make fools of themselves. They invited them to squabble over money they didn’t have and never were going to get. They convened a “Reparations Task Force” of 9 solid citizens – 8 of them black, one Asian – to decide how much money black Californians should get. Then, the committee decided that they…yes, they!…should get a lot of it. This was a little like asking a group of squirrels if they would like more nuts. Any appearance of impartiality or objectivity was dismissed. They wanted more. And now they were being asked ‘how much?’

First, the Task Force gave its opinion. Straight Arrow News: "California reparations task force report estimates $1.2M per Black resident." "California reparations task force released an estimate of the damage caused by the state's history of slavery and white supremacy. Then, others rushed to the microphone to say ‘that’s not enough.’ Fox: "Activists demand higher payments from California reparations task force: '$200 million' per person."

"An activist identified as Reverend Tony Pierce: "You know that the numbers should be equivocal to what an acre was back then. We were given 40, OK? We were given 40 acres. You know what that number is. You keep trying to talk about now, yet you research back to slavery and you say nothing about slavery, nothing," said Pierce. "So, the equivocal number from the 1860s for 40 acres to today is $200 million for each and every African-American."

But it wasn’t just about money. The Daily Mail: "California reparations task force says black people should be given PRIORITY in renting and buying." "California's reparations task force has said that black people should be given priority in the renting and buying market - and demanded that a state agency should have the veto power over real estate decisions to 'lessen racial segregation.'"

Black Thing, White Thing: By this stage, word had gotten out. It was like a game show on TV. The contestants were meant to scream, jump up and down and generally make spectacles of themselves. But they were all going to be winners. Pretty soon, others wanted to get into the act. The Daily Mail stays on the story: "Striking Oakland teachers return to class in exchange for 'Black reparations task force,' salary raises." "An Oakland school district teachers’ union strike that left over 34,000 students without instruction for nearly two weeks finally ended after the district agreed to pay teachers more and start a Black reparations task force. Around 3,000 educators and staff from Oakland Unified School District returned to work Tuesday after striking a tentative deal with the district to raise teacher salaries, help homeless Black students and create the reparations task force."

$1.2 million…$200 million…priority in real estate …help for homeless Black students…the purpose of the reparations was to salve a hurt. What else would it take to make the pain go away? The Daily Mail…"'Squad' member calls for $14 TRILLION in federal reparations for descendants of slaves." "A number of House Democrats led by Rep. Cori Bush introduced a resolution Thursday to reignite a push for federal reparations that would amount to over half the U.S. GDP."

"The $14 trillion figure is in line with the findings of Duke University professor and economist William 'Sandy' Darity, who estimates the wealth gap is in excess of $300,000 per person and there are roughly 40 million black people whose ancestors were enslaved in the U.S. Asked about the funding source of such a program, Bush suggested the nation reduce its spending abroad and on defense."

Sure, why not? If ‘Sandy’ says so. Besides, he’s got a point. The ‘defense’ budget is largely a waste of money. And think of what fun it would be to hand out $300,000 checks to each person in West Baltimore. But wait. Here comes the ‘white thing’….the old rug pull.

Gavin Newsom Declines Support For Reparation Checks For Black Residents: California Governor, Gavin Newsom, has declined to support the reparation checks for Black residents recommended by his reparations task force. Newsom said that the reparations, which were a way to mend the country’s history of slavery and racism, “were more than just cash payments”… The show had gotten out of control. Even by Newsom’s standards, it had become too absurd. It was appalling to the spectators and degrading to those who were being played by the politicians. ‘Tis a pity. There’s so much more good left to be done."

o

Joel’s Note: Meanwhile, here in Europe, a continent that has had its share of racial struggles and tensions throughout the ages, it seems the only color that really matters today is the color of your money.

