Jim Kunstler, "The Four Wars"

"The Four Wars"

by Jim Kunstler

“There has never been a protracted war 

from which a country has benefited.” 

- Sun Tzu

"China’s grand strategy to take its turn at dominance over the global scene depends on bogging down the USA in four wars at once. How’s it working so far? Pretty darn well. Amazingly, China hardly had to lift a finger to make it happen — though it did write some bank checks to the soulless old grifter sitting in the White House. Our country has arranged its collapse and downfall masterfully on its own.

War No. 1: There was absolutely no need to start the war in Ukraine, you understand, which has by now not only bled Ukraine’s young male population to the bone, but drained our own military of field weapons and ammunition. After the Soviet collapse, Ukraine existed as a poor backwater in Russia’s orbit, causing no trouble for anyone — except itself, due to world-beating corruption — until the USA started a push to include it in NATO. Our neocons made it clear that the purpose of this was to hem-in and weaken Russia. (Why? “Reasons,” they said.) This policy alarmed and infuriated the Russians who made it clear that NATO membership wasn’t going to happen.

The US persisted, engineered a coup in 2014 against the Russian-leaning president Yanukovych, and spurred his replacements, first Poroshenko and then Zelensky, to pound the ethnic Russian provinces of the Donbas with rockets and artillery for years on end. Meanwhile, we trained, armed, and supplied a large Ukrainian army and refused to negotiate the NATO expansion in good faith until Mr. Putin had enough in 2022 and moved to put a stop to all this monkey business.

After some initial mis-steps, the Russians began to prevail in early 2023. Now, there is a general consensus that Russia controls the battle space with its superior ordnance and troop strength, and the conflict is close to being over. Our NATO allies are not hiding their disgust over the fiasco. Ukraine is wrecked. What remains is how the “Joe Biden” regime reacts to yet another major overseas humiliation. As I see it, Mr. Putin must do his level best to not rub it in, since our country is in the throes of a psychotic fugue and might be capable of world-ending craziness.

War No. 2: Little more than a month ago, the Middle East was thought to have reached a moment of praiseworthy stability, according to White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. We awaited an upgrade of the Abraham Accords normalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Then, the savage Hamas operation of October 7 blew it all up. The Israeli-Palestinian quandary seems to have no possible solution.

The Palestinians want their own state, of course, but they push to establish it in the entire territory that Israel occupies now. (From the River to the sea….) The Israelis have no intention of being pushed out, and they resist other possible divisions of the land there that might serve to satisfy the Palestinians wish for a country of their own. Israel understands that a basic tenet of jihadi Islam, expressed clearly and often, is to exterminate the Jews, and there is no way around that. Israel’s adversaries don’t seem to understand the meaning of “never again.”

Israel now must deal with the latest affront to its existence and its clear goal is to disarm and destroy the Hamas terror organization. To the world’s horror, they are going about it brutally in Gaza because Hamas is dug-in in a vast tunnel network under the civilian overlay of houses, shops, schools, and hospitals. What else might Israel do? Probably seal off the tunnel system with Hamas in it, creating a gigantic graveyard of Islamic martyrs — a recipe for future cycles of vengeance.

As you can see, there appears to be no way this ends well for anyone. Other big Islamic players wait on the sidelines, making only threatening gestures so far. I doubt that Iran will risk its oil infrastructure and its electric grid to intervene. And despite Mr. Erdogan’s drum-beating and his large army, the Turkish economy and currency (the lira) would collapse if he jumped in. Egypt has zero appetite for war. That leaves Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah, on Israel’s northern frontier. If they amp things up enough, Damascus and Beirut could become ashtrays.

So, I would expect that Israel grinds on methodically to put Hamas out of business and the region returns to its miserable stalemate status quo until the next generation of angry Palestinians starts a new cycle of violence. Meanwhile, Israel has its own fractious internal political problems to contend with. And also meanwhile, the Palestinians and Israelis compete by birth-rate to out-populate the other side — a contest that might stop suddenly with the economic collapse of the US and Europe, and the end of current global economic relations, including an orderly oil trade, that has produced nearly a century of global super-prosperity allowing populations to expand as they have. (There is also Israel’s 90-percent Covid vaccination rate to consider, with its detrimental effects on health and reproduction.) In a desperate scramble for resources that follows, things that can’t go on, stop.

Bringing us to War No. 3: The US Government’s war against its own citizens. This has been going on since Mr. Trump stepped onto the scene, and has included a semi-successful war against Mr. Trump personally — except that not only has it failed to put him out of business as a politician, it has substantiated many of the claims he made about corrupt and perfidious government that resulted in his election in 2016. All of that has only enhanced his polling numbers. And the lawless, bad faith court cases lodged against him have demonstrated the US government’s grievous fall into willful malfeasance that has the DOJ arresting and unfairly persecuting hundreds of innocent Americans that support Mr. Trump.

