"A Refining Process..."

“Life is a refining process. Our response to it determines whether we’ll be ground down or polished up. On a piano, one person sits down and plays sonatas, while another merely bangs away at “Chopsticks.” The piano is not responsible. It’s how you touch the keys that makes the difference. It’s how you play what life gives you that determines your joy and shine.”

- Barbara Johnson

“Sigmund Wollman’s Reality Test”

by 
Robert Fulghum

“In the summer of 1959, at the Feather River Inn near the town of Blairsden in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of northern California. A resort environment. And I, just out of college, have a job that combines being the night desk clerk in the lodge and helping out with the horse-wrangling at the stables. The owner/manager is Italian-Swiss, with European notions about conditions of employment. He and I do not get along. I think he’s a fascist who wants pleasant employees who know their place, and he thinks I’m a good example of how democracy can be carried too far.

I’m twenty-two and pretty free with my opinions, and he’s fifty-two and has a few opinions of his own. One week the employees had been served the same thing for lunch every single day. Two wieners, a mound of sauerkraut, and stale rolls. To compound insult with injury, the cost of meals was deducted from our check. I was outraged.

 On Friday night of that awful week, I was at my desk job around 11:00 P.M., and the night auditor had just come on duty. I went into the kitchen to get a bite to eat and saw notes to the chef to the effect that wieners and sauerkraut are on the employee menu for two more days.

That tears it. I quit! For lack of a better audience, I unloaded on the night auditor, Sigmund Wollman.

I declared that I have had it up to here; that I am going to get a plate of wieners and sauerkraut and go and wake up the owner and throw it on him. I am sick and tired of this crap and insulted and nobody is going to make me eat wieners and sauerkraut for a whole week and make me pay for it and who does he think he is anyhow and how can life be sustained on wieners and sauerkraut and this is un-American and I don’t like wieners and sauerkraut enough to eat it one day for God’s sake and the whole hotel stinks anyhow and the horses are all nags and the guests are all idiots and I’m packing my bags and heading for Montana where they never even heard of wieners and sauerkraut and wouldn’t feed that stuff to the pigs. Something like that. I’m still mad about it.

I raved on this way for twenty minutes, and needn’t repeat it all here. You get the drift. My monologue was delivered at the top of my lungs, punctuated by blows on the front desk with a fly-swatter, the kicking of chairs, and much profanity. A call to arms, freedom, unions, uprisings, and the breaking of chains for the working masses.

As I pitched my fit, Sigmund Wollman, the night auditor, sat quietly on his stool, smoking a cigarette, watching me with sorrowful eyes. Put a bloodhound in a suit and tie and you have Sigmund Wollman. He’s got good reason to look sorrowful. Survivor of Auschwitz. Three years. German Jew. Thin, coughed a lot. He liked being alone at the night job – gave him intellectual space, gave him peace and quiet, and, even more, he could go into the kitchen and have a snack whenever he wanted to – all the wieners and sauerkraut he wanted. To him, a feast. More than that, there’s nobody around at night to tell him what to do. In Auschwitz he dreamed of such a time. The only person he sees at work is me, the nightly disturber of his dream. Our shifts overlap for an hour. And here I am again. A one-man war party at full cry.

“Fulchum, are you finished?”

“No. Why?”

"Lissen, Fulchum. Lissen me, lissen me. You know what’s wrong with you? It’s not wieners and kraut and it’s not the boss and it’s not the chef and it’s not this job.”

“So what’s wrong with me?”

“Fulchum, you think you know everything, but you don’t know the difference between an inconvenience and a problem. If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire – then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience. Life is inconvenient. Life is lumpy. Learn to separate the inconveniences from the real problems. You will live longer. And will not annoy people like me so much. Good night.” In a gesture combining dismissal and blessing, he waved me off to bed.

Seldom in my life have I been hit between the eyes with a truth so hard. Years later I heard a Japanese Zen Buddhist priest describe what the moment of enlightenment was like and I knew exactly what he meant. There in that late-night darkness of the Feather River Inn, Sigmund Wollman simultaneously kicked my butt and opened a window in my mind.

For thirty years now, in times of stress and strain, when something has me backed against the wall and I’m ready to do something really stupid with my anger, a sorrowful face appears in my mind and asks: “Fulchum. Problem or inconvenience?” I think of this as the Wollman Test of Reality. Life is lumpy. And a lump in the oatmeal, a lump in the throat, and a lump in the breast are not the same lump. One should learn the difference. Good night, Sig.”

- http://www.livinglifefully.com/

"None So Blind..."

"There are none so blind as those who will not see. The most deluded

people are those who choose to ignore what they already know.”

- John Heywood, 1546

“A Life Worth Living: Albert Camus on Our Search for Meaning and Why Happiness Is Our Moral Obligation”

“A Life Worth Living: Albert Camus on Our Search for

Meaning and Why Happiness Is Our Moral Obligation”

by Maria Popova

“To decide whether life is worth living is to answer the fundamental question of philosophy,” Albert Camus (November 7, 1913–January 4, 1960) wrote in his 119-page philosophical essay “The Myth of Sisyphus” in 1942. “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. All the rest – whether or not the world has three dimensions, whether the mind has nine or twelve categories – comes afterwards. These are games; one must first answer. And if it is true, as Nietzsche claims, that a philosopher, to deserve our respect, must preach by example, you can appreciate the importance of that reply, for it will precede the definitive act. These are facts the heart can feel; yet they call for careful study before they become clear to the intellect. Everything else… is child’s play; we must first of all answer the question.” 

