"Things Just Got Even More “Interesting” In The Middle East And In Ukraine"

"Things Just Got Even More “Interesting” 

In The Middle East And In Ukraine"

by Michael Snyder

"Most people don’t seem to realize this yet, but we have entered a time of global war. While millions in the western world are partying, an apocalyptic all-out war is threatening to erupt in the Middle East and Ukraine has launched a surprise invasion of Russia. Needless to say, seeing Ukrainian troops come pouring across Russia’s lightly defended border in the Kursk region came as quite a shock to Vladimir Putin and his generals. The Ukrainians have decided to take things to the next level, and the Russians are beyond angry. Meanwhile, Israel is bracing for a “large scale” Iranian attack at any time…

Israel is expecting a ‘large scale’ Iranian attack and Hezbollah has evacuated its Beirut headquarters in anticipation of an all-out war with Israel, according to reports. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that Iran was making preparations for a large-scale military attack on Israel during a phone call on Sunday, Axios News reporter Barack Ravid wrote on X. The planned attack could happen ‘within days’, according to two sources who spoke to CNN. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has evacuated its headquarters in Beirut, according to Lebanese news outlet Al Joumhouria – further raising concerns.

We have been waiting for Iran to strike Israel since the end of July, but so far such an attack has not materialized. Many were hoping that cooler heads had prevailed in Iran. Sadly, it appears that an attack is still coming, and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant is warning that Iran and Hezbollah “are threatening to harm us in a way they haven’t done in the past”. That sounds rather ominous.

If there is an attack, it will almost certainly be more substantial than what we witnessed last time around. For the moment, however, the Iranians seem to be enjoying keeping everyone in suspense… “There may be no attack at all, or there could be one tonight,” an Iranian regime insider told the Financial Times. “Waiting for death is more difficult than death itself.” “Iran has launched a psychological warfare campaign to keep Israel’s military, security, and logistical capabilities on edge, denying residents of the occupied territories any sense of calm,” the insider added.

Maybe they will keep playing this game for a while. Or maybe they will attack tonight. We just don’t know. There have been reports of missile launchers being moved into position. But that could just be more of their mind games.

The U.S. is certainly not taking any chances. According to John Kirby, the U.S. is operating under the assumption that an Iranian attack could come as early as this week…"The U.S. is preparing for Iran or its proxies to attack Israel as soon as this week, according to White House national security spokesman John Kirby. He confirmed Monday that the U.S. is increasing its military presence in the region and said that President Joe Biden had talked with European allies about support for Israel."

If the Iranians attack, the U.S. will defend Israel. A guided missile sub is being deployed to the Middle East, and the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group has been ordered to “sail more quickly to the area”…"U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and told the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area, as the U.S. said Monday it believes Iran or its proxies could launch a strike against Israel as soon as this week.

The moves, announced by the Defense Department Sunday, come as the U.S. and other allies push for Israel and Hamas to achieve a cease-fire agreement that could help calm soaring tensions in the region after the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut." I will be watching the USS Abraham Lincoln very closely. If all-out war erupts, it could become a prime target for either the Iranians or Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine has taken an unexpected turn. The Ukrainians have been slowly but surely losing ground in eastern Ukraine, and so they decided to do something dramatic to change the momentum of the war. Nobody expected the Ukrainians to invade Russian territory, and so the Russians were completely surprised when that actually happened…"Ukraine’s shock incursion across the Russian border into Kursk Oblast may force important strategic decisions on Moscow as President Vladimir Putin’s troops are taken as prisoners of war and supply lines are threatened. The Ukrainian attack took Russian forces by surprise, according to one U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, Ukraine’s cross-border gambit has allowed Kyiv to seize the battlefield initiative, long held by Russian forces who were able to dictate the time and place of fighting and force Ukrainian troops to expend manpower and equipment on defensive operations.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke of the importance of removing these Ukrainian forces from Russian territory during a televised appearance…"President Vladimir Putin ordered his army on Monday to “dislodge” Ukrainian troops who have entered Russian territory as authorities said more than 120,000 people had been evacuated away from the fighting. Kyiv launched a surprise offensive into Russia’s western Kursk region last Tuesday, capturing more than two dozen settlements in the most significant cross-border attack on Russian soil since World War II. “One of the obvious goals of the enemy is to sow discord, strife, intimidate people, destroy the unity and cohesion of Russian society,” Putin told a televised meeting with government officials.

The Ukrainians will not be able to hold Russian territory for long. So why did they do this? Personally, my opinion is that the Ukrainians are trying to get the Russians so angry that they will decide to use tactical nuclear weapons. If Russia uses tactical nuclear weapons, NATO will be forced to intervene, and then we really will have a nightmare scenario on our hands.

