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Monday, January 20, 2025

"5 Historic Emergencies That Trump Will Be Confronted With Immediately As He Returns To The White House"

"5 Historic Emergencies That Trump Will Be Confronted 
With Immediately As He Returns To The White House"
by Michael Snyder

"Buckle up and hold on tight, because things are about to get really wild. Immediately after taking the oath of office, Donald Trump is going to be faced with incredibly difficult decisions which could have enormous implications for every man, woman and child in this country. There will be all sorts of people giving him all sorts of advice, and it won’t always be easy to distinguish the good advice from the bad advice. So let us pray that he makes his choices wisely. The following are 5 historic emergencies that Trump will be confronted with immediately as he enters the White House…

#1 A Major War: Iran has gotten extremely close to being able to build nuclear weapons, and once they are able to do that it is inevitable that the Iranians will distribute such weapons to Hezbollah and other terrorist proxies. Joe Biden had been considering a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear program, but he ultimately decided not to pull the trigger. Now it is Donald Trump’s turn. According to the Wall Street Journal, a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities has been under “serious review by some members of his transition team”…

"President-elect Donald Trump is weighing options for stopping Iran from being able to build a nuclear weapon, including the possibility of preventive airstrikes, a move that would break with the longstanding policy of containing Tehran with diplomacy and sanctions. The military-strike option against nuclear facilities is now under more serious review by some members of his transition team, who are weighing the fall of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad - Tehran’s ally - in Syria, the future of U.S. troops in the region, and Israel’s decimation of regime proxy militias Hezbollah and Hamas."

Needless to say, if the U.S. and/or Israel takes out Iran’s nuclear facilities, the Iranians will go ballistic and there will be a major war in the region.

#2 A New Pandemic: If you thought the last one was bad, just wait until you see what is coming next. According to NBC News, the Biden administration and Trump’s team have been working together to formulate a response to the “escalating bird flu outbreak spreading in the United States”…"Amid an escalating bird flu outbreak spreading in the United States, federal health officials have begun to brief members of the incoming Trump administration about how they’ve responded to the crisis so far. “We sent them all of the information on our work,” said a Biden administration health official familiar with transition briefings within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s the first indication that the two administrations appear to be working together to prioritize the H5N1 response.

Apparently part of that response is 590 million dollars in additional funding “to push Moderna’s messenger RNA-based pandemic flu vaccine towards approval”…"The federal government has committed an additional $590 million to push Moderna’s messenger RNA-based pandemic flu vaccine towards approval, as the Biden administration, in its waning hours, ramps up preparations for a potential H5N1 avian influenza pandemic."

#3 Economic Trouble: Inflation is starting to really accelerate once again, and this is particularly true for food prices…"There isn’t one factor. Bird flu is killing chickens, cutting egg supplies and sending wholesale prices to a record. Extreme heat and dry weather in the world’s coffee-growing regions have sent the cost of brews surging. Chocolate and cereal makers have raised prices for their products, too.

It is a problem for consumers, who are still acclimating to a stretch of bruising inflation following the Covid-19 pandemic. Shoppers are picking up more store-branded groceries and scouring multiple stores for the best deals. Grocery prices in December were roughly 28% higher than they were five years ago, according to the Labor Department."

No president can magically zap the bird flu out of existence or cause it to rain in areas where it isn’t raining. The truth is that there is no easy solution on the horizon, and prices on some key staples such as eggs are expected to go much higher in 2025…During his 2024 campaign, President Donald Trump repeatedly made the promise that “prices will come down,” BBC reports, but according to two experts, that won’t be happening any time soon - at least when it comes to the price of eggs.

While eggs are already “40% more expensive now than they were a year ago,” KTLA notes, according to the Department of Labor, the raging avian flu epidemic means “it’s about to get even worse.” The epidemic - which “has already led to the death of more than 100 million egg-laying hens” - according to the report, is expected to spike egg prices “as much as 20% more in 2025.”

#4 A Historic Natural Disaster: It is now being projected that the fires in the Los Angeles area will be the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history by a wide margin. Unfortunately, this is a crisis that is far from over, because extremely high winds are expected to return to southern California this week…"Los Angeles is bracing itself for more catastrophic wildfires this week as weather forecasters predict the return of gusting Santa Ana winds of up to 100 miles per hour. More than 27 people have died and 22,000 buildings have burned in at least six wildfires since the first fire erupted on January 7."

