"This $2,000 Missile Could Take Down America’s $40 Billion Aircraft Carriers"

Full screen recommended.

Money Over History, 2/18/26

"This $2,000 Missile Could Take Down 

America’s $20 Billion Aircraft Carrier"

"Can a $2,000 hypersonic missile really threaten a $20 billion aircraft carrier? Modern naval warfare is changing fast. The rise of low-cost precision weapons and hypersonic missile technology is forcing even the most advanced navies to rethink their defense strategies. In this video, we break down how asymmetric warfare, advanced missile guidance systems, and evolving naval tactics are reshaping the battlefield. America’s aircraft carriers represent the backbone of U.S. power projection - floating airbases designed to dominate oceans. But with hypersonic missiles traveling at extreme speeds and maneuvering unpredictably, traditional defense systems face new challenges."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

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Dialogue Works, 2/18/26

"David T. Pyne: How a War With

 Iran Could Trigger Nuclear Armageddon"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Secular Talk, 2/18/26

"Major Breaking: Iran War 'Imminent' 

With 'Tactical Nukes' Used?"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

The Daily "Near You?"

Ashburn, Virginia, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

The Poet: David Wagoner, "Getting There"

"Getting There"

"You take a final step and, look, suddenly

You're there. You've arrived

At the one place all your drudgery was aimed for:

This common ground

Where you stretch out, pressing your cheek to sandstone.

What did you want to be?

You'll remember soon.

You feel like tinder under a burning glass,

A luminous point of change.

The sky is pulsing against the cracked horizon,

Holding it firm till the arrival of stars

In time with your heartbeats.

Like wind etching rock, you've made a lasting impression

On the self you were,

By having come all this way through all this welter

Under your own power,

Though your traces on a map would make an unpromising

Meandering lifeline.

What have you learned so far? You'll find out later,

Telling it haltingly like a dream,

That lost traveler's dream under the last hill

Where through the night you'll take your time out of mind

To unburden yourself

Of elements along elementary paths

By the break of morning.

You've earned this worn-down, hard, incredible sight

Called Here and Now.

Now, what you make of it means everything,

Means starting over:

The life in your hands is neither here nor there

But getting there,

So you're standing again and breathing, beginning another

Journey without regret

Forever, being your own unpeaceable kingdom,

The end of endings."

~ David Wagoner

'Fools And Knaves..."

“In the mass of mankind, I fear, there is too great a majority of

fools and knaves; who, singly from their number, must to a certain

degree be respected, though they are by no means respectable.”

- Philip Stanhope

“There are more fools than knaves in the world,

else the knaves would not have enough to live upon.”

- Samuel Butler

"The Enemy..."

 

"Protecting Sex Predators: The Sordid Reality of the Global Power Elite"

"Protecting Sex Predators: 

The Sordid Reality of the Global Power Elite"

by John & Nisha Whitehead

“When did pedophilia become a partisan issue? The American people deserve to know the whole truth about Jeffrey Epstein and every single powerful person who enabled him. Every name, every flight log, every cover up, all of it… If there’s one thing we should all be able to agree on Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and progressives - it’s that no one, including the President of the United States, should be able to cover up crimes against children.” - James Talarico (Texas politician, Presbyterian seminarian, and former public school teacher.)

Nearly 30 years after the first complaints were filed, the Epstein files remain a masterclass in how the ruling class shields its own. This is no longer just about one man’s crimes—it is about the machinery of silence that keeps the global elite untouchable. We are long past the point for partisan excuses and institutional gaslighting.

The question is no longer whether Jeffrey Epstein - the hedge fund billionaire/convicted serial pedophile and sex trafficker - committed monstrous crimes against young girls, many of them children. We know he did. What remains unresolved is something far more troubling. We know that Epstein did not act alone.

A decision by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals allowing thousands of pages of Epstein-related documents to be unsealed referenced allegations involving “numerous prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well-known Prime Minister, and other world leaders.” That alone should have been enough to trigger full transparency. Instead, nearly 30 years after the first complaints against Epstein were filed, the full truth remains obscured. Why are documents still partially sealed? Why do redactions remain? Why are investigations declared “closed” while unanswered questions linger?

Epstein may have conveniently died in a jail cell six weeks after his arrest on federal sex trafficking charges, but the machinery that empowered and protected him is still very much intact and it continues to work overtime to shield the global power elite, silence victims, and erase accountability. And that is the real scandal. Because this was never simply about Epstein. It was about the system that made Epstein possible.

The Epstein files should have been a moral bright line - an issue so morally reprehensible and widely condemned as to cut through partisan politics. Instead, it has become part of the three-ring circus that is governance in America today. The political noise. The wag-the-dog distractions. The slow-walking of the files’ release. The what-aboutisms. This was never about one president. It was never about one political party. And yet, at this present moment, it is one president and one party that appear to be resisting full transparency.