This conflict with Russia is one of “the 3 wars of the apocalypse” that I keep warning my readers about. The coming all-out war in the Middle East is another one. All of the chess pieces are moving into position, and it won’t be too long before we witness global chaos on a grand scale."

- https://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

"The Unthinkable In 20 Minutes: 

Nuclear War Documentary"

"Imagine a world plunged into radioactive darkness. Uncover the chilling realities of nuclear war in a condensed 20 minutes. This video explores the unthinkable through gripping documentary footage and thought-provoking movie clips. Witness the devastating human cost and environmental impact of nuclear conflict. Learn why nuclear non-proliferation is crucial. Through film and fact, we explore the immediate effects of nuclear blasts and the long-term consequences such as nuclear winter. This video serves as a stark reminder of the devastating realities of nuclear war. By understanding the threat, we can work towards a world free from nuclear weapons."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Gerald Celente, "Presidential Reality Show: 'It's The Economy, Stupid'"

Very strong language alert!

Gerald Celente, 8/13/24

"Presidential Reality Show: 

'It's The Economy, Stupid'"

"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."

- https://trendsjournal.com/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Gregory Mannarino, 

"A Great Fall... A Third Element"

The Daily "Near You?"

Arkansas City, Kansas, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Humanity I Love You"

"Humanity i love you because when you’re hard 

up you pawn your intelligence to buy a drink..."

"Humanity I Love You"

"Humanity i love you

because you would rather black the boots of

success than enquire whose soul dangles from his

watch-chain which would be embarrassing for both

parties and because you

unflinchingly applaud all

songs containing the words country home and

mother when sung at the old howard

Humanity i love you because

when you’re hard up you pawn your

intelligence to buy a drink and when

you’re flush pride keeps

you from the pawn shop and

because you are continually committing

nuisances but more

especially in your own house

Humanity i love you because you

are perpetually putting the secret of

life in your pants and forgetting

it’s there and sitting down on it

and because you are

forever making poems in the lap

of death 

Humanity, i hate you"

- e. e. cummings

"As Humans..."

“It is easy to overlook this thought that life just is. As humans we are inclined to feel that life must have a point. We have plans and aspirations and desires. We want to take constant advantage of the intoxicating existence we’ve been endowed with. But what’s life to a lichen? Yet it's impulse to exist, to be, is every bit as strong as ours - arguably even stronger. If I were told that I had to spend decades being a furry growth on a rock in the woods, I believe I would lose the will to go on. Lichens don’t. Like virtually all living things, they will suffer any hardship, endure any insult, for a moment’s additional existence. Life, in short just wants to be.”

- Bill Bryson

The Poet: Stephen Levine, "Half Life"

"Half Life"

 "We walk through half our life

as if it were a fever dream,

barely touching the ground,

our eyes half open,

our heart half closed.

Not half knowing who we are,

we watch the ghost of us drift

from room to room,

through friends and lovers

never quite as real as advertised.

Not saying half we mean

or meaning half we say,

we dream ourselves

from birth to birth

seeking some true self.

Until the fever breaks

and the heart can not abide

a moment longer

as the rest of us awakens,

summoned from the dream,

not half caring for anything but love."

~ Stephen Levine

Free Download: Mark Twain, "Letters From the Earth"

"Mark Twain's 'Letters From the Earth'"

by Wikipedia

“Letters from the Earth” is one of Mark Twain's posthumously published works. The essays were written during a difficult time in Twain's life; he was deep in debt and had lost his wife and one of his daughters. Initially, his daughter, Clara Clemens, objected to its publication in March 1939, probably because of its controversial and iconoclastic views on religion, claiming it presented a "distorted" view of her father. Henry Nash Smith helped change her position in 1960. Clara explained her change of heart in 1962 saying that "Mark Twain belonged to the world" and that public opinion had become more tolerant. She was also influenced to release the papers due to her annoyance with Soviet propaganda charges that her father's ideas were being suppressed in the United States. The papers were edited in 1939 by Bernard DeVoto. The book consists of a series of short stories, many of which deal with God and Christianity. The title story consists of eleven letters written by the archangel Satan to archangels, Gabriel and Michael, about his observations on the curious proceedings of earthly life and the nature of man's religions. Other short stories in the book include a bedtime story about a family of cats Twain wrote for his daughters, and an essay explaining why an anaconda is morally superior to Man.

Textual references make clear that sections, at least, of “Letters from the Earth” were written shortly before his death in April 1910. (For instance, Letter VII, in discussing the ravages of hookworm, refers to the $1,000,000 gift of John D. Rockefeller Jr. to help eradicate the disease – a gift that was announced on October 28, 1909, less than six months before Twain's death.)"

