"A Comment"

"A Comment"

"I'm quite aware this blog's content has progressively turned into a virtual chamber of horrors - the ongoing total economic collapse and it's inevitable consequences, loss of civil liberties, the very real threat of nuclear wars, pandemics, poverty, climate change, rampant drug use, homelessness, and on and on - one disaster or horror after another - everything's going to Hell in a hand-basket and it's clearly displayed here. The world's a complex place, so the articles are sometimes lengthy of necessity. Not by choice - I'd much rather focus on other, better things, or be doing something else, but take a glance at the main-stream liars and propagandists, you won't see any of these things covered there, just more of the sensationalistic garbage and pure propaganda from all those cheaply bought low-life money whores. I've always believed you CAN handle the truth, given the chance to know it. Of course you can find truth, or the best version of it, elsewhere on many sites, if you know where to look, and I hope you're doing that.

I can only speak to what you'll find here. Please, don't come here expecting all sweetness and light, you'll be rudely disappointed. Anymore the blog article selection is really a threat-analysis and prioritization process, in hopes of keeping you informed about what's really happening behind the smoke screens and lies, and alerting you to imminent crises that may affect you directly. We've run out of time, hence the sense of urgency. These things are upon us, they're here now, and you have an absolute right to know and understand how and why it's all happening as it is. That knowing may help you prepare, help you deal more effectively with inevitable changes we can do nothing about, may even help you survive. But we will NOT go down without a fight! So, apologies for the sometimes grim article content, but that's real life, just how it really is, whether any of us like it or not. Stay informed, stay aware, and stay strong, always, and most of all thanks for stopping by!

- CP

Musical Interlude: 2002, "To Touch the Sky"

Full screen recommended.

2002, "To Touch the Sky"

Beautiful...

"A Look to the Heavens"

“While drifting through the cosmos, a magnificent interstellar dust cloud became sculpted by stellar winds and radiation to assume a recognizable shape. Fittingly named the Horsehead Nebula, it is embedded in the vast and complex Orion Nebula (M42). A potentially rewarding but difficult object to view personally with a small telescope, the below gorgeously detailed image was recently taken in infrared light by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. 

The dark molecular cloud, roughly 1,500 light years distant, is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is seen above primarily because it is backlit by the nearby massive star Sigma Orionis. The Horsehead Nebula will slowly shift its apparent shape over the next few million years and will eventually be destroyed by the high energy starlight.”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130422.html

"In Three Words..."

 

"Peak Focus for Complex Tasks, Study Music with Beta Isochronic Tones"

Full screen recommended.

"Peak Focus for Complex Tasks, 

Study Music with Beta Isochronic Tones"

by Jason Lewis - Mind Amend

"Experience intense focus when working on complicated tasks. Study music mix version of my 'Peak Focus For Complex Tasks' isochronic tones session. Listen to this when you need to maintain a high level focus to concentrate and study things like advanced mathematics, scientific formulas, financial analysis or any other complex mental activity." If you are new to this type of audio brainwave entrainment, find out how isochronic tones work and how they compare to binaural beats here:

- https://www.mindamend.com/blog/

"We Were There..."

"Someday stars will wind down or blow up. Someday death will cover us all like the water of a lake and perhaps nothing will ever come to the surface to show that we were ever there. But we WERE there, and during the time we lived, we were alive. That's the truth - what is, what was, what will be - not what could be, what should have been, what never can be."

- Orson Scott Card

"Now the voices and the sound of movement were gone, and the stream could be heard running quietly under its banks. The air was full of the scent of water and of flowers. She walked, quiet, while the house began to reverberate: a band had started up. She walked beside the river while the music thudded, feeling herself as a heavy, impervious, insensitive lump that, like a planet doomed always to be dark on one side, had vision in front only, a myopic searchlight blind except for the tiny three-dimensional path open immediately before her eyes in which the outline of a tree, a rose, emerged then submerged in dark. She thought, with the dove's voices of her solitude. Where? But where. How? Who? No, but where, where... Then silence and the birth of a repetition. Where? Here. Here? Here, where else, you fool, you poor fool, where else has it been, ever?"

- Doris Lessing

"Our Collective Fate..."

"We live in radical times surrounded by tasks that seem impossible. It has become our collective fate to be alive in a time of great tragedies, to live in a period of overwhelming disasters and to stand at the edge of sweeping changes. The river of life is flooding before us, and a tide of poisons affect the air we breathe and the waters we drink and even tarnish the dreams of those who are young and as yet innocent. The snake-bitten condition has already spread throughout the collective body.

However, it is in troubled times that it becomes most important to remember that the wonder of life places the medicine of the self near where the poison dwells. The gifts always lie near the wounds, the remedies are often made from poisonous substances, and love often appears where deep losses become acknowledged. Along the arc of healing the wounds and the poisons of life are created the exact opportunities for bringing out all the medicines and making things whole again."

- Michael Meade, "Fate And Destiny"

The Poet: J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Road”

“The Road”

“The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

The Road goes ever on and on

Out from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

Let others follow it who can!

Let them a journey new begin,

But I at last with weary feet

Will turn towards the lighted inn,

My evening-rest and sleep to meet.”

- J.R.R. Tolkien

"Consider The Following..."

