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Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Bill Bonner, "Day of Reckoning"

"Day of Reckoning"
by Bill Bonner

Poitou, France - "The Big Man keeps getting bigger. And the old conservatives...or what’s left of them...must be trying to remember... Why was it that the founders wrote a constitution? What was the purpose of imposing rules...limits...restraints? How did they know what challenges a future POTUS would face? Reuters: "Trump takes over DC police in extraordinary move, deploys National Guard in capital."

They must have had a reason...the founders, that is. They wrote up a constitution that would function like a junkyard dog’s electronic collar. The feds could go only so far...and no further. But today, we have a Big Man who can spend as much money as he wants...round up people and put them in jail — without charges or trial...threaten foreign governments and foreign heads of state...bomb foreign capitals…sponsor two murderous wars at once (one in which women and children are the main victims)...and enact the biggest tax increase in world history with no debate and no vote.

He growls and snarls...and bites the hands that feed us all. But where does it lead? The Wall Street Journal: "President Trump is imitating [the] Chinese Communist Party by extending political control ever deeper into the economy."

Fortune: "President Trump has seized control of private enterprise’s strategic decision-making and investment policies while invading corporate board rooms so that he may dictate leadership staffing, punish corporate critics, and demand public compliance with his political agenda."

MAGA has gone Marxist and even, increasingly, Maoist. Pence, Bannon, Carlson, Owens, Rogan, Paul...and many others — they must wonder, ‘Is this really what we signed up for?’

Even in a consensual democracy, the yoke of a police state never entirely disappears, but it is light...and controlled by accepted rules. We all drive on the right...and get where we are going. The feds are supposed to stay in their lane too - as spelled out in the US Constitution. It tells our rule-makers how far they can go. But come the election of 2024 and the Big Man seems to have slipped his collar.

We are looking at what may or may not be an important fissure in Magaland. Traditional Republican conservatives still believe in the Constitution. They also believe in free trade, not trade managed by federal bureaucrats. They thought the Constitution backed them up: "No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports..."

No serious economist favors tariffs. And thoughtful people can’t help but notice that the tariff edifice is built on false premises. Kenya Times: "Trump’s Tariffs Mean ‘Massive New Taxes’ on Americans, Chamber of Commerce Says." Americans pay for them, not foreigners - as Mike Pence pointed out yesterday. They are a tax on US consumers, not a gift from overseas. And they will raise prices as well as deepen the swamp. Lobbyists seek delays, exceptions, and adjustments - and get them. That is another feature of shape shifting Big Man government. There are no rules that can be applied evenly and fairly. There is just deal making, Deep State lobbying...and what you can get away with.

Also in the news was this from the Independent: "President Donald Trump extended a trade truce with China for another 90 days Monday, delaying once again a showdown between the world’s two biggest economies."

China’s position as the world’s leading purveyor of strategic metals forced the Big Man back down. Asia Times: "Lithium price jump exposes China’s chokehold on supply. CATL battery maker’s Yichun mine shut down spikes global prices as Beijing clamps down on competitive markets."

Weaker nations were not so lucky. Poor little Switzerland faces a 39% rate. What did it do wrong? And India is up against a 50% tariff. AOL: "Higher Tariffs On India May Be Driving Crucial US Ally Closer To Russia, China." Indian Prime Minister Modi hastened to Beijing the day after Trump announced his tariff hit.

And now...Carlson, Owens et al must be wondering, as we are...is there any more effective way to drive the world’s most populous country to make common cause with China... Or to prepare a late, degenerate empire for its day of reckoning?"

"She Thought That Her Computer Science Degree Would Get Her A Six Figure Job – Instead It Got Her An Interview With Chipotle"

"She Thought That Her Computer Science Degree Would Get
 Her A Six Figure Job – Instead It Got Her An Interview With Chipotle"
by Michael Snyder

"If you recently graduated from college, good luck trying to find a decent job. What we are experiencing right now reminds me so much of the early 1990s. If you were a new college graduate in those days, it was extremely difficult to even get an interview for a good job. Sadly, we are now entering a very similar environment. There is enormous competition for any good job that is available, and mass layoffs are occurring all over the nation. In fact, through the first 7 months of this year the number of job cut announcements in the U.S. was 75 percent higher than it was during the first 7 months of 2024. I am not here to give people the Pollyanna version of what is going on. I am here to give people the truth.

21-year-old Manasi Mishra believed that if she worked really hard and got a computer science degree she would be able to get a six figure job at a big tech company. Instead, the only thing her computer science degree has gotten her is an interview with Chipotle…"Aspiring computer scientists are sinking in a job market overtaken by AI, as a recent graduate who expected to make six figures could only land an interview at Chipotle. Manasi Mishra, 21, was under the impression that if she worked hard in school and mastered coding, she’d have a prestigious tech job with a cushy salary lined up straight from college."

‘The rhetoric was, if you just learned to code, work hard and get a computer science degree, you can get six figures for your starting salary,’ the San Roman, California native told The New York Times. In case you are wondering, she did not actually get the job with Chipotle…"To her dismay, she did not secure the job. ‘Of course, the year I graduate is the year the tech industry goes downhill,’ she elaborated in the ‘get ready with me’ video."