A big part of the government’s war against US citizens has been the bizarre Covid-19 episode and the long-running effort by public officials to deceive the population about it, including lockdowns and destruction of small businesses, the dishonest suppression of viable treatments, gross censorship about the harms of the mRNA vaccines, and trickery around the origins of the vaccines in the back rooms of our Department of Defense.

Another front of this war is the wide-open Mexican border, a lawless state of affairs created as deliberate policy by our cabinet secretaries, and done at a time when there is tremendous animus against the US from many other nations who send thousands of sketchy young men into our country with no attempt by our border officials to determine who they are.

It looks like “Joe Biden’s” hash will be settled shortly when the House, reorganized under a young and vital new speaker, reveals the Biden family’s bank records and begins the process of impeaching the president for bribery. “Joe Biden’s” party pretends that this is not happening and appears to have no plan to deal with consequences. For the moment, they still stupidly tout him as their candidate for the 2024 election, another arrant falsehood you can add to the thousand-and one affronts against the public that this party has tried to put over. Many Americans suspect there will not be a 2024 election, specifically that whoever is president in the coming year will invoke yet another national emergency order to postpone it on spurious grounds. Many are also far from persuaded that the 2020 election that installed “Joe Biden” was honest and legitimate.

Which brings us to War No. 4: The American peoples’ war against a government gone rogue. Obviously, it is not underway yet, but it’s easy to see how it might develop. I think it could commence in the aftermath of a financial calamity that is visibly brewing in the debt markets. The net result will be a collapsed standard-of-living for everyone in the USA, the breakdown of supply lines and daily business, and a very sharp loss of legitimacy for the people who have been in charge of anything in this country.

We emerge from this catastrophe a nearly medievalized society with a steeply-reduced population, unable to resist China’s attempt to colonize us. Pretty scary, huh? Just let’s keep doing what we’re doing."

- https://kunstler.com/

o

Human nature...

"A Brief Disagreement"

A visual journey into mankind's favorite pastime throughout the ages.

Bill Bonner, "When The Irish Were Palestinian"

"When The Irish Were Palestinian"

"Terrorists," "subhuman animals," "extermination"... 

there's always more to the story...

By Bill Bonner

"My Lord of York, try what your fortune is.

The uncivil kerns of Ireland are in arms,

And temper clay with blood of Englishmen.

To Ireland will you lead a band of men,

Collected choicely, from each county some,

And try your hap against the Irishmen?"

~ William Shakespeare

Poitou, Ireland - "It’s easy to get discombobulated by the propaganda press. The lurid headlines attract your interest like a kind of newsporn – fascinating, intriguing, but ultimately fake. The media wants to keep the narrative simple enough for a popular audience. You’re either with us or against us. Good guys vs. bad guys. Pro-Israel or anti-semitic. Orioles vs. Blue Jays. No middle ground…no ambiguity. It wants us to ask no questions…to take sides…to cheer for the hometown and curse the out-of-towners.

More to the Story: But there’s always more to the story. And in the financial world it’s always the “more to the story” that is most important. What ‘everybody knows’ is already fully priced. Investors have bought or sold, depending on what they read in the newspapers. Left under-priced and undiscovered are the things everybody doesn’t know. That’s where the big pay-off comes.

In the mortgage finance crisis of 2008, for example, everybody knew that house prices always went up. Except John Paulson. He knew they didn’t always go up. When they become grossly overpriced - so that the average family can no longer afford the average house – they tend to come down. His hedge fund bet against the housing market, and while 4 million people lost their homes, his fund reportedly made $20 billion.

Michael Burry is probably better known, since he was portrayed in the movie, ‘The Big Short.’ He, too, saw the ‘more-to-the-story’; he shorted (sold) mortgage debt and made $100 million for himself on the trade, and another $700 million for his investors.

In politics, the ‘more to the story’ is the part they don’t want you to know. Huge efforts – backed by billions of dollars – are spent to keep you from knowing it. People with ‘more to the story’ thoughts are calumnied as traitors, Russian assets (as Hillary Clinton said of Tulsi Gabbard), “racists,” or today’s favorite, “anti-semitic.” And for most people, who have neither the time nor the energy to look further, that’s all the story they need to hear. Spin efforts are usually successful. Russia, bad. Ukraine, good. Israel, good. Palestine, bad.

“Human Animals”: So, it must have been that when Irish ‘terrorists,’ led by the Fitzgeralds of Desmond, attacked the English in the 16th century. English, good. Irish, bad. Thousands were slaughtered as the Irish tried to push the invaders out of Munster. As many as a third of the population of the region died. Finally, in 1583, the Earl of Desmond died and the uprising was over…for a while.

