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Wednesday, September 30, 2026

"McDonald's Is Panicking! Customers Are Showing Exactly Why They Stopped Going"

Full screen recommended.
Epic Economist, 9/30/26
"McDonald's Is Panicking! Customers Are 
Showing Exactly Why They Stopped Going"
"McDonald's is panicking as customers stop going, and the people who used to eat there every week are showing exactly why. Menu prices climb every year, the dollar menu is dead, and the deals are locked inside an app that freezes at the window. In this video, McDonald's customers and one employee show what a visit looks like now: over $9 for two items, an extra charge for pickles at the drive-thru, a charge for a water cup, a surprise charity charge on the receipt, a paid mobile order ignored all night, an order handed to a stranger first, and an app that turns ordering into troubleshooting. We look at why the drive-thru has gone quiet, what fast food prices are doing to working families, and how to feed a family on a tight budget at home."
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Adventures With Danno, "This Is Going To Wreck The Economy!"

Adventures With Danno, 9/30/26
"This Is Going To Wreck The Economy!"
Comments here:

"The Steady Erosion Of The Middle Class In America Resembles A Very Twisted Game Of Musical Chairs"

by Michael Snyder

"Have you lost your spot in the middle class yet? Most Americans do not aspire to become rich and they certainly do not want to be poor. Most of the U.S. population just wants to live a comfortable middle class lifestyle just like their parents did. Unfortunately, there is a huge problem. Since the beginning of this decade, virtually everything has been getting a lot more expensive. So even if your income has been going up, if it hasn’t been going up as fast as the cost of living has you are still falling behind. Chasing “the American Dream” has essentially become like playing a really twisted game of musical chairs. Every single month most Americans are just barely scraping by, and every single month more chairs are being removed from the game. If you still have your seat, you should be very thankful, but I wouldn’t get too comfortable because another major economic downturn is rapidly approaching.

If you are going to live a middle class lifestyle, you have got to have a home. But homes are now more unaffordable than they have ever been before. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average sales price for a new home in the U.S. was $502,700 as of the second quarter of 2026. And the national average for a 30 year fixed-rate mortgage is now way over 7 percent. Who can afford that? The top 10 percent of all income earners can still afford that, but that is about it.

If you purchased a home prior to the beginning of this current decade, you are in good shape. But if you are a young adult that is just starting out, you are out of luck. That is one of the reasons why more than 25 million U.S. adults under the age of 35 are still living with their parents… "A record number of adult children under 35 in the U.S. are moving back in with their parents, either because they can’t afford homes of their own or because they want to save money amid the rising cost of living, according to a recent study.

In 2025, 25.2 million adults under 35 lived at home, according to Realtor.com, which found that the share of adults living with their moms and dads was higher than it was during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these adults moving back in with their parents are employed, but their wages aren’t keeping up with inflation. Among the 25- to 34-year-olds living at home, roughly 7 in 10 have jobs, the online real estate firm found. A lot of those young adults have no hope of buying a home for the foreseeable future."

This is life in America in 2026. As our standard of living has eroded, more Americans than ever are living in an RV. In fact, the number of Americans that are living in an RV has more than doubled since 2021… About 486,000 people live full time in an RV, which appears to be more than twice as many as in 2021, according to survey data from the RV Industry Association. About a third have children, and a vast majority earn less than $75,000 a year.

Of course a lot of Americans can’t even afford an RV. I asked Google to give me the total number of Americans that are sleeping in their vehicles, and this is what I was told…An estimated 1 million to 3 million Americans regularly sleep in a car, van, or RV due to housing affordability and the ongoing housing crisis. The truth is that it is quite difficult to get a really accurate number because a lot of people that are sleeping in their vehicles don’t like to be counted. But we can all see that the numbers have been growing. In fact, some major cities now have vast parking lots where people that sleep in their vehicles can rest safely at night.

We never had such a thing when I was growing up. Overall, the number of homeless in this country has reached a truly frightening level. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a total of 1,456,923 Americans “were either homeless or living in taxpayer subsidized/funded housing for the homeless” as of the beginning of last year…745,652 individuals were homeless on a single night in January 2025;  266,320 individuals were living unsheltered on a single night in January 2025; 1,456,923 individuals were either homeless or living in taxpayer subsidized/funded housing for the homeless. I am sure that when the final numbers for 2026 are released they will be even higher.

Meanwhile, food just continues to become even more expensive and the number of Americans that are going hungry just continues to grow. According to the Alliance to End Hunger, 47.9 million Americans live in food insecure households. This number reflects that 14.4 % of the population, or roughly 1 in 7 people in the U.S. lived in food insecure households. 14.1 million children lived in food insecure households. Those numbers are a bit old, and so I am sure that they are even higher today. Every time I go to the grocery store, it seems like more prices have been changed. I know that all of you are noticing the same thing. Our ability to feed our families is being eviscerated right in front of our eyes.

