Monday, September 9, 2024

"United Against Existence"

"United Against Existence"
by Robert Gore

"One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, "Lord of the Rings"

"Middle Earth had its Mount Doom, into which the One Ring of Power could be tossed, ridding that evil from J.R.R. Tolkien’s fictional setting. Real Earth is not so fortunate, but in all other aspects the lessons drawn from his classic apply. It only comes up short in one respect. Tolkien never delved into the psychology of Sauron, Saruman, and the lessor denizens of Middle Earth who lusted after the One Ring’s power, other than to depict the inevitable corruption of the soul their lust produced.

There are two conclusions uncorrupted souls have difficulty accepting, although both experience and logic point uncompromisingly towards them. The first is that those in power and those who lust for it want power for power’s sake, ultimately to destroy and kill. The second is that they want to destroy and kill because they want to destroy existence and kill themselves. We owe the first conclusion to Orwell, the second to Rand. (For a fuller explanation see “The Last Gasp,” Robert Gore, SLL, March 24, 2020.)

This article assumes both conclusions are well-founded and that the second in particular is the key to understanding where the world is now and where it’s going. They offer a realistic assessment of the chances for nuclear Armageddon.

It is no coincidence that the twentieth century witnessed history’s most totalitarian regimes and its bloodiest wars and genocides. By all indications the twenty-first century will extend the connected trends. Power goes hand-in-hand with destruction and death. Governments are based on their capacity to inflict violence; what else can they produce? Rejecting lofty rhetoric and revolutionary rationales, Orwell wrote that: "Power is not a means; it is an end." The twentieth century demonstrated that power is a means to inflict incalculable destruction and death. Know them by their fruits - those are the true ends of those who seek and hold power.

The travesty offers a refresher course we don’t really need: from world leaders down to petty politicians and functionaries, they want to kill us. Those who aren’t killed are to be frightened into compliance with their ghastly and tyrannical edicts, herded like cattle into some other slaughterhouse.

The gelatinous souls who move whatever direction the bowl tilts usually don’t recognize what’s happening until the moment of their execution. Beforehand, a few of the more intellectually adept will argue that the powerful will be limited by their instinct for self-preservation - if they kill too many they’ll end up killing themselves. Perhaps that thought offers comfort, however scant.

But what if the powerful are like those mass shooters whose terror ends only when they turn their guns on themselves? What if mass murder is the means to their desired end: suicide? Someone who kills himself but no one else is to be pitied. Someone who kills innocents before taking his own life perpetrates paramount evil.

"...Now he knew that he had wanted Galt’s destruction at the price of his own destruction to follow, he knew that he had never wanted to survive, he knew that it was Galt’s greatness he had wanted to torture and destroy - he was seeing it as greatness by his own admission, greatness by the only standard that existed, whether anyone chose to admit it or not: the greatness of a man who was master of reality in a manner no other had equaled. In the moment when he, James Taggart, had found himself facing the ultimatum: to accept reality or die, it was death his emotions had chosen, death rather than surrender to that realm of which Galt was so radiant a son. In the person of Galt - he knew - he had sought the destruction of all existence."
- Ayn Rand, "Atlas Shrugged," 1957

Rand pinpointed the core motivation of those who seek power, whose lives are defined by those they subjugate. Regardless of their differing aims, professed justifications, and ideological platforms, the powerful are united against existence. Spoken or unspoken, acknowledged or unacknowledged, they are united by the ultimate evil: to slaughter innocents before their own lives are inevitably extinguished. That puts the prospect of global nuclear war in a whole new light.

How would it play out? Credit Putin and Xi with more intelligence than the cast of cretins running the American empire. It’s a low bar. But are they any less power-driven, any less evil? Russia’s oligarchy and China’s totalitarian dictatorship are, like the U.S. government, organized crime. Angels don’t get to the top of such syndicates, and these two non-angels have set themselves up as rulers for life. Putin’s and Xi’s intelligence are matched by their ruthlessness, which may surpass that of their Western counterparts.

Say the brain trust that masterminded the Nordstream sabotage decides that a low-yield, false-flag nuclear or dirty bomb detonation in Ukraine would accomplish important objectives. They could blame it on Russia, shoring up empire support for the Ukrainians sagging war effort. It would be the perfect excuse to cancel the elections the Democrats are set to lose and perhaps institute martial law. Russia might respond in kind, and the brain trust’s giddy hopes for global nuclear war would be realized. Obvious insanity for most of us, a feature not a bug for the suicidally inclined.

Once the bomb detonated, Putin and Xi would know the U.S. was behind it. They may even know beforehand. Russia has accused Ukraine of planning to detonate a dirty bomb, and the Chinese government has reportedly told Chinese citizens in Ukraine to leave the country. The comfortably numb assumption U.S. defense policy rests upon is that their responses will be proportional to the provocation out of respect for the planet-destroying potential of the U.S. nuclear triad.

What if they’re not? What if Russia and China respond with everything they’ve got, hypersonic missiles - to which the empire has no defense - taking out major cities, infrastructure, industry, and communications and computer networks? And what if the empire’s nuclear response capability has been surreptitiously crippled or eliminated by Russian and Chinese hacking and sabotage? They’re pretty good at that sort of thing.