Donald Trump was at one time socially connected to Epstein. Bill Clinton was, too. Both men were shielded, in different ways and at different times, by a partisan system willing to look the other way when politically convenient. The same voices who denounced Clinton for sexual impropriety often fell silent in the face of Trump’s own history. Likewise, some who defended Clinton had no hesitation in condemning Trump. The principle was never the point. Power was.

And that is why this cannot be dismissed as partisan score-settling. This is not a minor incident involving minor players, nor can it be confined to one political party or one political era. This is about the darkness at the heart of the American police state: a system built to shield the powerful from justice. Epstein did not sidestep accountability because he was clever. He sidestepped accountability because he was protected.

Power protects power. Epstein was aided, abetted and protected by a cross-section of political, corporate and societal classes here in the United States and abroad. He cultivated relationships across politics, finance, academia, entertainment, and global power circles. His social network spanned parties, ideologies, and continents.

Trump’s name alone reportedly appears more than 38,000 times. Numerous top officials connected to the Trump administration have also appeared in the Epstein files, including Elon Musk, Steve Bannon, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. While mere association is not tantamount to guilt, these associations speak volumes about how power operates according to its own rules.

As Rep. Thomas Massie warned Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has been at the forefront of the Trump administration’s effort to slow-walk the release of the Epstein files: “This is bigger than Watergate. This goes over four administrations. You don’t have to go back to Biden. Let’s go back to Obama. Let’s go back to George Bush. This cover-up spans decades, and you are responsible for this portion of it.” If it looks like a cover-up, smells like a cover-up, and appears to benefit the same entrenched interests, we have every right - indeed, a civic and moral duty - to demand greater transparency.

Nothing illustrates how the power elite protects its own more clearly than Epstein’s 2008 plea agreement. Almost two decades ago, when Epstein was first charged with molesting, raping and trafficking underage girls, he was gifted a secret plea deal. According to the Palm Beach Post, that sweetheart deal, arranged by then-U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta, led to 15 more years of abuse by Epstein. The Justice Department estimates that Epstein victimized at least 1,000 women and children. Over 100 survivors of Epstein’s sexual abuse have come forward so far.

Yet the plea deal allowed Epstein to evade federal charges and serve what amounted to a privileged sentence. For the first 13 months, he was allowed to “work” at home six days a week before returning to a private wing of the Palm Beach County jail to sleep. Later, under house arrest, he was allowed to travel extensively, including to his private island. Acosta, the U.S. attorney who enabled that arrangement - which, in turn, shielded Epstein’s associates from federal exposure - was later nominated by Trump and served as his Labor Secretary.

This is how corruption by the power elite flourishes: not through secrecy alone but through get-out-of-jail cards that tacitly sanction immoral, illegal and corrupt bad behavior by the ruling classes. As the Associated Press pointed out, “The arrest of the billionaire financier on child sex trafficking charges is raising questions about how much his high-powered associates knew about the hedge fund manager’s interactions with underage girls, and whether they turned a blind eye to potentially illegal conduct.”

The rot goes deep, and the Epstein case is only the most visible symptom of a much larger disease. For years, the Epstein case has stood as a grotesque emblem of the depravity within the global power elite: a sex trafficking ring operated not only for Epstein’s personal pleasure but also for that of his friends and business associates - billionaires, politicians, and celebrities. According to The Washington Post, “several of the young women…say they were offered to the rich and famous as sex partners at Epstein’s parties.”

Once again, fact and fiction mirror each other. Popular culture has long hinted at what polite society refuses to confront. lmost 30 years ago—three years after the first complaint against Epstein was filed - Stanley Kubrick’s final film "Eyes Wide Shut" provided viewing audiences with a sordid glimpse of an elite sexual underworld insulated from consequence: a secret sex society that indulged the basest urges of its affluent members while preying on vulnerable young women. Kubrick suggested these secret societies flourish because the public chooses not to see what’s right in front of them, content to navigate life in denial about the ugly, obvious truths in our midst. The Epstein case suggests he was not wrong.

Sex slaves. Sex trafficking. Secret societies. Powerful elites. Government corruption. Judicial cover-ups. It is not so different from the real world, where powerful men, insulated from accountability, indulge their base urges.

As The Guardian reports, “By the mid-2000s, Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of teen girls was routine. From 2002 to 2005 alone, the late financier victimized ‘dozens’ of underage teens by luring them into sex acts for payment under the auspices of massage work, some as young as 14.”

If Epstein exposed the rot at the top, the broader landscape of child sex trafficking reveals how deep and systemic that rot truly runs. The numbers alone are staggering. Child sex trafficking - the buying and selling of women, young girls and boys for sex, some as young as 9 years old—has become big business in America. It is one of the fastest growing criminal operations and the second most-lucrative commodity traded illegally after drugs and guns. Adults purchase children for sex at least 2.5 million times a year in the United States.

