Jim Kunstler, "By The Batch"

"By The Batch"

by Jim Kunstler

“The problem with the future is that it is

 both unpredictable and inescapable.” 

- Tarik Cyril Amar

"Please everybody, extricate yourselves from the mud-wallow of cynicism. Naysayers arise and open your eyes! Sleepwalkers and black-pillers, smell the coffee and wake up! Sob-sisters dry your tears! We are marching into a promised land of accountability after all.

Our country, you well know, has been sore beset under a long-running seditious coup orchestrated by an ever more insane Bolshevik-Jacobin syndicate of political reprobates seeking to erase every boundary between the real and the unreal since 2016, a year that now lives in infamy. All their malice and roguery has been focused on the odd figure who somehow rose to lead the opposition to their burgeoning color revolution, Mr. Trump, who, through some alchemy of fortitude, managed to evade their many-footed depredations — to get re-elected.

Of course, you’ve also noticed that psychological projection is the heart of the seditionists’ game. Whatever ploy or subterfuge they accuse you of, is exactly what they are doing. Their mainstay is the phrase conspiracy theory. Whenever one of their many turpitudes is carried out — such as a rigged election — your notice of it is labeled a conspiracy theory. In fact, their long train of activities to turn the country upside-down and inside-out has been one drawn-out seditious conspiracy. And that is liable to be precisely one of the charges lodged against — but surely not the only charge.

You have seen news (anywhere but in The New York Times) that grand juries are being convened here and there to scrutinize a whole lot of bad behavior by a whole lot of officials who recklessly wielded their power, who betrayed the nation, who broke institutions, destroyed lives, careers, and households, and, as an added insult, attempted to make you swallow one patent absurdity after another — a Potemkin president, drag queens in the schools, a massive invasion of alien mutts across an open border, Saint George Floyd and “mostly peaceful protests,” math is racist, boys in girls’ sports and locker rooms — all in their campaign to destroy American cultural coherence while they seized totalistic political control and sniped their adversaries off the game board. (Just look how they destroyed Rudolf Giuliani, a heroic figure who saved New York City in the 1990s.)

Grand juries are a sign that something serious is up. Evidence is being gathered by a new FBI, no longer dedicated to just covering-up its past crimes. A sign of how serious this effort is: the hiring last week of Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey as Co-Deputy FBI Director. Mr. Bailey, you may recall, presided over the Missouri v Biden lawsuit (2022) about the “Joe Biden” White House’s efforts to coerce social media into censorship. The SCOTUS killed the case on spurious grounds for “lack of standing to sue.” But the government censorship crusade was a hallmark affront to the Constitution in the years’ long seditious conspiracy against the American people. It could even return as a criminal— not a civil — case this time, since censorship was so central to the overall coup.

The convening of several grand juries tells you that cases are being made now and that they will be tried in batches or tranches according to the various episodes of the coup. I’ll venture to describe what some of these batches might comprise.

The origin and execution of RussiaGate, involving former President Obama, then-Veep Joe Biden, CIA Director Brennan, FBI chief Comey, DNI Clapper, Susan Rice, Mary McCord, Sally Yates, Adam Schiff (then-Chair of the House Intel Committee), and Senator Mark Warner (then-Chair of the Senate Intel Committee), plus Andrew McCabe, Rod Rosenstein, Peter Strzrok, Bruce Ohr, John Carlin, Joe Pientka, Steven Somma, and a number of other DOJ/FBI foot-soldiers, and CIA London Station chief Gina Haspel.

Another batch might be the judges in the FISA Courts, who made themselves tools of a corrupt FBI, starting with then-Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer, and including James Boasberg, who notoriously let FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith skate after his forging a crucial document that would have revealed Carter Page to be a CIA asset. Federal judges are not granted immunity from criminal prosecution under the Constitution.

Another batch might be the gang who put together spurious Trump Impeachment No. 1 over the Ukraine Phone Call matter: Adam Schiff, CIA/NSC mole Eric Ciaramella (the “whistleblower”), Intel IG Michael Atkinson, Col. Alexander Vindman of the NSC; plus lawfare ninjas Mary McCord and Norm Eisen who helped plan the scheme, the two Ukraine Ambassadors officers they schemed with, Marie Yavonovitch and Jeffrey Pyatt; plus “Russia expert” Fiona Hill of the NSC. In the Senate trial phase of the impeachment, consider that then-Attorney General William Barr withheld exculpatory evidence from Mr. Trump’s defense attorneys contained in the Hunter Biden laptop, the existence of which he was concealing, wand which was stuffed with emails and memoranda detailing the Biden Family’s grifting operation in Ukraine.

Another batch would have to include the FBI/CIA/DOJ /Congressional characters who helped stage various aspects of the Jan. 6, 2021 US Capitol riot (the so-called “insurrection”) including (again) Christopher Wray, General Mark Milley, Speaker Nancy Pelosi; plus Steven M. D’Antuono, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, who arranged and then covered-up the pipe-bomb caper at the DNC headquarters that day.

Another batch might be the lawyers in the DOJ/FBI who cooked-up the Mar-a-Lago raid without an authentic legal predicate: Deputy AG Lisa Monaco and FBI Director Christopher Wray appear to have been responsible for that ploy — and especially the degrading manner of its execution with a SWAT team, staged evidence photo ops, and the rifling of Melania Trump’s lingerie drawers.

Then there’s a big batch of the fifty-one former intel officers (including several CIA ex-chiefs), who signed the infamous letter labeling Hunter Biden’s laptop “Russian disinformation,” a potential incident of criminal election interference.