Back in London, the ‘more to the story’ was unnecessary and unwelcome. The English had been attacked by Irish rabble. The ‘terrorists’ should be eradicated…exterminated. After all, they were little more than ‘human animals’ or even subhumans…some said they were the remnants of the Neanderthals who once inhabited all of Europe. And England had a right to defend itself!

Irish terrorists were a constant threat. They attacked English soldiers. They couldn’t be trusted. They were uncivilized. They spoke a barbaric tongue…and to top it off, they were Catholics, taking their cues from a hostile European Pope. How long would it be before they would invite the French or Spaniards into Ireland…and use it as a stepping stone for an invasion of England?

In 1594, the Earl of Tyrone, Hugh O’Neill, had asked for help from Spain. Long promised, finally, four thousand Spanish troops managed to land at Kinsale in Southwestern Ireland…but ill-equipped and ill-prepared for the Irish winter.

Meanwhile, an “English” force from Dublin arrived…and made an alliance with an Irish contingent under Donogh O’Brien. Soon, the combined armies had the Spanish besieged in Kinsale. The Spaniards were running out of food, while the rebel Irish armies of O’Donnell and Maguire slugged through the autumnal mud, hoping to relieve them.

The final battle took place on the hills outside Kinsale as the Spanish anxiously awaited the outcome. It was decided by cavalry. The English cavalry attacked the Irish footsoldiers, who fought them off with the traditional ‘hedgehog’ formation of long spears. Unfortunately, as the English withdrew, the Irish cavalry, mounted on their scrawny ponies, thought they were in retreat; they charged wildly, hoping to cut them down as they fled. Instead, the English, with better, heavier horses and a more disciplined approach to warfare, turned and stood firm, absorbing the shock with hardly a flinch. Then, when the Irish withdrew they did so in poor order, giving the English an opportunity to inflict great damage. Seeing their cavalry defeated, the rest of the army fled.

No Mercy: Soon after, the Spaniards surrendered…and the surviving Irish took to the hills. At this point, the Irish were defenseless. Like Palestinians in Gaza, they could harass, but they could mount no serious challenge. Ireland was at the mercy of English troops…who had no mercy to give.

The Irish nobility was hunted down. Speaking Irish was forbidden. Catholics weren’t allowed to own land. The Irish justice system…its laws…its customs – all were outlawed. Many of the celtic nobles, what was left of them, fled the country. “The flight of the earls,” as it was called, left the island with few native leaders to counter the English.

In 1641, Irish ‘terrorists’ once again attacked the English…particularly settlers in the North. In what was to become a popular theme for political propaganda, cartoons showed the rebels impaling Protestant babies on their pitchforks! This gave the war mongers and land grabbers an excuse. Once again, more Irish land was confiscated and sold to fund the military campaign.

By the middle of the 17th Century Irishmen had a grim choice – ‘To Hell…or to Connaught.’ British historian John Morrill calls it ‘the greatest exercise of ethnic cleansing in modern European history;’ thousands of the surviving Irish had to pack up and move west – to the poorer land on the Atlantic coast. (Incidentally, their descendants, farming small plots in West Ireland, suffered most heavily in the Potato Famine 200 years later.)

Many Irish tried to escape the violence by going up into the mountains. In the first invasion, in the 12th century, the Irish fled into the forests, where they were known as ‘wood kerns’ (see Shakespeare, above). In the 17th century, they were known as ‘tories.’ Being a “tory” was itself punishable by death, with ‘tory hunting’ encouraged by the settlers. Meanwhile, the English troops burned crops and barns and took any animals or food stocks they discovered. The result was widespread famine.

But violence works! The brutal campaigns – especially Oliver Cromwell’s scorched earth approach – did the job. Ireland was pacified and ruled by an Anglo-protestant ‘Ascendancy’ for the next 300 years."

- https://www.bonnerprivateresearch.com/

"Economic Market Snapshot 11/6/23"

"Economic Market Snapshot 11/6/23"

o

Market Data Center, Live Updates:

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

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Down the rabbit hole of psychopathic greed and insanity...

Only the consequences are real - to you!

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"It's a Big Club, and you ain't in it. 

You and I are not in the Big Club."

- George Carlin

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- https://www.asktraders.com/analysis/

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A comprehensive, essential daily read.

- http://www.shadowstats.com/

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Financial Stress Index

"The OFR Financial Stress Index (OFR FSI) is a daily market-based snapshot of stress in global financial markets. It is constructed from 33 financial market variables, such as yield spreads, valuation measures, and interest rates. The OFR FSI is positive when stress levels are above average, and negative when stress levels are below average. The OFR FSI incorporates five categories of indicators: credit, equity valuation, funding, safe assets and volatility. The FSI shows stress contributions by three regions: United States, other advanced economies, and emerging markets."