#5 A Government At War With Itself: Donald Trump says that he wants to “drain the swamp” and make major changes to how the federal government operates. That is great. Unfortunately, about half of the people that run our federal agencies intend to resist what Trump will be trying to do…"When asked if they would most likely be supporting or resisting the Trump administration over the next four years, government managers were almost evenly split with 44% saying they would support the administration and 42% saying they would resist."

But the divide between those federal managers who would resist and those who would support the incoming Trump administration grew much sharper when respondents were questioned along party lines. 89% of Republican federal employees said they would either “somewhat support” or “strongly support” the administration, while 73% of Democrat bureaucrats surveyed said they would either “somewhat resist” or “strongly resist.”

Our federal government is literally going to be at war with itself. If you think that transforming the largest government bureaucracy in the history of the world is going to be easy, you are just kidding yourself. We are moving into a time of tremendous turmoil, and it won’t be pretty. The good news is that 2025 is certainly not going to be boring. The news cycle will be speeding along at a breathtaking pace, and I believe that we will witness one historic event after another during the next 12 months."

"How It Really Should Be"

 

Dan, I Allegedly, "Get Ready for Shock and Awe"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, AM 1/20/25
"Get Ready for Shock and Awe"

"Get ready for shock and awe as I break down Donald Trump’s shocking first 100 days in office! From signing up to 100 executive orders on day one to tackling immigration reform, the economic crisis, crypto policies, and healthcare affordability - this administration promises to shake things up in ways that will impact everyone. Whether it’s the skyrocketing costs of living, the push to lower interest rates, or a bold approach to foreign policy, we’re diving into what this means for you and your future. You won’t believe what’s on the horizon! I also talk about the staggering impact of inflation, rising mortgage rates, and the challenges facing everyday Americans. From regulatory rollbacks to a push for pro-business policies, this video covers it all. And don’t miss my thoughts on the potential changes in healthcare reform with RFK Jr. and the revolutionary advances in mental health treatments like the groundbreaking psilocybin research by Cybin Inc. (#CYBN). This is a game-changer you need to hear about!"
Comments here:

"Russia Hits Back: $280 Billion In US And EU Assets In Trouble!"

Full screen recommended.
The Global Narrative, 1/20/25
"Russia Hits Back: $280 Billion
 In US And EU Assets In Trouble!"

"In a bold move, Russia has struck back against Western sanctions, putting $280 billion worth of U.S. and EU assets in jeopardy. As tensions escalate, the global financial landscape is on edge, and the consequences could be far-reaching.
• The details of Russia’s retaliatory measures against the U.S. and EU.
• What this means for the future of the West’s strategy against Russia.
• The ripple effects on international trade and diplomatic relations.
• What this means for the future of the West’s strategy against Russia.
As the geopolitical and economic showdown intensifies, the stakes couldn’t be higher for the global community. Is this the start of a new financial crisis?"

Adventures With Danno, "Eggs Disappearing & Skyrocketing Prices"

Adventures With Danno, AM 1/20/25
"Eggs Disappearing & Skyrocketing Prices"

Bill Bonner, "Trump America II"

"Trump America II"
The nation owed $20 trillion when Trump first came into the 
White House in 2017 and $27 trillion when he left in 2021. 
There was little appreciable change of direction in domestic or foreign policy.
by Bill Bonner

"Together we will determine the course of America,
 and the world, for many, many years to come."
- Donald Trump, Inauguration 2017

"A nation finds the leader it needs when it needs him. England found Churchill. France found Bonaparte. The Soviet Union found Stalin. And now... what have we found... the perfect president for the job ahead? Maybe. Mr. Trump seems to be in tune with the financial gimcrackery of our era. Truth Social didn’t seem to have a prayer as a real company. In September, the stock was at $12... and CNN reported: "Trump has lost $4 billion in Truth Social wipeout."

But hold on. Then, Trump won the election; the shares now sell for $40. The company is still losing millions, making the world a poorer place, but Trump is getting richer than ever. Forbes:
"Trump’s Net Worth Surges To $7 Billion - As Truth Social Parent Rallies."

Want to know how much you can make betting on Trump’s unprofitable media company? Just ask Pam Bondi, below..."In a whole ‘nuther category is Trump’s new $Trump. It’s a ‘meme’ crypto, not intended to have any value. But it follows Fartcoin (up 4,012% in the last 12 months) and Butthole Coin (up 46%, 50% and 75% every 24 hours) and is taking the lead for scatological glory.