One of the most famous opening lines of the twentieth century captures one of humanity’s most enduring philosophical challenges – the impulse at the heart of Seneca’s meditations on life and Montaigne’s timeless essays and Maya Angelou’s reflections, and a wealth of human inquiry in between. But Camus, the second-youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature after Rudyard Kipling, addressed it with unparalleled courage of conviction and insight into the irreconcilable longings of the human spirit.

In the beautifully titled and beautifully written “A Life Worth Living: Albert Camus and the Quest for Meaning” (public library), historian Robert Zaretsky considers Camus’s lifelong quest to shed light on the absurd condition, his “yearning for a meaning or a unity to our lives,” and its timeless yet increasingly timely legacy: If the question abides, it is because it is more than a matter of historical or biographical interest. Our pursuit of meaning, and the consequences should we come up empty-handed, are matters of eternal immediacy.

Camus pursues the perennial prey of philosophy – the questions of who we are, where and whether we can find meaning, and what we can truly know about ourselves and the world – less with the intention of capturing them than continuing the chase.”

Reflecting on the parallels between Camus and Montaigne, Zaretsky finds in this ongoing chase one crucial difference of dispositions: “Camus achieves with the Myth what the philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty claimed for Montaigne’s Essays: it places “a consciousness astonished at itself at the core of human existence.”

For Camus, however, this astonishment results from our confrontation with a world that refuses to surrender meaning. It occurs when our need for meaning shatters against the indifference, immovable and absolute, of the world. As a result, absurdity is not an autonomous state; it does not exist in the world, but is instead exhaled from the abyss that divides us from a mute world.”

Camus himself captured this with extraordinary elegance when he wrote in “The Myth of Sisyphus”: “This world in itself is not reasonable, that is all that can be said. But what is absurd is the confrontation of this irrational and wild longing for clarity whose call echoes in the human heart. The absurd depends as much on man as on the world. For the moment it is all that links them together.”

To discern these echoes amid the silence of the world, Zaretsky suggests, was at the heart of Camus’s tussle with the absurd: “We must not cease in our exploration, Camus affirms, if only to hear more sharply the silence of the world. In effect, silence sounds out when human beings enter the equation. If “silences must make themselves heard,” it is because those who can hear inevitably demand it. And if the silence persists, where are we to find meaning?”

This search for meaning was not only the lens through which Camus examined every dimension of life, from the existential to the immediate, but also what he saw as our greatest source of agency. In one particularly prescient diary entry from November of 1940, as WWII was gathering momentum, he writes: “Understand this: we can despair of the meaning of life in general, but not of the particular forms that it takes; we can despair of existence, for we have no power over it, but not of history, where the individual can do everything. It is individuals who are killing us today. Why should not individuals manage to give the world peace? We must simply begin without thinking of such grandiose aims.”

For Camus, the question of meaning was closely related to that of happiness - something he explored with great insight in his notebooks. Zaretsky writes: “Camus observed that absurdity might ambush us on a street corner or a sun-blasted beach. But so, too, do beauty and the happiness that attends it. All too often, we know we are happy only when we no longer are.”

Perhaps most importantly, Camus issued a clarion call of dissent in a culture that often conflates happiness with laziness and championed the idea that happiness is nothing less than a moral obligation. A few months before his death, Camus appeared on the TV show Gros Plan. Dressed in a trench coat, he flashed his mischievous boyish smile and proclaimed into the camera: “Today, happiness has become an eccentric activity. The proof is that we tend to hide from others when we practice it. As far as I’m concerned, I tend to think that one needs to be strong and happy in order to help those who are unfortunate.”

This wasn’t a case of Camus arriving at some mythic epiphany in his old age – the cultivation of happiness and the eradication of its obstacles was his most persistent lens on meaning. More than two decades earlier, he had contemplated “the demand for happiness and the patient quest for it” in his journal, capturing with elegant simplicity the essence of the meaningful life – an ability to live with presence despite the knowledge that we are impermanent: ”We must” be happy with our friends, in harmony with the world, and earn our happiness by following a path which nevertheless leads to death.”

But his most piercing point integrates the questions of happiness and meaning into the eternal quest to find ourselves and live our truth: ”It is not so easy to become what one is, to rediscover one’s deepest measure.”

- https://www.brainpickings.org/

○

Freely download “The Myth of Sisyphus,” by  Albert Camus, here:

- http://www2.hawaii.edu/

"Albert Camus On Finding Invincible Calm"

"Albert Camus On Finding Invincible Calm"

by Thomas Oppong

“And those who were seen dancing were thought to

 be insane by those who could not hear the music."

