Gregory Mannarino, AM 4/11/24
"Expect A Major False Flag Event Soon! Here's Why"
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So, we rise from the rubble...
Thursday, April 11, 2024
"Trillion Dollar Misery"
"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen and six,
result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual
expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."
- Charles Dickens, "David Copperfield"
"Trillion Dollar Misery"
Each dollar must be financed. Interest must be paid. And each dollar increases the pressure for higher interest rates... increasing the total interest cost... and bringing closer the day of reckoning.
by Bill Bonner
Dublin, Ireland - "The latest inflation numbers came out yesterday. They tell us inflation is not going away any time soon. And they give us, we think, a preview of the future. LA Times: "Prices outside the volatile food and energy categories rose 0.4% from February to March, the same accelerated pace as in the previous month. Measured from a year earlier, these core prices were up 3.8%, unchanged from the year-over-year rise in February. The Fed closely tracks core prices because they tend to provide a good read of where inflation is headed."
Of course, investors got nervous. AP: "The S&P 500 was 1.2% lower in a wipeout where nine out of 10 stocks in the index fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 514 points, or 1.3%, as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.2% lower."
For the benefit of new readers, if there are any, we are a moralistic bunch, here at Bonner Private Research. We believe events follow patterns that have been observed many times in the past. Each generation is warned by the experiences of its ancestors, distilled into moral lessons and given to us in old wives’ tales, proverbs, history, novels, the Bible, etc. (See Dickens, above.) And so, inasmuch as the US government habitually spends far more than its tax revenue - with current deficits running about $3.5 million per minute, we suspect misery is afoot.
Ugly Footprints: The Fed aimed for inflation of 2% per year. That goal never made any real sense, but that’s the corner into which it backed when it painted the floor. And now, the actual inflation rate is 90% above the target. What can it do now? A step in any direction will leave ugly footprints. The real rate of consumer price increases is much higher than the CPI numbers suggest. Here’s Charlie Bilello:
"A WSJ analysis found that a commonly purchased basket of supermarket goods has increased in price by 36.5% over the past four years (+8.1% per year). This is much higher than the US Government CPI figures which show food price inflation of 25.2% over the last 4 years (+5.8%/year). Meanwhile, average hourly earnings in the US have increased 21% over the past 4 years (+4.9% per year). This is one reason why many Americans, particularly those with lower incomes, feel like they’re falling behind."
And here is Fox News, rubbing it in: "Gas prices have again doubled since Biden took office, despite White House claiming ‘costs have fallen.’" These higher numbers are reflected in another Fed metric, the ‘Supercore’ inflation measure. CNBC reports: "The supercore gauge... accelerated to a 4.8% pace year over year in March, the highest in eleven months."
Rate cut? How about a rate hike? Former Secretary of the Treasury, Larry Summers suggested it. Bloomberg: “You have to take seriously the possibility that the next rate move will be upwards rather than downwards,” Summers said...He even referred to “the errors the Fed was making in the summer of 2021,” reminding Fed governors how they failed to see inflation coming or do anything about it when they had the chance."
But where does it leave them now? Stuck in their corner, with persistent inflation... and mounting debt. If they raise rates, they risk a major debt crisis. Homeowners, businesses... or the government itself... may not be able to roll over their huge debts. If they lower rates, they invite more inflation... forcing them to raise rates even further…or suffer a dizzy spiral of higher and higher prices.
And yet, they can’t keep things as they are either. Because federal deficits add about $5 billion more each day to the nation’s debt. Day in…day out. More bombs; more patent medicines. Each dollar must be financed. Interest must be paid. And each dollar increases the pressure for higher interest rates... increasing the total interest cost... and bringing closer the day of reckoning. One way or another, sooner or later, something’s gotta give. Misery."
Market Note, by Dan Denning: "The United States government ran a $1 trillion deficit in the first half of the fiscal year, according figures released in the latest the Monthly Statement of the Treasury. Total Defense spending for the first half of the year was $433 billion. Net interest expense was just behind, at $429 billion. Social Security was first at $715 billion and Medicare/Medicaid second at $449 billion.