Let’s not leave out the absurd campaign of serial fake prosecutions for civil and criminal charges launched in Atlanta, Washington, and New York City, coordinated (again) by lawfare artists Norm Eisen, Mary McCord, plus Ben Wittes, Marc Elias and others, through the good offices of Attorney General Merrick Garland and whomever in the White House was coaching the likes of Fani Willis, Nathan Wade, Letitia James, and Alvin Bragg.

You see how this goes? This ongoing coup against the people of this land is spectacularly wide-ranging and multilayered, with a cast of hundreds. The cases entailed are complex, and it is axiomatic that conspiracy cases are especially difficult to win. Of course, there are many other charges that range, say, from possibly treason to conspiracy against rights under color of law, defrauding the government, lying to the FBI and to Congress, election interference, malicious prosecution...

The cases are huge and complex. Are Pam Bondi and Kash Patel up to it? I guess we’ll find out. I’m inclined to believe that quite a few of these rogues are going to court and some of them will land in prison. So, quit taking those black pills and cheer up."

- https://www.kunstler.com/

Adventures With Danno, "Skyrocketing Prices On Coffee"

Adventures With Danno, PM 8/21/25

"Skyrocketing Prices On Coffee"

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- https://www.youtube.com/

Jeremiah Babe, "Wall Street Is Robbing You Of The American Dream"

Jeremiah Babe, 8/21/25

"Wall Street Is Robbing You Of The American Dream"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Gerald Celente, "AI Takeover, No Human Control"

Strong language alert!

Gerald Celente, 8/21/25

"AI Takeover, No Human Control"

"The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present Facts and Truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for What’s Next in these increasingly turbulent times."

- https://trendsjournal.com/

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"Trump Threatens Strike On Moscow! Ukraine's New Missiles Are 'Ready To Fire'! WTF?!

Prepper News, 8/21/25

"Trump Threatens Strike On Moscow!

 Ukraine's New Missiles Are 'Ready To Fire'! WTF?!

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical Interlude: Kevin Kern, "Another Realm"

Full screen recommended.

Kevin Kern, "Another Realm"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"This fantastic skyscape lies near the edge of NGC 2174 a star forming region about 6,400 light-years away in the nebula-rich constellation of Orion. It follows mountainous clouds of gas and dust carved by winds and radiation from the region's newborn stars, now found scattered in open star clusters embedded around the center of NGC 2174, off the top of the frame.

Though star formation continues within these dusty cosmic clouds they will likely be dispersed by the energetic newborn stars within a few million years. Recorded at infrared wavelengths by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2014, the interstellar scene spans about 6 light-years. Scheduled for launch in 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope is optimized for exploring the Universe at infrared wavelengths."

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

"Our Great Adversary..."

“Whether the mask is labeled fascism, democracy, or dictatorship of the proletariat, our great adversary remains the apparatus - the bureaucracy, the police, the military. Not the one facing us across the frontier of the battle lines, which is not so much our enemy as our brothers’ enemy, but the one that calls itself our protector and makes us its slaves. No matter what the circumstances, the worst betrayal will always be to subordinate ourselves to this apparatus and to trample underfoot, in its service, all human values in ourselves and in others.”

- Simone Weil, French philosopher and political activist.

Gregory Mannarino, "State Of Emergency! The U.S. Is Now A Failed State"

Gregory Mannarino, 8/21/25

"State Of Emergency! 

The U.S. Is Now A Failed State"

- https://traderschoice.net/

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"Turns Desert Into Water: How Burkina Faso Created an Ocean Out of Nothing"

Full screen recommended.

Breaking Faso, 8/18/25

"Turns Desert Into Water: 

How Burkina Faso Created an Ocean Out of Nothing"

"At Breaking Faso, we expose the untold stories behind Burkina Faso’s political and social upheaval.From Ibrahim Traoré’s rise to anti-imperialist resistance, military transitions, and the raw voices of the people - this is the unfiltered truth of a nation breaking free from silence."

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- https://www.youtube.com/

The Poet: Czeslaw Milosz, “A Song On The End Of The World”

“A Song On The End Of The World”

“On the day the world ends

A bee circles a clover,

A fisherman mends a glimmering net.

Happy porpoises jump in the sea,

By the rainspout young sparrows are playing

And the snake is gold-skinned as it should always be.

On the day the world ends

Women walk through the fields under their umbrellas,

A drunkard grows sleepy at the edge of a lawn,

Vegetable peddlers shout in the street

And a yellow-sailed boat comes nearer the island,

The voice of a violin lasts in the air

And leads into a starry night.

And those who expected lightning and thunder

Are disappointed.

And those who expected signs and archangels’ trumps

Do not believe it is happening now.

As long as the sun and the moon are above,

As long as the bumblebee visits a rose,

As long as rosy infants are born

No one believes it is happening now.

Only a white-haired old man, who would be a prophet

Yet is not a prophet, for he’s much too busy,

Repeats while he binds his tomatoes:

There will be no other end of the world,

There will be no other end of the world.”

~ Czeslaw Milosz

The Daily "Near You?"

Davis, California, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Grief..."

“The dictionary defines grief as: “Keen mental suffering or distress over affliction of loss; sharp sorrow, painful regret.” We’re taught to learn from and rely on books, on definitions, on definitives but in life, strict definitions rarely apply. In life, grief can look like a lot of things that bear little resemblance to sharp sorrow.