 – Neitzsche

“How are you this calm?” my daughter once asked me when I picked her up from school and we got stuck in traffic. I’ve been practicing “dichotomy of control” (stoic philosophy that emphasises the distinction between things that are within our control and things that are not) for years. It’s how I stay sane when everything around me feels overwhelming. Stoic philosopher Epictetus explained the concept of “control” in his “Enchiridion,” a manual. Chaotic. Unpredictable. Uncertain. No matter how much we wish these words away, they will forever be part of the human experience. Twists and turns are the very definition of life. It’s a guaranteed experience. But the human capacity to respond with love, joy and calm changes everything.

Existentialist and philosopher Albert Camus explains it beautifully: “In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love. In the midst of tears, I found there was, within me, an invincible smile. In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm. I realised, through it all, that… In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger — something better, pushing right back.”

“Hate,” “tears,” “chaos,” and “winter” represent the harsh realities of life, while the counter-images of “love,” “smile,” “calm,” and “summer” symbolize the enduring strength within all of us. You have an invisible store of calm. You just have to know when to tap it. Camus grew up in poverty but excelled intellectually. His early philosophical work, particularly his essay “The Myth of Sisyphus”, explored the concept of the absurd  - the idea that life is inherently meaningless.

Camus’s writings explore the human struggle to find meaning and happiness in a world that can seem devoid of these things. He thought we must create our own meaning in the face of an indifferent and sometimes hostile world. Camus was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957 for his influential literary contributions, especially his novels and essays that reflect his philosophical ideas.

His statement, “an invincible summer within” means even in the midst of winter’s cold and darkness, there is a spark of warmth and hope. The inner strength he talks about is not passive; it is actively “pushing back” against the negativity and challenges we face. It is the foundation for resilience, optimism, and the ability to persevere through adversity.

The capacity to rise above the absurd

Camus observed the absurdity of life but also thought we can rise above the chaos of life and choose our own path. In the darkest of times, find your freedom. “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” 

- Albert Camus

“In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm,” defines his stoic resilience. It represents a resilience and strength that cannot be easily overcome or defeated, even when life is unpredictable. It’s personal strength, resilience, or a deep understanding of life beyond mere chaos. Camus spoke of his “antifragility”. “Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken,” he said. Your inner peace can prevail over the turmoil of the world. Even when we are faced with overwhelming chaos, we can find a sanctuary of tranquillity within ourselves. A refusal to be swept away by the storms of life changes your approach to life.

Your reservoir of love, hope, and perseverance can triumph over any adversity. Even when life throws its worst at us, we possess the inner strength to persevere and find joy amidst sorrow. Inner calm, according to Camus, arises from a deep understanding of our own existence. He realised that life devoid of inherent meaning shouldn’t lead to despair. But should heighten your appreciation for the beauty and fragility of life.

Forge a path through the chaos: “Rule number one is, don’t sweat the small stuff. Rule number two is, it’s all small stuff.” -  Robert Eliot. Life is inherently chaotic and unpredictable, often filled with suffering and misfortune. Yet, Camus believed it is within our capacity to find meaning and purpose amidst this chaos. Cultivate an inner calm that can withstand the storms of life. Author of “The Power of Now”, Eckhart Tolle observed, “The ultimate source of inner peace lies not in changing your external world but in transforming your relationship with it.”

How, then, do we cultivate inner calm? First, recognize the human tendency to dwell on the negative, amplify the storms and diminish the moments of tranquillity. Recognition is how you observe the thoughts you don’t need and detach from them. It’s also how we get away from the chatter of our minds and observe our thoughts and emotions without judgment. It’s also how you step back from your emotional reactions and gain a clearer perspective on life experiences.

Let go of your resistance to things beyond your control: It aligns with Camus’s belief in the power of acceptance and resilience in adversity. It’s a mental shift towards your circle of influence. Resistance only leads to unnecessary stress and frustration. Let go of your resistance to avoid uncertainty. Adapt to circumstances beyond your control. And Acknowledge that you can’t control everything.

Redefine your definition of chaos: Camus’s philosophy of embracing the absurd and questioning our approach to life can help us expand our perception of life. Think of the absurdity of life as a catalyst for transformation. Or chaos as an opportunity to take control of the trajectory of your life. Losing a job might be seen as chaotic and distressing. Think of it as an opportunity for a career shift, skill development, or pursuing something you are deeply curious about.

Finally, Camus believed accepting life’s absurdity was not resignation but an embrace of the reality of life. He thought it was a call to transcend the limitations of fate and create our own values. That’s where inner calm becomes even more essential. In the face of life’s storms, calm within becomes your steadfast anchor, a refuge from the ebb and flow of emotions. It’s a mental state that allows us to live with resilience and composure. And, of course, find meaning and purpose even amidst the chaos.

“Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.”  -  Hermann Hesse

Building an invisible calm requires a paradoxical approach  -  an acceptance of the absurdity of life and cultivating a serene inner state at the same time. That’s how we find meaning even in the darkest of times. The space between the conscious and unconscious has always been the beginning of any change I’ve started. You don’t change by wanting to change. You change when you see yourself clearly. And stop the self-negotiation. According to Stoic Philosopher Seneca, the consciousness to level-up is proof and a significant step of transformation.