This is why that 130% Doomsday figure Bill mentioned earlier this week is consistently a sign of coming crisis, historically. The government is chasing its own tail to fund out of control spending. The more it needs to borrow to pay interest costs, the higher rates go. The higher rates go, the more expensive interest is. Without spending cuts, the only solution is to print. Which drives rates and interest expense up. There's only one narrow golden path out of it..."
Click image for larger size.
Musical Interlude: David Gates, "Suite: Clouds and Rain"
Full screen recommended.
David Gates, "Suite: Clouds and Rain"
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Jeremiah Babe, "Normal Times In America Are Over"
Jeremiah Babe, 4'10/24
"Normal Times In America Are Over;
McDonalds Is Now A Luxury; Families Are Getting Hit Hard"
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"America Is Facing A Crisis As Bird Flu Spreads"
Full screen recommended.
Epic Economist, 4/10/24
"America Is Facing A Crisis As Bird Flu Spreads"
"It shouldn't be surprising by now, because things have been going downhill for years now. Americans, we're in trouble again, but this time it's not our government spending tax dollars on useless things. It's not the cost of housing or even the cost of healthcare. American banks are closing, fast food chains are hiking up their prices, and new bills are being introduced that restrict our access to everyday things that Americans need. Gas prices are skyrocketing, but these issues have all been around for a while. It's getting worse, sure, but there's a new issue that's cropping up and causing quite an issue.
Have you heard of the bird flu? Called H5N1, this virus has been killing off bird flocks in the U.S. for years now, with millions of birds being put down in an effort to contain it. But now, the virus has spread to dairy cattle in five different states. And just this week, a person in Texas tested positive for the virus after working with these sick cows."
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Gerald Celente, "Empire America - It's No Longer A Republic"
Gerald Celente, 4/10/24
"Empire America - It's No Longer A Republic"
"The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present facts and truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for what’s next in these increasingly turbulent times."
Comments here:
"Israel is Losing the War and the IDF Won't Survive Iran's Counter Attack"
Scott Ritter, 4/10/24
"Israel is Losing the War and the IDF
Won't Survive Iran's Counter Attack"
"Former US Marine Corps Intelligence Officer and UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter analyzes what Iran's coming response to Israel crossing its Red Line will mean for its future survival. The answer may surprise you."
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Dan, I Allegedly, "Three Economic Warnings That Will Hurt Us All"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, PM 4/10/24
"Three Economic Warnings That Will Hurt Us All"
Comments here:
"A Look to the Heavens"
Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 1055 is a dominant member of a small galaxy group a mere 60 million light-years away toward the aquatically intimidating constellation Cetus. Seen edge-on, the island universe spans over 100,000 light-years, a little larger than our own Milky Way galaxy. The colorful, spiky stars decorating this cosmic portrait of NGC 1055 are in the foreground, well within the Milky Way. But the telltale pinkish star forming regions are scattered through winding dust lanes along the distant galaxy's thin disk.
Click image for larger size.
With a smattering of even more distant background galaxies, the deep image also reveals a boxy halo that extends far above and below the central bulge and disk of NGC 1055. The halo itself is laced with faint, narrow structures, and could represent the mixed and spread out debris from a satellite galaxy disrupted by the larger spiral some 10 billion years ago."
Chet Raymo, “The Silence”
“The Silence”
by Chet Raymo
“The hiding places of my power
Seem open; I approach, and then they close;
I see by glimpses now; when age comes on,
May scarcely see at all, and I would give,
While yet we may, as far as words can give,
A substance and a life to what I feel…”
“These few lines from Wordsworth’s “The Prelude” leapt off the page at me. They capture well enough what my life has become. All those years of teaching, of writing in the Boston Globe, were years of sharing public knowledge, knowledge that had been vetted by the scientific community. The work was not about me. The teacher was me, the writer was me, but what I taught and wrote was reliable, consensus knowledge of the world. A student in my classes or a reader of my newspaper columns would have been hard pressed to know my politics or my religion or the nature of the questions that came in the darkest hours of the night. And that is the way it should have been; that was my homage to objectivity.