It’s not just young girls who are vulnerable to these predators, either. Boys account for over a third of victims in the U.S. sex industry. Who buys a child for sex? Otherwise ordinary men from all walks of life. “They could be your co-worker, doctor, pastor or spouse,” writes journalist Tim Swarens, who spent more than a year investigating the sex trade in America.

Ordinary men, yes. But then there are the so-called extraordinary men - like Epstein and his associates - with wealth, connections, and protection who are allowed to operate according to their own rules. Power does not create perversion, but it does insulate the powerful. These men skate free of accountability because the criminal justice system panders to the powerful, the wealthy and the elite.

For years, investigative journalists and survivors have documented how blackmail, intelligence agency ties, and financial leverage helped shield elite sexual predators - not just from prosecution, but from public scrutiny. For every Epstein who is - finally - called to account for his illegal sexual exploits after years of being given a free pass by those in power, there are hundreds (perhaps thousands) more in the halls of power and wealth whose predation continues unabated.

While Epstein’s alleged crimes are heinous enough on their own, he is part of a larger narrative of how a culture of entitlement becomes a cesspool and a breeding ground for despots and predators. Nor is this culture of impunity confined to billionaires and political elites.

Across the country, law enforcement officers have been caught running sex trafficking rings, abusing women and girls in their custody, or exploiting their badge to coerce sex. From Louisiana to Ohio to New York, officers have been arrested for trafficking underage girls, assaulting vulnerable women, and raping detainees - often shielded by unions, prosecutors, or a blue wall of silence. This isn’t a few bad apples. It is a culture of impunity baked into the system. This is how the system works, protecting the untouchables - not because they’re innocent, but because the system has made them immune. And this is why this case was never just about one man.

As Piotr Smolar writes for Le Monde, “Epstein was the most striking face of a two-tier system of justice, one that provided a privileged path for the powerful.” We see this pattern everywhere. A cop shoots an unarmed citizen and walks free. A president sidesteps constitutional limits. An agency spies on its citizens. A financier negotiates immunity.

Abuse of power - and the ambition-fueled hypocrisy and deliberate disregard for misconduct that make those abuses possible - works the same whether you’re talking about sex crimes, government corruption, or the rule of law.

Sexual predators aren’t the only threat. For every prominent name who eventually gets called out for his sexual misbehavior, there are hundreds - thousands - of others in the American police state who are getting away with murder - in many cases, literally - simply because they can. And as history repeatedly demonstrates, power corrupts.

Worse, as 19th-century historian Lord Acton concluded, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Give any one person - or government agency - too much power and allow them to believe that they are entitled, untouchable and will not be held accountable for their actions, and those powers will be abused. History proves it. The present moment confirms it.

We can agree to disagree about many things, but the sex trafficking and abuse of children is one issue where there should be absolutely no dissembling, no wiggle room, and no immunity.America should have zero tolerance for child sex trafficking. So when President Trump insists that there’s nothing more to discuss or investigate so we should just move on, our collective, unequivocal answer should be an absolute refusal to move on, be distracted or engage in what-aboutisms. At some point, moral outrage must give way to moral clarity.

The Trump administration’s cover-up is unacceptable. The selective redactions of non-victims’ names and faces are unacceptable. The removal of files by biased administration operatives is unacceptable. As I make clear in my book "Battlefield America: The War on the American People" and in its fictional counterpart "The Erik Blair Diaries," a constitutional republic cannot survive a protected class.

If the Epstein files force us to think and act differently about anything, let it be this: the rule of law cannot be a one-sided weapon used against the powerless. It must require that the powerful be held just as accountable for their abuses as anyone else."

- https://www.rutherford.org/

"How It Really Is"

“The only difference between the Republican and Democratic

parties is the velocities with which their knees hit the floor when

corporations knock on their door. That’s the only difference.”

- Ralph Nader

"You Can Avoid Reality..."

 

"The War Prayer"

 

"The War Prayer"
By TDB

"My curmudgeonly grandpappy, who reveres Mark Twain and George Carlin and H.L. Mencken and people of that lovable cynic variety – or however you would characterize their philosophical disposition – put me onto "The War Prayer" back in the day. This was in the days of innocence before 9/11 and the subsequent War of Terror, and so whatever lack of an impression it made on me at the time was remedied shortly thereafter by apropos events in the real world.

Twain, in his later years when his family had died and the cynicism became more malignant, would often write fiction in which a cynical protagonist would serve as a proxy for himself. This is one such story; the “aged stranger” is Twain. Via Virginia Commonwealth University:

"It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism… on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun… nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts, and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country, and invoked the God of Battles beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpourings of fervid eloquence which moved every listener. 

Sunday morning came - next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with martial dreams - visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender! Then home from the war, bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said …

Then came the “long” prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was, that an ever-merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers, and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work…

An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness… he ascended to the preacher’s side and stood there waiting. 