One recent study found that it now takes a single person in New York City $158,954 a year just to “afford the basics”… For example, the median household income across New York City in 2025 was $86,900. However, a SmartAsset study found that single New Yorkers needed to make at least $158,954 that year to afford the basics (such as housing, groceries, utilities, and transportation) and cover the costs of a couple of hobbies. This is one of the reasons why our young adults are so hesitant to get married and have children. It just costs so much money. And now the economy is moving in the wrong direction again.

This month, the Conference Board’s index of consumer confidence “fell sharply”…Consumer sentiment fell sharply in September as an inflation-weary public took a dimmer view on the labor market and the impact higher prices would have on their finances, the Conference Board reported Tuesday. The board’s Consumer Confidence Index tumbled to 81.9, a decline of 6.7 points and a reading well below the Dow Jones consensus forecast for 89.

Of course this reading is perfectly consistent with other surveys. Earlier this month, the University of Michigan’s index of consumer confidence fell to the second lowest level ever recorded… The Conference Board’s reading is in keeping with similar surveys. The University of Michigan’s consumer survey showed sentiment fell 7% in September to its second-lowest reading on record.

The American people hate what is happening to the economy. Why is that so difficult for “the experts” to comprehend? Sadly, dissatisfaction with the economy has pushed some Americans toward socialism. In fact, a recent Gallup poll found that the percentage of Americans that have a positive view of socialism has reached an all-time high…"Forty-three percent of Americans now have a positive view of socialism, marking the first time this figure has exceeded 39% in Gallup’s trend since 2010. Socialism still trails capitalism and free enterprise in public favorability but now ranks ahead of big business. Small business remains the clear leader among the five economic concepts tested, with 95% viewing it positively."

Needless to say, socialism is not the answer to anything. But most Americans perceive that our current system is deeply broken, and that is because it is deeply broken. We need to return to the basics. We need to return to the economic values that were embraced by our founders. Will that ever happen? We better hope so, because right now the middle class in this country is steadily shrinking.

John Wilder, "Diversity + Proximity Still Equals War"

"Diversity + Proximity Still Equals War"
by John Wilder

"I was thinking about rivers the other day, and realized the reason the Mississippi runs through St. Louis is that if it walked, it would get stabbed. I kid. But I was thinking about rivers as a metaphor. If I dump a gallon of water on the ground in Modern Mayberry, and it hits the stream, I’m not sure about what path it will take, exactly.

Tributaries wander. The location of each little creek and drainage ditch may change. Hell, the Mighty Mississippi even wanders from time to time, but if my gallon of water hits it, regardless of the path, the destination of that water is the ocean. Some things are like that: near certainties, it’s just the “how we get there” changes. Today, let’s take the big Kahuna, population.

The highest fertility peoples in the world are in Sub-Saharan Africa and to a lesser extent Pakistan and Afghanistan. India was above replacement but is slightly below right now using 2024 data. However, India is leading the people numbers, so we’ll keep them in.
Click image for larger size.
These are also some of the least intellectually gifted people on the planet, coming from many countries where the average IQ is so low that half or more of the population would be considered “borderline impaired”. Given the relatively low IQ, it’s not surprising that these areas are also the least educated, least well-governed, and poorest countries in the world, often starving themselves through nearly comical mismanagement of the local resources which could give them amazing wealth and prosperity if managed with just a modicum of thought.

Decolonizing these areas was not a kindness, but sometimes you get what you asked for, and they certainly did, good and hard. Soon enough, there will be billions of Sub-Saharan Africans. Where is this surplus of people going to go?

Unlike my metaphorical gallon of water, they’re not going to line up two-by-two and march into the ocean. The choices then, are simple. They either stay in the same country and kill and eat each other, or they migrate by the hundreds of millions to places where they can descend like locusts and turn that location into a Mad Max wasteland as well. Where? They really have only one logical destination. Europe. And, America a little, but more on that below.
This, of course, will destroy Western Civilization in Europe. From the outward appearances right now, it looks like there are about sixty people on the whole continent that are opposed to this invasion enough to do something to stop it, and they’re mainly Irish.

Matt Bracken notes that just a few shipping containers of AK-47s and there are divisions of these “migrants” ready to take over country after country in Europe, far outnumbering the police, army, and armed citizenry. These men are all over, being paid to be there so Germans and English men and women can have the opportunity to work long hours to support the invaders. The irony is that often the invaders have better food and lodging than the actual workers that support them.

The GloboLeftElite is thrilled about this, because, hey, quarterly profits will go through the roof AND we’ll get rid of the Germans, French, English, and Irish in a couple of generations. To the GloboLeftElite, these invaders are the real Europeans, or at least the “Europeans” they want.