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_from_the_Earth

○

Excerpt: "Letters From the Earth"

by Mark Twain

Excerpt: "This is a strange place, an extraordinary place, and interesting. There is nothing resembling it at home. The people are all insane, the other animals are all insane, the earth is insane, Nature itself is insane. Man is a marvelous curiosity. When he is at his very very best he is a sort of low grade nickel-plated angel; at his worst he is unspeakable, unimaginable; and first and last and all the time he is a sarcasm. Yet he blandly and in all sincerity calls himself the "noblest work of God." This is the truth I am telling you. And this is not a new idea with him, he has talked it through all the ages, and believed it. Believed it, and found nobody among all his race to laugh at it.

Moreover - if I may put another strain upon you - he thinks he is the Creator's pet. He believes the Creator is proud of him; he even believes the Creator loves him; has a passion for him; sits up nights to admire him; yes, and watch over him and keep him out of trouble. He prays to Him, and thinks He listens. Isn't it a quaint idea? Fills his prayers with crude and bald and florid flatteries of Him, and thinks He sits and purrs over these extravagancies and enjoys them. He prays for help, and favor, and protection, every day; and does it with hopefulness and confidence, too, although no prayer of his has ever been answered. The daily affront, the daily defeat, do not discourage him, he goes on praying just the same. There is something almost fine about this perseverance. I must put one more strain upon you: he thinks he is going to Heaven!"

Freely download "Letters From the Earth", by Mark Twain, here:

- https://faculty.mtsac.edu/jmcfaul/

"Lift Up Your Eyes"

"Lift Up Your Eyes"

by Paul Rosenberg

"When was the last time you tasted the sublime? When did you last feel wonder? Can you remember feeling awed by something? These are things we need, if we are to thrive. They are fuel for the higher human abilities. If we lack them, as is currently endemic throughout the West, our higher abilities will lag. For lack of better terms we can call these feelings “upward movements of the heart,” and we are diminished when there is a lack of them. Without them we fail to develop our higher capacities and insights. We slide more and more toward becoming, in one critic’s words, “mere trousered apes.”

I am certainly not the first person to notice this. Here, for example, is something Albert Einstein wrote on the subject: "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."

Here’s a comment from Mozart: "Neither a lofty degree of intelligence, nor imagination, nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius."

And here’s a poem from Richard Feynman:

"Out of the cradle

onto the dry land

here it is

standing:

atoms with consciousness;

matter with curiosity.

Stands at the sea

wonders at wondering: I

a universe of atoms

an atom in the universe."

We need these things.

Currents to the Contrary: Sadly, the modern West has become a mad scramble to distract as many sets of eyes as possible, and to keep them – to own them – for as long as possible. And so long as professional distractors own your imagination, you won't experience much in the way of awe.

Think of Google and Facebook; these outfits bring in billions of dollars per month, based almost entirely on how much human attention they can capture. Likewise the many news networks; they get paid according to how many people watch their images for how many minutes. These people are serious about owning your brain cycles; they employ armies of employees to count, gather, plan, and improve their ownership of your eyes. Please understand the content they deliver serves only to grasp your attention.

Certainly websites like Freeman’s Perspective also want your attention but not for its own sake. I want your attention because I think we have something worthwhile to communicate, not to own your brain. Facebook and Google want to own you… the inner you.

Likewise the lords of academia; they want your mind to bear their impress... permanently. Consider, for example, the many academics who espouse cold, rationalist, materialistic philosophies: that we are no more than preprogrammed machines, that words can never really communicate anything, that humanity is ignorant and dangerous. Have you noticed that they reek of “smarter than thou”? Then if you have the opportunity, examine their lives for beautiful acts, for loving passions, for kindness and deep benevolence. If your experience is anything like mine, you’ll notice a striking lack of those things.

The Contrasts: Among the greatest of all contrasts to the upward movements of the heart are those pertaining to dominance, status, and rulership. They are natural antagonists.

Think of drinking in the wonders of the universe, the beauty of nature, the glorious love between a good parent and their child… and then contrast those things with the blight of the dominator “protecting” you at the point of a sword… of the politician cultivating your fears like a gardener cultivates a garden… of the lover of status who feels pleasure when seeing you beneath her.

Dominance, status, and rulership are the drives of the people who abuse us. And they are primary causes for our elevated experiences being diminished.