The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside - which the startled minister did - and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said: “I come from the Throne - bearing a message from Almighty God! 

God’s servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two - one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear of Him Who heareth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this - keep it in mind. If you would beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor’s crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it.

You have heard your servant’s prayer - the uttered part of it. I am commissioned of God to put into words the other part of it - that part which the pastor - and also you in your hearts - fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words: ‘Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!’ When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory – must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!

O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle - be Thou near them! With them - in spirit - we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it - for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen."

(After a pause.) “Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits!” It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said."

- Mark Twain, "The War Prayer"

Twain reportedly caved to pressure not to publish the short story, as it was regarded by his family and publisher as too inflammatory for public consumption. Asked if he had plans to publish it, Twain answered: "No, I have told the whole truth in that, and only dead men can tell the truth in this world. It can be published after I am dead." At any rate, for whatever reason, it remained unpublished until after his death.

War is an ugly business, fraught with moral pitfalls – not to mention existential implications in the nuclear age. It might be necessary at times, but so are limb amputations. Both should be undertaken with all due discretion. I’ll choose my own wars, not the ones the government or MSNBC or the ADL tells me to."

- https://www.zerohedge.com/

Judge Napolitano, "Prof. Jeffrey Sachs: The Strategic Risks of Fighting Iran"

Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 2/18/26

"Prof. Jeffrey Sachs: 

The Strategic Risks of Fighting Iran"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Scott Ritter, 2/18/26

"Hormuz Blocked! Iran’s Missile Fire 

Can Leave the US Navy Defenseless"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

Full screen recommended.

Money Over History, 2/18/26

"$20 Billion Warships Have ZERO Defense: 

The Hypersonic Missile Threat America Ignored"

America’s $20 billion aircraft carriers are designed to project global power - but what happens when hypersonic missiles travel at Mach 10 to Mach 15 with almost no reaction time? Recent warnings from intelligence and defense officials suggest that advanced hypersonic weapons could challenge traditional naval missile defense systems. With reaction windows potentially measured in seconds, even the most advanced carrier strike groups face new strategic risks.

In this documentary-style breakdown, we examine:

• How hypersonic missiles work.

• Why interception is far more difficult than with ballistic threats.

• The limits of current naval missile defense systems.

• The strategic implications for U.S. aircraft carriers.

• What this means for power balance in the Persian Gulf and beyond.

As global military technology evolves, the future of naval dominance may depend on closing a rapidly emerging defense gap. This analysis explores the technology, strategy, and geopolitical consequences shaping modern warfare in 2026."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

o

"Oil Surges On Report Warning US-Iran 

War Is Far Closer Than Americans Realize"

"In Human Society..."

"When a bull is being lead to the slaughter, it still hopes to break loose and trample its butchers. Other bulls have not been able to pass on the knowledge that this never happens and that from the slaughterhouse there is no way back to the herd. But in human society there is a continuous exchange of experience. I have never heard of a man who broke away and fled while being led to his execution. It is even thought to be a special form of courage if a man about to be executed refuses to be blindfolded and dies with his eyes open. But I would rather have the bull with his blind rage, the stubborn beast who doesn't weigh his chances of survival with the prudent dull-wittedness of man, and doesn't know the despicable feeling of despair."

- Nadezhda Mandelstam

Dan, I Allegedly, "Living Alone? You’re Paying a $10,000 Penalty!"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, I Allegedly, 2/18/26

"Living Alone? You’re Paying a $10,000 Penalty!"

"Living alone in America has never been more expensive. In this episode of i Allegedly, we break down the so-called “singles tax” and how single households are paying over $10,000 more per year compared to couples who split housing, utilities, groceries, travel, and everyday expenses. From rising rent prices and inflated utility bills to bulk shopping disadvantages and tax filing differences, the financial system rewards shared households while solo earners absorb 100% of fixed costs. If you’re single, divorced, widowed, or simply living independently, this economic reality directly impacts your budget and long-term wealth building.

We also examine how this affects business owners, young professionals, and retirees trying to manage home expenses, property taxes, inflation, and cost-of-living increases. As housing affordability declines and wages fail to keep pace, single Americans face compounding financial pressure that influences savings, investing, and retirement planning. This is real economic news that impacts everyday people. Welcome to i Allegedly - where we cover financial news, housing market trends, business updates, and the economic stories that matter most."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"The Financial “Samson Option”: What to Do Before Governments Pull the Trigger"

"The Financial “Samson Option”: 

What to Do Before Governments Pull the Trigger"

by Nick Giambruno

"In the early ’90s, legendary investigative journalist Seymour Hersh revealed the “Samson Option,” a secret Israeli nuclear deterrence strategy. It holds that if Israel’s enemies were about to overrun the country, Israel would respond with a massive use of nuclear weapons as a last resort. The concept comes from the biblical figure Samson, who pushed apart the pillars of a Philistine temple, bringing down the roof and killing himself - along with the Philistines who had captured him. In short, the Samson Option is a threat that says, “If we’re going down, we’re taking you with us.”