I cannot tell you exactly which European capital will fall first, or if the Indians and Pakistanis will have to partition London so they don’t end up fighting each other. But I can say that this collapse into a balkanized group of tribal fiefdoms from the Atlantic to the Danube is all but assured.

I said I’d get back to America, so let’s pick up that tributary.
Tens of millions, at minimum, will try to make it to the United States. The Democrats, Chamber of Commerce Republicans, and the Libertarian (capital L) types will want to let them in as fast as they can get here. Why? In order: reliable votes for a route to permanent power, cheap labor, and . . . “Am I being detained?” I guess.

It is much tougher physically to get to the United States directly. So, they’ll use Canada, which is helpfully importing infinity Indians right now, and is trying to become an associate member of the EU because, well, Trump. If they join the EU as an associate member, anyone in Europe can wander on over any time, just like those “refugees in fear for their lives” who regularly vacation in the countries that they’re so afraid of. Time will tell, but you know the answer.

Getting to North America is also more expensive, but that seems to only be a moderate impediment with NGO after NGO (funded by US government payments) bringing them here, and often funding their transport into the United States. Many of these groups hate the United States, so certainly their intent in giving us blessing of diversity is benign, right?

While less certain than the fate of Europe, I fully expect the next Democratic administration, if not the next Republican administration, to invite in millions like Biden did, and work to get them either citizenship or on the voting rolls as soon as possible. This is inevitable.

The balkanization of the United States, absent a significant change, likewise seems to be inevitable. The major difference to Europe is that Americans are armed in impressive numbers with my guess being that there are two guns for every person in the country, at minimum. I suspect there are many, many more since official estimates are based on weapons produced for private use since 1990. A few containers of AK-47s dropped to illegal aliens would cause havoc in the United States, but wouldn’t result in the nearly immediate surrender you’d see in, say, France or England.

Whereas the final end of the conflict in Europe seems to be certain, the certainty of what will happen in the United States is not the ultimate outcome, but that there will be massive civil unrest.

Why? As the great Chateau Heartiste put forward, “Diversity + Proximity = War” and the millions of diversity imported into the country make widespread armed conflict inevitable. Think the moslems in Dearborn, Michigan are going to try to become Americans, or keep pelting peaceful Christians with stones and trying to kill them? Yeah, they’re going to keep trying to kill them as they take over city after city. Diversity, I guess, is a stabbing. I get the sense, though, that Americans are going to fight back at some point, and unlike Europeans, have the means to do so.

I had intended to tackle a whole host of trends, but here we are. Just one. I’ll toss in this St. Thomas Aquinas quote on immigration. A saint outranks a pope, right?

"For they were not at once admitted to citizenship: just as it was law with some nations that no one was deemed a citizen except after two or three generations, as the Philosopher Aristotle says. The reason for this was that if foreigners were allowed to meddle with the affairs of a nation as soon as they settled down in its midst, many dangers might occur, since the foreigners, not yet having the common good firmly at heart, might attempt something hurtful to the people."

We can wish all we want, but the water will find the ocean. At least in the United States, there is still some ability to plot its course."

Tuesday, September 29, 2026

"GC's 3 Gs: Guns, Gold, and a Getaway Plan. Politicians are Creating a Global Crisis. Prepare!"

Strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, 9/29/26
"GC's 3 Gs: Guns, Gold, and a Getaway Plan. 
Politicians are Creating a Global Crisis. Prepare!"
"In this episode, Celente analyzes the latest developments in the Iran War as President Trump rejects a proposal aimed at de-escalating tensions, raising fears of a broader regional conflict. He also examines the impact of rising oil prices, the shaky state of today's financial markets, and what these trends mean." 
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"Alert! Russian Embassies Issue "Extremely Rare Nuclear Warning, Kaliningrad Invasion Plans"

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 9/29/26
"Alert! Russian Embassies Issue 
'Extremely Rare Nuclear Warning', Kaliningrad Invasion Plans"
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"Everything Is Becoming 'Surge Pricing' - Americans Are Fed Up"

Full screen recommended.
Snyder Reports, 9/29/26
"Everything Is Becoming 'Surge Pricing' - 
Americans Are Fed Up"
"Are you paying more for the same Big Mac just because of where you live? Reuters just exposed it. In this video I break down McDonald's secret Pricing Engine, Walmart's electronic shelf labels, and why the same big mac, groceries, and fast food cost 11% more just 2 miles away. This isn't just McDonalds - it's Walmart, Kroger, Dollar General, gas stations, and car dealerships. And AI is now letting them change prices daily in seconds. I also share my own KFC story where I paid $13 for two chicken sandwiches at one location, then over $8 for ONE just 5 miles away. Have you seen this in your town? Let me know in the comments. Stay informed on inflation, the cost of living crisis, and fast food prices so you can prepare for the best and worst days."
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"Brace For Losing Everything! The Middle Class Is Disappearing, Sleeping In Your Car To Survive"