Grief may be a thing we all have in common but it looks different on everyone. It isn’t just death we have to grieve. It’s life, it’s loss, it’s change. And when we wonder why it has to suck so much sometimes, it has to hurt so bad. The thing we gotta try to remember is that it can turn on a dime. That’s how you stay alive when it hurts so much you can’t breathe. That’s how you survive. By remembering that one day, somehow, impossibly, it won’t feel this way. It wont hurt this much. Grief comes in it’s own time for everyone in it’s own way. So the best we can do, the best anyone can do, is try for honesty. The really crappy thing, the very worst part of grief is that you can’t control it. The best we can do is try to let ourselves feel it when it comes and let it go when we can. The very worst part is that the minute you think you’re past it, it starts all over again and always, every time, it takes your breath away.

According to Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, when we are dying or have suffered a catastrophic loss, we all move through five distinctive stages of grief. We go into denial because the loss is so unthinkable, we can’t imagine it’s true. We become angry with everyone. We become angry with survivors, angry with ourselves. Then we bargain, we beg, we plead. We offer everything we have. We offer up our souls in exchange for just one more day. When the bargaining has failed and the anger is too hard to maintain, we fall into depression, despair. Until finally we have to accept that we have done everything we can. We let go. We let go and move into acceptance.”

- “Grey’s Anatomy”

"Wars And Rumors Of War"

“When people speak to you about a preventive war, 

you tell them to go and fight it.”

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

○

"Humanity is the spirit of the Supreme Being on earth, and that humanity is standing amidst ruins, hiding its nakedness behind tattered rags, shedding tears upon hollow cheeks, and calling for its children with pitiful voice. But the children are busy singing their clan's anthem; they are busy sharpening the swords and cannot hear the cry of their mothers."

- Kahlil Gibran

U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman HM1 Richard Barnett, assigned to the 1st Marine Division, holds an Iraqi child in central Iraq in this March 29, 2003 file photo. Confused front line crossfire ripped apart an Iraqi family after local soldiers appeared to force civilians towards positions held by U.S. Marines.

“My heart broke on its shame and sorrow. I suddenly knew how much crying there was in me, and how little love. I knew, at last, how lonely I was. But I couldn’t respond. My culture had taught me all the wrong things well. So I lay completely still, and gave no reaction at all. But the soul has no culture. The soul has no nations. The soul has no color or accent or way of life. The soul is forever. The soul is one. And when the heart has its moment of truth and sorrow, the soul can’t be stilled. I clenched my teeth against the stars. I closed my eyes. I surrendered to sleep. One of the reasons why we crave love, and seek it so desperately, is that love is the only cure for loneliness, and shame, and sorrow. But some feelings sink so deep into the heart that only loneliness can help you find them again. Some truths about yourself are so painful that only shame can help you live with them. And some things are just so sad that only your soul can do the crying for you.”

- Gregory David Roberts, "Shantaram"

"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

Travelling With Russell, "Inside Russia's Largest (Sanctioned) Car Dealership"

Full screen recommended.

Travelling With Russell, AM 8/21/25

"Inside Russia's Largest (Sanctioned) Car Dealership"

"What does the largest (Chinese) Car Dealership look like in Russia? 

Join me on a tour of Moscow-Tianya. The largest car dealership in the 

Russian Federation. With more than 6,000 cars and 50 different car brands for sale."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"How It Really Is"

 

"78 Percent Of HR Leaders In The U.S. Say That Their Companies Are Conducting “Serial Layoffs”

"78 Percent Of HR Leaders In The U.S. Say That Their Companies

Are Conducting “Serial Layoffs”, And We Are Being Warned 

That A Major Cost Of Living Shock Is Coming"

by Michael Snyder

"Other than the early months of the pandemic, we haven’t seen anything like this for a long time. Mass layoffs are happening all over the nation, major retailers and large restaurant chains are deeply struggling, and the cost of living is out of control. I am going to share more numbers with you today that confirm that a very painful economic downturn is now upon us. For example, a survey that was recently conducted by outplacement firm Careerminds discovered that 78 percent of HR leaders in the U.S. admit that their companies have been through multiple rounds of layoffs. In fact, 40 percent of HR leaders in the U.S. say that layoffs are now occurring quarterly at their companies…

Financial difficulties pushed 78% of U.S.-based HR leaders to conduct multiple rounds of layoffs within the past year, according to the results of a July survey by outplacement firm Careerminds, with many stating they oversaw “serial layoffs” that occurred in rapid succession. The survey of 600 respondents found that 75% of reported layoffs occurred within less than six months of one another, and 40% of HR leaders said layoffs happened quarterly at their organizations. Financial instability constituted the biggest driver of job cuts, followed by changing business priorities, market disruption and post-pandemic overstaffing.

If 40 percent of your large employers are conducting layoffs every quarter, you have a major economic crisis in your county. There is no possible way to spin that number to make it look good. We have been witnessing such a dramatic economic shift in recent months.

According to the latest numbers that were released by Target, store traffic has been declining nearly every single week since late January…"Target’s annual sales have been roughly stagnant for the past four years, and its inconsistent performance has tested the loyalty of shoppers and shaken the confidence of Wall Street. Store traffic at the big-box retailer has fallen almost every week since late January, according to Placer.ai, an analytics firm that uses anonymized data from mobile devices to estimate overall visits to locations. And shares of the company have tumbled about 60% from their all-time high in late 2021."

The reason why Americans are doing less shopping is because they have less discretionary income to spend. And prices just keep going up and up. At Walmart, many products have had their prices hiked by more than 20 percent this year…"At Walmart, a “Jurassic World” T. Rex figure had spiked by nearly 38% to $55 on May 21 from just a month ago. A heating pad costs 25% more to $24.96 this year, according to employees who posted photos of the price hikes on social media. A fishing reel at Walmart jumped to $83.26 from $57.37.