Moving Past the Blockage: We need to get away from these people and beyond these foul concepts. And once we do, life will expand. Here to make that point is a final quote, this one from Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel: "The loss of awe is the avoidance of insight. A return to reverence is the first prerequisite for a revival of wisdom…"

The things that contribute to our higher nature have been driven away from the Western world, and often systematically. Humans who are denuded of the higher things are far less trouble to rule, and they are far easier to manipulate… to own without their noticing. But don’t let yourself by driven away from the higher and better things:

Lay under the stars and wonder.

Look into the face of a child and experience his or her awe of the world.

Sit in the wilderness and imagine benevolence and beauty and goodness unchained.

Lie in bed and imagine yourself with a conscious sense of righteousness.

Imagine yourself with no embedded fear.

Ruminate over good things you could do in the future, over beautiful things you’d do in the right circumstances.

Politics poisons this, dominators wish to subdue it, sociopaths cannot experience it. Get as much of it as you can. Go out of your way to cultivate it.”

- https://www.freemansperspective.com/

Full screen recommended.

2002, "Time Stands Still"

"I Have Accepted The Fact..."

"One can fight evil but against stupidity one is helpless. I have accepted the fact, hard as it may be, that human beings are inclined to behave in ways that would make animals blush. The ironic, the tragic thing is that we often behave in ignoble fashion from what we consider the highest motives. The animal makes no excuse for killing his prey; the human animal, on the other hand, can invoke God's blessing when massacring his fellow men. He forgets that God is not on his side but at his side."

 "There is no salvation in becoming adapted to a world which is crazy."

- Henry Miller

"How It Really Is"

"Why Shoplifting Is Now De Facto Legal In California"

"State law holds that stealing merchandise worth $950 or less is just a 

misdemeanor, which means that law enforcement probably won't bother to investigate."

"Who Owns America? Oligarchs Have Bought Up the American Dream'

"Who Owns America? 

Oligarchs Have Bought Up the American Dream'

By John & Nisha Whitehead

George Carlin, "The American Dream"

Strong Language Alert!

"Who owns America? Is it the government? The politicians? The corporations? The foreign investors? The American people? While the Deep State keeps the nation divided and distracted by a presidential election whose outcome is foregone (the police state’s stranglehold on power will ensure the continuation of endless wars and out-of-control spending, while disregarding the citizenry’s fundamental rights and the rule of law), America is literally being bought and sold right out from under us. Consider the facts.

We’re losing more and more of our land every year to corporations and foreign interests. Foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land has increased by 66% since 2010. In 2021, it was reported that foreign investors owned approximately 40 million acres of U.S. agricultural land, which is more than the entire state of Iowa. By 2022 that number had grown to 43.4 million acres. The rate at which U.S. farmland is being bought up by foreign interests grew by 2.2 million acres per year from 2015 to 2021. The number of U.S. farm acres owned by foreign entities grew more than 8% (3.4 million acres) in 2022.

We’re losing more and more of our businesses every year to foreign corporations and interests. Although China owns a small fraction of foreign-owned U.S. land at 380,000 acres (less than the state of Rhode Island), Chinese companies and investors are also buying up major food companies, commercial and residential real estate, and other businesses. As RetailWire explains, “Currently, many brands started by early American pioneers now wave international flags. This revolution is a direct result of globalization.” The growing list of once-notable American brands that have been sold to foreign corporations includes: U.S. Steel (now Japanese-owned); General Electric (Chinese-owned); Budweiser (Belgium); Burger King (Canada); 7-Eleven (Japan); Jeep, Chrysler, and Dodge (Netherlands); and IBM (China).

We’re digging ourselves deeper and deeper into debt, both as a nation and as a populace. Basically, the U.S. government is funding its existence with a credit card, spending money it doesn’t have on programs it can’t afford. The bulk of that debt has been amassed over the past two decades, thanks in large part to the fiscal shenanigans of four presidents, 10 sessions of Congress and two wars. The national debt (the amount the federal government has borrowed over the years and must pay back) is more than $34 trillion and will grow another $19 trillion by 2033. Foreign ownership makes up 29% of the U.S. debt held by the public. Of that amount, reports the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, “52 percent was held by private foreign investors while foreign governments held the remaining 48 percent.”

The Fourth Estate has been taken over by media conglomerates that prioritize profit over principle. Independent news agencies, which were supposed to act as bulwarks against government propaganda, have been subsumed by a global corporate takeover of newspapers, television and radio. Consequently, a handful of corporations now control most of the media industry and, thus, the information dished out to the public. Likewise, with Facebook and Google having appointed themselves the arbiters of disinformation, we now find ourselves grappling with new levels of corporate censorship by entities with a history of colluding with the government to keep the citizenry mindless, muzzled and in the dark.