If even the tech industry is going “downhill”, what does that say about the state of the overall economy? At one time, it was fairly easy to get hired by Microsoft if you had certain skills. But this year Microsoft has conducted multiple rounds of layoffs. At this stage, the total number of workers that have been laid off has surpassed the 15,000 mark…"Microsoft has laid off over 15,000 people so far in 2025. The stress of the belt-tightening has gotten to CEO Satya Nadella. “Before anything else, I want to speak to what’s been weighing heavily on me, and what I know many of you are thinking about: the recent job eliminations,” Nadella wrote in a memo to employees Thursday."

It would be difficult to overstate just how dramatically the environment has shifted. Young people that are searching for jobs are running into closed door after closed door, and as a result many of them are experiencing financial difficulties. According to Fox Business, “nearly 10% of credit card balances held by Americans aged 18-29 became 90 or more days overdue in the second quarter”…Young Americans continued to make up the largest share of those transitioning into credit card delinquency in the second quarter, according to a report released by the New York Federal Reserve. Despite ticking down slightly from the previous quarter, the report showed that nearly 10% of credit card balances held by Americans aged 18-29 became 90 or more days overdue in the second quarter. New York Fed researchers said credit card delinquency rates for Americans under 40 have been “unusually elevated,” adding they are keeping a “close eye” on the trend.

Credit card companies are going to become much more stingy in extending credit to young adults. As you can imagine, that will not be good for our economy at all. But this is the environment that we live in now.

One recent survey discovered that 62 percent of Gen Z adults “have no emergency savings at all”…"Your car breaks down on a Tuesday morning, and the repair bill comes to $500. If you’re part of Generation Z, there’s a good chance you have nothing set aside to cover it. A new survey from Credit One Bank reveals that 62% of Gen Z have no emergency savings at all, nearly double the rate of baby boomers. There’s a very clear widening gap in financial preparedness happening between generations."

Let that sink in. Nearly two-thirds of an entire generation of Americans is living on the edge. There will be some that will argue that they should just toughen up and take whatever they can get. In the old days, if times were tough you could at least get a job as a delivery driver. But now UPS is trying to rapidly shed existing workers by offering them buyouts…"The undertaking, called the Driver Voluntary Separation Program, is the first in UPS’ history for delivery drivers. The financial incentive available through the program is in addition to earned retirement benefits like pension and healthcare, per UPS. Word of the program spread on July 3, when the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union said UPS’ buyout plan was in motion. The Teamsters represent more than 300,000 UPS employees under a five-year contract reached in 2023."

Drivers that have literally been with UPS for decades are being encouraged to leave so that the company can cut labor costs…"About 85% of UPS drivers are at the top end of the pay scale. Those who have 25 to 40 years of service would be the most likely candidates to accept the buyout package, Nando Cesarone, president of the U.S. region and UPS Airlines, told analysts on the call. UPS is offering $1,800 per year of service, with a minimum payout of $10,000. A driver with 27 years of experience would receive a $48,600 buyout, according to the offer sheet."

I wouldn’t want to be a new college graduate today. If you get stuck in a bad job that is not in your field, it can permanently wreck your career. I have seen it happen way too many times. But getting hired for a good job has become an extremely challenging task.

In fact, one recent survey found that more than 60 percent of all Americans believe that it has “become more difficult to find a good paying job”…"According to the poll, more than six out of 10 Americans said it had become more difficult to find a good paying job, buy a home and afford childcare."

More than four out of five Americans, 83%, said they were concerned about the cost of groceries, with 46% saying they were very concerned. Some 47% said they were worried about being able to pay their rent or mortgage, 64% said they were worried about affording an unexpected medical expense.

It is time to face the truth. We really are in the midst of a substantial economic downturn that has been going on for quite some time. Needless to say, I believe that the difficult times that we are experiencing now are not even worth comparing to what is eventually coming. So we are all going to have to adjust our plans and our expectations. The system that we have all depended upon for so long is failing, and we all need to start becoming a lot more self-sufficient."

John Wilder, "The Lighter Side Of Dating, Mating, And Civilizational Collapse'

"The Lighter Side Of Dating,
Mating, And Civilizational Collapse'
by John Wilder

"Even thirty years ago, finding a spouse was as easy as grabbing a beer at a kegger. You met. Maybe at school, maybe at church, maybe at work, maybe some friends introduced you. Hell, maybe at the kegger. It was a straightforward and reliable process, and it was also often sweaty and fun.

Even before my time, though, it was even easier. Take it back to the 1800s, and men brought home the bacon, women kept the hearth warm, and together they built a life, maybe a farm, maybe a picket fence. Often, people would meet and spend their whole lives in the same location. The process wasn’t perfect, but it worked for thousands of years.

Fast-forward to 2025, and the mating market is a dumpster fire. A constant source of conversation is the baby bust, describing how women aren’t reproducing enough children to keep society going. Part of the reason for that is that cultural shifts and technological disruptions have turned love from carnal creativity in the backseat of a Camaro™ to the swipe of a finger on the smooth glass of a screen protector. The result? A generation of lonely hearts, spinsters, and guys who’ve decided sweatpants and beer are a better deal than chasing women who don’t even see them as people. Culture and tech crashed the human mating economy, and why it’s tearing the family, the atom of society, to shreds.