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- https://www.dailyjobcuts.com/

Job cuts and much more.

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- https://www.zerohedge.com/

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- https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/

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- https://wallstreetonparade.com/

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- https://www.whatreallyhappened.com/

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- https://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/

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Commentary, highly recommended:

- https://www.theburningplatform.com/

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"The more I see of the monied classes,

the better I understand the guillotine."

- George Bernard Shaw

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Oh yeah... beyond words. Any I know anyway...

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And now... The End Game...

o

Canadian Prepper, "Alert! Mobs Swarm US Nuke Base; Lebanon/Israel On Brink"

 

Full screen recommended.

Canadian Prepper, 11/5/23

"Alert! Mobs Swarm US Nuke Base; Lebanon/Israel On Brink;

Nuclear Sub Near Iran; Iraq Mobilizing"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"2024 Economic Forecast: You Won't Be Laughing, Catastrophic Events That Will Shock America"

Jeremiah Babe, 11/5/23

"2024 Economic Forecast: You Won't Be Laughing, 

Catastrophic Events That Will Shock America"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"20 Items That Will Be Impossible To Find This Winter"

Full screen recommended.

Epic Economist 11/5/23

"20 Items That Will Be Impossible To Find This Winter"

"Americans have already begun stocking up on pantry staples for the coming winter, and retailers are already reporting some empty shelves and inventory holes for everyday essentials. Extreme weather events are starting to occur in many areas of the United States, and now unexpected emergencies can erupt overnight and cut our access to energy supplies, water, and stores in the months ahead.

For example, the U.S. power grid gets more vulnerable to outages amid falling temperatures. Prolonged blackouts can occur without notice, which highlights the importance of having portable power banks and solar chargers in your emergency stockpile so you can continue to use your devices and call for help if you need it. Oftentimes, people just remember about these items when something has already happened, and by then, it probably won’t be that easy to find them at stores or online. Make sure you have at least one backup energy source to rely on in case of emergency.

If you live in an area where it snows regularly, winter tires are essential. They provide better traction and handling in snowy and icy conditions, which means you’re less likely to get into an accident and less likely to spend money on repairs. Getting caught in a snow or ice storm and having the car break down somewhere can put you in a life-threatening situation. So if you haven’t changed your tires for the winter yet, now it’s a good time to do so because a few weeks from now, everyone will start doing the same and prices will follow the demand.

Households that use a wood stove or fireplace as the main heat source during the winter should start stockpiling firewood early to avoid facing the shortages that gripped the market in 2021 and 2022. Other supplies like charcoal, propane, and butane are already going up in price and becoming more scarce in several states, so keep close attention to inventory gaps at your local store because they won’t likely improve until the spring.

A lot of people in the U.S. are already stocking up on bottled water for the winter, and you probably should do it, too. Extreme weather events are about to hit several states over the coming weeks and months, so families must have a five-day supply of water at home with at least five gallons per person, or a gallon per person a day. Whenever a weather emergency hits or a problem impacts the functioning of supply chains, water distribution systems can be suddenly interrupted, delaying deliveries to the stores. That’s why this is the first product to face empty shelves, and why you should replenish your pantry right now instead of waiting for the last minute.

Are you ready for another chaotic winter? We must get ready for all of the potential scenarios, and restock our pantries before it's too late. We hope this time around, people are better prepared for the shortages and product stockouts at grocery and retail stores. Every year, some of the items we usually take for granted disappear for months due to production or distribution issues down the supply chain. That's why assessing your family's needs and preparing in advance can be so helpful. For that reason, today, we listed several products that will face higher demand and tighter supplies in the next few months. Here are 20 Essential Items To Stock Up On Before They Sell Out This Winter."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical Interlude: 2002, "Wings II, Return To Freedom"

2002, "Wings II, Return To Freedom"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“What powers the Heart Nebula? The large emission nebula dubbed IC 1805 looks, in whole, like a human heart. The nebula glows brightly in red light emitted by its most prominent element: hydrogen. The red glow and the larger shape are all created by a small group of stars near the nebula's center. A close up in high dynamic range (HDR) spanning about 30 light years contains many of these stars is shown below.

Click image for larger size.

This open cluster of stars contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun, many dim stars only a fraction of the mass of our Sun, and an absent microquasar that was expelled millions of years ago. The Heart Nebula is located about 7,500 light years away toward the constellation of Cassiopeia.”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111025.html

"All Is Not Lost... What A Chimera!"

"All Is Not Lost... What A Chimera!"

"If you can't answer a man's arguments, all is not lost;
you can still call him vile names."
- Elbert Hubbard

"What a chimera then is man!