Trump’s coin, launched over the weekend, was worth as much as $74 billion on Sunday. Now it is worth $10.5 billion (although moving fast). The ledger shows one holder owns 80% of the tokens. Assuming the holder of the large mystery wallet is Donald J. Trump himself, it means he increased his own wealth (on paper!), between Friday night and Monday morning, by about $8 billion.

Our pulse races. Our palms sweat. Our head swims. If Trump is $8 billion richer... who is $8 billion poorer? But there is where Trump’s peculiar skills may be most valuable to the nation: he is an expert at bankruptcy…and making failed businesses work, at least for him.

Trump University. Trump Mortgage. Trump Airline. Trump vodka. Trump steaks. Trump Magazine. Trump Taj Mahal. Trump: The Game.

The Trump Shuttle opened to great fanfare in 1989. Classic Trump. He borrowed $365 million to get it going. In 1992 it crashed... defaulting on its loans, more than $100 million of them guaranteed personally by Donald Trump. In later negotiations and a subsequent sale, Trump was able to clear away much of that obligation and said he made money on the deal.  The timing on the Trump Mortgage company couldn’t have been worse. But on CNBC, Trump told the world: “I think it's a great time to start a mortgage company... who knows about financing better than I do?” Launched in 2006, Trump predicted it would soon be the biggest mortgage lender in the country. Instead, it went out of business in the mortgage finance crisis a year later.

And then there was Trump Vodka. Begun the same year as the mortgage business, it followed a similar trajectory. Said Trump: "By the summer of '06, I fully expect the most called for cocktail in America to be the T&T or the Trump and Tonic." It was not to be. Instead, the vodka disappeared... except in Israel where an unauthorized version is apparently on offer.

2006 was a busy year for the Trump team. They even started a travel service, called GoTrump. The Donald explained the business strategy. “When you get millions of people using your service, and you get X dollars per person, it adds up to a lot of money.” GoTrump didn’t go far. It shut down in 2007.

“Excuse me... ” said Donald Trump defiantly. In one bankruptcy proceeding he claimed to the court that it wasn’t his fault. He had nothing to do with the management, he said. “Then, how come you’re on the company payroll?” the judge wanted to know. “For my genius,” he replied.

That was one of four bankruptcies he suffered in his resort businesses. The Taj Mahal in 1991. Another Trump Entertainment Resorts voluntary bankruptcy in 2004... another in 2008... and finally in 2014. The default amounts, put together, top $5 billion. What went wrong? Bad timing. Bad judgement. Bad management. Bad luck. It could happen to anyone.

Trump University was not much different. It offered a variety of courses... but no college credit. National Review called it a ‘massive scam.’ Students sued... including a class action suit against Trump and others in charge. Texas, New York and Florida were on the case. Florida, however, pulled out of the lawsuit. Wikipedia explains why: "The office of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced in September 2013 that it was considering joining a New York lawsuit against Trump University. Four days later, the Donald J. Trump Foundation donated $25,000 to "And Justice for All", a 527 group supporting Bondi's reelection campaign. After that, Bondi declined to join New York."

But wait. Ms. Bondi is back in the news. ABC News reports; "President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general pick, Pam Bondi, made at least $3 million from the merger that formed the parent company of Trump's Truth Social platform, her new personal financial disclosure filing showed. In all, Bondi, together with her spouse, reported a net worth of up to $20 million…"

And this isn’t the first time Donald J. Trump is sworn in as Commander-in-Chief. The nation owed $20 trillion when he first came into the White House in 2017 and $27 trillion when he left in 2021. Otherwise, there was little appreciable change of direction, either in domestic or foreign policy. It may or may not have been good for the country. But it worked for him. Welcome to Trump America II."

Jim Kunstler, "Another Door Opens"

"Another Door Opens"
by Jim Kunstler
"Thus spake one Shawn McCreesh of The New York Times, America’s all-wise, all-knowing font of everlasting rectitude. But to answer his question, why blah blah: Donald Trump is glaring because he means bidness. His bidness is to shift the paradigm on the mendaciously sanctimonious managerial class of the USA, of which The New York Times is the principal mouthpiece. DJT looks stern, does he? All that really tells you is how nervous the Old Gray Lady is. A million or more brains, from sea to shining sea are about to get vacuumed out and redecorated

Readers of The New York Times — in their various C-suites, ivory towers, ateliers, yoga parlors, tasting rooms, bioweapon labs, and other haunts — remain utterly baffled about what is to begin today. No amount of ‘splainin’ seems to suffice. They behold the Golden Golem of Greatness (DJT) doing his dance onstage behind the cop, the Indian chief, and the cowpoke and all they can really see are their own careers going up in smoke (along with vested pensions, reputations, possibly even chattels, marriages, and health).