Your editor-at-large is in Florence, Italy at the moment as part of an extended “Junior Grand Tour” with dear wife and daughter. (We’re an “away-schooling” family… a bit like the “home-schoolers” you’ve heard about… only, without the home.) Looking around the streets and cafés, you wouldn’t know the world may be heading into a recession… that debt levels (federal, state, local… and individual) are at historic highs… or that those $300,000 checks Bill mentioned haven’t exactly cleared yet.

(Crowds around the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.

 The line for tickets stretched around the block. Source: Joel)

Tourists are back, baby, “revenge traveling” after their respective governments locked them up and frightened the bejesus out of them for the better part of three years. Michelin star restaurants are packed. Lines to the main attractions – the Uffizi Gallery, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Accademia Gallery (where stands Michelangelo's David) stretch around the block. And the high end retailers along the Ponte Vecchio – where you can pick up an antique Patek Philippe timepiece for about what one of America’s hard-working families (AHWF) earns in a year – are crammed with eager buyers.

And while there are certainly many Americans (as evidenced by the prevalence of Birkenstocks and North Face gear)… and plenty of Australians (lots of grown men in shorts above the knees)… and no shortage of Germans, Englishmen and Irishmen (bars are full to overflowing)… the crowd is fairly represented by a veritable babelfish of international language…

Reuters has some numbers for us: "ROME, May 19 (Reuters) - The travel industry was worth 100 billion euros ($110.08 billion) or 6.2% of Italian output in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the sector into its knees. Add the wider income generated by tourist-related business and the figure more than doubles to 13%.

In Greece, tourism accounts for no less than one-fifth of gross domestic product. The number of foreign tourists visiting Italy was up 70.5% in the first two months of the year compared to the same period in 2022, according to the national statistics agency. It added that if the trend continues, Italy could match or surpass pre-pandemic levels."

Annual inflation here on the continent is still around 6.9%. One gets the feeling people are spending money today not because they expect to earn a whole lot more tomorrow, but because it may be worth a whole lot less. We’ll see…

- https://bonnerprivateresearch.substack.com/

o

The Mamas & the Papas, "California Dreamin'"

- https://www.youtube.com/

"The Next Shoe To Drop"

Dan, I Allegedly 5/19/23

"The Next Shoe To Drop"

"We are seeing that insurance companies are in major trouble. People are having their insurance premiums go up two and three times. Now, we are hearing about insurance companies that will not pay out on claims."

Video and comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Shortage Update: Shopping At Target For Other Options!"

Adventures With Danno, 5/19/23

"Shortage Update: 

Shopping At Target For Other Options!"

"In today's vlog, we are at Target to seek out other options for groceries, as we are noticing a significant amount of food shortages across the country and around the world!"

Video and comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Jim Kunstler, "Dum-Da-Dum-Dum…Dah"

"Dum-Da-Dum-Dum…Dah"

By Jim Kunstler

“After all, this was a collective effort. In Washington, the more people involved in a conspiracy, the less culpable it becomes. They all did it, so no one did.” - Jonathan Turley

"Historians of the future, boiling up a nice spring bouillabaisse of nettles, cattail tubers, and frogs over their campfires, will pore over John Durham’s mystifying RussiaGate report for clues as to what begat the smoldering wreck of the legal system that once girded all the rough-and-ready ways of the old America, turning us into a land of simpering zombies. There was, apparently, a strange, Satanic cult called the FBI that cast a spell over the land, giving license to wickedness and depravity that transformed a once-upright folk into liars, until nobody knew what was the right way to do anything anymore…

Of course, we do not live in the future, only on the thrilling edge of it, and it is still possible to see through the fog of mystification creeping over our lives. Though one Rachel Maddow yet raves on, and the FBI still sends SWAT teams hither and yon to cow the righteous, and an evil mummy resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, our country knows the score. It was hoaxed, played, bamboozled. A trip was laid on us. The law was turned against the people by the very officers of the courts: the lawyers. Shakespeare had the right idea - and forgive me for not spelling it out (but consult Henry VI, Part I, Scene II at your leisure).