What a novelty, what a monster, what a chaos,
 what a contradiction, what a prodigy!
Judge of all things, imbecile worm of the earth;
depositary of truth, a sink of uncertainty and error;
 the pride and refuse of the universe!
 Who will unravel this tangle?"

- Blaise Pascal

The Poet: Mary Oliver, "I Happened to Be Standing"

"I Happened to Be Standing"

"I don't know where prayers go,

     or what they do.

Do cats pray, while they sleep

     half-asleep in the sun?

Does the opossum pray as it

     crosses the street?

The sunflowers? The old black oak

     growing older every year?

I know I can walk through the world,

     along the shore or under the trees,

with my mind filled with things

     of little importance, in full

self-attendance. A condition I can't really

     call being alive.

Is a prayer a gift, or a petition,

     or does it matter?

The sunflowers blaze, maybe that's their way.

Maybe the cats are sound asleep. Maybe not.

While I was thinking this I happened to be standing

just outside my door, with my notebook open,

which is the way I begin every morning.

Then a wren in the privet began to sing.

He was positively drenched in enthusiasm,

I don't know why. And yet, why not.

I wouldn't persuade you from whatever you believe

or whatever you don't. That's your business.

But I thought, of the wren's singing, what could this be

     if it isn't a prayer?

So I just listened, my pen in the air.”

- Mary Oliver

The Daily "Near You?"

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Don't Wonder..."

“Don't wonder why people go crazy. Wonder why they don't. 

In the face of what we can lose in a day, in an instant, 

wonder what the hell it is that makes us hold it together.”
- “Meredith”, “Grey's Anatomy”

"You..."

"And finally this question, the mystery of whose story it will be, of who draws the curtain. Who is it that chooses our steps in the dance? Who drives us mad? Lashes us with whips and crowning us with victory when we survive the impossible? Who is it that does all these things? Who honors those we love for the very life we live? Who sends monsters to kill us, and at the same time sings that we'll never die? Who teaches us what's real and how to laugh at lies? Who decides why we live and what we'll die to defend? Who chains us and who holds the key that can set us free? It's YOU... You have all the weapons you need. Now fight!"

- Zack Snyder

"17 Words that Changed My Life Forever"

"17 Words that Changed My Life Forever"

by Jerry Clark

“I remember several years back I heard something that changed my life forever. Up until that point I had been struggling through life – doing everything the hard way. I couldn’t figure out why my life wasn’t going the way I felt it should be. I saw some people going through life effortlessly and seemingly with less tension and frustration while I was wondering if I could ever straighten out the mess my life had turned out to be. I was behind on my dreams, my promises, and my bills. Then one day I was listening to a tape and the lady was talking about the power of having dreams and goals and all of the other stuff that those motivational speakers talk about. By that point I had listened to hundreds of such tapes, but it seemed as if nothing worked for me.

Probably the only reason I was listening to that one was because I had developed a habit of listening to cassette tapes while driving my car. The statement the lady said was simple and I think I had even heard it somewhere before but this time a light bulb went on in my head. I remember stopping the tape and rewinding it over and over again to hear the 17 words she said. I couldn’t believe it was so basic and simple. I was looking for something sophisticated and complicated. I thought I had to attend a $10,000 seminar. I didn’t know I could find it on a $10 tape program.

I’m taking the time to tell you all of this preliminary information because when I tell you the 17 words, I really want you to get it and get it NOW! Because if you get it NOW, your life will never be the same. You will be using the same principle that all who have became wealthy before you have used. Even those who became wealthy and can’t tell you how they did use this same principle without even being aware of what they are doing. Well, are you ready for the 17 words that made a powerful and positive impact on my life and on the life of tens of thousands of individuals who have achieved unimaginable success? Of course you are… Well, here they are…

For things to change, you must get a picture of what you want them to change to. 

Yes, it’s as simple as it sounds and as easy as it seems… Don’t try to make it any complicated than this because it will only frustrate you. You must know exactly what you want and the more specific and clear you can get, the better. This is important because Human Beings are Teleological in nature… In other words, we move towards the pictures we constantly hold in our minds. Let me give you an example… Suppose you went to the store and bought a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle but it didn’t have a picture on the box of what the end result should look like.

Would you have a much harder time putting the picture together? Of course. You may eventually figure it out; however, the person who has a clear picture of what the end result should look like will be more than 100 times ahead of you. The question is are they 100 times ahead of you because their IQ is 100 times greater? Is it because they are 100 times better looking than you? Maybe it’s because they live 100 times closer to the person who created the puzzle? Ohh, I know – they were one of the first students to take the Evelyn Woods mind-expanding speed-reading and comprehension course right? If none of this is true then what is?