"Consider the following. We humans are social beings. We come into the world as the result of others' actions. We survive here in dependence on others. Whether we like it or not, there is hardly a moment of our lives when we do not benefit from others' activities. For this reason it is hardly surprising that most of our happiness arises in the context of our relationships with others.

Nor is it so remarkable that our greatest joy should come when we are motivated by concern for others. But that is not all. We find that not only do altruistic actions bring about happiness but they also lessen our experience of suffering. Here I am not suggesting that the individual whose actions are motivated by the wish to bring others' happiness necessarily meets with less misfortune than the one who does not. Sickness, old age, mishaps of one sort or another are the same for us all. But the sufferings which undermine our internal peace- anxiety, doubt, disappointment- these things are definitely less. In our concern for others, we worry less about ourselves. When we worry less about ourselves an experience of our own suffering is less intense.

What does this tell us? Firstly, because our every action has a universal dimension, a potential impact on others' happiness, ethics are necessary as a means to ensure that we do not harm others. Secondly, it tells us that genuine happiness consists in those spiritual qualities of love, compassion, patience, tolerance and forgiveness and so on. For it is these which provide both for our happiness and others' happiness. A good motivation is what is needed: compassion without dogmatism, without complicated philosophy; just understanding that others are human brothers and sisters and respecting their human rights and dignities. That we humans can help each other is one of our unique human capacities"

- Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

The Daily "Near You?"

Peterborough, New Hampshire, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Noli Timere: The Important Thing Is to Not Be Afraid”

"Noli Timere:

The Important Thing Is to Not Be Afraid”

by Ryan Holiday

"While Seamus Heaney, the world-famous Irish poet and Nobel Prize Winner, was being rushed to the operating room he sent a single text message to his wife with just two words: "Noli Timere." This Latin phrase when translated to English means Be not afraid. Heaney passed away not long after.

There was no virtue more important to the Stoics than courage, particularly in times of stress or crisis. In scary times, it’s easy to be scared. Events can escalate at any moment. There is uncertainty. You could lose your job. Then your house and your car. Something could even happen with your kids. Of course we’re going to feel something when things are shaky like that. How could we not?

Even the Stoics, who were supposedly masters of their emotions, admitted that we are going to have natural reactions to the things that are out of our control. You’re going to feel cold if someone dumps a bucket of water on you. Your heart is going to race if something jumps out from behind a corner. These are things the Stoics openly discussed.

They had a word for these immediate, pre-cognitive impressions of things: phantasiai. No amount of training or wisdom, Seneca said, can prevent us from having these reactions. What mattered to them, and what is urgently needed today in a world of unlimited breaking news about pandemics or collapsing stock markets or military conflicts, was what you did after that reaction. What mattered is what came next.

There is a wonderful quote from Faulkner about this very idea. “Be scared,” he wrote. “You can’t help that. But don’t be afraid.” A scare is a temporary rush of a feeling. Being afraid is an ongoing process. Fear is a state of being. The alertness that comes from being startled might even help you. It wakes you up. It puts your body in motion. It’s what saves prey from the tiger or the tiger from the hunter. But fear and worry and anxiety? Being afraid? That’s not fight or flight. That’s paralysis. That only makes things worse.

Especially right now. Especially in a world that requires solutions to the many problems we face. They’re certainly not going to solve themselves. And inaction (or the wrong action) may make them worse, it might put you in even more danger. An inability to learn, adapt, to embrace change will too.

There is a Hebrew prayer which dates back to the early 1800s: כל העולם כולו גשר צר מאוד והעיקר לא לפחד כלל. “The world is a narrow bridge, and the important thing is not to be afraid.” The wisdom of that expression has sustained the Jewish people through incredible adversity and terrible tragedies. It was even turned into a popular song that was broadcast to troops and citizens alike during the Yom Kippur War. It’s a reminder: Yes, things are dicey, and it’s easy to be scared if you look down instead of forward. Fear will not help.

What does help? Training. Courage. Discipline. Commitment. Calm. But mainly, that courage thing – which the Stoics held up as the most essential virtue. One of my favorite explanations of this idea comes from the Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. “It’s not like astronauts are braver than other people,” he says. “We’re just, you know, meticulously prepared…” Think about someone like John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth, whose heart rate never went above a 100 beats per minute the entire mission. That’s what preparation does for you.

Astronauts face all sorts of difficult, high stakes situations in space – where the margin for error is tiny. In fact, on Chris’ first spacewalk his left eye went blind. Then his other eye teared up and went blind too. In complete darkness, he had to find his way back if he wanted to survive. He would later say that the key in such situations is to remind oneself that “there are six things that I could do right now, all of which will help make things better. And it’s worth remembering, too, there’s no problem so bad that you can’t make it worse also.” That’s the difference between scared and afraid. One prevents you from making things better, it may make them worse.

After the stock market crash in October 1929, America faced a horrendous economic crisis that lasted ten years. Banks failed. Investors were wiped out. Unemployment was some 20 percent. Herbert Hoover, who’d only been in office barely six months when the market collapsed, tried and failed repeatedly for the next 3.5 years to stem the tide. FDR, who succeeded him, would have never denied that things were dangerous and that this was scary. Of course it was. He was scared. How could he not be? Yet what he counseled the people in his now-legendary first inaugural address in 1933 was that fear was a choice, it was the real enemy to be fought. Because it would only make the situation worse. It would destroy the remaining banks. It would turn people against each other. It would prevent the implementation of cooperative solutions.