Jeremiah Babe, 9/29/26
"Brace For Losing Everything! The Middle Class 
Is Disappearing, Sleeping In Your Car To Survive"
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"Grocery Stores Are Getting Scary! Families Are Showing What They Pay Now"

Full screen recommended.
Epic Economist, 9/29/26
"Grocery Stores Are Getting Scary! 
Families Are Showing What They Pay Now"
"Grocery stores are getting scary, and families are showing exactly what they pay now. Prices on the basics creep up week after week, and the weekly shopping trip has become one of the biggest bills in the house. In this video, shoppers show their receipts and their carts: Walmart app prices two years apart, $210 for one week of food, a biscuit price that jumped in a single week, $44 for chicken salad, a dollar box that now costs five dollars, two incomes that still can't cover food, $338 spent with still no food in the house, and a Walmart price that changed at the register. We look at what food inflation is doing to working families and how to stock a pantry that lasts."
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Musical Interlude: Barry Manilow, Cilla Black, "You'll Never Walk Alone"

Barry Manilow, Cilla Black, "You'll Never Walk Alone"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"Where do the dark streams of dust in the Orion Nebula originate? This part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, M43, is the often imaged but rarely mentioned neighbor of the more famous M42. M42, seen in part to the upper right, includes many bright stars from the Trapezium star cluster.
M43 is itself a star forming region that displays intricately-laced streams of dark dust - although it is really composed mostly of glowing hydrogen gas. The entire Orion field is located about 1600 light years away. Opaque to visible light, the picturesque dark dust is created in the outer atmosphere of massive cool stars and expelled by strong outer winds of protons and electrons."
o
"The eternal silence of infinite spaces frightens me. Why now rather than then? Who has put me here? By whose order and direction have this place and time have been ascribed to me? We travel in a vast sphere, always drifting in the uncertain, pulled from one side to another. Whenever we find a fixed point to attach and to fasten ourselves, it shifts and leaves us; and if we follow it, it eludes our grasp, slips past us, and vanishes for ever. Nothing stays for us. This is our natural condition, most contrary to our inclination; we burn with desires to find solid ground and an ultimate and solid foundation for building a tower reaching to the Infinite. But always these bases crack, and the earth obstinately opens up into abysses. We are infinitely removed from comprehending the extremes, since the end of things and their beginning are hopelessly hidden from us in an encapsulated secret; we are equally incapable of seeing the Nothing from which we were made, and the Infinite in which we are swallowed up."
- Blaise Pascal

"On the Old Vet's Last Day, Every Animal He Ever Saved Came Back"

Full screen recommended.
"On the Old Vet's Last Day,
 Every Animal He Ever Saved Came Back"
"For fifty years, Doc Bennett remembered every animal he healed by drawing its portrait. On his final day as the town veterinarian, he expected an empty clinic -  and one last blank frame on the wall. Then a quiet line formed on the cobblestones. None of them had come for treatment. A red hen climbed the exam table. A horse rested his head on the healer’s chest. A seagull opened wings that once could not fly. A hedgehog brought the smallest treasure. Even the geese came home. Through Three-Quarter Town, the quiet word had flown: every heart he mended came walking back. When the room finally emptied, one last patient was still waiting by the desk - his old dog Rusty. He checked the tired paws, the clouded eyes, the faithful heartbeat. Then he filled the final frame. An AI-animated story from Three-Quarter Town - original music, slow and quiet - about gratitude, retirement, a wall of fifty years, and the friend who never left his feet. If this gave you a soft minute, you’re welcome in town anytime."

"Valley of Eternal Flowers"

Full screen recommended.
Crystal Heaven,
"Valley of Eternal Flowers"
"Step into a world where giant flowers bloom endlessly, crystal rivers flow through enchanted valleys, and golden lights dance beneath a dreamlike sky. Welcome to the Valley of Eternal Flowers - a peaceful fantasy realm created for relaxation, sleep, meditation, studying, reading, or simply escaping into a magical world for a while. Let yourself wander through breathtaking landscapes filled with: Giant magical flowers, Crystal rivers and sparkling streams, Dreamlike waterfalls, Glowing gardens filled with golden lights, Magical butterflies and tiny luminous creatures, Enchanted forests and ancient trees, Peaceful fantasy landscapes, Soft blue, turquoise and pastel dreamscapes. Relaxing Fantasy Music & Magical Ambience. Allow the gentle music and beautiful scenery to carry you deeper into this enchanted world. Whether you're looking for peaceful background music, a relaxing visual experience, sleep ambience, meditation, or inspiration, this journey is designed to create a calm and dreamy atmosphere."