Yes, the person who had the clear and specific picture of what the outcome was supposed to be was simply operating in accordance to how our brain works. It moves towards the pictures we hold in our mind. It’s interesting because once you know exactly what it is you are moving towards, you seem to automatically know the steps to take or the necessary steps will soon become noticeable.

Your brain's subconscious mind, operating similar to a magnet, will start to attract in your direction the conditions, people, and circumstances that will help you move closer to the mental picture you maintain in your mind and it will repel all of those things that do not correlate to the picture you have in your mind. Therefore, the people who are clear and specific about what they want are using the powers of the Universe to assist them. This is, indeed, an awesome power. A person who knows how and uses this awesome power of the Universe to his or her advantage is a person who is working smart. A person who struggles every day trying to move closer to the success that they have no idea how it’s supposed to look is a person who is working hard.

Based on your observations over the years, do you think that most people are working hard or working smart? People who just work hard day in and day out without a clear picture of what they are moving towards are about as exciting as a tulip. Even though they may seem to be willing to work hard and put in the hours, they don’t seem to have much life in them. And people want to follow people who seem to have some life in them. If they want to find people who don’t seem to have much life in them, all they have to do is go to their job. People will follow people who look like they know where they are going and look like they are excited about the journey.

You must understand that your strength comes from knowing what you want. This will ignite the fire inside of you and enable you to borrow from the promise of the future so you can engage in the activities today that will move you closer and closer to what you want. It will enable you to go through the trials and tribulations that may be necessary so you can arrive at your destination. But remember the journey will be more important than the destination because in the journey you will become the person you require to become to finally arrive at your destination. So when you reach your destination, look at the person you have become and set a new destination so you can continue to grow and develop.

Whatever you do, just always remember that for things to change, you must get a picture of what you want them to change to. These are the "17 Words that Changed My Life Forever"… why not allow them to change yours too?”

- http://prorev.com

"From Stardust to Sapiens: A Stunning Serenade to Our Cosmic Origins and Our Ongoing Self-Creation"

"From Stardust to Sapiens: A Stunning Serenade to 

Our Cosmic Origins and Our Ongoing Self-Creation"

By Maria Popova

"We were never promised any of it - this world of cottonwoods and clouds - when the Big Bang set the possible in motion. And yet here we are, atoms with consciousness, each of us a living improbability forged of chaos and dead stars. Children of chance, we have made ourselves into what we are - creatures who can see a universe of beauty in the feather of a bird and can turn a blind eye to each other’s suffering, creatures capable of the Benedictus and the bomb. Creatures who hope.

A generation after Maya Angelou held up a cosmic mirror to humanity with “A Brave and Startling Truth,” Pattiann Rogers - who writes with uncommon virtuosity about the intersection of the cosmic and the human, and whose poems have therefore been a frequent presence in "The Universe in Verse" - offers a poignant cosmogony of our self-creation in the stunning final poem of her book "Flickering" (public library).                                                            

                                             "Homo Sapiens: Creating Themselves"

by Pattiann Rogers, Read by Maria Popova

I.

"Formed in the black-light center of a star-circling

galaxy; formed in whirlpool images of froth

and flume and fulcrum; in the center image of herring

circling like pieces of silver swirling fast, a shoaling

circle of deception; in the whirlpool perfume of sex

in the deepest curve of a lily’s soft corolla. Created

within the images of the creator’s creation.

Born with the same grimacing wrench of a tree-covered

cliff split wide suddenly by lightning and opened

to thundering clouds of hail and rain.

Cured in the summer sun as if in a potter’s oven,

polished like a stone rolled by a river, emboldened

by the image of the expanse beyond earth’s horizon,

inside and outside a circumference in the image

of freedom.

Given the image of starlight clusters steadily silent

above a hillside-silence of fallen snow… let there be sleep.

II.

Inheriting from the earth’s scrambling minions,

images of thorn and bur, fang and claw, stealth,

deceit, poison, camouflage, blade, and blood…

let there be suffering, let there be survival.

Shaped by the image of the onset and unstoppable

devouring eclipse of the sun, the tempestuous, ecliptic

eating of the moon, the volcanic explosions of burning

rocks and fiery hail of ashes to death… let there be

terror and tears. Let there be pity.

Created in the image of fear inside a crawfish

skittering backward through a freshwater stream

with all eight appendages in perfect coordination,

both pincers held high, backing into safety beneath

a fallen leaf refuge… let there be home.

III.

Made in the image of the moon, where else

would the name of ivory rock craters shine

except in our eyes… let there be language.

Displayed in the image of the rotting seed

on the same stem with the swelling blossom…

let there be hope.