For thousands of years, societies kept a lid on female promiscuity, not because of some patriarchal conspiracy (okay maybe it was, we’re still meeting Thursday night, right guys?), but because it worked.

People who tear down traditions often don’t realize exactly what they’re destroying until it’s gone, and then it’s too late because the fragile fabric that it was supporting has collapsed. It’s sort of like playing Jenga™ with retarded monkeys on crack, but I won’t speak any more about how I know that.

Tradition knew what science later confirmed: high rates of female promiscuity correlate with lower marriage rates and higher divorce rates. Skanky women are horrible for society. A 2020 study from the Institute for Family Studies found that women with more sexual partners before marriage are less likely to stay married. They graph waivers after the big increase in marrying a woman who has had more than one sex partner to a big drop at around four sex partners (for some reason). If you can’t get a virgin, four seems to be the lucky number. But if you’re the 167th guy to tap into that action?

The chances of you being “the one” are nearly zero, yet in 2025 she still wants a ring worth six months of blood, sweat and tears and a house and she brings...you being number 167. Back when shame was a thing, women faced social pressure to be selective, and men had a reason to step up for a low-mileage woman. Now? Shame is as outdated as a Marvel™ movie. Women are free to “explore” and “find themselves” and “live their best life” all while banging a neverending stream of potential Prince Charmings.

Then there’s money. Historically, men were the breadwinners, or at least the leaders in the grind in the family business or farm, with Ma raising the kids and churning the butter while Pa tamed the back 40. Women relied on men for financial stability, and men relied on women to keep the home and raise the children.

Enter the modern workforce: women now make up nearly half of U.S. workers and 90% of the human resources department everywhere. That leads to the dilemma of the Stunning and Brave woman: she wants a man who makes more than her, yet demands equal pay. A 2023 Pew Research study found 55% of women prefer a partner with higher income (and 45% of women are liars). That’s fine, but men’s wages have stagnated since the 1970s while women’s have risen. The math doesn’t add up.

Worse, the government has stepped in as Husband 2.0. Welfare programs, from food stamps to housing subsidies, act like a sugar daddy for single women, especially mothers. In 2022, over 40% of single-mother households received some form of public assistance. Why marry a man when Uncle Sugar’s got your back and they can still bang all the men they want and don’t have to listen to any man?

Women on welfare aren’t wives anymore; they’re concubines of the state, trading solemn vows for EBT and government cheese. The family, once the bedrock of civilization, is now a casualty of games and prizes fueled by promiscuity and feminism. But I repeat myself.

And that’s not even factoring in divorce-rape where unhaaaaapppy or bored women can hit the eject button and blow up the marriage with no real consequences except getting to keep the house, kids, cash and getting a free ticket to ride on the Chad carousel.

That’s bad enough. It’s actually worse than Madonna’s herpes. If culture cracked the mating market, technology crushed it like a python on a peanut. Enter Tinder®, Bumble®, and the swipe-right revolution. Women, all women, are hypergamous. They want the very best mate they can find. Society used to keep them in check through societal pressure. Oh, and soon enough they would have run out of random men to pleasure. Now the apps give them a digital buffet of Chads, Brads, and Thads. Is anyone named Thaddeus nowadays? I digress.

A 2021 study showed women on dating apps rate 80% of men as “below average” in attractiveness, while men rate women more realistically on a bell curve. The result? A 5 or 6 woman swipes right on a 10. Call him Prince Charming the Senator’s son, complete with abs and a hedge fund, who might bang her once but won’t stick around for breakfast or be seen in public with her, let alone hang a ring on her.

She walks away thinking, “He was the one, I could get him to marry me,” and now every guy who doesn’t match up to Prince Charming is... settling. Yes. Settling, even though Prince Charming doesn’t remember her and only picked her up because it was a Tuesday, and was just taking his father’s deathbed advice: “go ugly, early” and picked her up just for amusement. Spinsterhood beckons, with a side of cat and wine memes.

Men aren’t entirely innocent bystanders here, either. Faced with an endless parade of women chasing the top 10% of guys, many men have thrown in the towel. Why grind for a better job, hit the gym, or learn to dress like you didn’t just roll out of a laundry basket?

A 2024 survey found 30% of men aged 18-29 have given up on dating entirely, opting for porn, video games, or “monk mode.” They’re not wrong to notice the game is rigged against traditional one-for-one sorting. Now, Chad gets his choice, and, if they’re lucky, the might get the attention of a slagged-out woman who is still pining for Chad – a widow for a man that was only in her life for a night.

This isn’t just about lonely Friday nights. This is about the death of the family. Men want decent looks, monogamy, and a partner who’s kind - basic stuff. “She can’t read but she’s faithful and hasn’t had sex with Baltimore” has become a passing grade for many. Women want the whole package: money, status, looks, protection, and a guy who’s basically a football start with a corner office. Wait. Tom Brady didn’t work out for his wife. Neil Armstrong’s wife became unhaaaapppy. What chance does the average guy have?

Marriage rates are at historic lows, being down 60% since 1960. Divorce rates hover around 40%. Kids grow up in fractured homes or none at all, with single-parent households now at 30% nationwide and rising. The family, the core unit, the atom that glues society together, is being eroded by individualism on steroids. I could write a book about this topic, but you get the idea.