As I write, long before dawn, “Joe Biden” remains President of the US. You must wonder, as the hours dwindle to noon, what pardon power magic he’s saving for the final minutes of his term, while the whole nation is distracted by the spectacle in the Capitol Rotunda, the moiling dignitaries and celebrities, the solemn arrival of the elect, the snarky palaver of the cable news jockeys, the electric charge of history in the large room...

It is a fact, perhaps missed by some of you, that Rep. James Comer’s House Oversight Committee just last week issued criminal referrals on James Biden (“Joe’s” brother) and First Son Hunter. Wait-a-minute, was not Hunter already pardoned for Gawd-knows how many misdeeds dating back to 2014, and (supposedly) preemptively for any alleged crimes to come ever hereafter? Part B of that may yet have to be adjudicated. A pardon is not intended to be a get-out-of-jail-free card. Anyway, would it be difficult for a federal attorney of average ability to draw a connection between the newly referred crimes of those two and the departing President? Hence, will “Joe Biden” pardon “Joe Biden” at 11:30 this morning?

Not to mention about 1000 other current and former public officials quaking in their Beltway McMansions this frosty morning. This is part and parcel, you understand, of the massive Cleanup in Aisle Four that must happen if the agencies of our federal government can ever be trusted again. For instance, the Department of Justice.

At the end of the workday, Friday, AG Merrick Garland made a triumphal final exit from the building past a throng of cheering and clapping employees, including dozens of federal attorneys who zealously persecuted their fellow citizens under color-of-law for no good reason, or real legal predicate, and ruined many lives and households in the process. Do you suppose they get a free pass on that? And what of the three bears of Lawfare: Norm Eisen, Marc Elias, and Mary McCord, all of them present at the creation of serial affronts against the Constitution (and decency) lo this past decade. Do they just skate? I doubt it, though it might take a while to shine a light on their turpitudes.

Will “Joe Biden” wave his pardon wand over Tony Fauci, Francis Collins, Scott Gottlieb, Deborah Birx, Rochelle Walensky, and dozens of other public health officials who sprung the Covid-19 operation and the deadly vaccinations on the country? Or Ralph Baric, hunkered out of sight in his Carolina lab? You realize, of course, that the orgy of illness and death from that is hardly over. For four years under “JB” the truth has been obfuscated and buried, because none of those characters has really had to answer for anything.

So, today another door opens. The To-Do list for Mr. Trump and his aides-de-camp is dauntingly long, the corrections needed are monumental. You might have even noticed that such corrections are badly needed all over the other countries of Western Civ, and strangely many are already following suit. The WEF-inflected governments of France, Germany, and the UK are already a’wobble, and Justin Trudeau threw in the towel two weeks ago. An Arctic blast could not be more fitting for what will move through the DC Swamp at high noon today. That is, if Mr. Trump manages to survive the hours until his swearing-in. Godspeed Number 47! And everybody else: put your tray tables up! A patch of turbulence ahead!

Update: I posted the above blog ten minutes before “Joe Biden” issued his raft of pardons for Fauci, the J6 Committee members, and others. We will have to stand by to see whether a “preemptive” pardon is a legitimate legal instrument. My guess is that it is not."
o

"President Biden, as one of his last acts as president, issued preemptive pardons for Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley and the Members of Congress and staff who served on the Select Committee, and the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee."

"Economic Market Snapshot 1/20/25"

"Economic Market Snapshot 1/20/25"
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, January 19, 2025

"Alert! National Emergency Declared; Israeli Strike On Iran After Trump; US Moves Nukes"

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 1/19/25
"Alert! National Emergency Declared; 
Israeli Strike On Iran After Trump; US Moves Nukes"
Comments here:

"Shock And Awe Begins Tomorrow - 200 Executive Orders Signed Monday"

Jeremiah Babe, 1/19/20
"Shock And Awe Begins Tomorrow - 
200 Executive Orders Signed Monday"
Comments here:

Musical Interlude: 2002, "Adrift In A Memory"