I’m bringing this up because governments also have a financial Samson Option… and they could soon use it to devastating effect. Thanks to central banking and fiat currency, governments can steal a nation’s savings through currency debasement. In the event of bankruptcy - or other existential situations - governments can tap into the wealth of a nation by creating new currency units as they desperately try to survive. There’s no doubt they’ll exercise that option before they go down.

It gives a government the ability to bankrupt everyone - at least the unprepared - as it goes bankrupt. “If we’re going down, we’re taking you with us.” In short, that’s the government’s financial Samson Option. And they’re preparing to use it soon.

When the Next Crisis Hits: Imagine working 9 to 5 for 50 years… only for the Federal Reserve to print 40% of the money supply and inflate away 20 years of your hard work. You don’t have to imagine - it actually happened during the COVID mass psychosis, as governments worldwide indulged in a frenzy of currency debasement.

It was the most recent example of what happens when the US government faces an imminent financial crisis. In a matter of days, the Fed created more dollars out of thin air than it had over the US’s nearly 250-year existence.

The Fed’s actions during the Covid hysteria amounted to the biggest monetary explosion in US history. It’s a strong indication they won’t hesitate to use the financial Samson Option during the next crisis - which is likely coming sooner than later and could be much bigger than what happened in 2020.

And no matter how they try to disguise it with confusing euphemisms - quantitative easing, reserve management, yield curve control, large-scale asset purchases, open market operations, balance-sheet expansion, liquidity injections, emergency lending facilities, repo operations, and countless other bits of financial jargon - the end result is always the same: currency debasement. When the next crisis inevitably hits - and I think it will be soon - the money-printing programs will likely dwarf the previous ones. Here’s some context.

During the Covid hysteria, the Fed was creating $120 billion out of thin air each month - far larger than the $40 billion per month during QE3, which itself was larger than the monthly pace during QE1 and QE2. That’s why I expect the coming QE - or whatever they decide to call it -will be significantly bigger than the $120 billion per month they injected into the economy during the Covid scam. And if gold is already hitting record highs, imagine what happens when the Fed unleashes even more currency debasement than the last rounds of “stimulus.”

The Biggest Wealth Transfer in History: The US government is approaching the financial endgame. It can no longer disguise its bankruptcy. When the next crisis comes - and I think it could be imminent - the US government will have no choice but to implement its financial Samson Option. In other words, as the US government goes bankrupt, it will drag everyone down with it in a desperate wealth grab. That’s why I believe rampant currency debasement will be the most important investment trend of this decade - and it will devastate most people.

The worst of it could go down soon… and it won’t be pretty. It will trigger an enormous wealth transfer from savers and regular people to the parasitic class - politicians, central bankers, and those connected to them. In short, I believe we’re on the verge of the biggest wealth transfer in history… And those holding US dollars, Treasuries, and other fiat currencies will be on the losing end. Countless millions throughout history have been wiped out financially - or worse - because they failed to see the correct Big Picture as their governments went bankrupt. Don’t be one of them.

But what if you get the Big Picture right? You can avoid financial disaster - and set yourself up to potentially make life-changing profits. That’s the difference between being on the right and wrong side of changes of historical proportion. It’s a rare fortune-building opportunity for those who see the writing on the wall and take the proper action today. So, what can you do about it? I lay out the details in an urgent free PDF report I just released on where this is all headed. It’s called “The Most Dangerous Economic Crisis in 100 Years… the Top 3 Strategies You Need Right Now.” Click here to download the free PDF now.

- https://www.theburningplatform.com/2026/02/18/

"Silence Is Complicity"

"Silence Is Complicity"

by Anmol Singh

"I rarely post anything even close to political, but this has been on my heart. It honestly boggles my mind that with everything coming out around the Epstein situation, this has not become the global bombshell it should be.

 If you step outside of X for even a moment, you barely see it being discussed anywhere. Not on Instagram. Not on Facebook. Not on mainstream media. Not even on most podcasts. A few are willing to talk, but the majority seem to avoid it completely. We are talking about serious allegations of rape, pedophilia, cannibalism, exploitation, and darkness at a level that should shake humanity to its core. And yet it feels like people have just moved on. The news cycle shifts to celebrities, sports, or whatever the next distraction is, and something this serious just fades into the background. 

It breaks my heart because if anything even remotely similar surfaced in another country involving powerful leaders or high profile people, there would be global outrage. There would be nonstop coverage. The US and the UN would likely be involved immediately. There would be talks of intervention or even invasion to put a stop to it. The reality is that countries have been invaded for far less serious things than what is being discussed here. Yet when it is happening here, there is silence.