Those were valuable years, years of building up a sturdy polder in the sea of mystery, a place to stand with a firmness of foot. And now, in retirement, with time on my hands- and on my mind- I find myself more inclined to explore what Wordsworth called “the hiding places of my power.” I approach. They close. I touch with my hand the surface of the pond, my hand comes out of the depths to meet me. I see by glimpses. It is, I suppose, a kind of forgetting. With the forgetting comes a certain freshness. My fingertip touches the surface of the world from above and from below, and concentric circles spread outwards, rippling, like a soundless sound, and I struggle, in words, as best I can, to give a substance and a life to what I feel.
This does not mean, I trust, that I am going soft, finding supernaturalist religion or getting all New Age squishy as “age comes on.” I keep my feet planted on solid fact and read my weekly “Science” and “Nature” along with my Wordsworth. No, it is rather a simple freedom to explore the hiding places, attending to private particulars as opposed to public universals, listening for the small voice that whispers from the nooks and crannies of yet unassimilated reality.
There is a passage in “The Prelude” where a young Boy (the poet?), standing in evening air by the glimmering lake, makes a mimic hooting with his hands to his mouth and the owls answer. Twooo-twooo. And the reply. Twooo-twooo. Then, unaccountably, the answers cease. And in the silence the boy becomes more keenly aware than ever of water, rocks, and woods, and mountain torrents, “that uncertain heaven, received into the bosom of the steady lake.” Thoreau has something similar. He rejoiced in owls; their hoot, he said, was a sound well suited to swamps and twilight woods. The interval between the hoots was a deepened silence, suggesting, to Thoreau, “a vast and undeveloped nature which men have not recognized.” It is that that I now attend: the deepened silence between the hoots.”
"Cycles, Systems and Seats in the Coliseum"
"Cycles, Systems and Seats in the Coliseum"
by Charles Hugh Smith
"Contrary to first impressions, I am not a doom-and-gloomer; I'm a systems-cycles-er, meaning I'm interested in where systems and cycles are heading. Cycles work because we're still running Wetware 1.0 which entered beta testing around 200,000 years ago and was released, bugs and all, around 50,000 years ago. Since the processes and inputs haven't changed, neither do the outputs.
Nature is a mix of dynamic, semi-chaotic systems (fractals, etc.) and cyclical patterns which tend to operate within predictable parameters. Why should human nature and human constructs (societies, economies and political realms) be any different?
So longterm success breeds complacency, hubris, economic and intellectual sclerosis, draining political infighting and the overproduction of parasitic elites, to use Peter Turchin's apt description. Consumption of resources expands to soak up every last bit of what's available and then the supply of goodies plummets for a multitude of completely natural and predictable reasons (sunspot/solar activity, El Nino, etc.) and a host of unpredictable but equally natural semi-chaotic extremes (100-year droughts, floods, etc.).
Wetware 1.0's go-to solutions to all such difficulties are rather limited:
1. Ramp up magical thinking. If a couple of human sacrifices ensured good harvests in the good old days, let's slaughter a couple hundred now - and if that doesn't work, then...
2. Do more of what's failed spectacularly and slaughter a couple thousand fellow humans, because darn it, maybe everything will turn around if we just kill another couple dozen. This requires ignoring the novelty of the current challenges and clinging to what worked so well in the past even as whatever worked in the past can't possibly work now because circumstances are fundamentally different.
3. Seek scapegoats. It's those darn witches. Burn a bunch of them and our troubles will magically disappear.
4. Go take what we need from some other tribe. What's our oil doing under their sand?
5. Consolidate power and wealth in the hands of elites whose failures exacerbated the crisis. Because the obvious solution (to the elites with cushy offices around the palaces and temples) to repeated failures of a leadership that only excels in one thing, squandering rapidly depleting resources on infighting and self-aggrandizement, is to give us all the remaining wealth and power. Hey, this makes perfect sense once you understand #2 above.