Here is an urgent plea to anyone within the empire’s power structure who can short-circuit the false flag: check your assumptions. That false flag might not lead to the desired global holocaust, but rather to a Russia and Chinese victory! In either instance you’ll probably be dead, but you can’t take the chance that the Russians and Chinese might win. That would be simply intolerable. Stop the false flag!

A Putin and Xi victory would leave the U.S. as a nuclear wasteland and those two as the world’s rulers - not unipolarity or multipolarity but bipolarity. Of course there’s only one Ring; sharing absolute power sounds like a contradiction in terms. Regardless, a radioactive U.S. and its miserable survivors would be at the very bottom of the pecking order in a world run by one or two totalitarian dictators.

However, the radioactivity from any nuclear attack capable of decimating the U.S. wouldn’t stay confined to the U.S. Russian and Chinese hacking and sabotage may not prevent every U.S. bomb from landing in those countries. Theirs would be the Pyrrhic victory to end all Pyrrhic victories if fallout extinguished everyone. Assuming the powerful - American, European, Russian, Chinese and globalist - are indeed murderously suicidal, united against existence, that outcome is not just a nontrivial possibility; it’s more likely than not.

In which case only God can save humanity. Let us hope in his justice, compassion, and wisdom he gives our species, woefully deficient in all three, one more chance."

"You’ve Been Robbed"

"You’ve Been Robbed"
by Paul Rosenberg

"You work long, hard days, but you never have enough to be secure. Your husband or wife probably works too, and yet you still never get ahead. Now think about this: Your great-grandparents worked hard, and they did get ahead. You work just as hard, but you don’t make the same progress.

Was great-grandpa really that much better than you? Not likely. So, how was it that he could get ahead on one income, but you can’t? Take a good look at this graph:
The top line shows how many years of living expenses your great-grandfather would have accumulated as a hard-working young man. The bottom line shows what you can save. After working for five years, great-gramps had seven years of living expenses in the bank. Doing the same things, you’d have less than two.

The graph was generated as follows: $725 per year is the income in about 1903, based upon discussions with hard-working men who lived through the time. A figure of $325 per year for living expenses is taken from a New York Times article, dated September 29, 1907. Assets were presumed to appreciate at 10% per year. For 2008 {the year the graph was generated} the annual income was $45,000 and monthly expenses were $2,000. This young man pays 30% income taxes and investment return is calculated at a reduced rate of 8.5% because of taxes upon interest. The young man of 1905 is investing $400/year after living expenses of $325. His modern descendant is investing $7500/year after living expenses of $24,000.

When great-gramps worked hard, he kept the money. There was no income tax and no sales tax. (The government survived anyway.) There was no Social Security tax either, and the streets weren’t full of starving old people. Families were able to take care of their own. In your great-grandparents’ day, it was very common for mechanics, carpenters, and shop-owners to make private business loans. Now you shuffle into banks with piles of the most personal documents and beg for loans. (As the banks create your loan money with a keystroke.)

You’ve Not Only Been Robbed, You’ve Been Demoralized: Why did this happen? Because Westerners accepted a lie: that they were bad people. Think this through: Your money is taken from you before it can accumulate (“payroll deductions”), leaving you with barely enough to live a reasonable life. You have nothing left to help those who suffer unjustly – not because you don’t work, but because your surplus is skimmed away to Capital City. Then, those same politicians have the audacity to call you a bad person for not wanting to help the poor. They make it almost impossible for you to give, then insult you for it.

Your great-grandparents were proud to help their friends and neighbors. They felt good about themselves and were proud to make the world a better place. Being robbed of this heritage is the worst crime of all.

So…? This is the point where people ask, “What do we do about this?” And the answer is simple: Stop playing their game! The system is rigged and the abusers make the rules. More or less everything big is in on the game. People have been trying to reform this thing for a long time, and have accomplished next to nothing. The only sensible choice is to withdraw from the game and to start building something better."

Paul, I totally agree with your analysis and opinions here, and absolutely agree when you say, "The only sensible choice is to withdraw from the game and to start building something better," as the only rational, logical solution, but... How? Where? Not quite so simple after all... - CP

Bill Bonner, "Barbarians on the Potomac"

"Barbarians on the Potomac"
"A nation can only afford so much debt. When the limits are passed... something’s
 gotta give. Either stocks crash and debt goes unpaid... or the money itself gives way."
by Bill Bonner

"At a minimum, rate cuts will... entice individuals and businesses to borrow money and spend it on things that would otherwise be too expensive. Individuals may see a dip in mortgage rates and take on a mega home loan. Businesses with little growth prospects may borrow money to buy back their own shares."
- MN Gordon

Poitou, France - "Last week, we took up a question that has been buzzing around like a mosquito for years. What’s wrong with stocks at thirty times earnings? This led to a whole swarm of questions: what’s wrong with a national debt that is more than GDP? Why can’t Nvidia be worth more than $3 trillion? And why shouldn’t the Fed cut rates to make it easier to borrow money?