 I am not making a political statement. This is a moral and human one. If we claim to believe in truth, justice, and God, then standing up for what is right should not depend on convenience or headlines.

Even if the truth is uncomfortable. Even if it implicates powerful people. Even if it shakes systems. Truth is still truth. And I will say this clearly. Any politician, media outlet, podcast, or public figure who refuses to even acknowledge or speak about issues of this magnitude does not deserve blind loyalty or attention. Silence in the face of serious wrongdoing is not neutrality. It is complicity. This is bigger than politics. This is about what we as a society are willing to tolerate and what we are willing to ignore. Just something on my heart today."

- https://x.com/DeltaNinety/

o

"Epstein-itis"

o

A Comment, And A Warning: In 16 years, on 2 blogs, posting 100,043 posts, I have never encountered material that frightened, no, horrified me, like this. This will horrify you and forever change how you view the world... - CP

"Yes, it’s just that bad. And Congresswoman Lauren Boebert described the worst of it on Wednesday, after viewing the still embargoed files. They eat us. They are cannibals. That’s their most secret sin, beyond the rape, torture and murder of the innocent. “Pizza” is not just the rape of children, it means eating children. “Jerky” is the dried flesh of babies."

"This Is Armageddon Energy. For Them";

"The Epstein Egregore" (Excerpts)

Bill Bonner, "Popolo Americano"

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini addresses

a crowd in Rome’s Piaza Venezia in May, 1936

"Popolo Americano"

by Bill Bonner

Poitou, France - "Are we fascists yet? This rather strange message from Rep. Tom Massie caught our interest: ‘I am not suicidal. I eat healthy food. The brakes on my car and truck are in good shape. I practice good trigger discipline and never point a gun at anyone, including myself. There are no deep pools of water on my farm and I’m a pretty good swimmer.’

Was he joking? Or trying to tell us something? That if something happens to him, it won’t be suicide? The man has been a thorn in Trump’s side. POTUS doesn’t appreciate it. In the animal kingdom, alpha males often drive off rivals. Primates, seals, birds...they often fight – sometimes to the death -- for the right to mate. Historically, high ranking humans targeted their rivals. Brothers...sisters...cousins — even those still unborn — were sometimes considered threats…and eliminated. In modern ‘fascist’ societies, opponents fall from 6th floor windows (two Russian colonels last year) or they are poisoned (Navalny, Litvinenko)...or their planes mysteriously crash (Prigozhin).

In our much more civilized society, challengers are not (yet) murdered. Yes, sometimes particularly threatening people are whacked; that is what we think happened to Jeffrey Epstein. But more often, rivals are bad-mouthed and dismissed. Trump says Massie is a ‘moron.’ He calls Newsom ‘Newscum,’ etc. And/or the judicial system may be turned against them: Kelly, Comey, James, Bolton, Powell etc.

The press has been subjected to more and more self-imposed...and government-imposed...restrictions. In the Biden years, you had to be careful not to say the ‘wrong’ thing about gays, cripples, trans, Blacks, Indians, ‘Orientals,’ fat people, and retards. Today, you have to avoid anything that might be viewed as negative towards Israel. And the Department of Justice is fishing for people who are critical of the feds: "Homeland Security Wants Social Media Sites to Expose Anti-ICE Accounts."

The department has sent Google, Meta and other companies hundreds of subpoenas for information on accounts that track or comment on Immigration and Customs Enforcement, officials and tech workers said. And all over the “liberal” press, pundits are bellyaching about ‘fascism.’ Hardly a day goes by without someone alerting us to a fascist takeover. Is the danger real? Are we there yet?

Charlotte Twight wrote in 1975: ‘To sustain its power and achieve its economic ends, fascism seeks to make its people economically and psychologically dependent on the government.’ Who now is not dependent on the government? Social Security. Medicare. Mortgage deductibility. Suppressed interest rates. Artificially boosted house and stock market prices. The Military/Industrial/Spook complex. The universities. The pharmaceutical industry.

The Independent Review: "Fascism, as generally understood and as [Charlotte] Twight describes it, is a system in which those who hold political power dominate those who engage in economic activity, using their power to subjugate economic activity to further the goals of the political elite."

The richest men in America stood behind Trump at his inauguration. The biggest corporations are so tight with the feds you could barely squeeze a dime in between them. Google, Meta, Amazon, Nvidia – all bow down to federal regulatory power. Tik Tok is now controlled by people beholden to the government. CBS is owned by a Trump crony. And Jeff Bezos, owner of the Washington Post, whom Trump once called ‘Jeff Bozo,’ has seen the light. His Blue Origin project needs federal licenses, contracts, and approvals. He killed the Post endorsement for Trump’s opponent and donated $1 million to the Trump inauguration. Are we there yet? More to come..."