6. Demand sacrifices of the many to protect the privileges of the few. The Empire needs some warm bodies to fend off the Barbarians, because it would be a real shame if the Barbarians reached our palatial estates and disrupted the flow of wine and festivities. No worries when you come back on your shield; the bureaucracy will give you a decent burial and your spouse and kids can join the multitude of half-starved beggars waiting for the dwindling distributions of bread and circuses. But never mind that, did you hear about the upcoming games in the Coliseum? Good seats are going fast.
7. Eat your seed corn to keep the party going awhile longer. Not every human group had the luxury of borrowing "money" to keep the fast-unraveling party going awhile longer, so they consumed their seed corn and drained the last of their reserves - which is the same thing as borrowing "money" from a future with diminishing resources and productivity.
8. Maintain supreme confidence that "it will all work out fine because it's always worked out fine" without any sacrifice required of "those who count." What's forgotten is that the luxe greatness that is now teetering on the precipice of ruin was won by the sacrifices of the elites far exceeding the sacrifices of the many.
Back in the day, joining the elite and maintaining one's position required constant sacrifices on behalf of the common good, and strict adherence to public virtue. Now that's all forgotten, and all that remains are elites possessed by the demons of shameless greed and self-interest.
The idea that debt, leverage, speculation, greed, exploitation and parasitic elites can expand exponentially forever is magical thinking. Yet that is precisely what America and the rest of the global economic order insists is true and will always be true, forever and ever.
By all means, reject those horrid, awful doom-and-gloomers who look at systems and cycles. Everything will be fine as long as you secure seats for the next games at the Coliseum - they should be spectacular - but not in the way you expect."
"Truth..."
"Truth: the most deadly weapon ever discovered by humanity.
Capable of destroying entire perceptual sets, cultures, and realities.
Outlawed by all governments everywhere.
Possession is normally punishable by death."
- John Gilmore
A comment: According to statistics compiled by the UN, by the time the sun rises tomorrow morning 30,000 children world wide will have died overnight from starvation and malnutrition, disease, lack of potable water, and lack of basic medical care. That's every night, all year long, 30,000 children dying because no one cared. Trillions of dollars wasted on insane wars, economies destroyed by psychopathic greed, the environment dying in front of our eyes, and no one cares. No wonder Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described humanity as, "Poor silly half-brained things peering out at the infinite, with the aspirations of angels and the instincts of beasts." The "instincts of beasts" is evident for all to see... sometimes all this wears us down, and we look around, hoping to see the "aspirations of angels," hoping desperately that we can somehow awaken from the madness crushing us all, that together we can still rise above the despair and hopelessness and make a better world, where no child dies from hunger, where wars are a distant memory, where everyone can live full, dignified and honorable lives in peace. An impossible, hopeless struggle? Perhaps, but how dare we call ourselves "Human" if we don't try to make that vision real, in any way we can, no matter the price? A dream, you say? Yes, that's all it is... but without those dreams, those aspirations, all that's left is the "instincts of beasts", and we all see very clearly what those have brought this world to...
- CP
Free Download: "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds"
"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It's simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we've been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back." - Carl Sagan
"Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" is an early study of crowd psychology by Scottish journalist Charles Mackay, first published in 1841. The book chronicles its subjects in three parts: "National Delusions", "Peculiar Follies", and "Philosophical Delusions". MacKay was an accomplished teller of stories, though he wrote in a journalistic and somewhat sensational style.
The subjects of Mackay's debunking include alchemy, crusades, duels, economic bubbles, fortune-telling, haunted houses, the Drummer of Tedworth, the influence of politics and religion on the shapes of beards and hair, magnetizers (influence of imagination in curing disease), murder through poisoning, prophecies, popular admiration of great thieves, popular follies of great cities, and relics. Present-day writers on economics, such as Michael Lewis and Andrew Tobias, laud the three chapters on economic bubbles. Scientist and astronomer Carl Sagan mentioned the book in his own discussion about pseudoscience, popular delusions, and hoaxes.
In later editions, Mackay added a footnote referencing the Railway Mania of the 1840s as another "popular delusion" which was at least as important as the South Sea Bubble. Mathematician Andrew Odlyzko has pointed out, in a published lecture, that Mackay himself played a role in this economic bubble; as leader writer in the Glasgow Argus, Mackay wrote on 2 October 1845: "There is no reason whatever to fear a crash."