In the weekend news came this update, Fortune: "U.S. debt is so massive, interest costs alone are now $3 billion a day. With U.S. debt now at $35.3 trillion, the cost of paying the interest on all that borrowing has soared recently and now averages out to $3 billion a day, according to Apollo chief economist Torsten Sløk. And that includes Saturdays and Sundays, he pointed out in a note on Tuesday. The daily interest expense has doubled since 2020 and is up from $2 trillion about two years ago. That's when the Federal Reserve began its campaign of aggressive rate hikes to rein in inflation."

On Friday, we revealed the secret: Say’s Law, which tells us that real money (purchasing power) comes from output... not from the feds’ printing presses. The feds can print and borrow as much money as they want. They can distort prices and cause the economy to shake, rattle and roll. But they can’t control the value of the money they print... or prevent the system from adjusting to the real, underlying financial truth.

Say’s Law is usually abbreviated as ‘supply creates demand.’ You make a nice loaf of bread. You sell it for a dollar. Now you have a dollar’s worth of ‘money.’ Before making the bread, you have nothing. And if it only cost you ninety cents - in labor and materials - to make the bread... you made a 10% profit. This extra, value-added, represents not only the wealth you added for yourself, but additional wealth for the whole world. Where previously it had ninety cents worth of raw ingredients (including your labor), now it has a loaf of bread worth $1.

The whole system - an elegant jungle of surprises and ‘moral’ lessons - is replete with predators and their prey, cooperation and competition, checks and balances. In the aggregate, for example, employees are also customers. So, the more corporations pay them, the more purchasing power they give consumers. Sales and gross profits increase. But when they pay too much in wages, net profits go down.

Debt is limited too. First, borrowers can only borrow the money savers have earned... and saved. Second, as borrowers bid for more of the available savings, the price of credit (the interest rate) goes up, making it less attractive to borrow. Third, as interest rates go up, so does the reward for saving money. But as more money is saved, less is spent, reducing sales and profits. Then, as sales go down, companies feel less desire to expand... and less desire to borrow money, so interest rates go down too.

The Feds come barging in: It is into the marvelous, intricately balanced... finely tooled... and infinitely complex system that the feds come barging... like Vikings into a nunnery. These bulls break every piece of china in the shop. Interest rates are pushed down into the cellars. Stock prices are tossed up into the rafters. And the productive industries - the looms, the gardens and ovens - are ruined. The poor gals don’t know what to think. Kneel for prayers... or run to the hills?

The feds ‘print’ extra money. No need to increase workers’ wages. No reason to increase the supply of goods or services. Forget Say’s Law; now it’s not supply that creates demand... or real output that provides purchasing power. Now, there’s fake money pretending to be real. The extra money chases a stable supply of things to buy - and prices rise.

Still, there are limits. A person can take all the supplements he wants... visit the doctor twice a week... take 1,000 steps a day; he’ll still die. So too, stocks are only worth so much. And a nation can only afford so much debt. When the limits are passed... something’s gotta give. Either stocks crash and debt goes unpaid... or the money itself gives way.

You already know our bet. As Ben Bernanke put it: "The U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press (or, today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost." And lo! The barbarians are already paddling up the Potomac. Despite new stock market highs... and $400,000+ average house prices... the Fed is preparing to cut rates and boost prices even higher."

Gregory Mannarino, "AM/PM 9/9/24"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 9/9/24
"9 Days: Are You Prepared For 
What Will Happen In 9 Days From Today?"
Comments here:
o
Greggory Mannarino, PM 9/9/24
"Hyperinflation Beginning In 2025 
Has Now Become A Very Real Possibility"
Comments here:

"Economic Market Snapshot 9/9/24"

"Economic Market Snapshot 9/9/24"
Down the rabbit hole of psychopathic greed and insanity...
Only the consequences are real - to you!
"It's a Big Club, and you ain't in it. 
You and I are not in the Big Club."
- George Carlin
o
Market Data Center, Live Updates:
Comprehensive, essential truth.
Financial Stress Index

"The OFR Financial Stress Index (OFR FSI) is a daily market-based snapshot of stress in global financial markets. It is constructed from 33 financial market variables, such as yield spreads, valuation measures, and interest rates. The OFR FSI is positive when stress levels are above average, and negative when stress levels are below average. The OFR FSI incorporates five categories of indicators: creditequity valuationfunding, safe assets and volatility. The FSI shows stress contributions by three regions: United Statesother advanced economies, and emerging markets."
Job cuts and much more.
Commentary, highly recommended:
"The more I see of the monied classes,
the better I understand the guillotine."
- George Bernard Shaw
Oh yeah... beyond words. Any I know anyway...
And now... The End Game...
o

Sunday, September 8, 2024

Jeremiah Babe, "Cash Is King: Pawn Shops Go On Buying Spree; Social Security Crisis Out Of Control"

Jeremiah Babe, 9/8/24
"Cash Is King: Pawn Shops Go On Buying Spree; 
Social Security Crisis Out Of Control"
Comments here:

Musical Interlude: 2002, "Another Answer Came"

Full screen recommended.
2002, "Another Answer Came"
"In "Savitri" by Sri Aurobindo, Savitri discovers that her love, Satyavan has only one year left to live. She must decide whether or not she will stay with him in the emerald forest or search for a new love. But another answer came, and she outwitted death itself." 
o
"Savitri"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"How do clusters of galaxies form and evolve? To help find out, astronomers continue to study the second closest cluster of galaxies to Earth: the Fornax cluster, named for the southern constellation toward which most of its galaxies can be found. Although almost 20 times more distant than our neighboring Andromeda galaxy, Fornax is only about 10 percent further that the better known and more populated Virgo cluster of galaxies.
Fornax has a well-defined central region that contains many galaxies, but is still evolving. It has other galaxy groupings that appear distinct and have yet to merge. Seen here, almost every yellowish splotch on the image is an elliptical galaxy in the Fornax cluster. The picturesque barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 visible on the lower right is also a prominent Fornax cluster member."

The Poet: J.R.R. Tolkien, "I Sit And Think"

"I Sit And Think"

 "I sit beside the fire and think
Of all that I have seen,
Of meadow flowers and butterflies
In summers that have been.
Of yellow leaves and gossamer
In autumns that there were,
With morning mist and silver sun
And wind upon my hair.

I sit beside the fire and think
Of how the world will be
When winter comes without a spring
That I shall ever see.
For still there are so many things
That I have never seen,
In every wood, in every spring,
There is a different green.

I sit beside the fire and think
Of people long ago,
And people that will see a world
That I shall never know.
But all the while I sit and think
Of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
And voices at the door."

- J.R.R. Tolkien

Travelling with Russell, "Russian Typical Brand New Supermarket in 2024"

Full screen recommended.
Travelling with Russell, 9/8/24
"Russian Typical Brand New Supermarket in 2024"
"What does a Russian typical supermarket look like inside? Magnit Supermarket is Russia's second largest supermarket chain with more than 30,000 locations, making this a very typical Russian supermarket."
Comments here:

"A Bird's Voice For Which The Sun Rises"

"A Bird's Voice For Which The Sun Rises"
by Mattias Desmet

"Dear friends,

This morning I opened my eyes early, and while I lay in bed waiting for my body to get me moving, I had an experience so moving in its simplicity and every-day-ness that I cannot resist sharing it with you.

Between darkness and light, my awakening thoughts spun together quickly, like a solidifying candy floss. But just before they pulled me completely from the fullness of the dream world into the barrenness and illusion of waking life, something happened: I heard outside, somewhere in the trees and bushes near the open window, a cautious and hesitant 'psiiee-wiet'.

That sound, utterly banal in a musical and melodic sense, had something singular about it. As certain as a rock standing with its feet in the earth, I could say this morning: this sound was a beginning. This little bird - a small bird, as I imagined it - was the first to sing today. After a few moments, it was followed, in rapid succession and surprisingly fast increasing in multitude and volume, by other bird voices. It was as if the first bird had broken a dam behind which a mounting urge to make sound had accumulated, now overflowing into the shared space. I knew for sure: there was a beginning to this abundance, and today, I was privileged to witness that beginning.

My being was briefly absorbed by that feathered phenomenon. This little creature, just like Rosa Parks, performed an act this morning. The question suddenly struck me, both pertinent and justified: what was that little bird thinking and feeling when it, in all its vulnerability, decided to be the first to make its sound this morning? Had it been waiting impatiently for another bird to break the silence? Did it think, "Why isn’t anyone starting? Someone has to do it - I'll do it"? And why did all the birds immediately join in as soon as that one bird broke the silence? Do birds, too, have a kind of fear of speaking? Do they, too, live somewhere in fear of expressing their truth?

Suddenly, it seemed truly miraculous to me, so moving that it brought tears to my eyes. That fragile sound, full of strength in its hesitation and fragility: every morning there is a bird that has the courage to break the shell of the nocturnal silence with its little beak and open space for other voices as well. It is through and for that bird that the sun continues its upward journey today, and it is through that small voice that the music of life sounds today.

Every day there are a thousand days, every day there is a thousandfold beginning. How beautiful it is to be a beginning at least once every day, to be that voice that breaks the silence, that voice that tames hollow echoes and hesitation; how beautiful it is to be that voice at least once each day through which and for which the sun spreads its light and life resounds in harmony.

With that, I will begin my day - and I dedicate it to that little bird."

"Last Three Wishes of Alexander The Great"

"Last Three Wishes of Alexander The Great"
by Shiv Tandon

"When Alexander The Great, after conquering kingdoms returning to his country, he fell ill that led him to his deathbed. He gathered his generals and told them, “I will depart from this world soon, I have three wishes, please carry them out without fail.” The king asked his generals to abide by these last wishes:

1) The Greek king of Macedon said, “My physicians alone must only carry my coffin.”

2) “I desire that when my coffin is being carried to the grave, the path leading to the graveyard be filled with the wealth that I collected,” the king said.