Incredibly beautiful...

Native American Elder, "Why You're Still Alive After Everything"

Full screen recommended.
Native American Elder,
"Why You're Still Alive After Everything"

Delta King's Blues, "Getting Old Ain’t for Sissies"

Full screen recommended.
Delta King's Blues,
"Getting Old Ain’t for Sissies"
"Growing old ain’t gentle… it’s a test of grit. “Getting Old Ain’t for Sissies” is a raw, straight-talkin’ Delta King’s Blues tune about stiff mornings, long memories, and the stubborn strength it takes to keep going. A gravel-toned acoustic guitar grinds out a slow back-porch groove, steady as boots on worn wood. The harmonica wails low and weathered, like it’s felt every mile of the road itself. The rhythm stays slow and tough, built for folks who learned life doesn’t hand out easy years. This is blues about surviving the long haul. For people who may creak when they stand up - but never back down from another day. Getting old ain’t for the soft… it’s for the strong who kept showing up."

The Poet: John O’Donohue, “In These Times”

“In These Times”

“In these times when anger
Is turned into anxiety,
And someone has stolen
The horizons and mountains,
Our small emperors on parade
Never expect our indifference
To disturb their nakedness.
They keep their heads down,
And their eyes gleam with reflection
From aluminum economic ground,
The media wraps everything
In a cellophane of sound,
And the ghost surface of the virtual
Overlays the breathing earth.

The industry of distraction 
Makes us forget
That we live in a universe.
We have become converts 
To the religion of stress
And its deity of progress;
May we may have courage 
To turn aside from it all,
And come to kneel down before the poor,
To discover what we must do,
How to turn anxiety
Back into anger,
How to find our way home.”

~ John O’Donohue,
from “To Bless the Space Between Us”
○
by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

"Relax. They're not going to kill us. They're going to
TRY and kill us. And that is a very different thing."
- Steve Voake, "The Dreamwalker's Child"

“My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world now. Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.

You are right in your assessments. The lustre and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking. Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is that we were made for these times. Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement.

I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see one. Regarding awakened souls, there have never been more able vessels in the waters than there are right now across the world. And they are fully provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in the history of humankind.

Look out over the prow; there are millions of boats of righteous souls on the waters with you. Even though your veneers may shiver from every wave in this stormy roil, I assure you that the long timbers composing your prow and rudder come from a greater forest. That long-grained lumber is known to withstand storms, to hold together, to hold its own, and to advance, regardless.

In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that. There is a tendency, too, to fall into being weakened by dwelling on what is outside your reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there. That is spending the wind without raising the sails.

We are needed, that is all we can know. And though we meet resistance, we more so will meet great souls who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them when they appear. Didn’t you say you were a believer? Didn’t you say you pledged to listen to a voice greater? Didn’t you ask for grace? Don’t you remember that to be in grace means to submit to the voice greater?

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.

What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take everyone on Earth to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale.

One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these – to be fierce and to show mercy toward others; both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.

Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do.

There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it. I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate.

The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours. They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here. In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for.”
○
“Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Jungian psychiatrist and post trauma recovery specialist, writes this to social activists. Estes is perhaps most famous for her book, "Women Who Run With the Wolves." This letter appears, in part, on Clarissa Pinkola Estes’ blog. The date of the original letter is unknown.

Joel Bowman, "Ramblin' Man"

"Ramblin' Man"
by Joel Bowman

“Lord, I was born a ramblin’ man,
Tryin’ to make a livin’ and doin’ the best I can.
And when it’s time for leavin’, I hope you’ll understand
That I was born a ramblin’ man.”
~ "Ramblin’ Man" by the Allman Brothers

Sao Paulo, Brazil - "We are on the road today, dear reader… or rather, up in the air. Our peripatetic family of three (wifey, daughter, and yours truly) is hopping its way up the content to a little hideaway in northeastern Brazil. We’ll have more from our destination in due course, but first…

When we left you last week, we were meditating on the fate of mankind. Are our AI Overlords plotting and planning their creator’s (that’s us) extinction? Are we to be its master… its servant… or, as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak predicts, its best friend. “They’ll treat humans as pet Labradors,” he once told TIME Magazine.

More on the future in… well, the future. Today, we offer a few words about the vagabond, the gypsy, the restless wanderers of our distant past. Polite society tends to look somewhat askance at the rootless among us, the shiftless, the itinerant. They are the drifters...the hobos...the rolling stones. And they are nothing new.

Prior to the Agricultural Revolution, the human race had no need for such descriptions. Back then, everybody was a “ramblin’ man.” Before they became farmers, Homo sapiens were nomads, hunter-gatherers, vagrant workers who went wherever opportunity presented itself. Usually, that opportunity was determined by seasonality and, in turn, food supply...or lack thereof. (Of course pestilence, inter-tribal conflict, religious mythology and other factors drove people in various directions at various times too.)