Freely download "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds"
Life's Funny..."
"Life's funny, chucklehead. You only get one and you don't want to throw it away. But you can't really live it at all unless you're willing to give it up for the things you love. If you're not at least willing to die for something - something that really matters - in the end you die for nothing."
- Andrew Klavan
"Why Islam Will Likely Win Its Forever War Against the West" (Excerpt)
"Why Islam Will Likely Win
Its Forever War Against the West"
by Doug Casey
Excerpt: "Let’s examine Islam and its impact on the West. Here’s the bottom line: the conflict between Islam and the West amounts to a Forever War, a concept from Joe Haldeman’s sci-fi novel of the same name. And the Mohammedan’s are likely to win its next stage.
The Forever War got underway in the early 7th century and has ebbed and flowed since then. It’s now heating up again, as evidenced by the fact that most recent wars and terrorist activities center around places like Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Lebanon, Bosnia, Sudan, and Afghanistan, and organizations with names like Hamas, Black September, and Al-Qaeda.
Why is that? Muslims see their lands and culture as having been under constant attack since the Crusades. The romantic image of knights in armor battling to free the Holy Land from the infidel is reversed in their eyes. They see hordes of European barbarians having invaded their homeland on a pretext, intent on rape, murder, and wholesale looting.
Over the last two centuries, European and now American armies have run roughshod over every Muslim country. The Musselmen don’t like it any more than Americans would if the Houthis were bombing New York and had a “no-fly” zone set up over Alabama to protect a black separatist movement.
Their personal foibles aside, Saddam Hussein and Moammar Khadafi are viewed as heroes by most Muslims for having fought against the Crusaders despite enormous odds.
Islam is probably the world’s largest religion, with 2 billion adherents, certainly, if you consider the number of real, as opposed to just nominal believers. It’s also the world’s fastest-growing. It completely dominates a huge part of the world with lots of poor people, little capital, little freedom, and uniformly repressive governments. To what degree is that the fault of Islam? I’d say to a large degree. But if that’s the case, how can the Mohammedans possibly win the Forever War? I’m going to show why they likely will.
We are told the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him, a phrase the faithful usually appended to mentions of his name, abbreviated to p.b.u.h.) was a merchant until, at age 40, he was visited by the angel Gabriel and became a warlord. Gabriel recited the words of Allah (The Compassionate, The Merciful - perhaps the most common of the many descriptions used by the faithful). Muhammed transcribed those wishes as the Koran. To most scholars, however, it seems more like some vaguely remembered stories he heard from travelers.
Islam attracts people for very understandable reasons: It offers a neat package explaining the meaning of life while promising eternal bliss after death. It has some characteristics and makes promises, rendering it especially attractive to the poor and downtrodden, not least of which is a daily meal if you attend mosque and pray after performing your ablutions. And that means its potential market is about 75% of the world’s people."
Complete, most highly recommended article here:
Gregory Mannarino, "Alert! There Will Be Nowhere To Run"
Gregory Mannarino, AM 4/10/24
"Alert! There Will Be Nowhere To Run,
Prepare For A Worst Case Scenario!"
- https://traderschoice.net/
Comments here:
Dan, I Allegedly, "Market Crash? Brace for the Unthinkable!"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, AM 4/10/24
"Market Crash? Brace for the Unthinkable!"
Comments here:
Adventures With Danno, "Prepper Problems In 2024!"
Adventures With Danno, AM 4/10/24
"Prepper Problems In 2024!"
"Prepper problems that many will have to deal with in 2024."
Comments here:
"Israel’s Ultimate Goal Is to Make Gaza Unfit for Human Habitation"
Full screen recommended.