Yes, John Durham’s report was a disappointment, but isn’t it obvious that he was already done-in by the bootless prosecutions last year of Michael Sussmann and Igor Danchenko in the gangrenous DC district federal court, which sent the message: Hey, why bother, pal? Any additional cases against the likes of James Comey, Peter Stzrok, Andrew McCabe, and the rest of the gang would have resulted in the greatest exhibition of memory-loss ever seen in the annals of jurisprudence. And, as to expecting the government to produce documents in evidence… well, who amongst us can hold his breath for, say, seventy-five years.

It is impossible for now to know the constraints placed on Mr. Durham by Attorney General Merrick Garland - though it appears that Mr. Garland is just the latest initiate into the years-long shuck-and-jive that amounts to a seditious conspiracy against the republic. That is, add Mr. Garland to the long list of officials who have a lot at risk and a lot to hide, so he’s used his vested powers to hamstring Mr. Durham. But the heart of the story is out, despite all that, and pretty baldly stated: Hillary Clinton started the whole RussiaGate gag to take the heat off her own turpitudes. The federal agency heads and their lieutenants avidly used Hillary’s concocted falsehoods to foment malicious prosecutions and drive the naively accommodating President Trump out of office, and stopped at nothing until they succeeded.

There it is. We will now have to muddle through and go forward, a savagely deformed polity. Still, it will be edifying to see Mr. Durham testify before The House Judiciary Committee next week, as Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has requested. Mr. Durham may even wish to use the opportunity to redeem his tarnished reputation. Some items for review: Why did Mr. Durham omit to investigate the deceitful Mueller team (especially its actual director, Andrew Weissmann), which was an obvious cover-up operation? Ditto: the role played by President Barack Obama in the scheme to interfere in the 2016 election? Ditto: the operation to hide and then discredit Hunter Biden’s crime-stuffed laptop during the 2020 presidential election? Ditto: what has been the CIA’s role in all of this? I believe Mr. Durham will provide many interesting answers to these queries. It may be the only forum that will ever avail him to speak honestly.

Presumably the House Judiciary Committee members are lawyers, and have a host of aide lawyers to fall back on for legal advice. Can someone please ask Mr. Durham why he did not bring a charge of conspiracy to commit sedition under the RICO act against the whole gang of RussiaGate players based on the “enterprise rationale” that the evidence suggests they were all vested in an effort to defenestrate a sitting president?

We will go forward from this whether we like it or not, of course, because the arrow of time flies only in that direction. What is the best way out of this wilderness of dishonor and disgrace? Take a lesson from the campaign, so far, of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The way Mr. Kennedy has been straight-talking - around the coordinated slanders and scurrilities of an ignoble news media - he makes the current leadership of the Democratic Party look like the most pathetic claque of rascally whack-jobs ever assembled under a gonfalon. Keep your eye on RFK, Jr. He’s moving downfield, even without blocking.

Side-note or post-script, for those interested in how the vaccination story is going: A close friend went into the CVS pharmacy looking for a “get well soon” card. There were none. A clerk on-hand right there in the aisle said, “we can’t keep them in stock.” No “sympathy” cards either. Draw your conclusions."

- https://kunstler.com/

"The Level Of Intelligence..."

"If man were relieved of all superstition, and all prejudice, and had replaced these with a keen sensitivity to his real environment, and moreover had achieved a level of communication so simplified that one syllable could express his every thought, then he would have achieved the level of intelligence already achieved by his dog."

- Robert Brault

Free Download: George Orwell, "1984"

“What opinions the masses hold, or do not hold,

is looked on as a matter of indifference. They can be

granted intellectual liberty because they have no intellect.”

“To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again: and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself – that was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word “doublethink” involved the use of doublethink.”

– George Orwell,

“Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel” (1949)

Freely download “1984″, by George Orwell here:

- https://www.planetebook.com/1984/

The Poet: W.H. Auden, "September 1, 1939"

"September 1, 1939"

"Defenseless

under the night

Our world in stupor lies;

Yet, dotted everywhere,

Ironic points of light

Flash out

wherever the Just

Exchange their messages:

May I, composed like them

Of Eros and of dust,

Beleaguered by the same

Negation and despair,

Show an affirming flame."