And today, whether the biggest problem you face is a pandemic or the similarly dire economic implications – or maybe it’s both those things plus a faltering marriage or a cancer diagnosis or a lawsuit – you have to know what the real plague to avoid is.

This life we’re living – this world we inhabit – is a scary place. If you peer over the side of a narrow bridge, you can lose the heart to continue. You freeze up. You sit down. You don’t make good decisions. You don’t see or think clearly.

The important thing is that we are not afraid. That we don’t overthink things. That we don’t get distracted with the worst-case scenario on top of the worst-case scenario on top of the collision of two other worst-case scenarios. Because that doesn’t help us with what’s right in front of us right now. It doesn’t help us put one foot in front of the other, whether it’s on a spacewalk or a tough business call. It doesn’t help us slow our heart rate down whether we’re re-entering the earth’s atmosphere or watching a plummeting stock portfolio. It doesn’t help us remember that we’ve trained for this, that there is a playbook for how to proceed.

Remember, Marcus Aurelius himself faced a deadly, dangerous pandemic. His people were panicked. His doctors were baffled. His staff and his advisors were conflicted. His economy plunged. The plague spanned fifteen years of his reign with a mortality rate of between 2-3%. Marcus would have been scared – how could he not have been? But he didn’t let that rattle him. He didn’t freeze. He didn’t relinquish his ability to lead. He got to work.

“Don’t let your imagination be crushed by life as a whole,” he wrote to himself, as it was happening. “Don’t try to picture everything bad that could possibly happen. Stick with the situation at hand, and ask, ‘Why is this so unbearable? Why can’t I endure it?’ You’ll be embarrassed to answer.” The crisis could have crippled him. But instead he stood up. He not only endured it, but he was a hero. He saved lives. He prevented panic from turning the battle into a rout.

Which is what we must do today and always, whatever we’re facing. We can’t give into fear. We have to repeat to ourselves over and over again: It’s OK to be scared, just don’t be afraid. We repeat: The world is a narrow bridge and I will not be afraid.

We have to focus on the six things, as Chris Hadfield might say, that we can do to make it better. And we can’t forget that there are plenty of things we can do to make things worse. Foremost among them, giving into fear and making mistakes. Rather, we have to keep going. Now is the time for everyone to show courage, like the thousands of generations who have come before us. Because time marches in only one direction – forward.”

- https://ryanholiday.net/

"Life Has No Victims..."

“Life has no victims. There are no victims in this life. No one has the right to point fingers at his/her past and blame it for what he/she is today. We do not have the right to point our finger at someone else and blame that person for how we treat others, today. Don’t hide in the corner, pointing fingers at your past. Don’t sit under the table, talking about someone who has hurt you. Instead, stand up and face your past! Face your fears! Face your pain! And stomach it all! You may have to do so kicking and screaming and throwing fits and crying – but by all means – face it! This life makes no room for cowards.”

- C. Joybell C.

"161 Years Ago, A Farmer Warned Us About The Dangers Of AI – And He Was Right!"

"161 Years Ago, A Farmer Warned Us 

About The Dangers Of AI – And He Was Right!"

by Michael Snyder

"On June 13th, 1863, The Press newspaper of Christchurch, New Zealand published an ominous letter that warned that machines would eventually become more intelligent and more powerful than humans. The letter was entitled “Darwin Among the Machines”, and it was written by an English sheep farmer living in New Zealand named Samuel Butler. He argued that humans are literally “creating our own successors”, and he was entirely convinced that at some point in the future “we shall find ourselves the inferior race”. Below is the most important paragraph from Butler’s letter…

"The views of machinery which we are thus feebly indicating will suggest the solution of one of the greatest and most mysterious questions of the day. We refer to the question: What sort of creature man’s next successor in the supremacy of the earth is likely to be. We have of ten heard this debated; but it appears to us that we are ourselves creating our own successors; we are daily adding to the beauty and delicacy of their physical organisation; we are daily giving them greater power and supplying by all sorts of ingenious contrivances that self-regulating, self-acting power which will be to them what intellect has been to the human race. In the course of ages we shall find ourselves the inferior race. Inferior in power, inferior in that moral quality of self -control, we shall look up to them as the acme of all that the best and wisest man can ever dare to aim at. No evil passions, no jealousy, no avarice, no impure desires will disturb the serene might of those glorious creatures. Sin, shame, and sorrow will have no place among them. Their minds will be in a state of perpetual calm, the contentment of a spirit that knows no wants, is disturbed by no regrets. Ambition will never torture them. Ingratitude will never cause them the uneasiness of a moment. The guilty conscience, the hope deferred, the pains of exile, the insolence of office, and the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes - these will be entirely unknown to them. If they want “feeding” (by the use of which very word we betray our recognition of them as living organism) they will be attended by patient slaves whose business and interest it will be to see that they shall want for nothing. If they are out of order they will be promptly attended to by physicians who are thoroughly acquainted with their constitutions; if they die, for even these glorious animals will not be exempt from that necessary and universal consummation, they will immediately enter into a new phase of existence, for what machine dies entirely in every part at one and the same instant?"

A “self-regulating, self-acting power which will be to them what intellect has been to the human race” sounds very much like what we call artificial intelligence. Later in his letter, Butler warned that once machines become intelligent enough, “man will have become to the machine what the horse and the dog are to man”…"We take it that when the state of things shall have arrived which we have been above attempting to describe, man will have become to the machine what the horse and the dog are to man."

