“24 Life Lessons By An Old Greek Shepherd”

“24 Life Lessons By An Old Greek Shepherd”

by George Giotis, Greece by Greeks

1. “The road to the destination is never straight. To reach out to the winter shelter someone must take a lot of turns, travel along rough roads, suffer losses. You have to make sure that you always take food supplies with you.

2. Leave the past behind. If a wolf eats your goat, you can’t do anything about it. Just make sure that next time you will be more careful.

3. Don’t live just for saving money and don’t be stingy. Don’t postpone the tasting of joy for future times. Do it now, while you are still young. Make your hard work worth even more.

4. Struggle, fight. You are the only one in charge of yourself. Don’t be truant, don’t expect your dogs to do all the work in herding the sheep.

5. Ask for the respect you deserve, don’t let others use you as a doormat. Set limits, put up fences, protect your animals.

6. Blessed are the ones who make mistakes. Make mistakes. These are life lessons, we call these experience. Don’t forget who you were until yesterday. Start today and define with your actions who you are going to be from now on. Learn to forgive, starting with yourself. Don’t feel guilty, you have no time for that.

7. Blessed are those who doubt. Don’ t let your life be ruled by dogmas. Remember that if some people hadn’t doubted previous knowledge, mankind would have still lived in caves. Examine the information, be skeptical, think critically, think rationally, revise. You haven’t seen any fairies and ghosts in the forest, just wolves.

8. Be careful. Observe others. Look them in the eyes. Like a Greek saying, “If it is not shown in the goat, it is shown by the horn.”

9. Life is a journey, not a destination. And it is valuable. The previous word you read already belongs to the past.

10. Don’t advise the young constantly, it’s a waste of time. There is no right way to teach them pain or misery, solely experience will do that.

11. Go travel! Trips are experiences that stay with us forever. Get out, try, taste, savor images greedily. Let your senses free. Expose yourself, let it go, crumble, lose your self-control from time to time. Not just your self-control, but stop controlling others too.

12. You have been isolated enough in your winter shelter, get out. Go find your friends and companionship.

13. Do not try to control others. You condemn in anxiety and suffering not only yourself, but also those who you try to control. Let others live, and live for yourself. Leave the other flocks to their shepherds, take care of yours.

14. Life is not fair. The universe does not owe you any solace, and it is certain that at the end of the road you die. Hurry up.

15. You can be a winner. Learn from those around you. Become a child with children, play with them, but also go to the cafe and talk to the elderly. You can learn from their accumulated experience.

16. Do not take everything into account. Do not take everything seriously. You are probably overreacting today. What bothers you or you are afraid of now, most likely tomorrow will seem lukewarm or insipid. Try to see yourself from a distance, take a look at the sight of your flock from the hill.

17. Have patience. The goats do not give birth every month. But when that happens you need to be there because they need you.

18. Quarrel with your partner if necessary, it is not terrible, let the feelings be defused. Make decompression in anger. The fire is sometimes beneficial. If an area of kermes oak get burnt, spring will give again vegetation, fine food for goats and their young. Careful though, the words you say you can’t take them back. Watch what your goats eat, they don’t know how to pick. If they eat the shoots of trees, the forest cannot be created again, the place will be left bare fallow.

19. Be balanced. Enjoy the food and your drink. Do not forget that the world’s poor walk miles for their daily food while the rich walk miles to digest it.

20. There is no perfect time, the circumstances and conditions will never be ideal. Start from where you are now! Do not postpone.

21. Be polite. A smiling face reflects similar behavior. Make gifts. Even the gift of a good word is important. Behave well to the elderly, you will soon be like them. Behave well to animals, they are not mean or envious, they have no obsessions or selfishness. They forgive without limit.

22. If you know how to read, read a lot! Those who read live extra lives. Not only their own but also all of those who you have read about.

23. Be bold. The fear keeps you tied but it is not real, it just comes from the unknown which is not in your head.

24. Do not get attached to things. Life is like the path of the pastures and the shepherd’s bag. The more you fill it, the harder you will walk. Take only the necessary things with you. The flock keeps walking, it will not wait for you if you can’t move because of too many heavy things. Let them go, release them, feel more flexible and free.”

- http://greece-by-greeks.com/25-greek-shepherd/

Translated by Eleni Vafeiadou

The Poet: John O’Donohue, “In These Times”

“In These Times”

“In these times when anger

Is turned into anxiety,

And someone has stolen

The horizons and mountains,

Our small emperors on parade

Never expect our indifference

To disturb their nakedness.

They keep their heads down,

And their eyes gleam with reflection

From aluminum economic ground,

The media wraps everything

In a cellophane of sound,

And the ghost surface of the virtual

Overlays the breathing earth.

The industry of distraction

Makes us forget

That we live in a universe.

We have become converts

To the religion of stress

And its deity of progress;

That we may have courage

To turn aside from it all

And come to kneel down before the poor,

To discover what we must do,

How to turn anxiety

Back into anger,

How to find our way home.”

~ John O’Donohue,

from “To Bless the Space Between Us”

○

“Do not lose heart. We were made for these times.”

– Clarissa Pinkola Estes

"One Can Make People Believe..."