So how do we dig out of this mess? Start with culture. Bring back shame. The scarlet-letter kind. Encourage women to value loyalty over chasing Chad, and men to step up instead of checking out. That starts with incentives, because I don’t think anyone has any shame left.

Let’s rethink current incentives. Have a kid and no husband? Tough luck. No child support, no state support. Same thing with divorce. No fun and prizes for that, and if you’re at-fault, you lose the kids. Sure, tax breaks for married couples or policies that don’t make Uncle Sugar a better bet than a husband are nice, but we don’t need a nudge, we need a nuke.

Will the norm come back? It has to. Two more generations of this, and civilization will cease to exist. Perhaps G. Michael Hopf (LINK) got the old quote wrong and it should go more like this:
Bad times create strong men,
Strong men create good times,
Good times make women skanky,
Skanky women create bad times.

Don’t worry, nothing’s depending on this. I mean, nothing other than the fate of civilization."

Tuesday, August 12, 2025

"Grocery Price Increases, Food Shortages, and Shrinkflation"

Adventures With Danno, 8/12/25
"Grocery Price Increases, Food Shortages, 
and Shrinkflation"
Comments here:
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Full screen recommended.
Travelling with Russell, 8/13/25
"Russia's First Ultra Convenience Store (Full Tour)"
"What does a Russian Ultra Convenience Store look like? Spark by Magnit is the first 7-Eleven-style convenience store in Russia. The store's assortment includes more than 2,000 products, including ready-made meals, drinks, groceries, and essential household goods."
Comments here:

"Warning! FED Rate Cuts Will Kill The Dollar And Accelerate Massive Inflation"

Jeremiah Babe, 8/12/25
"Warning! FED Rate Cuts Will Kill The 
Dollar And Accelerate Massive Inflation"
Comments here:

Musical Interlude: Peder B. Helland, "A Dream", Beautiful Relaxing Music

Full screen recommended.
Peder B. Helland, "A Dream"
"Beautiful Relaxing Music  
Norwegian Nature & Violin, Flute, Piano & Harp Music"

Musical Interlude: R.E.M., "Everybody Hurts"

Full screen recommended.
R.E.M., "Everybody Hurts"

Never give up, no matter what...

"A Look to the Heavens"

"In the center of this serene stellar swirl is likely a harrowing black-hole beast. The surrounding swirl sweeps around billions of stars which are highlighted by the brightest and bluest. The breadth and beauty of the display give the swirl the designation of a grand design spiral galaxy.
The central beast shows evidence that it is a supermassive black hole about 10 million times the mass of our Sun. This ferocious creature devours stars and gas and is surrounded by a spinning moat of hot plasma that emits blasts of X-rays. The central violent activity gives it the designation of a Seyfert galaxy. Together, this beauty and beast are cataloged as NGC 6814 and have been appearing together toward the constellation of the Eagle (Aquila) for roughly the past billion years."

"Life Is An Illusion: Playing Your Part "

"Life Is An Illusion: Playing Your Part "
by Madisyn Taylor, The DailyOM

"Having the wisdom to know that life is but a dream does not mean that we ignore living. As children, most of us sang that mesmerizing, wistful lullaby that ends with the words, 'Life is but a dream.' This is a classic example of a deep, sophisticated truth hiding, like an underground stream, in an unlikely place. It winds its way through our minds like a riddle or a Zen koan, coming up when we least expect it and asking that we consider its meaning. Many gurus and philosophers agree with this mysterious observation, saying that this world we perceive as real is actually an illusion, not unlike a film being projected on a screen. Most of us are so involved in the projection that we don't understand it for what it is. We are completely caught up in the illusion, imagining that we are in a life and death struggle and taking it very seriously.

The enlightened few, on the other hand, live their lives in the light of the awareness that what most of us perceive as reality is a passing fancy. As a result, they behave with detachment, compassion, and wisdom, while the rest of us struggle and writhe upon the stage in the play of our life. Having the wisdom to know that life is but a dream does not mean that we ignore it or don't do our best with the twists and turns of our fate. Rather, like an actress who plays her role fully even as she knows it's only a role, we engage in the unfolding drama, but with a little more freedom because we know that this is not the totality of who we are.

And life is more of an improvisation than it is like a play whose lines have already been written, whose end is already known. Like an improviser, we have choices to make and the more we embrace the illusionary quality of the performance, the lighter we can be on the planet, on others, and on ourselves. We can truly play with the shadows cast by the light of the projector, fully engaging without getting bogged down."
"We are game-playing, fun-having creatures, we are the otters of the universe. We cannot die, we cannot hurt ourselves any more than illusions on the screen can be hurt. But we can believe we're hurt, in whatever agonizing detail we want. We can believe we're victims, killed and killing, shuddered around by good luck and bad luck."
"Many lifetimes?", I asked.
"How many movies have you seen?"
"Oh."
"Films about living on this planet, about living on other planets; anything that's got space and time is all movie and all illusion," he said. "But for a while we can learn a huge amount and have a lot of fun with our illusions, can we not?"
- Richard Bach,
Full screen recommended.
Moody Blues, "Land of Make-Believe"

“There Is No Reality Anymore…”

“There Is No Reality Anymore…”
by Thad Beversdorf

“I‘d love to change the world, but I don‘t know what to do,
so I’ll leave it up to you…”

“What a great lyric that is from the late 60′s, early 70′s English band “10 Years After.”* I believe this describes that uneasy feeling of discontent that sits deep in the stomach, beneath the day to day exteriors, of so many people today. The world is like a black hole in that it seems to be getting smaller and smaller as the years go by but also heavier and heavier with each passing day.