Author and teacher Anthony de Mello on doing what grips our soul: “You must cultivate activities that you love. You must discover work that you do, not for its utility, but for itself, whether it succeeds or not, whether you are praised for it or not, whether you are loved and rewarded for it or not, whether people know about it and are grateful to you for it or not. How many activities can you count in your life that you engage in simply because they delight you and grip your soul? Find them out, cultivate them, for they are your passport to freedom and to love.” Source: The Way to Love

Katherine May on happiness and sadness: “If happiness is a skill, then sadness is, too. Perhaps through all those years at school, or perhaps through other terrors, we are taught to ignore sadness, to stuff it down into our satchels and pretend it isn’t there. As adults, we often have to learn to hear the clarity of its call. That is wintering. It is the active acceptance of sadness. It is the practice of allowing ourselves to feel it as a need. It is the courage to stare down the worst parts of our experience and to commit to healing them the best we can. Wintering is a moment of intuition, our true needs felt keenly as a knife.”

Derek Sivers on being fully independent: “If you weren’t dependent on income, people, or technology, you would be truly free. The only way to be deeply happy is to break all dependencies.” “Most problems are interpersonal. To be part of society is to lose a part of yourself … Do what you’d do if you were the only person on Earth.” “Don’t let ideas into your head or heart without your permission.” “You can’t be free without self-mastery … When you say you want more freedom from the world, you may just need freedom from your past self. You don’t see things as they are. You see them as you are.” “Learn the skills you need to be self-reliant.”

- https://postanly.substack.com/

"How It Really Is"

 

Bill Bonner, "Why To Own Money You Can Touch"

"Why To Own Money You Can Touch"

by Bill Bonner

Poitou, France - "From India.com comes worrying news: "Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is building a huge bunker complex in Hawaii for $300 million, along with backup properties in Palo Alto and Lake Tahoe. Elon Musk is building a huge complex in Texas, OpenAI chief Sam Altman has a secret underground palace, while Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has also built a secret luxury palace for himself to live in during doomsday, i.e. the day a nuclear war will break out.

Zuckerberg's most ambitious project is on the island of Kauai in Hawaii, where he has 2.3 square km of land, which is three times bigger than New York's Central Park. Here, Zuckerberg has built two luxurious mansions and a treehouse. There is also a huge underground shelter here, which is being built at a cost of billions of dollars."

The odds of dying in a nuclear war are, we hope, low. And the costs of trying to protect yourself are definitely high. It has been eighty years since the US dropped atomic bombs on Japan. Maybe they will never be used again? Or maybe this long hiatus has given us a false sense of tranquility?

Killing is generally frowned upon...and outlawed...unless, as Voltaire told us, it is “accompanied by the sound of trumpets.” Private murder is a no-no. But government killing is a matter of national pride. Often the killers are memorialized as national heroes. What probably prevents the use of nukes is fear of “mutually assured destruction.” The US dropped atomic bombs on Japanese civilian targets. At the time, America was the only nation to have nukes. It risked little. But today, nine nations are believed to have nuclear weapons...with about 12,000 warheads in existence. These countries are not likely to be any more ‘civilized’ than the US in 1945. So, any major conflict may set off a nuclear exchange.

If you have a substantial bunker (or a bolthole)...and if you could get to it when you needed to...it could save your life. Definitely a plus. For a multi-billionaire, the cost is insignificant. So, even if the likelihood of actually using the place is small, there’s no reason not to do it. But for normal people, is it worth such a substantial investment? We have no answer to that. So, let us try another question. What is the most likely catastrophe we are likely to face...and how can we protect ourselves? For an answer, we turn to today’s real-life, in real-time catastrophe, playing out in Gaza.

In Gaza today, the banks are closed. ATMs don’t work. There is no electricity. There is often no food or water either. But even if there were food available, there would be no money to buy it. A report from Gaza, courtesy of Al Jazeera: Civil servants have gone months without pay. NGOs are unable to transfer salaries to their employees. Families cannot send remittances. What once supported Gaza’s financial structure has vanished. If you manage to obtain money from outside sources - perhaps from a cousin in Ramallah or a sibling in Egypt - it comes at a cost. A brutal one. If you get sent 1,000 shekels ($300), the agent will hand you 500. That’s right, the commission rate on cash withdrawals in Gaza is now 50 percent.

Poor Zuck. He probably travels the world with his credit cards and accountants. But what if the electrical grid is attacked when he is in New York? Do his bodyguards reach in their pockets, pool their cash, so they can buy a hamburger? Do they have enough gas to take him back to the airport where his private jet is waiting? Is it able to take off and land...with no juice on the ground? No matter. He’ll make it to his island stronghold. Somehow.

But how would it work for most people? There is only about $2.3 trillion in physical currency in the US - not even a tenth of GDP. In a crisis, people hoard money and food. And as the economy seizes up, supplies of goods and services quickly run out...and prices soar. Physical money becomes extremely valuable...and hard to get. In Gaza today, for example, a ‘bag’ of flour now sells for $300:

Do you have a bank card? Great. Try using it. There is no power. There’s no internet. No POS machines. When you show your card to a seller, they shake their head. People print screenshots of account balances that they cannot access. Some walk around with expired bank documents, hoping someone will think they’re “good enough” as a pay guarantee. Nobody does.