“One could make people believe the most fantastic statements one day, and trust that if the next day they were given irrefutable proof of their falsehood, they would take refuge in cynicism; instead of deserting the leaders who had lied to them, they would protest that they had known all along that the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical cleverness."

- Hannah Arendt, "The Origins of Totalitarianism"

Of course, we know very well what to expect...

The Daily "Near You?"

Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada. Thanks for stopping by!

"15 Ways To Survive An Attack On A Large City"

Full screen recommended.

Epic Economist, 2/9/24

"15 Ways To Survive An Attack On A Large City"

"For many Americans, simply facing a crumbling economy, closing banks, and rising inflation alongside a significant drop in work is just the beginning. Americans are also facing other disasters such as the threat of an imminent invasion or attack by either outside forces or interior forces that are preparing to take the country. There's no question that this threat may be increasing gradually, maybe now is the perfect time to leave the urban setting behind and face the future with a clear head. For those who can't move away from the urban environment, however, preparing for a potential invasion will look much different.

Today we'll cover 15 ways to survive an attack on a large city. It should come as no surprise that this attack is actually much more likely than an attack on any rural area, which is why many people have opted to flee the cities for smaller towns and rural living."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Dan, I Allegedly, "Bank Runs are Back on the Menu"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly 2/9/24

"Bank Runs are Back on the Menu"

"The mid-level banks are in such trouble right now you have to understand that there’s going to be bank runs. Janet Yellen stepped forward and embarrassed herself with the financial stability of these banks. More banks are losing value hand over fist right now."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"World War III Prelude, 2/9/24"

Full screen recommended.

Canadian Prepper, 2/9/24

"Moscow Burns, NATO Panics; Tucker/Putin Breaks Internet;

 Major Event Coming Soon!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 2/9/24

"Intel Roundtable W/Johnson And McGovern; 

Slaughter In Gaza; Life Support In Kiev"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Hindustan Times, 2/9/24

"Saudi 'Unites' Arab Nations Against Israel; 

Netanyahu Told To End Gaza War After Blinken Tour"

"Saudi Arabia hosted a summit of four Arab countries in Riyadh and posed an united front against Israel amid the war in Gaza. The confab of foreign ministers came after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded his fifth Middle East tour. A representative of Palestine also attended the conference. They reiterated calls for "irreversible" steps towards the recognition of a Palestinian state and an end to the war in Gaza."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Here's Why The US Border Crisis Spells Serious Trouble..."

"Here's Why The US Border Crisis Spells Serious Trouble..."

by Chris MacIntosh

"It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge. War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner. That is the way it was and will be. That way and not some other way."

- from "Blood Meridian," a 1985 novel by American author Cormac McCarthy

"Ok, many of you may well be aware of this, especially if you’re American. If not, here is what’s been happening. The State of Texas put up razor wire at the border to stop the roughly 12,000 illegal migrants crossing daily. The feds got their knickers in a knot, came down, and pulled it all down opening the floodgates again.

In a tit for tat back and forth, the Texans put it back up. This all ended up in court where the supreme court said that actually stopping illegal immigration was… um, illegal. So the Texans climbed onto their horses, rode back home, and promptly ignored this and invoked their rights as a state to protect themselves. It’s worth remembering that the US is not a democracy, as many think, but rather a republic. That’s important in terms of the legality of what just happened. Not that ultimately legality matters when the country is clearly run by criminals, but you get the point. Ruffles are being feathered.

In any event, it’s all heating up. "14 Red States ‘Stand with Texas’ in Border Fight with Biden Administration." "President Biden has instructed his agencies to ignore federal statutes that mandate the detention of illegal immigrants. The failure of the Biden Administration to fulfill the duties imposed by Article IV, § 4 has triggered Article I, § 10, Clause 3, which reserves to this State the right of self-defense," the statement continues. "For these reasons, I have already declared an invasion under Article I, § 10, Clause 3 to invoke Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself," the statement adds."

That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary.What followed has been governors of Oklahoma, Florida, Oklahoma, Virginia, South Dakota, Georgia, Montana, Utah, West Virginia, Arkansas, all in all, 25 governors of various states so far have decided that the feral guvmint is, in fact, feral.

While following events, I had this map to share with you:

And then, as we went to hit publish, we found that certain states have sent troops to support Texas. Things really are moving fast.

And what about the Feral Guvmint? "Defeating Texas will take five days, or five weeks, or five months, but certainly no longer than that." - Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin Powers

So as you can see, what we’d been predicting for years now seems to be rapidly evolving. You’ve got largely a "left" vs "right" political split, and frankly, I don’t see how this gets resolved without… ahem… problems. I mean, the ideological views in the country are so stark. Consider gun laws. On the one hand you’ve the "pry it from my dead hands" folk and on the other we’ve got alphabet people who say that only the military can use weapons and even then, they’ll demand they’re only ok with vegan hand grenades. I think bridging this divide is at this point impossible.