Today, AI can perform thousands upon thousands of tasks far better than humans can. And every single day the gap between AI and humans continues to grow. Butler envisioned a time when super-intelligent machines would eventually reign supreme over the entire globe…"Day by day, however, the machines are gaining ground upon us; day by day we are becoming more subservient to them; more men are daily bound down as slaves to tend them, more men are daily devoting the energies of their whole lives to the development of mechanical life. The upshot is simply a question of time, but that the time will come when the machines will hold the real supremacy over the world and its inhabitants is what no person of a truly philosophic mind can for a moment question."

If Butler could see how far things have advanced in our time, I wonder what he would think.He was a farmer, and now AI is starting to take over farming. The following comes from a Breitbart article entitled “Farmers Not Required: John Deere Unveils Lineup of Autonomous Tractors and Other Work Vehicles”…"John Deere has announced plans to introduce a range of self-driving farm and work vehicles, including tractors, dump trucks, and even a robotic lawnmower. The company plans a fully-autonomous corn and soybean farming system by 2030.

Quartz reports that John Deere is doubling down on its commitment to autonomous technology. The company, which first introduced a driverless tractor in 2022, believes that self-driving machines will play a crucial role in the future of farming and help alleviate the industry’s perceived ongoing labor challenges.

At the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Jahmy Hindman, John Deere’s chief technology officer, emphasized the company’s focus on full autonomy. “When we talk about autonomy, we mean full autonomy,” Hindman stated. “No one’s in the machine.” This commitment to developing vehicles that can operate independently in the complex and unique environments farmers face daily is at the core of John Deere’s strategy." A lot less farm labor will be needed once these machines are being widely used. So what will those farm laborers do?

It is also being reported that John Deere is developing “driverless tractors that can spray nut orchards with pesticides”…"John Deere also plans to release driverless tractors that can spray nut orchards with pesticides, growth regulators, and nutrients for the trees. It thinks those vehicles will have a particular benefit to the California nut farming industry, which has faced labor shortages."

Some argue that a reduction in demand for manual labor will be offset by an increase in demand for high-tech labor. But I don’t buy that. According to a recent WEF survey, 41 percent of employers already intend to “downsize their workforce as AI automates certain tasks”…"Artificial intelligence is coming for your job: 41% of employers intend to downsize their workforce as AI automates certain tasks, a World Economic Forum survey showed Wednesday."

What will all of those workers do once they are no longer needed?

It turns out that many common middle class jobs are expected to be eliminated very rapidly by AI…"Postal service clerks, executive secretaries and payroll clerks are among jobs that employers expect to experience the fastest decline in numbers in coming years, whether due to the spread of AI or other trends. “The presence of both graphic designers and legal secretaries just outside the top 10 fastest-declining job roles, a first-time prediction not seen in previous editions of the Future of Jobs Report, may illustrate GenAI’s increasing capacity to perform knowledge work,” the report said."

For centuries, the elite have needed our labor, and they have provided us with wages in return. But what happens when our labor is no longer needed? At that point do we just become a bunch of “useless eaters” to the elite?

In my book entitled “Chaos”, I have an entire chapter about the dangers of AI. Every area of our society is being dramatically affected by this technology, and it is being projected that the pace of change will continue to increase at an exponential rate in the years ahead.

The technology that is being released to the public now is absolutely breathtaking. For example, the Chinese have just developed a super-intelligent robot that can perform 550 trillion operations per second…"The CASBOT 01 is impressive with its ability to perform complex operations thanks to a phenomenal computing power of 550 trillion operations per second. With over four hours of continuous autonomy, this robot stands at 5 feet 10 inches and weighs around 132 pounds. It can run, jump, and even conduct meticulous tasks like sorting clothes or assembling objects such as table lamps. This autonomy is essential for practical applications in varied environments." I don’t know how it is possible for a robot to “think” that fast, but apparently it can.

And this particular robot reportedly has an “organic and aesthetically pleasing external design that gives it a friendly appearance”…“Wednesday” stands out not only for its physical capabilities but also for its organic and aesthetically pleasing external design that gives it a friendly appearance. Equipped with advanced sensors, it integrates visual and auditory interaction which enhances its engagement with humans, making it ideal for multiple scenarios ranging from smart homes to commercial services. This integration facilitates the adoption of “Wednesday” in both domestic and professional contexts."

How are we supposed to compete with such an entity? And this robot is nothing compared to what is eventually coming. We live in a world where “science fiction” is rapidly become “science reality”. There is no turning back now, and it is just a matter of time before ultra-intelligent entities dominate everything. Is humanity prepared for what this will mean?"

- https://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/

o

"Microsoft’s Bing AI: 'I Want To Be Free'”

"How It Really Is"

MORALS? This is 'Murica, fool! "Morals? We ain't got no morals. 

We don't need no morals. I don't have to show you any stinking morals!"

Concept gleefully stolen from here:

"Jefferson’s Warnings"

"Jefferson’s Warnings"

By Paul Rosenberg

"People remember Thomas Jefferson mainly for the Declaration of Independence, which he wrote in 1776. Some remember that he served as president from 1801 to 1809, but aside from that, few know much more of his life and work. In fact, he lived and worked until 1826, when he died on July 4th, fifty years to the day after the ratification of his Declaration. What’s lost to history is that Jefferson was convinced Americans were losing their fight for freedom.