When I was a teenager and my friends and I were taking reality obscuring substances, one of my buddies (this means you Nichol) would stop us at certain points throughout the night for a reality check. This was just a few moments where we ‘d all gather our senses to make sure the world was still right and then we’d venture back into obscurity. I feel that reality is an old world term. There is no reality anymore. With advances in technology came unending possibilities of if you can dream it they can make it so. The ubiquitous flow of information ensures that the truth is always available but never known with certainty. It means there is no such thing as a reality check. It’s like that dream inside a dream inside a dream. Which reality is real anymore? How deep does the rabbit hole go?

We are raised with pretty standard ideals of what the world is meant to be but these ideals seem to take place only in the movies. It must be incredibly difficult for our young people to reconcile the two worlds, I know it is for me. That which they learn as a child and that which they find has replaced it as a young adult. Our leaders are despicable, arrogant and egotistical fools who pretend we elect them because we don’t see them for what they are. But we elect them because we feel we have no choice. We know what we want the world to be. We know what it should look and feel like. And we know it is not the world in which we live today. I know I’d love to change the world but I don’t know how and so I’ll leave it up to you. And so we continue to move forward down this path, each step uneasy as though something ungood is lurking just around the next corner.

We are able to put that feeling out of our minds for the most part but our subconscious is always aware that things are off. We have all kinds of self help books and new age theories that attempt to make sense of it all and explain why we just aren t happy the way we envision happy should be. Perhaps the only reality is the reality that the world isn’t what we had hoped it would be and we don’t know how to make that right. I’d love to say that if we just stand up and do the right thing, act from our hearts and have good intentions that it could change the world. But quite honestly there are ill-intentioned people that are constructing this new world in which we sub-exist.It is them and us, but they’d never say it that way. Certainly though their intention is not for us to co-exist along side them.

But so we carry on and we, move forward, to the best of our abilities. We accept the good with the bad and acknowledge that everything is a trade off. We believe that if we go to college we stand a better chance in life and so we borrow our first 10 years of post college wages to get an edge over the next guy who is doing the same. When we get out of school we know that it is time to buckle down and get serious. We put our lives on hold in order to focus on the future with the idea that one day we will be sitting on the porch with the person we love, the one we put on hold for all those years, and we will then enjoy our life’s work then.

But then we get further in debt because we need a sleeker car and we need a bigger house but it’s ok because we can just work a little more. And then the kids come and as far as we got to know them they are great, I think. But it’s ok because they just finished college and now they’ve moved back in as the job market is tough out there and so we’re paying off their student loans. Eventually they get away and begin their life’s journey and they take their debt with them. And then we realize, god I’m almost 60. But it feels great because that means soon I’ll be there on the porch getting to know the one I love again and life will be grand at that point.

But then we turn 65 and we realize all those policies that were implemented by all those well-intentioned decision makers have actually left us with very little. And we say it’s ok because we’d be bored anyway just sitting on the porch. And so we take a job waving at people in Walmart but feel like OMG how did I get here. But the shift ends and we go home anxious to spend time with the one we love because, although it’s a terrible thought, we are aware we’re both getting long in the tooth. And so we arrive home only to realize the one we love is now sick and that it’s too late for our days sitting on the porch getting to know each other again. We do everything we can but we cannot afford to help that person who stood quietly behind us all those years as healthcare costs are unrealistically out of touch with reality. And then it hits us that despite taking all the right steps to ensure we have a great life we failed to ever really be happy, to really love and to really accept love. And then it really hits us, this world provides but one shot.

Well, then that feeling of uneasy discontent that shadowed us when we were young is now an intense pain in our heart. And we look out at the world and we ask ourselves how could this have happened? I did everything they told me I was supposed to do, I did everything right! And it becomes clear that life was a chance to change the world, but we didn’t know what to do, and so we left it up to…”
Ten Years After, "I'd Love To Change the World"

"The Long Dark"

"The Long Dark"
by Chris Floyd

"We are in the Long Dark now. Both hope and despair are the enemies of our survival. We must live in the awareness that we might not see the light come back, without ceasing to work - with empathy, anger and knowledge - for its return.

We must be here, in the moment, experiencing its fullness (whatever its horrors or joys), yet be elsewhere, removed from the madness pouring in from every side, the avalanche of degradation. We must be here, now, but also in a future we can’t see or even imagine.

We must see that we are lost, with no clear way forward, no sureties or verities to cling to, no roots to anchor us, no structures within or without that will always keep their coalescence in the chaotic, surging flow.

We must live in discrete moments of illumination and connection, pearls hung on an almost invisible string winding through the darkness. Striving, always striving, but not expecting; striving without hope, without despair, without any certainty at all as to the outcome, good or bad.

These are the conditions of the Long Dark, this is what we have to work with, this is where we find ourselves in the brief time we have in this vast, indifferent, astounding universe. As I once wrote long ago, quoting the old hymn: “Work, for the night is coming.”