Ok, so as fun as this is, what I’d like to point out is that decentralization is the key to undoing the centralization problem (WHO, UN, WEF, etc., etc.). Just as Bitcoin, for example, is one answer to Fedcoin and Klaus Coin, we are now seeing secessionist movements across the globe. Way back in 2016 I recall writing about this phenomenon, and since then, we’ve seen secessionist movements in Spain, France (yellow vests), and many more. Even in woke Canada, premier Smith defied Ottawa’s taxes as well as promising a doubling of oil and gas production.

The thing with humans is they’re social creatures. The majority go along to get along and don’t want to ruffle feathers. It’s why so many wore those stupid face masks despite agreeing with you when you pointed out exasperated that they were so obviously completely pointless. They’d nod their heads, mumble, and then put them on anyway. And what for? The 18-year-old pimple-faced teenager at the supermarket asking where your mask was or the overweight middle-aged Karen at the gas station doing the same. Of course, the answer was to laugh at them and go about your business like the sovereign individual that you are, but most didn’t and most won’t. That’s just how it is.

Anyway, the globalists’ push for more and more has been met with another problem the Davos crowd has not perhaps thought much about. It is a physiological phenomenon that has been shown to prove true and it is this: Humans are more likely to break more laws if one law is too strict.

Think of all the completely insane laws that we’ve had to endure in the last four years. Yup, Western nations are all rapidly turning into Argentina — a place where the only way to survive has been to flout the myriad destructive laws. Argie, by the way, is on a different trajectory to the West and priced rather attractively vs the West. Hence our positioning.

Here’s something else to ponder. When the states send their tax dollars to the feds and the feds are openly using those same dollars to do damage to the states, then at what point do the states say, "Nyet, no mas?"

Here’s US public debt:

Total US Public Debt

And keep in mind this needs servicing. It isn’t even just the fact the debt can’t be serviced at the current rate and absolutely not with any meaningful increase in bond yields. It is the fact that the moment some of the aforementioned states decide to say nyet to sending money back to the Feral Guvmint, then foreign holders of US debt could potentially begin to imagine what things look like with a fragmenting America.

Imagine it this way. You lend money to a real estate developer who has say 300 houses, and you’re told he has control over all 300 houses. This is your collateral. Then, before you’ve been paid back, you see that 100 of them just got sold out without the developer banking the proceeds - a "dispute," you’re told. Not only do you worry that your collateral isn’t what you thought it would be, you realize that all the other creditors who bought the same debt you bought might just see it too and head for the exits before you do. Oh, what to do?

And as far as investing in foreign sovereign debt markets go, take a look at Europe where the globalists, despite trying to, never managed to consolidate their debts within the Eurozone and now are trying to manage a consolidated currency system without having a consolidated bond system. And guess what? The Europeans are all having secessionist movements, too. So…

All of this points to the need for a massive distraction because the peasants are about to get hosed. All those pensions they think they have. All those insurance products they own, the currency they hold much of their savings in. The real estate markets in which they’ve their life savings invested into. All of it tied together in one big ball of leveraged rehypothecated ball of yarn. So, a distraction is desperately needed, lest the peasants bring back the guillotine for the politicians and bankers.

Aaaand here it is…They’re prepping the peasants in the UK for war. Look over here. It’s Russia, the big boogeyman. And in lockstep over in Australia…

This particular little piece caught my attention: "As the risk of Australia being drawn into a major war increase, we are facing a short window of opportunity to address some of the shortfalls in our defense capability."

Years ago I took a course in NLP (neuro linguistic programming). Let me tell you that this shit is straight out of the manual, and let me make this very clear so that nobody can say they were not warned. You are being programmed for what has already been decided. The above is in complete lockstep. The UK, then Australia. Next up, Canada and NZ. Watch!

But I’m sure it’s merely coincidence. Remember to hate the Russkies and the Chinese (that is coming, too). It’s the 250-year revolutionary war cycle, folks. I wish it wasn’t, but it is, so…"

- https://internationalman.com/

o

"Texas, Secession, And Civil War"

"We recorded an amazing interview today as Michael Yon and myself were guests on The Duran. There we joined Alex and Alexander for an in-depth discussion about Texas, secession and more. It was a highly informative hour, and you don't want to miss this one. I feature it in today's Brighteon Broadcast News right up front, then I cover other breaking news including details on Tucker Carlson's interview with Putin."

View video here:

- https://www.brighteon.com/

"Time To Retire, Mr. President"

"Time To Retire, Mr. President"

by Robert W. Malone, MD

“In his interview with our office, he did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (‘if it was 2013 – when did I stop being Vice President?’), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (‘in 2009, am I still Vice President?’).” “He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died,” the report adds."

If Biden won’t step down, it is time for the 25th amendment to be activated. The 25th Amendment deals with presidential (and vice presidential) succession and disability. It was passed by Congress in July 1965 after considerable public debate and consideration in the House and Senate. It took about 18 months for three-quarters of the states to ratify the amendment.

Sections 3 and 4 deal with situations where a President may suffer an “inability” or “disability.” The 25th Amendment’s Section 3 allows the President to tell Congress that the Vice President can act as President until he or she is able to resume work.

Section 4 is the most controversial part of the 25th Amendment: It allows the Vice President and either the Cabinet, or a body approved “by law” formed by Congress, to jointly agree that “the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” This clause was designed to deal with a situation where an incapacitated President couldn’t tell Congress that the Vice President needed to act as President.