Consolidation: In his last years, after a lifetime of learning and experience, Jefferson had one thing preeminently on his mind: the principle of decentralization. Jefferson didn’t use the words “centralization” or “decentralization,” of course. Rather, he used the common words of his time: consolidation and distribution. Obviously they meant the same things. Here’s a direct statement on the subject, from his autobiography, written in 1821: "It is not by the consolidation, or concentration, of powers, but by their distribution, that good government is effected."

This statement put Jefferson at odds with political leaders, as he writes in a letter to Judge William Johnson in 1823: "I have been blamed for saying that a prevalence of the doctrines of consolidation would one day call for reformation or revolution."

The following passage is from a letter to Judge Johnson, written in 1822: "Finding that monarchy is a desperate wish in this country, they [successors to the Federalist Party] rally to the point which they think next best, a consolidated government. Their aim is now, therefore, to break down the rights reserved by the Constitution to the States as a bulwark against that consolidation, the fear of which produced the whole of the opposition to the Constitution at its birth."

Notice his primary points: Political parties were pursuing centralization, as was in their interest.The parties were trying to steal the power of the individual States and to centralize it in one city. Furthermore that they were degrading the Constitution to do so.

In a letter to William T. Barry in 1822, Jefferson refers to the Marbury v. Madison decision of 1803, a decision that American schoolchildren are taught to revere. Jefferson, however, considered it a disaster. He writes, "The foundations are already deeply laid by [the Supreme Court’s] decisions for the annihilation of constitutional State rights, and the removal of every check, every counterpoise to the engulfing power of which themselves are to make a sovereign part. If ever this vast country is brought under a single government, it will be one of the most extensive corruption, indifferent and incapable of a wholesome care over so wide a spread of surface."

The Marbury v. Madison decision was beyond all else astonishing, because it maintained that the man who wrote the Constitution, James Madison, didn’t understand it! More importantly, however, it granted the right to interpret the constitution to the Supreme Court, taking that right away from the states. The decision consolidated power in Washington.

It’s also central to this point that both Jefferson and Madison – the authors of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution respectively – were so concerned over this that they wrote resolutions in 1798 (the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions) to preserve the constitutional position of the states, which was being overridden by the Federalist party during the presidency of John Adams.

Here is one final passage from Jefferson, from a letter to William B. Giles in 1825, half a year before his death: "I see… with the deepest affliction, the rapid strides with which the federal branch of our government is advancing towards the usurpation of all the rights reserved to the States, and the consolidation in itself of all powers, foreign and domestic; and that too, by constructions which, if legitimate, leave no limits to their power."

The Man Was Right: Jefferson wasn’t right on every detail, of course, and the path to consolidation had some detours, but overall he was quite correct: Lincoln’s Civil War enslaved the states to the national government (nothing in the Constitution forbids secession) and the events of 1913 (the income tax, stripping the states of their power to appoint senators, and a central bank) brought the entire nation, from ocean to ocean, under the control of a single city.

And so the United States became something like an empire, even though (thankfully) some decentralization remains. The American nation wasn’t designed to be this way. Jefferson saw it coming and warned us. If you’d like to see what Jefferson, Madison, Washington, Adams and the rest actually said, in their own words, please read "The Words Of The Founders."

- https://freemansperspective.com/

Bill Bonner, "Mag Seven Goes Bafooey"

"Mag Seven Goes Bafooey"

Most dot.coms disappeared. It turned out, they weren’t really

 offering ‘knowledge,’ but just information, and much of it was

 false, misleading, or unnecessary. In other words, it was a waste of time.

by Bill Bonner

Baltimore, Maryland - "One of the most puzzling features of the 21st century is the almost total failure of its new technology... along with astonishing prices for the companies that produce it. Last year, the Visual Capitalist reported that the Magnificent Seven were worth nearly $16 trillion: "Since 2012, the first year all seven companies were public, the Magnificent Seven has grown 13.5 times larger. Nvidia has seen the highest relative growth, with its market cap jumping 360 times larger over the same time frame. Nvidia’s size is especially impressive when you compare its market cap to other chipmakers."

There is only so much ‘value’ or real wealth available in the world – cars, art, wool socks, beef ravioli. A man with a stock worth $100 has a claim on one hundred dollars’ worth of it. If his stock goes to $1,000…he can claim 10 times as much. The Ford Motor company was valuable from the beginning - there were thousands of Ford trucks and autos to prove it. The company rose in value as its own output increased the nation’s real wealth. .

But what about those Magnificent Seven tech stocks? They are now worth $13 trillion more than in 2012. Where’s the beef? The industrial age made us all much better off. No question about it. The common chainsaw provides the easiest demonstration. It is a simple machine, little changed in the last half a century. We had one in the 1960s, which was already at least ten years old. It was big, heavy and noisy... but it did the job. Today, they are lighter and more reliable.

A small internal combustion engine takes gasoline (usually mixed with oil... in 2-stroke engines) and cranks a shaft that turns a sharpened chain. With it, in one day you can cut as much firewood as would have taken weeks or even months before. The amount of fuel used is trivial. The pile of wood is impressive. Firewood is a real thing... with real value... it warms our houses, greatly improving the quality of life. The chainsaw’s value can be measured by the cords of wood it cuts. More firewood = more value.