Joe - a regular Walmart shopper who also asked that his last name not be used - told The Post last week he was eyeing new air conditioners at the store in Cortlandt Manor, NY. Last year, he said, a small unit that cools off a 300-square-foot room cost $115 - up from $100 a year earlier."

Most U.S. consumers cannot afford these prices. Unfortunately, now we are being warned that prices on many things will soon go quite a bit higher. On Monday, a 50 percent tariff on steel and aluminum will start being applied to 407 categories of goods…"Butter knives, baby strollers, spray deodorants and fire extinguishers, considered “derivative” steel and aluminum products, were previously excluded from the 50% tariff, though they were still subject to the higher country-specific tariffs Trump enacted over the last several months.

However, on Friday, US Customs and Border Protection and a division of the US Commerce Department published notices informing US importers that 407 categories of goods containing steel and aluminum would immediately be subject to the 50% tariffs at 12:01 a.m. ET on Monday. The non-steel and non-aluminum components of the products face other applicable levies." Thousands upon thousands of products that contain steel and aluminum that Americans purchase on a regular basis are about to get a lot more expensive. Are you ready for that? 

Meanwhile, beef prices continue to soar into uncharted territory…"Walter Avalos, a D.C.-based seller for a large U.S. deli producer, typically got instructions once a year to hike red meat prices. Now, it’s every week. “We had to put at the bottom of our inventories that prices can change at any moment,” said Avalos, 34. “It never used to be like that.” Red meat prices are skyrocketing in the United States, the world’s largest consumer and producer of beef. Beef and veal prices surged 11.3 percent in July over the year, according to the most recent consumer price index report.

When I read that line about prices rising “every week”, that reminded me of what the history books say about the Weimar Republic. Sadly, there will continue to be pressure on beef prices for the foreseeable future because the size of the U.S. cattle herd has fallen to the lowest level since 1951…One of the drivers of spiking beef costs is a drought that has ravaged U.S. cattle in key meat-producing states since 2022, causing cattle volumes to collapse this year to their lowest recorded levels since 1951. In 1951, 154.8 million people lived in the United States. Today, 340 million people live in the United States. So we have the same amount of cattle that we did in 1951, but we are trying to feed more than twice as many people. Just think about that for a while.

Switching to vegetables won’t bring relief either, because the price of vegetables in the U.S. went up by 38 percent from June to July…The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 38% surge in the wholesale price of vegetables in July. This is the biggest price spike for any product category month-to-month. “It’s insane. That’s why I’m growing a lot more myself this year,” said Dana Roads, who is visiting from Utah.

If you haven’t seen this figure before, I know that it may be difficult to believe that vegetable prices went up by 38 percent in one month. But it is true. This figure comes directly from the government, and if you want to learn more please see my previous article entitled “Are You Drowning Too?: Vegetables Are Up 38.9%, Coffee is Up 25%, And Electricity Prices Are Rising Twice As Fast As Inflation”.

And the really bad news is that vegetable prices are expected to continue to go up because there aren’t enough agricultural workers in the fields…A shortage of workers could lead to lost crops down the line. “A lot of the product is being lost because there’s nobody to work. So it’s the product that has been picked has been raised maybe 35 to 40%,” said Jaime Desales.

Unless you are independently wealthy, you are feeling the pain of higher prices. When I was younger, I thought that anyone making $100,000 a year had it made. But today a $100,000 income won’t even cover the average cost of living in 13 U.S. states…In 13 states, a $100,000 salary isn’t even enough to cover average annual cost of living. On the other end of the spectrum, there are 15 states where making that amount would cover 120% or more of those expenditures.

In life, consequences are not always immediate. When our leaders started borrowing and spending trillions upon trillions of dollars that we did not have during the pandemic, a lot of people were convinced that it must be okay because we did not immediately experience severe consequences. But now we are starting to experience severe consequences, and things will get a whole lot more painful if we stay on the path that we are currently on. I am definitely one that likes to hope for the best, but I would strongly urge you to prepare for the worst because it appears that is exactly where things are heading in the months ahead."

- https://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/

Bill Bonner, "Trade Under the Big Top"

"Trade Under the Big Top"

by Bill Bonner

Poitou, France - "We struggle to understand how the ‘Great Reset’...or ‘Mar-a-Lago Accord’...is not essentially a scam: We want a toaster oven. We go to Walmart and buy one, Made in China. We pay with dollars - which are IOUs from the US government. The Chinese central bank ends up with the money. Relatively few Chinese people buy toaster ovens that were Made in America, however. So, the Chinese central bank ends up with a lot more IOUs from the US than the US central bank, the Fed, has in Chinese yuan.

And since the US can print as many IOUs as it wants...and since the foreigners use them as a financial reserve - almost ‘as good as gold’ - the imbalances get larger and larger, growing recently by $1 trillion per year. In this manner, foreigners ‘rip us off’ by producing better, cheaper goods...and they ‘take our jobs’ by working for lower wages than we do. This results in big piles of IOUs (from trade surpluses) overseas...and big empty, rusting factories in the US. Mothers want their sons to grow up to work in finance, not manufacturing. Because, that’s where the money is!

Fund managers and speculators become the richest people in the US...financing universities and politicians...and owning the fine homes that used to be a source of pride for America’s industrialists. It was a mutually satisfying relationship for many years. Americans got something-for-nothing...paying with paper IOUs - which cost almost nothing to produce - for real goods and services. And then, what could the foreigners do with the dollars? They bought what they wanted from the US. The rest, recycled into US Treasury bonds, financed the US government.