Most critically of all, however, the U.S. government, long ago sold to the highest bidders, has become little more than a shell company, a front for corporate interests. Nowhere is this state of affairs more evident than in the manufactured spectacle that is the presidential election. As for members of Congress, long before they’re elected, they are trained to dance to the tune of their wealthy benefactors, so much so that they spend two-thirds of their time in office raising money. As Reuters reports, “It also means that lawmakers often spend more time listening to the concerns of the wealthy than anyone else.”

In the oligarchy that is the American police state, it clearly doesn’t matter who wins the White House, because they all work for the same boss: a Corporate State that has gone global.

So much for living the American dream. “We the people” have become the new, permanent underclass in America. We’re being forced to shell out money for endless wars that are bleeding us dry; money for surveillance systems to track our movements; money to further militarize our already militarized police; money to allow the government to raid our homes and bank accounts; money to fund schools where our kids learn nothing about freedom and everything about how to comply; and on and on.

This is no way of life. It’s tempting to say that there’s little we can do about it, except that’s not quite accurate. There are a few things we can do (demand transparency, reject cronyism and graft, insist on fair pricing and honest accounting methods, call a halt to incentive-driven government programs that prioritize profits over people), but it will require that “we the people” stop playing politics and stand united against the politicians and corporate interests who have turned our government and economy into a pay-to-play exercise in fascism.

Unfortunately, we’ve become so invested in identity politics that label us based on our political leanings that we’ve lost sight of the one label that unites us: we’re all Americans. The powers-that-be want us to adopt an “us versus them” mindset that keeps us powerless and divided. Yet as I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, the only “us versus them” that matters is “we the people” against the Deep State."

- https://www.rutherford.org/

"Disaster Approaches"

"Disaster Approaches"

Different elites fight for control of the government, by taking 

wealth from one group and giving it to another. With control of the 

machinery, they use it to move even more wealth in their direction.

by Bill Bonner and Tom Dyson

“As resources committed to benefits decline, 

resources committed to control must increase.” 

- Joseph Tainter

Poitou, France - "We’re trying to get to the bottom of it. Why do so many policy decisions turn out to be mistakes? Why are the mistakes not random, but always erring in one direction? And what can we expect next? To frame the question in cartoonish form: Why don’t they hit the brakes before driving off a cliff?

We have seen that the political system is a fraud. We don’t have a real democracy; we have a DINO... democracy in name only. Our elected representatives do not really represent us; they represent the special interests who provide them campaign money (and jobs... speaking fees... etc). It is not a government ‘by the People,’ in other words... it is one of elites, competing to control our political system.

Today, we’re looking at how it got that way and where it likely leads. In today’s news, Politico reports: "Harris, Trump see votes in not taxing tips." All citizens are to be treated equally, or so it says in the Civics textbooks. But today, politicians bid openly for votes by promising... what else?... other peoples’ money. Any taxes not paid on tips will have to be made up by taxes (including the inflation tax) on others. College loans, too, when not repaid by the borrower, will have to be paid by someone else.

Different elites fight for control of the government. They do it, largely, by taking wealth from one group and giving it to another. Then, with control of the machinery, they use it to move even more wealth and power in their direction.

Over time, they become more brazen. Ripping off the voters becomes more routine, more accepted. Resources are put to use not to increase benefits (by investing in new factories and so forth), but to control the distribution of existing benefits (by making campaign contributions, etc.) Then, it is not just the individuals who are corrupt... but the system itself. And as disaster approaches... the elites are paid not to see it coming. Why else has no major candidate - Kamala, Walz, Trump or Vance - mentioned that the US is going broke?

You might think that the feds make ‘errors.’ What else could you call George W. Bush’s $8 trillion War on Terror? Or how about Donald Trump’s $1.9 trillion tax cut (with no corresponding cut in spending... it simply increased the nation’s debt... passing along the bill to the next generation)... and what about all those ‘stimmy’ checks? When did it ever make sense to shut down the real economy and pass out trillions in printed-up credit money?

Congress and the Fed err consistently. Congress has produced only four balanced budgets in the last fifty-six years. And the Fed errs too. Pricing credit too low, it causes debt to grow from just $1.4 trillion in 1968 (the last year you could change your dollars for gold at a fixed rate)... to over $94 trillion today.

These mistakes aren’t random. Congress doesn’t underspend sometimes and overspend others. Instead, for every annual surplus since 1968, there were thirteen deficits. And for every dollar of surplus there were seventy eight dollars of deficit.

Why the lopsidedness in the nation’s most important ledger? Why not balance out the spending/borrowing with taxes, surpluses and budget cuts? Wouldn’t ‘we, the people’ be better off if we were debt free? The US now spends more on interest on the national debt than on defense; wouldn’t we all be better off if that money were available to meet today’s challenges, rather than paying for the errors of the past?