Full screen recommended.
2002, "Adrift In A Memory"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Over 400,000 light years across NGC 6872 is an enormous spiral galaxy, at least 4 times the size of our own very large Milky Way. About 200 million light-years distant, toward the southern constellation Pavo, the Peacock, the remarkable galaxy’s stretched out shape is due to its ongoing gravitational interaction, likely leading to an eventual merger, with the nearby smaller galaxy IC 4970. IC 4970 is seen just below and right of the giant galaxy’s core in this cosmic color portrait from the 8 meter Gemini South telescope in Chile.
The idea to image this titanic galaxy collision comes from a winning contest essay submitted to the Gemini Observatory by the Sydney Girls High School Astronomy Club. In addition to inspirational aspects and aesthetics, club members argued that a color image would be more than just a pretty picture. In their winning essay they noted that “If enough color data is obtained in the image it may reveal easily accessible information about the different populations of stars, star formation, relative rate of star formation due to the interaction, and the extent of dust and gas present in these galaxies.”

The Poet: William Stafford, ”Today”

”Today”

“The ordinary miracles begin. Somewhere
a signal arrives: “Now,” and the rays
come down. A tomorrow has come. Open
your hands, lift them: morning rings
all the doorbells; porches are cells for prayer.
Religion has touched your throat. Not the same now,
you could close your eyes and go on full of light.
And it is already begun, the chord
that will shiver glass, the song full of time
bending above us. Outside, a sign:
a bird intervenes; the wings tell the air,
“Be warm.” No one is out there, but a giant
has passed through town, widening streets, touching
the ground, shouldering away the stars.”

- William Stafford

Chet Raymo, “The Uses of Enchantment”

“The Uses of Enchantment”
by Chet Raymo

“There was a time when every wood, every tree, was thought to be inhabited by spirits called dryads, every pool and stream by naiads. Even not so long ago, our road here in Ireland was called “the fairies’ road.” The world, we say, was enchanted - every stone and plant infused with an animate spirit. Science put paid to all that, chased the spirits from their woods and pools, drove the fairies from their hills. Disenchanted the landscape. Well, maybe not. It depends on how you define enchantment.

Remember those spider webs I wrote about the other day, made visible by dew? Once the sun burned away the mist and the dew evaporated, the webs became invisible. But of course they are still there, a thousand silken snares, each with its resident spider. As I walked down the drive today I sensed their presence - the field alive with invisible spirits, a thousand arachnoid dryads crouching in their bowers.

The key to enchantment is to be aware of what can’t be seen. The spiders in their webs. The spinnerets extruding gossamer. The DNA zipping and unzipping in each cell of the spiders’ bodies, the amino acids, A and T, G and C, grasping hands in their dervish dance. The atoms in their resonant vibrations.

“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well,” wrote Antoine De Saint-Exupery. The key to enchantment is to never stop thinking about the well.”

"Never, Ever Forget..."

"Never, ever forget that nothing in this life is free. Life demands payment in some form for your "right" to express yourself, to condemn and abuse the evil surrounding us. Expect to pay... it will come for you, they will come for you, regardless. Knowing that, give them Hell itself every chance you can. Expect no mercy, and give none. That's how life works. Be ready to pay for what you do, or be a coward, pretend you don't see, don't know, and cry bitter tears over how terrible things are, over how you let them become."
- Ernest Hemingway, "For Whom the Bell Tolls "

"They Sense..."

"People cling to their hates so stubbornly because they sense, 
once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain." 
- James Baldwin

The Daily "Near You?"

Collinsville, Oklahoma, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

Chet Raymo, "Free As A Bird"

"Free As A Bird"
by Chet Raymo

"All afternoon I have been watching a pair of hummingbirds play about our porch. They live somewhere nearby, though I haven't found their nest. They are attracted to our hummingbird feeder, which we keep full of sugar water. What perfect little machines they are! No other bird can perform their tricks of flight - flying backwards, hovering in place. Zip. Zip. From perch to perch in a blur of iridescence. If you want a symbol of freedom, the hummingbird is it. Exuberant. Unpredictable. A streak of pure fun. It is the speed, of course, that gives the impression of perfect spontaneity. The bird can perform a dozen intricate maneuvers more quickly than I can turn my head.

Is the hummingbird's apparent freedom illusory, a biochemically determined response to stimuli from the environment? Or is the hummingbird's flight what it seems to be, willful and unpredictable? If I can answer that question, I will be learning as much about myself as about the hummingbird. So I watch. And I consider what I know of biochemistry. The hummingbird is awash in signals from its environment - visual, olfactory, auditory and tactile cues that it processes and responds to with lightning speed.