3) “My third and last wish is that both my hands be kept hanging out of my coffin,” Alexander said.

The generals agreed to abide by their king’s last wishes and asked him the reason for doing so. Alexander said: “I want the world know the three lessons I have just learnt.” The king interpreted his wishes and continued;

“I want my physicians to carry my coffin because people should realize that no doctor on this earth can really cure anybody. They are helpless in front of death.”

Describing his second wish, the king said: “I spent all my life earning riches but cannot take anything with me. Let people know that wealth is nothing but dust.”

Thirdly, "I wish people to know that I came empty handed into this world and I will go empty-handed.”

The Daily "Near You?"

Robstown, Texas, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"A Final Resort..."

"In the last few years, the very idea of telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is dredged up only as a final resort when the alternative options of deception, threat and bribery have all been exhausted."
- Michael Musto

"The lies then and now are mind boggling. The people who continue to lap up the lies
 are beyond reach. The poison unleashed into the population will be with us a long time."
– Edward Dowd

"It''ll Do..."

Deputy Wendell: "It's a mess, ain't it Sheriff?"
Sheriff Ed Tom Bell: "Well, if it ain't, it'll do till the mess gets here."
- "No Country For Old Men"

Oh, the mess is here alright...and you ain't seen nothin' yet...
Brace for impact.

"Death Of The Consumer Economy: Over A Third Of U.S. Adults Now Struggle To Pay For Their Most Basic Expenses"

"Death Of The Consumer Economy: Over A Third Of 
U.S. Adults Now Struggle To Pay For Their Most Basic Expenses"
by Michael Snyder

"When U.S. consumers are doing well, the U.S. economy does well. But of course the opposite is also true. When U.S. consumers are not doing well, the U.S. economy really suffers. The government has been trying really hard to put a happy face on things, but the truth is that the standard of living for most U.S. consumers has been going down for a long time. The cost of living has been rising faster than paychecks have, and so most of us have less discretionary income than we once did. And that is really bad news for the U.S. economy, because as the official White House website has pointed out, consumer spending typically accounts for about two-thirds of all economic activity…"Consumption spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy on average, so as the U.S. consumer goes, so goes the U.S. economy."

For once, the White House has told us something that is actually accurate. In the first quarter of 2024, consumer spending accounted for 68 percent of GDP. It has been right around the two-thirds mark for many years, and that makes it one of the most stable numbers in economics.

Unfortunately, consumers are more financially stressed today than they have been in ages. In fact, a survey that was recently conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau discovered that 37 percent of U.S. adults now struggle to pay for their most basic expenses each month…"About 37% of American adults are in households that found it somewhat or very difficult to pay for typical expenses between late June and late July, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey."

When you are barely able to pay for food, housing and other essentials, there is not going to be extra money to blow at retail stores and restaurants. This is one of the primary reasons why so many retailers and restaurant chains are going bankrupt in 2024.

Of course the economic pain is not spread equally across the entire country. According to that same survey, consumers are particularly struggling in “poor” states such as Mississippi, Alabama and West Virginia…"Mississippi (49.5%), Alabama (45.5%) and West Virginia (43.5%) have the highest percentage of adults who say they’re having trouble affording their basic needs."

I think that there are many good things that could be said about all three states. In fact, I have Alabama ranked 11th for survivability out of all 50 states in my book about the great turmoil that will soon hit our society. But if you don’t have money, it can be really tough to live in an area of the country where employment prospects are relatively poor. Needless to say, lots of people in big states are really hurting right now too.

The Census survey found that 41.8 percent of Florida residents, 40 percent of New York residents, 39.9 percent of Texas residents and 37.5 percent of California residents are having difficultly paying for their basic expenses at this point. When close to 40 percent of the population is just barely scraping by, you have a major economic crisis on your hands. No matter how they want to frame things, our leaders are not going to be able to ignore this forever.

The lack of consumer spending is hitting the restaurant industry particularly hard…"The year has not even reached its fourth quarter and bankruptcies among restaurant chains, operating companies and large franchisees are already nearly double what they were in 2023. Jonathan Carson, co-CEO of bankruptcy services and technology firm Stretto, says there have been 17 such Chapter 11 filings in the sector so far in 2024, and there were only nine at this point last year. He expects the trend to continue.

According to Carson, a number of factors have contributed to the nightmare that the restaurant industry is now facing…“In this situation, a challenging economic environment, post-pandemic recovery issues, rising labor costs, changing consumer habits and inflation have caused more restaurants to struggle in 2024,” Carson told FOX Business in an interview, noting those issues have also impacted other sectors of the economy."

Retailers have also been going bankrupt at a staggering rate. Just today, I came across another example. Earlier this year, LL Flooring shuttered close to 100 stores, but now the company has decided that it is time to permanently shut down all 442 stores…"LL Flooring – previously known as Lumber Liquidators – is shutting all its stores after going out of business after three decades. The retailer, one of America’s biggest flooring suppliers, was looking for a buyer after filing for bankruptcy. Earlier in the summer it had 442 stores, but shut nearly 100 as it looked to cut costs and woo investors. No buyer could be found."