Homo sapiens creating themselves after the manner

and image of the creator’s ongoing creation — slowly,

eventual, alert and imagined, composing, dissembling,

until the right chord sounds from one brave strum

of the right strings reverberating, fading away

like evening… let there be pathos, let there be

compassion, forbearance, forgiveness. Let there be

weightless beauty.

Of earth and sky, Homo sapiens creating themselves,

following the mode and model of the creator’s creation,

particle by particle, quest by quest, witness by witness,

even though the unknown far away and the unknown

nearby be seen and not seen… let there be goodwill

and accounting, let there be praise resounding."

Complement with astronomer-poet Rebecca Elson’s ode to dark matter and the mystery of being, “Let There Always Be Light,” non-speaking autistic poet Hannah Emerson’s astonishing “Center of the Universe,” and Jane Hirshfield’s “To Be a Person,” then revisit Pattiann Rogers’s harmonic of the human and cosmic perspectives, read by David Byrne and illustrated by Maira Kalman."

- https://www.themarginalian.org/

"How It REALLY Is"

Leonard Cohen, "Everybody Knows"

Dan, I Allegedly, "Evictions Are At An All Time High"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly AM 11/5/23

"Evictions Are At An All Time High"

"We just saw a record get set for evictions. This is only growing around the country. Plus, we are seeing more warning signs from experts about the state of the economy."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

7,949 evictions in Maricopa County, Arizona in October...

Ray Charles, "America The Beautiful"

Yeah...

"Items To Add To Your Stockpile Before Everything Hits The Fan!"

Adventures With Danno, AM 11/5/23

"Items To Add To Your Stockpile

 Before Everything Hits The Fan!"

'We are going over items that are good to stock up on for winter 2023! With unknown outcomes to events going on around the world right now, it is a very wise idea to stock up on some of these holiday items as we are expecting food shortages, and rising prices in the grocery stores in the upcoming months!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Gregory Mannarino, "Markets, A Look Ahead"

"It's a Big Club, and you ain't in it. 

You and I are not in the Big Club."

- George Carlin

Your guide...

Full screen recommended.

Gregory Mannarino, AM 11/5/23

"Markets, A Look Ahead: Are You Next? 

Prepare For A New Wave Of Bank Failures"

- https://traderschoice.net

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Credit Card Companies Pump The Brakes On Lending, MAJOR Economic Meltdown"

Full screen recommended.

The Atlantis Report, 11/5/23

"Credit Card Companies Pump The Brakes 

On Lending, MAJOR Economic Meltdown"

"We're experiencing a record surge in defaults, hitting the highest levels in 24 years. Presently, debt delinquencies are on the rise, surpassing 2019 levels. 43.5 million Americans have resumed paying their student loans in October. What can we expect in the coming months? A probable increase in deficits across various sectors. With the upcoming holiday season and increased spending on gifts, people will rely more on credit cards. This will lead to a higher rate of defaults. If the companies struggle to collect fares, they will identify high risk individuals and their access. This trajectory will lead to what appears to be an impending credit crunch in the United States."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Greg Hunter, "Terrorists Blowing Up Stuff Gives Excuse for Martial Law"

"Terrorists Blowing Up Stuff Gives Excuse for Martial Law"

by Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

"Legendary financial and geopolitical cycle analyst Martin Armstrong began 2023 predicting “chaos” would be coming around the world. We have a bloody war in Ukraine, a new conflict with Gaza and Israel, and a wide open U.S. border with the FBI predicting huge terror attacks coming to America. Is this kind of destabilization a coincidence or is it a Deep State globalist plan? Why are the demonic dark powers taking peace from the earth and forecasting big terror events coming to America? Armstrong contends, “It is very simple. Basically, we are looking at a sovereign default. Governments are pushed to the limit at this stage. You even had Fed Head Jay Powell come out last week and say ‘the spending is unsustainable.’ The Biden Administration is a complete corrupt absolute disaster. It’s not really Biden, he’s just there to sign whatever they stick in front of him.”

So, a debt default will tank the economy and make millions of Americans poor and broke overnight. Poor and broke is how revolutions and civil unrest start, especially against the government that caused all the problems. Armstrong contends this is why the Southern U.S. border has been wide open for the past three years. The Deep State corrupt Biden Administration (RINO Republicans included) want terrorists to come to America and commit awful acts of violence and murder. Why? Armstrong explains, “You have Neocons pushing for war on all possible fronts. Terrorism leads to lockdowns. As soon as you start getting this, they will have to know what everybody is doing and where they are moving. You are looking at ‘Papers, Please.’ Lockdowns are coming to America again, absolutely. This is to prevent civil unrest. So, they want the terrorists to blow up some stuff. This gives them the excuse to effectively enforce martial law. This helps the government to hold onto power.”