- https://www.bonnerprivateresearch.com/

Musical Interlude: Ludovico Einaudi, “Life”

Full screen recommended.

Ludovico Einaudi, “Life”

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"What is life?

It is the flash of a firefly in the night.

It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.

It is the little shadow which runs 

across the grass and loses itself in the sunset."

- Crowfoot, Blackfoot Warrior and Orator

"A Look to the Heavens"

“What will become of these galaxies? Spiral galaxies NGC 5426 and NGC 5427 are passing dangerously close to each other, but each is likely to survive this collision. Typically when galaxies collide, a large galaxy eats a much smaller galaxy. In this case, however, the two galaxies are quite similar, each being a sprawling spiral with expansive arms and a compact core. As the galaxies advance over the next tens of millions of years, their component stars are unlikely to collide, although new stars will form in the bunching of gas caused by gravitational tides.

Close inspection of the above image taken by the 8-meter Gemini-South Telescope in Chile shows a bridge of material momentarily connecting the two giants. Known collectively as Arp 271, the interacting pair spans about 130,000 light years and lies about 90 million light-years away toward the constellation of Virgo. Recent predictions hold that our Milky Way Galaxy will undergo a similar collision with the neighboring Andromeda Galaxy in a few billion years."

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130825.html

"Never Forget..."

"Take risks! That is really what life is about. We must pursue our own happiness. Nobody has ever lived our lives; there are no guidelines. Trust your instincts. Accept nothing but the best. But then also look for it carefully. Don't allow it to slip between your fingers. Sometimes, good things come to us in a such a quiet fashion. And nothing comes complete. It is what we make of whatever we encounter that determines the outcome. What we choose to see, what we choose to save. And what we choose to remember. Never forget that all the love in your life is there, inside you, always."

- Linda Olsson

"Buried Truths: From Inflationary Lies Buried by the Government to All That Lies Buried Beneath Epstein"

Inflation is about to burn up the dollar, but the incendiary truth beneath 

Epstein burns even hotter. Both lie deeply buried by your government.

"Buried Truths: From Inflationary Lies Buried by the 

Government to All That Lies Buried beneath Epstein"

by David Haggith

Excerpt: "(If you are not interested in inflation, just skip to the next section; but, first, the simple buried truth that government has intentionally hidden before we delve into the deep complexity that is Epstein.)

Inflation due to tariffs is now rising more quickly than it did last year. You wouldn’t know it based on a quick read of the government’s report last week. Neither would you guess it based on Zero Hedge’s gloss of that report on inflation because ZH emphasized the superficial figures that look good for President Trump. Quite simply, they know what their audience wants to hear, and they pander to their audience. I am one who writes what my audience may not want to hear because, as with Epstein, the most important truths are the ones government refuses to tell you. In this case, the deeper truth tells you why your experience with “affordability” does not square with what you keep hearing from the Trump administration.

Fortunately, we also have economist Wolf Richter’s take on inflation, which is more of a take-it-apart. Richter points out that the government’s headline number for inflation, which ZH wrote so benignly about, was solely held down by the same flaw that the government added to its reports when it shut down for nearly two months and then pretended those two months never happened. As Richter pointed out back then (and now) the skew from omitting two months of inflation data will continue to hold through the year-over-year change all the way until next October, when October and November will finally start to drop out of the YoY measure.

That flaw conveniently crept into the most influential component of inflation, which has long been the most deeply flawed anyway. That is “Owner’s Equivalent Rent” (OER), which is the Bureau of Lying Statistic’s proxy for the cost of homeownership. I’ll let Richter summarize how flawed this report is, so you don’t have to take my word for it. (Since I’m the guy who kept saying tariffs would turn inflation hot again, I want an independent review on that.) Let’s start with the part Richter leads off with, which is the bad news they couldn’t even hide:

The Consumer Price index for core services jumped in January by the most in a year, seasonally adjusted. Core services dominate the Consumer Price Index and include many of the essentials that consumers cannot do without, such as housing, healthcare, and insurance….

So the all-items CPI rose month-to-month by a benign looking 0.17% (+2.1% annualized) in January. But the core CPI (CPI without food and energy) rose by 0.30% (+3.6% annualized) and the core services CPI was hot.

Core services CPI jumped by 0.39% (+4.8% annualized) in January from December, the worst reading in a year (blue line in the chart). It accounts for two-thirds of the CPI basket of goods and services, and that’s where inflation ran hot.

And then we come to Richter’s take on the really, truly fake-and-meant-to-hide-the-truth-about-tariffs inflation: Year-over-year, the services CPI rose by 3.0% (red). It continues to be pushed down by the CPI for Owners’ Equivalent of Rent (OER), which had been doctored for the September-November period. OER is the biggest component of the CPI basket, weighing 26.2% in overall CPI and over 40% in the core services CPI, and it moves the needle. I discussed these scandalously doctored months here.