It also allows the President to protest such a decision, and for two-thirds of Congress to decide in the end if the President is unable to serve due to a condition perceived by the Vice President, and either the Cabinet or a body approved by Congress. So the Cabinet, on its own, can’t block a President from using his or her powers if the President objects in writing. Congress would settle that dispute and the Vice President is the key actor in the process.

For the good of the country, President Biden needs to step down gracefully, before the indignity of being removed becomes more than a remote possibility."

- https://rwmalonemd.substack.com/

Oh bliss, oh joy, then we get President Kamala...

As the Mogambo Guru said, "We're so freakin' doomed!"

"How It Really Is"

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." 

- Mark Twain

“What happens to people living in a society where everyone in power is lying, stealing, cheating and killing, and in our hearts we all know this, but the consequences of facing all these lies are so monstrous, we keep on hoping that maybe the corporate government administration and media are on the level with us this time. Americans remind me of survivors of domestic abuse. This is always the hope that this is the very, very, very last time one’s ribs get re-broken again.”

- Inga Muscio

"I Hope I End Up..."

“I don’t want to pass through life like a smooth plane ride. All you do is get to breathe and copulate and finally die. I don’t want to go with the smooth skin and the calm brow. I hope I end up a blithering idiot cursing the sun - hallucinating, screaming, giving obscene and inane lectures on street corners and public parks. People will walk by and say, “Look at that drooling idiot. What a basket case.” I will turn and say to them, “It is you who are the basket case! For every moment you hated your job, cursed your wife and sold yourself to a dream that you didn’t even conceive. For the times your soul screamed yes and you said no. For all of that. For your self-torture, I see the glowing eyes of the sun! The air talks to me! I am at all times!” And maybe, the passersby will drop a coin into my cup.”

- Henry Rollins

Some might say I've already ended up that way... ;-)

Jim Kunstler, "Eventful Events"

"Eventful Events"

by Jim Kunstler

“Putin confirms: ‘The United States is not run by its elected officials.'”

-  The Vigilant Fox on “X”

"Historians of the future, gathered round their campfires poaching armadillo tail-flaps in their own shells, will harken back to the wondrous day in 2024 when they could watch and compare two heads of great nations present themselves to the world for assessment. There was Mr. Putin of the land called Russia, calmly discoursing in fine detail on a thousand years of his country’s history. And there was Mr. Biden of the USA, facing the White House press pool, angrily refuting a special prosecutor’s glum conclusion that the President was not mentally competent to be tried in court on the finding that he’d indeed mishandled classified documents.

The contrast between the two figures might even alert the mandarins of our Ivy League that something has gone very wrong in this country for a decade or more, and could arouse suspicions among the faculties that they had been gulled into a false view of our recent history. Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report issued Thursday said it rather plainly:

"In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse. He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (“if it was 2013, when did I stop being Vice President?”), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (“in 2009, am I still Vice president?”). He did not remember even within several years, when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him.”

The disclosure raises not a few uncomfortable questions. If Mr. Biden’s declining mental condition was apparent to federal attorneys interviewing him - admittedly not top psychologists - then wouldn’t the same picture present itself to the scores of assistants and subalterns busy toiling with the president around the clock for three years in the White House? Not to mention the myriad other government officials, agency heads, corporate nabobs, and news media notables streaming through the Oval Office every hour of the day? And yet, every last one of them has gone along with the pretense that Mr. Biden is doing just fine and is capable of running for reelection. Weird, a little bit.

If there has been any discussion about Mr. Biden being in possession of the so-called “nuclear football,” the briefcase full of launch codes for our arsenal of missiles and bombers, it has gone unnoticed in the press. I suppose a conspiracy to suppress that chatter would be labeled a “conspiracy theory,” which also suggests that Mr. Biden’s mental deficiencies have somehow infected the entire body politic of the USA. That is, much of the whole US population is mentally unwell, living in a national hall of mirrors. How did that happen? Is it possible that there are branches of our government dedicated to driving the population crazy...a kind of ordeal-by-gaslight?

That impression was only reinforced by listening to the president of our supposed adversary, Russia, Mr. Putin, in his confab with independent journalist Tucker Carlson. For one thing, Mr. Putin dared to express the likelihood that somebody, or group of somebodies, must be secretly running the executive branch of America’s government behind the mentally vacant figurehead “President Biden,” but Mr. Putin would not venture to guess who that might be.

What Mr. Putin displayed most of all was an air of prudence, an awareness that America’s behavior has become increasingly and dangerously unhinged over the years he’s been in power, requiring much delicacy and Christian patience not to worsen. Ukraine was at the center of the discussion, of course, since it has become a point of dangerous geopolitical inflammation. It is unclear whether the American audience was able to follow Mr. Putin’s detailed disquisition on the history of Ukraine, and how lately it eventuated in America’s bungling effort to wrest it out of Russia’s sphere of influence. He explained his view of events around the “Maidan coup” of 2014 and NATO’s repudiation of the Minsk Agreements that might have satisfactorily ended hostilities and provided a framework for reestablishing Ukraine’s status as a neutral borderland between Europe and Asia.