You can’t get blood out of a stone. If consumers had plenty of discretionary income, they would be out spending it. But they don’t, and things will only get worse during the months ahead.

Politicians can keep giving more speeches about “how well the economy is doing”, but it won’t change the cold, hard facts on the ground. If someone tries to tell you that the economy is in good shape, just point out that the number of business bankruptcies has been absolutely exploding…"According to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, annual bankruptcy filings totaled 486,613 in the year ending June 2024, compared with 418,724 cases in the previous year. Business filings rose 40.3 percent, from 15,724 to 22,060 in the year ending June 30, 2024. Non-business bankruptcy filings rose 15.3 percent to 464,553, compared with 403,000 in the previous year."

The moment that you point this out, the argument will be over. There is no way that anyone can monkey with that number. Either businesses are filing for bankruptcy or they aren’t. Right now, companies all over America are really hurting, and as a result many of them are also laying off workers. In fact, things are so bad that even the tech industry has been conducting mass layoffs…"Tech companies continued to cut jobs at a rapid pace in August 2024. More than 27,000 workers in the industry lost their jobs as over 40 companies, including big names like Intel, IBM, and Cisco, as well as numerous smaller startups, announced layoffs. To date, more than 136,000 tech workers have been laid off by 422 companies in 2024, indicating significant upheaval in the sector."

The momentum of our economy is clearly taking us in a very troubling direction. Our standard of living has been in decline for years, and now our economic problems are accelerating. Hopefully you have been making preparations for hard times, because a tremendous amount of pain is ahead."

The graphic above look and feel familiar?
Oh, you ain't seen nothin' yet, but you will, we all will...

"How It Really Is"

 

"Haitian Migrants Invade Small Ohio Town, Reportedly Eat Neighbors’ Cats"

"Haitian Migrants Invade Small Ohio Town,
 Reportedly Eat Neighbors’ Cats"
by Ben Bartee

"The story begins as many 21st-century Midwestern Rust Belt ones do, with a hollowed-out city abandoned by the manufacturing sector for greener offshore pastures where multinational “American” corporations can pay Indonesian orphans 12 cents/hour with no OHSA regulations and definitely no 401(k) programs.

Then a wave of manufacturing re-investment returned, only that - golly gee - there weren’t enough workers. So the rational neoliberal solution was to import them from somewhere called Haiti. Accordingly, over the past four years, 20,000 Haitian “migrants” swarmed Springfield, Ohio (2020 population: 58,000). Much cultural enrichment and infrastructure collapse ensued.

Via Daily Mail (emphasis added): “Japanese vehicle parts maker Topre was one of the first to arrive in 2017, followed by a microchip manufacturer, a logistics company, and many more. About 8,000 new jobs were created by 2020, and they have only increased since then. But there were not enough workers to fill them. Then Haitian immigrants elsewhere in the US, who were in the country legally, heard Springfield needed workers.

Willing to do the blue-collar jobs locals were unenthusiastic about and keen to pay lower rent than in big cities, they arrived in droves. About 20,000 came in just a few years, swelling the town's population - which was just 58,000 in the 2020 census.”

According to residents, as shocking as it might be, it seems the process of cultural assimilation has hit a few snags. https://x.com/captivedreamer7/status/1832265609905672235

As you might imagine, a 20,000 jump in population over a few years in a population of under 60,000 strained the housing supply. Via ABC 33 40 (emphasis added): “Large numbers of people entering or living in America illegally are exacerbating the housing crisis, including in areas like Ohio far from the border. City Manager Bryan Heck of Springfield sent an urgent letter requesting federal aid to U.S. Sens. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. Despite the city’s ongoing advancements in housing projects, the sheer number of migrants arriving and residing in the area has strained resources to their limits.”

Via the letter (emphasis added): “The City of Springfield, Ohio is facing a significant housing crisis in our community. Many factors have played in to where we are today, but without significant support at the Federal level, I believe, that the situation and the need for housing in our community will become much worse.

The City of Springfield and its partners have been proactively working towards solutions for this crisis since a Housing Consortium made up of both public and private sector leaders formed in 2018. This led to two macro-level studies focused on addressing the housing situation prepared by the Greater Ohio Policy Center on behalf of Springfield. This identified the challenges that Springfield’s Housing Market faced, while also identifying key initiatives, policies, and programs that our community could implement to address the situation.

Many of the recommendations have been adopted and put into practice, and we have seen positive results. But most recently, Springfield has seen a surge in population through immigration that has significantly impacted our ability as a community to produce enough housing opportunities for all. Springfield’s Haitian population has increased to 15,000 – 20,000 over the last four years in a community of just under 60,000 previous residents, putting a significant strain on our resources and ability to provide ample housing for all of our residents. Despite 2000 additional housing units set to come online over the next three to five years, this is still not enough.”