How does it do it? Proteins, mostly. Every cell of the hummingbird's body is a buzzing conversation of proteins, each protein a chain of hundreds of amino acids folded into a complex shape like a piece of a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. Shapes as various as the words of a human vocabulary. An odor molecule from a blossom, for example, binds to a protein receptor on a cell membrane of the hummingbird's olfactory organ - like a jigsaw-puzzle piece with its neighbor. This causes the receptor molecule to change that part of its shape that extends inside the cell. Another protein now binds with the new configuration of the receptor, and changes its own shape. And so on, in a sequence of shapeshifting and binding - called a signal-transduction cascade - until the hummingbird's brain "experiences" the odor.

Now appropriate signals must be sent from the brain to the body - ion flows established along neural axons, synapses activated. Wing muscles must respond to direct the hummingbird to the source of nourishment. Tens of thousands of proteins in a myriad of cells talk to each other, each protein genetically prefigured by the hummingbird's DNA to carry on its conversation in a particular part of the body. All of this happens continuously, and so quickly that to my eye the bird's movements are a blur.

There is much left to learn, but this much is clear: There is no ghost in the machine, no hummingbird pilot making moment by moment decisions out of the whiffy stuff of spirit. Every detail of the hummingbird's apparently willful flight is biochemistry. Between the hummingbird and myself there is a difference of complexity, but not of kind. If humans are the lords of terrestrial creation, it is because of the huge tangle of nerves that sits atop our spines.

So what does this mean about human freedom? If we are biochemical machines in interaction with our environments, in what sense can we be said to be free? What happens to "free will"? Perhaps the most satisfying place to look for free will is in what is sometimes called chaos theory. In sufficiently complex systems with many feedback loops - the global economy, the weather, the human nervous system - small perturbations can lead to unpredictable large-scale consequences, though every part of the system is individually deterministic. This has sometimes been called - somewhat facetiously - the butterfly effect: a butterfly flaps its wings in China and triggers a cascade of events that results in a snowstorm in Chicago. Chaos theory has taught us that determinism does not imply predictability. Of course, this is not what philosophers traditionally meant by free will, but it is indistinguishable from what philosophers traditionally meant by free will. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck.

I watch the hummingbirds at the feeder. Their hearts beat ten times faster than a human's. They have the highest metabolic rate of any animal, a dozen times higher than a pigeon, a hundred times higher than an elephant. Hummingbirds live at the edge of what is biologically possible, and it's that, the fierce intenseness of their aliveness, that makes them appear so exuberantly free. But there are no metaphysical pilots in these little flying machines. The machines are the pilots. You give me carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and a few billion years of evolution, and I'll give you a bird that burns like a luminous flame. The hummingbird's freedom was built into the universe from the first moment of creation."

Further Reading:
• For a brilliant and provocative treatment of free will and determinism, read Daniel Dennett's "Freedom Evolves."
• The always provocative Roger Penrose looks for free will in quantum uncertainty in his "The Emperor's New Mind". Not an easy read, and, in my view, case not proven.

"Do You Believe..."

“Do you believe,’ said Candide, ‘that men have always massacred each other as they do today, that they have always been liars, cheats, traitors, ingrates, brigands, idiots, thieves, scoundrels, gluttons, drunkards, misers, envious, ambitious, bloody-minded, calumniators, debauchees, fanatics, hypocrites, and fools?”
“Do you believe,” said Martin, “that hawks have always eaten pigeons when they have found them?”
- Voltaire
o
“Murderers are not monsters, they're men.
And that's the most frightening thing about them.”
- Alice Sebold, "The Lovely Bones"

"The Ironic, The Tragic Thing..."

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

“There is no salvation in becoming adapted to a world which is crazy.”
- Henry Miller

Redacted, “Gerald Celente: No One is Ready For What’s Coming in 2025”

Redacted, 1/19/25
“Gerald Celente: 
No One is Ready For What’s Coming in 2025”
Comments here:

"How It Really Is"

The best little whorehouse, well, anywhere...

Free Download: "Report From Iron Mountain On The Possibility And Desirability Of Peace"

"The Report from Iron Mountain"
by Bill Bonner

"Laugh…and know."
~ Marcus Valerius Martialis

"Every day the war drums beat louder. Asia Times: "US provocatively points new nuke-tipped missile at China." The US has tested a new type of nuclear-tipped air launch cruise missile, reaffirming the viability of the air-based leg of its nuclear triad against evolving threats from near-peer adversaries China and Russia with profound implications for regional stability and global non-proliferation norms. The Warzone reported that the US Air Force had conducted nine flight tests of its future nuclear-tipped AGM-181A Long Range Stand Off (LRSO) cruise missile prototypes, including one test with a mock nuclear warhead.