Gold Medal Spenders: Of course, politicians favor spending rather than saving. But so do the voters. At home, it means more money for pensions and medical care. Abroad, it means the US team rides roughshod over adversaries; voters’ hearts swell as if they had won an Olympic medal themselves.

Democrats and Republicans have both pledged not to cut transfer payments (pension and medical care, primarily) ‘by a single penny.’ And both promise more money to Ukraine and to Israel. It’s not hard to see why. Giving away money buys votes. And the firepower industry and Israel have the richest, most powerful lobbies in the country.

The ‘political caste’ uses its resources to control the distribution of wealth. As it becomes more powerful, the society becomes more corrupt... with more and more wealth going to favored groups. The top 1% makes out, well, like bandits. Since 1990, when the Fed began backstopping the stock market, the wealth of the top 1% of US households has increased by $31 million each... 680 times more than the wealth increase for the bottom half of all households.

Even in real estate, the tippy top of the wealth pyramid sees most of the benefits. In the ten years, 2010-2020, those with average household income of $180,000 gained $6 trillion in housing ‘investment.’ Those with average incomes of $29,000 gained only $330 billion - not even enough to keep up with inflation during that period.

But wait... there’s more. Why let them wreck the nation’s finances... load up the next generation with debt... practically guarantee inflation... and make almost everyone poorer? What perverse madness is this? Stay tuned."

Market Note, by Tom Dyson: "Important recession indicators are starting to light up. We've been covering the Sahm Rule, which triggered two weeks ago, and the yield curve recession indicator, which is on the verge of being tripped, in our BPR columns for paid readers. Here's another one: the credit spread recession indicator.

When the economy is booming, lenders aren't fussy about who they lend their capital to. Risky borrowers get access to capital on almost the same terms as the safest borrowers. But as the economy moves into the bust phase, and bankruptcies multiply, and liquidity tightens, lenders become far more cautious.

In the markets, this caution manifests as a higher interest rate spread between rates that riskier borrowers pay and rates that safer borrowers pay. This chart shows this credit spread. We can now add last week's dramatic widening of the credit spread to our list of flashing recession indicators..."

Click image for larger size.

- https://www.bonnerprivateresearch.com/

Real-time Sahm Rule Recession Indicator

Dan, I Allegedly, "This is a Con Job - You Can't Escape It!"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly, AM 8/13/24

"This is a Con Job - You Can't Escape It!"

"We're seeing layoffs left and right, and the American consumer is finally fed up with the skyrocketing inflation. From the absurdity of student loan forgiveness being blocked to the insanity of how people can't even afford basic necessities like gas and rent, we're breaking it all down."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Adventures With Danno, "Ohio's Largest Farmers Market! This Place Has Everything!"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures With Danno, 8/13/24

"Ohio's Largest Farmers Market!

 This Place Has Everything!"

"In today's vlog, we travel to Jungle Jim's International Market in Fairfield, Ohio,

 to visit the largest farmers market in Ohio and the craziest grocery store

 experience in the world! I invite you to join me as we explore this enormous spectacle!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Meanwhile, elsewhere...

Full screen recommended.

Travelling with Russell , 8/13/24

"Russia's Largest Shopping Mall 

After 900 Days of Sanctions"

"What does Russia's largest shopping mall look 

like inside after 900 days of intense sanctions?"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Alert! Prepare For 'Day X', Iran, Russia, China, N. Korea Are Preparing For The End Game"

Full screen recommended.

Canadian Prepper, 8/12/24

"Alert! Prepare For 'Day X', Iran, Russia, China, 

N. Korea Are Preparing For The End Game"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Beware, WW3 Is Closer than You Think; Small Businesses Under Siege; Families And Dreams Crushed"

Jeremiah Babe, 8/12/24

"Beware, WW3 Is Closer than You Think; 

Small Businesses Under Siege; Families And Dreams Crushed"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/w

Musical Interlude: 2002, “Cycle Of Time”

Full screen recommended.

2002, “Cycle Of Time”

Beautiful...

"A Look to the Heavens"

"These three bright nebulae are often featured in telescopic tours of the constellation Sagittarius and the crowded starfields of the central Milky Way. In fact, 18th century cosmic tourist Charles Messier cataloged two of them; M8, the large nebula left of center, and colorful M20 on the right. The third, NGC 6559, is above M8, separated from the larger nebula by a dark dust lane. All three are stellar nurseries about five thousand light-years or so distant.