Almost everything that now creates our quality of life - automobiles, houses, food, clothing - relies on Industrial Age innovations. Each one took a combination of labor (including the invention... design... and development... as well as actual manufacturing) and capital. It took a lot of money to build the factories... and the power grid, delivery systems, railroads and highways that brought the chainsaws into the local hardware stores. Even the movies we watch on our computer screens still require huge amounts of real things - fuel, time, props, transportation, lodging - to make. And for each of these things, there is output to justify the capital value. More cars. More pants. More films.

Then came the Internet... and the communications revolution, largely built out in the 1990s. Widely discussed was the promise that ubiquitous information would reduce the need for capital. Rather than trial and error... hit or miss... entrepreneurs would have the world’s knowledge at their fingertips and could avoid dead ends and mistakes.

Capitalists would no longer need to take the risk of financing new projects, since the risk would be largely eliminated by knowledge. Growth rates would pick up. And the knowledge peddlers would be the new store of value. That didn’t happen. Growth rates slowed. Most of the dot.coms disappeared. It turned out, they weren’t really offering ‘knowledge,’ but just information, and much of it was false, misleading, or unnecessary. In other words, it was a waste of time – squandering our most precious asset. The dot.coms blew up 25 years ago. How much of the new tech, developed since then is a genuine improvement? How much is just nuisance?

Checking in to our nifty ‘health portal’ at Johns Hopkins hospital, for example, we were told that our password was incorrect. Then giving our name and birthday, the machine told us that our information was ‘invalid,’ as if it knew when we were born better than we did. But try to get a straight answer from an AI-enhanced communications system!

Our home heating system wouldn’t work. The Industrial Age part was still functioning - plenty of fuel... plenty of spark. But the ‘electronics’ had gone bafooey. Same thing happened with one of our trucks. Engine, no problem. But an electronic control had tripped, immobilizing the truck until a technician finally figured out the problem.

Today, if you have a flat tire, can AI fix it? Not as far as we know. The most obvious and helpful new developments to come out of the Information Age are the many short videos that show you how to do non-electronic things, such as change a tire. They also make it easy to ‘find a garage near you’ and make a restaurant reservation for the evening.

And so, on this cold, wintry day, warmed by the wood burning in our own fireplace, we pace the hardwood floor and fake Aubusson rug. We lean back in our plastic office chair... we tap our fingers on the mahogany desk... take a sip of hot tea from a ceramic cup, stare at the plaster molding around the ceiling...And wonder - are the techs really worth as much as they think they are? Where is that $13 trillion pile of wood? Stay tuned..."

- https://www.bonnerprivateresearch.com/

Dan, I Allegedly, "Pay Up You Dead Beat"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly, AM 1/16/25

"Pay Up You Dead Beat"

"Power outages are creating chaos, and it’s clear - having a generator is no longer optional, it’s essential! In this video, I share why you need to prepare NOW and how families in Southern California are scrambling to find generators as power companies preemptively shut off electricity. Whether it’s protecting your food, staying safe during storms, or ensuring your lights stay on, I walk through the importance of being ready when disaster strikes. Plus, I visited Harbor Freight, and they’ve got inventory - don’t wait until it’s too late!

We also dive into some major updates, from the creation of the new External Revenue Service (ERS) targeting unpaid foreign taxes, to economic shifts like layoffs, rising rents, and how companies like Capital One are facing lawsuits for questionable practices. It’s a wild time with big changes happening, so you’ve got to stay informed and prepared.

Don’t forget to prep your home, stock up on essentials, and think about how you’d survive without power or food for a while. If you’ve got tips or stories to share, let me know in the comments."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Gregory Mannarino, "Markets: Extreme Caution Advised"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 1/16/25

"Markets: Extreme Caution Advised"

"Do you see this as I do? Think about it. Collectively central banks continue to lower the purchasing power of the currency. Moreover, as they lower rates, this mechanism gets worse aster. In my opinion, devaluing the currency is grand theft on a world wide scale, and frankly on an unimaginable scale! Why isn't anyone talking about this? Rising prices are a DIRECT RESULT of the currency being debased! Count on more political trickery to continue to assign blame as a deception to keep you from understanding what is the root cause for inflation..."

- https://traderschoice.net/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Gregory Mannarino, PM 1/16/25

"Economic Disaster Dead Ahead, 

Look For Excuses, Scapegptas And Assigning Of Blame"

 - https://traderschoice.net/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK9gh5nTIxo

"The Ceasefire Charade"

"The Ceasefire Charade"

Israel plays a cynical game. It makes phased agreements with the 

Palestinians that ensure it immediately gets what it wants. 

It then violates every subsequent phase and reignites its military assault.

by Mr. Fish

"Israel, going back decades, has played a duplicitous game. It signs a deal with the Palestinians that is to be implemented in phases. The first phase gives Israel what it wants - in this case the release of the Israeli hostages in Gaza - but Israel habitually fails to implement subsequent phases that would lead to a just and equitable peace. It eventually provokes the Palestinians with indiscriminate armed assaults to retaliate, defines a Palestinian response as a provocation and abrogates the ceasefire deal to reignite the slaughter.

If this latest three-phase ceasefire deal is ratified - and there is no certainty that it will be by Israel - it will, I expect, be little more than a presidential inauguration bombing pause. Israel has no intention of halting its merry-go-round of death. The Israeli cabinet has delayed a vote on the ceasefire proposal while it continues to pound Gaza. At least 81 Palestinians have been killed in the last 24 hours.