Waning Support: When Europeans were just beginning to discover North America, an intrepid explorer spent time with the tribes along the Hudson Bay of Canada. He reported that one day, the young men of the tribe took their weapons and headed north. He thought they were on a hunting party. For weeks they continued…until the trees had disappeared …and it looked like desolate tundra. Finally, they found what they were looking for – an Eskimo village. The Eskimos were different people – different language, different culture… Wasting no time, the Indians attacked and slaughtered everyone in the village – men, women, children.

They were on a crusade. And they targeted people they must have viewed as ‘bad.’ Were they bad because they worshiped other gods? Or because they worshiped no gods at all? Were they bad because they had bad breath…or because the Indians lived on a vast, mostly-empty continent and the Eskimos were the only plausible ‘enemy’ within range?

The White Flag: Ukraine is running out of weapons, money, and enthusiasm. Most important, it is running out of meat for its grinder. The average age of its soldiers is said to be 40 years. Young men leave before they can be drafted; they aren’t willing to die for whatever crusade Zelensky is leading.

What is surprising to us is how many are still there. All Russia asked was to keep NATO out of Ukraine. Dying so that your country can join NATO does not seem particularly attractive. In a similar situation young Americans would scurry out of town too. At least, that was the finding of a survey reported in the Daily Mail. Voters were asked: 'Assume there is an invasion of America by another country and they were on the brink of victory. You can either almost certainly die fighting for your country, or surrender and survive. What would you do?' Of young people, 18-29, only 30% would fight.

No matter. History tells us that it is easy to gin up a war fever and get millions of people killed for no apparent reason. All you need is an enemy. And right now, America’s foreign policy experts…it's glorious think tank generals…and it's newspaper heroes turn their eyes east – to China and Russia. What have the Chinese and Russians done to us? Don’t know? But that was the point of the ‘Report from Iron Mountain.’ An enemy doesn’t have to do something, he just has to be something – a useful foe.

The Health of the State: China is the world’s greatest success story – ever. Since 1979, it brought 800 million people up from the grit and slime of Mao’s communist poverty into the modern world of capitalism, decent salaries, abundant food and technological wonders, such as its high speed rail and Shanghai’s maglev train. The US can’t match it.

But instead of admiring it…trying to learn from it…and hoping to profit from it, all of which would benefit the American people, China is becoming the enemy the empire elite need. Richard Cullen: "Bad-tempered coverage of China continues to flourish across the entire US media. It ranges from fire-breathing to pearl-clutching. Most commentators look daggers at Beijing in a dozen different over-cooked ways – and especially at the Communist Party of China – while reminding readers and viewers of America’s continuing paramount superpower status."

Truth emerges, often, in unexpected places. The “Report from Iron Mountain” may have been a spoof, designed only to elicit a knowing chuckle from the cynical cognoscenti, but it reveals the real cause of war better than any group of federal hacks ever could. The supposed background is that a 15-member group of pipe smokers got together in a Special Study Group to speculate on the consequences of ‘peace.’ They met in a nuclear-secure bunker under Iron Mountain. They came to the conclusion that government is incompatible with ‘peace.’ It can’t exist without war. Nation states only exist so they can make war.

There was nothing new about this insight. “War is the health of the state,” said Randolph Bourne. War is not just useful to government; it is government. The defining difference between the US government and the Catholic Church, Kiwanis Club or Walmart is that the former uses force to get what it wants. The latter do not. Without the use of force – police, jails, wars – the ‘state’ would have no reason to exist."
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Freely download
"Report From Iron Mountain On The
Possibility And Desirability Of Peace" here: 
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"The key point was made by Georgy Arbatov, a political scientist and advisor to Mikhail Gorbachev (and other secretaries of the Communist Party), and founder and director of the Institute for US and Canadian Studies at the Russian Academy of Science. He said to a group of senior US officials in 1987: “We are going to do a terrible thing to you – we are going to deprive you of an enemy.”