- W.H. Auden

○

"On September 1, 1939, the German army under Adolf Hitler launched an invasion of Poland that triggered the start of World War II (though by 1939 Japan and China were already at war). The battle for Poland only lasted about a month before a Nazi victory. But the invasion plunged the world into a war that would continue for almost six years and claim the lives of tens of millions of people."

- https://www.vox.com/

"It's Over, Bakhmut Falls! NATO Panics; 1,000 Page WW3 Plan"

Canadian Prepper, 5/18/23

"It's Over, Bakhmut Falls! 

NATO Panics; 1,000 Page WW3 Plan"

"Bakhmut has fallen, Ukrainian Commander hasn't made appearance in weeks, US sends nuclear data, Russia has won that battle. Putins Bunker plans leaked, Bilderberg entertains Sam Altman, NATO dusts off thousand page war plan, Ukraine getting warplans, Italy sends 3500 troops to front, Zelensky tells China no surrender, credit debt at all time high, record wildfires in Canada blanket continent with toxic smoke and much more!"

Video and comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com

o

Redacted 5/18/23

"Putin Just Launched The Biggest Attack Of The War So Far"

"Is the West just sending weapons to Ukraine for kindling? As soon as they arrive, they are targeted and destroyed by Russia. How long can the West afford this and how many more people have to die before this conflict ends? Western leaders are calling on the Biden administration to support peace now."

Video and comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Fed Will Panic When Economy Tanks, Then We Got Real Trouble"

Jeremiah Babe, 5/18/23

"Fed Will Panic When Economy Tanks, 

Then We Got Real Trouble"

Video and comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Judge Napolitano, "Ukraine War Latest - Col. Doug Macgregor"

See Enforced Post Format Change

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 5/18/23

"Ukraine War Latest - Col. Doug Macgregor"

Video and comments are here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 5/18/23

"Ukraine's Suicidal Offensive - Phil Giraldi fmr CIA"

Video and comments are here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Housing Crisis Triggers 95% Property Value Drop As Foreclosures Soar"

See Enforced Post Format Change

"Housing Crisis Triggers 95% Property 

Value Drop As Foreclosures Soar"

by Epic Economist

"The housing market crash is reaching proportions that no one could’ve imagined just a year ago. A new report reveals that in some major U.S. cities, home prices have already declined by 95% from their peak, and even the Federal Reserve and major banks are saying that the ongoing correction is far from over. With property values falling precipitously, many homeowners are now underwater on their mortgage loans, pushing foreclosure rates to rise for the 23rd consecutive month. Things are definitely deteriorating much faster than they did in 2008 – and the result is going to be extremely disastrous.

According to data from real-estate firm Redfin, last month, U.S. home prices sink by 3.3% on an annualized basis, a significant increase from the average monthly decline of 2.5% seen since November 2022, and the largest year-over-year drop in 11 years. So far, the median home price has fallen almost 9% from its June 2022 peak and stands at $400,528, or about 38% higher than prices were in January 2020.

Dozens of pandemic boomtowns that benefited from remote work and urban migration, and experienced an explosion in sales that pushed prices to record-breaking levels, are now coping with the most severe declines given that higher mortgage rates have popped the housing bubble. San Francisco Bay Area is also reporting some painful losses after hitting a peak that caused home prices to jump by 47% in just two years.

Now analysts say that what’s driving property values lower at a faster pace is the growing turmoil in the banking sector, which spooked prospective homebuyers, who are already facing rising mortgage rates and thin housing inventory. In April, Boise led the monthly price drop, with properties losing 15.4% of their value in just one month. Right behind it is Austin, where prices plunged by 13.7%. In Sacramento, the decline was 11.9%. San Jose, 10.5%; and Oakland, 9.7%.