What about bitcoin? In Gaza today, money you can’t touch is equivalent to no money at all. Where does that leave people? At the market, I saw a woman standing with a plastic bag of sugar. Another was holding a bottle of cooking oil. They did not speak much. I just nodded. Traded. Left. This is what “shopping” in Gaza looks like right now. Trade what you’ve got. A kilo of lentils for two kilos of flour. A bottle of bleach for some rice. A baby’s jacket for several onions. There is no stability. One day, your item will be worth something. The next day, nobody wants it. Prices are guesses. Value is emotional. Everything is negotiable.

“I traded my coat for a bag of diapers,” my uncle Waleed, a father of twins, told me. “He looked at me as if I were a beggar. I felt like I was giving up a part of my life.” Gaza is a very special case. It is being intentionally deprived of money...and things to buy. But there are many things that could cause a collapse of the power grid. Earthquakes or solar events...physical or cyber attacks...even extreme heat. We don’t know how likely it is. But the insurance is cheap. Make sure you have some form of money ‘you can touch.’"

- https://www.bonnerprivateresearch.com/

"Massive Mortgage Crisis, Price Drops Everywhere, Housing Crash Has Begun!"

Full screen recommended.

Epic Economist, AM 8/27/25

"Massive Mortgage Crisis, Price Drops Everywhere,

 Housing Crash Has Begun!" 

"The American housing market is collapsing, and even zero percent mortgage rates wouldn't save it. While the real estate industry keeps telling you it's a "good time to buy," the numbers tell a completely different story. In this video, I break down the shocking truth about what's really happening across the country. The nationwide surge in mortgage defaults jumped 13% in just one year, with 36,000 properties receiving foreclosure notices in a single month.

Here's what the data actually shows: home prices have shot up over 50% since the pandemic started, but wages? They've barely kept pace. In 1995, you needed about $34,500 in annual income to qualify for a median home. Today, that number is $108,000. The vast majority of people simply don't make that kind of money. Even more alarming - California's unemployment rate has hit 5.5%, the worst in the nation. Nevada leads the foreclosure crisis with 1 in every 2,326 properties facing default, while Florida follows close behind at 1 in 2,400.

But there's one surprising bright spot: Pittsburgh remains the only major metro where it's still cheaper to buy than rent. I'll show you exactly why this matters and what it means for the broader market. I also reveal why major firms like Coldwell Banker and RE/MAX are finally admitting that even free money wouldn't make homes affordable at today's prices - and what this means for anyone thinking about buying or selling. The housing crash has begun, and the warning signs are everywhere. The question isn't if it will get worse - it's how prepared you are for what's coming next."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

"Home Prices Are Starting To Crash – 

Is That Really Good News Or Really Bad News?"

Dan, I Allegedly, "New York City is Dead! Kiss It Goodbye"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly, AM 8/27/25

"New York City is Dead! Kiss It Goodbye"

"New York City - once the city that never sleeps - is officially done. In this video, I break down why the Big Apple is facing unprecedented challenges, from skyrocketing crime rates to businesses shutting down, all impacted by recent political and economic shifts. Whether it's the loss of iconic 24-hour diners or the looming election of a controversial new mayor, New York's future looks grim. I share personal experiences, insight from a New York Post article, and even touch on how this ties into the larger struggles cities like Las Vegas are facing today. Plus, hear how a local story from Orange, California, perfectly mirrors these issues. It's a must-watch for anyone wanting to understand the bigger picture."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Adventures With Danno, "Stocking Up At Sam's Club, Crazy High Beef And Coffee Prices!"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures With Danno, AM 8/27/25

"Stocking Up At Sam's Club, 

Crazy High Beef And Coffee Prices!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Travelling with Russell, 8/27/25

"Russian Typical Supermarket: 

Would You Shop There?"

"What does a typical Russian supermarket look like inside? Join me as I discover Monetka Supermarket in Moscow, Russia. With more than 3,400 stores across Russia. This very typical Russian supermarket was impressive."

Comments here:

-  https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Different Russia, 8/27/25

"Fish Prices are Sky-High! 

Shopping in Russian Supermarket"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Scottish Guy in Moscow, 8/27/25

"Russia’s Biggest Food Court Under Sanctions!"

"Today I will take you to the biggest food court in Europe. It’s is right here in Moscow 

and has over 400 food stalls and shops. We will also try my favorite Russian food!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Alert! Everyone Is Wrong About WW3, Extreme Warning!"

Full screen recommended.

Prepper News, 8/26/25

"Alert! Everyone Is Wrong About WW3, 

Extreme Warning!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Besides Losing the Proxy War in Ukraine, NATO Also is Losing the Economic War with BRICS"

"Besides Losing the Proxy War in Ukraine,

NATO Also is Losing the Economic War with BRICS"

by Larry C. Johnson

"Russia’s Special Military Operation (SMO) has inflicted massive attrition on Ukraine’s military capabilities and has also exposed the weakness and limitations of the NATO countries to provide replacement weapons, ammunition and combat vehicles. The SMO also has demonstrated the superiority of Russian weapons compared to those of NATO. Russia, for instance, has successfully employed at least four types of hypersonic missiles, while NATO has not fielded even one.