Mr. Putin also confirmed my own conjecture: that, after the fall of the USSR, Russia had one overriding concern in foreign affairs: to be re-admitted to the European family of nations as a once-again “normal,” member, especially in trade relations, after seventy-five years of its peculiar communist experiment. He spoke of this quite ruefully as a lost opportunity to shore up Western Civilization - now engaged in a mystifying act of mass suicide that Russia decidedly wishes to opt out of by strategically reorienting with the BRICs bloc.

This Friday morning, the USA is fraught with events unspooling. As I write, with dawn just breaking, there is almost zero opinion yet formed about these troubling matters on the vast Internet - but it will probably come in hot-and-heavy as the day ticks on. If Mr. Biden is truly mentally incompetent, as established more-or-less legally by Special Counsel Hur, then there is the obvious remedy of the 25th amendment - removal of a president for reason of disability. A debate over this would seem unavoidable now. The question also implies that Mr. Biden’s charade of running for reelection must come to an end. What will the Democratic party do about that?

A not inconsiderable part of our Ukraine problem has been that our chief executive was for years engaged in bribery and money-laundering misadventures there, for which there is abundant and powerful evidence, meaning he may have had very personal interests in keeping that country disordered - and sending billions of dollars there, some of it surely embezzled among the Zelensky government. You’d have to also be aware that the bag-man in those operations, the President’s son, Hunter, might well have misbehaved with drugs and prostitutes on his many trips to Ukraine as a board member of Burisma. Hunter’s self-compiled archive of round-the-world drug-fueled porn recordings on the laptop that (the FBI confirmed recently) was unquestionably his own, suggests that the Ukraine authorities may have their own recordings of him behaving similarly, or worse, and are using them to blackmail “President Joe Biden.”

We will also learn the judgment, probably with remarkable dispatch, of the Supreme Court in the matter of Colorado kicking Donald Trump off the election ballot. Meanwhile, the case against Mr. Trump in Fulton County, Georgia, is falling apart in DA Fani Willis’s pathetically comical scandal, now with a new “love nest” twist (paid for with public money). And Judge Engoron and AG Letitia James might be weighing the fates of their reputations in the shabbily-conducted and bogus real estate valuation fraud case against Mr. Trump, which will eventually be vivisected at some level of appeal. The old saying remains powerful: There are decades when nothing happens, and weeks when decades happen."

- https://kunstler.com/

Jim Quinn, "What Would JFK Think?"

"What Would JFK Think?"

by Jim Quinn

"The meme above perfectly captures the downfall of a once thriving nation, before the Deep State/CIA murdered John F. Kennedy, ushering in the welfare/warfare state, built upon debt, consumerism, egotism, and technological distraction. The image is sad, deeply disturbing, and accurate.

The ongoing degradation and decay are a consequence of the nation turning its back on personal responsibility and service to community as reflected in JFK’s viewpoint of, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”. LBJ’s Great Society encouraged the destruction of the family – particularly black families, while setting in motion the accumulation of current and unfunded welfare debts. What can your politicians give you to buy your vote. The selling of feminism to females further destroyed the traditional family and has resulted in the state raising our kids in their indoctrination centers, to the detriment of society.

The credit card was introduced in the late 1960’s and has enslaved generations in unpayable high interest debt, as citizens devolved into consumers through propaganda spewed incessantly by the mainstream media, convincing the masses to keep up with the Joneses by buying today and paying tomorrow. The masses have been programmed to buy fast food, liquor, smokes, etc. using credit cards. Americans now owe more than $1 trillion and delinquencies are currently soaring. An enormous percentage of Americans have no ability or desire to defer gratification by saving for what they need or want.

During JFK’s presidency, Americans were forced to defer gratification. In today’s bizarro world, JFK’s political positions would classify him as a far right demagogue by the now far left media. The Wall Street cabal, and their puppets at the Federal Reserve, promoted and encouraged the financialization of the world, resulting in a debt enslaved class and a debt enriched class. The printing of fiat (Fed issued debt) has allowed politicians to wage endless wars, deficit spend to infinity, create inflation to benefit themselves, and enrich the bankers and billionaires pulling the strings of society. The gap between the Haves and Have Nots has never been greater.

As millions of lawless diverse savages swarm across our southern border; the diverse savages already occupying our urban shithole cities storming and looting the fast food joints and few remaining retail outlets; corrupt politicians militarizing the judicial system, rigging elections, provoking and funding wars across the globe, and accelerating the nations spiral towards bankruptcy; and an apathetic, dumbed down, sickly, obese, indoctrinated, igadget distracted public allows it to happen, our nation in no way resembles the nation on November 22, 1963 when they murdered JFK. We will never return to Camelot."

- https://www.theburningplatform.com/

Hat tip to Jim Quinn and 

The Burning Platform for this material.