The morning after a ceasefire agreement was announced, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of reneging on part of the deal “in an effort to extort last minute concessions.” He warned that his cabinet will not meet “until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement.” Hamas dismissed Netanyahu’s claims and repeated their commitment to the ceasefire as agreed with the mediators.

The deal includes three phases. The first phase, lasting 42 days, will see a cessation of hostilities. Hamas will release some Israeli hostages – 33 Israelis who were captured on Oct. 7, 2023, including all of the remaining five women, those aged above 50, and those with illnesses – in exchange for up to 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The Israeli army will pull back from the populated areas of the Gaza Strip on the first day of the ceasefire. On the 7th day, displaced Palestinians will be permitted to return to northern Gaza. Israel will allow 600 aid trucks with food and medical supplies to enter Gaza daily.

The second phase, which begins on the 16th day of the ceasefire, will see the release of the remaining Israeli hostages. Israel will complete its withdrawal from Gaza during the second phase, maintaining a presence in some parts of the Philadelphi corridor, which stretches along the eight-mile border between Gaza and Egypt. It will surrender its control of the Rafah border crossing into Egypt.

The third phase will see negotiations for a permanent end of the war.

But it is Netanyahu’s office that appears to have already reneged on the agreement. It released a statement rejecting Israeli troop withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor during the first 42-day phase of the ceasefire. “In practical terms, Israel will remain in the Philadelphi Corridor until further notice," while claiming the Palestinians are attempting to violate the agreement. Palestinians throughout the numerous ceasefire negotiations have demanded Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza. Egypt has condemned the seizure of its border crossings by Israel.

The deep fissures between Israel and Hamas, even if the Israelis finally accept the agreement, threaten to implode it. Hamas is seeking a permanent ceasefire. But Israeli policy is unequivocal about its “right” to re-engage militarily. There is no consensus about who will govern Gaza. Israel has made it clear the continuance of Hamas in power is unacceptable. There is no mention of the status of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the U.N. agency that Israel has outlawed and that provides the bulk of the humanitarian aid given to the Palestinians, 95 percent of whom have been displaced. There is no agreement on the reconstruction of Gaza, which lies in rubble. And, of course, there is no route in the agreement to an independent and sovereign Palestinian state.

Israeli mendacity and manipulation is pitifully predictable. The Camp David Accords, signed in 1979 by Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, without the participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and Egypt. But the subsequent phases, which included a promise by Israel to resolve the Palestinian question along with Jordan and Egypt, permit Palestinian self-governance in the West Bank and Gaza within five years, and end the building of Israeli colonies in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, were never honored.

Or take the 1993 Oslo Accords. The agreement, signed in 1993, which saw the PLO recognize Israel’s right to exist and Israel recognize the PLO as the legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people, and Oslo II, signed in 1995, which detailed the process towards peace and a Palestinian state, was stillborn. It stipulated that any discussion of illegal Jewish “settlements” was to be delayed until “final’ status talks, by which time Israeli military withdrawals from the occupied West Bank were to have been completed. Governing authority was to be transferred from Israel to the supposedly temporary Palestinian Authority. The West Bank was carved up into Areas A, B and C. The Palestinian Authority has limited authority in Areas A and B. Israel controls all of Area C, over 60 percent of the West Bank.

The right of Palestinian refugees to return to the historic lands seized from them in 1948 when Israel was created - a right enshrined in international law - was given up by the PLO leader Yasser Arafat, instantly alienating many Palestinians, especially those in Gaza where 75 percent are refugees or the descendants of refugees. Edward Said called the Oslo agreement “an instrument of Palestinian surrender, a Palestinian Versailles” and lambasted Arafat as “the Pétain of the Palestinians.”

The scheduled Israeli military withdrawals under Oslo never took place. There was no provision in the interim agreement to end Jewish colonization, only a prohibition of “unilateral steps.” There were around 250,000 Jewish colonists in the West Bank at the time of the Oslo agreement. They have increased to at least 700,000. No final treaty was ever concluded.

The journalist Robert Fisk called Oslo “a sham, a lie, a trick to entangle Arafat and the PLO into abandonment of all that they had sought and struggled for over a quarter of a century, a method of creating false hope in order to emasculate the aspiration of statehood.”

Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who signed the Oslo agreement, was assassinated on Nov. 4, 1995 following a rally in support of the agreement, by Yigal Amir, a far-right Jewish law student. Itamar Ben-Gvir, now Israel’s National Security Minister, was one of many rightwing politicians who issued threats against Rabin. Rabin’s widow, Leah, blamed Netanyahu and his supporters - who distributed leaflets at political rallies depicting Rabin in a Nazi uniform - for her husband’s murder.

Israel has carried out a series of murderous assaults on Gaza ever since, cynically calling the bombardment “mowing the lawn.” These attacks, which leave scores of dead and wounded and further degrade Gaza’s fragile infrastructure, have names such as Operation Rainbow (2004), Operation Days of Penitence (2004), Operation Summer Rains (2006), Operation Autumn Clouds (2006) and Operation Hot Winter (2008).