The expansive M8, over a hundred light-years across, is also known as the Lagoon Nebula. M20's popular moniker is the Trifid. Glowing hydrogen gas creates the dominant red color of the emission nebulae, with contrasting blue hues, most striking in the Trifid, due to dust reflected starlight. The colorful skyscape recorded with telescope and digital camera also includes one of Messier's open star clusters, M21, just above the Trifid."

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

"Dead Romans Agree: Don’t Let The Small Stuff Bother You"

"Dead Romans Agree: 

Don’t Let The Small Stuff Bother You"

by John Wilder

"I woke up this morning just irritated. No particular reason. In all fairness, it was entirely an internal feeling, and I imagine most people never noticed. I was nice and polite to nearly everyone I interacted with. And why not? None of them were my ex-wife. I wasn’t irritated with them, I was just irritated. There were no issues. I wasn’t in pain. No one around me was in particular trouble. Thankfully I’m not an electrician – people might dislike me not being positive at work.

As I thought about it, what was irritating me? I couldn’t quite put a finger on it. There was no rational reason at all. During a conversation lat night, though, I had a reason to quote Marcus Aurelius: “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”

Sure, Marcus Aurelius’ kid was an utter tool, but when you become Caesar at 18, well, it might tend to go to your head – think of Commodus as Miley Cyrus, 180 A.D. Back to Marcus, though. Marcus genuinely did his best for the Roman Empire. As near as I can tell, Marcus was a pretty good leader. And that little quote above wasn’t written for you and me. It was written for Marcus, by Marcus. He was reminding himself that the external things in the world had only the power he gave them. He was giving himself a pep talk.

Marcus Aurelius was right. In the conversation I was having lat night, the person was very upset (most of you don’t know the person, though specific readers in California and Indiana do – hi guys!). The reason she was upset? Nothing rational at all. So I quoted a dead Roman emperor. Did it help? I don’t know. I’m beginning to see a pattern where crying people don’t stop crying when I quote dead Roman emperors. I’m beginning to see why the kids call The Mrs. when they want actual human sympathy.

My irritation (I think) came from the same place. Nowhere. I felt fine (except for my right knee which is much better now) and the day generally went fairly well. I realized that the advice I gave was meant just as much for me as for the person I was talking to. I was just being irritated because I let myself be irritated.

Once I was done and realized I didn’t have to be irritated? My irritation disappeared. I know that the way I feel is (generally) my choice. I can choose how I feel: salty, Wednesday, or even drunk. The only reason that I’m not happy every morning is if I choose not to be happy on some particular morning.

Are there actual reasons why I might have different feelings? Sure. If I had mental problems (other than an unseemly affection for awful jokes and a desire to consciously be able to make my fingernails grow absurdly fast) that might be a reason to have a feeling other than what I choose.

Don’t know. I do know that there are people with actual mental problems. There’s proof: some people actually voted for Biden. But, going back to Marcus, that’s not external. Being sick or goofy enough to vote for Biden isn’t external.

Physical pain also is an internal source that can destroy moods. I once (for a few months) had sciatica. I was irritable enough every morning to chew nails and spit bullets. Then I discovered that I could work out for a few hours on an elliptical trainer to make the pain go away. A week later? I was fine. My irritation vanished along with my sciatica, never (hopefully) to return. That was nearly 15 years ago. Sure, I’ve felt pain since then, but most of it was the good pain from a hard workout. Heck, most days the worst thing that happened was the crisp morning breeze running through my back hair.

My mood depends on me. My attitude depends on me. Does that mean that I can’t see the actual situation we’re in? Of course not. I see a nation tearing itself apart. It’s worse: it’s not just a nation, Western Civilization seems to be happily thrashing about as it marches down a path to extinction.

Is that good? Of course not. Does it mean that I should walk around every day being sad? Of course not. I am doing, I assure you, everything I can think of to stave off that darkness. I mean, those memes won’t make themselves. And I am doing it cheerfully. I laugh every day. I smile because I know that most of the things that I worry about can have no power over me unless I give them that power.

Make your choices, and understand that while you might wake up irritated – it’s your choice if you wish to stay in that mood for a minute or an hour. Me? I like being happy, so I choose that, even in moments where it might not be appropriate. I might even need to stop high-fiving people at funerals.

So, I got started late typing this after a day I chose to just be irritated. And, I’m going to choose to end now. With a smile on my face. Go and have a great day. Most of the time, having a great day is just a choice. Choose wisely."

- https://wilderwealthywise.com/

○

"The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable,

or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same."

- Carlos Castaneda

Chet Raymo, "Asperges Me, Domine "

"Asperges Me, Domine"

by Chet Raymo

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

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

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

- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/

"Asperges Me, Domine"

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

- The Catholic Mass

"Ah, You Miserable Creatures!"