Greg Hunter, "Weekly News Wrap-Up 2/9/24"

"Weekly News Wrap-Up 2/9/24"

Putin, Tucker & Truth, Scotus Smashes Insurrection, Debt Surge

by Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

"Tucker Carlson interviewed Vladimir Putin, and the Deep State melted down. They called him a “Mouthpiece for Putin,” a “traitor” and threatened to sanction Carlson. Why? The truth is a powerful thing, and the Deep State wants you to think the lies they are telling you about the Ukraine war are true. This against a backdrop of the US Senate sending another $60 billion for a war that has already cost the lives of 500,000 Ukrainian soldiers. Putin says he is ready to stop the war and negotiate a peace deal. It is dangerous for you to hear that blasphemy when so much money and kickbacks are being made off a war that was lost long ago. Way to go, Tucker!

The Left and RINO Republicans think that Trump can win in 2024; otherwise, they would not be trying everything they can to stop him. When the lawsuits looked like a bust, they started trying to take Trump off the ballot state by state for the so-called insurrection on January 6th. The case of the Colorado removal of Trump off their ballots in November was heard by the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) today. The lawyers for Colorado trying to keep Trump off the ballot were destroyed and so was the “insurrection” narrative. It looks like a win from SCOTUS is coming for Trump and “We the People.”

If you think the Biden economy is good, you are in the tiny minority. According to the Federal Reserve, credit card debt hit a record $1.13 trillion, and delinquencies surged 50%. That is not the sign of a healthy economy, but a very sick consumer living paycheck to paycheck and stretching it all out by maxing out their credit cards. It is only going to get worse as layoffs surge, while the government labor statistics tell us that unemployment is going down when the opposite is true. Remember, this is an election year, and the lies are going to be big. There is much more in the 48-minute newscast."

- https://usawatchdog.com/

Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he talks about these

 stories and more in the Weekly News Wrap-Up for 2/9/24:

- https://rumble.com/

Adventures With Danno, "Massive Recalls On Cheese, Yogurt and Sour Cream!"

Adventures With Danno, PM 2/8/24

"Massive Recalls On Cheese, Yogurt and Sour Cream! 

What You Need To Know!"

Comments here:

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Jeremiah Babe, "Proof Something Big Has Started, We Are Witnessing Historic Events"

Jeremiah Babe, 2/8/24

"Proof Something Big Has Started, 

We Are Witnessing Historic Events; Power Plants Under Threat"

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Musical Interlude: Deuter, "Atmospheres"

Deuter, "Atmospheres"

"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)."

- https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191112.html

"The Devil’s Work"

"The Devil’s Work"

by The Zman

"There is an old expression that has fallen out of favor in the post-scarcity age, but it may be the key to understanding the current crisis. That expression is, “Idle hands do the Devil’s work.” When people do not have anything productive and useful to do with their time, they are more likely to get involved in trouble and criminality. A variant of this is “The Devil makes work for idle hands.” The idea there is if you want to avoid Old Scratch, then make sure you keep yourself useful to God.

The source of these proverbs is unknown, but variations of them go back to the early middle ages, so it is probable they evolved with Christianity. It is not unreasonable to think the idea is universal to civilization. After all, every human society has had to deal with the idle, lazy, and troublesome. Making sure these people are kept too busy to cause trouble is one of those primary challenges of civilization. Every ruler has known that too many idle young men is bad for his rule.

Even in the smaller context, this is something we instinctively know. In the workplace, people with too much free time get into trouble. If the IT staff has too much free time, they start tinkering around with the stuff that is working and before long that stuff stops working and the system goes down. A big part of what goes on inside the schools is to keep the kids and the teachers busy. Home schoolers have known for years that the learning content is just a few hours a day. The rest is busy work.

The point here is that people of all ages need a purpose, something that occupies their mind and their time. If something useful and productive is not filling that need, then something useless or unproductive will fill the void. For most people this may be a hobby or leisure activity. For others, it often means a useless activity is turned into something important. Elevating the mundane to the level of the critical and then creating drama around the performance of the mundane activity.

This is what we see in our political class. The ruling class of every society has a ceremonial role, a procedural role, and a practical role. Outside of a crisis like a war or natural disaster, the political class is performing its duties in the same way a line worker in a factory preforms his role. In popular government this means the pol shows up at public events. He performs the tasks his office requires like signing papers and casting votes. He helps grease the wheels when they need grease.

Into the 20th century, most of our political offices were part-time jobs. State legislatures met for a short period during the year. Otherwise, the legislators were back home doing their jobs. Executive positions like governor and president were fulltime jobs, as they were in charge of the civil service and in the case of president, commander-in-chief of the military. Within living memory, Washington DC would empty out in the spring and remain empty until the fall when Congress returned.

What we see today is politics at all levels has become a full-time job, but one with less to do when it was considered a part-time job. Congress, for example, is something close to a 24-hour drama now. The politicians and their retinues are now doing politics as a full-time obsession. Yet almost all of what they do is unnecessary. In fact, much of what they do is harmful. Very few things passed by Congress enjoy the support of the majority of the people or even a large plurality.

It is not just that these part-time jobs have been made into full-time obsessions. It is that much of what we used to need from government is now filled by individuals, ad hoc networks, and the private sector. Much of what government does is actually done by private contractors on government contracts. One of the ironies of the post-Cold War world is that the federal workforce has declined relative to the population, while the number of people employed in politics has gone up.