Of course, the unbearable burden on the housing supply is bad enough. But just to add an extra level of Mad Max-style dystopia into the equation… You’ll notice, if you travel, that street dogs are a constant throughout the Third World - particularly in places with warm climates year-round. But Lao Cai, Vietnam, just on the border with China is noticeably devoid of them. "I was once driving my motorbike innocently enough down the road on a breezy afternoon, only to come upon a dog corpse roasting under the hot sun atop a pile of burning twigs. I would share the photo I took, but it’s obscene and this is a family publication." Related: Notes From Exile: ‘Heart of Darkness’

“You can take the Haitian out of the medieval squalor, but you can’t take the medieval squalor out of the Haitian,” my Midwestern Irish-Catholic grandmammy once advised me over the full-volume blare of Murder, She Wrote on her television from the moon landing era.

Per the account of one resident - and there is no solid corroborating evidence that this is true, but let’s not pretend it’s not plausible - the new Americans kidnapped her cat and hung it up on a tree like butchered swine to carve up for meat. Bush meat is an ancient African tradition, after all, so let’s not feign shock.

We respect Diversity™ here at Armageddon Prose, so if that means Fluffy has to bite the bullet, we’re just going to have to say our Hail Marys and send her spirit to the Lord - if you believe loyal pets go to Heaven, as I like to - and her body to the Haitians’ intestines. Render unto Caesar. https://x.com/MJTruthUltra/status/1832141610316157274

In what appears to be corroborating evidence of the above claims, there’s an image circulating heavily on Twitter/X of an apparent Haitian strolling down the streets of Springfield clutching several duck corpses, for what purpose we can only guess."

Soon, your new neighbors...

Gregory Mannarino, "Markets, A Look Ahead: A 'Worldwide Super Depression' Is Not Far Off"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 9/8/24
"Markets, A Look Ahead: 
A 'Worldwide Super Depression' Is Not Far Off"
Comments here:

"It Begins… Starving Migrants Raid NYC Supermarket"

Full screen recommended.
Cash Jordan, 9/8/24
"It Begins… Starving Migrants 
Raid NYC Supermarket"
"One particular grocery store in NYC has a rising theft problem. As with all theft in our city, some will excuse it as an act of desperation on the part of someone who is hungry, while others blame it on laws that protect criminals. Complicating matters is the fact that this particular grocery store is one block from one of the city's largest shelters for asylum seekers..."
Comments here:
What did you think was and is going to happen?
o
Coming soon to a store near you...
Nine Meals from Anarchy
by Jeff Thomas

“In 1906, Alfred Henry Lewis stated, “There are only nine meals between mankind and anarchy.” Since then, his observation has been echoed by people as disparate as Robert Heinlein and Leon Trotsky. The key here is that, unlike all other commodities, food is the one essential that cannot be postponed. If there were a shortage of, say, shoes, we could make do for months or even years. A shortage of gasoline would be worse, but we could survive it, through mass transport, or even walking, if necessary.

But food is different. If there were an interruption in the supply of food, fear would set in immediately. And, if the resumption of the food supply were uncertain, the fear would become pronounced. After only nine missed meals, it’s not unlikely that we’d panic and be prepared to commit a crime to acquire food. If we were to see our neighbor with a loaf of bread, and we owned a gun, we might well say, “I’m sorry, you’re a good neighbor and we’ve been friends for years, but my children haven’t eaten today – I have to have that bread – even if I have to shoot you.”

So, let’s have a closer look at the actual food distribution industry, compare it to the present direction of the economy and see whether there might be reason for concern.

The food industry typically operates on very small margins – often below 2%. Traditionally wholesalers and retailers have relied on a two-week turnaround of supply and anywhere up to a 30-day payment plan. But an increasing tightening of the economic system for the last eight years has resulted in a turnaround time of just three days for both supply and payment for many in the industry. This is a system that’s already under sever pressure, and has no further wiggle room should it take significant further hits.

If there were a month where significant inflation took place (say, 3%), all profits would be lost for the month, for both suppliers and retailers, but goods could still be replaced and sold for a higher price next month. But, if there were three or more consecutive months of inflation, the industry would be unable to bridge the gap, even if better conditions were expected to develop in future months. A failure to pay in full for several months would mean smaller orders by those who could not pay. That would mean fewer goods on the shelves. The longer the inflationary trend continued, the more quickly prices would rise to hopefully offset the inflation. And ever-fewer items on the shelves.

From Germany in 1922, to Argentina in 2000, to Venezuela in 2016, this has been the pattern, whenever inflation has become systemic, rather than sporadic. Each month, some stores close, beginning with those that are the most poorly-capitalized. In good economic times, this would mean more business for those stores that were still solvent, but, in an inflationary situation, they would be in no position to take on more unprofitable business. The result is that the volume of food on offer at retailers would decrease at a pace with the severity of the inflation.

However, the demand for food would not decrease by a single loaf of bread. Store closings would be felt most immediately in inner cities, when one closing would send customers to the next neighborhood, seeking food. The real danger would come when that store had also closed and both neighborhoods descended on a third store in yet another neighborhood. That’s when one loaf of bread for every three potential purchasers would become worth killing over. Virtually no one would long tolerate seeing his children go without food because others had “invaded” his local supermarket.