So do we counsel fatalism, a dark, defeated surrender, a retreat into bitter, curdled quietude? Not a whit. We advocate action, positive action, unstinting action, doing the only thing that human beings can do, ever: Try this, try that, try something else again; discard those approaches that don't work, that wreak havoc, that breed death and cruelty; fight against everything that would draw us down again into our own mud; expect no quarter, no lasting comfort, no true security; offer no last word, no eternal truth, but just keep stumbling, falling, careening, backsliding, crawling toward the broken light.

And what is this "broken light"? Nothing more than a metaphor for the patches of understanding – awareness, attention, knowledge, connection – that break through our darkness and stupidity for a moment now and then. A light always fractured, under threat, shifting, found then lost again, always lost. For we are creatures steeped in imperfection, in breakage and mutation, tossed up – very briefly – from the boiling, chaotic crucible of Being, itself a ragged work in progress toward unknown ends, or rather, toward no particular end at all. Why should there be an "answer" in such a reality?

What matters is what works – what pulls us from our own darkness as far as possible, for as long as possible. Yet the truth remains that "what works" is always and forever only provisional – what works now, here, might not work there, then. What saves our soul today might make us sick tomorrow.

Thus all we can do is to keep looking, working, trying to clear a little more space for the light, to let it shine on our passions and our confusions, our anger and our hopes, informing and refining them, so that we can see each other better, for a moment – until death shutters all seeing forever."

"People Will Be Insane As Rising Food Prices And Empty Shelves Get Even Worse In The Months Ahead"

Full screen recommended.
Epic Economist, 8/12/25
"People Will Be Insane As Rising Food Prices 
And Empty Shelves Get Even Worse In The Months Ahead"

"Today we're talking about something that's hitting all of us hard. Your grocery bill. If you've noticed your food costs going through the roof lately, you're not crazy. And here's the thing - it's about to get much worse. Let's talk real numbers here. Food prices jumped 0.3% just in June. That's 3% higher than last year. Doesn't sound like much? Think again. For families already struggling, that's real money we're talking about. But here's where it gets crazy. Meat and eggs? Up 5.6%. Eggs alone shot up 27.3% in one year. Twenty-seven percent! That carton of eggs that cost you $2.50 last year? Now it's over three bucks. A simple breakfast just became a luxury item.

Recent surveys show something shocking. Almost 90% of Americans are worried about grocery prices. More than half say it's their biggest financial stress. Not rent. Not healthcare. Food. That tells you everything you need to know about where we are right now. Food prices are rising faster than everything else. General inflation is at 2.7%. Food inflation? 3%. Your grocery bill is climbing faster than your paycheck. That's the reality. And it's hitting everyone from college students to retirees on fixed incomes."
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o
If they act like this over a TV what happens when there's no food?


The Daily "Near You?"

Arvada, Colorado, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

The Poet: Robinson Jeffers, "We Are Those People"

"We Are Those People"

"I have abhorred the wars and despised the liars,
laughed at the frightened
And forecast victory; never one moment's doubt.
But now not far, over the backs of some crawling years, the next
Great war's column of dust and fire writhes
Up the sides of the sky: it becomes clear that we too may suffer
What others have, the brutal horror of defeat -
Or if not in the next, then in the next - therefore watch Germany
And read the future. We wish, of course, that our women
Would die like biting rats in the cellars,
our men like wolves on the mountain:
It will not be so. Our men will curse, cringe, obey;
Our women uncover themselves to the grinning victors
for bits of chocolate."

- Robinson Jeffers, 1937

"This Is What It Sounds Like To Be Alive"

"This Is What It Sounds Like To Be Alive"
Neuroscientists put together this playlist 
for you to experience frisson on repeat.
by Sam Gilberg

"It’s 2006. I’m on the school bus listening to my iPod, when on comes Johnny Cash’s “Hurt.” The song begins softly, a wistful Cash singing of loss and regret over sparse acoustic plucking.

As a freshman in high school, I know nothing of the song’s mature themes of aging and death. But about halfway through the song, something happens. The guitar and piano increase in volume, and Cash’s voice starts to crescendo. I feel the hairs stand on the back of my neck. A warm shiver runs up my spine, and goosebumps appear on my arms. It feels like something important is happening. I don’t know what exactly. But something is coming.

At the moment I expect the song will decrescendo, as it had in the previous chorus, it doesn’t. Cash’s voice wails over a pounding piano and guitar that threatens to blow out my headphones. Suddenly, my body is seized by a rapturous electricity; my mind is invigorated by an indescribable fusion of ecstasy, awe, despair, and longing. And in an instant, I realize something deep in my bones: This is what it feels like to be alive.

The physiology of frisson: There is a word that describes this common human response to music - a word for “that moment” when a song pierces your body and soul. It’s called “frisson,” and it’s the reason why music from artists as seemingly disparate as Johnny Cash, Metallica, Céline Dion, and Mozart are all featured on a scientifically-backed playlist of songs that researchers claim are likely to give people “chills.” The 715-song playlist was curated by a team of neuroscientists and is available on Spotify.