But NATO is not just struggling to remain relevant on the battlefield… it also is losing on the economic front to the BRICS nations. Let’s examine the current debt-to-GDP ratio for the NATO members. It ain’t a pretty picture.

The debt-to-GDP ratio for NATO countries in 2025 varies significantly across the 32 member states, reflecting diverse fiscal policies, economic conditions, and military spending commitments. Below is a comprehensive overview based on available data from web sources, particularly focusing on the most recent estimates for 2025. Note that exact figures for some countries may be projections or slightly outdated (e.g., 2024 data), as not all nations publish real-time debt statistics. I’ve prioritized the most authoritative and recent sources, including web results from SIPRI and World Population Review, and supplemented with IMF and OECD estimates where available. Where precise 2025 data is unavailable, I’ve noted the latest figures and trends.

Why is this a relevant measurement? The debt-to-GDP ratio measures a country’s general government debt (including central, state, and local government obligations) as a percentage of its gross domestic product (GDP). High ratios indicate greater debt burdens relative to economic output, potentially limiting fiscal flexibility, while low ratios suggest room for borrowing. Below is a table summarizing the debt-to-GDP ratios for NATO countries, based on available 2025 projections or the most recent data (primarily 2024, adjusted for trends). Countries are listed alphabetically, with notes on sources and context.

In general, the NATO countries with the largest economies are also heavily burdened with debt — i.e., the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy and Canada. The number for Germany is misleading because Germany’s debt is growing rapidly — its ratio in 2021 was only 50% — as a consequence of its stagnating economy. Compared to the NATO countries, it’s worth noting that Russia’s debt-to-GDP ratio in 2025 is estimated at ~19%, significantly lower than most NATO countries. This low ratio provides Russia with fiscal flexibility to manage its budget deficit (2.2% of GDP in 2025) and sustain war-related spending, unlike high-debt NATO members like France or Italy, which face tighter constraints.

But Russia is not fighting the West alone. Let’s look at the debt-to-GDP ratio for the BRICS nations. As I did with the NATO countries, I am providing a detailed breakdown of the general government debt-to-GDP ratios for the BRICs countries, based on the most recent data and projections available from sources like the IMF, World Population Review, and Trading Economics, as provided in the web results. Where exact 2025 figures are unavailable, I’ve used 2024 data with noted trends for 2025. The ratios are for general government debt (including central, state, and local obligations) unless otherwise specified.

Apart from having a healthier debt-to-GDP ration than the NATO countries as a whole, the projected economic growth for the BRICS countries in 2025 is also better — approximately 3.4% as a group — which outpaced the global average for the NATO countries of 2.8% and the G7’s 1.2%. Here are the stats for the individual BRICS nations and new members:

• India: 6.2% (fastest growing among major economies)

• China: 4.8%

• Brazil: 2.3%

• Russia: 1.4% (following 4.3% in 2024)

• South Africa: 1.0%

• Ethiopia (new BRICS member): 6.6%

• Other new members such as Indonesia and the UAE are also posting strong numbers (4.7% and 4%, respectively).

BRICS is currently leading global growth, now accounting for more than 40% of the world’s GDP according to IMF (PPP terms), with India and China as the primary drivers.

Some NATO members continue to issue bellicose threats directed at Russia, but as the numbers above reveal, NATO is economically impotent to actually confront Russia. Several key members of NATO — i.e. Germany, the United Kingdom and France — are in recession and are facing strong economic headwinds that will put greater strain on their already fragile economies. What does this mean in practical terms? None of these countries have the financial resources to build new military production plants; they don’t have spare cash stashed away to purchase new weapon systems from the US and then send them to Ukraine; and they don’t have the means to build up their armed forces and equip them with modern gear and loads of ammunition required to sustain operations on the 21st century battlefield.

For my friends in Europe, I have some bad news… you are no longer relevant as a military force. After 15 centuries of dominating world events, you are now entering the age of impotence. But, you ain’t going alone… the United States is following you on this path to irrelevancy."

- https://larrycjohnson.substack.com/

"You Will Own Nothing But Debt, The New Reality Of The Average American"

Jeremiah Babe, 8/26/25

"You Will Own Nothing But Debt, 

The New Reality Of The Average American"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Gerald Celente, "Trump's Corporate Deals Equal Mussolini's Fascism"

Strong language alert!

Gerald Celente, 8/26/25

"Trump's Corporate Deals Equal Mussolini's Fascism"

"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/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Col. Larry Wilkerson: Warning Signs Everywhere: U.S. on the Verge of Disaster"

Dialogue Works, 8/26/25

"Col. Larry Wilkerson: Warning Signs Everywhere: 

U.S. on the Verge of Disaster"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Inflation Prices: Nobody Is Talking About The Biggest Crisis Americans Face"

Full screen recommended.

Snyder Reports, 8/26/25

"Inflation Prices: Nobody Is Talking About 

The Biggest Crisis Americans Face"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical Interlude: Yanni, "The Storm"

Full screen recommended.

Yanni, "The Storm"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"Dwarf galaxies NGC 147 (left) and NGC 185 stand side by side in this sharp telescopic portrait. The two are not-often-imaged satellites of M31, the great spiral Andromeda Galaxy, some 2.5 million light-years away. Their separation on the sky, less than one degree across a pretty field of view, translates to only about 35 thousand light-years at Andromeda's distance, but Andromeda itself is found well outside this frame. 