The Germans sold their autos. The French sold their perfumes. And the Chinese were able to sell so much stuff they made the fastest economic progress of any country in history. In a single generation they went from one of the poorest countries on earth to one of its richest...with nearly a billion people lifted from mud-smeared poverty and put onto the comfortable seats of a BYD electric car. They made progress politically too - going from an oppressed people who were allowed only one child...to a free people who wanted only one child.

But the IOUs were not only ubiquitous, they were unreliable. The US government’s official policy was to depreciate its IOUs at the rate of 2% per year. Inflation now is running closer to 3%. Which leaves the real return on a 10-year T-bond at barely more than 1%. Since the turn of the century, officially, US dollars have lost nearly half their value.

Foreign dollar holders are getting edgy...and less eager to buy US Treasury debt. And while the amount of debt can go up without limit, the cost of debt service must come out of the real economy. The interest on the US national debt, for example, went over $1 trillion per year - more than the ‘defense’ budget. US deficits reached Argentine levels...equal to 7% of GDP.

This could not go on for much longer. The cost of debt service was quickly becoming more than the nation could stand. And any attempt to lower interest rates - to make the debt payments lighter - risked setting off inflation. What could be done?

Enter Stephen Miran and Scott Bessent. The honest way to deal with the problem is also the obvious way - cut back on spending, buckle down...pay down debts that can be paid, default on others. Most important, renounce the ‘paper’ dollar that distorted the whole world economy. Turn back to gold...or something that would anchor the currency to real world output. But Miran and Bessent have a trick up their sleeves: Make the foreigners pay.

They realized that foreign countries have become so used to taking America’s IOUs in payment for goods and services, they would suffer a large shock if the dollars stopped coming. So, they go to the foreigners and say: “Look, if you want to keep doing business with us you need to take those IOUs and re-invest them back in our economy. Oh...and we’ll take 90% of the profits”. That is, we believe, the state of play. Negotiations are underway...to create a US Sovereign Wealth Fund using the foreigners’ money as the initial capital.

And now we will take some guesses about the future. China will say ‘no’...or whatever it is that the Chinese say when they mean F-off. “If you want our strategic metals, you’ll stop trying to boss us around,” they’ll add. The US will back down.

Other nations, however, do not produce strategic metals. They will have little to bargain with. Most will say ‘yes,’ or whatever they say when they mean ‘we have no choice; we’ll go along.’ Team Trump will declare a big win. But saying is one thing. Doing is another. And a trade deal, procured under duress, is not likely to be more valuable than intel gotten by torture. How much, what, when...how - the details will be subject to endless negotiation and almost infinite corruption. In the end, very little additional money will be invested. Guided politically, rather than commercially, almost none of it will be profitable. And the foreigners will look for other trading partners."

- https://www.bonnerprivateresearch.com/

Dan, I Allegedly, "Interest Rate Cuts Will Fix Nothing – Here's Why"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly, AM 8/21/25

"Interest Rate Cuts Will Fix Nothing – Here's Why"

"Interest rate cuts won’t fix the economy, and in today’s video, I break down exactly why. From rising costs in real estate and retail to the challenges businesses face with layoffs and inflation, these cuts won’t bring the changes everyone is hoping for. I share real stories, including my cousin’s home-buying journey, why refinancing isn’t always the answer, and how banks are stricter than ever. Plus, we explore wild developments like AI bots applying for jobs, hacks exposing major corporations, and shocking rent hikes that are leaving people reeling."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Adventures With Danno, "I Was In Complete Shock At Kroger!"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures With Danno, AM 8/21/25

"I Was In Complete Shock At Kroger!"

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"WW3 Rages On: 'It's All Theater', Another Front Will Open Soon"

Preppper News, 8/20/25

"WW3 Rages On: 'It's All Theater', 

Another Front Will Open Soon"

Brian Berletic of the New Atlas demystifies the peace negotiations.

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Inside California's Massive Real Estate Meltdown"

Full screen recommended.

Michael Bordenaro, 8/20/25

"Inside California's Massive Real Estate Meltdown"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Dan, I Allegedly, "Retail and Restaurants - Is It Time to Panic?"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly, PM 8/20/25

"Retail and Restaurants - Is It Time to Panic?"

"Is Target doomed? Retail's big mistake might just have been revealed in today's video! From Target's leadership struggles and plummeting stock to the challenges facing retailers like Costco and fast food giants like McDonald's, we're diving into what this means for consumers and the future of shopping. Are we witnessing the death of retail as we know it? Target's new CEO announcement has sparked outrage among analysts and investors, while theft and failed partnerships like the Ulta deal continue to plague the company. Meanwhile, Costco's pricing strategy is raising eyebrows, and fast food chains are scrambling to regain customer loyalty with lower-priced value menus. What does this all mean for the middle class, holiday shopping, and the state of retail in 2023? Let me know your thoughts - who do you think won't make it to Black Friday this year?"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Gregory Mannarino, "Detonation Zone, And It's Going To Be Catastrophic!"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 8/20/25

"Detonation Zone, And It's Going To Be Catastrophic!"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical Interlude: Era, “Infinity Ocean”

Full screen recommended.

Era, “Infinity Ocean”

"A Look to the Heavens"

“In one of the brightest parts of Milky Way lies a nebula where some of the oddest things occur. NGC 3372, known as the Great Nebula in Carina, is home to massive stars and changing nebulas. The Keyhole Nebula (NGC 3324), the bright structure just above the image center, houses several of these massive stars and has itself changed its appearance.