Frisson” derives from French and is “a sudden feeling or sensation of excitement, emotion or thrill,” and the experience is not confined to music. Historically, frisson has been used interchangeably with the term “aesthetic chills.”
Playlist, by amandaemcee. 
715 songs over 24 hours:

According to a 2019 study, one can experience frisson when staring at a brilliant sunset or a beautiful painting; when realizing a deep insight or truth; when reading a particularly resonant line of poetry; or when watching the climax of a film. Researchers often describe frisson as a “piloerection” (or “skin orgasm”) noting that the experience retains similar “biological and psychological components to sexual orgasm.” Some refer to frisson as “pleasurable gooseflesh,” while others maintain that the definition should expand “to include other perceptible, non-dermal reactions such as tears, lump-in-throat sensations, and muscle tension/relaxation.”

While it is understood that appreciation of beauty is central to what makes us human, it is not clear to researchers what evolutionary advantage this sensitivity could have given our species. The current consensus is that it has something to do with our need to understand our environment: “Aesthetic chills correspond to a satisfaction of humans’ internal drive to acquire knowledge about the external world and perceive objects and situations as meaningful. In humans, this need to explore and understand environmental conditions is a biological prerequisite for survival.”

What causes frisson? In his 2006 book "Sweet Anticipation," musicologist David Huron offers a compelling explanation for why we experience such powerful responses to music. He calls it “contrastive valence theory,” in which feeling states are strongly influenced by contrast.

“If we initially feel bad, and then we feel good, the good feeling tends to be stronger than if the good experience occurred without the preceding bad feeling.” This is due to a regulatory process called “cognitive appraisal,” in which our minds use cognitive and linguistic processes to reframe the meaning of a stimulus. Huron uses the idea of a surprise party to illustrate this phenomenon: "When a person is unexpectedly surprised by her friends, the first response is one of terror: her eyelids retract and her jaw drops. But within half a second, fear is replaced by happy celebration as the individual recognizes her friends and the positive social meaning of the event.” According to Huron, when the appraisal response confirms that there is no threat, contrastive valence transforms the negative feelings into something positive.

Consider Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” (one of three Metallica songs featured on the curated playlist). It is understandable if your immediate emotional reaction to the song’s shocking intro is one of fear and foreboding. But thanks to “cognitive reappraisal,” that initial adrenaline rush can be transformed into something positive when you realize that you are safe, and that it is music making you feel this way. Also, notice how this experience is related to how our brains anticipate. This ties into Huron’s larger argument in "Sweet Anticipation", which is built upon ideas popularized by renowned music psychologist Leonard Meyer.

The emotional power of violated expectations: According to an article in Frontiers in Psychology, “Expectancy violations (e.g., harmonic, rhythmic, and/or melodic violations) are strongly correlated to the onset of musical frisson, such that some level of violated expectation may be a prerequisite.” Our minds, which evolved to predict future outcomes to ensure our survival, are always anticipating how something will play out. And when our initial predictions are wrong, depending on the situation, we can feel anything from anger to surprise to frisson.

Thinking back to my experience of listening to Johnny Cash, it was at the precise moment the song “violated my expectations” that I felt frisson. When I anticipated that the song would decrescendo, it crescendoed even more. And, as Huron’s book discusses, the most reliable indicator of musical frisson is an increase in loudness.

Other reliable indicators include the entry of one or more instruments or voices; an abrupt change of tempo or rhythm; a new or unexpected harmony; and abrupt modulation. Music psychologist John Sloboda found that the most common types of musical phrases to elicit frisson were “chord progressions descending the circle of fifths to the tonic.” This is a deeply affecting chord progression common in many of Mozart’s compositions.

Some researchers have also noted how the “human scream” can induce musical frisson. Huron writes: “The adult human scream displays a disproportionate amount of energy in the broad 0-6 kHz region, where human hearing is best. A human scream is the sound humans can hear at the greatest distance.” There are few things more powerful (or traumatic) than a human scream, and professor William O. Beeman, in his work "Making Grown Men Weep," notes how professional singers (particularly opera singers) exploit this auditory sensitivity.

Consider the soaring choruses in Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” or Adele’s “Hello” or John Lennon’s screams in The Beatles’ “Twist & Shout” (all featured on the playlist). Or listen to Merry Clayton’s legendary backing vocals on the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter.”

On YouTube, there is a clip from the 2013 film "20 Feet From Stardom" in which Clayton’s vocal track is isolated. If you scan the comments section, you will see many people citing Clayton’s vocal as the reason behind the song’s power - particularly the accidental crack in her voice as she screams “murder.” Her howls are activating a primal response in us.

It should be noted that there are many different disciplines outside of evolutionary biology that offer compelling explanations of frisson, ranging from the anthropological (Jeanette Bicknell’s Why Music Moves Us) to the ethnomusicological (Judith Becker’s Deep Listeners) to the psychosocial study of “emotional contagion” (Patrik Juslin’s “Toward a Unified Theory of Musical Emotions”).

And Huron’s contrastive valence theory can help us better understand what is going on behind the scenes when we experience this profound emotional state. By stimulating and exploiting our primitive threat-detection systems, music activates deeply embedded neural networks that have evolved over millions of years. It’s no wonder why we feel songs so deeply in our core: Music reminds us what it is like to be alive. What favorite song gives you the aesthetic chills?"
o
Renaissance, "Song of Scheherazade"
One of my favorites, singer Annie Haslam has a 5 octave voice range, and at the end 
she hits a high note you'll never hear again in your life. Begin at 20:20! Incredible!