Democracy Now!, 4/10/24
"Israel’s Ultimate Goal Is to Make Gaza Unfit for Human Habitation"
"President Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies in Gaza a “mistake” and urged Israel to call for a temporary ceasefire to allow in more aid in a televised interview on Tuesday. While Israel has pledged to open new aid crossings, the U.N. said on Tuesday that there has been “no significant change in the volume of humanitarian supplies entering Gaza,” and the Biden administration has not actually changed its policies or withheld any arms transfers to Israel. “Words are cheap, and statements are a dime a dozen,” says Middle East analyst Mouin Rabbani, who explains Israel can safely ignore statements if policy remains unchanged. “What really matters is not what these people say, but what they do.” Rabbani also speaks about the United Nations considering Palestinian statehood, ongoing negotiations over a Gaza ceasefire, and Israel attacking the Iranian Consulate in Syria."
Comments here:
The title is wrong! It really should be
"Israel’s Ultimate Goal Is to Make Gaza Unfit for Palestinian Habitation"
o
"Jared Kushner says Gaza’s ‘waterfront property could be very valuable’. Donald Trump’s son-in-law also says Israel should bulldoze an area of the Negev desert and move Palestinians there." - https://www.theguardian.com/
o
"An Israeli real estate company is already advertising
homes at “presale prices” on Gaza rubble."
34,500 innocent old people, men, women and 14,000 children killed by these psychopathically degenerate monsters and YOU, Americans, allow and support and pay for every single bit of it! 8,000 still missing, buried under the bombed out rubble. What, Kushner, just bulldoze the bodies into the ground so homes for Israelis can be built there? Murderously racist ethnic cleansing happening right in front of your eyes, and the world does nothing... What would YOU call it?
o
Scott Ritter, "Iran's Big Game After Ramadan; Aid Weapons For Hezbollah; Houthis War With Israel"
Full screen recommended.
Scott Ritter, 4/10/24
"Iran's Big Game After Ramadan;
Aid Weapons For Hezbollah; Houthis War With Israel"
Comments here:
Canadian Prepper, "Alert! Israel And Iran Threaten Nuclear EMP Strikes"
Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 4/10/24
"Alert! Israel And Iran Threaten Nuclear EMP Strikes;
Gold's WW 3 Warning; France Cuts Russia Talks"
Comments here:
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
Gerald Celente, "Biden: 'Bibi You're A Bad Boy!' Bibi: 'I Know, Thanks For The Bombs!'"
Gerald Celente, 4/9/24
"Biden: 'Bibi You're A Bad Boy!'
Bibi: 'I Know, Thanks For The Bombs!'"
"The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present facts and truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for what’s next in these increasingly turbulent times."
Comments here:
A Comment
A Comment: I'm quite aware this blog's content has progressively turned into a virtual chamber of horrors - the Covid-19 pandemic hoax, the ongoing total economic collapse and it's inevitable consequences, loss of civil liberties, wars, poverty, climate change, rampant drug use - one disaster or horror after another - everything's going to Hell in a hand-basket and it's clearly displayed here. The world's a complex place, so the articles are sometimes lengthy of necessity. Not by choice - I'd much rather focus on other, better things, or be doing something else, but take a glance at the main-stream liars and propagandists, you won't see any of these things covered there, just more of the sensationalistic garbage and pure propaganda from all those cheaply bought low-life money whores. I've always believed you CAN handle the truth, given the chance to know it. Of course you can find truth, or the best version of it, elsewhere on many sites, if you know where to look (see the Favorites sidebars and the origin links on articles), and I hope you're doing that.
I can only speak to what you'll find here. Please, don't come here expecting all sweetness and light, you'll be rudely disappointed. Anymore the blog article selection is really a threat-analysis and prioritization process, in hopes of keeping you informed about what's really happening behind the smoke screens and lies, and alerting you to imminent crises. We've run out of time, hence the sense of urgency. These things are upon us, they're here now, and you have an absolute right to know and understand how and why it's all happening as it is. That knowing may help you prepare, help you deal more effectively with inevitable changes we can do nothing about, may help you survive. But we will NOT go down without a fight! So, apologies for the sometimes grim article content, but that's real life, just how it really is, whether any of us like it or not. Stay informed, stay aware, and stay strong, always, never give up, and most of all thanks for stopping by!