The entire Carina Nebula spans over 300 light years and lies about 7,500 light-years away in the constellation of Carina. Eta Carinae, the most energetic star in the nebula, was one of the brightest stars in the sky in the 1830s, but then faded dramatically. Eta Carinae is the brightest star near the image center, just left of the Keyhole Nebula. While Eta Carinae itself may be on the verge of a supernova explosion, X-ray images indicate that much of the Great Carina Nebula has been a veritable supernova factory.”

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

Chet Raymo, "On Saying 'I Don't Know'"

"On Saying 'I Don't Know'"

by Chet Raymo

“Johannes Kepler is best known for figuring out the laws of planetary motion. In 1610, he published a little book called “The Six-Cornered Snowflake” that asked an even more fundamental question: How do visible forms arise? He wrote: "There must be some definite reason why, whenever snow begins to fall, its initial formation is invariably in the shape of a six-pointed starlet. For if it happens by chance, why do they not fall just as well with five corners or with seven?"

All around him Kepler saw beautiful shapes in nature: six-pointed snowflakes, the elliptical orbits of the planets, the hexagonal honeycombs of bees, the twelve-sided shape of pomegranate seeds. Why? he asks. Why does the stuff of the universe arrange itself into five-petaled flowers, spiral galaxies, double-helix DNA, rhomboid crystals, the rainbow's arc? Why the five-fingered, five-toed, bilaterally symmetric beauty of the newborn child? Why?

Kepler struggles with the problem, and along the way he stumbles onto sphere-packing. Why do pomegranate seeds have twelve flat sides? Because in the growing pomegranate fruit the seeds are squeezed into the smallest possible space. Start with spherical seeds, pack them as efficiently as possible with each sphere touching twelve neighbors. Then squeeze. Voila! And so he goes, convincing us, for example, that the bee's honeycomb has six sides because that's the way to make honey cells with the least amount of wax. His book is a tour-de-force of playful mathematics.

In the end, Kepler admits defeat in understanding the snowflake's six points, but he thinks he knows what's behind all of the beautiful forms of nature: A universal spirit pervading and shaping everything that exists. He calls it nature's "formative capacity." We would be inclined to say that Kepler was just giving a fancy name to something he couldn't explain. To the modern mind, "formative capacity" sounds like empty words.

We can do somewhat better. For example, we explain the shape of snowflakes by the shape of water molecules, and we explain the shape of water molecules with the mathematical laws of quantum physics. Since Kepler's time, we have made impressive progress towards understanding the visible forms of snowflakes, crystals, rainbows, and newborn babes by probing ever deeper into the heart of matter. But we are probably no closer than Kepler to answering the ultimate questions: What is the reason for the curious connection between nature and mathematics? Why are the mathematical laws of nature one thing rather than another? Why does the universe exist at all? Like Kepler, we can give it a name, but the most forthright answer is simply: I don't know.”

- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/

"The Blind Indifference..."

 

"The World Rests In The Night..."

“The world rests in the night. Trees, mountains, fields, and faces are released from the prison of shape and the burden of exposure. Each thing creeps back into its own nature within the shelter of the dark. Darkness is the ancient womb. Nighttime is womb-time. Our souls come out to play. The darkness absolves everything; the struggle for identity and impression falls away. We rest in the night.”

- John O'Donohue,

"Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom"

○

“On the day when

the weight deadens

on your shoulders

and you stumble,

may the clay dance

to balance you.

And when your eyes

freeze behind

the grey window

and the ghost of loss

gets in to you,

may a flock of colors,

indigo, red, green,

and azure blue

come to awaken in you

a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays

in the currach of thought

and a stain of ocean

blackens beneath you,

may there come across the waters

a path of yellow moonlight

to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,

may the clarity of light be yours,

may the fluency of the ocean be yours,

may the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow

wind work these words

of love around you,

an invisible cloak

to mind your life.”

○

John O'Donohue was an Irish author, poet, philosopher and former Catholic priest. He was born in County Clare on January 1, 1956. He died suddenly on January 4, 2008. He is best known for popularizing Celtic spirituality and is the author of a number of best-selling books on the subject.

Freely download "Anam Cara", by John O'Donohue, here:

- https://oceanofpdf.com/authors/john-odonohue/

"A Walk Through Moscow"

Full screen recommended.

Window To Moscow, 8/20/25

"A Walk Through Moscow"

"Join me on a breathtaking walk through Moscow – the city famous 

for its beauty, history, and culture. Walk in hot summer in Moscow, Russia."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Comments?

"The One Spinoza Rule For Life I Try to Live By"

"The One Spinoza Rule For Life I Try to Live By"

by Thomas Oppong

"I’ll save you the suspense: You’re trying too hard. Many self-help books and productivity gurus argue a good life is a math problem: input effort, output glory. But that equation doesn’t work for everyone. The blasphemy no one tells you is that the grind is not noble. It drains your soul. The more you hustle your way through existence, the less you live.

17th-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza notes, “The more you struggle to live, the less you live. Give up the notion that you must be sure of what you are doing. Instead, surrender to what is real within you, for that alone is sure….you are above everything distressing.” People have been gaslit into believing they need a 5-year plan. They don’t.

Spinoza could not be more right: “Give up the notion that you must be sure of what you are doing.” Want to pivot careers at 45? Do it. Want to start something new without a one-year plan? Go ahead. Use what goes wrong as wisdom for your next action. Certainty is where dreams go to die. Even if you get it, it’s temporary. A job you thought was “it” suddenly isn’t. A relationship changes over. You evolve. People change. You’ll never be sure of anything.