Armstrong thinks interest rates and inflation are going to go up for a while. He thinks the U.S. dollar will get stronger because capital will flow to the U.S. in times of crisis and war. Armstrong thinks Hamas has won the public relations war and is trying to isolate Israel on the world stage. This attack is much deeper than anyone imagines. Armstrong says get tangible assets, and that includes gold and silver as core assets. He also thinks the global economy will implode, but the USA goes down last. Armstrong says the economy will tank in America, but it will be much worse in Blue states like New York, California and Illinois. There is much more in the 58-minute interview."

- https://usawatchdog.com/

Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he goes One-on-One

 with Martin Armstrong, financial and geopolitical cycle expert.

- https://rumble.com/

Canadian Prepper, "Alert! Worldwide Unrest!"

Full screen recommended.

Canadian Prepper, 11/4/23

"Alert! Worldwide Unrest! US Army Panic! F-16s In Ukraine; 

Iran Threatens Blinken; Lebanon Prepares"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

MUST VIEW! Scott Ritter, "The Entire Israeli Forces Trapped in Russia's Crossfire"

Full screen recommended.

Scott Ritter, 11/4/23

"The Entire Israeli Forces Trapped in Russia's Crossfire"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Warning! Global Financial System Power Outage Next; Bank Glitch Yesterday, Your Paycheck Is Missing"

Jeremiah Babe, 11/4/23

"Warning! Global Financial System Power Outage Next;

Bank Glitch Yesterday, Your Paycheck Is Missing"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical Interlude: 2002, "Kindred Spirits"

Full screen recommended.

2002, "Kindred Spirits"

"Once we sailed upon the seas. Now we sail among the stars. This song was composed as a tribute to our friend, harpist Hilary Stagg, who left us far too soon. Hilary loved the sea and he loved the stars."

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Few butterflies have a wingspan this big. The bright clusters and nebulae of planet Earth's night sky are often named for flowers or insects, and NGC 6302 is no exception. With an estimated surface temperature of about 250,000 degrees C, the central star of this particular planetary nebula is exceptionally hot though - shining brightly in ultraviolet light but hidden from direct view by a dense torus of dust. 

 Click image for larger size.

This dramatically detailed close-up of the dying star's nebula was recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope soon after it was upgraded in 2009. Cutting across a bright cavity of ionized gas, the dust torus surrounding the central star is near the center of this view, almost edge-on to the line-of-sight. Molecular hydrogen has been detected in the hot star's dusty cosmic shroud. NGC 6302 lies about 4,000 light-years away in the arachnologically correct constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius).”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111113.html

"As I've Aged"

"As I've Aged"

Author Unknown

“You ask me how it feels to grow older. I’ve learned a few things along the way, which I’ll share with you...

As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging. Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of many years ago, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things. Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong. So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it). May our friendship never come apart especially when it’s straight from the heart!”

Chet Raymo, “Salt And Nerves”

“Salt And Nerves”
by Chet Raymo

“I like to think that every day offers at least one unique revelation, some one thing seen or experienced that has not been seen or experienced before, at least not in the same emotional state, in the same context, in the same slant of light. So I walk wary, as the poet Sylvia Plath says, "ignorant/ Of whatever angel may choose to flare/ Suddenly at my elbow." Nature seldom disappoints.

Let me introduce you to another poet, my colleague here at the college, Anna Ross. In the particular poem I want to share she is walking with a companion and comes upon the bleached skeleton of an elk, its upturned ribcage "picked white as crocus tips in the long grass." An animal skeleton, in a place where such an encounter is not unexpected. But this skeleton, "skull nosing/ the green suggestion of water/ in the run-off ditch" brings the walkers up short. They see their house in the distance, and the weather coming east, "skinning the gray jaw-lines of the ridges." The poet's language holds the elk in a context of earth and sky: "skinning," "jaw-lines.

The angel flares. "Do we find these things," asks the poet, "or are they in us like salt and nerves?" This of course is the fundamental question of philosophy: Do we perceive reality objectively, or do we create reality? The scientist and the poet stake out their claims somewhere along a spectrum of objectivity/subjectivity, and hone their tools accordingly. Anna Ross asks the question - do we find these things or are they in us? - and lets it hang there, unanswered, in the pregnant air, as she and her companion turn back toward home, encountering, as they do, a grouse in the path, "a frenzy of dust and wing-beat," and chicks that rise, "hang uncertain," and veer away.

The question goes unanswered, but the title of the poem tells us all we need to know: "Evidence." Those elk bones, the weather, the gray jaw-lines of the ridges, the grouse and her chicks - mute evidences of the only thing that matters, the angel, the revelation, the sudden gift of grace that comes unexpectedly - I quote Plath again - "thus hallowing an interval/ Otherwise inconsequent/ By bestowing largesse, honor/ One might say love."

- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/