- CP
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
The Poet: David Whyte, “The Sea”
“The Sea”
“The pull is so strong we will not believe
the drawing tide is meant for us,
I mean the gift, the sea,
the place where all the rivers meet.
Easy to forget,
how the great receiving depth
untamed by what we need
needs only what will flow its way.
Easy to feel so far away
and the body so old
it might not even stand the touch.
But what would that be like
feeling the tide rise
out of the numbness inside
toward the place to which we go
washing over our worries of money,
the illusion of being ahead,
the grief of being behind,
our limbs young
rising from such a depth?
What would that be like
even in this century
driving toward work with the others,
moving down the roads
among the thousands swimming upstream,
as if growing toward arrival,
feeling the currents of the great desire,
carrying time toward tomorrow?
Tomorrow seen today, for itself,
the sea where all the rivers meet, unbound,
unbroken for a thousand miles, the surface
of a great silence, the movement of a moment
left completely to itself, to find ourselves adrift,
safe in our unknowing, our very own,
our great tide, our great receiving, our
wordless, fiery, unspoken,
hardly remembered, gift of true longing.”
~ David Whyte,
“Where Many Rivers Meet”
"Memento Mori"
"Memento Mori"
by Ryan Holiday
"Were all the geniuses of history to focus on this single theme, they could never fully express their bafflement at the darkness of the human mind. No person hands out their money to passersby, but to how many do each of us hand out our lives! We're tight-fisted with property and money, yet think too little of wasting time, the one thing about which we should all be the toughest misers." - Seneca
Born with a chronic illness that loomed large throughout his life, Seneca was constantly thinking about and writing about the final act of life. "Let us prepare our minds as if we'd come to the very end of life," he said. "Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life's books each day. The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time."
Most interestingly, he quibbled with the idea that death was something that lay ahead of us in the uncertain future. "This is our big mistake," Seneca wrote, "to think we look forward to death. Most of death is already gone. Whatever time has passed is owned by death." That was Seneca's great insight - that we are dying every day and no day, once dead, can be revived.
So we should listen to the command that Marcus gave himself. He wrote,"Concentrate every minute like a Roman on doing what's in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice. And on freeing yourself from all other distractions." The key to this kind of concentration? "Do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life."
That's the power of Memento Mori - of meditating on your mortality. It isn't about being morbid or making you scared. It's about giving you power. It's to inspire, to motivate, to clarify, to concentrate like a Roman on the thing in front of you. Because it may well be the last thing you do in your life.
The Stoics were philosophers, but more than that they were doers. They didn't have room for big words or big ideas, just stuff that made you better right here, right now. As Marcus Aurelius said: "Justice, honesty, self-control, courage, don't make room for anything but it - for anything that might lead you astray, tempt you off the road, and leave you unable to devote yourself completely to achieving the goodness that is uniquely yours."
"Be Like The Bird..."
"What matter if this base, unjust life
Cast you naked and disarmed?
If the ground breaks beneath your step,
Have you not your soul?
Your soul! You fly away,
Escape to realms refined,
Beyond all sadness and whimpering.
Be like the bird which on frail branches balanced
A moment sits and sings;
He feels them tremble, but he sings unshaken,
Knowing he has wings."
– Victor Hugo
"Isochronic Tones: Cognition Enhancer For Clearer and Faster Thinking"
"Isochronic Tones:
Cognition Enhancer For Clearer and Faster Thinking"
by Jason Lewis
“Headphones Recommended – Note: As this session stimulates each ear with different frequencies, you will need to use headphones to experience the full effect. Alternative background sounds available on Mp3 here: Orchestral, Hybrid, World Music, Rain, Brown Noise.
What does this track do? This session stimulates Beta, SMR and Alpha, alternating in 2 minute increments to help keep the user relaxed and engaged. Note: SMR (sensorimotor rhythm) relates to the frequency range between 12 – 15Hz. It’s associated with sensory processing and motor control. Stimulating this can result in relaxed focus and improved attention. This session is meant to speed up the brain while keeping the left hemisphere dominant (good for attention, concentration and reducing emotional response and hyperactivity). ADD and similar disorders are often characterized by “slow-wave” EEG patterns, particularly in the left frontal region. As such, this session stimulates the left brain hemisphere with Beta frequencies and the right with SMR.