"Ah, You Miserable Creatures!"

"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great!

You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything!

Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."

- Frederic Bastiat

How much more evidence do you need to 

realize we as a society have lost our collective minds?

"Wars And Rumors Of War, 8/12/24"

Full screen recommended.

Danny Haiphong, 8/12/24

"What Putin Just Did to Israel is Shocking as 

Hezbollah's Russian Missiles Swarm IDF, Iran Looms"

Vladimir Putin just sent a major warning to Israel that has Netanyahu on red alert as Russia's aid to Hezbollah and Iran begins to pay major dividends. Bombshell events over the last 24 hours have revealed something huge about what Hezbollah and Iran is readying for the IDF.

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Larry C. Johnson, 8/12/24

"Israel’s Epic Struggle vs. Iran -

 Russia's Devastating Blow to Ukraine's Army!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 8/12/24

"Ray McGovern: 

Ritter’s Courage, Israel’s Moral Crisis"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Times Of India, 8/12/24

"Israeli Military Shuts Down Southern Regions

 As Iran Could Strike Anytime From Now"

"With tensions escalating, the Israeli Defense Forces have shut down southern regions ahead of Tisha B’Av, a major Jewish holiday. Amid growing fears of a possible Iranian attack, the closures are part of efforts to safeguard civilians, especially as large prayer gatherings are expected." 

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"What Did $6.5 Trillion in Money Printing Achieve?" (Excerpt)

"What Did $6.5 Trillion in Money Printing Achieve?"

by David Stockman

Excerpt: "Here we go again. The Fed has spent the last 16 years fueling the mother of all financial bubbles on Wall Street. And by way of spillover effects on the mortgage market, it has also fostered parallel bubbles in commercial and residential real estate assets alike, across the length and breadth of the land.

Now these bubbles are once again bursting, of course, under the inexorable force of economic gravity (i.e. unsupportable debt and absurd valuation multiples), meaning that both ends of the Acela Corridor will be soon bleating loudly for another round of bailouts and frenetic money printing. But before the powers that be are able to rekindle yet another monetary rinse-and-repeat episode, the question recurs as to what has been accomplished since August 2008 by the $6.5 trillion increase in the Fed’s balance sheet over that interval?

Well, when it comes to measuring the bread and butter output of the US economy—manufactured goods, energy, mining and gas, electric, and other utilities—the answer is pretty much nothing. The industrial production index today stands hardly a tad above its August 2008 level. To be exact, the index has gained just 0.15% per annum during the last 16 years.

That’s an abrupt comedown from the prior trend. As it happened, between 1950 and 2008, the industrial production index rose by 3.50% per year. That is to say, unprecedented money-pumping and the resulting diminutive level of interest rates generated an industrial output growth rate equal to only 4% of its historic level, and not for a year or two but the better part of the first quarter of the Twenty-First century.

Our Keynesian monetary central planners, however, would say the flatlining of industrial production makes no nevermind because they have managed to keep total GDP expanding at an arguably respectable rate. Thus, between Q2 2008 and Q2 2024 real GDP rose from $16.9 trillion to $22.9 trillion or by 1.91% per annum, according to the official statistics. That was well short of the 3.41% per annum growth rate over the same 1950 to 2008 interval, but at 56% of its historic average, it wasn’t macroeconomic chopped liver, either.

Except, except. When you look at the internals, the real GDP woodpile is heavily populated by statistical skunks - most especially when it comes to the inflation indexes used to deflate the nominal data for spending and output. And, if you materially undercount inflation you can easily turn a macroeconomic sow’s ear into the semblance of a silk purse.

As reported, for instance, the goods component of real GDP rose from $3.37 trillion in Q2 2008 to $5.45 trillion in Q2 2024. That $2.08 trillion gain computes to a fulsome growth rate of 3.05% per annum, thereby lifting the top-line real GDP figure considerably."

Full, highly recommended article is here:

- https://quoththeraven.substack.com/

o

"The Federal Reserve's $34.5 Trillion Problem"

The Daily "Near You?"

St. Charles, Missouri, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Do You Believe..."

“Do you believe,’ said Candide, ‘that men have always massacred each other as they do today, that they have always been liars, cheats, traitors, ingrates, brigands, idiots, thieves, scoundrels, gluttons, drunkards, misers, envious, ambitious, bloody-minded, calumniators, debauchees, fanatics, hypocrites, and fools?”

“Do you believe,” said Martin, “that hawks have always eaten pigeons when they have found them?”

- Voltaire

"And Never, Never To Forget..."

“To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.”

- Arundhati Roy, "The Cost of Living"