When you’re always pursuing certainty, the perfect career plan, the 5-year roadmap, the “this-is-my-purpose” epiphany, you miss what’s right in front of you. You’re so busy building the life you think you’re supposed to have that you forget to actually live the one you’ve got. You don’t need to know how chapter ten ends before you write chapter one. Certainty is a comfort blanket for the scared parts of your brain. I’ve micromanaged plans until they died in my notebook. I won’t go to that life anymore. I stopped trying to prove I knew exactly what I was doing.

The uncertainty won’t kill you. But the endless need for certainty? That just might waste your life. Stumbling is the path. The only thing you must be sure of is that you’re listening to your soul. The one that says yes or no without a PowerPoint deck. Your need for control is the very thing stealing your joy. You keep waiting for a sign, a guarantee, a cosmic permission.

Clarity doesn’t precede action. Action precedes clarity. The most alive people you know are not the ones with the bulletproof plans. They’re the ones who said “screw it” and stepped into the fog. Hesitation is not wisdom. The artist who waits for inspiration dies with a blank canvas. The lover who needs proof they won’t get hurt ends up alone with a spreadsheet of pros and cons. “You are above everything distressing.”The moment you stop resisting the uncertainty of being human, you realise the weight was never yours to carry.

Surrender to your own self. Your chief task in life isn’t to wrestle life into submission. Your job is to stop arguing with what’s true for you. Hate your corporate job but terrified to freelance? That dread is real. Ignoring it is what’s fake. “Surrender to what is real within you, for that alone is sure,” notes Spinoza. Your gut isn’t just smarter than your brain. It’s faster. Stop asking for permission from the wrong people. And stop negotiating with yourself. When you stop holding onto outcomes, you’re no longer a hostage to hope. You’re free.

You are the antidote to your own misery. The minute you stop treating life like an opponent, it stops fighting back. Distress isn’t fate, it’s friction. You’ll be “above everything distressing” when you stop confusing pain with purpose. Remember the last time you felt truly alive. I bet it wasn’t when you were “hustling.” It was when you forgot to measure, judge, or optimize. When you were just in it. For the experience. That’s the secret. Stop trying to live “correctly.” Start letting life happen through you.

The minute you “arrive” is the minute you start dying inside. Remember that one vacation where you planned every minute? Color-coded itinerary, timed breaks from experiences? Yeah. By day two, you were cranky and Googling “fun things to do near me” like you hadn’t spent three weeks researching. Life works like that. The more you try to control it, the less time to have to actually live it.

“The more clearly you understand yourself and your emotions, the more you become a lover of what is.” ― Spinoza

Every time you start spiraling over a decision, get back to these questions. Am I forcing this, or flowing with it? Is this fear… or freedom in disguise? Then, do the wisest thing possible, first: Nothing. Let the answer rise like heat off pavement. Because the truth isn’t out there. It’s in the parts of you that already know how to live, if you’d just get out of the way.

Life is weirdly beautiful when you stop forcing answers and just let it flow. Spinoza’s genius wasn’t in his logic; it was in his freedom. He proved what you already sense but refuse to accept. The struggle isn’t inevitable. It’s optional. Cancel your imaginary deadlines. The universe doesn’t care about your 5-year plan. Follow the unreasonable joy. What makes you grin for no reason? Do it badly.

Trust your gut. It already knows the way. What should I be doing with my life? It’s the wrong question. “What feels true right now?” Live from that. The rest, distress, uncertainty, and other people’s expectations, will still be there. You’ll just be above it. And when you finally stop wrestling the river, you realize it’s been carrying you the whole damn time. Stop trying to “win” at life. You don’t need to have it all figured out. You never will. “Surrender to what is real within you, for that alone is sure….you are above everything distressing.”

-https://medium.com/personal-growth/

The Daily "Near You?"

Spencer, West Virginia, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Epicurus: Do Not Spoil What You Have"

"Epicurus: Do Not Spoil What You Have"

by Thomas Oppong

"One word: insatiable. Economist Lionel Robbins observed our needs, wants, and desires can never be satisfied. Greek Philosopher Epicurus thought it was the reason for human misery. The pursuit of unnecessary desires, he thought, leads to unnecessary suffering. He observed an appreciation of life’s basic pleasures changes everything. Epicurus believed the art of living well is knowing when to be content. “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for,” he wrote.

He warned his followers about the danger of insatiable desires and urged a mindful approach to our desires. “He who does not regard what he has as most ample wealth, is unhappy, though he be master of the world,” he stated. Epicurus believed the obsession with everything we don’t have makes it incredibly hard to enjoy life. “We must, therefore, pursue the things that make for happiness, seeing that when happiness is present, we have everything; but when it is absent, we do everything to possess it,” says  Epicurus. Born in 341 BCE on the island of Samos, off the coast of modern Turkey, Epicurus was famous for his incredible focus on what makes people happy.

The Garden: Epicurus reached the pinnacle of his life as a philosopher and teacher in Athens. At 32, he established his school, the Garden, a haven for philosophical discourse and the pursuit of a fulfilling life. During this peak period, he attracted diverse followers to the Garden.

The Garden, Epicurus’ communal living space, served as a practical manifestation of his teachings. It was not merely a physical garden but a symbolic space where Epicureans could cultivate the seeds of wisdom, friendship, and contentment. The point of the Garden idea was to create a space where individuals could escape the tumult of everyday life, free from unnecessary desires and anxieties. It was a place where the pursuit of happiness, in the form of ataraxia (tranquillity), was central.