Brighter and more famous satellite galaxies of Andromeda, M32 and M110, are seen closer to the great spiral. NGC 147 and NGC 185 have been identified as binary galaxies, forming a gravitationally stable binary system. But recently discovered faint dwarf galaxy Cassiopeia II also seems to be part of their system, forming a gravitationally bound group within Andromeda's intriguing population of small satellite galaxies."

- https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211104.html

"Iran and World War 3"

"Iran and World War 3"

by Nick Giambruno

"In the east, the Roman Empire generally ended where the Persian Empire began. Unlike most other nation states in the Middle East, Iran (known as Persia before 1935) is not an artificial construct. By race, religion, and social history, it is a nation. European bureaucrats didn’t dream up Iran by drawing zigzags on a map. The map reflects the geographic reality of a country with natural, fortress-like mountain borders.

Iran is Russia and China's key ally in the Middle East, pushing back against the influence of the US and its allies. The US, Israel, and their allies have not been successful in changing the behavior of the Iranian government. They’ve tried pretty much everything short of a full-scale invasion and using nuclear weapons. In short, the US and its allies have few cards left to play against Iran.

If the US really wants to secure its influence in the strategic Middle East in a multipolar world - which would open the door to limiting Russian and Chinese power - it would need to overthrow the Iranian government. However, to do that would require a full-scale ground invasion. Air power alone is not going to remove the Iranian government. It couldn't even dislodge the much smaller and poorer Houthis from Yemen.

Remember, during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) - back when Saddam was a “good guy” - he threw over 500,000 Iraqi soldiers at Iran, had the backing of the US and the Soviet Union, and used chemical weapons on a scale not seen since WW1… and he barely made a dent in Iran before retreating back to Iraq’s borders. The reality is that if the US is serious about invading Iran, it would likely require total mobilization and bringing back the draft. That is not likely to happen, but even if it did, it would not guarantee US victory.

If Iran thought the US was going to invade, it could rush to develop nuclear weapons as a deterrent within a matter of weeks. Iran would also not just sit and wait for the US to stage an invasion, and would likely target any staging area for a ground invasion with hypersonic ballistic missiles. Given those unfavorable prospects, the US (or Israel) could decide to use nuclear weapons on Iran preemptively.

Iran is well aware that the US or Israel could use nuclear weapons against it. It has contingency plans for that outcome to ensure the survival of its government. Iran’s plans also likely include making a dash for developing its own nuclear arsenal to be able to respond in kind. Further, it’s doubtful that Russia and China would just sit back and do nothing if the US and Israel looked like they might nuke Iran. For example, Russia could decide to station nuclear weapons and Russian soldiers on Iranian soil as a deterrent.

Suppose the US and Israel used nuclear weapons on Iran. It would shatter the global taboo and effectively give other countries the green light to use them. Could Russia then nuke Ukraine or another part of Europe? Could China nuke Taiwan? What about India and Pakistan? The consequences of the US or Israel nuking Iran would be catastrophic. And while it's unlikely, it remains a real possibility.

Ultimately, either the US, Israel, and their allies will succeed in toppling the Iranian government, or Iran’s ruling system will endure and emerge as the dominant power in the Middle East. I believe the outcome in Iran will shape the outcome of World War 3 and define the balance of power in the emerging multipolar world order. That’s why the US may not be deterred from taking actions that risk shutting down the Strait of Hormuz - or other drastic measures - in a bid to win.

The stakes in Iran underscore just how fragile the world order has become - and why the next major conflict could ignite not just a geopolitical firestorm, but also an economic one that reshapes the global financial system."

- internationalman.com

o

"The Middle East: The Decisive Battleground of WW3"

"We Are Here..."

"We are here on earth to do good to others.

What the others are here for, I do not know."

- Matthew Arnold

Free Download: Olaf Stapledon, "Star Maker"

"The Sharp Tang And Savor Of Existence..."

"The thought of the disaster which almost certainly lay in wait for the Other Men threw me into a horror of doubt about the universe in which such a thing could happen. That a whole world of intelligent beings could be destroyed was not an unfamiliar idea to me; but there is a great difference between an abstract possibility and a concrete and inescapable danger. On my native planet, whenever I had been dismayed by the suffering and the futility of individuals, I had taken comfort in the thought that at least the massed effect of all our blind striving must be the slow but glorious awakening of the human spirit. This hope, this certainty, had been the one sure consolation. But now I saw that there was no guarantee of any such triumph. It seemed that the universe, or the maker of the universe, must be indifferent to the fate of worlds. That there should be endless struggle and suffering and waste must of course be accepted; and gladly, for these were the very soil in which the spirit grew. But that all struggle should be finally, absolutely vain, that a whole world of sensitive spirits fail and die, must be sheer evil. In my horror it seemed to me that Hate must be the Star Maker.