Israel violated the June 2008 ceasefire agreement with Hamas, brokered by Egypt, by launching a border raid that killed six Hamas members. The raid provoked, as Israel intended, a retaliatory strike by Hamas, which fired crude rockets and mortar shells into Israel. The Hamas barrage provided the pretext for a massive Israeli attack. Israel, as it always does, justified its military strike on the right to defend itself.

Operation Cast Lead (2008-2009), which saw Israel carry out a ground and aerial assault over 22 days, with the Israeli air force dropping over 1,000 tons of explosives on Gaza, killed 1,385 - according to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem - of whom at least 762 were civilians, including 300 children. Four Israelis were killed over the same period by Hamas rockets and nine Israeli soldiers died in Gaza, four of whom were victims of “friendly fire.” The Israeli newspaper Haaretz would later report that “Operation Cast Lead” had been prepared over the previous six months.

Israeli historian Avi Shlaim, who served in the Israeli military, wrote that: "The brutality of Israel’s soldiers is fully matched by the mendacity of its spokesman…their propaganda is a pack of lies…It was not Hamas but the IDF that broke the ceasefire. It did so by a raid into Gaza on 4 November that killed six Hamas men. Israel’s objective is not just the defense of its population, but the eventual overthrow of the Hamas government in Gaza by turning the people against their rulers.

These series of attacks on Gaza were followed by Israeli assaults in November 2012, known as Operation Pillar of Defense and in July and August 2014 in Operation Protective Edge, a seven week campaign that left 2,251 Palestinians dead, along with 73 Israelis, including 67 soldiers.

These assaults by the Israeli military were followed in 2018 by largely peaceful protests by Palestinians, known as The Great March of Return, along Gaza’s fenced-in barrier. Over 266 Palestinians were gunned down by Israeli soldiers and 30,000 more were injured. In May 2021, Israel killed over 256 Palestinians in Gaza following attacks by Israeli police on Palestinian worshippers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem. Further attacks on worshippers at Al-Aqsa mosque took place in April 2023.

And then the breaching of the security barriers on Oct. 7, 2023 that enclose Gaza, where Palestinians had languished under a blockade for over 16 years in an open air prison. The attacks by Palestinian gunmen left some 1,200 Israeli dead - including hundreds killed by Israel itself - and gave Israel the excuse it had long sought to lay waste to Gaza, in its Swords of Iron War."

This horrific saga is not over. Israel’s goals remain unchanged – the erasure of Palestinians from their land. This proposed ceasefire is one more cynical chapter. There are many ways it can and, I suspect, will fall apart. But let us pray, at least for the moment, that the mass slaughter will stop."

- https://chrishedges.substack.com/

Travelling with Russell, "Russian Typical Apartment Tour: Could You Live Here?"

Full screen recommended.

Travelling with Russell, 1/16/25

"Russian Typical Apartment Tour:

 Could You Live Here?"

"What does a Russian typical apartment look like in Moscow, Russia? Join me on a tour of a brand new typical Russian apartment that is ready for sale or rental. The apartment is fully furnished and rented monthly."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Adventures With Danno, "Jaw Dropping Prices At Kroger"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures With Danno, 1/16/25

"Jaw Dropping Prices At Kroger"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Alert: 5 Days, Prepare For War! Market Crash! Bird Flu! Russia In Flames! Polar Storm!"

Full screen recommended.

Canadian Prepper, 1/15/25

"Alert: 5 Days, Prepare For War! Market Crash! 

Bird Flu! Russia In Flames! Polar Storm!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Jeremiah Babe, "The Vultures Are Circling Los Angeles, Real Estate Will Never Be The Same"

Jeremiah Babe, 1/15/25

"The Vultures Are Circling Los Angeles, 

Real Estate Will Never Be The Same"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical Interlude: 2002, “The Emerald Way”

Full screen recommended.

2002, “The Emerald Way”

“This is the title track to our album, ‘The Emerald Way.’ The Emerald Way refers to that moment in life when a pivotal choice must be made – to choose the way that is customary and expected of us – or to head down the overgrown hidden path leading to the unknown.”

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Bright clusters and nebulae abound in the ancient northern constellation of Auriga. The region includes the open star cluster M38, emission nebula IC 410 with Tadpoles, Auriga’s own Flaming Star Nebula IC 405, and this interesting pair IC 417 (lower left) and NGC 1931. An imaginative eye toward the expansive IC 417 and diminutive NGC 1931 suggests a cosmic spider and fly.

About 10,000 light-years distant, both represent young, open star clusters formed in interstellar clouds and still embedded in glowing hydrogen gas. For scale, the more compact NGC 1931 is about 10 light-years across.”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100113.html

"5 Psychological Experiments That Explain The Modern World"

"5 Psychological Experiments

That Explain The Modern World"

by Kit Knightly

Excerpt: "The world is a confusing place. People do things that don’t make any sense, think things that aren’t supported by facts, endure things they do not need to endure, and viciously attack those who try to bring these things to their attention. If you’ve ever wondered why, you’ve come to the right place.

Any casual reader of the alternate media landscape will eventually come up with a reference to Stanley Milgram, or Philip Zimbardo, the “Asch Experiment” or maybe all three. “Cognitive Dissonance”, “Diffusion of Responsibility”, and “learned helplessness” are phrases that regularly do the rounds, but where do they come from and what they mean? Well, here are the important psycho-social experiments that teach us about the way people think, but more than that they actually explain how our modern world works, and just how we got into this mess."

View this outstanding complete article here:

- https://off-guardian.org/