Travelling with Russell, "I Went to the Largest Food Market in Russia"

Full screen recommended.
Travelling with Russell, 8/12/25
"I Went to the Largest Food Market in Russia"
"Food City is the largest wholesale food distribution centre in Moscow and the largest in the Russia Federsation. Built on 91 hectares, the complex will have a total area of 91 hectares. Its 5,000 wholesale and retail vendors sell 1,800,000 tons of products annually."
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"How It Really Is"

"Ah, You Miserable Creatures!"
"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great!
You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything!
Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
- Frederic Bastiat
How much more evidence do you need to 
realize we as a society have lost our collective minds?

Dan, I Allegedly, "Prepare Now! Widespread Blackouts Coming!"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, AM 8/12/25
"Prepare Now! Widespread Blackouts Coming!"
"Massive power outages are heading our way, and it's time to prepare now! In this video, I dig into the alarming issues surrounding energy grids across the U.S., like what's happening with Baltimore Gas and Electric. With overwhelmed substations, skyrocketing energy costs (up 1,000% in Maryland!), and rolling blackouts becoming the norm, millions are being asked to drastically reduce energy use. Imagine trying to keep your home cool in the high 90s without air conditioning or risking spoiled food in your fridge - this is the reality we’re facing."
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Adventures With Danno, "Grocery Items At Walmart Everyone Should Be Buying Right Now!"

Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, AM 8/12/25
"Grocery Items At Walmart
 Everyone Should Be Buying Right Now!"
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Bill Bonner, "The Promised Land"

The Red River Gorge in Eastern Kentucky
"The Promised Land"
by Bill Bonner
Poitou, France - "Last week it looked like the loose coalition known as MAGA might be becoming unstitched. Several “MAGA” influencers went off-script. Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, Rand Paul and, notably, Mike Pence, chafed and moaned... Conservatives - such as they are - are beginning to wonder...and push back...about Epstein, tariffs, ICE, deficits and AIPAC.

A new group, run by Mike Pence, comments on tariffs. The Hill: “The truth is that Americans, not foreign countries, pay tariffs. American families know the truth: tariffs hurt hardworking American families while funding the very swamp that President Trump ran on draining. ‘Drain the Swamp’ means stopping the tariff funding for K Street, not growing it,” states the memo from Advancing American Freedom Foundation, which was obtained exclusively by The Hill.

The memo cites a 599 percent increase in tariff lobbyist revenue this year compared to 2024, with the total value of tariff lobbying contracts totaling roughly $8.8 million, according to House Clerk Lobbying Disclosure."

One of the consequences of the shift from a government of laws...to a government of (big) men...is that the men are more open to grift. And more subject to influence. So, the swamp grows deeper. And Raw Story reports on the break-up: "'Trump has betrayed us': Candace Owens attacks Trump as 'deep state' president."

Another example: Donald Trump pledged to end the war in the Ukraine on ‘day one.’ He made the promise at least 53 times during the 2024 campaign. But the ‘defense’ industry is in the deepest part of the Deep State. And it doesn’t want the war to end. So, day one went by...along with more than 200 more days...and still no peace. Which divides MAGA-land into two groups. On the one side are those who will follow Mr. Trump no matter what. On the other are those who wonder where he is going.

Perhaps even more terrifying - to politicians - than the firepower industry is another huge puddle in the Deep State swamp - AIPAC. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee and its backers are the biggest single source of campaign money in the country. Sheldon Adelson, for example, declared that his main interest was Israel’s future. Newsweek: "Sheldon Adelson Gave Trump and Republicans Over $424 Million Since 2016. Sheldon’s widow, Miriam, says she got ‘stuck’ in the US by her husband, but her ‘heart’ is still in Israel. The Times of Israel: "Miriam Adelson gives $100 million to Trump campaign..."

POTUS seems to be making good on whatever promises he made in exchange. He keeps sending US weapons and money to Israel. But his ‘base’ is becoming uncomfortable. There are few indisputable truths in public life. But Marjorie Taylor Greene must have come close to one of them. "We're $37 trillion in debt and Americans on both sides of the aisle are frankly sick and tired of their hard-earned tax dollars going to murder people in foreign countries..."

Ms. Greene went on the attack. Just The News: "MTG says AIPAC should register as a foreign lobbyist after pushback for Gaza genocide comments. Greene said that AIPAC started sending out fundraising attack emails about her after she said that the genocide, starvation and humanitarian crisis in Gaza was horrific, like the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023."

And now along with Paul Singer and John Paulson, two of the world’s richest hedge fund managers, Miriam Adelson and AIPAC are preparing to ‘primary’ both our favorite congressman, Thomas Massie...and MTG too. The two have become stones in the Big Man’s shoe...and will be targeted for removal.

This will be an important test. Voters don’t like ‘outside interference.’ And conservative organizations have given Greene and Massie some of the best ratings in Congress; Greene got a 98% rating from CPAC while Massie was at 93%. So how much traction will the super-rich, big city sons of Abraham get? The hills and backwoods of Eastern Kentucky and Western Georgia aren’t exactly the Promised Land."
o
Neal Sedaka, "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do"

"9/11 Solved! Controlled Demolitions Brought Down These Buildings"

Full screen recommended.
Redacted, 8/11/25
"9/11 Solved! Controlled Demolitions 
Brought Down These Buildings"
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