Not so to Bvalitu. "Even if the powers destroy us," he said, "who are we, to condemn them? As well might a fleeting word judge the speaker that forms it. Perhaps they use us for their own high ends, use our strength and our weakness, our joy and our pain, in some theme inconceivable to us, and excellent." But I protested, "What theme could justify such waste, such futility? And how can we help judging; and how otherwise can we judge than by the light of our own hearts, by which we judge ourselves? It would be base to praise the Star Maker, knowing that he was too insensitive to care about the fate of his worlds." Bvalitu was silent in his mind for a moment. Then he looked up, searching among the smoke-clouds for a daytime star. And then he said to me in his mind, "If he saved all the worlds, but tormented just one man, would you forgive him? Or if he was a little harsh only to one stupid child? What has our pain to do with it, or our failure? Star Maker! It is a good word, though we can have no notion of its meaning. Oh, Star Maker, even if you destroy me, I must praise you. Even if you torture my dearest. Even if you torment and waste all your lovely worlds, the little figments of your imagination, yet I must praise you. For if you do so, it must be right. In me it would be wrong, but in you it must be right."

He looked down once more upon the ruined city, then continued, "And if after all there is no Star Maker, if the great company of galaxies leapt into being of their own accord, and even if this little nasty world of ours is the only habitation of the spirit anywhere among the stars, and this world doomed, even so, even so, I must praise. But if there is no Star Maker, what can it be that I praise? I do not know. I will call it only the sharp tang and savor of existence. But to call it this is to say little."

- Olaf Stapledon, "Star Maker"

o

"In this passionately social world, loneliness dogged the spirit. People were constantly getting together, but they never really got there. Everyone was terrified of being alone with himself; yet in company, in spite of the universal assumption of comradeship, these strange beings remained as remote from one another as the stars. For everyone searched his neighbor's eyes for the image of himself, and never saw anything else. Or if he did, he was outraged and terrified."

- Olaf Stapledon, "Star Maker"

Freely download "Star Maker", by Olaf Stapledon, here:

- https://freeditorial.com/en/books/star-maker

The Daily "Near You?"

Chelsea, Massachusetts, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"We Have Met The Enemy..."

 

Chet Raymo, “We Are Such Stuff...”

“We Are Such Stuff...”

by Chet Raymo

“Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,

Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not.

Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments

Will hum about mine ears, and sometimes voices,

That, if I then had wak'd after long sleep,

Will make me sleep again.”

"Caliban is talking to Stephano and Trinculo in Shakespeare's “Tempest”, telling them not to be "afeard" of the mysterious place they find themselves, an island seemingly beset with magic, strangeness, ineffable presences. And you and I, and, yes, all of us, find ourselves inexplicably thrown up on this island that is the world, and we too, if we are attentive, hear the strange music, the sounds and sweet airs, that seems to come from nowhere and everywhere

No, I'm not talking about the usual ubiquitous clamor, the roar of internal combustion, the blare of the television, the beeping of mobile phones. I'm not talking about the Limbaughs and the Becks, the televangelists, the blathering politicians, the twitterers and bloggers (including this one). I'm not even talking about the exquisite music of Mozart, the poetry of Wordsworth, the theories of Einstein.

I'm talking about the sounds we hear in utter silence, in moments of repose, in the heart of darkness, when we are a little bit afraid, disoriented, off kilter. A strange music that comes from beyond our knowing, a felt meaning. You've heard it. I've heard it. You'd have to be deaf not to have heard it. 

Where we differ is how we describe it. Mostly, we give its source a name. Angels. Fairies. Gods or demons. Yahweh. Allah. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Nixies, E.T.s, shades and shadows. Naiads, dryads, Ariel and Puck. A host of invisible creatures who are, in one way or another, images of ourselves. And, in naming, we are a little less afraid.

And some of us are just content to listen, to take delight. Having woken to the inexplicable mystery of the world- the sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not- we let the music lull us back into a sweet slumber, a kind of dreamless dream, a reverie. Does reverie share a deep root with reverence? I don't know.”

- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/

Paulo Coelho, "The Water Pitcher"

"The Water Pitcher"

by Paulo Coelho 

"A legend tells of a man who used to carry water every day to his village, using two large pitchers tied on either end of a piece of wood, which he placed across his shoulders. One of the pitchers was older than the other and was full of small cracks; every time the man came back along the path to his house, half of the water was lost. For two years, the man made the same journey. The younger pitcher was always very proud of the way it did its work and was sure that it was up to the task for which it had been created, while the other pitcher was mortally ashamed that it could carry out only half its task, even though it knew that the cracks were the result of long years of work.

So ashamed was the old pitcher that, one day, while the man was preparing to fill it up with water from the well, it decided to speak to him. "I wish to apologize because, due to my age, you only manage to take home half the water you fill me with, and thus quench only half the thirst awaiting you in your house."

The man smiled and said: "When we go back, be sure to take a careful look at the path." The pitcher did as the man asked and noticed many flowers and plants growing along one side of the path. "Do you see how much more beautiful nature is on your side of the road?" the man remarked. "I knew you had cracks, but I decided to take advantage of them. I sowed vegetables and flowers there, and you always watered them. I've picked dozens of roses to decorate my house, and my children have had lettuce, cabbage and onions to eat. If you were not the way you are, I could never have done this. We all, at some point, grow old and acquire other qualities, and these can always be turned to good advantage."

- http://paulocoelhoblog.com/