Epicurus surrounded himself with friends, engaging in philosophical discussions and embracing a simple lifestyle. He said it was vital to achieving a state of contentment and peace of mind. His emphasis on simple pleasures, moderation, the value of friendship and the pursuit of a peaceful mind is still relevant today. In the pursuit of pleasure, Epicurus distinguished between physical and mental pleasures. “It is not the drink that is at fault, but the excess,” he contended. Epicurus himself lived modestly, advocating for a life of simplicity and moderation. His lifestyle was based on finding contentment in basic pleasures rather than constantly pursuing more.

The anxieties of things we don’t need: “Plain fare gives as much pleasure as a costly diet, when once the pain of want has been removed,” he reflected. His quote exemplifies his belief in finding joy in life’s basic pleasures rather than extravagant indulgence. At the heart of Epicurus’ teachings was the pursuit of ataraxia, a state of tranquillity and freedom from unnecessary desires. His philosophical principles aimed to liberate people from the anxieties of pursuing things we don’t necessarily need for a good life. In Epicurean philosophy, happiness is found in simplicity: finding joy in daily life -  a warm home, nourishing meals, and the company of loved ones. “He who is not satisfied with a little is satisfied with nothing,” Epicurus wisely noted. “Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little,” he added. Applying his teachings can lead to a more balanced and content existence  -  a life unspoiled by the relentless pursuit of things you don’t need.

Friendship: a fundamental human need: Epicurus also highlighted the significance of friendship in a fulfilling life. “Of all the things which wisdom provides to make us entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship,” he asserted. Epicurus viewed friendship as an essential component of a fulfilling life. He believed solid and supportive relationships were crucial for achieving eudaimonia, the Greek concept of happiness or well-being.

In his view, true friendship provides a sense of belonging, shared values, emotional comfort and intellectual stimulation, all of which contributed to a meaningful and satisfying life. Invest in genuine and quality friendships. Appreciate the spirit of friendly company. According to Epicureans, genuine happiness lies in freeing oneself from the burdens of desire and finding contentment in the present. The uncertainty of the future can overshadow our happiness.

Epicurus’ admonition to “not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not” holds profound relevance for a simple life. We don’t appreciate what we have enough. Epicurus cautions against the trap of comparing your reality to idealised online portrayals. Or comparing yourself unnecessarily with people who may have what you don’t have. By all means, pursue your life goals. But learn to appreciate your unique circumstances.

Don’t obsess about wants. Focus on needs. Distinguish between genuine needs and unnecessary desires. When the pressure to accumulate consumes us, Epicurus’ wisdom suggests a mindset that values experiences more. In all your pursuits, learn to pause, reflect, and find joy in your present accomplishments. While ambition is commendable, find a balance  -  to not spoil the satisfaction of how far you’ve come by perpetually chasing the next best “want.” “If you can’t be happy with a coffee, you won’t be happy with a yacht.” – Naval

The idea is to avoid spoiling the satisfaction derived from current achievements by fixating solely on future ambitions. It’s a healthy way to safeguard ourselves from the corrosive effects of insatiable desires and, in turn, live a more content and fulfilling life."

- https://postanly.substack.com/

"Yes, There Is A Meaning..."

"Yes, there is a meaning; at least for me, there is one thing that matters -

to set a chime of words tinkling in the minds of a few fastidious people."

- Logan Pearsall Smith

"The U.S. Government Is Waging Psychological War on Its Citizens: Inside the Deep State’s PsyOps Machine" (Excerpt)

"The U.S. Government Is Waging Psychological War on Its Citizens: 

Inside the Deep State’s PsyOps Machine"

by John & Nisha Whitehead

Excerpt: “Have you ever wondered who’s pulling the strings? Anything we touch is a weapon. We can deceive, persuade, change, influence, inspire. We come in many forms. We are everywhere.” -  U.S. Army Psychological Operations recruitment video.

From viral memes to military-grade influence operations, the government is waging a full-spectrum psychological war - not against foreign enemies but against its own citizens. The goal? Compliance. Control. Conformity. The battlefield is no longer physical - it is psychological - and the American people are the targets. From AI-manipulated narratives and National Guard psyops to loyalty scorecards for businesses, the Deep State’s war on truth and independent thought is no longer covert. It is coordinated, calculated, and by design.

Yet while both major parties—long in service to the Deep State—have weaponized mass communication to shape public opinion, the Trump administration is elevating it into a new art form that combines meme warfare, influencer psyops, and viral digital content to control narratives and manufacture consensus. In doing so, President Trump and his influencers are capitalizing on a propaganda system long cultivated by the security-industrial complex. What we’re witnessing is not just propaganda. It is psychological warfare.

Psychological warfare, as defined by the Rand Corporation, “involves the planned use of propaganda and other psychological operations to influence the opinions, emotions, attitudes, and behavior of opposition groups.” Today, those “opposition groups” include the American public. For years, the government has been bombarding the citizenry with propaganda and psychological operations aimed at conditioning us to be compliant, easily manipulated and supportive of the police state’s growing domestic and global power.

The government is so confident in its Orwellian powers of manipulation that it’s taken to bragging about them. For example, the U.S. Army’s 4th Psychological Operations Group, the branch of the military responsible for psychological warfare, released a recruiting video that touts its efforts to pull the strings, turn everything they touch into a weapon, be everywhere, deceive, persuade, change, influence, and inspire.

This is the danger that lurks in plain sight: a government so immersed in the art of mind manipulation that it no longer sees its citizens as individuals, but as targets. Of all the weapons in the government’s vast arsenal, psychological warfare may be the most insidious."

Full article here:

- https://www.rutherford.org/

"Survival"