In August, the service CPI rose by 3.6% year-over-year, roughly the same pace as in the prior three months. Then came the doctored months. By November, the year-over-year reading had reset at an increase of 3.0%, and that’s where it has stayed through January. Those doctored months produced a year-over-year downshift that will stick around through October.

And then the part about OER that is always deeply flawed in order to understate inflation: "Homeowners experience a lot more inflation, but it is not reflected in CPI. The expenses of homeownership – homeowners’ insurance, HOA fees, property taxes, and maintenance – are not included in CPI, and OER takes their place. Those expenses have soared for many homeowners, and inflation is rampant in them, but obviously not reflected by OER."

OER accounts for 26.2% of overall CPI. Rent, by the way, got the same two months left out of the measure that will remain out until those same two months fall off next autumn. So, like the Epstein Files, the truth is well hidden.

The Trump government has managed to use the government shutdowns to dishonestly hide as much of the inflation that has already happened as it can. You are already paying that inflation, but their reports will be claiming all year that you are not because of how they left two months out of the most influential parts of the measure and are no more willing to release that information than Pam Bondi is to release the remaining 3-million+ Epstein Files. Island architecture.

Speaking of the Epstain that runs throughout governments past and present, I have posted a link below to an outstanding article by a beautiful young writer who simply goes by the name “Lily.” She is a masterful literary craftsman with a brilliant mind, and she does the most credible job that I have seen of laying out the deepest and worst truths of the Epstein Files - not the most salacious details that readily capture our attention and our ire (and should) over how young girls were abused by the elite throughout society, but the architecture behind all of that depravity—the depths of government control that were interconnected through Epstein.

I am amazed at how adroitly she brings it all together and lays bare the mechanical apparatus. That which sounds like conspiracy theories from many writers finds solid intellectual ground in her exposé, so I will leave you to reading it all from her because she says it all out as one skilled in the craft of clean, clear prose and rooted in historic depth. Her feast for the mind also serves up nicely with the Deeper Dive I put together over the weekend about the arrival of the AI singularity. I’ll put the link to Lily’s article right up top for you: “The Epstein Files That Actually Matter” (A comment: I've read this article. It will shock and inform you beyond expectation, and I strongly recommend you read it. - CP)

Full, comprehensive article is here:

- https://www.thedailydoom.com/

Gerald Celente, "Good Think Epstein's Name Wasn't Epstino"

VERY Strong language alert!

Gerald Celente, 2/17/26

"Good Think Epstein's Name Wasn't Epstino"

"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/

Oh, Gerald's in fine form today! lol

"It's Started! The Car Market Crash Of 2026"

Full screen recommended.

Epic Economist, 2/17/26

"It's Started! The Car Market Crash Of 2026"

"In this video, we're taking an honest look at what's really happening with car prices in the United States right now. New car prices have crossed the $50,000 average. Monthly payments are pushing $700, $800, even over $1,000 a month. And it's not just luxury vehicles — we're talking about base model sedans and SUVs that used to be considered affordable. A Honda Civic now costs over $30,000. A Toyota RAV4 can run you over $40,000. These aren't premium trims. These are everyday cars for everyday people.

And the problems don't stop at the sticker price. Interest rates are hitting double digits for a lot of buyers. Loan terms are stretching out to six and seven years. People are financing $30,000 cars and ending up paying $45,000 or more by the time it's all said and done. One in five financed vehicles now carries a monthly payment over $1,000. That's not a car payment, that's a second rent check.

We're also looking at what's happening to young Americans who are trying to do the right thing, get reliable transportation so they can work, go to school, and build a life. Many of them are getting locked into loans they can barely afford, only to realize a few months in that they're stuck. The car has already lost value, the payments keep coming, and there's no easy way out. Used cars aren't much better either. A decade-old Honda can still cost $13,000 to $15,000, and many lenders won't even finance anything older than ten years.

Then there's the quality issue. American car brands are charging more than ever, but the build quality hasn't kept up. Brand-new trucks and cars are rolling off the lot with misaligned panels, mechanical problems, and issues that shouldn't exist on a vehicle you just spent tens of thousands of dollars on. When you're already stretched thin financially, an unexpected repair bill on a car that's supposed to be new is the last thing you need.

And for a growing number of people, this is all leading to one place, being upside down on their auto loans. Owing more than the car is worth. Falling behind on payments. Facing repossession. Auto loan delinquencies are climbing, and more and more Americans are finding themselves trapped in debt with no clear path forward.

This isn't about people making bad decisions. This is about a system that has made it nearly impossible to own a vehicle without taking on serious financial risk. Cars are a necessity for most Americans, not a luxury, and the market has turned that necessity into a trap. If you've been feeling the pressure of car prices, you're not alone. Drop a comment below and share your experience. What are you driving? What are you paying? And what do you think needs to change?"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/