Then there is the fact that much of what government does could be automated or simply eliminated entirely. The services that are required like renewing licenses and paying fees can all be automated. In many cases they have been, but that did not result in fewer people, as we see in the dreaded private sector. Instead, it resulted in more idle hands looking for a purpose. On the political side, much of what Congress does could also be eliminated or automated.

What has happened in the last 30 years is we have grown the idle class at the top of our society and while decreasing their necessity. Much of what goes on in our politics is make work designed to get public attention. Think about it. If the cable news channels were shuttered and the social media platforms run by the oligarchs were closed, what would change in America? Nothing of practical importance. Our world would get quieter and there would be a boom in forgotten hobbies.

American political culture evolved during the Cold War to fight communism and prevent a nuclear war. Those were important tasks that occupied the minds and hands of the political class. Once those things went away, those idle hands searched about for a new crisis. Health care, Gaia worship, Islam and now invisible Nazis have been used to keep the idle hands of the political class busy. In the process, the political class has been driven mad and is threatening the rest of society."

- https://www.theburningplatform.com/

"Most People..."

"Most people are good and occasionally do something they know is bad. Some people are bad and struggle every day to keep it under control. Others are corrupt to the core and don't give a damn, as long as they don't get caught. But evil is a completely different creature. Evil is bad that believes it's good." 

- Karen Marie Moning

"Tucker Carlson Interview With Vladimir Putin"

Full screen recommended.

Tucker Carlson, 2/8/24

Tucker interviews Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia.

- https://www.youtube.com/

The Daily "Near You?"

Crozet, Virginia, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"We Know..."

"We have not overcome our condition, and yet we know it better. We know that we live in contradiction, but we also know that we must refuse this contradiction and do what is needed to reduce it. Our task as humans is to find the few principles that will calm the infinite anguish of free souls. We must mend what has been torn apart, make justice imaginable again in a world so obviously unjust, give happiness a meaning once more to peoples poisoned by the misery of the century. Naturally, it is a superhuman task. But superhuman is the term for tasks we take a long time to accomplish, that's all.

Let us know our aims then, holding fast to the mind, even if force puts on a thoughtful or a comfortable face in order to seduce us. The first thing is not to despair. Let us not listen too much to those who proclaim that the world is at an end. Civilizations do not die so easily, and even if our world were to collapse, it would not have been the first. It is indeed true that we live in tragic times. But too many people confuse tragedy with despair. Tragedy, D.H. Lawrence said, ought to be a great kick at misery. This is a healthy and immediately applicable thought. There are many things today deserving such a kick."

- Albert Camus

"Finish Each Day..."

 

Gregory Mannarino, "Another $95 Billion To Fund Both Ukraine And Israel Wars, You Haven't Seen Anything Yet!"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 2/8/24

"Another $95 Billion To Fund Both Ukraine

 And Israel Wars, You Haven't Seen Anything Yet!"

- https://traderschoice.net/

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"How It Really Is"

"Two Horns, One State"

"Two Horns, One State"

Weapons of Dialectical Destruction (WDDs) 

and the burgeoning market for liberty...

by Joel Bowman

“The future’s uncertain and the end is always near.”

~ Jim Morrison

Note From the End of the World - "Many and varied are the rhetorical devices by which the well-intentioned public is hoodwinked by their conniving political overlords. Today, we take a look at a classic Weapon of Dialectical Destruction: The False Dilemma.

Perhaps you’ve heard the old joke... A man is driving through the Irish town of Belfast during “the troubles.” At a traffic light he is confronted by an armed bandit who asks him: “Are ye a Protestant…or are ye a Catholic?” Choosing his words carefully, the man answers: “Neither. I’m an atheist.” The bandit considers this response for a second before asking: “Aye, but are ye a Protestant atheist or a Catholic atheist?”

The realm of human affairs is notoriously messy. Rarely do we abide by such neat and tidy categorizations, especially when it comes to that most problematic of earthly undertakings: politics. It is sometimes said that those on the so-called “left” assume those on the right have no heart...and that those on the so-called “right” think those on the left have no brain. Libertarians, meanwhile, tend to agree.

The Market for Liberty: In countries around the world, card-carrying “conservative” politicians have been blasting holes in their countries’ budgets for decades. As for “inclusive” progressives, witness the disemboweled remains of any number of canceled liberal apostates, who failed to conform to the latest groupthink nomenclature of the day.

Meanwhile, when it comes to dropping bombs on people they will never meet in sh!thole countries they hope never to visit, the Uniparty is unanimous in its bloodcurdling chant: War for all and all for war!

The obvious question, therefore, is why sensible, private individuals put up with such a sorry parade of shrieking lunatics and profiteering psychopaths? Is there no other option? As our election-weary American readers are lately discovering, must every election descend into a rabid Tweedle-Dumb vs Tweedle-Dumber mud wrestle? Only to rinse... and repeat?

Known variously as the either-or fallacy, the fallacy of exhaustive hypotheses or, more colloquially, plain ol’ black and white thinking, the false dilemma is both deceptive and destructive. First, because it lures unsuspecting minds into a misguided belief that their choices are limited to those offered and, second, because it attacks the creative process by which new ideas “come to market,” by slamming the door closed on alternative possibilities.