Forget about building walls to keep people out...or in. These ancient folk didn’t even have walls to keep roofs overhead. As for travel visas...reciprocity fees...passport stamps and all the rest...well, they weren’t yet baked into the cosmic firmament, taken as given.

Then, sometime around 12,000-10,000 BC, a curious thing happened. Ramblin’ Man decided life on the road was not for him after all. He wanted a home of his own...a white picket fence...a place to rest his weary head and let his blisters heal. Or something like that.

Beasts of Burden: There’s some disagreement among historians as to how this “lifestyle change” came to pass. Some think the first farms were little more than a few seeds sprouting near common latrines. Members of the wandering tribes noticed they could, with a bit of primitive fertilizer and some modest attention, grow their own food. Thus the imperative to wander, to hunt and gather, fell out of fashion.

Others suggest a more concerted, determined effort to put down the proverbial roots. Experimentation and tinkering, they argue, resulted in technological advancements that allowed man to produce surpluses with increasing regularity and, eventually, some dependability. With this newfound, relative abundance, they decided to stay put.

Still others attribute the transformation to agreeable climates...favorable demographic shifts...certain socio-economic catalysts...even the impulse of the power hungry to throw ostentatious feasts to showcase their political and societal dominance.

However it came about, man domesticated certain crops, probably beginning in the Fertile Crescent (modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Northern Egypt) with three primary cereals - einkorn wheat, emmer wheat, and barley - and soon growing to include four legumes (lentil, pea, bitter vetch, and chickpea) and flax. Other regions began with slightly different diets...maize (corn), beans, and squash in Mesoamerica...millet, and later rice and soybean in China.

Around this time, our budding farmer also domesticated animals, both for meat, milk and wool as well as for general guarding and herding assistance. Among the first were dogs, sheep, goats, cows and pigs. Shortly thereafter, he brought beasts of burden under the whip, using oxen, onagers, donkeys, horses, and camels to plow his fields, turn the earth and transport his harvest to market.

As the story goes, our ancient forefathers prospered in their new, sedentary life. Certainly the population exploded as food stores were able to support ever larger “city centers.” (Probably only thousands or perhaps tens of thousands of inhabitants.) From a purely biological perspective, the species appeared to be thriving. But for the individual, quality of life may have been no better than before these primitive, technological advancements..."

The Daily "Near You?"

Padua, Veneto, Italy. Thanks for stopping by!

“10 Things You Should Know About Life’s Most Important Questions”

“10 Things You Should Know About 
Life’s Most Important Questions”
by Marc Chernoff

"It’s a harsh fact that every one of us is ignorant in some way. Although we tend to pretend otherwise, it’s impossible to know it all. Ignorance is our biggest collective secret. And it’s one of the scariest and most damaging realities of life, because those of us who are most ignorant – and thus most likely to spread ignorance – are also the ones who often don’t know it.

Here’s a quick test: If you have never changed your mind about one of your learned beliefs, if you have never questioned the fundamentals of your opinions, and if you have no inclination to do so, then you are likely ignorant about something you think you know.

What’s the quickest solution? Get outside and find someone who, in your opinion, believes, behaves, and handles certain aspects of life very differently from you, and just have a simple, honest conversation with them. I promise, some of life’s most important questions will become clearer by doing so. And it will do both of you lots of good. Once you’ve done that, here are some key things to remember:

1. Many of the biggest misunderstandings in life could be avoided if we would simply take the time to ask, “What else could this mean?”

2. An expert is not a person who gives all the right answers; she’s the one who asks the right questions.

3. Very few of us actively seek new knowledge in this world on a daily basis. We get comfortable with what we know, and we stop questioning things. On the contrary, we try to squeeze from the unknown the answers we have already shaped in our own minds – judgments, justifications, validations, forms of consolation without which we might feel incomplete or off-center. To really ask something new is to open the door to the storm.  And the answer just may blow us away.

4. If someone can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about how they answer you.

5. Monsters do exist in the real world, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous in the long run. More dangerous are the common people with good intentions who are instantly ready to believe and act without asking questions.

6. At the end of the day, the questions you ask of yourself determine the type of person you will become.

7. Courage doesn’t happen when you have all the answers. It happens when you are ready to face the questions you have been avoiding your whole life. 

8. When it comes to your relationships: Does he/she treat you with respect at all times? That’s the first question. The second question is: If he/she remains the exact same person ten years from now, would you still want to be in a relationship with him/her? And finally, does he/she inspire to be a better human being? When you find someone that you can answer yes to all three questions, you know you’ve found yourself a relationship worth having.