But the most alarming news came when The Orange County Register exposed that prices have fallen in 51 of 84 Orange County ZIP codes in 2023, with three in every five properties in luxury markets that saw a peak in median prices of almost $2 million last year now experiencing a 95% crash. This month, the median selling price of these homes is at $990,000, down from $1,930,500 in June 2022. That was the biggest collapse ever recorded, experts said. Even larger than the 77% drop in prices seen in Phoenix, Arizona in 2009. If anyone still doubted the existence of a housing bubble, these numbers are clear proof that it existed and by now it has gone bust. Billions in home equity have been wiped out from the Orange County market, but we’re being told that this is not the end.

As a result, the most disastrous outcomes for U.S. households, like home foreclosures, have begun to climb. Numbers released by ATTOM, a property analytics company, exposed that U.S. foreclosure filings totaled 95,712 in the first quarter of 2023. That's 6% higher than in the previous quarter and 22% higher than a year ago.The dream of homeownership is pushing millions of families over the edge of a financial cliff. This is the reflection of a broken housing market and a broken economy. Sadly, conditions will deteriorate even further in the months ahead, pushing the entire country to the brink of a disaster."

Video and comments are here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical Interlude: Gnomusy (David Caballero), "Shadows In The Wood", "Footprints On The Sea"

 

Gnomusy (David Caballero), "Shadows In The Wood"

○

Gnomusy (David Caballero), "Footprints On The Sea"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Stars are sometimes born in the midst of chaos. About 3 million years ago in the nearby galaxy M33, a large cloud of gas spawned dense internal knots which gravitationally collapsed to form stars. NGC 604 was so large, however, it could form enough stars to make a globular cluster.

Many young stars from this cloud are visible in the above image from the Hubble Space Telescope, along with what is left of the initial gas cloud. Some stars were so massive they have already evolved and exploded in a supernova. The brightest stars that are left emit light so energetic that they create one of the largest clouds of ionized hydrogen gas known, comparable to the Tarantula Nebula in our Milky Way's close neighbor, the Large Magellanic Cloud."

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121211.html

Chet Raymo, “Angling For Happiness”

“Angling For Happiness”

by Chet Raymo

“There is a concept in physics called angle of repose. Set an object, a book say, on a plank. Now slowly tip up one end of the plank until the moment when the book just starts to slide. The angle between the plank and the horizontal is the angle of repose, where the component of the gravitational force down the plank becomes greater than the maximum friction force holding the book at rest. Or, in more evocative terms - as I write I am lying on the couch with the laptop in my lap, in perfect repose. If you started tipping up the couch, at some point I'd go sliding into a heap at the bottom. That's the angle of repose, or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it the angle of the end of repose.

This comes to mind because I just spent fifteen minutes on my knees in the yard watching ants excavate a nest in the ground. One by one they scurry out of the hole carrying a tiny grain of sand, which they dump in a ring around the hole. A circular pile. Now if the ants just dumped their burdens at the mouth of the hole, pretty soon the pile would get so steep that the sand grains would slide back into the hole. Instead, the circular ring gets higher and wider, with a slope that never exceeds the angle at which the grains will slip - the angle of repose. Now here's the thing: the ants almost invariably carry their grain to just beyond the top of the pile. If the grain slips, it will slide away from the hole. These tiny ants, hardly bigger than sand grains themselves, understand a little physics in their mysterious instinctive way.

Wallace Stegner has a novel titled "Angle of Repose." It is indeed an evocative phrase. In a job, in a relationship, in life itself, many of us instinctively seek that maximum degree of individual gratification that will satisfy emotional needs without doing violence to our essential repose, and that of those around us - the art of walking close to the edge, the thrill without the spill. Every day in the news we hear of folks - politicians or celebrities - who tipped the plank too far, whose lives went sliding into self-destruction, who failed to grasp, metaphorically speaking, something that a tiny ant instinctively understands.”

- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/