In addition to retailers, the entire industry would be impacted and, as retailers disappeared, so would suppliers, and so on, up the food chain. This would not occur in an orderly fashion, or in one specific area. The problem would be a national one. Closures would be all over the map, seemingly at random, affecting all areas. Food riots would take place, first in the inner cities, then spread to other communities. Buyers, fearful of shortages, would clean out the shelves.

Importantly, it’s the very unpredictability of food delivery that increases fear, creating panic and violence. And, again, none of the above is speculation; it’s an historical pattern – a reaction based upon human nature whenever systemic inflation occurs.

Then… unfortunately… the cavalry arrives. At that point it would be very likely that the central government would step in and issue controls to the food industry that served political needs, rather than business needs, greatly exacerbating the problem. Suppliers would be ordered to deliver to those neighborhoods where the riots were the worst, even if those retailers were unable to pay. This would increase the number of closings of suppliers. Along the way, truckers would begin to refuse to enter troubled neighborhoods and the military might well be brought in to force deliveries to take place.

So what would it take for the above to occur? Well, historically, it has always begun with excessive debt. We know that the debt level is now the highest it has ever been in world history. In addition, the stock and bond markets are in bubbles of historic proportions. They are most certainly popping.

With a crash in the markets, deflation always follows, as people try to unload assets to cover for their losses. The Federal Reserve (and other central banks) has stated that it will unquestionably print as much money as it takes to counter deflation. Unfortunately, inflation has a far greater effect on the price of commodities than assets. Therefore, the prices of commodities will rise dramatically, further squeezing the purchasing power of the consumer, thereby decreasing the likelihood that he will buy assets, even if they’re bargain-priced. Therefore, asset-holders will drop their prices repeatedly, as they become more desperate. The Fed then prints more to counter the deeper deflation and we enter a period when deflation and inflation are increasing concurrently.

Historically, when this point has been reached, no government has ever done the right thing. They have, instead, done the very opposite – keep printing. Food still exists, but retailers shut down because they cannot pay for goods. Suppliers shut down because they’re not receiving payments from retailers. Producers cut production because sales are plummeting.

In every country that has passed through such a period, the government has eventually gotten out of the way, and the free market has prevailed, re-energizing the industry and creating a return to normal. The question is not whether civilization will come to an end. (It will not.) The question is the liveability of a society that is experiencing a food crisis, as even the best of people are likely to panic and become a potential threat to anyone who is known to store a case of soup in his cellar.

Fear of starvation is fundamentally different from other fears of shortages. Even good people panic. In such times, it’s advantageous to be living in a rural setting, as far from the centre of panic as possible. It’s also advantageous to store food in advance that will last for several months, if necessary. However, even these measures are no guarantee, as, today, modern highways and efficient cars make it easy for anyone to travel quickly to where the goods are. The ideal is to be prepared to sit out the crisis in a country that will be less likely to be impacted by dramatic inflation – where the likelihood of a food crisis is low and basic safety is more assured.”

Dan, I Allegedly, "This Was Bound to Happen - Deadly Deli"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, AM 9/8/24
"This Was Bound to Happen - Deadly Deli"
"I'm Dan, and today we're diving deep into the escalating Boar's Head scandal, where contaminated meats have led to multiple lawsuits, hospitalizations, and even deaths. This isn't just a recall; it's a crisis spiraling out of control with thousands of stores affected. What's even more alarming is the silence from Boar's Head as they face serious legal consequences. Join me as we explore how this high-end brand's mishandling might lead to its downfall."
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Saturday, September 7, 2024

"MH370 Mystery Solved! The Shocking Evidence That Changes Everything We Were Told"

Full screen recommended.
Redacted News, 9/7/24
"MH370 Mystery Solved! The Shocking Evidence
 That Changes Everything We Were Told"
"The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 led to a multinational search effort in Southeast Asia and the southern Indian Ocean that became the most expensive search in aviation history."
Comments here:

This was no plane crash...The conclusions shared and 
proven here are absolutely shocking and incredible...

"Beware Of The 'Nice Guy,' He Is A Coward; Good Times Have Created Weak People"

Jeremiah Babe, 9/7/24
"Beware Of The 'Nice Guy,' He Is A Coward;
 Good Times Have Created Weak People"
Comments here:

"What's Coming Is Worse Than A Recession"

Full screen recommended.
Jim Rickards, 9/7/24
"What's Coming Is Worse Than A Recession"
Comments here:

Musical Interlude: Spirit Tribe Awakening, "Raise Positive Vibrations"

Full screen recommended. 
Spirit Tribe Awakening, "Raise Positive Vibrations"
528Hz Positive Energy, Self Healing with 417Hz Solfeggio frequency. Peaceful, empowering and soothing music and nature to nurture your mind, body, and soul. Supporting and empowering you on your life journey."

I can't praise this visually beautiful, and very effective, video enough. In these incredibly highly stressful times, please be kind to yourself and take the time to savor this exquisite work in full screen mode. Headphones suggested but not necessary. It works, as simple as that...
- CP