Greg Hunter, "President Trump Set Them Free"

"President Trump Set Them Free"
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

"There has been much controversy over the so-called J6 participants in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2020. The Lying Legacy Media (LLM) and the Deep State call it a “violent insurrection.” Donald Trump supporters called it a setup, psyop and frame job of people protesting a stolen election. Martin Armstrong contends the real theft of the 2020 Election happened because Democrats needed an excuse to suspend the rules of election integrity in Congress and push Joe Biden into the White House under emergency rules. Armstrong says, “Videos Prove January 6 was an Inside Job.” Hundreds have been imprisoned under weak and concocted legal cases, where witnesses were tampered with and evidence was destroyed and “lost.” President-elect Donald Trump promised in his 2024 campaign to give a blanket pardon to the people sitting in prison for the crime of exercising free speech and protesting a rigged election on January 6, 2020. Will he pay off on his campaign promise?

Former “billion-dollar franchise owner,” and now, philanthropist Gary Heavin wants to help all J6 prisoners when released and hold President Trump to his promise. Heavin and his wife Diane started a record-breaking string of women-only fitness franchises called Curves International. The company reached 5,000 franchises in 5 years, a feat that took McDonald’s 25 years. Since Heavin sold the company in 2012, he has concentrated on helping people in dire need. Just a few examples include flying doctors and supplies to survivors of the Haiti earthquake, and again in Haiti with Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Most recently, Heavin flew rescue missions for survivors of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

Heavin is known for using his money and skill as a pilot flying rescue missions with his personal helicopter and other aircraft. Heavin says, “Donald Trump has promised on numerous occasions to set the J6 prisoners free on his first day in office, which is going to be Monday. There are going to be some consequences in pardoning these people because the prisons are literally going to be putting these people out on the street with no notice to the families and no resources. We are talking about 300 incarcerated prisoners that are in 75 prisons in 35 states across this country. Many of them are a long way from home and a long way from resources. I am working with a variety of J6 freedom groups to meet those needs. So, we have set up over a hundred volunteers to be at every prison on Monday when these people are released. We are going to make sure they are warm, they’re fed and they have a hotel room. We are going to connect them to their family and figure out how to get them home.”

Heavin will be personally flying some of the J6 prisoners home on his private jet, and that’s not all. Heavin says, “I have organized private aircraft to be available on Tuesday. The ones beyond driving distance, we are going to fly them home.”

In closing, Heavin says, “This is an imminent moment right now. Trump’s mantra from his first term was ‘Lock Her Up, Lock Her Up,’ and, of course, we know what happened to that. The mantra today that begins his second term is ‘Set Them Free, Set Them Free.’ This is literally a litmus test where we are going to discover whether Donald Trump is going to keep his promises to the American people. There is a huge movement right now where millions of people are watching his actions. Is he going to do what he says he’s going to do? We had a little bit of confusion this past week when J.D. Vance was asked about the J6 pardons on FOX News, and he foolishly complicated it and said some will be set free and some won’t and all this other nonsense. My inside information is he (Vance) got his ass handed to him over this whole thing.”

Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he goes One-on-One with 
philanthropist, entrepreneur and Christian pilot Gary Heavin.

Dan, I Allegedly, "Customers Are Not Coming In - This May Never Recover"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, AM 1/19/25
"Customers Are Not Coming In - 
This May Never Recover"
"The aftermath of the recent LA fires has left the restaurant industry in complete turmoil. In this video, I dive into the shocking reality for local restaurants—businesses down 70-85%, closures piling up, and over 100,000 workers displaced. From fine dining to pizza spots, the numbers are devastating, and the ripple effects are massive. I share stories of resilience, donation efforts for first responders, and the heartbreaking challenges faced by restaurant owners and workers alike. With bankruptcies looming and a lack of government support, the question remains: what’s next for these communities?"
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Full screen recommended.
Frugal Living Tips, 1/17/25
"Shocking! These10 Restaurant Chains 
Are Closing Nationwide"
"Are your favorite fast food chains on the chopping block? In this video, we're counting down the top fast food chains that might disappear in 2025! From declining sales to increased competition, we'll dive into the reasons why these beloved brands might be saying goodbye. From iconic burgers to crispy fried chicken, which fast food favorites will survive the cut? Watch till the end to find out!

The restaurant industry is facing unprecedented challenges, and it's leaving many of us wondering: will our favorite restaurants disappear in 2025? From rising labor costs to increasing competition from meal kit services, there are many factors contributing to the decline of beloved eateries. In this video, we'll explore the top restaurants that are at risk of disappearing and what it means for the future of the industry. From fast food chains to upscale dining establishments, no one is immune to the challenges facing the restaurant world. So, which restaurants will survive and thrive, and which ones will be saying goodbye for good? Watch to find out!"
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