9. Regardless of how much you know, or how many incredible questions you ask, you can never know it all. To believe that you do, is proof of the contrary. The wilderness around us always holds answers to more questions than we have yet learned to ask. And that’s a beautiful thing.

10. Although life will always be filled with unanswered questions, it’s the courage to seek the answers that counts – this journey is what gives life meaning.  Ultimately, you can spend your life wallowing in frustration and misery, wondering why you were the one who was chosen to deal with your problems, or you can be grateful that you are strong enough and smart enough to grow from them. 

Your turn: Be present and have patience with everything that remains unexplained in your heart and mind. Try to love life’s questions. Like locked doors or like good books written in foreign languages, respect their nature. Don’t expect all the answers to come easy. They cannot be given to you right now because your present understanding isn’t ready yet. It’s a question of experiencing everything first. Right now you need to hold on to the questions – explore, learn, and live your life. Perhaps, as you do, you will gradually find yourself experiencing the answers you always wanted.

So with that said, which of the reminders above hit home the most? Why? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts and insights with us."

"I Had An Experience..."

"I had an experience...I can't prove it, I can't even explain it, but everything that I know as a human being, everything that I am tells me that it was real! I was given something wonderful, something that changed me forever...A vision of the universe that tells us, undeniably, how tiny, and insignificant and how...rare, and precious we all are! A vision that tells us that we belong to something that is greater than ourselves, that we are not - that none of us - are alone! I wish I could share that. I wish, that everyone, if only for one moment, could feel that awe, and humility, and hope. But...that continues to be my wish."
- "Ellie Arroway", "Contact" by Carl Sagan

Freely download "Contact", by Carl Sagan, here:
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"Contact: A Signal From Outer Space"
"Dr. Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) discovers a signal containing a sequence of prime numbers that appears to have originated from the star Vega. When her team confirms this, all agencies must be brought in. Oscar winners Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey star in this gripping story of a radio astronomer who receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth. As the world powers scramble to decipher the message and decide upon a course of action, she vies to fulfill her dream of becoming the first human being to make contact with alien beings."

“The Meaning Of Good And Evil In Perilous Times”

“The Meaning Of Good And Evil In Perilous Times”
by Brandon Smith

"Perhaps the most destructive idea ever planted in the minds of the general public is the notion that nothing in this world is permanent – that all things can and must be constantly changed to suit our whims. The concept of impermanence fuels what I call “blank slate propaganda.” The usefulness of the blank slate as a weapon for social control should be explained before we examine the nature of good and evil, because these days it infects everything.