Can it be used to help with studying and if so, when should you listen to it? Yes, it can be helpful to use while studying, and if you read through the many comments about this track, you’ll see that many people have successfully used it for studying. You can either listen to it while you are studying, to get your brain into a good mental state when you need it. Or if you are someone that gets a bit distracted by music while studying, listen to it just before you begin.
How Loud Should The Volume Be? There is varying advice and opinions on the impact of volume with brainwave entrainment, with some saying the louder it is the more impact it has. From my own experience, my advice is to play it at a volume level you feel comfortable with. The main thing to consider is that it should be loud enough to hear the repetitive isochronic tones, so you don’t want it so quiet you can hardly hear them. But you also don’t want it so loud that its uncomfortable for you. Somewhere in the middle is my recommendation.
Use this session in the morning or afternoon, to train your brain for better cognition, such as clearer and faster thinking. You can either sit somewhere quiet and comfortable with your eyes closed and give your brain a nice workout, or you can also listen to this while doing an activity that requires a boost in concentration, like studying.
How long should you listen for to get a good effect? It takes around 6 minutes for your brainwaves to fall in step with the tones and become entrained. It then takes time to be guided along the frequency range used in the track. Listening to about half way through is the minimum in my opinion, but 30 minutes is the optimum and preferred length to listen for.
IMPORTANT RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Drink some water – Make sure you are well hydrated before listening to brainwave entrainment.
WHY? Your brain is made up of around 75% water, so it needs plenty of water to function well. When you stimulate your brain in this way, you’re increasing electrical activity and blood flow in the brain and giving your brain a good workout, so it can be a good idea to drink before listening, so that your brain can fire on all cylinders.
• It is not recommended to listen to this while driving or operating machinery.
WHY? Brainwave entrainment involves a process of stimulating your brainwaves and changing your mental state. While this is safe to do and use in normal situations, it can sometimes zone you out during the track, as you focus in on the sound of the tones. This could result in you being distracted temporarily, which is not a good thing while you’re driving or operating machinery. Some people also experience tingling and other sensations from the stimulation. While that might feel quite nice sitting in a comfortable chair at home, it could cause you to be distracted while driving and result in an accident.
• It is not recommended to listen to this while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or any mind altering substance.
WHY? When your brain is under the influence of drugs or alcohol it’s not operating to it’s full capacity, and you react differently to stimulation and situations, compared to when you are sober. So as a precaution and because I don’t know how you will react in that situation, I recommend you do not use it in that situation.
• Who should NOT listen to this audio? Those who should not listen to this video/audio include: Those who are prone to or have had seizures, epilepsy, pregnant or wear a pacemaker should NOT listen to this video/audio.
WHY? There is insufficient research data in this area, so as a precaution, if you are among the categories listed above, I would recommend you consult a doctor or medical professional before listening to this video/audio.”
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o
Look folks, this isn't some stupid melodrama. Whether you want to know it or not we're in the fight of our lives, for our lives. Some of you reading this will not survive, and I may not either, so I'll take any edge I can get, and you should too. The more you're aware the better prepared you can be. This works...I strongly encourage it's use...- CP
“The History of the Middle Finger”
“The History of the Middle Finger”
by pappy
“Well, now… here’s something I never knew before, and now that I know it, I feel compelled to send it on to my more intelligent friends in the hope that they, too, will feel edified.
Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore they would be incapable of fighting in the future. This famous English longbow was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as ‘plucking the yew’ (or ‘pluck yew’).
Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and they began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, “See, we can still pluck yew!” Since ‘pluck yew’ is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodentalfricative ‘F’, and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute! It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as ‘giving the bird.’ And now you know..."
Gregory Mannarino, "AM/PM 4/9/24"
Gregory Mannarino, AM 4/9/24
"What You Need To Know Now!
Stay On The Right Side Of This Thing We're In"
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o
Gregory Mannarino, PM 4/9/24
"Expect Resource Shortages And Much Higher Prices;
They WILL Extort Us To Death"
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