Consider the unlettered babble from the senator for Massachusetts, Elizabeth “2% Cherokee; 98% Harpy” Warren: "If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business – you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen."

Implied here is the false notion that, without roads built by The State...there would be no roads. Without schools constructed by The State...there would be no education. Without the “unbelievable American system”...creative individuals wouldn’t be allowed to thrive. In other words...

• Choose The State... or choose illiteracy.
• Choose The State... or choose dirt tracks on which to haul your goods.
• Choose The State... or nobody will help you...nobody will cooperate with you...and you will be alone, unable even to survive, much less thrive.

Textbook false dilemmas, each and every one.

Circular “Thinking”: Nowhere is a free market alternative presented. And it’s little wonder why. At the precise point the free market ends, the tyranny of The State begins. Nowhere do the twain meet. (And no, crony capitalism, state-sponsored corporatism, mixed market economies and the rest of the Frankensteinian abominations are NOT free markets.)

As diametrically opposed forces, it is clearly in The State’s interest to see that free market activity is marginalized as far as possible, in order that The State itself might occupy ever more space in people’s minds and, by extension, in the economies we lowly proles are “allowed” to build.

So profoundly have certain false dilemmas bored their way into the soft cranium of the collective, that supposedly able-minded individuals have stricken the very possibility of free market cooperation from their mental map.

Indeed, some confused people even contend that, were we to ignore the iron-fisted directives of The State, we would promptly descend into a Mad Max-style dystopia, in which gangs of unchecked territorial monopolies roam the planet, stealing and damaging property at whim and torturing, imprisoning and killing whomever they so wished.

Strange then that those same people would “remedy” this apocalyptic nightmare by supporting The State...that is, gangs of unchecked territorial monopolies that roam the planet, stealing and damaging property at whim and torturing, imprisoning and killing whomever they so wish.

These individuals are sorely misled...fallen prey to the classic false dilemma. They are so misled, in fact, that they find themselves circling back to a position that sees them fervently supporting an entity that tirelessly labors to turn their worst fears into harsh reality. Worse still, they continue to mislead others by repeating such vapid nonsense.

Unlike The State’s obedient apologists, free market advocates don’t need to pretend to know the best solution to each and every problem – something F.A. Hayek called the pretense of knowledge. Rather, they humbly cede the discovery process to free individuals acting in their own self-interest. (And yes, that includes voluntary cooperation.) Moreover, the best among them pay close attention to unfettered market signals – price, profit, margin, competition, etc. – to exploit aberrations in the market to their own (and their customers’) advantage.

Spontaneous Order: Argentine president, Javier Milei, described just such a process at the recent WEF coven, citing the important work of Austrian School economist, Israel Kirzner, in front of the witches and vampires gathered around Darth Schwab’s bubbling cauldron. Kirzner (still going strong after 93 years) comprehended the market as a dynamic process of continuous discovery, rather than a perfected, static equilibrium arrived at by means of some enlightened central planning committee. Market conditions change, Kirzner recognized, as new and improved processes impact the individual needs, desires and preferences of its participants. “The future’s uncertain,” as the American Poet Jim Morrison once observed, “and the end is always near.”

When confronted with a problem deserving of our finest attention, therefore, voluntarists first ask, “Is there a peaceful, market-based solution here? Might, for example, freely-associating individuals work together to build schools, roads and bridges? Might free competition stand guard against coercive monopolies? Might the market process of creative destruction weed out inept and/or corrupt businesses, rather than reward them with stolen property?”

Like the election process itself, in which well-intentioned voters saddle themselves with the misguided obligation to choose the “lesser of two evils,” the false dilemma lulls individuals into thinking there is no alternative, no preferable option, no choice that does not, at least to some degree, rely on compromising their values and morals. No choice that does not involve the hired gun of The State. No choice, in other words, that does not render them party to evil.

Voluntarism as an apolitical philosophy invites us to see beyond the iniquities perpetrated by the so-called political left and the right. Instead of a system based on force and coercion and violence, instead of extracting money from people for “services” by threatening to put them in cages, instead of ideas so popular they must be made mandatory… peaceful, cooperative individuals learn in time to welcome and celebrate a system of unscripted dynamism, such as here described by Hayek:

“Spontaneous order is a system which has developed not through the central direction or patronage of one or a few individuals but through the unintended consequences of the decisions of myriad individuals each pursuing their own interests through voluntary exchange, cooperation and trial and error.”

When it comes to political false dilemmas, we need not slavishly impale ourselves on one of The State’s two horns, but only to open our eyes to alternative possibilities. And where political revolution brings us, by definition, back to our point of origin... it is apolitical evolution that finally sets us free.

Stay tuned for more Notes From the End of the World…"

- https://joelbowman.substack.com/

Dan, I Allegedly, "EV Cars Nose Dive - The End is Near"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly, 2/8/24

"EV Cars Nose Dive - The End is Near"

"Tesla just announced that they’re going to lay people off. They’re going to do it Facebook style by letting managers pick the people that they don’t like. Massive layoffs coming to Tesla."

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