The push for never ending social “evolution” has been called many things over the decades. In the early 1900s in Europe it was called “futurism;” an art and philosophical movement that helped spawn the rise of communism and fascism in politics.The argument that all old ideas and longstanding traditions should be abandoned to make way for new ideas, new technologies, news systems etc., assumes that the supposedly new ways of doing things are superior to the old ways of doing things. Things are rarely this simple, and in most cases the new methods so proudly championed by movements for social change are usually recycled and repackaged old ideas that are notorious for failure.
The blank slate theory is designed to confuse people with self-doubt and to misrepresent the constructs of nature as constructs of society. It most effectively disrupts people’s relationship to their own moral compass by suggesting that moral compass should be completely ignored as artificial. The argument by blank slate proponents is that all boundaries are created by society instead of by inborn conscience, and that these boundaries often hold us back from achieving our goals, bettering ourselves as a species and generally getting what we want out of life.
But the things we want are not always the things we need, and this is something that movement’s for social change often refuse to grasp. If we are all blank slates and if morality and the human soul are myths, why not do whatever the hell we want, whenever we want and live life as if it is one big Roman orgy of feasting, self-medicating and overall addiction to sensation?
The problem with the blank slate concept is that while it purports that all restrictions in the human psyche are taught to us rather than being inborn and that they can be abandoned any time we want, we still can’t seem to avoid the consequences of breaking those restrictions.  People lose their sanity, societies crumble and nations fall to ruin over time the more we cast aside our principles in the name of social evolution or short term gain. It is unavoidable.
The only people who seem to benefit from the spread of the blank slate are the people already in political and economic power. For if they can convince the masses to ignore their conscience, they can then convince us to accept almost any other conditions.
To act in a manner consistent with inherent conscience, or to ignore conscience and act destructively, is a choice. It is the core pillar of free will. The choice to act destructively does not erase the reality of inherent conscience; in fact, people often have to be fooled into believing that a destructive and immoral action is a “good thing” before they are convinced to carry it out. Inherent conscience must be bypassed through trickery.
The problem with choosing to stick by one’s principles is that it is easy during times of relative stability, but increasingly difficult during times of struggle. In perilous days, the temptation to use destructive tactics to maintain an expectation of comfort or to merely survive can be high. It is no coincidence that power elites, the same people that tend to promote blank slate propaganda, also tend to deliberately engineer social crisis and chaos. But perhaps this needs a deeper explanation. We must define something most of us already understand intuitively. We must define “evil.”
Like inherent conscience and moral boundaries, blank slate theorists and social change advocates attempt to muddy the waters of what constitutes evil. Some will say there is no such thing — that evil is whatever we deem it to be in any given era depending on our biases.  Others will claim that tradition, permanence and anything in society that remains static is evil. The only “good” for them is constant change.
But evil is not as illusory and changing as these people suggest. In fact, most men and women recoil automatically from certain specific behaviors regardless of how they were raised, what environment they come from, what culture they were born into or what era they lived.  The people who don’t recoil at these behaviors are the people we have to watch out for because they are missing something integral to the heart and mind that makes the rest of us human.
In psychological terms, the characteristics of high level narcissists and sociopaths match most closely with our historic concept of evil.  And, in my view, most great evils done in history are in fact done by people with multiple narcissistic traits.  As far as global elitists are concerned, they represent a rather insidious threat, because they are narcissistic sociopaths that have organized into a predatory gang, so all the traits consistent with the behavior of your average serial killer are now magnified a thousandfold by their access to unlimited resources.
How do we identify these people? Well, this is a difficult prospect at times because narcissistic sociopaths commonly hide in plain sight.  Some people live with them for years before realizing exactly what they are. They also like to insert themselves into nonprofit organizations that claim to do good for the community as a cover for their more insidious motives.
Some traits and behaviors that are common are a lack of normal emotional response to traumatic events or joyous events, or they will mimic the responses of others to blend in but they come off as “forced” or “fake.” They have no concept of empathy; it does not exist for them.
They seek out centers of power and are drawn to positions of authority. They always seem to be demanding the efforts of others while rarely offering their own help. They make terrible leaders, always attempting to lead from a place of safety while letting their conscripts take the risks. Leading by example is a foreign concept to them.
They will lie repetitively about their accomplishments and their accolades. They will misrepresent their professional achievements in order to gain people’s trust. Ask them to prove through actions that they can do all the things they claim they can do, and they will try to avoid the test or respond indignantly and angrily.
They will gaslight their ideological enemies or people they are trying to control. They will accuse others of being “narcissists” or “sociopaths” or fascists or any moniker that will push the buttons of their target. Whatever evils they are guilty of, they will try to flip and lay at the feet of their enemies.
They always seem to have “minions” to do their dirty work for them and attack those that oppose them. People that have dealt with narcissistic sociopaths in their personal lives sometimes refer to these minions as “flying monkeys,” referencing the flying monkeys enslaved by the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz. Flying monkeys are essentially useful idiots that the narcissist employs through fraud and sometimes through pay. Whenever the narcissist is under threat of being exposed, they unleash their flying monkeys onto the streets or onto the internet to undermine truth tellers.
They do not believe in moral or personal boundaries which is why they are always trying convince people that such boundaries are a myth.  They will cross moral lines, always testing the fences for weaknesses; trying to wear others down until they give up and stop fighting back.
They desperately want to come out of the shadows and into the light of day. They want to be adored as the monsters they are, rather than the fake philanthropists they portray themselves as. In order to do this, every narcissistic sociopath makes it their duty to erase the idea of conscience, whether they are part of the globalist cabal or just another ghoul down the street. Their natural inclination is to corrupt whatever they touch, and if they cannot corrupt a thing, they will attempt to destroy that thing.
Most of all, narcissistic sociopaths want everyone around them to believe that we are just like them. That “deep down” all of us are unprincipled and morally bankrupt and all it takes is a crisis or calamity, just a little chaos to bring out the devil in everyone.
But if this were really the case, then humanity would have died out long ago through endless self-destruction; something keeps bringing us back from the brink in our personal lives and in society as a whole. Conscience keeps defeating evil by refusing to grant evil people the utopia of blank slate chaos they want so badly. And this is what give me confidence that no matter how terrible our days might become there is something on our side that goes beyond the physical world.
Every crisis is a test, a test of each person and a test of our culture. Can we act with reason and courage and principle even in the worst of times, or will we be lured to make our struggle easier through malicious means? Will we do right by those around us, or will we happily trample over them in the name of “survival?”
In the end, the worst men bring the best men to the surface. This is the only “good” they will ever do.”

"It Strikes Me..."

“It goes against the American storytelling grain to have someone in a situation he can’t get out of, but I think this is very usual in life. There are people, particularly dumb people, who are in terrible trouble and never get out of it, because they’re not intelligent enough. It strikes me as gruesome and comical that in our culture we have an expectation that man can always solve his problems. This is so untrue that it makes me want to cry - or laugh.”
- Kurt Vonnegut